"Treasure… all of it…" Argento muttered, stepping inside, eyes darting from chest to chest. "Devil Fruits… gold… relics… it's all here!"
Veyra followed, her small feet barely making a sound on the stone floor. "Just… ours?" she asked, voice trembling between awe and fear.
Argento's grin was wild, almost manic. "Yes… ours. Whatever it takes, we claim it. Together."
The vault was a cavern of glittering wealth. Nine massive chests were spread across the room, each overflowing with treasure, gold chains, jewel-encrusted necklaces, glittering rings, and gemstones of every imaginable color piled high. Light from the torches danced across the surfaces, casting sparks that made the room feel alive with wealth.
Argento's eyes roamed over the piles of riches, heart hammering. Gold and jewels weren't the prize that mattered most, not here. Somewhere among the glittering trove lay the true treasures: the Devil Fruits.
Veyra's small hand brushed against a necklace, her eyes wide as they reflected the gleam. "It's… beautiful," she whispered.
Argento nodded, a wild grin tugging at his lips. "Yes… but we're not here for beauty. We're here for power. Let's find what matters."
Argento's pulse pounded in his ears as he and Veyra approached the chests. The air was thick with the scent of aged wood and metal, mingled with the faint, sweet tang of gemstones. Every step they took echoed slightly, each creak a reminder that they were not alone.
They hesitated at the first chest, lifting the heavy lid to reveal layers of gold, rings, and necklaces, the jewels catching the torchlight and scattering it across the walls. "Nothing yet," Argento muttered, running a hand through the pile, careful not to disturb it too much.
They moved chest by chest, each one heavier, each one more ornate than the last. The treasure dazzled, but the tension in the air coiled tighter around them with every heartbeat. Argento's gaze flicked to the corridor entrance, every shadow there a potential threat.
Then, in the ninth chest, something different caught his eye. A swirl of grey and white, smaller than a melon but glowing with an unnatural energy, nestled atop the gold. He froze. His breath caught.
"A… a Devil Fruit," he whispered, his voice barely audible. Veyra's eyes went wide as she leaned closer. The fruit pulsed softly, as if alive, radiating power that hummed in the silence.
Argento's hand hovered over it, trembling with anticipation and fear. The air seemed to thrum, the silence pressing against their eardrums. Then, a faint sound from the corridor. A shuffle, soft but deliberate. Someone, or something, was coming.
"We have to hurry," Argento hissed, grabbing the Devil Fruit carefully. "Veyra… stay close."
Argento clenched the fruit in his hands. "Let's move," he breathed, a fire sparking in his chest. "We've got it… now we just have to get out alive."
Argento froze as the footsteps grew heavier, echoing off the cold stone walls. The sound wasn't hurried like a Marine patrol or cruel like a Celestial Dragon's entourage, it was panicked and childish, each step closer, the more he heard.
"Another set of voices echoed down the corridor, sharper, animated, two of them. One deep, deliberate, the other flamboyant, incredulous, and loud enough to make the vault door shudder.
The door swung wider. Two kids stepped into the vault, one tall for his age, serious, with dark eyes The other was shorter, with wild lavender hair and an oversized coat that clearly didn't fit him.
"Focus, Ivankov," Kuma said evenly, his deep voice carrying calm authority even amidst the chaos. "We're not here for the gold, we are here to get something to escape with"
Ivankov clicked their tongue, striding past him and planting both hands on their hips. "Ceheheheh! Oh, I know that, Kuma! But come on" they waved at the open chests glittering with jewels and crowns "you can't tell me this doesn't make your heart skip a beat!"
Bartholomew Kuma and Emporio Ivankov.
Argento's pulse spiked. He didn't know how he knew their names, only that he did.
Kuma's eyes swept over the chests, calm and calculating, far too serious for his years. "They said the nobles were hoarding something special here. Not gold. Something… different."
Ivankov crossed his arms, nose wrinkling. "Heh! If it's food, I call dibs. We haven't eaten since the docks, and I'm starving!"
Kuma didn't answer. His gaze fixed on a small wooden box tucked half-buried beneath a pile of coins. Unlike the others, it wasn't lavish, no gold inlay, no jewels, but it hummed, faintly, with an energy that made the air shimmer.
He reached down, pushed aside the coins, and lifted the lid.
Inside sat a strange, paw-shaped fruit, its surface swirling with impossible symbols, a faint pink hue glowing under the torchlight.
Ivankov leaned in, his big eyes widening. "What the hell is that? Some kind of weird melon?"
Kuma studied it quietly, then murmured, "A Devil Fruit."
Kuma didn't reply. His large hand hovered above the fruit, fingers trembling slightly, as though he could feel the hum of power through the air itself. "This one… feels different," he murmured, his deep voice low, thoughtful.
Argento watched from behind the chest, frozen. His pulse thudded in his throat. The Paw-Paw Fruit. Even from his fragmented memories, he knew that name. Knew what it meant. Kuma. The man who saves them.
He didn't dare move. Even breathing felt like betrayal.
Kuma finally exhaled, setting the chest's lid down slowly. "Not yet," he said, his voice firm, certain. "A power like this shouldn't be taken… not unless it's to protect someone."
"They're breaching the lower floors," Kuma said, his voice tightening. "We need to go."
Ivankov gritted his teeth. "Tch! I hate this island."
They turned to leave, but before stepping out, Kuma paused. His gaze shifted, slow and steady, toward the shadowed alcove behind the chest.
Argento's blood turned to ice.
The boy's eyes, calm, heavy, and ancient beyond his years, met his own.
For one impossible heartbeat, neither moved.
Then Kuma spoke, quiet but absolute."Get out. Before the storm reaches you."
He turned, the chest closing with a soft click, and together, Kuma and Ivankov vanished into the corridor, back into the chaos of God Valley.
Argento stood frozen, the weight of the Devil Fruit still in his trembling hands. Veyra clung to his arm, her small voice breaking the silence.
"Argento… who were they?"
He swallowed hard, forcing the words out through a dry throat
"Hurry After Them!" Argento pulled Veyra with him as they ran after the two other children. Had they stayed for 2 more minutes they would've ran into Charlotte Linlin and Kaido.