Nothing fancy to note, really. A bit of a different character on this chapter. A lot of crack. Hope you like it.
First time I write Usopp PoV. And Sanji. Hope that I got them somewhat right.
Standard disclaimers apply
Usopp's PoV
After several hours, I had still been unable to get used to this Frey fellow. He was, to put it mildly, strange. I guess it goes to show that he was Embla's brother, and it was no wonder she turned out like she did. If not even the Great Usopp, who outsmarted a hundred math professors in his sleep could wrap his finger around the guy, there was only one conclusion to make: he was… And here I must halt myself. I'd like to call him insane, but at the same time, he was the sanest man I'd ever met. That's it! He was much too sane. Too calm. Too collected. He didn't even bat an eye when Ruffy came up with the brilliant idea to climb on the roof of the Skyview[1] of the Globe, which was a gigantic, spherical arena. Seriously. I mean, sure, that is a completely normal thing for Ruffy to do, but due to several circumstances, climbing up a giant, spherical building with next to zero footholds smells like an unusually bad idea, especially if you are not a rubberman, only has about a tenth of your usual strength and gravity is stronger than it should be. But of course, the genius does it anyway, because that's what Ruffy do. And Frey doesn't even react.
But on the plus side, he did catch him when he almost fell.
But I guess it wasn't that bad, compared to the amusement park we went to before that. Apparently, they were open during a short period in the winter too.
We started off with a calm ride on the teacups. Or well, 'calm' doesn't exactly cut it when you're with Ruffy.
I don't think I have ever been as dizzy as I was after that ride.
Next, we went on a roller coaster. I think it was called the 'Wild Mouse'. And wild it was. I mean, the ride itself was awesome and all, but then, suddenly, the freaking rail broke. And we fell through a roof. It hurt way more than it should have done. What, if I was afraid? Hah, the great Usopp-sama with eight thousand followers is never afraid! A small impact like that is not nearly enough to defeat my legendary bravery and strength!
I think I broke an arm and a few ribs, though.
And Ruffy just laughed through the whole thing as if it was the greatest thing ever. I seriously cannot understand that guy sometimes.
And Frey seemed completely unmoved by the whole ordeal and just calmly chuckled it off. Bastard.
On the plus side, we got our money back and were allowed to ride whatever we wanted to for free as an apology, though.
Of course, Ruffy thinks it's a brilliant idea to ride the 'Blue Train' next, which was the amusement park's horror tunnel.
Just my luck.
Not that any ghosts or monsters would be enough to frighten me, of course. Why, when I was only twelve I met a huge, purple monsterthe size of a skyscraper with teeth like claymores and eyes! Its EYES! They were the size of TREES!And it had five of them! I met it while I was traveling the seas. It was terrorizing a kingdom of talking moles, at which I had docked at. They told me about their distress, and being the kind, brave hero as I am, I decided to…
Sorry, I got a bit sidetracked. (Hey, guys! Stop glaring at me!)
So we rode the 'Blue Train', and boy, the monsters in there! It was dark, darker than the deepest cave. We couldn't even see our outstretched hand in front of us! Then, suddenly, a huge, green monster with its eyes on stalks and teeth like Embla's daggers jumped forward, out of nowhere! It looked distinctly alien. But since we were on a different planet, I guess that wasn't all that off.
Frey and Ruffy were scared to silence. But, being the brave, strong warrior that I am, I had to protect my comrades from the monstrosity so i-
Frey's PoV
Now wait just a minute, that's not how it went. When the monster appeared, you screamed for your life, while Ruffy completely obliterated the poor papier-mâché monster. I laughed through the whole thing. Seriously, I think you guys made the other visitor's day, you know. There is a part of the track that exits the building and goes by the line, showing the rider's reactions to them. I doubt you remember it, though. You were screaming like a girl through the whole ride, snot coming through your nose, your eyes rolled back-
Usopp's PoV
Oi, Frey! The readers didn't need to know that!
So, anyway, I'm sure the staff wasn't all that happy about having, after our visit, or Ruffy's visit, five in total of their attractions partially or completely wrecked.
Frey's PoV
Oh, but look at it from the bright side; it could have been a lot worse.
Usopp's PoV
Well, I guess but stop interrupting me, damn it!
Sanji's PoV
Well, that's too bad, because now it's mine and the ever-gorgeous Nami-swan's turn! Now, let's ignore the long-nose's grumbling and move on to what happened with me and the Angel Descended Upon Earth to become the Guiding Light of these morons, Nami-swan~. Now, I could go on forever on just how wonderful Nami-swan is, but I'm getting quite a bunch of angry glares bored into my back here, so it might be for the best if I just moved on…
We didn't have any particular place that we were going to, so Nami-swan decided to go shopping. She had asked Embla-chwan-
[Throwing knife comes flying]
Sorry. She had asked Embla earlier about which fashion stores were worth visiting, so we started off at-
Zoro's PoV
Yeah, yeah. We get it. You went shopping for clothes and you ended up carrying it all, slave that you are. What's so interesting about that?
Embla's PoV
"What was that, marimo?"
"Bring it, ero-cook!"
And let's leave those two simpletons to their meaningless squabble and return to the things that are of interest. From what Nami told me, nothing of notable interest happened during their shopping trip, so writing about it would only bore you. So, where were we? Yes, we had just managed to get away from the mob of rabid fangirls. What those kinds of people got out of chasing celebrities like that, I'll never know. Seriously, people should use their common sense more.
Perhaps we should have visited during an anime convention instead. We would have easily got off as unusually skilled cosplayers. And then I'd have to be the one to 'disguise' myself. Man, we have to try that some time…
Anyway, to our great un-luck, we had been running into an area that I wasn't all that familiar with, which was troublesome, as I hadn't brought any map. And it was less than twenty minutes until we were supposed to meet with the others at the Sixth Barrel. This was a bother, since I did not, under any circumstances want to miss Jauvet's show. And before I knew it, I was humming one of their most famous songs, 'In The Trade of Jester'[2]
Zoro raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything about it. But after having wasted another five minutes being lost, he spoke up. "Oi, are we there yet? We are in a hurry, aren't we."
The last statement wasn't a question. I sighed slightly, with a smile. "Yeah, we are. Soon, we'll be late for the show, and I wouldn't like that. But unfortunately, it seems that we are lost."
Zoro sweatdropped. "But this is your hometown! How the hell does one get lost in one's own hometown?"
I felt a ting of slight annoyance. "I already told you, this city's big. And I've never been in this part of the city before!"
He sighed in annoyance, which were, according to his tone and expression, not directed at me, but at the situation in general. "Well then, what should we do?"
I sighed and hung my head slightly. "Oh, I don't kno-" I halted myself, suddenly remembering something. Cat had introduced quite a good way of handling things last time we had got lost. I smirked mischievously and turned to my green-haired companion. "Which way would you say it is?"
He gave it a few seconds of though, then turned to the right. "This way."
Which meant it was to the left. I quickly grabbed his hand, ignoring the warm feeling spreading from it that my third thought made an attempt to make me aware of, and dragged him the opposite way of where he was going. He was a brilliant compass, he just pointed in the opposite direction.
It was late at night, and we were about to return home. Or, rather, I was about to return. The others were already on the Merry-go, giving me and Frey some time to talk in private.
Smiling one of those mysterious smiles of his, he ruffled my hair and said, "I'm glad."
I raised an eyebrow slightly, not even uttering the 'what for' out loud. He could hear it anyway.
His smile grew wider, the mysteriousness almost gone, replaced by genuine happiness for my sake. "That my little sister has finally found her place in the worlds."
I chuckled slightly. Worlds. Plural. "Yeah, I am too."
Then his smile got all mysterious again. "Roronoa Zoro, eh? Never would have thought…"
I gave him a puzzled look, not catching what he hinted at. "What of Zoro?"
He chuckled. "Nevermind. You should write a logbook."
I raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of subject, urging him to explain what he meant.
"Yeah," he said, smiling thoughtfully. "Since you are with those guys, I can't really bring myself to worry, so you don't have to write me letters. But a logbook, on the other hand, it would be quite interesting for me to read. One written by all of you." His smile then widened, teeth showing. "Your road to Godspeed."
I smiled slightly at the mention of my old, silly childhood dream that I had almost forgot. I clutched my necklace, the one I had worn around my neck ever since I left to the One Piece world. The one that had been a gift from my old friend. Nowadays, the dream didn't seem so impossible anymore. I raised my head to meet my brother's gaze, heart now filled with determination. "Sure, I can do that. But they'll be in novel format."
"Then take this with you, will ya?" he said and turned around to pull out a black backpack from a wardrobe. I opened it and immediately burst into a wide grin. Inside it was two thick books, without any text in them. Yet. That, and a whole bunch of my favorite, Indonesian ginger fudge. I closed the bag and hung it over my shoulder before hugging my brother tightly.
"Thanks. A lot."
He smiled heartily and returned the embrace. "Don't mention it."
Not even bothering to ask when the hell he had bought all of this stuff, knowing that I'd never get a straight answer, I pulled away and said, "Well, why don't you come along, then?"
He shook his head. "Ruffy already asked me to join, but I won't. The life of a pirate is not the life for me."
I stuck out my tongue childishly. "I know that, you lazy-ass, but that wasn't what I meant. You were with us today, so you should also write in the logbook about today. I'm hardly asking you to join."
He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess. I wouldn't trust Ruffy and Usopp with our part."
I nodded, chuckling as well. He had a point. Usopp would over-exaggerate, making himself appear the hero, and Ruffy wouldn't write at all. And so, we both returned to the Merry-go, with some added luggage.
Two empty books, half a ton fudge, and a dream that I had nearly forgotten.
[1] Basically something of a combination of a lift and a Ferris wheel. It's a lift running along the outside of the globe, giving a 'skyview'. It's a silly name, I know. I didn't name it. I woulda named it 'the Ferris Elevator' or something.
[2] You can find the song on YouTube. Just search for 'In the trade of Jester' and 'Jauvet'
Not my longest chapter ever, but I hoped it cracked you up. It sure cracked me up. Chapter 21 should be released in just a few days as it is almost finished already.
So, this concludes the Stockholm arc. And if you thought this was chaotic, just you wait until Escher Island! And not to mention, the introduction of CID!
I always enjoy reading my readers' speculations of what will happen in the future of this fic, and about Embla's past, or just speculations at all. So if you have guesses, feel free to post them if you want, as reviews or PMs, it doesn't matter. I always enjoy reading them. ^^ The same goes if you have crazy suggestions. I'm not Oda, and I appreciate suggestions and ideas. So yeah, I always love to hear your opinions, guys.
So, yeah. Be prepared for some serious WTF moments in the future, but you'll have to be patient for them. I have a ton of surprises prepared for you guys.
So, until next time! Have fun, or else!