[(..) (..) 🌿 —FOREST, THE FOLLOWING DAY— 🌿]
Morning mist clung low to the forest floor.
Dew glistened on leaves, and the distant call of birds echoed like whispers between the trees. The boy stood at the edge of the forest path, gripping the strange paper tightly in his palm.
The Vivre Card trembled.
Not violently—but decisively.
It tugged forward, its corner bending as if guided by an unseen hand.
The boy swallowed.
"…It's really moving."
He glanced back once, toward the faint outline of his village beyond the trees. Smoke rose lazily from chimneys. The world there felt warm… safe.
But curiosity burned hotter.
Clenching his fist, he stepped forward.
The deeper he went, the more the forest changed.
Sunlight faded into pale shafts. The air grew heavier, thick with an unfamiliar pressure that made his chest feel tight. His footsteps sounded louder than they should have, as if the forest itself was listening.
The Vivre Card led him off the familiar trail.
Past moss-covered stones. Past roots twisted like sleeping serpents. Past a clearing that should not have existed.
And there it was.
The cabin.
Whole.Solid.Waiting.
The boy's breath caught.
"It's… the same place from before, "the boy explained.
The door creaked open on its own.
Inside, the air smelled of old wood and incense herbs. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with scrolls, maps, and broken tools whose purpose the boy couldn't guess. At the center of the room sat the old man, calmly pouring tea into two wooden cups.
"You're on time," the old man said."What's your name again?"
"It's lin."
Lin stiffened, remembering something.
"You… you disappeared yesterday!" the boy asked."Did you have a devil fruit power, old man
"Did I?" the old man replied lightly. "Yeah? Something like that."
Lin frowned, then shook his head.
"Umm. so?" the boy murmered expecting the old man to understand.
At those words, the old man paused.
Steam rose silently from the cup in his hand.
"…Sit," he said at last.
Lin obeyed and cheered up.
Just when Lin sat on the seat.
"wha-"
Lin's eyes widened as the entire surroundings shifted to sky. The wooden interior was gone, the forest's presence was gone.
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The surroundings shifted into deep darkness; only the two people were visible.
"Old man Zeno!!" Lin screamed."Ahhh! Why is everything dark?!"
The old man was sitting, as he kept his eyes closed.
There was no ground.
No sky.
lin panicked
Only an endless void, pressing in from all directions.
The oldman opened his eyes.
Then—
A spark.
Light bloomed like a tearing wound.
The darkness cracked.
Heat slammed into him.
They gasped as the void shattered into blinding brilliance.
He was standing above a burning island.
Flames devoured shattered structures. The sea boiled at the edges of the land. Smoke spiraled into a sky painted deep crimson.
His heart pounded.
"W-Where… is this…?"
Then he saw them.
Five enormous silhouettes stood at the island's center.
Not men.
Beasts.
Their forms were warped and monstrous, towering over the land itself, their presence crushing and absolute. The air bent around them, as if they were the strongest beings.
And before them—
An iron giant.
Scarred, an arm broken, lying completely out of life.
Its massive frame groaned as if held together by will alone.
Above it—
A lone figure flew through the sky.
A boy with a straw hat.
A strange expression is on his face.
"KING?" the boy with the straw hat exclaimed
"...#$%"
There were some other words, but they were still unclear.
"MY NAME IS MONKEY D LUFFY, I'm gonna become the king of the pirates."
A shout resounded from the straw hat boy.
The boy's breath caught.
"…LUFFY?!!" Lin looked at the old man Zeno.
The old man nodded.
Lin quickly turned his head toward the scene happening before him.
Before he could finish, a voice echoed across the burning island.
Deep.
Ancient.
Not loud—Yet impossible to ignore.
"Tell me," the iron giant asked, its gaze lifting toward the sky.
The flying boy slowed, hovering effortlessly.
"What is your name?"
The wind howled.
The flames roared.
And the world waited.
The straw-hatted boy grinned wider.
"My name is Monkey D. Luffy," he declared without hesitation.
"And I'm gonna be King of the Pirates."
The moment the words left his mouth—
The giant took some kind of rope with a thread with a knot.
The 5 beasts charged at the giant robot.
But at that crucial time, the giant loosened the knot.
"Is that?" Lin flinched.
The island shuddered.
The next moment, water rippled as a wave of haki spread with unstoppable power.
The sky split, water got separated.
Lins' eyes widened as he felt terrified and shocked.
The oldman zeno was calmly sipping his tea, while little Lin watched with awe.
"This is my ability, "the old man finally said.
'ability? You mean your devil-fruit power?" Little Lin asked
"The devil fruit I ate is called FATE-FATE fruit, a devil fruit that lets me see the fate of the person after their real death in the same world as the wielder, "old man Zeno said to little Lin."It can also share the same vision with another-person"
"Ohh! That's cool!! It's like watching a realistic folkplay" .little lin said.
The oldman chuckled, seeing the boy seem excited.
The boy flinched as he looked at the old man.
'Grandpa said Joyboy died 1,400 years ago during the void century.".little lin asked.
The old Zeno placed the cup on the table, clearly intrigued.
"So?" he said.
A swishing sound came, grabbing the attention of little Lin.
The scene shifted closer to the giant robot.
The haki burst was still going; the giant let out a final word.
"It's the right time, right,joyboy."
It was said before shutting down permanently.
Then a glowing humanoid figure appeared from the rope that the giant was holding.
The glowing figure has a straw hat on his head and a long smile.
"its the right time, Emeth. The figure said, gently patting the giant's head with his palm.
The soul began to wander the area, as if it were freed.
Then it began hovering in a circle around Luffy, trying to take a clear look.
"Umm..who is he?" little Lin asked.
"Who knows?,maybe someone you wanted to know," the old man said with a small smile.
Little Lin was confused at first, but as if realizing something, he brightened up.
"Whoa! Joyboy!?"
Then a bright light hit the soul.
Then a glowing figure with golden eyes and silver hair descended.
The figure looked at the soul, its prescence made the soul look up.
"I hope you remember me," said the divine being."JOYBOY!"
"I do-"
Just as joyboy was about to say something. The surroundings changed.
Little Lin looked confused.
"old-man what happened?" asked the boy.
"That's all for today? I'm out of power."
The old man said as he handed over another piece of Vivere card and kicked the boy out.
"old man?!" little Lin tried to call, but" ah! Its gone, the cabin is gone again!!"
Little Lin shouted.
And he returned home.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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HAVE A NICE DAY ;)