Admiral

Lieutenant Brannew watched the little girl mechanically cross the bridge to the next Grove until her figure disappeared beyond the thick curtain of rain.

He sighed and made his way to where he dropped his marine coat. Picking it up, he rummaged through its pockets and retrieved a transponder snail.

He sat down on the mud. No one else was awake yet. He waited for a long, long time before resolving himself.

'I hope I don't get in too much trouble for this,' he thought.

—-----

Grand Line.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

Puru Puru Puru Puru. Puru Puru Puru Puru. Puru P- Gacha.

"This is marine HQ. Report." A marine in the communications office picked up the call.

"This is Lieutenant Brannew of the civilian affairs division. There's been a situation."

"... Go on."

"A Celestial Dragon - No, two, were killed on Sabaody just now."

"..." The receiver went silent for a moment, then after a long pause, said, "Excuse me?"

An audible sigh made it through the transmission, and Brannew repeated, "Two Celestial Dragons were killed on Sabaody just now."

Silence. And then…

"I-i-i-m s-sorry, I have to r-r-report this higher up. P-please wait!" The voice said, then the sound of frantic running came through. 

—----

Brannew sighed. Maybe he should start smoking. Not that he'd be able to in this rain. He honestly would rather not deal with his thoughts right now. He was thinking about which division to transfer to after this incident was dealt with, when a gruff voice came from the snail.

"Hello?"

Brannew recognized the voice, "Admiral Sengoku, Sir."

"Two Celestial Dragons were killed, you say?" Admiral Sengoku's voice came through calmly enough, Brannew thought.

"Yeah, I'm sitting in front of their bodies as we speak."

"... Explain the situation."

"Well, it seemed they had a conflict with each other, and then… Well, anyway it happened like that."

Silence.

"Fleet Admiral Kong has notified Mary Geoise just now about your report. If there's anything you're not telling me, do so now."

Brannew was silent. He knew this would happen. It wasn't easy getting past experienced folks like Sengoku and Kong.

"... Lieutenant?"

Sigh.

"Well, I was knocked out when it happened so I didn't see anything. I can't be certain that's how it happened." He said. It wasn't a lie, and he figured it was a good enough compromise for himself at the current moment.

"Knocked out, you say? What happened?" Sengoku's voice became several degrees more severe.

Brannew didn't want to speak, but he knew that the longer he remained silent, the more trouble he would get himself into. The incident involved Mary Geoise and the elders at the top of The World Government.

It wasn't just about keeping his promise anymore. He was a marine, and this whole thing could backfire on him if he wasn't careful.

"That is… there was a child with one of them, and she… Well, everyone was knocked out." Brannew said with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Silence again.

"Did you catch her?"

"No… she got away. When I woke up, she was gone."

There was a low murmur in the background as Sengoku seemed to be speaking with someone.

Brannew could have sworn he heard the familiar laughter of a man and the crunching of crackers.

After a few moments.

"I'll be there in less than an hour."

The transponder snail's eyes closed as they drooped, indicating the end of the call.

Splish.

Brannew got up, and ran a hand through his afro again.

The rain just didn't seem to stop.

Splash. Splash.

Even steps sounded as Brannew turned towards them. Lightning flashed, illuminating a figure by the Grove's trunk.

"You…!" Brannew took a step back, then clenched his teeth.

"What… are you doing here?" He managed to get out, barely managing to stop himself from running.

Gulp. Gulp.

"This… is a mess…" The figure said as it finished taking a swig from its hip flask, then stroked its goatee as it looked around. He felt quite sober now.

"Oi, Dark King, why are you here? How are you so brave to show up like this?" Brannew managed to get out without too much of a tremble in his voice.

Rayleigh ignored the marine and swept his Color Of Observation throughout the Grove.

The man at the stake. A dead woman. A dead World Noble. Slaves. People lying in the dirt, unconscious.

"I see… I see… I think I've got a good grasp of the situation," Rayleigh said as he turned his head towards the green-afro marine.

"So, where's The Master's daughter?" He asked without a change in his tone.

Brannew shivered. Rayleigh had spoken almost casually, but he felt an intense intent sweep over him.

He was nothing more than a mouse in front of the man.

"Well, no need to get so scared. I can just search for her myself," As he said that, Rayleigh's Color Of Observation enveloped all of Sabaody Archipelago, and even beyond to the surrounding sea.

He stroked his goatee again before his eyes lit up.

"Huh, it really was her. Well, I found her, so I'll be off now," he walked in the direction the girl had left long ago.

"W-wait!" Brannew called after him.

"Hm?" Rayleigh paused and turned back to the marine.

"Admiral Sengoku is arriving soon with a battleship, you're as good as dead," Brannew said. He didn't really know what he was saying or why he was saying it, but the whole situation had gotten him flustered. That was a rare thing for him.

Maybe in some small way, he wanted to help that little girl, so his warning towards the Dark King was perhaps to let him know to take her to safety. 

He didn't really know what he was hoping for. Maybe he should just stick to following marine protocol in the future. It'd save him a lot of thinking.

Rayleigh smiled.

"Well, I have a promise to keep, and I'm not keen on breaking promises, you see, so…"

His smile rose and a flash of lightning reflected on his rimless glasses. His battle intent soared to the skies.

"Let him come."

—---------

A while earlier, Grove 13.

Shakky's Rip-Off Bar.

"Ray-san, you've drunk enough for one day, haven't you?" A mature, beautiful woman in a crop-top, leather jacket, and bob-cut hair took a puff of her cigarette.

"Seems… Like it…" Rayleigh's head leaned on his arm upon the bar, his other arm holding a glass of brandy.

He looked through the glass as he swirled it around, thinking back to his early voyaging days with his late comrade.

It had been a few weeks since Roger's execution, and he occasionally found himself getting drunk and reminiscing about old times.

It wasn't nearly as bad as it was on the day of his execution itself though. That day, he was a mess of tears and laughter and tears again, and sometimes both at the same time.

Puff.

Shakky exhaled a puff of smoke, and spoke again, "while you were out, something interesting happened."

"Hm…?" Rayleigh said, slightly dazed.

"That reminds me, you said you were learning ship-coating from the person who did it for your crew before, right?"

"Mhmm…" Rayleigh hummed as he felt himself drifting.

"Well, I heard they're executing him."

Rayleigh sighed, desiring another sip from the near-empty glass.

"Yeah, Master Michael did mention something like that could happen… he told me not to interfere with it if it does… Is it strange that I feel guilty about it?" He asked. 

Shakky looked at the man who had his head on the bar. Rayleigh would only really ask something like that if he was drunk.

The cigarette in Shakky's mouth began to burn, and she put it out on the bar's ashtray.

Puff.

"No, it's not strange. Well, it's the man's decision. You respected your captain's decision too, didn't you?" Shakky said, then continued, " And… it'd be dangerous for you to get involved with The Government at this point…" She said, consoling him.

She was just about to continue speaking when they felt an uncontrolled burst of Conqueror's Haki in the distance, and they both turned in its direction.

"What happened there?" Shakky asked.

Rayleigh shook his stupor off and sat upright. He spread his Observation to try and make out what was happening, but his current state was not ideal. His senses came back to him in a blur.

"I'll… go see," He said, tripping slightly.

Shakky sighed as she watched the man stumble out of her bar. He would be sober again in a few minutes anyway. 

"At least take a raincoat," she muttered.