With her new weapon, Elma was bubbling with joy as the two walked back to the Ivory.

"I really was considering stealing the Gold from you! But in any case, I suppose it doesn't matter now anyway!"

Fuck this kid. Honestly.

Their walk back to the harbour seemed to be as uneventful as can be, until Eddie suddenly felt a hand grab his coat. He spun around to find Valeria and Leo of all people behind him.

Eddie immediately saw that something was horribly wrong. Leo had a massive bloody gash on his upper lip, and Valeria was covered in dirt. "Leo? Valeria? What the hell happened to you?" He asked, leaning to examine Leo's wound. Remarkably, the boy wasn't crying, though Valeria was a fountain at this point.

"W-We tried to st-stop them b-but they took her awaaaay!" She cried, and started tugging at Elma's shirt.

"Oi, oi. Eddie. Who the heck is this weird kid and why is she tugging at my shirt?" She asked, sounding terrified. Ah, yes. Her irrational fear of kids any younger than twelve.

He worked quickly to clean up Leo's injury with a piece of his shirt he'd torn off. "That's Valeria, and this is Leo. The two kids I told you I met with Jackie."

"Mmmph! Jwckie! Weed Jwckie hwp!"

He raised the napkin a bit so that Leo could talk. "We need- ow! -help! They took mom with them! Dunno who, but it was a gang of people wearing black coats! We heard them say something- yeow! -about selling people off to some country!"

Bastards. What do they think they're gonna do with my patient?

Unaware of this development on Tierra Dorada, Jackie and Whitebeard were once again training on the island nearby. This time, Whitebeard had decided to face Jackie himself. With a twig.

"Wait. So you're seriously going to challenge me to a duel with a twig?!"

He only laughed. As he always did. "I don't think you get it, kid. With Advanced Ley, this little twig, about half the length of my arm, can be worth as much as a regular sword." He waved it around a bit, but Jackie remained skeptical.

He looked down at his own cutlass and raised an eyebrow at Whitebeard's twig. He had been taught how to sense Ley, and did feel something surrounding him when he focused, though he couldn't tell whether that had been his imagination or what.

There was no real choice. If he couldn't believe in Whitebeard by now, who could he believe in?

Jackie raised his sword. "Okay then. You asked for it!"

But Whitebeard just casually put his hands on his hip and looked up at the sunny sky. "Sure, sure. Just remember I'm only demonstrating Advanced Ley. Don't sprain a wrist or something."

It was clear he wasn't going to make the first move, so Jackie swung his blade back and dashed towards Whitebeard. Even as he got within range, the man paid little attention to his movements.

Jackie whipped his cutlass upwards, targeting Whitebeard's neck, but instead saw his blade meet the twig instead of flesh. Although it was not unexpected, it was astounding that the frail-looking twig withstood his attack. He lowered his sword and thrust it, aiming for Whitebeard's waist, but was yet again blocked.

When he rapidly moved out of range, Whitebeard laughed. "I thought for sure you'd be feinting first, but those were killing blows. You're a dangerous fighter, aren't you?"

His reply was to try to jump right back into the action. But this time, Whitebeard swung the twig in several short arcs, each swing forcing Jackie to parry with his blade, preventing him from getting close. Every parry forced him back by a couple of inches. It was as though he was getting hit by a mallet, not a damn twig. He couldn't keep blocking forever.

There! He saw a tiny space open up between himself and Whitebeard amidst each swing. If I can just exploit that little gap....

Another swing, right for his head this time. Ready for that exact moment, Jackie parried and immediately threw himself at Whitebeard with the tip of the sword ready to pierce through his neck.

But as he looked at Whitebeard's face, he saw something in his eyes he could not quite understand. It was a mixture of ecstasy, anger, and determination.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Killing intent. Jackie thought as Whitebeard's arm moved with unbelievable speed, colliding against his jaw. Despite the confusion, he already knew the twig was rising up to meet his head.

Oh. I'm dea-

THWACK.

"Ow!" Even though it was nothing more than a small tree branch, it felt as though he has been hit with a bullet. The sheer force behind Whitebeard's arm knocked his head upwards, sending a shock down his spine. "FUCK! OUCH!"

This guy is definitely not fucking normal. God. I thought my head would fly right off my shoulders.

As if he has done nothing more than tap Jackie's chin, Whitebeard simply laughed. "Well, I can't blame you for being slow there. It takes time to understand the concept of Ley. Believe me, when you get the hang of Basic Ley, Advanced will be a breeze for you."

He sat down on the ground and continued, "You need to polish your sense of awareness of the landscape around you. Don't just focus on the area you're trying to attack. Focus on everything else your opponent is doing as well. Their movements and their gaze. Even the look in their eyes can be a hint as to what their moves are."

Still rubbing his jaw, Jackie took a long swig from his flask of water. "Well...that's all fine and all, but I've got a question. Why the hell are we doing this training with our shirts off?"

Whitebeard shrugged. "They'd get in the way. Especially in the humid weather around here."

Jackie pointed at his waist. "Are you just doing it to show off your abs?"

"Perhaps."

He sat down behind Whitebeard and closed his eyes once more to meditate. "I'm not sure what that was. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt like I was surrounded by something....something massive, when I meditated last time."

I don't know, maybe I'm just going crazy around this guy. And his training.

He thought he heard Whitebeard say something in reply, but he didn't comprehend it. With his eyes closed, it was as though he was drifting in an endless ocean of red. Or perhaps it was black. Colour was of no relevance.

Drifting. A sea without a horizon.

A massive blanket of...power? Air? What was that?

He couldn't see anything, but he could feel something pressing against his body. From all directions.

"Wake up."

"Wake up."

"WAKE UP!"

He opened his eyes to find Elma and Eddie running towards them. Behind them was another rowboat from the Ivory. "Jackie! We've got a problem!" Eddie was clearly worried, and Elma looked concerned as well.

"Why, what happened?"

"Valeria and Leo's mother got kidnapped by a group of people in black coats. Leo was badly hurt, Valeria seems okay. We've gotta do something!"

This was the last thing Jackie could expect. He picked at the grass on the ground, thinking hard. "Alright. The first move is to find out exactly who those people were and where they went. Afterwards, we can go and rescue her."

He said this with confidence, but he couldn't fathom how he could possibly get all this done before she was sold off somewhere. Or worse.

They were all surprised when Whitebeard stood up. "You're part of my alliance now. If you have trouble, the Whitebeard Pirates will always help." He said, and walked back towards his boat.

"I know people who can get the information we need. Let's get to the Ivory, so I can send Brice to find them."

As they climbed back into the boats, Jackie wondered if all the stories about Whitebeard seeking revenge could possibly be true. How can someone like this possibly be filled with hate and anger?

He had no obligation to help them. No real reason apart from them being part of his alliance. Or was that enough of a reason for him?

When they returned to the Ivory, Whitebeard immediately set Brice to the task of finding out where the twins' mother had been shipped off.

"What's your mother's name?" He asked the two children, who had been given warm cups of milk and coconut cake by Rosa. "Boudicca. That's her name." Valeria replied, since Leo was still having trouble talking.

"It's a lovely name. I can't wait to meet her." His reassuring tone calmed the twins, although their worry did not dissipate completely.

Time passed slowly as they waited for Brice to return. Afternoon passed, and there was no sign of him. It was only in the evening as the stars began to appear and moonlight began to overtake the fading sunlight that Brice finally returned, his bulking figure struggling to run back to the ship.

He was unable to get any words out as he gasped, completely out of breath. "Calm down, Brice. Where's the woman?" Caine asked, giving him a full glass of water.

He emptied the glass in four seconds. "Those men were wearing coats to hide who they were. They're scum of the highest order, a group of bandits numbering sixty or so who roam the island. Based on what I learned, they were hired by Spanish spies to get rid of the woman for some reason. You've gotta go right now. Their hideout is an abandoned barn located to the east of the island, on a cliff. There's almost no houses there, so it's pretty clear what you're looking for is. They're famous for raping women and selling children to sick people."

Sixty members? Jackie glanced at Elma and Eddie nervously. Rosa still didn't have a bow and arrows, so she was out of the fight. Elma had a new weapon and still needed to get used to it. That left himself and Eddie as the only two at full strength. If they went in there alone, they would die for sure.

But he couldn't say no with the two kids right there beside them.

It was in this moment of indecision that the Captain of the Whitebeard Pirates rose to his feet. He grabbed his cloak from the floor, and tugged it on. "Captain, you-" Borris stopped short of completing his sentence. Leonardo, who had been watching this entire commotion, didn't even bother to try stopping him.

Their Captain had made his decision.

"Hey, Jackie. How long are you gonna stand there for?"

"You think I'm just standing?"

He turned around to find that the boy had already put his cloak on. So had the girl, Elma, and the doctor, Eddie.

With a nod of approval, he leapt off the top deck, and landed on the ground fourteen decks below.

"Time for a massacre."