"It's not an easy decision to make. What do you guys think I should do? I want to hear from each of you." I said. "Jack and Celeste pretty much gave their opinions already. Claudia you go next."
"U-um, I don't really know Captain." Claudia said nervously.
"Great insight as always Claudia." I said sarcastically. "Eh, I don't know why I even bother asking anymore. Sig you got anything?"
"Well this kind of stuff kind of goes over my head, but you are a Warlord. Which means you technically gave your word to help the Navy in situations like this. The Navy may be corrupt but still you have to be a man of your word don't you?" Sig said.
"That's actually a pretty good point, I didn't even think about that. Anybody else?"
"I think you should just do what you think is the right thing to do." Isabella said.
"I appreciate that."
"Yeah Gai, you should follow your heart. You didn't think so hard when you jumped in to help me back when we first met. I'll follow any decision that you make." Yuma said.
"Heh, thanks buddy you're right." I said as me and Yuma bumped fists. "I don't know what I think is the right decision, but that's fine I'll figure it out as I go along like I always do."
"So what are you going to do Captain?" Jack asked.
"I'll answer the call just like they asked me to. As for what I'm going to do once I get there, I'm not sure. I'll just hope that I can make the right decision once I get there. That being said I want you guys to stay here and wait for Rayleigh, I don't want you guys to get involved in this."
"I don't care what you do, but I want to go too. Having so many strong opponents in one place is too good of an opportunity for me to pass up." Charlemagne said. "And I won't take no for an answer." He said as he gripped his sword.
"Char, I want you to stay here and that's an order." I said placing a hand on my own sword. I really couldn't afford to have an all out fight with Charlemagne here. No matter how much stronger I got, I still wouldn't be able to walk out of a fight with Charlemagne unscathed. I needed to be at 100% for this upcoming battle.
"Do you really want to try and stop me Gaileo? I know you if all people understand how I feel." Charlemagne said as he started to draw his sword.
"I'm sorry but I want everyone to stay here. This is something I need to handle alone." I said.
"You heard Gai. Captain's orders are to stay here. If you want to disobey, then you'll have to deal with me." Yuma said putting himself between us.
"Now, now boys, you should settle down. Young man if it's a strong opponent you're after then you don't need to go all the way to Marineford. You should just wait for Rayleigh to come back. He might be older now but he used to be on par with legends like Whitebeard and Roger. If you can't beat him then you couldn't handle the battle that's about to happen anyway." Shakky interjected.
"Fine, but after I butcher than old man, I'm heading out to Marineford." Charlemagne said as he sheathed his sword.
"That's fine with me. Well then I'll head out now. I think you guys should lay low here for now. I'm still not sure how things will turn out by the time I get back, so I want you guys to stay safe." I said as I made my way out. Most of the crew wished me luck and told me to stay safe in my travels as well.
"Wait nobody asked for my opinion! I'm a part of this crew too!" Rei said but nobody was listening to her.
A Navy vessel picked me up and took me to Marineford. When I arrived I was greeted by Sengoku.
"It seems like you're the first Warlord to arrive. I knew you were the most reliable out of the Seven Warlords. I just hope the rest of them show up as well. We need everyone we can get for this battle." He said.
"My arrival here is the only thing that's been determined so far." I said as I walked away.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Sengoku asked confused.
"I'm actually here at Marineford. There's no backing out now. I still don't know what I should do. I want to save Ace, but I don't think I should do something that'd have such a major impact on the story." I thought to myself.
"Ha! You say that like you have a choice! You don't have any chance of rescuing Ace, even if you did try." The system chimed in to say.
"Eh? You've been silent this whole time, and this is where you choose to jump in?" I thought annoyed.
"I just wanted to remind you how powerless you really are." The system said as it cut out.
"Man that guy really seems like he has a problem with me. I wonder what I ever did to make him so mad at me." I thought.
Putting that aside, the days flew by until the day of the battle was upon us. I was standing among the rest of Warlords on the battlements in preparation for Whitebeards inevitable attack. I stood ready and resolved, this was a battle of fate, and I knew what I had to do. Even if I really didn't want to do it.