A/N: Pretty dialogue heavy here. Hope that's ok. Wasn't feeling terribly creative about describing the setting.
Also, way back in Ch. 7 I mentioned someone having the Utah Raptor zoan fruit. I said that person was male, but recently decided that I'd make her female when I got to the point of introducing her. Small retcon, and I will go back and fix it eventually as I start publishing Helena's Aeneid over on AO3. Iliad and Odyssey have been uploaded over there, btw.
Response to some of reviewer WaterLily's astute questions:
Cygnus' breakout was not inspired by a specific fairy tale or fable, but I did grow up reading all the greats (Aessop, Grim, Anderson, the Andrew Lang collections, etc), and the stylized writing was definitely intentional (thanks for noticing). Let me know if it brought a particular tale to mind, because aside from the style I didn't intend to pay homage anything in particular. I read your comment to my husband, and he said now that you mentioned it there was something a little Puss in Boots about it. Or like the one tale about the man who convinced an ogre he was squeezing water from a rock when he was actually squishing cheese. Maybe Clever Gretel.
Regarding the particular philosophical arguments: Some I was literally pulling from the ether, but a lot of it was influenced by the ancient philosophy courses I took back in college (with a momentary pinch of Cartesian cogito ergo sum and Epistemology). The argument on Justice (that Cygnus twisted to Hannyabal's favor) came directly from Plato's Republic.
Ch. 43 - Alabasta
Zoro pulled up a chair closer to Helena's bedside, the latest paper Luffy had delivered now clutched in his hand. Though not even her eyelids fluttered in response, he read it to her as though she listened intently.
"Silver Tongue Cygnus, formerly King of the now conquered Kingdom of Ilium, gained his new epithet after he and his former General, Hector du Priam, sailed, unimpeded, out of Impel Down. The current Warden of Impel Down, Hannyabal has stated that the ex-King must possess a hitherto unknown devil fruit power:
"'Whenever he spoke, he had prisoners and guards alike completely under his spell,' Hannyabal described upon further inquiry. 'He made the craziest things sound reasonable. No one here has ever seen anything like it.'"
Zoro laughed from his gut at this. "So it sounds like your Dad literally talked his way out of Hell," he guffawed. "You and I both know he doesn't need a devil's help to do that. They're covering their butts making that claim, but I guess it explains his crazy high bounty."
He reached out and touched Helena's hand. She didn't stir. "Things aren't all as hopeless as they've seemed," he murmured. "When you wake up you'll see."
Out in the cold, nighttime desert wilderness of Alabasta, a chorus of hearty guffaws echoed from around a campfire.
"And from there you finally went into attack mode, right General?" Robertus the Revolutionary asked Hector, having just been told how Cygnus talked their way onto a marine ship outside the prison. "Gave them a sound beating?"
The small group of revolutionaries sharing the merriment of the fire, and the tale, leaned in closer, eager to hear how Cygnus' plan finally paid off.
"Not remotely," Hector laughed. "I thought that would be the case, but His Majesty kept giving me a look. I knew this was all in his game plan, so I waited for some kind of signal."
Cygnus smiled wryly. "As powerful as General Hector is, we still wouldn't have stood a chance of escape with so many Navy ships at our heels," he pointed out. "No, no. True to my word, I gave another lecture."
"The longest I've ever heard him give," Hector interjected. "So long even I fell asleep."
"It helped that I encouraged the idea that alcohol be passed around, you know, as an object lesson on…what was it again?" He scratched at his chin, his curlicue of a beard now once again groomed and trimmed for the first time in months. "I was really stretching on that one. Regardless, I got them good and drunk on wisdom and wine. By nightfall, they were all quite dead to the world and dreaming of the Forms, the Ring of Gyges, and Zeno's Paradox."
"Then it was a simple matter of gently cocooning them all in roots and branches, and quietly transporting the lot of them onto the dock," Hector expounded, brown eyes twinkling. "I also made all of the other ships' rudders sprout so their crews couldn't come after us. Then I possessed the ship as well as I could – it did have a sea prism hull, which made things difficult – and we made our way through the Calm Belt and back to the Grand Line. By the time the other ships realized something was off, we were well out of range."
"The navigation deck had a few eternal log poses for us to choose from. No Ilium, but Alabasta was a close enough option," Cygnus went on. "General Hector scuttled the ship when we came to the island to keep the marines from tracking us. I intended to seek a private audience with King Cobra in Alaburna. He and I have always had a good rapport. However, I had been worried about the danger this might put him in, given he'd get into trouble were he to assist me in any way. In that regard, we are glad to have run into you fellows while we were on our way."
"It wasn't a coincidence," a blond woman by the name of Cassowary piped in. She wore a pith helmet, khaki shorts, and an air of authority. Though she carried no weapon, she was the leader of the World Revolutionaries in the areas surrounding what used to be Ilium. "We've been keeping an eye out for you since we heard of your escape. We were fairly confident you'd come here."
"I suppose it was the obvious choice," Cygnus sighed. "It is likely the marines figured that as well."
"Probably," Cassowary snorted. "But landing where there's no port and scuttling the ship likely bought you some time."
Cassowary had a large, white, amiable grin. One that might have put people at ease, except that her rows of needle sharp teeth had the opposite effect.
Now, Cassowary had ordinary teeth like the rest of the human race, but she also possessed a Zoan type devil fruit power – one that allowed her to transform into a Utah Raptor – and it brought her no small amusement to use it to partially transform her smile when meeting others for the first time.
Cygnus thought it was hilarious.
Of course, it helped that Cassowary also had a mind for philosophy. A philoso-raptor as it were. When Cygnus and Hector had recounted their tale, she had gotten most of the ex-King's subtle jokes at Hannyabal and the prisoners' expense.
Given her youth, her sharp mind and understanding of his wit made him miss his daughter, albeit she would likely have snorted and rolled her eyes where Cassowary laughed heartily, showing all her sharp teeth.
Cygnus liked her, and wanted the Revolutionaries as allies, but he wasn't blind to the fact that they had their own motives. "And why exactly were you hoping to run into us?" he asked her bluntly.
"Recruitment," Cassowary replied point blank, flashing her whimsical smile. Cygnus chuckled. He appreciated her artless candor.
"Recruitment?" He repeated. "Hector and I are that valuable to you, are we?"
"A man with 500,000,000 berri bounty for talking his way out of Impel Down, and another with 185,000,000 who stood up to Akainu himself and wasn't utterly obliterated? You betcha!"
"My bounty does seem a bit overstated," Cygnus chortled. "Unless they think I could still access the God Powers or something."
He would be the most likely candidate among the Royal Family to do so, given Kuina's age, and Zoro and Helena's lack of piety. But that would only make sense if the sibyl were alive.
"Overstated or not, you might be our best bet at convincing the refugees over in Yuba to join our cause," Cassowary brazenly pointed out. "You must see now more than ever the reason we want to take down the Celestials, right? You got something better to do than avenge Ilium now that you're out of the clink?"
"Awfully bold of you to assume my people would want anything to do with me," Cygnus rebutted calmly
"And yet you said you wanted to return to Ilium," Cassowary shot back, "Let me guess. You're going to try to see what you can do to help them out?"
"It's all that's left for me," Cygnus replied. "I'm not even sure there is anything I can do, but I have to try."
"I for one wanted to look for my family," Hector put in. "To see if my wife or son, or any of my brothers survived."
"Ah, we can confirm Ann's alright at least," Robertus put in.
"Well, she's alive anyway," Gloriadne amended, "She made it here to Alabasta."
"Alive but not alright?" Hector asked with some trepidation.
"We can take you to her in Yuba," Robertus put in helpfully.
"Those of us who made it here to Alabasta are the lucky ones," Gloraidne added with a sigh. "King Cobra and Princess Vivi covertly welcomed any of our ships. As Andromache knows this country, all she needed was a location and she was able to lead us to the hitherto abandoned Oasis town of Yuba. There, a man called Koza helped us get settled in. I understand he and Princess Vivi are friends, and he likely had indirect orders from the crown to assist."
"And what of the others?" Cygnus asked.
"I'm afraid those who made it to the Kingdom of Macaroni, or any of the neighboring Islands have been enslaved," Cassowary put in. "It's worse for any who remain in Ilium itself."
"Worse how?" Cygnus demanded.
"The city of Ilium has been completely torn down, stone for stone. Mycenae has been replaced with a naval fortress and a marine base," Cassowary went on, "I can't tell you much about the captain who was in charge. What I can tell you is, not long ago, a Celestial Dragon laid claim to it all. One I'm sure you've heard of: Coppelius Rothbart."
Cygnus and Hector both bristled visibly at the name.
"Any Iliads who remain on the island who are captured by the marines are branded as Rothbart's personal slaves," Cassowary plowed on, stoking the fire. "The marines have been working their way over the rest of the island. I can tell you Spathens and Corebes have fallen already.
"Rothbart has been building himself a palace where yours once stood, and doing so on the backs of your people," Cassowary continued, her sunny disposition clouding over. The stick she had used to stoke the fire snapped in her hand quite suddenly, and she dropped her gaze: "He works them literally to death. – the other Islands, Macaroni and the like, have enslaved them, sure, but not in the way Rothbart has. He is merciless."
A pregnant silence followed this statement. Cygnus could tell a few things at that moment. One, Cassowary's hatred for the Celestials wasn't simply based on ideals. This was personal, perhaps because she had seen or experienced Celestial slavery first hand.
And second, Hector had an alarmingly crazed look in his sylvan eyes. He might foolishly try to turn around and liberate the captives of Ilium single-branchedly if he wasn't given a plan soon.
Cygnus sighed. He needed time to form said plan. First he needed to know what resources were available to him.
"I cannot pledge any sort of allegiance to the Revolutionary cause," he said heavily at last. "I have no personal qualms with Marie Jois as a whole. But I cannot simply stand by while that disgusting man torments my people further. If it would be mutually beneficial for us to go after St. Rothbart together, then I see no reason we shouldn't join forces for that at least. Please. Take us to Yuba."
Cassowary grinned.
Escorted by the World Revolutionaries, Hector and Cygnus arrived in Yuba the following evening. It didn't take Hector long to locate his wife. The news he'd already heard of her to that point gave him cause to worry.
He had been told that after leading some few hundred souls to the safety of Yuba, she had become a recluse, which had never been in her nature. She had found herself a crumbling stucco hovel on the outskirts of town, and never took visitors. Some had even wondered aloud to him if she were still alive inside.
At first when Hector knocked his big fist against the weathered wooden door he'd heard no response.
"Ann," he called softly. "Ann, it's me…"
"Hector?" A voice rasped.
The door opened a crack. He caught a glimpse of her red-rimmed, golden eyes gazing blearily from the shadows of the stucco hut. Her short, rose colored hair had grown almost to her ears but hadn't seen a comb in all that time. She smelled of alcohol and depression, stale and saturnine.
The smell didn't bother him in the least when she suddenly flung the door wide, throwing herself into his arms with enough force he had to take a step back.
"It's really you," she sobbed. The short woman had sprung up high enough to throw her arms around the large man's tree trunk of a neck. She hid her face in his shoulder as he folded her into his embrace. "Gods, how are you even alive?"
"You know how Leda used to joke that Cygnus could talk his way out of Hell?" Hector chortled, stroking her matted hair. "He kind of did just that."
Ann dissolved into tears. It was a while before either of them spoke.
"Hector…our son," Ann managed to choke out at last, sliding out of his arms and looking into his eyes. "Ax is…Astayanax is dead. I-I couldn't protect him."
Her face held so much pain. Hector felt it all too, the stabbing realization of what her words meant. His only son. His only child. Dead.
"How?" He rasped through the fresh tears on his own face.
"When you and I parted ways, I saw Cipher Pol pursuing Kuina. Ax and I tried to stop as many of them as we could. We got separated in the fight, I…"
For a moment she choked on her sorrow, unable to spit out the words.
"I saw him run through. Then Calypso Blue threw him from the wall."
Hector sank to his knees.
"I went berserk. I don't remember anything after that. Just that we lost Kuina. I couldn't save Helena. And then Ax…"
She hid her face in her hands.
"I don't know how I ended up on a refugee boat," she confessed. "I suspect Mick had something to do with it. I think he's the reason that any of our ships made it to Alabasta at all to be honest."
"For all his faults then, I'm grateful to him for that at least," Hector murmured, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Your brother saved your life and gave you a purpose. I'm guessing you led everyone here, got in contact with the right people…"
"As well as I could. Yes. Our people turned to me," she admitted, looking up but not meeting his gaze. "Once I got everyone settled…well, you can see I haven't exactly been keeping it together. What more did I have to live for?"
"I'm sorry I wasn't here with you."
"No, I'm glad you could be with Cygnus and help him escape. I'm sure he didn't do all the work getting you two out of Impel Down."
"The lion's share," Hector chortled. "Have you seen his bounty? Half a billion berries!"
"Seriously? Leda would have been floored," Andromache managed a ghost of a smile. She rubbed at the tears on her face with the back of a fist. "Have you seen Helena's?"
Hector nodded. The revolutionaries had filled he and Cygnus in.
"He has her beat by more than double," Andromache pointed out. "And I think I know why."
"Because the people will follow him," Hector murmured quietly. "Helena may have lost their confidence, but if there was even a chance at Ilium somehow coming back together, it's under the King's guidance. I don't think he plans on trying, though. Liberating our people from slavery yes, but not rebuilding the kingdom."
"Whyever not?" Ann demanded. "The man talked his way out of Impel Down, for Zeus' sake. Talking the people into following him would be child's play."
"Come see for yourself," Hector instructed. "People are gathering at the oasis right this moment to hear him speak. But before you do, maybe you ought to…" he trailed off.
Andromache looked down at herself, nose wrinkled. "Give me a minute. I'll get cleaned up.
Cygnus looked over the gathering crowd, trying to gauge what his people could possibly think of him. It was a confusing mix of aspects, ranging from deeply furrowed brows to tears to laughter. For the most part, though, people had greeted him with joyous expressions and warm exclamations. As a symbol and a figurehead, his escape from Impel Down must give some of them hope at the least. But to others…perhaps it was an insult.
He honestly wasn't sure he could convince anyone here to follow him. Impel Down had been easy for him – weak-hearted individuals were easy to manipulate. His people were not weak-hearted, and he did not wish to manipulate them.
When he thought enough had gathered that he wouldn't have to repeat his speech, he raised his hands to call for silence. By the light of torches and a rising moon, the Philosopher King soon made his address.
"Friends, I am grateful to find so many of you safe and sound after what happened to our homeland. I can only imagine the atrocities you have suffered, and that my own survival after all this might come as an affront to many of you who lost precious loved ones."
The crowd remained quiet. Cygnus took a breath and went on.
"Further, I think you ought to know why the Gods refused to help me to help all of you," he went on. "The sibyl came to me directly on the night we fought off Regent and his forces. She called me to check my daughter or face the gods' wrath. I am afraid in my blind love for her, in my admiration of her integrity and idealism, I failed to do so. And now…"
He produced his sheathed blade. The well-known King's Sword.
Hector had kept it safe for him. On the night Ilium fell, after Helena and Akainu had been blasted from the wall, Hector had found the strength to crawl his way toward him. Charged with Cygnus' safety, the loyal fool, though completely spent after fighting Akainu, had been determined to do just that.
However, seeing the writing on the wall, Cygnus convinced his long-time friend to use his powers to hide the sword within his arm just before they were captured and taken to Impel Down. Hector had sacrificed the use of his left arm during their entire stay within the prison keeping the royal heirloom safe.
"This sword, forged by Haphaestus, can only be drawn by a member of the royal family who has favor with the gods."
Cygnus made to pull it from its sheath. It didn't budge.
"As you can see, I am no longer that man."
A murmur ran through the crowd.
"The only way I could possibly access the God Powers now, provided the Gods would give me the time of day, would be through the sibyl. However, Cipher Pol murdered her the night Ilium fell. I tell you this to say I am powerless, and therefore fairly useless to you all as your King, former or present. If you think I can somehow restore Ilium, you are sadly mistaken."
The murmurs grew louder, angrier. Hopeful expressions had soured. Yes, he knew he was not the military leader Helena had been. Without the God Powers, many of his people likely saw him as useless.
"If you wish to exact justice upon me, it is well within your right. A king is a fence around his people, and I failed to give you such a defense against our enemies. Even my daughter, whose war with the gods led us to this destruction, fought on the front lines during the World Government's onslaught. Without the gods, I was useless to you all. My life belongs, therefore, in your hands.
"But before you do exact said justice upon me, I would have it known that I have heard of the fate of our compatriots. –those who were not so lucky to make it here to the friendly sands of Alabasta, and have been enslaved by our neighboring kingdoms. Further, that St. Coppelius Rothbart, the scum who for years has lusted after Ilium's gods and goods, now daily murders and torments our countrymen upon our home soil.
"If you would permit me my life for a time, know that it is my plan to try to liberate as many of our friends as falls within my power and bring them here to this oasis. However, I cannot do it alone. Cassowary, our own Robertus and Gloriadne, and others of the World Revolutionaries have agreed to come to our aid should we choose to take a stand against Rothbart.
"I know that here in Alabasta, you have just finished beating your swords into plowshares. Would any among you willingly beat those plowshares back into swords? Who will come to the aid of our compatriots?"
A cough echoed through the crowd. Cygnus waited with baited breath. Then a loud shout rent the starlit sky, taking the Philosopher King quite by surprise.
"ELELEU!" The crowd shouted almost in unison, then chanted so their voices did blend as one. "ELELEU! HAIL THE PHILOSOPHER KING!"
Cygnus blinked rapidly as tears began to pour from his eyes. He'd known his people's loyalty and pride in their country, but he never thought, in the light of so much pain, they'd readily take up arms again to follow him.
"You shouldn't be so surprised," Cassowary put in, slinging her arm about his shoulders as she grinned toothily at him. "I'm not. Now, let's talk strategy."