Luffy left Merry and his other guards to handle the cleanup, where they chained up all the pirates, including Kuro. Usopp, Zoro, and Nami were taken to Kaya's house to recover from the fight (after Nami stole all their treasure of course), while Luffy chose to go to a neighbouring town which had a Marine base. Merry had asked him to tell the Marines about Kuro and ask them to send a unit to arrest all the pirates, so he first went to the Marine base, informed them about everything, then broke into the Captain's office and stole relevant documents as he had done on every island he had been to in East Blue.
After that, he went on a bit of a shopping spree, and by the time he was done, he had filled up a small cart with all the items he had bought. He pulled the cart back to Syrup Village, and it was noon by the time he came back to Kaya's mansion.
"Ah, Luffy, you're back!" Kaya greeted him.
"Yo!" he waved as he left the cart in the courtyard and entered the house. "You doing okay?"
Kaya gave a small smile as she nodded, "As okay as anyone can be given the circumstances, I guess…"
"…well, don't break your head thinking that you should have seen the signs or should have known that there was something wrong with your butler. You were vulnerable because of your parents' death, and he used that against you…"
"Yeah…" Kaya nodded softly.
"Well, hang in there, kiddo," Luffy said, patting her head. "How's your boyfriend?"
Kaya directed a pouty glare at him, "Will you stop with that already?"
"Hey, you didn't blush. That's an improvement."
"Stop it!"
"Shishi, well… you know you don't have much time with him, don't you?"
Kaya froze upon hearing that and hung her head low as she slowly nodded. "…I had a feeling… so you'll be taking him with you?"
"Yep"
"I see… well, it's not goodbye forever. Right now, we're both kids… I was- still am -an emotionally vulnerable child and Usopp is someone who liked to cheer me up… I was unhealthily dependent on him to make myself happy…same with Kla-Kuro too… I can't keep depending on others forever. I have to grow up too…"
Luffy was surprised by her words and nodded approvingly. "Looks like someone's self-reflecting and self-analyzing."
Kaya smiled, "I kinda started reading a book on human psychology after that day I met you. It's fascinating… I always wanted to be a doctor, and I think I'll major in that."
"The brain is fascinating…" Luffy agreed, again surprised. 'What kind of butterfly effect will this cause?' "Well anyways, have fun. And I promise I'll look after him"
Kaya nodded gratefully. "Thanks. Ah, Merry was looking for you earlier. He wanted to show you the ship…"
Luffy became ecstatic as he could finally meet Merry, the ship. "Let's wait for the others to wake up. Then we can all go together"
———
"It's a caravel!" Nami happily cheered as she laid eyes on the ship while Zoro gave an approving nod and Luffy looked up at the Going Merry with shining eyes. It was bigger than what he had expected and the sheep figurehead looked really cute.
Merry started explaining about the ship and how to navigate it to Luffy but he didn't bother to listen and jumped aboard. He first went up to the figurehead and sat on it humming happily to himself and feeling the wind blowing in his face. 'Oh yeah. This is my spot…'
He ran his fingers softly on the head of the figurehead thinking about all the adventures they had up ahead. All the way from Reverse Mountain to Enies Lobby where the inevitable would happen. He knew that Merry wouldn't be able to handle future adventures after that, especially the New World, so he knew he would have to say farewell to her at Water 7. He became emotional remembering her last words which were really vivid in Leo's memories as he had bawled his eyes out watching and rewatching that scene.
"Hey Merry…" he gently introduced himself leaning down and touching his forehead to the figurehead, "Nice to meet you. My name is Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the Strawhat Pirates. My dream is to become the Pirate King and so, we'll be heading to the Grand Line very soon. You'll love that place. It's amazing, beautiful and the most exciting and fun place in the world!… but it's also a very dangerous place - filled with Sea Kings, massive whirlpools, crazy weather and whatnot… So, I'll be counting on you to keep my crew safe on our journey… I know what's at the end of this road…But…" He vowed, "I promise you that I'll find a way to save you. I promise that you'll be with me until the end… so, let's have fun!"
He sat back up and looked back to find Zoro leaning against the main mast, adjusting his position a bit before nodding to himself satisfied. Nami was with Merry learning about the sails and other navigational stuff, and Luffy introduced each member to Merry. He then went exploring all around the ship first before jumping off and hauling the cart of things he had bought up to the Merry.
"What's all this?" Zoro asked coming up to him. There was a tarp covering the whole cart, as Luffy wanted to surprise everyone.
"Well, stuff for our new home!" Luffy cheered as he removed the tarp, and all eyes first noticed the biggest item there, which was a Grand Piano.
"A piano? Who plays?" Nami asked confused coming up to him too, "And why the hell would a pirate ship need a piano?"
"You fool!" Luffy spat, "A musician is a fundamental part of a pirate crew! Until I get my musician, I'll be the temporary musician for the crew, so I need it!"
Nami rolled her eyes thinking he was up to his stupid antics again before moving on to see the other things.
"Well, here's the softest futon I could find for you but I guess the bed on the ship is already soft," Luffy said handing a futon to Nami who buried her face in it and smiled nodding approvingly. "This is good… I'll use this too"
"A few welcome mats, some cooking utensils… then there's a swivel chair! Cool right?" Luffy said sitting on it and rotating, "Then a couple of beach chairs, umbrellas, water guns, a couple of mirrors, water balloons, party stuff…"
"You went overboard," Nami groused interrupting him, "We don't need half this stuff…you're just wasting money! I'll be coming with you next time we shop and we're buying only the things we need, got that?" Nami yelled yanking his vest.
"Yes, ma'am!"
'They're acting like a married couple…' went through everyone's mind, but no one voiced it out.
The things were soon shifted to the ship with the piano being bolted down on the deck, just outside the kitchen. The stuff they had on their boat was also shifted onto the ship and Luffy found the bag with the 200 million still there, untouched. 'Did she really not see this until now?' he wondered as he brought it onto the Merry.
Just as they were done, a loud shout came from the top of the slope.
"GYAAAAA! STOP ME PLEASE!" Usopp screamed as he rolled down the slope with a huge bag on his back.
"He's gonna hit the ship," Zoro said standing in the way with Luffy following him. Both raised one leg up and Usopp crashed into the soles of their feet, coming to a stop.
"Thanks… I think" he muttered rubbing his face.
"No problem"
"So you're really going, Usopp?" Kaya asked coming up to him while the three Strawhats climbed up the ship, ready to leave.
"Yes! I must go before my resolve weakens! Don't try to stop me"
"I won't…I already had a feeling you might do this…"
"When I return, I'll have even more tall tales to tell you about!" Usopp grinned, "Only, they'll all be true!"
"I'm looking forward to it," Kaya smiled before turning to the others aboard the ship.
"Thanks Luffy," Kaya said with a bright smile, "I look forward to seeing you again too. You guys too, Nami and Zoro."
"Likewise," they said in unison.
Usopp also added his own farewell. "Yeah, safe voyage guys. Hope we see each other again!"
"Why?" Luffy asked.
"Why? Man, don't be so cold," Usopp said looking hurt, "We're both pirates, so we might cross paths again someday on the high seas… Oh, and also," he opened his huge bag and pulled out something long and vertical wrapped in cloth, "Here's your glider. It isn't finished yet and I still don't know how you're gonna use this, but I think you can finish the rest yourself"
"Why? Just finish it for me"
"Who knows when we'll meet the next time. Just take it now"
"What are you talking about? Just get on already, idiot" Zoro grumbled, eager to leave.
"Huh?"
"You're already a part of my crew. Come aboard!"
Usopp stared in shock for a second before he teared up, jumping in joy. "I-I get to be the captain, right?" And soon, they set off, having picked up their fourth crew member.
———o———
Deep Undersea, Paradise
'Again?' The fairy felt another person touching her gold trinket and realized it was from the trinket that the straw hat-wearing man had. 'He sure likes to let random people touch it… does he not know wars were fought over who could touch that trinket before?' First were the many women on the ship that was being pulled by huge snakes, then a green-haired woman had touched it, and now again, she felt that a new person had touched it, so she used her powers to gaze at him.
There was no real reason for her to gaze actually as she could do absolutely nothing but watch and she had gotten bored of human lives a long time ago. But it had just become a sort of habit over the centuries where she would just peek at any new person who touches her trinkets for a few seconds before stopping.
It was late in the night and she saw that the straw hat-wearing man was sitting on top of a sheep-like figurehead of a ship. She sensed that her gold trinket was inside the sling bag he had across his chest and there was no one else on deck.
'Who touched me?' The fairy wondered as she looked around for anyone but only sensed that there were three other people on the ship, but they were all below deck.
"And that was our adventure on Clockwork Island," the straw hat-wearing man said to seemingly no one, "Silk decided to stay there while Lizz, Ann and Balloon left soon after. We'll probably meet them on the Grand Line and you can see them then"
The fairy watched with confusion as the straw hat-wearing man talked to no one about someone called Silk, Makino, Buggy, Gaimon and a string of other people. She would have written it off as a crazy man talking to himself but she could clearly feel that someone new was touching the gold trinket, which seemed impossible as it was inside a bag.
Her wings sprouted out from her back and her powers increased as she started observing the surroundings the straw hat man was in, and what she saw made her tilt her head in confusion and surprise.
"A Klaubauttermann?" she said, uttering actual words from her mouth for the first time in decades. The Klaubauttermann itself wasn't surprising as she had seen a few over the centuries, but what was surprising was the way this particular one had formed.
A Klaubauttermann was usually an amalgamation of a water spirit and the spirits of the crew that lived on the ship. When a lot of care and love is received by a ship, a water spirit would inhabit it and it would slowly grow, directly proportional to the amount of love and care the ship is given. The individual personalities of the crew members would also play into how the Klaubauttermann grew, with the ones showing more care having a bigger impact on shaping its personality.
And the Klaubauttetmann the fairy was currently seeing was a newborn and more interestingly, had only one person's personality mixed in it- the straw hat-wearing man's personality. It was nowhere near fully conscious yet and it would take more time for it to be truly alive, but the base consciousness had already formed, somehow with the love of just one person.
"What's going on here?" She wondered aloud as she stared at the man talking to his ship happily. It couldn't be that the man had been travelling on it for long as the Klaubauttermann was a newborn, so he had definitely met the ship very recently. 'How is this possible?!' For the first time in centuries, she became curious about another person.
"Luffy! It's your turn to cook" a orange-haired girl yelled from inside the ship and the man got off the figurehead to go to her.
"Luffy…" the fairy tested his name on her mouth, finally bothering to learn it.
"Are you a creature like me too?" she wondered aloud as her wings glowed brighter, her powers got stronger, and she observed his soul. There was only one other creature like her that she knew of in the world, and that creature existed in the New World, so she became a bit excited to see if this straw hat-wearing creature was like her too…but was disappointed.
"No, you're just a human… You've eaten a devil fruit too I see…" she said when she noticed a devil fruit essence bound to his soul.
She suddenly noticed something strange about his soul and when she focused on it, she became further confused. 'Hmm, his soul is bound very weakly to his body too… Must have had a near-death experience…no…even then, it makes no sense. It's so loosely bound to his body…Strange…'
She watched him the whole time as he cooked, joked around with the girl and a long-nosed man, ate with them and when the others went to sleep, he went back to the figurehead and resumed telling about his adventures to the ship. And she kept watching him…
———
Going Merry, East Blue
"So that should help you guys out right, Silk?" Luffy talked into his transponder snail, long after midnight.
"Yep! Man, we made a bad choice letting go of all the pirates that Bear King had captured as they just kept coming back with more people… and to be honest, I was skeptical of what Makino could do even if she came here, but she just pulled out a visual transponder snail and called the fucking Fleet Admiral and the Hero of the Marines of all people!" Silk's excited voice came through.
"Wait, Grandpa's back?"
"Yeah! Imagine my shock when I heard that you're his grandson! And that Garp's grandson is a pirate?! What the hell?!"
"Shishi not much of a story there. I wanted to become a pirate, so I became one"
"I'm sure there's more to the story, but I won't pry… Anyway, I couldn't see their faces but I could almost hear their jaws dropping when Makino toured the island showing them everything over the visual transponder. Sengoku was like 'Are you telling me that this is an island in East Blue?!' with a gobsmacked voice!"
"Oh damn, would have liked to watch that…"
"Hehe yeah, it was fun! Garp said that he'll personally send a unit of Marines to set up a Base here soon. We put up a sign at the base of the island that this island is under Garp's protection, and already half of the pirate attacks stopped. So, we should be safe."
"Good then. Call me anytime if you need anything… and take care of Makino"
"Okay cool and I will. Bye!"
"Bye"
Kachak~
Luffy smiled feeling happy and dialed another number. Aaand his happy mood melted away when the snail didn't connect.
"I hate you so much… I think I might hate you more than Spandam…" Luffy said with a straight face as he looked at the transponder snail in his hand, which had again failed in connecting to Reiju. The snail didn't care as it lazily went back to sleep and he sighed as he put it back into his bag. Ever since he had separated from her in South Blue, he called her pretty much every single day at random times and not once had the snail connected to hers. He wanted to talk to her so badly, but the stupid transponder snails didn't work.
"You think I'm being mean to the snail?" he asked Merry as he sat on her figurehead staring up at the night sky, full of stars. "Yeah, guess so. I'll give it more leaves to eat tomorrow… it's so frustrating that it's useless you know…"
He didn't actually hear Merry talking and was just pretending like he was conversing with her. He looked around himself as he continued talking to Merry, "And Spandam? He's this asshole we'll meet one day…" He again looked around, saw the sea, the deck, the crow's nest, and used his Observation to sense his surroundings too… but no one was there.
"Who's spying on me?" he said aloud as he kept trying to find someone. It had been some time since he started feeling like someone was watching him but he had no idea who or how. He first wondered if it was Merry's spirit but this wasn't the first time he had felt this gaze. Back when he was with Amazons, and at different points during the past few months, he would randomly feel like someone was watching him, and he had no idea who it was.
With the limited information he had, he looked up into the sky and with a bit of hope, asked "That you, Leo?"
White had said that he could pull souls out of the Soul Plane even after they got integrated into it, but the soul wouldn't be able to go back to any universe though.
"I hope White came back for you and pulled you out and it's you who keeps watching me from time to time…" he said looking up into the sky, "And if it really is you, then- Hey! How ya doing? I hope you met Serena…"
———o———
Buffer Space, Just outside the Soul Plane
White snapped his fingers and a couple of seconds later, a white mist came flying out of the Soul Plane and formed into the familiar figure of a black-haired man wearing a red hoodie.
Leo slowly opened his eyes, feeling like he had just woken up from a very long dream, and blinked a few times to find himself in the Buffer space in front of the higher-dimensional being he had once met. "White?"
"Yo! It's been a while"
"A while? Wait, aren't I supposed to be really dead? How am I here?"
"I told you right? I can pull you out even if you get integrated into the Soul Plane"
"Hmm, I vaguely remember you saying that yeah… Wait! What happened to Luffy? Did the plan work? Did Reiju save him?"
"Yep"
"Hell yeah!" Leo pumped his fists feeling ecstatic that he had managed to help Luffy. "Wait…if you've pulled me out now…" Leo said looking hopeful, "Can you send me to his universe?! I want to travel with Luffy!"
"Again, I've already told you. A soul which has been inside the Soul Plane for even a moment can never enter any universe ever again"
"Aww…" Leo deflated sighing with a pout. He then looked around everywhere to find just black space with clusters of purplish clouds here and there before looking back at White, "So? Why did you pull me out?"
White shrugged, "Just a whim. I was just watching Luffy and he talked about you, so felt like pulling you out"
"Ooh, we can watch him?! Show me!"
"I can. You can't."
"Ugh… is he safe at least? What's he doing?"
"He just recruited Usopp and got Merry"
"Ooh started his journey already huh? Is he okay? Going on his journey while knowing the fu-"
White sighed cutting him off, "Questions, questions. I'm bored"
"Right…" Leo sighed. A few seconds of silence later, he asked "Umm…so what exactly do you want me to do here?"
"Glad you asked," White smiled snapping his fingers and the next moment, the two were standing on a small rocky island surrounded by an endless stretch of dark bluish sea. The sky was still the same blackness with purplish streaks everywhere, so they were still in the Buffer space.
"Here ya go," White said as he suddenly handed Leo a button. "You can pull anyone you want out. But don't go overboard and pull out too many people!" White then pointed to a huge mansion on the edge of a cliff, "You can live in that mansion and there are robots there which can build you anything or get you anything you want. Okay, that's about it I guess. Toodles~"
White disappeared after saying his piece not even letting Leo get a word in and Leo stood dumbly all alone on a rocky island. He looked at the mansion and then at the button in his hand, trying to process what had just happened.
"…Did he say I can pull anyone out?"
He slowly and hesitantly pressed the button while thinking of a specific girl and a second later, a white mist came flying in front of him and formed into the figure of a brown-haired girl. She was a tall and slim black-eyed girl who was wearing a full-sleeved crop top hoodie and full-length cargo pants.
"Serena…" Leo breathed tearing up as he watched her slowly open her eyes and blink a few times, regaining consciousness.
"Leo?" Serena's sweet sweet voice which he had missed so much graced his ears again and Leo lunged at her bringing her into a bear hug with unbridled joy.
"Oof, what the hell?" Serena groaned feeling the breath knocked out of her because of the tight hug, "Leo? Too tight, too tight!"
"Right sorry," Leo smiled loosening the grip around her but still didn't let her go. "I've missed y-…It's great to see you again!"
"Didn't I…get shot?" Serena asked looking down at her stomach and touching to see the wound but found none. "Hm?"
"Look around you, idiot" Leo chuckled and when Serena did, her jaw dropped. "We're in space?! Did I go into a coma and this is the far future?!"
"…Yeah. You were put in cryo sleep after you went into a coma. This is the year 2150 and Earth just got destroyed. We're the last humans left…" Leo delivered with a straight face.
"…Even if that was true," Serena deadpanned, "There's no way someone with lack of survival skills like you would ever survive… So, get a better story"
Leo laughed. "I'm actually pretty amazing at surviving in jungles and forests now and the truth is way more unbelievable…but first…" Leo paused as he gently held her neck looking into her eyes… before smashing his lips against hers.
———
"Leo, you've finally lost it huh…" Serena said after a few hours of sex, explanations and exploration of the mansion, "I know you were a bit too obsessed with One Piece given how excited you got in bed whenever I cosplayed as Robin, but this is too much even for you…"
"Shishishi I wonder how Luffy is actually dealing with women"
"Why the hell are you laughing like Luffy?!"
"I told you. I have his memories, so my personality got influenced by him too"
"…You seem to truly believe what you're saying huh?" Serena said still not believing him.
"Oh c'mon! We're in the afterlife he-"
"Yeah yeah, that I believe. I even believe that you met a higher-dimensional being… But you meeting Luffy is where I draw the line… and you're his counterpart in our universe? What does that make me? Nami? Hancock?… Wait, is Luffy asexual?"
"Oh, so you do believe me?"
"Ugh no, I don't! Ask White to send us to him then! I want to see him with my own eyes!"
"Can't"
"Can we watch Luffy at least?"
"Nope"
"Then I won't believe you!" Serena pouted crossing her arms. Leo chuckled ruffling her hair knowing she did believe him, but was just mad that she couldn't meet Luffy herself.
"Well, I got the next best thing," Leo smiled and Serena gave him a sideways glance and watched as his clothes changed from the red hoodie he was wearing to a black suit. They could change clothes with just a thought there, something they had learned earlier when they tried to rip the clothes off of one another.
"Why a suit?"
"You change too. Something mafia-like"
Serena wondered what he was up to, but did change into a long black dress. They then went to the dining room in the mansion and Leo sat in the lead chair with Serena on his lap. It was a long dining table with seats on either side with candles and food arranged in a very professional manner.
"Haven't we always talked about how awful it was for the characters in flashbacks?" Leo began. "And wondered how amazing it would be if they got to know that their loved ones turned out great in the end?"
Serena's eyes widened as she realized where Leo was going with this and gulped in excitement. "Yeah…"
Leo smiled wide as he put a cigar in his mouth and then pushed the button White had given him six times while thinking about specific people. "Let's start with six. Be cool, okay? We have to make a good first impression"
Before Serena could respond, sudden bright strings of white light radiated out of seemingly nowhere and coalesced into six figures at six seats, three on either side, of the dining table.
A blonde woman with a tuft covering one eye, a young blue-haired girl with a katana strapped to her waist, a long white-haired woman wearing a trench coat, a black-haired woman with a prominent long nose, a woman with unique mohawk-styled fuschia coloured hair, and an eccentric looking old man wearing a black hat all opened their eyes at the same time.
Each one blinked a few times, slowly regaining consciousness and confusedly watched the others looking around, not being able to understand the situation when Leo clapped his hands getting their attention and smiled at each one of them.
"Welcome, guests" he began in a dignified mafia boss-like manner. "You must all be wondering why I gathered y-"
"KYAAAH!" Serena suddenly screamed, "It's Olvia! It's Nico Olvia! Leo, Leo, look!" she shook him unable to contain her excitement, "Look, it's Olvia! And oh my god! It's Bellemere! Leo, look! It's Bellemere!" She jumped out of his lap and went to each one leaping with joy.
Leo's eye twitched as he tried to maintain the mysterious mafia boss character he was playing but sighed letting it go when Serena looked like a fool as she ran around the room. He loved her but she could be a bit stupid and get tunnel-visioned sometimes.
"Now S-"
There was a sudden loud snap making him and everyone else flinch, and they all looked at the young blue-haired girl who had a furious expression on her face. "What the fudge is going on?! Did you kidnap me?!"
"Wow, Kuina says fudge…" Leo smirked, "How cute"
"You!" Kuina growled angrily at him before pointing her sword at him. "I'll cut you!"
At the same time, Bellemere also suddenly stood up and looked around frantically, "Where the hell is this?! Where are my daughters?!"
Looked like each one was regaining their memories slowly as Olvia suddenly stood up next frantically looking around in a panic, and Sora and Banchina hung their heads low. Hiruluk was the only one who was smiling and watching the surroundings with interest.
"Okay okay, calm down!" Leo tried to get the situation back in control. Kuina seemed to be the one who was the most agitated, so got her attention first. "Kuina, you must remember what happened, right?"
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"The last thing I remember is… fire…and getting burned," Olvia spoke up regaining some sense of calmness before a look of horrified realization came across her face. "Robin…"
"I remember my health deteriorating and dying on bed," Sora chimed in, still sitting down but had a somber expression on her face.
"Me too," Banchina added with a similar expression.
"…Getting shot," Bellemere slowly said calming down but had a serious frown.
"Blowing up with a bomb!" Hiriluk said with a huge smile.
Kuina glared at them all with a confused expression, "What are you all on about?! You're dead?!"
Leo froze seeing the almost despair-filled expression each one had and realized that he had made a mistake. He was thinking of them as characters and trying to act out some cool fantasy, but they were all very real people with very real emotions… All of them remembered the last thing that happened to them and some of them had died in very horrific ways, and one of them was even a child. He caught Serena's eyes and she had also calmed down, seemingly having come to the same conclusion too.
"I'm sorry," Leo apologized looking at everyone, "Yes, you're all dead. This is kinda like the afterlife"
Kuina struck the table again, "Wha-"
"Kuina," Serena interjected and gave it to her straight, "You fell down the stairs. You died."
Kuina's eyes trembled as she refused to accept the fact. "No… it was just some stairs! There's no way I wou-"
"Kuina. I'm sorry but you're dead. The sooner you accept that fact, the better," Leo said before looking at all the others and bowed his head down deeply. "I'm really sorry. I didn't consider the moral implications of this…I…I just kinda love all of you, so was excited to meet you all, that's all"
"You know me?" Hiruluk asked surprised, "I don't think I've ever seen you"
"Doctor Hiruluk," Leo smiled wide, "You have no idea how much I look up to you. Your final words are immortalized in my mind and also in the minds of millions!"
"Millions?"
"Yes, I'l-"
"May I know how this is possible?" Olvia interjected, "Are you perhaps a god?"
"No no, just a normal person who also died. It's a long explanation I promise I'll give you, but first, are you all okay?"
"I-I'm just confused by all this… what exactly is going on here?" Sora asked.
Bellemere, on the other hand, was biting her lip in frustration. "What happened after I died? There was a monster near my daughters. Are they safe?"
Leo sighed. "Yes, they're safe… Kinda…"
"What does that mean?!" Bellemere demanded.
"If you know what happened after our deaths, I want to know what happened to Robin. Did she escape safely?"
"Did my kids turn out well? Sanji and Reiju at least?"
"And Chopper? How did he handle my death?"
"Is Usopp okay after my death?"
"Okay okay, I know you all have questio-"
A loud scream of "NOO!" interrupted him and a distressed-looking Kuina ran to the door. She pushed open the door intent on getting away from everyone, but froze in shock when she saw what the outside looked like. The door opened up into the backyard, so the endless stretch of dark-bluish sea and the literal blackness stretching into the sky with swirls and streaks of purplish clouds here and there…overwhelmed her.
The others could also see the outside through the open door and slowly walked outside staring at the sky in bewilderment and wonder.
"It's beautiful…" Sora, Banchina and Hiruluk muttered at the same time.
"Fascinating" Olvia breathed.
"So we really are dead…" Bellemere sighed.
They all stayed there for a few moments, coming to terms that that they were dead and still somehow conscious again. Leo walked up and sat next to Kuina, who had collapsed to her knees, and gently patted her head, calming her down.
"…I know I died…" she said looking up at the sky in wonder and acceptance, "I just didn't want to accept it"
"Sorry your life ended so soon, kiddo. Guess the universe got too scared that you would have become too awesome if left alive"
Kuina's lips twitched slightly upwards as she wiped her tears away and sighed deeply. "…that stupid anvil…"
"Anvil?"
"Yeah… I was carrying an anvil while going up the stairs… I slipped and the last thing I remember is the anvil falling on my face…"
"Ah, so that's what happened," Serena nodded, "To be honest, you dying just because of falling off some stairs never made sense…"
"And how exactly do you know about her? About us?" Banchina asked.
"Let me show you," Leo said as he walked back in and the rest slowly followed.
Leo pulled out a big box from under the dining table and Serena joined him. When she saw it was filled with books, she nodded in understanding before she picked up a few books and started handing them out to everyone.
"A comic book?" Sora asked tilting her head in confusion.
"Is that Nami?!" Bellemere yelped in surprise seeing her daughter on the cover. "What the hell…?"
The rest however still didn't know what to make of it.
"I'm afraid, Mr?" Olvia began.
"Just call me Leo"
"Okay, Leo. I'm afraid this isn't my preferred medium of reading. I do not understand what this is"
Serena handed her another book, "This is a future volume"
Olvia's looked at the cover and her eyes widened with shock. "Me?… No. Robin?!"
"And this is another," Serena said as she held up another book which had all the Strawhats on it. And almost everyone recognized their loved ones.
"What's the meaning of this?" Hiruluk asked as he leafed through the book.
"It's your children's lives in the form of a comic book. Just start reading from the beginning. I promise I'll explain later"
They nodded blankly and eagerly started reading… well everyone except Kuina.
"Children? You do know I'm 11 right?" Kuina scowled.
"Well, loved ones then" Leo chuckled holding out a book to her and she took a moment to recognize him. "Is that Zoro?! That chump who kept loosing to me?!"
Leo chuckled at the description of Zoro and the book was snatched out of his hand as she too began leafing through the book.
"This sure didn't turn out like what you hoped huh?" Serena asked coming up to him.
"Yeah, I was too rash…"
"Well, it'll just take time… Anyway, so it was all true. You did meet Luffy!"
"Shishi yeah. At least now you believe me…"
The others soon called for help as they couldn't figure out what the correct way of reading the manga was, and Serena went to help them out. Meanwhile, Leo sat on a windowsill watching them all and wondering what exactly he was doing.
White did say he was watching Luffy, so 'probably for entertainment' was his best guess, but what was the point of pulling him out? He sighed not understanding but was just happy to be reunited with Serena and also getting the chance to meet the people at the table.
He stared outside, looking up at the dark sky, and smiled. "Hey, Luffy! How ya doing? Hope you're enjoying your journey…