"𝓜𝔂 𝓯𝓸𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓬𝓱 𝓶𝔂 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓷 𝓮𝓷𝓭. 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓲𝓽 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭'𝓿𝓮 𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝔂. 𝓢𝓶𝓸𝓴𝓮 𝓫𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓹𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓫𝓸𝓻. 𝓟𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓪𝓽 𝓶𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓘'𝓶 𝓪 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻."

Refer back to trigger warnings before proceeding any further.

***

Four hours. It had been four hours since they found out what happened to Artemisia. She still had yet to show back up. This worried the others a little. They were surely taking a long time to prepare her for the dinner. Surely it didn't take that long to dress her up and do her makeup. None of them went to look for her, though. They weren't able to. When they asked Maxwell where they were getting Artemisia ready, he told them that they needed space to get her ready. While he seemed genuine, they still wanted to make sure that their friend was okay.

But here they were. Back at the house they stayed in the previous night. The five sat in the chairs in the living room and remained quiet. At first, when they'd gotten back, they tried to carry on like nothing was wrong. They tried to move on from the disappearance of their friend since they'd gotten a good enough answer as to her whereabouts. But now? It'd been four hours! Not a word from her or anyone else with news about her.

There was one thing that caught the interest of a particular person. Nami was recalling the conversation they'd had with Maxwell. Maxwell explained to them about the history of the village before they got there. Specifically, he told them about the children dying from an illness. It was the reason why they were so happy to see Artemisia, he explained. However, there was something about his explanation that confused Nami.

"How is it possible?" Nami found herself asking out loud.

The others turned to her. It was the first time one of them had said anything in a while. Usopp leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, crossing his arms together, "How is what possible?" He'd asked the question that everyone was now wondering.

A moment of silence passed between them. For a second, Usopp thought that Nami hadn't heard him, or maybe was ignoring him. He was going to repeat the question until Nami finally responded, "The sickness. It's weird, right? How Maxwell explained it? I mean, how could a contagious sickness only affect children?"

And this was the moment when she lost everybody. Luffy looked like he had no clue what she was talking about (though that was normal for him), and neither did Usopp. Sanji seemed curious about what Nami was saying. Meanwhile, Zoro raised an eyebrow at the girl, "People die from illness all the time. Children too. Nothing strange about it."

"Yes, obviously," She bit out. Nami shot him a side-eyed glare at his nonchalant reply. "But only the children? No one else? That kind of thing doesn't happen," Some still looked pretty lost. You could take a guess who. Sanji looked like he was starting to understand, which was a good sign. Nami decided to explain it in more depth, "A contagious sickness would affect everyone, wouldn't it? Sure, it would contaminate a certain group of people, but there would still be a few outliers. Why does this specific illness only attack children? It's highly unlikely. There would be a select few of the other people it affected too."

After the explanation, there was silence. It was starting to sink in for everyone. They were starting to understand. Unfortunately, there was one who didn't want to question it, "Maybe it was a mistake," Luffy had a small smile on his face. "We shouldn't think the worst of the people who helped us escape the storm-"

"The storm that's still going on somehow," Usopp added. Yes, he's right. The storm was still going on. It hadn't wavered. At all. That was the strange thing. Every storm had a moment where it would lighten up, but this storm didn't. It kept going on and on and stayed the same throughout. It was strange.

"We should give them the benefit of the doubt," Luffy finished.

The benefit of the doubt was something that Nami didn't want to give these people. There was something else going on, and she knew it. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she was going to find out. One way or another, she was going to find out. She let out a sigh and stood from her seat, "I'm gonna go take a walk."

A certain chef developed hearts in his eyes as he moved closer to the girl, "I'll come with you, Na-" It was too late. Before he could finish his sentence, the girl had already made it through the doorway and slammed the door behind her. Usopp gave the cook a pitying look, though you could easily see that he, and the others, wanted to make fun of his failed attempt to flirt with the girl once more.

On the other hand, Nami didn't care less about this. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even have time to think about Sanji. Her thoughts were focused on a few main points. The illness, the village, and Artemisia. She had a plan in her head but didn't know how to execute it quite yet. If she found where Artemisia was, she could talk with her about getting some insider knowledge since everyone was so welcoming toward her. Whatever Artemisia found out, she could report back to Nami and they could find out their next course of action. But how would she even find Artemisia?

It was like a higher power was smiling down on her. Someone bumped into her, and the person apologized profusely, saying that they weren't paying attention to where they were going. Nami was a little annoyed and wanted to snap. She stopped herself when she saw who it was. The person who bumped into her also seemed to notice who was standing in front of them as well. The person smiled widely and wrapped their arms around her, "Nami!"

"Artemisia?" That's right. Artemisia stood in front of Nami. She looked much different than the night before. Artemisia's hair was curled into loose spirals, the smallest bit of makeup was on her face, and she wore a fancy, floor-length red dress. There was no denying it. She was definitely beautiful. Whoever was getting her ready did a good job. Nami noticed something else. Artemisia was breathing heavily. She looked like she'd been running. This caused alarm bells to ring in Nami's head. "Are you okay? What happened?"

A laugh escaped from Artemisia. Nami was looking around the area to see if some kind of bad guy was waiting to jump out. She wouldn't be totally wrong. But, the kind of bad guy that Artemisia was worrying about wasn't the kind that Nami was worrying about. Artemisia ceased her laughter and tried to ease Nami's anxiety, "It's nothing bad. Don't worry," Nami relaxed only slightly. She still looked to be on edge. "Elias hired this woman to teach me about the traditions and rituals of the village, and she was killing me with boredom. I had to get out of there!"

Now that was a surprise. Nami stared at the girl with confusion on her features, "What are you talking about?" What kind of traditions and rituals were they teaching her? Why were they even teaching her? They weren't planning on staying long.

The expression on Artemisia's face showed the same questions that Nami was thinking. She sighed and sat down on a bench that was beside them, "When a new child is born into the village, there are traditions that must be followed to welcome the child. Since I'm technically part of the village and never did the ritual as a baby, they want me to do it." Something that seemed entirely unnecessary to her. She'd been humoring them at first but they were serious about her going through with everything.

"Do they not remember that we're leaving when the storm lets up?" Nami asked.

"That's what I said!" Artemisia exclaimed. "They still want me to do it since I'm a child of the village either way," Speaking about the village made Artemisia take a look around. It was nice, quaint. If you didn't let the tents keeping the rain from dousing everyone get in the way. While taking a look around, Artemisia's eyes fell on a very familiar, strict woman. The girl straightened up and faced Nami, "Well, I gotta go. My teacher's here, and I'd rather not deal with her right now. Bye, gorgeous!"

With those being her last words, Artemisia took off. Nami turned to look in the direction that the girl had once been looking. An older woman with brown hair was heading in the direction Artemisia went. Nami decided to let Artemisia deal with that. Something else caught her eye. It was two more women. A woman with dark skin and an afro was whispering to a woman with tan skin. They were looking in the direction that Artemisia had gone in. There was something up.

She was going to get her answers. Nami walked over to where the two women were talking. The women were surprised when Nami walked right up to them and greeted them with a smile. Nami took a look around and said casually, "There's not many children around. Do you have any idea why?"

The woman with tan skin spoke first, "Uh, it's... It's because of a great tragedy." The woman didn't seem entirely sure with her answer. There was some truth behind the words, yes. But something else in her tone said she wasn't sure of what she was saying.

This caused Nami to interrogate her further, "Oh, no. What kind of tragedy?"

Neither of the women was expecting this question. They both seemed to stop completely. The tan woman then started to anxiously shift around. The woman with dark skin noticed and jumped to respond, "Please forgive her," She placed a hand on the other woman's arm. "She lost her own child to the tragedy. It's hard for her to talk about."

A nod was all Nami gave. There was still the tone in the response, but she didn't say anything about it. She didn't want to go and accuse a woman of lying about losing a child and then end up being wrong. That would make her out to be a horrible person. Nami switched her questions to get information about a different subject, "I heard about traditions you do when a child's born. What traditions are there?" There was a look of confusion on their faces. It was obvious that they didn't know what she was talking about. "My friend Artemisia told me about them. She said that Elias was having someone teach her about them."

"And Artemisia is the girl that came with your crew?" The tanned woman inquired. Nami nodded in response. Suddenly, a look of realization passed over the woman's face. She smiled and nodded like she understood, "Ah, right. Sorry. It's been a while since we had one of those. Unfortunately, the traditions are very sacred. It's bad luck to talk about them beforehand. We really shouldn't say anything."

It was clear to the women that Nami wanted to ask more questions. As if they didn't want to be interrogated further, the other woman piped up, "Sorry, we really have to be going now. It was wonderful to meet you." Both women quickly scurried off like they couldn't handle being there any longer. It was like they'd been dying to leave the entire time.

Meanwhile, Nami looked in the direction that they left. She thought she could get more answers if she asked the locals questions. All she ended up with was even more questions. There was something up. She had no idea what. She didn't know if she was going to find out through interrogating people. She had to let things play out if she wanted to find out. She only hoped that no one got hurt in the process.

***

If there was a more intense version of the word bored, Artemisia was feeling it. Sadly, she'd ended up being caught by Leandra. Her running start once she took off was nothing compared to Leandra's unwillingness to let her breathe for just a second. As soon as the older woman caught her, she was dragged right back to the claustrophobic and suffocating room, where she was dolled up and forced to learn the traditions and rituals of the village.

Artemisia would've loved to learn more about the village in other circumstances. This village was where her mother came from and grew up. She'd never talked about this place before for some reason. While Artemisia liked living on the sea and never staying in the same place, she still liked to believe that she belonged somewhere on land as well. She loved Axel and his village, they took care of her when she needed it. But it didn't feel like home. It felt like somewhere she was dumped. This village was somewhere she stumbled into and was greeted with open arms. If you considered those thoughts and feelings, it was easy to compare the two places and which felt better.

Thankfully, Artemisia was finally able to rest after what felt like forever. It wasn't much longer until the feast would start. Artemisia felt a little nervous since she wasn't given a lot of time to practice what she had to do. There weren't too many steps, but there was a poem that she had to say at one point. According to Leandra, the parent would usually say the poem. It's not like the baby could say it. Where Artemisia's parents were not here, she would have to say it herself. A thought occurred to her. It was a silly little poem... Why was she freaking out so much? She could do it. Hopefully.

You know how they say that time passes quickly when you're having fun? Artemisia begged to differ. Time passes quickly when you're relaxing. It felt like it'd only been ten minutes since Artemisia started relaxing. So why was Leandra walking in now with a look on her face? One that Artemisia was hoping didn't mean what she thought it meant. She had a feeling it meant exactly that, though.

"It's time," Leandra's cold tone came out. There was something different about it. It felt a little warmer. Artemisia noticed even more differences as Leandra led her to where the feast was taking place. Leandra walked with a little more pep in her step. Her smile was slowly growing, and her eyes seemed brighter. It was like she finally had hope. The venue came into view. A bunch of tables were brought out near the town square. The whole town was already there. Leandra stopped Artemisia from going any further and started straightening out Artemisia's dress. "Remember the do's and don'ts. Do speak when spoken to. Don't slouch."

A sigh escaped Artemisia, "Yeah, I know. I know."

This would be something that Leandra would chastise her on. She didn't this time. This time, she chose to ignore it. Leandra had the biggest grin as she stared at Artemisia with pride. She hugged the girl, placing a hand behind her head to hold her in place, "Thank the gods for bringing you to us in our time of need."

Okay... That was interesting. Artemisia chose not to comment on it. She didn't even have time to question it in her head. Elias already spotted them and ushered the two over. Leandra motioned for Artemisia to walk first, which confused the girl slightly. Still, the girl walked forward first, and Leandra trailed behind her. Artemisia walked over to Elias who stood from a long table that was placed horizontally. It was the table at the front of the venue.

There wasn't much thought in Artemisia's head about Elias. She was wondering if the others were here. The brunette looked around at the different tables. After a second of scanning the crowd of faces, she finally found them. A smile appeared on her face as she looked at them. They were sitting at a table near the back. Sanji smiled back at her, and so did Usopp. There was a hint of a smile on Zoro's face as well. Luffy looked curiously at the others as he was asking them something, probably about when the food would be served.

And then there was Nami. The two girls locked eyes. For a second, it felt like there was no one else. They were the only ones in the town square. Nami didn't dress up for the feast at all. She wore different clothing from when they arrived, but it wasn't anything fancy. Artemisia wondered what she thought about her (Artemisia) appearance. It wasn't what she typically looked like. If Nami said she liked it, she wouldn't mind always getting dressed up like this. A small smile was appearing on Nami's face.

The sound of a voice broke the girls from their stares. It was Elias, "Welcome, everyone," Artemisia jumped slightly, not expecting the sudden voice. She took one last glance at Nami, flashing a flirty smile before focusing back on Elias. Elias kept his attention on the villagers, "I know that you have heard of visitors, something we haven't had in a while. With these visitors came an old friend," Elias motioned for Artemisia to step beside him. She did so slowly. Some people in the crowd looked shocked upon seeing her. "This is Artemisia, Polymnia's daughter. And with her here, things can go back to how they were."

This was all it took for cheers to break out. Everyone cheered loudly to the point that you could feel the ground beneath them tremble. This was a little surprising since this wasn't exactly a huge village. There was a good number, but not a huge amount. They all looked ecstatic about her being there. It was a little surprising to see. How could someone be this happy to see her? There was no way she was someone this important.

Before she knew it, Elias calmed everyone down. He told Artemisia to sit down. She knew exactly where she was going to go. The empty place beside Nami. She didn't get far. As soon as she started walking away, Elias stopped her and motioned for her to sit in the chair beside him. Artemisia cast a longing look at her friends before begrudgingly sitting down beside Elias. She sighed as everyone got comfortable in their seats, and food and drinks were brought out for everyone to enjoy.

Not feeling hungry, Artemisia just messed with the food on her plate. If there was one thing the women getting her ready knew how to do, it was keep her well-fed. She felt like she was going to burst with how full she was when she asked for a snack. They brought platters of food to her instead of something like an apple. While everyone ate, Artemisia glanced around at her surroundings. The only significant things she could see were the temple that was only a few feet away and a pool of water beside it. That must've been the pool that Leandra was telling her about.

It didn't take long for everyone to eat. Except for Luffy. She watched as the others pried him away from the plates of food so they could focus on the rituals. The rituals were taking place right after they ate, so... They were taking place now. The villagers seemed the most excited about this, while Artemisia only found herself anxious. She didn't want to mess up in front of all these people. Imagine the embarrassment.

The first ritual was easy. A priest from the temple stood before Artemisia as she got down on her knees and positioned herself in a praying motion. The priest spoke a few words in a language that Artemisia couldn't understand. She knew that Leandra told her what the language was, but she hadn't been paying attention during that part of the lecture. When he finished his speech, he poured water (blessed water, Leandra had stressed to her) on her hands, saying that she was now pure from all sins of any past lives. A relief to hear, honestly.

And it was now time for the second ritual, the one she'd been most worried about. The poem. Artemisia took a deep breath as she walked toward the pool that was beside the temple. She took her shoes off as gracefully as possible, not wanting to be scolded by Leandra later. Once her shoes were off, she stepped into the pool and stood there for a moment. Her hands were starting to shake. Could she really do this? God, stage fright was killing her. Just think of something else.

She thought about her friends as she recited the poem that was drilled into her head, "May the light of the sun, Guide her decisions, And the wind in the air, Carry her words. May the earth beneath her feet, Be as strong as her spirit, And the water in the sea, Flow with her soul." It was an interesting poem. She hadn't heard anything like it. She didn't know what exactly it meant. Maybe Leandra also told her this, and she wasn't paying attention then, either. Oh, well. It was over now.

Now it was time for the final part. One of the easier parts. Artemisia put her shoes back on, scrunching her nose at the feeling of water getting into them. She was led back to the main table and made to sit back down. A goblet that looked like it was made of gold was placed in front of her. It shined in the light of the lit torches around them. All she had to do was wait for them to put a drink in the cup and drink it. That's all she needed to do and then everything can be over. But when she looked around, she noticed something.

There was no one coming with any pitcher of water or any other beverage. Artemisia glanced up at Elias with a curious look, "No one is bringing any kind of drink."

"The drink we're giving you is not your typical drink." He smiled.

Weird. Artemisia tried not to think too much about it. Movement caught her eye. She turned her head to see two people walking over to her. A muscular man was walking over with a boy. He was younger than her. One of the only children she'd seen her entire time at the village. She sent both of them a nervous smile. Neither smiled back at her, only staring blankly. This was starting to get even weirder. She would soon realize that weird was not the correct word to describe any of this.

Horrifying was a better word. Artemisia didn't know what to do when the muscular man took out a curved knife. She especially didn't know what to do when he took the knife and slid it across the boy's neck. Her eyes were wide as she watched blood pour from the open wound on his neck. The muscular man positioned the boy so that the blood would pour into the cup on the table.

A new noise was heard. Crying, no, more like sobbing. Artemisia looked over slowly to see a woman. She was staring at the boy with tears falling from her eyes. She was saying something over and over again, a name. Artemisia couldn't make it out. She was still in shock. She didn't notice that there was something on her face. After seeing the woman, she came back to her senses, and that's when she felt it.

There was something sticky all over her face. She reached both hands up to touch under her eyes. When she pulled them back, she froze at the sight. Blood. It was blood. There was blood on her face. Blood on her hands. There... There was blood everywhere. How could this much blood come from a boy that young? The boy. How- How was he? There was one word to describe him. His eyes stared into Artemisia's own as she looked up to where he was being held. He was dead. His empty and glazed-over eyes were the only thing staring back at her.

Surely, she and the other woman weren't the only ones alarmed by this. As she took a look around, Artemisia only saw people who acted like this was just part of the show. The only other people who looked horrified were her friends. They looked to be almost as shocked as she was. And then there was Elias.

Said-man grabbed the goblet by its neck. The boy was dropped, and his body harshly hit the floor. The woman who'd been sobbing, most likely his mother, tried to run to him. She was held back by more men. Elias held the cup out to Artemisia, not caring that blood was dripping onto his hand, "Drink."

"You're crazy," Artemisia didn't bother to censor herself. After what she witnessed, she didn't think it was needed. Especially not after they mercilessly killed an innocent boy. "You're all fucking insane. How could you do this? Why would you even do this?" She stood from her chair. It might've been a bad idea. She now had a much better look at the scene before her; something she wished she didn't have.

The others in the Strawhat crew also stood from their seats. They all went to rush toward their friend when people stood in their way. The ones that had weapons readied themselves to grab them, while the ones who didn't ready their bodies for a physical fight. Anything could have set them off. The sound of a pen dropping could've made an all-out fight start. No one moved or said anything.

Except for Elias, "Instating a new goddess requires a sacrifice."

These words made Artemisia blink a few times. Did she hear him right? Instating a new goddess? "You're fucking insane," She growled out. She took a step away from him. Elias set the cup down on the table. Everything was starting to make a little sense. She couldn't exactly piece it together with her current state of mind, but she was slowly understanding. Artemisia glared at Elias, "I'm not doing anything for people like you."

That was the moment that Artemisia wanted to bolt. She tried to. She didn't get far. Before she could even start running, she was grabbed. Two men grabbed her from behind and held her to keep her from running. Upon seeing this, her friends went to try and come to her aid when the men in front of them stopped them. This was what started the fight.

Whatever they could do, they did. Artemisia struggled her hardest. Sanji took down whoever came near them with his kicks. Luffy used his elasticity in his attacks. Zoro cut down people. Nami hit people with her staff. Usopp used his slingshot. None of it was enough. They held up a good fight, but these people were experts at evasion and capturing. The Strawhats had an advantage in strength, not in what the village soldiers were skilled in.

"I was hoping you would cooperate," Elias stated. This was directed at their whole group. Despite that, he looked directly at Artemisia. He turned his attention to the men who were holding the others. "Take them to the jail," The others were dragged away. Kicking and fighting did nothing for them. Elias focused his eyes back on Artemisia and the men holding her, "And take her to the temple."

And those words were the worst thing she'd ever heard.

~~~

So, uh... I told you it would get wild 👀. This chapter had the most gruesome parts of this storyline. The future chapters will be a lot more toned down, so don't worry too much. If there's anything major, I'll give a warning like I did at the beginning of this chapter. I hope you guys liked this chapter!