Chapter Seven
For once Luffy was arriving late for dinner, but she didn't really mind. It had been for a good cause.
"Luffy-swan! Are you alright!" Sanji asked worriedly, getting similar nods from the rest of the crew.
"Shishishishishi! I'm fine, don't worry!"
Putting the big stack of papers, she had been carrying on the kitchen table, she sent a big smile for all of her nakama.
"I was working on something for each of you! Here!" She picked up a bunch of papers, and threw it over to Zoro, then doing the same and throwing a stack to Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Johnny and Yosaku.
Looking down at what he had been given, Zoro blinked in surprise, before letting a big smile come up on his face. The bunch of papers were actually a very carefully bound together stack of bounty posters, with a blank page in the front where Luffy had carefully written:
"Bounties of the Grand Line – Paradise
The Straw Hat Bounty Hunters"
"Really?" He asked, looking back up to his captain and letting her see how much the gift pleased him.
Luffy nodded, grinning back at them. "I got copies of the bounties in Loguetown and have been making them the last few days. I thought it made sense for all of us to have a copy. We are all a team, right?"
"Right! Luffy-chan~!"
"Heh. Sounds exactly right to me!"
"Luffy-sis! Zoro-bro!"
"That's right! I the great captain Usopp will give the greatest contribution to the bounty hunting effort!"
"Shishishishishi!"
"Men! Of course we are a team, Luffy. We are going to get ourselves lots of money in the Grand Line!"
"Let's have a toast!"
"YEAH!"
(X)(X)
The climb up the knock-up-stream had been hard. Laboon had had a hard time with it even more than they did on the Merry, but her accessories that imitated wings and a small sail had done their job and allowed her to climb it up with them.
And now, they were in the middle of the cloud ocean, looking over a never seen horizon.
"This is amazing!" Nami cried in disbelief and happiness.
Luffy guessed they all felt that mix of emotions. It wasn't every day that they climbed up a vertical stream up to an ocean in the clouds!
They were just recovering from the scare of Usopp almost falling off of the sky, thankfully saved by Laboon, when a weird masked warrior appeared, trying to hurt the Merry. Thankfully, Laboon and a sky knight called Gan Fall managed to scare him off.
After some exploring and a fun interlude bouncing in some awesome fluffy clouds, they finally found their way towards what was clearly a man-made gate, with a big sign saying 'Heaven's Gate' carved on top. Just as they entered the domed structure, an old lady with wings on her back came out.
"OH MY GOD! IT'S AN ANGEL!" Usopp whisper-screamed, finally coming out of his 'sky-island-is-scary' rant.
"I am Amazon, the keeper of heaven's gate. You seem to be blue sea duellers. Are you a party of seven?" The old lady asked, holding a strange flashing device in front of her face.
Cocking her head to the side, Luffy blinked at the stranger. "Hello! I'm Luffy! We're actually eight. Laboon is also with us!"
The whale came out and greeted the old Lady with a jet of water.
"I see." The lady turned the strange object towards Laboon, before finally focusing back on Luffy. "The immigration fee to pass the gate is Extol per individual, which makes it into in total."
Well, that was surprising. Luffy hadn't come across any fees to pass any gates before. Usually there were small fees to dock their boat at the ports, but it was never per member of the crew. Looking around she could see that her nakama were equally surprised.
"Ah! We only have Bellis!" Nami called out, worried that they would be stranded here so close to their goal simply for not having the right currency. Everywhere they had been before only used Bellis, why would they have anything else? "Do you accept that coin?"
"Um… The blue sea currency called Belli… 1 of those equals 10.000 Extol, so you would need to pay 100.000 Belli per individual, in a total of 800.000 Belli." Amazon explained in a bored voice.
"800 THOUSAND BELLI! So much money! That's thievery!" Nami cried, her face red with fury.
"Will you pay or not?" The lady asked, still with a bored tone.
"Umm… what if we don't pay. Can we pass?"
The lady blinked, her face impassive as she nodded "You can pass."
"Alright! Let's save the money. No way are we paying!" Nami cried in relief.
Amazon nodded. "Very well."
And then suddenly there was a giant crab under the Merry, grabbing it by the broken wings the old man and the Monkeys had attached, and taking off with them.
"WOOOOOOONNN!"
Crying out in outrage Laboon raced after them furiously, swimming up the twisted could road.
(X)(X)
The white fluffy beach was amazing, and everyone jumped out of the ship to enjoy it, the strange kidnaping crab quickly forgotten.
Conis and her dad were also pretty cool, showing them around and inviting them to eat at her house to show them all those awesome mystery shells.
Sky food was amazing! Luffy hopped that Sanji was taking a lot of notes, cause she would want to eat some of this stuff again!
Everything was going great, until the weird guys with white caps appeared crawling in the sand spouting stuff about crimes.
"We are certainly not criminals! We catch criminals for a living" She stated confidently. "The criminal here would be the old woman at the gate. She said we could pass without having to pay, so we did! If it is illegal to do that, then she is the reason for it."
The tall man in front of them sneered down at them. "Slandering a citizen of Skypiea is a level 8 crime!"
"WHAT?" Zoro and Sanji cried in outrage.
Johnny and Yosaku had to hold them down as Usopp waved around in a panic trying to defuse the situation.
Huffing in annoyance, Luffy sat down with a pout. "Let's wait for Nami to come back with the waver and see how to solve this thing together."
It was a good plan in her book. Nami had a way of getting out of paying for stuff.
Well.
Usually.
The weird guys seemed to just be looking for ways to make their so-called crime worse.
Snoring on angel beach? Level 7 crime.
Having an old waver? Level 6 crime.
Destroying an old waver? Level 5 crime.
So annoying.
Then Nami finally arrived and the situation turned from bad to worse.
Luffy sighed. Who would have thought that Nami's greed would turn off the Nami charm?
(X)(X)
Half of the crew being kidnapped by a giant crab – again! – while waiting on the ship was also not in the plans.
Thankfully Laboon had been alright, even after fighting off another of the giant crabs.
The rest of them had to make their way to the island pier, to get one of the bigger wavers and make their way into the mysterious Upper Yard.
Since Laboon had also been considered a member of the crew by the Amazon lady, she also had to came with them, so she met them by the black duck boat.
"Such an ugly boat" Luffy and Usopp pouted, Sanji and Johnny rolling his eyes at their antics.
They dumped their stuff inside and were getting ready to go when suddenly Conis broke down in tears and begged them not to leave.
"Don't go! God will punish you and you will die! Please don't go! No one comes back from the Upper Yard!"
The people around them started shouting in fright and running away. Up in the sky, a strange blue light started to form.
Luffy shared a look with Sanji, before jumping over and pulling Conis away from the weird blue light, at the same time as the old man Knight arrived.
"If you knew you would be punished for telling us that, you shouldn't have said anything" Luffy told her with a smile. "Don't worry. We know you didn't have a choice. But it's all the same for us. Cause we would never abandon our nakama!"
Giving her a wave, Luffy jumped into the boat and told Sanji to floor it already.
It was time to meet up with their friends!
(X)(X)
The giant blades, the boomerangs and the monster animals had been fun.
Laboon seemed to agree with her cause she was splashing around in excitement at finally being able to contribute something more for their adventures.
Then they had gotten into the trial of balls and things had gotten weird again.
Luffy was on the ground trying to get her breathing back under control after the priest Satori had sent them all flying around the clearing with some weird mystery move.
Thankfully, she'd had time to ask Laboon to make sure their boat didn't get too far away.
Climbing up to her feet, Luffy was just in time to see the priest stretch his arm and make Johnny go flying against a tree.
That was not normal at all. What could it be? Some mystery power?
But was there a power that allowed someone to control balls and hurt them at the same time?
Or maybe it was something else…
Luffy cocked her head. Now that she thought about it, the balls moving did kind of remind her of those puppet shows the wandering merchants used to give back in Fusha village.
Whatever it was, it seemed to only work with his hands. So, if Luffy managed to avoid that, that would be good. Seeing Sanji also getting back up, Luffy shouted. "Hey, Sanji! Give me a hand and help distract him!"
Running up to the priest, Luffy jumped over one of the balls, and stretched her arms to attack the guy. The guy dodged, as expected – stupid Mantra – and also as expected, couldn't resist sending her a stupid arrogant comment.
That was good cause it distracted him from seeing her arm move in an arc instead of snaping back directly.
Moving in an arc and catching a bunch of strings that were connecting with all the balls around them.
"Ohhhhhh! Look at that! He really is like those puppet guys!"
The priest spluttered and panicked, and Luffy and Sanji took advantage of that to finish him off.
Making sure the guy was down, Luffy took one of his hands and inspected it curiously.
"Oi! Luffy! What are you doing?" Usopp called, his fear coming out in his voice. "We need to get back on the boat and find the others!"
Luffy frowned, not seeing anything special with the guy's gloves, she started to peel them off. "I just want to see if we can figure out where those mystery powers came from. Don't worry about the waver. Laboon took care of it."
The glove came off, and the four of them looked in surprise at what was hidden behind it.
"A dial?" Johnny asked in surprise.
Luffy nodded, her face serious. "So, it was a mystery shell after all." The others rolled their eyes at her choice in words, but she just grinned back at them, getting at the guy's other hand to take that shell too. "If we meet another priest, let's just be careful with their hands from now on!"
"Alright Luffy Chan!"
"Let's just get back on the boat and get to the others now. Please!"
(X)(X)
Meeting back up with everyone was a pretty good feeling, even with the news that Chopper had been attacked. At least the weird old man Gan Fall was gonna be alright.
"Wait, so this is Jaya, but in the sky? So cooool!"
"So, there should be a city of gold somewhere here, right?!"
"Right!"
Luffy nodded, rubbing her forehead as she tried to form a plan. "So, first, we should get Merry out of here, and take her to safety. Laboon is guarding her from all those skysharks, but we should take her back out of the island and into the sea."
The others agreed, Usopp nodding very vigorously.
"We should split up! Half of us take the ship back out, and the rest go and get the gold" Nami proposed her eyes turning into Belli signs.
Luffy shrugged. "Alright. Sounds fine by me. But I'll go on the gold adventure!"
(X)(X)
She had been happily making her way towards the city of gold with Zoro, Robin and Yosaku when the gigantic snake appeared, making them split up from each other.
She had just decided on a new path to take when the annoying guerrilla guy with a huge riffle started firing at her.
Unfortunately, before she could finally land a hit of her own on the bastard, the giant snake appeared again and swallowed her up.
(X)(X)
Not a pleasant experience. She would not recommend it to her friends.
But at least she hadn't been bitten. She remembered that the snake had been poisonous.
"What's this?" Seeing something shiny, she pulled it up to see a huge golden crown. "Wowa! This is gold! Nami would be happy!" Putting it inside her bag, she skipped around happily, picking up any gold she came across.
(X)(X)
"I'm soooo hungryyyyyyy! Let me out Mr. Snake!"
She'd walked all the way to the end of the snake's tail as she picked up her golden treasure, and now she realized she would have to walk all the way back!
She was half way there after a few jumps made with the help of stretchy limbs, when Nami appeared, with the weird old man, his bird horse and a little girl.
Well, it was good to know that she wasn't the only one with bad enough luck to be eaten by a giant snake!
"So, any ideas on how to get out? I've been here for a while. Climbing out of its mouth might be tricky. I was considering just punching it from the inside and make the snake vomit me out." Luffy said, scratching at her eyebrow.
"Don't be an idiot! The snake could actually just do the opposite of that!" Nami said with her annoyed voice.
Seeing her bad mood Luffy grabbed at the big bags she had filled with gold trinkets. "Here Nami! I found this for the crew!"
"What?... S-SO MUCH GOLD! LUFFY~! I LOVE YOU~!"
Nami in a proper mood, and the problem between the old man and the little girl promptly taken cared of, they all started to consider the best way of getting out.
They had decided on a plan when suddenly everything turned upside down and they started free falling out of the snake.
Everything would have gone perfect if Luffy had had time to grab onto the waver, but she didn't, so that left her and Aisa without a fast way out.
Back into the snake the two of them went.
Bummer.
At least the bird horse came back for them.
(X)(X)
When they finally made it out, Luffy is amazed at all the ruins around them.
"Is this… our homeland… Shandra?" Beside her, Aisa was also speechless.
Turning around, Luffy starts looking for Nami and the old Man, wondering where they could be.
The sight that greets her is one she will hope never to see again.
"ZORO! ZORO" Reaching her first mate, she grabs him and shakes him up gently, hopping to bring him back. Fighting through her panic, she puts him down, and rests her ear over his heart and is relieved to hear it beating.
Thank god.
Not god Enel though.
Damn it.
Looking around, she sees Chopper's hat peeking from behind a wall, and finds him also unconscious. Thankfully not too hurt. Less than Zoro.
Robin is laying a bit farther away. She seems a little better because she is regaining her senses and waking up.
Shaking her gently, Robin wakes up and tells them about Enel and his horrible evil plans.
"It was too fast. Couldn't even grab the seastone."
"Fucking bastard! I'll get Nami back and stop him. Robin, I'll leave Zoro, Chopper and the old man to you. Keep them out of trouble"
"And Wiper!" Aisa shouted from the back of the horse bird.
"And the annoying guerrilla dude."
(X)(X)
With Aisa's help she finds Enel and Nami pretty easily.
Mantra really was useful.
Fighting him is at the same time easy and not easy.
His lightning kind of tickles, but doesn't otherwise bother her too much, unlike other, normal, people.
Nami's staff is at the same time useful but a hindrance, as Enel seems too fast to be stuck twice by it after he realises that it leaves him weak and unable to use his powers.
Getting her hand stuck in a giant gold ball is not fun.
At all.
Thank you very much.
But it wasn't like she was gonna let that stop her.
So, she climbs back up the giant beanstalk, catches all those lightning bolts with her new accessory like a human lightning rod, and then smashes the stupid god Enel into the golden bell she had been dying to ring since they left Jaya and the pineapple old man.
Good riddance.
The after party is awesome.
(X)(X)
It's the day after the party, as Chopper is making his rounds around the injured and Robin is still looking at the Poneglyph, when she asks the old man Gan Fall and the old man from Shandra if they can take the gold pieces they found inside the snake.
The two of them look at each other and then shrug. "Gold has no value for us, so of course you may take it." The old man Shandra says. "But why don't you take the pillar that fell off of the belfry?"
Luffy smiles at the two men, thanking them for the offer. "Thanks, but it might be too big to take with us. We still need to go back down to the blue sea, and I don't know how that works yet, but it might not be a good idea to have a very heavy ship when doing it. And our ship is not in a very good condition after the trials from Enel."
Gan Fall hums under his breath considering other ways to show their thanks to the crew of bounty hunters.
"Our shipwrights will try to help as much as they can with your ship. Anything else we can do for you, please tell us."
"Hummmmm…" Luffy cocked her head, and scratched her chin. "I would really like to trade with you for a lot of different dials. We would love to incorporate them in our daily lives as you do."
"Ah! Our merchants would really like that!"
"Shishishishishishi! I bet!"
Waving Usopp over to join the Skypiean merchants, Luffy turned back to the old man, this time her face serious.
"Also, I would like to learn anything your people can teach us about Mantra."
(X)(X)
Later that day, when everyone had come back from their own tasks, the two old men show them the way towards one of the tent camps the refugees from Skypiea and Shandra had put up.
"Enel was not from Skypiea. He was born in another Sky Island called Birka, where he joined the Great Temple of the Monks of Birka. Enel's four priests also came from Birka, though I am not certain if they were also from the Great Temple." Gan Fall explained, sighing at the memories it brought back. "Before coming to Skypiea, Enel and his priests attacked the temple and destroyed most of Birka, sending it towards the Blue sea. I now believe that what he did to Birka was just a small part of what he planned to do to Skypiea."
The Straw Hats shuddered at the memory of the gigantic ball of lightning. They could understand the feelings of the old men.
"Some of the survivors of Birka made it out to Skypiea, and started new lives. When Enel came here, some of them made their way somewhere else, not able to live so close to the one who had destroyed the lives of their family and friends. But some stayed, not having the option to move away again. Or maybe just tired of moving."
The old man stopped in front of a tent, pulling the flap away, he called inside. "Omari-san, the blue sea duellers would like to speak to you about Mantra, if you are feeling up to it."
"Tell them to come in" called a gruff voice.
Inside the tent the air was heavy. A very, very, old man wearing white long robes, like the goat priests some of the straw hats had fought, was seating on some pillows.
Luffy looked him over very carefully. He really looked old. Older than anyone she had ever seen before, his face and hands so wrinkled it seemed like his skin could break if someone pulled on it.
"You wish to know about mantra?" The old, old man asked, looking them over. "Just what, and why do you wish to know about it?"
Luffy looked around the tent, at old man Gan Fall and old man Shandra, and all of her nakama sitting around in a circle before turning back to the old, old man Omari, her face serious.
"I was able to defeat Enel, but that was just a luck of destiny. My devil fruit was the natural enemy of his. And that was it. If I was not so lucky, I wouldn't have been able to do anything about him. Nothing that any of your great warriors hadn't done before, at least. And I would have died. All my nakama would have died, and so would have most of the sky people of this island."
Taking a deep breath, Luffy took out her hat, putting it on top of her knees and lowering her head slightly, in what she hopped would show the old man her sincerity in this request.
"I know all this. And I also know that back in the blue sea there are many people as strong as Enel, or even stronger. And we all need to be able to win and survive if we cross paths and need to fight them." She raised her head again looking the man in the eyes. "I will not let my nakama die. Not if I could have done something to protect them!"
"Luffy…" Nami murmured, her eyes tearing up slightly.
Beside her, Zoro nodded in agreement, his face set into a determined scowl.
All around her, the others gave their own signs of agreement with her statement.
The old man Omari looked her over, and she made sure not to let her eyes waver.
She didn't know what he was thinking. But he was probably seeing or hearing something about her with his Mantra, so she tried to stay steady.
The man nodded.
"Very well. I shall teach you what I can."
"YES!" Luffy couldn't help letting out a cry in celebration. "Thank you Omari-sensei! We will do our best to not let you down!"
"Humf. We will see."
(X)(X)
"Hey, Makino?"
"Yes Luffy? Do you need help with something?"
"Not really. I just wanted to spend time with you."
"Hahaha. Of course. You can always spend time with me."
"I'm gonna miss you when I set sail tomorrow, you know?"
"I'm gonna miss you too. I'll be keeping my eye on every newspaper to find out what you have been doing."
"Shishishishishi! I'll make sure I get in a lot of newspapers then!"
"Hahahahaha! I will look forward to it!"
…
"I love you Makino. I'll use all your lessons and make you proud."
"Oh, Luffy, I'm already proud! I love you too."
(X)(X)