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Chapter 20 - : Island of the Dreamt Moon

Chapter 19

One Piece: Legacy of the Pirate King

The sea shimmered strangely as the Thousand Sunny sailed across the Vanishing Belt, a stretch of ocean that was calm in waves but wild in time. For hours, the sky remained locked in twilight—even as the compass to the Fourth Time Pillar began pulsing faster than ever.

Robin traced symbols from the core. "This next island… it doesn't exist in the normal world. It's born only from the dreams of those with Moonblood."

Lian tilted his head. "Moonblood?"

Cymos answered with gravity. "Descendants of the Lunarians. Of Birkan, Skypiea… and the Moon Tribe that fled before the Void Century began."

Luffy folded his arms, staring out at the water.

"So we're going to a dream island?"

"No," Cymos said. "You're going to an island that dreams itself into existence. For exactly twenty-four hours. And that clock starts... now."

The Sunny crossed into a fog of stardust and luminous mist. An island emerged—Shin'Tari, the Dreamt Moon.

There were no birds. No waves.

Only silver sand and moonlight trees.

As the crew stepped ashore, the mist shaped itself into fleeting visions. Chopper saw his old mentor. Zoro caught a glimpse of Kuina. Sanji reached for a silhouette of Zeff—but it vanished before he could touch it.

Even Luffy froze.

A woman's voice—gentle, warm—echoed faintly in the fog.

"Luffy… my little dawn…"

Robin's eyes widened. "That voice… that was your—"

"I know," Luffy whispered.

"That was my mother."

As they moved inland, the visions thickened.

Each crewmember saw alternate futures, lingering regrets, impossible what-ifs.

And in the center of it all, encased in crystallized dreamlight, stood the Fourth Time Pillar. It didn't crack or pulse. It breathed.

But it was guarded.

Atop a throne of ever-shifting memories sat a boy—no older than Lian.

Silver-haired.

Eyes like mirrors.

No heartbeat.

The Echo Child.

He stood.

And reality trembled.

"Why are you here?" Lian asked, stepping forward.

The boy tilted his head. "To erase the future."

Luffy stepped between them. "You'll have to go through me first."

The Echo Child extended his hand.

And suddenly—Luffy vanished.

Lian gasped. "Dad?!"

The boy didn't blink. "He's not dead. I've removed him from your memory. For now."

Cymos gritted his teeth. "He's using Temporal Erasure. It's forbidden even among the Chrono Builders!"

The Echo Child floated upward, dream mist curling around him like wings.

"Each pillar you stabilize brings the Collapse closer to me. I am the product of every failure, every regret… every moment Joy Boy wished he could undo."

He summoned illusions of Lian's worst fears.

Luffy falling in battle.Hancock begging for help as flames consumed her.The Straw Hat sinking beneath the waves.

"Join me, and I'll erase your pain," he whispered. "There will be no Collapse. No loss. Just silence."

Lian trembled.

Then clenched his fists.

"No."

The Battle of Dreamt Moon began.

Robin summoned ancient glyphs to shield them.

Zoro fought through illusions of past selves—some dark, some broken.

Sanji burned through fog demons with kicks of flaming resolve.

But Lian—he reached the Fourth Pillar and began syncing with it.

The Echo Child attacked him directly.

Mind to mind.

Memory to memory.

Inside Lian's consciousness, time stood still.

He floated in a space of stardust.

The Echo Child stood across from him, now identical to him in form.

"I am what you could be. A child with no fear, no pain, no loss. Just perfection."

Lian's eyes welled up.

"I'm not perfect. I'm just me."

He reached into his memories.

And called upon every real moment:

Laughing with Luffy under the sakura tree in Amazon Lily.Sleeping beside Hancock while she told him stories of Kuja warriors.Zoro teaching him sword breathing.Chopper kissing his scraped knee.Sunny's crew singing as they sailed under a rainbow.

One by one, the real memories crushed the fake ones.

Lian's Chrono Haki surged.

The Echo Child gasped. "No… this shouldn't be possible…"

Lian's body glowed gold.

"I don't run from pain. I cherish joy."

He unleashed a pulse of time so pure, it shattered the illusion realm.

The Echo Child screamed.

His form cracked.

He reached for Lian—but Luffy reappeared in a flash of white lightning and punched him into a crater.

"You erased me," Luffy grinned, "but I remembered myself harder."

The crew rallied.

Zoro stabbed through the echo of Kuina.

Robin lit up glyphs from forgotten moons.

Hancock kissed Lian's forehead, stabilizing his flow.

And the Fourth Pillar pulsed—awakened, anchored.

The dream island began to fade.

The Echo Child was gone, but not destroyed.

He left behind a whisper:

"I will see you… in the End Realm."

As Shin'Tari dissolved, the Sunny reappeared above the sea.

Cymos exhaled. "Four pillars down. Three remain."

Robin nodded. "And with every one, we get closer to the heart of it all."

Lian stared at the sky, where the island had been.

"Who was that voice I heard?" he asked Luffy.

Luffy turned to him, solemn.

"My mother."

Lian blinked. "But you never talk about her."

Luffy looked out to sea.

"She made me promise not to."

Then he whispered,

"But it's time you knew her name."

Far away…

In a secret chamber in Mariejois, Imu stared at a bloodstained mirror.

He spoke one word:

"Dawnara."

And the glass cracked.

End of Chapter 19

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The Fifth Time Pillar lies within the Sunken Palace of Dawnara—a city erased from maps, ruled by the woman who once loved Gol D. Roger… and bore Luffy. As secrets unravel, Luffy must confront his mother, who chose to disappear to protect the world from what he truly is.

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