March 21, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
After the wedding banquet came to an end, Shanks' crew departed immediately, as they didn't want to cause Orion any trouble by lingering too long in the palace and risking being discovered by the kingdom's people.
As one of the most famous crews of the era, they knew they couldn't afford to be seen too close to the royal family of Dressrosa, since that could easily bring complications for Orion.
They had already interacted with him on several occasions before and held him in high regard, so naturally, they didn't wish to create unnecessary problems for him.
At least, that was the case for the crew members—though their red-haired captain clearly held a completely different attitude from his nakama.
"Hey, I wanna fight in the coliseum! Didn't you fight Mihawk there and beat him? If I give you a good thrashing in front of the whole kingdom, then I'll get to go laugh at Mihawk later!" said Shanks, a little drunk, as his crew dragged him away.
"Stop causing trouble, Shanks!" scolded Benn Beckman, who almost always ended up playing the role of babysitter whenever his captain started acting spoiled like a child.
There was a reason why Benn was the first mate of the crew, despite having joined later than some of the original members of the Red-Haired Pirates. His ability to assess situations and make decisions beneficial to the crew was highly valued by all his nakama, and he was the only one capable of "handling" Shanks whenever he fell into one of his whimsical moods.
Although Shanks was a charismatic, powerful leader with a brilliant mind, he sometimes acted on impulse or simply out of boredom, which occasionally landed them in troublesome situations.
It had to be said that the current Shanks was still far from the future Yonko version recognized across the world; he was in a much younger and more immature stage of his life. Even so, he was already one of the most powerful and influential people alive, which spoke volumes about his immense potential.
Orion shook his head at the sight of Shanks throwing a tantrum like a little kid, then accompanied the pirates to the docks where their ship was waiting. Once there, Shanks finally seemed to return to his "normal self," speaking now with full seriousness.
"This time, we just came to see you and celebrate your wedding with you—and we also brought Roux and Gab, since we were passing nearby."
Orion looked at the serious Shanks and replied with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes,
"And you also took the opportunity to bring Gloriosa along, didn't you?"
Shanks immediately lost his imposing demeanor, glancing nervously from side to side as he stammered,
"W-Well, she wanted to see you, and I thought you might be looking for her too…"
Orion simply sighed and chose not to argue further with Shanks. After all, although the red-haired pirate had instigated that whole scene of jealousy from the girl purely for his own amusement, the fact remained that he had brought her to him—along with his subordinates, whom Orion had already planned to retrieve later that year.
In the end, Shanks's actions had actually saved him the trouble of having to search for those three people himself, so overall, one could say Shanks had done him a favor. For that reason, Orion was willing to overlook the "little prank" of bringing Gloriosa just to stir up drama on his wedding day.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Either way, I appreciate you bringing them here—and thank you for coming to my wedding. It was good to see you all again and confirm you're still in one piece."
Shanks immediately perked up again, and spreading his arms in an exaggerated gesture, he tried to hug Orion while exclaiming,
"Orion! I knew you wouldn't be ungrateful—you can appreciate my efforts! I remember when you were just a brat who needed his diapers changed!"
Orion simply extended a hand coated in Armament Haki and pressed it against Shanks's face, forcing the man to stop his exaggerated antics.
Finally, as the red-haired crew finished preparing their ship to set sail once more, Shanks turned serious again and said,
"Don't worry about our presence here, Orion. I can assure you that no one will find out we attended your wedding. That includes the World Government, of course."
Orion stared silently at Shanks, meeting his gaze. To him, Shanks was a deeply mysterious being, one whose thoughts and actions he could never fully understand. Yet he could sense that Shanks harbored no ill intentions toward him, and that was enough for now.
Orion knew that once he reached the very summit of power in this world, he would be able to fully comprehend Shanks and his motives. For now, though, he was not yet qualified to do so—and even if he were, knowing would serve no immediate purpose.
"All right then, until next time," said Shanks, raising a hand in farewell as he turned toward his ship in what he clearly believed was a cool pose.
However, he couldn't maintain his "cool guy" act for long, because just then, a sweet voice echoed through the air.
"Goodbye, Uncle Orion! Next time let's play a song together!" said little Uta, running up to say goodbye to Orion.
This time, she had only managed to play a few songs with Orion during the wedding banquet, and she wasn't at all satisfied with so little time. Still, she wasn't a spoiled child, and since she was used to constantly being on the move aboard her father's ship, when she saw the preparations for departure, she simply bid Orion farewell and made a promise to him.
Uta was now almost four years old, so her way of speaking and expressing herself was much better than the last time Orion had seen her, which once again made him aware of how quickly time was passing.
"Of course, Uta. Next time we meet, we'll play something truly awesome!" said Orion with a smile, placing his palm over the girl's red and white hair.
"Hey! Get your filthy hands off my daughter!" said Shanks suddenly, jumping between them and scooping Uta into his arms.
"Don't think I'll let you corrupt my little girl. Next time you try it, I'll break every bone in your body!" added Shanks aggressively, running toward the ship that was about to set sail.
"Daddy's being silly again, hehe," Uta giggled as Shanks jumped onto the deck and made funny faces to amuse her.
Orion watched the father and daughter pair and couldn't help but feel it was a pity that his little Sam wasn't here with him right now. Still, perhaps he could see him soon, since once he registered Scarlett as his Main Wife, he might receive a new anchor point for his Space Gate—meaning he could travel between Ginny's and Scarlett's locations in just an instant!
From the ship's deck, Shanks turned to look at Orion, then, with a truly cool smile, raised his hand in farewell. Their reunion this time had been brief, but without a doubt, there would be chances to meet again in the future.
…
Once the ship disappeared beyond the horizon, Orion opened the system map and checked Gloriosa's current position—since she had been registered in the system as a pseudo Character, her location could be seen on the map with a marker.
The young Kuja was currently in a place that surprised him a little: Green Bit.
Thinking about the cautious nature of the Tontatta and how they still attacked anyone who entered their lands, Orion felt a faint headache and pulled out his Den Den Mushi to call Scarlett and tell her he'd be delayed in returning home.
It was their long-awaited wedding night, but before he could freely enjoy a night of passion with the beautiful princess, he needed to take care of the situation with Gloriosa to prevent new problems from arising.
After all, given the girl's explosive personality, if she were suddenly attacked by the Tontatta while in a bad mood from having argued with him… things could get quite complicated.
Orion ended his call with Scarlett, then stored the Den Den Mushi inside the Pocket Dimension and used Soru to sprint at full speed toward Green Bit. He could only hope to arrive in time to prevent a major incident there.
…
Meanwhile, deep within Green Bit, Gloriosa was walking dejectedly through the vast forest that covered most of the island. After arguing with Orion, she had run off aimlessly, crossing Dressrosa in a heartbroken daze until she finally reached the large bridge connecting the main island with Green Bit.
She had crossed the bridge without much trouble, though she'd had to fight the Fighting Fish that infested those waters. Still, with Gloriosa's current combat level, it hadn't been difficult. If she had needed to exterminate them completely, she obviously wouldn't have had the strength, but simply beating up a few to cross the bridge wasn't a problem at all.
After reaching Green Bit, she had wandered without direction, recalling what had happened a few hours earlier, growing sadder and angrier with each step. How could Orion have forgotten the promise he made to marry her?
She had sailed across the Grand Line for nearly a year to find him, and instead of welcoming her with open arms, he had scolded her in front of everyone to defend the hussy who had stolen his love!
Gloriosa, completely frustrated by the situation, walked through the forest crying nonstop until finally, an accident occurred. As she recalled for the umpteenth time what had happened earlier, she kicked a rock with great force to release her frustration—without realizing that a small Tontatta was watching her from behind that very same rock.
The stone shattered to pieces from Gloriosa's strength, and the Tontatta in question was sent flying through the air at high speed, crashing headfirst into the trunk of a tree—a scene that might have looked comical from the outside, though in truth it had been extremely violent for the tiny creature.
That unintentional action by the girl triggered a great chain of events, as several other Tontatta who had also been observing her, debating whether to attack this foreigner or not, immediately got their answer: this pink-haired woman was their enemy, and she was very aggressive!
A whistle pierced through the previously silent forest, and a large number of Tontatta began emerging from various tunnels in the ground.
"Catch the intruder!"
"Attack formation Z!"
The tiny beings launched a fast and violent assault against Gloriosa, who was quite surprised by their sudden appearance, since she hadn't sensed any presence earlier when using her Observation Haki. However, that was because she still wasn't a true expert in Haki use, despite her high natural talent as a Kuja warrior.
Still, beyond her initial surprise, Gloriosa had no intention of being overwhelmed by this group of small individuals. She was in a terrible mood at the moment, and the Tontatta attack gave her the perfect outlet for her pent-up frustration.
Taking a step forward, Gloriosa threw a punch that knocked out a small group of Tontatta, then used her companion serpent, Yara, as a springboard to leap out of the center of the enemy encirclement.
Once she was in the air, she used Geppo to put some distance between herself and the tiny warriors, then used Yara as a bow, launching a barrage of arrows imbued with Armament Haki.
This type of attack was classic for a Kuja warrior like her, and the Tontatta had no way to defend themselves, being struck directly by the arrows and leaving a large number of injured behind. Fortunately, none were seriously wounded, since Gloriosa had restrained herself a little.
After all, she wasn't stupid. She knew Orion was marrying the princess of this kingdom, and these tiny individuals were likely subjects of that shameless husband-stealing woman. If she caused a massacre here, there'd be no turning back, and her relationship with Orion would be irreparably broken.
Even though she was angry and offended at the moment, she still held onto hope of making peace with Orion—and maybe even convincing him to abandon that woman and marry her instead.
She had completely forgotten that Orion could simply marry both of them, meaning her position as Orion's future wife wasn't truly threatened at all.
The Tontatta present were the most powerful warriors of their tribe, but even so, it was hard for them to fight against Gloriosa, who had incredible talent and had been trained for battle since early childhood. Currently, Gloriosa was without a doubt at the level of a low- or mid-ranked Vice Admiral in the Marines, so her strength wasn't much different from Orion's at this moment.
Still, the Tontatta were naturally strong, so even though they were being completely crushed by Gloriosa, they could still offer some resistance and continue fighting.
After several minutes, the entire area was littered with unconscious or injured Tontatta, while Gloriosa was panting heavily, exhausted after fending off wave after wave of enemies without rest.
Fortunately for both sides, just as the Tontatta were preparing a much more aggressive counterattack—deploying their reserve warriors who had arrived from deep within their underground kingdom—Orion appeared above Green Bit's sky, descending gracefully and placing himself between Gloriosa and the tiny warriors.
"Orion! Help! This horrible woman is attacking us! Many of our soldiers are wounded!" shouted one of the higher-ranking Tontatta upon seeing Orion appear, feeling that salvation had arrived.
Gloriosa had of course noticed Orion's arrival to the improvised battlefield, and when she heard the Tontatta's words, her earlier suspicions about Orion's connection with these little people were confirmed. She began sweating profusely, realizing she had once again done something that would make Orion angry.
The hyperactive girl had an eccentric and erratic personality, but she understood well enough that the current scene—her beating up a large group of tiny Tontatta warriors—definitely wouldn't look good in Orion's eyes.
Smiling faintly, Orion picked up the Tontatta who had just spoken, the one acting as the leader in the makeshift battlefield, and placed him in his hand. Then, lowering his head with a sincere expression, he said,
"I'm terribly sorry, Roma. This girl is my fiancée. I apologize on her behalf—she can be a bit troublesome! Don't worry, I'll treat your troops' wounds in a moment. But for now, lay down your weapons, there's no need to keep fighting."
The Tontatta reacted with great surprise at Orion's words, since they hadn't expected that the invader who had mercilessly attacked them was actually his fiancée.
Even so, they had great trust in Orion after their previous interactions, so they immediately lowered their weapons and stopped attacking Gloriosa, who stood stiffly at a distance, utterly embarrassed to have been caught by Orion in such a situation.
Orion paid her no attention and focused instead on treating the Tontatta's wounds, which thankfully weren't too serious. Once he finished, one of the Tontatta approached him with a friendly smile and said that the king wished to see him to discuss the details of his marriage to Princess Mansherry.
Upon hearing those words, Orion began sweating, immediately inventing an excuse to justify why he couldn't visit the king at that moment. Although he had met King Gancho of the Tontatta in recent days, he had skillfully avoided the topic of his engagement to Mansherry, as there was simply no way he could take such a tiny woman as his wife.
He didn't fully understand how unions between the Tontatta and other races of vastly different sizes were even possible, but he knew of the existence of mixed races—Tontatta-human hybrids, and even Tontatta-giant ones.
Still, Orion had no intention of investigating the magical mechanics of interspecies reproduction in this world. He was simply dodging the engagement with Mansherry as best he could, trying not to offend the Tontatta.
At present, he had no plan to completely cancel the engagement proposed unilaterally by King Gancho, so he had just decided to avoid the topic every time it came up, hoping to find a solution in the future.
With some luck, Princess Mansherry would fall in love with some handsome Tontatta warrior someday, and he wouldn't have to worry about the matter anymore!
After excusing himself to the Tontatta present and politely declining the audience with King Gancho and his daughter, Orion used Soru, lifted Gloriosa into his arms, and left the area without looking back.
Even Orion, who aspired to reach the very summit of power in this world, couldn't bear to face the hopeful and innocent gaze of the Tontatta.
Once he was far enough away, he opened a door in the air, entered the Pocket Dimension, and closed the door behind him. It was time to have a serious conversation with the troublesome Gloriosa.