Drip…
Leo blinked in confusion , looking around him. He wasn't in the Going Merry , judging from the fact that the walls were made of stone.
Drip…
The walls are covered in gray , with a tint of crimson , creating an unusual color for its inhabitants. The furniture was normal , although they looked old. There was a desk in the 'back' side of the room , some paperwork piled on top of it.
Drip…
Leo was sitting on a chair , his platinum-blonde hair barely reaching his sight. There was a crimson couch to his right , facing the entrance to the bizarre room. Leo got up from his spot , floor creaking as he did so. Said floor was made of almost pitch black wood , like charcoal.
Drip…
This place felt familiar and foreign at the same time , confusing Leo. He brushed his hand on the various furniture around the room , marvelling at how real they felt.
Drip…
The 'impact' of a liquid on his cheek stopped him , his hand reaching it. The room was barely lit , allowing little to no sight to normal people , but Leo did see the liquid smeared across his thumb and index finger.
Blood.
Slowly , Leo turned his head upwards. And was reminded of why he remembered this… environment. He gave a small , bitter smile at them… blood spilling on his face once again.
Drip…
The first figure that was hanging from the high ceiling was a woman , judging by her long blonde hair. Her eyes were obstructed from view by her hair , although Leo had no need to see them –he remembered 'them' ripping her eyes out. Her outfit was a yellow sundress , most of it stained crimson. She was tall , about Leo's size , but her pale skin and personality were cheerful.
Her body , once flawless , was covered in cuts everywhere. Leo , with shaking , bloody hands , stumbled back into his chair.
"Katherine…" he muttered , tears leaking from his eyes. He rocked back and forth , arms holding his head up.
Leo waited for what he knew was a flashback to end , the door swung open with force. He didn't look up , trying to get his mind back together was tasking. Light footsteps followed the momentary silence.
"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice called , getting his past-self to pay attention. A young man , around fifteen –a year older than Leo at that moment- , stood there.
He had black curly hair , green eyes and a pale face. He was wearing a green Hawaiian shirt with blue baggy shorts.
"You don't even care about the fight outside?!" the newcomer asked , green eyes flashing with fury. Past-Leo blinked in confusion , and focused on his wearing. The sound of gunshots filled his ears , making his head hurt.
"I know your first… you know , is hard. But for Christ's sake , GET YOURSELF TOGETHER."
Leo shot out from his bed , to the floor , startling the reindeer doctor working on something. After a few moments of silence , Leo walked out of the room , drenched in sweat. He stumbled to the showers , using his powers to start the mechanism that did its magic and gave him a proper bath.
"You don't even care!" Leo closed his eyes , leaning to the wall. The nightmare-flashbacks had started some time after Loguetown , but never this far and so real.
Chopper was working on some proper medicine for Leo when he found something strange. His antibodies weren't normal , compared to everyone else on the ship. Chopper was a different case –being a reindeer and all- but just shrugged it off as Leo growing up on different environments.
Zoro was practicing by himself , something he wasn't used to after training with Leo for so long. Since their lookout had gotten sick , Zoro realized that no one was invulnerable. That fact had never eluded him , his dream of becoming the best swordsman in the world made him think that way already.
The difference here was he was on equal strength with Leo , who had gotten sick. I need to get stronger. Caught up on his musings and practice , he didn't notice a distressed Leo walking to the kitchen.
"Hey Sanji." Leo muttered when he entered the kitchen , just loud enough to get noticed. Sanji was cleaning the kitchen –they just had breakfast , which Leo missed- with Nami sitting near the table , talking to Vivi.
"Hey , Le- oh god you look like a wreck!" he yelled in surprise. It was true , Leo's hair was still wet from the shower , his curly locks now sticking at odd angles. He wore a crimson hoodie with no shirt underneath , a dark blue short that reached up to his knees for attire and as usual , he was bare feet.
The thing that disturbed the occupants of the room was the air around him. His body posture was weak , face grim and eyes that looked half dead.
Leo sighed , already tired. "Just a nightmare , don't worry." He sat on a chair "can I get something to eat?"
-x-
In a bar , near the capital of Alabasta , two figures sat next to each other. One was a dark , curly haired teen wearing desert attire that his clothes. The other was a red haired male –around 26 years old- that wore a dark blue hoodie that covered his face and yellow shorts.
The bar was full , people laughing and talking with each other on different tables , some people getting into fights for stupid reasons and lastly , a lieutenant working in the Royal Force. This person was dressed in clean , normal clothes –the only way people actually knew he was a lieutenant was his badge , which he carried proudly on his left shoulder.
Two figures shifted in their seat , near the bartender but close to the marines. "Hey Marco , what are we waiting for?" the curly haired teen asked , leaning to the red haired individual. Said figure snorted "Be patient you idiot." he replied , listening to his target.
"I just got promoted , you said I couldn't do it , well guess wha-" before he could finish the sentence , Marco gave the signal –a slight burst of Conquerors Haki- and his partner suddenly disappeared , only to reappear behind the lieutenant and cut his throat.
"Nice work , Aren." Marco praised his partner , who was next to him as if nothing happened. His speed amazes me , even after working with him for a year.Marco finished his drink and walked out with his partner after paying for the food.
"Now , we go get the payment." Aren told him , now walking side by side as they started to leave the city.
-x-
Leo was now sitting on the kitchen roof , gazing at the clouds. His thoughts had kept drifting to his nightmare , so he decided to cloud gaze. Until Zoro sat next to him that is.
"Everything alright?" Zoro asked , this conversation was the reason he was here. The whole crew was worried about him after seeing his behavior over the last couple of days. He was grumpy , jumpy when people approached him , and overall different.
"No." Leo replied , still looking at the sky. "But it will be." He told Zoro , that was what he wanted to believe too. Turning to Zoro , who noticed the bags under his eyes , he asked.
"Have you ever had nightmares? About what happened in the past?"
Zoro nodded , he had always thought about his past –it was one of the reasons for his dream.
"How do you deal with it?" Leo asked , now facing the clouds once again. Zoro took his time to think , if his friend was troubled by the past , what could he do? His nightmares were over because he had...
"Accept. You can't deal with this kind of thing , I know this may sound cruel , but you have to accept the past –that's the only way I know how." He stood up , leaving Leo to think about his problems.
-x-
Zoro walked in the kitchen , not surprised to see the entire crew –except Leo , of course- there. Nami was sitting with Vivi , Chopper with Sanji and Usopp while Luffy was sitting at the head of the table. They all had worried and serious looks on their faces , even Luffy.
Zoro walked to and sat on an empty chair , looking at each of the crew members. Nami was the one who spoke first.
"Is he alright?" Zoro sighed , he didn't want to tell them he had trouble about the past , without Leo's permission. He locked eyes with Luffy , who surprisingly relaxed and leaned back , as if he understood all of it.
"No," Zoro started , which got worried faces from everyone , except Luffy, "but he said he'll be fine , and I trust him." He finished.
Nami and Vivi were still worried , but it was Sanji who broke the silence. He pushed back his chair , getting up and lighting another one of his cancer sticks.
"Even though it sucks to agree with you , baka marimo , I trust Leo too." Zoro was about to retort to the insult then he noticed Sanji was doing it to distract others. Hiding a smirk , he continued on with the –not so real- fight they usually had , somehow destroying the tension within the room.
-x-
Aren walked through the familiar streets , alone. He didn't have an assignment today , so he just enjoyed himself , doing whatever he wanted.
He was about to enter another casino when he heard a bird fly over him. A few seconds later , he opened his hand to reveal a small letter , signed by Marco. He started reading.
We have another mission , and I think you'll like it. The target name is hidden the usual way.
Aren nodded , Marco used a tricky coding system with letters and numbers that needed to be deciphered. It took him a month to figure out how to make a sentence with the coding system.
He looked further down the letter , memorizing the address and contacts. He read the code in the last sentence , and smirked.
Mercy D. Leonidas.
He started running into the desert , skipping a few steps with childish happiness. 'Found you.'
-x-
Leo was sitting in his room , holding a small but big book in his hands. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes , he opened the book , revealing a page full of writing. Leo's writing.
That old geezer left me at a summer island with nothing but this stupid book. This place sucks , its hot but it isn't even summer yet.
Leo read a few more lines , a smirk on his face.
I hunted for the first time today , it was a small tiger but like I said , hungry.
Today I made a custom spear , this island has sharp stones. Learned that the hard way.
I made a small dagger , found an abandoned mine , just like this island. I think I'll camp around here , prey started to get smarter and dangerous.
And Leo kept reading.
Today I-
I settled in the cav-
And read.
I saw the biggest animal-
I killed the biggest animal-
Until he read the quarter of the journal , where it stopped.
Geezer is back! I never thought I would miss him! My clothes were ruined by now , he gave me new ones. I like writing here , I won't stop. Old geezer made sure to make me promise him that.
Until next time , bye!
Leo laughed , a true , honest laugh. 'Why did I let a couple of nightmares stop me?' he thought , taking a pencil out of his bag. And Leo , after so long , started to write again.
I met a guy named Luffy - and he wrote his first adventures with the crew. How he joined , how he made friends , the spars , he wrote everything.
We are now helping a princess save her kingdom from the Shichibukai , Crocodile. Nami told us we were nearing Alabasta –Vivi , the princess's kingdom- so we better get ready. And I should take a shower.
Leo wasn't over his nightmares , no , but he accepted them. He stopped seeing them as nightmares , and started seeing them as reminders of why he kept moving forward.
Okay , first things first. I am sorry , not dead yet but almost. You see , after I have some health problems I don't want to bother you with. Basically , I was in a hospital for weeks but I'm back up and running (or writing :D) this chapter is shorter but introduces new characters.
Read if you want to know the reasons for the new characters!
After writing until here (Alabasta) I encountered a problem. Leo had no true enemies to fight , except cannon fodder and Zoro. So I came up with two of them , and one of those two is special. And I don't really want Leo to be a really good guy , he is a pirate. So this chapter was my way of revealing (not changing) Leo's character. He has a bit of a dark side , along with some flaws you will 'see' later on. I will try to update every two days or so.
I hope you enjoyed , and once again , I'm sorry