Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Tokyo Ghoul. I do own my Ocs.
Chapter 10 - To the Grand Line
Tinkling sounds are echoing in my head, I'm slowly starting to become aware of my body. My heart's beating steadily in my chest, and I'm laying down on an uncomfortable surface. It's sharp, everywhere. The ground, the air, the light behind my eyelids, too much sharpness. I try to gather all my energy and painfully open my eyes, just to gasp at the view of the sky above my head, is it even sky?
Pushing my palms on the ground I barely manage to lift my upper body, it stings immediately. I lift one hand and feel the drops of blood falling on my knees before seeing my scratched palm. I keep staring at it, something isn't right. It looks like my hand, even my tattoos are on it, yet it feels weird. The scratches on my palm are still stinging, and still slightly bleeding 'It's not healing like it's supposed to!'
Narrowing my eyes in the blinding light I start looking around curiously. Everywhere's shining, the ground, the air, the sky. I wait for my watery eyes to adapt with the light, then carefully stroke the ground I'm sitting on, picking up a piece of glass and staring at it for a second, only to gasp sharply upon noticing my environment. There are shattered pieces of glass everywhere, I look up again, even the sky above my head is made out of tiny pieces of broken glass. It looks like an endless field, with nothing but glass covering it, the source of that blinding light, I note. They're shining like millions of tiny rainbows as the light is breaking through the pieces like it would in a prism.
I frown in pain as I try to get back on my feet. The sharp edges are leaving cuts on my bare soles with every step I'm taking trying to advance in the glassy field. There's nothing around, except for this subtle tinkling sound which is starting to get on my nerves!
"What is this?!" I grunt to myself trying to ignore the pain in my feet. I'm getting nervous now
"Great! I have no idea where the fuck I am, how did I ended up here and how to get out!" I announce loudly to my empty surroundings and look up again desperately with my arms hanging by my sides.
"It's pretty in here, why're you mad?"
"Yeah that would be nicer if I wasn't bleeding like ins-" my eyes widen in shock and I turn around so fast that I struggle to keep my balance for a second. I stare at the person before me with my eyes still widened in the shock of not being completely alone like I thought I was. It's a girl, a child, sitting on her knees and playing with the pieces of glass before her, making that annoying tinkling noise that waked me in the first place, and she's completely naked. Long raven hair, pale skin and a pink burn mark on her left shoulder.
I hesitantly take a step forward, my mouth's half open at the sight before my eyes. The girl stops playing with glasses for a moment and looks at my face. She narrows her light grey eyes
"Stop walking! You're hurting your feet." she says casually and continues playing, she seems to be trying to make something like a tiny castle with those pieces of glass.
"Who are you?!" I nearly whisper, though I think I already know the answer! The little girl looks at me again and raises her eyebrows
"You're such a dumbass for a grownup!" she says disappointed and sighs. I frown offended
"What do you mean dumbass?!"
"You're asking dumb questions and you're walking on sharp edged pieces of glass and you can't even recognize yourself! You're a dumbass." she shrugs her bare shoulders. I say nothing. 'Ok, chill! This is a dream. So my little version is talking to me, no big deal! It's just a weird dre-'
"I don't think it's a dream." little Lilou brushes her hair behind her ears and looks up at the glassy sky. I frown and look at her tiny self with my eyes narrowed
"What then?!" I growl at her.
"How should I know! Maybe you went crazy and you're imagining stuff." she shrugs again.
"I haven't gone crazy! I was… he was… going to perform an operation on me, then I woke up here…" I gasp in disbelief "AM I DEAD?!" I shout at my little version.
"How should I know?! Find things out for yourself!" she pouts annoyed and crosses her arms over her chest, glaring at me pissed. I count to ten in my head and take three deep breaths before saying anything, trying to absorb the situation and calm my storming mind.
"Ok… alright, tell me everything you know about all this right now, anything!" I point my finger at her sitting figure and order. She sighs again
"I-don't-know! I woke up here and saw you sleeping over there!" she points her thumb at her left side "Then I got bored and started to play with this stuff and then you got up and started talking to me."
"I wasn't talking to you! I didn't even see you!" I growl at her. She rolls her eyes
"Dumbass."
"Stop with the dumbass crap already you little mean beast!" I shout annoyed.
"Why are you yelling? It's just the two of us in here and I'm not deaf!" she nags without looking at me. I stand silent and look up again, I'm not even sure how to talk with this kid, with myself! This tiny version of me is unbelievably annoying!
"How was it going?"
I look away from the semi-sky and raise an eyebrow at her still trying to balance the new pieces on her little artwork "What?!"
"I'm bored!" she whines "I'm trying to have a conversation!" she looks up at me with annoyance in her big eyes. I stare at her for a second, not really sure what kind of a conversation someone is supposed to have with their past self.
"You know how it was going!" I grumble. The younger Lilou shrugs
"Mhmm… pretty much. You were being boring ever since Cora-san died, so I really didn't bother watching you that much." she looks up again, this time with twisted brows and an angry expression on her childish face "The only cool thing you did lately, was deciding to meet up with Luffy…" she fists her tiny hands "Which you screwed it over with that boring self-pity you very much like to do!"
"I didn't screw it over!" I bark at her "He was happy! And already made his peace with losing two siblings long ago! Showing myself as I am now was only going to disappoint him!" I nearly shouted.
"One."
"What?!"
"One sibling…" she mumbles "he always wished you would return to him someday."
"THEY ALL ASSUMED I WAS DEAD!" I yell at her as my body is shaking in rage.
"Not Luffy…" she whispers so low that it's barely audible. I release my tense body and stare at her in disbelief
"What do you mean?" I murmur.
"We're twins, baka! He never entertains the thought, but he can feel you!" the kid shouts at me, her angry voice is holding traces of disappointment and sadness. Tears start to shape in the corner of her eyes as she continues shouting "Why did you run?! Why didn't you let us see him? Do you know how much I cried when you left him behind and ran away like a coward?! I WANTED TO MEET LUFFY AND YOU FUCKED IT UP WITH YOUR STUPID SELFISHNESS!"
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SCREAM AT ME FOR NOT WANTING TO RUIN MY BROTHER'S LIFE!" I scream back at her "YOU'RE NOT EVEN THE SAME PERSON AS ME! STOP REFERRING TO OURSELVES AS US!"
"I AM THE SAME PERSON AS YOU! I ALWAYS WAS AND I'LL ALWAYS BE! YOU THINK HE CARES IF YOU'RE A GHOUL OR A HUMAN?! DON'T YOU KNOW HIM AT ALL?!" she stands up and kicks the tiny castle she was so obsessively trying to make, scattering the glasses to smaller pieces "I hate you for what you made of me! I never wanted myself to be this stupid and coward! You're pathetic!" she walks in front of me and grabs my shirt "All you do is pity yourself and lining stupid reasons to justify your cowardice! You became the exact kind of a person that once you couldn't even stand!"
I push her back harshly, and I get shocked by how real her person felt like. It definitely isn't a dream! The little Lilou falls on her back and yelps at the sharpness of the objects she landed on. She glares at me with disgust while trying to pull her fragile body up and sit. She hugs her knees and turns her face away from me.
I keep staring, waiting for my child self to jump at me and start screaming again, yet all she's doing is hiding her face under the mass of her raven hair in complete silence. I sigh and sit cross-legged on the ground
"Hey…" I call trying to sound more friendly. She doesn't answer. I exhale desperately "I'm sorry, ok?!" again, no answer.
"Look…" I lean closer to her "You have to let go…" I nearly whisper at her and put a hand on her bare shoulder "It's over. The life you used to have, it's all gone… along with yourself! You have to let go of it! Of me!"
She doesn't say anything for a minute, still stubbornly facing the opposite way. I stroke the pink burn mark on my tiny self's shoulder, her body feels so real, like an actual real human being sitting next to me, not at all like something you would see or touch in a dream or a vision.
"You never pulled our broken pieces back together after your body changed." her cracked voice draws me out of my thoughts, she's crying.
"Let go of you?! There's no difference between me and you, we're the same person! So we turned into a Ghoul, big deal! You're so weak that you couldn't even keep your mind unharmed when your body changed. You abandoned who you were along with all your dreams and desires, and now you're telling me to let go?! It's not even possible! You're such a dumbass coward!"
I frown at the back of her small head "I'm not a coward!" I grunt.
"Oh but you are!" she says while turning to face me.
"I'm a monster! How can I be a monster and a coward at the same time?!"
"So you're comfortably accepting yourself as a monster?" she asks raising an eyebrow.
"There's nothing comfortable about it! I'm just stating a fact!"
"Then you're just a coward." she states nonchalantly and shrugs.
"I'm no- what is your point?!" I ask, furious at this annoyingly surreal conversation.
"I'm just saying, you keep telling yourself you're a monster, yet you act like a scared little kid and you get offended when someone else calls you a monster, or a coward! Becoming this "monster" you're calling yourself was something you had no say in, but don't you think you would've lived a happier life if you just accepted the truth and embraced what you've turned into, instead of hiding yourself behind a happy mask and ignoring your pain? Wouldn't it be easier to take that pain in and let it make you stronger? Of course you can't be a monster and a coward at the same time! You have to choose!"
I stare at my tiny self coldly for few moments, then get up and take a deep breath looking up
"I don't have to prove anything to you, you're not even real! I'm getting outta here."
I say and choose a random direction to pointlessly walk away in. This is just hilarious! It's not just that my past self is fucking up my mind, it's this whole place that's disturbing me. There's nothing in here, nothing. Just glass, glass, and more fucking glass. There's not even a hill on the ground, everywhere's just flat and look exactly the same, there's even no wind in the air. I pick up a shard of glass and throw it high above my head, I keep staring at it and watch it going higher, it stops mid air for a second, and just when I'm expecting it to come back down, it shivers and gets pulled into that freaky sky, and then just disappears, sucked into the other million pieces of glass floating up there. 'Bullshit!' I take few steps back with my head still thrown back and my eyes suddenly widen feeling it's getting empty under my feet. Jumping away before completely lose my footing, I fall harshly on the ground with my heart racing insanely in my chest. The ground I was standing on a second ago, is now just… isn't there! There's no hole or something, it's just not there! It's just a vacuity, a pitch dark space from the bottom to the sky, with random little sparks of red in it. And I don't even wanna know what's inside of it!
After struggling to find my way back to that annoying tiny Lilou and jumping away from another three dark vacuities showing up outta nowhere, I finally see her again. Grumbling under my breath, I carefully tiptoe to where she's sitting. An uncomfortable feeling is creeping up my spine, can't stop thinking that maybe this place, whatever it is, has already begun to vanish, ready to swallow me, and the other me(!) and everything else that is left from us into that dark nothingness. If that's what my afterlife is going to look like, like hell I'd let myself die today! I stand in front of Lilou and cross my arms staring at her big eyes. She smirks at me
"Still alive?!"
"You're still here, so yeah!"
"Just get it over with." she says with boredom. I raise my eyebrows at her
"Excuse me?!"
"Die already! I'm sick of that lousy life you're living!"
"I'M NOT HERE TO DIE!"
"What then?"
"Stop asking questions you already know the answers to!"
"You're not choosing, so why not just end it in here if it's that difficult of a choice?!"
"I don't give a single fuck about your stupid choosing game! I just wanna get out of this place!"
"YOU CAN'T! You haven't chosen yet." she nags "You wanna let them die too?! Like Sabo? or Cora-san, just because you're too scared to decide-"
"Don't you fucking dare say their names again!" I shout at her without realizing the tears shaping in my eyes. Little Lilou walks in front of me with a frown
"You wanted to get stronger! That's why you're here! Or do you rather keep ignoring what you really are?! What do you think will happen to them if you can't protect them? Your nakama, Law… Luffy… Ace-
"STOP!"
Looking up at my terrified face, she reaches her little hand and grabs my cheek, making me look down at her with my wet eyes
"Which one do you want to be?"
I blink and a teardrop falls on my little self's face, I open my mouth to answer but a loud blast of explosion from somewhere far away shakes the whole place and makes me jump.
"Choose!"
"What's happening?!"
"You're time's almost up." little Lilou smirks "Tell me… which one do you want to be?"
Another blast rumbles the ground and opens a wide crack in the sky above us. Little shards of glass start to fall on our figures. This place is defiantly falling apart, I can tell just by looking at that weird sky changing colors. It's shining red now.
"I don't want to be a monster!" I sob and fall on all fours, feeling my strength draining. My little version frowns annoyed as she looks down at me.
"I'm sick of being a coward. I'm sick of this whole thing." I'm crying out. My child self frowns deeper and leans down to my eye level
"Then die!" she growls pissed.
"I CAN'T DIE YET!" I shout at her with widened eyes. It's the hardest unrealistic situation I could ever imagine being in and I'm literally pushing myself to choose between death and being a monster.
"THEN CHOOSE! DO YOU WANT TO DIE A COWARD OR LIVE PROUD AS A MONSTER?"
I freeze, open my eyes and stare at the glowing, broken pieces of glass shaking under my fingers. Live proud as a monster? Sounds much better than my recently miserable life. The sound of explosions feels closer any second 'Sabo… Cora-san… they might still be alive if I was strong enough to save them.' the glasses start to shatter into smaller pieces around me 'Luffy… Ace… Law… they might die too if I won't be able to protect them.' sound of the breaking glasses mixed with the cannons filling my head 'I've been given this power to protect the people I love, not to kill and destroy like a monster! Such an ignorant idiot I was all my life!' the whole place is shaking and falling apart around us with a dreadful grumbling sound. I look up into my other pair of grey eyes
"I'm leaving you now, Lilou." I whisper to the kid "I'm sorry, I don't know how to turn back time and erase all the times I made you cry… I can't change the past for you, and I can't let you hold on to it while I'm trying to live in the present…" I wipe the tears on my cheek and grab her little hand, my own little hand "But the future is all mine. And I promise, Lil, I'll do everything in my power to make you… smile…" I press my eyes and try to get over my trembling voice "I will do everything in my power, to be the adult you look up to… I'm getting out of here… you just… let me live for the sake of your dreams…"
She smiles at me
"Who are you leaving as?" a spark of my red, flaring eyes is reflected on hers. I get back on my feet. Hugging my past self and pressing her against my body, I feel her person slowly vanish in my arms, little by little, she's becoming one with me. I throw my head back with closed eyes
"Monkey D. Lilou." I answer steadily, then open my blood-colored eyes to the red, glassy sky
"A Ghoul."
The operating bed she was laying on harshly shook with another hit of cannon somewhere outside the sub. She jumped and sat on the bed hastily, the room was empty and her head was filled with the sound of heavy explosions, shoutings, footsteps, swords clashing onto each other. 'We're under attack!' she jumped out of the bed and started to run, faster than any other time in her life without even putting much effort into it. She was hearing too much, seeing too clear, every object she was passing by was in full detail in her eyes and the noises on the deck felt as close as if they were right next to her ears. And she could clearly hear the sound of every single drop of rain falling down on the sea, every whistle of the sharp wind hitting the walls of the sub. The metal door was already wide open when she jumped in the middle of that chaos on the deck. With one quick look, she noticed they were already winning the fight. Five marines were struggling into Ikkaku's heavy chains as she was standing on top of them. Shachi and Penguin were knocking soldiers out throwing them in the ocean one after another. Clione's knives were shining in the air flying around, Uni was constantly firing his giant bazooka, Bepo was shocking the enemies with his electric attacks and Law was reflecting the cannons firing at them without stopping even for a second to look at anything but the Navy battleship in front of them.
Lilou ran to the front with her kagune flaring behind her, brighter and bigger than ever
"LAW! LIFT IT!" she yelled and jumped on the railings. Law's eyes nearly popped out at her unexpected appearance
"WHAT?!"
"Lift their ship up from it's back." she yelled back and caught a cannon with bare hands. Law cut another cannon in half
"That's a fucking battleship! Ho-"
"DAMN JUST DO IT!"
Law stopped struggling with the cannons seeing Lilou easily catching and stashing them under her feet. He never lifted anything that giant and heavy before, but Lilou clearly just ordered him to, like it was something very much casual and easy, and she actually seemed like she had a plan. Breathing hard and heavy, he created one of the biggest Rooms he had ever created and gathered all his energy as he stared at the ship
"Takt!"
The end of the navy battleship started to shake violently and slowly began to part from the sea surface. Barrels, cannons and marines lost their balance as they were rolling and falling on each other and the whole ship suddenly fell into panic. Lilou grinned
"Yosh! Send these to their faces!" she shouted and moved a little aside for Law to have access to the cannons she's been collecting. Law clenched his jaw, pushing his limits by trying to hold the battleship in that semi-vertical position and send all that cannons right at it at the same time. Lilou jumped off the railings and bent her knees behind Law, carefully counting the seconds and calculating the right time to finish their counterattack.
"LIL! HURRY!"
"Just a bit more…" she kept watching, and then pushed her feet before jumping high in the air with her kagune turned into crystalized mode. She held her breath and examined the location of every single floating cannon, before opening her wings wide and shoot hundreds of red crystal shards right at them
"CRYSTAL STORM!"
Roaring flames covered the whole area, swallowing the sound and sight of that battleship shattering into pieces and brightening the stormy dark sky, and by the time that Lilou smoothly landed on the deck and Law grabbed the railings leaning on them, there were only broken pieces of wood floating on the sea as they kept moving away from where the enemy ship was, not so long ago. Lilou looked back at her crew, Bepo was already gone, she could clearly hear his footsteps running to the navigating room.
"LILOU!"
A mass of curly brown hair covered her face as Ikkaku jumped at her, hugging her so tight that it would definitely be painful if she was a human. "You woke up!" she cheered and tightened her grip around Lilou, causing the trapped marines shriek in pain as the thorns on the chains pierced their bodies even deeper.
"Of course I did!" Lilou laughed out hugging her back "But what the fuck are we doing in the middle of this bloody storm crushing marines?!"
No one got the chance to answer as Bepo's voice coming from the intercom distracted them
"Hurry to the navigating room. We're getting close!"
"Oh crap!" Shachi ran after them with his face turned completely pale. Ikkaku kicked the trapped soldiers into the sea before drawing her chains and running into the sub.
Law rushed into the room before anyone else and ran to the window, soaking wet from head to toe like everybody else. Penguin cleaned the blood on his face as he ran next to Law and stared outside with his eyes popping out
"I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING BUT THIS FUCKING STORM!"
"WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Lilou shouted and jumped on the table behind Law and Penguin, trying to find out what were they looking for. Bepo took his eyes from the monitor
"Hey Lil, how you feeling?"
"I'm fine, thanks! Where are we?!"
"Somewhere awfully close to the reverse mountain." Uni growled before grabbing the collar of Bepo's orange jumpsuit to keep his balance as a huge wave hit the sub and shook the whole place.
"HEY!" Bepo shouted and shook him off. Lilou's big eyes landed on the clock showing eight
"Is it eight in the morning?! Why aren't we in the calm belt?!"
"We were, just before that damned navy ship showed up!" Ikkaku sighed "And then the storm started so we couldn't submerge."
"Lilou." Bepo said without looking up "Law."
They both turned to him with questioning eyes.
"We have to go through the mountain. What are your orders?"
Law grinned at his face "Navigate this crazy ass mountain and get us to the Grand Line in one piece!"
"YOSH! TO THE GRAND LINE!" Lilou shouted cheerfully and jumped on Bepo "GO CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN!"
"Ok. The signals I'm sending out are coming back, meaning the reverse mountain is right ahead of us. And there's a lot of strong currents here I'm having trouble keeping the course steady. I need you to go out and watch until you find the entrance and tell me which current is the one flowing up, Lilou."
"Huh?!" Lilou tilted her head confused.
"It's geography and meteorology, do you really wanna hear the details?" Bepo chuckled.
"No! Hahaha!"
"Take this and just tell me everything you see out there."
Lilou grabbed the mini Den Den Mushi and ran to the door "GOTCHA!"
"I'm going too!" Law said excited and ran after her. Ikkaku swung her chains and grinned
"Shame on me if I stay in here!"
"Fuck it I'm going too!"
Penguin moaned desperately "All of you?!"
"Stay here, I might need a hand." Bepo said to him, making him sigh relieved watching the other six running out.
"LILOU DON'T YOU DARE CLIMBI-"
"SHUT UP! HAHAHAHA!"
"YOU JUST WOKE UP! I HAVEN'T EXAMINED YOU YET!"
"Why you even trying?!" Shachi asked the furious Law glaring at Lilou as she climbed the front mast in that heavy storm like an excited monkey.
"I don't know why I even bothered bringing a spyglass for her!" Uni scratched his head looking up at Lilou with the spyglass in his hand.
Lilou's eyes widened in excitement looking right ahead of them "I'M SEEING IT! IT'S RED LINE!" she pulled out the Den Den Mushi "Bepo, there's two whirlpool things near the red line!"
"They're supposed to send us up! Look for the entrance, and hurry!"
Bepo's voice coming from the intercom caused everyone on the upper deck to run closer to the railings, narrowing their eyes trying to see the red line past the heavy rain.
"DAMN YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THE PEAK!" Clione cheered out both thrilled and terrified at the same time. Shachi laughed out
"Of course you can't! It's the red line!"
"We're finally about to see the top this time!" Law laughed out. Ikkaku frowned at him
"This time?! You've been here before?!"
"Not exactly here, the other four blues." Shachi casually said.
"WHAT?!" Ikkaku, Uni and Clione shouted in unison with surprised faces.
"Come on! You know we started off from north blue! How else could we be here if we never saw the red line?!"
"How did you cross it before?!"
"Law used to teleport our boats from one side to the other." Shachi shrugged. Uni's jaw fell a second before shouting at them confused
"THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE WE DOING THIS NOW?!"
"It's a freakin' heavy metal submarine with eight people on it!" Law growled at them irritated.
"FOUND IT! BEPO, A LITTLE TO THE LEFT!" Lilou yelled into the Den Den Mushi, her heart was ponding hard into her chest and she was feeling like she's about to explode from the amount of joy and excitement building up in her. The submarine dangerously tilted to the left and kept shaking roughly as it was getting closer to the red line at full speed, and it was definitely not riding the right current. The other five lost their standings and screamed out trying not to fall into the roaring sea by hanging on to swords, knives, spikes and anything else that could pierce through the wooden deck. Their voices filled the air again as the prow of the sub fell into the right current with another harsh quake, making the vehicle facing the cliff with its side. Ikkaku clenched her jaw trying to lift her body and looked at the very tiny crack on the cliff with terrified eyes and screamed
"Is THAT the entrance?!"
"The water really IS going up!"
"WHY THE FUCK ARE WE APPROACHING IT HORIZONTALLY?!"
The ending of the sub started to surpass the front as it was still stuck in the other current. Lilou jumped down, quickly calculating their distance from the cliff she started to run to the end of the submarine. Law pulled out his blade from the deck and grinned at Ikkaku, knowing exactly what Lilou was thinking
"How long are those chains?"
Ikkaku looked back at the red cliff "Long enough in few seconds!"
"WHAT? WHAT NOW?!" Shachi cried out running after them following Lilou. Ikkaku swung the two heavy chains in her hands once stopping in front of Lilou who was talking to the navigator
"Bepo, we're already riding the flow right?"
"The front half is!"
"Yosh! Penguin, come up here! Bepo, you know what to do!"
"AYE CAPTAIN!" Bepo's voice coming out of the sweating Den Den Mushi could clearly demonstrate his struggle and how excited and nervous he was at the same time. Lilou viciously grinned at Ikkaku
"Why so terrified?!"
"Your face!" Clione shouted at her standing there with a wide grin and sparkling eyes, not at all looking like someone who was only seconds away from crashing into a giant mountain. Ikkaku took her eyes from the cliff for one second and screamed at Lilou's face
"YOU'RE HAVING FUN, DON'T YOU?!"
Lilou laughed out insanely and grabbed Ikkaku's shoulders from behind "This is the best thing happening to us in a very long while! HAHAHAHAHA!" she then threw her head back glaring at the others with her crimson eyes "THE FUCK ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" she revolved her kagune around Ikkaku and held her as firm as possible, only leaving her arms out to work with her chains. The others immediately joined them and held on to Ikkaku making sure she wouldn't be affected by the violent movements of the sub. Uni looked up at the red line desperately while laying on the floor holding Ikkaku's feet
"This is it! This is how I'm gonna die!"
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU MANIACS RUINING OUR SHIP!?" Penguin yelled from the front side staring at the damaged floor of the upper deck with widened eyes. Shachi yelled back at him
"SHUT UP! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE IF YOU WANNA LIVE ANOTHER DAY!"
"What're you doing?! No! NO NO YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" Penguin joined Uni holding Ikkaku's feet with his face turned completely pale. Lilou kept staring at the left side of the entrance for few more short moments.
"NOW!"
Black chains went flying towards the red line before Lilou was finished, and the thorns pierced through the rock, attaching them to the red line. The ending of the sub dangerously rumbled and started to shift to the left. Lilou grabbed the chains inches away from Ikkaku's shaking hands and screamed out "PULL!" while already pulling the chains herself. The cliff was getting closer any moment and the sub wasn't completely on the right current yet. Ikkaku clenched her teeth with a twisted face "We're not gonna make it!"
The end half was catching up with the rest of the sub on the right current, but not fast enough to avoid hitting the rocks on the right side of the entrance. Bepo came out to the deck running towards the rest of them, the ship was already more rotated to leave him anything else to do in the navigating room. Lilou shook her head harshly spreading the raindrops on her wet face around
"PULL HARDER! DIDN'T YOU EAT BREAKFAST?!"
"WE ACTUALLY DIDN'T!" Shachi yelled out while forcing all of his strength on the chain in Ikkaku's right hand.
"THEN PULL HARDER IF YOU WANT BREAKFAST!"
Law growled pulling the left chain "What kind of a motivation is that?!" he looked back "Bepo! Take my place!" he shouted before letting go and move aside for Bepo to grab the chain. Uni jumped up standing and pointed his bazooka at the cliff
"Fuck it!"
"Room!"
Law and Uni's voices faded in the sound of explosion. A huge piece of the cliff shattered into millions of tiny rocks by Uni's bazooka firing at it, right after Law cut it apart from the red line, and just a second later, their wet faces shadowed as the ending of the sub passed from under the freshly made hole in the cliff and fell into the same current as the front side with a huge quake, making them all shout out and fall on their backs at the impact. The current pushed the rotated submarine to slide on the water going up the reverse mountain, to the Grand Line.
"YAHOOOO!"
"WE MADE IT!"
"GO POLAR TANG!"
"TO THE GRAND LINE, REVERSED!" Lilou cheered out loud and joined the others jumping and shouting in happiness while traveling up the reverse mountain.
"YOSH!" Law shouted and held his tattooed arm in front of him with his palm facing down "This is the beginning of the Heart Pirates' biggest adventure!" he grinned at them as seven pairs of hands joined his and looked at the bright smiling faces of his nakama. Lilou grinned widely and chuckled
"Let's do every crazy shit needed and have all the fun and don't stop until we reach all our dreams!"
"YAAAYYYYYY!" all cheered out loud and threw their fists up in the air as the stormy clouds disappeared from the morning sky and the raindrops spread around them from their wet heads shining like millions of diamonds under the bright sun. And no one realized Sakura was cheering along with them until she called out loud with happiness "ROUUUU!"
Law tilted his head "Where were you?!"
"She was sleeping in Lilou's room." Bepo giggled.
"Sakura! You missed the funniest part!" Lilou laughed out and hugged the pink bird. Clione narrowed his eyes
"That is one strange bird!"
"Guys!" Ikkaku shouted excited and ran to the far end of the sub pointing up the mountain "We're reaching the clouds!"
"Woohoo! Now we're in the clouds!"
"WE PASSED THE CLOUDS!" Lilou screamed, totally freaking out from happiness! Penguin waved his hand in front of her face
"Oi! Don't have a heart attack now!"
She grabbed the railings and held her fluffy hat on her wild raven hair, staring at the peak of the mountain where the water was spouting around and a beautiful rainbow was formed high in the clear sky. Bepo ran next to her excited
"We'll see the Grand Line in few seconds!"
His sentence wasn't finished yet as the Polar Tang reached the peak and stayed still in the air for a moment before landing on the other side of the reverse mountain and sliding down at full speed. Law's grey eyes widened at the sight of that great ocean in front of them, as he was holding the railings next to the others. Lilou bent lower on the railings and laughed out enjoying the tiny drops of water spraying on her face, savoring the sight of the Grand Line beneath them and enduring the whole blissfulness of those incredible moments 'Ace and Luffy are in here!' she thought excited, and surprisingly not at all afraid of confronting neither of them 'The dream I'm looking for is in here!' a goal, a dream for her to follow and fight for, something she never really had was waiting for her somewhere ahead in that ocean, she could feel it with every piece of her being, pulling her like a magnet towards itself. That lost purpose she always yearned for was now right ahead of her, whatever it was, wherever it was, she just knew it wasn't going to be a long wait at this point.
It took no more than three or four minutes until the sea surface became visible to them, and a lighthouse, and a very huge whale swimming around it… with a really, really bad painting on its giant head! Law narrowed his eyes at the whale, remembering the shadows of a jolly roger wearing a hat in Lilou's memories, a strawhat!
"Eeeh?!" Lilou tilted her head looking at the whale "That's freakishly huge!" she raised a brow "And why is Luffy's jolly roger on its head?!" she growled grabbing her sharp chin.
"Luffy?!" Law frowned at her "You met him?"
"Not really…" she answered honestly "But I've seen his pirate flag. This is their jolly roger… kinda… in a non-talented way… more like Luffy's drawings! But it's their jolly roger!" she nodded.
Ikkaku raised her eyebrows looking at the painting
"Luffy? You mean Mugiwara no Luffy?!"
"Yeah."
"You know him?"
"Yeah!"
"Eeeh? Come to think of it… ARE YOU RELATIVES?!" she screamed at her shocked remembering reading Luffy's full name on a bounty poster in Loguetown. Lilou grinned
"Yeah, he's my twin."
"YOUR WHAT?!" Ikkaku, Clione and Uni shouted together, once again shocked at their new crew's history. Lilou laughed out amused
"You guys seriously need some basic information about us!"
While they were discussing the painting, the submarine's speed slowly lowered and it finally stopped in between the red capes. All of them fell quiet soon as their eyes landed on a weird old man lounging on a pool chair in front of the lighthouse, holding a newspaper in his hands while curiously looking at the reversed submarine that just came down from the mountain. He kept looking at them for few more seconds, and then just looked back to his newspaper without saying a word. Lilou sniffed the air with widened eyes and grabbed her chest
"That flower has eaten an ossan!" she nearly whispered surprised "And this is just the beginning of the Grand Line!"
"That IS an ossan!" Law growled at her annoyed. Ikkaku took her eyes from Lilou's shocked face after a second, not sure if she was joking or being serious.
"These pirates just keep entering in stranger ways lately, Laboon!" the old man said to the whale, apparently named Laboon. Law frowned and cleared his throat
"Hey!"
The old man immediately looked up staring at him in a strange way, making Law hesitate for a second before talking again
"Good morning! I'm Trafalgar Law from the Heart Pir-"
"My name is Crocus, I'm the caretaker of this whale, Laboon, and overseer of the Twin Capes lighthouse. I'm 71 years old. Gemini. Blood type AB. My birthday's on January 4th-"
"What's wrong with him?!" Shachi whispered into Penguin's ear and he shrugged. Lilou shouted at Crocus suddenly
"Oy ossan! How did that flower eat you? You need any help?"
"Is that your first question?!" Uni slammed his forehead in disbelief. Clione desperately looked at Lilou's concerned face
"He's not eaten, he has arms and legs and everything, Lilou-chan!"
"No flower has ever eaten me." Crocus answered calmly, still staring at them in that strange and uncomfortable manner. Law's right eyelid was jumping as he was trying to keep himself calm and not yell at that annoyingly weird old man.
"Oh?! Thank God then! Hahahaha!" Lilou laughed cheerfully "Ossan, who drew that mark on your whale?" she asked pointing at the bad drawing. Crocus let out a laughter
"The potentially next pirate king!" Lilou laughed along with the old man as she was now sure it was Luffy, making Law clench his jaw and look away annoyed. He faced Crocus grumpily
"Crocus-ya, can we stay here for a while to repair our ship and get prepared to move?"
"Sure." he said then disappeared behind his newspaper. Bepo shook his head and took his black eyes off him
"I'm gonna plan our course while you're busy." he then left for the navigating room.
The damages on the upper deck were worse than they thought it would be, the wooden plates were completely shattered at some places, and there was a hole where Lilou jumped down on it from the mast. After listening to Penguin's heated speech about how irresponsible they've been acting and how important it is for everybody to take care of the Polar Tang with all their might, and listening to him shouting and grumbling at them about how they have no talent in fixing the ship, they finally managed to finish repairing the deck properly. Law grabbed his hat and placed it on his head before grabbing Lilou's shoulder
"Come on, you need a checkup." and dragged her to the infirmary.
"You're not the only doctor in here, Law! I'm fine!" she growled while jumping on the metal table in the middle of the infirmary. Law ignored her and started to check her eyes, her throat, the back of her head, her ears, her temperature, her heartbeat, all while she was nagging and repeating how fine she feels. He stopped and glared into her big bright eyes
"You've been out for three days, you should've been staying in bed if it wasn't an emergency situation!"
"Three days?…" she asked with her voice lowered and surprised. He sighed and pressed his tired eyes before pulling her into his strong arms. She was still shocked, it felt like minutes to her, barely an hour maybe, and that strange conversation with her past self was still as fresh in her mind as when it was actually happening. Law buried his face in her hair and inhaled her delightful scent
"You scared the shit outta me!" he mumbled with an exhausted voice. She blinked without saying anything, feeling like something's different. She struggled for a minute to finally realize what was this uncomfortable difference that was making her head buzz in confusion, it was her heart, and her stomach. Her heart was beating steady, and she couldn't feel any rush of excitement or butterflies flying in her stomach as she was sitting there in Law's arms with her face on his chest. He was there, holding her so caring and affectionate, but she was feeling nothing. Nothing more than a sense of gratitude for his concern and efforts, even the needle slightly moving in the middle of her useless so-called-compass was more exciting for her. Law kissed her forehead before gently grabbing her little chin and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. Lilou looked into his steel grey eyes and realized even his beautiful face doesn't make her heart skip a beat anymore.
She suddenly jumped a little and backed off as he leaned closer to kiss her lips. He stopped and stared at her confused
"What's wrong, love?"
"I…" she shook her head and slightly frowned "Don't!"
He remained silent for a few seconds, studying her face. She wasn't mad, he could tell if she was. But something in her eyes made his heart tremble in his chest in fear, that enthusiasm and affection that once used to dance in her eyes while looking into his wasn't there anymore. He backed off still looking at her with questioning eyes, then sighed and dropped his head
"We talked about it, Lil… I said I'm sorry!"
"You didn't." she stated casually. Law looked at her from behind his lashes
"Well I am, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that I didn't say I'm sorry!" he mumbled trying to cover how desperate he felt. She smiled and stroked his goatee beard
"Apology accepted. But I just… can't! I'm sorry…" her voice dropped slowly "And please don't ask for a reason, cuz I don't know! I just don't want it anymore…" her soft voice was barely audible.
Law just kept looking at her confused, this was way too unexpected, and he couldn't even be mad, just by looking at her face he knew she wasn't messing with him. Yet once again, his mouth started to say words completely in contrast with what he was thinking
"You're just fucking with me! What do you want?!"
"I don't want anything! I'm doing nothing but being honest with you!" she said annoyed. He frowned at her and crossed his arms over his chest
"But why?!"
"I don't know, Law!" she was desperately looking for the right words to explain 'why' but nothing seemed right "I just don't feel how I used to feel…" she looked down at the tip of her boots "I love you, I always have and I always will… but I love you just like I love Penguin, or Shachi, or Bepo…"
The sound of the engine starting to work disturbed the awkward silence in the infirmary. For the first time in all those years, Law wished he had her devil fruit's power so he could get inside her mind and find all the answers to the many questions flying around his head. Bepo's voice talking into the intercom finally rescued Lilou from Law's heavy gaze.
"Gather on the deck guys. We have a problem."
Lilou frowned and jumped down from the table "Let's go." she said softly and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door with herself. Law followed her quietly, feeling both his mind and heart slowly breaking inside of him. He knew it was him, even if she didn't know it herself. She deserved better, way more better than him, but he just couldn't stand even the idea of her being with somebody else, that was just unacceptable. He hardened his hand around her tiny one and made her stop a few steps before the upper deck's door. She turned to him with questioning eyes. Law took one step standing in front of her and staring deep into her magical eyes
"I'll make you love me like I love you, I will!" he said with a dark voice and nodded, before going out of the corridor and leaving Lilou alone to wonder about this newly found numbness against him for few seconds.
Everything on the ship seemed normal, it was docked by the lighthouse with the prow facing the vast ocean in front of them, and everyone but Bepo seemed unbothered and ready to set sail.
"What's wrong, Bepo?" Clione asked with a full mouth, coming out of the sub after Lilou. Law turned looking at the onigiri plate in his hand, making Clione frown at him and walk further shaking his head.
"Come on, I'm your captain!" Law said and grabbed one from his plate.
"Guys!" Bepo nearly shouted irritated. Ikkaku's eyes widened seeing him panicked like that
"Wow Bepo, chill!"
"I can't! None of the compasses in the sub are working! Look!" He held a compass up for them, the needle was just spinning and moving from one direction to the other. Lilou frowned and sat down next to Sakura calmly while the others fell into panic like Bepo. They've all heard about the Grand Line's crazy nature before, but the north was always north and south always south!
"You newbe pirates just keep coming without knowing a single thing about how to sail through the Grand Line!"
They all quieted down and looked at Crocus still lounging on his pool chair. He pointed at Laboon's painted head with his and continued
"The crew before you had the exact same problem, but I gave them my own Log Pose." he shrugged "You can wait here, maybe the next ship would give you one if they have an extra."
Bepo frowned confused "Your what?!"
"Log Pose."
"What's Log Pose?!"
Crocus folded the paper and stood up "Log Pose is the only thing you can rely on while sailing this ocean, there's no way to determine your exact position in here, because there's no common logic in here. Your normal compass is just useless in the Grand Line."
Penguin sat on the floor and cried out
"This can't be happening! After all we went through to reach here… we're doomed…" his voice dropped slowly like his blonde head. Bepo leaned on the railings
"So it's like there're more magnetic fields that only a special compass can find them?!"
"Yes, the islands of the Grand Line are abundant with minerals, causing abnormal magnetic fields throughout the entire line, aside from that, the weather and currents in here are completely unstable and unpredictable. You're the navigator of this ship, right?"
Bepo nodded and a dark aura of depression surrounded him
"I'm sorry…" he mumbled with his head dropped low. Crocus continued
"Then you realize how insuperable it is to sail without a Log Pose. You have no other way to determine your direction without one. Loge Pose is a unique compass with a distinct shape that memorizes a magnetic field."
Lilou frowned while looking at Crocus with her head thrown back. She held up her left hand and asked
"Something like this?"
"Yes."
The other seven kept staring at Crocus for moments before slowly turning to Lilou, not knowing how to react to this unexpected turn of events. Bepo immediately ran to her and stared at the Log Pose around her wrist
"Is this a Log Pose?" he nearly shouted and turned to Crocus.
"Yes. That's a Log Pose." he said as calm as saying anything else. Lilou chuckled and handed the Log Pose to Bepo
"Ok then, problem solved!" she chuckled again as Bepo threw himself on her hugging her tight and cheered out
"Lilou! You're the most dependable captain when you're not absent!"
Lilou blushed and laughed childishly as everyone gathered around them with cheerful faces. Law leaned and checked the Log Pose over Bepo's head
"There aren't any markings on it!"
"They're not necessary if it memorizes magnetic fields, right?" Bepo asked facing Crocus again. He nodded
"All the islands across the Grand Line are obeying the rules created by magnetic fields. The Log Pose readapts to the magnetic field at each island, and it will point to the right direction for you. You are totally dependent on the magnetic field memorized by your Log Pose. But first, you must choose one of the seven magnetic fields emanating from reverse mountain. However, regardless of which route you choose to start from, your route will eventually join with the other six in one final route, and the name of the island at the end of that route, is Raftel."
"Raftel…" Lilou's eyes shone with excitement.
"The final island of the Grand Line!" Law said grinning. Lilou looked at Crocus
"I heard its name once, and I heard the only person who ever confirmed its existence was the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!"
Crocus nodded at her. Shachi fisted his hands excited
"Then it has to be there, One Piece!"
"The island is legendary, and One Piece is the most outstanding legend of all. No other soul has yet reached there alive."
Lilou chuckled in amusement "Well that's the end of the world, we'll see what it's like once we get there! Yehihihi!"
Crocus narrowed his eyes at her
"This is the second time in this week I'm hearing such a bold statement!"
"Hmmm?" she threw her head back and looked at him again. Crocus studied her face for a few seconds
"You look awfully like the man who painted this on Laboon's head, kid. Not just your face, but you have the same air around you as well."
Lilou laughed out cheerfully "I still got it then! Hahahaha!"
"Your Log Pose is already adapted to one of the seven magnetic fields. If you follow the direction it's pointing at, your next stop will be an island named Domtong." Crocus said and turned his back to them walking towards the lighthouse, he stopped for a second and looked back at Lilou "The other one went to Whiskey Peak, if you're wondering."
No one but Lilou heard him as they were all running around getting ready to set sail to Domtong. She stopped by the railings and waved at him while they started to sail away from the twin capes
"ARIGATŌ, OSSAN! SEE YAAAA!"
She then turned and ran towards the front of the sub, staring at the undiscovered ocean in front of her eyes, she smiled and let the fresh wind spread her hair around her figure
"We'll meet again, Luffy. Soon! And I won't be running away this time!"
Hope you enjoyed this one - And seriously, please write down reviews if you like to continue reading this story, because I'm really loosing the motivation to upload more. So, let me know what you think!
