(Bellamy POV)
"Déjà vu" is a French loanword in the English language, literally meaning "already seen" and functionally representing the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before.

Feels pretty accurate for what I'm going through right now.

"Uh, captain? It's about the log pose."

"What about the log pose, Eddy?"

Anybody else get that feeling? It can't have been more than four months ago that Eddy was standing in front of me, nervously wringing his hands as he reported that the log pose was being unreasonable.

"Thing is, it's pointing down." See what I mean?

At least, this time it's only pointing down and not something ridiculous. "What about it, Eddy?"

That said, weren't we supposed to find Sabaody…first…Sabaody is a giant tree. Ergo, it has no magnetic field for the log pose to point to.

"Uhm, so I get that there is an island down there, but how do we reach it?"

Where is Camie when you need her?

"We could just sail down one side of the Red Line and see where we end up. It can't be that far away." Eddy suggests, and it would be a simple solution…if we weren't on the grandline.

"Don't you think it would be a little dangerous sailing that close to the Red Line? It's a giant stretch of cliffs and waves tend to crash against them. It wouldn't even take that much for a sudden storm to dash us against the cliffs." I mean, if you watched the episodes where the Strawhats are given a very intense welcome to the grandline, you should know that the weather can be…sudden and unpredictable. Which makes Ross' concern a very legitimate one.

"We'll just sail a bit further out then. No big problem."

"But can we really trust ourselves to keep sailing in one direction? It wouldn't be the first time that we got turned around without noticing."

"That one is easy to solve. If we're sailing to the left, the log pose should point to the right as long as I'm facing the Red Line. And vice versa."

"But how do we tell if the Red Line we see is actually real? If it isn't real, we could be sailing to god knows where and we wouldn't be able to tell."

"…hate to say it but Ross has got a point." Sarquiss grumbles. "The only thing we'd know for certain is that we're sailing away from Fishman Island but not in what direction."

"Even if we ignore the issue Ross just brought up, there is another minor issue we should at least consider." Rivers pipes up from the sidelines.

"What issue?"

"How far are we going to sail along one side before turning back?" Rivers asks. "If we're unlucky, we could spend god knows how long sailing back and forth without finding the Sabaody Archipelago. Never mind the issue if we get lost somewhere."

"…crap." And that's about as an honest admission of failure as Eddy is ever likely to give, though this really isn't Eddy's fault. It's like demanding an answer to a test questions which has no solution.

Like seriously, how did everyone who wasn't a Strawhat find the Sabaody Archipelago? The whole premise of the log pose was that you couldn't navigate the grandline without one. Not only because a conventional compass wouldn't work, but because the ocean will go nuts in its attempt to throw realistic expectations out the window.

However, one of the few islands which are actually relevant and touted as the gathering point for all other routes through the grandline…is not an island at all and hence is invisible to the almighty log pose.

Despite all this, every two bit mook and character manages to make it to Sabaody with no issue. I mean, if trash like Demaro Black can make it just about anybody can. And the less said about the tens of thousands of weaklings enslaved by the New Fishman Pirates, the better.

I'm interrupted from my brooding by Aisa tugging on my clothes. Considering what happened the last time one of us ignored her, she immediately becomes the sole focus of my attention. "Yes, Aisa?"

"Uhm, do many people live on Sabaody?"

"Quite a few, actually. It's the largest population center around these parts." Maybe because it's also the only population center but that's beside the point. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I can hear a lot of voices from over there."

Huh. That'll work.

Once we had a heading, it didn't take long before the Black Pearl was berthed in a little bay by grove 43. Muret and Nero decided to stay behind and guard the ship and our cargo while the rest of us were going to find us a craftsman. With the marines preoccupied, those two should be plenty to ward off just about anyone aiming for our ship.

I briefly considered heading over to grove 41 to check if the Strawhats were here but decided against it. There really wasn't any benefit to doing so and I could get better news elsewhere. Like Shakky's Rip Off Bar.

Sabaody really was a beautiful place, the soft green harmonizing splendidly with the clear blue sky, all interspersed with bubbles which refracted the plentiful sunlight just so, that one was always surrounded by miniature rainbows wherever one went. No wonder then, that Sabaody was one of the greatest tourist destinations this side of the Red Line, despite the absolute absurdity of its geographical and dare I say, geological character. That's it, sorry, I'm done ranting about Sabaody and log poses, I promise.

Where was I?

Sabaody is really beautiful and there is lots to see and even more to do, though I could also have done with a few fewer ambushes. Maybe it's my objectively lower bounty or the bevy of smaller bounties in my group but bounty hunters kept trying to collect our heads.

…it may also have something to do with the fact that Aisa got recognized near instantly as the Supernova number 12 and received the near universal title as the easiest one to nab. The silver lining of it all was that rather than becoming scared, she got angry and fried the "icky, nasty, disgusting, gross boys". I think it is safe to say that Aisa has, if not overcome, at least learned to deal with her anxiety regarding the silencing of voices in combat.

She looked so proud too when Laki praised her for being a 'fierce skandian warrior', but she kept seething until we brought back Happy Aisa by plying her with a truck load of sweets and snacks. Not sure where she puts it all, but we were more or less dragged along in her quest to sample everything the tourist quarter had to offer in terms of victuals. Thankfully for my wallet, Ross didn't come along.

Though finally, after taking the scenic route through Sabaody's culinary delights, we found ourselves opening the door to Shakky's Rip Off Bar. Or to be more precise, we had the door opened in our face to find a trio of bodies filling our field of vision.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to be rude to potential pats…patrons. Thank you for taking the trash out by the way. You wouldn't know how rare it is to find pirates with manners these days."

She definitely meant to say patsy, but her poker face is immaculate and she's impossible to read. Though I guess that's a new world veteran and former amazon queen for you. Which also means I probably shouldn't piss her off.

"Why, it's no trouble Shakky-san. As someone once said, manners maketh man." I reply.

Especially as I'm not friends with Hatchi and have no connection to with the Roger-Rayleigh-Shanks lineup. Half the reason Rayleigh had been willing to give Luffy the time of day had been because of his hat and what it signified.

I had none of that.

"Hmmm, must have been a wise man."

"Well, he was certainly one of the most interesting characters I had seen back home."

"Your home must be something special if it keeps producing interesting characters like that." Shakky takes another slow drag from her cigarette before adding to the cloud of smoke inside the bar. "Can I get you guys anything?"

"As long as the price is reasonable."

"No one alive has ever claimed otherwise." As if I needed reminding that this is former New World Pirate.

"Then, I'd like a coke please."

"That'll be one hundred thousand belli." I ignore the spit take from my crew as they turn to regard their own drinks in horror. None more so than Lily who is realizing that spending an extended amount of time at this establishment was liable to leave us broke and begging by the roadside.

Thankfully we still had sufficient funds from Skypiea and the Dead End Race but damn…I know why I'm here but who were those poor fools who wandered into this wallet death trap earlier?

But high way robbery or not, the drinks were good, though most of the crew stopped at one thanks to Lily glaring anyone into submission who even dared to look at the fridge the wrong way.

"Tell me Shakky-san, what's the news around?" My empty bottle disappears near immediately after me setting it down on the counter and this despite Shakky never deviating from her slow, deliberate pace.

"Sabaody is heating up, Bellamy-chan, but what can you expect with so many super rookies gathering in one place at the same time?"

"You mean Captain Kidd and the others?"

"Exactly. Counting the cutie here, that's thirteen pirates worth a hundred million belli or more on the island right now."

Ah, so Luffy and crew had already arrived? That's good to know. We probably should get our shopping done pronto and get ready to leave…wait.

"Thirteen?"

"Yes. In no particular order; Jewelry Bonney, Capone Bege, Basil Hawkins, Kidd, Scratchman Apoo, Trafalgar Law, Killer, X-Drake, Urouge, Roronoa Zoro, Monkey-chan, little Aisa…and you."

Because the news coo was late today for some reason, this was news to me. Welcome news absolutely but news nonetheless.

It seems that the world government had found out the results of our battle with Gasparde and decided that they may have misjudged the danger levels of my crew. Almost no new bounties for them this time, though Nero "the Renegade" got a bounty of forty two million belli and Sarquiss did get a new epithet out of it and

Sarquiss the Hornet sounds much better than Big Knife Sarquiss, especially as doesn't even use his kukri anymore ever since he got his new assassin blades.

Me, on the other hand? In spite of the absolute lack of involvement on my part in the whole affair, being in command of a crew capable of taking down a pirate worth near a hundred million with relative ease, apparently warranted a bounty greater than the one of our defeated opponent.

Hence, I was the proud owner of a head worth one hundred and thirty two belli and the newest addition to what may still become the "Worst Generation". It felt…good, like I had finally passed the qualifying rounds and reached the starting line in this warped competition. And my crew was quick to celebrate it.

"Congratulations, captain!"

"Another drink, ma'am…miss!"

"We're going to go fucking broke…screw it! One more for me too!"

It took a lot of effort to stop my crew from inebriating themselves and through a lot of cajoling, coaxing and otherwise convincing, I managed to keep my crew in a semi-combat ready state by the time I was ready to head out and find Rayleigh.

"Don't cause trouble, Bellamy-chan."

"Wouldn't dream of it." After all, Luffy will cause enough trouble for both of us.

We caused trouble near immediately, but it really wasn't my fault. Honest.

By pure chance, we stumbled across one solitary armored dude dragging a pretty black haired nurse off in the general direction of grove 60. A nurse anyone familiar with the franchise with no doubt recognize as the 13th potential wife of St. Charloss…or would that be 8th wife as the prat was going to get rid of numbers one to five?

Now, most of us were very well aware of who this guy was, his distinctive armor a dead giveaway, but unfortunately I had two crewmembers who didn't know shit about blue sea politics. Ok, that may be my fault for not filling them in, but in my defense, I had been busy trying to toughen them up enough to survive the coming fiasco.

It had not been meant to empower Laki to be able to smash a hole through the guard's visor and fling him armor and all into the nearby sea. In hindsight, I probably should have kept the two people who had witnessed de facto slavery by Enel away from the island with the most obvious custom of slavery around.

That Marie wasn't technically a slave nor part of the local slave trade became inconsequential the moment Hewitt explained the general gist of the situation to Laki.

This left me in the unenviable position of having to decide what to do about the near catatonic girl in Laki's embrace. At least my crew was holding their tongues instead of getting into an uproar, which would have caused irreparable damage to the unity of my crew.

This definitely is a pickle.

"What's done is done." I tell my crew. "There aren't many witnesses around but there are certainly some who are watching us right now, making it inevitable that the world nobles hear about this sooner or later. I don't know when it's going to happen but we're going to be far away by the time it happens."

There is no disagreement on that point. Good. "Laki, you and Sarquiss take the girl back to the ship. Tell the others that the ship is to made ready to depart at a moment's notice. Go."

"My…my fiancé, Judy…hospital. Please."

Laki looks slightly apologetic but nods anyway while Sarquiss gives me a lazy salute before ripping off his coat to free his wings. Then he's grabbed the two girls and is speeding away into the distance.

"Hewitt, take Rivers and Mani to stock up on provisions. Rivers should be able to transport what you need really quickly using Fuza and these bubble transport systems. But before you do, make sure to pick up her fiancé from the hospital." Curse my bleeding heart.

That leaves Lily, Ross, Eddy, Aisa and I to head to meet up with Rayleigh. Hope shit doesn't hit the fan before I get there.

Actually, also don't shit on the fan after I get there either. Luffy, don't be a monkey.

Author's note:
We have landed on Sabaody and things are going wrong near immediately...but at least Shakky likes us?
Just in case of any misunderstandings, Marie & her fiancé Judy are not going to join the main Crew.

Next time: Human Auction House and Rayleigh, though I think it's going to be unlike any fanfic so far. At least I haven't read any which will cover it the way I plan to.

P.S. are there any OP characters you want to see as affiliate crew captains/members? If you do, why not post it in the comments with the reasons why (and a rough plan on how to induct them)?

P.P.S. comments and discussions make me happy and motivate me to write more.