justicereigns | Action // Journal || Ocean Guide; to the end of the world

[As Smoker moves through the village of Luceti, checking old haunts, and getting his things, he catches himself up in his usual way of stalking the journal before heading to the barracks.]

[As he wanders, he sings quietly in a deep voice.]

♫The ocean sees the beginning of the world,
And the ocean knows the end of the world.
Thus, it calls us towards the way we must take.
Thus, it leads us towards a just world.
Enveloping pain and suffering,
greatly and kindly wrapping them up.

[It's ironic actually. Aokiji, no Kuzan, (how many times must he remind himself of that?) loathed that song. A marine's dirge.]

♫The ocean sees the beginning of the world,
And the ocean knows the end of the world.
Even if I were to disappear,
The omniscent ocean leads the way.

[Was Justice really like that? So omnipotent that even after Smoker died, people would fight on for her? For a just world, by traveling to the end of the world to fight for justice. Smoker usually believed he had to do it because if he didn't, who else would? But these days, it seemed more and more like marines weren't the ones fighting for that just world after all. What was Kuzan? What was Doflamingo? Tch.]

♫I must not fear, because you are here.
I must not be timid, because my comrades wait for me.
We must advance towards the blue horizon.

[And so Smoker carried on, but he no longer fought just for justice. He also did it for his friends. For the G-5 marines, who without Smoker, really had no one. For the kids who were going to grow up viewing pirates as heroes. For those like Kuzan who fought to protect him and save the world with justice even when Justice seemed to fail.]

[Smoker falls into old habits like riding a bike. Even if he doesn't have his Billower Bike here. He has something better. He has friends. Still, he doesn't check up on them first, he goes through old motions with his jitte, old routines, and ignores his own whistles of pain from air sucked quickly through teeth. Yes, Law had done a good job of patching him up back in their world, but then he got beaten an inch from death by Doflamingo. Fucking shichibukai, Smoker was so done with the lot of them. Done with the brass, done with politics -- no. He wasn't. Not yet. He wouldn't fall yet. Because it wasn't just for the ideal of justice that he kept fighting. The ideal of true justice bound him together, bound him to his friends, but those people needed him and he wouldn't fail them. Kuzan was so much smarter than he let on, but did he know how deep the course of corruption ran? It seemed that every time Smoker found one rabbit hole, the warren turned out bigger than an entire island worth.]

[Sometime when it's all over, he walks around at night, singing again and looking at houses.] [That's when he makes the journal post in voice.]

I'm back. Ikki, get your ass back to the village if you left. [An irritable huff.] And I need to see a doctor. [He can't bring himself to say please. Can't bring himself to mention Law by name either.] Whoever's available, it's important. [He probably shouldn't have been exercising in this condition, but whatever. He goes at his own pace.]

For New Feathers, I'm Smoker. [A marine. Vice Admiral of G-5, it means nothing to no one, except a few, and to G-5, he's their last savior. Traitors everywhere.] I intend to pick up teaching basic self-defense, kickboxing, and jitte outside the barracks, daily. If you haven't been told yet, there are Drafts rather frequently and the Malnosso have no qualms about taking noncombatants.

And to anyone a little more battle-hardened... [Where does he even begin? "Hey have you ever had one day where everything you ever knew about right and wrong were turned inside out, only that day then sort of became the story of your life? Oh and my best friend is currently a badass hobo who saved my life from a good guy traitor. Not really sure how to take that...."]

I just had a very long day that lasted about twenty years of my life. I need a drink. [And a friend. A pair of ears. Someone to talk to him and tell him he wasn't going nuts. Or maybe just tell him the truth... whatever that was at this point.] That's meant to be an invitation. Open to anyone. For one night only, that includes pirates.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She tries giving the Vice-Admiral a smile, but the two of them know this is a reason he is here. With Saori's help, Daisy was getting to cope. But didn't mean she didn't miss her a lot.

At least, in that new bed, she doesn't have to wake up expecting keimi to be there.

When she sits bending her legs sideways, Daisy doesn't even get the idea for a beer or anything alcoholic, but simply takes a vanilla milkshake. The girl remains silent, looking down. Smoker's was a look of emotional exhaustion, and she recognized it. Not just for Keimi, but... something else.]

I'm sorry, sir. [She mutters.] For Keimi. For whatever else might've happened.

[He nods slowly, and raises his chin.] Likewise kiddo.

Keimi's in a better place now anyway. Fishman Island is under Straw Hat's protection of late, and I've no doubts that he'll keep it secure. [From Joker and the like. And notice, this is perhaps the first, and only time Smoker speaks so well of the pirate he's sworn he'll catch.]

[She keeps silent. It should comfort her, the fact Keimi is back in her world, now with the protection of the Straw Hats from whatever danger might come in. But with the knowledge that if the laws of Luceti remain consistent, she will forget this all happened.

Daisy had the most beautiful thing to ever happen to her life. She thanked Keimi for having been there for her, and wished she'd lead a happier life out there... the Spartan knows what awaits her in Harvest.]

They were great friends of Keimi. [She keeps looking down on her cup, coming to remember the nights of winter in which they'd serve hot chocolate to eachother.] I... I used to have a prejudice against pirates, and non-humans... until I arrived here.

[Until she realized not all aliens were evil. That even demons could be noble beings, and that mermaids and angels existed.]

[He sighs and reaches out to gently pat her head like he'd done hundreds of times with Keimi. It's as subtle a reminder as he can do that he's still here. Loss of Keimi or not, they carry her with them in their hearts. Or something corny like that which he could never in a million years say out loud.]

I still hate pirates. But I guess there are some things they can do that we cannot.

[The gesture lowers her head, much akin to a child. Oddly enough, the reminder works, perhaps being an action she had desired for a while as a child.]

Pirates of my world collaborate with the Insurrection where I'm from. They're very different from the ones in here.

But... I don't think the world is as black-and-white as laws and customs demand of us. The pirates of this place helped people.

[Something she doesn't think she would have ever said in her world. It's been two years and a half. In a short time she had changed so much.]

Some of them. And in this place, circumstances are different. There isn't as much justice to enforce here, and the lines are clearer so they edge less into anarchy.

[Anarchy? His own men were practically worse sometimes. Most of the time.]

[She sighs, holding her forehead, remembering her very first days in here.]

Sometimes the problem is with yourself. Because... that's not how other worlds work. It took me too long to realize that.

it's strange to admit it, but after a while... there's some sense of freedom, when you realize that.

[A head tilt, and very slowly...]

Is there?

But what do you do then? What's the next step after that, I mean?

[The next step. It took her almost fifteen years to know the answer to that, and the reminder of her sister that the two of them were still human.]

Leading your own life.

[And not what is demanded of you. As hard as it is for her to learn that even now.]

I see.

In my case I suppose I'm fortunately that I never stopped that.

How are you doing with it so far though?

... Doing better than I did when I first arrived.

[Difficult. But surrender was not for the likes of Spartans. She looks at her cup. After serving herself a little for herself, she does the same for Smoker.]

Just the same way Keimi saw you as her dad, it's another step to reclaim it.

Heh... [Just gonna rub the back of his neck and be bright red.] She reminded me a lot of my own men. Except she didn't talk back. Kind of a refreshing change really.

Does that mean you have other friends here at least?

[Daisy disbelievingly turns to Smoker as he mentions the gross insubordination that would not have been tolerated in her world. That he was used to it prior to Luceti and probably being insulted in his face made her wonder how formal most officers here really were.]

Yeah... Saori, Yuuna, Makie, and the rest. Old friends from others that we used to share.

[She doesn't mention a harsh truth for some here. That sometimes, if you are the only one that remains of a close circle of friends, you feel as if you're starting from zero once again.]

Action // Journal || Ocean Guide; to the end of the world

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