Thanks to the holidays & a few snow days where my offices were closed, I managed to get this story done a little faster than expected.
Just a quick note, I struggled a bit with this part of the story simply because I wasn't sure if I wanted to use "Enel" or "Ener" or "Eneru". All are technically correct & simply different translations for the katakana Oda uses. And while Ener or Eneru are plays on the word for energy & related to his powers, I learned the Enel is the abbreviated name for a major power company in Japan, so all work as puns as well. After some deliberation & research, I decided to use Enel as his proper name. Although the official dub translation & direct phonetic pronunciation is "Eneru", the most correct Romanization is Enel. It's common practice in Japanese for names to end in vowel, & I felt that if I was going to use Usopp and Brook as opposed to Usoppu or Burukku, despite those technically being how their names are pronounced in Japanese, I had to use Enel. The translations are actually kind of spotty. For instance, we write "Zoro" although it's pronounced "Zolo" but we write "Luffy" although it's technically "Rufi." This is mainly due to there being no L in Japanese, but R is often pronounced with an L sound.
Anyway, I just like Enel best, so that's what I'm using.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I only own my original additions. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
Warnings: Language, Violence
Reaching the precipice of the stream, the lobster tossed them into the air. Abel caught a glimpse of more cloud landmasses before the ship landed back into the sea clouds, jostling everyone. Abel's torso slammed into the railing, knocking the breath out of her for a moment. But as the ship finally came to rest, bobbing gently in the White-White Sea, Abel pushed herself up, rubbing her sore stomach. However, as she finally saw what lay before them, a bruised torso was the least of her thoughts.
Abel gaped at the scene before her. If someone asked her to give a general representation of "heaven", the landscape before them would be pretty darn close. This Skypiea they'd been searching for for so long truly fit the definition of a "sky island." The entire island appeared to be built upon solid clouds like the ones they had to sail around earlier. The puffy, rolling "hills" made it hard to distinguish the ground from the regular clouds floating about, but it appeared to have a tiered layout. Closest to them sat a long stretch of beach, complete with some species of palm tree as well as other suitably tropical plants. Beyond that, Abel spotted a winding staircase leading up to what looked like the residential district, based on the Mediterranean-style houses popping up. And beyond that, near the top of the tier, sat what Abel would guess was the town market and business district. Abel saw an impressive three-spired building in the back, reminding her of a cathedral. And behind it all stretched a massive stream, just like the one they'd ridden up.
"It's a sky island!" Luffy screamed, ready to explode with excitement. Everyone else had been rendered speechless as they gaped. Even Dogmeat stood on his hind legs to get a better view.
Eventually, Robin murmured thoughtfully, "Hey... that sign... said Skypiea."
"Yeah!" Nami agreed, giving a little giddy laugh. "That's the same name as the one written on the map that Luffy found." Nami turned back to the unreal scene. "That galleon that fell on us really did come here. They saw this scenery two-hundred long years ago." It was amazing to think about. Like finding a living, ancient ruin.
Serenely, the Going Merry waded up to the shore, carried by the gentle waves. At first, the crew just stared, unsure what to do. Hearing Dogmeat's anxious whine, not out of fear but anticipation, Abel idly rubbed his head as she glanced along the coast. It was so strange seeing nothing but white everywhere. She'd heard of white sand beaches, where the sand was very fine, but she doubted it was as pure as this. Not to mention the plants growing just off the shore. "How are there plants growing in the clouds?" she wondered aloud. She questioned it more from a mechanical perspective than disbelief. She clearly saw them.
Abel glanced as Luffy took a deep, dramatic inhale, before releasing his breath with a great grin. "What is this place? You can really smell adventure in the air!" Before they could protest, their captain dived off the figurehead.
"You idiot!" Usopp screamed, rushing to save Luffy before their captain experienced the same trauma he had. "Wait!" He dived dramatically after Luffy.
Abel heard Luffy warn, "It's the shallows," and looked over the side just in time to observe Usopp land headfirst into the shore. Luffy stood next to him, the waves barely past his ankles. Comically, Usopp paused in his lawn dart position for a moment before slumping over, falling into the water, only the end of his nose sticking out like a snorkel. Luffy leaned over him. "Hey, you okay, Usopp?" he asked, still unable to wipe the grin off his face.
After a second or two, Usopp sat up, the clouds falling away the same as regular water. Abel wasn't so sure why Usopp stared at the waves, dumbfounded expression on his face. Hadn't he experienced this before? Maybe these clouds had a slightly different consistency than the White Sea? But as it turned out, it wasn't the water he was stunned by. Glancing up at Luffy, Usopp asked, "Is this island made of fluffy clouds?"
"Big, fluffy ones!" Luffy replied.
Usopp's smile matched Luffy's. "I love this stuff!" The two shared a good laugh before Usopp leapt to his feet, following after Luffy as the boy ran onto the shore, calling for the others to follow.
"Wait!" Chopper called, crawling onto the railing. "I'm coming with you guys!" Abel cast a watchful eye to make sure the water wasn't over their short doctor's head, but he didn't have any problems, giggling adorably as he chased after the other two.
"I'm gonna go change," Nami announced before disappearing inside, with Robin following silently behind her.
Abel briefly considered following their example. This region was pleasantly warm, likely thanks to the clouds diffusing the sunlight to keep it at a fairly steady temperature. With her heavy jacket and leggings, even someone as cold-natured as Abel stared to feel stuffy. But rather than needlessly making more laundry for herself, Abel opted for a simpler solution: ditch the jacket and leggings.
As Abel began unbuttoning her jacket, she heard Zoro call after their captain, "Hey, Luffy! What about the anchor? There isn't seabed around here, right?"
"Who cares?" Luffy replied brazenly.
Usopp playfully bumped into Luffy, repeating, "Yeah, who cares?" Spurred on by a bought of playfulness, the two bounced against each other, giggling like schoolchildren. Abel wasn't sure why they were doing this, but it was rather adorable. Especially when Chopper joined them, missing Luffy entirely and just throwing himself onto the clouds, laughing uproariously. The sight of them having so much fun made Abel smile. They really were quite cute when they weren't dragging the crew into trouble.
But, ever the dour one, Zoro ignored their glee and instead dropped the anchor, hoping for the best. Unexpectedly, the anchor actually hit something, not sinking fully beneath the cloud-water. Zoro stared at it for a moment, before deciding he didn't want to think too much about the strangeness. Instead, he leaned back to take in the magnificent scenery. It never ceased to amaze him the sorts of places they stumbled across. Never had he thought he'd ever come across an island in the sky. It was like something out of a fairytale. "Still, the scenery is amazing," Zoro murmured softly, almost wistfully. "It's like something out of a dream." Abel briefly let her eyes shut as she simply absorbed the unusually soft tone Zoro used. Damn her and her auditory sensitivity. If he ever used that tone on her, she'd be putty. Stalwartly keeping her mind from going places they weren't allowed to go (yet), Abel carefully draped her jacket over the railing before leaning beside it to remove her shoes.
"Yeah, it sure is," Sanji replied to Zoro's statement, strangely subdued. Abel glanced up as she dropped her boots on the deck. Crossing the deck, Sanji added, "And look at how they're getting all carried away." Still, he gave a little laugh as he placed his shoes on the deck. Abel noticed at some point he'd also removed his jacket. Clearly he meant to disembark. "They're hopeless," he chastised, then immediately somersaulted over the railing with a peal of laughter, landing fully in the water below.
"So are you," Zoro muttered, but without any real bite.
"Let 'em be, Chief," Abel advised.
Zoro glanced toward Abel, noticing she'd removed her jacket and boots, and was currently sliding her leggings off. The white dress that had been beneath the heavy jacket was light and flowing, a sharp contrast to the military-inspired jacket that had been covering it. But it was nearly as short, particularly in the front, so that when Abel raised her knee slightly to reach the top of her legging, Zoro got a good view of her upper thigh. When Abel pushed the fabric down, revealing more bare leg, Zoro quickly averted his eyes. He was already confused enough as it was. He didn't need his hormones clouding things any more.
With both leggings removed, Abel folded them up and placed them over her boots. Turning her attention back to the crew enjoying the beach, she said, "There are no Marines here, and I highly doubt whatever government exists knows or cares about your bounties. Meaning unless we go out of our way to cause trouble, we should be able to just enjoy ourselves for a bit." Smiling down at the dog, Abel asked, "Ready to go, boy?" Dogmeat gave a very excited yelp, eliciting a chuckle from the hunter. "Well, have at it," she said, nodding toward the shore. Without waiting for another invitation, Dogmeat launched himself over the railing, landing with a great splash before bounding away from the evil water.
Following suit, Abel swung her legs over the railing and slid down onto the shore. The clouds were the perfect temperature as they splashed up around Abel's knees. Just cool enough to be refreshing. Abel marveled at the surreal experience. The clouds looked like clouds, albeit a bit wispy, but definitely felt like water. Experimentally, Abel lifted her foot from the clouds, watching as they moved almost identically to real water. Strangely, when at rest and undisturbed, the clouds appeared to function as normal clouds, rolling and moving as expected. But when acted upon by a force, like a foot or a ship, it became fluid. Very interesting. Perhaps pressure caused the molecules within the clouds to somewhat solidify. However, when Abel raised her eyes back to the scenery, she found she didn't want overanalyze things... at least not yet. Hopefully they would simply meet some of the locals, and Abel could just ask. Surely they would understand how this place worked. For now, she just wanted to enjoy the moment. After everything that had happened, this felt like a much-needed respite.
Exiting onto the shore proper, Abel marveled at the feel of clouds beneath her feet. In a way, it reminded her of memory foam. It felt squishy beneath her toes, but was smooth, unlike even the finest sand. Yet despite the odd give in the ground under her weight, it still felt solid. Experimentally, Abel gave a little hop. She didn't bounce in the same manner Luffy had earlier, but the ground did divot just slightly, cradling her weight. So bizarre... she couldn't help thinking in wonder.
Abel looked up when Dogmeat bounded up to her. She watched as the dog stopped before her, placing something on the ground between them before going into a play bow, skinny tail wagging. Abel grinned when she spotted the stick. "Wanna play, boy?" she asked, already reaching for the stick. Dogmeat barked excitedly, bowing even lower, tail curling over his back. Drawing the stick back, Abel warned, "Go long," before throwing it with all her might. Thanks to years of archery, Abel had a decent throwing arm, and sent the stick way passed the rest of the crew. Dogmeat yipped before chasing after it, leaving Abel laughing at his sudden playful attitude.
From the deck, Zoro watched the hunter, the breeze catching her dress and scarf, billowing them out gently. Now the landscape looked even more surreal to Zoro. Girly wasn't an adjective he'd typically use to describe Abel, but her current visage certainly portrayed a sense of unintentional soft femininity. Or maybe he'd just never paid enough attention to notice before, Abel's gender and her portrayal of it having made no difference to him in the past. Zoro frowned slightly, wondering at how just a little knowledge caused his entire perspective to tilt.
The sound of Nami yelling and several hard knocks drew Zoro's attention away from the source of his quandary toward the storeroom door in time to see Nami fling the door open and run onto the deck, holding her hands protectively over her head while an enraged south bird hammered away at her skull. "Ow!" the navigator wailed. "Ow! Sorry! I'm sorry!" Either from being outside or feeling it had tormented Nami enough, the south bird gave a final flail at her head before taking to the sky, heading toward land. Sitting on the deck, nursing her throbbing head, Nami dumbly asked, "We brought the south bird with us, didn't we? We forgot to let him go." In all the chaos of the Knock-Up Stream, they'd completely forgotten to release him. When Nami's opened the bathroom door, he'd nearly flogged the woman both in anger and haste to get out. Nami honestly felt bad. They'd taken him away from his home. How was he going to survive in such an odd place?
"I wouldn't sweat it," Zoro reassured, casually leaning back against the railing as he watched the bird make a beeline for civilization. "It looks like there're people living here, so he'll probably be able to survive without our help. If he tries hard, he can go down to the ground. He is a bird, after all." Even if it was too hard to live up here, he wasn't confined to the clouds. He could just fly away. Watching him sail over the tops of the houses, Zoro figured that was exactly what he planned to do.
"Yeah... I guess," Nami murmured, before her attention turned to more important things. "Hey! The anchor!"
"It hit the bottom," Zoro informed her. "Looks like those fluffy clouds are the base of this island." The cloud that made up this island seemed to extend farther into the sea clouds than first appeared, almost like an iceberg.
"That means that the island is floating on the sea," Robin concluded, exiting after her wardrobe change as well. "I wonder if it's stationary in the sky or if it moves with the current." Was this a "traveling" island?
"Well, all we can do is take things as they appear," Nami stated, surprisingly nonchalant now that things had calmed. Maybe the others were right in that she didn't need to overthinking things. At least not right now. "Actually, this is all hard to believe. But, in any case, it's a fact that this sky island's here." And with that said, Nami hoisted herself over the bulwark, jumping playfully into the sea. As soon as her feet touched the clouds, Nami couldn't suppress a giggle. As crazy as it was, they were actually here. She couldn't doubt what all her senses told her. "See!?" she called up to Robin, smiling as the older woman maintained her serious facade. "I felt it with my body, so there's no reason to doubt!" Laughing, Nami ran to join the others, but not before calling back to Robin, "Come down! Since your feet can touch the bottom, you won't drown, right!?" That was the reason the other was hesitating, right? Because unlike the others, Robin actually realized how the sea would affect someone without Devil Fruit powers? But just coming into contact with water wasn't enough to sap Devil Fruit users' strength. It had to cover them, or be knee-height.
Robin watched Nami run off for a moment longer before glancing at the only crewmate left on the ship. "What about you?" she asked.
The man seemed to be watching something on the shore, perhaps making sure none of the crew was getting into trouble. After a moment, he turned to face Robin. "Yeah, I'll go too."
Wistfully, Robin returned her gaze to the dreamlike scene. "The smell of adventure... huh? I've never thought of sailing or going ashore as an adventure." But perhaps, if one did everything with as much gusto as the Straw Hats, anything could be an adventure. Robin had to admit, she was very curious to observe this. It had been a long time since she'd done anything she considered... fun. Maybe she should give it a shot.
When Dogmeat returned, Abel held out her hand to take the stick. But the dog had other plans. Rather than completing the fetch, he stopped a few feet away, once again bowing, stick still firmly in his mouth. Abel clearly read the posture as "come get it." Indulging the beast, Abel playfully swiped at him. "Give me that," she teased. Excitedly, Dogmeat easily swerved away from Abel's grasp, running around her and bounding down the other end of the shore, narrowly avoiding a crash-course with Nami as the navigator stretched like a cat in the sun. Abel briefly wondered if the redhead had a bikini bottom beneath her taupe capris to match the blue-splattered bikini top, or if it was just a skimpy halter top. No matter. They were on a beach, after all.
Abel was about to chase after Dogmeat when a sudden cry of, "Abel-dono!" distracted her. Glancing behind her, she felt only a little dread as Sanji ran enthusiastically toward her. Seeing he had her attention, the cook called, "Flower for you!" while holding up three red flowers in his hand, all with an odd balloony appearance. Halting in front of her, Sanji smiled like an eager child as he delicately slid the flower into Abel's hair, tucking it behind her ear. While ordinarily Abel would've quickly brushed the man off, she'd found herself slightly more tolerant to his attention. Besides, he had such an unusually innocent look on his face, like a child pridefully showing off a crayon drawing to an adored parent, Abel couldn't bring herself to be mean. Such a simple gesture gave him immense joy. And before she could give any real reaction, the man was off again, running toward Robin with a cry of, "Robin-chwan!" Abel noted the woman had changed clothes again. Seriously, hadn't Robin been wearing clothes she borrowed from Abel even after returning to the ship with bags of her own stuff? Well, Abel knew these were new clothes, as neither she nor Nami owned that particular yellow sleeveless top or purple capri.
Smiling in bemusement, Abel plucked the flower from her hair to examine it. Abel sniffed the flower, taking in the pleasantly light, floral fragrance. The hunter was never one for flowers, but she had to admit it was quite pretty despite the oddly inflated leaves. Deep red fading into pink and white near the center. Abel briefly wondered how foliage could exist at all here, but then rationalized that plants didn't technically need dirt to survive. They only needed water and sunlight. They didn't get any nutrients from the soil. After all, hydroponics existed where plants grew entirely suspended in just water, so it wasn't that odd when she stopped to think about it. Eyeing the palm-like trees, Abel wondered if some of the plants had been brought in by adventurers such as themselves. Abel smirked as she watched Luffy, up in a tree like a namesake, drop a heavy fruit onto Usopp's head while the boy tried to build a cloud castle. The fruit, resembling a green pumpkin, crashed loudly against Usopp's skull, prompting an understandable outburst from the sniper.
All while she made these observations, Abel stealthfully noted Dogmeat drawing nearer, edging closer to get her attention. Sliding the flower back behind her ear, Abel waited until the dog glanced at something toward the sea before striking. Lightning quick, Abel grabbed the end of the stick farthest away from the dog's jaws. Realizing he'd been had, Dogmeat growled and tried to pull the stick from Abel's grip. But it wasn't an aggressive growl. More of a playful one. Abel grinned teasingly as the dog dug his feet into the ground and pulled. "I gotcha now," she taunted, tugging back.
Dogmeat's retort was to shake his head, trying to dislodge the hunter's grasp. But Abel held firmly, letting her elbow roll with the motion. She tried not to laugh when she saw Dogmeat's feet slide against the cloud, trying to regain his footing to pull away. "What are you going to do now, huh?" she teased, scratching the dog's belly with her free hand. Dogmeat wiggled and leapt sideways.
A sharp, pained yelp followed his action, startling both him and Abel. Game forgotten, the two jerked toward the source of the sound. Apparently in his haste, neither had noticed they had company, which Dogmeat had stepped on when he jumped. Dog and master stared at the tiny creature huffily grooming its bushy tail, fur literally ruffled. "Aww..." Abel cooed to the adorable little beast, kneeling with her hands on her knees. "Sorry precious," she apologized.
The creature, about the size of a housecat but clearly a canine, shook out its fur with an adorably high-pitched "suu". It was solid white, blending in almost perfectly with the clouds. Curiously, Dogmeat stretched out his neck to sniff at the creature. Tilting its head cutely, the creature responded in kind, its long, slender snout twitching as the two took in each other's scent.
"What's that?" Abel glanced over her shoulder as Zoro approached. "A fox?"
"Possibly," Abel replied. "Seems fairly domesticated." A wild fox wouldn't be this close to humans. Unless things here were so peaceful even the animals got along.
Any further examination of the little fuzzball fled from Abel's mind as a light melody lofted on the air. Abel instantly recognized it as a harp, masterfully plucked from somewhere nearby. Despite the gentle chords, the music caught everyone's attention. Even Dogmeat's ear swiveled. "What's that sound?" Luffy asked whilst trying to shove the strange pumpkin into his mouth.
Both Zoro and Abel stood upright, directing their gaze toward the sound of the music. Zoro spotted a figure standing atop a bit of cloud sticking up from the ground. "Look. There's someone over there." Zoro pointed toward the person.
"Is it another guerrilla!?" Usopp worried, hiding behind a cabana.
"Whistle!" Chopper squealed. "Where's the whistle!?"
"No, hold on," Sanji quickly dismissed, sound rather breathless. Confused, Abel looked toward the man. But he was too busy gaping in awe at the figure. "That's not a guerrilla," he insisted, staggering forward in a way that almost concerned Abel. In a hushed tone, as if he feared speaking louder would break whatever spell he was under, he whispered. "That's... an angel."
Indeed, the woman playing the gentle harp far better fit the more traditional image of an "angel." She stood small and delicate, her pale skin accentuated by the light pink of her sleeveless tunic dress. As with the old woman, a small pair of white wings adorned her back, but they still seemed far too small to be practical. Where they perhaps just part of her clothing? With the way they stuck out to the side, Abel had a hard time imagining how they could put on clothes around them. As her small, nimble hands finished their strumming, the angel turned toward the pirates and offered a gentle, friendly smile. "Heso," she greeted. She reminded Abel a little of the girl from Usopp's village, Kaya, with her blonde hair and big eyes. Except this young lady had deep blue eyes, and did her hair back into twin braided tails. Abel raised a brow at two tufts of hair styled atop the girl's head to resembled antenna. How much gel did it take to keep that up?
"Heso?" both Luffy and Sanji repeated, though one sounded confused and the other love-struck. Take your pick which was which.
Assuming the girl meant them no harm (the harp was almost too big for her so it was doubtful she was some sort of warrior), Usopp came out from hiding, wondering about the greeting. "You think she's trying to say "hello'?"
"What does 'heso' mean?" Chopper asked, confused.
"It kinda sounds like 'hello'," Zoro pointed out.
"Perhaps she speaks another language?" Abel suggested. It wasn't so farfetched to think the people here might have evolved their own language, though the fact that both Gan Fall and the guerrilla had automatically spoken to them in their native tongue didn't support that.
Answering Abel's question indirectly, the girl called out in a perfectly understandable manner, "Suu, come here." The little fox scurried over, cooing happily. Slinging her harp over her shoulder, the girl casually walked toward them. Abel noticed the red briar rose design down the left side of her dress. "Are you from the Blue Sea?"
Watching the two curiously, Luffy answered for them, "We flew up here from below. Do you live here?"
"Yes, I'm a resident here," the girl answered. "Welcome to Skypiea's Angel Beach." The girl took note of the fruit Luffy lugged around. "Would you like to drink that?" she asked. Luffy blinked at the question, but when the girl held out her hands, he handed one of the fruits over. Cradling the large fruit against her torso, the girl pulled out a pocket knife. "A conush's skin is hard like iron," she patiently explained, sounding as if she'd done this dozens of times before. Perhaps she was like a greeter? Someone to get visitors acclimated to this strange world? As she flipped the large melon over, she continued, "So you can't bite it. You cut it at the bottom." With practiced ease, she cut a small hole in the bottom of the conush before slipping a straw in and handing it back to Luffy. "Enjoy!" she said with a smile. Eagerly, Luffy took the conush and slurped loudly from the straw. The boy blinked, as if he couldn't fully comprehend the flavor, before letting out a delighted cry, tongue flailing. He made a noise of indescribable bliss.
Chuckling at his reaction, the girl offered, "My name is Conis." She scooped the little fox up, and he practically purred as Conis rubbed his head. "And this little one is Suu, a cloud fox. If there's any way that I can be of help, please let me know."
"Yes, I have a problem," Sanji announced, voice grave. Slightly behind her, Abel thought she heard Zoro murmur something about that being an understatement. This pulled a smirk from Abel, but Sanji was too focused on the petite angel to notice. Capturing the girl's inquisitive stare, he began, "Your gaze is setting my heart on fir-"
Whatever stupidity he'd been about to spout cut off abruptly into a pained cry as Nami yanked on his ear hard enough to turn it red. "Go away," she growled irritably, tossing the cook to the ground before callously stepping over him. Nami's face morphed from frustrated to friendly in a second. "There are so many things we want to know," she said kindly toward the young girl, whom Abel guessed had to be around sixteen. "Everything here is unbelievable."
Conis laughed, giving the impression she'd heard this sentiment many times. "Yes, don't hold back. Ask anything!"
Before they could even begin to think where to start, Zoro broke in, "Hey, something's coming from the sea."
"It's a slime!" Luffy gasped.
Since when do slimes have motors? Abel wondered as she spotted the figure approaching them. It was a man, that much she could tell, riding on some strange little boat. It reminded Abel a bit of Ace's boat, except it had no sails and seemed to be directed by a handle similar to a bike's on the front. The tiny ship skittered easily among the waves, and Abel marveled that a ship that small could house a motor large enough to produce such speed. Abel saw the wakes caused by some sort of propulsion exiting from the back rudder, as well as the familiar puttering of mechanics.
"Ah, it's my father," Conis informed them as the man drew nearer.
Spotting them, the man raised an arm. "Conis, my daughter, heso!"
"Heso, father!"
Luffy looked at the blonde strangely. "Can't you just say hello like normal people?"
Less concerned about cultural nomenclature, Abel asked, "What's that ship your father's maneuvering?"
"Ah... you mean the waver?" Conis queried.
The girl looked prepared to begin an explanation, again as if she'd done this before, when her father gave a warning shout. "Excuse me, I'm going to stop now." It was on the tip of Abel's tongue to point how he seemed to be losing control of his ship, based on the wobbling. However, before she could, the man gave a sharp jerk on the handle, causing the ship to veer dangerously to one side. He must've been concerned about hitting one of them, but he should've worried about himself. As soon as the ship touched the land clouds, it bucked like an angry mule, skidding between Zoro and Luffy and throwing the man against a tree trunk. Both man and machine collapsed into a heap. Shakingly, the man pushed himself onto his hands and knees. "Is everyone all right?" he asked, ignoring his own injuries.
"You're the one who crashed!" Zoro snapped. The man should be asking himself that first.
Abel cast an assessing eye over the man, but aside from being a little shaken, he appeared uninjured. Still, partly to be polite and partly to make a good first impression, Abel helped the gentleman stand. "Oh, thank you, my dear," he offered gratefully, leaning slightly into Abel's grasp on his shoulders as he stood.
Aside from similarities in dress, which Abel attributed to their culture, the man didn't look much like his daughter. Instead of blond hair, the man had dark brown, although it was entirely confined to bushy brows, a puffy beard, and the strange deely bobbers atop his head - made even stranger as otherwise his crown was completely shaven. He's expression was hard to read, between his squinty eyes and beard completely hiding his mouth, but Abel assumed he was smiling at her. His attire was similar to Conis, with a long belted tunic of sage brown, with an abstract smoke design lacing up the left side. Stepping away from Abel to stand on his own, the man shifted the wicker basket slung over his back, for fishing Abel assumed.
When the man righted his ship, Abel's eyes instantly zeroed in on the strange machine. Although she knew she'd never seen anything like it before, she couldn't help connecting the design to that broken shell Luffy and the guys had recovered from the Saint Briss. Abel tried very hard to contain her curiosity, but she very much wanted to get a closer look. Unaware of the hunger in the hunter's eyes for the machine in his hands, the man asked of the crew, "Are they your friends, Conis, my daughter?"
"Yes, we've just become acquainted, father," Conis replied, and even Abel felt those two statements didn't really go together. Abel wouldn't turn away hospitality, but she also keenly remembered Whiskey Peak. Still, no point fretting over something that hadn't happened yet. "They're from the Blue Sea."
"I see. Then there must be many things that you're puzzled about. I'm sorry, this place is the White-White Sea."
"Oh, no need to apologize..." Usopp replied, the man's formal attitude turning everyone a little bashful.
"Excuse me for not introducing myself sooner," the man realized, stepping away from the waver to fully turn toward the pirates. "My name is Pagaya. I'm sorry."
Abel quickly drowned out the rest of the conversation in favor of examining the mysterious waver more closely. She thought she heard something about dinner and lobsters, but it all became so much white noise as her mind focused on examining the machine. There was little doubt in her mind that this was a more updated version of the strange device they'd recovered. Wooden planks bowed out from a solid metal keel. But rather than having two wooden nozzles on either side, this modern version had a single metal frame attached the very back. Delicately Abel placed her hand on the handlebars. Experimentally, she rotated the handles, and wasn't surprised when the rudder on the very back, shaped like a fish tail, turned in kind. Leaning over the boat, Abel noted that the flat bottom boards weren't actually flush with the hull, but rather creating a small platform, atop which sat two pedals. Clearly the pedals served as a means of controlling whatever sort of motor was housed in the metal casing, connected underneath the floor. Balancing on the balls of her feet, Abel shuffled back to get a peek at the back of the waver. As she anticipated, she noticed two openings in the casing right where the ship should float level with the water.
Without giving a thought to intruding, Abel placed one hand in front of the back openings and reached her other hand around to push lightly on left pedal. She didn't feel anything, despite hearing the creak of metal springs. Shifting sides, she pressed lightly on the right pedal. Abel jerked a little when the engine whirred to life, letting off the pressure on the pedal as it gave a jolt forward.
"Oh," Pagaya said, leaning over Abel. "Are you curious about the waver?"
Abel leaned back, ignoring the disapproving stares from some of the crew. The owner didn't look upset. Then again, it was hard to tell. "It utilizes jet propulsion?" Abel queried. Before she'd let go, Abel had felt a strong gust of air against her hand.
"Oh, of course," Conis said in realization, joining her father. "You're people aren't familiar with dials, are you?"
Abel stared. "Apparently not in the capacity you're referring to..." she drawled.
After a thoughtful moment, Pagaya kindly offered, "I think a visual demonstration would be best." As he stepped up to the waver, Abel stood, stepping out of his way. "This way, if you please."
Abel offered to help him pull the waver back to the water line, but was surprised at how light the machine actually was. It barely took any effort to move. "It's remarkably lightweight," Abel observed in surprise. With all the metal, gears and wood, Abel expected it to be heavier.
"In order to fully utilize the power of the dials, the hulls of wavers are made very light," Pagaya explained, although he continued to skirt around just what a dial was. It seemed clear to Abel it was some sort of energy source unique to the sky islands. "This makes them both easy and difficult to learn to use. Their light weight means it can be taken over even by small waves."
The crew gathered round as Pagaya set the waver in the water. It bobbed effortlessly in the waves lapping at the shore. Stepping back, Pagaya motioned to the waver. "The controls for the waver are very simple, as you've already seen." He placed his hand to the handlebars, moving them from side-to-side. "This controls your direction." He then motioned to the floorboards. "The right pedal is the accelerator. The harder you press on it, the faster you'll go. The left pedal is the brake. Although stepping off the accelerator will naturally slow you down, using the brake helps make turns while maintaining speed. It's one of the trickier aspects of operating a waver."
"Sounds complicated..." Sanji murmured, eyeing the contraption with distrust.
"Sounds like fun to me!" Luffy protested, eyes shining.
Abel too was quite intrigued, and decided to beat her captain to the punch. Besides, Luffy shouldn't be allowed to operate a motorized water vehicle. That was just asking for trouble. So before Luffy could try it himself, Abel stepped into the waver. The waver bobbed unsettlingly in the water as it adjusted to Abel's weight. Ignoring Luffy's protests, Abel grabbed onto the handlebars. She had to admit, she felt a tiny bit apprehensive. This was by far the smallest vessel she'd ever been in. "This is sketchier than that dinghy we started in," she commented. Abel wasn't afraid of the water, but she didn't relish falling in either.
"Take it out gently," Pagaya urged. "Don't give it too much throttle or it'll be hard to control."
Trusting his advice, Abel placed her foot on the accelerator and barely applied any pressure, just enough to feel the pedal give a bit. The dial, whatever that was, whirred to life, but not with enough thrust to actually move the waver with Abel aboard. So she pressed down a little more. This time, the waver jumped forward, startling the crew, including Abel. The sudden forward momentum caused Abel's foot to press down even harder, speeding her up with another distressing jump. Holding in a gasp, Abel leaned all of her weight into the handles and pulled her foot off the accelerator a bit. As the speed evened out to that of a brisk jog, Abel let out a little laugh. Perhaps not the most graceful of starts, but she couldn't deny it was thrilling.
Abel made a pass down the length of Angel Beach, not too fast or too slow. Operating the waver was, as Pagaya had insisted, simple. Just hold down the pedal and steer. Abel quickly discovered she could make sharper turns by putting all of her weight toward the side she wanted to turn toward. It felt quite natural, especially if she imagined it as an extension of her body. It was almost like riding a motorized bicycle. However, Abel quickly discovered there were a lot of nuances to fully mastering such a device. As Pagaya had said, control was the key. Due to the waver's light weight, the waves easily pushed it to-and-fro. Even at her moderate speed, the waver bounced and jiggled as it crested over the rolling waves of cloud. Abel had to maintain a death grip on the handle just to keep it from turning her in a direction she didn't want. It would be very easy to capsize if the driver wasn't careful. And the choppy waves made it hard for Abel to maintain a steady pressure on the accelerator. Her foot kept sliding on and off, or pushing down harder than she wanted, making for not the smoothest ride. This might've been easier if she was to go full-out, but she didn't trust her driving enough for that.
Rounding toward where the crew watched eagerly, Abel brought the waver back to shore. She almost had to pry her hands off the handles as she eased the waver to a stop, letting the tide bring it all the way in to shore. "That looked so cool!" Usopp gushed.
"Was it as fun as it looked, Abel!?" Luffy eagerly asked.
Carefully stepping over the side, Abel felt a bit of relief at having her feet back on stable ground. "It's definitely harder than it looks," she informed them. She glanced toward Pagaya. "It's as you said. The waves exert great force of the vessel. My arms are already tired from trying to hold it on course. While I admit it was exhilarating to go wherever I pleased, it's clearly a skill that requires time to master."
"You did very well for a beginner," Pagaya praised, sweating slightly. Perhaps he'd been nervous about letting Abel try it but too polite to turn her down.
"Let me try!" Luffy exclaimed, about to leap at the waver.
However, Abel quickly caught him around the middle. "I wouldn't advise that, Boss," she cautioned, holding Luffy's wriggling body like a misbehaving coat. "I'm afraid this might be slightly out of your expertise." Naturally, the boy didn't listen, and flailed against Abel's grip like a petulant child.
"Is it really that hard?" Chopper asked, sounding disappointed. "I wanted to try it."
Conis gave the little deer an understanding smile. Strange that she didn't question it. Perhaps she assumed this was just normal for Blue Sea people. "I've been practicing since I was little, and I only succeeded recently."
"With training, it only takes about ten years to learn," Pagaya added.
"That's a long time!" Usopp snapped, slightly irritated that none of them would have time to really play around with such a cool devise. "You'd need a lot of focus and endurance." Even Abel said it was tough, and mechanics seemed to come pretty naturally to her.
"Hey!" Nami voice called from a distance. Abel frowned. Wait... distance? Peering over Luffy's head out toward the sea, Abel was only moderately surprised to see Nami tearing up the waves on the waver, yelling about how much fun it was. She even had the engine going at full-throttle, and having little trouble maintaining control.
"What!?" Pagaya gasped. "Unbelievable! That's incredible!"
"Nami-san, you're the coolest!" Sanji swooned, basking in Nami's radiant joy.
Luffy stopped flailing in Abel's arms to demand, "I thought you said it was hard!" at Abel.
With the waver safely out of his reach - not that it was out of the question Luffy wouldn't try to slingshot himself over - Abel placed the boy back on the ground. "Red is a navigator," was all she said in response. Directing a ship with the tides ought to be second nature to Nami. Aside from Usopp, simply from a mechanical perspective, Nami was the only other person among the crew Abel could imagine controlling the waver.
"Wow! This really requires a lot of skill!" Nami shouted to them. Abel had been right in her assessment. The waves would certainly batter the little ship... had Nami not had a keen sense of the tides. If she read the waters right, she could easily direct the waver where she wanted it to go. "This is too delicate for you to handle, Luffy!"
Ticked that Nami was getting to have fun when he couldn't, Luffy shouted back, "Hey, Nami! We're going to the old guy's house now, so get off already! You stupid head!" A swift kick to the head a la Sanji put an end to his petulance.
"We've been invited into their home?" Abel queried.
"Pagaya invited us to dinner," Zoro replied before shifting his gaze to Abel. "You were too preoccupied to hear." Abel merely smiled and shrugged.
"You guys go ahead!" Nami called as she made another pass, traveling out even further. "If it's okay with Pagaya, I'd like to stay out here and ride!" She didn't want to quit so soon. A ship that didn't need the wind to sail? It was a navigator's dream.
"Yes, please, but be careful!" Turning away from the shore, Pagaya kindly offered, "If the rest of you would follow me, we'll prepare a warm welcome meal for you all." He shouldered his wicker basket back on.
Preparing to follow, Conis looked for her furry companion. "Let's go, Suu." But when she spotted her fox, the angel gave a startled gasp, covering her mouth. "Oh my!"
At the sound of her distress, Sanji was instantly by her side and on guard. "What's wrong, Conis-chan!?" His eyes scanned the beach for signs of danger.
With wide, fearful eyes, Conis pointed at where Suu stood sniffing at Dogmeat, who for the most part ignored the fox. "Is that what dogs from the Blue Sea look like?"
Abel nearly laughed at how frightened the girl was, but reminded herself that Conis' reaction was actually quite normal. If anything, they were weird for growing so accustomed to the zombie dog's presence. Although he didn't look quite as mummified as when he first reanimated, with his missing eye and leg, and gangly build, he certainly looked like something out of a horror story. "He's one of a kind," Abel reassured, walking over to the dog. "Fret not. He might appear horrific, but he's actually pretty mellow." Bending down slightly, Abel patted Dogmeat's side, his chest making a hollow sound. "Isn't that right, boy?" Of course Dogmeat didn't respond verbally, but his tail gave a little wag at the attention.
Conis continued to look apprehensive, but tried to take comfort in Abel's interactions. Cautiously, she approached Dogmeat, hesitantly holding out a shaking hand toward him. "Nice dog..." she said, trying to sound friendly but unable to fully hide the quiver in her voice. Dogmeat stared at the blonde for a moment before stretching his muzzle out just enough to give her hand a sniff. He then made a groaning sound of both acknowledgement and disinterest, quickly looking away.
Conis released the breath she didn't know she was holding, offering a meager smile toward the hunter. Feeling somewhat more relaxed, she drew Suu into her arms to make the journey home, but not without a few stolen glances toward the bizarre creature.
Bemused, Abel chided Dogmeat, "Be nice to the lady." Again, Dogmeat appeared disinterested.
Shaking her head at the dog's aloof nature, Abel followed after the others as Pagaya led them up the stairs that wound through the clouds into the heart of the city. Hurrying to catch up, Abel paused when she noticed Luffy lagging behind. In fact, he'd stopped all together. Confused why the boy wasn't running at the prospect of exotic food, Abel paused next to him. "Problem, Boss?" she asked.
Luffy didn't look her way, instead gazing out at the sea with a forlorn expression. "She looks so happy..." he mumbled. Abel glanced back toward the shore to watch Nami cutting some sharp turns with the waver. Before Abel could comment, Luffy stuck his tongue out petulantly. "Sink!"
Abel would've chastised the boy, but Sanji beat her to it. Flying in from nowhere at the hint of an insult toward one of his precious ladies, the cook gave Luffy a good smack on the back of the head. "Are you a kid!?"
Luffy yelled in pain, "Ouch! I bit my tongue, Sanji!" He fumed at the cook.
"Bite harder!"
Shaking her head at the hopeless duo, Abel jogged to catch up with the more sane members of the crew. She couldn't help noticing that the stairs they were traveling on was a lot firmer than the other clouds, but still didn't feel completely solid. It certainly wasn't concrete, which likely didn't exist up here. Just how many types of clouds were there?
Falling in step between Robin and Zoro, Abel observed Usopp running over to look at something just over the cloud bank. "Hey! Is that a construction site?"
With her curiosity running in overdrive, Abel didn't bother resisting the urge to check it out herself. Climbing up the small bank, she discovered that Usopp was correct. Several men, all similar in dress to Pagaya, worked tirelessly inside a valley in the clouds. Abel watched as they measured, cut, and transported large rectangular blocks. But instead of this quarry, as that was the only thing Abel to describe it as, being made of stone, it was of clouds. The men were cutting clouds into large blocks. Instead of stone tools, they used comically large two-man saws like what she might expect to see lumberjacks utilize.
"You're looking at our cloud quarry site," Pagaya informed them as he passed.
Sliding back down to the stairs, Abel's eyes took in the white, not quite solid blocks. "Is every material here basically manufactured from clouds?" she asked. It seemed logical. What else was there? Sure, some of the stuff she'd seen was clearly made from wood, like the scaffolds, but trees seemed pretty rare here. Glancing around, Abel noticed that aside from near the beach and a few spotted copse near houses, there wasn't much wood to go around.
"You took the Milky Road to get to the White-White Sea, correct?" Pagaya asked, skirting around Abel's question.
Beside him, Zoro raised a brow. "Milky Road? You mean where the lobster hauled us through the route that looked like a flat noodle?" Abel held back a laugh at Zoro's rather apt description.
"That's an artificial cloud canal," Pagaya continued, and Abel gave herself a mental high-five for her correct assessment. It must've been strange explaining something that was common knowledge to him, but Pagaya did it for the outsiders' benefit. "There are two natural cloud types in this place. The ones your ship traveled on are called sea clouds, and the ones floating there that you can walk on are called island clouds." Simple enough.
"Either way, they're not ordinary clouds," Zoro argued.
"Right," Pagaya agreed amicably, completely oblivious to how this conversation was over most of the crew's head. "Their condensation nucleus is different from other clouds. I've heard that there is a mineral called kairoseki in the Blue Sea..." Pagaya began.
Robin suppressed a chill that term caused, her body naturally reacting to that terrible substance that could so easily render her (and every Devil Fruit user) powerless. "Kairoseki? It's because of that?"
Pagaya nodded. "Yes. When the corneous particles called pyrobroine contained in that stone are carried into the sky due to volcanoes and gain moisture, sea clouds and island clouds are formed depending on the density of the moisture."
This time Abel couldn't resist doing a little fist-pump. "Non-Newtonian fluids. I am on point today." She would've been happy learning about this place regardless, but having her hypotheses confirmed gave Abel a shot of pride and self-confidence.
Zoro eyed the woman next to him, amused by her delight. "I think Luffy's rubbing off on you," he commented, only partly serious.
Refusing to rise to the bait, Abel only grinned back. "After everything that's happened, it's good to know I've still got it... in terms of understanding events that supposedly go outside the bounds of normal since. Whether or not I've lost my mind is an entirely different subject." With everything that had happened over the past few weeks, this trip was exactly the sort of thing Abel needed to get back to her old self, and what she'd been hoping for before the Saint Briss nearly fell on them.
"Nonetheless," Pagaya continued, picking up from the interruption. "The Milky Road I mentioned before, as well as the chairs made of cloud on the beach-"
"Are those two spiral sliders also like that?" Luffy interrupted, pointing as they passed the large, flat river that snaked around behind the floating island, disappearing in the distance.
Undisturbed by further interruption, Pagaya replied, "Those are also Milky Roads," before going back to the original topic, barely missing a beat. What an easy-going guy. "Anyways, those were originally the island cloud produced from the cloud quarry site. Then after some density manipulations, these artificial clouds products are created."
Necessity really is the mother of inventions, Abel mused. Life truly was amazing, when you stopped to think about it. How an animal, human or even society evolved depended directly on the sort of environmental challenges they had to overcome.
By this point, the group had reached the top of the stairs. "Now, this way, please," Pagaya urged, motioning to the house directly to the right of the stairs. Very convenient. And a very nice house. All the buildings here appeared to have a Mediterranean style, matching the almost tropical atmosphere. Smooth, simple, stark, and modern, the buildings fit naturally into the surreal landscape without taking away from the view. Pagaya's house, no doubt made from manufactured clouds, had a light pink color, accented by stark white shuttered along open balconies. Abel also guessed that the house was a duplex, otherwise the large two-story building must've felt very empty for just Pagaya and Conis.
"What a great view!" Luffy cooed, pausing to take in the breath-taking scene. They could see almost everything from up here.
Pausing to take it in as well, Chopper pointed out, "Oh! We can see Nami riding the waver, too!"
As the crew entered the house, Sanji eagerly asked, "Hey, Pagaya, which way to the kitchen?"
"This way," Pagaya replied, slipping the basket off his shoulder. He paused as he opened a door off the foyer. "Conis, dear, why don't you take our guests into the living room?"
"Of course, father," Conis dutifully offered, leading everyone else into the main room of the house.
The interior matched the exterior's ambience. The room had been tastefully decorated with white cloud sofas forming three sides of a square around a spacious coffee table. The room was very open, without much clutter, but still maintaining a very homey feel. It made Abel think of visiting a resort house. As everyone sat around on the couches, Conis opened up the wall of shutters on the far side of the room, opening the room to the beautiful view. Abel made sure to sit on the couch that directly faced the balcony, back to the kitchen, to make the most of it.
Abel leaned back into the sofa, letting it envelope her body. Knowing what she knew now, Abel could tell this was a manufactured cloud. It was squishier than a regular island cloud, hugging her body like the finest pillow-top mattress. Abel felt like she could sink into it, and would be happy to do so.
She'd been on the verge of dozing off when she felt something land on her. Jerking her head up, Abel stared as Suu made herself at home on the hunter's lap. The little fox paced in a circle, making herself comfortable, before lying down with a pleased sigh. Abel wasn't sure why the fox had chosen to make her its cushion, other than the fact that Conis was standing, but played along, placing her hand on the fox's head to give it a little pet.
But not everyone was so please with this. From the far side of the couch, Dogmeat paused in his exploration of the new space and stared at the intruder. It was bad enough seeing the fox on his master's lap, but even worse when she actually started showing the fox affection. Dogmeat's ears fell back against his head and he gave a little whine before his ears pricked forward in determination. Without warning, Dogmeat jumped onto the couch, only temporarily distracted by the squishiness of the cushion. Ignoring the protests of the swordsman who happened to be sitting next to his master, Dogmeat crawled over the man and toward his master. Abel pressed her back into the cushion even further as Dogmeat stubbornly tried to wedge himself between the fox and her, flopping down in the very bend where Abel's legs connected to her torso. Suu didn't move from her spot, but stared at the dog in confusion.
Abel held her hands in the air, trying to make room for the oversized dog. "You're not a lapdog, you know," she commented. Granted, being undead, Dogmeat barely weighed anything. But it was the principle. Not that he cared, if the pleased huff was any indication. Abel shook her head. Animals were weird. "I've got two hands," she commented, placing one hand on Dogmeat's head and the other on Suu's. "I can pet you both." There was no need for this territorial display. Beside her, Zoro scoffed. Though he might just be irritated that Dogmeat's back feet were sticking into his thigh where the dog lay sprawled out petulantly. Abel glanced at him questioningly. "What?" And before she could stop herself, Abel asked, "You want me to pet you, too?"
It went against her promise not to push Zoro too far too fast, but honestly, the sputtering, blushing response her off-handed comment garnered was worth it. Abel burst into laughter, throwing her head back against the cushion and jostling the creatures in her lap. And if Zoro wanted his glare to have any impact, he should try to get the red off his face first. Between her fits of laughter, Abel teased, "You walked right into that one, Chief." Then the man actually pouted, crossing his arms and looking ahead stalwartly. But the blush still remained. As Abel struggled to get her laughter under control, she briefly considered petting Zoro's head just to spite him, but restrained herself. Patience...
"Then why did you leave this stuff sitting around!?" Sanji's outraged cry, followed by the sound of glass breaking, broke through Abel's jubilee.
The entire room stared at the door failing to keep the sounds of Sanji's ranting contained. "It sounds cheery over there," Luffy laughed.
"He's probably excited about the sky food, since it's new to him," Usopp agreed, nodding sagely.
Abel didn't comment on how it sounded like Sanji was ranting about Pagaya leaving spoiled food around. "Cooking sky cuisine must be intense," she drawled sarcastically instead. As an afterthought, Abel shouted to the kitchen, "It's rude to lecture your host!" Sometimes she just could not leave well enough alone.
"Miss, I don't mean to be abrupt, but..." Robin interjected, taking advantage of the lull to satisfy her curiosity. "Would you tell us a little about the dials you mentioned earlier?"
"Sure," Conis eagerly complied, before pausing, frowning thoughtfully. "Well... how should I explain it?" Glancing around the room, her eyes landed on something that gave her an idea. The pirates watched in silent attention as Conis retrieved something from a shelf. A light beige nautilus shell.
Wordlessly, she passed it to Luffy. "It's a seashell," Luffy blankly pointed out.
"Yes," Conis said, a little laugh in her voice. "Please say something to it."
"Okay!" Luffy brought the shell's opening near his mouth. He paused for a second, thinking of something clever to say. "Usopp is stupid!"
Conis giggled while Usopp complained about Luffy picking on him. "Now, please press the apex of that shell," Conis instructed.
Now Luffy stared at the shell as if he'd been handed some complicated mechanical device. "What's an apex?"
"It's the tip of the shell," Usopp explained irritably. Abel couldn't imagine why. Rather than waiting for Luffy to get it, Usopp just did it himself. He wasn't sure what the point was, though. But when he did, he was surprised when the tip slid down with an audible click, almost like a button. And he was even more surprised when a repeat of everything they'd just said, from Luffy calling Usopp stupid, to Usopp's complaining and Conis' laughter, filled the room.
Both boys jumped, nearly dropping the shell. "Ahh! The seashell made fun of Usopp!" Luffy cried, and Abel half expected him to shout something like "Witchcraft!".
"No, that's your voice!" Usopp protested.
"Hey, that's a neat trick," Zoro commented as the recording finished. "So it can store any sound and play it back?" Zoro shifted on the couch to get more comfortable, stretching his arms across the back of the couch. But when he felt the heat of Abel's body near his arm, he realized the action made them almost touching. Normally he wouldn't have thought anything about it. They'd sat near each other hundreds of times. But he was suddenly keenly aware of every exchange between them, intentional or otherwise. But it wasn't like he could move now. It would be awkward and noticeable. And he was a man, dammit. He stared death in the face on a nearly daily basis. He did not get uncomfortable around a woman. Stubbornly, Zoro forced himself to relax and appear natural. And it must've worked, because Abel didn't comment or even look his way. Then again, she seemed pretty interested in the conversation.
Getting back to the topic at hand, Robin clarified, "So that seashell is a dial?"
"Yes. This is called a tone dial. It's a shell from the White-White Sea that records and replays sound."
Perhaps in an attempt to distract himself and to appear as "normal" as possible, Zoro continued to engage in the conversation. "But the sea here is bottomless, right?" he asked. "Where do they live?"
"They live in the reefs of the shallows," Conis replied.
Robin crossed her arms, her analytical mind turning this new... technology? "But I can't believe that this thing can move that waver." How did recording sound move a ship?
Zoro heard Abel let out a thoughtful hum. Glancing to the side, he thought she would've been taping her chin with her finger, as was her habit when she was pondering, but her hands were currently busy petting animals. "By referring to that one as a tone dial," she began, and Zoro felt himself relax a bit knowing that even if he felt weird, Abel wasn't. Or at least was trying to act like she didn't. "You've implied that there are different classifications for dials, based on the element they store."
"You're right," Conis acknowledged before picking up another, different shell from the dresser. This one was larger and flatter, resembling a snail's shell more than a crab's. "This is the kind that powers the wavers. This is a small one, but it's fundamentally the same as the tone dials." Heading back out onto the balcony, Conis raised the shell over her head, aiming the opening at the tiny wind chime hanging from the door frame. When she pressed the apex of this shell, rather than repeating a sound, a small gust of wind exited the shell, catching the chime and making it jingle.
As Luffy oohed at the sight, Usopp concluded, "So wind comes out of this one."
"Let me try it," Luffy said, holding out his hands.
Conis handed it over before turning to face the rest of the room. "This is called a breath dial. It lets you store the wind and expel it as you desire."
Abel observed as Luffy wound the breath dial up, storing the wind. When he was satisfied, he turned the opening to his face and pressed on the apex, sending a much stronger gust of wind right in his face. What was he expecting to happen? "I think I see now," Abel murmured. "The waver has one of these shells stored near the rudder, and pushing on the accelerator causes the waver's internal mechanisms to press the apex, releasing the wind stored inside and giving the waver thrust." It wasn't technically windless, as it still required the wind to move, but it artificially created the means to move.
Conis' smile widened, pleased that her explanation had been sufficient. It was strange describing something they took for granted. "The capacity varies depending on the size of the shell. If you attached the right size shell to the stern of the ship, you can move along swiftly."
From the balcony, Luffy whined, "I wanna ride a waver."
"Actually, there are various kinds," Conis informed them. "Like a skating type, and a board type... although riding the waver is as much as I can handle," she admitted with a bashful laugh.
"I wanna ride it," Luffy reiterated, practically hanging off the balcony, no doubt watching Nami have fun he couldn't. But then an idea stuck him, and he whipped his head around. "Abel!" he called, startling the hunter. In a spark of genius, in his opinion, he asked, "Now that you know how they work, do you think you can fix that one we found!?"
Abel blinked, taken off guard by the request, before she honestly considered it. "That is an idea..." she mused, staring off into space.
"You have a waver?" Conis asked.
"What's left of one, at any rate," Abel replied less than enthusiastically. "It's at least two centuries old, so I'm not even sure if the mechanisms would function. Not to mention to frame being almost non-existent."
"No way it works," Usopp added his own personal opinion, pulling a displeased frown from their captain for shooting his dream down.
But Conis came to his rescue when she disagreed, "We don't know that. Dials are made from the remains of dead shellfish. They can last indefinitely so long as the shell itself isn't broken. You might get lucky."
"See!?" Luffy shot at Usopp boastfully.
The sniper raised an eyebrow, and asked temperedly, "But you can't control it, right?" Luffy paused, thinking of a way to retort, but realized he had nothing. His head slumped low in defeat. If even Abel had trouble, there was no way Luffy could manage.
"Stay optimistic, Boss," Abel interrupted his moping, and Luffy raised his head, a hopeful gleam. "As you're the one who suggested it, perhaps - with the caveat we can actually get the thing to work - Red would let you ride on it with her." Surely there was enough room for a passenger, even if they had to hold on to the driver.
Luffy's eyes lit up like a child at Christmas. "You think!?" Abel just shrugged and smiled. Stranger things had happened...
Wrapping her mind around this strange world, Robin asked, "Is this one of them, too, then?" She pointed at the large spiral shell situated atop a stand in the center of the coffee table.
"Yes. That's a lamp dial." When Conis hit the top, light shone from inside the shell.
"Neat!" Chopper exclaimed, leaning his face close to the lamp. "It lit up from inside!" It even gave off the same warmth as regular lamp.
The angel smiled at everyone's enthusiasm. She enjoyed being helpful. "In addition, there are flame dials that store flames, flavor dials that store fragrance, vision dials that store videos, and so on."
"How interesting!" Chopper chanted, so happy he was literally in tears.
"To be honest, we couldn't really sustain life in the clouds without these dials," Conis admitted.
"I see," was all Robin said, but she smiled. It was the closest to a genuine smile Abel had seen. The archeologist likely truly enjoyed learning about this culture.
Any further discussion of dials would have to wait as the crew was about to experience one of the best parts of any culture. At least if the delicious smells emanating from the kitchen was any indication. Sure enough, it wasn't long before the kitchen door swung open and Sanji emerged balancing plates of steaming food along his long arms and even atop his head. The well-honed balance he displayed in battle came into play, and he managed to set the plates down around the coffee table with no trouble. He even gave a little flourish at the end. "Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is served!" he announced proudly, stepping back to let everyone take in his masterpieces. "It's a hearty sky seafood course with sky island fruits."
"Looks tasty!" Luffy exclaimed.
Abel agreed. Sitting up, she gave both dogs in her lap a shove, pushing them off and onto the floor. Not roughly, but Abel knew if she waited too long there'd be no food left. Suu and Dogmeat tumbled to the floor and eyed each other in dismay before skulking off to separate corners, tossing a look each other's way that said as soon as they were able, they'd fight over Abel's lap again.
Having no idea what most of the food was, Abel just took the plate closest to her, filled with piping hot white fish of some variety and garnished with a lemon sauce, based on the aroma. She also managed to snag a lobster claw before most of his disappeared down Luffy's gullet. With her plate situated, Abel tucked into her meal along with the others.
The food was delightful. Although Abel would never claim to have the refined palate that could pick up minute changes in flavor, the texture of the skyfish was definitely unique. It was more buttery, practically melting on her tongue. The light flavor paired well with the sauce Sanji had created. It wasn't actually lemon, as Abel had initially thought, but still some type of tart citrus, a little closer to the flavor of lime. That, combined with butter and something vaguely reminiscent of garlic, created an enjoyable sensation. It also paired well with the robust tea Conis offered. Sanji'd brought out some sky island red wine, but Abel passed. Although she did always find it endlessly amusing how every culture had their own form of alcohol. It was like the train of thought for all humans when encountering something new was: Can I eat it? Can I get drunk off it?
Idly listening to the sounds of dinnerware clattering together as the rest of the crew enjoyed their meal rather voraciously, Abel glanced around for something to crack the lobster claw open with. Not finding the device, Abel figured she'd have to do it manually. Balancing her plate on her knees, Abel picked up the claw. This sky lobster was definitely bigger than the ones back home, but not monstrously so. Abel briefly wondered if, left on their own, all the sky lobsters would grow as massive as the one that carried them up the Milky Road, or if that was a unique species.
Grasping both ends of the claws, Abel gave a twisting pull, separating the pincer at the joint. Abel bit into the tempting white flesh, drawing it from the broken shell with her teeth. She hummed appreciatively. Abel enjoyed lobster, and this was tender and sweet. Sanji and Pagaya must've added some spices to the boil because there was a slight kick to the flavor, but not like there was any sauce. Just the natural juices in the meat. It tasted fantastic.
Dropping the empty pincer, Abel held the crushing claw with both hands. Jabbing her thumbs into the hole left by the pincer, with just a little pressure, Abel peeled the rest of the claw open. "You're pretty good at that," Luffy mumbled around a mouthful of food.
Abel smiled teasingly as she pulled the meat from the open claw. "In my case, 'wait til I get my hands on you' is a valid threat."
"Hey" Sanji called from the balcony, and for the first time Abel noticed that the man hadn't been eating with them. Instead, he seemed to be searching for something outside. "Where did Nami-san go?"
"She should be on the sea," Luffy mumbled between shoveling in more food.
"I don't see her," Sanji retorted, sounding a little worried.
Choking down some food, Usopp responded casually, "Then she's probably gone a little far. Don't worry about her."
Abel would've been content to leave it at that, had Conis not suddenly turned to Pagaya, looking even paler than normal. "F... father, will it be all right?" she asked in a hushed, worried tone. Seeing both sky people sweating instantly had Abel alert.
"Yes, Conis, my daughter, I have a bad feeling about this, too..."
The sudden, tense atmosphere gave everyone pause. Even Luffy stopped eating. Well, he didn't stop. He just talked around his food. "What? What are you talking about?" Luffy asked.
With a pensive expression, Conis shakily explained, "In Skypiea, there is one place where no one should ever enter. That place is very close to this island. It's only a short trip with the waver."
"A place that no one should ever enter?" Usopp repeated. "Why's that?" Was it dangerous?
"It's sacred ground," Conis explained in a reverent tone, as if she was afraid to even speak about this place. "We call that place Upper Yard... the land where God lives."
Abel's brows nearly rose to her hairline. Then that sign wasn't just for show, she thought, remembering the sign they'd seen upon entering the White-White Sea. Godland, indeed. She couldn't say it was too surprising. Most cultures eventually developed some concept of religion, whether it was deities, spirits, or perhaps outright rejection. Admittedly, though, for most people it had devolved into dogma and ritual without any real guiding presence. It was tradition. Just something they'd always done, with no real thought or meaning.
From Conis' response, however, Abel got the sense that belief in their God was still quite real and tangible. Abel also found it interesting that she spoke as if the people here were monotheistic. Conis didn't say "the god of blank" lives in Upper Yard... she said God lives there. That implied they only believed in one supreme God. Big G, not little g. Abel found this interesting because it was pretty rare. Most religions were polytheistic, assigning deities to different elements, like a god of war or a god of harvest. It also unsettled Abel a bit how Conis spoke about the subject. This was not some distant belief that came into play only on special holidays. This belief was very real and present... and fearful. Conis was clearly concerned about Nami offending their God by entering this Upper Yard. Reverence for holy ground was a fairly common concept, but Conis and Pagaya looked downright terrified.
"God is there!?" Luffy gasped, completely forgetting about his food for a moment. God's miracle, no doubt. "In the place that no one should ever enter!?"
"Yes," Conis explained in a rush. "This is Godland, and it's ruled by the Almighty God Enel."
Enel... Abel thought, rolling the name around in her head. She tried to glean any hint of what this God might be like from the name. The only thing she could come up with was that it sounded slightly like "energy," but that could simply be a reference to life or vitality. Perhaps fitting for their sustainer.
"God Enel knows everything in this world," Conis explained.
"Everything?" Usopp repeated in a scared whisper.
Conis nodded, sharing Usopp's apprehension. "He's also watching us all the time."
"All the time!?" Usopp shouted, jumping to his feet.
"Now, too?" Luffy asked in stunned disbelief.
"Of course," Conis replied.
Not everyone was too happy about the constant, omniscient supervision. "What!? He's watching us now!?" Chopper panicked, head swiveling around as if he thought he'd actually catch some godly spy camera.
"God, huh?" Abel glanced at her sofa partner. In contrast to some of the other crew, Zoro looked completely unconcerned about the matter.
With childish innocence, Chopper stared up at Zoro as he asked, "You don't believe in God?"
"I don't know," Zoro answered emotionlessly. "Whether or not God exists doesn't matter to me. I couldn't care less from the beginning. But I don't intend to deny those who want to believe." If Chopper, or anyone, wanted to believe, Zoro wasn't going to stop them. People could believe whatever they wanted.
Abel couldn't say she was surprised. That very much fit with the philosophy Zoro lived by. Zoro did his own thing, and for the most part was fine letting others do theirs.
"So, have you seen that God who lives in Upper Yard, Conis-chan?" Sanji asked, sounding somewhat skeptical. Or perhaps just intrigued with the concept of a god being a short distance away.
Conis looked aghast. "No! God forbid! We cannot set foot on Upper Yard. Never." Frowning, Conis returned to staring at her lap. "The sacred ground, Upper Yard, is forbidden." Hence her worry of Nami accidentally entering somewhere she shouldn't.
Not everyone was so upset about learning they were almost on God's doorstep. In fact, Abel'd dare say their captain had that familiar gleam in his eye that said he smelled adventure. Usopp must've seen it too, because he was on the boy in an instant, shaking him by the lapels. "I've seen that look in your eyes before and it always gets us in to trouble!" he shrieked. "'No one should ever enter' means you can't go in no matter what! Luffy!?" Was the boy really thinking about going there despite the obvious warnings? Going against the Marines was one thing, going against a god was quite another.
Usopp's warning, unfortunately but predictably, had the opposite effect. Luffy just giggled giddily. "Oh, I see," he sung in a tone that bordered on sarcastic. "So there's a place that we're not supposed to go?" Pulling away from their panicking sniper, Luffy chuckled to himself as he picked up another piece of lobster. But even as he munched on it, he continued to mutter to himself, "Yeah? So nobody should go in no matter what?" Glancing around at the crew, Abel saw everyone except Robin had the exact same expression. Resignation. They knew there was no stopping Luffy now. Saying no one should ever go had been the nail in their coffins.
Almost as if he just realized it, Luffy asked, "Um... but even though it's forbidden, God will forgive us, right? He's really nice, right?"
"But breaking the rules set by God is disrespecting God..." Conis explained, looking more and more uncomfortable as the conversation continued. Then again, if she believed this Enel was always watching, it made sense she'd be nervous this conversation would offend him.
"That's sin, Boss," Abel commented. Doing or not doing something God said.
With wide, childlike eyes, Luffy asked her, "You can protect us, right?" Surely gods fell under Abel's area of expertise.
Abel made a face, and Pagaya and Conis stared at Abel with almost horrified eyes. "Protect us from God's wrath?" Abel asked, irreverent. "I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, but I'm a monster hunter, not a priest. Perhaps it would behoove us to find a way to sate your curiosity without risking eternal damnation." There was always some way to prove oneself worthy of entering into a deity's presence. Ritualistic cleansing... offerings...
Perhaps thinking along the same lines, Robin asked, "So, what happens if someone goes into that forbidden Upper Yard?"
Conis couldn't get the words out, but the look on her face spoke volumes. This wasn't something where the person got sent home with a slap on the wrist. Giving voice to these grim thoughts, Pagaya murmured darkly, "The person cannot come back alive."
"Cannot come back alive!?" Usopp gasped, and poor Sanji was in such shock that his cigarette fell numbly from his lips.
Pagaya's brows creased in heavy worry. "I-I'm worried about Nami. I hope she isn't near Upper Yard."
Sanji'd heard enough. Turning to the balcony, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Nami-san! Stay where you are and don't go anywhere!"
Perhaps a bit too cheerfully given the severity of the situation, Luffy declared, "All right! Let's go find Nami!" he shouted, but then quickly gave a gasp. For a brief second, his crew hoped maybe he'd thought better of his reckless plan. Instead, however, he mumbled with single-minded determination, "Oh! Wait, let me finish this first..." and started trying to shovel all the remaining food in his mouth.
Fearing for his precious Nami's safety, Sanji snapped, "Put it down! We'll be back soon enough! What if something happened to Nami-san while you're wasting time here?"
"Actually, we don't know if she was really headed there," Conis logically pointed out, voice almost pleading. "So please don't act recklessly. If we incur God Enel's wrath, we'll really be in big trouble." She didn't want these nice people to anger Enel, especially if it turned out Nami was never in any danger of entering Upper Yard in the first place.
Chopper swallowed hard, sinking low in the sofa. "This Enel doesn't sound like the nicest guy around..."
"He doesn't have to be," Zoro drawled, staring deeply at his glass of water. "He's God."
Cynical... but not entirely unrealistic, Abel thought.
"Ah, by the way," Pagaya interrupted. "You said you have a broken waiver. If it's not too much trouble, let me check it. I will repair it if I can."
Grasping the welcomed distraction, Conis added, "My father is a dial boat technician."
It seemed to work, as Luffy perked up. "Really!? Thank you!" Pagaya and Conis both gave an audible sigh of relief and the steep shift in topics.
By this point, Sanji was already at the door, urging everyone, "C'mon! Nami-san might be in trouble!" He was out the door before they could even react.
With slightly less enthusiasm, the rest of the crew followed. Pagaya and Conis remained close to the back, their kind nature taken over by worry. Abel supposed that was a form of kindness, because if they didn't care about the pirates they wouldn't worry for them. Although Abel had to admit, it didn't bode well for what type of god this Enel was. Reverence was one thing. It was always good to have a healthy respect for things greater than oneself, like the sea, or the monsters Abel had faced. It was a form on acknowledging that thing's power, and failing to do so could lead to one acting carelessly. But Conis and Pagaya's reactions were more than that. The hushed tones, the sweating, the fear... it didn't sit well with Abel. Especially given her crew's penchant for stumbling into trouble with authority figures. It almost made her feel like the pristine scenery around them was merely a facade, masking something terrible. Abel didn't want to be a pessimist, but realistically perfect places didn't exist.
Abel also continually felt the two sky people glancing at her every few moments. It was almost amusing. Abel felt she could read their minds. "I'm not some blasphemer or heretic," Abel randomly commented. Unable to resist, she added thoughtfully, "At least not that I've been made aware of."
The two sky people jumped at Abel's out-of-nowhere comment, before turning equal measures sheepish and relieved. Clearly Luffy's comment about Abel protecting them from God's wrath bothered them. Honestly, Abel had no opinion on the subject of deities. Maybe they existed, maybe not. Abel saw no inherent reason why they couldn't exist. If monsters, demons and spirits existed, why not a god? Weren't they basically just powerful spirits? A "god" was anything with enough power to have people worship it, so technically even a human could be viewed as a god. There were certainly rulers in the past that made their subjects worship them as such. It only mattered to Abel in the context of what said god encouraged their followers to do. If that belief inspired prosocial behaviors and enriched people's lives, fine. Abel even respected people who chose to dedicate their lives to their beliefs and attempted to live them to the best of their abilities. Like with Father Jean. Even if Abel never shared his beliefs, she'd always respected the virtues he espoused and his attempts to make everyone's lives better. It was only when this belief led to wicked actions, such as those of the cultists who founded Labyrinthe, that Abel took issue.
Perhaps that's why Conis and Pagaya's reactions unsettled Abel so much. Whether man or gods, people shouldn't follow anything out of fear.
As the beach came into view, Luffy ran ahead of everyone, shouting that he would bring the waver out for Pagaya to examine. "Nice distraction, by the way," Abel mentioned to Pagaya. The man just chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. It wouldn't distract Luffy for long, but maybe it would give Nami time to return. Personally, even if Nami did find this Upper Yard, Abel didn't think Nami would go exploring on her own. At least not in such an unfamiliar place. Even if she wanted to explore, such as expecting there to be treasure, the navigator would probably come back to "enlist" the crew's help. The only thing Nami valued more than money was her own life.
"Here it is!" Luffy exclaimed, dropping the battered hunk of wood into the water before following himself. Most of the crew meandered back toward the ship as Luffy dragged the broken waver to Pagaya on the shore, but Abel remained. She wanted to see Pagaya's assessment.
As Pagaya knelt to examine the ancient machinery, Luffy, Abel and Conis drew around him. Abel vaguely noted Dogmeat sniffing around. Pagaya grabbed the handle and gave it a few experimental turns. The old wood and gears groaned, desperately in need of some grease. "This is really old," he noted, astonished it was as intact as it was. Although the design was pretty much the same as his modern one, the technology used was so old. Aside from the keel, everything was made of wood. And even that was made of a heavier metal than current practice.
"Can you fix it?" Luffy asked.
"I've never seen parts like these before..." Pagaya admitted. "I'm sorry, but I can't say much until I investigate more." It would depend on the state of the dial.
From the ship, Sanji yelled at Luffy to hurry up, while politely requesting Abel. But Abel's attention was elsewhere. Dogmeat caught her focus when he came to stand at attention beside her legs. Glancing at the dog, she noted his stare intent on something back toward the city. Turning to look herself, Abel's brow creased in confusion at the sight. "There appear to be some men... crawling toward our location." It was quite an odd sight, seeing a group of fully grown men crawling on their bellies down the flight of stairs.
"You, suspicious ship over there, hold it!" one of the men yelled, pointing at them... from his position on the ground.
Naturally, this caught everyone's attention. "Who are those guys?" Luffy rightly asked
Abel suspected it wasn't the best plan to just stand there staring like a mook, but... well, she just couldn't help it! It wasn't every day she witnessed such bizarre behavior. Was there a reason for the crawling? It seemed like a pointlessly deliberate decision on their part. This group of men obviously wished to have words with the crew, yet chose the slowest possible means of reaching them. Maybe they were trying to be stealthily, but if that was the case they shouldn't be crawling in the open... or yelling at people. So Abel couldn't help but feel compelled to see where this strange turn of events went.
Eventually, after way too long (honestly, Abel was tempted to meet them halfway just to speed this up), the men crawled their way down the stairs and across the beach to stop before the group. "Berets, halt!" the man at the front ordered. Upon his command, all the men stood. Abel eyed their matching outfits. It was only due to the white berets and military boots that Abel concluded these must be some sort of military. Pastels, harem pants, and white puffy clouds didn't strike an authoritative fear. Their stern, chiseled faces contrasted laughably against the periwinkle shirts, though Abel supposed on some level it took guts to try to act manly in such feminine colors. The man who barked the orders was clearly their captain, or a man of rank, given his billowing baby-blue coat with a high collar.
Abel wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't for the men to all place a hand, with their index and pinky extended, behind their heads and shout, "Heso!"
Is that a salute? Abel thought, dumbfounded. She couldn't say what was more hilarious: the signal or how serious the men all looked while doing it. But as bizarre as this was, it must've been normal here, because both Conis and Pagaya greeted the men as if it were nothing.
"Hey, Luffy!" Sanji called from the ship impatiently. "Ignore them! Let's go get Nami-san!"
"You!" the captain barked, the scar on his left cheek stretching as he yelled. "You are those citizens of the Blue Sea who illegally entered Skypiea!"
No need to shout, Abel thought. We're standing right here. He must be the drill sergeant to this platoon.
Both Conis and Pagaya gasped, whipping around to stare at the pirates aghast. "Illegal trespassers!?" They were as horrified as if they'd learned the crew were murderers.
"What's that?" Luffy asked Abel cluelessly.
Without missing a beat, Abel answered, "I believe he is referring to the matter of us not paying the entrance fee." Abel should've known the offer had been too good to be true. She'd wondered why the woman hadn't been more insistent that they pay, or why they didn't station someone actually capable of enforcing the fee at that gate.
"Then you admit to your crime!" the captain bellowed.
Coming to their defense, Pagaya pleaded, "There must be a mistake, Captain McKinley! They're not bad people."
"They've already admitted to it," Captain McKinley dismissed, turning his attention to the supposed criminals. But he at least reassured the fellow sky man, "The situation isn't serious enough to cause a panic. In Heaven's Judgment, illegally trespassing is only an eleventh degree crime. After the punishment, you will immediately become regular tourists and may go about your business."
"What!?" Abel heard Sanji complain from the ship. "Should have said that earlier! What's the punishment?"
"It's very simple. Just pay a fine that is ten times the entry fee," McKinley explained. "Each person is ten billion extol... which means ninety billion extol for nine people. Pay now and your criminal status will be erased immediately!"
That sounded like a ridiculous amount for just a fine for illegal trespassing. But Abel couldn't be sure if they didn't even know the conversion ratio into an amount she understood. "Pardon me, Captain," Abel interrupted politely. No reason to piss anyone off over such an easily-remedied problem. The man scowled at Abel but gave her his attention. She suspected that was just the way his face looked. "What is the exchange rate of your extols into berries?"
"Berri... that's the currency in the Blue Sea, right?" he said, mostly to himself. "With today's exchange rate, ten thousand extol is one berri."
"... which means how much?" Usopp asked after giving up on doing the math himself.
"So ninety billion would mean nine million berries," Robin explained.
"Too much!" Sanji shouted, and Abel had to agree. That did seem excessively exorbitant. Sure, punishments were intended to be painful so people didn't break the law, but there was limit. Back home, second-degree trespassing, which this surely was because they hadn't knowingly intended to break the law, came with like a one-hundred thousand berri fine, assuming the trespasser didn't break any other laws. This was ten times as much! "Do you realize how much rice we could buy with that!?" Sanji continued to rant. "After risking our lives to come to this place, why do we have to pay that much just to enter!?" Weren't their lives enough leverage?
Undeterred, McKinley explained, "If you had paid in the beginning, it would have been only nine-hundred thousand berries."
"That's still a lot!" Sanji yelled.
Still trying to maintain a calm demeanor, Abel crossed her arms as she pointed out, "Perhaps, for the sake of future tourism, you ought to make it clear to your sentry that she should explain how not paying the fee will result in steep penalties, as opposed to now where she makes it sound like it's just an act of kindness." True, knowing Luffy they would've entered even if they had known, but at least then they would have been prepared. Or Abel could've taken that damned camera... video dial... whatever.
McKinley's long, square face tensed into a stern frown. "This is your first warning. We are the White Berets, direct servants to the High Priests. If you continue to resist, your criminal status will worsen!"
What else is new? Abel thought. She also stored away the fact that he'd mentioned priests. Perhaps that was why Pagaya and Conis had been so startled by Luffy's suggestion that Abel had some holy authority.
"Also..."
What now? Abel thought, frowning in irritation.
"This waver." McKinley pointed at the broken device Pagaya had been examining before all this. "It looks broken! If you broke it, then it's a tenth degree crime, the destruction of sky island property by Blue Sea people."
"No, no, no." Even now, Pagaya tried to come to their defense again. Such a nice man. "Excuse me. This was theirs to begin with."
"Yup, it's mine," Luffy agreed.
McKinley frowned suspiciously. "Theirs? There shouldn't be wavers in the Blue Sea. If this was stolen from sky island, it's a ninth degree crime."
Abel resisted sighing, even her patience being tested. She was beginning to think they wanted the Straw Hats to be criminals. What was with all these Blue Seas people laws? It was discrimination, and Abel has half tempted to claim amnesty or ask to speak to someone at the Blue Sea embassy, but she doubted such a place existed. Still, this behavior was at best extortion and at worst entrapment. How many other Blue Seas people had gotten into similar trouble?
But Abel continued to remain diplomatic. "We recovered it from beneath our sea. Somehow I doubt your jurisdiction extends that far. And even if it did, and even if the waver was stolen, it was well over two centuries ago. Far past the statute of limitations for theft." Apparently McKinley didn't like Abel talking back, as he gave the hunter a nasty glare. Not that it affected her. At her feet, Dogmeat gave a warning growl, sensing Abel's irritation.
But before McKinley could slap them without another fine (like some bullshit 'it's illegal for Blue Sea people's pets to threaten sky citizens' charge) a voice shouted from the sea, "Please wait!" Abel's head snapped up to find Nami speeding towards them on the waver, unharmed, but looking rather harried. She must've noticed the officials glaring at the crew.
"Nami-san, you're safe!" Sanji yelled in delight.
Ignoring him, per usual, Nami shouted, "Luffy! Don't give them any trouble!"
"But these guys-" Luffy began to protest.
However, Usopp cut him off, knowing Luffy's big mouth would only get them in more trouble. At this point, it sounded like anything other than 'here's your money' would get them in trouble. "Hey, Nami! Can we afford to pay a fine of nine million berries!?"
"Oh! We can still get by with a fine, then?" Abel frowned at the question. How did Nami know they were in trouble... other than just the general assumption that they were always in trouble. Nami's shoulders slumped in relief. "Nine million berries..." Something in Nami's tone suggested she wasn't happy about this, but Abel expected that.
What she did not expect was Nami to aim the waver for McKinley's face and plow right into him, all while shouting, "IT'S TOO EXPENSIVE!"
Everyone stared, dumbfounded, as Nami sent the captain crashing into the cabana. "Hey!" Zoro and Usopp protested at once. Wasn't Nami just telling them not to fight? Even Dogmeat looked shocked.
As Nami skidded to a stop, Abel couldn't help but quip, "When people say 'putting your foot down,' I don't think they mean on the accelerator."
Her comment seemed to snap Nami out of her rage. "Oh, shoot! Because of their illogically high fine, I lost it!" Realizing they didn't have time to stand around, Nami quickly jumped off the waver, pushing it toward where Pagaya continued to gawk. "Oh, mister, thanks for letting me use the waver. It was a lot of fun!" Nami thanked in a huff.
"No, no, don't mention it," he retorted before pointing out, "But more importantly, you all are in big trouble."
Nami already knew that, as she grabbed Luffy's hand and yanked him after her as she ran to the ship. "Let's run now, Abel!" she called after the hunter.
"What!?" Luffy gasped as he stumbled after the redhead. "Why? Didn't you already attack them?" Why leave now?
"That hit back there was just an accident!" Nami protested. "If we mess with God, it'll be a real pain!"
Running after them, with Dogmeat easily keeping up, Abel said, "Pretty sure you meant to run over that guy. And how did you hear about God?" Had she actually been to Upper Yard?
Before Nami could reply, however, McKinley shouted at them, "Hold it!" Abel glanced over her shoulder to see the captain stagger to his feet, bleeding from the nose. Nami probably broke it. "There is no escape!" he growled threateningly. "Not only were you impolite to us, yours actions were an obstruction to our duty. It's a fifth degree crime!" Taking a deep breath, the man relished the chance to proclaim, "With the power invested in me by God Enel, I sentence you to the drifting cloud!"
Such a statement lacked context for the outsiders, but it must not have been good given the horrified cry from Conis. "Drifting cloud... th-this can't be!"
Clueless as ever, Luffy asked, "What's that? Drifting cloud sounds comfortable!" It didn't exactly have a threatening ring to it.
"It's not good at all!" Conis protested. "It means putting you on a little piece of island cloud you can't escape from so you will drift in the sky until you die. It's a death sentence!"
Abel was close enough to the ship to hear Robin murmur, "I see... no wonder ships would fall from the sky."
Abel hadn't thought about that. She frowned at the implications. "They must've been pulling crap like this for centuries to result in so many ships falling from the sky to start such a rumor." Now Abel felt she understood Conis and Pagaya's fear of Enel a little better. Not a nice guy indeed.
But before they could worry about surviving God's wrath, they needed to address the very human wrath before them. "Arrest them!" McKinley ordered, and the rest of the White Berets all drew bows. Abel noted the sharp spiral shells used as arrowheads. Her hands were already going for her crossbows, and Dogmeat's lips drew back to show fangs.
"Run!" Conis pleaded. "You guys can't beat them!"
McKinley turned a dark glare to the blonde. "Don't say that, miss," he threatened darkly. "You sound like you're helping the criminals."
"Good to know your assholes to everyone," Abel called, drawing his attention away from the girl who'd been nothing but kind to them. "I was beginning to take it personally."
Sneering, McKinley ordered, "Fire!"
The soldiers all fired their bows at once. But the thick plumes of cloud that formed from the streaming arrows caught Abel off guard. They're not just arrowheads... they're dials, Abel realized. She figured she should probably assume any shell-shaped object, or even any weapon, had some dial property.
"Nami, out of my way!" Luffy snapped, pushing the navigator aside. Abel barely reacted fast enough to catch her from falling face-first in the water. "Get on board!"
"... Okay!" Nami agreed, staggering to regain her balance. She clambered up the ladder, but Abel remained on the shore.
Luffy easily dodged the arrows by jumping, making the arrows fly harmlessly passed him. At first Abel thought the soldiers intended to entrap Luffy in their clouds, as the long strings of what she guessed to be island cloud surrounded him. But she realized this wasn't their intention... at least not fully. A few of the soldiers actually jumped onto the island clouds and began skating along the surface, almost appearing to surf as they careened toward Luffy. Abel noticed the strange shoes on their feet. They looked like mini wavers, with breath dials on the side. Abel recalled what Conis had said about there being many different types of wavers, specifically mentioning skating types. Abel's eyes narrowed. I believe that guerrilla utilized a similar device.
The men skated on the clouds toward her captain, brandishing double-sided knives in each hand. But Luffy outmaneuvered them, even with their fancy equipment, by simply grabbing onto a nearby palm and pulling himself out of their path. The men gaped as their blows missed. "You have some funny stuff!" Luffy laughed, not at all concerned about being in danger.
The men gawked as Luffy dangled from the tree, arm stretched and lassoed around the trunk "How did that guy...?"
Conis barely held in a scream. "His arm... stretched!"
Unfazed by their reactions, which were a little funny given the weirdness of everything here, Luffy smirked. "Gum-Gum..." Letting go of the tree, Luffy spun himself into a whirling dervish. In an indistinguishable ball of feet and arms, Luffy fell toward the stunned soldiers. "Fireworks!" The whirling Luffy-ball exploded all at once, sending limbs flying in every conceivable direction, sending men flying everywhere. It was like a bomb version of his Gun-Gum Gatling attack.
All but one of the soldiers had been rendered unconscious in the gummy bomb. He aimed an arrow at Luffy as the boy recovered, only to feel cold metal press against his temple. Taking advantage of his shock, Abel snatched the arrow right out of his hand. "I'll take that, thank you." She was quite interested in these dials. Why not take one from someone trying to kill them with it? With the man unarmed, aside from his useless bow, Abel stepped away. The man sighed in relief as the cold metal pulled away from his sweating face. Unfortunately for him, his relief was short-lived, as something struck him across the back of the head.
Abel watched wordlessly as Zoro slid his sword back in the sheath. As the man glanced around, assuring there were no more enemies, he asked, "Now that I think of it... Nami, how's the money situation looking?"
"Fifty thousand berries left," their navigator/accountant replied.
Zoro's eyes narrowed. "Fifty K? Only that much?" It wouldn't go far with nine people... eight if you didn't count the zombie.
"Yeah, we're almost out," Nami complained. One good supply run or shopping trip, and they'd be broke.
"Why are we so poor!?" Luffy griped. He glared at the rest of the crew, pointing a stern finger at them. "As your captain, I gotta say this. You guys should think about how you spend our money!"
The response was predictable. "It's because you eat so much!"
Focusing on the matter at hand, Abel asked, "Should we use this opportunity to escape?" They'd defeated these White Berets easily enough, but if they stuck around there would only be more attempts.
Before they could consider this, however, a shaking voice chuckled darkly. "You fools..." Abel turned around to find that, although he was even more battered than before, McKinley remained conscious. And surprisingly cocky for a man with a bloody face and askew beret. "You should've just behaved and done what I told you to," he rasped. Breathing through a broken nose is hard. "We, the White Berets, are the gentlest upholders of the law in Godland. They, on the other hand, won't be so forgiving."
Ominous and vague... the best kind of warning, Abel thought.
"With this, you have become second degree criminals. No matter how you cry or scream..." He laughed creepily, taking too much joy in this. "The Priests of Upper Yard will personally judge you! Heso!"
Abel knew she should be more concerned, but she had a hard time feeling threatened by priests. She'd grown up with a priest, and he was as harmless as a fly. So rather than express fear or disdain, Abel glanced down at Dogmeat and instructed, "See the gentleman off." The dog seemed to relish the chance, and ran toward McKinley, snarling and snapping his teeth. Terrified at the unholy sight, McKinley staggered backwards, though that part may have simply been due to his injuries. He fell into the underbrush, out of sight, before rustling away. Dogmeat halted, giving a satisfied snort before trotting back to Abel for a pat on the back as a reward.
"We were tricked!" Nami exclaimed, for some reason trying to plead their case to the crew. "Didn't that old lady say we could pass through? But once we did, it became illegal trespassing!? This is fraud! I'll sue for this!"
"I agree," Abel replied, understanding Nami's irritation. "However, it appears they've been perpetrating this charade for far longer than any of us have been alive." Abel didn't know why the authorities here seemed to have it in for outsiders. Perhaps the xenophobia she'd suspected in the guerrillas extended to everyone here. But that didn't explain Conis and Pagaya's kindness to them. Maybe Abel was just overthinking things. Maybe it was as simple as greed. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
"Even if she'd said, 'You may not pass,' we probably would've used force to get through," Usopp rightly pointed out as he jumped down from the deck. The rest of the crewmembers who'd been on board followed, joining everyone on the shore to discuss their next move.
Nami scowled at the sniper. "Shut up!"
"Anyways, now things have become really complicated," Pagaya interjected. "If you're second degree criminals, we can't help you."
Abel raised a brow at how far away the two sky people were standing from the crew now. They were almost at yelling distance. "Why are you talking to us from way over there!?" Nami demanded, not as amused as Abel about this turn.
Ever undaunted, Luffy said dismissively, "Well, what's the fuss? We're already used to being chased by the authorities!" Why act like this was new?
"Looks like you were right when you said the only chance of trouble was pissing off the locals," Zoro commented toward Abel.
Abel tossed the man a lopsided grin. "It's a burden being this good," she teased, drawing a snort from the man, although she thought she caught the hint of a smile. "Still..." She glanced forward again. "I meant it more as a statement than a suggestion." Was this a surprising turn? No. That didn't mean Abel wouldn't have liked to have gone somewhere without strife for a change.
Luffy must've remembered something then, because he frowned at Nami, almost in irritation. "By the way, why did you come back?" When this drew a confused expression from their navigator, Luffy explained, "We were just about to go to 'the place that no one should ever enter' for a big adventure- uh... I meant to go there to find you."
Pissed didn't even begin to describe Nami's face at that point. "You... are a really bad liar," she drawled. Her complaint swiftly turned to aggravation, however, and she began pecking Luffy on the forehead repeatedly while shouting at him. "Big adventure!? You can say that because you haven't seen how scary those people on that island are!" Amazingly, although Luffy was made of rubber and therefore should be impervious to harm by anything short of a knife, Nami's rage seemed to allow her blows to have a real impact, creating an angry red mark of Luffy's forehead and sending him reeling in pain. But Nami was relentless. Clearly she meant to literally knock sense into their captain... although Abel feared she'd sooner knock a hole straight through his head before he'd be dissuaded. "It's true that we don't know if this guy is God or what, but his powers are real! And there's no way I'm ever going back there again!"
In the end, Luffy was left with a steaming crater of his face, but no closer to seeing reason. "Then, you can just wait here while we go."
"N. O!" Nami screamed back. "Pursuers are coming! We're leaving this place!"
"Leave!?" Luffy screamed back, bordering on hysterical. "Don't talk crap! Just think! Which is more important, adventure or your life!?"
"My life!" Nami replied without hesitation. "Then money."
"Then next would be me!?" Sanji cried hopefully, twirling around Nami. Abel thought he would've learned by now not to get around the redhead when she was angry. Clearly not, as his swooning earned him a swift punch to the head.
Leaving the man on the ground, still somehow conjuring up hearts, Abel pointed out, "Either route is problematic."
"What do you mean?" Usopp asked.
"Well, for example, we were so busy being daunted at the means of reaching this place that we failed to take into account how we might return."
Everyone stopped to consider Abel's words. It was true. They'd been so wrapped up in the perilous journey here, and whether 'here' existed, that they'd never talked about how they could reach their seas again. They nearly died getting here, so what would getting back down entail? "Is there a safe way back?" Usopp asked Conis. "Can we ever go home again!?" If people came here fairly regularly through safer means than what they managed, surely there had to be a way to return other than falling out of the sky.
Conis' brow creased in concern. "There is a way, though at this point I can no longer say it's safe. You must go back down to the White Sea, and then head to the far east, to a place called Cloud End."
"Cloud End?" Usopp repeated. That didn't necessarily sound like a good thing.
"Yes..." Conis answered, sounding unsure. "Although I don't think you should try to run... sky ocean is very big."
"What do you mean!?" Usopp squeaked. "Are you saying we can't escape from those guys?" Conis made it sound like they were screwed no matter what they did. Stay and be punished... leave and possibly die...
"If that's so, no matter where we are in Skypiea, it'll be the same," Nami concluded with finality. With confidence, she headed back toward the Going Merry. "And if we stay here, we'll just cause you more trouble. Now that we have no place to hide, let's just set sail." She felt much more comfortable trying to outrun these priests on the sea than on this island. The sea was the sea, regardless of where they were, and Nami felt more at home there than in this strange place. But she didn't forget to part from these kind people with a smile and a wave. "Conis, Mister. Thanks for everything." True, things had gone downhill, but they'd had some fun and met some nice new people. For pirates, at the end of the day, that was all they could ask for.
Surprisingly, Luffy didn't argue with Nami, although that might have been because he hoped they'd find new adventure on the seas. They were essentially running from the law, which was anything but boring. But then he remembered something. "Ah! Mister, can I take all the food from earlier?" Luffy remembered there was so much left. What a waste.
"Oh, of course," Pagaya replied, still very amiable.
Luffy beamed. "All right! Sanji, get the lunch boxes!"
"You don't miss a thing, do you?" Sanji asked, but he didn't argue.
If they were going to stay long enough to pack the food, Usopp decided a little more time couldn't hurt. "In that case, can I ask a favor as well? Mister, you're an engineer, right? I don't suppose you could spare any parts or tools to fix our ship?"
"Oh, no problem," Pagaya answered hospitably. "Let's go to our house again."
Just now noticing that the others were heading away from the ship, Nami yelled, "Wait, where are you going?"
"I'm gonna get some food," Luffy replied. "You guys go ahead and prepare for our adventure! We'll be back before you know it."
Nami let out an angry sigh, but the group was already gone. "That idiot!" she complained, placing her hands on her hips. "He still wants to go!? It's really scary there!" She randomly yelled the last part of Zoro.
"How would I know?" the swordsman snapped back. He wasn't disagreeing with Nami, so he didn't appreciate her taking her anger out on him. "I don't care either way, so don't yell at me!"
Nami scowled, but her expression turned suspiciously sweet and coy. "Chopper!" she sang, adopting a faux sweet pose. "You're on my side... right?" The last part came out very dark and threatening.
Chopper, who'd just turned into his human form so he could reach the railing, gave a nervous, scared twitch. "Don't scare him!" Zoro defended. "You know there's no way of persuading Luffy do to anything. He won't listen, even if we all gang up on him."
Abel watched as Dogmeat leapt toward the ship, piggybacking off Chopper's shoulders to reach the deck. The deer gave a little protest, but turned into his regular Brain Point before pulling himself haphazardly over the railing. His efforts were admirable, but pointless, as a second prior Robin had kindly dropped the rope ladder. "You are the navigator, Red," Abel said, joining the discussion as she climbed aboard. "And it's not like Boss knows where Upper Yard actually is. Who's to say we don't just conveniently sail in the wrong direction?"
"He'd notice eventually," Zoro argued.
"What's he gonna do?" Abel retorted. "Sail the ship on his own?"
"I just want to get out of this place before something bad happens," Nami growled, climbing aboard. "At least get out to sea. We can discuss our next move once we're moving." She watched the shore anxiously. "They must be gathering reinforcements by now."
Robin couldn't help observing, "Trouble has a way of following us." No one could disagree with that.
As she slipped her leggings and boots back on, Abel's hearing perked when she her snoring. Peeking over the railing, she could only shake her head when she spotted Zoro already asleep against the mast, swords propped against his chest in case he needed to act in an instant. Abel was beginning to understand that, at least in that posture, the man was more dozing than fully asleep, and somehow capable of hearing what's going on. At least to the extent of knowing if there's trouble. Abel chuckled to herself as Dogmeat sniffed at the sleeping man before sitting beside him, giving a little doggy grumble. Zoro's face scrunched up, and Abel had the distinct impression he was deliberately ignoring the beast. It was always amusing to watch Dogmeat interact with the others, as he so rarely acknowledged their existence. In that respect, the dog and man were a little alike.
"Excuse me..." Unexpectedly hearing Conis' gentle voice broke Abel from her reverie. Turning around, Abel stared down at the young angel in confusion. Why was she back already?
Sensing their questions, Conis quietly explained, "I'd like to discuss something with you all." Her tone had such a quiet seriousness that the women didn't question it. Robin wordlessly dropped the rope ladder again for the girl to climb.
To say the girl's posture exuded tension would be an understatement. Once she climbed aboard, Conis kept her hands clenched tightly together directly in front of her, her shoulders stiff, a clear indication of anxiety. Her usual cheery demeanor had vanished, replaced with almost a stern aloofness. It was pretty obvious to everyone that Conis didn't want to be here. So they didn't openly question her. They merely waited patiently for Conis to build up the courage to say whatever she'd come to say.
Conis stared at the deck for a long moment, taking less than subtle deep breaths, before raising her clouded blue eyes to the pirates. "If you're truly planning to try to flee, there is something that might help you." Everyone perked at this. "Not far off shore here, there's a special cloud current. Not many people know about it, but it'll take you swiftly back down to the White Sea. It's possible that, using that current, you can outrun your pursuers. They won't be expecting Blue Sea people to know about this, so you might catch them off guard."
Nami's eyes widened at this news. "So this special cloud current will take us all the way down?"
"Yes. By getting on the cloud, you can cross the vast ocean and go to the White Sea. And you can also get to Cloud End without getting lost."
"Really!?" Nami gasped, eagerly grasping on to the idea.
Conis nodded. "As long as you're on that current, nobody can catch you."
Nami made her decision pretty quickly. She snapped her fingers as an idea struck her, eyes sparkling with delight at the possibility of avoiding a ton of trouble. "It's just like Abel said. We won't tell Luffy, we'll just sail the Going Merry into the current!"
"And what?" Chopper questioned. "Just hope he doesn't notice until it's too late?"
"Even so, I seriously doubt he'll give up on his quest," Robin added.
"You'd think you'd have learned not to take everything I say so literally," Abel commented. This earned both her and Robin a glare from Nami for trying to shoot down her plan. Abel merely responded with a lopsided grin. Honestly, it didn't matter to her too much. She just knew that changing Luffy's mind on anything was the equivalent of trying to move a brick wall with one's face. Just one big headache with no results to show for it.
Ever helpful, Conis offered, "If you'd like, I'd be happy guide you to the entrance of the current to make sure you can set off for home safely."
"Now all we need to do is keep that fool from noticing," Nami grumbled. "We'll take care of that part." Abel was quite curious how Nami intended to do that. Why was she picturing cuffs and a blindfold?
With that matter decided, Conis concluded, "Then please weigh anchor and wait for me."
"You got it," Nami readily agreed. She offered the angel a warm smile. "We really appreciate it, Conis."
At the thanks, Conis' serious expression changed to one of bashful nervousness. "You're welcome," she replied politely, not fully able to hide the tremor. Honestly, the girl looked like she was about to be sick. Swallowing thickly (perhaps she really was about to be sick), Conis excused herself from their presence. "I'll need to get the waver. As soon as I return, I'll show you to the current." With the plan finalized, Conis hurried down the ladder. She ran toward the shore, but suddenly paused. Swiftly turning to face everyone again, this time the girl gave them a warm smile. Although her eyes did seem a bit watery. Bowing deeply, she called back, "I was very happy to have met you all! Heso!"
"Bye, Conis!" Nami called as the girl ran toward the stairs, both her and Chopper waving.
When the girl was out of sight, Nami gave an excited, haughty chuckle. "Finally! A light at the end of the tunnel! For a while there, I was really getting worried." She pat Chopper's hat as she instructed, "Let's hurry and weigh anchor. Chopper, use your Heavy Bonus and help us out with the heavy lifting."
As Chopper helped raise the anchor, after giving up on waking Zoro to help, Abel leaned back against the railing, staring at the stairs. She could make out Conis pausing in her trip to glance back at their ship before continuing on at a less than enthusiastic pace. Without having to look, Abel sensed that the woman beside watched the scene play out as well. "You're skeptical," Abel stated, point-blank.
She felt Robin glance at her. "How could you tell?" Although there was a slight casually teasing tone, Robin said in a way that made Abel feel like she was trying to see what Abel knew before revealing her true thoughts on the matter.
"Because you're a fatalist," Abel answered simply. "It's in your nature to expect the worst... not that I blame you, given your history. Plus, it's written all over your face." Turning her head, Abel smiled at Robin's raised brow. "What did you see that triggered your paranoid instincts?"
The eyes Robin pinned Abel with were hard and suspicious. Maybe suspicious was too harsh a word, but Abel had the distinct impression Robin was once again trying to see into Abel's mind. Abel was quite aware that her ability to see through Robin's facade unnerved the older woman at times. Honestly, Abel didn't always know why she felt the need to say what she said. Maybe part of it was an attempt to reassure Robin. To let her know what Abel saw through her front, and knew what was underneath, yet chose not to react to it or feel the need to reveal what she knew. To prove that Robin was safe among this crew, with all her insecurities and faults. Or, maybe part of it was out of spite. To one-up the older woman by showing she wasn't fooled. Interacting with Robin felt like playing chess without a board. And Abel would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy catching people off guard.
Whatever Robin was searching for in Abel's face, and whatever she found, Abel saw the archeologist's eyes turn cold and calculating. Had Abel not known better not to take it personally, that look would've been frigid. But when she didn't shy away, Robin explained, "If such a convenient current existed, you'd expect to see more survivors from the sky island in the Blue Sea."
Abel hummed thoughtfully. "Valid point. We've only heard rumor and speculation. Surely if someone survived and made it home safely, they wouldn't shut up about this place." So Robin's concerns weren't unfounded. "But, other completely innocent factors could account for that. Consider the extremely small percentage of people who even attempt to reach this place, on top of which only a small portion of that portion even survive the journey to set foot on an island." Abel began counting off the possibilities on her fingers. "Not to mention the fact that, of that miniscule percentage still alive, how many would be capable of escaping the authorities?" Their Monster Trio was hardly normal, so it was doubtful most of the people who ended up in trouble would have adapted fast enough to stand a chance. "Combine that with the threat of guerrillas, and that we don't even know the survival odds of whatever this Cloud End entails, and it makes sense that sky island is little more than a myth."
"You have a point," Robin admitted, going over everything Abel had said in her mind. "When considered that way, it's a miracle we're even still alive at this point." Yet still, something didn't sit right with Robin. Call it paranoia, but her sense of when someone was lying had kept Robin alive this long, so she saw no reason to doubt it now. It wasn't paranoia if people were really out to get you.
"Regardless, it's probably best to assume the priests have something devious planned, so they can't catch us completely off guard," Abel concluded. "Despite Red's optimism, things go easy for this crew far less than should be statistically possible by just sheer chance." Really, at times it seemed the world was against them just from the sheer amount of bull they had to deal with. "If we expect the unexpected, then it's not unexpected." Abel's twisting logic seemed to amuse the other woman.
It wasn't long before Chopper had the anchor up, and everything as far as the ship was concerned was ready to go. Abel idly watched the preparations. On some level, she felt bad for not sharing her concerns with Nami, but knew it would be useless. Telling her to expect trouble seemed pointless, as the redhead clearly already did. And without any specific things to look out for, all Abel's warning would accomplish was depressing Nami, and Abel didn't feel like dealing with that either. All they could do was wait and be ready. Abel figured they had a little time before she actively needed to worry. Whatever the priests had planned, they wouldn't make a move until the others had rejoined them.
Letting her gaze wander out toward the sea, Abel raised a brow when she noticed Dogmeat standing at the railing, staring at something in the water. He wasn't acting aggressive, but attentive. A fish, perhaps? The sound of heels approaching drew Abel's attention away from the dog toward Nami. The woman wiped some sweat from her brow, smiling in accomplishment. "Now we'll just wait for Luffy and others to get back," Nami announced, looking rather proud of herself. At some point, she'd pulled a lemon yellow t-shirt on over her bikini. The vacation was over. "All set?" she asked of the others.
"All set!" Chopper replied, standing near the figurehead, watching for the others.
As much as she'd been waiting for the other shoe to drop, it took Abel completely off guard when the ship gave a violent shake. Reflexively, she grasped at the railing, struggling to stay on her feet as the ship rocked and shook. She barely had time to grab Dogmeat's scruff before the ship lurched dangerously to one side. Abel heard Nami scream for Chopper, and feared the worst. Fortunately, the little deer only rolled back and hit his head on the stairs. "What's going on!?" Nami demanded.
Zoro repeated the exact same question as the violent shaking woke him forcefully. "What's going on!?" he demanded, hands snagging his swords before they slid too far.
"I think we might already be caught in that current," Chopper suggesting, holding onto a rail like a koala bear.
Abel might've believed that if it weren't for Dogmeat's incessant barked. He kept barking at something in the water. Abel thought she could faintly make out a shadow beneath their ship, but it was hard to tell with the surf stirred up. Whatever it was, it started drawing their ship away from the shore. Abel felt dread well up in her as she noticed them swiftly moving backwards away from the island. This was despite the fact their sails were still up. And Abel strongly doubted it was some bogus current, as it was only the water around them moving. A current this strong had to be visible. Hell, they hadn't moved, short of raising the anchor.
No, Abel suspected something else. "There's something beneath us towing us out to sea!" For what purpose, she didn't know. But it couldn't be good. Dammit, Abel thought, mentally cursing herself. I didn't expect things to happen this quickly.
"What is it!?" Zoro shouted, jumping onto one of the Merry's broken wings.
Their answer came soon enough, as two huge red claws emerged from the water, grasping the ship around the hull. The claws gave a massive heave, and soon the body of an enormous lobster emerged, holding their ship atop its massive back. "It's another of those Express Lobsters," Abel realized.
To keep his footing, Zoro stabbed a sword into the wooden wing. Quickly glancing at the rapidly disappearing island, Zoro snapped at Abel, "Can you put it down!?" He didn't know where this thing was trying to take them, but he wasn't playing along.
Abel ignored her crossbows is favor of her bow, as it had more punch. It was hard to aim, with the wind whipping around and the deck shaking, but Abel managed to wedge herself between the rungs of the railing and get a shot off near the lobster's head. Unfortunately, her arrow broke like a toothpick without so much as scrape in its hard exoskeleton. "Not unless I can get underneath it," Abel replied. And with this speed, that would be pretty impossible. Dogmeat also tried to convince the lobster to release them by force, jumping onto the railing and latching his jaws on a claw. However, even his teeth could barely scrape the exoskeleton.
Cursing under his breath, Zoro took charge of the situation and ordered the others, "We're being hijacked! Everyone abandon ship! C'mon, we gotta move while we still have time!" They could still swim back to the shore.
"What about the ship!?" Chopper cried. "Without her we won't be able to get back home!"
"Don't worry!" Zoro reassured. "I'll stay!" Let him take on whatever wicked plan had befallen them alone while the others returned to Luffy.
"What!?" Nami gasped. "What can you do by yourself!?"
"Wait," Robin interrupted, voice far calmer than the others as she tried to remain rational in this crisis. She didn't miss one important detail. "It looks like they prepared to stop our escape, too." At her calm voice, everyone followed Robin's gaze, and their stomachs sank at the sight. Following behind them with much gusto was a school of those large, flat skyfish they'd encountered before. "A school of vicious skyfish is following us, ready to attack. We can't jump off the ship and escape now." Those fish would eat them for certain. "Even if we could defeat them, I'm sure more will arrive to take their place. Our punishment has already begun."
"All of Skypiea really is against us," Abel mused, replacing her bow.
Zoro's face darkened. "Heaven's Judgment, huh? So instead of sending people after us, they make us come to them... cunning bastards."
Nami slowly sunk to the deck as the truth finally hit her. "Then... I'm going back to that island?" She held her head before letting out a scream of panic. "Luffy! Usopp! Sanji!"
Stalwartly, Abel directed her gaze ahead of them. We have no choice but to wait and see now, she thought as an island loomed in the distance.
To Be Continued...
SBS
It's been a while since I did one of these, but there have been a few questions that I get asked repeatedly in reviews or messages that I thought would be good to address here.
Today's question is: What is your update schedule? When should I start looking for the next update in my inbox?
This is a good question because, as someone who not only writes, but reads fics, I like to know how often my favorite stories get updated.
The Answer is: I generally aim for one chapter every month. I've been pretty good about working on this story at least every other day. When I get it out depends on a variety of factors, such as my workload, holidays, how much of the chapter follows or breaks away from the original storyline, & how good an idea I have for where I want to go with it. But in general I think my pattern falls toward the later half of the month, usually around the 3rd or 4th week. And generally speaking, once I've uploaded a chapter for that month, I don't work on the story anymore until the next month, unless I'm incredibly motivated.
I do this for several reasons. One is that it gives me time to work on other things. Another is that it helps prevent burn-out. But the big reason is I'm trying to avoid catching up with the manga & having to wait long gaps between updates. I like to know well in advance where Oda's taking the story so I can make changes that feel coherent. Plus, that was the problem I ran into last time when I caught up with the story & lost motivation to write more. This happens a lot in other media with me, such as reading the first few volumes of a series & then just stopping because by the time the next volume comes out I've moved on to other things.
Hopefully, by adding in the filler arcs that I actually like & some of the movies, I'll be able to keep up a steady pattern. As things progress between Abel & Zoro, I might even do an occasional one-off or omake chapter just for fun.
Hopefully that answers the question. Feel free to send any questions you have. They can be serious or random. I've even had a few "What would Abel do in this scenario" sort of things, which have been fun to think about.
