Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD

Thank you for reading.

If you think her promise is a little superficial, it's meant to be. Who the heck would actually believe they're really transported into another world without a wake-up call? The wake-up call comes later.

Enjoy!

Beta-ed by: Brunetta6

The Spirit of Merry

Chapter 2

I think, Oda-sensei's drawing of the Luffy-drawn pirate flag was pretty spot on. Ugly, lacking design and frightening in its own way.

The rest of the crew agreed with me, even if they didn't know I was there.

Then Usopp graciously offered to help paint, and drew a long-nosed emblem. For which the rest of them knocked him over the back of his head. Well, in the end he drew the Straw Hat emblem onto the black flag; everyone liked it, spirit included. So, they all painted the emblem onto the two flags and the sail. I would have helped, but seeing as they don't know I'm here, plus I phase through everything, I couldn't help much.

I wanted so badly to join the crew… But now I'm stuck with watching them… Maybe that's a good thing; it wouldn't mess up the storyline much, and I would still get to see my idols in live action. A blessing in disguise, I guess.

After they were done with painting, they lazed around. Then, there was that BOOM! By Luffy, from Merry's cannon. That meant that Johnny and Yosaku would be arriving soon. Still, he kept missing. No surprise there. Then Usopp shows off his sniper expertise, and gets named their sniper by Luffy. (I'm going with sniper because personally, I think that sharpshooter sounds lame.) Then they all migrated into the lounge.

I phased through the walls, and stared at the crew. The East Blue arc was relatively peaceful, I say. Not really much action. The crew seemed to be discussing future crew members, but since I already knew what crew members were coming, I sort of tuned it out. All until Luffy, being as awesome as he is, proclaims that they need a musician for their crew. I sniggered at that, and floated out. Johnny should be arriving any ti-

"COME OUT AND FIGHT, DOGS! I'LL MURDER THE LOT OF YOU!" And there he is.

He kicked the barrels and shit, yelling about stuff, then Luffy came running out, defeated him within seconds, and landed seated on the deck. Zoro came out too and recognised him, and then I noticed that they already broke the railing, within hours of receiving Merry. I sighed. The more they break Merry, the faster her spirit will come out, and the faster I might die. Sigh.

Following the storyline, which I'm sure many of you know, Johnny brought scurvy-ridden Yosaku over, Nami got the idiots to feed him lime juice, the bounty hunting duo introduced themselves, and the crew decided to look for a sea cook. And while all this was happening I was simply floating above them, staring at the sea. At times like this I wonder how people manage to not get freaking bored while travelling. The worst part is that I can't even find anything to amuse myself. Pretending that Zoro has four arms only stays amusing the first few times.

Then, it hit me, why not I train myself? Make myself powerful enough to stand with the future pirate king's crew. Yes, I should do that! That's the only thing worth doing now, seeing as I died already. Almost skull joke…

Maybe I should come up with spirit jokes. Oh, hell with it.

But before I can do any sort of training, I need to be able to touch real objects. Now, that shall be my first goal, touching something; then we can move on to grabbing stuff.

I floated to the front of Merry, just behind the figure head, and began my training – to touch the figurehead; simple enough, yet not as easy as it seems; my hands just keep passing through the wood. I concentrated, and tried again and again and again.

While I was doing just that, for what must have been a very long time since I lost track of time, they spotted the Baratie. I think I was sweating or something – do spirits sweat? – and I was panting slightly by the time we neared the restaurant. Of course, following the storyline, that cocky Marine Fullbody arrived and did some shit that I ignored – he wasn't that important anyway – then I spotted Nami with Arlong's wanted poster. I have to say I sort of sympathize with her. She lost her mom, surrogate or not, at such a young age, and then was forced into sort of slavery for the fishmen. I'm just thankful and happy for her that she made friends with Hachi later and didn't blame the fishmen. It's good to forgive.

Back to Luffy, the Marine shot a cannonball at us, then Luffy shot it back at Baratie. I have to say, typical. And then, being honest and stupid, he went to apologize to that Chef Zeff.

At this point, if I remember correctly, I'll be able to watch Sanji beat up that cocky Marine! I felt a tingle rush down my spine as I floated onto the restaurant, and headed straight beside the Marine. He was drinking the soup, so I must have missed the wine-thingy. Damn. That would have been funny. Though, watching the Marine as he sneakily flicked a bug into his soup, I have to say… damn. What a waste of soup.

"Waiter!" that Marine called out, crossing his arms as Sanji came over, saying that he's not a waiter.

SANJI'S HERE! OMG Fangirl moment. Sanji is HERE!

I floated around the table, staring at him as he attempted to pick up the lady accompanying the Marine. Ah… Sanji's here… can't wait to see Zoro and Sanji together.

"What's this fly doing in my soup!?" Wait for it…

"Forgive me, Sir. It's hard to tell, but it appears to be the back-stroke." There! That punch-line has been delivered! Fangirl feels coming out, all until Fullbody smashed the table. Ahh… here comes the reign of Sanji's never-waste-food terror! Within seconds, Fullbody was out.

"To offend a cook at sea… is a fool's mistake. Remember that."

All my fangirl feels are out! At times like this is when I feel lucky I'm pretty damn invisible, because I can stand directly beside Sanji and watch him beat Fullbody up without anyone staring at me or Sanji trying to show off. Damn, it's a nice view.

"…And food must never be wasted." Sanji added, with a sharp –handsome – glint in his eyes.

"WHAT!? A C-C-CUSTOMER?!" came a yell from the side. Here comes Patty. Well, the usual started, they began fighting, then shit happened and Sanji threatened to "close Fullbody down", then Luffy and Chef Zeff came crashing through the ceiling, and they all start fighting.

Right then, a random marine rushed into the restaurant, says some shit, and died after getting shot by Gin. Yes, enter Gin. I always liked him. Though, his loyalty is to the wrong man. He should have joined, like… the Whitebeard crew instead. They could use loyal people like him. Anyway, Gin came in, got beaten up, thrown out, then given food by Sanji.

Well, Luffy found his cook, and I'm off to return to the rest of the crew. I really need to learn to touch stuff. I want to help the Strawhats! So badly…

Guess I have to train myself a lot before I can do anything. First off, touching things.

I floated back into the restaurant, and spotted the crew at a table, and flew above them. They were eating, and I kind of wanted to eat as well. But no matter what I tried, I couldn't grab hold of even a freaking grain of rice. Fine! I didn't feel that hungry anyway.

Still, I have to try and touch things, so I continued my attempts at touching the clear glass of water. I still couldn't touch the glass, but I could FEEL some progress. Yes, FEEL some progress. Sooner or later, I would be able to touch things! Maybe before heading into the Grand Line?

Anyway, Luffy soon came out of the kitchen, I'd imagine he was kicked out… No, didn't need to imagine. He spotted the crew and well, reacted, which included him picking his nose and flicking said shit into the very some glass of water I was trying to touch. No way am I touching that glass again. Zoro picked up the glass, and I was already giggling as much as the others were, not at Luffy's actions but at Zoro's actions to come.

"You drink it!" Zoro shouted while forcing Luffy to drink his own booger-contaminated water. At that point, I was flying circles in the air, laughing at this hilarious scene.

"O sea, how grateful I am for this day of days!" And here comes this womanizing chef.

I want him to swoon over me! But, I'm invisible, and intangible, and so… ugh.

"…Such tragedy! The obstacles between us are great!" And a continuation of swooning that I'm just ignoring for now. I think I'm getting used to this watching over the Strawhats thing, seeing as I've got one part down, the watching over them part, or floating over them.

"Obstacles, Sanji?"

The great Chef Zeff comes. I have to say, I quite like Chef Zeff. He does love Sanji, no matter what he says to the contrary, and he takes care of him, minus the kicking him over the head parts. All in all, a great person. "Follow your heart. Go be a pirate. I don't need you here anymore," he said. Sheesh, this is going to take a while. If I remember correctly, it'll be two or three days before Krieg comes. I guess I'll make myself comfy now. And continue my touch-something training.

"Hey shit-geezer, I'm the assistant chef here. What do you mean, I'm not needed?"

And I think I don't have to listen anymore, I already know what's going to happen anyway. Plus I'm gonna have to wait two or three days before Krieg comes, might as well start my touch-something training. I floated back to Merry, and faced the back of the ram figurehead. Concentrating, I tried to touch the wood, feel the hard surface, the slightly rough texture, and... I failed again. I sighed, and tried again.

Two days later, I figured out – I did not need to sleep. That was an absolute surprise to me. I didn't feel sleepy, nor did I need to sleep. I just… don't. I guess that I might be able to sleep if I wanted to, I just didn't need it. Wow.

Regarding my touch-something training (I'd like to see you come up with a better name.), I can FEEL improvement. I can FEEL something there. It's just not there yet, and I'm still phasing through the figurehead. For instance, I CAN feel a slight bit of substance now when I try to touch things, like some glue of sorts. Though, I am still able to phase through things without resistance if I wanted to. This might actually prove to be a useful power. If – no WHEN I master it.

I looked up at the restaurant, and spotted Don Krieg entering with Gin. How did I not notice the flagship sail near is a mystery. Well, that means they came in two days, now I'll just wait for Nami to come out and steal the ship. And then watch the long awaited Zoro VS Mihawk! KYAAA All my fangirl feels are coming!-

Wait… if Nami steals the ship…

That means I can't watch Zoro VS Mihawk! NOOOO WTF! I want to watch that battle! Will the ship be too far away by then? Nooo! What is this?!

I floated to the look-out, and watched as Nami came on board and pushed both bounty hunters off the ship. Then, she sailed it away, and I felt my heart shatter. The Zoro VS Mihawk fight… *sobs*

Watching the Baratie shrink in the distance, I could make out panicky little shapes on the deck of the restaurant. Guess they found out. Then, I saw that coffin shaped ship approaching… Damn… the fight I'm going to miss! After Nami had adjusted everything correctly, set the sails right and checked the compass direction, she headed to the front of the deck, staring into the distance.

"What a swell bunch of guys." I floated beside her, watching her.

"If we meet again, I hope they'll let me sail with them," she continued. I couldn't really say much, seeing as she couldn't see me anyway, or hear me for that matter.

"I hope we meet again!" she whisper-yelled into the distance, tearing up. I floated off the side awkwardly. What the hell do I do now? She can't hear me anyway even if I tried to comfort her.

"I can't wait to be free, Bellemere!" She was really sobbing now. I really didn't know what to do here, being a spirit and all. So, I did the best thing I could think of, hugging her. I tried to. Honestly, she kept slipping through my fingers. (No pun- wait. Pun intended.) I wrapped my arms around her, floating off the ground as I tried to 'give off' comfort by hugging. I couldn't touch her properly, she kept slipping through my arms, but hey, it's the thought that counts.

She suddenly froze, and looked behind, in doing so completely slipped out of my 'hug'. Then she looked up, down, left, right. Did she feel my presence? Wait, did she at least feel my 'comfort'? I was trying!

"Bellemere...?" She barely whispered it, but I heard it. Sigh, now she thinks the presence was her dead mom. Doesn't matter, I'll just continue giving 'comfort'. I returned to hugging her. She tensed up slightly, glancing around, then relaxed. Obviously, she must have felt my presence before, but right now I'm not too sure.

She sniffed and sobbed while I just floated beside her, trying to 'give off' comfort. I think it's working.

Within a couple of hours Nami docked the ship. I, being annoyingly bound to the ship, could only follow her until the doorway of Arlong Park before I had to stop. Seriously?

I floated back to the ship, and stared into the distance. How long before the rest of them arrive? I'm not very sure actually. Oh well, back to my touch-something training.

Looking in the distance, I saw Zoro and gang sailing over. Seeing as he has all those bandages all over his check, I missed the epic Zoro VS Mihawk battle… I guess I won't be able to participate in any fights; I need to touch the shit I want to hit before I can even do anything. So I'll just watch. Oh they tied Zoro up… Then they fled, leaving Zoro at the mercy of the fishmen. Usopp! Johnny! How could you? Oh well, he doesn't die anyway so it's fine.

I watched from the look-out as the fishmen took Zoro away, and headed back to my training.

Oh, Moomoo's so cute. I continued my training.

There was a huge wave, and Luffy and gang and their ship was launched high into the air. By my memories, they land directly on Zoro. Awesome. After around an hour, I decided to fly as high and as near as I could to Arlong Park. I wanted to watch the Strawhat's first 'boss fight' so damn badly. The nearest I got was still quite far, but near enough.

They marched down the path, looking just that awesome, and I was giggling by myself, 20 or 30 metres in the air. Damn it's awesome.

And the most epic punch of this arc is thrown at Arlong! Squeal!

Soon, all their battles were fought, and because I already knew the outcome, I wasn't too worried. Although that bloody chest of Zoro's looked pretty damn bad. I think if I were in his position I would have already kneeled over. Good thing I'm not in his position.

"NAMI! YOU'RE ONE OF US NOW!"

And there's the yell signaling the end of the entire fight. I think my eyes might have become slightly moist from seeing everything happening real life. I have to say, it's far more touching in real life.

And the cherry on top is when they beat up Nezumi and his goons. Dumb marines they are.

The rest of them ran back to the village to spread the good news. The crew went to the village to treat their injuries, Zoro 'screaming' in agony all the while.

When night fell, the village partied. There was so much music, laughter, fun and joy that I couldn't help but smile at it, while in the air.

Since the village was some distance away from Merry, I could only watch from above. At times like this I feel like some guardian angel. A guardian angel that can't touch anything, much less protect. I got to do something about that. At least I'm making some progress, I think. I didn't really feel that left out. I already knew what happened and what will happen. They can't see me anyway. I just felt… quite… I can't really think of a feeling to describe it. Between utter joy at my favorite characters winning and slight despair at being away from the celebrations, I can't really say I feel left out. Perhaps slightly lonely, but that's about it. I've got to be able to touch things soon, being an onlooker is boring.

Come morning, I floated around the deck, watching the villagers load supplies and belongings and stuff into the Merry. Good thing they couldn't see me or they'll probably freak out. But with all this hustle and bustle I couldn't even do my touch-something training, so I was left with no choice but to wait for these villagers to finish and get off.

Within an hour they were all ready to set off. The villagers had gathered around the beach to bid farewell to–

"SET SAIL NOW!" And here comes the epic goodbye to the village. Nami raced through the crowds of people and leaped onto the Merry. The villagers were bewildered, but not for long. They switched from bewildered to shock to frustration when she lifted her shirt slightly and dropped off all the stolen wallets onto the deck.

"Take care, everybody. Hee!"

"SHE TRICKED US!" all the villagers screamed in unison. Ah, the power of bonds. What a bonded village.

The screams changed from "YOU THEVING CAT!", "COME BACK HERE!", "GIVE US BACK OUR WALLETS!" to "Come back soon!" "Take care!" "We're grateful to you all!" What a sweet village. I floated around at the top, watching the village wave at the pirates.

"BYE, EVERYBODY! I'LL BE BACK!" She was laughing and smiling while screaming that, and I recalled the crying mess she was just a day or two ago. I think I prefer this cunning cat to that crying mess. I smiled at that, and floated back to the front of the deck.

Time to continue my touch-something training.

"We're wanted dead or alive! They say we're worth 30 million berries!"

I was jolted out of my concentration by Luffy's shout. I'm certain my touch-something training has helped a lot. I can at least feel some resistance when I phased through something I was trying to touch. Still can't touch, but I'm working on it. Seriously, why did it take so long for me to be able to just TOUCH something? Why can't it be like those anime filled with plot-armor and then I'll be able to suddenly shoot lasers from my hands or something. It'll be so much easier to have fun in this One Piece world. Instead, I'm stuck with training myself before I can even participate in any cool battles.

Well, seeing as I'm practically non-existent, I'm stuck with watching from the side lines. Sigh.

Anyway, the crew decided to head into Loguetown, and I'll be stuck on this ship, not able to watch all those epic battles that will happen out of my flying range. Sigh. Oh well.

I continued with my touch-something training. All until I was disturbed by a strange looking person on a lion. Oh, that's Mohji and Richie. Be proud of the extent of my fangirl-lism. I even remember the names of minor characters! I'll probably forget them soon, seeing as I can't reread any mangas here…

"… It's our job to burn his ship," he chuckled. I floated down to watch him try to burn the ship. Right now, I wonder, can I blow out that tiny flame on his match? I moved closer, and tried to blow the flame out. I blew and blew, until the storm came and put out what I couldn't, which was sad.

So, I discovered something new, my breath goes through everything like every part of me. Sigh. Well, Usopp got rid of them, even if he was being cowardly and all.

I floated back up to the ship, and waited for the rest of them to come. The saddest part here is that I missed the Luffy-smiling-before-getting-almost-executed part and the Zoro-showing-Kitetsu III-who's-boss part. Those were awesome parts, but thanks to me being bound to Merry, and the fact that the buildings here are so damn high, I missed those parts… At least I saw them in my past life. I can still remember clearly. For now.

I wonder if I'll ever see Josephine again. Maybe she'll be able to give me a body. Being a spirit sucks sometimes. I still haven't managed to dump ice water onto Zoro's head!

Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji climbed on board, and the entire crew was on board. I floated above them, and watched as Sanji brought out a barrel.

"Okay, let's launch this ship onto the great ocean!" Sanji placed the barrel directly in the middle of the crew.

"I'm going to find All Blue." Sanji's leg went down.

"I'm gonna be King of Pirates!" Luffy's leg went down.

"I'm going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman!" Zoro's leg went down.

"I'm going to draw a map of the World!" Nami's leg went down.

"I'm going to become a Brave Warrior of the Sea!" Usopp's leg went down, slightly shaky.

I watched these five Strawhats place their legs on the barrel, and smiled. I floated down, and placed my leg onto the barrel.

"I will train, and fight for my favorite characters, with all my spirit!" I whisper-shouted.

I will complete my training, and learn to touch shit, then grab shit, then hit shit. Then I can help them, and have fun with my new life. I kind of like Ace as a character, so I'll try my best to save him, as well as Whitebeard.

This is my role now. My favorite characters need their 'Guardian Angel'!

At that moment, the crew slammed their feet down.

"GRAND LINE, HERE WE COME!" And they smashed the barrel.

That reminds me; I made my first spirit joke. Yohohohoho.

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