The Vlissingen cut through the Grand Line's twilight waters, its hull groaning like an old man's bones. The air tasted of salt and damp timber, mingling with the acrid tang of black-market gunpowder from Fenna's illicit cargo. Marya leaned against the starboard railing, her fingers tracing the pitted wood grain as she watched the horizon bleed into a bruise-purple dusk. Behind her, Fenna's crew scrambled—a cacophony of shouted orders and clinking chains—as they secured barrels stamped with counterfeit Marine insignias.
Bepo's voice rose above the clamor, his paws clutching a frayed Vivre card that pulsed faintly toward Sabaody. "Starboard five degrees! The current's a liar here—trust the card!" The navigator, a grizzled man with a parrot pecking at his ear, grumbled but adjusted the wheel.
Law approached silently, his boots scuffing the deck in a deliberate rhythm Marya had come to recognize. She didn't turn, though her grip tightened imperceptibly on the railing.
"How did Mihawk become a Warlord?"
The question hung between them, sharp as a blade unsheathed. Marya tilted her head, her golden-ringed eyes narrowing. "You think I know? He doesn't… discuss things."
Law stepped beside her, his gaze fixed on the darkening sea. "Doflamingo's not done. To beat him, I need to understand how Warlords think."
Marya snorted. "Warlords think with power. Same as anyone."
A beat passed, filled with the screech of Fenna's parrot and the snap of rigging. Law's voice lowered, barely audible over the wind. "He'll come for my crew next."
Marya followed his gaze to where Uni and Clione wrestled with a tangled net, Hakugan barking orders with uncharacteristic fervor. Bepo hovered nearby, ears drooping as he triple-checked the Vivre card.
"Will you drag them deeper?" she asked, her tone clinical. "Or bury them with your revenge?"
Law's jaw flexed. "I won't lose them."
"Tch. Noble." Marya's smirk was razor-thin. "But naive."
Before Law could retort, a shout pierced the air.
"Land ho!"
Bepo bounded to the bow, pointing a trembling paw at the horizon. There, silhouetted against the fading sun, rose Sabaody's bubble-domed groves—their iridescent sheen marred by the sharp outlines of Marine warships anchored like steel teeth.
Marya straightened, Eternal Eclipse humming at her back. "Seems your playground's infested."
Law's eyes hardened. "Yours too. The Void's whispers reach even here, don't they?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she watched the nearest Marine vessel—a goliath with cannons like black holes—as its signal flags snapped in the wind. Intercept. Capture. Destroy.
Fenna sauntered over, her parrot squawking a crude sea shanty. "Time to earn your keep. Those ships'll swarm us faster than flies on nectar."
Marya's hand drifted to her sword. "Let them try. I've carved through worse."
Law shot her a sidelong glance. "And after? Will you stay?"
"No." She turned, her long dark hair whipping like a cloak in the salt-laced wind. "I have my own demons to attend to."
As the Vlissingen surged toward the storm, the crew's voices rose in a ragged chorus—half prayer, half war cry—while Marya's silence spoke louder than both.
*****
The Paper Serpent docked at Sabaody's Grove 1, its hull scraping against the soap-coated mangrove roots with a sound like nails on glass. Above, the archipelago's bubble domes shimmered in hues of gold and violet, refracting the screams of distant slave auctions into a grotesque kaleidoscope. Captain Umeko Ozias led the procession, his trench coat bristling with stolen Marine darts, while Ozul Crow herded the captured Heart Pirates forward with a flick of his katana Aetherius. The blade's starlit edge turned the air around Jean Bart's seastone chains into constellations of paper cranes—beautiful, but razor-sharp.
"Mars in Capricorn favors submission," Ozul intoned, his dreadlocks swaying as he adjusted the onyx charm at his hilt.
"Shove your stars," Ikkaku spat, her goggles cracked but her glare unbroken.
Amaru Valentine brought up the rear, his Hawaiian shirt pristine against the grime of the docks. He blew a kiss to a passing noblewoman, her face hidden behind a jade mask. "Don't fret, darlin'. I'll bid on you next."
Akako Zinnia skipped ahead, hammer slung over her shoulder, its heart-shaped head dented from an earlier "Oopsie!" with a Marine cannon. She hummed a tune to her Baretto plushie, oblivious to the Polar Tang secured to the dock behind them as it bobbed in the still water, its hull groaning like a dying sea king.
The auction house loomed—a gilded nightmare of marble pillars and iron-barred pens. The auctioneer, a gaunt man with a voice box grafted to his throat, greeted them with a mechanical bow. "Honored patrons!" he rasped, the sound like gears grinding. "Kaido's hounds deliver fresh meat!"
Umeko's horns crackled, static lifting the auctioneer's wig. "Where's the block?"
"Impatient, are we?" The auctioneer's laughter wheezed through his voice box. "The Celestial Dragons demand… theatrics."
Inside, the air reeked of salt, perfume, and despair. Nobles in opulent robes fanned themselves with slave contracts, while Marine officers lurked in shadowed alcoves, their medals glinting like predator's eyes. The Heart Pirates were shoved into a steel cage, their chains clanking against the Polar Tang's mangled propeller displayed nearby.
Jean Bart strained against his bindings, veins bulging. "Law'll sink this whole damn island."
"Optimist," Shachi muttered, eyeing Akako as she waved at the crowd.
Penguin elbowed him. "Distract the guards. I'll pick the locks."
"With what? Your charm?"
"With this." Penguin grinned, revealing a smuggled fishhook tucked in his molar.
Amaru leaned against their cage, shuffling his marked deck. "Bet you 50,000 Berry you'll die before sunset."
"You're on," Ikkaku snarled.
The auctioneer mounted the stage, his voice box screeching. "Lot 66: The Polar Tang! A submersible fit for scrap—or a coffin! Starting bid: 100 million Berry!"
Nobles tittered, raising jeweled paddles.
"Lot 67: The Heart Pirates!" The crowd leaned forward, breath held. "Broken toys for broken boys!"
Akako bounced onto the stage, hammer in hand. "Baretto says smile!" She slammed the hammer down, accidentally triggering a hidden cannon in the rafters. The blast shattered a chandelier, raining crystal shards and chaos.
"Oopsie!"
Ozul sighed, folding a paper doll from a fallen bidder's hat. "Venus in retrograde…"
Umeko watched impassively as Marines swarmed the stage. His Den Den Mushi buzzed—Kaido's symbol flashed on the shell. He crushed it mid-ring.
In the chaos, Penguin's fishhook clicked. Jean Bart's chains loosened.
But before they could move, a voice cut through the din—a Vice Admiral's amplified roar: "Seize the Beast Pirates!"
Umeko's static surged. "Amaru. Clear the exit."
The sniper grinned. Lady Luck already aimed. "Darlin', I was born ready."
As bullets and paper cranes filled the air, the Heart Pirates' cage rattled—unnoticed in the bedlam—its lock now half-picked.
*****
The Vlissingen sliced through the roiling waves, its bow splintering the crests into froth as the storm's wrath bore down. Ahead, Marine warships formed a steel barricade, their cannons glowing red-hot from relentless volleys. The air reeked of salt, burnt powder, and the tang of impending lightning. Marya stood at the prow, Eternal Eclipse unsheathed, its obsidian blade devouring the scant light. Law flanked her, Kikoku humming with the resonance of his Room, its blue sphere flickering like a blazing star.
"Shambles."
Law's voice cut through the gale. In an instant, a barrage of cannonballs vanished mid-air, reappearing above the lead Marine ship. The detonation tore through its mast, sending splinters raining like jagged hail. Marines screamed as the deck buckled, their cries swallowed by the storm.
Marya stepped forward, her boots barely grazing the water's surface as mist coiled around her legs. She raised her sword, the Haki energy seeping from its edge like ink in water. "Nebula Veil."
A geyser erupted, razor sharp and devastating, slicing the nearest ships. Within seconds, the Marines' shouts turned into panic; their vision reduced to ghostly silhouettes at the glint of Marya's blade. She moved like a wraith, Eternal Eclipse slicing through hulls and rigging with invasive precision. A lieutenant lunged at her, saber raised; she dissolved into mist, reforming behind him to sever his weapon—and his ambition—with a single stroke.
Law followed her wake, Room expanding like the grim reaper's summons. "Tact."
Bodies swapped places with cannonballs, limbs tangled in chains, screams silenced mid-breath. A Marine captain, armament Haki hardening his fists, charged Law. The surgeon didn't flinch. "Amputate."
The man's legs crumpled beneath him, severed cleanly. Law stepped over him, eyes fixed on the next ship.
"Show-off," Marya remarked, her voice carrying over the din as she bisected a mast.
"Efficient," Law corrected, flicking blood from Kikoku.
The storm roared its approval. Rain slashed sideways, mingling with the mist and blood, turning the sea into a broth of chaos. Marya paused, observing a young Marine clinging to driftwood, his uniform singed. His eyes met hers—wide, trembling—but she turned away, disinterested. Empathy was a currency she neither earned nor spent.
A battleship loomed, its prow carved into the likeness of a snarling sea king. Law's Room pulsed. "Mes."
The vessel split diagonally, its halves sliding apart with a metallic scream. Marya leapt onto the sinking bow, mist swirling as she drove Eclipse into the helm. The wood blackened and crumbled, consumed by the Void's hunger.
"Clearance secured," Law called, sheathing Kikoku as the last ship capsized, its crew floundering in the debris-strewn wake.
Marya rejoined him on the Vlissingen, her blade pristine, her breath steady. Behind them, the sea churned with shattered timbers and the flicker of sinking lanterns. Bepo's voice carried from the crow's nest, relieved: "Sabaody ahead!"
Law glanced at Marya. "Not staying for the encore?"
She tilted her head, golden eyes reflecting the distant auction house fires. "As long as it is interesting."
As the ship surged forward, Fenna's crew hoisted sails, their voices a ragged hymn of survival. Marya watched the horizon, where the storm's edge frayed into stars. Somewhere in the dark, Mihawk's shadow loomed, and the Void whispered promises.
But for now, the path was clear.
Debt by debt, blade by blade.
*****
The auction house trembled under the cacophony of cannon fire and splintering marble. Jean Bart's chains clanked as Penguin's fishhook finally clicked the lock open. The cage door groaned, its rusted hinges shrieking.
"Move!" Ikkaku hissed, shoving Shachi forward as a cannonball cratered the wall behind them. Chunks of gilded plaster rained down, glittering like false gold in the chaos.
The Heart Pirates stumbled into the fray, the air thick with the acrid stench of gunpowder and the cloying sweetness of shattered perfume vials. Nobles scrambled, their silken robes snagging on debris, while Marines barked orders drowned out by Ozul Crow's paper cranes slicing through the air like vengeful origami.
Jean Bart snatched a Marine's cutlass, its hilt slick with sweat. "The Tang—we can't leave her!"
Shachi ducked as Akako's hammer pulverized a chandelier above, raining crystal shrapnel. "We'll circle back! Unless you wanna be Kaido's new chew toy!"
Amaru Valentine's laugh cut through the din. Perched on a crumbling balcony, he blew a kiss to Ikkaku before firing Lady Luck—a bullet ricocheted off a Marine's helmet, embedding in the auctioneer's voicebox. The mechanical rasp died with a sputter.
"Charming," Penguin spat, yanking Shachi behind an overturned statue of a Celestial Dragon, its smug face cracked down the middle.
Captain Umeko stood amid the storm, static arcing from his horns as he deflected cannon fire with a flick of Twin Thunder. Ozul materialized beside him, katana weaving constellations into the air.
"Saturn's rings fracture!" Ozul shouted, though his warning was swallowed by a Marine's grenade blast.
Akako skipped through the crossfire, hammer hoisted over her shoulder. "Baretto says run faster!" she trilled, accidentally triggering a hidden trapdoor. A Marine squad plummeted into the basement, their screams echoing upward.
"Now's our shot!" Ikkaku grabbed Jean Bart's arm, dragging him toward a service exit obscured by velvet curtains. The Polar Tang loomed outside, its hull dented and chained to the dock—so close, yet guarded by a battalion of Marines.
Shachi cursed. "They'll shred us before we—"
A roar shook the auction house. Umeko's maces collided with a Vice Admiral's shield, the shockwave shattering stained glass windows. The Beast Pirates began to retreat, Amaru covering their exit with a barrage of card-thrown distractions.
"Go!" Jean Bart barreled forward, cutlass cleaving through a Marine's rifle. Ikkaku and Penguin flanked him, scavenged weapons in hand, while Shachi darted ahead, weaving through smoke and confusion.
They reached the Tang, its hatch rusted shut. Jean Bart's muscles strained, veins bulging as he wrenched it open. "Inside! Now!"
As the engines sputtered to life, Shachi glanced back. Umeko's gaze met his—dark eyes cold, horns crackling—before the Paper Serpent vanished into a curtain of Ozul's paper fog.
The Polar Tang submerged, Sabaody's bubbles glinting above like false stars.
Above, the auction house burned—a beacon of ruin, and a promise.