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Zoro had no idea what he was looking at.
Once again, he’d gotten lost from the rest of the crew on an unknown foreign island. Nami has insisted he take someone with him, but his pride got in the way and he stubbornly refused, claiming to know how to get around this island, knowing each nook and cranny like the back of his hand. Obviously, he was lying, and the consequences of which were evident, now that he was incredibly, indubitably lost. Zoro (unsurprisingly) was lost and had stumbled upon some type of shrine. His brows furrowed in confusion, and he purses his lips, pushing past the foliage and walking further in to take a closer look.
His hand hovers at the hilt of his swords, just in case some type of danger pops out of nowhere. His conscious is telling him that no one will appear though, considering the shrine is all worn down. Mould and moss have claimed most of the stone, and weeds have bloomed, seeping through the cracks. The pictures on the walls are weathered away, only a third being somewhat interpretable. symbols are etched everywhere, and the crumbling stone pillars stand strong. in the centre is a large statue placed behind what looks to be a large stone slab, which is coated with deep, faded brownish red blood. Zoro grunts to himself, his eyes squinting. It looks as though this place had been used for live sacrifices.
Ignoring the statue, he wanders over to the walls. Rusted candle holders are dotted around, and Zoro uses his palm to lightly brush over the dusty stone. He exams the pictures, trying to interpret what they mean. In each, shows a divine figure, with four arms and multiple eyes. The figures hair is almost cloud like, fading at the edges. It wears a somewhat simple outfit, and looks to be quite tall as well, towering over (what zoro assumes to be) its followers. The entire, now abandoned, shrine is most likely from some type of cult, worshipping their supposed god. Zoro’s eyes flick over to the rest of the images (well, the ones that are clear enough for him to make out) In each, it shows the supposed god with a large, eery smile. An unfamiliar dread pools in Zoro’s stomach, as he starts to recognise that grin, but he can’t quite pick out where from.
Shrugging it off, he moves down to look at the rest of the images. His face creases with unease as each image gets more graphic, becoming more gorey. The images start to show the god claiming human sacrifices. for a moment, zoro’s eyes flick to the slab coated in old blood.
“So that’s what it was used for”
Zoro mutters to himself, a shudder makes its way down his spine as he examines this ‘god’ devouring his subjects whilst the onlookers praise and worship him. Zoro is fully aware of cults giving up live sacrifices to appease their gods, but it still unnerves him every time. In the next image, it shows the god laughing, his hand over his face, a large, blood stained grin showing off his sharp teeth.
Underneath, Zoro can roughly make out what the symbols say.
‘Our rubber god- sneaky and full of greed. Appease him by giving yourself, he will spare us the wrath and terror they may deal’
Zoro’s breath gets caught in his throat. The word ‘rubber’ echoes in his mind. He recognises that grin, albeit the one he knows is less demonic and more welcoming. His eyes widen, suddenly it clicks in his mind. He rushes back over to the statue to get a better look, to confirm if his suspicions are correct.
Inspecting the statue, an unfamiliar fear worms its way into zoro’s stomach, and dread pricks at his skin. His eyes rake over the form of the god, and his eyes widen in shock. His arms fall limply against his torso as he comes to the sickly realisation.
This cult is based around Luffy.
His rubber, stupid, too kind for his own good captain. His captain who never stops to help. His captain, who he is now figuring out has a cult based around him. His captain who has eaten countless people. Zoro feels sick to his stomach, there’s no way.
He doesn’t want to believe it. He won’t believe it. It has to be some sort of misunderstanding. Maybe the god just looks like Luffy. Instead of fully processing this new information, Zoro turns around and walks right out, making his way through the forest once again. He shakes his head. He’ll think about it some other time. There's no way his captain is some sort of old, well worshipped, cannibalistic god. Maybe tonight when he’s back at the ship he’ll ask Luffy. Maybe Luffy won’t know what he’s talking about, and it will all be in his head.
No matter how hard he tries, he can’t shake the image of that smile.