Chapter 10: Twilight Isles, Part One
I felt my eyebrow twitch as a clean bone flew over my head, the scene in front of me isn't something I really wish to witness at all.
When we pull the two men, Ace and his companion, up onto the Silver Fang, they thanked us for rescuing them and admitting that they are completely lost and have no idea where the closest island is. Being the good fellow that she is, Silvia decides to take them to Twilight Isles with us. As Ace thanked us, their stomachs let out a loud growl. After exchanging a small laughter, she invited them to join us in the mess hall for lunch.
And I think she is already regretting her decision to do so.
The two men, one being the son of Roger and the future commander of the Whitebeard pirates as well as the bearer of the initial 'D', immediately starts chowing down on almost every meal Gord has prepared for the crew to eat, so much that he is struggling to keep up with their appetites; well, one of them anyways.
As I absent-mindedly stir about my bowl of stew, the lone bowl I was able to save from his grasp, my eyes keep looking and studying the brother of the future pirate king.
If it isn't obvious enough, Ace at this point isn't anyone special, his name isn't that well-known at this point. Besides his signature orange hat and black pants, he also dons a yellow short-sleeved dress shirt left opened to showcase his chiselled pecs and abs to the world at large, his canon outfit for when he was just starting out which means he hasn't start up the Spade Pirates yet.
And that would mean that his companion is probably his first mate, whose name escapes me. He is a rather intriguing individual, with that navy-blue mask over his eyes. He has spiky long light blue hair and is wearing long green coat that stretches down to his knees over his bare chest, along with a pair of trousers with a rose design on the bottom left which is held up by a belt along with a pair of dark knee-length boots.
I couldn't find any translation for the spin-off novel that chronicling Ace's journey from an infamous rookie pirate to Fire Fist Ace, so any information about him at this point in time is pretty much a mystery to me. But I do remember reading a small wiki page on the first chapter of the novel, which tells us how he got his first crewmember, whose name still escapes me.
But, wait a minute…
If he got his first mate already… then where did he got the rest of his crew?
I mean, if weren't for us coincidentally finding them, they might be left lost in the open ocean and be set adrift for a very long time.
So… if that's the case, was the Silver Fang picking them up something that is bound to happen anyways? If that's so, is him heading to the Twilight Isles part of his journey too? I mean, I would hate to just interrupt his journey on just a coincidence meeting… the last thing I need is to butterfly away him becoming Fire Fist.
"…say…" Lee sitting next to me decide to speak up, "We've never gotten your names. Why don't I start first? I'm Lee, the quartermaster of this vessel, this is Rein, our ship guard," I gave them a mock salute, "and you've meet Silvia, our captain." She waved at them from that declaration, "And you are…?"
"Hmph?" Ace swallows his meal, literally, as he replies, "Oh, I'm Ace. Portgas D. Ace. And this is Masked Deuce."
His companion raises his hand with a friendly, "Yo." before going back to eating.
"Wait, his name is Masked Deuce?" I asked curiously, "As in it is his legal name, or…"
"It's just what I call him." He stated with a chuckle.
"Okay, Ace." Lee nodded, "Just out of curiosity, what exactly were the two of you doing on the open sea on that dingy? I doubt you're just cruising about and got lost."
"It was that." Deuce tells us tiredly, much to our bewilderment, "We were stranded on a deserted island and somehow, with a little ingenuity, manages to build a raft to escape to the open sea. But then someone here forgotten to mention that he doesn't know how to navigate."
"Hey, you didn't ask."
"That's not the point here!" He shouted before letting out a sigh, "So, anyways… we ended up just drifting about the open waters, trying to find any land nearby. We were just about to go through our supplies until you people show up."
"Well…" Silvia muses a little with a wry smile, "With a man with that appetite, it's bound to happen."
We all glanced at the gluttonous Ace who is still stuffing his face full with food. "Hm? What's the matter–Zzz…" He is cut off from finishing his sentence as he just splats his face into the dish of seafood risotto, loud snoring can be heard from him.
"Uh…"
His first mate shrugs his shoulders, "Yeah, that happens all the time." Deuce sighs.
"Narcolepsy." Justin diagnosed from her spot on the table next to ours, "But this is the first time I've seen a case like his."
"So that's the name of that symptom… Anyways…not to sound rude or anything…" He points at Kris, who also manages to save a bowl of stew along with a few roasted shrimps, with the fishmen looking at us in confusion, "What's with the fishman? Did you pick him up from somewhere? Because the fishmen I know are…"
"He's a part of the crew too." Silvia assures him, "And…" She glanced at him, Kris shaking his head, "Nope, he doesn't have any affiliation with that band of barbaric monsters. No offense."
"None taken." The fishman shrugs his shoulder before returning to his meal.
"Ah, I see." The masked man nodded, "Though it is odd, seeing a fishman among us being all… normal."
"Kris is just like any one of us." I tell him, "His race has nothing to do with it."
"Zzz–Mmph! W-Wha…? What happened?"
Ace took this time to finally wake up from his sudden nap, lifting his now rice-covered face from the plate as he glances around him. "Damn it, did I just fell asleep again?"
"Look at the bright side." Deuce pointed out with a grin. "At least you didn't fell into the bowl of stew."
We all shared a good laugh as the meal time carries on uninterrupted.
After that, the days where Ace and Deuce became our traveling companions were hectic as all heck.
As it turns out, as I myself have unfortunately encountered first-hand, Ace does have his Devil Fruit powers.
It is obvious, after you crashes into the guy and instead of smacking him into ground, you went right through the guy and got your jacket on fire. Also, you might had in a panic got rid of the burning fabric and accidentally tossing right into the box of gunpowder which SOMEONE left out in the open, which in turn nearly blow the ship in half!
That was not a good day…
Other than that, they were quite a humble duo, with them just hanging about on the deck doing their own thing, occasionally helping us out.
Or in Ace's case, try to help and end up sleeping right in the middle of it.
Justin has put it on her shoulders to try and help his condition even by a little bit, but it's to no avail as the results all ended up the same either way. She still determined to at least find out the trigger for his Narcolepsy, though, no matter how random it is.
I managed to talk to them a few times, especially Deuce as he isn't as… overwhelming as his captain.
Besides Ace's obvious goals that I would not let him declare in the open sea where any one of my crew mates are close to a cannon or firearm, the last thing I need is for the Silver Fang to burn to ashes from people just firing without asking, I've learned of Deuce own goals for traveling out to sea.
Apparently, he is a med college dropout who decided to head out into sea to fulfil his own dreams of writing adventure novels. Not what I would have expected from someone with his taste in clothing, but from what I've read of the samples of his first story, he definitely has it in him.
Time soon flew us by, and in long last, we've reached our destination.
"Land ahoy! Port Royalise up ahead!"
The moment the lookout from the crow's nest shouted out that message late into the afternoon, almost every crew member, like before, all got into their landing stations in preparation for docking. As I helped out with the ropes, I took a small moment to glance at the approaching landmass over the horizon.
From what is written in the goddess' guidebook, the Twilight Isles is comprised of two islands with one being larger by a few square miles, the larger one acting as sort of a mainland hub for travellers and other ships while the smaller one is less occupied due to its massive forests that covers every part of the island along with numerous small hills.
It is here which the Britt Kingdom, the ruling patriarch of this island is founded and established, along with its capital of Brittia which is situated in the heart of the island on the foot of a mountain. The Britt Kingdom itself is a relatively new country, only founded just a few decades ago and only just been invited to this year's Reverie.
It is a small kingdom that has quite a bit of a history, being the end result of a century-long civil war between its original rulers of what is now the defunct Latian Kingdom and what was originally just a peasant uprising that became a rebellion army all together. From what is written down, the previous rulers were pretty much selfish pricks that just did whatever they damn pleased. From over-taxing its citizens, especially the lower class like farmers, to just capturing people who has caught their fancy, or has wronged them in some way, to be used as slaves.
Eventually, the tension finally snapped when a commoner straight up attacked and killed a member of the royal court in broad daylight. That single act of rebellion sparks the start of an uprising from the commoner folk which later evolved into a bloody civil war that tore the kingdom from the inside and outside.
In the end, the rebellion is triumph with the Latian Kingdom getting overthrown with its royalty are either executed or exiled from the island all together, and is renamed the Britt Kingdom, after the person who has killed the first noble all those years ago. And after that, they manage to rebuilt the entire kingdom and made it even stronger than before.
And its port town shows it too.
Port Royalise is the port that has a direct uninterrupted road towards the capital, as well as it being its biggest trading town. Which, unfortunately, made it to a valued target for all sorts of lowlifes. And because of that, there are turrets built into walls that border around the town facing the sea, with each possessing three long barrels.
The harbour isn't very big, with enough spots for about ten ships with a small area dedicated for rowboats from the larger ships anchored in the deeper waters, while the town itself is a rather large city, on the same scale as Gula if added a few square yards. Its buildings are made of stone bricks, with a few taller buildings standing out here and there.
In the middle of it is a large channel of water that seems to flow through the town and split into two when it reaches a certain point before splitting again and looping back around. In the channel are a couple of boats that seems to be acting as ferries of sorts that are rowing up and down the waterway.
And to top it all over, smack right in the middle of it is a large fortress of sorts. Its four towers built high above all the other buildings with a central tower being the highest of them all, its navy blue roofs conical in nature that has a flag pole on each one flying a triangular flag of certain colours, with the one on the central tower having the rectangular flag of the kingdom: white with red lines crossed diagonally and a shield crest that has a large dragon head in the middle of it.
"Talk about huge…" I muttered out as I tied the ropes onto the railings.
"It is, isn't?" Sen stated, patting his palms together to clear away some straws stuck to them, "For a kingdom that is still recovering from that civil war of theirs, they managed to make great progress. For example, that district over to the left there was–"
"You can share your history lessons later, Sen." Silvia tells us, "For now, form up near the main mast. I like to have a small briefing first."
"Well, it has been fun!" Ace calls out as he and Deuce stepped onto the railings, before turning and giving us a polite bow, "Thank you again for the ride, but we have to skedaddle now."
"May we meet again." His first mate stated with a wave.
"Take care now!" Lee tells them as they leap off the ship and ran into the town.
"Don't get stranded again, okay!?" Gord added on.
Soon enough, their figures disappear into the crowd. Welp, I guess that'll be the last time I'll be seeing of them for a long while. With luck, I'll probably never see them until maybe when Fire Fist Ace makes the news.
After all of that, Silvia issues out jobs for our crew to do in our day here with a few exceptions getting shore leave, giving us the deadline to be back at least before midnight to prepare for the trip for tomorrow. Sen, despite people really wanting him to help with the resupplying, decided to take the shore leave and brought me on a small tour around the town.
And got to say, there is a lot of things he told me over the span of a few hours.
For example; the district on the south-east part of town, the most inland portion of the town, was once one of the largest areas of mass-carnage in the civil war, being the plot of land that the defenders of Port Royalise, when it was called Fortress Lyn, has dedicated their forces to protecting via constant cannon fire and even resorting to prototype landmines of all things at the tail end of the war. Its soil is soaked in so much blood, oil and gunpowder that, according to him, no grass or weed will ever grow there ever again.
And now, thanks to half-a-decade of work digging up all of the landmines with almost disastrous affect, that plot of soil is integrated into the town as its, funnily enough, biggest commercial district with businesses of all kinds moving there due to the people traffic it gets from being the closest to the gate.
To turn that bloody wasteland into the district filled with businesses of all kinds, these people are definitely a tenacious bunch.
That also brings us to our current location, in the town square which houses the entrance to the bridge that leads into the fortress I saw in the distance.
The square itself is huge, with a wooden stage erected in the middle of it that has what I presume is the stand for the Den-Den Mushi variant of a microphone, along with a couple of fountains to loosen the atmosphere. Around the edges of the square are stores of various stands selling all sorts of things, from knickknacks of all kinds from cheap accessories and jewelleries to wooden figures of many kinds.
But what stands out is the large stature erected near the wooden stage, a bronze stature of a lone man in a knightly armour holding his sword up in a form a salute while his helmet is tucked under his arm.
"Who's this guy?" I asked, "Must be important and famous to get his own stature."
"Famous is right." Sen tells me, "That right there, is the founder of the Britt Kingdom himself, King Arthurious Peragon."
"The founder, huh…?" So, this is the guy that ended the Latian Kingdom…? Namesake aside, he definitely looks like someone who could be a parallel to the King of Knights himself.
"Arthurious is the one that led the rebellion to victory in the tail end of the war." He explains, "A hero of the common people, he is as virtuous and kind to his allies as he is fierce and ruthless to his enemies on the battle field. It is said that his skills with the sword is unmatched as is his skills as a leader, being able to overturn a losing battle every time."
"That's… kind of exaggerating a little." I pointed out.
"Maybe so, but the fact that he is strong is fact. For example, you see that sword?" He then points at the statue's sword, an ornate longsword with an arc cross guard with a couple of indentions around the ricasso, "That's the Elderburn, the Sword of the Absolute Monarch. It is given to him by a great sage which has aided him in his many battles, including in his final one in which he finally overthrows the Latian Kingdom."
Elderburn? That's a weird ass name. But given a sword by some greater power… the parallels just keep coming up, huh?
"Although the dumb name itself was his idea." Sen added on with a sigh, "I told him that it was called Grimsalve, but noooooooo~ He is like, 'It's too dark and grim…' and changed it! Like, is Elderburn any better!?"
Wait, did he suggest what I think he is suggesting…!?
"Sen, YOU are the 'great sage'!?"
"Oh, did I not mention that?" He stated with a thoughtful look, "Yeah, it was me, but I went by a different name at the time."
"Wait, that means…" I did a mental calculation before remembering a certain fact about him, "Sen… how old ARE you?"
"Hm… that's… a really good question…" He then starts counting with his finger, "Taking today's date in consideration, I should be around… twenty… hundred… around nine hundred this year, give or take."
"You're almost a millennium old!?"
Holy crap! I did suspect his age to be in the triple digits at least, but to be THIS old!? That's insane! Not including the giants, the oldest age I have known of this world is Kureha with her youthful hundred over years old! And that's not including the Five Elder Stars, who I am certain is as old as the World Government itself!
Hold on… if he is almost a thousand years old… then wouldn't it be possible that he has live through the void century? Then… the truth behind that missing world history… he could have the answer! The answer that every One Piece fans has only theorized about!
"Hey, Sen! Do you know about the Void–"
"NO."
A single word stops my lips from moving, as he suddenly start glaring at me with the air suddenly feeling VERY heavy. My knees nearly buckle under my own weight as I could only stare in horror and fear, my lungs refusing to take in air and every part of my body is screaming to run yet locking up from the overwhelming fear.
Is… could this be…!?
"I know what you must be thinking, but under no circumstances, and I mean NO circumstances, are you to ask me about that forgotten history." He stated firmly, "The last person I have gave that warning to ignored it and got his entire island burned to the ground by the five paranoid bastards up on that red mountain. I do not want that to happen to you, or the East Traders. Is. That. Clear?"
"Cr…Cr…Crystal…Cl…Cl…Clear…"
He seemingly accepted the reply I managed to choke out, before the pressure suddenly lifted and air rushes back into my lungs causing me to cough out a couple of times. Was… was that Conqueror Haki? Sen has that power that is rumored to only reside in one in a billion? If I didn't think he is overpowered before… this definitely solidifies it.
"Sorry for the rough treatment." He apologized as he rubbed his neck sheepishly, "But the way you wanted to ask me has brought back some… rather painful memories…"
My mind immediately went to part of his warning, about someone's island getting burned to the ground due to searching for the Void Century. One island came to mind, along with its survivor.
"Were you… a citizen of Ohara?"
That question got one heck of a reaction from him as he immediately flinches before lowering the rim of his hat over his eyes, "…In a sense… yes. I was a part of Ohara at one point in my life, until the…"
"Buster Call?"
"…Yeah, that…" He let out a sigh, "Ohara was… is a place of great knowledge with scholars from all walks of life working together under a single desire to learn everything about the world as they can. But… sometimes that desire can lead to dangerous territories, territories that the World Government would rather you not intrude if you value your life. Sadly, despite my warnings to NOT look into the Void Century, they dwell into the lion den, and stepped on every lion sleeping there." I saw his other hand clenched into a tight fist, "Clover… you stupid, stupid, stupid idiot…"
"…Were you there?" I asked, before immediately realised how insensitive that question was, "I-I mean, besides Robin, there shouldn't be any other survivors. And I wanted to know if…You know…"
Sen looked at me for a moment, I feeling the pressure coming in before it resided as he let out another sigh, "No… no, I wasn't. If I were there, I would have sunk the entire fleet and kill everyone onboard starting with that lava mutt before heading to Mariejois to tear those old bastards' asses so much that they'll need to be seating on the toilet twenty-four seven."
…okay, talk about one heck of a grudge… and I can picture that happening too, despite how gruesome it might be…
"…Sorry for bringing that up…" I apologized, "I…I didn't know that you're–"
*GROWL*
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
I felt my face burn while Sen let out a loud laugh at my expense. Damn it, stomach, really!? First at Riza with Suiren and now here!?
"SAHAHAHAHAHA!" He howled in laughter, "Oh man, you stomach has the best timing ever!"
"S-Shut up!"
"Sahaha… oh, I needed that…" He then turns to me with a smile, "How about we get some dinner before we head back?"
"…Yeah." I nodded with a smile of my own, "Let's."
We find ourselves in a small diner near the docks to have our dinner, one that goes by the name Pisces' Kitchen(I swear, this names just keep getting lamer and lazier with each new place…).
As we wait for our meals to arrive, I decided to ask Sen more about his involvement in the founding of the Britt Kingdom.
"So… you're the one that gave Arthurious his sword." I listed out, "The very same sword that would be known as the Sword of Absolute Monarchy?"
"Yup, although I never did find out why the extra title is… well, that."
"Yeah, but that's besides the point." I pointed out before adding on, "Is there anything else you've contributed to the rebellion?"
"Hm… well, I did train Arthurious in swordplay, amongst many things…" Sen listed on, "And also… help build their command center, give him intel on the enemies a few times, told him about the secret passage under the castle which he used to free the captured slaves, broke him out of prison a couple of times–"
"Did you say prison?"
"He got caught by one of their generals, a dumb idiot who only caught him due to him coincidentally finding him literally with his pants down. The second time is on purpose, in a plan which involves a distraction and a super easy assassination attempt."
"Oh. Carry on."
"Thank you. Now where was I–Oh, yes! And I told him where the dumb king was hiding that help end the damn war. Also, I'm the priest for his wedding ceremony."
"You're… REALLY involved in the war, aren't you?" I pointed out in surprise.
"It was a way to kill time, to be honest." He explains, "And it helps that Arthurious is pretty decent guy. Although his jokes are terrible…"
"Is that so…?"
"Here's your order."
The waitress comes to our table and delivers our meals, swiftly and carefully placing the plates of food in front of us, "Beef stroganoff and whiskey for the adult. And one dinner set for the kid. Enjoy your meals."
I let loose a little grumble at her words as I stab my Salisbury steak, "I'm fucking twenty…"
"I thought you'll get used to it at this point." Sen points out as he slurps his noodles, "And besides, despite the cons, there are a lot of upsides to being that short."
"Such as…?"
"…You can get a kid discount at restaurants?"
"Besides the obvious."
"…"
"Yeah, didn't think so."
By the time we finish our dinner and left the diner, the sun has long set over the horizon and the moon has rise into the dark blue sky. Seeing that there's still a fair bit of time before midnight, we decided to take our time walking back to the Silver Fang and just enjoy to quiet evening.
I took in the beautiful night sky, the half-moon shining down on us as the lampposts lit the roads. The cold sea wind blows into my hair, the warm salty air brushes against my cheeks, "It sure is quiet tonight, huh?" I pointed out, "It's almost like the busy streets of this afternoon is just an afterthought."
"It sure is." Sen nodded, "But, it's the small patches of peace and serenity in life that make the busy parts of it worth it."
"If you say so." I shrugged, "At least this is relaxing, instead of boring. I think I have enough excitement for today–"
"LOOK OUT!"
And just as I said that, something slams into me and knocks me off my feet and send my tumbling onto the ground. I let out a small hiss over my bruised butt cheeks before looking at whatever has landed on me.
Lying on top of me seems to be a person, a woman if the soft cushions pressing on my semi-visible lumps has me to believe, dressed in a long brown cloak. Its hood has pulled back from the impact to reveal her face, a young girl in her late teens with pink locks tied in a braid that is tied in a bun on the back on her head and turquoise eyes.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry about this!" She apologized to me.
"It's no problem." I tells her with a sheepish chuckle, "I wasn't exactly looking at where I was going, either–"
"Princess Luna?"
The moment those words left Sen's mouth, the woman flinched, before turning to face my mentor, and then stating in what can be described in surprised-relief, "Master Meron?"
"Master what?" I asked in confusion, before pointing at the girl, "And who is this? You two know each other?"
"More than that." Sen noted as he pulls the girl off of me, "Rein, meet Luna Peragon; the granddaughter of Arthurious Peragon and the crown princess of the Britt Kingdom."
The crown princess!? Her?! What's a princess, let alone the heiress to the throne herself, doing out in the docks in the middle of the night!? Not to mention… "Why did she call you Meron?"
"Meron is what I called myself during the civil war." He explains before turning to the princess, "What are you doing out here, princess? It's not safe for a young girl to be out here so late."
"That's because–"
"Cornered now, your highness."
A nasty and nasally voice calls out, from the shadows emerged a large man in tank top and slacks tucked into a pair of leather boots wielding a cutlass in one hand while a pistol is tuck into his pants. Behind him, a few more thugs-looking men walks out wielding all sorts of nasty weapons from clubs, to bats with nails drilled into it, to good ol' fashion swords.
"Now be a good girl and come with us."
…Why do I keep jinxing myself!?
…
To be continued…
Yes! This will be the first long arc of this series! And right on chapter ten too! And also, Ace has a just slight cameo in the first portion of this chapter but don't you worry, for he'll be playing a bigger role in this arc. You just have to wait and see!
For those of you who aren't familiar with the lore, the character of Masked Deuce came up in the light novel adaptation of the Ace's rookie days leading up to his rise as the legendary Fire Fist Ace, and is in fact his actual first mate. I wasn't able to find a translated version of the novel, but the One Piece Wiki does have a summary of a novel's chapters so I'm working based on that.
If there is a translated version that I do not know about, please let me know.
Now anyways, I like to point out that I'm quite a big fan of Arthurian legends with the Sword in the Stone being one of the first Disney movies I've watched when I was a kid. So, expect some similarities and parallels to them.
With that, I thank you all for reading this!