Temple
Willow remained on Zoro's shoulder as they maneuvered their way through the denseness of the bog.
"How much farther is it?" Usopp whined for the twelfth time in the last twenty minutes. "I'm so tired."
"I'm not," Chopper said from Franky's shoulder.
Usopp glared at the doctor. Chopper's size was a disadvantage in the bog. So he had to ride on Franky.
Willow sighed. "We'll be there in a couple of hours."
"Why is it taking so long?" Usopp asked as he brushed some vines out of the way.
"How can you ask that?" Brook ducked under a vine. "This place is so thick with vines, trees, bushes, sludge, bugs, beasts... it's a wonder we're still alive. But then I'm not alive in the first place."
Willow glanced back at the skeleton. Behind him Luffy was wrestling with a large snake that could easily swallow him if it chose to do so. They had stumbled across other beasts of the bog, but like Zoro did with the hog, they easily dispatched of them all. Still with the rough terrain getting to the temple was a slow process. She wished she could just fly them there.
A couple hours later, and more of Usopp's whining, they finally broke through a thick set of bushes and came face to face with a blue gray pyramid.
"There it is." Willow pointed to the triangle shaped building.
"A pyramid?" Luffy tilted his head. "I thought those were only in the desert."
"Not necessarily," Robin said. "Many cultures have built these. Though it looks like this is the only one here."
"It is." Willow nodded. "The people who created the bog blob created it in there. Or so the stories go."
"Well, let's check it out!" Luffy ran forward.
"Hey! Wait a second!" Usopp followed after him.
A creeping chill washed over Willow's body as they stepped into the building. She rubbed her hands on her arms. This place was creepy. She hated it. She always avoided it, even as a kid when others were rushing to have adventures here.
The pirates spread out and looked over the stone walls. Strange writing and symbols were etched into it. In the middle of the room sat a large square block. Robin was already there reading over it.
"Well, is it a poneglyph?" Nami asked.
"No, but I can read this language," Robin said, her eyes never leaving the block. "Give me a minute and I'll have all of this sorted out."
Willow sat on Zoro's shoulders. The man remained standing where he was as the others scattered about the room. She took a moment to get a good look since she was here. Broken tables, chairs, and cabinets peppered against the walls and were covered in dust and dirt. A few doors were scattered about, some of the pirates ran in and out of other rooms. Nothing else was there. Despite the tall building there were no stairs. Were there even rooms above them? Or was this it?
"Got it." Robin pressed a section of the block. A door slid open. She reached in and pulled out two orbs with a black fog in inside. "This gas is the way to kill it."
Luffy punched his fist. "All right! Let's get the Sunny back!"