"Where do you want to go?" The Shichibukai asked in a monotone voice to the trio of pirates, all of them wearing expressions of fear on their faces.
They had no time to move. The Shichibukai touched them with his left hand before they could move. They vanished under the eyes of their crewmates, they heard the faint scream of their captain before appearing out of nowhere above an island.
Chopper roused from sleep. He blinked a few times to chase away the last traces of sleep. It took him a few minutes to actually realize that something was wrong. The doctor sat up and looked around. He was sitting on the grass in an immense forest. He noticed his two crewmates lying not far away from him.
"Usopp! Nami!" Chopper yelled while reaching for them. He kneeled down next to the young red-haired woman that seemed to stir up.
Nami groaned as she opened her eyes. She slowly sat up with the help of Chopper as she became aware of her surroundings. The navigator turned her head towards her crewmate as he spoke.
"Usopp is over there. He's waking up."
Nami nodded. She stood up on her legs, feeling a bit uneasy as she took a long time to scan their surroundings. There was no one but them standing in the middle of the forest. They could almost see the sun going down. They moved on foot until they reached their crewmate sitting up on the grass while rubbing his eyes. He yawned for a bit before rising on his feet.
"Great Lucifer." Usopp began, weirded out by the unwilling traveling they had experienced. "We need to go back to Sabaody."
It wasn't the first time Chopper and Nami had heard him say 'Great Lucifer' however as every time, they felt curious about this tic. Or was it a tic? Perhaps, it was like saying 'For Davy Jones' sake'. It was the same. They were more inclined for the latter.
"This island is weird." Nami stated to her friend, tightened her grip on her Clima Tact. "The weather is quite strange.. And I…" She trailed off as they moved through the forest.
They all stopped their tracks. They glanced at each other. Chopper watched around them, then noticed the group of odd people rushing towards them. He blinked a few times, not quite understanding. It was a group of people wearing black clothes, they all wore hoods that were hiding their faces. Usopp deadpanned when they stopped running upon seeing him. He had the feeling he was going to be at the center of the attention, he wasn't an attention seeker and tended to flee it.
"Great Lord!" One of the odd people screamed as they began running once more towards them.
They swerved to face the newcomers, they fell in battle stance, ready to strike. The group of cultists came to a stop. Then, in front of Usopp they all kneeled down and bowed.
"Great Lord, we're here to serve you!"
Nami stared. She gazed over Chopper, he was equally confused by the scene before them. Usopp was deadpanned. He looked resigned over the single fact that those strangers had apparently recognized him somehow. The sniper leant towards them and whispered something to them.
"I get this. Just wait and go along with what I say and do.."
They nodded while warily eyeing the group as Usopp approached them. He then let a growl out of his chest, startling his two friends. The cult whimpered in fear, not knowing what they had done wrong for their lord to be angry at them.
"Tell me." Usopp began in a cold voice making everybody shiver." Tell me, how you recognized me!"
Clearly, Nami didn't expect him to ask that first. Nor hearing him growling like an animal. There was something dangerous about her friend. Something that she wasn't sure of wanting to know.
"Your aura, Great Lord, is quite noticeable." A man said as he rose on his feet, his hood still hiding his face.
Usopp hadn't thought of his aura for a long time. He had thought it was well hidden to easily pass as a simple human. But obviously, it wasn't the case. The half-demon suddenly started to chuckle. If they were going to worship him, then he should take advantage of them to escape the island with his two crewmates.
"Great Lord, please let us see your true face!" One of his worshippers asked with a desperate voice.
He hadn't thought of that. Usopp restrained himself from pitching his nose. He could feel the burning looks of his friends in his back. The sniper closed his eyes and he let his glamor go away. He heard his friends gasp as his horns, claws, and his tail appeared as well as his demon traits.
"Oh great Lord! We're here to serve you! Order us everything, we'd do anything for you!" And then, they began to chant something in the demonic standard language making Usopp wince at the pronunciation.
"Stop." Usopp quietly ordered once he became aware of the meaning of the chant. He didn't want to have the Council of high demons on his ass because of the damn occultists. "If you're going to worship or whatever, you'll have to follow rules."
They all nodded happily. The sniper pitched his nose at this. Thus, he explained every single rule to the worshippers - his mother had once had a worship cult too and had told him about it, he was just reusing the rules of his mother's cult.
"Now. Is there a town or something on this island?" The half-demon asked, then he paused a few seconds before adding. "My friends and I need a boat to go to Sabaody, I'm hopin' you can do that."
The worshippers raised on their feet, all eager to show their lord and his friends around. One of them removed their hood, revealing long blond hair attached in a ponytail. She bowed to him, introducing her as 'Lun of the Great Rock'. Great Rock was the mountain of the island, it was an awful translation done by their ancestors from their native language, a language similar to the standard demonic.
"There's a town at the feet of the mountain. We also have a port connected to the town by a path of trees and flowers." Lun answered dutifully to her Lord.
Another worshiper removed their hood. It was a man with short curly brown hair. Like Lun, he had blue eyes. He introduced himself as 'Jun of the Great Rock', a cousin of Lun.
"We often repair ships. Therefore, it would not be difficult for us to land you one. There's one that is almost done." Jun replied to his Lord's second question.
Chopper knew his first impressions when he had met Usopp were right. His impressions when he had met him were that he wasn't human, or at least not completely, and that he was somehow dangerous.
The doctor had never quite understood his instincts. It had been difficult for him to hang out with the sniper without being suspicious. However, he had the feeling that Usopp had always known. The sniper had tried his best to hide his was surprised to see his friend's true appearance.
He exchanged glances with Nami through the entire exchange between Usopp and the worshippers. Chopper could not believe how simple it was to get a boat. The tanuki was nevertheless happy because thanks to Usopp, they could come back to Sabaody and join their friends.
"Lead the way to the town." Usopp said, sighing quietly as he realized he would have to show himself to the town.
"We worship your kind my lord. We've been worshiping your kind for centuries. Allow us to treat you as you deserve to be. We will treat your friends, my lord, the same." Lun informed the half-demon as they walked further in the forest.
"Okay." Usopp conceded. "How did you find us though?"
"We saw you falling from the sky. We checked the entire island to find you. It took a long time." Jun answered.
"Who are the leaders of your group? How do you function on this island?"Usopp asked, he was after all an informant. He was at the head of a network of information - even though it wasn't the best of all.
"The town is reigned by a Council. My parents and Jun's parents are on the council with eight other people. School is different from other schools on other islands. We make trades with the pirates and avoid trouble with the marines. We keep our religious movement quiet. The worldwide government is not pleased with our worship. They consider it blasphemous." Lun gave a more detailed explanation of the function of his island, making sure to speak clearly.
"In our group, we are the leaders. Each group of people has two leaders: a woman and a man. Usually, they're a couple. But in our case, we are just cousins." Jun enlightened his lord as they reached the South gate of the town.
"This is delicious!" Chopper declared once he swallowed the food in his mouth.
He was sitting in front of Nami around a table with several plates of food. They were happily digging in it. Usopp was sitting at the end of the table, eating slower.
"You have questions." Usopp stated, raising his head to face his friends' eyes. "Ask. And I'll answer to the best of my abilities."
"What are you?" Chopper immediately asked.
And honestly, Usopp had expected this question from his friend. He had always known that the tanuki was wary of him even though he didn't show it.
"I'm a half-demon." Usopp answered before giving an explanation. "My mother was a half-demon. Her mother was a human, but her father is a demon. I should be a quarter demon, however it doesn't work like that. I'm more demon than human at that point. "
"So, your grandfather is still alive." Nami stated. She didn't understand why he had lived alone after his mother's death.
"I have never met him. I think he knows about my existence. I've yet to meet him. Please, keep everything I'll tell you for yourself." Usopp said, almost begging for them to comply.
"Of course!" Chopper nodded along the navigator of their crew. They would keep his secrets.
"My mother's father is an incubus, therefore my mother was a succubus. And I'm an incubus. A demon doesn't have a short life like humans do. They live for a very long time. I don't know the specifics. It depends."
Nami asked him a question before he could continue. "It is why the worshippers asked if you wanted to sleep with them!"
Usopp chuckled and nodded. "Incubi and succubi feed off sexual energy. As a half-demon, I don't have to feed regularly, so human food is alright. But once in a while, I have to feed off sexual energy."
Chopper frowned over something his crewmate had said. "But you said your mother died. If demons live a long time, why did she die?"
This was a good question. The half-demon gave a detailed explanation of his mother's death, he clearly explained the different events of his life that had led to his mother's death. Her demonic soul had been saved, but he hadn't heard of her for years now.
"Okay." Nami took a deep breath. "Okay. Did you ever feed off sexual energy from some of us?"
I expected it. Usopp mused to himself as he prepared himself to answer.
"No." His short reply startled his friends. "And I won't ever do that. You're my crewmates."
He figured that his friends wanted to know how he did when he needed to feed off sexual energy. Usopp told them he often went to brothels to have sex with some sex workers. Chopper reddened as he heard Usopp detailing his sexual adventures on the islands they had visited. Nami was taken back and red as a tomato.
"Sorry for that. I figured you'd ask, so here it is." Usopp paused before asking. "Do you have any other questions?"
By their heads, he guessed they did.
Usopp had told them everything - or most of it as there was information he couldn't easily give. It was the first time he ever told someone his past. He had explained how Syrup had been under the reign of terror of a Vice-Admiral of the marines. He had mentioned that he had gotten tortured for what he was. He hadn't given details about the torture he had suffered within the hands of the marine.
Usopp remembered that particular day, when the Guardians had come back to deliver them from the slavery, agonising life, and horrific state they had been thrown by the marines. Upon the death of the Old Witch, the marines had been condemned to death by a curse. They had been slowly and painfully tortured until their souls had screamed in absolute terror once the Eater had fed them.
They had been given a new repaired ship by the town. Now, the trio of pirates was sailing at high speed towards Saboady. While Nami and Chopper thought over what Usopp had said, the sniper was having a hard time dealing with the bad feeling he had.
Something had happened. And he wasn't sure of what…
"Guys. Have you heard of haki?" The half-demon asked them, grinning. A smirk appeared on his face when they shook their heads negatively. "We've got plenty of time then to start you on haki. I've the feeling it'd help us."