Deep Sea Magic Redux Chapter 1 (Patreon)

One Piece parody: Tier 1 Redux

A redux and special for mermay

Deep Sea Magic

Luffy is a merman and half human, giving him the unique opportunity to become a sea witch. The ability to use Deep Sea Magic relied on items to be used as conduits for their power. Luffy has collected a few items himself and received a few from his mother. He wants to become a pirate and there isn’t a force on land, sea, or air that could stop him.  

Chapter 1  

A Sea Witch is a rare class of merfolk, the fishman equivalent was called a Sea Sage. They were a rare breed as the chance of one being born between two fishmen or merfolk was barely one percent, however the chance between merfolk/fishmen and humans was increased to fifty percent. Due to the rift between humans and the children of the sea, Sea Witches and Sages were few and far between. Those that did exist were sadly hunted due to their unique powers and natural abilities.  

Sea Witches were the main source of legends about mermaid tears turning into valuable pearls. They were hunted, and forced to cry to make treasures to increase the wealth of sinister people. These pearls were highly sought after by the Celestial Dragons, nobles, pirates, even bandits. Those that couldn’t defend themselves were taken, beaten, and broken. No matter if they cried or not, the greed in the hearts of the wicked always wanted more. The lucky ones were granted a quick death after losing the ability to feel anything, so no amount of pain or suffering their bodies endured could make even a single tear fall from them. The unlucky ones were kept as trophies, never knowing freedom again till the day they died. The Celestial Dragons called it the Well Running Dry, but for them owning a mermaid was a thing of status, so they kept them.  

It wasn’t as if the Sea Witches were completely defenseless, unlike merfolk who could use Merman Combat, and fishmen who could use Fishman Karate, they had their own unique gifts. Deep Sea Magic, a power unique to the Sea Witches and Sea Sages. It allowed them to use a form of magic so long as they had a talisman or item to channel their power through.  

For example, the Sea Witch Coralin, turned coral into a bow, and used it to fire magic arrows. Another Sea Witch known as Ursala used shells in her craft, depending on the size and shape she could perform different spells. Some objects could be enhanced or forged by their magic to perform more complicated and powerful spells, as channeling big magic into unprepared objects caused them to break. This was a major weakness to the Deep Sea Magic as it required tools to enact, should the tools be broken, stolen, or lost it would leave the Sea Witch defenseless.

For the Sea Witch Coralin this became the case, as she faced wave after wave of fools who tried to capture her for a Celestial Dragon. She did well in dealing with the riff raff, but the sheer numbers pushed her too her limits, and once her bow was destroyed and her other tools stolen in a scuffle, she was captured and taken to a Human Shop, a sick business that deals in slave trade.  

She thought her fate was sealed when a Celestial Dragon bought her, but she was saved by the leader of the Revolutionaries Monkey D. Dragon! The two fell in love and had a bouncing baby merman, they named Luffy. Their son was also a Sea Witch, as when he first cried his tears turned into pearls.  

Coralin feared for the sake of her child, knowing the future that would be thrust upon him. She took him to the East Blue the weakest of the four seas to train him. Dragon didn’t believe in fate so to speak, he believed in the paths you forge for yourself, believing so long as Luffy took his own path he’d find happiness. She wasn’t as hopeful as her husband, but she tried to prepare Luffy for the worst while she could.  

She taught him archery and how to harness Deep Sea Magic. The last thing she taught him was how to enchant items into making them better talismans. Sadly, her time with Luffy was cut short, as the Celestial Dragon who bought her, refused to give up on her, even though Jimbei a powerful fishman joined  the marines as a warlord to free them. That didn’t stop a Celestial Dragon from sending an agent of CP0 after her.  

He caught her alone, and tried to capture her, but she was able to fend him off. “I’ll be watching you!” He vanished used a strange technique and Coralin knew she couldn’t stay with her son, if the agent found the connection between them, he’d be hunted to. So she left, leaving behind a few of her treasures and a letter to Luffy to explain everything.  

She used Luffy’s grandfather Monkey D. Garp to deliver the items as she couldn’t risk meeting Luffy again. Garp may have been a hero to the marines, he had no sway against the World Government, which the Cipher Poles answered to. She went to live with Dragon and the other Revolutionaries as it was the only safe place against CP0. Luffy read the note, and took the treasures she left for him, and he understood. He understood why his mother trained him so hard and pushed him to learn even some of the more advanced techniques, she wanted to protect him, more so she wanted him to be able to protect himself.  

Garp for his part wanted Luffy to become a marine, believing becoming a high enough ranking officer would protect him from such a fate his mother went through. He tried to train Luffy and toughen him up, but Luffy’s interests in his future fell elsewhere.  

Luffy wanted freedom, to go out and see the world, he wanted fun and adventure. He saw his path take shape when he met Shanks, the captain of the Red Hair Pirates. His men were so cool and fun, and they taught Luffy a few things by showing off. Yassop their sniper was actually impressed with Luffy’s archery skills and called him a fine sniper.  

He wanted to go with them on their next adventure, Shanks said he was too young and not brave enough. So, to prove his bravery he stabbed his cheek with a knife, it hurt and he cried and the men saw his power. The crew celebrated Luffy’s bravery, and didn’t treat him any different. They didn’t want treasure made from tears. “Little known fact, but the pearls of a sea witch who cries tears of joy are the most beautiful.”   

Shanks taught Luffy how to be a man, and how not to let the small stuff get to him. He handled some bandits in such a weird way, Luffy thought it wasn’t manly. “You’ll understand when you’re older!” Shanks said with a laugh. Luffy didn’t get it, but ate the lunch Makino made for him.  

It was later when the bandits learned of Luffy’s power and tried to kidnap him did Shanks show how much of a man he was. “You can pour drinks on me. You can throw food at me. You can even spit on me. I'll just laugh that stuff off. But...no matter the reason...Nobody hurts a friend of mine!”  

“Hey hey, there’s no need to fight right, you want this kid the same reason we do!” the bandit leader Higuma held him up. “You are after his pearls right?!” Luffy tensed.  

The crew was pissed off now. “Wrong!” the bandits were wrecked.  

“Oh wow!” They were strong, so strong. Just three of Shanks’s crew wiped out so many of the bandits. It was like child’s play for them.  

Benn the first mate smirked. “Come on, if you want to fight us seriously you better bring a war ship!” he said after taking out ten bandits with a single swing. The bandit leader couldn’t believe his eyes.  

“Come on we can split the profits, 60/40, 70/30...80/20!” Higuma was sweating, but they truly didn’t like Luffy for his pearls. “Damn it!” Higuma escaped using a smoke bomb, taking Luffy with him.  

Higuma was a mountain bandit, he had no idea the dangers of the sea, including the Lord of the Coast, a vicious Sea King that didn’t take kindly to trespassers. It gobbled him up in one bite, but Luffy was flung into the sea, he was tied in a way he couldn’t swim. The sea monster had chased after Luffy before, but being a merman was never able to catch him, now it was able to kill the young merman. His eyes closed and he cried.  

When the bite didn’t come he opened his eyes and he was in Shanks’s arms...well arm. “Get lost!” Shanks released his King’s Haki and sent the beast running scared. “You are okay now Luffy!” the boy clung to him and cried. “You are a brave man right?”  

“But Shanks...your arm!!!”  

“It’s just an arm, you are more important.”  

Shanks had bet his arm on the future, he could see it in Luffy’s eyes. The boy wanted to be a pirate, he wanted adventure, he wanted to chase the ultimate freedom. If he took Luffy with him the boy would have safety but he wouldn’t be walking his own path. He was barely older than Luffy when he was a cabin boy, he gained a lot of experience, and he wouldn’t change it for the world…

Luffy wasn’t him, he was more like his former Captain, a man who couldn’t be tied down, and one not suited to live in someone’s shadow. He told Luffy he couldn’t come with, and this is what he said. “Fine, I’ll form my own crew, one greater than yours. I’ll obtain the ultimate freedom, and become King of the Pirates!” It made Shanks smile.  

“King of the pirates huh? Better than us yea?” his grin grew, he took hold of his treasured straw hat and placed it on his head. “Then you hang onto this for me, a promise between men, you can give it back when you’ve become a great pirate.” Luffy was touched, no one touched his hat, it was his treasure.  

Shanks taught him many life lessons in the time they spent together, how to be a man, when to fight, true strength, and what real treasure is, to name a few. It was Luffy’s dream to become the King of the Pirates, not for arrogance or the title itself being important, its because in his mind that man had the most freedom. The more freedom, the more fun, and the more adventure one could have.  

-x-

Luffy’s plan to become the King of the Pirates didn’t sit well with his grandfather, so he took Luffy to a bunch of bandits to be raised as a marine...even the bandit leader Dadan had no idea what he was thinking. Dadan was very different than Higuma, she saw her bandits as family.  

The young sea witch made it clear he didn’t like them stating, “I don’t like bandits!” Not the greatest start, but worst yet came when a spit wad came flying and hit Luffy right in the face.  

“Ace, that’s rude come greet your little brother properly!” Garp said. The boy, Ace was older than Luffy, and though the two were very similar they were not brothers by blood. Despite the rocky start, Luffy remembered what Shanks taught him, and tried to get along with Ace.  

Luffy despite being a merman, had a great trick for moving around even without the use of bubble coral. He rode around in a giant clam-like shell. With his magic he could make it float, and Luffy enchanted it so it was very strong and worked as a decent shield.  

Ace did his best to avoid Luffy, ditching him as much as possible, but Luffy was tenacious. He eventually met up with Ace and Sabo, the blonde lad was Ace’s partner in crime. They had been robbing the pirates that came to this island, the bandits that lived there, and even pinching from the nobles from time to time. With their treasure stash discovered, they had planned to kill Luffy since they knew he’d talk.  

They didn’t get the chance to as Porchemy, a pirate under Bluejam, and who Ace had recently stolen from, found them. He captured Luffy and demanded to know where either they were or the treasure was. “I don’t know~” Luffy was a terrible liar.  

Porchemy dragged him away, fully planning on torturing the info out of him. For Luffy it was double trouble, he knew if he cried these guys wouldn’t let him go. Ace and Sabo being kids figured Luffy would sing like a canary so worked to move their treasure first. Luffy didn’t sing, he didn’t talk, he took the blows and the pain, trying not to scream or shed a tear.  

It was going well enough until Porchemy brought out the spiked gloves. After hours of torture Luffy couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “Porchemy-sama, this kid must be a sea witch!”  

“With these jewels we don’t even need the treasure Ace stole from us!”  

“All we gotta do is make him cry more right?” Porchemy smirked. Luffy didn’t have the strength to fight back, he had dropped his treasure bag when he was grabbed and his shell ride was left behind. His treasure bag was enchanted to store items inside it, making it bigger on the inside. He had a few talismans his mother left behind, an in case of emergency tools, but he was completely defenseless now. “Do you wanna talk or want this to continue? You can either tell us where the treasure is or we’ll take it from your pearls.”  

“If you want my pearls take them...leave Sabo and Ace alone!” he cried.  

“You stupid fool, you asked for it!” the beating was so severe even the ropes became soaked in his blood.  

When Ace and Sabo finally learned what happened, Luffy was a bloody mess. “Ace, all this time, he didn’t talk. They’ve been torturing him and he didn’t sell us out!” Ace’s eyes widened in horror.  

‘Why? I’ve been nothing but a bastard to him, why wouldn’t he just tell?’ They raced to save Luffy.  

“Porchemy-sama, we have more than enough pearls now, he’s had enough if you keep going you’ll kill him!”  

“Shut up, this little brat once to act tough, he’s still crying right, we’ll take the excess pearls and pocket them!” Porchemy had this really crazy look in his eyes.  

“Let him go!” Ace and Sabo burst in and hit Porchemy hard. The two began to fight the small group of pirates. Ace was very skilled but there was a clear weight class difference. Sabo helped untie Luffy, and Ace’s stone heart crumbled at the sight of him, it was hard to believe the boy was alive.  

“Ace...Sabo...you came for me...” he gave a weak smile.  

The fight wasn’t going well, Sabo was planning to smash and grab, and then run! Ace refused to back down, even though he was outmatched. “Damn it we have to go!”  

“Take Luffy, I’ll fight!”  

“Now that I have you here I’ll get the money back for Bluejam-sama and I’ll get to keep all the pearls.”  

“Pearls?” the two saw a big bag of pearls.  

“You didn’t know? This little fishy is a sea witch, and they cry tears that turn into very valuable pearls. Get this the little fool actually refused to give you up even when I offered to spare him the pain of carving those pearls from his hide.” Porchemy laughed. “What a fool!!!”  

“Sabo...the pearls...” Sabo looked to Luffy. “Give them to me quick.” he managed to say. Sabo obeyed, if Luffy had a plan for getting them out of there, he’d trust him.  

“Oi what are you doing with those?”  

“Pearls made from pain and sorrow, hear my voice!” Luffy spoke and the pearls started to glow. “Pearls that gleam and glow, with my power shine, take the pain I’ve taken and become a weapon of mine!” Luffy sent the bag of pearls flying. “Pearl Bombs!”  

BOOM!  

-x-

“What the hell were you thinking?” Ace was yelling at Luffy as Sabo bandaged him up. “You could have gotten us all killed!”  

“We were gonna get killed by Porchemy anyway.” Sabo pointed out.  

“I misjudged the strength of the explosions...” he sniffled.  

Sabo nudged Ace, as the impact of the spell just showed how much pain Luffy had suffered. “Why didn’t you just talk? It wasn’t like I was nice to you?”

“If I talked you’d hate me,” Ace’s eyes widened. “Mom’s gone, Grandpa’s scary, I don’t know my dad, and I can’t go back to the village. You are all I have!”  

“So you’d be sad if I wasn’t here?” Luffy nodded. Sabo could tell how that made Ace feel. He knew Ace’s secret, and how all the world viewed his life as an abomination.  

“Seems like Luffy has it rough to, anyone would want these pearls.” Sabo pointed out.  

“Yeah, Mama told me it’d be dangerous, its why I want to get stronger.”  

“Tch, a crybaby like you get stronger?”  

“I’m not a crybaby!” he tried to pull back his tears but he was too badly hurt and he started crying again.  

“See?”  

“You try getting punched by spiked gloves you’d cry to!”  

“No I wouldn’t I’m a lot tougher than you!” The two bickered but their bond was forged. The trio would become sake brothers and live with Dadan’s bandit family for protection. Luffy’s Deep Sea Magic would get them out of trouble now and then, but when it came to most fights Ace and Sabo told Luffy to stay in his shell and if he wanted to help fight at long range.

The trio were quite the group, there was talk of forming a crew together, but they couldn’t decide on who would be captain. Ace thought he’d be captain, Sabo his navigator, and Luffy his sniper. Sabo thought he’d be captain, with Ace as his first mate, and Luffy his sniper. Luffy thought he’d be captain and they would be on his crew, it’d be more fun that way. His plan was rejected, mostly because he was the youngest of the three.  

Becoming a crew together was not in the cards, as life set them off on different paths. Sabo’s past came back to haunt them, as his Noble family put his sake brothers in danger. He gave up his freedom so they would be safe. It was all for naught, with the plan to burn all of Gray Terminal for the Celestial Dragons set in motion. Even his fellow noble children just hoped the people of Gray Terminal would die quickly so their screams wouldn’t spoil their day. He lost it, he tried to get help but no one was on his side.  

In a stroke of luck or fate, Sabo met Luffy’s father Dragon. With his intervention and a spell from Coralin many lives were saved, Luffy and Ace hid in Luffy’s shell, the boy exhausting his magic to keep them safe inside. The brothers would not see each other for many years, Ace and Luffy believing Sabo had died when the Celestial Dragons arrived and saw him when he tried to sail away on his own.  

The blonde did survive, saved by Coralin, and he was taken in by the Revolutionaries. Sadly he lost his memory from the trauma of the attack. Losing Sabo lit a fire between the two remaining brothers, Ace wishing to get stronger so he could protect his little brother, and Luffy wishing to get stronger period.  

Ace and Luffy grew up, training and working hard to become pirates. Ace was determined to have his name known by the world, he had no interest in becoming the pirate king. He just wanted to get famous so the world could not deny his existence. Luffy’s ambition hadn’t changed, but he was gonna miss his brother. They sparred often but Luffy wasn’t able to beat him, Ace said he’d only serve someone stronger than him, and in the end Ace was setting off on his own as Captain of the Spade pirates.  

He left Luffy setting sail with his half of their pirate fund. The two made a promise to see each other again once they became official pirates. He had three more years...  

To be continued...Luffy’s Journey Begins

AN: Deeper details about their past will come during the arc after Marineford.