(PLEASE READ: this chapter comes with good news. I've finally finished the first volume of my original novel Enlightened violence it's currently at 44 chapters and 70K words, so if you haven't read it already, then now is the best time. But where is the good news you might ask? Well it's the fact I don't have on my original as much as I've been doing from the past month, and I'll post chapters for this story more often, so if you want more chapters on this story then give me power stones, it's as simple as that)
"Do you need something, captain?" Byron asked as he turned to his human form while landing in front of me. "No, but I think you need to hear this," I replied with a shrug as I turned to look at Crocus.
"What is the meaning of this, young man?" Crocus asked while giving Byron a once over, wondering what the blonde musician could want to hear from himself.
"You see, this guy's grandfather was a pirate from west blue, who disappeared several decades ago," I replied while pointing towards Byron. "And finding out what happened to his grandfather is one of the reasons he came out to the sea," I concluded with a shrug.
"So you're hoping that I would remember his grandfather and possibly know what happened to him?" Crocus reasoned with a nod as he turned to look at Byron.
"More or less," I replied with a smirk nodding my head. "I don't mind, but I don't know if I can be of any help since I have met many pirates during my time at the twin peaks," Crocus remarked with a nod.
"Why don't you tell me your grandfather's name and the name of his pirate crew first?" Crocus asked as he turned to look at Byron again.
"His name was Yorki, the captain of the Rumbar pirates!" Byron replied, his expression a mixture of nervousness and expectations. "They were a crew of pirate musicians, and only people who loved music were allowed to board the ship," Byron added with a smile.
Crocus heard what Byron said but didn't react, merely alternating his gaze between Byron and Laboon, who was still banging his head against the red line.
"So you didn't remember them, after all?" Byron asked while heaving a sigh in disappointment. "I never said that," Crocus replied, shaking his head while heaving a sigh of his own.
"Are you saying that Yorki and the Rumbar pirates didn't come back home after all this time?" Crocus asked, frowning with a complicated expression.
"No, they disappeared into the grand line," Byron replied while scratching his head, seemingly confused by Crocus's question. "Then, perhaps I might have misjudged them," the old doctor remarked while shaking his head.
"You see, I had met the Rumbar pirates almost 50 years ago, right here at the twin capes," Crocus explained with a reminiscing expression.
"Crossing the reverse mountain had damaged their ship, so they stayed here for three months to repair it," he added as he turned to look at Laboon, who was wailing sadly.
"I became good friends with them at the time, but they had to leave sooner or later," Crocus stated as he got up and began walking towards the shore. "But they didn't come alone from west blue as a baby whale had followed them from west blue all the way here," he added while pointing towards Laboon.
"They had met Laboon when he was a baby separated from his pod, lost and confused," the old doctor remarked. "So they tried to cheer him up the only way they knew how; music," he added with a fond smile.
"The baby whale quickly grew attached to them and considered them as his pod, following them all the way here from west blue," Crocus concluded with a sigh.
"So this gigantic whale was with my grandfather?" Byron asked with eyes wide in astonishment as he turned to look at Laboon. "But why is he here then?" he asked again with a confused expression.
"He was still a baby, half my size when they left," Crocus replied, chuckling lightly with a fond expression as he gazed at Laboon. "They didn't want to take him along because they feared he would get hurt," he added, still smiling.
"So the Rumbar pirates left the twin capes, leaving Laboon here in my care after promising they would return after three years for him," he stated as he turned to look at the horizon. "But they never came back," he concluded with a sigh.
"I went out to the sea in search of them, but I found no trace," Crocus stated while shaking his head. "And I had assumed that they merely fled the grand line somehow," he added while rubbing the back of his head.
"But it seems I was wrong, at least," he concluded with a smile. "So you don't know what happened to my grandfather and his crew?" Byron asked with a sigh, earning a negative headshake from the old doctor.
"Well, I know what happened to them, but I'm not sure you two would want to hear it," I remarked from the side after clearing my throat to get everyone's attention.
"Of course you do," Laffite murmured from the side, causing my eyes to twitch as I turned to look at him as he chuckled while shrugging his shoulders.
"Wait, you do?" Byron turned to look at me with wide eyes, causing me to nod with a shrug. "Then why didn't you tell me, captain?" he asked with a frown.
"I didn't know Yorki was your missing grandfather for sure, and I had my reasons not to ask," I replied with a shrug, causing the blonde musician to sigh.
"And how do you what happened to them, even though disappeared long before you were born?" Crocus asked with a raised eyebrow, giving me a side glance.
"I know a lot of things, like the fact you were a member of Gol D Roger's crew," I replied with a smirk as I turned to look at the old doctor.
"And the fact Roger willingly surrendered to the marines, to start the great age of pirates, but that's neither here nor there," I concluded with another shrug.
"Youngsters these days sure are scary," Crocus said with an amused chuckle while giving me another once over. "Let's hear it then," he added with a sigh, giving me his undivided attention.
"Yorki, and many of the Rumbar pirates contracted some sort of incurable illness sometime after leaving here," I explained, frowning while trying to remember the details.
"So Yorki appointed humming Brook as the new captain and procured a new ship," I added, causing Crocus to frown. "He took all the infected crewmates with him to save the others and tried to leave the grand line through the calm belt," I remarked, causing both Byron and Crocus to sigh.
"It goes to say that no one heard anything from him again," I concluded, pausing and waiting for Crocus and Byron to process my words. "I see. Then what happened to Brook and the others?" Crocus asked in a sad tone after several seconds' pause.
"Another pirate crew ambushed them in the Florian Triangle," I replied, swallowing a sigh as I began remembering the scene where Brook and Rumbar crew would play one last song.
"Though they managed to repel the attackers, they were already as good as dead because the attackers used poisoned weapons," I explained, shaking my head.
"They died doing what they loved to do the most, playing one last song," I concluded, causing byron to sigh while Crocus closed his eyes and looked away with a pained expression.
"But, there could be one survivor," I said after a minutes pause, causing both Byron to turn around, intensely looking at me. "Humming Brook should have eaten the Yumi-Yumi devil fruit," I added, pausing to think about how to describe the fruit.
"It's a paramecia devil fruit that resurrects the user after they die," I explained with a thoughtful expression. "So, for all I know, humming Brook might still be alive," I added with a smile.