Chapter 2

Arthur watched as Guzen drifted farther and farther away as the Straw Hat's ship took out to the sea. It had been a while since he reluctantly agreed to tag along with Luffy and his crew, but he and Alfred have been eerily silent since. This whole situation was just so unbelievable, though Arthur wasn't sure which half of it was more so. On one side, he just couldn't bring himself to believe that his own ship had been destroyed; his crew vanished without a trace. Arthur never recalled holding a grudge against anyone in this world, and if he did, he was sure to end their life quickly. The only reasonable explanation was just an accident, but something told Arthur that was highly unlikely.

However, what he found even more surprising was the fact that Luffy actually wanted to help him. Either Arthur had grown up knowing pirates all the wrong way, or this whole thing was just a trap. Arthur knew better than anyone else that pirates were nothing but cold-blooded, stone-hearted criminals who knew nothing else but rape and pillage, gold and jewels. Certainly, these pirates can't be much different, especially taking into consideration their captain's goal of the One Piece. Yet, Arthur couldn't bring himself to believe that Luffy and his gang were bad people. He would never forget the determination and passion that shone in Luffy's very eyes when he told Arthur that he wanted to help him. But still, Arthur had to wonder why.

The sun had almost completely set by now, only leaving a faint orange glow as it dipped below the mountains of Guzen. Even now, every single member of the Straw Hat pirates was out on deck, doing tasks, passing time, or even just relaxing. Already, Arthur noticed a big difference between this and his old crew. His old crew was made up of nothing but cowardly misfits who had nowhere else to go. When they weren't at an island, the crew was almost always below deck, sometimes even during a battle.

"Hey, Nami! What's the next island like?" Luffy blurted, stretching his limps to hang from the rail near the helm where Nami was guiding the ship.

"The most stable needle seems to be pointing to an island called Lakretta. I believe it's a winter Island, filled with nothing but mountains and snow, but there's a single mountain resort sitting somewhere on the island with a beautiful hot spring the size of a lake," Nami explained, sighing in contentment just imagining the relaxing hot spring.

"What?! I thought the New World was supposed to be super scary or something!" Luffy groaned.

"Oh, you be quiet!" Sanji barked from where he sat on the lawn deck. "Enjoy these relaxing islands while we can, the rest of the New World probably won't be such a walk in the park!"

Arthur could hear the crew consistent rambling, but had tuned out their words completely by this point. He and Alfred had been sitting next to one of the trees on deck, just staring blankly out to the calming waves. Arthur had barely noticed the silence that overtook the boat after the initial excitement died down. It was when he felt the presence of someone else that he snapped the full alertness. He turned his head just in time to be poked on the forehead by Luffy, who had managed to hoist himself over to them rather quickly.

"Hey Eyebrows! You've been pretty quiet for a while," Luffy pointed out. Arthur burst into anger again at his repulsive nickname. "Bloody Hell…I told you not to call me that!" he screeched.

"Is something wrong?" Luffy asked suddenly, his voice taking a more concerned tone.

Arthur managed to simmer down, gritting his teeth in frustration. "Well, aside from losing my ship, my crew and being picked up by a team of pirates I don't even know…" he quipped.

"Artie, when you put it that way our situation sounds bleak," Alfred sighed.

"You know, the rest of us would still like an explanation to what's going on here exactly," Usopp stated sternly, watching both Alfred and Arthur suspiciously.

"I already told you! We're going to help them!" Luffy retorted. Usopp folded his arms, narrowing his eyes as he moved his gaze to meet Luffy's. "Yea, but why?" he asked.

"Well, you see… When we met them in the bar they said that they were trying to get back to their home which was in another world. Nobody believed them, and then someone burned down their ship, so we're helping them!" Luffy explained. There was a thick moment of silence as Luffy finished his very brief summary of his day.

"Uh… what?" Chopper murmured.

Usopp sighed heavily. "C'mon, Luffy… we need a better explanation than that… None of that sounds even remotely possible, sounds like they're just pulling your leg."

"We're not!" Arthur shouted aggressively. The crew's attention was on him now. "I swear this is not just some ill prank. Alfred and I… We are from a place called Earth. This place really does exist, I promise you though I do not hold any evidence."

The crew's interest was slightly peaked now.

"Earth, huh? What kind of island is it?" Sanji questioned calmly, following along with their story for the time being.

"It's not an island!" Alfred spoke up. "Earth is this magnificent planet that's home to thousands of countries, like Artie and myself. It's kinda like your world, I guess. Only there aren't any crazy ass pirates roaming ours."

"What do you mean by 'countries like yourselves?' Are the two of you leaders of your own countries?" Robin asked.

"I guess there's no use in hiding it any longer…" Arthur groaned, holding his fingers to his temple in irritation. He had told Alfred many times not to mention the fact they were countries, but sometimes Alfred can be just as rubber-brained as the very captain of this ship. "The two of us are humanizations of the countries themselves. Where we come from, our mortality depends on the economy and general well-being of the country we represent. Every war… Every turmoil and distress our countries have endured… we've had to take the brunt of it all. Though we will never age in our world, we can still be beaten down by force. Several countries have already died out this way, and sadly it is something that failed to carry over to this world. Here, we are simply humans," Arthur explained.

Luffy's eyes suddenly sparkled in admiration. "The two of you are countries, for real?!" he gasped. "Yea, I'm America, and he's Britain," Alfred stated.

"What's it like there?!" Luffy urged.

"What, in America? It's super awesome, dude! I don't mean to brag or anything, but America is, like, the coolest place to live right now! It's got 50 states, and each one is uniquely different! America is the land of the free!"

Alfred's eyes sparkled in excitement as he explained his home in complete detail to Luffy, whose stature was equally as excited in hearing about this far off land. Arthur could honestly say he hadn't seen him this happy in two long years. Even the crew, who they barely knew, could sense Alfred's sheer happiness, and also his homesickness.

"So can you poop?"

"Erm… what the hell kind of question is that? We are still humans through and through…"

Suddenly, Chopper took a step forward. "So, how did you end up here?" he asked innocently. That was when things went deathly quiet again. Arthur sighed heavily. "That's something I wish I could answer."

"So you don't know?" Nami inquired. Arthur shook his head. "The last thing I recall from our world was getting into a brawl with Alfred. I was about to cast a spell on him, when some white smoke enveloped us, and next thing we knew, the two of us were in the middle of nowhere.

"Hold on a second, what do you mean by casting a spell?" Nami interrupted.

"I know this might sound hard to believe, but I possess the ability of Black Magic, a sorcery once known in my land. Though the usage of such magic has long since died out, I can still access it when I please. I'm just glad at least something carried over to this world, or else I'd have been a dead man a long time ago," Arthur answered.

"Magic?!" Chopper squealed in awe. His eyes were dazzled with sparkles, and he was quickly joined by Luffy. "Show us something cool, Eyebrows!" he demanded.

Arthur flared up again. "For the love of God, man! Stop calling me Eyebrows!" he hissed, but his words and tone didn't affect Luffy at all. "I wanna see some magic!" he stated. Arthur pinched the temple of his brow in annoyance. "Very well then…" he groaned. Arthur gazed seriously at Luffy with his one good eye as he help up the palm of his hand to the sky. Suddenly, a small flicker of flame popped up, and danced calmly like a candle. Luffy and Chopper went into a fit of amazement.

"Now I understand why they call you the Sorcerer," Nami said with a giggle.

"It's not only that," Arthur continued. He moved his hand in a fluent motion, lifting the liquid from thin air to gather around his hand. "I can control most elements including fire, water, earth, and light. I can even summon demons. When the people in this world saw my power, they were shocked by it, and even more so when they discovered I could still swim. To them, I'm nothing more than a monster," Arthur explained.

"That's so cool!" Luffy shouted in complete admiration. "Yea! So cool!" Chopper echoed. Arthur blinked slowly, slightly baffled by Luffy's response. Never before, in the past two years, has anyone reacted to his magic in such a way. In fact, the last person to react like this was Alfred himself.

"What about you, Mr. Cowlick? Do you have any special powers?" Luffy inquired excitedly.

"Not particularly. Back at home I was revered for my super human strength, but in this world, even that is no match. So I just use weapons, nothin' special," Alfred stated.

Even though Alfred wasn't nearly as exciting as Arthur, Luffy still found himself chuckling uncontrollably. "I knew the two of you were something special! We have two more awesome guys on our crew!" Luffy cheered, clapping his shoes together.

"For the ump-teenth time, Straw Hat… We aren't—"

"Hey, Sanji! Make us a huge feast, okay?" Luffy interrupted, turning to call out to his cook. Sanji nodded and quickly disappeared into the kitchen. Arthur held onto his breath, debating on whether or not to finish his sentence, but he knew no matter what he said wouldn't convince this idiot otherwise. Arthur released the breath with a light sigh and a small smile as the crew around them dispersed. Arthur had honestly never felt so hopeful in his entire life. He'd never felt so close to home than he did now.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile like that," Alfred stated. Arthur's gaze whipped over to meet the calming blue gaze of his friend. "These pirates are something else, aren't they?" he added, gazing back out to the bustling crew on deck. Their attention had since moved away from Alfred and Arthur, but the feeling of belonging they received from them never left.

"Something else doesn't even begin to describe them. These pirates don't seem like pirates at all, and that's the part that has me worried."

OoOoOo

If there was one thing in this world that was more calming to Arthur, it was the stars in the sky. Here, there were so much more of them than back on earth, at least from where he lived anyways. There was nothing more calming than sitting in the grass, gazing up at the billions of stars dazzling against the indigo sky. Arthur reached his hand up, half wondering to himself if his planet was somewhere among them.

"What are you doing?" Alfred's playful snort sounded suddenly, causing Arthur to jolt in surprise. He sat up, glaring at his friend wildly as he emerged from the doorway leading below deck. He was rubbing his eyes tiredly and the bags underneath them only further displayed his lack of sleep. Yet, despite this, Alfred managed a small smile.

"Nothing much, just reaching out to the stars in hopes that they'll carry us home," Arthur responded in a sigh. "And what might you be doing out here at this time of night? You certainly look tired…"

Alfred sat himself beside his friend, clutching at his stomach with the same pained smile on his face, that same smile that Arthur has come to hate over the years.

"Couldn't sleep," Alfred grunted.

"I see," Arthur retorted, laying back down and gazing at the stars once more. It was dreadfully silent for a few moments. The quiet quickly became awkward for both of them. It was Alfred who finally broke it. "That chef's food was amazing, huh," he stated, referring back to the rambunctious meal they'd eaten just a couple hours ago. Arthur himself felt a smirk stretch over his lips with a teasing snort of laughter. "No kidding, that French Froggie probably couldn't make anything half as delectable as that," he agreed.

"And this crew is so rowdy, but they're a lot of fun," Alfred continued. "It reminds me of the world conference meetings back home."

"My thoughts exactly. That long-nosed fool and the reindeer remind me of the Italy brothers. So cowardly, and noisy," Arthur chuckled.

"Yea! And Nami reminds me of Hungary, don't you agree?" Alfred prodded.

"I most certainly do. Those two women are terrifying," Arthur replied, the corners of his lips stretching in an even larger smile.

"And that skeleton can play music thirty times better than that sissy Austrian!" Alfred added, becoming more excited as he related their new friends to their old ones.

"I'm not certain of that. Mr. Austria can play pretty well himself," Arthur countered.

Their laughter died down a bit, and the sorrow began to take over once more, though their smiles never left their faces. "I miss everyone, Artie," Alfred stated hoarsely.

"Yea, me too," Arthur agreed in an equally saddened tone. There was more silence. For a long while, the only audible noise was the calming waves. This time, it was Arthur who broke the silence.

"Do you trust these pirates?"

Alfred glanced back curiously at his friend, whose gaze hadn't moved from the sky. "Well considering how much they've helped us, why wouldn't I? Don't you?" he replied.

Arthur narrowed his eye, nose wrinkling in his uncertainty. "It's not that I don't trust them, but I have a strange feeling. Something's not right," Arthur stated.

"What's not right about them? Alfred asked.

"They don't behave like pirates. Pirates aren't supposed to help other pirates unless they gain something. They aren't supposed to be this kind," Arthur explained.

"Maybe the pirates of this world are different. I highly doubt they want anything in return, or we'd of heard about it when we set sail and had nowhere to go," Alfred pointed out.

"We've run into plenty of scoundrels out on this ocean. The pirates of this world are no different from ours. So what makes the Straw Hat Pirates different?" Arthur inquired.

"They act like a family," Alfred replied.

Arthur gazed at his friend in shock as if he's just solved the mysteries of life itself. He'd said the words that had been unknown to Arthur, but made all the sense in the world to the current situation.

"I can't totally explain it, but they seem to care about each other, as if they'd all been affected by some tragedy in the past," Alfred explained with a glowing smile.

Arthur chuckled, bringing Alfred's attention back to him with the look of embarrassment. "What's so funny?!" he demanded.

"Well, look at you reading the situation for once," Arthur laughed. Alfred's posture fell a bit uncertainly, but otherwise his smile returned. "Oh, shut the hell up, dude. It's not that surprising," he snarled lightly. Arthur rested his hands behind his head as he fixed his eyes on the stars once more before shutting them for the night.

"Perhaps, you could be right. We'll just have to see how this whole situation plays out in the future."

OoOoOo

A young maiden accompanied Sanji in the men's quarters. For now, the room was completely empty, the lighting dimmed to creating an all together lustful atmosphere as this strange, beautiful young woman approached Sanji on the cot where he sat, jaw gaped wide open in her sheer gorgeousness. She had long, wavy blonde hair, and stunning green eyes which Sanji seemed to become hypnotized by. He knew not who she was, but nor did he care.

Suddenly, the lady took a seat next to him, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and stretching one smooth leg over his lap in an inviting pose. She leaned in extra close, feeling Sanji's trembling body with her warm hands. Sanji took in a deep breath of her scent, a lovely aroma of… smoke? He turned away immediately, coughing a couple times. That smell was most certainly not his cigarette, but what on earth could it be?

Sanji sniffed the air only to find the smell stronger. He was certain now that this was no tobacco smoke. He quickly found himself springing upward out of his all too pleasant dream. He glanced around the room. All the men were still here, sleeping the morning away. All except for Zoro, who's been on night watch, and Chopper. Sanji began to feel depressed upon realizing that woman was merely a dream, but that was when the dreadful smell of the smoke came back. His heart nearly skipped a beat. So that smell really wasn't only in his dream after all.

Sanji rose from his cot, making his way out toward the deck to track down the smell. Once outside, he paused. Judging by the lack of light, Sanji guessed it was about early morning. But then again, with suck thick fog it was hard to tell. Moving right along, Sanji followed the smell up the stairs and across the upper deck, and stopped upon realizing the smell was coming from his kitchen. Sanji had a bad feeling. He knew Luffy was still below deck, so it could have been him. He questioned himself if he had left to stove running by accident, or if something could have simply gone wrong. He growled to himself, preparing for the worst as he turned the knob and entered to see Chopper sitting inside.

Upon his entrance, Chopper put on a beaming smile. "Sanji! You're awake early!" he stated cheerfully.

Sanji took a few cautionary steps into the room, looking around for anything burnt or destroyed. "Well, yea. That rancid stench woke me up, I just wanted to make sure that my kitchen was still in one piece," he retorted.

"Don't worry! That's just Arthur's cooking," Chopper responded. Right away, Sanji's eyes bolted to the shadowy figure sitting on the green sofa against the wall. He had been so quiet that Sanji had barely noticed him. "The smell woke me up too, but Arthur said he was going to make us breakfast as thanks for helping! He even let me help too!" Chopper squealed.

"And don't worry, Mr. Chef," Arthur added into the conversation, putting on a smile that looked much darker than he intended. "My recipe for scones doesn't taste as bad as it sme—"

Suddenly, Sanji's foot made impact with Arthur's face in an instantaneous attack, interrupting him mid-sentence. Arthur collapsed to his side as Chopper gazed on in horror. "WAH! Arthur!" he wailed. Arthur quickly regained himself, sitting back up with an angry snarled planted on his face. "I beg your pardon, but what the hell was that for?!" he screeched.

"And just who in the hell gave you permission to use my kitchen, huh?! I'm the chef around here! And just how the hell did you get into the locked fridge?!" Sanji blurted furiously. Arthur wiped a bit of blood from his lip. "Oh come now, only a daft git couldn't open that damned lock," Arthur quipped. "Blimey, that really hurt! Is this how you pirates show appreciation for a selfless act?"

Sanji physically simmered down, despite still being mentally flared up. "No, not usually. I just don't appreciate you using my kitchen without my consent first," he growled.

"Oh, well my apologies then. But I wanted to make this a surprise. I don't usually go out of my way to show my appreciation like this I'll have you know," Arthur sighed. Sanji groaned to himself, scratching the back of his neck irritably. "Yea, whatever. I guess I'll let you help out just for today," he hissed. Sanji made his way over to one of the trays of scones and picked up one of the biscuits and examined them closely. "I've never heard of scones before," he stated.

"They're one of my country's delicacies. It was a recipe passed down by my Mum," Arthur said, relaxing in his seat once more. Suddenly, the oven timer went off, and Chopper sprung from his stool where he sat. "The last batch is done, Mr. Arthur! Let me get that for you!" he offered, already grabbing a rag so not to burn his skin. Arthur smiled playfully at him. "Thank you very much for your assistance," he chuckled.

"A family recipe, huh? Must be something to look forward to then," Sanji said out of the blue.

"Go on! Try it yourself!" Arthur suggested.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sanji bit into the dry biscuit , and almost immediately spat it back out in disgust. He had honestly never eaten anything so tasteless and utterly foul in his entire life. "You call this a delicacy?!" he screeched, throwing the atrocity in Arthur's direction. "Who the hell would eat this garbage?!"

"Garbage, you say?!" Arthur snapped, just barely dodging the scone as it made impact with the wall behind him.

As Chopper placed the hot tray down on a cooling rack, he became curious and grabbed a biscuit for himself.

"Garbage doesn't even begin to describe this horrendous slop! If this is a delicacy in your country, then I hope I never visit!" Sanji insulted.

"I made these out of the kindness in my heart you git! The least you can do is act like it tasted good!" Arthur bit back.

"ACK! These taste horrible!" Chopper sputtered suddenly.

"You too, reindeer?! That's it; none of you have any sense of taste!" Arthur screeched.

Sanji tried his hardest to remain calm. "Well, lucky for you, our Captain will eat anything. I'll go get the others and just hope someone eats these, or else you'll be eating all of them on your own. No food gets wasted on this ship," he warned just before making his exit. Things quickly became quiet.

"You know, once you get past the first bite… they aren't as bad as they seemed," Chopper stated, forcing down another mouthful. Arthur wasn't sure if he was lying or not, but he was grateful for any bit of appreciation after the chef's infuriated outburst. "Thank you, I appreciate it, but you don't have to lie for my sake," Arthur sighed with a smile.

"I'm not lying! They really are!" he insisted.

"You're much kinder than that chef. I was afraid he was going to kill me for a moment there," Arthur shivered.

"That's Sanji for you! Don't worry, he's like that with Zoro too, but he's really a nice guy once you get to know him!" Chopper said excitedly. Arthur gazed down at the little reindeer playfully. "Is that so? Do you enjoy being on this crew, Chopper?" he asked. Chopper's eyes lit up immediately and his little mouth curved in the biggest smile Arthur had ever seen on any animal in his life. "Of course I do! We all go on so many adventures, and everyone looks out for one another! Back before I joined them, everyone was afraid on me because I looked like a monster, but my forms didn't even scare Luffy! He even thought I was cool! And he didn't even know I was a doctor until I was on his ship," Chopper explained happily. Yet another puzzle piece that didn't quite fit to Arthur. He invited this little deer on his crew simply because of his looks? However, Arthur refused to let any of his confusion show, and put on a small smile. "That sounds fascinating! But don't you miss your home?" he asked.

"Of course I do," Chopper blurted. "I miss Doctorine, and everyone who cared for me, but I like being here with Luffy more."

"I see," Arthur breathed, hoping to end the conversation here. However, Chopper took him by surprise. "What about you?" he asked. Arthur blinked slowly at him. "Pardon?" he questioned.

"Don't you miss your home, Arthur?" he asked more clearly. A needle drove its way into Arthur's heart. "Of course I do, or else I wouldn't be trying to find a way to get there," he pointed out. Chopper made his over to sit beside Arthur. "I heard your friend talking about his country yesterday, but you never told us about yours," he pointed out. Arthur continued to watch Chopper in slight shock, surprised that anyone was even interested about his country… or rather surprised that they still believed him. "Please tell me about your country! I want to hear about it!" Chopper pleaded. Arthur couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face.

"Alright, alright!" he chuckled as Chopper's bright eyes met his. "My country is called Britain, or the UK if you prefer. My country is a beautiful land where it rains for six months of the year and snows the other half. But my people are accustomed to it by now. Our country is ruled by a queen, unlike Alfred's country. Britain has been around for thousands of years, so a lot of buildings are old, but simply majestic," Arthur explained, voice trailing off and growing hoarse. "That sounds like an amazing country! As long as it snows there, I wouldn't mind it!" Chopper stated in awe. "Can I visit your country, Arthur?"

"That doesn't sound like a good idea, Chopper. You might get stuck in the same situation as Al and I," Arthur stated with a laugh.

All of a sudden, the kitchen door slammed open, and in ran the noisy captain of the ship with drool running down his chin. "Sanji told me you made us breakfast, Eyebrows!" he burst. Arthur flared up momentarily. "Why are you still calling me that?!" he roared.

Lining in behind Luffy was the remainder of the crew. The kitchen quickly went from being sorrowful and quiet to being rambunctious and noisy in a matter of seconds. Somehow, within that time Sanji had managed to arrange the Scones on a serving plate rather artfully as he placed them on the table. "This was very sweet of you, Mr. Kirkland," Robin giggled.

"Yea! You really are a super guy!" Franky agreed.

Sanji murmured something into Nami and Robin's ear just as a familiar figure stepped into the doorway. Arthur glanced back to meet the gaze of Alfred. "Sanji! Don't be rude! They can't be that bad!" Nami hissed quietly, but certainly just loud enough to catch Arthur's ear. As Alfred's gaze fell upon Arthur's offerings of appreciation to the crew, his cheeks puffed out with air in a laugh. "Dude, Artie… I thought you wanted to show your appreciation, not kill them," he teased. "You shut your trap!" Arthur barked.

"Now, listen up everyone. Arthur made these for us with kindness, so you better eat every last crumb, you hear me?!" Sanji announced with a hint of disgust in his tone. The crew nodded in agreement as they all reached out to grab their share. Arthur waited in hopes that someone… anyone would like them. Then again, he did say that their captain would eat anything. So long as he was content, then Arthur would be too. He watched as their faces twisted in uncertainty, but so far none of them made any shrewd comments. "It has an… interesting taste. Thank you, Arthur!" Nami stated, almost gagging on the word 'interesting.'

"Yea, it's certainly not the worst food I've ever tasted…" Usopp added. Arthur sighed to himself. Great. Now they're masking their disgust with fake kindness.

"This stuff tastes like shit!" Luffy burst out suddenly. The crew all gaped at him in shock. "Not even Luffy?!" they chimed simultaneously. Arthur slumped over on the floor in utter depression. "You guys suck," he murmured. Brook was quick to come to his aid in an attempt to be calming. "Mr. Arthur, please don't be upset! I thought they were rather good!" he whimpered. Alfred burst into laughter from the chair upon which he sat, finding this whole situation rather humorous.

Sanji rose from his own seat. "See? I told you they tasted bad. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll cook us up a much more tasteful—"

"Oh no!" Nami shrieked suddenly, interrupting Sanji. Everyone in the room lurched uncomfortably at Nami's outburst. She was glaring down at her log pose in total shock. Arthur had a bad feeling about this. "What's wrong, Nami?" Chopper asked meekly.

"This is impossible! How on earth…" she trailed off before bursting from her seat and taking off out the door to stand at the rail. Outside, the fog had become much thicker, so much so that it was nearly impossible to see anything more than 10 feet ahead of Sunny's bow. In an instant, the rest of the crew was by her side. "Hey, wanna tell us what happened?" Zoro growled.

Just then, the Sunny crashed into something rather roughly, sending quite a few of them tumbling to the ground. Franky immediately became concerned. He ran up to the railing closer to the edge and peered down, only to find the shore beneath them. "The shore…? Hey, Nami! Didn't you tell us we weren't set to dock until the afternoon?! What's up with this?!" he screeched.

"This isn't the island we were set out for," Nami quivered. The ship fell eerily silent. "What do you mean by that?" Zoro questioned hesitantly.

"I don't how, but were on a completely different course than before… the needle pointing to this island isn't even picking up on its magnetic signal at all!" she stated. Usopp and Chopper began to act skittishly at Nami's sudden change in attitude. "M-Maybe we just drifted a little," Usopp stammered.

"That's impossible!" Nami retorted. "I checked the pose before we came up here, merely minutes ago! We were perfectly fine! This island… and Lakretta have an entire island between them! There's no way we could have drifted that far in a matter of minutes. Even for the New World, this is insane!" Nami wailed in a fear-stricken tone.

"Do you know where we landed?" Arthur asked uneasily.

The fog in the air began to lift a bit, revealing in the backdrop what seemed to be an enormous, vacant volcano. The volcano itself obviously wasn't active anymore; in fact, the majority of the outer walls had caved in to form a barrier around what looked to be a vacant ghost town, devoid of any liveliness what-so-ever. Just the sight alone gave Nami the chills.

"We've landed on Stromboli."


Arthur's Note: Ta-Dah! Finally got around to writing Chapter 2. I hope it's at least decent so far. I'm sorry for any mistakes, and any moments where characters don't seem themselves! I hope at least it answers a few questions! XD And thanks for reading!