𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑 // 𝐓.𝐋𝐀𝐖 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂

7 : old fella

Valeria’s steps were heavy as she walked through the quiet, secluded grove, far from the bustling noise of Marineford.

The wind whispered through the trees, carrying with it a strange calm, though the weight of the recent events still pressed on her mind.

She’d returned victorious, having survived both Trafalgar Law and the cursed power she now carried—but something still gnawed at her.

A short break.

That’s what Aokiji had suggested after their intense debriefing. Valeria knew her body needed the rest, but her mind couldn’t settle. The darkness inside her had been quiet for now, yet she could feel it waiting, lurking. She needed peace, if only for a moment.

As she reached a small clearing, the sight of two familiar graves came into view. Large, towering memorials stood in solemn tribute—one marked with a flaming insignia, the other with a familiar mustache symbol.

Portgas D. Ace and Edward Newgate, better known as Whitebeard, had been laid to rest here.

They were enemies of the Marines, but Valeria couldn’t ignore their impact on the world—or the respect they commanded, even in death.

She approached slowly, her eyes lingering on Ace’s grave. His story had spread like wildfire after the war—the son of the Pirate King, who fought valiantly alongside his brothers in a desperate bid for freedom.

In the end, he had given his life to protect Luffy, his little brother.

Valeria knelt down before the grave, her skeletal mask hanging from her side, leaving her face bare to the wind.

She ran her hand over the cool stone, tracing the edges of Ace’s name.

“You were one of the best, weren’t you?” she murmured.

“Fighting not for power, but for family. I wonder... if that’s why people still look up to you.”

The graveyard was silent, but Valeria didn’t mind. She wasn’t here for answers—just to reflect, to remind herself of the sacrifices made.

Even though Ace had been a pirate, she couldn’t help but feel a certain kinship with him. Both of them had lived under the shadow of greater legacies, constantly trying to carve out their own paths.

She moved her gaze to Whitebeard’s grave next, the towering figure whose name still shook the seas long after his passing. He had been more than a pirate; he had been a protector, a father to countless souls who sought belonging in a world that often discarded them.

The Whitebeard Pirates were feared not just because of their power, but because of their loyalty to him.

As Valeria sat back on her heels, the memories of the Marineford War flickered in her mind. She had been there, on the battlefield, fighting against Whitebeard’s forces.

She had witnessed his strength, his undying will, even in the face of impossible odds. And now, he was gone, but his legacy lingered, just like Ace’s.

A strange sense of melancholy settled over her. She wasn’t one to dwell on the past, but here, in this quiet place, she allowed herself to feel the weight of everything—the battles, the bloodshed, the loss.

So many lives had been torn apart by the war. So many had given everything they had for what they believed in.

“Ace... I wonder what you would have thought of the Marines now,” Valeria whispered, her voice barely audible in the wind. “Or someone like me.”

She stayed there for a long time, letting the silence comfort her. The cursed energy inside her seemed to ease, if only for a moment, as if the spirits of those resting here offered her a brief reprieve.