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Enel was not expecting his ship to promptly crash as it set off.
Honestly, if it was to crash, it at least could've done it on a sky island.
I stead, he found himself freefalling to an even lower ground. His eyes widened as he saw the seemingly eternal stretch of blue where he'd only ever seen white before, a single thought going to how breathtaking the view was before he realised that all that blue was, in fact, the sea and he could not swim.
He quickly gathered as much gold as he could, transforming it into jewelry to adorn his body, and followed the feeling of people he could feel at the edge of his mantra.
XxXxXxXxX
He crashed hard against the wood of a ship, seeing multiple weapons drawn towards him as he rose to his feet and dusted himself off.
"Who are you?" One man's authoritative voice rose above the others
"I am God Enel. Ruler of the white sea." The other man made a face of pure disgust as he looked at him. "Former ruler." He amended. Damn Strawhat making him fall from his rightful place
"Right." The other man stated, looking slightly lost before his magnificence.
"Will you not introduce yourself?" He asked back, finding it rather impolite for someone to demand his identity without giving theirs, not that he cared about some plebian's name.
"Ah. You don't know who we are yoi?" The man before him seemed even more lost than previously.
"No."
"Oh. We thought you were attacking us." He stated simply and Enel couldn't help but laugh inside. Had he wanted to attack them, they would all be dead. (Except if one of them had a power like Strawhat's)
The man cleared his throat. "I'm Marco the phoenix, first commander of the whitebeard pirates yoi."
And he looked at Enel like he was expecting a reaction.
"Alright." He answered, after the other's gaze became a bit too much to bear.
"You've really never heard of us? But you're on the grand line!" Someone called from the side and Enel brought a hand to his chin pensively.
"So I'm on the grand line." He stated back. "How do I get to the moon from here?" He asked himself, eyes turning upwards where the sun was now attacking his eyes mercilessly.
"The moon?" The blond questioned, looking at Enel incredulously.
"Yes." He decided he would grace these people woth more explanations since they were going to be helping him for a while. "My ship was going to the moon when it crashed. I have no idea why, though, everything was going smoothly until it simply started falling." Perhaps he'd sent too much electricity through it? Or maybe a cog was out of place? The wreckage was lost to the blue sea so he'd never be able to know where he went wrong. Hopefully, he wouldn't make the same mistake when building the next one.
XxXxXxXxX
Marco was tired.
He had sailed all the way to the beginning of paradise to get something from that doctor, Kureha, to hopefully get Pops to live longer (he was getting more and more tempted to get the secret to her eternal youth) when lightning struck the boat with no warning, leaving only a gold clad earlobe man in its place.
He'd seen a lot of strange things but he was certain this would be amongst the top.
Not only did the man have no intention of attacking them, unlike every sane (or saner) person to get on their ship that way, he seemed to have no idea where he was.
The man was insane! Going to the moon? Who tried to sail to the moon? Why? Actually, he didn't think he wanted to know why.
He sighed and felt the hopeful rest he'd have gotten on their way back to the New World escape from his grasp.
He'd have to take care of this, wouldn't he? Maybe they could just drop him off on the next island?
"So where should we drop you off yoi?" He asked, dreading the answer yet clinging to the hope that the other would leave as quickly as possible.
"Well, the moon would be ideal."
Marco wanted to cry.
"We can't go to the moon yoi." He stated simply. "We're on our way to the new world. Is there a specific island we should leave you at or simply the next one we come across yoi?"
And the man's face had lit up when he said 'New World', hadn't it? Pops, he'd have to deal with this guy all the way there wouldn't he?
"This 'New World' you speak of, does it have a God?" He asked
And really, Marco felt tempted to jump in the sea. At least if he drowned he wouldn't have to deal with this conversation anymore.
"No." He still answered. Heavens he was soft for pretty faces. "You can't just become God of the new world yoi." He sighed. Closing his eyes and bringing a hand to massage his temple.
The other man's face fell in disappointment and Marco almost wanted to tell him he could, maybe, do it.
"Well," Marco settled, "where's your log pose pointing yoi? We'll drop you off there." He decided. It was the logical choice since all they had was an eternal pose to sabaody and to a few other islands along the way so they could purchase provisions if needed.
Enel looked at him, head tilting slightly to the side in confusion. "Log pose?" He questioned.
Marco felt tears gather in his eyes.
This man. This hopeless man had NO LOG POSE IN THE GRANDLINE?!
"How are you alive yoi?" Is all that left his lips as he despaired over his situation.
He shook his head "I don't want to know yoi." He cut Enel off before the man could actually answer his question. "We'll just bring you to Sabaody and you can get one there yoi."
With that, Marco turned around and walked directly to his room, not caring it was the middle of the day, and crashed on his bed to sleep away his misery and maybe, hopefully, this will all have been a dream when he wakes up.
XxXxXxXxX
Enel's voyage on the blue sea was very peaceful.
The man in charge of the ship, Marco, was quite friendly despite his harsher tones and quips.
He still had no idea what a 'log pose' or 'eternal pose' was, but it couldn't be that important. Every time he'd asked the other man had simply closed his eyes and taken deep breaths before turning around and leaving, so he'd given up after a few tries.
They were getting closer to Sabaody, Marco estimated they had maybe a week left only before reaching it. Enel thought that was too long but he'd never traveled on the blue sea before so he would trust in the other's judgment.
He was getting ready for another peaceful day of lounging around the ship (because apparently Marco couldn't trust him with any task) when a loud boom echoed and it rocked violently.
Who dared to interrupt his rest?!
He sat up furiously, watching as he now noticed how the crewmembers ran around the ship getting everything ready talking about 'marines' attacking.
He spotted Marco, the man in the middle of the deck giving orders and making sure everyone was safe, and approached him.
"What's going on?" He asked
And Marco shot him a glare. "We're getting attacked, isn't it obvious yoi?"
And, well, Enel had to admit it was a dumb question. Still, he wanted details.
"Who's attacking us? And why?" He pushed
"They're not attacking you, they're attacking US yoi." Marco insisted "You just happened to be on board yoi." He sighed
"Stay out of sight if you don't want to be associated with pirates and chased through all the seas." He barked
And Enel could sens it was too late.
He could feel through his mantra as the people on the other ship focused on him, wondering who he was. A being as magnificent as him on any ship would be noticeable after all.
"Are you going to kill them all?" He asked with no judgment in his voice. They had attacked first, after all. Not only that but they had attacked a ship under HIS protection. It was only right they would perish for their sins
"If we have to yoi. But we don't have manpower to waste here and we're outnumbered. They called for backup a while ago and it will probably arrive soon yoi." Marco explained.
Just as he predicted, two more massive ships of the same model as the one attacking them arrived from the side.
"Should I take care of it?" He asked, and Marco looked at him incredulously. It made sense, why would he lower himself to helping mere mortals, still, they were carrying him to an island through this unfamiliar sea and Enel had to admit he didn't quite want to separate from the blond man yet.
Perhaps he'd be amenable to bringing him in the New World if he saw how strong he is.
XxXxXxXxX
Marco didn't have high hopes for Enel as he gave the okay for the other man to go all out on the enemy ships.
They wouldn't be too much of a problem, honestly, Marco simply didn't want to waste time and cannon balls fighting them.
Still, who was he to keep the other from a good fight? Maybe he'd prove useful at last! Honestly, he'd never met anyone as incompetent as him. He couldn't even mop the floor properly. Any task he'd tried giving him the other man had massively failed at.
It would be impressive if it weren't so annoying.
Not only had they picked up another mouth to feed, but on top of it that stowaway was useless!
He waited for the other man to move and raised an eyebrow when he simply raised his hand towards the ship that attacked them.
Marco raised an eyebrow as he looked at the other man.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light shot through his arm and completely annihilated the other ship.
His eyes widened.
He had completely destroyed the ship with a single attack.
Enel repeated the process twice more on the marine's backup, smirking to himself when it was done before turning back to Marco, smile still gracing his lips.
"Some of them are still alive, but they won't get in our way." He stated matter of factly.
And Marco really couldn't help gaping at that.
He sailed in the New World with Whitebeard, of course he'd seen his fair share of strong people. People capable of leveling islands in a single attack.
But Enel didn't even know what a log pose was. He didn't know about the grand line or the New World. Hell! Enel didn't know how to cut vegetables or tie a knot! The phoenix thought he was allowed his surprise.
He realised now, had he wanted to sink their ship when he'd first arrived, Enel would have been more than capable of it.
He cleared his throat to hide his shock from the other.
"Good job." He stated simply, and he hated how bright the other's face got at this.
XxXxXxXxX
They were almost in Sabaody now and Enel still hadn't worked up the courage to ask Marco to stay on board with them.
He should be able to simply demand it but, for some reason, he didn't want to displease the man.
He could see the island in the distance now, the massive trees reminding him of the kingdom he used to rule over.
Maybe, if Marco didn't want to bring him, he could take over this place instead.
He'd rather go to the New World though.
He was walking towards the man, having sensed him inside one of the rooms.
He had never gone to see him outside of the deck area or his office, but he was finally able to work himself up to ask the man about his extended stay on the ship.
He walked in, not taking the time to knock, and closed the door behind him for a bit of privacy. He didn't want the entire ship to hear him if he got rejected (not that he'd let them go if they did).
He turned back towards the room, mouth opening to directly ask before his bravour escaped him before stopping abruptly.
Marco was curled on his side in a bed, sleeping peacefully.
He was taken by the view, observing as the other man slept for an undetermined amount of time, so focused on him he neglected to notice when another crew member approached the door behind him until said crew man knocked loudly on the door to wake the sleeping man.
"Marco! We're reaching Sabaody!" He yelled through the door, and Enel froze when Marco's eyes opened and immediately focused on him.
The other man tensed slightly, getting on his guard as he yelled back "I'll be out soon yoi."
Enel felt the other's gaze focus back on him, his voice lowering to a growl as he asked "What are you doing here yoi?"
"I would like to keep traveling with you to the New World." The words escaped his mouth and Enel mentally berated himself. He hadn't properly answered Marco or asked his question! How could one such as him fail so badly!
Marco quirked a brow at him, observing him from head to toe before grinning lazily and throwing his blanket aside, strolling up to Enel.
Enel's eyes wandered down the other man's abbs making their way further down before he forcefully tore it to look straight into Marco's face.
Marco's knowing look and smirk still adorning the corners of his mouth were simply to much and Enel felt the blush rising through his entire body, his blood running warm and giving his entire body a reddened tint.
"Maybe I'll let you travel with us until I know you can last more than a week on this sea." Marco whispered his agreement in Enel's ear and he could feel the shiver going up his spine.
He still couldn't help the smile that took over his features. He'd done it! Marco had said yes!
Marco chuckled slightly before pulling back and putting his clothes on.
He was disappointed they hadn't done anything at all, but it could wait for later.
They had all the time in the world, after all.