Chapter Text
What is an impossibility? Due to the extroverted sun, there were many things made extraordinarily shy within desert countries; raging thunder storms that flooded your home, frostbite from wicked winters, slipping on a patch of thick ice on your trek through the dry land.
More things in recent years had been made bashful on a distinct sand island—the once glorious country of Alabasta. Rain, peace, trust; all of them previously abundant and rampant through the land, now so rare to the point that cities are wholly becoming as dry as the sand they’re built upon, a rebellion brews against a once loved king, and citizens are conflicted on what side to be on.
To blame the jubilant sun for that would be preposterous and incorrect—not that anyone with more wit than a mouse would do that. There was a good reason for the sudden madness, and unbeknownst to most, it brewed in the dark places the sun never touched.
That was one of the few instances a person would correctly use the word impossible. Flooding from a thunderstorm, ice on sand, frostbite from snow in the most well known desert kingdom, Alabasta? Surely, those were impossible too.
No, not quite, to a supposed few, who anyone would probably think to be a few pages short of a journal. To them, it is just extremely, extremely, unlikely.
And one of those few would be Enilah, who had arrived just that morning in the desert kingdom. From the 18 years that Enilah had been in the world, she already knew that something having the odds stacked ten ways against it was just that–improbable. Not impossible. After all, her day to day profession involved questioning more than what was thought to be probable; she questioned and dutifully uncovered the clear, spectacle, truth. Good and bad miracles alike, whether or not it was forgotten, virtually unknown, or lied about. Within a line of work like seizing absolute truth, one discovers that one of the most unproductive things to do was lightly throw around the word impossible.
As such, she was so sure to say that it was utterly impossible that the sun had any involvement in what was going on; that it hadn’t been the reason she immediately set out to travel to the cradling, heated, airs of Alabasta in the first place.
Back out on the blue waters before even getting sight of it, once the consistent warmth blanketed Enilahs skin she had known she entered Alabasta’s atmosphere. She welcomed it completely. Even with her thick hair bundled in two bubble ponytails, falling from just above her ears and draping over each shoulder, travel backpack drooping down her spine and adding at least five pounds, and long cloak that concealed her body to protect her flesh from the suns heated gaze, adding all the more temperature, she could say confidently it was better than being sniveling and shivering with cold winds nipping and biting her skin.
In her vacation fantasies, the climate of this kingdom is what she envisioned. She’d try to make the most out of it. The way her job had been going, and predictably will possibly go for her here, maybe it was in her better interest to take the opportunity of bringing vacationing into reality.
She made her way to the market that was based in Erumalu, which was a city so close to the shore it could just barely be seen in the distance. It was lively as ever that day, the aromas from food and unique floral perfumes crafted from native ingredients to their land, wafting in the air as people chatted and brisked about the sand paths carefree.
Like others next to and around her, Enilah stood in front of a stall where she and everything in between the seller, who was an average, middle-aged Alabastan, was shaded by the cloth draped overhead. His display of various trinkets he sat behind on a blue carpet was interesting, but she wasn’t on a casual shopping trip. She found out quickly that fact was inconvenient for them both.
Enilah lightly laughed, “I’m sorry, did I hear you right? How mu-”
“345,000 berries.”
She heard it loud and clear. She knew she did. Short of making her deaf, from that distance, there wasn’t a way she couldn’t even with the jumbled clamoring of merchants, travelers, and Alabstans that clogged up her ears.
‘I knew it’d be more because of the scarcity right now, but that is absolutely insane for anyone who actually wanted someone to buy it. Is his own financial situation that bad that he wants to put others in the same position after one purchase? Does he know that the average person isn’t that desperate?’
She looked at the lazed camel and it looked at her with an unbothered expression, as if it just said “now you see why I’m still here.”
“Ah, figured,” Enilah said with the same pleasantness as before, easily pasting on a smile as if a sticker used to help hold her tongue from spilling how idiotic it was to raise the price so high. She brought more beri just in case, but not five ship repairs worth more.
‘I should have brought my own camel. I should have stuffed it square in my backpack, shut it, then sat on it until it fully closed.’
No, no. Forget her bag. A camel wouldn’t have even been able to comfortably live on her ship. It had the perfect amount of room for Enilah, herself, and her.
Worst part, if she wasn’t able to talk sense into him, she’d give in. The walk to Alubarna from here was a day and a half without breaks. Enilah wasn’t the type to rush or exert herself, yet she can already feel herself becoming limp and maneuvering with the finesse of wet paper as she dragged over sand, whether it be hot or cold, 20 minutes into the journey.
A sliver of her brain poked to entertain a thought. It made her a little tingly, antsy, and compelled, the feeling a blackjack player felt whether to hit or stand. If not in the middle of conversation, it would have given her a smirk. If she were to try the arduous feat and in the unlikely outcome of making it, undoubtedly by that time being divulged to crawling with the likeness of an octopus on land, it’d be something worth publishing, probably one of the greatest feats she would have ever accomplished.
‘No, no! I need to think rationally here.’
That was just one trip. She had several cities to visit. The risk to do it once and succeed then to replicate such a thing would be improbable, impractical, and undesirable.
She was nearly fully positive that what she was planning to say next wouldn’t make him any happier. Even so, it led to far less dangerous outcomes if she succeeded.
“To be upfront I don’t exactly need to buy it.” She already noticed the rising agitation in his face, but pressed on. “I want to make my way around the kingdom efficiently, and you want money—that rest assured, I do have. Why not compromise?”
His eyes narrowed as his lip curled, face becoming flushed as he pointed to the sign dug into the sand slightly to the side of the carpet. “I ain’t negotiating. It says camel for sale. If you aren’t here to buy, quit being an eyesore and leave.”
She couldn’t exactly say she didn’t travel down that path, but he didn’t have to be so unnecessarily rude. It’s a wonder if he even sells anything with an attitude like that.
Enilah wasn’t daft. The young woman didn’t need to try hard reading him to tell that even breaking it down nicely his price was crap, he wasn’t going to budge. In fact, she predicted he’d be tough to deal with and something like this might’ve happened. He was glaring, arms crossed, disinterested, and overall closed off from the beginning.
It would have been nice to see him do a 180 and open up, listen, and consider her words. Seeing rare or unlikely realities unfold was always a pleasure. That stacked on top of having to spend less effort doing what she was about to do made that game of risk just that more desirable.
“How about we put off the camel.” She offered, trying extra hard to keep up her grin. Her right hand was full with her shepherd's crook, so she used the left to pull back her blue cloak, the gray hexagon pattern at the bottom flapping back. She reached to the right of her body into her satchel and retrieved a newspaper from the World Economy News Paper, or WENP, from a few weeks ago. “I’m sure you’re aware of this.”
He barely glanced at it but huffed as his demeanor became somehow more perturbed with the deepening of his frown. Thankfully, it wasn’t directed at her. “That stuff is crap.”
“What specifically about it?”
He leaned forward and looked at her as if she just asked what a pencil was. Her eyebrow twitched, and before he could speak, she put up her hand and followed, “I’m not ignorant. It was a rhetorical question. I’d be displeased as well if I showed remiss on the conflicting ideals of the citizens.” She put the paper back and paid full attention to the merchant. “I just want to hear your opinion.”
He looked her up with a surprised and suspicious expression. She felt he was close to telling her to run off again. Then, after reaching her eyes and holding them there, he shut his own, sighed, and rubbed his head. “Yeah, anyone with half a brain could see what's wrong. Blaming the King and starting rebellions. He’s been nothing but good to us for years.”
Her smile widened. ‘This is good. I didn’t initially want to interview him but I might as well. Probably will be repetitive info, but at least the interaction will serve a bigger purpose.’
“I heard of his good nature. Especially considering he could have moved with the rest of the Celestial Dragon’s but decided to stay with his people; often going into the town to interact and talk, traveling city to city personally to take requests on how he could make things better, right? But as a citizen, I’m sure you can speak more on it.” Enilah said.
“Hell if I couldn’t.” The man gave his own examples, unraveling his arms and having a generally less put-off aura. Not kind but better than before.
She nodded along the way, attentively listening to every word. He had stories she’d never heard yet, going back more into his prince days and early crowning. Her mild interest in hearing him talk turned to full fascination. They blew her away. She would still have to validate it if it were information she wanted to use, but she would put money on it being true. It lined up with everything else she had learned so far, the way he talked about it so passionately, and the grounded yet awe-inspiring nature of the stories—all of it proved in favor of King Cobra’s altruistic nature. She truly hoped his stories could be validated.
“Thank you for sharing that with me. I hadn’t known how far back his accomplishments went.” She said with elation after he was done.
“Well, now you know. A lot of foreigners don’t appreciate our land's past. You’re the first I came across to ask and listen…” he gave her a bit of a side eye, “a little too hard.”
“I was interested in what you had to say.” She replied genuinely then leaned in a bit. “Something I did know though was since the drought and Dance Powder incident, he has spent more time inside.”
He looked at her with wide eyes and nodded, amazed, but excited. “Yes! Now because of this rebellion on top of trying to find a solution for the cities suffering, he can’t rule how he used to! All because of some runt.”
“Runt?”
“Yeah, some kid.”
Enilah paused. “Kid? You don’t… you don’t mean the rebellion is run by a kid? A child?”
He sharply bobbed his head, uncrossing his arms to just lay them in his lap. “Maybe not a child to a kid like you, but he’s some random teen from Yuba whose father probably didn’t give him enough attention. It’s insane what our country has become.”
Enilah hummed. Just a teen was behind all of this? Incredible. “That’s definitely interesting to hear. I can tell it’s an important topic to you.”
The seller sputtered and rubbed the back of his neck. “E-Eh whatever. I’m just giving the reaction any other guy would, nothing special.”
“It's special to me.” She watched as he blushed and grumbled something. It wasn’t meant to be flattery. Completely. She did mean it, but it didn’t hurt to say it that way. After all, he was paying more attention to her, in a much better mood, and his frown phased into a much more neutral expression. “I mean it. I’m doing research to publish a deep dive report about the rising tensions in Alabasta. I plan on talking to the king, which is why I need to get to Alubarna. I want to know everything.”
His eyes lit up even more before he gripped his chin. “Really? That doesn’t sound like you’re writing a book, so who’re you?”
“Nobody, really.” She answered passingly, but she was just being a bit cheeky.
He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. You workin with those world paper guys?”
Enilah’s posture stiffened and she sniffed. “Thankfully not.” She said with as much politeness such a question could allow. “I’m privatized but I am certainly in the field you’re thinking of. The worries of accommodating someone's needs or rushing out a story to meet some deadline aren’t ones I think I could stand, frankly. All I want to do is tell the whole truth.”
“Really?…” He relaxed and slowly nodded. “I respect that. You seem genuine and like an alright person.” He seemed to consider for a moment then slapped his thigh. “Okay. If it’ll help getting back at those punks, let me tell you this…” he waved her closer and she leaned in. “The Dance Powder incident. It was staged.” He said with a hushed voice.
Enilah nodded slowly. “Hmm, right, I heard about those rumors but it was limited…”
“What’s being said is that something called… B… uh… B something–ah, I can’t remember. B works. Whoever they are, they did it.”
“And has there been any investigation done by the World Government? At all?”
He looked mildly jarred for a second then shook it away. “Nah, but they don’t need to waste their time worrying about one island. We can handle our own disputes.”
‘But isn’t using rain powder a huge crime? God, even if they are one of the twenty royal families surely such abuse of power would make someone angry? Maybe I expect too much of them.’ Enilah left that counter in her mind. She had to be careful about how she talked about the king. “They are a busy organization.”
“Yeah, sure… I don’t know anything else and you didn’t hear it from me.” He narrowed his eyes for the last part then leaned back.
Enilah simply grinned and bobbed her head as she stood straight. B works. She can work with that. Now she had to move onto her prior objective. “Of course. Thank you, that’s helpful! I’m grateful for your time, truly. And something else that would be extremely helpful is the camel. Now, now, before you chase me off, hear me out?”
He grumbled but begrudgingly nodded. Perfect. “I’d have an easier time traveling with a camel, I just don’t need to buy it since I’m not staying and when I leave, I can’t take the poor thing with me. After all, there are other marvelous stories in West Blue and back to explore.” She said with calm, suppressed elation. He stared at her weirdly, slightly taken aback but drawn in. Only when she moved her mouth to ask, did she realize how big of a smile she had and immediately corrected it to something more contained. She brought a fist to her lips and cleared her throat, trying to ignore the heat that sizzled on her face. “I could sell it but I’d be at a loss since the initial price isn’t market value and journalism isn’t the cash cow you’d think it is for most people.”
‘With morals.’
He seemed on the fence and leaning toward the side she did not want, “I don’t-“
She caught him, “hold on, and I’m sorry for cutting you off, but if you rent this to me, you can rent it to others too! Camels are in high demand—constant revenue—imagine it! You won’t have to lift a finger to get money in your pockets, as long as you’re affordable.”
“I…” he drifted. She watched carefully with hope as the idea tumbled around in his mind. This time her chances are definitely higher than before of him accepting, but if he for some reason still was unwilling to listen to reason she should start to think about if this didn’t work out after all. She could always pay someone else to borrow theirs, or maybe take a trip with someone else, at least she would have tried getting one for herself–
Her thoughts halted as he mumbled something under his breath, then slumped, lazily waving his hand. “Okay, okay. Fine.”
The corners of her mouth lifted in relief. This is even better than buying at a regular price. “Fantastic decision! Thank you, I appreciate it, truly. Just under the price for a regular camel would satisfy you? I only need it for two weeks at the most, and I’ll probably have it back to you under that.”
“Yeah, whatever. Short stuff, I dunno if you’ll get to talk to the king, but you better do him justice.”
‘Short stuff?’ Her eyebrow twitched again.
“I’m aware of that and prepared for it. And I will only publish what I know to be absolutely true.”
He shrugged and huffed. “You one of them hopeful types I guess.” He began to get up, maneuvering his way to the camel and its restraints, working on the ropes tied to the pillar that held up the blanket. “By the way, who do you publish for? There is only one that I know can get their stuff out far, are you new? Do you use newscoos?” He shook his head, “ah, that doesn’t matter, I just want to know what to look for when it’s delivered so I don’t get confused with the other one.”
“The other one? Your local one?” She asked, but in the back of her mind, she had a very strong feeling this question was rhetorical. As if someone thumped her right temple from the inside with a dictionary, Enilah’s head throbbed. She held back a frown. It was around the time it’s supposed to wear off; albeit, if that was any indication, whatever was going to happen next wouldn’t do her head any favors.
He snickered in a ridiculing way, still messing with the ropes. “Y’know, the Crazy Crow. Crimson Quack. Talkin’ about the marines randomly slaughtering citizens and pirates being saints… almost as crazy as what’s going on around here. Pick up one of those and it’ll have you laughing for weeks!” He said, picking up a laugh of his own.
She gripped her crook with conviction. “Then I guess you won’t be confused.”
His laugh began to peter out, “Eh? What do you…” In less than a second any rapport built up crashed down with the force of a falling 30 story building. She could practically see the like for her drain from his face and leave behind shriveled mockery and detest.
He let go of the rope. Then instead of shouting, he laughed. And laughed hard. Harder than the moments prior. Like a chimp in need of the heimlich maneuver. “Hahaha! Damn it, from the way you were talkin I should have known! All that buttering up was just hot air, eh. I guess lying ain’t new to you though.”
Enilah’s brow twitched as the hold on her crook tightened. “Lying? Out of your own mouth you said I was genuine-“
He laughed in her face once more, earning a recoil from Enilah. “Obviously, you try to fool people for a living. I’m sure it works once or twice.”
“If you think that informing is fooling-”
“…did you hear that? She’s with the Crimson Crows…”
“…what a joke…”
“…pirate sympathizers…”
“…bunch of fools…”
Snickers and taunting whispers easily snaked their ways to her ears and bit into them, joining alongside the more blatant derisive comments and jeers.
Enilah’s eyebrow ticked with annoyance, just one indication able to slip from her straining efforts to subdue glaring at any of them and proving ten times over how incredibly ignorant they were. Her warm, dark brown hand once more tightly gripped her crook, unable to keep up the smile any longer. It was replaced with a thin lipped, unamused, near indifferent, expression.
This was another possibility. One she had seen and has been seeing increasingly time and time again.
The woman took her time to say anything. She had to or else something ten times ruder than her experience so far would slip and undoubtedly be colorfully turned into more ammo against her. She could see headlines now, ‘lying self proclaimed ‘journalist’ aggressive when receiving criticism’. No, the luxury to fire off at the mouth and say what she wanted to who she wanted up and down islands without consequence wasn’t one she was born with or earned. And truth be told, if she were offered, not one she entirely needed or wanted. That sounded far too much like a Celestial Dragon.
Even if it were minor, just unsugarcoated facts, it’d end that way too. She was a professional. She didn’t need to go to their level of petty, unneeded insults to get her point across. She knew how to handle fools and people alike.
She carefully picked her words and rehearsed what she wanted to say in her head, tweaking and changing out phrases for it to sound just right without intentionally angering anyone. Keeping her voice and her composure leveled, not only to the merchant, but to the others around, she said, “I understand your mistrust of me, however everything I’ve said to you was true,” she turned to the gathered crowd, “and every story in those papers are true. I don’t have any reason to lie.” She spoke clearly, as she always did, but made extra sure to enunciate her words so that nothing got misunderstood.
Some were hesitant, others obviously blowing off her words as they either chuckled or walked off. The man in front of her laughed loudly. “Yeah, and that ain’t a camel. I ain’t sure you’re too bright if you proudly admit you’re with those guys. I knew you seemed fake.”
Another from the crowd spoke up, “Exactly. It’s obvious you feed off the attention. The best way to deal with people like that is to leave them to rot alone.”
She bit her lip, her toes curling in her sandals. Whatever. Why should she be bothered by people who aren’t willing to validate, backup any of the egregious nonsense that they say in the first place. They suffer from the worst cases of WENP brain disease. It’s incredibly infectious and causes only the most plaguing of decays.
‘I could write the sky was blue and they’d call me a liar.’
Enilah simply could not get how thick people could mentally be. Lazy. Trusting. Unquestioning; yet acting as if they’ve asked every question and have gotten every answer. All it would take is a little time to read her proof, engage with what she had to say, and they’d see how similar to stringed puppets they are.
Puppets is a bit harsh, but the truth nonetheless.
“You get running. Ain’t no way I wanna be associated with someone like you. Hey. Hey! Are you deaf? Go.”
She schooled her expression then briskly walked off without a word. Her mind fired off other solutions to her growing problem. Not just right now, but for her future if things continue to go this way.
Her reputation followed her closer than an ant’s shadow. She can’t count how many times she’s been shunned, shamed, and figuratively shoved around in terms of respect by the public. Even so, she should and would never hide who she is.
She isn’t the one who has to change. She’s done nothing wrong. She will remain on the platform of her truth and is completely willing to help those step up to it, but will never lower herself down. If she denied her work, then it’d be giving everyone else permission to do so as well.