In the middle of nowhere (I)

His name is something that he had forgotten the moment he had first opened his eyes.

Many things he had forgotten at that moment, and despite there still being some things that remained, there were few and blurry, while the memories in his mind were useless things at the time, as it didn't help at all to ease his mind against the pain of the *voices* he constantly heard.

He was named Atl, after his late grandfather from his mother's side who had died from a devastating injury, the last gift that the last of the Sea Kings that he had hunted had left him before being torn apart by the old man.

It had been a miracle that he had survived so long to have one last conversation with him and his mother.

His voice, to the very end, didn't hold any sort of negative feeling, all he felt as his presence started to feel dimmer was a warmth that made him unable to leave his body even an entire day had passed, to the point that it had taken every single male, woman and child to pull him away from the corpse after a long struggle, a victory only possible because of the distraction of his mother who had called his attention to tell him that it was enough for him to act in such an unbecoming way for a fisherman like his grandfather.

Every death, every conflict in that small primitive island that he has lived in... all of it, he could 'hear' it as clear as he heard the movement of the waves in front of him.

It was weird.

It was terrifying

It had creeped him out every time he *heard* a voice simply vanish as if it had never existed, it felt so out of place every time that happened, but that wasn't the worst part, it was hearing their feelings at the very last moment.

Their despair, sadness, impotence, dread... everything that one would feel at their last moments when faced against a predator and being ripped apart by those merciless beasts.

He felt like he had read or heard of this somewhere, but couldn't place where.

... It was obvious that he hadn't been born in a normal world, even ignoring the giant girl he was trying to put into safety without causing any harm to her body or the other girl with the tail of an aquatic creature and scales in some parts of her body.

There were also hairs with unnatural colors, like that vibrant pink-haired girl or the rainbow-colored hair of the man who had burned his village and killed everyone in it, all because he had irked him in the wrong way and he had wanted to make a laboratory in his home island anyway, and that was without considering the wishes of the bubblehead who had wanted him to be his... wife?

He was weird as well, he had a completely feminine appearance to the point that once (In his stupidity) had looked to one of the crystals found in the shore of the beach closest to their village and had gotten himself embarrassed by telling to his mom that he had found a pretty girl inside the crystals... in his defense, he had just woke up... he would occasionally torture himself with that memory.

The small horns in his head were cute, yes, of the same length as his middle finger and of the same color of his tanned skin with the tips being of the same vibrant pink color as the tips of his silverish hair. His teeth and nails were not like those of any human, these were more fangs and claws than anything, he had once torn through the tough skin of a large feline that was way too similar to a jaguar that the bullets of the people who had burned his village were unable to pierce, just with his teeth.

Finally putting her in the small cave he had found, on the small bed- for the girl's size- of cloth, cloth which had been once in the broken crates found in this beach... should he put away the corpses first? Or see if they had any injuries?

The decision was made quickly, checking the body of the only survivors he had found took priority.

It took some time, but aside from some small bruises, they were not harmed in any way... weird.

'There had been some corpses torn into two pieces while they are relatively unharmed.'

Even he had been harmed in the whole accident more than them and he was hard to harm, but then again, being buried in so much metal that one could practically consider that a few boulders have been dropped on his body.

Looking outside the cave, he raised to his feet before walking towards the shore again, not to see if any other being was still alive for he knew that they were the only ones as they were the only *voices* in this shore, the only ones who had survived from the attack of not only a few of those gargantuan aquatic monsters but also people of ill-will whose greed and deprivation made him throw up what little he still had on his stomach.

There were still many crates and corpses all around the beach and considering that there were many beings that were starting to get closer to the smell... it was for the best to pull whatever he could to hide them from the predators, the crates were the only thing he could work with right now with such short time, considering the speed that the beings who were coming here possessed... about 10 minutes?

From those 10 minutes of moving a large portion of the ship which they had been in to hide the entrance of the cave, putting as many crates as he could inside the wrecked half of the transport. Gritting his teeth as his bones and head felt like bursting out. Not caring about the sounds that he heard inside the crates, not checking if there were enough rations for all of them until they were in a suitable state to hunt, collect or fish to eat... why was he even going his way to help these unknown kids and that teenager?

It was simple, he didn't want such a thing weighing him in his consciousness, he always remembered the *voices* of the dying... he had gotten used to those but it didn't mean that he found joy in hearing the last moment of the *voices* of the people... no, that also wasn't true, for he had found peace of mind when he had heard the *voices* of those who had made the *voices* in his whole island disappear by petition of that disgusting man with a strange bubble helmet began disappearing, laughing his heart out as hell broke loose around the whole ship.

It was still hard to contain his laughter, stuffing it inside him, making it sound as if he was giggling... however he didn't notice that.

Time passed slow in this cave, his heart was beating loud enough to make him think that one of the beasts outside would hear him... and what he did in nervousness? What did he, who was perfectly capable of understanding what would happen if he did what he wanted to do?

He started singing.

"Hehehe... Where am I to go, m'Johnnies? Oh, where am I to go?"

It was done under his breath, or so he believed for his heart was beating like a drum to the point of making the noises of the outside world sound so distant... like he wanted his worries to be like.

"Tell me way hey hey, high roll and go... Oh, where am I to go. m'Johnnies? Oh, where am I to go? For I'm a young sailor, and where am I to go?"

It put some ease to his worries about the creatures outside this cave being stronger than whatever he had fought back at home... not to mention, he didn't have any weapon nor was he in any condition of putting a decent fight against predators.

It would be better if there was something to make it from... and look and behold, there he found it. He had the main part of his hand-made weapon, a blunt piece of wood made from the strongest wood inside the crates, a wood called 'Adam Tree Wood' which sounded too familiar to him but couldn't place where he had heard it before... he was sure that at least he hadn't heard from it in his small secluded island.

It had cost all his fingernails and a lot of pain... too much pain, but it was a decent wooden club, not to mention that if it had taken so long to shape, considering that his fingernails were capable of severing with ease the head of a human from their body, it had to be really strong. Then came the part of finding good 'blades' to embed into the club and call it a sword that could crack a Jungle King's skull to a mess of blood, flesh, and bone.

His fingernails?

... No, his adrenaline may have forced him to do some nonsense like carving his weapon with his fingernails, but he still kept enough rationality to not do such a thing.

Steel... no, his fingernails left a deeper mark on the walls than steel did.

His fingernails didn't leave any sort of mark in the blades of the whip that the guy he had killed... any commentary on that? Well... his excessive fat made it uncomfortable, that was all he had to say, in his island he had gotten used to taking the lives of his fellow inhabitants of the island from other villages for food as the resources that were available for the majority were scarce.

Using one of the strange substances found in the crates, a sticky substance that he had many difficulties using as it was so strong that he had for the first time used so much strength that his head had started to hurt for some reason.

"Sea stone, huh?"

This thing was cut in such a way that it was as sharp as any blade... how? How could anyone be able to break this mineral in such a way? He could maybe make a spear if he discovered how to shape it into a spearhead.

Finally finishing his weapon, he extended it to the ground and took a good look at it... it was about three times in length of his arm, but he had no need to grab it with two hands nor was it too heavy, he had carried heavier stuff back in home... yes, it was hard right now, since all his bones felt like they would break at any moment and the taste of blood was still on his mouth, hopefully, he would be able to use it in a good enough way to defend himself.

This was his own re-creation of the weapon from his island, known as Macuahuitl, which possessed a point, testing it against his skin... yes, it was really sharp!

Damm... his skin had once tanked the powerful bite of a beast, how was it possible that this strange mineral that was supposedly from something called sea stone, could make as much damage as those bloodthirsty beasts.

"Fufufu... In South Australia, I was born. Heave away, Haul away."

"Really? Is everyone in South Australia a monster like-"

He subconsciously threw his newly crafted weapon in the direction of the sound on pure instinct alone... he almost decapitated the girl of vibrant pink hair.

"OI, THAT'S NO WAY TO GREET SOMEONE!"

She cried out in indignation after snapping out of her shock.

They both breathed heavily as they stared at each other for a long time.

"SAY SOMETHING DAMMIT!"

She finally snapped while breathing heavier, this time seemed more in anger rather than in shock.

... He would say something, but somehow he felt that whatever answer he gave would cause him trouble, even without trying to hear her *voice* it was obvious that she was angry. But the silence could also be considered as an answer on its own so he had to plan precisely what he wanted to say... if only he had any experience with talking to other people of his age! Even in those blurry memories, there hadn't been a single where he had been talking to someone and felt comfortable about it!

"Uh, I- Ehmmm... Panicked?"

FUCKING BRILLIANT!

An amazing display of skill in the art of speech worth for the most high-leveled being in the whole existence.

Despite having such types of thought, his face remained as neutral as ever, he took a defensive stance when he felt that his words had only put more fuel to the fire that was the anger of this little girl.

Proceed with avoidance of this situation with another topic!

"Does something hurt?"

She seemed to force herself to calm down for some reason after taking a few deep breaths.

Her neutral face still had a frown and he still could feel some anger in her that would burst out explosively if he did something wrong.

"Everything is okay."

"Good... good..." What to say, what to say... maybe answering her question? "And no, I don't come from South Australia, that is just the lyrics of a song I know from... somewhere, I come from an island called Coatl."

"Never heard of it."

The bones of his hand groaned, his teeth grinding against each other as he looked murderously to those memories... and breathed out heavily after having pulled out the club from the wall, feeling how a part of his bones broke. He shouldn't move it around too much now, he would heal in a few hours, he always healed way too fast to the point that it was inhumane.

"And you probably never will, it was destroyed by the white coats."

"You too, huh?"

She snorted, but there was no amusement in her voice, nor he could feel it from her.

"What did your village do anyway?"

What did his village do? Ha...hahaha.

"Because I was so pretty, bubblehead decided to take me with him, my mother didn't want that, and well..."

It was left unsaid regarding what happened to his mother's fate, it had ended, the how... it was a shot, the first time his village had ever seen a firearm, making everyone panic, making that bubblehead whose ship had ended up in their beach for some reason.

"Celestial dragon... what was a Celestial dragon doing on your island?"

Well, for a kid she sure knew some things, more than him at least, then again, considering that the people from his home island were so secluded that they believed those ships of the white coats were sea monsters, it was obvious that many people would know more of the world than his family and people who still believed that the large feathered snake at the very top of the mountain was a god.

But, why did the word Celestial dragon sound strangely familiar, it was on the tip of his tongue, it was just...

"Celestial dragon?"

She gritted her teeth, her feelings of hatred were evident, but the feelings he could feel coming out from her, evident enough for his small mastery over his capability of *hearing* the state of the people, were so deep that it felt too personal, making him take a step back unconsciously.

"Let's just say that they are criminals that the world will never punish."

"I see..." A word came to his mind, he had been trying to find out what it meant. "Could I ask you something?" She moved her gaze away from the ground and locked her gaze straight with his, making him feel as if he was looking at a predator rather than a child, his hair stood on end and he subconsciously gripped way too much the Macuahuitl. "... One piece, what's it?"

Her words at the question made him dizzy, forcing him to support his body against the wall as a single name started echoing in his head.

Gold Roger.

—Wealth, fame, power. The world had it all won by one man: the Pirate King, Gold Roger. At his death, the words he spoke drove countless men out to sea.—

His mind dozed off at her words while whispering the memories that came to his mind.

"My treasure... It's yours if you want it. Find it, I left all the world has to offer there-"

"Yeah, exactly those words." She said before grabbing a bite of one of the last fruits that one of the many crates of food possessed.

Wait-

"Did you finish three crates in less than a minute?"

She devoured a whole watermelon in a single bite as an answer, somehow her cheeks were just a little puffed out.

"I'm hungry." She added. "Name's Bonney by the way, Jewelry Bonney."

... Name was familiar, relating to a Supernova-something... didn't matter, the present was the present, it was for the best to get rid of those memories for now as it wouldn't help in any way.

"Xoco Atl." He could say the whole way of his people how to present himself, but it felt easier to just say his name instead of adding all of those who were no longer in the land of the living... he didn't have any energy to say the rest.

"Nice to meet 'cha."

With a nom, nom, nom, she replied.

He enjoyed the silence, it was really hard to hear silence for him as he could always hear the *voices* of every being... he still heard a lot, but silence in some way was nice, a person eating loudly at his side was still not as loud as the *voices* of the dying, and it felt oddly at home.

It made him forget that he no longer had a home.

Thus, with his newly crafted weapon at his side, he let himself be drawn to sleep by the fatigue and pain— self-afflicted and caused by others— that had put him down this whole day.

That night, like the seven nights before this one, once again he dreamed of the lifeless body of a beautiful woman and a jungle burning around him.