"There is a sunken city under here? Are you sure? After all those continuous days surrounded by books, I am sure you would hallucinate at some point. That's why we wanted you to go out and roam around. Nobody is asking a kid to cure all the diseases in the world. I mean, there is nothing but darkness under here. Even my Haki cannot find the end of this black hole," Lucien said as he looked at the dark hole before him, then turned towards Law and placed a hand on the grumpy kid's head.
After finalising the entire design for their boat, Iceburg and Franky no longer needed their input, and so both Lucien and Idris had decided to use the time to train. They hadn't been able to properly train since arriving in the Grand Line.
Just as their morning session ended, they heard hurried footsteps and turned to find Law running towards them out of breath, going on about an underground city of the dead for Yagara Bulls and how he had found the mysterious place from the folklore of Water 7.
Hearing him out, there was nothing to do but follow him, and before they knew it they were standing on the edge of a walkway in a tunnel, looking down into a dark hole so deep and black that Lucien couldn't find the end of it even with his Observation Haki.
"It's there, believe me. I caught a glimpse before I was mysteriously pushed back up. I've been told that even Devil Fruit users can swim down there because the water is filled with magical properties. It's also believed that there is a large amount of treasure underneath that we could use to upgrade our ship now instead of waiting," snapped Law as he pushed Lucien's hand away.
"So you want us to jump into this body of water, knowing full well that both of us would sink straight to the bottom and possibly die, because Idris in no way can carry both of us back up when our bodies would weigh more than the ship we are currently building, just to see if there is some mysterious place down there?" questioned Lucien.
Law didn't respond. He just stubbornly stared at Lucien, not willing to move an inch despite the sarcastic tone.
"Alright, how about I jump down and swim to see if there really is anything underneath," said Idris, the only non-Devil Fruit user among them. He knew how stubborn the kid could be, and the only way to settle it was to swim down and find out for himself.
"That works. Be careful down there and come straight back up if you see anything that shouldn't be there," said Lucien as Idris removed his shirt, gave them one final nod, and jumped in.
Lucien and Law waited in silence, watching the water for any sign from Idris. There were none. Time ticked by slowly and before they knew it over ten minutes had passed. Lucien's expression shifted.
"Alright, something must have happened. I'll go down. You stay here, and if I don't come back up, go and get Tom to pull us out," said Lucien, and without waiting for a response from Law he jumped in after his first mate.
The moment he hit the water, Lucien lost all sense of his own strength. His body turned weak and heavy as though an anchor had been tied to his ankle, slowly dragging him down. He looked around but in every direction there was only darkness. He couldn't even see his own hand right in front of his face.
Then he saw a glow directly beneath him and turned downward with great difficulty to see a large light growing closer and closer.
Law, receiving no response even after Lucien jumped in, did not listen to the advice he had been given. He took a deep breath and jumped back in. He knew what he had seen. There really was a village down there.
Feeling the same heaviness and weakness he had experienced the first time, he let it wash over him. Instead of panicking as he had before, he simply let himself sink while focusing on keeping his breathing steady.
The light grew. Blue-green and constant, the same as before.
Then the water changed.
He was awake for it this time, though he couldn't explain it precisely. The temperature warmed and the immense heaviness that had pressed down on him from all sides eased off, and it was almost as if the water itself was glowing. He could now see everything around him clearly, the broken buildings and the traces of a place from long ago.
He looked around to find Lucien and Idris standing nearby, visibly amazed by what they were seeing. He swam slowly towards them, and they turned as he approached.
Law couldn't help waving his hands around, trying to say he had been right all along, only to be met with Lucien's palm in his face. As they looked at each other, a large Yagara drifted slowly towards them. It was enormous, and its coat had none of the vibrant colour the bulls above carried, greyed out and dim.
Lucien immediately extended his hands towards it, closed his eyes to concentrate, and attempted something he had only ever tried on the two people beside him. "Don't attack us. We are only curious about this place. We'll leave after looking around a little," he said, pushing that thought directly into the Yagara's mind.
He had reasoned that if he could show people things that didn't exist, it should be possible to insert thoughts as well, and it seemed to work. The Yagara paused, looked at them, then turned and moved away, letting out a low sound that brought dozens of other Yagara Bulls drifting out from the doorways of the broken houses around them.