Shocking
Cade and Robin walked in silence. A few times Cade had thought of trying to talk to this woman, but nothing came to mind. The crew had already tried talking several times to Robin, but the woman wasn't forthcoming with much of her past. She only gave vague answers, if she answered at all.
So their walk continued in thick silence.
"Look. Here are the first homes outside of the city. They're swallowed by the forest. I hope the city is still holding up," Robin said when they came upon the buildings.
"For history study, right?" Cade asked.
"Of course."
A thump caused them to turn around. Sitting on a roof of a building was a man with long ears. He sounded like a sheep. "You there. This path leads to the god's shrine. You may not continue forward."
"Get down from there right now." Robin's eyebrows drew together. "Do you have any idea how valuable those historical ruins are?"
"Huh? You cheeky little girl!"
"Do you have a problem with me?" Robin asked.
"Kind of. God Eneru ordered us to eliminate any intruders who entered the fo-"
"Seis Fleurs!" Arms and hands wrap around the goat man. "Twist."
"A bid harsh for sitting on a building," Cade said.
"These aren't just buildings, Cade. They tell us so much about the people who live here." Robin waved at the ruins.
"I really couldn't care less."
"What if it was your home? Fishmen have quiet the history themselves."
Cade snorted. "I wouldn't know."
"Meaning?"
"I wasn't raised with fishmen. I don't care about their history." Cade turned and walked away.
More silence. More walking. And more silence.
Cade sighed. Why couldn't I have ran into Luffy or Zoro?
Robin paused at a stone block and flipped through a book.
"What is it now?" Cade asked.
"A tombstone for the city, I think. It was probably constructed by the descendants after the city fell. Shandora. That must be the name of the ancient city." Robin touched the stone. "Time of destruction was eight hundred years ago."
A noise.
"Who's there?" Robin asked.
"Are you a cute one, miss." A heavy set man appeared. He charged at Robin Robin.
Cade stood back and watched as Robin traded blows with this heavy man.
The man knocked Robin to the ground.
Cade rushed forward and swirled her water. "Water Swirl!" She lifted the man into the air and dropped him. He hit the ground with a hard thud. Cade jumped into the air, head becoming light, she dropped her heel on the man's stomach, knocking him out. She landed on her feet, head spinning. She drew in a few deep breathes.
"You don't trust me, but you defended me." Robin smiled.
Cade waved her hand. "Blame Luffy for that. He made me the life guard of the crew. You were in trouble. I did what I was suppose to do. That's all."
"Still, I thank you for the assistance."
Cade shrugged.
They continued with their walk coming to more ruins at the base of a giant beanstalk.
"That's one giant stalk." Cade glance up. "Can't even see the top. Luffy would love it."
"This place should be the town center, but the locations of these buildings don't match that map at all. Maybe this is the damage from the impact of being shot into the sky," Robin said then entered the tunnel.
The end of the tunnel showed a large town, all in ruins. Robin sat and took notes while Cade looked around. No one appeared to be around. And from their spot she couldn't see any gold.
Robin headed back inside.
Cade followed and watched as Robin started cutting away clouds. "What are you doing?"
"If I'm right there should be another level under these clouds."
Cade pulled out her dagger. Kneeling down she started cutting away the clouds.
Robin glanced at her.
"If we're going down we might as well get there," Cade said without looking up.
"I thought so." Robin moved the last cloud block out of the way. They dropped into the hole. "There really is another level to the ruins. Although it's a ruin from the blue seas the ground was made of island cloud. I though that was strange."
"What do you mean?"
"Cover in island cloud, only the top of the ruin is visible. So we dug down into the lower level."
"So you're thinking the gold is here?"
"Possibly."
They walked down a hall until they saw light.
Robin sat down. "After all this time, it still so magnificent."
"So this is the golden city Shandora." Cade looked around at the stone buildings. "Okay. I'll admit it. This place is pretty cool. Must have been amazing in its prime."
"Huh?"
"What is it?" Cade asked.
"It's a poneglyph." Robin walked to it. "I never expected to find on intact here."
"Poneglyph?"
"It's a stone written in a language that only the creators of the writing were able to use and read."
"But you can read it?"
"I can." Robin nodded. "It studied the language as a child. It says, 'truth in the heart and the mouth sealed. We are those who record history. Together with the sound of the great belfry.'"
"Didn't Noland's book say something about a golden bell?"
"It did. And it should be around here somewhere."
"Then I'd like to know where. We haven't spotted a single piece of gold."
"It's a shame. All the books in the city were burned. Its entire history was lost." They find cart rails after more looking around. "It's a sign that something big was moved. They look new."
Laughter came from behind them. "Amazing, isn't it? The city has kept its splendor even after being blasted into the sky. The magnificent Shandora. The poor city was hidden in the clouds, with no one to admire it. I was the one who discovered it. My foolish predecessors had no idea of its existence."
"And you are?" Robin asked.
"God." The man with long ears, blonde hair, and a giant ring in his back smiled. "I'm impressed. You're an archaeologist from the blue sea, right? It took us several months to find these ruins. Was the process simplified by your ability to read those writings?" He bit into an apple. "Unfortunately, the gold you seek is gone. You are a few years too late."
"Are you the one who took it?" Robin asked.
"Yes, I am. That shining material quite suits me."
"So, you took the golden bell, too?"
"Golden bell?" He finished his apple. "Very interesting. What did you learn by reading those runes?"
"Nothing new, unfortunately. If it wasn't here when you arrived then the bell probably didn't reach the sky," Robin said. "The Shandorians were really proud of their golden bell and the belfry it was in. But I was rather interested in the belfry."
"Wait. It is. It's here. It did get to the sky." He pointed at them then cupped his chin. "Four hundred years ago, when upper yard was born that when this island as blown into the sky, a ringing sound of bell was heard throughout the country. The old men here called it the song of the island. So this bell was made of gold. Fascinating. As soon as the game is over, I'll just look around this place. Oh! It seems a bug has reached the edge of the island."
Something's not right with this guy. Cade knitted her brow.
Ruins rain down from the sky.
Zoro lifted from some of the ruins.
"Zoro!" Cade rushed over to him.
"Did you fall along with the rocks?" Robin asked.
"You're losing a lot of blood." Cade her eyes drop to Chopper. "Is he okay?"
"I think so." Zoro smacked the rock. "Stupid rock! I almost died!"
"Yeah. Like hitting it would do anything." Cade huffed.
"So where are we?" Zoro asked handing Chopper off to Cade.
"This is the golden city we were searching for," Robin said. "However there's no gold."
The snake that separated them rose up from the fallen debris.
"Is that the same snake from before?" Cade asked.
"Looks like it," Robin said.
The snake looked around the lift its head to cry.
"It's crying?" Cade asked. "Why?"
"That's very noisy, king of the sky." Eneru lifts up a hand. Lightning shoots out and hits the snake. "You annoying snake."
The snake turns to him and hisses.
"God's Judgment!" Eneru brings a large lightning bolt down.
"Ah! Nami!" Zoro screamed.
"Nami's here?" Cade asked.
"Eh? Zoro. Cade. Robin," Nami said.
"Why are you over here?! When did you get out?!" Zoro asked, spotting the navigator hiding behind a broken wall.
"Never mind. I'm okay, but Luffy is still in the snake," Nami said.
"What do you mean?! Luffy's inside of that snake?!" Cade looked at the snake.
"It's a long story. We got swallowed," Nami said. "He was in there before I was though."
The snake crashed to the ground. A Shandorian rushed forward, trading blows with Eneru.
"The game isn't over yet," Eneru said. "All of you are contestants of my little game. The goal of the game is simple. It's a survival game. Of course, I'm also a contestant. I even allowed some people to join the fun after the game already started. My prediction was that there would be six survivors. In three minutes, the three hour time limit will be over. Thus, it is quite problematic that there are still survivors. God's prediction can never be wrong."
"If you were God then you would be right. But you're not God at all. You're not even a god," Cade said.
Eneru smiled. "I was going to let you chose who will be eliminated. Would you do it yourselves or should I? But I know who should go first." He vanished.
Cade stiffened.
"You, fishman, shall be the first to go. Your control over water could cause me a lot of problems."
"How... how did you know what I was?" Electricity ran up and down her spine before every fiber of her being lit ablaze.
"Because of my mantra," Eneru said. "Sorry, but your abilities to control water will be a real pain for me. You must die first."
White filled Cade's eyes before darkness set in.
