A numb darkness clings to me, making my limbs heavy and my mind slow. A voice rings in my ears but the words are unintelligible. A low, throbbing ache beats slowly into my awareness, getting stronger with each pulse. The voice is still distorted, like listening to someone yelling while being underwater. I'm shaking?... No... I'm being shaken.
"Rhea! " Luffy's voice echoes off the walls around me.
I wince as I finally recognize my name on his lips. I let out a low groan, rolling away from his insistent shaking. A raging headache blooms against the back of my skull as I sit up. I close my eyes against the pain, my nose wrinkling as I assess the damage.
"Oh good! You're awake!" Luffy grins, squatting in front of me.
"Hard not to be when you're shouting and shaking me." I grunt, reaching around to the back of my head and probing for any cuts or signs of injury. I suck in a breath through my teeth as I press too hard on a tender spot.
Shit. That's gonna suck. If I'm lucky, it'll just be a bad bruise and a headache.
"What happened?" I ask, rolling my neck slowly until it pops and straightening my spine.
"Dunno." Luffy shrugs, his head tilting to the side as he watches me, "One second you were awake and the next you weren't. I couldn't tell with the room spinning like it was."
"Hmn..." I grunt, shifting my leg as I notice a bruise forming against my shin.
When did that happen... surely that's not from today...
"You okay? Did you black out or anything?" I ask, now searching my arms and legs for any other bruises I hadn't noticed before.
"No, I'm great!" Luffy laughs, turning to look around the room, "Hey, that's weird. The whale's got a river inside it, too?"
"Huh?" I look up, noticing for the first time that we aren't in the same hallway as before. "How'd we get here?"
Luffy just shrugs and points up. I follow his pointing finger and spot a square opening in the far side of the arched ceiling. Metal ladder rungs jut out from the curved wall starting just below the opening. The metal floor is divided into two narrow paths by a canal of greenish liquid running straight down the middle of the arched room. The tallest point in the arch reaches high above our heads, tall enough that a small ship might be able to pass through without issue. My eyes fall back to the liquid standing between us and the other side of the room. Something about it looks off somehow, like it's not just water.
"I wonder if-" My words halt as the entire long corridor begins to shake. I suck in a breath, a grunt leaving my lips as I scramble to my feet. The metal walls groan and the room shifts. The floor tilts up and my boots begin to slide.
"Aghhh no no no no hau!" Luffy pants, desperately trying to run up the growing incline.
The floor becomes a wall, forcing my feet out from under me. A scream rips from my throat. The toe of my boot catches on the metal. I feel as if I've tripped and my body responds automatically, my legs running as if I were actually anchored to the floor that is now completely vertical.
"I CAN'T STOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Luffy's shout echoes off the walls.
My legs are moving impossibly fast. I grit my teeth, unable to regain control. I feel like a hamster on a wheel that's spinning too fast. Any attempt to do more than keep up will be ultimately met with failure. Something small catches the rubber sole of my boot. My eyes widen as I stumble. A shriek escapes as I collide with Luffy and we become a tangle of limbs rolling down the steep incline. Two voices fill the air, adding their screams to ours.
YOU ARE READING
Endless Loyalty
Fanfiction🚨SPOILER ALERT 🚨 There are spoilers ahead, you have been warned! Desperate for a new start, Rhea joins Luffy and his crew as they head towards the Grand Line. Soon after joining the StrawHats crew, Rhea finds herself in a whirlwind of an adventure...
