I'm getting tired of passing out. How come when you go to another world you have to be unconscious and suddenly waking up in a dangerous situation. My eyes creaked open and a painful groan escaped my mouth. A headache formed with my temples as the launch point. I'm in a small room years past its prime. The walls were cracked, resulting in jagged edges. There was even a slight hole in the corner of the ceiling that the moonlight squeezed through, illuminating the dark room. Years of grime and muck had built up over the years to allow bulging brown pieces of mold to be scattered across the face of the wall.
The decrepit room's blemishes could be overlooked if it weren't for the scattered bodies of little kids sound asleep on the floor around me. Having to share this tiny room with so many little kids must mean I wasn't lucky enough to be reborn as a noble. At the very least I wasn't in danger. I shut my mouth quickly, ignoring the pain of the headache, so my groans wouldn't be heard. There were about 8 kids in the room huddled together sharing the few blankets this room had.
I rolled away from the kid closest to me and stood up silently. I looked down at the now small hands which were now rough with callouses and I couldn't help but be shocked at the change. I tiptoed out of the small room into a stairwell, searching for a mirror to see the new me. We were at the bottom floor with the staircase leading to the top floor. The staircase looked as decrepit as the room, with steps missing and the handrail shattered. I crept to the other rooms but the floorboards would creak with each step. If I were back home I could avoid these creaky floors with ease. I have always been light on my feet, but in this unfamiliar place the creaks were unavoidable. There were 4 rooms in total on the bottom floor counting the room I woke up in. I checked the rooms but they were all as beat down as the one I woke in. There were no mirrors, just mold and whatever scurried across the corner of the rooms. I'm going to pretend that they aren't rats for my sanity.
I went back around and opened the front door, which barely held on to its hinges, and took in my first whiff of One Piece air. It smelled quite rotten but I'm not going to hold it against Oda. Nobody stood in his view outside on the street except for a lone cat strolling in the moonlight. He looked to be on the poor end of some small city or town. The houses and apartments on this street in various stages poor. Some of the buildings were as poorly kept as mine but some weren't too bad.
Down the street at the end there were lantern lights flashing and sounds of music. I crossed the street and jogged over toward the sounds. If it's a tavern they must have some type of mirror. There were drunkards singing jovially outside of the building while falling over their own feet. I snuck past them and entered the tavern. Inside tables and chairs were filled with patrons drinking and laughing. At one table a man danced on the table singing along with the band who played in the corner.
"Hey boy, I need another round of drinks at this table", the table dancer yelled out. I ignored him and moved closer to the bar. The bartender was an older tanned skin man whose lamb chops didn't quite match his balding head. He dressed simply, like all the patrons I'd seen, but had a towel he used as he wiped the counter.
"What are you doing here boy? I don't sell alcohol to youngins."
"I'm looking for mirror, I think I might have cut myself."
"Huh, what the hell do you need a mirror for? Just go see that quack doctor on dill street. He's an idiot but he can patch you up."
"Please sir, I just need a mirror to check."
"You're out of your mind. I ain't gon' hand over a mirror to a little pocket thief. You best be on your way"
"But I only need it for one minute", I pleaded to him.
"I give you a mirror and next thing I know my pockets are picked clean."
He grabbed a broom from behind the counter and came around to shoo me out of the tavern. The tavern owner was a lot more muscular than I thought. I dodged his broom swipes as the patrons in the tavern cheered me on. I rushed out the tavern door leaving the sounds of erupting laughter behind me. I'll just figure everything out in the morning. I walked back to the worn down building I came from, but now a boy about my new height was standing outside looking toward me. He looked familiar but unfortunately I wasn't given the memories of whoever's body this was in the past.
"James, you're too sick to be strolling around! Where did you go?"
I guess my name is James now. The young boy in front of me dressed in similar rags to me, with scruffy brown hair. He was fairer skinned then me but the dirt rubbed onto his skin showed otherwise.
"I feel a lot better now but my memories are all fuzzy."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't remember anything for some reason but I don't feel sick anymore." There's no way I could explain that I'm from another world. He would think I was crazy.
"Do you remember me", he asked in shock.
"Sorry I don't remember anything. I can't remember who anyone is or even where we are right now."
"That can't be, we need to take you to the doctor right away! How many fingers am I holding up", he asked while putting up two fingers in my face.
"Two I'm not blind, I can still see. My memory is just a little hazy. I'm going to need your help to remember everything"
"Well, I'm Pedro. Inside Herman, Kira, Oji, Lance, Lily, Norman, and Sigmond are sleeping. Do you remember now?"
"A little bit." He smiled at that.
"You've been sick for a long time, you probably just need some sleep."
"Alright, we can go to sleep, but I have some questions I'm going to need answered tomorrow."
"No problem", he replied with a smile. I followed him back into the room and laid down on the cleanest spot I could find. I looked around the room as I faded to sleep. Tomorrow is an important day. My first day in the one piece world. It'll be a little dangerous for sure, but one day I will find out what the one piece is.
