A/N: Salue omnis!

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Luffy knew he had been swallowed, once more, by another animal that was far larger than he was. He honestly couldn't count how many times he had been swallowed whole, having been far too many to think about. And only twice as a seventeen year old!

He was worried about how everyone else was going, as the disciples were a lot tougher than he had expected. But he believed that his crew would be able to defeat any enemy that they came across. (He had to think that, and not think on how much danger Ace was in and how he wanted him to stop chasing after a would-be nakama killer.)

What Luffy hadn't expected was for Nami, a small child, the Sky Knight and his steed to end up inside the snake's stomach either; which is why he was having a great time playing a fool right up until Nami started to pull on his face.

"Don't pull on my face! Not my face!"

"Damnit Luffy! We're inside its stomach! And now we've lost Ebony!"

His face fell, "Lost Ebony?"

"Yeah! Stubborn ass, just like Zoro!" Nami began to mutter insults towards both of those mentioned, when she remembered where she was.

"Struck by lightning in place of Usopp, held out until the Kami left and then fell unconscious!"

The little girl who had introduced herself as Aisa piped up, "She came along because of me!"

"Don't start crying again!"

Aisa ignored Nami, but managed to stop herself from crying.

"She's still out there, nearby. I can hear her!"

Luffy was a little confused, how could the kid hear Ebony when she was in the stomach of giant snake and their crew mate wasn't?

"So she's okay?"

The kid visibly drooped, "Not exactly. But she's not alone, so she should be mostly okay?"

Luffy grimaced, mostly okay didn't sound good.

But at least she wasn't alone? Anything was better than being alone, wasn't it?

If it was Zoro and Robin and Chopper that she'd found, then that was great! I'd it was another disciple or even Enel himself, then that was a whole other story.

Sabo had made it to Alabasta in quick time, having been greeted cautiously by a group of guards on the outskirts of the city.

Security was at an all time high, and he couldn't blame them. After what Crocodile had done, the inaction of the marine higher-ups and the fact that it took a small rookie pirate crew to overthrow the influence and expose the manipulations of the warlord, ramping up security was probably the least of the issues taking place in the country.

Reforms would have to take place for trust in the system to be rebuilt.

Maybe the reforms and the collaborative efforts of both the royal loyalists, the people and the rebels could help inform and influence how the rest of the world could one day be. The Revolutionaries hadn't sprung up out of nowhere after all.

Perhaps His Majesty would be open to the idea of further collaboration after reforms had happened, and the dust had settled?

As he was lost in his thoughts, the guards led him towards a small house off of the castle. It was a long, winding path that if you had no idea what you were looking for, you would very easily get lost. That was probably the lint of it all, keeping the Outliers safe.

Sabo hadn't been expecting the King and the Princess, s well as their bodyguards to be in the home as well.

"Hello again."

The Princess, now dressed in her royal finery looked more at peace than what her father did. King Cobra was an intimidating man, a stern look upon his face, as though he wasn't sure if he were doing the right thing by both allowing two Outliers to continue to exist or by letting a Revolutionary to help them escape.

"Hello your highness, your majesty."

He still had manners, so bowing wasn't a problem. And these two clearly cared for the well being and happiness of their people. He didn't mind these two nobles.

"Sabo, correct?"

He nodded at the King's question.

"What are your intentions with both the warrior, and the child?"

Sabo hadn't really been expecting this line of enquire, but he was thankful for it. Some Outliers in the past had just been handed over unceremoniously to the Revolutionary Army by others in the past, beaten and bloody,to be used and abused. That hadn't happened, of course, but those handing them over never knew that.

"Honestly your majesty, my intentions are to keep them safe. To help them survive and be able to live in this world."

The king, stern and stoic, suddenly laughed. "Good."

Sabo was thrown for a moment, before Vivi spoke again,

"Saalem suggested that this would probably be the case, but father and I weren't entirely sure. Neither was Ulpia to be perfectly honest."

He didn't blame them, but why on earth did Saalem believe his intentions? It was in that very moment that another door within the house opened, and two figures walked into the room to stand behind the Princess.

A shorter one, who would have to be the child; they had a head of dark hair and pointed ears that stood stark against their pallid skin. And the taller one was clearly the warrior; Sabo wasn't sure what it was about her, but she reminded him about every legend he had ever heard about actual fire breathing dragons.

"Hello!"

He gave a wave, it was only polite. The warrior hardly looked impressed, but the child looked thoughtful.

"You're Sabo, you're Captain Luffy's older brother? You don't look much alike."

Sabo couldn't help but laugh at the bluntness of the statement. "We're not blood related, no, but that doesn't make us anything less than brothers."

The kid looked thoughtful, "i think that makes logical sense."

Unlike Saalem, Ulpia didn't seem to trust him nearly as easily.

"How do I know that you won't kill us, or hand us over to the government? How do I know you won't make a weapon of myself or the child?"

All good points, and she had a right to be wary. If Sabo was in their position, he would be the same.

"You won't be turned into a weapon, or be forced to do anything that is not of your own will."

"And if I wish to be a pirate?"

Sabo couldn't help but laugh, the young boy was certainly blunt about his opinions.

"How much time did you spend around my brother, again?" It was a rhetorical question, but the amount of time was inconsequential considering the influence Luffy (and his crew) already had on the young one. "You can be anything you want."

Sabo was almost able to see the wheels churning around in the kids head, as well as those of Ulpia. One had made their mind up about leaving with him, the other had not.

"I will come with you, but only to make sure the child is safe."

That made a whole lot of sense, but he wasn't going to mention that.

Then he remembered what Ebony had wanted him to pass along to the two.

"I almost forgot! Ebony want me to say hello and to tell you that she's looking into some jewellery and that maybe you may want to look into some stores as well?"

His statement ended in a question, but both Saalem and Ulpia seemed to understand what he was saying even if he didn't fully understand himself.

"When you speak to her next, tell her that I haven't found any that match but I'll keep an eye out."

Saalem spoke up, "Also tell her that the colour is now similar to that of a carnelian but used to be closer to that of a garnet."

Ulpia laughed, "No idea what the first one looks like, but I agree with the second."

Saalem continued as though the other Outlier hasn't spoken, "I've been able to run a few preliminary tests, bust as I don't have the proper equipment I cannot study them any further."

Everyone, apart from the two Outliers was incredibly lost and confused, but Sabo said that he would pass the message along but that the two would be able to speak to Ebony if they liked and tell her themselves.

Saalem, whose face looked unused to showing many emotion apart from cold hard facts and logic almost grinned.

"I think I'd like that."

I had wanted to go with Nami and Aisa, but was met with a large amount of opposition from pretty much everyone.

Everyone except for the kid.

Aisa, for some reason, had taken to glaring at anyone who wanted to move her from my side. She was the one to stand up for my right to come along, or at least she had in a way. By refusing to let go of me when Nami and her were leaving.

(This was the second small child that I had inadvertently picked up in the last week and a half. Saleem, Bailey, Suka and the children from Loguetown, and now Aisa. I was a magnet for small children, just like Zoro seemed to be for babies. I'd seen a woman, one who was overjoyed at the rain being back, hand a small clothed infant to Zoro who had no idea what to do, to go dance in the rain. The infant loved Zoro's hair. Zoro didn't love the infants grubby, muddy hands nearly as much.)

So I'd come along, despite not being able to properly move my arms the way that I wanted to and despite the many objections of everyone. Usopp, especially had wanted for me to remain behind with him, Conis and Pagaya; partially to help look after Merry, and partially to keep on eye on me after I'd passed out.

And now the others had been swallowed by a giant snake, and I hadn't been.

The snake was almost wailing as it, and everything around it (including me), fell into the ground beneath it as the clouds opened up and collapsed in on themselves.

The ground would have been hard to land on, but I got lucky, landing atop of a large furry object. The impact was not soft, but it allowed for more bruises and unbroken legs. I'd take large scale bruising any day over broken bones. The fur was bunching up in my hands as I tried to grip onto it to climb down, but the feeling in my arms hadn't full returned to normal.

It was hard, but a manageable climb. The landing though could have been better. I would have called it a botched superhero landing if I could, but it was more of a flailing roll onto the hard ground beneath.

"Ebony!"

I'd found Zoro, or had he found me?

"What happened?"

He'd apparently rushed from whatever he had been doing to help pick me up off of the ground.

"Got hit by lightning, passed out, came here, others got eaten by a snake, fell through the sky, landed very, very badly."

He laughed before going serious, "Quick and to the point, nice. Who got eaten?"

"Nami for sure, Gan Fall, the kid. And maybe the Captain?"

"Maybe Luffy?"

"Yeah, memory isn't there, but I think he got eaten again?"

The Skypeia arc was never a favourite of mine, never one to go back and reread (wish I had now), with the one thing that I loved being the archaeological parts.

Zoro looked incredulous, "Again? How many time has he been eaten?"

I laughed, "Way too many Zoro, way too many."

I went to stand, but the fall must have shaken me more than I thought, and I lurched forward. Zoro caught me in time, before I could face plant into the ground.

A little voice in my head, one that sounded suspiciously like my mother, told me that I should really have waited back at the ship with Usopp and Sanji. At least until I had recovered enough to be able to feel my arms one hundred percent.

Before Zoro could ask if I was okay, I decided to speak up.

"Thanks. Where are we?"

"I don't actually know, but it looks like a bunch of ruins."

A voice whose owner I had been slightly dreading to speak to again, just in case I shut down once more, hesitatingly spoke up. It was as though her attention was elsewhere and not fully on either Zoro or myself.

"It is. The ruins of Shandora."

Zoro, still holding me upright turned around, "Robin?"

"Hello swordsman, chronicler. I'm afraid that this is the best time to be speaking."

A cold laugh rang out through the clearing, one that was unfortunately familiar.

"Indeed, it is not."

Enel stood tall above us on a pillar, as though he were holding court and we were the peasants he was unfortunately in charge of.

"Well, well. Look who has come back for more punishment."

His gaze bore directly into me, and I felt a cold dread wash over me.

Enel certainly didn't like it when people stood up to him, nor those who had survived his attacks to face another day.

I was regrettably one who had done both.

Fuck.

Ace had been very lucky that a good samaritan was nearby when he'd washed downstream. He was more than willing to play deliveryman for her since she'd saved his life. Sure, it felt a little degrading, but she wasn't asking for much. Was this how Marco felt whenever he was sent to other division commanders, or allies? Ace had always joked that Marco was the Whitebeard's delivery pigeon, but now it felt more reality than joke.

He was more than happy to help, but the issue was that the letter being delivered was to a marine base. Well, he was always up for causing a little bit of chaos.

Besides, he may be able to find out more information about Blackbeard. Surely the marines were tracking him since his departure from the Whitebeard was surely international news by now?

But it hadn't been.

He had seen that news outlets, especially those with close contacts to the Marines, hadn't reported on what should have been international news. But it wasn't.

Whitebeard's own son turning against him and almost killing another, when the man was notorious for going after those who hurt his family, like the world wouldn't want to know about something that big that could possibly change something?

Ace, as worried as he was before, was now even more so.

It surprised him that Morgans hadn't spoken on the issue, but he was probably preoccupied with the latest batch of super rookies sailing the seas. The albatross was one who liked to speak the truth regardless of whatever story the marines or the World Government were trying to push.

"Big News" Morgans was a confused man.

He didn't like the feeling and wanted it to go away as quickly as possible.

The reason for the confusion was that of a member of a rookie pirate crew, Black 'Crow Queen' Ebony. There was a lot about her public, day to day life for the last two years; the swimming and CPR lessons she provided, her work with both the marines in rescuing drowning sailors and her day job as a bartender.

What there wasn't was any information on where she actually came from. Where was she born? What part of the world, what sea could claim her birth? And how was she not known to the World Government in her capacity as an Underworld informant before her joining of the Straw Hat Pirates?

What Morgans did know was her age, a vague estimation of what she actually looked like (blonde, grey-blue eyes, prone to wearing a hood whenever she felt she was being watched) and her previous life in Loguetown.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Now, what was known about her underground persona was even less, and the only reason that they had been able to connect the two was because of the bar that she worked at. The Morrigan was known to provide and gather information, and debts, from pirates, corrupt marines, the criminal underbelly and the general public. This information was pretty much never for sale, unless there was good reasoning behind the need for it.

The Morrigan's known alliance with a certain Bartolomeo and his mafia family. The Family wasn't exactly the best morally upright mafia groups, but what morals they did have seemed to loosely coincide with her own.

Morgan's hadn't published her underground persona alongside that of her life as a pirate, partially due to his own selfish nature and how he wanted to keep his own criminality a secret and partially because he wanted to see what she would do now that she didn't have the everyday contact that she once had.

He hoped that she would flourish, it would be nice to see some change in the world. Good or bad, but with the Straw Hats he didn't think that it would be a bad change only something explosive and opinion shattering.

Maybe, just maybe, he would be able to get the scoop if he ever ran into the Crow Queen herself? He would have to be careful, lest the World Government catch wind of his plans, but he thought that it would be doable.

Now he needed to find a way to contact her, maybe the Cannibal would have an idea?

I never wanted to see a person struck by lightning again in my life.

In the last two months I had seen more people, and had been those people, being struck by lightning more times than I could care to admit. Too many times, and all were absolutely terrifying.

Seeing Robin fall before me almost in slow motion made me cry out in horror. Zoro, who been holding me upright, gently let go of me to dive catch Robin as she fell to the ground. There was smoke (or was it steam?) rising from her prone body in Zoro's arms.

"Zoro! Bring her here!"

I had a feeling that I wasn't going to be attacked again, at least not physically. Enel seemed to be the type of man that would go about emotionally torturing a person after a psychical attack had failed.

Zoro shielded Robin's body with his own, before bringing her closer to me. I had been standing, but my legs were weak, so sitting on the ground seemed like a better option. Zoro laid Robin across my legs, before standing in front of us both, ready to defend.

(I really should have stayed back with Usopp and Sanji.)

His swords, wonderful and cursed as they were, would draw lightning to them like a moth to a flame.

Wyper had attacked Enel next, with it being mostly successful, until the man revived himself using his own devil fruit powers. I didn't like the man, one could say that I despised him, but the creative uses of his powers were extraordinary.

"Tut, tut. Seastone? Really Shandorian? A dial was one thing, but seastone?"

I froze, the dagger in my boot felt suddenly like a ten tonne weight. If he knew I had that in my possession, what would he do to me?

"I'm a descendant of those who once fought to keep this place safe! It is my duty!"

Wyper went in for another attack, but Enel was quicker. Lightning filled the air again, the smell of a storm coming ever closer, before Wyper was electrocuted again. He must have had the forethought though, as he had thrown the seastone weapon towards Zoro, who went in after Enel.

"You as well, blue sea scum?"

"If I don't, you'll kill us either way!"

And then it happened, a moth to a flame.

I covered my eyes as Zoro screamed out in pain, not wanting to see him collapse onto the ground. The strongest of us, apart from our still eaten Captain.

Nami gasped behind me, "They're all…"

I could hear her knees hit the ground, and I wanted to do something to comfort her, but I couldn't. But I did make a hand gesture towards her that I knew she would be able to see.

"Ebony, you shouldn't have come!"

Nami's whisper was almost a shout, but it was clear throughout the silence of the space.

"What was I meant to do?"

Her reply was a hiss, "Stay safe!"

We were interrupted by a loud sinister laugh, "And then there were two."

Nami looked frantically between Enel and myself, before steeling herself and making a decision. One that I agreed with.

"Let me come with you!"

Enel stopped, almost puzzled.

Nami though continued, almost babbling in her haste to get on the man's good side. "I'll come with you to the land of dreams!"

Enel looked pleased, but still cautious as to why this woman was asking to join him when she had seen what he had done to all those she travelled with.

"Finally! That's how it should be!" His head tilted backwards with the strength of his laughter. "Hearts that cannot be swayed by fear can sometimes be inconvenient!"

Nami looked at me, puzzled and scared, before hastily agreeing with the laughing madman. She scrambled to stand beside him, still far enough away that she would be able to see an attack coming.

And then he turned to me, a blank look on his face.

I steeled myself for another attack, knowing that if it happened again, I could very well die. Humans weren't really built to withstand lightning that many times in a short amount of time.

The answer I received wasn't one that I was expecting.

"Let's see, you've survived once." Enel grinned, almost childlike, "Maybe you'll survive the fall back down into the blue sea. After all, it would be nice to have legends foretold of the Kami."

Nami looked at me, pleading with her eyes, but there was nothing more that I could do, apart from glare at the man and pray to any gods listening (gods who weren't Enel) for Nami's safety. If she could pull the wool over Enel's eyes, and keep herself safe, then it would be a miracle.

"Enel, you know you're going to regret doing this, don't you?"

My voice was quiet, but it seemed to echo.

"You're making it very difficult to not kill you, you do know that?"

I ignored him, looking towards Nami before going back to glare at him.

"A storm is coming soon, and all who stands in its way will tremble." I grinned viciously at the taken aback man, "They don't like it when those under their protection are harmed."

He scoffed, before turning away. Nami took a little longer, mouthing sorry.

I smiled at her and mouthed back.

'Luffy is coming.'

He hadn't been expecting the devastation that he found when coming across his crew.

Robin and Zoro were laid out on the ground, with Ebony sitting nearby, checking their foreheads frequently. He had very little medical knowledge, but even he knew that the two of them had a fever by the looks of them.

"Ebony! What happened?"

It was only then that he saw the small child beside her, the one that had been in the snake's stomach alongside Gan Fall and Nami.

"Enel happened. Nami's gone with him."

Nami was gone? Again?

She must have seen the worry on his face as she smiled tiredly up at him, "Don't worry. She's saving her own life by doing what she's doing. Don't forget it's Nami, she's better at this than anyone."

That made more sense to Luffy, but it still hurt that she wasn't there.

He made his way over to the small group as Robin started to shift around on the ground, making noises of pain as she did so.

"Robin! Stop moving! You'll only hurt yourself further!"

Luffy couldn't help but privately think that Ebony was one to talk, if the bandages visible on her arms were any indication.

"You've got to warn them…"

"Robin, warn who?"

Ebony was gentle, even has she lifted Robing up slightly.

"The way things are going, this land… Skypeia will be destroyed…"

Aisa looked terrified, "My village, too?"

Robin nodded as best she could.

"Everything."

Luffy growled. He was a pirate, first and foremost. But destruction for the sake of destruction would never, ever be a characteristic of his. He was no hero, he would never want to share all the meat, but he friends lives were at stake.

Enel wouldn't be able to destroy anything else if he could help it.

A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment and a favourite, I really do appreciate it!

Stay safe and hydrate everyone!