One Piece fic-PoSM, Chapter 11
Title: The Psychology of a Shattered Mind
Chapter Title: Ring the Bell
Rating: PG-13/T
Characters: Usopp, Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, OCs.
Word Count: About 4.7k
Warnings: Disturbing imagery, implications of non-con/dub-con, and violence. Angsty Usopp and blatant excuse for nakama comfort. This will be intense. Possible spoilers for entire series. Jumps off from Usopp being stuck on the Bowin Islands.
Can also be found at FF.net here. If you want to comment it will be much loved, and feel free to do so here or over at FF.Net. I've begun to feel increasingly at home here on LJ. Con Crit loved also.
Chapter links (on LJ): Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15
"Don't slouch, don't relax, and most importantly, be attentive," says Lady Adel.
So he does.
One week in Mariejoa, and his world has narrowed to mechanically followed commands. He doesn't know what else to do-even the Great Captain Usopp has run out of escape plans that don't end with being either blown up or shot. He's got ten thousand too much of everything: ten thousand kilometers of separation from the sea, ten thousand marines and Celestials between here and there, and what sometimes feels like ten thousand grams of explosives around his neck. All of this is several thousand too much for the Great Captain Usopp's normally more than enough eight thousand loyal followers. Besides which, Iddis doesn't go very many places, and when he does, Usopp is left behind in a mansion where men in black suits guard every corridor.
"Don't show tears; don't show anger; be a picture of pleasure. You are glad to serve," says Lady Adel.
So he does.
He craves news of his crewmates-any news. Since that one paper that dropped on the Bowin Islands, he hasn't been in the position to read anything more. By now, with the news of the war at Marineford likely spread all around the world, he bets the whole crew has made it back to Sabaody, knowing how much Luffy needs them.
And he's not there.
"Don't speak unless spoken to," Lady Adel tells him.
So he is silent, and the silence aches with all the words of protest and threads of fanciful tales trying to claw their way up his constricted throat.
Would they even-no, that's a stupid thought, of course they're going to wonder why he doesn't show up. Maybe they'll even search around. He realizes with a sinking feeling, however, that they're more likely to stumble across the name Booga-shaka than they are Usopp, and that, after a while, even the indomitable crew may be forced to give up.
"Don't look them in the eyes unless it's demanded. No hints of rebellion or confrontation," Lady Adel advises, stern.
There are no other choices. Not if he wants to live.
His crewmates still have dreams they need to go after. They would eventually realize, and rightly so, that he wouldn't want them all to set aside those dreams for too long. Not for him. Forever would be a long time to look for him-too long-so he kind of hopes he's right about that. At the same time, the most selfish part of him kind of hopes he isn't.
Besides, trying to break into Mariejoa? He believes in their strength, but after Sabaody, he can also be realistic. It's suicide. It might be better that they can't find him-just so they won't do anything stupid.
"Do these things, and you may yet live a while. Don't, and you will be fortunate if your end is swift."
Feeling powerless is not exactly an unfamiliar state for Usopp, but given how complete it is this time, that doesn't mean it burns and chafes any less. There is no time for his own of anything. When Lady Adel gives an order, he follows it. When Saint Iddis tells him to do things, he does them, too. The young Celestial, Usopp notes, is both shorter and appallingly more immature than his real age by about three years. He always gets what he wants.
The gossip Lady Adel is so fond of rambling on about helps Usopp, oddly enough, whether she means it to or not. There's usually a shred of truth to most rumors, and he starts to pick up names, relationships, and behaviors. Even though he doesn't have faces to put with most of them, he files it away as much as he can anyway. He doesn't know what will become useful, or what might save his skin in this place, and he needs all the help he can get. She tells many stories of the "absolutely unbelievable", "absolutely gruesome", and "absolutely disturbing" things some Celestials do to their slaves, to the point where he begins to wonder if she's also trying to scare him out of his mind. Scare him straight is more likely … he hopes.
She certainly is managing to achieve that.
"One last thing I want to make perfectly clear to you, Booga-shaka-" Lady Adel says one day, after recounting how someone named Saint Yavel had his slave hung up by his toes and flogged for spilling hot soup into his master's lap, "Saint Iddis has been my charge since his birth. If you serve well, I may speak up for you at some time as you need it. I have been with Saint Gathram the longest out of all his other wives, and he values my opinion. Harm Saint Iddis, however, and I guarantee that I will be the first in line to make sure you regret it."
This Usopp takes to heart in a way he hasn't quite the many other things she's waxed longer about, because it's the first time he sees anything resembling real determination in Lady Adel's eyes. It's a little puzzling, however, because after she says that, she goes straight back to the gossip as if the other statement had been about nothing more than the weather-perfectly natural.
Only makes the point all the more startling.
"A clever psychological game, all that death and destruction," his imaginary-Robin chuckles, one night when he's trying to go to sleep and has the whole crew envisioned in his head. They're listening in rapt attention as Usopp tells them about the wonders and horrors of life in Mariejoa, with all the proper embellishments mixed in, of course. He wants to get on with the story, because he's getting really sleepy, and imaginary-Zoro and imaginary-Sanji are starting to snarl at each other, while imaginary-Luffy's expanding himself into a balloon for no apparent reason. But imaginary-Robin continues without batting an eye at all that: "I think it's working rather well, Usopp. Don't you?"
The corner of her mouth crooks up, her steady gaze boring into his. Robin's never so much confrontational as she is knowing.
So he looks away and stammers something noncommittal before finally falling asleep, just so he doesn't have to admit the ugly truth. At least, not with everyone in the crew staring at him waiting to hear the rest, and Luffy growing so ridiculously huge that he and Chopper are starting to get pushed out the door….
Chopper seems to sense Usopp's exhaustion and mood, and once he finishes the bandaging, excuses himself to his desk, saying he has medicines to make. Though he remains in the room, his back is to Usopp. This is something of a relief. Maybe after a while Chopper will forget he's even here.
So Usopp stays under a heavy blanket with his back to the doctor, one arm wrapped around his chest, the other cradling the straw hat, hoping to be ignored for once.
How ironic … how dangerous.
Booga-shaka croons the word dangerous like a food connoisseur might the word delicious. Usopp scrunches his eyes shut, letting the cold wash over him and pass by. He resolutely ignores the muffled giggling in the back of his head and doesn't dare look Booga-shaka in the eyes. The thought of it is frightening enough.
Just leave me alone, and that goes for you especially.
…Please.
Instead he focuses on the clinking and grinding of Chopping making his pastes and powders, focuses on breathing, focuses on the rough surface of the straw hat. When the door to the galley opens, he knows not because it squeaks, but because of the movement of air and the faint smell of fruity spice and smoke introduced to the room.
"Hey, Cho…"
"Shh."
Sanji's voice is falling quieter even before Chopper shushes him, and now it's almost too hard for Usopp to hear. "…made something hot for everyone. Nami-san says…" and here Sanji's voice dips too low, and then comes back up, "…wherever that is."
Something tap-taps on wood-Chopper's hoof, maybe-and Chopper whispers, "…here." He sounds a little happy about something, and there's a pause for the sound of slurping before Sanji says:
"He asleep?"
Usopp tenses under the covers, nervous, knowing that Sanji and Chopper are probably looking at him now. He keeps his eyes shut and doesn't move.
Sneaky bastard, Booga-shaka hisses. Already looking for a chance to get back at me. He'll kick me in the back of the head when I'm not looking, or pull out his knives and gut me like a tuna. Or maybe he'll put something in the food…
No, no, that's not right at all, Usopp protests. His stomach tries to worm its way downward, both horrified at the thought and horrified that could even think it, because some part of his brain insists that Sanji would never ever ever, especially not the food is a plain fact. Yet, somehow, that conviction is slippery and hard to pin down, like a wriggling eel. He half waits, half tries not to wait, for the warning movement of air, the quick shuffle of a foot going into motion-
"Trying to, I think," Chopper says, sounding a bit reproachful. "Now get out of here with that! It's smoking up my sick bay!"
"I'm goin', I'm goin'." Sanji's footfalls back to the door to the galley are steady, but soft, and Booga-shaka relaxes a little, puzzled. "Hey, Chopper, if he needs anything, even just to re-warm that-"
"I'll get you, don't worry." Chopper says, slurping at something again. "I think it's more important that he rests right now."
It's a bit hard to tell when Sanji's gone and shut the door behind him because it's done so quietly, but at length Booga-shaka agrees that he really did. Usopp relaxes.
"There's some hot cider here for you if you want it, Usopp," Chopper says, and he tenses again. Had Chopper known … ? He presses his lips together, keeps his eyes closed and pretends like he's really been asleep the whole time, like he didn't hear Chopper at all.
"…well, let me know if you want it later…" Chopper says just as Usopp is beginning to think he won't speak again. The rolling chair shifts a little and the grinding of mortar and pestle picks up again, after a sound that might have been a sigh. Hadn't been trying all that hard to fool the doctor anyway, he thinks.
Only the cook.
Of course.
As he explains what he knows about what happened down in the hold, Zoro finds it hard to judge what Luffy's thinking. To be entirely fair, however, he's still not quite sure how to position himself on the whole issue of Usopp. It's not so much the protecting Usopp that he has a problem with-he's more than happy to do that. The problem is protecting the crew from Usopp, and even from themselves. The latter is something Zoro's never really needed to do before.
He's pissed at Sanji for acting as if he could expect Usopp to discern friend from foe in the middle of a surprise fight. A few weeks of calm sailing without further incidents, and even the cook, who definitely should have been one of those to think, to know better, lets his guard down. Gets surprised. Gets himself nearly shot through the head like two of their more unfortunate boarders. The fact that he is fast enough to get out of the way, but wasn't willing to because Robin was right behind him, only makes it doubly aggravating. If you don't think someone's capable-don't let them bring up your rear!
Idiot.
It leads Zoro to wonder who else on this crew is foolishly assuming that with a little bit of food and a little bit of bandages, Usopp'll be "back to himself" soon enough? Wasn't it enough of a hint when he struck out at Luffy with a scalpel? Zoro had understood from the minute they found him locked up and half starved to death in a room with a couple of dead bodies that he wouldn't be normal for months and months yet-maybe not ever.
Yet now … Usopp leaving for somewhere safer …. Zoro eyes Luffy poking one of the dead invaders in the arm, again noting the lack of a straw hat on his captain's head. No, it goes without saying that Luffy is even further from accepting that idea. Zoro can guess who that hat is with, and, while he did think sending Usopp back to East Blue was a sensible idea, no one was really willing to accept it the first time it had been suggested. They'd gone into Mariejoa fighting with such confidence and determination … such hope. Their crew would be back together, and they would get on with everything they wanted to do. Simple as retrieving one wayward sniper.
Or not.
The Celestials were lucky that Luffy and the rest of the crew had been preoccupied with getting Usopp out as fast as possible. There probably wouldn't have been nearly as much of Mariejoa left if they'd all felt free to loiter around and pin down the bastards most responsible.
Zoro has to push down the bloodthirsty fury still lurking in his thoughts. The biggest problem with it all is, this isn't a matter honor in a fight, or of Usopp having wronged them or … anything like that, where it would be so easy, so necessary, to stand firm on the issue of him going or staying. Usopp's been wronged here, too. Telling him to get out … Usopp's not the one that ought to be punished for all this. Though Zoro doesn't like having the crew at risk from what is essentially a loose cannon, and though Usopp would be far safer outside of the New World altogether anyway, he can't overlook the fact that Luffy seems to be making headway where, perhaps, no one else can. The idea of sending Usopp away has even started to leave the distinctive, repugnant flavor of giving up in Zoro's mouth.
He doesn't like giving up any more than he likes loose cannons.
"Okay," Luffy declares at length, straightening and folding his arms across his chest, "They're definitely dead."
Zoro quirks an eyebrow.
Luffy scratches at his head. "We probably shouldn't leave Usopp alone when there's a fight. At least, not for a while. He gets too freaked out and he still isn't feeling well."
Zoro grunts an assent. It's a first step, and Zoro would go one more. They should have Franky track down and secure all the dangerous weaponry, too. And then someone will always have to be with Usopp…. It's doable. Not easy-but doable. For how long? would be the real question, but it would likely take only one or two more surprise fights to know.
Sounding discontent, Luffy hums to himself. "It's too bad he doesn't have all his cool gadgets to fight with instead anymore. Wonder why he hasn't made a new weapon yet?"
Zoro snorts. "Luffy, I don't think he remembers what he used to fight with."
Contemplative silence from Luffy, then- "Oh! That makes sense. I was starting to forget he forgot everything."
Typical. Zoro wonders what Usopp would have picked to fight the invaders with if he'd had the option, then, with a shake of his head, shoves the thought aside as a rather pointless exercise in wishful thinking. "We should get rid of this mess before Nami or Chopper comes down here and starts screaming about it. The love-cook probably needs to decide how much of this rice to get rid of, too. And then we all need to sit down and make sure everyone knows what's going on."
For now, at least, Luffy knows how seriously Zoro is taking this, and how much more seriously the crew needs to. Sanji nearly lost his head this time. They'd be lucky if next time it's only an arm or a leg or something, since heads are a problematic loss. Arms and legs slightly less so, depending on which one of crew you talked about.
"Okay. Let's get Sanji, then." Luffy tips his head to the side a little, still thoughtful. "I wonder why they tried to get into our food instead of Nami's treasure chest? These boarders didn't make any sense at all. They couldn't even fight very good," he comments as they head out of the room. "But I guess they got hungry in the middle. It happens to me sometimes."
"Yeah, maybe … " Zoro glances back one last time before they go through the doorway and the bodies are blocked from view. He tries to remember whether the other boarders he'd fought had looked as gaunt as these two do, but can't quite imagine such details. An enemy was an enemy, and the shape of them had never mattered much unless it affected how he had to fight.
In any case, Zoro has already filed the observation away. What the boarders had tried opening first could be important.
It could also be nothing that mattered at all.
Sanji, to Zoro's mild surprise, doesn't get too upset by the ruined food. He doesn't ask many questions either, but the silence from him is thoughtful-almost broody, and Zoro's not sure he likes a broody cook any better than an irate cook.
Nami tracks them down just as Zoro and Sanji have quietly dumped the two bodies, wrapped in extra bedsheets, off one side of the ship. Luckily, she doesn't seem to have seen what they were doing, and since Zoro's not in the mood for a round of freaked-out questioning, he says nothing. Sanji, for his part, drops the moody look and puts on a game face, lighting up another cigarette and giving Nami a pleased smile as he greets her. Maybe he's not totally faking the pleasure, though, since this is Sanji he's talking about, and Nami is still a woman. Luffy just blinks, as if they hadn't been doing anything weird at all-good thing too, because Luffy doesn't even have a game face.
Nami says, like the demanding sea-witch she is, they need to furl the sails, now. Something about running aground.
Great. This mess, and another island.
Nami had known all the snow built up on the deck might be a problem in a fight, but since it all starts so suddenly, she doesn't even have a chance to try to change the weather. Post-battle is when she finally gets the time she needs to try and clear the clouds, or at least change the snow to rain. So she tries, but gently, so that the break-up won't be violent. It doesn't get her very far.
The flakes keep coming down, the most difference being in their change from stinging bits to soft clumps. The clumps cling stubbornly to her lashes as she glares up at the sky with an accusing frown. There is actually something weird about this system, she decides-not that Grand Line weather isn't normally weird, but something about this particular system is weirder than most.
Nami taps one of the fingers she has curled around her Clima Tact up and down. Obviously, more extreme measures will be required to get rid of the snow, but she's not ready to risk creating an extremely unstable weather system when they have to sail in the middle of it. Not unless it's imperative, anyway, and at the moment, it doesn't seem to be. Their attackers won't be coming back for a while, if they ever do.
She sighs. For now, they're stuck with a snowstorm.
"Huh. Was that 'spossed to do something?" Franky queries from the helm. Nami feels a prick of irritation at being questioned, but she does her best to ignore him.
There is another force at work here, and it isn't natural. Unfortunately, this still leaves her with more questions than answers. She glances at the Log Pose and a corner of her mouth quirks up, concern turning that curve into an uncertain line. Wherever they're going, they're heading straight for this storm's source. Hostile boarders, explosive cannon fire from out of nowhere, weird weather … none of it sits right. Even Usopp would be hard pressed to get an accurate shot off with this kind of visibility.
Nami turns to Franky. "Be ready for landfall. We're coming to an island."
One of his eyebrows lifts to a point noticeably above the rim of his sunglasses, a definite how can you even tell that? "How're we even gonna know we're coming to land before we run into it?"
She waves a hand: I'm your navigator. Don't insult me. The system might be weird, but it's still weather, all the same. She can feel its source clearly enough. "We'll be there within half an hour. I hope you're prepared for more snow where there rest of it came from."
Jerking one oversized thumb at his chest, he says, "I spent two years in a blizzard. A few puny flakes of ice ain't gonna freeze up my gears."
She snorts, though, most likely, not loudly enough for him to hear over the wind. "I'm going to tell the others we're not far from the next island. We need to furl the sails."
She moves toward the galley, thinking of the hot drink Sanji's sure to have made for her already. She could use it. Her nose is starting to feel like a misplaced lump instead of a part of her face, and she hunches over, both hoping to spare her nose the cold wind and keep a careful eye on her footing.
The only person she comes across on her way to the lawn deck is a collapsed invader. He is rather close to falling off the ship entirely, but his groaning is evidence that he is still alive-not that that's too great a matter of great importance, as long as he isn't going to attack her. So when he starts trying to grab at her leg as she passes, Nami finds it worth her while to help him … exit the ship the rest of the way. Creep.
Her frown turns sour as she moves on. Honestly, someone on this crew is getting lazy-leaving a half-finished battle like that.
She finds Sanji, Zoro and Luffy heading back up the stairs toward the galley. Good, she thinks. It's the lazy people likely responsible for leaving enemies lying around. If they're that bored with fighting, it's time to put them to work. "Hey, you three! Enough standing around," Nami calls out after them. The corner of Zoro's mouth twitches downward just slightly once he looks at her, but Sanji's smiling acknowledgement of her presence as he lights up another cigarette tells her at least one person is going to listen without complaint.
"If you don't want to beach this boat, you'll get on the rigging and furl the sails, now."
"Aye-aye, Nami-swan!" Sanji song-songs, hurrying off immediately. Now his usual impassive, Zoro nods, heading to the rigging without further comment or protest, thankfully. Only Luffy lingers, expression brighter than before.
"Hey, does that mean we're coming to an island?"
"Yes, Luffy," Nami sighs. "A snowy, cold island."
Luffy grins that wide, eager, gonna have an adventure! smile of his, then he goes the way of Zoro and Sanji without needing further urging. It makes her smile a little herself, despite the cold.
They manage to avoid running straight into the island's cliffs, since Nami hears the waves crashing against them in time to order a turn to the side. After sailing along the cliffs for a little while, they come to a small harbor, inside which the land slopes down to meet the sea. The harbor is large enough for a few decently sized ships to sail into, drop anchor, and still keep a safe distance between themselves. As it turns out, however, both the Strawhat crew and the Thousand Sunny are very much alone.
"Docks," Nami declares, peering through binoculars at the long, flat shapes stemming from the shore. "They look unused, though. There aren't any ships tied up at them."
Luffy, at the railing, is bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as they pull up and drop an anchor. A quick check by Zoro and Sanji-if anyone's going to fall through an old, decrepit dock into these freezing waters, they're the best candidates-determines that the structures underneath a heavy layer of snow are still in good condition.
"I'd say most of this wood was replaced recently enough, Nami-san," Sanji calls up, tone as cheerful with her as ever. "Some of it's barely even weathered yet."
"A few of the pylons, too. And what's older looks solid," Zoro adds, a hand resting on his katana. His attention wanders along the dock he stands on, towards the shore.
They're close enough now that Nami can pick out the shapes of buildings on land, town-like in size and height, but how much farther they continue inland is shrouded by snowfall. Despite the fact that it's the middle of the day, she doesn't see any people walking around. Even the layer of snow on the docks is smooth, waist-deep, hill-like, except for where Sanji and Zoro have been. The lack of people or even boats in port … A chill travels down her spine, and she notices Zoro's unscarred eye narrow at the empty-looking town. Is this some kind of trap … or something worse?
Continued in Chapter 12: In the Offing