Vow

[ishimura.livejournal.com]

Title: Vow

Rating: T

Media: fic

Characters: two OCs

Word Count: 299 (without title)

Prompt: Misinterpretation

A little experiment.

the poneglyphs told the true history-

The Queen shakes as she points to the door.

“Never dare to step into this country again!”

The Queen finally sees reason and cuts her ties with the Ancient Kingdom-

“You had to protect your people. Alone hiding this place could mean your death.”

She had the gall to understand. To smile here, under the Royal Tombs, as if she wasn’t about to die with her own nation.

"So I forgive you!"


The Knight laughs as the flames engulf her.

“Is that all you can do to kill us?!”

The Knight has gone mad in despair as the superior forces destroy her country. They will create a new world on its ashes, and the name of the Ancient Kingdom will be forgotten-

“The true history is going to survive.”

She dove into her project with all her passion, as she was wont to do. Once she achieved what she needed, she held no regret.

She had finished her masterpiece, which heralded her death.


“Why are you staying in Alabasta, Queen Nefertari? The Holy Land awaits you!”

“That place couldn't offer me anything I wanted-”

“The world will forget. Your country will forget. Your family will forget. But through these writings, we will be heard.”

The stone block stood detached in the chamber’s middle, under the sand and rock, where no stars, no moon, no sun shone, and the ocean was so far away.

The Queen wanted to imprint its inscriptions into her mind; wanted to hear her voice again.

“Just promise me that you will never become like them.”

Did she forget about their oldest promise, made as children to each other? It went both ways.

“You will never be alone.” She said. Tears flowed across the carvings. “We will protect your will.”

Comments

[printfogey.livejournal.com]

This toom me a couple of re-reads to understand what's going on, but I found it arresting right away! Such a cool and beautiful idea. A worthy tragic backstory for the Alabastan poneglyph. I love the idea that there is a strong friendship between two women, even if the Government was too strong for the Queen to resist, and for the Knight to survive.

[printfogey.livejournal.com]

*took me, sorry. (Can't edit comment as I no longer have a paid accout on LJ.)

[ishimura.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. The very location of the poneglyph is already fascinating, but the royal, ruling family knows and has been protecting it since the Void Century, although their ancestors belonged to the people who would form the World Government. There had to be a connection, and I thought of two close friends on two opposing sides against their will. Joy Boy and the Ryugu Kingdom inspired me as well.

I aimed for a sense of disconnect both in style and structure for the prompt, to allude to several points/levels of 'misinterpretation'. What caught your interest that you kept reading and re-reading the story?

[printfogey.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking it probably was that sense of disconnect that caught my interest, actually! Though I'm not too sure... The lines felt harsh and pointy and proud, much like the Knight and The Queen themselves. And also, the Knight is a woman and it's all about a deep bond between two women even though politics and tragedy drive them apart.

Plus, it's about the Lost Century, the big big unexplained mystery of the series, and it doesn't make the mistake of trying to explain too much (I mean, not that one could explain that much with 300 words, but still).

[shindahotaru.livejournal.com]

Since all the things I intended to say have already been said by Serrende, I'd only like to add that it's a very interesting drabble and one of my favorite topics in all One Piece. And I love stories about Alabasta, unfortunately it seems to be one of the less popular arcs.

I really, really admire how much effort you brought into this and it actually got me thinking about the whole deal for at least a day! XD