Chapter 22: Hidden Motives
"Hmm. This is good. This is the symbol of our promise to fight again. Until we come back, don't remove that mark by hitting your head. Got that?!" Luffy, covered in white, yellow, and red paint and holding a large paintbrush, yelled to Laboon, admiring his work. On the whale's forehead, covering the scars, was a sloppy straw hat pirate mark that Luffy had painted. With a roar of agreement, Luffy smiled widely.
"All right!" With that, Luffy left the whale to go get cleaned up on the Merry, Usopp already hard at work at fixing the mast the best he could. It didn't take long for Luffy to remove the paint and dirt from his fight with Laboon, and soon he was back outside, spick and span.
"Huh? Where'd those guys go?" Zoro asked, realizing that Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 were no longer unconscious on their deck.
"Those guys? Who knows. I do wonder who they were though." Nami said as she looked down from the upper deck's railing. Walking forward, Luffy saw a log pose on the deck and picked it up.
"Whats that Luffy?" She asked, seeing him pick the object up but not knowing what it was.
"It's a... uh... Log Pose thingy I think." Luffy told her after a second of thinking. He wasn't a navigator so he wasn't actually all that sure on what the object was. He remembered back to the few times everyone back on Whitebeards ship had tried to teach him basic navigation, remembering that someone had called this a log pose.
"A 'log pose thingy?'" She asked, walking down the stairs and over to Luffy to get a better look.
"Yeah, the navigators on Pops' ship used 'em. I don't know how to though." He said, handing it over to her. She examined it for a minute before wrapping it around her wrist.
"Well, it looks like a compass at least. It's different than what I'm used to, but I'm sure I can get a hang of it no problem." She told him confidently. Feeling this, Luffy smiled and nodded.
"Hey, Luffy, come help me with this!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
As everyone went about their normal routine, Nami left the Merry to sit at a table and chairs outside of the lighthouse; compass, and maps spread out in front of her. Sanji was finishing making lunch while Usopp finished his patchwork job of getting the Merrys mast standing again. Zoro napped, per usual, and Luffy lounged around, watching Laboon as he thrashed around in the water again.
"What's the matter? Quiet down!" Luffy called to the whale, wondering what had him so worked up all of a sudden.
"What's the matter Nami-san?! If it's food you're worried about, it's ready!" Sanji cooed as he headed her way, large platters of food in his hands. Nami looked up from her rapidly spinning compass, perplexed.
"Oh? Mealtime?" Usopp asked, climbing up the rope ladder to join the two on the cliff.
"The compass is broken! It doesn't point in any direction!" She told them. Luffy, having joined them after hearing meal time, looked to see the needle spinning uselessly in circles.
"Ahh, you're right. It's spinning!" Usopp noted, also crowding around the table to look.
"Woah! That's cool!" Sanji said in amazement, joining them.
"That's it! That's what the log thingy was for!" Luffy said, remembering now exactly what it was for.
"Log thingy?" Usopp and Sanji asked in confusion.
"This?" Nami asked, lifting her wrist to look at the Log pose again. Luffy nodded, all of them seeing the needle inside the glass remaining unmoving, unlike their compass.
"Yeah! Pops and everyone said normal compasses won't work and they showed me one. It was spinning just like that. They said you have to use log poses instead." He explained, remembering how cool it had been to see the spinning needle on their compass.
"Seems you came with at least some knowledge of the Grand Line after all," Crocus said as he left the lighthouse, joining them. Forgetting about the navigation stuff, Luffy turned his sights on the food which irritated Sanji.
"Crocus. Can you explain this to me? Teaching isn't really Luffys strong suit." Nami said dryly, sticking out a thumb to the rubber man who was still eyeing the food hungrily.
"As I said before, common sense is useless in the Grand Line. The compass isn't broken." He told her.
"Hm? Then could it be that the magnetic fields are..." Nami trailed off, but Crocus knew what she was going to say.
He went on to explain to them exactly how the Grand Line worked and how they needed Log Poses rather than compasses to get around. Nami listened intently, needing to know this information if she was going to guide them through this sea. He explained how they worked as well, showing Nami on the log pose itself what to look for and what it would do. He finished by telling them that no matter which path they started with, all of them would lead to the same endpoint. Raftel.
"Then the One Piece is there?!" Usopp asked excitedly.
"Who knows. That's the most prominent theory, but no one has been able to reach there." Crocus told him. Luffy, who was now down to just the bones of the fish he was eating, grinned.
"We'll know once we get there." He said confidently, no doubt in his mind that he would reach the legendary island.
"Say, boy, how is it you know so much about the Grand Line anyhow? I heard you call it Paradise earlier as well. You wouldn't happen to have sailed these waters before, have you?" Crocus asked Luffy with a raised eyebrow.
"Me? Yeah, I was apart of Whitebeards crew for a while. I'm starting my own crew now though." Luffy explained with a smile.
"Is that so? Ah, now it makes sense, you're 11097, right?" He asked, recognizing Luffys face now.
"Mhm." Luffy hummed, waiting to see how Crocus would respond to that. Around him, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji listened silently.
"I heard about you and all the other kids' escape. Good job." Crocus said, surprising Luffy. Of all the things he had expected to hear, that had not been one of them.
"Huh?" Luffy asked, confused. The others were confused as well because when they'd heard about Luffy being an escapee, their first thoughts had not been along the lines of Crocus'.
"You were in a facility, right?" Crocus asked, smile gone as he spoke. Luffy stiffened at his words, bristling in preparation to get out of there fast. His crew saw the turn in Luffys demeanor, the sudden frown, the tense posture, and they wondered once again what the facility was.
"What do you know about facilities?" Luffy asked, his voice low and dangerous. His fingers were digging into the rocky ground beneath him at the many scenarios his mind was coming up with.
Crocus had said earlier that he was a doctor. What if he was a facility doctor after all? It wasn't too far-fetched a thought seeing as the man seemingly knew what facilities were. Not only that, but Sabo had just told him about Haru possibly being in Paradise as well, so he was on high alert to anyone who could have any connection to facilities.
"Not much in all honesty. The crew I sailed with stumbled upon one a long time ago. Despicable things, facilities." Crocus said, face twisting in disgust at the last part. This calmed Luffy slightly, feeling the truth in his words as he spoke.
"So you're not a doctor then?" Luffy asked, just in case. Even though it was all but confirmed for him, he still needed to know, to feel the truth in Crocus' words before he would be able to relax.
"A ships doctor, yes. A facility doctor? Never." Crocus told him honestly. Luffy stayed silent a minute, digging through Crocus' every emotion for even a hint of a lie. Finding none, he finally let himself relax, fists unclenching. Nami, Usopp, and Sanji could only watch on, their confusion as clear on their faces as it was to Luffys abilities as they listened. They were completely lost as to what the two were talking about seeing as all they'd ever gotten out of Luffy about facilities was that they were 'bad places', but the fact that Crocus seemed to be confirming that sentiment as well made them even more curious as to what happened in these facilities.
"Good. You're a good guy old man. It would have sucked if I had to fight you." Luffy said honestly. His posture was much more relaxed now, finding Crocus to not be a threat like he first thought. Crocus laughed at his words, clearly not offended by them.
"Anyway, now that I'm done eating, should we go?" Luffy asked, his seriousness gone as he lounged back. With this new turn in conversation though, Sanji finally noticed the empty platters of what used to be food on the table.
"Did you eat this all by yourself?!" Sanji shouted in a mixture of astonishment and anger.
"Woah! Even the bones are gone!" Usopp said, looking at the empty platters with wide eyes, also having been too preoccupied with the conversation to notice Luffy eating it all.
"Now that we have this log pose, we should be good to go. We have to take good care of this if we want to continue our journey..." Nami said as she looked at the log pose on her wrist.
"I wanted Nami-san... I wanted Nami-san to... eat more!" Sanji roared, kicking Luffy in the stomach, sending him flying past Nami. As he flew by, however, his hand hit the glass Log Pose, shattering it. There was a moment as Nami froze, staring despondently at the broken Log Pose, while Luffy and Sanji continued talking.
"Sanji-kun..."
"Yes, Nami-san!" Sanji asked, clearly not hearing the warning in Namis tone as he turned to smile at her.
"Both of you go cool your heads off!" She yelled, kicking both Luffy and Sanji off the cliff and into the water. Sanji allowed himself to fall in the water, hearts in his eyes, while Luffy scrabbled to swim to the top. As usual, his strength was slowly being sapped away by the ocean, but he managed to stay afloat long enough for Laboon to push both him and Sanji, as well as two other people out of the water.
"Don't worry, I'll give you mine. I wanted to thank you for what you did for Laboon." Crocus said good-naturedly, not paying the washed-up group of four any mind.
As Sanji stood up from the ground, he noticed the other two that had been fished out with them. Or, rather, he noticed one of the two that had been fished out.
"Here, take my hand, honey." Stepping over to where the woman was laying, he bent down onto one knee and offered his hand with a flourish, smiling widely.
"Oh, thank you." The woman, Miss Wednesday, said, taking his extended hand and allowing him to help her up. Without missing a beat, Sanji placed a hand on her back, leading her away from Luffy and Mr.9 who were still on the ground.
"Lovely day, isn't it?" He asked, attention focused solely on the woman.
"Hey! We have a favor to ask." Mr.9 piped up, sitting up as well. Annoyed at being interrupted, Sanji looked to Mr.9 in confusion, wondering what this favor was. The chef looked over to Luffy, who was still laying down, wondering what he would say to that. Earlier his Captain had knocked the two out, one of his reasonings being that Mr.9 had 'bad feelings', so he was curious as to whether Luffy would hear them out or not.
Luffy seemed to be contemplating this as well as he finally sat up, eyeing Mr.9 carefully. Crocus, Nami, and Usopp watched from where they stood near the tables, also waiting for Luffys decision.
For a second it seemed the teen would ignore them completely when he stood and walked over to the table, but when he reached it he sat down, looking to Mr.9.
"What is it?" He asked. Unlike when he talked to his crew or Crocus, Luffy's voice held no amusement or joy. It wasn't unkind, but it also wasn't inviting either. Taking notice of the tone, Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday hesitated momentarily, but ultimately decided to continue on with asking.
Sanji joined Luffy and the others at the table, interested in what this favor could be, while Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday bowed in front of Luffy, practically begging him to take them to Whiskey Peak as their favor seeing as they no longer had their log pose.
"Whiskey Peak? That's a weird name." Luffy said, his tone no longer as dry as it had been before.
"What's that?" Usopp asked, eyeing the two warily. He still wasn't over the fact that they had tried to kill Laboon. Multiple times.
"That's where we live... um, sir." Mr.9 said, tacking on the formality at the last second.
"Whats happened to your own ship?" Nami asked, also not happy with the two.
"It's busted." Mr.9 answered. Hearing this, Nami leaned closer to the man, the grin on her face not matching the anger in her eyes.
"Isn't that asking too much, Mr.9, after trying to kill the whale?" She asked. Mr.9, visibly sweating, didn't respond to that.
"So what are you guys?" Usopp asked next.
"I'm a king." Mr.9 answered, no hesitation in his voice or on his face as he said this. Though he was wearing a large crown on his head, Luffy could feel that the man was lying. The only reason Luffy was still listening was because of the fact that, despite Mr.9 having had bad feelings earlier, he had none now. That and Miss Wednesday's aura didn't match the attitude she was giving off.
"Liar," Nami growled, pulling Mr.9's cheek in retaliation. When she let go, both Miss Wednesday and Mr.9 bowed their heads again.
"I'm sorry, we can't say! But we want to go back to the town. We don't want to be secretive either, but..." Mr.9 trailed off. Beside him, Miss Wednesday raised her head to speak.
"The motto of our company is 'mystery' after all..." She told them.
"We can't just tell you anything about us. Placing confidence in your character, we're begging you. We will definitely return the favor." Mr.9 pleaded. As he said this, despite the worry and fear in the man, there was a spark of truth to his words, as well as a spark of deception. This didn't sit well with Luffy, knowing that behind that deception was the darkness he'd felt earlier, but still, he was curious.
"Don't do it. No matter what they say, they're dishonest people." Crocus said as a warning. Luffy didn't need Crocus to tell him that, already knowing it from the feelings Mr.9 was giving off.
"By the way, we don't have a log pose because we broke it. Do you still wanna ride with us?" Nami asked, lifting her wrist to show them the broken pose.
"What?! You broke it?! That's mine, you know!" Mr.9 shouted as he stood in a mixture of anger and fear, tears in his eyes. Miss Wednesday, in a very similar state behind him, stood as well.
"How dare you act stuck up just because we're being humble! You guys can't go anywhere either!" She shouted. Nami, pleased with herself, smiled and pointed a thumb at Crocus.
"Oh, but actually, we have one that Crocus-san gave us." She said slyly. Hearing her words, Miss Wednesday and Mr.9 blanched, wilting back to the ground and bowing their heads again.
"We beg you people of such character..." They said simultaneously. Even though the two of them looked to be begging and pleading, Luffy could feel the animosity in Mr.9 towards Nami after her trick. It made him frown momentarily, but then his eyes drifted over to Miss Wednesday again. Looking at her aura one more time, he saw the bright blue contrasting brightly against Mr.9's darker blue.
"You can ride with us." Luffy finally said.
"What?!" Miss Wednesday and Mr.9 asked, sitting up in surprise. It was clear they hadn't expected him to agree.
"Did you say Whiskey Peak? Let's go there." Luffy said. He didn't need to see everyone's faces to know they were surprised by his answer.
"What?" Nami asked, she and Usopp looking just as shocked as Miss Wednesday and Mr.9.
"Are you serious?! We're troubling ourselves to take these shady people?" Usopp asked in a mixture of worry and shock.
"Don't worry about it, I can handle them," Luffy said confidently, looking at Mr.9 as he said this. The man seemed to pick up on the sudden eye contact and gulped nervously but didn't say anything.
"But you can only choose the route here, the starting point." Crocus reminded him, though not objecting his decision.
"If we don't like it, then we can go around one more time," Luffy told the old man, smiling.
"I see..." Crocus said with a smile of his own. With the decision made, Luffy stood up, excited for future adventures.
"Now, shall we get going?" He asked, walking over to the cliff where Laboon was waiting.
"I've made a promise with Laboon, so it's time we get ready to set sail," Luffy said, stretching his arms as he spoke. Behind him, Miss Wednesday and Mr.9 stood, a little skeptical now of Luffys acceptance.
"Who on Earth are you?" Miss Wednesday asked. Amused by her question, Luffy turned to grin at her.
"Me? I'm the man who'll be King of the Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy." There was a brief moment of amusement in the two as they heard Luffys dream, but that quickly vanished when they heard his name.
"W-wait a second..." Mr.9 mumbled, eyes going wide.
"M-Monkey D..." Miss Wednesday murmured.
"You mean you're 11097?!" They asked in unison, recognizing Luffy now. As many did when they realized who Luffy was, the two were quick to fill with fear and nervousness. Luffy did his best to ignore this though, laughing instead.
"Shishishi, yup!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"It should be ok now. The log must've been stored. Is it pointing in the same direction as the map?" Crocus asked Nami. The navigator looked between the new log pose on her wrist and the map she had.
"Yup, it's pointing at Whiskey Peak." She confirmed as the sun began to set in the distance. The Straw Hats had gotten ready to leave as quickly as possible, forcing Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday to help as well now that the crew would be helping them out. They were finally ready to go now, everyone on the Merry while Crocus and Laboon watched.
"See ya, flower pops! Thanks for the log pose!" Luffy called, waving happily to Crocus.
"Yeah, have a safe trip," Crocus called back.
"See ya, whale! I'm leaving now!" Luffy then said to Laboon, taking in the mark still painted on the whale's scars. Laboon let out a low, quiet noise in a goodbye of his own, making Luffy laugh.
"To Whiskey Peak! Full speed ahead!" Luffy called out to everyone.
"Yeah!" With that, the Merry was sent sailing across the waters, leaving behind Reverse Mountain. According to Nami and their two traveling companions, Whiskey Peak was only a day away at best.
In other words, no more adventuring until tomorrow.
This bummed Luffy out, but it didn't stay that way for long as Luffy looked at the wide expanse of ocean ahead of them. As always, the ocean was a good calming agent for the hyperactive teen. He could stare at it for hours.
Luffy hadn't been watching the ocean for long when a chill was in the air, and suddenly, it was snowing. This overjoyed Luffy as he immediately began running around Merry's deck, laughing and basking in the falling snowflakes.
When enough time passed that the deck was covered in the white snow, Luffy and Usopp had quickly divulged into a snowman building contest.
"Alright, done!" Luffy announced, standing beside his snowman. Its eyes weren't on even and it had mop handles for arms and nose as well as a green cape and a barrel on its head.
"This is the man that fell from the sky, Barrel!" Luffy said happily, patting the snowman. In front of him, Usopp laughed, his confidence oozing.
"That's such a crude snowman..." He laughed.
"What?!" Luffy asked, only to see Usopps snow sculpture.
"Behold! Look at my soulful artwork, the Snow Queen!" Usopp announced, gesturing to his sculpture. It was a woman that shared a striking resemblance to Kaya sitting on a chair of snow. Amazed by it, Luffys jaw dropped.
"Woah! That's incredible!" He yelled before getting an idea.
"Okay then! Snow Barrel Punch!" Luffy yelled, punching the back of his snowman's arms, sending the wooden pole shooting out towards Usopps snow sculpture. The stick managed to take off the sculpture's entire head effortlessly, surprising Usopp.
"What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled, kicking down Luffys snowman in retaliation, covering the teen in the snow.
"Ah! Barrel!" Luffy cried angrily, immediately launching himself into Usopp.
Snowman creating quickly turned into a snow battle as they pelted snowballs, rolled giant snow boulders into each other, and altogether just fought. It was all in good fun though, neither of them actually angry with each other.
As the battle continued, the sun darkened with storm clouds and lightning began striking around them, the snow blowing around them harshly. Luffy was completely used to the random changes in the weather and paid it no mind, and seeing as Usopp was too caught up in the battle they were having he didn't notice it either.
What stopped their fight though was Namis sudden shriek.
"Wh... What?" Usopp asked, looking over to the kitchen where the Nami had just come from.
"What's the matter?" Luffy asked her, confused. From the Merrys front upper deck, Sanji looked over the railing in concern, having been shoveling snow up there.
"What's the matter Nami-san?" He asked, worried for the woman.
"Ahh... No way! Turn the ship around 180 degrees! Hurry!" Nami ordered as she looked at the log pose on her wrist.
"180 degrees?! Why're we going back?!" Usopp asked.
"Did you forget something?" Luffy wondered, but had a feeling that wasn't the problem based on Namis emotions.
"The ship has turned around and is going in the opposite direction! When I looked away from the log pose for a second...! The waves were calm earlier..." Nami said, her confusion clear as day, the strongest emotion she was feeling.
"Oh yeah, that happens all the time. Paradise and the New World always changes weather like this. Pops had navigators always checking the log pose." Luffy told her with a laugh.
"And you didn't tell me this sooner?!" Nami shrieked, turning her anger towards him.
"Ah, I thought you knew that. Whoops?" He said sheepishly now, rubbing the back of his head.
"Are you really a navigator?" Miss Wednesday's voice asked from inside the kitchen where she and Mr.9 were sitting, wrapped in blankets.
"Stop pestering me in those cozy blankets and go help already!" Nami continued yelling, literally kicking the two out of the kitchen and into the snow.
With the two out of the kitchen, Nami started barking orders to everyone else, telling them what to do to get them heading back in the right direction. Usopp and Sanji were running around the deck following orders while even Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday were forced to help. At one point, the sky's cleared completely and a warm breeze blew past, Miss Wednesday and Mr.9 calling it the first springs gales which only further annoyed Nami.
Zoro, who had been napping the entire time, had yet to move. Snow was accumulating on his body, but now that the weather was nicer it began to melt away.
The weather continued it's rapid change from calm waters and sunny skies to dark clouds and wind storms. At one point the Merry barely scraped by an iceberg, but managed to leave without too much damage. However, there was a hole that Usopp had to go patch up.
When the weather was finally calm enough that the crew didn't need to frantically run around anymore, they all collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
"Hey, no matter how nice the weather is, you guys shouldn't be so lazy. We'd better be on the right track." Hearing Zoros words, Luffy could feel everyone's anger rise, but no one had the energy to do anything about it.
"Why're you guys still on the ship?" Zoro asked. Seeing as he'd literally been sleeping since they were at Reverse Mountain, he had no idea about their agreement to take Miss Wednesday and Mr.9 to Whiskey Peak.
"You're slow!" Mr.9 shouted. Luffy, the only one not on the ground in exhaustion, smiled to Zoro from where he sat on the railing of the upper deck.
"We're heading to their town right now. It's called Whiskey Peak." He said. Being on Whitebeards ship for so much time meant Luffy was used to the physical labor it took to handle a ship. Even though it had been chaotic for a while, it wasn't anything as bad as the New World could be, so Luffy was still ready to go.
"You mean we're taking them back? We don't owe them anything." Zoro said, confused as to why they would be helping the two.
"Right, we don't." Luffy agreed without hesitation.
"Well, it's not like it matters to me..." Zoro said, kneeling down in front of the two.
"Yeah, your faces say that you're thinking bad thoughts. What were your names again?" Zoro asked. Luffy was impressed that Zoro could tell from just their looks that the two weren't being entirely truthful with them. Luffy himself could feel it, as well as the small pit of darkness that had been growing inside Mr.9 after Nami had ordered him around so much, but he knew Zoro didn't have that ability.
"I-I'm Mr.9..." Mr.9 said hesitantly, sweating nervously at Zoros intense stare.
"I'm Miss Wednesday." Miss Wednesday answered, equally as nervous.
"Right... Something has been bothering me ever since I first heard your names... I feel like I've heard them somewhere before, or maybe not..." Zoro said, holding his chin as he continued grinning at the two who were growing increasingly nervous and fearful under the man's gaze. Luffy felt that Zoro wasn't lying, that he recognized the names somehow, but the green-haired man couldn't quite figure it out. Luffy did know, however, that the more he talked about knowing them, the more worried and scared Miss Wednesday and Mr.9 became.
Maybe it had to do with that whole 'Mystery' motto that they had.
"Well, either way-" Zoro was cut off from his sentence when Nami walked up behind him, anger radiating off of her so strong Luffy nearly fell off the railing at its intensity. She didn't hesitate to hit Zoro in the head, knocking him forward onto the deck before he righted himself.
"How dare you sleep comfortably all this time... You kept sleeping no matter how many times we tried to wake you up..." Nami growled out. In response to both the woman's anger and the hit, Zoro himself started to become angry as well.
"Eh?" He didn't have a chance to say any more than that as Nami began hitting him multiple times in the head, leaving bumps from how hard she hit.
"Don't let your guard down, everyone! We don't know what else might happen. I was finally able to realize the danger of this sea just now. There's no doubt about it seeing as my navigation skills didn't work at all." Nami said. Luffy, who had been focusing on not letting Namis intense anger influence him, finally calmed at her words, feeling the navigator's emotions calm with his.
"How blunt... Are we gonna be okay?" Usopp asked, sweatdropping at Namis words.
"We'll be fine! Things will work out for sure." Nami said confidently, smile on her face and hands on her hips.
"I put my full faith in your skills, Nami-san!" Sanji said, hearts in his eyes as he talked to the redhead.
With that out of the way and the sky getting darker by the second, Sanji announced that dinner was ready, having been working on it intermittently during the hectic weather when he could. Luffy cheered at the thought of food, bolting to the kitchen at once while the others lagged behind.
Dinner wasn't as chaotic as Luffy was used to seeing as they had such a small group of people, but it was still animated. Luffy didn't hesitate to nab food off of his crew's unsuspecting plates, only taking a small bit. And then a small bit more. And more. And a little-
"Oi, Luffy, quit it!" Usopp chastised, hugging his plate defensively to try and keep Luffy from grabbing anymore off of it. Luffy didn't say anything, merely laughing as he changed his target to Zoro who wasn't paying him any attention.
The crew quickly learned how to defend their plates from the glutton that night.
When dinner was over, they left the kitchen to see that night had fallen, the moon high in the sky and lighting the deck up for them. It was determined that Usopp was taking the first watch that night and Miss Wednesday would stay with Nami while Mr.9 would stay in the boys' room. Nami was hesitant, rightfully so, to be sleeping in the same room as someone who clearly didn't mean them well, but Luffy promised her that he would know if the woman was going to do something and he would come stop her before she could.
Although still not entirely convinced that Luffy would just 'know', she did give in to the request. After all, she wasn't as much of a monster to leave the girl out on the deck in the cold.
Unless she tried something. Then Miss Wednesday could sleep in the ocean for all she cared.
With sleeping arrangements and watch duty set, everyone split up for the night with the men, sans Usopp, heading to their room and Nami and Miss Wednesday heading to the women's room.
After having such a hectic day, the crew was exhausted. From Lougetown, to Reverse Mountain and now journeying through the Grand Line, had been a lot of work for them. Luffy wasn't any more tired than usual, but even he was ready to lay down and go to sleep, excited for the adventure to come tomorrow.
However, when he laid down in his hammock, he found sleep hard to come by. Without the distraction of running a crew and helping sail a ship, Luffy was left with only his thoughts to pester him.
He remembered how nice the day had started, and then he remembered Sabo coming to talk to him. It felt as if that talk had happened days ago already after everything that had happened afterward, but the words still held the same impact that they had when he'd heard Sabo say them for the first time.
Haru was alive. Not only that, but he was most likely in Paradise right now.
The thought of the doctor that still haunted his dreams being on the same sea as him made Luffy frown. Quickly realizing that sleep wouldn't come easy, Luffy opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling, mind suddenly wide awake with scenarios of running into Haru again.
So much for getting any sleep that night.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The next morning, Zoro woke up as groggy as ever. Wanting to go back to sleep but knowing he shouldn't, he rolled himself out of his hammock and looked around the room.
Sanji was already gone, most likely in the kitchen cooking breakfast, and Mr.9 and Usopp were both nowhere to be seen as well. For a while before falling asleep, Zoro had attempted trying to figure out where he'd heard their two new companions' names, but no matter how much he racked his brain for it, he couldn't figure it out. Deciding sleep was better than thinking, he'd given up rather quickly, and now that he was awake again, he found himself trying to remember again.
Looking over to Luffy's hammock, he saw that his Captain was still in it sleeping. While not entirely unusual, it was still weird for Luffy to be sleeping in longer than him. Since traveling together, Luffy was almost always up before Zoro, and ever since Usopp's arrival, the two would wake up together to go hang out outside.
The teen's back was to Zoro, and he wasn't making any sounds that Zoro could hear so the man shrugged it off, getting ready to head outside as well.
The sun was bright, blinding for Zoro who had just come from the darkroom where they slept, and it was warmer than it had been yesterday. There was no more snow on the deck and the chilling air had passed for a much more reasonable cool breeze every now and then.
It was perfect weather for napping.
Before he could even think of falling back asleep though, Nami came over, happy to see him awake, and asked if he could help move the rudder. Apparently, the Merry was starting to head off course again and everyone else was too busy to help.
Having nothing better to do, Zoro went to the rudder and moved in where Nami directed him to. It took some time seeing as they suddenly hit some rough waters, but eventually, the Merry was back on track and Sanji was announcing the start of breakfast. As everyone piled into the kitchen, ready to eat, it didn't take them long to notice that Luffy was still sleeping.
"I think that's the first time he's slept in this long," Nami said in surprise. After Zoro, she was the one to have traveled with Luffy the longest and even she knew he was always up well before mealtimes.
"Should we wake him up then?" Usopp asked, not sure what to do in this case. Would Luffy be mad if they went and woke him up? Or mad that they let him miss breakfast? Having a good idea as to which of those two Luffy would be more mad about, Zoro stood.
"I'll go get him." Zoro volunteered, standing up from the table and heading to the room. No one objected to this, watching as the swordsman left the kitchen.
The walk to the men's room took no time at all, and soon enough Zoro was looking at Luffys back once more, the young Captain still fast asleep in the hammock-like he had been earlier.
"Oi, Luffy," Zoro called as he moved closer. When Luffy didn't so much as twitch at Zoros call, the swordsman got even closer, reaching a handout.
"Luffy, foods ready," Zoro said, thinking the rubber teen would jump out of bed at the words. Every time food was mentioned around Luffy, sleeping or not, he would go running.
This time, he stayed still.
Confused, and only slightly concerned now, Zoro grabbed Luffys shoulder, shaking him lightly in hopes that that would finally rouse him. It didn't work, however, but it did move Luffy onto his back, showing Zoro the scrunched up look of pain- and maybe even fear- on his face.
Concern growing a little more, Zoro tried shaking Luffy a little harder, thinking that would work. After all, Luffy hadn't proved to be much of a heavy sleeper.
When shaking him harder didn't work, Zoro was about ready to resort to pushing Luffy off the hammock completely. Should he go get the others? Maybe Luffy was sick or something and that's why Zoro couldn't wake him up.
'Sometimes when I go to sleep I don't wake up'
The memory of Luffy giving him the small tube of liquid on the way to the Goa Islands came back to Zoros mind and he turned to look at his small pile of belongings near his hammock where he'd stashed it. Looking back to Luffy and seeing that the teen's expression had yet to change, Zoro decided it was worth a shot to use whatever that vial was on Luffy. After all, Luffy was the one to give it to him in the first place. Surely it wasn't something bad.
Moving to the stash, he looked around and found the tube easily. After all, he didn't have much. Examining the vial suspiciously he couldn't see anything off about it, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be cautious with it.
'If I go to sleep and don't wake up, put this under my nose, but don't put it too close or else I'll spill it when I wake up.'
Deciding to follow Luffys instructions, Zoro walked back over to Luffy and uncorked the vial. Immediately, an intense smell wafted to his nose and he cringed at it. What the hell was this smelly stuff anyhow?
Ignoring all the questions he had, Zoro put the vial under Luffys nose. At first, he thought it wasn't going to do anything and have to face the fact that there was probably something wrong health wise with his Captain, but just as he was about to give up he heard Luffy groan.
Remembering Luffys words just in time, Zoro pulled the vial back right as Luffy sprung up in the hammock, his eyes wide. With his fast movement and the unevenness of the hammock, Luffy fell off of it with a dull thud as he hit the ground.
Surprised that the smelly stuff had worked and also mildly concerned for Luffy still, Zoro corked the bottle back up before focusing his attention on Luffy.
"You alright?" He asked, not knowing what had just happened. Luffy blinked a few times on the ground, looking dazed and confused. Eventually, the teen's eyes flitted over to Zoro and the confusion turned to recognition and understanding.
"Zoro," Luffy said as if confirming that was the swordsman's name.
"It's time for breakfast." Zoro decided to say. Even though he had plenty of questions, Luffy didn't look in the right mind to be answering any of them.
"Breakfast? Right." Sitting up, Luffy ran a hand through his hair and picked up his Straw Hat with the other. Looking at the object for a minute, Luffy placed it on his head and stood.
"Thanks, Zoro." He mumbled as he walked past the swordsman.
"No problem," Zoro replied as he went to put the smelly liquid away. Luffy paused in the doorway momentarily, looking back at Zoro with a look of conflict before turning to look out the hallway again.
"Don't tell the others what happened... please." Hearing the request Zoro only nodded, confirming that he wouldn't. It was obvious Luffy didn't want anyone else knowing about... whatever had happened and Zoro would make sure it stayed that way. Luffy was his Captain after all, so if he didn't want the others knowing he'd make sure they didn't know.
Throughout breakfast, Luffy was as animated as he always was. It was as if whatever had happened in his sleep hadn't happened in the first place. When Zoro got back to the kitchen where Luffy had beaten him, the teen was all smiles and laughs as he dismissed everyone's curiosity as to why he'd slept in so long.
Zoro, as promised, didn't say anything about Luffy being stuck- for lack of a better term. He merely sat at the table and ate his food like normal, letting himself be pulled into idle conversation. He didn't miss the grateful look Luffy sent him either.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
As the day passed in a much more peaceful way than it had yesterday, Luffy was able to sit at the front of the Merry and think. He didn't like thinking, and he didn't do it often, but it was clear that he needed to come to terms with what was happening.
He hadn't expected to get stuck in his nightmare- then again, he never expects it- but the fact that it happened after a restless night of worrying about Haru only told Luffy that that may have played a part in it. He couldn't just pretend it hadn't happened.
He'd gotten lucky today and Zoro was able to take care of it like he'd hoped, no one else even noticing that something had been wrong with Luffy other than him sleeping in. What about next time though? Sure, like always, he wasn't hiding anything from them, but he also didn't want to broadcast to his crew that he had so many problems. He was the Captain, and that meant he was supposed to be strong, ready to take on anything.
What kind of Captain couldn't even wake up from his own nightmares though?
Glancing behind him, Luffy saw a glimpse of his crew all doing their own thing. Sanji was fawning over Nami, and occasionally Miss Wednesday, having fit right into the crew like Luffy expected he would. Nami was constantly checking the log pose on her wrist to ensure they were headed the right way, and Usopp was holding a bottle of tobasco sauce, making new pellets for his slingshot. Zoro, as usual, was napping against the railing, having kept his promise not to let the others know about Luffy's issue this morning. Finally, Miss Wednesday and Mr.9. The two had been nervous and scared for most of the journey, which Luffy expected after their reaction to finding out he was 11097. The closer they got to Whiskey Peak though, the calmer they got, and in Mr.9's case, the more darkness he grew.
Like before, it wasn't a lot. It was barely enough for Luffy to feel uncomfortable by it, but it was still something. It was obvious that there was something about Whiskey Peak that was causing the darkness, but Luffy didn't know what, and wouldn't until they got there.
Facing forward, Luffy made sure to continue monitoring Mr.9's emotions in case he tried anything.
Thinking again of his nightmare last night, Luffy shivered and once again wondered what he should do. With Haru being on the same sea, Luffy was finding himself constantly on edge if he didn't have anything to preoccupy his thoughts. At this rate, he wouldn't get any sleep again tonight either.
He didn't know how likely it was that he would get stuck in a nightmare two nights in a row, but he didn't want to wait to find out. Deciding that there was only one way to handle this, Luffy hopped off of Merry's figurehead and headed to the mini den den sitting out on the barrel like it always did. No one noticed him until he was heading back towards the men's room, snail in hand.
"Where are you going Luffy?" Nami asked curiously, not having noticed the snail in his hand. No one really went back to their rooms during the day, especially not Luffy.
"I'll be right back, I have to call Pops about something," Luffy told her, showing the snail he held. She blinked in surprise at that, Sanji and Usopp stopping what they were doing to look as well.
"Is everything alright?" Sanji asked curiously, wondering what Luffy was calling Whitebeard about.
"Don't worry, I won't take long." With that, Luffy left, climbing down the mast into the men's room. It didn't escape anyone's notice that Luffy hadn't answered Sanji's question.
Once in the men's room, Luffy sighed and went over to the couch inside the room, sitting down. There was a second where he hesitated, wondering if he really should call or not. After all, he'd called plenty already and he'd only just reentered Paradise. Remembering his previous worries of not getting any sleep, Luffy pushed those thoughts away and dialed the number he knew by heart, waiting through the ringing for someone to answer.
"Whos this?" Hearing the familiar question, as always, Luffy smiled.
"Hi, Izo," Luffy said in lieu of his name. The snail smiled in response to his words, Izo immediately recognizing him as the others had before.
"Luffy. Let me guess; Whiskey?" Izo asked knowingly, still smiling. Smiling sheepishly now, Luffy nodded.
"Mm." Luffy hummed. Izo chuckled quietly, but started walking towards the nurse.
"How's everything going so far Luffy?" Izo asked in the meantime. Luffy felt himself naturally relax at Izo's soothing voice. Of all the commanders, he and Marco had always been the two that could calm Luffy down when he was suffering from a particularly bad nightmare or memory.
"It's been really fun. I've got four crewmembers now and I'm back in Paradise." Luffy said, a smile stretching on his face.
"Oh yeah? I take it that means you've gone past Reverse Mountain?" Izo asked knowingly.
"Yeah! That was so much fun!" Luffy said, laughing now at the memory of going down. Well, running into Laboon hadn't been all that fun, but it had all worked out in the end.
"I had a feeling you would think that. We saw you in the newspaper by the way. Everyone's having a field day with how confused the Marines are." Izo said, laughing himself now at the thought of how wrong the Marines had been about Luffy being 'kicked out'. Luffy laughed as well, just as amused.
"Anyways, here's Whiskey now. You stay safe, alright Luffy?" Izo said sternly, Luffy nodding obediently to his words, smiling still. Izo said his farewells quickly before the snail was handed over to the nurse Luffy wanted to talk to.
"Luffy, what's up? You haven't been poisoned again, have you?" Whiskey asked with a raised eyebrow. Shaking his head at the question, Luffy laughed quietly.
"Nope, not poisoned. I got stuck last night." Luffy told her bluntly, wanting to get straight to the point with this one. They were due to reach Whiskey Peak today, and as much as Luffy wanted to talk with Whiskey for as long as possible, he knew that the second they reached the island he was going to have to end the conversation with her.
"This wouldn't happen to be because of some news you heard recently, would it?" She asked knowingly. Luffy was confused, wondering how she knew about that.
"Marco told me about Sabo's call, and I was there after Ace found out. Luffy, truthfully I've known Haru was still... around for a while now." Whiskey admitted, having seen Luffys confusion over the snail. Luffy realized that that made sense but was still a little annoyed that Sabo had seemingly told everyone else, but not him or Ace.
"Luffy, how are you taking the news?" She asked, voice growing softer in concern. Luffy frowned at that, thinking it over. He wanted to answer honestly, and if he was going to do that he needed to take the time to really figure out how he felt about Haru being alive.
"I was mad that Sabo didn't tell me sooner. And I don't like that Haru's... back." Luffy said slowly as he tried to find the right words to express his emotions.
"That's understandable. Anger is a natural reaction to someone withholding important information like that." Whiskey said, making Luffy feel better. After Sabo left, he'd also felt a little guilty for being so mad at his brother. Luffy understood why Sabo had kept it from them, but that understanding didn't stop him from being angry.
Luffy and Whiskey continued to talk for a while, the nurse helping him work out the different emotions he was having after his revelation. Whiskey told him the fact that he knew Haru was in close proximity could be causing him stress which could have played a factor in him getting stuck in his nightmare last night.
Overall, the talk was good for Luffy as he expected. It didn't change the fact that Haru was still in Paradise at the same time he was, and it didn't change the fact that Luffy was going to continue worrying about it, but talking it out with Whiskey truly made him feel better about everything. By the end of their conversation, Luffy was feeling much better than when he'd first called her.
"I'm glad you took the time to call and talk to me about this Luffy. And remember, Pops and everyone here wouldn't hesitate to come help you out with anything you needed." Whiskey reminded him. Luffy nodded at that but knew he wouldn't ask for that help unless there was no other option left. This was his journey, he didn't want to cheat by using Whitebeard's strength and power to help him out.
"I know. Oh, and I promise that I'm still looking for a doctor." Luffy said, remembering Whiskey's want for him to add one to his crew. The nurse laughed at that, making Luffy smile.
"I know you are. At least we all don't have to worry about the doctor you choose. If there's anyone you're going to choose carefully, it's gonna be your doctor." Whiskey said, still smiling. It was true after all because Luffy was going to be extremely picky when it came to the medical staff of his crew.
Luffy knew that he needed to find a doctor of his own so he didn't have to keep calling Whiskey all the time, but he couldn't imagine finding anyone he would trust like he did Whiskey. She was the first nurse outside of the facility to show that she wanted to help Luffy and his brothers rather than hurt them. He'd told her about every thought and feeling he'd had for years now, and the thought of finding someone else to fill that role was daunting.
How would he know that the doctor he found was going to be good like Whiskey? That their blue- because Luffy would never want to allow someone without a blue aura to join, especially a doctor- wouldn't turn to grey, and then black, after hearing everything Luffy had to say?
It was a stressful thought for Luffy, and seeing as he didn't like stressful things, he decided to ignore it for now. There was no use worrying about it now anyway seeing as there was nothing he could do at the moment to fix it. Instead, he focused back on the call with Whiskey, nodding.
"Mm. I'm gonna go now Whiskey. Thanks for talking!" Luffy told the nurse, the stress melting away as Luffy pushed his previous thoughts away.
"It was no problem Luffy. Goodbye. Gatcha." With the snail asleep once again and Luffy feeling much lighter and happier, the teen left the men's room and headed back up on to the Merrys deck. As he did, he heard a conversation from the front of the ship where everyone was standing. Once he put the den den back on the barrel that it usually rested on, he went to join them, catching the end of Nami's sentence.
"In fact, look! Our first journey is over." The woman said as she pointed ahead of them to where they could see land. Even though he hadn't heard the beginning of the conversation, Luffy didn't care as he focused on the strange-looking land.
"It's a really funny looking island," Luffy noted as he walked up behind his crew, Usopp and Nami jumping in surprise while Zoro and Sanji turned to look at him.
"Luffy, you're back!" Usopp said, holding his heart. It was evident they hadn't heard him coming which made Luffy snicker.
"Those cacti are huge," Luffy said instead, nodding back to the island as he said this. Everyone looked back, finding themselves agreeing with his words. The entire island was covered in gigantic cacti that dwarfed even their ship.
"So this is Whiskey Peak," Sanji said, hands in his pockets as he took in the strange looking island. Even though many were confused- and mildly concerned- about what Luffy had been doing, they didn't question it.
The sound of Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday jumping onto the Merrys railing drew their attention away from the island once again.
"Well then, we'll be leaving now." Mr. 9 started, he and Miss Wednesday crouched on the railing as they addressed the crew.
"Thanks for taking us home, honeys." Miss Wednesday said next.
"If we're linked by fate, we'll meet again!" Mr. 9 continued.
"Bye-bye, baby!" Both Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday said this before the two of them flipped backward off of the railing and into the ocean, swimming quickly to the nearby island. Luffy was honestly glad they were gone because as they spoke, Mr.9's darkness got worse, a feeling of knowing in the man. Miss Wednesday still didn't have the darkness, but she shared the knowing feelings of Mr. 9, telling Luffy that they would definitely see the two again.
"They're gone..." Nami said, unknowing to Luffy picking up on the two's strange feelings.
"Who on Earth were they?" Usopp asked from where he stood beside the navigator.
"Who cares?" Zoro asked, crossing his arms over his chest as they watched the two swim. Even though the man hadn't been able to figure out where he'd heard their names before, he wasn't all that bothered by it. It obviously wasn't all that important.
"We're landing," Luffy noted, turning to look at Whiskey Peak which was now right beside the Merry.
"There's a river at the front. Looks like we can go inland by ship." Nami said, focusing back on guiding the ship safely.
"I-Isn't it possible that there're monsters or things like that?" Usopp asked, his fear returning as he began shaking.
"It's definitely possible. This is the Grand Line." Sanji said, seemingly unfazed by the idea that there would be monsters.
"If we come across monsters, we can just fight 'em!" Luffy chirped happily, his previous misgivings gone at the idea of a good fight.
"What do you mean we?!" Usopp and Nami asked frightfully before Nami remembered something.
"But you're right, we would have to stay anyway for a certain period of time." She said, wilting as she said this.
"Why?" Usopp asked, eyes wide at the prospect of having to stay with the possible island monsters.
"Unless we store the magnetism of this island in the log pose, we can't go to the next island. Since each island requires a different amount of time to store the log, some islands require only several hours while others require days." She explained, lifting her wrist to show them the log pose.
"Th-Then even when this is a monster island that we want to escape from right away..." Usopp trailed off.
"We would have to stay here for possibly days until the log is stored," Nami confirmed, finishing the man's sentence.
"Shishishi! We'll just deal with it when we have to. Let's go already!" Luffy laughed happily, ready to explore the island.
"Luffy's right. Let's go. It's not worth thinking about it." Zoro agreed, just as ready to land, though not entirely for the same reasons as the young Captain.
"No matter what happens, I'll protect Nami-san," Sanji said, pointing to himself with a smile.
"H-Hey, wait. Listen, everyone. My chronic illness is suddenly... My 'do not go to the island' disease is-"
"Then we're going in," Nami said, interrupting Usopp and ignoring him completely.
"No..." Usopp said weakly.
"Listen. Be prepared to run, as well as fight." Nami continued, clearly focusing more on the idea of running than fighting.
"Ah, well... like I said, my chronic illness is... Well, I guess you're not listening..." Usopp said, trailing off as he realized everyone wasn't paying his words any mind.
As the Merry sailed further inland, they were surrounded by a fog that blocked their view of the island right beside them. Luffy was undeterred by this, sitting on Merry's figurehead with a wide grin, waiting for anything to appear.
The further inland they got, the more people Luffy began feeling around them. Of course, this made sense seeing as they were going through an island, presumably inhabited by people, what made it worrying was the emotions that the people around them had.
"We should be careful here," Luffy told the others, his eyes darting around the fog as he warned his crew.
"W-why? What is it? I knew it, it's monsters, isn't it?!" Usopp asked, his shaking only getting worse as he tried seeing anything in the fog.
"No monsters that I can feel. Only people. But they're not nice." Luffy said, tilting his head as he took in more of the maliciousness in the air.
"A fight then," Zoro said, placing a hand on his swords as he inspected the fog as well.
"Someones moving!" Nami called out, pointing in the distance where they could just barely make out a person's shape. Usopp squeaked in fear while Sanji and Zoro tensed in preparation for a fight. Luffy didn't move yet, feeling the maliciousness in the man, yet also a deceitful happiness.
"Ah, dammit! Since it's come to this, I've prepared myself." Usopp said, his goggles over his eyes and slingshot in hand, legs still shaking. The fog around them began clearing, showing them that there were many people around them.
What they weren't expecting were the happy smiles and cheering.
"Welcome to the Grand Line! Welcome to our town! To the welcoming town, Whiskey Peak!"
Apologies for the late upload everyone, I was not expecting to be so busy these past few days. But hey, welcome 2021! And with the new year comes a new chapter; a long one too!
This chapter was a beast to put together, but also a lot of fun. We find out Crocus knows about facilities, and at the same time, we reach Whiskey Peak and make another call to the Whitebeards. Not to mention, Luffy got stuck as well. It was a lot of things to happen in just one chapter, but I didn't want to break any of it up, and so in the end we got a 9,000+ word chapter!
I don't plan on making Whiskey Peak drag out, so it'll probably only be one chapter on it before the crew is moving on once again. With that said though, I think next chapter will also be fairly long because of this. (Not that I think you all will be displeased about that). I'm as excited as all of you to get to places such as Drum and Alabasta, and I have some ideas as to some new scene ideas for these arcs.
Sorry again for missing the usual update day, but Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all stay safe and enjoy a wonderful 2021! Thank you for all of your love and support throughout 2020, even though it was a tough year for most everyone. You're kindness really helped motivate me when things were tough and gloomy, and I can only hope that my stories can bring you as much comfort and joy as you all have for me.
See you later with the next chapter!