N/A :

Hi guys, as always, the little note from me at the beginning of the chapter. This time the chapter will be a bit shorter, because it'll allow me to finish my first story arc yeaaahhh :).

I hope you like it anyway. In this sense, have fun reading.

POV Tanya Von degurechaff

Location: Somewhere in Marineford

The mysterious woman was still holding the golden hair of Tanya, who was gradually able to use her body again. However, the girl decided to continue to remain inactive, not to engage in a fight for the time being, as she couldn't assess whether her body could withstand another direct confrontation.

Although she wanted to continue pretending that she was under the effects of the sedative, the task became more and more complicated as the pain became noticeable again. Besides, being pulled by the hair wasn't helping.

Tanya still didn't know where her captor wanted to take her, the streets they took didn't make sense to her, sometimes going back and forth in the same streets they had taken a few minutes earlier.

Most of the surrounding buildings seemed to be partially or completely destroyed. "It'll take some time to rebuild the island as it was originally," Tanya said quietly to herself. Although she had only recently arrived in this world, she felt a kind of nostalgia for these places. Her habits in certain corners of the city had allowed her to quickly become familiar and almost feel at home.

When they reached a small street that was safe from prying eyes, Tanya noticed a restaurant that seemed to have been relatively untouched by the fighting, although its facade was damaged and the inside of the building turned upside down.

Curious, her captor went inside, Tanya in tow, still being dragged by her hair.

As her eyesight adjusted to the darkness, Tanya looked at the interior of the restaurant as she had been able to see it from the outside: The tables had all been overturned, the few chairs still seemed to be standing despite the many shocks caused by the leader of the Whitebeard Pirates. In some parts of the restaurant, broken plates could be seen, sometimes with food scraps still on them. "So some civilians didn't comply with the evacuation order... I wonder if they managed to escape the fighting? " Tanya wondered as she continued her observation.

When they reached the center of the large room, the woman grabbed the girl under her arms and carried her to a chair in front of a table. Not wanting to attract attention, Tanya slumped down in the chair to make it look like the sedative was still working. Looking straight ahead, Tanya noticed a man leaning against the counter of the restaurant. Next to him were empty wine bottles and a few empty plates.

"Zehahaha, I thank you, my dear Catarina Devon, for bringing me the person who seems to have incurred the wrath of one of the four emperors. As he said these words, the man rose from his chair and turned to Tanya, who continued to stare at him wordlessly.

The man in front of her was about forty years old, had a rather strong body and some broken or lost teeth. His nose was quite prominent, but not as much as that of the woman who seemed to be standing below him. A long black beard adorned his chin, and his hair, which was the same color as his beard, was half covered by a typical pirate hat. He wore green pants with strange patterns on them. A yellow belt around his waist allowed him to keep a liquor bottle and three flintlock pistols within reach. A red shirt partially concealed the three weapons and his hairy chest.

"No problem, Captain," Catarina replied, taking the first chair nearby to sit in front of the bar and drink the alcohol that was on the counter.

Face to face, Tanya looked at the man standing in front of her. He was not at all unknown,

appearing in the daily newspaper at least once a week, and Tanya had recognized him quickly enough. Blackbeard, the great privateer who was indirectly responsible for this war. The capture of Portgas D. Ace had been carried out by him, earning him the rank of Warlord, whereas only a few weeks ago he had been unknown to the public. When his gaze met hers, she recognized a deep, dark malice that made her uncomfortable.

Blackbeard, for his part, placed a chair in front of the table where Tanya sat and let a moment of silence wash over him. A few seconds passed before the man began to speak. "I guess I do not need to introduce myself, and I am sure you are wondering why I brought you here..." Trying to stall for time to regain as much energy as possible, Tanya did not answer him, hoping that the pirate in front of her could continue to believe that she was still incapable of anything.

When Blackbeard saw that no answer came from the girl's mouth, he turned and glanced at his crewmate, who almost instantly shrugged her shoulders. As he turned, the pirate extended his right hand toward the girl and called out [Dark Vortex].

Defensively, Tanya stood up and activated her magic shield. But to the little blonde's great surprise, nothing happened. "Zehahaha, you finally reacted," Blackbeard shouted, stopping his attack. "Since you were not affected by my attack," the pirate continued, "your power has nothing to do with a devil fruit, otherwise I would be strangling you right now ..." The girl, still on the defensive, stopped using her magic shield when she saw the pirate sit back in his chair and put his feet on the table that separated them, Tanya relaxed and took his place.

"What do you want from me? I have spent the whole damn day trying to survive this damn war and escape the murderous beatings of a senile old man who can not defend his "children"". The pirate laughed so hard at this answer that he banged the top of his head on the table, coughing as if he were choking. He cleared his throat, reached for the liquor bottle and took a big gulp of alcohol.

"What do I want? Quite simply, I want you to join my crew." The pirate's request had left the girl speechless, and she really had not expected this proposal. "And why exactly do you want me to join you?" She asked him, although she already knew his answer. "Because we have a common enemy, now that you have killed Ace with your hands, the old man, if he survives this war, will do anything to destroy you. In my crew you will be safe..."

Tanya's mind was racing, weighing the pros and cons of this proposal. On one hand, this pirate was right, it could be dangerous to provoke Whitebeard in this battle in the future, and having the crew of a great privateer to protect themselves could be useful and not negligible. However, there were also two negative points to consider. The first was Blackbeard's failure to participate in the Great War and fulfill his obligations as a privateer. It was not yet clear whether he would be able to retain his title after the conflict. The second issue was the result of the first. If Blackbeard did not keep his title of privateer, he would have to live a pirate's life with all its inconveniences: Pirate rivalry, government persecution, uncertain location, bounty hunters chasing him...

On the other hand, remaining in the Marine would offer the possibility of promotion and the hope of a post in the rearguard at the end of the war. As for the first alternative, it had two major drawbacks. The first disadvantage, Tanya knew all too well, for she had experienced it many times in her past life and now knew that everything she undertook would turn against her in one way or another. The fact that she was doing everything right to show her superiors what she was capable of had prompted them to send her to the front lines of several operations. Finally, the second disadvantage was that she was under the command of Admiral Sakazuki, this warmonger will only offer her suicidal missions in the future. With this man as his superior, his survival was at risk.

Tanya continued to stare at her interlocutor, "I don't understand why he wants me on his team, he could see that there are marines much stronger than I am" She took a deep breath, cleared her voice and addressed Blackbeard directly, "I can see the advantages of joining you, but what exactly does my presence bring you?

Before Blackbeard could answer, a man suddenly entered the restaurant and walked toward the pirate. The newcomer was a tall person. He wore a black hat and a pair of earrings, a fuchsia cane, a shirt with yellow crosses on the chest and some kind of purple dungarees. He was wearing tap shoes.

In addition, this man had very pale skin, which was accentuated by a lipstick of the same color as his cane. Physically, he did not appear to be muscular and had a rather slender body. He had long hair with a subtle mix of black and purple. His eyes were wide open and had a rather odd shape that reminded Tanya of an owl.

Tanya stuck out her ear to try to get a sense of the nature of their conversation. "Captain," the man began, "the Red's crew is on the scene, we have to go, I do not think we are in a position to take him on right now" Hearing this information, Blackbeard stood up, and the three people made their way together to the exit of the restaurant. Before leaving, he turned to Tanya and finally answered her question, "Do you want to know why I want you on my crew? There are several reasons, but let us say the most important one for me is the fact that I know where you actually come from..."

Tanya immediately became giddy when she heard the pirate's response. "What does he mean 'he knows where I am from'? Does he know I am from the Sabaody Archipelago? From another world?" Seeing that the mysterious pirate was already leaving the scene, Tanya called out to him to ask him one more question, "Can I think about it and give you my answer later?" In response to his question, Blackbeard beckoned to his subordinate, who tossed her a small DenDenMushi. She took the little snail and stared at it for a few seconds before carefully tucking it away in her pants pocket. When she looked back toward the exit of the restaurant, the crew had already disappeared.

Knowing she would not have to fight, Tanya breathed a long sigh of relief. She had been treated, she was away from the fighting, and her superiors probably all thought she was just in a medical facility. "I am going to get some rest before I rejoin the fight." Tanya gathered the various tablecloths from the restaurant and made herself a small bed with the collected fabrics. Exhausted from this exhausting day, Tanya closed her eyes almost instantly and fell asleep immediately…

Later then...

A deafening noise woke the sleeping girl. In alarm, Tanya had awoken with a jolt, her mage blade materializing on her right arm, ready to slash anything that came within its reach. Looking around, she noticed that the chandelier hanging from the ceiling had just broken and fallen to the floor. She calmed down after making sure there was no more immediate danger and stopped wielding her blade. "The bottom line is that it's not that bad, if it were not for that alarm clock I'd still be asleep, my body is much more exhausted than I could have imagined."

As she left the restaurant, Tanya made sure one last time that she had the DenDenMushi from Blackbeard's crew and headed for the bay.

On the roof of the building where the scaffolding had been a few hours earlier, Tanya sat on the low wall that bordered the edges, swinging her legs back and forth as a child her age would, watching what was happening below.

Despite all indications, the fighting seemed to have come to a halt across the battlefield. The guns had fallen silent and the men seemed unable to fight anymore. The strangest thing was the fact that all the participants in this battle were looking in the same direction, seemingly looking at the same thing...

Tanya did not try to find out the reason for this more than necessary interruption, and it did not matter what it was, because she seemed to have managed to stop the fight.

Tanya took advantage of the silence to take out her small notebook and write down everything she had learned during the day. She wrote down all the information about the new forces she had observed. The most dangerous was that of Whitebeard, who had the ability to kill her with a single attack if she was not careful.

The commanders of her crew posed a real threat to her safety, and although she could deal with one commander alone, Tanya could not risk taking on several at once. On the other hand, the crew members were just cannon fodder that did not even deserve to be considered.

The former Crocodile Corsair had a rather painful ability, his ability to turn into sand could become a real handicap for Tanya, who knew very well that sand could penetrate anywhere and prevent the good functioning of firearms, especially her Luger, which had a more complex breech system than most other handguns, making it much more vulnerable than average.

"This war has the advantage of showing me what to expect in the future in this world. Of course, I should not experience any more wars like I did in my second life. However, the power of some individuals could prove dangerous to my survival," Tanya mused as she pulled out the magazine of her Luger to count the number of bullets remaining. "Dry," Tanya muttered with a slight click of her tongue as she wrote the information down in her small notebook. "I'll have to figure out what to do with the equipment. For my own safety, I'll have to come up with something."

After jotting down the results in her notebook, she reached for her flintlock pistol and a bullet and considered whether she could reinforce them with her mana. The effectiveness would inevitably be less than that of the Luger's cartridges, which, in addition to being accurate, could do enormous damage thanks to their perforations. "When this fight is over, I should ask the Doc for some rest so I can devote myself fully to the matter..."

When Tanya looked up again, the soldiers and pirates had moved well away from each other and a group of people had appeared, seeming to push their way between the two factions to break up the fight. Judging by their clothing, they were probably pirates. Their leader seemed to be talking to Admiral Sengoku.

This man wore a long black cloak over his shoulders that concealed a white, half-closed shirt that revealed his chest. The latter was folded under a red belt that not only held a sword on his right side, but also allowed him to keep his brown shorts with paradise patterns at his waist. The most striking thing about this man was his flaming hair and three scars on his left eye. Finally, the most characteristic feature of this man was the absence of his left arm. "He probably lost it in a fight between pirates," Tanya thought as she stood up and prepared to go to her superiors. She did not want to be accused of leaving the battlefield and be charged with treason.

Once upstairs, Tanya stretched her body as much as she could to relax her aching muscles and took the stairs to leave the roof and get to the first floor. On the way, she passed many frightened, wounded or dying soldiers who had taken refuge in the building under the scaffolding. "In the end," Tanya reasoned, "I'll help these men recover instead, that way I'll have several witnesses who can confirm my presence on the front lines, plus I might gain some influence with the subordinates." Tanya put her thoughts into action and began bringing water to anyone who seemed to need it, she also brought some bandages and listened wordlessly to the instructions of the military doctors who were gradually arriving.

It was only after a few minutes that a shout rang out from the central square. "The war is over!" It was the commander-in-chief of the Marine, who had just officially announced the end of the war. His announcement was immediately followed by thousands of cries of relief that the war was over. Trying to remain as professional as possible, Tanya did not shout, but she could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

When the screams died down, Tanya left the building to receive her orders from her superiors. She let her eyes wander, hoping to find Admiral Sengoku or perhaps Admiral Aokiji. All around her, thousands of soldiers were running to help the wounded, and some officers seemed to be relaying orders to increase the efficiency of the available manpower. Among her officers, Tanya immediately recognized Vice Admiral Garp, who also seemed to be giving orders.

Probably sensing someone staring at him, Garp turned his head to look the girl in the eye. But instead of the warm, open look she was used to seeing from him, she saw a dark, angry look. "This war must have taken a lot out of him," Tanya thought. "He must have lost a lot of friends and colleagues…"

"Lieutenant!" Shouted a voice behind her. Turning around, she saw an old woman addressing her. She was a very tall, slender, elderly woman with gray hair tied into a bun. Her attire is less formal than other high-ranking officers, consisting of an orange shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a tie around her neck, and long pants. She wears pearl earrings, and on her right wrist she has two bracelets. Tanya had seen this woman before with Vice Admiral Garp and Admiral Sengoku and knew how much both men respected her.

Tanya stood at attention and greeted the newcomer. The newcomer returned her greeting and nodded slowly before giving her orders. "I want you to take a dozen men under your command and search for the body of Whitebeard, for this man has not been seen since the confrontation with our troops. Continue the search until we have recovered all the wounded." As she finished her sentence, the vice admiral just stared at Vice Admiral Garp.

A strange feeling spread through Tanya's mind, "Why is she trying to keep me out of the main square?" Tanya asked herself before quickly shrugging her shoulders. "Anyway, orders are orders." She saluted her superior respectfully and headed off to find some men. As she turned around, she noticed Vice Admiral Garp and Vice Admiral Tsuru still staring at her with wide eyes...

And so the greatest battle of the golden age of piracy, the "War on Marineford," came to an end.

It will forever mark both history and the spirits...