Conqueror's Haki

It's been 3 days since the battle and Percy's men were still recovering. They were sent to nearest marine base, but Percy was unable to go since he was still banished from them. He was sitting on a rock overlooking the rest of the Kupp Isles when he heard a voice come behind

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA, boy, you looked depressed. Still mad about your punishment?"

"Not really, just thinking about how weak I truly am."

Garp was silent before saying seriously,

"You may be weak now, but you have the potential to become one of the strongest people in the future."

"I guess you heard about my outburst in headquarters then."

"Yeah, I know you just awakened your conqueror's haki, but it takes time for it to develop. On the other hand, your devil fruit, your control is weak right now. I see that your haki has gotten stronger, but you still need to practice your abilities now and then."

"I know, my devil fruit's potential has not been reached yet and I feel like I hit a plateau. I can grab anyone, crush them, but that's about it right now."

"BWAHAHAHAHA, kid, you seem to be forgetting something."

"? And what is that?"

"Your devil fruit isn't gravity Percy. It's darkness. Gravity is only a secondary effect with the dark- dark fruit. Darkness means absorption, corruption, negation, manipulation. Right now, you are at best using gravity, some negation, and that's it. I fought against Rocks D. Xebec remember. I've seen the full potential of the fruit and right now, you don't even come close to it."

Percy was silent for a moment before asking Garp,

"How do I progress further? I can indeed feel that I'm not using my powers effectively, but I don't know what to develop next."

"Kid, you need to witness how powerful the past users were. There should be a recording of Xebec's fights somewhere in the Marineford archives..."

"I looked, either I couldn't find it myself, or I don't have enough authority to access the information."

"BWAHAHAHAHA yeah that sounds like the navy after all. Xebec was dangerous enough for his footage to be hidden deep inside our vaults. I'll make some inquiries for you."

"Thank you. I don't know if my other source will come through."

"Your other source?" Garp asked as if he was piecing together a puzzle.

"You went to South Blue," he started as he tried to form the whole story, "there were cipher pol agents there; something happened, and you returned."

"..."

"BWAHAHAHAHA, you cheeky bastard. You made a deal with the cipher pols for the footage. Hasn't anyone told you that nothing good comes out of interacting with those world government officials."

"...no. I thought it would be a simple mission. How was I supposed to know that they were starting a civil war."

"Eh, they started it? Sounds about right. So, I assume then that they haven't fulfilled their side of the bargain."

"No they have not. I'll get even with them someday. When I get stronger will be the time for my revenge, on both of them."

"Both of them?" Garp asked as his interest was peaked. "The cipher pol divisions were there?"

"No, two families were involved, family politics and all that."

"That's even worse then" Garp said solemnly. "They don't care about others, only their families' success and survival. You must be the expendable piece they used for their advantage."

"Never again though" Percy said with hatred in his voice. Unknowingly, black smoke started to ooze out of his body which caused the surrounding area to start being swallowed in darkness.

Garp saw this and frowned,

[How fragile his mind is] Garp thought as he needed to correct the situation soon, or else Percy may be a ticking time bomb instead of a weapon for the navy.

The hero of the marines quickly raised his hand and hit Percy on the top of his head. When Percy fell over, the darkness disappeared and Garp sighed in relief.

"You're too controlled by your emotions. If you want to get stronger, you not only need to develop your abilities, but your mentality as well. Only then can you start to reach my level."

Percy rubbed his head listening to his teacher's words,

"How do I do that?"

"First of all, you need to change your outlook on life. You have conqueror's haki, what do you think it means to be a conqueror?"

"To stand above rest, to rise above all?" Percy asked as he never really thought about what his haki means, all he wanted to do was utilize it for combat.

"You're not wrong, to have conqueror's haki is said to be manifested in those whose destiny is to be great. All of the strongest people in the world have conqueror's haki, from Roger, Whitebeard, Bigmom, Shiki, Kaidou, to even Sengoku has it. So what is the difference between you and them?"

"...that they're stronger than me?"

"Wrong, they have ambition. All of them want something and are willing to fight to reach their goals, including Sengoku. His dream is to have the marines spread justice throughout the world, even if he has to stomp over the carcasses of countless pirates to do so."

Garp paused for a moment to let Percy absorb the information before asking him, "what about you? What is your dream?"

Percy was silent, since he transmigrated, he never thought about his dreams, he only wanted to live day by day. Sure he wanted to topple the world government, but was that enough? He never really went after his goal with reckless abandon."

"When you find your goal, I mean really find your ambition, that's when you can start utilizing your conqueror's haki. As of right now, you are like a blank canvas. Only when you find and work towards your goal will you be able to start painting."

"...? What?"

Garp punched Percy on the head again and snarled, "you know what I mean, find your dream and work towards it."

"I can do that" Percy said as he needed time for self- reflection.

"Good" Garp said as he got up, "and when you do, find me. We'll begin on your training once again."

"Alright" Percy said as he stared out into the ocean, not knowing what Garp just said. The hero looked at the still concentrating Percy, smiled and left leaving him to think about his future.

[My goal has always to be stronger, but I guess that isn't enough. I know I want to to topple those f*ckin celestial dragons off their high horses, but I need help. Dragon can assist me there when he ultimately leaves. Perhaps I should take Sengoku's route, climb the navy's ranks and conquer from that side while assisting Dragon from within. This requires more thinking than I originally thought.]

Percy looked out to the ocean, lost in thought as the sun crossed the sky and started to set.

[Yep, that's what I'll do.] Percy said to himself as he made a decision. [I have a path, now I got to strive for it].

As Percy was leaving, unbeknownst to him, his mentality started to shift, but he wouldn't discover that for a while longer.