By Your Side

Chapter 15

"N-No, it's nothing!" He replied hastily.

I looked in his direction, raising an eyebrow. As we landed on the other side, I stood there as the others continued to run. "Wait a second." I watched as they grew further and further away. "That scar..." I pondered as I noticed it was under the opposite eye. That wasn't Luffy. I turned to look behind me, where we just came from. "Just what is going on here?"

I turned around, jumping back over to the other side of the bridge. As I landed, I saw Nami, Chopper, Carrot, and Luffy approaching. "What the-!?"

"(Y/N)? Howard you get in front of us?" Nami gasped, as they made their way toward me.

"I never left the bridge, just jumped back over it..." I trailed off, eyes wide. This makes no sense.

"No time to think about it, let's just get going!" She exclaimed as we jumped back over, and ran straight. What I didn't expect was to come up to a head sticking out of the ground.

"Uahhh! You startled me!" It exclaimed, raising part of his hand that wasn't in the ground, up. "You keep coming back, why is that?"

"Again?" Nami asked, looking down at her wrist. "The log pose is still going nuts, but we shouldn't need it. It's a clear path back to the ship, how can we get turned around?"

I tilted my head in confusion. "Coming back?" I asked him, before looking at Nami. "And what do you mean, 'again?' I've never seen this man..."

She let out a sigh. "When we split up earlier, the three of us came across him when a rabbit started to attack us, the reason why we ran back to where you guys were." She jumped off Chopper, pointing behind us. "So, the Sunny should be straight back this way."

I blinked my eyes rapidly as I watched the trees moving as if they had legs. "Slowly... slowly..." They stood still as one gasped out. "Oh, uh oh!"

"I- but they- and we-? What?!" I stumbled, trying to form a sentence.

"What?! The trees and flowers can move?" Carrot gasped out.

"One, two. One, two. One two."

"The ground! It's crawling and talking!" Chopper shouted, causing the ground to freeze.

"What's going on?!" Nami gasped. "The forest, can move? This is too much!"

"Oops, they found out.~"

"Busted."

"Cakey.~"

"Cakey.~"

"Flower!~ Flower!~ Flower!~"

I stared in horror as the plants and ground, even cakes, began singing. "If it all moves... there's no path we can trust...!" Nami confirmed, not liking the situation.

On top of that, we don't know where the real Luffy is... I thought to myself, glancing at the fake as their eyes were covered in a shadow from the hat. "Nami, about Luffy-"

"So you've finally figured it out." I was cut off as I heard a feminine voice, feeling an arm wrap around my neck, a hand covering my mouth.

"This forest is a living nightmare.~" Fake Luffy exclaimed, a sickening smirk on his face.

"Luffy, what're you doing?" Nami asked, confused at his actions. This isn't Luffy, Nami! I wanted to shout to her, annoyed that I was unable to do so.

"We call this place the Seducing Woods." There's that voice again, but where was it coming from?

"Nami, that's not Luffy!" Chopper shouted, informing her of what I've been trying to tell her. Thank you Chopper! I sighed in relief, as I continued to struggle in the fake's grasp.

I felt myself being lifted off the ground as whoever held me went back to their original form.

"Who are you?!" Chopper shouted to the person.

"You don't know? Wiewiewiewie~ Awe, but we've been together this entire time." The person, that I now know was the female voice, stated. "And together we'll stay, because you'll never escape this forest. Well, perhaps... in a coffin I suppose."

"I would appreciate it if you'd get your nasty hands off of me!" I exclaimed, trying to wiggle out of her grasp, grimacing as he black fingernail dug into my cheek. "Your boney ass fingers hurt, ya know?!"

She chuckled, amused at my attempts to break free. "Why don't you calm down, (Y/N)? Look me in the face, you must really see my old scar, it's quite ghastly!"

"I'm sure it is, now let go of me, you're creeping me out here!" I shouted to her, clawing at her hand.

"What are you a tree?!" Carrot asked, Really? A tree...?

"I am Brûlée, I am not a damn tree!" She exclaimed.

"Could've fooled me with your boney ass fingers, which need I remind you, are digging into my face!" I shouted, annoyed at this point. Seriously, the manners on this one.

Nami used her climatact and attacked Brûlée, causing her to let go of me. Taking the chance, I kicked her in the stomach, sending her back as Carrot lunged forward to attack.

As we fought Brûlée, we found out she ate the Mirror-Mirror Fruit, allowing her to use mirrors to redirect attacks to those attacking her. In the end, Carrot and I were sucked into a mirror, trapped in a weird space filled with thousands of mirrors.

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Published: 08/16/2022
Updated: 02/22/2024