| abstract
| - A mother had finished reading her daughter a book as part of their nightly ritual before she puts her child to bed. As excited as usual from her love for stories, the 6 year old girl pleaded with her mother to tell her the story once again. “Mommie! Mommie! That story you read is so good! Read it one time! Please?! Please with a cherry on top?!” she said with big, adorable puppy eyes. “Oh, sweetie! How is it a new story if I read for you 100 times already? It’s getting late! It’s a little past your bed time. You have to sleep so you can grow bigger. Perhaps you can be tall as me one day.” “But…Mommie. I want to hear the story again! I promise to give you a real cherry with the please next time!” “Sigh, all right, kiddo. You better keep that promise of yours or else...the tickle monster attacks! Rarrrr!” The mother lunged towards her daughter and aggressively attacks the little’s girl delicate nerves. “Eeeeekk!” “Tickle! Tickle! Tickle! Tickley koo!” A silly battle had occurred on the mattress. The daughter involuntarily twitched and laughed during her mother’s playful onslaught. This action was the mother’s method of lightly punishing her child while building a positive bond with her at the same time. The little girl suffered but she doesn’t seem to mind the attack. This reaction was proof of the mother-daughter’s undeniable love. “Gi-ha-ha-ha-ha! Not the tickle monster! No more! Uncle! Uncle! White flag!” “And the tickle monster retreats. Now you have to sleep after I finished reading this, ok? Promise?” “I promise with my heart or else, the sea king will gobble me up and burp out my bones!” The little girl made a gesture of moving her right hand across her heart and squeezed her fist to make the notion of a creature devouring her heart. Afterwards, she flicked her fingers outward in front of herself to portray a sea king spitting out her would-be bones. “That’s right. Don’t want any giant fish to swallow you. Like that Pinocchio boy. You don’t want to end up like him.” “Mooom. The story? Hurry up!” “Yes, dear. Only one more time, ok? And then, sleep!” “Yes, Mommie. I know. But read the story now! Read! Read! Read!” the little girl said, shaking up and down from excitement. “Ok. Let’s see here,” the mother opened the book again to the first page retell the tale. “This is the tale of “The Generous Ocean.” Once there was a girl.... repeating the same day again and again. And gather the fish And carry them to her new home. Place it next to your ear. “All right. Now you know what you’re supposed to do now?” “Awwww, ok. A promise is a promise,” the little girl slid back under the bed sheets. “Good night, my little sunshine.” The little girl’s eyes grew heavy and would soon be in a deep slumber. The mother pulled the covers over her daughter and blew the bedroom’s light out. She leaned down to kiss her daughter’s forehead. Then, she placed the book back into the bookshelf and walked towards the door to retire for the night. “Mommie?” the girl tugged the edge of her blanket tightly. “Yes, dear?” “What does “Happily ever after” mean? I don’t get it,” she said, tilting her head to the side. “Well…it means that whatever happens after, they were happy. In other words, a happy ending.” “How were they happy? Were they always happy? How does a girl get happy with the ocean?” The mother walked back to her daughter and gently pat her daughter on the head. “Hmmm, I swear you’re a bit too smart for a girl your age. That is a difficult question to answer. To be honest, I have no clue but if I have to give you one…There isn’t really an answer at all.” The little girl’s eyes became wide open as she sprang upwards. She couldn’t fall to a deep slumber without her curiosity being satisfied. “Huh? What do you mean? There has to be one! If I don’t know how to be happy, then I’ll be sad forever!” “Don’t be silly! You’re only a little child. No need to rush. You’ll figure it out when you’re older.” “Then, are you happy, Mommie?” The mother embraced her in a deep, meaningful hug in response to her question. “Hehehe. Of course! I have you and daddy! Because I’m with two people that I love the most, I am very happy!” “Then, when I’ll grow up, I’ll marry someone like daddy and have children. That will be my happily ever after!” The mother released her hug on her daughter and retreated once again. “I can’t wait to see that happen. Your happily ever after is also my happily ever after,” the mother grinned widely. “Me too. Mommie!” “Good night, my little one!” “Good night, Mommie! Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” the little girl returned the wide, cheerful grin back as her mother left her room. I can’t wait to see how my happily ever after looks like when I grow up! Morning, Utsutsu Castle: Princess Chamber, Early Spring. 12 years later. “Fuhhhaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuwwwhhh.” The youth let out a loud yawn, raised her arms high in the air to start off the beginning of a new day. Still sleepy from yesterday’s long and tiresome schedule, she laid back down to snuggle her pillow. After a few more seconds, she buried herself underneath her numerous layers of silky bedsheets in hopes of gaining a few more minutes of rest. However, it was futile with her current lifestyle. “Miss Toska! Time to get up!” A shrill voice was heard from the other side of the decorative double doors. Followed by constant pounding on the fine oak door. The girl ignored her maid’s demands and soon, her consciousness took a trip to the dreamland. “Toska. I know you’re awake! Don’t make me come in there and drag you out of your bed. You must know what will happen if I do get inside?” “ZZzzzzzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” The non-responsive child’s snores made it clear of her unwillingness to leave her fluffy paradise, a traditional canopy with intricately carved wood frames and posts, elaborate heavy drapes, and bed sheets made of the finest linen and material. “Ok, have it your way! I’m coming in!” The doors slammed wide open, shaking every furniture a few centimeters from where they originally were. Still undeterred by the trembling of her room, the girl still remained asleep. Enter the dragon. “Rise and shine!” the maid proclaimed, placing her hands onto the bed’s frame. Before Toska could even realize the situation that she was in, the maid lifted up the 5 foot tall decorated in the air and turned it 180 degrees. The maid didn’t exert that much strength into it, she just merely twisted her wrists to rotate the furniture. —―Huh?—― Toska was flipped-turned upside down and landed on the ground with the huge bed and pillows sitting beside her. The sheets were somehow still intact with the bed frame. She was finally awake. “Good morning, Miss Toska,” the maid greeted with a stiff smile. “Fuhaaauwh. Good morning, Kubii,” Toska rubbed her eyes while yawning. “It’s about time you woke up! You would have been late for breakfast if it wasn’t for me. Mustn’t keep your father and mother waiting!” “Let them wait. It’s not like they can’t eat without me. If they’re hungry, then let them eat,” Toska stood up and stretched her limbs out to ready her muscles for the day. “Know where you stand, Toska Melancolie,” Maid Kubii uttered with a stern tone. As soon the maid spoke those words, Toska froze into submission. “You are the daughter of the proud Melancolie family, one of the highest prodigious noble families in the world, next to the World Nobles. As the heir to the crown, you must abide by our traditions. If you do not follow at least one of the iron-clad rules, then you cannot possibly succeed to the throne and rule over the Melancolie Kingdom. Do I make myself clear, Miss Toska?” the maid cracked her knuckles loudly, the unsettling sound echoed throughout the bedroom. “Yes…I heard you loud and clear, Kubii. You were only here for a few months and you’re already sounding like my mother.” Toska spoke with no spirit in her words. “It’s been a pleasure serving you, Miss Toska! It’s time for you to dress up! How about this lovely dress that I picked out for you? It has a charming design that complements your gorgeous purple hair!” the maid abruptly changed her tone to a more jolly nature. Another day as Toska Melancolie. Oh, how I despised that insufferable name. “Welcome, my dear Toska. You’re just in time for breakfast. The eggs benedict are such delectable as well as the cucumber sandwiches! You must have some, yes!” the king exclaimed with delight. “Now, now, dear. You mustn’t rush her. With that gorgeous dress on, it can’t be helped that she can’t hasten her way to the table. A lady must commit every one of her actions with grace or else, she’s not a lady at all. Hu fu fu!” the mother commented with a smug look on her face. In a long-hemmed dark blue velvet dress with ornamental trim that was almost as extravagant as a wedding dress, Toska walked toward the ridiculously long dining table with vast amounts of food. Pastry, bread, ham, egg dishes, bacon, sausage, fish, fruit, mini sandwiches, milk, juice, and wine were all spread out over the table. There was so much food but only the Melancolie family had access to the feast: the king, the queen, and the princess. Toska sat down across from where the king and queen were seated. She carefully chose the correct flatware from the huge arrangement of silverware in front of her to serve herself. If she made an error, the king and queen would be frustrated with her lack of decency and force her to take remedial lessons once again on the proper dining etiquette. She helped herself to the usual helpings of sunny-side up eggs, toast with ham, bacon, and milk. “Batora, today’s reports, if you please,” the king gestured, stuffing himself with yet, more cucumber sandwiches. “Yes, sire,” the advisor replied and started to read by line from his scroll. “The Crayon Orphanage on Grey Street and Windmill Route will be tomorrow as scheduled. Despite the previous residents’ protests, we were able to evict them from the property due to legal means. In its place, the construction of On Zen Bath, the new spa and massage temple, is expected to be completed by at 8 months at least. “…,” Toska suddenly stopped eating for a moment and proceeded to eat more of her favorite creampuffs. “Excellent. I don’t see why it would be delayed. Who needs an orphanage anyway? It’s their fault for not being born as nobles. We, the chosen ones, must relax somewhere somehow. Carry on!” “The shipments from Water 7 had arrived safely and intact about 2 hours ago with the exception of one ship that was damaged from a pirate attack. No worries as our personal marine fleet had managed to drive them off with few casualties. Our platinum-class shipping insurance will cover our losses.” “Hmph, those blasted pirates. Good riddance to them! Thank goodness for our private fleet! It was worth the high taxes!” “Oh I hope my precious water gowns wasn’t on that ship. I need them so desperately for the Neptune Ball next Friday!” the queen diverged her anxiety for her status quo in the kingdom. “Last but not least, our allied country, Nottingham, had fallen to the Yellow Haired Pirates led by the notorious Retrou the Golden Outlaw as of last night.” “What? I could have sworn I heard this before?!” “Yes, sire. Sherwood, one of allies as well, had also fallen to the pirates in the past year.” “This…is not good news at all. How could this be? Now who else can our kingdom trade with? They were our business partners since we were neighboring countries!” “Sire, if I may interject, I fear the outcome of our allies may fall upon as us as well if we don’t act now. I would advise extreme caution upon our customs and border procedures to eliminate any chance of attacks and infiltration from our enemy, sire. ” ―!!!— The room was silent. Everyone was at a standstill excluding for Toska who continued to eat her meal. “Preposterous!” the king slammed his hands into the table. “It is unconceivable that a bunch of dirty scourges could ever overthrow my kingdom! My country is not as weak as these failures of so-called rulers who couldn’t even keep their own people in line! Who needs them? My kingdom will exist without them! I will just acquire new trading agreements with other nations! For I am the chosen one! I am powerful! Everything I do is considered as justice! I can do no wrong and no one can ever oppose me! If you actually believe that my power would ever lose to a bunch of bandits, then I will strip your filthy tongue out with this fork and feed you to the sharks myself!” the king pierced his slice of ham with his fork. “Sire, as one of your members of the King’s Cabinet, I was assigned the task of upholding your legacy of future generations. If my comments seem too brash for your taste, then I apologize for how I phrased my words but I implore you to heed my advice as it might be too late to prevent the collapse of your rule.” “…Very well. I understand the situation.” “Sire!” the advisor sighed in relief but… “Off with your tongue and to the depths of where the blood-thirsty sharks lay dormant!” the king raises his fork toward the man who was immediately stripped of his powerful position. The palace guards nearby quickly surrounded the old man and carried him off to where prisoners were often tortured. He would be eventually released into the shark-infested waters, tied with stones and coated with blood so the vicious sharks would easily converge to his location and devour him alive as he drowns. “Sire?! No, this is injustice! This is outrageous! You can’t do this to me! I do not deserve such crude treatment! Listen to me!” the condemned man pleaded for mercy as he was being dragged out of the dining hall. “Oh yes, don’t forget about my exclamation about his tongue,” the king threw his fork towards one of the guards heading off with his ex-advisor. Soon after the unfortunate victim was out of sight, a painful scream echoed throughout the palace, then his shouts faded into silence. “The nerve of that man! I don’t know how you managed to think that he was qualified enough to serve you, my dear!” the queen stated as she sipped her coffee. “I may not done anything wrong but I can’t be helped but be surrounded by incompetent fools now and then. Never ever let that happen to you, Toska. Understand? Let this be a lesson to you. We, the Melancolie family, must purge of any obstacles in our path to perfection! We have no time for idiots and trash!” the king slammed his fist into “Yes, father. I understand. We are powerful and we should never associate with anyone who are not worthy of our presence,” Toska replied in monotone. “Oh, look at the time. It’s time for your lessons, my dear daughter. After that, we have a tea meeting with the Squalls and take a stroll in the Neverblue Garden Park. Later in the evening, we will be attending the banquet and dance in Arthur’s Stonehall. Perhaps, we will finally find a suitable candidate to be your husband! Oh! I can see it now! The birth of a new king!” the queen glee as she pictured the next heir to the throne. “Now, now. I’m still here, my queen. No need to rush but at it is true. I am getting old and there will be a time where the next generation will take the reign of the throne. But indeed, we must find a suitable partner for our dear daughter sooner or later.” “Hurry, Toska, we must take our leave now! The piano won’t play itself. Go on!” the queen waved to her to move on. “Yes, mother. I’ll on my way. Thank you for the food,” Toska took a stand, slid her chair back into the dining table, and joined the queen in their departure. “Remember, Toska. It is your duty as the princess of the Melancolie Kingdom to be a role model for our citizens and a perfect potential spouse. Anything less will be a disgrace on our name and that applies to everything we do. So no mistakes today as well!” the queen demanded. “Yes, mother. I will not disappoint you.” Night, Utsutsu Castle: Princess Chamber. At last, finished with her daily routine, Toska in her pink night gown, collapsed into her bed, sighing in relief as she squeezed her pillow with her entire body. Fusing with the bed, her exhaustion was somewhat relieved but she was still wide awake. No matter how she tried, she could not resist keeping her eyes open. Surprisingly restless, she leaped from her bed to kill some time by staring through her window. From her room being 6 stories tall in the eastern wing of the royal palace, she would gain an amazing view of the entire Melancolie kingdom. An island with houses on all surface areas of hills encircling the mansion. Harbors filled with all shapes and sizes of ships. Oak trees towering everywhere, some functioning as tree houses for one third of the population. The sight of the kingdom is beautiful indeed for an average person if they were stand in her position; however, she was not interested in her country’s sights but instead, what lies beyond them. The vast black sky with stars. The bright white moon in its first quarter. The ocean horizon with a lighthouses shining their light into the waters. Staring at the ocean was one of Toska’s favorite pastimes as it always puts her mind at ease. Her thoughts would turned into nothing, giving her the peace and quiet to reflect back on her life or to meditate on any notion that were left unresolved. It wasn’t that the sight of the ocean was so beautiful but because it was a perfect medium that linked her to nostalgia. Engaging and frustrating at the time, her mind returned to being fixated on her favorite childhood fairy tale, “The Generous Ocean.” She always strained her mind, analyzing the meaning of the story’s ending to this day with no prevail. This train of thought was an obsession for her. It was incorporated into childhood past times in the form of fairy tales. A wonderful way to tell someone how your story ends. Especially a love story. An ideal way to live. Life should be a like a fairy tale. She thought it was strange that no one has noticed the obvious. Or to be accurate, not a single person has grasped that there was something missing. After thinking for a while, she gave up and pounced back into bed, laying her head on her pillows, hoping that cooling her head would give her an epiphany for the solution to her riddle. The meaning was so vague that it was assumed there was a happy ending no matter what happened afterward. But was that the truth? From what she remembered from the story, “The Generous Ocean,” there were requirements for the girl to be happy which the ocean fulfilled and provided for her. A place for exploration A source of income for food and clothes. A new home along with a vibrant community. A gift as a reminder of their strong bond. And lastly, love to fill in the void of her heart. Does a person need to obtain most or all of these aspects in order to be happy? It’s a possibility but does it necessarily apply to everyone? It didn’t seem like there was a right or wrong answer to that question since the answer would differ per individual. But what about Toska? She excelled in playing several instruments and was a talented ballroom dancer. She could sing like an angel. She was frequent in more than 4 languages. She was trained in the art of fencing. She learned how to ride a horse, and sew and embroider the finest clothes. The king and the queen, as Toska’s parents, they were always there to ensure her lifestyle would always be of the highest quality. She never had to worry about starvation and obtaining money to support herself. She lived in a mansion with plenty of servants to fulfill each of her needs. Thanks to her royal status, she would eventually be married to a wealthy, prestigious man who would provide her a sustainable lifestyle. True love or not in the beginning, arranged marriages usually ended with the couple happily married. In summary, Toska Melancolie was leading a perfect life. But… This girl was not happy at all. The life of Toska Melancolie was indeed prestigious but she had very little say in the manner of her life. She may not have chosen her lifestyle but no one can argue that her privileges were undesirable to possess. She cursed her fate of being a princess in this world but there was nothing that she can do. If she were to rebel, her existence as the Melancolie princess would end and unspeakable consequences would take place on her. If my life is like a fairy tale, then I want to go to the ocean. —News headlines from the local coco newspaper during the past year. “Retrou the Golden Outlaw Strikes Again! Gold coins stolen from the rich and given to the poor! By popular opinion, the criminal Retrou was deemed a hero by the lower-class. ” “A Scandal Discovered in the Melancolie Kingdom! Tax documents revealed that taxes were misused for the King’s selfish desires such as the construction of the On Zen Bath and other illegal practices. The nobles and his personal Marine Fleet were involved as well! The Melancolie Revenue Service declined to comment on the situation.” “The Crayon Massacre! 3 children from the recently demolished Crayon Orphanage and 5 citizens killed by the Marines in a conflict in Teary Blue Square! Citizen’s approval rates in the King are at all-time low!” “Attackers Deemed Non-guilty in the Crayon Massacre Trial. A mass riot had occurred and several nobles critically injured. Reinforcements from the Melancolie Marines suppressed the demonstrators but lost several of their men during the process. About 200 people total dead! “Uprisings all over the Melancolie Kingdom increases as the citizens revolted against the nobles. Several homes sacked and treehouses burned to ashes! The King declared a national emergency and closed off the borders to the country!” “A New Alliance has formed! The lower-class citizens had agreed to join up with the Yellow Haired Pirates to form the Golden Rebels to fight against the tyrant of the Melancolie Kingdom!” “A Civil War is Coming?! Two factions are about to clash! The Golden Rebels vs the Melancolie Army and nobles. What will be the fate of the Melancolie Kingdom?! —On the visual den den mushi news broadcast in present time. “This is reporter Romeo along with my visual den den mushi on my head, reporting to you live.” “Right now, I’m at the Silver Copper Bank in the eastern quadrant of the kingdom, one of the most prominent banks in the country and recently, it has been the center of attention during the past week as there were rumors going around that the bank was actually a front for the kingdom’s black market. What a shocking development in these days! Now as you can see, there are people who have gathered around since an explosion had occurred about 10 minutes ago …” “Wait! Wait! What is that?! Something is coming out of the building’s roof?” “Is that a bird? No, what am I stupid?” “It’s Retrou the Golden Outlaw! He’s on the ground now!” “Followed by 10, no 20...What the? 100 marines?” “This is quite a spectacle to see, folks! I can’t believe my eyes. It’s Retrou the Golden Outlaw, the captain of the Yellow Haired Pirates, and the leader of the Golden Rebels. This blond-haired youth is such a crowd pleaser. Look at him in his usual formal attire with a yellow and black theme. Listen to all of that cheering for him!” “He is now carrying a huge bag of belli coins that is about 10 times bigger than him, evading his massive amounts of pursuers!” “That’s the Golden Outlaw, all right! There is a reason why he was able to give goodies to several towns in one day! Reminds me of the tale of Santa Claus. Impressive! I wonder where he works out. I have to join that gym!” “Wait? He stopped? No way, he’s taking a final stand?” “No! He has decided to confront them head on rather than escaping? What a courageous move on his behalf! Odd. No matter where I looked, I couldn’t see any of his allies with him in this very moment! Doesn’t that mean that Retrou came here by himself with no one to back him up?! Don’t tell me he’s planning to fight them all by himself?” “Now he’s been surrounded by the marines. It will be no surprise that blockade will get denser by the minute. After all, Retrou is the leader of the Golden Rebels. If they take him down here, there will be a high chance of the rebellion against the monarchy will fall apart!” “Huh? Retrou is opening his bag of loot in front of the marines? Is he planning to bribe them with cash? He threw a hand of coins into the air! Has he gone crazy?!” “I don’t believe my eyes again! Retrou had just knocked out 10 marines in a blink of an eye. I don’t know what happened but it looked like a yellow bullet flying around, hitting them square in their heads, knocking them unconscious. After seeing their fallen comrade, the marines are rushing in towards him with swords. Now there’s more coins in the air and—” “I am absolutely speechless. For those who are watching in home. You won’t believe me when I tell you this but all of the marines present at the scene were out cold. Coins everywhere on the ground. People are now cheering for this show of strength and picking up all of the money. There’s no doubt that Retrou the Golden Outlaw will be a powerful force to be reckon with!” “What’s this? Breaking news? This just came in from my station. All of the Melancolie Marine bases has been simultaneously attacked by the Golden Rebels! There will be a matter of time before they unleashed an aggressive attack on the Utsutsu Castle as it was confirmed that the royal palace is already surrounded.” Afternoon, Utsutsu Castle: Main Entertainment Room. Mid-spring. The royal family was watching the broadcast live, along with their guards in the room for extra security measures. The vision den den mushi was turned off by the king. Speechless from what they have seen, they could not move as they tried to comprehend what had transpired in their homeland. “This...monster...How could my personal fleet possibly lose to a mere pirate? A slum of the seas? There’s nothing golden about him! More like cheap, useless, filthy bronze!” the king screamed with detest towards the heroic icon. “My dear, what would happen to us from now on? We’re completely cornered! Should we try to escape from this island?” the queen worried for her life. “How could you even consider such a spineless action? We are not deserters! Running away is proof of a coward! We are royalty! We do not fear those who are beneath us!” the king protested. “It’s a good that I had the elite Marine unit stationed in my castle. The Golden Rebels has no chance in combat with them protecting me! But that’s not enough. I can’t win this civil war without taking the offensive. That’s it! I should have done this a long time ago! Advisor Adobai! Commerce Operation Depouillage! Make sure to contact my inner circle so they know what to do.” “But sire, that plan…more than half of the population will die! Are you sure that we should proceed with the plan?” “Just do it. I know what will happen! If those mangy beasts die then I have no regrets. My citizens should be proud that their sacrifices will be not be in vain as their lives were for the greater cause.” “Yes, my king…It shall be done!” the advisor exited the room. “Now it’s time to get to the top I don’t want to miss the climax of the plan! Come along now!” the king motioned his family to join him. “Oh my goodness! I have never thought that I would see the day when that will be executed! How exciting!” the queen clapped with joy. “Hold on, my dear mother and father. I need to get something from my room. I’ll be right back soon. I’ll join you on the roof later.” Toska quickly took her leave without giving the king or queen any time to refute her request. 20 minutes later. Utsutsu Castle: The Roof. “Toska. About time you showed up. I was afraid that you weren’t going to show up to see the magnificent fireworks that I had scheduled out for us. What were you doing?” “I was only grabbing my two den den mushi. I want to make sure that I take a picture of the marvelous sight that we’ll about to see. I also wanted to check on my acquaintances’ whereabouts to see if they are fine. I don’t want my most important associates to be harmed by the plan. I have a slight interest in some of them. I preferred them to be alive rather those garbage who called themselves humans.” “Ahh, how thoughtful you are, Toska. Well done. You are indeed my daughter!” the king patted Toska’s shoulders to commend her. “Oh? Why do you have your rapier with you?” the king observed a bladed weapon on his daughter’s left hip.” “It’s just a precaution, father. You will never know who would come to kill us in these times. Several of our close friends have died already in past month. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the rebels were to come after us now. If they were to show up, I would protect my loved ones until I am dead.” “Oh, Toska. I have never thought that this day would come sooner. You are truly worthy of the Melancolie name and now, I will have no regrets of making you the Queen of the Melancolie kingdom!” the king smiled with pride in his daughter for the 1st time. “Toska…you make your mother so proud!” the queen hugged Toska while crying tears of joy.” “But, Toska. While I do appreciate your concern, there are plenty of guards here to protect us. And for extra measures, the most powerful unit from my private fleet are here on standby if anything happens. There is no need for you to protect us,” the king gently rubbed Toska on the head. “Hmmmm, about half an hour later, Operation Depouillage shall commerce. It will be an impeccable time to drink a bottle of the Déesse. I’m glad that I always carry a bottle with me in my robe.” “Oh, you silly men and your ingenuity. Share some with me too.” “But of course, we all deserve a drink for this wonderful occasion!” Toska stood by silently as she watched the sun slowly descend into the horizon. “Where’s the kaboom? There’s supposed to be an island-shattering kaboom! I will not waste a bottle of wine on a celebration that has been delayed! Not even by a second! What’s going on!?” the king ranted and stomped around the stone floor. “All of the hills surrounding the palace were rigged with nearly impossible amounts of explosives. Every building around will collapse upon our enemies and they will be burned alive from the flames. No one should have survived except for us and our most trusted members of the kingdom. Why has it not happened yet?” “It’s because you will die instead.” —―!!!—― A blond-haired man appeared out of nowhere, leaning on the very edge of the roof. One step back and he could fall to his death. “You! How dare you show up in front of my presence?! Guards!” All of his personal guards present, gathered together to create a defensive formation around the royal family. “Well, well. I always wanted to speak to you but can you please tell them to back off? I really don’t perform that well in front of a crowd. You see, I have the embarrassing condition of making people falling for me and it’s really awkward.” Retrou crossed his arms with coins in his hands and flicked all of the coins in less than a second, launching all of them to the guard’s foreheads. All of them fell to flat to the ground, no longer moving as they were in a state of unconsciousness. The momentum of the coins propelled from his quick hands was equivalent of being slammed by a powerful knee strike. “Dang it. It happened again! How am I ever going to make friends if this stuff keeps happening to me! Hey, you with the crown! Will you be my friend?!” The king gasped, seeing his entire platoon of guards defeated without them even making a counterattack towards their attacker. Then, he suddenly became calm. He took out his personal den den mushi as he laughed in mockery. “My guards! No matter. My elite squad of marines is here. Now you will die here! You will regret showing up before me! Now, get him, Alpha Unit! Kill him until every single drop of his blood is on the cold, hard ground!” the king boasted with absolute confidence, giving the command into his device. “…” “…” “So…are they here yet?” “Another delay? Am I surrounded by idiots? What’s going on here? Alpha Unit! Come in! Respond to me as I am your king! Why are you not replying?! This is the king speaking to you! Talk to me!” the king shouts with desperation, constantly calling his unit over the den den mushi. “Ki-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku! No use in calling them. You see…before I came here. My mates and I had a nice chat with them. Well, not really. It’s more like just grunts and screams. It didn’t seem like I communicate with them if that’s all they could say. At least, I know you’re capable of talking. Want to go over the terms of your surrender? ” “Impossible…” the king fell down to his knees in shock. “Well, no use talking to you as you’re a horrible person to have a conversation with. You won’t even believe me. Then, how about it, queeny? Will you talk to me? I need some more info regarding your relations with the black market. I know that your kingdom was dealing with slaves behind the scenes.” “Ah! I don’t know what you’re talking? Slavery! How could we do such a horrid thing?” “Grr. How did you know? Who talked?” the king raised his head up, disturbed by the pirate’s words. “Nottingham and Sherwood. Sounds familiar? Your fellow partners in the slave trade were gone thanks to me. My crew were also composed of ex-slaves who graciously gave me the information that lead me to your wonderful kingdom.” “Bastards. I should have all of these garbage hanged for treason!” “Treason? Ki-ku-ku! Are you kidding me? They were never on your side in the first place!” “Anyone who goes against me is treason! Know your place, pirate scum!” “I could say the same for you. You have no power over me! So much for your authority! Your personal fleet didn’t exist for the sole purpose of your protection but to also enforce your complete control over your people! All I did is gave your people a little push and Bam! Look at you now! It’s about time you share the ground with the rest of us commoners! King!” “I don’t understand! Your actions are not of a pirate! Why would you free slaves and give away the wealth that you stole in the first place, nevertheless, start a civil war? Why would a mere pirate care about the lives of commoners?!” “Well, it’s simple, really. I’m not a pirate. I’m a member of the Revolutionary Army. Retrou Vailles. At your funeral service! ―DON!— “The…Revolutionary Army?! They have come here to my country?! But why? Why must you do it under the name of pirates?!” “You see, being a pirate places us lower on the marine’s radar rather than telling everyone we’re under the most dangerous man in the world, Dragon. So this makes it a lot smoother to liberate countries. Now if you would please relinquish your throne now, I can go home and catch a concert. It’s in a week and- “That’s enough out of you!” the king reached inside his robe and aimed his pistol at Retrou. “Now die!” he pulled the trigger. Before the bullet left the barrel, a small coin flew in and blocked its path completely. As a result, the bullet had nowhere to go but backwards. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” the king screamed, clutching onto his missing hand hemorrhaging. “My hand! My hand! Where’s my hand?! Why did the gun blew up my hand?!” “Well, I wish I could give you a hand there but I’m no doctor. So are you going to comply with my demand? Tell me who is the mastermind of your slave operation?” Retrou walked up to the bleeding man and held a coin skin-deep into the fallen king’s forehead. “Tell me or else, I will insert this coin right into your skull! I’ll get my jackpot one way or another!” “Stop! You can’t kill him! He will not die by your hands!” Toska grabbed Retrou’s wrist tightly and pushed him off. As he was forcefully stepped back, a rapier’s tip had already dug itself into his neck without drawing blood. “My love! Are you okay?” the queen moved to where the king lied, embracing him into her arms. “I won’t let you kill them,” Toska spoke with a burning rage within her eyes. “This is interesting. You actually think a cute little girl like you can stop me from getting what I want?” Retrou already had a coin clutched in place, ready to fire at her. “If I had the power to save everyone who I love to the bottom of my heart, then I won’t hesitate to destroy anyone who dare to point a weapon at them!” “Toska, my daughter. You are—” The king and queen looked down and found a blade pierced through their chests. A thin sword shining silver. It was Toska’s personal weapon: a rapier. —―Why?!—― “You are not my family! They perished a long time ago just like your previous daughter!” Toska looked back to them with cold-hearted eyes and finally turned towards to look at them properly. “Whoo! Backstabbing! I don’t get to see that every day,” Retrou commented while retreating his weapon back into his pockets. “You lying…bitch! You tricked us!” the king expelled blood from his mouth, cursing her. “Toska…All of that was an act? What you said about protecting your loved ones? Us?” the queen quivered when she realized that she was dying. “Everything about me was an act. You know better than that of all people! But…” Toska twisted the blade, putting them in more excruciating pain. “I never lied. You just misinterpreted them.” Toska took her camera den den mushi out with her free hand and took pictures of their agonizing faces. They were helpless to resist with a weapon through their vital organs. “That’s it! That’s the picture I wanted to take! What a marvelous sight to see!” “What? You went to your room for this? Wait, this is the view you wanted to see? Doesn’t that mean that you—” “That’s right. Operation Depouillage was never going to happen in the 1st place! You know why? I personally killed your stupid advisor! You shouldn’t have given that important task to one person to complete your dirty work for you! Then again, if you did it personally which I doubt you would have done, then you would have died much sooner so in a way, you delayed your inevitable death. But wait, I could have sworn I told you that I went to my room to get two den den mushi. One was a camera and the other is a phone. Guess who I talked to?” Not your close friends but mine. Him!” Toska leaned her head towards the instigator of the Melancolie Kingdom’s civil war. “This beast is your acquaintance? How?” “This is the first time that I have met him in person but before I killed the advisor, I made a phone call to him. It wasn’t that hard considering his number was available to everyone in the country.” “Hey, I’m ready to accept anyone who wants to join the Golden Rebel so calling me is not a problem! Call within the next 5 minutes and you’ll get a free bag of chocolate coins!” Retrou winked. “I have to admit that I am truly surprised by what had transpired. The enemy princess calling me? Telling me that there was a last-report plan to almost kill everyone? At first, I didn’t believe her but she told me that she would prove it by killing one of the highest ranking men in the kingdom by her own hands. And if I didn’t come to her aid, she would die. I couldn’t let a princess die even if she was the enemy’s daughter.” “Killing the advisor was a simple task for me but as for the elite marine unit, I needed a little help with that. They would have alerted the king and queen as soon as I killed him if it wasn’t for the intervention of your men. I had my suspicions but your men had already infiltrated the palace, waiting for the right time to take us hostage. Isn’t that right, Retrou?” “Ku-ki-ki-ki-ki! A princess killing her own subjects. What an interesting report to listen to. You relied on my men to tell me that you would fulfill your end of the bargain. An enemy of our enemy is a friend of mine.” “You are not my daughter,” the king said with a stern face. “How could you? After all we have done for you?! I was the one who made you who you are now! Were you not satisfied with your life as a princess?” the queen wept. “A princess? I never wanted to be a princess!” Toska drew her blade back from their chests and stabbed them all over their bodies again and again as she vented out her frustrations towards her benefactors. “You practically forced me in it! It was either that or I die! I had no choice!” “I never had any choices to make in my life! Do this! Do that! Who cares about a stupid dance?! Who would even want to go drink tea with those obnoxious pigs every single day?! You were never my father nor my mother in the first place! You actually thought you could be my parents?! What a laugh! I despise you both! I was a doll! A tool! A puppet for you to manipulate! I can’t even chose who I could love! Arranged marriages were only a means to gain more political power! You only cared about your precious royal status! Not me! I never loved you nor will love you at all! I had always wanted to kill you! A slow, painful death is what you both deserved! Now die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk Thunk “And now… they’re….finally dead!! They’re finally dead! Gi-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Freedom at last! That felt so… good!” Toska collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily after killing the king and queen from the heat of passion. The entire front of her white long-hemmed spaghetti-strapped dress along with her face was covered by the blood of the murdered spouses. “Oh man. You killed them before I got the intel that I wanted…but still…A daughter betraying their own parents and then, murder them in cold blood! Wow! I’m not sure who’s more evil, you or your parents?” “Evil? That’s fine with me. I am evil. After all, I’m a byproduct of this cruel world. What comes around goes around.” “Like daughter, like mother. But you’re evil in a different twisted way.” “I believe that you are misunderstanding something. I am not their daughter.” “You said that many times but you can’t deny your blood linage.” Toska sheathed her sword and stood back up. She began to talk while unzipping the back of her white dress, facing away from Retrou. “What are you doing?” Retrou’s face turned red, covering up his face as she was undressing. “Officially, I am Toska Melancolie, the princess of the Melancolie Kingdom, and the daughter of Haines and Deteste Melancolie.” “In reality, I was just a simple—” Toska completely undid her zipper, still clinging onto the front of her dress with her other hand, her dress’s back fell slightly, revealing a tattoo on her back. A red creature’s footprint. With three retractable talons in front and one in the back. It’s a symbol that would forever mark her as less than a human and the property of the world nobles. The Claw of the Celestial Dragon. “Slave.” “Eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh?!” Retrou’s mouth dropped to the ground, his eyes burst out of his eye sockets. He jumped back and hit his head straight to the ground from hearing the shocking news. ―DON!— He quickly regained his composure and stood right back up. “Ahem. That was…..enlightening! But that raises even more questions about you. Who the hell are you if you’re not the princess of the Melancolie Kingdom?!” The girl zipped up her dress and drew her rapier out of the corpses. She swiftly swung her blade to fling off the blood and sheathed her weapon. “It’s a long story.” “I got time. My crew had already taken over this castle and communication all over the island are off from the world. We have the Melancolie Army cornered with their headquarters and their leaders gone. The Golden Rebels will soon have the kingdom completely liberated from the World Government and it will be the birth of a new nation.” “Got a towel to wipe my face off? The blood is starting to hardened.” “Here.” Retrou took off his black jacket, revealing his long-sleeved yellow dress shirt underneath, and gave it for the girl to clean up. “Thank you.” She did the best she could to wipe her face clean. “So where’s my free bag of chocolate coins?” “You still remember that? That can come later! Get on with your story!” “Sigh…I really wanted some chocolate now…fine…Where do I begin?” In her dream, the girl was having a picnic with her parents as a normal family activity. At a local park, surrounded by sand and other families having a good time. Wind blowing over the grassy hills from the northern side. Close to the coastline, splashes and children’s laughter could be heard. The girl was smiling. Her mother and father were also smiling. “Hey, honey! Don’t eat it all in one bite or else, you will choke! Hey! I told you so!” “Ah! That was a close one! Your sandwiches are just too delicious! Right?!” “Gi-ha-ha-ha! You’re so silly, daddy! “Delicious as always!” “You can’t get off that easily! Hehehe.” “Yummy!” It was their time spent together that made this moment memorable. “Mommie, Daddy! Look! A black ship!” “???” Pirates flooded the coastlines. Cannonballs were flying everywhere. Everyone that they encountered, were immediately slaughtered without mercy. They burned down homes and stole everything that they could carry. Then they would leave and come back, and the process repeated over and over. “Mommie, Daddy! What’s going on? Who are those people?” “We have to run before they catch us?!” “Why are they attacking us?!” “I’m sure the marines are already notified of the attack. We just need to hold on before they get here. They will save us from harm!” “It’s too late! They won’t be able to come in time!” “Gahhh!” “Honey!” “Daddy! Are you okay?!” “Go! I’ll hold them on! Get to safety!” “I won’t leave you behind!” “Go! I don’t want to see my wife and daughter die front of me! Now go!” “But!” “GO!!!” The mother held back her tears and dragged her daughter with her without looking back. “Why are we leaving without daddy?” “Dadddddyyy!” That was the last time she saw her father. He fighting off the pirates who were after them but he never followed them afterwards. Later, she and her mother found themselves cornered by pirates at the top of a cliff. There were no way out except for two options. Either they can escape by making an opening through the waves of pirates, which is impossible with their strength, or jump off behind them. If they do take the latter, only death would await them. A drop from that height into the deep dark waters would most likely snap their spine and rupture their internal organs. Both of those choices would lead to bad ending for the both of them but they must make a choice of which one is of the lesser evil. “Remember about your favorite story? Now it’s time to have a happily ever after! “Mommie?” “____. I love you!” “Moommmmiiieeee!” The mother embraced her child into a lock and took a leap of faith into the ocean. ―CRASH!— Her mother’s smile was the last sight that the girl saw, not before long, followed by darkness. “Where am I?” “Water? Am I underwater?” “I fell into the ocean?” “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” “Help me, mommie!” “Where’s mommie?” “…” “Did she become one with the ocean?” “Will I too…live happily ever after?” * * * * * * * * * * * * * “Get up!” “Huh?” The girl woke up. She was lying on the shorelines of a land where she’s not familiar with. She observed her surroundings and saw that she was surrounded by two people wearing white robes and a glass helmet, along with 4 people encased in knight armor. “I won’t say it again! Get up or else, I will shoot you!” “Where am I?” “Shut up!” The demanding man kicked her in several places including her face, resulting in her nose to be broken. “Please stop! Stop it! What did I do to you?!” The irritated man didn’t stop his flurry of kicks until he noticed a bloodstain on his boot. “You…dared to shed blood on my boot?! Such insolence!” The attacker grew more hostile, grabbed her by her collar and slammed her into the sand. “Gak!” the girl lost her breath and suffered more damage as she recoiled from hitting the ground once more. “Phew. You there! Clean this up! I had enough of this! Make sure she’s ready by the time I’m finished with my tour! The rest of you follow me!” “Yes, my majesty!” One of the armored men forcefully picked up the girl in the air with too much pressure on her arm. “Ow! Ow! Ow! It hurts! Please let go!” “Then walk! You have two legs, don’t you! Then, use them! Move it!” The knight thrust his rifle into the girl’s leg to push forward. Naturally, she complied with his demands. “Where am I going?” “Shut up! You don’t need to know!” Stay quiet and walk in that direction! We don’t need a noisy brat to where we’re going!” “Where’s mommie? I’m scared!” “Stay quiet or else, I will smack you!” The girl’s eyes continue to wander around, looking for her mother until she found her not far from her. “Mommie!” “Hey, wait! Get back here, you little imp!” The girl raced towards to where her mother lied. “Mommie! You’re okay! We’re alive! We made it!...Mommie?” Anxious from her mother’s lack of response, she tugged and shook her mother as she begged for her mother to wake up. “Mommie, wake up! Please wake up! It’s not funny! It’s morning! You have to make breakfast for me and….daddy…” She realized that they left her father behind to survive. The girl stood still for a moment and quickly fooled herself into believing there was a possibility that he was still alive and was looking for them. “Come on, Mommie! Daddy is looking for us now so he’s going to be hungry by the time…he…comes…here…” “Sniff. Sniff. Bwwwaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!” The girl cried loudly as soon as she understood that she couldn’t feel any warmth from her mother’s body after shaking her for so long. The girl’s parents were dead. She was left alone by her parents after a gruesome event on her hometown. “You little brat!” The armored man smacked her on the head. The force of the impact pushed her to the ground. The girl held her hand to her cheeks, trying to ease her pain but it was no use. Nothing could heal the pain that she’s now experiencing. “Do that again and I will use my gun as a club next time! Now stop crying! You look absolutely disgusting! This is why I hate kids! Always crying and making loud noises! I want to hit all of them!” He pulled her hair up and hauled her to their destination. “Wait, mommie! You got to help mommie! She needs help!” “Shut up! Quit Squirming! Don’t make it harder for yourself! Who cares about your mother?! She’s dead anyway! You will soon if you don’t keep quiet! So shut up already! I won’t tell you again!” “Mommmieeee!” The girl reached out to her mother as she was being dragged away but moment by moment, her mother get farther and farther away until she could not see her anymore. * * * * * * * * * * * * * “GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The topless girl screamed from suffering from the worst pain that she felt in her entire life. Still barely conscious, the girl felt an intense burning sensation on her back. Still feeling the pain, she instinctually rolled into the ground back and forth to put out the flames but it was no use. She wasn’t on fire. Just a 3rd degree burn left behind by a branding iron that will eventually heal into a scar. She was branded with the Claw of the Celestial Dragon. “Excellent! Now she’s formally the property of my master. Now I just need a bomb collar for her. Have it ready at once. My master awaits for my arrival.” “It shall be done. I’ll be right back.” Her new master is a Celestial Dragon, also known as a world noble. They are descendants of the Twenty Kings who established what is now known as the World Government. They are people who have one of the most influences in the world. One sneeze from them and a whole nation could be destroyed. With this mark, she was stripped of all rights as a human being. She became a slave. The girl will be treated like a worthless animal for the rest of her life as along she was enslaved by her master. In other words, Hell. Hell: a place of torment and punishment in the afterlife. A textbook description of what she was be experiencing except she was still alive. A fate even worse than death. Every day, she would be given the most inhuman tasks. Physical labor unsuited for a child. Dangerous tasks that could kill her if she wasn’t careful. Humiliating tasks for the sole purpose of entertainment. Worst of all, she would watch her fellow slaves killed for crying, making even the simplest mistakes, or not working hard enough. Their deaths could be what could happen to her next if she wasn’t completely obedient to the Celestial Dragons. She grew up fearing for her life. She didn’t want to die so she forced herself to close off her emotion. She can’t be sad. She can’t cry. She can’t mourn for her friends. She had to be the perfect pet. She had to be a slave that her master expected her to be. Well-trained. Convenient. Silent. Anything less of their expectations, they might kill her with a gun or by the bomb collar around her neck. If she were to try to escape, disobey, or displease her master, all it would took for them to kill her would be one press of a button, her head would explode right off her body. It was too easy for them to end her life just like that and they wouldn’t care. They could just get a new slave and the world would go on without her. She was fully aware of what a dead body looked like. She seen it before. Lifeless. No warmth. It does nothing but fade away into ashes. She wanted to live. To ride ponies. To swim in the ocean. To go to school. To make new friends. To eat new desserts. To have her first kiss. To get married. To go to exciting places and make new enjoyable experiences that were irreplaceable. She wanted to have a future. “The future is romantic,” she thought. What the future holds for her is a pool of boundless opportunities awaiting for her. She loved the thrill of a new adventure. The freedom to explore unknown areas of the world. The choice to do anything she wants. If she’s dead, she couldn’t be free. But if she’s alive, she still had no freedom. It was a paradox. This was the life of a slave. * * * * * * * * * * * * * After four years of enslavement, it finally happened. An opportunity. That golden opportunity was named Fisher Tiger. A legendary fishman. He was a hero among slaves. Tiger climbed up the cliffs of the Red Line, a continent that is 10,000 meters high, with his bare hands to the holy land of Mariejois, the capital of the World Government and attacked the city to free the fishmen slaves from the World Nobles. In addition, he also freed other races of slaves including humans despite his hatred for humanity. One of the humans that he helped to escape was the girl. Unfortunately, she was one of the few unlucky slaves to be caught after the incident. Not by the Celestial Dragons or their henchmen, but by a kidnapping gang who sells their captured goods to slave auction houses for a profit. She was sold to the highest bidder for 85,000,000 bellis. The bidder was Haines Melancolie, the king of the Melancolie Kingdom. He was looking for new slaves to add to his business of trading slaves. Although he was the one who bought the girl, he was not the one who wanted to buy her in the first place. It was his daughter who came with him to the auction house, Toska Melancolie. Toska begged for her father to buy the girl no matter the cost as soon after she saw the girl was up for bidding. The king, a father who spoiled his daughter too much, obliged to her whim, and bid in her place. Toska wanted her own slave to play around with. She grew up with same prejudice her parents had. She hated those who she thought was beneath her but that was not the main reason why she wanted that peculiar girl to be her slave. A strange twist of fate. A coincidence. Or God was playing tricks on her. For some reason, the girl looked exactly like Toska Melancolie. Long purple hair. Adorable, round face. A thin statue. Everything about their appearance was exactly the same except for the slave tattoo on the girl’s back. Toska cursed the girl for being born to look like her. She despised her very existence. There could be only one of her. Despite of her royal upbringing, there existed another girl who looked just like her but was not of a noble? Impossible! Toska thought. In Toska’s eyes, the slave girl was a contradiction. To prove herself that she is the sole Toska Melancolie, she must prove that her look-a-like is less than perfect. Toska wanted to kill her but couldn’t as she felt that it would be the same as killing herself. She could not muster the strength or willpower to kill her splitting image. She couldn’t stand the thought of herself dying. She didn’t want others to do it as well. She didn’t want to imagine herself being murdered. So Toska resorted to make the girl do what she was intended to do. To be her slave. The girl’s enslavement under Toska Melancolie was not that much different from being serving her previous master, a Celestial Dragon, except that she was no longer wearing a bomb collar and one other trait. It was personal. It was a different kind of hatred from the normal loathing for the lower-classes. Toska made it her life’s goal to make her doppelganger’s life a living hell. In addition to her cruel amounts of physical labor and humiliating tasks, Toska would personally torture the girl but she would always do it while following two rules. The first rule was that she would never inflict any damage that would appear where her skin laid bare. Toska feared if she ever saw any bruises or scars where it’s not covered by her clothes, it was the same as looking herself in the mirror. An ugly version of Toska Melancolie. This was the only way to feel satisfied and torture her slave without any hesitation. She would whip her in the back from time to time. She would force her to eat food or drink soup from the ground. She would beat her up until she grew tired of it. She would hide her clothes while she was bathing. She would lock her into the dark, narrow closet until the next morning. And she would continue to find new ways to torment the poor girl. The second rule was that only the people who resided in the Utsutsu castle would know of her slave’s existence. Toska didn’t want anyone else in the kingdom to know that there was another person who looked like her. Conveniently, it was not public knowledge that the Melancolie Kingdom was involved in the slave trade so it would be disadvantageous of Toska to take the girl anywhere outside of the castle. This would drastically decrease the slave’s chance of escaping as she has no chance of navigating in the country and to leave it. The girl was bound to the royal palace until the day she dies. The girl’s enslavement went on for another two years until karma struck. One day, Toska was chasing her slave with her rapier for fun as always until the slave girl duck into the horse barn. The girl cowered in fear as she hid into one of the horse’s stalls. Toska laughing manically as she ruthlessly searched for her favorite sewing bag running away from her. From the princess’s point of view, she was playing a game of hunt. Taunting her constantly with shouts of intimidation, she frantically poked every sack of hay she sees to lure the girl out of her hiding spot. “Where are you? Don’t you want to come out and play? It’s not nice to hide from me! I promise that I won’t whip you 100 times as usual today if you don’t come out! I’ll make it 50…nah 70 times. Or do you want me to also give you the duty of cleaning the horse’s manure with your bare hands again? Don’t make me stab you for real this time! Let’s play together, ok?” Shivering and sniffing as usual, the slave girl held back her tears as she knew her crying would give away her position. She was hiding a haystack in the far end corner of the last individual horse stall in the stable. She was hoping that the horse currently feeding itself would drown out any possible noises that she could be making while erasing herself from of her pursuer. Please go away! I just want to be left alone! I’m tired of you and the games you forced me to play! Why hasn’t this stopped already?! It should have ended two years ago! Did I do something to deserve all of this?! I should have died with my mother back then! I can’t bear this kind of life anymore! Please make it stop! I beg you! “I have found you!” “!!!” Toska thrust her rapier into the haystack where the slave was hiding. Before it landed, the girl came out of hiding, exposing herself to her assailant. “Hey! Don’t run away! I just found you! Stay put, will ya?” Before she could escape, Toska grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back towards her. “Silly maggot. I told you to not run away. I’m going to pierce your ear for disobeying my orders. It should be fine since you’re planning to get an earring, right? It should be fine since I’m wearing one toe, right?! There should be no problem at all, right?!” “Please stop! You caught me! You win! You don’t have to do this! The game has ended already!” “Au contraire, I deserve a prize for being the victor! So let me have it, you pathetic swine! I need to savor this moment!” “No!” With the last of her remaining strength, she pushed the incoming rapier away from her. Instead of puncturing a hole in her ear, it pricked something else. The bare ass of a horse. In reaction to the surprise attack on its buttocks, the horse galloped high into the air, shrieking as it gets ready to retaliate to whoever inflicted a wound upon its buttocks. It turned back and saw two girls that looked the same except one of them was holding something that look dangerous. With its instincts, it knew which one attacked him and thus, was ready to kill that one. “What are you doing? Do you know who I am?” “Haw-fu-fu-fu-fu!” The horse raised it hoofs up in the air while sounding out a battle cry, and stomped her a few times, not long before it bit her on the arm and her neck. “Ahhh! Stop it! Stop it! It hurts! You’re killing me! Don’t kill me please! I don’t want to die!” The horse held on her neck with its teeth and threw her across the stall. Before Toska could get up to escape, the horse lunged towards her and continued to stomp on her. After half a minute later, it stopped its relentless attack and turned around. Then, the horse delivered a final kick to her chest, sending her into the air and she landed on the other side of the stable. The horse huffed and resumed back to its meal, ignoring the other girl whimpering in the corner of its stall. “What’s going on? I heard screaming over here?!” A horse caretaker who was working nearby, heard the commotion and decided to investigate the cause of the noise that they heard. “What happened? You there! Did you do something to my horse?! You know what happen to you if you…no…it can’t be! The princess is…is…” The trainer found Toska’s body lying down at the end of the barn. Her limbs were obviously broken. She was bleeding from wounds everywhere. And her face was caved in. It was completely clear upon looking at her ravaged body that Toska was dead. Toska Melancolie, died at the age of 14 years, from an accident in the stable of Utsutsu Castle. Cause of death: massive internal bleeding, multiple organ failure, and massive brain swelling from being mauled by a horse. As soon as the king and queen were notified of their daughter’s death, the horse responsible for her death, the horse caretaker, and the slave girl were all sentenced to death. “You bitch! Good-for-nothing mutt!” The king whipped the slave girl on her back more than 100 times already. Her arms and legs were chained to the ground in the torture room of the prison chamber. She had no choice to endure the king’s onslaught. “You! You were the one who killed her, didn’t you? You used the horse to stage my precious daughter’s death? You thought you could get away with it, didn’t you?! “No…….I…didn’t…mean to…,” the girl already weakened from the princess’s chase from earlier that day, couldn’t gather up the strength to speak as she was too exhausted to function normally. She could only muttered to respond to the king’s interrogation. “What’s that? You didn’t mean to? Lies! You planned her death for a long time, didn’t you?! You will regret ever conceiving such a plan on my blood! I will make sure that you die a slow and painful death!” “Just…kill…me….if you’re…going to…do…it, you…” “You…what? Finish that sentence! I can’t hear you!” The king walked in front of her and leaned his ear closer to the girl’s mouth to hear what she was trying to say to her. “You…piece of…shit,” the girl whispered. Taking advantage of the king’s closeness to her face, the girl stretched her head forward and crunched onto the king’s ear. “Gaahhhh!!” The girl’s teeth latched on his ear, never letting go for a second. I fought back for the 2nd time. Now I can finally die. Mom…Dad…I will join you soon. The king finally gathered his senses from the pain and delivered an uppercut to her chin, violently snapping her head backwards, forcing her to let him go. From the blow to her chin, she experienced a trauma to her brain, triggering her nerves to go haywire, her body to go limp, and the blood line to her head to be temporarily cut off. She was immediately unconscious. “You little brat! You tried to bite my ear off! That’s it! I’ll kill you! I have no need for you to be alive anyone! You will die now!” The king placed his hands around the girl’s neck, intending to choke her to death. “Wait!! Let go of her at once! Right this second!” The voice halted his progression of squeezing the life of helpless child. “Why are you stopping me, Deteste? You do realize that this filthy insect was the one who murdered our precious daughter?!” “Yes, I know but…” The queen walked to the spot where the girl lied unconscious. She took out a handkerchief from her robe and wiped the girl’s face of blood and dirt. “What are you—“ “Look at her. Look at that face. She looks just like our daughter and about the same age. If she were to wear her clothes, we couldn’t tell the difference between them if we didn’t know her about the tattoo on her back.” “So what? I already knew that! What are you getting to? You’re starting to sound like a madman!” “What if…we pretend that our daughter never died in the 1st place and have this girl to assume her name instead?” “What? I don’t believe what you are saying! You are talking nonsense! Are you insinuating that we should take her as our own daughter?!” “Yes, I am, dear. That is exactly what I am proposing. ” “I don’t believe this! Are you truly my wife?! How can you say that! A mere slave with filthy blood pretending to be one of our royal blood?! It’s madness! I tell you! Madness!” “Madness? This is what we need. Without her, there is no future for us.” “What do you mean by no future?” “Now that two of our children had already died, we can’t gain more power. Without an heir to the throne, our kingdom is done for!” “So what? Can’t we just have another one?” “You stupid numbskull! Have you forgotten about my condition? After I given birth to our 2nd child, the doctor told me that my body would be too frail to sustain another birth. Haines! I can’t have any more children or else, I will die!” “…No….it can’t be…I have completely forgotten about that. I didn’t think it haunt us to this day! I was supposed to have two successors to my throne…but no…my eldest son died from a war…and now, I lost my daughter to a stupid horse! This… is not fair! It’s not fair! Why could our family could be misfortune enough to end up like this?! How?!” the king covered his face with his hands, groveling on the ground as he cried. “Dear, it’s all right! I’m here with you!” the queen hugged her husband to comfort him. “…So my love…your plan of yours …will it work? Will it truly work without fail?” “Yes, it can. No one but our servants will know the truth about her. We can issue a gag order on them to never tell anyone that our real daughter died and of the identity of the slave. If they were to let the truth slip at all, the perpetrator and 3 generations of their families will be charged to the highest degree and be subjected to the worst punishment to exist in our system!” “But even if we do that, the girl….she looks like her but in the inside, she’s still a mutt! A filthy dog who knows nothing about the gods live! She can’t possibly be able to behave as a noble, nevertheless, imitate our daughter! It’s impossible!” “But it is possible with the right execution. All we have to do is tell everyone in the kingdom that our daughter is suffering from a fatal disease. We had no choice but to isolate her into the castle until she’s fully recovered. During that time, we will instill everything that she needs to know to be one of us. If she doesn’t comply with our reasonable demands, then we would have to force her to suffer a much crueler fate than being a slave.” “Hmmm, I see now. You are one crafty woman! As expected as my wife!” “Yes. From now on, this girl will assume the identity of Toska Melancolie, the princess of the Melancolie Kingdom, and our daughter.” Morning, Former Utsutsu Castle: Princess Chamber. Present time. The girl’s eyes opened to receive the morning sunlight shining through the curtains. “I see…it was a dream again.” It was the same dream that she had frequently during her slumbers. A repetition of the horrors that she had seen and experience. Almost every single time she closed her eyes, she would see it. Her past. A history that no person who should ever have and yet, it happened to her. Even in her dreams, she can’t escape from her past as it was a part of she is now. She felt happiness in her past memories of her time with her family and then, it was replaced by misery, hatred, insanity, and emptiness. Every time she would wake up from her nightmares, she would fall back to sleep to take a nap. She only wanted to dream of the beginning of her flashbacks so she could meet her parents once more as she knew that she could never see them again except in her fantasies. “Back to sleep.” “Hey! Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! It’s morning! It’s time to get up!” A deep voice heard from the other side of the decorative double doors. Followed by constant pounding and a hole in the fine oak door. “Shoot! I used too much strength! Hey! This is your new peephole, okay? I figured you always wanted one since you already wanted to gaze upon my 6 pack abs! “ZZzzzzzZZzzz.” “…” The doors slammed wide open and the well-dressed blond-haired man rushed to the sleeping maiden’s bedside, screaming at her with veins throbbed on his forehead. “Hey! You’re supposed to make a retort against that! Get the hell of your bed!” “5 more minutes,” the girl turned her head with her eyes still closed away from him. “Don’t force me to drag you out of that bed! We have some important business to deal with later today! By later, I mean now! It’s very urgent!” “Don’t tell me that you’re going to flip my bedside upside down to force me out of my bed?” “What? Where did you get that crazy idea?! I was just going to keep bothering you until you wake up! If that didn’t work, then I would pick you up and be on our way to the mess hall!” “You wouldn’t…I need my beauty sleep...” “Try me! I’m the best person for the job of waking someone up!” “Really… That’s an interesting profession… Then I will do what I do best. ZZzzzzzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,” the girl fell back to sleep. “Well, I’m not getting anywhere with this. Time to take the elevator!” To her surprise, she can see the sun radiating light through the clouds and birds flying high in the air. This would be normal if it wasn’t for the fact that she was 60 feet high in the air on her bed and glass shards flying around her. Retrou had thrown her bed out of the windows on the 6th floor of the castle. ―DON!— “Ahhhhhhhhhh!” “So you’re finally awake now, huh? How about some breakfast? We got bacon!” Retrou was squatting beside as the girl screamed from her falling predicament. “Are you insane?! You’re even crazier than my maid who would flip my bed upside down!” “Sorry, can’t hear you! We’re falling, you know! You wanted toast instead?” “Help me!” The panicking girl and the smiling man had finally reached their destination, the ground. Pieces of the bed’s material scattered everywhere. A small dust cloud created by the impact of the falling object soon dissipated revealing a man holding up a girl by her knees and neck in the middle of a small crater. “Well, here’s the ground floor! I hope you enjoyed your trip!” “I didn’t! Now go of me! I can stand by myself!” the girl squirmed out of his arms and composed herself to a standing posture. “But seriously, we have some important business to talk about during breakfast.” “If it’s that important, then why not talk about it before breakfast?” “Because I can’t have a discussion without some chocolate and banana crepes, and bacon!” “At least let me change first! I’m still in pajamas!” “Hey, it all tastes the same whether you’re wearing that or a bikini. Let’s get moving! Our food is waiting!” 5 minutes later. Fallen Utsutsu Castle: Main Dining Hall. “So…that important thing you want to talk about…The one that’s so urgent that you THREW ME OUT OF MY ROOM! ARE WE GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT NOW?!” the girl’s face grew 5 times of its normal size, with jagged teeth, breathing fire out of her mouth as her scream resonated through the dining hall. Despite her outbursts, no one in the dining hall paid any attention to her. All of the people kept on devouring plates after plates of food. The only sounds that you can only hear was noise of people swallowing and chewing on their food as if it was their last meal of their lives. It was only after half an hour later, they finally stopped eating. Every single dish was wiped clean as if there was no feast in the hall in the first place. “Ahem, now that we’re done eating, let’s talk business, guys!” the leader of the Gold Haired Pirates finally broke the tempo. “Finally!” the girl raised her arms in the air, leaning back in her chair close to almost tipping over to the floor. “It has been a week since we had taken over this castle. As a result, the Melancolie Kingdom had completely fallen and is now of part of my territory! So hear, hear! “Yeah! Wahoo! Hooray for victory and for our comrades!” Shouts of cheers echoed as everyone raised their glasses high in the air. “But the war is not over. There are still remnants of the Melancolie Army still fighting against despite their leader and their main headquarters has fallen. It’s as I suspected, the marines are already on their move here according to our intelligence. So much for cutting off all of the enemy’s communications.” “It’s no surprise to us, boss! This sort of hassle is expected with our line of work. How soon will they come ashore?” one of Retrou’s right-hand men spoke with his legs on the table. “I give them within 2 days at best.” “2 days… That’s not so bad. By the time they come here, we’ll have the whole country ready to send them back where they came! We are already freed 2 countries before we came here. And now the score is 3. What do we have to worry about now?” “Yeah! Yeah! We’re on a winning streak!” “There’s no stopping us now!” “Hurray for the Gold Haired Pirates, the Golden Outlaws, and all hail the Revolutionary Army for liberating yet another country from the World Government!” More of Retrou’s comrades joined into the atmosphere of celebration as they had confidence in their actions that they thought benefited the good will of the people they saved. “It’s not what I’m worried about. It’s who,” Retrou announced with caution. “???” “June Lucina. Sounds familiar? Vice Admiral June Lucina is the one leading the charge against us. ―!!!— “Ehhhhhhhh?!!” The news shocked them so much, everyone in the dining hall flipped out, with chairs and plates flying everywhere with the exception of Retrou and the girl. “Lucina…” “June!” “That psycho bitch?!” “Of all the marines to send over, it’s her?!” “Looks like I have to write that will after all!” “I’m too young to die!” The once proud group of revolutionaries disguised as pirates who were rejoicing their victory not so long ago, were now panicking and losing control of their minds after they heard of one name. A name that was not to be underestimated if they were to value their lives. “Lucina June? Who’s that?” the girl asked. “Sigh. It’s a long story which I don’t have time for so I’ll make it short and simple,” Retrou hid his eyes behind his crossed hands trembling. “Lucina June aka the Red Huntress was a notorious vice admiral who has been chasing after us ever since we took Sherwood under our territory. As a wielder of the Yan Kujaku, a cursed sword made of several blades with the resemblance of a peacock, she had killed at least half of my men and brought me to the brink of death a few times in the past few years. It was thought that she perished after our battle in Fort Lincoln Green of Nottingham. We only managed to escape from her thanks to divine intervention on our part. Who knew it would take a F5 tornado to get her out of our sight! Now that she has returned, it will be a matter of time before she returns to finish what she started. Oh god, it’s happening again…why she had to go after me of all people?!” The girl pounded the table, her teeth clenching and her pupil dilating from sheer anger. “Those damn marines! They turned a blind eye when I was enslaved at Mariejois and now, they’re only coming here only to slay the saviors of this country?! It doesn’t make any sense! Why is it the people in uniforms are the ones playing the role of villains instead of pirates?! Where’s their honor in that?!” “Correction! We are revolutionaries pretending to be pirates!” Retrou retorted. “Whatever!” “Now that we know that our enemy is coming, we must be prepared! We can’t avoid this battle but to head it straight it on! Make sure that our men are ready for the upcoming battle and we will end this once and for all! Meeting adjourned! “Aye Aye, Captain Retrou!” All of the Gold Haired Pirates returned to their duties, leaving behind Retrou to finish his coffee and the girl still seated. “So what do you need me for?” the girl inquiring for her answer to the question she had ever since she was allowed to stay with the revolutionaries despite her affiliation with their enemy before. “It’s because you’re still useful to us. My men also know the circumstances of your past but the rest of the world does not. With you as our “hostage,” the World Government will be not hasty with their actions as they can’t risk the possibility of us killing you, the only lineage left for the throne of this country. In the long term, it will make it harder for their dogs as in the Marines to take this country back; however, I think it’s pointless now that I learned that crazy marine is after me. “And to think that I thought you were being nice to me after hearing my sob story.” “Hey, you being here benefits the both of us. I can’t leave you out there to be mauled by the angry citizens. They will kill you for being the princess.” “If that’s the case, won’t they turn against you for keeping me alive as it contradicts your goal of saving this country? If there’s no descendant of the monarchy left, then this country can be finally be free of the royal family.” “No worries, there. After all of the corrupted nobles are cleared out, we can fake your death and slip you out of the country so you can live as a normal girl. You can even have your old name back! “…” “So you still can’t remember your name yet?” “No. Ever since I took the name of Toska Melancolie, I was subjected to several trials of hypnosis and brainwashing to forget my birth name. No matter how hard I tried, I can never seem to remember it.” “That bad, eh? That’s really tragic! I can’t imagine the kind of horrors that they put you through!” “I admit that being a fake princess wasn’t as bad as being a slave in my first confinement but it was still no difference from being someone’s belonging.” “So you can’t remember anything about your past at all? Not even where you’re from?” “That’s the problem! I can’t even remember what my parents’ names are. I don’t have no recollection of who I was nor where I was from! It’s as if I never existed in this world! There was no one left to tell me who I was! The world has left me behind as it always has! Without a name, I am meaningless to everyone! I am no one important! I am nothing! Nothing!” The girl tears up, realizing that she was left alone in the world. Retrou stood up and grabbed her to comfort her. “If there’s nothing for you in this world, then you will always have us! We can be your new family! We will be your new home! You can even pick your own name! You can do whatever you want!” “Whatever I want?” “Yes, after all. You’re free!” “...” the girl grew silent, looking at her hands. “I’m free?” The girl started to shed tears. “I’m crying. Why am I crying?” For the longest time, she had been waiting for someone to say those two words. She was no longer a slave. She had never thought it would happen after suffering for so long. She finally gained her future back. Now she has the ability to choose what she want to do as she is herself again. She was glad that she lived enough for this day to happen. At long last, she was truly happy to be alive. “Bwwaaahhahhhhhahhh!” Retrou lend his shoulder to the bawling girl shedding tears of joy. “There, there. It must have so hard on you. Thank you for living until now. You fought well. Congrats.” After a few minutes, her waterworks finally ended. She still had her head on his left shoulder, resting in comfort with him patting her head. “So what are you going to do now? If you don’t want to stay with us, I can send you to be relocated to where the World Government can’t reach you. It will take some time to get used to a new life but you’ll have a normal life from now on under your original name. “No, I appreciated your help but I think I will stay here…with you.” “Ok, you’ll be a great attention to the crew! There are others like you who suffered under the hands of the nobles. You’ll make plenty of friends here!” “Thank you, Retrou. You have been so kind to me for the past week. You reminded me of my favorite fairy tale when I was a child. You’re like the ocean to me!” the girl hugged onto Retrou a bit harder, causing them to fall over to the ground. “Whoa! Oof!...The ocean? Hey, don’t start crying again. It will take a while for it to dry off.” “Hey, Retrou…” the girl was on top of him, staring down into his golden eyes. “Yeah?” with his back to the ground, Retrou stared back at her. His heart beat faster as their chests are in contact with another. The girl closed onto him until there was almost no space between their faces. “What are you—” Retrou became nervous with the girl looking directly into his eyes. “Hey, Retrou. You called me a cute little girl before. Did you mean that? “I did? Oh yes, I guess did. That time I met you on the roof. Yeah, so what? Did I offend you?” Retrou started to sweat a little as his anxiety increased. “No, but did you remember what I said about protecting anyone who I love to my bottom of my heart? “Oh yeah, that’s right! That was an amazing act! I can’t believe you threw them under the ship just like that! You tricked your fake parents real good! But seriously, can you back up? This is getting awkward!” “Yes I did but what I said at that time was not a lie. I meant every single word.” “Huh? What do you mean by that? You already told me that your parents are already dead. Who else did you me—” Retrou’s mind turned blank. He didn’t know how to respond to this sudden confession of love. She kissed him directly on the lips. The kiss lasted for a few seconds but the brief moment of contact gave rise to feelings that he never had before. “I meant you. I’m in love with you. Ever since you arrived in the country, causing trouble, I fell in love with you,” she continued to hold on his collar, preventing him from backing away from her again. “What? I don’t get it. We just met about a week ago! How can you possibly be in love with me already?” “Love has no bounds. You were the one who instigated my freedom even though it wasn’t your intention to but consider it as fate. You are my savior! You have given me everything that I ever wanted. Not money. Not the finest clothes or a house but the most valuable gift of all! I have my future back and now, I want to repay you. “Well…I…umm. There’s no need to do that. I never expected to be rewarded for my actions so you don’t have to be obliged to help me at all!” “Oh? Trying to slip away even after I confessed my love for you?” “Oh come on! I killed a lot of people! I’m a pirate! I’m a criminal wanted by the World Government! You can’t be with me! You’ll die!” “So what? I can choose who I can be with and how I die! You said I’m free! So I will do what as I please!” “…” “I haven’t heard a no yet.” “I…” “Shhhhh,” the girl placed her fingers on his lips. “No need to rush. I’ll make you fall in love with me sooner or later. As a bonus, I’ll stay behind and help you deal with that woman! No man of mine will be killed on my watch!” “You can’t!” Retrou pushed her off. “You don’t know what you’re getting into! She will kill you! Didn’t you listen to me earlier? I lost half of my men to her! I don’t think I can even survive against her this time!” “Who? Who will kill me? Don’t tell me that she was your psycho ex-girlfriend or someone like that?” “You see...Lucina June is…Watch out!” Retrou lunged forward with his weight, he pushed themselves forward a few feet from where they once were. SUPA A wave of energy sliced through the palace, followed by a line appearing on the walls. The castle shook violently and then suddenly, half of the castle started to slide off. If they were to stay in the same spot earlier, their bodies would have split in half like the palace. “Shoot! This soon? We’re under attack! All those who were injured from that attack, evacuate! Prepare for battle, men!” “Captain Retrou! We had detected a projectile from the east. Also, we have sighted 3 battleship has been sighted in the east port.” “Retrou! We have 5 of our men injured from that attack! “What’s going on? What happened to the castle? There’s no reason for a castle that stood for 10 generations to fall like this!” the girl panicked, confused by the sudden chaos. “It’s her, the Red Huntress. She could have done this. Damn it! I have to get ready for battle! There’s no time to waste!” Retrou rushed to the stairs only to have the girl following him. “I’ll come with you!” “No, you’ll get to a safe room. If it’s her that we’re dealing with, then you’ll just get in the way!” “But!” “No buts! Retrou halted his steps and grabbed the girl by her shoulders. “I can’t let you die without having the chance to live once again! You have suffered enough already so you don’t need to be my side. If anything happened to you, I will never forgive myself!” “The same goes for me! You already said that woman already killed half of your men. Then, doesn’t that mean your life is in danger as well?” the girl spoke with an unwavering spirit. She gave out the impression in her eyes that she would not back down no matter what challenges she will face ahead. “That’s true but I’m different from you! Unlike you, I risk my life every day, worrying if I strayed from the correct path. Will getting rid of the World Government do that? I don’t know but if waging war on them will get us closer to peace then I will gladly do that! But if it means to lose people on the way, I have to accept that as there is no peace without war and no war without loss. I will never forget about how many died under my command. My family, my friends, my comrades, and other people that I have met and never met. How many sacrifices is it necessary to achieve world peace? I don’t know but please…Please don’t be one of them! It’s enough for my men and I to bear the burden but you…You’re a still young girl. You can still move on! It’s not your job to do this! You have endured enough. You are already set free. So go…go board a ship and go far far away from here! You won’t have to worry about the people out there as the upcoming battle will take their focus away from you. At least, I can rest easy knowing that you are safe from harm.” Retrou spoke with his heart so much, a tear came out of his eye. “You’re so kind to me, Retrou.” The girl wiped his tear off with understanding. “Yet you’re so cruel. Pushing me away while you knew nothing about me. I risked my life everyday too but the difference between you and me is that I had nothing. No one to care for but myself. Now you’re here, I have someone to care about. So when you said to leave from here, it hurts me. My chest hurting from you saying that. Please don’t leave me alone like my parents. If I were to run away, I too…would regret leaving you as I will worry for you! So I will be by your side whether you like it or not! It’s not because I have to but I want to!” the girl shed her tears in the heat of her emotions too. Retrou held her head against his shoulder to cry on it once more. “I see…so that’s the kind of person that you become. All this time I thought you were a person who was filled with hate from the way you brutally killed your guardians…but you were also a person filled with compassion…I was wrong about you and this…I accept your feelings but I can’t return them as long as I live a life full of danger like this. If you can wait a little longer, I will give you a response. That I will promise.” “Retrou…I will wait for that day to come so please come back alive.” “You as well.” Retrou and the girl resumed their pace, hurrying to gather their weapons to prepare for the toughest battle of their lives. Afternoon, Former Melancolie Kingdom. SUPA SUPA SUPA SUPA SUPA BOOM SUPA SUPA SUPA SUPA SUPA BOOM Wave after wave of slashes along with shockwaves flew around the island, destroying buildings in mere seconds. Mass panic ensued from the massive amounts of destruction occurring during the midst of battle. A battle between only two people. Retrou Vailles, the captain of the Gold Haired Pirates and Lucina Juno, a vice admiral known as the Red Huntress. The rest of their men had taken their conflict on the shores, struggling for territory. Their battle had been ongoing for 4 hours so far with no signs of them slowing down so far. About one-third of the island has been destroyed already from their battle. “You won’t get away from me this time!” Lucina running across the rooftops. “Why won’t you just die already!? Wasn’t 25 more of my men’s death not satisfying enough for you already?! You murderer!” Retrou running for his life from his purser. “Ai-ha-ha-ha-ha! No, not until you’re mine! What’s a few human lives compared to yours anyway?!” “Stop this madness already!” “Not until you stopped running away, I won’t! Take this! «Para-Dice»” The vice-admiral slashed her multi-blade sword horizon sideways, sending a storm of air projectiles falling down to Retrou was currently standing. “You bitch! «5 Tiger Chamber: Steel Array» Retrou clad his right arm in Armament Haki: Hardening, tightening his fist with coins inside, and punched up in the sky, releasing a powerful shockwave to intercept her slash, resulting in a collision that shook the earth. “Think about what you’re doing! If I hadn’t interrupted that attack, there would have been more collateral damage! Don’t you care about people lives?! They could have died because of your reckless attacks!” “Oh, Retrou. You should have known by now that I don’t care about anyone but my prey. The rest can go die for all I care. You mean the whole world to me! So stop resisting and come back to me, my love!” “Great…The super-stalker is after me again...Where’s that F5 tornado when I needed it?” Lucina Juno, a love-obsessed woman who used to be Retrou’s former comrade and lover in the Marines. After he quit from having some uneasy conflictions of how the Marine would turn a blind eye to slavery, Lucina pursued him everywhere he went. Ever since then, Retrou would live in constant fear of her persistent stalking. It was only by mere luck that she was sucked into a powerful tornado during a fight that send her away to what presumably was to her death but now, he has to endure her lively personality once more. “Retrou! Is it my hair this time? Do you not like it this long? Should I cut it short? Do you prefer blue? If I must, I will dye my hair blue but only if you hate my red hair?!” “I don’t freaking care about your stupid hair! Go die, you stalker!” “Aw! You do hate my hair! Very then! I will dye it blue as you said! Just give me time, ok?” Lucina tilted her head, spoke in an innocent tone to seduce him with cuteness. “That’s not going to f***ing work!” “Oh well, then how about if I changed my outfit into something sexy? Could it be that you hate this standard uniform? How about a blouse that shows off my chest?” “Shut up and leave me and this country alone already! I don’t care about your looks! I f***ing hate you!” “Oh darling! I love it when you verbally abuse me! Just don’t do it in front of our children after we get married, ok? I already picked up a wedding dress, reserved a ballroom for our wedding ceremony, and a hotel for the two of us. It’s a year from now so we have plenty of time to sort this out, ok?” “There will be f***ing no wedding! And no kids between us! And hell will freeze before I get alone with you anywhere! «100 Dragon Chamber: Silver Dos Array» Retrou strengthened both of his arms in Armament Haki: Hardening, held his fingers into a claw-like fashion with coins held inside, storing energy into his arms, and launched two 5 pronged blasts towards Lucina. “Ah! A test of love for me! I will accept this as well I will accept your defiance against me as we tied by the red strings of fate! «Amor Fan»” Lucina raised her sword and spun it rapidly to deflect the upcoming blasts and redirected it to the building below, causing it to be demolished. She slowly descended by jumping to one debris to another. “Damn it! Another building!” “Ai-ha-ha-ha! This is nothing compared to the broken heart that I endured after you left me 5 years ago! We were in love and yet, you cast me away as if I was nothing to you! How could you shed away the history that we shared together! «Passion Batonnet» Cross marks materialized on the tip of her blades. Lucina moved her blade in a whipping motion with the cross marks extending to the buildings above Retrou. After one swift motion, the buildings were cut into pieces, falling upon to the ground. “S**t!” With his attention to the falling rubber, he was caught off guard. The cross marks appeared next to him, only to be noticed by him a second too late. “Double S**t!” He was sent flying through 10 buildings before landing into a slanted building on a giant hill. “Finally caught you!” “Cough. Cough. Cough…Damn, she got me good. I don’t think I can run anymore. Cough.” Retrou held his hand over his left abdomen. It was lined with cross marks, bleeding profusely. Damn, it’s a good thing I managed to cover it with haki in the nick of time; otherwise, my organs would be falling out by now. If only I had the time to use Hardening, I wouldn’t be in this predicament. I guess the battle will sooner than I thought. “Retrou, my golden lion! There you are! I hope that I didn’t hurt you that badly! It was merely a love tap!” Lucina suddenly appeared in front of Retrou out of nowhere. “F**K YOU! You don’t love me! You never considered my feelings! How could you love me when you couldn’t share that same twisted compassion for your fellow people? You were okay with slavery while living a life with me?! Is that what you call love? You hypocrite!” Retrou spat out blood onto her face in defiance. “…oh my sweet naïve Retrou. You don’t know a single thing about love after all.” Lucina wiped the blood off her face and smeared it on her lips as it was lipstick. “What is love? A passionate desire for another person? Yes, it can but is it wrong to apply that same feeling to an inanimate object like my beloved Yan Kujaku? I think not as it is my prized possession next to you. Love has no bounds as anything can be the object of attraction but not to the same degree. More or less than another. A hierarchy, I suppose. There’s nothing wrong with organizing your feelings by a system. From a certain point of view. And if different perspectives were to clash, what would happen? Acceptance or conflict? It does not matter as long that feeling exists! No one else matters but you and my weapon! So stop denying my love for you for the flames of passion will never burn away!” “In that case, you can just burn to a crisp!” A feminine voice was heard behind Lucina. ―???— “Who the hell are you?” “Are you blind? I am Toska Melancolie, the heir to the throne of the Melancolie Kingdom once I taken back control from the likes of him!” The girl dressed in a black formal dress walked in between them, placing his arm over her shoulder to help him out of the hole. “What are you doing? How dare you touch him! Don’t get in my way, you little fox or else, I will mince you where you stand!” Lucina prepared to swing her sword at the girl. “Do that and both of you will die!” the statement halted her attack, stopping it near the edge of the girl’s neck, leaving behind a shallow cut with little blood drawn. “If you kill me now, then you and this man behind me will be charged with treason and murder to the highest degree and both of you will be imprisoned and be sentenced to death so I suggest you lower your blade at once!” the girl’s voice shattered Lucina fighting spirit to a blank state, causing her to withdraw her sword. “So why would a royal bitch like you defend a pirate who killed your parents?” “However it may be strange to you, I needed him alive as he’s my lover!” the girl barely moved Retrou but she couldn’t do it with her current strength. “Don’t just stand there. Help me! He’s heavy to carry around!” “What?” Lucina’s focus drifted somewhere else. “This is an order. Help him out of the hole!” “Lover…It can’t be. That’s impossible! But…it is…It’s been about 9 months since he came so…this whole time…” Lucina tugged her hair as she tried to comprehend the princess’s relationship with her love. While Lucina was in her own world, the girl managed to drag Retrou to safety several yards away from her. “Thanks for saving me but I hope you have a way for defeating her. I don’t figure you can defeat her in a straight fight.” “Save your breath…You know that I won’t die until you give me a response.” “A response? What response? What are you talking about?” Lucina’s attention drifted to the girl in front of her. “Oh, our wedding date, of course! Didn’t you know that we’ll get married?!” “Marriage? But he’s engaged to me!” “Well, sorry to break your heart but he broke it off. It turns off that he was in love with me! I can’t believe he visited me after being pen pals with for so long!” “Pen pals?” Veins budged in Lucina’s forehead. “Yes, we were pen pals for 10 years until he professed his love for me. So he decided to leave the Marine after 5 years to see me personally but there was a delay to his arrival so we were kept on communicating by den den mushi until about a year ago, he finally showed up. All of those riots gave us the opportunity to meet each other and finally, he proposed to me! And that is why I can’t let you kill him! For Retrou is my future husband!” “You…lying bitch!” Lucina’s murderous intent increases, veins popping everywhere on her head. Sensing this, the girl had her hand steady on her rapier. “A lie? It’s no lie? After all, we already kissed each on the lips and embraced each other. He even accepted my confession of love! Isn’t that right, darling?” the girl looked to the weakened man. “It’s true…” “See? Now you can go now! Go join the rest of your men. I’m sure that without you, they would be losing by now! So get out of here!” “…You are not the one.” Lucina murmured. “Excuse me? What did you say?” the girl asked. “You betrayed me for this girl? You were not the one I loved! I hate you! I will kill you!” Lucina’s mind was filled with nothing but pure rage towards Retrou. Normally a person would not believe the lies that the girl spoke of but to a person who was in deep in love and easily succumb to jealousy, would be perceived as truth. The feeling of betrayal behaves as a poison to the body, perceiving rejection as physical pain and in turn, slows down the body’s function less than normal. With enough negativity, the human’s heart would pump abnormally faster in response to a surge of stress hormones that were be caused by an emotionally stressful event. In Lucina’s case, the news of her lover being snatched away from her. “I will kill you! «Choko Homince»” Lucina charged forward with vortexes of blades swirling in her sword, hoping to slashes her former lover into atoms. During the midst of her trajectory, a sword impaled her into the chest. It was an attack that Lucina would normally dodged but with the pain in her chest, she could not sense it in her current condition. It was the girl who took advantage of her weakened state to inflict a fatal wound upon as part of her strategy. It was thanks to that attack, Lucina’s attack spend was delayed a little, leaving Retrou enough time to counterattack even in his critical condition. “Well, girl. I’m impressed. I might actually fall in love in you. I won’t let this opportunity to go to waste!” «500 Devil Chamber: Gold Array Hurricane – Rail Gun» Retrou imbued his entire upper body with Armament Haki: Hardening, held his fingers into a claw-like fashion, twisting them to create two tornadoes with coins spinning in them, placing his palms together, and thrust his hands forwards to shoot a powerful, streaming, and spiraling energy beam with molten coins at Lucina. The finishing moves of both formidable foes collided. At first, the two attacks were even until Lucina finally suffered from a symptom worse than chest pain: broken heart syndrome, another form of a heart attack. Retrou’s attack finally overwhelmed her and sent her blasting through the hill but her ordeal was not over yet. BOOM KA-BOOM BOOM KA-BOOM BOOM KA-BOOM BOOM KA-BOOM BOOM KA-BOOM BOOM KA-BOOM BOOM KA-BOOM BOOM KA-BOOM All of the hills surrounding the palace exploded as Lucina was sent flying by Retrou’s projectile attack. He redirected his attack in a curved direction so Lucina would be sent flying through all of the hills in a circle. Her impact through the hills would not alone ignited the explosives dug deep into the hills as they require a special trigger to activate them. A trigger that the girl had access to after she slayed the advisor who was going to trigger during the rebellion the week before. A chain reaction occurred, a ring of explosions resonated across the island. The end result is the death of Lucina Juno and the Gold Haired Pirate’s victory as the Marine’s vice admiral is dead. Retrou was laying his head down the girl’s lap to rest as they were chatting. “I have to admit…the king was right. That was a magnificent sight to see!” “I have to say, that was one messed-up plan you came up with. Reminds me of the time you called over to the castle.” “A monstrous plan was necessary to kill a monster” “Man, I don’t know if I would have survived if you didn’t turn to be a fake princess and a cunning witch.” “A cunning witch?” “You just blew up most of the island to kill off one person!” “Hey, it was part of my plan to evacuate everyone off the island off the west coast while you were distracting her! It’s your fault that you let you guard down! I can’t believe that I had to come to your rescue after you helped me after all! Some savior you are!” “Well, you got a point…Thank you....um” “My name is Beau Tinemui.” “Oh, you finally settled on a name. Sounds beautiful!” “It should. It means sleeping beauty. You called me that when you tried to wake me up!” “Geez, you sure have a good memory like an elephant.” “Well, it’s hard to forget someone that gave you so much to remember. That is why I had the strength to save you.” “Ku-ki-ki-ki-ki! You know…You’re crazy but not the same kind of crazy like my ex.” “I beg to differ. We were both in love with you but have different values.” “Oh, do tell!” “What is love? It’s that warm fuzzy feeling when you’re around a certain special someone. You can’t help but obsess about the one you chosen to occupy your mind ever so stubbornly. Soon, you want to know everything about that individual. Over time, you would make all kinds of excuses to interact with your cherished being as much as you can. It became a mission to be utmost important to your beloved as much and hopefully, vice-versa. Then, you finally realized that you couldn’t possibly live without your love interest. You decided it was time to gather all of your courage to make a big decision. The choice to completely give yourself and your future to another human being. You have found the chosen one and it is time to tie the knot. When it succeeds, you would get married. Live together in the same house. Possibly have children. Raise them to be proper adults. See them get married and have grandchildren. Then, watch them growing up too. Finally, grow old together until both of you die.” “Wow, you…really thought a lot of this. “I have a lot of time to contemplate about what I never had for the most of my childhood” “This is very relaxing to sleep on. Can I sleep here forever?” “No you may not! We have dinner waiting for us!” “Five more minutes” “Ok, my ocean.”
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