Alubarna.
Inside what used to be the royal palace, Koza and Cobra sat across from each other in a meeting room that had seen better days. The windows were still boarded up from the recent fighting, and you could see scorch marks on the walls where Baroque Works agents had made their last stand.
This wasn't their first meeting, but everything was different now.
Koza was no longer just the merchant's son, Vivi's childhood friend who'd gotten caught up in rebellion. He was the leader of the revolutionary army that had just overthrown the government. And Cobra wasn't the king anymore. Just a former ruler sitting across from the man who'd helped tear down everything he'd built.
The atmosphere was tense as hell.
Koza shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not quite sure how to handle this. Throughout the entire revolution, he'd imagined this moment dozens of times. Sometimes Cobra was furious, sometimes understanding, but there were moments when he felt miles away. But the reality was somehow worse than any scenario he'd imagined, the old king just sat there calmly, like this was a normal administrative meeting.
Vivi was the first to break the silence.
"Father, I'm sorry. I should have—"
"The future of this country was always meant to be yours," Cobra interrupted. "You've simply chosen to take it sooner than I expected."
"No, you don't understand. I don't want to be queen. That's not what this is about—"
"I never asked for your opinion on the matter. And besides, only I can decide who inherits the throne. That's how succession works."
Vivi fell silent.
She could be ruthless when dealing with the corrupt nobles who'd bled this country dry. Hell, she'd personally led raids on their estates, seen them dragged out screaming and begging. They had gotten exactly what they deserved.
But sitting here in front of her father? The guilt was eating her alive. She'd disappeared for years, left him to shoulder the burden alone. Then she'd come back and immediately plunged the entire country into chaos. Civil war, purges, the complete restructuring of society, all because she couldn't keep her mouth shut and play the dutiful princess.
Koza saw Vivi struggling and realized someone needed to step up. If this conversation was going to happen, better to face it head-on.
"King Cobra, no, I should say Cobra." Koza straightened in his seat, meeting the old man's eyes. "Arabasta as you knew it is finished. We're one declaration away from wiping it off the map completely. What comes next will be a republic."
Cobra finally shifted his gaze to Koza, and there was something unreadable in his expression.
"Before that happens, this is still Arabasta's internal affair. What gives you the right to speak about it?"
"My right comes from being elected the new leader of the republic."
"Leader?" Cobra raised an eyebrow. "Not king?"
"We don't use that title. In our new country, every level of authority exists to serve the people. There won't be any princes or nobles."
Cobra tapped his fingers on the table. When he finally spoke, there was amusement in his voice.
"So you're just changing the name and dressing it up in pretty words. The power structure remains the same."
"No! We're already implementing real changes. The system isn't perfect yet, but we're working on it every day."
"Not perfect yet?" Cobra leaned forward slightly. "Then tell me, if another drought hit, like the one that destroyed Yuba, what would you do? How would your new system handle that?"
Koza didn't hesitate. He'd spent countless nights thinking about exactly these kinds of scenarios.
"We'd dig canals to redirect water from other regions. If the situation became desperate enough, we'd even authorize the use of Dance Powder. The survival of the people comes before outdated laws."
"And if neighboring countries objected to your use of Dance Powder?"
"Then we'd negotiate. If negotiation failed, we'd find another solution. But we wouldn't let our people die of thirst while we worried about international politics."
Cobra fired off another question, then another. He attacked every aspect of Koza's proposed government, looking for anything that suggested this was just another power grab disguised as reform.
But Koza held his ground. For every problem Cobra identified, he had at least the beginning of a solution.
The debate went on for nearly an hour. Cobra would challenge something, Koza would defend it, and occasionally Koza would turn the tables and question how the old system had failed to prevent the very problems they were discussing.
Vivi watched it all in silence, and slowly, she began to understand.
Her father wasn't trying to tear down Koza's plans. He was testing him, forcing him to think like a ruler. This was how Cobra had been trained by his own father, through brutal Socratic dialogue that exposed every weak point in your thinking.
And Koza was passing the test.
Her father was preparing to hand over the country to Koza. Not to her.
Because Cobra understood something she'd been too caught up in guilt to see: leadership wasn't about bloodlines or titles. It was about being willing and able to do what needed to be done for the people.
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Despite everything, her father was still supporting her. Still trying to make sure the future she'd fought for actually succeeded.
A burst of laughter from the other side of the wall interrupted her thoughts.
The Straw Hat crew had started their celebration banquet, and apparently they weren't bothering to keep it down. Luffy's voice carried through the stone walls, shouting something about meat.
Even with everything weighing on her mind, Vivi felt her mood lift slightly.
She tried to focus on the discussion, but her attention kept drifting toward the party in the next room.
Both Cobra and Koza noticed. They exchanged a look and smiled.
"This room is too cramped anyway," Cobra said, standing up. "Let's continue this outside. The garden should be more comfortable."
Koza nodded and followed him out.
The moment they left, Vivi immediately rose and headed straight for the dining hall.
Luffy was standing on the dinner table, performing the "chopsticks in the nose" dance. Usopp and Chopper were following his lead, all three of them looking absolutely ridiculous.
The crowd below was eating it up. Even the royal guards who'd fought in the civil war were laughing, slapping their thighs and wiping tears from their eyes.
"Yo! Vivi!" Luffy spotted her and waved, nearly losing his balance on the table. "You're just in time! We're doing impressions now!"
He puffed out his cheeks and adopted an exaggerated pose. "This is Sanji: 'Oh my darling, let me make you a dessert as sweet as your smile.'"
"I do NOT sound like that!" Sanji yelled from somewhere in the crowd, which only made everyone laugh harder.
"Alright, next up..." Luffy's body started to shift and change. His limbs became rigid and blocky, his torso squared off, and suddenly he was standing on two legs looking like a walking brick. "This is Marcus!"
"Hey! That's my ability you're making fun of! And I don't look like that!"
The whole room erupted in laughter again.
---
Outside in the garden, Cobra and Koza walked slowly along the paths between the flowerbeds.
Finally, Koza couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer.
"Your Majesty... if you'd accepted Vivi's vision from the start, things could have been different. Why didn't you?"
Cobra waved off the question. "I'm not your king anymore, Koza. And even if I had accepted her ideas, what difference would it have made? Running a country requires infrastructure, connections, relationships with nobles and merchants. The moment Vivi shouted that slogan to the rebel army, I knew what path she'd chosen. The title of princess would only hold her back."
He paused, looking up at the stars. "Better to let go completely. Let her and people like you build something new. Whether it's called Arabasta or something else doesn't matter. A country that's lost the people's trust doesn't deserve to exist anyway."
Koza stared at him.
"Alright, enough about that." Cobra's tone shifted. "I need to tell you a secret about Arabasta. I'd planned to take it to my grave, but after seeing you and that Straw Hat boy... I think you should know."
"A secret?"
Cobra took a deep breath, then began explaining about the Poneglyph hidden beneath the palace. By the time he finished, Koza looked shaken.
"So the Baroque Works plan... that 'Utopia' thing they were after... the Ancient Weapon actually exists?"
Vivi had mentioned Crocodile's scheme, but he had assumed the weapon was just a legend, bait to keep the criminal organization motivated.
"How did Baroque Works even learn about this?"
Cobra sighed heavily. "Over eight hundred years, through countless successions and the rot of noble houses, secrets leak out. Someone always overhears something they shouldn't during a coronation ceremony. There's always another who gets too curious about the old king's private papers. Men with ambition find a way."
"You think it was Poisson?" Koza's voice dropped. "He was in line to be king before..."
"Every generation has ambitious men. You'll probably run into more of them soon enough."
He let that ominous, then continued, "The royal guard exists to protect the king. But your role as leader of the republic isn't that different, you still make decisions that affect millions of lives. The guards will follow you if you ask them to. And if you're worried about their loyalty... Let them teach basic security and defense to your own people, then release them from service."
Koza nodded slowly.
"Thank you for trusting me with this."
Cobra smiled, and for the first time in the conversation, he looked truly at peace.
"Just don't fuck it up, kid."
The vulgarity coming from Cobra's mouth was so unexpected that Koza actually did a double-take. The man who'd held this country together through years of drought and rebellion, had just casually dropped an f-bomb like some dockworker.
He stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"I'll do my best, Your Majesty."
"Not 'Your Majesty' anymore, remember? Just Cobra." The old king smiled. "So, what are your plans after all this?"
"After...?"
"You've spent years fighting for change. What happens when the fighting stops?"
Koza considered this. "I suppose I'll keep working on making the republic function. There's so much to do."
"That's not what I asked. Not what the country needs. What do you want, Koza?"
The question caught him off guard. When had he last thought about what he wanted? Everything for so long had been about the cause.
Cobra didn't wait for an answer. "I'm planning to visit Lili's hometown, though drought destroyed most of it years ago."
"Queen Lili? Her hometown was Yuba, wasn't it?"
"That's right. The place still needs people to help rebuild, and your father's there too, isn't he?" Cobra gazed toward the horizon. "It's about time I caught up with some old comrades. We've got stories to share, I'm sure."
Koza nodded slowly. "If you see my father... tell him I'm sorry."
"No."
"What?" Koza blinked in confusion at the refusal.
"That's something you need to tell him yourself." Cobra's smile was gentle.
Koza's face froze, then reluctantly, he nodded. He hadn't expected that the king, now freed from the burden of ruling, would be so... straightforward.
"You're right. I should go home."
Cobra turned his attention to a more difficult topic. "Speaking of family... Vivi, she..."
Koza understood what Cobra couldn't quite bring himself to say.
"If I had to guess, she'll probably choose to set sail."
Cobra turned his head toward where the sounds of laughter from the banquet hall.
"Perhaps... that really is the best choice for her."
"Are you sure about that? She's your only child."
"That's exactly why I'm sure. Vivi has a fire in her that this palace would only suffocate. She needs to see the world. Keeping her here would be like caging a bird that was meant to fly."
They stood in silence for a moment.
---
The banquet continued into the late evening, showing no signs of slowing down. Eventually, Cobra sought out his daughter, finding her in one of the side rooms, half-dozing against a wall.
"Vivi, have you decided to go to sea?"
Vivi startled awake, rubbing her eyes.
"Yes, Father. Arabasta has you and Koza. The country will function well under your guidance. But there are so many other nations, and people suffering. I want to help them."
Cobra nodded slowly, as if he'd been expecting this answer. "In that case, there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Nefertari isn't actually our family's full name."
Vivi tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Nefertari D. Vivi. That's your true name."
"What?" Vivi's eyes went wide. Suddenly, a name popped into her head, Monkey D. Luffy. He also carried that middle initial. "The D... what does it mean?"
"You know that Arabasta has existed for over eight hundred years, don't you?"
"Of course."
"But the truth is, our nation existed even before that. Long before the World Government was established. Our family was one of the original twenty kingdoms. It wouldn't be wrong to say we're descended from the Celestial Dragons."
"WHAT?!"
Vivi felt like the ground had dropped out from under her. She'd been to Mary Geoise. She'd seen what the Celestial Dragons were like. The thought that she shared blood with those monsters...
"That can't be true. I'm not like them. I could never—"
"Calm down. From the very beginning, our ancestors refused to settle in Mary Geoise. Though we share their bloodline, we are nothing like them. You are you, Vivi. Your choices define you, not your ancestry. And besides, once you set sail carrying the name D, you'll never be able to set foot in Mary Geoise again. The World Government would see to that."
Vivi was breathing hard. "Then tell me, what is this D? What does it mean?"
"The D is a kind of will. A kind of belief that's been passed down through certain bloodlines for centuries."
"That's not an answer!"
"No, I suppose it's not." Cobra smiled sadly. "But honestly, I don't fully understand it myself. What I do know is this: people who carry the D are natural enemies of the so-called gods... Of the World Government itself."
He fixed her with an intense stare. "So let me ask you: are you Nefertari Vivi? Or are you Nefertari D. Vivi?"
Vivi barely hesitated. "I'm Nefertari D. Vivi."
Cobra's face broke into a smile. "I thought you'd say that. You've always been decisive, even when you were little."
"But you still haven't told me what the D actually means..."
"Sail with Luffy and his crew. Experience the world, fight for what you believe in. When the time is right, you'll understand what the D truly represents. I promise you that."
"That's such a non-answer! You're being deliberately cryptic!"
"Perhaps," Cobra admitted, reaching out to ruffle her hair like he used to when she was a child. "But some truths you need to discover for yourself. The path ahead will be difficult, you know."
"No it won't. On Luffy's ship, everyone is always full of joy. Even when things are terrible, we find reasons to smile."
"Then I have nothing to worry about."
They talked late into the night. By the time Vivi finally headed back to her room, the first hints of dawn were coloring the sky.
But not everyone in the palace was asleep.
In a courtyard on the opposite side of the palace, two figures stood in the shadows.
"What business do you have with me?"
Robin stood with her back to a stone pillar, arms crossed defensively. She'd been expecting someone to approach her eventually, but she hadn't expected it to be the Revolutionary Army.
"I want to invite you to join us," Sabo said simply.
Robin raised an eyebrow. "You do realize I was Crocodile's right hand? The one behind the plot to destroy Arabasta? That doesn't concern you?"
"Overthrowing corrupt governments is literally what we do. Besides, you weren't trying to destroy Arabasta. You were trying to find the Poneglyph. Everything else was just Crocodile's ambition."
Robin couldn't argue with that assessment. Still, she remained wary. "Why me? What could I possibly offer the Revolutionary Army?"
"To other organizations, you're the Devil Child. But to us... you're a flame."
"A flame?"
"The flame of revolution."
Robin stared at him, completely baffled. He'd just appeared out of nowhere and declared she was the flame of revolution? What the hell did that even mean?
Sabo realized his words were too abrupt and was trying to figure out how to explain when another voice cut in from the shadows.
"The so-called flame of revolution, to put it simply, is because you're the sole survivor of Ohara."
A brown-haired girl jumped down from the rooftop, landing lightly beside Sabo. She smiled apologetically at Robin. "Sorry, I don't mean to bring up painful memories, but that's where this all comes from."
"I'm Koala, by the way. Assistant Fish-Man Karate Instructor for the Revolutionary Army."
Robin studied the newcomer but said nothing.
Koala continued her explanation, "You're currently the only person in the world who can read the Poneglyphs. The World Government has hidden a hundred years of true history, and you're the only one who can uncover it. You've been running from them for twenty years while simultaneously trying to piece together what they're hiding. To us, to people trying to overthrow the World Government, you represent hope. The truth is our greatest weapon, and you're the only one who can find it. We've been searching for you for a long time, but you're too good at hiding. Working under Crocodile? We never would have looked there."
"I see..." Robin said slowly. But her expression remained complicated. "The Poneglyphs I've found so far only contain fragments."
"Of course," Sabo replied. "No single Poneglyph tells the complete story. Only by linking countless stones together can the full truth emerge. I don't know what's carved into the one here in Arabasta, but I'm certain it's not the whole picture."
Robin looked at the Revolutionary Army officers in front of her. She could feel their sincerity. She'd known about the Revolutionary Army for years, of course, but she'd never imagined she'd be so important to their cause.
But something was nagging at her.
Her gaze shifted to a spot behind Sabo and Koala, focusing on the shadows between the pillars.
Both Revolutionary Army members noticed her attention shift and turned around.
There, trying and failing to hide behind a stone column that was way too narrow to conceal him properly, stood Marcus.
"Ah... so I got caught, huh." He stepped out from behind the pillar, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Guess I really am terrible at tailing people."
Sabo's eyes lit up immediately, and he started looking Marcus up and down.
Being stared at so directly made Marcus take an involuntary step back. That gaze was way too aggressive, like Sabo was trying to see through him or something.
"Uh... why are you staring at me like that?"
After all, he was just a nobody. He'd never even made it into the newspapers. But Sabo? This guy was the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command, one of the most important figures in the entire organization.
Why the hell did it feel like Sabo was more interested in him than in Robin, the woman who could literally read ancient secrets?
"Would you like to join the Revolutionary Army?" Sabo asked bluntly. "Your ideals align perfectly with our cause. You'd fit right in."
Marcus blinked in surprise. "Are you sure you're not supposed to be recruiting Vivi? Not me?"
He knew damn well that Vivi was the one who'd shouted that revolutionary slogan to the rebels. She was the one who'd inspired thousands of people to fight for change.
But Sabo shook his head. "I visited Drum Kingdom not long ago, and met with Dalton. He told me quite a few stories about you. And as for Princess Vivi, from what I understand, she was influenced by your ideals first. I believe if you joined the Revolutionary Army, you'd be able to make an even greater impact."
Robin's eyes widened slightly. She'd assumed it was Princess Vivi who'd come up with that rhetoric on her own. But listening to their conversation, it sounded like Vivi had been inspired by Marcus?
Then this guy in front of her was truly...
She'd initially pegged him as just a brave young man with a good heart. But if what Sabo was saying was true, then he was someone who could inspire revolutionary thought in others.
It made sense. Robin herself was someone who could read the Poneglyphs, so she knew firsthand that people with dangerous knowledge or revolutionary ideas naturally attracted recruiters. The World Government had been hunting her for exactly that reason.
But then something happened that shocked everyone present.
Marcus rejected Sabo's invitation outright.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm good where I am."
"Why?" Sabo couldn't hide his confusion. "From every angle I can see, you'd be perfect for us. Someone with your ideology should feel a natural affinity toward the Revolutionary Army's goals."
"I've already joined the Straw Hat Pirates. That's my crew now."
The reasoning sounded almost dismissive, but the way Marcus said it made it clear this wasn't some casual excuse.
Sabo could feel the weight of that commitment.
"Well, this is troubling."
Koala looked baffled. "Why would you join a pirate crew though? You should understand what pirates really are, criminals, thieves, people who take what they want by force."
"There are lots of reasons," Marcus replied. "But the main one? I'd say it's probably because fate guided me here. Sometimes you end up exactly where you're supposed to be, even if you don't understand why at first."
"What?" Koala was confused
She wasn't the only one. Robin and Sabo both looked equally puzzled by that answer.
But then Marcus turned his full attention to Sabo, and his expression became more serious. "When you saw Luffy earlier tonight, didn't you feel something different?"
The sudden shift in topic left both women lost, but Sabo seemed to understand. His eyebrows furrowed.
The reason he had been avoiding Luffy all evening was because he didn't want to confront him directly. Every time he caught sight of Luffy during the celebration, his heart had started racing. The sensation wasn't hostile or threatening, but it was deeply unsettling.
That's why he'd stayed in the shadows, waiting until he'd calmed himself down before approaching Robin.
"Why... Why are you asking me that?"
Marcus studied him carefully, noting how Sabo's breathing had quickened. The Revolutionary's discomfort was growing worse by the second. He had thought meeting Luffy directly would be enough to trigger Sabo's memories. But the amnesia was apparently more stubborn than he'd hoped
Could milk help? Then again... amnesia wasn't exactly a poison effect or a status ailment. It was brain damage, memory loss caused by trauma.
Or maybe Luffy and Sabo needed to interact, not just see each other from a distance.
"How about this," Marcus suggested. "If you're willing to meet our captain, sit down and talk for a bit, I'll consider your request about joining the Revolutionary Army. Deal?"
"No."
The refusal was so quick that even Sabo himself looked surprised by it.
Koala stared at him. She'd known Sabo for years, and she'd never once seen him back down from anything. He was fearless. And now he was refusing to meet someone? Over what should have been a simple conversation?
She looked between Marcus and Sabo. "Have you met before?"
Marcus shook his head. "Nope, never met him until tonight. But since you're not willing, I won't push it. Still, my offer stands. Whenever you feel ready to meet Luffy, come find me. I'll reconsider your recruitment pitch then."
Dragging Sabo to meet Luffy wasn't something he could do, and honestly, it probably wouldn't help anyway. If seeing Luffy from across the room was enough to give Sabo a splitting headache, forcing a face-to-face encounter might just cause him to pass out.
Besides, if the memories could be restored, they probably would have come back the moment Sabo first laid eyes on Luffy. The fact that nothing had happened suggested the amnesia was more complex than just seeing a familiar face.
Koala nudged Sabo's side. It was just one meeting. How hard could it be?
But looking at Sabo's increasingly pale face, she frowned.
"Are you okay? You look awful."
Sabo seemed dazed. Finally, he shook his head weakly. "I'm... I'm fine."
He was clearly lying.
Robin looked at Sabo, then at Marcus, then back again.
"My answer's the same as his. When you meet our captain, I'll reconsider your invitation."
This only made Koala more anxious. She poked Sabo's arm repeatedly, but he just stood there like a statue.
Finally, Sabo seemed to reach some internal decision. "I need to leave."
He turned and started walking away.
Koala's eyes widened. Sabo was actually running away! She'd never seen him retreat from anything.
And this was over a simple meeting?
She looked around at the others, then at Sabo's rapidly departing figure.
In the end, loyalty won out. She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper.
"This is how to contact us. The number for the Revolutionary Army. Use it if... if you change your mind," she said quickly, pressing it into Marcus' hand. Then she hurried after Sabo.
Now only two people remained.
Robin's gaze fixed on Marcus.
"What?" he asked.
"You know him, beyond what you saw tonight."
"Haha, you're reading too much into it. I just thought it would be good for Sabo to meet Luffy, you know, for them to talk about stuff. Revolutionary stuff. Pirate stuff."
"That's not what I was asking."
Marcus suddenly became very interested in the scenery. "The moonlight is really beautiful tonight."
"Yes, it is quite lovely."
Seeing that the topic had been successfully diverted, Marcus let out a breath. "Well then, I should probably get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be busy with preparations for leaving and everything."
He started backing away slowly, maintaining eye contact like you would with a predator.
Robin didn't try to stop him. She simply watched him go.
Everyone had secrets. If Marcus didn't want to share his, why push? Besides, some secrets were lying out in the open if you knew what to look for.
Sabo and Luffy. One was the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command, the other an obscure pirate who hadn't made a name for himself. What connection could they have? On the surface, the two seemed like strangers. Even Koala had no idea there was any relationship between them.
But Marcus knew.
Robin leaned back against the stone pillar.
It seemed she had joined quite an extraordinary pirate crew.
"Fate, huh?" She found herself smiling a little wider, remembering Marcus' words. "Maybe there's something to that after all."