Alright, we're back in business. I should warn you all now though. New developments have happen in my personal life. Nothing mind blowing, but updating won't be as frequent as it was before. I'll still work on this, but my free time now requires I practice other artistic skills. I made that cover art myself you know. Anyways, enjoy this little snippet.
Dragon Age x One Piece Crossover
Sorceric7
Proudly Presents the Next Chapter
One Magi: Against the World—Part 2
"GGGGGGYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
*SPLASH!*
The Strawhat Pirates had enjoyed a wonderful flight through the sky. With their sky octopus-balloon they slowly descended, following the air currents and watching the clouds pass by. For five hours did they enjoy this view.
Then the octopus suddenly shrunk.
Maxwell was much more calm this time around. He made sure to catch everyone with a Static Cage. He used it once before, back when they were trying to enter the Grand Line, when they were sneezed off a seaking's nose. The mage may have said he wasn't going to catch anyone again, but after finding out Cloud End was a drop, he wasn't taking any chances. Max also made sure to energize the Going Merry as they were falling. He found that as he was pouring mana to the ship he was also reinforcing to caravel. So crashing into the ocean was quite survivable for the little ship.
Though, that didn't spare anyone from getting wet.
Water cascaded and receded from the ship as the waves settled from the gigantic splash. The Strawhats groaned on the deck as the were suddenly subject to gravity again. They were back on the Grand Line, and Luffy had received an octopus on his face for his efforts.
...Then again, he might have been the reason they fell in the first place.
"Nami! Robin! Are you okay!?" And Sanji, the chauvinistic bastard that he was, called out to the girls. Everyone else was fine.
Nami panted as she sat up, "That was a shock! And I don't mean the magic. Who knew the octopus wound shrink so suddenly...?"
"What happened!?" Zoro kinked his neck. He had been enjoying a nap and the fall woke him up.
"Perhaps it ran out of air..." Robin deduced. Luffy was jumping on the thing.
"Hah..." Luffy picked up the octopus off his face, "Even so... We managed to get down alive. Thanks little guy!" The cephalopod raised a tentacle in acknowledgment.
"Yes... Thank the octopus..." Maxwell moaned as he wiped seawater out of his eyes, his beard looking like a wet dog, "Everyone accounted for?"
"Everyone's onboard Max!" Usopp stood up on the deck as he saw everyone. He then looked beyond the deck, realizing where they were, "The sea... It's black..." To be fair, there was a tinge of orange with the setting sun on the horizon.
Chopper shook out of a daze and shook the salt water out of his fur, "Is everyone fine?"
Sanji lighted a cigarette, "We're fine Chopper," and let out a puff of smoke, "I gotta say though... We came back from one hell of a place."
Everyone looked up back at the fading blue sky. Angel Island, Skypiea, The Lost city of Gold. They had literally flown up into the sky to find the White Seas.
Robin grinned, "Looking above after falling, it truly was a distant place..."
"It's almost as if it were all a dream..." The navigator shared her sentiment.
"A real dreamland..." Chopper smiled, "I wonder if we'll ever be able to go there again?"
"Maybe you'd go there if you died?" Zoro smirked, "Or close to it, at least."
"Zoro, do you actually think you can get into heaven?" Usopp wasn't amused at the swordsman's joke.
"I, for one, will settle for my own dreams," Maxwell interrupted the dialogue, "Amazing though it was, I've seen my fair share of floating islands in the Fade."
"Alright then..." Luffy call out out, "MAX, RAISE THE SAIL! IT'S TIME TO DEPART FOR THE NEXT ISLAND!"
"Aye aye, Captain!" The mage energized their ship start catching the wind.
"Hang on, Luffy! It's sunset! Shouldn't we just turn in for the day?" Usopp complained.
"Don't be naive!" Nami berated him, "If you could simply rest whenever you wanted in the Grand Line, no one would have difficulty sailing it! The waves are acting a little odd."
"Yeah, I know, but—" "Everyone on your feet! You see it Max?" "Yeah, I see it!"
"What are you two—? AAAGGGHHH!" Chopper then saw what they were talking about.
"TURN AT FULL SPEED!" Usopp immediately dashed inside. It was a huge, tsunami-sized, rogue wave. Over ten times the size of the Going Merry, and it was coming right at them.
"And there's something inside the waves too!" "Sea monkeys!?" *OOH-OOH-EEEH!* *CRASH!*
O O O
Maxwell lit the lamps as they sailed into twilight. They had fortunately escaped from being drowned inside the wave and were now sailing on calmer seas. Though that certainly didn't explain the sea monkeys in the ocean swell. They looked like a cross between and mermaid and a walrus, with a monkeys head, and were quite chipper about it too.
Usopp was wrangling his own monkey problem though, "Jeez..." Luffy had tried riding the waver again, despite the time of day.
"See, I told you it was impossible," Sanji laughed, predicting this would happen.
"Even if I couldn't do it on the White Seas... I thought I might at least be able to ride it here...!" Luffy complained. Then he collapsed on the deck.
"SOMEBODY GET A DOCTOR!" Chopper screamed in panic, "Wait—THAT'S ME!"
Maxwell however, walked by unconcerned, "If you couldn't handle the breath dial version, then there was no way you could've handled the jet dial, Luffy." He lit another lamp by the staircase. Usopp and Sanji were both just watching Nami out on the water,
"Looks like Nami's the only one who can ride it, even down here," said Usopp. It looked like she was enjoying the ride, even with the limited light.
"Nami~! Be careful~!" The waver had a lamp dial on it's handle. A shame he couldn't see the smile on her face.
Nami then rode back to he Merry, cut the throttle, and climbed back aboard, "Chopper, raise the waver up."
"You were amazing back there!" Chopper transformed into his human form to pull it up with the rope. He had already checked Luffy over and he didn't find anything serious.
Usopp meanwhile, had started checking the dials he traded for, "Only the milky dial's no good..." That was the one that could shoot out artificial cloud. Flame and breath dials worked just fine, tone dials still worked, only the milky dials couldn't function.
"I suppose the atmosphere of the sky islands is required to make the clouds..." Robin suggested. It was an environment full of pyrobloin. Maybe it functioned with that?
"You still got plenty of other strange and rare dials, so it's still good," commented Zoro. He certainly wasn't going to use them.
Luffy just noticed something in the swordsman's hands though, "AH! Breadsticks!? Hey Sanji! I want some too!"
"Speaking of rarities," Maxwell had finished turning on the lamps, "I believe we all have something else to go through."
The crew just looked at him.
...
...
...
Then everyone ran inside.
Nami unveiled the bags of treasure in the mess hall, "Now then, it's time for the long waited division of the spoils! Obviously, pirates should split their loot equally! Look at all this gold! We're rich!"
"Finally!" "WOOHOO! I'M GONNA BUY A HUGE STATUE!" "Can I buy some books!?" "Let's see... A new pot, dying pan, and... a giant rat trap..." "Unlimited booze! Hehe!"
Suffice it to say, everyone was excited. Five bags of treasure, unloaded onto a table. It was a glittering menagerie of cups, goblets, crowns, tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, ingots, statues, crosses, you name it! Some of it even had precious stones inlayed with them! Emeralds, rubies, sapphires, pearls! Maxwell swore he even saw a diamond!
"But first, 80% will go to my savings," Nami shoved most the gold aside.
"WHOA—WHOA—WHOA—WHOA—WAIT A SEC..." Every guy in the crew all reached out a hand to stop Nami.
"It's just a joke." "IT BETTER BE!" "AS IF YOU COULD JUST TAKE ALL THAT FOR YOUR PERSONAL SAVINGS!"
"Though, I do have a reason to set all this aside," explained Nami, "We need a fund to repair the ship."
"The ship?" asked Luffy, "You mean the Going Merry?"
"That's right. Look around, it's already a cracked and creaking mess," Nami argued.
"...She has a point," Maxwell agreed with the navigator, "I can feel every piece of this ship when I energize it. It's concerning, how many holes we've had to patch up. Not to mention, Merry has been groaning when she thinks I'm not listening..." He was talking about the klabautermann hiding in the Fade. The sheep headed caravel has gone through a lot on their journey.
"That sounds like a good idea!" Usopp also appreciated the plan. He was the one who cherished this ship beyond anyone else in this crew.
"100% AGREED! LET'S REPAIR THE GOING MERRY!" Luffy was fully on board with this. A captain still needed his ship after all.
"So... Since we don't know how much the repairs will cost yet, let's put off dividing the treasure for now," Nami stuffed all the treasure back into the sacks.
"Great! 'Cause supper's on," Sanji announced. The chef brought out a giant platter full of cut and de-crusted sandwiches. There was a mixture of lettuce, cucumber, and skyfish tuna sandwiches, and Sanji had also handed out full cups of hot tomato soup. It might not have been the most grandiose of meals, but everyone had a cup, and there was plenty to go around. Maxwell had to lick soup off his moustache, it was so good.
"Yeah, Usopp's shoddy repairs weren't quite cutting it," Zoro spoke with food in his mouth.
"Must I remind you that I am a 'SNIPER?'" Usopp grabbed another sandwich while deadpanning at the swordsman.
"Yeah... We ought to go to a legitimate dockyard and get it repaired by a professional shipwright." Sanji rarely agreeed with Zoro on anything. But this issue was important.
"Oh! So there are people better than Usopp at fixing things?" Chopper asked.
Maxwell sorted into his cup, "Usopp is many things, Chop. But I don't think we can consider him a professional."
"Now what are you talk about, old man? I, the Great Captain Usopp, have outdone many a professional! Hahaha!" Then he started to reminisce, "Now that I think about it, this ship has been supporting us ever since my hometown in East Blue. If we don't give it our support in return, every now and then, we'll run into some major trouble for sure."
Maxwell could hear a playfully giggle in the back of his head, "...I think Merry appreciates that sentiment very much Usopp." He was also ignoring the "old man" joke.
The mage also owed Merry a life-debt, for saving him from oblivion. Maxwelll had encountered Tranquility in this world, and it was not something he wanted to do again. Usually, Tranquility just lobotomized a mage's mental state, making them emotionless husks. Kind of like what Usopp called a "robot." Something Maxwell equated to an expressionless metal golem. However, that lobotomy only worked in Thedas because of the Veil. A dimensional buffer between the real world and the Fade. But this world had no such buffer, and thus Maxwell was rendered comatose for his actions. Merry was the one to restore Maxwell's mind, allowing him to wake up again. It also broadened his horizons, so to speak.
"Then how about we get a shipwright for our next crew member?"
The whole crew looked at Luffy, interested in the suggestion, "Our journey still has a long way to go and it's a skill we do eventually need," Luffy smiled, "Merry's our home, as well as our life! So let's look for a shipwright who can take care of Merry!"
...
...
...
Sanji looked at him in shock, "He—"
"He sure does know how to hit the nail right on the head sometimes..." Zoro closed his eyes and smiled. Everyone else was in agreement.
"That sounds great!" "THEN IT'S SETTLED!" "I hope we can find a good guy!" "AND WE NEED A MUSICIAN!" "Uh, no, leave that one out." "WHAT!?" "What is with you and musicians?" "CAUSE A CREW ALWAYS NEEDS GOOD MUSIC TO PARTY TOO!" "PARTY!"
"Alright, alright! Settle down children!" Some of the crew laughed at Maxwell's joke, "I'll take first watch tonight. I'll be practicing spells anyways."
"Alright!" "Stay safe!" "Remember to keep the ship on course!"
Maxwell waved the rest of the crew good night as he stepped out the door. He breathed in the salty air of the ocean and looked at the full moon. It was good to be back.
Max made a slight detour to his room. There, he grabbed a sheet of paper, a pencil, an eraser, and a blanket and went back outside. He still had to make that staff design for Usopp. Maxwell figured he could alternate between learning from Mineive and drawing the staff. And he knew just where to do it.
The mage climbed into the crows nest and sat back to be comfortable for the next few hours.
"Now... How should I draw this...?"