Pain came first.

  Not drowning. Not falling.

  Pain.

  It tore through my arms and spread across my chest, so sharp it forced a scream out of me and drove me to my knees. It didn’t fade. It didn’t pulse. It just —constant, crushing, like my veins were being forced open from the inside.

  And then I realized where I was.

  The Dark Void.

  Again.

  I forced myself upright, gasping, the pain clawing at my nerves with every movement. The darkness around me was endless—no floor, no sky, just an empty black expanse that felt of me.

  “Hey, brother.”

  My head snapped up.

  “What the hell—Luffy?” I asked, my voice breaking.

  He stood a short distance away, smiling.

  But something was wrong.

  He was older. My age. Same messy black hair. Same straw hat—mine, the one I kept strapped to my back—except he sat loosely on his head. And he was wearing the same clothes he’d worn the day he died.

  My stomach turned.

  The guilt surged up instinctively—and the moment it did, rain poured from nowhere, cold and heavy. The void itself seemed to darken.

  I swallowed hard and shoved the feeling down.

  The rain stopped instantly.

  “…What the hell?” I whispered.

  Luffy’s grin widened.

  It wasn’t his.

  It was stretched too far. Twisted. The same grin that woman had worn—wide, cruel, hungry. Like joy had been hollowed out and replaced with something rotten.

  “I bet you can’t catch me,” he said cheerfully.

  And then he vanished.

  Not ran. Not jumped.

  Just—.

  He reappeared farther away, still smiling, legs unmoving.

  I ran.

  Pain screamed through my body as I pushed myself harder than I should have, chasing him through the void—but the distance only grew. My legs gave out. I stumbled forward—

  —and the darkness beneath me turned .

  Sticky.

  It clung to my legs like tar, then my waist, dragging me down as if I’d stepped into living quicksand.

  “No—damn it!” I thrashed, fighting to pull free.

  The void swallowed me up to my chest.

  Then stopped.

  Only my head remained above the surface.

  I panted, sweat dripping down my face and vanishing before it hit the ground.

  “Hey!” I shouted into the darkness, fury boiling over fear. “Stop playing games with me, you damn bitch! What are you afraid of? A defenseless kid who can’t even fight back?!”

  For a moment—

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  Silence.

  Then a soft, joyful giggle echoed through the void.

  My blood ran cold.

  “All right, all right,” the voice said lightly, like she was brushing off my anger. “You’re adorable. I’ll show myself.”

  She appeared in front of me.

  It was her.

  Same black-and-red flames. The same presence that made the air feel heavier. But my rage spiked—

  She was wearing .

  Same hair. Same scar. Same straw hat.

  She tilted her head, examining herself in a small mirror, humming thoughtfully.

  “Turn your face back,” I snarled. “You don’t deserve to wear his face. Do it. Now.”

  She looked at me—and for a moment, I thought I saw something flicker in her eyes.

  Then she stepped back, amused.

  My mind burned.

  The void responded.

  Heat rippled outward, the darkness warping into something closer to an inferno. I screamed and my arms free, muscles tearing as I dragged myself out of the substance holding me.

  The pain was unbearable.

  But I didn’t stop.

  She watched, eyes wide—not afraid.

  I was impressed.

  Then her face shifted.

  The flames reshaped, and she stood before me as she had the first time I’d seen her.

  “You’re really fun to tease,” she said. “But you’ve got more important things to worry about.”

  Her smile sharpened. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. What’s it been—ten minutes?”

  Hopeless.

  She said it like an older sister scolding a reckless child.

  It made me sick.

  “Who the hell are you?” I demanded.

  The question slipped out naturally—like I’d asked it before.

  “Oh, you’d love to know,” she replied sweetly. “But not yet. You’re not ready. Your mind’s unstable. Your emotions are a mess.”

  Her face shifted again.

  Luffy.

  Sabo.

  Kurama.

  Then—

  My knees hit the ground.

  Rain crashed down harder than before, soaking the void as despair flooded through me. And then she showed me .

  My youngest twin.

  My sister.

  The same expression she’d worn just before the flames took her.

  The beginning of everything.

  “Get their faces out of your manipulation!” I screamed, lunging for her.

  My hands passed through her like mist.

  She laughed.

  “I think it’s cute you thought I was physical,” she said. “Where do you think we are? This isn’t the body. And it’s not the spirit either.”

  Something shifted in her eyes then.

  Not amusement.

  Despair.

  Before I could process it, agony exploded through me.

  My chest. My arms. My neck. My head. My legs.

  Every nerve screamed at once.

  I barely heard her speak over my own voice.

  “Oh, your pain is such a beautiful thing to watch,” she murmured. “But I suppose the fun’s over.”

  She sounded… tired.

  Warmth bloomed in my chest.

  Not fire.

  Relief.

  Like the herbs Makino used when I broke my arm as a kid. Like her hands steadying me while I cried and pretended it didn’t hurt that badly.

  The pain melted away.

  Purple veins crawling across my body burned apart, starting from the wound in my chest and spreading outward until nothing remained.

  She withdrew the sword from my body.

  I was whole.

  “Well,” she said, materializing the blade. “My job’s done.”

  She flicked my forehead.

  Harder than expected.

  “See you next time,” she added. “Hopefully it’s longer than ten minutes. I don’t always feel like saving you.”

  Darkness surged—

  —

  I woke up.

  I thought they were supposed to be back at Mount Corvo. Where the hell are we?

  That was the first thing I asked. To my surprise, my voice came out raw, like I hadn’t had water in days, and it immediately sent me into a coughing fit.

  “Sorry—here, I’ve got water,” said the blonde-haired girl as she stepped closer and handed me a glass. Her side ponytail was still tied with that dark blue bow. The water was cold.

  It felt incredible.

  Dadan crossed her arms, watching me closely. “We’re in a run-down area near the border of the capital—what used to be Gray Terminal. Those damn nobles are good for one thing: building stuff. They’d been expanding even before all this shit went down.”

  Normally, I would’ve shared the hostility.

  Instead, my stomach sank, sharp and sudden.

  She couldn’t have known—but hearing it still felt like a knife twisting. Sarie had wanted nothing to do with her status. As far as I knew, she’d never used it to hurt anyone.

  “Now that you’re awake,” the blonde-haired girl said, meeting my eyes, “I think you need to say something to me.”

  Ace leaned against the wall, jaw tight. “Hey, this isn’t the time for your little princess apology act.”

  She didn’t flinch. “I think it’s very necessary. For what he did to me.”

  I didn’t remember exactly what she meant—but my face still heated up.

  How could she even know?

  Then it hit me.

  Natsu. Happy. One of them must’ve said something.

  “Speaking of that,” I said quickly, “where are the other people I was with? Natsu and Happy.”

  “They’re outside getting firewood,” Dadan replied. “Been gone for about an hour.”

  “They should be back in another hour or so,” Ace added grimly. “Assuming they don’t get themselves caught.”

  My chest tightened.

  “So… what exactly happened after the blast?” I asked. “I only remember pieces. What the hell is going on out there?”

  Dadan’s expression darkened. “Short version? There’s a strange beam of light coming from the castle. About every thirty minutes, it fires off and locks onto anyone it senses. Once it hits you, you’re controlled—turned into another zombie-like soldier.”

  My blood went cold.

  “And it’s not just the capital,” she continued. “It can reach all the way to Mount Corvo. That’s how the Mountain Bandits got involved. Some of our people were hit. Dogra and Magra too.” Her voice wavered. “They pushed everyone out of the way—made themselves the target. I didn’t have a choice. I had to run.”

  Tears welled in her eyes.

  Guilt hit me like a weight on my chest.

  If only I were stronger.

  If only I knew how to use my mother’s style.

  I didn’t even have Fox Slayer.

  I forced the thoughts down before they could take root.

  Too many people were relying on me now. If I broke here—if I let myself collapse—

  Salamander wouldn’t need to finish the job.

  The Diary will return on schedule after the break.