Paradise was more or less the same as she remembered. More chaotic perhaps, or has the catastrophic rise of piracy driven by Roger's final words settled a little?
Deciding that perhaps it was better to leave the questions unanswered, Karl stared into the glistening blues with a dazed look. A promotion? She scoffed silently. She felt like her goals, dreams, ambitions were torn out of her grasp and restrained if anything else.
The justice emblem sewn onto the back of her cape swayed left and right under the salty sea breeze, as Karl pondered over the likelihood of meeting a somewhat challenging dual in the next island. She missed the days under the wings of Aokiji, even though it might've been made of ice – it gave her what she needed. She improved, tuned her skills, through tireless battles left and right, faster than she could have ever hoped for, and now, the newly assigned cape, title, ship, and subordinates – none of which she needed, was her current predicament.
"Being a captain is such a drag." A bemused chuckle greeted her near the sails, voicing out thoughts she'd never say out in public.
"Lex." Karl grunted and rolled her eyes. The worst thing about her current situation, apart from the endless restraints and mind-numbing boredom, was the presence of the only person she utterly could not stand breathing in the same vicinity as. Yet was also the one she trusted more than anyone else to guard her back in battles.
"Still can't believe that you turned down all those female marines who were all but fighting for a position to be on your crew. No idea what they see in a stone-hearted scrawny little thing like you. If I didn't know better I'd say you swing the other way."
"Talk for yourself. B'sides I never asked for a crew." Shooting him a glare, Karl retorted back.
"Common, liven up a lil. You're acting as if you miss that sorry excuse of an admiral. That ice monkey." Oh little did he know, she really did miss his presence. At least it guaranteed her some worthy opponents.
"This sea is too calm for my calling." Karl replied, looking away when Lex made a face at her phrasing.
"Calm? This may be Paradise, but it's still part of the Grand-line. Seriously, the day when you decide to quit living life on the edge would be the day we take a smoke together and pick up some girls." He chided half-seriously while Karl rolled her eyes and refused to dignify him with a response.
She walked away before he could grace her with more nonsense, and settled down on the chair of her newly furnished captain chambers. Looking past the bounty posters pinned onto the corkboard, she took in the deceiving image reflected on the spotless mirror.
Silky strands of scarlet hair, shorter than any other females she came across, polished and slicked to the side. A strand rests above her left cheekbone, covering one of her eyes. Hooded eyes of steel and her sharp, sculpted jawlines gave off a threatening vibe, intimidating weak-minded enemies before the battle even began. This was juxtaposed with her ivory skin and peach red lips – definitive feminine traits, yet when taken in together with the rest of her features, are overlooked and adds a special charm about her male identity.
Lex used to pester her about why ladies seemed to swoon over her but she would just reply that it's her icy aura and piercing gaze. Then he would jest about it, saying that if Aokiji wanted any chance with the girls he'd have to take a page out of her book. Though sometimes the ladies' favouritism towards her posed a problem, as sour men and disobedient crews were not fun to be around. Besides, it did her no good since like Lex said, she didn't swing the other way, despite himself not knowing how correct he was.
Chest bound; a habit, posture confident and voice low – a feature she established herself, she had chosen to live her life as a man to fulfil her ambitions or perhaps avoid the disapproving glances which might've arisen along the way if she were to be female.
Since birth, or what she recollected afterwards, she had been dressed as a boy to become the sole heir to a prestigious noble clan. Funny thing was that she did not mind being thought of as a man in fact she took a liking to it, it felt natural and made her fulfilled.
Now, she no longer had to keep the façade of a man to please her parents, nor worry about murmurs and obnoxious insults towards her dream to become the finest swordsman as a female, yet she still kept dressing as a man. Perhaps she herself refused to believe that a woman could fulfil her ambitions.
There were many odd peculiarities surrounding Karl. One for a fact was that she had no recollections of her childhood before age 5. Perhaps it might've been normal for any other kid her age, but she thought otherwise. She could remember details after age 5 vividly, and the first memory she had as Karl was the feeling of despair and a new flare of determination combined with a sense of loss.
She was told by her parents; or more precisely her maternal parents who only saw her as a piece to add to their legacy, that she had hit her head too hard one day and thus could not remember anything – amnesiac. As she aged and experienced the world more, there were three things that especially stood out to her. Once every now and then, she would wake up with cold sweat clinging onto her sleep-ware to the burning image of a white sword being passed onto a pair of small yet calloused hands. When she had asked her parents, discretely, about whether she had touched swords before, all they did was give her a look which immediately robbed her of any further questions. The sword was one of the unexplainable aspects surrounding Karl.
The other two came respectively hand in hand after the arrival of a certain swordsman who had stayed for a year at a nearby inn but left her with newfound or perhaps ingrained ambitions and thirst for a lifetime. Refined skills in the art of the sword and a desire to become the best swordsman, both which seemed to have been part of her long before the encounter. Perhaps they were simply sealed away before his arrival, but since then they dictated her life up till now.
Karl tore her eyes away from her reflection and unbuttoned the top of her dress shirt. It's been 5 years since she met that man who had awoken her hidden potential, 4 since she left behind her cushioned life as heir-apparent, 3 since she joined the Marines, and a week since she left the tutelage of Aokiji – summoned to become a Captain. At age 17, she really had grown and experienced more than she would've ever imagined. Though she seemed to have reached her limit and hadn't grown at all in the area she desired the most for quite some time. Her swordsmanship.
A knock on the wooden door broke her out of her own dilemma and for once she was glad for see her long-time comrade Lex's face. The two of them had entered the marines together, the same age, and were both assigned to work under Aokiji. They had been rivals, comrades and everything in between whilst sailing the roughest seas. When she was promoted to become a Captain, he had voluntarily signed up to transfer to her team, even though he could've also received a similar promotion sometime in the near future if he were to stay onboard Aokiji's ship. Despite her demeanour and words, Lex was one of the few individuals in this world she could confide in completely and it was time for her to make a decision.
"Lex, I have made a decision." Karl informed her second in command and gestured for him to keep the door closed. With a raised brow, Lex strolled towards her before plopping himself on the sofa.
"What could it possibly be~" He asked with a bemused look while grabbing a few cherries off the table and chewed heartily. He really needed to work on his attitude, Karl thought darkly and narrowed her eyes. Couldn't he tell she was being serious right now. Catching the glint in her eyes, Lex quickly swallowed the last of her fruits and raised his hands in a mock surrender pose.
"So, what was it that you wanted to say?" He asked as Karl shot him one last glare before replying,
"I'm not going to sit around and waste any more time. I'll be taking direct action. I need to polish my final sword style" Her voice was steady but Lex knew that it was an upfront to hide something else.
"And how are you planning to do that? You said it was impossible unless it's a life or death battle." His voice has now lost its usual jest and the atmosphere became thick with tension.
"And that is exactly what I need your help with." Karl sighed and leaned back. Truth be told, she hated having to ask him this, it dealt a lot of damage to her pride as their relationship was so complicated.
"I'm listening." Lex smirked a little and waited for her to expand on her plan.
"I know this may sound crazy. It really is. But I'm running out of options. For all I know that person is out there fine-tuning his skills while I'm stuck here babysitting a bunch of stick-swinging amateurs. How will I ever catch up to him… So, I'm planning on going to him and requesting a dual." She revealed and avoided the accusing look in his eyes.
"I thought you said a life or death battle. Not a suicide mission." He deadpanned, his voice and features giving away nothing.
"I know but just hear me out okay." Karl said slowly and tried to read Lex's expression. Her efforts were of no prevail as he looked at her blankly as if daring her to go on. So, on she went,
"I need you to cover for me for the time I'm away. Your disguise as me is unparalleled. I know where he is, I received a letter from him this morning. He's in paradise for once. But not for long. In order to perfect my style I would need a worthy opponent. So why not the best?" She waited patiently after explaining her plans for Lex to digest the information.
Lex sighed, it was no use arguing with Karl, now that he's made up his mind and was set to do something.
"And who would take cover for me?" Lex mumbled out but he already know further resistance to Karl's idea would be futile.
"I'll just pretend, or more precisely you'll pretend, I sent you away to deal with some pirates who were causing trouble nearby." Karl replied.
"How long would this take?" Lex grumbled and brushed his hand through his thick locks of emerald hair, he already knew any more resistance was pointless.
"A few weeks. One month at most." She replied and sent him a grateful smile.
"Consider your debt to me removed." Karl added and Lex rolled his eyes,
"For the last time, I was never in your debt." He shot back with feigned annoyance but the small smile which tugged on the corner of his lips said otherwise. There was no need for words of thanks to be uttered between the two, as words were too light to mean anything to either of them.