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It wasn't late,
but it was dark.
Laughter was heard all across his head, and the sound of clashing glass wasn't that far behind either. Both sounds keeping an imminent pace, as if to compete to decide which one was the louder one.
It was overwhelming, yet so fragile—each laugh on the verge of shattering at the slightest disturbance.
It was so loud,
and so bright.
Luffy kept to himself, watching a party not so far from him unfold. An odd choice, considering his nature, but for some reason, he just couldn’t bring himself to join.
On the contrary, he itched to leave. He looked around for an escape, but there was nothing.
Everything surrounding him was pitch black—a perfect void, welcoming light to enter but never to let go. Only the figures of the people remained visible, their dim glow flickering weakly, just enough to keep their forms from blending into the darkness. He felt weird, feeling as if he would fall into something he could never climb out of if he kept watching. Luffy turned his back on the flickering lights and began walking into the darkness, eagerly asking for the void itself to reveal more of what it had to offer.
He kept walking, not even his footsteps making sound.
Then he began talking to himself as he kept walking, only to quickly bore himself out.
Soon, he found himself overwhelmed by the weight of his own thoughts. On impulse, he tried to scream as strong as he could and see if it would echo.
Curiously, Luffy prepared his throat, humming carelessly at what the darkness could be hiding, and just when he was ready to let himself be known...
Silence descended.
Everything fell silent.
Everything went dark.
Everything halted.
Luffy stood there, more curious than ever, frantically looking around, in search of finding something to lay his eyes upon, but there was nothing—nothing but the unyielding void.
Then just as quickly as it went, it appeared again.
Suddenly.
Everything was again.
The light grew warmer than before.
The laughter grew stronger than before.
He turned, his attention caught prisoner at the sound of two laughs standing out from the rest—stronger than any other, laughs he knew very well. Before he could react, his hat flew back, carried by an invisible force, it caused him to spun around, instinctively reaching for it, but it fell too quickly. The hat fell to the ground, beside two familiar silhouettes, a light casting a shadow that covered them completely away from sight. Before he could recognize them, his ears were hit upon a shout.
"Brothers!" both the silhouettes voiced out laughing.
The shout made his thoughts tremble, recognizing the voices from afar.
Then the sound of clashing cups followed.
He shivered.
The sound created a wave that shoved the shadows aside, letting the silhouettes themselves be seen. He watched the scene, immobile and numb. Although he himself unsure why.
He looked at Sabo and Ace, whose arms were wrapped around each other, enthusiastically drinking the content of their cups.
They both were grown up.
Those were the same cups that made them three, become brothers years ago.
But something was off.
The cups had changed.
Sabo's cup had a missing piece, in the left corner, allowing a little bit of sake to overflow.
Ace's cup had a hole, right in the middle, letting the sake fall out.
His own cup was missing.
They finished drinking what they could drink, smiled wide and clashed their cups once again. Their laughter shaking the air.
It was noisy.
But not loud enough.
It felt strong.
And it felt wrong too.
Something was missing.
Someone.
Who?
The clash of their cups wasn't as thunderous as he'd hoped, but it made sense—the absence of one cup was felt.
Some black clouds from above began to break apart, allowing beams of sunlight to rise and fall, hitting Sabo and Ace just right. Luffy exhaled softly, a small smile forming despite the gnawing unease. He contemplated for a minute and approached them suddenly feeling left out.
With a serene look in his eye, he retrieved his hat and demanded to know. "What are you guys doing?"
Both of them stopped at the same time, almost as if they knew he was there, his smiles persistent and determined.
Ace spoke first, but only static came out.
Luffy flinched in surprise.
Ace cleared his throat, finally speaking. “You came! We thought you got attacked by some wild animal or something."
"What was th-"
Sabo interrupted; his voice was quiet but firm. “We exchanged cups without you. Hope you don’t mind.”
That weirdly stung.
He paused a bit, weirdly with no intention to talk, but the words themselves flew out. He narrowed his eyes, not knowing what he was going to say at all.
“Well, I d-!” He was cut off again, this time by his other brother. He could swear his own voice sounded higher than before. He shifted his view over to Ace, who was now a child. He had to take a double take on Sabo to realize both of his brothers were in the same condition. But before he could even try to say anything else, Ace spoke again.
"In what type of trouble did your dumb ass got into now?" Ace had left the cup on the floor and was now armed crossed, expecting an answer.
He planned to answer him this time, totally offended, but a strange sensation filled his body making him froze on the spot. It felt as if he was being separated in two, but the procedure was completely painless.
A tiny version of himself flew detached from him. And was speaking for the both of them now.
Luffy knew he was dreaming about them again. Ace and Sabo.
Little Luffy, meanwhile, had his face frowned a little at the feeling that he was being interrupted on purpose. Nonetheless he decided to strike again. Ignoring Ace's previous question.
Luffy decided to remain silent and just watch.
"Stop interrupting me! I was first to ask." Little Luffy stood his ground, decisively. Waiting for them to talk.
Ace just grinned, somewhat nostalgic. “Childish as ever,” he muttered before stretching out and leaning back comfortably. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” He started, but the static cut off his words again.
It seemed that the static came every time someone tried to say his name.
“We were just eating while waiting for you, and—”
“No!” Tiny him snapped, frustration welling up. “I’m not talking about that!” His tone shifted, more defensively. "I'm talking about why you guys exchanged cups without me??"
Ace and Sabo fell back by the sudden tone change, both exchanging worried glances, almost as if they couldn't fully understand his language. Both tried to shake it off and asked,
"What are you talking about?" Ace now looked concerned.
"We can't exchange cups with you" Sabo added, the static never letting his name be uncovered.
Luffy and his smaller self stiffened. This wasn’t right.
"Ww- what? Aren’t we brothers?" Tiny Luffy’s voice cracked.
"What do you mean you can't? You don’t want me as your brother anymore?" His tiny hands trembled.
"We do want you as out brother—!” Static, why couldn’t they say his name? “It's just… not that…" Sabo looked sad.
Tiny him struggled thinking, considering that maybe the timing was the problem."You should have waited! It's important that the three of us are present when we make the exchange to be brothers."
Ace and Sabo listened quietly, just now and then giving each other worried glances, asking if maybe their little brother just lacked the knowledge of a ground rule everybody else seemed to know.
“If one of us isn’t here,” Tiny him continued, “then we just… shouldn’t do it!”
Both brothers stood in stunned silence, looking unsure of what to say.
"And- and- and what the hell!! How come you can't say my name without some weird annoying sound popping up??" It looked like tiny him was also aware of the situation.
Just then, Sabo understood.
Static at first "Do you... really not remember?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
He did remember.
"Remember what?" His tiny self seemed more distressed.
" " Ace looked compassionate at him. Static stole his words again.
"What?" He was getting creeped out, and more impatient by the minute.
"We can't be with you." Sabo’s voice coming clear.
Luffy knew the answer, he had made terms with it long ago. A wound left to bleed forever.
"We are dead, Luffy."
"Luffy"
A gentle voice dragged him back to reality.
Rayleigh’s voice was a lifeline, pulling him out of his nightmare, fearing Luffy was in danger of drowning in his own tears.
Luffy’s face was wet, and Rayleigh only took two minutes to wake him up, already used to his pupil’s night terrors. The older man sat beside him, calm but understanding. “Another nightmare?” he asked softly.
Luffy nodded, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “Yeah... but it wasn’t as bad as the others, they’ve been cooling down lately.”
Rayleigh’s eyes softened with sympathy. And after a tiny pause, he began to speak. “Losing people never gets easier, Luffy. You just learn to carry the weight differently.”
He reached for an alcohol bottle he had lying around somewhere, taking a slow sip. “Now, get some rest. I doubt Ace would be happy seeing you wake up with tears in your eyes.”
Luffy only chuckled at the idea. He knew Rayleigh was right. Already feeling more at peace, he settled back to bed and fell asleep.
Hoping to be a little stronger by tomorrow.
It was late now,
and it was darker than ever.