TallyMai-chan: Sorry for any errors! I try to catch them before they get here but I'm my own worst editor.

Chapter 1: The mysterious magic book

"The next One Piece chapter comes out today." Rebecka Thornson smiled to her friend starring devotedly to her laptop's screen.

"I know! I keep refreshing the page. I hope it updates soon." Kathline Reevus sighed dramatically. "It's killing me not knowing what's going to happen to Luffy."

Rebecka nodded in agreement, plopping herself onto the old green couch in her basement. "I wonder when Kid shows up again." It was a simple question but she knew how Kathline felt about it.

Kathline's green eyes flared up, as she spun around in her chair, dark brown locks whipping across her face. "Damnit Becky! You'll jinx the whole series with that question! He'll show up again! He damn well will!"

Becky laughed. "Seeing you all hot and bothered by him is amusing Kat."

Kat scowled, "I'm just not taking any chances."

"Oh yes, because you not wondering where Kid is in the story will make him show up all the sooner."

"Yes it will!" Kat hissed before swiveling back around to face the computer. "Where is that freaking update!"

Rebecka shook her head from embarrassment, her long red hair falling around her blue eyes. While this was her house, and the basement her room Kat had somehow taken over. Kat practically lived at her house anyways, what with her parents and all but the small brunette had all the say in decor.

The large basement, one big room with a door leading to the stairs, a bathroom in the far right corner and a side room where they slept in was their 'Bat Cave' or 'Fangirl Cave' as they lovingly called it. The TV was surrounded by anime DVD's, most of which were One Piece. The right hand wall with the computer table was covered by a lattice work of wooden shelves stocked with manga, mostly One Piece and even had a few art books.

Neither of them could draw. Kat had some talent for it but had neither the patience or the time to get any better at it. Both of them though, were exceptional writers. Being in honers English classes since the 8th grade they were just starting their junior year of high school.

Rebecka turned to look at the wall behind her. She stared at the ribbons and honors they have won for their essays or short stories. Rebecka was the only one to care about them. She wanted to write for a career. Kathline did it for the scholarships.

"I hate writing for those stupid contests." Kat once said to her after a ceremony. "I write because it's fun and you can do anything you want to."

Rebecka glanced to her friend, the girl's eyes practically glued to the screen. "I have an idea." She suddenly said, feeling ambitious. "My aunt sent me a book on magic, and I don't mean the tricks, I mean real magic."

Kat glanced over from the corner of her eye. "It's not black magic is it?"

Rebecka thought for a moment. "I'm not sure."

"You know how I feel about that stuff." Kat said lowly. Rebecka nodded, remembering her friend's fear of the occult.

"It's not like the stuff you see in movies." She calmly explained. "My aunt is a bit eccentric, she's very good at finding rare and unusual things. It might be some lost Asian magic from a thousand years ago."

Kat was only slightly hesitant in her response. "I guess we could try it... just because One Piece hasn't updated..."

Rebecka nodded and ran upstairs to the front door, only five feet away from the top of the stairwell. Her obnoxious brother was already there. He was a year older than her but acted like a snot nosed six year old.

"Having fun without a life." He said casually. "Don't hurt your eyes from sitting in front of a computer screen all day."

"Go kiss a dog's rear you jerk." Rebecka snarled, grabbing the medium sized package from beside the door. It was already open, and bits of Styrofoam peanuts littered the floor.

"At least I don't pretend to make out with cartoon characters." The blond haired boy shouted as she ran back downstairs. Kat was frowning she came in.

"I really hate his guts." She whispered.

"Forget him. Let's take a look at this book." Rebecka smiled, setting the box in the floor between the couch and the TV. Kat sat cross legged beside her and started to play with the peanuts that fell out of the box. When Rebeca pulled out the book she was surprised it was still in one piece. The tattered and rugged bounding was torn and holding on by threads in many places. The dull, dark green color and scratches of what looked like some old language in a nasty peach color didn't look too promising.

She carefully set the book down flat on the floor and started to explore the book. Kat turned the first page to fast and the aged paper tore out silently. They were more carefully after that.

"It's so old, but you can still make out the pictures." Kat noted, looking at a diagram of what looked like a big circles with many smaller interlocking circles inside. "Is this Chinese?"

"I don't know." Rebecka said slowly, turning the next page. A picture of people in foreign clothing that she didn't recognize popped out at her. They were standing before a large fire doing some kind of ritual. Rebecka thought she could see something strange in the fire, she figured that it was just worn or something.

"I wish I could understand this." Kat said dismally. Rebecka gave her a strange look.

"Are you sure you want to keep reading? This looks a lot like black magic to me."

Kat shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. This doesn't scare me for some reason."

"Why don't we go the the library." Rebecka suggested. "Maybe we'll find something to help us there."

Kat eyed the book untrustingly. "I doubt this thing could handle any more travel."

"Let's just take a picture then."

Kat nodded and went to the computer table, opening drawers. She stopped suddenly, her hand flying to the mouse. "One Piece updated!" She turned excitedly to Rebecka. "Let's do that tomorrow, we have school off that day anyways. I want to read the new chapter."

Rebecka shook her head in a knowing way. Kat's idea of reading the new chapter was re-reading the last hundred chapters and then reading the new one. "I guess, why is there so many days off at the beginning of the year anyways?"

"I'm not complaining."

The two junior girls rode on their bikes down the old winding road to the only library in the county. Tall leafy trees, some starting to turn color for the fall season fanned their branches above them. A cool breeze grabbed Kathline, making her wish she had her jacket, not just shorts and a blue tank top. Rebecka looked smug in her baggy jeans and green hoodie.

"Where should we start." Said Rebekca, one hand on the bike handle, the other wrapped around a manila portfolio that held the pictures of the magic book.

"We should figure out what culture or group the people are in the book. That would give us a good start. I can check the encyclopedia."

"I'll look in the countries section."

"Okay agent Becky." Kat grinned. "This is your mission should you choose to accept it. Find out all you can about the magic book! Your bike will blow up in five seconds."

They turned the corner and the library was in sight, not a hundred yards away. Kat started a countdown, rising her voice as she neared zero. Rebecka jumped from her bike just as Kat started to mouth the number one. She landed neatly on her feet and her bike didn't take too much damage either for that matter. Kat made explosion noises, miming along with her sound effects.

"You're too good from the drama club." Becky said sarcastically. Kat grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

"Hey Becky. You find anything?" Kat sat down beside her friend at a table near the adults section.

"It's Asian." Was all Rebecka said from behind a pile of books.

"I can do one better. The writing? Super early Chinese. Like when it was first being created. I found a collage that studies early Chinese writing online and it had some examples. Words like day and fire. There in the book."

"There's not much on early Chinese." Rebecka sighed, picking up another book and flipping through it. "It's all vague and mostly guess work. Let's go back and look through the magic book some more. We stopped about halfway right?"

Kat nodded grimly, suddenly serious."We have something big here. I mean, really big. Scholars would kill to have this book. It's like some big puzzle piece. Like we discovered One Piece!"

Rebecka nodded, a smile playing on her lips. "Maybe that's what One Piece is. The adventure of going after one's dreams."

"Beka." Rebecka's mom meet them at the door, her tired face and flat blond hair making her look twenty years older. She worked late at night till early in the morning doing some kind of work. Rebecka never knew what kind of job her mother had but she didn't want to know. Her mother smiled uncertainly. "Your brother is downstairs in the basement... he took strange things down with him."

The two girls looked to each other, communicating with that brief glance before dashing for the stairs, jumping down them. Kat slipped and fell, landing on her butt painfully but she was instantly up. They hit the door, finding it locked.

"James you snake-faced, hairspray sniffing, truck-stick jerk unlock this door right now!"

"Nice insults." Kat huffed unimpressed. "There are cuss words for a reason ya know."

"Shuush!" Came the sarcastic reply from the other side. "I'm in the middle of a ritual!"

"He's not..." Kat whispered, both of them thinking of the book.

Rebecka started to pound on the door screaming, "What did you do!" She snarled viscously and kicked at the door repeatedly. The thin wood cracking after the first hit. After the fifth kick her foot knocked through. Sharp wood pieces dug into her skin and when she pulled her leg out the bottom of her jeans were stained with red.

Kat opened the door by putting her hand through the newly formed hole and ran in. James was right in front of them, the magic book on a wide wooden stool with rose pedals scattered in a circle around it. There was a flame lit in a metal bowl filled with gasoline.

Kat screamed, recalling movies about black magic with parallel scenes. Rebecka charged her brother. She took pride in being a level headed person in intense situations but at that moment she didn't care. She wanted to murder him then and there.

He grabbed her wrists and spun her around, pinning them to her back. "I was just trying to help you out." He chuckled. "I just wanted to send you to your precious cartoon world." He let her go without preamble and walked back upstairs, closing the door as he went.

Kat leaned against the wall, her eyes closed. Rebecka walked over to her, hugging her soothingly. "It's not that bad Kat. You're thinking it's worse than what it really is." Kat nodded and Rebecka slowly stood back. The brunette looked at the book, the rose pedals then to the fire. Tears started to water in her eyes but she blinked them back.

"We... we haven't looked at that page yet." She said with a slight stutter. Rebecka nodded encouragingly and together they walked over to the book. On the page was a picture of a ritual alter. "It's exactly like it." Kat said, "And look, that's the word for fire right there."

Rebecka remembered her brothers words. "Like this could take us to the One Piece world."

"Every fangirls' dream." Kat said with a forced laugh.

"I wish I- we" She corrected after a glare from Kat. "Could go to the One Piece world. Just to get away from my sna-"

"bastard"

"ke-face brother."

The temperature suddenly dropped. Their breaths coming out in clouds of white. Kat went ridged, her eyes wide. Rebecka cringed as if she was stuck by a bolt of lightning. She wanted to scream but her mouth wouldn't move. It was like a current of electricity was running through the air, making it hard to breathe or even think. Kat grabbed her and pointed to the fire.

Rebecka couldn't believe what she saw.

In the fire's orange center a small image started to appear. It was small and hard to see, like looking through binoculars. They saw wide open ocean, could even smell the salt in the thick ocean air. Hazy islands were off distant horizon and they could just make out the shape of ship sailing to one.

Rebecka started to lean forward, her nose almost pressed into the fire. Kat was right behind her, hypnotized by what they were seeing. Then, it was gone. The gasoline in the bowl burned out and the fire vanished in an instant.

"Wha-what was that." Rebekca breathed, the room returning to normal.

"Before it vanished. Did you see the ship?" Kat said excitedly.

"The one with the giant skull on the helm?"

"You bet."

"Something wrong captain?" Said Killer, watching his captain look around the open ocean.

"It felt like... someone was watching us."

"But where out in the middle of the ocean."

"Che. When do we reach land."

"In an hour sir."

"Good. I need some beer. Make sure you buy enough for the next time we set out."

"Yes sir."

TallyMai-chan: Mostly exposition but the good stuff is yet to come! Eustass Kid is a main character in this story, he's just taking his time working into the story! So it's a bit slow, sorry about that! I'll try really hard to keep it exciting! Please don't think this is one of those stories where girls from our world get sent into the One Piece world. It's sorta like that but this will be so much better. I guarantee it.