She sat on cold stone with arms around her knees, watching over the underground kingdom and all of its eeriness, finding fascination in every single one of its inhabitants as the maddening buzzing filled her ears.
She saw a round frog float up from the swamp, slowly expanding to an unbelievable size before being launched in the air. It fell back in the bog with a mouth full of mosquitoes, disappearing under the muddy waters.
Somewhere else, from that same water, over ten thick worms appeared, wiggling excitedly as a lizard-man fed limbless bodies of flies to them. They began fighting ferociously among each other for the dinner, receiving a scolding screech from their master.
"I think I'm going crazy..." muttered Sun, sitting next to Robin with a torch in her hands, "It's like the buzzing is getting quieter..."
"I think," Robin looked up, "I think it is!" she pointed towards the cocoon.
Bit by bit, the amount of bugs flying about receded, leaving only fireflies behind. The hard workers continued blinking steadily without rest.
"The lizards, too...?" asked Sun.
Robin nodded, watching the lizard-folk disappear inside the pyramid.
The annoying noise was replaced with magical quietude.
"Well, now that I think about it... It's rather beautiful here, don't you think so, Robin?"
She nodded, then glanced at the book that lied next to her. "Tell me chapter eight. Please."
"Right now?" Sun placed a hand on her chin, "How was it... 'The air seemed particularly cold that night,'" she began, "'He gazed upon the stars...'"
Robin sat there, watching the floating lights, numb to her shivering body or throbbing wounds. She was sinking. She felt like a character from a fairytale, blessed with the opportunity to experience something otherworldly. She wanted to remember this place, this image. To go on living, carrying this precious memory. She wanted to live. To exist.
As time passed, one by one, the fireflies disappeared.
An odd noise appeared.
"Is this... Scratching?" Sun asked, looking around.
"Scratching? What do you mean?"
"I don't know. Sounds like a..." she looked up, "Like a big, big..." her eyes widened, "Robin..."
Robin followed her gaze.
Right above their heads, hidden by the darkness, something long, scaly and nauseatingly repulsive was actively moving hundreds of its tiny legs, making a circle after circle on the dark stone.
Robin grabbed the spear and hurled it at the creature, dashing away.
"Jump!" she yelled.
She made a long jump, falling down with her arms spread. Next moment, she and Sun were floating in the air, the large wings flapping mesmerizingly.
The scratching turned overwhelming.
They both observed with terror on their faces as thousands of giant centipedes escaped the middle layer of nests, climbing the walls up and down, towards the cocoon and the Pyramid.
The disgusting buzzing returned. The lizard-men stormed out of the castle in strict formations, spears and shields at the ready.
"Robin..." called out Sun feebly, "Robin, look," she gestured with her chin towards the cocoon.
Robin's breathing stopped. There, passing through the nest and falling right on top of the Pyramid, a tiny ray of sunlight seeped through.
"Go... Fly, Robin!" exclaimed Sun, "We can leave this place!"
"How, how will we pass through the cocoon?"
"Just trust me!"
The wings flapped and moved forward, towards the center of the kingdom, flying over a ferocious battle happening beneath them.
At one point, the main gates of the castle opened and a gigantic alligator appeared, a golden crown resting on his head. The beast roared, charging into the centipedes.
"We'll have less than a minute before the Sun begins to melt our skin," mentioned Sun as they approached the top of the Pyramid.
"What?"
"As soon as I say, forget about everything and fly up, towards the sky, got it?"
Confused, Robin nodded.
"Get ready," said Sun, intertwining her fingers.
Laying in Robin's arms, she closed her eyes and began a whisper, her lips dancing fervently.
"Now!"
That same instant, the sunlight turned brighter. Much brighter. Painfully brighter. Blindingly so.
As if licked by the hottest flames, Robin shut her eyes tight, too, and flapped her wings. They began ascending, coated in divine light.
The whole kingdom lit up dazzlingly.
Albeit unbeknownst to them, Sun's powers did wonders towards repelling the centipedes. The creatures screeched, twisting in confusion as the lizard-men indulged in a one-sided slaughter.
The king alligator turned around, facing the light. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, dropping the crown and revealing a banana that grew from there. His underlings followed his example, getting on their knees and assuming praying positions.
Soon, the Angel passed from sight inside the cocoon, which happened to be completely empty by then.
The light disappeared, returning the everlasting gloom to the underground kingdom...
Robin and Sun emerged from an old well, surrounded by nothing but hot sand. The Sun shone brightly, swimming among the infinite blue sky. The wind tasted weak and warm. And sandy.
Sun put hands on her hips and looked around, "Now what?" she asked, turning to Robin, "Are you alright, Robin?"
The girl felt like her skin was sizzling, the feeling encouraged further by the bright yellow ball above. Sun, on the other hand, seemed completely unbothered.
"Come here, Robin," she lifted up her rags, revealing the malformed skin, "I'll carry you to..." she glanced in the distance, "Well, somewhere. Let's hope there's an oasis or a village nearby."
And so she set off, crossing the unexplored desert, sweat pouring from every part of her body. The weather remained unchanging for hours, cursing them with crushing heat, but as the translucent Moon took shape, Sun finally recognized blurry, man-made buildings in the distance. Majority of them were simple square houses made from bright yellow stone, decorated with intricate rugs and colorful paintings. And, in this case, dry blood.
There was no one to greet her, as every villager was lying on the ground, motionless. She stepped over the fresh corpses, searching for a water source.
"Robin! A well!"
As they began gulping from a wooden bucket, they both noticed something curious about the corpses – some of them had thick bolts protrude from their bodies, and every single one was in possession of broken tridents.
"It's them!" exclaimed Sun, "The Erasers!"
"Who?"
"The pirates my daughter joined!" she approached a dead body, "They're notorious for stealing and pillaging artifacts, and then selling them to World Nobles" she picked up a trident, "See this? All of these are stolen from fish-folk."
The cogs in Robin's brain turned. A realization dawned upon her.
"Your daughter is dead," she said, digging a hole in sand with her foot.
Sun looked at her, her expression... tired.
"Yeah..." she whispered, turning away, "I knew that..."
A heavy silence hanged between them.
"So, you met Flower?" she asked with her back turned, "Was she nice to you?"
Robin hesitated for a moment. "No."
"I'm so–" Sun's voice cracked, "I'm sorry..."
Robin took another sip.
"Her Devil Fruit..." Sun spoke up once more, her voice trembling, "She didn't use it on innocents, did she?"
Robin wiped away her lips, "She did."
Sun remained in a stupor. As shock passed, she took a deep breath, "What a mother I am..." she sniffled, clutching the weapon tight.
Robin put the bucket back in place and walked away, searching for food. She entered the only building with an open front door, quick to notice many empty bottles of alcohol scattered on the floor. She rummaged through the house, changing in an oversized blue t-shirt, and searched the kitchen, stuffing her mouth with bread and sausage before leaving outside and approaching Sun, who stood motionlessly in the same place, staring in the distance.
"Want some?" she offered the food.
The woman faced her, her eyes red and puffy. She forced a gentle smile.
"I'm not hungry, thank you," she turned away, "I think we should keep moving."
Robin did not argue.
Since evening approached, she walked on her own, rubbing her sleepy eyes on the way. As night came and the Moon shone brightly, they stumbled upon another village, witnessing a similar scenario.
"I know Erasers have a lot of enemies, but..." Sun looked around, "Looks like someone's really pissed."
Robin noticed another open house, promptly heading in its direction. As she entered, loud snoring reached her ears. She brought her arms together.
"Who are you?!" rang out a young voice outside, where Sun was.
She turned around, about to ran towards her, but stopped.
"What now...?" asked someone wearily, getting up from the bed, "Who are you?" they questioned, walking up towards Robin.
As she turned around and faced the person, her body froze.
There stood a tall but skinny man with short brown hair and light stubble.
"Oh?" Asim raised his thick eyebrow.
His breathing... It was completely normal.