Back then, the Siren Princess wasn't the nightmare visage she is now.
She was, in truth, breathtaking beauty that could topple a kingdom.
Slardar spoke heavily, dredging up the old wound. "One day, a man named Imu came with an army fully armed soldiers, hundreds of warships…"
"Their weapons were far beyond ours. Their numbers, overwhelming."
"What he wanted was what our clan had guarded for generations a Mythical Zoan–type Devil Fruit."
At the words Mythical Zoan, John and Silver Axe both went stiff, shock flashing in their eyes. Inevitably, their thoughts jumped to the Siren Princess.
Silver Axe hissed in a breath. "So that ugly hag… she's the Mythical Zoan? Then what is it, exactly?"
Slardar answered, "Zoan Hebi Hebi no Mi, Mythical Model: Medusa."
"You've tasted her power already the petrification. She also commands a special force we call 'arcane energy.'"
"That energy can be shaped for attack or defense. Its potency is… considerable."
"That Fruit gave Stella terrifying strength but the price was steep."
John frowned. "But Devil Fruits don't change a person's face. A Zoan user can revert to human form, can't they?"
Silver Axe nodded hard; for once, he cared more about the truth than his own skin. That face haunted him.
Slardar's voice roughened. "They captured Stella. They… experimented on her. I don't know the exact method only that something failed."
"In the end she couldn't revert. She remained that way trapped between forms."
"Everyone who saw her face mocked her. Jeered at her…"
"So she came to hate humans to the bone. If she sees one, she kills them. All of them."
He had watched a princess who once smiled like sunlight beloved, courted by countless suitors become the 'monster' humans whisper about. Ice where her warmth had been. No smile left for anyone. Often not even for him.
John's expression sank; a thread of pity entered his gaze. "A victim, too…"
Slardar then sketched the fall of the Siren Kingdom: the invasion, the burning, the slaughter. A people erased. A life shattered. A face stolen.
John found no difficulty understanding why the Siren Princess held such savage hatred.
"Slardar, thank you for pulling us out of there," Silver Axe said. "Can you get us back to our crew?"
Slardar nodded, jaw set. "We must. Knowing Stella, she won't spare any human in these waters."
"In the sea, I don't fear her. On land, I lose too much power my strength drops by half at least. I can't defeat her there. You'll need your comrades if you want any chance to live."
He wasn't like a fish-man with legs; even ashore his lower body remained a scaled, heavy tail. If not for those other traits the gills, the strength one might have mistaken him for a serpent-folk.
He ferried them away at speed.
Cut to Kaidō.
The wind howled. Waves shouldered in from the horizon, pushing the pirate ship farther and farther off course.
"Let it blow. Big bro Ares will come find me," Kaidō decided, going full deadbeat sprawled on the deck, arms and legs splayed.
With the mast snapped, there was no sailing anyway. If not for the constant swell, the wreck might've spun in circles.
He didn't know it, but the very storm-toss that battered them came from Ares and Garp trading blows their aftershocks were what raised those heaving seas.
The current shouldered Kaidō's ship toward an island and smashed it against the cliffside reefs. The half-ruined hull flew apart and began to sink.
The shock jolted nap-happy Kaidō awake just in time to plunge into the drink with the ship.
"The ship's gone?!"
He burst up, gaping at the floating timbers.
"Well that's that," he muttered, glum as a drowned cat. "All I can do now is wait for big bro Ares or Captain John to drag me out."
Cries for help drifted around him. Normally, he'd let them drown wasn't his job. But then he thought about how long it might take Ares or Riku Yo to find him. He'd be stuck on shore for a while. With a sigh, he dove.
At least survivors could cook.
He hauled them up one by one, set them clinging to planks, then went down again.
Each trip took him deeper, farther. On one dive something flashed below sharp and bright in the dark.
"What's shining down there?"
Treasure crossed his mind why not, if it didn't cost him time? He angled down.
The deeper he went, the gloomier it got, but his monster body barely noticed. He found the source quickly: a gem-studded chest, worked in pearl and gold gaudy and expensive enough that the box alone was worth tens of millions of beli.
"Well now," he grinned underwater, "bless the sea."
No other survivors in reach, so he kicked for the surface. The rescued clambered up the rocks. Kaidō followed, planted the chest, and, borrowing a crewman's blade, split the lock.
Inside lay a Devil Fruit.
Kaidō's laugh burst out of him, loud and unhinged. "Wororororo !"
"I finally found my Devil Fruit!"
He was over the moon.
Once upon a time, he'd stooped to become Charlotte Linlin's boy-toy to get a Fruit pain and pleasure in equal measure. Rough as she was, her figure had been outrageous, and in her youth her face had been stunning. It was… complicated for a horned young brute who kept getting ridden.
And after all that?
The Fruit he'd sought ended up in Ares's stomach.
Ares had promised to find him a stronger one, but who knew when that would be?
Now
A chest from nowhere, dragged up out of the deeps, and a Devil Fruit in his hand.
He hefted it. Spiral-swirl skin, melon-sized at first glance, but in his paw it looked no bigger than a lychee.
Staring at it, joy shaded with doubt. "I don't know what this one does… If it doesn't suit me…"
Devil Fruits came in too many flavors; even the encyclopedias were incomplete. He couldn't be sure what this one held.
He thought a heartbeat.
"Gamble."
He bit in. His face went green-purple at once, hands flying to his throat, sweat popping on his brow.
As the taste ebbed, knowledge bloomed in his mind. He threw back his head and howled laughter to the sky. "Wororororo !"
"Wororororo !"
"It's a Mythical Zoan!"
"With this, I can finally chase big bro Ares's back I can see it again!"
The longer he'd sailed with Tengetsu Ares, the more he'd grasped the man's madness and his strength. Kaidō had trained like a demon and still watched the gap widen.
He hated it. He wanted to close it, to at least stop being dead weight.
He never said it but it lived in his chest.
Now, with a Mythical Zoan burning in his gut, the dam burst. Joy. Relief. The old choking gloom ripped to shreds.
Black-and-red lightning crawled over his shoulders, crackling. His already massive frame looked like an oncoming war god.
His laughter sent flocks panicking from the island's canopy. His Conqueror's Haki spiked, and beasts bolted as if a wildfire had touched their tails.
"Boss Ares no more standing behind you," Kaidō roared, eyes blazing with a king's conviction. Toward the sea's far horizon he vowed:
"I was born with a king's will. From today, I'll stand at your side "
"And crush every enemy in your path!"
Leave Kaidō there for the moment.
Cut back to Ares vs. Garp.
The clash only grew more violent, thunderous impacts rolling without end, until most sailors on deck stuffed makeshift plugs in their ears. Ares and Garp didn't need sleep, but ordinary men did.
On the warship, Zephyr's face had gone from stern to grim. The longer it ran, the more clearly he understood the new Ares.
The more he understood, the colder he felt.
"Ares hasn't just gotten tougher his recovery is monstrous," Zephyr breathed. "His vitality… it's absurd."
"Even Garp's strength can't press him down. If anything, Garp's the one slipping behind."
A year ago, Zephyr had traded blows with the boy and marked him hurt him. Back then, Ares could heal but it took time.
Now
Zephyr watched bruises and welts vanish on Ares's skin in the span of heartbeats. The spots Garp's fists had hammered went red, purple… then smooth again.
Terrifying.
With recovery like that, it was hard to see a path to victory.
Wait… hold… wait… Zephyr told himself, over and over. Don't rush in. Not yet.
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