Welcome to Gaia! ::

(Ouch. Go easy on your dad man, he can't be a super-duper genius like you.)

Ilsa gasped for breath, having barely made it back up to the surface after the sixth dive. Still nothing.

She hadn't even been able to spot any sign of a junkyard, all of it nothing but pristine waters waterlogging the drowned parts of the city. It was beautiful; but it wasn't getting her anywhere closer.

"Just quit and come back to the tavern already," Alix groaned as Ilsa camped outside her diving spot for the night, building a makeshift fire and eating handmade sushi. "It's got beds and way better food, and then you can get a headstart on your debt to Sergei."

"No way," Ilsa said stubbornly. "I keep my promises, so you can keep your beds, food and horrible shoes to yourself."

"Fine!" Mizuki hissed, her pregnancy making her irritable along with Ilsa's unbearable rudeness. "Don't come crying to us when you give up and have kinks in your back!"

The girls left, and Ilsa frowned as she ate, Sushimi gobbling his own portion down. "Everyone said it'd be here..." she said in puzzlement. "Even if it's sunken, we should find the workshop easily enough. Did we go to the wrong place?"

(ZOMG DO YOU COME FROM A FAMILY OF DR.EVILS?!)

"Hey you, are you camping out tonight?"

Ilsa pushed up the brim of her bandanna, pulled over her eyes so she could nap, and saw a citizen of the city walking home. "Yeah, so?"

"You should bunk in somewhere! It's not safe at night here in Water 7, this is when the Franky Family comes out to play!"

"The who?"

"They're a group of ship demantlers," he explained, "They strip pirate ships to sell the materials and catch the pirates for their bounty. You're a pirate aren't you?"

"The hell I am!" Ilsa snapped, growling as she yanked her wrap back down. The citizen shrugged. "Sorry...you just seem familiar is all."

Ilsa mumbled to herself. "Call me a pirate, disgraceful," she muttered. Sushimi rumbled as he floated in the water, snoring. "S'not like I have a ship or a bounty to get anyway, ha! Franky Family. I'd like to see them try-"

But she nearly ate her words as she heard the metallic ring of unsheathed metal. She pulled her hands from her pockets, her knucklers already in her hands, and she quickly blocked a sword that came down, sparks flying as it collided with the seastone.

"Heh heh, so you could tell after all,"

Ilsa sneered, and pulled h er wrap back up. "Who the hell are you jokers?"

"Ha! Glad you asked!" The shadowed figure was joined by more men, and Ilsa saw that they were all oddly dressed in speedos and armor, all decorated with five point stars. "We are the Dark Justice of Water 7! Children cry when they see us coming! We are the Franky Family!"

(Rough home life huh? Well it'll be okay. You're younger, and hence you're destined to do better. Also, I don't see your parents with uber hax00r skilz at RPGING.)

Ilsa smirked. "How 'bout you keep your money and I beat 'em anyway?"

And 49 Frankies later, the last one was cornered against a wall with Adorei and Ilsa looming over him in determination to finish their contest. Ilsa was a bit peeved however. "You're a Shichibukai?" she said disdainfully, "What a drag, having to do what the government tells you."

"And you!" Ilsa snapped, turning on the head Franky, who yelped. "What's with bothering me in the middle of the night?! I'm not a pirate! And I don't have a ship!"

"Ehe?! You aren't?!" he said in confusion, "B-but you're THE Ilsa 'Sharkheart'! You laid waste to a hundred Marines, and you're a terror in human flesh! You boast the highest first bounty of any rookie ever to come from the West Blue!"

"Bounty?" Ils said shortly, shocked. "What bounty?!"

"H-here-"

Ilsa snatched the wanted poster from the shaking Franky's hand, and looked over it. Sure enough, her picture was on the front, taken from the battlefield she'd made on her home island as she laid the smack-down on the invading forces. Ilsa's face tightened. "Those idiots...." she mumbled, crumpling it up into a ball. "Doing all of this stupid s**t! People will do anything for money!"

THe Franky was attempting to scooch out of view, when Ilsa's foot came and broke right through the stone wall, effectively paralyzing him with terror. "Listen up Franky-boy," she said, smiled grimly, "I'm on a mission right now to redeem my debt to chilly-ossan and lazy-obachan at the tavern! And I'm not about to deal with cheap shits who hunt people for money!"

"Wait! Wait! You know Boss Sergei?!" The Franky halted, looking bright.

Ilsa frowned. "What about it?"

"Whoo! What luck!" he said, sounding relieved. "We-we're some of his subordinates! We help keep the justice, y'know taking out pirates-"

"I'M NOT A DAMN PIRATE!"

"-but if you want, we can help you out, eh big sis?" The Franky was daring to look hopeful, snatching at a chance for mercy. Ilsa tapped her foot, thinking about it. She extended her hand, making the Franky flinch-

"Okay," she agreed, stretching out her palm to shake. "If you're serious, then let's get to work Franky-boy!"

"Phew! I mean, wahoo!" he cheered, shaking her hand with both his own. "Oh you won't regret big sis, no way! Oi, boys wake up!" he called out to the other members as they stirred, groaning from their hard bruises and bashings. "False alarm! We've got work to do with Big Sis!"

(No real butt-kicking, because I love Franky and the Family <3)

Ilsa merely crossed her arms, slouching as the head Franky roused his brothers. "Don't be silly. My dad was a fishman, but that's all. I was raised by a single parent who the government doesn't like, so I kicked their asses. I don't have a backstory."

However, she was only half-truthful, if only on accident. It wasn't her backstory after all, but her father Hussan's. And if Adorei wanted that story, he'd have to get it from Hussan himself.

"We're all ready Big Sis!" HF announced. The others, battered but awake, all nodded in agreeance. "Any thing you guys need, just say it!"

"I'm looking for the old place of Tom the shipwright," Ilsa explained. "The rest of the locals sent me here, but I've been diving for hours and I haven't gotten even a whiff of a whiff of where it is."

To her confusion, there was a smattering of shushed giggles. HF laughed. "Ha! The locals doesn't know anything really useful about old Tom! But we the Franky Family-" he puffed out his chest boldly, "-are the legacy of one of the old man's apprentices, The Cyborg Franky himself! He was even the shipwright and crewmate of the 2nd pirate king, Monkey D. Luffy!"

"So you know where it is?"

"Yep! Follow us!"

"Hey Ado-kun," Ilsa spoke to the ghost boy as they walked through the streets, lit by evening lamps. "I remember my dad telling me about King Luffy, but I didn't know anything about him. Do you know anything about him?"

Ilsa however, scowled. "Are you comparing me to a pirate?" she accused lightly, sounding cross. "Please."

The HF couldn't help but catch Ilsa's last statements. "What's wrong Big Sis? You don't like pirates?"

"No way," Ilsa shook her head vehemently, "I've met too many pirates who deal with slave-trading and all sorts of awful stuff. And if its not them, it's the shitty Marines not doing their job and going after good people. But that's why I'm like my dad," she annouced proudly, jutting her thumb at her bandanna. "The Sun Pirates are different! True members never do any of that stuff! They show mercy to their enemies and they possess the strongest beings in the sea in their crew!" She looked romantic at the stories she was remembering from Hussan. "And I'm going to be a proper member once I get to Fishman Island and find my dad. You'll see."

HF laughed uneasily. "Ha ha, and I thought you'd be interested in One Piece like everyone else too! You seem so adventurous!"

"I don't care about someone else's treasure," she replied, sticking her nose in the air. "I already have my own."

Ilsa flushed. "Ah shut your yap."

"We're here!"

The Franky House was gigantic, and tacky. With a fake crescent moon and stars as part of the design, Ilsa felt like she was walking towards a giant casino rather than a hideout. "This is where I'll find Tom's place?"

"That's right," nodded HF, inviting them inside. "Every time Aqua Laguna showed up, the really sunken places of Water 7 would shift around the island. But we kept an eye on old Tom's place and followed it! What are you looking for from him anyway?"

"The blueprints to the Gold Jackson," Ilsa answered, "For lazy-obachan at the tavern."

"Wh-wh-what?!" HF squeaked. "But that's impossible! Tom's first workshop is where Water Seven's original city was built, and that's a long, long way down! You'd have to outswim Sea Kings and treacherous underwater caverns for hours!"

"Sounds like fun." Ilsa looked around. "Where's the entrance?"

"I-In the sea basement but-"

"Aha,"

Ilsa went ahead and opened up a small hatch. It led down a long long way, and if she squinted in the dark, a glimmer of water shone through the darkness. "But wait Big Sis! You'll need airtanks and swim gear and a harpoon! You're not ready yet!"

"I'll be the judge of that," Ilsa huffed, and began to descend. "Oh, and if you see Sushimi-kun, just point him down my way, he'll find me."

And despite their protests, Ilsa climbed down the long, long shaft...the light of the Franky House growing farther away until it seemed nothing more than a bright star in a dark sky. When she hit water, she saw she had a few feet yet to go. "Hold your nose Ado-kun," she warned the ghost, and after sucking in her lungs, she dove.

"Wa, wa, wa!" Ilsa laughed blubberly, holding her mouth to keep air from escaping. Nonetheless, Adorei was okay, so that was one obstacle not to worry about.

Ilsa took a flashlight, borrowed from the Frankies, and flashed it around once the water became open. The lower chamber that had once belonged to Tom's Workers was completely flooded with water, but she could see where ships could come in and out, and where a giant chunk of wall was torn out, an office and living space. She swiftly swam over, looking inside.

There were workdesks inside, green and rotten with sea rot, but in a photo frame Ilsa took up carefully, there was a touching scene inside. A big, fat fishman, whom Ilsa guessed was Tom, was standing laughing in the picture with a mer-wife and a frog, just like Sushimi. In front of him were a rowdy pair of boys that yanked on each other's faces in frustration. It was a hilarious and heart-warming scene. Respectfully, Ilsa returned it.

However, after several minutes of swimming around, she found the air in her lungs to run low. She flashed her light around, and seeing where tiny dribbles of bubbles were seeping out, swam over and up what was once a chimmney, taking a breath once she found the air pocket. "Whoo," she sighed, taking even breaths. "It won't be much too long before we hit the bottom of the island."