„For God's sake, Midway!" I stood on the bridge and looked at my officer like a gutted octopus. „Can I give you an order with the knowledge that you will fucking execute it?"
My new crew belonged to this kind of people, who only understand violence and sobriety. As long as I was previously listened to without stammering (and I didn't follow any of the above mentioned rules), after leaving the Locker everyone suddenly went crazy. And I absolutely did not approve of that, on the contrary, I was sure that somebody's head will be taken for this insubordination, no matter it wouldn't cause anyone's death.
A pirate with the fine sounding name Midway, my first damn officer, looked at me with his watery-blue eyes and showed me some rotten teeth in a deceptive servant's smile.
„What order, Captain?" He asked, pretending to be deaf to the screams from the ship next door, on which my crew had just been robbing and murdering
„The one to stay away from the ships of the New World, you bastard?!" I roared and jumped over the Banshee railing, landing hard on the board. I grabbed a little bit of a taller petty officer by the tailcoats and pulled down. „You think you'll do anything, Midway, because you've already lost your soul and I still have it? You're gonna scalp people where you were only supposed to escort them" I pushed him away and spit it out with anger. „ Jones is Jones, but he is not here. I'm giving the orders on this ship and let them lock me down in Impel Down if any of you, demon, will replace me! Gather these hellions on the ship, tell them to set it on fire e and make sacrifices so that the robbed vessel does not belong to any of the pirates I know."
I went over to the beak, not reacting to screams and stuck my eyes in the horizon, hoping to see the outline of some island.
The Banshee crew was a bunch of hungry ghosts who enjoyed seeing death, the crueller, the better. As long as they were only attacking Navy ships, I was turning my head off with a smile, spilling the blood of the hated soldiers myself. But the murders went too far, and I feared that this bunch would soon get out of control. They should have been taught a lesson, because although they were someone on the borderline between people and spirits, they still had bodies that could be severely injured.
After Midway finally gathered a hundred of them, waved but happy with the evening's adventure, I ordered them to search for the originators, who were the helmsman and the seaman without rank, and arranged a flogging to the delight of the raconteurs. And then I set sails to cross the Red Line and go to Alabasta to find the old Yangtze.
In the Navy Headquarters there was a dispute between Tsuru and Garp and it was not a triviality fight. Tsuru argued that the latest reports of Navy losses are perhaps troublesome, but not enough to bother the Admiral. Garp listened to the intuition and suggested that something bad is happening in the New World. Knowing more details than Tsuru, he concluded that a group of extremely brutal pirates appeared, and he was worried about it, because scaling up and completely dismantling people didn't look like amateurs' work. It was necessary to require permission to send at least two Vice Admirals to those areas. The problem was that nobody would even know what kind of ship to look for because all witnesses were dead.
After a long moment of silence, Garp, sitting opposite to Tsuru, sighed heavily and leaned his head on the back of the couch.
"Do what ya want to do, ya stubborn woman, but I warn you, this is not the work of some kids. We will have problems if we do not nip it in the bud."
"I take your opinion into account and I tell you even though it's a couple of sloppers who have a great opinion of themselves" Tsuru said, looking at Garp with irritation. „ You have to catch them and hang them."
„How, if nobody knows who they are? A wild-goose chase." He got annoyed and looked at the interlocutor with anger. He did not understand why such an intelligent woman as Tsuru does not noticed obvious evidence. She was an important person in the Navy, she achieved everything on her own, listening to her intuition and never acted against the rules. Now she was sitting deaf and blind to every argument.
"Sending Admirals there is a complete waste of time, what are they going to do if they don't know who to look for?!"
"Because if they find them, they will be able to help! Can't you see that there are some psychic people roaming the ocean?"
"Half of the Grand Line is filled with these psychic people, you old ignoramus!"
"Tsuru, Garp" the voice sounded calming somewhere under the big window overlooking the Marineford. „Think for a moment about the evidence we found." Vice Admiral Sengoku turned to his colleagues with a serious face, deciding to take a seat on the third couch in his office.
"The sailors were murdered in a beastly way and I don't remember ever seeing anything similar.
"They must be pirates, but I don't know where they came from. It is true that it will be difficult to find them, because we have the Pirate Era and they pop up like mushrooms." He put on the table a file of reports written in angular print, on the first one there was a date from a week ago.
"So, what should we do?" Tsuru seemed to be annoyed by such an overturning of the Garpa side.
"Let's see." Sengoku rested his elbows on his knees, taking on a thoughtful expression. "Last week a patrol ship at Red Line spotted a vessel with grey sails, without a flag. It was drifting towards the Grand Line and seemed to be abandoned, so six sailors were sent for reconnaissance. An hour later the boat came back and only hats were left."
Tsuru wrinkled her eyebrows and woven her arms on a slim breast, listening even more carefully.
"This could be our goal. I ordered to follow him, very discreetly, so I know they are heading for Alabasta. Garp is right. We must send someone who can handle such a bunch." Sengoku's eyesight rested on an old comrade.
"I am counting on you."
With the old Yangtze I had only a few memories, but I had great respect for her as for anyone else of my gender. When I met her, she was an old woman who, despite her age, had pristine chestnut hair and a dimmed look as if she had seen too much. And perhaps she did, but I didn't care when I got off at the port of Katorea, knowing that I was the most wronged person in the world. I wasn't mistaken when I speculated that the old woman would greet me on the corner of the first street, and she would pretend, pathetically, that she didn't expect me at all.
"God help my soul" she snorted and said quickly cross write, but the expression on her face informed that she was actually waiting for me.
"Well, let us pray he will." I agreed, wondering if she knew how appropriate words she used in my presence.
"You come here at night, alone, so you probably want to ask me some questions, don't you, Emperor?" The dried face wrinkled more when Yangtze smiled and gestured to follow her.
The comfortably furnished apartment in the richer part of the city was a novelty, because the old lady liked to be in small huts in the middle of nowhere, where she could indulge herself in brewing potions without fear of being accused of witchcraft. She sat me in a plush armchair and offered me an ayerkoniac, which I refused.
"The imperial palate requires the imperial alcohol." She nodded.
"Enjoy as much as you like, I am glad to see you, Pebble." She put a bottle on the table and sat down in front of me, playing with one of the dozen medallions around her neck. I took a healthy sip from the bottle and gushed with appreciation, feeling almost a liquid fire in my throat.
"Reminds me of how behind Logue Town we collided with the Wolf's Star crew. We robbed them of thirty barrels of booze from the East Blue and Christ, how disgusting it was. Almost the same as that!" I laughed loudly, and the old one's retch gave me a smile.
"Then, with this vodka, we invented the flag" I added quietly, nostalgically.
"Old times, don't bother with the past, Pebble." She said and leaned towards me. "You came here for a reason. Speak up."
"Roger" I roared, putting the bottle on the table "I did, as you said, I won in the Scythe with Jones..."
Yangtze looked at me with admiration, which I didn't give a damn about, at that particular moment.
"But my brother refused to leave the Locker" I hissed with fury on the verge of despair. "I got the fastest ship; Banshee is second to none on the oceans, aye. And I have a crew of a hundred convicts who long ago gave Jones souls in pacts, so they cannot be killed but only hurt. And not for long, because they're regenerating, motherfuckers."
"And the power?" whispered the old man urgently and clamped his wrinkled, arthriticulated fingers on the armrests.
"There's nothing I can't do." I admitted in distraction. "But that was not the aim, Yangtze. It was about Roger, and this fool didn't want to!" I broke off my armchair and walked through a small living room, tapping on the tiles with my heels.
"He thinks his time is up!"
"That's because it is" she confessed in accordance with the truth which I didn't want to accept. I looked at her with hatred.
"No! It is not! We could come back as the most powerful crew in this world. No one could stand up to him with me! We would destroy the Navy..." I spoke in elation, convincing myself that it was still feasible.
If I had Roger before me and could persuade him... His death.
"Ralagan" I was interrupted by an old, tired voice "he knew that his era was over. He left with joy and came to terms with himself because he had already conquered the whole world. Only you are stuck. You are the only one chasing to bring him back to life, which he rejects."
I bent my head on this accusation and painted the truth, breathing shallowly, silently. Yangtze were right. Whenever she spoke, she spoke with conviction about things that are and will be. She was always right.
"What should I do now?" I whispered with tears in my eyes, which I tried to hide, turning my back on the old one.
"Surely the old devil took payment, apart for your soul?"
"Aye. I must bring him the souls of those who died at sea. Nothing else is left for me now." I purr vindiculously.
"There is something" she admitted quietly, drawing my attention. "I wonder if Roger did not ask you about him."
"About who?"
"His child, Pebble. You have a nephew, didn't you know about it?"
"What?" I sat down again, keeping an eye on the woman, and the one with a sardonic smile leaned back on the backrest and took the attitude of "I know something cuz I'm wiser" And older one, it had to be added for the sake of accuracy.
I didn't believe that she was telling the truth, although something inside me was listening to Yangtze. A hope, something that I couldn't specify, because how? Roger, my brother, had a child?
"Before he went to the scaffold, he came to me" she started, lowering her voice and looking around to see if there was anyone. Indeed, the thing she was telling me was priceless and had to remain a secret. "He knew you would come here sooner or later, so he gave me a message for you."
I straightened out and hardly breathed, waiting in suspense for the next words. As the shreds of the last conversation with Roger reached me through the fog, I remembered with amazement that we had argued like never before!
"He gave the child under Garp's care.."
"A Marine?!" I was growling, opening my eyes wide in amazement, to which Yangtze was nodding her head and sticking her accusatory gaze into me.
"He did not have time to look for you, you sank like a stone into the water!"
I humbly bowed my head, but I still had a dozen of curses on my tongue about mine and my brother's stupidity.
"He gave the child the best protection he could." She explained patiently, seeing my repentance. "But now is your time, Ralagan. The child is growing up on the island of Goa in the East Blue. Garp may have a position in the Navy, but even if he is the Vice Admiral himself, hiding the King's child is a disgrace and the greatest sin. He will be lucky if they do not hang him, but he will have nothing to look for in the HQ. And as for the son of Roger..." Yangtze leaned out again and grabbed my hand over the table, squeezing with incredible force. "He will vanish in Impel Down, they will murder him and hide the truth." She was hissing, and there was a flame in her eyes, which I had never seen before.
"I won't allow it!" I got up, ready to go to East Blue immediately.
"Make him happy. This is what Roger ordered."
I was already opening the door, willing to obey the captain's last order, but suddenly I retreated, clenching my lips, and turned to the old woman.
"How? The pact with Jones ties me to the ocean. Banshee must have a captain." I said, emphasizing the last sentence, which the woman sighing hard, as if with pity. I looked at her and without a word of explanation I understood what her reaction meant.
"You can do something." I bent my mouth in a smile that did not reach the eyes. "You are an ambitious, old woman. I may have won against the devil, but you... You want to fool him."
It hasn't been long since we talked to Banshee's departure from the port of Katorea. Within a few weeks spent in Alabas I received news about the naval takeover of some of my islands, which I was not particularly opposed to. The Navy was better than some pirate bunch, and I was going to take back my islands after visiting Goa. What's more, the recent murders of my crew did not escape the attention of the World Government and I was sure that they will demand the truth and repayment for the victims. I guessed that the last patrol was a nail in the coffin and sooner or later somebody would catch my lead, so it was important for me to leave the Grand Line.
Unfortunately, I was trapped in the harbour.
Yangtze took a lot of time to deal with my contract. It was going to take even more time and effort to deceive Jones, although I personally doubted that this will work.
But it all faded in comparison with the knowledge that I had a nephew whom I called my son in my mind. I was consumed with thoughts about his upbringing and the future I planned for him as the greatest pirate! I imagined what he looked like and in my soul I fondled the name given to him by Roger. Ace. The five years that I drank have passed, but I hoped that the child would somehow forgive me. Certainly, Garp put him in a good place where people loved him. After all, he was my brother's son, a little pirate prince! He deserved respect and adoration by birth.
I wondered what he liked and did, his voice and look. What interests him and will he love the ocean as much as we loved it?
"I will take him, and we will live together" I thought, sitting in front of the fireplace in Yangtze's house while the old woman was searching for information in her books written by God knows who and God knows what about.
"I will teach him to sail and navigate, show him the bottom of the ocean and the power of the whole world. He will learn to fight for what he loves and what he believes in. He will be the best" I promised myself, ignoring the purring of the old hag.
I was annoyed by the long sitting, because it dragged on endlessly, and Yangtze hardly spoke at all. She did not say what I should do or if there was anything, I could do at all. So, I wandered aimlessly around Katorea until I decided to take over the city and create my own seat there.
Before I took the initial steps, however, the Yangtze ordered me to leave.
"You said you had enough souls to pay off this year's debt."
"Well, I have. These beasts murder everyone without hesitation."
"Bring them to the devil." She whispered "Pay him and sail to the Goa. During the journey you will collect a part, then you will sail on all Blues, it's always closer to the child." She shrugged her shoulders and put a dusty volume framed in dark leather on the table. "The devil does not interfere in your affairs, so as long as you are paying the due amount, he will do nothing to you." She got up and with the rustling of taffeta skirts she started wandering around the rooms, pulling out talismans, bracelets, bones and other small things. From this large collection she chose three medallions on long thongs and pressed them into my hand.
"Go, Ralagan, there is no time!" She urged me.
"What are you talking about?! Why do I need this?" I let myself be pushed out of the lounge all the way to the front door and I just watched the old lady put my coat on me, whispering to herself. "Yangtze...!"
"Pay the debt and sail to the Goa. They need you" she banged up, pushing me out the door.
I straightened myself out, took my hat from her hands and turned around on my heel, understanding that her mood is not caused by female humours. Before I took the first step, Yangtze grabbed me firmly by the wrist and forced me to turn around and bend over.
"Beware of the Heavenly Dragons and Navy, Ralagan. Their shadow is cast on your path."
Without a word I left, almost running to the harbour, and if anyone stood in my way that day, the Grand Line would be deprived of Alabasta. Because once Yangtze said almost the same thing, word for word.
"Beware of the Navy, Ralagan. Her shadow is laid on your way."
Three years later my brother died on the Navy's scaffold.
Sneaking through the abandoned streets of Katorea at night, I felt something was wrong. The sound of the waves sounded as if it was warning and summoning at the same time. There was a smell of gunpowder and steel in the air and the sky over the desert Alabasta was covered with storm clouds. Like in the battle for Edd. Like when facing the mighty fleet of the Golden Lion we trusted in our happiness and watched the coming storm with stoic calmness. Something bad was happening on Banshee and I was convinced of it, but I knew that I would win with whoever I was fighting. But when I stood in the dock in front of the Navy ship, the feeling of anxiety evaporated, and the sound of waves was not as annoying as before. The Banshee stood intact, the slender hull covered with greenish seaweed was boasting gracefully on the waves, deceptively calm, like a predator hidden in the deep, waiting for an opportunity. There were a lot of soldiers on the warship, but they did not look like they were preparing to go ashore. Why did they come if Alabasta had no military problems?
"I knew that this legendary ship belonged to someone significant, but I did not think it would be the property of the Emperor."
I turned around and saw Garp in a white uniform and an admiral's coat, standing on the platform, a few steps away from me, with his hands in his pockets. The hero Garp, the one who fought with the king, but never won.
I smiled half nostalgic, half spitefully, as if we were united by a deep intimacy and not a few extraordinary battles.
"You didn't expect to see me alive" I noticed, looking down on him, which at my height may have been hard but effective.
The sailor nodded his head and looked away somewhere.
"You know how it is, Pebble. I thought you were going to leave soon after him." He confessed honestly.
"And I didn't. You were disappointed, right?" I snarled, which he laughed at without malice.
"Why did you come here?" He asked after a while, and I got tense, ready to repel the attack.
"Stick to your course!"
"I would do it, but I have an order. You sailed quickly to Alabasta, even on Banshee, the fastest ship in the world..." He looked at the ship with admiration.
"Fishman Tom did a great job."
"What do you care, old fool? Who do you even think you are?" I raised my voice and spat to the side with loathing, as if the thought of talking to him fills me with disgust. "Don't bother me and get out while I still give you a chance."
"You are responsible for the brutal murder of six crews..." He started formally, taking out his hands from his pockets, but I interrupted him with a squeaky laughter and spit out some curses.
"And you will judge me? Put me on trial, Garp." I took a step forward and looked at him from under my hat, smiling venomously. "Come on, arrest me and lock me up in Impel Down" I said the name of the prison with pleasure, tasting it to the Vice Admiral's horror.
He knew what I meant and knowing me, he didn't want to provoke anything. Perhaps he trusted in his strength, but a fight with someone who has nothing to lose cannot be guaranteed.
"It was not the Navy's fault..." He tried to speak to me diplomatically, to reason, but he became silent when I breathed with a swish and straightened up violently.
"It was not the Navy's fault?! You yaldson, how dare you?!"
The atmosphere changed almost in the blink of an eye: the wind roared, blowing over the storm clouds faster, and the waves hit the hulls of the moored ships with fury. The blasts were so strong that it almost ripped my hat off, so I held it with my hand and choked myself out of anger looking at the surprised Garp.
"You were hunting us! It was you who murdered him!" I said in fury. "And now you're paying off the debt you incurred that day."
"Vice Admiral! It's a storm! It's coming to Katorea!" His subordinates' cries sounded in my ears, but I did not look away from the burning, grey eyes of the man. He did not know how but guessed that I had caused the ocean's anger. Already that day he began to guess what I had done, but I think he doubted that I would really commit such an act. Well, the human thing is to doubt.
"Stop it all, Pebble!"
"On one condition." I kindly agreed and the wind stopped.
"How could you...! Your fruit does not include this..."
"He gave the child under your care" I growled contemptuously. I didn't care about his shock or disbelief. It was not his business how did I knew.
"Yes, because he knew the only brat's aunt was drinking in Atlantis." He snarled and I took another step forward, ready to give the order to attack and massacre Garp's people.
"You have nothing to do with where I was and what for. I am informing you that the child is mine, I will raise it myself so stay away..."
"And how do you want to do it..." I saw on his face that he has no idea how I knew about the child and that in his opinion I should not know. Within a second my thoughts were put together in a slightly more logical whole and I found out that Garp wanted to make Roger's son a Marine.
He wanted to give my baby to the Navy!
What could I answer to that if not with a laugh? This stupid old man didn't realize what would have threatened Ace if he had crossed the threshold of the Marineford's quarters!
"Am I disturbing you? I said the child is mine, you hear me?! You know what could've happened to him if anybody found out? They would hang you for treason, and they would torture him to death, before he'd been stripped of his memory! I won't let your fucking Navy take this child away from me. The boy belongs to me!" I shouted at the end and turned on my heel, not waiting for an answer.
And Garp didn't say a word. I could bet that we both felt the thread of understanding at that moment. In silent agreement, he gave up his right to my nephew, knowing that nothing bad would happen.
"Ralagan, he is to become a Marine!" I heard and laughed cheerfully, loudly, probably paralyzing in fear the dozen Marines.
"Over my dead fucking body!"
ns 172.69.7.173da2
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