Chapter 5 - Reverse Mountain Pt 1

As poetic as our start towards as the official start of our adventure was, the reality was far less pleasant. We were, after all, setting out in the middle of a hurricane-grade storm. Still, at least we had a lighthouse to guide us...

"AH! NAMI! THE LIGHT'S GONE!"

For about two seconds, anyways.

"It's a lighthouse, Luffy!" I called up to my Captain as he hung from Merry's neck, fighting with the Merry's lines all the while. Why he insisted on putting himself in the most precarious of positions over the goddamn ocean when he couldn't swim was beyond me, but I'd grown more than used to it in the little time I'd known him. "They can't keep it going all the time, especially not in this kind of weather."

"Don't worry," Nami reassured him as she stepped up onto the prow, glancing at the map she was holding as she tried to perceive something, anything through the deluge. "That's why I'm here, isn't it? I can get us into the Grand Line, guaranteed."

"If you can find your way through this, then I'd say you're more witch than expert!" I offered, only half-joking.

"Har har, very funny."

"Shishishi! You're really impressive, you know that?" Luffy asked as he twisted himself around to smirk up at Nami.

"Yeah, yeah," the navigator rolled her eyes. "Now would you please get down from there before you fall in?"

"I'm not gonna give up my special seat."

I couldn't help but laugh at his matter-of-fact tone. "I wouldn't sit there even if you paid me! I'm wet enough as is, I don't want to fall into the ocean on top of that."

"Scaredy cat!" Luffy stuck his tongue out at me.

"Buck buck buck-AWK!" Soundbite clucked out with a sneer.

"Do you want to go in instead?" I asked sardonically as I glanced at the snail. He promptly squawked and snapped back inside his shell. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Do it anyways! We can use him as bait!" Usopp called from the other side of the deck.

"I'll take that into consideration."

"TRAITOR!"

"Alright, alright, enough fun and games," Nami rolled her eyes with a smirk before turning serious. "Cross would you mind-?"

I nodded in understanding and tapped Soundbite's shell before pointing at Nami. "Amp."

Soundbite popped an eye out of his shell before letting out a whine.

"You're live."

"Everyone meet me in the cabin," Nami's voice rang out. "We need to talk about what's coming up next."

Hastily complying, we all tied up our lines and followed Nami into the kitchen, where she spread her map open over the table.

"Now, I know this sounds crazy-" she started.

"Uh, Nami?" I hastily interrupted, reaching out and pinching Luffy's cheek in order to stretch it out. "There is a rubber man and a sound snail on board and a smoke man tried to stop us from leaving Loguetown not more than an hour ago. I think we passed 'crazy' a long time ago."

Nami considered this for a moment before indicating the center of her map. "Even if I tell you that the only way into the Grand Line is by sailing up a mountain?"

"Reverse Mountain, right," I nodded in confirmation.

The rest of the crew looked at me in shock.

"Wait, what!?" Usopp squawked in disbelief. "Sailing up a mountain!? Y-y-you can't be serious!"

"Oh no, I'm deadly serious," I shook my head firmly. "Reverse Mountain is pretty much the only means of entering the Grand Line open to the public." I looked at Nami. "May I?"

She shrugged indifferently. "If you know anything about it, feel free."

"Right then..." I walked over to the table and looked over the map before pointing out the design that occupied the center. "Alright, this here is Reverse Mountain. See these lines that cross over it?"

Sanji gnawed on his cigarette contemplatively as he looked the relatively ancient map over. "Yeah... What are those?"

"Canals." I held up a hand to stave off any oncoming protests. "I know it sounds nuts, but those are canals, running up the entire length of the mountain, past the clouds and down into the Grand Line. No clue who built them, how, when or why, but they exist alright."

"N-n-no way..." Usopp stammered, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Sailing up a mountain!? T-t-that's impossible!"

"Hey!" Sanji slapped the back of Usopp's head. "If Nami says that's how we get in, then that's how we get in, it's as simple as that! And... well, Cross is pretty smart too, I guess."

"Awww, thanks, Sanji!"

"Don't press your luck, snail mail."

"TsunDE-!"

"Don't even think about it, dumbass." I firmly slapped a hand down on Soundbite's shell with a glare.

"It sounds like it could be fun!" Luffy grinned eagerly.

"Don't get your hopes up, Luffy," Zoro warned cynically. "Nami, you stole this map from Buggy, are you sure that it's reliable?"

"I can guarantee it," I volunteered. "It's not surprising that map is so valuable: it's eerily accurate. The marines would probably love to get their hands on it, so as to better control any info on the Grand Line."

"And how do you know so much anyways?" Zoro asked with a tinge of suspicion

I swallowed slightly at the attention before rallying. "No offense to the East Blue, but it is called the weakest of the Blues, and this is one of the reasons why," I answered with a shrug. "Florida is on the Red Line, so we border the North Blue as well as the East. Info on the Grand Line is more... thorough there." I frowned in thought. "Well, general information, anyways. The Grand Line has a reputation for being a bit… active. Who knows how accurate some of my info really is."

Usopp shuddered heavily as he processed the implications of that statement. "W-w-wait, y-you mean-?!"

"Yeeeaaaah..." I barely repressed an evil grin as I pointed out several spots on the map past the Grand Line. "There should be islands here, here, here, aaaand here. At least, from what I remember at any rate. Geography: such a... feeble aspect of the Grand Line."

The sniper choked out a terrified sob as he sank to his knees. "What kind of a place are we headed into!?" he demanded helplessly.

I really did grin malevolently as I loomed over him. "Hell."

"Oooo-eeee-oooo!" Soundbite snickered as he mimicked a theremin.

Sanji delivered a slow clap as he observed our antics. "Very funny you two. Now lay off him before he has a heart attack, would you?"

I chuckled as I raised my hands in surrender. "Fair enough, fair enough. Sorry about that."

"Anyways..." Zoro pressed on with a sigh. "Even with how crazy the world already is, what you're saying is pretty out there. Couldn't we just, I don't know, sail right into the Grand Line or something? Looks like the ocean is pretty clear to me."

"NO WAY!" Luffy and Nami bellowed simultaneously.

"What they said," I concurred, pointing at the pair.

"It'd be totally wrong if we didn't start our adventure properly!" Luffy continued with a determined nod.

"That, not so much."

"Listen," Nami crossed her arms firmly. "It's not so easy as you make it out. There's a reason that not just anyone can get into the Grand Line, after all."

"One does not simply sail into THE GRAND LINE!" Soundbite nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah?" Sanji cocked an eyebrow in curiosity. "How come?"

I opened my mouth to respond... then paused as I became aware of something.

Or rather... a lack of something.

I swallowed heavily before grinning morbidly. "How about I show you?"

"Huh?"

I spread my arms wide. "Notice anything... missing from this picture?"

The crew stared at me in confusion... until Soundbite got the hint and started whistling like the wind. Literally.

"Huh, now that you mention it you're right, the rain's stopped," Usopp said as he glanced out one of the portholes.

"It's what!?" Nami squawked, staring outside in horror. "No way! We should have been in that storm all the way to the entrance of the canal!"

"And yet, take a look." I pushed the kitchen's door open and gestured. "Not a cloud in the sky."

"Wooooah!" Luffy breathed in awe as he jumped onto the deck, looking around eagerly. "The weather's suddenly great! That's so cool!"

"Yeah..." Sanji muttered as he walked out and looked back past the aft of the ship. "But I can still see the storm back there. What gives?"

"Ooooh, nothing much," I shrugged with a sigh. "Just nature's ultimate middle finger to all inter-Blue travel."

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO SPEAK PRETTY, DUMBASS!" Nami shrieked in terror. "IF YOU KNOW WHERE WE ARE, THEN YOU KNOW WHY NEED TO START ROWING OUR WAY OUT OF HERE RIGHT GODDAMN NOW!"

"Huh?" Luffy looked at me in confusion. "How come? Where are we?"

"The Calm Belts," I explained with a wide grin. "They're the twin seas that border each half of the Grand Line on either side. No winds blow and barely any currents flow, and of those just about none go all the way through. Think doldrums, only on a global scale."

"So it's calm seas all the way?" Zoro asked. "Doesn't that mean we could just row through?"

"HELL NO!"

"Nami's right, it's not that simple," I nodded in agreement. "After all, as I said, they're seas. It'd take weeks, hell, maybe even months to row our way through. With seven of us on board, we'd almost certainly die of dehydration before we made it through. Besides that, I wouldn't put it past the seas to toss one or two tsunamis at us, which we wouldn't have a chance of outrunning. Then there's the fact that the Calm Belts are the hunting grounds of one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock, who would most definitely kill us all in about ten seconds flat."

The majority of the crew was staring at me in unmitigated horror, while Luffy was grinning at me as though I'd just caused Christmas to come early.

"And none of those are even the popular reason why nobody comes through here."

"And that reason would be?" Usopp asked nervously, obviously dreading the answer.

Nami made to answer... just as the ship suddenly lurched.

"What the heck-!?" Sanji spat.

Soundbite shivered on my shoulder, his eyes swiveling furiously. "They're he~ere..." he sang morbidly.

And just like that, in less than a second, for the first time in her life, the Going Merry flew, sailing high into the sky before coming to a sudden halt and flinging us off our feet.

"Ouch..." I moaned, wincing as my bruises from Luffy getting us back onboard the Merry flared up. "That wasn't pleasant..."

"What was that?" Zoro groaned.

"The popular reason..." Nami whimpered pitifully as she hugged the mast desperately.

Usopp made to ask what she meant… and promptly keeled backwards, foaming at the mouth as the shadow of a titanic head covered us all.

"It's filled… with Sea Kings…" Our navigator sobbed with a hopeless smile.

"Yeah..." I chuckled helplessly, staggering to my feet and glancing over Merry's side at the expanse of black and white skin that lay below us, my blood roaring in my ears as my gut started to boil. "It's their natural breeding ground, actually. Ironic, ain't it? Most dangerous monsters in the world besides humans, and they live in the most peaceful part of it."

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Zoro huffed hurriedly, dragging the ship's oars out of the stockroom and handing them to Sanji and Luffy. "Alright, listen up: when these guys go under, we row like hell for the storm, got it?"

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded in agreement. "We're going into the Grand Line the right way!"

"THAT'S NOT THE REASON WHY, DUMB-WAGH!" Nami was cut off as the Merry suddenly heaved. "W-what the-!?"

Soundbite blinked in confusion for a second before squeaking and snapping back into his shell. "Gesundheit!"

I bit out a curse as I shoved Soundbite into my jacket before running to the Merry's rigging and wrapping one of the rope ladders around my arm. "HOLD ONTO YOUR EVERYTHING!"

And just like that, I experienced one of the most violent sneezes I'd ever felt in my life and things went straight to hell.

The next few minutes were a blur of motion, screaming, flailing, and enough rope burn to skin my arm down to the muscle.

When all was said and done, I found the sting of the rain and seawater sloshing into my open wounds a relief when compared to the idea of going face to face with that horde of monsters again.

"Oh thank god it's just a storm..." Usopp wheezed.

"That... wasn't all that fun..." Luffy - Luffy, of all people - admitted, if somewhat reluctantly.

"Anyone else feel like going in the hard way?" Nami asked darkly.

"EEEEENOPE!" Soundbite bellowed from within his jacket.

"If I never move again it'll be too soon..." Sanji groaned.

I made to respond, but winced as Nami let out a shuddering groan as she suddenly lurched hard to port. "You and me both, but that's not an option at the moment. Either we move or these crazy currents capsize us!"

The male members of the crew groaned in despair, while Nami suddenly shot up with a gasp of realization. "That's it!"

"The hell are you talking about, woman?" Zoro demanded tiredly.

"The currents! That must be how the canals work!" Nami shot to her feet and started pacing furiously in thought, somehow managing to stay standing despite how wildly the deck was swaying. "It sounds crazy, but... if sea currents flowed at the mountain strong enough, then the water would flow up the mountain before coursing down into the Grand Line, like a fountain! There's no doubt we're already on the current, so we just need to do is steer our way in!" She then bit her thumb fearfully as a realization hit her. "But that also mean that things are that much more dangerous. Reverse Mountain is a Winter Island, so when the current hits the Red Line, it sinks back down into the sea. If we crash, we'll be dragged under for sure."

"Ah!" Luffy nodded in what I highly doubted was understanding. "So it's a mystery mountain!" Nailed it.

"Eh, it's not that hard to understand!" I cut in, holding myself up against Merry's railing. "The Red Line is a chain of mountainous islands all linked together that run around the world, each with their own year-round seasonal climate. Florida was a Summer Island through and through, so

I'm used to the heat."

"Ooooh! So they're mystery islands! Got it!"

I shrugged at Nami helplessly. "I tried."

"Hmph..." Zoro shook his head with a grunt. "Never heard of anyone sailing over a mountain before..."

"I might have," Sanji shot back with a grin.

"About this mountain?"

"No, the Grand Line," Sanji's smirk widened visibly. "They say you need to be half-dead before you can get in."

"Are you kidding me!?" Usopp demanded helplessly.

"Hey, what were you expecting, a red carpet?" I laughed as I patted Usopp's back sympathetically. "Nothing worth doing is easy to do, which means this is really gonna be worth it, right?"

The long-nosed sniper shot me a dark glare. "I vehemently question your logic."

"NYEH!" Soundbite poked his head out of my jacket in order to stick his tongue out at Usopp.

"YOU LITTLE-!"

"HEY! I CAN SEE THE MYSTERY ISLAND-MOUNTAIN!" Luffy suddenly bellowed, jabbing a finger out into the storm.

We all turned to see what he was indicating... and promptly fell silent.

It was... monolithic was a word, but it didn't even begin to do the Red Line justice. It was as though the horizon had just... become stone. I craned my neck back, staring up in an attempt to catch sight of the top of the Line. Some part of my memory logically told me that it was an exercise in futile, but I... I had to try, some other part of my mind stubbornly refusing to accept the idea that something as stupidly massive as this... this geological monstrosity was physically capable, in this world or any other.

But no, there it was, staring me straight in the face and defying everything I knew to be fact.

And, I realized with a start, coming closer each and every second.

"Guys?" I croaked numbly.

Luffy successfully proved that the apocalypse was fast approaching by being the first to realize what I was getting at. "WE'RE GETTING SUCKED IN!" he whooped euphorically. "SANJI! USOPP! STEER US IN!"

Shocked out of their stupor, the two promptly scrambled into the kitchen and grabbed the whipstaff. "ON IT!" They chorused.

As we came closer and closer, we managed to catch sight of a crack in the mountain. Nami dug a pair of binoculars out of her coat and stared through them for a second before fumbling and almost dropping them in shock. "Holy crap..." she squeaked.

"What is it?" Zoro asked her.

She handed the binoculars to him without a word. He looked through them as well and promptly clenched in shock. "That's... I can't believe it..."

I laughed hoarsely as it finally came into sight: what had to be thousands upon thousands of gallons of water pouring up the mountain, passing beneath ten impossible stone arches. The sight was so insane, so terrifying, so... so...

Beautiful.

It was breathtaking. An awe-inspiring sight that flipped every switch I had and threw my being into overdrive. My whole body felt like it was in danger of boiling over at any moment.

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio!" I couldn't help but quote with an ear-to-ear grin.

Zoro ground his teeth as he stared at the fast-approaching gate. "Damn pretty words. Won't mean much if we die, though."

"We're a little off!" Luffy noted with a tinge of panic. "We need to be more to the right!"

Acting fast, I yanked Soundbite out of my coat and slammed him on to my shoulder, a whine flaring up over the howl of the wind. "HARD TO STARBOARD!"

"Right!"

"On it!"

For a moment, we heard them struggling to keep the Merry's rudder under control...

SNAP!

Until the sound of wood snapping in two like a dry twig rang out over the deck.

We all turned and stared at the whipstaff's destruction for a moment before a shudder beneath our feet brought us all back to our senses.

"THE WHIPSTAFF!" Nami shrieked in terror.

I froze for a moment as I noticed the fact that we were heading straight for one of the arches.

"Luuuffyyy!?" I asked nervously.

"I'm on it!" Luffy roared as he rushed past me. I barely had time to process the blur of yellow heading at me before I managed to force myself into action and grab Luffy's hat before it could fly away.

"GUM-GUM!" Luffy jumped over the edge of the Merry, interposing himself between the arch and our ship before inflating to unrealistic proportions. "BALLOON!"

For a heart-pounding moment, Luffy was squeezed against the arch, the Merry staying in place... until we finally slipped past, flying up the canal so fast we might as well be on a roller-coaster.

There was just one problem.

"LUFFY!" I yelled, watching as our captain started to drop into the sea.

"GRAB ON!" Zoro bellowed desperately, holding an arm out to him.

Nothing... nothing...

Luffy's hand grabbed Zoro's in an instant, clutching it for dear life. One hard tug later and our captain was tumbling onto the deck, laughing his ass off.

I sighed in relief as I slammed Luffy's hat back on his head. "NEVER DO THAT AGAIN, DUMBASS!" I shouted through my smile.

"DUMBASS, DUMBASS!" Soundbite parroted eagerly.

Luffy's response was to laugh even harder, and he wasn't the only one. All around me, the crew was celebrating. Usopp and Sanji were dancing, Nami was whooping joyously, Zoro had cracked a grin...

And me?

In the past ten minutes, I had come inches from death, be it by storm, by Sea King or by crazy, convoluted currents. I was officially in over my head, miles out of my element...

"Pfff..." I snorted, my whole body shaking for a moment until I finally threw my head back and howled with laughter. "PFFHAHAHAHAHAAAA!"

And I was loving every second of it.

Cackling like a madman, I leapt up onto the Merry's railing, wrapped my arm around the rigging, and hung myself out over the abyss.

The wind tugged at my body, trying to wrench me free, the sea roared and howled mere feet below me, and I felt more alive than I'd ever imagined I could.

It was stupid, it was insane and I was laughing the whole time.

"HAHAHA!" I laughed at the top of my lungs. "WE'RE IN! WE'RE IN!"

"BANZAI! BANZAI!" Soundbite guffawed in agreement as he held on for dear life.

A second later, Nami suddenly shouted and pointed ahead. "Look!" she exclaimed with a massive grin. "We're going through the clouds!"

And so we were: Further in and further up the mountain, piercing through the roof of the heavens until at last we broke through and came within sight of the peak, the very roof of the world.

It was... indescribable. The waters of four oceans, the world itself, colliding into a singular point, foam spraying up and dissipating into mist before it all rumbled down a singular channel.

Within moments, we were on it: the Merry jumped and, for a brief moment, she flew once more, the force of the water spinning her around to face the only possible way out.

As we started to fall, I looked over my shoulder and stared into the clouds that obscured the mountainside. For a brief moment, I imagined that I could see it, that I could just catch a glimpse of it. The throne of the King of the Pirates, the final destination, the promised island.

Raftel.

I swallowed heavily as a massive grin split my face. 'There's the finish line...'

"I CAN SEE IT!" Luffy cheered. "THE GRAND LINE!"

I snapped my head around as the Merry hit the downward-flowing channel, and I saw what he saw. A lot of it was obscured in clouds, but it was there, there was no denying it: a field of blue that married the horizon, roiling and churning and roaring in welcome.

My grin widened even further. 'And there's the start.'

As we fell down the mountainside, picking up speed, I couldn't help but feel I was forgetting something. But at this point, I officially couldn't care less, and didn't even try to restrain my reaction as we soared down the world's largest waterslide.

"HAHAHA!" I barked wildly, hanging over the edge of the abyss. "THIS IS AWESOME! I LOVE YOU GUYS! I LOVE YOU ALL SO FREAKING MUCH!"