westwhere | the channeling

the channeling

THE CHANNELING

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WEALTH WHISPERS

Assignment: the Merchant fears that Matthias, alleged father of the undead Brotherhood, might be the ‘merchant’ who was due to receive dark water-infused grains by sea from the Hand. Chasing information, the Merchant routes party members towards the docks-side underworld district of Tibras, in the outskirts of Ephes. The Hand keeps grain warehouses nearby.

In Tibras, short and decayed houses are like parasitic growths toppling each other, plaster peels falling into rivulets of bloodshed. Tension thrives. Petrified, natives overwhelmingly number beggars, pleasure workers, crude bounty hunters and thieves, who look to cut throats or purse strings. Occasional bodies drift by the docks.

■ Just outside of Tibras is the abode of the merchants’ syndicate — a ring of warehouses, private clubs and houses of currency. Merchants here are protected via steep fees and travel freely. Inside the syndicate house, doorways are barred by inextinguishable living fire — which you can cross unharmed, if you rearrange the runes marked N, W, S, E on a nearby wall in a cardinal-point formation. You can also pretend to be a servant, a merchant or quality inspector to get to the Hand warehouses. Ask a clue.

Alternatively, the Merchant forewarns that a notable guest will join the syndicate for three nights: Captain Maximilian Hawk of the Dawn’s Reach Trade Company, which deals in magical artefacts. Hold him at knifepoint, seduce him, do your worst for knowledge!

■ By the entrance to Tibras is the shop of Apollonius, noted collector of supernatural artefacts and information broker. Crafty and sly, he will cooperate, in exchange for a pair of ‘eyes’ from the ghost Tykhe, who haunts the nearby anonymous burial grounds. Come midnight, Tykhe’s spirit — whose sight was gouged — appears and picks out and bewitches a pair of marbles, buttons or stones to act as her ‘eyes.’ With them in hand, she searches the graveyard for her dead sister, Cassandra. You can steal the orbs, or she’ll give them freely, if you escort her from tomb to tomb to reunite with the mute ghost of Cassandra. Return to Apollonius.

■ Deeper within Tibras is a gambling nest of sailors who were cursed by a scorned sea witch to assume the appearance of sea creatures. Led by the giant octopus Crassus, they charge protection fees from commercial merchant ships and even intimidate pirates, gleaning information from sailors and recovering drowned bodies. This illustrious group adores games of chance — as long as you can cover your losses.

You can decide or RNG how many tries it takes for your character to win — submit a finished thread to get a question! The higher the stakes, the better the information.

— a scantly informed junior goldfish throws dice. Lose, and you must share a highly embarrassing secret.

— a moderately informed catfish, offering Baccarat. Lose, and he steals your good luck for 24 hours.

— a composed, well-informed whale plays roulette. Lose, and you must share one of your most precious memories.

— a highly-knowledgeable shark, Aurelius Longus, plays a mean hand of poker. Lose, and he asks blood or a pledge to save his life one day.

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THE FLOORS

Senate leader Caius Justus exits his seclusion, ending weeks of prayer to convey the message of Ephes’ divine patron, the Chained God of chaos. And he says in a public speech:

Friends, Ephesians, countrymen…

”Friends, Ephesians, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to speak for the Chained Father, not to praise him. The victory men reap lives after them; but cowardice is often buried with their bones. So let it be with Ephes. The noble Senate tells you, the Chained Father wishes only Ephes’ destruction. If it were so, it is a grievous fault, and grievously has the Father answered for it. Here, under leave of Messalina and the Senate – for Messalina is an honourable speaker; so they are all, all honourable speakers – come I to speak of the Chained Father’s wishes. He was my maker, faithful and just to us: but Messalina says, turn away from him. And Messalina is an honourable speaker. He has brought many territories under the heel of Ephes. In his name did the Hand rise: did this in the Chained Father seem unworthy? When now you weep asking empire, the Chained Father answers: tells you to be made of sterner stuff. Yet Messalina says the Father is unworthy. And Messalina is an honourable speaker. You all did see that I withdrew to his temple, where he spoke to me: Ephes, seize your path alone — was that unworthy? Yet Messalina says to turn away from him. And sure, Messalina is an honourable speak. I speak not to disprove what Messalina spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know: you are all children of Chaos, not without cause. What cause withholds you, then, to use the Hand yourselves? O, ambition! You have fled to brutish citadels. And men have lost their courage. Bear with me: my heart is in the temple, there with the Chained God, and I must pause and beg the Senate to vote against Messalina, til it comes back to me. ”

Returning to public life, Caius Justus advises the Senate to refuse Messalina’s proposal, but defers to a vote. Citing recent civil unrest, he imposes citadel-wide 10 p.m. curfews, bans congregations of more than eight people in the streets and sends the Hand to confiscate any visible weapons and to quiet or pre-empt unrest. Hand members — forced to present in large numbers — appear erratic, prone to violent outbursts and to taking out their anger on civilians. Hand leader Narula is excessively smug.

Newscasters are careful with their words, speeches decrying Messalina abound, and senators are‘escorted’ by Hand delegations, also for their protection. Caius Justus announces he will run again for Senate leadership — to begrudged murmurs among Senators, given his previous pledge to retire.

Assignment: lure Senators toward the position that the party supports. After Caius Justus’ return:

■ 51 Senators back Caius Justus to refuse Messalina’s proposal.

■ Maximus Faustus convinces 53 Senators to accept Messalina’s proposal

■ Caelius Silvanus persuades 47 Senators to vote to postpone a decision on Messalina’s proposal for another season.

Following the party’s previous interventions, Senators are open to considering Messalina’s cause. Many are skittish, fearing their careers or lives will end with disobeying Caius Justus. Optionally, party members previously assigned a political role might receive threats from Caius Justus’ supporters.

■ Persuade, bribe, threaten or blackmail a minor Senator to switch votes. Perhaps you can offer coin or rally supporters in the marketplace for their next election, or heal their donkey or get rid of that pesky boy mooning after their daughter. Or maybe prove their corruption streak, or place a polite knife at their throats. Hold the whole Senate floor hostage, if you want, of blockade Senators from entering the Senate on voting day!

■ Ask for a RNGed Senator if you want or submit threads of swaying votes. A final tally will be taken on 19 November

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INCENSE

Priests of the Chained God whisper that the god shows signs of awakening to trigger an apocalypse. Chained and warded twelve times to prevent the end of the world, the Chained God allegedly rests in the Halls of the Sleeper, in the underground belly of his main temple in Ephes. Above ground, the temple is silent, rife with milling priests, hummed prayers and cloying hallucinogenic incense that encourages lethargy. Access is unrestricted, but monitored.

To progress downstairs, you may need to convince guards that you are one of the groups of ferociously devout pilgrim worshippers, or a priest. Below, you feel overcome by creeping, paralysing dread.

■ You are haunted by sinister, saccharine voices murmuring intrusive thoughts only you hear, diminishing your worth and paranoically asking if your companion means you harm. You are more irritable and prone to violence.

■ The halls increasingly resemble narrow subterranean corridors with limited and overheated air reserves. You reach locked stone gates, covered in loose chains and crudely carved with the inscription, the Sleeper awakes. Instructions state the Chained God demands sacrifice and proof of chaos.

■ To enter the Sleeper’s Hall, instructions say, you must commit an act of betrayal, by: drawing your companion’s blood and smearing it over the inscription (lean into the corruption!), which prevents them from entering the halls with you; or chaining them to the door with the gate shackles, condemning them to watch as you enter; or pushing your companion away, verbally eviscerating or attacking them until they flee. With player approval, your character could get a sense of what theirs is emotionally or physically vulnerable to, then exploit it. Acts of betrayal cannot be faked.

■ The Sleeper’s Hall is narrow, nearly spherical and lit by thin rivers of flowing magma that cross cracked floors. Amid swelter, you hear the periodic gulps and quakes of stone trembling around you. The supernaturally sensitive feel the presence of great, if constrained power.

■ The black water previously associated with the undead also gushes from rifts in the ground. It has a cold, sinister aura.

■ Search the room for clues — and leave urgently, before corruption consumes you.

■ Towards the middle of the room is a large, nebulously shaped creature, fully fettered and covered in magical wards, chains and blood-painted runes. Anyone in the Chained God’s presence may feel overcome by emotional or physical agony, claustrophobia and bloodlust — but the divinity only speaks with the RNG winner.

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NOTES:

■ Some players have asked about potentially ~~stabbing~~ ousting Caius Justus and Narula in a coup — everyone can plot and participate in that, and a plotting post will go up on 16 November.

■ NPC inbox, if you need anyone!

■ QUESTIONS

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( The question is enough to have Luffy tilting his head as they walk, ears straining to hear anything out of the ordinary. For now it's simply their echoing footfalls and he shakes his head at Nami. No, nothing. Not that Luffy accepts it as truth; Nami would not have asked otherwise and he keeps a tense gaze on their surroundings, ready to react should something he's missed jump out at them.

At least Nami is here, a reassuring presence at his side. Anything is possible with his crew around and Luffy is grateful he isn't down in this place on his own. )

I don't think it's a god, what would one even look like? They're meant to be powerful but this one is chained up? ( Luffy's certain that whatever it is, it isn't going to be too big a problem if chains contain it. "Or that's what they want you to think, boy." )

Unless that means there's something out there that's stronger than a god.

[ It feels like it might be possible, the sense of building dread aside, they don't know where they are or what this place has in store for them. If there are gods here, why shouldn't there be chains strong enough to hold them in place, or beings powerful enough to wield those chains? Nami shudders at the thought, her free arm reaching across her body to clutch at Luffy's arm. Apparently just holding his hand was not enough. 'What kind of navigator are you, anyway?' Questions Nojiko mockingly. ]

But if there's something stronger than it, then it's not a God?

( Luffy isn't sure, but in his mind there's nothing stronger than a God. So if something is stronger, it means whatever is chained up simply isn't a God. Normally he'd feel better with such a train of thought but somehow it makes his skin crawl. "Good, you should be worried, you've walked into who knows what without even checking."

Sometimes it's difficult to ignore the gruff tones of his grandfather and now is no exception, Luffy swallowing hard as he holds on to Nami's hand for dear life, doing his best to get past the feeling of insubordination. Cowardice isn't his thing but right now he'd love nothing more than to just turn around and walk right on back out the way they came and he looks over to Nami, noting that the navigator seems keen on going forwards. )

It's warm in here. Is it much further?

[ It should make her feel better about the mess they're in - considering that whatever's tethered at the end of this sweltering corridor might not be an actual god, but it doesn't. Everything about this place is too terrible for any silver lining to peek through enough for it to matter. ]

I hope not– [ She lifts her head like she might be able to pull away from the voices of her sister and Arlong as they continue to remind her of how lost she is, and how she's a fool for thinking she could get anybody to the Grand Line when she doesn't even know where it is anymore.

The metal of the gate looks dull in the low light, and impossibly old. The grip she's maintained on Luffy's hand tightens again as she comes to a halt a safe distance away from it, her blood running cold as she looks it over. 'You're up against things you can't even understand, you'll die before you make that map.' ]

What now? [ Get closer and try to make out the inscriptions on the gate, obviously, but, Nami doesn't want that to be the answer. ]

(The gates hold such a presence that Luffy subconsciously comes to a stop as Nami does, only just aware of her hand squeezing his. He's not a big believer in things being terrifying, or objects holding some kind of aura, but the gate in front of them right now has Luffy wondering. Would anyone judge them if they just left right now? Who would know but themselves?

"You're going to get your crew killed walking into the unknown like this." For once, Luffy can almost agree with the voice in his mind. They aren't clear on what's behind the door and whilst he can withstand most hits, Nami may not be so fortunate.)

We go look. (The words are completely detached from Luffy's train of thought, full of determination as they're spoken. They should just go for it, get it over and done with. If they worried over such things then how would they do in the Grand Line? It's almost a kind of insanity that has Luffy taking a single step forwards, somewhat struggling with his own thoughts that kick and howl at the idea of going in there.)

[ It's the conviction in his voice that keeps Nami going, even if she's all but clinging to him, keeping a tight hold on both his hand and his arm as she follows him up to the gate, not daring to draw a breath and risk cracking what she's got left of her resolve.

'Sister Nami,' Arlong coos in the back of her mind, like she's being unreasonable and he means to calm her down. 'Walk away and come home. Good people don't do the things you've done Nami.' By now she's got to be holding his hand so tightly it's uncomfortable, but Nami doesn't seem to be cognizant of that while she frowns up at the gate, her eyes going over the inscriptions as their contents turn her stomach to ice.

She lets him go when fear compels her to take a step back, regretting dropping Luffy's hand the moment she does it, as it feels like he takes a good portion of her remaining courage with him when she draws away. ] It wants a sacrifice, and proof of chaos. [ Her voice is soft and rough like she's choking back a scream - an urge that rises tenfold as Nami glances off to the side at the shackles waiting on the wall and what looks like a crude ornamental knife waiting on the ground below them. ] Luffy... [ Nami's lips purse as she swallows hard, screwing up her face in a mask of disdain as she looks between him and the shackles. ] How can...how could either of us... [ Just the thought is almost enough to leave Nami shaking where she stands.

'Don't act like you couldn't Nami.' But Nojiko's disembodied voice doesn't even have to finish its thought. Nami knows where it ends.

What kind of person works for their mother's murderer for eight years, even with the best intentions secretly at heart? What kind of a person but somebody born faithless, somebody who can't learn to do anything but betray. ]

A sacrifice and proof of chaos?

(Luffy echoes the words back slowly, sounding as if he's never even heard them before despite just hearing it. They had to offer something to get into the room where the alleged old god is sleeping? The slight pain in his hand only barely registers as Luffy catches sight of the shackles, blood running cold as he hears Nami's tone of voice change. His hand is dropped and Luffy just stares at the inscription as if trying to make sense of it all.

"See? A dead end. That or you turn on your crew. What a great pirate captain you're turning out to be." It's getting harder to ignore the voice and it's creeping sense of dread, an emotion Luffy struggles to understand. He's never truly felt such a thing before now and he takes a breath as the sensation of falling threatens to take hold.)

Or maybe there's another way in....? For all we know it could be something to just keep people out.

(Or maybe someone is going to wind up getting stabbed before long. With each passing second Luffy couldn't say which is most likely.)

[ Unable to stop herself, Nami's eyes drift back down to the shackles on the floor, trying to ignore the way the skin on her ankle prickles at the sight of them, like all the old marks left by the ones Arlong made her wear for years can sense a threat in the air. ]

Luffy... [ There's a fragile note to her voice that wasn't there before. It's easier to feel unmoored now that she's let him go, a thing she can't even really regret while listening to her sister whispering in her ear about the thing she'll have to do - the things everybody knows a heartless monster like her has in her. She probably shouldn't be holding anybody's hand, monster that she is.

Even though there's a part of her that knows he won't be able to do it, Nami wants to hold out hope. If she can't believe in anything else, at least she can muster up the strength to believe in Luffy. ]

Can you pull it open?

(Nami doesn't need to ask twice. Pulling the door open should be doable, they've managed worse and it's enough to quell the little voice in the back of his mind in deciding a course of action. That and this door? These chains? Are the source of Nami's distress; Luffy can hear it clear as day in the navigator's words and it twists at him, enough to have the young man cracking his knuckles as he approaches the gate.

As they say the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry and now is no exception. Luffy puts everything he can and then some more into trying to prise the door open, limbs stretching where they can as he grits his teeth and pulls. Nothing budges, only the dust he kicks up with his motions and after a good five minutes he steps back, wiping his brow with the back of an arm.)

I don't get it.

(Except he does. Luffy doesn't need the voice of a grandparent in his head to point out the glaringly obvious and for one of the few times in his life he wishes he were oblivious, unaware of anything that's going on rather than the complicated sensation of concern and worry. There's only one thing left to try and Luffy takes a deep breath before turning, smile wan but present. This is his duty as captain and the promise he's made to himself to never hurt his crew.)

You ready, Nami?

[ Watching him try and fail to open the gates with his bare hands hurts, but it doesn't pain her nearly as much as the smile he gives her or the question he asks.

No, she's not ready.

Of the two of them, she's done this before, and she knows she can take it. It makes sense, though it also makes her heart feel like it's turning inside out with every step she takes closer to the set of shackles. That Luffy isn't suggesting she be the sacrifice scarcely enters her mind. Why would he do that? She means well, and she always has, but they're right - Nami's as twisted as a question mark, too comfortable with pulling cons to truly figure out how to be real enough for friends, no matter how beloved they already are to her.

As she moves, the shackles catch the light she steps out of, making Nami wince. It's a look she gets out of the way before she turns back to Luffy, nodding slowly while she makes up her mind.

'It suits you Nami, I always thought I took them off you too soon,' reckons the voice of Arlong in the back of her head, seemingly pleased with the circumstances she's been handed to contend with. ]

I– [ She thought her days of holding it together in front of Luffy were over, but Nami draws on that talent again now, swallowing hard as she squares her shoulders. ] Okay, do it fast.

( The thought that Nami would expect it to be on her to take the chains doesn't enter Luffy's mind until he watches her reaction and suddenly it's all too easy to remember the chains in Arlong Park. What was it Nami had said? A birthday present.... The thought has fists briefly clenching before he relaxes them, knowing full well that these days Arlong should be nothing more than a bad memory.

A shame that the voice in his head seizes on the opportunity to point out how little his crew must trust him to think he'd do such a thing and Luffy inwardly cringes at that one. That can't be true, they would never, but the longer they stay in this stuffy, oppressive place the harder it is to dismiss the voice so easily. He's nothing like Arlong. )

No. ( The single word is almost a whisper yet somehow echoes around them as Luffy moves within arm's length of the navigator, reaching out to place a hand on Nami's new tattoo as he fixes her with a stern stare. ) I would never ask you to go through something like that. I'll do it. Besides, as soon as that door opens you can just let me straight back out.

[ A part of her wishes he would. By offering to be the one to play sacrifice, Luffy spares her the hurt of stirring up the terrors of her past. Still, he can't shoulder all this burden alone, just like Nami can't look at all the conviction blazing in those dark eyes without feeling unworthy.

She wants the hand he's settled on her arm to be more reassuring, but looking back at the stone gate's inscription, there's probably nothing in this world or the one they came from that could do that for her. While Luffy shields her as much as he can with this choice, he can't protect her from everything the gate asks of them.

Playing the villain isn't something Nami ever wanted to do, not when she was a girl, and not now, just when being surrounded by friends had started to let her believe she'd never have to take up a mantle like that again. Nami will do it. She's good at it - as the version of Nojiko whispering into her head reminds her. If Luffy can willingly give himself up to be chained and hurt, she can be the one to take on the grim business of hurting someone she cares about because something has to be done.

Drained nearly to the brink by their malicious surroundings, Nami steels her resolve, her hand settling firmly on Luffy's shoulder, her eyes clouding with all the tears she won't permit herself to shed until it's over. ] That's right. [ 'It has to be like this because it's always going to be like this for you.' Promises a voice full of a mother's love and disappointment, and the last sound Nami wants to hear while she's guiding Luffy back against the uneven stone wall behind him before stooping to get the weighty metal ring around his ankle. ] I'll let you out again.

[ After she goes through the gates alone.

There's a slight clatter as her hands - colder and shakier than she's ever known them to be - close around the dagger's hilt, making the blade tap against the stone it sits on before she pulls it closer and straightens up to chain his wrists to the walls as well. It has to be a betrayal or it won't work, and Nami's made enough people feel stabbed in the back to know that's not something that works if you do it in half-measures.

Nami's eyes are cold when they fix on Luffy's again, her hold on the dagger tightening as she squares her jaw, lips set in a firm, determined line, wanting to believe the voice that sounds the most like hers in the cacophony of loathing that's taken deep root in her mind. She has to do this. The ability to pick out the fastest road to hurting the people you love isn't a talent Nami thinks Luffy ever needs to try and master.

The last thing she thinks before the dagger slices out and slashes a line across Luffy's arm is that the crew would never forgive her if they saw her, not Zoro or Usopp, not even Sanji who seems determined to paint her in the most flawless light his imagination can muster. Nami steps back with all the staggering grace of someone who's just been dealt a blow, her expression hardening with self-directed anger as she reaches out to pull his hat off his head and set it on her own instead.

She's crying even before she's turned around completely, the blood on the dagger's blade catching the light as she moves towards the gate to smear it across the surface, not breaking her stride or looking back even once as it swings open to let her through, leaving him behind to find the god chained below.

'What is wrong with you, Nami? It's like you don't have a heart at all.' The teasing lilt has left Nojiko's voice leaving discontent in its wake. ]

Edited 2023-11-11 06:20 (UTC)

( This way is the lesser of two evils, or so Luffy believes it to be. There's not a thought in his mind that associates so-called betrayal with Nami or her past. He's just willing to take the hit in order to get them through the door, as captain and as a friend. Pain is only fleeting and Luffy is happy to bear it, in the end it will pass as most things do.

Nami confirms the plan; chain Luffy up, draw some blood, open the door and release the captain of the Straw Hat pirates. There's zero reason to suspect anything due to the simplicity of it all, no small voice to point out the myriad of ways it could go wrong. Luffy's trust overrides it all, he would trust the others just as complicitly. The concept of an actual betrayal is as far away as home right now and he doesn't even flinch as shackles close around his wrists.)

Got it. ( Luffy's gaze doesn't waver from Nami when the blade cuts across his arm, leaving a line of red as proof of the whole ordeal. His teeth are grit only momentarilly as a flash of surprise and shock suddenly take hold as his hat is consequently taken from the top of dark curls. That hadn't been part of the plan and the blatancy of it all takes his breath away. Everything of himself Luffy holds dear is in that hat currently perched upon Nami's head and the confusion on his face is palpable.

"She's going to leave you there, idiot boy." Luffy hates that the voice of his grandfather sounds so smug, so victorious. Nami wouldn't leave him there, she's going to untie him and they're both going to go into that room and believe it right up until she steps through the doorway. Alone. Hat on head. Luffy left to the sound of silence and a stinging pain in his arm. )

Uh. Nami?

( Luffy can feel his heart racing as anxiety begins to peck away at him. Is he supposed to wait or free himself? Nami had gone into that room by her lonesome, would freeing himself seal the door shut again? What if something in there happened? Nami can fight but should a terrible thing happen then Luffy would never forgive himself. The rest of the crew would never forgive him either and Luffy strains his ears, trying to listen for anything out of the ordinary over the sounds of his own short breaths and racing pulse.

He'll have to wait. )

[ Nami advances and the voices blend into one satisfying-sounding whisper, reminding her with every step she takes that, of course she'd do something like this to her friends in the end.

The god chained to the ground is a gruesome sight, even through bleary eyes that much is clear, and though she's tempted to run over and just start kicking it for what it's driven her to do, Nami doesn't do anything that causes her to stay her longer than she feels she has to.

Her shoulders shake with sobs that don't seem to want to stop even with her hand pressed against her mouth, She grabs for a book waiting on a stone platform and shoves it into her rucksack before she has a chance to look it over - just taking for the sake of taking, because she has to walk away from this with something.

They're going to kick her out of the crew. Even when she resolves not to screw over anybody, she can't help herself. It feels like she's on a path she's not allowed to stray from.

By the time she passes through the gate again, Nami's given up on trying not to cry in front of Luffy. There's nothing she can do to undo what she's done to him, the least she can do is respect him enough not to hide her regret while she unfastens first his ankles and then his wrists before pushing his hat back on his head.

Unable to meet his eye, she turns around, preparing to head off and go straight to the windmill to collect her things before they're inevitably tossed onto the street. ] If it wasn't a betrayal it wouldn't have worked. [ It's true but it feels like the flimsiest defense in the world. She's done a horrible thing tonight, and the weight of it hangs on Nami, growing heavier with every step she takes away from him, doing her best not to fall apart completely until after she gets what's coming to her for this. ]

(It's taking every ounce of strength Luffy has not to break the shackles or to slip out of them, caught between concern of risking Nami in doing so, or not being there should something go wrong. His vantage point gives little away as to what sits in the room, but Luffy finds he can hear just fine. Should anything terrible sounding reach his ears the captain will be out like a shot.

Time stretches into what feels like eternity, Luffy doesn't his best to disregard the voice in his mind that points out what's wrong with everything that's happening, with everything that isn't happening. In any event Luffy has experience ignoring his grandfather, this is nothing new and when Nami finally leaves the room the young man's expression brightens. There's even a smile on his face as he waits for Nami to unfasten the shackles, elated to feel the hat placed back on his head. The clarification makes sense; a betrayal isn't as such if it's offered freely and it's a stroke of genius Luffy hadn't even considered.

The tears are worrisome, Luffy unable to hide his concern. The idea Nami is upset over what has happened doesn't sit right with him; he'd offered to do this, his idea, there's little reason he can see that would result in being distraught. But then this place is distressing enough without things happening, the oppressive heat and almost claustrophobic walls are enough to bother the sturdiest of people and Luffy rushes to catch up with the young woman.)

Worth it, the door stayed open. What was in there?

[ His smile is, for better or for worse, one of the nicer things she's seen since falling in with her crew, but right now it just makes her feel awful. Any other day it would make it difficult to turn and leave, but ]

How can you say that? [ Nami stops in her tracks, her face wet as she forces herself to look up and meet Luffy's eye. Something she learned in Arlong Park, she's learning again now - hurting Luffy isn't worth it. She rubs a hand across her cheek and glances at the cut she left on his arm before her eyes return to his face and she shakes her head, her tears falling slower and some of the rawness leaving her voice. ] Don't you want me out of the crew?

Want you out of the crew?

( Luffy's not even sure he's heard that right, all thoughts of a chained god leaving his mind as he takes note of the wetness at Nami's face. Brown eyes meet Nami's gaze head on, filled with confusion as he struggles to understand why the other would even feel that they needed to be kicked out. Over a cut that would easily heal? Or over manacles and chains that could have been slipped from? Luffy tilts his head, doing his best to understand why the easier route had seemingly turned into the worst for Nami. )

Nami, we would never want you to leave the crew. I asked you to cut me and I asked you to put me in those chains. You did everything you needed to and that made sure the mission was a success. ( Luffy pauses, reaching out to put a hand to Nami's arm, pressing against the tattoo in what he hopes is a comforting gesture. He had asked Nami to do it and she hadn't hesitated, that in itself is the perfect sign of trust and Luffy wishes the navigator could see it the same way. ) I asked you to chain me up because it's my duty as captain, that and I didn't think you'd be comfortable being put in chains again after the thing with Arlong....

[ Her experience in the cavern has left her rattled, but Nami can still appreciate the hand on her arm enough to turn towards it, tucking herself into a hug and hiding her face against Luffy's shoulder. That she hasn't taken things too far or handled what had to be done too readily to damage his trust in her, seems like a gift she's almost unworthy of - but that's a feeling that will lessen with time and distance. Nami's quiet for a moment, sniffling and keeping her face hidden while she tries to collect herself, waiting until she's sure the lingering guilt she's still feeling isn't too evident when she looks up at him again. ]

You're a good captain, Luffy. [ Comparatively speaking, he's the best captain she's ever met. Attempting a weak smile, she brings her arm around him in a small hug before stepping back. ] Let's get out of here, okay?

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the channeling

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hi hello i wrote you a novel about feelings

♥

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