A/N: I'm not sure about this chapter, it kind of jumps around a bit and there are a few new character perspectives. I can only hope that I've gotten them mostly in character. I also tried to get this written before classes went back so that you all wouldn't be waiting too long into May for this chapter to come out. Exams are in early June, so I think I've got the timing right on when uploading this.

(Also the chapter title is again in Dovah! It means to speak, to tell.)

Regardless of all my rambling, I hope that you enjoy this chapter! I really enjoy reading your comments and feedback!

It still hadn't sunk in that I had seen Ulpia Rilulus, or at least someone that resembled the Dragonborn.

If the Dragonborn was here, in what state was Tamriel? Had Alduin eaten the world, or was his soul consumed? I didn't want to get on the bad side of someone who killed dragons for fun and profit in her spare time between Dark Brotherhood missions and the prophecy that was foretold centuries before her birth.

Usopp had confirmed that Big Hero 6 existed, and now Skyrim?

Was my homeworld the original world? Or a place where worlds originated from, spreading out like the roots of a large tree that never stopped in its growth.

I didn't have the time to think about it though, as I left the bar with the barrels of water. In the distance, I could see Smoker chasing after the others.

"WATCH OUT FOR THE CAGE CAPTAIN!"

The Captain turned around, still running in the opposite direction.

"OKAY! EVERYONE SCATTER!"

An order was an order, so I followed it, slipping in between the buildings surrounding the bar and into the side streets. It didn't take me long to realise that I had no idea where we were meant to meet up, and for the life of me I couldn't actually remember that small detail from the manga or anime.

Sneaking wasn't my forte, but I could definitely keep quiet even if I was carrying an obscene amount of water. There were enough people around that I could blend in with the crowd, so to speak, slipping out of view of the marines that had scattered themselves when they heard Luffy shout.

"You there!"

I froze. Crap. I kept walking, my steps faster, strides longer.

"ZUL MEY GUT!"

("Hey! Skeever butt!" Echoed around me.)

Fuck! I could feel myself moving in the direction that the shout had directed me in. I wasn't mistaken, that was definitely Ulpia Rilulus.

I was force walked straight back towards the bar that I had previously exited, and into a street off the main road.

"Ebony, correct?"

I was still slightly under the influence of her thu'um, which made it difficult to answer verbally. Struggling, I nodded my head slowly as if I were under the influence of a drug or alcohol.

"Ah, I forgot my thu'um would still be active."

I'm not entirely sure what she did, but she removed it and I could feel my body come back under my control.

"Please don't do that."

"Well, you wouldn't have come to me, now would you?"

She was probably right, I definitely wouldn't have. Not in public at least.

"You didn't have to Shout at me."

I was revealing far more than what I probably should have, I didn't know whose side she was on. Probably her own more than anyone others though.

She stared at me, dark teal eyes boring into my soul. Who knows, she ate the souls of dragons she could probably eat the souls of humans if she really wanted to.

"You know much, I can see it."

One wrong word and I would be dead.

"Probably too much for some people."

The water barrels were getting quite heavy, and I wasn't sure if that was a metaphor or not for the amount of sheer nervousness I felt in that moment.

"Crocodile certainly wants your crew dead, I wonder if killing you would release me?"

My hands started to shake; if she wanted to kill me, I would be dead before I knew it.

"If he's holding that over your head, I sincerely doubt he'll ever let you go."

"You know."

I snorted, "Yes."

"How?"

I debated for a moment, should I tell the truth and gain an ally? Or would telling the truth enable my death quicker?

"I'm not from here either."

She wasn't expecting that, out of anything that I could have said, I could tell.

It was clear as day on her face.

Ulpia hated using her thu'um like that, summoning and holding dragons and throwing draugr off of mountains was one thing, but on another human being.

It just didn't feel right.

(She'd said as much to Ulfric when she last saw him, too.)

The answer to her question of how was answered, and not in the manner that she was expecting.

"And where is here exactly."

"Well I'm not from Alabasta, and I'm certainly not from Cyrodiil."

"Outlier?"

Ulpia's voice had dropped to a whisper.

Ebony nodded.

So there were others like her!

That cow-chucking, milk-drinking bastard Crocodile had lied to her face.

Ebony had warned them about the cage that they now found themselves in. The silence between the four pirates and single marine was stifling.

"How did she know?"

Luffy looked at Smoker, confusion on his face.

"You've known her longer, she knows stuff."

The marine growled at him, "I know she knows stuff, but how does she know stuff?"

Like hell was Luffy going to give that secret away, he knew damn well when things were safe to talk about and as much of a decent guy Smoker seemed, he was still a marine and bound by duty to execute Ebony on sight.

"Shishishishishi, it's a mystery!"

He was winding him up on purpose, but he didn't expect the marine to lunge at him with the nanashaku jutte. It hit him right in the chest and sent him flying at the bars of the cage.

"Gwahhhh!"

"Luffy!"

Smoker stood over the top of him, jutte still pressed into his chest.

"I can't move!"

Luffy was having a little difficulty breathing, it was as if he was being held down under water and was sinking even further down into the ocean.

"The end of this jutte is covered with seastone, it'll affect anyone with devil fruit powers." The cigar in the marines mouth was still smoking quite heavily.

"It keeps criminals like you from getting away, marine headquarters is covered with the stuff." The marine continued, "The stuff is still a mystery to us, but it's from the ocean."

"That's what's making Luffy weak!"

Luffy couldn't help but think that it was probably why Smoker was still in the cage with them, it must have been built with the stuff. Nami voiced this out loud and Smoker vowed that he would have destroyed them all before escaping himself if it wasn't the case.

"How can you want to fight when we're all in this predicament?" Usopp shouted.

A cold voice came from outside the cage, and it made Luffy instantly want to fight them without actually knowing how it was.

"He's right, you know. You should all really cut it out."

There was an almost evil chuckle, "You'll end up killing each other. Why not just be friends?"

The pressure from the jutte on his chest loosened, as Smoker turned his attention towards the man who had put them all in the cage to be leered at like animals.

"Crocodile!"

So that was the man who caused Vivi and her people, country so much grief even if they didn't know it.

"You really are a stray dog, Smoker-kun. You've never thought of me as an ally, not even once."

Luffy was able to get up off the ground and onto his knees. He could see the Shichibukai staring at them all, with a smug smirk on his scarred face.

"I was going to have you die in an accident, I mean you have been reported to have fought with Straw Hat multiple times," He came up towards the cage, but not close enough for any of them to grab him.

"I'm not sure why you came here, but it was obviously your own choice. The World Government believes me when I say all is fine here, so they wouldn't send any marines here."

Luffy went to grab the cage, ready to shout at the smug man outside before Zoro put a hand on his shoulder.

Right, it would make him weak. Not something that would be in any way helpful in the current situation.

"HEY! YOU!"

Crocodile just laughed, "I never thought that you would make it this far, Straw Hat. It's almost a shame that I'm going to have to kill you. But the guest of honour isn't here yet, my partner is going to pick her up."

He had to be talking about Vivi.

Damn it.

Luffy was stuck in this cage and couldn't do anything; only Sanji, Chopper, Ebony and Vivi were on the outside.

All they could do now was wait.

Luffy wasn't very patient.

Ulpia was standing in front of me, her body had gone absolutely stiff.

"I'm assuming you didn't know that there were others like us?"

"No."

This could be advantageous, a little, but I didn't want to manipulate.

"There are a lot more of us than what the Government wants us to realise."

"But, you are not from Tamriel."

"No, I'm from a place called Earth."

The Dragonborn wasn't happy with how Crocodile had failed to inform her of others like her, it was obvious on her face. The flash of gold in her eyes gave it away even more.

The gold dust was signature of an Outlier's otherworldly nature, what fell from our wounds as well as blood and what was left of us when we died here in this world. The gold was reminiscent of a galaxy, dotted with shining stars and moving colours, the shifting from iris to gold moved in a way similar to the Aurora Australis or the Aurora Borealis.

The next thing that came out of my mouth shocked even myself,

"Do you want to help us stop Crocodile?"

The gleam in Ulpia's eye changed, and she nodded, a wide grin taking over her face and teeth gleaming.

Those teeth looked far sharper than a human's teeth had any right to be.

Somehow the pirates had resorted to making fun of absent members of their crew, one had even fallen asleep. How the green-haired swordsman, the one that Tashigi couldn't stop ranting about whenever he was brought up in conversation, could sleep in a situation like this was absolutely insane.

They were pirates, of course, they were insane.

The orange haired female that was in the cage had started yelling at her crew mates, prompting the Shichibukai to call her feisty. She definitely was, scolding both the man who had trapped them and those that were actually in the cage.

"CROCODILE!"

This was an enraged female voice coming from the top of the large staircase. It was also a familiar voice, Smoker realised, having once heard it from a state address given to the people of Alabasta from the Princess of the aforementioned country.

"Vivi!"

"Welcome, your highness." Crocodile grinned, "No, Miss Wednesday. You've done an impeccable job avoiding the assassins I've sent after you on your way here."

That definitely explained why the Princess was with the Straw Hats, pirates would have been able to help stop assassination plots.

The Princess had tried to take the head of the sand logia, letting out a cry of victory.

Poor highness, that's not going to work.

Crocodile had grabbed the Princess by the throat, sand pouring into her mouth. If Smoker was able to do anything, he would have, but even he couldn't get any smoke out of the cage keeping him trapped.

He tried to send smoke out of the cage, but the moment it got too far from the bars it got weaker and weaker until it didn't exist any longer.

"Shall I turn you into a mummy, highness?"

The pirate captain was visibly incensed.

"LET GO OF HER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Crocodile threw the royal into a chair, leaving her coughing and heaving, sand spilling from her mouth and onto the ground.

"Sit, highness and stop glaring at me." Turning away to face his partner, "The party is just about to start. Am I right, Miss Sunday."

The woman, dark-haired and with a purple cowboy hat on grimaced slightly before putting on a smile.

"You are correct, it's past seven."

Dread took over Smoker's body, what was happening now?

Ulpia had left me, walking off on her own after getting a call on a den-den mushi about the plan beginning to start.

"I'm going to try and sabotage the plan for utopia from the inside, but I don't know how successful I will be."

"You can only try, I suppose."

She'd smiled at that, a true smile. "I may be able to try and trust Mister Two if it comes to it. They might be able to help."

All I had to do now was to find the others, but Sanji and Chopper found me before I could look.

"The others disappeared." I did warn them about the cage, but it probably wasn't soon enough.

Chopper was a little out of breath, from running from the marines and the lack of water from traversing the desert.

Silently I passed him a barrel, which he gladly took.

"They've probably gotten captured."

Sanji grinned, "There's only one way to find out."

I put the barrels down, hiding them away in a corner where I could grab them later on.

"Let's find us some Baroque Works goons, shall we?"

Sanji put an arm out so that I could grab onto it, like a gentleman leading a lady onto the ballroom floor. "Shall we, my lady?"

Laughing I took his arm and offered my own to Chopper, who now stood towering over me.

"How about you, young sir?"

Chopper looked at the pair of us strangely, clearly wondering what the hell we were going on about but he took my arm regardless.

It didn't take us long to find a group of Baroque Works underlings, all of them seemed to be hanging out in front of Rain Dinners, they were waiting for someone or something to happen.

The three of us went to town, knocking many of them unconscious and bloody. There weren't any that put up a big fight, so there was no need for me to get out my knuckledusters. My gloved fists were good enough.

Sanji did keep one awake though, bloodied as he was.

"Hello?" Sanji shook the man a bit before he continued to speak, more nervous than before. "What should we do with these ones?"

"These ones? Where are you? Spit it out."

I put my hands up to my mouth to stop the giggles from coming out; Crocodile sounded angry and it was almost comedic.

"Sir! At the front of the casino Rain Dinners in Rainbase, sir!"

On the other end of the den-den mushi you could hear an evil cackle, before we heard clicking from the den-den mushi as it was hung up on.

"Very well done, you should win an award for that performance." Sanji patted the man on the shoulder, making him wince.

The man we had held captive gave us a nervous glance, "T..thank you. May, may I go now?"

"Perhaps we should let him go." Sanji and Chopped looked at me, a little flabbergasted. "After all, he did so help us out."

"Yes! Listen to the Lady!"

The Baroque Works member seemed to perk up at this, hope blooming in his eyes.

"But he'll tell."

"Only if we send him to someone who is actually loyal to Crocodile."

"Oh." Sanji grinned, "Who isn't?"

"Miss Midsummer Eve is an old friend, she'll take care of him for us."

The hope that was in our captives eyes was now gone, replaced with fear.

"Not her!"

Turning to the man I spoke, "It's either her or we leave you for the crocodiles to feast upon. Your choice."

Such a range of conflicting emotions went across his face before he nodded, defeated. "I'll go find Miss Midsummer Eve. Who do I tell her sent me?"

"Tell her the Crow sends their regards."

That was definitely way too much fun to say, but at least I wasn't killing anybody. I wasn't a Bolton.

Sanji let go of the man and he took off, legs almost disappearing in his haste to get away from us.

"Look, Chopper."

"More of them have shown up where we fought earlier."

I turned to the doctor, "Are you good to follow the plan? I can stay with you if you would like?"

"I can do this, Ebony. Don't you worry about me!"

It may have been the Captain's idea to leave a note behind , but it was my writing on the wonderfully detailed letter on the unconscious body of Mister Three.

Getting them all out of the cage went much the same as I remembered from the manga and anime, maybe a little more destruction but at least we were all alive.

"Everyone alright?"

There were some thumbs up, but mostly hacking coughs as water was being expelled from lungs. Smoker and Luffy were the worst of us, but I suppose that's what happens when you eat a devil fruit.

"Why did you save me?"

Smokers voice was ragged, raspy. He repeated himself, facing Zoro.

"Why did you save me?"

His jutte was thrust into Zoro's face, and blocked by a sword.

"Tch, I was following my Captain's orders. No need for thanks." Zoro pushed the jutte out of the way, "It was just Luffy being weird."

I made my way towards the marine, poking him in the shoulder as I passed him. "The Captain is fair, no matter what you think about pirates Smoker."

"You wouldn't join up with anything less, Crow Queen. But I assume that none of you have any complaints about me completing my duties here."

"Wouldn't expect anything less of you."

"This is what we get for saving your life!"

The Captain was still out of it, unsurprisingly Usopp was as well. We could all hear footsteps and shouting coming from a short distance away. I slipped away for a moment, to grab the barrels of water.

I'd paid for them, of course I was going to take them with me. The corner where I had put them wasn't far from where we had emerged from the flooded casino, so I could still see my crew (and they could still see me.)

The barrels weren't there.

"Damn it!"

"Damn it what, Ebony?"

That was Usopp.

"WHERE ARE YOU CROCODILE?"

And there was the Captain.

"Oh, they're awake."

"The water's gone!"

I walked back towards the standoff between the Captain and Smoker, with the marine staring at Luffy in honest confusion.

"Chopper probably has the water."

I hope that he did at least, I'd spent a bit on that water and I didn't want my money to go to waste.

"Well? Do you want to fight?"

Smoker stood in silence, staring at Luffy who readied himself with fists held high.

"THIS WAY HURRY!"

The group of marines were getting closer, footsteps falling heavier and louder than before.

Smoker let out of deep sigh, closing his eyes.

"Go."

"Huh?"

"Only this once will I let you escape."

"Thank you."

My voice was quiet, but everyone there heard me.

"I'm not doing it for you, but the next time we meet…" Smokers eyes opened, glaring directly at Luffy. "Remember Straw Hat Luffy, you're a dead man."

"THERE'S THE STRAW HAT CREW!"

The crew stood there in shock and Zoro started laughing.

"Come on, we'd better get going."

"Which way are we headed?" "The Marines are right around the corner!"

"Right."

Luffy stayed behind for a moment, and spoke with Smoker as the rest of us ran off. We had no idea where we were going, and we didn't need to as a giant crab came into view with Chopper and the perverted camel sitting on top.

I was pleased to see the barrels of water strapped onto the crab.

"HI GUYS!"

"HOLY CRAP CHOPPER!" "THAT'S A CRAB!"

Luffy was instantly enamoured, "That looks tasty!"

"No eating our ride, Captain!"

"Shishishishishi! No promises!"

Nami was concerned, "That face looks incredibly shady doesn't it?"

Chopper called down from the top of the crab, "He's a friend of Eyelash! They were born in this town so they know each other!"

"Of course the crab is a pervert." I muttered, with Nami and Vivi nodding in agreement.

The next few moments were hard to comprehend; Vivi was almost snatched by a sneakily hiding Crocodile and Luffy, the self-sacrificial idiot took her place.

"DAMNIT LUFFY!"

"LUFFY!"

"CAPTAIN!"

"YOU GUYS GO AHEAD!" Luffy shouted as he was flown in the direction of Crocodile and Miss All Sunday, "I'LL BE FINE BY MYSELF!"

"YOU'D BETTER BE FINE!"

I promised Ace and Sabo I'd take care of you.

Ace and Sabo each felt a sense of foreboding, as though something was going to go wrong at any moment. But that could also be because they were attempting to get a hold of Whitebeard on a flimsy den-den mushi that had fallen into the ocean at one point.

"It's hopeless, it's not going to work."

Ace was a hair width away from pitching the snail into the ocean.

"Give it a little longer, it'll connect eventually."

Sabo was always the more patient of the brothers, but not by much as he to wished to throw the snail as hard as he possibly could and as far as he possibly could away from the small boat the two were using. Drowning the snail was always a possibility.

The snail sensing its impending doom, squeaked and spluttered, before it finally connected.

"Finally!"

"This is the Moby Dick, Marco here."

"Marco!"

"Ace! Yo, Oyaji! Ace is on the line!"

Marco must not have been alone, as there was a loud commotion on the other end of the snail. The two brothers heard a cacophony of voices, before one clear sound was heard. Sabo was silent, as he watched his elder brother converse with the man who he had come to see as his father. It was nice to see Ace not hating a parental figure.

"My son, how has your search been?"

It felt good to hear that voice again.

"It could be going better to be honest, the traitor has friends on the outside it seems. They're helping him out by the looks of things."

There was a growl on the other end of the line, "That isn't good."

"No it isn't, but I have good news!" Ace didn't let Whitebeard answer, as he continued. "Sabo is alive!"

There was a sharp intake of breath, clearly Ace's captain knew who he was, before there was a barrage of laughter.

"Gurarararararara! That is two of your brothers that have lived!"

The air caught in Ace's throat.

"Thatch is alive?"

"Your damn right I'm alive!"

Sabo couldn't help but laugh, "Brothers are coming out of the woodworks all over, huh Ace?"

There were tears in the corners of Aces eyes, but they refused to fall. "Best news I've had in weeks!"

"Is that Sabo?"

Thatch was clearly interested in speaking to another person who Ace had believed to be dead it seemed.

"Yes, Thatch I presume?"

"Yes! We'll have to swap stories of our deaths!"

Ace cringed, of course, his pompadour wearing brothers humour was as dark as ever and a near-death experience hadn't changed that.

"Definitely!"

The den-den mushi had been handed back to the captain, as Whitebeard spoke next.

"Have you met with your friend yet?"

The word friend was said with another meaning behind it, something that both the blond and brunette understood.

"Damnit! I knew I forgot something!" Ace's ears started to glow red in his embarrassment.

"Oyaji, it's not like that!" Was added as an afterthought.

Sabo couldn't help but think that Ace definitely did think of their mutual friend like that, but wasn't game enough to do anything about it. Too scared to ruin a good thing, and he couldn't help but feel sad. Nobody should feel like they didn't deserve to have a relationship filled with love, but he could vaguely remember conversations that Ace and he had had when they were kids and Luffy had gone to bed, snoring his head off, about how Rouge had fallen in love with that man and her life was ruined because of it. Ace had vowed to never allow anyone to fall in love with him, or to fall in love with anyone else as he felt that his blood was cursed.

It seemed that in the decade that they had been apart that thought hadn't changed.

"Yes, yes, you've said that before."

Whitebeard's voice brought Sabo back into the present and away from half remembered memories.

"Oyaji!"

A/N: This chapter isn't as long as my others, but it's over the 4,000-word mark and that's around the minimum I'm trying to keep my chapters around.

Next chapter won't be out until mid to late June, as exams are in the first week or so of that month. Fingers crossed that they go well!

(Also if you're interested in Dragon Age fics, especially Modern-Girl/Character-In-Thedas stories then I've started to upload one that I've been writing for ages. It's called The New World State for those interested. I do seem to like the Narnia concept, don't I?)