The sky cast orange hues across the room's windows. Light filtered through thin curtains, tracing soft lines on the floor. The sound of the sea broke the silence in near-regular intervals. Inside, Robin didn't move.
Seated on the edge of the bed, her arms rested on her folded legs, her chin propped on her fists. Her eyes fixed on a point beyond the glass. A folded map lay forgotten on the floor. Nearby, a closed book—*Dead Languages and Imperial Symbols*.
She didn't hear footsteps. But she felt the door open.
Alvida leaned against the frame, her body relaxed but her gaze sharp.
"Well, coward. Been a while."
Robin didn't turn her head.
"Not that long."
Her voice was low, dry, almost devoid of reaction.
Alvida nudged the door with her elbow. Her mace rested lightly against the wood.
"Sure."
She stepped into the room as if invited.
"That awful look on your face… what's it about?"
Robin didn't answer. Her gaze dropped to the floor.
"Everything's fine."
Alvida glanced at the books, the folded cloth draped over part of the chest.
"Oh, yeah. Everything's just peachy. You don't look like a cold, spineless traitor at all."
Robin didn't budge.
"You wanted me to be like you. I'm not."
Alvida stepped closer to the bed. Stopped less than a meter away.
"That's not it."
Robin lifted her eyes, meeting Alvida's for the first time.
"No?"
"It's him."
Alvida narrowed her eyes.
"You haven't gone to see Riser since we got back. Hiding? Or waiting for him to come to you?"
Robin's jaw tightened.
"I'm not waiting for anything."
Alvida spun her mace against the floor, eyes locked on her.
"Liar."
She smirked.
"You're waiting. Waiting for him to open that door and say he still cares. That he still wants you around. That you matter in this game."
Robin stayed silent.
The breeze stirred loose strands of her hair.
"You wouldn't be that confident… would you?"
Robin sighed.
"You talk like you understand."
Alvida tilted her chin up.
"I understand more than you think."
She turned to leave but paused at the door.
"You still have time to pick a side. But time doesn't wait for anyone here."
Robin didn't respond.
Alvida crossed the threshold and vanished into the corridor.
The room fell silent.
Robin remained seated, her shoulders slightly slumped, head tilted forward. The light from the window no longer touched the floor—it had darkened slowly, almost without warning. The sound of waves crashing against the rocks reclaimed the space.
She didn't like how Alvida spoke.
But she was right.
'I've already made my decision. I just haven't said it out loud.'
Her hand brushed the edge of the bed, where an open book had lingered on the same page for over an hour. The words no longer made sense. She'd read that line four times and still couldn't recall its meaning.
The problem wasn't what she had to do.
It was how he'd see her afterward.
Riser hadn't spoken to her since Marineford. Hadn't sought her out, hadn't sent anyone. Not a single word. Since the day he returned… he simply hadn't seen her.
Robin exhaled and lay back slowly, staring at the darkened ceiling. The beams crossed the wood in symmetrical lines. Her eyes traced them aimlessly. The scent of old wood was familiar but not comforting.
'Does he think I refused?'
'Is he disappointed?'
She closed her eyes for a moment. Her chest rose and fell steadily, but inside, a constant hum persisted—like a thought that never fully faded. Since that day in the sky, when he showed her the Poneglyph… everything changed.
She wanted to believe it was just a mission.
But it wasn't.
Riser had said he'd protect her. Not empty words. Real. Cold, direct, but real. And in that short time, he'd become someone important. Someone she wanted to follow. That was what frustrated Robin most.
She wanted to be stronger than this.
But she wasn't.
'I won't go to him now. Not today.'
'He has bigger things to deal with. He'll leave again. Move like a hurricane.'
She glanced to the side. Shadows now claimed the floor. The nearby candle's flame flickered, on the verge of dying out.
'But when he returns… I'll go to him.'
Her hand grazed the book, without strength.
'I want to stand by his side. Like the others.'
'Not because he asked. Because I chose to.'
She curled up slightly, pulling the sheet over her shoulders. Her body was still tense, but the decision no longer weighed as heavily.
Robin wasn't anyone's shadow.
But now she understood that being part of this world demanded more than words.
She didn't need to say anything now.
The silence was enough.
---
Alvida walked alone through the eastern corridor. Her steps were silent, but her pace was tense. The marble beneath her feet reflected the torches' light in smooth waves. The sound of the sea crashing against the reinforced structure of the Phoenix's Nest rose in rhythmic surges, but it didn't soothe her.
'That woman… always so cold. Always so sure.'
Robin's words still lingered. The lack of expression, the absence of emotion. She seemed superior even when broken.
'She has no right to act like that.'
Alvida gripped her mace tighter against her shoulder. Its weight was comforting. Familiar.
'I was the first. I accepted what he is from the start. I didn't question, didn't hesitate, didn't need time.'
She rounded the corridor and passed an open window. The night breeze carried the scent of salt and charcoal.
'She wants to hide in her room while we go to war. While I go to war.'
Her hands tightened around the mace's handle.
'I don't need approval. Or apologies. I don't need him to look at me the way he looks at her.'
Her chest swelled with a steady breath.
'But I'll make sure he never forgets who I am. Or what I'm capable of.'
The echo of her steps filled the corridor again. The torches flickered in time with the draft.
'Lucci… should've been mine. That strike was mine.'
She didn't stop walking.
'I accepted it. Swallowed it. But I didn't forget.'
The memory of the battle flashed through her mind. The moment Lucci's body fell, the final blow a joint effort. Not hers alone.
'Now there's a new enemy. The last heir of a defeated man. The last name tied to a dead era.'
Marco.
The name churned in Alvida's mind with a bitter taste.
'If he wants to protect something, fine. He'll die holding it.'
She kept moving. The corridor felt narrower now. The weight of the mission already pressed on her shoulders. But unlike the others… this was personal.
'I won't apologize for existing. Or for being the first. Or for not being Robin.'
Riser's face flickered in her mind. His words. His impassive gaze. His quiet confidence.
'I'm his weapon. And anyone who touches his name will bleed by my hands.'
The sound of the sea grew louder.
Alvida gripped her mace.
'No hesitation. No doubt. No mercy.'
She turned into the final corridor before the armory.
'And if anyone dares say Robin's more important than me…'
Her lips curved into a dry smile.
'…they'll have their face buried in concrete before they finish the sentence.'
She vanished around the next corner.
The corridor stood empty.
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