Author's Note - I spent a while researching potential songs for Cora to play, and i finally settled on Old Becomes New by The Real McKenzies, which i also don't own.
Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece or any of the other fandoms from which names, places, abilities, or references are taken! Imaginary points to anyone who catches said references throughout the story and PM's them to me. Dunno if you'll get anything real, but i give sneak peaks and deleted scenes to my repeated reviewers, so it isn't unthinkable.
Chapter 20 - The Red Line
Ace, Soul, Shanks, Benn, Marco, Haruta, Sabo, and Koala sat together on the Legacy Storm to discuss what was to come next. The rest of the Straw Hat Pirates were still on Raftel, talking and enjoying their victory.
"What do you need from us, Ace? We'll do everything we can for you." Sabo said. The others nodded their agreement.
"My crew and I need to get to the top of the Red Line. I don't think there is much use for a ship up there, so we'll need someone to look after the Legacy Storm for us. We also need a way up." Ace said.
"I think if each of us send a representative, that should be enough to keep your ship safe. The Marines aren't going to be making any more attacks. They just lost 150 of their strongest men. As for getting you to the top, I think your winged man and I can take you all up one at a time." Marco contributed.
"I agree. The rest of us should attack Mariejois and the new marine headquarters. That will keep them from even considering sending soldiers looking for them." Shanks said. "Together, we would have the force to topple them. Then Sabo and the revolutionaries can rebuild with the people in mind. The government is weakened. They won't be able to stand for very long. They may have numbers, but they have lost their strongest leaders. They will be unorganized and vulnerable."
"If our mission is a success, I think the government will fall immediately... We're going to destroy the will that drives them. When that is gone, they will be nothing. I don't know how much will change, really, but you should be ready when it does. It may effect more than just the marines." Ace said quietly.
The group of pirates and revolutionaries continued their meeting for an hour or so. Back on the beach, cleanup had finished and the victorious pirates were celebrating proudly. Cora and the musicians from the Red Hair Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates were playing lively music for the others, laughing and singing as their friends dances around a large fire. The shattered remains of all but one of the enemy ships had been piled into a tower and ignited. The last had been filled with the dead and sank in the ocean.
Musei had been talked into showing off his ability. The Logia of wind was not a particularly well known power, although it could be disastrously effective if used properly. He conjured a small funnel of dust and wind, then dissolved into the air, reappearing with no warning several yards away. The others clapped in admiration. He was renowned as one of the greatest swordsmen in North Blue, and he never used his ability in a fight.
Roger and Rachel had spent some time talking to the long haired man about their swords, and inspecting each others swords. Roger and Musei both ended up with cuts on their hands from the problem children, who seemed less willing to play nice with others. Olivia made Rachel put them away as she bandaged her friend and the silent man.
Even after the ten of them had carried all the gold they could ever imagine spending, they had not made the smallest dent in the mountains of precious metal within the island. It was impossible that Roger had brought all of it. A hundred generations of Pirate Kings would have had trouble spending the magnificent treasure known as One Piece. They found caves leading even lower, all filled with something of value. Gold, silver, platinum, diamond, ruby, sapphire. They even fond a tree laden with Devil's Fruit. The abilities of those who lost their life on the island of Raftel throughout the centuries.
Kuina watched her twin sitting on a rock with the winged man, talking as happily as she ever had with the cook. Even if she hadn't realized that he liked her, at least she wasn't moping over Roger finding someone else. That was good. It had been a great treat to see their mother join the fight, even if it was brief.
Ace had spent a while catching up with his grandfather before the meeting, but the others had been in the cave, exploring and staring at the incomprehensible amount of gold. Now, as the captains and their second in commands came down to the shore, Roger stood face to face with his father for the first time that he could remember.
"Roger... You are every bit the man I imagined you would be." Shanks wrapped his one arm around his son tightly, grinning widely and holding back tears. "You've grown. I'm sorry I haven't been there... But that will change, soon. Things are coming to an end, and I'm retiring when this is through."
"Mom will be happy to have you home." Roger hugged the man back, then stepped away to look over the pirate emperor. "I guess I can blame you for my hair." The younger pirate grinned as he tugged on a crimson lock hanging in front of his face. Behind the emperor, Benn laughed.
"That's right, kid. You father ran off pirating and all you hold against him is your hair color. You're something else. Just like this fool." The gray haired man slapped his captain's back and grinned. "I guess you probably know us all by name, but I'm Benn Beckmann, your father's first mate, and your god father." He extended a hand and Roger took it. He had never known that he had a god father.
"I can't really blame him for running of to be a pirate when I've done the same thing. It's nice to meet you." Roger looked at the other pirates behind him and was surprised to see that many of them were looking at him with the same sort of overwhelming joy that his father had.
"Most of us met you when you were only three years old. We all loved that little town, and your mother has always been a good friend to us. We've all thought of you as family from the start." Benn explained, seeing Roger's confusion. "Your mother left me in charge of getting this idiot home alive, and I've been doing my best not to let her down, but these guys certainly lend a hand when he gets his mind set on doing something more dangerous than usual."
"So, he can be blamed for Roger's recklessness too?" Rachel had crept up behind the cook, smiling sweetly at one of the most powerful pirate crews in the world.
"Definitely. What's he done that needs to be blamed?" Benn flicked his cigarette off into the waves and stretched, lifting the rifle off his shoulder and sighing in relief. The thing got heavy after a while.
"He let me stab him the first time we met just to throw me off balance in a fight!" Rachel explained. Roger grinned as he thought back to their first duel and how he had completely outdone her with that one little trick.
"Yeah, sounds like the sort of stupid thing this red head would come up with. You notice he only has one arm? Keep on eye on Roger's. Might want to count them regularly, make sure he hasn't misplaced one or two." Benn was truly enjoying himself, teasing his captain and talking with the man who he had held in his arms seventeen years before.
"Alright, enough! I'm sure my son can handle keeping his arms where they're supposed to be! Lay off before I have to relocate yours!" Shanks elbowed his first mate and rolled his eyes. "You see what I put up with? Can't believe it took me this long to retire."
"Yeah, we'll miss you too." Another pirate had come to stand by his captain, this one also carried a rifle. "I'm Yasopp, the crew's sniper. My son was the sniper for Luffy's crew. Too bad he and Kaya didn't have a kid, or you may have had a third generation sniper on your crew!"
"You going to go and harass them again? I'm not saving your ass next time you make him want to shoot you." Shanks said, raising an eyebrow. Yasopp shrugged.
"I just told him to hurry up and give me some grand children before I retire."
"In front of his wife, who had been too sick to have children safely until recently. You better hope he's not still pissed about that, cause we're going to visit him when we hit East Blue again." Shanks said. The sniper cringed. He'd have to think of a pretty good way to apologize.
"Have to stop by and see Nami too. Those oranges of hers can't be beat." A fourth pirate, enormous in every direction, joined the others.
"This man is Lucky Roo. Strong as a Sea King, and eats as much as one too. Better at chess, though." Benn introduced the man. Roger smiled. These men where a family, and they considered him to be part of it too. He had grown up with only his mother, now he had two pirate crews of family around him.
"Roger! Ace wants a meeting with the whole crew!" Olivia was at his side in an instant, bowing politely to the imposing figures gathered around. "Sorry to steal him away, captain's orders."
"Don't worry about it. We've gotta deal with the same." Benn grinned at the girl then turned back to Roger. "If you make it home before we do, tell you mother to have a lot of sake ready!"
Roger said goodbye to his father and the crew that followed him, then walked back up the beach to his own captain.
"Alright, Soul, you will be in charge of supplies. With your ability, we can bring the food and water and other things we will need without any trouble. Olivia, you will help him, since you know what medical supplies are most important. Callan, you will be helping Marco fly us all to the top of the Red Line. It is a long flight, and we'll take it in stages. Kuina, you will help if possible, but until we get there, I don't know what sort of ranges to expect. Steel, the Red Hair Pirates are going to supply you with a new rifle and ammunition. You should practice a little with their sniper before we go, to be sure you are ready to go if an emergency comes up. Roger, Cora, sweep the ship and make sure everything is fastened down. If there is a storm while we're gone, I don't want the whole place trashed. Rachel, Musei, you are welcome to join us if you like, or go your own way." Ace directed his crew carefully. They all nodded.
The silent swordsman looked at the mountain of ship wreckage that still burned hot, raising an eyebrow. Rachel giggled then turned to Ace.
"I think he is going, since we burnt his only ride. I'm going as well. My crew will help take care of your ship. David is an excellent shipwright, and he will have it in top condition when we return." Rachel said.
"Perfect. Marco is only helping take us to the top. After that, it will just be the ten of us. We'll be traveling a long way... Half way around the world. Without more knowledge of what awaits us at the top, the plan is for Kuina and Olivia to jump us all as far as they can at a time, then Callan and I will carry them as we walk from there. We'll make camp, and repeat. Despite the length of the journey, with the twins' ability, I think we'll make good time. Assuming all goes well, no more than a few months." Ace said. It was a daunting task, not only reaching the top of the legendary barrier, but then traveling half the world on foot? Nothing like this had ever been attempted before.
"We can do it, Ace." Callan said. He would gladly carry the doctor whenever she would let him. He knew that both girls would want to jump them to the point of passing out, and they would be there for them when that point arrived.
The pirates and revolutionaries spent the rest of the night swapping stories and meeting the legends that had shaped the previous era. At some point, Ace took Kuina's hand and led her away from the group, walking and jumping their way to the far side of the island and up the hills to a grassy dip in the rise. They sat together, looking up at the night sky, leaned back to back.
"Kuina... You only heard my half of what happened in the cave, didn't you?" Ace asked quietly.
"Yeah... You sounded crazy." She smiled and leaned her head back on his shoulder.
"Maybe I am... I have to tell you something, Kuina. But you can't tell the others. Not yet..." He barely whispered. Now the navigator was concerned.
"What is it, Ace?" She moved and lay down beside him, rolling to look at him.
"I know why Gold Roger and my father both gave themselves up... They had to. The Will of D is too heavy for this world to bear. Soul and Dragon and Garp have never worn the hat, so they will be fine, but I... I have to leave this world. All four of the wills driving our world have to be removed or we will be destroyed." Ace couldn't look her in the eyes.
"Ace, you can't die! We need you! I need you!" She sat up and glared down at him. He slid the hat off his head and sat it on the grass beside him.
"If I don't, then destroying these beings that rule over us will be meaningless... I will just be choosing one over another. Our world is falling apart, and we've already seen the beginnings of it. That shadow beast... It was able to crawl up into our world through the cracks the weight is causing. A Devil's fruit that has two hosts. Even with a haki imbued blade, it shouldn't be possible. I don't know how much longer our world will survive if it is not freed from this weight. All of it." Ace took her hands, and she didn't pull away.
"You promised... You would come home some day..."
"I will... But it will be to say goodbye to my mother before I go to Loguetown. Soul knows, and he's going to make sure I'm buried with my father and yours..." The pirate captain looked around the small perch they were nestled in. "My mother told me about this place... It was where my father told her he was going to give himself up as well... It was also the first time he told her that he loved her."
"You've already told me that... Although I could stand to hear it again... Especially now..." Kuina wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. He rubbed her back.
"I love you, Kuina. Always. Even after I am long dead. I'll be waiting on you, you know. Don't be in a hurry to join me. I'll have a lot of people to keep me company while I wait." He ran his fingers through her hair, then kissed her cheek. "Don't cry for me... We've had an adventure like we always dreamed of. We've already learned so much about this world, and we'll learn even more as the first explorers of the Red Line. Smile..."
"You tell me you are going to die, and you expect me to smile?" She asked, not moving an inch.
"Yes. I want to remember your smile right up to the end, okay? Do this one thing for me..." Ace held her at arms length and looked at her calmly. She nodded slowly, then forced herself to smile. "Close. We'll get there."
Kuina nodded and picked up his hat, replacing it on his head, then kissing him lightly.
"When will you tell the others?"
"When I have to..." Ace sighed. He wanted to put that off as long as possible.
Morning came, and the pirates and revolutionaries set off for the last miles of ocean to the Red Line. The spray of water from above reminded them that they were about to scale the back side of reverse mountain. The cliff rising ahead of them was not as steep as the rest of the monstrous landmass, but it was still a fantastic sight.
With their ship in the care of David, Rockstar, Coby, and Jozu, the Straw Hat Pirates began their ascent. Marco and Callan found a level area about a third of the way up and began hauling the crew to the plateau two at a time. In only a few hours, they were all on land and ready to make the next leg of the journey. With somewhere solid to fall back to, Kuina and Olivia began helping as well. With the four of them, it only took another two hours to reach the summit.
"Woah... It's incredible!" Cora looked at the rushing streams of water that came together before them before hurtling down the mountain and into the Grand Line. Paradise was right there, just a water slide away. It had been over a year since they passed through here.
"We'll be going north, between North Blue and East Blue." Kuina said, checking her map. She carried only a simple compass now, with the chaotic magnetic fields of the Grand Line behind them now.
Olivia appeared, grinning widely. "I can see Loguetown from the other side! It's amazing up here! Do you think we'll be able to see our island from up here?"
"I doubt it. We couldn't see the Red Line from home, so we won't be able to see home from up here, sorry Liv." Kuina said. She had to force herself not to grimace when she heard the name of the city where Ace was going to die.
"This is where I leave you. Remember the signal, when you're there. We'll be waiting." Marco turned and launched into the sky, fiery wings taking him out of sight in only a few heartbeats.
A few jumps later, and the crew was out of the spray of the mountain streams. They made their first camp there. It could be anywhere from days to months before they reached their destination. No one had ever ventured to this land, and they had no idea what they might find.
"Feel better?" Olivia asked softly. She was carefully massaging Callan's shoulders. The day's work had been more strain on his wings than he had subjected them to before. He nodded appreciatively and smiled over his shoulder at the doctor.
"Thanks, Olivia. I didn't think it would leave me this sore. Your hands are amazing, you know." Callan sighed in contentment and she finished and hugged him.
"I'm glad I could help. You did amazing today. You kept pace with Marco the Phoenix. You should be proud, cause I know I am." She laughed and moved to sit beside him. She handed him a sandwich "I saved your share from dinner, since you were asleep."
"Thanks again. Keeping me in working order and fed. I'd be lost without you." Callan laughed and stretched, feeling the relaxed muscles in his back and shoulders shudder as he did so. Olivia was looking at his curiously, and he thought he was imagining things when his mantra told him what was about to happen. The young doctor leaned up and kissed his cheek, leaving him frozen in place.
"I'd be lost without you, too. Now eat and go to sleep. Tomorrow it is my turn to carry you, and you can give me a massage afterward." She blushed and jumped to the tents they had set up to shelter their piles of pillows and blankets from the wind and weather. Callan felt like he could have flown without wings then.
"Soul, we need to talk." Kuina grabbed the man's arm as he was walking away from the fire. He raised an eyebrow but allowed her to jump them both out of hearing of the camp. "Ace told me about what is going to happen..."
"Ah. Of course he did. I won't stop him... He has made his decision, even if we don't like it." Soul glared off into the endless sea of East Blue.
"I was actually worried about your choice... My dad... He chose to die beside Luffy... He left my mother alone out of a truly admiral level of loyalty, but I still can't help but hold it against him. Cora cares about you, and she's counting on there being something after this is all over." Kuina gave him a meaningful look and he nodded.
"I understand... I... To be honest, I had thought about it. But I haven't made a decision yet. I don't know if I will until the time comes. I care about her too, you know. I don't want to hurt her, but I don't want the man who made me who I am today to face death alone." Soul leaned on his scythe, the end digging into the red earth at their feet.
"He's the Pirate King now, Soul. He will not face anything alone again. He has the world behind him, and he is on his way to save it from destruction. He would not want you to give up your life like that..." The navigator growled. It annoyed her how similar the two men were. "He spared Sean, and the flea has even joined the revolutionaries until they get back to Paradise. Ace wants everyone to live if they can. Isn't that why we follow him?"
"Yes... He is a good man. It should be me dying, not him." Soul said angrily. Kuina punched his arm harshly, causing him to wince. "What was that for?!"
"Because you're a good man too! You may not have been when we met you, but you are now. If you give yourself up with him, know that the pain you're causing Cora will be spitting on the good he did for you." The woman jumped back to the camp, leaving the shipwright to walk back on his own, lost in thought.
When he reached the others, he sat beside Cora as she finished a song and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
"You should get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow. The captain is determined to cover half the world in three weeks. He's going to run us ragged." He couldn't really blame her. He was just as restless as she was.
"I know, but I don't feel like I can sleep. We're in a place no one has ever seen, and I hardly did anything today besides get carried for a while." She plucked a few more chords and then set the instrument aside, leaning against the shipwright. "Thank you again, for saving me in the battle."
"You don't need to thank me." He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her close, leaning his cheek on her head and taking a deep breath. "Play me a song?"
Cora blinked in surprise at the sudden act of affection, but smiled happily and reached for her guitar, thinking about the songs she knew from the books she had read as a child, trying to think of one he might not have heard her play. "Okay, I have one."
She smiled as she recalled the words and notes before beginning. As soon as she began playing, she got lost in the song, the warmth around her the only part of Soul who still existed in her world.
"As long as I have been around, to my convictions I am bound. Well here is what I have found, in the cities and towns, life ain't nothing but a merry-go-round!" She sang out happily, her fingers bringing the lively and joyful music out into the air around her. "You know that life never ends, so get out there with your friends. Hey what have you got to lose? But you do gotta choose the direction in which you move!"
Rachel and Roger sat up and smiled at the young woman who was pouring her heart into a song for the strong pirate and brilliant shipwright. They listened for a few minutes until she came to the end of her song, then everyone left awake clapped. even Musei, who rarely made a sound of any kind.
"Cora, that was very beautiful... Just the song I needed to hear." Soul smiled and kissed her cheek, then her lips before standing and walking toward the tents. "Good night. Try to get some sleep."
The musician nodded dumbly as her fingers reflexively played the last notes of the song again. He had just kissed her. She grinned and fell back on the dirt, smiling at the sky in a daze. He had just kissed her!
Across the fire, Rachel giggled silently at the younger girl who was grinning like a child on her birthday. She rolled closer to Roger and closed her eyes.
"I'm glad to see her smile like that. Looks like she did him some good, just now." She smiled as she felt the red head's hands playing with her hair. Her bandana was tied around her arm.
"He's been a bit down since we found One Piece. Do you think he was worried about the crew breaking up with our journey at it's end?" Roger kissed the top of her head as he twirled a strand of ashy blonde hair between his fingers.
"I don't know... He should know better than that. He knows Ace still has a lot of the world left to see." Rachel grabbed the cook's hand and dragged him toward one of the tents. "Whatever it is, he seems over it now, so lets get to sleep."
"Yes ma'am." The red headed man smiled and followed her.
Musei was left alone, Steel having gone to sleep long before the others, to watch the last of the flames go out.
The first days of the journey were uneventful, a cycle of jumping, carrying, eating, and sleeping. Roger and Rachel spent their nights together and their days in company with their fellow swordsman. They had gotten better at understanding his expressions and gestures and he rarely had to resort to writing things down for them.
Steel, ever the loner, was the first jumped ahead and the designated scout for the next camping location each evening. He would sit and listen to stories with the rest of the crew, but he rarely found himself with anything to say.
Cora had been in high spirits since Soul's late night concert, and was happy to notice he rarely strayed from her side, his occasional touch and frequent words and smiles were enough to make her world complete. The others noticed the Reaper's sudden change in disposition, but none commented on it.
Kuina kept a false smile up for her nakama, and mostly her captain, but when she was alone, or when the others thought she was asleep, all she could do was imagine standing in the town of the beginning and watching her childhood friend and love kneeling on a metal stage. Olivia was concerned, but was determined to let her sister come to her when she was ready.
The doctor had other things on her mind, though. After their second day on the Red Line, Callan had made her lay down, and proceeded to massage her back and shoulders until she felt like jelly. By the fourth day of exchanging massages and the occasional kiss, she no longer felt any bitterness toward the swordswoman.
Ace remained the image of determination, only stopping when he knew his crew could go no farther. He was frequently found drawing in the red dirt, a skeletal man in dark robes, a winged man like Callan, but with the body of a soldier, broad soldiers and merciless face, a fishman which may have been part Sea King, and last, a man who looked like himself in a few years.
On their fifth day, the monotony of their travels was disrupted by the appearance of a village.
The villagers were going about their daily lives when they saw the band of strangers appear at their borders. The tanned skin and rust colored houses blended in so well with the uniform red of the earth around the that the twins nearly missed them entirely and jumped again, but Steel's eyes never failed to catch what was before him.
"Hold up! There are people!" The sniper had called out to his nakama, stepping out of reach of the navigator so she would stop and look. The captain joined him immediately, followed closely by the first mate. "It's a small village... Maybe a hundred people at most. They look a bit like Callan, only without wings. I see no weapons."
"Guys, stop here. I'm going to go and speak with them. Steel, leave your rifle with Musei. Olivia, you come as well." With his sniper, doctor, and first mate at his back, Ace walked toward the nearest villagers.
"Where are you from?" A small child looked up at the pirate captain with a face full of curiosity.
"I'm from East Blue. Do you know where that is?" Ace asked, kneeling down before the child. The young boy nodded and pointed to his side. "That's right! I live that way, and very far down on the ocean."
"That's silly... No people live down there! It's just water for miles and miles!" The child told him as if he were a clearly uneducated man. Ace grinned and shook his head.
"How silly of me... I must be mistaken. May I speak to whoever is in charge around here?" The pirate captain asked. The child lit up and took the man's hand, leading him through the gaping villagers to a small house at the far side of the area.
"Here's where our chief lives!" The child ran off, leaving the pirate laughing in amusement. The door opened and he straightened to face an older man with thick white hair cut short.
"You are certainly new faces to our village... May I help you in some way?" The man asked kindly, his eyes taking in the four pirates in an instant.
"We're from the ocean below, and I was hoping to learn anything your willing to tell us about your village. How you ended up here, and if there are other villages like yours up here." Ace asked, bowing slightly to the village chief.
"Ah, I haven't heard of anyone coming here from the sea for centuries... The last visitor from below was nearly a thousand years ago, if I recall the stories right. A lot of people don't believe there are people down there. In answer to your question, there are a few other villages, but not many. Only one other on this side of the Ice Land."
"Ice Land? Oh... We're heading north... Damn! I hadn't even thought of that! Sir, would we be able to buy any warmer clothes from your village? We're planning to cross the Ice Land and it... slipped my mind." Ace admitted, angry with himself for forgetting such a crucial aspect of his crew's well being.
"Of course, but you should stay the night. It is getting late, and I imagine there is a lot we could learn from each other."
"Yes... My crew is mostly armed, and I don't want to make your people uncomfortable. Is there somewhere you would prefer us to leave our weapons while we are here?" Ace asked.
"The fact you are willing to make such considerations for us tells me that I can trust you to keep your weapons. My people will not take offense at this. We have little need of weapons, so far south, but our northern neighbors always carry their weapons with them. Do not worry." The man said, smiling and leading them to the center of the village. Ace gestured to his crew to come closer.
"Thank you." Ace smiled fondly as his crew gathered around him. "Allow me to introduce you to my nakama. This is my first mate and shipwright, Hunter D. Soul. The twins are Roronoa Kuina and Roronoa Olivia. The red head is Roger and the girl with the bandana is Rachel. The guy with the long hair is Musei, and the one with wings is Callan. The one with the hawk eyes is Dracule Steel. The girl with the guitar is Trafalgar Cora. I am Monkey D. Ace. We're the Straw Hat Pirates, crew of The Legacy Storm."
"Pirates? Yes... I think I have heard that term before..." The chief said. He smiled an gestured to the seats that surrounded a fire pit at the center of the village. The pirates all took seats and were joined by a few of the villagers. When all the seats were filled, the chief began to tell them the history of the village.
I am curious about what actually lies at the top of the red line. It is hard to imagine that it is deserted. The only land out of reach of the world government, and making up so much area, it has to have something amazing up there. As with all the other mysteries i have answered in my own way, i can't wait to see what Oda has in store!
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