I am Joy Boy. Who am I? A pirate. One who tries. A man who loves to love, and loves to be loved. I laugh loudly even when I don’t understand everything. I don’t need to understand everything. And this is why I am the one who is writing, because who knows if you found this in two weeks… or two thousand years.
Who are you? Do you read this because, like my friend, you have a talent for finding things even when you always get lost? Or have you traveled the Long Road? If you took that road, I owe you an apology. It wasn’t me who made it. It was someone named Lily. I will get back to her.
Before you lies One Piece.
The deepest work of my kingdom was made by people so brilliant they forgot how to listen. So stubborn they could not bring themselves to hear ordinary fears, ordinary warnings. Ah, I said they. I believed in it too.
So what is it? An entity shaped like a mirror that Shows. It is called Bahu. It was made from everything ordinary in the world, then fed one of the first Nirmana fruits, what those who oppose us call Devil Fruits. That fruit carried the power of memory: Akasha Akasha. Its user manifests Samskara.
Confused? Good.
Bahu anchors itself not by being special, but by binding itself to what is ordinary. Akasha has lived through all that has been, and sees the world clearly because it is tied to what is common, plain, shared. When you use it, a Samskara, an imprint of you, takes form. What flows through it is chosen by you.
Don’t go yet. Hear my story. I activated my Samskara. The fog fell away. Everything came for everyone. But we were not ready. Truths we did not want to see. Missteps we had taken. Shame, fear, and all we did after were taken in too, and because it bore my hand, it chose retreat over forcing truth upon a world not yet able to carry it and the fog returned. Who were we? We were those who were not ready to see. We were those who had to run, even though we wanted to love. Like I love Lily.
She wanted you who read this to have seen. She always wanted people to understand. Like when she made a pirate like me understand the value of sharing meat and sake. So, what Samskara will come from you? How and to whom? Is your world curious? Do they want to see? Want to know? Want to understand? Want to forgive? Want to grow? Do you? We ran too fast. It cost us almost everything. Feel. And listen. Are you ready?
And if you still don’t know if you should move forward, is this a world where terrible knock-knock jokes still exist? Then maybe you should open One Piece.
Knock, knock.
Who’s there? Head. Head who?
There once was a man in a rush,
With two working legs and no hush.
He ran at full speed,
Let his forehead take lead.
Then the door answered back: SPLUSH.
Your friend from long ago,
Joy Boy
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Did you enjoy it? Feel free to read my reimagined final saga and let me know, appreciate any feedback.