Chapter 155: Do Something, Stop It!
—
“Man, flying is boring as fuck,” Clone-rama grumbled with a loud sigh.
Although it was fun in the beginning, since this was the first time he took such a long flight, playing with the birds in the high sky and even seeing a few Sky Islands in the distance, it got boring real soon. Boring, and tedious. 20 hours of continuous anything would be tedious.
The good thing was that the Alabasta capital city, Alubarna was right beneath him.
He could see the grand castle of the Alabasta Royal Family down there; it hadn’t changed since he last saw it a couple of months ago. However, it has changed a lot since he first came to this kingdom as a kid. Alabasta is a powerhouse of a country now, with a booming economy unmatched by any other kingdom in the entire world.
It was actually advanced enough to stop attacks from the air, too. His Observation Haki had warned him of a few dozen missiles pointed at him right at this moment, they could fire at a moment’s notice. It didn’t, of course, since his identity was known and trusted by the royals of this country.
Automation missiles weren’t the only air defense Alabasta had, as proved by the man-sized falcon who was flying toward him, wearing white robes.
Pell, one of the two head guards of Alabasta, came to a stop in front of Hashirama in his falcon Zoan hybrid form. “It has been a while, Hashirama. I hope your arrival was uninterrupted,” he said, any tone of disapproval that a royal guard should have toward the kidnapper of their princess nonexistent.
The country owed him too much to be truly mad at him for playfully running off with his lover in search of adventure.
“Truly, been a while, Pell,” Hashirama said and punched him in the face, something the guard dodged with trained reflexes. “Don’t greet a terrorist so respectfully. Fight a little.”
“Oh, come on,” Pell let out a sigh. As one of the traumatized guards who were trained by Hashirama, he knew he was about to receive a beating for no reason.
After the little aerial skirmish where Hashirama noted that Pell had improved, he hadn’t been slacking off, so he allowed Pell to take him to the royal castle.
* * *
Nefertari Titi knew that Hashirama must have so many people he’d want to meet, he’s been away from Alabasta for months, after all. That’s why she notified Pell beforehand to pick him up from the air so that he doesn’t get distracted.
She was sitting inside a gazebo located in the royal garden, sipping tea beside her dear husband, as they waited for Hashirama to come. By the time he did come, the night was already descending. The sky was painted orange, when Pell came with Hashirama by his side, the two of them landed outside the tea house and kneeled.
“Your Royal Highnesses, I have brought him,” Pell said with his head lowered.
“Hey Aunty,” Hashirama greeted lightly, “and Uncle.”
The King of Alabasta was clearly happy seeing him, smiling a little but quickly cleared his throat to wear a mask of cold anger. “It’s ‘your royal highness’ for you, brat.”
“Yeah sure thing, uncle,” Hashirama stood up, walking into the gazebo and picking up the third, conveniently kept tea cup on the table. It was also conveniently an iced lemon tea as if they knew any hot tea would be cold by the time he’d be here. There was even an empty chair, for which he wondered. Indeed, both the chair and the cup were meant for him.
King Cobra exchanged glances with his wife, shaking his head with laughter. Titi was frowning, slightly mad that he was showing zero respect to them after causing the scenes that he’s been causing recently. Right in front of Pell too, no less.
She looked at Pell and said, “You may leave.” and the royal guard flew away as if he couldn’t have fled any faster.
She stood up and pulled him by the ear, “Aw! I’m drinking, what the hell?!”
He nearly spilled the tea, but she didn’t stop pulling his ear. “Be more respectful to your King and Queen, will you, brat?”
“What a rude old lady,” he solidified his ear by turning it into wood, and said. She blinked, feeling his solid ear, and frowned. “What? I wasn’t gonna just take it.”
“What a disobedient little brat,” she said and released his ear, taking back her seat. She was unwilling to wound her image by going further. Her behavior was cute, but that dress… it made her appear a bit too hot for her age.
[Image Here]
