By Your Side

Chapter 16

I stared at the several mirrors that surrounded us, confused on how we got here.

"Luffy! Nami! Chopper!" Carrot began to yell, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Where are you guys?!"

"I don't get it, one minute we were fighting that Brûlée woman, and now we are who knows where..." I mumbled looking towards a mirror to my left. "How strange."

"(Y/N), I don't see the others anywhere..." Carrot looked at me, worry crossing her features as she brought her hands down to her sides. "You don't think they're..."

I walked over to Carrot, placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn her head to look at me. "I'm sure they are fine." I focused my eyes to the endless hall of mirrors before us. "First things first, we need to find a way out of here."

She nodded her head, bringing her hand up into fists, determination taking over her face. "Yeah, let's do it!"

With that, I gave her a smile as we began walking forward. "It is strange though, all these mirrors..." I started off, looking at all the mirrors, seeing our reflection flash on each one as we walked past them.

"Yeah, what do you think they are for?" Carrot agreed, voicing out her curiosity.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Who knows, maybe we will find out while we're here."

———

After about 10 minutes of walking, we decided to stop and figure out our next move. "Maybe we should head back where we came from." Carrot voiced out, glancing behind us.

"I would say let's do it, but..." I trailed off, looking in the same direction she was. "How will we know where we started off at...?"

She let out a sigh. "You're right... plus we still don't know where the others are." Carrot replied, slouching her shoulders in defeat.

I'm worried too. If they are still in the forest, that means they are facing all the trees along with Brûlée.

"(Y/N), look!" I was brought out of my thoughts as Carrot shouted my name. I looked up to see her gaping while pointing in front of her. "One of the mirrors is glowing!"

I turned my head to see there was a mirror glowing like she said. We walked closer to inspect the mirror only to see something come out of it.

We both looked at one another before running up to the mirror. I glanced at the ground the closer we got, seeing a small figure lying there. "Chopper!" I gasped, realizing it was him.

I dropped down to the ground, grabbing hold of said reindeer, checking him over for any injuries. "Are you okay, Chopper?" Carrot asked, worried.

"Carrot, (Y/N)? Where are we...?" He asked, glancing at all of the mirrors. "I remember fighting with Brûlée and I used one of my rumble balls as she held up her mirror. Next thing I know, I am here."

I pondered what Chopper told us. "Now that I think about it, it was the same with us too..." Carrot added.

Hmm... "Chopper, what happened with Nami and Luff-" I was cut off as I noticed the mirror Chopper just came out of, glowing again. "-y..."

The mirror began swirling in different colors before an image appeared, "Tell me, can a tree do this, huh?" I widened my eyes as I saw Nami and Luffy standing there, as well as hearing Brûlée's voice.

"Luffy!" Chopper exclaimed, running up to the mirror and placing his hoofs against it.

"Luffy, Nami! Come set us free!" Carrot added, tears in her eyes as she went up to the mirror.

"She caught Chopper too?!" Nami exclaimed.

"What happened you guys?" Luffy asked, shocked to see us inside a mirror. "How did you get in there!?"

"She trapped us in this mirror world, she can use a tricky ability, so be careful." Chopper warned the two.

If we are seeing them and they can see us, brûlée must be holding a mirror... I ran up to the mirror, making room between Carrot and Chopper for me. "Nami, Luffy, it's her devil fruit she's using! She's able to manipulate the mirrors and-"

"Wiewiewiewie... How do you like that brother Cracker?" I heard brûlée ask. "I got these fools right where I want them... by the scruff of their necks!"

That's the last thing we heard before the sound of the mirror in front of us cracking, the other side silent.

"What happened, answer me! Are you okay?!" I let out a gasp as we could still hear Luffy's voice.

"The mirror..." I trailed off, seeing what looked to be pieces of Nami and Luffy's reflection.

"We're fine." Chopper replied for me.

"It didn't hurt us." Carrot continued, surprised as well.

"It's only the mirror that broke, nothing happened to us in the mirror world." Chopper explained, relief crossing the two's features.

"What a relief!" Nami sighed out.

""I don't get it, but that's good news." Luffy replied.

"Luffy, Chopper and the rest of us have a plan, but don't let them catch on so that we can still talk to one another." I spoke up, seriousness crossing my features. "This May work in our favor, so keep a shard of the mirror with you."

———

"Well, it seems like we can't leave this place through the mirrors like I had hoped..." I groaned out, hearing the sound of another mirror shattering.

I looked over to Chopper and Carrot, who frowned as well, Carrot lowering her hand as the sparks went away. "I tried everything too...!" Carrot sighed, collapsing to her knees.

"So far, we know she is able to trap people inside this mirror world and she can bounce an attack to those in front of her by using a mirror." Chopper spoke up, glancing to the ground in focus.

"Yeah, and on top of that, we can see what happens in the outside world if she is using the mirror." I continued, pitching in. "However, we don't know which mirror it'll be..." I sighed, leaning against the wall behind me, closing my eyes.

I wonder how much time has passed since we arrived on the island. There's no way to tell if it's night time here... if we don't hurry soon, we won't make it in time to save Sanji.

"(Y/N), look out!" I snapped my eyes open at Carrots shout as I felt a hand over my mouth, an arm wrapping around me.

"Thanks for waiting." That voice, it's brûlée again. "I'll be borrowing you for a moment."

"Let her go!" Carrot grunted, running forward, her hand sparking.

"Sorry, but I won't be doing that. You see, mama would like a word with her, Wiewiewiewie!" Brûlée chuckled, as I felt us moving back into the mirror she was sticking out of. "She doesn't like to be kept waiting.~" (when I wrote this, I thought of Sasori from Naruto 😂)

Big Mom wants to speak with me? About what...? I glanced over to the two as I was being pulled back, giving them a reassuring glance. Maybe I can somehow get intel on Sanji's whereabouts. I thought to myself, forming a plan of escaping wherever I was being taken to.

———
Published: 08/19/2022
Updated: 02/22/2024