Angel Beach

"Hey, you're finally awake," Luffy said.

"What?" Cade blinked.

"You passed out on us," Chopper said. "Not surprising considering there's less air up here."

"Less air?" Cade sat up with Luffy's help.

"The sky knight told us about," Usopp said.

"Sky knight?" Cade held her head. "Did I hear you right?"
"Yeah. A lot happened since you black out," Usopp said before telling her everything from landing on a sea of clouds, to the old woman who took their pictures and demanded money to enter then allowed them to pass, and about an attack from a man in a mask then to the sky night who saved them.

"I see. So that's why it's so hard to breath here." Cade pressed hand to her chest. "It feels like a thousand cannons are sitting on my chest."

"It's possible you feel this way because you're a fishman. You were meant for the land and sea not the sky," Robin said.

"Then Cade might feel this way the entire time we're here?" Chopper asked.

"That would be my guess." Robin nodded.

"Great." Cade sighed.

"I see an island," Sanji said.

"Yeah! It's sky island!" Luffy cheers as the ship pulled up to the white beach.

"It's actual water?" Cade moved her foot in the cloud like water. "That's odd. It's wet."

"The surface of this island is soft clouds!" Luffy romped around on the beach.

"Hey, what about the anchor? There is probably no bottom in the sea, right?" Zoro said.

"That doesn't matter! Hurry! Look! This beach is so soft!" Luffy called.

"It must have some kind of bottom here," Cade said. "I am standing right here. Go ahead and drop it."

Cade turned her attention back to the strange white water She dove under. The clouds and water passed through her gills."I can breath here like under the sea but it's difficult." She swam back up to find Luffy trying to bite into a fruit. "Careful, Luffy. That might not be eatable."

Sanji spun over to Cade and stuck a flower in her hair. "Here's a flower for you, my beautiful angelfish!"

"Uh, thanks." Cade fingered the flower sticking in her hair.

"Miss Nami! I have a flower for you too!" Sanji danced towards the navigator.

Nami and Chopper walked up to a pavilion with thick chairs of clouds and sat down.

"Wow! It's a little different from that soft cloud. It's a little harder," Chopper said.

Cade turned to Luffy. "It doesn't matter how hard you chomp on that thing, Luffy. It's not going to break."

Soft music floated over the air.

Suu. A fox with long muzzle and ears walked over to them.

"Is that a fox?" Zoro asked.

"Hey, there's someone over there." Sanji pointed down the beach to a cloud hill. There stood a young girl with braided pigtails, wings on her back, and a harp.

"Is it another raider?!" Usopp asked. "Whistle! Where's the whistle?!"

"Wait! That's not it! It's an angel!" Sanji said.

"Heso." The girl strummed her harp once more before turning to them. "Are you guys from the blue seas? Sue, come here."

"We flew up here from the bottom. Do you live here?" Luffy asked.

"This is the angel beach of Skypiea." She walked over to them. "That's gaunasu. You want to drink it?"

"You mean this weird fruit?" Cade nodded at the object.

"The exterior is like steel, biting it won't do anything. Must go from the bottom." She pulled out a knife and poked it through the fresh on the bottom then handed it over to Luffy. "Here you go. Enjoy." She picked up the fox. "I'm Conis."

"Yummy! It taste so great!" Luffy said.

"What?! It's that good?!" Usopp asked.

"If there is any problem, I'm willing to help you," Conis said.

"Yes, I have a problem. Your gaze burns a hole in my hear-Ouch!" Sanji flinched as Nami pulled his ear.

"There are so many things we want to know," Nami said. "To start up, everything here is unbelievable."

"Yes, don't hold back. Ask anything." Conis smiled.

"Hey, somethings coming from the sea," Zoro said.

A small dot grows towards them.

"Ah, it's my dad," Conis said.

"Conis, my daughter!" The old man waved. "Heso!"

"Oh, heso, Father."

"Er, what are you saying?" Luffy asked.

"What's he riding on?" Nami asked.

"It's called a waver," Conis said.

"Excuse me, I'm going to stop now." The old man rode upon the beach and ran into a tree.

"I thought he was going to stop." Cade put a hand on her hip.

"Is anyone hurt?" the old man asked.

"Ask yourself that first!" Zoro snapped.

"Luffy, didn't you recover that thing from under the sea?" Nami asked.

"Yeah, I did." Luffy slurped his juice.

"So that's a waver. In Noland's diary, the ship that would sail without wind," Nami said.

"Are they friends of yours, daughter?"

"Yes, I just met them, Father."

"Really? They must be really anxious about things here then. This is the white sea. Pardon me. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Pajaya."

"Eh?! No, it's not like that. We're the ones who needs to be excused." Usopp waved his hands.

"Good timing. I had only finished fishing. I caught the most delicious food in the white sea." Pajaya held up a lobster. "They are sky lobsters. Please, come to my home. I'll treat you with the sky's special cuisine."

"Really?! Let's go!" Luffy lifted his fruit in the air.

"You're going to make sky island cooking?! Please let me help!" Sanji jerked his thumb at himself.

"Before we go, may I asked you a question first? How does this work?" Nami knelt beside the waver. "There are no paddles or sails. How can it sail on the sea?"

"Ah, you don't know what a dial is," Conis said.

"Dial?" Nami asked.

The pirates gathered around the device as Pajaya started explaining how it worked.

"Accelerator? This? Just step on this. Right?" Luffy stepped on the pedal.

"Luffy! Wai-" Cade reached out for her brother. The device rumbled and shot out into the water. Cade cursed under her breath and dashed after him the best she could with her lungs being restricted. Grabbing him and the waver she pulled them back to the beach, panting the whole way.

"Sorry." Pajaya rubbed his head. "I shouldn't have let a beginner use it. In order to fully utilize the power the hulls of the waver are made very light. So even the smallest wave will cause it to turn. Thus one must understand the sea very well, at least able to predict waves. Please pardon me."

"It's not your fault. Luffy never thinks before he acts," Cade said.

"Is it really that hard?! I wanted to try it!" Chopper said.

"I've been practicing since I was little. And I only recently succeeded." Conis pressed a hand to her chest.

"That's a long time! It would need a lot of focus and endurance!" Usopp said before the waver rumbled again. "Huh?"
Nami was sailing on the waver like a pro.

"What?! Unbelievable!" Pajaya said.

"Nami! You're the best!" Sanji said.

"What?! No fair! How come she can ride it?" Luffy whined. "Hey, Nami! We're going to the mister's house! Come back! Stupid!"

Sanji bonked Luffy on the head with his heel. "Why you..."

"You guys go ahead! Mister, can I play a little longer?!" Nami called out.

"Yes, please, but be careful."

Cade stays back a bit from the group as they climb cloud stairs. She scanned the area, wondering where others from the island are. She then spots the cloud factory. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp play on the cloud slope beside the stairs. I wonder if any of these sky people have seen a fishman before. Might be best to keep my hood on while we're here.

"This is my home. Please, come in." Pajaya waves to the two story building at the top of the stairs.

They go inside. Sanji goes to the kitchen with Pajaya while the rest sit down.

"Here. Speak into this." Conis handed Luffy a small shell.

"Usopp is stupid." Luffy said.

"Ah! Why me?!" Usopp gasped.

"Now, press the button on the top of the shell." Conis pointed to the shell.

"You mean here?" Luffy pressed the top.
"The top of the shell." Usopp cupped his chin.

"What?! It caved it! It's soft on this spot!"

"Usopp is stupid! Ah! Why me?!"

Cade's eyebrows rose. "It spoke back?"
"Wow! Even shells look down on you!" Luffy said.

"No! Those were our voices!" Usopp said.

"It can record sounds? That shell is a dial?" Zoro said.

"Yes. That's a tone dial. It records sound and then broadcast it later. It's a special shell only in the white-white sea," Conis said. "It's mainly used to record music."

"Usopp is stupid! Ah! Why me?!"

Luffy laughed.

"There's no bottom in the sea. How does these things survive?" Zoro asked.

"We get them from the edge of the beach," Conis said.

"If this is what a dial is... I don't understand how it can power the waver," Robin said.

"That's not it." Conis picked up a bigger shell. "This is the waver's power source. Even though this one is smaller. This is the wind dial. If you put it facing the wind for half an hour, it will be able to release half an hour worth of wind."

Luffy swung the shell in a circle then pressed the button. Wind flew back on him.

"The size of the storage is dependent on the size of the dial, but by placing it at the end of the ship, it can easily power the ship," Conis said.

"That's nice." Luffy grabbed on the railing and looked out to the sea. "I want to ride on a waver too. We have one too."

"We do, but it's broken," Usopp said. "Plus, it's been two hundred years. There's no way it can still move."

"Not necessarily. The dial itself is a corpse. As long as the shell is not broken, it will retain its power," Conis said.

"Other than those two, there seems to be more types of dials." Robin pointed the the shell lamp on the table.

"Eh? Dial! This thing is one too?!" Chopper leaned onto the table.

"This one is a lamp dial," Conis said. "It's used to store light."

Chopper pressed the shell and it lit up. "Ah, it's shining!"

"Though not a direct form of recourse, sky island's culture is one that coexists with the dial power, other types of dial includes, the heat storing hot dial, the smell storing scent dial, image recording video dial and so on," Conis said.

"So interesting!" Chopper said.

"Those are important tools for living in the air," Conis said.

A crash came from the kitchen.

"Sanji sounds happy," Luffy said.

"He probably fell in love with sky island food," Usopp said.

"You got that from a crash?" Cade asked.

Sanji and Pajaya bring out the food. "It's all ready! Dig in!"

"Cade, would you be more comfortable taking off your cloak?" Conis asked.

"No. I won't. I'm fine the way I am."

"Cade's a-"

"Shut up, Luffy." Cade clamped her hand over his mouth.

"Hey. Where did Nami go?" Sanji walked over to the balcony.

"Who cares? She probably went farther out to sea or something," Cade said.

"Father, will it be all right?" Conis asked.

"Hm?" Cade turned back to the winged people. If there was something to be worried about why wouldn't they have mentioned it before?

"Oh, Conis, my daughter, I have a bad feeling about this."

"What you talking about?" Luffy asked.

"In Skypiea, there's one place where no one should ever enter. That place is very close to this island, with waver, one can reach there very fast," Conis said. "It's holy land. It's where the god lives. Upper Yard."

"A god is there? In the place that no one should ever enter?" Luffy said.

"Here we go again. Get get ready, guys," Cade said.

"Yes, this is 'god land' and it is ruled by the almighty god Eneru," Conis said.

"Hey, Luffy! Listen to what she said!" Usopp grabbed Luffy's shirt.

"Too late, Usopp. Might as well get ready to go," Cade said.

"Yeah? So nobody should go in no matter what? But even though it's forbidden, this god will forgive us right? He's really nice, right?" Luffy said.

"Breaking the rule set by him is disrespecting him," Conis said.

"Really? Oh well, it doesn't matter." Luffy grinned.

"Let's go then." Cade stood.

"Hold on a minute. I'm almost done." Luffy shoveled more food in his mouth.

"What if something happened to Nami while you're stuffing your face?!" Sanji demanded. "Put it down! We'll be back soon enough!"

"Actually, we don't know for sure if she really went there, so please don't act recklessly. If we anger god Eneru, this will become very problematic," Conis said.

"Well, if you were that worried about it, you should have warned us from the start," Cade said. "Or, better yet, not let Nami take the waver."

"That's true. But we thought she wouldn't go very far," Pajaya said. "By the by, you said you have a broken waver. If it's not too much trouble, let me check it. I will repair it if I can."

"My father is a dial boat technician," Conis said.

"Really?! Thank you!" Luffy said.

They headed back to the beach. Pajaya knelt beside the waver and examined it. Cade boarded the ship. A few minutes later men come crawling over to them on their stomachs. "What is going on with them?"

The one in the front wore a coat on his shoulders, but all wore a white beret. They all stood and placed fingers behind their heads like bunny ears. "Heso!"

Conis and her dad greeted back.

"Heso must be some form of greeting," Cade said.

"Why were they crawling on the ground?" Sanji asked.

"Dunno. Maybe they're peeping perverts," Usopp said.

"I doubt it. They look more like soldiers," Cade said.

"This is why I was telling Luffy to get on board quickly," Usopp said with a huff.

"Hey, Luffy, ignore them! Let's go get Nami!" Sanji cupped his mouth.

"You! You are those citizens of the blue sea, who illegally enter Skypiea!" the leader shouted.

"What's illegally trespassing?" Sanji asked.

"It's about the one billion entrance fee that we didn't pay," Robin said.

"But that old lady said we could pass," Usopp said.

"Clearly she lied," Cade said.

"This is an eleven class crime. All you have to do is pay the fine and you'll be regular tourists," the leader said.

"Should have said that sooner." Sanji crossed his arms. "How much is it?"

"Ten times the entrance fee. Each person is ten billion. The total will be eighty billion"

"What! That's eighty billion!" Usopp gasped.

"Berry... That's the dollar value of the blue seas. In berry ten thousand is one berry."

"Which means how much?" Usopp counted on his fingers.

"So eighty billion would mean seven million berry," Robin said.

"What?! That's way too much! We risked our lives to get here! Why do we have to pay that much money?!" Sanji said.

"Why do we have to pay at all?" Cade asked. "Sounds like robbery to me."

"If you have paid in the beginning, it would have been only seven hundred thousand berry."

"That's still a lot!" Usopp said.

"Forget it. Ignore them. Let's go get Nami. She maybe lost somewhere and crying right now," Sanji said.

"This is boring. Let's just go." Cade sighed as the white beret leader went on about a class ten crime with the broken waver.

"Please, wait!" Nami's voice said.

"Oh, look. She's back." Cade watched as Nami rode the waver onto the beach and slammed into the leader. "Well, there it is. We're really in for it now."

The berets cocked their bows. Conis screamed for them to run. Arrows flew through the air, leaving clouds behind their wake. The men surfed on the clouds. They jump into a fight and fend off the men.

"What a pain." Cade brushed her chin with her arm.

The leader chuckled. "You fools. It would have been fine if you had done as I said. We, the white berets, are the nicest law enforcers in god land. They, on the other hand, won't be so forgiving. With this, you have become second class criminals. No matter how you cry or scream the priests of upper yard will personally judge you. Heso!"

The berets left.

"We'll be right back!" Luffy waved as he, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp headed back to the house.

"Okay." Cade waved back.

"How are you feeling?" Chopper asked.

"A little better, but the pressure is still there," Cade said.

"Try not to move around much. That'll help," Chopper said.

Cade nodded.
Suddenly the ship started moving.

"What's going on?!" Chopper asked.

"A giant shrimp has a hold of the ship." Zoro glanced over the side.

"Let's stop it!" Cade jumped over. Pulling back her fist she slammed into the creature's shell. Her fist stalled. "Crap."

"I can't slice it either," Zoro said.

Chopper screamed. "We're being chased!"

"Great. Looks like we're stuck," Zoro said.

Cade's head spun. Her kneels buckled.

"Got you." Zoro grabbed her and jumped back to the ship.

"Sorry." Cade panted. "Guess I shouldn't have done that."

"Don't worry." Zoro placed his hand on her back. "Just rest. We can't do anything now anyway."

"Where do you think we're being taken?" Chopper asked.

No one had an answer.