บท 1: Confinement 1
I felt an angel near today, though one I could not see
I felt an angel oh so close, sent to comfort me
*********
Wakefulness did not come quickly to Robin. It was slow, rough, and entirely disorienting, like crawling through mud. That she was waking up at all was certainly a surprise. In her life, she had learned surprises were ever so rarely good. Employing one of the techniques that had saved her life on many occasions, she lay there with her eyes closed, not moving an inch. Using her Haki to ensure nobody was nearby, she reached out with her Devil Fruit powers. She instantly conjured an eye on one of the walls to get a lay of the room before dissipating it and reconjuring it in the ceiling corner. In her experience, people very rarely looked up.
Robin got a good look around where she lay with her hidden eye. The room was luxurious, probably the best in which she had ever slept, which was saying something. The bed was large, and the sheets were silken smooth. Robin only realized now that she was entirely naked under the covers, which was distressing. The rest of the room was well furnished; a few cushioned chairs sat in the corner next to a small table. A lounge sofa lay near the foot of the bed. In front of which was a thick carpet, and against the wall was a fireplace made of brick. The fire was lit but burned softly with only a few logs on the grate. Curiously, there were no ashes under the burning wood.
The flames were the only source of illumination in the room though she noted a few lamps on the bedside tables and a chandelier high up in the tall ceiling. A few windows along the wall were covered in heavy, purple drapes. The walls were covered in bookshelves with only space for the fireplace and three doors. One was a sliding door beyond which Robin imagined lay a closet. Everything was made out of dark wood, black velvet, and inlay with subtle touches of ivory.
Whoever had taken her, rescued her, was wealthy. Very wealthy. So what were their plans for her, and where were the rest of her crew? It was not paranoia if people really were out to get you.
She wasn't wearing seastone, at least for the moment, so they either remained ignorant of who she was or didn't intend her harm. For the moment.
Dissipating her eye on the ceiling, Robin slowly and carefully made her way out from under the covers. The room was warm due to the fire, so her nudity was not uncomfortable, but she would prefer to find clothes sooner than later. Keeping a wary eye on either of the doors, Robin made her way towards what she suspected to be the closet.
Sliding it open, Robin realized she was right and wrong with her guess.
To call it a closet was to call a skiff a battleship.
From hangers stretched on for yards were clothes of all styles and colours, and racks of shoes and boots covered one side of the wall. Accessories such as hats, belts, and other paraphernalia filled a shelf on the side beside a massive floor-length mirror. Most disconcerting was that all of it, from the hats, boots, and garments, were in the pirate's preferred style and made out of high-quality material.
Whoever this room belonged to had gone out of their way to ensure it was to her taste.
Some frightening implications came to mind. How long had Robin been unconscious? How long must they have been following her? To remain safe, Robin dressed in clothes that were easy to move in and could function in any weather. She took a hat and sunglasses in case she needed to make a getaway.
As she was getting dressed, Robin started to hear voices from behind one of the doors. Though she could not hear their exact words through the solid wood door, the voices sounded feminine and hurried.
Proceeding slowly, Robin went to the opposite door, cracked it a bit to peek inside, and saw a luxurious bathroom. Closing the door, she made her way to the other entrance and fully opened it.
What lay beyond wasn't in the same style as the room Robin had woken up in. While the floors were still made of wood, they were of a lighter colour, the walls were covered in art rather than bookshelves, and it was lit by bulbs on the wall rather than firelight. The images on the walls depicted various things, though natural landscapes and religious figures seemed to be the most common.
Other doors dotted the walls, though all seemed to be in different styles. Some looked personalized, while others remained blank. The pirate counted three doors on each wall, including the one Robin had just stepped out of. The hall looked to only have one main exit near her own entrance, the other ending in a window overlooking a cliff and the sea. Judging by the light filtering in through it, it was early morning. She decided the windows in her room or in this hall would be a good exit in an emergency. Better than risk delving deeper into the house. With the speed of a woman on the run her entire life, Robin took it in with a quick glance.
After that quick moment, Robin turned her attention to the other hall occupants. Like the hall, she quickly categorized the women she could see, assessing them as possible threats. Of course, she didn't fail to maintain a demure smile on her face as she did so.
They were three women in the hall. Opposite her was a dark-skinned woman in an orange shirt and tight black pants. Long purple hair in a ponytail and yellow eyes. She was tiny by comparison to Robin's tall frame, easily a foot shorter. She leaned against the door opposite the pirate but judging by her tense muscles and wary eyes, she was ready to spring into action at any moment. The other two women were further down near the end and talking by the window.
The first was covered entirely in a dark cloak; her entire body was hidden and her proportions unknown. The only way Robin could even be sure the figure was the occasional fluttering pressed the cloth against some generous curves. Nonetheless, the Straw Hat remained wary since the cloaked woman was hovering in the air. While not super rare, any Devil Fruit that allowed its user to fly was dangerous. Her companion wasn't hidden in the least, however. She was only a few inches shorter than Robin, with tan skin, black hair and blue eyes. She was also wearing an armoured corset that left the top of her generous breasts exposed, greaves, wrist guards and a crown. Her impressive musculature and the weapons on her hip put her as another possible threat. Robin concluded that all three women could be dangerous in different ways.
All eyes flickered to Robin as she stepped into the hall. There was a brief pause as everyone sized each other up. The moment was broken when another one of the doorways opened up, and someone else joined the gathering group.
"What exactly is going on here?" The new arrival was an auburn-haired woman in some sort of leotard. Her eyes were deep crimson, and her long hair was covered in a bejewelled veil. Her eyes flickered over the other women in the same manner as Robin before they settled on the armoured brunette.
"That," The armoured brunette answered. "Is an excellent question. Is anyone here aware of where we might be located? Neither myself nor Raven are familiar with this building. We also do not remember arriving here." She asked, gesturing to her cloaked companion and surveying the growing group.
"If I had known, I would not have asked," The spandex woman said.
"The others might know," the cloaked woman, Raven, spoke up in a monotone voice. As her armoured companion looked at her companion in question, she continued. "There are five more women down that way." She pointed a gray-skinned finger down past Robin.
Robin subtly opened and closed hidden eyes without indicating her actions in rapid succession. She followed the path down the long hall, which opened into a grand foyer. It seemed like they were in the left corridor of a large mansion. Robin assumed they were on the second floor based on the double stairs going down and up and the great glass wall and doors below. Aside from the two sets of stairs, double doors were in the center between both halls. All this she observed and noted in a few blinks of an eye.
As Robin opened an eye in the ceiling of the opposite corridor, she observed that, like Raven said, there were five more women in this side hall. Four blondes and another cloaked figure. She couldn't distinguish too much of their profiles from her position, but they all appeared to be more than blessed in the looks department, with some of the largest busts she had ever seen. She took what information she could gleam in a moment.
Light purple cloak, pointed ears, withdrawn in the corner.
Blonde shoulder-length hair, silver corset and thigh highs.
Blonde hair in a bun, white and black blouse, small cape, whip. Talking with 'Corset Blonde.'
Blonde hair in pigtails, green shirt, massive rack. Holding her head in apparent pain.
Blonde hair in a bun with bangs, silver armour, white-furred cloak. Luminescent green eyes staring right at Robin!
Robin tensed and dismissed the eye on reflex. That woman had been sharp. Even the most proficient Haki users hadn't been able to notice her spying. She braced herself to use her Devil Fruit if the need came. Shaking her head, Robin changed her train of thought.
Of more importance was finding getting as much information as possible. The rest of the women in the hall seemed to be no more well-informed than Robin was.
That did not paint a pretty picture.
A group of beautiful women. All were displaced with no idea what was going on. Who appeared in an area that clearly belonged to wealthy individuals? This was setting off alarms in her head. The lack of a collar around their necks and the fact that they had placed no seastone on her stopped the worst of the panic. She still had options.
"I shall ask," the armoured brunette said to her companion. She made her way towards the second-floor landing and the other hall. "I am Diana of Themyscira, and this is Raven." The pair walked past Robin and her shorter opposite. The veiled woman followed the pair by a few feet. The pirate pretended to do the same but started down the stairs rather than the other corridor. She would not find answers there.
"Scathach," she heard the veiled woman say as she stepped away.
Beyond was a terrace connecting to a curving staircase leading to a big entrance like Robin had seen. Everything remained in the same style as the hall, there were no gaudy displays, and most of the wealth seemed to be implied rather than overt. That actually went a long way to soothing Robin's fears. In her experience, those with wealth and power tended to flaunt it. Those who maintained subtle expressions of power tended to be the more competent, for better or worse. They also tended to be less prone to casual cruelty.
As she descended the stairs, Robin felt a weight settle onto her shoulder. She saw a black cat staring up at her with its golden eyes from its perch.
"Hello there," it said in a deep voice. It sounded male, but judging from the fact that it came from the hallway behind her, it was probably female. Another Devil Fruit user, then. By process of elimination, she was the shorter woman in orange from the room opposite her own.
"Hello," Robin answered as she proceeded down the stairs.
"You got a name?" The cat asked.
Interesting. While Robin was in no way vain, the Straw Hat Pirates were rather well renowned, and she was one of the more infamous ones of the group. A Devil Fruit user not knowing her name suggested isolation or willful ignorance. Nonetheless, while she was undoubtedly paranoid, she was not rude.
"Sunday. And you are?" The cat snorted in amusement
"I know a fake name when I hear one, and that is as fake as they come. But I guess you can keep your secrets. Name's Yoruichi. Ya' got any idea about what's going on?"
"I am as ignorant as you on the subject," Robin shrugged. "What is the last thing you remember?" She asked, fishing for information. The way Yoruichi eyed her made her realize the cat knew what she was doing and didn't care.
"Having my heart ripped out, how about you?" The cat deadpanned.
"That lines up with my experience, yes." Yoruichi, which he squinted up at her.
"So, some sort of extra afterlife? Separate from Soul Society and Hueco Mundo?" Robin didn't know what those two places were, but the context made it easy to guess. Nevertheless, she was not one to advertise her ignorance.
"Possibly," Robin answered as she reached the foyer entrance and pushed open the large double doors. "Though I'm expecting something a little more strange."
Beyond the doors lay paradise. That was the only way to put it.
The building was set atop a small mountain that overlooked an island. A path of well-paying stones ran from the doors, about a 15-minute walk if Robin was the judge, down to a large field. On either side of the path were orchards of fruit-bearing trees. Looking to the right and left, she noticed that the orchard eventually ended, and forests covered the other parts of the island. The island was massive. She couldn't see its end, with snow-capped mountains towering in the distance blocking further viewing.
The weather was warm without being too hot. The sea sparkled blues and greens under the early morning sunrise. From what Robin could tell, the building wrapped around the hill like a crown, made of oaks and other woods. She could see large windows and terraces, giving it an open-air feel. It was on a towering cliff that faced southwards, below which lay a sandy beach. All in all, it looked like a summer island paradise if it were not for the fact that a few kilometres from shore, the sea disappeared into a yawning black void.
"Right," the cat drawled, "something strange."
The following hour was spent exploring the building where the various women found themselves. It was a somewhat sprawling mansion, with everything a group would need to survive independent of the world and then some more. There was a large training yard to the side of the building filled with a shed of weapons and armour. A greenhouse grew various plants, most of which Robin or Yoruichi could not identify. The back of the building was wrapped by a rather lovely deck which contained a hot tub and a pool that looked rather inviting. That part hung over the cliff edge, and the glass floor produced a feeling of vertigo that made Robin a bit queazy.
The inside of the building was perhaps even more luxurious, though it maintained its subtle style. The first floor was primarily rooms dedicated to utilities. The kitchen was large enough to house 10 people and the dining room thrice that amount. There was a large sitting room with a fireplace much like the one in Robins, with plush couches and various seating arrangements. Another room was a dedicated library filled with books of all sorts and languages Robin couldn't even recognize. Yoruichi practically had to drag her from the room. On the second floor were bedrooms, the double doors the pirate noticed earlier leading to an absolutely lavish master suite. The third floor was actually the roof. A bit of greenery was interspersed around various terraces seating arrangements and another pool. It all seemed designed to maximize the enjoyment of the spectacular view.
As they explored, the pair kept engaging in their little game, dare she say it, cat and mouse. They kept trying to weed out secrets from the other.
Robin learned that Yoruichi was indeed female. She enjoyed teasing others, was extremely politically savvy, had just been in a major war, and had no idea what a Devil Fruit was. What Yoruichi learned the straw hat could only guess, though there were moments where the cat looked so smug Robin could tell right away that she had discovered something. The pair had seen more of the women as they explored, but they felt no need to engage them in conversation. Everybody was exploring, some in pairs, but most by themselves. The team noticed the cloaked woman from the other hall fly off the mansion's roof and into the forest.
After an hour of exploration, they were getting a bit hungry, so the pair made their way to the fully stocked kitchen. They were not the only ones with that idea, as it seemed one of the blondes from the other hall had decided food was a good idea. It was the very busty one in green. She was still holding her head in pain while munching on some bread. In some unspoken agreement, Yoruichi jumped from Robin's shoulder onto the counter the woman sat at while Robin started gathering ingredients for their own meal.
"Morning," the cat said to the blonde. She looked up and blinked at it in surprise before the blonde gave a small groan and answered.
"Morning," She groaned.
"Rough night?" Yoruichi asked.
"Mother of all hangovers, chakra's so dry I can't even heal it." She answered.
"Been there," the cat winced in sympathy but did not comment on the word 'chakra.' "Crazy party?"
"Last I heard, you guys were lost in the Mist civil war. Have you been without a summoner this entire time?" The busty blonde warily eyed the pair.
"I think you might have us confused with someone else," Yoruichi nonchalantly replied. "I'm Yoruichi. This is Sunday. We just woke up here, like you."
"Right," the blonde muttered before taking a swig of her coffee. She placed her hand to her temple, the appendage glowing a pale green. It only lasted a few seconds, but she looked less like death warmed over. "Let's cut the bullshit. I'm in no mood to pussyfoot around. Who are you? Where are we? What happened to Madara?"
"In order; We just told you. No idea. Who? Also, can we get a name, or should I keep calling you Tits?" The cat replied glibly, which drew a smirk from the blonde.
"Tsunade," the Hokage responded. "So, what can you tell me?"
"There are ten of us. All female, all attractive. We are in an opulent mansion on a cliff on the south side of a Summer Island, a large one based on the mountains. There are animals in the woods and ocean, but no sea kings. I have not found anyone else within ten kilometres of here, though I am still exploring." Robin answered as she finished pleading the two meals.
As she did so, the pirate realized she had been on autopilot. The food looked much better than anything she had ever made before. Taking a bite, it certainly tasted better as well. While she could cook for herself, years spent on the run had taught her self-sufficiency; she was no Sanji. Whatever she had just made looked like skinny pancakes wrapped around some sort of spread filled with fruit and were utterly new to her. Something beyond the kidnapping and rescue from death was bizarre here. But if there is one thing Robin enjoyed, it was a good mystery. Filing it away for later, she passed the plate to Yoruichi, questioning whether the cat would even be able to eat the meal.
She needn't have bothered. No sooner had the food been placed did the cat jump from the counter to a stool. She was engulfed in a puff of smoke, now sat there with a fork and knife in hand was the dark-skinned, dark-haired woman. Robin barely paid it any mind. Such things were everyday occurrences on the grand line. The Hokage stared for a moment before she spoke up.
"That's an interesting technique," she said with a smile.
"Thanks," the cat-woman replied, entirely unconcerned with her nudity. "From what we can tell, apart from being attractive women, the only common factors are that everybody is strong. From what I can tell, the three of us are some of the weakest here." Tsunade eyed her in disbelief, though Robin could accept that. Power was not the be-all-end-all. "Also, out of curiosity, you didn't happen to die right before waking up here?"
"Had my neck snapped," the Hokage nodded in a blase manner. Entirely unconcerned about her 'death,' she continued. "So this the Pure Land?"
"I do not believe this to be the afterlife." Robin pipped up as she polished off her breakfast. It was really, really good. She stood and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot. "Somebody is recruiting. They save us and butter us up with a fancy mansion. Let us get situated, then make their offer. Based on what I've seen, they want us to fight for them. The training yard, the weapons, and the warehouses filled with materials do not paint a pretty picture."
"Sounds like Akatsuki," Tsunade snorted in disgust.
Robin was going to ask a few questions about what she meant when a feeling overcame her. That was the best way to describe it. It was like when you walk into a room, you forget why you came. You stand there for a moment, confused, before deciding to move on with your day. She was curious about what could cause the emotion for a brief moment before her vision swam, distorted and went black.
Her teacup fell to the ground, shattered in shards of porcelain and tea, shocking the two other women in the kitchen.
*********
The dizziness faded quickly, but Robin had been on guard since her morning awakening. As soon as she could, she threw herself against the nearest wall, crossed her arms and prepared to use her devil fruit on whoever had teleported her. She wished she could say that this was the first time something like it had happened, but her life had been far too interesting for that to be the case.
Thankfully, her paranoia was not needed.
Rather than find herself surrounded by hordes of enemies prepared to take her down, Robin was almost alone in a small and cramped cell. A quick-eyed glance revealed that she wouldn't have even been able to lay down completely, the cell being too narrow. A few suspicious stains dotted the walls, most looking like dried blood. There was no furniture at all. Light streamed in from what seemed to be a hole in the brickwork of the roof, the harsh sun beating down on the only occupant of the small room.
He gaped at her in complete astonishment.
He was huddled up in the corner of the room, trying to hide in the shade cast by the few remaining bricks in the ceiling. Robin couldn't look at his complete profile with his arms wrapped around his knees. From what she could tell, he was incredibly skinny, and his skin had the consistency of leather, likely from being out in the sun. Dark-haired and with dark eyes, she estimated he would be about her height if he stood up, but Robin dismissed him as any physical threat because she could see and count his ribs. His only distinctive qualities were a trio of red tattoos that circled his heart around what seemed to be a ring of black fire.
She could tell this because he was completely naked.
More importantly, how had Robin arrived in the cell, and how would she get out?
Thankfully the hole in the roof provided the best means of escape since the cell doors would probably be made of sea stone if they meant the trap her. Peeking her head through the barred door to peer into the hall beyond, she realized it was too dark for her to see anything. Beyond a bit illuminated by the sun that streamed through the cell door, it was pitch black. She didn't see anything beyond some more broken masonry and what seemed to be other prison cells. Robin did hear some movement, though from further beyond.
She was deciding whether it would be better to create an artificial ladder to the ceiling, try and break down the door, or interrogate her fellow prisoner. The other room occupant, quiet until now and completely surprised at her arrival, broke his silence.
With laughter.
It started with a few chuckles at first. As Robin turned to him, he degenerated into hysterical, maniacal laughter. Robin kept an eye on the corridor to see if anyone was approaching to investigate the sound. Thankfully nobody was near, but she kept a wary eye on the prisoner. Who knows what he would do. She tried waiting for his mirth to die, but he laughed. On and on and on and on. After a minute, she was exasperated. After two, she was a bit crept out, and after three, Robin was getting decidedly nervous. Thankfully he never made it to four.
"Oh man," he said more to himself than to Robin. She could see tears in his eyes; though he was still smiling, Robin recognized it as the smile of the damned, those who had lost all hope. The way she used to smile. "One time! That was all it took to go hollow, one fucking time. Man, do I suck. This is just sad. I was hoping for at least a dozen, but I thought I at least had five in me."
"Excuse me," Robin interrupted the old man's ramblings politely. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are?"
"Well," he responded wryly, stretching out on the ground and giving her a view she did not need from a man his age. He seemed utterly unbothered with his nudity. "I can't confirm this. But I do believe we are in the Asylum." That seemed to send him into another fit of chuckles, though he did not last as long as before.
"Asylum? Which Asylum? Do you know which island we are on?" Her question turned his chuckles into the same maniacal after a before. As if she had just said something amusing. Not willing to waste time anymore, Robin first decided to test the doorway before she left by the roof.
She expected it to be reasonably solid, if not stuck entirely due to how the bars were bent into the doorframe. Robin was unprepared to have her hand pass through the metal as if she were one of Perona's ghosts. Her hand merely moved the metal as if nothing was there. The same happened when she pressed against the brick wall.
"Going somewhere?" The prisoner asked between his giggles.
"Yes, I am getting out of here." Robin could question the materials of her body at a later point. This inmate, whoever he was, was of no help. Better to explore on her own.
Robin stepped through the grated cell door as if it wasn't there and made her way down the hall. Robin made sure to keep her haki activated at all times to be on the safe side. It was more responsive than she was used to, another oddity of the situation. While Robin liked mysteries (to an almost unhealthy degree, Nami once commented), she liked having answers more. The last few hours have provided all too few of those.
While it did get darker further from the cell, Robin could still avoid the holes in the floor and the fungal growths on the wall. Whatever Asylum she was in, it was old if the prisoner was to be believed. Very old. Stone did not erode quickly, especially when not left to the elements. Still, Robin was seeing more than a few signs of degradation. Judging by the dust and dirt accumulation, nobody had been down this hall in at least months, if not years. That brought a few questions regarding the prisoner she had just left and how he had survived so long without food. Looking back on her short path through the hall, Robin noticed that she had not left any footprints in the dust.
She came to the end of the corridor, having passed more than a few cells that were either empty, collapsed, or wholly destroyed. She reached the only intact door she had seen so far, this one a solid metal slap rather than the cells' bars. Robin pressed her hand against it to ensure it would pass through, which it did before walking through herself.
No sooner had she arrived on the other side than she found herself yanked the back with violent force. Tumbling to the ground in a heap, Robin quickly righted herself and rose to her feet, ready to confront whatever had grabbed her.
There was nothing there.
Robin was so alone in this dark, dusty prison hall. The shuffling she had noticed earlier was more pronounced and came from beyond the metal door. The only sound apart from it was the prisoner she had left behind, who had started to hum a little song to himself.
"The sun was setting in the West,
the birds were singing on every tree.
All nature seemed inclined for rest,
but still, there was no rest for me."
Robin tuned him out as she used her Devil Fruit to open an on the ceiling above her head and tried to pass through the door again. Once again, a tugging sensation around her naval pulled her backwards. She was more prepared for it, she did not fall and instead only stumbled, but that didn't change the fact that there was nothing there.
Robin only stuck her head through the wall, deciding to test something else. This time she was not pulled back and could get a good look. Beyond the metal door lay what seemed to be another hall. Though this one was almost entirely without light, Robin could spot a few shadows moving in the darkness. A humanoid form seemed to pass right by, but she could make out nothing else.
Pulling her head backwards, Robin made her way back to the cell, intent on leaving through the hole in the roof.
"~The sea-bound coast, let your mountains, dark and dreary, be.
So when I am far away, on the briny ocean toss,
Will you ever heave a sigh and a wish for me?
Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?"
The man's haunting sea shanty ended as Robin stepped through the prison cell door. Had this been any other sort of situation, Robin would have applauded. It was an unfamiliar song, but its haunting beauty and the quality of his voice made it one she would remember.
"Sorry about that," he said to her as she reappeared. "You know how it is. I'm a regular jailbird now. And a jailbird has to sing, even if it sounds like a bunch of wet cats being thrown against the wall." Robin stifled a giggle despite herself, always appreciating a bit of dark humour.
She eyed the hole in the ceiling, about 30 feet, which was really excessive. She was about to use her powers to make a rope of arms and pull herself up when the old man's following words stopped her short.
"Conjuring you up must've put me in the mood for the sea. God, would I kill the see the ocean. If I'm gonna rot in here, I wish there would at least be by the water."
"Conjured?" Robin asked him.
"Hm?" He looked at her in confusion as he chuckled and answered. "Sorry, was that offensive? Imagined? Summoned? Willed into existence? Deluded myself into believing you are real as a last desperate gasp of my mind and soul going hollow? Which do you prefer?"
"You don't think I'm real?" Robin asked, letting the tension ease from her shoulders. And she had hoped she had finally found the lead on the strange happenings of the morning. That tension shot right back with his following words.
"Course you're not real. How else would Nico Robin of all people end up in my tiny cell in the Asylum?"
"You know who I am?" She asked tersely, hoping to finally get some concrete answers. The little back-and-forth with your Yoruichi had been more confusing than illuminating. Even Tsunade, for all that she had been an open book, had brought on more questions than answers.
"Yep! You're a figment of my imagination. I must know who you are to imagine you being here."
"Not that," she snapped. "You know my name."
"Nico Robin, Devil Child, Straw Hat Pirate, the most wanted woman in the world. Intelligent, deadly, beautiful, and right now being an abysmal example of a delusion. Aren't you supposed to convince me to kill everybody or something? I'm not exactly sure how hollowing is supposed to work. All you've done so far is ask stupid questions and passed through a few walls. I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest. I was expecting you to convince me that I needed to go out on a mass murder spree, not that I could, or maybe sacrifice a chicken to our Lord Gwen or something. For shame undying curse. Taking the form of one of my favourite characters of all time and not even trying to seduce me to the dark side. Deplorable service. 2/5 stars. Would not recommend it. At least the staff was excellent."
The man's ramblings sounded more insane, but Robin at least got confirmation that he knew her. Deciding to stop him as he rambled on, she reached out to grab him something about there not being any cookies. She planned to shake sense into him, only for her arms to pass through his body like they had all other objects since her appearance in this abnormal cell.
"… Though, they would be oatmeal raisin, wouldn't they? Indeed the dark Souls of cookies. Prepare to die." He noticed her movement and gave her a warm and heartbroken smile. "Cant even seduce me? Make that one out of five stars. I'm desperate, but if I'm going to hold a delusion for warmth, I'd rather be able to touch it. While vampires can be attractive, no matter how beautiful a ghost is, you can't really do anything with it."
"Focus!" Robin said. "I am real! You know who I am. Do you know how I got here?"
"If you're so real, what's behind door number one?" He asked as he nodded his head towards the cell door.
"I don't know. I was yanked backwards as soon as I tried to pass through the door at the end of the hall."
"That is precisely what a figment of my imagination would say." He crowed triumphantly.
"I am not a figment of your imagination," Robin said, taking a deep breath. There was no point antagonizing the man. Not like she could do anything to him anyway. "The other side of the metal door was too dark to see, though I did notice some humanoid-shaped beings walking around."
"I could've told you that," he snorted in derision. "I can hear them shuffling, hollows if I'm not mistaken. Most of them would be too stupid to know how to open the door. Is there anything that you could say I wouldn't know about?"
Robin bit her lip in thought. What did he know about her? It could be from wanted posters and news or private Marine information. She had no idea what would be new information to him. Her best bet was something recent which meant she either had to talk about this morning or that. She went with the safer option.
"I woke up this morning in a mansion on an island I have never heard about. I was not the only one. There are other women there. I only got a few names, Yoruichi, Raven, Diana and Tsunade. While we were having breakfast, I suddenly appeared here. Do you have any idea what is going on?"
Robin saw the smile drop from his face for the first time since she had appeared in the cell. He looked at her, really looked at her for the first time. There was an intensity in his eyes, hope and a fire that had not been there before.
"How do you know those names?" He asked.
"I talked to them," she answered, happy to finally be getting somewhere. "As I said, we are having breakfast. That is where I met Tsunade, but Yoruichi and I had been exploring the mansion before that. You know who they are."
"Of course I know who they are!" He answered succinctly, no longer looking at her but instead staring up at the hole in the ceiling. She could almost see his mind working away. "Describe them to me, just to be sure. Was there anybody else?"
Deciding to keep the conversation going, Robin did as he asked.
She described the cat woman, Tsunade, and the other women she had seen in passing. From the armoured brunette to the cloaked women and the blondes in the other hall. She also described what she had seen of the island and mansion.
"The entire build? Then why was the island so big? I didn't have enough points." The man murmured to himself. "If so, why am I?" He trailed off before looking at her. "Never mind that. If what you said is true, I might have an idea about what is going on. That is, of course, I am not imagining this entire conversation. Delusions and hope are dangerous things. Good thing I have nothing to lose."
"Go on."
"So this will require a bit of explanation." He stood up. She had guessed right about his size as he came up a bit taller than her. He started pacing back and forth around the small space of his cell, still uncaring about his nudity. "I am guessing you don't know anything about multi-verse theory?"
"Never heard of it," she answered as she sat down in an opposite corner of the room.
"Basic idea is that anything is possible in some alternate timeline. What if you decide to go left instead of right? Ate this rather than that for breakfast? What if you were never born? What if you were born a redhead? What if you were born a guy? An infinite number of options leads to an endless number of parallel worlds. And, much like if you had enough monkeys with typewriters, you would eventually get a complete stage play, with enough parallel worlds, anything is possible. Even the travel between them. Are you following me so far?"
"Seems simple enough." She might have read a novel about something similar years ago.
"Right," he stared at her for a moment before continuing. "I forgot you had a degree in archaeology at age 8. If you want more information, you should talk to Wonder Woman or Raven." At her blank look, he explained. "The woman with the tiara and the cloaked woman, respectively. You could also ask Medea, the other one in the cloak. Either way, they have probably more first-hand experience than anyone else with something like that if you want more information. That is, if you can get back to the mansion or if they get teleported to the cell as well. But I digress."
"Basically, going by the theory that anything is possible, any story ever told actually happened, in this reality or another. Every fantasy book, every mythological tale, it's all real somewhere out there. As we talk, even you and I are being written about and read somewhere somehow. That's how I know who all of you were. You were characters in a story originating from different universes."
"So you still think I am not real?"
"Until I can prove one way or another, I must act as if you are real. Actually wrote a book on the subject, but that is neither here nor there. If you think you are real, you are. No matter what anyone else might claim. Moving on, there is something for you to test when you get back to the island. Look around for Raven. She should have pale skin, purple hair, and a red jewel on her forehead."
"You seem certain I'll be able to get back."
"If I'm right, there shouldn't be an issue. But we'll get to that. Now, as for what I think happened. A few years ago, somebody threw together a challenge in my world. The premise was that you are given a limited number of points. You used them to purchase a retinue who are assigned a value based on strength. You are to be thrown into a fictional world with your purchases, sometimes on a mission. Sometimes as a simple what-if scenario. Over the years, the original challenge has been changed, updated, and used for everything from gripping character examinations to straight-up porn, as you can imagine."
"So you're saying," Robin piped up, having never been one to care about any sort of taboo and trying to put the man on the back foot. "That you masturbated to porn of me."
"More than you could imagine," the man deadpanned at her before resuming his pacing. "Get used to it. If the multi-verse theory holds true, some fat degenerate slob is jerking off to you, me, a monkey, a trashcan, and a pile of vomit. Even all the above." She shuddered in revulsion at the image. "You see, most people try not to think too deeply about it. Anyway, we got off-topic. I'm telling you this because I think this challenge, colloquially known as the waifu catalogue or rule 34 catalogue, has something to do with our situation. First of all, I had taken up that challenge as a joke. The world I believe I am in was rated highly for danger and thus afforded me quite a few points. About two weeks ago, I wrote a short little story. It was a joke about how it would be straightforward to overpower this entire world and that it shouldn't be rated so highly. I threw together in an afternoon to entertain myself."
"And I was one of your purchases," Robin said with distaste, not liking how it compared to slavery.
"Bitch please," he waved off her distaste. You were my first pick. Granted, that was more for utility, espionage, and crowd control than sheer power. As I said before, you're one of my favourite characters." Robin didn't know if she was flattered by that but decided that thinking about it could wait. She waved him on. "Anyway, realistically, the group I assembled would be able to completely curb stop any challenges this world presented. The biggest problem would be getting from place to place, and even that could be solved by either Medea or Raven with some time. Once we completely obliterated our foes, we would be able to travel the multi-verse, even getting you ladies home. It would be easy, quick, and the most significant challenge would have been getting everybody on the same page. There was no romance, no porn, not even hand-holding. Truly I fail as a degenerate." The man muttered to himself.
"So what happened?" She prodded, trying to get him on track before he degenerated again.
"I have no idea," he stomped his feet and frustration. "As I said, I wrote the little story about two weeks ago and put it out of my mind. When I appeared in here," he waved to the cell walls. "I figured it had been a dimensional anomaly. In an infinite number of worlds, people are guaranteed to slip through the cracks sometimes. I just thought I just had the shitiest luck ever. That was a month ago."
"A month? How are you still alive?"
The man didn't answer, but he smiled sardonically at Robin and tapped his finger out the black mark on his chest.
"Same way I guessed where I was. But no matter what I did, how long I waited, nothing was getting me out of this damn cell. Where's Oscar when you need him. And then you showed up. You can't touch anything, right?
"Nothing so far? "She half asked, not knowing where this was going.
"What I think happened is that all the benefits, such as the mansion and the help you girls were supposed to provide, were given to the women I chose. While I got trapped here with no benefits. If I'm correct, you should all notice being much stronger than before, being able to make the most delicious food, as well as other things. That also means you will be trapped on the island, even if it is a paradise until I can get out of this Asylum and link the damn fire. If I'm lucky, that is all we need to get out of this mess."
"Assuming you are right," Robin decides to play the devil's advocate, "which we don't know you are, that helps us how?" I could not travel very far, and I couldn't physically interact with anything. I won't be of much help. I still do not know why or how I was teleported here."
"That's where the testing will come in. Good old scientific method. Trial and error. If I'm right, you women won't be able to help me directly, but indirect help can be precious. There might be ways of getting around whatever restriction makes you unable to interact with the world. The first test we can do right now. Can we get you back to the mansion?"
"All right," Robin said, standing up. They had a plan. Plans were good. Plans were better than wandering around aimlessly. "What do I need to do."
"Before anything else, if I am right and you do make it back to the mansion, I need you to promise me to try and replicate whatever brought you here. Without help, there is no guarantee I will ever be able to make it out of this cell, and we will remain prisoners. Promise me." He stared into her eyes intensely as if willing her to understand the severity of the situation.
"I promise to do my best." The way he eyed her told her that he knew exactly what she was doing with the way she worded the promise, but he sighed in defeat and whispered, "That will have to do."
"Once you get back, ask Tsunade to drop her transformation. Be prepared to dodge. That should prove I know what I am talking about." She looked at him in confusion but nodded. "All right, if I'm correct, you should be able to enter the mansion from wherever and whenever you want. Stand in front of the door. Imagine you are opening an entry into the mansion. Any of the doors that you said you used this morning. As you do that, try and open the cell door."
Robin furled her brows in concentration, imagined the door in front of her was a solid oak one attached to her bedroom in the mansion and reached out. Her hand touched something, and as she pulled, space distorted in front of her till she looked at a rippling rectangle of gray.
No sooner had the odd doorway appeared than the old man rushed through her incorporeal form and tried to throw himself through the passage. He bounced violently off the metal bars that lay beyond.
"Worth a shot," he grumbled as he clutched his head pain in a ball on the floor.
Robin stepped through the passage and reappeared in the villa's kitchen, giving him one last look.
She heard her teacup crash to the ground and stood a foot behind her seat at the counter. Both Yoruichi and Tsunade jumped at the noise and her displacement, but Robin paid them no mind. She was eager to solve a few mysteries.
"I need you to drop your transformation?"
The pirate was happy her Haki had warned her enough to duck under the flying plate.
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ReadingDangerously
ReadingDangerously I am writing this author's note after finishing the first volume and part 1 of Volume 2. I have cross-posted this to other fanfiction sites and forums but I am constantly being told that my work should be more well-known so I have searched out sites like Webnovel that I am unfamiliar with but am willing to give a shot. I will release one chapter a day till we catch up to the other sites, then I will release one chapter every Friday at the same time on all sites. I will be leaving the author notes in the chapters, as they do contain some side information for those that are curious as well as illustrating the growth I went through as a writer through the fic.
There are light spoilers in this, so skip this if you want to go in blind, but I feel like it is important for people to know what to expect.
This is a multi-crossover based on the Waifu-Catalogue challenge. The challenge itself is more common on QQ but it only serves as a framework for the story and intimate knowledge is not needed. As the description said it is a WC/Soulsborne/Superhero crossover. The exact fandoms are thus;
Dark Souls 1 through 3
Elden Ring
Bloodborne
Those make up the main components of Volume 1. You do not need to have played the games to read this fic. I try and tell the story in such a way that even people who are unfamiliar with them can still be engaged so long as they understand the basics.
I wrote this volume as an Origin Story for the characters as I don't like WC fics that ignore characterization in favor of smut. (Unless you are specifically looking for that ;) Volume 1 will have down moments, I am not going to lie. But I do not want to write an edgy grim-derp type of story. I simply want one to be engaging.
Volume 2 and onwards will take place in one world. The only world this fic will concern itself with. From the epilogue of Volume 1 till the end of the fic, there will be no world hopping. It is a composite world of Worm/Marvel/DC. If that is not your cup of tea, I do not blame you. I will work hard on doing a good job with world-building but, as this is fanfiction, I am not a professional author. Volume 2 will also mark the tonal shift of the fic. It will still have its serious moments but it will also include what many come to a WC fic for. Power fantasy. Wish-fulfilment. Sex. I will also try and be judicious with their use.
That is all I will say, on to chapter 2.
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