Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Devil's Choice
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The sea was quiet now, its surface unnaturally still, as if the Grand Line itself held its breath. In the aftermath of the brutal naval battle, there was an eerie calm that settled over the water. The once mighty ships of the Yonko, splintered and charred, now lay scattered across the waves, debris from the wreckage littering the horizon. The Flying Dutchman, though lost beneath the waves, still held an invisible presence, its legend echoing in the minds of those who survived the battle.
Beneath the ocean's surface, in the cold depths where light could no longer reach, Davy Jones lay still. His body floated in the inky blackness, surrounded by the bones of lost ships and the silent whispers of the sea. He should have been dead. Kaido's final blow had been enough to break him, Beckman's bullet enough to finish the job. But death had never been simple for him, not since he'd taken up Poseidon's trident, not since he'd made that first fateful deal.
The sea wasn't done with him yet.
Somewhere in the darkness, a low, rumbling voice echoed.
"Rise."
Davy Jones' eyes fluttered open. Pain coursed through his body, the ache of battle still raw in his bones. But it wasn't the physical agony that consumed him now. It was something deeper, something that clawed at his very soul.
He drifted, suspended in the vastness of the ocean. His surroundings were shrouded in shadow, the dark waters pressing in on him from all sides. Slowly, the voice came again, louder this time, impossible to ignore.
"Davy Jones."
The sound was like a pull, dragging him out of the depths of unconsciousness and into the awareness of his surroundings. He knew that voice. It was the same voice that had whispered to him years ago, the voice that had offered him power beyond his wildest dreams. The voice of the Sea Devil.
Davy's eyes flicked open fully, his hand instinctively reaching for the trident. But it wasn't there. Instead, he felt the coldness of the deep pressing against his skin, a reminder of the cost he'd already paid. His power had always come with a price, and now he was being called to settle that debt.
A figure began to emerge from the darkness, a shadowy silhouette forming in the void. It was neither man nor beast, but something far older, far more terrible. The Sea Devil had no fixed shape; it shifted with the currents, a mass of black tendrils and glowing eyes that seemed to stretch into eternity. Its voice was the voice of the ocean itself, vast and uncaring, ancient and indifferent.
"You have come far, Davy Jones," the Sea Devil hissed, its voice slithering into his mind. "But now, the time has come for you to choose."
Jones glared at the figure, teeth gritted, struggling to summon the strength to respond. His body ached with the weight of defeat, and the memory of his crew—Cragg's death, the shattering of his empire—still burned in his mind. But something else gnawed at him, something darker. The power he had wielded, the monstrous strength of the trident, had left a void in him. The more he used it, the more it consumed him.
The Sea Devil drifted closer, its formless mass swirling around him. "You are bound to me, just as you are bound to the sea. You have tasted true power, and now you must decide what comes next."
Jones' voice, when it finally came, was a rasp, raw with fury and despair. "I made my choice long ago. I don't need you to remind me."
The Sea Devil laughed, a sound that reverberated through the waters, sending ripples through the deep. "Oh, but your choice is far from complete. Power, Davy Jones, always comes at a cost. You know this. You've always known."
Jones clenched his fists, rage surging through him. "I've lost everything. My crew, my ship—Cragg is dead because of you. I've paid your price a hundred times over!"
The Sea Devil's eyes glowed brighter, its form shifting, tendrils wrapping around Jones like a snake tightening around its prey. "And yet you live. You wielded the power of gods, and still you stand. You crave it, don't you? The trident, the sea, the power to command life and death—it consumes you."
Jones struggled against the tendrils, his heart pounding. The Sea Devil's words struck a chord deep within him, one he could not deny. The power had consumed him, and even now, even after all the death, the loss, and the pain, he still felt its pull. He had built an empire with that power. He had risen from nothing to challenge the greatest forces of the seas. And yet, the cost had been unbearable.
"What do you want from me?" Jones demanded, his voice trembling with anger. "What more can you take?"
The Sea Devil's voice lowered, becoming almost seductive. "This is the moment of your greatest decision, Davy Jones. You can continue on the path you have chosen, to wield the power of the sea until it consumes you utterly. You will be the master of the depths, a king with no equal. But there will be no return. You will become one with the sea, a creature of the abyss, forever lost to its depths."
Jones' breath caught in his throat as the weight of the words settled in. Become one with the sea. He knew what that meant. He had always felt it, lingering just beyond the edge of his consciousness—the pull of the abyss, the endless depths that waited to swallow him whole. To wield that kind of power would mean losing the last of his humanity. He would become the very thing he had always feared.
But the Sea Devil wasn't finished. "Or," it hissed, its tendrils tightening, "you can choose redemption. You can walk away from the power you have claimed. You can turn your back on the sea, on the trident, and seek a path of salvation. Your soul will be freed from its binds, but you will be no more than a man. A mortal, weak and vulnerable."
The words hung in the water like lead, each one a dagger to Jones' heart. Redemption. The word tasted foreign in his mouth. He had long since given up any hope of redemption. He had betrayed his crew, taken countless lives, and sold his soul for power. The idea of walking away from it all, of abandoning everything he had fought for, seemed impossible.
But the alternative… to become a creature of the abyss, to lose himself entirely to the sea… that was unthinkable.
Jones' mind raced. The faces of his fallen crew flashed before his eyes—Cragg, the men who had followed him, trusted him. They had paid the ultimate price for his ambition. And now, here he was, at the crossroads of his life, torn between the very power that had driven him to greatness and the chance to reclaim what little remained of his soul.
"Make your choice, Davy Jones," the Sea Devil whispered, its voice curling around him like smoke. "Power or redemption. But know this—there is no turning back once the choice is made."
The ocean around him seemed to press in closer, the weight of the decision crushing him from all sides. For what felt like an eternity, he hovered on the edge of that choice, the full weight of his past pulling him down like an anchor.
He could feel the power of the trident still within him, calling to him, promising him more—more strength, more control, more of everything he had ever wanted. But beneath that promise was the abyss, waiting to claim him, to pull him into the darkness and never let go.
His heart pounded in his chest. His breath came in ragged gasps. And then, finally, he spoke.
"I…"
His voice faltered, and for the first time in his life, Davy Jones felt truly uncertain.
He closed his eyes, picturing the sea, his crew, the faces of the men who had followed him into hell and back. Cragg's death still burned in his chest, a reminder of the cost of his ambition. And for the first time, he allowed himself to truly feel the weight of their loss. He had lost so much—too much.
"I choose…"
The words came slowly, each one like dragging a stone from the depths of his soul.
"…Redemption."
The sea fell silent. The Sea Devil's eyes narrowed, its form stilling as the words echoed through the water.
"Very well," it whispered, its voice laced with dark amusement. "Redemption you shall have."
The tendrils around him loosened, and suddenly, the weight that had been pressing on him lifted. The darkness began to recede, the inky black waters fading into a deep, blue expanse. Jones felt the coldness of the deep retreat, replaced by something warmer, something lighter. For the first time in years, he felt… free.
But the Sea Devil wasn't done.
"Remember, Davy Jones," it hissed, its voice fading into the abyss. "Redemption is not without its cost. You will pay for your choices, one way or another."
And then, the sea swallowed the figure whole, leaving Jones alone in the stillness of the water.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone