I was humming happily along the music, as I opened my eyes again, just to not bump into a lantern or something. I finally bought myself a music box and powerbank. I thought a solar cell for the powerbank useful, as there isn't electricity everywhere to charge it up. "Jetzt ist es egal ob ich wieder mal vergesse mein Handy aufzuladen.", I thought, smiling to myself. Eyeing the music box one more time, I grinned: "Need to test it right away when I get home." I didn't exactly know why I was this happy to finally have one of my own. But why not? To get excited about the small things is nice. And a good mood is fun as well!
I had the music playing louder than usual through my headphones, so I could loose myself in my thoughts. My surroundings nearly being shut off completely.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtO3ZGLcZY8
My humming stopped in confusion, after seeing a couple suddenly turning around and looking my direction in shock. "Haben die mich gehört?", I thought, but then I heard a loud BANG!
I turned around just to see a red station wagon overturning multiple times. Staring at the car in shock, I realized too late what was happening exactly. The car hit the ground right in front of me, just to bounce back into the air and hitting me directly. The only thing I was capable of was to pull my arms up in front of my head, even though I didn't know if that helped at all.
I had no idea how far I was sent flying when I was lying on the ground and opened my eyes just a little.
"Where did you go – I should know – but it's cold – and I don't wanna be lonely – was hoping you'd come home"
Only one of my headphones lay halfway in my ear, through which I still heard the music in my completely disoriented state. I thought I heard screams, but my senses were slowly fading. I heard the last verse of the song, as the tinnitus steadily drowned everything else as I was loosing consciousness.
"I don't care if it's a lie"
When I came to I felt hard ground beneath me. I saw I was lying on raw metal, after I opened my eyes. But I was strangely tired, so my eyes closed again. Only after I opened them again to look for a softer place to rest, I realized...
"Was zum-"
I was in a small room. There were two shelves, filled to the brim with medical books, a desk and chair, I couldn't see on top from down where I sat. A sword leaned on the wall next to it, which looked a bit familiar, but I couldn't remember where from.
"Wo zur Hölle bin ich? Und wie bin ich hierher gekommen?!", I thought.
The only other thing I noticed was the bed, I was sitting in front of, and two metal doors. What kinda house was built entirely out of metal? Was I even sitting in a house? There was a window next to bed, or rather... a porthole. So I was on a ship? That would be even stranger! I was just about to look through the porthole, when I heard a toilet flushing behind one of the two doors. So someone else was here with me. Maybe they can help me make sense of this situation.
When the person seemed to be washing their hands, I looked at the time on my phone, which was still in my pocket. 13:47 o'clock. My backpack was still where it belonged too, as I noticed just now. I wondered whether my purchase was still inside.
"Warte. Bin ich nicht nach 14 Uhr losgegangen?"
The door opened and cut through my thoughts. I looked up expectantly, just to see a man probably as confused and shocked as me.
"Das ist ein Traum.", I mumbled. The person in front of me quickly searched the room, got caught on something, then looked at me again and examined me. Judging by the direction he looked for his sword. Was I dangerous? The tension lingering in the air discomforted me. Now I theoretically knew where I should be, but I still didn't know how I got here. Besides, it was impossible to be here. I mean 'One Piece' was an anime. I couldn't ever be at a fictional place! Maybe... maybe this is all just a play? So the man standing in front of me is just a cosplayer! That's still very unlikely, but the best explanation I could think of.
"Uhm...", I started and watched Law's reaction carefully. He was still standing in the door, not moving an inch. Was this part of the play or was he just as confused as I was? "Entschuldigung können Sie mir sagen wo genau ich bin? Ich bin hier aufgewacht und gerade etwas verwirrt.", I said, feeling the need to explain my question.
Law's eyes widened for a short moment, then narrowed again. He looked as though he was thinking very hard. Not answering.
"Können Sie mich verstehen?", I tried again. His only reaction a frown.
"[What are you doing here? How did you get inside the submarine?]", he seemed angered, hence I would like to answer, but-
"Welche Sprache ist das?", it sounded a little bit like japanese, but still different. Maybe a dialect, I thought.
"Do you understand this?", I asked, hoping english would get me any further.
"How come you speak the forgotten langauge?", he asked irritatedly.
"What do you mean, forgotten language?", I asked in a confused manner. English was far from being forgotten.
"Where are you from? And what are you doing here?", his voice was low and I could feel his anger through it. I had no idea why he was angry at me, but it didn't relieve the tension at all.
"I'm truly sorry if I shouldn't be here, but I'm a bit helpless right now. I would really appreciate it, if you were to be so kind and help me a little." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was still angry, but didn't seem as tense anymore. Wouldn't surprise me if he thought I was a burglar. Since I still had my backpack on and suddenly appeared in his room.
He leaned against the door frame with still crossed arms. "Too bad I'm not a kind person. Tell me how you got in here and who you are."
"I actually don't know how I got here myself. I was wondering the same thing after suddenly waking up inside this room. I was on my way home when-", I fell silent when I noticed, I couldn't remember what happened. I went home. Listened to music. I could still remember that Billie Eilish played, but... Nothing after that. The song still lingered in my mind.
The man in front of me pulled me from my cluelessness. "When what? Talk.", he ordered. Well, what was I supposed to tell him? I didn't know what happened myself.
"I don't know. I... I don't remember what happened. I was in a good mood, walking home. Listening to music. But after that, I just cannot remember a thing. What happened?", I looked at him as if he knew the answer. Of course he wouldn't know, but I had no one else to turn to. But he remained silent. He looked at me intensely, probably trying to get a hint whether I was lying or telling the truth.
A silent moment passed, as I didn't have the courage to pull this man, that looked like Trafalgar Law, out of his thoughts. I looked through the room once again. Though I still doubted that this man standing in front of me was the real Trafalgar D. Water Law, he was intimidating. Of course, the fact that I didn't know where I was and how I got here, just strengthened my reluctance. And I had to admit, his costume was excellent. Eyecolour could be changed easily with contact lenses, but even his voice matched.
"I'm sorry I don't want to disturb you in your thoughts, but could you please tell me where this is at least?", I finally broke the silence after yet another while.
"You're onboard my submarine.", he answered after a short moment of hesitation. He obviously didn't trust me.
"I thought so, yes. But, just to make sure, this is some kind of cosplay event right?", I hoped dearly that I could believe his response.
"What do you mean? What is a cosplay event?", his eyes narrowed again and frowns returned onto his forehead.
"Does he really not know what I'm talking about?"
"Well, obviously you are not the real Trafalgar Law. You're just playing into his role, right? That's cosplaying. And I guess this submarine was also just built for show. Though I do have to say it's very well made and your cosplay as well, I actually wanted to know where we are geographically. Which country and city.", I explained, even though I was confused myself, that this was necessary. His reaction did not help me in the least. He looked more confused than I was and I seem to have angered him even more.
"What exactly do you mean not the real Trafalgar Law? The submarine was just built for show?", he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Did I really anger him that much?
"Please don't tell me this man is a crazy fan who built all that on his own and now seriously thinks he's the real deal."
"I mean... Uhm- Well,Trafalgar Law is an anime character. He is... fictional. You... know that, right? Right?", I hesitantly tried one more time. Either this was the home of a slightly crazy fan or... This one crazy possibility, that I somehow got into the 'One Piece' universe was still in the back of my head. I read too many stories to just throw this possibility over board. As much as I wanted to.
A grin appeared on the man's face all of a sudden. What did that mean? Was this all just a prank and now they'd dissolve it?
"So there were books already written about me? Are you serious? I don't know what you mean by the word of 'anime', but I'm definetely interested in the stories written about my person. You wouldn't mind elaborating on that, would you?", I really didn't know what to think of that. He chose nice words, but the way he talked was intimidating. That was a devilish grin he had.179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWXyeGbG7Q
Aside from that, I started to question my reality. Could it really be, that it was the real, original Trafalgar Law, that was now squating in front of me? Could this man really use a devil fruit's power?
"Uhm, true, there are a lot of where I'm coming from, though I don't think you would like them that much actually.", I said. My voice getting quieter and quieter, as my nervousness grew. I didn't know what to believe anymore. I was at a complete loss.
"Why wouldn't I like them", he pressed the matter.
"L-Let's just say a lot didn't quite get your... personality down right.", when I looked back at him, his grin was still there. He seemed to relax even more, after my insecurity became obvious. Sure, he very much had the upper hand now and wouldn't miss to built up on that.
# The song referred to in this chapter is ilomilo by Billie Eilish
#Yeah that was the start of my fanfiction. I hope you liked it. If you have anything to say, write a review! Thanks for reading :)
Translations:
(1) "Haben die mich gehört?" - "Did they hear me?"
(2) "Was zum-" - "What the-"
(3) "Wo zur Hölle bin ich? Und wie bin ich hierher gekommen?!" - "Where the hell am I? And how did I get here?!"
(4) "Warte. Bin ich nicht nach 14 Uhr losgegangen?" - "Wait. Didn't I leave after 2 p.m.?"
(5) "Das ist ein Traum." - "That's a dream." / "You're kidding." (The first is the literal translation. The latter the one I think conveys her disbelief in a better way.)
(6) "Entschuldigung können Sie mir sagen wo genau ich bin? Ich bin hier aufgewacht und gerade etwas verwirrt." - "Excuse me, could you tell me where exactly I am? I woke up here and am a little confused right now."
(7) "Können Sie mich verstehen?" - "Do you understand me?"179Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGPxZpcU7S
