The Pale Green Light: Part 2/3
Nami hid behind Luffy and dug her nails into his shoulders as the elevator came to a stop. Her brow dripped with sweat as the doors slid open to reveal nothing but darkness. Luffy's nose twitched, then he stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Definitely doesn't smell good up here."
Nami nodded and drew her clima-tact. With a flick of her wrist the staff was extended and after another small motion, a bright blue flame appeared on the top, illuminating their surroundings.
Nami's stomach sank some more as she looked at the decrepit hallway before them. It looked as if nobody had bothered to clean the place in years. Rubbish littered the floor and stains of all shapes and colours splattered the concrete walls. What concerned her the most though was the huge scratch marks that covered everything.
Her voice quivered as she spoke to Luffy. "W-w-what do you think can do that?"
Luffy shrugged at her question and started down the hallway. Nami let out a little squeal and then followed him, not wanting to be left behind.
They followed the hallway for a short while then came upon a small room. Including the entrance they walked through there were four doors, one on each wall. Luffy rubbed his chin thoughtfully then sniffed the air.
He turned to Nami and gave her a serious expression. "You're right, something seems a little off here."
The navigator nodded her agreement, a slight look of annoyance on her face. "You just realised? Anyway I'm voting that we leave but I know you don't want to, so which door?"
Luffy raised a finger, a serious expression on his face "You're right, the smell of meat is gone but the smell of adventure is now ripe." He inhaled deeply. "All of them are probably fun…"
Nami inspected each of the openings, the first two contained nothing but darkness but as she was looking through the last one, she heard an agonising scream. The hair on the back of her neck rose, not in fear but concern. It was the voice of a child.
The two pirates looked at each other, sharing an identical look of determination. With nothing but a nod they walked briskly through the third door.
As they paced through the darkness, the screams grew louder. Nami, now leading the way, broke into a jog and Luffy followed suit. The screams continued to grow in volume and Nami could swear that they were becoming more painful as well.
Seeing an iron door at the end of the hall the couple broke into a sprint. Luffy tapped Nami on the shoulder and she fell back behind him. In a swift motion he stretched his arm back then shot it into the door, blowing it off its hinges.
Luffy shadowed his eyes with his hat and Nami gasped as they saw what the room held. Chained to a stone slab in the centre of the room was a small, white-haired boy, no older than 6. His body was malnourished and covered in scratches and scars, his skin was tight and leathery, clinging to his bones. Nami had seen few adults in similar condition, let alone a child. Her body became overwhelmed with anger.
"Screw what I said earlier about being careful Luffy, we're going on a rampage."
The captain nodded as he made his way over to the stone slab. Covering his hands in haki, he shattered each of the cuffs in turn. Then he lifted the boy carefully and cradled him in his arms.
He looked back at Nami, "He's asle-" Nami covered her ears as the boy let out another agonising wail.
Luffy flexed his jaw trying to rid the ringing in his ears "...He's asleep."
Nami walked over and put two fingers to the boy's throat. She carefully counted under her breath.
"30 bpm, I'm not a doctor but that is incredibly slow. I wonder if he's in a coma?"
Luffy shook his head, "If you don't know, I definitely don't. I don't think we should wake him though, if we even could. He's better off asleep right now."
Nami nodded her agreement, "Tie him to my back, you need to be able to fight unhindered."
Luffy handed the child Nami then took the yellow sash off from his waist and tied it around her, making a small seat on her back for the boy. With Luffy's help she carefully transferred the boy to her back and slung his arms over her shoulders. As they exited the room she unconsciously began stroking the child's hair and cooing in an attempt to comfort him.
They made their way back to the room with the doors and without hesitation Luffy went through one of the two that they hadn't explored yet. Nami followed suit, she knew it didn't matter which way they went. They were going to tear this place apart until they found the person responsible for the child's suffering.
Unlike the first passage they had followed, this one didn't end in a room. Instead after walking through a large opening they found themselves on a suspended metal walkway. Below them was a large room filled with furnaces, the soft red light coming from the fires gave everything an orange tinge. People with sunken eyes and stomachs threw bodies into the flames, making no expressions or sound as they went about their labor.
Luffy looked down in disgust. "What the hell!" Before Nami had a chance to take in her surroundings, Luffy had leapt down from the walkway. He approached two men lifting a lifeless body from a large pile in the centre of the room.
"Oi, what's going on here? Who's responsible for all this?"
The two men glanced at Luffy with glassy eyes, then continued to carry the body to the nearest furnace, completely ignoring the pirate.
Luffy followed them feeling annoyed, "Oi, answer me!"
Continuing to be ignored, Luffy looked up at the walkway to Nami. "They're like zombies and not the kind from Thriller Bark. Like actually lifeless ones."
Nami raised an eyebrow, "Let's just keep searching, no point sticking around if they won't talk."
Hearing a new voice above them one of the men that Luffy had tried to talk to earlier looked up. As soon as he saw the navigator and the boy on her back he dropped the body he was carrying and his finger flew up, pointing at the pair. His mouth opened unnaturally wide and a high pitch scream filled the air. Hearing the noise the rest of the people in the room stopped their work and joined, pointing and screaming at Nami.
Luffy clamped his hands over his ears. The noise felt like it was trying to destroy his mind. With a look of pain on his face he yelled as loud as he could. "STOP IT!". His voice was lost to the choir of screeching. Nami began to panic as the sound continued, all of the gaping mouths pointed at her made her feel as if they wanted to devour her soul. The boy on her back began to writhe and squirm, desperately trying to escape the cacophony.
"I SAID STOP IT." Luffy stamped his food on the ground and released a wave of conquerors haki. In an instant all the people collapsed on the floor and the noise stopped. Luffy shook his head, trying to clear his mind.
The boy on Nami's back settled as the screaming stopped but Nami's heartbeat did not.
"What. The. Hell. Was. That."
Luffy stretched his arms up to the walkway and shot himself back up, landing neatly next to Nami.
"I have no idea, maybe they don't like you holding the boy?"
Nami looked over her shoulder at the gaunt child.
The navigator shuddered and shook her hands, as if trying to rid herself of a curse.
"Sure seemed like it."
There must be more to the child than they thought.
Luffy gave her arm a gentle squeeze then continued down the walkway.
"Come on, we need to figure out what's going on."
They walked through an opening at the end of the walkway and back into darkness. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the door a large stone slab slammed down behind them, trapping them inside.
Nami groaned, "It's just one thing after another with this place."
Luffy shrugged, "We were gonna go forward anyway so it doesn't matter."
The navigator increased the strength of the flame protruding from her clima-tact and illuminated their surroundings.
They were in a large circular chamber, like the rest of the building everything was made from dark concrete. The ceiling of the chamber stretched far higher than Nami's light could reach but she still thought she could make out some objects, suspended in the air.
The only door in the room, apart from the one they entered through, was directly opposite them. They crossed the floor and inspected it. Similar to the one they entered through, a large stone slab blocked this one as well.
Luffy stretched back his arm and swung it forward, as soon as he connected with the stone his arm went limp and dropped to the floor.
A hissing laugh filled the air with foul noise.
Luffy looked up, trying to find the source of the sound.
"I can sense some animals but nothing with intelligence. Just you, me and the kid." He whispered.
Nami clasped the hands of the child tightly, preparing herself for whatever was about to happen.
"It'sssss a good thing you came." droplets of liquid began to fall from the ceiling. "We are always hungry."
Before either could react a dark form swooped down and threw Luffy into a wall. Nami let out a yell as the creature spun faster than should be possible and charged towards her. She closed her eyes, anticipating the pain that would come with impact.
But it never did, she felt something whoosh over her head and her back lighten.
"NO!" she yelled, as the creature took the boy.
"Thisssss belongs to me."
As quickly as it had arrived, the creature flew back into the darkness of the ceiling. She looked to where Luffy lay, "Why hasn't he gotten up yet?" Her eyes grew wide when she saw his chest. Three huge gashes ran from his neck all the way down to his waist. Looking dazed, he slowly pushed himself up.
"My observation haki doesn't work on him, so I didn't see it coming. It's not as bad as it looks." He said with a groan.
The creature laughed above them again.
"Feeeed my ssssweetss and bring me their blood."
Hundreds of winged creatures descended down, screeching and beating each other with their wings, desperately tyinging to be the first to their meal.
Luffy sent out a wave of haki but it seemed to have no effect.
"They're in a bloodlust, they can't be intimidated!"
Realising the situation, Nami twirled her staff and a stream of small clouds rose above her. "Luffy! Stretch around me so I don't get hit!" Without questioning the command Luffy, dashed to Nami and stretched his entire body around her.
Just before she was fully encased she swung the staff downward and the room exploded with electricity.
And then silence. Nami enjoyed a brief moment of safety surrounded by Luffy before pulling herself out. Relighting the end of her clima-tact, they looked at the aftermath. Hundreds of small bats lay quivering on the ground, their bodies smouldering from the lightning.
"Vampire bats." Nami stated with disgust.
Luffy eyed the smoking creatures with a strange look. "Do you think… Do you think I could eat them?"
Nami had to refrain herself from whacking his head. "You are what you eat. Which in their case, is humans."
Luffy gulped, deciding that his hunger could wait.
"What happened to the kid and the other thing?"
Nami looked up, a concerned expression on her face. "It took him and then disappeared. We need to rethink what's going on here, Luffy. Why would the creature want to keep the boy alive? Why would it be burning bodies? Who were the zombie-people in the other room?"
Luffy pouted, "Who cares! Let's just kick his ass, he's obviously a bad guy."
Nami supposed he was right, to some degree. "Well, either way the first thing we need to do is get your wound covered. Then we have to figure out a way out of this room."
Luffy grinned, "Already figured it out! If we can't go forwards or backwards we'll just have to go up."
Nami stared at the dark space above them, a bead of sweat formed on her forehead when she realised what he meant.
"I suppose you're right, but warn me before you slingshot us this time. Please." She took the now empty sash off her body and handed it to Luffy. "Tie this around your chest." The captain looked at her like a stubborn child.
"No way! I like that sash, I'm not getting blood on it."
Nami rubbed her temples, as much as she loved Luffy showing sentiment towards her, it always seemed to be at the wrong times. She leaned over him, her eyes becoming narrow and her voice intimidating.
"You're going to put that sash on!" She poked him in the forehead. Then her voice became a bit more gentle. "Then we'll wash it out when we get back to the Sunny."
Luffy nodded, not wanting to incur her wrath anymore, he wrapped the sash around his chest, covering the wounds. Then he wrapped an arm around Nami's waist and gave her a grin.
"You ready?"
"Here we go again." She said with a sigh.