Chapter 108: Marineford 98

Since landing at Marineford, the smell of o-zone had permeated the air, it smelled like wind just before a thunderstorm, and while it had been pervasive, Bill was able to ignore it.

But now, bathed in golden light, he was hit by a smell so overwhelming that he could taste it. Unexpected as it was, Bill’s face bunched up, and his eyes instinctively turned black.

Then, despite his mental age, he looked back towards his parents. Neither moved, but Aramaki was glaring at Sengoku and his mother at him.

Seeing her eyes, Bill shrugged, and, with a notion, his body turned black as he began to shore up the invisible barrier between Chaos and Reality.

In the eyes of the others present, when he turned his attention back towards Sengoku there was an audible ‘pop’ and then a spiritual pressure descended over the room.

In the eyes of Bill, particularly by using his third eye, he saw the entity behind Sengoku which was fueling the reality warping energy and began layering stone barricades.

Though they were both more or less well defined, Sengoku’s entity was different then the Revolutionary Dragons. Whereas one had been a series of interlocking spinning wheels, the one now in front of him was a circular mass of feathery wings surrounded by an unmistakable golden halo.

It had been several years since the conflict with the Revolutionary Dragon, back then, Bill’s spirit could only be moved by primal urges to reject the erosion of Chaos.

Now, his spirit was moved by his own Will and by doing so he controlled his own Haki.

With pressure descending over the area, the golden light became fainter, and Bill watched Sengoku raise an eyebrow as he willed his ability to manifest.

Neither the old Fleet Admiral nor the young Captain moved from their seats for a long time, but the golden light teetered back and forth, like the tide coming in quickly and then slowly receding, until Bill found it hard to stand it – as sickening as he found the smell and as disgusting as he felt Chaos’s touch on Reality, he couldn’t stand it.

Then raising to his feet first, Bill looked directly at the devil and growled in English: “I am the stone shore, this is reality, and you do not belong here!”

As if it was a mantra for himself, expressed in a language that spoke to him on a base level, Bill’s solid black body turned into a glittery portrait of a starry night sky and for that moment the golden light was completely gone.

Now, Sengoku didn’t simply raise an eyebrow, and Bill didn’t notice the agitation behind him when the Fleet Admiral stood up and biting his lip, tried to force his ability to manifest.

But he couldn’t, and Sengoku looked into Bill’s eyes and saw an immeasurable depth.

Distracted as he was, Sengoku barely noticed when Garp rushed to restrain Akainu and Aokiji, or when Aramaki fled the room, or when Dina moved on Onigumo.

Then in the void of Chaos, while Bill’s two spirits moved to encircle Sengoku’s, two more chaotic forces unexpectedly appeared from behind.

And in the instant of distraction Bill tried to turn but fell to the ground like a puppet with his strings cut, and the pressure vanished.

When Bill opened his eyes, he felt himself floating on a current.

He floated there for what seemed like a long time, looking up at an expansive desert and for some reason, found himself thinking about his last life.

He thought about the day he met his wife, the life they had together, and then the day she died.

He thought about his children and wondered how they fared after he went ahead first. He was glad he went first, and in that same mind was glad his wife had gone before him. At least, he was glad that she didn’t have to be left behind like he did.

The current was slow and steady, and he played his memories over and over again with the desert as the stage.

Then, it struck him that he had never actually been alone in his entire life.

Sure, there were times when he was by himself, but throughout his time on Earth there had always been something to do or somewhere to be.

It was a small blessing, he thought to himself, but it was a blessing. In his mind, community was an absolute necessity that tamed the beast that live inside of the hearts of men.

Then, laying there drifting, he thought with a laugh: ‘Heck, I’m not even alone now.’ And just like that, Bill rolled over, the current became solid stone, and he stood there for a moment looking over a river that flowed on top of a deep gulf.

After looking back to where he had been, turning around Bill saw two entities and he knew them.

It was the three-headed humanoid and the spinning wheels ringed by eyes.

For a flash he felt more akin to the spinning wheels, but it passed when he looked at the three-headed humanoid and it recalled his life on the Grand Line.

‘Uh.’ He thought as he approached the two entities in front of him and wondered how he could have forgotten.

As he got closer, they got smaller until he dared not to continue. Looking down at the small beings he felt an urge to protect them, and had the emotion returned in kind.

Just as he was finally about to speak and ask about this place, Bill perceived, no realized, a light coming from above.

Looking up; there was no longer a vast desert but a light at the end of a tunnel.

He gazed for a time until a connected voice sounded besides him.

[Go back.] and then he thought: ‘I guess it’s time to go back.’

Closing his eyes, he then reopened them and was looking up at a white ceiling. He lay there trying to hold on to what he had just experienced, he didn’t fully understand why but he knew it was important.

Staring upwards, he breathed in deep, and a groan escaped his mouth, then using his right arm, Bill propped himself up.

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First looking down he found that his chest was bare and covered in stickers that were attached to wires, given the total control he had over his body, Bill knew he hadn’t been injected with anything and figured that not much time had passed since his Court Martial with Sengoku.

As he began to pull the stickers off, there was movement off to the side, and the first person he saw was his mother.

She came to his bedside and sat down, pulling him into an embrace which made him feel as small in her arms as she had felt in his before.

After a minute of this, Bill asked: “How long was I out?”

Dina: “A day, more or less.”

After she answered she continued to hold him for several more minutes before abruptly letting go.

Dina: “It’s good that you’re awake.”

Nodding his head and smiling, Bill asked: “What about Sengoku, what happened?”

Then giving her son a look, she said: “You tell me.”

Shrugging to this, Bill said that as far as he remembered, he had done what was asked, the last he thing recalled was subduing the golden light.

Shaking her head to this, his mom answered: “Son, you nullified the golden Buddha and nearly nullified every Devil Fruit in the area. Your father had to flee lest he defy your Haki and risk harming you. The Admirals did not have such considerations.”

Then looking at him deeply again, she said: “You must try to remember how you did that. Your epithet is ‘Black Stone’ after your encounter with the world’s Most Wanted. The true meaning of it was not understood.”

When she said that, Bill did somewhat recall when other power entities formed, he had been so focused on Sengoku that it had taken him off guard.

‘Then I was there…’ he thought back.

“Uh, where’s dad now?” he asked, trying to move forward from the event. Clearly no one besides Sengoku knew how hard he was fighting nullification, but to Bill, it had taken every ounce of concentration he had to do what the Fleet Admiral asked.

Dina: “He’s having a meeting now with the Fleet Admiral.”

Bill: “About me? No wait, how did the case play out?”

His mom gave him another looking before saying: “Actions speak louder than words. In all that excitement, who would think twice about the Demon Spider.”

Nodding his head, Bill rubbed his face and asked if they had gotten in touch with his ship.

For Dina Ox, true smiles were rare. Being born on Amazon Lilly, she was trained to be a female warrior from a young age.

But now, she smiled and said: “Yes. I met that little girl you look after, just wonderful.”

Then thinking for a moment, she continued: “She’s here now, and it was a surprise that your crew had so many Fish-men. That’s very rare, since they don’t do well with orders, and aren’t usually seen to be worth the effort. Be prepared, later you’ll be questioned about it.”

Nodding his head again, Bill watched as him mom stood up and went to the door in his hospital room.

When she opened it, Yoko poured in followed by Nelson who still walked like a penguin and finally be Pearson and Willy.

Yoko was of course the loudest of the bunch exclaiming “Bill!” and then proceeding to ask him what happened as she played with the hilt of her hammer.

As Yoko went on and on, Nelson and Pearson found moments to speak between her breaths and Willy stood at the doorway wearing a Recruit uniform with his arms crossed.

After some time, Bill asked: “Nelson, have you been in contact with the Bluebird?”

The former Commodore had taken a seat, which as a result of his great effort didn’t break, and said: “Aye, Lieutenant Zima said they’d arrive in a few days. Ricky expressed his concern for you and there’s a flummox about the Goat finishing his miracle drug.”

Besides the portion about Miyagi, he had known about the timetable and though he didn’t ask wondered if it hadn’t been Nelson who contacted them due to his condition.

Either way, after that Bill told them to give him some privacy so he could get out of bed and get dressed. His cloths seemed to have washed and were hung over a nearby chair.

Whatever they used at Marineford, Bill noticed that the blood stains on the coat was still visible and sighed.

After he was fully dressed, he and the group followed his mother. Captain Hina and Vice Admiral Vergo were still here, she told him, but the others couldn’t stay after they found out they weren’t going to be needed.

Bill regretted that he couldn’t have said thanks again and was deciding to call them individually when a messenger found them.

It was mid-day, and he would apparently be meeting with the Fleet Admiral over dinner.

Bill didn’t know what had happened in his fathers meeting with Sengoku, but guessed it wasn’t great when the messenger gave his mom a paper which would be sending her and his father away immediately.

Apparently, Bill thought, the Fleet Admiral wanted to speak with him alone.