A Meeting, A Crossroad of Fate

"Once, a lord of light banished dark and all that stemmed from humanity.

And men assumed a fleeting form.

These are the roots of our world,

Men are props on the stage of life and no matter how tender, how exquisite....

A lie will remain a lie."

-Aldia a.k.a. 'The scholar of sin' to the pirate scholar 'Rickadee Jones' of Ohara before his memoir was written and published around 300 years ago at present and included in said memoir.

In it, Jones stated regarding the man and his words "I feel I understand what that coot means by 'man's fleeting form' and the 'lie that remains a lie' but, knowing that, I fear to speak of the lord he does."

Almost all copies of the published book were tracked down and censored, The cipher pol continued to carry out operations to locate and destroy copies of the manuscript for the following 30 years. Jones himself was tracked down and eliminated by an agent of cipher pol 9 but no trace could be found on any of thousands of islands on all the shining blues of the man, Aldia, referred to in the memoir.

With his unknown and untraceable whereabouts withstanding, The World government's best hypothesis remained simple, being it was not in their interests to search for someone that their investigations proved to have been totally unknown anywhere in the world, that the man came under the affect of an unknown devil fruit that appears to have simply wiped him from existence.

Strange still though is that in the few hundred years since, no such devil fruit ability has ever been discovered or cataloged.

Yes indeed, it is a strange world that we live in.

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"I'm telling you the times are changing. Roger's reaching the end of his journey and an age of piracy is coming. With my shadow power and your swordsmanship, we're bound to take the world by storm, I just need you on my ship,"

These were the words of one Gecko Moria, a strange man of 24 years and an even stranger appearance. Over 10 feet tall, pale skin and purple hair with two stitches running down his forehead. He wore a leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and leather gloves. As he ranted in a relatively hushed tone he wore a mischievous and endearingly crazy smile.

Sitting at a booth in a packed bar, Moria was together with a tall, young looking woman around 18 with obsidian black long hair tied in a pony tail with thick strands framing her face. Her attire consisted of a simple white kosode with black hakama and sandals. She was clearly thoughtful of the man's words but devoted her undivided attention to the man. She thought for a moment.

When she had asked her father a few days prior for a duel to assess if she was ready to go to sea and live the life of a pirate, he agreed and said duel had taken place within the hour. He said that she was more than ready and that he would see her off without a complaint despite her choice of profession.

Her family had never been like the rest of the world and nearly every generation members of the family that left home to sea were given some sort of parting gift in a ritual passed down in the family for tens of generations since over 800 years ago.

She had no more responsibility to fulfill here but this offer she had not expected. She had met Moria a long time ago and knew of his desire to sail as a pirate. Moria had gained the power of the shadow-shadow devil fruit as a child and had nutured it into a powerful ability that without question was fit for a king.

She asked him, "What makes you say that? Men like Roger are crazy strong, to me it looks like their era is going strong?"

"Kishishi... It's mostly just a feeling but Roger hasn't made many big moves for a while now, not since he invaded Big Moms territory. I betcha everything he's gearing up for one last voyage to circumnavigate the globe, and find the final island. I want to go out and see the sights, conquer and explore, don't you Elaina?" Moria replied

This made sense to her. While not all to much was happening in the world of pirates as of late, the reason remained the same for her and any self respecting pirate these days, to be free and see this crazy world for themselves. Especially with the world government being as it was. Elaina was no exception.

She sighed and prepared to speak

"Ya got a ship ready?"

"It's being built now, it'll be ready in a week and a half. I've also got Stoker ready to come with us, he's a solid navigator so we shouldn't run into problems there."

"Anything or anyone else we need?"

"A chef that can manage food stores would be nice but we can manage and find one on the way, a doctor to."

"I think I can manage food well enough until we find a good cook. I'll just ask my dad to schedule my parting ceremony for a week from now. Would you mind coming?"

"Sure it seems like interesting stuff."

With everything sorted they stopped talking not only so Moria could take a drink of the tequila he had ordered and take in the lively atmosphere of the bar, but also to think.

Moria considered what he should do in the intervening time while Elaina considered what to tell her family, and what could possibly be her parting gift from her father.

'I really have to wonder what is in all those boxes in the basement, maybe my gift will be one of them'

After some seconds, Moria had finished his drink, stood up, stuck out his hand preparing for a handshake and asked

"Are ya with me?"

Moria's welcome left Elaina a little shocked and she froze up contemplating for a few moments as she recalled her history, everything that had led up to this moment.

The stories from her mother and father of the seas beyond, where her mother came from, the ideas that had been implanted, how she could improve or be changed in an instant. The thought that she could take fate into her own hands, and that it could yet still turn on a dime without her say so.

The gamble of a literal lifetime.

Her elder brother had already resolved himself to take up the responsibility of inheriting the family dojo.

How could she ever refuse?