As we set sail towards where the X in the map is, we already encountered something that is very unusual, which is a giant ship with an orangutan figurehead, and somehow there are trees there.

"We just set sail and we're already encountering something strange…" Luffy said, unconsciously agreeing with me and I nodded.

"But it doesn't look like that stupid monkey, Usopp." I told the long-nosed teen, who was hiding behind me along with Chopper.

"Yeah, but we still can't tell if there will be trouble." Usopp replied, "But we saw him before, right?" he asked, in panic as sweats were trailing down from him.

"Yeah, that salvage guy. So he's from this island after all. We saw him come back here." Chopper said, in panic too.

"Hmm, even if we meet him again, it doesn't really matter." Both Luffy and I said in sync.

"HEY YOU! YEAH YOU! STOP CHATTING OVER THERE!" someone yelled as many people with black swimsuits followed along with the giant figure by cheering on it. The giant figure was revealed as an orangutan with captain coat and clothes, along with the captain hat.

"Tsk! Jeez, and I thought it was somebody dangerous." The orangutan said as he saw us and sat down, "It was making me a little bit edgy." He continued.

"You have a very strange face." Luffy commented bluntly, "What species are you?" he asked.

"I'm a human, you punk." The orangutan replied, which eventually made the swimsuits men, that revealed as the orangutan's crew, were got mad.

"Who are you anyway?" I asked blankly, "Why do you look like an orangutan?"

"I'm Shoujou. I'm the Captain of Shoujou Pirates." He replied before turning to his men, "Forget it, forget it. It seems like you guys are pirates! Did you know that Crocodile's seat in 'Shichibukai' is empty now? If they judge by real strength, that seat should be mine! I am so edgy just waiting." He said.

'If I'm not mistaken, shoujou means orangutan in Japanese…' I thought as the orangutan was talking things with the others and I sighed in frustration. Seriously, we got no time to hear his ramblings! And then I remembered what will happen later, I quickly put my earplugs before the orangutan was using a very loud sound wave that's actually destroying his very own ship.

But then again, the sound wave is actually reaching our ship that is slowly destroying it.

"I just hope the ship won't be destroyed and we sunk into the deep sea before we saves ourselves." I commented blankly while Usopp was yelling something at me from behind, which unfortunately went unheard to me and everyone is in chaos as they tried their best to sail away from the sound wave ranges as quickly as they can, while I just watched them from the top deck blankly.

As we finally got away, I plugged off my earplugs and put them into my pockets as I looked down at the others that were lying down on the lower deck because of fatigue, blankly.

"You guys finished panicking?" I asked casually, which actually earned a thing thrown at me and hitting my forehead fair and square by a certain Navigator, hard.

"CAN YOU PLEASE STOP WATCHING US AND START HELPING US WHEN WE'RE IN NEED!" she yelled with shark-teeth, completely fuming about it.

"Hey come on! There's no need for violence!" I yelled back, holding my reddened forehead.

"THEN GO PATCH THE SHIP UP!" she yelled again and I was grumbling and cursing on the way down to help Usopp up to patch the ship up.

"Really… that, stupid, orangutan!" Usopp exclaimed in frustration as he hammered down the nails on the wooden patches on the railings, "The boat is in even worse shape now." He grumbled.

"This boat turned to crap in one day…" Zoro commented as he hammered down the iron board onto the mast, "Do we need a new one?" he asked.

"Would you just shut up!" Usopp yelled at him, completely objecting the suggestion.

"Hey, don't worry Usopp, Going Merry-Go is our friend! We just have to work hard and repair it!" Luffy told him with a grin as he also helped, until he was unconsciously adding weight a bit on the wooden patches on the railings that made it broke down again while Usopp complimented him as he moved at Luffy's speech, but he eventually hit him because of it.

"But Merry-chan is sure in a bad shape," I commented, "Sooner or later, she won't be able to hold all of our weights and the weather conditions, and will break down into small pieces, leaving us sinking in the sea." I continued.

"Stop saying nasty things like that!" Usopp yelled.

"Oh come on you stupid long nose! Don't be a naïve! You also knew that Merry-chan won't last long anymore sooner or later!" I snapped at him, "Stop making fake hopes that you don't even know that will happen!" I exclaimed before hammering back the railing, which eventually broke it down too.

"Ah. I broke it. Sorry." I apologized without feeling sorry at all with a straight face and tone.

"IF YOU'RE SORRY, THEN STOP DESTROYING THE SHIP AND AT LEAST SHOW SLIGHT SORRY IN YOUR TONE AND EXPRESSION!" Usopp yelled, shark-teethed.

XXX

"This is the place on the map." Nami said, "What's his name again?" she asked.

"Montblanc Cricket…" Robin-san answered.

"The man who talks of dreams…" I continued as I looked straight.

"Gah…!"

"That's so cool!"

There, lies a huge, magnificent house with colorful paints all over it. If you ask me, it's almost looks like Kremlin in Russia.

Almost.

"Is that his house!?" Luffy exclaimed.

"He's filthy rich, isn't he!?" Usopp exclaimed.

"Baka, look clearly." Zoro told them.

"Hmmm, a man who dreams… more likes a man who wants attention." Sanji-san commented.

"What are you talking about?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"It's clearly just a wooden board." I told them as the ship slowly approaching the coast a little away from the house, revealing it's true form, which is only a half a side and the rest is just plywood, and also shocking the three stooges.

"I told you so." I added before jumping onto the coast and approaching the house, and bluntly opened the door of the house, "Sorry for the intrusion." I said as I walked inside, ignoring Usopp's yelling at me. I walked around the house and saw there's nothing valuable in particular, or that's what to Nami's thought, not mine.

"No one seems to be home." I commented before I heard footsteps behind me and stopped behind me, which revealed as Usopp and Luffy's.

"Hello!" Luffy shouted as he walked around.

"Luffy! Eri! Stop that! What if he's a bad guy?!" Usopp exclaimed in panic as he clings on Luffy's arm.

"Then we'll beat him up." I replied as I walked out the house with a grin.

"You can't just do that!" he yelled while I ignored him as I walked neared a table made by a whole tree trunk with small tree trunks around it, portraying as chairs. There, I saw an old storybook that looked very old.

"Ah, a picture book, it's a really old one too!" Nami said as she saw the book and picked it up, "'Noland the Liar'." She read the title.

"'Noland the Liar'…" Sanji-san trailed off as he heard it, "That brings back old memories; I used to read it a lot." He said.

"You know about this book, Sanji-kun? But it says it's published in North Blue." Nami said.

"Yeah, I was born in North Blue. Didn't I tell you?" he asked.

"First time you said anything about it. I thought you were from East Blue." Usopp replied.

"I grew up in East Blue. But this story is pretty popular in North Blue. People say its just kid's story, but I've heard that this Noland guy really did exist!" he said as she pointed at the book in Nami's hand.

"'Noland the Liar'…" I started as I sat down on one of the tree trunks and crossed my legs as I rested my chin on my right palm, "A story that happened over 400 years ago… in a country somewhere in the North Sea, there was a man named Montblanc Noland." I continued while everyone turned to look at me.

"He was an explorer who always spoke of past adventures. But the people of the village didn't know if these tales were true or not." I continued with a tone of reading a storybook to my brothers a long time ago, "One day, Noland came back from one expedition, and went to report to the king."

"'I discovered an island across the mighty seas that has a mountain of gold', said Noland. The king, wanting to see this himself, commanded 2000 soldiers to come with him."

"The king and the soldiers then set sail to cross the mighty seas. They braved huge waves and many giant sea monsters."

"After going through many hardships, the king, Noland, and 100 soldiers arrived on the island. But the only thing they saw on the island was an ordinary jungle."

"Noland was blamed for this and sentenced to death for all his lies. Noland's last words were…"

"'I know! The mountain of gold sunk into the sea!', he said. But the king and villagers didn't believe it. No one believed Noland anymore, but he continued to lie till his death." I smiled a bit, "'North Blue fairy tale, 'Noland the Liar'." I finished and opened my eyes to look at the others, who were looking at me with wide eyes as the storybook which was still in Nami's hand and no pages was opened, even the cover.

"Well, isn't that story pretty much weird?" I asked them, shattering the silence as I grinned sheepishly.

"So…" Nami started, "The pathetic liar… died… without becoming… a true warrior… of the seas…" she said as she turned to look at Usopp with pitied expression.

"Don't look at me! And stop making up all that stuff!" he yelled.

"WAAAAHH!" Splash!

"Luffy!" I exclaimed and stood up as I saw my dear brother fell into the sea. No, not fell, but he's being pulled by someone into the sea. I quickly threw away my cap and quickly ran toward the sea and jumped in, not caring about the suspect that jumped out the sea to the coast. I swam quickly as I closed my eyes, focusing my haki to detect Luffy and grabbed him before swam up to the surface. I quickly took a breath as we finally at the surface and Luffy regained his conscious as he began coughing out loud.

"You okay, Luffy-ani-san?" I asked slowly.

"Yeah…" he replied as he coughed and breathed heavily, maybe because of the sea water that made him weak, "There are bubbles coming up from the water… *cough* when I looked in the water there was some kind of chestnut… *cough* but there was a really old guy and he pulled me in!" he said as I looked toward the coast and saw the suspect was falling to the ground, pain written all over his face.

'Crap, he got decompression sickness, eh?'

XXX

"Bring some more cold towels." Chopper said as he treated the old man, "Open all the windows too." He added as we did what he said.

"He got dysbarism." Chopper said.

"Dysbarism?" Luffy echoed, "Ah, you mean he's sick?" he asked.

"Yes, it's various symptoms divers experience sometimes." Chopper answered, "But it's not a long term illness and should pass." He continued and started explaining about it to the others, while both Luffy and me just felt the winds from the windows as we don't understand a bit to what he said.

"Yeah, weird sick stuff." Both Luffy and Me commented.

"He must have been diving every day, not letting the bubbles to dissolve properly." Chopper finished.

"Why would he?" Nami asked, completely confused by the old man's action.

"I don't know why… but it is very dangerous." Chopper replied, "In some cases it can be lethal." He continued.

I was completely quiet and turned to look at the ossan, the breeze was whipping my hair away a bit. If I'm completely honest, this ossan is pretty cool! I mean, he was diving everyday for who knows how long and who knows how deep! But then again, he's pretty idiot too. Cause why would you dive every day? At least a few days a week will be enough! It's not like the treasure he search is going anywhere.

Even if the treasure is actually above us… but he didn't know that yet.

I was leaning on the windowsill as everyone was treating the ossan and I felt two familiar presences from outside who was approaching the house, which was confirmed by the conversation of the two.

"Masira? You're alive?" the first primate asked.

"What do you mean by that?" the second primate asked back, totally offended.

"Forget it, forget it. Was that a gunshot?" the first primate pointed out.

"Yes, could something have happened to the boss?" the second primate asked in worry.

"Let's go check! I'm so edgy!" the first exclaimed and at the same time, the primates were at the doorsill, with worry on their faces.

"BOSS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?" they exclaimed in sync and the rest of us turned to look at them, with Chopper and Usopp looked pretty shock about it and started running back and forth as they were yelling in panic with Nami joining them while the primates were looked puzzled by the sight as the five of us (Luffy, Sanji-san, Zoro, Flame, and me) were staring back at the primates.

"What are you doing here!?" the orangutan yelled.

"What did you do to the boss!?" the monkey yelled.

"We're taking care of him, so leave us alone!" Luffy replied as he was holding a basin full of water.

"They won't listen! They are beasts! Everyone, escape through the window!" the Weakling Trio exclaimed in panic, but unfortunately that's not necessary cause the primates were touched at our action and crying right now, saying that we're actually great guys, making the Weakling Trio fell down to the floor comically.

After the situation has finally settled down, some of us were kicked out to guard the door from outside while Luffy was talking things to the primates.

"Do you two live out here too?" Luffy asked the primates.

"Actually, our boss' home is also the HQ of the 'Allied Saruyama Forces'." The monkey replied, "However, we usually live on our ships."

"This house is too small for us." The orangutan said as he laughed.

"You two are big, but compared to the giants, you're like ear wax to them." Luffy said and they continued their conversation lively.

"How can they get along so well?" Usopp asked in bewilderment.

"They're just simple minded." Zoro answered.

"No, that's because they're primates." I replied and Flame woofed in agreement as he nodded before the door was opened, revealing Chopper that told us that the ossan is already awake and we walked in as he called for Luffy.

"Hey diamond-head ossan! I want to ask you something!" Luffy exclaimed as he walked in to the ossan.

"Thanks for your help and sorry for all the trouble." The ossan said, "I thought you were like those fools that trying to steal the gold." He continued and Nami's eyes changed into berri currencies.

"Gold? You have gold?" Nami asked.

"Don't acts like those fools." Both Usopp and me said in sync as we turned to her.

"You wanted to ask me something, what is it?" the ossan asked Luffy, back to the real topic.

"We want to go to 'Sky Island'! Please tell us how to get there!" Luffy replied happily.

"Sky Island?" the ossan echoed back before bursting out laughing, "You guys actually believe in that?" he asked while Usopp was holding Nami down as she was pissed and about to hit the ossan.

"Sky Island doesn't exist?!" Luffy asked back while the ossan chuckled as he settled down a bit.

"I don't know either…" the ossan replied, "But I knew a man who said it does. He was known as a liar though, someone who was always being laughed at." He continued and both Luffy and me turned to look at Usopp with disbelief on Luffy's face.

"It's not me!" the long nosed teen protested.

"Noland the Liar… it's an old story though…" the ossan continued and once again, both of us turned to look at Usopp.

"It's not me! The name is different!" he protested once again and after we settled down, the ossan told us that he's a descendant of Noland.

"Descendant!? That story took place here on Jaya!?" Nami exclaimed in surprise.

"He was my great great great grandfather…" the ossan said, "It's an annoying legacy that goes so far back. But there isn't a trace of his lineage in me." he continued.

"Yeah, considering you have blond hair and pointy nose, you totally looked different from that great great great grandfather of yours." I pointed out bluntly.

"Exactly, little girl," he agreed, "The whole Montblanc family was exiled to a life of shame. Even now, we are still badmouthed. However, nobody hates him for it." he pointed out.

"Why not?" Luffy asked.

"Because Noland, out of all things… was a very honest man." He said and almost all of us was confused by that.

"When Noland was defending his claims, he said, 'I know! The mountain of gold sunk into the sea!'. The storybooks showed him with a grinning face, but he was actually shedding tears of hate and injustice when he died." The ossan explained. "The island that people went to was really the place where Noland himself found the golden city. It was definitely not just his imagination."

"Noland claimed that the golden city had fallen undersea because of shifting of landscape from earthquakes. However, everyone thought he was just making false claims and nobody believed his gold city story." He continued, "His death penalty was carried out surrounded by witnesses' sarcastic laughter."

"Then you're attempting to prove Noland is innocent, by trying to find the golden city?" Usopp asked.

"QUIT TALKING SHIT!" the ossan exclaimed and shot his flintlock pistol at Usopp, which fortunately missed, making the teen quivered in fear.

"Usopp!" Chopper called as Nami turned to look at the teen while Luffy was pissed at that, but I quickly brought up my arm to stop him and gave him a look to listen to the ossan as he turned at me in confusion and he nodded in understatement.

"Whether or not my ancestor was an honest person, or a great adventurer, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME!" the ossan yelled. "Just for being his descendant, one gets teased by strangers, could you understand how a kid in that situation feels!? My entire childhood was like that!" he exclaimed before calming himself down.

"You're right, during the past 400 years, countless members of the family came here, trying to correct the family name, but none of them returned." He explained, "I felt ashamed being in a family like that, so I ran away from home, and become a pirate."

'Yep, it's Ace all over again…' I thought quietly.

"Ehhh? Ossan, you're a pirate too?" Luffy asked in surprise.

"I didn't really want to be one." the ossan replied, "I just wanted to escape Noland's curse. But 10 years ago, after a series of events, my ship reached this island accidentally."

"It's ironic that I, the one who hated Noland the most, was the only one to reach this place." He chuckled, "When I was standing in front of the cliff where the gold was suppose to be in the story, I thought this was my fate, there is no escape." He continued and told us that his crew left him while he stays here to find the gold.

"I didn't care if it was true or false. I didn't really want to find the gold to prove his innocence." He said, "This is between me and the man who ruined my life. This is a duel!" he finished. "Before I die, I will settle this and tell the truth to everyone."

Everyone was in silence as we heard his story while Usopp was touched by the story and crying because of it.

"What about those two?" Luffy asked.

"Why are those primates here?" I continued.

"That's another emotional story told with fists, right?" both of us asked in sync.

"No, they're just fans of the story." The ossan replied casually.

"Just fans!?" Usopp yelled in shock and disbelief.

"That is a rather simple relationship!" Nami commented.

"It was roughly 4 to 5 years after I started searching. They came here after hearing about me and said, 'Noland's gold exist for sure'." He said, "The Sea goes very deep here… I felt especially lonely being under the dark, cold sea. But I had lived a lifestyle of day after day non-stop underwater search. Then they just suddenly entered my life, insisting on being my followers and fought everyday… to get to the point, those stubborn… dumbasses… saved my life… understand…?" he pointed out and I smiled at that, as it somehow made me remember about my brothers and myself.

"Yes! True comrades always stick together like that!" Usopp cried as he brushed away the tears.

"Yeah, enough about the monkeys." Luffy said bluntly, making the long nosed teen hit him and Luffy pushed him away as he talked to the ossan.

"As I was saying…! I want to go to Sky Island, ossan!" he exclaimed, making the ossan smiled.

"Hehehe, you're so impatient," he chuckled as he reached for a book on the bookshelf near the bed, "I'll tell you now. The one who claimed that Sky Island existed was Noland the Liar. If you have anything to do with him, you will end up like ma and be nothing more than a joke." He continued.

"Eh!? He went to Sky Island before?" Luffy asked in interest.

"Unfortunately, the book didn't say that…" the ossan replied as he was searching through the pages for a page.

"Hey, it's a Captain's Log Book!" I pointed out as I peeked a bit in interest, "Is it Noland's?" I asked before the ossan threw the book at me.

"Yeah," he answered, "Read that line aloud." He said pointing at the page I should read.

"K." I replied shortly and looked at the book's condition, which looked pretty old, cause it's probably already 400 years old. "Let's see, year of the sea 1120, June 21st, clear weather, I set sail from the lively city of Villa… following the direction from the 'Log Pose', we went Northeast-East, straight out of the dock." I read while the trio stooges plus Nami were listening to me intently.

"In the afternoon, I met a merchant ship and bought a unique object. It's a small snowboard-like object called 'waver'… it is a strange boat that will move even when there is no wind. There seems to be a secret method needed to use it, as I could not control it well." I continued, "Now it has become a popular toy among the crew."

"No way! I want one!" Nami said while the other three were still listening intently.

"The waver's source of energy seems to only exist on Sky Island. It is said that there are a lot of special items found in the sky. Speaking of Sky Island, a fellow adventurer… once showed me a living sky fish; I was surprised seeing such a strange creature." I continued, "With our ship it is impossible to get there, but being a sailor, I really wish I could go to the sea of the sky someday; Montblanc Noland." I finished and looked at the four, who were pretty excited at it.

"Sea of the sky!?" Nami exclaimed in disbelief and hope.

"Just like what Robin said!" Luffy said.

"And judging from the text, it is without a doubt that sky island still exists!" Usopp implied. Before the four of them cheered up that Sky Island really does exist, making me smile at their childish behavior and walked out from the house, seeing the primates with the ossan.

"Thank you for giving them hope, Chestnut-ossan." I thanked him as the three of them turned to look at me, "Maybe if you didn't help them and tell them about it, they're probably losing hope and missing out the most beautiful adventure we're gonna get." I continued and smiled at him, making him smiled back.

"Don't thank me yet," he said, "You still haven't gone there yet. Thank me later after you get there safely."

I grinned and giggled, "Yeah, I know. But thanks anyway!" I said and walked back into the house where everyone else is, who were still cheering in happiness.

Well, roman will always be touching anyway.

XXX

"If you don't like it here, then get out from this house!"

"Face it up, sucker!"

"Stop crying, would you!? Stop being such a crybaby!"

I… I'm sorry… I… won't cry ever again…

"Shut up, would you? I don't even understand what the hell you are saying."

I'm sorry… I won't say anything ever again…

"Snrrkk! Look! She's wearing a skirt! She's a complete girl now! Hahahaha!"

"No, it's just… kind of weird, you know? Seeing you in a skirt besides the school uniforms…"

I'm sorry… I won't wear skirts ever again…

"I told you! She's a complete weirdo!"

"Why did you kick the ball that way!? We lost in soccer because of you!"

I… I thought… I-I was passing the ball…! I… I saw it on TV…!

"Look out! It's the monster! Hahahaha!"

Why did you call me that? I just got anger issues…!

"Stop excusing yourself!"

B-but you said I should…!

"STOP BEING SUCH A REBEL!"

I gasped out as I woke up at the nightmare, putting a hand on my sweating forehead as I was panted out heavily and my heart was beating fast at the adrenaline.

'A dream?' I wondered as I looked around, seeing Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy were listening to the ossan about Sky Island or some shit like that, while both Zoro and Flame were sleeping near them. I was quite far from them, which was a really good thing so that no one would notice my face because of that nightmare.

"Damn it…" I cursed lightly as I put both of my palms on my face and whipping off the sweats. Those damned memories again… when will they stop appearing in my dreams?

I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped them with my arms as I whispered at myself softly, 'I'll be fine… yeah, I'll be fine… I'm strong now… no one can hurt me… I can… practically kick them all in the shins! Yeah! Yeah… I'm fine… I'm calm… calm…' I breathed in the salty air and breathed them out slowly, trying calming myself up even though it's not that effective cause I was still trembling heavily like earthquakes.

'Maybe swimming at the sea will calm me up…' I thought and taking off my jacket, belt, cap, and my boots before running toward the coast and jumped into the sea. I swam up and breathed in the air before diving in, eyes kept shut while using my haki at my surroundings. Slowly, the seawater was trying to wash away all the tenses and fatigues at my body as I swam slowly and resurfacing again slowly, face up.

I opened my eyes and stared to the blue sky as I swam slowly back to the coast. Well, I have calmed myself, thanks to the seawater, so I think it's time to dry myself up.

"Oi Eri!" I heard a familiar voice called me and I turned, revealing as Luffy that was calling me, "Come on! It's meal time! Hurry up before the foods are gone!" he exclaimed with that big grin of his and I stared at him with half lidded look.

"Aren't the foods gone because they're in your stomach?" I pointed out while he just giggled before running away.

"Hurry up before the foods are gone!" he yelled once more as he ran. I shook my head at his behavior and smiled softly before swam toward the coast and pulled myself up from the sea. I grabbed all my stuff and walked to the ship to wash myself up from the seawater. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower while I stripped myself up before walked into the shower and stand still, letting the water to wash the seawater away.

"Ano… c-can you hear me…?"

I opened my eyes and looked around me fast, but I didn't see anything or anyone though. Weird, I'm sure I heard—

"C-can you hear me?"

I whipped my head and I saw a feminine figure with ram horns on their head. I was totally dumbstruck at the figure as they looked happy that I saw them. I looked closer and it revealed as a cute girl with bone-white wavy short hair and ram horns with ears on either side of her head. She was wearing a one piece cream dress and barefoot. Oh, and if you didn't realize, she's a bit transparent.

"Y-you can see me, right?" she asked happily and timidly while I was still awe-struck and nodded slowly. She smiled brightly, and cutely, happily while I inched myself down to the corner after I turned off the shower with scared face. Seriously, who won't be scared shit if suddenly when you take a bath and there's a transparent figures that suddenly talking to you? I will.

"W-who are you?" I asked bluntly and she gasped as she looked like she just realized something.

"Ah yes, I forgot. I'm this ship's soul, or some people call us 'Klabautermann'," she explained and once again, I just nodded, "I'm here to tell you something." she said. Now, I looked at her intently and seriously as I heard her tone was getting serious, as well as the situation.

"So, what is it?" I asked while she looked down, whether doubting herself from telling me something or whatever before looked at me with determination in her dark eyes.

"I… I want to tell you… that I won't last long…" she finally said and looked down sadly, "I… I want to take you guys further…! But with all of the damages I got… I…" she stopped as she looked down, her bangs shadowing her eyes. I just stared blankly before sighing and stood up, approaching her and put a hand on her head, which surprisingly didn't went through and she's pretty short.

"Don't worry Merry-chan. We won't be mad at you." I told her and smiled softly as she looked up at me, "We're nakamas. Nakamas won't blame at each other. We'll understand… or maybe almost all of us, but that's aside." I said, thinking about Usopp.

"I know… it's Usopp-san what I'm worried about…" she said, "Erica-san…!" she called and I saw determination in her eyes as I looked at her, "C-can you… please, help me up? I… I heard that you have power to boost every soul to their max! C-can you do that to me, please?" she begged.

"W-well… about that…" I trailed off as I looked aside, "I… still don't know how to do that, actually…" I told her, which making her disappointed a bit, "But I'll try my best." I said, making her sheep ears perked up as I said that as she looked up at me with spark of happiness in her eyes.

"Y-you will?!" she exclaimed before hugging my stark naked body tightly, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" she exclaimed happily and fast as she hugged me tight, which kind of weird as she's just a soul, but her hug is almost crushing my lungs and ribs.

"Yes, yes… c-can you please let go of me now…?" I asked her slowly as I felt air is starting to running out, "It's getting hard to breathe here…" I added and she finally let go of me, apologizing along the way.

"Thank you… Erica-san…" she said with happy, and cute, smile, "For assisting me…" she finished before slowly disappearing into thin air, leaving me alone in the bathroom. I was still staring at the spot before continuing my bath time, not realizing there's a single ear sprouted out on the wall before disappeared, leaving some flower petals.

XXX

"HAHAH! THE WINE TASTES EXTRA GOOD TODAY!"

"Eat! Eat! There's a lot more! It's special summer cuisine!"

I was giggling at everyone's behavior. I was just finished my spicy seafood noodle and now drinking at my drink slowly, while Robin-san was reading at Noland's Logbook while drinking and flipping a page, showing a single log on the page.

"'In the skull's right eye, gold is seen.'" The ossan said with just a reaaal close face, closing our personal spaces as we sweat-dropped and startled a bit at the sudden sight before the ossan slowly inching away.

"The page that has tear drop on it, is Noland's last words… his sentence was carried out that day." The ossan said before gulping the sake, "I still don't understand what that passage means." He admitted. "The skull's right eye!? Is that a city that way here before? Or is it hinting his death? It's all blank after that." He finished before he exclaiming about why he dived underwater, continued by the others.

Then he showed all of us three small golden bells he found in the sea bed, which revealed as 'token' or some shit like that, cause I don't understand. Then he showed us again another gold, which shaped into some kind of bird, like rangkong in Indonesian or hornbill in English, and later it revealed by the ossan that they're called as 'South birds', and they're still exist on this island.

"Now that you mention it…" I chimed out, "If you said that we're going to where the Knock-Up Stream is, which you said at the South, how are we gonna know that?" I wondered out loud, stopping all the commotion as they all turned to look at me. "Am I right? Compasses never worked here, so how are we gonna know that we're going south?" I pointed out once again before it finally reached the ossan and the apes' heads.

"DAMN IT!" the apes and the ossan exclaimed in sync loudly, shocking almost all of us.

"What!? What happened!?" the others asked.

"This is bad. You should go to the forest quickly! Go to the forest south of here!" the ossan told us.

"Huh!?" what are you saying, ossan? Are you stupid?" Luffy asked.

"Catch one of the birds right away!" the ossan said, pointing at the golden bird statue.

"What? Why?" Usopp wondered.

"Bird… what for?" Sanji-san asked.

"Listen carefully… the 'Knock-Up Stream,' that exists directly south of here. How do you think you will get there!?" the ossan asked.

"Just sail South!" Luffy replied.

"No! This is Grand Line! Once you set sail, you lose all sense of direction!" the ossan yelled.

"Oh, that right. Since our destination is not an island but part of the sea, the Log Pose will not work!" Nami exclaimed, finally realized. "Then what do we do to ensure our direction?"

"That's why you need the bird!" the ossan said before turning at me, "If it's not because of this little girl, we probably won't remember at all." He said, "It is said that some animals contain some bio-compass enhancing their direction sense."

"Hm… I heard that pigeons also have this ability." Nami confirmed and both Luffy and me turned to Zoro as we laughed.

"So Zoro, you are worse than some animals!" we laughed happily.

"And who are you to judge!" Zoro yelled.

"Among those animals, South Bird has the best sense of direction. No matter how far away you move the bird, it'll always point to the right direction." The ossan said, "In other words, you can't do anything without a bird like that! You won't be able to even try getting onto Sky Island!" he exclaimed, making the three stooges replied in shock and almost everyone is complaining about how come he just mention it now and it's past midnight yet we have to go to the forest.

The ossan yelled that there's no time for complaining and the three of them (the apes and the ossan) will enhance our ship, and then he just realize that this wasn't really a time for party, making almost everyone yelled at him for that and the apes were throwing some nets to us.

"Remember, before day break, bring back a south bird!" the ossan last message before we were sent to the forest, which really pitch black.

"It's completely pitch black." I pointed out loud as we're in the forest, the weakling duo were cowering in fear while the rest of us just looking around or complaining about this, or just stay quiet. Flame wasn't here, cause I told him to stay with the ossan and the apes to protect them if there's danger.

"Damn, this kind of thing should be done during daytime!" Usopp complained as he trembled in fear, along with Nami who also looking around warily.

"So… where's the bird?" Luffy asked.

"If I know, we all wouldn't have to come." Zoro replied.

"The only clues are its strange chirping sound and the look of golden bird statue." Sanji-san said as the five of us (Usopp, Zoro, me, Luffy, and Sanji-san) were circling.

"Is there really a weird bird like that?" Zoro asked in annoyance.

"And 'strange chirping sound' is too vague! How can we tell?" Usopp asked.

"That ossan said we'll know when we enter the forest." I pointed out.

"JIYOOOO~~~"

"Ah, strange chirping sound!" the boys plus me exclaimed in sync as we turned toward where the source of the sound.

"Alright!" Luffy exclaimed, "Let's do it!"

"Three nets. So split up to 3 groups!" I said as Luffy, Zoro and Sanji-san pulled up the nets to the air.

"Alright, let's go! Punch that bird into flying bits!" Luffy exclaimed.

"No, it's catch, not punch!"

XXX

In the end, I was in one team with Zoro and Robin-san, which actually a good thing. I was holding the net as we walked casually until we heard something and stopped. Suddenly, a giant centipede was jumped out from the bushes toward us, making me screamed loudly and quickly jumped up to Zoro's head, clinging on him for my dear life as I kept screaming. Zoro was yelling things at me before he pulled out his katana and cut the giant centipede successfully, despite his eyes was completely covered by my arms.

"Oi! Eri! Let go you baka! I can't see!" Zoro yelled as he grabbed my arm and pulled it, trying to pull me off from him.

"NONONONONO! KILL THAT CENTIPEDE AWAY!" I exclaimed in fear as I clenched my eyes shut, tightening my grips on Zoro's head.

"It's dead already!" he replied in annoyance.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and true, the damned centipede is dead, making me sighed in relieve but not making any gesture to jump off of Zoro.

"Get off of me, aho!" Zoro exclaimed and I shook my head.

"No way! What if there are groups of cockroaches appear and climbs on my legs?!" I asked back.

"Then just kill them!"

"NO! I WON'T RISK THAT!"

"Fine! Just don't be in my way!" Zoro said, ending our arguments before we continued our journey to find the damned bird.

Not even 5 minutes later, another centipede jumped out and Zoro quickly cut it up, while I was still clinging on his head in fear and actually covering his sights.

"I told you don't be in my way!" he exclaimed, pulling away my arms from his face before the three of us heard screaming from far away.

"I heard screaming." Robin-san pointed out.

"Ignore them." Zoro replied and grabbing the damned centipede to look at it, which a reaaaaal close to me and I screeched in fear loudly.

"THROW THEM AWAY!" I screeched and he did it as he yelled at me for being noisy.

"Killing every of them is probably bad… they are so pitiful…" Robin-san commented as she looked at the damned dead centipede.

"They attacked me first. Don't give me any suggestions!" Zoro snapped, "By the way, I know you're hiding your true intentions. I still don't trust you! Don't forget that." He told the dark haired lady and walked away from her.

"Just so you know…" Robin-san started.

"What?" Zoro asked.

"The way you're heading is the way back." She continued and I snorted a laugh at this, which making the swordsman pissed a bit.

"Zoro is far worse than a bird~" I sang mockingly and laughed out loud, making the swordsman yelled at me.

"JIYOOOO~~~~"

"Chirping sound!" I pointed out and jumped off of Zoro toward Robin-san, jumping away from the slimes and landed safely beside Robin-san. "Come on maigo-marimo! And be careful not to step on the slime!" I told him and walked along with Robin-san, leaving Zoro alone as he also following us, but he eventually stepped into the slime and I turned to look at him, which already half-way in the slimes.

"What the hell are you doing, Zoro?" I asked blankly.

"Shut up! Just help me up!" he yelled and I offered the net for him to grab. After he got the net, I pulled it along out from the slimes, which a really nasty sight and nasty smell.

"Ugh, Zoro, you smelled like a pooper." I pointed out bluntly as I pinched my nose and inched away from him.

"Shut up." he replied and we continued our journey. We kept looking around, but all we found are just stupid bugs and hearing the chirping sounds, which right now fighting with Zoro and he was yelling at them.

"There is no end to this! Why are you beetles fighting me! Stop getting in my way! You actually think you can win!? Huh!?" he exclaimed in annoyance.

"Just now, I heard chirping sound." Robin-san pointed out.

"Yeah…" I confirmed and fireflies were coming out suddenly, "Ah, fireflies." I pointed out before I detected a huge number of a certain bug were coming and I quickly jumped on Zoro, clinging on his head. And true enough, a huge number of cockroaches were coming toward us.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH~~~!"

XXX

In the vast sea, a certain fireman suddenly woke up and looking around, holding his cowboy hat in his hand and yawned while a certain black furred feline is happily approaching him.

"Is it just me or I just heard Eri screaming?" he wondered out loud and looked up to the blue sky; some clouds were floating above him as he petted the feline.

"…I hope she'll be fine." He said and stood up, setting aflame to his feet for continuing his journey.

XXX

"Jaya Island scary, Jaya Island scary, Jaya Island scary…"

I kept chanting on that as I clinging on Zoro's head tightly for my dear life while we continued our journey. I could be careless about anything in the moment as my mind still traveled at the time where the herds of roaches were coming like a damned tsunami earlier. If it's not because of Zoro that is killing them all, I'd probably be dead in the silliest way.

"Oi, just how long are you gonna wept like that?" I heard Zoro asked in annoyance, "And get off me too." He added. But of course, I continued my chanting with pale face and cried in fear, eyes shut tight.

"…I want my brother back…" I wept as I cried, ignoring Zoro's words earlier as we kept walking and eventually meeting up with the others as they looked like a wreck, but I could be careless as my eyes landed on Luffy.

"Luffy!" I cried as I jumped off of Zoro's head and into Luffy's arms, crying in fear in his chest.

"You damned marimo! What did you do to Eri-chan!?" I heard Sanji-san yelled.

"It's not my fault, aho-cook!" I heard Zoro replied.

"Oi Zoro, what happened to Eri?" I heard Luffy asked.

"Herds of roaches were suddenly jumped out toward us." I heard Zoro answered.

"Oh." Luffy replied shortly before he patted my head gently, "It's okay Eri. Those damned roaches won't get you cause I'm here. Come on, stop crying." He told me and I looked up at him, trails of tears from the corner of my eyes to my cheeks and a snot trailing down from my nostril before I sucked it back. I didn't say anything as I slowly put my feet back to the ground and wiped away the tears and snots as I gripped the hem of my shirt.

"See? You'll be fine!" Luffy said as he ruffled my hair gently and grinned, while I just nodded weakly at this before we all heard a particular strange chirping sound of the damned bird right above us. We all looked up and sure enough, it's the damned bird. It was chirping things as if it was laughing while Chopper was translating it, saying 'did you catch anything? Dumbass!'.

Instantly, my fear and wept from earlier quickly thrown away from the window of my mind as they were replaced by anger and fury. Imaginary flames of fury were surrounding me as I was trembling because of the anger, which actually making almost everyone taking steps away from me.

"YOU DAMNED BIRD!" I yelled in fury, shark-teethed, "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT THOSE DAMNED ROACHES WERE COMING TOWARD US!" I continued and the damned bird just laughing its sorry ass off before two hands were sprouted from either side of the bird and wrapped around it before another hand sprouted on the branch below the bird to throw the immobilized bird down to the ground, which near my feet.

"As long as I can see it, I can catch it." Robin-san informed us casually.

I grinned evilly as my eyes twinkled before I grabbed the damned bird by its talons. It was chirping those weird chirp sounds before I tied its talons and beak so it won't be an annoying bunch. We walked back to where the ossan and the apes (and Flame too) were and we saw the place was a wreck, along with the rest.

I was completely quiet while almost everyone else was panicking and quickly approaching them. I slowly approaching Flame in his battered form and crouched down to check on him. He's still alive, thank God, just unconscious. I put a hand on his head and slowly stroking his ear, which waking him up and he sat up.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly as I petted him. He just woofed and looked down, probably he was feeling guilty. I patted his head and smiled softly, "It's okay, you did your best." I told him.

"Luffy!" we heard Nami called and we turned to look at her, "The gold… was taken!" she continued. We all were stunned a bit while the ossan just waved it off, saying that it doesn't matter anymore and should be forgotten. He even trying to change the topic, which of course immediately be yelled at by Usopp about it, but still, the ossan told us that it's his problem and told us about Merry-chan's condition and will fix it in no time, telling us that he will send us to the sky no matter what.

"Stop being an idiot, ossan." I told him and walked up to him, "You're already our nakama. Anyone who hurt our nakama will pay." I continued before turning to Luffy, "Isn't that right, Captain?" I asked Luffy after Zoro showed him a familiar symbol on the wooden wall.

"It's Bellamy's symbol!" Nami pointed out.

"Want my help?" Zoro asked Luffy.

"I can do it alone." Luffy replied.

"Can I go with you?" I asked, "There should be some treasure to grab~" I continued as I showed him my right hand with connected thumb and index finger, along with a super sweet-yet-dangerous smile plastered on my face.

"Sure. But I'll be the one who kick his ass." He said and I nodded.

"Aye sir!" I saluted him with big grin, but dark aura still spreading fast around me, which slowly making me remembered about a certain talking blue cat with the same catchphrase. I followed Luffy after I gave Zoro the damned bird as the ossan was trying to stop us, but he was halted by Zoro as he offered him his katana to the ossan.

"We will be back before dawn." We said in sync with different expression but same aura, which is fury and dark aura.

'They all will pay for injuring our nakamas...'

A/N: HEYAAA~~! ANOTHER CHAPTER! YAY!

Or whatever, yeah.

Not much to say, except for Eri-chan's fears of centipedes and cockroaches…

Oh! And have you heard about 'Living Fire - Furukawa Toshio'? It's Ace's song! I guess. It has solemn tone, but a great song! XD

Don't forget 'Hannari Fall in Love - Mitsuishi Kotono' too! It's Hancock's song! It's a funny song about Hancock! XD

REVIEWS!

For gamelover41592: Actually, Nami did. But Eri-chan is too focused to Kurohige so she didn't realize about Nami yelling at her about not fighting. And hope you like this chapter! XD

For raynisia: thanks!

AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! OH AND THE FAVORITES AND FOLLOWS TOO! YOU GUYS ARE TOO SWEET! AND THANKIES TOO FOR SILENT READER WHO READ THE STORY!

Even though I don't know whether you like it or not, but whatever.

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW/FAVORITE/FOLLOW!

DISCLAIMER: I WILL NEVER OWN ONE PIECE LIKE EVER! CAUSE IT BELONGS TO ODACCHI! SOME UNFAMILIAR CHARACTERS IN THE CANON STORY IN HERE ARE MINE! ALONG WITH THE IDEA OF THE STORY!

And thanks to my friend, Lovidei, for BETA-ing this chapter! Thanks ya bang! He's actually a classmate of mine, and usually we talked about animes and stuffs. He's one of my close male friends in school. He also writes stories too! Go read it if you got time!

ThiefofStealth