Shadow Am I?
AN: I own nothing in this story. This is for KittyBatman so enjoy! Please R&R.
It was odd, Usopp thought, normally the crew would be exploring a fantastical island with crazy, one-of-a-kind creatures at every turn but the island the Strawhats were currently adventuring on was tame.
In fact the only odd thing about the place just so happened to be the location Usopp was currently in.
It was a church and a very old one, fallen into disrepair as it stood in this quiet part of the island for untold centuries. There were remnants of stained glass windows and odd symbols covering the altar.
Desolation was the overpowering word that came to Usopp's mind as he breathed the dusty air in.
He was alone as he exhaled.
By the time he took another breath, he wasn't.
Hail, Mighty Usopp.
Whirling around, the sharpshooter looked for whoever had spoken but didn't see anyone.
"Who's there?"
Laughter rang out in that ruined church and in an instant Usopp wasn't in control of his body anymore.
"I think this body will do quite nicely," Usopp's voice said.
It was terrifying, being in one's own mind and unable to do anything but watch as someone else lived your life.
Such was the situation Usopp had found himself in. He watched through his own eyes as the impostor that stole his body joked with his friends, told stories to Chopper, and generally assimilated itself into the crew.
Or himself, Usopp found out, as the presence, spirit, demon, whatever it was that possessed him sounded male every time he spoke to the trapped marksman within.
"Why are you doing this?" Usopp asked as soon as he felt the presence around his mental prison.
Have you experienced eternity? It's really quite boring. I tried my hand at rebellion, manipulation, and a million other occupations but nothing stuck. You just so happened to come along when I was in the mood for possession once again.
Any further questions from the sniper were met with silence, Usopp resuming his powerless vigil.
The days passed...
Nami observed Usopp as he joked around with Luffy and Chopper, noticing his odd expression as he did so.
It looked for all the world that Usopp knew something that no one else knew and that he delighted in that fact. She also recounted a scene earlier in the week when a man had threatened him. Instead of calmly lying his way out of the situation, as he usually did, Usopp beat the man half to death.
Then there was the last time he had told a story to Chopper, the tale one of madness and despair which left Chopper crying at the end of it. When she had confronted the marksman about it, Usopp had apologized, but without a hint of feeling.
So as the day eventually turned into night, Nami decided to confront Usopp about his odd behavior of late, cornering him in his workshop.
"Something's wrong with you."
"Are you sure it's not something about you? I mean you have been pretty antsy ever since you found out what island we're sailing to next."
Nami walked forward then, her eyes meeting his, searching for that gleam, that connection they had always shared; that had weathered two years of separation and all the changes they had gone through.
But all she saw in Usopp's eyes now was a darkness, so deep it caused shivers to run up and down her spine.
She eventually found words escaping her mouth.
"You're not Usopp."
Usopp grinned at her and took a step forward.
"But I look like Usopp, I talk like Usopp so I must be Usopp. Really Nami, are you sick? Do you want me to call Chopper?"
"Who are you?"
Usopp looked hurt for a moment before he smiled, shrugging his shoulders.
"Satan, though you wouldn't have heard of me. The earth's tipped after all and everything that used to be is now under so much water. Of course I was around before it all began and I'll be here after it ends so the state of the planet doesn't really matter."
"Where's Usopp?"
Satan tapped the side of Usopp's head.
"In here. He's in a lot of agony now, watching this and unable to do a thing about it." He pressed her against a nearby wall, ignoring the blows she inflicted with her legs. Satan grinned and touched her head.
Nami watched as Usopp's body crumpled to the ground and then could do nothing but continue to watch as she felt her own body move without her control.
"Wake up, Usopp. Rise and shine."
Usopp's eyes opened, the sniper groaning a bit as he moved his limbs for the first time in months, getting to his feet on shaky legs.
Satan laughed then, as if someone had told him the funniest joke in the world.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, just something you two feel for one another. It would be sweet if I enjoyed that sort of thing."
Walking past Usopp, Satan picked up a knife from the workbench and returned to the sniper. Holding the weapon at a careless tilt, Satan spoke, his borrowed voice soft, in a tone Usopp had only heard Nami use a few times and only when she was completely serious.
"Do you know what happens to liars and thieves when they die? They start to fall. They fall down a dark pit until they reach a bottom filled with fire and ice. A wasteland of bones, carrion, gore, and suffering awaits them, stretching to infinity. It won't be long until you're both there."
Taking the knife up again, he brought it against Nami's throat.
"It's maddening, isn't it? Being powerless. Both of you have experienced this. But it's different now, right Usopp?"
More pressure, a nick, blood sliding along the edge of the blade. Removing the blade from Nami's throat, Satan grinned and held it up against Usopp jugular next.
"You should hear her begging for you."
Another nick, the fresh blood from the tiny cut mixing with Nami's blood.
Letting the knife drop to the floor, Satan looked into Usopp's eyes then before smirking.
"The blood is the life, don't you agree?"
And a moment later, Nami collapsed to the ground, Usopp catching her.
Breathing heavily, Nami latched onto Usopp, hugging him tightly.
Satan watched, invisible, over the proceedings down below. The confessions, the embraces, the tears.
It already bored him.
Turning his eyes from the new pair of lovers down below, he took in the horizon before him.
Much had changed in the thousands of years since he had last left his church.
It was time to take a closer look at this world he was once again apart of.