A.N: YO....I'M BACK, AND I SINCERELY APPRECIATE FOR STILL STICKING WITH THIS STORY. NOW THAT I'M BACK, I'LL CONTINUE MY WORK...
THANKS A LOT AGAIN....
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Soon with the help of Ussop, Laboon got a new makeover in the form of Strawhat's logo on his head and the giant whale is happily making sounds. Seeing Laboon in such a state made Crocus teared up a little bit, he then patted Luffy's shoulder, "Thanks kid…." Luffy looked at him with a grin, "For what!!??" Crocus seeing his grin just shook his head and smiled, "Come, eat something…let's see what your cook got!!"
All of them then settled near the table where Sanji is serving them the food, except Nami, who is marking their next destination on the map. When suddenly she looked he compass and screamed, "AHHHH….IT'S BROKENNNNN….." This got everyone's attention except Zoro, who is soundly asleep. Sanji looked at her while doing noodle dance and balancing the plates filled with food all over his body, "What's the matter Nami~swan….If it's about meal, then it's all ready!!"
Ussop who was inspecting the Merry of any damage perked up, "Oh man, I am hungry….." and was about to take one of the plates, but Sanji slapped his hand away, "Ouch!! Hey, what's that for??" "Tch tch tch…..Ladies first Ussop, you should show some courtesy." Ussop just deadpanned, "Yea yea…."
Luffy walked towards Nami and looked at the maps, "What happened?? Something is wrong!!?" Nami then showed him the compass, "Look at this, it's broken….it's pointing all over the place!" hearing this Crocus sighed, "It appears you've come here without knowing anything." He walked towards her looked at her chart, "Hmmm…I'm quite amazed, your work is very fine, but…." He took her compass and looked at its needle, "It's not broken, it's just this thing won't work here…" Nami was confused at that, "Then how will we navigate without it!!?"
"You see, there exists a geomagnetic anomaly across Grandline, due to many islands here being rich with various minerals. Not only that, the currents and the winds here are as unpredictable as they can be. As a navigator, you should well understand how terrifying that can be." "Hey hey hey….you mean to say, we could die if we don't know how to navigate through Grandline!!!!?" it was Ussop who said this as he started to shake in anxiety, "Oh man, what we're gonna do??"
"That is indeed true…." Crocus said calmly, while Ussop made annoyed face looking at him, "You could've atleast be gentle with words, you know!!" Crocus just shook his head and looked at Nami, "Well, to navigate through Grandline you'll need a log pose." Nami perked up at that, "A log pose?? What's that, I've never heard of it?" Crocus nodded at that, "Of course, it is quite hard to obtain one outside Grandline. It's a special type of compass that records the magnetic field. Without a log pose, it'd be impossible to navigate on this ocean."
Nami holds her head in frustration, "So, it's no use….." looking at her maps and charts. "I think not…." She looked at Luffy, who put his hand inside his backpack and took out a nice looking wooden box, he opened it and showed her two log pose, first one was normal but the second one is Eternal log pose and the name of the Island was Elegia Island. "Wait, are those….??" "Yup, the log pose…." Nami squealed and hugged Luffy tightly, seeing this Sanji's soul left his mouth. Crocus took the normal log pose and inspected it, "Indeed, this looks brand new and this one…." He then inspected the other one, "An Eternal pose, to Elegia….." he frowned at that, and looked at Luffy who had freed himself from Nami's embrace, "Kid, do you even know what happened…."
But Luffy stopped him, "No need, I know what happened….it's just, he left my best friend there." He then stood up to his full height, "And no matter what the truth is, I am not leaving her behind." Crocus looked him in the eyes and saw the determination behind them, he then smiled, "Well, it's between you and that Red-Haired brat…." Nami holding the normal Log pose looked at Luffy, " 'Her'….??" She whispered to herself.
Then while everyone was having lunch, Crocus taught Nami how to use log pose and what is the different between a Normal Log pose and an Eternal Log pose. After the lunch, the Strawhats boarded their ship and was ready to sail, "Oh by the way…." Luffy then took out another Log pose from his pocket and gave it to Nami, "Here, this one's already pointing towards the next island…." Nami took it and then looked at Luffy, "Where did you got this one from!!??" "From those two clowns earlier…." she blinked in confusion, "But how!!?" "Don't think too much about that" and he walked off towards Crocus for the final farewell, "But stealing is my side job!!!" she muttered to herself.
Luffy arrived near Crocus, "Well old man, it was nice seeing you….but now we must continue our journey." Crocus shook Luffy's hand, "I'll be seeing you the newspapers..." they both laughed at that, then Luffy walked near the edge where Laboon is waiting with some tears in his eyes. Luffy closed his eyes and used Voice of All Thing, "Take care my friend, and promise to return to you when my journey is over…with a very nice return gift for you." Laboon bellowed towards the sky, "FRIENDDDDD….."
With everything done, the Going Merry again set sail towards its next destination. Seeing the ship disappearing into the horizon, Crocus sighed, "Looks like the time is nearing….isn't it Roger!!?" he smiled then seeing how happy Laboon is, "That boy is going to shake the very world…." he then sat down on his chair and looked at the setting sun, remembering what he and the other Roger pirates saw on Laughtale, "Yes...Now everything is up to you boy. Show us why you're the Destined One…"
On Merry, half n hour later, "Well well, look who we have here….." suddenly everyone's attention was on Luffy, who is looking at sea few meters away. Usopp squinted his and saw the heads of orange and blue hair, "Hey, it's those idiots again…!!!" at this Sanji immediately looked at the blue haired girl with hearts in his eyes, "Miss Wednesdayyy~~~~you just wait~ your prince is coming to save you…." And he was about to jump, but Nami pinched his ear and stopped him, "Now what you're doing??"
Usopp sighed at that and looked at Luffy, who was laughing seeing Sanji's condition while Zoro…..he was still somehow asleep. He then shook his head and looked at the two floating on the sea, "What do you want??" seeing the opportunity the Mr. 9 speaks up, "Aaa….if you would kind enough to give us a lift to the next Island" Usopp squinted his eyes in suspicion, "And why do we do that!??" it was Nami who asked the question, as she was done scolding Sanji. "Well, you see….our log pose was missing and without it, traversing Grandline is a death wish….so….." Miss Wednesday shuttered under Nami's gaze, "Let them be…." "Huh!??" all of them looked at Luffy, "It's ok, let them come." But Nami was not sure, "But Luffy…" but Luffy just patted her shoulder and ordered Usopp to fetch them out.
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It's been few hours since Stawhats had departed from the Twin Cape, and now the climate has suddenly changed to winter, with a little spring from time to time. The ship is sailing towards the next destination, Whiskey Peak.
"Done…." Luffy looked at his masterpiece, the snowman, "Behold!! The Cat from the Future…..DORAEMON…." and the snowman looked exactly like it. "HAHAHAHA….such childish snow games….." Luffy heard this in deep voice which sent chills in his spine and he looked at the owner of the voice, who is none other than Usopp, "You call that art!! That thing describes how weak you are…." By now Luffy's eyeswiden and mouth hanging, as Usopp looked at him, "You scoundrel, let me show you what true masterpiece is…..Behold, My Snow Queen!!" and true to his words, there beside him was a magnificent snow sculpture of a women sitting on a snow throne.
Luffy's eyes twitch at that, "Snow punch…." And he punched Usopp's Snow Queen. Seeing this Usopp's eyes widen, "WAAA…." As he kicks Luffy's creation, "AAAAA….MY DORAEMON….." and a brawl started between them. From the cabin window, Nami saw the brawl and sighed, "Jeez, how can those two be so lively when it's freezing outside!!?" while Sanji was cleaning the snow from the deck, "Nami~swann~, how much longer I continue snow shoveling of love?" "Until it stops snowing…." "YES MA'AM~~~!!"
"Hey you. Doesn't this ship have a heating system or something??" Mr.9 said, "Yeah, it's really cold." Miss Wednesday added her own thought. Nami's eyebrow twitched, "SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT HERE AS OUR GUESTS! GO OUTSIDE AND HELP SHOVEL THE SNOW OR SOMETHING!!" suddenly lightning strikes near Merry and with that a loud boom followed. "Lightning…!?" Nami looked outside the window, "Just what's going on with the climate here!?" she looked as the snowing stops and it started to rain, 'It's exactly as Crocus said. The seasons and the climate here on the Grandline is beyond messed up!!' she thought.
"It seems you're underestimating Grandline quite a bit and you've left your rudder alone for awhile now, you sure that's alright!?" Miss Wednesday asked, this got Nami's attention, "Awhile? But I just checked our direction….." as she looked at the log pose, her eyes widen, "AHHHHHHH….." Luffy and Usopp stopped their brawling and Sanji too stopped his work. They all looked at the cabin, "What is it!!?" "What's the matter Nami~swan~!?" Nami ran out of the cabin with urgency, "The ship….it changed direction!!! We're going the opposite way!!!!"
"WHATTT????" Usopp eyes widen, "But how!!??" he asked, while he went immediately on re-adjusting the route of the ship. "I don't know…." Nami said while rubbing her forehead, "I only took my eyes off the Log pose for a second and the waves were calm too…!!" she then heard laugh from inside the cabin, "Looks like you've been played by the waves. Are you really a navigator!!??" Miss Wednesday remarked. At this Nami got a giant tic mark on her forehead, "STOP ACTING SO HIGH AND MIGHTY, AND START HELPING OUT!" "AGHHH!!" both Miss Wednesday and Mr.9 screamed as they were thrown out of the cabin. "Such a violent woman…." Mr.9 muttered.
Before anyone can do anything, the wind changed again and the waves started to rise, suddenly it became sunny and then after few moments it's stormy. The whole day went like this, changing climates, sudden rise or decrease in waves, the winds and the weather. After whole day of grueling to keep the ship on straight path, everyone was tried. It was the next day, as everyone is sprawled on the deck, tired and restless, 'YAAAAWWWNNNNN...' Zoro finally woke up from his slumber and stretched his body, "That was a nice nap." he then rubbed his lone eye and looked at the scene.
It was a nice sunny day, with gentle wind and clear sky, he looked at everyone laid on the deck, "Hey, come on now. I know the weather's nice and warm, but don't you think you're being a bit too lazy!!?" he then looked at where Nami is sprawled, "Oi Nami, are you sure we're going the right way?" Everyone twitched at that, 'You son of…!!' Sanji thought from where he laid. Zoro then looked at Miss Wednesday and Mr.9, "And why're you two on our ship??" they twitched at that, 'You noticed now!!?' they thought.
Luffy who not tired at all and was sitting on Merry's head responded, "Supposedly, we're headed toward their town right now." Zoro looked at Luffy, "So we're giving them a ride? It's not like we're obligated to or anything." Luffy nodded at that, "I know." Zoro then looked at the duo and bent down towards them and looked at them with his lone right eye making them shake in fear, as he smirked at that, "Hmm….there's something off about your faces…What did you say your names were again..?" they both gulped in fear, "M..M..Mr.9…." "And I'm Miss Wednesday…"
Zoro then took a thinking pose, "Right…Something about those names have been bugging me ever since I heard'em…." They both started to sweat at that, "I remember meeting someone with same type of name…." by now both of them were absolutely terrified and Zoro was enjoying it, "He was telling me about some organization….Now what was that!!??" then he sighed, "Well not so sadly….I cut him down before he can say more…." Zoro said with a grin. At this both of them fainted from fear.
Zoro then walks toward Luffy and stand on Merry's head just behind him, as they both gazed at the distance shadow of the island they are nearing. "Be on guard….I think things are going to be messy!!" Luffy said, "Yeah, I can see that too…."