Chapter 6.4

When I came to my senses, the first thing I saw was Nami and Crocus leaning over me. Nami with a concerned expression and Krokus with an irritated one. "How are you feeling, brat?" the old man grumbled.

I blinked vaguely as I considered this statement before wincing as I felt a ton of pain where my face had been. "I'm alive, although whether this is good or not remains to be seen..." I looked at our navigator with curiosity. -Since when can you punch like that?

"Never," Nami stated firmly, her voice filled with concern. -At least not good enough to knock someone out for ten minutes.

"WHAT!?" I squealed, jerking to take a vertical position... and then, with a groan, regretting what I had done, clutching my throbbing face. -Oooooo... okay, in that case, what the hell?! I've never gotten punched in the face before, definitely, but I'd like to think I'm capable of surviving a punch if it comes from someone your size! - I cast a wary glance at Nami. -No offense.

- No offense.

As Crokus considered his answer, my own mind sped up. I'll admit, I expected some level of danger due to my status as an inter-dimensional alien, of course, but to the point where I was in danger of being hit by NAMI!? I was hoping to stand next to Luffy instead of cheering him on from afar!

Finally Crocus spoke, breaking me out of my thoughts. -Answer me, brat: your hand, when did you hurt it?

"Huh?" I looked at my hands in confusion.

- Your right hand. Don't tell me I broke your eardrum.

- Hey! It wasn't me who knocked you out, and I'm still mad at you!

- And why should I care!?

While Nami grumbled and grumbled darkly, I rolled up the sleeve of my jacket, revealing a piece of raw flesh that was quite painful. -Oh, this one? It's a rope burn, I got it about an hour ago when we were descending into the throat of Laboon.

This brought Nami's surprised attention to me. -It's already been an hour and you haven't even started to heal yet!? Cross, what the hell!?"

- Hmm... - I hesitated a little. -I... isn't this normal?

"In my experience, such burns usually begin to heal and disappear after a few hours," Crocus stated officially. -What is your assessment?

- Mm... - I racked my brain for a second before coming up with an assessment. -Uh... a week? Maximum? I'm not a medical student, so...

Nami's eyes twitched furiously. -Cross, I repeat: what the hell!?

"Hmm..." My thoughts sped up as I tried to come up with an acceptable answer.

Fortunately, I was spared the need to make things up.

- I think I have an idea.

I hid my relief by looking at Crocus. The old doctor scratched his chin thoughtfully.

- Your friend told me about your home - Florida. It's a hidden nation, right? Small population, I assume all locals, with few or no immigrants?

"Um..." I hesitated a bit before nodding in agreement. -Yes something like that. We don't want anyone to find out about us - it's a conspiracy, so yes, few people manage to get there. Why?

Crokus exhaled in annoyance and rolled his eyes. -Does the word "inbreeding" mean anything to you?

I realized what was going on and immediately seized the opportunity given to me, slapping my hand across my face and letting out an embarrassed groan. -Yes, I know what you mean. And I think you should be careful... Just for the record, I don't care if you're a girl or an old man, if this conversation gets to the rest of the team, I'll put my foot through the chatterbox's digestive tract. Capish?

Nami raised her hands in polite surrender, but Crokus just snorted.

- Anyway... that's what it's all about? Will I die a doomed, fragile person due to faulty genes?

"Nah, you'll be fine." Crokus waved me off. -Given that you don't have any obvious mutations, the problem isn't as serious as you might think. No, it's most likely a power issue. Poor harvests, livestock and all that. As long as you continue to eat fresh food from the Blue Seas and avoid salt beef and biscuits, you should be fine.

"Oh, thank God..." I pressed my hand to my chest with a sigh of relief.

Nami nodded in agreement before smiling and helping me to my feet. - Well, at least you got up on time. Sanji said he would serve dinner soon.

"Cool!" I smiled impatiently and followed her. "I'm so hungry that I'm ready to eat the Sea King!" My smile became even wider when an idea struck me. -Or a snail. - I waited for a sarcastic answer... then I looked in shock at my bare shoulder. -Where did Soundbite go?!

"Don't panic, he's fine," Nami assured me, pointing to the ocean. -He wanted to chat a little... so to speak.

Sure enough, Soundbite was sitting on a barrel, chatting animatedly with a very familiar whale, who was now sporting a vaguely familiar emblem over his scars.

I swallowed hard as I looked at the pale imitation of our flag. -Please tell me Luffy didn't recruit the whale.

"I would have harpooned him if he tried," Crokus stated decisively.

"Luffy took the promise made by the crew of Laboon and drew our mark as a symbol of it," Nami explained. -Soundbite spoke to him once we assured him that you were fine... and when he stopped laughing after that.

"By the way, if Laboon develops bad habits, I'll blame both of you," Crokus boomed.

I hastily raised my hands. - Fair, fair. So... Sanji will be here soon with food, and I think Usopp will soon be done fixing Merry.. what's next?

"Hmm... good question..." Nami thought, pulling out a round object from her pocket and pressing the button on the side. -Let me just...

I blinked when our team's navigator suddenly stopped speaking without any hint of a reason. -Um... Nami? Is everything okay...?

- IIIIIIIAAAAAAAAA!

I cursed in shock as Nami let out a bloodcurdling scream of terror, causing even Laboon to tuck his tail between his legs and hide under the waves in terror.

"CRAZY BANSHEE!" Soundbite squealed, but quickly calmed down when I pulled him onto my shoulder again.

"Nami-suan, is everything alright?" Sanji exclaimed lovingly, jumping towards us with plates on top of plates of delicious looking food perched on his limbs, Usopp following at his heels.

"NO, YOU STUPID, EVERYTHING IS NOT OKAY!" Nami screamed, throwing the compass onto a nearby table. -LOOK! THE COMPASS IS BROKEN!

And indeed, the metal needle was spinning wildly in its body, more like a propeller than a navigational instrument.

"You came to the Grand Line unprepared," Crokus said calmly, putting down new plates and clearly surprised. -Well well! Do you want to be killed? I thought I already told you that there is nothing permanent in these waters. Your compass is not broken, nature is.

"So even the damned magnetic field doesn't work as it should?" I said quietly. - Fun, fun, fun.

"Indeed," Crokus nodded solemnly. -You see, each island of the Grand Line is truly unique, and not just in the obvious sense. Their mineral compositions emit truly unique magnetic fields that render compasses inoperable. And of course, as you would expect, all winds and currents have a mind of their own. I'm sure you understand how deadly this is, Miss Navigator.

Nami swallowed hard as cold sweat broke out on her forehead. -If we hadn't immediately stumbled upon the Calm Belt, we would have wandered aimlessly until we became dehydrated or starved to death...

- Exactly. Going into these waters unprepared is tantamount to suicide.

"I had no idea..." Our navigator sobbed quietly, scratching the back of her head.

"WHAT DO WE DO NOW!?" Usopp screamed, clutching his head in fear.

"Don't be afraid Nami-suan, you are still beautiful even if you don't know anything!" Sanji exclaimed with love.

- SHUT UP!

"Mmm... This tuna is delicious!" Luffy muttered through his mouthful of food.

"Have you tried the tail?" I asked while I was chewing my portion. -It has the texture of pork, but it tastes like chicken.

"Yum-yum!" Soundbyte was busy chewing his portion, which I offered him.

"Hm?" Crokus coughed, continuing once he had our full attention. -Now, in order to navigate the Grand Line, you will need a device known as a Log Pose. This is a special type of compass that can remember the magnetic fields of the Grand Line.

Luffy swallowed the food that was in his mouth and tilted his head questioningly. -So this is a strange compass?

- Yes, they have strange shapes.

- I think I found one! Do you still have it, Cross?

"Yeah," I agreed, pulling the Log Pose out of my jacket and putting it on display for everyone to see.

"Hmm, you're lucky." Crokus nodded decisively. -Entering the Grand Line is an ordeal in itself, navigating without a Log Pose is almost impossible, and I only said almost because I have found that, in my experience, anything is possible on the Grand Line.

"I see, I see, just a minute..." Nami nodded slowly. "I just need to find out..." She suddenly turned sharply towards us. -WHERE DID YOU IDIOTS GET HIM??

I tried to dodge her...

*HIT*!

But I was late.

The next thing I remember is blinking, lying face down in my plate. "How long was I out?" I muttered.

- Long enough for Luffy to tell me where he got that compass, and for me to explain to him your... condition. Sorry..." Nami scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Fair enough..." I stood up and began wiping my face, trying my best to ignore Soundbite's giggling. -Let's continue.

- Right, right. Crocus, this Log Pos... - She brought it to her eyes with curiosity. -How does he work? I don't see any marks...

"He doesn't need them," the keeper explained. -The islands of the Grand Line have their own unique fields. Log Pose remembers the fields of the islands, leading you from one to another. Log Pos is your only hope to cross this ocean. Starting from this mountain, you will have to choose one of the seven magnetic fields of the islands. The ultimate goal, however, is the same for all of them. All routes, no matter which one you take, ultimately become one and lead to one final destination.

I froze as the atmosphere suddenly changed. It was truly awe inspiring. Dare I say...awestruck.

"Raftel," Crokus said solemnly. -This is the last island of the Grand Line. In all of history, only one pirate crew has made it there and lived to tell the tale: the Pirate King's crew.

"You mean until we get there," Luffy grinned, sinking his teeth into the Blue-Eyed Elephant's spine. Having made his statement, he leaned back and sighed contentedly, patting his somewhat bloated stomach. -God, it was delicious!

"You ate everything!" Sanji shouted, his jaw dropping.

Usopp looked at the remains of the Blue-Eyes Elephant before making an impressive remark. -He even ate the bones!

"At least I had time to try..." I muttered furiously. Damn, he was fast... And I really liked that tuna!

"GREEDY GLORIOUS!" Soundbite sobbed.

- Damn it, Luffy! I prepared it for Nami! I wanted her to... - and then Sanji emphasized his point by kicking Luffy in the head. - I tried all the best!

I winced as Luffy flew straight and true, flying right over Nami's hand and smashing the Log Pose she had attached to her wrist. And indeed, the fragile glass could not withstand the meeting with Luffy, destroying the device in the blink of an eye.

For a moment, Nami simply looked at Log Pos, her face unchanged, frozen in a satisfied smile. And when Sanji turned his loving gaze on her, the expression on her face changed to a menacing one.

Usopp, Soundbite and I prepared ourselves for the explosion that was about to happen. We didn't have to wait long.

Neither the distraught Sanji nor the somewhat stunned Luffy had time to react when Nami approached them and simultaneously threw them both off the cliff.

"GO GET YOUR HEADS WET!" she shouted after them as they landed in the water.

As Nami stomped back to the others, Usopp gave me a worried look. -Hey, will Luffy be okay, he can't swim?

- Um, Sanji is with him. "Everything will be fine," I answered with a shrug. -Besides, they both deserve it. I don't know about you, but I don't want to die getting in Nami's way.

Usopp nodded slowly, glancing warily at Nami, apparently satisfied with the answer, and turning his attention back to our navigator, who was fussing around the broken Log Pose.

"Crocus, what should we do?" Nami lamented. -Our precious Log Pos...!

"Actually..." I intervened before Crokus could speak, pulling out the Log Pos I had bought in Loguetown from my pocket. It was a bulky thing, with a metal needle oscillating inside a metal-lined glass ball, attached to a leather cuff, and which was much stronger than the rather thin sphere above the other Log Pose.

Nami jerked slightly, swinging at me before hastily stopping herself. "If you already knew..." she hissed. -Why the hell didn't you tell us!?

I shrugged helplessly. -I overheard something about "special compasses" back in Loguetown, so I took the liberty of buying one along the way, expecting to learn more along the way. Although I didn't expect to use it as a spare.

"Hmm..." Crokus studied Log Pos carefully before nodding decisively. -You're lucky, guy: you bought a damn good thing. Solid, strong. He will serve you well.

I smiled, clapping my hands together eagerly. -Well! If we're done with everything...

BANG!

We all jumped as a massive explosion came from the ocean below us.

I immediately lowered my head in despair. -Stupid question. Soundbite, would you mind?

Soundbite squeaked for a moment before squeaking in Mr. 9's voice. -We have a favor to ask.

-o-

About an hour later we were on our way, sailing away from massive Reverse Mountain with two extra passengers.

Two completely unique passengers reminded themselves while I sighed heavily and calmly looked around the ship. In particular, I was leering at the blue-haired pseudo-Advanced Agent who was currently standing on the Merry's bow, glaring at anyone and everyone who made the mistake of approaching.

To her credit, Vivi may have been an angel, but I'll be damned if her acting at being a bitch wasn't great.

However, I didn't have time to think about it. Instead, I turned and walked thoughtfully along Merry's deck. Sure, Reverse Mountain went well, but the fact that I forgot about Laboon of all characters, even in the midst of an adrenaline rush, was terrifying to say the least. I need to refresh my knowledge, check what I remember... otherwise I'm in for more than a few nasty shocks in the near future.

On a grand scale, however, I think I remembered the events fairly well: Whiskey Peak (here, I hope they don't stir up trouble), Little Garden (to explore the murderous prehistoric jungle or not? Tough choice), Drum (I'm really going to have to a difficult decision has been made; on the one hand: Nami will be on the verge of death, and I will feel like scum, on the other: Chopper is guaranteed to die at the hands of Wapol, sooner or later, and we will all be left without medical help for who knows how long) and, finally, Alabasta (no, no and no again, I'm not going to start this Gordian knot of consequences until I'm backed to the wall).

I nodded decisively to myself. Yes, that was definitely it, didn't miss anything.

I threw my head back and stared at the sky with an annoyed growl. So why do I feel like I'm missing out on something...?

I slowly squinted my eyes when something small white flew from the sky and landed on my nose, hitting me with cold air.

I blinked in confusion. Why did it snow all of a sudden, where did this fog suddenly come from, and why did it plunge me into such horror that I can't wrap my head around it?

- ICEBERGS ARE STRAIGHT ON THE COURSE!

Ahhhh, that's right... Shit.