"You only know how to provoke!"
Alvida paced back and forth, arms crossed, her face set in a scowl. Her anger was evident—but so was her discomfort. Her eyes gleamed with impatience.
Robin remained calm, seated on the edge of the main staircase in the hall, an open book in her hands. The pages fluttered slightly in the breeze, but she didn't seem to mind.
"You're too sensitive today."
"It's not sensitivity! It's straight-up irritation! You act all mysterious, like you're better than everyone else."
"I just don't feel the need to shout all the time to prove I'm right."
Alvida narrowed her eyes, her hand going to her hip.
"You're only acting like this because you think you're special to him."
"I don't think. I know I am."
Silence fell like a blade.
Alvida bit her lip, her chest heaving, but before she could fire off another jab, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the temple's staircase.
"YOU TWO!"
The voice was powerful, sharp, and carried more emotion than words could convey.
Boa Hancock stormed down the corridor like a tempest. Her black hair billowed behind her, her cloak rippling like smoke, and her blue eyes blazed with frustration.
She stopped a few meters from the two, her gaze locked on Robin with intensity. But her words were for both.
"Where is Riser?!"
Robin closed her book gently, rising with a calm movement. Alvida merely huffed, crossing her arms more tightly.
"He stayed on Sky Island. Said he needed to see something alone."
"YOU LEFT HIM ALONE?!"
Hancock took a step forward, fists clenched, her eyes filling with a mix of anger and anxiety.
"How could you allow this?! He's my man!"
Alvida answered before thinking.
"He doesn't belong to anyone."
Hancock's eyes widened.
"I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID! YOU'D BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE FOR EXISTING!"
Robin intervened, raising a hand.
"He chose to go alone. Said he'd see us later. And told us to obey Merlin."
"I don't want Merlin's orders! I want Riser! NOW!"
Robin frowned.
"You're letting yourself get too carried away."
"Of course I am! He… he could be hurt! He could be—"
Then, the sky exploded.
BOOOOOOM!
Light pierced the atmosphere like a golden spear. The air seemed to compress for an instant. Every warrior on the island looked up at once.
Alvida took a step back, her gaze fixed on the firmament.
"Look…"
She pointed.
Above them, the sky folded in light and sound. An energy halo expanded slowly like a flower of death, its edge pulsing in silence.
"That…"
Robin stumbled a step.
Her eyes widened.
The wind stopped.
She remembered.
Trees burning.
Children screaming.
Books swallowed by flames.
The roar of the World Government's cannons over Ohara.
And now, that same sound—but magnified.
"No…"
Her voice came out low, without strength.
"That's destruction on a total scale. Like… Ohara. But bigger."
Hancock took an unsteady step.
Her eyes were fixed on the light.
Her breathing quickened.
"Riser… he… he's there!"
Robin turned her gaze, swallowing hard.
"Yes…"
Hancock fell to her knees.
Her hands trembled.
"Riser-sama… my Riser-sama…"
The warriors around them stopped what they were doing. All eyes were on the sky. The light still vibrated, growing, reverberating.
"He can't have—"
BOOOOM!
Another roar came. A new layer of energy exploded above the clouds, sending flocks of birds fleeing in desperate panic.
Hancock shuddered, pressing her fists to her chest.
"If he's hurt… if he's in danger…"
The ground trembled.
A magical signature appeared in the middle of the hall.
FWOOSH!
Merlin materialized.
Her aura was intense, electric, wrapped in arcane symbols. Her cloak fluttered with the energy unleashed by the celestial explosion. But her gaze was calm.
"Riser-sama is completely fine."
The words were like an antidote.
Hancock froze, her eyes still wide, now shimmering with barely contained tears.
"You… are you sure?"
Merlin nodded, without hesitation.
"The connection between us is solid. He sustained no damage. He escaped successfully."
Hancock took a deep breath.
And then—
Her face transformed.
Tears turned to vapor.
Her expression of despair became pure ecstasy.
"AAAAHHHH! My Riser-sama is so magnificent!"
She leaped to her feet, spinning on her heels.
"Even against the judgment of the heavens, he stands tall! So strong! So relentless! So… mine!"
Robin watched in silence, her eyes half-closed.
Alvida took two steps back, as if wanting distance from the madness unfolding.
"He must be exhausted… hurt…"
Hancock brought her hands to her face, her cheeks flushing theatrically.
"I'll tend to every scratch! Every bruise! I'll feed him in bed, wipe his body with damp cloths, apply ointments to his back!"
She turned to Merlin, breathless.
"He'll need massages!"
Merlin raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think he was physically hit."
"No matter! The psychological trauma! The stress! The existential void!"
She clutched her chest, sighing loudly.
"I'll fill that void with love, devotion, and… conjugal presence."
Alvida turned on her heel.
"Okay, I'm done."
Robin ran a hand over her face.
"Merlin, please… tell me Riser's coming back soon."
The mage merely smiled.
"He's on his way to a new destination. But he'll return. When he decides."
Hancock spun again.
"When he returns, the temple will be perfumed! The bed prepared! And I… I'll be in lilac satin robes with a surrendered smile!"
She ran out of the hall, shouting orders to prepare a bath with petals, oils, and incense.
Alvida muttered to Robin.
"Has she always been like this?"
"Yes. She just didn't have someone to be like this for."
The two stood still for a moment.
The sky still glowed in the distance.
But now, it didn't seem so threatening.
It felt merely… a reminder.
That Riser was still out there.
And no one, not even the sky, could stop him.
---
Ace's blood stained the dry earth in irregular patterns, soaking the dust like dark ink on an old map. The sound of his breathing was faltering, punctuated by coughs that came from deep in his chest, each one carrying heat, anger, and the bitter taste of defeat.
His body was covered in bruises and cuts. His fists burned, his muscles trembled, and yet he looked up. Not in supplication. But in defiance.
Blackbeard approached slowly. Each step made the ground seem to quake under the weight of the darkness that followed him. The other four trailed in a semicircle—Burgess with arms crossed, Van Augur silent, Doc Q leaning on his horse, and Laffitte with a smile that seemed carved with a razor.
"Zehahahaha… Ace, Ace, Ace…" Teach's voice dripped with sarcasm and delight. "You had so much pride… so much faith in your fire fruit…"
Ace spat blood, his eyes still burning with fury.
"You… you're worth nothing…"
Blackbeard laughed louder. The sound reverberated like thunder without clouds.
"You underestimated me. All of you did! But look at this… here's the great commander of Whitebeard's 2nd Division, fallen like a wet dog!"
Ace tried to rise, but his arms gave out. A low groan escaped through gritted teeth.
Van Augur remained still, his cold eyes analyzing everything with a killer's precision.
"He won't last long if he keeps bleeding like that."
"He doesn't need to!" Teach raised his arms, as if the world were before him. "The plan is simple. We'll hand him over to the Marines. Zehahaha! Do you have any idea what they'll give me in return?"
Laffitte leaned forward, his smile slicing across his face like a blade.
"An audience with the big shots. Maybe even the empty Shichibukai seat…"
Doc Q coughed, chuckling softly between wheezes.
"If he survives that long. It'd be a shame if he died on the way. A broken man isn't worth as much."
Burgess let out a grunt of approval.
"We can chain him with seastone. He won't escape."
Teach looked to the sky for a moment, breathing deeply. The smell of blood and smoke filled the air.
"This is just the beginning. With this move, we—"
He stopped.
Silence hit like a slap.
The wind, whistling through the rocks, ceased.
Shadows lengthened.
The birds stopped singing.
Ace, still gasping, frowned. The pain was forgotten for a moment.
"What…?"
Then, they saw it.
On the horizon.
A light.
It wasn't the sun's glow or the fleeting flash of a storm. It was a column of energy—golden, white, pure—rising from the heavens like a divine pillar, shattering the clouds like a spear from the gods.
The earth trembled.
The sea roared.
The sky… wept.
Teach slowly turned his face, his smile fading.
Van Augur had already raised his rifle to his shoulder by reflex, but there was nothing to aim at.
Doc Q gripped his horse with his knees, a chill running down his spine.
"What… what kind of weapon is that?"
Ace tried to lift his head, his eyes locked on the distant explosion. His lips parted in an inaudible whisper.
'That direction…'
The seconds that followed were horrifying.
A blinding flash consumed the sky, swallowing everything beyond the horizon. The clouds shattered like broken glass, and the sound… the sound was a thunder that didn't end. A prolonged roar that crushed the world under its weight.
Dust rose. The ground shook. The sea boiled.
A shockwave tore through everything—cutting continents, splitting islands, uprooting trees and tossing them like toys.
Ace was thrown back, his body spinning in the air before crashing into the ground again. The pain returned, overwhelming. But his eyes stayed on the sky.
Van Augur adjusted his hat.
"That light… that force… that's not from the Marines."
Burgess swallowed hard, eyes wide.
"That… was an island being erased."
Doc Q coughed, his cough now dry. His horse neighed restlessly.
"It's not natural. Something… is beyond this."
Blackbeard stood still. The shadow of his cloak danced over the rocks as if it no longer knew whom it belonged to.
"Zehaha…"
The laugh was now nervous.
"Come on, boys. Get this trash to the ship. The Marines will still pay for him."
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