Changing One's World
Things can be different with one divergence in the timeline. One cannot begin to imagine how things will change with a decision being different. But will these changes be for the better or for the worst. Find out as the Straw Hats will face their adventures a whole lot different Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece!
Chapter 13: Attack by the Priests! Upper Yard's Origin!
Zoro climbed over the root of the tree, amazed at the sight of the forest. Even he, who did not usually appreciate nature in this way, could admit that it was breath-taking. He looked up to see the birds chirping and he closed his eyes and smiled, knowing that he probably won't be able to see this place again once they left. However, the nature reminded him of a lack of people around, which annoyed him greatly.
"Enough is enough already! Where is this god?" Zoro asked, annoyed.
"I can't sense his presence with my Haki. He's deliberately hiding himself to toy with us," Aisa noted with a mumble and a frown on her face.
"And he knows exactly where we are?" asked Robin, looking to the girl for confirmation.
"If he would just come to us, I could get this thing over with," Zoro said, which made Aisa smile.
"His range of attack is very impressive," Nami noted, recalling her time back at the ship.
"He has the power of lightning," Aisa told the group, and they turned to her with wide eyes.
"As in a logia?" Zoro asked, and the girl nodded, "That is one fierce Devil Fruit."
Aisa stepped on the ground, and she sensed the ground giving beneath her feet. She could do nothing to prevent it, and she slowly fell towards the river, where a Sky Shark was waiting below her with gaping jaws. However, Nami grabbed the girl and kicked the creature in the throat, sending it flying back into the water.
"Be careful," Nami said, lightly scolding the girl while hugging her to her chest, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Okay," Aisa said softly, hugging Nami tighter.
Robin and Zoro stared at the two with smiles, and Robin could clearly see that Aisa had come to the revelation she had been looking for. She was also sure that Nami and Luffy would be figuring it out quite soon themselves.
"We need to find a safe place to cross over the river," Zoro noted with a frown, staring at the numerous Sky sharks.
"Come to think about it, why is there dirt on Sky island?" Robin asked, holding some of the dirt in her hand.
"I don't know," Aisa replied with a frown, "My people never told me."
"That is weird," Zoro noted, scraping his foot on the ground.
"Is that what makes this island special?" asked Nami, and the girl nodded timidly.
"Spheres!" Luffy said, pointing to the gate, "There is a Haki user in there and I'm bored!"
Usopp smacked his hand into his forehead in frustration, but turned the Crow in the direction of said ordeal, as Luffy calls the shots. Usopp was most happy with the spheres, as he kept thinking about the various ways the topic of the other ordeals could kill him.
They entered the gate, and they also entered into darkness.
"Just remember that we're 10,000 metres above sea level, so don't let your guard down," Sanji noted, lighting his cigarette and revealing some of the passage to the three.
Usopp closed his eyes tightly, while Luffy and Sanji stared forwards in excitement.
"Driver! Would you mind not shutting your eyes?" Sanji asked mockingly.
Usopp opened his eyes slowly. Despite his earlier confidence, he was still Usopp through and through.
"It's just as dark with them open," Usopp whined, as the Crow pressed on.
"What if this is like one of those games?" Luffy noted with a grin, "If you pick the right door, you win a prize! But if you pick the wrong one…"
"What if we picked wrong? Why didn't you mention this before!" Usopp said, wanting to turn back the hands of time.
"If you pick the wrong one, you fall off Sky Island!" Luffy said eagerly.
"HOW CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING SO STUPID! WE'RE THOUSANDS OF METRES IN THE AIR! I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES YOUR LIFE CAN FLASH BEFORE YOUR EYES IN A FALL LIKE THAT, AND I DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT!" Usopp screamed in terror, shivering with fear.
"You guys are both being idiots! Nothing like that is going to happen," Sanji calmly said, only for the Crow to fall off a waterfall and above the nothingness below.
Time seemed to stop for the three, as all of them screamed in horror. The Crow fell through a cloud and landed on a river below. All three were panting heavily and lying down on the ship, their minds trying to comprehend the experience,
"We're alive?" Sanji asked, relieved while reaching for a cigarette from his back pocket with shaking hands.
"I seriously thought we were falling all the way to the Blue Sea!" Usopp said, tear stains covering his face.
Luffy just laughed while Sanji kicked him in the face in anger, due to Luffy making him believe he was about to die.
"So, what is this place?" asked Sanji, looking around, "And what's with all the floating balls?"
"A forest with balls," Luffy said, picking his nose with his pinkie finger.
"I already noticed the balls," Sanji said while lighting his cigarette, "Do you ever listen?"
"They're made of island cloud!" Usopp pointed out, having noticed the colouration of the balls and the fact they were floating.
"What could be scary about that?" Luffy wondered, tilting his head and frowning.
The Milky Road continued to stretch for miles in the distance, and Sanji noticed that the Milky Road was ascending slowly into the trees.
"How is this an ordeal? Maybe we misunderstood the gate?" Luffy asked, clutching his hat to make sure it didn't fly off, "Or maybe we're in purgatory!"
"Really? Always thought it would be more grey," Usopp said with a dash of fear in his tone.
Sanji didn't even bother correcting the two, knowing it was a lost cause. Luffy proceeded to sigh, and looked up towards one of the balls. But before he could act, something else caught his attention. He turned towards the front of the Crow and watched as Sanji kicked a cloud ball in front of the boat.
"Crap," Luffy said, holding up his arms to protect himself from the upcoming danger.
The ball proceeded to explode, covering all three with soot. However, all three were unharmed and only annoyed.
"Asshole above us," Luffy said, holding his index finger towards a ball casually.
The other two looked up but before they spotted anything, they heard a voice ring out from the direction Luffy pointed out.
"Silly children!" a high-pitched voice called out with an annoying laugh, "These are Surprise Clouds! You never know what is going to come out of them!"
Sanji and Usopp finally spotted the owner of the voice. It was a fat man, almost a ball himself, with long, red hair. The man was clad in a white, full-body jumpsuit, which had a vertical line of golden rings that ran from front to back. He wore an orange hat, orange gloves and orange shoes. To top it off, his eyes were covered by yellow sunglasses with a silver rim. The man had a big grin on his face, and was sitting cross-legged on his cloud ball.
"I'm so glad you picked my challenge, the Ordeal of Spheres!" the man continued, laughing hysterically.
"Where is there a talking dumpling there?" asked Sanji, while the others looked equally as confused when the man started dancing.
"This guy is one of the priests?" Usopp asked, while Luffy nodded.
"Such a stupid ordeal name," Sanji muttered, started to get annoyed with the man's dancing, "Nami and the others better be safe, you stupid dumpling!"
"The sacrifices? They'll escape, or they won't! Doesn't matter which! If they escape they die, and if they get sacrificed they die!" he said, dancing with even more energy than before.
"Ugh, people all day today," Luffy growled, feeling tired due to the man's annoying voice.
"But I'd be more worried about yourselves! You'll have to beat me if you want to go any further!" the man replied, hoping to entice fear in the three, "But you won't be able to! Because you're all weak!"
"Riveting," Luffy mumbled immediately after the man had spoken, getting ready to act.
The man jumped towards them, and started spinning in the air. Luffy started spinning his right arm in a wheel, planning to send the man back to where he jumped from with a punch.
"Gum Gum," Luffy began, his arm spinning even faster.
"Going to stretch, are we?" the man said with a knowing smile, making Luffy's eyes widen. He had forgotten that the man was a Haki user. He had been careless, and might possibly pay the price.
"Pistol!" Luffy screamed, however, the punch soared past the man as he moved out of the way.
The man laughed and held out his palm towards Luffy's face, but Luffy kicked his feet on the edge of the Crow and launched himself backwards. However, Luffy smacked into a tree and fell to the ground, winded for a moment as he was still being affected by the sea-prism stone from earlier.
"Luffy!" Usopp shouted, and the man looked at Luffy in shock.
"How did you dodge? You knew that wouldn't be an ordinary hit!" he said, puzzled as he couldn't figure out how he had done it.
"I'll show you normal!" Sanji said, charging towards the man recklessly.
"Right foot, high kick," the man said calmly, walking to the side while Sanji swiped where his face was, "You fool! Only the most highly trained are granted the power of… Mantra!"
'Haki!' Sanji thought, and his eyes widened when the man held out a palm towards Sanji's face.
Sanji suddenly flew back and crashed next to Luffy, not getting up afterwards. Usopp eyes widened and he jumped towards the other two, narrowly dodging the attack from the priest. Usopp landed on his feet, and saw Luffy getting up as well.
"You alright Sanji?" Luffy asked, while Sanji got up as well.
"Yeah I'm fine. What did that bastard do to us?" Sanji replied, looking towards the priest.
"Some kind of energy blast I think," Usopp said, noticing the way the impact also released heat, "But how did he store the energy in there? Who the hell is he?"
"My name is Satori, one of the four priests of Eneru! Dealing with criminals in the Lost Forest!" Satori explained, dancing and laughing with an evil grin.
"Lost Forest?" Luffy asked with a frown.
"Why yes. My forest in all its glory! And now your boat will be lost in its illusions!" He said with a smile, as the Crow started to head onwards without the three.
Satori jumped off the Crow and landed on one of his Surprise Balls, looking down at the three as they stared at the Crow in shock. The crew knew the boat was their only way to get to the others. Truly this was an ordeal.
"Have fun getting to it, as this forest has a 10% survival rate!" Satori supplied, making Usopp grin.
"10%? That's not that bad," Usopp pondered, thinking back to Alabasta and what it's survival rate must have been.
Luffy cracked his knuckles. Satori was preventing him from getting to his crew, so he was practically asking for a beating.
Meanwhile, Chopper was patrolling the ship like a soldier, trying to get as much fun out of the bleak situation. He was afraid, but he knew his crew was relying on him. He would just have to prove to the crew he was a man, and that he could defend the ship with his life. He was comforted by the fact that Luffy was on his way. He couldn't think of anything that would stop Luffy from trying to save them. Chopper wanted Luffy to come back and see the Merry untouched and unharmed, and he would prove he could work independently. He imagined the praise with a smile. Despite knowing inside Luffy would praise him anyway, no matter the ship's condition.
Chopper began to fix the ship, and using the advice Usopp taught him, managed to start to make good progress.
Sanji watched the Crow speed along without them, weirdly feeling slightly betrayed.
'What am I saying? It's a boat for crying out loud!' Sanji thought with amusement, only to turn his head towards Usopp and see the complete opposite reaction.
"CROW! COME BACK TO US! DON'T LEAVE!" he screamed with small tears in his eyes, making Sanji chuckle.
"You two go on ahead without me. I'll take care of dumpling man!" Luffy ordered, looking towards the two.
Usopp and Sanji nodded, and started running towards the Crow immediately.
Luffy coughed in his hand, looking at small droplets of blood in his palm. He needed to get the sea-prism stone out of his lungs, but he would have to make do. He tensed his legs and shot up into the air, pushing off the ground.
"Now Gum Gum…" the captain said and Satori smiled even wider, knowing the man would use the same move as before.
"Pistol!"
The rubber arm shot towards Satori, but the priest dodged and grabbed onto the middle of the arm. He started to swing Luffy around but Luffy used Sky Walk to counteract the spin. Luffy landed on a branch, and Satori was forced to let the arm go. Luffy shot towards the man, and swiped at his fat face with his foot. Satori grabbed onto his ankle and Luffy grinned. Luffy used Sky Walk again with his other leg, spinning his body and Satori with it. Luffy used the momentum of his spin to land a fierce punch into Satori's spinning body, sending him flying into a tree.
Satori hit a branch and shouted in shock, but recovered by landing on a lower branch.
"Impressive. You spun so fast that I couldn't act, and used the fact that I can't dodge in the air to land a punch. But that won't be enough," Satori said in amusement.
He noticed Luffy had started to cough up blood, and jumped towards him as fast as possible. In the small window of time, he activated his Impact Dial in front of Luffy's face, sending the man flying into a tree. Luffy was slightly lodged in the tree, and Satori used this to shoot multiple Impacts in the man's face.
Luffy pulled his head out of the tree, and looked at Satori with a grin. He didn't say a word, instead wiping the blood from his chin and coughing up more droplets of blood. Before he could do anything, Satori shot towards Sanji and Usopp, making Luffy jump after him.
In the meantime, Usopp had spotted the Crow with his goggles. He told Sanji of its location, and Sanji started to climb a tree to reach it. Suddenly, a Surprise Ball shot out of nowhere in Usopp's direction, only for Usopp to narrowly dodge towards the ground. It was Satori, who hit many balls towards other balls. This caused a chain reaction, as it set off more balls, like nuclear fission.
Luffy sped towards Satori with Sky Walk, only to be intercepted by a fire Surprise Ball. All of a sudden, Luffy's foot got caught on a vine thrown by Satori. This made the man swing towards the Surprise Ball, and get set on fire. Usopp was firing at Satori with Lead Stars, however, four balls lodged themselves into the tree root to his left. These balls sprouted four birds, who began to sing and make Usopp stop firing Satori to assess the new threat. Sanji had several balls fired in his direction. He jumped to the left as one ball exploded with spears, like a cactus. Sanji looked up and rolled forwards, dodging a ball which melted to acid and dissolved through the tree.
Luffy shot towards the ground and started to roll, putting out the fire. Meanwhile, Usopp managed to beat up the four birds, who had tried to start a singing contest with him. Sanji had managed to get to an area with no moving balls, so he appeared to be fine.
Sanji noticed Usopp climb on a large branch, and looked at him in confusion. Usopp was acting weirdly confident, which slightly inspired confidence in Sanji himself.
"What's up Usopp? You got an idea?" asked Sanji, looking at Usopp with put a red belt on.
"Do I? They don't call me a genius for nothing. My newest invention, the Usopp AAaaaAAAaaaAA!" Usopp bragged, holding his belt, "There's the Crow. Milky Road is dead ahead!"
Usopp fired his grapple and it attached itself to a tree branch. Satori stared down at Usopp in annoyance, wondering what the man was doing.
"Now my timing needs to be perfect," Usopp pointed out to himself, "We've only got one shot."
"How are you going to get past those spheres?" asked Sanji with a grin, looking towards the endless number of spheres.
"You let me worry about that," Usopp replied confidently, "They don't call me King of the Jungle for nothing!"
Usopp jumped off the branch, swinging straight towards the Crow, shouting while he did so. Usopp reached the Crow, making Sanji smile.
"Great! Now just drop down! You can't miss!" Sanji shouted, glad their Crow problem was solved.
However, Usopp kept on swinging and tugging on the rope. Sanji saw Usopp's body flail around, trying to detach itself from the grapple.
"What are you doing?" Sanji shouted in disbelief, annoyed Usopp made him believe in the failed plan.
"I forgot that the rope is attached to the belt. I can't get it free. Throw me some scissors or something!" Usopp explained in a panic, as he began to swing back towards Sanji.
Usopp however, could not grab onto the branch where he jumped from. He looked at Sanji for a second with a panicked look, before feeling himself being pulled back.
"Crap!" Usopp shouted, swinging back towards the Crow.
Sanji clenched his fist in annoyance, as he saw Luffy join Usopp by swinging on the vine which had caught his foot before. Luffy laughed with glee, clearly reaping the benefits of his situation. Sanji watched as Luffy grabbed Usopp, and landed next to him by using Sky Walk.
"Okay," Sanji began, as all three dropped to the ground, "Here's the plan. We forget about the boat for now, we can get it later. We all just need to charge that fat freak at once. I don't care how powerful his Haki is, we're taking him down."
"Don't be so sure!" Satori called out, landing next to Sanji and activating the Impact Dial on his chest.
Sanji smashed into the tree, and fell to the ground with his eyes widened in shock. Luffy growled in anger and stared at Satori, not noticing him in his distraction. Luffy felt the need to cough up blood, but wouldn't give the fat man the satisfaction.
The group of four pressed on, with Robin leading them. Nami helped Aisa up a large tree root, while Zoro walked at the back of the group. Whether it was to enjoy the sights or it was because he was lazy, the group couldn't determine.
Aisa looked at a certain tree and headed inside, recognising it as the place where she used to collect Vearth. She picked up a handful of dirt, which is what she called it now, and let in run between her fingers. She could remember the last time she was in this tree, and chuckled at how much she changed. She looked around with her Haki, and could almost see herself from the past picking up the Vearth as if it was the most precious thing in the world. She gripped the rest of the handful tightly, allowing the dirt to seep beneath her fingernails. She could almost feel the pain she used to feel, due to her hate of the war, reverberate off the bark.
Aisa ran her hand against the edge of the tree, feeling the very life of the tree with her Haki. The tree vibrated against her hand with its presence, as if it was communicating with her. Aisa smiled as water glazed over her eyes, pressing her forehead against her old area of comfort. The tree almost gave off this heat where her hand was, as if it was trying to comfort the girl. Almost like it recognised her, the tree glowed brightly in the perspective of her Haki. Aisa turned around to see the spot where she used to collect the dirt from, and it almost seemed as if the section of ground had an indentation. She walked towards it, and pressed her hand against the ground.
Aisa closed her eyes, losing herself in her memories. She felt a hand grab the dirt in front of her, and place it in her bag. She opened her eyes to see Nami, whose eyes were filled with understanding. Aisa slowly got up and hugged her mum, holding her tight as if she would disappear. Nami understood the burden of fear, but also knew how to remedy it. Nami wiped the tears that had started to streak down Aisa's cheeks, and placed a delicate kiss on her forehead. Aisa proceeded to yawn, tired by all the mental exhaustion but also feeling safe enough in Nami's arms for her tiredness to overcome her. Nami picked her up and placed the girl on her back, looping her arms under the girl's knees. Nami walked out of the tree, and stared at Robin and Zoro with a smile.
"She okay?" Zoro asked, and despite seeming indifferent, Nami could see the concern in his eyes.
"She's just tired. Seeing all of this brings back a lot of pain for her I think," Nami replied with a small smile.
"We'll make him pay for what he did to her," a voice said, and Nami and Zoro turned their heads in shock to see Robin being the owner of the voice.
"R-Robin," Nami breathed out in shock, seeing the slight anger in the raven's eyes.
"A child does not deserve to grow up in fear, or lose their parents," the woman replied, with a troubled look in her eyes, "And a girl as precious as Aisa will never have to experience it ever again."
"You're damn right she won't. Not while I'm still alive," a deep voice said.
Nami almost expected it to be Luffy, but she knew it was Zoro who said it. Zoro now considered Aisa one of his own, which made Nami feel infinitely more relaxed.
"Let's keep moving," Robin said, and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.
Back on the Merry, Chopper remembered the whistle which would call Gan Fall. He called out to the forest, saying he would protect the Merry with his dying breath. Unfortunately for Chopper, the forest responded to his challenge. A flying bird with a man came out of the tree line. The man had a lance and was wearing goggles from the glance that Chopper made.
"Just one? Surely there are more sacrifices I get to kill?" the man said in anger, making Chopper take a step back in fear.
Almost on instinct, Chopper blew the whistle as loud as he could.
Nami's head perked up at the sound, and she looked towards the direction of the noise. Robin also noticed the noise, and she stopped studying the cobblestone and looked in the direction as well.
"You hear that?" Nami said, jumping off a tree root, "What do you think it was?"
"Quiet. Don't move," Zoro said slowly, drawing his sword a bit with his thumb.
Suddenly, a Cloud Crocodile shot out of the Milky Road above them, but Nami was on her guard due to having Aisa on her back. She assembled her Clima-Tact and smashed the creature in the face, sending it flying away into the water.
Zoro smirked at her and Robin chuckled at the sight of Nami hitting the creature. Nami turned to them, confused.
"What?" she asked, wondering why they were looking at her weirdly.
"Nothing," they both said with a knowing smirk, due to seeing Nami's maternal instincts kick in.
The sound of the whistle was covered up by Satori's annoyingly loud laughter, as the priest skimmed Usopp with the impact dial. Usopp flew backwards slowly and hit the ground, clutching at his side in pain.
"USOPP!" Luffy said in anger, as Satori hit 4 exploding Surprise Balls at the captain.
However, Luffy easily dodged them by lunging through the small gap between all 4 of the balls. Luffy hit the ground and rolled, before staring up at a laughing Satori.
Chopper gripped the whistle in his mouth nervously, as he continued to try to call Gan Fall. He quickly dodged out of the way when the man dragged his lance across the altar stone in his direction, causing it to set on fire.
"Why resist? There is no escape! Try to die with some dignity!" the man shouted, shooting a large torrent of flames towards him.
Chopper dodged out of the way easily, but he had forgotten that he was standing in front of the Merry. Quickly, the Merry caught on fire and Chopper's eyes widened in anger.
"Not the ship!" Chopper said, as he climbed up to put out the flames burning the rigging on his side of the boat.
The rigging broke and the mast started to tilt to one side, making Chopper look up towards the wooden structure in worry.
"Why defend a ship which no one will return to?" asked the priest in a mocking tone of voice.
"SHUT UP!" Chopper screamed in anger.
The man lunged towards Chopper with his lance, but Chopper managed to dodge by changing into Brain Point. The man threw a punch towards Chopper, but Chopper pushed off the man and flew away from him, as to make the punch less harmful. The reindeer hit the ground and the man followed, swiping at Chopper with a kick which the boy dodged by rolling out the way.
Chopper was backed towards the mast, and rolled to the side to avoid more flames. However, the boy had made the same mistake twice. The flames hit the mast and the mast caught fire immediately. Chopper screamed and changed into Heavy Point, while running up to the mast.
"NOT THE MAST! STOP BURNING THE SHIP!" Chopper screamed, before he realised what he had to do.
Chopper ripped the mast of the Merry and threw it into the water, screaming in pain as he did so. As soon as the mast broke through the surface of the water, Chopper turned to the man in anger.
Chopper bit into a Rumble Ball and his teeth gnashed on it angrily. He transformed into his Jumping Point and looked at the priest with blinding rage.
Chopper shot towards him and closed his eyes, acting on animal instinct. He wasn't thinking and his brain was off. He punched Shura, the priest, in his chest and sent him flying into a door. Shura looked up and saw Chopper standing over him in arm point. He tried to get out of the way but his arm was stuck in the wooden wall. He desperately tugged at his arm but it wouldn't budge. He looked up at Chopper with fear in his eyes.
"Cloven Roseo!" Chopper screamed, leaving an imprint of his hoof in Shura's chest. Shura went flying through the door and landed on his back, gasping for air.
Shura stood up and glared at Chopper, explaining that since the others left the ship, Chopper had to lose his life to atone for this breakage of the rules.
Shura spun his lance in his hand, and looked at Chopper with a smirk.
"I offer your life to God!" Shura said, charging at Chopper.
Shura drew his lance back, ready to stab Chopper. Chopper readied his fist in Heavy Point, and as Shura stabbed at Chopper, the deer punched the man's lance. Bones cracked as the lance went through Chopper's hand, making the boy scream in blinding agony. However, the man's lance ended up bending due to the force applied by Chopper's fist. So, when the man pulled his weapon out of Chopper's hand, he found it broken and bent at an awkward angle. Chopper fell to the ground and was left to the mercy of Shura. As Shura was ready to stab him, his eyes widened in fear and he turned around to intercept an incoming lance to his face.
Metal grinded against metal, which let out a horrible shriek to all those who heard it. It was Gan Fall, who had come to Chopper's aid.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. You have fought well young boy!" Gan Fall said, his eyes widened in anger at the sight of the doctor's injuries.
Gan Fall jumped back at a high speed, landing on Pierre's back, his beard flapping about in the wind as he did so.
"YOU!" Shura said with anger and a little fear, before jumping onto his own bird, Fuza's back, "GAN FALL!"
"Let's give him our best Pierre!" said Gan Fall, as the two charged at each other.
"WE DON'T NEED TWO GODS ON THIS ISLAND!" Shura shouted, as the two clashed in the air. Their birds soared past each other, and Pierre rushed past the water, making it rise due to the shockwave created by Pierre's speed.
"YAY! SKY KNIGHT!" Chopper said in pure joy, glad the man had saved him.
Pierre shot behind Fuza, and Shura turned around to intercept. Gan Fall jumped and Pierre went to the other side of Fuza, and Shura turned to that side as well. However, Gan Fall was not residing on Pierre's back. Instead, he was standing behind Shura. Shura felt Gan Fall's palm against his spine, and his eyes widened in abject horror.
A shockwave resounded from the palm of Gan Fall, and Shura screamed as he fell off his bird. Gan Fall jumped backwards and landed on Pierre's back, while Fuza chased after Shura. Fuza just managed to catch Shura before he hit the water.
"One more hit should do it, right Pierre?" asked Gan Fall, which Pierre squawked in agreement to.
"You're nothing but a shadow of your former self. Stupid old man! I'm through playing games with you! ORDEAL OF STRING!" Shura shouted in anger, swiping his palm to the side.
"I'm going to finish this. Experience my sphere dragon!" Satori screamed with a laugh, as a massive dragon made from several Surprise Clouds strung together formed with a swipe of his cane.
All three got up, and stared as the Sphere Dragon charged towards them. Luffy jumped out of the way as it tried to hit him, and watched as the Sphere Dragon pulled upwards and started flying in a circle.
The Sphere Dragon flew towards Luffy again and the man rolled to the side, dodging the construct easily. Luffy breathed a sigh of relief, and watched as Usopp and Sanji dodged the dragon as well.
Gan Fall and Shura continued to clash weapons, and Chopper was excited to see every bit of the colossal fight. The sound of weapons clashing was all that filled the air, and Chopper's eyes sparkled in amazement. Gan Fall realised that diplomacy was off the table, and he fought Shura with even more intensity.
Gan Fall and Pierre stopped moving however, as they seemed to be caught in strings of some kind. Shura stabbed Gan Fall in his chest, doing less damage then he should have done due to fact Chopper broke his weapon.
Gan Fall fell into the water as Pierre screamed in worry. Chopper threw caution to the wind and dove into the water after Gan Fall. Pierre was subdued quickly after Chopper jumped in and fell into the water as well.
"Judgement has been served," Shura said in pain, before coughing out blood. While he had bested Gan Fall, he was still not superior to the man in the art of battle. Fuza started to fly away with Shura on his back, and the priest thought that was the end of his adversaries.
Meanwhile, Robin was taking water samples out of a well in a tube. She looked at the sample curiously, shaking the water by lightly moving the tube from left to right.
"Could a well really be that interesting?" asked Zoro curiously, looking at the test tube as well.
"Yes," Robin replied, looking him in the eyes, "Don't you think it's odd that a well would be stuck under a tree? The balance between civilisation and nature here is off."
"Well, you'll get all the time to study it if we don't find a way to cross this cloud river," Zoro pointed out, looking at the shark infested river for the hundredth time that day, "And we're still nowhere near where we want to be."
"It's like the people who built this didn't know the tree would grow to be this large," Robin pointed out, looking at the tree in amazement.
Zoro looked up at a high branch where Nami and Aisa where sitting, however, Aisa was still asleep.
"NAMI! CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING?" Zoro called up to the woman, hoping she could hear him.
Nami was looking in the distance with her binoculars, and was amazed at what she saw on the horizon.
"Impossible! This island can't be…" she murmured worried.
"There's no way you can win! After all, I'm a priest! And you all are Blue Sea Dwellers!" Satori said with a laugh, arrogantly thinking he had won the battle, "Why not end this now and die! Your little boat has nearly reached the exit, and then it will be all over for you!"
"That won't happen," Luffy said to himself, while running from the dragon which kept focusing on him.
Luffy went up to a tree and ran up it, before flipping backwards and landing on a wire which was oddly connected to the dragon's head.
"A wire," Luffy said to himself, noticing Satori was getting pulled in his direction due to him standing on it, "That's how he's controlling it!"
Luffy broke the wire easily, but frowned as he still could not attack Satori without coughing up more blood. He hated sea-prism stone with a passion, and would make sure Robin, Chopper and Aisa knew the dangers of ingesting or inhaling it.
"YOU INSOLENT BRAT! You broke my dragon! Now you die!" Satori said, pulling Luffy towards him with his end of the wire.
However, this pulled the dragon as well. Satori's eyes widened in fear under his glasses, as he realised what he had just done.
"LET GO OF THE DRAGON YOU FOOL!" He screamed, but it was too late.
An explosion rang out for miles and Satori was left puffing and panting, while covered in soot. The soot also covered his glasses, which prevented him from seeing well.
"I've got to intensify my training! I can't let a weakling like him best me! Not even for a second!" Satori said, not noticing Luffy was attached to his back, "That might block me from using my Mantra!"
"You're right. It's a shame you're so unskilled with your Haki," Luffy said from behind him, making Satori cringe in shock and fear, "It was pretty close wasn't it!"
"How are you still alive?" screamed Satori in a panic, trying to shake Luffy off.
"Because I have Mantra as well!" Luffy said with a snicker, making Satori gasp in pure fear.
"YOU HAVE THE GIFT?" he screamed with tears rolling down his cheeks, as Luffy put his arm around his neck.
"Do not let him go Luffy," Sanji said darkly, sitting cross-legged on a cloud ball, "See the point is that you keep saying challenge this and challenge that. Normally that wouldn't interest me, but there are three helpless ladies waiting for me to come to their rescue."
Satori felt Luffy's grip around his neck at the mention of his missing girlfriend and Aisa, making the man's face darken in worry.
"So, I'm proposing this," Sanji continued, lighting his cigarette, "and I'll think you'll like it. Ordeal of Love."
Satori felt Luffy's arms and legs wrap around him several times, and he started to hyperventilate, as he knew he could not escape.
"Let me go or Eneru will kill you!" Satori screamed in a blind panic, hoping to bargain with the men.
Sanji spun on his foot and made his foot catch on fire. The light blinded Satori slightly, making him start to scream at the top of his lungs in panic.
'What the hell is that?' Luffy thought with stars in his eyes, having never seen Sanji use that technique before.
"Diable Jambe..."
Sanji jumped in the air and started to spin down towards Satori, before crashing his foot into the man's head. This burnt Satori's head and made his glasses crack, before sending the priest crashing into the ground.
"Concassé!"
Satori had been defeated. Luffy and Sanji landed next to the defeated servant of Eneru, and sighed in relief.
"Thank god that dumpling shut up," Sanji and Luffy said at the same time, which made them both grin.
All of a sudden, they heard Usopp's voice call out from the forest and they saw him run into the clearing where they had just defeated Satori.
"HEY GUYS. I FOUND THE BOAT! BUT WE MUST GET TO IT NOW! Get up here and hold onto my body!" he said, holding his grapple and aiming at the boat.
"Screw that noise," Luffy said with a grin, picking both Sanji and Usopp up before flying towards the Crow.
Luffy landed on it safely and dropped the two down, grinning at the feel of the Crow's floor under his feet. He wiggled his toes and did his signatory smile, snickering in happiness.
"Thanks Luffy," Usopp said, as they had made it faster to the Crow with his powers then they could via his grapple.
Chopper began to sink towards the bottom of the lake, and he was only left with his thoughts. For a dying man, this could not be good.
'Oh yeah. I can't swim,' he thought, his thoughts getting quieter in his own head, 'Gan Fall and Pierre will die. I wasn't good enough. I'm a failure.'
However, something shot into the water after Chopper but he didn't notice. As he eyes began to close, he knew it was the end for him.
"No, it couldn't be," Nami said in shock, before jumping down to the others.
They felt an explosion but kept on pushing forwards, determined to reach a destination. They didn't feel worried about the explosion, if anything, they hoped it was Luffy.
"So, what did you see?" asked Robin, curious.
"I'll explain later," Nami said, avoiding the question, "All we need to do is get to the sea shore!"
"The sea shore?" Robin asked, an inquisitive look in her eyes.
"Yes. It's the only way we can get close enough to check this thing out!" Nami explained, adjusting Aisa on her back to make the girl more comfortable, "To be honest, I won't believe what I saw until I see it with my own eyes up close."
"Me too. It's been bothering me for a while now, but I still can't prove anything yet," Robin added, a small smile gracing her face, "Of course, that's just a theory. But if what I dreamed up turns out to be true, it'll be interesting. Very interesting. The one thing I wanted in life doesn't seem so far out of reach anymore."
Chopper woke up with wet fur, his eyes barely staying open after his near-death experience. He found himself on the altar, right next to the Merry. Looking to his left, he saw Gan Fall and Pierre also lying next to him. However, these two were unconscious.
"Why am I alive?" the doctor asked himself, "My neck's killing me!"
Chopper looked upwards to see a flock of South Birds come towards him, all of them giving out their unique cry.
"We're almost there," Robin pointed out, holding her backpack strap with one arm while the other rested by her side, "I can hear the waves breaking on the shore. I'm hearing more than just the sound of waves breaking. What do you think, Zoro?"
"Sounds like a charging army," Zoro said with a feral grin, making Robin shudder slightly, "What a good distraction."
"What about the doctor?" asked Robin, making Zoro look her in the eyes.
"He'll be fine. I believe in him," Zoro said with almost a fatherly smile full of pride.
"And the others?" Robin questioned, making Zoro snort.
"Luffy? Both of us know he won't stay put, especially with the witch and Aisa with us," Zoro said, looking in Nami's direction.
"I don't know what this God has hidden out here, but I doubt he'll let our captain just waltz through like he owns the place," Robin explained to Zoro, making the man nod.
"Let me do it again. But this time, don't make me laugh!" Luffy asked Usopp, giggling while he did so.
"Alright," Usopp said, barely containing his laughter, "Zoro, would you wake up already?"
Luffy sat up, making his face look as annoyed as possible while also looking slightly confused. His eyes were narrowed and his eyebrows were more curved. He placed his hand on his forehead as if he had just woken up.
"Huh? You're a dead man," Luffy said, nearly replicating Zoro's voice before pretending to fall back asleep.
Usopp nearly burst into tears, and threw his head back in laughter.
"This is no time for goofing off! Nami, Robin and Aisa are lost out there and for all we know they could be in trouble!" Sanji said, a tick mark appearing on his head.
"Zoro and Chopper are with them you know," Luffy said calmly, but still tensed up at the mention of his missing girlfriend and crewmates.
"There are three more priests waiting in the wings," Sanji continued, ignoring Luffy completely, "And we don't know what ordeals lie ahead of us."
Luffy flicked his hair to one side, curled his eyebrows to look like the cook's and narrowed his eyes to make himself look slightly dazed. Holding up his two fingers to make it look like a cigarette was in his mouth, Luffy spoke in a voice that Sanji could have mistaken for his own.
"Ordeal of Love," Luffy said mockingly, making Usopp clutch his stomach due to the laughter.
Sanji proceeded to beat the two up viciously, before lighting his cigarette in anger.
"Whatever the case is, we need to get to that alter. Don't you think?" Sanji asked, taking a puff from his cigarette.
"Okay, we're sorry," Usopp and Luffy barely said, their faces massively swollen.
Nami looked at the shore in disbelief, before pressing her hand against the structure. She gasped, making Aisa wake up. The girl jumped off her back, and looked at the building with wide eyes.
When the other two caught up, they couldn't believe their eyes either.
Nami ran her hand against the stone of the building, frowning while she did so.
"I know. Makes it seem like a fairy tale," she said, walking around the side of the building, "We've all seen what it belongs to. How did it get up here?"
"It's like a copy!" Zoro said, walking up to Aisa and smiling down at her, making the girl smile back. She did so in a Luffy-like fashion, making Zoro grin even more.
"It's not," Robin answered, looking calm and serene as ever.
"How'd you figure?" Zoro asked, looking the woman in the eyes.
"This is the other half of the building we saw before," Robin stated, looking the swordsman in the eyes as well.
"Go on…" Zoro prompted her.
"It's been bugging me for awhile. Why is it we walk on soil instead of cloud? This dirt should not be able to form here. So, the ground that we're walking on shouldn't exist. Therefore, Upper Yard used to be on the ground," she explained, making Aisa gasp.
'Eneru's Holy Land, never even belonged to him or anyone from the sky?' Aisa thought in shock, looking at Robin with disbelieving eyes.
"I knew that house was off when I saw it," Nami said, inspecting the architecture, "You see, it's a two-story house with no staircase leading up. And why would you build a house on a cliff? Then again, it wasn't a cliff at all. This is the other half of Jaya that was ripped away!"
"The other half split into the sky?" Zoro asked incredulously.
Nami was about to answer, but someone beat her to it. Her very own prodigy began to make her more proud of a person then anyone before that point.
"The Knock-Up Stream," Aisa said, having calmed down after the revelation, "It's the best answer. The city of Gold has been in the sky for 400 years!"
Nami's eyes light up with Berri signs, and she started to scream at the thought of the City of Gold being in the sky. She begged God to allow her to take the treasure.
"Didn't you fear him 10 minutes ago? What's with these mood swings?" asked Zoro with one eyebrow raised.
The Crow pushed on, before finally exiting the tree line. They saw several streams converging in a grass field. Loads of skulls were placed on stakes, and each skull looked like it was screaming in pain.
"AHHHHHH! WHY ARE THERE SKULLS?" Usopp screamed, tears streaking down his face.
"Who did this?" Luffy asked, poking one of the skulls curiously.
"One of the priests?" Sanji suggested, before looking to the left as an explosion just happened there.
"What's that smoke?" Luffy said, squinting his eyes in that direction.
"I KNEW IT! ALL OF THE PRIESTS ARE COMING FOR US!" Usopp screamed, taking a step back in fear.
"That would certainly save time," Sanji pointed out calmly.
Three Shandians leaped over the Crow, and Luffy noticed one of the men was the one who recognised Aisa. The man seemed to remember Luffy as the man who had kidnapped Laki's 'sister'.
"YOU!" they both screamed, as Wiper shot a cannonball in his direction after soaring past the Crow.
Luffy growled and punched the cannonball in the man's direction, sending him flying to the tree. However, the man was barely hurt and only looked disgruntled.
"What is with that guy?" one Shandian asked, slightly terrified of the Straw Hat captain.
"A monster. Let's retreat for now," Wiper begrudgingly said, before turning to speak to Luffy.
"If you don't want to die, then I suggest you return to your Blue Sea immediately. And you return Aisa to us!" Wiper said to the captain, making the man's fists clench in rage.
"No," Luffy said, unknowingly releasing his Conquerors Haki onto the man, making him fall to one knee.
Wiper growled and left without a word, but Luffy did not bother to pursue him. He knew they would encounter the man again, and then he would be able to get his message across.
The Crow carried on without disaster, before entering the forest again, heading towards the altar at high speeds. Luffy was itching to see the others again, and his foot began to tap impatiently. The Crow began to drop down and accelerate while travelling down a spiral, making Luffy scream in excitement.
The Crow began to twist and turn, almost like a rollercoaster. The road calmed, and the sun began to set. Sanji hoped they would reach the altar before dark.
The group of four had finally returned to the Merry and Nami looked at the ship, worried out of her mind.
"CHOPPER! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, ANSWER!" she called out as loud as she could, "ARE YOU THERE?"
"The mast is gone and Chopper is missing," Zoro said, with worry laced within his words, "CHOPPER, COME OUT!"
Chopper poked his head from behind the Merry's figurehead and Zoro immediately noticed his practically destroyed hand. He also noticed the tears streaking down the boy's face, and Zoro's eyebrows furrowed with worry.
"Hi," the boy said quietly, so glad to see his friends, "I was attacked by one of the priests."
The Crow began to ascend a tree via the Cloud Road, and Luffy began to shake in excitement. They reached the top, but they soon realised what comes up must come down. The Crow began to fall into an opening with Sky Sharks ready to eat them. All of a sudden, Luffy shot off from the Crow as his eyes widened in happiness, and he quickly attacked all the Sky Sharks while using Moon Walk. Moon Walk was the faster version of Sky Walk, as it used a lot more of Luffy's energy.
Nami, Zoro and Robin watched in confusion as the Sky Sharks all fell over at once, but Aisa started to tear up in happiness when she sensed what it was. Suddenly, Nami disappeared from next to them and appeared 5 feet behind them, with a familiar boy holding her tightly.
Nami was about to scream in terror, before she felt the shoulders of the person moving slightly up and down, as if the person was crying a bit. She immediately calmed, knowing who it was. On instinct, her body hugged the person as tight as possible, as if she never wanted to let go. It was Luffy, and his head rested on her shoulders.
"I'm sorry," she heard him say next to her left ear, and she nearly smiled.
"Silly Me-Me," she said, stroking her hair, despite feeling tears of her own beginning to form, "I am the one who should apologise."
"No," Luffy said, before repeating the word over and over, getting quieter with each one, "I failed you. I should have protected you but I failed."
"I'm the one who put all the pressure on you to save me," Nami reasoned, her voice breaking as she said it.
Luffy looked her in her watery eyes with his own, before pulling her into a fierce kiss. They remained like this for a minute, before Luffy finally broke away with a smile.
"I love you," he breathed out, losing himself in her eyes.
"I love you too, Luffy," Nami said, smiling at him.
Luffy was about to continue before he remembered another person. Aisa felt an arm wrap around her body and she giggled, before she was pulled into a muscly chest.
"Hey Luffy," she mumbled into his vest, before looking up at the smiling man.
"Hey Aisa," Luffy replied, before pulling her tightly into a hug, "Don't do that to me again, okay. I've been worried sick about you!"
"Okay," Aisa said, glad to know Luffy was worried about her.
Luffy pressed a kiss to her forehead before placing her down on the ground. He stretched to grab Zoro's shoulders before grinning at the green haired man.
"ZORO!" he shouted, reeling himself in towards his first mate.
"NO!" Zoro said, almost having PTSD flashbacks to his other memories.
Luffy crashed into Zoro, and both fell into the water. Zoro, subsequently, had to fish his captain onto the shore. Luffy coughed out water, also coughing out quite a bit of the sea-stone as well.
"YOU IDIOT!" he shouted, smashing his fist onto his head, "I missed you too Captain."
Luffy got up and looked around. The Crow reached the shore, everyone boarded and sailed towards the altar. Before climbing onto the Merry to greet Chopper and assess the damage.
Usopp looked at the mast, or lack thereof. Chopper feared Usopp's reaction as Zoro inspected his hand, but Usopp turned around and told the boy that it was fine and that he did his best to protect the Going Merry.
"How'd you get rid of that priest?" Luffy asked, curious while Aisa sat on his shoulders.
"I fought him for a while and broke his weapon, but I used the whistle to call Gan Fall and he showed up to rescue me," Chopper explained, before showing Luffy to the Sky Knight, who was bedridden and asleep inside the Merry.
The crew stared at the Sky Knight and Luffy grasped his hand, giving a silent thank you. The crew walked out of the room and decided to camp onshore for the night, to avoid the Merry getting damaged. With all the defeated Sky Sharks, the crew decided to have a huge barbeque. While Luffy and Nami sat next to each other and enjoyed their significant other's company, Usopp brought up a blackboard and addressed the group.
"It is time to hear everyone's field reports," he stated, making everyone turn their heads towards him.
"We ran into this fat priest named Satori. He was a man who had control of the cloud balls he called Surprise Balls, which had threats inside each one. He used Haki," Sanji explained, thinking back to the annoying dumpling.
"I fought a priest named Shura. His spear, which I broke, caused fires and his bird burnt down the mast with fire breath. Shura had Haki as well. He then defeated the Sky Knight," Chopper said with guilt, looking down at the ground.
"We found out that this island was actually the missing part of Jaya, as it was shot up by the Knock-Up Stream," Nami explained, and Usopp assessed all of this.
"Excellent report!" Usopp said, grinning like a madman, "From what we can gather, all the priests and Eneru have Haki so they can predict our moves. Shura can utilise fire and so can his bird. However, most importantly, we learnt the City of Gold is not 1000 leagues under the sea, but instead it is hidden on this island."
"WHOA REALLY!" Luffy said in surprise, making Nami sigh.
"Sweetie, that was the first thing I said."
"Haki. That's a pain in the ass," Zoro said, looking at Luffy and Aisa.
Luffy stood up and grinned, looking at Nami. Nami grinned up at him as well, glad to see him back to normal after his Sea-Stone illness which he had briefly mentioned.
"This is it! An adventure with gold at the end!" Luffy said in glee, barely containing his excitement, "I can't wait!"
"Glad to see someone on my side," Nami said, winking at the man, "I'm ready."
"They're such bad influences for each other," Usopp said with a scared look on his face, "Don't you remember what that guerrilla said about death?"
"Sounds like fun," Robin said, chuckling.
"We wouldn't be very good pirates if we turned our backs on gold," Sanji said with a grin, looking at the group.
"It won't be easy. You know, everyone up here already hates us," Zoro said with a cocky smirk, "So, I'm in."
"We're taking down Eneru, and showing that bastard what pirates can do," Aisa said, and the group smiled at her.
Nami looked at the girl with pride, not even bothering reprimanding her for her language.
"Gold! And it's all waiting for us!" Luffy said, throwing his fists into the air in excitement.
Hello there! It's been awhile guys, hasn't it? Before I do anything, I want to explain my absence. I found myself too busy to write anything, and it frustrated me greatly. I just couldn't find the time to write, and as the gap got bigger, the drive to write got smaller and smaller. So, whenever I wanted to write, I just couldn't find the will to go to my laptop and begin. But I toughed through it and bought you this chapter. I want to apologise because I know the feeling when a story doesn't update and you love it so much, but now I understand what the writers must be feeling as well when they don't upload for a while. All in all, I'm sorry. I should have uploaded earlier. I hope that the wait didn't take anything away from the chapter. Now the reviews!
PortugueseRonaldo: I don't blame you, it is very fluffy. Maybe I should put a health warning at the beginning of each chapter. Would the Merry fall on him at a high enough velocity anyway, seeing as it floated via octopus? And thanks for the compliment!
The Keeper of the Worlds: The family bond is growing rapidly, which is really nice to see. We got more Wiper in this chapter, but I will expand even more with him later. As for Malachi, I'm glad the twist was good. As for Luffy, well you'll see. Don't want to spoil anything for you.
Lightningblade49(1): Luffy is very complex. Can you imagine Luffy reacting to someone hurting something more precious to him than his friends?
Lightningblade49(2): Actually, I think the opposite. If the marines targeted the Straw Hats, this could risk a potential conflict with Kaido. Which the Marines do not want at all. As it is a waste of time and resources.
Joey91731: I think Aisa's thoughts on leaving have been mentioned somewhere, she's not going anywhere.
Chrisfragger: Well I'm sorry you feel that way. Although I will say, Chapter 1 was designed to be that way. Because the whole point is that changes take a while to kick in, and why would a change that happened a couple of days beforehand drastically change the timeline? But, I don't blame you for your scepticism. I might have felt the same way if I was reading it as well. All I can ask is that you give this story another chance, and if you don't like what your reading, then that's fine as well.
Banane Jon: Sorry, really I am. However, I believe this will cure you withdrawal symptoms, right?
Again, sorry for the wait. I really hope you guys like this chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait. I can't guarantee the next chapter will be released soon, but you have my promise you won't have to wait as long as you did before.
This is, TheHumulisScriptor, signing out!