I doubt anyone remembers that One Piece fanfic poll I put up ages ago anymore, but this was one of the top choices. I actually had it written for quite a while already, but was unsatisfied and kept modifying. I'm still not entirely confident with the characterizations of some of the characters, so if you feel that something if off at any time, do mention it in your review! Learning is a never-ending process, in writing even more so.
Anyway, after a long wait, here it finally is! I present to you the prologue for the "Ace meets people who truly knew his father" series. Hope you enjoy this new story of mine!
A man, known widely as the most powerful man on the seas, knelt upon the wooden platform awaiting his execution, no less intimidating despite being bound down. Spectators would swear for decades that he smiled until the end, and indeed this was the truth.
"My wealth and treasures? If you want it, I'll let you have it...search for it! I left all of it at that place"
On a little island in South Blue, unnoticed by those who she feared the most, a woman prayed that her child will be given the chance to live.
"Ace… That's the name he chose… for this child… Gol D Ace, the name of our child…"
In a dingy cell in the depths of Impel Down, a stern-faced Marine frowned as he listened to the very last request his greatest rival would make him.
"The child who is yet to be born bears no sin, Garp! Take care of him for me!"
Two boys tearfully watched as their captain left them all. Several months later, his execution was blared to the world, and they knew that his departure had been a gentle push telling them to lead their own lives. But they went anyway, their tears were proof that he had been a man much loved and already missed.
"The only ones who can create this age are the people living in it right now! There are certainly a few people still alive today who took something away from what Roger said that day…"
A man sat next to a lighthouse, a crumpled and torn newspaper abandoned by his side as he gazed out at sea. Even in its damaged state, key words in the headlines remained visible. 'Pirate King – Execution Tomorrow'
"The day he was publicly executed… four years before that day… Roger came down with an incurable disease. Crocus of Twin Capes was the only man who was able to ease Roger's suffering. We asked him to accompany us on our last voyage, as ship doctor."
Another man sat alone in a tavern, chugging down drinks as people around him chattered on about the Pirate King's execution and legacy, oblivious to who sat amongst them. With a loud laugh, he raised his tankard in a toast in the Pirate King's honor which echoed by the strangers around him. No one saw how his face, hidden in the shadow of his hood, ran wet with tears.
"In the last moment of his life, he turned his fading "flame of life" into a huge fire that enveloped the world. I've never laughed more than on that day...! I've never cried more than on that day... I never drank more either..! He was our captain... and he was a magnificent man...!"
He was a man who commandeered the respect of those he had met. And even now he lives on, in the memories of those whose lives he had touched. Because a man only truly dies when he is forgotten. And they will never forget.
His name was Gol D. Roger. And this is his legacy.
But this is not his story.
A child tore out of the tavern, ignoring the angry yells of the men he had attacked. It was only until he left the light of the town far behind, the darkness of the jungle enveloping him in its embrace, that he let the tears fall.
"If Gold Roger had a kid? Then he should be killed! Serves him right I say!"
A young man watches his home island steadily shrink away, until he could no longer see the energetic figure waving from the shore. Then he turned, to look at the endless horizon that presented itself before his eyes. The sea. The world. It was then that he swore he would keep running forward.
His name is Portgas D. Ace. And he hates the name that he was born with.