Ch 6 - A Temporary Coexistence
"...Sid...Are you mad at me?...Sid?"
Sid kept her wrists pressed hard against her closed eyes and continued to massage her temples with her fingers. She ignored the timid whimper from the Shandian child. This isn't happening, Sid repeated to herself, This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't-
"Sid? I'm really sorry. I'm really, really-"
"What...," Sid muttered as she tried to keep calm, "...In the name...of all our ancestors...were you even doing here, Aisa? You're supposed to be in the village!"
"I...I came to warn you and Wyper," Aisa gulped from behind the legs of Nami. Somehow the Blue Sea person, which the child was trying to fight off earlier, was suddenly her shield against the potential wrath of the Shandian healer. Even Boo, who was resting on top of Sid's head, looked worriedly at the child and unsure of what his master might do to her, "I...I heard a lot of voices disappearing and-"
"Of course, you heard a lot of voices disappearing!" Sid's hands fell to her side and balled into tight fists. "This is a war! Aisa, you shouldn't have come here! Do you know how much danger you put yourself in? How much danger you're STILL in?!"
Sid had almost vomited out her own heart when she saw Aisa on the back of Nami's waver up in the Upper Ruins. Sid, Wyper, Gan Fall, and even the green haired swordsman had converged there with Ohm waiting for them with his pet, Holy. Sid and Wyper were on their way up Giant Jack and towards God's Shrine only to be stopped by the priest. Gan Fall had suddenly come down from the shrine and broke the news that not only was God's Shrine was destroyed, Enel was nowhere to be found. It was all a mess and to make matters even more aggravating for Sid, instead of working with her to take down Ohm, Wyper was caught up fighting off the Blue Sea swordsman.
Just when Sid thought she had somewhat of a handle on the situation, Aisa and Nami had appeared out of nowhere. They burst through the clouds with the child screaming bloody murder while dangling from the back of the waver. Sid had abandoned her fight with Ohm almost immediately to go retrieve the child. She had promised Wyper that she was willing to step over any fallen comrades but Aisa was an exception. She wasn't supposed to be on the battlefield.
As Sid rode up with Boo and grabbed Aisa away from the waver, the snake appeared from above and swallowed them as well as Gan Fall, who had flown over with Pierre. Why he did that was beyond Sid's comprehension and she didn't even want to bother to ask. This war was turning more into a circus and Sid could only handle one clown at a time.
"Explain yourself, Aisa!" Sid demanded.
"Eek!" Aisa shrieked and ducked even further behind the orange haired woman, who was just as frustrated at Sid as Sid was with the child.
"It wasn't her fault!" Nami huffed with her hands on her hips, "We came here to get away from the snake!"
"Good job," Sid scoffed and waved her hand around the damp and dark cavernous belly, "Was being digested and excreted out as snake droppings your idea of getting away?"
"Hey! We were chased! We had no choice but to run into Upper Yard," Nami snapped, "And don't think I forgot that you owe me for my tangerines. Your debt has tripled since you took even more of them after I left."
"Aisa!" Sid yelled.
"Don't ignore me!"
"Aisa," Sid continued, looking straight past the annoyed Blue Sea woman, "Does anybody in the village know you're here? Your mom? Laki? My grandfather? Anybody?"
Aisa gulped and she shook her head.
"Do you realize how worried they must be once they realize you're gone?"
Aisa's head dropped and she shuffled her feet. "I...I'm really sorry...I was only trying to help."
Sid sighed and she walked over to the child. She squatted down so they were eye level and she put a hand on Aisa's head, "Sometimes trying to help only hurts the situation, Aisa. You think about that while I figure out a way to get out of the snake and get you out of Upper Yard."
"Y-You're not going to yell at me anymore?" Aisa asked quietly.
"I'll let Wyper take care of the yelling once we get out of here," Sid said and she grinned at the sight of the child's discomfort. The threat of Wyper was punishment enough for Aisa. Sid looked towards the adults, "So...any ideas on how we can get out of here?"
"Hmmmm," Gan Fall said as he rubbed his chin, "Maybe we can just break through the stomach?"
"Are you nuts?!" Nami yelled, "What're we going to do if we irritate it and it starts going wild again?! Do you wanna die? We're inside of him! We're going to get tossed around along with these rocks. There's no way we'd survive. Try using your head more!"
"Are all Blue Sea women this wound up?" Sid asked with a raised eyebrow as Gan Fall let out a sheepish chuckle.
"I...I was just joking?" he tried but it did little to placate Nami.
Aisa bit her lip and tentatively tugged on Sid's skirt. "Sid," she hissed, "Shouldn't we...Shouldn't we kill him? He's God!"
"You think we should kill him?" Sid asked and then shoved Aisa forward, "Go ahead. Do it. I won't stop you."
"Eh?!" Aisa's head ping ponged between her fellow Shandian and the Skypiean. She clutched her weapon, a short stick with a broken Impact Dial stuck at the top, "You're not going to do it, Sid?"
"One God at a time, Aisa," Sid said, "I'm going to deal with Enel first...If I survive that, then I'll worry about this one."
Gan Fall smiled at the Shandians, more so to the older one. "I didn't have a chance to thank you yet for treating my wounds the other day. Thank you."
"You did what?!" Aisa gasped at Sid, "But...But he's the enemy!"
Sid glowered at the knight. "I only kept you alive so that there was someone else Enel could focus on. Don't take that as a sign I'm merciful. I will kill you if necessary. "
That didn't seem to faze the former God one bit. "Then I'll make sure to keep my demise unnecessary for you then."
"Shhh! Listen!" Nami hissed suddenly and cupped her hands over her ears, "Do you guys hear that?"
The group fell silent and they all perked up their ears. As soon as they did, they could hear the distinct sounds of something hard slapping rhythmically against moistened stone. The sounds were coming towards them.
"Someone's coming," Sid said as she kept Aisa behind her with one hand while she reached for her spear with the other.
"What could be in a place like this?" Nami whispered.
"Who goes there?!" Gan Fall demanded with his javelin at the ready.
They heard a crumbling of stone and then a shadowy figure climbed up and over the swallowed rubble. When his face came into light, Nami let out a gasp while one of Sid's eyebrows cocked upwards.
"Ahh...Nami! Weird old man!" came the cry of a boy in a straw hat, "Oh! And the guerilla lady from before!"
"You...are...one of the Blue Sea people," Sid said slowly when her eyes fell on his red vest.
"Luffy?!" Nami exclaimed.
"Oooh! I'm so glad to see you! How'd you guys get into this mystery cave? Where's the exit?!" he asked.
"What are you doing in a place like this?" Nami asked back.
Luffy pouted and he looked absolutely pathetic to Sid. "I couldn't get out of this place."
"I can't believe it...To think you were swallowed by the snake too…" Nami breathed, "So the others are okay too?"
"Huh? I'm by myself," Luffy said and then he straightened up, "What?! Snake?!"
Nami nodded. "Yeah! That's why we're here."
"Oh, I see…So you guys got eaten by a snake," Luffy scratched his chin, "That must've been terrible for you guys."
Sid's other eyebrow joined its twin at the top of her head. This guy is...an idiot!
"Like I said," Nami hissed and raised her fist. She grabbed the boy by the nose and began to tug it every which way, "So were you! We're inside the snake's stomach!"
"Ow. Ow. Ow! Don't pull my nose!" Luffy whine and when she finally released it, his nose snapped back into his face.
"I can see why you are always so agitated, Nami," Sid said and gave the girl's shoulder a soft pat, "To have this guy as part of your crew...Your captain must be a very patient man."
Nami winced and her shoulders slumped. "I'd rather not say this but...the captain of our ship...is this guy."
Multiple beads of sweat dripped down Gan Fall's face and Sid's jaw dropped to the floor.
"You are the captain?" Gan Fall breathed towards Luffy, "It must be the the end of the world…"
Nami's posture moved downwards even more. "Yeah…" she sighed, "I guess that's how people'd normally see it."
"You must be really slow if you didn't even notice you were eaten by a snake," Aisa stated bluntly to the captain.
Luffy looked to the girl, to Sid, to Gan Fall, and then finally to his own crew member. His eyes widened to the size of Nami's tangerines. "AHHHH! Then this place is inside that giant snake's stomach?! Does this mean I've been eaten too?!"
Sid moved her eyes over to Nami with a sudden newfound respect for the girl. It was already a commendable feat for any Blue Sea ship to arrive on the White Sea with even a handful of crew members left but to do so with this boy as the captain? The entire crew must have some strong ancestors looking after them.
"That's what I've been telling you," Nami said with a roll of her eyes, "You didn't even realize your clothes have started to melt already, didn't you?"
"WHOA! You're right!" Luffy exclaimed. He tugged at the ends of his frayed vest that was already shortened to just below his ribs. It took him less than second to get over his wardrobe mishap. He frowned and looked around him, "I guess we'll have to look for its butthole right away."
"Butt…" Sid said.
"Hole?" Aisa finished.
Thwack!
Nami slapped the boy hard across the face. "Just where're you planning to escape from!"
The boy seemed unfazed by his crew member's act of violence and he frowned contemplatively. "We were eaten...so why not just go 'plop, plop' out of its butt?"
"Noooo!" Nami screeched and her hands went to the side of her head, as if to physically block away any imagery from entering her mind, "I'd rather melt!"
"Question…" Sid said suddenly and then shot her hand up into the air. The headache she was hoping to avoid came throbbing to the front of her brain along with a sinking suspicion, "You! Luffy...If you've been in here for quite some time...and you thought this was a cave...did you try to break down these 'walls' in an attempt to get out?"
A grin spread across Luffy's face. "Yep!" he said proudly.
"Ehhh?!" Nami, Gan Fall, and Aisa leapt back from him as if his stupidity was contagious.
"So...So you're the cause of all this," Gan Fall muttered, "I was wondering why the snake was suddenly acting out so rashly."
"Shishishi. Since I went a little wild, I got hungry," Luffy sighed, "Do any of you have something to eat? Oh! Guerilla lady, you took some of Nami's tangerines, right? Can I have one of them?"
"This cannot be happening...This cannot be happening…" Sid mumbled as her fingers went back to massaging her temples. She was so sure that the Blue Sea people were not the enemy but now part of her wondered if maybe they were devils sent up here to wreak havoc and chaos.
"YOU...STUPID...IDIOT!" Nami seethed.
Thwack!
The ground shook beneath Sid's feet and she lowered her hands to see Luffy sprawled on the floor with Nami's fist grinding hard against the top of his head. The shaking became more violent and before Sid could react, the floor was pulled out from under her and the entire group found themselves dropping vertically down the snake's stomach.
"BOO! Get Aisa!" Sid cried as she tucked her head behind her arms to avoid getting her skull crushed by a chunk of stone.
"Don't worry! I got her!" Gan Fall shouted as he pulled the child into his arms. A jagged block hit him right at the small of his back and the former God let out a strangled gasp but he kept his hold on Aisa tight.
"Pieerrrre!" Gan Fall's steed was stuck in an empty barrel with his wings pinned to his sides and unable to save his master.
"Boo! Go!" Sid shouted.
"Boo!" Boo darted forward and expanded to the size of a small bed. He caught Gan Fall and Aisa in the knick of time and gently floated them downwards the rest of the way.
Sid braced herself for impact. She tucked herself into a ball protecting as much of her head as she could but she knew there was no way she could come out this long fall unscathed.
"GUM GUM BALLOON!"
Boing! Boing! Boing!
Sid felt herself hit something soft but springy and then she was bounced up into the air. She opened her eyes just in time to see Nami and Pierre fly past her head. She landed on top the stone and debris that piled up at the base of the snake's stomach with a gentle thud. She uncurled herself and then sat up to see what had happened. Her eyes widened when she saw Luffy's belly shrinking down from an enlarged state.
"...Wha...What are you?"
"Shishishishi," Luffy grinned, "I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit. I'm a rubber man."
"Rubber?" Sid tilted her head to the side. "What's that?"
"You don't know what rubber is?" Nami's voice asked from behind a broken stone slab, "I guess...Sky Islands don't have that."
"Which is why I'm asking," Sid said as Luffy climbed over the slab to look for his friend.
"AHH! Nami!" Luffy screeched when his eyes fell on a dried up skeleton wearing a yellow shirt and dark brown pants. He raced towards the fossil and shook it's shoulders. "Hang in there! Stay with me. STAY WITH ME!"
"But…" Sid sighed. That's not even what Nami was wearing…
The skull popped off of the spine and rolled towards Sid's foot.
"Noooo, Nami!" Luffy cried.
Thwack!
Nami came around from behind a nearby rock and punched Luffy lightly across the back of the head. This time, her blow was not as harsh and Sid could only hope that the Blue Sea people have finally learned not to agitate the snake. "I'm over here."
"Let me go! Let me go! Are you trying to squeeze me to death?!"
Aisa thrashed against the knight's armor and he smiled at her before his arms loosened his grip. "So you're okay. Thank goodness."
Aisa pushed herself away from the knight and made a grab for his javelin. She pointed it right at his throat.
"Aisa! What do you think you're doing?!" Nami gasped while Sid studied the child for a second before sitting herself down on a nearby stone.
"I'll take your head!" Aisa cried to the old knight, who was looking at her just as solemnly as Sid was.
"Sid! You're not going to stop her?!" Nami demanded.
"Quiet," Sid said with her eyes glued to the child, "I already said I wouldn't stop Aisa if she chose to kill him. If that is her warrior's resolve, then I will respect that."
Nami was not at all appeased by Sid's answer. "She's not a warrior. She's a child!"
"I am a warrior and he's the enemy! He took away our homeland!" Aisa shouted.
"But wasn't that 400 long years ago?! It wasn't him who started it!" Nami protested.
Gan Fall's eyes stared straight at the child. "If your people would be satisfied with taking my head, I'd gladly give it to you...But the way things are now, taking my head alone won't settle things. The hostility between the Shandians and the Skypieans would not change at all. Our ancestors took your homeland away from you Shandians and I cannot find a way to correctly apologize for that action."
Sid leaned forward in her seat and her hands clasped together between her knees. Her lips pursed into a deep frown as she continued to listen to the former God.
"Time passes by while I continue to remain helpless. I am powerless," Gan Fall admitted, "If possible, I would like to apologize one by one to all Shandians who died in seeking their homeland in the past 400 years but I do not know how much help that would do."
"The weird knight has been trying very hard so that everyone that lives in the sky can get along and live peacefully," Nami chimed in, "Aisa, if you-"
"We can't get along and live peacefully!" Aisa cried, "They are the bad guys!"
"They're not bad guys!" Nami shouted back, "What's bad is when one race refuses to coexist with another!"
Aisa stiffened.
"Am I wrong?!" Nami demanded.
Aisa's eyes welled up with tears as she struggled with her decision to strike and the javelin trembled in her hands.
"Aisa's father died by the hands of a Divine Soldier right after she was born," Sid said slowly but still assertive. She was looking directly at the Skypiean in front of her but it was clear she was addressing the entire group, particularly the child. She was voicing what was going on inside the child's head but too complicated to leave the child's mouth.
"Aisa is about to turn 9...which means her father died during your watch, Gan Fall. This didn't happen from Enel's reign or even 400 years ago and she's not the only one who has lost a parent. Aisa and every Shandian child grows up thinking Skypieans are the bad guys because to us, you are. You have done bad things. Maybe your powerlessness and inability to make a change counts as one of them..."
"S...Sid…" Nami whispered and then turned to her captain, hoping that maybe he could stop the bloodbath that was on the verge of happening.
Aisa pulled back the javelin and readied herself to thrust it forward.
"But…" Sid continued and Aisa froze, "I also know that we have killed countless Skypiean fathers, brothers, even sons. To your children, we must look like the bad guys. Both sides have blood on their hands and neither can walk away from this entirely blameless. At this point, everyone is in the wrong…"
She got up from her seat and then placed a hand on the child, who jumped in surprise at the sudden contact. "Except you, Aisa. Your hands are still clean. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"I…I…" Aisa stammered.
"I must warn you. The first kill is always the hardest, Aisa," Sid said, "And it always stays with you….Always."
"You…" Gan Fall murmured.
"Ahhhhh!" Aisa fell to her knees and the javelin dropped to the ground with a loud clang. It rolled away from her and she buried her head in her hands, "I...I don't know...I don't know what to do…" she cried.
"Shishishshishi."
The child timidly looked up and over at the grinning captain, who was sitting cross legged and grinning ear to ear.
"There's nothing left to do. He already apologized, right?" he asked.
A corner of Sid's mouth turned upwards. His straightforward and simple mindset was undeniably amusing to her but she couldn't deny his logic. However…
"There's actually a lot to do," she said and raised an eyebrow, "Anybody got any ideas how we can get out of here? I'm open to try anything at this point."
Luffy's hand shot straight up, "I think we should-"
"Except!" Sid cut in immediately, "'Plop, plop'. We are definitely not doing that."