Back to the Basics

Back at HQ
Knock Knock.

The sound of someone knuckles clapping against the other side of the door cause the man in the room to rise from his slumber. His entire torso, even his shoulders, and neck had been wrapped in bandages and the immediate expression on his face showed that he had truly been in pain. Despite the room being dark, his golden eyes managed to give off their own light as he looked around the room he'd been in.

Removing the suspense, this man was Ferrothorn Solomon. Recently, Solomon's life had been heavily active. Everything started ever since he had been assigned to Cape Island. He went from defending the island from the horrific Obese Pirates to facing off against a Yonko commander, then finally facing against the near full might of a Yonko crew. To put it simply the Marine soldier's agenda had been pretty heavy, but among all of that only one of those events managed to way heavy on his mind.

The ultimate betrayal he had to face from his younger brother, slightly crippled him mentally. He basically declared war against the entire world as a whole, but more specifically their father. In the midst of all of his thinking, the door swung open even without his own calling.

"Sooooollllloooommmooooonnnn-saaaaammmmmaaaaa~" The voice sang as the door opened. A pink-haired girl entered the room and good god almighty was her appearance one to behold. As mentioned she possessed pink-hair which went well with her dazzling pink eyeballs. Her shape itself was lovely, but it was her bust that completely overshadowed that.

"You've been in here for three days, Solomon-sama!" In her hand was a clipboard when she threw onto Solomon's lap all while plopping onto the bed herself. "I know you don't plan on sitting in bed and rotting away!" Her smile was large despite her lips being the complete opposite.

Solomon moved the clipboard to his side, as he slowly moved so he could get out of bed. "Paris, why didn't you wait for me to say come in?"

She chuckled, "Well, because if I had, you wouldn't have let me in. Pluuuuuuuus, I promised Miss Roselia, that I didn't need her help getting you out of bed and that I would do so before she would finish eating lunch!"

The ebony's eyes widened, he sprung out of bed as though nothing had been wrong with him to begin with. "WHAT BED?! Haha, I wasn't resting or slacking, I had been meditating. Yeah, Roselia knows that I don't know why she'd tell you to come to get me out of bed! It's my culture, we do it once a month!" Solomon truly had fear in his heart. "I'm up Paris! Make SURE you tell her," Solomon moved his hands as though he had been picking something up, "I am AWAKE!"

He took a quick pause, "Wait," he lifted his eyebrow. "You said she went to lunch. With who?" Curious the Marine was. This was particularly unusual for Roselia who usually had lunch with either Solomon or Doge. But Doge was away for the moment, so exactly who could she be with?

Paris shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno, she mentioned..." Her eyes went to the roof of her sockets as she placed her finger on her lip, "Um, some "Emer" or something like that."

"Emer?! You mean, Verde Emer?!" Solomon grabbed his chest as though he'd been stabbed in the heart. "Ain't that about a-.. My old man loves that lady! To this still, I don't quite get how someone with the attitude of Roselia could even be able to hang around a Supermodel of Emer's status." Throwing his hand on his chin, he entered a thinking state, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Haha," Paris smile, "It's good to see you at least have some life in you Solomon-saaaaaama~. Also..." She lifted herself from the bed but slowly began to head towards the exit of the room. "Thank you for bringing her down, Onii-sama. I know it wasn't done by my hand, but it makes me... it makes me feel better to know that there is a chance of hope getting Autumn back soon."

Just before reaching the door to exit, she turned around to face Solomon who's back had been towards her. "Is.. what Miss Roselia reported true about Braxton?"

Before he could respond he instantly thought, "Damn." His eyes closed, "Roselia gave them the rundown already, even know it would completely destroy Pari-"

"You don't have to hide it from me, Onii-sama. I'm older now, Solomon. Just whatever you do, make the right choice." Pulling the door open, she exited in a much more rough fashion than she had entered slamming it behind her.

At At Unknown Location...

Two women sat at a table on an island seemingly isolated from the rest of the neighboring lands. It couldn't have been more than five hundred square meters just right in the middle of the ocean. The waves were violent, but due to the "lands" geographical make of how high up it was, it was nearly impossible for these waves to disturb these two.

The woman on the left had long red hair and she seemed to be a bit more curious than the woman who sat across from her. Her captain's jacket hung over the back of the seat, a simple signification that she was indeed a member of the Marines and she was Chartinger Roselia. She tapped her crossed arm obviously her curiosity could not be contained.

"What is it, sis?" Roselia asked, as her taps grew faster and faster.

The short cut green haired women lifted the small tea cup closer to her face and took a slow sip. She wore a very tight fitted dress and a fur coat over her shoulders in the same manner as Roselia. "Now now, sis. No need to be in so much of a rush." She used her hand to pull her bob behind her ear and then placed the cup on the table. "Before we get into why I called you here, girl, I think you have to tell me about a bit of a situation that happened with that Ferrothorn brothers."

Roselia smashed her hands on the table. Lava formed around both of her fist, instantly creating holes through them where he arms slipped right through. "You know what happened, Emer!" She shouted, her rage filling as she spouted each word. "The youngest one, Braxton, found it."

"Girl, you better calm down. I'm not the one who failed the mission big sis gave me." While Emer's words were sly, they were true. Roselia seemed to have failed her "mission" yet to be explained.

"Shit, it seems she gave me the hardest mission out of all us commanders. Why couldn't she have given it to that dyke, Anne?" The woman leaned back and returned to her folded arm position. "Then she goes on to die on all of us."

Emer locked eyes with Roselia, "She didn't 'go on and die on all of us'. You and I both know that situation was nearly inevitable. I won't let you talk ill-will towards, Big Sis." She took another sip from her cup, "Besides, we both know Bonney Anne would have blown the mission you were given ten years ago. I haven't heard from her since the split, for all we know she's dead. You were given the mission of joining the Marines and watching over the Yggdrasil Kingdom and you went beyond that mission by working under the prince, Ferrothorn Solomon. Don't regret your mission after over ten years just because you've partially failed it and let someone find and eat it. I was told to live my best life and Gallon Margie was tasked with getting him to safety and joining a new crew to still live on the seas and look over him."

She cleared her throat and took another sip. "So don't complain about something you've failed... especially since you took the mission reluctantly when she gave it to you."

Roselia rolled her eyes, "Times have changed, I now see how much trouble the Marines went through chasing Pirates and trying to get us was a whole different matter. Yet, like you said, I've partially failed." Leaning back up to the table, she held up one finger. "There's still a way to retrieve it and that's through Solomon himself."

"You're sick." Emer teased, lifting a bag from the ground and placing it on the table.

"Am I? Or are you, using your looks granted by Big Sis to keep us all looking as we were ten years ago. Did you brinf what I told you to bring?"

"Hey, it's all apart of the mission. Besides, no one believed her when she spoke about that fountain anyway." Reaching into the bag, Emer pulled out a light brown round fruit and held it in her hand. "And yes, the Hani Hani no Mi, as requested by the failure."

With a glare, Roselia responded, "Watch it, Emer." Extending her reach out further, she grabbed the devil fruit and surveyed each inch of its make.

"What is it you plan on doing with this?" Emer asked.

The red-haired woman leaned back yet again, "There's this lieutenant that works under Solomon, Jenkins Paris. I've watched her struggle to get stronger under Solomon all so that she could get her friend back. This here will do it, it'll give her that boost in power that she's missing."

"You better be making the right decision, failure."

"Oh trust me," she said, standing to her feet and a large smile on her face, "She has that same fire in her eye that Big Sis did when she first found me. This is far from a mistake."

"I hope so, it's a memento to sis Hannah. I don't want it in the hands of anyone, but if you said it's that same look, then I'll believe you."

Roselia nodded and placed the fruit inside of her jacket and began to turn as though she'd been readying herself to leave.

"Wait, Sis..." Emer stated, stopping Roselia in her tracks as she reached into her bag. "Since you didn't bring this up, that means you don't know anything about it."

Roselia's eyebrow lifted, "About what?"

Sliding a bounty paper across the table Emer tapped on the name. "Buster....D....." She said, dragging each word out, before Roselia stepped in and took over as though it were an open ended duet.

"Zack... That name.. is that, actually him?"

Emer nodded, "You see the pendant right?" Reaching into the neck portion of her dress she pulled out a pendant that was strikingly similar to the one Zack wore around his neck in that image. "That's Amaka's pendant."

Roselia burst into tears.

END

Issa Party
In one of the many large rooms at the Marine Head Quarters, there was sort of a grand event about to be held. As if the decorations and the many banners hanging wasn't enough to give away exactly what was about to go down, then the single large banner over the entrance reading "Solomon Promotion Party" would have easily given it away.

In the center of the room was a dance floor which underneath seemed to have its own flashing lights which fit the mood just right. Some soldiers stationed themselves there dancing with one another having a good time. All throughout the room food could be seen and offered. Pizza, burgers, nachos, salads, seafood, rice, candy, and Solomon's all-time favorite; a buffet of fried chicken. To say that had a little something to offer, would be an understatement of its own.

While the place seemed to have quite a few people already, even more, were to come evident by the people continuously entering with each passing second. Solomon, the host of this party, found himself not on the dance floor, but at the All You Can Eat fried chicken buffet, stuffing his face with as many chicken bones his mouth could hold.

"You are a filthy animal." Doge stated with his hand behind his own ear scratching it.

"Ssashy hee who scraches," Solomon's mouth was full of food so much that his words began to slur, "hisshh own ear like a littleeee puppeeeey."

Much to the side, sitting together were Naosaki Jun and Herculean Leo, the former wearing her marine uniform while the latter was there in casual clothing. "I don't even know why I'm here," Jun sighed, sustaining her face with her palm as her elbow leaned against the table to her side.

Leo, who was sipping his drink, laughed not too loudly, "Ah, well, it's... it's good to relax once in a while!" He rose it, glancing at her with a pleading look. "I don't see many f-familiar faces," Leo tried changing topics.

"Of course, nyan." Jun commented, taking a meat ball from a plate and gulping it down in one bite, "There are only the highest ranks in here, so, not too clean."

"Fancy seeing you two here." A voice spoke from above them, the two would glance up to see Vice Admiral Valentine standing beside their table. He was drinking wine straight from a red bottle. A black logo of a demon's face was plastered on the bottle, reading "Red Devil Wine Co." He grabbed a chair and sat down across from the two. "It has been long as hell since I've seen the two of you. How've you both been?" His tone was very casual but held an undertone of genuine interest. About a week after their mission on Cassiopeia, Jun had left his side in pursuit of other goals. The two had kept it polite and briefly seen each other in passing. However this was the first time in at least a month that they'd actually been in conversation. Leo on the other had was off on his own adventures, Valentine briefly checked in on him when he was training at the base, giving him pointers if he asked. Otherwise the two didn't usually cross paths.

Jun scratched her hair, "Sir Val! I could be better..." She doozed off, staring at him and then at the rest of the party, then her hand snatched another meat-ball. "It has been quite long, nyan~" In fact, Jun had indeed changed instructions, in other words, she switched her assigment under Carter to another Vice Admiral. She hoped they weren't drawing too much attention, after all, she got there without being noticed.

"I've been good! Just here in this party hosted by this Solomon person," Leo glanced at Carter with a thumbs-up, finishing his drink in the next second, "How about you, tho'?" He sent his hand to catch something at the table, mumching down on it by the next second, unlike Jun, he did not mind much of the party at all.

Gwilym had waddled into the grand room a while back, and had been pecking away at the all you can eat buffet. Everytime Gwilym ate a chicken wing, he wondered if it counted as cannibalism of some form. But he tossed away those thoughts for one reason alone; the fried chicken tasted great.

He waddled around for a while, some of the Marines ranking lower than him asking to take pictures with him. Gwilym accepted, as he knew that he was extremely photogenic, as were all penguins. Eventually, out of the corner of his eye he spotted a trio of Marines. A fellow Vice-Admiral, a Commodore, and if Gwilym’s memory served correctly, the blond male was a Commander.

The penguin made his way over there and stared up towards them. He proceeded to somehow climb up Valentine and plop himself onto the table, rolling around before shooting up to his feet. The penguin nodded a greeting to everyone. “A pleasure to meet all of you.” he said, looking at the trio intently.

Just then a blur of brown hair and flushed flesh moved past the groups' table at break neck speeds, heading directly for the drinks. Chardonnay stopped before the table so suddenly that she actually kicked up dust around her. Her chest heaved quickly, her eyes zipping around the shelves full of different selections trying to decide what to try first. She stood there for only a few seconds before shrugging and grabbing the attendee's attention with a frantic wave "Linus is it? I want a drink in both my hands at all times. Doesn't matter what kind, they just need to have alcohol. Preferably lots of it, but I'm not to picky. Got it? Good." She smiled a wide, manic grin and the bartender looked worried for a moment before setting about making her first two drinks.

Once she had her two glasses in hand, Chardonnay looked around for some people to socialize with. This was a party, after all. She couldn't spend the whole time drinking at the bar like some sad alcoholic. She was a fun drunk, not a pitiful drunk. As she scanned, her eyes landed on Gwilym and she let out a squeal, running over with such a sudden burst of speed that one would think she'd spill one of her drinks. However, this was Chardonnay, who would rather die than waste some good booze, and not a drop was lost.

"Gwil!! You little cutie!!!" She managed to pick the penguin up in an almost crushing bear hug, some how managing to do it without putting either of her drinks down. She nuzzled his cute little penguin cheek and set him down again, downing the brown drink in her right hand in a single gulp "Linus~!" She called sweetly once the glass had left her lips, the bartender seeming to appear at her side instantly, replacing the finished drink with a bright pink one "Thank you, dear." Linus nodded and moved away as quickly as he came, leaving Chardonnay to her socializing.

She sipped the drink in her left hand and turned to Gwilym and co "Oh hi Val! Is that a...oh sweet Holy Land that's a Red Devil! I've been wanting to buy a bottle...maybe I could play you for one sometime?" She gave a suggestive eyebrow wiggle before looking down at Jun and Leo "Excuse the ill manners of a drunk woman, I'm Vice Admiral Belvedere Chardonnay. And you two are?" Chardonnay strained her memory to try and figure out if she had met either of them before. She was usually good with faces and names...when she was sober. And she was hardly ever fully sober. She'd forgotten important people she met more than a few times because of her drinking. Not that she'd ever change, though. Life was really dull without the sweet sweet joy that is alcohol.

It seemed everyone else was here already. She smirked before shifting to a cheeky grin. Walking in, she would continue surveying the landscape, greeting a few passerby before finding her fellow Marines clustered together. Her ear twitched as she picked up their drifting conversation; well, Char's talking anyway. Reputation alone made the happy drunk easily discernible. Finishing her trek over Genshō clapped the Vice Admiral on the back heartily.

"Hey everyone! My name is Tamamo Genshō; I'm currently a Commodore in the Marines but who knows? One day I could be higher. How are you guys doing?!" she inquired while introducing herself. Her tone was filled to the brim with a restless, yet cheery energy.