Chapter 13: Im
In a gorgeous great hall, a hooded figure could be seen walking gracefully.
The figure's body was fully covered; even the patent celestial dragon hair was covered by a thin, long throne.
The only thing that was visible about the figure were two ring-like red eyes, staring at a piece of paper held by its gloved hand.
This paper had a bunch of key information written on it and one large photo attached at the top.
This photo was of a celestial dragon named Mark.
Mark Rose.
"A naturally mutated king...?"
The figure muttered softly, sadly; no one was there to hear it; the voice aimlessly echoed in the endless hallways.
_Step_
_Step_
_Step_
The hooded figure calmly watched the data about Mark while walking; before long, the figure had reached a throne room.
This throne room contained a grand throne, a throne that was also known as the empty throne to the rest of the world.
"I'm sama."
Saint Saturn bowed faithfully to the figure.
This figure was also known as Im.
Im didn't pay attention to the Elder and gracefully sat on the supposed empty throne.
Im's actions felt completely natural, but this showed something important: the so-called empty throne was never really empty; it was always Im's.
After taking a seat atop the throne, those red eyes kept staring at the only Elder who was called here.
"Begin…"
Getting the signal that Saint Saturn started talking, he knew his lord didn't like to speak much.
Long life does that to a person; things get very boring, and Lord Im has been alive before he was even born.
"I'm sama, Mark Rose is undergoing a transformation; his body is naturally reaching its maximum potential without any training on his part."
"We have checked everything about him; he is the biological son of Luna and Charles Rose."
"He is a purebred celestial dragon; there is no doubt about it."
Taking out a paper from his suit, the Elder referenced some information from it.
"He hasn't contacted any suspicious people recently; this is most likely a natural change."
"Which means his loyalty still lies with the celestial dragon's."
Flipping the pages, Saturn found the part that described what was happening to Mark, or what they thought was happening to Mark.
Saturn and the rest of the Elders didn't know that Mark was not undergoing any natural change, but he was purposely using life return to make himself change.
This made them think in an entirely wrong direction; they were thinking that he was undergoing the type of change someone like Big Mom had experienced.
The world government had some research about Big Mom's transformation; her data was sent to them by Mother Caramel all those years ago.
So they were comparing Mark's change to her, in hopes of understanding what was happening to him.
"Mark is changing right now, but his strength isn't on the level of Charlotte Linlin."
"Everyone's potential is different so this isn't a surprise. But one thing is same for both Mark and Charlotte Linlin."
"Both have the potential to awaken every brand of Haki, including Conqueror's."
"And Mark should have already awakened both Observation and Conqueror's Haki."
Saturn paused and stopped talking; he was waiting for a gesture to continue.
"Go on…"
After Im gave him the nod of approval, the Elder then said the most important point.
"Unless we make sure he has correct views on us, whatever determination Mark has in his mind..."
Looking straight at Im, he spoke seriously.
"That determination will become his dream, as you know, Im sama; this might not be good for us."
"If not guided correctly, Mark Rose will have a dream of his own and start working towards it."
"There is a chance that his dream could be against our cause."
Situations like these were why the world government allowed Mother Caramel to adopt Big Mom all those years ago and why they wanted to get young Kaido in the Marines.
Unless guided from the beginning, people with king's haki and great potential develop a dream of their own; it is impossible to make them loyal to the world government after that.
"Although I personally believe Mark is not a threat."
"We have checked his daily life; his nature is that of a noble celestial dragon."
"He has a stable mind and hasn't degenerated like the others either."
Im softly picked up another sheet; this page contained the thoughts of servants who worked in Rose Manor.
"...?"
From the narrowed red eyes, one could see that Im's interest was piqued after reading this.
The Elder understood this, so he elaborated.
"As you can see, Im sama; al his servants respect and fear him."
Clearing his throat, Saint Saturn concluded Mark's analysis report.
"He is neither a degenerate like his friend Charlos nor a fool like Homing."
"He maintains noble grace while understanding his position in the grand scheme of things."
Saturn believed that if you were a noble, you should act like a noble; getting power in your head is a critical mistake.
Every elder knows how to avoid such a mistake; that was one of the reasons why Mark was thought to be important, even before his transformation.
This kind of attitude was something they needed to maintain the long rule of celestial dragons.
"I see."
But Im didn't reply beyond a general acknowledgment.
Im simply kept reading through the details on Mark, what he did, how he acted, how he lived, everything.
After a long life, quick decisions weren't a thing Im was interested in.
"What is this…?"
But when the page containing what Mark did twelve years ago came into view, Im stopped and looked at it closely.
"Did he let them go during the fisher tiger incident…?"
"Amazon Lily…"
Im muttered while narrowing those ring-like red eyes.
Saturn curiously saw which part of the information Im was reading, and found that it was about the incident twelve years ago, when fisher tiger had invaded their holy land.
"Im sama, what Mark did that day was found to be a mistake—"
Saint Saturn abruptly stopped speaking when Im raised a hand.
He was just warned not to speak by his lord! Saturn shivered and bowed lower.
But that page seems to have been the key that let Im reach a decision.
_Tap_
Keeping the page down, Im let it rest upon the empty throne; picking up a stamp of approval, Im pasted it on Mark's photo.
Im allowed Mark to continue serving as a God's Knight.
This made Saturn wonder what Im saw in Mark's actions that day that they didn't see.
'Did Mark purposely let the Boa sisters go that day, it wasn't a mistake?'
'Or is there something in his actions that we cannot see?'
'Is it his connection to Boa Hancock, or is it because of Amazon Lily in particular...?'
Saturn wondered, but Im didn't bother to explain what everyone missed in that incident, so he didn't ask.
He will only do what he was told to do.
After Im gave Mark the stamp of approval, Saint Saturn ignored all the doubts in his mind, bowed, and left the castle.
This castle was something he both longed to come to and was afraid of at the same time.
It was the castle in the middle of the whole world.
Castle Pangaea.
Chapter 14: Boa Hancock
After a whole day of work, Saint Saturn was sitting in his house and taking care of his cane.
He didn't have much use for it beyond walking nowadays, so there wasn't a lot to take care of, and thus his mind wandered to Im-sama.
"What happened that day that we failed to see?"
"Did Mark let those three sisters escape, or was it a coincidence?"
Saturn muttered; he wasn't actually asking the question to anyone; he was just talking to himself.
He wasn't able to understand what Im sama was thinking when he saw that page, so he decided to put the events in order.
"Twelve years ago, Fisher Tiger invaded holy land and released all the slaves."
"A lot of people escaped that day; the three Boa sisters also ran away during that time."
Wiping some wood oil on his cane, the elder wondered how Mark was involved in everything.
"Mark was out with his guards when the fisher tiger invaded, and he happened to meet those three sisters."
Saturn narrowed his eyes and thought about what happened next.
"According to Mark, he told them that escaping from holy land was impossible; and asked them to go back as he didn't want them to die in vain."
Looking at his shining cane, Saturn smiled and put it back on the ground.
"Because he knew escape was out of the question, he took them to the edge of the holy land."
"He wanted to show them what happens to people who try to escape from here."
Frowning lightly, Saturn got to the part that he thought Im Sama might have found worthy of consideration.
"But after reaching the edge, Boa Hancock attacked Mark and jumped down with her sisters."
"She didn't appreciate his kindness, even though Mark had stopped his guards from shooting them before."
Saturn put his hands on top of his cane; he found this story perfectly logical; this didn't seem like a lie.
Hancock wasn't the kind of girl to give up because of fear.
"She used Mark and his guards to reach the edge; otherwise, she would have risked getting caught again."
So where was the problem… wondered Saturn.
But then he realized what Im likely saw in the situation that they didn't.
"I see, so it wasn't an accident."
Smilingly, he whispered.
"It was fate."
"It was fate!"
Yelled Boa Hancock while hugging a pillow that had Mark's face drawn on it.
Her sisters were looking at her with a helpless expression.
"Sister, he is a celestial dragon… Why are you so attached to him? They were going to kill us all."
Marigold asked weakly; she didn't get it; she didn't even know what to say; she hated Mark like she hated every celestial dragon.
Yet her sister was rolling around with his face drawn on a pillow.
Sandersonia was trying to pull Hancock off the pillow from the side.
"Enough, sister! He is a celestial dragon!"
"We still have their symbol burned on our backs! We cannot even remove it!"
Watching Hancock not wanting to let go of the pillow regardless of what she said, Sandersonia sat down on the ground with helplessness.
"Why did you get love sickness for this man!?! Why couldn't it be someone else!?"
Cried Sandersonia.
Marigold was sad as well; they didn't know why their sister was acting this way, but Boa Hancock didn't say a word.
It was as if she was intent on not telling a soul what the reason for her lovesickness was.
That was until Elder Nyon came into her room.
"Hancock, It's been twelve years; I think you should let them know now."
Marigold and Sandersonia looked confused after hearing this, while Boa Hancock trembled.
"…don't you dare."
Hancock whispered and held Mark's pillow tighter, but elder Nyon ignored it completely.
"Hancock, you are the queen of Amazon lily starting today."
"I have waited until this day without saying anything, just because I wanted you to become a queen without issues."
"But it's been twelve years now; your sisters deserve to know the truth."
"Tell them what happened that day. What did Mark Rose do, that you fell in love with him?"
Hancock looked down at the pillow without speaking for an entire minute before she slowly got up with a twist to her waist.
She looked like a snake who was trying to intimidate her prey. But Elder Nyon was neither a prey nor intimidated.
"Okay, if you don't tell them, I will, Marigold, Sandersonia."
Hancock trembled; the two sisters suspiciously looked at elder Nyon.
They wanted to know what the hell was going on.
"You guys didn't escape that day by chance; that boy Mark made sure that you escaped."
Hancock put her hands on her mouth; tears were threatening to spill any second out of her eyes.
"You! I promised him not to tell anyone!"
The next she became enraged and lunged at elder Nyon; she started shaking the old woman from the collar.
But the old woman was completely used to this; she didn't even blink.
"Nonsense, your sisters were there too; were you planning on hiding this from them their entire lives?"
Hancock didn't stop shaking Nyon as if that would solve all her worries.
"But I promised him!"
"I was supposed to keep it a secret until the end of times!"
Meanwhile, Sandersonia looked at Hancock in shock; hearing all this, she was feeling very out of the loop.
"No wait! When did that happen?!"
"We were there with you that day. Didn't we just walk to the edge and you kicked him away?"
Marigold also nodded quickly.
"Yeah, you guys didn't even say anything to each other!"
"When did he tell you all this?! How do I not know?"
Boa smirked and left Nyon's collar; she joined her hands together, as if remembering a precious time.
"He didn't tell me anything! I just know it!"
"Ha??"
Even Elder Nyon was shocked after hearing this.
Everything she said just now, was something she had figured out by herself.
It was an easy conclusion to reach because Boa Hancock developed love sickness shortly after returning.
Elder Nyon was an Amazonian too; she knew how their biology worked.
Hancock would have died if Nyon didn't give her the pillow with Mark's face on it, and give her a solid goal to work towards before meeting him again.
But now Hancock is telling her that she imagined everything!
"So you just think he did all that?! There was no secret conversion between you two?!"
Elder Nyon gasped, but Hancock proudly raised her head.
As if showing off how amazing they were to hold conversations with their heart alone.
"Girl… I don't know what to do with you."
Elder Nyon shook her head; she walked slowly away with a sigh; she had given up thinking on this topic.
"Perhaps this is her fate."
Whispering lightly, Nyon went her way.
Until Hancock got a grip on herself, she still needed to manage the work of the empress.
'That Mark, he must be truly extraordinary.'
'Hancock might not be wrong here; there is a possibility that she didn't imagine this.'
'After all, Hancock is not an ordinary girl; she has the potential of a king.'
When a user of conqueror's haki like Hancock thinks like this, then elder Nyon has no doubt that the man named Mark must also have the quality of a king.
He was also a conqueror, a conqueror who conquered a conqueror; not many men can achieve such a feat, but all those who do are destined for greatness.
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