I do not own One Piece.
This is going to be a collection of, mostly, one-shots detailing Marco's life. Though some of them may be two- or three- shot stories. They will all fit together, though they might not be in chronological order, I'll just be writing them as I think of them.
If you having any certain situation or event you would like me to include in this story, feel free to tell me.
Sending the guy flying with one final slash, I stand back and watch as my sons, what I have called my crew for the past couple of years, search the house, which was more like a mansion, for any sort of treasure we could find. We had landed on this island a couple of days ago. We hadn't planned on causing any trouble, we just needed a place to relax a little and restock. A few of my sons wandered off into the hills to explore the rest of the island, where they were attack. I had no choice but to seek revenge. So, me and a group of around fifteen went up the hill, where we found a mansion…that a guy attacked us from. Thankfully it was only one man and I took him out easily enough. He was pretty strong though, I will give him that.
I begin cleaning off my bisento, waiting for my sons to finish searching the mansion. I look up as one of my newest recruits run towards me. "Pops!" he exclaims, out of breath, obviously having run through a good deal of the mansion.
"What is it, son?" I ask in concern, what could get one of my men so worked up?
"In the basement…there…there's a boy….He….he is locked in a cage," he stutters out between breathes. I stare at him in shock for a few seconds before asking him to lead me to the boy. Entering the room, I am assaulted by the stench of filth, human waste and a faint scent of chemicals. Reaching my hand up to cover my mouth and nose, I make my way further into the dark room, the only light being a single torch that one of my men was holding. Making my way to where they were all crowded, I looked down noticing the small cage and the small blonde haired boy chained within.
"Can you open the locks?" I ask turning to look at the three men standing next to me. One of them nods, and makes his way in front of the cage, kneels down and gets to work. After about five minutes, he gets the lock open and the door swings open. I expected the boy to at least look up when the door opened but all he did was curl tighter around himself. I tell one of the other men to get the chains unhooked from the wall, before kneeling down and peering into the cage.
"Are you alright, son?" I asked in the most soothing voice I could muster, though I doubt it came out very comforting to the small boy within. He slowly raises his head, staring at me through half-lidded eyes. I smile slightly at him and slowly reach my hand out. He flinches violently, letting out a soft whimper while trying to scoot further back. I withdraw my hand just as slowly and stare at him in sadness…Who would do something like this to an innocent little boy?
"Come out, son. We're not going to hurt you. That man won't hurt you anymore either," I assure, backing up slightly so that he doesn't feel too trapped. It takes a few more minutes, but we were finally able to coax him out of his cage. He stays completely still and completely quiet as we work on getting the cuffs, sea stone I notice with shock, off of him. He rubs his wrists slightly, glancing at all of us nervously.
I softly ask him if he would like to leave with us, assuring him that we would make sure nothing hurt him in anyway. Once again, it takes awhile for him to agree. I remain kneeling on the floor as the boy slowly begins to stand. He remains standing for a couple of seconds, his legs shaking violently, before he collapses back on the floor, looking away in embarrassment.
I smile slightly and stand up, the boy watches me out of the corner of his eyes, and look of dejection flashing across his face as he watches me signal for my men to leave. When I turn to look at him fully again, he quickly looks back down, wringing his hands together. My smile widens slightly as I reach my hand down, offering to help him up. He looks at me in shock for a few seconds, before tentatively reaching out a shaking hand and grabbing onto a couple of fingers of my own. He unsteadily stands, his whole body trembling. I notice he wasn't going to be able to make it out on his own, so I gently pick him up, much to his shock and embarrassment, and begin making my way out of the mansion and back to the ship.
Getting back outside, I hear a small groan, looking down I notice the little boy squeezing his eyes shut in pain and trying to shield the sun light away by burying his face in my jacket. I stare down at him for a second, taking in all of the caked on filth and blood that did nothing to hide the multiple wounds and scars marring his body. I shake my head sadly, shifting him so that he could more comfortably shield his eyes and began slowly making my way to the shore, not wanting to cause anymore injury to the boy.
I take the boy to the infirmary, where the nurses and doctors start work immediately, thankfully not feeling the need to ask any questions first. I make my way back out on the deck and sit heavily in my chair. I feel that I did the right thing by bringing the boy here, but I have no idea what to do with him now. A pirate ship isn't really any place for a small child, but I can't just abandon him. Maybe one of the villagers would be willing to take him in, and if not, I guess we'll have another crew member for a little while at least.