I made my way to groove 13, making sure to avoid any more bandits or poachers. I eventually arrived at Shakky's bar, or Shakky's rip off bar to be more precise. It was a strange looking house, circular in shape, made of stone which was covered in a bit of green moss. There was a sign near the top, which looked to be in good condition and the top of the house looked similar to an apple. Despite looking like it hadn't been cleaned on the outside for 10 years, it looked good.
I walked up to the door, my walk in slightly delayed by my cautious nature, making me look behind myself to see if anyone was watching. Seeing the coast was clear, I nodded and walked into the bar.
The place was as it looked in the anime, in pristine condition and clean in heavy contrast to the outside. I guess it played to the whole appearances can be deceiving, I mean who knew the owner was formerly a pirate, and her partner is Silvers Rayleigh, the former pirate kings vice captain?
"One glass of apple juice" I said before the door even shut.
She gave me a look, "That would be 1000 Berry"
I raised my eyebrows, "I guess that explains the name, you really weren't joking"
She took a drag of her cigarette, "You still going to pay? It could be the best apple juice you will ever have"
"Yeah might as well, I only want to ask this guy a couple of questions" I patted my hand on the old man's shoulder and sat down next to him.
"Is this about the gambling incident? I promise I didn't cheat" Rayleigh asked, rubbing his head in fake embarrassment, even though it was obvious I wasn't here for that. He seemed quite good playing the role of a weak old man.
"Nothing of the sort" I laughed, nodding in thanks towards shakky as she placed the apple juice on my table.
"I've heard rumors, rumors about an old man that always ends up getting captured as a slave. Now, this is nothing out of the ordinary, but the thing is, everytime, without fail this old man always manages to escape with some extra cash" I took a sip of my drink before continuing.
"Now, I'm 99% sure these aren't just baseless rumors or lies. After all, I wouldn't put it behind the dark king to steal right under the nobles noses for a hobby" I finished, my mention of the dark king not eliciting a response from him.
"So you knew huh? My bounty poster isn't exactly private these days, so it's to be expected" Rayleigh sighed before turning to face August with his scarred eye.
"What are you doing here young man? D's always cause quite a stir, but don't pick the wrong person" Rayleigh said with a tone of warning.
"You know I'm a D?" I asked.
"Of course, it's another hobby of mine aside from gambling, I like to follow them, they always cause quite a stir in one way or another. Even with a mere 20 million bounty your D name stands out to some people, and that attention will only increase as it gets higher" He explained.
"I see..." I took another sip of my drink, before deciding to get down to business. "I need your help"
"My help? Young man, if it's to train you, then no. I've had many people discover my identity and ask me to train them, thinking they would be the next pirate king or something special, but they were all usually arrogant pirates who got here by luck or with a strong devil fruit, they were all over their heads thinking the world centered around them" He grumbled in annoyance, rubbing his head.
[A/N: yes, I just insulted 50% of one piece fics]
I shook my head, "It's not for that, but something else. This may seem like a weird request, but can you help me into the auction house?"I asked, and Rayleigh was silent for a moment before looking over to Shakky.
"What a peculiar request..." Rayleigh said, Shakky also looking on in interest.
"I need something that's being sold at the auction house, so I figured I would ask you for help. I don't want your training, or the location of one piece or anything like that, so please grant me this request!" I said, bowing to rayleigh.
Rayleigh smirked, remembering the time his captain bowed before whitebeard to request Oden to join his crew. Humility was a great quality, especially for a king.
"Very well young man, I'll help you get your item, but first you have to tell me what it is"
"It is a Devil fruit, in the auction it will be sold off, probably to a world noble just so he can give it to a slave to see him explode. The fruit will be a great addition to our cause" I explained.
"Our?Cause?" Rayleigh questioned. Oh shit, I assumed he knew.
"Ah! I forgot to tell you, i'm a member of the revolutionary army" I said, and Rayliegh stroked his beard it thought, the cogs in his brain turning, before his eyes lit up in recognition.
"Hohhh, if I remember correctly, the goal of the Revolutionary Army is to destroy the world government right? It's led by that Dragon right?" He asked, to which I nodded seriously.
"Very well then, I will help you get your devil fruit, just make sure to pay for the drink, and meet me back here in 2 days at 9am."
"Really! Thank you!" I said sincerely.
"No problem brat, now if you don't mind I must get back to drinking..." Rayleigh trailed off, swirling his drink
I nodded, giving a 1000 berry note to Shakky and leaving, but not before thanking him again. Today went well.
-------------------------------------------------------
"So, why are we here?" I asked Rayliegh, trying not to gag at the awful smell of garbage next to us. We were currently in an alley, similar to the one I thought the bandits in, only this one had the awful smell of garbage in it. We were also both dressed in ragged clothes to play the part of poor people, awfully similar to the ones I had as a slave.
"To wait for the slave poachers to catch us of course" Rayeligh said with a disbeliving expressions.
"Yes, I understand that, but why are we in a back end alley?" I asked.
"The easiest place to capture someone is in an alley, after all there is no place for them to run, and it is dark in there, making their actions harder to see. Rayleigh explained.
"Ok, so we just wait for these...people to come here and capture us" I said bitterly, downright struggling to call these people humans. What sane person could make a living off of destroying other people's lives?
"Young man, at the end of their day it's not their fault. I'm sure most of these people don't enjoy capturing people, but they do it to survive and because it fetches lots of money. All of this stems from the World Governments and the World Nobles use of slaves, thats why they are in such high demand and sell for so much" Rayleigh explained.
"Your leader, Dragon has the right idea, he wants to destroy the corruption of the world government and by extension the world nobles, he is doing the right thing, cutting the problem off at the source."
Damn, he was right. All the way from the guards back at the mines, all the way to Arlong, I realised most of this was caused by the WG or the WN, or both of them. None of the problems I face would have happened without them. It pissed me off not releasing this earlier. Every cause has an effect, and given how much those 2 get their hands dirty, it's not surprising that these effects have spread across the whole world.
"Do you know your leader, Dragons bounty?" Rayleigh asked, taking a swing of his canister.
"No, I never thought to check" I said honestly.
"1.5 Billion" Rayleigh said.
"What, really?" I was surprised. Who the fuck knew Dragon had such a high bounty? I remember vivid details from the anime that he was the most wanted man in the world, but I didn't think it would be that high, up to the point that I watched the anime, Luffy's bounty was only 500 million, a third of Dragons.
"Yes, and that bounty shows how much of a threat he poses to the world government. In 800 years many have tried to overthrow the world government and failed, but Dragon is without a doubt the man who has the most chance to take them down. He is playing it smart, liberating small countries and places that have seen the truth of the world governments corruption instead of attacking them head on. That's why Dragon's bounty is so high, he is playing the smart game, slowly gaining more and more pieces on the board, and when he eventually has enough he will attack."
"I see..." I said, thinking of Rayleigh's explanation. It made sense now, why his bounty was so high. Dragon was a strong calculating individual and his movement had slowly been gaining strength and actually posed a threat to the world government.
Of course, I actually knew Dragon most likely couldn't beat the world government as he was in canon. Sabo would be much weaker for his age than he is now, and other members like Hack wouldn't become as strong as they will. In the anime I saw the full strength of the World Government, and I think even the Marine forces at Marineford could push the revolutionary army to a draw, possibly even beat them. This of course not counting cipher pol, the 5 elders, and any other secret tricks they had. From my knowledge Dragon didn't have any trump cards,making my prediction all the more likely.
Of course, now that I was here I could change that. I could gain enough individual strength, while gaining and strengthening allies. I didn't like to be self-centered, but I believed with my involvement in this world we actually had a fighting chance.
I was brought out of my internal dilemma with a tap on the shoulder, I turned to Rayliegh, the source of the tap and gave him a questioning look.
"Slave hunters. Close" Was all he said.
I nodded and we got into position.Some shuffling later and both of us were sitting in clear view and pretending to be asleep, after all there's no need for us to be awake and for them to try and knock us out.
I kept my eyes shut, firmly, feeling a blindfold lightly graze my face as it covered my eyes before my body was lifted up in the air and carried.
It took another 20 minutes of being carried around before we actually got somewhere. The plan was to stay asleep until Ryeligh gave the signal, which would be a light tap on the shoulder.
I tuned out the surrounding noises, not paying attention to the slavers joking about a big catch, as if I listened to them for one more second I would probably blow cover by killing all of them. Were these people so ignorant, or did they just not really care about the lives of the people they captured?
I found myself getting angrier and angrier, but quickly stopped myself remembering Rayelighs words earlier. In the grand scheme of things, these people didnt matter, as once the celestial dragons were gone and slavery was illegal, both underground and above ground, they would stop, and if they didnt I would deal with them then.
It was a few minutes later that I felt a light tap on my shoulder, so I took this as my chance to 'pretend' to wake up. Time to put my non-existent acting skills to use.
"Huh? Where am I? Why can't I see?" I asked with a hint of fear in my voice. If I'm not mistaken the stuttering only comes after confusion, when you're truly scary or fearful, so I'll save it for now.
I felt the blindfold slowly be lifted off my face, and closed my eyes slightly, getting used to the light, before setting my eyes on a man who gave me a big sense of deja vu.
'Have I seen this character before?' I internally thought, completely different than my fear filled look on my face looking at him.
He was quite tall, standing at 6ft, his height only increased by the yellow hat with patterns of purple flowers on them. He hid his eyes with star shaped glasses, and his hair was very long in a light shade of purple.
…
Oh! That's right, this was the guy who was the owner of the slave auction, another disgusting human being, looks like i'll have to add him to my list. I snapped back into reality, inwardly cringing as I saw his sadistic face holding a slave collar.
"P-Please" I muttered, selling the act of a little boy whose life had just been turned around. He ignored me, shoving the slave collar into me whereas I made no effort to protest, there was no need at this point.
It was annoying, technically being a slave again, but I outgrown my time as a slave and instead of looking at it with hate as one would, I looked at it as a learning experience and the reason I joined the revolutionary army and made so many friends. Dont get me wrong, I hated my time as a slave and wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy(well, maybe), but I came out stronger and joined a group where I could channel my strength into destroying those who put me in that place from the start.
Tears welled up in my eyes, further selling the act of a broken boy. Honestly I wasn't even sure they were paying attention anymore, so unless I did something outlandish they wouldn't really care.
I looked to the side, seeing Rayleigh who was being put in a slave collar. He didn't even try and put on an act, looking more like he wanted a drink than to be here. Bloody geezer.
"Put them both in the cells! And make sure they're sold separately!" Disco demanded, walking off in a huff.
We were thrown into the cells, where we were thrown in, quite roughly I might add. I looked towards Rayliegh who wasn't even paying attention to me, instead taking a swing of his flask.
"So, what are we doing now?" I whispered.
"Hm? Oh, well we are going to wait for the auction to start, then I will help you sneak out and you will get the devil fruit?" Rayleigh conferred.
"Ok, but do you know where the devil fruit is?" I asked, mentally crossing my fingers.
"Uhhhhh,no. Should I?" Rayleigh asked, tilting his head.
"I mean I assumed you would have known, y'know coming here every week for a little vacation" I said in a sharp whisper, my voice slowly rising due to my anger.
"Young man, I have no devil fruit, why would I be interested in them?"
"Oh....Good point" I said dumbly. I hated to admit it, but he was kind of right.
"Do you have any idea where they are?" I asked
Rayliegh stroked his beard for a few seconds, looking upwards."I have a good idea, the storage room on the basement floor, its where they store all their valuables, well aside from the slaves of course."
I nodded, "I'll go their first then" I said, my hands going up to my neck and rubbing the slave collar, jesus was it irritating.
"Can you get this off?" I motioned towards the slave collar
"Yeah, it's not that hard, I do it every month or so, it's good practice" Rayleigh said with a laugh.
"Ok...So are you gonna take them off?" I asked, tilting my head.
"Not yet young man, we need to wait until everyone is busy with the main auction. We will be kept in our cells while they sell what they call the 'expensive merchandise' which are usually fishmen and mermaids." Rayleigh explained, heavily emphasizing the 'expensive merchandise'
I nodded, not surprised at all how they would refer to the other races. I closed my eyes, resting for a moment, conserving my energy until the auction finally started.
"No!!! Stop it!" I heard a voice call out. I opened my eyes, slowly creeping towards the bars of the cell to get a look.
"Please don't!" The voice screamed again, and by now I was close enough to see it's source. It was a little girl, no older than 8 with a completely normal appearance aside from her golden coloured hair.
'That must explain why she is here' I thought grimly, looking towards the golden hair that made her stand out. My body tensed as my muscles grew hard like rock and veins protrude from my arms.
She would probably end up becoming a world nobles future wife due to her golden coloured hair, only to be treated poorly and be trapped and until she comes of age where she is raped by a celestial dragon. This would then continue until she got pregnant, where she would die giving birth or live to see her child be killed for 'not being pureblood'. The thought of it disgusted me, but I knew it was a possibility as I heard the story firsthand from one of the members of the army.
I couldn't stand by and watch this. Call me reckless, but what kind of a man would I be if I let this happen knowing the outcome? I'll be damned if I dont save atleast one life in this slave auction,its takin me all my willpower right now not to just kill everyone(minus the slaves here).
I looked towards Disco, who had just slapped the little girl across the face, holding out the slave collar in a firm grip with a sadistic smile.
"!"
My uncontrolled haki came forth, leaving my body with a boom, travelling through the bars and across the entire room. The shockwave of haki didnt discriminate, as it knocked out the guards all the way to the slaves, even the little girl who I wanted to save.
'Better being unconscious thean a slave' I thought, feeling slightly embarrassed at my poor control of Haki.
I looked towards Rayleigh, the only one in the room not knocked out, who looked at me with a surprised expression.
"You have it too?" He asked, shocked asboth of his eyes wide open.
"Mhm" I nodded, walking towards him, gesturing towards the slave collar.
"Sorry I couldn't follow the plan, but could you take these off? There's no going back now" I said, scratching my cheek.
"BWAHAHAHAHA" Rayleigh laughed, "What a cheeky brat you are. Sure i'll take them off"
He brought both of his arms out,, gripping the slave collar tightly. He took a deep breath, concentrating for a moment as he closed his eyes.
*CRACK* *CRACK*
Cracks appeared on the slave collar as rayliegh yanked it off my neck, throwing it in the air as the timer reached zero and exploded.
*BOOM*
"Thanks" I said, rubbing my neck, "Can you tell me how you did it?" I inquired.
"Haha! Maybe another time" Rayleigh replied, and I nodded knowing I wasn't going to get anything out of him, but it never hurt to try.
I walked to the edge of the cells, coating my hands in shatter energy as the bars crumbled and cracked under the pressure of my arms. I walked over to Disco, laying on the floor unconscious next to the little girl.
I formed a glass knife, instantly stabbing it in the side of his neck. The blood slowly trickled out of the hole and onto the glass knife before I dispersed it.
Grabbing the little girl, I walked over to Rayleigh.
"Can you take her to a Marine base or something? Maybe find her a home? I'd appreciate it" I sent Rayleigh a pleading look, holding both my arms out. He reciprocated, taking out both his hands and picking up the girl.
I nodded towards Rayleigh, sending him one last look of thanks before leaving to find the devil fruit. No words of byes were said, but we parted on good terms. I'll have to pay him back in some way in the future.
