Karmen pulls Robin into the aquarium bar and shuts the doors. "I need a letter written and it can't be in my handwriting."
"Why all the secrecy?" she asks.
"Because you're the only one I feel comfortable talking to about this." Karmen holds up the yellowed document that she had poisoned a ballroom full of nobles for. "It's not that I don't trust the others but…"
"But you've spent so many years carrying secrets that you have trouble letting them go," she says. "I understand."
"Which is why I'm asking you." They sit down at the bar. "Pierce was given to me in the form of a slave when I was six. How much do you know about Valcour Island?"
"I know that it's one of the main ports for DavenGallow Company and it's protected by Bartholomew Kuma." She smiles and rests her chin in her hand. "He's your warlord, right?"
"Yeah." She smiles. "I guess it's pretty easy to figure out when you have the facts."
"And you don't want to tell everyone else because of what happened at Thriller Bark."
"Nail on the head." Karmen lays out a few sheets of paper and places a bottle of ink and a quill near them. She lays her head in her hands for a moment. "I know it looked like he was trying to kill everyone but… he's a very kind man and I owe him my life a hundred times over. I wish you could know him like I do."
"I'd like to know that side of him as well," Robin says.
"I have a small confession to make," Karmen says softly as her hands still. Robin leans her chin into her palm and smiles softly, ready to listen. "Back when we first met, I didn't really distrust you. Even after all the stories I was told about how you were forced to betray group after group to survive. I used to idolize you, actually. After watching people die day after day, a life of running sounded like a dream. I know it must have been lonely and painful for you, but it was everything I ever wanted growing up. To take Pierce and get away from the death and the guards and the government agents and go where none of them could ever find us.
"I think the reason I was so distant is because I was jealous of how Kuma spoke about you. He always said your name with admiration and pride. He was a Revolutionary, you know, before he became a warlord, before… We both knew you were fighting just to live, but he liked the fact that someone could shake the world government to the core and lived to tell the tale like you did. I disliked you because he liked you. I'm sorry for behaving like a child. I wanted to keep him all to myself."
Robin smooths Karmen's curls. "I'm sure he speaks of you with even more admiration. He obviously cares for you greatly." They sit in silence and let the moment sink in. Finally Robin sits up, lifts the pen, and taps the paper. "What are we doing with these?"
"Right." Karmen rubs her eyes and leans back. "When Pierce was given to me, ownership wasn't transferred. This is what I need you to write:"
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Gallowcomb,
We regret to inform you that your daughter Gallowcomb Jenevive Willow Karmen has been found dead. We were able to identify her remains due to the Gallowcomb crest on her ring. We have included this and photographs as proof of death. Unfortunately there was not enough left to be sent back for a funeral. For this reason we have given her a burial at sea in full ceremony. We are very sorry for your loss.
In other matters, due to documents found on the body, it has come to light that ownership of a certain servant, previously in your daughter's care and whom we now believe is in your possession, was never transferred to the Gallowcomb name. Be informed that any wrongful harm or death brought to this servant will be punished to the full extent of the law of the sea. We hope for your continued safety in these matters and again, we are sorry for your loss.
Karmen places a four pointed seal on the bottom of the document in place of a signature. "I swiped this off one of the government agents that were guarding me in San Faldo. Living with a cat burglar comes in handy." From her pocket she pulls photographs of a dark haired, water swollen woman who had been mostly eaten by marine life and wrapped in seaweed and tattered cloth. One is a close up of the Gallowcomb signet ring on a hand missing three fingers and most of the wrist wrapped in the remains of a brine-splattered glove. Another was a photocopy of the ownership document. She slides them into an envelope. "The Gallowcombs throw bodies of dead slaves into the ocean," she says. "It wasn't hard to find one in San Faldo and take a few pictures. I gave her a decent burial in the middle of the night when my guard fell asleep. God rest her soul." When the ink has dried she places the letter in the envelope with her signet ring and seals it with the same seal. The only thing Robin writes on the outside is Mr. Gallowcomb's name and the address of the house on Galaval Island on the other side of the Red Line. The letter is mailed out that afternoon. Without Karmen having to ask, Robin says she'll keep this matter between them until she feels comfortable saying something on her own.
"Let us know when you're ready for our help." As Robin goes back up on deck to get back to whatever she had been doing, Karmen pulls out her log book and opens the cover. Inside is a small freshly pressed sunflower and a set of documents. She stares at them for a long time before turning to a blank page and picking up the quill.
Valentine's Personal Log 24: Family
Three days ago I was cleaning barnacles off the side of Sunny when a large, harnessed fish emerges from the depths. My mother was on it, wearing an air tank and San Faldo robes and holding up a yellow piece of paper in a sealed plastic bag. I knew what it was instantly and had to force myself not to call the crew. It would have been so easy to take her out, but if that document had fallen into the ocean I would have lost everything. I wanted to take her hostage and exchange her for Pierce, but I knew that my father would have told me to shoot her, despite the retaliation her family would take. He has no love for Willow. Everything is business for him and most of her assets have already been placed in his name. I also wasn't sure that she didn't have backup waiting just below the surface. Underestimating Willow has often led to ruin.
I left my beautiful metal quills stabbed through the eyes of the mask I had bought in Water 7. I planned on coming back on my own, but I thought I'd leave that as a little note just in case. I knew Franky could fill in the missing information. I stepped onto the fish, took the oxygen mask she offered and held onto the harness as we dove into the cold ocean until all I could see was the faint pinprick of the sun piercing the surface. I was right about the extra security. She had a whole team of bounty hunters on similar fish just waiting for a signal. I knew that Willow had no interest in the Straw Hats, so long as I was compliant. I closed my eyes and prayed I wasn't making a mistake. I had to know if Pierce was wherever she was taking me. I had to know if he was ok. I was going to get that document, one way or the other.
It took hours to reach San Faldo. We rode the fish straight into the private cove of Baldwin's mansion. The building is housed on a cliffside far above with stairs leading to it. There are several guests there already and servants running around in the chaos of party prep. Baldwin loves his mixers. Mother is provided with a changing booth to get into dry clothes immediately. I'm left dripping and cold. Their new butler hands me a towel. He smiles pleasantly, but I can feel that he's terrified by my presence. I know the mere thought of them replacing Godwin twisted my face into a gruesome expression. He thinks I'm like her. I have to pretend that I am.
I'm led upstairs and seated at a table in Baldwin's study. I heard father and Pierce over a transponder snail. I spoke like my old self, praying Pierce remembered the code. He's been with me since he was eight, so I'm sure he does. He knows I'm coming. He knows I plan to fight. Stay alive until I reach you, my friend. I'll be there soon.
Father, mother, and I agreed on a backstory to satisfy the people I had avoided for two years, including Baldwin. It would reflect badly on the family if the truth were to come to light. I began a new branch of DavenGallow Co. in apple production, finding an island to set up an apple orchard that was just about ready to produce its first crops. I had to work in secret because a disgruntled kidnapping syndicate was upset over my guards killing one of their men and had sent assassins after me. Kuma rescued me from an assassin two years ago and I'd been underground while father had tracked down the syndicate and disposed of those who threatened my life. Now that I was safe, I had returned to reestablish my future marriage which I regretfully had to abandon before. Just repeating it all in writing makes me want to hurl, but it did the job.
The government agents guarding me agreed to let me speak to the chef and decoration team leader. Both are slaves. Though I am technically a prisoner, being that I was compliant and they believed the story, I was given free reign of the mansion. I offered them a chance of freedom. All they had to do was scrape some paintings for the chemicals needed to poison the food and soak new dresses in the punch bowl to let the dyes and toxins seep into the drink. The chef they had was almost as good as Sanji. He knew just how to mask the taste. The methylene blue in the fountain gives the water exotic look and make sure there is a way to save those who are innocent. Too bad antidotes aren't selective.
I'd been in this mansion before and knew where Baldwin kept the keys to the exploding collars. I acquired them using my cloaking Haki and made sure there was also a key to the gate included. There would only be a small window of distraction for us all to get out, but it would be enough. All I have to do is fade. I was put in a black dress and forced into a ballroom full of self-righteous nobles and government stooges. I had to pretend that I was going to marry Baldwin again. This time, if something went wrong, there would be no Pierce or Kuma to come to my rescue.
I had forgotten how much I hate pretending. Before it had been a way of life. A way to survive until I could find a quiet place to collapse into misery and despair, feel the breath of freedom taunt me from the back of a fish, or escape for a few precious hours into the vineyard with Kuma. The two people I wanted to see most were nowhere near San Faldo. If I became trapped here and actually ended up being forced to the altar, would Kuma kill Baldwin and my father? Would my crew come smashing down the walls and slice up everyone who stands between me and freedom? Would I poison everyone who tried to stop me or would I bite my tongue and end their control over me once and for all?
Thoughts like this poured through my mind like a record, boiling down to two things: 1. I want to see Kuma. Not as the warlord following orders, but as my friend. I want to feel his comforting presence and fall asleep curled up in his hat. I want to share apples and tea and hear about things that could get me killed for simply knowing. I want to see my friend. 2. When all this is over I'm going to stay with the crew. Houses like this are not my home. These people are not my family, nor will they ever be. My family is on a ship with a lion on the bowsprit. My family is the Straw Hat pirates and I am their secretary. When I rescue Pierce, I will bring him home.
I kissed as many cheeks as possible, making sure the antimony powder in my makeup would irritate the faces of all those I loathe. I couldn't wait for them to puff up like allergic red balloons with watering eyes and swollen lips. They're all insufferable. Everyone nauseating was present, but even I was surprised when he walked in with his pink feather coat and his pointy rose colored glasses. Doflamingo high kneed his way right to me, shoving Baldwin aside, grinning his Joker grin, and pulled me into a dance. I was scared and confused, but I liked his disruption. I did not kiss his cheek and he did not give me the opportunity to pull away. "You are the last person I expected, Doffy," I told him. I kept my voice cold, less out of pretending and more from understanding his alignment with my father.
"I heard my lovely cousin was getting married again," was his response. But his smile said otherwise.
"Are you here to blow up the mansion?"
"Would you like me to?" He took a small sunflower out of his inside pocket and threaded it into my hair. He'd come from Dressrosa. I remember the field where those flowers grew. Somewhere on that island or nearby was a factory where he produced artificial devil fruit. Somewhere in that factory his scientists had learned to produce a Zoan fruit that mimicked Doffy's paramecia. At some point in the last year he had given that fruit to my father and he had given it to mother's favorite bounty hunter and she had sent that bounty hunter after me.
"What do you want? What more do you want to take?" I ended up spitting the words at him, hating his grin and how it widened at me. I didn't care if my cover broke. He was too much. Too present.
He forced me to dance along with him. "Don't get ahead of yourself, cuz. My people have been reporting on you ever since they saw you in Alabasta and killed that bounty hunter. Mr. 6, wasn't it?" I remembered how the man had been found dead with a desert strawberry in his stomach. It hadn't been father's men who killed him after all. But that begged the question: Why didn't Doflamingo tell Gallowcomb? "It was a shame we missed each other in Mock Town. I've enjoyed how hard you've worked to cover your trail. When you're done here, I could use someone like you."
"I know you've been working with father. Why would I ever want to work for you?"
"Because I still see you as family. Don't make that face at me. I only came to give you a gift." At this the music ended and he hugged me, enveloping me in his billowing coat. I felt him use his string-string powers on my leg. I panicked for a moment, remembering being attacked by the bounty hunter, and tried to push him away, wishing I had my weapons so I could stab him and cut the threads. He held me tight until I felt paper against my leg under the skirt that hid my scarred thigh. I stilled, more curious than scared. He had tied something to my leg. "Look it over in private," he said before releasing me. "I'm sure you'll find it enlightening. I know I did." He made some comment about needing to blow up someone else's groom and left me standing there in the middle of the ballroom. I wanted to rip the papers from my leg and pour through them right there, but mom and Baldwin were watching me closely.
It wasn't until three in the morning that I was able to escape to my rooms and cut the strings off my leg behind a privacy screen. A government agent was sitting in a chair just inside of my door, so I couldn't read them until around five when she finally fell asleep. I don't know what to make of the documents he gave me. I don't know if it's mind blowing information or a sick joke. I want it to be true, but if it's true, what the hell am I? The documents are the family lines of both the Gallowcombs and Davenwells as of the government mandated census three years ago. According to these documents, Gallowcomb Edward Herbert Ikaika and Davenwell Antwanette Jenevive Willow never had a child. In fact, he included a medical record stating that Willow is sterile. If this is true…
Who am I? What makes me important? Why are they so desperate to keep me?
I learned two things before the crew came to rescue me:
1. 19 years ago Kuma made a deal with the government and the Gallowcombs that included a clause saying I was not to be physically harmed.
2. It is highly likely that I am not a Gallowcomb.
I'm not sure if I can trust Doffy as far as I can throw him, but he's got some great black market connections. Something tells me these documents are real. I feel displaced. I don't know who or what I am or where I'm from. It feels like I've been cast into the sea with no ship in sight. Who can I trust with this information and where can I go to find more? I need time to process what I've learned. Kuma gave Pierce to me when I was six. They'd kept general contact with each other up until two years ago when I was rescued and Pierce was left behind to the hell that is my fa… Mr. Gallowcomb. Maybe he can let me in on the big secret.