Warnings: Language, violence, character death, fluff
Disclaimer: Eiichiro Oda owns One Piece, I own the plot and some concepts.
When Everything Goes to Hell, A Small Light Will Shine
They had finally reached it. After eighty years of suffering, and trudging, and near agelessness, they reached the no longer elusive island. Really, it was just a large mountain surrounded by lush trees without a beach, but still.
Somewhere in that mountain was where the boy would have to die.
"This is the place?" Shanks asked, his voice quiet with frightened awe. He was a pirate and once upon a time, he shunned fear, laughed at it, but now was different. After living through everything he had, losing all his strength, going through unbearable pain without dying, he truly knew what fear was.
And this island had every right to be called terrifying.
The mountain seemed to be covered in this luminous glow of odd colors, making it appear unreal. What's more, the colors moved, making the island have an unrealistic shimmer. The trees were large and looming with long, knobby branches and thick, twisting roots at the bottom. Their leaves were large, abnormally so, and though many of the trees leaves were rich green, there were shades of purple, pink, yellow, blue and orange all in their most acidic, neon-like shades. Odd fogs and mists of similarly strange colors surrounded the island, creating an unbearably humid atmosphere. His eyes also caught the large and small array of landmasses in the sky, with creatures flying between them as the islands rotated, spinning and moving up and down in space. Sounds of groaning, creaking, moaning, and shrieking echoed around the landmass, making fear boil in Shanks' gut, because they all knew very well what those sounds were.
But by far, the most terrifying thing was the large body sticking out of the earth, towering over the mountain. Only the torso, head, and arms were visible as the body leaned over the island in a protective stance. Plants grew out of its pores and creatures walked its surface with irreverence and ease. Its eyes were open, wide, staring out with an empty gaze, as tree roots literally grew from it's eyeballs.
Shanks had never seen something like this before in his life, and it was horrifying.
"A spell was cast over that giant many years ago. It's part of the island and must protect it for it's entire life, always moving as a result. It's likely why you've never seen it. It will only stop once it feels the All Soul approaching."
"Is that why it's taken so long to reach it?"
"Yeah. It's always moving, never stopping. Now that we're here, once we're on the island once more, it will begin to move again. The creatures on the island aren't anywhere near as violent as those elsewhere, being so close to the Pool of Souls."
"Pool of Souls?" Dragon's wife asked. Roger nodded.
"All of the dreams in it counterbalance each other, making it a neutral atmosphere. From what I remember, the island is quite peaceful."
Roger's voice seemed to get dimmer and dimmer. Shanks continued walking, now lagging behind everyone else as he stared at the island.
Something was wrong.
He turned around in the middle of the water, staring at the flat sea. Something was approaching in the far distance. It was moving fast.
"Shanks! What are you doing out there?" He barely heard the yells from the shore as he realized that the large something was chasing a person with…red hair?...
Rose!
With inhuman speed, she reached her father. The look of panic on her face was all he needed to know that grave danger was coming.
Just as she reached him, the sky behind her seemed to shatter, turning a burning red. The sound of breaking glass echoed all over as the sky literally began to fall.
This was new.
Shanks grabbed her hand and both of them bolted. In the back of his mind, Shanks could hear Roger and Rouge and everyone else on the island screaming at them to hurry.
A deafening roar sounded behind them, making Shanks' nonexistent heart pound.
What was chasing them?
A large wave suddenly formed and the two of them were thrown forward, landing on the island harshly, rolling over the dirt and smacking into trees before coming to a stop. Shanks looked up just in time to see the sky, glowing a horrifying red, shine down on the island the island began to glow as well.
There was a scream.
Shanks looked over and saw Dragon's wife on the ground – it appeared everyone had been tossed back by the wave – clutching at her large abdomen.
Her clothes were getting wet.
"Her water's broken!" Rouge shouted as she sat down next to the woman in a rush, telling her to breathe. Shanks could tell something was wrong though, the way that Rouge looked over the woman. Something wasn't right.
"Shanks, watch out!"
Shanks turned behind him, his eyes widening in fear at the monster that sat above him. It was a snake-like creature with coiled bones protruding from it's elongated body. The creature roared and opened its mouth wide. Shanks made to move but found he couldn't get up. He turned around and looked down at his legs, only then realizing that one of them had been cut off.
How had he not noticed that?
The mouth came down at him and he knew it was the end, just knew it, but then a shadow – a human shadow – came and covered him. Blood splattered everywhere as the yellow fangs dug into the body.
Blood?
"Once the All Soul, the last ghost of the revival spell is born, his or her structure is changed. All ghosts become alive again, but only through the blue blood. Death comes quick to many and their dying wishes are linked to the child."
His eyes widened at the realization.
As the child is born, we gain life, only for death to catch us first.
"YASOPP!"
The man grinned down at him.
"It's been an awesome adventure, captain. One I won't ever forget."
The monster lifted it's head up, bringing Yasopp with it. Shanks was screaming as were several of the others. He could hear Usopp screaming bloody murder and at that moment Shanks hated himself more than anything.
The head was tilted back and Yasopp was bit in half with a sickening crunch, one horrified scream cut off, and then the creatures throat bobbed as it ate the man.
Shanks couldn't remember much after that. He knew he was screaming at the monster, which was walking away like nothing had happened and he hadn't felt so so so angry in years. He knew he was lifted and someone carried him away as he cried, trying to go back and avenge his friend while he heard Usopp sobbing.
He hated everything about this damn spell. It wasn't a gift.
It was a curse.
Shanks sat, staring down at his now useless leg. How was he supposed to survive this whole ordeal on one leg? He couldn't let them bring him with them – he would only drag them down, and he refused to do that. Rose sat next to him, eyes closed as she leaned against the tree they sat against. In the near distance, the sound of Usopp crying seemed to echo through their small camp as Benn attempted to comfort him with Roo.
An infants wail broke through the tense silence.
Rose shifted, looking behind her as Roger emerged from the tent, a relieved yet sorrowful expression on his face. It wasn't surprising, considering he personally knew what the poor child would end up going through. As the sound of voices made murmuring sounds in the tent, the tall man went to the cliff nearby overlooking the ocean.
Shanks belatedly realized that the sky must've broken and the sky seemed to break because of the child's birth beginning.
He wondered what was going to happen next.
Luffy was scarily small. That was a common thought among the group. His mother insisted that he was perfectly healthy though, so none said a word against her, especially since she was in a mental state similar to a Mama Bear or a Mama Elephant.
Shanks had to wonder how the baby would survive.
Currently, the red haired man was sitting on a board they had created so they could drag him across the water. At first he vehemently denied letting them put him on it, but it wasn't like he could run away on one leg. And he couldn't try to run away either since they had told him to watch after the infant and his mother.
She was in bad shape, worrying them all. She seemed to be constantly suffering; her breaths were labored, she shivered and was in a constant cold sweat, she mumbled in her sleep, and her skin was pale. It was nerve wracking for poor Dragon.
The baby whined and Shanks rocked him, making a soothing noise as the small sled-raft-thing went over a small wave in the water. He looked at the people pulling the string and walking. Benn and Roo were both with Usopp, who was still shocked over what had happened to his father. Shanks didn't think he'd ever forgive himself for such a thing, even when the boy had told him earlier that it wasn't his fault.
Garp was pulling the raft while standing between Roger, Dragon, and Rayleigh, who were all talking in hushed whispers. Rouge was walking a few steps ahead of them, occasionally whispering something back to them.
His hair was tugged and Shanks grunted slightly, looking down at the infant in his arms with a fond smile. The newborn had wide blue eyes and he heard the boy's stomach growling, causing Shanks to sigh exasperatedly. The baby had a seemingly endless stomach compared to other babies he met. Still, he couldn't help but grin when he thought there was a ghost of a smile on the chubby face, even if it was just his imagination.
Luffy's eyes looked to the back of the raft and, for some reason, he began to wail.
Loudly.
Shanks tried to calm the boy, but nothing was working. The raft stopped moving and soon Rouge was there, asking what was wrong, but Shanks had no solid answer.
At least, not until the water splashed up in a huge waving, showing a gigantic creature with glowing eyes, a slimy, scaly body, and a head ten times bigger than Garp, who was a pretty damn big guy and the same size as several monster.
But this was out of their league.
The last thing Shanks was able to make out was shouting and the sound of Luffy crying.
AN: I'm sorry this is late but writers block keeps hitting me during this arc. IT'S SO ANNOYING! DAMN YOU WRITERS BLOCK! Sorry if the chapter is short too, but it was all I could think of at the moment. And yes, now that Luffy has been born (I'm just going to clarify this too because I know there may be questions, but in this story once the mother goes into labor, the world is all like "oh, the kids coming out now? Ok, let's make everyone sad!" if you get what I mean...I hope but ask questions if you don't understand) the characters will slowly begin to die one by one. I REALLY DON'T WANNA DO SOME OF THESE DEATHS GUYS. I'M GONNA CRY I KNOW IT.
kdh1997: Thanks! Yeah, a lot of things about Luffy can end up really good or really bad. I'm glad you find it interesting and that it makes sense :)
Diclonious57: Fluff is awesome :)
spoons-are-evil: You're back! :D I understand, school sucks. I can do weekends only now :( Thanks! I've noticed that a lot of vampire stories have romantic love to it, especially in fanfiction, but I hadn't seen anything that was just violence, which is how vampires are normally depicted, so I gave it my own twist. When I made up the concept of All Soul, I immediately thought of Luffy, and I'm hoping that when I get later into the story, it will make some pretty awesome scenes, action-wise and drama-wise. They're probably gonna go looking for the island right away, considering the fact that it moves n' all. And I love Shanks. I feel so guilty for torturing him like this though! Ah, yeah, senior year. The only thing that's really tough is the epidemic of senioritis, where everyone procrastinates. it's not good. Thanks :)
seikens: I'm glad you liked that scene, I love writing fluff moments :)
Guest: I'm glad it makes more sense now :) (did it log you off? Does that to me sometimes)
ichigi111kurosaki: hahaha, yeah, a lot's gonna happen now
Bluebird42: I know! it felt good to finally write that info out. I hope you enjoyed the chapter despite Yasopp's death :( (Sorry Yasopp!)
luffylova: Yep, Garp is here! Ahhh, I did another cliffie. Sorry! hahaha, thanks! :)
shadowmarialove: hahahaha, a lot is gonna happen now. Especially surrounding Shanks.
Once again, I'm so sorry for the late update guys. Writers block and homework are evil, evil things that we should not have in our lives. OH! Also, I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what to name Luffy's mom in this fanfic. If you have any suggestions, please tell me!
And, thank you so much for reading! Please review! Love you guys :)