Demons, Swords, And Other Things That Nearly Killed Me

THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING

You were in a lucid dream. You could tell. You always could.

Now, the last time you had a lucid dream, things did not go too well. It involved a near-panic attack, Kosai trying to comfort you, you bothering Smoker at 3am in the morning, and then falling asleep on the couch in his office because you didn't want to be alone. So you were praying that this wasn't going to be a repeat. If you had to wake up and cuddle up to Enel in order to sleep peacefully, you didn't know how long you would be able to hold off Kosai from killing him.

Speaking of the dream itself, it felt more or less the same. Your body didn't feel like it was really there. Everything around you felt off in a way. Even though you felt like you were in control, you could tell that it wasn't a reality. Something was wrong in this one.

You were still in Skypiea. You could tell. But this time, Wyper was there. And... so were you, again. There was another you, with stab wounds in your stomach, bleeding heavily. You tried to understand what they were saying.

But the moment you heard them speak, you immediately forgot. And the voices were all... weird. Sure, it was yours, and the other did sound like Wyper, but why couldn't you hear them like normal?

Aside from watching yourself bleed out, there was another thing that was bothering you. Two, actually. One, you couldn't feel Kosai's presence, and that already made you scared of what would happen next. Concern number two:

Annan was broken

You could see it from where you were. And as you slowly crept closer to the scene of what looked to be your attempted murder, you could spot Annan's scabbard and hilt. The scabbard had been tossed to the side, and what was left of Annan was the very start of his blade, which looked as though it had been shattered beforehand, considering that there were pieces of metal littered around where the ex-sword was.

That got you thinking– Annan had been acting strange recently. It was like he had been feeling unwell. Considering that he's a sword. You're sure that if he actually shatters, then... no more Annan. He would die.

Before you could start panicking again, you heard someone behind you. You turned around and nearly stumbled back, craning your head upwards in order to see the face of who it was.

Holy shit, who is that?!

You indeed stumbled back as this mysterious (and admittedly frightening) stranger approached.

It was a man. He was tall, his height reminding you of Crocodile's. Only that this guy looked absolutely nothing like Crocodile. His hair was long, very long, and a deep red, the iris of his eyes matching the color. The skin of his neck and anything below was covered in scars until it disappeared beneath the clothes he wore.

What he wore was simple– a kimono. It had a haori, nagagi, and hakama pants. The haori was the most eye-catching with two different fabrics. One with golden-red waves, and the other with an almost entirely gold background with cherry blossom branches.

What terrified you was the boiling look of pure rage on his face.

His gaze pierced through you, and when you turned around to see where he was looking, you saw that it was at your struggling form. Your tattoo wasn't there anymore.

Wyper tensed, said something which made it feel like someone was stuffing putty into your ears, before trying to cover your body (well, the 'you' that was on the ground) with a sheet to hide you.