Exulansis • One Piece

Prolouge (NEW)

I had always been the one to be sporadic with my hobbies.

My mind was a sponge that thirsted for the knowledge and ability to do anything whenever I wanted. It was always this way for as long as I can date back.

It acted as a never-ending sequence. Jujitsu one day, hiking the next, then it was volleyball and oh, I especially can't forget to mention the long hours I dedicated to learning about the sea.

Yes, the sea. It was the infamous no man's land that is near impossible to explore and map out to the tee. From the biology of a Grammatidae to the longest recorded length of seaweed, at some point, it was harder to name what I didn't know versus what I did.

Of course, the weakness of being sporadic is also being uncommitted, and so just like any hobby I had before, I eventually switched to another new and big thing. The information differed into the deep waters of my brain, left to stay dormant forever.

And if there could be any time where I would command every blood cell of my body to hook and fish it back up, there is no doubt in my mind that now would be the time.

But even then, how would knowing the difference between a fresh and saltwater fish help me in this situation?

I was rocked awake in tiny ups and downs, similar to a baby swaddled in a crib. It was comforting, and the oddity of feeling that rhythmical motion didn't phase me at all.

It wasn't until the moment I felt a cool breeze and the aggressive assault of salt on my nose that I even began to suspect something was off. I carefully opened my eyes, and instead of the usual beige-colored popcorn ceiling hovering over me, it was a sky full of tiny dots of lights.

I stared, unthinking, blinking a few times in an attempt to double-check if my eyes were tricking me. But each time my eyelashes departed it was the same view, in the same sky.

What...?

I tuned into my previously dulled sense of touch, noticing the feeling of being hugged by an inconstant assortment of textures, my head pillowed by this same feeling.

I gently got up, shaking the weariness of my sleep with the feeling of uncertainty and increasing anxiety. Another breeze combed its fingers through my hair as I scanned my surroundings, all the way beyond to the dark horizon.

Water.

Dark, glittery, and a lot of it.

But it wasn't more so the water that started my rise of panic, but the complete lack of land. Nothing. It was nothing but water.

"What the fuck!?"

My hands flew towards the opposite edge of whatever I was in. When I felt wood meet my fingertips and palm, I used my eyes to circle the rim of the boat before looking down at my legs and what surrounded it.

Flowers. Many kinds of flowers, of all bright and dull colors. All laying across the floor of the boat, wrapping itself around my body like a friendly hug.

I was already feeling panic bubble within my gut, but the final straw was noticing I was not wearing the same outfit that I had last remembered wearing. And the fear only deepened when I realized I was missing the prized possession of my life, the one thing that always saved me a world of pain.

My hand shot up to my face, confirming that my sunglasses were missing.

I screamed a quick curse. My voice reached beyond what I could touch, and I had my doubts it would ever reach another person's ears.

Gone, they're gone. If they weren't so important, I would've been freaking out about being stranded in the middle of the sea instead, but I need those glasses. I started to look around, first thanking the stars above me that it was night.