Hey everybody,
so this is it! The last official chapter and I could say a lot of things (but I will save that for friday ;-P), so all I will say for the moment is thank you for all your kind words and have fun with the ones following ^^
See you friday!
Sharry
Chapter 58 - Truth
-Zoro-
"You can't be serious," he muttered, his arms crossed. "I don't care who she is, I won't do it."
"Lady Loreen is a confidant of Rishou Eizen. If someone has the chance..."
"And I said I'm not doing it," he growled, well aware that it wasn't half as intimidating in this form as it would be in his real one. "If Eizen catches me, we're all in trouble. You want that?"
In front of him stood Vice Admiral Comil – also known as the reborn Jade – and Lieutenant Yaone, whose shadow showed the giant of a sleeping man. These two were officially Lady Loreen's escort, as Mihawk had not accompanied him and the World Government wanted to ensure the safety of their precious guest. Zoro was well aware that this could not be coincidental, after all, Jiroushin was supposed to provide and represent the escort.
"And what about Vice Admiral Cho," he asked in annoyance, "I was told on my journey that he would be responsible for me."
Comil showed a humble smile and bowed swiftly, but the smile of his shadow seemed anything but harmless.
"Oh, good old Cho," Comil waved off, "I was able to convince him that I was better suited for this task. Besides, it's not as if protection is really necessary, or is it, Roronoa Zoro?"
"Tze."
"Vice Admiral Comil, what is the point of this?" The soldier complained and looked at Zoro disapprovingly. "I don't want his help. He's the monster of the G-6 and I'd rather die than having to owe him."
"But Yaone. It is important to find out who you are and why your old self has decided to return. Am I not right, Zoro?"
Once again, he clicked his tongue.
"I don't care. But how can she even be one of us? I thought all the reborns remember their lives. Isn't she one of those who voluntarily gave up their memories?"
"Oh, looks like someone knows a lot." Comil was very enthusiastic. "But no, it's not like that. Only people who come back to life with their memories cast a shadow from the old days. So she has to be one of us."
"But her shadow has his eyes closed as if he were asleep. I have never seen one like that before."
The Vice Admiral nodded.
"I assume Yaone lost her memories in an accident shortly after she got that body, so it's important that she recovers them, and our job is to help her."
Unnerved, Zoro sighed and began to pace through the room.
"Fine, for all I care, but what does this have to do with Eizen?"
He really didn't care about helping Comil and his train of reborns, but he probably owed it to the other because he had not betrayed him to the Marine, and after the whole thing with the G-6 it might not be inappropriate to help Yaone, after all he had almost killed her.
"It doesn't matter," she interrupted as Comil wanted to speak. "I am not interested in a past in which I supposedly have died, nor do I want your help!"
Meanwhile, she pointed her finger at Zoro. Her entire right hand was bandaged, and he knew from the files that she had suffered severe burns all over her body.
Now he stopped and shrugged his shoulders.
"And again, then what do you want here? I can't change what happened, okay, and if you don't want my help anyway, then just go. I have better things to do than talking to two soldiers who are preaching to me about unity and family just because we happen to have a similar story."
"So you're not willing to help us?" Comil asked coolly.
"I'm not willing to do anything stupid to help someone who doesn't want my help or to change anything about their current situation. I'm not social services, understood? If she's as happy with her life as it is, why are you so obsessed with finding out her past?"
The Vice Admiral was unimpressed.
"Even though Yaone doesn't know it yet, once she remembers her past, guilt will pursue her for not trying to figure out who she was sooner, and therefore, even if she doesn't want to, it's my job to help her." The serious gaze that the lieutenant received made even Zoro swallow. "But even with all my means, I couldn't find out more than that she was probably a soldier, so we need help, your help."
"Why?" Zoro replied. "I don't have any access to anything. I have nothing to do with the Marines at all. If she used to be a soldier, you just have to look at the personnel file, right?"
The soldier nodded.
"That's true, but among all the records I haven't discovered the image of her shadow."
"So? No soldier."
"But I know he was, because I myself have seen this very soldier several years ago in the company of Sengoku."
Now Zoro was almost curious, this annoying discussion would certainly be something that would interest Mihawk. After all, that bastard liked intrigues and secrets much more than Zoro, as long as he could use them against the respective person.
"And again: So? If there are no records of an alleged soldier, how I'm supposed to get information using Eizen?"
Comil nodded again.
"Only the Fleet Admiral and the Commander-in-Chief have access to all the Marine's documents, they and a few selected people of the World Government, including Eizen."
"And you want me to somehow get hold of these documents about some secret soldier, with nothing more than that shadow there as a clue?"
"Exactly, otherwise we only know that he probably died ten to fifteen years ago, because her memories go back as far as that. I know it's little, but it's all we have."
Zoro remained silent for a moment and looked over to the big clock. He would have to hurry if he did not want to be late. It would certainly not be easy if he were to actually help Comil and Yaone. He would need an excuse why Eizen should give him access to the database, and also...
"I'm not going to do it," he said coldly.
"Like I said, you're an asshole!" The soldier claimed.
"What?" He growled back. "You don't even want my help, right?"
"Zoro," Comil said with his hand raised, "why not? Is it too dangerous? Too risky? I didn't realize that working with Rishou Eizen is so important to you."
"It would be risky," Zoro finally admitted, looking at the Vice Admiral, "but not for me, but for all of you. He can see them, the shadows."
"Oh." Astonished, Comil put a finger on his chin. "I had feared it, but it was nothing more than a dark foreboding."
Zoro nodded.
"So far, he ignores the other reborns, because he's not interested in you, but..."
"... if he notices that we are meddling with secret files, for whatever reason, he could become curious and blackmail us with his knowledge or betray us all," Comil concluded. "Is that what he does to you? Is this the reason why a pirate like you suddenly acts as the voice of peace and guardian of the weak?"
Zoro waved it off.
"That was his speech, okay? And I've got to go now, otherwise we'll all have a problem."
"That means now that the whole thing here was completely in vain?" Yaone grumbled, looking grimly at him.
"Not quite," Comil disagreed, again showing that slight smile that gave Zoro goosebumps. "From your words I understand that you have not become our enemy, have you?"
Zoro shrugged his shoulders.
"To be honest, it's all too bothersome and annoying. You helped me, so I'll help you if possible, but I have my own stuff to worry about and if she doesn't even want my help, then I don't really care." He walked to the door rubbing his temples. "And now I have to go. I don't really want to get even more problems because of this shit."
His mood had reached its lowest point by now, and it had not been particularly good right from the start. He did not understand what Comil had hoped for; that Zoro would actually search through mountains of files he couldn't even access, which were probably even hidden in a secret safe on the G-1, if they still existed, for a picture of the shadow of some girl, who didn't even want to recall her past life?
This was no longer grasping for straws, but a very last desperate attempt, even though all hope had already been given up.
He had no interest in all of this. Of course, he had helped Yaone back then, when they had met again, but primarily because he had not wanted to kill her, because she could have exposed him, but all this annoyed him more.
On the other hand, he had no interest in selling the others out or giving Eizen even more power than the politician already had, and he did understand Comil. He also believed that Yaone might regret it if she remembered at some point, but that wasn't his problem either.
He was almost grateful when they entered the large room where Eizen was already waiting for him, and Comil and Yaone finally left, even though the biggest problem was now sitting in front of him.
During the last year, Eizen had rarely called him, but now Zoro stood in front of him again, while the politician sat at the large desk and worked through a mountain of files.
"Sit down, sit down, my dear. I will be right with you in a second."
Zoro did as he was told and shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his suit pants. The advantage of non-public gatherings was that Perona's choice of clothes was usually a little more comfortable, so he wore a simple grey suit today and his shoes had only enough heels to make every step clack.
"I am surprised that Vice Admiral Comil is your bodyguard, my dear, according to my documents, Vice Admiral Cho, closest ally of his Lordship, was supposed to ensure your safety," the old man remarked, without even looking up, and wrote on.
Zoro shrugged his shoulders.
"I have no knowledge of the internal operations of the Marines," he replied coolly.
"But you would like to, wouldn't you?" Surprised, Zoro looked at the politician, who winked at him over his monocle. "After all, Comil asked you to do just that, didn't he? You are supposed to look for the sleeping man in the secret files, am I right?"
He didn't know what annoyed him more, that Eizen knew about everything once again and talked to him about it as a matter of factly, or that Zoro wasn't even really surprised. He had suspected from the beginning that Eizen would notice if Comil wanted to take advantage of him, but apparently Eizen already knew for a long time and Zoro had no idea how to talk himself out of it.
"And of course you're going to say that you have no idea what I'm talking about, but let me make this short. Needless to say, I cannot share with you any secret information such as name, rank, or Marine code, but I hereby confirm that he was a soldier in the undercover special unit and died on duty 13 years ago." Eizen rose and walked around his huge desk. In front of Zoro, he finally stopped and offered him a piece of paper. "You can give this to Comil, he has to figure out the rest himself."
Distrustful, Zoro took the paper and stared at a young man in cadet uniform who looked quite similar to Yaone's sleeping shadow.
"Of course only if you should see Comil again." This sentence made him listen. How he hated these conversations with this man, he never knew what the guy would come up with the next second. "After all, I heard that you are about to go on a longer journey, during which you would prefer to avoid any contact with Marines."
Oh, fucking shit!
"Oh, don't look so alarmed. Some of the straw hats have set off for the Sabaody Archipelago weeks ago, and why else should you refrain from being accompanied by your valued Lordship, if not to escape an unpleasant situation of revelation?"
Of course, he should have known. Eizen himself had told him that he had the others observed and, of course, he had drawn the right conclusions.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Zoro grumbled, as probably expected, and folded the Marine's photo over and over.
"Of course not," Eizen almost laughed. "How long do you want to play this charade, my dear? You have been working with me for two years now and have solely benefited from it. I have not betrayed you to the World Government or to your esteemed Lordship. By the way, what have you told him that he willingly let you leave and will not see you for weeks now?"
The politician sat down opposite Zoro on the huge armchair.
"He didn't accompany you because he thinks you're going to come back, but of course he doesn't know who you are and that you don't plan to return. It is well known that Dracule Hawk Eyes Mihawk hates pirates just as much as Marines and I don't think you're ready to break his heart just now, after two long years of lying. So what did you tell him?"
Zoro stuffed the folded note deep into his pocket and looked at the other.
"That I have an appointment with you to prepare for the Reverie."
"Ah, that was smart, of course. There is only a short time left before the World Conference, where no Shichibukai is welcomed, and it is plausible that you would spend the time until then to help me, and you knew that knowing your little secret I can give you the alibi you need."
He did not respond; Zorro had the feeling that it was often better to keep his mouth shut talking to Eizen, something that Mihawk was never able to. The politician now leaned forward.
"And of course I will help you. Until the Reverie, I will pretend that you are working diligently to help me and not traveling along with the straw hats and making a fool of the Marines. However, I advise you to arrive early, also in your interest. After all, I can't risk losing you so close to the finish line, can I?"
"The finish line?" Zoro asked, the clenched fists still hidden in his pockets, where Eizen could not see them. "So you were aiming for the World Conference from the very beginning?"
Almost indignantly, Eizen raised both hands.
"Oh, wasn't that obvious? I thought you'd already realized it and knew exactly what to expect from now on." A cold shiver ran down his back as the other looked at him smiling smugly. "But if you like, I'll explain to you exactly what soon your tasks will be."
"Why would you do this?" Zoro whispered, without looking away. "If you initiate me into your plans, you run the risk that I could betray you and you would never risk that."
Now the politician laughed and threw himself back in his armchair.
"Oh, that's very amusing, really. Don't get me wrong, my dear, you are the cornerstone of my reform, but you are not in any position to even be dangerous to me. Even if you were willing to risk the lives of your friends, your acquaintance, and yours, in the end your word would be against mine and even if I have given you quite a lot of influence..." Suddenly he leaned forward and grinned at Zoro, his eyes flashing red. "... no one will believe you."
Then the politician got up and went back to his desk, where he poured two cups of tea and offered Zoro one. But Zoro did not take it, so Eizen simply put both on the table.
"Well, we still have some time before we have to go to the meeting, and I see that you are very tense. So why not, my dear, ask me your questions."
Perhaps it had been a mistake to think that he would be able to deal with Eizen on his own, but Eizen still seemed to think he had trumped Mihawk, and as long as this was not a simple lie, Zoro would at least be able to protect him, and if it was just protecting him from doing something stupid.
"You spoke of a reform," Zoro continued hoarsely, looking at the teacup in front of him, "are you going for a coup at the World Conference?"
"Oh my dear, I'm thrilled, that's exactly the plan."
He could feel his limbs freeze.
"Oh, don't be so surprised. Someone like you is certainly also aware of the state of our World Government. Nepotism and corruption are actually the smallest problems in this organization. The world is ruled by a handful of dictatorial narcissists with a god-complex who are too simplistic to understand things like politics, economics, and state systems. Only the five elders exceed their tyranny, while the many leaders of the small states try to save the survival of their own people, or at least those in their personal favor."
Zoro remained silent.
"You have seen the world, my dear, you know all the abysses of humanity that open up through greed and hunger for power. Slavery, human trafficking, war, and deceit even fueled and promoted by the World Government, which is supposed to prevent this. Why do you think there is a Revolutionary Army? Why do you think there are more outlaws than ever before? Our World Government has failed, and it is time to start a new chapter."
"And you think you're the right man for that?" Zoro muttered flatly, still looking at the teacup, he couldn't disagree, this world was a disaster; the more Zoro had learned over the last few years, the more he had seen, the more he had to agree.
"Well, somebody has to do it, right? Believe me, no one knows the immorality of World Government as well as I do. I worked my way up from being a simple trader, cheated and lied, blackmailed and bribed just to get into this position. The aim of the current World Government is not to spread justice and prosperity all over the world, but to give the powerful even more power and money at the expense of the masses. And because I've seen all this and know what's going on, I'm the only one who can change it."
"Because you are such a benevolent and good-natured person?"
"I know how presumptuous my vision must be. But yes, I have the knowledge and experience to lead the world into a new age."
"With you at the top, of course."
"Not quite, of course I am going to take control myself, but as you know, I prefer to stay in the background and just hold the strings. Such a world-moving reform needs a greater appearance than my old body can offer."
…
"You're getting quite pale, my dear. But quite right, I prophesied you two years ago that you would be the symbol of a new era and I did not promise too much. At the beginning of the Reverie we will overthrow the five elders and Mary Joa and then the leaders of the world will have the opportunity to swear their allegiance to you and they will do so and then you and I will change the world. Why else should I have molded and promoted you this much?"
Zoro took a deep breath, but he found it unusually difficult to breathe. His battered bones hurt under the pressure of his tense muscles.
"And you really think I would go along?"
"Of course. You must understand that you could rule the world with me, but if you refuse, I will destroy everything that ever was important to you, whether pirate or king's daughter, little girl or Shichibukai. I know what kind of person you are and what you are willing to do for the people you want to protect, you're not going to stand against me and you're going to play your role as long as I need you to. The image, you and the honorable Lord Dracule gave to the world, has been perfected by me and I am willing to pay the small price of Dracule's hostile looks, but even he will not be able to change the fact that you ultimately belong to me."
Zoro felt sick.
"Why me?" He whispered. "There are certainly many people better suited for this or willing to help you, why did you blackmail me to get me into this? Just to push me into this position that you actually want to have yourself?"
The politician clicked his tongue quietly and made Zoro look up, only to see a monstrous broad grin.
"Now you ask the right questions."
Again, Eizen rose and walked over to his desk, pulling out a file. "But you're mistaken. You are exactly the person I have been looking for, oh, for so long. It was a great luck to have found you at the meeting of the five islands. You being present, accompanied by the always dismissive Lord Dracule, surprised me, your valuable Shichibukai is a selfish hermit whose heart is a block of ice and who always seemed so unconquerable, certainly not by a pirate. I got curious and did my research on you."
He came back and put the file next to Zoro's already cooled tea.
"And finally, I found in you the last piece of the puzzle in order to be able to carry out my long-planned reform." Eizen opened the file. "The last Roronoa."
Zoro stopped breathing. He had been prepared for many things when he had entered this office, and he had not expected some revelations, but nothing could prepare him for what was now in front him.
"The similarity is amazing, isn't it?" Eizen continued. "I never suspected that she was actually related to you, but then, when you were facing me in this beautiful dress, my dear, it was obvious."
In front of Zoro lay a photo of an ancient wall-hanging depicting a woman as clear and sharp, as if time itself had immortalized within the fabric. Next to it was another, much older photo in black and white showing a corpse on a cracked wooden floor near a flaming fire pit. Although the empty eyes of the dead stared rigidly through the picture and she were marked by hunger and pain, the resemblance to the wall-hanging was unmistakable.
He swallowed and couldn't turn his eyes away.
"Unfortunately, we found her too late back then, or someone warned her, I don't know. But after we lost her, I had given up all hope of ever being able to pursue my plan. Who would have guessed that the stories were wrong, who could have guessed that Roronoa Zakuro actually had a child, could hide that child from the world and history, and that this child would come to me at the best possible time fifteen years later."
He couldn't take his eyes off his dead mother. She looked exactly like he had found her back then, bend in pain, the poisonous plant still in her hand.
"I don't understand," he muttered absently, completely unprepared for the strange feeling that was spreading through him.
"How should you? So, let me explain," Eizen replied as gallantly as ever. "Do you know what the three Ancient Weapons are?"
"What?" Confused, Zoro looked up. Tried to find the connection between his dead mother, an attempted coup, Lady Loreen, and the mythical weapons of war, even though he just felt incredibly numb.
"Well, Pluton, the legendary war ship, whose blueprints were burned by Catty Fram. Poseidon, the secret power of the merfolk, and then there is Uranus." The grin of the politician grew steadily, if at all possible. "Uranus is currently the only ancient weapon in the possession of the World Government, and it rests well guarded in the depths of Mary Joa. There are very few people who are in a position to take a look at this weapon, and I certainly do not have to explain to you that I am one of them. "
It was still difficult for Zoro to take his eyes off his dead mother, but he became even more uncertain about what the other would say.
"Uranus is the oldest and most powerful of the ancient weapons. The weapon of heaven, which can only be controlled by the first generation. And now you also know, my dear, why the World Aristocrats are so afraid of those with the D. in the name."
Zoro froze.
"Only a person with a D. in the name is able to control and use Uranus. This is what the celestial dragons fear most, that one of the first generation will take the weapon of heaven and burn their wings."
"But that has nothing to do with me," Zoro muttered, and decided to close the file, "I don't have a D. in my name."
"Absolutely right." Eizen enthusiastically leaned forwards. "And so I will now entrust you with a secret that few people know. Only a few poor devils of Ohara before they died, and perhaps the five elders, but everyone knows that they are too proud to believe in nurse's tales."
Eizen licked his lips.
"The ancient weapon Uranus can only be used by the first generation, but a D. alone is not enough. For not only the D. belongs to the first generation, even if it is the most famous and powerful line of the first generation, the line of the king, but every king also needs a protector."
That is why they are called guardians of the world. However, world could also mean king in this context, and then travelers would be the king's guardians.
He got cold.
"To use Uranus, you need the king's line and the guardian's line. The king's descendant has the power to use Uranus, but Uranus can only be activated if a steady flow of energy keeps it alive, a very specific form of energy, the blood of a Roronoa, the last descendants of the guardian."
Quietly, Eizen laughed.
"History made everyone believe that Roronoa Zoro could not possibly be a true Roronoa. The five elders thought that the lineage had been exterminated for centuries, and I myself was there to witness the passing of the last Roronoa, and nothing in this neglected hut indicated that a child would live there, even the villagers remained silent, as did the monks of the temple. But when I saw you there, in this noble dress, like your mother used to wear, personification of dignity and pride, it was impossible to unsee it."
Now Zoro's hands trembled in the depths of his pockets.
"But even if you were right," he said softly, "don't you still lack a D. to use Uranus?"
"Oh, of course, my mistake. You know, the world knows me as Rishou Eizen, but actually my name is Eizen D. Rishou." He stared at the old man in dismay. "You should be surprised what a simple exchange of name order can do."
Now the old man leaned forward again and Zoro felt the need to get some distance between them, but he resisted the urge.
"You see, now I have all the pawns in position and soon, the two of us will overthrow the World Government together, with your blood and your face, and my power and my knowledge."
"But I..."
"I know, I know, you are not Roronoa Zoro, because he died two years ago. Just keep up this charade if it makes you happy, if it makes Mihawk happy. But soon you will give me your true form and your blood, after all, you would never risk the life of your friends, wouldn't you, my dear?"
Zoro did not respond, but slowly reopened the file in front of him and looked at the wall-hanging.
"Hmm, I understand, that was a bit of information. Take your time, we have a few minutes left before we have to leave. Take the time to understand your importance for world history. In the meantime, I will go through the speech for today. It is certainly in your interest if I hold it this once."
He said nothing. Gradually, he pushed the picture of his dead mother aside to find the photo of another wall-hanging underneath, this time with two figures, a woman and a man. At the sides and beneath the illustrations were characters embroidered, but so small that Zoro could not decipher them, only the large embroidered few symbols above the picture he could read without any problems.
"Read everything. You may also keep the images if you wish. I assume you don't own something like that."
Above the portrait of this woman looking like his mother and some stranger stood Alciel.
