Sab's eyes remained on the closed door, still in disbelief after Luffia left. The brat had the guts to wave at her while merrily humming as if she did the best thing on Earth.
'Did she just become a bargaining chip for an alliance?'
From the corner of Sab's eyes, she could vaguely see the people in the room equally shocked at the exchange. The silence was deafening, sending Sab into a frenzy of torture waiting for a verdict. Should she break the silence? What was she supposed to say? Should she ask them to free her so she can kill that brat? Yes, that was a very tempting thought and certainly on her priority list but given the awkward situation, she doubted she had the will to say it.
The dilemma did not only fall on Sab but on Kidd as well. He could feel the headache from the lack of sleep for the past few days spreading like wildfire when glanced at the woman in the cage. He groaned, lost on what just happened and how it happened. No, scratch that. He knew what happened. The keys in his hand were proof, yet he could not find it in himself to completely digest the circumstances.
"Kidd..." Killer called out hesitantly. He could barely muster the guts to break the silence, but someone had to do it. The blonde-haired man knew Wire and Heat still have not regained their senses from the shocking storm Luffia left.
"Here." He stood up and gave Killer the keys. "Get her out of that cage." It was loud enough for Sab to hear in response, she snapped her head to look at Kidd's back, almost thankful that he would let her go. A smile crept onto her face but faded as soon as she heard the next words. "Then throw her in one of the rooms."
"What?!" She shouted in disbelief, but Kidd had no qualms about turning his head to watch the woman's expression.
"Tie her up."
"You can't do that!" She slammed her cuffed hands on the cage. The sound echoes annoyingly loud. "Get me out of here!" Her outburst prompted Kidd to turn around and walk closer to the cage.
"I am getting you out of there. Didn't I say that?" His voice filled with venom and sarcasm. A little bit of both as if he wants to annoy Sab.
"I'm getting out of this place. And kill that brat." The stubbornness was evident in her tone there was no room for discussion. She was not requesting but demanding. Her tone ticked Kidd off, waking up the memories of about two years ago. It was so damn familiar that it made him feel melancholic.
As nostalgic as it is measuring who was more stubborn between the two of them, Kidd would not succumb to it.
"Says who?"
"I did!"
"Too bad, princess. You don't get to decide whether you stay or not. I do!" Kidd slammed his palm on the cage, startling Sab at the force. She vaguely felt the anger beneath the tone and the way he was shaking. "She used you as payment for the alliance. Suck it up whether you like it or not."
"I never agreed to that shit!" She slammed her palm, letting the boiling frustration out even if just a little. She was now facing Kidd with only the metal cage barring them. The closeness was suffocating, igniting her desire to leave this place as soon as possible.
"Uh, huh. Not my problem."
"Don't be immature! You can't accept this! You will gain nothing from this alliance!"
"Says who? You? Please. You don't make decisions for me, Sab."
"I am helping you see the truth!"
"Really? And look where that led us." Sab was taken aback because their back-and-forth argument strayed away from the current circumstance. It touched on a subject that they both wanted to avoid. "I will decide what I will do with the payment I received from this alliance."
"Payment? PAYMENT?! I am not a payment!"
"Too bad, you are. From now on, you will be my slave. Like it or not, you are. If you have complaints, tell that to your sister that just sold you to me."
Kidd turning away halted Sab's plans to refute his claims.
"Throw her to the rooms. Chain her if she ever plans to escape."
"HEY!" She shouted but Kidd left her with his generals throwing her confused looks. Killer had the decency to look apologetic but otherwise followed Kidd's command.
"Killer!" She turned to the blonde escorting her to one of the rooms. "You promised me, right? You promised you would protect me. Do it. Get me out of here."
"Uhh..." Killer scratched his chin, hesitant about how he should explain the situation. "But you are not in danger."
"He hates me. Just! Just get me out of here. Please!" She begged, ignoring the curious looks from Wire and Heat.
"I cannot speak for him, but I know he does not hate you, Sab. He never did. My promise of protection does not include this situation. I have to disappoint you, and I am sure as hell my protection is not needed when it concerns Kidd."
Sab can only gape at Killer. The door opened, revealing the guest room she never had a chance to use when she visited this hideout before.
"Don't think of escaping. That will make things worse. Believe me."
"And staying here will make things better?" She spat and glared.
"It will. Only if you will allow it to get better. Listen, Sab. I am the last person who wanted to advise you. You know that. However, I think it is time for you to face this. You cannot hide forever. You owe this to both yourself and Kidd."
The vagueness may have puzzled anyone, but Sab knew too well what was at stake in this situation. And as she was left alone in an unfamiliar room. She could easily escape if she wanted, but she never had the strength to do so. It was as if she knew she had to stay.
Was this a way to repent for her mistakes? She does not know.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Piles of papers stacked on the table almost covered the woman sitting behind the desk. With her face buried in the papers, flipping through pages, her expression would occasionally change. She would frown when her eyes landed on some words before getting another folder from the stack, not caring for the mess.
While Smoker may have discouraged her from spending time investigating Luffia, she could not find it in herself to abandon the clues she managed to get. It was out of character for her to be fixated on the woman.
Yet, who could resist this temptation? The more she discovers, the more she could connect the dots.
Luffia's activities might be well-hidden, posing as a waitress in one of the pubs after dropping out of school, seemingly struggling to get by but Tashigi begged to differ. If she had been an ordinary waitress then how could she afford to go to restaurants? How was it possible for her to be on one of the flights - first class - to visit a private island? How did she manage to be in certain places when Strawhat's group's activities were frequent?
The idea was swimming in her head as she grabbed another folder and started writing events, dates, and anything related to Luffia. It was an obsession at this point, but she could care less when she can finally deduce who Luffia might be connected to.
No, that wasn't right.
She was close to deducing her real identity.
The news of Zoro backing out of the mission to hunt Strawhat was another factor to consider. It was out of character for him given he never had any solid reason to back out.
"He had a reason. This was his only reason for anything. It was her." With the data written on the paper, she finally concluded that Luffia was none other than Strawhat. She was not certain, but the percentage that she was right was high. If Luffia was not Strawhat, it would make sense for her to be one of the members of the group.
It all made sense to her. Luffia's part-time job to fool the people around her was a great mask to hide her traces. She was not employed in any big corporate companies, making it easier for commitments on the streets.
And there was her origin. Her fake credentials proved that she had been on the streets for quite a long time to fake the documents. Saying the documents were fake is not quite true as well. The seal and signature cannot easily be duplicated.
Unless she threatened the orphanage's management in giving her the documents. If that was the case, how come she managed to use them since High School?
The more she thinks, the more Tashigi's questions multiply. Regardless, she will not give up. She will ensure she will get to the bottom of this to save Zoro from getting buried on the other side.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Ann was beginning to suspect Luffia's actions. She was too happy for her liking, humming in the kitchen, skipping steps, dancing around as if she won the lottery. She would have consulted Sab if she knew anything before asking Luffia, but unfortunately, she was not around.
"Where's Sab?" She asked, irritated that Luffia was smiling ear to ear. Ann knew her sister too well and if her memory and experience served her right, the grin could spell doom. Whoever may be the target of it.
"Somewhere. Shishishi!" Her answer earned another frown from Ann.
"Somewhere? What do you mean?"
"Oh, you know. Serving. Or paying. Maybe that was the right term. Paying." Their conversation was going nowhere. Ann could slowly feel her temple pulsing from the incoming headache.
She could instinctively feel that Luffia did something reckless again.
"Care to explain? Paying for what?"
"Alliance! Shishishi!" That doesn't explain anything at all.
"Alliance? Luffia, tell me. What did you do?"
"Oh, you know. We need allies. So, Sab needs to pay." Sometimes, Ann wonders if Luffia was deliberately trying to piss her off with her vague answers. She had always been like this. One second, she was oozing with a maturity that surprises the twins. The next thing, she could be a teenage girl spectating from a high point after pulling a reckless prank. Or it could be both at the same time.
And something tells Ann that it was the latter.
"Luffia. For the love of everything holy. Tell me what happened." Her patience was running out, as always has been when it involves Luffia and that annoying smile of hers.
"Oh. I established an alliance with Kidd's group. To make him agree, I told him Sab was my payment. So, let's get along with each other! Shishishi!"
As if on cue, Ann's jaw dropped, head tilted to the side with eyes bulging out of her sockets. Her actions only made Luffia's smile wider.
"LUFFIA! How! How could you do that?!"
"Lower your voice, Ann."
"No, I won't! Do you have any idea what you did?! You established an alliance with Kidd's group and to make things worse, you threw Sab to him! What kind of sister are you?!"
"Well - "
"Luffia, we're not playing a game! Did you forget what Kidd did to Sab? Did you forget that?! How could you do that to Sab? You're putting her in danger! Not just her, but everything we worked so hard for. Do you care about the struggles and hell we went through? Do you want everything to be ruined just because of your whims?!"
Luffia's smile was gone. She looked at Ann with a blank expression turning slowly into a sharp stare. It was rare to see that expression on her face, but Ann's mind cannot process the change when she was worried about her twin sister.
"I did not throw Sab to the wolves. And I know we are not playing a game. You may think this is whimsical, but it is not. Kidd is Shanks' younger brother." Ann turned her head, frowning in surprise. "Surprising, right? I just found out. Besides, have you thought about the risks of getting exposed if we don't pull him into our side? He knows who we are. He could sell that information to our enemies, but he didn't. Do you know why? Because he cares about Sab."
The more Ann listens, the more it makes sense.
"This alliance is what we needed now, Ann. Or more precisely, what Sab needed. I could never forget her sacrifices and her losses over the last two years."
"What? Are you playing cupid now?"
"That's not what I am trying to achieve, Ann." Reasoning with Luffia was exhausting. Sometimes Ann would get an answer immediately and other times she would spend weeks trying to figure out her sister's reason.
"And this alliance, how will this help us?"
"Oh, a lot. It will be useful." Her answers were not helpful at all.
"This is not a good idea, Lu."
"It is. Believe me. Besides, Sab was already there. We could use some resources to target Kaido's group while you focus on Big Mom. Meanwhile, I will be their biggest distraction. We will be coming from all sides." She made it sound so easy but Ann could already see factors that will be problematic in the long run.
"Have you told your members about this?"
"No. Not yet." Ann groaned after hearing that.
"Are you kidding me?"
"They don't know about our roots, Ann."
"And you won't tell them? It's been years Luffia! When will you keep them in the dark? You know damn well that they will find out about our origin. And don't get me started with Zoro!"
The mention of Zoro dampened Luffia's mood. It was one of the problems she didn't know how to tackle. How was she supposed to tell him that her father killed his family? For a second, her mind flashes back to the time she met Zoro when they were children back on the neighboring island.
Secrets. One after another. Where would she start?
"I'll let them know. Soon."
"Does that include Zoro?" Luffia's silence was enough of an answer to Ann's question. Sometimes, Ann wanted to berate herself for failing to prevent Luffia from getting attached to Zoro. They let it slide thinking it would never affect them in the long run. The fire they started was getting bigger. It will swallow everything in its way whether they like it or not.
The conversation pretty much ended there. Luffia ran away as soon as possible, leaving Ann helpless.
'I envy Sab' she thought to herself, feeling pathetic and shameless for thinking so. Sab's situation with Kidd can be salvaged whereas hers was a path of no return. Left with nothing to do, Ann decided to go to their basement. The steel door looked intimidating. This is probably one of the safest places they can store anything of importance.
Punching the code, the beeping sound echoed throughout the room till she heard the sound of the steel door opening. Inside were nothing but books, sparse decorations, and weapons. Her destination was the corner with the duffel bag sitting on top of the boxes. She reached out for the bag feeling melancholic. Memories flashed through her mind of the night their hell began.
She and her sisters already knew the contents of the bag. Most of it is papers and a couple of items they have no idea what for. Especially the key Ann was holding now. They asked their Uncle Rayleigh about it but he had no idea as well. It could be just a random key in their old house but it was too small to be a key to any room. It looked like a key to a storage box. But where is the storage box?
Setting aside the key, she took the original blueprints inside the bag. This helped them with their journey. They have no idea how their parents got a hold of this information when it was confidential, but it proved useful. Everything was useful to them except for that key. Perhaps one day they will find out what that key was for.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
It had been years. They said time heals wounds, yet Rayleigh could not find his wounds healing. It felt like it was only yesterday when he was happily chatting with his best friend before the tragedy took place.
Why didn't he do more to save them? Why wasn't he ruthless enough?
He often questions himself for being useless. Had he not listened to Roger, he would still be here with his family. The children won't grow up with the desire for revenge and their paths would be filled with happiness. But now? They were walking the path of thorns and blood.
"You have that look again." A woman's voice echoed in his ears, shaking him awake from his melancholy.
"Shakky." A small smile graced his lips upon meeting the woman's eyes. She had been there all his life, supporting him in every way she could even when she knew it was dangerous.
"Finding the snitch won't be easy. If Roger was fooled, you would have too."
"I know. But I won't give up. This is the least I can do for him. And for his daughters." He answered. Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like if he didn't leave the children in Dragon's hands. While he was thankful the man took care of them as his own, Rayleigh wondered if it would have been for the better if they stayed with him. He might have prevented them from seeking revenge.
A shake of his head erased those thoughts. He couldn't predict what would have happened. If they stayed with him, they might be dead by now, or worse, their desire to kill their way to Grandline would be far worse especially if they were exposed to the great chase Rayleigh had been through ever since Roger died. Their identities would have long been exposed if that was the case.
"I heard movements." Shakky's voice once again woke Rayleigh. He snapped his head with expecting eyes as she continued. "Yamon and Spencer were seen near the bases of World Government."
"Near the bases? Or in the base?"
"Near. No one has seen them go inside." A sigh escaped Rayleigh's lips. Years after their disbandment, Rayleigh lost contact with most of the members. They all went to do about anything they wanted and mostly to hide their tracks when World Government was hunting them down. Well, at least they were not hunted as Rayleigh did.
With the snitch possibly being one of them, Rayleigh had to keep tabs on their movement. He did not establish any connection except for Shanks, Shakky, and Dragon for fear of betrayal. He had to be careful, otherwise, all of them would die.
"Keep an eye on them for me. Any news about the others?"
"Nothing for now."
Rayleigh nodded, unsure if no news is good news or if it was a sign of a storm brewing.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
The humiliation was etched into his mind, gnawing, boiling hotter than water till he felt himself explode. Perospero still couldn't forget that night when that whore humiliated him in front of his siblings and the Whitebeards. Even now, he could still feel the bullet in his body and the cold hands grabbing his arm being twisted mercilessly.
He could have sworn that Mama would at least punish Katakuri for letting Ann go, but she didn't. Instead, she favored his decision while sneering at Perospero for being weak.
"Useless." She told him when she heard of everything that happened. It might have been one word of scorn but Perospero could feel a thousand words of contempt from her eyes when she dismissed him as if he was a speck of dirt that smeared her name.
Not only Mama, but other members of the family stared at him, smirking with amusement while whispering with disdain.
"How could he be so weak? Defeated by a woman? Pathetic." He heard one of the members say behind his back, and it only worsen his seething anger directed at everyone. Especially toward Ann.
"That damn bitch!" He said when he was alone in his room, biting his nails in agony worse than the broken bones and bullet wounds he received. The wound in his pride cannot be relinquished until he gets his revenge against that woman.
"I swear I will torture you to death. You would wish you were dead. You will pay for this, firefist. I swear it!"
Revenge will be sweet when served with the blood of your enemy.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
The five elders once again found themselves in the same room they used when they passed the order to hunt Roger down. Years have passed and once again, their presence was required to pass down a decision that can shake the entire world.
"He called. We have the identity of one of Roger's children." The old man with glasses and a sword spoke.
"Who?" The bald old man asked.
"Firefist." Everyone looked at Saturn, shocked to hear the confirmation. He threw papers on the table, revealing the pictures of Ann as well as a detailed report on her whereabouts.
"Indeed. She looked like her mother." The long-haired elder spoke, voice shaking upon remembering the woman who once shook the organization.
"The daughter of the traitor." The last of the elder said, clicking his tongue as if remembering the past brought a bitter taste in his mouth.
Indeed. Portgas D. Rouge was nothing but a bitter memory to the five of them. She almost doomed the organization when she decided to betray them.
She used to be a high-ranking spy in the World Government. And more than just a spy, she was the only surviving direct-line descendant of the World Government's founder. If people thought that the World Government was nothing but an organization, then they are wrong. This was an empire built to rule everything else beneath.
And Rouge was destined to be their Empress, their Queen. She was the brightest woman they knew. Cruel. Savage. Cipher Pol's legendary agent, code name: Hera. The plans were set in motion to stop the incessant growth of the Mafia groups in the streets. Their first plan was to eliminate the most troublesome pest, Roger.
She agreed. They thought she would carry out the original plan but never expected her to abandon everything just to be his wife. They still contacted her and convinced her that it was not too late. Especially now that she had Roger's trust. Instead of returning to them, she stole the blueprints of their bases, and the ledger. Rouge was blackmailing them to leave her family alone lest she will destroy the World Government.
The only thing that relieved them was the fact that no one knew about Rouge's real identity except for them.
Or maybe Roger too. The world may have thought that Roger stole something from them and it was Roger they were after but in reality, they were after Rouge. Killing Roger was secondary to their priorities. They hunted Roger like madmen in hopes of killing Rouge.
And when they did, none of them felt satisfied when they were not confident that the ledge had been destroyed too. The next thing they did was hunt down Rayleigh and her children. Despite the information fed by their informant - the snitch within Roger's group - they never found out about their children. Rouge did a great job hiding the possible hostage the World Government will take.
"Hera was one of our greatest assassins."
"And also our greatest failure. We cannot let her blood run free."
"We need to capture her. If her mother was the failure, she might not be."
"With her involvement in the streets, I doubt she wanted to be affiliated with us. Best to kill the seed while the trunk is not thick."
With this conviction, the World Government released a bounty on Ann's head.
Dead or Alive.