Chapter Text
A clear morning sky greeted her that morning and yet the sea was relentless and raging as always, its waves heavily crashing into the walls of the cliff near her home for the past week, a small stone house nestled in a forest island.
Jeremia looked out from the small window, barred with iron. She was already getting weary from waiting for her target—another rich bastard trying to pay his way through the World Government for power and they wanted him dead. It was just a matter of waiting for the target to dock in the island.
She went to her closet to get a cloak so she can go to the island’s only town to restock her supplies and fetch Smoker’s package at the port. She touched her mother’s amethyst bracelet on her wrist, a small ritual she does before leaving her home. Jeremia saddled her rented gray thoroughbred then hitched a small wagon behind it. It was a good day for a ride, there hadn’t been any storms lately, the fields were blooming with flowers and the forest was lively with chirps of birds.
Once she reached town, she headed first to the docks to get the package.
“You’re Miss Mia? You should have called a companion with you ‘cause you’re going to have a hard time with your package” The port master pointed at the large crate that was labeled with her work name and the word “FRAGILE”.
Mia was her alias, a name well-known to people working underground with a reputation she earned over years of expertise as a hired marksman. It was her identity for her anonymity and was used ever so often over the years that her real name feels so foreign. The name Jeremia was only used by Smoker and Tashigi, the only people she trusted. Never did she give her real name to anyone.
“I wonder what it is this time” She groaned as they both loaded the heavy box to her wagon.
“We’ll you’re about to find out. Are you sure you can handle this miss?” The port master asked but Jeremia did not answer back as she surveyed the newly docked ship on the port, its deck was filled with men carrying weapons.
She headed to the market to buy what she needed, packed them in the wagon and rode back home—near the edge of a cliffs just after passing by the thick forest. The house was small, which did not bother her as she was going to leave after her mission. She needed the seclusion and isolation, comfort was the least of her worries and as an assassin, she prefers not to gather much attention.
But overall, her temporary home was aesthetically pleasing, it’s surrounded by a small garden of calendula flowers, giving the place a little bit of liveliness.
After unpacking the things she bought, she hauled the crate inside the house then immediately dialed up the den den mushi to her brother’s ship.
“Hello” A groggy voice came through the snail
“I hear a hangover” Jeremia said nonchalantly
“Why do you even call so early?” Smoker groaned and held his head.
“Were you up all night drinking again? Get ahold of yourself, you’re a Vice Admiral now”
“Hey don’t think so lowly of me, we had to hold off a bunch of young pirates by the Red Line until midnight. You’re beginning to sound like Tashigi.” He yawned, “So how’s your current assignment? Anything new?”
“Well, there’s a ship with armed men in the docks, the mafia boss must have sent his men to secure the island before he comes. And oh—I’ve got your package by the way.” She took the crowbar and started opening the crate. “Just what the hell did you put in this?”
“Right on time, the improved weapons you requested a month ago were finished. Maybe you can test them on your assignment”
She huffed as she finally opened the crate, it contained a sniper rifle, a revolver and two pistols. There were also boxes of bullets, both metal and sea stone in nature. There were a few combat knives and there was an elongated wooden box. When she opened it, there was a saber nestled on the hay stuffing. Jeremia held its hilt and unsheathed it.
“You just gave me a new sword a month ago” She said, swinging and testing it. Noticing small stones embedded in the metal near the hilt.
“I asked Tashigi to find a swordsmith to put sea stones in that new sword as well as with the knives. A lot of devil fruit users are rampaging around these days, you’ll use it someday.”
“You probably got the idea from thinking about Monkey D. Luffy.” She smirked, remembering her brother’s worst nightmare.
“Don’t even mention that brat’s name.”
“Alright, don’t get too riled up. Thank Tashigi for me”
Jeremia approved the balance of the sword’s weight and length on her hand. She proceeded to check on the guns, wishing that she could test them out in the forest but she might encounter an islander who could alert the whole town.
“Looks good” She said, “It might work well”
She heard him sigh, “Be careful out there. We’ll be docking here in Marineford until you come back”
“Don't worry too much or you're hair will get whiter.” She gave a small smile upon hearing Smoker’s worried voice
They said their goodbyes and she proceeded to make outline of her strategy and positioning on the islands map, planning on possible locations she had surveyed the week before. Jeremia decided to kill the target at the docks and immediately jump to the commercial ship that will get off island.
She stopped her work when she noticed it was already sundown and began to make dinner.
Jeremia had been a hired killer for the Marines for 15 long years. In that time, she used a lot of identities, transferred from island after island, used guns, poisons and knives, killed a lot of high-profile people that Marines considered as threats—from pirates and underground hooligans to rich officials and even some Celestial Dragons.
If she was her 14 year-old-self right now, she would already be dying of nervousness before a kill and hesitant to pull the trigger.
Despite having Smoker as her mentor since their mother’s death, Jeremia learned being an assassin the hard way, gaining experience after every kill. She had started like a normal Marine, a few years after her older brother did. But when she became an ensign, the then Fleet Admiral Sengoku had seen some kind of potential in her and assigned her to a special training corps for the job of fighting evil in the shadows.
Smoker was against it at first, but she was at the age of rebellion to become less dependent on her brother and he reluctantly agreed. As an assassin, she was given no rank and her identity was kept secret only to a handful of high-ranking individuals and Smoker.
Grabbing her cloak again, she headed out for the night. She needed more intel and decided to go the town’s most famous bar where the armed men from that morning might be spending their night. Jeremia’s hunch was right and found them drinking away at the far end corner of the bar. She sat down at the booth just behind them, nursed her ale and eavesdropped. The place was full and rowdy but she could distinctly hear their discussion and when she had confirmed that their master would dock in 2 days, she began to leave.
“I heard Akagami Shanks’ ship was seen around the area” She heard one of the men say
“What is a Yonko doing out here in North Blue?” another asked
“So as long as he doesn’t come in this island when the boss comes, I’m sure we’ll be fine”
Jeremia stood up and left. So even the mafia are afraid of the Emperors, she thought as she walked through the ill-lit streets of the town, passing by drunkards slumped in the corners and prostitutes wooing potential clients. If the rumors are true, she should finish her mission quickly before it gets messy.
The air hinted a sign of autumn, it was chilly so she pulled the hood to block the wind and tied her cloak closer. She hated wearing a dress. For her, it was very impractical with her line of work and she prefers to hide her battle scars that were too many to count.
Tashigi told her that she looked domineering and unfriendly with her usually braided hair, so Jeremia decided to bring her hair down this time, letting her black curls tumble to her waist that softened her features. To the villagers, she looked like a quiet lady who rented the stone house for a vacation.
A lot of female assassins she had met were mostly breathtaking with voluptuous curves, using their beauty to catch their prey. Jeremia’s looks are just on the average, if you disregard the thin scar just above her right eyebrow, it’s at the area where she was not too beautiful nor too unattractive to draw unnecessary attention. She did not complain as it works well for her, she prefers to go unnoticed and in the dark where her target cannot see her.
Jeremia grimaced at the memory when she had once tried the seduction method, it was not the best remembrance.
Still, Tashigi had told her that she’s pretty especially her eyes. Which was an unusual shade of smoky gray, the only feature she got from her mother while Smoker got her silver hair. They didn't look like siblings, their appearances contrasted. Her eyes that were naturally well-sighted and could see impossibly clearly at long distances, without needing a telescope or a binocular. Making her without par when it comes to sniping and Smoker described her optical acuity to be freaky.
Two days later, at the break of dawn, Jeremia was looking out with her freaky eyes from the church’s bell tower which was the highest point near the docks. Her target’s ship had just docked.
Jeremia proceeded to set up her rifle which she stashed in a duffel bag with her meager belongings, she had cleared the stone cottage the night before, strapping the weapons on her body and erased any evidence of that she was there.
Now the waiting game had begun. She surveyed the docks which was surrounded by armed men but no sign of their leader. It doesn’t matter, sooner or later his head would be blown off by her. Sniping by the sea is very tricky as the winds were usually stronger and the chances of missing are high but when she raised a small ribbon to check the wind’s strength and direction, it was calm and in her favor.
Jeremia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and a few moments later she could distinctively hear heartbeats, all beating in a nice and slow rhythm. She could detect heartbeats within a certain radius, she can tell where and how many they are, she can even tell which ones are agitated and those who are lying. It was an ability she learned when she was in the brink of death, somehow her body created a survival instinct.
She concentrated her senses on the ship, there were a lot of guards inside the ship but they are all moving out towards the ship's deck. Jeremia positioned her rifle, careful not to let the sunlight reflect her gun and waited for her target to come out of the cabin. Adrenaline is slowly kicking up in her blood, it took her years of training to swallow down the fear and anxiety in her veins. Her hands are steady, her breathing is deep and controlled. Her target finally came out of his cabin, aiming carefully at his head, predicting his next move. When he was in the position she wanted him, she pulled the trigger.
Jeremia saw the moment when the bullet penetrated her prey’s head, killing him in an instant and sending everyone in the deck scrambling. But it was too late when she heard and saw the cannonball fired towards the direction of the church bell tower she was perched on.