One Piece Oneshots (Whumptober 2022)

Day 16 - No Way Out (Luffy x Reader)

"HEEEEEEYYYYYYYYY!!! IS ANYONE HERE?!!!!" Luffy called into the darkness, running around. "ZORO?! NAMI?! SANJI?! JINBE-"

"Oi! Cut it out," you told the loud boy.

"Hm?" Luffy turned to you. "Who are you?"

A simple question yet difficult to answer. You shifted your sitting position, tapping your chin. A few minutes of silence passed by as you hummed. Finally, you looked at the strawhat boy.

"I remember being called [N/n] once but I don't think that was my name," you answer him.

"Okay, where are we?" Luffy glanced around to emphasize he didn't know where he is.

"The void, limbo, eternal darkness," you shrug your shoulders. "Call it what you want, we're in the middle of nowhere."

"Huh, weird..." Luffy commented as adjusted his strawhat back. "Welp, it was nice meeting you but I gotta find the exit!"

"There is no-" You couldn't finish since he took off in a random direction. "...exit."

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"Took you a while to get back," you greeted the strawhat boy as he came from the opposite direction he ran off to.

"Huh? How did I get back here?" Luffy inquired, scratching his head.

"I'm not sure but I think this place loops back to where you start."

"No, that can't be right." He started running in another direction.

"I already tried!" You tell him but he was already out of sight. "He'll figure it out for himself eventually."

You leaned onto your back, closing your eyes. It felt a little strange getting company again, but you found the boy amusing to keep you entertained. The sound of footsteps passes by a few times, luring you to sleep.

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"Hey, [N/n]." 

You woke up to the ravenette male shaking your torso. Peaking an eye open, he got the message you were listening. Letting go of you, he plopped down facing you.

"Do you know where the exit is?"

You sat up, looking at the boy who stared blankly at you. Ruffling your hair, you sighed, "What's your name?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will be the future king of the pirates!" For the situation he's in, this guy sure is enthusiastic.

"Well, Luffy, I tried telling you earlier but you were busy running around."

"Shishishi, my bad," Luffy chuckled. "So, where is the exit?"

"There is no exit."

"What?" The smile disappeared, replaced with disbelief.

"There. Is. No. Exit." You repeated to the pirate, slower this time so process the words easier.

"That's crap!" Luffy yelled at you. "There has to be an exit here somewhere!"

You shrug your shoulders and folded your arms. You leaned away from him in case he shouted in your ear again. "Well, in my time here I've never found an exit, don't know how long that's been," you mumble the last part.

"Maybe you didn't look hard enough!"

"You might be right, I mean, I did see a few people appear and disappear from time to time." You frown your brows, trying to recall when they came and how they left. Shuffling through the empty memories, you could only ever recall seeing them but never how they came or left. "I think the last one had an orange hat with two blue faces on the brim."

"ACE WAS HERE!?!" Luffy gasped, leaning dangerously close to your face.

You placed a hand on his face and pushed him back, not wanting any accidents to happen.

"The name rings a bell," you replied. "The guy kinda looked like you, you related or something?"

"Ace is- ...Ace was my brother..."

Silence floods the room, bringing heavy tension into the air. You sense the sadness in the boy's heart, you could connect the dots. You glanced to the side.

"I see..." You let silence hang around for a little longer before continuing. "What's the year out there?"

"1524, I think."

"So it's been two years," you muttered to yourself with a smirk. "Heh, shorter than the last time I checked."

"Last time?" Luffy tilted his head in curiosity.

"Heh heh, well, last I asked fifty years had passed since the visitor before your brother."

"WHAT?!" Luffy's eyes popped out of their sockets. "BUT YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'RE MY AGE!"

You let out a loud laughing fit. Whether you thought his response was genuinely funny or the insanity's way of reacting to your messed up situation, you laughed hard enough that tears fell from your eyes. Recollecting yourself, you wipe the water from your cheek and smile at him.

"Yeah... I couldn't believe it myself when I found out how much time passed the first time I asked." Your smile shrinks to a sadder one. "It's been over 800 years..."

"YOU'RE THAT OLD!?" Luffy's jaw dropped to the floor. You nod in response. His face became blank, a hand scratching the back of his head. "Wait... 800 years... 800 years..." Steam flew out of his brain. "Wait, that's the void century!"

"The what?" You stared at him puzzled.

"At least, that's what Robin calls it. Something about the history of that century erased from existence..." Luffy scratched his head some more.

"Oh... I see." You bit your lip.

It was one thing to know you've been gone from your world for over 8 centuries, but to know that everything known about your era is gone from existence hit differently. You had hoped that if you somehow got out of the void you'd find some elements of home sticking around. That was the last dream that kept you going.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Luffy asked, noticing your slumped shoulders and the hair falling over your eyes. He watched as you tipped to your side, laying down, curling into a ball. "[N/n]?"

"What's the point in talking to me? You'll leave anyway, back to wherever you came from... Someone's probably looking for you... Friends, family... you'll see them soon enough."

"Well yeah, but sitting here and doing nothing will be boring," Luffy pouted.

"At least they're coming from you..." You let your arm limp over your stomach, your eyes staring at the endless abyss. "No one's coming for me."