4
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Zoro woke to the familiar rocking of a ship on sea. He recognized his environment immediately. There was no nook, no cranny of the Sunny he didn't know. It might be the only place even he wouldn't get lost in.
"How are you feeling?" Chopper held a device to his ear and checked his temperature. "Your fever is gone."
Zoro was barely listening. Behind Chopper, in the bed next to his, lied Luffy. His head was wrapped in bandages, as were his hands. He was locked to the bed frame with shackles of sea-stone. Sanji sat at their captain's side, his fingers twitching like he wanted to reach for a smoke, but wasn't allowed to. Robin's eyes were cast, scanning across the pages of her book.
"What the hell," Zoro grumbled. "Why is Luffy shackled?"
"Keeping him from harming himself was quite the endeavor," Robin said mildly.
"You chose the right time to faint, idiot," Sanji said. "Left us to do all the heavy lifting."
"I didn't faint."
"You did, like a delicate lady."
Zoro sat up, ignoring the blackening of his vision. "Listen, you shitty cook-"
"Stop it, you two!" Chopper snapped. "Luffy needs rest. The drugs still aren't out of his system."
"What drugs?" Zoro demanded.
Chopper sighed and plopped onto the stool at his bedside. "Shortly after you fell unconscious, we arrived at the scene."
"The destruction of a mountain was hard to miss," Sanji muttered.
"What did Luffy behave like?" Zoro asked cautiously.
"He didn't seem raided, if that's what you're wondering," Robin said. "Although he wasn't quite himself either. He seemed confused."
Zoro relaxed. Judging by their lack of injuries, Luffy hadn't attacked them. Even all of them put together wouldn't be a match to him. Zoro would've hated for the crew to see their captain in that state.
"You were talking about drugs," he urged.
Chopper nodded. "We found their laboratories," he said, snout wrinkled. "Remember those strange plants that grew all over the island? They extracted its substances, processed it, and produced a potent mind-altering drug. I analyzed that pool of water under the rubble of the mountain, too."
"The people soup?" Zoro asked.
Chopper cringed. "Yes, and human limbs weren't the only ingredients. It was spiced up with some different toxins that you must've come in contact with. The fumes were damaging on their own, actual contact with the water is far more detrimental. It's what made you lose consciousness, I think."
"But I didn't experience any of the symptoms of the raiding."
"No, for that to happen you would've to have been injected with the laboratory drug they induced into Luffy's system. I've run some tests on the remaining cultists. Their brain chemistry seems permanently changed. The limbic system was almost entirely shut off."
He walked to Luffy's bedside and pulled the covers down. His paw pointed to the soft inside of Luffy's elbow. A small, almost undistinguishable, red point stood out from his skin.
"How did Luffy return to himself when this drug's effect is permanent?"
"We can only speculate," Chopper mused. "I suspect that using the Gears made his body temperature rocket and destroyed the components before they could take full effect. Adding to that, Luffy never reacted the same way to chemical substances after what happened at Impel Down."
A few puzzle pieces slotted together, but the picture was far from complete. The Raiders hadn't planned to abduct Luffy, they had simply seized an opportunity. But how had they pulled it off? None of their men had been a match to Luffy. And as far as they knew, Luffy hadn't entered their ships to begin with; he'd shot off to the white ship that didn't seem to have been part of their fleet.
His questions were numerous, but he settled for the most important one.
"Will he recover?"
Chopper slumped. "There's no way to tell."
Exhausted, Zoro sank back into his pillows.
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Chopper allowed no more than two visitors at a time while Luffy was still recovering. Eventually, all crew members paid them a visit. Though the worst of their concerns were abated with Luffy finally back at the Sunny, none of them had recaptured their carefree attitude. Much of their childish antics and exuberant joy had revolved around Luffy's presence. With him still dead to the world, something was missing.
Though Zoro had healed quickly, he'd remained a fixed presence in the infirmary. He oiled his swords, made sit-ups and push-ups alternately, or sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair, waiting for Luffy to wake, all while watching over him like a hawk. Usopp had attempted to coax him out once, but he'd given up with the first glare Zoro had given him.
Sanji had snapped at him and told him to get it together. He was right. With Luffy out cold, the crew was waiting for Zoro's judgment call. Although the Strawhats functioned more independently than other pirate crews, they had still followed Luffy's lead and vision. Without, they were adrift.
Zoro had never wanted to be Luffy's stand-in. This wasn't what being a first mate was to him. He was Luffy's right hand, the one voice of reason the captain gave any merit to. For the most part, Zoro didn't get involved, even if they were steering towards an utter catastrophe. Chaos and catastrophe came with the terrain of Luffy.
This was different. They've been sailing for days without a goal. For the first time in years, the rocking of the ship got on Zoro's nerves. He became tired of watching the endless blue through the round infirmary windows. The life of a pirate wasn't for him, he realized. It was Luffy who drew him to it, and with him all but gone, the distaste of Zoro's youth had reemerged.
It was on the sixth night that Luffy finally awoke. Zoro had gotten used to sitting in the dark. At the first twitch of Luffy's lashes, he rushed to his side.
"Luffy?" he asked in a hushed voice.
The round eyes finally opened. They scanned the room without recognition until they landed on Zoro.
His lips parted, hesitant. "Shanks?" he croaked. His free hand shot out of the covers and gripped Zoro's wrist in a tight grip. "Shanks, your arm!"
"No, Luffy, it's me, Zoro," he argued. He flicked Luffy's cheek. It was too hot. "Look at my hair, you idiot. Does it look red to you? It's me, Zoro."
"Zoro," Luffy repeated. His voice seemed more focused, a little more collected. "Zoro, your eye!"
Zoro swallowed. "Wait here, okay? Don't fall back asleep, you hear me? I'll get Chopper; he has to check that fever of yours."
"Okay, okay..."
Zoro damn near ran to the men's quarters. He was quiet, but maybe the others hadn't been sleeping to begin with. Or it was his agitated energy that woke them. In any way, they were all up before Chopper could even gather his hat.
With Zoro in the lead, they marched to the infirmary. Luffy had kept his word and stayed awake, but his eyes were glazing over. By the oppressing silence that ruled the room, one could think it was Luffy's funeral and not his awakening they were attending.
Luffy blinked when Zoro sat back in his chair at his bedside. "Ace?"
"No, Luffy, you'd just recognized me."
Luffy frowned. "Shanks?"
"No, I'm Zoro."
Their low voices seemed impossibly loud in the muted room. Luffy drew his brows together. "Why are you wearing Shanks' hat?"
Zoro had forgotten that the hat's string was still bound around his neck. He snatched it off and placed it on the sheets. "I've watched it for you. It's yours."
Luffy stared at the hat without understanding. Zoro felt like screaming in frustration.
"Chopper," he snapped. "Get over here and make sure that whatever is left of his brain doesn't melt, too."
Chopper rushed over clumsily and pulled out his thermometer. Luffy didn't react when it was stuck inside his ear.
"Zoro," Luffy said.
"Yes," Zoro sighed. "Yes, it's me. You remember, right?"
"Thank you for watching my hat."
"No problem."
"It's important to me, you know?"
"I know."
"You do?"
Zoro drew a deep breath. He turned to Chopper. "What's going on?" he hissed.
"His fever is extremely high. I'll give him some antipyretics."
Luffy giggled. "Zoro, why's the raccoon wearing a doctor's coat?"
Chopper stiffened, hoofs tightening around the thermometer. He hurried over to the medicine cabinet.
Luffy was humming some strange tune. He stopped as abruptly as he'd begun. "What's happened to the dingy?"
It took Chopper the entire night to bring the fever down to a manageable level. Luffy had fallen back asleep and Zoro was glad for it. Each time he'd drifted off, he would call Zoro a different name, mostly Shanks or Ace, sometimes Gramps, and Zoro would correct him like a broken record. The others, Luffy didn't recognize at all. Zoro sent them outside when they got visibly distressed.
Dawn was about to break when Luffy woke again.
"Zoro?" he asked. His voice was stronger. Zoro startled from his dozing and sat up straight.
"Luffy?"
Luffy's hand shot out and pulled Zoro closer. "How are you?"
Zoro scanned his friend carefully, but there was no sign of his earlier confusion. His eyes were still glazed, but behind the sheen of fever, he seemed cognizant.
"I'm fine."
"What about the others?"
"Everyone's great. You're the only one who has us worried."
Luffy relaxed into the mattress. "Open the window, please. I want to hear the sea."
Zoro acquiesced. The room became cold with dewy morning air.
"There's no wind," Luffy said. "Can you hear the wind?"
"It's a calm morning. No clouds either."
"If that was me, I'd be blowing. You'd be hearing me."
Zoro sighed and leaned against the wall. His back was aching from sitting for so long. He didn't have any more energy to argue with Luffy's craziness. Once, Zoro had been the only one to understand Luffy without having to speak a single word.
"Luffy," he sighed, deciding to try one last time. "It's four am. You're the Pirate King and you're lying in the infirmary bed of the Thousand Sunny. I am Zoro, your first mate. I once spent a week on a dingy with you back when we were both young. That was easier than spending this night on this room with you."
Luffy blinked at him owlishly. "The Sunny, I know… But what happened to the white ship?"
Zoro stiffened. After all this time, he'd begun to think that the mention of the white ship had only taken place in his imagination. "We never even saw it. You said you'd meet us there, but you've vanished, and we found you on an island."
"I was on a white ship," Luffy insisted. Sweat was beading down his hairline. "And I met a woman there. She was very tall, taller than Brook even. She had long, black hair. It was wet and spilled all over the ship. There was so much of it, I couldn't tell where it ended and where the nets began. She told me she was the sea. She told me she would make me the wind over the ocean."
He clenched his eyes closed and drew his brows closer. He was in pain. Zoro should leave and get Chopper. He remained rooted and listened to Luffy's rambling.
"Then, I became the wind. I could see you. I could see everyone that sailed on the sea. Everyone was waiting for me to blow, to move them forward, but I didn't know what to do. You were standing at the railing of that dark, sinking ship, with all those people dead. She whispered to me then. I could feel her voice inside of me. She said, 'That one I don't like. I'll make him slave under my command in my realm under the ocean bed. That's where all the drowned go.'"
Luffy stretched, pulled the covers off. They were damp with sweat.
"I got really angry when she said that," he went on. "I called your name. Did you hear me?"
Zoro left to call Chopper. The men's quarters fell silent upon his arrival. Zoro was a stranger in these rooms nowadays. "How is he?" Franky asked.
"Still confused, but he recognized me instantly. He asked about all of you."
Brook released a nervous laughter. "So he is better! What fortune!"
Zoro didn't comment on that. "His fever's risen back up," he said instead.
Luffy was halfway delirious when they returned to the infirmary, but at least he could recognize the people talking to him. The crew was relieved. They were convinced that his condition was improving. Chopper gave him some antipyretics and strong painkillers.
Throughout the day, Chopper took another blood sample and analyzed it. The drugs were slowly exiting Luffy's blood. The fever sunk to manageable levels.
Then, the next day, when Zoro had stepped out for five minutes to take a shower, Luffy waltzed out of the infirmary onto the deck. "Don't mind me," he said when all eyes turned to him. "I just needed a quick bath."
His hair was greasy and limp, his skin pale, and he had lost some weight. But the smile on his lips was all Luffy. Franky, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook started bawling like the crybabies they were. Nami tried to pull herself together, but some tears escaped her tightly closed eyes, too. Robin chuckled. Jinbei grumbled fondly under his breath. Sanji sighed and put out his cigarette.
"I'm preparing a meal."
Zoro was glad to have his captain back.
After a day of celebrations, Luffy moved back to the men's quarters when Chopper deemed him healthy enough. Though it was only evening, all but Zoro were asleep. None of them had been able to rest during the last days.
Zoro was sitting in the crow's nest. The thought of returning inside made him claustrophobic. The ladder creaked and Luffy appeared. He was wearing his hat. Sitting next to Zoro, he asked, "Aren't you tired? Those chairs in the infirmary aren't comfortable to sleep in. I'll ask Franky to do something about it, maybe apply a cushion."
"How much do you remember?" Zoro asked.
Luffy grabbed his hat and placed it on Zoro's head. "I've called you Shanks, right?" He laughed. "I think he once watched over me when I was sick. Ace did, too, many times. That's what must've confused me."
Zoro batted his hand off and put the hat back on Luffy's head. "Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Imply that I will take over the reins when you decide to get yourself stupidly killed. Because I won't."
Luffy sighed. "I don't plan on dying anytime soon, so you don't have to worry about that. But it would be nice to think that this crew won't end with me."
"The crew might not, but the piracy will."
Luffy looked out to the dark sea. "There's something strange about the death of someone for those who outlive him. It feels as if the person that you were when you were with them dies, too. Sometimes, I think back and my memories get mixed up. I'll remember the days I spent with Ace, back when it was only him and I. But then I get confused about the details and wonder what really happened and what was just a dream. Ace isn't here, so there's no way for me to ever find out for sure."
"You're too young for dementia."
"Do you remember that week we spent in the dingy when we left Shells Town? If either of us died, the other wouldn't ever know the details of that week for sure."
Zoro sighed. He'd always known that Luffy had the capacity for introspection, and it'd only grown as he'd aged. Still, this was not something he wanted to hear. "Forget about the dingy," he said. "Tell me about the white ship. You were making even less sense when you were talking about that."
Luffy raised his brows. "What white ship?"
Zoro sat straighter. This had to be a joke. "The one you shot off to when we saw the fleet of Red Raiders. The one you were babbling on about when you were sick."
Luffy blinked, eyes remaining blank. "I did? I know that we saw the fleet and that I left before all of you, but after that…" He shrugged. "I can't remember. But I think I would know if I'd been on a white ship."
Zoro was silent. Had there ever been a white ship? And if not, had Luffy ever told him anything about it? Had Zoro been imagining things?
When he returned to bed hours later, he found a note underneath his pillow.
'Found this in one of the scrolls that I had Nami steal from the castle library. Thought it might interest you. – Robin'
He unfolded the scroll and read.
'I've travelled through the four Blues and fought with the violent tides of the Grand Line. As a collector of local tales, the multitude of stories has always fascinated me. One myth, however, existed in every place I went to: The legend of the white ship.
It has been marked as a harbinger of death and doom, as our old seamen used to sing. Even the most elderly couldn't tell me much more. How could they, they challenged me, when no one who sees the white ship survives long enough to tell its intricacies?
It was only the people of Kervus who had more information, passed on by the natives who used to live on this land before they were colonized. According to their beliefs, the sea is a goddess. Those who drown in her waters are deemed unworthy, and are doomed to be her slaves and work tirelessly in her domain under the sea bed.
Sometimes, she adapts a human-like appearance. She always takes the form of a tall woman, with long, black hair, riding a giant, bone-white ship. Those who see the white ship are not doomed, but blessed by the goddess herself, as she only chooses her most favourite to appear to.
The natives speculated on what put a person in her good graces. Ancient sources agree that one must share the nature of the sea to appeal to her. Some point out that those who saw her ship had been motherless orphans. This would fit into the narrative that the goddess adopts the blessed ones as her children, thus making them divine, as well. Once the goddess accepts a person as her child, they disappear from our world and pass into hers where they are given an individual, holy task. They become the sea foam, the tall waves, the riptide, the glitter on the surface of the water when the sun hits… all those little miracles of nature that fascinate us humans and draw us to the ocean, even under the threat of death.
- Mont Blanc Noland'
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A/N: The story behind the Raiders (cultists that practice blood sacrifice) and the Raiding (drug-induced mind alteration) is made up by me. Up to the point that I read the Farseer Trilogy (until the end of the second book), nothing further had been revealed on the parallel figures I take inspirations from.
For the story of the goddess I took loose inspiration from the Norse mythology of Rán, the goddess and a personification of the sea.
Thanks to everyone who read along :)
