The first sign that they were in the Calm Belt was the Sea Kings.
Many Sea Kings.
After their feast, the crew had sailed well for many hours; the undersea valleys soon giving way to the great expanse of the deep.
And then they appeared.
"Take us east," Reiju directed as a visibly nervous Shachi piloted. Izuku sat at the Sonar Map console, staring down at the screen; as still-images of creatures the size of ships, with fangs the size of grown men, flickered and shifted.
"To think these are the juveniles…" he muttered, amazed in spite of himself.
"What do you mean juveniles?!" Shachi squawked. "Lords of the Coast are a pain in the ass to kill, and you're telling me those Sea Kings are BABIES?!"
"Yeah, from the looks of them," replied Izuku, without looking up. "Yamato and I saw some fully-grown ones once. They could've swallowed this sub whole easily."
"Swallowed…" Penguin blithered, swaying.
"The Grand Line is scary," Bepo added, turning blue at the thought.
"Just be thankful they don't care for us," Izuku went on, eyes still fixed on the map, trying to keep his mind off the fact if the Sea Kings did attack, there was nothing he could do.
"Oh yeah, right," laughed Shachi nervously. "Because of the seastone hull, right, yeah." He was sweating. "So we just…sail on through, right?"
"Wrong. If there's juveniles, there'll be a full-size pod not far from here; maybe even a nest. They can't see us, but if we bump them…"
"So we dodge around the edge, then hug the Red Line until we're well away from them," Reiju cut in.
The sonar pinged, and everyone froze as Izuku looked at the screen. The shapes were getting bigger and bigger, so big that he could make the head of a cow, a flamingo, or even a lion.
But they were all big. Bigger than most cruise ships.
"Pod, dead ahead," Izuku said, his Danger Sense buzzing.
"They're at forty metres. Take us up," Reiju ordered. Penguin obeyed, and the sub tilted upward. The Sea Kings continued their approach, passing slowly underneath.
"Shall we breach?" Penguin asked.
"Checking." Izuku turned some knobs, the image window expanding and going right to left.
Then his whole body clenched, as a massive shape appeared on the screen.
"Marine ship, big one. Don't surface," he urged.
"Shit. Thread the needle then."
The sub levelled off, just under the surface. They were parallel with the Sea King pod below, and perpendicular with the approaching battleship.
"The size of this thing… it's a goddamn Kong," Shachi muttered, now wondering what was worse, the ship or the kings.
"Another of the Admiralty?" Drona asked.
"Has to be…" said Reiju. "It could be a Vice or Rear Admiral… or one of the Three."
"Could… they see us?" asked Shachi. He and Penguin were gazing up at the ceiling, sweating with fear.
"The water's not that clear," Reiju replied. "Even if they could, they'll likely mistake us for a Sea King."
Izuku's Danger Sense tingled, and he looked down at the screen. An enormous shape was ahead of them, and getting closer.
"Sea King, dead ahead," he called out. Even on that vague screen he could make out the enormous eyes, and the massive fangs, as the beast came closer. Two hundred metres, one hundred and eighty, one hundred and fifty…
They were turning, and the Sea King swam past; heedless and careless of the tiny lives in its wake.
"Marine ship crossing over in five, four, three…" Izuku called out. The ship passed over them, and the only sound was the pinging of the sonar.
And it was gone.
"Hurp." All heads turned to Bepo, who blushed. "Oh. I'm sorry."
And the pod was gone too.
"Sea Kings are gone. For now at least," Izuku called out. Everyone sighed with relief, Penguin and Sachi practically collapsing from the tension.
"Keep the course… we'll come along the Red Line any time now," Reiju declared.
Izuku looked behind him to the hatch. Law, the Maids, and Yamato were asleep right now. His finger ached, and he looked down at it. It was healing, but it still twinged every now and again; as if it couldn't quite forget what had happened to it.
Like Yamato.
"How long till you can carry us Midoriya?" Shachi asked.
"As long as Captain says," Bepo cut in. "Captain's the doctor, and he has final say."
"It's feeling better but… I don't wanna rush things." Izuku shrugged. "Wouldn't want Law to get mad." He offered a bashful smile. Shachi winced with disappointment, then nodded.
"Yeah you're right." He sighed. "It's great we're safe and all but man… I miss being on a ship."
"We all do Shachi," Penguin added, and Bepo slumped. "We all do."
Izuku turned his eyes back to his screen; his window to the outside world.
If he was honest, he felt the same way.
(X)
It did not take them long to reach the Red Line. From there, it was a long, slow trip south.
Yamato kept her eyes on the radar screen; watching the images as they flickered and shifted. To her right was the vast rocky expanse of the Red Line; to her left was the wide open Blue Sea. Every so often they had encountered eel-like Sea Kings, who made the crevices of the Red Line their home. But they never noticed the sub, and all was well. Marine ships passed overhead, but they never did anything either. They neither saw, nor knew, nor cared.
How much longer would they have to stay there? It had been many days, more than days. Yet still they were trapped in this metal prison, surrounded by water; the air hot and thick, the smells getting worse.
And her horns…they just kept itching!
"Yamato." She blinked, and looked up to see Law standing there, holding out a tray.
She hadn't noticed. She hadn't cared to notice. There had only been that radar screen, and her duty to watch it. That was something she could do, at least.
Yamato looked down at the meal; slices of steak and an oven-roasted potato, with a glass of orange juice. She took the glass and downed it in one go, then took the tray and set it down on the console.
"Thank you," she said, absent-mindedly, then poked at the steak with her knife and fork.
"I wanted my steak rare please," Fantina called out.
"Shoot, hey Yamato." Law called out. "I mixed you up with Fantina. Let's switch."
However, as Yamato heard the request, the knife dug into the steak, and red juices leaked out.
Like bloo-
Yamato froze, and the cutlery bent in her hands. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Law standing there, looking worried.
"You alright?"
"Here." She held the tray out to him. "And…no meat please. I'll settle for bread."
The sight made Law frown.
She didn't look at him. She couldn't look at him. She just stared down at the screen as Law took the plate, counting the buttons and glancing at the screen, alert for something to happen.
(X)
Izuku felt a nudge, and yawned as he arose from his slumber. He turned, seeing the Maids switching places with the Hearts. Law looking at him.
"Hey, time for breakfast," he urged. Izuku groaned as he climbed out of bed. Nearby, the Hearts were ready to leave.
"Midoriya, Yamato hasn't been eating meat," Law said suddenly.
"Why?" The green-haired boy looked at him, and he felt a pit grow inside him.
"She had a freak out when she cut into a steak I cooked. Made it rare for Fantina but I switched it up by mistake. My guess is the blood…reminded her of some things."
Izuku looked at the clock. Three in the morning. The Calm Belt had no clouds.
Which meant…
"Hey Law," he called out, pulling on his green shirt and adjusting his golden chain necklace. "I need a favor. Can you get everybody together, and bring the sub up to the surface?"
Law quirked an eyebrow. "What are you planning?"
"Work with me here."
The pirate sighed, and headed over to the Maids. "Hey girls, you wanna see something?"
"See what?" Cosette asked, suspicious.
Izuku headed down the corridor to the infirmary, silently hoping he hadn't gotten Law into a bad situation. Inside the infirmary was Yamato, sitting on the floor as she had before, head down. Izuku stepped in, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey," he whispered, nudging her lightly. She groaned, and looked up; bleary-eyed. "Wanna see something cool, Yamato?"
He saw Oden's journal on the deck beside her.
"See what?" Yamato croaked, rubbing at her eyes. Izuku smiled, and offered his hand; praying that this would work.
"Come and see," he said. For what felt like an eternity, Yamato just stared at him. Then, at last, she took his hand; and he helped her up. Her eyes were dim, and rimmed with black; not the bright eyes he had known before. He could only smile, and lead her by the hand out of the bunk room, and into the corridor.
"We're coming up now," called Law, clambering down the ladder from the control center. "What's the big idea, Midoriya?"
"You'll see," Izuku replied with a smile; hoping and praying he had guessed the weather right. He felt the slight lurch as the submarine broke the surface.
As the others gathered in the corridor, he floated up to the main hatch. With the pressure seal showing green, he turned the wheel, and pushed the hatch open. The night air was cool on his face; but there was better to come.
"Come on up," he called, and floated up through the hatch.
All around him was a vast expanse of calm ocean; against a brilliant clear night sky. Above him, the dark was emblazoned with stars; and more than stars. Galaxies and nebulas spread across the cosmos; and a great full Moon looming overhead, illuminating the water.
He heard Yamato gasp as she beheld the sight.
"Okay Midoriya, what's the big idea for our stop..ing…"
He looked back, and saw Law staring up at the sky; as amazed as he and Yamato were. The others were climbing up too, their eyes fixed on the wondrous sight above them. He could hear them gasp and breathe, see the awe in their eyes.
"Whoa… there's so many stars!" Shachi exclaimed. "Like, way more than what we have in the North!"
"How can we see them so well! And what are those big… colory splotches? Some's white, some's red and stuff! It's like someone is painting the sky!" Bepo added. "I can see some of the stars… they're all so clear!"
"Those splotches up on high are nebulas, galaxies," Izuku said as he looked down at his companions. "Out there in the cosmos are stars, much like our sun. And planets too, like this one."
"So is every light up there…" Fantina gasped in amazement. "Like our sun?"
"Every one," Izuku confirmed. "Some are billions of years old; older than this planet. Some are trillions of years old, and get so big they swallow up whole solar systems."
"Quite the sight," Drona stated, stroking his beard. "I couldn't get a view like this in Flevance. From my homeland, I've seen the stars like this all my life; yet I never get tired of this sight." He chuckled.
"I thought, since everyone's getting a little cooped up, why not some fresh air?" Izuku explained, floating around. "And seeing the stars…"
He saw their expressions. Some were wonderstruck, or merely appreciative; while others were harder to read.
"I know this world has been hard, cruel," he went on. "It's taken you from your homes, or forced you from them. But…this world is beautiful too; and it has good people in it." He looked to Yamato. "And they'll always be worth fighting for."
Yamato looked away, still holding her arm. But on her face, just visible in the starlight, was a soft smile.
It was something, at least.
"No matter what happens, I'll do right by you all," Izuku continued. "We couldn't have gotten this far without you; each and every one of you. You'll get what you want, and where you want to go."
He floated down to Yamato, and took her hand.
"Izuku…?"
"Hmm?"
"Can we… go?"
…
"Of course." He smiled. "Yamato, would you like to see this sight again? When we go back to adventuring?"
She was silent.
"I dunno." And she walked back to the tower, and climbed back down the ladder. Izuku felt the pit in his heart begin to turn. It hadn't worked.
"You're reaching her." He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, seeing Drona smiling. "I know it."
"You do?" he asked, unconvinced.
"Your Kara ebbs and flows, affected by hers. You care for her greatly."
Izuku nodded. "I won't give up. Not until… I can make her smile again."
Yamato had always smiled, even through the harder times. Somehow, some way, she always did. But not now.
"How… how can I help her?" His voice was faint. "I…I don't know her anymore. I don't know this Yamato. How can I…I just want to…"
"She can only help herself now." Drona patted his shoulder. "But being by her side will help her." He stretched his arms, and looked up to the heavens. "This is not something a simple stargaze will resolve, my son. Her journey is one of a thousand steps; but this one will do for a start."
He turned, and headed back to the tower. The others had gone too, leaving Izuku alone on the deck; alone with only the heavens above him.
He floated back down the hatch, and pulled it shut. He stood in the middle of the tube, feeling the hull groan and the water rushing around. They were going down, and their journey would continue.
His head was silent. And he felt like wanting to curl into a ball. He had never felt so…
Helpless.
(X)
Reiju snapped awake. Her cot in the Captain's Quarters was shaking, and she could feel the ship heaving underneath her. Something was very wrong.
"Report!" she ordered, as she scrambled up the ladder into the command centre.
"We're being pulled into a current!" Law called back. He was sitting in the captain's chair, and clinging to it for dear life. Shachi was at the helm, struggling to keep the wheel steady as the submarine bucked and groaned.
"Get us out of there! Surface!" Reiju called out. "Yamato, what's on the screen!?"
"Multiple contacts, but I can't make them out!" Yamato called back from the sonar console. "Lots of them below us; and movement ahead, but it's slight, like rain!"
Reiju made her way over the heaving, tipping deck; and made it to Yamato's side. Behind her, Izuku flew straight up the ladder.
"I got us into this mess!" wailed Yamato, clutching her head. "What have I done!?"
Reiju's stomach churned, more than it was already. One little crisis and Yamato was falling apart!
"It's not your fault!" insisted Izuku, joining them. "You followed the Eternal Pose, that's all!
Reiju stared down at the screen. As Yamato said, it was full of strange, unmoving shapes below them; a flickering cone-shaped contacts that were almost certainly rain.
"Midoriya! Can you carry us?" called Law.
"No! He's not healthy yet!" pleaded Yamato, panic on her face.
"I can do it!" declared Izuku, running to the ladder and dropping back down. Yamato gaped, and stared at Law in horror.
"I don't like it either, but we don't have a choice!"
As if on cue, the radar began to fizzle, the Sonar Snails groaning and beeping.
"And I don't want this sub to sink!" Law went on. "Blow the ballast! Get us out of this!"
Reiju felt the submarine shudder as the ballast was released, and the hull groaned as it rose.
"Reiju, go check on Midoriya!" Law ordered. Reiju nodded, and dropped down the ladder. Down in the corridor, she could see Izuku at the exit hatch, checking the seal. He saw her, and gave a thumbs up.
"Thirty! Twenty! Ten! Five!" Penguin called out. "Surface!"
The hull groaned again, bucked, and then settled. Izuku undid the hatch, and Reiju could see the purple sky as he flew out. Within seconds, the hull was groaning again, and Reiju felt it shift.
Just like with the Arctic Unicorn.
"We're in the air!" she called up to the command center.
"We're flying blind! What's the issue!" Law called out. "Where are we? Why are the Snails acting up!?"
Reiju clambered over to the exit ladder, and climbed up; poking her head out. For an instant she was stunned, amazed by the sight of a vast island shrouded in violet fog; the Aurora Borealis bright across the sky, and rainbow-colored lightning flashing between them. She turned, steadying herself, and saw Izuku's black tendrils wrapped around the hull; carrying them through the sky.
She looked down. Rock spires jutted up from the sea, lightning crackling from the tips up to the Aurora. Whirlpools swirled and sucked, surrounding the entire island. The wind was harsh, and the air felt…fizzy, as if it was…ionized. She couldn't think of anything else to call it.
"I see a beach! Gonna make landfall!" she heard Izuku call out. They began to descend, and Reiju's blood ran cold as she saw the tattered shapes of wrecked ships, scattered across the rocky shoals. And across the water, balls of water swirled; glowing like miniature suns, wreathed in purple mist.
What was this place?
"Is this… the New World!?" she uttered, awestruck; the wind racing through her hair as she saw Izuku direct the sub towards the island. She could see the beach, but the rest of the island was covered in that same purple mist. She could just make out what looked like forests, and a small mountain…and…were those buildings she could see?
At last, the sub touched down. Reiju sighed with relief, almost falling off the ladder. The sub shook as Izuku shifted it from side to side, driving it gently into the sand to keep it steady.
"We've landed!" she called down the ladder, then climbed out onto the deck. "Izuku, you okay!?"
"Yeah!" Izuku looked at his hand as he touched down, flexing it. "Doesn't hurt that much." He grinned. "One more day, and I can manage a long flight."
Reiju smiled in relief. "That's good. Is it heavier than the Unicorn?"
"A lot, but nothing I can't handle. Bet I can do six or seven hours." Izuku looked as Law's head emerged from the hatch, and his draw dropped at the sight.
"What the hell is this place!?" he asked, clambering out; the Maids coming up after him.
"Welcome to the New World." Izuku gestured around him. The Aurora Borealis above, the towering spires, the crackling lightning; and in the distance, the shipwrecks.
"Incredible…" Cosette uttered.
"Whoaaaaa…" Shachi and Penguin exclaimed at once. Everyone was speechless.
"My my…" Drona mused. "What a sight…"
And it was. It felt so surreal. So alien and mythical all at once.
And finally, Yamato came out, looking around.
"Wanna make camp? It'll be good to sleep under the stars for once," Izuku suggested. "We can start for Melville tomorrow."
"What do you think?" Reiju turned to Law. "Stretch our legs. Fresh air. Doesn't seem like there's anyone here; not with all those shipwrecks.
"It doesn't look like any got through," Law mused. He slid down the hull and landed on the sand. "Staying here the night works. I think we've all been going stir crazy."
Izuku used his tendrils to help the maids down, while Reiju, Drona, and Yamato slid down the hull as Law had done.
"Hey Captain," Bepo sniffed the air. "The air is weird. Reminds me of those times we sailed up near the arctic circle." He smacked his lips. "All those northern lights in the sky. Does the Grand Line have a North Pole or something?"
"How do we have a North Pole when we're in the middle of the world!" Shachi said, genuinely baffled by the sight before him.
Yamato looked around, then paused; staring at something in the distance.
"I dunno! Maybe the atmosphere is weaker here?"
"Why don't we explore?" Izuku asked. "Set camp, then check this place out. Plus me and Yamato need to make a call and-"
Yamato began running.
"Yamato? What's up!" Izuku called out. But Yamato ran on into the mists; towards the ruins Reiju had seen earlier. Izuku flew after her, and Reiju ran, following her through the billowing mists until they reached a stone wall. It was covered in writing; but in a script Reiju had never seen before.
There were pictures too; of boats in the sea and in clouds…and even under the sea. Some were relatively clear, while others had eroded over time.
Then she saw it. A great black expanse, the faint white lines of a pentagram within. A bright sun. A bird with a star at its crest. A hexagram with a swastika symbol in the middle. A cross with four orbs at both ends. An orb with three horns at the top and one at the bottom.
A great sun, with a small flame at its center.
She glanced back. Law had arrived, and the others were coming to join them. Drona was walking casually, taking in the sights.
"I know this island," breathed Yamato. Reiju looked at her. Her mouth was ajar, and the dull haze was gone from her eyes.
"Yamato?"
"He mentioned this only once… an island untouched by the world. An island hard to reach… the very end of the Grand Line, where all magnetic poles eventually point to." Yamato's eyes went to the floor. "All pirates who come here…they need to learn an ancient language in order to find it. The one thing all pirates seek…"
Yamato turned back to the wall.
"They have to learn the ancient language of the Poneglyphs," she went on. "This is the island that forced the King of the Pirates to seek out Whitebeard, to recruit Oden."
Reiju felt her heart skip a beat; and Law's jaw dropped further and further.
"This is the second to last island in the Grand Line. Lodestar."
Well. Bet you all didn't see that coming did you.
We're back in the New World... but in one helluva island. that's hard to get to(as I mentioned with the whirlpools, lightning spires, and Warm Eddies aka those big water sun things you saw at the beginning of the Egghead Arc when the Straw Hats picked up Bonney). But now we are about to get into some lore and character stuff. Then we hit the flight back to Melville.
Again, big thanks to IKnowNothing , Juubi-K and WildJoker000 for thier help on this. Will be the last chapter of 2024.
Hope you all enjoyed our version of Lodestar being the mother of all magnetic islands, and see you all in the next one.