Chapter 7

Pitch

Nami, Chopper, Usopp, Sanji, Luffy, Robin, and Maxwell all stood in the dark jungle of Jaya. It was way past sunset and the canopy blotted out any moonlight from reaching the forest floor.

"Whoa... It's pitch black in here!" Luffy's voice echoed through the trees. Maxwell then held his hand aloft and summoned a fireball. It illuminated the dim forest allowing everyone to see each other.

"The light is appreciated," Robin thanks the mage.

"Hey Usopp, let go of me!" Sanji pried off the cowardly sniper.

Zoro looked up the trees, "Well, let's catch this thing quickly so we can go back and drink some more..." Their target was to find a southbird, a fancy looking toucan that supposedly always pointed south. Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy all held the nets ready to catch it.

"Ugh... I think I ate too much..." Chopper groaned. They were just celebrating with Cricket and the others.

Nami held her arms as she looked nervously out into the darkness, "Why'd things have to come to this all of a sudden!?"

"Man, would it have killed him to tell us this during the day...!?" Usopp chewed on his fingernails. Cricket had sent them in a hurry, considering they still had to fix their ship.

Luffy looked around, "So where's the bird?"

"If we knew exactly where it was, we wouldn't have all come here looking for it!" Zoro scolded his captain.

Sanji lit a cigarette with Maxwell's flame, "Our only two hints are it's peculiar cry, and that it looks like the gold figure we saw earlier."

"Does a bizzarre-looking bird like that really even exist?" "What do they even mean by a peculiar cry? It's way too vague!"

"Well, he said we'd understand once we entered the forest..."

*J~O~O~E~E~*

Everyone looked at where the sound came from, "What kind of weird-ass cry is that?" It sounded a lot more haunting than it ought to be.

Luffy grinned, "Alright... Since we have no other choice, let's do this thing!"

"We got three nets!" "So we'll split up into three teams!" "Now then... It's time to kick this bird's ass!" "Um... We're here to catch it alive, Luffy."

"Hold on! Before we split up," Maxwell energizes his skull and grimoire with his free hand, "Salem, Mordred," and the spirits posses their mortal anchors, "Can you light their way?"

"Of course!" "Certainly."

Salem's grimoire produces a small bright ball of green lightning, hovering around the book. Mordred similarly produces a ball of flame floating around the skull, though of a purple hue. "Each team take either Mordred or Salem. I'll be in the third group."

So, they split up. Sanji, Usopp and Nami take Salem with them, with Nami holding the magic book. While Luffy and Chopper take Mordred, mounting him on one of Chopper's antlers. Maxwell decides to go with Robin and Zoro.

The elder members of the crew encounter a centipede. A very large centipede! Maxwell flings an shimmering arcane bolt with Mineive and Zoro slashes it with one of his swords.

"It's crying out in pain..." states Robin.

"Whatever," drones Zoro. It had tried to attack them, "Sure is freakin' huge for a centipede..."

"If we encounter any giant spiders, it'll be just like back home... Only there aren't any caves around," Maxwell didn't like spiders. He tended to swat them away, with extreme prejudice.

Robin placed a hand on her hip, "You don't have to beat down every single one. Don't you feel sorry for it...?"

"Hey, it's his fault for coming at me in the first place, so mind your own business," Zoro retorts. "Moreover... It seems like you've yet to reveal your true nature and I sure as hell don't trust you. Don't forget that..."

Maxwell sighs, hooking his hilt to his belt again. He was technically the only one of the crew that didn't have any reservations about Robin joining. Luffy didn't count, seeing as he was the captain. Max had recognized the look of someone who was constantly on the run, and accepted her for it. He had his fair share of running being chased by enemies.

"...But—" "What is it now?"

"That's the way we just came from," Robin points out. Zoro jolts as he realizes he was about to go the wrong way, again.

Maxwell chuckles, "If it helps Zoro, just stick close to the light."

*J~O~O~O~E~E~E~*

"It's the bird-cry," Robin jumps from one root to another root, "This way. And watch out for the bog."

Maxwell looks down and notices the mud. So he does what Robin did and hopped on the tree roots.

"Huh...? Hey! Wait up... Agh!" Zoro had fallen into the bog.

"*Sigh...* Maker have mercy..." Maxwell doubles back and gives Zoro a hand, "Come on." He helps him out of the mud, all the while hearing the strange calls of the southbird.

*J~O~O~E~E~*

Maxwell then notices they were surrounded by more giant insects, "Well... this ain't good," They were all looking at him and Zoro, giant mole crickets.

Zoro drew one of his katanas while Maxwell drew Mineive again, lighting an arcane bolt above the cross guard. They stood back to back to each other.

Then the insects charged. Maxwell blasted them with arcane bolts while Zoro cut down any that got to close. The swordsman used the blunt side of his blade as they weren't worth cutting down. It seems like Robin's little plea had gotten to him. Max had conjured a Lightning Cage, catching any of the crickets that entered and tried to pass it's boarder. It also helped reduce the directions they were coming from.

"Tch, these things are so weak!" Zoro swatted away a group that had tried to doggy-pile him.

"I'll admit," Maxwell called down lightning on the insects, striking multiple crickets, "I imagined these bug would be a bit tougher..."

In the end, they had a bunch of beaten up bugs, and Maxwell swore he saw tears in some of their eyes.

"God, there's no end to this mole cricket swarm! Stop trying to attack me, you're in the way!" Zoro had even taped on one bug's goose egg, "Do you really think you can beat me or something!?"

*J~O~O~O~E~E~E~*

That bird-call was starting to get annoying now. Maxwell summoned a bolt of lightning, "SCRAM!" and the bugs retreat back into the dark forest.

*J~O~O~E~E~*

"It's that bird call again," Robin stepped in close to a tree trunk.

"And where have you been?" Zoro scolds as he sheathes his katana.

"I was following the cries of the southbird... But I think it has been leading me in circles," Robin place a hand on her cheek. That has probably been the closing this thing to embarrassment Max had ever seen on her face.

"...Alright. We're getting nowhere with this. Zoro do you still have—" Maxwell saw the net broken in the mud, "Never mind... *Sigh,* Mineive, you know what to do." Maxwell raises the arcane sword hilt to the sky, and fires a magical flare.

Two other flares go up not too far from their position. It seems like the others were close.

"Come on. Let's meet up with the—WHOA!" Maxwell jumps, clinging to a tree trunk as a herd of wild pigs stampedes past them.

O O O

Thankfully, the Straw-Hats all meet up in a tiny clearing of the forest.

"It's no good... Couldn't even get a good look at them..." Zoro scanned the clearing for any threats. It's been one ambush after another in this forest.

"We managed to find one," Luffy explained, "but we were so busy being chased by bugs to do anything else." They weren't the only ones. Crickets, ladybugs, moths, tarantulas, centipede, mantises, bees, hornets, cockroaches, everyone had experienced some sort of insect at some point.

Chopper laughed gasping on his furry back, "All we did was run..."

Usopp crosses his arms, "Oh for God's sake. Eight pirates can't even catch one little bird? Get it together!"

"That includes you, ya know," Sanji points at Usopp. That bird had also been the one directing all the animals here.

Nami sits down on a log, "I can't run any more too!"

*JOOEE!*

"Ah!" Usopp looks up to see a southbird had flown onto a branch above. It was certainly colourful, with purple, green, and yellow. And in most certainly looked like the tie-dye mix between a toucan and a chicken.

*JOE JOE JOE JOE JOOEEEE!*

It was laughing at them.

"'As if you nincompoops could catch me!' ...Or so he says," Chopper translated for them. He was originally a reindeer. Thus, he understood nature.

"WHAT!? SO IT JUST CAME HERE TO LAUGH AT US!? THAT'S IT! I'M SHOOTING IT DOWN!" Usopp takes out his sling shot.

However, before Usopp can even get a pellet out, arms sprout out of the beds wings. They wrap around the bird, and another arm sprouts out of it's perch and throws it down. It of course thrashed trying to get out of it's hold, and it could get the balance to get on it's legs either.

Maxwell looked over at Robin who had her arms crossed in a "V" shape, "As long as I can see it, I can catch it."

The nets, in hindsight, were probably useless then.

*JOOEE~!*

Usopp smiles as Zoro picked up the bird by the legs, "Great! Now how do we get out of this forest?"

"You head'a that way."

Everyone in the crew immediately gets into a battle stance. Well, except for Usopp and Robin. Usopp hides behind Zoro, while Robin looks at their apparent guest with curiosity.

It was the Arcane Horror, or the "Pseudo Horror," as Maxwell liked to call it. Black kilt, black mantle, crown like helmet, yep, it was him alright. The spirit sat on a log with one leg over the over, in a semi-lotus. It leaned into it's propped up arm and smiled with that face-less smile.

"Ack! It's you!" Luffy pointed at it.

Maxwell stepped forward, "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing! I just thought I'd point out the way. You do still need to get to your ship after all."

Maxwell glared at the smirking demon. It has been nothing but trouble for Max, even when it was being helpful.

"Oh. Well thanks!" Luffy waved and started heading where the demon was pointing at.

"LUFFY!" The crew sans Robin yells at him.

"What? He's pointing the way out," Luffy looks back at them.

"ARE YOU KIDDING? FOR ALL WE KNOW HE—!" Usopp pointed at the "Arcane Horror" but it was already gone, "...Oh God, why...!?"

Maxwell took a breath trying to calm himself. Max didn't trust it as far as he could throw it. Especially as it wasn't one of the Islanders, spiritual inhabitants of the Grand Line islands. So he walked to where Luffy was heading, they might was well head somewhere. The crew reluctantly followed with their prized bird in tow.

Robin was the one to break the silence on their trek, "So who was that?"

"That my dear, was a demon. Or something resembling one," Mineive voice scowled from the hilt. Maxwell had received his anchors back from everyone when they reunited.

"And you've met this demon before?"

"Yes," the crew unanimously sounded.

"It's been following me specifically," Maxwell pointed out, "Demons and spirits are inhabitants of the Fade, watching the physical word as they observe what interests them. They also take a particular interest in me as I can observe both realities and be aware of it."

Robin smiled, she really did have a taste for the macabre, "Interesting. So our ship is already haunted. Has it tried anything?"

"...Thankfully, no," Maxwell admitted, "It seems more content to just watch for it's own amusement, and knows a lot more than it should."

"Yeah, that thing was the one who told us how to wake Max up," Sanji muttered. The tree line was starting to clearer now, they were almost out.

Robin taps her chin, "Hm... Does it have a name?"

Maxwell stops, signalling the others to stop and look back at him, "...Not one it's given me... And truthfully, I'm not that interested in it." Though it might give some insight as to the demon's nature.

"Beware the false god, Maxwell Trevelyan."

Maxwell walks on, choosing to ignore the demon that decided to warn him in his head rather than in reality. He could hear Salem, Mineive, and Mordred give chase to it. They didn't like the demon anymore than he did.

The crew clears the forest and they see Cricket's house not far off. However, the big wooden board seem broken in places.

"Diamond-head mister!" "Masira!" "Shoujou!"

Cricket and the others were injured and unconscious as well. Maxwell immediately runs over to Masira seeing the massive gash along his spine. Sanji and Chopper fish Shoujou out of the water, while Luffy looks over the battered free diver Cricket.

"Damn it... Who the hell did this!? Help me out Chopper." "Right!"

"LOOK! THE GOING MERRY! WHO COULD'VE DONE SUCH A HORRIBLE THING! GODDAMNIT!" Maxwell couldn't look over as he had to focus on Masira. The wounds needed to be treated. It was as if some knives pinwheel had gotten him.

"...Sorry..." A coughed up apology sounded new by.

"Mister! Mister, are you okay!?" Luffy asked Cricket.

"Really... sorry... We were here but couldn't do a thing... How pathetic! But...! Don't worry, there's still time... We'll fix... your ship... by sunrise..." His breathing was laboured despite be awake.

Luffy didn't care about that, "Just tell me what happened first, mister!"

Chopper came over to the mage, "Max, I got this. Go help Shoujou."

"Right," The largest wound had already been sewn up. Max went over to Shoujou, he seemed to have broken a few ribs.

"It's... It's nothing. Don't worry," Cricket managed to sit up, "More importantly..." He looked around and saw the southbird hanging upside-down in Zoro's hand, "Ah good, you managed to catch the bird... Cough! That's good..."

"Luffy!" Nami called out from the wreckage of Cricket's home, "The gold... It's all been stolen!"

The crew froze when they heard those words, but Cricket waves them off, "Ah... It's fine, just forget about that... What we need to worry about is—"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN FORGET ABOUT IT!?" Usopp yelled, incredulous at Cricket's suggestion, "ISN'T THAT THE GOLD YOU FOUND AFTER DIVING FOR 10 YEARS STRAIGHT TO THE POINT OF EVEN RUINING YOUR OWN HEALTH!?"

"Shut your trap..." Cricket's words didn't carry any venom, "I said it's fine... Besides, it's my problem, not yours... Now listen!"

Maxwell looked up having healed the worst on Shoujou, "If all the crew members of the Saruyama Allience work together, we can repair and reinforce a ship of that size in no time. We can definitely wrap it up by morning so no worries there. We'll definitely get you up into the sky...!"

"But—!" "I told you already...!"

"Hey!" Maxwell laid some healing magic on Cricket, "Come on, save your strength. You're in no position to be moving right now."

"Hey Luffy..." Zoro pointed behind him and Luffy saw it, a circular grinning skull with a line through it.

"That's Bellamy's mark!" Their navigator recognized it.

"What!?" Maxwell looks over at Nami, "Who is this 'Bellamy?'"

Nami flinched at the memory, "...He was the leader of the pirates that beat up Luffy and Zoro."

Zoro saw Luffy cracking his knuckles, "Need help?"

"Nah, I'm fine alone."

"NO LUFFY!" Nami looked panicked at her captain, "Don't start getting stupid thoughts now! There's only 3 hours left until we set sail!"

Luffy turns to Robin, "If I follow the coastline, can I reach the town we were at yesterday?"

Robin slowly nods, surprised at being asked, "Yes, you should be able to."

Cricket tries to get up but is held back by Max, "W-Where do you think you're going, kid!? Don't do anything unnecessary! Do you have any idea who you'd be dealing w—" he was cut off by a katana being held towards him, with the hilt in his face.

"Use this if you want to follow him," It was one of Zoro's more precious swords, the Wado Ichimonji. But Cricket couldn't move, he could only grit his teeth as Luffy walked away.

"I'll be back by morning."

"Hold on, Luffy," the straw-hatted captain looks back their navigator, "3 hours, Luffy. If we can't sail by then, then it's going to be you who let the chance to go to sky island pass by. Do you understand?"

"...I got it. I'll see you soon!" Luffy dashes off along the cape, ready to get revenge on this Bellamy.

Maxwell sighs, "Well, there he goes again..."

"Ugh... What happened...?" Maxwell looks over to see Masira getting up from the ground. He still looked rough but he was awake now, "Wait... Boss!" Masira jumps up and looks to find Cricket. Then he notices the Straw-Hats had come back.

"Guys! This is bad, some punk-ass pirates—!"

"They already know, Masira," Cricket interrupted his subordinate, "Call the Saruyama Alliance. We're going to need their help with this one."

Masira looks at his boss for a moment before nodding, "Right!" and runs off somewhere.

"Ugh... That last punch really gave me the jitters..." Shoujou had awoken as well.

"Everyone's up. Now, let's focus on your ship..." Crickets had the strength to move this time, and stood up.

Maxwell also took a look at the Going Merry, and it made him wince. Her bow was now broken, right in the haul. The forwards section had split apart from her main body and her figure head was in the dirt. The masts had fallen over, their previous supports had bent and broke. Max was surprised she was still somewhat afloat in these deep waters. He could hear her in the Fade, she was moaning in pain like someone had broken her back.

They had some work to do.