A Fairy's Tale (Eustass Kid & OC)

Chapter 22: Dreams

They'd still been asking her questions when she began to fall asleep. Each answer came a little slower from her lips as her exhaustion caught up with her until she eventually found herself leaning tiredly against Killer, something that probably would have embarrassed her if she'd been alert enough to care.

Kid thankfully forewent the brig this time, instead settling for putting her on a pallet on Heat's floor. She didn't mind this at all, seeing as Heat seemed to be the most amicable of the five men aboard. It was a mistake on her part to smile at the news; when Kid saw her perk up, he'd scowled and stipulated to Heat that the 'rat' wasn't to be given more than a single blanket.

To his credit, the cross-stitched softie was even more put out about it as she was:

"I know I already apologized to you today," he said as he set up a pallet for her on the other side of his room, "But I'm gonna go ahead and do it again. On the captain's behalf this time."

Not wanting him to look any more gloomy, Loklynn was quick to reassure him. "No, It's not your fault! It was an order. I'm just happy that these are the only chains I have to wear."

She demonstrated by lifting her hands and giving them a playful wiggle to showcase the shiny new set of seastone cuffs that Killer had slapped on her wrist before they all parted ways for the night. The two feet of chains connecting them had been cut and left to dangle between the cuffs, which was sure to get irritating eventually... but for now, she decided to just appreciate the saucy jingle they added to her snazzy jazz-hand work.

"They're stylish, too!" She grinned, pleased when she got a small snort of quiet laughter from the chronically morose pirate.

"So it really doesn't piss you off," he sent her a dubious glance over his shoulder. "C'mon, not even a little? I mean, Kid only gave the order 'cause he likes messin' with you. That's gotta sting somewhat."

He had a point there; her face twisted a bit as she thought about how much Kid and Killer seemed to enjoy heckling her. Sure she was mad, it was hard not to be, but still... how could she put this...

"Your captain is a different story," she said finally, "but I don't resent you for respecting his wishes. You empathize with me, and of course I appreciate it, but I also understand you can't always have the luxury of being as friendly as you want to. Loyalty comes before kindness sometimes, so don't feel too bad. Okay?"

Following her exposition was a long pause consisting of Heat staring incredulously at her for about ten seconds before she flushed and looked away. She remembered Yasopp and Limejuice teasing her about saying stuff like that, maybe she shouldn't have-

"It's hard to believe you're a pirate when ya talk like that," he gave her a sad smile that turned a bit sly as he added, "Probably the weirdest pirate I ever met, though, not gonna lie."

She smiled back.

"Probably."

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As dreams went, this one was rather odd.

Normally, dreams were a mish-mash of memories, a rushed collage of familiar places and faces all thrown together into something stranger than fiction. Most importantly, it wasn't the norm for one to know they were dreaming.

Yet here she was, clearly asleep, yet aware enough to marvel at how strange it was to dream of a place she was certain she'd never been.

She was standing in the desiccated remnants of a small building. The vaguely furniture-shaped debri scattered around her suggested that it may have once been someone's home at one point, though the obviously fire damage made it difficult to tell. Either way, the air was thick with the scent of ash and despair. It was eerie enough that she began to think this dream might just be a nightmare.

"I think I want to wake up now..." she murmured, just to fill the silence with something. It was only then that she noticed several odd things, like her high-pitched voice quality, and how much larger everything seemed, and how close the ground was when she looked down... the discovery that she had reverted back to a child wasn't as shocking as she thought it would be. This was a dream, after all; dreams always ended.

The scene was draped in utter stillness, an absence of sound so profound it bordered on unnatural. In the absence of even the slightest breeze, not a single speck of ash stirred under the blistering sun that beat down through the absent roof.

He was quiet, too.

That's why it took her so long to notice him.

Venturing tentatively into the next room, she found a young boy. He was just a child, no older than five or six, a bit on the smaller side. He was curled into a ball on the filthy floor, his lanky limbs held tightly to his abdomen. He was crying, his face burrowed into his arms to hide his tears from the world while he held himself for comfort.

Loklynn's eyes caught on the tangled mop of hair that shot every which way from the top of his head, shifting slightly with his every movement. His hair was gray. So were his clothes, his skin, and everything else; it was as if his form was sucked dry of all life and color, leaving nothing but a haunting monochrome shell behind.

The only color she could see was the one that was painted on him. Red. So much red. The shades of white and gray were only broken by the riotous splatters of crimson that practically covered him, dripping from his skin, his clothes... from the carving knife he clutched in his shaking hand... she was only slightly more horrified by the sight of an entire skeleton, stripped meatless and bleached by the sun, laying right next to him. Its arm was stretched towards him, the limp phalanges looped weakly around his skinny ankle.

"What happened to you..." Loklynn breathed. It was just as well that it wasn't really a question, since the weeping boy didn't seem to react to her voice at all. He just kept crying.

Did he not feel the blood, the grip on his ankle? Was he too scared to move? His agony was profound, that much was clear; each sob visibly shook his entire wispy frame so horribly that it seemed like just a few more might shatter the boy completely.

And yet, not a single sound reached Loklynn's ears.

"No, don't cry..." Loklynn shook herself out of her trance and moved forward, her hand already lifting to reach for the suffering child. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Hey..."

She came within a few feet of him when her hand tapped against something cold and hard that she couldn't see. She tapped against it, then pushed at it. A... wall? She spent a few seconds feeling her way around it, but quickly gave up; something deep in her gut told her she wouldn't be able to break through it with just her own power.

She crouched as close as she could get to him, knocking on the invisible wall to try and get his attention frowning in dismay when he still didn't raise his head.

Who was this boy, and what happened to him? Where was she, what happened to this place, and why was she dreaming of it? Was it his dream? She hated how powerless she was. He was right there, suffering just feet away from her, yet she could do nothing.

She was nothing but a witness.

All she could do was watch him cry.

All she could do was wait for him to wake up.

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A/N: Not me going back and retroactively adding a whole-ass dream sequence... it'll make sense in a second, though.

LOOK WE CAN'T ALL BE FORSHADOWING GODS LIKE ODA OKAY, DEAL WITH IT 😭

But also tell me what you think and if you're confused about anything. I'm needy.