Yello, I hope ya didn't miss me. I want to apologise for not uploading for like a month and I want to state that this novel isn't going to die until the story title says "Paper Boy [DEAD and unfinished]" Anyway I want to say this is a very long chapter by my standards so yeah, hope you're having a good day or continue to have one. CYA!
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The river was deathly, the water did not flow, simply stagnant with not a ripple in sight. The early morning rays peaked above the Redlines horizon as a cold breeze washed over the Holy Capital. Sunlight reflected on the river surface creating an otherworldly golden glow against the cold blues of the dissipating night. A low haze covered the whole city as moving statues marched its quiet streets.
The water distorted as a perfectly smooth stone skimmed across the river surface, creating small waves in its wake. The stone flew like a comet in the night sky, cleaving its way across the water until it reached the other side. The stone hit the rocky banks with a distant clink, the noise reverberated and echoed in the silent city. The stone joined hundreds of others that were clumped on the opposing shore.
Louncent crouched down, knees slightly bent deep in thought. His sandals pushed against the white grains making soft indents in the sand before they were blown away in the morning's cold breeze. Louncent was garbed in his blue long sleeved striped pyjamas with a matching nightcap. Louncent looked to his side with a sigh as his reserves of rocks were slowly dwindling. At the sun's peak his stash would surely be gone.
Releasing a groan, Louncent stood up to his full height, which was a bit below the average compared to other kids his age, not that he had met any. Having crouched down for so long the boy released a long yawn as he started doing some stretches to warm up his body. Louncent not so subtly glanced over his shoulder to try catch a glimpse of the 'fun police.'
They were encased in teal armour that was in perfect condition. The armour had a rotund appearance with a comically large bevor that jutted out, covering the bottom half of their view. Their helmets were like ice cream cones that pointed towards the sky, with the perimeter around the visor being painted a light silver. The breaths of the armour were strangely situated at the top helmet and the pauldrons were a deep navy with gold accents that shimmered in the morning light. The wrist guards were teal with gold accents, much like the pauldrons. The lower half of their body was being obscured by the morning haze, only teal managing to peek through the fog. The boy found it quite ironic that the 'fun police' had such silly looking armour to accompany their stoic demeanour.
Although these royal guards stood wary with spears in hand, both of them always kept quite a close eye on him. It must of been easy, the knights dwarfed the boy in comparison like David and the Goliath.
If Louncent were to describe them to you he'd say they were beyond a nuisance. Louncent had tried all the tricks in the book to try to escape them. Louncent still hadn't managed to ask the ice cream cones how always managed to find him. Every single second of his life he spent outside of the castle, he was always accompanied by his Grandfather personally or the royal guard that constantly looked over his shoulder. Even if he wanted to take a short leisurely stroll around the city he would always have to be accompanied by these two clowns. It didn't matter how many times he begged his Grandfather to let him walk outside the castle alone Ginson would always refuse. The boy knew it was in his best interest to keep them with him for protection, but they always seemed to butt in whenever something fun happened.
As to why he needed guards? He had zero clue. This was Mariejois for crying out loud, and the amount of disasters that happened here could be counted on one hand. ONE HAND!
So Louncent days were reserved for taking strolls around the city with two towering giants watching over him and him skipping stones by the river. If Louncent had one positive thing that he liked about the 'fun police' was that they had made him sit down and think about, well everything. No running around, no games, just sitting and thinking just how Louncent liked it.
Although it seemed bleak to him after years of doing it, Louncent felt like he was getting smarter. Not in the intellectual way but more morally, like he was expanding his view of the world and which side he wanted to stand with. Although every single day Ginson would talk to him about the greatness of the World Government and he wondered if maybe his Grandfather had a point. Louncent wanted nothing more than an anchor to help him steer his mind in the correct direction and bring this whole debacle to an end.
Even when Louncent fantasised about escaping the rotten city and sailing the high seas on a grand adventure he felt like he was trapped there. His Grandfather had raised him when he was just a kid and was, for most of the time, humorous and caring. It felt like a cardinal sin to leave the old man alone in this nasty place. Although Ginson may have a few screws loose, Louncent felt like it was his duty to keep the old man from swaying too far from the path of humanity. Even if it was too late for Ginson to be saved, Louncent could only hope that wasn't the case.
How Louncent missed the simpler days when he didn't have to worry about the encroaching world outside the 'Holy City'. Just sit back and listen to an old slave weave his magical tales about the blues. He always wondered if they were even true or just plain make believe bedtime stories. There were no books in the library of Mariejois that Louncent could find, that even mention this 'Pirate King' Gol. , he checked. All he heard were the tales of sea monsters that lurked the shores of the Holy Land. Maybe the slave was a bit kooky and wanted to tell him magical stories of pirates and marines to keep a child's mind off things.
Louncent shook his head, the old man couldn't have been crazy, it felt like he held a lot of truth behind his words or maybe just what the old man interpreted as the truth.
Reaching down for another stone to skim his hand grasped at nothing.'Damn, I'll run out soon.' Louncent made the obvious observation as he looked at the small pile of rocks left. Now this wasn't a major issue by any means, just a small inconvenience now that Louncent had to walk to the other side of the river to skip stones. Taking a mental step back Louncent tried his best to not let his mind wander, he thought back to his initial question that brought him to the river today.
The question of the day being where did he belong in this ever expansive world. His own allegiance had been wavering ever since last week when his Grandfather forced him to choose sides. Louncent thought that maybe, just maybe his Grandfather was right. Maybe they were just born to be something greater. To receive no hardships, no grievances, no consequences and avoid all problems. Maybe that's what he was born to be, he deserved it did he not? Maybe the World Nobles were better and had a right to rule over others. They had been doing it for generations, so could it really be as bad as the outsider's say? Maybe the old slave was feeding him lies about the outside world and it warped his judgement. Maybe the world really is just black and white. Pirates are bad, Marines are good and Celestial Dragons are born to rule.
Louncent paused for a brief moment before letting out a hysterical laughter spooking his guards before they went back to being statues. Him wanting to rule above others? 'Oh, how stupid I have become.' Louncent lamented. He was a person like every single other sentient being who walked the earth. Another cog that made the world turn round. The only difference was where he was born and his living conditions. Otherwise Louncent would like to think he was just another turning cog. After all he had no right to look down on others beside those that deserved it.
But who deserved to be treated with such malice? It was quite an obvious answer to Louncent. The Holy Land was filled to the brim with unholy men and women, quite ironic. Using their wealth and influence to look down upon others they deserved it. They weren't humans anymore; they were monsters that preyed on the weak. Only a couple of them had a glimmer of good in them like his Grandfather. Ginson had been blinded with propaganda and lies for decades and Louncent wanted nothing more than to bring his Grandfather out of the shadows and show him the true terrors of the World Government. Louncent simply couldn't comprehend how someone could think they had the right to gain ownership over another person. It didn't sit well in his gut and he knew that some of these monsters couldn't be changed. They would have to be put down and the little left of their humanity extinguished.
As Louncent continued to skim his last remaining stones a silence consumed him. Not the normal silence of the early morning, more like the calm before the storm. Louncent felt a cold shudder run down his spine, a scream cut through the air. A scream full of fear and terror, many more joined in to form a chorus of pain and misery. The screams seemingly distorting the surrounding fog as the ground began to rumble. The source of it growing nearer and nearer as the ground began to shake. Louncent looked across the river at first with curiosity, trying to peek past the haze, before it turned into pure unbridled rage.
Charlos was having a wonderful day as he was carried around in his brand spanking new carriage, or should it be called a house. The whole thing took up the whole stone pathway, best to call it a mansion then a carriage. It practically shone gold in the sunlight as its higher floors stood tall above the fog. It was a master class of design that dazzled with the finest materials in the world. The mobile house was multiple stories high and weighed several tonnes.
Charlos rested atop the carriage as he indulged in a large banquet, suffocating his mouth in food. A dining table along with a full bedroom had been crammed onto the top floor with a couple of his servants standing by his side. Some had calm expressions while others, not so much. 'They must be quacking in the presence of a GOD!' Charlos thought as he continued to chow down his food.
His day was all sunshine and rainbows as he stuffed his mouth with food and wine. Taking a glance behind him as an entourage followed the carriage. They trailed behind him, the entourage consisting of a squadron of Mary Geoise royal guards and an enormous number of slaves and servants. The only seemingly lacklustre part of Charlos's day was how slow his carriage was moving. As his carriage began to shake once again you could practically see the steam puffing out of his ears.
Charlos took a brief break from his breakfast as he looked down and let a smirk spread across his face. Beneath the fog the screams of hundreds intensified as they pushed, dragged or even carried the carriage on their back, some not having eaten in a week. A silver collar wrapped around their neck, ready to explode at the push of a button. Their skin was practically wrapped around their bones as their rib cages pressed against their pale skin. They were garbed in nothing but old dirty clothes that only covered their sensitive areas.
Unlike Charlos with his circular build and many folds, they were malnourished and dying with despair ever present in their eyes. Treated as cattle while the full weight of the carriage pushed against their backs, forced to drag their own bodies across the cold stone floor. Their bare skin peeling back against the stone's rough texture, ripping into their skin down to the bone.
Having heard enough of their cries and wailing for help, Charlos pulled out a golden pistol. A single shot rang in the air as Charlos stared down at the commoners. "Quit whining you slaves! I spent a large sum of money for you all, just for this occasion, so don't make me regret it! Unless you want to end up like Fishy over there." Charlos chuckled as he jutted his pistol to a figure strapped to the front of his carriage. Charlos simply smeared snot across his face, a small grin spreading across his ugly mug.
'Fishy' was in a terrible shape. No arms, just bleeding stumps that flailed in the morning wind. The merman had light blue skin and dark blue hair that was now seasoned in red. His lower half stood no better with holes poked throughout his tail and scales ripped off clean. Where his scales would be were red pulsating muscles that stung in the open air. His pupils were dilated constantly looking around and pleading for help. If he could scream he would but the lower half of his jaw had been ripped off, left to breathe in his own blood. The merman was alive but barely, too say Charlos was happy with his handy work would be an understatement. It was a reminder to the rest of the commoners what happens when you disobey orders.
Charlos remembers when he was just a child when he saw the merman in the auction house and begged his father for one. Without a second thought Saint Rosward brought his son the merman. Charlos, having never seen something of the like, so out of unbridled curiosity they began to play games together. To everyone's surprise the merman and Charlos got along well. Running and floating around the garden playing tag, hide & seek and other children's games. This was Charlos's first real friend and to say he felt sick was an understatement when he discovered that his best friend had tried to run away from the Holy Land. Having been caught on the Bondola trying to make his daring escape, all of Charlos love turned into hatred.
The kind boy was now a shadow of his former self. Every single day without break, Charlos would torture his old friend. The following days progressively held even worse forms of torment, both physically and mentally. The merman had been with Charlos for decades now suffering unending pain. Even when the merman was about to be released from his mortal roil, Charlos always found a way to shove the merman's soul back into his body. 'Fishy' wished for nothing but the death of himself and Charlos. Praying to anyone to put him out of his misery, but no one ever came. Even when Fisher Tiger came to rescue the slaves, Charlos hid the merman deep under his estate. After nearly two decades of torment and abuse he truly wished to die a quick and painless death.
The cries of agony quickly subsided while the ones that couldn't carry on were crushed under the weight of the carriage or stomped on by the stampede of hundreds of people. Their remains swept from the stone pathways as if nothing happened. The rest who weren't lucky enough to be crushed by the sheer weight of the mobile house were tied to the back of the carriage as they were dragged behind leaving red streaks wherever Charlos went. The ones that died were quickly replaced by the entourage's legion of slaves as they were forced under the carriage. Only the lucky few who weren't chosen were saved from death, but who was to say about tomorrow or the day after that. It was an unending cycle.
Finally deciding that the ride was too slow for his liking, Charlos hopped onto the travelator. The hundreds of thousands of slaves that powered the travelator heaved with all their might as the ground beneath Charlos finally moved. The travelator may have looked like a normal stone pathway except for the fact it moved, always managing to stun the visitors of Mariejois. It was a shame that they didn't know the dark truth about it as thousands of slaves toiled underneath the holy city pushing the stone pathways with sheer numbers and strength. The slaves underneath the travelator strained their muscles, trying to push the full weight of the carriage to some success.
As Charlos watched the mortality of his slaves he looked out to the rising sun spotting three figures approaching him from the haze. Two of them were significantly taller than the third as they seemed to be dragged behind the smaller figure. Upon closer inspection, Charlos noticed that the two were just normal royal guardsmen of the Holy Land; they seemed to be pleading for the third person to stop their march. A cold sweat ran down his back wondering who would dare approach him, one would have to be a fool. With the sun's glare out of his eyes he caught a glimpse of who it was before laughing away all his nervousness. Jogging down the stairs trying his best not to stumble to meet his guest.
Never had Louncent felt so much hate build up inside of him at once. He had no words to explain it. A scowl was growing across his face and his fist turned pale, wanting nothing more than to beat some humanity into the Celestial Dragons.
Having heard his Grandfather talk about the glory of the Tenryūbito, it is moments like this that shatter his Grandfather's fantasy. These men were not gods, thinking they have the right to rule over others simply due to their wealth. Despicable men thinking they were meant for greatness just because they were born. They have it all and yet they choose to take their time to look down on others. Weaklings masked as gods using their wealth to bend people to their limits. This was the reason as to why Louncent could never side with his Grandfather.
Louncent finally reached Charlos with clear distaste in his eyes, a small grin spread across Charlos's face. "Shoo, shoo, go away!" Charlos taunted from his carriage as he picked his nose, flicking booger in Louncents general direction. Louncent looked up at him trying his best to hide his anger and failing to do so. A sneer crossed his face as he stared into the eyes of the soulless monster. "A deal." Louncent gritted through his teeth. "A what?"
Louncent repeated himself again but a bit louder. "A Deal."
"What!? I can't hear you from up here."
"A DEA-"
"Nevermind, I'm coming down." Charlos continued to walk his way down the many floors taking his time while chucking to himself. Charlos called for his slaves as they lined the floor with their heads face up as Charlos walked across them. Charlos pushed down with all his might with each step he took. His full weight pushing down on them.
One of them let out a small gasp for air and was immediately silenced. "DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO BE SILENT! YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD!" Charlos berated the man as he dug his heel into the man's stomach and started twisting. Charlos just kept on going and going, until the slave's torso was left bruised and battered. Crimson spewed out of the slaves mouth with ribs poking out of their body. Charlos pulled his golden gun from its holstered as he pointed at the man's head.
"STOP!" Louncent had enough of this as he walked up to Charlos. "What is it now boy?"
"A deal…I want to make a deal." A tinge of despair flickered in Louncents' heart. To see another human as a mere object infuriated the boy to no end. They had no choice, they were stolen, sold to the highest bidder.
"Oh..and what do you want?"
"Your slaves." Louncent said, trying his best to keep a stone cold face.
"My slaves?...MY SLAVES!?" A light chuckle bellowed from Charlos. "You want my slaves." This went on for a couple more seconds as Charlos wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. A smirk still managed to slide onto Charlos face as he looked down at the boy. "You know what as the Grandson of Ginson I'll make you a deal you can't possibly refuse. 1,000,000,000(1 Billion) beri and you got yourselves a deal. Buuuut, I get to keep one of them." Charlos practically pranced around as talked. Still stomping on the heads of the slaves but to a lesser extent, much to Louncents relief. They'd just have to endure for a couple more minutes.
"No, I want to buy all of them." Louncent affirmed without a second thought before turning his attention to Charlos slaves. Looking into the eyes of all these poor people, to be their only spark of hope and to let just one of them be in the hands of Charlos would be..it would be… A hand quickly seized his shoulder.
"Eh?! Are you CRAZY?! You know this is a bargain right? 1 Billion! 1 Billion, for all these slaves! You.." Charlos exacerbated as he shovelled a finger right into Louncent's face, much to his anger. Pushing his sausage fingers and rubbing his cheeks. "..should be thanking ME! So you either take it or leave it!"
"5 Billion." Louncent stated. Seeing no change in Charlos's face the boy upped the price. "7 Billion." A small look of curiosity was now present on Charlos face. Deciding to just go all in he jumped the gun. "20 Billion."
"20 BILLION?! Are YOU insane, I'm not gonna complain though." A large smile spread across Charlos face. "So it's a deal?"
"YES, yes of course after all…they were only worth a couple million!" The sly little man had tricked him. Knowing Charlos for his great stubbornness and idiocracy, it was really shocking to be tricked by the little pig. Deciding he wasn't worth his time, Louncent set his eyes on the slaves in hopes of releasing them. Charlos' large hands grabbed Louncent by the wrist now.
"What? No handshake to seal the deal. Did your parents never teach you any manners?" At that remark Louncent visibly froze, his muscles twitched and veins started to form creases on his skin. Charlos thought he was in a higher position than the boy, and he was, but that could be quickly changed. Louncent turned around and sent a glare at the man. Charlos being oblivious to this made another snide remark. "Ahh- maybe they did teach you how to behave after all." A smirk large enough to rival the suns gleamed on Charlos as he offered his hand to Louncent. Deciding not to make a big problem out of a few words, Louncent extended his hand, taking all his willpower not to just sock the bastard in the face with a clean flush blow.
After all, he didn't want his Grandfather to find out, let alone the holy knights knocking at his door. As the deal was about to be made, Charlos pulled his hand back. "Too slow little ma-" The smile on his face quickly vanished as his hand was quickly snatched back as his wrist was pulled towards the ground. To think Charlos had the audacity to ride around the city in a human powered carriage, to degrade them of all their humanity, to take away their freedom, to treat them like cattle, and now he had the balls to think he could joke about HIS parents. To also think that he could be playing such a silly game in the midst of it all was beyond infuriating. He didn't care if his Grandfather of the Knights of God found out any more. He'd simply beat the man until he wouldn't tell anyone or couldn't talk.
Charlos was bent to his knees as the child's hand had enough might to almost pop his wrist out of its socket. Him a GOD, bending to the whims of a child. As both groups rushed to stop the little skirmish Louncent breathed in a large sum of air. Screaming for all of them to hear "AS ONE BORN FROM THE HEAVENS I COMMAND YOU ALL THAT NONE SHALL INTERFERE!"
The right of a celestial dragon did have a use after all. At his words all of them froze, so Louncent picked up the Tenryūbito by his neck and squeezed and squeezed and squeezed. Charlos tried to gesture for the knights to intervene but they were frozen out of fear, for the punishment for disobeying a Tenryūbito's orders was severe. Charlos's eyes turned red as he started to squirm in the boy's grasp. Charlos was perplexed as to how a little kid could possibly be holding a full grown ADULT like they were an ant. Either the boy had ungodly raw strength or charlos was just weak. It didn't matter really as Louncent slammed Charlos body into the pavement with the Celestial Dragon bouncing on the stone like a comet in the night sky.
Walking over to the battered up man who was now crawling away from him, Louncent decided it wasn't enough. Picking up Charlos's golden pistol, that was discarded when he hit the pavement, Louncent pointed it right in between Charlos eyes. "If I ever see you near me again, you can bet this gun will be at the back of your head. For a matter of fact, if you even let slip about what happened to you today, you will also find a bullet in between your eyes. You got that?" The only response was a quick succession of nods. Louncent pulled the barrel of the gun away from Charlos's forehead revealing a nasty circular impression.
"Don't tell anyone about this." Louncent reaffirmed as he looked the Celestial Dragon dead in the eyes. "It goes for all of you as well.." Louncent said as he stood up and swivelled his head to meet all of the slaves, knights and servants' eyes. When Louncent turned back again he saw the man was already hobbling away as many of his knights held him with gentle hands in case Charlos decided to release his newfound anger on any of them.
"Release them of their shackles before you bring them to the Bondola. Make sure to give them all a fresh pair of clothes and send them off on ships to their desired island." Louncent ordered as one of the royal guards rushed around fiddling with a key to release them of the explosive collar. Louncent looked at his other appointed fun police. "Go help your friend over there to release all of the slaves. Also make sure nothing that happened here today reaches anyones ears, especially Grandfathers."
"Y-yes SIR!" The knight saluted as he wandered off to help the other royal guard. Louncent pocketed the golden pistol for safe keeping as he looked around the carriage. All the thanks and gratitude from the all now freed people felt like a nice dopamine rush. It felt good to help others, Louncent wandered to the front of the ship where he spotted a terrible site that he couldn't describe. A badly mutilated merman that seemed to be already at death's door. Fighting his urge to vomit, Louncent looked directly into the merman's eyes to distract him from the gore. It was a big mistake. The merman's eyes pleaded for death and even welcomed it. Louncent had no clue what Charlos did to the merman but it only reaffirmed his hatred for the Celestial Dragons. Deciding that the merman should have his wish granted he pointed the barrel of Charlos gun at the mermans forehead. Louncent didn't know why but it felt like the merman was smiling at him, even if it couldn't physically do such an action. It was truly a strange feeling.
Louncent pulled the trigger without looking back.
Holy rock-a-mole that was tough to write. Hey, look I know my schedule for updates is a bit scuffed but I hope you can all live with it. The chapter certainly didn't take a month to write, more like I just procrastinated a lot. As well as the amount of edits I did to this chapter. I think I went through about like 5 versions. I also want to state that this chapter was 4500+ words PLUS! I don't know if that's an achievement for others but it certainly is for me. I still can't get over the fact that I waffled on for 7 pages worth of text! Anyway, I hope this Chapter finds you good and well. Bye!