Chapter Text
Though most of history about the world was unknown, what stood with time was the legend of the devils, the creatures where the devil fruits came from.
From the devil's own chest, their hearts are ripped out so other beings can eat them and gain that devil's power.
With the devils not being sighted in hundreds of years, all that was left of them was the hearts that had been fermented from the surrounding water and land, leaving them to become disfigured from their original form.
Unknowingly to every person on the planet, there stood one devil among them.
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Monkey D. Dragon had been 16 when he met his new younger brother.
His old bastard had shown up to the island with a small kid hanging off of the back of his neck. Garp had a large grin on his face when he shoved the kid in front of Dragon and proudly declared -
“Look, you brother Dragon! His name is Wyvern and he’s 1!”
In his first year of being alive, it seemed like Wyvern was being raised by marine nannies, but as the boy began to have the ability to walk and talk he had become a nightmare to the marine base he was kept at.
Dragon remembers the disdain he felt when Garp stated that he would have to look after the very energetic child in front of him; though it lessened when the kid sent a punch to his own father's face when the marine said that the kid could be annoying at times.
The kid looked like his father, with the usual goofy grin. With birthmarks, that Dragon first thought were scars, that consisted of a crescent one under his eye and a cross over his chest; they were weird ones.
Dragon had been quite impressed at how well the child could talk and walk, though he would come to find out that, that was the start of him being impressed.
By 3 years old the kid someone started to use haki, though only faintly as the act seemed to damage his body, and had sent out a punch to Dragon Foot. While Dragon was hopping on one foot and swearing, as it was a surprise attack that actually hurt, the kid had laughed at him and then took off running as Dragon went to get revenge.
Garp had returned when Wyvern was 4, shouting about how his future fellow marine officer was doing. Dragon had decided it was best for Wyvern to not inform Garp of Wyvern's Haki skill. The man left with slight annoyance when Wyvern called him an old man and then started to proclaim he wouldn’t be a marine officer.
When Garp returned when Wyvern was 6, Dragon was all too happy to throw the town's troublemaker at his father and state that he would be going off to travel and that Garp would have to actually be in charge of raising his son. It was a shock to the old man.
___
Garp wasn’t too sure on who Wyvern's mother was. She had been a one-night fling, so he didn’t know her that well, and the woman had somehow found him at the Marines headquarters to shove a baby into his arms and stated that it was his to raise. He never saw her again.
It wasn’t hard to see that it was his child, as even as a baby his son had the same sleeping face as his. He didn’t mind having another son, as it gave him another chance to raise a strong marine officer, but he didn’t have the time to raise his son. So he shoved the baby to the allocated marine nannies that were kept at bases to raise the children of the higher officials kids when needed.
His kid was smart, he could tell that in his early speech development. Even at such a young age, the kid refused the marine future that Garp tried to make him follow. He held back his punches, as he might kill the boy doing so, but he would squeeze the kid's head slightly whenever the kid started using his speech to disrespect the marine.
When the kid started running around and destroying things Garp knew it was time to move him to the Foosha Village to be their terror; this all left him not surprised that when Dragon handed him back to raise, the kid became his own personal hell in the short time he was with him.
With somehow gaining a short notice four-week leave, Garp was given enough time to find someone else to raise his son. He chose Woop Slap, which entailed as stating that the whole village was in charge of raising the boy. The Vice-Admiral had stuck around the remaining weeks to see who his son actually was, all unknown to the man.
The kid still continued to say no to his marine future, so Garp didn’t force it; there was no need to force his son to fight if he could avoid it.
He came to find out that in the years he had missed of his son, nothing changed. It was almost like the kid found himself as early as he could.
The kid loved food, loved to cause fights by disrespecting anyone he came across, and would never take no for an answer when he wanted something. He was the same little troublemaker he was when he was a one-year-old.
He left again after the four weeks and didn’t return for years to come.
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Dandan knew that even though Dragon was a calm (but still Chaotic) man, his family was very different. She had a few run-ins with Garp, and the man excused her criminal acts on the fact that she was a good friend of Dragons. The man was loud and would yell at Dragon for whatever he was doing, which would mostly be criminal acts that included messing with the royal family.
Then Dragon had introduced her to his baby brother, whose first act when meeting her was to use her face as a landing ground as he stomped on it to get over her and to the plate of food that had been somewhere behind her.
He was an annoying brat, she stated that to him many times, but secretly she did care for him. He had hunted food for her and her bandit family many times, so he pulled his weight whenever he decided to stay at their base.
The brat having to be looked after by Dragon meant that the man's plans to take off and see the world were postponed by a few years, but the man eventually did leave.
When Garp had stated that the Foosha Village now was in charge of the 6-year-olds safety, Dadan knew what that meant for her.
What was an occasional once-a-week visit from the brat turned into week stays at her base. The brat had a large stomach that ate nearly all their food, and coupled with the brat's crazy and impossible strength, he won many of the battles that took place over dinner time.
Sometimes the brat would drag a baby to their base, showing off the ‘cool makino’, though they would normally shout him out until the kid returned the baby back to its parents.
Over the years the bothersome kid didn’t stay around their base as much, seeming like the kid had found other things to entertain himself as he got older. Dandan hadn’t ever been 100% sure, but she always had the thought that the brat would sometimes sneak off the island for a bit; she never bothered asking, as that meant she knew, then that meant Garp could hold her accountable somehow when the man's son went missing someday.
___
Makino had grown up with the strange man that was Monkey D. Wyvern, so she never understood why everyone always made a fuss about his strange actions and statements. Sure, he was an oddball, but it was nothing to clutch your pulls over.
That was how the whole village was, knowing and accepting of Wyvern's differences; which was mainly his strength. Sometimes, when he was younger, the teenager would help the villagers around by moving heaving objects around. The village’s teen girls, and rarely the some boys, would swoon over his strength, and try and flirt with him. Wyvern would never pick up on the hints thrown his way, which would cause the 8 to laugh at the clueless nature of him (even she could notice what the girls were doing).
The same would never happen when Wyvern would take Makino to the city on the outskirts of Goa Kingdom, purely to show Makino the ‘rare cool things’ in it, which was mostly eating at places then leaving without paying (she was always told by Wyvern to thank the cook that was chasing them for a good meal, as a show of good manners).
He had always treated Makino like a younger sister, she doesn’t know why he ever started (she remembers stories from her parents about Wyvern stealing her when she was just a baby), and she always viewed him as an older protective brother. He would take her on small adventures around their island, which mostly included places to eat at.
Whenever they entered the city, the smug residents would almost spit on the teen and his dirty clothes (Wyvern was always covered in a small layer of dirt, it couldn’t be helped), which the boy always didn’t pay any mind to either.
He was always like that, Makino noticed, never caring about others' opinion of him. When she asked him about that, he would say something along the lines of - “It doesn’t matter what others think about you, only what your close ones think”.
She always knew in her heart that Wyvern was a smart one, even though his antics would persuade one to think otherwise.
When Wyvern was 17 he had let Makino in on a little secret of his, that the boy would sneak off the island to sniff out other ways to cause trouble (she added that last part), and that he was going off on a big mission that was going to take a bit longer than normal. He looked excited as he said it, a big smile on his face that caused him to close his eyes. He looked happy.
He didn’t ever say why he informed her of his other mischiefs, but Makino always just followed the thought that Wyvern wanted to share this weird joy he was feeling about the mission with someone, and she was the only person available.
The next day she heard all the villagers talking about the soon execution of the infamous Pirate King, Gold D. Roger.
___
He was sat in his cell, alone, and in the dark. So far underground that he could barely sense any life forms above him. He didn’t bother trying to escape, his time was up.
His only regret will be leaving his child behind in this world with his shadow always looming over them. He had enough trust in Garp to not kill an innocent child over what their parents had done.
He soon heard the soft echoes of footsteps. It sounded as if it was only one person.
Slowly light washed over him, as whoever was in front of his cell stood there, mostly likely staring at him.
“Woah, you're so much cooler in person!” A sentence that Roger would never have thought he would hear directed at him in a marine base.
He glanced up a small bit, looking at the young man sitting cross-legged in front of him who held such a star-struck face that was so great Roger had to let out a small laugh at it.
It had taken a few moments in between his laughs for him to recognise the goofy smiles on the kid's faces. It had looked all too similar to one of his arch rivals own grand smile.
He came to realise that the boy in front of him may be the trouble-making second son that Garp had many times praised and sulked about during their fights. Seeing him somehow finding his way to Roger's cell, looking like he obviously didn’t work for the marine, allowed Roger to gain some of the trouble the boy had made for Garp.
“What’s your name boy?”
The kid put no pause in his grin, proudly declaring his name.
“Me? I’m Monkey D. Wyvern!”
Ah, yes, he had been correct. The kid belonged to Garp.
“What are you doing down here? Does Garp know?”
The boy's grin had finally fallen a bit. He took an almost nervous look while scratching his face. He added in a less cheerful note, “Well, no he doesn’t know I’m here,” The boy's demeanour had risen again, with his cheeky smile, “But I had to see you, so it's worth whatever punches he throws my way.”
The boy let out a shishishi laugh, which had caused Roger to boom in with his own deep laugh. This boy defiantly was a troublemaker.
“Yeah, well, am I everything you thought I would be?”
“Hell yeah! You're so cool, and even though they’ve beaten you up, I can feel how powerful you are,” The boy's smile dropped again, taking a serious look instead, “You know, I would save you, but I’m not allowed to.”
“Oh?” Now that was an interesting statement.
“Your execution is a real turning point in history, or I was told, so if I stopped it I could do a lot of damage; and I would be risking all my old nakama's future as well. Sorry.”
Roger held no ill will for what the boy was saying, so he just let out a tired smile to the boy along with a small laugh.
“But since I can’t do that for you, I will tell you about your kid.”
Roger stopped laughing, his smile dropped, and he sent the boy a venomous look. How did he know, Garp wouldn’t have said anything to him about his future child.
“I kinda owe it to some past friends to tell you this, and I wanted you to go knowing this.”
The boy stood up, leaving the lantern he brought down with him on the ground, and stood stock straight with his arm beside his body.
“Your kid is a boy, and his name is Ace. He is the most amazing person ever, and-” the boy moved down in a 90-degree bow, “I will do everything in my power that he grows up happy, and lives a long life the way he wants to live it.”
Roger sat shocked, feeling his jaw slowly drop.
“Ho-how—?”
The boy looked up, his features different. Roger looked into his eyes.
So that's how he knew.
Suddenly he felt the presence of a few familiar marine officers making their way down to them. The boy's features returned to normal.
“Ace is important to me, so trust me.”
Roger had just met the boy, and yet he did trust him, trust him with his own child—his own son's future and safety. The most bizarre thing was that he did.
He sent the boy a firm nod, then let out a boasting laugh.
“Tell my son that I love him, and to live his own life.”
The boy sent him a wide grin back, laughing as well.
The life forms above him picked up pace. So it seemed they felt the presence of his visitor.
“Wah— Wyvern!”
The two looked down the maze-like hall, starting to hear the fast footsteps making their way to them.
“Whoops, guess I slipped up a bit there with concealing myself,” The kid looked back to him, head going to rub at his head, “Oh by the way, you really get everyone going with the one piece, it's so cool.”
Roger let out a huff of a laugh as the boy grabbed his lantern and took off running in the direction of the marines coming. He heard the sounds of yelling, and walls being smashed into, then the faint shishishi laugh of the boy.
What a strange kid.
He certainly deserved the D. in his name.
“Wyvern, get back here!”
___
Shanks watched as his Captain went on the execution platform, he watched as Gold D. Roger announced to the world of his hidden treasure, and he watched as the the blaids entered his Captain, ending his rain as the Pirate king. He felt his tears and snot cover his whole face during the process, and tried to wipe them away as he saw them start to drag his captain's body away to do whatever they were planning to do with it; it made him sink thinking the ways they would parade it around.
He followed the rushing crowd, who were all starting to go on their journey to find the one piece. He didn’t care about them though. The shouts filled all around him, all sounding cheerful. They didn’t even care, care that one of the best man there was had just been killed because the government deemed him bad. They didn’t care—
“Hey, you think I could hitch a ride? I don’t really have a boat.”
He paused his action of untying his boat, looking up to lay his eyes on a boy who looked slightly older than him. The guy held a goofy smile, and it pained him to think of who it reminded him of.
“I’m not looking for the one piece, so if that's what you want get lost.”
The guy just looked at him, all lost and the like while tilting his head and scratching it. Looking at Shanks like he was crazy.
“No, I don't want to look for it,” He sent another stupid grin at Shanks, “I just wanna get a ride off this island. Think you could help me?”
Maybe it was because the guy's weird grin reminded him of his Captain, late-Captain, but he nodded to the guy. That gained him a whoop, and the rocking of his small boat as the guy jumped straight onto it.
“Cool! So where’re we going?!” The guy shouted as he leaned back, getting himself comfy.
As Shanks looked over his shoulder at the strange guy who joined him, he couldn’t help but smile.
“I don’t know yet.”
That blinding smile would forever be etched in Shanks's mind.
“Even better! My name's Wyverns! What's yours?”
For a second, all that had happened prior left his thoughts.
“The name is Shanks.”
And the laugh that followed would become a symbol of joy for Shanks.
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