Chapter 125: Reaching the tree

Dialogue "sample"

Thoughts 'sample'

Author notes -sample-

Disclaimer: One Piece and all of its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Chapter 125: Reaching the Tree

10 days later

A very haggard Vivi jumped down from some rocks and into a clearing made of a solid black substance.

In front of her, just a hundred feet away was the giant tree. Its trunk was big enough to cover most of her view.

"Finally…"

If her friends were able to see her now, they would be shocked.

After ten days of traveling through this hellish island, she looked completely broken.

She was beyond exhausted from having to be constantly on the run from all the beasts that inhabited the island. She had found two other species, besides the gorillas and lions.

There was a type of hippopotamus who was absolutely massive. She found a small group of them, the other day. They were bathing in a pool of magma that was coming from the ground.

The only saving grace was their speed, as they were much slower than the lions and Vivi was able to get away from the without suffering any damage.

She could not say the same about the last type of beast she found here.

Vivi only encounter them once but she would never forget the terror they made her suffer.

They could be described as winged demons. They had some resemblance with a bird, but they did not seem to be of any species she could recognize.

Their bodies were smaller and weaker than the other three types, and yet, they were the most terrifying of them all.

They would dive at her from above, way beyond Vivi's range of detection, making them almost impossible to notice.

If that was not enough, they like to hunt in groups and are very hard to lose once they had a lock on you.

On top of the beasts…the heat was insufferable and it crippled her recovery capabilities.

It also destroyed her clothes. She was carrying a small bag with her when she arrived on the island. In it, she had an extra pair of shoes and some clothes, but her shoes did not last long in this place. Some of the rocks are soo hot that the rubber of the soles would melt and they would become useless.

After losing all her footwear, she had to resort to wrapping her clothes around her feet to avoid being burned but that also did not last long as the clothes would burn and be destroyed.

At this point, she only had her underwear left and her last t-shirt that was currently wrapped around her feet.

"But it's finally over…" Vivi stared at the giant tree with relief.

For the last 10 days, her only objective was to get here and she has gone through hell in order to accomplish that.

"Now…she told me about a door at the base of the tree, I should go find that. Then I can ask that old lady to answer my questions and get me out of this hellish place…"

She walked with care towards the tree trunk, constantly looking around. Her observation haki is useful but not completely reliable in this place. The lions seem to have a way to avoid detection and the flyer ones will be out of range until the moment of the attack.

So she had no choice but to be constantly on guard, always prepared for an ambush.

After a few more careful steps, she was right next to the colossal tree. It looks like this tree has been dead for many years or more likely, decades.

However, its wood did not turn black and rocky like the other ones that Vivi has found on the island. It still had a light brown color and looked like normal wood.

"-----------"

"What?!" She suddenly shouted and looked around. "Was that you? old hag?"

She could swear having heard someone speak to her ear, but she could not see anyone close.

"----------"

Vivi heard something again, but the time she understood one thing.

"You are the one talking…" She looked at the dead tree.

"I guess you aren't really dead."

"---"

What she was hearing weren't exactly words, it was more like a feeling or an idea that suddenly appeared inside her mind but her brain interpret it like sounds.

"This is weird…"

"-------"

"Fine…this better not be a trick or I would be very mad." She understood the message, or more like what the tree wanted her to do. Vivi extended her hand and placed it on the surface of the tree.

The moment she did so, her consciousness seemed to be pulled away from the place where she was standing moments before.

She now seemed to be floating in the air and she was able to get a more wide view of the area.

"What is going on?!" Vivi was shocked to see that the previously dead tree was now beaming with life. Its trunk was much paler, almost white and its branches were filled with leaves of many different colors, it almost looked like a rainbow. And there were whisps of white light floating around the colossal tree. The whole scene looked magical.

"It's beautiful…" She did not understand what was going on, but the words came out of her mouth as soon as she saw that tree. It was the most breathtaking sign she has ever experienced.

She was so focused on the tree itself that it took her a very long time to realize that it wasn't just the tree that looked alive now…the entire island was different. The clearing surrounding the tree was filled with vibrant green grass and there were flowers everywhere.

She looked around and spotted the forest that she arrived at on her first day. It now was filled with living trees and were many peaceful-looking animals running through it.

Vivi also spotted the ghost town.

"Wow…" It now looked completely different. The houses were all pristine looking and the town was filled with people going around their daily lives.

The island still had a lot of rocky terrains, but the rocks now looked like normal ones. No black rocks or fire in sight.

"How can this be?..." The only explanation that she could come up with, was that somehow, the tree was showing her the past.

"Why are you showing me this?"

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