Chapter 41: Reverse Mountain
After the little ritual was completed, the storm had truly begun in earnest, forcing us to retreat indoors in order to seek shelter from the heavy downpour.
The only ones left out on the deck, sitting on the figurehead, was Luffy himself; though Nami soon headed back out with a raincoat on to double-check the ship's heading and our next destination.
It however didn't take long for them to join us in the dry confines of the dining room.
"Rein, is what written on this map true?" Nami asked me.
"Yes, it is." I nodded.
"Then this part heading over a mountain is…"
"It is real. That is the path into the Grand Line."
"Wait, what is this about a mountain?" Usopp asked, "I thought we were heading to the Grand Line."
"We are, but there is a slight problem." Nami placed the map onto the table for all of us to see, "The path we are taking will lead us up a mountain."
"…don't you mean through a mountain?"
"No. Up." The navigator pointed at the mountain on the map, "The lighthouse was directly pointing here, at Reverse Mountain located on the Red Line."
"What, we have to scale a mountain to get to the Grand Line?" Sanji asked, "What about the Knight Merry?"
"No; it means we are sailing up a mountain." I explained, "There's a waterway that leads up a mountain before flowing down into the Grand Line proper."
"…I'm sorry, what?"
"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Luffy happily cheered, no doubt excited by the prospect of what was essentially a large water slide.
"Yo-You can't sail up a mountain! That's crazy!" Usopp stated, "Last time I checked, water flows down! Not up!"
"Well, Rein here seems to think otherwise." Nami pointed out, "And she is the expert on all things concerning the Grand Line."
"She could be wrong! O-Or she misremembered it! Or–Grgk!"
My hand chopped the top of the sniper's head hard, "She is also standing right next to you."
"Why do we even need to head for that entryway?" Zoro asked, "Can't we just sail right into the Grand Line?"
"No, we can't!" Luffy cried out.
"Yeah, Luffy's right for once." Nami nodded, "For the Grand Line has—"
"It is so much cooler to use the real entrance!"
That got him a whack on the head, "That's not the reason here!"
"One does not simply sail into the Grand Line, Zoro." I pointed out, "…Huh, never thought I would ever use that line."
"Huh? Why not?"
"For starters, the Grand Line is surrounded by what is known as the Calm Belt; like its name implies, there are no winds, clouds or currents within it, so any sailing ship that entered it is stranded."
"That doesn't sound so bad–"
"And it is also the den for Sea Kings."
"Ah…"
"Sea Kings, like that one cow monster thing your mentor scared half to death with his roar?" Sanji asked.
"I'm sorry, he did what?"
"Yup." I nodded, "The Calm Belt is quite literally their nesting grounds; most if not all the Sea Kings in the world are born and raised in those waters. So, imagine what will happen when some unsuspecting ship enters those waters?"
"Right… got it." Zoro nodded sheepishly.
"…Uh, Rein…?" Usopp spoke up, "You say the Calm Belt has no winds or clouds, right…?"
"Yeah. No winds, clouds or currents." I nodded.
"Like… right outside?"
"Right outside? What do you–Oh, fuck."
Nami and I quickly ran out onto the deck to a non-stormy sky bereft of any clouds whatsoever and the lack of any waves or winds, as well as the sight of the storm over in the distance.
Crap, I should have paid closer attention to the outside! Now we were stranded in the Calm Belt just like in canon!
"Wow, it really is calm…" Luffy noted in awe.
"Quick, get the oars out!" Nami commanded, "We need to get out of here!"
"As you wish, Nami!"
"No need to tell me twice!"
Usopp and Sanji rushed back indoors to fetch the giant oars from the storage; but before they could open the door, the entire ship started shaking uncontrollably.
It then began to rise up into the air as several dozen large Sea Kings arose from beneath the calm waters around us; with the Knight Merry sitting upon the nose of one just like in canon.
"Oh… shit…" Luffy croaked, "That's… a lot of them…"
"Nobody moves…!" I quietly told everyone as I stood extremely still, "Don't make any sudden movements…! Just stay very still…!"
Everyone quickly followed my word and stood as still as I, mouth clenched shut as we all anxiously waited for the Sea Kings to descend back down into the water.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if the T-rex tactics would work on Sea Kings, but it was better than anything else.
Seconds agonizingly past us by before one of the Sea King dived back, before followed by another and then another; until it was only ones left were a giant frog and the one Merry was sitting on top of.
"Come on… come on…" I muttered under my breath, "Go down already…!"
"Ah… Ah…"
"Oh shit–Hang on!"
"ACHOO!"
"""AAHHHH!"""
The Sea King let out a huge sneeze that sent the caravel flying through the air with us screaming all the while trying to stay aboard the spinning ship.
As if that wasn't enough, the giant frog Sea King decided to jump at us with an open maw ready to swallow us whole.
"Giant frog incoming!"
"Ah, and Usopp fell overboard!"
"Save me!"
I quickly transformed into my half-dragon form and flew straight for the sniper falling overboard, grabbing him before the frog monster could close its mouth around him.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the only Sea King to take notice of us as more of them arose from beneath the waters and set their sights on us.
"Fly, Rein! FLY!"
"Shit, shit, SHIT!"
Pulling the sniper into my arms, I took off after our ship as the cacophony sea monsters came right at us, all aiming to chomp down on us.
From a giant cobra to a poodle-bird hybrid, I swerved and dodged around every possible species of Sea King that made it their mission to eat me and the sniper.
All the while, Merry was skipping along the waters towards the storm yet not getting any of the sea monsters' attention.
"FUCK THE CALM BELT!"
By the time we caught up with the others, the caravel had found itself back within the heavy storm it had initially escaped from; me and Usopp collapsing onto the deck from exhaustion the moment we landed.
"Never thought I would miss rain so much…" Usopp groaned.
"You… and me both…" I wheezed.
"That was not fun at all…" Luffy groaned.
"So, Zoro; still want to sail right into the Grand Line?" Nami asked.
"…I'll take my chances with the damn mountain." Zoro groaned.
"Not to be that guy… but we can't afford to stay lying around right now." Sanji stated, "The crazy currents are going to capsize us if we do."
"Currents… Ah! That's it!"
"What's it, Nami?"
"The current is what is going to bring us up the mountain!" She exclaimed, "It may sound crazy, but if the sea currents are strong enough, then the waters will flow up the mountain all the way to the top like a fountain! And since we are already in one, all we have to do is to steer it properly!"
"Oh, so it is a mystery mountain?" Luffy asked.
"…Yeeeeah, you can say that. But we will have only one chance to enter the canals. Reverse Mountain is a winter island, so any current that hits its edge will travel straight down to the bottom."
"In other words, miss the entrance and we will get dragged down into the ocean depths." Zoro noted, "Damn, talk about treading the needle…"
"Huh, it is just as I've heard." Sanji noted, "They say that supposedly half the people that attempted to enter don't make it."
"I-I suddenly don't want to g-go to the Grand Line an-anymore…" Usopp stuttered.
"Too late to back out now." I told him, "Once we are in the current, there's no way to escape it."
"Damn it, Rein! Why didn't you say anything sooner!?"
"Captain's orders, remember? No spoilers."
"Hey guys! I can see the mystery mountain!"
Following where Luffy was looking left me stunned without words. For no words could ever describe what I was looking at right now.
Standing in the horizon was the Red Line, the dividing mountain range that separated the North Blue from the East Blue; though it was more of a wall with how the dark red rock shot straight up from beneath the waves into the clouds above.
Just standing at the foot of it was enough to make me wonder how did Fisher Tiger even ascend up it to reach Mariejoe and release all those slaves; even the Vinsmokes had to use their giant snail ships to scale it.
"Whuah!"
It was thrown out of my thoughts when the Knight Merry suddenly lunged forward before slowly picking up speed; the sudden shift had most of the crew nearly falling over from it all.
"We're in the mystery current!" Luffy cried out excitedly, "Keep the rudder steady!"
"Whoa…" Nami stiffly turned to me and asked, "Rein, is that…?"
"It is." I nodded equally stiff, "That's the entrance into the Grand Line."
"I don't believe it…" Zoro muttered in awe, "The waters are really going up the mountain…"
Right in front of us, with water gushing in by the galleons and up the canal like reverse rapids under thousands of large stone arches, was Reverse Mountain and the entrance into the Grand Line; and it was everything and nothing I had ever imagine it to be.
The impossibility of the scene was absolutely breathtaking to say the least, and in a word, beautiful; it was like looking at a Wonder of the World like the Pyramid of Giza or the Great Wall of China.
How did this came to be? Who built those stone arches and why? Every possible question for its existence came to mind as I took in the sight of the century; never again would I ever had the chance to see this for myself.
"Ah, shit!" I snapped my fingers, "I should have gotten a visual Den Den Mushi!"
"Huh? What for?" Zoro asked.
"To take a picture of this! Where else in the world am I going to see such a sight as this?"
"We're not sightseeing tourists, you know…"
"Ah! We're veering to the left!" Luffy called out, "Go right! Starboard!"
"Starboard, got it!"
"Damn, these currents are tough!"
Usopp and Sanji pushed and pulled on the steering pole as hard as they could change direction, but it was clear it was easier said than done.
And eventually, something had to go and…
*Crack*
That happened to be the steering pole itself; which left us unable to avoid heading bow-first towards the foot of a stone arch at alarming speeds.
"We're going to crash!" Nami cried out.
"Luffy!" I cried out, "Do something!"
"I'm on it! Gum Gum Balloon!"
Luffy jumped overboard and inflated himself between the ship and the stone arch, his rubbery body cushioning our impact while redirecting our trajectory into the canal proper.
Tossing his straw hat to me, Luffy jumped overboard and inflated himself between the ship and the stone arch, his rubbery body squeezing against the Merry and cushioning our impact.
A tense moment later, the ship bounced right off him and sailed right into the canal proper.
"Luffy! Grab on!"
Zoro quickly extended his hand out, which our captain quickly grabbed onto; the swordsman swiftly pulled him back aboard in no time at all.
With the tense moment gone, I could not help but laugh and cheered as we sailed right up the side of Reverse Mountain without a care in the world; and I wasn't the only one, as pretty much everyone was cheering at our success.
It was exhilarating, the feeling of wind rushing against my face, ever increasing velocity as we ascended higher and higher this monolith of nature.
I was no stranger to the feeling of ascending high into the skies, but it was a different feeling when I wasn't the one flying.
"Look!" Nami pointed out, "We're going past the clouds now!"
Barely moments into the canal, the currents had already sent us flying up past the clouds and up towards the peak in no time at all, where the currents of all four seas met in a spray of sea water.
Following them, the Knight Merry sailed up and bounced up into the air as well; and for an instance, the whole world was laid bare to all of us.
The North Blue, the South Blue, the West Blue, the East Blue, the Calm Belts; and finally, the Grand Line right below us.
"I really should have gotten that Cameko…"
Then, it all faded away as gravity finally asserted its dominance over us and the Knight Merry dropped down and sailed down the canal into the Grand Line proper.
"Woohoo!" Luffy cheered, "Grand Line, here we come!"
"Damn, this is crazy…!" Usopp noted with a shaky grin, "And I thought my lies are outrageous…!"
"It is as they say, 'truth is stranger than fiction'." I told him with a grin, "And this isn't the most bizarre of the lot, either."
"Whoa, for real!?"
"Yup! We are going to see a whole lot of crazy things in the Grand Line that make this part seem like a theme park in comparison!"
"BUUUOOOOOOHHHHH!"
"Speaking of which…"
"Huh? Did you guys hear that?" Zoro asked.
"That's probably just the sound of the wind." Nami pointed out, "With the crazy terrain here, the wind is going to make some kind of weird noise."
"Hey, there's some kind of mountain up ahead." Sanji called out.
"A mountain? That can't be right. Once we pass the twin capes up ahead, we should reach open waters. Unless…"
Nami immediately turned to me and I raised my hand up, "Give it a moment. You should see him soon."
"See him?"
As we got through the clouds, I pointed straight forward and was greeted by the sight that every One Piece fan knows by heart; and was the sight that greeted all fans once we got to the Grand Line itself.
Standing right in front of us and blocking the entrance into the ocean with its colossal size was the whale that was Laboon.
"Rein!"
"Again, captain's orders!"
…
To be continued…
This chapter ended up being way shorter than I had hoped. I originally wanted to include Laboon's little story arc, but that ended up making it way too long, so I cut it into two separate chapters instead.
So the next chapter would come up soon after this one.
With that, I thank you all for reading this!