The Going Merry cut through the calm waters of the East Blue, a tiny, cheerful sheep sailing toward the end of the world. But below decks, the ship was anything but calm. It sounded less like a caravel and more like a construction site run by lunatics.
THWACK-BOOM! THWACK-BOOM!
In the magically expanded gravity chamber, Luffy was a red-and-blue blur of pure, unadulterated failure.
Leaping into the air under 2x gravity and kicking his legs with impossible, rubbery speed. He wasn't trying to master Soru—that was too boring. He was aiming straight for Geppo. He wanted to fly.
The result was that he kicked the air ten times, achieved no lift, and then rocketed uncontrollably into the ceiling. He'd thwack the enchanted wood, peel off like a sticker, and boom onto the floor, before instantly bouncing up to try again.
"ALMOST... HAD IT!" he wheezed, his face comically flattened.
In the next chamber, Zoro was a statue of pure, dripping focus. He stood motionless, his three swords sheathed, his arms crossed. His goal was Tekkai (Iron Body). He wasn't just tensing; he was trying to use his will, his spirit, to command his muscles to become steel. Every few minutes, one of the maintenance golems Ben had built would march up and punch him, square in the stomach.
WHUMP.
Zoro would grunt, slide back six inches, and double his concentration, sweat pouring from his green hair. "Not... hard... enough..."
Meanwhile, Sanji's training room was a blur of black-suited grace and furious, culinary-themed curses. He, too, was mastering Geppo, but with a grace Luffy lacked. He'd leap, his leg a blur, and manage to get three kicks in, hovering for a precious second before gravity reclaimed him.
"Damn it!" he'd land, lighting a cigarette. "This is harder than perfecting a pâté en croute!" He'd then pivot and unleash a spinning kick at the wall. "RANKYAKU!" A faint, compressed whoosh of air would fly from his shoe, not sharp enough to cut, but powerful enough to dent the reinforced wall. "Still... just a gust!"
Even Usopp had his own new, dedicated workshop—a room Ben had enchanted to be soundproof, explosion-proof, and, most importantly, Luffy-proof. The "Sniper's Nest 2.0" was a paradise of gears, gunpowder, and failure.
Usopp was wearing a ridiculous pair of magnifying goggles, meticulously crafting a new kind of pellet. His goal wasn't brute force; it was accuracy. He'd set up a moving target at the far end of the room—a tiny bell that zipped around on an erratic, magical track.
Ting!
"HA! The Great Captain Usopp hits it again!" he'd boast to himself. "My accuracy will be so good, I'll be able to shoot the antenna off a sea-louse from a mile away... in a typhoon!"
While the boys were busy turning the ship into a warzone, Nami was in her pristine navigation room, surrounded by charts. She was the only one feeling the true, crushing weight of their destination. Her brow was furrowed, her calculations precise.
The Grand Line map was full of crossed-out sections, rumors, and warnings. Her knuckles were white where she gripped her pen, the reality of the "Pirate's Graveyard" setting in.
And on the deck, under the warm sun, sat Ben.
He was at the bow, cross-legged, the Elder Wand resting across his knees. He was humming, a low, resonant tune. His eyes were closed. For three days, he had been inscribing the final runes, weaving the last, delicate threads of magic into the Merry's very soul. He'd worked from the keel up, a lattice of spells connecting every plank, every rope, every nail.
He inscribed the final rune—Ansuz, the rune of voice and consciousness—directly onto the smiling, wooden face of the figurehead.
He felt it. A soft, warm... click.
The ship's natural hum—the groaning of wood, the flapping of sails, the creak of rope—didn't just stop. It harmonized.
The Going Merry let out a long, contended, almost living sigh.
She was awake.
(A/N: Going Merry is now like Queen Ann's Revenge, Blackbeard's ship in Pirates of the Caribbean)
Ben opened his bright blue eyes, a smile of satisfaction on his face. He stood up, dusted off his coat, and shouted, his voice carrying easily over the chaos below.
"Meeting! Everyone! On the main deck, now!"
One by one, they emerged, looking like they'd just lost a fight with a hurricane.
Luffy bounced out, his face covered in ceiling-shaped bruises. Zoro stomped up, his stomach visibly bruised, but his aura as sharp as ever.
Sanji glided out, smelling of smoke, sweat, and a faint hint of frustrated-kicking. Usopp emerged last, blinking in the sunlight, a smudge of gunpowder on his nose.
"What is it, Ben?" Nami called from the helm, relieved for the break. "Did you find more gold?"
"Ben, I was this close!" Luffy complained, holding his fingers a millimeter apart. "I almost flew!"
"Quiet, Captain," Ben said, his voice holding a strange, theatrical weight. He gestured to the main mast, his white hair blowing in the breeze. "Everyone... I'd like you to formally meet the newest member of our crew."
The crew looked around, confused.
"Is it a bird?" Luffy asked, looking at the sky.
"Did you find another lost child?" Sanji asked, his eyes scanning the horizon for a damsel in distress.
"Did you conjure another one of those steel golems?" Zoro grunted, looking annoyed.
"No," Ben said, a grin spreading across his face. He walked to the railing and patted the wood with genuine affection. "I'd like you to meet... the Going Merry."
Silence.
The crew just... stared at him.
"Uh... Ben?" Usopp said slowly, as if talking to a madman. "We... we know the Merry. I helped build her. She's a great ship. The best ship!"
"He's finally lost it," Zoro muttered, sitting down. "The magic scrambled his brain."
"Ben," Nami said gently, "have you been overworking? Do you need a nap?"
Ben just chuckled. "I've been enchanting, yes. But I'm not crazy. I told you I'd upgrade her. I just... finished." He turned his back to the crew and faced the mast. "Merry? You've been listening to them. Why don't you say hello? Could you please... furl the mainsail?"
He didn't shout. He just asked.
The crew watched, bewildered. And then... it happened.
With a sound like a great, contented sigh, the ropes slid through their pulleys by themselves. The yardarm turned, and the massive mainsail, with a series of elegant flaps, furled itself as neatly as a soldier's bedroll.
The deck fell into a stunned, absolute silence.
Nami's jaw dropped.
Sanji's cigarette, which he had just lit, fell from his open mouth and bounced onto the deck.
Zoro, who had just sat down, shot back to his feet, his hand on his swords. "What... trick is this?"
Usopp's eyes went as wide as dinner plates.
Ben just smiled, his arms spread wide. "She's not just wood and paint anymore. She's... alive. My enchantments didn't just repair her; they gave her a consciousness, a soul. She's bound to us. She's our partner. She is, as I said, our seventh crewmate."
There was another beat of silence.
Then, two voices, as one, erupted with a sound of pure, unadulterated, religious joy.
"MAAAAAAAGICAAAAAAL MERRRRRRRY!"
Luffy and Usopp, their eyes sparkling with literal stars, had their arms thrown around each other's shoulders, tears of happiness streaming down their faces. They began to dance, a chaotic, ridiculous jig on the main deck.
"SHE'S ALIIIIIIVE!" Luffy howled, grabbing the figurehead and hugging its face. "You're the best, Merry! You're the best ship in the whole world! Shishishi!"
"OUR SHIP IS A MAGIC SHIP! OUR SHIP IS A MAGIC SHIP!" Usopp chanted, running in circles. "WE'RE INVINCIBLE! WE HAVE A WIZARD AND A MAGIC SHIP!"
Nami, recovering from her shock, walked slowly to the helm. She put her hand on the wheel. It felt... warm.
"...Merry?" she whispered. "Can... can you ease the rigging? Just a little?"
The rigging creaked in response, the tension visibly softening.
Nami's eyes went wide. "Oh my god. Okay. Merry... can you... polish the deck?"
In the galley, a mop and bucket suddenly clattered out of the closet and began scrubbing the floor with furious efficiency.
Nami's eyes turned into Berry symbols. "OH MY GOD."
"Merry-chwaaaan!" Sanji cooed, his shock replaced with love. "You are the most beautiful, most graceful lady on the seas! Could you perhaps... signal to me when the wind is perfect for chilling a nice Chablis?"
The ship's bell dinged softly in reply.
Zoro just grunted, though a small, almost imperceptible smile played on his lips. "Hmph. As long as she doesn't get lost."
Luffy and Usopp were now deep in experimentation.
"Merry! Make us fly!" Luffy yelled.
The Merry... did nothing.
"Merry! Do a barrel roll!" Usopp shouted.
The Merry... groaned, as if to say, 'Are you insane?!'
"Merry! Where's the meat?!" Luffy demanded.
A single, enchanted rope snaked out and pointed directly at the kitchen's locked pantry.
Luffy and Usopp's joyous dance resumed. "MAAAAGICAL MEEEEEAT-FINDING MERRRRRY!"
Ben just laughed, leaning against the mast as his crew officially met their ship. "She'll listen to all of you," he called out. "She's bound to the crew. She will protect you, and she'll obey. Just... try not to ask her to do barrel rolls. I think it hurts her feelings."
The excitement of the Merry's awakening carried them for days. The ship felt more alive, more theirs, than ever.
The crew was a well-oiled, magically-assisted, chaotic machine.
Then, the sky changed.
"Everyone! On deck!" Nami's voice, which had been relaxed for days, was suddenly sharp, high-pitched, and laced with pure, unadulterated navigator's panic.
They scrambled out, Luffy still chewing on a piece of chicken.
"What is it, Nami? Is it a Sea King? Is it meat?"
"It's... that," she said, her voice a small whisper.
They all looked forward.
The world had ended.
In its place was a colossal, impossible, vertical wall of sheer, dark-red rock that stretched from one horizon to the other and seemed to scrape the heavens. The sea itself was churning, being pulled toward the great continent. The sky was dark, a permanent, angry twilight.
Reverse Mountain.
The crew stared in mute, awestruck horror.
"It's... a wall," Usopp whispered, his knees knocking. "We're... we're going to sail into a wall! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"
Luffy, however, was vibrating, his eyes shining. "It's... so... BIG! This is it! This is the entrance!"
Nami was at the railing, her face pale. "This isn't possible. Look at the water!"
They looked. The sea, whipped into a white-water frenzy, wasn't crashing against the mountain. It was flowing up it, in a narrow, defined, roaring canal.
"Ben!" Nami shrieked, grabbing the wizard's coat. "You're the magic one! Explain this! Water doesn't flow up! It violates every known law of physics and simple common sense!"
Ben, who had been leaning on the railing, looking utterly unbothered, gently patted her hand. He looked at the impossible physics, the roaring water, the blood-red rock.
"Nami," he said, his voice calm and steady, his white hair whipping in the sudden, powerful wind. "What's the first rule of the Grand Line?"
"I DON'T KNOW! I'VE NEVER BEEN THERE!"
"The first rule," Ben said, a faint, exhilarating smile on his lips, "is that anything can happen there. Throw your physics books overboard. We're sailing on magic and dreams now. And this," he pointed to the roaring canal, "is the front door."
Zoro grinned, drawing a sword. "Hmph. Finally, a place that makes sense."
Nami hit him.
"YEEEEEEHAW!" Luffy roared, scrambling onto his favorite seat—the Merry's smiling figurehead. "ADVENTURE! MERRY, FULL SPEED AHEAD!"
The wind, as if summoned by his cry, exploded. It wasn't a storm; it was a funnel. A howling, focused gale that grabbed the Going Merry and pulled her, accelerating the ship to a terrifying speed, straight at the mountain.
"IT'S PULLING US IN!" Nami yelled, fighting the helm, though the ship was now moving too fast for her to control.
"WE'RE GOING TOO FAST!" Usopp screamed, clinging to the mast. "THE ENTRANCE IS TOO NARROW! WE'RE OFF-COURSE! WE'RE GOING TO BE SMASHED TO PIECES AGAINST THE CLIFF!"
He was right. They were accelerating like a cannonball, the red rock wall rushing toward them. The dark, slot-like canal was dead ahead, but the current was pulling them just slightly too far to the left. At this speed, they wouldn't enter the canal; they would hit the rock face beside it.
Zoro and Sanji braced themselves on the port side, ready to... what? Try to push a mountain?
Nami's face was white. "I... I can't steer her! The current is too strong!"
Ben walked up, his steps steady on the bucking deck. He placed his hand on Nami's shoulder, then moved past her, placing his own hand on the warm, vibrating wood of the railing. He didn't shout. He didn't use a spell. He just spoke to his crewmate.
"Merry," he said, his voice calm and clear, cutting through the roaring wind. "Move slightly to the right."
The ship shuddered.
For one, heart-stopping, impossible moment, the Going Merryfought the apocalyptic current. With a groan of straining wood and a surge of pure, defiant magic, she slid sideways, as if nudged by the hand of a god.
She aligned perfectly with the center of the canal.
WHOOOOOOOSH!
They hit the upward-flowing river, and the world dissolved into a blur of vertical, high-speed chaos. The Merry was a rocket, shooting up the mountain, the sheer red cliffs a blur of spray on either side.
The crew was screaming. Luffy was screaming in pure, unadulterated joy. Usopp was screaming in pure, unadulterated terror. Sanji was screaming compliments at Nami, who was screaming that she wasn't even steering.
They shot up, up, up, into the dark, cloud-wreathed summit. They crested the peak, where the four seas met, and hung in the air for a weightless, stomach-dropping second.
And then... they fell.
The Merry tipped over the edge, beginning the long, exhilarating descent into the Grand Line.
"WE... WE DID IT!" Nami panted, collapsing against the helm.
"THAT... WAS... AWESOME!" Luffy howled, pounding his fists on the figurehead's head.
"Wait..." Usopp said, his voice cracking. He was pointing, his finger shaking, down the canal they were now sliding into. "Guys... what's... that?"
They followed his finger. The descent was steep, but it wasn't empty.
Blocking the entire canal, a dark, massive, unmoving shadow loomed. It was huge, dark, and curved. It looked... like a mountain.
A mountain... in the middle of the canal.
The crew's celebration died instantly.
"ANOTHER MOUNTAIN?!" Nami shrieked, her eyes rolling back in her head. "WE'RE GOING TO CRASH! FOR REAL THIS TIME!"
"I'LL CUT IT!" Zoro roared, drawing all three swords.
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! I KNEW IT!" Usopp wailed.
"A SECOND MOUNTAIN?!" Luffy yelled. "WHY IS IT GROANING?!"
Ben just stood at the bow, his celebratory mood gone, replaced by a sad quiet. He watched the "mountain", his face unreadable. He already knew what it was. He knew... who... it was.
"Merry," Ben whispered, so low only the ship could hear. "Brace yourself. This is going to hurt."
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