Dark corners 3-
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The sun was up, the sea was calm and the ship was just a few miles away from the current which was safe to sail.
Wham!
“Ouch damn it!” Julius whimpered after being hit with a rubber coated pipe.
“No pain no gain!” His Captain said once more.
He gritted his teeth and tried to focus again at that feeling he got yesterday when they were repeating the training his captain ‘remembered’.
At first he didn't believe it but when they tried this training on his captain he finally accepted that it was true, you can develop your senses to the point where you can predict the attacks coming your way.
He was still salty that he didn't get a chance to hit the captain though, that bastard could sense and predict each attack he tried on him with his eyes closed and without moving from the marked area too much while he couldn't even achieve such feats in an open space.
‘It's so frustrating…why can't I control it at my will like he does!?’He grumbled inwardly as he tried to grasp that feeling again.
It feels like trying to grab a slimy eel who is constantly trying to subvert you by wiggling too fast to be grabbed by your hands.
Remember this Julius when trying to activate your observation Haki try to focus your mind into a single point until you feel like you are undergoing an out of body experience. The more you try to do this under stress the easier it becomes!
‘Focus, I need to focus and calm my mind from useless thoughts like pain and frustration.’ He instinctively moved away his head from the incoming hit coming from his left, his mind felt completely at ease as it dodged the second attack from above then from the right, back, left, up, right, up, left-
“That's it you are doing it, now don't let go no matter what comes next!” His Captain's words filtered in his mind and appeared like an image, a very distinct and colorful image which took a black tint from the hands up and coated the entire pole in an Obsidian black color which glowed with reddish tint at the corners.
His instincts Screamed at him to fucking move from the dangerous attack coming from his face, he stepped back and pushed his head back as he felt a spark of something flicker close to nose at speeds that would have caved his head in if he hadn't dodged beforehand.
He was able to see the first Attack come at him but he didn't see the second which came from the back, a Haki-coated punch nailing him like a sledgehammer that threw his ass to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“Good job, you were able to awaken your observation haki at its Basic stage now we will up the difficulty a notch and begin the next stage, distance training.”His captain spoke cheerfully, acting like he didn't just knock the living outta him with that damn punch of his.
“Ouch, I can see stars in my vision now, is that supposed to happen?” Julius groaned on the ground, his hands massaging his skull where he could swear a giant bump had grown.
“Stop crying like a child and get up, aren't you supposed to be a superhuman?” His Captain pushed him with his boot.
“What superhuman? I felt my skull rattle when you punched, bloody bastard.”The downed man moaned out painfully, his skull flaring as if in fire.”the only superhuman here is you, you Monster who can dodge without moving your body even blinded you still dodged everything.”
“Sorry I am just your average human, I haven't eaten a devil fruit like you mister superhuman.” I am not sure what category Ds fit in because they are a whole other thing even compared to some of the races which exist in this world.
“Bullshit. That type of punch could have caved a normal human’s skull and probably harm a giant!” Julius finally gathered the required strength to stand up on his legs, a shaking clearly visible on his limbs.
“Hahahaha harming a giant? Nah but killing a civilian for sure that I can't deny because that punch was infused with haki, I call it “The Logia Humbler”, created especially to knock their god-complexes along with their teeths.” He laughed heartily, julius didn't understand where the funny part was supposed to be.
“Ha ha ha. You attacked me with such a lethal punch which could have killed me.” Julius stated seriously.
“Nah, I held back a lot otherwise your brain would have been all over the place by now hahahaha! That was a gentle tap at best.”
His eyebrow twitched at the implied insult, he tried to reign his growing temper from exploding and Making a fool out of him again.
“You are riling me up on purpose aren't you?” He asked concernedly, his previous petty anger cooling down at the suddenly sharp smile of his boss who was looking him up and down.
“Hmm you are ready, You will able to survive long enough for me to deal with whatever we may encounter in the Grandline now.”
He turned around and a shadow fell over them as the Reverse mountain came into view, tze ship trembled for a moment which reminded Marius of what comes next.
“Now help steer the ship until we land on the other side or we're gonna die a painful death.”Marius informed cheerfully.
“Hold on, can't we just go from there? It looks safer than going up and down a mountain.” Julius asked concernedly.
“Julius, if you wish to die by being swallowed by an enormous fish monster I ain't stopping you, by all means go take a boat and try your luck by rowing through the calm belt where the sea kings nest is.” ah being ignorant of the dangers that surround you, how good it must be not knowing that there is hugu chance of death if you just come a bit closer.
“Wait, that's where the calm belt is?! But I thought the calm belt was located in the Grandline?” Julius replied, nervously eying the seemingly innocent sea where not a single wave or cloud can be seen by the eye.
Marius laughed out loudly at those words, he couldn't believe that for a local to not know about the most hazardous area in his world.
“Oh man, thanks for the laugh I needed.” He breathed deeply to calm himself, there was still an occasional giggle which escaped through.”no Julius, that's the border where the esst blue and the grand line are split otherwise whatever happens there would have spilled here a long time ago. To go through there is to court death as we are currently. I can't take down and elder sea king let alone the island-sized ones which guard that place.”
Julius visibly gulped and began sweating bullets, his eyes were darting erratically from left to right expecting one of those monstrosities to make an appearance.
“Do not worry though, the stragglers which dare enter the four blues are nothing more than juveniles, to stupid to realize they will be fucked if they enter and end up as food.” Marius felt bad, seeing his confident companion grt reduced to a scared mess wasn't something he enjoyed seeing…unless he hated that particular person.
One such person would be Saint jaygarcia saturn, he had watched and followed one piece until he can confidently say he knows what will come next even if he fucks the Canon up.
“You dare tell me that there are island-sized monsters beyond that point and now tell me none of them wouldn't enter the blues?! Why?”
“Because they are intelligent enough to consider the consequences of angering those who-whoops nearly let it slip there ahem well because they would be slaughtered of course, they may be big and dangerous but they aren't infinite in numbers and humanity has birthed some monsters that could tear through them if it came to it.” He explained carefully, nearly allowing very dangerous information to slip through his lips.
“Your words do not fill that pit which opened in my stomach, captain. I have a feeling you are related to this…” He pointed with his hands all around as if to explain his conflicted thoughts.
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“World-wide conspiracy? Interconnected web of conflicting information that seems like it is missing something important that you can't put your finger on?”Mariud answered knowingly, nodding his head as if telling him that he knew exactly what he was implying.
“Yes, it's like someone left breadcrumbs in a long period of time which barely fit together…”
“You would be correct if that's your conclusion and yes I am related to this nine-centuries long war which happened globally in the past and is still continuing to this day.” And because Oda has been writing one piece for 25 years before I ended up here…not like I hate it, on the contrary I enjoy every part of it.” Though I had no hand in its making, this entire conflict is happening for total world domination between two factions with opposite ideas.”
“Ehh you can't be for real? Nine hundred years and is still ongoing? That can't be humanly possible…”He felt dumb saying those words for some reason until his brain clicked and he sighed.”Forget what I said, me saying anything about anything being impossible is an automatic loss of the argument since I am a clear reason that anything is possible with the right ability.”
Marius felt a chill down his spine at the display of self-awareness from a background character that never made a debut in the show, especially for someone who is from the east blue of all places…
‘Have I perhaps underestimated these people too much? Roger and Rayleigh, luffy and sabo are from this place, garp and dragon as well and who knows else. I shouldn't make such assumptions again or I will pay dearly at some point.’ Marius Evaluated himself, he may not be some bigshot back in his world but he had not been your a run of a mill average guy, no he had been part of a Mafia family, he knows how shit works, both legal and illegal lifestyles had taught him to be open minded and to keep his ego in check.
His Brother always said to look for who can think and adapt, this Guy he had picked was filling those check boxes the more he got to know him.
“Indeed, someone was able to get the surgery of immortality at some point in the past and has been trying to take total Control over the world.”He revealed one more bombshell, immortality is tightly guarded secret after all, if people knew there was such ability out there Law would have had a hard time living with thousands of greedy humans tracking him down.” For now let's halt this discussion here and focus on stabilizing the ship before we crash.”
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[One day later.]
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They had somehow made it through, without crashing into laboon or sinking into the ocean floor from going full speed down from a mountain with a wooden ship.
Both were sprawled to the deck breathing heavily, mental exhaustion was a different kind of tiredness, especially when you were limited in manpower.
“Hey capt, let's find some people to help out around…otherwise we will die before we accomplish anything noteworthy.” Julius croaked out pathetically, he was visibly straining to move his face-planted body from the deck.
“Man I would kill for a few giant-blooded People around here. Finding strong people in east blue is hard when you are trying to be discreet About it…fucking garp and Sengoku placing so many agents to block people from going out in the sea.” He grumbled, he had tried to recruit a few strong people who showed signs of being giant-descendants but fucking marines began asking questions that he didn't want to answer.
“Eh that's to be expected with the emergence of such a powerful crew from east blue, it isn't like it hasn't happened before.” Stated a deep voice.
“For someone who has remained low for 20+ years you sure like to make an entrance, old man of the twin capes, Crocus of the Roger pirates.”He replied calmly, opening his eyes to look at the sun bathing old man a few tens meters away from them.”you should be careful, I hear shiki the golden lion is up to no good once more geezer.”
The silence that followed his reply was gratifying, he knew for a fact that this old man wasn't expecting him to know of his doings so in depth.
“How do you know such information brat.” The old geezer's tone dropped several octaves lower which was a sure sign that he had touched a nerve…good.
“Unlike a certain monkey and his extended family I was not that lucky as to live a carefree life thanks to grandpas influence and name, you could say my ancestors were far to active back in the day and I had to pay the price, the price of knowing that I Marius D Fyrefray was wanted for being an Enemy of the Gods without killing or threatening one to begin with.” His statement seemed to cause the old Man to become even more focused then he had been when he stated his name beforehand.
“Damn it. We thought there wouldn't be any other Ds in this part of the sea barring Roger and Garp's brood.” Cursed Crocus softly, he removed his glasses and pinched his nose to control his stress.
“Don't fret Old man, the East blue is where the dawn will rise from after all didn't you just meet that One laughing man?” Marius smiled Knowingly, the sudden freezing of Crocus facial expression was becoming something he found enjoyable.
“You even know about that…”Marius felt a chill down his spine at those words, not one of fear but something else far more painful.
“C'mon it was bloody obvious when your Grandma signs bink’s sake, heck I am surprised how the rest of the world hasn't been able to learn the truth with so many hints being right in the face.” Marius retorted frustratedly, Heck there are so many dons in that song I am still surprised nobody didn't accidentally power the Old technology.”Ending the song with a laugh tale? That is just insulting to be honest with you Crocus, had I been the Guy sitting atop the great throne of the World Heads would be flying at this moment.”
Crocus stared at him in silence, all those years of traveling the world reduced to an obvious criticism by some brat forty years his junior who seemed to not care at the great revelation he just spoke.
“then..why are you here when you don't care about it?”The old man replied tentatively, he had to know the reason why such an individual would even bother when he already knew the truth behind the great Pirate race to the hidden island.”The secret exists to keep the Spirit of adventure alive, you seem…almost uninterested from what I can see.”
“I bet the monkey would have agreed with you on that, not knowing is half the fun eh? Too bad I have a goal that doesn't align with your little secret conspiracy to overthrow the world government.” Marius snorted, the plan these dumb bastards forged would cause the sea level to rise to an unpredictable scale.” I plan to remove the self-proclaimed Gods the old fashioned way, By massacring every single one.”
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[Pov change: Crocus]
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”–by massacring every single one.” Crocus felt it, that unfathomable Will power of a Supreme king spilling from the depths of the soul of this young man like a tidal wave that became the epicenter of a small windstorm that left just as suddenly as it had come.
“Haki…such a scale at that! Who the hell are you brat?!” He demanded, gone was his carefree chill persona, now replaced by the serious face of a veteran pirate who served aboard the king of Pirates crew.
“Just someone who doesn't want to play anybody's game, I am Marius D Fyrefray and I don't give a shit about this century old struggle. In the end we are humans, when one regime falls another will take its place, why should I care about such petty power struggles when I can forge my own system?” He answered calmly, looking casually at his fingers that were coated in armament haki.
Crocus observed and digested what he had just heard. This Man isn't Planning to try and become the pirate king and learn the truth of the burden, no…he plans to become a Great tyrant.
“What stops me from ending you here for good brat? You are a threat to the-”He stopped mid sentence, a frown appearing on his face when he observed the strange Pointy finger of the brat which made a very familiar noise.”The six secret arts huh, to think you would know even one of those martial arts…you, what are the chances of one of government's secret agents this far away from their headquarters?”
“Come now, you know better than that, have you ever seen a government dog have conqueror's haki? Red flag, it's like trying to control an unpredictable apex predator with its natural prey. But to answer your question, I was just able to do it one day accidentally while I was poking a tree.” He answered, a snort escaping through as he nearly laughed at the face Crocus made.”Plus me Being a D would put such fears at rest wouldn't it? With the exception of Garp, not One D has stayed loyal to the nobles shitheads.”
Crocus looked at him, his gaze piercing as he tried to glimpse the truth he may have been hiding, the tense atmosphere was broken by a strange noise that came from the titanic sized Whale that broke the surface of the ocean.
“Laboon? You are back from hunting?” Crocus Expression shifted into a more softer one as he turned his eyes on his charge that he had vowed to look over until a certain someone comes back.
The whale squealed a few times as if he understood what his guardian asked.
“Huh…you have found what down there?” Marius didn't believe what he had heard from the famous whale that is linked to the journey of the straw hat pirates as a key character that will play a major role in the future.
The whale turned his giant eye towards him, a sharp glint in its gaze as he repeated what he said again, this time deliberately slowly as to enforce that sheer magnitude of his findings.
“You can't be for real now, an underwater crack that is sucking the water?!” He retorted surprisedly, apparently there is a deep chasm underneath this strange mountain.
And the whale did something he wouldn't expect from an animal that massive, he nodded and created a terrifying wave which nearly hit the prow of his ship before he punched forward with an open palm.
A gust of air blasted forward and canceled the mini tsunami without effort, he had bene testing the limits of this body by exerting himself in ways that would have killed any normal human yet.
six arts Variation: Palm burst.
This body only grows stronger, the six arts, haki, even martial arts come so easy. Nothing is beyond my grasp.He reminded himself, confidence grew back as he stared back at the whale with a terrifying predatory smile on his face.
Island whales or sea kings, devil fruit users or haki users I do not fear You for you are not my equals or rivals.
“Well I think we have wasted enough time here entertaining this old man Julius, let's move onto the nearest island, I need to test my strength on land before I ever decide to dive into the abyss of the ocean.” He turned his back to the frowning old man. He didn't matter anymore as he had his answers before he decided to travel the sea, though he had one more thing to ask before he sailed away.”Crocus before I leave I have one question that needs to be answered.”
He tilted his head sideways, that revelation which had shaken even the fans.
“Do you know about the sea-level rising?” He asked ominously, he didn't need to turn to see the expression of Crocus when Julius was making the same face.
There was no reply except the cracking bones that resulted from the clenched fists of the old man who was staring daggers behind his skull.
“I see, I hope I can meet Rayleigh as well, or one of your ex-crew friends. It seems like you guys lacked something that caused your capt to fail to succeed with Will of D. Fate is strange, it gives so many flags then at the end they are revealed to be false. Just like Roger, a false Messiah figure who didn't have what it takes to be a Joyboy.”He turned one more time and looked at the old geezer with pity, he already was showing the signs of a bad ending even though he was in such good health, there was something missing when he looked at the old man.
He focused his gaze into the brown eyes and finally understood what that feeling radiating from the old man was. He lacks ambition. A dream, a goal to define his spirit.
His thought process was even weirder, somehow he could feel the world to a certain level, it whispers truths. And his thoughts sometimes aligned with it whish was strange, he never thought himself much of sage nor was he Patient enough to be able to tap into that zen state required have such…enlightening conversation in his mind.
“See you around then.” He waved, pulling the anchor and allowing the currents to pull the ship forward, the power of the sea river was truly frightening judging by the speed the ship was moving forward.
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Julius was not sure what had happened the previous thirty minutes his boss had Conversed, everything sounded so convoluted and all over the place that he couldn't make heads or tails until his captain decided to clear his confusion.
“Are you curious about what I talked about with that geezer Julius?” his boss finally decided to speak again after directing the ship silently for the past ten minutes.
“Wouldn't you be curious if you were in my place?” He answered with another question while practicing with his devil fruit, he was able to extend his range by a few more meters in just a few hours.
“I would of course, but are you prepared to face the truth of knowing about something that may potentially end everything you have Known in your life?” Marius replied as he steadied the ship by shifting their course slightly to north.
“I have already decided to join with your insane plan of overthrowing the underworld, haven't I? What's one more potential world-ending information to the knowledge that I may die a horrible death at the hands of the worst humans to ever exist?”
Marius D Fyrefray chuckled ominously at those words before roaring in laughter at the confident words his first member of his group had just sprouted. He tried to get control by coughing but even that didn't stop the giggles from slipping through.
“Julius, Julius, Julius…You live in a world where an Immortal tyrant from 900 hundred years ago desires to enslave every living being to his own will, where Demons and gods walk amongst the mortals, where everything is possible with the right ability, in the horizon dark angels gather to orchestrate the grandest of all exterminations, where an army of tens of thousands clones fighters answer to five people, the veneer of humanity slips each day when one of the so-called creators enslave humans to use as a playthings, In a world where freedom is painted as Evil and Justice is enforced via coercion with threats while the cogs of the world are oiled with the blood of innocents…”He stopped and breathed deeply to calm his beating heart that sounded like a war drum to his ears, his eyes narrowed to the point his attention was fully on one single Man.”Death is nothing but the release from the burden of life and all the suffering it brings, remember these words my friend. There is no such thing as impossibility in this world, if there are people living on the Moon then me and you who desire to rule [One Piece] of the world ourselves surely we will accomplish it.”