Chapter Text
Luffy blasts the large door open with his fist. It bangs off the wall inside and swings back, leaving a yawning opening into the low-lit room only for a second before it closes from the recoil.
“Woops,” Luffy says. He opens it normally and strolls right in, everyone else following behind. Usopp almost in the very back.
They’ve traveled through twisting tunnels and rooms deep into the ground. The space is small, enclosed and cramped.
“I knew it!” Nami shouts just as her and Usopp pass through the door. She grabs his arm, and drags him further in as the door shuts behind them. The room is filled with treasure chests, some open and overflowing with gold and finery. Nami runs to the nearest one, drops onto her knees, and hugs it. Usopp would roll his eyes if this wasn’t a truly amazing find.
“Yohoho! Looks like I’m not the only skeleton,” Brook says. Usopp shudders, but looks out of morbid curiosity. There is in fact a pile of such bodies, old and long past rotted.
“I have to hand it to you, witch, I didn’t think we’d find anything,” Zoro says. Nami doesn’t even glance at him, too happy with her treasure.
“I always knew you were stupid, but doubting Nami-swan is a new low,” Sanji barks, getting in Zoro’s face. Usopp does roll his eyes at their antics.
“How much do you think this is?” Chopper asks, standing next to a chest bigger than he is.
“I won’t know until I look at everything, but a lot,” Nami replies.
“And I’m guessing you’re going to make us carry it out?” Zoro asks.
“Everyone but Robin and I, yes.”
At this point, Usopp doesn’t even care, he just wants to get out of here as soon as possible. This place has him about ready to claw at the walls. Snipers are meant for wide open ranges, for vast landscapes and the open water. Not narrow, dim corridors carved into rock.
The trek in was long, if uneventful. They came through a few larger rooms like this one, places where Brook and Franky could stand to their full height.
“Whoever made this place did so long ago. It’s much older than most of this treasure,” Robin says, slowly moving around the room, her hand tracing along the stone wall.
Well that just makes Usopp want to leave even more. The older something is, the more likely it is to be haunted and he does not want to stick around for the ghosts.
“We can come back if you want to read the walls,” Luffy says, stretching an arm around a chest.
Read the walls? Usopp pears closer at the wall Robin was tracing and does indeed see carvings in the rock. It makes no sense whatsoever to him though, so is must be some long dead language.
Turning back to the task at hand, he grabs an already half-filled bag off the floor and moves to collect any stray pieces since Zoro, Sanji, Luffy and Franky have already picked up all four chests.
Usopp quickly gathers the scattered gold and makes for the door. He stops at the sight of it. The backside was large and impressive but plain. This side is carved, covered in swirls. It’s beautiful.
Not beautiful enough to keep him though. He grabs the handle and swings it open, looking back to make sure everyone is ready before heading out.
All in all, while this was terrifying, and the number of dead bodies was concerning, this is a great haul. And they’ve already made it out of that room, so it’s fine.
He sets a good pace, not so fast that it could be called brisk, but certainly a lot faster than they made their way in.
A rock tumbling to the ground echoes from in front of them and Usopp halts immediately, Luffy bumps into him.
“Hey-“
“Shhh!” Usopp throws his hand back to cover Luffy’s mouth.
A few seconds of silence pass before he hears more rocks tumbling. Quickly the sound gets louder, coming closer. Usopp starts backing up, shoving Luffy with him, when a large creature slides around the corner.
Usopp turns and frantically tries to get back, but the hallway is too narrow and he can only get past Luffy. He’s blocked by Sanji and the chest he’s carrying. Spinning back around, he sees that Luffy has dropped his treasure and is rearing his arm back.
His fist flies forward, slamming into the creature. Usopp doesn’t even know what it is. It’s tall, walking on two legs, but they’re bent in the middle, like how many Zoan users look when transformed. But its neck is long and head rounded, almost but not quite like an eel.
It takes the hit in the stomach and slides back a few feet. It stays standing though, whipping the tail Usopp didn’t notice before side to side, smacking against the narrow walls. It lets out a low growl, decidedly not like an eel, and charges at Luffy, jaws gaping. Razor sharp teeth speed towards them.
Something loud crashes behind him, and Usopp yelps, but is pushed to the side as Sanji passes him, legs on fire, having dropped his chest.
He springs forward, but abruptly skids to a halt as Luffy’s arm passes in his way as he punches again. Sanji tries to pass, but crashes into Luffy and almost takes them both to the floor. The area doesn’t allow them to fight side by side, or really together at all.
The creature lands on all fours, using its unnervingly human-like arms to dart forward, jaws aimed for Luffy’s stomach.
Luffy stretches his leg out and kicks upwards, sending it crashing into the ceiling.
The rock above cracks loudly. A few pieces chipping off, before the roof bursts, water pouring into the tunnel.
“Run!” Robin yells, and Usopp is shoved forward. He smacks into Sanji as the water pools on the floor, quickly reaching his ankles.
Sanji pushes forward, his flames doused by the water, but the creature still blocks their path. It’s smooth skin shines where wet, and it doesn’t seem bothered by the water.
The roof cracks even more, letting the water pour faster as Luffy continues to fight the creature. He’s pushing it back, raining heavy hits on it. But as the water crawls to their waists, his punches lose their strength.
Grabbing Luffy by the back of his shirt, Sanji yanks him back, tossing him into Usopp.
Now the creature floats on its stomach in the water. It swishes its long tail to propel itself forward. Sanji meets it head on, dress shoes catching it on the side of the head and smashing it into the wall. Usopp doesn’t pause to see if it stays down, he wraps Luffy’s arm over his shoulder and trudges through the water as fast as he can.
They make it around the bend, and the creature doesn’t come after them. Usopp hopes Sanji killed it. But the water level is reaching his chest now. Luffy’s body becoming even limper as it rises. Usopp glances behind, not slowing down. Nami with Chopper on her shoulders is closing in on him. Followed by Zoro dragging Brook, the water only up to the skeleton’s waist, with Franky carrying Robin at the back and Sanji shoving everyone forward.
Nami comes up beside him, wrapping Luffy’s other arm over her shoulders as Chopper climbs on top of her head. Together they speed up, trying to keep Luffy’s head above water as it reaches their chins.
“Luffy, you’re going to have to hold on,” Usopp says as his feet leave the floor. The rushing water at least helps propel them forward now that they’re fully swimming.
“Mkay,” Luffy says, letting go of Nami and wrapping both arms around Usopp’s shoulders.
Usopp swims as fast as he can, Nami beside him and the sounds of labored breathing behind. But the walk in was long, and they haven’t even reached the first room on the way back.
As their heads grow closer to the ceiling, Zoro shouts in frustration, “It’ll be faster if we go straight up!” If they really are underwater, he’s right.
Nami and Usopp turn around just in time to see Zoro swing at the rock above. His blades clang against the rock, slicing right through, but no water pours out. He cuts again, going deeper, but still only meeting more rock. Have they moved to far from the source and are now truly under only dirt?
The water continues to rise, His head almost touching the ceiling.
Usopp panics often, has been in a low state of panic since they entered the tunnels really. He’s been in almost this exact same situation before, drowning in a tunnel while they tried to save Robin. Kokuro, a literal mermaid saved them then, but no one but their crew is around now. But right now his heart is in his throat, his body tingling from the thought of death.
Still, everyone moves forward, even as his hair brushes rock.
Tears flood down Usopp’s face, getting lost in the water. Someone speaks, he thinks it’s Luffy based on the rumbling against the back of his neck, but he doesn’t hear the words. His pulse beating too loudly in his ears. The only comfort he has is Luffy’s body against his as the water raises to the roof.
Usopp takes his last gulp of air and closes his eyes. He can’t even look at his crew in their last moments.
A hand finds his, he doesn’t know whose it is, but imagines it could only be Luffy’s or Nami’s. But they’re too large to be Nami’s and the fingers are too long to be Luffy’s. No matter who’s it is, he squeezes as hard as he can.
After what feels like forever, and yet no time at all, Usopp’s body forces his airway open, desperate to breath. Pain blooms in his chest as he inhales water. It burns all the way down as his body automatically tries to cough it up, only allowing more into his airway. A few agonizing seconds go by as he slowly goes numb.
Only for all feeling to come back at once as he chokes in a deep breath of air.
Usopp’s eyes fly open and he crashes to the ground, coughing and gasping. Nothing comes out, his lungs must still be filled with water. He grasps at his chest, the intense pressure still there, confirming to him that he’s still drowning. What air he did inhale disappears as his breathing speeds up until he can’t get anything in.
Something touches his face but he can’t see through the tears covering his vision. His mouth hangs open uselessly as the pressure in his chest increases.
His tears are wiped away and Sanji’s face is revealed, Chopper’s right next to his. Sanji’s thumbs continuing to wipe away tears.
“-sopp, Usopp!” his hearing fades in, no longer filled with his own pulse. “You’re hyperventilating, I need you to calm down!” Chopper’s high-pitched voice instructs.
Usopp’s gaze focuses on his. Chopper exaggeratedly breaths in and out, encouraging Usopp to follow. He tries to, knowing the routine, he carefully works himself down until he can take full breaths again.
“That’s good!” Chopper says. “Just keep it slow.”
“How’d we get out?” he asks, voice rough. Chopper just tilts his head.
“We haven’t gotten out yet,” Sanji says, drawing Usopp’s gaze.
“What?” he gasps out. “Where’s the water gone?”
Sanji and Chopper both stare at him, brows drawn with confusion. “We left that room a while ago,” Sanji says.
“What?” Usopp asks. Getting a better look, he sees that neither of them are wet. And neither is he. “The water, that we were drowning in!”
The two’s faces become increasingly concerned. “The water was only a few inches deep.”
Usopp remembers one of the rooms on the way in, the floor was covered in a shallow layer of water. It was easy to walk through.
Shaking his head he says, “Not that room! Just now! On our way out when it flooded!”
Behind Chopper and Sanji, Usopp spots more of their crewmates, Franky, Nami and Brook looking on with equal concern.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Chopper says softly.
“We- we were just drowning!” Usopp insists, still clutching his chest. “After we left-“ his voice dies as he glances at their surroundings. It’s the treasure room. Chests filled with gold still on the ground. “What?”
He startles as a hand lands on his shoulder, head spinning to see Luffy’s. “You’re not making any sense,” he says. “No one was drowning.” Luffy’s face is open, honest as it always is.
Everyone standing around him is looking at him like he’s crazy, when just minutes ago they were taking their last breaths.
“Maybe he was hallucinating,” Brook offers, everyone looks at him. “It happens,” he says matter of factly.
“I-“ Usopp doesn’t know what to say. Was he? It was so real. He felt himself dying.
Chopper takes off his backpack and rifles through it. “I can listen to your lungs to make sure they’re no water in them,” he says, pulling out his stethoscope. Usopp swallows as he places it against his chest to listen.
His chest still hurts, but now that he’s calmed down a little, he realizes it feels like after a panic attack, not like drowning.
Pulling away, Chopper says, “Your lungs are perfectly clear, there’s definitely no water.”
Usopp is still on his knees, and everyone is looking at him. Everyone says it didn’t happen, and that maybe he hallucinated it? It felt so real though. But he supposes hallucinations wouldn’t be so harmful if they didn’t.
Do they really think he was hallucinating? Or do they think he was lying? Does it make a difference?
One would certainly hurt worse.
He’s not lying. He wouldn’t just lie about something like that. Yes, he makes up lies all the time, some he’s proud of and some he really isn’t, but they would know he would never lie like this. Right?
Fear and confusion quickly switch to embarrassment. Usopp staggers to his feet, Luffy’s hand still on his shoulder helping him keep steady. He can’t meet anyone in the eyes, afraid of seeing irritation or contempt. Still, he can feel their heavy gazes.
“Sorry I-“ he stops himself. What can he say? He has no idea what really just happened. He takes a deep breath in, just to prove that he can.
“Let’s get out of here,” Luffy says, his grip tightening. The people around them move, hurrying to grab everything, completely silent. Normally Usopp would break the tension by saying something stupid or obvious. No one else takes his place.
Luffy lets go of his shoulder to grab a chest and already Usopp misses the comforting weight of his hand.
Usopp doesn’t carry anything this time, everything already claimed. Luffy stands at the door. Everyone mills around him, waiting. Usopp joins them, ready to get out of this place and hopefully put it all behind him.
He looks up at the door and the breath is once more stollen from his lungs. The door is covered in intricately carved swills. It’s exactly the same one he saw before they drowned.
His wide eyes only break from the design when Luffy pushes it open and marches through.
It takes a gentle nudge against his arm to unfreeze him. He glances to the side and sees Sanji. Carrying a chest that was used to bump him. The chef’s eyes are round with concern. Usopp breaks eye contact, and scurries through the door after Zoro and Brook.
If a stupid door is enough to freak him out there really is something wrong. Something nags at him as he sticks close to the others, Robin and Franky bringing up the rear with Sanji right behind him. He does feel safer being in the middle of the group. Not that anywhere was safe from the water.
How did he already know what that door looked like though? If it was a hallucination, it shouldn’t have been accurate. His mind only knows as much as he does after all.
Trying to shake the feeling, he shuffles on. He must have just seen it and forgotten because of his freak out.
A rock tumbling to the ground echoes from in front of them and Usopp’s head shoots up. He pears around those in front of him, his hands already shaking. There’s no way. It was just from one of their feet and he’s just panicking for nothing.
That excuse goes right out the window along with Usopp’s heart as the creature barrels around the corner, coming straight for them.
“What is that?!” Nami asks, backing up from her place near the front.
Usopp does as well, colliding with Sanji’s treasure chest. He legs wobble and he drops into a crouch. The creature is the exact same eel monster as before. It was real. Or it wasn’t and Usopp saw the future or something, but it’s real now!
He can’t draw his gaze away as Luffy punches it. They’re going to die here after all, and he already felt all of it. Suddenly it becomes hard to breath, his breathes shortening as he watches Luffy fight the creature. He wraps his arms around himself, gripping his elbows tightly.
A hand places on his back brings his thoughts back to the present. Sanji crouches next to him, rubbing small circles on his back.
“What’s wrong?” he asks. Usopp can’t answer, too preoccupied watching Luffy’s fists slam into the creature.
Just as before, Luffy’s hits run wild, crashing into the narrow walls as well. This time Usopp is listening and can hear the rock cracking already.
He jumps up and squeezes past everyone until he’s behind Luffy.
“Usopp!” Sanji calls.
Luffy’s arm rears back for another punch. Gravel already raining from the ceiling. Usopp dashes forward and tackles Luffy.
They don’t go down, so Usopp scrambles to pin his captain’s arms down.
“Usopp?” Luffy asks, trying to throw him off, but he clings on. “What are you doing? I’m fighting this thing!”
With all of his strength, Usopp spins them around and pushes Luffy away. If he continues to fight, the ceiling is going to cave in and kill them all painfully and slowly. He can’t let that happen.
What he saw must have been a vision of some sort. A small prediction of the future so that he could prevent it from happening.
He looks up, at the cracks already spanning across the ceiling. It has to hold. Luffy didn’t kick the creature into it yet, so it has to.
“Usopp!”
“Behind you!”
“Move!”
Are all yelled at him simultaneously. Rubbery hands wrap around his stomach and pull, but he’s abruptly stopped by massive claws. Two hands wrap around his chest and puncture into his skin.
He screams and struggles, but it only lasts a few seconds before long teeth puncture the back of his neck and he goes numb once again.