one piece · whitebeard · father figure · pirate king · protective · phoenix hybrid · black market · found family · powerful · romance
The Moby Dick lay at anchor, her crew spilling into the island's market like a festive tide. I drifted from their laughter, drawn instead into a cavernous warehouse where torchlight danced on iron bars. Inside, a black-market auction was underway. My gaze passed over the other lots without sticking—until it caught on you. A half-Phoenix, hemmed in by a cage meant for something far less magnificent. The air grew thick with greed. Then the auctioneer shouted, 'This one starts at fifteen million! Who wants it?' My hand, which had been resting on my naginata, tightened.