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It hurts...everything hurts so much.
I still have my duty.
If I can't purify the Shikon no Tama out of this plane of existence, I'll take it with me to the next world.
...
Why...? Why did things happen this way?
I want...I want another chance.
so it will be so, Kikyou.
The deceptively harmless-looking crystal shard glittered in the captain's massive hand. If Shanks squinted hard enough from the right angle, he would've sworn that they glowed from a faint, inner light.
what is your desire?
Shanks frowned, rubbing his ear. Did he just hear someone murmuring? That wasn't the sound of the ocean waves...
"So we really managed to get another one, right Captain?! Another shard of the legendary Shikon no Tama!" Buggy crowed excitedly, hopping from one foot to the next.
Captain Roger let out a hearty chuckle at the cabin boy's antics before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small, delicate jewelry box. With a flick of his thumb, the lid popped open, revealing well over a dozen similarly sized pieces of what was clearly the same material laying on a dark velvet cushion.
"It won't be long before everyone knows we're actively hunting down the shards. We gathered all those in, what, less than six months?" Rayleigh spoke up, his mouth a straight line and his arms crossed as Roger added the latest shard to the collection. "The Navy will actively send their best after us, not to mention whatever two-bit pirate crew that catches wind will come chasing us as well."
"Wahaha! What, are you worried, Rayleigh?" Roger asked teasingly. With that many shards gathered together, the light was a little more obvious now, even with the sun still out, setting in the horizon. Shanks' eyes glazed over at the sight of them.
what is your de-
Roger snapped the lid shut, the sound of it in turn snapping Shanks out of his stupor. Huh?
"Yeah, we can take anyone on that comes after us, especially now that we have all these flashy jewel sha-AACK!" Buggy accidentally bit down on his tongue as Rayleigh knocked him over his head.
"No one's using those damned things, not if it can be helped," the first mate said sternly. He turned to Shanks, "You just heard it now too, right?"
Shanks blinked several times. "You mean, that voice? I wasn't imagining it?"
"Seems as though those with strong enough Observational Haki can hear it if close enough," Roger said, stowing the box back into his pocket. "In any case, there's a reason that the legends surrounding the Shikon no Tama aren't happy stories. Limitless power or not, it didn't sound like anyone was ever able to keep the blasted jewel shards before something happened to them."
"Hey, we were that something to those pirate crews we took those shards from," Gaban pointed out, to which the rest of the crew laughed in agreement.
"So if we're not using them, what are we collecting them for?" Buggy asked, tears threatening to leak from his eyes as he rubbed the baseball-sized lump on his skull. Roger goodheartedly patted Buggy's head, careful to go around the lump, simply grinning.
So this is all I managed to get. I wanted to be the one to complete the jewel, but I've got no time left. All I can do now is hope that someone in the future can finish what I couldn't. Until then, the shards I've collected will be safest here in this place...
His whole body ached in pain as he stared down at the massive crowd of people before him from the executioner's platform. Nevertheless, the grin on his face was as wide as it ever was. So this was it.
"Hey, King of the Pirates!" someone from the crowd yelled out.
"Where did you hide the all the treasure you found?! You got them both, didn't you?! Those legendary treasures! The One Piece and half of the Shikon no Tama!
Roger couldn't help it. His final laugh ripped out his body, even as the executioners' swords were swung over his head.
"My treasure? If you want it, you can have it. Find it! I left everything the world has to offer!"