[49] Chains

[2400 words]

My classes resume tomorrow so time to return to the tentative upload schedule.

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The barrage of questions caught the girl off-guard. Her eyes quivered at the drop of every question. She unconsciously stood up and took some steps back to protect her naive mind.

"I, I don't know…" she managed to whisper out while staring at the ground.

Damien picked up a leftover piece of meat and gobbled it up, letting the girl think.

The buzzing of insects and flickering fire created a nightly ambience. Fireflies were parading around, lighting up the forestry surroundings with a mystical veil.

Alas, Damien finished, all the while Toki remained silent.

"Well, think it over; it's a waste for you to remain chained by your powers."

He then left to catch some sleep, leaving the green-haired girl behind. Damien's words echoed in Toki's mind, leaving a troubled expression to stretch across her face. "My chains…"

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[Twelve Days Later]

[New World Sea]

Currently, in the New World Sea, a battle was ongoing.

BOOOM!

Bang!

"Wewu-Wewu-Wewu! Kill them all!" a condemned soldier yelled.

"FOR THE GOLD!"

"FOR THE WOMEN!"

"FOR THE BOOZE!"

…

"Ah!"

"AUGH!"

"Puah!"

Thousands upon thousands of cannons firing at each other and half as many cries as bodies lay floating all over the reddened sea.

It was the Valkyrie Pirates' home turf!

Sixteen thousand pirates were scattered over the huge mass of sea yet someone had the balls to launch an attack.

"Jihahahaha!" A boisterous laugh bellowed throughout the battlefield. "Kill them all! Show them what a true pirate is!" 

"Ma-Ma-Mam-Ma! Perespero, Katakuri, Oven, Daifuku, go! I want you to get used to the wars soon," Linlin ordered.

"Yes, Mama!" the four of them yelled out.

Daifuku was the first one to attack. 

He rubbed his belly like a vigorous teenager does in private, and poof came a giant genie. 

"What can I do for you, master!?" the genie thundered out. 

Daifuku pointed his finger at an enemy ship, earning a nod from the mystical apparition. 

.

"Genie-uine Rage Split!"

.

Boom!

The ship was cleaved in half by the Genie's weapon, sending its sails flying up and beyond where they should be. 

Peresepero chuckled at the sight, his long tongue licking his cane-staff. Oven too joined in to take down the ship, leaving Katakuri behind. 

The towering young boy's childish face was solemn as usual. 

A pirate rushed in from the side, having boarded the ship. "Pelican Eel-faced brat, die!"

Katakuri did not even look in the enemy's direction, rather, he replied with the slash of his trident.

*Splatter* The blood rained down as the man's body became lifeless. 

The bold young pirate then changed his aim toward a ship.

*Gurrup*

Katakuri's hands, oddly enough, became fluid, taking on the appearance of a white, sticky substance. It then churned and spun into a minigun!

.

"Unstoppable Mochi Blade Bullets!"

.

The barrage of white bullets soon overtook the seas. Bodies fell one by one under the incessant rain of the mochi attack.

...

There were currently two armies engaged in a naval war.

Two Divisions of the Rocks Pirates against the entire Valkyrie Pirates Fleet.

Shiki and Big Mom led their respective Divisions against the last large remaining force that was not an Overlord or a marine unit.

.

The Valkyrie Pirates had 16 divisions with 1,000 men in each. The 16 Division Commanders were known as the Angelic 16. 

The battle between the two sides has been raging on for a few days now!

The total casualty count has been over 4000 pirates thus far. The attacker's original 10,000 had dropped to 7,900 whereas the Valkyrie Pirates were down from 16,000 to 14,000.

The problem was that the Rocks Pirates were rather odd: nearly a third of their casualty count for them was self-inflicted! The lack of camaraderie was obvious, and it had its negatives.

And yet the lessening numbers did not make them fear, rather, it boiled their blood and riled up their spirits!

…

Six of the Angelic 16 stood on their ships as they commanded over the constant fire.

BOOM!

Bang!

The Rocks Pirates only had less than 8,000 men left and around 40 ships. And yet each passing day, their display of strength would go up!

"Angelic Fury!"

"Wisdom of the Bright!"

"Ascending Shallows!"

The defending side tried to respond as they continued their battle.

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[In A Different Area of the New World]

"THIS IS THE FINAL WARNING! SURRENDER NOW, WE HAVE THE ENTIRE ISLAND SURROUNDED!"

The booming voice fell onto the small, barren island, originating from a Marine warship!

The warning echoed through the land. The inhabitants had already hidden away, hoping the monster invading their home would be deterred by the Navy.

Yet that did not happen. Instead, an even louder voice thundered, "WORORORO! I've been looking for a nice meal. Come and get me, damn Marines!"

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[An Inconspicuous Seaway in the Grand Line]

"Damn Rocks Pirates!" a muffled voice roared out. 

The man stood tall at the bow of an exquisite ship. 

Not only did the vessel seem inconspicuous, it also seemed worn down. And yet if one looked closely, one would see thick wood and powerful yet thin steel outline the ship. Obviously, it was made to only appear broken down!

The man who had roared out in indignation was special. He wore a white-fitted suit with quite remarkable stitching. 

His face was covered with a mask, his body essentially covered up; Cipher Pol 'Aigis' Zero; the loyal shield of the Celestial Dragons. If they were present then it meant the business they attended to was that concerning the Gods themselves!

.

"Johohoho, Dogs of the Dragons, give us the treasure!"

The masked man glared at the figure of the man who spoke at the enemy ship and spat back in indignation, "This ship is transporting Heavenly Tribute; it's not for your commoners' hands!"

The pirate who waved the Rocks Pirates banner was naturally not a nobody. Long pink hair, a pirate's coat, holding a bottle of booze. 

Not just him, but another man stood by his side. His body was covered in silver armour with a sharp axe in hand. 

"Two of the Four Tragedies of the Rocks Pirates—Captain John and Silver Axe!" the CP Agent exclaimed.

Even knowing his little chance of victory, the man jumped head-on, a sight earned a cackle from Captain John.

"I can't help but admire the brainwashing of CP-0, they really are the Shields of the Celestial Dragons!"

Silver Axe did not speak, rather he let his weapon do the talking. 

*Swish!* A sharp and equally deadly slash broke out from the simple motion of the axe. 

It flew across the sea and onto the agent. 

"Tempest Kick!" The agent twirled out an equally large slash as the two attacks clashed. 

Boom!

A grand explosion went off, sending out a powerful tide in response. 

Captain John smiled evilly, licking his lips. 

"Lights out, little Agent."

*Bang!* The gunshot went off as a black bullet hit the agent in the chest. 

*Vvooo!* A violent gust of wind howled as Silver Axe sent another attack, ripping apart the immobilized enemy.

"Why? Why don't they fear the gods? Why…?" the agent muttered as his life came to an end. The body sank, leaving the booty ripe for the taking. 

"Board their ship!"

The remaining marine on board could only gulp in fear, knowing their death was all but inevitable.

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[Hachinosu, New World]

"Unsurprisingly enough, there aren't many like-minded pirates to recruit," a calm voice broke out. 

The tall shadow cast from the man and spanned far enough to cover a field of corpses: dark skin, tribal marks, tall frame. 

"Even after two months, I've only met a single person who met the bill," Indra muttered to himself. 

He was given a task by Damien, to bring in a few decent pirates to the Division. They didn't need to stay forever, just enough to do the dirty work. In return, Damien would allow them to attain fame and fortune. 

Naturally, the requirements were strict. 

Many wanted to join, but in the atmosphere of the Rocks Pirates, it simply was not rational to allow a bunch of back-stabbing rats onboard. 

*Shing* The sharp blade hummed lightly as the excess blood dyed the floor. Indra clicked his weapon into its sheath, not paying the dead a second glance. 

.

"Do we need to clean up, Boss Indra?"

The voice came from a massive man who easily stood eighteen feet tall (~5.5 m). He had short hair, a bulky frame and rough muscles with faded scars. He was shirtless, showcasing his rather odd skin colour: a rusty red.

The colossal pirate wore gray trousers and thick metal shackles over each wrist. To top off the weirdness, he also donned a red mask that showcased large white teeth and eye holes.

Indra glanced at the man and shook his head. "No need, Majin. The wildlife of Hachinosu has long been used to scavenging the streets for such free food."

The giant man could only nod, scratching his head. 

"I really do want to meet that man you talked about," Majin could not help but say. "I hope I can keep up!"

Indra had already begun to walk away, leaving a few words to echo out, "As long as the Rocks Pirates remain strong, the Commander will always need someone to do the heavy lifting."

"Just don't die too soon."

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[Mortem Island]

"Hmm, Toki-nee hasn't been talking much for the past two weeks, Damien-san, you didn't do anything to her, right?" Kuzan questioned his pirate friend.

Damien lightly scoffed.

"I told you, she just has some stuff on her mind," he answered. "Plus, don't you have a lot of today's training left?"

Kuzan clicked his tongue and pointed at the pirate in front of him. "One day, when the Child Protection Services comes to your door, just know that I will be there when they lock you up!"

Damien chuckled at the boy's words and gave him a healthy bonk at his nogging.

*Thud!* His body fell to the floor, his eyes spinning in circles.

.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, but I've made some alterations to your training routine."

Kuzan remained on the ground, though his eyes darted up to meet Damien's gaze.

"I realized that you've got your discipline in order, so now we'll also add in your academic route."

Kuzan's eyes turned grim as his breathing spiked.

"A-Academics!? That sounds like a made-up word!"

"All words are made up," Damien casually said.

*Fwoo!* He then waved his hands as a stack of thick books appeared, slamming onto the ground with a resounding bang.

Kuzan saw the horrifying stack and almost had a heart attack.

"From now on, you will spend three hours a day soaking in some necessary knowledge," Damien explained. "Geography, history, literacy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology."

Kuzan, who had gotten up, felt arrows pierce his heart at the drop of each cursed word. He backed up in horror; his world falling apart.

"I-I rather train twice as much, heck, I'll even cut you a deal, remove that stuff and I'll sacrifice half an hour of sleep… okay fine, a full hour!"

The boy's voice was broken to the point of begging as he squeaked out, "Deal?"

Damien smirked at the rattled boy, not feeling an ounce of mercy. 

"No chance."

*Thud* Kuzan fell to the ground, his mind overloaded with stress.

"Honestly kid, you can barely even read and write."

"Heck, you have barely any knowledge of how the world works and it comes from the books I sent to this island before."

Damien had sent the ice boy books in the past but they were more to pass the time while slowly building simple literacy skills. The ones he had just unveiled were a little more advanced and intellectually demanding.

"These textbooks will help you see the world in a different light, it can be damning, but trust me, it'll help you in the long run." 

Damien could not help but pat the kid on the shoulder, even though he was laid out on the ground like a corpse.

…

On another part of the chaotic island was a young girl.

She had been walking through the snowy, rainy, haily, boiling, freezing and pleasant parts of Mortem Island.

Such varying surroundings helped gather her thoughts and calm her down.

Unbeknownst to even Damien, Toki would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night.

Damien's words not only woke her up from her naive outlook on life but also managed to awaken some deeply haunting memories she tried to forget; A wake-up call.

 …

It seemed as the days went on by, Toki had begun to accept the existence of her 'chains'.

After the usual hearty dinner, she found the Sin Incarnate, courageously meeting his eyes. 

She began speaking, "You're right, Damien-san. I've made it my mission to reach Wano since I was a child. I'm just an ordinary girl who got lucky and got these powers."

Her tone grew firmer, "This power has saved me from every tragedy that almost befell upon me, but as you said, it also caged me."

Toki's eyes teared up, "I've left an island for a ten-year jump and come back to see it plagued by fire, or lost to pirates. Good people I met and was excited to reunite with, all dead under the passage of time."

"Flourishing islands and peaceful villages… all left in ruins!"

She then gave a self-deprecating laugh, "Isn't it funny, the user of the Time-Time Fruit has been caged by the very thing that she should have control over—time."

Damien lightly nodded. "So what did you decide?"

Toki exhaled heavily, clearing the stormy thoughts and simply said what was on her mind.

.

"I have long forgotten all my wishes over the centuries, holding on to Wano for so long…"

The girl balled her fists in determination, matching eyes with the pirate.

Her green eyes shone brightly as the genuine words came out, "I don't want to run away anymore… I don't want to return decades later to see my friends dead… I want to see the beauty of the world and not live every day running from its horrors!"

The Sin Incarnate smirked at the determined voice, somewhat intrigued to see how far Toki's resolve would take her.

"Alright, then," Damien nodded. "I'll help you break your chains."

To Be Continued…

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Author's Corner.

In essence, I interpreted Toki to always choose to simply run from any horror; having such an invincible escape button left her to never even scrape the surface of her fruit.

I know Oda nerfed the hell out of a fruit that is literally called the "Time-Time Fruit" so it wouldn't be too op. Let's just say that both Damien and I see greater potential in the ability as a whole.

Images are available on Discord alongside other niche details: https://discord.gg/aJHHHPvb6q