The House on the Hill
Second Chances
Usopp quickly entered the cell to examine the box. Sanji took his time, only stepping into the room when his skin goose-pebbled from a sudden chill in the air. He gracefully slipped into the cell as Usopp handed off the box to Law so that he could firmly lock the cell door behind them from the inside. Usopp finished and backed up from the bars just as a grey-clawed hand reached through the bars towards his face.
Sanji backed himself up against the stone wall, as far from the bars as he could, his and Law's hands buried in the sniper's clothing and quickly pulling him back against the wall. Usopp buried his face in Law's chest, tears spilling from his eyes as he fought to gain control of his rapid heart and breathing.
The Monster paced outside the cell. Back and forth, back and forth. It ran its long nails along the metal bars. The nails clicked harshly against the metal with each pass. Clang, clang, clang. The Monster pulled violently at the cell door, rattling the metal with all its might. Sanji's pulse jumped rapidly each time it did, but the cell door held steadfastly.
The Monster pressed its face through the bars, baring its teeth and a black throat, then turned and walked out, slamming the door behind it.
Sanji stepped forward, narrowing his eyes as he studied the back wall of the bookcase in the dim lighting. "There's a lever there. We can get out." He confirmed after a moment before turning to Usopp, who was still struggling to control his breathing. "Thank you, Usopp, I hadn't realized…"
"It gets cold right before it comes," Usopp said. "I was just scared, that's all." He sniffled, shrugging off the cook's comment. He took one last deep breath and turned away from Sanji, bending down to open the box that Law placed on the floor during the commotion. Another key was there. He pulled it out and handed it over to Sanji. "Here, it's for the basement."
Sanji accepted the key from him, grimacing. If the rest of the house was straight from a nightmare, he didn't even dare try and think of what the basement of all things would hold.
Usopp stood and brushed off his pants while looking over at the other two. "It's still freezing." He commented softly, zipping Law's coat around him.
"It's normally warmer once it's gone," Law added, looking around the room. "It could be waiting outside for us."
Usopp sighed heavily and went to unlock the cell door. Sanji walked past him and studied the hidden door while he considered their next course of action. First, they needed to get out of the room, and the only way to do so was through that door.
"Usopp, take out your weapon," Law commanded softly, pulling his sword out.
"Who is going first?" Usopp asked, pulling Kabuto from its spot on his bag and the ammo from the top pocket. He slipped the balls into the coat pockets. Law wouldn't be happy to have the gunpowder smell all over his coat, but Usopp can wash it for him when they get back to the Sunny.
"I will," Sanji said, taking a deep breath to prepare himself.
He glanced over this shoulder to make sure they were ready, taking reassurance from their presence, and pushed open the door, crouching and kicking out his foot, the flames flashing through the air at where he estimated the Monster's knees to be.
He heard the telltale snap! on the band of Usopp's Kabuto and the Monster staggered backward. Sanji rose and ran for the door while the thing was distracted, slamming it open with more force than necessary and ushering the other two through.
The three of them raced down the corridor and towards the kitchen.
"Did you find anything?" Robin asked, looking up as the trio barged into the room. Sanji and Law took seats at the table while Usopp pressed his back against the door and slid down onto the floor.
"We found another clock," Sanji offered. "We left it in the room. We thought it best to bring you there rather than remove it in case it caused problems."
Robin nodded, "Yes, it's best that we go along lest we forget something… or someone."
"Robin," Usopp and Chopper whined, tired of her incessant need to speak of such dark things.
Usopp allowed Zoro to help him up and brushed the dust from the coat. He looked up into the swordsman's eyes, frowning. "What?" Zoro snapped, running a hand through his hair.
"Are you seeing all right?"
"Fine, you and Chopper worry too much." Zoro scolded before moving to the side and opening the door.
"Zoro, before we go, I want Usopp to take a look at what we found!" Franky called to him from the table.
"Hm?" Usopp walked over to the table and peered down at what looked to be crossbow bolts. "Crossbow bolts?" He asked, reaching down to pick one up, balancing it with his hand. "Light… Aluminum would be my guess. Okay, for hunting- not the most precise but good enough if you aren't doing anything too serious." He placed it back on the table. "These might prove useful. How many are there?"
Franky unwrapped a cloth beside the bolt, revealing about twenty or so more. "Around twenty. Several have shafts that are bent, and some of the arrowheads are dented, but I figured with your ingenuity, you'd be able to figure something out."
"I'd have to figure out how to use them with Kabuto, but it's good to have retrievable ammo, I don't have any in my bag, so this will definitely help. It's definitely better than a gun."
"You don't like using guns?"
"When have you ever seen me use one? I will if I have to, and I used them a lot when I was younger, but they aren't my favorite. Too loud and… deadly."
Robin opened her mouth to protest that not many died from gun wounds that weren't given to purposely kill, but she saw the tightened look on Usopp's face and thought it best to drop it. Obviously, there was something in his past that dealt with guns that he wasn't yet comfortable sharing.
Usopp tucked the bundle into his bag and walked over to Zoro, where Sanji and Chopper were waiting. "Let's go to the study, yeah?"
Franky and Robin stayed behind them, firmly shutting the kitchen door behind them before walking with the group down the corridor. Once they were inside the study, Usopp dropped his bag by the bed and retrieved the pocket watch from the bookshelf.
He handed it over to Law and went to sit on the bed, pulling out a pad and pen from a side pocket in his bag. Robin did the same, her's coming out of the pocket of her jacket. She sat at the desk with Zoro leaning against the back of her chair, peering down at the notes written.
Chopper plopped himself down by Usopp's feet and gave a giant yawn.
Law cleared his throat, looking down at the watch in his hand. "Before we break this, we need to talk about the confusion we had upstairs. We need to be as clear as possible about what has happened, what we are doing here, and who we were and/or are with. Distorted memories seem to be a thing with these clocks, so we should write down our accounts beforehand."
"I'll go." Sanji pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and played with it in his hand. "We all remember being at the restaurant?" He glanced around, waiting for their nods before continuing. "Luffy was bored, so he, Zoro, Robin, Chopper, and Franky went off to check out this mansion."
There was a murmur of agreement from Robin, Chopper, Zoro, and Franky."
"When they didn't return in the morning, Nami, Law, me, and Sanji went looking for you." Sanji and Law nodded their heads in agreement.
Law cleared his throat, "Can we all agree with the groups we arrived with and our reasons that we did- even if the timeline doesn't match up with the other groups?"
Everyone in the room nodded, and Law indicated to Robin and Usopp to write that down. "What do we think is different?"
"Usopp and the others were in the mansion before us," Chopper supplied. "Remember? We found Sanji's soiled clothes."
"We definitely waited an entire day before coming to look for your group. We thought that perhaps you got bored and left when we didn't find any evidence of you having been here."
"Anything else?" Everyone shook their heads, and Law sighed. "We don't know why we are confused or what exactly is happening. We just know that breaking those watches somehow gives us false memories." He motioned to Usopp and Robin, "Keep those on you for after we break the watch. Then, if we can quickly figure out the differences, we will be in better shape."
Usopp nodded, putting the pad in the inner pocket of Law's coat. "Yeah, especially since the fake memories mesh so well with the real ones."
"If we just ignore the memories as not real, it should be easier to keep track of everything and everyone," Zoro said, standing straight and folding his arms tightly over his chest.
Law nodded, holding the pocket watch in his hand. "Everyone ready?"
He took their silence as affirmation and threw it on the floor, smashing it to pieces. The group watched as the broken pieces settled before Law kicked the broken watch into the middle of the room.
Sanji blinked blurrily, both feeling and watching himself close a door behind him. He remembers walking into the bedroom and startling Nami. He gave a sigh of relief as it was exactly as he remembered.
"I'll take you back to them. Usopp's probably worried." Sanji said.
"Oh course, he-" Nami stopped and stared at the door. "Hey, Sanji?"
"Hm?" Sanji followed her gaze to the door, and his heart clenched as icy panic washed over him.
"Did you lock the door?"
Sanji felt the flames lick up his leg as the door burst open, but Nami was slightly quicker and already was attacking it with her Climatact. The Monster caught Nami across the chest and slammed her to the floor. Before Sanji could react, he found himself thrown against the wall. Sanji struggled to his feet, watching with wide eyes as the Monster took several steps into the room, looked around then left the room again.
Sanji staggered forward and fell by Nami's side, touching her shoulder but scared to try and move her just yet. "Nami?" he asked, "Are you…?"
"I'm fine," Nami said. She tried to push herself up and collapsed, coughing. Sanji swallowed, He had blood on his clothes from the Monster hitting him, but it was nowhere near as bad as Nami, who was still bleeding, soaking the floor with it, and struggling for breath. Finally, she turned, coughing up blood onto the floor.
Nami leaned her head back and sighed, smiling sadly as she took in what little breath she could. "Tell Usopp that I'm sorry I couldn't meet up with him. Make sure he gets out, yeah?"
"Of course, we've been waiting for you. We'll get out, all of us."
Nami laughed breathlessly, "Of course you were." She reached up and brushed the back of her hand against his cheek. "Ever valiant, Sanji."
He waited with her until she died.
Sanji's throat hurt. He blinked rapidly and was brought to another room. It wasn't one of the rooms he had been in upstairs. The walls were made of marble, with a door on the far end. Usopp was in front of it; Nami, alive and well, was standing against the wall adjacent to him.
"It's playing with us!" Law growled. "It's chasing us through the house like a cat chases a mouse!"
"That's enough, Law!" Nami snapped. "You're letting it get into your head. You're better than that! We will get out of here!"
"How," Law scoffed, flinging his hands in all directions. "We are stuck here until it comes after us."
"You aren't helpless. Stop acting like it. Leave that to Usopp."
"HEY!"
Law blinked and looked Nami in the eye, "Sorry. I shouldn't let it get to me like this."
"We'll be okay," Usopp said. He made to move forward before stopping abruptly and keeping his position by the door. "I promise. You'll all get out this time, and when you do, make sure you run. Don't look back, don't come back- not for anything, okay?"
"We will all get out," Law said with finality.
Usopp shook his head. "It doesn't matter who gets out. Please, for once in your life, just run. Okay?"
The door behind Usopp was suddenly slammed open, and Usopp smiled sadly.
"I'm not afraid," he said, as Law and the others watched in horror while the Monster closed its claws over his head.
"Sanji!" Usopp cried.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.
Keep it classy, make good choices, and I hope to see you soon.
Chandlure