Chapter 9 - Cozy

A year had passed quickly on the quiet island of Cozia, May had settled down in the Capital Cozy and had enjoyed his time writing books. At some point May had visited the East Blue Trading Company, the EBTC, and struck a deal with them. He provided the copies of his books to the company for half the end price.

In the beginning the EBTC was a bit hesitant about the amount of books they could sell but the LOTR as well as the Harry Potter books started gaining immense popularity. Not many people had the luxury to focus their life on writing so not too many competitors had a claim on the market. In fact the books had started selling so well that representatives of the South-, West-, and North Blue Trading Companies (SBTC, WBTC, NBTC) had approached him to acquire the rights to sell his books. 

In a lengthy talk with the four big trading companies they came to the conclusion that each Trading Company would station one representative just for May in Cozy. It had been a little chaotic at first but business with Mr. West, Mr. East, Mr. North and Mr. South had quickly transformed into a friendly relationship with them.

It had been a year since he had parted ways with Ace and Deuce and May was pondering if he wanted to stay a bit longer on the island or also set out, when he heard a pounding on the door.

As he opened the door the familiar face of Captain Horne greeted him. "May, long time no see."

"Yes it's been a while, but it's great to see you again. Come in." May offered.

Captain Horne nodded and stepped inside. "Can I offer you anything? Tea, Beer, Rum, Sake or maybe something to eat?"

"A tea would be great, no alcohol yet I'm technically here on official marine business." Horne replied.

Mays face froze for a second but he quickly recovered himself. "I'll brew up a cup of tea then. So what exactly is the official business you are here on?"

Horne faced shifted, he clearly wasn't comfortable bringing this topic up. "Vice Admiral Garp sent me. He wants information on Fire Fist Ace and Masked Deuce, he knows that you arrived here with the Captain and First Mate of the Spade Pirates a year ago. He read the reports. Now nobody is saying that you did anything illegal but he wants you brought in for questioning." 

An awkward silence filled the room for a while until the whistling sound of the kettle cut through it. "The Vice Admiral wants to see ME? Garp the Hero of the Marine..." May paused again "Does that mean we have to go to Marineford?"

"Don't worry about that. He is here, in the marine base."

One hour later, Marine Base Cozia

May and Captain Horne had made their way to the base in a leisurely pace, taking time to catch up on their lives. Horne seemed especially interested in Mays accomplishments as a famous author, as he was literally the first to ever own one of his books. But the good mood began to shift when they reached the base. Their conversation came to a halt as Horne showed him the way to his office where Garp was already waiting.

The base wasn't busy and not a lot of people were to be seen. They walked through the corridors until they reached a big double-winged door. The marine captain stopped right in front of the door. "Garp is waiting for you inside. He wants to talk to you alone. Remember you are just here for questioning, I'm sure there's no reason to be afraid."

May gulped, took a deep breath and opened the door.