The Grand Path: A Prologue in Fugue

[Shark a' Pult]

Her demeanor lightened when the others seemed at least interested in hearing her proposition, but then March called her a monster. That shut her up right quick, and her spirit hit rock bottom, as sure as if someone had shot her through the heart at that moment. It was subtle, but she bit her lip out of pure, seething indignation towards the Lieutenant.

"What I want to offer them... I know you've been having trouble with your four emperors. Trying to work with people like that, must be a nightmare I can only imagine. People like this... Kaidou, wouldn't it be nice if you could pick and choose them from a list yourself, rather than giving the position someone you had to out of necessity? What I want to offer them, is that position of emperor of the seas. Never more than four at a time, but four that you want, and let the others kill themselves. A more... elegant solution, than just handing a crown to whoever happens to be the most dangerous."

Thankfully, they kept talking for awhile more, giving her a chance to compose herself and collect her thoughts once more. She wasn't about to respond to the kind of criticism March was tossing her way, but surprisingly enough, Byron was the reasonable one now.

"If I hang that in front of them, they'll jump. Who doesn't want to be the next Whitebeard, after all? If this is made an official branch of the Government, it won't be a risk. Even less a risk if I'm involved, and I know how to keep it under control, keep it contained so there's no external risk. I posses a certain degree of... finesse, in these matters which I've acquired overtime, you'll come to see. These people would be even easier to control than some fighting fish, because they have something the fish don't have... greed. If I have the help from you all that I need, just you watch, I'll have these people dancing to whatever tune I play. All you'd need to do, is tell me who you'd want weeded out, who makes the cut."

At this point she was getting a bit carried away with herself, largely due to the fact that even she hadn't planned this far ahead, so much of what she was saying was speculation. That said, it was speculation she believed. She didn't know fore sure that everything would simply turn out the way she said, but she knew they would turn out the way she wanted. That is, assuming they obliged her; it was not the worst offer in the world, though for whatever reason she conveniently avoided any mention of Water 7.

"I know you probably won't believe me, but I just want what's best for the world at this point. The last thing I want is another huge development like the dawning of the Great Era, if anything, I want the next development to be as small and insignificant as possible. I learned my lesson in Galthia, and I don't want to go back to that. So that's what I need from you... I'm here to settle the waters of your Emperor problem, and in the process I'll draw in the worst of the worst, the most dangerous criminals I can find. I'll contain them and I'll control them, I'll even get rid of them whenever you want me to, just give the order. Make it an official part of the Government and I'll even work for you but if I am to do that, to report to you all, what I need is..."

Finally she began to settle down, and at this point became very serious, very sincere. If anything she said could be believed, it was this. Before them sat not some con artist, or a serial killer, but a humble sixteen year old girl.

"...forgiveness. I want to be absolved of my crimes. Make them public, or erase all memory of them, whatever you have to do I don't care. I just don't want them hanging over my head anymore, I don't want to be known as that person. Justice might not forget, but can it forgive?"

[CJ]

"Yes," Admiral Anstand commented on the points the Vice Admiral and Solaine brought up, "perhaps this will lead to another Great Era. Not for pirates, but for us. We trick the pirates into assuming they control their fate, when they are truly playing into ours. Devilish, but I can admire the notion."

Despite the convincing argument, Lieutenant March still wouldn’t let his feelings on the matter subside.

"I still can’t forgive her for what she’s done. Admiral, you have to listen to me! You can’t let her go free."

"Or what, Lieutenant? Do you forget who you are talking to? I do not forgo justice. She will be punished for her actions, now or later."

Leaning forward over March’s shoulder, the Admiral’s green eyes could be seen staring directly into his.

"Or do you really think someone like me would not be able to stop her if something got out of hand?"

The Lieutenant's lips trembled. He kept looking at the Admiral with an intense fear. Perhaps the Lieutenant had seen the Admiral in action before; perhaps he knew what he was truly capable of.

"I see," the Admiral responded, placing his gloved hand to his chin, despite the Lieutenant not having said anything. “I’ll ask you and Commodore Feral to leave now. You have served your purposes here.”

“But-“

“Leave.”

With his head held low in shame, the Lieutenant assisted Commodore Feral to his feet and walked out of the room with him. For a moment, it seemed like the Commodore was leading the Lieutenant, at least through the door.

Standing between the chairs separating the Vice Admiral and Solaine, Admiral Anstand nodded his head briefly and clasped his hands together.

"While I myself am apprehensive over the fraction of a possibility of you not receiving the fullest extent of your punishment, Ms. Winterfield, I am willing to offer you a sort of trial period. For one year, you will be working in full transparency. If we are pleased with your performance, you act on your own terms."

Looking now at Solaine, the Admiral’s near innocent eyes could be faintly seen through his armor.

"A trivial matter I am curious about is what you would even call such a thing."

[Kyubey]

Though he hated that such a plan came from the sort of person he spent his whole life hunting down, Byron was still forced to recognize that Solaine's plan, after it was further elaborated, was very enticing. It seemed almost impossible to him that a criminal, an enemy, would provide such a sound idea for getting rid of other enemies. There had to be a trick behind it, but at the moment he could find no further evidence towards one, and, given the direction the conversation was drifting, he had no cause to protest. But still, conflict burned within him. Just how could this thing claim to understand the needs of the law, when justice was so clearly beyond her comprehension? It was troubling, so he put the question out of his mind as soon as he found it was there.

There was no longer a question in the matter anyways, as soon as Anstand accepted the proposal. The matter was settled now, there was nothing Byron could do to change the course of what was already set down. The fact that the Admiral had March leave after his disagreement was evidence enough of that. Solaine was to be pardoned, and allowed to do as she pleased. It was a choice that Byron may not have been so quick to settle on, but it was one that he couldn't even consider going back on. The orders of those appointed over him were absolute. Yet still, there was that condition Solaine requested. That alone still didn't sit right with him.

"It does not forgive, in the way you think of it," he replied to Solaine, his glaring eyes narrowing with concentration. "Your sin against Justice can never be undone. But, for the sake of the World Government, we can put a halt to your sentence, and your crimes can be ignored. But make no mistake, this will last only as long as you serve us. If you give the results you've promised, then I see no reason for you to not act as you choose, for the purpose, and only for the purpose, of further atoning for your crimes. Your life, from now on, will belong to us. Have no misconceptions, Solaine Winterfield, the moment your existence becomes more a hindrance than an asset to the Marines, you will meet the same fate of all other monsters like you. That is the best form of forgiveness your kind could ever hope for. I assume this is acceptable for everyone else?"

He folded his hands, and placed them on the surface of the table, confident that he had spoken according to the laws set by Absolute Justice.

[Shark a' Pult]

"Belong to you? I knew the Celestial Dragons supported such notions, but I never knew the Marines were open towards slavery. If that's the price to play the game though, then I suppose I have little choice in the matter?"

All the other monsters like her. She wanted to kill him there and then, to see how much force it would take to remove his head from his shoulders, but she was old enough to know better now. There were no other monsters like her, there was only her, but she kept it in her thoughts. Things were going too well to lose it now.

"While I myself am apprehensive over the fraction of a possibility of you not receiving the fullest extent of your punishment, Ms. Winterfield, I am willing to offer you a sort of trial period. For one year, you will be working in full transparency. If we are pleased with your performance, you act on your own terms."

"Understood, I believe I can work within those parameters. You won't be disappointed, I swear it!"

One year? A whole, entire year? These were the marines, she expected a couple of days. A week maybe or possibly even a month if they were more kind than she imagined. But a whole year? The thought crossed her mind that she could simply do the job in a few days as she'd planned, to present a strong case and then just slack off for the rest of the year. She quickly stamped that thought out though, along with the part of her that thought it. She didn't have to look around to see where she was; she was playing in the big leagues now. These people wanted results, and she would exceed expectations. Anything less, and it would be a bad end in more ways than one for her.

"A trivial matter I am curious about is what you would even call such a thing."

"What I would call it?" Now that the terms had been established, and the finer details were all that remained, Solaine began to gather up the papers she had brought and spread out. Filing them neatly, she tapped the edge of the folder against the table to even out the papers within. "A friend of mine had a wonderful suggestion for it... the Grand Path. I think, I'll go with that, and see how it goes."

If only her father could see her now.

[CJ]

Later that day, in Fleet Admiral Sengoku's personal office, Admiral Anstand stood at attention before the highest ranking officer in the Marines. Graceful and composed as ever, the armored Marine seemed smaller in the presence of the Buddha. His pet goat grazed on hay in the corner of the room.

"So, you did not kill Solaine Winterfield."

"Fleet Admiral, sir," the Admiral said. "I do not think I would have been able to kill her."

"You could not? Even with Vice Admiral Bryon's help? I assumed you would be reporting her swift execution by this point, not a new method of Justice."

"Sir, Ms. Winterfield did not show any struggle against Petty Officer Fate's Haki. There is a presence about her I cannot explain. She is much more dangerous than we could have possibly imagined."

They discussed what went on in the meeting, Solaine's proposal, Byron's frustrations and Anstand's conclusion. Eventually Sengoku understood the situation and agreed that the evil of pushing Solaine's punishment back could prove to serve more good.

"I expect you then to oversee this 'Grand Path' until its trial period is over."

For once, the Admiral's stance broke. He placed his large hands on his head. The once stoic knight of an Admiral looked visibly distressed.

"You promised Petty Officer Fate would be promoted to an Ensign at this point. You said I could retire from this position. I have done everything you have asked in this charade."

Sengoku leaned forward in his chair. He placed his folded hands on his desk. His eyes were deadly cold.

"Because of your decision, your charade will have to continue. Petty Officer Fate's promotion will come when Solaine Winterfield's trial period is over... or you kill the girl yourself."

The Admiral turned around. His hands slipped to the clasps on his helmet and chest plate.

"Do you understand, Gracie Grace?"

Untying her bun, she let her hair fall about her face. She adjusted her collar and vest, highly contrasting with her armored sleeves and pants. She clenched her hands, trying desperately not to touch the pearl colored pistols strapped to her sides.

"Yes, sir."

[Shark a' Pult]

Was it naive of her to trust him? He didn't seem the dangerous type, and he could be quite charming when he needed to be. Those magic tricks as well, were impressive and he knew how to be cool. What she liked most about him though, or people like him, was the personality. He was all smiles, always a kind word and a good humor; Solaine liked people like that, because she liked to see how far she could bend them before they snapped.

"You really went through all this trouble for that guy? I didn't even know who he was, and I don't even remember what happened really..." She dragged him along the countertop of the bar by the neck, breaking glasses and bottles as he went. "...oh, but I do remember what I did to him! There wasn't much you could call Asuza after that." Once the end of the bar was reached, she pulled him off and threw him against the wall.

This one though, was a bit harder to snap than the others. Or, no, that wasn't it. Rather, he fought back. It wasn't a relationship by any means, or even a date for that matter. They were just hanging out to get to know one another. Only, he brought a sword. And a gun. And a bomb. And a whole lot of other armaments. She'd shown up with the hopes hearing more about him, he'd shown with the hopes that no one would ever hear from her again.

"I hear tell he was pretty strong in his day, wasn't even from any of the blues. Came from the sky they said... lot of good that did him." With her elbow, she managed to smash him further into the wall, enough to leave a full-body imprint. She held him there for a moment, to get her point across. "So why did you come here? What, to ask if he had any last words, or see if he left something behind? What is it you want?" At this she moved away from the wall with a grin, to see what would happen. As she predicted, without holding him up, he fell from his own indent to the floor. What he managed to choke out though, wiped the smile from her face.

"Vengeance."

She couldn't tell why she didn't notice it before, his intent to harm. Maybe that was a testament to his personality; if there was one thing he knew how to do well, it was how to put people at ease. She figured he could have talked his way out of the apocalypse, and might even have been of great help to her. That is, until he swung a sword at her face. Connected too, it was only lucky he didn't understand her completely. Understand why making his attack in a crowded place would be his own undoing. If only he'd tried when they were alone in a park or something.

"Well there'll be plenty of that where you're going." His response seemed almost foreign to her. She wasn't sure how to deal with it at first, so she kicked him, hard enough to send him tumbling across the floor through several tables till he came to rest. As she walked over to close the distance, she had time to think though. "You know there's this wonderful prison for people like you, I think it's called Impel Down. I hear they've always got room for new faces."

Turning him over with her foot, she tried to understand him by looking. Maybe there was some detail she missed. Asuza was not the cleanest elimination for sure, but it seemed strange to her that someone, people would come after her for it. This person perhaps more than any other knew how dangerous the King was, and yet she buried him with no great effort. Surely then, he would know to stay well enough away from her, and yet here he was.

"It's no Galthia, but you can rot away in prison for all I care." Touching her face for a moment, she looked at her hand for confirmation, content in seeing the blood from the nasty slash across her face he'd done with his sword. Taking note, she leaned down to grab him by the face and hold him up. "No valiant death for Asuza, and no death at all for you. Just a small cell with your thoughts to keep you company till there's nothing left of you. You'll end up the same way as your King, just a different way to the same end."

Already his clothes were ripped and bloody, to match the wearer, but she didn't see it yet. She wanted to see if he had the mark, many on the Heartfelt crew did, but it might still be covered. A simple effort to tear his shirt enough to where she saw it, a satisfied smile creeping across her face. The brand of the Celestial Dragons on his chest. So he was property, and something awoke the sadistic glee within her at the sight of it.

"A fitting end as any, don't you think so, Jack?"