"Aden i don't like this, the Pose is not pointing to this island. We should not land there." said Nojiko, scratching her chin in thought.
"I agree captain, i have a bad feeling about this place. Feels cursed...And that's me saying it." Ring chimed in, a little worried.
"Good. So we all agree the place is dangerous. All the more reason to land there. Without risking our lives, we will stagnate. And then, when a strong enemy shows up, we will die. Challange invites improvement." Aden said, his conviction unwavering.
"Yeah, right. What will it matter if we die here though?" Buggy asked a question on everyone's mind.
"Then we were not worthy." Aden simply said in such a passionate tone, it inspired others to fave their fear of the place.
"Ring. Anything you can tell about the place? Since you said it feels cursed, it most likely is." Aden asked his resident voodoo artist.
"Not from this far away, no. But i can tell you one thing, it really doesn't want us here." Ring said as he closed his eyes in concentration.
"What do you even mean by that? The island isn't alive...Is it?" Buggy asked with a bit of fear.
"World is a strange place." Robin chimed in as she watched the island getting closer "For all we know the island very well might be alive." she finished with an almost excited tone.
"Alright it's settled. Let's go." Aden commanded and Nojiko steered the ship towards the island with a sigh.
The island, as it turned out was just a mass of rock and stone. With sharp pillars pointing towards the sky with a nearly fourty-five degree angle in a seemingly too perfect formation. All around the island's edges it was lines with these spikes, their lengths anywhere between twenty and fifty meters, approximately.
In the centre of the island, was a huge tree. The only tree on the island actually, as far as they could tell. It had a bluish colored leaves and the wood appeared light grey, almost white.
As the Vanguard got closer, the Calamity Pirates felt and heard a low hum, that got more intense the closer they got.
"We should turn back. This is wrong. We have to leave!" Nojiko suddenly began to panic.
"She's right. We must flee. We should not be here!" Buggy also started to panic.
"What has gotten into you two!" Aden asked confused.
"Captain, we really should turn around. I have a bad feeling about this." Ring added in a calmer, but still freaked out tone.
"You too?!" Aden asked in shock.
"They are right captain, we should....No. No we should keep going....But..We do not belong?" Robin started to agree with the others only to shake her head and change her mind back and forth a few times.
"Robin? Are you okay? WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?" Aden asked frustrated spreading his hands in confusion only to freeze. His hands were shaking.
"What? I'm...scared?" Aden thought, confused at his body's instinctual reaction. Deciding to take a chance, he unleashed his Haki.
Using his Conqueror Haki, he only covered the area around their ship, causing the humming to stop. For now.
"We mus tur....Wait no. We already decided to keep going." Nojiko said suddenly.
"What just happened? I felt terrified to get closer " Ring admitted.
"Same here. But now it's gone." Buggy said, scratching his head.
"It was...strange. As if one moment i was ready to continue, but the next i wanted to run." Robin admitted, looking at her hands that were previously shaking.
This made Aden look at her with a thoughtful expression. Focusing his Observation on her, he noticed small, nearly impercievable sparks of Haki coming from her.
"What? Did she just awaken Haki. How? Why? What was that humming and what the hell is this island!?" Aden thought, silenty observing the island as they got closer. But ro his shock, he felt as if the island was watching him as well.
With a shiver down his back he turned to his crew, telling them to get ready to land, pointing out a small path that would allow them to tie their ship.
.
The Vanguard docke and their weapons ready, the Calamity Pirates set foot on the mysterious island. The humming they felt before increased in magnitude and it was only thanks to Aden maintaining a Haki field around them, that they remained calm.
Yet they could see his struggle of keeping the fear inducing effect at bay. Veins bulging in his forehead, hair flowing without any wind and his breathing laboured.
"You okay captain?" Buggy asked, concerned.
"I could lie... And say yes... But that would be....counterproductive. But i can manage this." Aden replied, slightly out of breath.
"Are you sure you got this? We might be able to handle it." Ring suggested hopefully, only to be struck by terror unlike any he could imagine only a second later, as Aden lowered his defense for but a moment. It felt as if Death itself was breathing down their necks for that single moment, making them regret ever coming here.
"Still think so...?" Aden, despite the situation, managed to joke.
"Point taken..." Ring said with a gulp.
"Still...I don't think you can keep this up for long, can you?" Robin asked carefully, as she ealked in step with Aden, keeping an eye on him in case a medical aid was needed.
"Nah... I can do this all day.." he grinned.
"Hehehe. You are impossible." she giggled.
"Really? You think this is the best time to be flirting?!" Nojiko blurted out, clutching her staff close to her chest as if it was a lifeline.
Ring kept himself calm by holding a ball of curse energy in his hand that coincidently illuminated the way as it was getting late.
Buggy had his head on a swivel. Literally. He made a rather good impression of a light house how he kept turning his head this way and that, changing directions from time to time to prevent himself getting dizzy.
Robin stayed near Aden, concerned for his well-being. She has grown rather attached it seems.
As for Aden himself, he was doing his best to not let the humming, whatever it may be, get through his Haki Barrier as he unconciously dubbed it. It took him some effort, but compared to facing Shanks, this was managable.
After maybe half an hour of walking they got closer to a rock wall.
"It kept getting stronger the more inland we walked, but now it stabilized." Aden pointed out.
"What does that mean?" asked a confused navigator.
"It means." Buggy chimed in "That whatever is responsible for the fear inducing effect, is either really close, or we are above it. What do you think captain?" he finished with a questioning look towards Aden.
"He's right. It seems to be coming from the island itself." Aden agreed.
"Hey guys look." Ring, who went a bit ahead, but still in Aden's Barrier, pointed at a stone wall with a small opening in front of them "That seems to lead towards the giant tree we saw."
"Well, then that's where we go." Aden ordered.
.
A couple minutes later, the group passed through the tunnel, and once they exited, their jaws dropped.
As it turned out, the giant tree was surrounded by a meadow of teal colored grass and bioluminescent flowers of blue, green and yellow color. With some being colored red or purple, but there was only a few of those. It was maybe two hundred meters across, with some glowing moss-covered rocks scattered around.
The moment they set foot into the meadow, Aden felt the humming stop completely, allowing him to withdraw his Haki and relax a bit.
The tree itself, was about twenty-five or thirty meters thick from bottom to top, where it split into thick branches that nearly covered the entire meadow.
The air was filled with a sweet smell of flowers and something else that they couldn't place, that smelled like citrus and mushroom.
"Wow. This place is beautiful... Not counting the the journey here, of course." Nojiko said in awe, and a complaint at the end.
"Yes. Beautiful. And eerie." Robin stated with a blank face as she looked around.
"Let's look around. Maybe we will find whatever caused the humming." Ring suggested.
"Speaking of..." Aden suddenly spoke as he got back to his feet after kneeling down to take a closer look at one of the flowers "Still feel the curse you mentioned?" he asked, causing the others to realize the logic of the question.
"Now that you mention it...No. It's almost like it was never here." Ring answered, scratching the back of his neck.
Buggy who walked a bit away from the group to look at a two meter diameter flat rock he found uncovered. It was a bit sunken into the ground by maybe ten centimeters.
"Errmmmmm, guys?? Is it me or does this flat rock look weird.?" he called them to get their attention.
They all walked towards the rock he pointed out and took a better look.
"You're right, it does look strange." Nojiko agreed.
"Why are there those circular grooves going from the center?" Ring asked in confusion.
"Oh god!" Robin suddenly exclaimed with shock on her face.
"What? What is it?" Aden asked concerned.
"That... That is no rock... That's a shell." she said with a shaking voice.
"A shell?!" they all exclaimed in surprise.
"Shell...as in like a turtle?" Aden asked, trying to specify.
"Yes...Like a turtle."
(Okay i am back for another chapter. Fair warning on my part...because of my new job, updates will be highly irregular. I hope you can understand that.
I apologize for any grammatical errors or mistakes. If you spot some let me know please.)