A'right! I not gonna waste anytime by going on useless rants or anything like that. I just wanted to quickly clarify to y'all that Phronesis is on the cover! So if you had trouble picturing him, he's right there.

Enjoy Chapter 4 of Animus! I'm so excited! :D

The Strawhats walked through a beautiful forest of immense, green trees. Sabo led the way with everyone else in suit. As they went along he told silly stories about their childhood every time they would pass something that reminded him of it. They walked for what seemed like hours, until they came into a clearing with a large tree that stood in front of them. And in the great tree sat a sight very familiar to Sabo. A small tree house.

"No...!" Sabo gasped as he stumbled in the clearing.

"What is it, Sabo?" Robin asked him.

"That's our tree house!" He answered as he looked back at them with a smile.

"What?" Nami said.

"We made this tree house after we ran away from our foster mother!" He looked back up at it. He started to walk towards it as he said, "I gotta go in...!"

"Hold it, Sabo," Zoro ordered. "We're not here to reminisce. Remember, we're here to find Areté and save Luffy."

"Oh, don't worry. I feel like something's in there." He answered as he continued to walk to his old tree house. "And it's important!"

Though they agreed with Zoro, they follow Sabo anyway. They climbed the wooden ladder all the way up the tree. When they got to the top, they were welcomed to a little room. It was exactly as Sabo remembered it, with the trunk-pole in the middle, futons in front, even the broken clock and the three sake cups were still there. "Wow...!" Sabo breathed. It was like a flash-from-the-past!

"Wait, you made this?" Usopp said. "How old were you guys, again?"

"We were 10 and Luffy was 7..." Sabo answered, still caught up in his own little daydream.

Suddenly, Sabo felt a sharp hit in the throat as he dragged down to the floor. Before he knew it, he was on the floorboards with a pipe biting his neck. He opened his eye slightly to gaze into the glare of a small boy. A boy he knew very well. A face he would never forget. Luffy...

"Luf-" He gasped, but he pushed the pipe down on his throat again, making him choke. Why was he doing this? What was wrong with him?

Luffy stared into his opened eye with curiosity and wonder. He seemed like he was trying to remember who he was, but couldn't place his finger on it. Suddenly, his eyes erupted open and his glaring expression turned into a bright smile as he said, "Sabo!"

Luffy pounced on him with a hug. A hug so incredibly strong, strangely, that Sabo felt like he was going to suffocate. "Oh Oda! I thought I was alone fohevew! I missed you so much! I was so wonwy!" Luffy's baby-talk was strange, but made him extra cute. When he released Sabo and gave him another smile, he then looked back up at the Strawhats. His eyes erupted with fireworks as stars seemed dance around his adorable face. "And you are bestest frwends!" He then ran over to Nami and hugged her legs super hard. He then ran to Usopp and did the same, then Robin, then Sanji, then Zoro.

He skipped to the back of the room, grabbed a broken tea pot, seven cups (why he had seven I have no idea), and ran back to them. He sat on the floor and patted the spot next to him and said, "Sit down with me, bestest frwends!" Not wanting to make this cute-little-ray-of-sunshine sad, they all sat around him and were served "imaginary" tea.

"All the adults say this is 'imaginawy', but once you beweave it's dehr, it's dehr!" Luffy giggled. He wore a yellow tank top and red shorts, just like the ones he always wore.

"So... You're Luffy, right?" Nami asked as she took her cup of "imaginary" tea.

He giggled a cute, childish laugh as he said, "I guess you can call me that if you want!"

"That's not your name?" Robin asked.

"Nah! My real name's Eunoia!" He laughed. Sabo dropped his glass, which made Eunoia look at him with a concerned look. His voice softened as it no longer harbored a baby-talk to it. "A-Are you okay, Sabo? What happened? Was it something I said?"

"Your name is Eunoia?" Sabo asked, Eunoia nodded. "Do you know Phronesis?"

Eunoia's cute, innocent face suddenly mad and annoyed. "Yes..." He growled. "I know him..." The Strawhats stared at him, wide-eyed, because his voice had changed dramatically.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why do you seem to not like Phronesis, Eunoia?" Robin asked.

Eunoia sighed, looked at her and said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt anything telling you." He set his cup down and leaned himself against his hands. "Twelve years ago, you may not believe it, but I was the king of Animus."

"What!" The Strawhats all murmured and gasped in unison.

"Yeah, it was great and awesome! The island was in peace and harmony, for a child was their ruler, and all a child wants to do is have fun. This continued for seven years, until Luffy, my body, ate a Devil Fruit. A newcomer of our lands came, his name was Gomu. I really liked Gomu, and so did everyone else. Phronesis liked him the most, but for a different reason. You see, Luffy has a very important meaning in life, which we all agree here that needs to be done, or at least tried. But Phronesis thought I wasn't moving fast enough, I was making him wait for too long. So he took this as an opportunity to put my reign to an end." Eunoia explained.

"Wait, why was Gomu coming a good opportunity?" Usopp asked.

"Because he was an important newcomer, so I was very vulnerable at that time." Eunoia clarified, and Usopp nodded. "Anyway, he put my reign to an end by putting me into The Forest of Subconscious. Here, there is no time, so I have been stuck here as a child for twelve years. But, no matter how hard he tries to get rid of me, I am always on top. I still am Luffy. I control whatever he does."

"Wait a minute, is that why Luffy acts so childish, even though he's 19?" Sanji asked. Eunoia scolded at him. "No offence."

"No, that wasn't rude at all." Eunoia glared at him more, until he said, "Yeah, sure, I guess so!" There was a long pause. "Yes..." Eunoia finally confirmed as he let his head drop.

"Wow, that's a sad story, Eunoia." Nami said. She hesitated until she asked, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Eunoia's eyes bulged as his head whipped up to stare into her's. "What?"

"Well, you seem to be in a bad situation, so I was wondering if you wanted us to help you." Eunoia just stared at her in shock. "While we're here and all."

"Oi, Nami." Zoro said. He didn't know if they should trust him. This little boy looked like the person Phronesis warned them about.

"It's okay, Zoro. Relax, he's just a little kid." She whispered.

Eunoia couldn't believe it, here were people standing right in front of him offering to help! His pleas had finally come true! His shocked face lit up. He shot up from his seat and started to bounce around in joy. "Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Oh, yes! I've been dreaming of this moment for so long! Thank you, Nami! Thank you!" He screamed with joy as he ran over to her and gave her a giant hug. After he hugged her he started to skip and dance all around the room, screaming, "I get to grow up! I get to leave the forest! I get to be a man!"

The Strawhats all smiled at their small captain. Even though he was supposed to be their friend and pretty much the same age as them, they couldn't help and think he was cute. Eunoia then sat down in front of them and said, "Okay, here's what you gotta do. Sabo, as you already know, this island is the same structure as Dawn Island," Sabo nodded. "Go to where Dadan's hut should be. But instead, there will be a large night-club called, Gomu Club. Once you're there, ask for a man named, Gomu. When you find him, convince him in any way possible to follow you to the sea. Sail, with Gomu, to the kingdom where Phronesis rules over and send him on the ship as well. Once both Gomu and Phronesis are on the ship, make it sail into the middle of the ocean. But you cannot be on that ship! Instead, come back to the Forest of Subconscious. In return for you doing this, I will help you save me." Eunoia offered with a smirk. "Do we have a deal?"

"Well, of course!" Sabo exclaimed. "If you put our reward out there as well, of course we'll do it!"

Eunoia then smirked more, then quietly whispered to himself, "I knew you would..."

Ooh~! What does he have in mind for Sabo and the Strawhats? Hmm...? Or does he actually have nothing bad he's hiding about himself?

I know this chapter proved some people's opinions about who Eunoia was (I'm not gonna say your name because I feel like I've been embarrassing people, but I'm just gonna call ya, "s.P."! When I read your review I felt so bad because you were soon gonna find out that you were so wrong! Sorry! But what you said gave me an amazing idea that I'm gonna put! HAHAHA! Thanks for this awesome idea, s.P.!).

Well, I hope y'all liked this chapter! Because I always do! I mean, this is where one of the main characters of the story comes in! How exciting is that, y'all! Have a Terrific Tuesday and a Wonderful Wednesday! I'm planning on not making another chapter tomorrow and doing the next Wished Away chapter! Finally, right?

VALETE!