"Vice Admiral Ace"! A voice behind me yelled.
I turned around and raised an eyebrow at the young marine running towards me.
I had just finished my shift on level six and was heading to bed.
"Yes"? I asked, wanting to get this over with so I could go to bed. I was beat!
"Sengoku-san wants to meet you right away" The young Marine said doing a salute.
I sighed deeply, I wished they wouldn't do that, I was an vice admiral yes, but I hadn't been in the field for almost a year and the fact that I had such a high rank was kind of the reason that I other guards didn't really like me. They were jealous. "Did he say what he wanted"? I asked, deciding to ignore the whole salute thing.
"No sir, just that he wanted to see you right away"!
I sighed again.
"Guess I won't be sleeping for a while huh"? I thought walking past the marine towards Magellan's office.
As I walked inside, I noticed the serious expression on Sengoku's face and frowned.
Was something wrong? I hadn't been doing pranks for a while so there was no way I was in trouble.
"You called for me Sengoku-San"? I said in a professional tone even though I was known as the prankster of the whole marine force and as crazy as Garp, I knew when to act serious. After all, there was more reasons behind my high rank than only being crazy strong.
"Yes, I did. I have come to the decision that the transport of Marco the Phoenix is due to happened earlier than expected. We were planning on transporting him on February 14th but instead it will happened on February 2." Sengoku said.
"What? But that's almost 2 weeks before his execution." I said, confused as to why they would decide to move him so early.
"Yes yes I know, but apparently the papers got hold of the information that the commander is being held here, AND when and where the execution is about to take place. We cannot risk Whitebeard getting hold of the news and try to retrieve him on the way to Marine ford. It's too risky."
Sengoku sighed and closed his eyes before continuing.
"This is where you come into the picture. I wants you, and you alone to transport Marco the phoenix from Impel down to Marine ford. You got a young face and it is less likely for Whitebeard to attack a single small boat than a fleet of Marine warships".
I could only stare at him, completely in shock.
"they want ME to transport him to Marine ford? ON MY OWN"? was all I could think.
"Wha… you do realize I was a vice admiral, right? My face has been in the newspaper WAY more than once. Even if it was for a prank, something crazy I did or whatever. It's NO secret to the world that I'm a marine, if whitebeard sees me he'll kill me without a second thought." I argued.
"You ARE a vice admiral, Ace! And won't be dressed as a Marine. You'll go undercover as a fisherman. The chance is that even if the whitebeards would notice you, they would pass by without a second thought. After all, what is more important. A fisherman or their Second in command." Sengoku said, giving me a look that clearly said that he would not change his mind.
"Why me" I asked putting my head into my hands.
"What do you mean by that?" Sengoku asked.
"Nothing… I Just…" I started, but stopped mid-sentence, not wanting to or being able to put my thoughts into words.
Sengoku sighed, starting to get irritated.
"It dosen't matter. You will do as I tell you. This isn't something you can choose. This is an order." Sengoku said in a demanding voice.
"You haven't been on the field for a year now, but you are still a vice admiral Ace. You have a duty to fulfill and you will do as you are told. You are dismissed".
I stood up slowly and walked out of the office.
I had a horrible feeling in my chest that I couldn't place, and I couldn't get Marco out of my head either.
My feet carried me out of the prison and to a small part of the Iceland with trees. I walked through them and stopped at the edge of the small Iceland, staring out over the ocean, thinking about the conversation with Sengoku, and the realization that in only 3 days I would leave with Marco to Marine Ford.
I closed my eyes felt tears in my eyes and I clenched my fists as I thought that I would literally bring him to his own death.
I had dreamed about a reality where we were able to escape together, living our lives free.
But Even though I knew his execution was inevitable, I had never thought that I would play an active part in his death. And the thought gave me a horrible feeling that I didn't knew what to make of.
The thought about Marco dead made me want to scream and kill everyone who ever even thought about bringing him harm.
I wanted Marco safe. Even if that meant him staying in prison for life where I could keep an eye on him and make sure he was well fed and healthy.
But that would only bring him misery.
Marco was a pirate.
And no pirate would ever find happiness in a prison, safe or not.
During my talks with Marco, he had shared countless stories about his adventures with the whitebeards, things that I myself could only dream of. But the most important thing was, that no matter how hard I would try to make his staying in the prison a bearable one, it would never be enough.
Marco never wanted safety, the only thing he carved was freedom. He wanted, no NEEDED to be free in order to be happy.
And that he would probably rather die than be forced to give that up.
"Damn it" I cursed before sinking to my knees, letting the tears fall as I looked out over the ocean once again as the pain from being torn between duty and heart ripped me apart.
-x-x-x-x-x-
YO GUYS!
Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, buut work is a jerk.
As you can see things are escalating, and fast.
I really hope that you liked this chapter, and please leave a review about what you think!:D
