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Grand Line – Paradise
Twin Capes
"...Sigh... about fifty years ago, I was taking care of the lighthouses as I usually did, when a pirate ship arrived from Reverse Mountain. Following them was a baby whale, this was Laboon. These pirates were musicians, and Laboon traveled with them through the West Blue. But since they knew the Grand Line would be dangerous, they tried to leave him behind. The thing is, island whales are social animals that live in groups, and to Laboon, those pirates were his group", Crocus says with a sad sigh, reminiscing about the past.
Just by the way Crocus was narrating the events, everyone could feel that this story wouldn't have a happy ending, or in some way, be pleasant to hear.
"They stayed here for a few months while they fixed their ship, so I got to know them very well. They were a lively group, every day was a celebration with lots of music, it was fun", Crocus continues, with a sad smile.
"...Sigh... well, the day they left, the captain came to me and asked... 'Could you take care of Laboon for two or three years until we get back? Once we've gone around the world, we'll come back for him', Laboon understood what they wanted and has been here with me ever since, they ended up never coming back, but Laboon still believes that his friends will come back alive, only they never will, they ran away, abandoned the Grand Line, this I know, it came from a reliable source", Crocus says, letting out a sad sigh.
"What? That has to be a lie, right?", Usopp asks, unwilling to believe that these people could fail to honor their own words.
"They abandoned the whale? But to leave the Grand Line, they would have had to cross the Calm Belt", Nami comments, a little stunned.
"And if their ship doesn't have a hull coated with Seastone, then they probably died trying to leave", Sabo, who had been quietly listening and observing everything until now, comments.
"Yeah, I don't know if they're still alive or if they died trying to cross the Calm Belt, but even if they survived, they would never return here. Everything in this place, the seasons, the weather, the ocean currents, the wind directions, makes it impossible. This sea is treacherous, and the terror of the Grand Line seeps instantly into the minds of those with weak hearts", Crocus says, essentially speculating, as he didn't really know what had happened.
"And these weak men, caring more about their own lives than their promises, are gone forever", Sanji comments, exhaling smoke from his mouth and then putting out his cigarette on the stone table he was leaning on.
"Yeah", Sabo comments, sad for Laboon.
"Hmm", Zoro grumbles thoughtfully.
"That's... that's cruel", Chouchou barks, lying next to where Luffy was sitting.
Throughout the entire conversation, Luffy just stayed silent, with his hat covering his eyes, hiding his expressions and emotions.
Tied up beside them, Mr. 9 lets out a sad sigh, trying to appear as if he doesn't care much, while beside him, Miss Wednesday can't hold back, sniffing and tearing up, sad for the whale and regretting what they had tried to do.
"So, do you guys still intend to kill Laboon?", Nojiko, next to the two prisoners, asks.
"No, after hearing his story, we can't, in good conscience, do such an evil thing", Miss Wednesday says, crying sadly.
"Miss... Miss Wednesday?", Mr. 9 calls his partner, surprised by what she said.
"Mr. 9, you heard the story, it's so sad, we can't do such an evil thing to Laboon", Miss Wednesday says, not wanting to do any harm to Laboon.
"These bastards just abandoned the whale", Usopp mutters angrily before turning to Crocus and asking, "If you know this, why didn't you tell him?"
"I told him, every detail, I didn't leave anything out, but he refuses to listen", Crocus says, closing his eyes.
"Refuses?", Zoro asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, he doesn't want to believe it. Since then, he's been shouting in front of Reverse Mountain and banging his head against the Red Line, probably trying to make a hole so he could go looking for them, but it's an insurmountable obstacle. No matter how many times I try to tell him, Laboon refuses to face the truth, so all that's left for him is to wait in vain", Crocus says, elaborating on the matter.
"So... so that's why he keeps shouting and ramming his head into the Red Line? Poor thing, he still believes they'll come back", Kaya asks, amid tears.
"Yes, he hurt himself a lot doing that over the years. At least the fact that I'm a doctor helps in that regard. As he grew, it became unfeasible to treat him from the outside, so I had to find a way. I wasn't going to let this stubborn idiot just kill himself", Crocus says with a slightly sad smile on his face.
"Oh, are you a doctor, sir?", Kaya asks, gaining a new respect for the elderly gentleman in front of her.
"Yes, a long time ago, I ran a clinic here at the cape. I was even a doctor on a ship for a while. It was during that time that I found out what happened to Laboon's friends", Crocus says with a faint nostalgic smile.
Suddenly, Luffy, who had been quiet this whole time, asks, "Hey old man, did you check if the information you received is accurate?"
"I heard reports that their ship was seen entering the Calm Belt", Crocus says, having an idea of where Luffy wanted to go with this.
"So, in the end, you actually don't know what happened to these guys", Luffy says, reaching his conclusion.
"It's been fifty years, kid. If they're still alive and in the Grand Line, they should have returned by now", Crocus says, dismissing what Luffy was suggesting.
"You never know, old man, the world is strange", Luffy says, adjusting his hat with a big smile and then standing up, heading toward Merry.
"What are you doing, Luffy?", Nami asks, seeing Luffy return some time later carrying a grand piano on his shoulders, holding a bottle of whiskey in one hand.
Placing the piano on the ground, he sets the bottle on top of it, adjusts his hat on his head, and then charges towards Laboon, pulling his arm back, ready to deliver a punch.
With a powerful punch, Laboon is sent flying backward like a missile, screaming in pain, making the sea completely turbulent with giant tsunamis.
"WHATTTT?!", everyone yells incredulously, not understanding why Luffy suddenly attacked Laboon.
As soon Laboon recovers and turns his gaze to Luffy standing on the shore, with angry, he then hears him say "I'm pretty strong, huh? This fight isn't over yet, for now it's a draw so to speak, someday we'll finish this fight, my name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm going to become the Pirate King, I'm going to explore the Grand Line from one end to the other, I'm going to find the One Piece and travel around the world, I'm going to find out what happened to your friends, you can count on it, but now you have a rival, me! When we finish the Grand Line, we'll come back to see you and then we'll have a rematch!!"
"BUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!", Laboon says, crying a lot, which translates to "Alright, I'll wait for you, thank you!!!"
Seeing this kid saying those things and wearing that hat that was familiar to him, made Crocus reminisce about the past with a smile.
"Shishishi, hey Usopp, paint our Jolly Roger on his head", Luffy says, asking Usopp.
"Right away", Usopp says, quickly doing what he was asked to do with a smile on his face.
After Usopp painted the crew's Jolly Roger on Laboon's head, Luffy says with a smile, "This is the symbol of our promise, so don't bang your head on the Red Line so you don't erase the drawing, alright?"
"Buoooo!!" "Alright!!", Laboon says happily, for the first time in a long time.
"Shishishishi, alright, usually I'm not much of a drinker, but I think this moment is special, so to celebrate our arrival at the Grand Line and the establishment of our promise, I declare that today we celebrate!!!", Luffy shouts happily, grabbing the bottle of whiskey, and taking a big gulp from the neck before sitting down in front of the piano, placing the bottle back where he had left it earlier.
And then, with all the musical experience of a soul from another world, Luffy begins to play, and a familiar melody for Laboon begins to echo through the air, bringing back very strong emotions with it.
"I know this one", Sanji comments with a smile, remembering Zeff, who loves this song.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho, Yo-hohoho, Yo-hoho-ho", pouring his soul into it, Luffy starts singing.
Crocus smiles nostalgically, remembering the past, and the entire Straw Hat crew, along with Sabo, smiles as they see their Captain/Brother sing, and despite his strange behavior, captivate everyone, and without wasting time, they join in the singing, starting to celebrate.
In the background, Laboon, with teary eyes, swayed his head to the rhythm of the music, happily shouting and singing along.
"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Bink's brew", a chorus of voices sings out loudly, brightening the atmosphere, with Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday also joining in the singing without even realizing it.
"Sea wind blows. To where? Who knows? The waves will be our guide", the music echoes throughout Reverse Mountain, everyone singing with their souls, even Merry was singing along without anyone noticing.
And so the party continues with everyone singing passionately, drinking, and celebrating. In the middle of this, Sanji brought a barbecue from the Merry and started making barbecue for everyone.
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(AN: 1,659 Words)
Hey everyone, just a little curiosity about this chapter, I was listening to Binks' Sake while writing this, and for more personal reasons, I kind of almost ended up crying.
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And if you don't want to wait for public releases and are interested in reading more advanced chapters of this fic, you can always check out my Patreon page. There, you'll find over twenty advanced chapters of this fic and another Bully fic I recently started: patreon.com/_Luizinho_
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