Chapter Text
The sky above Mary Geoise split apart like shattered glass.
Black lightning and white flame twisted together across the heavens as two impossible forces collided somewhere beyond the clouds. One pulse carried the crushing, ancient malice of Imu. The other burned wild and laughing — the ridiculous freedom of Luffy’s Gear 5.
Every clash of Haki tore reality itself open.
Dimensional rifts screamed into existence across the Holy Land.
The Celestial Dragons panicked. Guards stumbled. Stone cracked beneath waves of Conqueror’s Haki so monstrous that even veterans could barely stay conscious.
And in the middle of it all, two brothers crossed blades.
XXX
“Move, Shamrock.”
Shanks stood with Gryphon drawn, red hair whipping violently in the storm of Haki. Blood already stained his sleeve from earlier wounds, but his eyes remained steady.
In front of him, Shamrock held his sword with trembling hands.
Not from fear.
From rage.
“You abandoned me,” Shamrock spat. “You abandoned ALL of us!”
Another pulse shook the heavens. A rift split open behind the towers of Mary Geoise, revealing impossible stars beyond reality before snapping shut again.
Shanks said nothing. That silence only made Shamrock angrier.
“I stayed,” Shamrock snarled. “I endured this hell while you sailed free!”
He lunged.
Steel collided.
The impact exploded outward in black lightning.
The ground beneath them shattered instantly.
Shanks blocked the strike cleanly, but Shamrock attacked again and again, fury pouring through every movement. He fought like someone trying to kill the world itself.
“You don’t get to pity me!”
CLANG!
“You don’t get to save me NOW!”
CLANG!
“You’re too late!”
Shanks’ expression tightened.
Then he noticed it.
The black seal wrapped around Shamrock’s left arm — the mark Imu had burned into him years ago. It pulsed unnaturally with each wave of Haki from the sky, spreading dark veins across Shamrock’s body.
Controlling him.
Consuming him.
Another monstrous burst erupted overhead as Gear 5 Luffy’s laughter echoed faintly through the heavens.
The seal reacted violently. Shamrock screamed. Dark tendrils warped his arm, twisting around his body like chains.
“Shamrock!” Shanks cried, eyes widened in fear.
Shamrock dropped to one knee, clutching his arm.
“It hurts—!”
The seal spread further. The voice of Imu seemed to whisper through the storm itself.
Obey.
Shanks knew what to do, he made his choice instantly. His sword moved in a blur. A single clean slash. Shamrock’s scream tore through Mary Geoise.
His left arm hit the ground. The severed seal immediately erupted into black fire. For one horrible second Shamrock simply stared at the empty space where his arm used to be. Then the darkness vanished from his body. The chains were gone.
He collapsed, gasping.
Shanks caught him before he hit the ground.
“You…” Shamrock breathed weakly. “What did you… do…?”
Shanks gave a small, sad smile.
“I just cut your chains.”
Behind them, another dimensional rift opened.
Huge.
Unstable.
Wind howled from inside it, carrying scents and air from another world entirely.
Green fields. Cold mountains. Rain. Freedom.
Shanks looked at the rift and then at his brother. If he really wanted to free Shamrock from Mary Geoise, Shamrock needed to go to a place where the world government had not yet become corrupt, a place beyond that world.
“You can still live.” Shanks says, serious.
Shamrock’s eyes widened in confusion; what?.
“You were never meant for this place,” Shanks said quietly.
For the first time Shamrock saw no pirate emperor. Only his brother., his baby brother.
“Shanks, what are you saying?” Shamrock asks, confused, fearful in his voice.
The floor shook again.
This time, footsteps approached behind them.
Heavy.
Authoritative.
Terrifying.
Figarland Garling- one of the five elders and the supreme commander of God’s knights.
Shanks immediately turned. His expression hardened. Shamrock looked up just in time to see Garling emerging through the smoke, sword already drawn.
“Traitor, you’re no son of mine,” Garling said coldly.
Shanks stepped in front of Shamrock.
“Go,” he said quietly.
Shamrock grabbed his coat desperately. “Shanks—!”
“Listen to me.” The red-haired pirate looked back one last time.
And smiled.
Not the smile of an emperor.
The smile of a younger brother who loved his older sibling.
“Be happy.”
The dimensional rift roared louder.
“Be free.”
Shanks shoved him backward.
Shamrock fell into the light.
“SHANKS!!”
The last thing he saw…
…was Garling’s blade piercing straight through Shanks’ chest.
Blood scattered across the white stone of Mary Geoise.
Shanks remained standing anyway.
Still smiling.
Then the rift closed.
And the world vanished.
XXX
Cold.
That was the first thing Shamrock felt.
Cold air.
Wet cloth on his forehead. The scent of herbs and rain. His body ached everywhere.
Slowly, painfully, he opened his eyes.
A wooden ceiling. Soft lantern light.
That place was not Mary Geoise. Where was he? And why was he still….
“…Alive…?”
“You are.” A woman’s voice said, gently.
Shamrock turned weakly.
He saw a young woman, in the middle of her twenties, with a blue kimono, red red scarf , long dark hair tied in a pony tail, sat beside him, exhaustion visible on her face. Her travel clothes were worn from years in the wilds.
Curled beside her was a strange brown fox creature, watching him cautiously.
Shamrock tried to sit up immediately—
—and nearly blacked out from pain.
the woman pushed him back down gently.
“Don’t,” she said firmly. “You lost too much blood.”
Only then did Shamrock look down. His left arm was gone.
Bandaged carefully at the shoulder. Memory crashed back instantly.
Shanks.
Garling.
The rift.
His breathing became uneven.
She noticed his fears immediately. Fears of someone who went through some traumatic event.
“ Don’t push yourself too hard. You’re not that place anymore. You’re safe here.” she said softly.
Safe.
The word felt unreal.
Shamrock covered his eyes with his remaining hand.
For several seconds, neither the woman nor the fox spoke.
Then, quietly—
“Where am I?”
“You’re in Jubilife Village, Hisui. I found you near the village when I was returning from an expedition. You were badly wounded and near death. My Wyrdeer healed most of your injuries. You were unconscious for almost a week.
Hisue? Jubilife? Shamrock never heard about these places. And what’s a Wyrdeer? He was unconscious for almost one week? What happened to Imu? To Garling? to Mary Geoise? And most importantly, what happened to Shanks?
“Where 's he?” Shamrock asks.
the woman blinked. “Who?”
Shamrock stared silently at the ceiling.
Tears slipped down the corners of his eyes before he could stop them, already knowing the answer.
“My brother.” he said,
I'm sorry,” the woman said, “I just found you alone near the village.”
So, was he really alone? Images of Shanks being stabbed by their father returned to his mind. Shanks was gone, really gone. Once again he was alone.
“Cry.” the woman said, “You don’t need to be afraid to hide your feelings. You’re safe here. My name is Akari- a member of Team Galaxy Survey corps. I will help in any way I can.”
And Shamrock cried in front of a woman that he didn’t know. He didn’t care. Shamrock lost everything; his status, his home, and his brother. Without them, what was he?
To be continued