Chapter 5 – Consequences

Kael's pov

The nights were loud on the sea, even when no one spoke.

Waves licked the edge of the dock like gnawing teeth. The Thousand Sunny rocked gently in the bay, lights still glowing across its lion-shaped prow. Someone was laughing onboard — probably the chef. Or maybe that idiot with the hat.

Kael sat alone.

Watching.

Thinking.

Breathing too much and not enough.

He hated the waiting. Hated the empty space between decisions.

But mostly, he hated the way that pirate looked at the world — like nothing stuck to him. Like gravity never pulled him down.

Kael's fingers rested near the inside holster of his coat.

He could've done it.Earlier.At the dock.One clean shot.

He didn't.

He still didn't know why.

Appearance

He stood up briefly to stretch his legs, coat swaying in the night breeze. The long, black overcoat he wore looked heavy — stitched from hardened fabric, sun-faded, stained by travel and time. Beneath it: a simple dark shirt, holster, knife strap on the thigh, and boots built for silence.

Kael's hair was white, straight, slightly tousled by sea air. Not styled — just left alone. His face was average, not someone who turned heads in a crowd, but not forgettable either. Clean jawline, faint scar under his left eye.

But it was the eyes people remembered — when they had the courage to look.Cold, bright blue.Clear like glass.Empty like ruin.

The Past

Noel had those same eyes.

She'd joined the Marines when they were both barely out of childhood. She wanted to change things. From the inside. "Not all Marines are corrupt," she used to say. "Someone has to make it better."

Kael never believed in that. But she did. So he let her go.

He traveled. Took mercenary jobs. Eventually, bounty hunting. Clean kills, quiet targets. He sent her letters. She never missed a reply.

Until Enies Lobby.

The day that Monkey D. Luffy broke the gates of justice.

The day the World Government — wounded and humiliated — pulled the trigger on a Buster Call.

Ten battleships. Vice admirals. Absolute destruction.

A scorched-earth command.

They said she died instantly.

That she was stationed on the island as reinforcement. That the command to evacuate came too late. That she was "honored" for her sacrifice.

But no one said her name when they told the story.

They said "a Marine base."They said "a number."They said "regrettable losses."

Not Noel.

The world hailed the Straw Hats as heroes.Liberators.A spark against tyranny.

Kael watched them smile in the headlines.

Luffy, especially.Big grin. Hands in the air. Laughing. Free.

Kael couldn't punch the World Government.He couldn't reach the admiral who called the strike.He couldn't find the bastards who used a Buster Call like a toy.

But Luffy?

Luffy was in reach.

He was real. Walking. Laughing. Living.

So Kael made him the shape of his grief.

He needed a face to hate.

And Luffy's was smiling.

Present

He stared at the ship again.

Luffy sat cross-legged on the figurehead, arms in the air, probably yelling about food or meat or "King of the Pirates" again.

Kael wanted to scream.

Instead, he whispered to himself:

"You don't even know who she was."

And the truth was — Luffy didn't.

He'd never know what the Buster Call had burned.He'd never see Noel's ashes.He'd never see what the cost of his war was.

Because for him, the fire was always behind.

Kael turned from the dock and walked into the shadows, white hair catching moonlight like ghost smoke.

He didn't know what came next.

He just knew one thing:

He wasn't done.