Cherry and Robin entered Dragon's office where he had a large parchment hung on the wall that displayed the writings copied from a poneglyph.
"You're back. Good." Dragon said.
"Yes, thank you for the warm welcome. Never change, Dragon." Cherry said.
Dragon spoke no more words, his eyes remaining on the copied ancient writings. It was clear that he was eager to know the contents before lapsing into a battle of trading verbal barbs or making any small talk. So they got straight to it.
[ They insisted that I be the one to do the last one of these. Frankly, I could name a hundred fine men and women more deserving of sending their words into the future, never to be erased. They told me that it's just an extra one to fill out the numbers, but I know that isn't true.
Alas, if they want this old traitor to share something, so be it.
In my youth, I dedicated myself to what I believed to be a noble and just cause. I was saving my family, my friends, my neighbors. I was saving the entire world!
It wasn't until I obtained some small bit of wisdom in my old age that I saw the truth of things. I had experienced a great many tragedies in my life and I blamed it all on "the enemy", but I realized far too late that the greatest fault always lied with me.
If you can put any stock into the advice of a fool such as myself, then don't trust those who promise you honor and glory in exchange for service. Such things cannot be given to you by another, they must be built with your own hands.
Do not leave the fate of those you love within their care, for they do not care for them as you do. Take the fate of those you love into your own hands. Be loyal only to those that you love and to yourself.
Whether you learn from my mistakes or not, I wish you the best.
General Karment ]
"Hmm…" Dragon hummed, lost in thought.
The contents of the poneglyph were obviously not very enlightening, at least as far as historical events were concerned. Still, Dragon saw some of himself in the words left behind by that man.
He used to be a marine until he saw too much of the corruption of the World Government to stand it any longer. Perhaps General Karment was the same. A soldier for the side that would become the World Government who only turned traitor at the end of his life, and then presumably siding with the people he saw as "the enemy" for most of that life.
It conjured the image of his father, Garp, in his mind. He wondered if the old man would ever turn away from the World Government, instead of insisting on being stubborn and changing it from the inside.
Robin wasn't terribly thrilled that the poneglyph didn't contain much in the way of history, though it did have a name of someone who was likely a prominent figure at the time.
It wasn't exactly unexpected, though. She already knew where the truth of the void century rested. Or at least she vaguely knew, as the location of Laugh Tale was a mystery.
As for Cherry.
"Wow, this guy is a loser." Cherry commented rudely.
Dragon and Robin gave her a funny look.
"What? It's true and you know it. He's just like the marines from the sound of it, believing that the World Government will protect their families while they're off killing the innocent in the name of justice. I wonder how many families of marines have been killed by other marines?" Cherry said.
Robin didn't exactly disagree with Cherry's statements, but she did feel that it was a tad inappropriate to comment on a man's life with so little to judge from. Still, she didn't say anything as she knew Cherry loved to have pointless arguments and Robin didn't want to get caught up in her rhythm.
"The World Government is very good at keeping such atrocities under wraps. They can't be blamed for being ignorant." Dragon defended the marines, knowing there were many good people among them.
"The upper echelons aren't ignorant, including Garp. Maybe they think they can do some good from the inside, but how many marines thought the same over the long history of the World Government? None of them have succeeded, why should they? You realized that yourself when you decided to leave, didn't you?" Cherry said with a serious look, though inwardly she was quite glad that she could have a little debate with Dragon and get underneath his skin.
Robin just walked out of the room to let Cherry have her fun. She didn't really want to be in the middle of it all lest she get dragged into somehow.
She had learned her lesson from the time Cherry dragged her into an argument she had with Luffy over whether the north pole or south pole was colder. Luffy insisted on the north pole, while Cherry argued the south pole. Of course, Cherry was just being contrarian and didn't actually know or care one way or the other.
Cherry had asked her for her opinion on the matter as she was "the resident smarty pants" of the crew.
Robin shivered thinking about how frustrated she had become over something so stupid. Cherry really had a way of grating on peoples' nerves when she wanted to.
It had only been about twenty seconds after she left the room that she started hearing muffled shouting from Dragon's office.
"What's that all about?" Sabo asked, looking a bit flushed in the face.
"You don't want to know, nor do you want to get involved." Robin decided to spare the poor boy.
"You're looking a bit pink in the cheeks, Sabo. Did you actually go through with it?" Robin asked, changing the subject with a knowing smile.
Sabo's pink cheeks changed a shade darker at the question.
"Haha, well, maybe…" Sabo said nervously.
"Well, what did she say?" Robin asked.
"She said she wasn't sure if now was a good time for romance…" Sabo said.
"I see." Robin said. They were fighting a war that would only get more intense as time went on after all.
"Then I sort of made a speech…" Sabo said, looking incredibly embarrassed with his hands over his face.
"Oh, wow. Did she call you a creep and say she never wanted to see your face again?" Robin asked.
"What? No. She said YES!" Sabo exclaimed. "We don't know how long we have left in life, so we should make the most of it. That's the jist of what I said to her anyways, and she agreed!"
"Congratulations, then." Robin said, feeling happy for the two of them.
At that moment the door to Dragon's office swung open, Cherry was gently pushed out, then the door slammed behind her. Despite being rudely ejected from the room, Cherry was all smiles.
"Oh, Sabo! From the goofy smile on your face, Koala must have hit you quite hard on the head, huh?" Cherry said whilst walking over.
"Hmph! Of course not! We have a date tomorrow afternoon!" Sabo said, little puffs of steam came out of his nostrils as a sign of his pride.
"I see, thanks for letting me know. No need to tell me where, I'll figure it out!" Cherry said, waving goodbye to him as she walked away.
Sabo stood there unmoving as Robin looked at him with pity.
"Shit." Sabo cursed his big mouth.