With an open umbrella resting on her shoulder, Lady Sofia strolled over to the Sabaody Marine Station. She had been here a few times before now, but this time, she was here to only to visit. Although, a special kind of visit.
“Ah, welcome back Sofia.” Mr. Mint, the head of this place, greeted with a chipper smile. “Doing well? How are the other nobles?”
Of course he would ask about the other nobles, Sofia thought. This guy was always all about trying get a higher rank - he had even coaxed her before into trying to get her to recommend her to people of influence so that he could get higher up. However, she knew that it was just best for her to play along for now. She couldn’t confront him just yet about his unduly cheekiness about this matter. Because she didn’t have enough power yet. Of the political kind, so that she wouldn’t get into trouble she couldn’t get away with if she did try to go against him.
“Oh, doing well indeed!” she replied with a smile just like his. “And the other nobles are just fine.”
Mint continued to look at her, in silence, as if he was expecting her to say more. Or trying to signal her to say more.
“Oh! And I’ve done that little favor for you.” she lied, with a smile. “They’ve taken it quite well.”
Finally, the Marine moved, clapping his hands together. “Excellent, excellent, Sofia. Anyways, here for your visit, yes?” he mentioned.
“Yes. May I?” she replied, and gestured towards the hallway that lead down to the cells. “How long would I have?”
“Sure go ahead. But, don’t mind the time.” Mint chuckled. “Just don’t be in there for too long. You were going to visit many, yes? So you won’t spend much time with each. So don’t worry, I can be lenient. Just make sure to return my favors, OK? Like friends.”
Sofia wanted to vomit, but she held her smile as she closed her umbrella and made her way into the station. “Of course, Mint!” she answered back.
She stepped into the long hallway that lead deeper down into the building, into the stone corridor, and it started to get colder and darker, with only a few lamps on the sides to illuminate. A stoic-looking Marine guard greeted her with a quick salute, before going back to staring at the wall in front of him.
The noble then sighed. It was probably going to only be a matter of time before this jail was empty, so the earlier she got to these people in here, the better. She wanted to know if there was anyone with hope in here, and if she could help them somehow. And if they were too dangerous, luckily they were all still in custody, so she could skip them for now.
Even if she wanted to help these people, she had to consider her own safety as well. Plus - it would be too inefficient in the grand scheme of things to get too caught up with one person, so even they were “saveable”, it wouldn’t be worth it to pursue their healing.
Of course, she would never openly admit that. But it was just how things were - people only got caught up in trying to do good for a single person because of personal attachment, but she wouldn’t let that get in the way of what she wanted to achieve. The goal was a lot bigger than that - it was to save the
world from the tragedy that is this age of piracy.
“Lady, everything alright?” the Marine guard then asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts about ‘personal attachment’ and whatnot.
“Ah, yes.” she then nearly coughed out, turning to the guard before adjusting her dress at the hips. “I was just thinking about something.”
“No worries.” the Marine then chuckled nervously. “And, if I can ask… This is the first time I’ve seen you here, so, I was wondering if you could let me know: Why are you here? I know you got clearance and all, but why would you bother to visit the people here?”
“I just want to talk to them” Sofia mentioned with a warm grin. She wanted to ease his nerves, plus he would be able to listen to what she was saying anyways, so she figured that it wouldn’t hurt to let him know more details about what was going to happen.
“I’m just going to counsel them.” she then admitted. “A small chat with each of them.”
“Aha. I see.” the man replied and nodded, to then salute again. “Proceed!”
The girl then nodded, and quietly walked over to the corridor that lead to the first cell - one that held a prisoner called “Jane Jones”.
But as she walked closer and her feet tapped on the ground, she could hear the woman inside starting yell something. As she drew nearer, she could hear it more clearly.
“Yo, who’s visiting me? Some Marine again? Pseh. Get lost! I’m good and fine in here, thank you!”
“It’s just me.” Sofia then mentioned, eventually putting herself in front of her bars so that she could see each other. The noble saw that it seemed to be a young, but scrawny woman, sitting in the corner with her arms crossed. “I’m Sofia.” she added.
“And what do I care?” Jane replied, and looked away. “Did I call you here, huh? Eh? Answer that. I didn’t ask for anyone to come. I was perfectly fine alone, thank you very much.”
“I just wanted to talk to the people in here.” Sofia mentioned. “Just a small chat.”
“Well, there you have it. We’ve chatted just now. So, leave. You’re done here.” the woman replied.
Sofia just stood there for a moment. Then, she sighed.
“Alright. I’ll leave.” she eventually said, and turned back and started to make her way out of this corridor.
She expected that something like this might happen, it was just that it actually happening hurted a bit more than she had imagined. She wanted to
help them, but she couldn’t if they didn’t give her the chance. Sofia understood very well that she wasn’t going to be able to help everyone, but getting rejected like this didn’t feel too alright. But, she had tried, at least, she thought.
The girl made her way to the next cell. “Kevin Hanniver”.
And as she walked down the corridor, she didn’t hear much, until she got closer. She could perceive heavy, croaked breaths.
Then, she got to the bars along the wall, and she could see the the man within. Tall, wrinkled like a raisin, shriveled and with a huge white beard, just piled into a corner like a discarded ragdoll.
One of his bushy eyebrows rose.
“Hello?” he asked, in a raspy voice. “Who is it?”
Sofia wanted to bite her lip. This man didn’t have much time left to live apparently. Even if she did manage to get him out of here, it wouldn’t be for much use. Perhaps it was for the better that he was in here, with the care of the Marines.
Despite that, she decided to talk to him. He must’ve been alone for a very long time, it was the least she could do.
“I’m just a visitor.” she explained.
“I see.” the man replied. “Why are you here visiting for?”
“I’d just like to talk with the prisoners, a bit.” she said. “Make their time here a little brighter.”
“Hm. Well. You’re the first person I’ve seen in a while, which isn’t just a Marine, that is. I’m Kevin Hanniver. Although, you probably already know that, given my name plaque over there.”
Sofia nodded.
“I’m Sofia. Well, Phillipa Sofia. I’m a noble from some small island, far off in the Blues. But I’m here at Saboady now, doing some business - I tend a store and sometimes go collect sap for the bubbles here.”
“Hrm. Curious.” the old one replied. “I’m just an old pirate. Been one my whole life. My parents were pirates, and I grew up on the seas. Then, I got caught here. About ten years ago, I think. It’s hard to tell time when you’re always locked in here, and you can’t see the sky. But I count time with the guard shifts.”
He then turned around, to look at a series of markings on the wall. “Yes. It must’ve been about ten years now…”
“So, you haven’t known a life outside of piracy, right?” Sofia asked, a bit worried that this question might’ve been a bit too daring.
“Exactly.” he replied. “Well, piracy and being a prisoner, as you can see.”
“Do you have any family? Maybe a crew that’s looking for you?”
“I doubt it. I never got married - the sea will always be my girl. Eternal, beautiful,
dangerous. I’d never leave her for anyone else. And my crew? They’re all old geezers like me. I don’t know what has been about them. Probably dead.”
“I see.” Sofia replied, and nodded.
“I’m glad you’re here with me, though.” he chuckled. “It’s been a while. A long while, since I’ve had a chat like this with anyone.”
“Oh, no problem. Heh.”
“So, tell me,
noble. Why are you here? Why not go back to your own island, whatever it is, over there in the Blues, instead of staying here? I think you already know that Sabaody isn’t exactly the safest place for someone like you.”
“Oh. I have a bit of a dream.” she chuckled, and looked to a side. “I had to sort of… Go on my own, to do it. I don’t know what my parents think about it yet.”
“Heh. Nice going.” Hanniver replied. “So, what is this dream?”
“Just a small thing.” she said. She didn’t want to admit that she wanted to end the age of pirates, because the man in front of him was one, and apparently a pretty passionate one about it at that.
“I want to bring peace.” she eventually said. “I want to stop the fighting between pirates and Marines, so that we can progress and prosper, everyone together.”
Hanniver grinned. “That’s not going to be easy.” he mentioned. “It sounds very idealistic, if you ask me. Overly idealistic. But, it’s a good dream to have.”
He then cracked his neck by turning it to a side with a jerk motion. “You’re going to need to be very strong to survive in this shit world that you want to de-shit.” he added. “How are you doing with that?”
“...Not particularly well.” she chuckled, uneasily.
“Well.” he then said. “I… I want you to learn a small thing, then. I want to leave an impact on the world, you know? To leave a legacy. Not that I haven’t already done that - I’m sure that you’ve heard of the tales and deeds of Hanniver, haven’t you?”
She hasn’t. The girl scratched her temple. “Maybe?...”
The old man then laughed out with a wheeze. “Of course you haven’t! Bwahaha! I’m just a nobody!”
Then, he coughed, nearly falling down to a side as he did, and put himself back up after. “Anyways.” he then blurted out. “I’ll teach you a thing. It’s ambition.”
“Ambition?”
“
Haki.” he then pointed out. “It’s a supernatural force that is in
everything. And you can wield it - if you know how. That is what I want to teach you.”
“Is it going to be difficult?” she asked.
“No, not particularly.” he said. “It just takes the right mindset to get started. The girls over at the Amazon island learn how to how to do it all the time - it’s a normal thing for them. But getting
good with it once you know the basics is the real challenge.”
“Amazon island?” Sofia then asked.
“Some place in Calm Belt.” he then explained. “Go look it up.”
“...Haki has two forms.” he then continued. “No more, no less. One of them is the Armaments Haki. The other, Observation Haki. What I’m going to teach you is the easiest one - Armaments. Even a kid like you could pull it off.”
“O-Ok. What do I need to do?” she wondered, still not entirely convinced by this man’s tales. Haki? Why would it be useful? She felt like this man was leaving out a lot of details about what this was, but it wouldn’t hurt to stay around and listen to what he had to say.
“Armaments Haki lets you physically reinforce things.” the man then said, probably having detected the doubt in Sofia. “You can eventually turn your body into an armor so strong that it can stop bullets - if you get good enough with it, that is.” he explained. “Getting to that point is up to you.”
He then grabbed a sharp pebble from the ground, and scratched his skin with it, leaving a white streak. “Now, look at this.” he mentioned. His skin suddenly became black and shiny, and when he tried to scratch it, it left no mark. Then, the blackness disappeared.
“W-whoa!” Sofia exclaimed. “That’s Haki!?”
It looked so supernatural. Not that she wasn’t unfamiliar with it by now - she had eaten the Castle Castle Fruit after all, but always seeing something new like this was incredible for her.
“Does it, like, hurt to do that?” she asked.
“Do what? Use Haki?”
“Yeah.”
“No, not really.” he replied. “The point of it is to avoid ‘hurt’, heh. Scared?”
“No.” Sofia then nearly stammered, and blinked a few times in nervousness. “Of course not. I’m ready for anything.”
“Alright then.” the old man replied. “I don’t believe you. But I’m going for it anyways, so listen very well now.”
He then held up a hand. “You’ve got to feel the energy that’s in your hand. Its lifeforce. Your hand, without lifeforce, would just be a fancy-looking bunch of meat and bones, right? You’ve got to focus on the part that isn’t the meat and bones. The part that makes it
your hand, got it? Once you get the trick, it’s easy.”
She then held up a hand and focused. “Like this?” she asked.
“Only you can tell.” he said. “But that’s just the easy part. Next, you’ve got to concentrate it all into one place.”
The girl imagined a mass of energy in her hand, clustering together.
“Got it?” the man then asked. “Do you feel it? Have you unlocked Haki already?”
“I think so?”
He then laughed and held his belly as he did. “No you haven’t! It takes a lot more than that!” he chortled. Then, she recomposed himself. “Besides, isn’t your time here soon over? Get out of here already and come later with progress.”
“Oh, true! Sorry!” Sofia blurted out.
“Don’t worry. Now get out.”
---*---
The next days, she continued to practice that exercise, expecting to eventually find that her hand would turn black, or something. She even had picked up the habit of bringing with her a small needle and as she tended the store she worked at, to now and then pin herself gently with the needle to see if she had managed some sort of progress onto her hand, as she idly concentrated on it “reinforcing”; somehow.
But, nothing. Days became weeks, and the back of her hand had started to gain a small field of dots from the wounds that had started to appear there from the needle habit over a long period of time.
It was just not working, as much as she tried, and as much as she visited Hanniver to teach her more (which he had the patience to), she had no results. Nothing.
Eventually, the day of her last visit to Hanniver came. The day before, they had just had a chat about how she had to “focus” her feelings, as well as a review of how she should feel that the energy was “concentrated”
She got to the cell, ready to explain how she had practiced until then - with no results still. But she was persistent. She would awaken her ambition, eventually; she believed, if she just kept on trying.
“Hanniver!” she called out. “I’m ready for more lessons. Again, thank you so much for…”
She found him in his cell, as usual, but on the ground, looking upwards. He wasn’t moving. She couldn’t hear his usual rugged breathing either.
“H-hanniver!” she called out. She held the bars and put her face as close as she could onto them to get a good look.
He wasn’t moving. He was completely still, with his eyes frozen and fixated on the roof.
Sofia didn’t move either.
He just stood there, looking at the man. The person who had been her teacher for this long.
He was dead.
Slowly, like if her legs were slowly being sapped of their strength, she collapsed to the ground, as her hands slid on the bars loudly. And her head fell, having her just stare at the ground.
[EXIT]
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