Chapter Text
Nika, O’ Sweet Sun,
My Dearest,
We can feel that you are soon to awaken.
The winds are restless,
Whispering your name to all who will listen;
The creatures of this earth
Yearn for the sun now more than ever.
We are sure you are the change
This world is waiting for,
Though we can only express our deepest sorrow
That you will wake to a world that isn’t your own.
Do not be afraid, O’ Sunlight,
For morning will come for you as well;
Rising from the east,
He will meet you on the horizon.
Live, Nika,
And take your rightful place once more.
Warm our faces.
Brighten our skies.
We are waiting.
.
.
.
“Wait—”
Nika awakened abruptly, shooting upwards in cold sweat and reaching forwards as if to grasp something in his hand. He was met with nothing physical, only the embers of a forgotten dream and someone’s crazy snoring. He blinked once, then twice, all traces of whatever he was dreaming about completely gone from his mind.
A single stray tear fell from his eye, only to be wiped away as quickly as it formed.
Weird. What was all that about?
His train of thought was soon rudely interrupted by more snoring. He had half a mind to punch whoever was making so much racket, but he stopped when his eyes finally adjusted to the dark.
That was the first alarm bell. It was dark. Any room Nika inhabits is never dark, primarily because he’s the physical embodiment of a giant glowing star. His skin glows! So why was it so dark?
His eyes darted down to his right arm, and he twisted it around to get a good look. He was glowing a little, just bright enough to see the outline of his limbs, but nowhere near his usual glow. Even weirder was that his arm was covered in little nicks and scars that were completely unfamiliar to him. A quick look showed Nika his other arm was in the same boat.
“What’s goin’ on…”
He paused again, because what came out of his mouth was not his voice. It was similar enough, but it was definitely younger, and squeakier.
Well, not to say his voice wasn’t squeaky before, it’s just that now he really sounded like a kid. He had enough problems getting people to take him seriously as it was.
He sat up a little straighter, flinching slightly when the hammock underneath him rocked to the side. Where even was he? Nika raised a hand to his forehead as it twinged in sudden, sharp pain. No matter how hard he thought back, he couldn’t remember where he was supposed to be. He just knew it wasn’t here.
One quick sweep across the room brought him no real answers, just confirmation that he was sharing it with about seven humans… three humans, and some odds and ends? He could somewhat make out a bulky fishman, a human skeleton that was snoring, a little reindeer creature, and some bulbous thing with nothing but underwear on.
Nika felt a familiar grin settle on his lips. What a funny group of people! That wasn’t what really mattered right now, though. He knew there had to be a reflective surface somewhere on this ship, or what he’s assuming is one judging by the swaying and the ambient sound of waves.
That was his mission, to find a mirror!
With a swing of his legs, Nika hopped out of the cot without much grace, landing on bare feet with a solid thump. Beside him, some guy with a particularly long nose snorted and grumbled in response to the noise.
“Whoops.” Nika mouthed to himself.
He froze, and eventually the guy’s breathing evened out. He mumbled something in his sleep about a ‘great captain Usopp’. It sounded like a funny story, but he had no time for that right now.
On a separate note, something was off. He felt… heavier, like he was more grounded than usual. Nika wiggled his toes, frowning at the way everything felt just slightly less elastic than he was used to. All of his senses felt more in tune with the earth, and not in the usual ‘I can hear the world’ kinda way, but like he belonged here. It was weird. He almost felt human.
Well, what he assumed being human felt like.
He didn’t wanna disturb anyone else’s sleep, so he gently lifted himself off of the ground, sighing softly in relief when he realized he could still float. He’d have to test a few of his other abilities later. Just to make sure. He twirled carefully through the air, avoiding the various cots and sleeping bodies as he moved. He eventually reached the door, and quietly made his way to the deck.
The world was silent, dark, still. It wasn’t often he saw night—not unless he was with Asura, because the demon seemed to operate ten times better in the dark. He much preferred to sleep through it. It wasn’t that he really needed to sleep, but Nika liked being able to skip the boring half of the day and get right back to playing in the sun.
He set himself back down onto the ground, only for his eyebrow to fly off his forehead when he touched the deck. It was covered in grass. He had no idea that was something ships could do! Nika slung his arms upwards to pull his eyebrows back down to his forehead. He beamed to no one but himself, bounding across the deck for a few seconds and reveling in the cool tickle of grass underneath his feet.
He’d noticed with his arms earlier, but the usual gold markings that decorated the length of his limbs were missing as well, leaving his body barren and honestly pretty boring to look at. He really needed to find a mirror.
As he turned around, he noticed another door adjacent to the room he came from. Nika shrugged and kicked himself off of the ground to float lazily across the deck. It never hurt to look!
Gently, slowly, he twisted the doorknob of the new room, flinching slightly at the way the hinges creaked when he opened it. Then again, maybe he shouldn’t worry, because everything creaks on a boat.
This room was about the same size as the last one, but this time he only picked up the presence of two humans in the bed to his left. To his right though, there was a pretty big table with an even bigger mirror. Bingo! Nika grinned, looking back at the two sleeping humans once before creeping over towards the mirror.
Nika didn’t really know what he was expecting to find. His heartbeat picked up a little, its familiar, erratic drumming under his ribs bringing him a modicum of comfort. As he stepped into view of himself, the ever-present glow under his skin—dim as it was— offered him enough light to study his features.
Most glaringly obvious, and familiar, was his flowing head of white curls. Nika tilted his head from side to side, watching the way his hair moved with him, lapping like the edges of a burning flame. Nothing changed there, at least!
Something else moved in the edges of his vision, and his eyes drifted upwards to find what looked like a long, thin cloud around his head. That was new. He frowned, lifting a hand to poke the thing. It was almost solid, not like actual clouds. It was also flowing in a way that mimicked his hair, and it beat with a rhythm that aligned almost perfectly with the one in Nika’s chest.
Huh.
Next, he got a good look at his body. His limbs were definitely still rubber judging by the lack of definition around his joints, but they still felt different. He couldn’t really put his finger on it.
His clothes… were weird, to say the least. Nika never really cared about stuff like clothes, but his self-appointed followers always loved to offer him flowy robes and sparkly, soft fabrics accented with gold and pure white, so that’s what he wore. It made it easy not to have to think about it.
Now? He’s got on what looks like a short-sleeved tunic and some scratchy blue shorts. He reached down to squeeze the white fluff at the end of his shorts, grinning when he found it was as soft as he thought it’d be.
Now for the moment of truth. Nika closed his eyes and took a deep, dramatic inhale, curling his fingers into his palms. Whatever he found, he wasn’t gonna freak out. No way.
On the count of three.
.
.
.
“Ehhhh!? Who’s face is this!?”
From the opposite end of the room, he heard blankets shuffle and a bed frame creak with the weight of a moving body. Nika froze, eyes dramatically popping back into his skull as he slapped both hands over top of his mouth.
So much for not freaking out.
He turned his head to find a human woman staring back, eyes wide and clutching her blanket to her chest. A hand spawned out of nowhere from the chest adjacent to the bed, and it twisted a knob on some funny looking lantern, successfully illuminating the dark bedroom.
The woman studied his face quietly in the light, but the longer they locked eyes, the less she seemed wary and the more she just appeared confused. Something like familiarity twinkled in the depths of her stark blue eyes. She lifted a hand to scoop a clump of long, raven hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her lips were pressed thin and her eyebrows remained furrowed. Nika had no idea what she was thinking.
Maybe he could convince her she’s dreaming? No, that’s stupid. Maybe—
“Captain?”
The title stopped him in his tracks.
Captain?
Nika frowned and turned around to look behind him, only to find that there was no one there. The woman just appeared more confused by his reaction. Was she confusing him for someone else? The other woman, one with blazing orange hair, rose slowly from the bed. She rubbed her eyes as she yawned, wincing slightly at the light.
“Rob’n? Whas goin’ on?” She asked.
Well, he was done with the mirror now, so that’d be his cue to leave. Nika shot a toothy grin at them in an attempt to seem unassuming.
“Nothing to see here!” He reassured, slowly inching back towards the door. The ginger woman was staring at him now too, but she seemed both startled and aware of Nika, like she’d seen him somewhere before. He got that a lot. “I, uh— I’m leaving now, so feel free to go back to sleep.” He offered, cringing slightly. “..or not. Up to you!”
With that, Nika hastily shut the door behind him and blocked out their calls for a name that was foreign to his ears. Were they gonna follow him out? He really didn’t feel like being interrogated right now.
A strong intake of air immediately brought something new to the god’s attention. His grin stretched impossibly wide. Food. They’ve got meat on this ship. He could smell it. Nika spun on his heel, sniffing the air like some kind of trained tracking dog.
“Up the stairs. That must be where the food is!” He whispered to himself, licking his lips. In his excitement, Nika decided to forgoe any kind of stealth and instead stretched his arms out to grab the galley’s doorframe, launching himself up a level and knocking face first into the hard wooden door.
As he rose from the ground, a slight frown ghosted his lips. It was supposed to open. After staring at it for a moment, he noticed a small lock hung from the door.
“It’s locked?” He mumbled. “Who locks their kitchen?”
Nika crossed his arms in frustration, huffing at their strangely guarded kitchen, until his attention was suddenly brought back to the cloud-thing around his shoulders. Almost immediately, his face lit up.
Maybe he should see if his powers extend to this thing too!
Nika lifted his right arm and grabbed one end of the cloud with his left hand. He rubbed it between his fingers, still slightly fascinated by this new addition. Why it was warm was a complete mystery to him since clouds are normally pretty cold, but he chalked it up to a side effect of being attached to him.
Humans always had a tendency to fret over his temperature since high internal temperatures are apparently pretty deadly to their kind, but one quick point to the sun usually got the point across. Made it fun in the winter when all of the little ones came and curled up close whenever he’d take a nap. Like a litter of kittens!
Nika shook his head. He was getting distracted. He leaned down to look inside the keyhole, then grabbed the end of the cloud and molded it to fit what he saw. He lifted it up to the moon, rotating it underneath its light.
“This oughta do it!”
After twisting the new key into the lock, a soft click soon met Nika’s ears. He pushed through the door with renewed vigor, eyes scanning the room until he landed on the source of the tantalizing smell. Nika scurried towards the large white box, licking his lips in anticipation, only to be stopped by another lock.
“Are you kidding me?” He whined under his breath.
So, he repeated his previous process, vaguely registering the drool starting to seep from his mouth. It was strange… Nika never felt hunger the same way most creatures do (though that didn’t stop him from feasting every chance he got), and yet this overwhelming drive to eat was undeniable, gnawing at him from the inside out.
Nika’s eyes fell upon a few mounds of pre-prepared dishes, his usual grin finding its place on his face once more. He clapped his hands together in gratuitous ritual the way he’d seen most humans do.
“Thanks for the food!”
With that, Nika dug in. He hummed to himself blissfully as he chewed, reveling in every unique flavor and texture the dishes had to offer. He’d never tasted anything quite like it, and Nika had probably eaten every dish known to mankind. He began to sway side to side, moving to the rhythm pounding deep within his chest.
As he ate, his thoughts drifted back to a few short minutes ago. What he saw… who he saw was not what he’d expected in the slightest. Nika brought a hand up to his face, tracing his fingers across his features. The only thing that hadn’t changed were his eyes, a familiar, stark blood red against the unblemished white of his form, and his eyebrows, following a similar curling pattern to his hair. Everything else was a completely different person.
Nika shoveled another plate of food into his mouth, furrowing his brows as he stared back down into his fists. What happened to him? Whose body was this? Everything about his nature felt slightly dulled, like he was trapped behind a thin veil he couldn’t break out of. Then there were the scars, the added sense of weight to his body, the hunger. None of it made any sense!
The sharp edge of steel against his throat immediately pulled him from his thoughts; cold, unwavering, way too close. He could feel five humans currently surrounding him, and he could pick up the pattering of feet from the room below him. In his uncertainty about the current state of his body, Nika kept his head forward and took note of the way the blade grazed his neck as he swallowed. Its energy felt inhuman, dangerous… familiar?
He continued chewing, eyes darting around the room. An ambush, huh? The food was so good, he didn’t even notice them sneaking up on him. Maybe that was their plan!
Despite his situation, a grin crept onto Nika’s lips as he gauged the strength of his current ‘captors’. They’d be a fun fight for sure! Especially the one threatening him and the one directly behind him. For now though, he’d keep quiet.
“Damn, he ate everything I had set for our banquet tomorrow. He got Luffy’s stomach or what?” The man behind him complained. His words were unhurried, confident even. The swordsman beside him scoffed, but the blade against Nika’s neck didn't falter. “I think we have bigger fish to fry right now, curly brow.”
“I wish we had bigger fish to fry, but guess what, this guy ate it all! Y’know who’s gonna have to catch all that fish again?”
This time, the man by the door spoke up, rambling to himself about who knows what. When Nika’s eyes darted over in his direction, the guy stiffened like a rock, taking some sort of silly defensive stance.
“Who even is this guy, and why is he g-glowing!? Is he a spirit? I’ll go get my cross!”
Nika didn’t—or rather, he couldn’t fight the bubbling laughter rising from his chest at their antics, completely forgoing his previous caution. What a peculiar group they were! The room fell silent as the god continued to giggle, clutching his chest and scrunching his eyes shut.
Not a moment later, the blade pressed right up against his throat, close enough to elicit a surprised yelp from Nika.
“You,” The swordsman began. Nika could hear the scowl in his voice. “Who are you and what have you done with our captain?”
Their captain was missing? It sounded like they thought he had something to do with it, which didn’t make sense because he wasn’t even sure where he was. Still giggling a bit to himself, Nika decided to risk turning to face his attackers. No matter what was going on with his body, he could handle it.
“Shishishi! I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but you guys sure are funny!“ Nika chimed, eyes dancing between each human with childlike amusement. He kept what he hoped was a friendly grin planted firmly on his face, but to his dismay the group only seemed more concerned by the minute. It was an odd reaction, as people normally tended to greet Nika with as much joy as he greeted them.
Unless they were enemies… but something in his gut told him that these guys weren’t the enemy.
He glanced upwards at the green-haired swordsman currently threatening his life. Their eyes locked, only for the other man’s stare to soften unexpectedly a moment later. Nika was getting real tired of that reaction.
Then something caught his attention. It wasn’t just the hair. After getting a good look at this guy’s face, Nika’s face contorted into near disbelief. He pulled it back together before anyone could catch on.
He almost looks like… no. There’s no way, right?
Nika’s words hung awkwardly in the air until the man at the door—the long nosed guy he almost woke up earlier—coughed into his hand, pulling the god from his thoughts. The human started fidgeting nervously with his fingers, swallowing hard past the very apparent lump in his throat. Nika couldn’t help but stare at the guy's nose. Did it come like that?
“Call me crazy, but..” The long-nosed human knitted his brow, the corners of his lips curling downwards into a hard frown. “Doesn’t he look like Luffy?”
Luffy.
Nika shivered slightly as the name resonated somewhere deep in his body.
Weird.
That must be who he got mistaken for earlier!
At that revelation, the crew shuffled around the room to get a better view of his face. Their own faces all carried varying levels of surprise when they got a look, which really made Nika curious about this Luffy guy. The swordsman beside him only gripped the base of his sword tighter, pressing his lips into a thin line.
“What are you doing on our ship?” The swordsman interrogated, his eyes searching Nika’s face for an answer he wasn’t even sure he had. He wished he could answer that question, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized he couldn't remember anything about where he was before this. What was he doing here? Did someone need his help? Did it have anything to do with why his body felt so different?
His grin weakened slightly as unease began to flood his chest. Bit by bit, the rest of their group filled the room, whispering questions amongst each other. He paid it little mind.
“Y’know, I’m really not sure! I just woke up in bed beside that long-nosed guy and I’ve been wandering around ever since.” Nika admitted truthfully.
He spared another glance at the crew, then dropped his gaze to stare at his hands. At some point, the Asura-lookalike’s sword had budged enough to move his head around.
Nothing had changed. He was still missing the decorative swirling patterns of gold on his limbs. The light his body emitted was still just as dim as it had been, and his body temperature was low enough that for the first time in a long time, Nika felt a chill run down his spine.
This all felt like a bad dream, but he knew he wasn’t gonna wake up. This was real.
“Next to Usopp… that’s the capt’n’s bed, ain’t it?” The big bulbous guy with bright blue hair spoke up next, throwing a look to who he assumed now was Usopp. The guy just nodded in confirmation. Nika’s heart sank to his stomach as he started to piece things together. He didn't want to jump the gun just yet. He needed more information.
“That’s where I’ve seen him before!” The blazen-haired woman from before chimed. She continued to stare at him long and hard, and just like the others who’ve met his gaze, familiarity eventually gleamed from deep within her eyes.
It was becoming clearer and clearer that it wasn’t directed towards Nika as the Sun God, but instead for whoever this Luffy guy was. He almost felt a little left out of the loop.
“Back on Onigashima, when Luffy was beating Kaidou’s ass, he looked just like this.”
A small reindeer-looking creature soon hopped onto her shoulder, and every squishy bone in Nika’s body told him to go and squeeze the thing.
“She’s right!” The little creature affirmed, nodding his head rather aggressively. “Luffy was all glowing and white and— and huge!”
At that, he frowned hard. That definitely sounded like him, but he couldn’t remember doing anything of the sort recently.
Upon seeing his reaction, the black-haired woman from earlier—Robin, if he remembered correctly— made her way towards him, giving a curt nod to the swordsman. Immediately afterwards, the steel blade dropped from Nika’s neck, and he felt his body relax instinctively. Not that he couldn’t have handled it, of course! It’s just nice not to be under constant threat of attack.
He leapt up from his spot on the floor and stretched his arms high in the air. Sitting still for that long was harder than he wanted to admit.
“Could I ask for your name?” Robin inquired. Her curiosity seemed sincere, and the smile on her lips brought a smile back to his own as he laughed quietly to himself.
“It’s Nika! Nice to meetcha.” He responded.
At the rear of the group, the newly arrived fishman gasped softly. The sound didn’t go unnoticed by the god, leading Nika to peer at him curiously.
“The warrior of liberation…” He muttered under his breath. His voice was gruff, but full of warmth.
The title reverberated in Nika’s ears clear as day, momentarily brightening the glow exuding from his form in a flash of light that took the group aback. His grin widened, revealing every tooth within its hold until it threatened to tear his face into two.
He lifted off of the wooden floor and floated over in wide jubilant strides to clasp the fishman’s hands within his own. He might be overreacting a bit, but it was the first time tonight that someone had actually recognized him as Nika. Maybe he could finally get some answers!
“You know who I am?” Nika asked, wide-eyed and overflowing with renewed hope. The fishman looked taken aback by his forwardness, and he averted his eyes for a moment, frowning thoughtfully to himself.
“Well… if you are who I think you are, then yes.” The fishman nodded, furrowing his brow. “My enemy spoke of an ancient warrior who liberated the oppressed and made people laugh. Nika, the Sun God. Am I correct?”
A beat of silence.
“He’s a GOD!?”
The crowd around them broke into a cacophony of questions and exclamations at this information, but he didn’t hear any of it.
“Ancient..?” Nika murmured.
The drum-like beat of his heart pounded thunderously in his ears, too loud, too much. The heated rush of blood under his skin threatened to break loose from his mortal body as the ends of his fingers numbed. Did he hear that right?
His ever-present grin began to slip from his face, eliciting some concern from the man still in his grasp. Slowly, he planted himself back on solid ground, staring daggers into the ground like it might change what he’d just heard. There was no denying it; that description fit him perfectly. How many years have passed for Nika to be referred to as ‘ancient’?
“What year is it?” Nika asked suddenly, turning to look at the group in slight panic. They all exchange looks, some of concern, some of disbelief.
“1524?” The ginger woman replied, though her confusion made it come across as more of a question than anything. His entire body ran cold the moment the number left her mouth.
1524.
“It appears my suspicions were correct.” Robin affirmed to the group, who turned to her for answers all at once. Not that any of that mattered to him right now.
Without further thought, Nika rushed towards the exit, stumbling over his feet in his haste. The cool rush of night air against his skin did nothing to calm him.
He had to be sure.
He launched himself over the rail and onto the grassy deck, running until he reached the side of the ship. He gripped the railing hard beneath his fingers, shutting his eyes, letting the world speak to him.
Whispers of things unseen trickled into his thoughts like the first few drops of rainfall. Every gentle breath of the earth, the rustle of new life and the flicker of the waning. He listened to the wind as it brushed against his knuckles, bringing him stories from the present and tales of a time long past. He listened to the voices echoing through land and sea, rejoicing, weeping, mourning.
He hadn’t noticed when he’d first awakened, but he could feel it now. The world had aged without him. His name had been lost to time, only to be remembered within the silent whispers of desperate prisoners, the filthy mouths of those who erased him, and the remnants of civilizations they could not touch.
He pressed his lips into a thin line, trying to stop the well of tears threatening to spill from his eyes. What was he supposed to feel right now? Grief? Loneliness? Should he be happy to have a second chance?
What does it matter if no one is left to share it with him?
As if to rub salt in his wounds, his thoughts began to drift back to Asura. The demon had spent centuries devoting himself to Nika’s side, taking part in his victories and sticking with him through his losses. He held a lot of affection for the demon despite their conflicting affinities. Asura brought him balance whenever the god began to burn far too bright.
That swordsman… it could be reincarnation, or a descendent, or maybe the world simply playing a cruel trick on him. He slowly sank into a squat, staring through the gaps in the railing to watch the sea ebb and flow beneath him. It was all too much. He didn’t wanna think anymore.
“Nika, was it?”
Nika slowly twisted his body to find Robin at his shoulder. Her face was gentle, inviting. He sniffled a bit, wiping his face with the edge of his shirt to try to hide the fact he’d been crying. Judging by the shift in her expression, he wasn’t doing a very good job at it.
“Mhm.” He hummed.
Robin crouched down beside him and offered a soft smile. She reached out a hand, and Nika felt as though he might start crying all over again.
“We have a few more things we’d like to talk to you about, if that’s alright.”
He gave a slow nod and reached out to take her hand. They rose together, and to his surprise the rest of the crew had already gathered on the deck. A group of them set some lanterns onto the cool grass, forming a circle with space left open for the two of them. Nika watched a few curl up with blankets, yawning behind their hands and offering tired smiles to each other. He felt a little bad for keeping them all up so late.
When they finally reached the group, all eyes turned to him at once, and Nika started to sweat a little at the sudden attention. He assumed it had something to do with Robin’s revelation earlier. He could feel their eyes picking him apart, searching him for answers. Usopp and the little reindeer looked particularly nervous, and— was that a cross?
Nika took a seat beside Robin, who turned to him the moment things settled down.
“I’d like to share my hypothesis with you, and you can tell me if it sounds familiar.” Robin offered. He nodded. Her face then shifted to something more serious.
“I believe you are in possession of our captain’s body.”
Nika immediately froze up. He’d been trying so hard to find another explanation, but she hit the nail on the head.
A human vessel.
His body felt so different because it wasn’t his body. It belonged to their captain, to Luffy.
If a god were to weaken enough, they’d lose the energy to exist in the mortal plane. To stop themselves from fading completely, they sought out human vessels, ones who held enough strength to allow a god to inhabit their body.
However, finding a worthy vessel wasn’t easy. They needed human assistance. It was a sick, sick ritual where religious settlements offered up human sacrifices from their village until something stuck.
In most cases, no one was worthy, and all that remained was the blood of those they sacrificed. If by some miracle they found someone, said god would completely overtake their vessel until not a single shred of their soul remained.
You would think after so many losses that the humans would stop these sacrifices, but organized religion will mutate the morals of those who are desperate enough to let it.
Nika brought his knees to his chest, clutching his arms tight and digging his fingernails so deep into his skin—into Luffy’s skin, that it threatened to break.
A human vessel was the one thing Nika never wanted for himself. He told his self-appointed followers time and time again that if he were to fade from this world, that they should let him be. His existence wasn’t worth stripping someone of their soul, taking their body and their will from them. It went against everything he stood for, and yet…
He glanced back at Robin, trying to mask the whirlpool of emotions threatening to spill from its mortal cage. He couldn’t bear to tell them that their captain might be gone; nothing more than an empty shell of a body, destined to hold the soul of a god who wanted nothing to do with this.
“Yeah, I think so too.” Nika admitted.
“No way!” The ginger girl gasped.
“So L-L-Luffy’s really possessed!?” The reindeer-creature shouted. Nika watched his ears pin back against his head, and another flood of guilt washed over him like a cold shower.
“G-Get out of him! You might be a g-god, but Luffy’s our captain, so you can’t have him!” Usopp ordered, albeit very shakily. He was wearing some strange get-up now, and he stood up to try and throw what looked like… garlic cloves?
“Idiot! Garlic’s for vampires!”
Asura’s doppelgänger swiftly knocked him upside the head, stopping him before he could throw anything in Nika’s direction.
The man who was behind him before—a blond with a funny looking eyebrow—soon followed in berating Usopp, scolding him for using his garlic as a weapon. Nika wanted to laugh, everything in his nature did, but he just couldn’t shake the weight of everything he’d found out tonight.
“Calm down boys,” Robin spoke up again. A few rogue hands soon spawned to pull them back down to their seats. “I don’t believe our new friend here has any unsavory intentions.”
Nika vehemently nodded his head along with her statement. “Trust me, if I knew how to give your captain back, I would!”
“But..?”
He looked towards the new voice to find the snoring skeleton from earlier looking right at him. Nika gaped for a second in his shock, before finally shaking his head.
“I…” He began, furrowing his brow. “I don’t know how I got here in the first place.”
Their crew shared a few concerned looks with each other, and eventually the big-metal-underwear guy cleared his throat, breaking the silence.
“Jinbei called ya ‘ancient’ earlier, and you had a suuuuper strange reaction when Nami told you the year…” He trailed off.
Nika never kept up much with the human calendar, but the festivals he loved to attend made it clear when a century had passed. Last he checked, they were approaching the celebration of the 6th century of their new calendar system.
“If I remember correctly, we were a couple years out from celebrating the year 600! So yeah, I guess ancient’s the right word.” He surmised.
Robin raised her eyebrows as she kept her gaze on him. “Over 900 years ago…” She hummed to herself. “Fascinating.”
900 years… putting it into words like that made it feel so impossibly long ago, and yet he was just there. If Nika closed his eyes he could still feel every bit of it; he could hear Asura scolding him every time he ran off to play with the human children, he could still smell the old wood of passing ships as they offered to carry him off to new lands.
If he’d known it was all so fragile, so quick to be shattered by the passage of time…
“I have one more theory I’d like to run by you.”
Nika blinked a few times, visions of the past gone before he knew it. He nodded slowly.
“Does the term ‘Devil Fruit’ ring a bell to you?”
“Devil Fruit… Devil Fruit…” He groaned, pinching his temple between his fingers. Fruit from Hell? Nah, Asura probably would’ve mentioned if they had fruit in hell. What could she be talking about? Fruit with the powers of the devil, maybe? Fruit with powers…
“Oh! I know what…” Nika suddenly began to drift off. “..what you’re…” He squinted his eyes at Robin as her face began to blur. Was it just him, or was the world starting to spin a little bit?
“Woah.” He mumbled. Nika braced himself against the deck to try and ease the spinning. It wasn’t working very well.
“…ka?”
Blue blur.
“Hey….. don’t—!”
Green blur.
They all got closer—too close, too fast. He leaned backwards until his back met the grass, and within seconds nine concerned faces towered over him. The grass was a cool relief from the sudden overflow of sensations attacking him all at once. It felt nice. He could fall asleep out here.
The last thing Nika saw before it all faded to black was a stray beam of morning light from the corner of his eye.