37 The truth
(AN: another one today. I decided against making it a filler chapter although I will practice writing fillers in the near future. By the way how many till it's considered a mass release?)
(P.S. Important! Keep in mind that what you will read in this chapter is not canon. I made this up for practice purpose so feel free to comment and give a feedback)
April, 1514
South Blue
Another month went by. Surprisingly nothing changed during this month. I at least expected to get a bounty raise after the confrontation with Bastille but nothing like that happened.
Not only wasn't my bounty raised, we have hardly met any marines this last month. No news about it appeared in the newspapers either and the month went by quietly.
So why are we in the South Blue? It might sound weird but we are in the South Blue because of a voice I started to hear 3 weeks ago.
I don't know wether it was something like the voice of all things or some shit like that, since it mostly happens when I fall asleep.
It's also always the same dream I have in combination with the voice. I hear a woman's voice calling me. Telling me to visit once and letting her see me and the friends I made.
In my dream there is this woman gesturing me with her hands to come closer. Now this might sound crazy but whenever I wake up I think of my mother.
This hasn't happened before and to be honest it weirded me out but I knew better than to ignore all of this. I consulted with the others but the best they could do was not looking strangely at me. They failed even that.
*Sigh*
In the end I still ignored it the first few days but after that I decided to test out a crazy theory. So I gave the command to sail to South Blue.
The first time we sailed the reverse mountain was a close call even with a navigator and we had to make Sabo use his devil fruit a bit but this time the process went smoothly.
For some reason I stopped hearing that voice ever since we entered the South Blue and the woman in my dreams stopped gesturing me to step closer. Instead she just stood still and looked in my direction. Her face was veiled by mist but I could still notice a gentle smile even in a dream.
"Captain! I see an island. Most probably our destination. We should be arriving in 2-3 hours."
Augur's voice interrupted my thoughts and made me focus.
Our current destination was Baterilla.
We soon reached the island. The ship anchored in a bay in the opposite direction of the town. The bay was only known to us because Robin always managed to obtain a big amount of maps and books whenever we made a stop.
Anyways we soon reached the town.
"So, does anybody has some ideas what to do now?"
Kuina asked. Everybody looked towards me since they didn't quite understand why we were here. To be honest I also don't understand it completely, it's something like a vague feeling.
"You can do whatever you want just stay in groups of at least two or three."
"What about You Jackson-nii?"
"I'll go look around for a bit. You don't have to follow me."
Leaving the group I walked around in search of the cemetery. In the end I asked a passerby for directions but I found it soon after.
Walking through the cemetery I searched for Portgas D. Rouge's tombstone but even after walking around the whole cemetery 7 times I couldn't find it.
The cemetery guard wasn't of any help either. I was about to give up when the sun was about to set, but suddenly I heard a voice calling out to me.
"What Are you doing here?"
It was Law and the others. They found me here after I wasted the whole day searching.
"It's nothing. It was just something regarding the voice and the strange dream I told you about."
"Jackson-nii, is everything ok?"
"Yeah, it's just… something just feels strange. I can't really explain it."
"Maybe you should rest a b-"
"You have come this far already. Just follow my voice if you don't no where to go."
!
I suddenly heard that voice again! This time not just in my head! It came from the direction of that hill.
Leaving the others behind I immediately started to run in that direction. It didn't take the others to long to arrive on the hill where I was walking around in circles.
"I think you really should let me check you just to be safe."
"Below. It said below! Everyone! Try to look for a cave or another entrance around this hiss, more likely to be around the lower parts!"
"Jackson what are you talking about? What is below."
"I don't know. But I can hear a voice telling me there is something below. Please just help me find an entrance or something."
Still confused and weirded out by my recent behavior they all dispersed searching for some kind of an entrance.
Augur was the first one to return, he actually found a lake near the bottom of the hill. Beneath the lake was an underwater cave that might lead beneath the hill.
Once everyone returned we went to the lake and followed Augur. Those who had eaten a devil fruit decided to come along so we carried them in the water.
I would have let Sabo carry Robin but he himself ate a devil fruit and during the last month it didn't look like she was too interested in a barely 12 years old boy.
After swimming through the cave we reached a location where we could surface. What we saw was quite the view.
We were in a big underground lake. From the ceiling shiny crystals lightened the cave and in the middle of the lake was a small island.
"Step closer, my dear."
I heard the voice again coming from the small island so I swam toward it. On it there were two tombstones. On one was the name Portgas D. Rouge engraved. On the other the name Gol D. Roger.
'It really was you…'
The others soon followed and saw the tombstones.
!
"This is…"
"Jackson, didn't you introduce yourself as Portgas D. Jackson when we met?"
"No way! Did we really just find the pirate king's grave? Should we dig for treasures?!"
Sabo hit Penguin on the head and looked over to me somewhat concerned. The others also noticed this and became quite again but I could almost feel their curiosity burn my skin.
I had to make a decision either I tell them the truth or I keep quiet. It wouldn't be too late to tell them later and others still didn't come clean regarding their own secrets but this right now wasn't about later or about others.
"Finally."
I heard the voice again this time it sounded… happy but in a bittersweet way.
"At least one of you…"
I couldn't understand the meaning behind these words but my thoughts were to chaotic to ask right now.
In the end I could only do the one thing I felt like doing from the moment I regained my memories regardless of what the others might think.
Sitting down in front of the two tombstones I bowed. I bowed my head so deep that it almost touched the ground.
"I have to say this while I have the chance. Thank you. I am so thankful to you for giving birth to me and Ace. I promise we will watch each other's back and live a good and fulfilled life without regrets!"
!!!
The moment I said all this I could feel a soft hand on my head head as I heard the voice fading. The last words I heard it say were:
"Thank you for being born and alive. Please live well. We love you both."
After the voice faded away and the sensation of the touch vanished my thoughts stopped feeling chaotic.
Turning around I looked into the shocked faces of my crew members minus Sabo.
"You all are part of my crew. I plan to sail the Grand Line with you and face the hardest of challenges. You will risk your lives on more than one occasion so let me tell you the truth about whom you are about to follow."
Silence ruled supreme after I paused for a bit.
"My birth name is Gol D. Jackson. Son of Portgas D. Rouge and Gol D. Roger, also known as the pirate king."
And with this I started to tell them about my family including how my mother sacrificed herself and that grandpa adopted and hid us from the rest of the world.
After I was finished silence ruled once more while I waited for any kind of reaction from my crew members. Will they decide to follow me despite the dangers that they might have to face if my identity gets discovered or will they decide to leave now while they have the chance to do so.
(AN: Cliffhanger-Kun!)
