Buggy's first public appearance ever since the assassination attempt, here it comes! Really excited to reach this part!
All eyes were on him the minute he stepped foot inside. Looking around, he immediately spotted a few familiar faces, some he was glad to see, some he hoped he wouldn't have to address tonight.
Count Rasiphe detached himself from the crowd swiftly, coming to meet him. He had dark hair, similar dark eyes, and oozed tranquillity. 'Duke Buggy, it is such a pleasure to see you, you are aglow, and sport quite an exquisite outfit, as expected of you.' He said in a low voice, a small smile on his lips.
Buggy answered with similar compliments. Rasiphe was rather young for a Count, and looked nothing like the usual boisterous ones Buggy had met in summits. Instead, he was composed and talked calmly. He was also painfully honest, and never bothered to hide his true opinion on someone. Somehow, he and Buggy had ended up getting along during one of Rasiphe's visits in England in his younger years, both boys bonding over forbidden writings.
Though they had both changed since, and their paths rarely allowed them to meet, it was always a pleasure to come across each other when they had the chance. Rasiphe was one of Buggy's rare true allies, which was mostly the reason why Buggy had accepted the invitation.
Unlike what his character could indicate, Rasiphe loved parties. He loved to mingle and make new connections. He also loved to gossip, and, for this reason, was one of the most important informers in the Duchy.
Rasiphe grabbed Buggy by the arm and led him down the main stairs, heading for the closest group of people. Behind him, Buggy could hear the loud echo of his knight's footsteps.
The Count introduced Buggy to the small group of people, all of which bowed before him. Buggy urged them to straighten up, greeting them back. They exchanged banalities before Rasiphe steered Buggy towards another group.
This kept going until they'd gone all the way around the room, and Buggy had heard more names in an hour than he'd had ever since the beginning of the year. Rasiphe left Buggy with a little group before he walked to the stairs and grabbed a cup from one of the tables which had been set on the other side of the room.
He tapped the cup with a silver spoon to draw his guests' attention, speaking up. 'Alright, Gents and Dames, I think it is time to sit down for dinner, if you will!' And he jumped down the stairs, putting the utensils back and immediately stopping to talk with some guests.
Buggy politely took his leave from the group, walking towards the tables scattered across the second part of the room. He slowed down to look behind him for the first time ever since the beginning of the party. He'd been roped into endless small talk with Rasiphe and had not been able to talk with Crocodile and Mihawk since.
'How are you faring for the moment, soldiers?' Buggy asked in a low voice.
Crocodile shrugged while Mihawk answered, 'As long as we don't have to make small talk, everything's good. There's nothing to report.'
Buggy nodded in understanding, sighing. 'I can't wait for this to be over. I hope the food will be good.'
He sat down on a chair with a grunt, stretching his limbs discreetly. He was surprised when Crocodile and Mihawk sat down on either side of him. Buggy was about to protest about how they were probably not included in the Count's guests list, but was cut short by Crocodile.
'Hope you're enjoying your momentary respite, Duke, because it seems like it won't last long.' The older man clipped before looking away.
Indeed, Buggy could already see the other guests heading towards the tables as well, and there was no doubt that the Duke would not stay alone with his knights for long. Buggy also noted that Crocodile had seemingly decided not to call him Jester in public. It was surprising.
Deciding that sitting next to his knights instead of some strangers probably wasn't that bad, he let it slide, but not without a little bit of mumbling and huffing. Unfortunately, Rasiphe did not join his table. Instead, a couple and a single woman came to sit at his table, visibly overjoyed to be in the Duke's presence.
Buggy was forced to engage in small talk again, speaking of his duties as a Duke, as well as discussing his theories on the future of the throne of England. He hated every second of it, though it was easier to avoid having to answer once the dishes started to arrive.
It was fun to see Crocodile and Mihawk exchange and inspect his plate to ensure that it wasn't poisoned. All the table watched them work, curious. However, when it was time for the desserts to arrive, Buggy started to have trouble ignoring the increasing staring.
People around seemed to have started looking at them and whispering. Buggy frowned as he tried to prick up his ears, but there was too much noise for him to be able to decipher anything. Crocodile and Mihawk seemed to have picked up on the odd reactions as well, but didn't seem that put off by it.
Trusting his knights' judgement, Buggy tried to push his circling thoughts away as he ate dessert despite his sudden lack of appetite. The staring did not stop.
A few minutes later, Buggy caught the growing sound of vielles coming from the other side of the room, and all the heads turned in time to watch a small orchestra set up on the entryway's stairs.
A few couples rose to their feet unprompted and walked away from the tables to start dancing with each other. It seemed to spur the rest of the guests, who followed quickly.
The couple at their table followed suit, leaving Buggy with his two knights and the lone woman on the other side. She looked at the dancing couples with envy.
Crocodile leaned down towards him and Buggy had to suppress a shriek of surprise. 'Look at her, she's dying to dance, why don't you invite her?'
Buggy's eyes widened as he turned towards the older man. He was smirking, seemingly aware of the fact that Buggy would hate the suggestion he'd made.
To Buggy's despair, Mihawk joined Crocodile. 'Oh yes, Duke, I'm sure you're great at dancing, you must have learnt it when you were a kid, right?' And before Buggy could retort that what Roger had taught them had been nowhere near close to something that could be called dance, Mihawk stood up.
Buggy watched with horror as the swordsman drew the lady's attention, pointing at Buggy as he talked. Buggy was mortified to see the girl start blushing and looking his way. He gulped as Mihawk stepped away and came to stand behind the blue-haired man, pushing him not so gently towards the young woman.
Unwillingly, Buggy stood up, walking up to the blushing lady. He offered his hand as he slightly leant down.
'Would you do me the pleasure of joining me for a dance?' He asked, because as much as he didn't want to, he still knew his manners.
The girl eagerly took his hand, and Buggy led them to the newly-formed dance floor. From the corner of his eyes, Buggy caught sight of his two knights standing side to side against a wall, both sets of eyes on him.
He felt himself flush from being watched like a prey, and almost stumbled when he realised that, even though the girl practically watched him the same way, it left him indifferent. As he took the time to take a proper look at her, he could admit that she was not bad looking. Her interest in him was evident, and yet Buggy couldn't bring himself to care. His mind wandered to the two men across the room, and how, even though they were metres away, Buggy could still feel their presence.
Buggy noticed that he also wasn't the only one watching his knights. People were still talking, but not only to their partners. The Duke tried to prick up his ears, hoping to catch snatches of conversations.
He could hear some sentences parts here and there, some 'Did you hear that-' and 'the tall one-' as well as '-last seen in a summit-'.
He didn't understand much, even though everyone seemed to be talking about the same thing, he couldn't hear a full sentence. He had initially wanted to indulge the lady through one dance only, but seeing as he wouldn't be able to hear the whispers away from the dancing, he forced himself to stay with the girl he didn't know the name of.
It seemed to be the proper decision, as he was finally able to understand what was going on when the dance suddenly required exchanging partners.
'I can't quite believe I'm seeing Hawkeye in person!' a lady exclaimed as she was paired with him. 'And he looks so handsome with this hat of his.'
Buggy blinked, confused. Hawkeye? The famous swordsman? Here?
'They were right when they said that the Desert King was scary, look at that scar on his face!' Another woman on his left said, and Buggy stopped dancing.
Alarmed, the woman he'd been dancing with tried to catch his attention again. 'Duke Buggy? Is something wrong? My Duke..?'
Buggy let go of her and left with a thoughtless nod, his body moving on his own. He crossed the room in quick strides as he muttered 'what the fuck' over and over.
'What the fuck?' he let out as he reached the two knights, still in the same spot as earlier, and pointed them with an inquisitive finger.
Both men raised an eyebrow, looking at him nonchalantly.
'Why didn't you tell me you were Hawkeye?' He asked, looking at Mihawk. 'And you-' he turned towards Crocodile, 'you're the fucking desert guy?'
He was interrupted in his ranting by a hand on his forearm. He was about to push the intruder away when he realised that it was Rasiphe.
'Would you mind coming with me for a second, Buggy?' The newcomer asked, visibly amused by the whole scene.
'What? Now? No, I'm having a moment here-'
Rasiphe did not let him finish, his hand still on his arm. 'It's rather important, Buggy. Actually, that's why I invited you in the first place.' He insisted.
The Duke calmed down, closing his eyes and breathing out for a few seconds before letting his shoulders drop. 'Fine.' He started to follow his friend when he realised that the two knights were following them as well.
'No.' He said, stopping. 'You're not coming, you're staying here, clear?'
'You could be in danger, alone with this man.' Crocodile retorted.
'I trust Rasiphe, end of story.' Buggy declared, infuriated. He paused, looking at his two knights one last time. 'We'll talk about this later.' And left.
'Why did you choose to do it now?' Buggy asked complainingly as he closed the door behind him.
'Just to piss you off.' Rasiphe answered happily from the other side of the room, handing a glass to his friend. 'Also, because I knew you were about to stir up trouble. Wanted to stop you from having an outburst in public.' He added.
Buggy sighed as he sunk into his armchair, still fuming. He couldn't believe it.
He'd named two of the most renowned soldiers of the continent his own personal knights, and no one had actually taken the time to inform him of their identities? No, he couldn't blame other people. He was the one who should have known, who should have recognised them. Buggy was the only one to blame for his own mistake. It wasn't that it was really a mistake, but he was a Duke. He was expected to be aware of political and war matters. He heard the news of famous fighters from around the world, so he should be able to recognise two of the most famous ones when they could actually be found in his own fucking castle.
'You're spiralling, Buggy.' Rasiphe's voice made him jump as he realised that he'd lost himself in his thoughts.
'Yeah, sorry Rasiphe, I was a little bit taken by surprise there.'
The other man nodded as he sipped on his drink. He set the glass aside, turning his full body towards Buggy.
'I've actually been meaning to reach you for weeks now, ever since I heard the information I'm about to share with you. A shame I wasn't able to do it before Roger passed away...' Rasiphe said, a brief sadness overtaking his features for a second.
Somehow, busy with the stress of the reception and the whole knights thing, Buggy had forgotten that Rasiphe had known Roger too.
'Rasiphe, I'm sorry…. I miss him too.' Buggy said, at loss for words.
The Count shook his head, waving his hands. 'It's okay, there's more pressing matters now. Let's focus on the living, huh.'
Buggy nodded, urging him to keep going.
'I'll be straightforward, I've heard about the upcoming arrival of someone in the race for the throne of England. Someone you definitely wouldn't want to see at the head of a country.'
Rasiphe's tone had shifted, and Buggy's curiosity was picked. 'Go on', the blue-haired man said.
'There's talk about how Marshall D. Teach is raising a small army in the north to march on London.'
Buggy's eyes widened. 'Teach? Newgate's bastard? He's sleazy, but I've never seen him as that much of a threat before.'
'Well, you should, Buggy.' Rasiphe paused. 'He was the one who sent that killer out to you. He's out to kill anyone in France who has once been close to Roger, and rumours say that once he'll be done, he'll launch an attack on England.'
That was a lot to stomach. To know that there was someone like Teach out there wanting to kill him was one thing, but to hear that the man actually seemed to already have everything planned out and just waiting to be set off was another.
Buggy had been slacking off the last few days, but it seemed he shouldn't have.
'Do you think the threat is mostly coming from him, or should I feel threatened by anyone else?' Buggy asked, fully trusting Rasiphe's ability to gather sensitive information.
'That I can't say, Buggy. I know that you should watch out for Teach, but that's all I know.' Rasiphe answered.
Buggy nodded. 'I understand, that's already a lot. Thank you, Rasiphe.' He stood up, putting his glass down even though he'd barely touched it. 'I think I'll withdraw for the night, my friend.'
The other man nodded understandingly, rising to his feet to see him to the door.
Hand on the handle, Buggy turned one last time towards Rasiphe. 'And Shanks? Did you hear anything about him?'
Rasiphe shook his head no, and with that, Buggy left the room.
Crocodile and Mihawk stood on either side of the corridor, guarding the door. Buggy barely looked up as he passed them, heading for the staircase instead. He knew the way, anyway.
Intrigued by Buggy's odd silence, Crocodile tried to prod him. 'What did you talk about?' But he was left with no answer.
They climbed the stairs in silence, Buggy opened the door to their room quietly, and locked himself in the room with the washbasin.
Crocodile and Mihawk looked at each other, not quite confused by Buggy's behaviour, but definitely put off by the lack of reaction or explanation coming from the Duke.
They prepared for bed in silence, having already decided before the order in which they would take turns to stand guard. None of them had expected the mood to take such a turn, and now they were left feeling almost stupid.
Buggy came back in the room a few minutes later, changed into night clothes. Finally, he looked at the two men. 'We'll discuss everything tomorrow on our way back, get some rest when you can.' He paused, seemingly remorseful of his harsh tone. 'Good night, soldiers.' He then climbed into bed.
The two older men bid him goodnight as well and took up position. They had a long night ahead.
Somewhere in Aquitaine, the name of Buggy the Jester's new famous knights reached the ears of a red-haired man.
Things are finally speeding up!
I initially didn't plan to add any OCs in this fic, but somehow some, such as Rasiphe, ended up mixed in quite naturally, and I enjoyed including them in the storyline. I didn't feel like putting One Piece characters in roles that wouldn't fit them, and since Buggy is meant to be in his very early twenties, all the young generation couldn't be included, which reduced the characters I could use!
I'm really curious to know what you're thinking of the fic so far! It's a delight to read your comments every week, so feel free to continue!
See you on Wednesday!