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Post by CJ on Aug 24, 2013 20:32:06 GMT -5
Henri cried out again when Solaine forced him to stand. He definitely needed her help. If not, he'd collapse to the ground, unable to support himself to his injuries. Silent tears started to flow down his face. It seemed the pain was too much for him to handle.
"The games and tricks, huh?" he asked, smiling despite his weakness. "I love watching people die, Human, witch or otherwise, seeing people meet their end is just... just..."
"Hikaru, don't."
The girl nearby clutched onto her top hat tightly. Her boots rattled together as she shook in front of the two. She was fearful but her aquamarine eyes were full of hatred.
Henri shook his head slowly, as though the girl was a mere child.
"I'd tour around the Grand Line, looking for conflicts and battles in hopes of seeing someone meet their end. It was enough to satisfy me for a while but it grew stale. I needed more blood, more gore, more misery."
Pressing his hand to the only part of his face that wasn't burned and scarred, he grinned ecstatically.
"So I thought of a scheme. I'd start a fake tournament where people would kill each other for the ultimate prize. The name and prize varied between competitors so they'd never find out the truth. For Asuza, it was called the Grand Path, with money and ultimate fame as a reward.
"If the participant ever got so far as to win, I'd have my friend Light kill them. She was an assassin for hire and didn't care that I got my kicks, so long as she got paid. It was real easy, we'd split whatever cash the participant had on them. Man, those were the days."
Looking up toward gray stormy clouds, his grin turned into a smirk.
"I had it all scheduled out. After Asuza was done, I'd go and do it all over again with you and then after you-"
Hikaru stopped. There was an important detail he was leaving out of his plans, something he didn't even want Solaine to know. It was so dire, not even the knowledge that he could die where he stood would stop him from revealing it.
"But then Asuza got Light. I still don't know if he killed her, but things got real bad. You were my next target, so I thought I'd get you to kill him and then start the cycle all over again. But...
"You weren't the person I thought you were. You were innocent. I thought maybe this whole scheme wasn't worth it, that I could give you a new life and make my own somewhere else. But then Asuza found us anyway..."
Laughing gleefully, he stumbled forward, losing his strength.
"You know, I wouldn't have told you all this if you were human. But you're not, are you Solaine? You're a monster. Like me."
"Please stop!" the girl beckoned again, clutching her hat all the harder. It wasn't clear who she was talking to, Solaine or Henri.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Aug 26, 2013 4:41:14 GMT -5
"Like you? No, I'm nothing like you. You're just like everyone else. Like him," she looked down to what was left of Asuza, and then to the girl who stood nearby bothering them, "like her. You're not special, you're all the same to me."
Monster. Had she been called that before? She seemed to remember that she had, but not the kind Henri was. He tricked people into killing one another like it was a game, and watched like it was art, so what did that make him? Twisted, depraved, maybe even perverted? All of these things perhaps, and maybe more, but what did he know about a real monster?
The kind of stuff he did, the things he enjoyed, he belonged in an asylum. But where he had found her, where she belonged, was not a place like that.
"You did a good job with this... Grand Path, Hikaru, but it could be so much more. I can make it so much more, so... I'll be taking it from you. Not like you'll be needing it anymore."
She was genuine in her compliment, though her praise was misplaced, considering her intention to rob Henri of his hobby. She could probably have tried to go off on her own and set up something similar with her in charge, but she wanted what Henri had, and she wanted it now. Much easier just to take it from him, when neither he nor anyone else could stop her.
More than just some simple hobby though, Solaine knew how to find the true potential of this whole concept. Something in her had changed if it wasn't already apparent, something had happened in her fight with Asuza, and now she was different. She was ambitious, and she spoke her mind.
Or at least, she acted that way, almost as though it were intentional; a dark mirror to Henri's own mannerisms and ambition about this whole thing.
"Don't you get it? That innocent person, she's doesn't exist. I know who I am now, I remember everything... and I don't need you anymore."
Therein lie the fundamental difference between Solaine Winterfield and Henri Alain; he liked to witness pain and death, she liked to cause it. It was almost a match made in heaven, if he hadn't tried to use her like a stepping stone. He tried to see the good in her, and mistook a lack of identity for innocence. In this process though, he had helped her out when no one else had, so she felt somewhat indebted to him. To make things even, she would give something that she had not given anyone else before; a chance to get away.
To demonstrate this, she pulled him around so that the bothersome girl was behind him, and pushed him towards her. Not too hard, just enough to get him towards the girl.
"Run."
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Post by CJ on Aug 27, 2013 18:06:46 GMT -5
"No, you can't," Henri groaned, desperate to hold onto his life as Solaine took it away right in front of her.
All of his schemes were finally coming to an end. In a way, he really was dying. What the prison did to Solaine, she did to him.
He had mistaken Solaine's forgetfulness for innocence. But the next candidate in line was someone whose innocence, though fabricated, had definitely become a part of him.
Henri couldn't let Solaine do to him what he did to her.
As he was pushed forward, he fell into Mizuko's arms. He whispered four words into her ear before collapsing. The pain was too much for him to handle, even in the face of glorious death by Solaine.
In his fleeting dreams, he toasted his successor, blessing her future.
---
Mizuko gritted her teeth. Her pupils were thin like an animal in the face of a larger predator.
Reaching out to Solaine with her free arm, she pulled it back. The water in the canal would form into two globs, forming around her legs. The water then would actually pull her back, pressuring her to fall into the canal.
"Leave us alone!" she shrieked, her fear obvious in her shaking voice.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Aug 27, 2013 18:33:17 GMT -5
"Water? Is that..."
Seeing Henri and Mizuko doing a bad job of running for their lives, Solaine's patience was wearing thin, as was her ability to resist her urge to attack them then and there. She didn't realize until it was too late though, the globs of water clumped around her legs, or at least too late to be able to stop it. Falling flat on her face, she tried desperately to cling to the ground, grab hold of anything to avoid what she knew was going to happen.
"...no no no NO NO NO NO!"
Before the end she managed to hold on to the edge of the ruined canal with her arms, a desperate last attempt to pull herself up and avoid her watery fate. In vain however, as with one final pull she was drawn into the water of the canal, taking a chunk of the stone edge with her.
There wasn't even any splashing or trying to stay afloat as the stone she pulled with her, weighed down on her, sending her to the bottom of the waterway.
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Post by CJ on Aug 28, 2013 9:00:03 GMT -5
Weeks later at Gomorrah Island...
"So this is it."
"I'm not asking you to be his friend. I just want him to live a life free of Solaine. They're the same kind of people at their core. They're bound to find each other someday."
He thought of the torn up ant-rabbits, skewered with sticks and bludgeoned with rocks. His father getting reports that he'd beaten up another kid and the next week another. Things got out of hand when he stressed one child to the point of developing his witch powers early, burning away his eyes and rendering him blind. So the witches finally sent him away.
Now here he was, not a clue about his former life, sitting across from them at a shoddy restaurant. He was tutoring an eleven or twelve boy, who was learning how to read. Either illiteracy was the norm for the people of this island or this boy was mentally challenged. Given the violent history of his tutor, Hikaru was surprised the boy was learning someone patient and kind.
"What am I supposed to do?" Mizuko asked, stirring her tea with her magic.
"Just check up on him," Hikaru said. "So long as he's not involved with Solaine, I don't care what he does. He can't end up like her. He's got to have a normal life."
"Are you sure his innocence is even real?"
"I don't know, but I want to think it is."
Hikaru didn't understand the process himself, but he was essentially integrated into human life with no awareness of what he truly was. He was part of a new program now, one that measured how well witches could adapt to human life. He used to be the focus of an old one, until it was determined that his genetic makeup was a flawed, imperfect result. The other half, the working half (and yet now the living reminder of her elders' failure) was sitting before him without a purpose.
And here he was leaving Mizuko with even less of a purpose. He felt bad but having her come with him would put her in terrible danger.
"Where will you go?"
"Somewhere away from here, one of the Blues. I've already made up my mind, but I'm not telling anyone. My hands and scars give me away far too easily here. A bit of hair dye and sunglasses isn't an option for me anymore."
Hikaru really was a sight to see. Covered in long sleeves and gloves despite the warm weather, the only visible burn scars were on most of the right side of his face, leaving him with only one eyebrow and a permanent smirk. In a way, he felt it wasn't enough. He deserved so much more after what he put Asuza and so many others through and what his actions might put future people through.
"I have to start my life over, in a place no one knows. Not even you. I don't know if Solaine's alive but knowing her durability, she probably is. Aside from her, I've got to hide from the other participants. Thunder knows they'll be after me as well. Maybe I'll do some real cooking for once. We'll see, I guess."
Looking up sadly from her tea, Hikaru had never seen Mizuko so disappointed.
"You were my only friend, Hikaru."
"That's the problem Mizuko," he sighed. "You've got to be nicer to humans to get some friends. The witches won't ever accept you so you've got to adapt, like him. I know it's degrading but you'll get used to it. I promise."
Before Mizuko could respond, the boy from the other table began to make a scene.
"Connor, no. Want ice cream now!"
"Not until you're done with the practice exercises, Joe. Come on, you don't want Ms. Anthony getting mad now."
"Connor?" Hikaru whispered. "Oh yeah, that's his name now."
"How are you not insulted?" Mizuko quietly snapped. "Look how he caters to that inferior boy. Humans like that need to be put down for their weakness. What's with the change of heart? Weren't you going to use him like you did to Solaine?"
Hikaru looked out the window, observing the very people Mizuko despised but he couldn't find a reason to hate them anymore.
"I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the explosion or something else. Maybe she put me in a coma and this is all a dream. After all, it was only a few days ago that I saw him as a tool. I never thought the kid as my brother until now."
"Half-brother," Mizuko corrected him.
"Family all the same."
Waving to the only waiter in the joint, he handed him more than enough beri to pay for Connor and the boy's meal and desert. With one last glance at the table behind them, Hikaru thought of what it would have been like to see Solaine and Connor rip each other apart in gruesome, bloody conflict.
He smiled, knowing now it would never likely happen.
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Post by Kyubey on Aug 30, 2013 2:35:42 GMT -5
Close to the area where Solaine had been pulled into the water, two Marines, a large, hulking man with an eyepatch who looked to be in his forties, and a much younger and smaller looking woman wearing spectacles, briskly walked through the streets of Water 7. The passersby quickly got out of the way as they hurried along, alerted by the sounds of the footsteps and the clattering of the rifle at the woman's hip. The man had a nervous, impatient look on his face, and anxiously tugged at the sleeves of his justice coat, while the woman had her face buried in what appeared to be a map of Water 7. The pair had been wandering the streets in that fashion for a while, as if they were lost, but neither of them admitting that was the case.
"C'mon, hurry it up," said the man. "It's going to be too late by the time we get there."
"You don't think I'm trying, Sir?" the woman replied, her voice drenched with worry."I thought this was right. We took the left at Dock 3, went straight past the plaza... we should be there now." Despite having been stationed near Water 7 for a few months, both she and her superior officer had found some challenges in adjusting to the unusual city.
"I just hope everything's alright. Dammit, why does this entire bloody town have to be canals?"
The woman made a sad, groaning sound, and shoved her face further into the map, to hide her embarrassment. "The Commodore's going to report this, isn't he? We'll be demoted, or worse, I just know it! Oh no, my career's over before it even had a chance to begin! I don't even wanna know what my family's gonna say about this..."
The older officer sighed, and spoke in a more relaxed tone of voice. "Calm down, it's okay. We're still new here, this isn't your fault. I'll explain everything to the superiors later."
The woman hastily lowered the map, and made an attempt to sound as bold and confident as any model sailor. "Right! My apologies, Lieutenant Commander Barlow! That was unprofessional of me!"
"Ugh, just pay attention to where we're headed. This is still important."
"Aye-aye!" she glanced at the map again. "Wait! It's right here! Turn here!"
Moments afterwards, the two Marines emerged from out of one of the backstreets and onto the street they had been trying to find, albeit at the wrong side of the canal.
"Darn," Barlow said in a near scoffing tone, as he surveyed the scene before him. "This looks just as bad as I thought."
"Lieutenant, what do you... hold on!" she exclaimed suddenly, pointing towards the water. "That girl's drowning!" Sure enough, they had arrived mere seconds after Solaine had fallen into the canal, just in time for the woman to see her.
"What? She's not a Fruit User, is she?" he asked, yanking off his black military boots. "Doesn't matter. Hold this."
"What?" Before she could realize what was happening, a pair of boots hit her right in the face, followed by his coat. "W-wait! We don't know the full situation! This might be a..."
Without listening to the rest of what his subordinate had to say, Barlow plunged into the canal, cutting through the water as well as any professional swimmer. He reached Solaine in almost no time, taking her lack of movement as a sign to move hastily. He scooped her up in one of his thick, oversized arms, and swam upwards, above the water. He continued to hold onto the girl as he climbed out of the canal, and carefully set her down onto the street.
"There we go," Barlow gasped, leaning over Solaine. "Can you hear me, Miss?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Aug 30, 2013 17:45:36 GMT -5
Darkness, that was all there was, just a continual expanse of black. Lost in the void she had nothing to recognize, nothing to think about, nothing to remember. There was a persistent ringing in her ears, which gave way to a muted jumble of words, until some words she could pick up. To that, she latched on to, an anchor of sorts in that long lost void. She held onto that voice for dear life, resulting in something like it.
"ftheryeerobanyou hear me, Miss?"
Awoken so suddenly, Solaine jolted up in a panic, possibly nearly colliding with Barlow. Grabbing for him, something to hold onto physically for support, she started to cough up as much water as it would have taken to end her life.
"Thank you... thank you... thank you... thank you..."
Shaking and still having trouble breathing properly, she probably wasn't even aware of what she was saying, but she just kept on as she clung to Barlow. Despite all she had been through and done (even just today alone), she was still just a young girl, and she was still afraid of death. She didn't know who Barlow was, but details like that could not be farther out of her mind at that moment; he had pulled her from that void, and she held onto him for fear of going back.
~~~
Solaine had never been to a place like this before. Anhalt was nice, but this was something else altogether. Thankfully with the way it was all laid out and with guards patrolling all over the place, she didn't get lost, but she could see why they had opted to make Mariejoa the capitol of the World Government.
Despite being allowed here on official business however, she couldn't help but feel out of place.
Maybe it was because of the accomplishments of this place. All these great men and their legacies, an organization which had unified the world (or most of it at least) hundreds of years before she was even born. A testament to the efforts of a few, writ large across an entire city of grandness unmatched. Maybe it was because of the citizenry. World nobles, those celestial dragons so far beyond her or anyone else. Did she believe in any of it? Probably not, but there were a couple of celestial dragon families back in Anhalt, and their splendor was undeniable. She guessed that if she ran afoul of any such individual during her stay here, there would be little anyone could do to save her from slavery or worse. This was their house, and she was a guest.
Or maybe, just maybe, it was because she known and convicted serial killer who very clearly had not served out her noteworthy prison sentence. Although she hadn't officially turned herself in, she had a proposition to make with an authority in the Government high enough to be able to pass judgement on it, and because of this had been offered temporary amnesty. Graciously they had let her into their bastion, but she fully realized it could be one giant trap to recapture her, though it was a risk she was willing to take. A risk as well that she would have to live with, as the further she got into the Holy Land, the more she realized that she would not be able to escape this place even if she wanted to. In the very headquarters building of the government itself now, she was wholly at their mercy.
Understandably, all of this to take in was quite a bit for the young Solaine, whom was a bit jittery. Having arrived early, she sat in one of a number of chairs in a hallway leading to what she believed (or rather, hoped) to be the correct meeting place. As overwhelming as it all was, the last thing she needed was to have ended up going to the wrong place and missing the meeting altogether. Still, the guards by the doors there informed her that she was in the right place, so she trusted them as she waited.
Wearing a new, cleaned up version of her school uniform, she might have looked out of place but it was the closest thing she had to formal attire. Still only sixteen herself and having had very little experience with the outside world since her imprisonment, she had no idea where to begin to look for dresses appropriate to the occasion, so instead she just stuck with what she knew.
So here she was; hopefully in the right place, hopefully dressed nice enough, hopefully not in the middle of a trap, and hopefully taken seriously. Now all she had to hope for, was that her proposition was good enough to warrant attention and that she would be able to present it in a sufficient manner.
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Post by CJ on Sept 4, 2013 19:56:16 GMT -5
Seated in the meeting room, Solaine was constantly watched by guards, who stood in front of the large windows, looking out to the blue sea. Unlike most Marines, these wore masks and plated armor which covered their entire body. It was obvious that these were a special task force, assigned in particular cases such as Solaine's.
To her right sat Commordore Feral and Lieutenant March, witnesses to her actions at Water 7. They were silent, only offering nods and simple hellos to her. It was understandable that both of them were nervous to be in her presence and were not all happy to be here. Feral was supposed to have retired on the day of her return after all.
Solaine wouldn't have had much time to think about her situation before she would feel a slight pressure on her head, as though someone was lightly, very lightly, pressing a pillow to it. The force was incredibly weak and not at all threatening, though the sensation of Haki would be odd to anyone who had never felt it before.
The Haki seemed to have more effect on others, however Several soldiers buckled and fell to the ground, obviously more prone to the sensation than Solaine. Few stood tall, though all but one shook terribly to remind steady under the pressure. Even March had face planted into the table, forcing Feral to shake him awake.
"Enough," a voice boomed from the doors. The pressure ceased, allowing the soldiers to strand back at their feet.
A large suited man stepped into the room. It was a formidable presence in sight alone. Decorated in spikes and etchings, the armor was gold plated and shimmering. The brand of the Marines was painted in stark black on the side of his helmet.
Was the Haki coming from him?
"Excuse my tardiness, we had to be sure of what we were dealing with. I mean, well, I had to be sure."
The voice seemed unnatural. There was an echo to it and it seemed to be coming directly from the man's chest. Was it supernatural or artificial? It was difficult to tell.
"I, Admiral Jung Anstand, will be overseeing this meeting in place of Fleet Admiral Sengoku. I do hope you understand. This is a matter I cannot divulge on in this room."
Walking about the room, stomping as he did with a strange poise and manner. Head held high and heavy arms tucked behind his back, he spoke with respect and admiration.
"It is truly an experience to be sitting in the presence of one such as yourself, Ms. Winterfield. So, please explain again for us this proposition of yours."
The Admiral came to a stop behind Solaine, standing at unmoving attention.
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Post by Kyubey on Sept 5, 2013 13:00:43 GMT -5
Vice Admiral Byron, a grey-suited man with a cold, bitter expression locked onto his face, stepped into the meeting room, hands buried deeply into his pockets. He glanced around, looking briefly at everyone present, before his gaze lingered on Solaine.
"So," he said, his voice dry yet relaxed, "Not only have we welcomed criminal scum into the Holy Land, we've given it a chair as well."
Byron saluted Admiral Anstand, before pulling up a chair for himself, still glaring at Solaine. He leaned forward in his chair, steepling his gloved hands.
"It is no matter. It's not my job to understand. My apologies for being late, I had delays in getting here."
Underneath his understated tone, he made detailed mental notes of everything he saw upon initially entering the meeting room. Despite his attitude, the nature of this meeting in particular held interest to him. While he was forced to admit to himself that it wasn't as though Mariejois had been completely untarnished by the presence of criminals until that point, there must have been a very good reason if the government was actively allowing a murderer who wasn't part of the Seven Warlords of the Sea in, and treating her as though she was a guest. In all his years of being a devoted soldier of the Marines, this was highly unusual to him, enough so for him to spend several minutes arguing with his superiors to be allowed to attend the meeting at all. It was by sheer luck that he even had the chance. If this meeting had been scheduled for even a couple of days earlier, there was no way he would've been granted the opportunity. But, fortunately, the Lejre Project had at last reached a point where progress was beginning to happen naturally, and thus Byron could step away for a while, confident in his men to handle themselves on their own. As important as his regular duties were, he felt it foolish to miss out on this meeting. Besides, he always felt more at home in civilized, industrial environments, something he had been missing during the past year or so.
"Don't bother filling me in. Continue."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 5, 2013 17:24:51 GMT -5
Solaine noticed the sensation caused by the haki, though there were enough people nearby, so that it didn't have much an effect on her. Nevertheless it was still confusing, as it was probably the first time in her life she had experienced it, and she was curious as to what it was. Partly because she was intrigued about some sort of power which could apparently attack and knock people out without warning, but mostly because she was afraid that it was some kind of attempted trap which she had only narrowly avoided.
"It is truly an experience to be sitting in the presence of one such as yourself, Ms. Winterfield. So, please explain again for us this proposition of yours."
Before she got the chance to respond though, another marine authority joined the meeting. This one was not nearly as friendly as Anstand, if that was an apt way of describing either of them, and Byron made her feel very small and rather nervous.
"Don't bother filling me in. Continue."
"I-I... it's ah... it's a pleasure to meet the both of you, though I honestly didn't expect to be this well-known. I guess my fathers plan didn't turn out very well..."
It was a bit disconcerting, that already they seemed to recognize who she was so easily. She assumed they simply did their research, but if spending time effectively dead wasn't enough for people to forget about her, then she wasn't sure what was. True, she hadn't served out the full amount of time as her father intended, two years was not nearly ten. She couldn't help but wonder what the effect would be, if she was let out after serving her time, rather than breaking out eight years early. Whatever the case, she had better make this good; already they were slinging around her family name, which meant if she didn't make this good, then she would be right back in Galthia in that pit.
"What I wanted to talk about today, if you'd permit me the time, was... well, this."
Initially she had planned to talk openly about her idea, though Byron had more or less thrown her off, scared her so that she wasn't confident she'd be able to convince them with words. Instead, she let pictures do the talking. Pulling some papers out of the folder she had brought along, she attempted to lay them out on the table in a relatively neat fashion. They were all bounty posters, of sufficiently dangerous persons.
"Eric Brightling, Oxana the Eel, Hanging Rouen, and King Asuza... you know better than I that these people, cannot be allowed to wander freely and do as they please. I may not be a marine, but I understand the danger they pose to all of us. There cannot be safety or stability while these people exist, but I... I believe I have a way of dealing with them, a way that is better than the current methods used."
There was some hesitation in bringing up Asuza, and while considering how she would present this proposition to those at the meeting, she initially had not wanted to bring him up at all. Still though, he had been one of the most prolific criminals in living memory, regardless of how he had been killed. She expected them to understand that just because he was no longer active, didn't make him any less relevant as a recent example. The minor detail that she was the one to take him down, she wasn't sure how they would interpret that, and hoped it wouldn't mar her example.
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Post by CJ on Sept 7, 2013 21:42:56 GMT -5
"For the duration this meeting, Vice Admiral Byron, Ms. Winterfield is a guest," Admiral Anstand said. "She should be treated with dignity and respect."
Turning his head quickly, the Admiral shook his hands toward Solaine.
"Oh, I... I only know of what we've been able to gather of you, Ms. Winterfield. I don't know much else. I am terribly sorry if you feel your privacy has been invaded."
Solaine might be surprised to see how respectful the Admiral really was. Admirals of the Marines didn't normally give citizens or even other Marines the same attention he was giving her. And the strange thing was, he really did seem genuine.
Nodding, light green eyes could be seen for a brief moment in the slits of the armor.
"Danger, yes. These kind of people do have the capability of doing serious harm. I am aware several people were killed in that conflict with you and this... King Asuza. A woman, two children- Oh, I am sorry. That was inappropriate of me."
Lieutenant March looked incredibly distressed. Even though his sunglasses were covering his eyes, his gritted teeth and clenching hands revealed his strong emotions. Commodore Feral seemed to have things a bit more together, but Solaine would notice he never once looked her in the eye, as though he couldn't bear to look at her.
"If you really have a method that would stop more tragedies, I'm all ears... all ears under armor ears. Actually, my armor doesn't have ears. I am not truly composed of ears."
One of the Marines on guard stomped their foot on the ground. It happened so fast, it would be hard to determine which one did, but they were likely standing opposite March and Feral, to Solaine's left.
"Excuse me," the Admiral coughed.
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Post by Kyubey on Sept 8, 2013 2:07:58 GMT -5
When Anstand reprimanded Byron for his lack of respect towards Solaine, the corners of the Vice Admiral's lips curled with annoyance, and his right eyebrow twitched agitatedly. Personally, he was strongly opposed to the way everyone was being so kind and forgiving towards Solaine, especially when considering the weight of her crime, but, seeing as the Admiral was of a higher rank, Byron was in no place to directly speak against him.
"Then, its offense against the World Government means nothing now?" he asked, his voice still calm as ever, with only a bit of roughness to the ends of some words. "Am I to simply disregard the standards of Justice I have sworn to maintain?"
Even as Anstand spoke directly to him, Byron's gaze was still locked onto Solaine, as though he was waiting for her to make some sort of move, or otherwise commit some action that would justify him subduing her, through any means available. It was true that Byron didn't know much about her, specifically, but there was one deed of hers in particular that he retained in his memory. No matter what her other actions were, they were of little concern to the Vice Admiral. She was a murderer, an enemy of the law, and that was all he would ever need to know to make his judgment.
"Interesting that you should leave your own name out of that list, Solaine Winterfield. I suspect that you might be trying to make us forget or disregard your sins. But Justice never forgets, and it never will until the deaths you caused, deaths, I will remind everyone here, could very well have included that of the highest nobility in the world, are paid for. You're every bit as much a threat to us as the pirates you mentioned, far more so, in fact. What good could a criminal like you possibly do for the sake of stopping crimes? What depraved methods do you have that you say are better than the methods we Marines have utilized for centuries?"
Though he made an honest attempt to respect Anstand's wishes, doing so was proving too great a task for Byron to handle. Such words and suggestions as hers only sounded like direct insults to the Vice Admiral. His posture remained stiff and still, but there was definite anger in his eyes, that would be almost felt by Solaine.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 9, 2013 3:23:13 GMT -5
Solaine noted the odd behavior of the Admiral, and she hadn't liked his proximity to her as he paced about the room. What caught her attention more though, was Byron's attitude and his gaze, as if he was trying to hate her to death. She could feel it.
"What good could a criminal like you possibly do for the sake of stopping crimes? What depraved methods do you have that you say are better than the methods we Marines have utilized for centuries?"
"Have you ever seen Milkovan fighting fish, Vice Admiral? They're not very big, only about..." She raised her hands for him to see, holding about a foot apart. "...just so. When I was younger my father showed me, you can take a tank as big as this room, and fill it to the brim with everything they like... their favorite food, shiny objects, even smaller fish they like to eat, you name it." As she spoke, she gathered up the posters she had set down, placing most of them on her lap under the table. "Then you can take two of these fighting fish, keep them in a small tank so they can't move, starve them even if you like. Take them, and put them into this tank with plenty of room to swim and food to eat..." Two of the posters she had kept in her hands, Asuza and Eric, she put back onto the table. "...and you know what the first thing they do is? They kill each other." At this she casually tore Asuza's poster in half and let the strips of paper fall to the table. "Heck, you could take a hundred of them like that, and they won't stop to swim around or eat despite how you kept them. They won't be content till they've killed all the others, till there's just one left."
At this she drew forth the rest of the posters she had temporarily taken away, and in one smooth motion, ripped the whole stack in half. They went the same way as Asuza had gone. Normally she didn't like to make a mess like this, but she felt it exercised her point.
"These criminals, these wolves, all want the same thing but they can't all have it. If you dangle it in front of them though, they'll rip each other apart to get at it, till there's only one left... or, four in this case. I have in place, a means of doing this, a way of pitting these people against one another. Give me a chance, and you'll see how much I can change crime... all I need is some help."
Her eyes shifted from one marine to the next. If she had seemed confident before, that effect was fading at this part, as here was where the real bargain came. The part of the deal where she needed them, what her terms were.
"I'd fathom a guess that I'm more a criminal than any of you, you're all Marines, you're all with the Government. You still have rules to follow, justice to uphold, and you stick out like a sore thumb. I just spent the last two years effectively dead though. Just because you all recognize me, doesn't mean these criminals will. I understand them, and I can do things you can't That's why you need me..."
She wasn't playing her cards close to the chest at this point, but she didn't feel that she needed to. Everything she said, was in one way or another true. She felt that if she could demonstrate her position well enough to them, then they might agree to at least hear her terms.
"It takes a wolf, to know a wolf."
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Post by CJ on Sept 10, 2013 21:45:24 GMT -5
Pacing about the room, the Admiral would pause and listen intently at certain parts of Solaine's proposal. He seemed to really be interested in what she had to say.
"It takes a wolf to know a wolf," Anstand repeated, peering at Solaine. "I'm not sure if that's true in all cases.
"But in this case, I think you could be onto something. Note, I am not sure if this... plan of yours is going to work out. However, I must agree our methods have not been succeeding as of late. Perhaps it is time to seek help from those we have shunned before."
"Admiral," Lieutenant March interrupted. "this girl's a monster. I can't say without losing my composure the kinds of things I witnessed her do. I don't think we should be trusting her with anything!"
"You would question my inquiry?" Anstand asked, making the Lieutenant sweat in his seat. He stepped toward him and the Commodore with him.
Putting his large gloved hand on the Commodore's shoulder, he spoke carefully.
"And what do you think of Ms. Winterfield, Commodore Feral? Do you agree with Lieutenant March?"
The scarred man went from confused to even more confused. He looked twenty years older than he did on Water 7. The span of a few short days seemed to completely change him. Looking at Solaine, then to Bryon, to March and then to Anstand, almost as though he was looking for one of them to answer the quesiton for him. It was clear he didn't belong at all. He remained mute.
"I'll be speaking for the Commodore," March spoke up with hesitation, standing at his place. "Like the rest of us here, he doesn't know enough about the criminal to make a fair assumption. I think his demeanor is enough proof enough of what people like this criminal can do to someone. Commodore Feral took on Paramecias, Zoans and even a Logia in his time in service. But one confrontation between King Asuza and Solaine Winterfield was enough to put him out of commission. These people aren't to be trifled with. I don't think we should go through with this or any of the criminal's plans. We should lock her away immediately!"
"I see," the Admiral nodded, glancing back at Solaine as he paced further. "So, we are at a disagreement. I suppose you have something to add, Vice Admiral Bryon?"
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Post by Kyubey on Sept 15, 2013 0:26:50 GMT -5
"So, we are at a disagreement. I suppose you have something to add, Vice Admiral Bryon?"
"That I do."
The Vice Admiral took a moment to think, his glare directed at Solaine just an instant to look at Feral, and then March, before resting once again upon Solaine. He had stepped in prepared to dismiss the criminal outright, but what she said gave him some pause. Letting pirates kill each other off was an interesting idea in theory at least. If pirates had one quality Byron could respect, it was their talent for destruction, completely unhindered by the rules and standards that restricted the Marines. To channel that energy, and turn it inward, shouldn't just be discarded so easily. Even he had to admit that was the case, however begrudgingly.
"Like Lieutenant March, I am skeptical. While I am willing to listen to the criminal's suggestion, I do still question its motives. It does indeed have a good understanding of pirate nature, but for what purpose is it here? I've never known a pirate to do anything, if not for profit of some kind. Either that or pure, barbaric, chaos. What reason would a wolf have to work towards the ruin of other wolves? Unless this wolf has something to gain from a lack of competition."
He tapped his fingers together a couple of times, and then addressed Solaine directly.
"I am interested in the idea itself. However, as you've suggested it, your plan is full of faults. To begin, what is it we'd be willing to give to the scum that would be adequate incentive for them to fight to the death? If we promise too much power, it may lead to a wave of piracy even more fierce than what the Marines are facing right now. And even if we do succeed in getting these famous pirates to slaughter one another, there is the possibility that they could cause severe damage to the World Government in the process, like what happened in the Water 7 incident. Supposing Admiral Anstand does support the proposition, this would not be a calculated move we'd be making, it would be a risk. A gamble. I am sure you're very aware, Solaine Winterfield, the last time a pirate gave other pirates a promised goal to fight for, it led to the formation of the Great Pirate Era."
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