Ch 48 - Hippolyta

What lies in front of me is a goddamn Poneglyph!

"Huuh, of course this is down here," I say out loud, catching Carina's attention.

"What do you mean Cade? The weird stone? What is it?" she asks inquisitively.

"That my dear Carina is a Poneglyph, and these things are said to record the history of the world before the World Government was formed, some people even say that some of them record the location of the One Piece!" I say to her, making it seem as if I heard the information from someone.

"Hmm? How do you know this? And why haven't I ever heard of these things if they are so important?" she again asks in a disbelieving tone.

"Well, I know it from my uncle, he liked to blabber as you already know, anyways the reason you've never heard of them is that they are actually hidden by the World Government as far as I know. It does let people know what was happening before its formation, something that may lead to revolt or something, idk." I reply back with a shrug.

And I really don't know, it could be as I said and the Poneglyph are hidden due to information on the void century or information about the ancient weapons or… it could be something much deeper, who knows.

"Dang! You were right then…this island has too many secrets within it… hurry up and find Porche, we could get in deep trouble if we are found here." She replies with a stuttering voice, she's heard rumors about the cruelty of the World Government, and from the recent experience with the Cp organization, something that I informed her about after the fact, she seems to still be paranoid.

"Don't worry too much Carina, if this hidden temple or cavern or whatever it is was found by the World Government there is no way we could have gotten in, hell, they might have even destroyed it already," I replied nonchalantly.

As I say this I finally stop gawking at the stone from afar and continue forward closer to the stone, "Carina can you copy whatever is written on the Poneglyph on a large piece of paper back where you're from?" I ask.

"Hmm… well I can clearly see it but why would I do that? It's all gibberish and none of us can understand it." She replies doubtfully.

"Don't worry, I know of someone that can translate whatever it says, and I really want to find out what that thing says." I reply back, talking about Robin. I do plan on giving her a visit soon, not only to see her in person, one of the greatest waifus in anime, but to try and get her to join us.

I'm not really sure if she will accept…after all we aren't a bunch of naïve pirate kids looking for fun and adventure…we are killers and bounty hunters, but eh, I'm in One Piece, ill be sure to shoot my shot anyways, and if she does accept, there is no way I'm leaving her for Luffy, I mean Robin was cool and all but she wasn't crucial for the survival of the crew, unlike Nami, someone that I would like to recruit for her abilities but chose not to in the end…for the actual survival of the Straw Hats.

I still want to meet her, but I can't recruit her unfortunately. I mean Luffy is like the chosen one or something… if I mess up his journey too much the anime gods may strike me down or something, who knows.

Anyways as I get closer, I place down the flower near the Poneglyph, allowing Carina to copy it down back at the ship, and continue to look around the place.

There are four doors in all directions, but as I walk behind the Poneglyph I come face to face with another statue of a divine looking woman, but this time a much larger one, looking like a sarcophagus instead of a statue. And as I look at a small plaque that was stuck onto its frame, I see that I can actually understand it!

"Here lies Queen Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, Goddess of Snakes, Breaker of Chains, Judge of Men, Savior of the World."

When I read it, my jaw drops to the ground… I'm standing right in front of a famous mythological figure…even in my world most people knew Hippolyta, the Amazonian queen… seems she actually existed in this world.

"I guess this whole place was her burial site. Maybe that giant snake was her pet or something?" I say to myself.

As I go to touch the golden sarcophagus I'm greeted with the same feeling as before, feeling as if my soul or shadow was being evaluated…but this time instead of allowing me to pass like the door did, it pushes me back a few feet, meaning that I cannot get closer to the body of Hippolyta, merely look at it from a distance.

I wearily look at this and back up some more. I don't know what just happened but whatever it is doesn't give me confidence to defeat it.

I walk back towards the yellow flower on the floor and ask, "Carina, are you done recording the writing in detail?"

"Yeah, I just finished, it was a bit hard but it's just copying a little writing, I've done it hundreds of times, I've even forged someone's handwriting before, so it's nothing too hard for me" she replies with a nonchalant voice.

"Awesome, make sure to keep those somewhere safe, but before that I want you to see something, this is basically a once in a lifetime find, we might never be able to see something like this again." I continue.

I then move back to the sarcophagus and once again read what the plaque is saying out loud.

"Holly shit! Are you serious! You're telling me that this is the body of THE HIPPOLYTA! The so-called world destroying GORGON?" I hear Carina's startled voice come from the flower.

"Huh?" I ask in confusion, what the heck is she talking about? Gorgon? As far as I know I've never heard of her being a gorgon, I know that Medusa and her two sisters were gorgons, but never Hippolyta… I mean they literally have nothing to do with each other as far as I know.

"What the heck are you talking about? Gorgon? Hippolyta wasn't a gorgon?" I ask.

"Well, I've read in a book that the Amazonian queen was once known as the Gorgon in ancient times, and that's the reason Amazon Lily, the island of the amazons, an island that is always talked about in books…you know because it's an island full of women! Anyways that's the reason the World Government never tried taking control of it, only the fear of Hippolyta the Gorgon is what kept them at bay. I mean yeah now they have a shichibukai to protect it… but for the rest of hundreds of years? There was never someone truly strong protecting it…" she says after a bit of remembering.

"Oh" I reply with a round mouth… That kind of makes sense… Maybe there was some truth to Hancock's claims of her being cursed by the gorgon or something? I mean we don't really know where devil fruits come from…

Anyways, "Yeah ok that's interesting but it's time to continue looking for Porche-chan and stop rambling and getting distracted by all these interesting but worthless things." I proclaim as I move to the first door on the right.

I open it and it reveals a small room, full of nothing but a small ornate statue of a scary looking snake in the center.

I close the door not seeing signs of life, and continue to the one closest to it, once again opening and finding another strange thing, a humongous crown fills the room, it looks about 30 feet and seems like it would only fit a giant.

I stop and stare for a long minute, before once again closing the door, moving across the room to open the room closest once again.

And when I open it, I'm greeted with a large marble table surrounded by a bunch of intricately designed stone chairs, but what catches my attention is a bundle at the corner of the room.

I can't fully make out what the heck it is, but it looks like the back of a curled-up person.

I walk into the room full of stale air and proceed towards the strange shape, and as I get closer, I can finally distinguish features! It is Porche-chan!

I run towards her and turn her over, seeing if she's okay, and thankfully as I check her pulse, she appears to be alive!

"Porche-chan! Wake up! Can you hear me! I'm here!" I scream at her to wake up as I shake her.

She doesn't wake up, appearing to be unconscious, but what does fall out when I shake her is a small note that I quickly pick up and read.

"You made it 'Cade-Kun'! Now close your eyes and go to sleep!" it reads with an emoji of thumbs up scribbled onto it.

"Huh?"

I reply just as the door loudly shuts behind me, "Fuck!" I scream as I let go of Porche-chan and turn around, quickly activating Limitless and putting my gauntlet clad hands up in order to fight off the redhead.

… but she isn't there when I turn, all that's there is empty space…

But just as I was getting confused, I began to suddenly feel as if my limbs were growing heavy, making it seem as if I was walking underwater, and not a few seconds later, my eyelids began to close forcefully…

"f..uuuck, I'm sorry Porche-chan, I couldn't save you, Carina, get out of here!" is the last thing I say before I black out and fall into darkness.

…

"HUUUH" I breathe in as I wake up with a startle, I immediately look around and see that I'm once again at the rocky beach of the island with wind ruffling my hair, and as I look around me, looking for Porche-chan I'm delighted to see her laying right beside me.

"What the fuck happened?" I ask the million-dollar question. Yet all I get for a reply is the sound of loud ocean waves crashing onto the sharp rocks.