WAR FOR MARS

Gale crossed his arms over his chest and sat down slowly at the table, gazing up at Luffy with curious eyes as the kid seemed to fall into this strange stage of troubling depression. It was as if there were actual gloomy clouds that hung over his head as he lowered it to the floor. "You gonna be alright there?" Gale asked with a cocked brow, not sure whether to comfort him or not. He honestly didn't want to though.

"Yeah...I'll be just fine," Luffy responded back in a grumbling voice that made it sound like he was pouting.

Gale scoffed. "You're not really selling it right now."

"I actually thought for a moment that she was gonna accept Luffy-san's request," Coby said. "It kinda surprised me when she said no."

Gale's eyes wavered slightly as he took in a deep breath. He crossed his arms over his silver-plated chest and tapped his bare fingertips against it for a second before speaking. "I don't doubt that she was gonna say yes...but it's hard for some people to drop their whole life and go on an adventure. People have responsibilities here. Lady Artemyra most of all." Gale fell silent for a moment afterward but picked his head up when the floor near the doorway creaked under heavy footsteps. He nearly jumped though when he saw Armstrong standing in the frame of the door.

Lord Armstrong didn't say anything and just stared at them with his arms dangling loosely at his side. The man's weathered face was solemn and his mind seemed to be adrift in the sea of his own thoughts, registering the information and pondering it silently to himself.

Gale immediately jumped from his seat and nearly toppled it over in his hurry to stand at attention. "Lord Armstrong! I didn't know you were home!" he said strongly.

Armstrong raised his arm and signaled Gale to stand at ease. "It's the end of the day, Gale. No need to be stiff," he assured him.

Gale sighed. "Sir." He went to sit back down but stopped when he glanced over at Luffy and Coby who just looked confused. "Guys, this is the Lord of Armwell, as well as lady Artemyra's father. Lord Armstrong," he said and gestured to the strong statured man standing before them.

Coby had to crank his head up to look up at him but immediately snapped his eyes away when he saw just how big this man was. He was built like a solid stone statue and his frame filled out the entirety of the room. His muscles were so well developed that he could easily see his veins pulsating under his skin every time he moved.

Luffy stared at the man for a moment before the resemblance finally clicked for him and his eyes grew wide. "Ah! Myra's old man!?" he exclaimed and pointed his finger.

Armstrong strolled into the room. "I overheard something about a request. What did you tell my daughter? She seemed upset," he asked rather calmly but his voice still sounded firm.

Luffy looked a little surprised to hear that. He didn't think she was upset but she did walk out of the room fast after rejecting his request. So it was probably shortly after that. "All I asked was for her to join me and become a pirate," he said.

The old knight stiffened and stood in place, frozen to the core and completely speechless for a moment. "What?" he said, slack-jawed

Coby quickly tried to apologize for Luffy's nonchalant answer. "We're so sorry! Luffy-san just doesn't think about things and just says what he wants."

Armstrong didn't even respond to Coby's words and just looked stunned. "You were...wanting to take my daughter out to sea?"

Luffy nodded. "Yeah, but she said she couldn't."

Armstrong pushed for more answers. "What exactly did she say?"

Luffy just shrugged half-heartedly, not sure what he meant by that and why it was so important. "Don't really know. Just something along the lines of a mission being more important."

Armstrong's face became distorted with a wave of unreadable emotions sweeping across his sea-green eyes. He took in a deep breath and sat down a moment later, running his hand through his pale blonde hair and just quietly thinking to himself. "I see...no wonder her eyes had suddenly turned to glass," he muttered loud enough for Luffy to hear.

"Glass?"

Armstrong turned his face back up and stared at Luffy, locking his eyes with his to make sure he had his full attention. "I actually...would have no problem if she wanted to leave this godforsaken island," he suddenly revealed, much to Gale's shock.

Gale almost fell back in his chair when he leaned it on two legs. "Lord Armstrong, but becoming a pirate..."

"What's so wrong with being a pirate, Gale?" Armstrong cut in firmly and looked at him with these steadfast eyes that showed no uncertainty...Just a strange look of admiration. "Being a pirate means your free, and that's all there is to it. There are no bad pirates...just bad people."

Luffy had to rewind a bit on the conversation to make sure he heard him right. "Wait a moment...you actually wouldn't care if Myra went with me?" He was more surprised about the fact that Armstrong was so willing to let his daughter leave, rather than carry out her personal mission she seemed so determined to finish no matter the cost.

Armstrong turned away from Gale to address the young pirate beside him, speaking with a sincere voice that he thought was never possible coming from a man of his stature. "If it meant leaving this island... then yes. Nothing is ever simple though...never." He dropped his hand and slammed it onto the table. He used so much force that it actually made Coby jump.

Luffy thought Armstrong's words over for a minute when something suddenly clicked for him. The island, the people, Artemyra. It was a strange phenomenon that made absolutely no sense to him. "Does that have something to do with the way everyone looks at her?"

"What?" Coby asked, still not understanding what he meant.

Armstrong cocked a brow and looked generally impressed. "Oh, so you've noticed?"

"What do you mean?" Coby asked again.

Luffy rocked back and forth in his chair and crossed his arms, humming to himself. "I'm not sure. Everyone here is so nice...but weird. The people here look up to her with respect...but also hate."

Armstrong shook his head. "It's not hate you were seeing, boy...It was greed you were witnessing."

Coby blinked. "Um... I'm sorry, but I'm not following."

Armstrong's face turned grim in a matter of seconds. He balled his hands up into tight fists until they were shaking white. "Maybe...it's about time for my daughter to depart from these lands." He pressed his fingers against his temples and groaned. "What do you think, Gale?"

Gale shrugged his shoulders and frowned, not quite sure what to say himself. "I think she's too stubborn to leave. She would never do it unless someone gives her a forceful push." He lifted his arms and gave a shoving motion with his hands.

Luffy began to feel an odd shift circulate through the room when Armstrong and Gale spoke between each other. "Is something going on here?" he asked.

Armstrong lowered his head and tapped his fingers against the table, finding the words that were momently lost amidst the storm inside his mind. "War..." he said with a voice cracking with exhaustion, almost as if this man hadn't slept a day for the last couple of years. It showed in his eyes, his voice, and the way he carried himself.

Something was terribly wrong, more than what a simple word was capable of explaining.

"What...?" Coby asked, eyes wide and unblinking.

"The four islands are at war with each other right now. Kin fighting against kin in a battle to the death. All for the name of victory." The tone of his voice dropped a few notches that was low enough to make it feel like the ground was trembling. "A war for a weapon...a war...that has been raging for years...decades...centuries."

Coby remained frozen in place, shaking like he had been standing out in a raging blizzard for hours. He wasn't exactly frightened but the meaning behind those words chilled right through his very existence. He had no idea. Not a single clue something like that was going on. "I'm...I mean...I didn't know," he stuttered.

"You wouldn't. It's not public information. It's a dark secret that has been kept between the knights of the four islands and the World Government," he explained.

Luffy tilted his head curiously to the side. "You said 'war for a weapon'. Is that what your fighting for?"

Armstrong narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "No. We're fighting for a curse. That weapon, if you can call it that...is nothing but a plague that should've been lost a very long time ago. It's the main reason why we can't stop fighting. Killing the men and women that should've been our brothers and sisters." Scorn carried in his voice that was deeply seeded. "Do you...know what an Ancient Weapon is?"

"Never heard of it. No." Luffy said bluntly.

Armstrong picked his head back up and just stared at him, a little baffled at his blunt nature and unawareness of the heavy atmosphere. "Your honesty is a little refreshing," he said with a fading smile. "They're weapons capable of mass destruction...and long ago, one of these weapons fell into the hands of the knights. Into our hands...that soon dividing us harshly. People desired the weapon and wanted it for themselves, thus war broke out between us, deadly battles to try and claim it and the mysterious abilities it holds. Every 22 years a victor is made and is given the weapon as a prize...until the next."

Coby's jaw smacked against the floor. "That's ridiculous! People would kill each other for something...like that?"

"People have killed for less. We claim to be noble people but I believe there aren't very many of us left who have that old and genuine soul. My wife...Hira was one of those people. She was a champion...and the strongest person I had ever met. She was the first and only person to had ever win two battles in a row. Two wars."

"Does that mean she's the holder of the weapon now?"

Armstrong turned pale and stiffened. "No, uh...Hira...was killed 19 years ago," he said with deeply lingering pain still embedded in his heart. For him, 19 years ago wasn't even half the time he spent with her, and seeing his daughter every day, who looks just like her, still reminds him of his loss.

"I'm...I'm sorry." Coby choked out an apology.

Armstrong reached out his large and rough hand and patted the scrawny kid on the shoulder, telling him silently that he appreciated his sincerity. Afterwards he leaned back in his chair to continue. "Hira was the strongest...but she wasn't all-powerful. Even she wasn't capable of holding back the weapon," he said with an air of mystery.

Coby noticed something odd with the way Armstrong said that. "You make it sound like the weapon's alive." he laughed awkwardly...but the knight didn't even blink or look away. His face was made of stone. Serious and deadly. "You can't be serious..."

"I can't really explain it myself, but...there's a darkness that surrounds that weapon. It's like the holder becomes cursed as well. It...changes people in little ways. With my wife...she was normal as all could be. Lively, adoring, passionate, and kind...but the moment someone was to take the weapon from her...she would become possessive over it. Completely obsessed. It was frightening to see her that way. One moment she was herself, but the next..." He dragged his words out and tightened his jaw.

A cold chill ran under Coby's skin. "It was like she had become a completely different person?"

Armstrong confirmed with a small nod. "Lack of a better word, yes. Her resolve was the strongest until the bitter end. She held onto the weapon...for the sake of others not falling victim to its natural side-effects..." His words drifted off and he turned his gaze away from them, looking out the window with this strange, thousand-yard stare.

"Then who holds the weapon?" Luffy asked but the lord of Armwell didn't even answer him anymore. Instead, he turned back to him and spoke about his pain, silently through his eyes, the reason for his exhaustion. "It's Myra, ain't it?" Luffy finally realized, much to Coby's horror and Armstrong and Gale's shame.

"According to Krea's Rules: if the holder of the weapon passes away before the next war, then it must be carried on to their offspring. In this case...Artemyra," Armstrong said bitterly through his teeth.

It all started to make sense now, Luffy thought. "Where's the weapon now?"

"You've already seen it," Armstrong said and watched Luffy and Coby's expressions become blank. It was as if their thought process had run their course and their minds weren't able to take in any more information.

"What?" they both said.

"I said you've already seen it. The side-effects are the same as they were with Hira. My daughter has also become obsessively possessive over it. It never leaves her side." He turned to Luffy. "Tell me, boy. When do these looks of greed occur with the others? What does Artemyra do to cause this?"

"It only happens when she..." He felt a sharp pain enter his heart when it all finally clicked for him. "...turns around."

"You must've noticed it by now. The first thing you see when you look at her, yes? It is the golden sheath she carries on her back. The Ancient Weapon of mass hysteria and chaos...Mars!"