Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece. All plot and OCs belong to Volleys-chan and I.
The Dragon Chronicles
Chapter 7 - Belvederes
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."
-Mark Twain
After several more nights of Drake being assigned to watch the two females, Admiral Kuzan decided that Drake was trustworthy enough to watch Rei during the day time as well by himself entirely. Rei, in fact, was more comfortable around the brown haired man with the X shaped scar upon his chin than either of the towering admirals whose sheer presence made her nervous. She might have liked Admiral Kuzan well enough, but he would still always make her nervous for some reason.
One of the reasons that Rei liked Drake more than either two admirals was because he actually found her activities to do that she liked. The first day he was put in charge of her, he procured an old leather hardback book filled with miscellaneous stories. Rei sat on the hard benches of the cafeteria and read until she and Drake's presences were required elsewhere. The next day, he managed to get ahold of paper and crayons. From where, she didn't know, but she was all to happy to get the chance to draw, like most children her age did. She would draw pictures about the stories that Gin told her, showing them to Drake after she finished because the marine man had also heard most of these tales. He would give her a calm smile, nodding at her picture, and tell her she was doing an excellent job.
Though she didn't get to see Gin as much during the day now that she wasn't forced to be Admiral Kuzan's shadow, she still slept in the brig with the woman and spent her quality time with the pirate there with Drake watching over the two. If anything, Rei was slowly getting better and better during her time on the marine warship and though it would be a long while until she could remove the bandages from her hands, her bruises were healing up fine. Her confidence had grown exponentially through her interactions with Gin and Drake. She was able to talk to both of them so freely without the slightest hint of a stutter.
One day, on a particularly rainy morning, Admiral Sakazuki seemed to get it in his head that he should continue to encourage young Rei about the wonderful career of a Marine, fighting for justice and killing those despicable men and women who call themselves pirates. Recently, he felt, the child wasn't as open to hearing his notions about justice, and so by showing her his office and teaching her a little about the importance of his job, he would reaffirm the vital calling Marines had in the world to destroy all evil doers and establish Absolute Justice! The child once agreed with him on his views and he had no doubt, that once he was done, she would agree wholeheartedly once more.
So, that day, instead of going outside to sit in the rain merely to force the pirate bitch to stand in the horrible weather, he opted to work from his office. He had a small cell in the room for cases like the one he had now, where he couldn't take his eyes off the prisoner for long periods of time. That meant, that by the time Admiral Kuzan escorted both Rei and the soon to be Captain Drake, the pirate wench was already locking in the cell, sitting in the center of the room, far away from any of the bars that made up her cell. She was smart enough to know to keep out of reach within her cell, just in case someone, like Admiral Sakazuki, used her proximity to the cell bars to drag her closer to cause her harm.
When the three finally came in, Sakazuki have been waiting a little while for his lazy counterpart to locate the girl and her current escort, Admiral Kuzan made his way to the floor behind the magma admiral's desk, Drake stood dutifully at the door, and Rei was standing before Admiral Sakazuki's desk, looking up at his towering form. Rei tried not to look as nervous as she felt.
"So what do you think of my office? Impressive no?" Sakazuki spoke down to the small girl.
"I... I... I think... it's nice, Admiral Sakazuki." Rei said in a quiet voice, despite her nervousness around the intimidating man, she was able to keep her stutter to a minimum. "Very neat and orderly..."
Sakazuki smirked at her observation. "A man such as myself must be disciplined enough to keep his quarters spic and span. If it was a jumbled mess, it would reflect poorly upon my character."
"H-hai, Admiral Sakazuki." Rei didn't know what else to say. She swallowed deeply as she cast her eyes at the cell, peeking at Gin who was leaning against the wall that the cell was built against, still in the center so that no one could merely reach out and grab her. The cloth that she used to conceal her face was wrapped around her head once more, only letting Rei see her gold eyes. Gin held her eyes for a moment before looking away, but it was enough for the message to be sent.
Be careful. That was what Gin wanted her to know.
Rei swallowed deeply once more as she quickly snapped her eyes back to Sakazuki's brown ones. However, he mistook her nervousness of him as her being nervous around the pirate woman. He didn't know much about what went on at night when the ruby eyed girl was trapped in the same room as the annoying bitch of a pirate. All he knew is that Kuzan thought it would be wise to throw the promising young marine, Drake, into the mix. He was completely unaware about her changing mindset about pirates and what justice truly was.
"Don't worry, that bitch can't reach you from here. She's complete incapable of using her powers with those kairoseki cuffs around her wrists, rendering her nearly powerless." Sakazuki told her, ignoring the glare Kuzan was no doubt sending his direction for not watching his words around the child yet again.
Rei blinked, totally surprised at the idea that Gin had a devil fruit ability. She had never even mentioned it before, which was odd in her opinion. Wouldn't it be something worth mentioning? Rei glanced once more over to Gin's form, noticing how the woman refused to make eye contact with the girl. Rei quickly surmised that she had purposely left out the tidbit of information in all the tales she had told the girl about her travels. It only made Rei curious as to what her power was.
"Nearly?" Rei finally returned to the conversation she was having with Admiral Sakazuki. She knew it had been Gin that had saved her from the Sea King, meaning she didn't require her devil fruit powers to be effective in killing, but Rei knew that Admiral Sakazuki was unaware that she knew who had saved her that fateful day. By pretending to be ignorant, perhaps Rei could learn a little more about Gin's devil fruit power.
"Despite being greatly weakened by the kairoseki cuffs, the pirate wench is more than capable of killing a man with her bare hands, as you already know. The cuffs do prevent her from electrocuting anyone, however." Sakazuki informed the child.
"Sakazuki." Admiral Kuzan hissed at the man. Apparently that wasn't something that Admiral Sakazuki was suppose to tell her.
"S-she's really a-a devil fruit u-user!? Which one?" Rei's eyes wide in her surprise.
Honestly, it didn't seem to fit Gin's personality to eat a devil fruit, but there was obviously no other explanation as to how the woman could electrocute people otherwise. Perhaps she had done so ignorantly, but that made no sense to Rei either. Gin was too smart to accidentally eat a devil fruit, and too confident in her other abilities to purposely eat one. Perhaps she had had no choice at the time? Rei would ask the woman later tonight when it was just Drake, Gin, and her.
"Indeed, she is." Admiral Sakazuki affirmed, ignoring Admiral Kuzan's warning. "However, there are many devil fruit out there that have yet to be properly categorized. This fortunate bitch seemed to have managed to get her hands on one of these and has been able to keep it quiet for a long, long time."
"The only reason you know I have any powers is because Garp reported it after witnessing me zap that bastard Shiki when he copped himself a nice feel of my ass." Gin decided she would enlighten the group on how her secret had been initially discovered.
All three men in the room stared at the cowled woman with muted shock or disbelief. Admiral Kuzan, who had been lying on the floor with his sleeping mask covering his eyes, lifted the mask to peek a surprised look her way. Drake, too, merely stared at her in astonishment. Admiral Sakazuki actually turned around in his seat to stare at the woman in incredulity. Even Rei was surprised at the reason, but did not understand the full implications of what the woman said. The awkward pause in the conversation did not escape Gin as she narrowed her gold eyes.
"What?" Gin snorted un-lady like. "I have a mighty nice ass. It wasn't the first time in my life someone's copped a feel, just the last time for Shiki."
"Vice-Admiral Garp failed to mention the... circumstances that led up to you revealing your devil fruit abilities..." Admiral Kuzan coughed awkwardly.
"Funny..." Gin muttered under her breath. "I specifically remember him falling out of his seat in the back of that bar, where he was attempting to spy on us from, roaring with laughter. I'm pretty sure he laughed so hard he managed to wet himself."
There was another awkward pause as the three military men suddenly understood why the event had not been disclosed in the report. Realizing that this wasn't imposing a good image of what marine officials were like, Admiral Sakazuki reared back one of his feet, kicking the cell behind his desk without even getting up. It rattled violently, causing the woman inside to instantly push herself further against the sole wooden wall, hoping that the metal frame wouldn't collapse from the sheer force of his kick.
"Quiet, you bitch. I am trying to hold a conversation here with a promising recruit!" Admiral Sakazuki snapped waspishly.
"Re-re-recruit?" Rei parroted nervously.
"Odd. That's what I was just thinking too." Admiral Kuzan muttered lowly as he sat up a bit to glare daggers at the back of Admiral Sakazuki's head. Apparently, this was the first time anyone, besides the magma admiral himself, had heard of this.
"Of course not right away," Admiral Sakazuki amended his previous statement. "She's just a child now, but with the qualities she has displayed already- her ingenuity, level of discipline, her ability to keep a cool head in dire situations, and her ability to follow through with her goals - prove that she will one day be an effective Soldier of Justice."
"Not this again." Gin muttered under her breath, but immediately shut up when Admiral Sakazuki rattled her cell with another powerful kick.
"Shut up! I'm not talking to you!" He snapped viciously. He turned back to the young girl with approval in his eye. "You'd, of course, have to wait until you are at least fourteen to enter the academy, but after that, I have no doubt, with my sponsorship naturally, you'd be able to graduate the top of your class and be given the rank of Marine Captain."
Rei noticed out of the corner of her eye that Drake had stiffen in his spot at the door. She knew he was waiting for either admiral to write their letter of recommendation and she, a little eight year old, had received something akin to the very thing he desired - from the more rigid, demanding one of the two. She felt bad about it, but there as nothing she could do. It wasn't like she had asked or even wanted the attention or the circumstances that had won over Admiral Sakazuki's approval. Though she enjoyed her time with Gin and even Drake, she rather have never been stolen away from Captain Mizushima's ship in the first place.
...Maybe...
Still, she'd rather not have met them at all. If she could have met the two in different circumstances, she would have much preferred that to this. But, what could have been and actually happened were two different things. Rei was merely grateful she met both of them.
Realizing that Admiral Sakazuki was waiting impatiently for her reply, Rei choked out the first thing her eight year old mind could think of.
"That's re-really k-kind of y-you... But...I-I-I don't thi-nk I c-c-could d-d-do th-that." Rei shook her head.
"And why not?" Admiral Sakazuki frowned at her comment.
She'd be a wonderful asset to the Marines, couldn't she see that?
"I...I re-really..." Rei took a deep breath, like Gin had taught her before continuing on. "I don't think I could..."
"Nonsense!" Admiral Sakazuki barked, not noticing how the child flinched violently at his tone. "You'd make a wonderful Marine! All you need is the proper training and education! By the time you are nineteen, you'll be partaking in world changing battles between pirates and Marines, establishing true Justice for all the world to see!"
"But... I'm no-not sure I w-want t-t-to arrest... pirates..." Rei admitted, wringing her hands as she did so.
"And why not? Pirates are lower than the dirt. They are bastard children of bastard parents! They are scum! They bow to no one, disobey the rules of the land, and do as they please! They steal, they kill, they rape the people of their food, their belongings, and their innocence!"
Rei shrunk back, shaking at how Admiral Sakazuki voice had changed to a harsh and cruel tone. If she had looked around, she would have noticed the others in the room suddenly becoming tense as the hot-headed admiral became more passionate about what he believed. Gin was giving her small gesture with her hand, signaling the girl to quit the current topic. Drake was doing the same, only more subtle than the pirate who was out of the line of sight of the magma admiral. He brushed his hand against the collar of his shirt in a cut off manner. He too was left unnoticed. Hell, even Admiral Kuzan was sitting up, shaking his head no to discourage the girl from continuing on. All went unnoticed by the nervous girl as she stood bravely before the ill-tempered man, unaware of what her bravery might cause.
"But... but, surely, not all pirates are... are like that..." Rei argued in a quiet manner, nervously fidgeting with her fingers as she expressed her views to the dangerously imposing man. "I-I-I mean... not all pi-pirates are bad... some... some might be... might be good." Like Gin. Rei mentally added to her sentence.
Gin slapped the palm of her hand against her head as she shook her head. The girl was braver than before, but she was still an ignorant child unaware of that the admiral before her was capable of doing if anyone dared to question his world-views. Everyone in the room could feel the tension in the room, now that the magma admiral's temper shot through the roof. He stood up suddenly, his chair falling back with how quickly he stood. His eyes burned angrily as he glared down at the foolish, ignorant child who dared question his beliefs. A pirate sympathizer.
"Haven't you already learned your lesson! You were held hostage by pirates! They stole you away from your family and all that you know! They locked you up in a cell like a prisoner and only remembered to feed you when they felt like it! They were going to sell you as a slave! And you claim that there are good pirates out there!" He was spiting mad as he continued. "No! There are merely crafty bastard pirates and their bitches with ulterior motives! They only do things that benefit them! Pirates are evil men! Revolutionists are evil men! Marines are good, upstanding men!"
"Like that one marine who tried to hurt me far worse than any pirate did!?" Rei shot back, her temper flaring at his implications of Gin's selfless acts towards her were for her own selfish reasons. "He was a marine and he was bad! And Gin is a pirate, but she is good!"
By the time she had already said it, Rei instantly wished she could have taken it back. Something within the magma admiral snapped at her comment. Perhaps it was because his long, difficult, and trying days with the pirate woman, who did nothing but test his discipline all hours of the day, but that last comment made by the little girl was definitely the last straw needed to snap his control over his anger in half.
Rei could vaguely hear the shouting from the others as she stared up into the furious gaze of Admiral Sakazuki, frozen to the spot by her overwhelming fear of what he was about to do. The look upon his face was one of pure anger and the room was suffocating in the deadly, killing aura that the man emanated. Her eyes caught every subtle detail of the man before her and fear clenched both her lungs and her heart as she suddenly felt her heart hammering and at a loss of breath. Admiral Sakazuki's arm was slowly morphing into magma as he raised it to smite her with it.
She was going to die. All because she believed, and still did even at this moment, that a pirate could be better than a marine.
In a flash, Rei was harshly pulled away from the magma admiral's reach while, almost at the exact same moment, the two bound manacled arms looped over the admiral's head and quickly yanked when they reached his thick neck, pulling him against the cell's frame. The ice admiral finally catching his peer's attack now that the kairoseki within the cuffs reverted the man's arm back to flesh.
"Sakazuki!" Admiral Kuzan quickly yelled at him, trying to reign in the man's ill temper by bringing him back to his senses.
Rei was shaking like a leaf in Drake's arms as he took her to the other side of the room before giving her a thorough once over, making sure the child had not been harmed by the magma in any way. He was saying something to her, but Rei didn't know what, her eyes were still fast upon Admiral Sakazuki's form as he knocked away Admiral Kuzan with a hard punch to the jaw before jabbing his elbow through a hole in the cell's criss-cross pattern and hitting Gin harshly in the gut. Her grip, which was impressive for a woman that was bound in kairoseki cuffs and beaten nightly, loosened at the hit, allowing Admiral Sakazuki to loop her manacled hands back over his head before releasing them, causing the woman to fall backwards and hit the floor before she could recover from his jab that had severely winded her.
However, unlike before where Admiral Sakazuki would stop after reinstating his power over her, he quickly moved to the cell door and unlocked it before the ice admiral could regain his own wits. Gin had already recovered from his attack but was unable to get off the floor in time to dodge his initial attack. He violently stomped on her, causing her to let out a quick cry of pain before lifting his foot to do it again. Gin, however, was able to roll out of the way last moment and regain her footing. Admiral Sakazuki wasn't an admiral for nothing however and was already preparing to make contact with her ribs by using his elbow once more.
Most times, when she and Admiral Sakazuki got into it and he got physical, she would take the damage without fighting back, but he had gone too far in her opinion and she wouldn't lie down and take it this time. Something in her eyes sparked to life as she caught his attack with her hands, using the momentum to swing her body upwards and land a firm kick to his rib cage before expertly dodging his counterattack and engaging in a counterattack of her own. It thrusted Admiral Sakazuki into one of the metal walls of the cage, which was also made of kairoseki, before Gin continued her onslaught of open palmed hits to his gut, using her haki to amply power of the attack.
It didn't deter the admiral long as he managed to use his knee to land a solid hit to her chin, throwing the woman back a few feet. Gin attempted to balance herself before she fell over from such an alarmingly powerful attack, but almost tripped as she reached the maximum limit the shackles around her ankles would allow at one point. She was quick to recover in time to roll into the hard punch her opponent delivered to her ribcage.
Before anything else could happen, Kuzan shot between the two, pushing hot-tempered man into the kairoseki cell wall and pushing the pirate woman into the wooden wall adjacent to the wall he pushing the his peer into. The amount of damage they had done to each other had been only a matter of moments, only attributing to the level of caliber both of them held in the field of hand to hand combat.
"Sakazuki, cease and desist before I court-martial your ass for attacking an officer of the law, a civilian, and a restrained, defenseless prisoner!" Kuzan bellowed, snapping the other man back to his senses.
"That bitch is anything but defenseless!" Sakazuki snarled, but managed to regain his composure enough to where Kuzan was certain that if he let go, the man would not attack the pirate woman again.
"You attempt to touch her like that again, you bastard, and I'll rip your face off and gouge out your eyes with my nails!" Silver snarled back at him, her eyes burning wildly with rage as she glowered at the much taller and deadlier magma user.
Kuzan stared at Silver with shock. Not once since they had arrested her had he seen her so riled up and vicious. He nearly froze when he looked into her golden orbs and realized how alive they were oppose to when they had originally found her and arrested her. Her will to live was coming back and because of a single child.
He was snapped back into reality when Sakazuki marched out of the cell and out of his office entirely. Kuzan dropped the woman, quickly following after Sakazuki, whose temper was still not all that reigned in, slamming the cell door behind him as he called out to the other admiral. Drake, who had already made sure that Rei was alright and unharmed, also chased after the two admirals in case Admiral Kuzan needed assistance in restraining Admiral Sakazuki if his temper happened to spike again. Out of habit, Drake shut the door of the office so no one else would enter the room while both admirals were gone.
Suddenly, it was only Rei and Gin left in the room, alone. Gin had slumped down against the wooden wall the moment Admiral Kuzan had released his hold on her. All her previous energy was sapped now that the threat upon the young girl's life was gone. She sat slumped and motionless. Her breathing shallow and rapid, but almost undetectable from Rei's viewpoint.
"G-g-gin?" Rei nervously stuttered, twisting her fingers due to the anxiety the child was feeling.
She had just watched mindlessly as Gin had once again saved her, rescuing her in a time of great need. She almost feared that the woman was unconscious or even dead. Relief flooded her small body when the woman twitched a bit before pulling herself up and meeting Rei's ruby stare.
"I'm not dead yet, kiddo, just pushing my limits." Gin told her, before attempting to get back onto her feet.
She let out a pained groan as she pulled herself up to her feet and shuffled over to the other side of the cell, where she once more slid down to the ground, using the cell wall to ease her way down slowly.
"Come here, little one." Gin beckoned her. "I have some things I need to talk to you about and our time together is running very short."
In an instant, Rei was at the other side of the cell, grasping the cell bars and pushing her forehead through the holes to press against Gin's tattered clothes.
"I'm so-so-so-so sor-r-r-r-ry." The child sobbed as she sought forgiveness and comfort from the older female.
Gin reached her arms out and took hold of the young girls face, cradling Rei's jaw in her open palms. "Hunhunhunhun." Gin flinched in pain that her gentle laugh had caused. "Don't... Don't you cry. Don't you dare shed a tear for an old pirate like me. It wasn't your... It wasn't your fault."
Rei shook her head. "But... but if I hadn't... If I hadn't s-s-said-"
"Hush." Gin used the pad of her thumbs to wipe away Rei's tears. "It wasn't you. He's a marine admiral he has more discipline than that. It was me. I've been pushing his limits since I got onto this dismal ship. I didn't know that you'd be the one to finally snap his control in half."
"But still!" Rei sobbed.
"It is all forgiven and forgotten." Gin cut her off. "Now, listen to me, Rei. I need you to calm down the best you can and put on a brave face. There are a few things I need to tell you before we are no longer alone. Can you do that?"
Rei hiccuped lightly as she bit her lip and choked back a sob. She nodded and focused on the woman before her, who was leaning heavily on one shoulder and keeping her steady golden gaze on her ruby eyes.
"Good girl." Gin let out another chortle, wincing again as the pain in her side flared once more. "Now, I'm not sure if there is a surveillance den den mushi in here, so I'm going to have to make this as fast as I can. I was going to tell you later, but Bluebird assigned Drake to watch us and I couldn't tell you. Not with him there. He's a good man, but he's a marine, nonetheless, and old habits die hard for me."
Rei nodded, leaning closer so Gin didn't have to speak too loudly. "Y-yes. I'm l-listening, Gin."
She took a shaky breath as she leaned in further to talk quietly to the young girl. "You and I are the same, in a way. Our eyes set us apart from them- from regular humans. The only way to tell who is like us is by their vivid eye coloring. It is the only physical tell-tale of our birthright before it is fully awakened. And it should be something you should be very proud of. There's a history - a legacy - hidden within our very blood that I wish I could elaborate upon, but I cannot risk it. Not here."
Rei gave her a perplexed look. She had managed to reign in her crying to quiet sniffles, but she hadn't fully regained control of her voice. "B-b-birthright? Le-legacy? Re-regular... humans? Wh-what are y-you ta-talking about, Gin?"
Gin shook her head. "I can't tell you much more than that. You will have to learn what I mean on your own unfortunately. But fear not, my little one. Self discover is found in the journey, not at the end of it."
"B-b-but... I... I don't understand!" Rei choked back another sob as she shook her head.
"You will. One day." Gin promised her. "Until then, treasure your uniqueness. It can feel like a curse at times, but it is also a wonderful, wonderful gift. Always remember that. For me, okay?" She wiped another tear from the small child's face, staring at her eyes with such gentle admiration.
Rei could tell that the older woman was insinuating that she treasure her rare eye color. She wanted to tell her that she was wrong. That her eyes were merely a curse, since every bad thing that had happened to her thus far was because of them, one way or another. But, she nodded, gaining a weary laugh from the older female in return.
"Good. Now," Gin continued, "there is one last thing I want you to do for me. It would put my heart to ease knowing that I told you."
"Wh-what is it, Gin?"
"Never, ever, ever set foot on an island called Sabaody Archipelago, if you can help it." Gin looked at her with stern eyes. "That place is not for the likes of us. You understand?"
Rei shook her head, regardless of her confusion as to why Gin would give her such a strange and peculiar warning. But, if she had gone out of her way to make sure she told her, it must have been very important to her. So Rei agreed without question. "Yes Gin."
"My, such a good, good girl." Gin said endearingly as she stroked Rei's face one last time before withdrawing her hands from the girl's face. "Such a beautiful woman you'll grow up to be."
"I... I want to be just as beautiful as you..." Rei confessed to the pirate woman.
"Hunhunhun." Gin flinched again. "That's really sweet of you, little one, but I'm not really looking my best here."
"I don't care. You're beautiful." Rei shook her head.
Gin's eyes widened for a second before gentling. "Thank you. It's been a while since someone's told me that and meant it so kindly." She petted Rei one last time before she began to slowly move back to where she had been sitting before. "Go back to your original spot. I don't know how much longer we have alone together, but it wouldn't do to let them know we spoke of things not meant to be repeated."
Rei didn't argue or question Gin. She quietly went back to the spot where Drake had left her and sat down, curling her knees to her chin, and waiting for the marines to come back. She wasn't sure what was going to happen now, but she had a feeling that it was going to be bad for Gin.
While Gin had been relaying her message to Rei, Kuzan had managed to catch up with Sakazuki in the hallway. The other admiral was pacing now, trying to find a more suitable outlet for his anger than unleashing it upon an ignorant child.
"Sakazuki." Kuzan called out to the man. "What the hell is wrong with you? Attempting to attack a little girl whose gone through several extremely traumatic events!?"
"She defended a pirate! She defended that bitch of a woman who-"
"Has saved her life more times than she probably knows!" Kuzan cut him off, shoving the man into the wall now that he had caught up. "You can't expect her to hate someone whose been nothing but kind and gentle to her!"
Sakazuki pushed Kuzan away. "And whose fault is it that she grew so attached to the pirate? Hmmm? I told you not to put her in the brig with that detestable woman and now she has that little girl wrapped around her fingers!"
"If you noticed, it is the opposite way around." Kuzan didn't deny it might have been a mistake to let the girl near the pirate in hindsight. But he hadn't found Drake at that time and he and Sakazuki couldn't just keep the girl in their room. "Rei might not believe in your Absolute Justice, but it doesn't mean she doesn't have a perfectly good understanding of right and wrong- of good and bad. You shouldn't have attempted to attack her! What if Silver-san, Commander Drake, and I weren't there to stop you? We'd be dealing with a Marine Admiral having attacked and killed an innocent civilian child!"
"Silver-san!" Sakazuki spat in disgust as he quickly slammed his peer into the other hallway wall and pinned him there. "We wouldn't be dealing with this whole situation if she wasn't here! That woman has been nothing but trouble since we captured her!" Sakazuki fumed. However, he let go of Kuzan when pain exploded in his abdomen from where the small pirate woman had gotten a series of hits in. He held his hand to his injured area, pointing down the hall to where his office was with his other hand. "And what the hell was that back there anyways! If she hadn't had those cuffs on, some of those attacks might have killed me if I were a lesser man!"
"If she had access to her full power and didn't get beaten on a daily basis to keep her weak, it would have killed you, you foolish man!" Kuzan shot back. "She's Longjohn Silver! She's not exactly known for being a damsel in distress."
"Most women, marine, pirate, or even civilian, are not that powerful. She's killed a Sea King with one bullet, killed a healthy, viral marine man, and even managed to hold her own against me- all while wearing those cuffs! That is not your stereotypical woman." Sakazuki purposely pointed that out.
Kuzan blinked. "Arara, do you honestly not know who that woman is?"
"As you said. Longjohn Silver. Some bitch to some bastard pirate captain, no doubt."
"You have no clue." Kuzan realized the full extent of his peer's ignorance. "How do you not know who she is?"
"I don't dwell on pirates and their history. I merely eliminate them from this world. It matters little of who they were as long as they are declared guilty by the world government." Sakazuki snapped at him.
Honestly, the only few names he bothered to know outside the names of the Shichibukai were Gol. D Roger, Silvers Rayleigh, Shiki the Golden Lion, and the revolutionist Monkey D. Dragon. And he only knew Roger's name, due to him being the cause of this whole 'golden age of pirates'; Rayleigh's, because he had a run in with the pirate before; Shiki's, because he actually escaped Impel Down; and Dragon's, because he was Vice-Admiral Garp's only son and leader of those pesky revolutionists.
Kuzan gave him a look of disbelief, which made Sakazuki scowl at him. This was a pirate woman. How important could she really be?
"She's Kaneko Gin!" Kuzan blurted out, still in disbelief that Sakazuki didn't know who she was. "She's practically the pin-up girl for pirates everywhere! She got her pirate name because she would use her womanly wiles and silver tongue to rob men blind! They didn't even know she had stolen the clothes off their backs until she had already gotten away. Literally! She's left more men in nothing but their long-johns than we've cared to count!
"Not just that! But she was the third member to join the Roger pirates! She was the Gold Roger's quartermaster and second mate! Only under Roger and Rayleigh in terms of authority on the Oro Jackson!"
Sakazuki stared at him, the importance of the woman finally hitting him at full force, but Kuzan wasn't finished ranting at him.
"Roger might be known as the Pirate King, even to this day, and Rayleigh is still known as Dark King Rayleigh, but after Roger died she became known as their Dowager Queen! She was third-in-command of one of the most powerful pirate crews in history. She was given the title of Pirate Queen until Roger was executed. So, no. She isn't just 'some bitch to some bastard pirate captain'. She is the most influential and powerful pirate woman of her time! And the only reason we finally caught her is because she wanted to be caught. She wanted to die."
Kuzan finished his irate rant with a frustrated huff. Sakazuki was silent for a moment as he let all that information soak in. This whole time, he had been dealing with a woman who was merely toying with him. She obviously knew that he didn't know a thing about her and used that to her advantage to annoy him. He felt like a fool for not researching his captive's history well enough and he knew that had been her plan from the start were so many things that Sakazuki wanted to say, but he decided to address what caught his attention the most.
"Wanted? As in past tense?"
"It would seem that my mistake was not exposing the girl to Silver-san, but exposing Silver-san to the girl." Kuzan muttered. "Ararara, what a headache that decision turned out to be. If your fight with Silver-san proved anything, it proved her will to live is coming back."
"So what? We'll get to Marineford in another month and a half if we don't make a detour to Water 7. I say drop the brat off at an island and pay her ship-fare to get there."
"It'll be too late by then. Silver-san held up well against you back there. Imagine how much stronger her will to live will be in a month's time? She'll escape us somehow by then."
"Then she must be executed now, in order to nip this in the bud."
Kuzan sighed. "For once, we agree. When giving me my orders to capture and bring Silver-san back to Marineford for a public trial and execution, I was told that if, for any reason, I deemed that we could not guarantee a successful transportation, then we could take matters into our own hands." Kuzan let out another sigh, his shoulders slacking as he came to this final decision. "And I can no longer guarantee that we will have Silver-san in our custody without more casualties than one dishonorable marine."
Though Sakazuki nodded his agreement, he couldn't help but let his curiosity get the best of him. "And why was I not made aware we had that authority? I was only told that we were to escort her to Marineford, no ifs, ands, or buts."
"Because they knew that you'd throw her off the ship at first chance. She tries your temper far too easily to allow you any sort of authority over her life." Kuzan told the magma user.
Sakazuki glared, but made no comment. Without having to vocalize what needed to be done next, both men turned back towards Sakazuki's office to collect the pirate woman, only to pause when they finally realized that Commander Drake had been standing a ways down the hallway and had heard everything that had just been said.
"I should probably collect Rei before you sentence Silver." Drake said quietly, not letting his personal opinion about this whole fiasco show. He was genuinely shocked at who this woman truly was. The whole reason she wore the cowl was because her identity was suppose to remain a secret, to everyone but the two admirals. He knew her name was Silver merely because Kuzan informed him that it was her name.
"Yes." Kuzan sighed, glad that Drake was the man he was. It would have been much worse if anyone less of Drake's caliber had overheard that conversation. "Go get Rei."
"And take her to the upper deck." Sakazuki added in a dark tone. Kuzan was about to argue, but Sakazuki didn't let him. "She needs to learn what happens to filthy, lawless pirate scum now rather than later. She must understand the punishment for behaving outside the law."
The two admirals stared each other down for a second before Kuzan looked away, conceding to the other's condition. The faster they got this whole mess dealt with, the better for him, honestly.
"Go." Kuzan waved off Drake, who immediately turned around and with a faster pace than either two admirals, headed back to the office.
By the time the two admirals reached the office, Drake was already carrying Rei in his arms, she was clinging to his shirt as her head rested on her chest, sniffling slightly from her earlier crying. She noticed both admirals, but turned her head quickly to avoid eye contact with either of them. She had little to no respect left for the one that attacked her and Kuzan had no doubt she'd barely be able to look at him either once she learned of their decision. Drake walked towards his next destination, eyes focused only on the route before him. It seemed he wasn't entirely amiable to this plan either, but knew his place well enough not to say a thing.
Both men ended back up in the magma admiral's office, the place where the whole fiasco started and gazed at the woman held within the cell.
"So. From the look on your designated babysitter's face, I'm guessing that we're not going to be making it to Marineford after all." She commented cooly as she lifted her hands to begin undoing her cowl.
"No. We're not." Kuzan confirmed.
"Shame. I always wanted to see the place. One of the few places I never got to go to, actually." She hummed, pulling off the long cloth that had made her cowl and throwing it to the side.
"We've decided to move your execution up to today. In about thirty minutes." Kuzan once again was the one to speak. It was best that Sakazuki said as little as possible in this situation.
"I see. That's why the girl was carted out of here." The dowager seemed oddly numb about the whole situation, but perhaps she had already concluded that her actions would lead to this. Before either man could continue explaining what was going to happen now, she finally met their eyes with her powerful golden stare. "I have a few things that I'd like you to see to after I'm gone. My last rights, if you will."
"It depends on what your requests are. If I deem them possible, I will see them done. As payment for your good behavior until now and for watching the young girl so diligently." Kuzan allowed. He had managed to beat Sakazuki to replying and easily ignored the man's irate look that had been shot his way.
"First off, you drop that girl off on the nearest island possible and pay her fare to get to Water 7. I'm not going to be around anymore to keep her safe from temperamental dogs." Both she and Sakazuki gave each other a hostile glare, but nothing else happened between the two.
"I will make sure we do." Kuzan nodded. "Anything else?"
"My bag. Give it to the girl. There's nothing too valuable in there, but I like the idea of her having it rather than it being burned or whatever you do to the personal belongings of a convicted, dead pirate."
"I believe that can be arranged."
"And, for my second last request, give that boy, Drake, a damn good letter of recommendation. He's already proved his mettle when he jumped into the line of fire without knowing if someone was going to be able to prevent Doggy from following through with his attack. He deserves to be captain of his own ship and he'll do a damn fine job of it. Expect great things to happen to that one, if he is given the proper chance."
Kuzan blinked. That was not what he was expecting one of the pirate woman's last requests to be, but he couldn't deny that her request was not a bad idea. "I will write him one personally."
"Good." She slowly pulled herself up and walked to the door of the cell.
"And your last request?" Sakazuki finally spoke, his curiousity once again getting the better of him.
Gin gave the two men a weary smile before telling them of her last request.
Rei was confused as to why she and Drake where standing on the upper deck near the railing. It was not the first time she had been there, but she had never been there with Drake. She could easily watch as all the men on the lower deck went about their business, but that wasn't really what she was interested in.
"Why are we here?" She finally asked, looking up to the brown eyes of her marine guardian.
"I am following Admiral Sakazuki's orders." Drake told her, saying nothing more, nothing less. Honestly, he didn't know what to tell the little girl.
Rei gave him a puzzled look before the men below suddenly began to line up, as if something was about to happen. She looked back down at them, surprised when Admiral Sakazuki and Admiral Kuzan appeared. It didn't take her long to notice Gin standing between the two. Rei was even more confused when Admiral Sakazuki called all his men to attention.
That is, until he explained that they were to bear witness to the execution of Kaneko Gin, the pirate's Dowager Queen. Rei was struck dumb at that moment. Dowager Queen? Her Gin was the Dowager Queen of the pirates? Not just that, but they were going to execute her.
She swiftly turned her head to look at Drake, her eyes pleading with him to tell her that she had misheard, but Drake could only look away.
They were truly going to kill Gin. The little girl's eyes watered as she looked back down at the three, staring at Gin in great distress. She couldn't believe it. Gin was going to be killed and all because of her! She looked away, biting her lip and trying hard not to cry. Gin had told her not even an hour ago to put a brave face on. Did she know that this was to be her punishment? Rei didn't want to watch her beloved Gin die and so she kept her eyes away from the scene below her while fighting back her tears.
"Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo,
Yo-hohoho, Yohohohoo."
Rei's head snapped back over to where Gin was. She immediately recognized the song coming from the older woman's mouth, but was confused at the slow, melancholy tempo she used. Whenever she had sung the song before, it was a quick, lively upbeat tune and that's one of the reasons Rei loved it so much. However, now that the speed of the song was drastically slowed, its tune seemed more sad and haunting than happy and up lifting.
"Gather up all the crew...
Time to ship out Bink's brew...
Sea wind blows to where,
Who knows?
The waves will be our guide...
O'er across the ocean's tide, The sunset is goin' wild,
See the sky...
The birds singing in circles passing by..."
Rei reluctantly watched Gin's slow procession to the front of the battleship, willingly being led by Akainu (she would never be able to think of him as anything else again after this). He had turned to silence her, but was instantly stopped by Aokiji (she would never think of him as anything but that either), who was walking behind the much smaller pirate woman. His face held a solemn look as he shook his head no. It was obviously one of Gin's final requests before dying- singing this song. She never stopped singing throughout this whole transaction between the men.
"Bid farewell to weaver's town...
Say so long to port renowned...
Sing a song, it won't be long, before we're casting off...
Cross the gold and silver waves...
Changin' into water sprays...
Sailing out on our journey,
To the ends of the sea..."
Gin was not wearing the cowl like usual, Rei realized at last, allowing everyone to see who their prisoner truly was. Apparently, her identity had been kept a secret until now and now that she was about to die, it didn't matter. Rei, even though she had spent countless nights with the woman, had never really seen her full features since they were always in the dark. Until a little while ago, within Akainu's office, Rei finally got a good look at the woman's face. And just as she had guessed, the woman was beautiful. It didn't matter that she had molting bruises upon her face, a busted, swollen lip from where Akainu had hit her too violently, or how oily, grimy, and tangled her hair was- to Rei, Gin was absolutely beautiful.
"Gather up all the crew...
Time to ship out Bink's brew...
Pirates we, we'll divide and conquer all the seas...
With the waves to rest our heads,
The ship beneath us as our bed...
Hoisted high up on the mast our jolly roger flies..."
There was a far away look in Gin's eyes as she continued to sing her song. Rei could tell even at this distance. Her mind was filled with memories of her life and all the people who had come and gone, Rei could sense it. Rei couldn't hold back the tears anymore as the woman continued her steady pace to the front of the ship. She walked without hesitation, held lifted high and proud, as her eyes clouded with the memories this song summoned forth for her. If anything, she seemed to be smiling as she sang her sad song.
"Somewhere in the endless sky,
A storm has started comin' by...
Waves are dancing, having fun,
Time to sound the drums...
If we let blow winds of fear, then the end of us is near...
Even so, tomor-row the sun will rise again..."
Drake suddenly lunged forward and restrained the young girl he was assigned to watch when she attempted to leave their designated spot on the upper deck to try to get to the doomed pirate woman. He held her to his chest, eyes unable to break away, like most of the marine men witnessing this event, as he too watched the event. Rei was nearly hysterical now as she fought to get to her beloved protector. Drake had half a mind to let her loose, but he knew that if he did and she was able to reach the three, there would be dire consequences. So he held on despite her wriggling and clawing at his arms, sobbing as she did.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho,
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho..."
Gin's mind indeed was flooded with memories of a time long past. Yet, it didn't stop her from singing, if anything, it encouraged the woman to continue. She wanted to remember it all. Her time with the Roger Pirates. Her time with her boys, her girls, and her nakama. Every trick, every laugh, every tear, every heist, every moment that she had been with them, she was happy to remember it all. It was time to put Ol' Gin to rest at long last. She was no longer needed for this generation to continue on its chosen course. She no longer needed to inspire the young with tales of Roger and his legacy. The age of the pirates was still going strong even years after his execution and more and more people dared to live out their dreams regardless of the consequences that would eventually befall them, just like Roger had always wanted.
"Gather up all the crew...
Time to ship out Bink's brew...
Could be today, could be tomorrow,
Twilight dreaming.
No longer now can we see, shadow hands still waving free...
Why worry, there's sure to be a moonlit night again..."
She was at last at the front of the ship, where the Marines usually would throw their devil fruit captives into the deep waters of the ocean to drown. She had seen it done before, yet she had never thought it'd be used for her. She had always known that her death was planned to be a public event, but the admirals were growing fearful of her growing will to live. And they had every right to be afraid of that spark returning to her eyes. But it was too late now. Nothing could stop what was about to occur, even if no body knew it.
Stepping without hesitation to the edge of the warship, she stood there without fear as she finished her song. A final gift, in her mind, to all that would listen.
"Gather up all the crew...
Time to ship out Bink's brew..."
Gin's voice gave way. Her head fell as her composure wavered. She gritted her teeth as she held back her tears dedicated to memories of long ago.
"Gin! Gin! Giiiinnnn!" She barely managed to roll over without falling out of the bed and peel a bleary eye open to stare at the two young boys tugging on her sheets in an urgent manner. It was dark and the boat creaked and groaned as the waves tossed it about and the storm outside continued to rage on.
"Hmmmm?" She muttered as she lifted her head to look at the two boys. A mop of shaggy red hair and bed tousled blue filled her view as the two nearly jumped into her arms. She blinked back the sleepiness as she realized what they had done. "Hey now. What's all the fuss?"
It was like the storm decided to answer her question before either two boys could as a flash of light flickered from the window and the deafening rumble of the thunder filled the room. Gin held them closer, not out of fear, but out of maternal instinct.
"Gin..." Both boys murmured weakly as they buried their faces into her chest so she couldn't see their tears, but she knew because she could feel their hot tears soaking her sleep shirt.
"A lightning storm, hmm?" She mumbled, leaning back down onto the bed, allowing the two boys to cuddle her side. "Well, there is nothing to fear, Ol' Gin is here. I'll keep you safe from this nasty old storm and Rayleigh will make sure we don't crash and sink, okay?"
Both boys peered up at her, her words having brought them comfort, but not enough to soothe their frightened souls. Gin snatched her red headed laddie with one arm, pulling him to one side of her while situating the other more comfortably on the other side. She held onto them tightly before murmuring softly. "How 'bout I sing you lot a song? Would 'Bink's Sake' do?"
As the vibrancy of her memory faded back into reality, she lifted her head once more. Gin's eyes were more resolute even than before, as she seemed to challenge the tides themselves with her resolve. Even the waves themselves seem to shrink away from the heat of her spirit.
With a voice rejuvenated by the embrace of her fate, she continued to sing.
"Sing a song, a lively song,
For all the oceans wide...
After all is said and done,
We all end up skeletons...
Endless, aimless, the story on the uproarious seas..."
Gin ended the song there. Her voice did not trail, nor fade; as if the song was the life of the world that she chose to hold in her closed fist. She was not being handed to death. She was facing it down, now running at it full tilt. She gazed down fearlessly at the rough waves that beat against the metal vessel as one last memory surfaced.
"You two were about to order?" She said sweetly, going back to that teasing smile she had on earlier before breaking up the bar fight singlehandedly.
"Whatever you think tastes the best!" The raven boomed with a grin.
"For a cheap price," the other man corrected for his captain. "We don't have that much money."
She couldn't help but laugh. "Alright Specs, I'll get you something cheap."
She turned around, ignoring the blonde's indignant cry over the nickname she had bestowed him and retrieved what he asked for. She plopped down a glass of water before focusing on the man next to him, who was laughing heartily at the blonde now. She didn't know their names, probably wouldn't unless they became regulars or annoying like Shiki, so like always, she just made up nicknames for them based on their appearances or physical traits.
"What about you, Mr. Strawhat?" She asked, cocking her head to the side as she waited to take his order, "What would you like?"
He looked up at her with a brilliant, contagious grin, "My name is Gol D. Roger! I'm going to be the next King of the Pirates! And what I would like is for you to join my nakama!"
Gin couldn't help but grin at the memory. How long ago was that? She was shocked when tears at last began to roll down her cheeks. She laughed breathily when she realize that she was crying out of fear or dread, but that her tears were tears of happiness. She was happy. At long last, long after his death and right before hers, she finally could find it within herself to forgive that incorrigible man. She probably would have raised her hands to touch her tears, to truly see if they were real, if her hands were still not bound by the kairoseki cuffs. Her feet too were restrained by shackles, but her neck was finally freed of the iron collar that weighed heavily on her shoulders.
She turned back to look at where Rei was being detained by Drake, the child was screaming by now, chanting at the brunette man to let her go as she futilely struggled to reach out for her. Rei instantly stilled when their eyes met, tears flowing down both of their faces, hers from happiness and Rei's from anguish, before Gin let out one last brilliant smile.
Live. Be free. Be happy. Her gold eyes told her.
And before anything else could be done, Gin willingly fell back into the rough ocean's tide and disappeared from sight as the ocean seemingly swallowed her up.
"GGGGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"
Hai-Yes
A/N: So... I must point out that neither Volleys-chan nor I like character deaths. At all. But... we knew Gin had to die for Rei's sake of character development coming up. Ugh, death... Anyway, back to talking about this chapter. Women discrimination is one of the issues we wanted to portray for Gin, who had more influence and power than what Sakazuki expected. Speaking of Gin, I hope it wasn't confusing to understand that she has two nicknames, one that is her pirate name and the other that is a title given to her based off of her association with the Roger Pirates. We didn't want to make her seem like the 'ultimate pirate' but we felt that if she sailed alongside Roger and was his second mate then she had to be tough. She is suppose to be a model of what a capable female pirate is. Also we have a feeling that Luffy's generation of pirates are much tougher, including their above average female pirates. And I believe that's all I can say. Hoped you enjoy the chapter, even though there was a character death and it updated on Independence that is a holiday to celebrate freedom. :)
Volleys-chan wants to know how many of you actually had to look up what a pin-up girl is.
See you in the next chapter.