Chapter 6.5 - Nami's Fearscape

A/N This is a side-along ficlet for chapter 6 of what Nami experienced while trapped in Fredric's fear fog.

When I had tried to run, I hadn't gotten five paced when a steel band of an arm yanked me back mid-step, scrapping the soles of my feet on the rough stone. His oily voice poured into my ear as he squeezed me too tight, "Don't think I don't know where those marks on my bitch came from. Your night is only starting. Once Marcus is through with you my brother and I need to teach you a few lessons about touching things that ain't yours." I felt the blood drain from my face and began to thrash harder in his arms, which only caused him to tighten hold. My breath wheezed out of my and my weepy eyes moved around the room.

This was all so confusing. The scene in front of me had brought up a lot of questions. The way Marcus treated the woman who had brought us here was almost as bad, if not worse, than how he treated everyone else. So why was she free to roam? And why was there a sea prism stone in Lavender's ear? She hadn't told me she had devil-fruit powers.

It was all bizarre, and my only ally now seemed like even more of a stranger. When King Pin had brought up Luffy and said that the two grotesque men had somehow killed him, I refused to believe it. He had the strongest will of anyone I had ever met, and if he knew I was missing, there was no way he would ever be defeated. This monster could throttle me and bat me around all he liked, but I knew that Luffy was coming. He always had and always would come for me.

A damp cold sensation had started by my feet, stinging the fresh scrapes on my soles. Looking down, I saw a thick black fog. It quickly spread as I tried to shake it off until it covered me from head to toe. I was surrounded by dark briefly and then lost all sensation.

I was suddenly sitting in Nojiko's kitchen, the scent of tangerines strong in the air. Confusion fills me, and I swivel to look out the open front door.

Standing, I walk to the door and begin walking toward town. The acrid scent of burning wood assaults my nose the closer I get, and I break out into a run that leaves my legs burning. The horror that awaited me was beyond my wildest dreams. Bodies hung from light poles; half the buildings were on fire the others burned to cinders.

I saw a brief commotion at the end of the main road, closer to the dock, so I quickened my pace. Ahead of me was a sight I never wanted to see again. Arlong and his whole gang were spread out in front of a ship, several men tied up at their feet, blood pooling around them. I couldn't make out much detail as Arlong's body blocked most of them from view.

"You thought you could come here and just take from me?" Arlong yelled. His men laughed around him. "I'll show you what happens to those who try and defy me." He took a step closer to the struggling me clearing a path. I took several steps forward and quickly covered my mouth to stifle my anguished gasp.

Arlong reached down and pulled one of the struggling forms from the ground. With my view now unobstructed, I could now see it was Usopp. He was crying, and his nose was bent at a right angle. His overalls were ripped and covered in blood, both his own and that of our friends.

"Watch and see the price for your arrogance."

Arlong held Usopp up by his shoulders and opened his mouth as wide as possible. His razor-sharp teeth glistened in the sunlight. And then, without another word, snapped them closed over Usopps head, taking it clean off his body. Usopp's body flailed a few times before Arlong dropped it unceremoniously to the dirt below, blood spurting from his open neck all across Zoro's horrified face. "Ugh, disgusting, humans all taste like dog shit."

A scream finally broke through and rose up and out of my throat, and Arlong turned to me when he heard it. "Ah, my lovely navigator. Give me just a few more minutes to get rid of these pests, and then we can get back to our great work."

I shook my head and took one step back, only to be stopped by Hachi, who wrapped two tentacle arms around me to hold me in place. Next, Arlong gripped Zoro by his neck and quickly snapped it, throwing Zoro's body to the side with little thought to where it might land as one might trash. Sanji screamed after watching the others killed, and Luffy struggled to get free. Why don't his powers work?

"Arlong, please don't."

"Nami, do you have an interest in these men? This crew? Because I find that unacceptable."

He then stomps on Sanji's head without even taking his eyes off me. Another scream echoes between Luffy and me. "The last one. Nami, why don't we give him a chance to speak his last words hm?"

Pulling Luffy up by his hair, Arlong ripped the gag out his mouth.

"Luffy. It's going to be ok."

"We never should have come here."

"Wh...what?"

"We never should have come for you. You left us, and I came for you like an idiot, and now everyone is dead. We should have left you!"

Anguish fills me. How could he say that? We are family. "But Luffy I..."

"No! This is all your fault. I should never have come here, and if I had the chance, I'd never lift a finger to help you again. You bring nothing but disaster where ever you go."

I'd never seen Luffy so angry, at least not at me. And the intensity in his voice broke something in me. I collapsed in Hachi's arms.

"Well, it seems the intruder has about had it with you, hmm Nami. Let's put him out of his misery, shall we?"

I watch Luffy's eyes, can't seem to look away. The anger and hatred burn themselves into my brain, and it's the last thing I see before Arlong slices through Luffy's neck with his sword-fish nose.

Arlong and his crew laughed, and all turned toward me. "Now then, why don't we get you back up to your room. There are plenty of maps for you to draw up for when we rebuild the village." Arlong takes my arm and turns to lead me toward Arlong Park. As we turn, I catch sight of a few more bodies by the dock. Light blue hair and a pinwheel both flutter in the breeze. They give a false sense of life to the bodies they belong to. Another scream begins low in my throat before exploding out of me as I stare at the bodies of my sister and the only father I had ever known.

Another cold fog begins, and I blackout again.

I come to several seconds later, still locked in the embrace of the man known as Fredric. His hand still inching its way across my body. Reality seems to warp around me as I come to terms with what I have seen. It wasn't real. Nojiko and Genzo were fine. Arlong was dead. My crew was fine. I was certain, but the sobbing wouldn't stop.

But when this disgusting man reached into the dingy box at his feet and removed Luffy's hat, the anguish swelled in my chest, and I truly began to worry that Luffy might not have made it. No, there's no way. My captain wouldn't lose to them. I have to believe that.

I was pulled out of my sorrows when King Pin's booming voice echoed around the empty room. My breathing picked up as he asked, "Now, why don't you tell me your name, little one."

I thought about saying my actual name. Giving this man what he wanted seemed like giving up, and I never was very good at that. But I needed to get my wits back about me, and I needed to avoid getting smacked as much as possible to achieve that. So taking a settling breath, I said, "Blo...Blossom. Sir."