20 Chapter twenty- talks and jealous women
It was only a few minutes later that Laboon rose up from the ocean again depositing a twitching Sanji on the shore along side two others who were gasping for breath.
Hearing the commotion Gabriel tilted his hat up and recognised them as Mr nine and Miss Wednesday, or as he knew her better Vivi.
'It won't be long until the Alabasta arc now, hmmm first will be whiskey peak, then little garden and Drum kingdom beforehand' thinking over those arcs he remembered the characters who showed up during them all, 'well I did say that I would start recruiting a crew of my own perhaps it's time I started making good on my word' he thought to himself as he began to make a mental list of who he might possibly recruit.
He didn't get involved in the next parts that happened choosing to go with Zoros method of ignoring things and lightly dozing off to recover his strength after his mind palace fight with Arlong.
And so after that it wasn't long before Luffy agreed to give the questionable pair a ride back to their homeland. After he saw to it that Laboon stopped bashing the red line and made his promise to return to have a rematch with him.
"Oi Gabriel, Zoro we're leaving" Usopp called to them as he finished fixing the main mast back on the going Merry after Luffy had used it in his fight.
Gabriel yawns and stood up along with Zoro as they made their way back to the ship, Zoro choosing to ignore everything and go right back to sleep against the railing of the ship while Gabriel chose to stretch his arms out and look around to get his bearings before going to help set sail by pulling the anchor up.
It wasn't long before they were pulling away from the shore line with Crocus waving them good bye and good luck as they set off.
Gabriel took a deep breath of the sea air and smiled before opening up his inventory to check and see when all the swords would be done and checking on what supplies he already had from the ones already broken down.
Refined steel- 8kg (18lb)
Wooden sword handles- 6
He nodded to himself pleased to see that things were coming along well, he was almost half way to what he needed for his weapon but decided to speed things up.
Clearing the list he went to his skills again, thanks to his mind palace training he had plenty of AP points to spend and while he could put them into his combat skills right now he knew prioritising making a weapon for himself would be the better choice as it would allow him more versatility in battle than fighting with his fists.
Glancing to his available points he saw that he had 1TP and 248AP and was hesitant for a moment before deciding he would just grind for more later and dropped one hundred and sixteen points into his crafting skill to round it off to two hundred before he went back to his inventory and dropped six of the swords he had into the deconstruction menu and was pleased to see that the time had dropped significantly, each sword would now only take two and a half hours to break down meaning in seventeen hours he could make his staff.
He nodded satisfied before he looked to Smoker's jitte that was in his inventory, he had almost forgotten about it and blinked several times before face palming himself, 'I am an idiot' he thought before once more clearing the list of swords and put the jitte into the menu to deconstruct instead, it was much larger than the swords and would no doubt supply him with more of the resources he needed and at the same time there were the sea stone components of it that he would be more than happy to find a use for. Until he learned haki they would be his ace in the hole against logia devil fruit users.
Checking the time he grinned when he saw that the jitte would only take four hours to break down on its own and dropped another sword into the list just to make sure he had all the materials he would need when he was done.
With that sorted next he opened the system store and in preparation for the completion of his staff before they reached whiskey peak he went into the skill shop and purchased the skill Bōjutsu and unlocked it immediately before he put one hundred of his remaining AP into the skill.
Immediately after doing so Gabriel felt his mind flood with the information on the proper techniques on how to use a bostaff, how to stand when using it where to place his hands and how to properly manuvover it, his muscles tingled the same as when he had unlocked the hand to hand combat skill. Like he had just spend a number of months training how to use a staff and knew when he got a hold of his staff for the first time he'd immediately know how to use it.
Grinning he closed the screens before turning back to the main body of the ship and began to make his way to the kitchen area where he knew their guests were staying at the moment, now that he was sure he was going to be prepared for the next island it was time he shook things up a bit.
As he entered the kitchen he glanced to the pair of them, "oi, blonde, step outside. I want to have a chat with the lady" he told Mr nine in a tone that made it clear that his statement wasn't a request.
The pair looked at him and Mr nine looked conflicted as he glanced at Miss Wednesday who looked worried to be left a lone with a pirate.
Seeing that he wasn't immediately going to do as he was told Gabriel gave him a hard look tilting his hat slightly to look him in the eyes, "that wasn't a request, get out" he said firmly as his right fist vibrated in a threatening manner.
The others heard his tone and looked up to him standing in the doorway. Luffy tilted his head, "Gabriel what's up?"
He glanced over his shoulder to Luffy, "I just want to check something out and ask our lady guest a few questions" he said before looking back to Mr nine, "well you going to move or do I have to make you." He said with his fist still shaking, he didn't care much for the pussy prince he was a weakling not important enough for him to care much about.
Hearing the threat Mr nine gave Miss Wednesday an apologetic look before quickly leaving as he had been told.
Gabriel nodded and stepped to the side to let him leave before stepping inside more and closing the door behind him.
Nami watched from where she was on the deck and frowned as she saw him closed the door instantly wondering why he wanted to talk with Miss Wednesday alone, 'he couldn't want to take advantage of her could he' Nami thought as she watched the door click shut.
She knew she and the rest of the crew didn't exactly know much about Gabriel's past, and he kept to himself most of the time, but she didn't think that he was the type to do something like that, was he?
She was tempted to go over and listen through the door but stopped herself, if it was just a chat there was no point in doing so, and if he had poor intentions towards the other woman then even with the door closed she knew everyone would hear if a commotion broke out.
Then she froze as another thought crossed her mind, 'dose he just want her alone so that he could make a move on her, is she his type?' she thought, as the memories of what she had felt when she had hugged him came to the forefront of her mind and she felt a pang of jealousy, 'what dose she have that I don't' she thought bitterly before shaking her head and turning away from the door pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind, but still the feeling of jealousy remained annoying her.
Back inside the kitchen and dining room Gabriel took off his hat as he walked to the table and sat down across from Miss Wednesday as he set his hat down on the table.
"what did you want to talk about?" Miss Wednesday asked being as polite as she could be while still retaining her cover persona, she had seen his fist shake like Mr nine did and she was instantly cautious of the man who's intentions were unknown to her.
Gabriel smiled as he looked at her before putting one of his arms on the table and leaning his head against the other, "call me Gabriel, and you don't have to worry Miss, I don't have any vile intentions towards you, I just want to talk, I'm curious that's all"
She seemed to relax slightly seeing his change in demeanor and relaxed pose, she was still on guard but at the same time she couldn't see any deceat in his words and actions, "very well, what do you want to know, I appologise in advance if I can't answer your questions, disgression and secrecy is the motto of the orginisation that myself and my college work for" she explained.
Gabriel chuckled softly and nodded looking forward to her reaction at his next scentance, "oh you don't have to tell me that, I am very much aware of how Baroque works operates, I've been aware of its existence for some time now though you and your partner are the first agents that I have encountered" he said idly.
Miss Wednesday's eyes immediately widened upon hearing him openly state the companies name and was once again wary of him, "how do you…" she said not sure how he could have found out about baroque works at this stage of the grand line, it had taken her years to figure out of the agencies existence and yet he knew immediately.
Gabriel smiled, "there is a saying that I believe very firmly in miss. "information is power" so I tend to collect all the information that I can because I never know when such information will prove to be useful to me, that is precisely why we are having this little chat now, you have information that I want to know"
Miss Wednesday frowned at that, "if you know about the orginisation then you know that I can't divulge anything about our company secrets" she said as she pondered over his words from before, the saying wasn't something that she had heard before but she could see the truth behind it.
Gabriel nodded his head, "I know, but the questions I have don't pertain to your orginisation, at least not directly. I already know all I need to about Baroque works and its agents, I even know who it is that sits at the very top, as I also know that you know that as well"
Miss Wednesday looked at him in absolute shock and horror as he spoke, his words making her look at him as if he had just announced her death, "I…I" she tried to speak but couln't form words in her state of shock.
Gabriel shook his head, "relax Miss, I have no intention of causing trouble for you in any way I am just letting you know that I know. So relax, just answer my questions and you will soon understand" he told her.
Miss Wednesday could only not as she continued to look at him fearfully despite his words to the contrary the very fact that he knew that she knew things made her fear for her life, just who is this man and how dose he know so much, is he an officer agent that she hadn't met before, was he going to kill her.
Seeing her looking at him like that Gabriel sighed, perhaps he could have gone at this from another angle or waited until later after all but he was already too deep into things so he would have to see it through and try to assure her of his intentions.
"the first thing I want to know, is just why you joined Baroque works" Gabriel stated after a moment more, "I would think that the Princess of Alabasta kingdom would have a good reason to do so."
At first Miss Wednesday's mind was racing to try to think up some lie that she could give him so as not to reveal her identity but the second he revealed that he knew who she was she felt her whole reality shatter as she looked at him in abject fear, "how do you…" she began to ask.
Gabriel smiled, 'time to bullshit' he thought to himself, "I recognised you of course, the princess of Alabasta disappearing from the palace was quite a stir back then, I remember seeing a picture of you in the papers around that time and I don't easily forget such a pretty face, regardless of your different hair style your face isn't something you can change" he explained, "so care to enlighten me as to just why a princess would join a criminal organisation, as I said I'm sure you have your reasons and as I know some of Baroque works secrets I can guess but I'd rather hear it right from the source if you would be so kind, your highness"
Hearing his explanation Vivi swallowed as she tried to think, she didn't want to tell him, it could mess everything up that she and Igaram had been working so hard for these last years, but she doubted that she could lie to him. If he really knew as much as he claimed then he would instantly know that she was deceiving him. So taking a deep breath she began to tell him what he wanted to know.
Gabriel leaned back in his chair as he listened to her explain her story, it was just as he remembered it from the anime, how she had discovered baroque works was behind the troubles in her kingdom and how she had secreted herself into the orginisation to try and figure out their goals working her way up the ranks to the point she was at now where the information was more easily obtained and how she had finally discovered what she needed to know.
He of course noticed that she neglected to mention anything about Igaram, the captain of Alabasta's royal guard, had joined her in her mission, but he didn't call her out on it, he could tell she wanted to protect him if she could. That was just the type of person that she was.
Hearing her tale come to an end Gabriel nodded, "thank you for telling me your story Vivi, it's cleared a lot of things up for me. I must say you are very brave to have done what you have for your kingdom, it's very noble" he stated, "but also very foolish."
Hearing him say that Vivi frowned, "what other choice did I have, Alabasta was in turmoil things were only getting worse, I had to do something."
Gabriel nodded, "Yes, as nobel as your intentions were you still had better choices than putting yourself at risk, you are the princess of Alabasta, its future ruler, what would happen to your kingdoms future if you were discovered and killed"
Vivi froze at his words before clenching her fists as her fathers words came to mind, "the kingdom would continue, regardless of my death, I am just one person, as long as the people survive so will the kingdom"
Gabriel sighed and shook his head, he knew exactly where she was quoting that from, her father. When he had first heard Cobra talking like that in the anime when he was younger he thought it made sense, but as he grew older he knew that the words were just that, a meaningless sentiment.
"and so you would willingly throw your life away just like that, and doom your kingdom in the process," Gabriel stated plainly, "Vivi, while some may say that a kingdom is more than just its royal family, those people don't take into account just what the ruler of a kingdom dose for the kingdom that they rule. They provide order and structure, they are more than just a figure head. The people look to them to lead in times of crisis and disorder. It is their job to give commands for the betterment of the kingdom. Without a ruler a kingdom has no structure and is doomed to fall into chaos where the strong prey on the weak without remorse, and eventually it will fall apart with out someone to lead it. and while your father may sit on the throne now, you are the future of the kingdom, without you the kingdom will die."
Gabriel's word hit her like a slap to the face as she looked down and tears flowed from her eyes. She tried to think of some argument against his words but she couldn't. While she had lived a generally sheltered life she knew from her time outside of the palace and in baroque works that there were those who would take advantage of such chaos.
"then what was I supposed to do, Alabasta was falling apart, everyone was turning against us, what was I meant to do" Vivi asked.
Gabriel shook his head, "though it may not look it a crown is a heavy burden to wear, not physically but mentally. A ruler has to make hard choices, difficult decisions that while painful for them is inevitably better for the kingdom. You had people you could trust, you could have sent them in your stead, that's what advisors and heralds are for, soldiers put their lives in the rulers hands so that they do not need to risk their lives and endanger the kingdoms future. As a future queen you should know this."
Vivi clenched her fists and bit her bottom lip to keep from speaking, again his words rung true, Igaram had told her much the same back when she had first proposed her plan to him, but she had refused to put anyone elses lives in danger.
Seeing her remain silent Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest, "given the situation that you are currently in I see only one way that we can proceed in this matter" he announced, "I will personally see to it that you are returned safely to Alabasta so that you may tell your father about what you have discovered, and help you however I can to prevent the civil war in alabasta from destroying the country"
As he spoke the last part Vivi looked up to him with her eyes wide, "what.." she asked completely shocked that he would just volunteer himself to do that. She and Igaram had been planning on secretly making their own way back to Alabasta within the next few days, but as far as she was aware he believed her to be alone and offered her his assistance out of the blue.
Gabriel smiled at her, "it's the only decent thing to do, I can't very well overlook such a gentle soul like yourself when you are so clearly in need, you are in over your head and need help. It's more than likely that the boss of Baroque works will discover what you know eventually, if he doesn't know already, and will inevitably put the other agents under his command to see you killed before you can expose his identity and plans, so the sooner you get back to Alabasta the better"
Vivi was completely speechless when he said that, she had of course knew the dangers but as she hadn't been discovered yet she thought she would have time. She had never expected that someone, a complete stranger and a pirate, would offer her aid like this.
"I, I don't know what to say," Vivi said as she looked at him in a new light.
Gabriel smiled as he stood up, "don't say anything, for now it is just my aid you have, I don't speak for the rest of this crew as I'm not technically a part of it. Though something tells me that when they hear of your predicament they will want to help as well, though Nami might ask for payment for services rendered," he mused.
She looked at him confused by his words, "what do you mean, not technically a part of the crew" she asked not sure by what he meant.
Gabriel chuckled, "I mean exactly that, Luffy and I have an agreement, I sail with them and stand with them but only until I can gather my own crew and ship to go after my own ambition, at which point my crew and this one will be allies, mine and Luffys dreams are too similar for me to serve under him as a part of his crew"
Vivi listened and was curious as to what his dream was, she vividly remembered Luffy declaring that he would be the King of the Pirates when he had agreed to let them sail on his ship.
As Gabriel lifted his hat and walked towards the door, she couldn't help but ask. "if you don't mind me asking, just what is your dream?" she asked as she dried her tears from her eyes.
Gabriel smirked as he put his hat on and opened the door glancing back to her as he did so, "to be the strongest Yonkō and form the greatest empire and crew this world has ever seen"
His words left her speechless as she watched him leave. She couldn't help but hear the conviction and passion in his voice when he of spoke his dream. It was both of those that made her believe that he would, with absolute certainty, achieve his dream and nothing would stand in his way.
