Third POV:
The darkness of the abyss was eternal; there was no light. One could wander for eternity and may just end up walking in circles. The void had no one, nothing; it merely was – no friends, no family, not even an enemy – just the void to keep you company.
Yet the solitude was not the only torture; there was no sound, not one. No matter how hard you screamed, you wouldn't even be able to hear your own voice, and scream you would. The burning was there; it was always there – the fire, the heat, the pain – the only thing to remind you that you exist, that kept you from fading into the void, that kept you sane, was the pain.
Each was worse than the last, the skin bubbling and sizzling as it slid off your muscles, which were cooked again and again till they were charred dust and fell off the bones. Where common sense should have prevailed, that without any nerves, one would feel nothing, sadism took charge. Even the bones crumbling and falling apart were etched into the mind, whether by some psychic trick or someone rewriting biology; you felt it all.
Then when you felt a moment of respite, a bit of reprieve, for it could have been over, it began again – bones reconstructed, flesh and skin grafted on as if it never fell off to begin with, and the burning started all over again.
This was hell, specifically the first ring of the seventh circle , the one where all the prideful went – the ones who should have been humble, the ones who should have never grown to see themselves as beyond any creation. But had developed the audacity to do so, to look down upon others, to think themselves beyond judgement. This is where they went to be reduced to ash and reconstructed and reduced to ash again to show them they were nothing, to show them that they had no power, and to show them that they were as helpless as any other lost lamb.
Most broke within a few days, begging and praying for mercy for salvation, which came to them for they had repented; yet some did not change; some held on for weeks, years, decades, but they broke all of them eventually.
That was till he appeared – the exception to the rule, the one human who refused to kneel, to repent, to change, who defied everything. The one who took his burning without even opening his mouth to scream, the one who never had any inkling of doubt, and the one who refused to give up and submit.
This man would have been a king if he was born in the era where a lone man could do something, yet he was born in the 21st century. Born as no king, born among smoke and rubble as he was bombarded by foreign forces with bombs and weapons no human alone could fight against, yet he fought regardless, fought to the end, fought and slaughtered his enemies. Those who proclaimed themselves chosen, those who wished to claim his land; he fought them from his birth to his end. His defiance inspired millions who stood up and marched to end the injustice.
Yet he went to hell for his refusal to kneel and his defiance to accept anyone as being greater than him, and to this day he stood in the void, silent and unyielding, for pain was nothing new to him.
That was until the light of providence shone upon him and lifted him out of hell into a magnificent city of marble and gold where rivers of honey and milk flowed freely, where opulence was the mandate and not the exception where the air smelt sweeter and fresher than anywhere in the cosmos.
Then he stood, his olive skin unmarked by millennia of torture, his form as fit as ever. There he stood in his youth, the wrinkles of his troubled life wiped away along with the vulnerability of his old age. He stood in his prime, eyes burning with defiance like always.
Before him sat a towering figure, a giant of swirling colours and shades; his body was titanic, at least 60 metres tall, whilst sitting tiny star-like spots glowing amidst the diverse hues of inky liquid that would be his skin. His face was featureless – no mouth, no nose, no ears or eyes – only a blue glowing diamond on his face focused on the human.
"Long time no see, my defiant friend. Are you ready to bow?" The giant spoke, his voice echoing through the city, his right arm on his knee as he rested his face on its palm, his smugness evident in his tone.
"No, you malformed muttonhead. As I've said a million times before, there exists no reality in which I bow to you or to anyone. I will not disgrace my forefathers with submission." A defiant roar echoed; the man stepped forward, his feet firmly planted. Even with the height disparity, it was as if he was the one looking down on the giant, not the other way around.
"Tsk – you must be the most irksome human I've ever met. If I had the clearance to wipe out your soul, I'D HAVE DONE IT MILLENNIA AGO , YOU STAIN ON MY SPOTLESS RECORD." The giant roared, his mighty fist slamming on the ground right beside the human, eviscerating the whole city they stood in as reality began to shift and bend and break due to his rage; the diverse colours all but stripped from his form, which was nothing but a blotch of blackness now.
Yet the human did not even flinch at the scene. He merely stood looking at the creature with what seemed to be pity in his eyes. "All that power, yet you're throwing tantrums like a mere infant. Pathetic."
The creature seemed to regain composure, reality returning to the way it was before. The colours reset on his form, yet the annoyance was still palpable, and he seemed to grow more irritable as the humans' flat-toned disapproval echoed through the realm.
"Like i said, irksome regardless; I have a way for you to be useful to me. Agree, and you'll never be sent back to that burning hell ever again. Actually, you'll roam the world of the living again, and even when you die in that mortal life, you shall be sent to Eden and may even bring along a few people with you. Generous, no?" The giant replied snidely; one could all but guarantee if he had a face, it would have a Cheshire grin upon it.
"I refuse," the man said with his eyes burning, not a single inch given, a firm decison.
"I refuse your refusal. You're finally gonna make up for keeping me from my promotion for two centuries. You can't just refuse." The entity said his frustration was growing.
"Send me back to that abyss; erase my soul. I don't care. I refuse to be anyone's toy or plaything. There are no strings on me. I live my life for my own desires and wants according to my own whims and dreams. I won't be petty entertainment for anyone." The man spoke in absolutes, his fist clenching so hard his knuckles turned white as his eyes stared a hole through the giant entity.
"How predictably vexing ...sigh ...my superiors thought this would happen, so they sent this." The giant's hand glowed as a paper formed in front of the man. "This is an absolute contract that can bind even entities beyond my comprehension. It's been signed by the watcher of that quadrant and me and our superiors to not interfere with your life whatsoever. If you agree to the condition of stabalisation ofcourse you'll also be compensated for it." The Giant said in a defeated voice he seemed smaller now.
The man looked perplexed as he read the contract; his eyes narrowed in suspicion. " I see the terms. I get to pick one perk and one Devil Fruit from a list, so One Piece is the world that needs stabilising. The question is, why me? You don't need to lie to me, so this must require my consent. If you're willing to bend over this much for me, what is stabilisation?" He asked with clear curiosity.
"Regular sherlock holmes Yes, this requires consent, one of the original rules everyone, no matter their standing, is bound by. As for stabilisation, it's the process of restoring a universe to its rightful flow before it implodes due to a lack of chaos energy.
The reason you've been picked is that the process of stabilisation is gruelling and requires a soul that can take on insane suffering and has no fear of death. Most of these types of souls are found in Eden, yet none wish to do the process when they have eternal leisure and all their desires at their fingertips. Why risk soul destruction when they can relax for eternity? It's a 30% chance of survival.
It takes your excess energy being born from Earth a dimension higher on the existence ladder than One Piece strips your soul of the properties of Earth, using that chaos energy to balance out the unstable world whilst turning you native to the dimension level of the stabilised world." The Giant says flatly.
"I see, so let the suffering begin," he says in a mocking tone as his name appears on the contract. His body is swallowed by a black vortex as lightning and fire rage from the vortex. Reality begins to twist, turn and crack until it all suddenly calms down and the man appears again, this time in the art style of Eiichiro Oda.
"Damn, you made it. I was hoping you'd get obliterated. Well, a deal's a deal. Choose from these perks and these fruits." The giant said in a bored tone, and a digital screen appeared before the man.
"Quite tamed as a list compared to the fics I've read. Well, i suppose i wont be collecting every woman in the world whilst slapping around emperors as a five year old Well, that's good – it makes life more of a competition, and there's nothing I love more than crushing the competition.
The rumble rumble fruit ; no It's useless if people have Haki , the jacket jacket fruit? Are you serious? Who would ever eat this? The Yami Yami fruit doesn't even have the best quality of a logia, and I don't even want a logia. Peramecia: barrier barrier fruit – No. The Soul-Soul Fruit – now that's pretty interesting – but nah. Oh, now this is the one Mythical Zoan Hito Hito no Mi model: Lucifer. Now this speaks to me; even the downsides dont matter to me. Why would I ever doubt myself? And it boosts Conqueror's Haki, and what you can naturally achieve with it pairs well with the perk. Like hell, I'd choose anything but basic mastery of Conqueror's from the moment I'm born." The man selected everything as a golden glow covered him, giving him all his compensation.
"Hah, I knew you'd pick those two, just like I know what you'll do in that world – a rebel in every reality, huh? Wahahwahahwah." The giant spoke, laughing and clapping his chest as he did so.
"Ofcourse you know I spent my life warring against so-called chosen people and evil governments. Of course if I go to Blue Star, I'll tear down the so-called gods and sit where I rightfully belong at the top of the world. It's only poetic that I have the devil's powers to rebel against these gods," the man said, his arrogance seeping off him as the colour of the supreme king cracked wildly around him.
"Quite a show. Well then, merry revolution. Off you go. It has not been a pleasure. May we never meet again." The giant said calmly as he waved, surrounding the man in a golden aura.
"The service here was terrible – thousands of years without a glass of water. I'd give an apocalyptic Yelp review if I had my phone, but let's not dwell on that. To the wars to come, may we never meet again." The man's words echoed as he vanished from this sect of reality.
-The End-
Now next chapter we start on Blue star ( One piece worlds name) Any comment for the love of god thats what keeps me motivated not powerstones or the lies its comments so yh do that anyway hope you enjoyed this long arse chapter on lore and show the MCs personality.
As i said hes prideful to a fault you like any Supreme King why have that colour of Haki if you're gonna be a bitch looking at you Kid and Gingow
Also i havent decided on weapons so the top comment with the most like will be the weapon i was thinking giving him Ace (Rogers blade).
If you have better suggestions do let me know im always open to hearing from my readers new or old.