The journey spanned several islands, starting from the Drum Kingdom, passing through the Sabaody Archipelago, and descending through Fish-Man Island into the New World.
On more than one occasion, sailors caught a glimpse of a black-haired woman and mistook her for Kanata, but no major incidents broke out. At last, the legendary warrior had returned to the sea she once called home.
"So this is the New World..." Catherina mused, looking out over the railing. "The ocean itself doesn't look that different from Paradise."
"What did you expect?" Octavia replied, her voice laced with dry amusement. "The weather and currents are far more erratic than in Paradise, but a sea is a sea."
Octavia barely glanced toward the waves as a sea beast lunged from the depths, intending to swallow their small vessel whole. With a single, effortless motion, she incinerated the creature. Relying on the needle of her Log Pose, she continued her steady advance.
The voyage was remarkably smooth. Whether it was sea kings, roaming pirates, or Navy patrols, everything that dared cross Octavia's path was swept aside. The dimension of her power was simply on another level. Pirates who couldn't even wield Haki were blown away like dust, and even the Navy's proudest warships were shattered as easily as paper screens.
Occasionally, she would read the newspaper. Every time she saw the name of a pirate she recognized, her eyes narrowed in contemplation. She had half-expected to run into Kanata, but the reports suggested her daughter was currently elsewhere. Not that meeting her would have changed much; Octavia still didn't know what a mother was supposed to say to a daughter she hadn't seen in years.
She had checked in on Kanata once at Water Seven, but that was as far as she was willing to go. If she wants something, I will give it to her. If she needs information, I will provide it. But Kanata asked for nothing. Octavia realized there was nothing left for her to do as a "mother."
For now, it was better to keep their paths separate.
With that thought in mind, she continued until she reached Fullalead.
"This is Fullalead?" Catherina asked, her nose wrinkling in distaste. "It's a bit... gaudy, isn't it?"
"The Great Skull has always been there," Octavia noted. "Some ability user from the ancient past likely shaped it."
The island, once the bustling hub of the Rocks Pirates, was now a silent ruin. While Octavia felt the weight of the island's rise and fall, she felt no sympathy for those who had lived there. They were mostly bottom-feeders who had invited their own deaths.
"Is anyone actually living here now?" Catherina asked.
"Judging by the state of things, no. Maybe the occasional passing sailor, but that's it."
The island was incapable of sustaining a population on its own. Unless a massive organization backed it with supplies, it was useless as a base. Furthermore, anyone using the former seat of the Rocks Pirates would immediately draw the World Government's ire. Most rational crews avoided it like the plague.
"It's here," Octavia said, entering a nondescript building.
She led Catherina through a labyrinth of secret corridors and hidden doors, moving toward the basement. She navigated the twists and turns with the confidence of someone who had walked them a thousand times. She reached the final chamber where her prize was kept—or so she thought.
"What...?" Octavia paused. "There are more Poneglyphs now?"
The room, which had once held a single Poneglyph, now housed two—including a blood-red Road Poneglyph. Someone had clearly been here recently to move them in. Octavia wasn't particularly bothered by the addition; the basement was large enough to hold several more without feeling cramped.
The real problem was elsewhere.
"Someone took it," she whispered. "This room should have been impossible to find."
"If you can get in, someone else can too," Catherina noted. "What was here, anyway?"
"A sword... a memento of Xebec."
The blade was Muramasa, one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades. Octavia had recovered it after Rocks D. Xebec's death and placed it here as a silent gravestone where no one would ever find it. Her optimism had been her undoing.
Octavia let out a long sigh, looking up at the two monoliths. "I wonder who was clever enough to find this place."
"Are we going to look for them?"
"Perhaps. Whoever left a Road Poneglyph here clearly knows the secrets of this world. If I stay nearby, they might eventually return."
"Wait, we're just going to sit here?!" Catherina groaned.
"Of course not."
Octavia decided to stay on a neighboring island and check in periodically. If a major pirate crew had found this place, she would recognize them instantly.
"...Though if it's in her hands," Octavia murmured, a ghost of a smile touching her lips, "then I have no complaints."
There was nothing strange about a child inheriting a parent's legacy, after all.
***
Wano was in an uproar.
While Kozuki Oden and his retainers were in the middle of their daily drills in Kuri, word arrived that a pirate ship had been sighted at Itachi Port. Oden had bolted from the castle instantly, with Kin'emon and Kanjuro hot on his heels.
On the beach, a man crawled out of the wreckage of the Oro Jackson, adjusting his hat with a weary laugh.
"Well... climbing a waterfall by grabbing onto a giant carp? That was a first. Wahahaha!"
"To find an island and a sea at the top of a cliff..." Rayleigh muttered, looking around. "So this is Wano."
The ship was structurally sound, but the cargo had been ruined by the seawater. They were going to need supplies. Roger was just about to suggest an exploration mission when his eyes locked on a figure emerging from the trees.
"Hoh... this one looks strong!"
Roger grinned, his hand going to his sword as a massive man wielding two blades lunged into the clearing. The man saw Roger and matched his grin. "A pirate ship?! You actually made it through the storm and up the falls?!"
Oden didn't wait for an answer. He swung his twin blades in a devastating arc. Roger didn't back down; he met the strike head-on. The shockwave of their Haki blasted the sand outward, and just as the two were about to settle into a real duel, Oden opened his mouth.
"My name is Kozuki Oden! I don't care who you are—take me to sea on your ship!!"
Roger and Rayleigh both blinked in shock. Their first contact was the very man they had come to find.
"You're Kozuki Oden?!" Roger shouted. "We came to Wano specifically to find you! But... I can't take you on my ship!!"
The blades were sheathed as Kin'emon and Kanjuro arrived, breathless. Roger explained their dilemma. Their goal was either Oden or his father, Sukiyaki, to help them read the Poneglyphs. Having Oden as a crewmate would have been perfect... if it weren't for the promise he had made to Kanata.
Oden tilted his head, confused. "Why does a foreigner know my name?"
"We heard about you from Kanata," Roger explained.
"Kanata?! That lady?! How is she doing?" Kin'emon asked, his face lighting up.
"She was busy blowing up other pirates the last time we saw her!" Roger laughed.
"Hahaha! That sounds like her," Kanjuro added. "She always did have a bit of a temper under that cool exterior."
Kin'emon nodded, though he still felt a phantom pain from the time Kanata had copied his Foxfire Style in a single glance.
"So you know the Witch," Oden grunted. "But why won't you let me on the ship?"
"She told me you were the Shogun's heir and that I shouldn't take you out of the country. I owe Sukiyaki a debt through her, so I have to stick to the agreement."
"That woman...!" Oden roared, his face turning red with fury. "Every time! Every single time she gets in my way!!"
"Now, Lord Oden, she isn't technically wrong in this case..." Kin'emon started, but Oden wasn't listening.
Roger and Rayleigh shared a look. "You two are acquaintances, then?" Rayleigh asked. "Do you not get along?"
"Our Lord and Kanata are like oil and water," Kin'emon sighed.
"Next time I see her, I'm gonna kill her!" Oden screamed at the sky.
"Yeah, he says that," Kin'emon added, "but Kanata usually just ignores him entirely."
"WAHAHAHA!! Well, Kanata's a tough one to impress!" Roger roared. "I doubt anyone of standard strength could even touch her!"
Oden was strong, but he lacked the refinement needed to truly challenge a Logia user of Kanata's caliber.
"Gnnnnugh...!" Oden growled.
"Lord Oden," Kin'emon said, trying to be the voice of reason. "Please, just give it up this time."
"Shut up! I want to see the world! I want an adventure!"
"Know your position! You are the Lord of Kuri! The Shogun's son!"
As the retainers tried to wrangle their stubborn lord, Roger and Rayleigh sighed. It was going to be a long stay.
***
"If you won't take me to sea, I won't read your stones."
True to his word, Oden had rejected Roger's request. Roger needed the Poneglyphs translated, but Shogun Sukiyaki was currently bedridden and only allowed meetings with his closest inner circle. Oden, in a fit of pique, refused to cooperate unless he got his way.
It was a stalemate. Roger spent the next month managing the repairs on the Oro Jackson and exploring the local culture, all while Oden looked for every possible chance to stow away.
"This is taking longer than expected," Rayleigh noted.
"I thought for sure I'd just cave and let him on," Roger admitted.
Kanata had clearly anticipated this. But surprisingly, Roger was holding firm. It was unlike him to be so rigid, but a promise to a friend was sacred to Gol D. Roger—even if he occasionally forgot he made them.
"So, what's the move?" Rayleigh asked.
"I'm not sure yet," Roger laughed. "We'll just have to wait and see."
Another month passed. Roger was starting to get bored with Wano when Oden announced he was heading to the Flower Capital.
"The Flower Capital?"
"The seat of the Shogun," Oden explained. "It's a beautiful place."
"Hoh. That's where your father is, right?"
The two had actually become quite close over the month, often sharing meals and drinks despite their constant arguing about the ship.
"His health isn't great," Oden said, his expression softening. "I need to take my retainers and pay my respects."
"I see... well, while you're gone, maybe that's our chance to set sail."
"Don't be a fool! This is good for you too. There's a stone in the castle with that same code you're looking for. A red one."
"The Road Poneglyph?!" Roger shouted.
"Kanata mentioned that..." Rayleigh added. "We spent the whole month looking in ruins, and it was in the castle the entire time?"
Oden grinned. "Interested now, aren't you? If you want it read, you know the price."
"Still can't do it! I made a promise!"
"You stubborn idiot!!"
Despite the outburst, Roger and Rayleigh decided to follow Oden to the capital. Since they hadn't been allowed in the castle before, this was their best shot at getting close to the red stone.
***
"My father... gave me permission to leave."
"WHAT?!" the retainers shouted in unison.
Oden stood before them, looking just as bewildered as they were. He explained the meeting he'd had with Sukiyaki.
"He isn't on death's door yet, but his health is failing. When I told him I wanted to see the world with these pirates... he just looked at me."
Oden crossed his arms, mimicking his father's posture. "He said, 'I know you'll leave no matter what I say. So, I will grant you a silent endorsement on one condition.'"
"Illegal?! Leaving Wano is a crime!" Kin'emon cried.
"That's why it's a 'silent' endorsement. As long as I leave quietly and don't make a scene, he'll turn a blind eye."
Sukiyaki had realized that Oden was a bird that couldn't be caged. The arrival of Roger was simply the wind he needed. Rather than let him commit a public crime, the Shogun chose to let him go as a secret emissary of his own will.
"And the condition?" Izo asked.
"He doesn't know how many years he has left. He told me I have to return within two years."
"Two years... can we really do that?"
"I don't know," Oden admitted. "I was prepared to never come back. I thought I'd be a criminal for life. But if the Shogun himself is letting me go... then it's different."
This was a chance he couldn't pass up.
"I'm going," Oden declared. "No matter what."
The retainers were silent. With the Shogun's approval, they had no ground to stand on.
"I'm coming with you," Izo said, stepping forward. "I can't leave you alone out there. You'll get yourself killed or worse."
"Izo..."
"If Izo goes, at least someone with a brain will be watching him," Ashura Doji grumbled.
"My brother will keep you in line!" Kikunojo added with a smile.
Oden laughed, his eyes bright with excitement. "Alright then! Kuri is in your hands while I'm gone! Take care of Wano!"
"YES, SIR!!"
***
The next day, Oden explained the situation to Roger.
With the Shogun's official (if silent) blessing, Roger and Rayleigh decided the promise to Kanata had been fulfilled. They weren't "kidnapping" the heir; they were facilitating his journey with his father's consent.
The Poneglyphs were translated, supplies were loaded, and under the cover of a moonless night, the Oro Jackson slipped away from Wano. Oden and Izo were welcomed aboard with open arms, ready to face the horizon.
And then...
"STOWAWAYS!!"
"Inuarashi?! Nekomamushi?! What the hell are you doing here?!" Oden roared.
"Hehe... we just couldn't let you have all the fun!" the cat-mink laughed.
"We belong by your side, Lord Oden!" Inuarashi added with a wag of his tail.
The Roger Pirates had just grown by four members. The journey to the Final Island was back on track.
***
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