Full Summary: Being reincarnated into the One Piece universe is not what one would expect after death. Especially when the 'character' you've been born into is someone who technically doesn't exist. Were things supposed to remain the same, or were you suppose to change them? Only time will tell, supposedly.
"I am an informant. I know things. Most of them unfortunately not pleasant." - Portgas D. Roux
Warning(s): Slash/Yaoi, Timeline Alterations, Reincarnation.
Main Pairing: Undecided
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, obviously.
16 years before canon
"Buahahahaha! Isn't my grandson adorable?!" Garp gushed, practically shoving a photo of his recently birthed grandson into Roux's face.
Roux batted the old man's hand away in exasperation, making a show of rolling his eyes whilst at it. Currently, they were in Garp's office, enjoying a pot of matcha tea and eating fried rice crackers together. After three years of the Marine Hero pestering him non stop, as well as taking yearly time off together, they have become something akin to close friends.
Nowadays, he didn't even bother to act like a gentleman in front of Garp. The old nuisance would only call his mask 'adorable' and 'cute', which only made him want to burst a blood vessel.
"Yeah yeah. So is Dragon finally settling down?" He asked idly whilst snatching the photo from Garp's sausage fingers, his eyes taking in the chubby cheeks of the future Captain of the Strawhat Pirates. "You got another copy of this, old man?"
"Bah! That useless son of mine is too busy doing whoever knows what. Makino - bless her kind soul - volunteered to look after Luffy-chan for me." Garp plucked the photo from Roux's fingers, quickly pocketing it as the younger frowned at him. "You can take one yourself since we'll be going to Foosha soon."
"I still don't think it is wise of me to visit Ace-kun so often..."
"Even after three years, you're still acting like an idiot. Fool. Blockhead. Moron."
"I don't want to be called all those by you of all people!"
"Buahahahaha!"
Garp ignored Roux's scathing words and laughed loudly, not at all minding the younger man's (pout) glower.
With a huff, Roux crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat, making himself comfortable.
"I'm curious, Garp. Who is Luffy-kun's mother?"
"Hell if I know. You're the informant. You tell me, brat! That foolish son of mine is stingy. Doesn't even tell his old man who his lover is."
"Right... I'm an informant, not omniscient. Don't ask for the impossible, old geezer. So, they're not married?"
"If they are, they didn't invite me. Tch. Pisses me off! Oi Roux, tell me where he is. I need to give that foolish son of mine my Fists of Love." Garp whined, slumping down as he sulked childishly. "I'm lonely~ Why doesn't he come visit me? This old man wants to be loved by his son~"
Roux grimaced, scooting further away from the Vice-Admiral. Seeing the almighty Hero of the Marines purse his lips into a petulant pout was so very wrong. In fact, he had to hold back a shudder at the sight.
Having experienced with Garp's whining almost daily, he pushed more rice crackers to the old man, watching as Grap lit up like a Christmas tree and proceeded to shove as much as he could into his mouth, already having forgotten about his bitching.
Honestly... Roux tsk-ed fondly as he shook his head, lips curving upwards into a small smile.
It was at this moment of time that their agreed tea time was interrupted by three sharp knocks.
Garp and he exchanged looks, the former pointing to the door with his cheeks still full, whilst the latter shot him a look of disgust. He truly needed to teach this monkey some table manners at a later date. Roux stood without further prompting, straightening his suit and placing his fedora back on his head before he opened the door.
The visitor, a random marine, saluted immediately, though her expression was of confusion when she saw it was Roux and not the owner of the office. Not that he could blame her. Officially, he held no ranking whatsoever, so nobody outside of a few knew of his existence. Furthermore, he hadn't bothered to wear any of the more distinguished accessories that marked him as his Informant persona.
"What is it?" He asked with a polite smile, his gentlemanly demeanour back into place.
"Sir! Is Vice-Admiral Garp in?" Due to Garp's Haki, her voice was rather shaky.
The old man preferred to relax his hold on his aura whilst within the confines of his office. Thus when Roux opened the door, some had leaked out, (scaring) startling the lower ranking Navy officers nearby. Majority of them had even fainted with foam leaking out from their mouths. He needed to commend this person for not shitting herself.
Moving slightly away to allow her entry, he turned his head to the old man who was still stuffing himself silly, looking far too alike a chipmunk, "You have a visitor, Vice-Admiral Garp. I'll take my leave first."
"Sure. See ya later."
After waiting for the female Marine officer to pass him, he exited the office and made his way to Sengoku's. Since he had nothing better to do, he should request annual leave for himself and Garp.
There was a slight anxiety every time he did so, however. He knew he should stop visiting Ace to prevent the alternation of the timeline, but Garp's stubbornness wasn't something he could stop... That was the excuse he gave himself, anyway. And to be completely honest, inwardly, he was glad at having been forced to take yearly leave.
The toddler would always brighten and grin widely whenever he saw Roux and Garp, which would then make the two (grown arse men) turn into puddles of goo at the sheer cuteness of such an adorable sight. They were whipped and dancing in the little palms of the toddler.
As he was dreamily thinking of his nephew's adorable antics, he missed the expression of those around.
When he stopped in front of Sengoku's office, the Marines nearby collectively breathed in sharply, alerting Roux that something was very wrong. He raised a brow at them, seeing how they were sweating and avoiding the area as much as they could without appearing to be running away from something.
Before he could manage to ask one in the passing what the hell was making them so nervous, the door opened, revealing a group of people. Roux could only thank his lucky stars that his poker face was solid and well practiced.
He quickly moved out of their way, immediately going down onto his knees as he tipped his fedora forward to shadow his features, not wanting to be seen. The other Navy officers followed his actions, all of them jittery and avoided looking up.
The hateful group of three were Celestial Dragons. They were all in their stupid outfits and appeared to be looking at everyone with an open expression of disgust.
Roux cursed inwardly. His luck was truly rotten. Was it due to his Devil Fruit powers? No, wait. Just because his powers were rotten, didn't mean his luck was also rotten. Ah, perhaps he kicked puppies and kittens during his previous life? No no. Impossible. He would've recalled doing anything that could potentially make his second life's karma points go into the negative range.
He ended up blaming Garp.
"You there. Raise your head -mm."
One of the three World Nobles stopped in front of Roux, their shoes sparkling irritatingly. It caused him to break out into a cold sweat.
Ah, he truly needed to cleanse himself in a shrine somewhere after this. Was it because he stumbled across a black cat this morning?
No. It was Garp's fault. He would continue to blame Garp no matter what.
He made sure his expression was that of humbleness as he raised his head, his eyes landing on the Noble's chest rather than his eyes.
"Alright. It's decided. I'll make you my wife -mm."
E-EHHHH?!
Roux's expression twisted into horror for a microsecond before he managed to manipulate his facial muscles back into modesty.
"Ah. That-..." He closed his mouth mid-speech, not knowing how to actually talk his way out of this horrible situation without offending the snot-dripping fool of a human being.
He wanted to correct the misunderstanding of his gender, but he knew that if he did, he would've humiliated the Noble - which would then get him killed. Or worst... being branded as a slave. He was a 'commoner' and someone 'not worthy', after all. He didn't officially hold a high enough rank to get away with correcting a World Noble.
The pig bastard's caterpillar eyebrows furrowed when he didn't agree immediately.
His eyes flicked towards Sengoku's office for a second, seeing the Fleet Admiral's expression of alarm, before turning back to the Noble standing haughtily in front of him.
Sengoku, you bastard! HELP! As if the Fleet Admiral could hear his inner cries, Sengoku appeared immediately by Roux's still kneeling form. He bowed respectfully to the World Noble as he spoke, "Saint Costurion, if I may have your permission to speak?"
The two other Nobles seemed to realize that something was up because they too turned around to see what was the holdup. Costurion, the bastard, scowled at Sengoku with one of his nose dripping disgustingly.
"What -mm?"
"This man is important to the Marines. Without him, it would be a challenge to capture pirates with high bounties."
"Man?" The Noble reached out and grabbed Roux's chin, causing goosebumps to appear all over his body. He did his best to contain his nausea as Costurion forcefully moved his head this and that way. "All I see is a woman -mm."
...!
This damn face of his...! Roux wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all.
"He is a man, your holiness."
"No bother -mm. I don't mind. Take him to the Holy Land -mm." The Noble smirked arrogantly, much to Roux's distress.
Sengoku... Stop this pig! Or don't blame Roux for murdering this disgusting shit of a human.
The Fleet Admiral's expression tightened at the Noble's words. When he made to talk, alarms suddenly started to blare loudly, indicating that there was an intruder in the base.
The two other Nobles immediately spoke.
"Costurian-niisama! We will come back another time. For now, let us depart."
"It is as your sister says. Come. Let us not stay here any longer."
Costurian's expression turned sour, "But chichiue-" He was cut off when an explosion occurred, causing the whole building to shake. That must've spooked the Nobles because they turned to Sengoku with frightened and pale faces.
"Bring us to our ship immediately!" The father of the two brats barked.
"Right this way, please."
When Sengoku's eyes connected with Roux, a silent message passed between them.
'Hurry up and leave, you fool'
As soon as the three World Nobles were distracted by another tremor, Roux used Soru and leapt out the closest window, making sure to activate Geppo and air jump his way to the roof. Thank heavens Garp had thought him the six techniques in secret (not anymore after this).
After landing, he fell to his hands and knees in an orz position, his lips pursed as he tried to calm his raging emotions.
That had been... terrifying, for the lack of better wording. And degrading. Humiliating as well.
He had almost been taken as a fucking toy for a Celestial Dragon. If not for the intruder's godly timing, he seriously would've killed the three World Nobles and fled, never looking back. Hell, he wouldn't have cared if he became internationally wanted. Nobody but Garp even knew of his real name, anyway. Furthermore, he could always run off to those parts of the sea where Celestial Dragons dared not traverse through - or even join the Whitebeard Pirates for protection.
After a few minutes, a familiar seagull landed next to Roux. There was a piece of paper in its beak, causing Roux to push himself into a seating position and make a grab for it. The bird obediently stayed in place.
The note was from Sengoku.
Basically, it said to leave HQ for a few months and wait for a call from either Garp or Sengoku. It might take a while for the World Noble brat to grow bored of not seeing Roux, so until then, he should stay far away. Roux agreed wholeheartedly. Next, Roux was also informed that it was thanks to Garp's heroic deeds that he had escaped from the unpleasant situation in one piece. Garp, that insane old man, had activated the alarm and even created those tremors (to be realistic) once he heard what was going on. Roux could've kissed the old man for being such a knight in shining armor. Lastly, there was a mission order of getting the Donquixote Pirates' photos, as well as checking on one of the incognito Marine officers.
Roux raised a brow.
Sengoku was such a bastard. The Fleet Admiral didn't even give him the Pirates' location nor the spy's name.
He sighed out loud.
Alright, then. Time to visit Spider Miles. Thank goodness he already knew that the Donquixote Pirates had already set up their base of operations there. Once again, he mentally threw a rude word at Sengoku. The man should really stop testing him. Did he not already know that Roux's sources and information were a hundred percent accurate?
Oh. Did that mean he won't be able to visit Ace this year? He couldn't risk being tracked by the CP and lead them to his nephew (never underestimate an intelligence agency, especially one connected to the World Government. And unlike Roux, they had plenty of people to spare on the whims of a spoilt World Noble).
... That's... good, right? He won't be able to interfere with the plot at this rate. So why does his chest feel so constricting?
With a lit cigarette dangling in between his lips, he stared at the massive garbage dump surrounding the Donquixote base. It was an impressive sight. If Rouge were here, she would've squealed with pure happiness and started building whatever prank devices she had stored in that devious head of hers. The thought of his twin was bittersweet now thanks to Garp. He misses her so bad, but he knew she would be disappointed in him if he remained in the past.
As he sucked in another lungful of smoke to clear his head, he spotted two kids running around; a girl with a bow in her hair and a big boy twice Roux's size with bunny teeth. He exhaled the cancerous fumes and discreetly took a photo of the two of them. After he was done with that, he moved to the only building in this dump. Three polite knocks on the door later and there stood Diamante, towering over him with a big ass grin in place.
Ah, how he hated being so average in height. If he were back on Earth, 175cm would be considered tall for a Japanese male... Oh, how he longed for Earth and all its air pollution and global warming.
With a disarming smile, he spoke in a civil manner as he pushed the brim of his fedora upwards so that his features were not obscured, "Good afternoon. I have an appointment with one Donquixote Doflamingo-sama. I know I am early - and I truly apologize for that - but is he currently in?"
"Who are you?" The pirate asked whilst bending forward so that they were both somewhat on the same eye level.
Roux flicked away his cigarette bud whilst he gave a polite tilt of his fedora to bring attention to the identifying badge clipped to the side of his hatband.
"I am Daemon Red. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Mister Diamante."
At the use of his infamous alias and distinguished smiley face badge, Diamante reeled back, his expression having changed to shock before he straightened and took a step back, gesturing for Roux to enter.
"Come in. Take a seat. I'll call Doffy down in a moment."
"Many thanks."
After being guided to a huge armchair next to an equally huge sofa (those were the only seats available), Diamante went to another room, his footsteps indicating that he was climbing the stairs.
Since it might take a while, he placed his briefcase beside of him and leaned back with his arms and legs crossed. He tilted his fedora to shadow his face and closed his eyes, slightly exhausted from his trip. It had taken him a week to reach North Blue, and another to this island. He didn't know for how long he waited, but just as he was about to succumb to his body's demand for rest, many footsteps were heard. He immediately straightened his posture and turned to where Diamante had disappeared to.
Doflamingo was the first person he saw, followed by the rest of his small, but strong, pirate crew.
Roux noted that even the three kids, Buffalo, Baby 5, and Trafalgar Law, were in the room as well. Doflamingo sat on the sofa, his little brother Rosinante beside of him, whilst the rest of the crew stood near the door.
Roux paid them no mind, his attention was on the oversized flamingo the whole time.
Doflamingo, unlike in his anime debut, was wearing a black dress shirt and red tie, along with a pair of three-quarter white pants, dress shoes, and that trademark pink feathered coat. When they finally made eye contact - or sunglasses to eye contact, anyway - the arrogant smirk reminded Roux dearly of that pig who had wanted to make him his wife.
Cue shudder.
As much as he didn't mind experimenting with his sex life, he would not bend over for a disgusting pig to pop his man cherry.
"Daemon 'Thousand Eyes' Red, glad you could make it." Doflamingo started, his voice deep and smooth. Ah, this was what a World Noble should be like. Elegant and domineering. To be quite honest, Doflamingo was kind of his type. If he were gay, anyway. Actually, when was the last time he took someone to bed?
"Of course, Donquixote-sama. Now then, I apologize in advance for my rudeness - to be blunt, what information do you seek? I don't mean to rush, but I have another meeting scheduled." Roux smiled apologetically at the younger man as he uncrossed his legs and gathered his briefcase onto his lap.
"I don't mind. You're a busy man, after all. What I want to know is the location of the Ope Ope no Mi."
At that, the whole room seemed to freeze. Rocinante (he mentally checked the marine spy), as Roux noted, had started to sweat heavily.
"Oh? That would cost you, Donquixote-sama. That particular fruit is called the Ultimate Devil Fruit for a reason. Even the Navy would pay a hefty sum of 5,000,000,000 Beli in order to get their hands on it. Because I sell information rather than the actual fruit, it would, of course, be cheaper than that."
All the elite officers of the Donquixote Pirates showed an incredulous expression, whilst Doflamingo himself stopped grinning.
"What do you propose, Thousand Eyes?"
"I ask only half of that. I'll give you the information for 2,500,000,000 Beli." At Roux's words, veins started bulging on Doflamingo's forehead. He cared not and continued with his words, his polite smile never leaving his face. "If that is too expensive, I don't mind it being exchanged for something of an equal value."
"And what could possibly match up to 2,500,000,000 Beli?" The pirate's voice had dropped an octave, whilst his Haki had completely knocked out the kids, as well as those that were not his elite officers, which left only Trebol, Diamante, Pica, and Corazon conscious.
Roux hummed slightly in thought, his posture relaxed and not at all strained despite being the main focus of Doflamingo's Haoshoku Haki.
Inwardly, he snorted in disdain. If someone's Haoshoku Haki were enough to knock him out, he wouldn't have dared to make direct deals on his lonesome. Especially to pirates. Some of them have no honor whatsoever, wanting to capture him or make him their personal informant.
He might have a weak constitution and his overall defense was utter garbage, but his offensive skills were quite overpowered. Even Garp had called him a cheat when they sparred. Although the second Garp hit him, he was knocked out cold and took a whole week to recover. Perhaps that was the reason why the old man thought him Rokushiki?
"I would say... Favors. How about ten of them, Donquixote-sama? With no time limit." Roux's polite smile turned sharp, his eyes glinting at the oversized flamingo as if a predator looking at its prey. "And all ten can't be refused, no matter what. Ah, but rest assured, Donquixote-sama, I will not take bodily advantage of you in any way - just to be clear."
The veins on the pirate's forehead continued to bulge. It made Rux curious. If the younger man got any angrier, would they burst?
"Ne, D-Doffy..." Trebol, the disgusting snot man, called out with a stutter.
Doflamingo turned to Trebol, the two communicating silently with just their eyes... Though Roux had to seriously wonder how. They were both wearing sunglasses, after all.
Whilst the two were busy with that, Roux's eyes wandered to Rocinante. He tilted his head to the side slightly and stared unblinkingly at the Marine spy.
Rocinante started to sweat at the attention, shifting uncomfortably and alerting Doflamingo that something was amiss. Roux simply continued to stare, mentally trying to convey a message for the clumsy fool.
The message... went completely over his head since Rocinante did everything to try and not make any eye contact with the informant.
"Is there anything you want from my brother, Thousand Eyes?"
At Doflamingo's slightly protective words, Roux blinked and turned to the Captain of the Donquixote Pirates. Sometimes, he had to wonder how blind Corazon was. Doflamingo truly cared for his brother, but the younger of the two only thought him as someone evil. It was sad, in a way. Roux could tell after watching many re-runs of the anime that Doflamingo mourned for his foolish brother's death.
Although that might be some of his inner fanboy speaking. Teehee~
But, anyway, if Roux was in Doflamingo's shoes, he would've also killed his father. If the parents had wanted to live as 'commoners', they should've hidden their status as ex-World Nobles. Or maybe even have the decency to scout their location and neighbors beforehand. Actually, they could've simply taught their children on humbleness and kindness, leaving the Holy Land once in a while as a sort of family trip or something.
Sigh. The sins of the parents were always a burden to their children. Such a pity...
"I was simply wondering where he had gotten his hat from, Donquixote-sama. I quite like it." Roux took out a cigarette and lit it up, inhaling those deadly fumes in one smooth go. "Have you come to a decision?"
"... Give me thirty minutes. Diamante."
The elite officer stepped forward. "This way, Thousand Eyes."
"Very well," He stood up with his briefcase in hand, tilting his fedora down to shadow his eyes. "But only half an hour. As I have previously mentioned, I have another meeting soon. Oh, and do remember... The Ope Ope no Mi will not always be up for grabs."
He was then ushered into the dining room before being left on his lonesome. He sighed quietly as he continued to smoke. Thanks to his Devil Fruit powers, smoking didn't really harm him, but because of his sister, he had cut down to only smoking whilst meeting with clients (or stressed). He hummed softly under his breath as he sat down on a random seat.
... He was hungry.
Would they be mad if he took some of their food?
After a very long thirty minutes, he was brought back to the previous room. The crew was all awake now, though the kids do still appear to be groggy. Doflamingo pointed to the sofa, which Roux unhesitantly sat, crossing his right leg over the other and ignoring how some of their eyes followed his movements.
"I have decided. Ten favors."
"All of them without a time limit, as well as non-refusable?"
"Yes."
"Excellent!" He unlocked his briefcase and took out a paper, the words already pre-written. "I've already drawn up a contract. You are welcome to check for loopholes."
Doflamingo took the contract and read it. Five minutes later and the man suddenly burst into laughter, his grin stretching from ear to ear.
"Amazing! You knew that I wanted the Ope Ope no Mi from the very beginning! Your reputation truly does you no justice. How did you know?"
Roux chuckled darkly, "I am an informant. I know things. Most of them unfortunately not pleasant."
"Fine. Be that way. I like a good mystery, anyway." Doflamingo signed the contract and tossed it back, "Do you want to join my crew? I'd welcome a monster like you anytime."
He caught the contract, made sure that the signature was legit and signed in the correct place, and placed it back into his briefcase. When all was well, he smiled politely at the younger man.
"I'm flattered, Donquixote-sama, but I will have to refuse your offer. I like being my own boss. Is there anything else you would like to know? A person you want to seek?"
"None. If that will be all; I'll be expecting your call, Thousand Eyes."
At the dismissal, Roux stood up and straightened his suit.
"It has been a pleasure doing business with you, Donquixote Doflamingo-sama. Have a good day. You'll be hearing from me within half a year at most."
The reason for why it would be such a stretch of a time was due to the fruit currently being on the opposite side of the world. If he were to give the information now, Doflamingo would take months to reach the location. The fruit wouldn't even be there anymore. So in their contract, it states that Roux would immediately alert Doflamingo once the Ope Ope no Mi was located in North Blue.
After a bow, he moved to the entrance, but stopped suddenly, his eyes moving to Law. He leaned closer so that his whispered words (taunts) would only be heard by the child.
"Hm hm? What do we have here...? The Amber Lead Syndrome, huh? Must be tough on you, Trafalgar D. Water Law - being the sole survivor of the White City and its affliction. Pity, your father was quite the skilled doctor. Conversing with him was such a fun past time. Did the Marines at least give them a proper burial?" With that, he swept out of the building whilst smiling at the ten-year-old, not caring how the child had sucked in a deep breath, looking shaky and two shades paler.
As soon as he was out the door, his smile turned wicked. Heh. After giving Doflamingo the location of the Ope Ope no Mi six months later, the pirate would still not get it since Law would be the one who ends up with it. This meant that Doflamingo's services were worth literally nothing.
Ah, future knowledge was the best at times like this. With a cheerful whistle, he used Soru and made his way to his next meeting spot.
His timing made Law completely grumpy since the boy had rushed out to follow the informant, wanting to ask (demand) some things, but ended up missing him by a mere second.
Oblivious to the fuming child, he hummed under his breath as he Geppo-ed to his next scheduled meeting. Hopefully, that clumsy spy got his message to call Sengoku.
6 months later
Roux stared silently at the still bleeding body of Donquixote Rocinante, riddled with an unnerving amount of bullet holes (this clumsy idiot...!). He grimaced slightly as he squatted, putting his index and middle finger on the man's carotid pulse. It was silent.
At that, he pursed his lips and heaved the heavy body of the younger Donquixote onto his shoulder. He stumbled slightly at the dead weight when he stood, but quickly ran to his small boat the second he regained his balance. As soon as he was on board, he set sail immediately. Only after confirming that nobody had spotted him did he only turn his attention back to the cooling body.
After washing his hands with sterile water, he pried the younger male's lips apart and forced his slender fingers into the clumsy fool's mouth. Once he felt the right second molar, he used Haki to strengthen his digits before he mercilessly pulled out the tooth. He ignored the blood and broke the tooth in half to confirm whether it was the right one.
When a small, half-dissolved pill dropped onto his lap, he grinned dementedly. Hah. It had been a tough challenge to sneakily drill this into the clumsy idiot's tooth. He had to drug Rocinante's food and water with slow-acting narcotics before he manages to do the misdeed.
He soon pocketed it away. Once again, he washed his hands with sterile water before he took out a syringe and flicked it with his fingers to remove the air bubbles inside. He then punctured the younger Donquixote's skin. Having hit a vein on the elbow's puncture site, he pushed the liquid slowly into the bloodstream.
It was seconds later that Rocinante's breathing came back, harsh and wet. Roux released his own sigh of relief at that. The younger male's pulse was weak and his lungs definitely damaged, but with medical treatment, he would live. It was then he heard a rough voice calling him out. He looked up and saw a medium-sized ship heading his way, a familiar old man dropping down a ladder from the rails.
He had claimed two favors from this genius scientist, demanding that the old man make him a very specific type of drug as well as provide hush-hush medical treatment. But damn it. This better be worth it! Those favors were VERY hard to come by!
God damn World Nobles were all such a pain.
Roux covered his face with his hands, letting out a soft curse at the anxiety he felt. He didn't know if what he was doing was the correct thing; to allow Rocinante to live. But somehow, he couldn't bear the thought of the younger man dying (despite looking the other way when many others died at his feet). This would undoubtedly cause a huge butterfly effect to the plot. Which meant he would have to keep Rocinante away from Law at all costs - which would be beyond troublesome.
Was this really worth all the risk and trouble?
For now, he would hide Rocinante away from the world. And if this clumsy idiot refused to cooperate... well, Roux was called a demon for a reason. Either Rocinante accepts being bound to his side, or the former Noble would be thrown into the ocean tied to an anchor as fish bait.