Once daybreak came, it was time to follow Sanji again and get him back. Even though Zoro was still angry, they were going to get their chef back, even if it was by force. There was no way they were going to let him marry Pudding when she was a liar and wanted to set them up. Luffy let out some blasts into the water again.
Pedro and Brook left to get the rubbing. Luffy wished them luck, and they both vowed to do their jobs before the craft submerged, out of sight.
The others embarked onto the island and through a forest, Luffy leading them through easily, following the scent of fresh air until he noticed there were a ton of sweet smells. Candy and desserts everywhere. The five of them stopped when Luffy and Zoro said they could feel things moving all around them. The three others got together between the two haki users.
There were voices, laughing voices, heard all around them. Luffy was not in the mood, but when they came into view, he was shocked by moving, living cakes! Hey smelled so good, but he wasn't going to eat anything that was talking. The trees started to rearrange themselves, too, until they got a look at Luffy.
It was like the zombies at Thriller Bark, when they saw him, they sort of died. Their eyes went empty and they stilled, falling over, lifeless. "Well, that's helpful," Nami said. They were going through and found a sweet smelling river with a bridge made out of gingerbread. Luffy was in a bad mood and didn't feel like eating anything.
But he couldn't before a crocodile shot up and ate the middle of the bridge, keeping them from crossing easily. Luffy wasn't letting out his scary aura, not wanting to cause them any trouble (and because Nami said so) unless it was necessary.
They were making their way through the woods, which seemed confusing at best, with trees in weird places, blocking them when they died right in front of Luffy. It seemed that these things couldn't handle Luffy's presence at all, even when he wasn't looking scary. He was at the front of the group, with Zoro at the back.
Then suddenly, there was a huge head sticking out of the ground! Pink hair in a weird updo and a rugged looking face. He was trapped in there. "What happened to you?!" Chopper asked. Zoro said they couldn't dawdle and learn the problems of everyone they met. "That's cold!"
"He's a complete stranger, and we have a mission to fulfil, Chopper. Who's more important, this guy or love-cook?" Zoro asked. Chopper knew he was right, and the guy didn't really seem interested in talking to them, and so they passed him. Luffy hoped he was able to get out on his own, as it looked very uncomfortable.
The trees were reorganizing themselves before they died, giving them a lot of trouble that they only got through by following Luffy's nose to fresh air and not the scents of sweets and trees around them. Then a version of Luffy suddenly formed in front of him. He stood there for a minute, confused before he shouted in shock, with the others confused as well.
"Hey, who are you?!" he demanded, with the copy saying the exact same thing at the same time in the same voice, like they were twins, or clones! Luffy tried getting past it, but it blocked him, making the same movements. When Luffy went left, he went the same direction. It even smelled like Luffy, impossible to tell apart.
Zoro grabbed the imposter Luffy to drag it out of the way, but Luffy moved in the same manner, actually in the air a few inches, as if he was being carried by an invisible Zoro. This seemed to be meant as a distraction as the trees started to come around again, confusing everybody. Luffy was stuck fighting his copy, with Zoro unsure of whether to cut him down and risk doing the same to Luffy.
The only thing Luffy could think of was to run away and then try to trick it and go past it. "Wait here!" both of the Luffy's shouted, and went running off in different directions before Luffy used gear second to speed back, only to run straight into the clone and grunt in irritation. "You jerk! Get outta my way, I gotta rescue Sanji!" and they got into a battle. One that seemed pointless until Nami said they were going back to the coast.
He said he'd catch up once he beat the butt of this fake. "Zoro, protect them!" Luffy shouted. He nodded, following the order and hurried off with Nami and the other two to retrace their steps. Luffy's double then ran off after his crew, with Luffy running in the other direction until it seemed the thing wore off, and he could go back on his own. He ran past dying trees and cakes and flowers until he found someone standing right in front of him, and ran into a mirror. They looked like a witch! Luffy jerked away and managed to not get sucked into the mirror.
The creepy looking woman, very tall and with almost clawed fingers, cackled at him. "Big Brother sure will be interested in you! I hope you didn't think you and your friends would get away!" she laughed. "You're only here because Mama wants you! Did you think you came here undetected?" Luffy scowled at her.
He aimed his hands at her to let go of a small blast that had been building. It wasn't strong, but should be enough to throw her off. He let it come out, but a mirror was there again, and instead of breaking it apart, shattering it like his blasts did to everyone else, the attack was reflected and slammed into him, throwing him back and into a mirror, tumbling backwards and into a wall.
Opening his eyes, he was shocked to see he was in a huge hallway. He saw the witch looking at him through a window, and ran at her, demanding she let him out. She just laughed, and the window turned into a mirror, like everything else there. His shirt was pretty much in tatters from taking the brunt of the rebound burst.
Well, damn. He felt confident his friends were okay with Zoro, but didn't know what to do now. He ripped the mirror out of the wall and used haki fingers to dig holes into the top and bottom of it, making a sash with parts of his tattered shirt in case the witch returned to that mirror. He went running around, looking for any way out, before he heard the sounds of footsteps, and ran the other way, knowing none of his friends had those sounding shoes.
He looked into mirrors, but most of them were into houses, not the forest. The mirror on his back stayed blank. He couldn't hear or smell any hint of a forest or his friends. He was worried and angry about being caught so easily. They had to be worrying, but Luffy knew Zoro would protect them, even if he was worried over Luffy.
Well, he'd find his way out soon. Maybe they'd be taken through the same mirror Luffy was carrying around. When Luffy heard the footsteps speed up, a clicking sound coming with them, like there was a lot of metal on whoever it was, Luffy used gear second to get away.
"You're not going to get out, Straw Hat," the voice said firmly, but not yelling. He had to know that Luffy could hear him regardless. He slowed to a stop, and put the mirror down. He wasn't going to get away from the guy, and he was pretty sure he knew who it was, even if he'd never seen him before.
Luffy stared at the mirror, and before the man, Katakuri he assumed, reached him, Luffy saw the witch in the mirror, and grabbed her hand just as she used her power, dragging himself through it. He saw the man in the mirror, but took the witch woman away. The guy had red eyes and dark purple hair with white spots. Definitely like Luffy.
They stared at one another for a moment before he shattered the mirror with a kick, knocking out the mirror lady with his conqueror's haki. He didn't want to face that guy before they got Sanji. Or really ever. He had it confirmed it was him. Though part of him wanted to speak with the guy, he was clearly dangerous and strong. Not to mention super tall!
Luffy tied the mirror witch to a tree with her own clothes, and left to look for his crew. He found that there were all sorts of clones of them, and took a deep whiff. Only Nami's scent was here. He dug through the false crew and found his navigator, looking roughed up. "Luffy! Where the hell did you go!?"
"That witch lady trapped me in the mirror!"
"Wait, did you see Chopper and Carrot there?!" she asked frantically. Luffy hadn't. Did that mean they went through another mirror? Damn it! But they were trapped with that big guy in there, then! They couldn't handle somebody like that at all. He asked where Zoro was. "Caught fighting some rabbit and bird."
"You think that would take me long?" Zoro asked, walking up to them. Nami punched his head, yelling that he was supposed to protect them. "I was! I didn't know about that witch!" he shouted back angrily.
Luffy said, "Well, we have to get them out! That guy like me, he's in that place, too! He's super strong and can squish Chopper just by his size!" Nami told him not to be so terrible and say things like that. Luffy didn't point out that Robin would say the same thing, too. "I tied her up over there. Let's get her and get out of this damn forest." They ran towards where Luffy had tied her up, and saw she had gotten out, and was gone. Maybe Luffy hadn't tier her well enough, or the vines he ripped up and wrapped around her weren't strong enough. He hadn't had any rope to use, though.
But now they couldn't reach Chopper or Carrot, stuck in the world now with the witch and Katakuri. Luffy put his hands in his hair in worry and fear for their safety. Maybe they could run the opposite way and stay away from them both. But the three knew there was no way to get into that dimension without using at least a mirror, and there definitely weren't any in the forest.
"C'mon, we have to get out of the forest first," Luffy said. The other two agreed, and they went running, following Luffy, Zoro not getting lost. They came across a half dead rabbit, dragging its bloody body across the ground. Zoro cut off its head for good measure, running past it without slowing.
They ran along the woods, Luffy killing the enemy objects with his presence before he jerked to a stop, smelling some good food but hearing a person. "Hey! It smells like crackers! I'm hungry, too," he said, and ran forward towards the scent, only to find it was a moving guy, grabbing the hair of that man they ran past before.
"Lola's dad! Let him go!" Nami said, somehow knowing this guy. Luffy looked confused, and Zoro simply said they had a talk while he was gone.
The forest looked at this guy, and they died from him in fear, too. "You seem familiar somehow. Well, it doesn't matter. Mama's orders are absolute. I'll kill you here and now." Luffy glared. So, he didn't know about Katakuri's similarity, but their sister seemed to. At least know something was the same, maybe not completely.
Luffy's hat was firmly on his head, hiding his similar hair. He didn't need this guy bothering them for being related to his brother somehow when they now needed to get back three people. Two, lost in some other dimension and the other somewhere on the island, getting ready to be married. They didn't have the time to go off and look for Chopper and Carrot, but they had to, no doubt.
Luffy glared at him, but didn't release the feeling. "Cracker, don't kill Straw Hat! Big Brother wants him alive!" the witch said, suddenly above them, peeking her head out of a mirror. "Make sure you capture him! I have two rats to deal with," and she showed them the mirror with Chopper and Carrot in it, crying for help.
Nami called their names, and Luffy shot his hand out to grab it before the witch, Brulee, shattered it on the ground below. "No!" Nami shouted. Zoro let out a sword slash, and it sliced through the air, missing her face by a hair. She jerked back, and ordered Cracker to take care of the former pirate hunter.
Cracker looked unbothered. Luffy got on his knees and picked up a mirror fragment, knowing they weren't dead. They hadn't died from the mirror shattering, it was more like a window breaking. "Are you okay?!"
"We're fine! Ahh! Run, Carrot!" and Cropper was gone. Luffy hoped it was Brulee going after them and not the other guy. Luckily, he hadn't come out of the mirror and followed them. Luffy knew from experience, first person experience, how unpredictable and dangerous his kind was in general, even more for a man with a billion berri bounty. He was unafraid, but he worried about his crew being around him.
Luffy turned to Cracker and said they were passing him, and getting to Sanji. "Move it," Luffy said darkly.
Cracker told them Sanji was getting married whether they liked it. And dead men had no reason to be upset. "Black Leg won't miss any of you. He's moved on."
"No, he hasn't!" Nami said firmly, scowling. Zoro was silent, holding his weapons out. Luffy walked forward, head down before he took a risk. These people had to be familiar with the presence of someone like Luffy, but this guy didn't actually know. He was sure of that.
Luffy released both his haki and the scariest version of himself he could. "Get out of our way," he said, looking truly horrifying. Cracker took one step back, seemingly not meaning to. "If you don't get out of our way, I'll kill your real body, and probably eat all of that food you're hiding behind."
"What are you?" he demanded, eyes narrowed despite being made of food.
"A monster," he said, and shot forward. Cracker let go of Lola's father, who Nami ran to to see if he was okay. Cracker guarded a haki attack with his sword, but it broke, and he slammed a haki covered fist through the crackers and straight into the guy's face, knocking him out of the cracker body he was in.
The guy created another cracker sword, and healed the body surrounding him. Luffy took a huge bite out of it and swallowed before forcing himself into the space and grabbing Cracker's face, who fought him back, looking unafraid, but on guard. Luffy jumped out when a sword nearly grazed him.
The real body came out, grinning in a way that wasn't in joy. A grin for a real fight to come. Luffy didn't want to use his gear fourth and risk running out of time. Of course Zoro was there, too, he could help. But he was standing there, arms crossed, watching and waiting for Luffy to call him in if he needed.
"Zoro," was all Luffy needed to say, and soon they were fighting together. Cracker would make a cracker soldier and Zoro would slice it apart instantly, with Luffy surging forward to attack. He managed to rip one of the firecrackers off of his head, which infuriated him. He kept making more and more, with Zoro just slicing in circles around him to cut off their legs. Soon the clearing was full of huge chunks of biscuits.
Cracker started to fight himself when he got annoyed with Zoro's slashing and Luffy consuming big chunks, even as he attacked. The guy was fast and smart, countering their attacks by creating crackers and then blowing them apart to have a way to mess up their vision. But both had haki, and even if Luffy didn't, a human's scent was way stronger than some unflavored and boring biscuits.
They fought and Luffy was getting annoyed with how long it was taking. They couldn't be stuck here, dealing with this guy! Zoro got violent, trying to cut apart Cracker's real body when Luffy got a good punch in his face. But the guy had a sword of his own and nearly cut Luffy's left arm off. He wouldn't have even felt that. He was always nervous about getting injured there, but he really shouldn't be. Nami started to help out, creating rain to make all of the crackers soggy before they could fight again. The ground was covering in wet and squishy crackers pretty soon. Their enemy was also getting annoyed by now, not able to advance at all.
Luffy finally resorted to gear fourth, and was unhappy that it was still in the form he hadn't polished. The one he'd offed Doflamingo with. He didn't want to kill by lacerations or rip this guy apart. He was covered in haki, and looked like a real monster. It was annoying, and Nami gasped at the appearance.
Stupid Sugar, stupid stuffed dog! Well, he could avoid slashing by kicking with the powerful legs. Zoro seamlessly distracted the guy by nearly chopping an arm off while Luffy kicked him with a sort of roundhouse kick, slamming him into dead trees, making him grunt. Zoro was on him and had no qualms about slicing and dicing, and managed to cut off three fingers when the arms were jerked to the side.
Cracker couldn't help but slightly cry out at the missing fingers. Lufy slammed a foot into his face, breaking his nose and some teeth. He was knocked out completely, and went flying from the force of the slam, bleeding from many places. Luffy changed back into normal form and slumped to the ground. Zoro caught him before he sunk into the gross, wet, biscuits.
"Cracker!" Brulee freaked out, having watched. Zoro shot a slash there, and carried Luffy away, Nami running, too. She asked what was wrong.
"He needs ten minutes of rest for his haki to return." Luffy nodded, and closed his eyes, trusting his crew to keep him safe for the next ten minutes. When he woke up next, the three were on a huge tree trunk. A living one that was transporting them away from the forest. Nami was holding a tiny piece of paper, brandishing it like a VIP card or something.
Zoro discretely gave Luffy some blood with nobody else able to see anything than him just kissing his arm. Luffy was exhausted still, but the blood helped. "Did you become more brutal over the two years, Zoro?" Nami asked quietly as she continued to force the huge tree to take them out of the damn forest of annoying nightmares. They still needed to get to Chopper and Carrot.
"Maybe. I go into overdrive when fighting with Luffy," Zoro said honestly.
"Neehee," Luffy grinned. Nami proudly cheered about them beating the officer of a yonko crew. The captain smiled at her enthusiasm before the ten minutes were up, he sat up and yawned, stretching like he'd just taken a long nap. He stood up and looked in the direction they were heading. Zoro wondered what they'd do now. They had no idea where Sanji was or what he was doing. "And I want to avoid going anywhere with mirrors."
"That woman isn't that big of a threat if we're smart about it. We still have to find Chopper and Carrot in the mirrors, too." Luffy looked at the shard of mirror from his pocket.
"Then we'll find a small one somewhere. One that Chopper and Carrot can fit through. I don't want anyone else facing Katakuri but me or Zoro." Nami asked, uncertainly, if he was that scary. The tree answered.
"Of course! He's the strongest one of the Charlotte family and entire Big Mom empire! You may have defeated Cracker-sama somehow, but you'll never defeat Kataurki-sama!" Nami said they weren't there to defeat anyone, but get their crewmate back. Whoever got in their way, it was their fault.
Luffy narrowed his eyes. He wondered if he would be targeted as only alive now, too, while they were there. Well, it wasn't like Luffy would just get captured willingly. "Hey, tree. Do you know if Katakuri is weird in any way? Does something other people don't? Maybe hides a lot?"
"How should I know? I just live in the seducing woods as a leader tree! I've never even come into contact with Katakuri-sama, I've only heard of him from others who heard it from others." That was unhelpful. Luffy sat cross legged, glad he had gotten a whiff of the guy and could keep them away.
"You're not scared of him, right?" Nami asked. Luffy being afraid of someone would freak her out even more. Luffy replied that he was wary and didn't want his crew to be around him. "Well, we're just going to get Sanji-kun and leave. And pick up the other two on the way," she added about Brook and Pedro. "I hope they're laying low…"
Zoro pointed out, "Considering this land has every type of creature, a mink and Brook might go unnoticed as something normal. Luffy, do you smell love-cook anywhere? It was across the island that he was a shit head, but do you smell him anywhere near?" he asked. He still was angry at Sanji for burning Luffy's face and being an asshole. Luffy never told them just what Sanji has said or they'd be livid - even the others besides Zoro.
Luffy took a deep breath. "He hasn't come this way, so I can't follow a trail instantly. There, that way is the busy area. We should avoid that place first and look around." Nami said he was being weirdly responsible. "I'm not alone right now. If I was alone, I'd barge right in and demand to know where Sanji was."
"Then I guess it's good I'm here," Nami mumbled. They had the tree go around the outskirts of the main form, the big tower thing that looked like cake, before they wound up at the port the Germa Kingdom was docked. The tree continued to mutter about how much trouble he was going to get in for aiding these people.
Nami pulled out the vivre card she got from Lola two years ago, connected to the yonko herself, and holding some of the power in it. "Would you like to go against my words? Not only do I have this, but I have my own, smaller version of Katakuri-sama," she sneered. The homie sighed but kept moving.
The tree stopped behind a big rock, and Luffy said, "Sanji isn't here. Neither is his family." He was able to tell by scents and sound. He looked to the path inland more. "He's not gonna like us coming back outwardly. But he wants to come home." Zoro asked how he could be sure. "You're only doubting my instincts because you don't like what he did. Don't worry, I had you," he smiled.
"What, am I your blood bank?"
"Someone doesn't exactly mind that, you know," Nami said with a giggle. Zoro turned red and glared at her. "Now, when we get Sanji-kun back, you don't get to be a jerk about what happened. Luffy forgave him." Zoro grumbled that it didn't mean he had. "We all made a deal. The only reason we didn't want you to come was because of who this retrieval mission is for. And the only reason Luffy let you is both because you begged, and promised not to act toxic!"
"Don't you think he'll be more pissed if I fake acting nice?"
"Then avoid speaking to him altogether! Keep your mouth shut!"
"You wench," Zoro grumbled, getting a kick to the face. King Baum stopped when storm clouds formed about them. "What's this?"
"While you were fighting the rabbit and Luffy was in the mirror world, pound told me that Big Mom can control the weather when she's angry. Maybe taking Cracker out in secret was better than sending him right into the middle of the island…" Nami said in unease.
Zoro commented, "Nothing we can do about it now, anyways. Getting love-cook back is the mission no matter who we made enemies of. Besides, they won't let us leave easily if we hadn't taken out Cracker. The Vinsmokes and Big Mom all want love-cook for a bullshit marriage, and won't let him go easily. Then there's the fact that they might find out about our mission to steal the poneglyph. And then the fact they already seem interested in Luffy from the beginning. It's gonna be a tangle getting out safely or even at all," Zoro said.
"We should let Sanji-kun know that, then! If we're already targets for other reasons, then him running away with us won't be that big of a deal! If he's concerned about our safety or something," Nami said brightly, clapping her hands together.
Luffy sniffed and then looked concerned. Zoro asked what the problem was. "We're about to have a lot of company. Angry company. We should avoid them right now and get to Sanji," he said, worrying his thumb. He'd had to do a lot of thinking since coming to this place. It wasn't fun, he wanted to just act on instinct, but he had to use his brain right now. It was exhausting
Nami held up the vivre card. "King Baum, get us to any sort of cover. If you don't, I'm sure the Big Mom crew will kill you, too," she said sweetly. Zoro and Luffy stood atop the cut off head of the huge tree trunk, both feeling how many people there were from the haki alone. "Faster," Nami commanded, and the creature hurried even faster.
They went around a large rock before they came across an outcropping of the ocean, and a path along the side that was much too narrow for the large tree trunk. "Well, we have no further to go with him. I'd rather we sneak past as well," Nami said quietly. Zoro agreed, and the three of them dropped down, Luffy catching Nami after she jumped.
"Luffy! Nami, Zoro!" the mirror fragment said. It was Chopper! His voice was a hush. Luffy demanded to know what had happened to him and Carrot. Nami shushed him. They were hurrying along the coast, Zoro keeping look out from behind. He made them go faster. King Baum ratted them out. Well, he'd put up with a lot.
"We're okay, we managed to get away from Brulee! Luffy, there's some huge guy looking for you!"
"I know. Try to avoid him," Luffy replied as they sprinted as fast as they could down the path and away from the Big Mom army that was coming up behind them. Cutting down the trees or squeezing their way in. The three were going to be caught up with and have to fight.
"It's hard when he can always tell where we are," Carrot said. "But he went off for a while to somewhere. Now, we're mainly hiding from Brulee. She keeps finding us, too."
Zoro said, "Chopper, you know you can turn big and strong, right? What are you doing letting some old woman get the best of you? And Carrot, you're supposed to be strong as well, right? Then what the hell are you doing running away in her own world? The only way you're coming out is with her assistance, and she sure as hell isn't going to give it willingly," Zoro said in a scolding voice.
This made Chopper's voice go silent before he exclaimed, "You're right! What have I been doing?!"
"When you control her, she won't be able to get any more strong people in there. Your enemy is your strongest ally right now," Zoro said, giving a surprisingly good pep talk. Chopper and Carrot were fired up, and promised they would bring them in to safety, too, where they could start planning.
"Go Chopper, Carrot! Be careful!"
"Right!" and the mirror went silent. Luffy and Zoro stopped and turned around. Nami asked what they were doing.
"There's nowhere we can go to hide or escape. Why waste any more time running?" Zoro asked, pulling out all three swords and placing his most precious between his teeth. Luffy asked if they could depend on Nami's help.
"Of course! I'm not a weak little girl anymore," Nami said, getting her clima tact out to fight. Luffy put his hands up wide, and shot out a blast that decimated much of the forest that was separating them from their enemy, and blew many of them back. He'd been holding them back just long enough to not harm him. That was a good choice. He'd only used it on Cracker once. He knew that guy was too strong to be done in by a pulse of air that wasn't even that powerful at the time.
"So, you've shown up," one of them said. All of them looked very different. There were dozens of them, followed by many homies in the shape of chess pieces. The terrain wasn't good for a large amount of people to walk through. The three of them fought back as best as they could, with Luffy letting out a fearsome aura that took out all the homie soldiers.
The feeling wasn't strong at all, but many of the Big Mom kids looked at him in wary. His hat had long since stopped sitting on his head and was stuck to his back with that sticky sugar rain. He had no sunglasses on, and his shirt was in tatters. "Don't kill Straw Hat! No matter what!" they shouted.
Great, Luffy was some spectacle. Zoro was furious about people wanting to capture Luffy. The three fought as hard as they could, but there were three of them against hundreds of just footsoldier pirates, not to mention the yonko's diverse children themselves. It was futile, eventually they'd be caught.
But the three managed to take out a good thirty of them, a large chunk of them being Big Mom kids, before someone's devil fruit got Luffy and Nami. Zoro was knocked over the edge of the island, and shouted Luffy's name as he shouted Zoro's, and then he and Nami were trapped in some weird world. Luffy took a deep breath. The ocean would never kill Zoro. He turned to Nami, who was exhausted. Luffy was tired, too, but still could fight just fine. But he couldn't smell anything but he and Nami and the candy coating them, along with the smell of books. Nami was spent, and Luffy didn't have any more energy blasts to get them out.
"We'll wait for me to get ready to let out a big blast out of here," Luffy said. "Are you hurt?"
"A little bruised, but just tired. What about Zoro?" she asked in worry.
"He'll be fine. Besides, he'll never give up if I'm in danger. Not that we are, but it sure as heck looks like we are," Luffy said. With no way out, as there was no air flow from anywhere, he sat down, and leaned back against the wall.
"If Sanji-kun had just come back while it was easy, then we could be safe on the Sunny somehow. Or at least in hiding together! That idiot… How dare he put us through this stress! What was he thinking, that you would just leave if he beat you up and was a jerk?!" Nami asked, growing more and more angry about it all.
Luffy told her there was no use getting annoyed. They couldn't change the past. What was done was done, but it didn't mean they were giving up or running away. They were both sitting against what looked and smelled like a paper wall, suddenly their hands were yanked back by a paperstring, and nailed to the paper wall by paper nails. They didn't hurt, but they also weren't able to move much.
"No! Now we're helpless!" Nami said, trying to pull her way out, but the nail didn't budge. They didn't when Luffy turned his hands into haki, either.
"We'll just wait for a bit. I'll get us out, there's no way paper can handle that move," Luffy grumbled. "Besides, Zoro will probably be a good distraction and try to cut the castle in half."
"If he can even find his way back here," Nami lamented. Luffy had to give her that one. They had to hope Zoro found them, or somebody else first. Chopper and Carrot had hopefully captured Brulee by then. With the amount of determination that had been in the reindeer and mink's voices after Zoro's talk, he had faith they could team up and capture her.
The wall in front of them was suddenly pulled away to show they were in a vast library. Many of those they'd just been up against moments ago were there, as was Katakuri, sitting in a chair opposite them. Luffy saw Nami glance between the two of them. The enemy wasn't hiding any of it. Not the marks on his arms, or his hair or his eyes.
But he didn't have marks like the one on Luffy's arm from the bloodstone. His were more like those on the captain's chest and stomach. Luffy scowled at him, and Nami looked terrified. "Everyone else, get out," Katakuri said in a deep, bland sounding voice. The siblings and everyone inside left without protest. Well, Katakuri was supposed to be the strongest beneath the yonko herself.
Nami was shaking, expecting the worse. Luffy could tell it would take at least twenty minutes for any sort of pressure to come, and forty for a very strong one he could use to blast out of the book and through the nearest wall most likely. They had to just wait until then. When the door closed, it was all silent. Nobody spoke.
"Tell me what you know," Katakuri said. It was obvious given the circumstances, what he was asking Luffy.
"What's in it for me to talk?" Luffy asked.
"Mama won't torture that girl over the location of Lola. That's the trade I'm willing to give right now," Katakuri said. Luffy looked to Nami, who was too scared to even look at the guy. Luffy turned to him and asked what was different about him, other than looks. "I'm the only sibling that has to drink blood, along with food."
He went out there and said it. He looked to Nami for a reaction. "She already knows about it," Luffy said. This was what he wanted, but also not at all. Though he didn't know what he was expecting, how to have a conversation about this. "I have to drink blood, too," Luffy said.
"Do you know anything about it?" None of the man's questions sounded like questions. Luffy nodded, and the man instantly looked much more invested in the talk. Just his posture changed, but his face stayed hard but relaxed. He had resting bitch face, though Luffy couldn't see half of his face hidden by a scarf.
"There are more of us out there. Animals, too. Did you grow up around a red rock?" This was buying time mostly, but Luffy also was curious. Law didn't really give that much away about his childhood or how he was how he was. Katakuri said he didn't remember being around any red rock. "Well, that's the cause. That's what makes me me and you you. And the others I know who are the same."
"What is this 'red rock'?"
"Blood stone. Don't touch it or you'll get sick and die." He paused. "It's the fourth ancient weapon, not just three." His eyebrows rose slightly. "Poseidon, Pluton, Uranus. Then Ares. You're just an accident caused by it being around where you were born."
Katakuri asked how he knew of this. Where he encountered the blood stone. "Sky Island. The animals there were affected by the blood stone, too. Then I ran into two more on my journey, one a long time ago and the other recently. We only know of it being some great weapon because we found a poneglyph talking about it," Luffy explained honestly.
Nami didn't look like she thought they should give up all the information, but Luffy believed the billion bounty man would keep his word on stopping any torture of Nami that might have come their way.
"Is there a way to cure it?" Luffy felt a burst of pity, which was weird.
"Not that I know of." Katakuri looked thoughtful, his resting bitch face fading just slightly. "My turn to ask a question."
"What is it."
"What happens to you if you touch seastone?" Luffy asked. Law and Hancock had given him no answers. Neither did Rayleigh about Roger. He wanted to know if there was something wrong with him with how he reacted to seastone. Katakuri said it drained him of power. Luffy's face fell. Looks like that question wouldn't be answered here, either. Why did he react that way? "What happens to you?"
Luffy said, "I lose control and get a lot stronger. I used to kill people without meaning to. It's easier now."
"Luffy!"
"What, it's not like this crew is gonna use seastone anyways," Luffy said shortly. She silenced.
"What's that mark on your arm?" Katakuri asked, looking at Luffy's tattoo. Luffy said it wasn't his business. "I see. What are your added benefits of this condition?" Luffy was silent. "I have enhanced hearing and sense of smell." He had no problem putting it out there.
Luffy knew it wouldn't matter if he could or couldn't smell strongly, Katakuri had to have told everyone to be wary of his senses regardless. "Me too."
"Who are those you've met? Do they share any similarities?" Luffy shook his head. Both were born in completely different parts of the world. There was nothing in common but the likelihood of them being born near blood stone. Luffy assumed Katakuri was the only person in all of Totto Land like him.
"If I tell you, will you not tell anyone else?" Luffy asked. He didn't know why he wanted to say it. Katakuri looked wary before he gave his word he'd keep it a secret, whatever it was. Even from the yonko. "Gold Roger was like we are."
"He looked nothing alike," Katakuri said, not seeming like he thought Luffy was lying. The teen simply said he hid it. It wasn't hard to wear contacts and dye your hair. Luffy had to wear sunglasses or contacts for most of his childhood, after all. "I see. I would like to tell Mama, but I promised not to, so I won't. Is there any way to improve this ability?"
Luffy shrugged. He wouldn't be telling him. "You won't tell me. I see. Do I assume something related to this was what killed Gold Roger?"
"He touched the blood stone, and it made him sick. As you age, do you need any more or less blood than before?"
"Less in my case," Katakuri replied. It was quite the polite and honest conversation. He wasn't like Big Mom and her temper at all. He was completely different, much more reasonable, it seemed. "Is there any name to what we are?" he asked. A big question, one that nobody knew. Not that Luffy knew of.
"No. We're all just mistakes."
"I see." He stood up, impossibly tall. "Well, I have nothing more to ask of you. Mama won't torture that girl before you both die."
"Do any of your family know?" Luffy asked.
"Four. Do not tell the others or it will not go well for you." Luffy promised he wouldn't tell anybody. Katakuri left, and Luffy could hear his footsteps grow dimmer and dimmer. Nami asked if Luffy was ready. He shook his head. Not yet.
The others filtered in, all wondering what they had been talking about, why the man was in there and why he had wanted to see Luffy alone, and capture him in the first place. Nobody asked him. Luffy kind of pitied the strong man. Almost none of his family knew, which meant he'd hidden it his whole life. How lonely, being surrounded by so many people and having to hide it from them all.