A/N

Takes place after Edolas, but before Tenrou. Do not take any of what is written here seriously.

I own nothing except Fae.

-vVv-

There is a Crack in the ocean.

Few words could get me up and out of bed faster than those. I still had images of what ifs flying through my subconscious if I hadn't managed to get to the Doctor in time to close the last one.

Where's the fire?!

I said the Crack was in the ocean. There is no fire.

I loved Morgana. She was, even without sharing my body, my closest friend. And distressingly literal right now. I scrambled out of bed, tripping over some books I had been skimming through the night before.

Ok, forget the figure of speech. For specifics: What are the reaching consequences of this Crack?

I was prepared for just about anything except the answer that I got.

A party.

...That's it?

I did not feel like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I felt like Wily Coyote just before he looked down and realized he had walked off a cliff. But Morgana was quite certain. There would be no lasting or negative consequences from this Crack being there. Just a party.

And the guild bar running dry apparently. I'd have to talk to Mira about ordering extra stock for whenever this party would begin.

But I could feel the Crack this time. Before, it had led into my bedroom and I could physically see it, though checking with Wendy, she hadn't been able to. She could just smell the unfamiliar air from another part of the universe passing through. I knelt by my bed and pulled out a familiar box. In it, carefully stored, were my gifts from the Doctor.

Contrary to how easy he and his companions made it look, learning how to use the sonic screwdriver wasn't that easy. The thing was incredibly versatile. So much so that it was actually a problem. Since it could do basically anything, it was extremely hard to get it to do any one specific thing. Morgana was the one who knew how to use the thing proficiently. But I was quite adept with the psychic paper.

How did River do this again?

I knew from the stories that River Song had been able to use psychic paper to transmit messages to the Doctor. I had been playing with that to send out random messages and sometimes, I even got something back. Even if the something was just a picture of a fez.

The Crossover cannot occur without a Crack.

So basically I was playing 'message in a bottle' and sometimes getting something back that told me what I was doing wasn't completely useless. Just a little weird.

I held the fold over against my forehead, thinking as clearly as I could.

Crack opened at- Here I plugged in the latitude and longitude that Morgana gave me of where the Crack was located. Off the coast of Fiore, Earthland. Safe as of now. How do I close it?

As far as instant messaging goes, this was far from a seamless form of communication. The paper had to transmit my thoughts to another dimension to reach the Tardis and she was the one that made sure the communications got to her Doctor.

"Attention: The Doctor. Address, Time and Relative Dimension In Space, aka Sexy."

Amber letters shrunk as I drew them on the outside of the paper to fit on the small rectangle. With that specification, it should hopefully get it to the right place.

Let me know if the Doctor, the TARDIS or River Song replies.

Of course.

I had a party to prepare for. With an as of yet unknown guest list. Which I was more excited for than nervous.

Unlike the feeling of overwhelming impending doom, I could actually feel this Crack far out to sea. Part of me wanted to fly out there and see it, it would take no more than a few hours. But this one felt odd to me. Like whatever energy it was putting off, I was resonating with.

I really want to go take a closer look.

And since I hadn't told anyone about the Crack, there was no one who would know to tell me no.

Except for me.

I pouted at Morgana's pointed remark.

There is a 89% chance of you being pulled into that Crack and not being able to come back. It is beyond my scope to know if there is ethernano or an equivalent where that Crack leads. Hence there are very good odds that you will go to your death if you investigate this recklessly.

Never tell me the-

I safeguard your life as well as your happiness, ergo it is literally my job to tell you the odds.

-vVv-

I was occupied arguing with Morgana about the risks of just going to survey the crack from a distance when our new shipment of booze came into the bar. And she handily distracted me by pinging the various crates as being strongly submerged in the Crack's energy.

Investigate here in safety.

I was still not entirely pleased with being on the losing side of a logical argument. So I started to poke through the shipment to organize everything and store it so we could handle our usual party crowd. If we were throwing a party, that typically meant all of Magnolia had a standing invitation to come in as well.

Our standard supplies were quickly stowed with the appropriate Banishing and Levitation spells, the delivery men almost couldn't bring the resupply in fast enough to keep up with my speed in putting things away. They seemed to have a new guy, who was fighting his professional, and very reasonable question, as to why a minor was involved in the sale or storage of alcohol of any kind.

It is a little weird that I'm the only one doing it today. Where's Mira?

The Day is Crack.

Morgana only gave this reply to my query and no further elaboration. The feeling of deja vu grew more pronounced. Like the entire world wasn't quite as tightly linked with reality as it normally was.

I shook off my cognitive dissonance when the trunk that was the source of the Cracky radiation was placed down last of all.

The Doctor has replied to you.

I whipped out my psychic paper.

And the word inside read:

For your party. You're going to need this.

I stared at the words... closed the small flap and tucked it back into my pocket, counted to twenty seven in four different languages...then looked at the chest. It was locked, unlike the other crates. I had to use four different settings of my sonic screwdriver to get it open. And when I did, the contents looked...funny.

Mostly because I couldn't exactly see what was inside. It was as though when my eyes tried to focus on one thing or another, the more...not real it became. Morgana affirmed there was no danger in the box, and I knew the Doctor had sent this, confirming that with a quick dive on the history of the sender. So I stuck my hand inside.

The cool metal I touched was ridged in an ornate pattern and fitted easily in my hand. Pulling it out revealed tiny round hip flask, ornately done up in silver. And what it felt like to me was thunder. Not lightning, pure thunder. I hear boisterous laughter, and a hum of power. The roar of a loud, exuberant man. The rush of battle-

The scene played out before me, a tall blond mountain of a man placing a drop of aged, millenia old liquor in a man's glass. And the man being carried out utterly plastered after a single sip.

Gana...why do I have Thor Odinson's personal liquor flask in my hand?

The Day is Crack.

I had only heard the phrase. But I foresaw that it was going to drive me insane in so many ways.

I reached into the chest, handling the bottles carefully. As per the Doctor's usual MO, the chest was bigger on the inside and contained...an absurd amount of everything.

Mac's beer. Corellian Whiskey. Odgen's Firewhiskey. Banoran Cider, hard of course. Is that miruvor?! Where did the Doctor get this stuff?!

The Day is Crack.

I rubbed my temples as I stowed the liquor on the counter with the rest of my trans-dimensional contraband, and tried to think. I was being given a lot of strange liquors from various Stories Morgana had floating around in her memory. And handling each one let me register exactly how to use it in relation to the bar's usual supply.

For example, miruvor was an elvish liquor from Lord of the Rings. It was described as a fortifier, warm and cleansing. It would probably be something to enable people to drink longer. As a bartender, that was an excellent quality in a material.

Some of the bottles I touched registered as unnamed but as an ingredient in the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Which would do nicely for a refreshing drink. I'd need to make sure I had plenty of lemons.

Then I spied some bottles with labels that gave me pause. It read on them plain and clear 'product made by Willy Wonka.'

Doctor, what the actual-

A touch confirmed that these were the infamous fizzy lifting drinks. Mixing drinks with those had all kinds of possibilities. There was also a handwritten card about the possible mixers that there were, as well as some warnings to mix responsibly, otherwise those who imbibed were liable for their own mistakes, including being flown right into the sun. I was seeing a tiny little man floating straight up into the sky, looking and sounding quite distressed.

Oh that poor Oompa Loompa.

Wonka retrieved him safely.

Completely putting aside that you have enough contact with that world to confirm that: How?

Trade secret.

Lamenting the unfairness that was obstructing plot devices, I continued to investigate the surprise shipment of liquor, some of which could kill someone if not handled carefully. Whatever party was going to be happening tonight, I was pretty sure I was going to need to be the one on tap tonight for whenever this crossover party happened.

In my groping through the dimly lit hidden compartment, my hand brushed an old, vintage looking flask.

What the-? What is 'Drunken Dragon'? The last one was so obscure Morgana had a few seconds pause before she told me it was something featured in the game series called Dragon Quest. Literally strong enough to make a centuries old dragon utterly plastered and in a very good mood in a relatively short, or undefined amount of time.

Whatever happens tonight, not many people are going to remember it.

The bells were tolling. An unfamiliar ship was pulling up to the city. Juvia was already taking a team out to investigate, going subtly under the water's surface. But I, sitting pretty on the roof with my spyglass, was not the least bit worried. I focused on the ship, massive with a red dragon shaped figurehead, and it's clean, bright sails. And the flag, black with a parody of the skull and cross bones. Only there were two crossed cutlasses and the skull had three close red lines slanting across the left eye.

And I got excited. Because while the ship and flag were unfamiliar they were not unknown to me.

Someone is watching you.

And I could feel them doing so.

Haki. Someone on the ship is watching me with Haki.

Several people, unless I missed my guess. So I smiled and poked them back. The presence returned the gentle pressure, a friendly, curious greeting.

"Fae, who are you inviting?" Because of course Simon was aware of them as well, watchful as he was of our psychic space near the guild hall.

"I'm inviting some pirates to come have a party with us. They're friendly. Please tell the scouting party that as well. They won't start anything if we don't."

Evidence would suggest that the Crack led to the Grand Line.

I collapsed my spyglass, jumping off the roof and landing lightly on the ground to hurry inside. I had a feeling that Fairy Tail Parties combined with Red Hair Pirate parties were going to be a thing of legends.

I wonder if the whole thing with the Will of the D still applies if you give yourself the name.

-vVv-

The bright spark dancing in his Haki's awareness pulsed, happy and cheerfully greeting them. Shanks knew where they were going to begin exploring this new landmass. Right where that child was. The building stood tall and firm, it had it's own spirit to it that he could feel as surely as he felt the Red Force.

And it was good. Sturdy and strong. At first it had been ready to shield its comrades, but now it was opening before them, greeting them.

"Mornin'!"

An unfamiliar voice called from the sea. Shanks had not sensed anyone, and that was a little surprising. But not nearly as surprising as seeing a sphere of ocean water rise out of the ocean and hover off their bow. It opened to reveal a handful of young, but bright people. One boy had dark hair and gray eyes and his aura sang of cold. Next to him was a boy with pink hair whose presence radiated heat in a way he had never felt before. And a young woman with hair as bright and vibrant as his own and a presence as staunch as fiery boy had spoken and he laughed at the openness he felt from them. Cautious but not hostile.

"Morning to you too!" The New World Emperor returned the friendly greeting. "Mind giving us some directions? We're new to these parts."

"That would depend on what you are looking for." The woman stepped forward then. Taking the brunt of their attention and returning it with the sharpest eyes. She stood as steady as if she was on solid ground, though he could hear the water splash as she moved. Shanks could see his younger crew were regarding their greeters footing with some trepidation. He thought he could sense a living being inside of it. Which further highlighted the fact that the sea was a mysterious place. He hadn't ever seen anything like this before.

Devil Fruit or Fishman Karate?

"My name is Erza Scarlet, these are Gray, Natsu and Juvia."

And then the top half of a whole blue haired woman formed out of the water and gave a shy wave. He didn't need to look behind him to see that all the devil fruit users on his crew all went white.

Something else entirely. That's cool.

"Well right now we're looking for a place to lay off for a bit and have some fun as we get our bearings."

Natsu, as he had been named, grinned. Accepting the answer without batting an eye.

"You've come to the right place!"

"We'll lead you to the harbor. And if it's directions you need..."

His Haki picked up another strange movement... Erza paused, seemingly listening.

"We can see about directions as well." Natsu looked skyward and gave a short whistle and waved. And a blue cat with white feathered wings dove out of the sky, picked him up and carried him away towards shore.

Shanks laughed.

"Well, looks like the sea's brought us to a very interesting place!"

-vVv-

The party was literally everything I expected it to be. The repair runes were working overtime to keep up with the furniture being smashed in the friendly pseudo Welcoming Brawl that had broken out between Fairy .Tail and the Red hair Pirates. Yassop was showing pictures of his son to everyone who would pay attention, Macao was firing back with the baby album of a heartily embarrassed Romeo who looked torn between hiding and staying to gawk at our guests. Roo was devouring food almost as quickly as the cooks could make it. Morgana estimated it wouldn't be much longer before he got up and joined the kitchen crew in making the snacks to keep the party going. Natsu and Gajeel had put two Red Hairs and each other through the floor, and jumped back up completely unaffected by the rough housing. And this was all before Gildarts had shown up from his short job.

In short, things couldn't have been going better.

And I was like the conductor of a large symphony of glasses, dishes and tables. Seated on the railing of the second story and humming the various spells I needed to serve drinks, bus tables and keep the overflowing guild hall from reaching critical mass.

And observing. Because the Red Hair's Armament Haki seemed to exist on the same wavelength as the automatic shielding wizards could do to lesson or negate physical damage to themselves. There had been some very impressive clashes. Shanks was chatting merrily with Makarov, getting a deep dive on the local history.

The fact that they had crossed into a completely different world didn't seem to bother them.

I guess this is what living on the Grand Line does to you.

Then the ground began to shake. I jumped down, bouncing towards the door with my security seals, and using Gajeel as a springboard.

"C'mon Wendy! Last one there is a Vulcan!"

The Sky Dragon Slayer who had been off to the side and slightly overwhelmed with the new people, snapped out and started after me. Kinana slid out after us. Carla just followed with a resigned sigh.

"Wait up, Fae!"

:Hatchling, slow down!:

A lot of the party goers came outside to watch the Gildarts shift happen.

"Your entire city can move?"

Benn Beckman, first mate.

And Morgana inspected his Haki, which was looking at me just as closely as she was viewing it.

"Gildarts tends to walk through walls without meaning to. So it's easier and safer in the long run if they just move everything out of his way." I wrote out Wendy's safety seals on her. She was still getting used to being in free fall, but she had given up arguing with me about utilizing every chance to practice.

"Reasonable enough."

Huh, most people ask why first.

For that matter, I was pretty sure no one had asked even once how anyone did anything. Or Juvia. Who I was pretty certain had never received this much attention in her life. She was, last I saw, using Gray as a human shield. It wasn't like their interest didn't make sense. Being a Water Woman on a world that was 80 to 90% ocean, she would be nigh on unstoppable on the Grand Line.

"Ready Wendy?" She gave an uneasy mutter as the ground we stood on reached the peak ascension.

"No!"

"Perfect!"

I then grabbed her and jumped off the edge with a whoop.

"Geronimo!"

This was surreal in a way I had never before experienced.

One the left, we had Gildarts Clive, Fairy Tails strongest wizard in terms of raw power. Rusty red hair swept back out of his face, build tall and strong. Black cloak, and one arm holding his bag over his shoulder and his prosthetic arm and leg stood out starkly obvious.

On the right, Red Haired Shanks. His hair was a bit brighter and the tiniest bit shorter. His face was decorated by the scars from Blackbeard's hands that he had turned into his personal sigil. He wore what I could only describe as Hawaiian print pants and a plain white shirt, offset by the somber black cloak and a sword at his hip.

Both men had almost identical faces, the same expression, the same persistent stubble that somehow suited them. And they were sizing each other up.

Gildarts nodded to the missing arm of the pirate.

"How'd you lose yours?"

"Sea King. Basically a big sea monster."

Gildarts then reached over and calmly popped off his prosthetic arm. Shanks's face was truly comical for a second, then he was trying not to guffaw at the irony of his doppleganger even missing the same arm that he was.

"Fae! Get us a round for me and my friend here!"

"You mean your new brother in arm?" I asked drolly. Several people groaned at the pun. "And, no you're not getting the booze right now, Gildarts. You get to deal with Wendy while nice and sober."

Said girl was practically speechless with indignant fury.

"The limb needs to be recalibrated and reattached nerve by nerve! Why would you just tear it off!?" Kagura helpfully commented.

"It could be that he overextended some spells on his job and broke down some of the hook ups so it was about to come off anyway."

"Which wouldn't happen if he came in for maintenance like he was supposed to!"

Winry, Wendy feels your pain.

"Really now Gildarts, you are a senior member of this guild and this is the example you set?" Carla was now double teaming with Wendy. Gildarts was going to be occupied for a while.

Shanks was laughing as he plopped down at the bar.

"Well, I'm not cut off, am I, my lady of the tap?" He asked me with a playful grin.

"Nope, just Gildarts for now. I'll bully you once I know you a bit better."

And so with a snap of my fingers, the rounds began to flow anew.

I had been waiting for it pretty much since the first hour that they had brought the Red hairs in...

"Is he gonna be ok?"

Yassop asked, looking at the hole in the ceiling that Gildarts had backhanded Natsu to create when he came in for his usual challenge.

"I've seen Natsu take a bullet to the mouth and literally spit it back out. He'll be fine." I assured him, pouring him a finger's worth of firewhiskey. "This is gonna burn going down." I warned him. "It's called firewhiskey for a reason."

"You are gonna break my heart if it doesn't measure up, little lady." The sniper quipped, taking and swirling the deceptively normal looking liquid appreciatively. I snorted.

"Talk to me after you stop coughing up smoke."

"Aren't you a little young to be running a bar?" He asked before he took a drink.

"Yes, yes I am."

He didn't cough, but he did give a sharp exhale that made a small wisp of gray smoke emerge from his throat.

"Ok, wow. You weren't kidding. Hey Benn! Get down here you gotta try this stuff!"

Oh right, Yassop's a dad too, he's got the Instinct. Hopefully the Phineas and Ferb line will throw him off. That and-

The Day is Crack.

I'd buy that as working except I'm back here a lot more than just today.

So, apparently the record for a Red Hair Pirate party was 3 days before they drank the bar dry. It was something of an initiation in the islands they claimed as their territory. Or so I heard as the afternoon wore on.

I want to beat that record.

The day will not be Crack tomorrow.

So they have got to go home before tomorrow?

The Crack will seal itself in 17 hours and 40 minutes.

Well that's disappointing.

I should probably tell them that. Beckman seemed like the best bet to be able to get the crew moving. Shanks was currently admiring Gildarts' newly reattached prosthetics, Wendy was a professional and Carla a devoted assistant, and enjoying meeting his doppelganger.

So I found Beckman and told him this.

He stubbed out his cigarette, giving me a searching look.

"And how do you know that?" I shrugged.

"It's what I do. I tell stories and I know things. I'm not confident that we could get you back home by making an artificial portal, so it'd probably be safer if you used the same one that brought you here."

Affirmative.

"You hear that?" I gave Beckman a very dry look.

We are in the middle of a party that would have knocked a lesser madhouse on its back. Hear what? I can only hear myself think because of my noise suppressors.

He waved his hand around me.

"The affirmation."

"Yeah. I've been hearing that for as long as I can remember."

Between Morgana's interpretation of the data and my own, we had a good grasp on things. And Benn was currently thinking hard. Putting that genius renowned intellect to work.

What could he be thinking about?

He asked me if I could feel or hear things. Something he heard as well-

Does he think I have Observation Haki?

"It's not Haki."

The words slipped out before I could stop them. And one eye brow inched up.

"It's my magic. If it were Haki it would be a skill other people can learn too. I've never met anyone else who can read things like I can."

"...And you know to call it Haki, how?"

Very good question. I'm gonna say it's because my life is normally a little bit of Crack.

Accurate.

"Same way I knew that you weren't the type of pirates that would hurt us."

A shout came from the front of the room. It seemed like Gildarts and Shanks were gearing up to arm wrestle each other with their remaining flesh arms. The only thing keeping a betting pool from overtaking the whole party was the lack of a common currency among the guests.

"Might not be combat oriented Haki, but it's definitely Haki."

"I'd call it the Voice more than anything."

Time to make a getaway since as I recall talking about the Voice of All Things can make some people get kinda touchy.

And because I need to process that I may have been unconsciously using Observation Haki for years.

As I must remind you, the day is Crack. And Beckman could only be using terms that he understands, his intelligence aside, he has only been in contact with magic users as more than fable for about 7 hours.

Oh at least let me dream of being a badass!

There was a subtle change in how the Red Hair Pirates looked at me after that. I pretended not to notice it until someone brought up a story. Specifically after Rockstar imbibed some of the fizzy lifting drinks straight without tempering with other mix-ins and he was bobbing comically along the ceiling to the uproarious laughter of his crew mates.

"What have you mixed up here, Fae? Been hanging out with the potion guild again?"

Gildarts asked, surveying the chaos with a chuckle.

"Of course not! This is a Wonka patented fizzy lifter." I proclaimed holding the bottle aloft.

"Willy Wonka from your story?"

I could tell some people were just humoring. But Shanks perked up.

"Oh so you're the one with the stories?" The attention of one of the kind Emperor's of the New World didn't make me uncomfortable. In fact, it made me smile.

He feels a little sad seeing you.

I wonder why.

"That's me!" I said, bobbing a short bow on the pull out lip that I used to navigate the bar.

"You haven't heard a story until you see Fae tell it." Natsu boasted, gnawing on some flames from the fireplace having bounced back to challenge Shanks in the same breath.

"Gildarts' record for sending Natsu flying is about 45 feet vertical and just over 60 horizontal."

I informed Shanks cheekily as Happy brought Natsu back. Not the least bit put out by his unplanned, but very much expected flying lessons.

"Anything riding on that record being beaten?"

He had a gleam in his eye that looked very promising. I gave him an answering grin.

"His personal stash."

Shanks stretched his arm slowly as Natsu ran up without hesitation.

"Hey Red! Come on! You and me, let's go!"

Gajeel sat up, now paying very close attention to the encounter. Even Wendy had paused to look on, their instincts checking to see how their fellow Dragon Slayer matched up against the visitor. I saw that Beckman's eyes took in the gesture as he and Wakaba were chatting over some cigarettes.

"Hey Clive, get ready to fork over all your booze!"

"C'mon Fae, you've been stuck behind the bar for hours! Let's give our new friends a real Fairy Tail event!"

Natsu was an excellent hype man, and as always, his support made me feel capable of taking on anything. So I jumped onto the bar.

"Medio Sonorous."

My voice rang out loud and powerful even over the hubbub.

"We've had a call for a story. What do you say to that?"

The locals from Magnolia and the Fairy Tail members all lost their minds, stamping and cheering, the whole nine yards. And our guest joined in because they got caught up in the mood.

"We've had the pleasure of meeting new friends and enjoying food and drink with them."

I gestured and levitated the new drinks the Doctor had sent me around me.

"Each of these brews has a story. Some may be familiar to you, and others are completely new. So, I will put it to all of you: Which drink do you want to hear about?"

The general consensus was for the Fizzy Lifting Drink that Rockstar was still being afflicted by. Happy was being the cat he was and batting the floating pirate across the ceiling for his and others entertainment. Romeo had likewise snuck a drink of the stuff and was dodging his father's attempts to retrieve him as they both bobbed around the ceiling under the effects of the magical drink.

I think Macao forgot he could use his Rainbow Fire to just grab him.

I pulled my attention to the matter at hand, most every eye in the guild was on me as I moved across the bar top, sending dirty glasses flying to be washed by the enchanted rags and scrubbers in the sinks.

"So this story begins with a mad man and a genius. And unlike other men who sought wealth or fame or power, this man wanted only to spread good things to the world. To expand the horizons of those he came in contact with. So let me tell you about Willard Wilbur Wonka, the magician of all things sweet."

I had to abbreviate it to some extent. But the kitchen helpfully produced similar snacks to the ones I was describing, which only heightened the impact of the tale. At one point, I made the entire hall smell like melting chocolate, which Erza appreciated very much going by the pile of sweets she had snagged for herself. But the story was enormously well received and I had well and truly stolen all the attention in the whole guild hall. Romeo, who was still hovering mid air, though caught by his father as they gradually burped and hiccuped their way to the floor, had a question.

"What about that bottle?" He pointed at the plain glass bottle of Mac's Beer that seemed rather bland compared to the others in my line up. "The others look cool at all, but that one is a little..."

Boring?

"Oh Romeo, what did we learn from Aladdin?"

"It's not what's outside that counts."

I nodded, calling the microbrew to my hand. Mac's professional and personal pride lived in this bottle. A peace, and calm. A healing of the soul.

"Too right. The maker of this beer caught the attention of Dionysus himself, the god of revelry. Because he takes pride and is invested in what he does. This is not a means of making a living. This is his living. But that's another story."

I was taunting them now, enjoying the way they all protested at my teaser. I was well and truly warmed up now and thriving in the spotlight.

"Then tell it!"

A wall of approving sound slammed into me as my audience hollered for more.

Mira was managing behind the bar, having taken my place, but people, the pirates, Cana and Gildarts specifically, were still drinking like nobody's business.

"Do you want another story or more drinks?"

"Why not both?" Yassop called from where he sat with the Osprey Squad.

I rolled my eyes, summoning more magic and imagining the setting I would be taking everyone to.

A dark gray cityscape, but thriving with hidden power and secrets older than the world. Where Fey beings and dark sorcery took place. And where one man stood at the center of it all. I painted the scene behind me with a broad sweep of my hand.

"Then follow me, to a land of endless city, guarded by one man. No, one wizard."

This brought some whoops from my guildmates.

"This story is about The Mad Wizard Dresden, Guardian of Chicago."

The announcement spread to the Redhairs fairly quickly that we would need to cut our party off in a few hours after I finished telling some stories. If they were going to be able to resupply and make it back to the Crack, and the Grandline, they would need to be heading back to sea shortly.

Limejuice, as he introduced himself, was the ships navigator and he came to talk to me about directions to the Crack and passing through it. He had long blond hair and a green cloak.

I wanted to censor myself to avoid catching more attention. But...

The Day is Crack. But tomorrow won't be.

Which I took to mean that some events of the day, no matter how strange, I would need to remember. And that meant I would be as exact and forthcoming as I would be on any other day for any other client.

"If it's like portals we have experienced in the past prior to closing it will try and pull back everything that belongs to it."

I carefully wrote out the directions, then added runes to hopefully protect the paper from the extreme weather conditions of the New World. Or at the very least give it a fighting chance. Plus some other tandem protections I thought might be helpful. You never knew when you were going to encounter a human ballistic missile after all. And there were relatively high odds of it happening in the One Piece world.

I glanced up at the man who was listening attentively.

"As long as you are close enough, you'll end up back on the Grand Line. But keeping the ship oriented so it's still right side in upon arrival is going to be the hard part."

I finished writing out some directions, drawing from Limejuice's experience and the other crew I had spoke to in order to list out the proper steps to take to prevent the Red Hairs from taking an unwanted bath.

Morgana mused quietly as I focused on the man's face to get the last few terms I needed.

He used to smile more.

I reached up with both hands, pulling his face into a smile. The pen continues to write without my guidance.

"You should smile more again."

He pulled his face back gently. And I knew how careful he was being right then. How much the Red Hairs restrained themselves around me, and Wendy, and Romeo.

They know how to adjust their strength to child safe levels. All of them, not just Yassop. That's not a skill you learn overnight.

"Haven't had as much reason to smile these days."

I shrugged.

"Smiling out of defiance or spite work as decent placeholders until you find your new reason to."

Was it grief or something else that had stolen cheer from these men?

It would be spoilers to tell Yassop his son will one day be known as God Ussop by his bounty poster and he is going to be the sniper of the King of the Pirates. And I will not give spoilers.

So I pretended not to see him tear up when I gave him a picture I had had Reedus draw of Ussop as he was right now. Crazy dark hair, the distinctive long nose of his mother playing with his three friends.

"What a wild day."

I looked up at the one armed pirate captain. His smile was relaxed and content, his rich red hair tousled by the wind coming in off the sea as we stood in the harbor, seeing our friends off.

"Even for you?"

With what I knew of the Grand Line and the New World, I would think that this was fairly tame.

"Oh yeah. Haven't had a day like this in years."

Not since he sailed with Roger.

My gaze automatically drifted to his head, vacant of his hat. I could infer that he had already given it to Luffy, given that he was missing his arm. But I didn't know what their timeline was.

"Have you accidentally sailed to another world before?"

He gave me a look, a grin gracing his features, the scar from Blackbeard giving him a fun, rakish air.

"Looking for another story?"

"Always."

He laughed at my prompt, zero hesitation answer, and ruffled my hair which I swear he picked up from Gildarts. A paternal pride resonated through me from my head down to my toes from the touch, and a current of deep nostalgia and sadness. He was missing someone right now. The gesture was familiar to him, he had done it before to someone else who meant a great deal to him.

Luffy?

Not just him.

"Ever thought about going out and getting to live any of those stories for yourself?"

Feels like I'm going to get those stories coming to me whether I go looking for them or not.

"Thought about it." I admitted. "But I feel there's plenty of adventure here with my family to keep me busy until I'm strong enough to go looking for trouble."

"You're not wrong, kid. You've got a good thing here."

Red Haired Shanks regarded me then, and I felt his penetrating gaze transcend reality and probe me. Investigating me with Observation Haki.

Tell him your name.

Morgana's whisper was unsolicited and unprecedented.

"Is Fae all that they call you?"

The question felt a little too perfectly timed.

The Day is Crack.

...what the heck, why not?

"It's short for Faerun."

"Pretty. But is that it? There's something about you that seems familiar."

He only felt like this with Roger. Who could hear the Voice of All Things.

...is that something we could learn?

...yes.

I let my face go still as I contemplated this...then I nodded.

"I probably could be like him."

His brows rose in question but I stood my ground and smiled.

"I didn't have a name when I came to Fairy Tail. So I picked one from the stories I heard around me. The ones that lived in me."

He waited, intent and patient.

"I am Celeste D Faerun."

And there it was. A tiny spark of understanding in the Emperor's eyes.

"You ever considered going treasure hunting?"

Now isn't that an idea?

A mad, wonderful idea to be certain. Standing next to Shanks, I could hear the same thing that kept him in the life he lived. The call of the sea. Of a never ending quest to master the ocean and live utterly free. And like many a young sailor...I found the song thrilling, enchanting and terrifying.

I gave it some thought.

Finding One Piece and becoming the King of the Pirates? Not really a thing I could wake up and...want. freedom, yes, the treasure and the title, not so much. The part of me that had the same sense of humor as a gremlin suggested that we find it, sign it and then put it back for the actual heir to find.

Actually that would be an option.

Roger would approve, I thought, considering he sighed the Poneglyph in a language that he didn't even read. Between that and his final middle finger to the Marines and World Government before his death, it was safe to assume the man was a troll. I would live by a strict no spoiler policy and avoid the Straw Hats like a plague. (Getting declared Luffy's friend was both a promise and a threat and he seemed to do it willy nilly with ironic timing.)

"I'd want to find that for the sake of finding it. Not because I want to take the title that goes with it."

I grinned up at him.

"Besides, you already made your bet, Red Hair. You literally gave him the crown."

For a long moment, there was silence between us. Then he started to laugh. A belly laugh that filled the air and surrounded me with a feeling of warm certainty. I reflected on his words as I watched the Red Force sail away, arms full of the flag that the Red Hair Pirates gave to the islands under their protection.

"When you've turned this world upside down, come and find us on the sea. Celeste D Faerun. There are plenty of stories for you to hear and tell on the Grand Line."

The next morning, the Crack was gone. People still talked animatedly about yesterday's party but save for the pictures I had pushed Reedus to make, no one seemed to remember our foreign guests. The drinks from different worlds had been returned to the chest from the Doctor. And he had left me another note on the psychic paper.

The world knows you have eyes to see and ears to hear many stories, my dear. This is just the beginning.

AN: Removed the older drafts per my sister's request, as they were posted due to a miscommunication.