I once again saw nothing but black, and my only thought was how lame this was.
"Like seriously," I mumbled. "I just fully healed myself and then I knocked myself unconscious. How the hell does that work? And why the hell am I talking to myself if I'm unconscious? This entire world is totally screwed up."
Ever since I'd landed in the One Piece universe, my life has been nothing but crazy, crazy, and more crazy. But then again, what did I expect, living with a pirate crew that had a rubber captain? If I expected it to be normal and peaceful, then I must be even crazier than my new life.
"Ah, Yuril," a voice that I hadn't heard in over a week said. "You're still alive. Excellent! "
"You!" I growled, turning to look behind me. Sure enough, that bat-winged bastard Aes stood there, scythe swinging dangerously at his side and his cape blowing in a breeze I couldn't feel. He was grinning like an idiot, his red eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Why so serious, daughter?" the god asked me. "If you hadn't been related to me, you wouldn't have won your fight. Good job, by the way. Very well done! Even though Yugli was the least powerful of the demons... "
"I hope you stab yourself with your scythe," I grumbled. "You still haven't explained why I've been sent here! And why was that dude after me? He wasn't a part of the anime!"
Aes grinned and nodded. " Ah, yes, straight to business as before. To start off, you're here to fix the things that are changing and get the history of One Piece back on the right track. Because the way things are going now, the demons could kill all the Marines at the War of the Best which would result in Ace's escape, and, unfortunately, he has to die. Otherwise the Straw Hats will never get as strong as they should. "
"Wait, Ace has to die?" I said. "There's no way I could save him and still convince Lucy to train for two years, is there?"
He sighed and looked down. "Unfortunately... no. There have been many attempts in other alternate universes to do so, and none of them have succeeded. Lucy or Luffy, depending on which universe it was, always went back to Sabaody Archipelago to reunite with her/his friends, and ended up dying. The only universe where this didn't happen was the universe of the original One Piece plot, the one without the interruptions of the demons."
"So... So I have to let Ace die? His death really is set in stone?" I tried to wrap my head around that. Saving Ace had been a goal I'd had in mind since for the past few days. But then here comes Aes, saying that if I save Ace, Lucy will end up dead...
"Yeah. Sorry about that." Aes winced, clearly upset.
"It's not me you need to apologize to. It's Lucy. Anyway, what do I have to do here? The last time we met, you mentioned a quest and me saving the multiverse."
"Your quest is to defeat all the demons in the world of One Piece or at least stop them from arriving at Marineford. You've gotta train yourself and fight all of them. Luckily, if the history of the other universes is anything to go by, you'll meet most of the demons along the path the Straw Hats take through the Grand Line. You'll still miss some, but defeating all of those should momentarily save the world."
"Momentarily?"
"Yeah, well, there'll still be some guys you'll have to defeat two years after the Whitebeard War. Anyway, you must save the world, because except for the original plot world, this universe of One Piece is the last one that's still stable. And if it falls to the demons, then the entire multiverse will crumble with it."
"And that would be bad," I guessed.
"Imagine the entire world in chaos," Aes supplied. " Black holes popping up and swallowing everything. Fires destroying all life in every universe ever created. Wars tearing apart human life that would make every other war in history look like a water balloon fight. You and the Straw Hats are the only people standing in the way of that, and you're the only one who can defeat the demons since you have immortal blood."
"Bad," I concluded. "On that happy note... how the hell are we talking even though I'm unconscious?"
He shrugged, his bat wings flapping involuntarily. "Oh, I just bought a Mindphone from godBay. It allows a god and a demigod to converse as long as the demigod is asleep or unconscious."
"Um, godBay?"
"It's basically eBay for gods," he explained.
"The gods have their own eBay?"
"Yeah, well. It's a crazy world. Anyway, now that you know everything, I'm done here." Aes grinned and waved good-bye. "See ya around, and don't forget to save the world! No pressure!" The dream (I'd decided to call it a dream, since that was the easiest thing to think about) hazed over momentarily, but then my father hit his palm with his other fist. "Ah, and one last thing: When you get to Cocoyashi Village, you'll want to consult the oracle goddess, Vestionora! She's made her home there and she definitely has something important to tell you. Probably. Well, see ya! "
"Vestionora?" I said, amused. "Is she supposed to be an immortal espresso drink or something?"
Then the forms of our bodies flickered and I don't remember anything after that.
***
My eyes snapped open, scaring the hell outta Patty, who I immediately noticed was hovering over me and another limp figure anxiously. Carne was peering over the railing. The sounds of fighting rose up into the air, and I was staring at a beautiful blue sky with only a few clouds skirting across it here and there. My head felt fuzzy, and I knew I'd definitely overdone my battle. I was also slightly wet, even though I'd definitely dried myself off after the battle.
"Yah! Don't scare me like that!" the cook complained. He looked soggy, too.
I glared at him, still not ready to forgive him for mistreating Gin the other day. "Oh, it's you. Damn chef. Where am I and what's going on?" I looked to the side and blinked as I recognized the pale form lying next to me. "Huh? Gin?" He was slumped over on the cross-hatched railing next to me.
Patty gulped. "Hey girl, don't flip out on me, okay? All I've been doing is making sure you didn't die from the poison gas."
I blinked. "Poison gas? What poison gas? And what happened to Gin?"
"Krieg had a poison gas bomb that he blew up. Everyone almost died, but we're all okay somehow. Even Chore Girl. She asked us to take care of you until she won her battle with Krieg. They're still duking it out on the deck below. Oh, and if you're wondering why everything's wet, that bitch destroyed the Fin!"
Ah. That would explain the sounds of fighting. I must not have been out very long.
A feminine shout of "Gum-Gum Bazooka!" rose up, followed by an angry yell. Chefs cheered and pirates gasped in shock. There was the sound of something shattering. Then my vision darkened and I went out like a light again.
When I finally came to— for good, this time—I was in a yellowish room, sleeping on a comfortable bed. I had an eerie sense of deja vu, but then a strangled cry of, "Hat! Where's my straw hat?!" broke the moment.
"Lucy?..." I said weakly. My mouth felt like sandpaper and my body felt like someone was sticking a thousand needles into it.
"It's right there, Lucy-chan," said a smooth, love-choked voice that made me want to kill kittens.
"Sanji!" I growled, sitting up in the bed to glare at the black-clad sous chef. "Don't even think about it, bastard!"
Lucy ignored me, grabbed her hat, and sat it back on its throne. "Ah, right. Thank you so much!"
"Do you feel better?" Sanji cooed. "Are you hurting anywhere? Are you hungry? Are you—"
"Shut up! " I yelled, tic-pulsing.
"Yuril-chan I'm just showing your captain some respect. She deserves it after she won that hard battle against Don Krieg."
"Yeah, well, she doesn't need you swooning all over her, ero-cook!"
"Are you jealous?" he said, and sure enough, my eyebrow was twitching. I cursed savagely in my mind.
"You two are funny!" Lucy giggled. "Shishishi!" Then she blinked and looked around. "Eh? Where'd they go? The pirates, I mean."
"Thanks to you, they're gone."
The straw hatted captain pointed to herself, surprised. "Me?"
"Gin said, 'We shall meet again at the Grand Line.'" Sanji continued, smirking, then he looked out the window and lit another cigar. I involuntarily gagged at the thought of smoking. Why would anybody willingly suck in a bunch of smoke? It just wasn't natural.
"Gin, eh?" Lucy mused. "He told you that?"
"He meant you, idiot," I deadpanned.
Pea-brain grinned. "Oh yeah! Since I knocked 'em unconscious and drove 'em away and all, that means I'm off the hook, right? I don't have to work here anymore, do I?"
"Congratulations," said Sanji, sounding a little disappointed, but frankly, I was just glad I wouldn't have to catch any more unwanted sights of Lucy in that French maid getup again.
"But about you—"
"I'm very sorry, but I'm still not going," he cut her off. She pouted. "I don't want to be a pirate. I'm staying here to be a cook until that crap geezer acknowledges my cooking skills."
Lucy's straw hat shadowed her expression. "Is that so. I'll give up then."
I blinked. "Wait, you will?" My head was still a bit fuzzy and I couldn't remember whether this was part of the original storyline or not, so I was having a major freak-out moment in my head. Then her hand stretched out and grabbed hold of Sanji's collar, and I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.
"Your hand hasn't given up yet!" Sanji snapped, struggling against her iron-like grip. Lucy pouted some more and released her small hand.
I got up and walked out of the room we were in, leaning against the railing like Sanji, who was looking out to sea wistfully. "I can't go," he said. "They're all unreliable around here. But I'll go there someday."
Lucy and I exchanged confused glances. "Where?" we asked in unison.
"To the Grand Line."
My friend the Idiot laughed and stretched over to us. I regarded her jealously. While the rest of us had to walk or run everywhere, all she had to do was stretch her arms a little! It wasn't fair. Anyway, she said: "Then let's go now!"
"Not now."
Out to sea, an ugly black storm cloud skirted across the sky, throwing a shadow over the ever-rolling waves. The air was nice and warm, but still held back a little moisture, and I felt said moisture re-energizing me after my tough battle. Exerting that much effort had hurt me more than I'd realized, and had also worked up an enormous appetite. I wasn't just hungry—I was ravenous.
Sanji grinned and turned to the both of us, suddenly looking less like a perverted ero-cook and more like an innocent little kid, which surprised me. He said, "Oi, have either of you ever heard of the All Blue?"
"Nope," my maybe-captain shrugged.
"What? You haven't?"
I smiled, too. "I've heard the legend," I remarked.
The cook's grin only got wider. "Well, for Lucy, it's a mystical sea that some claim doesn't even exist, but I believe it does! In this sea, fish from the East Blue, West Blue, North Blue, and even the South Blue can be found! All in the same spot! Swimming in harmony with one another!"
"Sounds like a chef's miracle," I put in.
He shook his head. "No, more like a chef's wonderland ! And it's gotta be somewhere in the Grand Line! So, have you heard of it?"
"You just asked that," Lucy pointed out.
He continued describing the All Blue for us, and I had to admit that it sounded like a pretty cool place. Then I thought of something. That big whale that Brook's old crew befriended followed them from the West Blue into the Grand Line. What if other sea life had accidentally got swept into the Reverse Mountain currents and into the Grand Line like that whale? It was definitely a possibility. And if that was true, that could make the Grand Line itself the All Blue...
A bell rang, interrupting my thought process, which was a bit disappointing. I felt like I might've stumbled onto something there. Patty's voice shouted, "LUNCH TIME, BOYS!"