Rayleigh's face beamed like the sunshine above. Seeing him like this made Shakky chuckle while closing her eyes towards Miyagi and Nero. She said, "Nobody could deny Rayleigh's words.. Those are words of wisdom coming from a legendary man. Well, he is after all the Da-."
"Uhm Dear, apparently I want some black tea. Hahaha.", Shakky's words were interrupted by the old man as he was about to bid farewell to the two visitors. "Anyway young man, a deal is a deal. You two may go shopping while I attend to your ship at the end of this grove. Be back in 3 days and you are free to sail the New World. In there, you will find a different set of adventures. Some stories worth writing for."
The 3 individuals inside the back would gaze upon the 2 young hearts as they exited the place. And thereafter, a cups of tea would be poured on the table as Rayleigh looked back at the time when he and the man on the picture he gave to Nero met some weeks ago.
Short Flashback
It was a fine morning when a man in his early 30's was walking around the archipelago in search of his friend. He paused for a while as he was a little bit thirsty and he really wanted to light a cigarette. "Huff. This place is quite vast. How could I ever find him in this place in three days?", he uttered as he sat on a massive root underneath a huge tree. He lit a cigarette and drank a bottle of vodka as he thought of something. "Surely, fighting against a tough man back in Roger's era is quite fantastic but lest, I shall give my all in order to put him down. He should not be able to create further havoc or I am not be able to face my friend at some point."
The man in the silhouette rose to his full length and walked for about an hour until he reach a certain place where people didn't gather often. As he closed in, he spotted a man drinking a bottle of an unknown wine. He was wearing a fitted black sleeveless shirt and cheetah-like skinny jeans. His hair was worn in ponytails. And it seemed that somewaht, that man felt his presence and turned around only to have his glasses reflected the sunlight above him.
The traveler eyes began to widen and almost made his pupils vanished in awe. His cigarette fell down to the soil as he tried open his mouth.
Rayleigh?! It couldn't be!, he wondered by himself.
"Well. Well. Looks like an old friend began to hold such trust issues after he was regarded as a crowned prince. Or should I say, a now pirate?". He continue to advance to get closer to the other man and he reached in, he added, "How can someone who has all the riches travel in this place walking without any of his servants? What made you decide to be a pirate? Tell me, Prince Landayan?"
The prince smiled and offered his arms widely to welcome an old friend. "Master, it's been ages but look how tougher you'd become. Aging but getting older? How to be you, reallly?". He scoffed and looked up, "To answer your question, I am currently in a quest. A quest to find an old heritage. You remember my old swordsman friend right? Well, apparently he should be raising a child but none of it will be tangible at this rate. Before his son went wild, I must see him and show him the way."
Gambit once again drew a cigarette and lit it up, "Apparently, meeting you here out of nowhere is such a cliche', isn't it? Pretty convenient if you may ask me. But since we've come to this. I can sense that you would be able to meet him someday or nearer, so I have a favor to ask you. Give him this and everything else shall be set up by you. Hahaha, you're are too experienced to deliver such motivational talk. I will do the rest when the time comes. And ofcourse, should he request for a ship coating, give this one to your apprentice as an advanced payment. I shall go now. I will still need to locate another friend of mine."
Rayleigh, looked at the object Gambit gave to him and saw a picture of two teenagers but from a decade and a half ago. It was Gambit and another man who was slightly older than him. He flipped the picture to see its back and read the message encrypted on it. It says, "Blue petals or Red petals? I choose Red. Choose Blue and learn what's true. Red and be dead. Find me. Find yourself."
@Oreki