Chapter 5

Montblanc Cricket

Maxwell's eye twitched.

"Note to self, 'Never leave Luffy to fix stuff alone...!'" Luffy had misjudged the strength of his swing and destroyed part of the ship. The part he had been repairing.

Still, after their encounter with Shoujou, it had been smooth sailing as they coasted around the Jaya shoreline. No pirates waited for them in ambush. No giant sea creature jumping out of the depths. Just a calm peaceful boat ride with a tropical view. Maxwell even enjoyed a glass of orange juice as he admired the coastline.

"Well, we've arrived at the place marked in the map," Nami was looking over the map they had received from Robin, "Um... Who is it that we're looking for again?"

"Montblanc Cricket," Robin responded to their navigator.

"...So the man who talks of dreams lives there?"

"WHOA—" "HOLY MOLLY!"

The man lived in... well— "Tacky... Very tacky," Mineive deadpanned from her hilt. Maxwell wasn't sure what to make of it. It looked like a castle of white plaster, with spiralling coloured spires, and an ornate keep... Only that it wasn't. It reminded Maxwell of a tacky Orlesian theatre set piece. Though granted, it was bigger than most.

"THAT'S his house!?" "Whoa, maybe he's like, super duper rich!?" Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp, were completely taken by the illusion though.

"Look again, you dimwits." "Well, for a dreamer, he sure does dream big." Zoro and Sanji had also noticed it was a cut-out.

"What do you mean?" Chopper was still making sure he believed his eyes.

Maxwell had already closed the sails, "Let's anchor to shore and we'll show you." He brought the ship into a tiny cove right beside the "castle." Thankfully they wouldn't beach as the shore line was a small line of cliffs. They could just jump over the rails and land without a drop.

When they looked at the castle again Luffy and Usopp looked surprised, "Agh! It's just a wooden board!" "WHAT!?" Though that wasn't what surprised Maxwell.

"Only half is an actual house... The other half's just a veneer panel," said Zoro.

"Guy must be pretty cheap," commented Sanji.

It was strange. The house itself sat up right to the cliff edge. It looked to be made of stone brick, and the shape suggested it was supposed to be part of a circle. This was evident by the boarder bands of triangles circling around. Like it was a part of something much larger. It even had a chimney, and it looked like it should be larger as well. The house also looked old, tribal, as there were no glass panes. Only recent modifications shaved down the building to allow the board to be propped up, and close the space.

Nami looks over at Robin, "Just what sort of dreams was Cricket talking about that got him run out of town?"

Robin sat on one of the railings, "I don't know the details, but supposedly, there's a vast amount of gold hidden in Jaya."

"GOLD?" the entire crew exclaimed. Even Max looked at her in surprise. No wonder this "Cricket" had been thrown out. If there was a plunder on this pirate island, it would have been taken faster than a nug to a pile of grubs.

"Did some pirates burry treasure here or something!?" Luffy looked excited at the prospect.

"Who knows...?"

This of course sparked some shenanigans amongst the crew. Nami immediately told Chopper to dig in a spot, while Sanji and Luffy just went up to the front door.

"Wait, you're just barging in!?" Usopp immediately ran up to Luffy.

"Hm? I don't see anyone inside... HELLO~!?" "Luffy, no! What're you gonna do if this guy's dangerous!?" "Guys! He's not home!"

Maxwell sighed, he should have expected this by now. He just dropped the anchor and joined everyone else on the cape.

Nami had picked up something, making her face light up, "A picture book... Looks like a pretty old one too," she looks at the cover, "It's titled, Noland the Liar."

"Oh! Nice title! I like the subject!" Usopp smiles at the book. Maxwell also looked at the book and giggled at the illustrations. He wondered whether or not such a book would have picked up traction in Thedas.

...Or did Orlais already have something like that? Most of their peasants were literate.

"Did you say, 'Noland the Liar?'" asked Sanji, "Man, that takes me back. I used to read that a lot back when I was a kid."

Nami looks over at him, "You know it, Sanji? The book says it was published in North Blue... And Chopper stop doing that! What are you doing?"

Chopper looked at her betrayed. She was the one to tell him to dig!

"Yeah, I was born in North Blue. Didn't I mention that before?"

Usopp puts his hands on his hips looking over at Sanji, "First I've heard of it. I thought you were from East Blue."

The cook shook his head, "No, I was only raised in East Blue, but whatever. This is a famous story in North Blue. It's labelled as a fairy-tale, but the Noland character of this story was actually a real-life person. Or so I've heard."

"Hm... May I?" Maxwell asked for the book, holding his hand out. Nami handed him the book, and Max started reading out loud, "'...This is a story from long, long ago. A story from over 400 years from now. In a certain kingdom in North Blue, there lived a man named Montblanc Noland...' Wait, wasn't the man we were looking for called 'Montblanc?'"

"Ma~x! Keep reading!" Luffy complained. He was sitting on a stump and holding his feet in anxiousness. Maxwell's eyes twitched. What was this, story time?

Nevertheless, he kept reading.

"'—Noland the Explorer was always speaking of his great adventures, so grand an unbelievable, that they seemed like lies. The townspeople had no idea whether Noland's tales were truth or fiction. One day, upon returning from another voyage, Noland reported to the king thus: On an island in the Grand Line, there is a pile of gold stacked as high as the mountains. To verify Noland's claim, the brave king took 2000 soldiers with him, and sailed for the Grand Line. On his way, he battled many sea monsters and overcame fierce storms. By the time the king arrived at the island, he only had 100 soldiers remaining. But facing before the king was only a jungle. Noland was put to death for lying to the king. His final words before his execution went like so... "That's it! The mountains of gold must have sunk into the sea!" The king and the people were dumbfounded by his brazenness. Nobody believed in Noland anymore. Even to the very moment of his death, Noland could not stop lying.—'"

"...Yeesh," Max looked over at Sanji, "If this was a famous story, I feel sorry for North Blue."

"Yeah..." Sanji scratches the back of his head, "Kids growing up there would be told that they'd be executed like Noland if they were caught lying. Made for a pretty shitty childhood."

"I'll bet..." Maxwell closed the book. All he had for stories growing up were the Chantry Tales, and tales of heroes who fought against the Blight. All of them included the main character dying in the end, hoping to make the world a better place. And it was either that, sermons, or telling about the "evil elves" that fought various countries across the land.

"AGH!"

Maxwell jerks his head. Luffy had fallen into the ocean. Both Nami and Usopp looked over in alarm.

"Just who the hell are you people!?" Montblanc Cricket climbed out of the ocean and got into a crane like kung-fu stance.

"Usopp! Get Luffy out of the water!" Sanji gets ready to fight the free diver. Maxwell energizes Salem's book and gets ready as well.

"You've got some guts barging into another man's house and making yourself at home. The seas around here are my territory. You've come for my gold, haven't you? Over my dead body."

Cricket engages Sanji, opening with a high kick, and following up with a jumping sweep. Sanji manages to dodge both kicks by leaning back and then crouching down. The crouch though was a mistake. Cricket strikes at Sanji with a four-fingered spade jab. It nearly hits him, but Sanji back peddles so he can catch it with the crook of his foot. Cricket then draws a pistol and shoots Sanji in the face.

"SANJI!"

Sanji thankfully had leaned back, just as the bullet grazes his cigarette, "Don't worry. It didn't hit me! But... Just give me a little longer to finish him off!" Sanji runs in to do a couple of spin kicks.

Zoro grimaces, "That's what you get for underestimating him, you dumbass..." then nods to Max. As he charges in, Maxwell conjures a, "Lightning Cage!" above Cricket, and swipes his hand in a circular motion to prep an Energy Bombardment.

However, before Zoro could even enter the fight, Cricket huffs and gasps as he suddenly keels over. He had even dropped his gun.

Sanji looks at him confused, "Er... You okay man?"

Maxwell wasn't even sure Cricket was coherent, "Chopper!"

"Ah... Right!" the little doctor rushes in as Maxwell lays Cricket on his back. He looked delirious, and sweat poured from his brow as if by fever. In fact, his entire body was burning up. Chopper looks him over, "Bring him inside!"

Maxwell gets one arm over his shoulder, while Sanji takes the other. Sanji might be pig but even he had enough honour to reconcile with a sick opponent.

Chopper had them lay Cricket on the bed. The inside was an organized little place, with bookshelves, crates, and sea charts. More of the tribal triangle motif went right up against the ceiling, and the door frame.

The two healers got to work. Chopper asked for wet towels to place on Cricket. Maxwell could barely cool his drink, but he could still try to help circulate Cricket's energies. "Cool this towel a little more. And open all the windows!" Sanji took back his basin while Maxwell snapped some energy into opening the curtains. Everyone was pitching in, laying wet towels over his pectorals and forearms. Chopper had identified his condition as decompression sickness.

"Diver's disease?" Zoro looked concerned at that.

"This old man's sick?" Luffy had long been rescued from the ocean, and stood over Crickets sick bedside.

Chopper nodded, "Yes, it's an illness that occasionally affects divers. But normally, it doesn't grow serious enough to become a chronic illness," Maxwell kept swaying his arms as magic ran over the diver. He was to promote circulation within the bloodstream, "The cause is the sudden drop in pressure when rising from deep below the sea to the surface. This drop in pressure destabilizes the dissolved gases in the human body, forming bubbles. As the formed bubbles collect in the veins and tissues, they cause pain and distress in the muscles, joints, and blood vessels."

"Oh, so it's a sort of mystery diseases."

Maxwell didn't even bother to correct Luffy, though he sorely wanted too, "This guy must have dived for years to get this far. And frequently too, I can feel all the little air pockets in his veins."

Chopper agreed with Max, "It's very dangerous. And depending on the severity, it can even lead to death."

All the more reason to treat him then. For a man trying to achieve his dreams, he didn't need to needlessly kill himself over it.

Maxwell then heard talking outside, "Ah! Masira, you're still alive!?"

"Am I still alive? What kind of question is that?"

"Ah never mind. What do you think that gunshot was about?" "I don't know, but you don't think something happened to our boss, do you?" "Oh no! The thought of that's giving me the jitters...!"

Masira and Shoujou then crowded the door, "BOSS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?

Everyone stopped working when they saw the ape-men. Well, everyone but Chopper and Usopp. They just panicked, and the apes weren't anymore happy to see them.

"JUST WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE!?" "WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR BOSS!?"

Luffy just looked at them annoyed, "What, you guys again? We're treating the sick old man, so scram."

Usopp looked scared for his life, "Luffy, you idiot! You can't reason with them, they're wild beasts! Everyone evacuate through the windows asap!"

"THEY'RE...!" Shoujou and Masira turned away with tears in their eyes, "THEY'RE GOOD PEOPLE...!

"WAIT, THAT WORKED!?"

Maxwell let go of a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. The last thing they wanted was another fight. For now, they just had to focus on Cricket.

O O O

Maxwell sat back and watched as Chopper checked over their apparent host. The free diver had finally gone through the worst of it, and was breathing steadily again. Luffy had already gone out to chat with Shoujou and Masira. Zoro and Usopp decided there wasn't much they could do and waited outside.

"...Ugh..." Cricket groaned as he steadily regained consciousness.

"He's waking up." "I'll go get Luffy and the others!"

Chopper went out to get the rest of the crew. Max just watched as Cricket sat up. He didn't seem to have any desire to fight.

"He's up?" The rest of the crew filled in. Luffy, surprisingly, did the talking, "Diamond-head mister! I got stuff I wanted to ask."

Cricket looked at Luffy and dug about for a cigarette, "Sorry about the attack earlier. I mistook you for the usual idiots who come sniffing for gold." Nami had Beli signs in her eyes, but he took it in stride, "So... What is it you want to ask me?"

Luffy talked to him seriously, "We want to go to Sky Island! Teach us how!"

Cricket looked at the young captain out of the corner of his eye, "Sky Island? Ahahahahaha! You folks seriously believe in that!?" Usopp had to hold Nami back from pummelling him.

"What, so there's no such thing!?"

The diver smiles, get his laughter under control, "...Ha... Who knows for sure... I do know of one man who said it existed... But the entire world labelled him a liar, and his entire family line's been a laughing stock ever since."

Luffy looks over at Usopp.

"IT'S NOT ME!"

Maxwell snorts as Luffy continues to look at their sniper, but they should continue with the current conversation, "Your talking about Montblanc Noland. He was your ancestor, wasn't he?"

Cricket look a little more solemn at that, "...Aye, and this was the island he was so famous for... Though I probably share much blood with him as a mosquito can hold it it's belly. The Montblanc Family's been run out of that kingdom, but their abuse and humiliation by the people's hands still continues... However, not a single Montblanc resents him."

Chopper walked up, "Why's that?"

"Because Noland, was a man of upstanding honesty."

Maxwell blinked, Cricket said that with such conviction, he though he misheard. That sort of ancestral understanding was rare amongst people. Especially for someone that far up the family tree.

"In the final scene of the picture book, Noland says, 'Ah, that's it! The mountain of gold must have sunk into the sea!' There, he's drawn with a stupid smile on his face, but the real man supposedly died with big blobs of tears streaming down his face. He was absolutely sure that the island that they'd landed at was the same Jaya where he'd discovered the ruins of a golden city. The thought that maybe he had seen an illusion never even crossed his mind. Noland claimed that an earthquake must have caused the city of gold to sink to the ocean floor. But the people could only see it as an excuse made to save his own skin, and the crowd mocked him to no end as he was executed."

Usopp seemed moved by Cricket's tale, "So then! Have you come here in search of the golden city at the ocean floor, so that you could wipe away your family's dishonour!?"

"DON'T BE STUPID!" Usopp fell back, back peddling as Cricket yelled at gunpoint, "Whether my distant ancestor really was an honest man, or a great explorer, WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ME!?" Cricket put away his gun, "What would you know an out the feelings of a child who had to grow up being insulted and laughed at by every stranger, just because he happened to share the same blood as that idiot!"

The free diver sighed as he looked out the window, "...In the past 400 years, there have been countless members of my family who set out for the seas to reclaim our family's honour or whatever... Don't know what ever happened to any of them, but I felt embarrassed by them. So I ran away from home and became a pirate."

"Oh, you're a pirate too, mister?" Luffy asked.

Cricket huffed, "It's not that I wanted to become one. I just wanted to escape from Noland's curse, that's all. But ten years ago... At the end of my adventures, my ship ended up arriving at this island. Oddly enough, me, the one who despised Noland the most in my family, was the only one that was able to arrive at this island. As I stood at the cape, that didn't even bear the slightest trace of a golden city, I figured it must be fate... One that I could run away from no longer."

"I didn't care if there really was gold or not... I didn't come here to find gold and cleared up my ancestor's name... It was a personal fight between me and the man who had ruined my life. I wanted to settle the issue once and for all, before I kicked the bucket."

Maxwell was impressed. Cricket really knew how to tell a story. Even Usopp was moved by the man's words, again.

Luffy didn't take his eyes off Cricket, "...So what about them? Why're the monkeys here with you?"

Usopp took in the drama, "I'm sure there's a hot-blooded backstory for that. Invoking a heart-to-heart talk done with fists below the sea—!"

"They're just fans of the story."

"THEY'RE JUST FANS!?"

Maxwell facepalmed. Great, there really were three monkeys out and about. He could hear the commotion outside.

"About 5-6 years ago, they came here after hearing rumours about me and enthusiastically claimed that Noland's gold existed for sure. The sea here is deep... And in the cold, dark ocean depths, loneliness gets to you even more. For a guy diving alone, day after day, having those two idiots barge into my life, and making a big uproar about calling me boss and becoming my followers is..." Cricket looked reminiscent, "Honestly, it really lifts a man... You understand?"

Usopp cried tears of joy, "YES, I UNDERSTAND! TRUE FRIENDS DON'T NEED ANYTHING MORE TO—"

"Right, well, leaving aside the monkey talk—" "YOU STAY QUIET!"

Luffy pushed Usopp out of the way, "—Like I was saying... I just want to know how to go to Sky Island!"

Cricket looks at Luffy for a moment before chuckling, "Haha... You're one impatient bastard. But I told you my story for a reason," Noland grabs a book off on one of the nearby bookshelves, "The man who once talked about a sky island was Noland the Liar. Getting involved with him will just turn you into the world's laughingstock like me."

Luffy leaned in, "Oh!? Did he also go to Sky Island!?"

"Unfortunately, he never wrote that he did, but..." Cricket kept rummaged through the pages.

Nami then noticed what he was holding, "A logbook? ...I-Is that written by Noland himself!?"

"That's right," Cricket tossed the open book to Nami, "Read the section there."

"Amazing... A 400 year old diary... '—Year 1120 of the Marine Calendar, June 21. Clear weather. Setting off from the merry town of Villa, we sailed northeast from the port, following our log pose. During the day, we obtained a most interesting item from a passing merchant ship. It's a single-person-use boat called a "Waver," munch resembling skii's. Even on a day without wind, it propels its own wind somehow to sail forwards. A very mysterious ship, though requiring a certain level of skill from the rider. I could not successfully ride it. It has since become a favourite play-thing among the crew members.' Whoa! What is this!? I want one too!"

"ENOUGH ABOUT THAT, KEEP READING!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper had all leaned in close excited by the entry.

"'It seems the mysterious engine of this device exists only on "sky island," along with many other rare and interesting items, or so I've heard. Also concerning "sky island," an explorer friend of mine once showed me a living "sky fish." It's bizarre appearance truly shocked me.'" Luffy's smile grew wider by the word, "'Although this rumoured sky island is located in uncharted waters for us, speaking as a sailor, I wish to visit this "sky ocean" some day. —Montblanc Noland—'"

Nami looked up, excited, "A sky ocean...?"

"It's just as Robin said!" "And the people back then talked about it as if there were no doubts about its existence!"

"SO IT DOES EXIST! WOOHOO!" Luffy jumped for joy. They were officially heading to the sky.

Maxwell chuckled, even he felt excited at the prospect. He noticed Cricket had walked out to give them some space, but that didn't matter. The sky island did exist. Now they had to figure out how to get up there. And something told Maxwell that Cricket may just have an idea how.