TNST
The First Testament of Their Strength
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
The fight seemed to go on forever between the pirate king and a master of nightmares fighting on equal. The Strawhats all seen their captain fought strongly and now, he was like a mountain making them feel like a hill but that didn't stop them from trying to help him,
"Thunder Charge…Lightning Lance!"
"Special Attack…Atlas Comet!"
"Strong Right!"
"Three Sword Style…Onigiri!"
"Cloven…Rose Garden!"
"Three Verse Humming…Arrow Nutch Cut!"
"Multi Fleur…Cultch!"
The Strawhats all (except for Sanji) combined their attacks directing at Carlifa; they didn't even make a dent!
"The power of Gods cannot be bested by the power from the weak blue seas and the loser Paradise!" Carlifa bragged that made the pirates even angrier, they kept going at the 'Witch of Nightmares' and no matter what they do, they couldn't even make the witch pinch herself.
The Strawhats were helpless; all they can do is watch their captain as he proves his title of Pirate King since he was the only one to make the witch spurt out blood. Carlifa was losing to Luffy but she was not a force to be reckoned with; she activated her Nightmare powers she was sure will turn the tide in the ocean. The Strawhat crew were scattered and fell to her nightmares.
(I am going to write this from different POVs of the Strawhats while Carlifa uses her power so tell me if I got the personalities wrong. Okay?)
Zoro's POV: he was back at his old dojo and noticed that someone was covered in sheets with a figure nearby. He first thought that it was recollection of Kuina's death but the figure besides the body was more of a girl's structure; in fact, it was Kuina! Zoro had a thought he hoped will be wrong, he lifted the sheets to see the face and it was his!
Nami's POV: the world became dark but she was able to make out some of the shadows and later, she wished she didn't; it was Arlong Park! She also saw that Arlong was still in power and herself at her knees begging for life. Then the images reformed, she was in her room where she made charts and when she looked at them, they were the messiest and non-readable. She tried to do it the way she always did but she would only did worse.
Usopp's POV: he was at target practice at his own village and he noticed that he can't get near where he wanted no matter how hard he tried to use his aim. He realized that he is using his aim and was weak compared to his father's. He tried to go to Kaya's but when she saw him, she rejected him like an enemy.
Sanji's POV: he was back on the rock where he nearly starved to death; only on the first day, there was no food given to him at all!
Chopper's POV: he was back on Drum Island and he was on the run from humans again; he was a 'monster' all over again.
Robin's POV: She was an eight-year-old child again and bullied by the children because of her nature.
Franky's POV: he was now in the junk island, he was still a cyborg but he was running low on cola and was rusting to death.
Brook's POV: he was on Rumbar pirate ship and everyone is dead, as well as himself; but Brook was coming back to life in fact, he seemed to have never have eaten the relive-relive fruit!
The Pirates were suffering because of the Nightmares but they were beginning to get up and yet this didn't go unnoticed by the evil mind of Carlifa.
"Seems that I underestimated Strawhat's crew; i will just make the nightmares stronger and…" Carlifa spoke in the nightmares all at once but then,
"Na…mi…" Luffy was trying to break into the nightmares by using his Haki and is making slow progress, "re….member…what…i…to-told…you…*Click"
Carlifa was taken by how Luffy got stronger and managed to block him out before saying anything else but that was enough for the navigator. And a good thing too, Carlifa had just made the nightmares stronger and more likely to drive the crew insane.
Nami's POV: she was surrounded by images of Bellemere's death, her cursed membership of the Arlong Pirates, the slavery of her village, Arlong always getting his way. She was overwhelmed but she indeed remembered what Luffy lectured her on the past's role in her life. She finally used that to cause the nightmare to disappear; she has nothing to fear anymore that Califa can through at her and she was once again freed by Luffy.
After being free, Nami wondered why did Califa scattered them when a goddess of evil can torture them one at once,
"Maybe the power doesn't allow her to create the same nightmare for two different people!" She thought as she suddenly knew where the crew was, individually. She found out her idea was right because as the crew found each other, each nightmare died. They decided to make sure that the pirates were never alone.
The fight with the whole Strawhat crew against Carlifa was definitely not a pretty one (not even I can describe it); and the scales were tipped all right because the witch's powers were reared ineffective no matter what she did and she was soon defeated, again. This victory was on knife's edge for the pirates but they also remembered Thriller Bark and what Moria said about this ocean,
"The real nightmare is in the New World!"
After Carlifa was defeated, Sanji (who was absent from the fight since he wouldn't attack women) was to cook a dinner for the Crew and the Fairies who had exhausted their power to seal the Nightmare Power of Carlifa. Luffy helped him get started by telling him what the fairies expect to eat and give him the resources to make it happen. Sanji was just glad that he can still rely on his captain when the situation demands it, not him or Luffy.
With the second disappearance of Shirahoshi after the dinner explained by Luffy as she just wanted to see a forest on land and have an adventure with the Strawhats. So, when that was done, Shirahoshi 'went home in time for dinner' leaving Sanji down on his knees comically; a sight that made even Zoro and Robin laugh in amusement. Nami did it too, just thought about what she did back there; she stood up to what she was afraid the most and saved her friends much like Luffy always did for her. She also remembered the times when she and everyone else used to tell Luffy to grow up on their own behalf,
"Maybe I was the one who created the Luffy now and I now think that the New World is just right for him but where I should belong…" She was thinking silently when Luffy found her doing so and confronted her,
"If you don't know where you belong Nami…"
"M-hmm"
"Go to where your heart wants to be, it worked for me, it worked for your family and it will work for you as well."
Luffy's advice made Nami smile; where her heart wanted to be was to be with Luffy. The latter seemed to have felt that because of his Haki because he also smiled and brought Nami closer to him; she then grabbed him and got comfortable enough to fall asleep in Luffy's arms. This time, she isn't having nightmares or going to transform when she wakes up; just regular dreaming about her times with her captain and she was looking forward to have more adventures with him in the New World.
End of Chapter 8
