Chapter 125: Chapter 113: Sometimes, a deal with the devil is better than no deal at all

Chapter 113: Sometimes, a deal with the devil is better than no deal at all

 

“OH? Oh?! That’s all you have to say?!”  

 

Rick’s simple answer enraged the devil. He’s been in his situation the vice-captain was in for around twenty years and the only answer he got was ‘Oh?’. He was about to lash out, when her vessel simply apologized.

 

“Sorry.”

 

That made her stop any rant she was about to make because that apology was a heartfelt one. That surprised him a bit. Rick had been opposing him at every turn and for so long that such compassion threw him out of a loop.

 

“Why are you sorry?”

“It’s my fault. Had I not played with this universe's rules, you would not have manifested and would not be in that situation.”

“... Good for you to realize that. As reparations, I’ll take your body.”

“No.”

“You stubborn little… WHY?!”

“You’ll kill everyone. I can’t let that happen.”

“What makes you think I’ll do that?! ‘Cause I won’t!”

“Past experiences spoke for themselves.” Rick replied with a mental frown.

“Name me one time!”

“Alabasta twelve years ago, Thriller Bark, and Marineford. Three out of Three.”

“Everytime, only bad guys died! Case in point Alabasta! I didn’t lay a finger on any of those girls and women!”

“Okay, I’ll give you that one but what about the fight against Moria? You hurt my friends!” Rick argued, silently conceding that it was right in the case of Marineford.

“One, they’re pirates, the bad guys. Two, you thought of them as companions not friends and certainly not as family. That changed on fishman island. Three, I didn’t hurt Robin who you did consider a friend and more, and I didn’t harm Nami either.”

 

Rick had to think for a moment there. The devil had a point. While he had been ecstatic to sail with Luffy and the rest of the crew and were on friendly terms, he wasn’t that close to any of them. Sure he played his part as a vice-captain, that was his own code of honor, his own principles and morals acting there but thinking back, they hadn’t really been friends. Robin was Robin and Nami… She was truly the only one of the rest of the crew that he had a real friendship with. She had stood by his side no matter what. Especially since the crew’s meeting with Aokiji on Long Ring Long Land island. Back then she already was his confidant. The others? Well he was just experiencing their presence, maybe due to some remnant of his fanboyism. It wasn’t until the confrontation in Ryugu palace that it really clicked to him that they were friends for real. He knew that they thought of him that way but he hadn’t returned the feeling till then. Everything he did was just… helping them, to see the end of one piece while getting karma. They had been a means to an end. The devil’s argument was not untrue but there was one weak spot in it.

 

“What about Grandpa, Big Sis and Uncle? They’re my family!”

“They are marines, working for the descendants that ordered the extermination of my people and covered it up. They’re bad guys.”

 

That was an expected piece of information and an important one. That made Rick’s brain go into overdrive.

 

“You mean… The lost kingdom? You were the leader of its people? They worshiped a devil? But… I thought…”

“They didn’t worship a devil, they worshiped me.”

“But you’re… You’re not?”

“No I’m not.”

“But… Devil fruits have been in existence since before the void century. How… Is it… Did the true story get lost to time or was modified?”

“A little bit of both. I created what you call devil fruits over a thousand years ago. At the time there was no side effect, people didn’t sink, they swam. It was only after… well let’s say I use the last of my power to fragment my own soul and put one into each fruit adding that weakness to water.”

 

That was a revelation to Rick. And despite the fact that the… not devil? Was responsible for the creation of the devil fruits then the added malus of sinking like an anvil in a body of water he still could see a bit of what she didn’t say…

 

“The celestial dragons… They came from the seas, and destroyed and pillaged the kingdom. I’m guessing you cursed the fruits as a sore loser move of some kind?”

“It wasn’t a sore loser move! It was so the power of the fruits could be restricted. The kingdom was… big. And people were not so prone to leave it to explore the world. A few did but stayed away from most other cultures with few exceptions.”

“... The mer-people and sky people?”

“Among a very few others, yes.”

“So Joy Boy is from the lost kingdom?” Rick asked but got no answer which in itself was an answer. “There is something that’s bothering me. If. And I say If because I have no way to prove what you’re telling me is not hogwash but If what you say about cursing the devil fruits is true. How come Shirahoshi is not affected by the curse?”

“... That’s a very good question, actually. It’s because of her DNA. I’m sure you remember Vegapunk’s work on gifting devil fruit abilities to objects like Spandam’s sword?”

“Yes. I intend to work with something like that for O’hara.”

“Huh… Good project. Anyway… the mermaid princess has specific DNA markers. Very rare, maybe unique. Some kind of mutation you could say. Because… reasons… Each part of my soul holds a single instruction. If they recognize the markers then they should not curse the person who ate the fruit otherwise they do.”

“So, If I had given any other fruit to her she would have still been able to swim?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I just told you.”

“I mean… Why her? Why her markers? Is it because she’s poseidon?”

“...”

 

Once again the lack of answer said a lot but it put a foot down to any more questions.

 

“You still didn’t answer me about what you are?”

“Because I do not know though from my powers some would say a goddess or a devil. Depends on one's point of view.”

“A goddess? Not a god?”

“I’m asexual but I considered every inhabitant of the kingdom my children so I guess I could be identified as a goddess. My children certainly did.”

“So I wasn’t far off back on Skypiea…”

“No.”

“There is one thing you said that’s contradictory though.”

“Oh? Please pray tell.”

“You said that you put a fragment of your soul in every devil fruit 800 years ago. But there is no record of people having eaten more than one fruit before that. I mean …”

“I know what you mean. Why, since my soul fragment limited the consumption of devil fruit, weren't there people with powers when there was no risk to blow up their bodies as my soul wasn’t in any fruit to begin with? The answer is simple, because I didn’t give a second fruit to anyone. They were all in my garden, protected and no one dared to enter it. The people who got a fruit got it because I gave it to them as a reward for whatever good they did.”

“But… How did you get back the power of the fruit when they died?”

“The power automatically traveled back to my garden and habited one of the fruits there. I made them that way. But, since my garden was destroyed, there is… no anchor for the power to get back to, so once they read the location of the garden, with no new fruit there, they go out into the world to find a new vessel.”

“Somehow that makes sense… I’m guessing you didn’t foresee a body like mine would ever come to existence?”

“I admit, I did not. And while my own existence is currently torture, I’m glad to have sentience back.”

“Still not giving you my body.” 

 

Rick replied in a deadpanned voice. Or was it thought since the conversation was happening in his head? He didn’t know for sure and in front of the futility of exploring this subject, let it drop. The goddess didn’t give up on her goal though.

 

“Fine! Let’s compromise then! I will not take control over your body and soul but merely connect us. That would get me out of my predicament. I would feel what you feel, see, hear, smell, taste what you do and in exchange I would not limit your powers anymore. Is that deal goo…”

“What do you mean limit my powers?!”

“One power per person, that is the rule! My rule! More than one and it’s an invitation for chaos. That’s why I limited yours! Have you never wondered why it’s so taxing on your body and mind to use your gravity or sprouts? Especially the most advanced abilities? The power, my power, is not supposed to be taxing to use. Look at Robin, she doesn’t get tired when she uses hers.”

“I… I thought that she had a more advanced version with less strain.”

“She does not. Why there are differences in how her body parts appear, the power is basically the same. Had I not blocked your powers back on Dressrosa you would have created that blackhole with much less problem and a lot more control. You would not have lost your hands to it.”

 

Rick’s mind went reeling. All the training he did had been useless. Well not really useless as without it he would not have been that powerful today but he would have saved himself a lot of pain since from the moment he ate the Zushi Zushi no mi he would have been able to use the full extent of its abilities. Eating the Me Me no mi had in fact impaired him a lot.

 

“What… What about Blackbeard? In the original story, he has his and Whitebeard's power. I don’t think the fact that he could steal another devil fruit power changed, so how does he do it with a normal body?”

“I don’t know… My guess is… He either absorbs the power and leaves my soul fragment in the body or absorbs the fragment into his darkness and just brings out the power.”

“I see… I … I need some time to think about it. Privately.”

“Sure.”

 

The goddess as now Rick thought of her, went back to entertain herself with his original world’s knowledge, leaving him “alone”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two months had passed since that meaningful conversation and Rick still didn’t have an answer. For him it was two good months as she hasn’t been tormenting him. Not even once.

Oden’s last visit was not particularly pleasant. Not because of Oden but because of the news he had brought. Big Mom had come to Wano and forged an alliance with Kaido. That was worse than no good, that was actually a disaster for so many reasons. Kaido had always been gearing himself and his crew up for a war against the world Government. Why those idiots in the navy went after Whitebeard who was minding his own business and old enough to die naturally - which he did a year after the war - instead of stopping Kaido, he didn’t know but that led to the situation here. With that new alliance, the world will turn to shit faster. What worried Rick the most though was that now, two of the strongest people in the world were cooperating instead of competing for Robin. Instead of a three way war it was now a two way war to get her which meant less chaos and less chances for her to escape in the middle of the mayhem if a situation with those three big powers ever happened.

He knew that with Big Mom entering the picture, here on Wano, would speed up his friends actions against Kaido, They didn’t have any other choice. Right now, the alliance was still new, still fragile. It was the perfect time to launch an attack and make both sides crumble. He only hoped that the smart ones in the crew would see that and that Kine’mon and his friends had enough time to prepare themselves. They could not miss this opportunity. That also meant he would be out soon and that presented a big problem. His incarceration had taken a toll on his body. He may not have been able to see it, but he knew he was weaker and not because of the seastone nails lodged inside it. That in itself made him useless for the incoming fight if they got to him during it. More and more her offer seemed like a good deal. If what she said was true. Even weakened, he would be able to use his powers without problems, without restrictions. No restriction besides his own tiredness as he can’t really use his powers if he’s unconscious after the first hit.

 

“Hey…”

“...”

“HEY!”

“Don’t hey, me!” finally answered the goddess.

“I don’t know your name! How do you want me to get your attention, then?!”

“Oh! Fair point! You can call me… Diana? Yes, Diana is good.”

“Diana… From Wonder Woman?”

“Yes! I quite like the character.”

“I… don’t deny that… but why don’t you use your own name?”

“Don’t have one. My children called me Selene.”

“Like the moon?”

“Yes. To them I was the moon goddess, so I thought Diana was appropriate when I read Wonder Woman.”

“The goddess of the half moon then? I see… Not sure the people from the moon would like it but that’s not like they’d know about it or you’d care.”

“Exactly. Now, what did you call me?”

“You know why.”

“I do but, I was making a bit of small talk here. Not many I can do that with currently. Anyway… Let’s start! All you need to do is…” Diana was giddy at the prospect of finally having a bit of freedom.

“Not so fast! I have questions!”

“URGH! REALLY?! FINE!”

“How do I know that… This connection is what you say it is and not a trap to take over?”

“You don’t. You’ll have to trust me.”

“If you screw me over…”

“I won’t!”

“IF, you screw me over, what would you do with my body?”

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“Destroy the world government and more importantly the celestial dragons. Bring back my kingdom.”

“So… Our goals, aligned.”

“More or less…”

“What about Robin? My friends and family?”

“I won’t lay a finger on them. Especially Robin, since she’s the only one left with the knowledge of the poneglyph, beside the perverted kid. If anything I’ll protect her.”

“My family in the navy? And the good marines?”

“They’ll die if they stand in my way.”
“...What… What would you want in exchange for sparing them?”

“Bargaining? I’m… surprised somehow.”

“They’re good people in the navy. They just want to do what’s right but are used by bad people. They don’t deserve to die for the evil doings of others.”

“...I see. I want… you to think about telling Robin about everything regarding you.”

“You’re kidding right? No one should know. I’m not even sure I can tell her.”

“She needs to know.” Diana insisted.

“Why?”

“For your own sake.”

“What do you mean ‘my own sake'? “

“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

“That comes from the principle that you won’t take over.”

“Yes.”

Rick thought a bit about that clause. It was simple and at the same time a huge deal. What bothered him though was that Diana didn’t force him to tell Robin about his situation but to simply think about telling her. He couldn’t see any reasons why. None that would benefit her in any way. That made him curious. Was it a ploy to make him accept her deal? Honestly he didn’t know and was too tired to dwell on it anymore. He either trusted her or he didn’t, it was no more complex than that.

 

“If I accept that clause, you promise you won’t kill them?”

“I will not kill them but if they do stand in my way they will be hurt. That is if I take over, which I promise you I won’t.”

“... Alright. I accept. What do I have to do?”

“Open yourself to me.”

 

He was about to ask what she meant when he felt something poking him. Nothing physical, neither mental… Just something poking something that belonged to him. Or was him. He didn’t know what that was but knew that it was Diana’s doing. His first thought was to… fight the intrusion but he quickly let go of the notion and accepted the poke.

Instantly He felt different. As if he wasn’t alone anymore. Not complete like robin made him feel when she was in his arms but close.

 

“Oh god! It stinks!”

“Well yeah, it’s a cell and I’ve been crucified for more than half a year. What did you expect? Roses and lilies?”

“Shut up! You’ll react the same way if the first thing you could smell after two years was foul! And gosh it hurts!”

“Yes, that’s the nails. Give it a moment and the thirst and hunger will come. It’s worse. By the way, speaking of nails, can’t you do something about it?”

“No. I created the curse at the height of my power, when I was complete. Can’t undo it if I’m not.”

“Wonderful.” Rick answered in dejection.

“You can’t have everything in life.”

“Don’t I know it.”

 

He had been surprised that he was still in control but didn’t comment on it, instead he just hoped that she wouldn’t take it from him. He had many more questions to ask like if she was a goddess why did his body sprout horns and devil wings when she was in control? Or why could she only interact with him through powerful negative emotions? But those could wait and it was not as if she would give him an answer anyway. What mattered was that he was still locked up tight with no way of escape.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

He had been woken up by the room shaking then he heard the noise of explosions and stones crumbling. He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew that someone was fighting. He hoped that it was his friends and the people of Wano. Ever since Oden’s last visit, where he told him about the Big Mom - Kaido alliance, there had been no more appearance of his new found friend. Diana had been awfully quiet and Rick believed that she was focusing on his knowledge rather than her new found freedom. He hardly could blame her for that, he would have done the same.

 

“Has it been going on for long?”

“A few hours.” Diana replied.

“And you did not wake me up because?”

“Because it wouldn’t have changed a thing. I opted instead to let you rest, that way you wouldn’t have to worry too much.”

“... Thanks?”

“You’re welcome.”

“Well, I’m awake now with nothing to do sooooo.. Do you mind ans…”

 

He stopped talking when he heard from his right a wall nursing open and something landing next to him. From the destroyed wall he felt a really cold breeze freeze his bones. He also heard a voice.

 

“Aren’t you happy Roronoa? You get to die next to your vice-captain.”

 

Zoro stood up from the ground and faced his opponent. Surprised, when he looked at his right he saw a man wearing Rick’s overcoat, nailed to a cross. The said man had only skin on his bones and Zoro wondered for a moment how long the prisoner had been here. Would that have been his fate had Luffy not saved him when they met? Gathering his thoughts he wondered if the man he was looking at was really his vice-captain. His clothes and hair color were indicating enough but he couldn’t really make up his face hence he wasn’t sure. He didn’t have time to shilly-shally more as his enemy attacked him.

 

He was really getting tired of this one. He was fast and most of the time immune to his attacks. As if that wasn’t enough his body was at his limits. Chopper had worked wonders on it but he told him the effects would be temporary. He had to defeat that flaming bird fast and free Rick before he collapsed. Or whoever that was. In any case since it seems he’d been locked up for a while, chances were he would help fight Kaido. That is if he could but with the state of the prisoner’s body that was unlikely. But then again, it was the New World. Everything was possible there, so he’ll take his chances.

 

On the side, Rick was conversing with Diana.

 

“Is it really Zoro?” he thought to himself.

“Yes.”

“How do you know that? I thought you could only see what I see?”

“Haki.”

“Haki?! You can use haki?! Why didn’t you… Let me guess you can only use Observation because you’re not in control?” He said blanking after cutting short his outburst.

“Correct. To be fair, though, even in control I wouldn’t have been able to use armament to get us free. It’s your body, I’m subjected to the same weaknesses as you. I do wonder why you didn’t use yours.”

“I… didn’t really think about…”

“Oh! Interesting!” Diana said in excitement.

 

Rick used his own observation haki to feel his surroundings. He could feel Zoro fight what he recognized as the bastard that ambushed him when he arrived on the island. He couldn't see what was really happening. They were fighting sure, but he didn’t see what Diana had found interesting.

 

“What is?”

“Your friend, he got in touch with his conqueror haki.”

“Conqueror? Zoro is a king?!”

“Yes.”

“I don’t see how that will help him.”

“Armament is not the only haki you can embed things with.” she said as a matter of fact.

“What?!”

 

His question was answered as he “saw” Zoro defeating his opponent. Soon enough, the cross he was nailed on was cut down and he fell to the ground, followed by Zoro.

 

“Rick, is that you?”

“Yes.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know exactly, months. I know I arrived on the island two weeks after rescuing Sanji.”

“Damn… It’s been 8 months.”

“Damn, indeed.” Rick replied in a bitter tone.

“Eh, Momonosuke will not be happy.” Zoro joked.

“Why?”

“He believed that you abandoned the crew.”

“As if.”

“Yeah, we all told him that. Even Kin’emon didn’t believe you left.”

“Oh? That’s surprising. I didn’t spend much time with the guy.”

“You made an impression. Besides, he trusted us and we trust you. It was enough for him.”

“How is everyone?”

“... Fine, at least when we began the fight.” replied Zoro after a moment of hesitation. Rick noted that it might not be entirely true but let it go, it was hardly the time to prop too deep on things. “Think you can help the others?”

“Once I remove those nails, I’ll do more than help. I’ll fucking kill Kaido and any one on my way.”

“Good, ‘cause Big Mom is here too.”

“You think you can help with those or you’re done?”

“I’m done. Can’t feel my body anymore.”

 

Rick rolled his body over and very slowly moved one of his arms towards the others. Removing the nails was easy in itself but with how much they weakened him he didn’t have the strength to pull them out in one go, instead he had to pull slowly and move from left to right, worsening his wound. Had it not been for his body regeneration he would have died long ago.

With all the nails out he quickly tried to see if his control over his devil fruit powers had really been limited. When the hole in his arms closed, the flesh replaced, he gathered that, yes, his power had been limited. He didn’t bother to curse Diana for it, as he did think she had a point to doing that. Instead he used his gravity to pull himself up and once again noticed how easy it was to use his abilities. He didn’t bother to ask Zoro if he knew where they were. He simply removed his blindfold to see his surroundings properly. He couldn’t miss the gigantic hole on the far end wall on the other side of the cell, after all that’s from where the freezing wind came from. He looked at the ceiling and chose that option instead. There was no way he was going outside with how cold it was.

 

“Mind if I borrow Shusui for a second?”

“Use Ichimonji. The kitetsu is cursed and I traded Shusui for Emna. It was one of Oden’s swords. Literally sucks the life and haki out of you.”

“Oden’s sword? Wow.”

“Yeah. The man must have been a beast to use it as if it was nothing. I can barely use it.”

 

Rick nodded and pulled the wide katana towards him. Drawing it he flooded the blade with his gravity. Taking a stance he unleashed a gravity thrust towards the ceiling. The results were astonishing. A gigantic smooth hole drilled into the stone and went deep. So deep that he could see the sky.

Rick was brought back to reality by Zoro whistling.

 

“That was… powerful, for a man with only skin on his bones.”

“Yeah. I… I’m more in tune with my powers. It has to do with the sea devil… It’s a long story, for another time.”

 

The vice-captain sheathed the Ichimonji and put it back on Zoro’s belt. Sprouting a hand on his friend he made him float. 

 

Now was the time for Rick Wald to enter the fight. 

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