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corpseglider · 4 years

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pairing .. corpse x girlfriend!reader (fem)

summary .. the time in which corpse really does propose

part one .. read here

the first sign.

“Now why exactly did you want to go to the farmer’s market?” You asked, eyebrows raised at your boyfriend’s beaming face.

Corpse ran to the rose bushes, daisies, and baby’s breath—looking through each and every vendor’s selection. His eyes were sparkling with excitement at the sight of the various colors, his body shaking profusely.

You followed behind at a distance, giving Corpse the freedom to explore on his own. The market was overflowing with life. That life not necessarily being human life, but fresh plants and fruit.

Your pockets were drained quickly, all of the hard cash on you had disappeared into the hands of the kind vendors. Bags of homemade goods filled your arms, nearly falling over from how unbalanced you’d become.

“Oh, shit.” Corpse said, running up to you and taking a few packages into his own hands, giving you a little breath of relief. “You seem to be right at home here!”

He chuckled, his heart glowing in your company. The overall aura you gave off brought his life immense joy. You were the light in his darkness, the stability to his chaos.

The two of you now walked together, strolling between vendors and awing at the vast array of flowers. It was a peaceful moment, just the two of you together in a place that made you happy.

“Oh these are just beautiful!” You exclaimed, your eyes settling on a bouquet of small lilac alliums. The little blossoms were undeniably gorgeous, standing out amongst the others like stars in the vast night sky.

The little bouquet fit perfectly in your hands, complimenting your features nicely. Corpse took a mental picture in his brain, wanting to remember this moment showcasing the natural beauty that you possessed forever.

He studied the flowers, noticing the little petals and yellow bobs along with your beaming face. Without hesitation, Corpse pulled out his wallet, giving the vendor whatever price they were asking for.

“You’re the best, you know that right?” You pressed a soft kiss to Corpse’s cheek, loving how your boyfriend spoiled you. Gratitude was evident in your voice, the tone soft and thankful. “I love them.”

Corpse wrapped his arm around shoulder, hugging you to his side as you made your way towards your car. He kissed the top of your head gently before whispering in your ear.

“I love you.”

the second sign.

The house was silent, Corpse’s footsteps echoing slightly as he quietly shut the door to his gaming room. It was around four in the morning, he’d just finished a live stream, having stayed up all night to do so.

Exhaustion was all that was on his mind. He was itching to crawl into bed beside you and refill his energy. Just the thought of holding you in his arms was more meaningful than any dream he could possibly have.

Corpse tiptoed down the hallway, cringing as his phone began to ring. He frantically reached into his pockets, attempting to decline the call before realizing that it was Sean who’d been dialing him.

“Hey man.” He spoke in a low tone, doing his best to make as little noise as possible. It’d been a long week for you, and he didn’t want to disturb your sleep. “What’s up?”

Sean responded energetically, the time zone difference being evident between the two men’s attitudes. “Just calling to say what an amazing stream that was!” He exclaimed, his accent strong. “You really tricked us tonight!”

Corpse laughed, running a hand through his already unruly hair. “Yeah that was all luck.” He admitted, having no strategic meaning in any of his moves. “My lucky charm is home right now, that’s probably why I won.”

He could envision Sean nodding to his words, his friends being fully aware of how close his relationship with you was. “Y/N, yeah.” Sean answered, a little bit of a smirk on his voice. “How’re you guys doing?”

A smile rose on Corpse’s face, just the thought of you brought out his soft side. “We’re doing really really well, man.” Your boyfriend said, walking into your shared bedroom. “Thanks for asking.”

Sean sighed, most likely sitting back in his chair to get in a more comfortable position. “Of course, you guys seem really happy.” He paused for a moment, considering what he was going to say next.

“I was tagged under that comment you made on Instagram.” Corpse stopped breathing at his words, knowing exactly what he was referring to—but Sean continued on. “Was there any truth in that?”

The call was vacant, neither man speaking on the other’s behalf. Corpse took a deep breath, gazing at the girl who was fast asleep in their bed. “Definitely.” He breathed out, processing his words as he spoke.

“She makes me so happy, man. I just love her so much.” His voice was even quieter than before, Sean barely being able to comprehend what he was saying. “I don’t know what to do.”

Sean’s grin was so large it could be heard on the phone. He was so happy to hear that his close friend had found someone so perfect for him. “I think you know exactly what to do.”

With that, they bid their goodbyes, promising to talk again in a few hours. Corpse slipped into bed, finally realizing the steps he had to take in order to end up with the outcome you and him deserved.

He pressed a kiss to your temple, wrapping his arms around you and closing his eyes. As sleep took over his senses, your’s were wide awake. Your face was flushed red, tears brimming your eyes.

You hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the sound of Corpse openly talking about his love for you was too much to ignore. It was one thing to know that there was someone there for you—but to have him speak so highly about you to others?

That was love.

the third and final sign.

Corpse had been bouncing off the walls all day, his body overflowing with nerves. He’d been doing his best to act inconspicuous for the entire day, wanting to surprise you with his notion of a proposal.

The weight of the ring box felt like tons in his pocket, weighing him down as he walked with you towards the view point. His heart was racing unevenly, thumping in his chest like a metronome.

Constellations sparkled above you, the sky filled with stars and little specks of dust. It was a moment under the perfect view with the perfect man. Your perfect man.

You stood beside him, holding his hand in yours as you pointed out all of the constellations that you knew by memory. Corpse was silent, humming along to your words and listening intently.

Before you knew it, you felt his grip loosen, your arm dropping completely. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, wondering why he would leave you absent of his touch.

A gasp escaped your lips as you turned, facing him underneath the light of the moon. Corpse was down on one knee, holding up nothing but the ring box that had formerly been stashed in his pocket.

He pursed his lips into a smile, opening the box to you. “It’s no ring made of fresh flowers,” he admitted, watching your facial expressions like a hawk, “but I hope it’ll do.”

Your eyes settled on the ring, noticing the beautiful and intricate design. The band resembled stems, wrapping around like vines—while the jewel itself looked as if it was blooming out of a flower.

That flower being identical to the flowers he had bought you at the market, weeks before.

Tears were now tripping down your face, your hands on his shoulders as you nodded enthusiastically, accepting his proposal with all of your heart. “Of course it’ll do!” You grabbed his cheeks, kissing him over and over again.

“You are perfect for me.” You rested your forehead against his, shivering as he slipped the ring onto your finger. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Corpse laughed, thanking everything for the fact that he was lucky enough to have someone such as yourself in his life. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

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forcedapotheosis-blog · 7 years

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Gloomy Days Chapter III.2

Chapter III.2 – The Committed

Oooooh shit fellas, look who finally got his shit together! People (like .. four people, including myself), rejoice! I finally finished the next chapter and .. I honestly don’t know what to think about it. It’s a bit different from the chapters before and I shamelessly use the current PoV to fill you in on what happened before the story.

So, there’s actually a lot to say before the start. First of all, thank you. All of you who read the story, who followed it and subscribed to it and, most of all, to the friendly people who review it! I mean, damn, that’s a whole new level for me and be sure that you have my deepest, sincerest gratitude for doing that.

And because I can, have some personal words:

Yoontae (on tumblr): You’ve been among the first to reblog and comment on the fiction and, if you’re still reading it, thank you. After I released the first two chapters of it, I was on the edge if I should go through with it. You pushed me over that edge.

EastBlue (on ffDotnet): What can I say that I haven’t already said? I dedicated the last chapter to you for a reason. Your reviews kept me going and I earnestly hope that you will enjoy this one, too. I cannot thank you enough for the kind words. Please understand that I hold you in the highest regard for sacrificing your time to write these reviews and for making my day a little brighter.

EsVendetta (on ffDotnet): Let me tell you, I’m a bit of a .. flimsy or non-committed writer. I don’t try to think too hard about the stories and how they should continue until somethings sparks the fire, which leads to many ideas that died before they had the chance to bloom. You know, personal life and stuff that can just become annoying. And then you casually read a review that is full of appreciation and BOOM, it’s there, the fire has been sparked again and I personally think that in that moment, my mind actually committed on finding out how to continue the story. I can’t thank you enough for that.

DWatson (on AO3): Holy shit, dude (or dudette), I don’t know where to start. When I read your review I was sitting in the library, actually trying to focus on work, but .. yeah, after I read it I had to go out to have a cigarette, because it just made me so damn happy that my body trembled for minutes on end. I was (and pretty much still am) at a loss for words and my English is not nearly as good enough as it should be to express the full scale of my appreciation for your kind words.

That said, I hope everyone enjoys the following chapter.

People who’re saying that children are a blessing should make it clear that they’re only talking about their own., the man told himself while he watched two of them, around the ages of 5-7 or so, running around wildly, sometimes even recklessly, playing and making a general mess of everything they came in contact with. It was easy for him to tell that one was a boy, the other one a girl, no matter how fast they were and under how many tables they crouched, hiding, finding and hunting the other. His trained eyes told him even more, not only the obvious stuff about the colours of their hair, but even that the boy had lively green eyes and a genuine, broad smile that reminded him of a certain person. The girl’s eyes were of a deep blue, and more of the thoughtful and reflective kind. As far as he could tell, and he could tell a lot, while the girl seemed to have genuine fun during their activities, she was the calm one of the duo. But the raw, youthful energy of the boy didn’t leave her with any time for second thoughts, so she just went with it. Well, I had to be blind to not draw certain associations with my, our own life watching this, right? And he certainly had a point. The boy fearlessly approached strangers and talked to them about one thing or another while the girl, rather shyly, stood in the background. But sooner or later, she would join the conversation. And the old saying that still waters run deep came true once again. The next time he watched the two of them, the girl was wildly gesticulating with her arms, as far as he could tell to describe the size of a sea king she heard a story about. No, he certainly couldn’t blame them just for being children, even moreso if you took into account that a formal wedding ceremony with a lot of strangers could also prove boring to an adult. And an adult he was, wasn’t he? Just minding my own business here, aye. His thoughts were taken back into the present when he felt soft fingers gently brushing over his hand and with a smile, he turned to his right. “Is something the matter, my love?”, the blonde woman next to him whispered in his ear with her pleasant and clear voice. He could never help himself when she talked to him, when they shared even the slightest of touches. And he knew how lucky he had been that it was always her. No matter where he was, it’s always been her. Softly, he put his own hand onto hers and slighty turned his face towards his right. “See those children, Kaya? I think she’s telling that old guy and his wife stories about monsters.”, that led her to a soft chuckle. “Like the ones you always told me about, the ones you actually faced yourself?”, he nodded while his unconventionally long nose was pointing at the children like an index finger. “You want to go over there and tell them a real story, dearest?”, she continued to whisper in his ear, accompanied by a silent chuckle. “Nah, they’re young, let them hav..” – “WOW! See that nose, Mira?!”, the boy cried out in excitement when he spotted him. Or rather, his nose. With a swift move, he took his companion’s hand and without a word of parting, they left the old guy and his, supposed, wife and began their way towards Kaya and him. And the same as it was before, the little girl held herself in the background whilst the boy spoke. Doesn’t look like they’re siblings, was the last thought before the ‘confrontation’ began. “Do you have the longest nose in the world?! Can you smell your friends wherever they are?!”, he began to blurt out enthusiastically while still holding the girl’s hand. They seemed nice enough and the more the boy talked, the more it reminded him of that one trait that his captain had embodied all throughout his life, helping him to make fast friends with just about everyone, even with some of their enemies. Well, they came all the way over to their seats, why not give them a little show? He sighed dramatically, shook his head and covered his eyes. His voice was higher than usual when he started talking, as he tried to underline the fact that they somehow hurt his feelings. “I’m sure you children wouldn’t talk like that if you knew who I am!”, he began his play and Kaya leaned back into her seat, smiling all the time. Now both of the children got big eyes as it, of course, wasn’t their intention to hurt someone’s feelings, but again, only the boy spoke. “We’re very sorry, mister! Really!”, he said in an apologetic tone that made it even harder for the man not to smile. He had to play a role, for God’s sake! That’s when he let out another sigh but nevertheless grabbed two empty chairs next to them which he pulled towards him. “You’re really sorry, is that so? Sit down, kids. I feel that you deserve a treat.”, surprisingly enough, the young boy was quick to oblige, occupying one of the chairs. His companion still held back, though, looking at him with these big, blue eyes. That was enough to force a smile onto his lips and he softly spoke to her. “I don’t bite, little princess. You might not know it, but I’m the great grandson of a famous knight of the seas. His name was Sogeking and he was born on the mythical Sniper Island. On my life and my good name, that one being Usopp, I would never harm a young girl.”, and something in his smile did seem to move her. Even though she remained quiet, she placed herself on the chair next to the young boy who, figuratively, rushed to her defense. “Mira doesn’t talk a lot, mister, and ..”, being as oblivious as only a child could be, he leaned forward to whisper into his ear. Of course, this would still be loud enough for even Kaya to hear and would have been considered incredibly impolite, but the girl didn’t seem to mind. “She’s sad that her .. her parents are planning to move away from our village.”, the cheerfulness in his voice was gone in that moment and Usopp had the feeling that the thought alone hurt the little boy more than he was ready to admit. Somehow, it stung. Usopp slowly raised his hand and softly padded the boy on the shoulder, not even trying to return the whisper as to be sure that Mira might hear it, too. “Don’t you worry about it, young friend. Friendship, true friendship, knows no bounds. Neither distance nor time apart will diminish what you have..”, unconsciously, his eyes left the boy’s face and wandered through the ballroom, only stopping when they found a familiar form in the crowd. Alone, but not forgotten. Silent, but not unheard. A knight is a knight, even fallen from grace, far away from all he ever cherished and loved., he slightly shook his head again and felt a shiver running down his spine. Kaya must have felt it, too, as her fingers gently brushed over his. He didn’t need to look at her to know that she was smiling her signature smile, the one that made him happy and gave him strength at the same time. “Are you alright, mister?”, the boy asked with a concerned look on his face. Even the little girl, Mira, looked at him with big, blue eyes, but remained silent. “It’s .. yeah, it’s alright, young friend. What’s there to be worried about? My great grandfather has been an invincible warrior of the seas, and this runs in the family!”, he let go of the boys shoulder and leaned back a little, trying to look all smug and confident. “Will you tell us a story about your grandfater?”, the boy asked and a few seconds ago, he would’ve answered with a clear ‘yes’. But there was another story that needed to be told, a far more important one for the occasion. His time in the limelight was made for another story, maybe even told by a different author. “I’m going to tell you a story about my grandfather’s companions, all great and noble ladies and fearless warriors in their own right!”, he began and bound the attention of both children and Kaya to his words. And the attention of a fourth person, without even knowing that there was one. “A long, long time ago, somewhere out on the vastness of the ocean, there had been a small but happy kingdom. But that’s nothing special, right? Well, let me tell you that it was a special kind of kingdom, a moving kingdom! People all over the world called it the Moving Kingdom of Sunny! You don’t believe me? Just ask anyone, they’ll tell you that everything is true! So, this moving kingdom was ruled by a young king who went by the name of .. eh .. Gruffy! Yes, that was the king’s name and his crown had a peculiar form, it was shaped like a hat! I bet that you’ve never seen a crown that looks like a hat, haven’t you? But they exist, even though they’re incredibly rare! So, this king .. Gruffy, he was young and full of energy and, I tell you that, he had an incredible love for food. If you would’ve met him, you would think that he loved nothing more than to eat. But, sorry to disappoint, you’d be wrong about that. He loved all of his subjects unconditionally and his closest friends, my great grandfather Sogeking was one of them, he loved even more than that, close to life itself! Can you imagine that?”, he waited for a second and saw rather confused faces in front of him. “You don’t need to go too far, kids. Just look at yourselves. It’s just like your friendship! King Gruffy would gladly have taken any fight to protect his friends, with little to no regard for his own safety, so much did he love them. One was a beautiful and young princess who went by the name of ..”, Well, they’re kids, but I assume that they’re not dumb .. so .. what?, he took a small break to think of another name that wouldn’t give away too much “Rami! Yes, the fiery princess was called Rami and let me tell you, she was incredibly clever. A genius, one could say, and she would always know what weather was to come! And besides that, she was a formidable warrior princess and her foes feared her, but they also admired her beauty, especially her fiery red hair that led many a man to fall in love at first glance. But she wasn’t the only close friend of King Gruffy, who had all but adopted her, of course. Two of his other friends were rather young knights, but despite their young age, they did cast the shadows of giants. The first was called Loro and he was a warrior of unmatched prowess, so legendary was his skill that the people of the Kingdom of Sunny called him a sword saint! And then there was the other knight, a fine and peerless warrior in his own right with hair as bright as the sun and a good heart to match that colour. His name was .. Janji? Yeah, Janji it was, .. I think!”, he paused for a second and took a good look at the children’s faces. They seemed to be rather captivated by the beginning of his story, maybe the boy was dreaming the same dream as countless other boys? Being a knight, a warrior of the sea, defending the weak and fighting the good fight? It surprised him a little that even the shy girl was smiling adorably, maybe beneath her taciturn facade, there were still dreams about being a princess? In a few years, she might look the part. “Hahaha, these two knights .. oh, I .. I mean, my grandfather told me unbelievable stories about their rivalry, you wouldn’t believe that. Even the giants of the legendary island of Elbaf knew about them! But I tell you, their rivalry was nothing too serious, as they were brothers in all but name. To be precise, all of them were a family in all but blood, like the two of you. You care deeply about one another, right? It was the same with them. The good King Gruffy even allowed his bard, a man so thin that everyone called him ‘Skellyman’, to sit at the same table all the other nobles and friends used to feast. He was a dear friend and the whole world should see it. All of them were bonded to each other with ties as strong as to the closest family. And .. maybe even a little more. My granddad always said that the knight, Janji that is, was incredibly infatuated with princess Rami and tried to win her favour countless of times. He courted her in every way imaginable, left large bouquets of the rarest and most beautiful flowers for her to find and, oh, he was heavenly gifted when it came to that, he cooked her food that even the God’s would drool about! I kid you not, .. I mean, my granddad told me that the food he made was just so perfect in every way that one could imagine. And you know what the best thing about that was? The fiery princess Rami slowly warmed up to the knight and theirs was a friendship, maybe even more than that, that many a bard would write songs about. I mean, she never confessed any feelings towards him, but the way she behaved .. oh, that’s a whole other story. You know, kids, the thing with the best, or at least the most captivating stories is that they need a problem. A huge problem. And exactly that arrived on one fateful day that none of them would ever be able to forget. I'll tell you the story my great grandfather told to my granddad.."

We were chasing the beast for nearly five days straight, and it showed. First, we began to run low on food, only a little later our water supplies were fading away. On the fourth day, everybody was regretting that we had even started this hunt. Even worse was the fact that everywhere around us, there was water to find. But the inhabitants of the nearby village had warned us not to drink it, as it would turn people into what they called 'Aberrations' sooner or later, and there was no known treatment. We actually saw one of these Aberrations. There were clear traces of it having once been a human, though viciously malformed. That one was dead, otherwise there wouldn't have been a chance to get a closer look. And the human traces were .. dubious, to be fair. It had the same four limbs – that looked rather forcefully elongated - that humans possessed and with a lot of good will, you could say that the face could've belonged to a human, too. With four eyes of a milky white colour, so that one might have thought them blind. That specimen even had human hair on its head which made it all the more creepy and surreal.

But the captain ("Sorry, the King", he corrected himself) had given his promise that we would not return – I would've agreed with that since the village was boring, anyway – nor rest (I really wasn't content with that) until we had found and run down that terrible beast they were all talking about. Nobody could say how it looked like as there had never been any survivors, nobody knew how it would fight. But the villagers – and us, too – knew that it existed.

The whole area we were running through had actually been really pleasant and easy on the eyes. The forest canopy was thick and only a little sunlight (or moonlight, since we didn't stop the chase even during the nighttime) made its way through, but everything looked just so peaceful with the dimmed light, the still water and the silent trees. Even the resident fauna was as silent and non-malicious as it could be. The few animals we spotted in the trees usually just took a look of slight interest at us and ran away right after. No giant cats or other predators were running rampant. Even though we somehow wished for just .. anything to happen. And eating the meat of a carnivore wasn't something we had never done before.

Still, thirst and hunger and not knowing if – or when – the Abarrations would finally attack us wasn't our worst enemy. See, when we entered the area through a long path that lead away from the village, we were greeted by .. something that sounded awfully like a wailing song, with no singer being around. At least none that one could see. The 'song' itself, if you could call it that, somehow was eerily pleasant, though. It didn't make our ears bleed nor did it have an immediate effect on our sanity. And at first, even for the first hours .. the first two days, it didn't get intrusive. But imagine listening to the very same song, one that didn't even have words, but only wailing, for five days straight. Five days in which you have been running, chasing some .. thing that you basically knew nothing about. Your supplies run low and the only thing that kept you going was the inhuman stamina of your body and the sheer force of an indomitable will. That was just .. bound to take a heavy toll on you. Next to the King and myself, there were four more of us. Rami, the fiery princess, Janji, who continually proclaimed to protect her as it would befit a knight, Loro, who just wanted nothing more than to slay the beast and sleep for two weeks straight and, as our last companion, the bard they called Skellyman. Oh, don't worry, even though singing and playing the violin was his area of expertise, he was a formidable fighter in his own right. The six of us should have been enough to perish everything short of a god.

We were wrong.

When the sun arose on the sixth day, we found what we were looking for. And, dear gods, I wish we never did. We thought that we cornered the beast in its cave and the King and his two faithful knights were itching for a fight. Happy to leave everything, especially that .. that terrible song behind! And son, when it finally came to blows, everything seemed just normal, everyday practice. That beast looked like a giant toad, but with only two legs. As I said, nothing out of the orderly, right? The King, his knights, even the princess, the bard and me went all out when coming face to face with the beast. At least we thought that it was face to face. But the monster’s skin was incredibly sturdy though and not even with our forces combined were we able to damage it.

What happened then, we took for a good sign. It wasn't. All of a sudden, the song vanished and everyone froze. Just .. being in silence was a relief. But then the toad opened what we thought was its mouth and .. oh gods, two giant, lanky green arms seemed to sprout from it, tearing the 'mouth' open even wider. Beneath all that sturdy skin, there was a face! And with an utterly inhuman voice that was as deep as the vast ocean, it GROANED!

Not only did Usopp try to recreate the deep, stoneshattering groan that all of them heard, but also the face that was lying underneath the sturdy skin. With questionable success, one might add. The two kids just looked at him and at each other in confusion while Kaya chuckled softly.

"Ah, well .. okay, it just looked scary, trust me!"

He was right. The face under that dark green skin was green aswell, even though of a lighter tone, just like the arms it had used to tear its own skin away. It looked like .. the giant, wrinkled face of an incredibly old woman, but without eyes and teeth, mouth – a second mouth, if you want - wide open. Just human enough that one might draw the association, but just so inhuman on the other hand that it even shook the fearless hearts of the King and his knights. And that was all the time it .. and they needed. Countless of the beasts that were known as Aberrations had arrived, no longer dormant as the song had become silent. They moved inhumanly fast and swarmed us, within seconds our offensive had died and we were in full retreat.

Everyone fought valiantly, the King, myself, the princess, his knights, even the bard. There were countless beasts, but we were warriors of renown! .. and thinking that, forgetting about the giant toad itself, didn't help our cause. Not in the slightest. As I told you, son, we were in full retreat when the beasts started their vicious attack. We retreated towards the entrance of the cave which was so slim that only two people were able to walk side by side, the others had to move after them. And it just was swarming with them .. oh, you poor knight.

The King and Loro took the lead, fighting off every single Aberration that was coming from the front, the princess and myself were in the middle as both of our weapons required some space between us and the foe while the knight Janji and the Skellyman guarded our rear. To be honest with you, I .. I don't know what happened. All I know is that Janji stumbled, that he fell to the ground and .. within just a few seconds, they were upon him. Three of the beasts, maybe four, trying to claw out his heart, his eyes .. foul teeth gnawing on his limbs in ravenous hunger .. and it took him and us just too long to get rid of them.

Don’t get me wrong, in that very moment, all of us failed. The princess and I were too slow in helping the knight to get rid of the beasts and poor Skellyman was on his own against the ever growing tide of new beasts arriving. We .. we should have been faster. Could have been faster, but we weren’t. None of us knew it, but every action we had taken since our arrival on the island was an action to dig the graves for our collective dreams.

The onslaught of beasts seemed unending, the ones that befell Janji were still there and we were in danger of losing him. And if there was any rule we tried to live by, it was that no one should ever be left behind. He cried out in pain when fangs tore apart the flesh of his limbs, but he was still fighting. He had an oath to uphold. The princess wept bitter tears as she struck down lightning on the beasts and myself, I shouted. Shouted for my father to watch over me, prayed for him to acknowledge his son as a true warrior and worthy heir to Sniper Island. It was all for naught.

By now, the beasts were nearly upon us and the Skellyman fought at the absolute height of his skill. That thin man that people could mistake for a skeleton fought with the ire and prowess of a god of war, but it wasn’t enough. The second he cut down another of these Aberrations, it was already too late. The princess and I disposed of the last beast that was clinging to Janji’s body, but he was all but incapacitated. Still conscious, though, he told us to leave him behind as they might stop the pursuit if they had the opportunity to feed on him. But neither the King, his brother-in-arms, the bard, myself and, least of all, the princess Rami would allow that.

It was then that our obliviousness concerning the giant toad beast broke our backs. A long arm of a light green colour appeared out of nowhere, rushing through the darkness of the entrance and a gigantic, mighty hand grabbed the body of the princess, willing to take her with it for reasons that I don’t even want to think about. The young knight cried out in terror as he wasn’t able to protect her, I myself was struck aside by the unexpected force behind that arm and nearly lost consciousness. The King and the sword saint wanted to help, but they couldn’t, as the countless number of Abberations grew even larger and, although they had their powers combined, it became increasingly difficult to fend them off.

That was the moment the heroic bard made a decision.

He began hacking away at the arm and drew the ire of this centuries old monster .. or demon onto himself. His elegant and slender blade cut deep into its flesh, but that only poured fuel into the fire. Under the helpless shouts of the knight, he managed to break the princess free. But oh, at what cost?

The beast had two arms.

And he was inhumanly calm when the second one came out of the shadows and took a hold of his body. I vividly remember his last words, son, a sign of true companionship .. true nakamaship, compassion, loyalty and honour. His last words were those of a hero that shall never be forgotten.

With a bitter smile, he gazed at the young knight.

“Let this be my turn, Janji. I have lived long enough. Allow me to take your place, just this once. So that you have the chance to be there for her, come the light of a new morning. Yohohoho!”

And thus, he vanished into darkness without a trace.

“You have to understand the gravity of this situation, children. No one wanted to leave him behind and they tried to turn around to rescue the bard, but it was all for naught. Wave after wave of Abberations crashed into them and they were forced out of the cave, and not even the righteous, selfdestructive ire of the King could stand against a whole world that had so quickly become hostile. And to make matters worse, immediately with the vanishing of the bard, the whole island began to .. sink. King Gruffy had to make one of the most difficult and painful decisions in his entire life. Save his crew .. I mean, his people and break his oath or sacrifice all of them and let the heroic sacrifice of his bard go into nothingness.”, Usopp didn’t care for the tears that filled his eyes, nor for the trembling of his body. It was all too vivid.

“But .. it all worked out in the end, didn’t it? It’s not a good story unless it has a happy end!”, the eyes of the children were watery, too. They didn’t fully grasp the concept of the bard’s heroic sacrifice, but they understood friendship and duty towards one another all too well.

“I .. I must admit that I don’t know about that. All of us .. I mean, all of my great grandfather’s companions were shaken and lost sight of their dreams, remaining a shattered, aimless bunch of misfits .. but maybe it’ll make you happy that some of them were able to find meaning in their lives? Maybe even happiness.”

“I don’t like that. And neither does Mira!”, the boy proclaimed, unconsciously clinging on to the hand of his friend as if she provided him with energy.

“They .. they lived, at least. Though the King lost his crown and within a few years, the Kingdom of Sunny was no more .. Loro began pursueing the remnants of his dream on his own, my great grandfather returned to Sniper Island to find comfort in the arms of his queen..”, he squeezed Kayas hand to ease the trembling of his body. “.. and the princess and her knight .. I don’t know if you’d understand it. He swore an oath to always be there to protect her .. and the one single time he failed, a dear friend paid with his life. The whole image that San- .. the knight had carefully constructed of himself was shattered in a single moment. He told himself that he disappointed everyone and finally, he too left what remained of the kingdom. I don’t know what has become of him, maybe an aimless knight errant, but I dearly hope that he found himself when he travelled alone.”, again, he broke eye-contact with the boy and his gaze wandered to where the familiar form was found before.

And there he was, still standing, still alive but not whole again, watching his image in the corner of a large mirror that was fastened to a wall. Usopp couldn’t help himself but to imagine this man, this knight with hair as bright as the sun, as a burdened, broken man, clad in old-fashioned armor, his hand chained to a past and a princess he was desperately trying to forget.

“I hope that some day, all of us .. but especially the knight will answer the call again. To face our decisions and try to make them right again. Or .. at least find the strength to live with them.”, he didn’t care about the words he chose. After all, it was their story.

What happened after that immediately reached the bottom of his heart. An astounding show of innate human goodness and the sometimes flawless perception of .. a pure-hearted and caring child. This scene alone would leave him in absolute awe for days to come, fondest memory and living prove that humans, even if their existence was without a higher purpose, still wished to help one another.

It was the young girl, Mira, who let go of her friend’s hand and stood up from her chair, slowly, even a bit clumsily following the path of Usopp’s gaze until she finally reached the lonely knight.

Sanji ..

He wasn’t aware of her until she grabbed his hand. Seconds passed before he understood and knelt down to talk to her. Or .. not. There weren’t enough words in the entire world to even come close to one simple, kind-hearted gesture. That shy girl of few words embraced the graceless knight and his eyes began to fill with tears of gratitude.

Maybe not all is lost. Maybe there is still hope ..

He turned around when he heard someone standing up, mixed with .. what sounded like the rustling of a bird’s feathers, but there was no one to be found, except Kaya who still held his hand. If one asked him later, he would say that he heard a voice too, neither male nor female, ethereal, speaking only in whispered words.

“There’s no need to talk to this one, he has what it takes.”

Kaya smiled at him, but her eyes were watery.

“I want you to chase your dreams, my love .. make us proud. You know that I’ll be yours, forever.”, she whispered, embracing him to share a kiss so tender that he felt it everywhere on his body.

And then, she gently put his hand on her stomach.

Make .. us proud?!

#Sannami #SaNami #SaNa #OP Fanfic #One Piece Fanfiction #Gloomy Days #OP Fanfiction #One Piece #Sanji #Nami #Vinsmoke Sanji #SanjixNami #NamixSanji #Sanji x Nami #Nami x Sanji #shipping #otp #Usopp

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