A Siren's Journey (One Piece! Various X Reader)

[57] - Reverse Mountain Arc ~ 2

"Call it a doctor's playful mind." The old man responds, not taking his eyes off his newspaper.

"Doctor?" Usopp gasps.

"That's right. Legally certified." Crocus assures. "I also ran a clinic on the Cape, once upon a time. Before that, I served as a ship's doctor.

"Really?!" Luffy exclaims, sitting atop what's left of his "captain's chair". "That's great! Then join us! We need a doctor!"

🌀🌺That's putting it mildly.🌺🌀 Carmela and Ahio mumble.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Crocus retort, as they all come upon the canal exit doors. "I know longer have that kind of energy." The old doctor disembark's his "ship" climbing up another metal ladder built into the structure's side. "Exploring the seas is a young man's burden."

Strangely enough, Luffy didn't protest at Crocus' declining his offer.

"What kind of doctor hollows out the inside of a whale?" Sanji mutters, questionably.

"One who's very set on keeping him alive and well." (First Name) remarks.

"The young lady's right." Crocus calls down, overhearing the exchange between the cook and first mate. "With a creature of this size, it's virtually impossible to treat it from the outside. Therefore, I devised a more drastic solution." He walks along the catwalk until he comes to the door's control wheel. "Here's the exit."

With a few turns of the wheel, the steel gates split open to reveal open sea, sunshine and real skies.

"THE SKY!" Luffy exclaims.

While the crew was distracted with open air and sun, the two would-be poachers had begun to wake up from their head smash, courtesy of (First Name). With the pirates' attention not on them at present, the two shimmy out of their rope bonds.

"Don't you think fifty years is a bit extreme?" The crew's sniper suddenly asks. "Those pirates sure know how to test someone's patience."

"Idiot. Don't you get it? This is the Grand Line. His friends are dead." Sanji states, not so subtly, exhaling smoke from his cigarette. "That whale can wait forever. They won't be back."

"Sad to say, but that's probably true." Nami agrees reluctantly. "Back in the day when those guys traveled the Grand Line it was an uncharted sea. A thousand times more treacherous than it is now."

Usopp sprints to the group, joining in on the conversation. "Why are you all being so pessimistic?! You don't know that they're dead! They could still come back for him. . ." The sniper begins to tear up. "C'mon! Have some sympathy will ya?! I thought it was very touching. I mean a whale still believing a promise his friends made, despite all these years. That's a true bond. Right, pops?"

Crocus pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Indeed. But the lesson here is that reality is cruel. Laboon's cohorts aren't dead. The truth is they abandoned their quest. I learned that they turned tail and left the Grand Line."

"I don't believe it." Usopp huffs disbelievingly. "I mean. . .Why abandon him like that?" The sniper turns to look upon Laboon.

(First Name) and Luffy were eyeing the whale as well. Though the former with more solemness.

"You say they ran away from the Grand Line. Do you know if they made it through the Calm Belt alive?" Nami asks.

"I can't claim to know of what exactly became of them. But I doubt they'll ever come back here again." Crocus replies.

🌀Seasons. Weather.🌀

🌺Currents. Wind direction.🌺

🐾On the Grand Line, these elements seem to defy the very laws of nature. Common sense and logic is useless here. And the terror of that fact can be overwhelming and scares many off part way into their journey.🐾