Revolutionary: The Other Side of the Beli Coin
A/N: Wow. This has been a long labour of love. I first started writing this monster when the Skypiea arc was first being played in the anime. It has gone through numerous rewrites, retools and I even just changed the names of the main characters a few months ago. To be honest, this project has been a bit stop start throughout the years - as I've waited for Oda-san to flesh out the Revolutionaries a bit more.
For those of you who have read Revolutionary Side Story: I'll get around to rewriting it to fit in with this canon. But treat it as partially canon for this. I have changed names and monikers around. Bits that fit in will stay, bits that obviously don't will not.
And so...this will only be eight chapters or so now (being a prologue, a three part introduction, and then five interludes to cover the two year gap) but hopefully you guys will have a good read. Let me know what you think.
Standard copyright disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
Dramatis Personae
Revolutionaries
Top Leadership
Monkey D Dragon - "the World's most dangerous man"
Ricard Randall Rexford -"R"
Revolutionaries Special Forces – Black Operations Team
Alekyne "Leki" Rexford – The Spymaster
Carlos "Cay" Rexford – The Hellraiser
Edvard "Eddy" Rexford – The Trailblazer
Mikel – The Sacred Shaman
Leon – The Steadfast Sentinel
? - The Imperial Inferno
The Twelve Stars – Revolutionaries Special Forces Commanders
Tomas Bradden – Agent Aries
Nikolaj Petrovich – Agent Taurus
Arsene Moreaux – Agent Pisces
Cristan Kane – Agent Cancer
Troy Lazat – Agent Capricorn
Flint Stone – Agent Sagittarius
Lorana Hawkins – Agent Virgo
Heath Lockhart – Agent Aquarius
Cormac MacCreadie – Agent Leo
Thierry Lupin – Agent Libra
Garth Tviling – Agent Gemini
Bellamy - Agent Scorpio
Prologue: Year 0 – Loguetown – the execution of Gold Roger
Two-year-old Alekyne Rexford was lost in the large crowd, gathered to watch the execution of the world-class criminal and pirate Gol D Roger, the self proclaimed King of the Pirates. He couldn't see anything but the legs of the crowd surrounding him, all these different colours and styles of pants and skirts. Tears formed in his eyes as he wandered around unnoticed by the people around him. The crowd pressed around him, he was lost in a sea of people. He was sure that his parents were worried sick, but he didn't know where his father Ricard, or mother Rolanda were. He was the oldest of three children, his mother was probably nursing his younger brother Carlos, and she was still pregnant with her third child. His father was watching her. He continued to wander through the forest of people, staring at the cobblestone ground of Loguetown as he tried to find his mother and father.
Meanwhile, a young Captain Monkey D Dragon was just finishing his honeymoon with his new wife Relena. They had spent the last week holidaying on a resort in East Blue. He had just made it back in time to witness the execution of the Pirate King, Gol D Roger, a man who he had chased for much of his career, but a man that he respected. Their brief clashes had been legendary and always left Dragon thinking about how much he still needed to grow. He was disappointed when he had found out that Roger had handed himself over to the Marines. He had hoped that one day he would be able to best the man and arrest him, even if it would have led eventually to Roger's death. Dragon and Relena looked up at the platform that he been set up for the execution. Suddenly, Relena felt a small tug at her blue and white dress. It was a little two year old boy with dark hair and expressive black eyes.
"Mommy, mommy," the little boy said, she looked like mommy, but was a bit different, he thought she was wearing different clothes. His two-year old mind was confused because she wasn't with daddy, and she wasn't as big as mommy but he knew she looked the same in the face. He thought he must have remembered what mommy had dressed wrongly. Daddy must have been away looking for him and she was with another man.
Relena looked down at the boy and took his hand, "I'm sorry, little child," she said, "I'm not you mother but we'll go find her, okay." The boy burst into tears. She tried to soothe him but it wasn't working. She turned to her husband, and told him that she was going to look for the child's parents. He nodded, following her as they searched for the boy's parents.
Meanwhile, Ricard and Rolanda were desperately looking for their oldest child. Rolanda carried little one year old Carlos with her as they looked around, calling out their son's name. The rude crowd continually made shushing noises as they were busy waiting for the execution to conclude. She didn't have to look much further, as another woman came with her child. As she saw the other woman, she gasped. She suppressed her feelings that welled up inside her heart.
Rolanda, quickly gathering herself she said, "Thank you very much, Miss, for finding my son."
"Oh, it was nothing," Relena replied, having gotten over a similar shock. She saw an almost mirror image of herself. No wonder the child had been confused. She recognised the other woman. A knowing smile, like when they were young children passed between the two of them. Relena tugged at her husband's sleeve.
He turned around, "This is the child's mother," she said, "My husband, Captain Monkey D Dragon. I'm his wife Relena. We're newly married."
"Nice to meet you," Rolanda replied, "my husband, Ricard Rexford. I'm Rolanda, and my children Alekyne and Carlos. We must meet some time." She noticed a din in the background as something was said but she didn't really pay attention. For she had found someone who she had thought was lost forever to her.
"Of course," Relena answered, "we must meet for tea." They exchanged contacts, as saw Rolanda ask her husband to proffer his business card. "Again, thank you very much for finding little Alekyne." She saw Rolanda and her husband walk off, with both her children firmly in her hands. She contained her excitement inside, not daring to show it, she had found her twin sister again, after all those years that they had been separated for their safety. She heard a big shout, and looked up.
She looked up again at the execution, but it was already over. The crowd began to leave, and she and her husband did the same. This was a sad day for her, as executions, in her opinion were always a sad thing, but a happy one as well, she had found her sister again, and was determined to reconnect with her, even though they could never acknowledge their ties of blood. It would always be much too dangerous.
Approximately 2 years later
In her small but well-kept home, Relena stood holding a newborn child in her arms, rocking him gently in an attempt to calm him down. A black haired newborn that Garp had bought home with him from a journey, a child that was hunted by the World Government merely for existing he said.
She was a second chance for this child. Relena herself had been suffering through a sad time, having miscarried her first pregnancy and in some way, she was glad that even if she couldn't carry that child to term, she was given a child to nurture, to raise. She wondered if her womb was weak, unlike her sister, who had three young boys.
Her husband, Dragon, had been away on assignment when she had miscarried, and was now on his way home to the sad news to come. She had not told anyone in the village that she had miscarried yet. Perhaps they could pass off this child as their own, hers and Dragon's, prematurely born, as long as she did not appear in public for a while, and Garp helped them with the pretence. It was probably about two moons before she would have given birth to a viable child, so that was how long they needed to keep the charade up for. A little white lie about her giving birth too quickly for the midwife to come, but close enough for Dragon and Garp to guide her through the smooth birth, and no one would be the wiser of the child's true heritage. They could give the child the home that he needed.
Garp had commented that the child looked uncannily like her, in the eyes at least. Relena looked her father-in-law in the eye, and passed it off as a happy coincidence. "Well, if he looks like me," she had said, "that makes our charade even easier. People will see him and automatically think that he is my son." Garp had left the explanation at that, glad that this charade may be able to give Roger's son a good chance at life.
Relena knew that she would have to tell her sister, if there was one person that she could trust with this secret, other than her husband, and her father-in-law, who had to know for this to be pulled off, it was her sister.
Some Years After Roger's Death
As he sat in his study musing on what had just happened in the past days, what troubled Ricard Rexford was the fact that his son Alekyne, his eldest, was not crying after his mother's death unlike Carlos and Edvard, his younger brothers. Ricard had found Rolanda slumped dead over her desk in their bedroom a few days ago, suicide. He had looked through the cupboard of her desk, and found there, a bundle of letters and a journal.
He had untied the red ribbon from around the set of letters and started to read. Tears dripped down his face as he read through the contents. To my dearest sister, Relena. His expression turned to one of shock as he flipped through the letters. His wife had hidden a whole part of her life from him, for good reason.
Far away, former Marine Commodore Monkey D Dragon returned to his now ruined home. When he exited the house, he had in his hand, a bundle of letters, the only possession of hers that had not been taken away from him, even though he was one of their own. To my dearest sister, Rolanda, they read. With that he left the ruins of his house. He knew what his father had done; turned down the promotion to Admiral to save his own grandchildren, but Dragon could not find it in his heart to forgive those that had killed his wife. He vowed to seek out Rolanda Rexford to find his answers.
As he left the town where he had lived, storm clouds gathered overhead as Dragon took flight using the power of his Devil Fruit. His body faded away as he took to the skies. One minute later, the storm clouds had disappeared and the sun shone brightly once more.
Some weeks later in the same year
A dingy bar in a nondescript town in East Blue was where the now former Marine Dragon, recently widowed, had chosen to meet Ricard Rexford. Word of Rolanda's death had filtered through to him when he had called on Ricard Rexford's house. It was obvious that the man had not known the relationship between his wife and Dragon's own wife.
He saw the other man come in and take a seat at the same table, in a corner. "I assume you have found out the truth now," Ricard said. "She couldn't live without her sister." Dragon nodded, as they fell into conversation about what they had found out from the letters. Both left separately. What was said at that bar on that day, no one but the two of them knew. But this is known, the seeds of the Revolution started that day.
14 years after Roger's death
Ricard Rexford smiled. He had just obtained the Devil Fruit that he had needed. It had taken four years and a fortune to find but in the end he had it within his grasp. He walked into his study to retrieve the box, and to take its power.
He was horrified at the sight he saw; his sixteen year old son Alekyne had just finished the Devil Fruit. He saw his son's eyes, steely, determined unlike what it was always, usually suave and nonchalant. He heard the voice in his head, for mom. He nodded, now understanding. Somehow he knew that his oldest had always known about how and why his mother had died.
Now he was as determined to help his son succeed. His son would sacrifice his life for his mother's memory, but it was a decision that Alekyne had made, and as his father, Ricard would support his son in whatever he chose.
16 years after Roger's Death
The members of the World Government convened in Mariejois to discuss the Revolutionary movement which had started to spread its influence throughout the world over the last six years. A picture of Monkey D. Dragon was shown and all of the members of the World Government gasped in shock. The most dangerous man in the world they called him. A man who knew the ins and outs of the Marines and the World Government, a man who had struck down an Admiral and a World Noble in one blow, and now, a dangerous idealist.
22 Years after Roger's Death
Alekyne Rexford, now twenty-four years old, sat in his office, on the island of Le Grande. A successful businessman never lets on about his secrets, he thought, as his mind stretched out to gather this morning's gossip. Le Grande was the most successful entertainment business on the planet and was world famous for hosting stars, dignitaries, and the like. The top officials of the World Government were known to visit along with other nobles from time to time. Even pirates were allotted a part of the year to enjoy the entertainment on Le Grande when Alekyne told the rest of the world that Le Grande was closed for maintenance. Of course, Le Grande was a giant front for the Revolutionaries intelligence gathering and financing, not that anyone but his father, brothers and uncle knew.
There was of course an unspoken rule of the establishment that there was to be no fighting on the island between any of the patrons at all on pain of death. And the rule was stuck to, no matter what. After the Devil Fruit user who had instigated the first fight and killed someone had taken a graceful swan dive off the pier, for no apparent reason, everyone knew that this rule was to be adhered to.
Alekyne smiled as the latest gossip filtered into his mind. The whole island was ripe with information whether it be from pirates, marines or just normal guests that came. They didn't call him the Spymaster for nothing. He was careful of course, to make sure that everything that he found out wasn't used, to stop any organisation from identifying that they had a systemic security breach. Sometimes, he had to deliberately make mistakes with the intelligence he received. He filed the information away and stretched his mind out towards his brother Carlos, and to Mikel and Leon. Making contact with them via the power of the Zen Zen fruit, he inquired about their current projects, receiving updates which he would report to their leader Dragon. Things were going well in South Blue or so they seemed. And North Blue was beginning to come along too.
Alekyne turned his attention to the latest set of bounty posters that had been sent to him by his agent in the Marines's Bounty Office. One name caught his attention, Monkey D Luffy, bounty 30 million beli. That one had to be filed and sent physically to his uncle, Dragon, who would no doubt want to know of this. He continued to flick through the rest of the information as it passed through his mind.
Later that same year
Carlos Rexford emerged from the ground using the power of the Terra Terra Fruit. He picked the piece of paper that happened to be sitting on top of his head. He took a quick look at it. He saw it was a bounty poster. It read; Monkey D Luffy. Wanted Dead or Alive. 100,000,000 Berry. Carlos laughed and scrunched the piece of paper into his pant pocket. One for Uncle D. He laughed to himself on the inside as walked off to meet his younger brother Edvard for lunch.
One week prior to the capture of Portgas D Ace by the World Government
Mikel wiped off the dirt from his white robe. He and Leon had just finished liberating another country in South Blue. Waving a quick good-bye to his fellow Revolutionary, he shimmered away, using the power of his Devil Fruit, into the distance onto his next assignment, to report back to Dragon.
A/N: That's it for the prologue. Tell me what you think.