A/N: Salue omnis!

This is being updated earlier than I expected, but unfortunately this may be the last for a bit. i've recently gotten a new job, which starts tomorrow and time is getting tighter with university going back this week. (I know, only two weeks break... it's not a lot, but it's something)

So i've got a fair bit on my plate, but I hope that you enjoy this chapter regardless!

I hope that you're all doing well, and that life is currently kind to you.

Sabo really didn't want to leave Ace by himself. Not after the stories that Doke no Boggy had told of his mother, and not of the danger that reared its angry head in the form of Marshall D. Teach. But Ace was nothing if not stubborn, and though he said he would think about either going back to the Moby or calling in some reinforcements, Sabo knew that trouble would probably find Ace quicker than he would reach a decision.

Sabo had told his brother that he would stay with him whilst he mulled over the decision, but Ace told him to go and speak with the new residents of this world before the marines figured out that they existed. Sabo really couldn't argue with that logic, especially knowing that when an Outlier first arrived in this world, that's when they would be most vulnerable to being murdered or captured to be sold into slavery.

He just hoped that Ace would make a reasonable decision, a safe one, but he knew deep in his heart that the future that Ebony had seen would most likely come to pass and that Sabo would do everything in his power to help make sure that it didn't.

Sabo couldn't dwell on it, since he would be in Alabasta by the time Ace had made up his mind and too far away to do anything of note if something did happen with Teach.

His mind wandered slightly away from Ace, and towards the two Outliers he was headed towards.

Ebony's message was clearly a code of some sort, meant for one (or both) of the Outliers to hear and understand. He did wonder at what it meant, hopefully one of the two would explain it to him.

Pia and Lem couldn't have been their real names, or at least not their full names, but couldn't help but think on why would Ebony need to go shopping?

There was a nagging thought in the back of his mind, one that kept getting dragged under whenever he so much as tried to latch onto it. Sabo shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the fog, dismissing the thought, the memory, before it had even a chance to form.

(It couldn't be that important, after all; what did jewellery have to do with Outliers?)

My sleep that night were plagued with nightmares of death, destruction and grief. I knew that the place in my dreams was Marineford, then Dressrosa, then back to Marineford. (Impel Down, Wano, Enies Lobby, Whole Cake Island, Thriller Bark, Punk Hazard…)

Too late to save Ace, too late to save Luffy, in my dreams I watched as everything around me was destroyed in magma and frozen in time. The Straw Hat crew and Sabo, glaring at me, as though it were all my fault. The weight of the world on my shoulders, crushing me down into the ground, until I drowned in the salty depths of the ocean.

I woke with a scream, tears streaming down my face as I tried to muffle my sobs, curling in on myself into the foetal position. It didn't work nearly as well as I had hoped, as Sanji, who was a lifelong light sleeper, immediately awoke to the sounds of distress. He seemed to be able to sense the distress of any member of the crew, but especially Nami and my own (and probably Robin in time, too).

"Ebony?"

I couldn't answer him, too lost in my own grief at what I'd seen. The problem with what I had seen was that it could still come to pass, and that was something that I wanted to desperately avoid at all costs.

I could hear him getting out from under the blanket that he shared with Usopp (another light sleeper, but one who was mysteriously knocked out at that point), coming over to me quietly but as quickly as he could without waking any of the others.

"Ebony? Are you okay?" He put a hand on my shoulder, obviously trying not to overstep his bounds, but I leant into the touch still crying.

"Stupid! You're crying, of course you're not okay." He muttered to himself, gripping my shoulder harder than before.

"Shh, shh… you're okay."

That got me moving, rolling over and sitting upright next to the other blond. He tentatively wrapped an arm around my shoulder, clearly feeling out of his element, but still trying to do right by a friend.

"They…it was all magma, I couldn't save anyone. I couldn't save anyone." Was all I managed to get out of my mouth before I started to sob once more.

Sanji had no idea what I was talking about, and I really hoped that I could keep it that way, let me cry into his shoulder.

"You're more capable than you seem to think you are."

Sanji's voice was a whisper, and I couldn't be sure if he was speaking to me or himself, but they were comforting words to hear. But the fear would remain until I could make sure that it wouldn't happen as it once would have.

I must have cried myself back to sleep on Sanji's shoulder, as when I woke up, it was to the grins of Zoro and Usopp, and the giggles of Nami and Robin. Luffy and Chopper were off doing other things, since I couldn't see them in the line up in front of us.

Sanji looked as though he could have been calved from stone, the glare on his face directed at the boys would have killed if he had been a gorgon. The only issue was that a. he wasn't, and b. he was flushed bright red.

"Have fun last night?"

Zoro ginned, a tone to his voice that suggested something that I didn't really want to think about doing.

I glared at him, crossing my arms and pouting. "I had a nightmare, a pretty damn ugly one. Sanji was a good sport and let me cry on him for a bit, jerk."

Calling him a jerk probably wasn't needed, as a look of concern replaced the grins and the laughter. Sanji's grip on my shoulder tightened for a moment, before he let go. He stood up and stretched, still glaring, before offering a hand to me to stand up. I took it, thanking him silently with a nod.

"Are you doing any better?"

Everyone on board had their own nightmares, we all knew it and agreed that it was only to be spoken about if someone brought it up first. No one was really willing to pry into another's nightmares, even if as a crew we were all incredibly curious and nosy, but asking if we were doing better was a nice comfort thing that I appreciated then.

I shook my head, "No…not really."

"Anything we can do to help?"

Again, I shook my head. "Not really."

I thought about it for a moment, before joking very tiredly, "Unless you know a way of stopping magma, then give me all the ideas."

Usopp looked worried, but perked up at the idea of trying to stop a force of nature. "I don't know any at the moment, but I'm sure I can think of something!"

If anyone could come up with a crazy solution, it would be Usopp.

Even then he was thinking up solutions, "Magma? That's lava, right? It can get up to around eleven thousand and a bit degrees celsius? What can withstand higher temperatures?"

Zoro laughed, "Think on it Usopp! Ebony doesn't need a solution right now, do you? We're not running into any lava just yet, are we?"

The last part was said with some concern, but I shook my head.

"No lava, not yet."

"See? You've got time, we've got time!"

Zoro slapped Usopp on the back, sending him careening into Sanji. Thus an argument between the three started, whilst Nami tried and succeeded in breaking it up, pretty much sending each of the participants off into some form of time out. For Sanji, that meant cooking breakfast.

Robin alone stayed behind, a thoughtful look on his face.

"It's Akainu, the Mad Dog, isn't it?"

Of course Robin would be the one to understand my cryptic use of the word 'magma', having been in contact with another of the crazy strong admirals in the form of Aokiji.

"How'd you guess?" She went to answer, but I stopped her. "I know how you guessed, don't worry."

Robin was mulling something over in her mind, face blank, but eyes flitting about everywhere.

"You'd have good reason to be wary, even afraid of the man, but there's something more, isn't there?"

I glared at her, eyes sharp, before turning away and sighing.

"I'd say leave it alone, but neither of us are any good at that, are we?"

She let out a laugh, "No, I don't think we are."

One of the many things that the pair of us had in common, as the next few days would show.

I couldn't be sure what it was the Robin said that made it happen, or if it was the combination of all the stress of the night before, or even just everything taking its toll on my mental health.

I just shut down.

Sanji was worried about Ebony.

Everyone was, each glancing at their resident chronicler and Outlier whenever they thought she wouldn't notice. Of course that never worked out, since she always seemed to notice someone staring at her. The conversation that she'd had with Robin had left her drained, even if Robin seemed satisfied with whatever answers she'd been given, Ebony had not. She had almost shut down, left to her own thoughts.

It was eerie to watch, and incredibly uncomfortable, too.

Ebony seemed to be doing things on auto, as though she wasn't really there. Her mind far, far away. He couldn't help but think that it was a good thing that she was staying with the Merry, and thus Nami, Usopp and himself. He knew that she was a capable person, a fearsome fighter, but in the zombie-like state that she was in after her nightmare, he didn't think that it was a good idea for her to be going about exploring and fighting with Luffy and Zoro.

"Did you need any help?"

Even in her zombie-like state, she was willing to help out. Doing what exactly, Sanji couldn't be sure as there wasn't a whole lot to do on the ship that hadn't already been completed.

Merry had helped to tidy up the ship, before she'd decided to take a nap. According to her she'd been awake for seventy-two hours at that point, and Sanji knew that wasn't a good thing for a human, but couldn't be too sure if it was healthy for an anthropomorphic ship.

"Not at the moment, thank you though."

Ebony looked minutely disappointed to Sanji's eye, as though she needed to be doing something so that her mind would be too preoccupied to think about the nightmares.

Sanji could definitely understand that, cooking was like that for him when the nights were rough and the memories too close to the surface.

Memories that involved a sister that he wished he knew, and one that he wished had escaped alongside him. One that, occasionally, he was reminded of whenever Ebony was around.

Would Reiju have changed any, would Judge and his brothers have tormented her like they did him? He hoped that she would be proud of what he had made of his life, he hoped that she was living well, but knew that their shared father wouldn't be letting her unless it was something to do with his own will.

If the world was a better place, and all things were more ideal, would Reiju and Ebony get along?

He hoped that they would.

It all happened too quickly.

Enel, targeting who he believed to be the strongest aboard, had Sanji laid out flat in an instance and had gone to target Usopp when I spoke up.

"Don't you fucking dare." Nami looked horrified as the finger that had almost reached Usopp tapped my own forehead.

An electric shock went through my entire body, almost as though Ulpia had once again shocked me with her lightening magic. Almost collapsing to the ground, I ended up on my knees, heaving for breath. My rubber soled shoes could only do so much, but what they had done was enough to keep me conscious and still, even just slightly, ready to fight if needed. At least I hoped that i would be able to fight if I was needed.

"Don't interfere again, little girl."

'I'll interfere as many times as I fucking well like you Uchiha reject.' Was what I would have said if I hadn't been as out of breath as I was. Enel though was intimidating; a large man, without morality and one with power, ready and willing to do anything to get his own way.

"Ebony!"

Usopp was trying his best to steady me, but it wasn't doing a whole lot since I was alarmingly unsteady anyway.

"Look after Sanji!"

"But…"

Usopp went to say more, but I silenced him with a look, either that or Enel was looking incredibly ready to blast whoever spoke next into oblivion.

"Yes, do keep your mouths shut, else I harm you. I'm here to speak with the former Kami, nothing more, nothing less."

Nami was horrified, as was Usopp. Nami had her mouth covered by her hand, whilst Usopp had an arm resting across my shoulder. I too was both horrified, and terrified, but I glared at him with as much defiance as I could.

Gan Fall, on the other hand, was righteous in his fury.

"Just what are you up to?"

Enel was casual, "The warriors I stole from you are safe and sound, the labour they've been put to is nearing an end and as such I will have no need nor use for this island."

He grinned, "I've come here to say goodbye. That is all."

A momentary silence, before Enel spoke once again, his grin taking on a malicious energy.

"You and your people are so incredibly naive, seeing this island only as a clump of vearth, you know there was a reason we took this island so fiercely. Probably the same reason these vermin are here and the reason the Shandians want their homeland back."

Gan Fall looked confused, "What are you talking about?"

"They're all seeking the ruins of Shandora! The City of Gold that once thrived long ago in the Blue Sea."

Gan Fall had absolutely no idea what Enel was talking about, "Gold? What gold? What are you talking about?"

Enel let out a cackle, one that lasted far too long.

"And that's why you're naive! Everybody but the inhabitants of this island know about the gold! And now all that gold is ready to claim for whoever survives my game?"

Nami started to shake beside me, knowing that it was partially true, the reasoning for being up here. But the majority of the reason was all due to our Captain's whims and love of adventure.

She looked at Usopp and I, before looking down at Sanji, her eyes overcast and tears falling. I wanted to comfort her, but I was aching all over and felt almost ready to collapse.

"Can you hear the explosions? It's like a festival! I won't hide my intentions, I'm in this for the game, but now I must leave you."

Before he could flash out, Gan Fall called out to him, asking of his men. Enel only winked and he was gone.

Nami and Usopp let our breaths that they didn't know they were holding, "He's gone."

I felt relief, but that didn't last long as another two people took his place.

Going to stand up, I was knocked flat on my back.

"Ebony!"

I went to call out, but exhaustion took over and I lost consciousness.

I awoke to the fussing of Usopp, and the sound of a small child threatening to beat up Nami.

"Don't do that again!"

Were the first words that came out of Usopp's mouth.

"…do what?"

I knew exactly what he was talking about, but playing dumb seemed like a good idea. One that Usopp was familiar with, if the look on his face was anything to go by.

"Don't play stupid, you know what I mean."

I rolled my eyes, attempting to sit up, but let out a sharp noise of pain as I struggled to do that.

Usopp went from rolling his own eyes, to concern as he helped me sit upright.

"Take it easy, that's what, twice? Twice you've been hit with lightning."

"She's been what?!"

Conis shouted, overhearing our conversation.

I could see her come over, a freaked out look on her face.

"How have you survived?"

She was genuinely curious, but there was another tone beneath that one. I couldn't be sure as to what it was. Maybe jealousy? Envy?

I lifted a leg, very slowly, testing the range of motion that I had. Luckily it was there, so the lightning must have just hit my torso and arms as they still felt like led.

"See my shoes?"

Both Conis and Usopp nodded, so I continued, "The soles are made of rubber, its not fool proof, but they do occasionally help protect from lightning."

Conis still looked confused, but Usopp had started to grin. He'd had the same thought as I had when coming face to face with Enel; there was no way that Luffy wouldn't want to pummel the man into the sea below.

"Oh."

Conis was still confused, but she still nodded as though she understood what I was saying.

As we were speaking, Nami was receiving a new waver from Conis' father, as well as fulfilling her duty as an annoying sister towards the small child who had threatened her as a warrior earlier and whose name I could not recall.

"Thank you! I love it!"

"No problems, what are you going to do now? I was going to take you all towards the outskirts of Skypiea."

Nami hopped off of the waver, climbing the ladder onto the Going Merry, "Let's take the Merry to the coast, the rest of the crew must be safe by now."

Usopp called over to Nami, "The others are unbeatable together."

She nodded, "The four of them together should be fine!"

The small child huffed, "There aren't any groups of four on this island."

Her words were absolute, no chance of changing her mind.

"What?"

Conis stood up, walking over to the kid as she spoke.

"Two's the most! If there were a group of four, I'd know!"

"Kenbunshoku haki."

My words echoed in the silence, not actually realising I had spoken aloud.

"What?"

"Oh?"

Nami gave me an impatient look, "Kenbun-whatever? What is that?"

"Oh! Haki, or observation haki? Or mantra? I think it's called mantra up here?"

The little girl nodded her head, "Mantra. I've had it since birth. That's why I'm scared! Scared that the voices will disappear! You don't know what that's like!"

Nami, with all the energy of an annoying little sister, patted the kids head. "Are you crying again?"

"I'm not crying, jerk!"

She then promptly burst into tears, alarming all who were awake.

With the help of Usopp, I crawled over to the curled up child.

"Kid, I understand."

She glared up at me, "No you don't!"

I pressed on, "Yes, yes I do."

I could hear a deep intake of breath from Usopp, who was the only one close enough, besides the kid, who would be able to hear what I had to say.

"I was torn away from everyone, and everything that I had ever known. I was minding my own business, and I could hear them all, and then they were gone and I was alone. Alone in my thoughts, and they could get pretty dark at times if I thought too hard and too long. I can't say I know fully what having mantra is like, but I do understand what its like to hear everyone I love and then to never be able to hear their voices again."

She was looking at me with wide eyes, before they started to tear up even more. Her body was leaning slightly, only just touching my own.

Conis sheepishly spoke up, "Aisa's waver broke down and we were passing by when we saw her being attacked."

Nami turned again to Aisa, who was bawling her eyes out.

"I don't know! But I can't just sit here!"

She looked at me, then towards the others.

"I…I hope they're okay!"

Robin was having the time of her life.

A new archaeological site to be discovered after centuries long being lost. A mystery to uncover in the supposed el dorado and possibly even a Poneglpyh, if some of the writing was to be understood.

There was also something else familiar about some of the writings, the carvings, that she had found on some of the monuments that had led her beneath the clouds. They looked very similar to the words that she had seen Ebony writing on a notepad on her desk. Vaguely familiar, but not enough that she would be comfortable in being able to translate or even read correctly.

Maybe if Ebony had come along with her, then she would have been able to tell her what they meant. She had made notes of them in her journal, alongside the maps and obelisks, and hopefully, if only to satisfy her own curiosity, Ebony would be willing to translate.

What Robin had found wasn't a Poneglyph, not exactly, but a stone structure with the same language written on it. This particular one looked as though it was leading her somewhere, so she followed along.

There was another, and then another, all leading somewhere. The poneglpyh had once been protected here, but the city had been destroyed in it's protection. A sad fate, but one that Robin could understand all too well.

She shook her head of those thoughts, writing down the letters that she found to later read over and decipher further meaning. She was going to have to be extra careful around here, already having been attacked, that and she would be unable to properly deconstruct the true meaning without some thorough thought.

"Fascinating, isn't it?"

Robin froze, turning around.

The intimidating man standing behind her was grinning maliciously, sparking at his joints.

This could only be one man, and now Robin was afraid for her life.

Both Sabo and Ebony, and Luffy, and pretty much everyone who had ever known him, would say that whilst he had a good heart, he had a terrible temper and could (and would) jump to conclusions very, very easily.

Like right this instance, where he had believed he had found Teach. (He hadn't.) And thought that, regardless of all forewarning by pretty much everyone he had known, he went straight into attack mode. Seeing red, and feeling the fire that he was ready to break out.

Good thing that it didn't, as he had just made a fool of himself and made himself an enemy of the town he was in.

Ace though, was mostly just incredibly embarrassed.

The man looked exactly like the one he was hunting, the same shape, the same hair, pretty much the same everything. The only problem was that it wasn't Blackbeard.

It wasn't Marshall D. Teach.

it was just an unfortunate doctor, who called himself Doctor Blackbeard, whom he had just kicked in the face. And he wasn't alone, with a crowd of shocked and outraged onlookers shouting at him to stop.

"I'll just leave now…"

He didn't get the chance, when he was kicked into the river. Into a river in which he was unable to swim in, or ever.

Oh crap.

With that, he was floating off down the increasingly fast river, drifting in and out of consciousness, but having enough of it that he was (mostly) able to keep himself facing upwards. It didn't do a whole lot considering he was a weight in the water that wouldn't stop hoped that someone would help him, but he wasn't certain.

Honestly, this would be a pretty shitty way for a pirate to die.

Drowned in a river.

A/N: I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a comment, and a favourite if you haven't already!

Stay safe and hydrate!