Ally - One Piece Fanfiction

12 - A FRAGMENT OF ILLUSION

I'm aliiiive

Something had happened during the night.

When Korina woke up, she saw multiple clones of an old 'friend' Ameko fighting in a frenzy. One of them yelled, "Back off!"

"Shut up, [curse I'm too lazy to invent]!" Another screamed, whacking the first clone with a stick.

"What the heck is going on?" Korina yelled over the noise. Only one 'Ameko' heard her and turned around angrily, "Shut it!"

The blue-haired pirate quickly flicked out her knives and barely blocked a sword strike.

She let a pulse of ice spread from her knives, gently solidifying around the clone. Korina pointed her knife at the clone, "Who are you? Ameko is dead."

"I don't know who Ameko is! And why are there so many of that.. [other curse I'm too lazy to invent]?!"

Korina froze. She recognized this talking style.

"Akio?"

"Korina?"

Careful not to de-frost her friend/foe/crewmate/whoever the heck yet, Korina withdrew her knives. "Okay, okay, who are you?"

"'Goldenflight' Akio. Who are you?" She/he replied.

"Snow Dragon Valora Korina. What do you see around here?" The blue-haired girl gestured to the chaos. If she looked carefully, through the eerie red dawn light, she could almost recognize some of the people.

"Assuming you are Korina, I see Foxy, my old... let's say kidnapper, whatever." He narrowed his eyes. "Who's Ameko?"

"Old friend... none of your concern." Korina ended the conversation there and removed the ice, focusing on the rest of the supposed Ameko's. Flicking on Observation Haki, she could see their true forms- several people in the Straw Hats and Snow Dragons.

"Of course... it won't be that simple..." She muttered to herself. It was most likely some effect of the red light of the Cursed Lands, illusions, seeing those around you as someone you hate.

"Listen to me!" She shouted over the fighting. Keeping her focus on seeing who was who, she looked around. Most of the people didn't seem to want to listen. A few seemed to have seen through the illusion- Robin, not surprising, Ember, who was curled up behind a rock, and Tano. Before the rest could attack, Korina rapid-fired a few words. "Focus. Look. Illusion."

"Huh, what's..." Luffy blinked. "What's going on? Who's who?"

"If you can see your mortal enemy who you want to kill, look closer. It's an illusion." Robin added helpfully, sitting down on a rock. It was kind of odd, seeing the usually wild Ameko sit so gracefully. Then, it was weird there were so many of her, or that she's alive at all.

Korina shook her head slightly, her vision once more showing her who's actually who. "Yes. Once you've calmed down and remembered where we are, regroup."

Once everything is calmer, the two pirate crews + law but hes not important circled up.

"Okay... so what exactly happened?" Satsuna asked, jerking around a bit every time somebody moved.

"Well, based on what I witnessed, everyone looks like our enemies. I'm just seeing Arlong everywhere, and I hate it." Nami replied, rubbing her forehead. "Who did all of you guys see?"

Just as several people prepared to speak, Korina interrupted them. "Not important. Based on this, I suspect there will be other traps during our time in this... Cursed Land. Don't be surprised by anything and stay rational."

Chopper timidly raised a hand (hoof?). "Was that dragon from last night also an illuson or trap?"

Korina was tempted to say yes. According to the many, many, books she'd read during her research, the Dragon and the Phoenix only seek the chosen ones once they are ready for the responsibility.

She didn't want anything to change yet.

Once the captain got her breathing under control, she replied, "No. I doubt it. It would take much to replicate the whole dragon. If the powers of the Death are able to capture it, it's probably real."

Chopper, Tano, and Nami all took a step back when Korina snapped her fingers and the dark sphere appeared in her palm.

"Everything settled?" Akio broke the silence. "I need breakfast. I spent the whole morning fighting."

The incredibly large group sat by their tents, eating some sandwiches from Satsuna and Sanji's emergency supplies.

"What else do you think might happen?" Tano asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I don't know." Zoro shot back.

They sat in silence until suddenly, the voice that had first greeted them returned.

"The first day has past, another challenge it's possibilities vast."

"Wha-" Usopp jumped, looking around. There was nowhere the voice could have come from, so it was fair to assume it was impossible to find whoever or whatever it is.

Nami sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I don't want another challenge. I still freak out whenever I stop focusing."

"It's easy for me." Robin replied. "Maybe it's easier if you're frightened enough to subconsciously focus? Should I scare you?"

The orange-haired navigator jerked her head a few times, slightly  curling up. "NO, don't, Robin... it is Robin, right?"

The archaeologist nodded, slightly amused.

"Well, with that message, we should expect something else annoying to happen." Sanji shook his head. "I promise I'll protect you, Nami, dear."

"Has everyone eaten?" Korina spoke up after another silence. When everyone nodded, she looked down. "Good. Remember, don't be surprised by anything. Find some more food and try to repair the damage on the tents... Ember, come with me. I have a question."

The black-haired girl looked up from where she sat, dropping her mostly untouched sandwich. She had fallen asleep again. The memory-preserving coma  had been more exhausting for her body than anyone had realized.

Regardless, she nodded slowly.

"Well," Satsuna stood up, trying to appear energetic. "let's get to work."

Chopper, Nami and Law assisted the pink-haired girl with repairing the damage from the morning's chaos. Sanji, Luffy, and Brook headed off to find food for lunch, dinner, and the next day since the Straw Hat had eaten everything left in the emergency storage.

The remaining went to rest and recuperate.

Ember followed Korina to a small area a bit away from the camp. "Korina, what is it?"

"Answer this." She asked a question. Ember blinked, her yellow eyes widening. Then she nodded. "Yes. That is true."