Chapter 4: Grey Terminal and Flevance
Warnings: PTSD/flashbacks, blood/gore, character death, fire, execution/massacre, suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts.
Ace appeared in a flash of fire in front of Luffy, Sabo, Dadan, and Makino.
"Ace!" His brothers yelled in joy.
But then they see Ace's injuries. "Ace?" Makino said, checking his injures.
"No time!" He yelled.
"What happened? Where is Garp?" Dadan asked, looking every which way for the elder D-Bearer.
"We heard a scream." Luffy added unhelpfully, he glanced behind him looking back towards the scream he had heard.
"We need to go! The only way we escape is Grey Terminal, it has to burn! If we don't move now, all of us will die. Garp, Lu, and I will survive, but you won't, get to the beach, and go before I ignite this place!" Ace commanded, getting up and wrapping fire around him.
"Ace, what-?" Dadan tried to say but he stopped her with a look.
"Get our family out of here. Dawn Island has to be destroyed if we want to live. If we don't, then we will all be hunted down." Ace's eyes convey all that they need to for Dadan to nod solemnly and get up, her eyes shadowed as she looks at Luffy and Sabo.
"Let's go! Let Ace handle this!" Dadan shouted as she grabbed onto Sabo and Luffy's shoulder and herded them out of the door of the empty Party Bar.
"Dadan-" Makino was so lost and confused but she knew there was no way for her to convince Ace otherwise.
"Let's give the boys their freedom." The older woman whispered.
Makino nods, turning back to Ace. "Come back safe." The barmaid says with a stern tone and gets one last look at the Party Bar. She runs after Dadan and the boys. "I guess we'll all be starting a new adventure now."
The two women took one child in their arms, Sabo was in Dadan's and Luffy was carried by Makino. Luffy whimpered and buried his head in Makino's neck, closing his eyes and praying that his brother and grandfather would be safe.
The four of them made it to the beach cave that their boat (Bluejam's) was hidden in. "Do either of you know who to sail?" Dadan asked the children.
"I do!" Sabo volunteered.
"Whose boat is this?" Dadan asked the boys.
They glance at each other and say, "A pirate's."
"Ace killed him and his crew a few weeks ago. Said it was because of the Nobles." Sabo told them as he steered the ship to the opening with Dadan's help keeping the wheel steady.
"Wait! Ace can't swim! He ate a Devil Fruit." Luffy shouted, "How will he get to us?"
"The same way he just did." Sabo reassured his younger brother.
Makino just stared at Sabo like he had grown a second head. She didn't know what was happening, just that their home was about to go up in flames due to Ace and that Garp was on a rampage for some reason because of the boys.
"Is there…. Who can we call for help?" The green haired woman asked.
"No, at least not yet." The blond boy shook his head. "We have no idea if a black Den-Den-Mushi is in the area 'cuz of Garp. We can't risk it. More than that, does anyone have a Den-Den on them?" Sabo asked, looking between both older women.
"I do. I grabbed it before we left." Makino said, holding it up.
The three others look at Makino and grin. "Okay, good, we need to get as far from Dawn as possible. Ace will come." Sabo said, taking the wheel from Dadan. "Luffy, get the maps and the Log Poses from my bag, Ace put in a few of them in there for us. Can you read off the names of the islands that they are set to?" Sabo asks his brother.
"I'll help you, Luffy." Makino says as she comes over to the boy who nods and looks back at their home.
"What can I do?" Dadan asked, wanting to keep busy and not think about her family dying.
"Unfurl the sails and get that flag off of the mast, we don't want to be known as pirates, not now anyways." Sabo muttered the last part as he continued to navigate the waters of East Blue. They got farther and farther away from Dawn Island until Sabo, with Dadan's help dropped the anchor.
"Here, Sabo." Luffy lifted up his hands to show two Log Poses in his hands. Makino had a few in her arms as well.
"Great job, Lu. Can you read off the islands?" Sabo asked as he continued to stare at Dawn Island.
"Here, let me." Makino said softly as Luffy nodded and went over to Dadan and hugged her.
"Thank you." Sabo said simply. She nods and begins reading off the names of the islands.
"The Log Poses are set to Sabaody Archipelago and Fish-Man Island; the others aren't set to anything yet. Then there are a few maps, one of which is a map of East Blue, another is for Sabaody Archipelago, and the last map is of Loguetown." She and Sabo set down the seven Log Poses and maps on the deck of the ship and tried to make sense of why Ace had these maps and how he got the Log Poses, but neither of them could.
"Ace said that there were a few different types of Log Poses. I think these two-," He paused and pointed to the Long Poses near Makino, "-are Eternal Poses. They only point to the specified island that is marked on them. Why Ace has two Eternal Poses to Sabaody and Fish-Man Island is beyond me, though. The other three are Log Poses that are needed to travel the first half of the Grand Line: Paradise. The other two, I think are Log Poses as well, but those are for the second half of the Grand Line: New World." Sabo tells Makino.
She doesn't understand most of what he was saying but she understood the basics of it. "Do you know how to navigate?" Makino asked the boy.
"In the Blues, sure. But when… if, we go to the Grand Line, I wouldn't know where to even start. We would need a Navigator or I would have to learn somehow." Sabo admitted. Makino nods at his answer and was about to ask something else but an explosion made all four people on the ship look out to Dawn Island.
Dawn Island was on fire. It looked like something straight out of hell. Makino started crying when she thought about Foosha and all of the villagers that had been left to die. Dadan had her fists clenched thinking about her bandit family and their deaths. Luffy and Sabo were crying for their home and their family.
They continued watching as the fires spread all over the island, engulfing it all and making the once lush forests black with ash and the corpses of the dead. It was an hour before any of them moved from their spots around the deck of the ship.
Ace had come back. With him was Garp.
"Ace! Gramps!" Luffy screamed, his rubber arms wrapped around the two older males and hugged them tightly.
"Garp!" Dadan shouted coming towards the duo.
Ace lurched to the rail of the boat and vomited blood. "Ace!" Sabo, Luffy, and Makino shouted together, worried for the boy.
"I fucking told you not to use Haki when I went intangible!" Ace yelled at the old man.
"Next time, warn me!" Garp complained.
"What happened?" Dadan stressed, her brows furrowed.
Ace watched Dadan and Makino usher the boys away from him. He stared at the midday sun with a smile on his face.
"This is goodbye. I'm sorry it had to be this way." He whispered and casually lit his hand on fire, first starting with the Party Bar and then scattering the fire outwards into Foosha Village. It would be better for them to die fast than to die by smoke inhalation and suffocation.
"Hotarubi: Hidaruma." (Firefly Light: Ablaze) The fire spread throughout the forests as he became intangible and went to Grey Terminal, the place where everything happened in the past timeline.
Grey Terminal…. Where his dreams started and ended. Where Sabo was taken from Ace and Luffy. Where his brothers and Dadan almost died.
But this time… it will be different.
Bluejam was dead; Ace had killed him and his crew weeks ago before the fire, before Bluejam was approached by Sabo's father, before they were able to set up the bombs.
But it would end the same, Grey Terminal would burn. But this time… nothing would escape the blaze. Nothing could survive Dawn Island's destruction, or else it would spell death for them all.
6 people, the only survivors.
That was it, 6 people that would know the truth about the fire that consumed Dawn Island.
Dadan, a bandit and the leader of the Dadan Family. Makino the owner of the Party Bar. Sabo, the son of Outlook 3 and a former Noble. Monkey D. Luffy, the son of the Revolutionary leader, Dragon, and future Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Monkey D. Garp, a Marine Vice Admiral, also known as the Hero of the Marines. Gol D. Ace, the son of the Pirate King: Gol D. Roger, and future Captain of the Spade Pirates.
"HIKEN!" (Fire Fist) The D-Bearer yells as the trash heaps turn to slag and topple over, burning and crushing people all around him. He closes his eyes and says a silent prayer for the people he's killing, but he has no choice. Dawn couldn't be targeted; his family had to be safe, no matter what.
He watches from above as Grey Terminal burns, and as the fire spreads through High Town Ace can't help the dark grin that splits his face. He's always hated the Nobles of Goa Kingdom, especially Sabo's shit father.
The boy was plunged into his memories as he remembered the way Sabo's father had threatened to have him and Luffy killed just so Sabo couldn't escape to them anymore. That was when he knew that one day he would kill that piece of shit that Sabo had to call his sperm donor.
The D-Bearer blinked as he heard an angered scream.
It had to be Garp.
Heading in the direction of the scream and the massive amount of King's Haki, Ace found Garp in the middle of the burning down and decimated forest.
"HOW!? HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" Garp bellowed up at Ace.
But Ace didn't respond, he just became tangible again and slowly had his flames wrap around Garp. "I'm going to get us out of here. Don't use Haki."
Ace looked into his adoptive grandfather's eyes and turned into fire with Garp screaming profanities at him, blasting him with his Haki, which almost made him vomit by the sheer rage and agony he could feel coming from the man.
Flevance – 3 years ago
Shots rang out as screams were heard from everything that was moving.
Orders from the soldiers and Marines, screams from the victims of the slaughter.
A young 10 year old boy looked at the carnage and bloodshed with shock and horror. He didn't know what was going on! Why were the Marines killing them? Why weren't they trying to help?
Was it because of the White Lead Disease? Because it was contagious, that they were killing them all indiscriminately?
It had to be.
But Law didn't want to die. He wanted to live, even if he only had less than three years left… He wanted to live!
Law ran, he ran back to his school and was about to call out to his teacher but was stopped when he saw that she was smiling in his direction, like she knew he was there. The woman shook her head slightly, and with that small, sad smile died from a point-blank bullet him her head.
A Marine had shot her execution-style. That didn't mean that death didn't hurt, all it meant that was it wasn't prolonged. These people, the World Government exterminated them all without remorse, just to get rid of a Disease that may or may not be contagious.
Law thought that it was contained to their island and to their people, but he wasn't totally sure. And who would believe a child, even a smart one like Law?
He had to get home; he had to get his parents and his sister. They were the priority right now.
Law ran home. He found the doors smashed open as he slowly made his way in. He didn't know what he would find, but he knew from what he had already seen… his parents wouldn't be alive. He hoped that they would be, but he doubted it from the metallic smell of blood all over the house.
He found his parents. They were both dead, it looked like his father tried to protect his mother, but it was in vain. Law collapsed, his legs couldn't support his body anymore as he sobbed and cried and raged about the injustice that the World Government were causing because of their fear.
His tiny hands curled into fists as he touched his parents blood, not caring about how he looked, with blood and tears and snot on his face and body. The white spots left by the White Lead Disease were stark and clear against his still-pale skin.
But he didn't care. Everyone was gone. There was nothing left for him. The boy, the small, sick D-Bearer reached over for the sharp scissors that his mother had tried to use as a weapon against the guns that shot them dead.
His hands were trembling, but if it was from the fear, rage, or sickness, he didn't know.
He closed his eyes. Whispering, "I'm sorry."
He had failed as a D-Bearer, he had failed as a son, and he had failed as a big brother.
Before the scissors cut into the skin of his neck, a small hand, much smaller than his own, stopped him.
Law opened his eyes. He stared at his savior.
It was a little girl, younger than him. But she had the same eyes as him.
Gold.
Shining with unshed tears. Her face was covered in white spots, just like him.
His sister had saved him.
"Lamie…"
"Please don't Big Brother. I still need you. We are still alive. We need to live with the time we both have." The little girl whispered to her older brother.
Law nodded numbly, letting go of the steel scissors in his hand. With the help of his sister he got up and was hugged. "Let's go. We need to leave, we need to escape." Lamie sounded like their mother in that moment, the stern doctor trying to explain to her patients that recovery isn't instant, that it takes time. A lot of time and sometimes not everyone can recover, but that they had to try.
Law nodded, this time he lead his sister out of their broken and destroyed house. There was nothing left for them here in Flevance.
The siblings heard noises, voices, they realized. Both froze in fear. Would they be next?
"Round up the bodies! We need to burn and dispose of the diseased!" A male voice shouted to the soldiers and Marines around him. Law and Lamie couldn't see what was happening.
"We need to hide!" Law hissed, pushing his sister into a pile of dead bodies. "Hold your breath. I'll come find you when we're out of the city limits." He told her. She nods with a weak smile on her face as they embrace for the last time.
Law hid in another pile of dead bodies, breathing in the smell of burning flesh, death, decay, smoke, and ash wasn't pleasant, but he did it.
For his sister, for his last living family… he would do whatever it took to ensure their survival.
He felt the cart he was in start to move, rolling along the roads out of the burning city, away from the place once called the 'White City.'
He hoped his sister was okay, he hoped they were going to the same place and that they could escape before the bodies around them were incinerated.
His hopes didn't come true, because when the wagon-cart stopped he carefully poked his head out of the mound of corpses. He couldn't see another cart, he couldn't see Lamie.
His sister was gone.
The last light he had… and he had no idea where she was or even if she was alive still. Had they found her and killed her like they killed his teacher? Had she hid and escaped now out in the world with White Lead ravaging her body from the inside out? How much time did she have left? Law didn't know. But he hoped that she survived longer than him, even though he knew that she would die first since the disease got his little sister first.
While the soldiers and Marines loaded up the bodies, Law escaped unnoticed by all of the activity and movement around him.
Then he ran once again. He ran in no particular direction expect behind him. He would never go back to Flevance, he would never see his parents, sister, classmates or teachers ever again.
He was alone.
Trafalgar D. Water Law didn't exist anymore.
He was just Trafalgar Law now.
Now and forever, he would never reveal his true name to anyone.
He couldn't, for that would mean certain death for him.
He had to live, for his sister's sake. For the death of those who had wronged and betrayed him.
He was the last of the Trafalgar D. line.
He knew that the D would bring about another storm.
One way or another, he would be that storm.
"Garp, calm the fuck down!" Dadan screamed at the older man who was about to chuck Ace overboard.
"How the fuck do you know that?! Answer me, BOY!" Garp bellowed at Ace, who kept a straight face as the older man yelled at him.
"It was another D, right?" Ace asked him.
Garp was stunned, but nodded numbly. "How…"
"I don't know who the D was. All I know is that one day you will have to choose Garp. Duty or Family. There is no other way." Ace stressed.
Garp collapsed onto the deck, his body not able to support his weight anymore. His mind was numb. "I'm the only survivor of Dawn Island's fire. Everyone died because of a fire that was started in Grey Terminal and spread to the rest of island." Garp finally said, making a cover story for the other five people with him.
"Are you sure, Gramps?" Ace asked, walking towards the man.
The old D nods with a small smile on his lips. "If it means that you two can live without being burdened by your family legacies, then yes. I will do whatever I need to, to protect you. You are my family. All of you." Garp said, looking earnestly at each one of them.
Luffy tackle-hugged Garp, and then he was joined in by his adoptive brothers. Makino dragged Dadan over and the six of them had a long group hug. "Thank you." Sabo whispered to the old man, tears streaming down his face.
"Of course, Sabo." The old man smiled at the boys.
"You know that once word gets out… you'll be hunted down by Dragon and Shanks. They'll want an explanation as to what happened." Ace said after their group hug ended and the six were sitting on the deck in a loose circle.
"I know. I won't tell them anything besides that you are safe." The Marine told them, and then he looked to Luffy. "Do you want to know why I never liked you having that hat, Luffy?"
Luffy's brown eyes got big as he nodded vigorously, a huge smile on his face. "It isn't a happy tale, lad." The youngest D-Bearer's smile slipped off his face and was replaced with a frown.
All of them listened to the tale of Luffy's straw hat.
"The hat you now wear belonged to Gol D. Roger, the former Pirate King. However, it has a much longer and darker history, one that even I don't know the full story of. Few do, and even fewer still live." Garp shuddered; terrified at recounting the hell that was any battle between Roger and that monster. He didn't want to tell anyone about him, Garp didn't even want to think about that monster.
"In the beginning, it was just a hat, but soon after, it changed. The hat remained the same, straw and everything. But what changed was what the straw hat represented. At first, no one believed the hat was anything special, even with who its wielder was. For Roger, it was boundless adventure. I saw it with my own eyes, at first I didn't understand until..." The old D-Bearer closed his eyes, trying not to cry at the memories that were coming back to him. "I don't know what the hat represented to Shanks. You would have to ask him." Garp gazed at his grandson, he gazed at the hat sitting innocently on his head.
He knew that many of the old generation would ask how Luffy had gotten that hat. The hat that many didn't know actually belonged to Gol D. Roger and not Shanks. Only a few of the old generation did, Garp being one of the few that believed that the hat was similar to a Klabautermann, Silvers Rayleigh was another. And he knew, even that he was loathe to admit it... the journey of Roger and his crew... it was entangled in the mystery of the straw hat.
But the dark history of that straw hat, and the prophecies that surround it... not even he knew the true meaning behind what its true purpose was. But what he did know, was that the straw hat would always be worn by the Family of D or a person that the D-Bearer trusted completely.
So why? Why had Roger entrusted that straw hat to Shanks? That was one of the questions he had for the red haired man.
Why had Roger given his prized hat to a boy not even in his teens?
And what did that mean for the future now that Luffy had it? Would he be hunted down by Roger and Shanks' enemies because of the hat? Because he knew the red haired pirate? He hoped not, this was Luffy's chance at a life of his choosing, without the burden of who his father was looming over him constantly.
"Who's still alive that knows?" Ace asked, wanting to find some other people to talk to about Roger.
"None I would willingly put you in their path."
"Something happened, didn't it? That's why you're scared." Luffy said suddenly, a frown on his face. Luffy may act like an idiot, but he was perceptive as hell when he wanted to be.
"I need to know something." Ace said, looking directly at Garp.
The old Marine didn't think he would like what Ace was about to ask, but he would answer the boy's question to the best of his ability. "What is it?"
"Do you really believe that the World Government would have allowed Luffy and I to live if they found out about our legacies?" Garp closed his eyes and looked too world-weary.
"No. I know they would have killed you, and me, if anyone found out that I was knowingly harboring two children of known criminals. It wouldn't have mattered if I am named, 'Hero of the Marines,' the Five Elders would have killed me as well for being a D along with you two. Maybe even Dragon if they thought holding Luffy hostage would get Dragon to come out of hiding."
Ace nods solemnly. "Okay then. Thank you for being honest."
"What do we do now?" Dadan asked.
"You three are going to become pirates, aren't you?" Garp asked, but they all knew it wasn't a question.
"Yes. Should we get bounties, which will happen most likely, my epithet will be 'Vulcan Ace,' because of my Devil Fruit. Luffy's will be 'Straw Hat,' for obvious reasons." Ace told him.
"What about Sabo's?" Garp asked.
"'Black Dragon Sabo,'" Ace thought, looking at his adoptive brother to see if he liked the name.
"Why 'Black Dragon'?" Sabo asked him.
"Don't know. It just came to me and I thought it would fit you." Ace shrugged.
"Okay…" Garp glanced between the boys and then turned to face the two women with them. "What are you going to do? Where are Dadan and Makino going to settle down? Or are they going to become pirates along with you three?"
Ace was the one who shook his head and spoke up for the two women. "No, they need to be safe. That means that you can't be known going to an island that doesn't have a Marine presence on it." Garp hates the idea of that, but nods, knowing that Ace is right.
How the 11 year old boy even knew any of that, Garp didn't know. "So… where are you going to be dropping us off at?" Dadan asked, not wanting to leave the boys but knowing that this is what they wanted to be, pirates, and who was Dadan to stop them from their dreams?
Ace went over to his bag with the Log Poses and maps he had, spreading out the one of East Blue in the middle of the group. "We can't take you two anywhere that has a Marine base on it, since Dadan has a decently high bounty for someone in East Blue. Nor with any known Pirate crews, so… the only three places I can think of are Shimotsuki Village, the Gecko Islands, and Loguetown."
The 20 year old boy said, glancing up at his adoptive grandfather for confirmation. Garp rubs his chin and leans down towards the map of East Blue. "Not a bad idea, but why did you pick Loguetown as well? It does have a Marine presence and its where a lot of pirate crews from East Blue go to get to Reverse Mountain, are you sure that would be a good idea for Dadan and Makino to settle down there?"
"It's up to them; I was thinking Loguetown because at least there, you could at least visit them without it looking so suspicious with having a Marine Vice-Admiral in the town where Roger was executed at." Ace shrugged, already knowing about the small Marine area in Loguetown because of Smoker.
Garp narrowed his eyes at Ace. "How do you know that?"
"I hate the Marines, Gramps. But that doesn't mean I'm deaf to what you were saying about them and how they operate. If Dadan and Makino decide to go to Shimotsuki Village or the Gecko Islands, you can forget about visiting them there. Those places don't have any Marine bases on the islands or near the village."
Ace and Garp turned to look at the two women that were with them. Sabo and Luffy didn't talk as Ace and Garp discussed where the two women would go. The decision would be up to them.
Dadan and Makino glanced at each other and then down at the map. "Which place would be best, do you think?" Makino asked, looking at Garp.
"I would have to say the Gecko Islands, but then I wouldn't be able to check on you unless I disguised myself, and even then, I would probably be too recognizable. But… it's really up to you. We uprooted you two from your homes-"
Dadan cut the older man off with flicking her half-finished cigarette at him. "Idiot, the boys saved our lives. If it weren't for them then we would be burnt corpses on Dawn."
"Gecko Islands." Makino answered after being silent for a bit, looking at the map and thinking.
"Okay." Garp agreed.
"That means you two will be on your own, I won't be able to come unless it's an emergency, and even then, I might not be able to get the clearance to go." Garp warned.
"It's alright. We can make due on our own." The barmaid smiled at the old man.
Garp sighs and nods to the young barmaid, "Do any of you know how to navigate?"
"I do, Garp. But when Ace and I get to the Grand Line… I wouldn't know where to even start. We will need to find a Navigator before we leave East Blue." Sabo told him.
The six of them: two civilian women, three would-be pirates, and a Marine Vice-Admiral sail calmly and quietly to the Gecko Islands to drop off the two women with them. It only took a couple of hours to get the archipelago.
Dadan and Makino hugged the boys and Garp, waving and had tears slip from their eyes when the four males left them standing on the beach of the island that would now be their new home.
"Hey! Do you two need some help?" Dadan and Makino turned to see four boys coming up to stand a few feet apart from them.
"Yes, that would be great. We… we lost our home and we finally made it to this habitable island." Makino says with a frown. "Could you help us? Is there a village or town here?"
"Yeah, Syrup Village, it's where we live! Wanna come with us? You two could probably find work at Meshi. Come on, follow us." The boy in the front said with a grin.
Makino stared at the boy. "You…" the green haired woman covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
"Makino? Hey, what's wrong?" Dadan asked, not knowing the reason for the barmaid to cry at the sight of this odd long-nosed boy.
"You're Usopp, aren't you?" She said, the boy, Usopp, jaw dropped in shock.
"Yeah… how do you know my name?" Usopp asked, nervous about why this unknown woman would know his name.
"Yasopp talked a lot about you."
None of the boys could say anything but stare in shock at the barmaid.
Dadan broke the silence with a, "Well, fuck. That's convenient as hell."
"Dadan! You can't curse in front of children!" Makino scolded the older woman.
"Oh, like they haven't heard worse. That boy's father is on a powerful pirate crew." Dadan waved her hand, ignoring the younger woman.
Makino just sighed and shook her head. "Can you help us?" She asked again.
The four boys nod, but only three of them move towards them. Usopp stays frozen and just keeps staring at Makino like he'd seen a ghost.
"Come on, boss! You can ask the lady questions later! They don't have a home, let's help them for now." A boy with spiky purple hair said. "I'm Ninjin. The two other boys are Piiman and Tamanegi. You already know Usopp." He introduced.
The two women followed the boys to Syrup and they introduced themselves to the mayor. The two survivors of Dawn Island's fire got settled in a manner of days. Makino worked as a waitress at Meshi, and Dadan began to work as a carpenter. The orange haired woman agreed to take on Ninjin and Piiman when they are older, seeing as one wants to be a carpenter and the other wants to open up a bar, it would be good for them to work together for their respective goals.
Usopp would split his time between his friends (the Usopp Pirates), Kaya, and Makino. The former barmaid, now waitress, would tell him stories of his father and the Red Hair Pirates, even telling him a little bit about Luffy as well.
Marineford - 3 years after the Flevance Massacre
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku." A woman's voice interrupts his current work. Said man's head snaps over to the young woman leaning on the wall, shadowed so he couldn't see her.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Sengoku asks, standing up and reaching over for a Den-Den-Mushi.
"Donquixote Rosinante." Sengoku stopped and tensed, hearing about his adopted son.
"How do you know that name?" He asked the woman, his eyes narrowed.
The young woman calmly walked to the Fleet Admiral's desk, putting a package and an envelope on top of the desk.
"What is this?" He asked, hoping it's not what he thinks it is.
She stepped back, giving the man the time and space needed to process what the package and letter contained. The Fleet Admiral took the time to look at the woman who had bypassed every Marine in the base currently.
The woman was wearing a black cloak with its hood down, so he couldn't see much of what she was wearing underneath it, only that she was wearing a golden belt. Her hair was brown and was tied into a long braid. He couldn't see the woman's face because of the black mask covering it, but it did have a symbol on it. The symbol looked to be a burning blue rose on the left half of the mask. The only thing he could see was her strange brightly colored, almost luminescent eyes.
"Who are you?" He asked, hesitant and uncomfortable at being around this odd, clearly powerful woman.
"You will find out when you are finished reading the letter and see what is in the package." She responded.
That made him even more worried. He was a Fleet Admiral and a young woman was making him nervous and fearful of her!
If that box contained what he dearly hoped wasn't in there, the Marine didn't know what he would do. Sengoku reached for the letter first, glancing every so often towards the mysterious woman. Flicking the envelope open, he glanced again at the woman. She did nothing but patiently wait for him to read the letter.
The Devil Fruit user silently gasped at what he was reading. When he finished the letter he took of his glasses and threw them on his desk, his face in his hands.
"Please… Please tell me this isn't true." He pleaded with the woman.
She did not answer him, just gestured toward the wrapped package.
Sengoku didn't have a choice; he opened the box, already knowing what was going to be inside of it.
A sharp, desperate cry left the man's lips as he shakily stood up and stared down at the contents of the box.
"No… No! Please, not him!" He pleaded again with the woman.
Now she did move, stepping towards him and in the beam of moonlight that was coming from his windows. "Remember him smiling and happy." She said.
Sengoku fell to his knees, sobbing for his lost son.
"Who are you… what do you want?" He croaked, tears still running down his face.
"A survivor. My name is Nyx the Silence." She introduced to the emotional man.
"What do you want?" He asked, defeated.
"You know what your adopted son was, am I correct?" She asked. Sengoku raises his head and nods to her. He doesn't know where this conversation is going.
"I… yes, I do." He said, confused and hesitant about sharing anything about his son with this woman.
"Why would you help him? Knowing what he was." She asked, still standing in the light of the moon.
"Because he was a child! He was lost and afraid." Sengoku said, anger in his voice.
She hummed, and Sengoku could sense that she was smiling under her mask.
"You love him." She stated, it wasn't a question but Sengoku replied with a sharp, 'Of course!'
She crouched down a little so that she was eye to eye with him. "He has a child. A son." Sengoku froze, he couldn't think.
What did this mean? Had Rosinante… Gods! He couldn't even finish that thought!
"Who… How old-" Sengoku couldn't think of the right questions to ask so he looked at the woman who was still crouched in front of him.
"Who is the mother?" He finally asks.
"His parents are dead, he only had Rosinante." She answered.
'The child is adopted, just like Rosi.'
"How old is he? The child?"
"13." Nyx said with an odd tone in her voice.
"What's the boy's name?" He finally asked.
"You will have to find the boy on your own. I have told you all I can without endangering him further." She replied.
"Endanger him? Why is he in danger?" the Fleet Admiral asked, his voice was turning frantic at the thought of Rosi's son being captured or worse.
She didn't answer him, but she asked her own question. "Who do you trust completely?"
Two names immediately popped into his head. He told the woman instantly. "Tsuru and Monkey D. Garp."
Nyx was smiling under her mask, happy and hopeful for the future.
"Can you tell me anything else about the boy?" Sengoku asked, wondering if he should tell Garp and Tsuru about his son and his adopted grandson.
"Only you three may search for him. No one else, should that rule not be abided I will kill whoever else knows, whether or not they knew just by rumors. Is that understood, Fleet Admiral Sengoku?"
The Devil Fruit user nodded.
"You are fearful of the war that is coming. However, no one has the power to stop it, only endure and fight." Nyx told him as she stood up straight. As did he, his body was finally working again as he grabbed his glasses from his desk.
"How… How do you know that?"
She smiled beneath her mask before leaving the Marine Fleet Admiral shaking in horror.
"A storm is coming."
Then, Nyx the Silence disappeared.
Characters: Gol D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy, Sabo, Monkey D. Garp, Makino, Dadan, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Trafalgar D. Lamie, Usopp, Ninjin, Piiman, Tamanegi, Sengoku/Buddha
Mentioned Characters: Bluejam, Gol D. Roger, Monkey D. Dragon, Outlook 3, Red Hair Shanks, Silvers Rayleigh/Dark King, Yasopp, Donquixote Rosinante/Corazon, Tsuru