So yeah, remember that friend of mine I told you all to thank last chapter? Thank her again. XD. This chapter is dedicated to her since she wants me to keep writing so badly. Hehehehe. Happy birthday, Meggie. I love you so much! "Past, present, and future..." : )
Chapter 8 - Dolphiena and the Final Stretch
In all his time of being a doctor, Chopper couldn't remember ever being hassled by one of his patients this much.
"Luffy, I'm serious!" Chopper finally burst out. "You must stay still! Get back in that bed, NOW!"
In all his time of being a pirate captain, Luffy couldn't remember ever being hassled by one of his nakama this much.
"Chopper, I've been lying around all day!" Luffy finally burst out. "If I can't leave this room, I'm gonna have to get up and walk around every once in a while!"
"Oi, don't give me that!" Chopper retorted incredulously. "You're not 'walking around'! You're bouncing off the walls... literally! And you haven't been lying around 'all day'; we've only been on the ship for ten minutes! We haven't even shoved off yet, for God's sake!"
Luffy ignored him and kept bouncing around the little infirmary in the depths of the Eternal Merry. He accidentally crashed into a large, wooden cabinet in a corner of the room. There were the distinct crashing and tinkling sounds of breaking glass. Chopper gasped as he looked at the cabinet in horror. The look of horror upon the reindeer's face turned to outrage as he rounded on Luffy. The captain chuckled sheepishly. "Um, heh heh... sorry?"
"Sorry" wasn't enough for the furious doctor. He went into his man-beast form and grabbed Luffy in an impossibly powerful grip. "Kuso!" Chopper yelled. "Baka! The stuff in that cabinet is extremely important! If you knew what was in there, you definitely would've listened and been more careful!"
"Oh, suge, what's in- oof!" Chopper threw him rather roughly back into his bed. "Hey, ow!" Luffy whined. "I'm kinda injured, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry," Chopper mumbled distractedly as he turned to his precious cabinet.
"So... what's in there?" Luffy finished his previous question curiously.
"Experiments," the doctor replied shortly.
"Experiments FOR...?" Luffy pressed on.
"I'm not gonna tell you," Chopper said a bit angrily. He still didn't turn away from his open cabinet to face Luffy. "You'll find out someday." There was a faint sound of tinkling glass as the hulking reindeer cleaned up the broken beakers and jars. Luckily, most of the ingredients in the cabinet were dry. None of the liquid ones had fallen out. Chopper always placed the liquids in the far back as a precaution. Dry ingredients were easier, and in most cases safer, to clean up than liquid ones. Chopper looked at Luffy sternly.
"I have to get some empty containers," he said. He narrowed his eyes as he continued. "Stay in that bed, got it?"
"Fine, fine," Luffy sighed, sinking further back into his pillow and placing his hands behind his head. As Chopper left the room all in a huff, Luffy couldn't help but chuckle. 'Damn, I don't know why he got so serious. That's not like him! Hee hee, what would we do without him?' he thought fondly. Then he frowned. 'I wonder what's in that cabinet, though... I didn't mean to upset him so much.'
Nami felt somewhat subdued as she looked around the deck of their powerful ship. They were ready to shove off, to once again set sail into the unknown waters of the dreaded Grand Line. Nami had grown so used to doing this, she had never really come to terms with the fact that she would one day sail one last time and navigate her beloved captain's crew to the end of their grand journey. And now, here she was, standing on the deck of what had to be one of the strongest ships ever built in the history of the world, staring out into the vast expanse of clear seawater that she knew to be the final stretch of their journey, the pathway to Raftel and Luffy's dream. Never was staring out to sea like this so surreal to Nami. She couldn't seem to comprehend it... the end of the Grand Line... In addition, she had to deal with the fact that the woman who very nearly killed the love of her life was accompanying them on this final trip. Nami clenched her fist and fiercely swore that she would do all in her power to make sure that their crew, Luffy's crew, would never need the Shichibukai's help...
"Um... Nami?"
Nami whipped around, startled. When she saw Zoro's face, she relaxed. "Yeah, what's up?" she responded, turning back to continue staring out to sea.
"Well, uh, we're ready to leave now," Zoro reported. "You all right, Nami?"
"Hm?" She turned to face him again. "Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well... what you saw happen to Luffy might have been a bit traumatizing... You sure you okay? I mean, especially now this woman is on our ship."
Nami couldn't help but smile at the swordsman. "Aww, Zoro, that's so sweet! I never thought you were exactly capable of caring about others' feelings like that."
Zoro raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Really? Glad to hear it... I guess. Now I know I am starting to soften up a bit too much."
Nami sweatdropped. "Ugh, you're impossible."
Zoro's smirk widened. "Thanks. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you're fine because we need to get going here. I get this strange feeling that something bad is gonna happen unless we get out of here now... Remember what Lemora said, too?"
Nami frowned. "Yeah... Maybe we should get going." She clapped her hands. "All right! Lower the sails, raise the anchors, and let's shove off!" Sanji seemed to appear out of thin air. "HAIIIIII, NAMI-SAN!" He and Zoro ran to the mast and went about lowering the huge sails. Franky and Usopp raised the anchors. As the ship started to drift away from the docks, Nami realized something. Her eyes went wide with shock. 'How could I have forgotten...!' she thought wildly. 'How long have I been doing this for! How could I suddenly forget about the Log?' She looked down at her wrist. Sure enough, the Log Pose was not yet pointing steadily in one direction. It was not yet set to Raftel's direction! Nami could already hear Lemora's voice... "Hehehe, oops. It's okay, I can guide you there." No! Hadn't she just sworn to not let Lemora help them? 'Maybe...' she thought, '...maybe I can just ask her how long the Log will take to set...' She stuffed her fingers into her mouth, eyes wide with worry, her mind racing. Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but the circumstances were quite different. They couldn't just stay and wait for the Log to set; Lemora had made that clear as they had walked back to the ship.
Flashback
"When we get to the ship," Lemora says quietly, slung unceremoniously over Zoro's shoulder, "we mustn't waste time. The longer we stay, the larger the chance my people will find out I'm missing. If they do so before I'm gone, and they see me on your ship... they will cause quite a ruckus."
"Right," Luffy says shortly from Chopper's arms. "We'll leave right away."
End Flashback
'If we can't stay here...' Nami thought, '...there's only one thing I can do. Lemora knows the way, I know she does... She probably has an Eternal Log Pose or something...'
'NO!' a fierce voice in her head scolded. 'Do NOT ask or accept help from the enemy! We can do this on our own!'
'No... no, I can't,' she responded to the voice sadly. 'Wow, now I feel dumb... Remember what she said? She said earlier that she had no doubt I could navigate the crew there...'
'Well, there you go! Listen to her words. For once, the bitch was telling the truth. We don't need her help, she is a traitor!'
'Yeah, but... Oh, I don't know...'
In the end, Nami knew she had to go to Lemora. Luffy had said that he believed she wanted to help. 'I have to trust his judgement,' she thought firmly. The fierce voice in her head couldn't argue with that, so the navigator got up and strode purposefully to the girls' quarters where Robin and Crystal slept. Zoro had dumped the handcuffed Shichibukai in there for the time being.
"OIIIII, NAMI!" Nami heard Usopp call. She cursed under her breath. "I should've figured this crap out before we shoved off..." she muttered to herself. "I can't really just stop the ship... I gotta hurry here." She ran the rest of the way. When she arrived, she found Lemora slumped in a corner. Nami held back a sudden strong urge to kick the traitor hard in the face. Lemora looked up at the distressed navigator, her face cool and her eyes completely calm. "Yes?" she said simply.
"How do I get there?" Nami kept the question short and to the point. She noted how cold her own voice sounded. Lemora's calm, steady gaze didn't falter.
"But surely, you could navigate your own crew," Lemora replied with a hint of polite surprise.
"SHUT UP!" Nami yelled. She closed here eyes, rubbed her temples, and willed herself to calm down. 'I want to just KILL her...' "Okay... look, I need your help, all right? Do you have an Eternal Pose or something?"
Lemora gave Nami her maddeningly kind, understanding smile. "No, I do not. However, think for a second," she continued as Nami's face fell. "We are quite far from any islands, aren't we?"
"Yes..." Nami muttered impatiently.
"Okay, then. Tell me, what is the reason we use Log Poses on the Grand-"
"Just get to the goddamn point!" Nami snapped.
"Okay, then," Lemora said again, nodding without faultering. "The reason we use Log Poses is because the powerful magnetic qualities of the Grand Line islands render ordinary compasses useless. However, you're near the end. There are virtually no islands that can mess with a compass."
Nami's eyes widened as realization hit her. "A compass will work out here..."
Lemora nodded. "Yes, and to make things even easier, Raftel is due north."
Without giving a single word of thanks or any sign of appreciation whatsoever, Nami dashed out of the room and sprinted to the cartography room. She wrenched open a desk drawer and rummaged around in it. She kept various odds and ends in there.
"Ah, here it is..." she muttered to herself with satisfaction as she grabbed her old golden compass and flipped it open. The last time she has looked at it, the needle had been spinning wildly around in a never-ending circle. However, the needle was once again behaving as it should, pointing steadily in one direction. However, Nami noted how violently the needle was quivering, as if wildly straining in hopeless desperation to spin freely once more. Suddenly, she heard the clunking sound of running footsteps. She recognized them as Usopp's. He came to a stop and stood framed in the doorway of the open cartography room.
"Yo, Nami! Didn't you hear me calling you?"
"Yeah, sorry, I was looking for something."
"Oh?" Usopp looked at the compass in confusion. "What's that old thing doing out?"
"The compass works now, Usopp! I've gotta use it to navigate to Raftel. It's due north."
"Oh, that's cool! Anyway, I just ran to tell ya we had to turn back."
"WHAT?! You remember what Lemora said! The people of this island are gonna flip out if they find out about her...!"
"Yeah, but... we forgot something really important. We have no food whatsoever... We need to get supplies before we leave."
"OH GODDAMN IT!!!!" Nami yelled. "What is wrong with me? First it's the Log Pose... now it's this... I never used to forget this stuff!"
Usopp looked at her sympathetically. "It's okay, Nami. Everyone makes mistakes."
"Not like these mistakes, though!" she insisted. "Usopp... is there something wrong with me?"
"Um... no. You're perfectly fine, Nami. I'm telling you, you just made a couple mistakes. I'm sure you're stressed out with Lemora and everything."
They felt the similar rocking sensation of the ship docking. "All right..." Nami said, calming herself down yet again. "Go talk to Lemora and tell her the situation. I'm gonna go talk to the others and make a plan." "Hai," Usopp complied. He rushed to the girls' quarters as Nami rushed up to the deck.
"Ah, Nami-san," Sanji greeted her. "So Usopp told you the situation?"
"Yeah," she replied, "and he's talking to Lemora as we speak."
Chopper suddenly ran up to them. "Hey, what's going on? How come we docked here again?" "We need supplies," Franky replied. "Oh..." said Chopper. "That's a problem, huh?" "I don't see what's so difficult here," said Zoro, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "We go into town, take some supplies, and kill everyone who opposes us. We're pirates after all, right?" "Hmm... I hate to admit it, but Marimo has a point," Sanji said calmly. "We're supposed to be one of the deadliest pirate crews in the history of the world..." "Well, things can often be taken care of without barbaric violence!" Nami retorted. "We could always get Lemora to come with us..." Robin said thoughtfully. Nami rounded on her. "No! I would rather kill every soul on this island than do that!" Everyone went quiet and looked at her. Nami grinned sheepishly. "Um... yeah, so I don't really like Lemora..." Everyone laughed.
After debating for a little bit whether or not they should take supplies by force, Usopp appeared. "Hey, guys," he said as he walked up to them, "Lemora has a plan. She said that she could go into town and get all the supplies we need."
Nami scowled. "Damn it... It does seem like the best course of action, doesn't it? Still... what if she is lying? The moment we take off the handcuffs, she could turn on us again."
"We have to trust the captain's decision," Zoro said quietly. "What he says, goes. We can't question it. He trusts her, so we have to as well."
"Well, didn't he say himself he wanted to keep her in the handcuffs unless absolutely necessary?" Nami argued.
"Wouldn't this be considered as absolutely necessary, though?" Usopp asked, frowning.
"No! We can take the supplies by force..."
"Weren't you against that?" Franky pointed out.
Nami gave an exasperated sigh and turned to Robin. "What do you think?"
Robin smiled. "Ask the captain. He is the one who has to make this decision, since he is the one who decided to trust Lemora in the first place."
"I'll go ask him," Chopper offered. He ran back down to the infirmary.
Sure enough, Luffy trusted Lemora enough to go with her plan. Zoro took the cuffs off and he and Franky escorted her into town. They went to her apartment so she could make some calls and get pack some things for the trip as well. Soon, back at the ship, Nami and the others were greeting trucks with crates that held their much-needed supplies. Zoro, Franky and Lemora waited in Lemora's apartment for a while so the men unloading supplies onto the Eternal Merry wouldn't see her leaving with them. Sure enough, when they got back, they thankfully ran into no one.
"Good," Nami said approvingly. "Everything has gone very smoothly... Zoro, please bring Lemora back down." Zoro nodded and escorted the Shichibukai back to the girls' quarters. When they got there, he placed the handcuffs on her once more. "Sorry," he said with no emotion whatsoever as he left the room to go back up to the deck. Lemora smiled when he left. 'This is definitely a very peculiar pirate crew... What am I going to do when we reach Raftel? I guess I'll have to figure that out when we get there...'
And so, with tons of supplies and a much calmer navigator, the Eternal Merry set off once again. "Give us a little turn to starboard, and we just head north from there," Nami ordered happily as she looked at her compass. "HAI, NAMI-SWAN!" came the expected immediate response.
Usopp walked up to Nami as she stood looking at her compass. "Heh, it must feel really different using a compass again, huh?" asked Usopp, smiling.
"I suppose," Nami replied. "If anything, it's kind of a relief. It's almost like being home again... I am kind of sick of the Grand Line, you know?"
Usopp nodded understandingly. "Yes... It must be quite difficult for one who is not so brave and adapted to adventure and danger. Captain Usopp, however, can proudly boast the Grand Line as his one and only true home."
Nami shook her head. "Okay, Usopp, whatever you say. You're braver than me. Mhm."
Usopp frowned. "You're mocking me, aren't you?"
Nami's mouth opened to reply, but she was suddenly interrupted by a small explosion rocking the ship. "ARGH, WHAT NOW?" she bellowed. She and Usopp ran over to the starboard side of the ship where Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, Franky, and Robin were already standing. They were looking at a small boat... with a rather large and smoking cannon protruding from behind it.
"PIRATES!" someone from the attacking vessel screamed. "RELEASE LEMORA-SAN THIS INSTANT! YOU HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST US!"
"Screw you!" Franky yelled back. "Maybe she wanted to come with us! Didn't think of that, did ya?"
"Then prove it! Let us talk to her!"
Zoro suddenly leapt up onto the railing. "No," was his calm reply. He drew his three swords. "We don't have time for this. We don't need to explain ourselves." His bowed his head and crossed his swords. "Santoryu... Seeking Hawk." He suddenly disappeared. Nami folded her arms and shook her head disapprovingly. "He likes having his fun a bit too much sometimes..." she sighed. The swordsman reappeared on the small boat. He gave one of his most demonic grins to the five people manning the boat and cannon. They all shouted in surprise and stumbled backwards away from their invader. "What, you won't fight?" Zoro asked quietly. The grin on his face would have made even demons fear for their lives...
"L...like hell, we won't!" one man yelled defiantly as he shakily drew a gun. Zoro's eyes widened with what could only be described as pure bloodlust. "Oh, really...?" he muttered. "I'm impressed..."
Back on the Eternal Merry, the Straw Hats watched. A few flashes of sun shining on polished steel was seen on the enemy boat, and suddenly, Zoro was standing beside them once again. "Pathetic is an understatement," he said, smirking as he sheathed his three katana. "However, I am truly impressed. That one guy actually drew a weapon and said something defiant! Oh, well... Attack us and reap the rewards." He walked away. Chopper and Usopp started trembling. "S-scary..." they mumbled as he walked by. They all watched as he found a nice, sunny spot to sit down. They all watched as he promptly fell asleep. They all sweat-dropped.
It had already been two weeks and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Lemora had them all scared that swarms of deadly Sea Kings were going to eat them alive, but they never seemed to come.
"Would Lemora really do this?" Nami asked one morning during breakfast. "You think she made that up to make sure we would take her with us?"
"I doubt it…" Franky said slowly. "I don't know. I just kind of get the feeling she isn't trying to trick us."
"Well, she had to be grateful for us saving her," Sanji pointed out.
They were all quiet for a while as they ate. Crystal swallowed a mouthful of eggs and asked, "So Luffy-kun is still asleep, I assume?"
"Yeah," Nami sighed. "You know how he's been lately. Stay up all night and sleep for most of the day."
"He has been like that ever since his recovery from those injuries…" Chopper said slowly. "Maybe it had something to do with the sleeping medicine I gave him. He wouldn't calm down so I had to give him some. It looks like it completely messed up his sleep schedule, though…"
Everyone just stared at Chopper. "And how come you never told us this before?" Nami asked incredulously.
Chopper shrugged. "No one ever asked." Nami slapped a hand to her forehead and Zoro laughed.
It was mid-afternoon when Luffy appeared. The whole crew was out on the deck enjoying the great, sunny weather that seemed to have no end. Nami raised an eyebrow at the captain. "Have a good sleep, did you?" she asked sardonically. Luffy shrugged. "It could've been better," he replied. Nami sighed and turned onto her stomach. "Make yourself useful and put lotion on my back." Luffy sighed in return. "Ugh, get someone else to do it." "I'LL DO IT!" Sanji cried with ecstasy as he seemingly magically appeared at Nami's side. He took the lotion before she could even say anything and started rubbing. "Fine," she muttered as she rested her head and closed her eyes. "But you know the drill, Sanji-kun. Go anywhere you're not supposed to, and die." "Hai, Nami-swan!" Nami opened an eye and watched Luffy as he went below deck for food. She closed her eyes again. "Mmmmmm..." "Oh, Nami-san," Sanji said, "I need to go follow Luffy. Gotta make sure he doesn't clear out our entire food supply... again." "Okay, okay," she replied impatiently. "ZORO! Get over here and finish my back!"
A month had passed and they still had no difficulties. However, their food supply was becoming low again.
"I am dying of boredom..." Usopp groaned. He and Chopper were hanging out in Usopp's large workshop. He set up fifteen metal cans again and loaded his slingshot with a special pellet he just finished making. "Spread Fire Star!" The pellet exploded into fifteen individual needles. Each can was hit dead center, leaving behind tiny holes. "Not bad," Usopp said modestly. "I'll give it a real test once we reach land where I'll have more room."
Luffy had insisted that Lemora be brought up to deck so she could enjoy the sunshine with everyone else. "Luffy..." Usopp had said. "It's not like she is our nakama, you know... Why are you gonna let her hang out with us?"
"She's still handcuffed, and she doesn't need to be with us," Luffy replied, smiling. "It's just not fair she has been below deck for soooo long. It's been like a year or three!" Usopp sweat-dropped. "Oi, oi... just a month," he muttered.
Lemora did indeed stay away from the others. She sat near the aft end of the ship and watched the calm waters. Suddenly, Zoro appeared next to her. "I've got a question," he said quietly. "Where are the Sea Kings you warned us about? Just so you know, if you lie to us, you might as well consider yourself dead."
Lemora frowned. "You know, I have been wondering the same thing. I am quite surprised that the ship hadn't experienced an attack after the first two weeks. It's almost as if something is warding them off..."
Franky walked up to them. "Yo! What's up, Zoro? What's going on here?"
"Just talking," was Zoro's short reply.
"Yes," Lemora said. "We were just discussing the Sea Kings and why they have not shown themselves yet."
Franky smirked. "Heh! Well, it seems my ship was perfectly built! The bottom has a kairouseki coat. I got the idea from Nami a long time ago. I'm surprised it works so well!"
Zoro slowly turned his head to look at him incredulously. "What... did you just say?"
Franky frowned. "What's the matter?"
Zoro grabbed Franky by the front of his shirt and shook him wildly. "YOU NEVER TOLD US ABOUT THE KAIROUSEKI, YOU MORON!" He threw Franky to the ground and walked off. "I'm gonna go tell Nami about this. We've all been wondering about the Sea Kings. Franky, you're so freakin' dumb."
Franky ran after him. "Oi, wait! Nami's gonna be mad...!"
Lemora turned back to watch the sea. "Kairouseki, huh? Interesting idea... I wonder if Nami got that idea from that famous Marine scientist..." She smirked.
Meanwhile, Franky was indeed receiving a beating for his idiocy. "IT WOULD'VE BEEN NICE TO KNOW THAT!" Nami shouted. Franky lay on the floor crying with many bumps on his head and bleeding from the nose and mouth. "S-sorry..." he mumbled. Nami sighed. "Well, now we know we've been sailing for the last year with a kairouseki-bottomed ship. That would explain the lack of Sea King attacks... They can't sense the ship's presence since the kairouseki has the same properties as the sea." She suddenly smiled. "Well! I guess that makes the final stretch like a nice break! Now we don't have to worry."
It had been nearly a month and a half since the crew left Island 2. Sanji announced that they were already nearly half way through their food supply. Luffy didn't complain too much. He knew that they would need the other half of the food supply to make another trip after Raftel, so he tried to be good about eating. Nami's regular beatings helped him keep the amount he ate in check as well.
Usopp sighed and walked out onto the deck one morning. "Man, I'm kind of sick of this weather... It's been nice and sunny ever since we left! It's getting really boring." Chopper agreed with an accompanying sigh.
Robin was up in the crow's nest rereading a mystery novel. Suddenly, something told her to look down into the water. She sensed danger approaching... Sure enough, she saw a gigantic dark shape approaching their ship beneath the water. "Hmmm... It looks like that Sea King could easily swallow up our ship," she noted to herself calmly. "I thought the kairouseki was going to keep our ship safe. Oh, well." She went back to reading her book as if she had seen absolutely nothing dangerous. Meanwhile, the huge black shape was directly under the ship now. Chopper called Usopp over to the side of the ship.
"What's up?" Usopp asked. Chopper didn't say a word. He just pointed over the railing. Usopp looked over the railing. "Um... what's that under our ship? And... WHY IS IT GETTING BIGGER?" The next second, the two of them were running around the ship screaming their heads off. "MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER!!!"
Everyone but Luffy and Lemora rushed up to see what was going on. "What are you yelling about?" Sanji asked loudly, trying to get them to calm down. However, what they were yelling about soon became very apparent. The monster began to surface. The ship soon found itself stranded on a gigantic scaly back that was easily as vast as a small island. A head that blocked out a vast majority of the sky reared out of the water and looked around at its back. It lowered its head so its eye could peer at the Eternal Merry. Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Crystal all screamed and clung onto each other. Sanji raised a curly eyebrow. "Wow," he said. "This thing could easily swallow Laboon whole." "Yeah," Zoro agreed calmly. "Like a snack." "What's a Laboon?" Franky asked. "It was a giant whale we met at-" Sanji's answer was drowned out as the monster roared. It seemed like the whole world was undergoing the largest earthquake known to man. Everyone covered their ears and hit the deck to keep themselves from falling as their tiny speck of a ship shook violently. Right when Nami thought her head was surely going to explode, the roar ended. With a great surge of rushing water, the Sea King went back underwater. The Eternal Merry was once again rocking gently on the ocean surface as if nothing had happened.
Robin jumped down from the crow's nest. "Well, that was interesting," she noted. "I wonder if it's gone?"
Crystal looked shakily over the railing. "W-well, I don't see anything..." she observed nervously. "Just clear blue water."
Nami strained her ears. "Wait... I think I hear something." Suddenly, her eyes went wide. "Franky! Put up the defense!" "Huh? What's going-" "JUST DO IT!"
Sure enough, as soon as the ship became plated in metal, something huge hit the bottom of it and it shot off like a rocket. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the crew screamed. Robin sprouted arms to keep everyone firmly in place as the ship sailed through the air. "It was the monster's tail!" Nami yelled over the loud rushing sound of wind. "It just hit us into the air! That probably makes it easier for it to-" She didn't even get to finish her sentence. The Sea King's head shot out of the water below them and opened its mouth. Even though it barely opened up at all, it was still like looking down into a huge, bottomless canyon. "TO EAT US!" Nami finished with a scream of terror. Franky ran to the aft end of the ship and held out his hands, one holding the back of the other. A large hole appeared in his palm. "Robin, hold me down! COUP DE VENT!" A wall of arms sprouted from the ship to keep Franky in place. A huge blast of destructive wind emanated from the hole in his hand. The boat shot forward in midair like an airplane. They missed the monster's mouth by an agonizing few feet. They could smell its horrible breath. "WE'RE GOING TO DIIIIIIIIE!" Usopp and Chopper screamed in unison as Merry began to plummet back down to the water at an angle. The ship rocked violently as it returned the ocean's surface once more with a huge splash. The Sea King, however, did not go back underwater this time. Its head flew down towards the ship. "Uh, oh..." Sanji muttered to himself. "We can't stop this thing, it's way too big." Suddenly, Luffy ran past him and launched himself into the air. Sanji smiled in surprise. "Oh, wow. The captain actually woke up."
"GOMU GOMU NO GIGANT BAZOOKA!"
His arms grew big enough to easily crush the world's largest galleon. He was in Gear Third, giving him the ability to make his bones inflate and make his limbs grow to immense sizes. The beast roared as the attack connected. Even though Luffy's arms were so huge, his fists were still only the size of the Sea King's eyes. However, Luffy's insane strength caused the monster's head to flinch back. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the captain roared as he started to fall back down to the ship. "NO SEA KING IS GONNA STOP MEEEE!" However, the monster merely closed its eyes and shook its head as Luffy landed back on the deck. It renewed its attack. Its head was rushing toward Merry once more, its mouth opening...
"Oh, wow," Luffy said, blinking. "Looks like we're screwed."
Sanji rounded on him. "THAT'S ALL YOU'VE GOT TO SAY?" he bellowed. Luffy groaned and inflated his arms again. He extended them and held up his giant hands to hopefully stop the Sea King's head in its tracks. "THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GONNA DO?" Sanji bellowed once more. "YOUR HANDS ARE BARELY BIGGER THAN ONE OF IT'S TEETH!" "WELL, LET'S SEE YOU DO SOMETHING!" Luffy yelled back at him.
Suddenly, with a huge crash, the Sea King's head came to a halt. It looked like its head had slammed into a gigantic wall...
"LEMORA-SAN!" Sanji yelled with joy and relief.
Sure enough, there she was with Zoro right behind her. When the ship had landed back on the ocean after being launched into the air, the swordsman immediately ran below deck to take off Lemora's handcuffs and bring her up to stop the Sea King. Her hair was very disheveled and unkempt and she had bags under her eyes from lack of decent sleep, but she stared at the beast with an unbreakable determination in her eyes as she held out her hands to maintain her invisible wall. "The likes of you," Lemora muttered, "will never stop me."
The Sea King repeatedly banged its head into the wall. Suddenly, it went underwater. They all watched as the dark shape glided under their ship... Suddenly, their ship was lifted into the air slightly. Nami looked at Lemora. Her face was contorted in concentration as her hands kept switching from opened to closed, raising her arms and bringing them back down. Everyone on the ship felt Merry being placed on a surface. They looked down over the railing... An invisible wall was keeping them suspended over the surface of the water. The gigantic head burst out the water, its canyon-sized mouth open and pointed up to swallow the ship. It was the weirdest sensation. It was like floating above a gaping, pitch-black bottomless pit. No matter how hard the Sea King tried, it could not break through the wall. Eventually, it made a strange, deep-throated whining sound and gave up. It went back underwater and swam away astonishingly fast.
Lemora slumped into a sitting position. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was labored. She grinned. "It's been a while since I've had to exert myself that much..." she confessed. "I had to grab the ship with two walls and lift it and place it on another wall to protect the bottom because I can't make a wall underwater... It's hard to use walls to lift something like that, very hard. Well... I am glad I got to help."
Franky shook his head. "I don't understand, though. How did it know the ship was here? The kairouseki should make our ship hidden to everything the ocean."
Lemora shrugged. "It seems this particular Sea King was near the surface just by coincidence. Even though sea creatures won't be able to sense or smell ships with kairouseki bottoms, they can still see them if they get close enough." She laughed. "It just happened to be our luck that one of the hugest and deadliest Sea Kings in the world decided to pop up for a visit instead of one of the smaller ones."
"Yeah," Usopp said sarcastically, "real funny. And Chopper, you can unlatch yourself from my head now. The Sea King's gone."
"Y-you sure?" Chopper asked in fright.
Luffy laughed. "Silly Chopper! Of course it's gone!"
Chopper turned and looked at Luffy. He laughed and jumped off of Usopp's head. "Yay, it's little Luffy!" Chopper cheered. Whenever Luffy used Gear Third, he would deflate and shrink into a weak chibi-like form for a few moments afterwards, making it very risky to use in battle. Chopper was about to hug him, but he started to grow. Chopper pouted when Luffy went back to regular size. "Awwww, I like little Luffy," the doctor complained. Everyone laughed.
It was two weeks after the crew's near-death experience. The weather was still great, and no more Sea Kings had attacked them. Everyone had more respect for Lemora after her spectacular performance. Only Crystal still gave her the cold shoulder. 'Shichibukai scum will always be Shichibukai scum,' she told herself over and over again. One day, Lemora told the crew more about herself. She revealed that her full name was Lemora Dolphiena. It had always been her dream even as a toddler to be a powerful pirate. She ate her Devil Fruit at the shocking age of five.
"I gathered a crew and achieved that dream. Keep in mind that this was before the Golden Age of Piracy, so being a pirate was a much bigger deal back then." She unzipped her jumpsuit a little bit and reached into an inner pocket. She pulled out a very old and worn out wanted notice.
Wanted Dead or Alive
Guardian Dolphiena
"F-F-FIVE HUNDRED MILLION?" everyone exclaimed in surprise.
"Suge!" Luffy and Chopper cried out in unison.
"That's insane!" Usopp said incredulously. "You weren't kidding about being a pirate back then! No one could reach 500,000,000 these days!"
"So what made you become a Shichibukai, Dolphiena-san?" Sanji inquired.
Lemora laughed. "Please, keep calling me Lemora; I am used to that name." She looked warmly at her old wanted notice. "I became a Shichibukai because, quite simply, I had nothing better to do. When the government approached me with the offer, I realized that I had gotten kind of sick of the pirate lifestyle, and of my crew. Therefore, I left behind both and became a feared World Government ally."
Luffy shook his head. "That's not cool. No one should abandon their nakama like that."
Lemora laughed again. "They were glad to be rid of me, too, I assure you. I wasn't exactly a... lenient captain. I ruled by force. But still... I am quite fond of those days. I keep this wanted notice with me at all times to remind myself what I truly am, as opposed to what I have been pretending to be for a number of decades now..."
She explained how the government stationed her near the end of the Grand Line to make sure no pirate could reach Raftel. She never understood why, but she did what she was told. She reached Island 2 and saw how it was overrun with crime. She effortlessly brought an end to all of it and became an instant hero. No one had questioned where she came from. No one had cared; she was their savior.
"There were actually a few pirates that had somehow reached Island 2 before Roger... I took care of them all without even trying. Roger was different though. He had a large crew. I killed a vast majority of them. However, Roger himself was an enigma. I could never hit him with my walls or trap him... He was always one step ahead of me. After days of fighting- yes, days- we finally called a truce. As a Shichibukai, I'm not really bound to the government. You know how some do whatever they please. I felt it necessary to be like that; I ignored the government for Roger's sake. I allowed him to pass. If there was a person strong enough to hold his or her own against me for that long, then they deserved to move on to Raftel. Roger was that person, and I most certainly do not regret my decision. Luffy... you are weak compared to him. I don't know what's on Raftel, but whatever it is, I don't think you'll be strong enough to face it."
Luffy's face was set. "I might not be, but that's why I have a crew. We all work together, and nothing can ever stop us."
Lemora nodded. "Whatever you say, my friend. If you have that much faith in your nakama, then I wish you the best of luck. Obviously, I have been wrong before, and this may be one of those times."
Later at dinner, Lemora was back downstairs as she always was when the crew ate. Sanji would bring food down to her twice a day although he desperately wished he could do it more often. After all, she was such a beautiful woman.
"Our conversation with Lemora-san was interesting..." Sanji said as they ate. "I want to know more about her... Maybe i should bring her down some more food... She is an angel, and angels need lots of food..."
Crystal glared at him. "She is a Shichibukai. I can't believe you would even hit on her, no matter how pretty she is!"
Sanji shrugged. "I can't help it, it's who I am." Crystal shook her head in disgust. Sanji stayed quiet throughout the meal afterwards, which was unlike him.
Shortly after dinner, Nami went to her and Luffy's room for the night. "Oi, Luffy," Zoro said. "Is she okay? It's kind of early."
Luffy shrugged. "I don't know. She's tired?"
One by one, the rest of the crew went to bed as well. Crystal stayed up to keep watch up on deck. She sighed as she lounged in the crow's nest, lost in the endless swirls of stars in the clear night sky. She snapped back to reality with a scream as a pair of hands suddenly grabbed the edge of the nest. A second later, Luffy launched himself up to join her. "What's up?" he asked casually with a grin. She smacked him. "Luffy-kun! Don't ever do that!" "S-sorry..." Luffy stuttered.
The two of them sat in silence for a bit. "So what do you want?" Crystal asked quietly.
"Oh, I'm just curious about somethin'!" Luffy answered. "You like Sanji?"
Crystal started at the question. "W-what? Why do you ask?"
Luffy looked up at the sky. "I'm not sure. Just seems you do and I wanna be sure you don't need help."
Crystal raised an eyebrow at him. "Help?" she repeated, amused.
"Yeah," Luffy replied, oblivious to the note of amusement in her voice. "Sanji helped me, you know! With Nami. So I thought maybe I could do the same!"
"Wait, wait," Crystal said. "With Nami? He helped you with Nami? What do you mean?"
Luffy shrugged. "I'm kind of dumb sometimes, and he knew me and her liked each other somehow, and he helped me. Told me what to say and how to act and stuff." He looked at her again. "So I was thinking, if you like Sanji and haven't said anything yet, you should! Maybe you haven't cuz you don't know how. So do you need help?"
Crystal burst into a fit of giggles. "Luffy-kun, you're so funny." She laughed some more as Luffy watched her in confusion. "What did I say?" he asked. She just kept laughing. Not knowing what else to do, Luffy joined her.
"Hey, Luffy-kun..." she said after a few moment's silence. "Do you think he likes me?"
Luffy shrugged again. "Can't tell with him. He likes all the girls. He seems different with you though."
Crystal's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Luffy laughed. "I have no idea! Just seems different to me. Maybe he doesn't act the same with you or something? I really don't know. I'm just saying what I do know. Anyway..." He got up and frowned. "...I better get to bed. I'm gonna go sleep in the guys' room again tonight. If you ever need help, ask me, okay?"
She giggled again. "Okay, I'll remember that," she said warmly. As he was about to jump out of the crow's nest, a question suddenly surfaced in her mind. "Luffy-kun, wait! I wanna ask you something, too..."
"Hm? What's up?"
"Why have you been sleeping with the guys lately? Why not with Nami? And you two don't really talk anymore. Is everything okay with you two?"
Luffy looked at her confused. "Huh? I guess everything's okay, thanks for asking," he responded. "Just gets boring sometimes, you know? Maybe you don't." He laughed. "Okay, good night!" He jumped down and went below deck.
Crystal leaned back and and watched the starry sky again. All through the night, she thought about Luffy's words... Was it possible that Sanji liked her differently from other girls? Could she even return his feelings? He was a nice guy and all, but he was, quite frankly, a skirt chaser. She had no interest in men like him. Plus... he had the audacity to hit on and constantly compliment Lemora, the Shichibukai filth... "I can't believe him," Crystal said to herself. "It doesn't matter if they're friend or foe, good or evil... If a girl is good-looking, he can't resist her. Pathetic... No, I don't like him and I never will. Besides... how could a womanizer like him... have any special feelings for someone like me? I'm sure he's met tons of better girls..."
Nami tried to sleep. She tossed and turned. She tried her hardest to push him out of her mind... This wasn't the first time he had done this. He was a peculiar man. She loved him dearly, but she sometimes wished he was easier to understand.
"Why... has he been sleeping in the other room for the past week?" she whispered to herself. "I guess maybe a change of scenery... Why do I care? This isn't the first time he's done this. Why do I feel... so lonely..." They came without warning. Tears flowed hot from her sleep-deprived eyes and soaked her pillow. "Luffy... what's going on? Why won't you talk to me...?"
Luffy, in the meantime, was completely unaware that his girlfriend was crying herself to sleep. He laid in his hammock and stared at the ceiling. Raftel... it was so close! Soon, he would be Pirate King. Thinking about it drove everything out of his mind, even Nami. Maybe that was why he felt no desire to sleep with her these days... why he never really felt like talking to her... why he hadn't told her he loved her in such a long time... He suddenly found that these thoughts weren't upsetting. 'As long as she is still my nakama, that's all that matters,' he thought firmly. 'We don't need to have anything extra, right? Nope; she's my navigator. Doesn't have to be anything more, right? I guess we'll see.'
As Luffy lay in deep thought, as Nami sobbed herself into a non-restful sleep, Crystal continued to watch the stars. Eventually, the sun began to rise. Crystal got up, stretched and looked out to the north again.
Her heart stopped. There... in the glow of the rising sun... she spotted what was unmistakably...
"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND! LAND HOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Hopefully, you all enjoyed this chapter! I kind of dragged it out. The next chapter should be an interesting one, should I ever get around to writing it! College gets a nice, long winter break, and I am basically sick of MapleStory now, so who knows? Maybe I will really start writing again...
Oh, yes, and of course... PLEASE REVIEW: )