Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Ancient History and Trauma

_________ POV Narration_________

The second Robin entered the room she studied it the best she could without appearing too intrusive... She didn't want to risk offending the person wielding an 'invincible' fruit for no good reason.

Her crewmates didn't have the same inhibitions, they bombarded Enel with random questions and kept him somewhat occupied, which allowed Robin to look around the room even more carefully...

Her eyes scanned the golden staff, intricate work, and beautiful design. The odd dent in the wood also led her to believe that it was extremely heavy.

Hearing Enel's explanation also made her eyes widen a bit. It was surprising that a person with that strong a devil fruit would even bother using any type of weapon...

Still, that wasn't enough to shock her. It just made her understand that he wasn't an arrogant man and that he tried to improve himself regardless of his already immense power.

In the first place, 'invincible' devil fruits were known to have the power to destroy entire islands even with minimal training.

Having a user of that fruit also trains his body basically put him at the top of the world in terms of strength.

At least that was Robin's opinion, as she was right now she still didn't know much about how strong people could really get further into the New World.

She also didn't know much about Edward Newgate's strength. She only had some basic knowledge, she knew that Whitebeard also had a fruit that was titled 'invincible', which made her put Enel at the same level as him...

Her eyes then looked over the rest of the room, a basic residence by all means. Extremely bare-bones, but Enel did say he was not expecting visitors.

She then turned her head towards a part of the room that was a bit more well-lit. It was a nice wooden table with what looked to be an oil lamp but was most likely using a sort of Dial to create light.

She found it interesting and better looking than the rest of the room... But she completely froze when she saw the numerous notebooks and parchments that littered said table.

She could recognize that language instantly, she gulped after what she was seeing had finally clicked in...

Enel was studying the Poneglyphs... He was also relatively far into his research, to the point where he could already translate the ancient texts to near perfection.

She could clearly see the ancient text written on the parchments and the notebooks filled with translated words.

That was all she could tell from one glance... That one man had managed to crack the secret language that had gotten her entire home burnt down by the world government.

Any notion of not being intrusive completely vanished from her mind as she tried to do her best to process the information her eyes had just captured.

"Enel... What are these on the table?" Her question was more of a formality, she knew what the notebooks signified, and she could clearly see the results of Enel's research.

"Oh, that is just an interest of mine. I am unsure of how familiar you people are with our world's history?" Enel decided to play it cool for now.

His plans were already ruined, he had wanted to make a better impression on the crew, and he had hoped to make his research of Poneglyphs some sort of big reveal after they had gotten to know him a bit.

Now that ship had sailed and it was nowhere to be seen, so Enel was left to build a raft with whatever scraps of wood he could find.

Most of the crew's attention was now on Enel and Robin. Even Luffy managed to notice that Robin was reacting oddly to whatever she had seen on that table.

"I know a few things about it..." Robin said, her tone was rather grim. The rest of the crew also managed to notice that.

"Well, then this makes things easier... An ancient blacksmithing clan of the Wano Country created a secret language and etched it on indestructible pieces of stones called poneglyphs.

They are scattered around the world and they hold the secrets to our world's true history, as well as the locations of ancient weapons around the world."

Enel decided to give them plenty of details. Most of the straw hats were surprised to hear about that. Not many of them knew a lot about poneglyphs.

"I decided to make it my mission to unearth these secrets and publish them for the world at large." Enel's smiled again, this time it was a bit more restrained.

His goal managed to once again surprise Robin, but what shocked her the most was that he had even given her information that she didn't know anything about...

"An ancient clan in the Wano Country?" Robin asked, her confusion managed to overwhelm her shock at having discovered someone like her... A person seeking the truth of the world.

"Yes, Wano Country is the origin of these texts. They are a closed-off country now, being ruled by a Yonko. I couldn't manage to find any other information there.

I was also trying to stay low-key, as I don't wish to make my presence known to the Government yet, and I don't want to fight a Yonko for no reason."

Luffy's eyes shined the second he heard Enel's story.

"You've gone that far into the grand line?!" He wasn't the smartest, but he still knew a bit about the major countries inside the Grand Line, at least what he had managed to remember from his grandfather's teachings.

Nami's eyes widened as she realised that, for once, Luffy knew something about anything.

"Well, it's not that hard to travel with my powers... But I haven't been to many other places. Wano Country is where my fascination with Poneglyphs started." Enel decided to throw some bullshit in his story.

None of the Straw Hats, including Robin, could ever have any information to say otherwise. Not like they had any idea who Enel was.

Even the people of the Sky islands wouldn't be able to refute that, as none of them knew what their former god was doing in his free time.

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"... This is dangerous. Do you have any idea wh-" Robin was about to start advising Enel to stop his research. Enel was the one to interrupt her this time.

"Yes, I know, I know. The world government doesn't like people looking into this... But what can they do really?" Enel smiled in a calm way.

"Strength isn't something I lack, and I only fear the possibility of the poneglyphs being lost to time. If the world government wants to turn itself into a wall and block my path... Then I will just have to crush that wall and turn it into a stepping stone."

Robin's eyes also widened, she felt fear from the mention of the World Government, memories of a wrecked homeland appearing in her mind... But there was also something else in there.

She found it odd that she felt concerned for someone she barely knew. But in him she saw a kindred spirit, so she couldn't deny that concern was present in her mind.

They were extremely alike in their motivations, in their goals... Both had a great amount of curiosity and a desire to learn the truth that the Government so badly wanted to remain hidden.

But unlike her, the person in front of her was both not known by and not afraid of the world government.

That was where the two of them were different, Robin feared the government, especially after witnessing the buster call.

But the person in front of her possessed the power to blow up an island much faster than a buster call ever could.

The World Government would have to pay an extremely stiff price if they even considered trying to hunt him down.

Just with the abilities of his devil fruit alone, he was a figure on a similar level to a Yonko. And that made him untouchable.

He knew that as well, and Robin was now also realising that. Remembering just who the person in front of her was.

Someone that could do anything he wanted. Someone that could blow up islands at will, a person that had the possibility to just stroll into Marineford and ruin it.

That was where they were different. He was strong, in both body and mind. And she... She was weak...

She was forced to flee for her life, her entire life was spent with her back to the wall, always wondering when the World Government would finally catch up with her.

She wasn't as strong or anywhere near as confident as Enel was. She clenched her teeth as these thoughts surfaced in her mind.

'Was I always this pathetic?' She felt anguish, to the point of wanting to shed tears, but there were no tears there.

She wanted to scream, but her voice felt muffled by an unknown pressure. Enel also noticed her state, his brows raised as he also became a bit concerned for her...

Trauma was extremely difficult to overcome, and he knew all too well how fear could turn one into a statue...

Enel felt that he should do something... He felt that he should act to try and comfort her... But he also felt that it wasn't his place to do so.

Robin stood there, her hands trembling as her eyes were filling with more and more anguish.

But then, she felt a pat on her shoulder, turning around, she could see Luffy, with a smile on his face. A person that she owed her life to, yet that didn't want anything from her, besides her friendship.

Everyone, Nami, Usopp even Sanji dropped his usual playfulness when seeing her in that state. They all gathered around her, trying their best to comfort her.

She wasn't alone anymore... Maybe she wasn't strong alone. Maybe she wasn't confident enough alone...

But she now had others to help her. To support her. To compensate where she was lacking. Anguish turned to happiness, self-doubt turned into confidence...

Her tears started flowing, but for different reasons.

'I wasn't expecting such a strong response...' Enel pondered when seeing the scene in front of him. He could tell that the rest of the crew didn't understand a lot of what was happening.

But it seemed that his reveal had caused the Straw Hats to become a lot closer than they were before... Well, it more specifically caused Robin to feel more comfortable around them.

After seeing that Robin had turned for the better, Luffy's smile widened even more.

A group hug ensued, where Robin was squished in the middle and Enel was left standing there, awkwardly...

Then Luffy looked at Enel. His gaze was not as friendly as before.

"I appreciate the hospitality... But I really don't appreciate you making my comrade cry!" Luffy's anger was plain to see.

"I didn't say anything bad though..." Enel said as he scratched the back of his head.

'Please don't tell me this world is still trying to make me the villain of this ark...' Enel thought as his frustration started to mount...

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Double chapter today as well, I guess.

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