thisavrou | 002, the afternoon of the 18th

[When Robin had first received her wanted poster in the mail, she had been mortified. When she started receiving messages about it from other people, that emotion changed into one of fear, suspicion and paranoia. The first thing she'd done in response was to head down into the prison planet, away from the Moira and the crew she no longer felt safe around.

It had been more than twenty four hours since then, though , and she's since come to terms with the fact that this isn't a permanent solution. She won't be able to stay on the prison planet forever, and even if she could she certainly didn't want to. Besides the obvious fact that it's a prison, things were starting to get strange down there.

It didn't take long to realize that this isn't the sort of problem she's going to be able to run from - not yet, at least. Even if she isn't ready to board the Moira again, she needs to get out ahead of this problem. ]

This is Nico Robin.

I know some of you got my posters in the mail. I was hoping to know, how many?

[ The first step of dealing with a problem is figuring out how much of one she's dealing with, after all. Maybe if it's just one or two people, she can bribe or threaten them into keeping their mouths shut. Maybe, if she's lucky, she can prevent her face from being associated with that name.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What's there to elaborate? You read the poster, didn't you?

[Watch as she carefully avoids the question.]

Sometimes there are missing details.

I don't understand what else you need to know. Are you asking how I did it?

So you did do it? Was it intentional?

Yes.

[Not really, but when backed into a corner she tends to lean on her reputation. At least, for now.]

And it was. They deserved it.

Why?

[ Natasha's no saint, but she knows that everyone has their reasons. Most people are the heroes of their own stories. ]

[Robin stops for a moment after receiving this question. Not because she's surprised by it, of course, but now she's in a situation where she has to decide how much of the truth she should tell.

Eventually, she decides on "mostly truth" and begins typing.]

Those people the posters say that I'm connected to, the ones called Devils of Ohara. The government called them terrorists and demons but that's not what they were. Ohara was an island of scholars, academics and historians. It was a place for some of the greatest minds in the four seas to go in order to study history.

Do they have a Void Century where you're from? It's hard to tell what the differences are between worlds.

[This doesn't actually answer the question of 'why' just yet, she knows. But stick with her, she's getting to that.]

I've never heard of it.

[ But she does know that one person's terrorist is another person's hero. Governments are quick to point fingers when it protects their interests. It's not always a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a truth that she's very familiar with. ]

[That's not that surprising, to be honest, but it was worth asking. ]

It's a hundred year period of history that's doesn't have any record of it. We have records from before the year 620, and after the year 720, but all records from within that period have been destroyed. We do know that the world government formed sometime within that period, though, because it didn't exist before 620, but it existed after the records pick up again.

[ It should be obvious enough that Robin doesn't consider this a coincidence. ]

Studying the Void Century is forbidden. It's an act of treason, and the penalty is death.

The scholars on my island didn't think that was right. The government says that the Void Century contains secrets that would endanger the world, but Professor Clover always said that history is something that belongs to everyone. It's wrong to hide our own history from us.

When the government found out that we were studying our true history, they sent warships to make an example out of our island.

[ Natasha can piece the rest together from here. The warships came, and Robin supposedly sank six of them.]

It sounds like whatever you were looking into was a real threat to them in some way.

[ Natasha is intimately familiar with this kind of song and dance and she doesn't have much of a taste for it. Selfish leaders will always look out for themselves and most leaders are at least somewhat selfish. ]

It's not uncommon for ruling bodies to lie to their citizens to keep order or control.

Yeah. We thought so too. The other scholars figured that they'd be executed if they were found out. Nobody expected them to go after the whole island like they did.

There were ten warships. [And, as Natasha might recall, Robin is only credited with sinking six.] I was the only one who got away in the end.

I'm sorry. That's a lot of weight to carry for anyone.

[ Natasha carries her own weight and she knows that few people carry the sort of weight that either of them carry, though at least Natasha's weight is framed by her own actions however devoid of true agency they were. ]

You were defending yourself.

I guess so.

[ That's one of the worst parts of it (besides, y'know, everything about this situation). She wasn't actually defending herself - because she didn't sink the ship's she's been blamed for.

The true credit for that goes to her best friend Saul, Giant who died defending her that day. Claiming innocence doesn't help her, though - she's still worth the same a until of money, whether she did it or not - so she's made a habit out of taking credit for Saul's actions. After all, if she's going to be hunted like she is, it's a lot better to be feared than it is to be viewed as an easy target.]

If I live long enough, I'm going to continue our research.

[ Which is another weight for her to bare - albeit one she actually wants. The prospect of learning the world's true history is the only thing that keeps her going, beyond basic day-to-day survival.

Of course, the key phrase her is if she lives long enough, which Robin knows all-to-well isn't a given. ]

Sometimes you can't leave work for other people to do. You just have to do it yourself.

[ That is to say that Natasha understands to a point. She's lived the unveiling of massive secrets, both personal and otherwise. They can be devastating, but that doesn't make them unnecessary. ]

You're not the only "criminal" here. I don't think most of us care.

I still wish you hadn't learned.

I didn't want to have to deal with this if someone from my world shows up.

Maybe no one will if they haven't by now.

Either way, I don't think that the people who know you here will abandon you.

002, the afternoon of the 18th

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