One Piece: I’m Mihawk’s Son

What a magnificent streak of lightning. All I can do is stare in awe... a white streak of lightning that would last forever, like his own signature engraved forever in the skies. There is so much power behind it.

My son is very special. When I first started training him, I thought he'd reach great heights as a swordsman. As I lived with him, I realized that it is not that he's good with the sword. His swordsmanship is polished, but definitely not at the top of this world.

He just excels at everything he does, and swordsmanship happens to be one of those things.

At three years of age, he began wielding the sword. At five years of age... he could already fight me. At ten years of age... he defeated me. At fifteen years old, he has defeated the strongest creature in this world.

I was tapping onto the air, watching the white pillar from the distance with a slight sense of apprehension welling in. Even for a genius, this is... I just hoped my worries were unfounded.

WHOOOSH!

A subtle presence flashed next to me. But there was no 'subtleness' about it; in fact, this person was carrying on himself two bodies, one small and one of disproportionate size. Nevertheless, he was carrying them as if they were weightless.

"Garling..."

My first instinct was to wield Yoru. I chased and heavily injured one of the knights, Dumas de Montecristo. I'm also involved with a group that I 'believed' had killed another one of the knights, Donquixote Cervantes. But it seems that is not what happened.

"This time around your people really did things easier for me."

The man smirked, albeit slightly. On his shoulder, he was carrying a bleeding person, no... a corpse. It was precisely Cervantes.

"You killed him?" I questioned him threateningly, not understanding his intentions. Just now, Cervantes had been left inside Robin's darkness dome while using the night itself as her fuel; it was almost impossible for him to escape. But at the same time, that dome of darkness would have shattered like glass in front of Veyron's might.

"I had to... I'm afraid your son wouldn't even have left a corpse. Just like Kaido."

The second body Garling was carrying was precisely Kaido's, if it could still be recognized as that, as what I saw resembled more a chunk of burnt flesh... this is what remained of the strongest creature after taking on this attack that would have destroyed the entirety of Wano if there hadn't been a forcefield to stop it.

I turned to him, now with even more concern.

"He wants the corpses of those two? He went as far as to finish Cervantes on his own just to guarantee this..."

"What in the world are you planning, Garling...? What is 'he' planning!? Does it have anything to do with why Dumas doesn't act like he usually did?"

He sighed and brushed my sword aside with his bare hand.

"I'll have to thank Nico Robin for creating that dome of darkness… this fellow would have taken a lot longer to take down without it." He ignored me, but I insisted. "What do you plan, Garling…?"

The way I see it, he, the commander of the Knights of God, just slaughtered one of the members of the order, for no apparent reason. This was a huge crime.

"Orders from above. These will be given to Vegapunk to 'experiment'. Where is Dumas, dead?" He looked around and found nothing, it disgusted me... it almost felt like he was looking forward to finding Dumas' corpse.

Orders from above? There was only one person above... Vegapunk's experiments? Veyron isn't precisely the old man's best friend, but they get along. He never mentioned anything about experimenting with dead bodies... but then again, Vegapunk is like the dog of the government. As long as he's ordered, he will do so.

It wouldn't be far-fetched to think he's involved in some sort of secret project related to this... as experimentation with living beings is already a thing. The question would be whether Vegapunk's moral compass allows him to perform this task.

Veyron definitely wouldn't... but Veyron is not Vegapunk.

"Dumas fled; I managed to injure him, but you should know… if he really wants to leave, nobody can stop him. But he looked a bit different from what I remember; he's no longer the same man I met when I was a child..." I emphasized.

"I imagine…" Garling drifted, "Congratulations on raising this monster… with power like this, even we have to think twice before attacking him."

"..."

"But that doesn't mean we will stop. With each astronomical event he pulls one after the other, the danger he radiates only increases. Soon you will start being questioned as well, Mihawk."

"You don't need to worry about that. I will stop being a knight, Garling… I'm out."

I declared, unbudging... being a member of the Knights of God came with many benefits. I could get Veyron anything he needed, things that even Stussy couldn't get him in the underworld. Some of the main components he used to create this bomb of his were attained by me.

Vegapunk is also an individual under the direct orders of the Five Elders. Not even the CP0 has influence over Vegapunk. Scientists tend to be very prideful with their creations, and Vegapunk's isolated chamber is one of the things he's most proud of. I had to step in for him to lend it to Veyron to test his air combustion engine.

Being the 2nd Knight definitely has its uses, but I need that no longer.

"Once a knight. You can never be out," he declared grimly.

"You have nothing to keep me in."

The knights usually stay as knights because it represents an increase in status for their families within Marie Geoise, and leaving the order translates into a decrease in status or outright extermination in the oddest of cases. My Dracule Family only has two members left, and neither of us lives in Marie Geoise. Moreover, Veyron is my adoptive son... he's not a Celestial Dragon or a Dracule by birth. If he was, they'd have tried to get him into their ranks at all costs.

"Have you forgotten your little friend Isabel?" He mentioned, almost mockingly... I resisted the urge to laugh and sheathed my sword back. Since he was uttering jokes now, clearly this wasn't going to deform into a fight.

The 9th Knight Isabel Esquivel... or as I used to call her 'aunty'. A deep friend of my father Dracule Maximus who looked after me back when I lived in God Valley.

"… we hung out a few times when I was a kid. She may have been important to my father, but she's hardly my friend. Don't mistake things, Garling… I'm not on your side. I'm on my son's side."

As long as he's safe, I don't care about anything else, and if I were to remain as a knight of God, it may turn into a liability for him in the future. We may have

 to fight each other to the death for our ideals.

Before that ever happens... I'd rather discard my ideals than turn my back on the man I love. Even if my father were to be disappointed by my choice, I know this is the right choice.

"A pity… the two of us could have benefited greatly from this alliance. Does this mean you discard your status as a Celestial Dragon?"

"Yes."

"Are you aware this means your Dracule Family won't ever be part of Marie Geoise again? As the matriarch, is this your choice?"

"Yes. You aim to rule the world. I don't… now that the world government stands against my son in every form… I'll back him up in every form as well. Next time we see each other, we will be enemies, Garling. Thanks for everything."

With mere words, I discarded the status my lineage had kept for almost a millennium as founding members of the world government.

As of now, I'm just Hawkeye, Dracule Mihawk. A Warlord and the strongest swordswoman alive. Also, a woman who happens to be married and madly in love with her adoptive son...

But those are only details no one cares about. I have a home to go back to, and it is not Marie Geoise.

***

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