A little girl who looked about four or five was dragging an enormous black flag through the palace, shouting at the top of her lungs. On the flag was a huge white skull surrounded by nine little snakes.
"Hehe, how pretty. Nine little snakes-is that supposed to mean Kuja, little Hancock?"
Gloriosa looked at the adorable girl below the throne, her eyes narrowing affectionately as she spoke. Time had lent the once lively, beautiful young woman a touch of composure and a few wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, but none of that diminished her true beauty.
"Yes, it's lovely, Hancock. Where are your sisters?"
The voice belonged to Aishi. Time had left its marks on this battle-worn warrior's face as well, but the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes did nothing to hide her heroic bearing.
The little girl suddenly seemed to remember something and clapped a small hand over her mouth.
"Oh no! I left them at Granny Janna's!"
The girl dropped the black flag and ran out of the hall.
Gloriosa and Aishi laughed happily.
"Hahaha, that scatterbrained little girl."
Gloriosa descended from the throne. She had become a capable empress, every movement filled with regal dignity. Even the short walk down from her throne carried a distinction all her own.
She bent down to pick up the flag Hancock had dropped, spread it out, and examined it carefully. A smile blossomed on her face as she turned back and said,
"It's been fifteen years..."
"Yes, fifteen years have already passed."
Just then, someone entered the palace with light footsteps. It was Barn, fifteen years later.
Barn now wore his white hair down to his shoulders, with two black ribbons crossed over his eyes. He wore a black-and-white short-sleeved shirt and a necklace with a long tooth hanging from it-the Snake God's Fang, made from a tooth of the Snake God he had slain fifteen years ago. His left arm remained a hideous demonic hand, but his bearing had changed considerably, gaining a steadiness and the imposing presence of a powerful fighter.
Thanks to the Life Fruit, Barn's appearance had not changed at all in those fifteen years. He remained frozen at nineteen. Fitz had grown a little more and was now standing ramrod straight on Barn's head, like a proper sentry.
"I'm so jealous of you. You haven't changed a bit."
Gloriosa put away the pirate flag and looked at Barn, her face full of envy and resentment.
Aishi also smiled at Barn and said,
"Yes, we've both grown old."
Barn merely gave a wry smile at Gloriosa and Aishi's teasing, then walked farther into the palace with Fitz and sat beside Aishi.
Gloriosa returned to her throne and asked Barn without warning,
"Will you ever come back?"
Aishi turned to look at Barn, apparently wanting to hear his answer too.
Barn thought for a long time, then let out a long breath and said,
"Perhaps not..."
Perhaps disappointed by his answer, Gloriosa gave a quiet hum of acknowledgment.
Aishi turned her head away as well.
"I'm going to live a life without regrets! I'll sail this sea and find my own way through it! I'll live the freest life of all!"
Barn continued.
"All right. Men really are strange creatures. Stay for one last drink, Sir Barn."
Gloriosa let out a long breath as she spoke.
Barn turned his head to "look" at Gloriosa and agreed with a smile.
Aishi sighed too, then stood and left the palace.
Today was the Snake God Festival, fifteen years later...
All of Amazon Lily celebrated through the night, but the following day would bring their parting. Today was the day the Kuja Pirates set sail for the first time, and the day Barn would leave Amazon Lily.
Barn had trained for fifteen years on the Island Turtle south of Amazon Lily. Now the Island Turtle was leaving with the little Island Turtle, and Barn had boarded the Kuja Pirates' ship.
Over those fifteen years, Barn had lost count of how many Sea Kings he had hunted. Including the Snake God he had slain fifteen years ago, he had reached level 50 and hit the bottleneck before Awakening. That was one reason he had chosen to set sail now.
Barn had spent most of the SP he earned from leveling up on the passive skill Mind's Eye. Now that he had maxed it out, he could pinpoint the positions of people and animals. Through Mind's Eye, every living creature appeared as a red figure, with only its outline visible and no discernible face, somewhat like the infrared imaging devices of later times.
Thanks to fifteen years of effort spent maxing out Mind's Eye, Barn no longer relied on Fitz as heavily in battle, though he still could not detect inanimate objects. He only needed to trouble Fitz for help in daily life or when fighting on unusual terrain.
Over those fifteen years, Aishi's hellish training had finally brought Barn's mastery of Armament Haki and Observation Haki to perfection. Armament Haki now appeared in his passive skill list, but Observation Haki did not.
While learning skills, Barn had found this line in the description of Mind's Eye: "Danger Sense, an evolved form of Observation Haki."
It turned out that in this world, Mind's Eye was considered an evolved form of Observation Haki. Barn boldly guessed that Pirate King Roger's future ability, the Voice of All Things, was similar to his Mind's Eye-an extension of Observation Haki.
Having reached level 50, Barn had naturally also learned Asura's signature skill, Immovable Wisdom King Formation.
With this powerful grappling skill, Barn was confident he could put up a fight even against Whitebeard as he was now.
"So it's finally time to say goodbye."
Barn waved to the people on shore. Though he could not see them, he could feel his friends' reluctance to let him go.
On the Island Turtle, three enormous beasts lay on the ground, sobbing their hearts out. They were Fitz's three most loyal followers from back then: Little Lion, Little Crocodile, and Little Gorilla. By now, "little" no longer suited them at all. They had grown into massive beasts just like their fathers.
Standing on Barn's head, Fitz waved a wing at them with grand bravado.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp! (Don't cry! Your boss is about to step onto a bigger stage. You should be happy for me!)"
Hearing Fitz make that bold declaration atop his head, Barn could not help smiling wryly.
But he did not see the tear that slipped from Fitz's eyes.
And so, amid the pleas to stay and the blessings of Amazon Lily's people, the Kuja Pirates set sail, and Barn left the place he had called home for fifteen years. Fitz covered his eyes with his wings, while the sobs of the three enormous beasts on the Island Turtle still carried across the water...
The Kuja Pirates owed their smooth departure through the Calm Belt to Barn.
After slaying the Snake God, Barn had discovered two enormous snake eggs in its nest. The people of Amazon Lily had hatched them, and they had grown into the Sea Serpents now pulling the Kuja Pirate Ship.
The two Sea Serpents pulled the ship no slower than a sailing ship traveled with the wind. Before long, Amazon Lily vanished from everyone's sight, and the Island Turtle was left far behind.
Barn suddenly climbed down from the railing and stood at the bow. Spreading his arms, he took a deep breath of sea air and laughed as he recited a line of poetry.
"O sea! You're all water!"
Everyone nearly fell over...