The Things That We Inherit

Zesiro sat alone in his room. He had just seen Enma again and had a fresh new bandage wrapped around his arm, done up in a sling to prevent as much force from being exerted onto it as possible. Before him laid his three swords. The sword his two brothers had given to him back at the URA as well as his father's blade were still in good condition, however, his mother's blade had been cracked during his fight against Daimyo.

As he recalled Garneth putting his life on the line to defend him when he was just a young boy he recalled that his swords were the last remaining element of his parent's legacies. Even their swordplay didn't exist within him. His sword-play was that of Garneth's not of his parents. The only thing his parents had left were that of their blades.

And his mother's was gone. He had been foolish in his past fights, using his swords to receive every blow. He picked up the pieces of the blade and held the hilt and the multiple shards of the blades in his hands.

"When I had picked up my blade for the first time I thought it was because I would follow behind in your footsteps," stated Zesiro, "And now when I pick it up once more I realize that's not what I should be doing. That's not what a swordsman should do." Zesiro tilted the blade forward, forming a straight line like a thrust right at the wall. "A swordsman should carve his own path forwards.

"Garneth stated it for himself, I inherited his sword skills, not his ideals. I never inherited his sword style, so I must create my own. For the longest time I've been using his skills which were clunky at best with my own style. He carved his own path, so I will too. If it means dying by it, I will accept that fact." Zesiro's muscles bulged as he lowered his arm, ripping apart the flimsy bandage which had been keeping it in place.

"I don't have the time to be sitting here thinking about it," Zesiro strode forward, "I need to instead head forward and into the unknown, carving it open with my own swords." Zesiro picked up his own two still functional swords and headed out into the open air. As he was headed out he ran into Mikoto, who was just about to head out to replace Rosa who was currently up in the mountain fighting for a bit.

The crew had decided to put a nice rotation into place with Mikoto taking up a large chunk of the time. Mikoto was essentially covering for both Zesiro and Enma, who couldn't go up there and fight because of their own duties. Zesiro was trying to cut down Shigoro and Enma was trying to make sure Zesiro didn't get cut down trying.

"I'm taking this one captain," Zesiro stated. "Let Rosa relax and you can train down here. The mountain will be mine. Not a single pirate will be left on it when I'm done."

"You can just relax a little bit longer," explained Mikoto as he stepped forward as if challenging Zesiro's resolve. "You took a bit of a beating against Shigoro again. Take a break, a few deep breaths, and maybe grab a meal. I'm not tired in the slightest still, Ridley and Rosa are doing a good job in fighting when I take my breaks."

"Then take a longer one, maybe switch out with Rosa if you still want to fight forever. But I'm going up there into the mountain. Oh, hell, you can come with me," Zesiro offered as he drew his two swords, "let's show these pirates who are the true terrors amongst the seas. A Fishman and a Coyote Man."

Mikoto chuckled and nodded. "Sure. Its been awhile since we fought together actually," Mikoto stated as he stretched slightly, "as a matter of fact the last time I actually remember me and you fighting together was probably back...against Hiro-Shu actually."

"Whose fault is that?" Zesiro questioned Mikoto as he turned around and looked him in the eye, "you are the one that always gets carried away and wind up leaving the rest of the crew behind. I'm kind of surprised you aren't challenging me to a race to the mountain."

"Where would the fun in that be?" Mikoto asked, "we both know I would win."

"How about this then?" challenged Zesiro, obviously getting annoyed that his physical abilities was being questioned, "we go to that island, we get there at the same time and whoever takes out the most enemy pirates wins."

"Sounds like a good idea," muttered another voice as he appeared behind them. The two recognized him fairly quickly as Victoria's husband, John Smith. "However, here is a slightly better idea. How about you go there, 'Shark Bite', and your captain comes with me."

"I'm not going with you for no reason," explained Mikoto, finally acting with an ounce of sensibility. Zesiro swiftly nodded.

"As it currently stands you are creating a lot of enemies," John stated as he drew his own sword from its sheath as if sensing a willingness to fight coming from Mikoto and Zesiro. "As a matter of fact most of these people have decided that you guys are the main reason for being here. The Shichibukai, Shigoro, even a Revolutionary has his eye on you. We're fine with all of these characters being here, but Victoria's tournament is being interrupted for you guys."

"If I had it my way," Mikoto gave it to John straight, "they wouldn't be here either. And besides I don't even know about any Revolutionary being here for us. I've heard about the Shichibukai and Shigoro, but not a Revolutionary."

"Man, I feel totally insulted," stated a man as he stepped out from behind a tree. His entire body was covered in thick highly decorated robes. The majority of the decorations were of an ancient 'evil eye' design. "Here I am an official officer of the Revolutionaries and yet nobody here cares about me. I am truly insulted."

"Maybe if you didn't stay in the shadow and came out more often we would know you existed."

"So, you didn't even know I existed?" shouted the man as he fell to his knees, his head nearly hitting the floor as he did so.

"I'm sorry for insulting you."

"Insulted!? No!" shouted the man as he jumped back onto his feet, "people in my job area actually consider such a thing the greatest compliment in existence. I'm someone who relies on obtaining information while not letting any information slip free from myself."

"Gan of the Revolutionaries," introduced John as he nodded towards the man. "He's like many other people just here for gathering data and since then he has admitted special interest in you guys."

"Of course, ever since our paths crossed back at Reverse Mountain I've held a special interest in you guys. I can perfectly understand why you have a slight hatred towards my group, but I want to point out that not everybody is of the same breed as those Revolutionaries. Most of us want a peaceful resolution to the conflict with the Marines. No matter how we must come across it. Hue hue hue."

"How do you actually plan to go about that?" asked Mikoto as he tilted his head.

"Excuse me," stated John as he swished his hand through the air, "I am fine with you trying to find out more, but still Victoria wishes to meet with you once more. Gan is welcomed to come along as well. I can guarantee you she knows that you are here. Her Haki has already alerted her to you being here."

"Hue hue hue! I appreciate the offer, but I don't need to learn anything more about Victoria," Gan stated as he straightened out his back, letting it crack swiftly. "There are a lot of pirates if we are going to take down the Marines we need as much information about these guys as possible. A big and better army would be great."

"That doesn't sound like a peaceful approach."

"I would rather control the enemy's actions as much as possible and the number one way would be to give them as few of options as possible. An indestructible force against an easily destroyed force would be the most obvious way to go about it. Force them into a quick and obvious surrender."

"You're going up against Marines," Mikoto disagreed, "its going to be hard to do that. The Marines are incredibly strong, especially when you take into account the Admirals and Fleet Admiral. The sheer force the Marines are in possession of isn't going to bend easily."

"What would be the fun in that?" Gan asked, "A chess game is only really fun with both sides are evenly matched at the beginning. The slow decimation of one side throughout the superior tactics of the other. Eventually one side will win and the other will wind up buried. That's the plan."

"But-"

John held out a hand, instantly silencing Mikoto. "Men, with ideals as strong as the Revolutionaries aren't likely to be swayed. Come now, time to face Victoria."

"Yes, yes," Gan chuckled, "however, if you don't mind I would love to tag along with Zesiro though. Watching some of these pirates flounder against someone of his talent would be an amazing sight to behold." Gan touched Zesiro's arm lightly as he talked about it and there was a slight spark, which went unnoticed by everyone else.

Zesiro jerked his arm away and barked at him, "I'm not hanging out with you. You're some Revolutionary I just met. I don't know if you know this, but the majority of the Revolutionaries are at some kind of war with us and just cause you say you are fine with us doesn't mean I'm going to believe it."

"Fair enough, fair enough," Gan laughed as he returned his arms to his side and turned around to leave. "I'll be on my way then, oh, but John please do give my sincerest congratulations to Victoria. If this plan of hers pans out like she think it will then everything we've been working on will come crumbling down. Its what makes a war exciting.

"I'm here and working on this plan while another fifty or so Revolutionaries are working on similar plans," explained Gan as he brought his arms up, "but while we do this the pirates are mounting a counter attack. The Marines are increasing their own forces. Its an arms race, there are too far and few things that could make either side stop now. Victoria's plan of complete domination sounds the most interesting to me. The Marines don't scare me any more. The third world power.

"Shichibukais and Admirals, Yonkous and Supernovas, then the Revolutionary captains and officers. Let's see how the world ends. Which one will be the last one standing, who deserves it! The end of the world is descending upon us one way or another. The only question is who will be the winner. Pirates? Revolutionaries? Marines?"

"I hope whoever it is they want the best for this world," Mikoto stated, "they won't seal away a man's dream, nor will they draw unnecessary people into a fight. People deserve their rights no matter which person comes out on top."

"Could we be on the cusp of a second void century?" laughed Gan as he lifted his hand up and waved the group good-bye. "A new ban on knowledge may be issued soon kiddies, so learn, devour, satiate your appetite for intelligence now while you have the chance."

This man, Gan of the Revolutionaries, was far from your standard pirate. He ate the Mimasu-Mimasu Fruit, allowing him to keep a permanent eye on anything he has touched in the past. This has allowed him to keep an eye on things regardless of how far away they went. He really was one of the best men for the job. Information was without a doubt his specialty.

Ravenbone

So in earlier chapter I called Gan's Devil Fruit the Tokei-Tokei no mi. This has been brought to my attention as wrong. As while it does translate to Watch-Watch Fruit. It translates to the Clock-Clock Fruit. Mimasu is the correct term so...RETCON POWERS ACTIVATE!