Compared to the other's ambitions, mine was incredibly lame. I mean, just think about it!
"Oh, you want to write a book? Bitch, please, I'm gonna be the king of the world."
But, of course, they all accepted it whole-heartedly.
"TO THE GRAND LINE!" Luffy shouted. "LET'S GO!" We all lifted our feet once again and brought them down, breaking the barrel into pieces. Immediately, Nami started shouting out orders. I retreated back inside, knowing I would just get in the way. Making sure Harry was still safe in my bag, I made my way to the kitchen in search of something to eat.
Imagine my surprise when I find a Lacriyon.
I quickly stepped back, only to bump into the wall. Groping for the doorway, I mentally refreshed my map of the ship and how to get back up without hassle. The black light remained motionless throughout this, however, and so I assumed that he or she hadn't seen me.
Perfect, now to get Luffy or Zoro or whatever...
That's when the ship suddenly lurched to the side. Being totally unprepared, I literally flew off my feet, and ended up crashing into the Lacriyon.
"!" he grunted in surprise. The ship didn't stop, however, and the two of us continued to roll around the kitchen floor as one indistinguishable mesh.
He smells like smoke, I crinkled my nose. By then, the Lacriyon realized who I was, and pushed me away roughly. I hit my head hard on a chair, making my brain spin. I looked up, glaring, but the man was already leaving.
No death threats this time, how pleasant, I thought. What was up with him?
After all, it was indeed strange that I would come face-to-face with a Lacriyon and not have a near-death experience.
Rubbing the sore spot on my head, I got back up. Reaching a hand inside my bag to make sure Harry wasn't crushed, I stuck my head into the hallway and looked both ways. Fortunately for me, the man had disappeared.
Sighing with relief and confusion, I grabbed a cookie and sat down at the table.
A few minutes later, the rest of the crew came in. I quickly stopped trying to balance my cane on my nose and regained my composure.
Nami, being completely used to weirdness, simply started to explain how we were going to get into the Grand Line. Since Leo had already told me how, I simply smiled and nodded at the appropriate times. Meanwhile, my head throbbed and my stomach clenched and unclenched at the sheer of thought of going up a mountain in a ship.
That guy...was really warm...I mused. And it was true. He wasn't wet at all despite the rain outside, and when I flew into him, it was like being enveloped in a blanket that just came out of the dryer.
"Earth to Cecil, come in Cecil," my brother tried to get my attention. I blinked, and then turned to look at him.
"Hey, the storm stopped," I commented.
"Yeah, now grab onto something secure."
"Why? There aren't any wav-" for the second time in a thirty minutes, the ship suddenly moved. This time, the ship went straight up, and it felt like I was in an airplane. I swallowed instinctively, getting the feeling out of my ears.
"We're in the Calm Belt, C. And Calm Belt equals Sea Kings." I clung onto the table, squeezed my eyes shut, and prayed for it to be over.
Half an hour later, the Monster Trio (as Nami and I had dubbed them) fought their way through the beasts, but we were still in the Calm Belt.
"EVERYONE GET OUT HERE AND START ROWING, DAMMIT!" Nami yelled from the deck. Leo and I hurried to get outside, and Leo then went to row. I stood beside Nami, letting Harry crawl from one hand to another. "What are you doing, Cecilia Daring?!" she yelled into my ear. "Get down there and row!"
I turned to her with genuine surprise. "Wait, what? But I'm blind!"
"Quit it with the excuses!" Nami snatched Harry and handed me an oar. "You'll never get anything accomplished in your life if you just sit on your ass all the time! Now go!"
I stumbled towards the guys. I sat on the opposite side of Leo, extended my oar, and tried to get into the rhythm. Oh, it was okay at first, especially after I got the hang of it. But after a while (and by a while, I mean about ten minutes) of using all my strength, I was ready to collapse. My arms were numb, and my butt hurt from sitting so long.
Thus, when I felt rain fall on me, I welcomed it with open arms. Lying spread eagled on the wooden deck, I breathed deeply in and out. Nami then proceeded to spout some sort of navigatory, scientificy explanation about Reverse Mountain that I didn't understand. In fact, I was so dead tired, my brain happily accepted Luffy's way of thinking; it's a magic mountain.
I felt someone lift me up, but I was too tired to care. The person carried me inside and tucked me in my bed. I thought about making some kind of complaint about a guy being inside the woman's cabin, but decided it was meaningless.
Before I fell asleep, I could've sworn I felt someone kiss me on the forehead and murmur, "Good work."
It must have been my imagination.
-SCENE-TRANSITION-LINE-
When I awoke, I was back at school. "So what, is this is how it's gonna go?" I asked. "Every time I go to sleep, you're gonna take me here?"
"Not every time," Derek replied from behind me. "I haven't bothered you all week!" I sighed.
"What do you want with me this time? Are you going to answer my question about Lacriyons? Or are you just going to dodge it again?"
"Well, since I didn't see yo- bother you all week, I got kind of lone- bored . So, er, here you are, hehheh..."
I cocked an eyebrow at his broken sentence. Tch, he's acting like a teenage boy.
"Fine, I'll tolerate you for the time being. Now what?"
"Well," Derek looked down at his shuffling feet. "I thought I could show you how those arrows work."
My eyes widened with surprise. "Really? That's actually not douchey!"
Derek smiled widely. He reached for my quiver, and pulled out some arrows. "You've already figured some of these out, right?"
"Not nearly enough, though," I admitted.
"Let's start with this one," he began.
-SCENE-TRANSITION-LINE-
Principal Sahl's eyebrows furrowed. He reread the newspaper article many times before setting it down. Resting his forehead in his hands, he sighed heavily.
First Cynthia, now her friends Amelia and Emily...I can't help but think that these things are all connected...
Sighing again, he fished out his cell phone with every intent to call the police and report Cynthia's disappearance.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a voice from the corner. He whirled around, and came face to face with a woman. Narrowing his eyes, he started speaking in a steely tone.
"Who are you and why are you in my office?"
"Hm, you're quite handsome," the raven haired woman licked her lips. "But of course, my heart belongs to certain greenhead."
"I dislike prostitutes," he replied bluntly. At this, the woman grew angry.
"You're lucky I'm allowed to kill you!" she screamed. "Otherwise you'd be biting the dust right now!" Sahl remained silent and calculating. Confronting unruly teenagers everyday had given him an edge, thus an advantage in this argument.
"Screw you, you damn geezer!" the woman continued. Suddenly, metal blades burst from her arms. Sahl stumbled back with surprise. "That's right, be scared." She smirked, happy that she now had the upper hand. She stepped closer, and with each step her high heels made their distinct sound. "I ain't human, you jackass, and I can-and will-hurt you in ways you can't even imagine."
The man gulped nervously, and nodded.
"You will tell no one of Cecilia's disappearance. My advice to you is to just completely forget about her. And I mean completely."She brought up one of her blades up to his neck, and made a quick slit.
Sahl quickly brought his hands up to his neck, and that's when the woman took advantage of his opening and kicked him in the stomach.
Before Sahl blacked out, he saw the mysterious woman slowly fade away. The last thing he saw was the satisfied smirk on her lips.
-SCENE-TRANSITION-LINE-
Some might say the worst way to wake up is to be splashed with a bucket of water. Cold water, nonetheless. Well, I think I can safely say they are wrong.
The worst way to wake up is to thrown off your bed because you live on a ship, and said ship is currently going up a mountain.
Yes, that was how I awoke.
Groaning, I brought a hand up to my head for about the fiftieth time that day. Stumbling a bit, I groped for my cane, and used it to find my way back on to the deck.
The sea sprayed me as I stepped outside. Zipping up my jacket, I moved my hand to get my hair out, but was suddenly reminded of the stupid things I did while drunk.
"Where are we?" I asked Nami, who was shouting at the guys to get their asses moving. "In the Grand Line yet?"
"Well-" she started, but was interrupted by the ship hitting the sea hard. All of us were drenched, but I just knew that we were smiling from ear to ear. Undoubtedly.
"WE'RE HERE!" Luffy exclaimed. "ONE PIECE, HERE WE COME!" This was followed by a chorus of cheers.
I faced the wind, and breathed in the salty air. "So this is the Grand Line, huh?" I muttered. "Of course, it doesn't make much of a difference to me..."
That's when I noticed the tiny grey light. "Hey, guys, is there someone there?" I asked.
"Hm, no, there's just that...huge...wall?" Usopp turned his statement into a question out of confusion.
"Whatever it is, I can just cut it," Zoro said nonchalantly.
Of course you can, Mr. Macho, I rolled my eyes. Geez, these people are all so simple-minded.
"That's not a wall...!" Nami suddenly piped up. "That's a WHALE!"
God, of all the times to be blind! I've always wanted to see a whale...
"We'll go around it," Leo inputted. "Duh."
While Sanji beat Leo up for, and I quote, 'sassing Nami-swan', Nami returned Harry to me. From my hand, he crawled up onto my head, and I tried not to shiver at the feeling of little pinpricks.
Once he was firmly perched, I turned my attention back to the grey light. Is that the whale? Or someone else?I wondered.
While I mused, Luffy decided to punch the whale.
Yeah. Punch the whale.
Really, I should be used to Luffy's...lack of a brain by then, but even today, I tend to question his actions.
However, at the time, I had bigger things to worry about than Luffy's idiocy.
Such as the whale.
-SCENE-TRANSITION-LINE-CUZ-I-DISLIKE-FANFICTION'S
Shara watched as her best friend paced back and forth in front of her. After watching her for about five minutes, she finally spoke up.
"Do you remember?" she began. Ravenia turned to look at her. "Around twenty years ago…"
"What?"
"You told me, and I quote, 'You know, this is kind of embarrassing, but I really do love Nez a lot. I don't think I'll ever leave him.'"
"Oh, that? Well, people move on, Shara. And now, I have."
"Don't you think it's kind of sudden? After that fight with the target and her bodyguard, you're suddenly in love with the bodyguard?"
"All of our feelings and emotions are controlled by other things, you know that. So this isn't my fault. Something in Andy has changed."
"I don't think that's a plausible explanation..."
"There's no other one, is there? Er, what is that one quote by that Holmes character?"
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?"
"Yes! See, Shara? You're brain, and I'm brawn! We make a good team, no?"
"Whatever you say, Veni."
-SCENE-TRANSITION-LINE-
He cracked his knuckles viciously out of habit. After he finished with his fingers, he continued to crack the other joints on his body.
"That's really disgusting, you know," his roommate criticized, sneering. "They say it causes arthritis."
"I don't give a fuck," he bluntly replied.
"Yeesh, man, I'm trying to help you."
"The only way you would be of any use to me whatsoever is if you knew how to cross through the various multiverses."
"Dude, what the hell are you talking about?"
He didn't talk, didn't move, barely even breathed.
After a while, his annoying roommate finally left the room. He stood up and walked over to his suitcase; from it, he fished out a framed photograph.
Stroking it as softly as one would stroke a newborn kitten, he muttered one word.
Cecilia...
-SCENE-TRANSITION-LINE-AKA-CLIFFHANGER-O-DOOM
And suddenly. Cliffhangeeeeeeer.
Mwahaha.
Anyhoo, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Not much OP plot this time, it was more of a 'what's happening on Earth?' kinda chapter. Yes, eventually...the two 'world's are going to clash.
I don't think any other OC-falls-into-OP story has ever done this before, so I'm reeaaaally excited about this.
Out of the ones that I've ever read, the OC's parents or other people are rarely ever mentioned. But now...
Well, I won't spoil anything. ;)
Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate! Have a save and happy winter!
-NomSujet