Ark One: Fate of Eostia Part Sixteen

(Third Person POV)

"Alright, so how are we doing this?" Drakōn asked Olga as he entered her room and closed the door.

"Take a seat," Olga grabbed a chair and gestured for him to sit down, which he did without issue, trusting the experienced magic user. "Alright, this is rather straightforward. I want you to close your eyes, relax, and take ten long, deep breaths," she instructed him and placed her hands on each side of his face. "And after you finish your final breath, open your eyes."

Drakōn, doing as he was told, did what she instructed, and after he took his final breath, he opened his eyes. He was currently deep within a forest late at night.

"Hey, mama," a Drakōn turned to the right to see his younger self and mother.

Drakōn's breath hitched as his mother's face wasn't blurred out, and he was shocked to see how breathtakingly beautiful she was.

Her eyes were bright red, and she had long, thick eyelashes. She had full red lips and a heart-shaped face. She also had a scar on the left side of her face that started from the top of her head, went over her eye, and finished slightly below her bottom lip.

Drakōn could tell she was a mighty warrior who should be feared and respected. His mother fit the saying 'beautiful yet deadly' perfectly. He could see why his father had fallen for her.

His younger self and his mother were currently sitting next to each other, roasting a giant animal over a fire.

"Yes, my little dragon," Orchidéa said, looking at her son lovingly.

"Why can't I go with you when you leave?" young Drakōn asked his mother with a sad tone, making the female Lunarian smile falter slightly.

"Because it'll be dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt," she answered with a sad smile.

"Then help me become strong like you!" young Drakōn stood up and shouted with tears running down his face.

Orchidéa brought her boy into a firm yet gentle hug. "Even if I did train you, you wouldn't be strong enough to protect yourself," she said softly yet truthfully. "There are very bad and powerful people who want to hurt us, my dragon. They want to do evil and unspeakable things to us because of what we are and who we are. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt or worse. Believe me, I want to take you with me more than anything, but you wouldn't be safe," she looked into his eyes and wiped away his tears. "Remember, you're the future of our tribe and to all those who have hope. Losing you is losing the future."

"If I can't go with you, can you at least tell me where you're going?" Drakōn begged, wanting to know where to find her when he became strong enough.

"...I'm going somewhere in the North Blue that not even your father or those bad people would think to look. It's a place filled with frost, harsh climates, and endless darkness," she told him vaguely, confusing the boy.

"Will...will I be able to go there one day?" he asked, and his mother nodded.

"Yes...but to go there, you must become stronger as it's no place for the weak."

"Then I'll become strong!" young Drakōn said, looking at his mother with determination. "And once I'm strong enough, I'll come find you!" he said with passion and resolve in his tone.

Orchidéa smiled at her only child and was filled with pride for having such a strong-willed son. She couldn't wait to see what kind of man he would become one day and just knew he'd do great things in the future.

"I have no doubt about that, my little dragon," she said with a loving tone. "Now, let's eat. We wouldn't want to waste such delicious food, now would we?" she asked rhetorically.

Everything then faded and eventually went black. After a few moments, the location changed. Now, it was in the middle of the day, and he was in a different forest. However, what stood out was a moderately sized shack only a few meters away from him and several people standing in front of the structure.

Three of them were nothing noteworthy as they looked like bandits, while the man standing in front of him was a vice admiral of the Marines.

He was a broad-chested, muscular old man who stood over nine feet tall. He has black hair with gray sideburns, blue eyes, tan skin, a beard, and a scar over his left eye. He wore a white suit with a black shirt and blue tie underneath. He also wore a white coat over his shoulders.

The last individual was his younger self, and he was, to his surprise, holding an infant. The baby had black hair and tanned skin.

Drakōn wondered who these people were and why he was holding a child. He guessed there was only one way to find out.

"What are you doing here, Garp?" the only female of the trio asked with a hostile tone.

"I need you two to watch over these two," he rested his hand on young Drakōn's shoulder. "Say hi Drakōn."

"Hi," Drakōn said with a polite tone. "This is my little brother! Isn't he adorable!"

"And why should we do that?" she growled, completely ignoring the younger Drakōn, much to his dismay.

"Because I could have you executed or imprisoned for the rest of your lives for all the crimes you've committed," Garp stated nonchalantly with a smirk, making the bandits sweat profusely. "So what's it gonna be?"

"Fine," the woman growled. "We'll take care of the brats."

"Thoughts so," Garp then turned toward the Lunarian and kneeled. "I'll be back to check on you two whenever I can," he said softly with a smile.

"O-Ok...will you teach me how to use Haki Gramps?" a young Drakōn asked.

"Sure, Kiddo," he replied, making the boy smile. "But until then, behave and do as she says," he said sternly yet softly, and the young Lunarian nodded.

"Yes, Grandpa. Be safe," he said, making the older man smile.

"I will," Garp patted his head before standing up. "I'll be back whenever I can," he turned around and began walking away.

The scene changed to Garp teaching a slightly older Drakōn how to use Haki.

Garp was swinging his fist toward the blindfolded Lunarian, and the boy was able to avoid his attacks with ease, so the older man increased his attack speed. The older man's relentless assault went on for nearly ten minutes until Garp finally managed to land a hit on Drakōn, sending the boy crashing into the ground.

"Not bad, brat," he crossed his arms. "You managed to last eight minutes longer than last time," Garp praised his adoptive grandson with pride in his tone.

"Thanks, Gramps," Drakōn groaned and slowly got up. "I've been training every day for the past two years! I wanna get as strong as possible so I can go find Mom!" he said with determination and glee.

"Thats good, kiddo," Grap smiled sadly at the boy. "You'll be as strong as me in no time!"

"Really?!" Drakōn asked with a happy and enthusiastic tone.

Grap nodded. "Yup, you're one the best students I've ever had, and your rate of progress is nothing but astounding. If it weren't for--" the older man looked at the boy's wings and grimaced. "--your heritage, you would've been an excellent Marine," he said reluctantly, making the boy frown.

"Why do the Marines hate me?" the boy asked, making the older man sigh.

He sat on a log and motioned for the boy to sit beside him, which he did without issue.

"The Marines themselves don't hate you. It's the Celestial Dragons that hate you," Garp explained.

"But why?" Drakōn asked, confused and hurt, as he never hurt anyone or did anything wrong.

"Because your people and the Celestials have been at odds for a long time," he revealed, shocking the boy. "They also can't stand the thought of people being more powerful than them, and you're tribe was undoubtedly far more powerful than they ever could be. Lunarians were considered gods among men, and they didn't like that, so they haunted your kind down to near extinction," he growled lowly, clenching his fists until they were bleeding.

"How come nobody stops them?" Drakōn asked, horrified at the information he learned.

"Because they have too much power and rule with an iron fist," he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "If it weren't for them, a lot of things in the world wouldn't be as bad as they are right now," he looked at Drakōn. "To survive in this cruel world, you have to be strong and adaptable. Without either, other people will decide your fate for you."

"Will it always be like that?" Drakōn asked with a sad tone.

"Unfortunately, yes," Grap replied grimly. "So long as there's evil in one's heart, the world will always be like this. The best the person can do is lessen the suffering, even if it's minuscule."

"I see...then I know what I want to do now..." Drakōn said with a low tone.

Garp looked at him with a curious expression. "Oh yeah, and what's that?"

The boy looked at him with a shine in his eyes and the biggest grin he'd ever seen.

"My goal is to make the world a better place," he said, making Garp smile, but then the boy's demeanor changed drastically. "And I'm gonna destroy every Celestial Dragon and make them pay for making my and everyone else's life so miserable..." Drakōn tone became ominous, catching the Vice admiral and the Older Drakōn off guard.

Quickly composing himself, Garp shook his head and looked at the boy with an unreadable expression.

"What you're saying is foolish, kiddo," Garp crossed his arms. "To destroy the Celestial Dragons, you must also destroy the World Government, which is nearly impossible. They have unlimited resources and some of the strongest people at their beck and call. To accomplish your goal, you must be stronger than your father, mother, and all the Yonko combined. I'm sorry, kiddo, but your goal is unattainable," he said with a soft yet firm tone.

The boy growled, and the fire on his ignited. "Then I'll make it possible," he snapped back, giving the man a fierce glare. "I'll become one of the strongest people in history, so strong that no one will ever be able to surpass me! And when I am strong enough, I'll destroy the Celestial Dragons and the World Government for taking everything I love away and for making the world so horrible! And once they're all gone, I'll reshape this world into a better place, and if anyone gets in my way, I'll destroy them, too!" he yelled passionately.

Garp continued to look at the young Lunarian with an unreadable gaze, but after a few moments, he smiled and let out a chuckle.

"You're so much like your mother that it's terrifying," Garp told the boy. "Is this really your goal?" the boy gave a firm nod. "Then I guess I have no choice but to train you even harder than ever before," Garp gave the young Lunarian a wicked grin.

"Really, but why? Aren't you a part of the World Government?" Drakōn couldn't help but ask, confused about why Garp would help him.

"Because as much as I love the Marines, a majority of it's corrupted," he admitted bitterly. "There are only a few within the organization that truly care about bringing justice and stability to the world."

"Then why stay?"

"Because if I leave, things will only get worse..." Grap explained vaguely. "But enough of that. Let's continue your training."

As the memory was about to continue, everything went black. A second later, Drakōn's eyes shot up, and he began screaming in agony. He fell off the chair and clutched his head tightly while thrashing around violently.

"DRAKŌN!" Olga screamed in worry and went to help her lover.

The dark elf didn't understand why this was happening. Everything was okay in one moment, then Drakōn was screaming and thrashing around in the next. Olga knew she didn't make any mistakes or forget anything...

The door to her room was kicked open by King, and when he spotted Drakōn's current condition, he glared at the dark elf scaring the absolute fuck out of her. He walked up to her and grabbed her by the throat, effortlessly lifting her into the air.

"What's going on with him?!" he demanded angrily.

"I don't know," she managed to get out. "I was helping Drakōn restore his memories. Everything was going fine, but then this happened after a few seconds," she struggled to explain.

Sensing no lies from the dark elf, he drops her and quickly attends to his adopted son. With one strike to the face, King knocks the younger Lunarian out.

Footsteps could be heard, and it didn't take long to see who they belonged to as Celestine Uta, Ulti, Yamato, and the others rushed inside the room.

Quickly explaining everything that happened, Celestine attended to the unconscious Drakōn and used her magic to inspect what was wrong with him.

"So, did you find anything?" King and Uta impatiently asked, looking at Drakōn with worry.

"Yes...and you might not like what I say..." Celestine said, her tone filled with dread.

"JUST FUCKING SPILL IT ALREADY!!" Uta screamed, making everyone but King flinch at the sudden outburst.

"...A Memory Lock is placed within his mind," she revealed, shocking Olga as she knew what Celestine was talking about.

"Oh god..." Olga whispered to herself.

"The fuck is a Memory Lock?" Ulti asked, confused as fuck at what they were talking about.

"It's a rare complex spell that either suppresses or limits what a person can specifically remember," Celestine explained, shocking everyone in the room. "Whoever placed it within his mind didn't want him remembering his past...any attempt to remove it could kill him..." Everyone paled at that information.

"I-Is there nothing you two can do?" Uta asked, fearing for her fiance's well-being.

Both elves shook their heads. "As knowledgeable as we are about Magic, we sorely lack talent in anything that relates to the mind spells that are as complex and as rare as this one," Olga admits with a shameful tone. "The only way for it to weaken is by interacting with people, items, or visiting locations from his past."

"Just fucking great!" Ulti threw her hands in the air in frustration. "How could this day get any more stressful!!!"

"U-Uh guys..." Uta stammered, and everyone looked at her. "I t-think my water broke..."

"OH COME THE FUCK ON!"

End.