That figure walked in on the storming sea. Wherever he passed, the tens of thousands of furious waves all bowed their heads.
The rain was still pounding on Marineford. It drenched the steel ramparts, washed over the clash of Golden Lion, Garp, and Sengoku, beat on every broken stone and every splatter of blood. Only one person it did not touch.
The downpour bent.
As if some invisible barrier bloomed around him, the rain split and flowed along an unseen arc, forming a perfectly dry domain.
Not a drop reached the hem of his coat. It was like the sky and the sea had silently agreed to make way for him.
That scene, like a god's small miracle, made the chaotic battlefield stall for a heartbeat.
Marines fighting for their lives, officers on the outskirts, even the ones struggling to hold back the shockwaves of three living legends, all of them turned to look at the man who was walking in against the storm itself.
His entrance even stole the thunder from the battle of Garp, Sengoku, and Shiki.
"Who is that."
"Walking on a sea like that… is that a Devil Fruit user."
"It is him." A Marine rear admiral's voice trembled. His eyes were full of dread and disbelief. "The Waveguide King, Aaron Kael."
That name fell into the Marine ranks like a spark into hot oil.
"Why is he here. The World Government already pulled his bounty and recognized his neutrality."
"If he shows up in Marineford at a time like this, what is he after."
"One Golden Lion is bad enough. Now a second monster…"
Panic and despair spread faster than any cannon blast.
Every gaze, wary and confused and just a little afraid, followed the man with the black coat and the black-gold naginata as he strolled through the chaos toward the center of the field.
He dared to walk. So he walked.
The three who were fighting had of course noticed him.
Garp slowly lowered his fist. The black of his Armament faded. Seeing it was Kael, his expression went complicated.
The golden Buddha that Sengoku had become halted as well. The massive head turned a fraction. Golden eyes locked on Kael, and the dignified face tightened with vigilance.
"Ze ha ha ha."
The Golden Lion's wild laughter broke that breath of silence. He floated in midair, eyes bright with excitement he did not bother to hide.
"I knew it. Kael." He sounded like a madman who had just found a kindred soul. "You came for Roger too."
Kael finally stopped.
He stood at the edge of the ruined square and faced the three, making a triangle of power.
He ignored the stabbing looks from Garp and Sengoku. He just raised his head to look at the Golden Lion hanging in the rain.
There was no hostility in those golden pupils. There was a touch of mockery. And something buried much deeper. Pity.
"Sasshiburi dana, Haki… Golden Lion."
"You two." Sengoku finally could not help himself and roared. In his Daibutsu form his voice was a temple bell, making the very air hum. "What do you think Marineford is."
Garp did not shout. He only stared at Kael, eyes shadowed. He clenched his fist, slowly loosened it, and spoke in a low voice. "This is not where you should be."
Kael's gaze slid past the Golden Lion and fell on Garp and Sengoku.
The faint amusement faded from his face. In its place came a seriousness neither of them had seen on him for many years.
The next second, both Garp and Sengoku stiffened.
Kael used his Fruit to open a private channel.
[...I will not interfere with Roger's execution.]
It was Kael's voice. Clear. Quiet. Carrying a weight that did not allow argument.
[When it is over, I will take his body. I will bury him.]
Garp and Sengoku's faces froze.
They looked at each other. They both saw shock there. And something harder. Trouble.
A burial.
As if they had not wanted that too.
As if they had not both thought that a man who had shaken an age ought to at least rest whole.
But the ones sitting high above in the Holy Land would never nod to that.
A highest-order directive had already been sent down. After execution, the corpse of Gol D. Roger would be paraded across the world to frighten every pirate with an idea in his skull.
It was cruelty wrapped in ceremony. A political sledgehammer.
Garp's fist closed again. Knuckles crackled.
The anger that had been sitting in his chest like a hot stone almost broke its walls.
He had fought with Roger and laughed with him for decades. No one knew Roger better. No one was closer. No one understood better that this was not the ending Roger would choose.
To make Roger wander even after death, to display his body like some trophy, it stung worse than a knife.
But what could he do. He was a hero of the Marines. There were Marines behind him. Civilians behind them. The word justice sat on his shoulders like a mountain.
Sengoku fell into silence too.
He knew politics better than Garp. He could see the entire board. He knew why the Five Elders would do it. He knew which line could not be crossed.
What Kael was asking was, in plain terms, for them to slap the World Government across the face in front of the whole world.
Their silence was the answer.
Kael watched them.
He saw Garp's smothered rage and powerlessness. He saw Sengoku's locked brows, the weight and the resolve.
The last sliver of light in his eyes sank. Cold water over a fire. Down to the bottom.
So that is how it is.
I just wanted an excuse to wreck Marineford. And I didn't even get the last bit of decency.
Not even that.
To tell the truth, even if you said yes, I was still going to make a mess.
He laughed.
It was a small, dry sound.
He raised his hand and gripped the hilt of the black-gold naginata on his back.
Shing.
The clear metallic slide tore through the rain and thunder and wind.
The blade came free inch by inch. Black-gold steel gave off a cold light that seemed to drink in every color around it.
Kael lifted his head. A dangerous smile spread over his face.
There was no warmth in it.
Only ice.
And decision.
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