"Each of them was nothing but a disappointment!" Saturn cursed after reading the report that Teach made no progress in the past 6 months. "We did not offer a huge amount of money to get nothing out of it!"
"We deployed CP9 and now, Teach. Evading attacks against them and retaliating proved Roger's blood runs in their veins." Warcury said solemnly.
"The more we press them, the more they retaliate. We must snip the buds before they bloom. We can no longer wait till they sharpen their fangs enough to bite us!" Nusjuro grumbled. It would have been great to have these children under them and share the same ideals. They could replace Hera, but this is not the case. They are enemies that must be eliminated. From what they gathered, the youngest is the most dangerous out of the three of them.
"Do you suggest we order the Admirals to strike them?" Ju Peter asked.
"That is drastic, don't you think? We cannot afford to waste our resources on them. Not when the Revolutionary Army had been nothing but a nuisance as of late. It seemed Dragon took advantage of Big Mom and Kaido's chaos to attack some of our bases. He knew well enough that we had to keep our guard up against them," Mars commented.
Even though the World Government wasn't intervening in the alliance between Big Mom and Kaido, they were still keeping tabs on them. Their focus was on defending their resources while taking satisfaction in the chaos spreading through the streets. If the Mafia leaders ended up injuring each other, it would be all the better for them.
However, given the World Government's stance, the Revolutionary Army took advantage of the situation and initiated small coups in remote areas surrounding cities that were nearly beyond the government's reach. Additionally, they strategically targeted coastal regions, ensuring that their movements by sea would go undetected. What a smart move from Dragon!
And this is not the end of their movements. They sown doubts to the citizens, citing the recent deaths caused by Kaido and Big Mom's alliance as a source of doubt. Dragon and his army are basically forcing the World Government to make a move against Big Mom and Kaido if they want the citizen's trust to remain intact. But should they do so, they would be forced to deploy their resources and let the Revolutionary Army run free.
In this silent war, the World Government is losing. Whether they move against the Revolutionary Army or against the alliance, they would end up losing a lot.
With their hands tied, they were hoping to eliminate factors such as Roger's brats.
"The last thing we wanted for those brats to rally allies! Worse of all, if they manage to get Whitebeard and Roger's former crewmates!"
Time is of the essence. If they can't eliminate the biggest factor in this war, they might end up in a situation that had never been seen before.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Sab woke up early and shook Kidd's drunk ass out of bed to accompany her to see Luffia. The damn brat was driving Sab insane by not answering any of her calls. Worse, Ann is not answering either.
"It's 6 am!" Kidd complained.
"If you don't get out, I will go out on my own," she threatened. After Teach's relentless pursuit, they agreed that Sab cannot go out alone and neither would Kidd. They either have to have bodyguards with them or accompany each other.
"Fine, fine. I'm up." He grumbled as he got dressed, cursing at being woken at such an ungodly hour. They managed to grab a cup of coffee before Sab dragged Kidd out of the hideout. Since it was broad daylight, Kidd opted for his bulletproof, tinted car and drove toward Luffia's place.
As soon as they arrived, Sab bolted out of the car and immediately shouted for Luffia's name. Kidd followed her but did not go upstairs and instead rummaged the kitchen for anything to cook. He blamed Sab for not letting him eat his breakfast.
Kidd was cooking bacon and eggs when he heard the shouts from Sab and a very sleepy Luffia.
"What happened? Tell me! Luffia! Can you hear me?!"
"Ughhh... Sab it's too early!"
"I don't care! Answer my damn question!" The blond lawyer stood next to Luffia's seat at the table, restless to get her answers.
"You would likely not get anything out of her if she's sleepy as hell. Let her have breakfast first." Kidd intervened. Sab could only glare at her youngest sister before getting coffee for her and helping Kidd set the table.
Luffia was gradually regaining her energy thanks to the coffee and the food Kidd had prepared. While the three of them ate, Sab maintained a persistent glare, constantly staring at Luffia, silently promising to demand answers.
When they finished eating, Sab was still huffing in annoyance, impatiently waiting for Luffia to start talking.
"So? Start talking."
"Okay, okay! I get it! We got the alliance. And she's with old man Whitebeard now. She came to the safehouse after we talked." For a moment, Sab debated if she should ask what sort of methods Luffia did to get Ann into Whitebeard's
"And then?"
"And then what?" Luffia asked back, triggering more anger to pour out of Sab.
"What happens now? Is Ann okay? Was Marco there? How did he react? Is she going to be safe there?"
"It was just old man Whitebeard and I. Besides, he already knew." Realization dawned on Sab. "He also had a hunch about Ann since she looked like Mom."
"If he did, shouldn't he at least have done something when Ann was still trying to kill him?"
"I don't know. He probably didn't want to because he finds it amusing or something. Shishishi! I like him though! He's cool." Listening to the sisters while doing dishes made Kidd sweat. He could never follow Luffia's train of thought and judging from Sab's reactions - despite knowing her sister the longest - she couldn't either.
"And his son?"
"Marco wasn't there. None of his officers were there, okay? And he promised to keep Ann in line. So don't worry! They might meet today though. She might be waking up now."
"Wait... Did you drug Ann?!"
"Psst. It was just anesthesia that I stole from Chopper's lab. It wasn't a harmful substance." Luffia shrugged and Sab could feel her head spin from this conversation. "The same one I asked Usopp to use on you. Shishishi!"
"You - "
"The alliance was to eliminate Big Mom and Kaido. I probably will drop by later today in Whitebeard's mansion to sort out the details. You can drop by too." She spoke as if they were visiting relatives for fun and that was pissing Sab off.
"You forced Ann to face Marco. Do you realize this?"
"I do. What would you have me do? Ann would rather stay dead than face him. This is what she needed. And if she wanted to move forward, she must face this, otherwise, she is risking herself getting distracted when we go to war. Besides, it wasn't any different than what I did to you and Kidd. Look at the two of you! You're fine! Heck, you even blew Teach's men which was great, by the way! Nicely done!" Luffia grinned and gave Kidd an approving thumbs up which earned a smug grin from the red-head.
If Sab didn't know better, she would think that Luffia was playing a matchmaker to them. Which would not be far off based on her actions regardless of how reckless and questionable they are.
"I'm worried about the mental toll this will take on Ann. You know how she is."
"Nah, she'll figure it out. She has no choice. I already signed the deal."
"How optimistic can you be?" Sab huffed in annoyance. Sometimes, Luffia is too much for her to handle. Her pacing was too fast for Sab to keep up.
"I just am! Besides, wouldn't it be fun for you to meet Marco, old man Whitebeard, and the others by yourself?" Now that she thought about it, Sab had not gotten the chance to meet any of the Whitebeard's officers. Her job as a lawyer and as Blue did not pave the way for an interaction to happen.
"Hmm... You're right." This might be a good chance to assess them.
"They might be wary of you. After all, you were quite infamous in the Mafia World." Luffia did not further elaborate on what she meant because Sab knew she was referring to the incident three years ago when she betrayed Kidd and sent him to jail. In that sense, she and Ann shared a similarity when they handled their circumstances. Sab won't doubt that they would look at her differently given her records of betrayal known to the public.
"Alright. I'll drop by earlier than you. Make sure to inform Whitebeard ahead of time."
"Of course!"
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
Around 7 AM, the Whitebeard Mansion was bustling after Whitebeard ordered their staff to prepare breakfast for everyone. Not all officers were in the mansion at the moment due to their duties somewhere else, but most of them were here, namely Haruta, Thatch, Izou, Namur, Blamenco, Fossa, Vista, Curiel, and Marco.
"What's going on, yoi?" Marco emerged from his bedroom when Haruta called for him. He looked better than he did a few days ago which was an improvement.
"Pops said he wanted to eat breakfast with us. He even asked Thatch to personally cook." Izou said when Marco chanced upon her in the hallway.
"Is there an occasion?" Marco asked, wondering if they had forgotten an occasion, but his mind couldn't think of any. There should be nothing worthy to celebrate given their busy schedules and tasks.
"Beats me." The two of them went to the formal dining table where the breakfast was being served. As usual, Whitebeard sat at the head of the table, reading newspapers as he waited for his children to arrive.
Everyone was complete after a few minutes. They greeted each other while silently exchanging questioning looks as to what the occasion might be.
When Izou was about to sit on the right side of Pops, across where Marco was sitting, Whitebeard surprisingly stopped her.
"We have a guest." That was all he said, and as soon as he uttered those words, all eyes turned to their leader.
Izou was frowning but moved to the available seat, right next to Thatch. "A guest?"
"Yes." Whitebeard smiled and turned to Haruta. "Would you be so kind as to call out guest?"
Haruta, who sat beside the empty seat reserved for their guest nodded.
"Which room are they staying in?"
"The guest room right next to Marco's."
"Oh, Okay." Like everyone else, they were wondering about the situation.
First, every guest they hosted typically sat farthest from Whitebeard unless they were close friends. This arrangement also allowed the officers to protect their Pops if the guest turned hostile. Although Whitebeard knew this unspoken rule, he explicitly reserved the seat closest to him for this guest.
Second, the room adjacent to Marco's was one of the larger rooms in the mansion, reserved for the second division. The seat had remained empty for quite a while, but they kept the room meticulously clean in preparation for the day it would be occupied again. It was one of their unspoken rules that no guests could use it. The mansion had several rooms for guests, but Pops specifically allowed this guest to use it.
Who could be this guest for their Pops to give them special treatment?
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
The light sifting through the curtain woke up Ann with a groan. Her mind was muddled while processing why she was experiencing a slight headache. Slowly, she sat up, senses working to rouse her brain from the sleepiness.
The bed was soft, but not the kind of softness she was used to. The scent of the room was different from her bedroom. When her eyes finally opened, she was greeted with a different interior far from what she was used to waking up.
Where is she?
Memories from the previous night slowly flooded back, and she bolted out of bed, only to feel a slight pain in her right thigh where Luffia had injected the syringe.
"Shit." She muttered to herself, summoning all the strength she could to figure out where she might be. She crawled from her pathetic position on the floor, courtesy of the slightly numbed thigh, and walked towards the curtains where the balcony door should be.
The layout of the bedroom seemed very familiar, achingly familiar and this detail contributed to the possibility of where she could be. However, part of her resisted the conclusion that was gradually forming.
When she opened the curtain, the sun immediately greeted her, making her wince in the process. It took a minute before she managed to adjust and the sight of the familiar garden below the balcony strengthened the conclusion of where she is now.
Weary from the confusion and nervousness, she stepped out of the balcony door before heading to the bathroom. As soon as she was in front of the mirror, she groaned at the pathetic sight. Without hesitation, she set the water to the coldest temperature possible and washed her face, wishing that this was nothing but a nightmare and she would wake up soon.
The cold water helped wash off her sleepiness but sadly, her nightmare did not end. It was still her reality that she was not in some unknown place, but she was here at Whitebeard's Mansion!
Sitting on the bed, Ann remained dazed while recollecting the memories from last night.
Luffia, the fucking brat, pretended to be kidnapped to draw Ann out of hiding, only to drug her afterward. Her sister basically allowed Ann to be brought here to the Whitebeard's Mansion.
Why did Luffia do it again? Ann began recollecting the fragmented memories.
"An alliance..." she muttered to herself, followed by a curse directed at Luffia, wherever she was. The fucking brat used her as a bargaining chip to seal the alliance!
Ann groaned, face buried in her hands. She badly wanted to cry at this point. How dare Luffia use her as the bargaining chip? And to the Whitebeards of all groups! She knew damn well what Ann did to this group!
You owe them, Luffia said last night. Ann didn't mind paying for her sins, but not like this. She didn't want to face Marco after what she had done. How could she find the strength to confront him? More than anything, she was terrified of seeing the same hatred in his eyes. Memories of their encounter on the rooftop of their building painfully reminded Ann of how unforgivable her actions were. His hatred burned hotter than the fire that had engulfed Ann. She'd rather be consumed by flames than see that hatred directed at her.
She had already accepted her checkered fate, resigned to seeing him from a distance and knowing her sins would never restore what they once had. That was her reality until Luffia forcefully changed it, thrusting Ann into a situation from which she could never escape.
A quiver escaped her throat as she contemplated ways to escape. She walked towards the balcony and surveyed the area. As expected, there were no guards in the garden; the only presence was the family dog, Steffan, playing by himself. The enormous dog sensed her, looked up, and wagged his tail excitedly. Despite not having seen Ann for almost a year, he still recognized her, which brought a brief smile to her face.
The room was on the second floor. She could escape from here, but how would she get out of the mansion? This was heavily guarded. She might be able to escape this room, but she cannot get out of this exclusive village without a car or bike. She could steal one of their cars, but that won't get her far enough.
After weighing the situation she was in, Ann heaved a desperate sigh, leaving her no choice but to confront them. All she could hope was that Marco wouldn't be here. She could face everyone but not him.
With that in mind, she headed for the door. As soon as she opened it, she was met by Haruta, whose hand was suspended midair as if she was about to knock. Her face instantly morphed into a gaping one. Not that Ann could blame her. Like the rest of the world, they thought she died that night. Feeling uncomfortable, Ann looked away with guilt and shame written in her eyes. It was Haruta who first discovered her identity and now, she was the first one out of the rest of the officers to discover that Ann was alive.
"Y-You're alive!" Ann encouraged herself to look up but did not answer. She closed her eyes, waiting for Haruta to punch her or curse her but was shocked that Haruta bolted out of the hallway while shouting for Whitebeard, like a child who had seen a ghost. Ann did not bother calling for her and instead walked slowly along the hallway, reminiscing the time she spent in this Mansion.
While Ann was carefully walking in the hallways, Haruta ran downstairs, almost tripping on her foot. The rest of her family stared at her, shocked at the way she was reacting. She paid them no mind. Her eyes were on Pops who was smiling before she looked into Marco's, looking so pale and shocked as if she saw a ghost. Marco raised an eyebrow at his sister, just like the rest of them, his curiosity only grew about this guest for them to shock Haruta into speechlessness.
"P-Pops..." She called out. The rest of her words went unsaid but Whitebeard understood what his daughter was asking.
"Yes. Did you tell our guest to join us for breakfast?" She calmed down a little and realized she bolted out without telling her anything.
"I forgot. Wait, let me do that!" She ran upstairs again with curious eyes trailing her. Whitebeard chuckled, amused and looking forward to how his children would react. He eyed Marco who was incredulous and he only smiled at his son.
Haruta, who was panting, managed to reach the second floor of the Mansion and found Ann walking the hallways.
"Uhm, Pops said you should join us for breakfast." Ann blinked in confusion. Before she could answer, Haruta ran away again and left her to walk at her pace.
When she reached the top of the stairs, she finally heard voices coming from the formal dining room which conveniently was near the stairs. This means that most of the Officers are here, having breakfast and Ann would not have any choice but to face all of them.
With each step Ann took, the voices grew louder and she managed to determine who was in the dining room.
"What got you so flustered, Haruta?" It was Thatch's voice.
"Uhh..." Haruta was speechless, must still be shocked to find out about Ann.
"You looked like you saw a ghost." It was Izou.
"Or she's just being dramatic." That was Curiel.
"I am not saying anything." Haruta managed to say and that was probably for the best. The rest of the voices blended in the background and Ann did not hear Marco's voice at all. Does it mean he was not here? A surge of hope blossomed inside Ann as she managed to reach the bottom of the stairs, inevitably announcing her presence. And when they sensed it, everyone's voice went silent.
She looked up and met their shocked gazes. Ann could have handled it, but Marco's presence, the most shocked of all, made her squirm with discomfort. For the first time in almost a year since her identity as Firefist was revealed, she met him again face-to-face.
The heavy weight of his gaze was too much for Ann to bear. She couldn't bear to watch his eyes change from surprise to fury. Biting her lip, she looked away and began walking towards the exit. She wanted to get away from here and to find Luffia to throttle her to death.
"And where are you going?" Whitebeard's voice stopped her in her tracks. She could have remained silent and left but after her encounter with Whitebeard last night, the least thing she could do was answer.
"To kill that brat!" She answered, voice filled with fury.
"Gurarara!" Whitebeard's laugh echoed, seemingly breaking the tension formed earlier. "And how are you supposed to do that?" Ann turned around, eyes vehemently avoiding the gaze of Marco but given how close Whitebeard was sitting next to the younger man, that was quite a hard thing to do. "The alliance has been established, which means you cannot leave."
"I did not agree to that!" She spat, frustrated.
"But that is how it is." Whitebeard sounded so amused while looking at Ann whose frustration was totally understandable.
"I'm leaving!"
"How can you leave? Your key was surrendered to me. So as your phone. Don't tell me you planned on walking because if that is the case, you might as well announce to the whole Grandline that you're still alive. Which means, the World Government would hunt you down with Big Mom and Kaido following suit." Ann looked down, shoulders slumped in defeat. No matter what she does, leaving this place won't be easy unless Whitebeard would allow her to do so.
Sensing her distress, Whitebeard smiled fondly.
"I don't think you've eaten since last night. Come and sit. You need to fill your body with energy because we have a lot to talk about."
Ann bit her lower lip again, muttering curses and promising to kill Luffia later. She contemplated if she should just run away. The exit was just a few meters but remembering Whitebeard's point, she was left with no choice but to take his offer.
Whitebeard gestured for her to sit at the empty spot next to him, and coincidentally, it was the seat in front of Marco. All Ann could do was sit down, head hanging low, and tolerate the heavy gazes directed at her, especially Marco's.
"Alright, let's eat everyone." Everyone was still reeling in shock but their Pops encouraged everyone to go on, including Ann who was having a hard time moving from her spot. Whitebeard was considerate enough to place eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and a couple of sliced fruits on Ann's plate when he sensed that she might not eat. She glanced at Whitebeard only to meet that fatherly smile he always has, which only worsened the guilt that Ann was feeling. Here she was, being fed and encouraged to eat by the person she betrayed and almost killed.
"How's the leg? The drug injected into you must be a pretty hard one. Gurarara!" Ann was thankful that Whitebeard was making sure to break the tension in the dining room. But his question reminded her of her bratty sister.
"I'll kill her when I get my hands on her." She muttered, still pissed at Luffia. Her mind supplied her with several ways of torturing her sister for what she did to her.
"Gurarara! She was feisty!"
"Feisty?! More like crazy!" Whitebeard only laughed when he remembered Luffia's suggestion last night. It was below the belt and had Whitebeard questioning the sanity of Roger's youngest brat. But then again, if she was like Roger, this idea was something Roger would do in passing.
The breakfast was eaten in silence except for Whitebeard asking a couple of questions just to break that eerie silence. None of the officers dared to ask their Pops about Ann, but their gazes held several questions in them.
When everyone was done eating, Ann prepared herself to be interrogated only for Whitebeard to ask Haruta to help Ann settle down in her room, stating she needed to rest because the side effects of the drug still lingered in her body. She had no time to protest and was only thankful that at least, Whitebeard was very considerate of her delicate state of mind. He was allowing her to prepare for the inevitable questions later on.
Haruta was nice enough not to ask questions and opted to give Ann a set of clothes she could borrow. She was treating Ann like a guest.
"You don't have to be nice to me." Ann couldn't take the kindness and consideration that Haruta was showing her. "I know you hate me considering what I did." Haruta was quite shocked when she heard Ann speak to her. She thought Ann would remain silent for quite some time.
"I don't hate you." It was Ann's turn to be surprised. "At first, I was mad at you. But, now I don't. I am still pissed at what you did. Besides, now that you're alive, at least I get to ask you why you did what you did. For you to remove the bombs in that building, risking your life and your identity, you must have a reason for doing so. And of course, when you tried killing Pops."
"It was a blunder. The biggest mistake I made." Sensing the sincerity in her voice, Haruta refrained from asking further and left Ann alone. There would be time later for all their questions to be answered.
===XXX===XXX===XXX===
As soon as Haruta left with Ann, all eyes eagerly looked at Whitebeard for answers. Especially Marco who was on the verge of a mental breakdown. It took him half a year to finally accept that he could mourn her death, that he could grieve, only to suddenly discover that she was still alive.
"Pops." He pleaded with his father. The question goes unsaid, but the quiver in his voice was enough for Whitebeard to know what exactly his son needed to know.
"I did not know she was alive until last night. Like everyone else, I thought she was dead." Marco was silent after that, face buried in his hand as he suppressed the urge to cry. He didn't bother to think what sort of reactions his siblings would have in his state. They have seen him at his worst. What difference does it make if he cries now?
"I know you have questions about the alliance I was talking about. It will be explained later today. And how this alliance came to be is connected to Ann, including her previous actions. I am not telling you to easily forgive her, but it won't hurt to at least know the reasons behind her actions." Whitebeard said with finality before turning to Marco who was still in the midst of mental distraught. "All things said, it's a relief to see her alive. Don't you think, son?"
Marco nodded, face still hidden behind his palm.