The person before Mihawk was, without question, a woman.
As he stood in the crucifixion yard, his analytical gaze passed over her. A sweat-soaked black bandana wrapped around her forehead, framing a face with finer features: the jawline less severe, the lips fuller. Thick ropes cinched the green haramaki tight against her abdomen, accentuating the wide curve of her hips. Her tarnished white shirt, open at the collar and plastered to her lightly tanned skin, revealed the pronounced cleavage from her large bust.
"What do you want?" She stared at him with cold, gray eyes. "Your presence annoys me. Beat it."
Mihawk had expected such a response, but he hadn't expected the sudden change within himself.
It began as a gentle vibration in his bones, along with the clean scent of ozone that follows a lightning strike. As the sensation intensified, his vision sharpened and the tan earth around him shifted to a richer brown while the sky above deepened to a more vivid blue. In that heightened moment, he saw a faint golden aura outline the woman on the cross, tracing her form against the transformed world.
The term 'Resonance' surfaced in his consciousness with its definition: a phenomenon that occurred when a destined companion acted in ways that either aligned with or defied his expectations, enabling the creation of the Provisional Parchment.
He absorbed the concept, then questioned its implications.
What then of Nami? Her actions had matched his expectations, though he hadn't yet activated his first gift during their encounter.
As his mind churned, his suspicions about Zoro's sudden gender switch connected with what the Sacred Covenant might entail. These pieces clicked into place, but before the revelation could fully crystallize, another transformation began.
Vibrations raged through his bones, reaching their peak before fading as a cloud of white and golden motes materialized in the air before him. They drifted like dust in sunbeams. He watched as these points of light swirled together and wove themselves into a rectangular form that solidified into the Provisional Parchment.
It resembled its completed counterpart with aged vellum and deep amber tones like a bounty poster, though it remained translucent like frosted glass. The upper half displayed a thin rectangular border around a vacant space where her portrait should be. Beneath the blank frame, Zora's details were visible:
[ Name: Roronoa Zora ]
[ Age: 19 ]
[ Power Rank: East Blue + ]
A fitting power rank he felt for her. Before her current power rank came three others, from highest to lowest: 'East Blue,' 'Cannon Fodder,' and 'Noncombatant.'
The ranks were straightforward to understand. Another example of 'East Blue +' would be Arlong, while 'East Blue' would be Captain Morgan. 'Cannon Fodder' would be Johnny and Yosaku, and 'Noncombatant' would be someone like Iceburg or King Cobra.
These weren't Mihawk's guesses. When he focused on a power rank, a list of examples would stream into his brain. His rank and the three above it didn't provide examples, which explained why he hadn't known about this information until now.
"Are you mute?" she asked.
He studied her gaze and deduced she couldn't see the Provisional Parchment. With this confirmed, he raised his right palm and watched the parchment dissolve before flowing back into his tattoo.
Mihawk lowered his hand and said, "Roronoa Zora."
"Heh, I guess not."
"In three days' time, you will face execution."
"Tch. Nonsense. I was promised that if I could survive here for a month, I would be set free." Zora nudged her head downward. "If you won't leave, then be useful and get that for me."
At her feet lay the crushed remains of a rice ball that the little girl, Rika, had brought to her.
Was Rika okay? Helmeppo had originally tossed her over the wall, and with no one to catch her this time... He couldn't change that fact now and would confirm things shortly.
Mihawk picked up the muddy ball. "You are certain?"
"Just shut up and give it here!"
He tossed it straight into her open mouth. Without hesitation, she devoured it in the most unladylike manner imaginable, tears forming in her eyes as she choked it down.
"Thanks for the food."
Mihawk, satisfied to see her character unchanged, decided it was time to leave. Nothing more could be learned about Luffy from this place. That, combined with Zora's existence, strengthened his desire to uncover what other changes might have occurred. A particular village came to mind as he considered his next destination.
"It is decided. You will join my pirate crew."
"As if it's up to you! Who would want to be a pirate anyway? They're the lowest of the low!"
"Helmeppo never intended to honor your agreement. We will set off once I return."
"Forget it! I'm not desperate enough to become an outlaw!" Zora turned her head away. "I refuse."
"Wait here."
☠ ☠ ☠
Damn him.
The nerve of that man! Declaring she would join him, as if her opinion on the matter had been nothing more than an inconvenient noise.
Zora strained against the ropes, but hesitated a second later. She couldn't break free here because that idiot son had made her a promise.
'Helmeppo never intended to honor your agreement.'
The words echoed in her mind. She scowled, brushing them aside. What did a criminal know about honor, anyway?
She'd struck a deal: one month of endurance for her freedom. Clear, straightforward. The world might be cruel, but it still had rules. A promise was a line carved in stone. You didn't break it, and she wouldn't break hers.
That conviction burned in her chest. There was no way she would die here, and she didn't need his help. She would survive this ordeal and achieve her dreams through willpower alone.
Zora looked toward the base. Why would he go in there? Her reputation as a bounty hunter must've spread further than she'd realized. He likely knew she was a swordswoman and had gone to retrieve her swords.
What a fool.
A knot of indignation tightened in her gut. His intrusion could shatter the agreement she was staking her life on. If he wreaked havoc inside and they learned why he had come, that idiot son would have the perfect excuse to declare their promise void. They would paint her as his accomplice, a pirate consort. She wouldn't remain a prisoner; she'd become a branded criminal.
The thought didn't frighten her. It infuriated her. To have her reputation stained not by her own actions, but by the meddling of some quiet, arrogant bastard, was an intolerable insult.
Five minutes later...
Zora listened for sounds of combat, but none came. Rather, she heard approaching footsteps, steady and unhurried, accompanied by something scraping through the dirt.
Through the open gates of the execution yard, a figure drew closer.
He carried her three katanas under his left arm while his right hand pulled the unconscious, bound form of Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan across the ground.
Then another sound resounded: frantic shouting and the thunder of dozens of running boots echoing from the base. The hornets' nest had been kicked, and the swarm was coming.
As the horde of Marines neared, her heightened emotions settled into cold clarity. The promise had gone up in smoke. Her endurance meant nothing. Nine days forfeited because a pirate did exactly what they always do: whatever they pleased, without regard for anyone else.
Zora watched as he wordlessly released Morgan's ankle and walked to her side.
"What a dishonorable method. Lure the Marines here, set me free, and force me to join you."
"I am not forcing you." He responded and untied the ropes binding her left arm, then her right, and finally her abdomen.
Zora relished the cool sensation of freedom as the ropes no longer constricted her body. When he handed her the three blades, she secured them at her side and felt complete for the first time in weeks, though at the cost of being labeled an outlaw.
Marines flooded through the gate and into the yard, surrounding them both while wielding a mix of swords and rifles.
She furrowed her brow at their reaction. While they held weapons, those weapons remained lowered, and their demeanor wasn't as hostile as it should have been.
A Marine with tanned skin and a green ascot that hung to his chest stepped forward, arms behind his back.
"Ripper."
She caught the name spoken by the cloaked man. Was that the name of the Marine who had just stepped forward? But why would he know that? No, it didn't matter now. This was it. She would be forced to strike them all down. Given the choice: death or becoming an outlaw, she chose the latter.
"We're free!"
"Yes!"
"Long live the Marines!"
Her muscles relaxed as the Marines shouted in celebration, tossing their weapons skyward.
Ripper cleared his throat, and the Marines quieted. "For what you've done... we appreciate it! You saved our base and this town from that tyrant." He looked toward the unconscious Morgan. "However, you still trespassed onto a Marine base, and for that violation of the law, we cannot allow you to stay in this town. You will leave by the end of the day."
He gave them a stern look before pointing to his right. "You two. Escort them out of the base and ensure they depart by nightfall."
"Yes, sir!"
Zora walked in silence beside the pirate as they left the base, following the path that cut through the center of Shells Town toward the small port on the far side of the island.
The two young Marines kept their distance behind them.
As they neared the port at the bottom of the slope, he asked, "Have you decided?"
She considered her position. After the day's events, could anyone truly call her an outlaw? Good or bad, did those labels matter? Her goal remained clear: to make her name known worldwide. Beyond even the world, considering the vow she gave to Koushirou. She would become so famous that even Heaven would know her name.
"Fine," Zora said. "I'll join your pirate crew. I promise you that. But let's get one thing straight: I'm only doing this to accomplish my dream."
She stopped, grabbed his arm and stared straight into his lightless hood. "I will become the world's number one swordsman! So if you ever make me abandon my dream, I will have you cut your stomach open to earn my forgiveness!"
"..."
"Hold it, Roronoa Zora!"
Her gaze shifted toward a familiar grating voice.
Helmeppo emerged from a doorway with two Marines flanking him. Above them, a large sign read 'Food Foo.'
"So, you couldn't keep your word and escaped like the filthy criminal you are? I should've set your execution date for this morning instead of three days from now."
As Helmeppo walked to the center of the street, hands tucked in his pockets, Zora cast a quick look at the cloaked man while a crowd gathered on both sides to watch.
Through the gathered onlookers, a little girl with bandaged legs and arms burst onto the wide dirt path between the buildings. "Sister!"
"Rika! Get back here!"
Helmeppo curled his lip at the girl's intrusion. "Didn't learn your lesson from last time? You two, give her a good beating."
The Marines behind him hesitated.
"I'll tell my father if you do—"
Zora's fist crashed into the idiot son's face, sending him flying. He rolled across the ground until he came to a stop in a similar pose and state to how his father had been back at the base.
Before the Marines guarding Helmeppo could respond, the two Marines who had escorted Zora and the cloaked man rushed forward. They whispered news to their companions, whose faces brightened with excitement and relief.
Rika stepped next to Zora and tugged at her black pants. "Are you leaving, sister?"
Zora gently patted her head. "Hn. I imagine so. The rice balls... they were good. Thank you."
"What have I told you about talking to strangers?" Rika's mother caught her daughter and dragged her away.
A faint smile formed on Zora's lips as Rika waved and shouted. "Bye bye!"
Zora turned to the cloaked man. "Ready to leave, Captain?"
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Powerstones, collections, and comments fuel me. Thank you in advance!