May 8, 1504, Age of the Sea Circle
Seated beside Toki on the deck of the ship after his morning training, Orion looked at the beautiful and mature woman from Wano, who was like an elegant flower growing on a cliffside, and he couldn't help but feel his heart beat a little faster.
She fit perfectly with his personal tastes, so it was only natural that after spending so much time by her side, Orion had begun to fall more and more in love with her. Even so, the relationship between them remained at a very innocent stage, as Toki was a rather modest woman who placed great importance on doing things in the proper order.
It could be said that the fact she had implicitly accepted Orion holding her hand or occasionally embracing her was the limit of what she could currently tolerate in terms of romantic development between them, and an undeniable sign that she was thinking of him in that way.
Especially after the long journey from the South Blue to the North Blue, during which she had to listen every night to Orion's romantic escapades with his companions, she had begun to develop an interest in him as a member of the opposite sex, one that had grown with each passing day they spent together.
Toki noticed Orion's intense gaze at her side and shifted slightly where she sat to hide her embarrassment, taking a sip of tea at the same time to calm her heart. And in that very moment, when she made that small movement, the scar on her leg became completely visible to Orion, who was once again reminded that he still hadn't spoken to her about it.
Before meeting T Bone, Orion had been thinking of offering Toki the use of his Room powers to erase the large scar on her leg, but he had forgotten about it, and it was only now, upon seeing it again, that he remembered.
Extending his hand, Orion placed his palm on Toki's soft and plump thigh, feeling the wonderful touch of her pale skin as he looked into her eyes and said,
"Toki, I've been thinking that this scar breaks the harmony of your beauty a little. If you want, I can remove it for you with my Room. It would only take an hour."
Toki felt the warmth of Orion's hand on her leg, and her body trembled slightly, as this was the boldest move Orion had made so far, and the greatest level of intimacy they had reached.
After all, there was a great difference between holding hands and being touched directly on her bare leg… so close to her most private area.
Even so, she did not feel the urge to reject Orion's advance, and simply enjoyed the sensation of his warm hand against her skin without making any further movement.
However, when Orion mentioned his idea of removing the scar on her leg, Toki grew thoughtful for a moment, then placed her hand over his, shifting slightly and freeing herself from his grasp, in a clear gesture that indicated she was putting distance between them.
"I appreciate your good intentions, Orion, but I don't want to erase this scar. I don't know why, but I feel like it's important," Toki said with a distant gaze, as if she were trying to recover the memories of her past that she had been unable to recall since awakening from her coma.
Orion observed Toki carefully, who now looked more beautiful than ever, yet also very distant, as if she might disappear the next instant without him being able to do anything about it, and a sense of melancholy washed over him.
He did not consider himself a genius, not by any means, but it wasn't hard to deduce that the scar itself wasn't what mattered to Toki, but rather what it represented: her past.
She had been longing to recover her memories, because otherwise she felt incomplete, and the large scar on her leg was a perfect reminder that she had lived a life before her coma, and that perhaps one day she would uncover the contents of that life, and the reason behind that scar.
For a few moments, both of them remained in silence, with only the sound of the sea echoing in their ears. Toki still had that distant gaze and a calm expression, while Orion looked at her with a hint of sadness and pity.
He had tried not to tell her what little he knew about her past, because it was tragic news about her family, and he did not want to make her suffer unnecessarily over things she could not change. However, seeing her like this, Orion understood that it would be best for her to know everything that had happened, so that she could grieve, even if she couldn't fully understand her own feelings due to the lack of memories.
Letting out a soft sigh, Orion closed his eyes and organized his thoughts, then finally looked at Toki solemnly and began to speak.
"Toki, actually… I have some information about your past…"
Over the next few minutes, Orion told Toki everything he knew about her, though most of the information he had received indirectly from his teacher Roger, or from some people of Wano during his stay in that country.
He told her about her husband Oden, who had sailed alongside Roger and Whitebeard as a pirate, and also about the two children she had with him, Momonosuke and Hiyori.
Toki's eyes lit up the moment she heard about the family she had no memories of, and although she still couldn't even visualize what their faces looked like, she could feel within herself an unbreakable connection to her children.
Orion's account entered the final stretch of the tragic story of the royal family of Wano, reaching the moment of Kaido's invasion and Orochi's usurpation of power.
As soon as Toki heard that Oden had been executed in such a cruel and unjust manner, tears began to fall from her eyes involuntarily, as she wondered how she could have forgotten something like that.
Finally, Orion told her about the disappearance of her two children, subtly implying that they had likely suffered the same fate as their father Oden, since according to the limited information he had been able to gather in Wano, they had been caught in the pirate's attack and then vanished without a trace.
This was the main reason Orion had been hesitating over whether or not to tell Toki about her past, because the death of her children was a tragedy for any mother, even for Toki, who currently had no memories of her little ones.
And just as Orion had feared, the moment she heard his words mentioning the deaths of Momonosuke and Hiyori, she reacted far more strongly than she had when she learned about Oden's death.
The death of the husband she could not remember had caused her sadness and indignation, but the deaths of her two small children were something entirely different, and crying inconsolably, she clutched her head, overwhelmed by a searing pain that threatened to make her lose her sanity.
Even though she had no memories of her children, her feelings for them were still there, within her, and upon hearing that they were dead, she felt as though a dagger had been driven into her heart.
"Toki, calm down, it's not completely certain that they're dead yet," Orion said, holding her by the shoulders as he tried to soothe her.
However, Toki had fallen into a nervous breakdown, screaming like a wounded beast while clutching her head and crying uncontrollably.
Orion was worried that she might suffer a mental collapse if this continued, so he began thinking of how to calm her down, even going so far as to consider knocking her unconscious to cut short the psychotic episode she was experiencing.
However, before he could do anything, Toki's body began to glow with a strange light, and her figure seemed to fade from the spot for a brief moment, only to return to normal immediately afterward.
This process repeated several times over the span of a few seconds, and Orion immediately activated his Prism Eyes, trying to understand what was happening to her.
The moment his eyes turned multicolored, he was able to perceive the cause behind the strange phenomenon affecting Toki: the temporal attribute energy of the Toki Toki no Mi.
After Orion had used the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi to absorb the temporal attribute energy within Toki's body—more than a year ago—she had been left unable to use the powers of her Toki Toki no Mi, and Orion had conjectured that she might no longer be able to use them at all.
This was because Toki had overexerted herself when she sent Momonosuke and his companions twenty years into the future, which had caused the temporal attribute energy that formed the basis of her Toki Toki no Mi to spiral out of control, rapidly destroying her body.
If Orion had not been present at the time to stabilize her condition with the help of the system, Toki would have perished that night during Kaido's attack on the Kozuki castle, even if she had not suffered a fatal blow, because her very life was being consumed by her Devil Fruit.
With the system's assistance, Orion had managed to stabilize Toki, but in the process a side effect had occurred: Toki had completely fused with her Devil Fruit.
According to what Orion had been able to research so far about Devil Fruits, they were composed of two main parts: the spirit of the fruit, and the energy that made it up. These two forces worked together, but they were not a single entity.
When Orion absorbed a Devil Fruit compatible with the system—one of spatial or temporal attribute—he consumed only the energy of the fruit in question, while the spirit remained intact, and it was for this reason that he theorized that the Devil Fruits he had consumed would eventually reappear in the world once their energy was restored, since the spirit of those fruits still existed.
On the other hand, Toki's situation was completely different. The spirit of her Devil Fruit had disappeared, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it had fused with her body, meaning that, in theory, she had become one with her Devil Fruit.
This meant that the Toki Toki no Mi would likely not return to the world once Toki died, although she was currently in a rather peculiar state in which she did not age, so technically it could be said that she was immortal—though she could still die if she suffered a fatal injury.
In any case, the issue was that no temporal attribute energy had remained within Toki's body after Orion had absorbed it using the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi, which was why she had been unable to use her special abilities over the past year.
Orion had believed that she was now in a state where she could no longer use the powers of the Toki Toki no Mi, but upon observing her current condition, he realized that his previous judgment had been wrong.
Although the temporal attribute energy within Toki's body was not very abundant, it was clear that it was new energy that had been produced over the past year, which meant that she had been quietly recovering the use of her powers.
Now, due to the severe mental crisis she was experiencing, the energy within her body had begun to stir, and since the spirit of the Devil Fruit was no longer present to stabilize it, she was in a very dangerous situation.
It was highly likely that she would lose control of her powers, which could produce effects that Orion could not foresee, but which would most likely not be positive.
For that reason, Orion decided to knock her unconscious immediately to prevent her powers from spiraling completely out of control, but before he could do so, Toki's body became completely transparent and she vanished without leaving a trace.
Orion's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm, knowing this was not the time to lose his composure. In the place where Toki had previously been, he could see a strange shadow, similar to one of his Space Doors, which he could perceive only thanks to his Prism Eyes.
Instinctively, Orion extended his hand and concentrated within his palm the attributes of space and time that existed within him, contained by the structure of the system.
In an instant, he felt as though a door had opened before him, and without thinking too much about it, he leaned half of his body through the mysterious doorway, entering a different dimension, one similar to the interior of his Space Gate, yet distinct.
There, he was able to see Toki, who was "floating" unconscious within a torrent of temporal energy, slowly drifting away from the doorway where Orion was peering in.
He instinctively knew that if he did not catch Toki at that very moment, he would never see her again, so planting his feet firmly on the ship's deck, he stretched as far as he could and grabbed the unconscious Toki into his arms, pulling her back into their world.
Just as Orion was beginning to feel relieved for having managed to catch Toki and prevent her from disappearing forever into another dimension, a sharp cry reached his ears.
"Mom!!"
Orion turned in the direction from which the sound had come and saw that, in the distance, a group of people was "falling" through the temporal tunnel, and among them was a small boy with a rather distinctive hairstyle and traditional Wano clothing.
"Lord Momonosuke, do not move, it is dangerous," said another of the individuals, trying to stop the boy from separating from the rest of the group—which was traveling through the temporal tunnel while holding onto each other in a circle.
However, it was already too late, as Momonosuke had lost his composure upon seeing his mother appear so suddenly, and using all his strength, he had leapt away from the group.
Unfortunately for the young samurai, it was impossible for him to reach her, because although they appeared close, they were separated by an immense distance within the river of time through which they were traveling.
Orion wanted to stop his movement of exiting the temporal tunnel when he saw Momonosuke and the others, but it was impossible to halt his momentum, and even if he had been able to do so, he would have died before managing to come into contact with the group traveling toward the future, as the strain of bearing two dimensions with different laws upon his body was something he could not endure for more than a brief instant.
Orion emerged from the temporal tunnel, and the doorway slowly closed behind him. The last thing he saw before it shut completely was the group of time travelers falling into panic, as the boy's jump had disrupted their "descent."
A kind of explosion occurred at the center of the group, and all of them were flung in different directions, unable to control their movements.
The doorway closed completely, and Orion could no longer see the fate of the group within the temporal tunnel, though it was clear that something unplanned had occurred, affecting their journey. Once again, his presence had altered the course of this world's history, although he did not yet know what the consequences of his actions would be this time.
"Pant… pant…" Orion gasped heavily, struggling to remain conscious as he felt his internal organs twisting and tearing.
He had only kept part of his body inside the temporal tunnel for a couple of seconds, yet such a feat had nearly cost him his life, and he had suffered severe internal damage.
Blood began to spill from his mouth, but even so, Orion showed a relieved smile, as Toki lay safe and sound in his arms, sleeping peacefully just as he had seen her for years when she entered the peculiar state he called "out of time."
"Good thing I managed to catch you…" Orion said with difficulty, holding Toki's body tightly, as she resembled a sleeping beauty.
"Master! Are you alright?!" Law said, having noticed the disturbance on the other side of the ship and rushing over to see what had happened.
"Law… don't worry… I'm fine," Orion replied with difficulty, forcing a smile despite the blood filling his mouth.
Law obviously couldn't believe Orion's words, as he was bleeding heavily, not only from his mouth but also from his eyes and ears, creating a rather shocking scene.
Even so, Orion knew his limits and understood that he was no longer in danger. After all, his body was far stronger than that of an ordinary person.
With the help of his apprentice Law, Orion treated his injuries quickly, although he would need some time to recover before returning to peak condition.
As for Toki, she did not wake up that day, and she wouldn't for some time.
…
Meanwhile, roughly two weeks away by ship from Orion's current location, the Red-Haired Pirates were arriving at Doflamingo's base in search of clues about the Devil Fruit they had been looking for for quite some time: the Gomu Gomu no Mi.
A conflict between two Celestial Dragons who were also pirates was about to unfold in the waters of the North Blue, and one of the sides was clearly at a disadvantage in such a confrontation.
On the other hand, Blackbeard's crew had arrived at the island where Moria and Doc Q had previously clashed, as their objective in the North Blue was to recruit the young doctor who possessed one of the most dangerous Devil Fruits for humanity.
Unfortunately for them, their encounter with Shanks and his crew had caused them to miss the opportunity to reach the island in time, and now Doc Q was already far from that place.
The search for the sinister child in the North Blue by Blackbeard would have to continue for a while longer, which would lead to new complications in Orion's future.