Hi guys! Thank you so much for the kind reviews! Guilty appreciates it a lot!
Just a heads up, this chapter might contain some sad stuffs for Luffy. (I dont really know if i wrote it in a sad way) I hope i did justice writing it though, am still getting used to writing and stuff :D.
And yoooo! 7.7k words! Chapter's quite long with tons of dialogue.
Hope you guys enjoy!
The Explorer's Past and His Exciting Present
Flying 40,000 feet above land would strike as by far the most thrilling thing for most people and that includes Luffy. The adrenaline rush he felt as the plane shook as it took off, the roller coaster ride sensation as the plane ascended slowly adjusting its route, the breathtaking view and the feeling of being suspended mid-air was exhilarating for the straw-hatted man.
True, he enjoyed flying.. or sort of. Depends actually.
Don't get Luffy wrong, he was not afraid of heights. That would be utterly ridiculous! Extremely preposterous! Heights screamed 'danger' it was on Luffy's bucket list along with exploring uncharted lands, fighting wild beasts, trekking through volcanoes. And boy, Monkey D. Luffy - the man, the myth, the legend - loved danger. The D in his name probably meant Danger or something. He had to ask old Mr. Google for that.
But flying and getting trapped in a metal tube with wings for long hours was a different issue. Though proven as a fun-loving, adventure-obsessed being, Luffy hated... no... Hated seemed like an understatement. Loathed sounded close but still not the accurate word... Abhorred... Yes, Luffy abhorred long-haul flights just like his downright hatred for those green abominations called vegetables.
It was self-torture. Stuck in a tight-spaced seating, limited food - the flight attendant didn't allow Luffy to buy all the snacks-, not being able to move freely for hours after they had him strapped into the chair for running back and forth through the aisle and attempting to pilot the goddamn plane himself. Absolute torture. If he gets deep vein thrombosis after the flight, he'd sue the airlines. Luffy wiggled his body and sighed deeply as his struggle deemed useless. Skydiving without the actual parachute almost sounded appealing for the raven-haired explorer.
Worse, his so-called best friend wasn't really trying to hide how amused he was watching Luffy strapped in a chair. The snickers he heard came from Usopp, Luffy was hundred percent sure about that. Did Usopp like BDSM? Luffy grimaced internally, he didn't really want to see that. Nuh uh. The thought of it almost made him gag. No pun intended.
Oh, how Luffy would love to open the fucking emergency exit beside Usopp and just shove him right out of the plane. (Okay, he was still mad about the pizza incident.) Luffy considered it for a moment but eventually decided it was unreasonable of him even if pizzas were involved. Jeopardizing the safety of the other passengers for Usopp's demise was a big no-no. He'd think of something else.
Maybe Usopp cursed him the raven head thought. That would explain the treatment he was getting at the moment. Usopp did say something about someone making fun of Luffy and he won't like it or something like that. He glared at Usopp, Luffy would find a way to counter the curse and give it back tenfold to Usopp. Luffy was supposed to be the one to make his friends lives a living hell and not the other way around.
Luffy huffed, avoiding his friend's snickering face. Luffy would think of ways to make Usopp's life more miserable than it already was. Usopp could laugh all he wants, Luffy would plan the most intricate means of Usopp's impending doom. *insert evil laugh*
The raven-haired explorer had been staring rudely at the blinking seat-belt sign for more than an hour. His eyes were getting teary focusing on the light. He moved his hands and wriggled his fingers to reduce the stiffness from being tied up against the armrest. At least the flight attendant had the decency to untie his wrists. He shuffled in his seat, head turned slightly to the side checking his friend. The man finally stopped snickering, probably bored and tired of watching Luffy suffer and slept.
Luffy's full pink lips curled up into a smile as his brown orbs lovingly gazed at the brimmed hat woven out of straw resting on his hands. Slim yet strong fingers caressed the rough edges of the yellow hat and tracing the red lace on its circumference. He embraced the comfort brought in by his hat. His only connection to his family. His treasure.
Treasure. Everything started because of treasures and greedy men.
Luffy bit his lip hard and tasted blood. He sighed. Innocent lives sacrificed because of humanity's greed and his family were one of those unfortunate victimized souls.
He sighed and slowly bowed his head, unconsciously gripping his hat tight as images of the past filled his thoughts.
Luffy was six when it all happened. Still so young, so innocent.
Luffy's parents had a deep fascination with ancient things - antiques. They weren't after their monetary value nor aesthetics, no. What they were after was knowing the hidden story of each item, their historical significance no matter how small it was. Luffy vaguely remembered but their home had a room full of his parent's collections. From furniture, pieces of jewelry, firearms, you name it all and his parents would have one or two more of each kind. Luffy and his older brother Ace would sneak inside and read the descriptions written on a white sheet of paper posted below the items. It topped the list of their favorite past time other than wreaking havoc in their home.
Sitting in his chair motionlessly, eyes looking far. Luffy tried to push the thoughts away but the scenes played in his head as if it only happened yesterday. He remembered a familiar sickening musty scent filling his nose. His vision covered with deep shades of red - blood. Scarlet blood seeped into the cream-colored carpet, contrast striking and vivid. Desperate bloodcurdling screams tore through Luffy like shards of broken glass.
In one night, he lost everything.
His parents, Ace and him were lounging in the living room eating popcorn as they watched a movie. It was one of those nights where his parents just got home from their travels and wanted to make up for the time lost to Luffy and his brother. It was blissful and picturesque - one happy family spending time enjoying themselves, laughing over silly jokes and poking each other for stealing snacks from the other- until an ear-shattering sound of glass breaking and shrill alarm blasted through the living room devoured the teasing and giggles.
Luffy remembered how four masked men with white capes surrounded them. Guns pointed at their heads, they were tied up. His father and mother were violently dragged to their bedroom pleading to let Luffy and Ace go. It went unnoticed. Those men didn't care. Luffy and his brother were on the other side of the room - a library connected to their parent's bedroom.
Luffy could hear his father's agonizing screams and his mother's desperate pleading through her sobs. He saw Ace struggled and squirmed trying to untie the ropes that were wrapped around his body. One man viciously kicked his brother in the stomach, Ace was sent rolling, his knees hunched against his stomach, cries muffled against the tape covering his mouth as his chest frantically heaved gasping for air.
Luffy was helpless. He couldn't do anything but scream his brother's name. A sob chokes Luffy's throat and he began to shake. He whimpered as a sudden pang of pain made his head throb and throwing him to the carpeted floor, he felt something warm dribbled down his forehead, stinging his tear-filled eyes. Sweat, tears, blood, and snot clung to his small chubby face and freely ran down his cheeks and chin, leaving stains on the cream carpet.
The door to his parent's room opened, his father and mother were on their knees, their blood and tear-streaked face filled his vision. His stomach dropped seeing a man kicked his father while his mother kept begging for them to stop. The men clad in white kept asking something Luffy couldn't comprehend through the muffled cries and whimpers and every time his parents shook their heads, they get another blow in the face.
Luffy traced the scar below his left eye. He remembered the man who slapped him grabbed a fistful of his hair, dragging him up like a ragged doll and through the tear and blood-drenched eyes he saw a glint of silver. The sound of his parent's begging and Ace's muffled words echoed in his head. The gut-wrenching scream coming out of his tiny body as something cold pierced through the skin below his eye causing a searing pain.
Then came the sirens... Now that Luffy thought about it, it was just like the movie they watched before the incident happened. They were judging the police for coming late at the scene...How fitting.
The vivid image of the gun placed on his parent's temple as the four men panicked flashed in Luffy's head. They were screaming. Through the screams, he heard his mother said 'close your eyes'. Luffy looked at his brother, Ace was closing his eyes. So Luffy did too. He heard a man laugh, a mocking laugh. Then brutal loud gunshots rang through the air and in his ears. He opened his eyes and saw his parent's lifeless body on the floor their blood pooling on the carpet. On the corner of his tear-filled eyes, he saw Ace's tackle the man and there goes another shot. A high-pitched ringing sound tore his ears. He closed his eyes waiting for his turn... But it never came... He once wished it came. All he felt was his tiny body thrown mid-air and slammed into a wall.
Back pushed against the chair of the plane, Luffy couldn't breathe. There wasn't any air. He felt his chest being squeezed. Luffy clenched and unclenched his fist. He took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled in his mouth, trying to ease down his rapid heartbeat as he kept repeating the same action until he could normally breath. He pressed a button to call a flight attendant and asked her for water. Luffy gulped down one glass and asked for more. Wiping his sweaty face, Luffy sighed. He ran his hands through his messy midnight black hair over and over.
After the incident, Luffy met someone who he thought didn't exist, he never heard of the man, not from his parents. Not from anyone. The man proved himself to be the only surviving member of his family and took Luffy under his wing. Luffy was cautious at first, but the DNA tests made him at ease (Luffy asked for it) and well, the man did resemble his father. Though after that, he never got his freedom anymore.
The personal guards following him everywhere and thought they were subtle enough that a six-year-old kid won't notice. Oh, they were so wrong. They were so goddamn obvious, even a blind man can actually see them. And the room he was trapped in was suffocating enough but his guardian had to throw in grown ass men to try and cheer up him up. They failed miserably.
When Luffy told his guardian that he wanted to go to a normal school he had to fight his way through the man's thick skull. Luffy called that moment 'The War of the Flying Utensils.' The old man eventually agreed but in one condition, Luffy had to do a makeover, a new identity. Luffy was cool with that and whoever decided to make Luffy look like hot damn Legolas should get a raise.
Luffy may have whined, complained and fought with his guardian but he understood that it was for his safety and he just loved giving the man hell. Though the painstaking boring therapy sessions that he had to attend every-single-fucking-day -because apparently, Luffy smiling even after the incident was plain creepy- made him question his existence. What's so wrong with smiling, would they rather want the adorable six-year-old Luffy to succumb in agony? Would they rather see him cry every time, lament, get depressed? Adults. They were so hard to understand. Of course, he felt insecure, pained, angry, guilty and void. Luffy longed for his family but he knew his family would not like it if he was sad. So he made himself stronger but sometimes Luffy's young heart couldn't handle the loss and he would cry for days. But soon, he realized that crying won't bring his family back. Nothing will. Luffy became an adult at the tender age of six.
Luffy couldn't stop himself from asking questions. He kept asking the gray-haired man who took him in questions about his family. Reasons. Anything. Just to find closure. There were days when he wanted to avenge his family's death. He thought ways of torture so inhuman, Satan would give him a medal. But he shook it all, his family would never want Luffy to stain his hands with blood. They were like that, loving and forgiving people. It was painful for Luffy but for their memory, Luffy followed the lessons they engraved in his young heart and soul. But that didn't stop him from finding the truth and taking action. Revenge comes in different forms after all.
He never stopped sneaking inside his guardian's office, Luffy knew the man was hiding things from him just because he was a kid. He had the right to know everything, his family died leaving him behind and damn he deserved to know why. Luffy was nineteen when finally -after years of fruitless attempts- his guardian slipped and left documents on his desk related to Luffy's family and the people behind their deaths.
Using the reason that he was fed up of being treated as a 'delicate princess'. Luffy guilt-tripped his guardian into allowing him to 'explore' the world. He could recall the man's face when he told him he wanted to drop out of school. He looked like it was the end of the world. The man was quite overdramatic. Luffy's guardian was against it but he couldn't have done anything. With or without his permission, Luffy would do what he wanted, he was as stubborn as an incurable strain of virus and he would do whatever the fuck he wanted to do.
After two years of dropping off the radar, he came back and damn was Usopp's reaction fucking priceless. The long-nosed man thought Luffy was a burglar and Luffy had to jujutsu the shit out of Usopp for he was about to call the cops. Four excruciating hours of Luffy explaining and Usopp getting tied up in a chair with a gag in his mouth before his best friend finally realized that yes... Monkey D. Fucking Luffy - the raven-haired man with a straw hat in front of him- was, in fact, the same long silver-haired straw-hatted kid with emerald green eyes a.k.a Legolas that grew up with him, went to the same school and became his best friend. Surprise bitches!
Luffy didn't give a fuck anymore, he dyed his hair back to its natural color and removed his contacts. He was finally himself. Free of the shackles of his past. There was no point in hiding anymore. Cipher Pol knew he survived, though it took them thirteen years. They had to be complete imbeciles -well a certain pink-haired idiot was- if they didn't figure out who Luffy was. Luffy infiltrated their ranks and stole the clues they deciphered throughout all those years and saved Nico Robin, a renowned archeologist, and archaeolexicologist who vanished years ago after her discovery of an ancient artifact. Damn, they really needed to step up. Thirteen years was way too long to find one damn treasure.
What happened for those past three years got him this far. Luffy riding on a plane with a wound on his arm, almost had a panic attack but he was fine now, all sorted out and calm, nothing to worry about (he actually thanks his psychologist for that). And yes, still trying to stop himself from taking over the goddamn cockpit.
The massive piece of metallic tube had landed safely in Goa after six boring hours and Luffy woke the drool bathe Usopp up. The raven head had enough of the cramped space and would offer half of his meat allowance just to leave the damned plane. When Luffy offers meat, it meant he was in deep crisis, real deep crisis. He stretched his body and grabbed their luggage in the compartment above his head. The duo walked out of the plane. Luffy didn't forget to glare at the flight attendant that tied him up. What a bitch.
One of the inconveniences of infiltrating the headquarters of a treasure-obsessed cult with weird pointy party hats and white capes was Luffy not having a sense of peace when he was out in the open. He knew two organizations had eyes everywhere looking for a certain raven head. Yes, two. Cipher Pol and The World Government. Luffy hated that he didn't have the chance to check the food corner because of those killjoys. The explorer pouted and scanned the area. No weirdos in black suits and sunglasses skulking in corners. Check.
Deeming the area safe enough, Luffy and Usopp inconspicuously blended into the crowd and headed for the airport's exit. Having someone exceptional in making illicitly modified genuine passports and documents really helped Luffy with all his travels. His papers were all so flawless, immigration officers don't even bat an eye. He got to give props to an orange haired bombshell behind it all - Nami, the team's mistress of fraud and whom the World Government calls Cat Burglar.
The Straw Hats and 'the' World Government didn't really have a good relationship and well, not entirely bad either. Luffy liked to assume that they were frenemies. Luffy's ways of discovering treasures and uncovering uncharted territories involved ways that weren't entirely..err.. legal. A man's got to do what a man's gotta do Luffy thought and having a bunch of rowdy folks blacklisted by the World Government as a crew spoke volumes about Luffy and The WG's relationship.
Luffy couldn't be happier if the WG focus on the real threat - the Cipher Pol, rather than catching Luffy's plump ass. Seriously, they ought to get their priorities straight. Luffy thought the government really needed to give them credit, it wasn't like they didn't 'subtlely' -knock out every guard- break-in into government-owned premises to leave the found treasures. Luffy and his crew only kept 5% percent and that's split- much to Nami's disappointment. Luffy and the government existed in a weird symbiotic relationship yet Luffy and his team didn't get pardoned, such ungrateful old men.
Usopp and Luffy approached a black car parked in an alley a few blocks away from the airport. Usopp sighed, at least this time the driver's on time and actually in the right location. The black car's tinted windows rolled down revealing a bright green shaggy-haired man with a scar running down over his left eye with his usually stoic face, three golden earrings blinding Usopp as the setting sun reflected on them. Usopp thought Luffy should reconsider how he puts the team in certain tasks. Letting a severely directionally challenge marimo drive and fetch them was such a bad idea.
"Zoro!" Luffy beamed dashing towards the car and diving into the open window like a dolphin in an aquarium show. 'And there he goes' Usopp thought.
Zoro who was sitting in the driver's seat grunted as a body hit him straight in the rib. Luffy and his weird ways of greeting, at least Zoro wasn't showered with sloppy kisses all over his face this time. The green haired man had to restrain Luffy for that, a certain blondie got jealous and shit happened. That can't be avoided when your boss/captain was an idiot who didn't give a fuck about personal space and boundaries.
"I'm impressed you actually got here on time Zoro and in the right location too." Usopp had to voice out his thoughts. It was indeed impressive in Zoro's sad case.
"Shut up Usopp and get your ass in the car." Zoro groaned, he would appreciate it if his 'friends' didn't give a huge emphasis on his condition, it was not a problem at all. Usopp immediately threw the luggage on the back and slipped inside the car.
"Wait, I'll drive." Usopp said and Zoro scowled. "Fine." Luffy squirmed into the backseat to sit with Zoro and placed his head on Zoro's lap. The green haired man just rolled his eyes.
"Shishishi, bet we're gonna take hours longer than the plane ride if Zoro drives."
"Oh fuck off!" the man groaned, smacking Luffy's forehead.
"I don't even wanna know why you asked him when in fact you know full well Zoro has 99.9% chance of getting lost." Usopp said as the car started and drove off. Luffy pouted. "But that's the point Usopp! Can you not see the big picture here?!" Luffy sat up and gasped, looking flabbergasted.
"And that is?" Zoro and Usopp answered at the same time.
Luffy looked at them like they were the dumbest organisms in the entire universe. "Tsk. It's like this... No one can follow Zoro in the first place if he himself doesn't know where he's going!" Usopp pondered for a bit and made sense.
"Oi! What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Zoro scowled, if Zoro's good eye could shoot a green laser beam, Luffy would've had a hole on his forehead due to the intensity of Zoro's glare.
"Don't worry Zoro, I meant well. Shishishi. You're a genius, is all. Shishishi." Luffy said as he patted the green haired man's shoulder. "And oh Usopp do you wanna know how I met Zoro? Shishishi." Zoro's eye widened, that was meant to be their secret. Fucking Luffy and his big mouth.
"Oh yeah, how did you guys exactly meet actually? I know how the others met Luffy since I'm the fourth person in the team after a nightmare reunion." Usopp's nape hair stood up and his body shivered. Goddamn Luffy and the nightmares he gave him.
"You wouldn't believe it! Shishishi. He got lost an-" Luffy's storytelling was cut off just before it started when Zoro placed a hand on his mouth. "You better not." Zoro warned. Luffy bit the hand on his mouth and Zoro immediately moved his hand and checked if it was bleeding. "What the fuck Luffy?" Zoro really needed to reevaluate his life choices.
Usopp just shook his head as he checked what happened in the rear-view mirror. Idiots.
"But I wanna tell Usopp and you're being a spoilsport! Boo boring Zoro." the raven head man whined and stuck his tongue out. If Zoro was not a decent man with full respect on this moron, Luffy would be sliced into there parts by now. Still, it didn't stop Zoro from imagining those shit. Luffy just had that trait that pisses people off but you couldn't harm him cause that's just how Luffy was - a moron."Fine. It's not like I can fucking stop you anyways." He groaned and closed his eyes.
"Shishishi, so it's like this ...hmmm...Meh, I changed my mind." Luffy deadpanned and his two companions shook their heads. Maybe they needed to shake Luffy's head too, just to make it work properly. Albeit it was beyond saving.
The car lurched as it turned into a dirt road that lead to Mount Colbo. A thick stretch of wood lined both sides of the road, the sun dipping behind giving out hues of orange light. Usopp maneuvered through dirt paths and uphill pathways. It was night time when Usopp stopped the car in a small clearing in the middle of the forest.
The smell of damp leaves, hoots of night birds and wind rustling gave out a creepy vibe for Usopp. Only minuscule drops of moonlight passed through the thick canopy. The long-nosed man opened the trunk and woke the two sleeping figures in the backseat. Luffy skipped out of the car and stretched his stiff body. Zoro carried the luggage and walked into the covers of darkness.
"Why did you choose this place for our base again? You know we could've just chosen an abandoned warehouse in Edge town or something, it's not like Franky can't make an underground base with high-tech shit and stuffs." Usopp sighed as he and Luffy walked side by side towards the dark path. Franky really needed to put lights here he thought. Not that he was scared... of course not... it- it- was for convenience.
"You watch too much spy movies." Luffy clicked his tongue." And that's no fun Usopp, It's awesome here, the city is noisy and it sucks." Luffy said looking disgusted, sounds of crushed leaves echoed in their every step. "And in here, it is peaceful, there's a lot of animals to hunt for food, we can fish in the river too.
Of course, that would be Luffy's answer, Ussop sighed. "I thought you liked spy movies?" Luffy shrugged and muttered 'Ninja's are better' under his breath.
"And that's why supermarkets exist Luffy, so we can buy food there and we don't need to hunt like primitive humans," Usopp added.
"You just don't understand it Usopp. I pity you." Luffy patted Usopp's shoulder and Usopp could make out Luffy's sad face in the dimly lit forest actually feeling sorry for him like Usopp didn't know what he was missing. The long-nosed man didn't know what to feel about it but it was close to feeling insulted.
"The mountain screams adventure Usopp!" Usopp facepalmed. Why did he bother to ask Luffy again? He didn't know.
The duo stood in front a small log cabin lit with yellow incandescent lights. Zoro sat in a reclining chair waiting for Usopp and Luffy. Luffy knocked on the door three times and a blue haired man opened the door.
"Oh Luffy, Usopp, Zoro! It's supah nice to have you guys back!" Franky, the team's mechanic and engineer greeted the trio. Luffy and Usopp hugged the big guy while Zoro dragged the luggage towards the fireplace.
The cabin itself wasn't much, it was a plain square cabin with only one room. A red rug was placed in the middle of the everything, a checkered patterned couch, a small table with two wooden chairs and a wall mounted antlers above the fireplace. Franky pulled the antlers and a hatched appeared in the fireplace, there was a staircase leading underground.
The group headed downstairs, only meeting a dead end. Luffy tilted his head. This wasn't like this before he left for Drum Kingdom. Luffy and Usopp started complaining but Franky asked them to stay shush. The blue haired guy said his name and the wall opened up.
"Holy shit! Voice-goddamn-activated!" Usopp gaped. "That's dope, Franky!" The blue haired man raised both of his hands for his famous pose and screamed supah. Usopp and Franky walked in and talked about their 'geek shit' - according to Luffy's vocabulary. Zoro stared at the frozen Luffy, eyes sparkling Zoro could actually see stars. "Luffy let's go. Gawk later." The man complained.
"Man I'm so glad Franky's with us!" The raven head beamed. He sniffed and started drooling. "Sanjiiiiiiii! Foood!" Luffy dashed into the room leaving Zoro behind.
What was located under the cabin was nothing like an underground. The walls were reinforced concrete filled with paintings, a chandelier in the middle of the lounge, an entire side of the massive room was an aquarium beautifully decorated with aquatic plants, rocks, stones and driftwoods arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner filled with different kinds freshwater fish. A dark marble bar counter was placed beside the aquarium. A double door could be seen opposite of the lounge which leads to the kitchen and dining room, library, infirmary and the team's sleeping quarters.
Before Luffy could reach the kitchen where the drool-inducing scent came from, a doe-eyed brown haired teen stood in front of him with arms around on his chest. Luffy paused stared at the teen. "Luffy! Your arm!" The teen started panicking and calling for a doctor and suddenly paused. "Oh wait that's me." Luffy was tiptoeing away from the brown haired teen. "Where do you think you're going?! You need to go to the infirmary!"
"But Choppppeeer! I'm hungry!" Luffy whined as he was being dragged by Chopper, a 16-year-old genius Luffy saved from being a lab rat of a group of doctors that studied the human brain called Isshi-20. Chopper then joined the Straw Hats and became a self-taught doctor in the span of six months.
"Stop squirming Luffy, what if it gets infected!" Chopper sounded stern making Luffy give up his quest for Sanji's food and looking dejected and lifeless.
"Don't be a dumbass Luffy, just get patched up and I'll prepare the table." Sanji, the team's chef said, his blond hair poking through the double kitchen counter.
After what seemed like an eternity for the hungry Luffy, Chopper dragged him out of the infirmary and into the dining room. The whole crew was waiting for them. Usopp, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Robin, Franky and their musician Brook sat in their respective seats and greeted the raven head. "I missed you guys!" Luffy beamed as he sat in his chair. Sanji opened the platters and Luffy immediately dove in and shoved meat into his mouth.
"Luffy, did you get any treasure?" The cat burglar asked gold bars could be seen in her eyes. Luffy shook his head and Nami cursed under her breath muttering 'What's the point of going there if you didn't get any treasure'.
"How was the expedition Luffy?" Robin asked. Luffy frowned, food spilling out of his mouth. The group stopped eating and all eyes on the raven head. The raven head started talking but only incomprehensible muffled noises came out of his stuffed mouth.
"Idiot, don't talk when your mouth is full!" Sanji bickered. "Usopp, mind explaining what happened?" Usopp explained the events that happened in the cave and the painting that they discovered throughout the entire duration of the meal.
"Luffy, Usopp. I'm glad both of you didn't slip and impale your heads with a stalagmites or lose your limbs with the grenade." Robin calmly said wiping her lips with a table napkin. Usopp's mouth almost dropped and hit the ground, something's terribly wrong with Robin's brain. And somewhere deep within Usopp cringe at the thought that the woman actually wanted to see them lose limbs and shit. Why was Usopp surrounded by weirdos? The long-nosed man slouched on his chair.
"So there's a chance that they're onto us?" Zoro asked raising an eyebrow and picking his tooth, his legs stretched on the table only earning a kick from the blond chef and before they could start going at each other's throats Nami punched both of them. Nami scoffed, the marimo and the curlycue could stop their shitty acting, everyone already knows what's up with them in the first place.
Luffy shoved one last meat into his mouth and gulped it down in one go. "That seems to be the case. I made sure we weren't followed here though. There's a big chance that they're already starting to decipher the clue."
"Then.. we should start working on it then. We wouldn't want them to get ahead of us and get the treasure first. If it really exists." Nami said.
"Nami is right Luffy, we should start decoding it," Robin added.
"Alright." Luffy got up from his chair and rubbed his tummy. "Usopp print the images and bring them to the library. Robin and me will be waiting." Luffy and Robin walked towards the library leaving the others behind. When Luffy was out of their peripheral the crew started talking.
Brook sipped tea from his flask. "You seldom see Luffy act serious, bask in it. Take it in and enjoy the view."
Luffy couldn't count how many times he had been sighing for the entire night. He dropped his head on the desk and pulled his messy black hair. Robin and him had been looking at the photos scattered all over the desk for god knows how long but they were getting nowhere. Luffy admired Robin's patience with dealing with his whining if it was Nami, he'd be bruised and battered by now. He's getting hungry again and Sanji already slept. Luffy and his first world problems.
The raven head sighed for the umpteenth time . He looked at Robin who was intently staring at the photos placing them side by side. Luffy pulled himself out of his sorry state and headed to the ceiling-high bookshelf on the far end of the library. He scanned the books one by one and finally found his notes. Flipping the pages slowly, Luffy walked back to where Robin was sitting.
"Robin, do you think we missed something from the old clues?" Luffy said without looking up at the black-haired beauty as he placed the notes on the desk still flipping through the pages.
Robin hummed. "I don't think so Luffy. Since it already lead us to the next ones, I don't think they have any use anymore. But I guess it's worth a shot to examine them again."
"Okay, the first one was a simple poem." Luffy opened the page of the note where the first clue was written and showed it to Robin.
Ruined Kingdom, once stood tall
A Great Tree, fought through Fall
Oh worthy one, hear its call
For the Core, does not open for all.
"This one lead us to the Great Adam tree in Kuraigana Island. Where you gents had to fight those humandrills. I'm surprised Zoro didn't die." Luffy shook his head, Robin, and her morbid thoughts. "And it took us forever to find a secret compartment where we found a box in the tree after inspecting it from its roots to its leaves. God that was torture, the tree was colossal." Robin said. Luffy was surprised to hear the calm woman complain. Oh well, guess Robin got pissed with that too just like everyone else. Who wouldn't? The place was full of bugs and Nami and Usopp wouldn't stop screaming every goddamn minute.
"Then the box had inscribed letters and numbers and contained an hourglass filled with sand. That one made my brain rot." Luffy huffed. "Without Nami we wouldn't have noticed that those numbers were actually coordinates. I blamed the hourglass, it was goddamn deceiving. I thought it referred to time...cause you know, hourglass, numbers and all that shit..." Robin nodded. " But now that I think about it, the sand might've come from Erumalu, the ruined ancient city in Alabasta where the coordinates pointed."
"True, we could've deciphered it faster if we broke the glass and studied the sand but that's blasphemy. It's an important part of history, it should be preserved." Robin firmly said while adjusting her reading glasses. Luffy grabbed his own pair of spectacles from the desk's drawer and wore it. He should've done it earlier.
"We found a poneglyph when I accidentally fell in the ruins." Luffy tapped the note.
"We should've brought it here, doesn't matter if we get squished and our eyes pop out of its sockets and our inside burst carrying it."
Luffy stared at Robin's furrowed eyebrows. "Shishishi, I know you're still touchy over that subject. Sorry Robin, but it's safer if the World Government holds it where Lucci and his goonies can't access it. But I guess that didn't matter, I got careless and lead them to the next clue in the end." Luffy facepalmed. He cursed himself for that. Right when they left the organization with wrong information, Luffy had to fuck it up. "Shit happens, huh."
"Luffy, don't stress about it. We'll find it." The woman smiled, she sat closer to Luffy to examine the notes, her slim long pale fingers trace on the note and hummed. "Then this" Robin pointed a line in the note "lead us to another clue."
Barren Lands froze in time
Bathe in Light yet Lurked in Darkness
Scripts written in eternal rhyme
Hidden deep from the world's Madness
"Shishishi we got lucky with that, it's good taking things literally sometimes," Luffy remembered how the crew had to list all the islands in the world that has constant winter and had cave systems that weren't following explored. The list came down to Drum Kingdom and Karakuri Island and since the World Government had a base in Karakuri Island, Luffy decided to start at Drum Kingdom and Voilà! Luffy and Usopp found the next clue. Now if only Robin and him could start getting something out of these damned pictures.
"Hmmm, then... Maybe we should take the pictures literally? Let's assume that this depicts the process of making the poneglyphs." Robin picked an enlarged picture of the cave drawings and pointed at the figures.
"It does look like it, that's what I thought the first time I saw it. The one on the bottom part of the photo looks like they're mixing something... and the second part looks like they're molding the cube." Luffy squinted his eyes to see the image properly.
"The third figure, I'm sure of it, is depicting how the ancient civilization who made the poneglyphs wrote encrypted messages on the cubes," Robin added, eyes gleaming. "And this" Robin pointed the written ancient language below the drawing "did have missing words but it says 'first, record, time, journey'."
"Okay, assuming they meant, that the drawing above is the first record of their civilization. Then what does the time and journey mean?" Luffy rubbed his temples. His tummy grumbled and Robin chuckled.
Robin tapped her fingers on the desk. " The first record of their time and they embark on a journey?" Luffy blurted out. "Or probably I'm just making this shit up," Luffy grunted and started bumping his head on the desk. The mess was straining his brain. "I need foooood Robin. I'm dying. Meeeeeeeaaaattttttttt."
Robin chuckled. "Go wake Sanji. The fridge's locked Luffy."
"I know. Stupid Sanji and his stupid lock." Luffy whined. Luffy forced himself to inspect the pictures one more time. If both him and Robin couldn't find anything, then he had to go to sleep before he transformed into the hulk and destroy the fridge. Luffy did not want to wake up Sanji and relive the horror of seeing the blond and a certain marimo go at it. Luffy cringed at the vivid image that popped out in his mind.
"Luffy, what if it means we just have to find the first ...very first poneglyph ever created?" Robin stared at Luffy wide-eyed.
Luffy stared right back at Robin wide-eyed and jaw hanging. "Ho-Holy shit Robin... That...that actually makes sense! The images.." Luffy lifted each picture and compared them one by one " They just really show how the ancient civilization freaking made the poneglyphs!" Luffy jumped Robin and hugged the older woman.
"Okay, Luffy relax." Robin left Luffy's bear hug. Robin ran her fingers through her long black silky hair. " That means we have to go to Raftel. Specifically the World Government HQ." Luffy bit his lips. Now that's shit. " That's where they placed Rio Poneglyph, the only poneglyph that explains the events that happened during the 800 void years that only the top ranks of the World Government can access. They literally built the HQ above it."
Luffy closed his eyes in thought. "Don't they keep records of that? Like written in books maybe?"
The door of the library opened. Luffy and Robin turned around and saw Nami rubbing her eyes and wearing her orange silk nightdress followed by Usopp. "Hey guys," she said with a yawn. "Still not done?"
"Almost there. Not really sure yet but might as well give it a try." Robin answered.
Luffy winked at Usopp, raising his eyebrows and a sneaky smile on his lips. "Usopp, I'll tell Kaya. Shishishi".
Usopp tilted his head, his long curly hair messily swung sideways. "What do yo-" He looked at himself, only wearing boxers and then to the silk-clad Nami. His eyes almost popped out of its sockets. "T-th-this-This isn't what it looks like Luffy!" he yelped.
"Shishishi. You say that but you're beet red. Admit it Usopp." Luffy teased and Robin chuckled while Nami just shook her head and sat beside Robin.
"Alright, stop teasing the man Luffy. He might explode, not that I mind witnessing that. I bet it would look like Picasso's painting." Robin hummed.
"Shishishi, okay okay. So, Robin, they keep records right?" Luffy asked again.
"That's right... They keep the records in the World Government Library."
Luffy tapped his temples and hummed. "Then that's it. We'll go there." Luffy stated calmly.
Usopp who just recovered from the shock of Luffy's teasing went into another full blown panic. "How on earth are you gonna do that? You can't just barge in and say 'hi do you have time for your friendly explorer Monkey D. Luffy?' " He slapped himself. "Fuck."
"You did not just give Luffy a fucking stupid idea you idiot!" Nami screeched pulling Usopp's black curls and the man started screaming.
"Shishishishi. Don't worry guys. Let's think it through." Luffy reassured his crew.
"You say that but your face says otherwise. God, you look creepy as fuck." Nami cringed looking at Luffy's face and Usopp glanced at his best friend's face and started sobbing, chanting 'we're going to jail, this is the end'.
"What do you mean?" Luffy tilted his head.
Nami waved her hand all over Luffy's face. " Big black eyes shining, shit eating grin showing all of your goddamn teeth, moving your eyebrows up and down. God, you look like a fucking murderer about to maul someone. Just don't even think about it. Or else you'll have no meat. Understand?"
Robin interrupted before Luffy started eating himself or succumbed to severe depression hearing Nami's statement. "Luffy, there should be another way, we don't want them to get an idea of what we're doing right?" Luffy pouted, his plan was cool.
Luffy leaned on the chair and slouched, his head hanging on the chair's railing looking up and staring at the light, listening to Nami nag and Robin trying to stop Nami from verbal abusing Luffy while Usopp still was not done chanting his mantra. The whole WG thing was really a pain in the ass for Luffy. Why couldn't they just leave him alone, he was a modern day Robin Hood goddamnit.
"Wait... World Government right?" Usopp suddenly got over his existential crisis in a a matter of seconds. He stared at Luffy. "Luffy, how about you meet him? It's been what... two- no. Three years?"
Luffy sat properly and looked at Usopp, tilting his head. Just what the hell was Usopp trying to say? Who the fuck was this 'him' Usopp's referring to? Him... Three years. Him..."You dont say..." the raven head muttered. Luffy stared at Usopp, cold beads of sweat started oozing from his forehead, the hair on his nape bristled, his palms were clammy and the adrenaline coursing through his body coming from his body's fight-or-flight response was shutting down his ability to think logically.
"N-n-no!" Luffy screamed.
Usopp rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, he's not that bad. You're being overdramatic Luffy."
"Who is 'him' actually?" Nami and Robin answered together.
Luffy started fidgeting in his chair, rocking back and forth muttering under fast-paced breathing. "Fear is a feeling induced by perceived danger or threat that occurs in certain types of organisms, which causes a change in metabolic and organ functions and ultimately a change in behavior, such as fleeing, hiding, or freezing from perceived traumatic events. Fear in human beings may occur in response to a specific stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to body or life-"
"Usopp... I think you broke Luffy." Nami deadpanned.
-guilty-
How was it? I hope it's still interesting.
The next chapter would be TORAO's chapter! Can't wait for him and Luffy to meet!
For the next chapter, I made World Government something like the FBI instead of leading the world, they're taking care of the civilian's safety and all of that stuff.
archaeolexicologist - someone involved in researching ancient language (not really sure ., i had to ask old Mr. Google since i dont know if linguist fits Robin job)
Disclaimer: One Piece is Oda's masterpiece and i'm just a pleb.
The fear description came from Wikipedia.
-guilty-