We were all listening to Crocus about Laboon. According to him, a group of good pirates came down from Reverse Mountain and into the Grand Line. With them was Laboon, as a baby whale. Usually, island whales doesn't travel with humans. Though being a baby back then, Laboon was traveling with those pirates. Crocus said that they thought they left Laboon in the West Blue, since they were heading to this ocean, but as we all can see, the said whale followed them. Months passed as Laboon's nakama fixed their ship and Crocus was getting friendly with them himself. On the day when they had to leave, the captain entrusted Laboon to Crocus so the whale wouldn't get hurt.
"Laboon has been waiting for those guys for 50 years?" Usopp asked.
"So that's why he's bellowing. And why he's ramming his head on the Reverse Mountain," Nami said.
"That's right," Crocus replied. If that's true, and since this is the Grand Line, those guys are probably dead.
A few minutes later, we got off of Crocus's ship and sailed our way to the exit. Crocus came along to help us get out of Laboon.
"This water pipe's incredible," Zoro complimented.
"It's a wonder how this whale is still alive," I stated.
"Is this more of your 'having fun'?" Sanji asked Crocus.
"This is my 'doctor' fun," he answered, reading a newspaper.
"Doctor?" Usopp repeated.
"I'm his doctor after all. A long time ago, I ran a clinic here on this cape. And years ago, I was a ship's doctor," Crocus explained. And how is he still here, if he was a pirate, unless if the ship he's talking about is a passenger ship.
"Really? Then how about being my ship's doctor?" Luffy asked and offered. And that's not a bad idea. I can't keep using recovery magic. Even I have my limit.
"Don't be stupid. Unlike you six young'ins, I'm don't have the energy to go around doing foolhardy things," Crocus declined and explained.
"A doctor, huh," Sanji muttered. "So that's why you're living inside this whale."
"And this is all a result of your medical treatment," Nami spoke.
"Exactly right. When they get this big, it's impossible to treat them from the outside," Crocus said, walking to some kind of wheel. "Here we go." Crocus then turned the wheel, opening the doors to the outside.
"WE'RE OUT! IT'S THE REAL SKY!" Luffy shouted, as we sailed out of Laboon.
"Still, 50 whole years," Usopp spoke. "Those lousy pirates sure are making him wait-"
"Idiot," Sanji interrupted, smoking. "This is the Grand Line, y'know? They're probably dead. No use waiting for them anymore."
"That's for sure, since it's been 50 years," Nami agreed with the cook.
"That just shows how dangerous this ocean is," I said.
"How can you jerks say that?!" our sniper snapped. "You don't know that! They might still come back! It's such a good story! A whale that continues to believe in his nakama's promise... Ain't that right, ossan?!"
"Yeah," Crocus agreed, pushing his glasses up. "But the truth is crueler than you imagine. It was all part of their plan. Those guys ran away from the Grand Line."
"Say what?!" I demanded. "Are you telling me that they left Laboon behind and broke their promise to him?!"
"They tried to run away from the Grand Line... That means they would have to cross the Calm Belt, right?" Nami asked.
"Even if by some chance they are alive, they would never return to this place," Crocus continued. "The seasons, the weather, the ocean currents, even the winds, they all go around in an unpredictable pattern. Common logic is useless in this ocean. The terror of the Grand Line quickly overwhlems the weak of heart."
"So those shit-heads, without a thought of your life or their promise, packed up and hightailed it out of the ocean?" Sanji asked.
"They just abandoned this whale?!" Usopp and I asked in unison.
"And he's been waiting here for 50 years for them to come back?" Usopp added.
"That's so cruel!" I supported.
"But if you know this, why didn't you tell him?" Nami wondered. "That whale understand humans, right?"
"I did tell him. All of it, but he refused to accept it," Crocus explained. "And the night I told him, Laboon faced Reverse Mountain and bellowed for the first time. He still believes that they will come back from the other side. He just won't listen to the truth."
'Must be hard for him,' I thought. 'He waited for them for so long, even though Crocus told him the truth.'
'Hurry up, guys,' came Laboon's voice. 'I want to see all of you again. I want you all to prove Crocus wrong. So please, Brook, Yorki, come back.'
He sound so sad. I feel sorry for Laboon. Speaking of which, how is it that I can hear his words? Last time I remember, I'm 100% human and I didn't eat any devil fruits that lets me understand animals. So why can I understand him?
"Y'know, it may be hard for him, but they betrayed you, too," Sanji pointed out, puffing out a smoke. "It's not really you're problem anymore, right?"
"You idiot," I muttered. "Look at those scars on Laboon's head. If Crocus leaves him alone, Laboon will most likely keep ramming his head on Reverse Mountain and die out of blood loss. I highly doubt Crocus can leave him alone, especially due to the time they spent together before Crocus learned about the truth of those pirates."
"It's exactly as she says, boy," the old doctor supported my point.
The moment when he did, we suddenly heard someone screaming. We turned to the source, except Crocus, since he's on his 'ship', which is smaller than our's, and saw Luffy running to somewhere, carrying something.
"What's that moron doing now?" Sanji asked.
"You can't even take your eyes off of him for a second!" Zoro muttered.
"He seems to be mountain climbing," I stated. Getting a better look at the thing our captain is holding, it looks like our main mast. Might be my eyes playing tricks with me. There's no way he can easily take the mast off of our ship and easily carry it, can he?
"Gomu Gomu no Ikebana!(Flower Arrangment)" Luffy shouted, slamming the mast-like thing down on Laboon's new wound.
"That's a mast, isn't it?" Zoro calmly asked.
"Yup. Right off our ship," Sanji calmly answered.
"It's our main mast," Usopp calmly added. Noticing what he and the other two said, he then freaked out. "QUIT BREAKING OUR SHIP!" Hang on, if that's true, THEN I WAS RIGHT! AND JUST WHERE DID HE GET THE STRENGTH TO RIP THE MAST OFF OF MERRY?!
A moment later, Laboon started to rampage a little out of pain. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" we all asked our IDIOT, SIMPLE-MINDED, BRAINLESS captain, most of us with sharp teeth. Crocus just looked at the scene with his mouth wide open in shock. The next thing you know, Laboon and Luffy began their fight.
"It's a draw," Luffy quickly announced, ending their little brawl when Laboon was about to crush him. "I'm pretty strong, ain't I? You wanna beat me, don't you? Our battle isn't over yet. So we're continuing this some other time. Your nakama may be dead, but from now on, I'm your rival. We'll fight again and decalre who's stronger. Once we've finished sailing through the Grand Line, I'll be back! Then we'll finish our fight!"
As he said this, tears were forming in Laboon's eyes. It's not from the pain; it's from Luffy's words. The rest of the crew, Crocus and I were smiling at his reason for starting this fight.
'So he did this to cheer Laboon up,' I thought. 'Strange way of doing it, though.'
'Okay! Straw hat!' I heard Laboon said, as he wailed softly to the sky.
A few hours later, after Luffy's speech and after I healed Laboon's wounds, the straw hat wearing captain was busy painting something on Laboon while Usopp and I were going to fix the Going Merry; Sanji and Nami were both on the upper deck and Zoro was sleeping on the lower deck. Speaking of Nami, I still didn't give her the log pose yet.
'I'll give it to her once I've finished helping Usopp fix Merry,' I decided, hoping that it would be before Nami found out about how to navigate this ocean, considering the fact that she'll most likely kill me with her inhuman power.
"Where are those two?" Usopp asked, as we got working on Merry.
"'Those two?'" Nami repeated, before realizing who he meant. "Oh, those two weirdos. They must've ran off. I wonder who those two are though..."
"Whoever they are, I can tell that they are nothing but trouble. Don't know how, just do," I half-lied.
I then saw something on the floor and went to pick it up. It was a log pose. 'Must've belong to Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday,' I thought, knowing that both of mine are in my and Nami's room, in my bag.
'You two are so late,' I heard a high, male voice said, having me to perk my head up at the sky.
'Your misson's time limit has long expired,' a deep female voice added.
"Hey, Xion! What's wrong?" Usopp asked, noticing my weirdness.
"It's nothing. I just thought I heard something," I half-lied again, putting the log pose in my pocket.
"Well, it won't help us with fixing Merry, y'know."
"All right. All right. I'm coming."
"But still that stupid bastard, destroying our ship like this..." the sniper muttered. He must really love this ship. "HEY ZORO! GET OVER HERE AND HELP! I AIN'T A SHIPWRIGHT!"
"Even so, you sure know how to do the job," I complimented, hoping that it would calm him down, at least a little.
"Yeah, but still. A shipwright's work can do better than my work. I don't know why Luffy didn't bother to get one before we came here."
"Well, if we're lucky, we might find and recruite one here in the Grand Line."
"I hope we do."
A second later, we heard a loud scream, but not loud enough to wake up our swordsman/first mate. All of us, the ones who are awake that is, went to Nami to see what the problem is.
"The compass is broken!" Nami told us. "It won't point in a single direction." Oh no. Here comes my bad habit.
"I seem to-"
"So you five came here without any idea what you were getting into," Crocus spoke, saving me. Hopefully he'll explain everything before my bad habit takes over. "What brazen stupidity. Did you come here to throw your lives away?"
"Food?" Luffy asked, obviously not paying attention.
"It's FEED for you, moron," Sanji growled at him.
"I told you already," the old doctor continued. "This ocean has no common logic to it. That compass is not broken."
"Then, could it be a magnetic field?" Nami guessed.
"That's correct. The islands of the Grand Line are abundant with minerals, causing abnormal magnetic fields. What's more is that the wind and currents here are completely unstable. If you are a navigator, you must realize how insurmountable that is."
"You're right..." Nami agreed, while Luffy is chowing down on the fish Sanji cooked. "We'll be doomed if we don't have any way to determine our location. I didn't know that! My bad!"
"Oi! This is bad! How are we going to make it?!" Usopp asked, panicing at the news.
"Log Pose," my big mouth and voice came, against my will. Those two words were enough to grab everyone's, except Luffy's, attention to me. Did I ever mention how much I hate my habit of helping people, even if it's information on something? "You need a Log Pose to sail the Grand Line safely," I, or should I say, my bad habit continued. "They are able to memorize an island's magnetic field. Without it, sailing the Grand Line will be impossible. And a Log Pose looks like this," I added, taking out the one that Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday dropped.
"What your friend says is completely true," Crocus said.
"Oh? So this is what we need to survive in the Grand Line," Nami said, taking the compass out of my hand, as I got ready for whatever impact will come to me from her. "Say, Xion..."
"Y-yes?" I asked, summoning my Keyblade to protect myself from whatever impact might come at me.
"WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE ONE?! AND IF YOU KNEW, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" she questioned, starting to beat the crap out of me, to fast for me to protect myself.
"For your first question, those two weirdos dropped that," I answered, gagging, as our violent navigator strangled me. "And for the second question, I was planning to buy one in Loguetown and give it and the information about it to you once we arrive here. Please spare me."
"Oh, I see," she simply said, letting me go. "So this is the Log Pose. It doesn't have any markings on it."
"Doesn't need one," I breathed. "You see the red tip on that arrow? We just need to follow that tip to get to the next island."
"How do you know about this?"
"I heard it from one of those friendly pirates back in Tanoshi Island. And you better take care of that. Our lives are indebted to that one object."
"I see."
"You know so much for your age," Crocus complimented. "Even though you only heard this from a group of pirates."
"Well, a pirate has to know everything about the Grand Line in order to survive in it, don't they?" I asked. "Plus, I've decided to join one before I got that information. A good pirate crew. If they offered to let me join."
"Hmm. A good choice and plan."
"I'll say," Usopp agreed. "If we didn't recruite her when we did, there's no way we'll survive here."
"Xion-swan is so lovely when she's smart~!" (gag) loverboy complimented. And just what did he mean by that?
"Then it's settle," Luffy spoke up, chewing on some more fish. "Xion, you're our quartermaster!"
"Why? Shouldn't that also be Zoro's job?" I asked, since our swordsman is the first mate.
"You know more about this place than he does."
"Not that much. Just a little."
"I'm a captain and I say you're our quartermaster!"
"You should give up, Xion," Usopp told me.
"You need a position in this crew anyway," Nami pointed out.
"Guess it can't be helped. And with Zoro in deep sleep like that, someone has to take his place," I sighed in defeat.
"Now then," Crocus spoke up, "since you all know the purpose of the Log Pose, I'll have to advise you with a couple of things. The islands dotting the Grand Line obey the rules created by magnetic fields. So in order to travel from island to island, the Log Pose must readapt to the magnetic field at each island and it will point you to the right direction. The truth is that there is no way to determine your exact location in this ocean. You are utterly dependent on the magnetic field memorized by the Log Pose. You must first choose one of the seven magnetic fields emanating from the Reverse Mountain. Regardless of which island you choose to start from, your route will eventually join with the others in one final route. The name of that island on that final route is... Raftel. The final island here in the Grand Line. In all of history, the only person who confirmed its existance... was the Pirate King. The island is legendary."
"Raftel..." Nami mumbled.
"So it has to be there! One piece!" Usopp excitedly exclaimed.
"Who can tell? That legend is the most prominent of all, but not one other soul has reached there alive," Crocus responded.
"We'll find out when we get there," Luffy spoke, chewing on a fish bone.
"Oh! And by the way... Xion, was it?"
"Yeah. What is it?" I asked Crocus.
"That weapon you have, is it by any chance a Keyblade?" the old doctor asked me.
My eyes widen at his question. "How do you know about my Keyblade?"
"Hm. Then it's just as I thought. I was told by a friend to give this to a young girl weilding one, so here." Crocus took out something from his pocket and gave it to me. That something was...
"A Dream Eater recipe?!" I gasped.
"Whoa! Really?!" Usopp asked.
"No way!" Nami exclaimed.
"Hey, who gave you this and told you to hand it to Xion?" Sanji asked the doctor.
"He told me not to give you his identity, since you might meet him face-to-face somewhere in the Grand Line," Crocus answered. "However, what I can tell you is that he used to weild a Keyblade. He might not be here, but I can tell that he might be watching us, even as we speak."
"Weild a Keyblade?" we all asked.
"If that's true and he told you to give this to Xion, then he might know her!" our sniper excitedly assumed.
"And we're one step closer to knowing who I really am!" I added in the same tone.
"What do you mean by that?" Crocus asked.
"Well, you see, six months ago, Xion lost her memories. So our other reason for traveling the Grand Line is so we can help her retrieve her lost memories," Nami explained.
"I see. I hope you get them all back, then."
"I hope so, too, Crocus," I told him. Looking at the new recipe, it says 'Fin Fatale' on the top, which is the identity of the Dream Eater. I can't wait to know what it looks like.
"Ah. I'm full. Let's set sail!" came Luffy's voice.
We all looked his way and saw empty plates. Just how big is his appetite and stomach?! Not that I was hungry, but... still!
"YOU HOGGED IT ALL FOR YOURSELF?!" Sanji furiously asked.
"Whoa! Even the bones!" Usopp added, eyes bugging out at the plates.
"The Log Pose, huh? This is truly precious. Our fate at sea is counting on it," Nami said to herself, looking at the said item on her left wrist, ignoring the boys.
"Now I wonder what kind of Dream Eater will be born from this recipe," I muttered, reading the ingredients for the new ally.
"You freaking shitty GOMU!" Sanji yelled.
"I wanted Nami-san and Xion-san... I wanted Nami-san and Xion-san to..." Luffy looked his way. "BE THE ONES TO EAT IT!" Did I not tell him about my appetite? Ah, forget it.
It wasn't long after Sanji kicked Luffy for eating the whole fish that I heard a slight crack. Looking at the source, I saw that Nami's eyes are lifeless. Staring at her wrist, I can see the reason for it. Those two somehow broke the Log Pose. It's a good thing that I bought two of them back in Loguetown and that Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday dropped their's. Yet, despite that, I can somehow tell that Luffy and Sanji are going to get it.
"Sanji-kun," the navigator called.
"Yes~! Nami-san~!"
'He doesn't realize what he had done, does he?' I mentally asked, even though I know how dense our chef can be at times.
"YOU TWO! GO SOAK YOUR HEADS!" With that, Nami kicked both him and Luffy into the sea. Geez, how strong is this woman?!
"Oi! Hold up! That was really, REALLY important, wasn't it?!" Usopp asked her, eyes bugging out and teeth being shark-like.
"Our precious Log Pose..."
"I thought I told you guys that I also have one on me. Two of them I might add," I spoke up. As soon as I did, Nami and Usopp looked at me with tears coming out of their eyes.
"Xion..." the girl spoke.
"You're too reliable as our quartermaster..." Usopp said, crying. "Why can't you be our captain instead?"
I was too speechless at this scene. I didn't know how to cheer them up. Then again, they're just crying because they are happy that I came more prepared than our captain.
"I like to give you my Log Pose, as well," Crocus said, handing me the said object. "Just in case you somehow lost the other two. I owe you guys for helping Laboon."
"Thank you, Crocus," I said, accepting his Log Pose.
As soon as I accepted it, Laboon spat out Luffy, Sanji and two others onto the shore, saving them.
"Phew. I thought I was dead," Luffy breathed. It was then I noticed that those two others that Laboon saved were none other than Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday, was getting help from Sanji.
"I have a request," said the man with the 9 on his cheeks.
A couple minutes later, after our captain and chef brought those two to us, we all listened to their request.
"Whiskey Peak?" Luffy asked. "Weird name."
"What is it?" Usopp asked them.
"It's the town that we live in! Um... sir," Mr. Nine told them, on his knees.
"Don't you have your own ship?" Nami asked.
"Sadly, it was destroyed," Ms. Wednesday replied, also on her knees.
"Wouldn't that be a little to kind on our part, Mr. Nine? Considering you tried to kill that whale."
"Just who are you two?" Usopp asked after Nami.
"I am a King!" Mr. Nine quickly answered. Though it was obviously a lie. Even Nami saw through that.
"We cannot say!" Ms. Wednesday admitted.
"All we want, however, is to return to our town! We really didn't want to do this kind of underhanded work!"
"But please understand! Secrecy is our organization's motto!"
"We truly cannot say anything!"
"We are begging you kind people to help us!"
"We will surely repay your kindness!"
Oh dear. Just looking at them like this, my bad habit is acting up. They aren't lying after all. Since they dropped their Log Pose on our ship. So even if they do kill Laboon, they will be lost if they try to set sail.
"Don't listen to them," Crocus advised. "No matter what they say, they're a couple of underhanded sleazebags."
"The thing is, we just broke this Log Pose and don't have another. Are you sure you still want to come?" Nami half-lied. Why would she anyway? I'll never understand this woman.
"WHAT?! YOU BROKE IT?! THAT WAS MINE, Y'KNOW!" Mr. Nine snapped.
"You made us throw ourselves at your feet when you can't even go anywhere!?" Ms. Wednesday added and summarized.
"Oh! BUT Crocus-san gave us another one. And our reliable quartermaster just told us that she bought two before we got here," our evil navigator added.
Hearing the added information, those two went back on their knees. "We throw ourselves on mrecy of your kindness!" Mr. Nine quickly spoke.
"Sure. You can come," Luffy told them. "It's called Whiskey Peak? Let's go there."
"O-oi! Are you serious?!" our sniper asked. "We just met these guys and you're going to bring them along just like that?!"
"It's fine. Don't worry about the small stuff," he simply said.
"But, Luffy, the only place we can decide our course from is here at the starting point," I told our captain.
"If we don't like it, we can just come back here."
I sighed once again in defeat. Well, at least I don't have to regret myself when we start our journey, if we refuse their request. Even if they were trying to kill Laboon.
"I've made my promise to the whale, so let's get ready to leave," Luffy added, stretching his arms out like a normal human.
"And just who are you?" Ms. Wednesday asked.
"Me? I'm the man who's going to become the king of pirates!" Of course he'll say that. Of what I heard from the others, he'll do anything to achieve that dream.
Some time later, at sunset, we were all getting ready to leave. Surprisingly, Zoro's still asleep. Of what I know, no one takes a nap this long.
"Everything's ready," Crocus said. "Your Log should be set. Did you orient it to a map?"
"Yeah," Nami nodded to him. "It's pointing to Whiskey Peak."
"Later, Flower-ossan! Thanks for the Log Pose!" Luffy waved.
"Sure. Now get going."
"See ya! I'll be back, whale!"
"The whale has a name, y'know," I softly stated.
"Set course to Whiskey Peak! Full speed ahead!" Luffy ordered.
"AYE!" all of us Straw Hats agreed, as Laboon wailed.
'Luffy! Everyone! Good luck on your journey!' I heard his inner voice say.
When they were out of sight, Luffy ordered me to create the new Dream Eater that Crocus gave me. I obeyed that order, even though I wanted to enjoy watching the sun set a little longer, and went to get the ingredients for our newcomer, since no one on this ship knows what any of those ingredients look like or where they are. After getting the items, I went back on deck and saw a few curious faces. Mr. Nine and Ms. Wednesday seemed more curious out of all of them, since they are our guests for the ride, they don't know what the ingredients are used for. Summoning Starlight, I 'searched' for the Fin Fatale's voice.
'Hey. Are you there?' I asked it.
'Yeah. I'm here,' a boyish voice replied. 'I've been waiting for you all this time. I'm glad that my creator handed me to one of his friends. Although, it still sucks to wait all this time for a Keyblade weilder like you to show up in this world and bring me back to the living.'
'Well, I guess it's time for the waiting to end.' At that, I did the routine and reawakened the creature.
The new Dream Eater is similiar to a piranha. The face is green, it has jaws and the eyes are yellow. On both side of the Dream Eater's jaws are green spiral-like formations. The body is dark blue, it has a horn on its head and two small ones on its chin. Along each side are four orange spots. It has light blue fins and a tail with blue, green, purple, pink, red and orange stripes. This is what the Fin Fatale looks like.
"OH! A FISH!" Luffy excitedly spoke. "It looks good!" The piranha Dream Eater heard that statement, quickly went behind Luffy and stabbed him in the butt with its horn.
"Dream Eaters are not food!" the whole crew and I yelled at our brainless captain. If I remember correctly, I told him that Dream Eaters are not something he can eat. How can he easily forget that?
After another hard stab or two in the butt, Luffy finally apologized to the Fin Fatale. Accepting his apology, the Dream Eater stopped the stabbing and swam, or, in this case, floated, towards me.
"It may look like a piranha, but the way it attacked Luffy just now is like a torpedo," Usopp stated.
"And for a fish, it's floating," Nami observed.
"And since it's a fish, we might not have any problems with trying to get some if we run out of food," Sanji said.
"Judging from what Usopp said about you, your name will be Torpedo," I told the new and reborn creature, who was making happy sounds.
"Hang on a second!" our guests voices shouted. Surprisingly, Zoro didn't wake up by the outburst.
"Are you sure it's all right for that 'thing' to stay on this ship?!" Mr. Nine asked.
"You said it yourself! It's a pirahna! Who would want a pirahna as a pet?!" Ms. Wednesday asked.
Hearing the word 'pet' made me snap a little. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PET?!" I yelled, whacking them with the backside of my weapon, forming a bump on their head. "Dream Eaters may look like animals, but unlike most of them, they understand human language and have unique abilities! You call them pet again and it won't be just Torpedo that that has to teach you a lesson!" I added, my new Dream Eater growled in agreement.
"Yes, ma'am," they both replied. With that, our adventure here in the Grand Line truly begins.
