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Chapter 30: The Monster In The Dark I

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This time, the feathers of desperation assembled on each side of the ship, seemingly merging together to form vast dark wings!

The Ship flew. Its wings flapped again and again until the ship safely dropped on the calm water before the Reverse Mountain.

The ship suffered a bit of damage due to the shaking, but not enough for it to sink.

Against Yovan's will, he transformed into his human form, his dry skin looking drier than ever. Even his hair was no longer completely blonde, grey hairs were starting to invade the golden land.

His skin couldn't afford to steam anymore. Instead, his life was being sucked out of him, and it was on purpose because Yovan could very well achieve what he just did if he wasn't always making sure to exhaust himself using the Feathers of desperation.

But well, they were named the Feathers of desperation for a reason after all. Yovan took several deep breaths, catching his breath before opening his now red eyes, red out of exhaustion.

Laffitte from the side frowned, stroking his chin in thoughtfulness. Should Yovan continue to do this, Death will be his destiny.

"I'll go... To sleep." Yovan murmured before standing up with difficulty and heading into his room.

Only Laffitte and Capone were left to appreciate the wonderful view before them. 

It was the view of Reverse Mountain's exit. To its side, there was a tall Lighthouse, and seemingly protecting it was a colossal whale with numerous scars on its forehead.

The whale was eyeing the ship carefully, seeming very wary. The pair wasn't interested in it however. Yovan's state seemed to have killed the mood.

"I had a very keen interesting in killing him myself once we reach our destination," Capone remarked as he took a smoke, "But he will end up killing himself, no?"

He felt at ease saying so because he truly lost the drive to harm Yovan. Killing him at this point was mercy.

Capone walked away after he allowed his subordinates out, totally unaware of the odd look given to him by Laffitte, 'Why seek death if you just want to survive?' Laffitte was curious, narrowing his eyes in thought.

Laffitte side-eyed the sky, narrowing his eyes further, "I smell the scent of bad omen... Let's quickly move to the closest Island."

Perhaps Capone's crew was afraid of him, but without hesitation, they got into positions as he brought out his Log Pose.

As the ship made its way towards the closest Island, darkness fell, yet Laffitte was pretty sure it was still evening. The dark clouds above quickly overwhelming the sky were the answer to his doubts.

It started to rain, from slow faint drops to heavy ones, followed by falling chunks of ice, literally. At which point, Capone's subordinates had to hide as Laffitte took control of the wheel.

Exquisite white wings that spurted from his back were his shield against the falling ice. The waves became chaotic to a ridiculous degree, threatening to sink the ship down, yet Laffitte remained cool and collected, following the direction of the Log Pose.

"Do I need to act?" Yovan's voice traveled from the depths of the ship to Laffitte's ears.

"No, I can handle it." Laffitte's physical strength was certainly monstrous as he steered the ship with one hand while the Log Pose was on the other.

Still, Yovan walked out from the quarter deck into the deck, joining Laffitte. He was only adorned in black pants, and barefoot, seemingly uncaring about the incredibly cold weather.

Furthermore, he didn't seem about making his current condition visible, with skin on bones and long greying hair.

Yovan sat close to Laffitte, allowing the latter's wings to protect him from the chunks of ice and rain. Not that it mattered to him because they weren't doing much damage to him on his way here.

"Tell me about the Islands here, the most interesting of which." as he asked, Yovan brought out his notebook, and waited for Laffitte to speak to write things down in his odd symbolic secret language.

"Hmm, how should I say this, The first half of the Grand Line is the sea that is riddled with different kinds of islands. This half is supposed to be “a paradise” as compared to the New World, yet it's still a hellhole for pirates. 

I heard some fascinating stories, bugs the size of trees, buildings even! Moving plants! Living trees! Sea Kings everywhere!! They eat people! They punish their audacity and eat them like the bugs they are!! Ahh AHem, excuse me. I lost myself for a bit there."

And it wasn't even Yovan's speechlessness that woke him up, but the colossal flying shark trying to take Laffitte's head off only for the latter's wings to send the shark rumbling about.

The peculiar sharks had something akin to wings, but they were too small to allow full-fledged flight. They were, however, able to jump from the ocean to the ship with ease.

While stopping the sharks in their tracks, Laffitte explained, " Reverse Mountain and the Twin Cape are the starting point, from there a Log Pose can lock onto the magnetism of any of seven different islands, each of which is the first island in one of seven different routes that one can travel through to traverse the first half of the Grand Line.

The route I'm taking is the fastest to the closest Island because I presume the weather will only get worse. Our destination is called Cactus Island I believe. It's most pirates' first stop due to its close proximity."

And Yovan did write that down. His memory problems are still there, but they were at least a bit better, so he made sure to write everything he goes through down.

Unfortunately, "I don't know much about other Islands, but I think we can easily get that information on Cactus Island. Just know that the further we go in Paradise, the more dangerous it becomes."

Yovan closed his notebook, looking thoughtful as his eyes caught an obscure body of land in the distance, an odd place that became clearer by the second.

"Well, this took less than I expected. The violent wind certainly helped," Laffitte remarked and added, "This is Cactus Island."

"I can see why it's called that," Yovan noted. On Cactus Island, there are several rock mountains with multiple graves on top. The shape of the mountains along with the graves give the mountains the appearance of giant cacti.

Laffitte safely steered his way through a river flowing through the island allowing ships to dock inland. Despite the Hail stopping, Laffitte still found it very peculiar for apparently, dozen or so people welcoming them into the Island.

Before they can even the dock, the people were already cheering as if a caravan of heroes was passing by.

'Hmm, I remember this place, I think?' Yovan stroked his chin, looking thoughtful, 'This is definitely one of the places...' Oh, yeah, he surely remembers that it's a place. He just doesn't remember why it's familiar.

Capone also walked out, joining the due. One of his subordinates was walking beside him, holding an umbrella over Capone's head, "Something is weird."

"Let's just restock first and prey for information." Yovan agreed, allowing another of Capone's subordinates to put a coat on him without saying a word, a simple white coat.

"The Log Pose may need some time to reset, so we have to wait before we can sail again anyway. I heard it doesn't take much time, but let's get a confirmation." Laffitte reminded.

Unlike conventional compasses, the Log Pose does not affix to a single direction; instead, it records the magnetic field between a given island and the next-closest, and points to the latter.

After reaching the next island and staying there for a given amount of time, the Log Pose will reset and lock on to the magnetism of the next island in the Grand Line.

It's just that the time needed to reset may extend from one day to years depending on the Island. Cactus Island only requires a single day.

The trio jumped off the ship, landing before the Island's people much to their terror... All because of Yovan. The coat didn't do much to hide his chest, abdomen, and face, so everyone could see his state.

Their natural reaction was horror. He was like a mummy. One could even say mummies are more friendly because they can't move, or can they? Well, at least, his left shoulder was hidden by the coat, not allowing them to see his missing limb.

"H-hello," The person to take the initiative was a tall man with a small red nose and blonde hair in a style that resembles a powdered wig, "I'm Igarappoi, the mayor of the town."

"Yovan and I need some information if possible." Yovan had no interest in wasting time, but apparently, the mayor very much wanted to.

"It's been such a long time since someone visited us! So please follow me to hide from the rain. We can even throw a party tomorrow!" He was no longer stuttering as if he had gone into character.

"Hmm," Yovan narrowed his eyes, staring at the man directly in the eyes as if trying to detect some abnormality to the point it became weird. 

Thankfully, he salvaged the situation by turning around and going back into the ship along with the two other strangers much to Igarappoi's dismay.