Chapter 31

Goodbye Old Friend

"So…" Maxwell looked at the little ship fairy.

"So…" Merry mimicked the mage.

…

…

…

Well, this was awkward.

Both of Merry and Maxwell were on the staircase leading up to the prow. Maxwell was leaning against the wall, while Merry sat on the rail. In the whole time Maxwell was aware of the klabauterman, he had only seen Merry twice. Once on Skypiea, and once in the Fade.

It was unusual to see her manifested, especially in plain view. Maxwell tried to have a conversation with Merry while they sailed the open ocean. However, it seemed the spirit had other ideas. Her form would teleport around the ship, with Maxwell trying to catch up with her. The others had laughed, seeing the spirit mess with the mage, but Maxwell was a bit more concerned... She wasn't giggling like usual.

Merry had just saved them from being captured by the marines. While Maxwell wasn't ungrateful by any means, it was still a little unusual. Merry had willed herself to come after them. That kind of navigation and psychic ordinance required a ton of energy. Energy, Maxwell didn't think she had. She had been… distant, aloof, since the escape. Salem had steered Merry onto the right course, but that didn't stem his worries. Did the demon know something he didn't?

Maxwell's three familiars were asleep now, housed in their anchors. He could still feel them back within the reaches of the Fade. They were tired after expending so much magic in the physical world. Most spirits don't realize how little influence the have on the physical world until they cross over. Of course Salem, Mordred, and Mineive were anything but common spirits.

Their summoning was a one time deal though. The three demons were technically pieces of Maxwell's psyche. Like a puzzle that had too many pieces. The idea of a psychic entity being able to separate itself from its host, then meaningfully interact with it's counterpart was was absolutely crazy!

Then again so are most magics. They had an opportunity and they took it. Using Blueno's Devil Fruit power had really saved their asses. He'll have to find out what they did to him later.

…Had Maxwell always meant for this to happen? Blueno practically had a direct pathway into the Fade, one Maxwell couldn't ignore… Perhaps he was being a little petty with the bull horned door-man. Blueno had already fought against Luffy and lost. Maxwell never did get that face off with Blueno… He always intended to use blood magic to fight him, but, perhaps that was probably for the best.

Blood Magic was a slippery slope for most mages, and it seemed Maxwell had dipped into that category. There's a reason Blood Magic considered so dangerous. It offers power. Quick and easy power, not found in the usual channeling of Fade essences. Maxwell needed an edge, and he was now disgusted he wanted to resort to Blood Magic to do it.

For all Maxwell's prowess in magic, there was no way he could have lasted long against Blueno with his usual abilities. Maxwell was always been taught to end a fight quickly before an enemy could get close. Blueno and the CP9 wouldn't have allowed that. Mages always had the disadvantage up close.

…Then again, self-reflection always seemed to have a way to make you doubt yourself.

Maxwell shook his head. He was getting better at close-combat, Maxwell knew that. Never would he ever have considered scaling an elephant like that, in order to kill it, before becoming a pirate. Zoro and Sanji had certainly sharpened his skills. Maxwell may have used Blood Magic, but he was thankful it wasn't in the middle of a fight. The mage still had scars in the palms of his hands, after banishing that bomb back in Alabasta. He couldn't afford to become careless.

It'll take a lot more time training though, before he's satisfied with his combat skills. Maxwell still had more spells to learn, and perhaps he needed a bit of ingenuity.

He wondered if the Spirit Blade could be conjured onto the top of his staff…

"Hey!" "Hey, hey, hey!"

Maxwell snapped out of his thoughts at the voices of Chopper and Luffy. Luffy had taken to riding Chopper's usual hybrid form, making them look like a totem pole. The two had recovered their strength after about an hours worth of sailing… And Maxwell's constant supervision.

"Hey Max! Do you know where Usopp is!? He's missing!" Luffy asked him.

"Usopp~!" Chopper tried calling out.

What? Usopp was missing? That didn't make any sense. Usopp was right—Oh~!

Usopp had donned his Sogeking mask again and had his back turned to the remainder of their Kiddy Trio. Sanji looked like his was scolding Usopp, whispering in his ear. He seemed to be telling Usopp to take the mask off and just be himself.

Sogeking then turned around, with his arms crossed, "Don't worry. He went back first with a boat." Usopp explained it so Maxwell didn't have to. Sanji still kicked Ussop in the back of the head for that fib though.

"EH!? Why!?" exclaimed Chopper.

"But this is his ship!" Luffy pointed out. Maxwell let the issue slide for now. It was easier this way. While the Straw-Hats might have consider the Going Merry their ship, Usopp technically had ownership since he left the crew. Luffy had relinquished it him after their duel seeing no need to drag out their parting. Luffy had won, but tempers were high at that time.

Nami approached Maxwell, seeing him on the prow deck. "So, Merry sailed herself to come get us, huh?"

"Yeah…" Maxwell looked at the klabauterman again. She still seemed a little unresponsive since Luffy declared their victory over the marines. "Merry always could manifest a klabauterman. We knew that since you guy found that legend back in Alabasta."

"We had faith in her then," Zoro pointed out, joining the conversation, "Now she's done even more than what she needed for us."

"She is a manifestation of all our happy memories within this ship," Robin stated. She was scratching Gonbe behind the ears, who enjoyed the sensation.

"That's right!" Luffy then perched on the rail spoke, hovering over the spirit, "Merry is finally talking to us! Hey, Merry, say something!" The captain smiled waving a hand to get her attention.

But Merry was still unusually silent… She seemed spaced out. Muttering under her tongue, in a sound they couldn't hear. Maxwell looked at Franky and Usopp, who still eyed the spirit among them. They, along with Max, possibly had the most reason to be concerned about the Merry.

"Hrm?" Not being able to get a reaction out of Merry, Luffy had jumped onto Chopper again, "A ship is coming this way!"

"What!?" Usopp flailed putting his hands up to fight, "Who!?"

Chimney ran up to the prow looking out with a hand to block out the sun, "…It's the Galley La Company's capital ship!"

Surprised at what she said, Maxwell tried to get a good look at the vessel. It was a large, luxurious, galleon with a dark magenta haul. The prow and figurehead was like the front half of a Feraldin longboat. It was framed by brass flame designs, with punched engravings. Maxwell counted at least 4 masts on that ship. Each mast even had seven sails, three each on the lower yards. The company logo was painted out between the central sails.

They had spotted the Merry. And seemed like the whole of Galley-La was here to greet them.

"WUOOO~! It's the Straw-Hats!" "They're alive!" "You're safe!" "Amazing! You guys set out during Aqua Laguna. It's unbelievable!" "And you guys made it back alive from Enies Lobby!"

"ICE-POPS~!" Luffy greeted them, waving his arms. Iceberg was at the front of the prow, arms crossed, and with a coat over his shoulders.

"Ice-for-Brains…" Franky muttered seeing his old cohort. Though he didn't show it, Franky was glad the CEO shipwright was still alive.

"…Ugh…!"

Maxwell snapped his head back to look where Merry was. That was Merry's voice grunting in pain! The spirit had disappeared from her spot on the rails and was now gone.

*C-C-C-CRACK!*

"Whoa!" Maxwell quickly grabbed onto the railing as the whole bow of the Going Merry lurched forward. Most of the others had fallen over with the prow tipped. Maxwell climbed up to look. The entire front of the Merry had been split from the main haul. The planks had splintered apart, all the way to the keel.

"Merry!" Usopp had seen the damage as well.

"Hey! What's going on all of a sudden!?" Luffy yelled. He had landed upside-down when the prow tipped. "Merry is—!"

"This is not 'all of a sudden!'" Sanji grunted, "…This is expected!"

"What?" Luffy looked at his chef. Sanji had landed on his butt, but used his shoed feet to keep him from slipping downward.

"The shipwrights did say the Merry couldn't go any further. You haven't forgotten about that, have you?"

"…But…!" Luffy had remembered, but was rendered speechless regardless. It was the whole reason they needed another ship—the crew even fought over this! But Merry…

Luffy crawled onto the figurehead, "ICE-POPS! WE'VE GOT TROUBLE! MERRY'S IN DANGER! PLEASE DO SOMETHING!" The Galley-La ship was suddenly quiet. "Guys…! This is perfect timing! YOU'RE ALL SHIPWRIGHTS, RIGHT!? PLEASE! PLEASE DO SOMETHING! SHE'S OUR NAKAMA WHO'S TRAVELED WITH US ALL THIS TIME! AND SHE JUST NOW… SHE SAVED US JUST NOW!"

"Then… let her sleep already."

Luffy froze hearing Iceberg's words.

"We've done all we possibly can," Iceberg closed his eyes, solemn in regret.

"…I found your ship beached in the Ship Scrapyard, near Water 7. I heard the sound of a mallet, hammering wood, and thought someone was out there. When I didn't see anyone, I noticed it was the Going Merry."

"I had read the report. Your ship was badly damaged, but it was also caught in the Aqua Laguna. I knew she would never sail again… Yet, I knew I had to repair your ship. I heard a voice… the Going Merry's voice, and I couldn't leave such a beloved ship go to waste. Even though I knew she was about to break, I repaired her as best I could. Your ship then set sail, under it's own power, and I knew we couldn't let her go out alone…"

The CEO looked at Luffy again, "I'm seeing a miracle right now… a miracle… from a ship that reached its limit a long time ago… I've been a shipwright for many years, yet I've never seen such an amazing pirate ship. It's lived a very admirable life."

The whole crew was silent. Merry had… Merry didn't have much time left. Her klabauterman, her soul, had reached out to sail one last time. Merry knew they were in trouble. She knew they were on a suicide mission, but she wanted to help them anyway.

Maxwell touched the wood of Merry's… body. The mana Maxwell had saturated into her haul was near depleted. He had used a lot of magic to steer her on their journey, but now that was all coming to an end…

"…I understand," Luffy didn't like it, but he accepted what was about to happen.

It was time to lay Merry to rest.

O O O

Two boats had come to pick them up from the Merry's wreckage. The whole crew stood in a longboat with Franky, Kokoro, Chimney, and Gonbe. They were going to stand there and watch the funeral. Luffy had rowed up to the Merry in a smaller fishing boat.

"…Are you guys ready?" Luffy asked his crew.

Maxwell stood beside Robin and Franky and nodded his assent. He… he didn't have the words to to speak of it right now. The others just agreed with nods and yes's.

"Merry…" Luffy lifted a torched and brought it where Merry had broke, "The bottom of the sea is a dark and lonely place. But we're here to send you off... Maybe it's for the best that Usopp isn't around… There's no way he could endure this..."

Maxwell heard Zoro speak softly to Sogeking, "And what do you say to that?"

Sogeking kept his eyes on the ship as it caught fire, "…He'll be alright. A time of separation has come. When men part ways… tears should not be shed. He's fully prepared for this moment."

Luffy rowed back a bit to watch as the flames crept up the Going Merry. This was her funeral. The least they could do was honour her.

"…Thank you for carrying us all this time, Merry."

Smoke rose into the clouds as the flames encased her mast. It had become surprisingly cloud as they prepared this Viking funeral. Then it began to snow.

Maybe it was just the weather of the Grand Line. But in this case… Maxwell could feel the memories caught in the snowflakes. Her spiritual essence was beginning to disperse.

Maxwell could could hear the memories playing out. He could see the images in his mind.

That time when they first saw the Merry at Syrup village. When Luffy and Usopp first tried out the cannons. They played other memories as well. Ones Maxwell wasn't necessarily involved with. There was a time when Maxwell was napping and Nami had scolded the Usopp and Luffy for scraping against something in the ocean. Zoro once tried to take a nap on Merry's figurehead and Luffy wanted him to get off.

Maxwell remembered them finally heading to the Grand Line. They had seen a lighthouse after escaping Lougetown. It was the moment they had declared their dreams! They then accidentally crossed the Calm Belt into a Seaking nest. Sweet Maker, that had been terrifying. Then they climbed Reverse Mountain up those streams. The ship and her crew had seen rain, and snow, spotting monsters, and treasures. They've even flown to the sky and back.

Her spirit, her legacy…

…

…

…

Maxwell briefly thought if he could keep Merry's spirit alive. Merry had saved him from oblivion once. Maybe he could do the same?

He could try to bind Merry to something, maybe even let her possess him and…!

No…

No. That wouldn't be fair to her.

That wouldn't be fair to them.

All things must come to an end… even spirits.

The mast fell over as the whole ship was aflame. She was starting to break down now as the inferno engulfed her.

"…I'm sorry."

Merry's voice spoke out, clear as a bell, surprising many.

"I wanted to carry you just a little bit further…"

Tears began to well in Maxwell's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to go on more adventures with you…"

"Merry!" Chopper cried as he heard her voice.

"But I—"

"WE'RE THE ONES WHO HAVE TO APOLOGIZE! MERRY!" Luffy cried out. Tears and snot were running down his face.

"I'M NOT VERY GOOD AT STEERING! I'VE CRASHED YOU INTO THINGS A COUPLE OF TIMES! I'VE EVEN RIPPED YOU SAIL ONCE OR TWICE! MAX LIKE TO SLEEP TO MUCH, SO HE COULDN'T STEER US RIGHT! ZORO AND SANJI ARE IDIOTS TOO, SO THEY'VE PROBABLY BROKEN A FEW THINGS! USOPP TRIED TO FIX YOU EVERY TIME, BUT HE'S NO GOOD AT IT EITHER! WE'RE SO SORRY!"

Maxwell couldn't help but gasp a little laugh, even as tears rolled down his face. Even when Luffy was trying to apologize, he was still his usual blunt insensitive self…

"…But I was happy."

That really really got Maxwell's eyes to water. He tried to shut his eyes to stem the flow.

"Thank you for taking good care of me until now… I was… really… happy."

"MERRYYYYY~!" Luffy's voice cried out across the din. Merry had finally been laid to rest.

Usopp bit his lip, trying not to break down into a sobbing mess. Nami rubbed her eyes as she cried, losing such a good friend. Chopper was trying to reach out as tears and snot ran down his face. Zoro had stood strong, trying to be respectful as he watched the funeral pyre. Sanji had his face hidden as he smoke a cigarette. Franky was sobbing like a wuss, while Robin had a single tear. Kokoro stood behind Chimney and Gombe as they watched the funeral.

As for Maxwell…

"…Say goodbye to the others, would you…?" He heard her final words in his mind.

"…I will…!"

Goodbye… Old friend.