End Of West Blue Arc (Part 3)

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(Drake's Pov)

As I entered the inside of the house, I didn't see Atalanta in the main living room where she usually is in the morning. I went to her room where the door was already open but the room was empty. I eventually walked into the kitchen where the room had an aromatic smell.

'Damn those look good' I thought as I looked at the feast Atalanta was cooking up for the kids. Atalanta turned around as she heard my footsteps.

* Clank *

She dropped her spatula as she had a surprised face seeing me.

" Yo, sorry for making you so worried," I said to her as I did a small hand wave. I truly am for making her worried as I started seeing her as a big sister figure. From what Ethan told me, she came to see me every single day.

" You idiot, don't ever do something that dangerous again! Atalanta yelled at me as she hugged me tightly. She made sure she didn't hurt my broken right arm accidentally somehow.

" Hahaha, I can't guarantee it but I can promise to do my best," I said back to her as she stopped hugging me.

*Sigh*

" That's probably the best I could get from you. Now sit down, the food will be done in a few minutes." She said to me as I sat down on in of the chairs. She picked up the spatula and washed it before she started cooking again.

" Um, I'm already ful." Before I could finish the sentence, she sent me a glare that sent shivers down my spine shutting me up.

" The kids should wake up in an hour or so. Before that let's have a peaceful breakfast." Atalanta said as she put down some plates on the table. Soon half the table was filled with plates with delectable food. The plates had eggs, bacon, sausages, rice, fish, and some soups as well.

As we ate the food in silence, Atalanta tried asking about the battle. She read the newspapers but it only showed a small portion of the battle. It didn't show the full carnage and deaths during the battle.

" So how many pirates actually died? I know the news doesn't report all the correct numbers." Atalanta asked me.

I looked up to her after I finished drinking the soup. " I think around 4500 pirates died. But why are you so worried pirates? They are the thrash of the

*Smack*

Before I finished Atalanta smacked me across the face with visible disappointment in her face. I didn't even how to react as my mouth was wide open.

"HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT"

"THOSE PIRATES ARE STILL HUMANS"

Atalanta yelled as she realized she just slapped me in her angry.

" Oh my god, Im so sorry."

Atalanta apologized for slapping me.

" Don't worry about it, I was being a dick about it," I replied to her as I didn't felt any hostility towards me, just disappointment. Which kinda hurt more than the slap itself.

" Sorry, I lost control of myself there for a second," Atalanta said as she sat back down on the chair. The whole mood became quite awkward as neither of us said anything for a few minutes. Atalanta started explaining why she overreacted.

" You see my dad was a pirate before he died in a battle against marines."

" He left my mom and me when I was 4 years old to sail across the seas as a pirate. I still hate him for that but I loved him even after that."

" Although he was a pirate, he never killed or rob anyone from what the marines said."

" But he still died just because he was a pirate. He didn't even have a bounty but the marines still killed him in battle.

" I guess that's why I got so mad at you. My whole life I have been told that pirates cause nothing but pain. And the marines are the heroes of this world even though it's a lie. How can marines protect justice when they allow the celestial dragons to rule." Atalanta said.

I explained what pirates did to my hometown along with them killing my mom and brother. Eventually, we came to an agreement on how pirates should be viewed as. And me not killing every single pirate I come across. Although I'm not sure if I can keep the promise. But her slap did make me start questioning my morals and justice.

20 Minutes Later

Atalanta decided to come with me to the memorial for the marines. The memorial was in the middle of the gravesite for all the dead marines. From what Ethan told me, Sengoku destroyed the mountains where Thor used to train at and made the whole area flat for the gravesite and memorial. The man was out here doing everything.

As we walked into the gravesite, we saw a 15 feet bronze statue surrounded by graves. The statue had 5 marine soldiers raising the symbol of the marines. The higher-ups wanted the flag to be the WG's flag but Sengoku changed it.

As we put down some flowers we bought earlier, we saw around 30 families walking up to us. There wasn't a single adult male with them making me. They lose their husbands during the battle. Most of them had kids and babies with them.

*DAMN IT* *DAMN IT* *DAMN IT*

' More than 400 families lost a family member. Kids who will never meet their parents and never get to see them again. Had I been just a little stronger this wouldn't have happened.' I thought as Atalanta grabbed my left arm.

" Don't take the blame on your shoulders. You did the best you could have done." She said to me as she saw my face and realized what I was thinking. We walked around the gravesite putting down flowers I took out from my ring for each grave.

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Two Hours Later

I was currently sailing on a standard marine ship I got from Ethan to get Morgan back and to visit my hometown. As I steered the ship, I noticed on the map there was a paramecia devil fruit. It was near Hai Tac island making me think it's the lick lick fruit.

After my talk with Atalanta, I started thinking about my morals and beliefs. What type of justice should I believe in. How should I deal with certain types of pirates? Are marines even better than pirates? No that's a stupid question.

' Marines are better than pirates 100%. I asked Ethan if the family members of the dead marines will receive anything which they do. All families will receive berries each month and benefits as well.'

'The benefits they receive are what that dead marines received previously. It just transferred to the family. Quite nice of the marines and the WG. '

All this made me decided to back to my home for advice from a certain grandpa and just to meet everyone again.

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1186 words

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That's about it, hope you enjoyed the chapter