Sometime during my shower, it had started to rain. I hope that Corazon had at least the common knowledge to bring his jacket. Knowing his luck, I wouldn't be surprise if he didn't. I have always been the one who had to remind him of little things like that. I had to get into the habit of checking the forecast every morning because of him. I told him that it might rain this morning and to bring a jacket but he was so excited about meeting Scarlet that he probably didn't listen to me. He was like a little kid. I sometimes wondered who the real parent was between the two of us.

I stood in the bathroom over the sink to shave my face. I made sure to leave the bit of hair on my chin alone so that I can maintain my goatee.

I wonder if the festival was cancelled because of the rain. It would be a shame. I went out of my way to stop by the shopping district in Grove 22 to get a costume for Corazon. Maybe they will just move the festival to a different date. Hopefully it won't be after we leave. We are only planning to stay here for a week after all. Corazon had an appointment to get to so it's not like we can stay longer just to attend it.

I was drying my face with a towel when I heard the front door open and close. That could only mean that Corazon was finally here. He was supposed to be here an hour ago but I knew he would be late. Corazon was always late for things whenever his mind is occupied with work. I used to stay up until two o' clock in the morning when I was a kid because I would wait for him to come home. Corazon worked for the army back then as an information scout. I was never worried about him getting hurt. Corazon was a strong fighter. I just couldn't get to sleep without him.

Corazon ate the Nagi Nagi no Mi devil fruit, which made him as a soundless man. He had the ability to create a barrier of sorts to block out noise. It was extremely useful in his line of work. He would scout for Pacifistas and report back to headquarters. With his ability they never heard him come or go. I found his ability to be useful as well but my reasons were more personal than that. Whenever I tried to sleep I would hear the voices of all the people I knew who were dead. I would get nightmares and wake up screaming. The only thing that seemed to help was the comfort of Corazon's soundless barrier. It was silly. I knew that it did nothing. The voices were merely my own memories. Yet, it always seemed to work.

I walked out to the main room to welcome Corazon back. I found him still standing in front of the door, dripping wet from the rain. He wasn't wearing a jacket. Typical him. It wasn't until I got closer that I noticed his face was pale and his eyes were slightly wider than usual. He looked rather shocked actually. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Hearing my voice must have broken him out of whatever trance he was in because he instantly lifted his head up and gave me an annoying grin. I was irritated once I saw it.

"I'm fine. Just seeing things, I guess." He mumbled as he went to the bathroom to get a towel to dry off. Even though what he said was an answer to my question and so therefore he should have been talking to me, it sounded more like he was talking to himself. As if he was trying to convince himself of something. Before I could question him about it, he returned to the main room. "Are you almost ready for the festival? I passed by Grove 36 and they were setting things up. It looks really cool."

"The festival is still up? I thought they would cancel it because of the weather."

"No, they were expecting the rain. So they put this huge tent over the Park."

"Well we're not leaving until you shower. You stink." I informed him as I made my way to the dresser. I picked up the costume I picked out for Corazon and lifted it up for him to see. Since it was last minute, there wasn't that many options to choose from but I managed to find a dissent looking clown costume. "After you take a shower, put this on."

Before I knew it, Corazon grabbed me by my shoulders and held me tight into a hug while he rubbed his cheek against the top of my head. "I love you so much, Law!"

I rolled my eyes. Corazon was anything but subtle about his emotions.

It took me about an hour to get Corazon to take a shower and get dressed. He fussed and whined the whole time but I won like always I did. Again I wondered who the real parent was in our relationship.

It didn't take us long after that to head on over to Grove 36 where Sabaody Park resided. The whole place was lit up with white string lights and everything was decorated with ghosts and monsters made out of cardboard. Overall, Corazon had a blast and dragged me to every ride that was available. At one point we even ran into Scarlett who was there with her boyfriend. They were both dressed up as vampires. We exchanged pleasantries and casual conversation before parting ways because Corazon saw a churro stand and just had to have one right away. It was around midnight when I finally put my foot down and demanded to go home. Corazon reluctantly agreed but only because he often found himself falling asleep on my shoulder when we waited in line for the rides.

As we passed by Grove 10, I noticed that there were some plants there that I vaguely remembered from one of my textbooks that was in Dr. Chopper's library. I couldn't recall the name of it though. I knew that if I didn't stop and observe them better, this was just going to bother me until I figured it out but I was tired and was practically carrying Corazon. So I tried my best to ignore the nagging feeling of curiosity and made my way to the hotel we were staying at. I can just come back tomorrow while Corazon was out with Scarlet.

The next morning, I was rudely awakened by Corazon opening up the curtains. I was nearly blinded by the sun so I quickly pulled the covers over my head with a groan of discomfort.

Corazon took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. "Ahhhh! What a morning. Don't you agree, Law?"

My reply was in the form of a groan. I hated mornings. I hated them with a passion. How I ended up with a guardian who could love them, I may never know.

"Ahh, come on, Law. It's time to get up. We have to meet up with Scarlett at the café in half an hour."

I pulled down the covers just enough to show him the glare I was giving him. "I don't. You do. Just go without me."

"You don't want to come? Won't you be bored here all alone in the room?"

I pulled the covers over my head again and made a show of getting comfortable in my bed. "Nope. I actually want to visit Grove 10 today. I saw some herbs there last night and I want to take a closer look at them."

"Oh. Okay then. Meet me at the Celestial Dragon Museum when you're done. Don't be out too late."

I grunted in reply. I was about to fall back asleep before I remembered the curtains. "Close those curtains before you-" I heard the door close behind Corazon. I let out a few curses before getting up to close the curtains myself and then proceeded to fall back on the bed to get a few more hours of sleep. God, I hate mornings.

It was around noon when I finally got my butt out of bed. Now that morning was over, I felt refreshed and ready to go. I wasn't sure what it was about mornings but they just made me sleepy and cranky. Once the clock strikes midnight you better stay clear from me. To this day, Corazon hadn't gotten the hint yet. Stupid morning people.

Once I reached Grove 10, I took my time observing each plant that I saw. I even brought my book on herbs and their uses for reference. I had about ten of these books back in my hotel room but this one in particular was a copy of one of the books in Dr. Chopper's library. The plant that I had saw last night turned out to be in this book like I had thought. It was an herb called Agrimony and it had many uses but it was most known for making Sedatives and antihistamine. I went from plant to plant, occasionally picking a few and placing them in my book for later use and study. It wasn't until the sun started to set that I noticed I had moved from Grove 10 to Grove 2. I was fairly close to the museum that Corazon wanted me to meet him at this point.

"I should probably go." I mumbled to myself. I stood from my spot with my book closed in my hand. I took a step towards Grove 1 when the wind suddenly picked up at an alarming rate. The trees shook and the wind echoed a howl. I gave my sword, Kikoku, that rested by my side a firm grip. It became habit for me to always have Kikoku by my side. While I was in the army, Pacifistas would suddenly appear without warning, even in our campsites where it was supposed to be a safe zone. You always had to be on the ready whenever an attack happened. Unlike myself, Corazon refused to carry his weapon at his side any longer. He wanted a peaceful life, he told me once. What a fool he was. There was no such thing as peace in this world. Pacifistas were gone now but that didn't mean a new enemy won't one day appear.

I looked around at my surroundings for any sign of danger. So far, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I did a full circle around before I noticed a difference in my environment. There used to be a field of grass but now there was a Poneglyph just standing in the middle of it. How did I miss a twelve-foot ancient text? Over a hundred years ago deciphering these things was considered a death plenty. Robin, the Straw hat's archaeologist decrypted them anyway and discovered that the World Government was founded on lies. That's what started the whole war against them. I didn't know that there was a poneglyph in Sabaody.

I walked closer to the stone to get a better look at it. I have never seen a Poneglyph in real life before. I only read and seen pictures of them in my books. They sure were huge. It looked to be twice my height. I lifted my hand to touch the script. Once my fingers brushed the stone, I felt the sensation of falling. Next thing I knew; I was staring up at the clouds on my back. I didn't remember falling or even dozing off for that matter. Was it all a dream? I lifted my head slightly to see that the Poneglyph was still there. I must have just tripped on something then.

It wasn't dark so I couldn't have been out for long. I looked to my side to see my book lying next to me and that Kikoku was still strapped to my hip. At least I wasn't robbed while I was out.

I stood up with care. After suddenly passing out I knew I should take some kind of precaution to my condition, just in case I had a concussion. Perhaps my suddenly passing out had something to do with my diet. I had skipped lunch after all. With a nod, I decided that had to be it. There was no need to think too much on it. So, I made my way out of the field and headed towards the museum. I didn't even notice that I had left my book on the floor until I was half way there. I turned around to go back, all the while hating myself for forgetting, when I heard screams and explosions.

My heart nearly stopped beating. I knew those sounds anywhere. I had after all spent years at war fighting against Pacifistas. But how? They were all defeated six months ago. We couldn't have possibly missed one.

I took off running toward the sound. It was almost second nature by now to run towards the danger than to run away from it. I was no hero. I didn't fight these things for the honor of saving the day or to save someone's life. I fought these monsters as my sort of revenge for what they did to me and my family all those years ago. If it wasn't for them my family would have gotten the proper medical care they needed. But instead they didn't and it was all those Pacifistas' fault. I will kill every last one of them even if it meant that that was all I did for the rest of life.

As I ran I noticed that everything was in rumbles. A sure sigh of Pacifistas. They left nothing but destruction in their wake.

"Someone help me!" a woman screamed.

"Nami!" someone else called out.

A roar of a large monstrous beast sounded then. Pacifistas didn't make that sound. They were quiet most of the time. They only spoke when to name their target.

"Chopper, no! Don't do it!"

"Stop it! Leave her alone!"

"Luffy!"

"Robin!"

I finally made it to the scene just in time to see a woman disappear. One second she was standing there reaching out to a boy with raven locks in a blue button up vest but then once the paw printed hand reached her, she just disappeared in thin air. Was it a devil fruit user? I remembered hearing about a guy who could teleport people with just the touch of a hand but I never actually seen the guy before. I quickly shook off my thoughts. That wasn't important right now.

"You and I will never meet again." The man with the paw printed hand told the crying boy as he lifted his hand. I lifted my own as well to summon my room ability. I didn't have teleport powers per say like this guy clearly did but I can switch positions with anything in my room bubble. Just before the man could bring his hand down on the helpless boy, I repositioned the boy next to my side in replacement of a rock.

The man looked at me instantly in surprise. "I was unaware that you had one more crew member."

I pulled out my sword and got ready for a fight. "And I was unaware that there were any more Pacifistas left in this world. But I gotta say, I'm not surprised."

The boy I just saved looked at me with wide tear filled eyes. "I don't know who you are but thanks."

The paw print man stared at me for a few minutes in thought. "If you are not a member of Straw hat's crew, I suggest you leave the area."

I let out a small laugh. Like hell I would leave. The day I left a living Pacifistas alive was the day that I would kill myself. "You sure talk a lot. Let's get this over with already."

I lifted my hand to activate the room ability once more. Over the years in the army I learned the weaknesses and the best way to kill any Pacifistas. They were made to be machines and to kill all evil in this world. But there was one thing that everyone forgets. They are all still human and so they still have human weakness. One slice of the neck or a thrust of a sword in their heart and they will be down for the count. I may have entered the army as a war surgeon but I left as the best executioner of their kind.

I was about to strike at my opponent when the boy suddenly grabbed my arm.

"You can't! He's too strong! We have to run."

I glared at the boy. How dare he assume that I was weak. I should shamble the boy for merely thinking such things about me. Before I could tell the boy to lay off, the paw printed man was suddenly right in front of us with his hand mere inches next to the boy's face.

"Farewell, Straw hat."

The boy clutched onto my arm tighter as the paw print hand grew closer and before I could reposition us away to safety, we were sent flying through the air to an unknown destination.

Followers will get a special sneak peak of the next chapter a day or two before it releases.