Dark Isle Assassins: The meeting before the New World ((Open to Dark Isle Assassins only)) ((Closed))

- Small Island -

A small forest could be seen close to the holy city, practically unnoticed since the size of it has made it practically invisible. The length of the island was more then three miles, while the width was less then a mile, giving the island a very unique curve in the end. The islands grounds were made of sand, with only a few palm trees around the sand with cocoanuts on them. A very practical island with no life in it. The island seemed almost peaceful with the slightly sunny day it had been dealing with almost annually. The sand themselves were colored white, which only helped the image of peacefulness in the island even further.

Karasu had been steering the submarine for what seemed like ages already, it was obvious the distance between the last island and this one was a bit longer then he had anticipated.. then again, who would have such a small island on their maps? Karasu had neglected sleeping for a few nights, putting him in a rather dull mood.. lacking of energy. The sight of the small island brought to him a slight energy boost, the excitement of having his crew members moving towards the island growing inside of him. He had already told the Assassins where to go, and at what time they should arrive.. Karasu had made it with 17 minutes to spare, so he had hoped they were either early, or on their way. He gave them rough coordinates to the island, but it's not an excuse for being late. Karasu was already thinking of the possible punishments he could give them for being late.. but not many came to mind, he guessed this would be the perfect day to get all of his assassins branded, but wouldn't that happen either way? Guess he'd just make it more hot for those that came in late.

Karasu moved through the ocean floor, slowly rising to the top with his submarine. To an outsider they would only see the shadow moving across the oceans, and slowly getting darker and darker as Karasus submarine slowly surfaced. Once the ship completely left the waters Karasu slowly walked through the metal halls of his submarine, casually knocking on the door of the fox's room, Kitsune, and continuing his walk towards the ladders leading to the outside. Once he put his first foot on the bars, the rest of the body followed upwards towards the surface.

He oppened the hatch, taking a deep breath of the Ocean Breeze. He walked out of the submarine and looked around, looking directly at the shoreline he would have to run across.. since there wasn't any docs around the island. Karasus vulture suddenly flew upwards from the hatch, and attached itself to his back. Karasu waited for his fox to come out of the submarine so he could pick him up and fly together to the island quite a distance away.

"Alright Kitsune, it's time for you to meet the crew.. we have a small meeting to attend to.."

thw fox cimlbed out of the submarine it felt great to have fresh air again he didnt feel it for a while his eyes needed to adjust to the bright light, wich left him blinking for a while, he grabbed on karasus arm to fly with him and the vulture, the island was a long time away and he couldnt afford fall in the water since he couldnt swim, he hold katasu tight hoping he wouldnt fall off. he was very curious to the crew, karasu told him they were quite cold he wasnt sure how he should talk to them and how he should handle them but time would tell.

He wondered what his missions would be wondered what his tasks would be and what would be expected of him, he hoped he would have a good time and hoped that the people were nice, he had no idea yet but he hoped to have a good time, time would tell he could always leave them and search for soemthing new but for now he was interested in this man, it be good to pay atention to everything before deciding a next move but probably he would stay with karasu for a long time it felt like a good bond would be created begween the two

Doku floated towards the island on his boat smoking a cigar. "This man calls us to meetings more so then giving us missions...Or is it just me?" he asked himself. Soon Doku hit land and stepped off the boat stretching out his sore muscles.

Daiki stirred his ship towards the location he had been told to travel to via den den mushi by his captain. Daiki was a navigator, he had always been and he was grateful about it, because that way he could travel to wherever he wanted to in his ship. His beloved ship The Galatea was small but had enough room for a few people.

Daiki remembered the time when he met his captain. He had accidentally gotten to the Dark Isle and his captain Karasu, who in that time wasn't a shichibukai yet, had put him through various tests. Before that moment he had thought that the island was only a myth, but he was proven wrong by himself.

The Galatea stopped when clay servants put down the anchor and put up the sails. The ship softly slided over the wet white sand and stopped in the shore. Daiki didnt want to touch the seawater , which weakened his powers, so he hardened a platform from the side of his ship to the dry sand. Daiki started to walk through the sandy the beach.

It was a beautiful island, it seemed so peaceful. Daiki localized his captain and their new recruit, he had gotten word that he would be something weird. A fox. Daiki remembered Daiki said something about it being a human or something, he just limited himself to approach them.

"Good Morning Karasu, so this is our new recruit." -it was a cross between a question and a statement. Daiki had already noticed Doku floating towards the island.

Karasu grabbed the small fox and flew towards the shoreline, watching as his crew mates had just gotten on shore. Fifteen minutes were still remaining before the others would be considered late, so Karasu had to hold off the important announcement. The fox, Kitsune, seemed much lighter then Karasu had originally thought, so the vulture was able to easily put them back on shore. Karasu saw that Doku was a little unhappy, but Daiki was his usual normal self.. it seemed like nothing could faze him.

Of course Karasu knew Daiki had information on the fox, or at least he expected him to have the information, after all he was the first mate. Kitsune was a legend after all, a myth that circulated around that specific island.. If Daiki didn't know about him, then he wouldn't have been crowned the first mate all those months ago.

Karasu put the fox down on the soft beach sand, allowing him to converse with the crew mates. Before he could look down at the fox Karasu commented on Daikies statement.

"Yes, this is Kitsune, our new fox friend.. I heard there was a another new recruit, I hope he gets here on time.. or he'll get the extra hot brand."

Karasu stopped for a moment, it seemed like he had forgotten to inform the crew of the days surprise. He signaled his vulture to pick up a pole made of metal, in one end of the pole laid a handle to grasp, while in the other end of the metal pole laid the DIA flag. A skull with pistol crossbones. Once the vulture grabbed the metal pole from a sac, it flew over Karasus head (first out of the submarines exit) and dropped the pole, having it land on the sand beside Karasus feet. He picked it up, pointing his pistol at the edge with the DIA insignia/flag.

"Magma Stance"

Karasu shot a few bullets at the part of the metal pole with the flag in it, showing the flag as five inches long and red hot, steam and fire coming out of it. Karasu waited a moment for the fire to die out, having the straightest face as he watched the fire lose itself. He then pointed at the fox, almost seemingly forgetting he had a pole with an incredibly hot end to it.

"Btw, before I brand both of you, I'd like you to meet Katsune, He won't be branded today.. since he is our pet, however.. all of you get the honor of being branded, but don't worry.. I'll follow shortly after."

Karasu pointed at the direction of the pet, the hot metal pole on the other arm. He wasn't looking, only pointing at where he remembered he put the fox.

"Please greet our new Ally.. he'll become useful to all of us in the near future.."

the fox stared as the vulture grabbed him and karasu and put him on the beach, he hadnt been on the beach before and it felt strange to it spaws that sank in it for a centimeter orso, it felt also strange to have sand inbetween the toes on his paws, but he didnt mind, he would clean that later, he watched as he saw other people joining them

Karasu was talking about branding the members but not the kitsune, he was happy he didnt wanted a brand he still liked to look good even in his fox form, he watched karasu making the pole burning hot, when he pointed at him he almost hit him with it, burning him, he could jump aside and dodge it. he turned invisible just to tease karasu since he almost got hit by the pole and appeared just next to karasus leg

''nice to meet you all '' he said, as his two tails moved up and down slowly, he carefully watched his crewmates, one seemed more responsible then the other while the other seemed bored, he decided to not turn into karasu, it would be fun but it wouldnt be good to have your captain mad at you just in a few days, he decided to wait for the other members and to hear what his first mission would be

Doku blinked "A talking Fox, Karasu-Chan?" Doku asked boredly. Doku bent down to get to eye level with the fox "I am Doku Nakamura. Nice to meet you." he said with a smile.

So this was the legendary Kitsune. There was a rumor that this creature lived somewhere in the grandline, and like Karasu knew, Daiki was especialized on picking up rumors from everywhere. He was basically an important intelligence figure between the people of the Dark Isle. Since he travelled a lot he liked to sneak into bars and spy on people from cities. It almost always turned out to be productive if you knew where to look for information.

Daiki looked at the fox, it apparently had two tails. Then Karasu mentioned something about another recruit, if Daiki was right and was informed well by the DIA agents the guy was called Stephan Little. He looked at the metallic pole with the sign of the flag, the Dark Isle Assasins symbol that would be branded forever in his skin. Daiki knew that they were going to get a mark, but he had no idea it was going to be this way, neither in this moment. He decided to greet the newcomer before offering himself to be the first one branded.

"Hello, my name is Daiki Shikuro. I'm the First Mate of the Dark Isle Assasins. Nice to meet you." -Daiki said with a faint smile. He turned to his captain and set his eyes on the pole, then back to Karasu's face. -"I'll offer myself to be the first one to be branded."

Daiki extended his right hand with the palm pointing downwards, he wanted Karasu to brand him there. Somewhere where he could easily show it and as he identified himself with this crew, it wasn't a problem. If he had to do any infiltration mission he could always wear gloves.

Karasu watched as both Doku and Daiki talked to the young fox, or what Karasu assumed to be young. He didn't know much about how the relationship between would grow, or how the trust would build between them.. he didn't know if it would be weak or strong. Doku seemed the most interested in the fox, the change in Doku has still put Karasu on his edge.. the change was so sudden, it almost scared Karasu. The change was sudden, but it was definitely a positive one. Doku was a very powerful assassin in his crew, and was found as the king of his own island.. that Kenjiro, he had a very unique gene.

Karasu took out his metal pole, the end already cooled down a bit but was still with steam coming out of it. Karasu pointed it towards the backhand of Daiki and stabbed it with the DIA mark, putting the insignia/brand on his skin.. permanently. Daiki had accepted the title of DIA as a life choice, and above all volunteered to be the first. A hidden tear was formed inside Karasu, he was proud of his first mate.. he had grown a lot since the day they had met. Once the pole was removed, a burned DIA flag was scarred into his tissue.

Karasu then looked at Doku, he put the pole close to the ground.. the sand was already reacting to the heat. The sands were steaming under the pole, without contact the flag of DIA was barely visible.. but still there. Karasu didn't know how much pain Daiki was in, but he knew his insignia made him officially part of the DIA. Now it was Doku's turn, and the part of the DIA that had not showed themselves.

10 minutes were left before Karasu would probably think of some new.. 'exercises' for those that were late, along with the hotter pole then usual.. he started to wonder how many magma bullets he would add to the pole before it would burn right through their bones, he didn't want them to die after all.

the fox looked up and was suprised when a man named doku came down to his eye level and told him his name, the fox stared a bit and then moved his mouth, the orangey haiirs on his body were slowly moving in the breeze of the wind he then said ''nice to meet you Doku-san'' the fox said in a polite way, his paw moved over his head and he scratched it ''you can call me kitsune, or whatver you wish too call me'' he said not really caring how people called him.

after a few secconds another person arrived in front of him it was the crews first mate, his name was daiki ''nice to meet you'' the fox said knowing that the first mate already had his name but wanting to be polite so he said the same thing he said to doku, a bit ago ''you can call me kitsune, or whatever you want to call me,'' Then after that the man daiki was to be branded first

the fox watched how he got branded by the hot metal pole, he was suprised that this happend and happy he didn;'t had to be branded he didnt want to walk with something on his body, he couldn't trick people easy that way , he stared at karasu waiting for the others to be branded

Sakura was sitting in her boat, rowing towards the island where she was meant to meet the crew. Sakura had left Dark Island with a raft, but somewhere along the way, it seems she had managed to upgrade into a small boat. When the boat, came to a halt as it hit the shore. Looking about she saw other boats here. She smiled, looking to the other side of the shore. There she saw two of her fellow crew members, captain Karasu and a strange fox with two tails. Sakura walked over to join them and smiled as she spoke to Karasu;
"I'm here."

Stephan Little sat in a small, dingy type boat, using his wind manipulation powers to propel it forward. It had been a week or two since he had been inducted in to this organization, and Stephan had originally been against it. However, once hearing the he barely had to work with people at all, Stephan had been all for the job offering. He could now see the island he was supposed to arrive at close by. He then sped the boat up so he could reach it quickly. He was a bit anxious, not knowing what to expect from this meeting. He assumed he would just be getting his first assignment, but had a bit of a hunch there would be more. As the island was in a fifty foot range, Stephan shot himself off the boat and landed on the island in one movement. It was being able to show off like that which made his devils fruit powers so awesome. As he landed on shore he noticed other boats, as well as people near him. He assumed them to be his crew and walked over. He saw a a few men, one with a pole in his hand, and a fox.

"Uh, Hi. I'm Stephan" He said, looking at his fellow assassins.

The skin below the metal pole seemed to be repelled by the heat before it could be touched, like a leaf that starts to crample up when it's close to heat, but then contact happened. The pain was undescribable... it was to much to be put in words. But Daiki didn't show it, the pain was in the brain, he always told his own, and that is what he was practicing. Daiki didn't change his usual pokerface in the process of branding, and when Karasu finally took it from his skin, he felt as if his skin was lifted and sticked to the pole. That pain was the worst one.

The symbol of the crew had been burned on to Daiki's right hand forever. He was proud of being part of this crew, and that's why he didnt care when his hand started to drip some blood. When he noticed, he made some soft clay in his left hand and put it on the wound. Clay was believed to be able to scar wounds in some parts of the world, Daiki just thought it was useful to relieve the pain.

"Thank you, Captain." -Daiki told Karasu and smiled. He didnt even complain for the pain.-"Oh look, there comes Sakura."

He said the last thing when he saw Sakura's boat hit the island. She had managed to get here on time, fortunately. Then the new recruit showed up. The guy called Stephan Little introduced himself to the crew and saluted.

"Good Morning, Sakura. I hope you had a good journey" -Daiki said with a smile faintly drawn in his lips. -"Welcome to the crew, Stephan. I'm Daiki Shikuro, the First Mate of the crew."

Just as Karasu had finished branding Daiki, and moved on to Doku two new faces had arrived on the island. Daiki seemed to be the most polite out of the crew at the moment, he had easily handled the situation of the new rivals with a smile.. his poker-face had definitely gotten better over the period of time he'd been away.

Stephan was definitely a new face for Karasu, he had no idea he'd be a wind type user.. which was obviously something Karasu might need to use in the future. Along with Doku's reports, all Karasu could figure out from them is this assassin's name.. and his reputation for sneaking into places. He was another exceptional assassin Karasu might need in the near future, especially for sneak and kill missions. Stephan and Kitsune already seemed like the perfect new recruits to their cause.

Sakura had also arrived, only this time she had arrived right in the nick of time.. only a few minutes from being late. Stephan had arrived shortly after, but was except since this was his first mission/assignment. She was one of the original members of the crew, and Karasu knew he had to train her in the future.. or at least make sure she was on par with everyone else. First, she had to use the rokushiki she knows and turn them into her own techniques.

Karasu watched his crew, although kept his pride to himself.. he knew he had the perfect blend of assassins, and what he planned to do with them.. he planned to change the world.

He interrupted his own private thoughts, and put the metal pole forward.. pointing at the space between Stephan and Sakura.. Doku seemed like he'd be willing to wait, since he was talking to the fox.

"Stephan and Sakura, come here so I may brand both ofyou with the Dark Isle Assassins mark, scarring our flag into the body part you choose.. Daiki chose his his right forehand, a logical choice for the right hand of my organization.. the rest of you may choose another spot, I'll brand you there."

Karasu, of course, waited until the others had finished talking before interrupting with the matter at hand. Karasu would give them the mission, or assignment, after the branding had finished. The metal pole was a little less hot then it was with Daiki, having cooled down a bit after the first burned mark.

"Take your time deciding who goes first.. the assignment comes after everyone, including me, is branded."

Stephan saw a man address a women near him as Sakura, he then took a mental note of the name and face. The man then introduced him self as being named Daiki, the first mate in the crew.

"Hello Daiki, thank you for the warm welcome." Stephan said rather unemotionally.

He then turned his attention to the man holding the pole, who began to speak to Sakura and himself. It was, after he spoke, immediately apparent that the man was the captain of the crew. It was also apparent that he was holding a branding iron that would be used to put the crews ownership on him, permanently. This didn't really bother him, as he had felt way more pain then simply being burned and withstood it quite well. Now the question was where he would be branded. If he was an assassin he wouldn't want it somewhere that would draw attention to him, so somewhere usually covered by clothing. He then began to think, and, the most logical place was on his stomach. He then looked at his captain.

"I would like to be branded on my stomach" he said, lifting up his shirt and pointing to his lower chest.

Sakura smiled at Stephan, who she had heard his name for the first time just this moment. He seemed nice, but that could be facade. Karasu talk about branding them. Well, this was definitely going to hurt. Might aswell choose a spot though. Sakura lifted her top up very slightly, so not to embarrass herself, and pointed to the right-side of her lower belly;
"I would like to have it here, and if possible, I would like to receive mine before Stephan, not only because I want to get it over quickly, but I believe that I joined the crew after just after Daiki, so it would be a nice order."
After finishing, Sakura finished and smiled at Karasu.

Karasu looked at Sakura, it was amazing that she would even ask to go first.. well it was definitely note worthy. Sakura had matured a bit since the last time he met her, all those months ago. Stephan asked before Sakura, but she did have a point.. and it was her request. Stephan, Karasu made a note off, wanted it in his stomach, a location closer to the middle of the torso region.. and just on the upper abs, if Karasu remembered correctly. Sakura, in the other hand, wanted it a bit on the right side of the bottom of her stomach. Karasu assumed she meant the bottom of her abs, and looked at where she was pointing before he confirmed her location.

Karasu took out his metal pole, the fire calming down.. but bits of magma were still falling to the ground. It was a wonder to Karasu why Daiki had volunteered to go first.. although he had a hunch that pain wasn't as important to him as what the pain represents. Karasu looked at Sakura for a moment, hoping to confirm what she had just asked, and plunged the heated pole on her skin.. permanently burning the skin with the DIA mark. Karasu couldn't help but smile, the pole was less hot.. but the immense pain the pole would create was very easily the worst any person with a normal life would feel in his life time.

"Very well Sakura, ask Daiki to help your wound.. and the mark will permanently mark your skin when it finishes healing."

Karasu then looked at Stephan, putting the metal poll in his direction, while at the same time keeping eye contact with Sakura to assure she was alright.

"Stephan, sorry for the wait.. are you ready for your Mark? And before I forget, you may call me Karasu.. the currently unknown shichibukai." Karasu looked at the Fox behind him, having remembered he forgot to have mentioned that one small piece of important information.. his old habits of keeping secrets have gotten the best of him. He tried to focus back on Stephan. Half of his mind a bit worried about Sakura, but trying not to show it to the crew.

"So, do you think you can handle the pain in your stomach?"

Doku smiled "Alright Kit-Kun." Doku said kindly. Doku watched as the others got branded and yawned "Lucky little fox, don't need a branding eh?" he said with a chuckle.

Stephan saw Sakura begin to speak, and heard her say she wanted to be branded before him. This didn't really matter to Stephan, so he kept quite as she was branded. The man with the pole then turned to Stephan, and confirmed his suspicions that he was the captain and a shikibuki. He also revealed his name to be Karasu. Stephan then heard Karasu's question.

"Yeah, I'm sure I will," he said. "I've had worse for longer and still held up."

He then lifted his shirt again, and began to get ready for the pain.

Karasu did not hold back with the amount of force he pushed against Stephan's skin. It was possible that if he made one wrong move, the flag would come out wrong.. and that would mean a second burn on top of the burn that was already open. Karasu plunged the metal pole into the skin of Stephan, remaining a bit intrigued at how he would handle the pain. Everyone whom felt this burn would feel the immense pain rushing through them, however.. it was how they dealt with the pain that showed their character.

Karasu swiftly took the metal pole out of the skin after a few seconds, the fire that was once on the end of the pole was gone.. the pain was much less then what Daiki felt, but it was still hot enough to leave a mark.. and it was still painful to feel. Now with most of the crew finished, there seemed to be only one person left without the mark of the Dark Isle Assassins.. Doku.

Karasu looked at him as he was talking to the fox, but not before nodding at the injury Karasu had put on Stephan's stomach.. it seemed like he had chose an area very easily hidden from the rest of the world. Karasu interrupted Doku as he was talking to the fox known as Kitsune.

"Doku.. sorry to say you're next, after you I'll brand myself.. choose another spot around your body, and I will plant this heated metal pole on that area. Choose wisely.. for the effects are permanent."

Karasu then looked at Doku, waiting for the response that would ultimately lead to the scar of his lifetime.

Doku walked up and unbuttoned his shirt. He pointed to his chest over where his heart is. "This crew has given me it's all and a new meaning of life. I figure with it being close to my heart thats where my mark should be." Doku explained.

Karasu nodded, a smile creeping up against his face. He did not know the guild meant so much to Doku, and his choice of spot for the DIA signal was very symbolic.. Karasu knew he must've meant what he said. He had little idea what the other areas of the assassins meant, other then Daiki and Doku, but he did know that this signal was very straight forward.. and Karasu liked how symbolic it was.

Karasu placed the heated metal pole on the skin of Doku, aiming precisely at the mans left chest (anatomical position). The pain a normal man would feel from the burn would probably make them pass out, but Karasu knew his assassins.. and he knew most of them have been through much worse pain and survived. Doku's skin will now be permanently marked with the signal of the Dark Isle Assassins; the Flag with the skull and pistol crossbones is now permanently burned into each of his members skins.. some in areas Karasu was confused about, and others in areas he could understand completely.

He took out his pistol again and shot magma at the pole, heating the end of it up once more.. the same degree Daiki had to stand. Fire could be seen leaving the edge, Karasu didn't bother waiting and positioned himself.

Now it was Karasus turn. After taking off the pole from Doku's skin Karasu placed the pole in a weird position, making the end of the pole in the direction of his back.. he was in the same position someone would be in when that person tries to scratch their back with a backscratcher. He then placed the pole a bit more straight, forcing his arm to slightly bend in the direction he needed it to go.. it would probably hurt the next day, but it was worth the outcome. Karasu then forced the flaming metal pole into his own skin, hitting it right on the back of his spinal cord.. between both of his scapula bones (The bumps on your back that move along with your arm). What this signified was something Karasu had to tell to the crew.. to show the same dedication Doku had as well.

"This signal was placed right on my spinal cord, DIA is my existence.. and it is what I believe allows me to live."

Karasu took a deep breath, and stopped what could have been a speech. He still needed to get his old mission across. Karasu placed the pole on the sand, causing the tiny area around the pole to turn into glass. Karasu continued talking to the crew. This time his talk would be about something completely different.

"Some of you might not know this, but we have an intense mission ahead of us.. we have to help Anubis for a future battle I plan on having. We need his cooperation in order for our attack to be successful.. he'll be our ally in the future, but first we'll have to do a favor for him. I've gotten word that he is in the New World conquering territory, his direct whereabouts are unknown.. but it's nothing we can't handle, the real worry is what we'll find when we reach the New World and assist Anubis. Once we reach the location, it's likely we'll be hired as Assassins and sent to Kill an enemy, this can only be verified with our occupation at the moment.. I doubt he'd want us to do anything but what we're good at, and remembering Anubis I would think he would accept our help if it made his job easier."

Karasu looked at the crew again, then placed his index finger and thumb on his eyes, like someone that had just woken up. He had just realized that too much talking would very easily confuse anyone, so he tried to summarize the event in a simple way.. without the edges he could cut off.

"In short, we are going on a mission we don't know about, what you do need to know is that this is the first mission that I require all Dark Isle Assassins to attend to, we'll finish the mission and then ask Anubis for his help.. when we do arrive in the New World it's likely we'll have his coordinates and find him eventually."

Karasu looked through his thoughts to make sure his speech had said the gist of it, he checked off everything he could think off and confirmed the basics, now he had to make sure the crew understood their situation.

"Is there any questions before I give you each your part in the assignment?"

Doku winced a bit, it was about the same degree of pain Kenjiro put him through. He wanted Doku to be able to withstand burning pain but you can never really tone that kinda pain out. He smiled seeing the symbol above his heart on his chest and walked back. As he listened to Karasu speak and finish he spoke up.

"I got one Karasu...Will there be strong people to battle?" Doku asked with a grin. He had grown bored of waiting for Karasu to give him missions and found training to have gotten boring when well...When no one screams or bleeds. So the idea of battling strong opponents was like a dream come true for the young man.

As the rod hit his chest Stephan braced himself for pain. He let out a slight grunt but stayed silent and still for the rest of it. After the rod left his chest, he looked at the mark it had made. The mark came out clean, which was a pleasant surprise.

"Nice," he said, looking at the mark. He then heard Karasu ask if he had any questions. "Yeah, will I have a partner for my mission?"

Daiki formed some clay in his hand and made it move through the air towards Sakura's wounds. He didn't know if it would cure it, but it will surely relieve the pain for now. He watched Stephan and Doku get branded after that. After that, only Karasu was left to be branded. Daiki would have wanted to help his captain brand himself, but he knew that it could be taken as a symbol of someone of a lower rank branding a higher rank one. Karasu had put the metal pole in magma again, so that it was as hot as when Daiki had taken it on his skin.

Daiki liked very much the spot where he had branded himself. It symbolized he being the First Mate, the right hand, and it was something he was proud of. His captain bent into a weird position and pushed the pole towards his Spinal Cord... Daiki was about to say it could be dangerous for himself, but it was not the moment to interrupt such a ceremony. Daiki was moved inside by the words his captain pronounced, that DIA was his life, what allowed him to live.

Then Karasu went on to announcing that they had a mission in the new world. Daiki hoped that this time he would be able to work with his own captain... even tho they had mostly worked as equals when administrating the crew, the truth was that they had never fought together against a strong opponent. Apparently Yonkou Anubis needed their help for something... but he didn't know why. Daiki liked how that sounded, so mysterious...

"Great Captain." -Daiki said and smiled. -"As long as all the crew is together, nothing can happen to us."

He didn't have any question.