As dusk arrived, the last rays of the New World sun were slowly swallowed by the night. Inside Scarlett's bedroom in the Dressrosa Royal Palace, the oil lamps on the wall had been lit, casting a warm, dim glow.
Scarlett had just finished her sword lessons; her face was flushed, the pink T-shirt she wore was soaked with sweat, and the pink athletic shorts on her lower body outlined her perfect hip curves, making her look like a ripe peach. The pink-haired girl opened her wardrobe and took out a light blue long dress. Her hand, holding the hanger, couldn't help but tremble from the ache and exhaustion.
Her sword instructor was the only female Sword Master in the Dressrosa Kingdom. If she hadn't come directly and pleaded, and if the other party hadn't reluctantly agreed because she was the prospective heir to the Kingdom, she would not have agreed to teach someone with no foundation in swordsmanship whatsoever. After the incident in front of the Royal Palace and the kidnapping onto the pirate ship last time, Scarlett was keenly aware of her own helplessness and weakness. If Sephiroth hadn't appeared in time, she dared not imagine the suffering she would have endured... Therefore, she wanted to make herself stronger! At the very least, she wanted to be able to protect herself and not be easily captured by others...
Swish! A thin red line suddenly appeared in the room, and the ripples of space began to fold and compress on both sides, forming a spatial gate two and a half meters high. Sephiroth, carrying a box in his hand, stepped across the threshold and walked out from the light green world within the door.
As he sheathed his Butcher's Blade, the folding air-door behind him quickly flattened out. Finally, it completely closed back to its original form, no trace left to indicate that the space there had ever been torn.
"Sephiroth!" Scarlett's face was filled with joy, and she hurried forward a few steps, wanting to throw herself into his embrace, but then she remembered she was sweating and her body was sticky. So, the pink-haired girl stopped right in front of him, a shy smile blossoming on her lips. She truly hadn't expected the silver-haired youth to reappear before her so soon, a mix of longing and surprise.
Sephiroth seemed to understand Scarlett's current hesitation. A gentle smile appeared on his face, and he extended his right hand, pulling her into his arms, and lowered his head to kiss her...
"Don't...!" Scarlett noticed Sephiroth's right hand, which was placed on her back, slowly descending, its movements growing increasingly restless. She immediately raised her hands to stop him, gripping his wrist. "I'm drenched in sweat... First... first, I'll take a bath..."
"Let's bathe together!" Sephiroth teased, a mischievous smile on his lips.
"Hmm~!"
Click! Violet opened the door, poked her head in, and said with a grin: "Sister, let's bathe together!"
"..." Both Sephiroth and Scarlett fell silent, their faces slightly flushed in surprise.
Sephiroth's expression showed a hint of helplessness. He sighed softly, took half a step back, and released the pink-haired girl with his right hand. "Go on! I'll wait for you here."
"Oh~!" Scarlett's beautiful face flushed slightly, a mixture of embarrassment and joy. She nodded gently in agreement, turned, took a set of white underwear from the wardrobe, and left the bedroom with her sister, leaving Sephiroth alone.
Having nothing else to do, Sephiroth leaned back on the long sofa, placing the suitcase he was carrying beside him. He casually picked up a cup and teapot from the table, poured himself a cup of rose tea, and while slowly savoring the tea's flavor, he gazed at the gradually darkening sky...
About an hour later, Scarlett, wearing a long blue dress and her waist-length pink hair half-wet and cascading over her shoulders, pushed the bedroom door open and entered. The scent of soap and flowers wafted from her, freshening the room's atmosphere.
"Sorry! I made you wait..."
"It's fine." Sephiroth smiled. He didn't really care about such small things, his eyes full of warmth.
"It's almost time for dinner... Yesterday, Mother also just returned from her visit. How about you go see her...?"
The pink-haired girl smoothed the hem of her blue long dress before sitting beside the silver-haired youth. Freshly bathed, her body emitted a faint floral scent, and her skin was bright with a reddish glow, making her appear incredibly cute, as if just bloomed.
"Alright! No problem... I also want to give you this to eat." As he spoke, Sephiroth placed the suitcase beside him onto the table, opened it, and revealed a gray square-shaped fruit covered in spiral patterns... the Ishi Ishi no Mi!
"This... a Devil Fruit?" Scarlett's face showed shock, her small mouth slightly agape in an 'O' shape. As a princess of a country, she naturally knew about the existence and value of Devil Fruits. Moreover, her younger sister, Violet, had once accidentally eaten the Giro Giro no Mi, a super-sight Paramecia type, and gained extraordinary abilities...
"Sephiroth... are you really... going to give me this precious Devil Fruit to eat...?" Her eyes widened, disbelieving.
"Of course... Because I don't want you to fall into danger again, I want you to gain the power to protect yourself. This Ishi Ishi no Mi, upon eating it, allows you to assimilate with stone..."
The Ishi Ishi no Mi, a Paramecia type, was very similar to the Go Go no Mi. In normal circumstances, its power was limited; it needed to rely on a large amount of assimilated material or terrain advantage to exert its maximum power.
Logically, if Sephiroth directly gave the Yuki Yuki no Mi, a Logia type, to Scarlett, it would instantly raise the girl's power level and grant her certain self-protective abilities! However... the Yuki Yuki no Mi was indeed good, but its power among Logia types could only be considered middle to low tier, and it also had a weakness to fire. In other words, besides Busoshoku Haki, fire attacks could also injure its user! Busoshoku Haki and fire attacks were techniques that anyone with a bit of strength in the New World would know one or two of.
In contrast, eating the Ishi Ishi no Mi directly granted the power and properties of stone, and the user could move freely within stone, which could be called pseudo-elementalization! Furthermore, the most crucial point was... Within the Dressrosa Kingdom, there were countless stones, and even the coastline was surrounded by thick layers of mushroom rocks... Therefore, the geographical environment of this country allowed the Ishi Ishi no Mi to exert its maximum power! Not to mention far off, just look at the Dressrosa Royal Palace beneath their feet, which was built of stone. As long as Scarlett developed and trained the Ishi Ishi no Mi a bit, she would be able to move freely throughout the stone palace and create weapons to attack intruders, while ordinary conventional weapons would find it difficult to harm her!
If she wrapped Haki around the stones... Forget it! That's thinking too far ahead, and it's clearly not very practical for Scarlett right now.
After hearing the introduction of this Devil Fruit's ability, an expression of hesitation couldn't help but appear on the pink-haired girl's face. She knew very well that the Ishi Ishi no Mi's ability was not weak, and it could exert extraordinary effects in the Dressrosa Kingdom. But precisely because of this, she seemed hesitant; this favor was too great!
"This fruit is so powerful... If it were auctioned, it would fetch at least a billion Beli..." Scarlett whispered, her eyes wide. "Are you really... going to give such a valuable item to me?" Scarlett subconsciously emphasized it again. In her heart, she hoped the youth would change his mind, but she was also somewhat reluctant; she also wanted to become stronger, able to stand by his side.
Hearing that, Sephiroth reached out and stroked the pink-haired girl's head. He said with a smile: "In my opinion, giving it to you is the best choice."
"Thank you!" Scarlett was overjoyed, and her face was filled with a happy smile. She took the fruit, peeled its skin, and bit into it...
The next moment. The utterly disgusting taste turned the pink-haired girl's entire face green, and she almost vomited on the spot.
"Aduh~!" After forcing herself to swallow the pulp, Scarlett couldn't help but complain: "It tastes so bad!"
"Eat it all! I hear it's good for developing the fruit's power..." Sephiroth suggested, though he knew the taste must be awful.
"Ah!?" Scarlett stared at the Devil Fruit in her hand, which she had bitten, and a slight look of disgust flickered in her eyes, her internal struggle evident. However... She finally forced herself to suppress the nausea and ate the entire fruit, both for the power it promised and for her own self-protection.