"Did I just die?" Nami chokes out. "Was that the end? All we did for us to die?"

"My entire life flashed before my eyes," I gasp for breath.

"My special seat!" Luffy calls out.

A rumbling starts building in the throat of the whale.

"Let's get the hell out of here while we have the chance!" Zoro commands.

"What the hell!?" Sanji yells. "Did it notice the cannon? Is it just that slow?"

"It doesn't matter!" Usopp cries. "This is our chance to run!"

The whale lets out an ear shattering wail, causing me to clamp my hands over my ears in an attempt to drown out the noise. All the yelling from the boys muffled while the whale lets out its frustration.

Luffy steps up to where Nami and I are still on our knees. The anger on his face clear.

"Hey captain," I softly call to him. "Take a moment and-"

"Listen you!" Luffy shouts at the whale. "That was my special seat! What was that for!?" His fist shoots out and slams into the whale's eye.

"You dumbass!" Everyone but me cries out as tears run down their cheeks.

"Calm down," I sigh, finishing my thought from earlier.

"It's looking at us!" Usopp and Nami cry.

"Come on, damn it!" Luffy gets into a fighting stance.

"Shut up!" Usopp and Zoro scream as they kick Luffy in the back of the head.

The whales mouth opens, and he begins to suck the ship in. All of us are going to be swallowed by a giant whale right as we make it to the Grand Line. Our adventure isn't going to be ended by other pirates, but by a whale!

"Luffy!" I scream, reaching over the railing for the boy that has fallen off the ship.

"Don't fall in, Akari," Zoro wraps his arm around my middle, keeping me from falling into the ocean.

"I'm not gonna die!" Luffy shouts. "I will not die to a whale!" His arm stretching to grab onto the top of the whale.

Then it all goes black as the whale closes his mouth and swallows us whole without any problem. Luffy stuck on the outside.

I turn in Zoro's grasp, nuzzling my head into his chest. "Tell me when I'm dead. Just tell me when I am gone."

Zoro chuckles, "I don't think that is going to happen. A whale this huge, and it didn't even chew us. We'll just be stuck inside. A slow death."

I lift my head up to glare up at the swordsman. "That wasn't even funny in the slightest."

"Sorry, sorry," he rubs his hand across the top of my head.

It isn't long before the darkness transitions into light, which is the least shocking thing to happen today. Light inside of a whale? Who would have thought that was possible? The sea inside the creature is calm, even though it is probably swimming around right now. I'm sure that we will be able to survive long enough in here to find a way out.

I sigh, releasing Zoro and turning around to see where we are. "Whoa, look over there, an island," I point to a place not to far away from us.

"What do you think?" Nami speaks up.

"What do I think?" Zoro crosses his arms.

"I don't even know what to think," Sanji says. "I was positive that whale swallowed us, yet here we are, looking at an island with a house."

"That whale definitely swallowed us," I firmly nod.

"Is this a dream?" Usopp asks. "It has to be a dream."

"With all of us? All of us in the same dream?" I slightly tilt my head. "That would be interesting."

"But what about that island that we all see?" Zoro says.

"A hallucination, has to be," Usopp firmly nods.

"A mirage?" I question. "That would make sense, but it looks too clear."

Before anyone can respond, a giant squid bursts out of the water in front of us. The whale must have been trying to catch it when it swallowed us whole.

"What's that?" Zoro asks.

"A Neptunian Squid!" Usopp and Nami scream in fear as the rush away as fast as they can.

"I think it's kind of cute, if it wasn't going to destroy us," I nervously laugh.

Zoro and Sanji get ready to leap into action, but they don't have to. Three spears shoot right through the face of the squid, killing it on the spot and stopping it from attacking us. The two boys by me stopping in their tracks.

"Seems like somebody lives here," Zoro frowns.

"I can only hope that they are human," Sanji smirks.

"They saved us, and that is all that matters to me," I shrug.

The squid begins to be dragged back towards the house.

"Should we fire at that island?" Usopp points as him and Nami make their way back up to us.

"Hold on, someone's coming out," Sanji says as what looks to be a person exits the house.

"I wonder if the whale knows that he's inside?" I place my hands on my hips.

"It's a flower!" Sanji exclaims, pointing at the person coming to see us.

"What? A flower?" Zoro questions.

"No, it's a man," Sanji says in complete bafflement. "He got that Neptunian Squid like a professional."

"Do you think that he saved us on purpose, or do you think he fishes every day like that?" Nami asks.

"I mean, he probably does fish each day," I watch as the man takes a seat in the lounge chair in front of his house. "Wait, is he ignoring us?"

"Hey! Say something damn it!" Sanji bellows.

The man looks over at us, his crazy hair still throwing me off.

"Are you looking for a fight because we have a cannon!" Usopp shouts. "We aren't afraid to take you on!"

"Forget it," the older man speaks up. "One of us is going to die."

"Is that so?" Sanji grins, narrowing his eyes at the man. "And care to tell us who that will be?"

"Me."

"Now listen you!"

"Oh Sanji, there's no reason to get this worked up," I bat my eyelashes as I place a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, so cut it out," Zoro waves the chef off. "Who are you mister? Also, where the hell are we?"

"He thinks that he can make a fool out of me," Sanji huffs. "But for you, my darling, I will settle down."

"Good," I pull my hands away and step up to be at Zoro's side.

"Don't you think that introducing yourself would be proper etiquette? Then you can dive in and ask me all kinds of questions."

"You're right, sorry about that."

"My name is Crocus," the old man starts without hesitation. "I am the keep of the Twin Capes Lighthouse. I am seventy-one, a Gemini, and AB blood type."

"I'm going to slice him in two!" Zoro angerly shouts.

"Hey, Zoro, please calm down," I place my hand on his arm.

"You want to know where you are, huh? How dare you come into my personal resort and ask of such demands like a bunch of big shots. Where do you think you are? The belly of a mouse? Were you asleep when you were swallowed in here?"

"We really were swallowed by the whale?" Usopp chokes out.

"What is going to happen to us?" Nami holds her face with her hands. "I do not want to be digested!"

"The exits over there," the man points to an overly obvious large door.

"You mean we can get out?" I blink a few times as I try to wrap my head around all that is happening.

"Why does this whale have an exit in his stomach?" Zoro asks.

"Why is there a door in the middle of the sky?" Nami asks.

"Hold on a second, look at the sky," Usopp says. "Like, really look at it, and the clouds as well."

I squint, focusing on the area around the door. "Wait! It's all painted on!"

"Yeah, they are painted on the inside of the whale's stomach."

"It's a hobby of mine," Crocus says.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Forget about him, Usopp," I turn and place my hand on his arm now.

"Listen to Akari," Zoro nods. "There's the exit, so we can just get out of here."

If only it were that easy, as just like every other time something seems to easy, a harsh slap of reality comes to put us in check. The water begins to get rough like a whirlpool or something is about to start.

"There he goes again," Crocus says.

"Look, his island isn't really and island, it is a ship made out of metal!" Nami points over at where Crocus is as his strange ship is revealed due to the sloshing of the water.

"Does that mean this isn't water but stomach acid?" My eyes widen in horror. "That means our ship will dissolve if we don't get out of here!"

"What's happening old man?" Usopp calls out to Crocus.

"This whale is ramming his head into the Red Line!" Crocus replies.

"What?" Zoro and Sanji blurt out.

"Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing terrible scars all over the whales head," Nami nods.

"And it's cries weren't like what a happy whale would let out," I add. "It was mourning something."

"What do you two mean?" Usopp asks.

"This whale is suffering," Nami and I firmly nod, looking at each other with a knowing glint in our eyes.

"It all makes sense then," Usopp nods. "The old man is going to kill the whale from the inside!"

"What are you talking about?" I furrow my eyebrows. "He may be a strange man, but he hasn't come off like that."

"How do you think he'll do him in?"

"I can't believe you think that man is going to kill this giant whale," I shake my head, puffing out my cheeks.

"The animal lover in Akari is not going to just stand by and let this happen," Nami grins at me.

"Once the mystery of all this is shown to us, we need to head out, so our ship doesn't turn to mush," Zoro says.

"I don't want to start up and debates on whaling, but I have no reason to want to save this whale," Sanji shrugs. "My main concern is getting out of here."

I pout, turning to look at the boys. "Oh come on."

"My darling," Sanji gushes, placing a hand over his heart. "I wish I could help, but what can we possibly do?"

I roll my eyes. "Be more positive," I grumble.

The rocking of the water begins to get rougher, and the chance of being able to make it to the exit door is getting harder the longer that we stay in here.

"With all this sloshing about, we aren't going to be able to reach the exit," Nami says.

"If we don't get out of here soon, we all will be killed!" Usopp groans. "Luffy included."

"Luffy is outside the whale," I point out. "I saw him fling himself to safety."

"The old man jumped in!" Usopp and Sanji point to the island ship where Crocus is no longer lounging in his chair.

"What's he doing?" Zoro asks.

"Doesn't he know that he'll be dissolved!?" Nami cries.

"He must be heading for the exit," Usopp nods. "We need to head that way too before the whale gets any crazier with bashing his head against the rocks."

"What about the old man?" I look around, hoping to catch sight of him.

"He must know what he's doing," Zoro places a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure that he will be fine, Akari. Now, we need to row towards the exit! It is our only chance of getting out of here!"

We all start to rush to get into position, but the screams of multiple people snap us out of what we are doing. All of us looking to see three people fly out of a small door of the big door. One of them luckily is Luffy.

"Luffy!" I happily jump, waving my arms for him to see us.

"Hey!" Luffy shouts back. "You're all okay! Save me then!"

There isn't enough time to react, meaning all three of those who flung out the door plop into the stomach sea. The two strangers manage to keep their heads above water, but Luffy sinks like a rock.

"Who are those two with Luffy?" Nami asks.

"Hey, the old man is getting away!" Usopp points over to the small door.

"We can't worry about him, we have Luffy to save," Zoro states, handing his swords to me.

"Let's go then," Sanji nods, kicking his shoes off.

"I'll help the other two," Usopp rushes over to the side where the two strangers are closest.

Zoro and Sanji then dive into the water, quickly retrieving Luffy and getting him back on deck. Usopp tosses a rope out for the two other people in the sea to climb up onto the deck. The two strangers turn out to be a man and a lady. The man has two nines painted on his cheeks, a crown atop his fluffy orange hair, and is wearing a crazy green suit. The lady has her light blue hair up in a high ponytail, pale skin, a tank top with shorts and a long jacket. Once everyone is one deck, we can finally take a moment to collect our thoughts and make a real plan. The sloshing also calms down, which is going to make whatever we decide to do a lot easier.

"The whale has calmed down," Nami sighs.

"Okay, who are you guys?" I demand. "And why are you here?"

The two strangers look at each other, but don't say a word.

"As long as I take breath on this earth, I am never going to let you harm Laboon!" Crocus screams from his spot at the big door, causing all of us to stand and look at him.

"Who's the old man?" Luffy steps up to me.

"Crocus, seventy-one, Gemini, and AB blood type," I answer. "He was at that house, and saved us from a squid."

The two strangers chuckle, picking up their large guns of some sort.

"Is that so?" The man says. "But we are now inside his stomach."

"So what is keeping us from blasting a hole right through him!" The two shout together, firing their guns at the same time. "You can't stop us from getting this whale!"

Crocus springs into action, rushing right at the cannonballs. He stops them from crashing into the inside of the whale with his body.

"He took the blasts for the whale!" Usopp exclaims.

"That means he has been protecting this whale the whole time?" Nami questions.

"I knew he was good even though he is a bit weird," I smile.

The strange lady laughs. "Your efforts are pointless."

"You can't stop us!" The strange man exclaims. "This whale is going to be food for our village no matter what!"

"Why is the old man doing all this?" Usopp questions.

"What is going on here?" Nami gapes.

Luffy steps up behind the two strangers slamming his fists down on their heads to knock them out instantly. "They had it coming," he frowns.

"Better tie them up so they don't get away when they regain consciousness," I say. "Then start talking to the old man to figure out what the hell is going on here."

+~*~*~*~*~*~+

I take a seat next to Sanji on the grass of Crocus's island ship. Luffy is climbing a tree, Nami and Usopp are standing nearby, and Zoro is taking a look around.

"Laboon is an Island Whale," Crocus begins to explain from his spot in his lounge chair. "They only live in the West Blue, and they are the biggest whales in entire world. Those creeps," he nods at the two strangers that we have tied up, "Are from a nearby village that is low on food. Laboon's meat could feed their village for two or three years. But I will not let them get him! There's a reason that he keeps slamming his head against the Red Line. That he keeps crying out at Reverse Mountain. One day, when I was a lighthouse keeper, a bunch of friendly pirates came down the mountain, and behind their ship was a baby whale. It was Laboon. The pirates and Laboon had been sailing the West Blue together. Their venture was about to be filled with a lot more danger, so they left Laboon behind. At least, that's what they thought. Normally, Island Whales like Laboon travel with their kind in pods, but to Laboon, his kind were those pirates. That was his pod. Their ship was quite damaged, so they stayed at Twin Capes for several months as they did repairs, and I became quite good friends with them. On the day that they left, the captain came to me and asked if I would take care of Laboon for a couple of years. He said, 'We're going to circumnavigate the world and return back here.' Laboon understood, so we began to wait together."

"That is why he keeps slamming against the mountain and calling to the other side?" Nami clarifies. "He's calling out to his friends."

"He must miss them," I sigh.

"Well, that was fifty years ago," Crocus sighs. "He still thinks his friends are coming back."

"Do you think his friends forgot about him? Or that something worse happened?"

"It is the Grand Line," he shrugs.

"I say we get out of here," Luffy drops down from the tree.

"I'll lead the way," Crocus nods. "Just get back on your boat and follow me."

We all climb back onto the Going Merry, and then Crocus's small island begins to move towards the large door. Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp take up rowing, while Luffy sits where the figurehead would be as Nami and I lean up against the railing. Once we pass through the large door, we are in a waterway that has to lead to the outside world.

"This waterway is awesome!" Luffy smiles. "And you built all of this without getting killed. What made you do it? Was it just a whim?"

"Hm, a whim?" Crocus replies. "A doctor's whim, I guess. I may not look like it anymore, but I am a physician. I ran a clinic on Twin Capes years ago. I even spent a few years as a ship's doctor."

"Really? Then you could be our ships doctor!"

"He has to watch over Laboon, Luffy," I giggle.

"The girl is right, plus, I'm too old to look after a bunch of hooligans that you are," Crocus grabs hold of a ladder, climbing up to get to a wheel that must open the last set of doors.

"A doctor that lives inside a whale," Nami says.

"Correct. Once a whale gets this big, you can't treat them from the outside. Okay, I'm opening the doors."

I watch as the two large doors in front of us slowly open, and then we sail on out into the outside world once more. "That was wonderful."

"We're outside again!" Luffy stands up, raising both his fists into the air. "A real sky! The open ocean!"