Pacifista

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Nostrils flaring, Goldenrod stood. Holstering his pistol he headed out, grumbling, "Let's get on with it."

Leading the pack, made up of the trio and a pair of Whitney Warriors, groups parted and nodded in respect as he passed, though his hunched figure made him easily the smallest in sight.

Getting down to the holding cells, Goldenrod blinked at a clearly flustered guard, watching Chester's sleeping form. "Hey, where'd his chains go?" Jeko wondered.

Noticing that the lock was broken, Isaac growled, "Bastard!" As he drew his sword, he stepped forward, as if to stab it through the bars.

"Don't touch him, idiot!" Goldenrod growled, raising his gun and firing.

"Ow!" yelped Jeko as he fell back. "Why did you shoot me!?"

Goldenrod clicked his tongue, ordering, "Move him to another cell!" Pointing to Kuhn, he added, "And you'll be watching him. He's tough, ain't he?"

---

"I'm cutting you off, madam."

"I haven't even started yet!"

Though the sun was not quite low enough the tint the sky orange, it still beamed brightly into the late afternoon droll of Stein's Cauldron. It was only just beginning to pick up when a girl with wavey orange hair and round glasses over her weepy looking eyes was cut off. She wore a pair of short overalls over a pale yellow short sleeved shirt.

She pounded her little fists on the table, whining, "I'm an adult and I want to drink!"

The bartender shook his head. "You've been drinking too much. Take a break."

"I'll tell my poppa!"

The bartender sighed, before relenting, "Fine, one drink." She beamed proudly, before he filled a glass and handed it over. She took a sip, before nearly choking. It was just water. She glared, but the bartender didn't react.

Lip quivering, she lowered her head onto the bar, taking a moment to mope. Whitney may have been the beloved daughter of Head Goldenrod but that didn't give her all the power she wanted. Money was power, or something.

Hearing a shuffling behind her, she looked up to see a huge guy in a dark purple coat with black hair. He was looking at her, but given Whitney's put-off expression, he seemed to back off. As he went away, Whitney returned to mope, not catching a bit of giggling from somewhere behind her.

A few moments later, a voice asked, "Are you okay?" Looking up, Whitney turned to see a younger girl with red hair, her finger to her lips in concern.

Getting a bit self conscious, Whitney wiggled in her seat a bit, before explaining, "Er, I just...got dumped."

The girl seemed a bit too eager, slipping into a chair rather quickly, but Whitney didn't mind. She didn't look like she was around here so she was probably just a concerned tourist. "That sounds terrible. What happened?"

Thinking about it, Whitney felt her eyes water as she began, "Well, we never actually went out, but...we never even got that far."

As she put her hands over her face, she felt the other girl pat her on the back. "There, there..."

Out of her line of sight, Lina turned back to Macario and gave a satisfied thumbs up, Macario still a bit flustered at their earlier interaction.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Shaking off his fists, Macario muttered, "We lost them, didn't we?"

Tapping her foot to one of the unconscious Quartz goons, Lina sighed, "Yup."

Scratching his chin, Macario clicked his tongue, "That guy was paying a lot of attention. I guess we'll have to find some other way."

"Haven't you been here long enough to know where they are?"

Macario frowned. "Well, they're probably holed up in the old town. Or at least most of their non-public stuff is. They have their main building here but who knows where they're taking Chester."

Putting a hand to her chin, Lina thought for a moment before reaching down and pulling out her blade. She smiled, "Someone has to have seen him, right?"

A bit put off, Macario admitted, "Y-yeah..."

---

With a thump and a clang, Chester lay on the cold hard floor, the iron bars shutting him in. The three stayed assembled for some time, an empty chair resting outside of the cell.

Some time later, Chester was still asleep.

Jeko clicked his tongue, mumbling, "Who has time for this!? Wake up, asshole!" Realization dawning on his face, he snapped his fingers, suggesting, "Oh, actually, I need my stuff. I mean, you only need your liver sometimes." Grinning, he added, "And that liver is one I want to see." Giddy, Jeko practically pranced out of the room.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

The intruders leaving as quickly as they came, Macario managed to unbind himself, looking closely at the string that bound him. Lina still stood where she was left, her sword dug into the wall behind a bartender, who was only just now daring to rear his head. Her head was low, her arms shaking lightly.

Noticing her, Macario said, "Hey, it's normal to be a little shaken u-"

"SLEEPING!?" Lina roared, throwing her hands up. As Macario flinched, she growled, "I was thinking about going to save him but now I'm thinking he can rescue his own damn self!"

Macario stared blankly. "Uh-huh." Brushing himself off, he began, "Hey, do you know where their place is? I really need that briefcase back and if I rush them down now I'm not sure if I could handle all of them." Lina shook her head. "...Great."

With the two in silence, both contemplating, Lina went to get her sword. Taking it, she felt her hands start to shake again. Drawing in a breath, she sheathed it, shaking her head. Start to calm down a bit, she turned to Macario beginning, "Well...I can't exactly leave since I can't sail our ship, so maybe we could help each other out a bit..."

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

"Hey, what!?" Macario growled, standing roughly, eyes on Kuhn.

Moving from her second mug of beer and nearly emptied basket of fries, Lina looking up, snarling, "You! Pay up!"

Macario blinked, wondering, "Hey, what about your friend?"

Jeko waved his hand. "What do you think we're doing?"

Lina insisted, "He can take care of himself."

There was a small click from Macario's briefcase, sitting on the ground. As he caught the glint of a small, barbed needle jabbed into the side, Jeko pulled his arm back, sliding the briefcase over.

Snarling, Macario gave chase, Lina drawing her sword and heading after him. As she took one step, Isaac was already upon her. She made a slash, but he gave a wild swing, and her blade was flung from her grasp before the point of his sword came to a stop at her neck.

As Macario closed in on Jeko, briefcase still sliding along, Jeko snapped his hand up, the briefcase hurtling into the air. Macario raised his arms as Jeko jumped, briefcase trailing along behind him. Waving his hands around Macario's, he came to a landing behind him before pulling one hand forwards. Macario's wrists were drawn together, manipulated by Jeko's hands. As he struggled, lines of red blood appeared, some dripping down what appeared to be strings, seeming to point at Jeko.

Gritting his teeth, Macario hissed, "Shit."

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Taking a seat, in the quiet, mid-morning tavern, the odd trio didn't take long to order.

"Sure, I'll try beer. But weren't we looking for food?"

"This place some good fries. Have some of those. And I'll get some...nah, just a beer," Macario said, glancing at Chester before noting, "I'm only buying your first drink."

"He'll have one whole barrel of grog."

"Hey!"

A few minutes later, Chester and Lina were served a couple baskets of fries while Chester got a bottle and Lina and Macario got their mugs of beer. While Macario took a casual sip, Lina was a bit more apprehensive, taking a sip before gagging.

Tears rimming her eyes, she bleched. "Wha? It...it..." Looking up and making sure none of the employees were around, she hissed to Chester and Macario, "Why did I get the sensation of piss." Cringing, she grabbed some fries and chucked them into her mouth.

Taking another sip, Macario said, "It's just one of those dark facts of life that people accept. War rages, the poor starve, and cheap beer tastes like piss. You'll get used to it. Or find better beer."

Looking back at her mug, Lina turned a bit green, before flashing red with determination, deciding, "Or make better." Clamping down on her nose, she turned the mug bottom up, doing her best to drain it, managing half before relenting, clearing holding back some retching as Macario chuckled.

As she held firm, as is savoring the bitterness of the taste, she asked, "So, what do the Advocates do?"

Macario lit up a bit as he began, "Well, after the War finally ended, some people looked around to see that we lost a lot of knowledge. Libraries destroyed, you've got stories of all these great inventions that are stupidly hard to find nowadays... The Advocates take on jobs to do heavy research into specific subjects as objectively as possible: history and science, usually. The files we turn up are pretty valuable: national secrets or developments in some scholarly field. We get a lot of money for a job in exchange for a limited non-disclosure agreement before releasing the files, so new stuff is always pretty valuable to other parties. The threat of a country's past on subterfuge being reveal usually leads to them trying to make amends before word really gets out, or they try to take on the Advocates but that's part of why we're so secretive. If we find something that might be a good invention our secrecy on the inner workings can allow someone to try and get a business going off of it."

Looking mildly interested, Lina noted, "Sounds like you like your job..."

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

"Spy? Well-" Macario began, but he was interrupted by Chester's burst of action. His mouth hung open as the line of Quartz Company goons were laid out flat. Blinking, he continued, "Um, no. I'm part of a group called the Scholastic Advocates. We're researchers. These guys probably wanted whatever what I was studying, not that I blame them."

Light bulb going off, he snapped his fingers, before suggesting, "Tell you what, I'll get you a drink. You helped me out there." Waving his hand, he admitted, "Plus I'd really just rather you forgot this whole thing."

---

"Ahaha! Man they got wrecked," Jeko laughed.

Turning around from his vantage point on the bridge, Jeko scratched at his chin, saying, "Well, we could try again, but I dunno if we can take them. Two on three isn't my style unless I'm with the three.

Looking at the surly face of Isaac, he said, "Plus, maybe we could kill two birds with one stone. Get me a stone!" Isaac blinked, before looking around on the clean bridge. Spotting a small rock, he opened his mouth, but Jeko interrupted, "Old cyclops. I meant...sigh."

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

"Hah?" Lina blinked, before taking a look at the papers she had. After a few moments of staring...

"Snrt."

"Are you guys children!?" the man growled, snatching the papers from their hands. All of them collected, he began to put them into his briefcase, but he instead held a few up to his face.

"You're looking too!" Lina yelled.

Blushing, the man growled, "Well, I had to check to make sure I wasn't delivering dick drawings!" Lina snorted again. "That's not what they are!"

Returning the papers and closing up the briefcase, the man rested his head on it, groaning, "Aw hell, I'm dead..."

Lina blinked, "What's wrong?"

"Secrecy is kind of a big deal in my organization..." he groaned.

Lina gave a nod of understanding, before wondering, "What's your name?"

"It's Macario," he began, before stopping. "Our names aren't secret."

"Just checkin'."

Eyeing the two, Macario said, "Well, I probably don't know about you two. You don't know what you saw, but...people are still after this. You might be in trouble."

Lina waved her hand. "I doubt it."

"I don't think you know who you're dealing with."

Crossing her arms over her chest Lina said, "Likewise." She was ignorant to the echoes of numerous footsteps audible amongst the other buildings,

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Going up to Chester, she brushed his hair aside, spotting a lump on his forehead, before mumbling, "Oh hush. You'll be fine." Glancing down at the projectile, she lifted up the briefcase, turning it over in her hands. While the handle was in a normal place, the corners were both latched tightly. One was covered by a rubbery seal, but the other had clearly popped out. Poking at it, Lina mumbled, "Hmm..."

Another wooshing sound coming into audible range, Lina looked over just as a huge formed crashed into the ground, Lina hopping up in fright. The first thing that came to sight was a large dark purple coat with a ruffled trim over a black tank top and gray slacks. His boots left imprints in the ground where he landed, and he was tall: probably almost seven feet, his frame muscular. His hair was black and straight, going to his shoulders, and his skin was a pale brown. Brown eyes locked on the briefcase, he pointed a finger, requesting, "Hey...mind if I get that back?"

Lina handed it over wordlessly, and he nodded, glancing up to the bridge he'd dropped from. Looking over to Chester, he noted, "Oh, crap, did it hit you? My bad. I dropped it." Looking over the briefcase, he clicked his tongue, noting, "One of the seals is gone...should be fine." As if to test it, he brought his tough hands to either side, giving it a little pull.

The briefcase blew open, scattering a flurry of papers about. His mouth gaped open in horror as his eyes seemed to retreat into his skull, making him look gaunt as a faint groan escaped his lips, echoing into the day. His shaky hands reaching for the papers, a wind lightly blew, making him bellow, "H-help me pick them up! That case wasn't supposed to be opened!" A slightly stronger gust blew, a few papers moving over, making the man let out a squeal as he dropped down to collect them. Lina stooped down as well, eyes unable to help but go over the scribbles and notes, unable to make much of them. "Don't look at them!" The man whined.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Lina gasped, "Y-you're paying attention to your clothes? Maybe you should rest a little longer..."

---

Moving on, the two got some breakfast at a little eatery before going around town. When it came to the ship, they were pretty good on supplies: the only thing they really needed was the repairs. Not that they hadn't gotten most of the materials, but Chester simply hadn't gotten around to making them. To remedy this, they were able to hire a carpenter to work on the ship for the day. He didn't even need to be paid up front: Chester had become a local legend overnight for overcoming the infamous tag team of Isaac and Jeko single handedly. Lina promised they pay him later.

Sadly, Kesrizu wasn't exactly the most tourist friendly town. Aside from some admittedly nice parks, most of their entertainment in the form of plays or gambling needed money, and Chester and Lina were a bit dry when it came to on hand funds. Well, Chester was, and Lina was doing her best to keep a tight grip on her wallet...but those tantalizing window displays...

---

Hands on a fresh pale (yellow) sun hat that went with her blouse and white, form fitting shorts, Lina was starting to get a bit hungry. Her and Chester moving around the outskirts of the nice part of town, poking around for Isaac or Jeko, Lina lit up as she saw a food stall sitting under a tall bridge. Though it seemed disused, leading to the danker areas of town, that whiff of baked sweet potatoes was catching her notice. Buzzing over, she didn't pay Chester any mind, even as there was a slight ruckus from high up on the bridge.

One Piece: A Golden Age, A Dark Age - The Boozehound Chronicles

Returning to the shop, Lina didn't have to go far before she caught the tones of Chester's innards hitting the toilet. "Oh, good, he's up," Lina noted before heading through the backroom to Chester. Peeking in, she reached into a tote bag she was carrying, plopping down a small bottle. "Anti-toxin. Hopefully it'll help a little. If you can keep it down..."

Giving Chester a few minutes, Lina sat down by the door. After Chester seemed to have calmed down a bit, Lina said, "I figured we could take the day off today. I already let my workplace know, and most of the other things we've been doing have been odd jobs." Clenching her fist, she hissed, "And those guys still haven't paid us! You." Leaning back against the wall, she suggested, "This isn't a bad town. I figure we could look around for those two guys, maybe enjoy ourselves a bit."