Chapter 36: Searching Into The Past

Ark One, Part Sixteen

(Third Person POV)

"Alright, so how are we doing this?" Typhon asked Olga as he entered her room and closed the door.

"Take a seat," Olga grabbed a chair and gestured for him to sit down, which he did without issue, trusting the experienced magic user. "Alright, this is rather straightforward. I want you to close your eyes, relax, and take ten long, deep breaths," she instructed him, placing her hands on each side of his face.

Typhon, doing as he was told, did what she instructed. After his final breath, the Lunarian found himself deep in a forest late at night.

"Hey, mama," Typhon turned to the right to see his younger self, who was now confirmed mother.

Typhon's breath hitched as his mother's face wasn't blurred out like before, and he was shocked to see how breathtakingly beautiful she was.

The saying 'beautiful yet deadly' definitely came to mind when looking at her.

Her eyes were the brightest shade of red he had ever seen; they were practically glowing, and there was a hint of gold in them. She had thick eyelashes, full red lips, and a heart-shaped face. She also had a scar on the left side of her face that started from the top of her head, went over her left eye, and finished her bottom lip.

She wore sleek dark armor over her thick gray long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and a thick black clock draped over her shoulders. On the other side of her was a helmet with a t-shaped visor, a long vertical red plume, and, surprisingly, his double-edged sword.

'So Moon Razor was mom's sword, huh?' Typhon thought, smiling slightly.

The Lunarian found comfort in discovering that he always had a piece of his mother with him. That did make him wonder if Ace belonged to his father. If so, then that was a double win.

His younger self and mother sat beside each other, roasting a giant animal over a fire.

"Yes, my little dragon," Orchidéa said, looking at her son lovingly.

"Why can't I go with you when you leave?" young Typhon asked his mother with a sad tone, making the female Lunarian smile falter slightly.

"Because it'll be dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt," she answered with a sad smile.

"Then help me become strong like you!" young Typhon stood up and shouted with tears running down his face.

Orchidéa brought her boy into a firm yet gentle hug. "Even if I did train you, you wouldn't be strong enough to protect yourself," she said softly yet truthfully. "There are very bad and powerful people who want to hurt us, my dragon. They want to do evil and unspeakable things to us because of what we are and who we are. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt or worse. I want to take you with me more than anything, but you wouldn't be safe," she looked into his eyes and wiped away his tears. "Remember, you're the future of our tribe and to all those who have hope. Losing you is losing the future."

Young Typhon looked down at the ground and clenched his fists.

"I...I understand...." He said after a second of silence.

The older Lunarian lifted his head and gave the boy a sad smile. "I love you, my dragon."

"I love you too," he slightly smiled.

"You better," she said with a playful tone, kissing his head. "Now, let's eat. We wouldn't want to waste such delicious food, now would we?" she asked rhetorically.

Everything then faded and eventually went black. After a few moments, the location changed. It was now in the middle of the day, and he was in a different forest. However, what stood out was a moderately sized shack only a few meters away from him and several people standing in front of the structure.

Three of them were nothing noteworthy as they looked like bandits, while the man standing in front of him was a vice admiral of the Marines.

He was a broad-chested, muscular older man who stood over nine feet tall. He has black hair with gray sideburns, blue eyes, tan skin, a beard, and a scar over his left eye. He wore a white suit with a black shirt and blue tie underneath. He also wore a white coat over his shoulders.

The last individual was his younger self, and he was, to his surprise, holding an infant. The baby had black hair and tanned skin.

Typhon wondered who these people were and why he was holding a child. He guessed there was only one way to find out.

"What are you doing here, Garp?" the only female of the trio asked with a hostile tone.

"I need you two to watch over these two," he rested his hand on young Typhon's shoulder. "Say hi, Typhon."

"Hi," Typhon said with a polite and cheerful tone. "This is my little brother! Isn't he adorable!"

"And why should we do that?" she growled, completely ignoring the younger Typhon, much to his dismay.

"Because I could have you executed or imprisoned for the rest of your lives for all the crimes you've committed," Garp stated nonchalantly with a smirk, making the bandits sweat profusely. "So what's it gonna be?"

"Fine," the woman growled. "We'll take care of the brats."

"Thoughts so," Garp then turned toward the Lunarian and kneeled. "I'll be back to check on you two whenever I can," he said softly with a smile.

"O-Ok...will you teach me how to use Haki Gramps?" a young Typhon asked.

"Sure, Kiddo," he replied, making the boy smile. "But until then, behave and do as she says," he said sternly yet softly, and the young Lunarian nodded.

"Yes, Grandpa. Be safe," he said, making the older man smile.

"I will," Garp patted his head before standing up. "I'll be back whenever I can," he turned around and began walking away.

The scene changed to Garp teaching a slightly older Typhon how to use Haki.

Garp was swinging his fist toward the blindfolded Lunarian, and the boy easily avoided his attacks, so the older man increased his attack speed. The older man's relentless assault lasted for nearly ten minutes until Garp finally managed to land a hit on Typhon, sending the boy crashing into the ground.

"Not bad, brat," he crossed his arms. "You managed to last eight minutes longer than last time," Garp praised his adoptive grandson with pride in his tone.

"Thanks, Gramps," Typhon groaned and slowly got up. "I've been training every day for the past two years! I wanna get as strong as possible so I can go find Mom!" he said with determination and glee.

"Thats good, kiddo," Grap smiled sadly at the boy. "You'll be as strong as me in no time!"

"Really?!" Typhon asked with a happy and enthusiastic tone.

Grap nodded. "Yup, you're one the best students I've ever had, and your rate of progress is nothing but astounding. If it weren't for--" The older man looked at the boy's wings and grimaced. "--your heritage, you would've been an excellent Marine," he said reluctantly, making the boy frown.

"Why do the Marines hate me?" the boy asked, making the older man sigh.

He sat on a log and motioned for the boy to sit beside him, which he did without issue.

"The Marines themselves don't hate you. It's the Celestial Dragons that hate you," Garp explained.

"But why?" Typhon asked, confused, as he had never hurt anyone or done anything wrong to warrant such a hatred.

"Because your people and the Celestials have been at odds for a long time," he revealed, shocking the boy. "They also can't stand the thought of people being superior to them, and your tribe was undoubtedly far above them in every aspect. Lunarians were considered gods among men, and they didn't like that, so they haunted your kind down to near extinction," he growled lowly, clenching his fists until they were bleeding.

"How come nobody stops them?" Typhon asked, horrified at the information he learned.

"Because they have too much power and rule with an iron fist," he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "If it weren't for them, a lot of things in the world wouldn't be as bad as they are right now," he looked at Typhon. "To survive in this cruel world, you have to be strong and adaptable. Without either, other people will decide your fate for you."

"Will it always be like that?" Typhon asked with a sad tone.

"Unfortunately, yes," Grap replied grimly. "So long as there's evil in one's heart, the world will always be like this. The best the person can do is lessen the suffering, even if it's minuscule."

"I see...then I know what I want to do now..." Typhon said with a low tone.

Garp looked at him with a curious expression. "Oh yeah, and what's that?"

The boy looked at him with a shine in his eyes and the biggest grin he'd ever seen.

"To make the world a better place," he said, making Garp smile, but then the boy's demeanor changed drastically. "And destroy every Celestial Dragon and make them pay for making my and everyone else's life so miserable..." The younger Typhon's tone became ominous, catching the Vice Admiral and the older Typhon off guard.

Quickly composing himself, Garp shook his head and looked at the boy with an unreadable expression.

"What you're saying is foolish, kiddo," Garp crossed his arms. "To destroy the Celestial Dragons, you must also destroy the World Government, which is impossible. They have unlimited resources and some of the strongest people at their beck and call. To accomplish your goal, you must be stronger than your father, mother, and all the Yonko combined. I'm sorry, kiddo, but your goal is unattainable," he said softly yet firmly.

The boy growled, and the fire on his ignited. "Then I'll make it possible," he snapped back, giving the man a fierce glare. "I'll become one of the strongest people in history, so strong that no one will ever be able to surpass me! And when I am strong enough, I'll destroy the Celestial Dragons and the World Government for all the horrible things they've done and for making the world a hellhole! And once they're all gone, I'll reshape this world into a better place, and if anyone gets in my way of doing that, I'll destroy them, too!" he yelled passionately.

Garp continued to look at the young Lunarian with an unreadable gaze, but after a few moments, he smiled and let out a chuckle.

"You're so much like your mother that it's terrifying," Garp told the boy. "Is this really your goal?" the boy gave a firm nod. "Then I guess I have no choice but to train you even harder than ever before," Garp gave the young Lunarian a wicked grin.

"Really, but why?" Typhon couldn't help but ask, confused about why Garp would help him.

"Because as much as I love the Marines, a majority of it's corrupted," he admitted bitterly. "Only a few within the organization truly care about bringing justice and stability to the world."

"Then why stay?"

"Because if I leave, things will only get worse..." Grap explained vaguely. "But enough of that. Let's continue your training."

As the memory was about to continue, everything went black. A second later, Typhon's eyes shot up, and he began screaming in agony. He fell off the chair and clutched his head tightly while thrashing around violently.

"TYPHON!" Olga screamed in worry and went to help her lover.

The dark elf didn't understand why this was happening. Everything was okay in one moment, then Typhon was screaming and thrashing around in the next. Olga knew she didn't make any mistakes or forget anything...

The door to her room was kicked open by King, and when he spotted Typhon's current condition, he glared at the dark elf scaring the absolute fuck out of her. He walked up to her and grabbed her by the throat, effortlessly lifting her into the air.

"What's going on with him?!" he demanded angrily.

"I don't know," she managed to get out. "I was helping Typhon restore his memories. Everything was going fine, but then this happened after a few seconds," she struggled to explain.

Sensing no lies from the dark elf, he drops her and quickly attends to his adopted son. With one strike to the face, King knocks the younger Lunarian out.

Footsteps could be heard, and it didn't take long to see who they belonged to as Celestine Uta, Ulti, Yamato, and the others rushed inside the room.

Quickly explaining everything, Celestine attended to the unconscious Typhon and used her magic to inspect what was wrong with him.

"So, did you find anything?" King and Uta impatiently asked, looking at Typhon with worry.

Celestine nodded. "The spell essentially malfunctioned due to not having a consistent and concentrated amount of mana poured into it. Usually, this is never an issue when a magic user casts a specific spell. The Mana-Core will automatically emit the correct amount of mana for the spell being cast."

"Then what went wrong?" King asked.

"The Mana-Core, if damaged or weakened, will produce less mana, and if not enough mana has been produced, the strength and effectiveness of a spell being cast will be weaker or, as I stated earlier, malfunctioned with the results either being harmless or severe," Celestine looked at the dark elf with a frown. "Care to explain?"

Everyone looked at the dark elf, waiting for an explanation. A grimace appeared on the elven beauties, and Olga looked down at the grown. After gathering her thoughts, the dark elf looked at the other's guilt, which was evident in her eyes.

Olga explained. "I encountered and fought against a powerful human mage two hundred years ago. Our battle was long and difficult, although I eventually won and landed a killing blow...or so I thought. The moment I had my guard down, the mage made one last attempt to end me, and a powerful spell struck me. Due to his dying state, the attack was enough to kill me, but it did damage my Mana-Core. Immediately, I did everything I could to repair it and thought it was no longer an issue..." She looked at Typhon with guilt and looked at the others. "I would've attempted to restore his memories if I'd known my Mana-Core was still damaged."

Everyone could tell she was telling the truth, so any hostility that was about to occur immediately died.

"Will he be ok?" Uta asked. Celestine asked, looking at her fiance worriedly.

Celestine nodded. "Thanks to his heritage, the damage was minimal, and there shouldn't be any negative side effects. He should be back up in a few minutes."

Everyone sighed in relief, thankful that the young Lunarian would be fine.

"That's good. For a moment there, I thought the worst," Uta replied, holding her chest.

She wouldn't know what to do if something bad happened to Typhon. The thought of living a life without him terrified her to no end.

Not wanting to go down that line of thought, Uta shook her head and looked at Typhon lovingly. However, eyes widened and stiffened when she felt warm liquid trailing down her left leg.

Noticing Uta's behavior, King asked. "You alright?"

"Uh...I'm pretty sure my water just broke."

"Oh...shit."

End.