Nami felt her whole body numb.
A weird sensation crawls on her skin and like if she was underwater, her ears and eyes were filled with the waves of the ocean. She couldn't really move either, but it was weirdly relaxing.
Then, a shadow starting to fade in above the surface, looming over her, distorted by the water's texture. She felt so drowsy, and so sleepy, but couldn't bring herself to ignore that. Blinking slowly, she thought to herself.
'Who... Are you?'
She was starting to slowly wake up, her head fuzzing with the sound of a car's engine as it travelled down the road.
Her eyes opened and she was met with the passing landscape outside the car, strikes of fog decorating it, thankful to the late afternoon light that didn't blind her. The trees were so pretty and a welcome sight after that weird dream, even with the grey tone on them.
"Good morning." A voice caught her attention and she turned to the boy sitting next to her, smiling brightly. She couldn't help but give him a little smile back as she combed her long orange hair with her fingers, trying to fix them where they got flattened out.
"You almost slept for the entire trip!" Luffy mused jokingly with his arm crossed as he tilts his head towards her playfully. "Usually I'm the one doing that!"
"Oh, shut up, I just needed to sleep!" Nami affectionately pushed his head away, not giving up on the opportunity to mess with his dark hair.
The orange haired girl yawned into her hand, the sleepiness finally slipping away as she once again took in her surroundings. In the driver and passenger seats in front were Sanji and Pudding, and from her angle of view she could see the girl's fingers timidly tapping next to the blonde's ones, her cheeks red and a small smile from what she could barely see. They really are a sweet couple. Well, even though they were not official yet. Of course, she rooted for her friend, but was worried about how Sanji would behave a in relationship.
Pudding was the one who proposed to take this little vacation together. It was late spring already, and even though lessons weren't finished yet, their respective parents ultimately agreed on letting them go camping for the weekend and skip a couple of days. Well, not everyone's parents did, so they ended up being just the four of them, promising the others to plan a bigger vacation once it was summer.
This didn't turn out badly, since Puddy's idea in the first place was to get to pass some time alone with Sanji. She has a huge crush on him from the very first day and Sanji… Well, it's Sanji. So they might just figure out what they want to be together.
Speaking of which...
Luffy, sitting next to her, was now looking out the window car, looking slightly annoyed at the fog outside. His straw hat diligently behind his back, the ribbon matching the red hoodie he was wearing, one hand on his lap, and the other pending towards her on the seat.
Nami blinked, wanting to take his hand and intertwined their fingers, but ultimately doing nothing. He was always so close but felt out of reach. But, she was just content being at his side, enjoying his warmth.
Pudding, and of course Robin, knew how she feels about him. Puddy even said this could be an occasion for the two of them too, but she didn't feel so sure about it. Luffy has always been impossible to read, and never really showed any kind of romantic interest towards someone, so there was really anything indicating that kind of interest for her. Nojiko, her sister, pretty much said she should and needs to talk to him and be direct about it, but it's way easier said than done.
And she sometimes really thinks he deserves better, someone who's more adventurous and active like he is, so she has to struggle against both herself and the others too. She fears that he could reject her, or that they'll get together but Luffy being an idiot wouldn't know himself if he was really in love or not- But the thought of seeing him eventually with someone else make her chest feel tight and heart crack. She felt trapped in her own head.
Her dream underwear pretty much summarized her feeling towards the straw hat boy. An astronaut in the ocean, raising one hand up hoping to reach the sun shining brightly up in the sky.
"Nami! Slept well?" Pudding's bubbly and sweet voice brought her back in reality. She turned to her, and saw her facing towards them in the back, the kind smile and red cheeks remaining a permanent feature - especially when being next to Sanji.
"I did, now I feel refreshed." She said and tried to stretch her arms in the little space.
"Sanji, where are we anyway? My legs feel cranky." Luffy piped in the conversation whining to his friend currently driving.
"Good, I was worrying." The blond dramatically let out a sigh of relief. "You haven't said anything about food or needing to move around since Nami fell asleep."
Luffy puffed his cheeks and crossed his arms muttering something under his breath.
"And, about your question." Sanji turned the wheels following the road's turn, his hand going up to take the cigarette out of his mouth and stopped it midair realizing he wasn't smoking at that moment before continuing calmly. "I have no idea."
"What?!" His three friends exclaimed loudly, and the car screeched as he nearly lost control of it, making all of them abruptly yank to the left, safety belts thankfully preventing them to hit their heads.
Sanji huffed out the adrenaline and quickly returned to drive normally, chirping in.
"Yep, I'm lost."
They all collectively sighed, and Luffy immediately spoke first, holding on Sanji's seat.
"I'm gonna tell Zoro." He threatened almost jokingly.
"And I'm going to leave you out here in the forest." Sanji answered in a heartbeat, raising one hand behind to slap his one away.
Pudding scratched her head at their antics and sighed. "You said this was a shortcut, so I thought you knew the way..." She promptly took out her phone from her pink purse. "Oh, and there's no signal."
"Sorry about that." The blond easily apologized. "I did know where I was going, but then the fog got so thick, and at the point it dissolved a little, I guess we were too deep down in the forest already..." Sanji admitted sighing. "Didn't want to worry you in vain."
Pudding awed at that, while Luffy sighed defeatedly and Nami irritated, wanting to kick the seat in annoyance, but refrained since Pudding was sitting in front of her.
"Can't help it if we don't have a gps." Sanji grunted surely cursing in his head his old man Zeff, which owned this old car.
"C'mon, we can still have fun. Let's watch out for some signs!" The straw hat boy spoke up happily and Nami smiled relieved. You can count on Luffy to transform whatever mess in a game and lift their mood up.
"Actually a good idea, I can't really take my eyes off from the front." Sanji thoughtfully added, right before noticing the car slow down, and letting out a questioning sound when the accelerator didn't work. "Huh...?" Slowly but surely, the car came to stop in the middle of the road.
"Sanji...? Why did you stop?" Pudding asked nervously as the passengers in the back waited anxiously.
"Uh, I didn't." The blonde tried to start the engine again, but it didn't even make a sound.
Luffy suddenly took off his safety belt and opened the car door, probably eager to finally have an excuse to stretch his legs. "I'll go take a look."
Nami immediately followed him, and she was greeted by the fog and late afternoon chill air. There was already little light to begin with, but from the way the sky looked they had at best another half an hour before it went completely dark. She circled around the car meeting up with Luffy in the front of it. No smoking coming out of it, gladly.
"Well, nothing looks wrong to me." She told her friend, conscious of her anxious tone. Her eyes fell inside the car and saw Sanji's hand on Pudding's as they chat with worried expressions. Despite herself, a small smile formed at that sight.
"Weird." Luffy commented as he tried to open the hood of the car, while Nami crossed her arms and took the opportunity to look around. Many rocks, a couple of trunks on the ground, and so many trees. She thought that this place would look absolutely stunning on the daylight, but now the perspective of being stuck here while the sky got darker and darker, with so much fog blocking their view... Nami shivered as she kept darting her eyes around until they fell on a shadowy figure approaching them in the distance covered by the fog, and she instinctively took a step back and grabbed Luffy's arm, who turned to her and then followed her stare down the road ahead of them.
An old woman was walking slowly towards them, one hand behind her back and the other on a cane steading her, and after a couple of more steps she spotted them, and she became more visible to them too. She was really small, had shoulder-height light grey hair, and her voice sweet if not a little rough as she talked, starting to slowly walk again.
"My, my. What is this young cute couple doing out here in the mountains? With such much fog, nonetheless."
Nami softened just a bit her grip on her friend's arm, relaxing from almost freaking out, but feeling a warm fuzzy feeling on her chest as she referred to them as a 'cute couple'. Luffy took a brief good look at the old lady, before thankfully speaking first.
"We were on a trip! But then our car just stopped. So I guess we're stuck here." Luffy easily babbled out, smiling sheepishly as he scratched his head. Nami looked at him with side eyes, Luffy has always been good at reading people, so did this old woman just pass his test?
"Oh, you poor children." The woman spoke thoughtfully as she adjusted her skirt. "Is there anywhere you can stay?"
"Not really, we're lost so we don't know how to get back either." This time Nami answered her. "We're probably going to have to spend the night in the car."
"Oh, you don't need to do that. My home is nearby, you can stay there. It's quite cold in the nights."
"Really? Thanks!" Nami smiled sincerely at the offer and Luffy matched hers.
The old lady giggled sweetly and rested both of her hands on the cane. "Please, call me Gloria."
/
"What a relief, thank you for your kindness!" Pudding smiled talking to the old woman as they walked down the road with their luggage.
"We don't want to pressure you, so just let us know if we can help with something." Sanji added, his voice a little tired from having to push the car out from the road together with Luffy.
"No need, no need! My house is much bigger than my needs, so I really appreciate some young folks make use of it." Gloria walked really slowly, but the small group easily fell at her pace, luggage and all. The atmosphere was cool and relaxing, so no one really minded it.
"Still, we'll get the car fixed as soon as possible, we don't want to disturb you more than necessary." The blond kindly replied holding one hand up.
"Oh, there it is, you can already see it." Gloria talked with a smile in her voice, raising her head up indicating them where to look above the line of trees.
"No way, it's huge!" Pudding exclaimed while the others remained to stun to talk. Coming from her was kind of funny, since she lives in a manor already, so it really did point out how huge this building is.
As they kept walking and looking up distractingly, Sanji's foot got drenched in dirty water and the old lady immediately apologized.
"I forgot to tell, there's a large swamp in front of my house, please be mindful of your steps. Sometimes a gush of wind makes a wave big enough to get some of that dirty water on the road." She explained, her voice somewhat embarrassed and apologetic.
Just a little more walking, and they reached the open space in front of the manor. It was mesmerizing, the building so solemn and old, the swamp giving it a somewhat fairy tale feel to it.
"Woah...! I kind of feel bad, like I'm trespassing..." Luffy spoke timidly as he took in the scenery, and Nami sympathized with him. None of them could have afforded such a big house, so they really felt out of place, even Pudding looked awed but intimidated.
The old woman let out a gruffly laugh, calling nonsense, as she walked all the way to open the front door and made space for them to enter, inviting them in. If it looked huge on the outside already, the intern was another story. A huge corridor stood in front of them, that expanded both to the left and right around the rooms. In front of them and down the hall a staircase to the second floor. The floor was made out of wood, and the walls neatly painted of a tuned out and old yellow.
"It's really roomy in here... Wonder how much it takes to clean it all." Pudding commented, noticing how it really looked clean overall, even if the oldness of it really showed.
"It is really big, old lady, are you rich or something?" Sanji piped in.
"Oh, not at all. I would restore this old thing from its foundation if I were." She laughed easily as she waved him off, starting to walk again with the help of the cane. "Come along now, I'll show you the rooms."
"Please forgive the old fashion of the furniture, I bet you're used to much more modern houses." The old lady walked all the way to the stairs, and then pointed them to the four rooms – each pair at one side of it – through the hall left and right. "I'm sure you're all hungry, I'll cook something for dinner. Until then, please make yourself at home. I'll be in the dining room, that's the second door down there, on the left side." She explained them poorly pointing at the corner down the left corridor. They were so going to get lost until they quickly memorized all the doors.
As the woman walked that way, the four of them excitingly skipped around choosing their respective sides and rooms. Puddy and Sanji went to the right, as Nami found herself following Luffy on the left side.
Nami's chosen room was really huge. It had a chimney, two small couches with a table and a desk, plus a big wardrobe, and some other things casually lying around. There was a big carpet with washed out colors under the table and couches that looked kind of worn out but gave the room a royal feel to it. Even the bed was big, and it looked so comfy!
Two huge windows let the light in. She went near the one next to her bed and pushed back the heavy curtains to see outside. And there it was the swamp, eerie, but a beautiful view. Another building sat on the far right, barely visible. Nami wonders what that place is.
Staying only a night in, she supposed it wouldn't make sense to put her clothes out from the luggage. She checked around the room but found nothing interesting enough and was left especially disappointed by an empty chest that seemed to hold something valuable.
Nami was curious to see the other's rooms, imaging Luffy being all giddy around his room.
She got out of her room in the large corridor and went to knock on the room just next to hers. She hears some rustling inside, then some quick steps and Luffy opened the door, smiling brightly.
"I thought this place was old, but have you seen the other mansion out back? Now that's old!" He motioned to his door window. A balcony?! Now she was jealous. But when she went to open it, it didn't bulge.
"Yeah, I guess it's stuck, but the view is really nice either way."
"So, there's another mansion?"
"Yeah, grandma told me this one got built a generation ago since the other one was falling apart."
She looked at him suspiciously. "You wanna go and take a look?"
"Me?! No..." Luffy huffed sounding annoyed, his eyes darting away from her, arms crossed. Nami laughed, he was so bad at lying it was always entertaining. Faking being mad at her, he went out from the door, shouting a quick. "'Going to explore without you!"
Nami pouted and blushed a little, spared a couple of seconds to look around, noticing the same exact decorating expect he had a huge clock on the wall and no windows other the glass door, before going out form his room and starting to walk past the staircase separating the other two rooms in which Sanji and Pudding were in.
A glint of light caught her attention, and she turned around turn around finding herself right in the center of the hall, a beautiful painting with a golden frame on the wall to her left. Oh, she hasn't noticed passing it earlier. It was a woman, neatly dressed lying down in a swamp and surrounded by plants. Well, swamp seems to be the main theme in here anyway… There's something weird about this tho, the kind of bad weird. She shrugged the feeling of and took a detour, finding other big rooms.
The kitchen, the dining room, the bathroom, they were all so huge! She could swear the bathtub was larger than her own bathroom back at home. The bathtub and the toilet were in two separate rooms, that was weird, but it can make sense considering a whole class could easily live here, so more people can have a shower without worrying about someone rushing in needing to use the toilet.
A room was locked, and that was boring. Another painting of another woman in the swamp passed by. She swore she saw already at least three of them, all different, but with the same theme in common.
Another room, past Sanji and Pudding's rooms, had a phone and a TV, but the mansion had chimney and candles basically in any room, but maybe had some problems with getting electricity? Nami quickly thought about calling her sister, but the phone line was utterly dead. She sighed and walked out, defeatedly, thinking about the scolding of a life she was going to receive.
As she got up, she bumped in Sanji searching for the kitchen, and she directed him there exchanging a few excited words.
"Have you seen the huge swamp?! Maybe tomorrow I'll go swimming!"
"Swimming in there?! I was going to say to take Pudding with you, but I don't want her to stink!"
"You know what? I think I'll ask her." Sanji told her smiling thoughtfully.
"Anyway, where is she? I thought everyone would be curious and strolling around."
"Oh, she's in her room, was admiring the view." The blond answered pointing her to said girl's room.
"Thank you!" The orange haired girl quickly waved him off and happily walking to Pudding's room, knocking on her door.
"Oh, you have a dresser!" She immediately noted as she entered in. "I don't have one in mine..." She added, her tone slightly deflated.
"It's really cool, right? You can come over to do your makeup in the morning."
"Thank you! Hey, did you explore yet? Wanna come with me?"
"Of course, this place is immense. But I thought you would ask Luffy about it." Pudding winked and smiled slyly. Her face went red, matching her hair.
"I-I... Can't do it." She sighed defeatedly and her friend patted her back sympathetically as they walked out of the room.
There was a room right in front of Sanji's and Pudding's that Nami didn't enter yet, so they tried getting in there first.
"Oh, this is so... Japanese-ish." The floor, the pattern on the wall, was so different from the rest of the manor so far that it almost looked another house completely. It really looked out of place.
"Oh god, this drawing is horrible." Nami jerked her eyes away from the painting on the wall. The creature on it looked half human and half fish, but had its face full of wrinkles, huge teeth, and two black holes as eyes.
"I'm going to have nightmares..." Pudding concerningly stated, observing it.
"Why don't you ask Sanji to sleep with you?"
"Why you!" Her friend reddened even worse than her, and she jokingly started to escape her running out of the room, hearing her following right behind as the other girl ran to catch her with fists in air.
She took in the opportunity to run upstairs, but her friend quickly stopped, calling her out.
"Maybe we shouldn't walk around too much. Don't want the old lady to get mad, she's been so nice so far..."
Nami had her hand on the railing as she looked at her, and then up in the yet unknown part of the house, before eventually giving in. "Yeah, you're right." She sighed walking down the stairs, thinking about Gloria.
"Oh, I wanted to take a look to the swamp! Think we can go outside?" Pudding quickly tried to cheer her up, clasping her hands together.
"Yeah! I want to see it too. It really looks huge!"
They made their way to the front door, and finally got out to take a good look at the swamp they barely saw earlier.
"A stone monument?" If only Robin was here. Pudding curiously kneed next to her, trying to read out loud.
"'A man did abduct from… the seashore'...? I can't really read well." What a shame. It looked interesting.
"Curious about the monument?" The old lady's voice made them instantly turn around.
"Please! Don't do that!" Nami let out a sigh of relief as Gloria approached them.
"My apologies. This rock talk about a legend that took place around here. About the Mermaid Swamp." She paused to look briefly at the swamp, quiet waves moving next to them.
"It is said that the son of a leader descended the mountains down to the seaside and discovered a mermaid. The man was so smitten with her beauty, that he took her to his mountain home. He created a fish tank for her to live in, filling it with water from this very swamp. But, a mermaid of the sea doesn't crave for swamp water... So she grew progressively weak, and ugly. Her clear skin swelled, her scales fell off and her voice as melodic as ringing bells was reduced to a beastly howl. She took a repulsive form... And eventually died. A mermaid's- no, actually… A woman's wrath is no pretty thing. Young women have vanished from the nearby village." The girls looked at each other worryingly, and the old woman paused letting them have their moment.
"It is said to be the mermaid's curse. So, this monument was put to mourn her, in the hope that it could easier her pain and save poor innocent girls from an unknown fate."
"That's... Really sad." Pudding talked unsurely, one hand up to her mouth.
"I know, I don't know what the people in the villages nearby have to like it so much. Guess it's kind of a tradition."
"I guess so." Nami told her, not wanting to disappoint in some way.
"Do you two think the boys would like to hear about it, as well?"
"Maybe Sanji would, but Luffy..." She smiled and shook her head.
"Is that so?" The old woman laughed freely; the mood immediately changed. "Dinner is ready now, if you will, come to the dining room. I'm sure you already found it." She smiled knowingly, and the orange head felt a little ashamed of her lack of patience in wanting to look at the other rooms.
"I'm a little hungry." Pudding lamented as she followed the woman inside, Nami in tow.
/
They silently reached the room, the boys already sitting down at the table waiting for them, all settled.
"I must apologize, I don't usually have so many guests all at once, I hope rice and eggs can satisfy you."
"Don't worry, it's on us. If we end up needing to stay more, we'll just go buy some other stuff." Luffy smiled politely, and it was strange not seeing him whining about it, but Nami guessed he also didn't want to sadden their host, and was probably crying out loud in his own head.
"This is delicious!" As they started eating, Luffy quickly commented.
"I'm so glad you like it, you can slow down a little, though..." Gloria told him affectionately and preoccupied the boy would strangle himself.
"Yeah, you're really a great chef." Sanji gulped down another spoonful before speaking again. "I feel bad I didn't get to help though; we'll help you with the dishes."
"No, please, you must be tired from the trip and its unexpected turn. Rest yourselves, as I said, your company is really precious around here. Just leave everything on the table, I'll wash them tomorrow in the morning. Now if you excuse me, it is way past my usual bedtime, an old lady needs much more rest than you do." She excused herself, they all bid her a good night as she left the room and resumed eating. Well, not everyone.
"Pudding, you said you were hungry, aren't you going to eat?" Said girl in fact did eat a couple of spoons but stopped as soon as the old woman left and started playing around with it. Luffy promptly stopped, taking a good look at her. She seemed really tired.
"Well, I did, but I feel so tired now..." She looked strangely out of it, but then again, it has been a sudden change of plans since the car straight up left them in a unknown part of the forest.
"Sweetie, go get some rest. Let me help you to your room." Sanji got up and held her hands to help her stand, and then took their two plates from off the table. "It's better if you try at least to eat a little more, I'll keep you company."
Luffy and Nami, in one of their rare moments of synchronization, both waved them away as Pudding was about to protest. "Don't worry, just go rest. We'll take care of this!" Luffy said gently and the other two gave them a grateful look, while Nami amusingly noticed Pudding's face progressively getting redder.
"Please, rest well Puddy." Nami smiled slyly and winked at her friend when the blond wasn't looking. She hadn't really thought about it, but maybe the stress of the detour was too much for Pudding, seeing her family background she probably never had to deal with such inconveniences, while for the rest of them it was pretty much daily business.
"Thank you guys, really." The blonde gratefully greeted waved them goodnight. Luffy and Nami finished their meals in a comfortable silence as they both were starting to feel the tiredness for the day, and when they got up to clean the dishes they quickly agreeing to do it together. The boy would wash them, while Nami dry them out and place them back on the dispenser.
Nami liked washing dishes with Luffy. It felt so mundane, the only sounds the plates clattering, the water running, and her fast heartbeat when she was too close to him, brushing their arms together. She hoped her cheeks weren't a bright red. She hoped her feelings wouldn't ruin their friendship, Nami thought bitterly.
"It's really weird that a place this huge has only one bathroom." Luffy commented as they went back to their respective rooms to take the things they needed to wash themselves and dress for the night.
"Now that I think about it, you're right, but maybe there's another one upstairs…?" The orange hair thought out loud, and for some reason now she was even more curious of exploring the second floor. Maybe Luffy's sense of adventure was getting to her.
They took turn in washing themselves into the bathroom, and chatted wholeheartedly as the made their way back into their rooms.
"I mean, I really wanted to see the stars, but this is so much nicer than camping anyway. I just hope Pudding will be able to rest well." Nami sighed ss they made the last turn. "This place is beautiful, but in this darkness, it kind of freaks me out..." She added in a hushed tone, like if she feared the house itself could hear her.
"I think we're just not used to it, but yeah, and with this fog we couldn't have seen the stars anyway." Luffy told her as they turned the corner.
"You're right." Nami came to a stop right in front of her room, while Luffy just had to take a few more step forward to reach his one. He turned around, giving her a small, tired but content smile.
"Goodnight, Nami." He waved at her.
"Goodnight, Luffy." She smiled back at him and opened her door, going in. She shut it quietly and rested her back on it, hearing Luffy's door close a few seconds later.
Nami sighed and looked up at the walls, tracing the pattern of the old wallpaper with her eyes. She allowed herself to be lazy and slowing changed into her pajama, getting into the bed. It was really comfy, just as its appearance promised her earlier, and she let her face sink into the mattress, laying with her stomach down. She thought about Pudding's words once again, about how this vacation could do good for them as a couple too.
Then she visualized the scene from earlier, Luffy washing the dishes and smiling at her as he got some bubbles from the soap on her face accidentally.
'Luffy, you're an idiot…'
She thought sadly to herself, moving to bury her face on the pillow, as she felt tears threateningly forming into her eyes. Nami thought she would have trouble falling asleep in a new place, especially not with this sudden rush of emotions, but soon found herself dozing off.
Recently, my interest for rpg horror games rose again but found the fandoms utterly empty.
So, this is a retake of the plot of Mermaid Swamp, a horror rpg game made by Uri, with characters from One Piece and main plot evolving around them.
The story contains spoiler for the plot of the game, even if I did change some things there and there to better adapt it. Still, if you any interested in playing it, I recommend doing it first before reading this.
Either way, enjoy!
I do not own none of those characters.
