Veyron and Aokiji followed Riku to the location where everything had unfolded. It was one of the most heavily devastated areas, second only to the port and situated adjacent to the palace on the main avenue.
Buildings lay in ruins, bearing the enormous footprints left by the rampaging mammoth.
"It was here that it happened... and here is the toy," Riku pointed to the shattered figure still lying on the ground.
The toy resembled a soldier, but it was missing a leg, an arm, and its head. It remained motionless. Veyron furrowed his brow as he picked up both parts of the toy, the body and the head.
"You mentioned that this toy protected you... it was moving before, correct?" Veyron inquired.
"Yes..." Riku responded.
"I see..." He sighed and rubbed his brow, his thoughts taking a dark turn before he gently returned the toy to the ground. He then gave a brief glance to the pink-haired girl who tilted her head curiously.
"Is there something on my face, sir?" she asked.
"No, nothing... I'm finished here, but I'll stay for a while," Veyron replied.
"Please take your time," Riku said, bowing slightly before leading the pink-haired girl away, her eyes occasionally returning to the broken toy.
"Have you uncovered any answers, Veyron?" Aokiji asked.
"...I think I have, and I don't like them at all, Aokiji," Veyron admitted.
"What is it?" Aokiji inquired.
"That toy there... was once a person who was transformed into a toy, and that person was subsequently forgotten," Veyron explained with a hint of scepticism.
"Isn't that a bit far-fetched?" Aokiji crossed his arms, expressing doubt.
"It could be... but I can't think of another reason why this toy would protect people or why it moved before but not now," Veyron reasoned.
"Is it dead?".
Veyron nodded with grief.
"I will head back to the Colosseum, what are you going to do?" Aokiji questioned.
"I'm going to try to find more clues before reaching a conclusion. If my suspicions are correct, then... I may have to head to Wano," Veyron voiced his opinion. "Based on the circumstances, it appears that what Jack took from here wasn't the national tribute but the three individuals I've been searching for. However, I can't confirm it yet."
"Don't be reckless," Aokiji cautioned, surprising Veyron.
"I didn't know you cared about me," Veyron remarked with mock amusement.
"I don't... but Nico Robin does," Aokiji responded, then departed for the Colosseum.
"..."
Veyron briefly contemplated whether Nico Robin and Aokiji had crossed paths in recent years, but he set that thought aside for another time.
His destination for gathering clues was the main palace, which now stood abandoned and reeking of blood. Oddly, there were more Kuja tribe corpses here than anywhere else, piquing his curiosity. Amid the wreckage, he noticed a shattered sculpture. Picking up a fragment, he recognized the face from a wanted poster.
"Donquixote Doflamingo... turned to stone, petrified," he muttered to himself.
'She turned him into stone!' he recalled Fisher Tiger mentioning during his story.
'In the One Piece manga, Boa Hancock could turn people into stone,' he remembered, trying to piece together a narrative of what might have occurred in this place.
'Darling~ / Little brother~ / Veyron~'
"Ugh!"
He was suddenly struck by an excruciating headache, causing him to drop to his knees. It felt as though something was devouring his brain.
"H-Hancock, Sandersonia... Marigold."
He recognized the names and appearances of the women, but that was all he knew. There had to be more information locked away in his memories.
As he rubbed his forehead, he sensed a faint presence, not through Haki, but as a subtle movement at the edge of his vision. He readied his hand, imbuing it with lightning, and the entity that had approached him quickly retreated into the darkness.
"Stay fearless!"
"Go!"
He heard voices whispering. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating, but a 'toy' was pushed out of the darkness by two small figures, perhaps dwarves. For a moment, he wondered if his headache had distorted his perception.
"H-Hello..." The toy stuttered, confirming that she was a living being and not a vision.
Veyron leaned down to get a closer look at her, realizing that she was the key to his search, a living toy!
"Who are you?"
The toy hesitated, but eventually, she opened up. "I'm not a toy! I'M NOT A TOY!"
Veyron examined her closely, noticing her numerous wounds from being thrown and hit.
He picked her up and began tending to her injuries with bandages he found nearby. He wasn't certain if it would work since she was just a toy, but he had to try.
"I believe you... I believe you..."
"Really?"
"Yes, you need to tell me everything you know; it's crucial," Veyron urged.
Viola continued to sob but managed to speak between her tears. "My name is Viola... I'm the first daughter of Riku Doldo III and a native of Dressrosa! I'm really sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Veyron saw progress in her willingness to open up. Riku Doldo had previously mentioned only one daughter, Scarlett, which meant that Viola had also been forgotten.
"What happened, Viola?"
"It was my fault... because I asked for help, they were transformed into toys. Those women, our saviours!" Viola exclaimed, recalling the nightmarish events.
"Hancock, Marigold, and Sandersonia?" Veyron pondered, and Viola gasped.
"Huh, you know them?! You remember them!?"
"No, but I'm really trying hard to. My name is Veyron. Tell me everything you know, Viola."
He had finally found the key to the truth.
Her tale was heart-wrenching. She had been turned into a toy by a green-haired girl named Sugar inside the palace, their maid had opened the gates and allowed the pirates in. she had witnessed the transformation of her saviours into toys while her subordinates were mercilessly slaughtered. The executive Trebol had been struck by a torrent of lightning from one of the Kuja Ships.
Viola had been held captive with the other three women. Unlike the others, she had not been placed under a contract by Sugar and had enjoyed a degree of freedom. What followed was a harrowing nightmare.
As Veyron had suspected, the shattered soldier had once been Rebecca's father and Riku's son-in-law, Kyros. He had tried to restore order, but the confusion surrounding him being mistaken for a pirate had made it impossible. Viola remained captive under Sugar's influence, unable to help.
The mammoth's rampage had caused chaos, with the soldier toy, which had shattered into pieces with a single swing of its trunk, symbolizing the destruction. She had witnessed everything but had held back her tears. Jack had taken the two green-haired girls and the three toys with him as he left, leaving Dressrosa in ruins.
Viola had fled in fear for her life and sought refuge with the Tontatta tribe on Green Bit. She couldn't forgive herself for inadvertently causing the capture of her saviours.
"Are you the lightning god?" She exclaimed and Veyron's eyebrows tilted up in surprise at being addressed like this by her.
"I am..."
"Then you must know... those three are your wives! The green-haired girl kept musing over and over that those three were the wives of the lightning god!".
Veyron grit his teeth harshly, wives... and he had forgotten them, every single moment... completely forgotten. Someone really had to pay with this with dear blood.
"My father will be able to do something on his own, he is capable". Viola said, her voice filled with determination. "But I have to help you save them, or I'll never forgive myself."
"How can you help me?" Veyron asked, concerned about her safety.
Viola explained that she had consumed a Devil Fruit that granted her unique sight abilities. Even in her current toy form, she could see distant events, and she offered to use her powers to assist in the search. Her powers were limited, but they were present.
"That's how I managed to sense you, I sensed the turmoil in your emotions and knew you were looking for something. You're not inherently evil" She mused.
Recognizing her potential value, Veyron agreed to let her help but emphasized that she should avoid combat at all costs.
With Viola as his newfound ally, Veyron prepared to embark on his quest to rescue the captured women who were his wives. On his own. However, his plans were abruptly interrupted by a call from Stussy.
"Master, something important is going down in the underworld".
"What is it now?".
"Kaido wants a meeting with you. He wants to make a deal with the Emperor of the Black Market!".
'... So that bastard is making his move now, huh?' Veyron thought with vengeance-craving eyes, bracing himself for a new challenge that would surely be the toughest he had ever faced. The strongest creature alive.
He placed Viola on his shoulders.
'Since you want your island to be shattered so much, Kaido. We can arrange that right f*cking now'.
***
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