Chapter 3: Act 1 - Prologue

A/N

I apologise for the extremely long wait for this chapter and for its length.

Stuff happened irl plus I was focused on my main fic hence, the late update. Further, I am still getting used to the OP world so give me a while before I put out longer chapters. Okay? Thanks.

Shoutout to Fox for helping and e-luckarcher, Murph, Meister and Mruf for the beta and proof reading.

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Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters.

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Chapter 3

~Robin and Luffy~

The two had been running all around the forest, laughing merrily without a care in the world whatsoever. The sun was shining, the area around them peaceful as a soft breeze whispered through the area. That was until a loud growling sound was heard.

"Hooo I'm hungry," Luffy said with an overexaggerated sigh as he held his stomach in apparent hunger, making Robin giggle for no apparent reason. The dark-haired girl wondered why she was suddenly letting out a laugh for something so mundane. This boy was going to be the death of her for sure!

She was snapped out of her musing when Luffy suddenly perked up as he remembered a very important detail. There was food on the ship! Without wasting a single second, the boy grabbed Robin's hand and sped off towards no particular direction. In his food-induced thoughts, he had forgotten that he didn't know the way out and thus, was running blindly.

"LUFFYYY!" Robin couldn't help but yell whilst being dragged along at high speeds by the surprisingly fast boy.

Luffy, true to himself, opted to not hear her as he kept running in a random direction with a huge smile plastered on his face.

...

~Garp~

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Garp said with the most serious face anyone had ever seen.

Clover gulped. He had willingly laid out his cards and it was judgement time.

"I won't lie to you about this sir. Despite my reluctance to tell you about it, I feel it is a better choice than revealing it to someone else from the navy."

That's right, Garp had somehow managed to convince Clover to reveal the most guarded secret in all of Ohara. All it took were a few minutes and some carefully laid out points to win the man over. After all, Garp knew what sort of trouble this particular topic could attract, as well as the steps the World Government was ready to take. And for someone who hated the five elders and the celestial dragons for what they stood for, Garp was willing to do whatever it took to avoid conflicts altogether.

"Show me."

Clover nodded as he signaled his colleagues to lead the way.

...

~Robin and Luffy~

Luffy scratched his head as he looked at the vast expanse of blue in front of him.

"Did grandpa leave me already?" Luffy asked himself as he kept looking around, searching for the familiar ship.

Robin quietly laughed a bit at his obliviousness.

"Luffy, the port is on the other side of the island. I have been trying to tell you," Robin said.

The boy visibly deflated as the prospect of getting meat kept getting bleaker and bleaker, amusing Robin greatly. Even though she had not met many people, Luffy was by far the most interesting person she had met. There was something about him that attracted her and promised new adventures every day. However, she was snapped out of her thoughts as soon as Luffy's stomach growled again.

"Come on, I'll show you the way," Robin offered with a kind smile that cheered the boy almost instantly.

"YOSH! Let's go!" Luffy yelled with determination.

Robin nodded her ascent, happy being of some use to someone, especially her first and best friend.

The two kids started running off towards the correct direction this time, blissfully unaware of the world around them.

...

~Garp~

Garp had been examining the particular object when suddenly his Observation Haki picked up something on the island. From the looks of it, he knew who it was and he was not at all pleased, not in the least.

He needed to wrap things up as quickly as possible to prevent...

Only to be interrupted as his second-in-command barged through the door with a look of panic on his face.

"R-reporting sir, there's a very important call for you."

The expression on his face gave the answer to the question he was about to ask himself. Garp was not at all pleased. Not in the least.

His thoughts immediately drifted towards his grandson who seemed to be running towards his location with the other presence he had felt earlier. Thankfully, the two had not noticed anything amiss as their auras were balanced out. Garp had to get his grandson out as soon as he could while trying to save as many people as possible.

Time was of the essence.

'Sengoku', Garp thought with gritted teeth.

...

~Robin and Luffy~

Just as the two kids made it to the village, there seemed to be a commotion going on as the shops were shut abruptly and people began running towards their homes.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked as he glanced at the people running past him with fear evident on his face.

They even ignored Robin which greatly surprised the girl as there were some among them who always threw looks of disgust towards her whenever she was around. Needless to say, this greatly shocked her. She couldn't help but think about the library where she had learnt of that forbidden knowledge. Could it be that someone was coming for it?

"Hey Luffy, we should get out of here," the dark-haired girl said to her friend urgently.

"But what about meat?" Luffy whined.

"I'll give you as much meat as you want if you first get out of here."

"Fine, let's go to grandpa. He's very powerful!"

"Where's he?" Robin asked.

"....."

"Luffy, do you even know where your grandfather is?"

Her reply came in the form of the boy scratching his head, trying to recall his jiji's whereabouts. Unsurprisingly, he came up with a blank, making Robin sweatdrop.

"I know a place where we can hide. Come with me quickly," Robin made the split second decision, grabbed Luffy and rushed towards the library where she could find some much needed answers or sanctuary if needed.

...

~Marineford~

A tall, fair-skinned, and muscular man with a long, braided goatee and a mustache sat at his desk with a den-den mushi in his hand. His face was shadowed by his cap as he intently listened in. After a few moments, the line was cut, leaving the man to his thoughts.

Looks like almost nothing was hidden from them. The thing that he had tried to keep in whispers had escaped and they had made their decision and he had to see it through. There were times like these that he sometimes wished to have just been a vice-admiral like Garp and live his life training new marines rather than doing what he was just expected to do. However, despite his reluctance, their orders were absolute.

With a heavy sigh, he dialed a number and relayed the instructions to those concerned. He hoped that Garp would do the right thing but knowing his long-time friend, he knew some trouble would end up brewing soon.