Chapter 20 by Cross C

What's next?

Fishing For Answers

The afternoon sun hammered down on the deck, reflecting off the mirror-flat surface of the sea as I sat by the mast, staring at the limp sail with a feeling of absolute, hollowed-out exhaustion.

We hadn't moved in hours.

For the past day we’d been trapped in one of those stupid little dead zones sailors talked about like they were ghosts, a Calm Bubble. Not the real Calm Belts out bracketing the Grand Line, nothing that dramatic. Just a pocket of nothing that formed, lingered, and vanished whenever it felt like it. A natural prank the sea played when it got bored.

And since we couldn't sail, we had done the only other thing available to kill time.

For four hours.

Straight.

I was utterly drained. Wrung out. I had emptied my balls seven times in a row, to the point where I was pretty sure the last two were just puffs of air and good intentions. My lust was gone. Obliterated. I just wanted a sandwich and a nap.

Alvida, on the other hand?

She was currently lounging on the deck, completely naked, arms behind her head, looking like a cat that had just devoured an entire aviary.

She was in that rare, strange state I’d started to notice recently. Apparently, the fierce "Iron Mace" Alvida had a reset button. It just took a hell of a lot of effort to press it. Somewhere around her twenty-fourth orgasm, she stopped being a demanding, biting, scratching tigress and melted into this... lazy, satisfied, oddly thoughtful lady.

I looked back at the sail. Still dead.

I tapped my fingers on the hot wood. My body was too tired to row, but my mind was bored, and the silence was getting loud.

"It’s normal for a strong tailwind to push us West."

I waited.

Nothing.

The sail hung there like a dead rag. Not a flutter.

From the deck, Alvida let out a lazy, throaty chuckle. Her body was a disaster zone, slick with sweat and coated in the evidence of our morning marathon. Her inner thighs were painted white, and her pussy was visibly swollen and well-used, still leaking the results of my seven rounds.

“You were screaming about it yesterday,” I muttered, annoyed by her amusement.

“That was yesterday,” she said, as if that explained everything.

“You’re not worried at all now?”

She shrugged, shifting her legs and giving me a full view of the mess I'd made. “These things come and go. It’ll pop sooner or later. Either way, we’re not dying. We’ve got water. And we’ve got other ways to pass the time.”

Her eyes slid toward me for a beat, expression turning sly in that way she did when she knew she was poking a bruise.

I looked away first.

That earned another soft laugh from her.

I rubbed my face and exhaled. “So I can’t make the wind normal because the wind doesn’t… agree. It doesn’t have a brain to rewrite.”

“There you go,” she said, pleased, like I’d answered correctly in a lesson she hadn’t announced. “You’re learning. Your word messes with minds. Not physics.”

I frowned, turning that over. “But people believe in wind. People have ideas about weather. Sailors have whole superstitions.”

“And you can mess with those,” she said. “You can make sailors believe it’s normal to row for miles without complaining. You can make them believe it’s normal to sit in a dead sea and laugh about it. You can make them remember ‘Calm Bubbles’ as lucky, unlucky, sacred, cursed, whatever you want.”

She lifted a hand and made a lazy circle in the air, like she was drawing the shape of the invisible trap around us.

“But you can’t talk air into moving,” she finished. “No matter how much you glare at it.”

I huffed, annoyed because she was right.

And because being right looked good on her.

I leaned back, letting the sun bake the frustration out of me. The stillness was so complete I could hear tiny details, the faint creak of wood fibers, the soft slap of the hull. It made everything feel slow and intimate, like the world had put us in a jar and screwed the lid on.

Alvida shifted again, and the motion pulled my attention back to her without permission. She wasn’t pretending we hadn’t been tangled up earlier. She wasn’t pretending there weren’t consequences to bodies doing what bodies did.

Her mouth curled.

She saw the thought forming on my face.

“That’s what’s actually got you chewing on your own brain, isn’t it,” she said. Not a question. A diagnosis. “Not the wind.”

I didn’t answer fast enough.

She sat up a little, propping herself on one elbow. Her gaze was sharp now, no longer sleepy, like she’d decided this was worth talking about. One hand drifted down, casual and unashamed, as if she was brushing away discomfort that didn’t bother her.

She scooped up a thick, glossy trail of my cum with two fingers, a mixture of rounds one through seven, turning them slightly, watching it stretch between them like she was examining a particularly interesting specimen.

She glanced at her own fingertips, then back at me, expression turning mocking again.

“Same problem,” she said, voice low with that familiar edge of amusement. “You want to say a word and make the world stop being inconvenient.”

I swallowed and kept my tone flat. “It would be nice.”

Alvida snorted. “Of course it would. But it doesn’t work like that.” She lifted her hand slightly, as if to make the point unavoidable, then flicked her gaze up to mine.

She flicked her fingers slightly, sending thick drops of my jizz into the sea.

“Anyway, you can't make the wind start pushing us along just like you couldn't make that tree into a fish,” she said, still looking at me like I was a student being **** to admit something obvious. “And just like you can't make this cum stop doing its job.”

“But what can you do with it?” she asked and I could tell she was being all teacher-y like she knew more about my power than I did.

"Like what normalities I can make to affect it?" She was pretty smart though and ten years my senior so I went along.

Alvida snorted. "Yeah, something practical, seeing as I’m currently dripping with enough of it to paint a fence." She wiped a bead of my seed off her inner thigh and flicked it into the water. "You keep yapping about how you can change things to be ‘normal’ for people... so let’s get specific. What can you change about this?"

I frowned. "You mean… what people think happens when I cum in them?"

She grinned. "Exactly. Look, you can’t change reality. Like, you can't make a woman sterile just by saying so. But you can change what people believe about it. You could make it so a whole village thinks getting knocked up has nothing to do with sex. Or you could make one island believe babies come from a handshake."

I blinked, processing that, then slowly nodded. "So… I could make people think pregnancy has nothing to do with sperm at all? Like, one island could believe babies only show up when a pirate drops them off at the dock. And another could think you only get pregnant if you eat a special fruit."

Alvida smirked. "Now you’re getting it."

I stared at her for a moment, realization slowly dawning. "You know, you might actually be the brains in this operation."

She cackled, tipping her head back. "Oh, you just figured that out? I’m the brains, the brawn, and the beauty. Meanwhile, you?"

She nodded at my dick, making that same joke again. That had always been her thing, hearing herself speak, though usually she had more peons to spout her lines too.

I scowled, rubbing my chin. "I dunno. I think my power’s pretty good for brains too."

Alvida rolled her eyes. "You’re good at figuring out how to use it after I explain it to you." She gestured broadly. "Like, seriously, this should’ve been obvious. What’s normal isn’t about facts, it’s about what people agree is true. You can’t make cum stop being cum, but you can make people believe it’s just a massage oil. Or holy water. Or pirate treasure."

She chuckled at the image.

I blinked. "Wait. If I made it normal that people think my cum is valuable…"

Alvida’s mirth died immediately.

She snapped her fingers at me, pointing accusingly. "Don’t even think about it, Tsujo. I am not dealing with a horde of treasure hunters trying to milk you dry."

I smirked. "Sounds like you’re just worried about competition."

She scowled, shifting her legs slightly, but the faintest pink touched her cheeks. "Shut up."

I leaned back, mulling over what she’d said.

She had a point.

My power wasn’t about altering reality itself, it was about reshaping perception.

If I was careful, I could make each island, each town, each group of people have their own different "normal" rules, rules that only I understood.

One island could think sex was just a recreational sport with no consequences.

Another could believe babies only came from a sacred ritual involving palm fronds and moonlight.

And they’d all remember it being that way forever.

The possibilities were endless. I could really test how my powers worked.

Alvida watched me closely, eyes sharp, knowing I was turning over a dozen ideas in my head.

"You could make it normal that people think your jizz doesn’t knock up anyone, though," she added, her smirk widening. "Wouldn’t that be fun? Have some surprises nine months later, let them blame some poor bastard who wasn’t even in the same room when they got stuffed."

I grunted, leaning back, stretching my arms behind my head. "Feels like a pretty reckless thing to mess with."

Alvida snorted, rolling her eyes. "What? Afraid of having a fleet of bastard kids running around? Thought you were a pirate, not a schoolteacher."

Truth be told…

That thought? That exact thought?

Had my cock twitching.

There was something deeply satisfying about the idea of knocking up women left and right, leaving my mark all over the seas, filling the world with my sons and daughters, making some other poor sap raise my kids without ever knowing.

That thrilled me.

I’d only hesitated because of some lingering social censure, some part of my old self still holding on to "common sense."

But now?

With Alvida grinning at me, totally on my wavelength?

Yeah, I admitted it.

"Oh, I love the idea," I said, flashing a grin. "I was just making sure you weren’t gonna freak out if I started stuffing every slut I see full of my kids."

Alvida burst out laughing, tossing her head back. "HAH! That’s more like it!"

She swirled her fingers through the messy proof of our earlier activities, then flicked a bit of it at me, forcing me to dodge.

"There’s the pirate in you, lover boy."

I chuckled, shaking my head and gesturing at her messy pussy "So, what do we do about this, then? Because I’ll tell you right now, we both like me finishing inside."

She stretched, sighing. "Yeah. That is a problem."

A slow, teasing smirk curled across her lips.

"You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you made it normal for women to love being cummed inside."

I arched a brow. "I didn’t. But hell, maybe someone else with this devil fruit did."

That thought sent a weird chill down my spine.

How the hell did I know everything that was "normal" hadn’t been determined by some random dude with these earrings before me?

What if someone had already been changing things for centuries?

I looked at Alvida, eyes narrowing slightly.

"What if everything we think is normal was just the work of some guy before me?"

Alvida snorted. "Would explain a lot, honestly. There's some real weird shit going on in this world of ours."

I exhaled, shaking my head and getting back on topic. "Maybe I should just make it normal for you not to like it."

Alvida immediately shook her head, sitting up straighter, her expression serious.

"No, that’s a bad idea."

I frowned. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Think about it. What, I’m supposed to love getting fucked, love how you stretch me out, love how you ruin me, but then hate the hot, sticky evidence that proves you can’t get enough of me, blasting my pussy? That’s stupid."

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, eyes locking onto mine.

"No, we just need to get some birth control."

I wrinkled my nose, unimpressed. "What, like condoms?"

She barked a laugh.

"Like regular islands are gonna stock your size, lover boy." She gestured vaguely at my lap, where my package sat comfortably in my loose pants. "We’re talking herbs, potions, pills."

I scratched my chin. "You think that stuff actually works?"

She smirked, sliding her fingers between her legs again, lazily tracing over the mess I’d left inside her.

"Guess we’ll find out. But I’m not wasting this body on brats just yet. So, next island we stop at, we’re finding something that’ll keep me from getting knocked up."

I tilted my head, considering. "Well, I could make it usual", I carefully avoided using the actual word, "that any woman would happily take my baby and raise it as their own…"

Her expression immediately flattened.

"Yeah, great idea, dumbass. And I’d still have to lug the little bastard around in my belly for nine months."

Okay. Fair point.

I frowned, tapping my chin. "Alright, so I just need to be more specific. Like… ‘It’s usual that any woman who carries my baby feels no inconvenience at all and loves every second of it.’"

Her eyes immediately narrowed, her thighs tensing slightly, like her body already knew to brace for a change before her mind had caught up.

"Watch it! That shit’ll affect me. You want a breeding-crazed woman who wants nothing more than to pop out kid after kid?"

I grinned, leaning back slightly. "Maybe, and you wouldn’t care after the fact. You’ve told me all about how you don’t even understand how your old self used to think."

She glared, shifting her weight slightly.

"Well, I’m not that bitch yet."

"Yet." I grinned wider.

She huffed, running a hand through her hair, grumbling.

"And besides, all your changes so far were barely a big deal." She gestured vaguely. "Practically stuff I was already thinking about doing anyway…"

I pointed at her, smirking. "THAT’S my power talking through your mouth, you know."

She snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, keep acting smug. Enjoy it while it lasts. But the second you try something I actually don’t like, I’ll feed your balls to the sharks."

"You literally won’t." I said casually. "You’ll let me do whatever I want. That’s my power. How’d you even react that way?"

Alvida’s smirk widened as she rolled onto her side, resting her chin in her palm, legs crossed with effortless grace.

"Because I’m not serious, dumbass." She shot me a mocking look. "The only thing I’m gonna do with your balls is kiss ‘em, suck ‘em, and drain ‘em dry."

Then she snorted, grinning wickedly.

"What, you worried your power’s failing you? Must suck to have that Devil Fruit… I’m not the least bit worried about mine."

I scoffed. "You know, you’re awfully rude for a bitch I can literally make bend over for me with one sentence."

Her entire body stiffened.

Then she turned bright fucking red.

"EXCUSE ME?!"

I had to fight back a smug laugh as realization dawned on her.

She shot to her feet, pointing an accusatory finger at me, her face a mix of outrage and something else she didn’t want to admit to.

"YOU KNOW?!"

"Yep."

"Oh, you picked up on that?" she asked loudly. "Be a dense idiot for everything else, but this you figure out?!"

I had to laugh inwardly at this little moment of delayed realization.

The oh-so-quick-on-the-uptake Alvida had somehow not noticed that her complete and total 180-degree response to me calling her a ‘good girl’ was the result of a specifically crafted Normality.

"It’s kind of obvious," I told her, acting like I had some innate sense of her inner woman instead of being the culprit who put that notion in her head.

She huffed, looking away, muttering something under her breath before finally exhaling sharply.

"Obvious, my ass."

She kicked her foot idly against the boat’s edge, looking out at the water, cheeks a little flushed, before finally admitting,

"You know… you really are a fucking pussy-whisperer. That’s your one natural talent."

I let out a low chuckle, watching her squirm just slightly, shifting her legs like she was trying to ignore how flustered she felt.

"And good girls get down, hide their heads, and raise their asses? Offer up their pussies like defeated sluts?" My voice was low, teasing, incredulous.

Alvida’s eyes flickered, something hot and defiant flashing through them, but she didn’t deny it.

Instead, she huffed, shifting her weight like she was trying to pretend she wasn’t affected.

Then, after a moment of silent struggling, she muttered under her breath,

"This one does. For you."

I froze for half a second.

That was…

Not what I had expected her to say.

But before I could fully process it, Alvida folded her arms and scowled, as if daring me to say something stupid.

"That was our first time."

There was something weirdly serious in the way she said it.

Like it mattered to her in a way I hadn’t quite realized before.

I blinked, then leaned back slightly, rubbing the back of his neck.

That was… kind of cute, actually.

And kind of weird.

Because the first time I’d fucked her, when she was still fat and grotesque, I had been closing my eyes the whole time.

I hadn’t been thinking about her at all.

I had been picturing Nakaba’s and Akaba’s hot mama back home, pretending it was her soft, curvy, mature body underneath me, not Alvida’s obese, sweat-slick flesh.

But to her, that moment had been…important?

Now, with her new body, it was almost impossible not to see her as beautiful.

And maybe that was why—just maybe—I was starting to feel something real for her, too.

I exhaled slowly, watching her closely.

There was something else, too.

A nagging thought that had been building in the back of my mind for a while now. The discussion with Alvida just crystalized it.

The earrings.

The way they changed people.

I knew it wasn’t just a one-and-done magic command.

A Normality wasn’t just one sentence and that was it forever.

It was more than that.

It was like there were all these additional shifts, these adjustments in logic and feelings, subtle domino effects that made the change make sense to the person affected.

Had I actually increased her feelings for me?

Had I made her more submissive over time?

Or was that just the natural result of all our interactions, all the other Normalities stacking up until it was inevitable?

Would I ever even know?

And, more importantly...

Should I be careful?

I licked my lips, fingering one of the golden earrings, then smirked.

Nah.

The almighty earring spirit had my back.

It always had.

And right now?

It had given me a hot, powerful pirate captain who loved being my good girl, even if she’d never admit it outright.