A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! Take advantage of the holidays to have a good time with family and friends. For my part, I offer you this chapter which will be a little longer than the others. I will resume writing after the New Year to start the year off right.
Feel free to join the Discord of The Marine Demon's War Diary
Thank you.
POV Tanya Degurechaff
Tanya had no trouble getting used to her new rank of lieutenant, although she felt like she had been demoted compared to her old rank of major in her previous life. But on the other hand, she no longer needed to go to all the fronts of the country, because according to these observations, this world seemed at peace despite the many acts of piracy.
Once arrived in town with Sergeant Koby, Tanya asked him to tell her about the uniform shop that the Fleet Admiral had asked her to visit to change clothes before parting on the pretext of not wanting to buy clothes in the company of a man.
Having learned of the reason why she wanted to separate, Koby turned all red and headed in the opposite direction to a small cake shop.
Being finally alone for a while, Tanya decided to visit the city by going to what seemed to be the big square in the city center. It wasn't the biggest square she had seen, but it seemed to be bustling and full of life. The area was bounded by homes and businesses. In the center was a park with lots of trees and greenery. A playground was erected in the center of the park. All around the park, people came and went between the various businesses and restaurants.
"It must be the families of the soldiers," concludes Tanya, "otherwise what would so many civilians do near a military zone."
What caught the eye the most was a large, solid gold clock fixed to the facade of the buildings to the north of the plaza. The dial was to be about three meters in diameter. A single hand, at the end of which represented a lamb, indicated the hours.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice that seemed to call her and came from behind her. Turning around, she saw a soldier running towards her.
Lieutenant Degurechaff, Lieutenant Degurechaff he cried before arriving in front of her out of breath.
Yes? What do you want from me, soldier? She allowed herself to answer like that because she had assimilated the fact that only soldiers wore the basic uniform of the Navy. The officers, on the other hand, had much more freedom regarding their clothing choices.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku instructed me to deliver this to you," the soldier replied while handing over a leather wallet. "It should contain 100,000 Berry to be able to buy your equipment"
Tanya thanked the soldier and took the wallet and slipped it into the inside pocket of her jacket. Before letting the soldier go, Tanya asked if he could give the amount of a Marine soldier's monthly salary.
The question seemed to surprise the soldier because Tanya saw the latter's eyebrows rise.
"About 210,000 berry Madame." He seemed curious about her request, but he surely didn't dare to question his superior.
"That will be all for my soldier, You are dismissed"
The soldier saluted Tanya by raising her hand to her temple, which her boots clacked at the same time before turning around and heading back to HQ.
Before heading to the clothing store which was in an adjacent street behind the main square, Tanya began to look at the windows of the various shops, whether clothing stores, food stores, weapons stores…
With what she had just seen of the various items on display and the amount of the soldier's salary, Tanya came to the conclusion that the value of the "berry" was similar to the Japanese Yen. deduce that 100 yen was more or less equivalent to 125 berries of this world.
It was important for the young girl to know the value of money in this world because she did not want to be cheated by unscrupulous people.
Looking back at the clock in the square, Tanya noticed that it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. She hurried to join the uniform shop because she did not know its opening hours. To go faster and avoid going around this square, a shortcut was needed. Tanya took the path of the park and crossed it.
Passing in front of the playground, where the children were having fun with each other, some, seeing the little blonde passing nearby, called out to her.
kids: Hey, Hey, are you expecting your parents too? Come play with us. We play Marine against pirates.
"I don't have time" Tanya replied in a dry tone that scared some children.
She was really tired of being treated like a child, and her small size, smaller than average and especially in this world, did not help her case.
"Surely a shot of Being Y" grumbled Tanya, kicking the first small stone that came along.
Arrived in front of the shop, Tanya contemplated the uniforms presented on display as well as the price displayed. 35,000 berries for the full sailor uniform. Out of curiosity, she also looked at the price of an admiral's uniform. Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets and ended up on the sidewalk. It was excessively expensive: 140,500 berries.
"What exactly is an Admiral's salary? Taking her eyes off the window, Tanya entered the store. She was not very tall and she was all in length. The shop had three small shelves containing different uniforms. On the left side near the wall was a small showcase containing various accessories, whether Marine caps, scarves, brass knuckles, but also to his surprise some sabers and their scabbards.
An old woman was on her right, behind the cash register. She must have owned the place. When Tanya approached the crate where the old lady was, she noticed that she was sleeping soundly.
"Excuse me, can you enlighten me?" Tanya asked.
After a few seconds, the old woman opened her eyes and yawned until her jaw dropped.
Oh is it you?
In front of the surprised look of the young girl, the manager continued: A young sergeant with pink hair warned me that you were going to pass during the day. And then you've already made a name for yourself here. Some soldiers passing through my shop call you "the demon".
"He would make an effective second," Tanya thought to herself ignoring the rest of her sentence.
So you know that I need a uniform because apparently, the one I wear would not be suitable for the Marine because it would not allow me to be identified.
No, indeed, green is not a usual color in the Marine indicated the old woman, looking Tanya up and down. Besides, I do not recognize this uniform where does it come from?
"It's a gift I received from a very precious friend, I don't really know where it can come from, the little blonde hastened to answer". It wasn't really a lie as her uniform was mostly retouched by Visha so that it could be adjusted to her size.
"Okay," the manager replied simply. "And may I know your current rank? Depending on the latter, I could direct you to certain outfits."
Tanya told the old lady that she was currently Lieutenant Junior.
Hearing her answer, she replied with a big smile before continuing: "I find it quite ironic the rank they gave you. However, the advantage is that you are considered a Marine officer, which gives you a little more freedom than ungraded soldiers."
She immediately thinks back to Lieutenant Tashigi as well as the living cigar who did not actually wear the traditional Marine uniform. "But if they can wear whatever they want, why can't I keep my uniform?" Tanya wondered.
"The fame" suddenly dropped the manager as if she had read her thoughts.
Well-known officers can afford to wear original clothes because the population will recognize them, which is not your case and I would even add that in view of your physique it would be quite disadvantageous to always have to justify being of the Marine.
Tanya gave up and told the manager that she had free rein for her uniform as long as it didn't contain any feminine accessories. Obviously not surprised by the request, the old manager then took in her hands a large piece of black fabric, another white and gold fabric, much smaller than the other two. She ogled Tanya for a few moments before making the pieces of fabric disappear behind a smoke screen.
Before Tanya could say anything, the manager told her, "I ate the fruit of Cloth Cloth no Mi and became a cloth woman, I have the ability to transform the shape of cloth into whatever I wish. "
Once the cloud of smoke cleared, she handed the clothes to the young girl so that she could try them on in the store's only fitting room, she also gave her a small rapier with an all-black handle and the guard of a golden color. The sheath was white with a few black stripes down.
After a few minutes in the cabin, the young girl finally came out dressed in her new outfit.
She wore black pants close enough to her body without appearing tight.
The pants were also equipped with short straps that started from the top of her thighs to join the back of the pants in the lower back. Tanya had chosen to let them hang on the sides because she did not see their use because they were much too short to reach her shoulders.
She had left her black military boots aside to make way for white ankle boots. The sole, as well as the upper of the shoes had a golden color as well as the inside of the pair. Surprisingly, these shoes were very comfortable.
An all-white shirt covered her upper body, it had nothing special except that the sleeves were puffy allowing greater freedom of movement. She wore long black gloves up to her elbow. She had placed her Iron Cross and her Silver Wings medal on her chest, there was no question of getting rid of her badges, a symbol of years of effort and fight against Being X.
Finally, "a justice coat" was placed on these small shoulders. The difference with those she had seen before was that hers was completely black with golden shoulder pads. The word "justice" is written on the back in a white color so that it can be read.
After a few moments of gazing at herself in the mirror, Tanya turned and said to her: It's perfect! How much do I owe you?
Considering the small amount of fabric and effort I had to provide, I'll give you a price of 70,0000 berries, the manager told her while handing her a cap that looked like the one she wore before, except for the difference. that it had turned black instead of the usual green and gold instead of the red parts.
Thank you very much Mrs replied Tanya while grabbing her wallet to pay the manager. The latter handed her a small plastic bag so that she could store her old uniform inside.
Before leaving the store, Tanya bowed again to the manager to thank her.
Once outside, Tanya returned to the level of the large square in the center of town and looked at the golden clock. It was already four-thirty in the afternoon, but she still had time to stroll around enjoying her day off. She went to a coffee shop and sat on the terrace.
When the waiter came to her table, he was wearing an all-black suit with a white short-sleeved shirt. His outfit was far too sophisticated for this type of place. She ordered a coffee without sugar and without milk to the great surprise of the waiter as well as squares of chocolates.
No matter what world she found herself in, coffee and chocolate will remain her sins.
The waiter was very efficient as she didn't wait long to be served, she tasted the coffee wistfully, it wasn't as good as the one Visha made, but it was better than nothing. She was taken out of her nostalgic thoughts about her old battalion by a flight of birds wearing postman caps and bags slung over the city center.
"But what is this world?" Tanya wondered in dismay.
After two or three laps around the square, the postmen emptied the contents of their cargo from their bags. To Tanya's surprise, there were several copies of the newspaper.
She had already had the opportunity in the HQ library to read old articles, but she was far from imagining the method of distribution of these. Reading the various articles was fascinating, telling the various news around the world.
Tanya grabbed one of the newspapers that had fallen near her from the ground, delighted to be able to hear about this new world that was opening up to her, but when she saw the headline of the day, her face went completely pale. On the cover was a title she hoped never to see again in her new life.
"Imminent war between the Marine and the crew of Whitebeard."
Everything made sense in her mind, the soldier who came to interrupt her interrogation concerning this famous crew, the large concentration of soldiers and ships on this island, the horrified and annoyed faces of the soldiers, and the words of Sengoku during her evaluation "I will need with all the forces available for these next few days…"
Tanya was getting all shaky. "A war! Again and again these damn wars! Being Y, you are very strong, I have only been in this world for two days, and you are already dragging me into an armed conflict. Damn you! "
"Calm down Tanya," she said with a sigh, there is no guarantee that I will have to participate, after all, I have not had any training. "When I get back to HQ I will ask Vice Admiral Garp directly, after all, he is in charge of my training, he should know. I refuse to go through Admiral Akainu, he would send me to the front line if he could."
Out of curiosity, she began to read the rest of the article to find out the reasons for this war:
"The news fell yesterday evening, the commander of the second fleet of the crew of Whitebeard who had been apprehended by the brand new privateer Marshall D. Teach a.k.a Blackbeard has been sentenced to death by justice. The decision was approved and supported by the World Government.
His execution will take place directly at the Marine Command Center called Marineford located on the Grand Line in 7 days when the sun is at its zenith.
Several testimonies confirmed to us that the crew of the strongest man in the world had started moving in the direction of MarineFord.
[ … ]
The rest of the article presented wanted notices, probably the members of this famous crew. As for the rest of the diary, the rest of the information concerned miscellaneous facts or anecdotal events in lands far from here. Coming towards the end, she noticed an article about the Sabaody Archipelago, where an incident involving Tenryubito as well as a pirate crew. Following this incident, several riots broke out throughout the archipelago led by the 11 supernovae.
"So that's why the city was damaged when I arrived, Admiral Kizaru had to be there to regain control of the situation and must have taken me for a pirate hence his attack."
Finishing her coffee, and saving the chocolates for later, she took the direction of HQ, taking the same route as earlier in the afternoon but in the opposite direction.
When she arrived at the foot of the large staircase that led directly to HQ, she was caught up by Koby who joined her in the company of someone she did not know.
"Lieutenant, I wanted to introduce you to Sergeant Hermep, he is also following the training of Vice Admiral Garp."
Tanya clasped both her hands behind her back and straightened up slightly to look taller. "Hello sergeant, I'm Lt. Degurechaff, let's make sure the training runs smoothly."
"Yes lieutenant!" replied the second man in front of her. His outfit was really strange, especially the pair of glasses he wore. She hid his eyes entirely, the shape was quite strange and looked like a black blindfold. He had long blond hair that wasn't tied back, which was really inconvenient during a battle.
The rest of the conversation was sadly mundane, mostly about the weather and training the next day.
Tanya said goodbye to the two men and headed to HQ to find the vice admiral. She had to find a solution to not participate in this war which was fast approaching. The old man will be easy to convince because earlier during her interrogation, she had seen the vice admiral react more than necessary when evoking her past as well as her loss of memory. It would just be enough to play the role of the fragile little girl in order to coax her a little.
Once she climbed the stairs to the top and reached HQ, Tanya realized she had no idea where the old man's office was.
Not knowing where to look exactly, she began wandering the halls hoping to come across a door where she could read "Vice Admiral Garp" roughly on the door. Even though the hallways were starting to look familiar, the building was still a real maze.
As she came to an intersection, she heard a voice calling her from down the hall. The voice was familiar and gravelly.
"Degurechaff, it was you I was looking for"
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku? What can I do for you ?" Tanya asked curious to know what her superior wanted from her.
"I wanted to see you on two subjects, follow me in my office, we will be quieter."
When they arrived in the office that she had to know well, they both settled on the armchairs still in front of the desk
"I wanted to see you regarding your accommodation. Traditionally, the Marine aims to be able to house all its soldiers at its own expense. Obviously, it's dormitory most of the time, but being an officer and especially a young woman, I'll spare you that and avoid having you sleep in the dorms with so many men. You will have your own room for the time of your training. After that it will depend on where you are stationed," the Fleet Admiral informed, handing her the key to his room.
"Speaking of training," the Fleet Admiral continued after giving Tanya time to put the key in her trouser pocket, "I told you your training would be under Vice Admiral Garp, and that won't change, however, I imagine you must have heard around town or in the papers that the Marine will most definitely go to war against Whitebeard's crew?" Sengoku asked oddly sad.
"Perfect, he brings up the subject on his own, I was planning to discuss it with Garp, but I'll settle for Sengoku."
For this reason, from next week, training will be interrupted, I need all the forces available for the fight that is coming.
A cold sweat ran down the girl's back. "Is he going to send me to the front? Truly? I have to find an escape."
"However, only confirmed fighters will participate directly in battle, although I have no doubts about your abilities, I have decided to place the recruits who arrived less than a year ago in the rear, with the mission of supplying the troops."
Tanya wanted to build a monument for this man and worship him. "Finally a sane man who thought rationally, what a brilliant idea to prioritize quality over quantity and avoid mistakes that rookies could make during their first battle."
But not wanting to appear as someone weak Tanya spoke: "Are you asking me to stay in the back like a coward, Sir?"
"No, it was the decision that seemed to me the most judicious, Koby will also be with you during this mission. But I note your eagerness and your sense of duty informed the Admiral-in-Chief, then catching his breath he added "I will report your determination to Admiral Sakazuki".
"Well, sir."
"Do you have anything to add Lieutenant? Where is a particular topic you would like to discuss?"
"No sir you have been very clear I have no questions."
"Well, I would like to see you in six days in my office in the afternoon to discuss your duties during the battle and don't be late! You are dismissed."
"Yes sir".
She carefully closed the door and walked away a few steps before giving free rein to her joy. A supply mission. The dream, away from any fight and safe at the back. Her only concern will be to bring back ammunition or bring the wounded back to the infirmary.
She headed for her room with a light heart.
Arriving at the refectories, she grabbed the key from her trouser pocket and looked at the hanging room number linked to that key.
"Room number 203? How ironic" Tanya finally blurted as she rolled her eyes and entered her new room. It was not very big but enough to rest on. She had a bed in the far right corner, next to which was a small wooden bedside table. Opposite the bed, a massive wooden wardrobe sat, one part was open in order to store jackets and coats, and the other part with a door made it possible to store the rest of her clothes. Finally just to the left of this cupboard was a desk with the necessary to write.
Tanya was satisfied with the turn of events, an easy mission to start, a Junior Lieutenant position that will evolve thereafter. A separate bedroom so as not to sleep with the populace and finally a magnificent view of the sea. She threw the small bag containing her old costume and the chocolates on the bed and watched the Marineford getting ready for the night.
"Soon the Marine will be at my feet," Tanya whispered before letting out a devilish laugh.
D-7 before the start of the war.