"𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓘 𝓵𝓮𝓯𝓽 𝓪 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓮 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓲𝓷 𝓝𝓮𝔀 𝓨𝓸𝓻𝓴. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓴𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓸 𝓭𝓲𝓮𝓭, 𝓼𝓸 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓿𝓲𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻? 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓴𝓷𝓮𝔀 𝓲𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓱𝓾𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓬𝓪𝓻𝓼 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓹𝓾𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝓮 𝓪𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽."

TW: Religious factors and talk of child sacrifice. Let me know if there's more!

***

It was decided that the best place to keep Artemisia was in a room in the temple. This room was down a hallway from a doorway beside a bunch of stairs leading up to an altar. The inside of the room was enough to shock anybody. There were jewels of all kinds, gold, and other riches stacked up on tables, corners of the room, and even on the ground. No wonder the village was able to have nice things, they were basically rolling around in money. However, Artemisia hated thinking about what they could use it for.

She was left in the room by herself and locked inside. She'd already tried to pry the door open. She also tried to pick the lock with some sharp objects she had found. None of it worked. She was stuck. Stuck in a room by herself with only her thoughts. Thoughts that were filled with the scene from earlier. When everything went down, she was shocked. She didn't know how to react. Now that she was alone...

Tears fell from her eyes. Her crying turned into sobbing when she looked down and saw the blood on her dress. She couldn't believe that any of this happened. This place seemed almost normal. Sure, she had some pretty strange interactions, but she didn't think something like this would have happened. They should have stayed away. Force the ship to go through the storm. Maybe if they'd avoided the island... The boy would still be alive. Or he would've died anyway. It seemed like the killing of children happened for much longer than they'd been here.

Sobbing made Artemisia unaware of her surroundings. She didn't notice a familiar woman walk into the room. Once the woman took notice of the girl on the floor, she closed the door behind her and rushed over. She wrapped the girl in a hug and rocked her, "It's okay, it's okay. I know that was hard. Accepting your fate is hard but necessary when lives are at stake," Still, Artemisia didn't take a moment to realize who it was that was hugging her. "My son was sacrificed to the previous goddess, your mother. The storm was getting worse at the time, it got even worse when your mother left us. I was devastated to lose my little boy, but there was no other way to save our village."

Crazy talking was the perfect thing to break Artemisia from her sobbing. She became intensely aware of the position she was in. Leandra was hugging her. Leandra was talking. Artemisia's eyes widened, and she pushed herself away from the older woman, "Your son died, and you're still condoning this? Seriously?"

"Some sacrifices are necessary," Leandra was talking with a soothing tone. It was like she was trying to calm Artemisia down from a tantrum. She was treating her like a child.

"You're crazy!" Artemisia exclaimed. Leandra scolded her on the usage of the word. Artemisia only shook her head and continued, "No one deserves to die like that! No matter how hard things are!" It was insane to kill your own children just because of a bad storm. Storms pass, and this one will pass eventually. She knew it would from what she read.

The soothing expression turned into a commanding, "I understand that it's asking a lot, but you need to continue the ritual. You must be our new goddess to save us from this storm."

"I'm not doing it," Artemisia's expression was stern. She wouldn't move from her decision. It would be the same no matter what information she told her. "And I'm leaving once I find my way out of here, or my friends come for me." Wherever they were right now. She heard Elias say to take them to the jail, so they were probably there. She just hoped that nothing would happen to them.

Judging from the look that Leandra gave her, something did happen. Leandra stared at her with pity, "Oh, darling. Your friends have been killed for ruining the ritual."

This caused Artemisia to freeze. No way. They didn't die. She would know it. She would feel it somehow if they died. They were alive, they had to be. Artemisia felt anger rising inside her, "You're lying. You just want me to think I have no other choice than to go along with your crazy charade."

"I'm not lying," Leandra stood. Artemisia followed. Leandra was much taller than Artemisia, so she loomed over her, staring down at her with eyes that said she didn't like the attitude she was getting from the girl. "We lined them up in front of everyone and slit their throats. We started with the straw hat boy and ended with the girl with the orange hair."

That was all it took for Artemisia to lunge at the woman. She went straight for the eyes, something her mother taught her when she was younger. Leandra yelled for guards, and they came rushing in. They pried Artemisia off Leandra and held her with her arms behind her back. There were a few bruises on Leandra's face from Artemisia gripping it so hard. Artemisia stared up at the woman with a glare, "They're not dead. I know they're not."

Breathing heavily, Leandra fixed her hair, so it would be out of her face. She motioned for the guards to let Artemisia go. They did so, but stood close by in case she tried anything else. Once Leandra fixed her appearance, she straightened her posture, "You've been through a lot. We'll leave you alone for now." She and the guards walked out of the room.

Artemisia ran to the door while they were closing it. If she could stick something inside the crack, then maybe she could keep it from locking. She could get out. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. She was a little too late, and they were a little too fast. The door closed with a click. Artemisia banged the side of her fist on the door in anger.

***

The last thing you wanted to wake up with was a headache. When Nami opened her eyes, she woke up with the worst headache and the sight of metal bars. She breathed in deeply and sat up, looking around. She was in a jail cell with the others, who were all waking up. The guards must have knocked them out when they were taking them to the jail. Upon further inspection, Nami saw that Artemisia was nowhere in sight. If she remembered correctly, Elias told the guards holding her to take her to the temple. That's where they needed to escape to.

"What happened?" Usopp questioned, bringing a hand to his head.

There was no time to stand around and answer questions. They needed to get out. Nami stood up and started inspecting the bars, grabbing onto them and shaking them. If there was a loose bar then they could kick it out. She didn't want to spend any longer on this island. Who knows what they were doing to Artemisia? They could be sacrificing her at this point!

None of the bars were coming loose. Nami gritted her teeth and kicked the bars, "Damn it!" The others, now standing, looked over at her. She huffed, "They won't budge."

"I'll cut them down," Zoro walked toward the bars.

"With what sword, mosshead?" Sanji remarked.

That was the moment the ones who usually carried weapons stopped. They checked on their person and didn't find their weapons. Nami scanned the room and eventually found their belongings near a desk that sat at the front of the jailhouse. Luffy started to reel his arm back, "Punching them should do the trick."

"The bars are steel-" Nami's words fell on deaf ears.

As soon as Luffy's arm stretched and his fist hit the bars, nothing happened. The bars didn't come loose. They stayed exactly as they were. Luffy brought his arm back and winced at the pain that resonated through his fist and knuckles. Through a strained voice, he said, "I just need to punch harder."

Was he serious? "Stop, stop, stop!" Nami told him. Luffy paused and was frozen in a position of almost throwing a punch. Nami's eyes scanned the group, "We need to find a better plan to get out of here. Start looking around for some kind of weakness in the stone or something."

That was the best plan they'd heard the whole time they'd been here. The group started looking around the jail cell for any weaknesses. They were coming up with nothing. This village really knew how to keep their prisoners from escaping. Eventually, mostly everyone stopped. They couldn't find anything. The only person who continued searching was Nami.

It was then a previous question was brought back up, "How did this even happen?" Usopp inquired. He was sitting with his back against the wall. His knees were up as he rested his arms on top of them.

"Do you not remember the human sacrifice that took place right in front of us?" Zoro fired back.

"Or how that weird head guy told Artemisia to drink blood?" Sanji added.

From the look that Usopp was giving them, he remembered that very clearly. It was a rhetorical question. Nami didn't blame Usopp for asking the question. As soon as everything happened, she found herself asking the same question. She knew that something was up, but she didn't think it would be something this insane. Goddess? Human sacrifice? Drinking blood? Who in their right mind would believe or take part in something like that?

As if waiting for his cue, Elias walked into the jailhouse. His eyes set on them immediately. He made his way up to the cell and stared at them through the bars. He held himself in a way that made it seem like he thought he was superior to them. He stared down at them as if he were looking down on them, "I thank you for bringing our goddess to us, but you're no longer needed. You can leave as soon as we deem fit to release you."

Standing up, Luffy moved to stand right in Elias' line of sight. Luffy glared at the man, "We're not leaving without our friend." This was something that the crew had seen before. It was just like what they went through recently with Arlong. When it came to his friends, Luffy would do anything to protect them.

There was a moment where Elias stared at Luffy. He was sizing him up, trying to see if he could even do what he said. If he was all bark and no bite. From what everyone could see, Luffy could easily back up his words. Elias took a step back so he could address everyone, "We messed up once when trying to sacrifice our previous goddess. When we believed Polymnia to be dead, the storm only got worse. It hasn't let up in years."

"So you knew the storm would never let up," Zoro stated. A few in their group, mostly Sanji and Nami, wanted to say something about his obvious statement. Neither of them said anything. They chose to remain silent to see what else they could find out from Elias. It seemed like the village head was in a very giving mood when it came to information.

And give he did, "That's correct," He said in response to Zoro's words. Elias had a thoughtful expression on his face, "Artemisia being born from our previous goddess and finding her way to the island meant something. It was the gods' way of showing us the right path once more..," A look of determination was in the older man's eyes, "And we're never going to stray from it again."

"You're delusional," Nami barked.

A certain cook was sporting his own glare, "While Artemisia looks like she could be divinity, she's not." How like Sanji to find a way to compliment a woman during a dire situation. Nami knew that Artemisia would hit him if she found out he said that about her.

Hearing their words only made Elias angry. He was trying his best to not blow up at them. Everyone could see it on his face that he wanted to go ballistic. But he held it all inside and chose to remain diplomatic, "We'll let you go when the ceremony is complete. Once it's complete, you have to leave the island. You leave without Artemisia, and you never return." His words were clearly a threat. He didn't have to say "Or else" for you to understand that it was implied.

Not long after, Elias left the group alone. The first one to speak was Zoro, "What are we going to do now?"

That was a good question. A question that none of them knew an answer to. They knew the end goal but didn't know how to get there. Until a thought occurred to Nami. She reached down into her boot and felt around. The others watched the girl with curious stares. A sigh of relief escaped her when she found it. She held up their saving grace so everyone could see.

 A lockpick. Apparently, they were smart enough to take their weapons away, yet not smart enough to ensure they had nothing else on them. A grin made its way onto Nami's face, "We're going to get out and find Artemisia," Nami put her hands through the bars and got to work at unlocking the cell door. "I'll be damned if we leave without her."

***

There was not a single fucking weak point in this treasure room. Artemisia looked everywhere. Everything was secure. It didn't even look like there was any natural weathering, either. It was surprising. She also looked around to see if there were some cool secret passageways like in a book. She didn't find any. All there was in this place was treasure. Everywhere she looked, there were shiny objects, foreign coins, etc. She was stuck.

Unless the others come for her. Artemisia didn't believe when Leandra said they died. She knew exactly what she was doing. It was a manipulation tactic. She wanted to make Artemisia think that she had no other option. If Artemisia thought her friends were dead, she would stop resisting. That's what Leandra convinced herself. Little did she know that Artemisia would rather die than go along with their goddess act.

Footsteps filled her ears. Artemisia froze for a moment. She didn't know who that would be. There were two pairs of footsteps she was hearing. That could mean a few things. Either it was two people from the crew coming to save her, or it was Elias and Leandra. It could be two guards. It could be anyone. She had to be prepared.

So she looked around for something she could use as a weapon. There weren't many options by the look of it. Artemisia's eyes landed on one item in particular. It was a gold bar. She shrugged to herself and grabbed it, slowly making her way to stand on one side of the doorway. She wouldn't be noticed immediately. She could use their confusion to hit one of them in the head with the gold bar. She would have to do her best to fight off the other person after.

The door opened. Artemisia held her breath. The people didn't walk in right away. They were most likely noticing that she didn't appear to be in the room anymore. One person stepped inside the room. It was Elias. Artemisia saw red. She took the swing almost instantly. If she could just take him out, all of this would be over. He was the ringleader. Without him, this whole place could fall apart.

Fate was not on her side. Another man quickly stepped in between the two. He grabbed her by her wrist, the one that was holding the gold bar. A smug grin was on Elias' face as he examined the scene, "Are you ready to complete the ritual?"

If there was anything he could see in her eyes, she hoped that he first noticed the hate. She glared at him with a glare that could scare any sane person, "I am not going through some stupid ritual based on a superstition." She tried to wiggle her wrist out of the other man's grip, but he held on.

"That's what you think now. You won't be thinking that when you complete the ritual." Elias told her. He sounded so sure that she would complete the ritual. She was never going to finish it. Drinking blood? A cup of blood from an innocent boy? He was insane if he thought she would ever go through with something like that.

A nod was given to the man holding onto Artemisia by Elias. The man held her wrist tighter, and Artemisia was forced to drop the gold bar with a wince. The man let go of her wrist finally. Artemisia held it with care as she looked it over to see if it was bad. The man remained emotionless, "Sorry for manhandling you, Miss. I was trying to stop you from doing something you might regret."

Scoffing, Artemisia backed away, "Like I would regret it," She threw another glare of hate at Elias. She gestured to the other man in the room, "Who is he? Another one of your little pawns?"

"This is Enzo," Elias grinned. "He has a unique talent."

The said man, Enzo, stepped toward Artemisia. This wasn't an action that Artemisia particularly liked, so she took another step back. Enzo pulled something out of his pocket. It was a watch on a chain. He held up the watch and started to swing it back and forth. Artemisia couldn't stop herself from bursting out into laughter, "Are you serious?"

There was not even a flash of amusement on Enzo's face, "I am."

"I don't believe in brainwashing, buddy," Artemisia crossed her arms over her chest. Here she was, worrying that this guy was actually someone to worry about. Yet here he was with a pocket watch, trying to pull some hypnotism crap. If it wasn't for the serious look on his face, she would've thought that he and Elias were messing with her still.

The village head looked serious, the smile gone from his face, "You will believe after this." There was no way that he bought into that stuff. Then again, he believed that Artemisia was some kind of goddess, so maybe he did believe in it. Artemisia didn't know if he was that gullible or if there was something else going on that she didn't know about.

In a stern tone, Enzo started to try and hypnotize her, "Listen to the sound of my voice," Artemisia, once again, started laughing. She couldn't believe that this was happening. Enzo acted like he didn't even notice her dying from laughter. "I'm going to count down from three. Once I reach the number three, you will fall into a deep sleep. One," Artemisia found herself ceasing laughing. "Two," Her eyes started to get heavy. "Three." She was out.