章 1: The Navy Traitor
Ploc... ploc... ploc...
The sound of dripping water echoed through the gloomy marine prison, each drop breaking the silence with a resonance that wound through the dark corridors. It was a hypnotic, incessant sound, like the relentless march of time in that forsaken place. The stone walls, covered in moss and dampness, seemed to crumble under the weight of the years, while the thick, stale air filled every corner.
Tap... tap... tap...
Firm footsteps shattered the monotonous stillness, reverberating with an authority that hadn't been felt in that abandoned prison for a long time. The metallic clank of boots on the wet floor mixed with the constant murmur of water, creating a haunting symphony.
Minutes later, the footsteps stopped in front of a cell. A chained figure raised his gaze. His gray eyes, dulled by years of imprisonment, examined the newcomer. The ruined cell barely let through the faint light from the corridor, reflecting weakly off the rusted chains.
"Magellan? What are you doing here?" The prisoner's voice broke the silence with a serenity that clashed with the grim surroundings, but a spark of curiosity could be sensed in his tone, defying the pessimism that surrounded him.
"The spear of justice... or rather, the Marine traitor, Blackthorn D. Alaric," Magellan replied with biting sarcasm. "Rejoice, there's still someone who remembers you after twelve years in this cell."
"Fufufu~," a soft laugh escaped Alaric, resonating with ironic calm.
"Who would have so much free time to waste it on a condemned man like me?" His tone was playful, but a hint of melancholy crossed his eyes, barely noticeable.
"I'm the one with free time," a serene yet palpably arrogant voice responded.
A woman of extraordinary beauty slowly approached the cell, her elegant and majestic presence standing out amidst the desolation. Nearby prisoners began shouting vulgar things at her, but she kept her gaze firmly on Alaric, her blue eyes laden with a mixture of sadness and determination.
Alaric's gray eyes regained some life upon seeing the woman before him. The faint light highlighted her perfect features, and as he observed her with a small smile, Hancock couldn't help but pause to admire him. Even in his state of disgrace, his figure radiated raw, powerful beauty, a strength that hadn't crumbled along with the walls around him. His pale skin, framed by tattoos of snakes coiling around his torso and arms, seemed to shimmer in the darkness. The detailed and organic design of the snakes made them appear almost alive. His bare chest, marked by defined muscles that remained firm despite his imprisonment, emphasized his imposing presence.
His face was handsome and well-defined, with sharp features. He had a piercing gaze, his eyes intense and expressive, giving him a confident and somewhat enigmatic appearance. His lips were thin, carrying a slight smile that added a seductive touch.
For Hancock, seeing Alaric in such circumstances, his body reduced to mere physical strength but his spirit still intact, was like witnessing a broken sculpture that had not yet been destroyed. Despite her usual arrogance, time hadn't diminished what he meant to her. Alaric had been the man who, without hesitation, sacrificed everything for her freedom. And now, seeing him chained, stripped of everything, brought her a sadness she had rarely experienced.
Hancock advanced slowly, her wrists weighed down by the kairoseki chains. She raised a hand, but the chain yanked hard, preventing her from touching Alaric's face. Her fingers hovered inches from his skin, trembling with frustration as her gaze hardened, suppressing the tide of emotions threatening to spill over.
"Twelve years have passed, Boa Hancock, or should I call you 'Pirate Empress?'" Alaric said with a warm smile, one that seemed out of place for someone who had spent so much time in prison. "I'm glad to see you're well; you're even more beautiful now," he whispered, his voice filled with genuine affection.
"Alaric…" Hancock's voice trembled as she said his name, and her eyes revealed a deep pain she had suppressed for years.
The sight of Alaric, chained in that cell, with his slightly wavy, jet-black hair disheveled, made Hancock's heart sink. The man who had protected her, the one she admired for his strength and spirit, was reduced to a prisoner. Yet even in these circumstances, she couldn't deny his allure—a combination of physical beauty and unbreakable will.
Alaric noticed the sadness in her eyes and the internal struggle to express her feelings. He smiled softly, as if trying to ease her burden.
"Hancock, you don't have to say anything. Just seeing that you're alright is enough for me; it makes me feel like my sacrifice was worth it."
The prisoners' shouts intensified, creating chaos that echoed through the walls. Magellan and Hannyabal, frustrated by the disturbance, began patrolling the cells, attempting to calm the riot. Hancock, taking advantage of the disorder, moved closer to Alaric.
"I don't have much time," Hancock whispered urgently, her voice losing its usual haughty tone for a moment. "A young man named Monkey D. Luffy has infiltrated the prison to save his brother, Portgas D. Ace. Take this opportunity to escape and head to Amazon Lily. I'll help you hide from the Marines. No matter how much time passes, I'll be waiting for you."
Alaric furrowed his brow slightly upon hearing the name Monkey D. Luffy. A spark of interest flashed in his eyes, but with it came deep doubt. Was it worth continuing to fight?
"Take this as a gift," Hancock, with some difficulty due to the shackles, pulled a pair of golden cobra-shaped earrings from her heels and tossed them toward Alaric. The earrings briefly glinted before falling to the ground near him.
"It's time for me to go," Hancock said as Magellan and Hannyabal, having calmed the prisoners, approached. Her expression returned to one of calm, her gaze impenetrable.
"It was nice seeing you. You're much more attractive than I imagined, Alaric. You have great willpower, worthy of someone who was once known as the youngest Vice Admiral in history," Hancock remarked as she left, trying to appear composed, though her hands had a slight tremor that didn't escape Alaric's notice.
Alaric, watching her walk away, as her hips swayed gracefully with each step, couldn't help but think with an ironic smile: Well, I can't deny she's got a nice rear.
"Goodbye. Thanks for the visit, beauty," Alaric called out, his ironic tone serving as a mask for the doubts swirling in his mind.
Hancock briefly paused upon hearing his words and gave him one last glance before continuing on her way.
Her figure quickly disappeared from view, restoring the silence that had been briefly interrupted. The encounter lasted only a few minutes, but it was enough to rekindle a flicker of hope in his dull eyes. With a smile adorning his face, he thought: Now, how am I supposed to pick up those earrings if I'm cuffed? Oh, Hancock, you really are a fool.
He shook his head slightly with a smile before closing his eyes, sinking into his thoughts. I guess I should escape. I must not disappoint the woman who gave me her precious cobra earrings. Besides, a new era is coming, and I want to be part of it.
Alaric, chained and with his head bowed, broke the silence of Impel Down's dark corridor, not with words, but with a soft melody, barely audible at first. His voice echoed strangely in that gloomy place, like a distant echo of something greater.
"Yohohoho, Yohohoho... Binks' sake will flow," Alaric hummed. The song, known by pirates all over the world, seemed utterly out of place in that dark, deep prison.
Ace, just a few meters away, lifted his head. He recognized the melody, and he wasn't the only one. Some prisoners began to turn, surprised; others chuckled in disbelief.
"What irony!" a prisoner shouted from the shadows. "An ex-marine singing a pirate's song!"
"Have you become one of us, Alaric?" another bellowed, his voice dripping with mockery.
What puzzled the prisoners more than the song itself was the fact that Alaric, who had been a quiet, almost ghostly figure until recently, was now singing with a calm smile on his face. Before Hancock's visit, Alaric had been a broken man, silenced by years in the depths of Impel Down. But now, something had shifted. The prisoners noticed, exchanging wary glances.
"Did the Pirate Empress wake him up?" a prisoner muttered.
"He was just a shadow before she came…" whispered another, intrigued.
Alaric, indifferent to the murmurs and glances, continued singing.
"The sun sets over the sea
And in the sky, you'll hear
The birds' song as they soar free."
Ace, frowning, watched Alaric with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. What did this sudden change mean? Something didn't add up.
"Isn't it curious?" Alaric commented, breaking his own song and raising his gaze to Ace. "Whitebeard, that old fool, is willing to challenge the entire world just for you. Don't you think that's utter madness? Risking everything for one person."
Alaric's words made Ace clench his fists. A simmering anger began to build inside him.
"Shut up!" Ace snapped, his eyes blazing with rage. "You have no idea what you're talking about! Whitebeard is more than that. He's our family! I'm his son!"
Unfazed by Ace's fury, Alaric let out a low, almost amused laugh.
"Family, huh?" he repeated, as if tasting the word. "I wouldn't have guessed... But maybe that's his greatness. The man's a fool... but an admirable one. Defying the world government, putting his entire crew in danger... all for you." He paused, and his expression turned more serious. "Not many have that kind of conviction."
Ace, still seething, noticed something strange in Alaric's tone. There was no mockery in his words, but rather a kind of unspoken respect. How could this man, a former vice admiral, understand something like that?
"Hmph, Whitebeard might be a fool," Alaric continued, "but if anyone has the guts to face the world and stand a chance, it's him. Maybe that's why I respect him, though I'd never admit to following him."
Jimbe, who had remained silent all this time, observed Alaric closely. Something in his words felt genuine, as if he spoke from experience, from a knowledge that the rest of them lacked. Ace noticed Jimbe's gaze and decided to ask.
"You know him?" Ace asked, still irritated.
Jimbe nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful.
"I didn't meet him personally, but I heard about him from my former captain, Fisher Tiger," Jimbe said quietly, loud enough for only Ace to hear. "It was said that a marine, disillusioned with the world's justice, accompanied Fisher Tiger when he freed the slaves from Mariejois. That man was Alaric."
Ace was stunned. He could hardly believe that someone like Alaric, a high-ranking ex-marine, had helped free slaves.
"He... helped free the slaves?" Ace whispered, almost in disbelief.
Jimbe nodded again, his eyes still fixed on Alaric.
"My captain said Alaric saw the world's true face during that mission… and stopped believing in Marine justice. He's a complicated man, Ace."
Alaric, seemingly oblivious to or deliberately ignoring the conversation, laughed again. His laughter echoed through the dark walls of Impel Down, making the atmosphere even more unsettling.
"This world is about to change..." he said with a sly smile. "And when it does, those ready to take their place in the new era will have their chance."
Alaric resumed humming "Binks' Sake," once again breaking the silence with his calm yet strangely determined voice. The prisoners, though divided between ridicule and uncertainty, listened.
"Binks' sake will flow
That's what we'll deliver
Sailing the seas
Pirates until the end!"
The lyrics, filled with determination, echoed in the minds of those trapped in Impel Down. Alaric, with his eyes closed, lost himself in the song, his voice full of a renewed sense of purpose.
"The storm's coming
And it'll arrive soon
The sound of the drums will reach us..."
Alaric paused briefly, letting the song's echo settle. Then he continued, his voice now carrying a tangible sense of hope and defiance.
"Don't give in now
It's time to live
The sun will always rise again…"
As the song continued, the air in Impel Down's Level 6 grew heavier. Ace kept watching Alaric, still intrigued, while Jimbe maintained his steady gaze on the man who seemed to have found a purpose in the darkness of that prison.
Jimbe, for his part, couldn't take his eyes off Alaric. Fisher Tiger had spoken of him as a man who, despite everything, still held onto a sense of honor and justice. Now, Jimbe began to understand why his old captain had mentioned his name. Alaric, somehow, seemed poised to play a key role in the events about to unfold.
After the last note of "Binks' Sake" faded, the gloomy atmosphere of Impel Down was left in a strange silence. Alaric remained still for a moment, his eyes closed, savoring his brief moment of introspection. Then, with a smile, he opened his eyes and looked down at the earrings Hancock had tossed to him.
"Now... how am I supposed to pick those up?" he muttered to himself, noticing the thick kairoseki shackles binding his hands.
Alaric, a towering figure of 2.12 meters with a muscular build, began awkwardly maneuvering, leaning forward to try and grab the earrings with little success. The chains clinked, but every time he was about to touch them, his hands fell short, as if the earrings were mocking him.
From the nearby cells, the prisoners watched the scene with fascination and amusement. The first laugh echoed soon enough.
"Look at the ex-vice admiral, the big tough guy, struggling with a pair of earrings!" a prisoner shouted, doubling over with laughter.
Another, emboldened by the jeers, added, "Those earrings are more out of reach than freedom itself!"
Alaric ignored the first taunts and kept at it. He squatted down, trying to stretch as far as he could. This time, the chains yanked him back just before his fingers brushed one of the golden earrings. He almost fell backward, prompting another wave of laughter.
"You should've asked Hancock to throw you something easier to grab, like… a spoon!" a prisoner yelled, shaking his chains.
Alaric remained still for a second, taking a deep breath, clearly trying to maintain his composure. Finally, with a sarcastic smile, he raised his head and addressed the prisoners.
"At least Hancock thought of me. You all only have your chains and bad jokes!" he retorted, throwing the line back with a mocking tone that silenced some prisoners instantly.
Ace, from his cell, watched the scene silently but couldn't help smirking a little. Jimbe, beside him, just shook his head, slightly incredulous.
"Not that you're helping much," Ace commented, crossing his arms as he watched Alaric go back to trying to pick up the earrings. "Looks like those aren't going to come to you on their own."
Alaric sighed, glancing toward the prisoners who were still laughing.
"I could be here all day trying this. Or better yet..." Alaric leaned forward again, but this time with a more... creative strategy. Instead of using his hands, he tried to grab the earrings with his toes.
The prisoners stared at him, astonished. One stopped laughing long enough to point and shout, "What the hell are you doing now? Don't tell me you've lost your dignity too!"
"Dignity?" Alaric replied, focused on his task. "After twelve years in this hole, trust me, that's no longer a priority."
Finally, after several awkward attempts and a lot of effort, Alaric managed to grasp one of the earrings with his toes. He lifted it slowly, almost as if it were a trophy, while the prisoners watched in a mix of disbelief and amusement.
"I've got it!" he announced triumphantly, letting the earring slide into his shackled hands. He held it up to his face, admiring the golden shine.
"What an achievement!" a prisoner called out sarcastically. "They should give you a medal for that!"
Alaric, not losing his cool, stared at the earring for a moment, then looked at the prisoners with a sly grin and responded:
"That's just the first. Wait until I grab the other one... this is just getting started!"
Laughter erupted once more in the cells. Though the mocking continued, Alaric couldn't help but smile to himself. Despite everything, he felt a bit of warmth in
クリエイターの想い 
RainHR
RainHR Hi, I'm the author, I'm not a native English speaker so there will be a lot of mistakes. For now I'll only be posting one or two chapters a week, but I'll make up for it with the long chapters. Hope you like it.
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