Cobra, King of Alabasta, raised his head slowly, blinking at the familiar yet distant surroundings of the grand palace.
The vivid hallucination he'd just emerged from left him shaken. For a moment, he wasn't sure what year it was.
"Ah… ah… ah!!"
A sharp, unbearable pain stabbed through Cobra's chest.
He collapsed to the ground, clutching his heart. The agony was so intense it felt as though he'd truly been impaled—by a barbed, serpentine tail.
"Is it… phantom pain? That illusion… it was too real…"
Then, a warm hand rested gently on his forehead, and a calm, almost soothing voice broke through the pain:
"Wake up. You're still alive. Everything you saw was just a glimpse of a future that hasn't happened… yet."
As the words echoed in his mind, the pain vanished instantly, as if it had never existed.
Cobra groaned weakly, propping himself up from the cold floor.
His eyes widened as he looked at the young man smiling casually before him—Shirogai Yamikuro.
Still catching his breath, Cobra asked with disbelief:
"Was that… really the future? All of it?"
Shirogai gave a relaxed, almost amused smirk.
"If you already know the answer, King Cobra," he said, "why ask me?"
Cobra's legs trembled. He gripped a nearby pillar to steady himself.
He murmured as if trying to convince himself:
"I want to reject it… but it felt too real. So real I can't deny it. Even if it's absurd… hallucinations that detailed can't be fabricated."
His voice cracked.
"Oh God… it was all real."
The memory of that vision replayed in his mind: the Empty Throne wasn't empty. A monstrous figure—Imu—sat upon it. The Gorosei, the Celestial Dragons' so-called gods, knelt like dogs.
It chilled him to his core.
He turned and saw that Shirogai was now seated comfortably on the palace throne, one leg draped lazily over the other.
He looked sideways at Cobra and smiled faintly.
"So, King Cobra, shall we talk about changing fate itself?"
Cobra's breath hitched.
For a second, the image of Shirogai overlapped with the dark silhouette he'd seen seated on the Empty Throne.
He shook his head sharply. "That hallucination is still messing with me…"
He looked again at the white-clad young man before him—calm, poised, powerful. Trembling, he asked:
"Who are you really, Shirogai San? Why do you know what happens to me in the future?"
Shirogai gave a light shrug.
"Just a small-time troublemaker, nothing more."
He stretched lazily, then added with a casual grin:
"On a whim, I decided to create a little organization. We call it Vespera—founded for one goal: to hunt Celestial Dragons."
Cobra blinked in shock.
"Hunt… Celestial Dragons?"
"I think you meet the criteria to join us," Shirogai continued, still smiling. "So, I'm here to extend you an invitation."
Cobra's mind raced.
An organization that hunted Celestial Dragons? Not rebelled, not resisted—but hunted?
Surely this man wasn't acting on a mere whim. His presence alone screamed danger. To Cobra, Shirogai was like the tip of an iceberg—calm on the surface but hiding something vast and deadly beneath.
And yet… he couldn't have known that Vespera currently had only two members.
The founder standing before him…
And Crocodile, the ever-scheming Shichibukai, still roaming with his daughter and Shirogai's crew.
That was it.
Cobra, unaware of this irony, took a deep breath and said cautiously:
"Shirogai San… may I ask for some time to consider?"
Shirogai nodded with a smile.
"Of course. I'm not a bad guy," he said warmly. "I wouldn't force you."
Then, with the same smile, he raised a hand.
"Alright then. Your time starts… now.
10."
Cobra's eyes widened.
"…What?"
"9."
Cobra stared blankly, frozen in disbelief.
"8."
"Wait—this is the time you're giving me?"
Shirogai grinned.
"7."
Sweat beaded on Cobra's brow. Time had never felt this short—not even when waiting for Vivi's birth outside the delivery room.
He began thinking rapidly.
"6."
Joining might keep him alive. Rejecting could mean death. If he refused, the existence of Vespera could be considered a leak.
"5."
No. He was too valuable a witness. The safest option was to join.
"4."
Joining meant protection. It meant standing with someone who had already declared war against Imu, the Gorosei, and the Celestial Dragons.
"3."
And if he died at Mariejois… Vivi might need allies.
Shirogai and this Vespera might be the only ones who could keep her safe.
"2."
Cobra clenched his jaw.
So much was still uncertain, but there was no time for a perfect answer.
"1."
"I'll join!" he said firmly, looking up into Shirogai's eyes.
There was a pause.
Then Shirogai smiled, clapping slowly.
"Welcome to Vespera, King Cobra."
He walked over to him with a calm, relaxed air, his voice still light and conversational.
"Not bad. Another one recruited."
Then he stopped, as if recalling something.
"Oh, right. You got Vivi's letter, didn't you?"
Cobra blinked.
"My name's Shirogai Yamikuro," he said, "Vice Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates."
Cobra's eyes widened again.
"Wait… you're Shirogai? The one Vivi wrote about? 'The Plunderer'? The pirate who helped her against Crocodile?"
In her letter, Vivi had described the Straw Hats and mentioned a powerful, quiet pirate named Shirogai who'd been instrumental in exposing Crocodile.
Cobra had assumed he was just a kind stranger.
But now…
Now it felt like his daughter had been pulled into something far greater.
Something terrifying.
Cobra began to panic internally. Was Vivi manipulated into this?
Shirogai read his expression easily.
He placed a hand lightly on Cobra's shoulder.
"Relax. Vivi has nothing to do with this."
He turned, walking toward the throne again.
"Oh, right—your codename in Vespera is Tide."
"'Tide'?"
Cobra paused.
"…Then what's yours, Shirogai San?"
Shirogai turned back with a sly smirk.
"Null."
---
Some people probably know me for my bad naming sense, so if you dislike this name.
You can drop your suggestions, I'd pick the best.
__
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