A/N: As promised, here's the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it! I hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

Rejecting Freedom

Chapter 4

I Promise, I Feel Nothing At All

I watched the crewmembers run onto what I assumed to be the beach of the island with a touch of amusement, glad that we had discovered a way to the higher portion of the island quickly. There were many more signs of inhabitation in this level of the island and it was a relief to know that the log pose was no longer pointing up. If I were to find a poneglyph, it would be it this place. The odd thing was that the civilization didn't seem ancient in any way, so far. But there was a high probability that any ancient civilizations were deeper in the island.

One by one, the crewmembers left the ship with a touch of excitement until only Nami, Zoro and myself were left on deck. I decided to wait for the navigator to leave before I left the ship, knowing that she would probably be the first to leave. I wasn't about to let such a good chance to try and earn the swordsman's trust slip through my fingers, even if it was just to comment something small.

Something on shore caught my attention, a sign with a name on it. I spoke without thinking. "Hey, isn't Skypiea…" I trailed off, looking at Nami, who was smiling, the old map in her hands.

"Yup," she replied. "It's the same as the name on the map that Luffy found. That 200 year-old galleon that fell on us really did come here. At that time, I didn't really think a world in the sky really existed but…" Her attention was caught by the clouds surrounding the ship and she quickly jumped off with excitement before she began to laugh. "Look! After experiencing it first hand, there's no doubt about its existence,"

She then began to walk away, intent on joining the rest of the crew on the land. I turned my attention to the swordsman sitting on the ship, as if he was intent on staying and guarding it. For a moment I wondered if he was intending on doing so. I walked up the stairs until I was a few feet away, watching Nami wade to the shore. "What about you?" I asked.

He seemed slightly surprised that I was talking to him or perhaps that was a false interpretation on my part. "Ah, I'll go too," he replied.

The view took up my attention as I thought of something else to say. "I never thought that navigating and landing could be adventurous, too," I commented to him, my focus still on the navigator. Before this, I had never been on a ship in which the navigator had saved the entire crew with their skills. They had simply directed where the ship was to go and read the maps. But this had been quite different, much more exciting. Not that I was about to enter the career of a navigator just because it might be more fun; history was always much more interesting, in my eyes.

The swordsman didn't reply just gave me an unreadable glance, as if unsure as what I was doing. I was fine with it. It wouldn't hurt to keep him guessing about my intentions just this once. In a way, he was still being manipulated, however, although I doubted he would find out such a thing. Let him just mull over it and try and decide why I was providing him with my small talk thoughts for the moment.

Without another word, I hoisted myself over the rail and into the cloud, surprised at how fluffy it was. It felt quite good to step in it without shoes, similar to the feeling of walking alongside the shore, water lapping at your feet but different, mistier and sticky. I wondered if I would be able to go in deeper waters, per say, in this land without sinking. It would be quite interesting if I could but it wasn't a theory I was about to try. I had fallen overboard once and had almost drowned until a Marine had saved me, but only for my bounty. It wasn't an experience I was about to try to have again anytime soon, knowing that the chances were low that someone cared enough to save me.

I heard the swordsman jump down behind me, grumbling about the clouds. I hid a smile and kept walking, enjoying every minute of the feeling of the clouds. The rest of the crew was busy checking out a cabana of some sorts on the land, while the captain was trying to eat some type of fruit he had found. I watched them at their activities for a moment before a soft sound caught my attention, sounding like some sort of animal.

My gaze went to the beach, only to see what appeared to be a fox walking towards the crew, approaching the swordsman. Moments later, the cook spotted a figure on a nearby hill, another soft sound rising from it. The crew began to panic until the cook noticed it was a woman. She noticed us quickly and began to walk towards us. My interest was quickly caught by it, knowing that she might know where an ancient civilization was at.

I listened to the conversation carefully, sitting quite comfortably on the couch that was supposedly made of clouds, arms crossed. We were in the woman who we had met on the beach's house, or rather Conis's house. The dials were interesting although how they worked perked my interest. How could they possibly move the wave by recording noises?

"If this is what a dial is, I don't understand how it can make the waver move," I commented. The attention in the room flitted to me before going back to Conis, the swordsman among them, although his attention stayed on me for a moment longer. Seconds afterwards, he was shifting position as if looking at me had disturbed his comfort. Then I realized that he must have noticed that my arms had been crossed, just like his had been and quickly changed, as if he couldn't possibly deal with the fact we were similar in any way. The thought made me smile and stare at him in amusement. For a moment, I considered changing my position to match his, simply to annoy him but decided against it, thinking this was not the best time to be mocking him.

My attention turned back to where the Skypiea native was explaining how the dials worked, catching wind to make it move. It was a relatively simple concept if useful. She continued to explain dials, surprising even me with the variety of them. I found the conversation extremely interesting, especially when you considered how different lifestyles were separated by a few thousand feet. Every now and then a sound would come from the kitchen, signaling Sanji's presence but when the conversation was done, we simply waited.

Within a few minutes, the food was ready. Everyone walked to the table, with the exception of Zoro, who had fallen asleep on the couch, his arms once again crossed. My gaze fell on him with some amusement before I stopped my approach to the table. It would probably be best to wake him up before the cook noticed him asleep there.

"Mr. Swordsman," I murmured. His eyes snapped open in an instant, looking quite grumpy. "It's time for lunch," I expected his gaze to be that of a glare in an instant but instead he stared at me calmly and rose.

"Thanks," he muttered. I was only able to stare at him in surprise as he brushed by me, no hostility at all in his actions. I was able to recover quickly, however, hoping that my surprise hadn't been noticed as I walked to the table, a calm smile on my face.

My gaze fell upon the altar we were on noticing the age of it. I couldn't help but to wonder if it was made of stone. The trees were truly odd in this place, out of place in the sky. How could they possibly grow from the clouds? Unless…we were no longer surrounded by clouds at all but by earth, possibly even the missing part of Jaya.

My attention was soon caught by the swordsman, who was currently planning on a way to get to the land around us. The only hitch in his plan was the water and sky sharks surrounding us. But if he could find a way to get to the land that wouldn't get me killed in the process, I would be quite interested in joining him, although I wasn't quite sure of whether it would be a good idea to go with him alone.

The swordsman suddenly pointed out a hanging vine. "Looks like we can use that vine," he suggested. I found it interesting that he used 'we' in the situation when currently he was the only one going. It would seem he already assumed someone would be going with him. But the vine was an interesting idea, if it hung high enough that it would be safe to swing across, with it being long enough.

"Ah, that's not a bad idea," I told him, joining the conversation. "Would you mind if I joined you?" The question truly wasn't necessary but I figured it would help ease his mind, make him think he was in control of the situation. Either way, I would be going, with him or without him. But if he did decline, I was curious as to how he was going to get said vine down.

"Eh?" he asked, as if he was surprised I wished to go, which was rather odd after his usage of 'we'. It made me wonder who he had assumed was going to go with him, if not me. "Ok, but don't get in my way!" he chided. I smiled. I would be certain not to do so, not that I planned on staying with him throughout the process. The second I found a trace of history, I would care less of his whereabouts or what he was doing. It may have been a cruel thought, considering he could very well get lost but I was happy that I could accomplish that much anyways. It showed that perhaps I wasn't as terribly attached to the entire crew as I thought I was.

Chopper freaked out at my comment, no doubt concerned that he wouldn't be safe if the two people with bounties with him would be leaving. "Wait, Robin's going too?" he asked, his voice frantic. Nami also seemed concerned.

"Take a look around!" she shouted down at me, as if surprised I wanted to do such a thing. I was almost surprised that she didn't want to do the same. I quickly decided that she should come with us, if only so I wouldn't be alone with Zoro. Her fear of crossing the water could be quickly overcome with a few well-placed comments.

"This altar is at least a thousand years old," I explained. "Seeing such historical remains, makes me feel quite excited," I touched the stone happily and glanced at her, a slight smile on my face. "Plus, if we find some gems or treasures, we can use them to repair the ship,"

That sealed her fate, her face abruptly excited. "I'm going, too," she shouted down to me. I smiled as my gaze once again touched the ancient stone. I heard her and Chopper arguing about something as I read the stone in front of me. My attention went back to the vine.

"Deux fleur," I recited, arms popping out of the tree that blocked the vine and using them to throw it down. The swordsman caught it as it fell, a grin on his face as he cleared his throat seconds before he launched himself off the altar, shouting like Tarzan as he went. I hid a smile as I caught the vine as well, Nami shaking her head in confusion, clearly not understanding the reference as I did.

I launched myself from the altar next, feeling the rush of the wind in my face instants before my feet touched ground. Nami grabbed the vine next, seeming quite unsure of herself.

"This looks pretty high," she told us. I smiled and decided to try and reassure her.

"It's probably 50 meters high. If you fall, you die," I told her. It didn't seem to reassure her as it would me. Apparently, she was more afraid of dying than I was.

"Don't say things like that," she shouted at me before she swung on the vine towards us, screaming all the way. Panic hit me slightly when I saw her direction. "Fast, too fast," she screamed. "I can't stop,"

A smile came over my face at that, arms sprouting from my own, catching her before she went headfirst into a tree. "My, aren't you the brave one," I teased lightly before the forest caught my attention and I walked away as she grumbled out an apology. "Don't mention it. This truly is a big forest,"

We quickly said our goodbyes to Chopper and walked deeper into the forest, my eyes searching for stone rising from the forest floor, signaling a ruin of some sort. If there was a poneglyph somewhere around here, I would find mention of it in the ruins. Or at least, that was my best chance of finding it. If not, I would simply have to look for the golden bell and hope that my hypothesis that the poneglyph was with it was correct.

We walked along for a few minute without finding a thing and before I knew it, we had reached the river. The swordsman ignored the very obvious fact that it was a dead end, nearing the water with a grumble, as if he intended to swim across the body of water. Before he could enter the water, however, another sky shark rose from the clouds, snapping at him, ready to swallow him whole. Nami screamed at him to watch out but he handled the situation calmly, offhandedly slashing it open so that it sank back down, other sky sharks appearing to eat it. He then returned to us, grumbling about damn fish.

I smiled at him and scanned the trees across the river for another vine. There was none. My gaze went to the trees above us. If we climbed up on these giants, there was a possibility that we would be able to see across the river. Without another word, I walked to the foot of one of the trees, placing my hand on it with consideration. Nami noticed my actions, Zoro trailing behind her to hide his interest.

"What is it?" she inquired. I turned with a smile on my face.

"I was simply wondering if I could climb one of these. The view would be much better from that high up," I told her. She looked at the tree in consideration but turning her gaze towards the swordsman.

"Zoro, climb up the tree and tell us if you see a way across," she ordered. His reaction was immediate.

"If you want to do that, do it yourself," he half-shouted, half-grumbled at her. She frowned at him in response.

"If you don't do it, I'll double your debt!" she warned. He simply scoffed. I decided to intervene, knowing both were much too stubborn to stop, my hand still on the tree. When I spoke, it was as if I was thinking out loud, knowing that would be the only way she would stop.

"With such a view, any treasure we might miss would be visible," I murmured, not bothering to even turn around to see her reaction.

"Robin, could you help me up the tree?" she rushed over to ask me, a Beli sign appearing in her eyes.

"Of course," I replied before crossing my arms and allowing hands to appear on the tree to make a ladder for Nami to climb up on. She didn't wait a moment to begin her climb. Zoro watched from a few feet away, a smirk on his face before he walked away. I waited for Nami to reach the branch near the top of the tree before following with interest, insuring that the swordsman didn't wander off too far.

When I caught up to him, he was wandering upon the tree trunks, probably looking for somewhere to sit and wait or possibly take a nap. And then he tripped, disappearing from my sight for a moment. I ran forward, slightly concerned about his safety since I could no longer see him among the massive tree roots. He reappeared swiftly, cursing about something. I wasn't very interested until I heard the words, "Stupid well,"

My walk grew swifter as I approached, an ancient well catching my eye, almost hidden by the tree's trunks. It was quite a curious sight. Zoro glared at the well; hand on his blade as if planning to attack the stones. My mood abruptly dropped. "Deux fleur," I recited, making two arms appear to stop his actions as I strode forward, my eyes on the well. He stopped quickly, shooting me a surprise glance.

I ignored him as I bent down to examine the stone. Where I expected the swordsman to grumble at my actions, he didn't say a word as he sat down near me, watching my actions carefully. My hands touched the stone, brushing away pieces of dirt and foliage, looking for any signs of words. The craftsmanship wasn't the best but I could tell that the well had been built with care. I rose up slightly, looking at the inside of the well.

It was fascinating to me as to why the well was here, next to what would be the river. It was also quite odd to me, speaking of a changing landscape. There was no use to have a well next to a river. My hands brushed the dirt off the top of the well, noticing how worn the well was. Then I stopped. Dirt? In the sky, where everything else was made of cloud? That was even odder, telling me that this land was probably not of the sky. It told me that the chances of this land being part of Jaya were high.

In addition to these, it was interesting of how the tree had overgrown to almost cover the well. For such a nicely made well, the builders would have had to have the tree's growth in mind. Something was quite odd here. But the trees were also massive, much bigger than on Jaya, as if they had grown for hundreds of more years. Unless…life in the sky had affected them to the point that they grew faster, making them giants, even with the thin air.

"What's so interesting about a dumb old well?" Zoro grumbled beside me. I didn't spare him a glance.

"Some would say the same about your swordsmanship," I replied. He scoffed, as if to disregard my statement.

"Why would someone say that?" he growled. I smiled as I continued to examine it.

"Exactly," I replied. A small glance at him showed his confusion. I decided to change the subject since I already had his attention. "You weren't happy with your bounty," I commented.

"It's too low," he shot back. "I'm not satisfied," A small chip in the corner of the stone caught my interest, something that didn't look like weathering damage but more that of a slice from a blade. Had there possibly been a war in this area sometime or another?

"It's an impressive starting bounty," I told him. "You beat the captain's first bounty," I simply hoped he didn't know my bounty. I doubted he would be amused to be getting advice from someone who's first bounty was higher, even if it hadn't risen in twenty years.

"Don't toy with me," he grumbled harshly. "Yours is higher," A slight glance showed that his face had become harder. I tried to ignore his bad mood, reaching into my backpack for my journal to write down my findings in its pages.

"I doubt that it will stay that way for long," I told him softly. He scoffed slightly, as if he thought I wouldn't hear it.

"As if I would trust your word," he growled. I opened my journal, quickly flipping to a clean page and beginning to sketch the well, making sure I included the tree growing over the well's top.

"I don't say it because of my own opinion, Mr. Swordsman," I murmured. "It only makes sense. Your bounty comes from your skills while mine came from the World Government's fear of the lost history. My dream simply has more enemies than yours," Well shows signs of wear and possible weapon damage. Age seems to be around five hundred years.

"You picking a fight with me?" he asked. I sighed. Did he really not understand what I was telling him? How could he be so clever at certain times and not at others? For a moment, there was only the sound of my pencil scratching the paper of my journal, his irritation growing more and more amusing.

"Of course not," I said, a laugh in my tone as I continued writing. When I was done, I set the journal down beside me, looking at the well. There were a few more things I wanted to look into as far as the well but first, I wanted to insure I had the time to do them. Zoro was quite beside me, simply sitting there, content with watching.

I rose to my feet and walked away after setting my backpack down by the well. I doubted the swordsman would be moving anytime soon so my possessions would be safe. With that, I walked to the side of the tree where Nami was sitting, binoculars out as she searched.

"Have you found a way across yet, Ms. Navigator?" I called up. Her gaze swept down to me, a smile appearing on her face.

"Not yet. I'll tell you when I do," she called back. It sounded like it would be a while until she found anything, no doubt too busy searching for treasure. But I was fine with the idea since it would give me a better chance of finding out more about the well.

I returned to the well only to find the swordsman searching through my journal, although he seemed to be taking care to read every page. I walked over and looked over his shoulder, hiding a shiver as I recognized the page he was looking at, splattered in blood. I had no doubt he didn't notice the shiver or even my presence, for that matter. I waited a few minutes more, simply watching him flip through the pages, suppressing the memories that came with them.

"Found anything interesting, Mr. Swordsman?" I asked him, expecting a reaction. He had none, not even a glance up. I was somewhat disappointed by it. "If you are hoping to find out something about me, it won't be in there," He didn't reply, just continued to read, as if it was interesting anyways.

I bent back down by the wall and took a few tools out of my bag, including a measuring device, some acid and a vial of water. There were some cases in which ancient peoples had carved their language into simple things, such as their wells and if there was such a thing on this one, I wasn't about to miss it.

I was dusting off an odd crevice in part of the well when my journal was suddenly placed in my lap. I turned to the swordsman in surprise only to find him sitting in a rather peaceful way, expression thoughtful. "Did you find anything of interest?" I inquired once again, not really looking at him.

"How long have you worked on that?" he inquired. I took it to be a question on my journal.

"I started it shortly before Ohara was destroyed," I replied. "Although I wasn't expecting it to last this long," There was something in the stone but I wasn't sure if it was simply the results of cracks or something more.

"Were you the reason Ohara was destroyed?" he asked, tone accusing. I froze at that, my heart sinking. Did he really believe that I had betrayed anyone before simply because it was something I wanted to do or that I was that heartless? I covered up my emotions quickly, not wanting them to show.

"No," I said as calmly as I could. "The island was destroyed because of what the World Government wished to hide from the world. It is the purpose of why I have to find the lost history, so that their sacrifice will not be in vain," I forced back the laughter that threatened to come out, the laughter that I had always used to make such memories less unpleasant. He seemed surprised at my answer whether it was that I could be so calm about it or perhaps it was something else that I didn't know about.

"I doubt they sacrificed their lives so that you could doom others," he finally said after a while. My gaze went to him, still carefully masking the emotions.

"It can't be helped," I told him. "The World Government has been pursuing me since I was eight and I too often have the choice to run away or be captured. The pirates and people who have tried to use me suffered the consequences of my presence, nothing else. I survive so that I can fulfill my promises to the people who died for me," He was once again silent, face thoughtful, gazing at me calmly. I wondered what he was thinking.

"We all have our promises we want to keep," he murmured finally, face almost compassionate. Then it was gone, replaced by his normal, gruff expression, his hand his white katana. His eyes, however, were those of someone thinking of their past.

"Care to share?" I inquired, forcing my gaze back to the well so I could probe the strange patterning with water, washing some of the dirt out of them in hopes that the edges would be easier to find. He didn't reply, just stood up and walked to the river so he could test to see if there were still sky sharks in there. There were. He strode back after a few moments.

"Is that well really that significant?" he asked; face normal again as well as attitude. I hardly noticed it, my interest now caught by the well. He seemed impatient know, as if he had remembered that he was on a mission to find god and every second we spent here was detracting from it. In a way, I was sad that he was, I had been enjoying the conversation.

I could only stare in horror as the knight of the sky fell to the ground, the man who called himself god Eneru gloating over it. His defeat confirmed my suspicions, that the man was similar to Crocodile, invincible by his devil's fruit ability. The only difference was this man was lightning, something that was far more destructive on first hit than sand or even ice, the only other elemental devil fruit I knew of.

"Devil's fruit," the swordsman growled from beside me. I only wished it would have been a less lethal type. Experience from Aokiji and Crocodile had taught me they were nearly impossible to beat. There was nothing any of my assassination skills could do, in this situation.

"Most likely the Goro Goro fruit," I murmured to him, watching Eneru as he walked away from his victim. "It's one of the invincible powers, the power of lightning."

Nami somehow heard my words from behind her hiding stone. "Lightning…impossible. How can we win against that?" she said shakily. I didn't want to tell her we couldn't, although that seemed to be the case. I found myself wishing for Luffy. He had pulled off a miracle before in defeating Crocodile and we could only hope he did the same here, even if he did it by using the warlord's only weakness. My mind locked onto the fact. Every element had a weakness, sand was water, ice was fire and lightning was…rubber.

I only half-heard Eneru's words of us coming with him to his endless earth. If I could delay the man long enough for Luffy to get out the snake, we had a chance of saving this land and all the history within it. The thought of all the history that had survived this long almost perfectly only to be destroyed now angered me. Finally, the man who thought himself a god finished his announcement.

"What if we refuse?" I asked him calmly. I needed to distract him from a fight by any means possible until Luffy arrived. The crew didn't need anyone else to be injured at this time and a battle would surely bring it. In addition, a fight here would destroy the city's remaining history and I would not have it.

"Refuse?" he asked me, confused. "Why? I've already decided! If you stay here, you will fall into the abyss with this country," It sounded like a better option to me, anyways. I would rather have death than to be taken away from the lost history. I would rather fall and be destroyed with the history I loved, just like I had wished to do in Alabasta, the history that could be destroyed, unlike the poneglyphs.

"True…with your power it is possible. However, if you destroy this country, that thing you want will also fall. No?" I inquired of him, still trying to delay. While I was trying to consume time, it wouldn't hurt to try and save this history as well, something that would be destroyed with the country. I also sensed he was interested in the golden bell and I was the only one who knew its location, at the top of the beanstalk.

"You mean the gold bell?" he inquired before laughing. "Don't worry, judging from your earlier adventures, I can think of only one place where the bell would be…" I froze, unable to control a wince. How could he possibly know? Had he been watching me earlier or perhaps all of us? In any case, if he knew, my one point to save the history and to delay for time was gone. If he knew the bell was on the beanstalk, I had nothing else to work with! He smiled in a rather evil way at me.

"Looks like you're thinking what I'm thinking," he mocked before striding towards me. "You seem surprised. Did you think you could trick me and find it yourself? You underestimate me! How shallow,"

My body froze, knowing that it was already too late to try and run as the lightning began to crackle at his fingertips. There was nowhere to run to without the city being hit and I would not let any history be destroyed for my sake. But at least if I died here, I would die with the history. I would never have to see the Straw Hats destroyed because of me nor anyone else. In some ways, death would be a relief.

"Robin!" Nami's voice cried out, already seeing what was about to happen, worry and terror in her tone. Her voice brought me out of my calmness, the present spiraling back to me. Eneru was walking closer, the lightning still crackling.

"I don't like shallow women," he finished before the lightning hit. I didn't allow myself to scream, to make a noise as it hit. For some reason, I didn't want to make it worse for the navigator who was watching, probably in horror. The pain increased before my vision began to fade, my body falling backwards. My only regret was that I hadn't found the poneglyph on this island, that I hadn't found the lost history yet.