Night Cruise

"Wait, you mean that is the 'Golden Port'?"

Usopp's disbelief spoke for the entire crew upon seeing the rundown port city.  The town was all weather-worn stone and old wood; not that it was a bad looking village, just simple.  The people were no more ornate than the buildings, poor looking clothes, very little jewelry or makeup; theirs was a traditional style that preferred something well made over something that looked good.

"Gah," Nami sighed in disappointment, "I can't believe that we have to stay here for two days.  I want to leave already."

"You're the one who bought the Log Pose for this island."  Robin said while sitting on the Sunny's rail, not even looking up from her notebook.  Closing it and looking out onto the island, hidden hands appeared along her arm handing the book to each other before placing it in her back pocket.  "Let's make port and make the best of this."

"Come on Nami," Chopper tugged at the edge of her sarong, "let's go shopping together."  Deciding it better to please Tony than wait for Sanji to suggest something idiotic, she walked down the plank and went down into the city.  Franky had set the ramp earlier and was already unloading cargo and haggling with the port authorities about tariff fees.  They passed an open bar that Luffy had run off to with Zoro.   Having run out of alcohol two days ago, they were only too ready to engage in another drinking contest.

Asking a few questions around town, Tony eventually led them to a small textile factory on the outskirts of town.  The majority of the cloth was linen, everything from bed sheet soft, bandage strong, to sail thick.  There was a small selection of silk cloth, but nothing too impressive.  Which Chopper was busy negotiating a price with the clerk, Nami stepped into the employee lounge and saw two older men sitting down rubbing their hands and knees.  One motioned for her to take a seat in a chair and poured a cup of tea.

"My my, you must be one of the pirates from the ship that came in this morning."  Setting the kettle down he handed the cup to her.

"Yes, we came here thinking this was the Golden Port."

"Haha, our town hasn't gone by that name in years.  Our town used to be part of a treasure line old Roger used, but one of the islands on the line sank into the sea, which made our little island less important once all the Log Poses needed adjustment.  Nobody comes here expecting treasure anymore.  Now all we do is make linen and grow papaya."

"Don't forget old Sen's tea."  The other man made a point of lifting his cub before taking another drink.

"Best thing for your crew is to head back out when you're able.  Otherwise the only thing you'll wind up collecting is old stories instead of gold coins."

Tony waved from the other room and Nami said goodbye before excusing herself.  There was something suspicious about this island; it had to be more than a poor town.  The new sail would have been too big to carry, so they hired a cart they could ride back to the ship.  Every street, building, and person spoke to the fact that this was a town like any other.  Waiting on the ship until the Log Pose reset and they could leave seemed to be the best option.

As she fell down on her bed a knock came at her door.  "Hey Nami.  Are you taking a nap in there?"  Despite the large quantities he and Zoro had been drinking, Luffy didn't sound drunk in the slightest; rather there was a tone of excitement to his voice.

"Come on in Luffy."  Scratching his chest scar, Luffy pulled up a stool next to her table and pulled out a piece of parchment from his vest.

"I was talking with this old timer in town, he asked me what our crew was doing here and I told him we were after treasure.  He leaves and comes back five minutes later with his map."  Snatching the map from his hands, Nami began looking it over and confirmed that it was an accurate map of the island, and it was approximately fifty years old.  Marking around the island showed star constellations and moon cycles at specific points.  It was an intriguing map in any case.

"Tell me more, what did he say?"

"Well he asked me for fifty beri for the map and told me that the greatest treasure of the island is not on land but in the sea."  Looking closer at the map Nami recognized three poneglyphs she had learned from Robin: flying, ghost and gold.  There was mystery in these waters.

"See here Luffy, these markings show specific parts of the years and seasons at special places around the island.  This one here is tonight!  But this part of the island's coast has shallow shoals, the Sunny won't be able to make it in those waters, we'll have to go out in the dinghy."

Coming back out onto the deck showed that they were alone on the Sunny.  Even the dock and the part of town they saw was empty of people.  Nami laughed to herself at the thought of ghosts after their experiences of Thriller Bark.  When Luffy finished readying the Dinghy with ropes and grappling hooks they set out into the night.  It did not take long to row out to the spot just up the coast.  A strange mass of darkness on land caught the corner of her eye.

"Are those the villagers?"  It became clear that the people of the town had left and come walking along the coast to this spot.  Checking the map by candlelight she dropped the anchor and looked out on the ocean in the dusk.

"Keep your eyes open Nami.  There has to be something out here."

"Yeah, because otherwise we just got conned out of fifty beri…"

It was subtle at first, like the ocean was merely reflecting the last lights of the setting sun, but soon the water's glow was obviously its own.  It was light blue at first, but the color began to warm into green, yellow and finally a brilliant gold.

"Nami," Luffy stood up in the dinghy and helped her to her feet, "look around."  Holding onto Luffy's arm for balance Nami saw it was not just one light but the entire coast was lighting up with the lights, thousands of them rose from the depths.  The glow shifted, it did not fade, but it condensed.  The forms of light took on shapes that breached the surface of the water and began to float in the air.

"Wait, I've heard legends about these."  Nami tried to remember the name.  "They're called ghost jellyfish.  Their bodies have bioluminescence and depending on the food they eat they glow different colors."  The round bodies began to rise from the waves, leaving their tentacles dangling in the water.  The shapes spun around each other in what looked like a dance.  A sound caught her attention, coming in from the coast, a lone figure on a cliff playing a violin, Brook.

"Well I don't know about there being any gold in these waters but…"  Luffy said as he took hold of the oars.  Nami's hands stopped his before she sat back and gazed out on the scene.

"…this is a treasure." Nami finished his sentence.