Ralagan's comming

Goa Kingdom.

Beautiful.

I spit with disgust, having in front of my eyes a huge dump called Grey Terminal. The fumes and stench were unbearable, and when I discovered the organisms living in there, commonly called people, I doubted everything. Between piles of rubble and scrap of all kinds lived the old and the young, stripped and mutilated. Some of their features showed a particularly bad character; they had eyes as if they were just waiting for you to fall asleep, to rob you and slit your throat. Oh, where were the times when a serious murderer was hiding under the mask of decency and good manners?

I didn't even move when several alleged bandits approached me from behind, with chipped, rusty knives. Their smiles could be considered ominous if it wasn't for the caries and cavities. Besides, whoever sail on the ocean knew that torn clothes and wretched equipment were evidence of the ability of the owner. And these abilities were apparently extremely poor in this case. And although I expected such a situation sooner or later, I experienced a temporary disappointment. I was used to the fact that pirates and Marines are afraid to speak with me, I did not understand how a bunch of vagrants from a subordinate islet on East Blue would dare to approach me so openly. I had enough patience for a whole minute.

The five person gang was lying there, and to give the whole action a little taste, I lit a cigarette. Weather I wanted it or not, I had to delve into this disgusting stench, because Dadan told me that Ace is mostly in the Grey Terminal.

Dadan... Ah, yes, a woman, the boss of a mountain band of thieves, Ace's nanny from childhood. Garp came up with this idea. To put the baby at the murderers and looters. Although looking at the wooden cottage and herd of chickens I thought that this band is more concerned with rural life than with real thieving. They seemed a bit unskilled.

The only thing that annoyed me was the reaction to my announcement why I came. I didn't expect that Dadan would raise her hands to heaven and begin to give thanks for "the end of torments with the devil's child".

I barely stopped myself from breaking her red head.

'It doesn't look good'

I crooked, disgusted, and strolled through a large, empty room, in the middle of which there was only a hearth. I was walking around the wooden floor and such walls, empty and unpleasant, and there was a stench of sweat and smoke, not particularly disturbing to me. Dadan, calling herself the boss of the band, looked at me with reserve. I threw out the whole bunch into the courtyard where the hens were running around, dealing with a woman alone, having her as the only witness.

'Didn't Garp show any signs of insanity?'

I finally stood in front of the woman and woven my hands behind my back, sending her a serious look.

'A... But you won't tell him about it?'

She had too pleasant a tone, and in that case, it would be possible to come to an agreement.

'No.'

'I was against it!'

She woven her hands on her abundant breast, decorated with red beads, and started to talk about everything she thought was unfair.

'He came here and set up a nursery! He didn't pay for that brat's food or anything else, he left everything on my head and as long as Ace was a baby, there were no problems. He ate or slept all the time!'

With nostalgia I listened to the short story of his childhood, but although I wanted to choke out every word, I kept quiet about everything.

'And when he grows up, the snouts started, escapes, he comes home at night... I don't care about that bastard child! But demon's child has demonic luck, that's for sure!'

'Then you won't have anything against, old woman, if I take Ace with me? Your problems will be over. You will never see him, nor he will see you again.'

'But Garp won't agree!' She protested, while trying to keep me from changing my decision. 'He will be angry! He's a vice admiral!'

'I know who this old geezer is, but Jones is my witness, I have more rights to this child than any other man walking on this earth!' I yelled with passion, silencing the woman.

'Ace will come with me. He will go, even if you don't agree. He will go, even if Garp comes here with the whole Navy fleet. This child. Is. Mine.'

She didn't understand. Thank God, she didn't understand a single word and didn't draw any conclusions, what wouldn't happen if I talked to someone intelligent. I was carried away because I had a "demon's child" and a "bastard" in my memory; the terms she operates so easily, and which burned out in my mind like scars.

In the end, she wished me luck and slammed the door, not having the slightest idea how close to death she and her gang were.

As a result of this situation, I was walking around the Grey Terminal, wondering where my nephew is located. If I hadn't been able to find him in the dump, there was still the High Town, located in the middle of this pile of scrap metal, separated by a high wall. Apparently, it was the most beautiful city in East Blue, and if so, it must have been very rich. For obvious reasons it was the most important for me.

'What are you looking for here, lady?'

I was caught up by some ragged man, who was apparently tempted by my navy

blue coat decorated with golden buttons. I looked at him from under the hat and thought that if he came across himself, it would be a sin to let him go without any information.

'Listen, you!' I reached into my pocket and got out a little purse stuffed with some coins, and his eyes were shining.

'I will give you that money, if you tell me where I can find Portgas D. Ace, a seven

year old boy.'

The thief laughed mockingly and shook his head.

'What, did the tiger's cub get under the skin? But with such a knife there will be no problem to punish him.' He pointed at Habanero and was smart enough to guess that I do not wear a katana for fun.

'I'll tell you, there's no harm in doing so. This tiger's cub running around the forest, not an hour ago I saw them, him and Sabo, on the edge, right there.'

He pointed his hand in the opposite direction to my wandering and stretched his hand for purse. I threw it to him and followed the direction, turning back.

'If I don't find them there, I will come back' I warned him as I walked away.

Tiger's cub...

Adequately.

I did not like simple things, because who does? To appreciate something that came to easily, may only someone without ambition, and although there is much to be said about me, it is certainly not that I am without aspirations. I had some hopes that Ace would get to know me quickly, accept me and everything would be fine, but I was hoping more for a hard battle. Divine providence liked to play games with me, sometimes she listened to my prayers, more often not, but in this case she decided to go for me. So I received a full blessing for the upcoming war.

The sun stood high in the sky as I was wandering patiently through the edge of the forest, walking up Korubo mountain, and I wondered myself why I had such a patients. I should have cut this forest to the ground, and yet I walked quietly, breathing in the smell of resin, and it didn't bother me that I chased the child for half a day.

It took me far away from the Terminal, and even from the middle of the forest, the trees grew less and less often, and in front of me there was a slope of a huge mountain. Overgrown with bushes of all kinds, it did not look like a tourist route, and after a while I found out why.

On my right side two kids came running up. Both were holding long tubes in their hands and every now and then they were looking behind them, completely unnoticing me. One had an orange T-shirt, soiled with dust from feet to elbows, and breathed hard, as if he had a long run. The second kid had a cylinder on his head, a really unusual one, and blue goggles on it. He was also dressed in very posh way, because who normal runs around with a scarf under his neck and in black, elegant boots?

A bear was chasing the children. And it was probably the biggest specimen I was able to see, and I saw a lot of them. Almost ten times bigger than a normal animal, it rushed on all fours at an incredible speed for its size, and I had a feeling that two kids would not manage.

'Run!'

The one in the cylinder yelled at me, speeding up.

Really, children with their frightlessness...

I pulled out Habanero and cut on the side, above the little ones' heads. They stopped immediately, not knowing who to fear more, women with an katana or a furious animal. I found myself more frightening. The cut knocked down a few of the nearest pines and the bear chopped almost in half. The ball of fur collapsed with a bang, blood was spilled from the long wound, the children looked at the dead animal in disbelief, and then slowly turned towards me. Habanero returned to her place.

'Hey, kids, I am looking for Portgas D. Ace...'

'I don't know him .' The one in the cylinder muttered, but he gave the other one a worried look. The black haired, freckled child lifted Roger's dark eyes up on me, straightened up, and said despite his fear:

'I am Ace.'

Oh, yes. There was no mistake about it. The same eyes, the same bold look, the same attitude of "nothingscaresmecomeandtry". The facial features were a mixture of Roger's sharp shapes and something delicate, he probably inherited it from Rogue. For a moment I couldn't believe that there was a copy of my childhood brother in front of me.

I opened my eyes wide and hesitate to answer, even though it occurred to me that the child was impatiently asking what I wanted from him. I absorbed the sight and after a few long moments I forced myself to hide tears under my hat. Something unknown squeezed my throat. This something mixed with the longing for my brother, the grief after my old life, but most of all I was overwhelmed by the irresistible feeling of harm done. My nephew grew up on this disgusting island, among mountains of garbage, he was threatened with death from wild animals, and I... I, Emeral D. Ralagan, his only family, I got drunk and I vilified that life was not going as I wanted it to. How pathetic I felt then...

'I am... Pebble' I managed to strangle it, but it was all about the truth. 'Dadan sent me to... I am to watch over you.'

'Dadan?' A blonde man in a cylinder, with a tooth check in his teeth, looked at Ace with an unintelligible eye.

'Yeah, right. Dadan would be happy if I died. She probably sent you to cut me down with that big katana.'

Ace didn't really want to let himself be fooled, and what's more, his words were surprisingly well

fitting in my theory about Dadan. But it was one thing to think and another to hear such words from a seven year old, so the blood was boiling inside me.

'Listen, young blood, when I say I'm going to keep an eye on you, that's the way it's supposed to be.' I snapped, but the child shrugged disrespectfully and intended to pass me by.

'So many years at sea, and in my old age I had to take care of the rebellious generation. You are your father's real son, tiger's cub' I laughed, watching Ace turn one hundred and eighty degrees and looking at me with his eyes wide open. The mention of his father aroused anger in him and I didn't understand it at all. 'But Roger was stronger.' I ended up drawing little satisfaction from the real fury in the dark eyes of the seven year old.

'You know...! How?! Who told you?! That stupid Dadan!' He screamed, ignoring the blonde one trying to calm him down. Hoho, the doubtful charm he may have inherited from his father, but the temperament was definitely mine.

'Calm down or I will skin you. Nobody will yell at me. I am a pirate, and I will not stand such hysteria.' I patted him on the head, which was too depressing for a seven year old majesty, so he announced it to me with a series of blouses, not necessarily offensive to me. There was nothing I could do about it that made me laugh, so I did laugh for at least a minute. The "damn" and "what the hell" curses sounded too funny in his mouth, but I decided to remove this ugly clash. I could curse and only I.

'Ace! Ace get a grip. Hey! Calm down'!

'Let go of me! Woman or not, I'm gonna punch her...'

I was silent at once and looked at him impassively, which effectively interrupted the rally. It caused the child to unwittingly retreat, but he was not satisfied with it. I leaned over him with a cold expression on my face and grabbed his shirt.

'You can beat up whoever you want, brat. Stand up to fight with stronger than yourself, but never, ever, ever dare to raise your hand on a woman, whoever she may be. Do you understand?'

'N... well...'

'What?!'

'Yes, ma'am!'

He was smart as for a seven year old, he was able to judge, correctly, the strength of his opponent. But his manners were... In fact, he did not have them. I looked at the blond in the cylinder, big eyes were looking at me calmly and with some shade of sympathy, although maybe I was too hasty in judging.

'I am Sabo.' The blond one bowed politely, taking off the cylinder and then pointed at the bear.

'I have never seen anything like it. It was incredible! How did you...'

'I am Pebble.'

'That's your name? And you're gonna watch over Ace? Yeah, he could use that, because he's been getting into trouble all the time lately.'

'Shut up, you fool! Wanna piece of me!'

'Like I'm afraid of you, you idiot!'

'Well, well, that's enough.' I grabbed the metal pipes before they moved.

'Now be kind enough to tell me why this animal was chasing you.'

'We won't be kind! Leave us alone! And don't you dare to follow me!'

No, it definitely couldn't have been too easy. Even if he had some judgmental skills, nature gave him paternal bravado. The war had to start.

'And where do you live?'

Sabo, on the other hand, presented a completely different personality. I was wondering where the kid dressed like that came from, but I decided that I shouldn't ask about it for now. The patience had to become my second name.

'What do you care? Are you stupid or what?! Why do you ask that?! How did she...'

'Nowhere, I just arrived.'

'What? On a ship?!'

Now both of them had their faces and shiny eyes interested, and when I was nodding my head, they almost wrote down their excitement. Banshee was supposed to save my skin.

'Well, what do pirates sail on?'

'Pirates?! You really are a pirate!'

'But you are a girl!' My nephew protested, showing me an unpleasant character trait.

'At sea, girls are stronger than boys.' I instructed seriously, but they didn't really believe me.

'Would you show us you ship?' Sabo dared to ask, Ace stood sulking, but it was clear that he was just waiting for permission to go to the indicated shore. I was happy with this desire for ships, sea and pirates. Maybe Garp didn't spoil the child enough so he did not dream of being a Marine. That would have been the thorn in my side, a sizeable thorn.

As a cunning Emperor, outlawed of course, I quickly saw my opportunity in that question and I decided to strike the iron while it was hot. It was really nice of me to trick two seven

year olds, and Ray would laugh at me.

'Who knows?' I asked, shuddering.

'First I would have to meet you... You must not show your ships to young children if you do not know them. And you, tigers' cubs? Maybe you want to come and destroy my beautiful ship?'

They started to claim that they would never in their lives absolutely dare, but seeing that I wasn't really convinced by that, they chose a different tactic. Probably very sneaky in their opinion.

'Well, we will let you watch over us for a week.' Ace graciously gave the conditions; the desire to see a pirate ship was much stronger than pride.

'For a week's watch I will bring you a piece of fabric from the sails.' I bargained relentlessly. The kid squeaked disrespectfully and murmured something under his nose.

'A month!'

'Two pieces.'

'What? This is stupid! I want to see the whole ship.'

'And I'm here to watch over you, what can you do?' I pulled the barrel and the cigarette case out of my pocket. I sat down in front of a bear bodied corpse and in peace and quiet I lit the tobacco.

'If I sit here with you for a year and keep an eye on you, and you will behave yourself, I will take you on a cruise to the South.'

The outbreak of joy stunned me, the children caught up with me and they both demanded assurances with big smiles that I was telling the truth and I will definitely take them away.

'Aye, why should I say no? But only if you keep your part of the deal.'

'And you are not bluffing?'

'I should be dragged the hell if I lied.'

'Good, a year, we agree!'

So I bribed two seven year olds with a cruise to South Blue.

'But you know what Pebble?' Sabo looked at me over the flames when we were sitting on the beach in the evening and baking pieces of bear meat.

'I didn't know you were so strong.'

'We've known each other only half a day, you'll see a lot more' I smile, pleasantly complimented and clearly admired the blonde with a smile.

'And where will you live? On your ship?'

In addition, he seemed to be the most sober-minded in this duo, and his concern was absolutely charming. The seven year old boy who was worried about my accommodation was more than adorable.

'No, if I had to wander to your junkyard every day, I would have gone mad. You have big, solid trees in this forest, so I think I will build a house on one of them.'

'A house on a tree?! Really?!' Ace spoke to me for the first time in thirty minutes, and while I already had an ally in Sabo, my nephew was against me. The vision of the voyage was still mumbling, but his inborn stubbornness made him show his horns, and he decided that it would be best done in silence.

'I want to do it too! I will live with you! I have nowhere to live anyway! May I?'

'Tch. I have to stay with Dadan. Grandpa Garp would kill me...'

'Nay, he won't do anything to you. ' I said. Ace looked at me surprised and for the time of our short conversation he stopped eating, and I noticed that it was one of his favourite activities.

'How do you know? He told me to live here and Dadan to take care of me.'

'Before I came here, I had a chat with him. He agreed to let me take care of you. You want his permission on paper?'

'What for? I can't read anyway.' He snorted surprisingly honestly, not knowing that the idea of buying out all the books of the High City appeared in my mind. 'So... can I live in a tree house with you?'

'Aye, mate. Together with Sabo, of course.'

'And no one will do anything about it?'

'If somebody tries, I'll skin him' I smiled, arousing even more admiration. 'Sabo, what does it mean you have nowhere to live?'

'Well, because I was born in Gray Terminal and I don't have any parents and I've been living in the forest for two years and it's cool' he said on one breath. I gave him a mocking look, which he may not have understood, but he guessed I didn't believe it, so he turned his head blushed.

'Oi, Pebble.'

'Don't call the woman "oi", tiger's cub.'

A sigh was the only answer, then Ace looked at me with intensity.

'What do you think about Gol D. Roger? '

His face was shimmering with a thousand emotions, from waiting, through rage to sadness, and it depended on my answer what will ultimately win. I was in no hurry. I noticed his reaction to the mention of Roger earlier and suspected that Garp had managed to tell him nonsense.

'The best thing to do is not to think about the dead, darling' I said a noncommittal murmur, but as befits a seven year old, he wanted to hear the details.

'But you know that I am his son, and that the demon's child is devilishly lucky and they should cut off my head!'

He was talking nonsenses, but it wasn't that complicated to draw the conclusion. I watched him in silence, letting him throw it all away, and when the cry finally took away his speech, I decided to crack down on all those who had bullshit about death and unwanted descendants. Regretting life? Sorry for being born?

They will pay for it. They will cry bitterly when I track them down, even if after that the demons will drag me to hell.

'Listen, Ace, you told me you wanted to go out to sea one day...' I put the barrel on and lay down comfortably on the sand, leaning my head against my rolled up coat.

'When you cross the Red Line and find yourself on the other side, you will hear things about Roger that nobody here in Blues knows.'

The sky sparkled with a million stars. It was wonderful to look at them, listen to the ocean and lie on the beach, accompanied by two seven year old boys. At that moment, the meaning of the Yangtze words slowly reached me. They need you she said.

'Listen and remember what I will say now. No real pirate will say a bad word about the King. It was Roger who showed people that they could be free. Someone who says otherwise should be hanged.'

'I...' Ace shed tears from his freckled cheeks and sniffed his nose out loud

'I want to be free too.'

'I want to be free too! And we will sail to the ocean! I will write a book about it.'

If he wants to become a pirate, you will bless him and make him the most powerful child of the sea.

I will, Ed.

I was woken up by the orange glow of the rising sun and the quiet snoring. Ace and Sabo slept at their best, covered with my coat and presented themselves with an idyllic and carefree image.

I have never remembered feeling so happy and calm before. The emotion bordering on ecstasy and mental fullness accompanied me throughout the day and gained strength as my eyes registered the image of the boys right next to me. I had no doubt that this is what mothers feel and for this happiness they are ready to sacrifice their bodies, health and life. I just couldn't decide if I was happier or if I wanted to kill the people responsible for the loneliness of the children, but something new was shaping up inside me and I was fully aware of it. It was something in Ace's black eyes, in Sabo's joyful smile. I was transformed to the extent of a great revolution, and was captivated by all my previous feelings and views, began to carve my soul anew, make room in my heart. I was amazed to find that twelve hours later I was a completely different person from the one who wanted to be stuck in a cabin with gallons of alcohol, locked up without any company. At the same time, I understood that these two children would do with me whatever they wanted, and I would smile and allow it.

'Oh, good morning.' Sabo yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

'Good morning, or at least it looks like it. Well, child? You want to eat?' I smiled, shaking the sand from my shoes.

'Well, I would have eaten something.' he admitted, looking for leftovers from last night, but I didn't even want to hear about it.

'Ace, you have to get up.' The blond poked the sleeping boy.

Ace slept in a righteous dream, entangled in my coat, and apparently, he had pleasant dreams, because he smiled a little.

'Ace, we are going to eat without you!' I called out and, according to my calculations, the seven

year old rose to sit down almost immediately.

'What? Where?' He asked sleepily and got a little offended when he saw nothing.

'We will go into town. We will eat something and then we have to get down to work. Are you sure you have a sawmill here? There's no way you don't it with such a forest. We need some furniture, glass for windows, some pipes...' I was calculating on the way, planning in detail the construction of a new house.

'And you will buy it all?' Ace mocked out.

'Why should I steal a few boards? Darling, you only steal something that is worth risking your life. And wood, whatever it is, in my opinion, has no such value.' I immediately started our life with a few life-wisdoms.

'Pebble, and how do you want to pay for it?' Sabo, as you can see, was a great supporter. I sighed hard.

'Normally, with money.'

'You stole it?'

'Oh, good God... No, I didn't steal it. I earned it honestly.'

'Actually, you didn't tell us your ship's name.' Ace put his hand on his neck. I moistened my lips with my tongue and it wasn't the first time I thought that this duo would eventually lead me to the edge of endurance.

'Banshee.' I reluctantly admitted. They moaned in unison, as if they were disappointed with the name of the fearful ship on second half of the world.

'Don't you think that Sea Snake is better?'

'Or the Infernal Sea Warrior?' They suggested, probably in good faith.

'Change it for something cooler.'

'Oh, you tigers' cubs, you want to go out to sea and you don't know the basics? Who brought you up? Listen, the ship gets only one name.' I said it with a serious voice, and the duo listened as if enchanted.

'You must not change it, because the spirit of the ship is bound to it. If you baptize the ship again, you will be unlucky and you will sink.' I concluded gloomy, but true, to the second cry of horror.

'Impossible!'

'And yet! I once met a man who belonged to the crew of a Silver Clam ship, they were attacked, they lost, and their ship was conscripted into the Navy fleet and baptized into Freedom. He sank four days later.'

'No way...'

'The ocean is an ancient power, never joke about its rights.'

If we take the average person's intelligence quotient and add to it caution, attention to detail and the ability to correctly assess the situation, we will come up with material for a good leader. But if we add the same IQ to bravura, forgetfulness, quick but not always accurate assessment of the situation, we will get a clay for an idiot. And this idiot is a fearless idiot, and a very problematic kind of people. In both cases, the basic factor is strength and good character, and the desire for freedom, but the other ingredients are different from each other like heaven and earth. And these two types were presented by my subjects.

Ace was not afraid of anything, almost, and always came out in front of the line. Sabo usually thought for a while before he faced a stronger opponent, and although he was still too small to try a large scale strategy, the beginnings were promising.

A week after building the tree house very stylish, I dare say, two future warriors of the seas decided to test my strength. They demanded a serious fight and tried by all means to force the exposure of Habanero. It was only after a few screams that I changed my tactics, i.e. I lowered my tone and gave them a cool look, they calmed down.

'This katana has no mercy and only serves to defend herself against real enemies.'

Have you ever imagined a duel between two kittens and their mother's tribune? It would be roughly similar to the fight there. The metal tubes were aimed at me and tried to reach me in the midst of a battle cry. Unfortunately, each time they missed, and when one was too close, it shrank by several millimetres. After a few minutes of fruitless weapon waving, if you can call it that, the boys withdrew, sending me surprised glances.

'Well, that's all?' I asked, pretending to be surprised.

'In that case, it is my turn.' I made a face that showed bad intentions and apparently the boys understood the horror of the situation.

'Retreat! Retreat!' Sabo commanded, and Ace, hesitating for a while, gave him time to run away.

'Where to?' I asked and kidnapped my nephew first, and then I caught up with the blonde, and ran straight to a high cliff.

'Hey! Pebble! What do you want to do?'

'What do you mean what? Get rid of my enemies, I'll drown you' I was glad to hear their terrified voices. Using Slide, it took me a few moments to get to the shore, and as intended, two seven

year olds hung over ragged rocks hit by the waves.

'Are you giving up?'

'Yes, yes, but do not let us go! Pebble! Don't let go!'

I put them on the ground, and after a few deep breaths, my duo calmed down and the whole fight was settled with laughter.

'We are terribly weak.' Sabo said looking at me, ashamed.

'Nonsense, tiger's cub. You are only seven years old, what do you expect?'

I looked at the sea in front of us and smiled nostalgically, feeling an irresistible desire to summon Banshee and sail towards the setting sun...

'Pebble, I want to be so strong too, teach me! '

An order was given somewhere around my hips. Ace's black eyes looked at me with determination and persistence, and after a while I saw the same expression in Sabo's gaze. I wondered for a moment as if such a decision would cost me a great sacrifice, and only after a long, very long moment I reluctantly spoke:

'But then I will have to stay here longer.'

'It's okay.'

'Agreed.'

'And is it not too soon you made a decision?'

I laughed at the serious faces. They stood shoulder to shoulder, with their hands crossed on their fragile chests, and presented a picture of true seriousness and determination. I leaned over them and the careless haircuts were destroyed by my hands.

'I will make you the strongest pirates of this world, my tigers' cubs.'