Now we move on with the show! ^^ Chopper will join the crew, but we have to see Kureha sending him off. That was freaking hilarious, even though it terrified poor little Chopper.
And then we're off to Alabasta! Will we meet Ace this chapter? Probably not. We'll see. Not sure how far this is going to go today.
Song of the chapter is 'On My Father's Wings' from the movie Quest for Camelot (my personal favorite), song by The Corrs.
I want to live my life the way you said I could
With courage as my light, fighting for what's right like you made me believe I could
And I will fly on my father's wings to places I have never been
There is so much I've never seen and I can feel his heartbeat still
And I will do great things on my father's wings
Face it. This song just played in your head (if you've seen the movie) and it fits Chopper.
Disclaimer: One Piece? Nope, not mine. Any Harry Potter references? Not mine, either.
Claimer: Atticus? He's mine. Estrella? She's mine.
Here the Chapter Starts
Emerald eyes looked up at the approaching blonde curiously. Why was he grinning like a maniac this time? "Dare I ask what you got into this time, asshole?" she inquired, lowering the book she was reading. Aster, curled around her chair, lifted his head and stared at the towering man in annoyance.
"I just thought this would amuse you and your snake," he commented, holding out a book for her to take.
Curious, she accepted the offering then scanned over the page he had it open at. Staring at it, she dropped the book on the floor in disbelief. "Meet your alternate dimensional cousin, Aster," she chuckled. She wondered for a moment why it took this long to find out about it, then assumed that it was because they never bothered purchasing a book of such strange creatures.
Aster looked down at the book, the image of a large white-feathered chicken with a serpent head and scale-covered underbelly. "That's a basilisk here? No wonder you got funny looks whenever you tell someone what I am. That is merely a overgrown bird with scales. It doesn't even kill with a gaze! What is this madness?!"
Giggling as her basilisk continued his rant, she looked up at her grinning husband. "Heard from Atticus lately?" she asked.
"Not recently, but don't worry so much about him, my rose," Doflamingo reassured, crouching in front of her seat. "I'm sure that wherever he is, he's safe and causing plenty of trouble."
"Of course he is," Evelyn accepted with a nod. "He's safe because he's a Donquixote and you're a hard bunch to put into danger, for the exception of Rocinante. And he's not causing the trouble. The infamous Potter Luck is bringing it straight to him. All he has to do is stand there."
"Fufufu, then I wonder just what kind of trouble he's attracted now."
Here is a line!
Chopper's ability to transform into seven different forms is amazing, Atticus realized with admiration. No zoan user had ever tried going past hybrid or full human/ animal form. Chopper, however, with the help of a special medicine, exceeded all expectations. Still, he wasn't really willing to just let the young reindeer battle alone, even if his ability is useful. Which was why, after admiring the way the zoan handled himself, when he switched to his Brain Point in order to find the weak spot, Atticus jumped in to distract the combined human.
Each flaming hairball shot out was caught into an orb of magic and thrown back, chasing after the original shooter. As each one hit, they exploded, sending the combined human further away until he was near the edge.
"Watch it, you might fall, sesesese," he warned with a chuckle, hands glowing as Chopper shrunk to his original size and placed his hooves together, forming a diamond.
"Watch yourself," Chessmarimo warned in return, ready to fire another flaming hairball as he moved away from the edge.
"Don't you have any new moves?" the teen taunted, holding his hand sin the air. "Chopper, got it for me?"
"Yes," the reindeer replied. "His weak point is his chin. If you hit that hard enough, he'll go down."
"Got it," he accepted with a nod, slapping his hands together. Unknown to what the others were seeing, he was not simply transferring magic from one hand to the other. He would not need to press his hands together for that when he can do it internally, like any other magic.
What he was doing, however, was trying to calmly combine both his magic and his Busoshoku Haki. If he forced the combination too harshly, something tended to explode or they cancelled each other out. If he took more than a couple seconds to blend the two better, then it held much stronger. The glowing stretched up his arm, covering the blackening of his skin.
Pulling the arm back while curling his hand into a fist, he shot forward. Chessmarimo fired off more flaming hairballs, each one dodged because of quick feet. Atticus was soon in front of the man, his fist snapping forward directing into the chin of the other.
He could hear the bones cracking, see the teeth flying out of the mouth with drops of blood leaving a trail in the air. Chessmarimo flipped backwards from the impact, landing on his back on the ground and sliding in the snow until he hit a tree headfirst.
Death? Probable. Concussion? Definitely. Unconscious? Without a single doubt.
His Haki and magic drew back, both fading from view without one even being noticed. As Chopper and Luffy stared in awe, he looked around curiously. Where did Wapol go? Seeing the footprints in the snow heading towards the castle, his eyes widened and teeth clenched in anger.
With a loud pop, he was back inside the snow-filled castle, hearing the screams of his cousin as the obnoxious laugh of the king. Once the situation was properly registered, he lunged towards the former king.
"You bastard!" Atticus roared, chasing after the now skinny Wapol that was originally chasing Nami with intent to eat her. "You get back here so I can kick your scrawny ass! That's my cousin you just tried to eat! I'll teach you to screw with my family! Stop running away from me, coward!"
Wapol simply continued screaming in fear as he ran up the stairs, trying to escape the furious blonde teenager that ran after him. At first, slipping into his castle in order to get to his armory so that he could eat the many weapons inside seemed like a good idea. Especially since that Strawhat was too preoccupied watching that little blue-nosed monster battle Chessmarimo to pay him any mind.
Then he saw the young girl that tried to lie to him about what she was doing in his castle. Once he realized she lied to him, he started to chase her, intent on eating her. He even ate himself in order to slim down so that he could catch her easier. Of course her yelling had to be what drew in the crazy blonde boy that seemed to instantly be thrown into a berserk mode once he saw what the king was doing.
"Stop running and take your ass-kicking like a man!"
Wapol's eyes grew wide as he registered that the furious blonde was right next to him. It took him another second to register that he was currently flying through the air and that his side hurt. Was he, the King of this Empire, just kicked away like common trash?!
Watching Wapol crash into the opposite wall, Atticus scoffed in annoyance before descending the stairs quickly to check on Nami. She's still sick, after all, and Kureha said it may take at least three days for her to fully recover. The stress of being chased with a chance to be eaten would not help her any. He let out a low sigh, mentally wondering if it was possibly to just grab Law and keep him on the Merry with them.
"You okay, Nami?" he asked, helping her up.
"Yeah," she replied with a nod, eyes wide as she stared at Wapol stuck in the wall. "Are you always going to act like that when I'm in danger?"
"That's nothing," he scoffed with a roll of his emerald eyes. "You should see Dad when one family member is in danger. And hope you're not the one causing the danger. Seriously, you run. And uselessly hope he doesn't catch you."
Wapol dislodged himself from the wall, landing on the floor before sprinting towards them. "You'll be the first to die!" he declared, mouth wide open as though he were about to devour them.
Ready to intercept the attack, Atticus was only slightly surprised when a foot shot by him and Nami, striking Wapol in the face. "I found you!" Luffy shouted. As Wapol slid across the icy floor, the Strawhat Captain looked at him curiously. "Hey, how come he's so skinny now?"
Atticus shrugged, but Nami seemed more interested in her jacket that was currently a bit burnt and missing a sleeve. To say she was upset was a bit of an understatement. At one point, it seemed that she would let it go once Luffy told her that Wapol threw a bomb at him. Then she said that he owes her three times the original price, summing up to 100,000 beri.
"Um, not to question your math, but twenty-eight thousand and eight hundred times three isn't a hundred thousand," Atticus pointed out. "It's eighty-six thousand and four hundred."
Nami directed a dark glare at him. "Luffy didn't know that," she informed him. "As my cousin, you should take my side."
"Need I mention my honest-with-money grandfather again?" he inquired. "That's why I'm so freaking good at math!" Not that he wasn't good at other subjects, it was just his Grandpa Diamante really drilled math into his head.
"Stop this nonsense!" Wapol suddenly shouted, earning a comment from Luffy about him being strong. Atticus seriously doubt that, though. "Behind me is a weapon room, and only I have the key to open this room! Inside, there are many weapons that you can't even imagine!"
"Really? That wasn't obvious enough by calling it a 'weapon room'?" Atticus cut in.
"Stop interrupting me, kaba!"
"Why? It gets such fun reactions from you."
Wapol growled before smirking. "Once I eat those weapons and they become a part of my body, I will enjoy blowing you to pieces, Strawhats! Be prepared for the ultimate human-weapon, the scariest weapon in this world!" Turning to the door, he stated to reach for his belt. "I will open it now!" His hands felt around, apparently not finding what they were looking for. "Ah! Where's my key?!" He blinked at the trio before running away again, straight up the spiraling stairs. "I still have one last trick anyway!"
Luffy ran after him in a heartbeat as Sanji finally crawled up to their navigator. Atticus blinked at her when he heard the jingle of a key on a ring, which Nami was holding up with disappointment. "This is a key to the weapon room?" she asked lowly. "I thought it was a key to a treasure room."
"Well…at least we don't have to deal with a human-weapon," Atticus offered with a shrug as Sanji called Nami almost pitifully. "'Scariest weapon in this world' indeed. Guy should see my place."
"How bad is it?" she asked curiously.
"Watch where you step. That's how bad."
Here is a line!
Estrella groaned as she lifted her head, peering out the window sluggishly. While the room is warm enough to not force her into a sleep, it was still cold enough that her movements weren't up to par. Still better than that time they went to Minion Island and she stayed on the ship with Aster, Atticus, and Dellinger.
The sounds outside had quieted down after the avalanche that occurred hours ago. She worried that Atticus may be hurt then curled back into a ball when she realized the thought was stupid. Atticus is fine. Everyone else is fine. It will take more than snow to take them out.
She looked up to the sky curiously when she saw a glint of light through the window. Whatever it was, it was flying through the air, the sunlight bouncing off of it as it sped by.
"Wonder what that was," she commented then dropped her head again. "I'll probably hear about it later, anyway. And it will probably be exaggerated." She sighed gently. "I don't care what Evelyn says, Atticus is a lot more like her than she will admit."
Here is a line!
"Going… going… gone!" Atticus crowed as Wapol flew across the sky, Luffy's yell echoing through the air.
"What was that?!" Usopp exclaimed in surprise, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped.
He, Zoro, Vivi, and Dalton with a good collection of people, including a group of doctors, had recently made their way to the top of the mountain in order to reach the castle, fully intending to help evict Wapol from the kingdom once more.
Of course upon seeing how they got there, Atticus was understandably upset. He and Luffy struggled to get an injured Sanji and sickly Nami to the castle for the doctor to heal, fighting lapahns and climbing one of the steepest mountains he ever saw. Yet the others simply rode up on a rope elevator.
Life is unfair. Where the hell was that thing?!
"Luffy just 'bazooka'ed the former king from the island," he snickered. "Man, that was awesome!"
"Is everyone here alright?" Dalton asked, looking over the once-was battlefield.
"Nami isn't as sick, Sanji is trying to finish breaking his back, and Luffy now owes Nami a large sum of beri for destroying her jacket," Atticus listed off with a smirk. "The doctor and Chopper are safe, though. I think Chopper's a little tired after all the excitement. But Kureha's still kicking like a hippogriff yearling."
"A what?" Zoro asked.
"Never mind. Not important." Though he really does want one if only to have one and spoil it rotten. Any pictures he saw of them were well detailed enough to try and capture the animal's beauty, but his mother said they were nothing like the real thing. "Hey, where's Chopper?" The blonde looked around, curious as to where the little reindeer hid since he was kind of bad at hiding. Now that he thinks about it, Nami and Sanji seemed to have disappeared as well.
Screaming filled the air, drawing attention to the rubber captain flying right at Zoro and Usopp, who both yelled at him in surprise. "What is that?!" from Usopp and "Luffy!" from Zoro.
"Zoro and Usopp?" He crashed into the two, the impact lifting snow in a large burst of white. "Sorry. You guys are wearing those coats so I thought you were one of that guy's men!" Luffy laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he explained his act.
"If you paid attention, you would have noticed that their asses were not being handed to them," Atticus pointed out, crossing his arms. "Dude, seriously, look at your scenery before throwing yourself into trouble."
"Shishishi, sorry!" Luffy looked at the two curiously. "Didn't you say you didn't know how to hike, Usopp?"
"We just used a lift to get here," Vivi explained as Usopp immediately started to deny that he doesn't hike then proceeded to tell a tall tale. "By the way, are Nami and Sanji doing okay? Atticus wasn't giving a lot of reassuring detail."
"Yep!" the captain replied with a grin. "They're fine."
"That's good to hear," she sighed with a smile.
"What were you doing at the top of the castle anyway?" Zoro asked his captain, brow lifted as though questioning Luffy's sanity. And probably his own as well.
"I just chased that stupid king away," he replied with a wide smile.
"So, that thing that just flew away really was Wapol?" Dalton exclaimed in surprise. "How about the other two?"
"Why does no one believe me?" Atticus asked, throwing his hands into the air in annoyance then turned his face to the sky. "I blame you, Dad!" He earned a few odd looks then was left alone as he marched away to try and find his missing cousin and their cook.
Behind him, he heard Dalton express his gratitude to Chopper after Luffy revealed his involvement. Then the citizens noticed him and started saying things that would definitely frightening the young creature. It was Usopp, however, that caused Luffy to lash. Even if it was just a punch to the head and some more yelling.
"Just ignore them and find the two injured," he told himself as Luffy started chasing Chopper again. "Ignore them and find the two injured."
He didn't even have to look since Kureha seemed to know exactly where they were, kicking down a stone wall and yelling at them to get back inside with the other injured parties. Atticus doesn't blame them for screaming when the stones flew around them, shattered by a kick.
"Correction: Just ignore everyone and do your own shit," he told himself, spinning on his heel and walking back into the castle, pushing his sunglasses back up to his hairline.
Here is a line!
After receiving a poorly disguised approval to leave from Kureha, Atticus got roped into dragging Sanji out of the castle since Nami can walk well enough on her own. Through the open door, he could hear Luffy and Chopper conversing.
"Hey, reindeer!" Luffy exclaimed. "You want to become a pirate, right?"
"That's impossible," Chopper commented.
Luffy, apparently, failed to understand the little reindeer. "Why is it impossible? A pirate's life is tons of fun, you know?" Usopp muttered something, but Luffy ignored him.
Walking through the open door first, Atticus looked over to Chopper, who had his head down far enough for his hat to shield his eyes. "I really want to thank you," the zoan stated.
"Chopper," Nami sighed almost sadly, staring at the young reindeer with worry and concern.
"But I'm a reindeer!" Chopper exclaimed, raising his head as he shouted. "I have hooves and horns! I also have a blue nose!"
"So?" Atticus scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "I have a giant snake. With wings. Mama has an even bigger snake. And he kills you if you lock eyes with him."
His cousin stared at him in surprise. "Really?"
"Really. Look into his eyes and you just drop dead. He doesn't even have to move."
"Actually," Chopper continued. "I want to be a pirate, too. But I'm not human! I'm a monster! I can't be friends with humans! That's why I came here just to thank you!" He took a deep breath then lowered his head once again. "Thank you for asking me. But I will stay here. If you are bored, just come visit me sometime."
Luffy decided enough was enough, throwing his arms up into the air and bending backward quick enough to throw his hat off. "Just shut up and come with us!"
Atticus smirked next to his smiling cousin, Sanji still unconscious, while the others smiled their own approval. Zoro made a comment about the noise, though. Chopper, however, was staring at Luffy through teary eyes before finally replying, "Okay!"
Here is a line!
The unanimous decision was that Chopper should give his good-byes alone, leaving the Strawhat Pirates out in the snow. Atticus leaned against nearby tree, watching Luffy balance on a large ball of snow while Usopp prepped the lift. His eyes slid close, nostrils deeply inhaling the cold air to fill his lungs. He slipped into nothingness for a moment, intent on finding his core.
It should have lasted longer than it did, unless he put more power into his spells than he intended to do. It wouldn't be the first time that happened. It was still odd, though, that a few charms and a lot of attacks managed to drain his core to the point of him losing consciousness. His Mama, he has a large core, larger than even hers.
In the middle of the darkness clouding his vision, there was the faint ball of light. It didn't look drained enough to warrant a fainting, still a little more than half full, slowly regenerating lost energy. The swirling mass of red and yellow light danced within the orb that was his magical core, orange tendrils reaching out to spread into the dark.
A growl in the back of his mind caused the hairs on his neck to stand on end and ice to flood his veins. A shadowed figure shifted behind the core, a large paw with razor sharp claws clutching at the core and pulling the tendrils back into it. Twin red orbs stared at him as the light of the core reflected off serrated white fangs, each as sharp as the claws clutching his core.
Atticus snapped up, his eyes wide open and mouth gasping for air as he looking around. Snow. Trees. A castle. The crew. He's safe. Exteriorly, at least. When did that get loose?
"You okay?" Zoro asked him, noticing his pale and sweating skin.
"I'm fine," he replied, leaning back against the tree. "I'm fine." Why is it loose? And why was it grabbing his core?
His mother once explained to him that some Animagus forms could be too powerful for the witch or wizard to mentally handle. The instincts of a powerful beast could overwhelm a human mind. The thing with Animagi was that the animal form was to fit the core and its power, not necessarily the human. Most just thought that it did. His Mama somewhat understands that, but he found an old tome regarding Animagi to tell him such facts.
His form, however, is one considered to be too powerful. A beast that would not know friend or foe should he shift into it. That was one good thing about Animagi. The human had to decide the change, not the beast. The inner beast could not force the human to switch forms, but some instincts, reactions, or feelings could slip through.
When he first encountered his inner animal, he was excited that he could change into something so majestic and powerful, knowing that his parents would be proud of his accomplishment. But when he interacted with the beast, he woke it and it tried to devour his mental self.
In meditation, should the animal choose battle over cooperation, and should the animal win, the human mind would be lost forever with no chance of recovering. In short, it would be considered a mental death. It would be a beast in human skin, learning the body and trying to find a way to make its physical form match its mental state. Most that this has happened to, according to the book he found, ended up dying because of the beast being unable to free itself from human skin. To the ignorant masses, it would look like self-destruction due to a mental disorder like schizophrenia. In reality, it was generally the beast thinking that it could free its true form by peeling away its human flesh.
As soon as he woke from his meditation that day, he ran straight to his mother, tears spilling from his eyes in fear. He actually knocked her down to the floor (thankfully it was well padded or his father would have been pissed) when he found her. Once she managed to calm him, he told her what had happened and that he was scared, unable to fight back against such a monster.
She reassured him that he could, just not at that time. He wasn't ready to. And until he does have control over the beast, until he shows it who exactly the boss is, he is to never try and change. If he does, he could hurt the Family. He could hurt his friends. So until it would be decided that he is ready, they worked together to form a 'cell' of sorts to keep it contained.
It's breaking out, though, if not already free. That only tells him that much. Not why it's going after his core. Is it going to absorb his magic, leaving him without any? The thought terrified him. He's strong enough physically, but his magic has always been a part of him. To lose it would be like losing a limb.
Screaming from inside the castle snagged their attention quickly. "What's going on inside?" Zoro asked curiously.
"Why can't they just have a quiet good-bye? It's already late," Nami commented next.
"Best we get ready to go," Atticus pointed out, rising to his feet. Chopper came out, dragging a sled behind him before shifting to his full animal form with the harness on him. "Things look like they're gonna happen pretty fast."
"What can you do after becoming a pirate?" Kureha shouted after the reindeer. "Do you want to live with a stupid dream like that quack?!"
"No," Chopper defied. "It's not a stupid dream! Doctor's research has already been completed!"
"He's coming," Zoro pointed out calmly.
"What's going on?" Vivi gasped.
"I'm being chased!" Chopper exclaimed as Usopp announced the preparations for the lift are done. "Everyone, hop on! We're going down now!"
Kureha, wielding several weapons, burst through the doors of the castle. "Stop!"
"What the hell?!" the crew exclaimed, though Atticus only laughed as he grabbed Sanji and leapt into the sled. One by one, everyone jumped into the sled, Usopp hanging off the backend. They managed to safely make it to the snow covered ground, everyone's reactions varying in several degrees.
"That's so cool! Can we do it again?!"
"Are you nuts?!"
"We have to go now!"
"I thought I was gonna die…"
"Hey! Where am I?!"
"Oh! You're conscious."
"…Note to self, never suggest something like this to Monet… She may actually do it…"
Soon, a chorus of explosions filled the air before a light suddenly engulfed the top of the mountains. The view they saw was not what any expected. Though it was no less beautiful. Chopper burst into tears, but they could tell he was happy about the sight.
A large cloud of pink covering the top of the mountains, looking as though they were gigantic sakura trees. The snow floating down just as pink, easily mistake for blossoms unless looked at close enough.
Here is a line!
Estrella, finally warm enough to be comfortable outside the kitchen, poked her head out the door to see Luffy with chopsticks in his nose, the other end of them pushing down his lower lips. Everyone was laughing at him, even Atticus couldn't seem to hold himself right. Though Vivi was holding onto Carue, demanding to know why he jumped into freezing cold water.
Yawning widely, she looked to the newest addition to the crew. "Atticus?" she called in curiosity, ignoring the conversation between Vivi and Zoro.
His laughter stopped as he looked up to the agathodemon then smiled widely. "Evening, sleepy-head!" he called back. The new creature on board looked at him in surprise. "Get back inside that kitchen, though. It's still pretty cold out here and you need to stay warm."
"I will, but who is that?" she asked, looking to the newcomer that just translated Carue for everyone else.
"Hello," the creature greeted, eyes wide as he took in what he could see of her. "My name's Tony-Tony Chopper."
"Nice to meet you, little one," she returned with a polite nod. "My name is Estrella. I belong to Atticus."
Atticus started laughing, earning a glare from his serpent. "You're starting to sound just like Aster!"
"Am not! He's a thousand years old! I'm only a couple years younger than you!"
"Old girl!"
"You be quiet!"
"Chopper, you can understand Carue and Estrella?" Nami asked, ignoring her cousin and his snake arguing. Or teasing in Atticus' case, if his smirk and snickering was anything to go by.
"I'm still an animal despite my fruit, so I can understand their language," he explained, tugging on his hat.
"That's so great!" the navigator chirped. "Not only do you know about medicine, but you also have other talents!"
Chopper froze for a moment before dancing happily. "Damn it! I won't be happy by your words, you know!"
"If you're not happy, why are you dancing?" Luffy and Usopp asked him.
"Hmm, another oddball to join the crew of oddballs," Estrella sighed as she withdrew back into the kitchen. "Wake me when the weather's warmer."
"Sleep tight!"
Here the Chapter Ends
Yay! Chopper's a part of the crew! ^^ He's so damn cute! I just wanna cuddle him! 3
So yes, there is one of the bigger issues that Atticus will be facing in this story. It may not be mentioned every chapter, but it will pop up quite a bit. He is an Animagus, but he's never changed forms and his inner animal wants to kill him.
Or does it?
Anyway, I think I shall end it here! Let me know what you guys think! Ja ne, minna-san!
Also, FYI, I had to copy and paste this chapter onto a chapter still in the fanfiction doc manager. So if I missed any writing style like boild or italics somewhere, please let me know and I will go back to fix it. I think I caught them all, but just let me know.