Yello, I'm back. I know you probably think I'm a doofus for not updating in over a month but I've got a very valid reason. I felt a little demotivated with the last chapter. I read the last chapter over and over again and I couldn't help but cringe a little. "AS ONE BORN FROM THE HEAVENS I COMMAND YOU ALL THAT NONE SHALL INTERFERE!" I can only feel embarrassed about this line though. Sends cringe radiating down my spine. I want to state that I'm very sorry about the slow updates and I will try to have a quicker upload schedule. That said, I ain't risking my mental health for a passion project. But I also don't want you guys to wait a month just to read a chapter worth ten minutes of your time. I just want to say this chapter probably won't be as long as the last one but I hope after this chapter the rest will be up to a higher standard. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope ya have a good day!
A figure was hunched over a desk. The moonlight filtered through a single pane of circular glass that illuminated the silhouette of a rather imposing figure. Fingers bounced on the desk in an unpredictable pattern. The soft clatter of digits came in waves, from pinky to index, ring to thumb, ring to pinkie. The fingers went in no particular order, each finger carrying enough weight to shake the room. The only noise being the idle tapping of fingers and the ever silent night.
The room was rather small with no personal memorability in sight. It would be a rather plain room if it weren't for the tomes and books that lined the walls. Hundreds of books crammed into shelves as if they were randomly shoved into place. Some old, some new, their origins unknown. From bright pinks to dull greens, the book order looked like a blind man's interpretation of the colour wheel.
Most books weren't legible to the average man. Languages undecipherable and old beyond comprehension covered the walls. It seemed like every answer to every question was within reach but you had to find it among the ocean of pages and notes. Scrolls were laid haphazardly on cold teal tiles with paragraphs of text holding forbidden knowledge. Loose pages blanketed most of the floor in whites and browns with tears biting at the edges of the fading text.
The source of the mess being a desk that took up most of the space in the small study. The desk was large and shaped like a semi-circle with many drawers, all detailed with golden knobs. An inkwell sat dormant on the desk with a fine white quill swimming inside. The desk seemed like it was about to fall over with the stacks of paper and tomes putting pressure on the table's legs.
A sigh escaped an old man's parched lips as he looked out the window into the starry night as a full moon gazed back. Ginson was having quite a conundrum. The Grandson of his had been causing quite a stir recently. Trying to hide a little secret from him, the boy should've learnt by now that almost everything that happens within Mariejois reaches his ears.
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Previous Morning
Dawn's warm breath washed over Ginson as he sat on a lone garden bench. The back of the bench barely reached his torso as he hunched forward, elbows on knees and tea in hand. It was his day off and he thought he would spend the time marvelling Mariejois like any other day.
It was a favourite pastime of his, looking at the city he grew up in. The buildings and trees still looked the same even after decades had gone by. It was as if nothing had changed. The architecture and landscape was always a beauty to behold. Buildings stood side by side, all lit by the burning star in the sky. The sunlight bounced off rooftops and shone onto the pavement, carving the way for the Gods of the world.
The sky had not a cloud in sight, just a gentle calm sea of blue. The grass rippled in the breeze. Pangaea Castle easily towering over the cityscape casting a harsh shadow onto the streets below. All the trees looked identical, the leaves trimmed to spheres with no stray branches poking out of the trunk. A truly beautiful moment cut short. Ginson took another long sip from his tea cup before looking at the approaching figure.
A loud and boisterous voice carried across the air. "Ya YA YAAAH! Ginson, just the man I've been looking for." The man was of short stature garbed in the usual space suit that World Nobles wore. A rather silly costume choice in Ginson's opinion. Large blue hair poked out like large spikes and curled at the tips. The man's head was bright red from all the alcohol he had been drinking. Two large bottles of sake occupied both of the man's hands as he walked down the street in a drunken haze. Sake spilled from the bottles as God's water dripped down the man's neck and leaked into the suit.
"Ya don't know how long I've been tryna find ya!" The Celestial dragon screamed as he chucked both of his hands in the air in celebration. The smile revealed a large grin with a gracious coating of yellow on the man's teeth. The person before Ginson was none other than the notorious 'Drunken God'. A man so caught up in alcohol that he has no time for anything else but drinking and sleeping. The man didn't have a single care in the world besides drinking his sake in peace. Ginson was surprised he hadn't drunk himself to death already.
Ginson couldn't even remember the man's name as he was either off at parties for free alcohol or sleeping in the streets of Mariejois. "Mmm…It's quite lovely to meet you again Saint..?" Ginson hoped the man would help him here but the Noble didn't seem to get the memo. "Nooooooo, me names Sard spelt witha Z!"
"Well then, Sard, what do I owe the pleasure?"
"'What do I owe da pressure?' What does that even mean?"
Ginson released a silent sigh for the idiocy of some Celestial Dragons. "As in, why have you come to see me?" Sard seemed to reminisce for a second as he banged the two bottles against his head creating a noise reminiscent of kicking a garage can. Sard eyes seemed to visibly light up as he pointed a sake bottle at Ginson and took a quick sip with the other.
"Aaah yo-yo-you know the lil'snot nose person Chaloose. He's been screaming in the courtyard since this morning. Somethang bout' Loocent stealing his slaves. Luncent your brat isn't he?"
Sard took another swig from his bottle as the liquor once again seeped into his suit. He released a very loud burp as he turned around to Ginson. "You got anymore Sa-..." Ginson was nowhere to be found and had seemingly vanished into the wind. The only tangible sign of his existence being an empty cup resting on the park bench.
Courtyard of the Creator
A commotion was happening atop Pangaea Castle that was bothering all the residents. A broken man shambled around in crutches as he screamed nothing but insanity. A small circle of Tenryūbito had formed around Charlos. While Charlos was screaming off his head most of the Nobles mocked and sneered at him.
A Noble screamed out from the crowd. "Are you saying you got beat up by some kid?" The rest of the nobles howled at the statement as Charlos took his time as he tried to remember yesterday. The kid had beat the living snot out of him and he just wanted to strangle the boy. Louncent had made a fool out of him and left him with a concussion and a couple of herniated discs when he slammed him into the pavement. "I'll have you put in shackles Cr-Critus if you say that one more time."
"So you did get bashed by some kid?!" At this statement Critus tried to hold back his laughter but it was no use. The Nobles held their belly in laughter as tears fell from their eyes. "Yo-You know what the next time I see the kid he'll have a real bad time."
The nobles around Charlos' just erupted into more laughter before they went strangely silent. Thinking they were intimidated, Charlos just continued to babble on as the nobles went fish eyed. "Y-YEah and when I see him I'll have him locked up a-and I'll beat him like he did to me. He'll regret crossing the path of the Great Saint Charlos Rosward!" The laughter had already gone deathly silent as the only noise was the wind and Charlos' loose lips. "And I'll grab him by the head and see who'll get a bullet in their skull!" At this Charlos turned around to speak to the other side of the circle only to be met with a wall.
A tall menacing wall that no matter how high you looked there was just black. Until there wasn't and a head was visible. "You'll do what?" At this point Charlos knew who he was talking to and he was indeed shivering his timbers. Ginson's cold but authoritarian voice rippled across the courtyard as the morning breeze went silent. Charlos was sweating and looked at the ground as he mumbled some words. "S-s-saint Ginson y-you didn't hear any of that right?" Charlos prayed to every god he had heard of at this point, if not he was as good as dead. "What did you want to do?"
"T-t-there seems to be a misun-"
The world seemed to spin as colour went by Charlos' eyes in an instant. The light of the heavens seemed to reach out to Charlos before the offer was revoked and everything went pitch black. Charlos slowly opened his eyes to red seeping into his vision as he looked down at his body. It was a mess, limbs bent the wrong way as bones stuck out. It felt like he was paralysed not just from his mangled body but out of fear. He looked up to see all the Nobles in the courtyard frothing at the mouth as if they had all been knocked out at the same time. Trying to comprehend what had just happened he tried to move. It was no use. He had just been rag dolled across a hundred metres of pavement in an instant. Charlos looked up again to see his blood smearing the pavement as the stone wall around him began to slowly crumble. Coughing up blood and mucus, Charlos was beyond scared. He hadn't even seen the old man move.
"There is no misunderstanding, Charlos." The words reverberated in Charlos' skull as he tried not to black out. "I heard enough to know your intentions." Charlos had no idea where the voice was coming from as his world started to fade. "If I ever see you near that boy… well… you know the answer." At that Charlos fainted and his eyes rolled back to reveal blood shot eyes.
Ginson stared down at the amalgamation of blood and bones that was now Charlos. He had to have a proper talk with Louncent after this. Ginson released a sigh as he contemplated leaving the Noble here to die. Although Ginson knew better than to leave a God out to die. The Holy Knights would already have a hard time pardoning him for nearly killing Charlos let alone actually murdering Charlos.
"Aaah, There you are Ginsooon!" Sard burst into the courtyard as he didn't even bat an eye at the knocked out Nobles nor Charlos' bloodied and contorted body. "W's that you got there?" Sard asked as he chucked an empty bottle at Charlos and used both hands to chug down the last remaining bit of sake. "Charlos." Ginson answered in an uncaring tone as he wiped the blood from his fist against his suit. "Ya YA YAAAH! You made Charlos lose. YA YA YA!" Sard burst into tears of laughter as he jumped and frollicked around Charlos mangled body as he lay there motionless in the rubble. "If you wouldn't mind Saint Sard could you help bring all the Nobles to the medical centre." Ginson asked as he stood there waiting for a reply.
"Offffffffff course buddy!'
"Sure." Ginson mumbled under his breath in the least convincing manner. Sard gave a drunken salute as he helped Ginson drag Charlos body to a medical centre.
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Present Time
The moon was full as its light shone down on the world like it had been doing since the conception of the world. The stars twinkled in the night sky like daylight poking through the fabric of space. The stars like beacons of hope in the gaping maw of shadows. Tinges of blue and purple were seen throughout the night sky bringing colour into the world. Shooting stars ripped through the dark like dragons flying in the cosmos.
It was an immeasurable joy when Louncent first saw the night sky. He still remembered how his Mother held him in his arms and let him see one of the many wonders of the world. He remembered how his Father cracked a smile when Louncent questioned him about the darkness that surrounded them. Louncent felt like it was his innate curiosity about the world that made his parents day. He wished it had stayed like that. A happy family residing in what felt like heaven at the time.
Now they were gone and he was alone in a Sea of Monsters. They gnawed at the shores of his mind. They followed him to his sleep. They pestered him day and night. He was stuck in a citadel of Monsters. The only beacon of light in the world being his Grandfather. But he too was turning into a Monster. He was no longer the joyous figure that kept the Monsters at bay. He was no longer the lighthouse that kept watch and covered Louncent's back.
Ginson was not the man Louncent remembered as a kid. He was no longer happy. Always a stoic expression on his face. No longer the funny Grandfather he saw at family reunions but a shadow of the better days. A man so wrecked with grief at the loss of his only son that he pledged his remaining heart and soul to the Government. His Grandfather was now a distant and lonely man but Louncent still held hope. Hope that his Grandfather hadn't been turned into another Monster that stumbled the streets of the Devil. Hope that his Grandfather hadn't become another dispensable cog in the World Government.
Louncent wondered how his Father would react to his recent actions. Louncent had no idea how anyone in his family would react. He knew so little about the legacy his family held. When he was little he asked why their last name was P. His Father simply responded that it was an abbreviation of their last name. When asked what their real last name was, his Father changed the subject. Louncent also asked his Grandfather and he was met with the 'you'll learn about it when you get older'. It was always constantly nagging in the back of his mind and he couldn't understand why they would hide such a thing.
Although what really mattered at the moment was comprehending the act of killing… It felt wrong on so many different levels. The principle of killing someone was something Louncent couldn't comprehend doing again. It didn't matter if a person was killed for the right cause someone would still have to live with their death for the rest of their life. People aren't toys, they're living human beings with feelings of their own. They have their own story, every single one of them. To kill someone is to relinquish someone of their joys and dreams, it's to snuff out decades of life in a matter of seconds. It's to end a journey they had only just begun. To take your first life may be a chance of bad luck. But to keep on killing and killing…it's an addiction. To willingly desecrate the life of a sentient thing. There truly was no greater Sin then this is Louncents mind.
And yet Louncent could help but think of something he would willingly kill without a second thought. He would happily take away the lives of those who deliberately chose to commit atrocities. He would rip them out of their mighty thrones and throw them away from paradise. Louncent would push them into the Hell they had given to others and make them feel the pain they gave.
All life is equal. All life is sacred. But if they decide that they have the right to take away the hopes and dreams of others…Louncent would personally create their own hell. It didn't matter if they sat at the top of the world, Louncent would drag them through all Nine Circles of Hell if he had too. He would deliver the justice that so many had failed to do. He would cleanse the world of Monsters and do it with glee.
Heavy footfalls snapped him back to reality as he heard shoes squish the grass below them. Louncent was on top of Pangaea Castle like every other night as he felt the cold breeze bristle against his skin and felt the grass sway at his feet. The stars and moon looked the same like any other night but it felt different for some reason tonight. Louncent turned around to see a slight look of shock on his Grandfather's face.
"I didn't know you could hold such bloodlust, Boy." Ginson calming voice washed over him as he tried to comprehend what his Grandfather meant by 'Bloodlust'. "Also wipe that grin off your face, it's unsettling, even to me." Louncent looked up into his Grandfather's dark eyes to see a maniacal grin spread across his own face. He quickly wiped it from his face as a slight hue of pink formed around his cheeks.
Ginson slowly took a seat next to Louncent as if to not frighten him. They sat in silence for a couple of moments as they soaked in the beauty of Mariejois at night. Ginson was the first to break the silence. "How are you feeling?" The genuine question was met with silence as Louncent starred up into the night-sky. A hum left Ginson's mouth as if in thought. "You know it wasn't easy for me when I first killed someone." The words shocked Louncent. He'd thought the news hadn't reached his Grandfather's ears, it apparently had.
Sensing the fear in Louncent, Ginson tried to quell his worries."Don't worry I'm not that angry." Another short silence over took the duo. Ginson then continued on talking. "When I first took a life it wasn't my intention but at the behest of your Great Grandfather. I pleaded, I begged, I sobbed, I cried but my Father didn't listen to my wails…and I am grateful for that. You know what he told me? He told me that 'It'll never be easy to take a life, the best you can do is to tune out the cries and screams…it may become bearable'. I took his words to heart and look at where I am now. It may not look like it but this old man has been in quite a few scuffles over the years." Ginson seemed to laugh at his own joke before he tensed the muscles in his face.
Ginson looked down from his seated position to stare Louncent in the eyes. "Killing becomes a lot less of a mental hurdle and more of an action once you've taken your first couple of lives. It's like instinct or second nature at that point." Ginson looked down at Louncent as if to get a confirmation to continue. Ginson was met with a quick and curt nod.
"This is where you and I differ, Boy. You took your first life on your own accord and it's still your only one. The remorse and sadness for your action can be seen in your eyes…and yet it seems like you would do it again. I do not know what led you to the decision but I am warning you that once you kill another there's no turning back. This is the point of no return."
"Do you understand?" Ginson was greeted with a meek nod of confirmation. That was all Ginson wanted to say as he swiftly stood up and dusted off his clean pants. As Ginson turned to take leave Louncents hands grabbed onto his hand. "Why did you choose to continue on killing?" A question of pure curiosity that Ginson felt inclined to answer.
Ginson knelt down to Louncent's eye level as he took a moment to construct his answer. "Because I had too. Louncent I don't know if your father told you but we come from a long line of murderers and sinners. You carry the legacy of some of the worst men in history. They've all done some atrocities for the greater good of the World Government and I felt inclined to join them in the Halls of Hell. It's too late for me to repent but you still have time to change at least one of our family's legacies. So be your own person, follow your dreams and choose what you interpret as the correct path." At that Ginson left Louncent to his thoughts with one last glance at the boy.
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Beams of light shone down through the panes of glass in Louncent's room as he crawled out of bed. Letting loose a loud yawn Louncent started doing some morning stretches. His Grandfather's speech last night had struck a chord with him. He felt somewhat confident in his ability to finally tell right from wrong as well as which moral base he would deliver his justice on. A moral base where all people are equal, and to end a life meant to end your own. As well as hunting down the monsters of the world.
As Louncent got changed out of his pyjamas a note slipped under the door. Curious Louncent moved forward as he pushed open the days to see if he could spot a messenger. The hallway was empty.
Louncented picked up the envelope and it had his family crest on it. A serpent in the shape of a cursive 'P' sealed in red wax. Opening the envelope he could help but feel like a child unwrapping their gift for their birthday.
'Dear Louncent,
I know you have been feeling locked up in Mariejois for years now and due to recent events I think it's time for you to get a breath of fresh air. So meet me at the Flying Dragons Hoof before breakfast. You'll finally get to see the outside world in all its splendid beauty and ugliness.
Sincerely your best Grandfather.'
Louncent quickly dropped the letter and dashed out the door. Louncent hadn't felt a dopamine rush like this in years. He would finally be able to see the world outside of Mairejois!
"New World, here I come!"
Yep, that's it. The end. This chapter has around 3700 words so a pretty good word count. This is where the actual plot will finally begin to move and I get to introduce some characters that haven't really been shown much in this time. I probably didn't say this but the story takes place a couple of years before the main story. But do not fret as you will definitely be seeing your favourite Straw Hat crew but from a …. different perspective. I would like to say that I am grateful for your patience for these updates and I'll try to upload more frequently. Anyway this is the end, hope you have a good day or continue to have one. Bye bye!