#He really DID decide to lookout for his future face and start doing face masks huh 😂

[lyranova]

Children of the Future:

Chapter 7: Alistar

Hi guys! Here’s chapter 7 I hope you all enjoy it, i’m sorry it took a little longer than previous chapters 😅! There really isn’t much ship content in this chapter but I hope thats ok I’ll try and have more of that in the next chapter~! Anyway I hope you all enjoy!

Taglist: @eme-eleff @crazyclownthanos @jovialnoise @talpup (if anyone else wants to be added please let me know!)

Word Count: 2,911

Warnings: None

———

Julius looked up as William walked into the office, Alistar was currently standing off to the side and was leaning against the wall. Julius could see the slight confusion in William's face as he approached the desk; he did wonder how the masked Captain would take such news, especially since he was the only one called, unlike the other children whose fathers and mothers had been called up here.

“ Is everything ok Julius? Marx said it was urgent that I come up here at once.” Willam asked as he saluted before he frowned as the Wizard King let out a small sigh, but the blonde smiled nonetheless.

“ Yes, well, sort of. It isn’t anything pertaining to the Kingdom's safety if that’s what you’re worried about.” ‘Or at least not that we know of at the moment.’ Julius added the last part silently, he hadn’t the faintest clue as to why the children are suddenly arriving, and so far it had been everyday a child would show up. He saw William visibly relax at his words.

“ That’s good to hear, but if that’s the case, then why was I summoned?” He asked in confusion before Alistar stepped away from the wall and stood next to the desk, that same warm calm smile on his face. William looked the young man up and down for a moment before turning back to Julius.

“ Julius? Who is this?” He asked, he recognized his Golden Dawn uniform and cloak, but he didn’t recognize the man wearing them. William knew every person in his squad, or at the very least knew their faces if not their names and this man was not part of his squad.

“ Well-.” Julius started with a sheepish laugh before Alistar held up a hand to silence him, Julius frowned slightly before the young man's smile widened and he held out a hand towards William.

“ Hello Captain, it’s nice to meet you! My name’s Alistar Vangeance and I’m your son from the future!” He announced brightly, taking both William and Julius back a bit. Julius had been partially hoping Alistar would gently break the news to William as the other children had done, but instead he just blurted it out. Julius almost wanted to laugh at the shocked expression on Williams face, he only turned to look at Julius again.

“ It’s true. Marx verified his memories before he summoned you here, he’s the fourth child to be brought here in the last 3 days. I was going to bring all the Captains here tomorrow and brief you all on what information we have so far, but then this young man showed up in my office.” Julius explained and Alistar nodded.

“ It wasn’t that hard to sneak in here, you might want to tighten security a bit Wizard King.” Alistar said with a small laugh, Julius nodded, that was something that would have to be worked on. But how were all the security guards supposed to know he wasn’t a part of the current Golden Dawn, especially since he was wearing their robes and uniform.

William stood there silently as his brain tried to process this information. This young man was his son? How was that possible? William wasn’t seeing anyone at the moment, and he wasn’t really looking since he was busy being Captain. So, how? William looked at Alistar again; he looked a lot like him, there was no denying that, but he also looked different. His eyes were the main giveaway. They were the same shape and size of William’s, but the color was different; instead of purple like his they were blue, an almost icy blue. He silently wondered if they came from his mother? That would be the only logical explanation.

“ I think I broke him.” Alistar said in concern as he leaned down to look William in the face, slightly startling the masked Captain. Julius chuckled softly.

“ No you didn’t break him, he’s just lost in thought.” Julius said before standing up and walking over to clap William on the shoulder, making him jump slightly. “ You alright?”

“ Y-Yes, just a little shocked.” He said softly, Julius nodded.

“ It would be a little shocking, Yami was the same way too when his and Charlotte’s daughter arrived.” William turned at that, Yami had a child from the future as well? And with Captain Charlotte Roselei?! That was surprising! He never imagined the man settling down and having a family, especially not with her!

“ Do you need a minute da-i mean, Captain?” Alistar asked, his eyes full of genuine concern. Maybe he should have eased him into the news, but it was a little too late for that now. Alistar rubbed the back of his neck nervously as his face tinged pink in embarrassment. He hadn’t thought his father would take the news this hard.

“ No, I’m fine. The shock is wearing off a bit now I believe.” William replied warmly and with a shake of his head, he saw the relief pass across Alistar’s face.

“ That’s good. I was worried there for a minute.” He said with a nervous laugh, before Julius chuckled and walked back around to his desk and sat down.

“ Maybe you two will get to know each other better on your way to the Hideout.” Julius said before looking over some papers again, William and Alistar both frowned. “ We have a special house for all the parents and children to stay in, just until we know what’s going on.” He added before he frowned a bit at Alistar.

A strange look passed across the white haired man’s face at his last comment, and that made Julius curious. Did he know something? If so, why didn’t the other children know as well? And why didn’t Marx find anything in Alistar’s memories? Was it because Marx wasn’t looking for that so the information was allowed to stay hidden? Hm, very interesting. Julius would have to keep an eye on this one.

“ So, where is this house Lord Julius?” William asked curiously, it was starting to get dark outside so they would have to hurry if the house was very far. Julius gave him directions to the house and both William and Alistar saluted him with a nod before walking out of the room.

“ So, I’m not the only one who’s made it here yet?” Alistar asked his ‘father’, who nodded.

“ It appears that way, from what Julius said Yami and Charlotte’s daughter is here as well.” William said as they walked down the hall.

Alistar had caught that as well, he hoped beyond hope that it was her. But a small piece of him worried that if he got his hopes up too high that he would be disappointed if it wasn’t. There were two Sukehiro daughters, so it could easily be either one that had arrived. His stomach suddenly began to twist itself into knots at the thought of it not being her. He wanted to hurry to the house now more than ever before, if it was in fact her he needed to make sure she was ok and that she was safe. He made a promise, not only to himself, but to her as well. Even though he was feeling all these emotions on the inside, he didn’t dare let it show on the outside, his face remained calm and warm like it had the entire time in the office.

“ Do you have a broom to use?” William asked as they stepped outside, Alistar laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“ Ah no, I walked here. I didn’t think about looking for a broom. But it’s ok!” He said warmly before suddenly conjuring up a small broom with his plant magic, causing William’s eyes to widen at the sight.

“ You can use plant magic?”

“ Actually World Plant Magic. It’s similar to yours except, well, plants.” Alistar confirmed with a laugh before stepping onto his makeshift broom and lifting it up into the air with his mana. William did the same and he tilted his head curiously.

“ I take it you inherited your affinity from your mother?” William asked curiously, he watched as the young man’s face suddenly looked downcast at the mention of his mother. But it disappeared as quickly as it came as he looked over at William.

“ That’s spoilers Captain.” He said with a laugh. “ C’mon before it gets too dark.” Alistar added before quickly flying away.

———

Yami and the others listened intently as William finished the story, it was quite different to how they met their children. Yami glanced over at the table and watched as the children ate and spoke amongst each other, he turned back to William.

“ So he doesn’t know why he was sent here either?” He asked curiously, William nodded.

“ Apparently not, Julius said he would be informing the other Captains tomorrow to inform their squads to be on the lookout for any children who seemed to be lost and/or confused.” William explained softly, Charlotte frowned a bit.

“ Out of all these kids not one knows what’s going on? What are the odds of that?” She asked as she glanced over at the children as well, they were speaking in hushed tones at the table now, they didn’t want the adults to hear their conversation apparently.

“ I guess not, but I don’t think these are all the kids.” Zora said suddenly, causing all the adults to look at him curiously. “ The Wizard King is alerting all the Captains to tell their squads to be on the lookout for more kids right? Which means he suspects more are coming.”

The others looked at Zora in surprise, they hadn’t thought about the Wizard King's words, and now that they thought about it it did sound like he was anticipating more kids to be arriving, and if so, how did he know that? They all sat in collective silence for a moment when Nebra decided to break it.

“ Wow so you really do have a brain!” She told Zora in a mock surprise tone, the red head growled at her and opened his mouth to argue before Charlotte quickly intervened.

“ Don’t you two start up again! I already have a headache from earlier.” She said with a sigh as she rubbed her temple, the blonde quickly stood. “ It’s getting late anyhow, I think it’s time for everyone to get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a big and busy day.” She added looking around the room, and everyone sighed but stood along with her, she was right; all the Captains would have a busy day tomorrow giving their squads their new orders after meeting with Julius.

The kids and Nebra, Zora, and Charlotte all went to their respective rooms except for Yami, William, and Alistar. Who all stood looking at each other for a moment.

“ So, where will I be staying?” Alistar asked politely as he looked between the two men, William was wondering the same thing as he didn’t have a room either.

“ You’ll be bunking with the little red head,” Yami pointed at Alistar and then down the hall. “ and I’ll show you to yours since it’s near mine.” He added to William before walking away, William nodded and followed behind Yami.

“ Goodnight Alistar.”

“ Goodnight fath-i mean, Captain.” Alistar said softly before quickly turning and walking in the opposite direction of the two older men.

Alistar sighed, it was going to be difficult having to call his father ‘Captain’ again. It had been a while since he had to do that, but even when his father was Captain of the Golden Dawn he rarely used the title unless he had too. He wondered if Hikari and the others were having the same trouble with their parents as well. Alistar jumped as someone grabbed his upper arm and yanked him into their room with so much force that he actually tripped and landed onto their bed. He rolled over and saw the person that had pulled him into their room was Hikari.

“ My how very forceful of you Hikari.” He teased with a slightly mischievous smirk. He may have been playing it cool on the outside, but on the inside his heart was pounding and he had butterflies in his stomach.

“ Oh stop it you’re almost as bad as Ezio.” Hikari rolled her eyes and playfully hit Alistar on the shoulder as he stood up.

“ I don’t know, from what I hear Ezio is actually worse than I am.” He chuckled as Hikari herself laughed a bit before the two fell in a comfortable silence. They tended to do this a lot; just sit and enjoy each other's company without saying a word. The two hadn’t always been like this, their silence used to be very awkward when they were younger, but as they got older and closer, it gradually became more comfortable.

“ Alistar,” she started softly, he ‘hmed’ in response she continued. “ what’s going on? Why were we sent back?” She watched as the white haired man instantly tensed at the question, that wasn’t normal for him, usually he kept a close eye on his emotions and body movements. He looked away shyly and rubbed the back of his head.

“ I don’t know Hikari.” He told her with a sigh, the black haired girl’s eyes narrowed instantly.

“ Somehow I find it hard to believe that the Captain of the Golden Dawn doesn’t know what’s going on with serious matters related to the kingdom!” She said in a slightly raised tone, he quickly shushed her before looking behind her, as though expecting someone to come rushing through the door at her words. He let out a small sigh of relief before his ice blue eyes narrowed at her.

“ And I find it hard to believe that the Vice Captain of the Black Bulls doesn’t know anything either.” He countered, Hikari crossed her arms as she looked at him.

“ You and I both know the Vice-Captain doesn’t know about anything important like this unless the Captain tells them.” She smirked as she saw his eyes widen slightly; he seemed to forget who he was talking to.

Alistar sighed in defeat before looking away from her, she watched as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. She almost laughed at his nervous habit, he had done that ever since he was a kid, although she wasn’t quite sure where he picked it up since his father didn’t seem to have that habit. Her eyes softened as she could see the struggle in his eyes.

“ I...I can’t tell you Hikari, not yet.” He said softly when he finally looked back up at her. “ I have to wait until everyone else has arrived.”

“ So there are more of us coming?” Hikari asked and he nodded in confirmation. “ How many?”

“ I don’t know. All of our strongest people I’d imagine, especially since you, I, and Josslyn are here.” He said with a shrug. Hikari glared slightly at him, she could see in his eyes that there was more he wasn’t telling her.

“ Why won’t you just tell me what’s going on?” She asked him in a slightly angry and raised tone. “ What, do you think I can’t handle it? Do you think I’m that fragile that I can’t handle the truth about why we were sent back?” Alistar shook his head and placed both hands on her upper arms and gave them a gentle squeeze.

“ No, I don’t believe any of those things. Especially about you being too fragile to handle the truth.” He told her softly and somewhat apologetically, yet his eyes were cold and serious, the complete opposite of his tone. “ But I can’t tell you just yet, so please,” he gently shook her shoulders.

“ Trust me.”

Hikari looked away, she had always trusted him, for as long as they had been friends she had trusted him and vice versa, that’s why they were a great team even though they were in two different squads. He trusted her with his deepest secrets and she did the same in return. She sighed and nodded.

“ I trust you.”

Alistar smiled at that and he nodded firmly before giving her shoulders one last squeeze before he walked around her and placed a hand on the door knob.

“ Goodnight Hikari, sleep well.” He told her warmly before opening the door and walking out of the room. He closed the door softly behind him and sighed, he hated keeping this from her, he walked away with his head hung low and his heart broken into a million pieces. Soon, he would be able to tell her what happened soon, but for now this information had to stay between him and himself. He found his and Ace’s shared room and walked inside, gently closing the door behind him.

“ Well, well, well, pretty boy is hiding something. He’s a chip off the old block if I say so myself.” Zora chuckled as he came out of the shadows and looked at Ace’s bedroom door. “ Just how much do you actually know hm?”

———

Sorry there isn’t much ship content but I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

[ericsonclan]

Coloring A Second Chance

Summary: James wants to reconcile with Tenn in hopes that they can get along and Ericson can become his home too.

Word Count: 1708

Read on AO3:

James lay on his bed, his eyes looking up at the metal panels overhead. He still couldn’t believe that he had a bed to sleep on again. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had one of his own. Was it before the world ended? No, he remembered he and his dad had found a group early on when the walkers first started to roam the earth. There had been beds there. James could feel his heart tighten as his mind began to recall fond memories of the past. Days with his dad as they worked in the food truck together, morning walks through nature as he cleared his mind of any thoughts and anxiety, game nights with his dad and spending time with Charlie. James felt his eyes prick with tears and his throat growing rough. He couldn’t deal with all of this right now. There were more important things to do.

James sat up and shifted his way off of the bed. Slowly he began to make his way to the door, his eyes focused on his worn out and weathered walker mask. He wouldn’t need to be keeping that with him at all times now, not when the walls of Ericson should keep out the walkers. James’ eyes stayed locked on the mask for a minute, the sound of birds and the voices of the residents of Ericson filling in the silence. After a moment more of deliberating James walked forward and grabbed the mask, tucking it away in his back pocket. There may be no necessary need for it but still, it made him feel safe.

James felt his heart settle and he opened the door, ready to greet another day. As his feet moved him forward, James’ mind began to wander as he glanced out the shattered window. He had reconciled with Clementine and she had offered him a place to stay here but that didn’t mean everyone was thrilled to have him here. They were all still recovering from the Delta’s attack and on top of that had taken in a stranger. An odd one at that. After all, he was walking around in the skin of the beings they had been struggling to survive against for eight years now.

A few were more cautious towards him than others, AJ seemed especially unsure about him although Clementine had reassured him that James was good. James couldn’t blame him though after what had happened in the cave that night. Everything seemed to have combusted in that cave, all the emotions within Clementine, AJ and himself burst forth and clashed against each other as their ideologies were shown for all to see. James continued to walk forward and grabbed the doorknob that led to the courtyard. Twisting it and pushing it open he was immediately hit with the sounds of the others busy at work.

Omar was busy chopping up vegetables with Aasim, the two happily talking about this and that. Their knives sliced through the tender veggies first into strips and then into cubes. Willy was busy on lookout duty but snuck a glance back at James. He gave a quick wave and smile before returning to duty. James returned it a bit late and felt his awkwardness overwhelming him. There was no way Willy saw that but maybe the others did; the thought made James’ insides twist slightly. He didn’t want their opinion on him to sour due to his late timing on things.

James continued to stew in his thoughts for a minute before he noticed AJ happily coloring with Tenn on the ground. The two friends talked and were revealing the masterpieces they were working on to each other when suddenly AJ noticed James. A small frown pulled on the corners on his lips. The sudden shift in expression confused Tenn who paused in his coloring and glanced back to see James. James could see the look of uneasiness in Tenn’s eyes. He didn’t blame him at all. Tenn had been stuck in the middle of that fight in the caves and had seen the angry side of James. The side which reminded James too much of the past. A place he didn’t want to revisit anytime soon.

James really did want to apologize to Tenn but whenever he got up the courage it seemed to never fit the flow of the conversation. James didn’t want to ruin the relationship he already had with Tenn so he left the conversation unsaid. But that had only made their interactions so far extremely stilted and awkward. Maybe today he could finally get up the nerve and push past any worries and say the words he needed to to the young teen.

“James!” Ruby’s voice snapped James out of his inner thoughts and he looked to his right to see the redhead bustling over. “I was looking for ya. Mind helping me count our medical supplies?”

“I don’t mind at all,” James smiled softly, his whisper-like voice floated around the air for a moment before a smile appeared on Ruby’s lips.

“That’s good! Now come on, with your help we should get this done in no time at all,” Ruby began to lead the way and James glanced back over at Tenn who was busy coloring with AJ again. It was probably for the best that he didn’t try to talk with Tenn now. He’d try and find Tenn when he was alone and when he didn’t feel any pressure from others on how to respond to James’ apology. With that James left and followed the redhead who was already going on and on about the importance of keeping stock of their supplies.

It had taken nearly an hour to check all the medical supplies due to the small interruptions here and there from the other residents of Ericson. Ruby thanked James for his help and he simply shook his head, saying that it was the least he could do since they had given him a place to stay. Giving a wave just in time for Ruby to see, James walked out of the admin building and spotted Tenn sitting alone at the table. He was busy studying the art box that had once belonged to Sophie. James took a deep breath and decided it was now or never. Walking over, James froze when he saw Tenn’s eyes spot him.

“Hello,” James gave an awkward wave and decided to stay in the spot he was standing.

Tenn was quiet for a second then responded. “Hi,” He looked away from James and began to fidget with his fingers. James could feel his social anxiety rising but he knew he had to push it down to continue forward with this. The only way he could make this place more than just a temporary stop and an actual home was to bond with those who lived here. To gain their trust, he had to be vulnerable.

“I wanted to apologize,” James’ statement made Tenn look up at him.

Tenn was quiet for a moment then spoke up. “You can sit down,” Tenn motioned towards the spot across from him and James gave a quiet thanks before taking that spot.

“What happened back in the cave, what you saw. It was a part of me that I thought was gone, but I was wrong. I’m sorry you got stuck in the middle of all of that and I understand why you’re wary of me,” James explained, his hands moving around animatedly as he tried his best to speak what was in his heart. He took a deep breath and saw that Tenn was waiting for him to continue. He wanted to hear all that James had to say.

James took another moment before continuing; he wanted to get everything right. “I thought isolation from humanity would save me but I now see that that isolation had taken me down a different path, one I didn’t want to pursue,” James’ hands continued to move around as he spoke and Tenn listened carefully, his eyes studying James’ face. “I’m hoping that with good, kind humans like everyone here that I will be able to keep my humanity and break the cycle. So that I never get back to that point that I was in the cave,”

James took a shaky breath and let his hands fall to his sides. He wasn’t sure how Tenn would take this apology and explanation. He didn’t know if he’d believe James and in his hopes for the future.

A moment of silence passed between the pair when suddenly Tenn opened up the art box and took out some colored pencils. Pushing aside the box, he handed over the pencils along with a piece of paper. James blinked in confusion at the items before he took them. Tenn smiled softly and began to draw again. “I forgive you, you were just trying to do what you thought was right. Now you see that it wasn’t and that’s good,” Tenn spoke as his pencil scratched against the paper. “You want a second chance, that's something everyone deserves. I think you can have that here,” Tenn looked up with a kind smile and looked down at the piece of paper in James’ hands. “You should color. It always helps me feel better,”

Those words snapped James out of his shocked state.

“Right, sorry,” James mumbed and began to color as well. A happier silence filled the air around them as they continued to color. “I’m not the best at drawing or coloring,” James’ apologetic tone made Tenn glance up.

“That’s okay, what matters is that you have fun,” The young teen’s statement made James’ pencil stop mid coloring. The words struck a chord within James’ heart as he looked over at Tenn. The two shared a soft smile before returning to their drawings. Each of them shared what they were planning on drawing and casual conversation began to flow between them.

James felt his heart grow calmer at the realization that he had gained a second chance. His eyes wandered up and looked out towards the walls where the moans and groans of walkers filled the air. He’d be sure to use this chance wisely.

[tickledpink31]

Obey Me x MC: The Leviathan

A/N: Whew! First fanfic and I’m a bit nervous. Anyways, here’s my contribution to the fandom especially for the Canadian fans like me and the art I post here is mine. My MC is called Minerva Castillo or Minnie for short. Enjoy!

Summary: After Minnie mentions an iconic roller coaster named after Levi, Diavolo takes the students on a day-long excursion to Canada’s Wonderland.

Minnie knew that when she signed up for the exchange program that there would be things that she would sorely miss back in the human realm, one of them being food. She was never against trying new things, but half of Devildom’s cuisine made that hard. The food could either poison her, attack her, or even make her violate her own principles (Minnie still hasn’t forgiven herself for giving away Mammon’s hiding spot to Lucifer after consuming a backstabbing sandwich.)

Minnie’s sweet tooth had been aching for something soft to bite on and wicked cupcakes just weren’t doing it for her. No, she missed the fluffy goodness of cotton candy that was not made out of spiderwebs and definitely not infested with spiders.

Her thoughts tended to wander from one idea to the next just like any conversation with Minnie did. Thoughts of cotton candy drifted to amusement parks, then to Canada’s Wonderland, and finally the Leviathan ride. That’s when she glanced at Leviathan—the demon, not the ride—sitting across from her at the dining table. He was immersed in his D.D.D. playing Mononoke Land as he ate, avoiding the chatter amongst his brothers as usual.

“Hey Levi, did you know there’s a roller coaster with your name?” she asked him.

Levi looked up from his phone with surprise.  “Come again?”

“There’s a roller coaster in Canada’s Wonderland that has your name.”

Being the embodiment of envy, it made Levi prone to bouts of low self-esteem. Imagine learning that his name was plastered on one of the most popular roller coasters in Canada. Levi’s ears had turned pink from flattery and embarrassment as he looked down at his plate. Despite this, he still tried to continue on with the topic. “I-is it any good?”

“It is!” Minnie answered. “You won’t believe how many line up for a ride.”

By now, the conversation between the rest of the brothers had died down to listen in on this “roller coaster” that Minnie had suddenly decided to talk about. Perhaps they were curious about how they can properly engineer thrill rides down in Devildom. She’s read about that one historical attempt to install an amusement park in Devildom. All of the rides that she read up on seemed like a nightmarish combination of Julijonas Urbonas’s machines and Action Park’s abrasive rides—in other words, all sorts of deadly for humans. No demons died while testing out the rides, but there were a plethora of complaints and injuries as a result of it all causing the park to shut down.

“That sounds nice and all, but is there a ride named after me?” asked Asmodeus.

“Not that I know of,” said Minnie.

“As if you can make a ride any fun!” Mammon jeered.

Asmo put a hand to his chest and scoffed. “What do you take me for? I’m not the Avatar of Lust for nothing. I can make anything fun!”

“Not in the way you think Asmo,” Minnie corrected. “Maybe you have your name written on one of the adult amusement parks.”

“Minnie, please don’t encourage him,” Satan said as he pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to cover his flustered face.

Too late, Asmo was already gushing about it. “I’ll have to go to one of those someday! You humans are so inventive.”

“Do they have anything named after me?” Mammon asked.

“Anything other than a sponge cake?” added Minnie.

Snickers went around the table at that remark, even Lucifer choked a little as he took a sip of wine. How did the conversation go from roller coasters to cake? Oh right, it’s because Minnie decided to talk.

Levi was quick to type on his D.D.D. to tweet about the subject. “Mammon’s named after a sponge cake. LOL!”

“Hey! Don’t go posting things like that about me!”

Beelzebub was the only one not laughing. “Mmm… cake,” he said. “What’s for dessert?”

“Beel, you’re drooling,” Belphegor sighed and handed his brother a napkin.

“Minerva.” Lucifer was the next to talk to her. “Have you heard about Lord Diavolo’s request for an amusement park to be built sixty years ago?”

“I have.”

“I was witness to a few lower demons being flung out of the carousel.”

Lucifer was trying to make her laugh once again with that dark humour. Minnie knew she shouldn’t laugh at someone else’s pain, but her giggles came out in bursts anyways.

Later at three in the morning, Minnie’s D.D.D. woke her up to pick up a call. She lazily rolled over in her bed, reached for her phone, and winced when the light from its screen hit her eyes. She managed to make out the ID caller on the screen, Lord Diavolo.

She had no choice but to answer to his highness.

“Hello…” she mumbled hoarsely into the speaker.

“Minerva!” Diavolo sounded too enthusiastic for someone up this early. The volume of his voice nearly scared Minnie into dropping her D.D.D.

“Your highness, with all due respect, but did it cross your mind that I was sleeping?” Diavolo may be the future king, but he let Minnie be blunt with him when need be. He wasn’t ignorant of most of the feedback given to him by his subjects.

“My apologies. But, Minerva, how could you not tell me about Leviathan’s roller coaster in the human realm?” Diavolo almost sounded betrayed.

“Did Levi tweet about this?”

“He did. Let’s have a field trip to the amusement park next week.”

“What?”

***

Whether it was Canada or the Philippines, Minnie would be glad to be back home, even if it was just for a day. Like Diavolo had promised, he took them all on a field trip to Canada’s Wonderland much to the excitement of most of the participants.

Spending the day in a noisy crowded place was perhaps Levi’s worst nightmare unless he was spending his time in an anime convention. Just for one day, he was going to step outside his room much to the surprise of everyone. He just had to see the Leviathan, no, he was going to ride it, he had announced to all of them.

The day of the field trip came and as their car was driving by the park, Levi was on the lookout for his ride among the tall, colourful structures that poked high above the park.

“Hey, that one goes upside down,” said Luke as he pointed to a turquoise roller coaster.

“That’s the Leviathan,” Minnie declared.

“That’s me?” Leviathan squealed. He was absolutely glowing with amazement and a bit rosy in the cheeks too.

Everyone else in their group chuckled at how awestruck Levi was. Then again, how could anyone blame him when there was a large, shiny ride was his namesake.

Levi insisted on riding the serpent-themed coaster first. The closer they got to the ride, Minnie could feel a familiar pit form in her stomach whenever she was nervous. Riding roller coasters was a daunting task to do no matter how much she enjoyed the Leviathan. Eh… that phrasing sounded wrong now when the real Leviathan was standing right next to her.

“It’s… so beautiful,” Levi sobbed as he snapped a picture of the serpent sculpture featured in front of the ride. “This is amazing! It’s like that one episode from that reverse harem anime, I Ran Away From my Dad and Stepmom, so I Moved in with Seven Stupidly Hot Men who I Ended up Oversharing my Past and Insecurities with.”

What is it with Devildom’s overly specific show titles? They end up spoiling more than human realm movie trailers.

“There’s a one hour lineup, Levi. You don’t want to wait too long do you?” said Solomon.

“Minnie,” Levi called out to her and grabbed her hand. “Um… a-as my best friend, will you… sit next to me for this ride? I mean, not that you have too.”

Minnie didn’t expect kind of boldness from someone like Levi. Maybe seeing the roller coaster was boosting his confidence in the right way today.

“It would be an honour, Levi,” she said, which earned a blush from Levi.

Mammon was quick to jump in whenever someone else came up to Minnie with interest. “Oh no! I’m sitting beside Minnie. I’m her first man and I should be protecting her!”

“Mammon, refrain from saying such things in public,” scolded Lucifer.

Whatever embarrassing comments that came from Mammon didn’t bother Minnie that much. Anyone who heard it were just close friends or strangers.

“I thought you were going to sit this one out, Mammon,” teased Satan.

“Was not! You didn’t hear me right.”

“Why don’t we all ride it together?” Diavolo suggested.

“WHAT?” chorused a few members of their group.

“And ruin my hair on that thing?” Asmo protested.

“No thanks,” Belphie objected.

“I’m staying with Belphie,” said Beel.

“What if Luke’s too short to go?” asked Simeon.

Somehow the entire group found themselves strapped in the snake-like train of the Leviathan. Could they really say no when Diavolo was ordering them around with the sadistic eldest brother, Lucifer, right behind him? It took no time for Lucifer to rope the rest of his brothers in (“If I’m going to suffer through this, so are all of you”). Simeon was only convinced to go once Luke was deemed past the minimum height to ride and the latter was just thrilled to get to ride the roller coaster. Barbatos was required to ride as Diavolo’s butler.

Poor Minnie found herself seated at the very front in between Mammon and Levi and Solomon at the other end next to Mammon. It was far too late to back out when the train started moving and made a slow rise to the top.

“Why oh why did you pull me to the front?” Minnie wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but she knew at least one of these three dragged her here.

“C’mon, Minnie. I thought you liked this thing,” said Mammon.

“I like where I feel safer.”

“You’ll be fine, M.C. You have your pacts to keep you safe,” said Solomon. He still kept his disturbingly calm mask and it made Minnie wonder what he looked like without it on now that they were on high-speed ride.

The last few clicks from the track slowed then came to pause at the very top with the train. Both Mammon and Levi whimpered and clutched each of Minnie’s hands. Minnie tightened her hold on the lap bar until her knuckles were white. She could hear someone's breath hitch and a few nervous laughs from behind. The noisy crowd from below made her wish to get off this machine right this moment, but she was beyond the point of no return. Oh great, her life was flashing before her eyes now too.

The train creaked forward. Then they all fell down.

The sharp descent was just the beginning of Minnie’s terror. She recalled how tracks swerved the passengers left and right at maximum speed. There was another large dive, and how could she forget the upside down loop? She did her best to relax and just feel the wind in her hair, but Mammon and Levi made that hard when their nails were digging into her wrists.

A voice cried out, “THIS IS THE DAY I’M GOING TO DIE!”

Amidst the screams, Minnie also managed to hear, “I’m in my room, I’m in my room,” from Levi. His eyes were tightly shut.

Mammon’s voice kept reaching a higher pitch than ever the faster and faster they went. 

And Solomon? Solomon looked as cool as a cucumber, but Minnie swore she saw his hands ever so slightly grip the bar tighter.

Finally, the biggest relief Minnie had so far was when the ride started to slow down. The two brothers finally loosened their hold on her.

She made a vow that she would never choose to ride at the very front of a roller coaster as long as she lived. Her wrists were sore too from the vice like grip from both Mammon and Levi. She didn’t bother moving for a while to turn around and check on everyone until the lap bars came off.

Minnie walked out stumbling with Mammon and Levi still hanging off of her. There were stars Diavolo’s eyes, eagerly pointing at other rides to go on that caught his attention. Luke had just about the same energy as the prince, tugging at Simeon’s arm who mimicked the look of a tired single parent tending to his child. Satan had a subtle tremble to his gait, so he opted to sit down to calm the tremor. Asmo, mirror in hand, wasted no time frantically tending to his windswept hair. Beel had made a beeline for the nearest food vendor after the ride left him feeling peckish rather than queasy. Belphie was conked out for the entire ride, so he had to be carried out of his seat; they lay him down on the rocks, near the group. Lucifer, Barbatos, Solomon seemed to be the only ones handling the aftermath calmly.

“I never knew you could be such a beast, Levi,” said Asmo. “I’m not sure if I want my name on something so vicious.”

“I-it wasn’t that scary,” Mammon argued.

“You were the one screaming, scumbag!” Levi barked.

“You’re turning blue, Mammon,” said Lucifer.

Minnie turned to look at the Mammon and saw that he was indeed turning blue and just about ready to hurl. She quickly located a garbage can and led him there to regurgitate the bile that built up in his stomach.

With this experience, Minnie knew that Diavolo was going to reopen Devildom’s amusement park. For everyone’s sake, she hoped that the prince would look up more on how to build proper roller coasters or hire professional engineers. It wouldn’t hurt to give the rides some well-needed upgrades and stricter safety measures.

***

The end of the exchange program provided Minnie with yet another thing she would miss. She arrived at Devildom not expecting the kind of relationships she would make there with some of the strangest and most wonderful people she had come to know. It was not something she asked for, but it was what she needed.

There was no ounce of regret in her heart signing up for the program no matter how much it scared people to know that she willingly studied in a place where most do not dare to tread. It was a cruel and cold fact to know that visiting her friends would not be that easy. Jumping from one world to another required magical seals or magical powers, neither of which she had. She had no choice but to move forward and readjust to the human world’s light.

Four months after the end of the program, Minnie was ready to collapse onto her bed after a whole week of flying through midterm projects and exams. The girl trudged all the way back to her dorm and shoved her keys into the lock. She switched on the lights and locked eyes with who she initially thought she would never see in a while.

The seven brothers she grew to love so much were here… in her living room.

Is this a dream? Am I just really tired?

Before Minnie could react she was tackled into a hug by at least five of the brothers. There was a cacophony of cheers and fighting over who gets to hug her first.

Minnie could only cover her mouth in shock as she held back her tears. It was no dream at all. This was a dream come true.

“Minnie, what took you so long?” She recognized that kind of impatience from none other than Mammon.

“We were sitting here for hours!” That one was Asmo.

“Hey, that’s not fair! You got your turn hugging her.” That was obviously Levi.

“Let’s get going. We don’t want to be late.” Now Satan.

“Late? “Late for what?” asked Minnie

“It’s a surprise,” Beel said.

“Hope you weren’t planning to sleep soon,” added Belphie.

In a normal circumstance, Minnie would be angry, but they did come all this way to see her. What the heck?

Lucifer gave her a blindfold. “Put this on.”

And she did. Soon she felt the familiar pull of jumping between worlds. They were going back to Devildom.

Somebody had pulled the blindfold from her eyes before she could herself and the familiar bright colours of an amusement park met her line of vision. A large sign at the entrance said, DIAVOLO’S MIDNIGHT PARADISE.

“Oh wow.” There was so much more Minnie could say, but the sight left her speechless.

“Diavolo’s new and improved park. Now safe and fun for humans and demons alike,” said Lucifer.

“Speaking of which, where is he?” queried Minnie. Diavolo wouldn’t miss out on a night in his own amusement park.

“You know how he is and his love for human culture,” said Satan.

“He was eager to experience his new park, so we let him go ahead,” Lucifer finished for him.

It was a lovely park. Diavolo really knew what he was doing this time since their trip from Canada’s Wonderland.

There were countless games, rides and food stands; Minnie didn’t know where to start. Mammon was quick to insist that they go on the The Quest for Goldie dark ride together, Asmo whined that he wanted to ride Asmodeus’s Tunnel of Love, then Levi argued that they should ride the copy of The Leviathan.

Amidst their argument, Lucifer quietly suggested that she come with him. Nobody noticed the two walk away.

“You still owe me some quality time, Minerva. I’m not satisfied with just one tryst,” Lucifer asserted.

A blush crept up to Minnie’s cheeks. Truth be told, she wanted more from him too and not just what they shared on the night before the exchange program ended.

“Where’s your ride?” she asked him.

“That one.” Lucifer pointed to an observation wheel with five glowing spokes. “It’s called The Morning Star.”

“Like the Melbourne Star?”

“Exactly.” Lucifer then turned to her. “I was hoping that we could spend our first real date. I know how much you love heights.”

“Yeah, I’d love that.”

[whirlybirdwhat]

(One Shot, 15k+, Gen, Monster Trio, temporary character death, please see ao3 for more detailed warnings)

“Zoro!” The reindeer shouts, and uh oh that’s his scolding voice. What did Zoro do now?! “Where have you been? I need to check you over I want to make sure cutting that rock did nothing!”

“What do you mean, you’ve been with me the entire-“

Wait.

Had Chopper been with him? Out on deck?

Zoro can’t recall.

“I don’t care, sit down!” Chopper gives him the eyes, and dimly worried, Zoro acquiesces to his pleas.

It’s nothing, surely, he thinks, accepting the drink from Sanji and belatedly (uncaringly) realizing this is nothing like him to be so nonchalant about a lack of skill.

It’s nothing at all.

Hehehehe!

-

The Monster Trio arrive on a strange island.

what the ocean drags down

If he had to pinpoint a moment it all began, Sanji would say it was three days before that island, when he had woken up in the middle of the night to a nightmare -

(Along on a rock with his hands bleeding out and blood on his face, sticky behind the metal mask that locked him in with all his fears all of them all of them and oh, were those bones he could feel along his sides?)

And gone down to the kitchen to fix a snack to calm his nerves.

Nightmares were nothing new, of course. All the straw hats had them, at one time or another. A pirate’s life is rarely free of danger, and before this crew of dreams they weren’t always living the happiest of lives.

Seeing both Zoro and Luffy in the kitchen, however, is new.

Zoro is sitting on the floor in the galley corner, tense and hands white knuckled around the bottle in his hands. He seems high strung, though his swords are laid a carful distance away as if he doesn’t want to reach for them accidentally. His one eye flashes dimly in the light, as if he’s shaken and wary.

Sanji has never seen him look like this, save for the few times he had thought a crew member had died.

(Luffy shot in the back and not getting up, the wretched screaming of their captain’s name wrenching from Zoro’s throat-)

Luffy, next to him, is the exact opposite. Instead of sitting tall and wary, he is hunched and trembling minutely. He looks small, in a way Sanji has almost never associated with their exuberant captain and future king. His hat is laid low over his face as he looks with his head down between his knees. He’s slouching against Zoro, as if trying to keep quiet and on the lookout for someone.

As if to remind himself that he’s not alone.

(After their two years of training, it had been a month before Luffy decided that he could sleep in his own bed. He had been clingy (they all had been) and in quiet moments he had admitted that Rayleigh had left him with just the animals for the remaining six months of his training.

“It’s okay!” Luffy had said. “It was just like when Ace had left to go sea!” His brother’s name hadn’t cracked in his mouth. His captain is strong. “I was alone cause I had to get stronger, so I couldn’t visit the bandits or Makino or anyone! But it’s okay this time, because I knew I had you guys!”

Why did he always have to be alone when it was worse than being hurt?)

“Hey knuckleheads,” Sanji starts, voice soft. He knows not to startle them despite the newness of the situation. “Want something to eat?”

Luffy peeks up from under his hat, revealing one wet eye, and mumbles meat. He’s not getting some, because they do have to ration it and Sanji is checking storage tomorrow, but he will get something to help him sleep. Zoro grunts, his one eye finally focusing in and his body becoming a little less wired. He leans into Luffy more, letting his fingers relax from their tight hold on the neck of the bottle.

Sanji takes that as a yes, and pretends not to notice the way Zoro’s eye zeroes in his trembling fingers and the way Luffy’s eyes don’t but he notices the shaking anyway, uncurling from his ball at the sense of pain in his crew.

Sanji offers him a slight smile, and turns on the stove to a low simmer. Some cinnamon tea to help sleep, and some leftover onigiri from before dinner (because, with Luffy, there was never any leftovers after dinner) would be a good start.  Zoro grunts again and stands up, offering a hand to Luffy before grabbing his swords and sliding into the booth.

The kitchen is quiet, save for the waves crashing against the side of the ship. Robin is on watch, isn’t she? Or were they trying out Franky’s new automated watch system?

Ah. Whatever. Sanji will check once he gets these two (and himself) sorted out.

By the time the tea is done and the onigiri prepped, his hands have stopped shaking. Zoro is slumped into Luffy’s shoulder, and the captain himself has buried his face into crossed arms at the table.  His hat is now falling gently on his back, making something in Sanji calm.

(Luffy only ever pulls the hat over his eyes if he’s far too angry to think, has a point to make, or is making an expression (tears, fear, Sanji never knows) that he doesn’t want his crew to see.)

Sanji slides the tea and onigiri in front of them both, taking care to make sure the food lands more on Zoro’s side so he has a better chance of biting into it before Luffy gets his hands on it. He then takes a place to Luffy’s left, where he can slump into him as well, his own cup warming his hands.

He takes a breath of the steam coming off it, and takes a sip, gently smiling at the pleased sound Luffy makes as he does the same.

The temptation to speak, to ask what brought them to the kitchen is slowly creeping in, but it can wait.

The kitchen at night, when there is no storm or pressing adventure, is a place for quiet and warmth. No nightmares, no shaking hands or tense shoulders, can find them here with a warm drink between their hands.

Eventually, Luffy is the first to doze off, onigiri eaten (but not entirely – worrying) and drink all but gone. He slumps into Zoro who then carries him to the bench behind them, Sanji following, so that Luffy’s stretched out, head in Zoro’s lap and his legs thrown over Sanji’s. A calloused hand makes its way through Luffy’s hair as Zoro recounts the night, breaking the silence.

“I… had a dream.” He begins, voice low and soft. “Wasn’t a good one.” A grimace but no elaboration. That’s okay – Sanji didn’t really expect Zoro too. “Shook me up a bit. Went in here to get a drink and found Luffy on the ground where we were. I don’t know how long he was there, but I think it had been awhile. When I came in he kind of … jumped? Like he didn’t expect me, which was odd, but I couldn’t really feel him either.”

Sanji was a smart man. He could connect the dots – either something had shaken Luffy and Zoro so bad that their observation haki wasn’t focused (Unlikely, considering they primarily used it in battle) or something more was going on…

He couldn’t remember if he had sensed them before entering the kitchen anyway.

Sanji hums and takes their cups away, gently moving Luffy legs first, as Zoro keeps talking.

“He wasn’t doing so good. I think he’s been up most of the night. Don’t know what woke him but… it couldn’t have been good.”

“A dream you think?”

“Maybe. You?”

“Had one too. You sleeping here?”

“Might as well. Sun rise is in an hour unless the weather wants to fuck with us.”

“Mmhm.” Sanji moves back to his old position, this time carrying a blanket. Zoro helps him stretch over the three of them, tucking it gently under their captain’s head.

It may be odd for all of them to be here at once, but nightmares and bad nights were nothing new to all of them. They were crew after all. Family. They helped each other. And truth be told, Zoro and Sanji didn’t always argue.

“Night, Shit Cook.”

“Night, Moss Face.”

Well. Almost.

(If Sanji had been any more awake and not thinking about being along and starving on a rock, perhaps he would have taken notice of the shift in the breeze, the slight lilt of the ship as their observation haki was suppressed under the guise of shaking nightmares. Perhaps he would have noticed the change in their course or the fog creeping in.

But he didn’t.

And that’s when it started.

Come to me, little pirates-)

-

Sanji woke to Nami shaking him awake. A heavenly sight, but an odd one, because he was usually the first up for meal prep.

“Nami-swan?” He asked, tiredly yawning. A part of him registered Luffy’s legs still across his, and the green head of hair his faced was smashed into. The moss-head must have leant over to use Sanji’s shoulder as a pillow while he slept, the bastard.

“Sanji you alright?”

“’Mm fine, Nami-dear.” He blinked the tiredness from his eyes, ready to focus on the wonderful light of his life. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing… you just slept past sunrise that’s all. Robin and Usopp made pancakes for everyone, but you’re going to have to make them for Luffy and Zoro and you. We aren’t skilled enough to keep up with Luffy’s appetite.”

Sanji’s eyes snapped open. He what?!

He took a look around, noting the table being cleaned up by a multitude of limbs and the faint smell of pancakes in the air. The sun was gently shining through the portholes, the brightness signifying it was well past the morning rush.

And Sanji had slept through it.

Hell, Luffy had slept through it if the weight on his lap was any indication.

“I’m sorry, you should have woken me up, I should have done that –“

“It’s okay Sanji. We figured if you weren’t up, and Luffy wasn’t going for our meals, then you three needed the rest… what happened?”

Sanji shrugs, getting up carefully and stretching. “I had a nightmare and woke up, came in here and found Zoro and Luffy, who apparently had the same thing. We drank the usual and had a bite to eat then fell asleep.”

No need to worry Nami about the lapse in haki. While they were in the process of teaching the crew armament and observation, they didn’t have to be concerned of what was going on with those in control of it.

Not yet at least.

Nami still looks concerned. Sanji brushes it off by waking Zoro with a kick to the head.

“Oi. Shithead. I’m making breakfast. You gonna get up or what?”

“Bastard, what’d you do that for?”

“You getting up or what?”

“Mmhm?” Luffy mumbles sitting up and narrowly missing the second foot that is flung at Zoro’s head, blocked with a sheathed Sandai Kitetsu. “Wassgoing on?”

“Breakfast, Luffy. You slept through it.” Nami levels him with a look before shaking her head at his panicked response.

“WHAT!? BREAKFAST? SANJI! FOOD!”

Luffy doesn’t miss this kick.

“Hold your horses shitty captain, it’ll be ready in five minutes.” Sanji relaxes his leg and turns to the kitchen. Least Luffy’s more energetic now. And by Zoro’s wheezing complaints, he’s less conscious of where he’s stepping too.

Just like normal.

(Flash of vibrant pink in the corner of his eye, a skeleton, a man with no legs in the corner of the room-)

Sanji turns and it’s just Chopper and Brook singing outside, Franky tinkering on deck viewed through the door Nami just walked out of.

It’s nothing, surely.

Right?

-

Sanji volunteers to take Usopp’s place for the first half of night watch. He’s not going to get any sleep anyway, so why not take the place of his crewmate and let him rest?

The crow’s nest is warm at night, though the outside sea is foggy and cold. Shadows dance across the deck in the soft moonlight and breeze, a calm unusual to the Grand Line.

It doesn’t help Sanji’s nerves.

He’s sitting on the window edge, cupping a mug of tea in his hands, blanket wrapped around him. Paranoia has been following him all day, despite the fact that he checked the food stores and they have enough to feed Luffy eight meals a day for two weeks. They are fine, and the sea is flooding with food.

His crew won’t starve.

So why does he feel like they might?

(Why does he feel like his former siblings are around every corner?)

Is he this shaken up by that nightmare last night?

Hehehehe~

What the fuck was that.

Sanji stands to his feet and looks out the window.

There’s nothing there, and nothing hiding in the shadows of the crows next.

Everything’s normal.

His observation haki – his observation haki seems fine.

Maybe he should have taken the chance to rest.

Maybe.

Sanji looks out the window, to the rising moon, and decides he can wake Zoro for his turn on watch.

Climbing down the crow’s nest and into the galley, he misses the ship rocking again, sharper this time. He misses the shadows crawling across the deck like mischievous devil children, with holes in their chests and limbs, and the fog that rolls across the deck once in a resounding breath.

Sanji turns his head once, but the view is silent and empy

He continues on, shakes Zoro non-too-gently awake, and collapses in his bed. Time to sleep…

Sanji never feels the devil sink into his skin

(but it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.)

He falls into a fitful rest, a smile haunting his lips.

(It won’t be there for long!)

-

Zoro has never been one to sleep.

Let’s rephrase that.

Zoro has never been one to sleep when his crew is in true danger. Since he has no problem falling to sleep, he’s sure that there’s no danger here, but he can’t help but be unsure.

The ship has been… off these past few days. Laughter chimes in his ear when the deck is empty, and shadows seem to be full of things he must protect against. Nothings ever there, but it keeps dragging him back to that first night.

When Luffy had been shaking in the kitchen, and Zoro hadn’t noticed him get up.

(The ero-cook’s observation haki is the best out of all of them, though he’s sure once Usopp gets his act together that will change, but he hadn’t noticed either. Luffy is either suppressing his presence (a skill of the conquering king, but damnit, Luffy, we’re your crew!) or somethings wrong.

Zoro hopes it’s the former)

The rest of the crew doesn’t seem to notice anything’s off, beyond the usual bout of nightmares. They don’t notice Zoro’s tenseness or Sanji’s wariness, or Luffy’s almost apathy to the world around him. The crew doestake note of the shadows slowly growing under all three of their eyes, and takes them off the watch rotation, but otherwise do not comment.

Nami probably knows something, as does Robin with her damn eyes, but that’s about it.

Hopefully it is nothing, and Zoro can actually sleep without worrying that his crew is –

(falling down down down, dead and dreamless, smiling gently at him – won’t you help Zoro? Why weren’t you there Zoro?)

In danger.

Ah. Well. Might as well sleep. He’s done his training for the day, Luffy joining him (odd – Luffy prefers his own kind of training to lifting weights), so now he can nap by the figurehead.

A nice… long... nap….

-

He awakes to darkness.

Did he sleep through the day again? No – this is something different.

Something skitters across the deck – Zoro reaches for his swords only to find empty air.

Wha-

This isn’t Sunny’s deck.

This isn’t his home. His crew’s home.

Where is his crew?

(Did they get lost?)

A voice drifts in the breeze, eerily similar to a young child cry.

Zo-ro, Zo-ro, Zo-ro, Zo-ro… Where were you Zoro?

There’s a pawprint in front of him, big and painful and his captain, Luffy, is inside oh hell

His crew is here now, and they are all dead because he wasn’t paying attention, god damnit, no – What kind of hell scape is this?

“Zoro.” The girls voice, high and reedy, is solid now. He turns his face to the left.

Kuina.

A bloody sword is held to her throat. Wado-

“We weren’t strong enough Zoro.” The blade digs in and –

“NO!”

Zoro wakes to red and wetness on his cheeks.

Kuina, no, his crew dead, Luffy –

Luffy’s sitting on his lap right in front him. He’s the red. The wetness on his face isn’t blood but the salty sea spray and (maybe) some tears, slipping down his eyes. He can’t tell.

He hopes Luffy can’t tell.

“Zoro? You okay?”

“Ye-yeah. I am.” I will be.

His captain sounds tired. (Zoro sounds tired.) His eyes are tired too. (So are Zoro’s. And the Shit Cook’s.)  Nightmares? (A reoccurring theme.)

Luffy trusts him, and knows him in a way that few don’t, so he accepts Zoro’s truth and settles back down. A rubbery hand slaps at Zoro’s face.

“Nami says there’s gonna be an island tomorrow but there’s also going to be a storm tonight so she doesn’t know if there is actually going to be an island. There’s no maps of it either, so Nami’s excited.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow and looks around deck. Huh. Usopp and Copper are already climbing the rigging to get ready to pull the sails down.  It’s a wonder why the witch hasn’t yelled at Zoro and Luffy to get their asses moving.

(Or maybe the crew noticed a little more than he thought.)

Speaking of the witch, she’s making her way toward them now. Zoro nudges Luffy out of the way and gets up –

Hehehe-

A shadow, heading straight toward Nami, that seems to be alive and moving and perhaps not entirely real.

It slips and slides until it rests under her feet and the breath is stuck in Zoro’s chest as Nami slips and –

(getting her sword for another midnight duel with Zoro, Kuina had slipped and fallen, blood scattering the steps from the crack in her head. Died, because she was a little too careless; died, for no reason at all.)

Catches herself on the railing.

Nami’s strong, always has been.

(Kuina was strong too.)

She’ll be alright. Why is Zoro panicking?

(Kuina is dead.)

“Zoro?” Luffy prompts already standing, clothes waving in the wind. Storm must be coming faster then… “You coming?”

“Yeah.” Zoro affirms and heaves himself up as the first lightning bolt cracks in the difference. “Be right there, Captain.”

He turns toward Nami, but Nami’s emerging from the galley and already barking orders

(She hadn’t gone down the steps at all.)

The sky is dark, and any shadow mixes in with the chaos of a Grand Line storm. Zoro gets to work, pushing doubt and little dead girls out of his mind.

-

The storm was brutal. Zoro, however, is almost thankful for how exhausted he feels after it. Perhaps he can sleep now.

But no.

Instead of reaching the island tomorrow like Nami had thought, the hurricane and the coup de burst they used to get over the tsunami level swells and the sea king sneaking under the waves, had gotten them within distance of the island.

So they’re anchoring tonight at any available shore so everyone can sleep.

Zoro steadies his stance and watches as the sea smooths and ripples into familiar shore patterns.

“Jungle island,” Nami deduces just by the air, standing to his left. Zoro could ask how she does it, but it’s a talent that’s far beyond anyone but her. “Pretty big too. I think there might be a mountain on the other side, but this area here is just low-level jungle. Humid and hot, with pretty beaches.”  

“A barbecue tomorrow then?” Robin inquires from Zoro’s right. When the hell did she get there?

“Hmph. Maybe. I don’t know what kind of wildlife we’ll find, but we should restock. Depends on what the captain wants. Hey- Where is Luffy?” Nami looks around, eyes narrowing in an odd mix of distrust, concern, and acceptance that her captain has already rocketed his way to the island.

She’s wrong in her suspicious for once. Zoro tosses a thumb behind him. “There.”

Beneath the main mast is a dog pile of Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy. Chopper in Heavy point and Usopp almost protectively sandwiching Luffy between them. Relaxed, soaked and uncaring, the trio sleeps.

Nami’s shoulders slump. “Of course. Well, we’ll be there in thirty minutes. They can sleep till th-”

SKKKRECHHHHK!

There’s a crunching noise beneath them. A rock, glistening and black, jutting from the water.

It had lost to the Sunny’s Adam’s Wood hull but by the sound, it was a close thing.

“What the hell?” Zoro mutters as the rest of the crew wakes or comes up to deck at the noise. “What kind of rock is that?” Can I cut it?

THUMP!

“No trying to cut strange rocks till morning!” The witch screeches, fist still raised from where it wacked his head. By now she had a sixth sense for when the crew was trying to do some dangerous stunt.

“Damn, sheesh, okay.” Zoro mutters, casting a glare at Sanji as he laughs.

Ignoring their squabbling, Franky steps up to the rail and looks over. “That is totally NOT super. Nami-sis, where’d this come from?”

The navigator purses her lips. “Don’t know, it wasn’t there two seconds ago. I was checking the currents – there was no evidence of rocks.” She’s frowning heavily before she starts barking orders. “Bring up all the sails and get out the oars. I want us going slow – this is probably just some weird Grand Line stuff, but I don’t want any more surprises.”

“Aye-aye,” The conscious members of the Straw-Hat Pirates chorus.  Brook goes to wake the sleeping members as the rest prep the oars. They are rarely used, since the engine or a coup de burst can get them through any slow patch of wind but… they are good for going slow and careful.

Luffy takes his place in front of Zoro, rubbing sleep for baggy eyes, and prepares to row. Nami’s at the forefront, watching for rocks while Franky mans the tiller.

Slowly, paddle by paddle, they make their way through the small bay.

Nami’s right, Zoro thinks looking over the railing, these rocks are rising out of nowhere.

His observation haki (now, not at its best form admittedly) can’t even predict them. They look like shadows from waves at first, peaceful and innocent below the surface, before erupting through the surface in a silent, sharp spike.

A particularly tall one almost took out Zoro’s other eye before he sliced it.

Which, good. He can cut whatever this strange rock is. Bad, because the rock started faintly glowing in specks across the remained of the rock, and pins and needles went down his spine.

He doesn’t know what to think.  

Everyone else thinks it’s pretty at least.

It’s well past midnight by the time they reach a place close enough to shore that they can weigh anchor.

“Franky,” Luffy speaks for the first time in a while, once all the navigating’s done. “Will the watch system work?”

“It should, captain.”

“Will it work.”

“Aye.”

“Then everyone sleeps.” Luffy looks out over his crew from his position on the main mast, and Zoro knows he sees how tired they all are. Wet, hungry, exhausted, and paranoid because of dumb rocks, no straw hat is fit to take watch. “We’ll look over the island in the morning.”

And suddenly, as everyone’s shoulders slump out of relief, Luffy’s seriousness wipes away. “Sanji, meat?”

“I’ll whip up a snack.” Sanji agrees, tearing off his gloves on his way to the kitchen. “It’ll be ready in a few, enough for everyone to get dry and everything.”

“Then I’m going to take a shower – Robin you coming?” Nami sighs

“Sure.”

And just like that, the crew disperses off the deck until it’s just Zoro, staring at the shimmering rocks in the moonlit water. Shadows play at the edge of his vision, but he can’t trust him.

Can’t trust any of his sense.

Hehehehe!

Chopper tugs at his leg, and oh, his haki must have decided to work because he hasn’t looked down yet. “I’m coming Chop.” He takes one last look out at the sea and follows the ball of fur inside to get changed.

When he comes up to the galley, Chopper is sitting next to Luffy, bandaging a scape he got from banging his head in the storm.

“Zoro!” The reindeer shouts, and uh oh that’s his scolding voice. What did Zoro do now?! “Where have you been? I need to check you over I want to make sure cutting that rock did nothing!”

“What do you mean, you’ve been with me the entire-“

Wait.

Had Chopper been with him? Out on deck?

Zoro can’t recall.

“I don’t care, sit down!” Chopper gives him the eyes, and dimly worried, Zoro acquiesces to his pleas.

It’s nothing, surely, he thinks accepting he drink from Sanji and belatedly (uncaringly) realizing this is nothing like him to be so nonchalant about a lack of skill.

It’s nothing at all.

Hehehehe!

(Kuina falls down Sunny’s steps eight times that night as Zoro sleeps, each time whisking Wado across a different Straw Hat’s throat.

(And they had all smiled.))

-

Ace has been talking to Luffy in his dreams lately.

It’s nothing new.

Nightmares are always like this.

(A brother there and a brother not, fire licking at his chest – why is it always fire that takes his big brothers? There are holes and Luffy is falling falling falling and there’s no one but him. It hurts more than all the poison in Impel down, this crushing loneliness and oh – when can he wake up?

Thank you for loving me-Brothers forever-SABO-Crybaby- flashes of his childhood in Ace’s voice, still so vivid to this day—)

What’s new is what Ace has been saying.

Luffy knows his brother- his brothers. They are cruel and tough and strong, or were at any rate, but they have never been to cut the ones they care about without reason. Ace would never tell Luffy that he’s worthless, or that he failed, or that he’s alone.

He wouldn’t.

So why is his dream Ace saying things like that? Why is he killing his crew one by one, dying himself, why are his nightmares so twisted and wrong?

Luffy can’t make sense of it.

He tries not to sleep too much, but he’s like Ace and Grandpa and his sleeping schedule is all messed up, so he can’t help it.

It’s been going on for a while now, more than a week, and it hasn’t eased up, sleeplessness painting dark marks beneath his eyes.

(It’s gotten worse)

But there’s an island ahead, one with adventure, and it’s all that Luffy needs if only these dumb rocks would stop trying to trap their ship.

Shitty rocks.

It’s quiet on deck as the rest of the crew retires to bed. Luffy’s soaked from crashing waves, clothes sticking to his damp skin, and he knows he should change and go to bed.

But…

The shadows look familiar in certain lights.

And Luffy misses his big brother.

A cloud shields the world for the moon for a long moment, stirring Luffy out of his daze. He shakes himself, hand falling from his chest and goes inside.

He doesn’t notice the sea fading from sight or the fog rolling onto the deck – permanent, in a final kind of way this time. The water shifts into something darker and the island trees, tall and innocent, shift in place.

Luffy sleeps, curled next to Zoro, and doesn’t notice the island watching him.

-

Luffy wakes alone.

He does not panic.

He has woken alone too many times for this to be a cause of panic.

(Makino worked late and early, Garp rarely stayed, Ace ignored him then loved him then left for the seas, three years spent in the jungle, then one at sea, then Ace left for good and Luffy spent two years (alone) on Ruskuina.

Loneliness cuts deep, but it is a hurt that Luffy knows like he knows freedom.)

This was not where he fell asleep.

Luffy is sitting on soft, white sand on a barren beach. Before him stretches the sea, dark and gloomy, but he can’t see the horizon rising above it. The trees behind him are of the familiar kind – the kind he grew up with on the islands of Goa. Jungle bark and underbrush, thick and threatening unless you know its secrets. They are dark, almost black, like the lush green that should make them up isn’t there.

Luffy looks up, placing a hand on his hat, and doesn’t see the sky.

Wait.

His hat.

It’s not there.

Luffy lurches to his feet, panicking now.

“Hat! Where’s hat! Shit, where is it?!” He can’t see it in the fog that keeps drifting in and dragging like at his clothes like drowning me. “Dumb island, give me my hat back!”

Because, of course, it must be the island which took it. No one else is there, right?

The fog seems to pause and pull away. There’s a path, leading into the forest.

Luffy follows instinct and walks into the dark path.

(His haki, cut and lost, screams at him. It goes unheard.)

The forest swallows him and doesn’t look back.

(A child laughs in the forest.)

Hehehehe!

-

Sanji wakes to the sound of seagulls and the cold press of rock beneath his back. He’s up in a second, praying this is all a terrible dream, and praying he hasn’t woken up not on the ship.

(He’s had worse dreams as of late.)

Blue eyes blink open as a leg raises threateningly. The world around him is dark and covered in a fog. He’s on a raised, rock platform, jutting from the cliff side that rises far above him. Water, black and crashing, is on every side.

The sight is a familiar, demonized version of one of the most terrifying memories of his past.

The sea-damned Rock.

Damnit!

Sanji places his foot down once he is sure that there is no threat that he can sense or see. Something crunches and slides underfoot, and when he looks down, all he sees is gleaming white.

Bones.

A human fucking skeleton.

That hadn’t been there before, had it?

Had it?

He can’t tell.

The world is growing fuzzy as the waves crash higher and the cliff side looms above him.

Think rationally, damnnit. Don’t panic. You are here. Where do you go from here?

Up.

Something slithers over his foot. When Sanji looks, whatever it is has far too many legs and is some sort of a fucking bug.

Fuck.

He screams, not that he’ll ever admit it, wishes for a cigarette, and starts kicking himself into the air. He half expects to start falling with how weird this island is and how weird the past week has been but he gets up fine.

Easier than normal even.

He doesn’t like it.

At the top Sanji finds himself facing a dark jungle and finally goes to light that cigarette. He breathes in the smoke, familiar as a cooking fire, and breathes out a sigh of relief.

He’s alive. He’s off that damn rock. It was only a coincidence that’s all.

Metal slams over his face.

“HGHK-” He chokes as the cigarette falls from his hands. He scrambles at his face as the mask locks over it, shutting him in into a world without food or freedom or friends. It encases his head from front to back, a mimic of that helmet from his youth, and it sends such a spike of fear through Sanji that he steps back.

The mask had flung from the forest after all.

He takes another step back, panic blinding him still.

Another.

Another.

And Sanji is falling down the cliffside where he just jumped up. This time, however, he’s so weak that he can’t kick his legs out, paralyzed by fear as he is.

He falls and falls and falls and falls and –

Crack.

Darkness.

Hehehehe!

-

Zoro wakes up in a new location and shrugs. It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before, but it is odd that the world would change while a crewmate was sleeping next to him. Fate tends to be nice enough to let him nap with the crew, and he vaguely recalls Luffy shoving him aside to curl up in his hammock with him.

(It sometimes stopped the bad dreams for both of them.)

He’s at the top of some mountain, a cave behind him and a jungle, dark and looming, is a good ways below the cliff he’s standing at. The view, despite the height, is pretty shitty due to all the damn fog and no visible sky (why isn’t the sky there?) so Zoro doesn’t spend to long looking at it.

Instead, he looks at the only way down.

The cliffside.

“Huh.” He thinks aloud and reaches for Shusui and Kitetsu. They sink easily (with his strength at least) into the ground and don’t have a lot of give. Should work well enough.

Zoro walks over to the edge and hops down, sticking his blades into the wall before he can drop more than ten feet.

They stick.

Perfect.

Kitetsu’s oddly not whining about being used for something other than bloodshed, which normally would spark alarm bells in Zoro’s head.

Instead, there is nothing but the rushing of wind in his ears as he uses his swords like picks to make his way down the mountain.

It is steady going and good training for his arms. The wind blows harsh making it harder for his grip to stay tight, but he manages and enjoys the challenge.

Belatedly, he wonders where the rest of the crew wound up.

(This isn’t a Kuma situation, is it?)

He shudders, phantom pricks of pain running up and down his body.

(His captain had been hurt worse than that and got up running. Zoro has to get stronger so he can be worthy of the Pirate King. If not, Zoro will turn the promise he made Luffy swear on himself and stab himself through. It would only be right after all.

Zoro can’t lose.)

No, can’t be. The crew must be somewhere on this island, not spread out to the winds again. They have to be.

The wind whistles into his ear, louder and shriller this time. Zoro’s shaken from his thoughts. Focus.

“Zoro!”

He loosens his grip in shock and slips before catching himself. Shit- who was that?

“Zoro! Over here!” He turns his head to his right.

Standing there, on a small out cropping and hugging the cliff side for dear life is Nami.

“Nami!” He calls, smile breaking over his face as the oppressive loneliness to the island that he hadn’t noticed before breaks. “You okay?”

“yeah! Just come and get me! I’ve been stuck up here for the past hour!” She calls back. “And if you don’t I’ll add twenty hundred percent to your debt!”

“Dumb witch.” Zoro mutters but makes his way over anyway.  He pauses next to the outcropping that she’s at and gestures to his back with a nod of his head. “Hop on.”

Nami nods and carefully climbs onto his back. The added weight is difficult, but nothing he can’t handle.

In the back of his mind, he remembers the story Chopper told him of how Luffy must have reached the top of drum.

Zoro can handle this, if only to improve his strength.

Nami curls in tight, though her body doesn’t quite fit right against his. She’s constantly shifting as he makes his way down, hair tickling him and knees digging into his side.

“Could you quit it?” Zoro snarks after another movement.

“Sure, of course I’ll sto-” Nami’s sarcasm is cut off as she slips. “ZORO!” she screeches, still hanging on just by the arms linked around his stomach.

Zoro snarls, letting go of one sword to grab on to her. “Shit!”

It does nothing. Nami looks at him with wide panic in her eyes as she slips further down and further down in the matter of seconds. “Zoro…” She trails off as her grip finally weakens.

“NAMI!!” Zoro screeches reaching out a hand to her. Her finger tips brush his and that’s the last touch he gets with her.

He could have slipped down, he quick enough with his swords to do so but his limbs are locked. He can’t move, and his hand is glued to the hilt of his one katana.

Nami falls

and falls

and falls

until she’s nothing but a smear on the ground below. He should be too high to see the impact but it rushes through Zoro’s mind with sudden clarity.

He sees it all – all the gruesome details and twisted limbs.

Nami falls, just like Kuina did, and Zoro wonders how many more people he will let fall as the darkness sinks in around him.

He stays, hanging on the cliff, for hours.

Too weak. Everyone falls, everyone dies, meaninglessly because of you.

What are you going to tell the rest of the crew?

The fog grows thicker.

Hehehehehe!

-

The forest, Luffy finds, is a lot like Goa’s. Tall and winding and full of things hiding in the underbrush that are either tasty, delicious, or both. Of course, he hasn’t managed to catch anything yet, only glimpses of the rustling bushes, but he’s sure he’ll find meat soon enough.

As he passes by a familiar path and tree and trap, however, something stops in his heart.

There’s a shattered telescope by the roots of a large tree, the kind Luffy wanted when he was a kid. Drops of red splotch the edges and lead up the hardened trunk of the tree.

At the top is a tree house fashioned like a boat, unused and abandon. A flag waves at the top, and Luffy knows that this forest isn’t a lot like Goa’s –

It is Goa’s.

He rockets to the top of the tree house, and ducks in the door.

(Maybe his hat is here?)

Hehehe!

Luffy whips around and the laugh stops.

Wha-

“Luffy.” He turns his back to the voice that shouldn’t be there, it shouldn’t it shouldn’t. “Stop jumping at shadows, crybaby.”

Ace smiles, blood dripping down his chin, and Luffy sighs.

It’s a dream.

(Ace is dead, despite the fact that he’s standing here before him, hole through his chest and just as bloody and smiling and peaceful as the day he died.

Luffy doesn’t dwell on the past much, and he certainly doesn’t travel back to it.

Ace is dead.

This is a dream.

(He wants it to be real.))

“Ace,” Luffy rasps, not flinching as the corpse steps toward him. “Have you seen my hat?”

“No. You should take better care of your things, Lu. C’mon, I’ll help you look.” Ace stumbles out the door and down the ladder.

Luffy watches the blood drip drip drip after him, and follows Ace down.

(Just a dream.

His brother is dead.)

Hehehe!

“WHO’S THERE!?” Luffy yells when he hears the voice again. It stops, just as suddenly as it began.

The forest is silent.

What’s going on? Where’s my crew?

He hopes they aren’t dealing with this too.

“LUFFY!” Ace shouts, voice sounding wet. “YOU COMING?”

“YEAH!” Luffy says and takes one last look at the tree house before jumping down.

-

“The Drifting Fog Peninsula – known for the fact that is not a peninsula at all but an Island of rock and mountain. Those who see the fog should know best to turn back – to be caught in it is to be caught in a trap, and not one of a dumb beast. The island itself is a predator, and does not like its prey easy to dupe, or so the legend says. There’s only one, from the journals of a log forgotten traveler, J.B. This is the Grand Line however, and I doubt there’s much exaggeration, Nami.”

“Right. We can tell the boys tomorrow – I didn’t see any fog, so we are probably good for now. That storm was terrible! I need sleep and not screaming.”

“Fufufu! Aye!”

-

It’s not Ace at the bottom. Or at least, not the Ace Luffy knew last.

It is Ace as a child, angry and mean.

Ace is dead, and this is a dream.

“C’mon crybaby, let’s go find your hat.” Ace says, dashing away into the forest, pipe not clanking against any tree or rock.

Its dark. Luffy wonders how this Dream Ace can see where he’s going.

(At least he’s not being mean or saying things that Ace wouldn’t.)

“Ace! Wait up!” Luffy calls and runs after him, uncaring of the branches that whack at him or trip in his path. This jungle is like Goa if not for the fact that Luffy can’t easily dash through it.

Ace runs and runs and runs. It’s like Luffy is seven again, and chasing after his big brothers who are so much stronger than him. This time, however, his big brother doesn’t wait for him to catch up, and disappears into the thickening fog.

“Ace?” Luffy halts and calls hesitantly.

No answer.

He lost him.

(Again.)

Oh well. He still has to find hat – and this isn’t really Ace that he’s chasing, only a vision from his nightmares that he can’t seem to have a connection to.

(It’s an odd dream. Usually Luffy tries to hug Ace, or be with him, or talk to him more, but he doesn’t trust this Ace.

He’s never known an Ace was a Dream Ace before.)

“Luffy?” That’s not Ace’s voice that’s –

“USOPP!”

He lunges at his friend, wrapping limbs around him on instinct. Strong arms catch him, holding him tight.

“Luffy!” Usopp says again, smiling bright. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

He wonders when he woke up, because this Usopp is alive and solid before him. Usopp lets Luffy down, and starts to drag him deeper into the forest. “C’mon, everyone’s waiting. I swear you’re just as bad as Zoro, the beach is this way. Everyone’s waiting y’know.”

“Yeah?” Luffy stumbles as Usopp’s grip tightens around his wrist, urging him to keep up.

Odd, how Usopp isn’t screaming about the forest. He’s either really worried or he’s even more super than before, Luffy muses.

(He hopes it the latter. He doesn’t like it when his crew is worried)

“The ships okay, and the logue pose is set, we want to get out of here before we lose it or something. You got it, Luffy?” Usopp questions him, pausing in the forest trail. Weird, how the forest seems so much easier to navigate. “Why were you sleeping there in the middle of the forest anyway? Don’t you know-”

Blood blooms in the center of Usopp’s chest, from where he stands in front of Luffy. His words cut off as he stumbles once, twice, before falling into Luffy’s arms.

“Lu-luffy?” Usopp wheezes before growing silent.

Growing cold.

Dead.

(It’s too sudden, the warmth leaving to quickly and a projectile nowhere to be seen. There’s no enemy on this island, no one who would attack Usopp and leave Luffy alone. Luffy doesn’t care about any off the oddities as he sits there with his beloved friends’ body in his arms.

He failed. Again.

He’s too weak.

And now, in the forest, he’s alone again.)

-

Sanji wakes again to cloudy darkness, a pattern forming, but this time he can’t open his jaw or see much past the bars settling over his vision.

The mask.

Fuck.

What the hell, why the hell, is he is this damn thing again? Why why why why? Luffy, his crew, freed him from this, he’s free to chase his dreams and find the All Blue –

So why is he in this damn nightmare scenario? Who put this on his face?

What happened before this?

The rock, the rock, the bugs – fuck the bugs – leaping upward and darkness.

Right.

Take two.

Sanji gets up and touches the mask around his face. It’s heavy, heavier than he ever remembered it being, and weighs upon his shoulders like the weight of the world.

This should be nothing – Sanji is strong, stronger than any mask.

He can’t even jump more than ten feet with it on. Every time his head drags him back down to the ground, slamming him into the ground. He tries countless times, each time feeling his energy wane more and more.

Escape is so close, yet he’s still trapped on this damn rock.

Use your head, Sanji.

He takes a breath, again wishing for a cigarette, and steps back and falling until he is sitting down. The world seems to go a little hazy, a little blurry, and then he’s back.

Feeling so much weaker than before. Did he black out?

No – he hadn’t.

Had he?

Use. Your. Head.

Right.

Sanji looks down, and all sense flies out the window. His hands are practically skeletal in appearance, thin and drawn with barely any muscle. They are trembling as he looks, barely able to hold their curled shape.

What – what happened?

The last time he had seen this was with his Captain, who had starved waiting for his cook to come back. Then had been lost sailors arriving at the Baratie, and the first time…

The first time had been Sanji himself, and Zeff, standing on that rock.

He’s the rock again – again, oh shit, how the hell did he get here, fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck-

His hand brushes something as he pushes it against the ground, trying to leverage his weakened body up.

It’s not a bug this time, Sanji notes, as he looks over at the item.

No, it’s not even close.

Its Robin, peacefully lying there as if nothing has happened. But –

She’s as skeletal as Sanj,i even as her hand lies outstretched to him. Her open eyes are glassy and her lips parched and cracked.

Her chest is still. She’s not breathing, and there are no wounds on her body.

Robin had starved to death on the same rock as him, probably begging him for food or a way out, and he didn’t even feed her.

Sanji didn’t feed her.

Terror seeps in deep as his heart painfully stops in his just. He didn’t feed her, oh god.

He didn’t feed his crew.

Are the rest of them the same? Starving?

Facing Sanji’s worst nightmare?

-

Zoro’s at the bottom of the cliff and he can’t find Nami’s body. Can’t even bring her to sunny to give her a proper pirate funeral.

What a failure, Zoro, you’re pathetic, Kuina’s voice rings in his ears. Wado hangs limply in his grasp.

Zoro doesn’t fear much. He never flinches, even at certain death (Take my head instead!) and monstrous beings and people hold no charge against him.

But this…

This failure to protect his crew, his dream, his family… To let them die because of something so simple and meaningless as slipping out of his grasp…

It’s like lead is in his stomach. Despair trembles through his veins.

Nami… oh god, Nami –

(Kuina was like an annoying older sister to Zoro. Nami is like her annoying counterpart, ragging on about his debt and how stupid he is but unlike Kuina she has always told Zoro that she thought he was a monster, and never thought of how much weaker she might become. She was family.)

She’s dead.

(Zoro knows death. A warrior’s death is something to be valued – dying in battle, or peacefully after a long life of victory and fall to someone greater than yourself. To die in the path of a dream. This is the death that Zoro can accept.

To die for nothing, for no reason other than accident – Zoro feels his chest tighten at the reality of it.

A thousand hells would be better.)

And he can’t even find her body.

He wants to feel denial. He wants to feel rage, something burning, something how he usually is.

All Zoro can feel is cold.

(A failure. He couldn’t protect her, couldn’t protect her from this horrible, horrible fate. A failure.)

He needs to find Luffy and everyone else so they can help him find her.

He starts walking, wandering the bottom of the cliff (as if some part of him believes he can find her body that way.) Time seems to wax and wane on this island – the featureless sky shifting from bright to dark in minutes, even seconds, as if its day and night all at once.

How long has he walked?

“Yo-ho-ho-h, yo-ho-ho-ho, Yo-ho-ho-h, yo-ho-ho-ho~”

“Brook?” Zoro echoes out at the sudden voice.

Bink’s Sake. He’ll know that tune anywhere. It’s coming from his right but…

That’s not the usual solo. That has piano in it – too many voices for one, single skeleton.

What’s going on?

He follows the song, for once not getting lost as he is prone to do. The voices grow louder in song, followed with suspicious thudding sounds. Zoro finds the coldness in him waning as concern grows. He starts running.

“Brook?” he calls again, waiting for the returning call, the breaking of song as the skeleton greets his beloved crew.

He doesn’t answer.

Zoro’s heart beats faster, his breath constricting in his throat.

Zoro comes upon a small clearing. There’s a small pond in the middle, deep with semi clear waters. Somethings in it, but he can’t tell yet.

The music’s ringing loudly now, but it’s only Brook’s voice now.

He sounds like he’s crying.

There’s a knock against his foot, and the music shuts off, leaving an eerie silence. A look down, and it was not Brook that was singing but a tone dial.

Brook’s tone dial, the one he was going to give to Laboon, the one of the Rumbar pirate’s last living song.

He never lets that out of his sight. Which means…

Cold washes over Zoro once again, like a beast digging into his heart. He steps closer to the pond, and peers in.

Brook, dead in the only way they knew for sure he could die.

Drowned.

Zoro collapses to his knees, and mourns for two of his family.

-

Usopp is left on the forest floor once Luffy struggles past the barrier in his mind (the one that screams just like Ace, all alone, you failed, you failed you failed, your alone, your weak, such a bad captain-) because Usopp had said the others were waiting for him.

What if something bad happened to them too? What if what if what if?

Luffy sprints through the trees and trips over metal, landing face first in the dirt if not for a quick arm.

He knows that clang. He wishes he didn’t, because this time there was no SUPER! shout to accompany it.

It’s Franky, curled into a ball, with his fleshy back bloody and pierced. In the center of his arms is Chopper, lifeless and limp and bloody.

Both of them aren’t breathing. Both of them are dead, no matter how hard Luffy tries to sense their force with his haki.

(Franky, it seems, had tried to protect the already wounded Chopper with his body. He had failed. Had whoever killed Usopp killed them too?)

“Franky?” Luffy croaks, still hoping he wasn’t to late. “Franky? Chopper?”

Denial shatters away like glass when there’s still no response.

His crew is dead.

Who knows who might else be?

“NAMI!? ROBIN!?” Luffy jumps up, looking around. Please not be there, please not be-

There. They are there. With Brook next to them, all dead and Sanji lying slumped next to him and Zoro… and Zoro lying right there. His swords run through him.

A familiar vivre card is burning away in his head. Sabo’s card.

His big brother is dying.

It burns away entirely.

His big brother is gone.

He has no one now.

Luffy’s alone, for good this time.

SNAP.

-

It has been days, Sanji thinks at least, since he found Robin’s body. And the others, a few days later, scattered around the rock. His memory as to how he got here, how his crew starved is hazy, but one fact remains crystal clear.

He let his crew starve to death, and is now starving himself, trapped in a mask.

Something he swore he would never let happen again.

How, he would ask, if he could get past the lead in his veins, how.

But he can’t, except sit there in numb terror as voices laugh in his head and shadows dance before him.

Taunting him, In that dizzying way of theirs.

It’s just like the rock, when every other day a mirage would appear on the water, tricking them into thinking some rescue was upon them.

This time, it was a mirage of his former family, or his friends at times, whispering and laughing at him and with him when he managed a crazed snicker.

(His chest felt tight and his ears were ringing. Is this what it was like to die?)

It was only when Zeff appeared, stretching out a hand to him, inviting him to stand up and get off the damn rock and join his crew did Sanji know he had finally lost it.

He reached out a hand anyway and –

SNAP.

The world flickered, for one, crystalline moment, and Sanji could see again.

That’s not Zeff.

The mirage came back but it was too late.

Sanji knew.

-

Zoro had dragged Brook out of the pond and laid his song in his skull. He would get Luffy, and ask Luffy what they should do about the tone dial – should they leave it with the last of the Rumbar pirates, or bring it to the whale it was destined for.

Perhaps both, and bury Brook at the sea of Reverse Mountain

He stumbles along, after carefully laying Brook down, and goes to keep searching. Each sight he finds is another horrible mockery of his crew, a death they didn’t deserve. He wants to stop and help them, but it’s like a child is tugging him along, insistent and stubborn, leaving him no choice but to follow the shadows further into the woods.

Franky dismantled. Robin collapsed. Usopp shot, Chopper with him. The shit cook dead with a cigarette still burning in his mouth.

Tears fall down Zoro’s cheeks and he’s trembling, eyes wide and horrified. His crew is dead.

(Where’s Luffy?)

(Behind you, hehehe!)

Zoro whips around at the invisible force in his head. Stumbling toward him is Luffy, looking lost and confused and with blood pouring from the wound in his chest.

“Zo..ro” His captain rasps, reaching out to him before stumbling.

Zoro catches him, watching numbly as his captaiin’s light fades from his eyes. His hat is torn and his chest slowly stops moving up and down.

Shadows sink their claws into Zoro’s body as he stands there holding his captains’ body – the man he vowed to protect, to live for, die for, give his dream for.

Suddenly, how far they have come, more than half way across the world in the most dangerous sea, doesn’t seem so far anymore.

(His captain is resting against him that first night in the dinghy, the first solid presence in a long while. He’s smaller than Zoro, but so much stronger, and the hat he wears on his head seems like a crown made of sun. Something settles in Zoro’s chest as the confidence that he will become the greatest swordsman in the world shifts into not quiet but not loud knowledge.

He will be the greatest swordsman, and Luffy will be king. Simple.)

Luffy has died before becoming king. The future King of the pirates is dead and so is his entire crew.

Zoro laws Luffy’s body on the ground and closes Luffy’s eyes with a gentle hand. There’s no smile on his face as Zoro thought there would be when this day finally happened. Just anguish.

Wado finds his way into his hand.

If you step in the way of my dream, Ill run you through with my own swords!

Luffy is dead (someone more than his own pride) and can’t fulfill his promise.

King or Dead. Guess they were dead.

Perhaps Zoro shall fulfill Luffy’s promise to him instead.

Hehehe!

Come on Zoro, Kuina’s voice lulls in his ear, join me at the top of the world.

He unsheathes Wado and –

SNAP.

Luffy fades away and it isn’t Zoro’s hand holding Wado but a shadowy one.

He doesn’t give the shadows a chance to return as the numb terror that has been so uncharacteristic finally flees from his veins. He can see clearly now, observation Haki back for just a moment, and the world makes sense again.

Zoro knows the truth.

And that was Luffy’s, living Luffy who would be the Second Pirate King, Conquerors Haki.

Zoro slashes with Wado Ichimonji and runs for the shores.  

-

The world shutters, much in the same way it did when his big brother died, but Luffy pays it no heed. He doesn’t open his eyes as he falls to ground and lets his haki pour forth. Rayleigh had trained it, drilled it into him so he had nothing but perfect control, but Luffy has never reacted to rage or sadness with anything but self-destruction.

(Before, when his crew disappeared, he had smashed his head into the ground. When his brother died, he destroyed a quarter of the island and reopened half his wounds. People scolded him, but how could he explain that he was nothing without his beloved crew? His family? His brother?)

And how could he react to all of his crew being lost, his last brother dying, with anything but soul crushing terror and rage?

Luffy is alone now. The world is bleak and cold as he opens his eyes. Count what you still have Jimbe said, and Luffy still hopefully has Jimbe, if he too isn’t gone somewhere else in the world.

Around him is a crater, his crew’s bodies suspiciously untouched by the force of his conquering will.

His will feels broken now, out of reach.

Ace sits before him, looking like the day he set out. Young, smiling, ready to brave the world.

He doesn’t say anything, and neither does Luffy. Ace falls eventually, now old again, into his arms, and Luffy feels terror seep into his veins. The body is gone in the next minute, as if it was never really there, but the blood coating his hands tells another story. Its just like Marineford

The world is black. Dark. Luffy is alone on this island with no family or friends. He doubts whatever is hunting down his crew spared Sunny.

He can’t feel anything any more. Just horror, sinking deep. As if something is sapping his soul, his rage, his anger, his fury at his family is being stolen, leaving nothing but the loneliness.

(Luffy has always been alone. Been left to shake in the dark while grandpas and idols and big brothers were at sea (or dead.) It shakes him, that nothing is perhaps real and there’s no one to love and cherish and treasure. It shakes him in a way he can’t understand, leaves him feeling unsteady and uncertain. He’s terrified of it.)

No shadows dance before his eyes and no voice sing out and laugh in his ear. All there is is the crushing void of being alone – it hurts, far more than Luffy thought it would.

He’s collapsed on the ground now, completely boneless, eyes wide and unseeing. His hat is still nowhere to be seen as his clothes still feel sticky with blood.

Luffy doesn’t want this.

(He wants to think there’s a way and if not I’ll make one but something is stopping that train of thought in his head like a sea stone wall. He’s powerless.)

He wants this nightmare to end.

Perhaps if he closes his eyes…

The world fades, little by little.

Hehehehe!

Luffy’s eyes snap open. He’s not alone in this place after all.

Someone else is on this island, and he’s going to stop them, for what they did to his crew. His family.

Then… then he can sleep.

For now, however, Luffy will fight.

(the shadows grasp at him as he runs but there will be time for burial and mourning later. This island, Luffy is sure, will not be their final resting place. Only the sea can have that that honor.

The shadows drag him back, but he will not stop – he will never stop.

Not when his nakama need him.)

-

Flames erupt, turning the world around Sanji hazy. The weight on his head, the heavy metal mask, falls away and when he looks down his limbs are fuzzy, as if their form isn’t truly there. It is though – Sanji knows this illusion of starvation is nothing more than that.

An illusion, designed to turn him insane on this hellish island. Sanji won’t stand for it anymore.

His friends’ bodies are still there, next to him, nearly bone now.

(Impossible, his mind says, knowledge telling him that humans don’t become bone that quickly and of coursethis is some hellish nightmare.)

Sanji ignores them and pushes against the shadows lapping at his legs.

He needs to do something, get to his friends, and the first step to that is to get free and to get off this damnrock.

Feed your friends, something says to him, voice a copy of his own, but you failed.

It’s trying to lure him back in.

“NO!” Sanji yells aloud, flames bursting around him. A cook isn’t afraid of fire but shadows should be – and these ones aren’t, still latching on to him.

Whatever.

He sinks ever so slightly into the ground, creating a crater with the force of his power, and leaps up. He makes it half way up the cliff before he needs to sky jump, and a third before the shadow things latch on to him.

(They are starting to form a shape now that they don’t have a nightmare to feed off of. Some are his ex-siblings, some are his starving friends, some are even Zeff but most are twisted, inhuman things, which act like every limb on their body isn’t theirs but they are moving them anyway.)

Sanji snarls at him and the traitorous thoughts they try to put in his brain and reaches the top of the cliff. This time, when the mask flies at him, Sanji is read. With a fiery foot the mask is kicked into the ground, smoldering and dented.

“Heh,” he says, talking just to hear his own voice again (to see if he was real), and kicks it again. The shadow things are hanging back now.

He’s sure they are thinking up a new strategy to get to him, but that won’t work anymore.

He knows their game – and he knows what he wants to win.

“Where. Are. My. Friends.” He growls out to the shadows, not expecting a response.

And he doesn’t get one – at least not verbally. When he finishes his snarl, the things melt and fly away into the darker forest like wisps.

Pieces of a puzzle he never knew existed are falling into place. Sanji finally finds a cigarette and lights it, taking a drab and billowing smoke into the air.

There’s no sky, he realizes. And no rock behind him at the bottom of the cliff either.

He takes another drag. And the shadows on the ship… the ones haunting him… were they the cause of his nightmares? The ones sinking into him and dragging his will and lifeforce out of him?

Which means…

Mosshead. Luffy.

Shit.

Sanji runs and doesn’t look back.

-

Zoro has been sprinting for a while now, and the shadows are still chasing him. Luffy is out there somewhere, alive, and so is Nami and Brook and everyone else.

These shadows, shifting and shapeless all at once with limbs that don’t belong to him, are just another barrier he needs to cut before he can return to his crew.

Zoro has one eye, but that doesn’t mean his vision is impaired. To be in a fight, to be a swordsman, to be a pirate means to always know more than what is there.

Observation haki just puts a word to it.

Except… his fucking haki isn’t there. And he can’t tell what he needs to cut yet.

Damnit.

Is this what had been going on in on the ship? Had the shadows been reaching out from this island so much that they caused his nightmares?

What is going on here?

When Luffy had let loose that conquerors haki, the world had been cleared for a second.

Assume nothing is real.

Any obstacle he could cut down.

All he needs is Luffy and his haki to cut off the head and find the real culprit of this hell hole.

Damn island! Damn it all! Bringing up memories of Kuina, of Marineford, of whatever the shite cook saw, of dead crew left and right – shit, if this is its tactics, then what is Sanji facing? What’s Luffy facing?

(Sanji’s hand shakes when one of the crew can’t eat and he hates wearing anything metal on his face. Nami had told them all about Whole Cake, about how his ex-siblings and ex-father were assholes, and how he used Sanji’s true family as leverage. Food doesn’t go to waste on Sunny, and the crew isn’t trapped or ignored. Zoro doesn’t want to imagine what it would be like to Sanji if those things did happen.)

(I’d rather be hurt than alone, Zoro, Luffy had told him once, when Luffy was in that post battle fever and had pushed himself too far. Zoro doesn’t think Luffy knows that he told Zoro, but it doesn’t stop Zoro from thinking of the two years where Luffy had thought he had lost it all – and was alone, no matter the reality.)

Zoro needs to get to his captain now.

A shadow swipes at his feet. Zoro jumps, sweeping out Kitetsu in an easy motion. It cuts the shadow, which had the vague appearance of Yosaku, and splits into two shadowy Kuina’s.

Damnit.

Where’s the shore in this place?

Zoro’s so far preoccupied with looking for the moon (moon controls the tides, therefore, follow the moon and you will find water) which isn’t there that he doesn’t notice the hat drifting in front of him, being chased by some other shadow.

Until that hat smacks him in the face that is.

It’s familiar, soft despite its straw material, and with a vibrant, old red ribbon crossed around it.

Luffy’s? Zoro pulls the hat away from his face with a questioning, concerned look. He’s about to examine it further when –

The hat disappears from his hands into some child’s before him. The child is small, freckled, and angry, staring up at him with silvered, unseeing eyes. He’s never seen him before, but there’s something in the shape of the nose and the curl of the hair that reminds Zoro of someone long ago.

He doesn’t know who that is though.

“Hey!” Zoro says to the stranger, reaching for the hat. “Give that back! That’s my captain’s!”

“Yeah?” The child snarls, vitriol practically dripping from his mouth. “It’s my brothers – your shitty captain ain’t ever getting it back.”

Brother?

The child turns and dashes away, leading the swordsman into the forest and anyway from where he thought the water was. Shit, Zoro thinks as he loses the kid, where the hell did he go?

He takes a right (or so he assumes) and then a left at the familiar big tree, and then another right at the big tree – is this tree moving?

Whatever.

The forest is watching him, mocking him, but there’s no child around him. His haki clears in spurts and burst, giving him clarity to see the truths of shadows past shadowy captains and Kuinas.

Zoro slashes them all and pauses in a small clearing, still looking for the brat.

The worlds growing dark again, not that it had gotten that much lighter. The shadows are twisting more and more, staying just outside the clearing, watching him.

Zoro tightens his grip on his sword as he looks out at the shadows. There’s something coming.  

No. Someone.

Red flies out of the bushes and barrels into Zoro, knocking him into the dirt and leaving him disoriented.

But there will never be a day he doesn’t recognize that sloping scar.

“Luffy?!”

-

Luffy feels like he can’t breathe, like his skin is buzzing with a thousand tiny needles under it. His despair and rage had turned into terror that was dragging at his heart making it sink low low low low low and beat so fast he was worried Chopper would yell at him for it.

(Except Chopper was dead now, wasn’t he?)

He didn’t know where he was going, only that he needed to lash out. He felt small, in the way he never did except when he was alone and there was a knife digging into his chest and twisting and twisting and twisting—

Luffy stumbles, breath catching in his throat, and barrels through the bushes. Tears from his panic threaten to fall but he won’t let them he won’t—

He crashes into something as his vision was going blurry, as oxygen refuses to enter his lungs.

But…

The world, previously blurry, zeroes in on a familiar, green shape.

“Zo..ro?” He chokes out, air still not entering his lungs as he looks towards his swordsman.

Breathing. Alive, with no blood or anything, just red tear tracks falling from his one eye.

“ZORO!” He shouts and sobs again, lunging at his first mate whose still lying on the ground, wrapping arms and legs alike around him. “ZORO!” He doesn’t know any other word.

Zoro is the same. “Luffy, LUFFY!” Zoro chokes out just as Luffy did, wrapping arms tightly around his captain. “You’re alive,” And Luffy’s not imaging the wet spot on his shoulder.

“You too, you’re alive, I thought you were dead, Zoro, Zoro!” Luffy clings tighter.

The shadows around his vision seem to bleed away, the longer he clings to his first mate. His chest loosens and he can breathe and he’s no longer alone.

And if Zoro’s alive… that means…

“Zoro.” It must be the thousandth time Luffy’s said it, but he still repeats it as he pulls away just enough to see Zoro’s face. “What’s going on? Where’s the rest of the crew? You were dead.” His heart tightens again, recalling the terror that’s now only just abating

“You were dead too. All of the crew was.”

The shadows titter around them and Luffy tightens his grip. He doesn’t need to ask Zoro more than that, can see it in his eyes that he was tempted too, by shadows with loved faces.

He hates it.

Hehehehe!

“It stopped when you used your haki.” Luffy nods at Zoro’s statement and hauls his swordsman upward. “I think it’s something with the shadows.”

“Hmm,” He hums and glares at the world around him. Fine then.

His hearts wild still, and he may still be holding on to Zoro’s sleeve, reluctant to let his new refound crewmate go but –

He’s not doing it (losing them) again.

Ever.

Luffy wishes he had his hat, but at least he can assume his crew is alive for now. And Sabo to, judging by the slip of a Vivre Card in Wado Ichimonji’s hilt.

Fine.

Luffy drags Zoro forward, and forces the world to kneel to him, in one wave of the Will of Kings.

Conquerors Haki.

The world goes still for just a moment.

Wind.

The shadows melt away, dragging themselves backward from trees and sky and people, as if being propelled by an invisible force field. The inky jungle is no more, and no longer resembled Goa’s lush trees and undergrowth. Instead it is barren, with sickly, endless trees that reach up to a cloudy sky. The fog is gone, apparently made of shadows, and there is a person up ahead, revealed by the force.

Luffy doesn’t dare let his will go, now that Zoro is before him and the shadows that laughed and took his crew away from him are gone.

The figure up ahead stands and waves, familiar hat in hand. Luffy charges forward, not letting go of Zoro’s arm and waved.

“SANJI!”

Sanji smiles and waves back.

-

A moment ago, Sanji was charging through the trees, the next, running over some bratty kid with a pipe and something that did not belong to him in hand.

The kid glares, and swipes at Sanji with his pipe, but Sanji has been mad for a while now and if the kid was looking for a fight, well.

Sanji breaks the pipe in half and snatches Luffy’s hat back from the freckled brat.

“Who the fu-“ He starts to ask before the island shakes.

Kneel. A will commanded that doesn’t end. Kneel.

It is Luffy, sending out another burst of conqueror’s and this time he seems to have gotten the clue that whatever was controlling the shadow’s will isn’t greater than his own.

Thank the seas.

Sanji watches as shadows seem to fling back from Luffy’s will, as if bouncing off a shield. The island becomes bleak as the inky figures melt from trees and shrubbery and sky, leaving a barren landscape.

And, with his captain and the mosshead in clear sight.

(Where’d the kid go?)

“Sanji!” Luffy shouts, running towards him, but Sanji is already moving to meet him. He slams into the both of them, yes, mosshead included, catching them in his arms as arms surrounded him in turn.

“You’re alive,” He cries, tears that his body told him he wasn’t able to shed (starvation) dripping from his eyes. “You’re alive!” He holds on tighter as Luffy and Zoro both tighten their own grip.

A huddle of emotions, for a minute, before instinct kicks in.

“Fuck off shit cook,” Zoro mutters, and if Sanji’s “Shitty-ass mosshead” wasn’t just as wobbly he would have teased him for years.

As it was, reunions could come later. For now…

Sanji plops the iconic straw hat on Luffy’s head. “Missing something captain?”

“Shishishishi! You found it! Thank you Sanji!” And rubbery limbs wrap around him again, damn it, he can’t breathe!

Luffy seems to get the hint and backs off, letting Sanji suck in some much needed oxygen. But still keeps a grip on his sleeve, as he was with Zoro, and Sanji understood.

He switches Luffy’s grip on his sleeve so that Luffy was gripping his head, and took a drag of his cigarette with the other.

“So… I’m assuming personal nightmares?”

The joy that had crossed Luffy’s face was no more. Instead, his lips form a stern frown as his hand made an aborted motion to reach up – presumably to touch his scar.

“Yeah.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Least you guys figured the conqueror’s haki thing out. Now we can actually find the bastard.”

The world is so much clearer now, without the oppressing force of the shadows on his mind, suppressing his haki. Like the glass has been wiped clean and now he can see the world, thanks to Luffy.

He hadn’t even affirmed the lack of haki before, but it must have started when the nightmares started.

Luffy cocks his head to the side. “Oh.” As if he just now noticing the vibrant sense in the world.

“Dumbass.”

“Hmph.”

It’s quiet as the trio looks around them. Luffy lets go of their sleeves to push his hat more firmly on his head and make a fist with his hands.

“It’s the island,” He says “Isn’t it?” Sanji’s captain’s voice is low, but it seems to tremble with anger. “Making us feel all that without our permission.”

The thing hurting them, targeting them, because they were the only ones who could sense it isn’t a person… it’s the entire island.

Puzzle pieces are falling into place. The island attacked them because they were able to sense its power, were strong enough to repel it, and tried to shut it down before it could reach that point but sending out shadows with fears in them.

Preying on them. Sanji feels disgusted.

He doesn’t know why, only knows that the Island had hunted them for sport, leeching off of their fear and despair and something awful. He doesn’t want to know what it showed the others, but judging by his own terror, it can’t have been pleasant.

The island is alive like the shadows in the Florian triangle, and Sanji wants to burn it to the ground.

Luffy’s in agreement, eyes flashing. “The shadows got to come from somewhere, right?” Sanji and Zoro nod. “Then we find the source and smash it to bits. That way it can’t come back.”

Finishing that, Luffy whips out an arm, stretches it, and knocks down half the trees to their left.

“COME ON OUT! IM GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!” He yells and charges forward. With twin devil grins, Sanji and Zoro follow.

Luffy’s haki pours forth like the flood. He’s keeping it up, strong and steady and unrelenting as they rampage halfway across the island. He’s a conqueror, a true one, even if he never wants to rule over anything but his own freedom.

Sanji lashes out at the remaining foliage and shadows, thankful that his captain is Luffy.

But… the shadows are slipping away into something greater, convalescing at the center of the island, a shallow valley surrounded by the two mountains along the side. Its growing, growing growing, like a dark hole of loveless light. It has no eyes, nothing to give it meaning, but Sanji can tell it’s watching them.

As it grows bigger, so does its effort to fight against Luffy’s will. It can’t beat it, but his captain has to put in quite a bit of effort. Zoro and Sanji start taking up more of the fight as Luffy keeps his will extended, drawing back to protect his crew.

Sanji lets fire fly, and leaves it to Zoro to tell their captain to stop with the haki for a moment.

“If we know it’s there, we can’t be tricked anymore.”

Luffy nods, preps a King Kong Gun, and drops his haki as he unleashes a ground shattering attack.

The island shudders as if its hurt but the shadows don’t stop running. Sanji’s haki is fine.

Good.

It’s time to show this island what it means to be afraid.

-

The island is a lot smaller now without the shadows. The cliffsides that Zoro climbed are no more than perhaps five stories tall – he could have jumped that, if he wanted to, and not climbed down.  The jungle is no more than a mile, and the shore is clearly visible.

The island is a fake and Zoro can’t believe he fell for it.

The laughter stops as they reach the center. The sky’s bright and no fog covers the sea– the island itself is entirely razed to the ground by the force of their attacks.

The black hole like thing that sucked all the shadows in is nowhere to be found.

Instead, the child that Zoro had met before is standing in the center, looking like a glitch in reality. Light does not bend around him, like a painting without depth or reality. He’s there, standing over some pit in the ground, glaring with silver eyes. Blood drips from his mouth and his fists, scrapes across his knees.

The shit cook starts as if he too recognizes the brat. And since Sanji had Luffy’s hat he probably did meet him.

But Luffy…

Luffy freezes, and lets go entirely of the haki of the conquering king. (Zoro had thought he already dropped it. Guess he just made it so that Sanji and Zoro couldn’t feel it, which damnit Luffy that wasn’t the point of stopping it!)

“Ace?” Luffy whispers softly, sounding confused, and Zoro has never wanted to destroy anything more than he has in this moment.

“Luffy,” The brat – Ace, is this how that polite man looked as a child? Angry and lost? – says stepping forward. Zoro unleashes his anger at the surrounding area, which is shifting, and realizes the shadows have changed again. They have condensed into this caricature of their captain’s dead big brother, and melded to the environment, changing it from barren island to warring battlefield.

Zoro recognizes it from newspapers.

Marineford.

It ripples with every sword slice, shadows tearing apart and reconnecting and recoloring, but nothing can be as terrible as this war scene. Bodies strewn about, ice and fire glinting in the light.

The sky, so clear a moment ago, is dark. Zoro feels wrong-footed, and hearing the cook shift next to him, knows Sanji feels the same. What’s real? What isn’t How can we fight this? What are its weak points?

Luffy, before them, hasn’t moved.

“Hehehe!” Ace says, laughing, that laugh that has followed them through the island and laughed at their peril. “Little Brother, you can’t win here. No one can. So many people have fallen already, given their soul to—”

“I don’t care.” Luffy says, and there is ice in his tone. His will, his haki, grows, from when it paused at the sight of his brother. Zoro bares his teeth, and watches as the shadows step back. “I’m going to be King of the Pirates. I don’t have time for shadow guys again who like to hurt my crew. You aren’t Ace. This isn’t Marineford. So shut up.”

His voice reverberates throughout the valley. Luffy has always told people to get out of the way, to shut up or fight him, and this is no different. And Luffy rarely doesn’t get his way, because Luffy fights for want he wants.

(That, or the universe falls to his whims.)

This fake Ace takes a step back at Luffy’s indomitable spirit, then another. Sanji and Zoro as one step forward and attack the shadows around them, taking the mirage of their captain’s worst nightmare away from him.

(Though, hopefully he hadn’t noticed.)

It’s not enough, as the living island realizes it can’t beat them this way  and grows.

Freckled skin turns into scars and a tank top stretches into a marine jacket and flowered shirt. A cigar is bitten between gritted teeth as the figure grows and grows and grows. Blood boils and melts and solidifies into lava as Akainu stands tall in the center of the valley.

“Yeah, boy? Aren’t you scared now?” And Zoro hasn’t seen Akainu before or heard him, but he hates him already. He may just be a mirage, but it’s enough. “Big brother isn’t here to protect you

“Yeah. He isn’t.” And Luffy, without flinching or with a drop of terror, lunges forward in Gear Four.

“I can protect myself now.”

The island splinters as the attack hits, and Zoro knows no fear.

Fight, his captain says without speaking, and Zoro fights.

-

Akainu is here, and the last time Luffy saw him was when he was pulling his hand Ace’s chest. He’s not scared of him now, though he guesses the island thought he would.

Dead brothers, and war, and lost crew.

Luffy has already faced them. This island can’t throw them back at his face again. He might have despaired for his crew, but they are here now. The past doesn’t matter.

What matters is making sure his crew comes out alive wherever they are.

This is just training for when Luffy finally takes down Akainu.

He won’t lose. He isn’t scared.

Luffy attacks, and the battlefield erupts into dust.

-

Time flows differently on the Grand Line. Islands shift in and out of storms and fog, from one century to the next. Some theorize that Raftel is one such island, drifting between the shores one era and the next.

(In some way it is.)

It should come to no surprise that when an island falls it is as if it was never there at all. The sea is as unforgiving as it is beautiful, and time does not care for any rules but its own.

Luffy fights the will of the island for what seems like days. Zoro and Sanji whirling in action beside him, fighting back to back and arm to arm, never letting each other fall. Akainu – the island- falls to ruin with every cut and punch and kick.

Akainu falls, slowly, but surely, over the pit he came from.

A final Gum Gum Pistol and Ace is on the ground, bleeding out. One last trick to play.

But Luffy, nor any of the Straw Hats, like to dwell on the past on their own accord. A force of conquerors haki, and the island crumbles into a small stretch of rock and sand. No valleys or mountains around it.

The hole, the pit of darkness that the shadows came from, is all that remains. In it, a single skeleton, not singing or drinking tea. An unkept sword rests in its grip, wreathed in shadow.

Zoro ignores it, and they all ignore the skeleton.

When they look up, it is night, not sunny nor foggy. Endless stretches of stars, so familiar in the Grand Line, scatter the sky.

Luffy looks up and places a hand on his hat.

Terror does not pump through his veins, nor does horror or despair or grief. Only acceptance, and the feeling of an adventure completed.

Tiredness creeps in after.

“Let’s go home, guys.” He says, turning toward to the Sunny docked in the small bay that the sand and rocks create. The glistening black rocks of shadow, once used to attack and trap

They go home.

(behind them, as they set foot on the Sunny, the island sinks into the sea. Water fills the pit and the sword is swallowed up by the ocean’s force. Shadows seem to leak from it, fleeing into the sea like freedom flies to the wind. In a moment, it is gone, like rocks and sand and trees never existed.

The Peninsula of Drifting Fog, once part of a continent that has since fallen to the ocean floor, is no more.)

-

Luffy wakes to Nami screaming in his ear.

“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!? WHERES THE ISLAND? WHY’S THE ANCHOR IN THE WATER!? WHY ARE YOU ALL BEAT UP!?” She’s standing in front of him as he is sitting on deck, but despite her words her actions as she moves to help him sit and look at his wounds are gentle.

Luffy’s just glad to see she’s okay, and ignoring the multiple scratches and burns scattered about his arm, catches her in a rubbery hug. “Shishishi! Nami!” Spotting the rest of his crew looking at them on neck, he stretches to include them in the hug as well. “Usopp! Chopper! Robin! Franky! Brook!!”

He doesn’t let them go, feeling that frenzied, awful feeling fade away, until Sanji and Zoro wake up and attract the attention of the crew, who scramble for them as well.

They had fallen asleep in a huddle by the mast, too tired to make it to their quarters.

It was the first restful sleep Luffy had had in a while but he still feels drowsiness in his veins.

But he’s not alone now, and his crew isn’t dead.

He can breathe again, without anger or despair coating his lungs.

He can live.

-

Sanji is the one to explain to the others what happened, in a brisk sort of manner. Luffy and Zoro are never ones to ask what happened, only what are you going to do. Sanji’s the odd one out in that regard.

An island, a living island, he tells them, with a cursed sword for a heart. Nami writes in down, in the log, in the passage she titled Drifting Fog Peninsula. There’s a space marked in her map for it as well, in colors of blue and gold, to show that it has been destroyed by the Straw Hat Pirates and is now sinking under the sea.  

(There’s guilt in her shoulders, for being too tired to mention the legend last night. It had truly been only a night, the island fucking with their perception of time, instead of the weeks it felt like.)

It targeted us, because we could sense it. Probably would have gone on to you next. It tried to keep Luffy down a lot, because of his Conqueror’s Haki. He tries to avoid what it used to attack but his crewmates aren’t dumb. They know it takes more than fire and attacks to bring down Luffy, knows something went on when Sanji’s is more frantic in the kitchen and Zoro naps near the bottom of the stairs and Luffy can’t go without clinging to someone for more than fifteen minutes. It used fears.

He doesn’t say what kind, doesn’t know what the others faced, and it certainly isn’t his right to tell them that Luffy saw his brother die again (and who knows how many times before, when he was alone,) and fought the man who killed him.

We figured it out, in the end, what was causing it, and Luffy used his haki so we could all get a clear head. It was easy on out from there.

He doesn’t mention burns, or the way Luffy hadn’t cried. The way Zoro looked distant and agree and the way Sanji couldn’t stop shaking when they got on the ship.

They don’t need to know, though he does trust them.

They’re crew. Family.

Somethings you just hold close to your chest, that’s all.

-

Two nights away from the island, however, Sanji still can’t sleep without nightmares.

Each time he awakes, however, paranoia drives him to he use his observation haki to see if it’s just his regular brain fucking with him, or shadow brains.

It doesn’t particularly matter.  Zoro and Luffy are in the same boat. They all keep quiet about it, and so do their crewmates.

The past is the past on this ship of dreams, and the future is only ever King or Dead. The present is all that matters.

And presently, Sanji finds himself as he was nearly a week ago, and every night since they have been back, stumbling, bleary eyed and shaking, into the kitchen with Zoro and Luffy on the floor.

He doesn’t speak, only whips up some cinnamon tea and a light snack, and unhesitatingly curling next to Luffy, who quickly links their arms as he was doing with Zoro beside him.

Luffy’s eyes are red, Sanji notes, but there’s an ease to his shoulders now that both Sanji and Zoro are here. Seeing his crew, his captain, eat, is also doing wonders for Sanji’s nerves.

Zoro’s tense, but in the way he usually is – almost entirely relaxed but ready to protect his crew if need be.

In a moment, they find their way to the aquarium with a blanket and little conversation other than a whispered Shishi! as Zoro and Sanji fight over opposite ends of the blanket.

They sleep then, huddled in a pile, nightmares frightened away. The next night they will rejoin the crew in the sleeping quarters, crewmates finding their way into bunks not their own, but for now…

They sleep, undisturbed, in the quiet of their home.

No nightmares, no shaking hands or tense shoulders, can find them here, with a warm drink between their hands

[thehoneyxbadger]

she’s got claws

Gabby tries to help a mutant out of control. Slade and Colleen arrest a young mutant vigilante.

DATE: 22nd March 2020 FEATURING: @deathfxrhire @dragonsdefender MENTIONED:  WARNINGS: violence, suicide, blood, injury

GABBY: Gabby knew that the Accords meant she should be careful. But she felt she had these abilities and she could use them to help people. Or find those who'd been hurting people and deal with them herself. Tonight she was responding to a mutant who was using their powers to terrorise. Screams of terror echoed as fire seemed to go after one or two people. But looking at the attacker, this was more likely to be an act of distraught revenge.  Gabby didn't want the poor mutant, who seemed to only be a teenager who was lost and losing control --Probably retaliating against someone who hurt them. Gabby knew that feeling-- to end up arrested for that. 

So she intervened, taking advantage of her healing factor to get close enough to get to the kid and calm them down. Holding them tight, she managed to get them to stop, showing them her own claws to get them to trust her. "Come on," she told them. "We should get you out of here."

COLLEEN: Patrols were different with a partner. Especially one like Slade who wanted to make money doing this. She never really talked to him about whether or not he agreed with the Accords - but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know where he stood. (And as much as she was there to make sure that he was trustworthy, his presence there made Colleen stick to the rules as well... equal enforcement.) But tonight, Colleen glanced down an alley and saw - what was that? Knives? No. Those were claws. She reached over and hit Slade’s arm with the back of her hand gently to grab his attention - but hopefully not the two people in the alley.

Colleen glanced at Slade and motioned towards the two people. “You see what I’m seeing?” She asked in a whisper, working her jaw before shaking her head. She hated going after kids, but there was no pretending that this young woman wasn’t dangerous. “Let’s go. Maybe they’ll surrender.” But there was a dark feeling twisting in Colleen’s stomach. It was never that easy - but she hoped it would be. They were just kids.

SLADE: As far as partners went, Wing was better than he could have gotten. While he'd worked as part of a team in the Army, it's been a long time since those days--since he'd been betrayed by the very people he once counted as family. His last job with a partner had been Madripoor, and that had rather soured the entire prospect of working as a team even more than it already had been. As it went, though, Colleen was smarter than average and skilled as hell with the kitana she carried, even if her talking could border on lecturing like a mother hen every once in a while. Better useful but irritating than dead weight, as far as he was concerned. And she was useful. 

The screams had drawn their attention from a few blocks away, and Slade was on the lookout for anyone trying to make their escape when Colleen pinpointed the source down the alley. "I see 'em." Kids. Slade had no problem fighting kids--hell, the bloody Teen Titans were amongst his biggest pains in the neck. "Claws like those? Doubt it," he murmured, hand already sliding towards his belt. Especially if she was related to the more famous clawed mutant with the X-Men. "But I'll let you play good cop if you want." He was very good at bad cop.

He leads the way, anyway, down the alleyway, until both kids' heads snap up in their direction.

GABBY: Gabby was trying to keep the teenager calm enough that they could get out of here before any Enforcers showed up. Because they would show up. After a show like that, it'd be stupid to think they wouldn't. And here she was, a masked hero and clear mutant. Not to mention that this kid had just shown themselves to be potentially dangerous. But they needed help, not to be arrested. Except...

Gabby's head snapped up before the kid's, her enhanced senses alerting her within of the footsteps while they were still a while away. She straightened up, about to try to hide her claws. But it was too late for that; the way these two moved screamed to her that this was going to be a fight. Her heckles were raised immediately. "We just want to go home," she said, putting the kid behind her. It wouldn't hide them--Gabby was far too short for that-- but it might shield them. "We don't want a fight."

COLLEEN: He was right. Which was more annoying that Colleen would care to admit - he was her partner and all she could think about right now was that him having a point annoyed her. But she kept it in. Her dark eyes focused on the girl with the claws as she followed Slade, just a step behind him. Not because she was letting him lead - but he had a presence, and Colleen was hoping that having his muscle out on display would push the kids back. 

 And that Colleen could talk them into surrendering. 

That was the idea at least. And when the young woman said they just wanted to go home - Colleen felt for them, but they couldn’t. “Then don’t fight,” Colleen said, stepping so that she was right beside Slade. “Put those away,” she instructed, motioning downward with her hand slowly, “and surrender. If you don’t want to fight, prove it.”

SLADE: Fuck's sake.

Slade had never done hostage negotiation in the field--he'd always been the one they sent in when negotiation seemed to be going sideways. He was good at talking, don't get him wrong--he'd talked his fair share of kids down from hyperventilating themselves halfway to unconsciousness, or kids who decided their service weapon was looking more and more friendly. 

This, what Colleen was trying to do, he didn't have the patience for. The energy before a fight was practically crackling, and there was no doubt in Slade's mind that the girl wasn't going to go down easy. But he let her play the good cop. Saw the answer on the girl's face immediately.

Bad cop it was. "Look, kid. You're not going home. You can put the claws away and make everyone's life much easier, or you can not, and make my life much more fun but risk your little friend here getting hurt. You come in, you sign some papers, maybe you go home. Make yourself a danger, and that ain't gonna happen."

GABBY: If it were just her, Gabby's mind would be made up. She would fight her way out. But with a boy behind her who couldn't be more than thirteen... Well, that changed things. She slowly began to straighten up from where she'd been poised to fight, until she felt a hand on her arm. "No. Please! I can't go with them." Gabby sighed. A fight it was then.

"Afraid I can't do that," she replied to the man. "How about option C? We leave here so we can all make it home in time to watch some trash tv tonight. I think the new season of the Bachelor is on. Or is it the Bachelorette?" Gabby gave a sly grin, but her eyes were taking quick stock of her opponents. She couldn't rely on the kid to help. But Gabby had been trained her whole life to fight. "You get out of here, quickly, once you can," she murmured under her breath to him. "Get ready."

COLLEEN: Don’t fight. That was what Colleen wanted to tell this kid, that it would all be fine. She couldn’t make any promises that it would be fine, but she had to believe that there was a path forward that wasn’t all handcuffs and collars. (And it was hard to see a future like that when shit like this kept happening. And now it was kids.) “Option C sounds great and all,” Colleen shook her head. “But that’s not happening.” Slade went hard but Colleen couldn’t say that he was wrong — she hated it. But he was right. They couldn’t play this soft.

She took a step forward, and the second she did, the kid the one with claws was protecting bolted. Colleen barely glanced at Slade, wondering if he could read her as well as Danny could — if he knew that she was going to chase the other kid before she did it — wondering if there was any sort of understanding between them.

They were about to find out.

Colleen chased after the kid who had run off, her hand on the hilt of her weapon. She managed to close the distance quickly, grabbing the kid by the shirt and slamming them into the wall. “Stop running!” Colleen yelled, twisting the kid's arm behind their back to pacify them.

SLADE: The girl was admirably confident, he'd give her that--dishing out sarcasm even in the face of two Enforcers, even backed against the wall. You didn't get that confident without some practice, in Slade's experience, which meant she knew how to use those claws.

Dangerous, for sure, even in a small little package like that.

There was a moment of silence where they all sized each other up, waited to see who'd make the first move. Slade was delighted to find it to be Colleen. Less delighted at the way the little brat Claws was protecting bolted, but he could see the way Colleen's weight shifted as if to take after him even before she started running.

Which meant he got Claws. All the better. In a fraction of a second, he'd drawn one of the swords from his back and sidestepped between the girl and the side street the kid and Colleen had darted down. He had the reach advantage, here, and presumably the strength, but he wasn't taking anything for granted.

He caught the way her eyes shot down the street to where Colleen had the other kid pinned, brandished his sword a little more aggressively. "I really wouldn't, kid. C'mon, don't go makin me do something you'd regret. My friend there ain't about hurtin' kids, but I will hurt you if you make me."

GABBY: Gabby wasn't panicking despite the odds being against her. She'd been in enough fights in her short life to keep her head. But apparently the kid behind her hadn't. He took her advice a bit early and bolted, with one of the enforcers giving chase. Gabby watched in horror as he was twisted against the wall. "Hey! He's just a kid!" A kid without experience in this kind of thing to boot.

Claws out, she glared at Slade as he made threats. "Good luck with that," she retorted. She pulled her nun chucks from her belt to give her a better range--though he still had size advantage on her--and swung them hard and fast towards him. Only it was mostly a distraction, with Gabby's true intentions to merely pass the man, not attack him. As such, she used the wall to push off and get height, launching herself towards Colleen with a yell in a way she hoped would startle her into letting go of the teenager.

COLLEEN: It was a rookie mistake, turning her back on the other kid, even if she trusted that Slade would step up. He might have given her grief at every turn, but when it came down to situations like this? Slade was more focused on success than she was. (Colleen suspected it was about the money — but even so, that was reason enough that she could trust him out here.) Colleen’s grip on the kid changed when the one with claws shouted before leaping towards her. When she looked at the girl lunging towards her, the only thing she could think about was BB. How he had tried to reason with his friends and show them that Davos was wrong and evil but ended up bloodied on and on the ground.

This girl, she was just trying to do what she thought was right too. And the way she was moving — it was like she was okay if that cost her everything. Hell, it reminded Colleen of herself on some level. But there was no time for Colleen to try and talk this down again. And... if the choice was between Colleen’s life and this stranger’s? Colleen was going to choose herself. Colleen pulled her hand away from the teen she had pressed against the wall, her reflexes taking over as she pulled out her katana and braced herself for impact. “It doesn’t have to be like this — think about it — you can still stop. You keep going and I won’t be able to stop him.” Maybe that didn’t scare this kid... but it should.

SLADE: He threw his arm up to block the nunchuks, the impact scarcely even noticeable with his armor and his abilities, and turned to follow her movements as she lunged toward Colleen.

The other kid bolted as soon as Colleen turned to get her katana up, but Slade didn't pay a damn bit of mind to the kid as he slipped off into the dark. This one was the prize.

And when Colleen's warning didn't get the girl to let up, Slade would. Part of his reputation was his focus--his machine-like ability to put all of his attention on a task and complete it as if programmed to do it, come hell or high water.

Three thoughts went through his mind in short succession: firstly, that at least one of them was going to get hurt with so many blades out. Secondly, that it could not be Colleen--without regenerative powers, what damage she sustained would be a problem. Thirdly, that this kid seemed an awful lot like the Wolverine, and on balance, that meant she was apt to have the same regenerative abilities. And if it was him or the brat that needed to get hurt? Simple choice.

For a man of his stature, he's fast, thanks to the serum in his veins, and so he's crossed to the fight going on between the two girls in moments, his own katana driving the blade through skin and muscle at the kid's thigh before he finally pulls the swing just short of breaking bone.

The moment of shock, from both women, gives Slade opportunity to grab the kid by the scruff of her neck and yank her away from Colleen, throwing her onto the ground and dropping down with a knee to her back before she can try and push up. "If those claws don't go back into your hands now, kid," he warned, "you're getting a sword to the hands to keep them down, you understand me?"

Colleen's starting to protest the rough treatment, looks mad, but by the time he tunes back in, he's not inclined to let her ramble. "If you'd rather I let her up to gut you, just say the word, Colleen. Otherwise, I don't wanna fucking hear it. She's old enough to be running kids, she's old enough to fuckin know when to quit. Get a goddamned collar on her."

GABBY: Gabby's nunchucks collide with the katana hard, as she lands on the ground. The kid has run off, seemingly allowed to by the two Enforcers. Only now she stood between them. A vulnerable position to say the least. Gabby had to move quickly--something she was good at. But as fast as she moved, the man seemed to keep up. Her small stature normally meant that speed was her advantage, but something must help this man be this fast. Exactly what didn't matter to her right now. Especially as she doesn't heed Colleen's warning at all.

She turned, a split second too slow. The blade sliced through her flesh like butter, in a move that ought to have Gabby screaming in pain. Instead, as blood began to spill, Gabby's shock came from how deep the slice had gone. Almost to the bone, he'd cut her tendons and muscle in a way that--however temporarily--slowed her down too much. All it would take to lose this fight was a mere second slower. This wasn't some cop-turned-Enforcer. This was an assassin, trained to kill and butcher with skilled precision and no remorse, he had to be.

With his weight pressing on his knee against her back, Gabby knew  this fight is over. She could feel her leg beginning to stitch itself back together already, and she was thinking how once it did she could escape or fight again. Until she heard that word that sent dread through her. Collar. Without it, she would still have her training, but no extra strength or healing. Abilities she'd come to rely on because she'd barely known a world without them. Her claws slowly sink back into her hands.

Still, just because Gabby was down, didn't mean she was out. "What even is your deal anyway!? Surely there's better things to do than attack some kid who lost control of his powers?"

COLLEEN: The other kid was gone in the blink of an eye. And maybe she should have been concerned about that — that the kid would come back with help — or that Slade and Colleen might get ambushed later... but there wasn’t time to let any of those thoughts float to the surface. Not when she had an angry kid with claws who wanted to stab her. The claws collided with her katana, and Colleen moved defensively, not swinging at the girl. She didn’t want to actually harm her, despite having every reason to.

She had done this dance too many times before. She had done this dance for the Hand before. Finding troubled kids and trying to find even ground with them — recruiting them into a new and better life. But this time she wasn’t offering a safe place. No college fund. No reprieve from what was happening around them. Though, when she brought them to the Hand... she had no idea what she was really bringing them into. It was the good Hand. That was what Bakuto told her. That this was different — that they were different. But it was the same bullshit, just hidden behind a different — a charming smile. At least as an enforcer, there was no pretending that what she was doing was leading them down a path that they’d enjoy.

But it was hard to see the good parts of enforcing when she was facing off against a girl who couldn’t have been more than eighteen. It was even harder when she heard Slade’s voice, as he had the girl on the ground. (He had stabbed through her leg, and Colleen had gotten lost in something else — something that she had thought she was over. Time was supposed to heal all wounds... but time didn’t do shit for regret.)

This moment, it wasn’t so easy though. Nothing was quite black and white anymore. (Had it ever been? Really?) Her eyes snapped upwards to Slade, the frown on her face settling, as if that were her only expression. “Fuck off.” Two words came out of her mouth so bitter and angry — and she wasn’t even mad at him. She was mad at herself. For her hesitation. For the conflict in her own heart. But still, Slade kept opening his mouth — kept pushing her... Colleen took in a breath, reminding herself of the teachers her grandfather had instilled upon her. Self-control. One of the tenants of the Bushido Code.

Kneeling down next to the girl, Colleen secured a collar around her neck. But as she fastened it, she heard the words — what was her deal? Colleen clenched her jaw and took in a sharp breath. “I wouldn’t worry about him,” Colleen finally said. “He didn’t attack enforcers — he lost control and there is a system he can go through to get help — but you...” Colleen paused, still kneeling next to her. “Were you going to kill me?”

SLADE: Colleen could get pissy all she wanted, but they both knew he was right. Compassion and mercy got you hurt, got you killed, in this line of work. Colleen could feel how she wanted about kids or about the job--god knew he had his own thoughts--but you needed to put those in a box and do the goddamned job while you were out in the field where hesitation could be a death sentence. 

As soon as the claws were retracted, he closed his hands around the girl's wrists, drawing them up behind her back and closing cuffs around them as Colleen finished putting on the collar. The skin knitting itself back together at the girl's thigh stopped, and Slade squinted at the wound for a moment before deciding she'd be fine to base. The bleeding had more or less stopped, at least.

And then--fuckin hell. Colleen was trying to comfort the little brat. Slade snorted, rolling off and then dragging the girl up by her shoulders. "You just can't help yourself, can you, Wing?" It didn't matter whether the girl had tried to kill her or not--she hadn't gotten the chance, she had fought, and now she was under arrest. Could have beens didn't matter.

What mattered was now. "Think if I give her to you for two seconds you can manage to keep 'er here while I see if the kid is hiding out nearby?" He didn't wait for an answer before shoving Gabby at Colleen and starting down the alley, beginning a swift but methodical search for the boy.

GABBY: Gabby couldn't believe she'd been reckless enough to get caught. Maybe if the kid had actually stuck to the plan, or if the Enforcers hadn't clearly been so well trained, she'd be scot free right now. But maybe thinking about that was pointless anyway. They'd got her, they had her pinned to the ground and a collar around her neck. Which meant that if they actually decided to hurt her, or kill her, she wouldn't just bounce back. It had been a long time for Gabby since her injuries took a normal time to heal--she wasn't used to thinking like that.

She couldn't care less about the fighting between the two Enforcers, but when the woman knelt next to her and told her not to worry about the kid, she rolled her eyes. But it was the last question that made Gabby freeze. "No. I just wanted to scare you," she replied, honestly. If she'd wanted to actually kill the woman, she could've tried. But she didn't. "I didn't want to kill anyone."

As the man dragged her to her feet, Gabby could feel that her injured leg was still weak. At least it had healed enough to walk on now, just. It'd probably start bleeding again if she tried that for too long, but Gabby shrugged that off as she stumbled towards Colleen. Instead, she glared at the man as he went searching for the kid. If the kid was smart though, he'd be miles away by now. Gabby, on the other hand, was mildly screwed.

[godaime-obito]

my fill for @kakaobiweek2019 day 9: Obito’s birthday | Gift. Available on ao3 and under the cut!

Today is Obito’s twenty-fourth birthday. Which means he needs to be on the lookout for Kakashi’s nonsense. Ever since he returned to Konoha in mostly one piece after giving Kakashi his eye, he’s been determined to live up to his gift. Despite Obito giving him normal gifts for all his birthdays and everything else since, Kakashi has decided he has yet to live up to that one promotion gift. It’s almost enough to make him regret not taking the eye back like the clan elders wanted. If he gets back to their apartment to find Kakashi’s replaced all their furniture with new orange furniture again he’s going to lose it. Not even he likes orange that much.

Kakashi is still out on a mission. Conveniently he’s supposed to be back at about noon today, and who knows what he’ll bring with him. Obito doesn’t want another lemur incident. It was cute, but it was also a crazy wild animal, and he’s still not sure how Kakashi managed to smuggle it home. He isn’t taking any missions today. He could use all that free time to animal-proof the apartment. Just in case.

When Kakashi finally slips into the apartment, Obito has cleaned the apartment and put everything away, and even looked into every nook and cranny for surprises he may have hidden. Nothing. Which means he must have something with him. He peaks around the corner to try and see what Kakashi has, maybe slip out a window if needed. He doesn’t see anything. It could be in a storage scroll. Obito decides he has no choice but to approach.

“Hey honey. I hope you ate on the way here, because I didn’t do any cooking,” Obito says, finally walking into the open. “You know I don’t cook on my birthday.”

“Maa, did you get Ichiraku’s without me,” he whines.

“Yes,” he answers unrepentantly. Kakashi pulls his mask down quickly, and presses an exaggerated kiss to his cheek. “Do you have to make that sound?” Obito complains.

“You know I do, and besides you like it,” Kakashi defends.

“Maybe,” he huffs with a pout. “Bring anything with you? Wild animals? Ugly furniture? Acapella choirs? Acrobat troops?”

“Now, cutie, you know that I would never repeat a gift,” Kakashi says with an air of faux scandalization. “So of course, I don’t have any of those things.”

“But you do have something?” Obito ventures.

“Well, it is your birthday.”

“When will I be getting this thing?”

“After dinner. Let’s just enjoy some time together until then,” Kakashi replies. This sounds like a lovely idea, and really it is a lovely idea, it’s just that Obito is going to spend that time together worrying about what the gift is. Is it his kidney? Kakashi better not try to give him his kidney.

The afternoon passes in relative silence. Just boyfriends on a couch. Obito stretches out over the entire couch, and presses his face into Kakashi stomach. An unspoken demand for him to stop paying all of his attention to his midcore porn and start playing with Obito’s hair. He seems to get the message quickly, and Obito gives of a contented hum. He forgets his concern over his future gift in favor of dozing with his head in Kakashi’s lap.

He comes back to full alertness to the complaining of his stomach. Time to eat. Obito slips out of Kakashi’s lap with one big stretch and a yawn.

“I wasn’t sure how living with a cat would go when we first moved into together, being a dog person, but I think it’s grown on me,” Kakashi lilts. What? He stares at him blankly; Obito doesn’t have a cat.

“Wait…do you mean me?” he says incredulously. “I’m not a cat. At all.”

“Nyaan~”

“Don’t ‘nyaan~’ me,” Obito grumbles.  “If you have time for animal noises you have time to get dinner. I want dango and Ichiraku’s.”

“You said you had Ichiraku’s for lunch?” Kakashi says with a tilt of his head.

“I did, but I want it for dinner now too,” he insists. For good measure, he breaks out his best puppy dog eyed pout.

“Maa,” Kakashi sighs, “I’ll be right back.”

It doesn’t occur to Obito until he hears footsteps approaching the apartment door, but he might come back from getting dinner with whatever his ridiculous gift is. It takes all of his self-control not to run out of the living room and peak from around his nice safe corner again.

“Couch or table?” Kakashi asks as he slips in the door.

“Let’s just eat on the couch,” he says. It doesn’t look like he has anything but the takeout. God, the suspense is really killing him. The two of them eat leisurely. Obito can feel himself emitting a strange suspenseful aura. Kakashi acts like he doesn’t notice, eating without a care, but they’ve been together long enough that Obito knows he’s actively deriving joy from his uneasy confusion.

He pops up from the couch as soon as they’re done and sprints to the trash with the containers. Obito creeps back toward the living room and then resumes his earlier position of peaking around the corner. Kakashi’s just sitting there. Normally. What is he hiding in that vest of his? In his storage scrolls? This can’t be stalled any longer.

“Bakashi,” Obito gulped, reentering the room, “Just tell me what it is. You said after dinner, well it’s time.”

“I did! Come here,” he cheers. His eye crinkles with a hidden smile as he pats the spot on the couch next to himself. Obito slinks to the couch with great reluctance. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands,” Kakashi demands.

He hesitantly does as he’s asked. Oh god. Please don’t let this be a disaster. Kakashi places something into his open hands. Obito’s face scrunches up in confusion. It doesn’t feel strange, or alive. In fact, there’s something about the texture and shape that feels oddly familiar.

“Open your eyes.”

It’s… goggles. His goggles. Or a large pair, made almost exactly the same. Orange tinted lenses, ear protectors, and all. He’d loved his original pair, but they broke during the Kanabi bridge mission just over a decade ago, and Obito thought he’d never find another pair like them. He’s going to cry. Why do even good emotions make him cry?

“Kakashi…” he trails off.

“I know it’s a departure from my normal gifts, but I ‘ve been thinking,” he replies, “What really made your eye a great gift was the meaning behind it. Well, this is the most meaningful thing I could think of in time. I custom ordered them months ago.”

“I love them,” Obito chokes out. He’s getting them all wet. He’s not even sure why he’s crying.

“I know those tears, those are the good tears,” Kakashi teases, “Crybaby.” He presses a kiss to Obito’s right cheek where the tear tracts run haphazardly over his scars.

“Bakashi, you know all these years you’ve been trying to live up to the eye I gave you I would have been happy with anything,” Obito admits, “a cheap candlelit dinner, free hug coupons like Naruto gives; this is more than enough.”

“Next year I’ll stick with the coupons,” he replies with a grin. Kakashi really is a baka. It took him a decade to figure out how to give a good present.

[castanheirx]

these violent delights have violent ends // part one

PREVIOUSLY ON TTW

the events of this take place in the morning of day two. leon has just left hot topic after killing phoenix. at the front of the store he was greeted by ronni when they both heard a cannon. nike and calix had gone off in search of food and/or water when calix was attacked by mutts. after he was attacked nike dragged his body out of the store in an attempt to save him. but unfortunately he died shortly after not far from the cornucopia where they had made camp. a shit show is about to ensue.

LEON

leon was still on a high from his first kill and making small talk with ronni when he heard the sound of another cannon boom, he looked around instinctively seeing nothing alarming or suspicious, but when yells from the other side of the cornucopia sounded, he ran around to see the complete and utter chaos. calix was dead. and nike was stood over his dead body covered in what he assumed was his blood. it seemed as though a silence had come over all of them as they processed the scene in front of them, then leon took a step forward, hands raised and eyes wide. "nike what the fuck is going on?"

RONNI

ronni, having also heard the noise, accompanied leon to see what the matter was. he expected to see an outlier lying dead -- or, better yet, bleeding out -- on the ground. his brow creased as he walked briskly over. god, he thought, he really needed to push it into overdrive. at this rate, all the kills would be taken. he was contemplating the future deaths of the outliers when he, like leon, came upon the bloody scene. a silence fell over the group. then, because he simply couldn't help himself, ronni felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards into a grin. "Ha!" he barked at the sight of calix's body.

AGGIE

aggie was sitting on top of the cornucopia absentmindedly typing the strings from the bags together into knots (and "acting as a lookout," she had said when questioned, though mostly she just liked to be tall). when the cannon sounded and the scene made itself clear, aggie, like ronni, couldn't help herself. she let out a cackle as she slid down off the cornucopia, bounding over to stand next to the others. "just couldn't wait, huh two?"

NIKE

calix was dead. he was dead and nike was standing above his dead body, covered in his blood. she knew how this had to look to them-- it was worse with everyone coming in having no idea what happened. nike turned to face the others, lifting her hands, "i know this looks bad," she started, noticing the backs of her hands coated in drying blood. nike lowered her hands, as if that would help make anything better in this situation. "calix and i were looking through the stores. there were mutts in there," she pointed back at the store of stuffed mutts behind them, "they attacked and he... he got killed." ronni's laugh earned him a glare, but nike turned her gaze back toward leon, "i swear, i didn't--" aggie's accusation cut her off and her jaw clenched tight. "i didn't do it."

RONNI

ronni, still in a hysterical stupor at having spotted nike and calix's corpse, did not understand the gravity of the situation. he walked over to aggie, slung a loose arm over her shoulder, and bent his head over in a series of snorts and cackles. "oh, my god. he really was all talk. damn, good on you, nike," he cheered as he wiped away a stray tear from one of his ducts. then, as if a higher power had taken a dunce cap and placed it gingerly upon ronni's head, he stood at attention. "would it have killed ya' to let me have 'em?" it was miraculous just how much went through one of ronni's ear and out of the other. he hadn't heard a thing nike had said about anything -- only the sound of aggie's laughter and his own petty accusation filled his ears.

AGGIE

it took a moment to pin down the emotion aggie was feeling--she was still laughing, but as soon as nike claimed innocence, she got it. anger, resentment, jealousy. she had wanted to be the one to kill calix, to kill all of them. she had wanted to take them down all in one go, if she had gotten her way. it wasn't fair that she hadn't, nike had gone and done him in on the second day. she didn't even get a chance with calix. crossing her arms as she looked the girl up and down, she spit out her words in an accusatory manner. "what kind of mutts?"

GOLDIE

goldie emerged from the store where she'd been looking around for outlying tributes, and when she saw the blood, she assumed nike had found one. but — but. it was calix's blood lying on the ground, and it was nike covered in calix's blood. she covered her mouth with her hand. "oh my god..." she muttered. she couldn't believe this. she'd known he would die — hell, she'd been prepared to kill him herself — but she hadn't thought it'd be this soon. her head was spinning. she wanted to sit down. "how could you do this?" she asked, her voice low and accusatory. "i liked you." of all the careers goldie had expected to turn tail, nike wasn't on the top three. she didn't know why the fact that she'd liked nike was so important, but it felt like it was. it felt like a betrayal, a real one, not the fake one they were going to put on for the show. goldie's stomach turned. she hadn't expected it to happen like this, for it to feel like this, for it hurt like this.

LEON

leon decided to ignore the cackles and words from ronni and aggie because they were after all helping quite literally nobody at this point. “this looks fucked up nike," but he had just seen mutts in hot topic when he had killed phoenix, so if they were there, the chances of them lurking in other stores was likely. he put his hands down and walked closer towards nike,” i know you didn't do it." standing in between nike and the rest of the careers, he spoke again. “let’s be reasonable guys.”

GOLDIE

"how can i be reasonable?" goldie half-screeched. her nails were digging into her palms at this point and she was trying to keep her lip from quivering. "she just killed my brother! and i liked her!"

NIKE

"i didn't do it!" she snapped again, glaring at the duo from four. she looked toward aggie in particular, brow furrowed deeply. "go in there and see for your fucking self," she spat, throwing a thumb back at the make-a-mutt store. obviously neither of them was going to listen to her. at least ronni wasn't as envious as aggie seemed to be-- not that nike had killed calix to begin with. "i don't even have a weapon to do that to him," she added, briefly glancing back at calix's body. as soon as she saw goldie, the stern mask she had faltered, resorting to shaking her head again, "goldie, i didn't, i swear, i didn't do this." outside of leon, the twins had been the next people she had been most loyal to. the only other people she tolerated-- hell, maybe even liked. she looked back toward leon, her shoulders relaxing when he literally stepped in and stood up for her. with another deep breath, she recovered her stern expression, looking toward the others.

RONNI

"ooh, she liked her" ronni mumbled under his breath to aggie. the serious tone which leon had adopted -- or, rather, which ronni was just now picking up on -- sobered him up only slightly. the whole thing was funny to him for some reason. calix had been his enemy from that very fateful rooftop encounter. he had dreamt of spilling his blood himself. but now... this? it was just too much.

LEON

the boy rubbed his forehead in annoyance, this wasn’t the drama he had signed up for. “goldie i know your brother just died but if you had more than three fucking brain cells, you’d ask yourself how she managed to kill him. he had a weapon, he wasn’t injured and even if she did kill him why would she drag his dead body back here instead of running for the hills?” leon looked at ronni and pointed at him, "now isn't the time for jokes ronni!"

GOLDIE

goldie's hands were shaking. there were traces of blood on her palms in half moon crescents. "you don't need a weapon to kill people! fuck, look at our mentors, leon. this is all a set up. it has to be. she's got to be turning on us. we knew this would happen. i've been thinking about the way the pack was going to split since i met all of you." her voice shook as she turned to nike. "i just didn't think it'd be you."

TL;DR: calix is dead, goldie is freaking out, ronni is happy that calix is dead, nike and leon are stressed™ and aggie is acting like a crackhead as per usual

[birdiethebibliophile]

I’d like to talk about how Fjord’s arc can be read as a spiraling, self-fulfilling prophecy, for just a moment. (Kudos to @losebetter for inspiring this. Your tweets keep sending me down deep paths of Fjord meta.) Readmore provided because this got pretty dang long.

 Let’s start back in episode 31. Fjord’s still recovering from being kidnapped and tortured by slavers; he’s still dealing with losing Molly. During their time off, Fjord did not relax (“The previous events have rocked Fjord a little bit”) and instead attempted to get his story out of the way without bothering the others. Did anyone ever talk to him about how he was gone for two weeks? As far as I can tell from the transcript, aside from Matt’s comment that the others were “generally worried” that Fjord disappeared and a brief, skipped-over question from Caleb where he said “You were off on your own. Are you okay?” left unanswered, they did not. One of the most painful moments for me, if it comes to that, is during a conversation where everyone’s getting caught up on what they did during this time off, where Fjord asked everyone about their experiences and didn’t speak at all about his own, he has this line [bolded part mine]:

TRAVIS: Yeah. There’s no telling that they’re going to share any information with me, anyway. I’m fucking absorbing things and shit just appears and I’m getting stronger by the day and it has nothing to do with the things that I’m learning. There’s no books or knowledge, it’s just happening. What if they look at me like you guys look at me sometimes? What if they don’t let me go? Maybe that’s not where I need to be.

More on that - especially the bolded sentence - in a minute.

The other important thing about episode 31 was that Fjord was the one to go to Cree and talk to her about Molly, leading to the following conversation.

MATT: I wasn’t expecting to see him this last time. I feel like whatever grace brought him back to us, maybe it was your carelessness that took him from us again.

TRAVIS: Indeed, maybe it was. You have my apologies and my condolences.

MATT: It is all right. I have started a new life here, and it has been serving me well.

TRAVIS: I hate to leave you with such sour news, but I must be going.

MATT: Such are these days. Thank you for your candor. She turns around and walks away.

TRAVIS: Fuck. Then I’ll head back to The Leaky Tap.

We already know that Fjord is someone who tends to take on a lot of guilt, blame himself for things – Travis has said as much. Fjord blames himself for Molly’s death, and Cree outright blamed him, which I’m sure didn’t help. But this is just the setup. Just an example of Fjord, well, conforming to other people’s opinions of him. This is a well-established fact about his character. It’s even symbolic, with his use of the Mask of Many Faces. Fjord can be who people want or expect him to be, shifting and changing to fit their expectations. Cree blamed him for Molly’s death, and I think in that, Fjord took on the persona of someone who was responsible for it.

Moving on to the current arc.

For a while now, Fjord has been pushed into this leadership position, into someone who makes decisions. He played a role for Avantika – the role of eager acolyte. He played a role for the Mighty Nein – someone who was fine with all this, whose only goal was to get them through it, who was fine with receiving the consequences of their entanglement with Avantika. This included sleeping with her twice – and the second time at least with dubious consent (Beau outright said that he didn’t really have a choice in the matter). The overall tone of Fjord’s actions in that section can be summed up with this exchange from episode 41:

TRAVIS: Thank you and thank you for talking with me.

LIAM: I cough very hard into my hands and cast Message to him and briefly, quietly say: I think that woman is going to try to kill you, I really do.

TRAVIS: Yeah. Just so. I’ll turn and walk off.

In both sections here, I see a… resignation in Fjord’s attitude. An acceptance of this is who he is now. But even here, things aren’t too bad. He sees himself as a doomed man, but they make it out. Avantika is killed. All is well.

Except… it isn’t.

In fact, Fjord’s actions have taken a sharp turn ever since then – away from the kind, caring man we’ve come to expect and into someone who seems to be making reckless decisions, hungers for power, doesn’t care about his friends’ feelings.

And my argument is that this is happening because they’ve already decided that’s how he is, now.

“What if they look at me like you guys look at me sometimes?”

When was the last time someone asked Fjord how he was feeling? When was the last time someone had a conversation with him that wasn’t centered around Avantika or Uk’otoa? When was the last time someone interacted with him, one-on-one, without asking Fjord if he’s power-hungry, asking him what his goals are, wondering if he’s going to release a monster bent on destroying the world? A brief, one or two sentence conversation with Jester post-Darktow, maybe, when she mentioned how he uses Vandren’s voice (I would quote that but the transcript hasn’t been completed yet). Other than that, and the conversation with Caleb quoted above, no one’s talked to Fjord in a long, long time. And the last thing he said about how he was feeling – also from that conversation with Caleb?

“Because I feel like I am swimming in the deep end and I don’t quite know what I’m doing.”

Fjord finds it so easy to take on whatever persona he needs to – whatever’s expected of him. And his friends, consistently and constantly for weeks now, have been on the lookout for him turning dark, or power-hungry, or cruel. Simultaneously, they’ve expected leadership and initiative. They’ve expected him to be the one who knows what he’s doing. Even Caleb – the only person to really talk to him in so long – now expects Fjord to help him in the future, a pact sealed with blood and elemental magic. Everyone has come to expect Fjord to take foolhardy risks, to be thinking about releasing Uk’otoa, to be the Ship’s Captain.

And, as we see, that’s what Fjord’s becoming.

He finds it so easy to take up a new character, a new accent, a new face. For a long time, his friends expected him to be a kind and loving man, and he was. Now, don’t get me wrong. I think that Fjord has a true nature of his own, and it is, at its core, good.  But for a character who takes on so much of other people’s expectations, weeks – months, even, now – of taking on blame for things that are (for the most part) not his fault has got to have an effect. This is why I say it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Not that Fjord’s actively thinking “well, as long as they think this of me, I might as well act like they expect”; I doubt it’s conscious at all. With his friends withdrawing from him, though, and them (and the fandom, by the way) acting as if he’s already  given into his curiosity or his hunger for power or anything of that nature, he acts as he’s expected to. Fjord likes fulfilling people’s expectations, doesn’t he?

No one really seems to trust him anymore. No one bothers to ask him how he feels – hasn’t since he said he felt like he was swimming in the deep end, didn’t know what he was doing. Since he responded to a suggestion that he might be murdered with just so.

I don’t know if this is an accurate read; I don’t know what’s going to happen next. But I’m concerned that it’s a spiral feeding into itself. His friends expect the worst of him, so he fulfills their expectations (Fjord, the people-pleaser; Fjord, desperate for people to like him), so they expect worse things of him, and he unconsciously fills that space as well, until he’s recklessly plunging into dangerous situations and trying desperately to do what people expect of him and snapping at Jester and –

– well.

If someone doesn’t talk to him soon – really  talk to him about himself, not about their expectations of him; if someone doesn’t believe he’s better than this; if everyone continues to assume the worst and usher him through the doorway marked Fjord is a reckless, unlovable man responsible for Molly’s death, along with everything that’s happened since they left Nicodranas…

The mask he’s been wearing, trying so hard to be what he needs to be – what he’s expected to be – may not be able to come off without taking a layer of his own face with it.

To put it another way: he’ll write his own tragedy.

[leonthecardboardunicorn]

Land of Agreement, Chapter 6

Okay, I accidentally forgot where I was and posted chapter 5 again as chapter 6. This is the actual chapter 6.

As usual, spoilers for Hugo’s route! I’ll be posting a few chapters today, so keep an eye out for those.

“Liz, what's going on?”

How was I going to tell them about it? 'Oh, don't worry about it, it's just that Hugo's brother is trying to kill me.' Yeah, that was going to go over real well.

“I.. I'm not sure that I can explain right now,” I said at last.

“Don't worry,” Alfonse said gently. “Whatever happened, we trust you.” Tears sprang to my eyes as the others nodded. “But for right now, you need to get out of here; the Ministry is already on their way, looking for you.”

Everything was happening so fast. One minute, Hugo was finally by my side again, and now we were being told to run. The Ministry was after us. We'd have to flee the Academy, and who would come after us? Klaus at least, maybe more- maybe our friends-

“Don't worry,” Hugo said, “I'll watch over her; that is my priority.” I squeezed his hand. My heart was still racing, my mind going a million miles a minute, but as long as he was at my side, I felt a bit more at ease.

Suddenly, I heard a knocking at the door, and Alfonse immediately got to his feet, whispering to us, “I'll take care of this.”

“We need to get out of here now,” Hugo whispered to me. Okay, we needed to focus on a way out. With all luck, it would just be Klaus nearby, and we could sneak out the back.

“This way.” Hugo led me to the other room. “If the front door is blocked, the window might be the only way out.” How ironic.

“Let's hope we don't get stuck,” I muttered without thinking.

“What?” I just shook my head.

“It's a long story.”

“Whatever. Here, we need to get you out.” The window was a little high, so Hugo helped boost me up.

“Oh, hey, Klaus!” I heard Alfonse's laughter from the doorway. “Funny seeing you here! What brings you out here to Liz Village?”

“I am here on official Ministry business,” Klaus said curtly.

“If you're looking for Liz, she's not here. We came by to surprise her, since she's been feeling down the past couple days, but she wasn't here. Funny, huh?”

“I'm sure you know, Alfonse,” Klaus's voice was terse, “that the Ministry is on the lookout for Liz.” Was it just me- or did his voice sound a little pained? Klaus had been like a mentor to me for so long. And I doubt Vain had told him why he was supposed to be searching for me. “If you have any idea where she might be, it is imperative that you let us know-”

“I know, I know, Klaus! But, say, uh, do you know why they're looking for Liz?”

“..Get out of my way, Alfonse, I don't have time for this.”

I made it through the window. And Hugo was scooping up Mischa to pass her to me, but she stepped away. “Don't worry, I'll take care of him!” Before I could grab her, she darted off.

“-Mischa?” I heard Klaus say. “What are you doing here?”

“Just popping by,” Mischa said lightly. “Did something happen?” I heard Klaus sputtering, but I turned my attention back to Hugo, helping him through the window. And we ran like the wind, leaving everything behind.

Once we had made it a decent way into the forest, we stopped. There didn't seem to be anybody else around. I stopped, leaning against a tree for support.

“Okay,” Hugo said, “let's take stock here for a minute. We've got two major problems to deal with here: first, the Ministry is after us-”

“Thanatos,” I blurted out. “It's Thanatos after us.”

“Okay, Thanatos is after us, and Vain is trying to kill you-” Oh, god, he didn't know.

There were a million different ways that I could've told him the truth about Thanatos. And I'm sure that I could have done it more gently. But did I think of any of those in the moment? Nope.

“-Actually, I think that still only counts as one.”

Hugo's eyes went wide, and then he buried his face in his hands. “I wish I was surprised..” I patted him on the shoulder, unsure of what else to say.

But I couldn't avoid the question. “So where do we go now?” We couldn't go back to the Academy, as much as I wanted to. But running would only get us so far.

“I.. I don't know,” he admitted.

“Our first priority should be fixing your magic,” I said. If we could do that, all of our problems would be solved. Vain would have no more reason to come after me and would therefore rescind the arrest. Everything would be so much easier- “There must be some way to go where we can research this-”

“I've tried searching almost all the places that I could think of, but I couldn't find anything. Our situation is rather.. unique.” That was putting it mildly. “There is one place that I haven't searched, but.. it would be really dangerous for the both of us.”

A chill ran down my spine. “Where is it?”

He sighed. “It is possible that my magic has to do with me being a- a Dragonkin,” I didn't miss how his words caught at that part, “so the best place to search would be right at the source.”

That night, my mind was still abuzz as I tried to lay down to sleep. A lot of things could go wrong once we made it there, and what were the odds that we'd actually be able to find anything?

“Can't sleep?” Hugo's arms wrapped around my waist, and I nestled into his chest.

“I can't stop worrying,” I told him honestly. “What if we make it to the ruins, and things go wrong? What if we can't find any answers?”

“It'll be all right, Liz. As long as you are by my side, I feel like.. I have no reason to fear.” How strange.  We laid in silence for a while, and then he spoke up again. “Liz.. You mentioned something about a prophecy before?”

“Yeah. That was the first time that I saw you.” Back then, he had just been the mysterious masked figure; who would've known that he would become such a big part of my life? “The Goddess and her apostle and her..” The words caught in my throat. “Are you sure that you don't remember it?”

“I wish I could; it might make things easier.” You'd think. He was quiet for a minute. “But it does remind me of something.” I tilted my head, and he explained, “The past few years, Vain told me I have a tendency to go into these.. trances. Apparently, I freaked him out real bad the first time I fell in one. He said I would say these strange things that didn't make any sense. I never remembered any of it though, but I think he started writing them down eventually.”

And I remembered something he had said before. 'If things had been different, I might've been the one to give you the prophecy.' So he had known about the prophecy then; perhaps he had ingrained it into his brain. Did he know of his own role in it? Perhaps he had accepted it, knowing what he'd have to do in order to-

“You said that this prophecy is important. What did you remember from it?”

'Vain is going to kill me. Your brother is destined to kill me.'

“I think.. I think it has to do with you and Vain. With your battle. And- I think-” It would've been so easy not to tell him. It would've been so easy to say 'I don't remember'. But he deserved to know. “I think it foretold about Vain trying to kill me. I don't remember the end, but I'm afraid- I'm afraid that-”

Hugo held me close. “I don't remember the end of prophecy. But it doesn't matter; we'll make our own future.” How strange. Once upon a time, I had been the one to speak of hope, but now he was the one who held it. How very different things were now.

I fell asleep much easier after that.

As we were walking, I had a lot of time to think over everything that happened. To think about what had happened to my friends and what we would do. But, truth be told, my thoughts most often turned to Hugo and Vain.

I remembered Mischa talking about how Vain had raised Hugo, about how everything he did was to protect him. 'I don't think Vain fought back. Not against Hugo,' she had said. And yet.. Hugo had fought him. Hugo had nearly killed him to protect me. I mean, I knew their relationship was complicated, but.. I didn't think that Hugo hated him.

“Liz? Is everything all right?” I bolted up as I heard Hugo's voice, and I gave him a sheepish smile. “You've been kind of quiet.”

“I was just lost in thought,” I said lamely. He tilted his head. Well, now was as good a time as any to ask. “Hey, Hugo, I was just wondering.. After everything, do you hate Vain?” Okay, I probably could have asked that a bit better.

His gaze went distant for a minute. “I'm not sure,” he said at last. “He tried to kill you, Liz. That's not something that I can just easily forgive. But..” I went quiet, listening to his words. Of course I had my own feelings on the matter, but this wasn't about me. “He and Mischa are the only family that I know. I only knew of my parents from the stories Vain told me. He's always rude to other people, but he took care of me. He nearly gave up everything to take care of me while working on his missions.

“Even before he became my boss, he had a way of.. deciding things for me,” he said nervously. “He always believed that he knew best. He'd decide that something could only be done one way, and I'd have no choice but to go along. But I always believed that he knew best, so I went along with him.

“And he believed that he could do it again. He decided for me that the way to save me was to hurt you. But things are different now. Because of you.. I can start to see a future that I get to choose. And I'm not going to let him take that from me.” He met my eyes with resolve. “I care about him, but I'm not going to let him hurt you.”

And at last, we came to the place, and my heart skipped a beat at the sight. The building was worn, the letters on the outside long since worn away, but it was still a magnificent building.

“It's said that this place is the sum of all knowledge of the Dragonkin,” Hugo said. “Only the blood of a Dragonkin can get you inside.” I could sense his hesitation. Even though it had been a few weeks since Vain had told him about their heritage, I knew it must've been hard to accept.

“Hugo-” I started to say, but he shook his head.

“It's all right.” He bit his thumb, pressing it to the doors. And the doors slid open. “Well, I guess he was telling the truth there..” Taking his hand, we stepped inside the Library of the Dragonkin.

“You find anything yet?”

I shook my head. It felt like we had been searching for hours and hours on any information about Hugo's condition, but there was no information at all.

“Hmm- Ah!” As I was searching for another book, my foot caught on something-

“I got you, it's all right.” Luckily, Hugo caught me in his arms, gently setting me down. What surprise, I tripped over a book. I'm sure we had scattered them all over the place, but this one didn't look familiar. I picked it up, and we sat together. The pages were old and worn, and it opened to one part, as though it had been revisited a thousand times.

'When the queen grew sick,' I read, 'we feared that she and her child would be lost, leaving the eldest prince all alone before he even came of age. But the prince stayed at her side through the night, donating his own magic to her. It was said that he nearly ran out a few times, but he was determined to save her.

'The day the prince came of age, the queen gave birth to her second son and passed from this world.'

“This.. this sounds like what happened with my mother,” Hugo said. My heart ached as I remembered Vain and Mischa's words. The prince and Vain must've been about the same age too. “I feel like this is the one.”

I kept reading. “However, as the younger prince grew, it became clear that his brother had the same weakness as his mother. He required constant donations of magic from his older brother, now the king. However, the king refused to give up on him-”

“I wondered when you would find that. I left that book out just for you.”

My blood turned to ice as I heard the all too familiar voice; I felt Hugo go tense at my side. A million thoughts ran through my mind. 'I'm not afraid of you.' 'What are you doing here?' 'Let us go-'

“How did you know that we'd come here?” I asked as I turned to face him.

“I had heard of a Dragonkin child desperate to save his brother,” Felix said, “just as I will save mine.”

[stephenmccull]

Why Doctors Keep Monitoring Kids Who Recover From Mysterious COVID-Linked Illness

Israel Shippy doesn’t remember much about having COVID-19 — or the unusual auto-immune disease it triggered — other than being groggy and uncomfortable for a bunch of days. He’s a 5-year-old, and would much rather talk about cartoons, or the ideas for inventions that constantly pop into his head.

“Hold your horses, I think I know what I’m gonna make,” he said, holding up a finger in the middle of a conversation. “I’m gonna make something that lights up and attaches to things with glue, so if you don’t have a flashlight, you can just use it!”

In New York, at least 237 kids, including Israel, appear to have Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C. And state officials continue to track the syndrome, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not respond to repeated requests for information on how many children nationwide have been diagnosed so far with MIS-C.

A study published June 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine reported on 186 patients in 26 states who had been diagnosed with MIS-C. A researcher writing in the same issue added reports from other countries, finding that about 1,000 children worldwide have been diagnosed with MIS-C.

Tracking the Long-Term Health Effects of MIS-C

Israel is friendly and energetic, but he’s also really good at sitting still. During a recent checkup at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, in the Bronx, he had no complaints about all the stickers and wires a health aide attached to him for an EKG. And when Dr. Marc Foca, an infectious disease specialist, came by to listen to his heart and lungs, and prod his abdomen, Israel barely seemed to notice.

There were still some tests pending, but overall, Foca said, “Israel looks like a totally healthy 5-year-old.”

“Stay safe!” Israel called out, as Foca left. It’s his new signoff, instead of goodbye. His mother, Janelle Moholland, explained Israel came up with it himself.

And she’s also hoping that after a harrowing couple of weeks in early May, Israel himself will “stay safe.”

That’s why they’ve been returning to Montefiore for the periodic checkups, even though Israel seems to have recovered fully from both COVID-19 and MIS-C.

MIS-C is relatively rare, and it apparently responds well to treatment, but it is new enough — and mysterious enough — that doctors here want to make sure the children who recover don’t experience any related health complications in the future.

“We’ve seen these kids get really sick, and get better and recover and go home, yet we don’t know what the long-term outcomes are,” said Dr. Nadine Choueiter, a pediatric cardiologist at Montefiore. “So that’s why we will be seeing them.”

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When Israel first got sick at the end of April, his illness didn’t exactly look like COVID-19. He had persistent high fevers, with his temperature reaching 104 degrees — but no problems breathing. He wasn’t eating. He was barely drinking. He wasn’t using the bathroom. He had abdominal pains. His eyes were red.

They went to the emergency room a couple of times and visited an urgent care center, but the doctors sent them home without testing him for the coronavirus. Moholland, 29, said she felt powerless.

“There was nothing I could do but make him comfortable,” she said. “I literally had to just trust in a higher power and just hope that He would come through for us. It taught me a lot about patience and faith.”

As Israel grew sicker, and they still had no answers, Moholland grew frustrated. “I wish his pediatrician and [the emergency room and urgent care staff] had done what they were supposed to do and given him a test” when Israel first got sick, Moholland said. “What harm would it have done? He suffered for about 10 or 11 days that could have been avoided.”

In a later interview, she talked with NPR about how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the African American community, due to a combination of underlying health conditions and lack of access to good health care. She said she felt she, too, had fallen victim to those disparities.

“It affects me, personally, because I am African American, but you just never know,” she said. “It’s hard. We’re living in uncertain times — very uncertain times.”

Finally, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore admitted Israel — and the test she’d been trying to get for days confirmed he had the virus.

“I was literally in tears, like begging them not to discharge me because I knew he was not fine,” she recalled.

Israel was in shock, and by the time he got to the hospital, doctors were on the lookout for MIS-C, so they recognized his symptoms — which were distinct from most people with COVID-19.

Doctors gave Israel fluids and intravenous immune globulin, a substance obtained from donated human plasma, which is used to treat deficiencies in the immune system.

Immune globulin has been effective in children like Israel because MIS-C appears to be caused by an immune overreaction to the initial coronavirus infection, according to Choueiter, the Montefiore pediatric cardiologist.

“The immune system starts attacking the body itself, including the arteries of the heart,” she said.

In some MIS-C cases — though not Israel’s — the attack occurs in the coronary arteries, inflaming and dilating them. That also happens in a different syndrome affecting children, Kawasaki disease. About 5% of Kawasaki patients experience aneurysms — which can fatally rupture blood vessels — after the initial condition subsides.

Choueiter and her colleagues want to make sure MIS-C patients don’t face similar risks. So far, they’re cautiously optimistic.

“We have not seen any new decrease in heart function or any new coronary artery dilations,” she said. “When we check their blood, their inflammatory markers are back to normal. For the parents, the child is back to baseline, and it’s as if this illness is a nightmare that’s long gone.”

For a Pennsylvania Teen, the MIS-C Diagnosis Came Much Later

Not every child who develops MIS-C tests positive for the coronavirus, though many will test positive for antibodies to the coronavirus, indicating they had been infected previously. That was the case with Andrew Lis, a boy from Pennsylvania who was the first MIS-C patient seen at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware.

Andrew had been a healthy 14-year-old before he got sick. He and his twin brother love sports and video games. He said the first symptom was a bad headache. He developed a fever the next day, then constipation and intense stomach pain.

“It was terrible,” Andrew said. “It was unbearable. I couldn’t really move a lot.”

His mother, Ingrid Lis, said they were thinking appendicitis, not coronavirus, at first. In fact, she hesitated to take Andrew to the hospital, for fear of exposing him to the virus. But after Andrew stopped eating because of his headache and stomach discomfort, “I knew I couldn’t keep him home anymore,” Lis said.

Andrew was admitted to the hospital April 12, but that was before reports of the mysterious syndrome had started trickling out of Europe.

Over about five days in the pediatric intensive care unit, Andrew’s condition deteriorated rapidly, as doctors struggled to figure out what was wrong. Puzzled, they tried treatments for scarlet fever, strep throat and toxic shock syndrome. Andrew’s body broke out in rashes, then his heart began failing and he was put on a ventilator. Andrew’s father, Ed Lis, said doctors told the family to brace for the worst: “We’ve got a healthy kid who a few days ago was just having these sort of strange symptoms. And now they’re telling us that we could lose him.”

Though Andrew’s symptoms were atypical for Kawasaki disease, doctors decided to give him the standard treatment for that condition — administering intravenous immune globulin, the same treatment Israel Shippy received.

“Within the 24 hours of the infusion, he was a different person,” Ingrid Lis said. Andrew was removed from the ventilator, and his appetite eventually returned. “That’s when we knew that we had turned that corner.”

It wasn’t until after Andrew’s discharge that his doctors learned about MIS-C from colleagues in Europe. They recommended the whole family be tested for antibodies to the coronavirus. Although Andrew tested positive, the rest of the family — both parents, Andrew’s twin brother and two older siblings — all tested negative. Andrew’s mother is still not sure how he was exposed since the family had been observing a strict lockdown since mid-March. Both she and her husband were working remotely from home, and she says they all wore masks and were conscientious about hand-washing when they ventured out for groceries. She thinks Andrew must have been exposed at least a month before his illness began.

And she’s puzzled why the rest of her close-knit family wasn’t infected as well. “We are a Latino family,” Ingrid Lis said. “We are very used to being together, clustering in the same room.” Even when Andrew was sick, she says, all six of them huddled in his bedroom to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Andrew has made a quick recovery. Not long after his discharge in April, he turned 15 and resumed an exercise routine involving running, pushups and situps. A few weeks later, an echocardiogram showed Andrew’s heart was “perfect,” Ed Lis said. Still, doctors have asked Andrew to follow up with a cardiologist every three months.

An Eye on the Long-Term Effects

The medical team at Montefiore is tracking the 40 children they have already treated and discharged. With kids showing few symptoms in the immediate aftermath, Chouetier hopes the long-term trajectory after MIS-C will be similar to what happens after Kawasaki disease.

“Usually children who have had coronary artery dilations [from Kawasaki disease] that have resolved within the first six weeks of the illness do well long-term,” said Choueiter, who runs the Kawasaki disease program at Montefiore.

The Montefiore team is asking patients affected by MIS-C to return for a checkup one week after discharge, then after one month, three months, six months and a year. They will be evaluated by pediatric cardiologists, hematologists, rheumatologists and infectious disease specialists.

Montefiore and other children’s hospitals around the country are sharing information. Choueiter wants to establish an even longer-term monitoring program for MIS-C, comparable to registries that exist for other diseases.

Moholland is glad the hospital is being vigilant.

“The uncertainty of not knowing whether it could come back in his future is a little unsettling,” she said. “But I am hopeful.”

This story is part of a partnership that includes WNYC, NPR and Kaiser Health News.

Why Doctors Keep Monitoring Kids Who Recover From Mysterious COVID-Linked Illness published first on https://smartdrinkingweb.weebly.com/

[gordonwilliamsweb]

Why Doctors Keep Monitoring Kids Who Recover From Mysterious COVID-Linked Illness

Israel Shippy doesn’t remember much about having COVID-19 — or the unusual auto-immune disease it triggered — other than being groggy and uncomfortable for a bunch of days. He’s a 5-year-old, and would much rather talk about cartoons, or the ideas for inventions that constantly pop into his head.

“Hold your horses, I think I know what I’m gonna make,” he said, holding up a finger in the middle of a conversation. “I’m gonna make something that lights up and attaches to things with glue, so if you don’t have a flashlight, you can just use it!”

In New York, at least 237 kids, including Israel, appear to have Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C. And state officials continue to track the syndrome, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not respond to repeated requests for information on how many children nationwide have been diagnosed so far with MIS-C.

A study published June 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine reported on 186 patients in 26 states who had been diagnosed with MIS-C. A researcher writing in the same issue added reports from other countries, finding that about 1,000 children worldwide have been diagnosed with MIS-C.

Tracking the Long-Term Health Effects of MIS-C

Israel is friendly and energetic, but he’s also really good at sitting still. During a recent checkup at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, in the Bronx, he had no complaints about all the stickers and wires a health aide attached to him for an EKG. And when Dr. Marc Foca, an infectious disease specialist, came by to listen to his heart and lungs, and prod his abdomen, Israel barely seemed to notice.

There were still some tests pending, but overall, Foca said, “Israel looks like a totally healthy 5-year-old.”

“Stay safe!” Israel called out, as Foca left. It’s his new signoff, instead of goodbye. His mother, Janelle Moholland, explained Israel came up with it himself.

And she’s also hoping that after a harrowing couple of weeks in early May, Israel himself will “stay safe.”

That’s why they’ve been returning to Montefiore for the periodic checkups, even though Israel seems to have recovered fully from both COVID-19 and MIS-C.

MIS-C is relatively rare, and it apparently responds well to treatment, but it is new enough — and mysterious enough — that doctors here want to make sure the children who recover don’t experience any related health complications in the future.

“We’ve seen these kids get really sick, and get better and recover and go home, yet we don’t know what the long-term outcomes are,” said Dr. Nadine Choueiter, a pediatric cardiologist at Montefiore. “So that’s why we will be seeing them.”

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Subscribe to KHN’s free Morning Briefing.

Sign Up

Please confirm your email address below:

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When Israel first got sick at the end of April, his illness didn’t exactly look like COVID-19. He had persistent high fevers, with his temperature reaching 104 degrees — but no problems breathing. He wasn’t eating. He was barely drinking. He wasn’t using the bathroom. He had abdominal pains. His eyes were red.

They went to the emergency room a couple of times and visited an urgent care center, but the doctors sent them home without testing him for the coronavirus. Moholland, 29, said she felt powerless.

“There was nothing I could do but make him comfortable,” she said. “I literally had to just trust in a higher power and just hope that He would come through for us. It taught me a lot about patience and faith.”

As Israel grew sicker, and they still had no answers, Moholland grew frustrated. “I wish his pediatrician and [the emergency room and urgent care staff] had done what they were supposed to do and given him a test” when Israel first got sick, Moholland said. “What harm would it have done? He suffered for about 10 or 11 days that could have been avoided.”

In a later interview, she talked with NPR about how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the African American community, due to a combination of underlying health conditions and lack of access to good health care. She said she felt she, too, had fallen victim to those disparities.

“It affects me, personally, because I am African American, but you just never know,” she said. “It’s hard. We’re living in uncertain times — very uncertain times.”

Finally, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore admitted Israel — and the test she’d been trying to get for days confirmed he had the virus.

“I was literally in tears, like begging them not to discharge me because I knew he was not fine,” she recalled.

Israel was in shock, and by the time he got to the hospital, doctors were on the lookout for MIS-C, so they recognized his symptoms — which were distinct from most people with COVID-19.

Doctors gave Israel fluids and intravenous immune globulin, a substance obtained from donated human plasma, which is used to treat deficiencies in the immune system.

Immune globulin has been effective in children like Israel because MIS-C appears to be caused by an immune overreaction to the initial coronavirus infection, according to Choueiter, the Montefiore pediatric cardiologist.

“The immune system starts attacking the body itself, including the arteries of the heart,” she said.

In some MIS-C cases — though not Israel’s — the attack occurs in the coronary arteries, inflaming and dilating them. That also happens in a different syndrome affecting children, Kawasaki disease. About 5% of Kawasaki patients experience aneurysms — which can fatally rupture blood vessels — after the initial condition subsides.

Choueiter and her colleagues want to make sure MIS-C patients don’t face similar risks. So far, they’re cautiously optimistic.

“We have not seen any new decrease in heart function or any new coronary artery dilations,” she said. “When we check their blood, their inflammatory markers are back to normal. For the parents, the child is back to baseline, and it’s as if this illness is a nightmare that’s long gone.”

For a Pennsylvania Teen, the MIS-C Diagnosis Came Much Later

Not every child who develops MIS-C tests positive for the coronavirus, though many will test positive for antibodies to the coronavirus, indicating they had been infected previously. That was the case with Andrew Lis, a boy from Pennsylvania who was the first MIS-C patient seen at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware.

Andrew had been a healthy 14-year-old before he got sick. He and his twin brother love sports and video games. He said the first symptom was a bad headache. He developed a fever the next day, then constipation and intense stomach pain.

“It was terrible,” Andrew said. “It was unbearable. I couldn’t really move a lot.”

His mother, Ingrid Lis, said they were thinking appendicitis, not coronavirus, at first. In fact, she hesitated to take Andrew to the hospital, for fear of exposing him to the virus. But after Andrew stopped eating because of his headache and stomach discomfort, “I knew I couldn’t keep him home anymore,” Lis said.

Andrew was admitted to the hospital April 12, but that was before reports of the mysterious syndrome had started trickling out of Europe.

Over about five days in the pediatric intensive care unit, Andrew’s condition deteriorated rapidly, as doctors struggled to figure out what was wrong. Puzzled, they tried treatments for scarlet fever, strep throat and toxic shock syndrome. Andrew’s body broke out in rashes, then his heart began failing and he was put on a ventilator. Andrew’s father, Ed Lis, said doctors told the family to brace for the worst: “We’ve got a healthy kid who a few days ago was just having these sort of strange symptoms. And now they’re telling us that we could lose him.”

Though Andrew’s symptoms were atypical for Kawasaki disease, doctors decided to give him the standard treatment for that condition — administering intravenous immune globulin, the same treatment Israel Shippy received.

“Within the 24 hours of the infusion, he was a different person,” Ingrid Lis said. Andrew was removed from the ventilator, and his appetite eventually returned. “That’s when we knew that we had turned that corner.”

It wasn’t until after Andrew’s discharge that his doctors learned about MIS-C from colleagues in Europe. They recommended the whole family be tested for antibodies to the coronavirus. Although Andrew tested positive, the rest of the family — both parents, Andrew’s twin brother and two older siblings — all tested negative. Andrew’s mother is still not sure how he was exposed since the family had been observing a strict lockdown since mid-March. Both she and her husband were working remotely from home, and she says they all wore masks and were conscientious about hand-washing when they ventured out for groceries. She thinks Andrew must have been exposed at least a month before his illness began.

And she’s puzzled why the rest of her close-knit family wasn’t infected as well. “We are a Latino family,” Ingrid Lis said. “We are very used to being together, clustering in the same room.” Even when Andrew was sick, she says, all six of them huddled in his bedroom to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Andrew has made a quick recovery. Not long after his discharge in April, he turned 15 and resumed an exercise routine involving running, pushups and situps. A few weeks later, an echocardiogram showed Andrew’s heart was “perfect,” Ed Lis said. Still, doctors have asked Andrew to follow up with a cardiologist every three months.

An Eye on the Long-Term Effects

The medical team at Montefiore is tracking the 40 children they have already treated and discharged. With kids showing few symptoms in the immediate aftermath, Chouetier hopes the long-term trajectory after MIS-C will be similar to what happens after Kawasaki disease.

“Usually children who have had coronary artery dilations [from Kawasaki disease] that have resolved within the first six weeks of the illness do well long-term,” said Choueiter, who runs the Kawasaki disease program at Montefiore.

The Montefiore team is asking patients affected by MIS-C to return for a checkup one week after discharge, then after one month, three months, six months and a year. They will be evaluated by pediatric cardiologists, hematologists, rheumatologists and infectious disease specialists.

Montefiore and other children’s hospitals around the country are sharing information. Choueiter wants to establish an even longer-term monitoring program for MIS-C, comparable to registries that exist for other diseases.

Moholland is glad the hospital is being vigilant.

“The uncertainty of not knowing whether it could come back in his future is a little unsettling,” she said. “But I am hopeful.”

This story is part of a partnership that includes WNYC, NPR and Kaiser Health News.

Why Doctors Keep Monitoring Kids Who Recover From Mysterious COVID-Linked Illness published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

[dinafbrownil]

Why Doctors Keep Monitoring Kids Who Recover From Mysterious COVID-Linked Illness

Israel Shippy doesn’t remember much about having COVID-19 — or the unusual auto-immune disease it triggered — other than being groggy and uncomfortable for a bunch of days. He’s a 5-year-old, and would much rather talk about cartoons, or the ideas for inventions that constantly pop into his head.

“Hold your horses, I think I know what I’m gonna make,” he said, holding up a finger in the middle of a conversation. “I’m gonna make something that lights up and attaches to things with glue, so if you don’t have a flashlight, you can just use it!”

In New York, at least 237 kids, including Israel, appear to have Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, or MIS-C. And state officials continue to track the syndrome, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not respond to repeated requests for information on how many children nationwide have been diagnosed so far with MIS-C.

A study published June 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine reported on 186 patients in 26 states who had been diagnosed with MIS-C. A researcher writing in the same issue added reports from other countries, finding that about 1,000 children worldwide have been diagnosed with MIS-C.

Tracking the Long-Term Health Effects of MIS-C

Israel is friendly and energetic, but he’s also really good at sitting still. During a recent checkup at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, in the Bronx, he had no complaints about all the stickers and wires a health aide attached to him for an EKG. And when Dr. Marc Foca, an infectious disease specialist, came by to listen to his heart and lungs, and prod his abdomen, Israel barely seemed to notice.

There were still some tests pending, but overall, Foca said, “Israel looks like a totally healthy 5-year-old.”

“Stay safe!” Israel called out, as Foca left. It’s his new signoff, instead of goodbye. His mother, Janelle Moholland, explained Israel came up with it himself.

And she’s also hoping that after a harrowing couple of weeks in early May, Israel himself will “stay safe.”

That’s why they’ve been returning to Montefiore for the periodic checkups, even though Israel seems to have recovered fully from both COVID-19 and MIS-C.

MIS-C is relatively rare, and it apparently responds well to treatment, but it is new enough — and mysterious enough — that doctors here want to make sure the children who recover don’t experience any related health complications in the future.

“We’ve seen these kids get really sick, and get better and recover and go home, yet we don’t know what the long-term outcomes are,” said Dr. Nadine Choueiter, a pediatric cardiologist at Montefiore. “So that’s why we will be seeing them.”

Email Sign-Up

Subscribe to KHN’s free Morning Briefing.

Sign Up

Please confirm your email address below:

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When Israel first got sick at the end of April, his illness didn’t exactly look like COVID-19. He had persistent high fevers, with his temperature reaching 104 degrees — but no problems breathing. He wasn’t eating. He was barely drinking. He wasn’t using the bathroom. He had abdominal pains. His eyes were red.

They went to the emergency room a couple of times and visited an urgent care center, but the doctors sent them home without testing him for the coronavirus. Moholland, 29, said she felt powerless.

“There was nothing I could do but make him comfortable,” she said. “I literally had to just trust in a higher power and just hope that He would come through for us. It taught me a lot about patience and faith.”

As Israel grew sicker, and they still had no answers, Moholland grew frustrated. “I wish his pediatrician and [the emergency room and urgent care staff] had done what they were supposed to do and given him a test” when Israel first got sick, Moholland said. “What harm would it have done? He suffered for about 10 or 11 days that could have been avoided.”

In a later interview, she talked with NPR about how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the African American community, due to a combination of underlying health conditions and lack of access to good health care. She said she felt she, too, had fallen victim to those disparities.

“It affects me, personally, because I am African American, but you just never know,” she said. “It’s hard. We’re living in uncertain times — very uncertain times.”

Finally, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore admitted Israel — and the test she’d been trying to get for days confirmed he had the virus.

“I was literally in tears, like begging them not to discharge me because I knew he was not fine,” she recalled.

Israel was in shock, and by the time he got to the hospital, doctors were on the lookout for MIS-C, so they recognized his symptoms — which were distinct from most people with COVID-19.

Doctors gave Israel fluids and intravenous immune globulin, a substance obtained from donated human plasma, which is used to treat deficiencies in the immune system.

Immune globulin has been effective in children like Israel because MIS-C appears to be caused by an immune overreaction to the initial coronavirus infection, according to Choueiter, the Montefiore pediatric cardiologist.

“The immune system starts attacking the body itself, including the arteries of the heart,” she said.

In some MIS-C cases — though not Israel’s — the attack occurs in the coronary arteries, inflaming and dilating them. That also happens in a different syndrome affecting children, Kawasaki disease. About 5% of Kawasaki patients experience aneurysms — which can fatally rupture blood vessels — after the initial condition subsides.

Choueiter and her colleagues want to make sure MIS-C patients don’t face similar risks. So far, they’re cautiously optimistic.

“We have not seen any new decrease in heart function or any new coronary artery dilations,” she said. “When we check their blood, their inflammatory markers are back to normal. For the parents, the child is back to baseline, and it’s as if this illness is a nightmare that’s long gone.”

For a Pennsylvania Teen, the MIS-C Diagnosis Came Much Later

Not every child who develops MIS-C tests positive for the coronavirus, though many will test positive for antibodies to the coronavirus, indicating they had been infected previously. That was the case with Andrew Lis, a boy from Pennsylvania who was the first MIS-C patient seen at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware.

Andrew had been a healthy 14-year-old before he got sick. He and his twin brother love sports and video games. He said the first symptom was a bad headache. He developed a fever the next day, then constipation and intense stomach pain.

“It was terrible,” Andrew said. “It was unbearable. I couldn’t really move a lot.”

His mother, Ingrid Lis, said they were thinking appendicitis, not coronavirus, at first. In fact, she hesitated to take Andrew to the hospital, for fear of exposing him to the virus. But after Andrew stopped eating because of his headache and stomach discomfort, “I knew I couldn’t keep him home anymore,” Lis said.

Andrew was admitted to the hospital April 12, but that was before reports of the mysterious syndrome had started trickling out of Europe.

Over about five days in the pediatric intensive care unit, Andrew’s condition deteriorated rapidly, as doctors struggled to figure out what was wrong. Puzzled, they tried treatments for scarlet fever, strep throat and toxic shock syndrome. Andrew’s body broke out in rashes, then his heart began failing and he was put on a ventilator. Andrew’s father, Ed Lis, said doctors told the family to brace for the worst: “We’ve got a healthy kid who a few days ago was just having these sort of strange symptoms. And now they’re telling us that we could lose him.”

Though Andrew’s symptoms were atypical for Kawasaki disease, doctors decided to give him the standard treatment for that condition — administering intravenous immune globulin, the same treatment Israel Shippy received.

“Within the 24 hours of the infusion, he was a different person,” Ingrid Lis said. Andrew was removed from the ventilator, and his appetite eventually returned. “That’s when we knew that we had turned that corner.”

It wasn’t until after Andrew’s discharge that his doctors learned about MIS-C from colleagues in Europe. They recommended the whole family be tested for antibodies to the coronavirus. Although Andrew tested positive, the rest of the family — both parents, Andrew’s twin brother and two older siblings — all tested negative. Andrew’s mother is still not sure how he was exposed since the family had been observing a strict lockdown since mid-March. Both she and her husband were working remotely from home, and she says they all wore masks and were conscientious about hand-washing when they ventured out for groceries. She thinks Andrew must have been exposed at least a month before his illness began.

And she’s puzzled why the rest of her close-knit family wasn’t infected as well. “We are a Latino family,” Ingrid Lis said. “We are very used to being together, clustering in the same room.” Even when Andrew was sick, she says, all six of them huddled in his bedroom to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Andrew has made a quick recovery. Not long after his discharge in April, he turned 15 and resumed an exercise routine involving running, pushups and situps. A few weeks later, an echocardiogram showed Andrew’s heart was “perfect,” Ed Lis said. Still, doctors have asked Andrew to follow up with a cardiologist every three months.

An Eye on the Long-Term Effects

The medical team at Montefiore is tracking the 40 children they have already treated and discharged. With kids showing few symptoms in the immediate aftermath, Chouetier hopes the long-term trajectory after MIS-C will be similar to what happens after Kawasaki disease.

“Usually children who have had coronary artery dilations [from Kawasaki disease] that have resolved within the first six weeks of the illness do well long-term,” said Choueiter, who runs the Kawasaki disease program at Montefiore.

The Montefiore team is asking patients affected by MIS-C to return for a checkup one week after discharge, then after one month, three months, six months and a year. They will be evaluated by pediatric cardiologists, hematologists, rheumatologists and infectious disease specialists.

Montefiore and other children’s hospitals around the country are sharing information. Choueiter wants to establish an even longer-term monitoring program for MIS-C, comparable to registries that exist for other diseases.

Moholland is glad the hospital is being vigilant.

“The uncertainty of not knowing whether it could come back in his future is a little unsettling,” she said. “But I am hopeful.”

This story is part of a partnership that includes WNYC, NPR and Kaiser Health News.

from Updates By Dina https://khn.org/news/why-doctors-keep-monitoring-kids-who-recover-from-mysterious-covid-linked-illness/