The Going Merry, now humming with a subtle, magical lifeblood, sliced through the tempest that raged outside Loguetown. The storm, a furious guardian of the Grand Line's gateway, threw mountainous waves at the small caravel. But where any other ship would have been splintered to driftwood, the Merry held firm.
Ben's enchantments, woven into her keel and mast, allowed her to ride the currents rather than fight them, the wood groaning not in protest, but in effort.
Inside the galley, the crew was gathered, the roar of the ocean a deafening wall of sound around them.
"This is insane!" Nami shouted over the howl of the wind, her hands gripping the table. "This storm is unnatural!"
Ben, standing steady as a rock in the swaying room, gave a sharp, resonant whistle. All eyes turned to him. He walked to the center of the galley and, with a flick of his wand, magically summoned a sturdy, empty sake barrel from the cargo hold. It landed with a solid thud on the floor.
"Everyone, come around," Ben commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos.
They gathered, a collection of curious and battered pirates. Ben looked at each of them—his new family, his chaotic, beautiful, impossible crew.
He lifted his foot and planted it firmly on the barrel's lid. The crew watched, a mixture of confusion and anticipation on their faces.
"We just left the 'Town of the Beginnings and the End,'" Ben said, his voice now imbued with a magical resonance that carried over the storm. "But for us, this is a new beginning. I'm new to this crew. But before we enter the Grand Line, we make a vow. We put our dreams on the line, together."
He took a deep breath, his bright blue eyes burning with intensity. "I'll go first. I will turn the whole world upside down by the time I finish my journey!"
Luffy's eyes lit up, recognizing the pure, unadulterated ambition. He slammed his own sandal onto the barrel next to Ben's. "I will be the King of the Pirates!"
Zoro, a faint smirk on his face, stepped forward and placed his boot on the wood. The barrel creaked. "I will be the greatest swordsman in the world."
Nami, her expression softening from fear to a fierce resolve, added her foot to the growing cluster. "I will draw the map of the whole world!"
Sanji, with a smooth motion, placed his polished black shoe beside Nami's. He lit a cigarette in the swaying galley, the flame flickering. "I will find the All Blue!"
All eyes—Ben's, Luffy's, Zoro's, Nami's, Sanji's—turned to the last member.
Usopp was shaking. His knees knocked together, and he was pale, the roar of the waves clearly terrifying him. He looked at the barrel, at the feet of his friends, at the unshakeable certainty in their eyes.
"I... I..." he gulped, his voice a small squeak.
"Usopp," Luffy said, his voice suddenly quiet, "what's your dream?"
Usopp looked at his captain. He looked at the monster swordsman, the suave cook, the brilliant navigator, and the reality-bending wizard. He was just... Usopp. A liar from a small village.
He gulped again, squeezed his eyes shut, and then roared, his voice cracking but filled with all the courage he could muster, a shout to defy the ocean itself.
"I WILL BE A BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA!"
He slammed his foot onto the barrel, completing the circle.
They stood there for a heartbeat, a circle of seven, their dreams and wills united, bound together on the groaning wood. The Merry crested a colossal wave, lifting them all.
"NOW!" Luffy yelled.
With a unified shout, all six of them kicked down.
CRACK!
The barrel exploded, its staves flying apart. And in that moment, in the heart of the impossible storm, the Straw Hat Pirates were truly, completely, and irrevocably one.
The storm broke as suddenly as it had begun. After three grueling hours of chaos, the sea turned to glass, the sky to a brilliant, cloudless blue. The abrupt calm was almost as unsettling as the tempest.
"Alright," Ben said, his voice echoing in the sudden, peaceful silence. "Meeting. Now."
They gathered in the meeting room. Ben walked to the head of the table and, with a thud, dropped a thick, official-looking manual onto the polished wood. The cover was stamped with the Marine insignia.
"What's that?" Usopp asked, leaning in.
"I, ah, acquired this from Captain Smoker's private office in Loguetown," Ben said with a casual shrug.
Nami's eyes went wide. "You stole it?! From the Marine Captain's office?!"
"I liberated it," Ben corrected gently. "It's the official training manual for the Marines' secret martial art: the Rokushiki, or Six Styles."
He opened the book, revealing complex diagrams of the human body.
"The World Government's strongest agents in Cipher Pol all master these techniques," Ben explained. "It's a system for turning the human body into a weapon, far beyond normal limits."
He ticked them off on his fingers.
"Soru (Shave): Stomping the ground ten times in the blink of an eye to move faster than a normal person can see."
Luffy and Sanji's eyes lit up.
"Tekkai (Iron Body): Hardening your muscles to the consistency of iron, to nullify attacks."
Zoro's head tilted, his interest piqued.
"Geppo (Moon Walk): Kicking the air itself with such force and speed that you can 'walk' through the sky."
"Fly?!" Luffy shouted, practically vibrating. "Awesome! I wanna do that!"
"Rankyaku (Tempest Kick): A kick so fast it creates a slicing blade of compressed air."
Sanji's cigarette nearly fell from his lips, his mind clearly racing.
"Shigan (Finger Pistol): Focusing all your strength into one finger, allowing you to punch through an opponent like a bullet."
"And Kami-e (Paper Art): Making your body go limp and flexible, flowing like paper in the wind to evade any attack."
Ben closed the book. "Your raw talent and my magic are strong. But this is a system. This is how our enemies will train. If we want to survive the Grand Line, we need to master their techniques and make them our own."
The "Monster Trio" didn't need to be told twice. The allure of new, tangible power was irresistible. They practically sprinted to the training room.
The heavy thud of Luffy impacting the wall echoed down the hall as he tried to Soru and just... didn't.
"GOMU GOMU NO...!" he yelled from a rubbery pile.
Zoro stood under 3x gravity, grunting as he tried to will his muscles into Tekkai. "Damn it... it's just... tensing! How do you make it iron?!"
Sanji, meanwhile, was kicking the air with furious grace, producing strong gusts of wind but no "blade." "Tch! It needs more... snap!"
While the others focused on destroying their bodies, Ben focused on nurturing a soul.
He made his way to the deepest part of the ship, the keel, a place no one ever went. It was dark, smelling of salt, tar, and old wood. He sat cross-legged on the curved bottom, the gentle lapping of the water audible from outside.
He placed his hand on the Merry's central beam. "Alright, girl," he murmured, his voice soft. "Luffy and the others give you their strength. It's time I gave you my magic."
This wasn't Dumbledore's standard magic. This was older, more elemental. He pulled knowledge from the deepest corners of his mind—runes, arcanum, the very language of creation.
He was aiming for something specific, a memory from his old life: the terror of the seas, the Queen Anne's Revenge. A ship that lived, that obeyed its captain's will, its ropes and sails moving as extensions of his body. He wanted the Going Merry to become a true member of the crew.
He uncapped a small vial of shimmering, silver ink and began to paint.
He inscribed the first rune: Ansuz, the rune of voice and consciousness, right over the ship's heartwood.
"To hear us," he whispered.
Next, Eihwaz, the rune of connection and protection.
"To protect us."
Then Laguz, the rune of water and flow, to bind her to the sea, she sailed.
"To guide us."
He worked for hours, his hands glowing with a soft, silvery light, moving from the hull upwards. He climbed the main mast, inscribing Raidho (the journey) onto the crow's nest. He enchanted the rigging, the cannons, and even the figurehead, tracing a final Algiz (defense) rune on its smiling sheep's head.
The ship thrummed. It was a low, subsonic vibration, felt more in the bones than heard. The wood seemed to warm beneath his fingers. The Merry was waking up.
Satisfied for the day, Ben returned to the training room, his own body aching for a workout. He set the gravity for himself and began to practice. He wasn't focused on Tekkai or Shigan. He was focused on Soru. He was a wizard, but in a world where Haki could nullify powers, he couldn't afford to be a glass cannon. He needed to be able* to dodge*.
He stomped the ground, channeling his focus. Flicker. He appeared three feet to the left, stumbling. A start.
That night, dinner was a loud, boisterous affair. The crew, exhausted and aching, devoured Sanji's cooking with religious fervor.
"This, my friends," Sanji announced, placing a massive platter on the table, "is the Azure-Finned Stripefish from the West Blue! I won it in a high-stakes cook-off against a three-star chef in Loguetown's port. Eat your hearts out!"
"MEAT!" Luffy declared, and the battle began.
This routine continued for three days. Training. Agony. Sanji's food. Ben's secret work on the Merry. Rest. Repeat.
On the fourth day, the Merry was sailing through a patch of sea so calm it looked like a blue mirror. The crew was lazing on deck, a rare moment of collective rest. Zoro was napping near the railing, a truly impressive feat of relaxation.
Nami, perched in a deck chair, was drawing her new charts.
Sanji, shading his eyes, looked at the sky. A massive flock of news coos was circling in a tight, dizzying vortex high above.
"A flock of birds like that, circling in one place?" Sanji mused, lighting a cigarette. "They're hunting. Which means smaller fish are schooling below them. Which," his eyes lit up, "means a big fish is hunting them."
"Fish?" Luffy's head snapped up from where he'd been sleeping. "MEAT!"
Luffy was already at the railing, his eyes sparkling. "Food!" He braced himself, planting his sandals on the deck.
"Gomu Gomu no... FISHING!"
His arms shot out, a pinkish blur, stretching hundreds of meters in an instant, plunging into the center of the circling birds.
"What's he going to grab?" Usopp asked, nervous. "A Sea King?"
"With his luck? Probably," Zoro grumbled, not even opening his eyes.
There was a long pause, then the rubbery twang of Luffy's arms pulling taut.
"GOT ONE!" Luffy screamed, his face a mask of pure joy. "IT'S A HUGE ONE!"
He dug his heels in and began to reel his "catch" in, his arms retracting like massive rubber bands. "INCOMING!"
"Luffy, wait, be careful!" Nami shouted, but it was too late.
A small, yellow... thing... came hurtling out of the sky at bullet speed.
It flew across the deck and smacked directly into the back of the napping Zoro.
The sound was a combination of a wet thwack and a surprised "GUH?!"
The force of the impact was so sudden and so precise that it knocked Zoro clean off his feet, over the railing, and into the calm sea.
SPLAAAAAASH!
"ZOROOOOOO!" Usopp, Nami, and Luffy screamed in unison.
Ben just sighed, a deep, put-upon sound. He raised his wand lazily toward the patch of bubbles where Zoro had vanished.
A moment later, a soaking-wet, furious, and utterly bewildered Zoro came flying out of the ocean, sputtering and cursing. He landed in a heap on the deck, dripping.
"WHAT THE HELL, LUFFY?!" Zoro roared, grabbing his swords. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"Sorry, Zoro!" Luffy said, not looking sorry at all. He was too busy staring at his catch, which had rolled to a stop by the main mast. "But look! I caught... uh..."
The crew fell silent.
It wasn't a fish.
It was a small girl, maybe ten years old, with blonde hair in pigtails and wearing a simple yellow dress. She was unconscious.
Nami gasped. "A... a child?"
Ben was at her side in an instant, his wizarding instincts replaced by simple, practical first aid. He knelt, placing two fingers on her neck.
"She's fine," he announced, his voice cutting through the crew's shock. "Heartbeat is strong, just unconscious. Exhausted and dehydrated, most likely."
He gently scooped the small girl into his arms. She weighed almost nothing.
"Let's get her inside," he said, turning.
"The infirmary?" Nami suggested, her voice soft."
Ben didn't stop, heading straight for the galley. "Nope. The kitchen."
He walked in and gently laid the girl on the long, newly enchanted dining table. The crew, including the dripping Zoro, crowded in behind him.
"The kitchen?" Usopp asked, completely bewildered. "Why? Is she... food?"
Luffy's eyes lit up. "Can we eat her?"
"NO, YOU MORON!" Nami and Sanji shouted, both punching Luffy on the head.
Ben chuckled, a soft, warm sound. He looked at Usopp. "Because, Usopp," he said, his blue eyes gentle with a wisdom that felt ancient, "when you're scared, lost, and wake up in a strange place, surrounded by pirates... what's the first thing that makes you feel safe and welcome?"
Usopp thought for a moment. "...Food?"
"Exactly." Ben turned to Sanji, who was already by the stove, his earlier anger gone.
"Sanji-san," Ben said softly. "Could you prepare something? Something warm and simple. Soup, maybe? I have a feeling she'll be very, very hungry when she wakes up."
Sanji took a long drag from his cigarette, a rare, gentle smile touching his lips as he looked at the small, sleeping figure.
"On it," he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "A warm, nourishing soup for the little mademoiselle. Coming right up."
The Straw Hat Pirates gathered around the table, their boisterous, chaotic energy replaced by a quiet, protective curiosity. The Grand Line had just delivered its first, and most unexpected, piece of cargo.