Chapter 9
The Seventh Sea
Maxwell coughed and sputtered on the deck of the Merry. He was soaking wet and had to roll over just to get his breath under control. A man can do a lot, but having to hold their breath unexpectedly was not one of them. The mage took deep breaths as he lay there. Did they fall off? Was the Merry flying just a hallucination, and they crashed back onto the ocean? No wait, the ship would be in splinters and they'd all be dead. What happened?
He could hear everyone else cough as they recover from their unexpected dip. Zoro was the first one to say something, "Is everyone alright...?" No one really responded to that, Maxwell just tried to focus more on breathing.
"HEY!" Luffy was the only one to get up, "Hey, look you guys! Outside the ship!"
Maxwell grumbled as he slowly got to his feet, "Okay Luffy, what the hell are you on about n—" He cut himself off as he looked at what Luffy saw, and it left him breathless.
Clouds. Lots and lots of clouds.
Maxwell rubbed his eyes and then looked again. He wasn't imagining it. They were in a field of clouds. No, not a field, a sea of clouds! White fluffy sunlit mist as far as the eye could see. The Merry rocked slightly as rippling white vapours rose and fell like waves against her haul. And even larger masses could be seen above them. Clouds.
"Maker-Andraste..." And Max wasn't the only one stunned. The whole crew looked around, seeing the fluffy white expanse around them.
"...On top of the clouds...! How are we sailing on clouds...!?" asked an amazed Nami.
"Of course we can sail on top of it! They're just clouds," said Luffy.
Chopper, Sanji, and Zoro all waved off their captain, "No, that's impossible!" There was so much wrong with that argument.
Chopper then notices Usopp still lying on the deck. He hadn't gotten up, "...Usopp!" The furry little doctor runs over to him, "...This is bad, Usopp isn't breathing!"
Luffy ran over, "WHAT!? Think of something! Do CPR!"
"Okay. I'll do CPR on Nami!"
"Baka." "NOT THE TIME, SANJI!"
Usopp suddenly coughs, he was still alive, "...Ugh, what happened...?" The exaggerating marksman gets up groggily, "What is—CLOUDS!? WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CLOUDS!?" Usopp's eyes bulge at the sight of the sea of white.
"This is like... the sea of the sky!" Nami quickly looked at their log pose, "But look, the log pose is still pointing up!"
Robin takes a seat against the rails, "Maybe this is only the middle part of the emperornimbus...?"
"We need to go higher...? But how...?" asked Chopper.
Robin shrugged, "I have no idea."
"For my first course of action! I, Captain Usopp, will be the first human in recent history to swim in the sea of clouds!" Usopp had taken off his shirt and was doing a strongman pose.
"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Luffy and Chopper were cheering him on.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Sanji glanced over, "Don't fool around. We still don't know anything about this sea!"
Usopp swan dived into the clouds anyways.
Maxwell let them have their fun. He took this time to take a quick look at the Merry. Her main sail was torn in places, suddenly being plunged into the cloud must of wrecked them, the speed they were going. Max also realized the wings they hand mounted on the port and starboard were broken. The emperornimbus had literally clipped their wings. Still, despite the damage, the Going Merry was still in tact and able to sail.
Max gently patted the ship's mast, "Well done, Merry." He could hear a content sigh in the back of his head.
Now they just needed to wait for Usopp to come back aboard.
...
...
...
"He's... still not back..." Zoro sweat-dropped.
Robin looked over the ledge, "Just a thought, but... Is there really a bottom to a sea of clouds?
"You mean—!" "DID THAT IDIOT FALL OFF THE CLOUD!?" "USOPP!"
Luffy immediately shot his arm out into the fluffy abyss.
Sanji grit his teeth looking down at the ocean, "I told that idiot not to fool around!"
"Extend your arm as far as you can!" Robin told Luffy.
Luffy looked at her with his arm still stretched, "But I can't see through these clouds!"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it!" Robin then brought her arms into an "X" shape and closed her eyes, "Ojos Fleur!
Maxwell swore he just saw eyes appear on Luffy's rubber arm.
...
...
...
"There he is!"
"Eh!? Where!?" Luffy looks back at Robin.
"Seis Fleur!" The whole crew waited a moment before she called, "Okay! Pull him up!"
Luffy jostled as he felt something, "You got him!? Alright! OOPH—" He started grunting as he tried to bring his arm up. It was as if something heavier was on the end of his arm.
"Come on, Luffy! You can do it!" Nami cheered him on.
"OOOOOH!" And like a jumping fish, Usopp is pulled out of the clouds.
"You did it!" Nami cheered, "You pulled—SOMETHING FOLLOWED HIM!" Two creature came out of the cloudy waters. A kraken sized octopus and some sort of smaller sea serpent.
"Ah! They want to eat Usopp!" "AAAAAAHHH!"
"Tch, nothing to be scared about!" Zoro jumps into the air and slashes at the tentacle above them, twice. However, instead of wounds or being cut off, the tentacle pops like a balloon.
"HUH!?"
Sanji meanwhile, had knocked out the sea serpent leaping at their boat. The only reason it hadn't sunk back into the clouds were it's fangs hanging onto the ledge, "Oh, this is a weird looking animal. I wonder if this is considered a fish..."
"That octopus was like a balloon..." The giant cephalopod had retreated below.
Zoro has huffing more than usual, "It was still an animal. It was moving..." Actually Sanji and Luffy were as well. It was strange, they normally wouldn't be so tired after a fight like that.
"So there are animals in the clouds..."
"Looks like it's better to think of this place as an ocean rather than a cloud," Robin suggested.
Chopper approached the monster still hanging to their boat, "What's with this flat snake?"
"It's a flatfish because it's flat."
"So this is a flatfish...?" Chopper looked at the fanged creature.
"GIYAH!" Usopp screamed as he suddenly realized something. He had landed on the boat when Luffy finally had his arm back.
"What is it this time Usopp!" Sanji yelled at the sniper. He was getting tired of Usopp's commotion.
"My overalls..." Usopp puts his arm in and pulls something out, "This was in my pants..." It was a fish. Then Usopp curls up throwing the fish away, "Sky Island so scary. Sky Island so scary..." He keeps repeating this as he blocks out the world.
"Such a tough day for him," says Robin. The archeologist then picks up the fish. It was flat and wide, like a whisker-less catfish. Large scales covered it's belly, with wing-like fins at it's sides, and a sideways tail fin. It also was more flat and round than the usual fish shape.
"Then... This would be a sky fish? It's the strange creature described in Noland's journal. I think because there is no sea floor in this sky ocean, they must've evolved into various forms in order to survive."
"So some became flat and some became like balloons?" Zoro proposed.
"Yes," Luffy had stolen the sky fish from Robin's hands, "All to make themselves lighter because the buoyant force here is much weaker than sea water."
"Their scales look like feathers... But the carnivorous mouth is weird." It did have a row of shark like teeth.
"I sautéed it." "THIS IS YUMMY!" "WE WEREN'T DONE WITH IT YET!"
Maxwell shook his head and turned to Zoro, "How are you holding up? I noticed you looked more winded than normal after slicing that octopus."
"Hm... It was weird. Normally a stunt like that would be nothing for me but..."
"AAAAAHHH!" Chopper dropped the binoculars he had been using and decreased incoherently.
"Whoa, whoa there Chopper," Maxwell knelt down and held his shoulders, "What are you saying? A ship? Where?"
"No—Um, there was a ship... But the ship isn't there any more!"
"What do you mean?"
Chopper jumped onto the ledge, "There's a bull running on a rectangular cloud. It's charging from over there... THIS IS BAD!"
Maxwell decides to look where Chopper was looking, "A bull running on a cloud? Chopper what do you—INCOMING!"
It was a man skating on the clouds. Max could see the bull demon mask on his face, and he wielded a giant gaatlok firearm and a shield. He also wore a grass skirt and actually had some small wings on his back.
"Eliminate..."
"Oh no you—OOPH!" Maxwell was sent flying before he could even draw one of his foci. He crashed into the mast and fell to the deck and wheezed, hard. A blow to his stomach is normally bad, but it it shouldn't leave him breathless like this! Maxwell could barely get a breath in. It was like there was no air up here. Not to mention how sluggish he had felt before he could even draw a weapon.
The enemy had even repelled Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. They could barely do anything to him before the warrior struck them and jumped into the air.
"Eh?" Nami barely believed her eyes, "Wait, what's wrong with you four!?
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Another person then appeared out of the sky, riding on a bird. The newcomer jumped at the tribal warrior, striking him with his lance. But the masked foe had blocked it with their shield. Their rescuer landed on the Merry while the attacker had fallen into the clouds.
"What!? Who is it this time!?" Nami stared at their caped defender.
"I am... The Knight of the Sky!" The man's strange bird had landed behind him.
Maxwell tried to control his breathing, "Oh great... A chevalier... Just what we needed..." Maxwell exhaled with scathing sarcasm.
The old knight kept his vigil on the clouds below, "He retreated..."
"What's going on...! Who was that guy!?" Nami then turned around towards them, "Also, you four are so useless! Four on one and you still lost!" Maxwell tried to glare, but he was still focused on breathing.
Chopper bowed to the knight, "Thank you for saving us."
The old man shook his head, "Don't mention it. It couldn't be helped. This is a service."
Sanji muttered as he sat up, "Tsk, that was... embarrassing."
"For some reason... My body can't move very well," Luffy complained.
"...It must be because the oxygen is scarce up here," Robin stated to them.
"Oxygen...?" Maxwell muttered, "Isn't that the gas described to be used by the human body when breathing?" He had learned that in one of Nami's books from her room.
"Ah... To be saying those words... Are you citizens of the Blue Sea?"
"Huh? What's that? ...By the way, who are you?" Nami asked.
The old man lowered his lance, "I would be the Knight of the Sky. All living things under the clouds are citizens of the Blue Sea. In other words, did you come up from where the sea is blue?"
"...Yeah, that's right," responded Luffy.
"It can't be helped then... This place is over 7000 metres above the blue seas, called the White Sea. And 10,000 metres above your sea is the White-White sea. The bodies of average citizens from the blue seas cannot handle it.
Luffy sat up, "Okay! I'm slowly getting used to it already."
Zoro's breath had calmed, "Yup. It's become fairy easy to breathe now."
Maxwell was still on his back, "Screw you brats... I'm still having a hard time here...!"
"But that guy from before, how can he run on the top of the sea?" Chopper watched as the old knight sat on some of the upper rails.
"Now wait a moment," the elder held up his hand, "You probably have a lot of questions, but first things first, I need to talk business with you," Maxwell rolled his eyes, "I am a freelance mercenary. This is a very dangerous part of the sea. Those who do not know how to fight in the sky will be attacked by those guerrillas like before, or become food for skyfish. I can give you a whistle, but it will cost you 5 million extol to use, and I will come and save you!"
The crew looked at him confused, "What are you talking about, mister?" And the knight looked at them aback.
"Quit acting like a fool... The price is very cheap already! I won't accept even 1 extol less than that! I have living expenses too!"
"That's why we're asking what an extol is," said Sanji, "And what kind of whistle are you talking about?"
The old man looked at them in shock, "...You people... Didn't you come here through the two of High West? Then you must have been to one or two islands, right!?"
Luffy just looked at him even more confused, "We just told you, we don't know what you're talking about, mister."
"Wait! There are other ways to get to this sky sea!?" Nami wanted to clarify, "And by 'one or two islands...' You mean there's more than one sky island?"
"How did you get up here then!?" The knight voice became more incredulous.
"The Knock-Up Stream," Max replied. He had finally gotten ahold of his breath and sat up, "We came up here riding the knock-up stream..."
"What...!? You actually came up via that monstrous stream!? ...I never thought there would still be people that brave..."
Nami cover here mouth and whimpered, "So it wasn't the normal route... I knew it...!"
"We're here anyway right?" Nami took a look at Luffy, "Right~?"
She started started shaking him by the collar, "WE ALMOST DIED! IF WE'D PATIENTLY COLLECTED MORE INFORMATION, WE COULD'VE USED A SAFER METHOD!"
"Did you lose any of your crew?" the knight interrupted.
Luffy looks at him, "Nope, we're all here."
"Other routes are not like this... If 100 people want to go to a sky island through the other routes, it would be a gamble with no way to predict how many would survive. However, the knock-up stream means that either everyone dies, or everyone get's there together. All or nothing, not many take this gamble, especially people in these years. I deeply respect you navigator who has both courage and real strength."
Usopp snapped out of his catatonic state, "Yeah—It's all because of me! When these guys were crying and giving up, I said—" Nami grabbed him by the cheek.
The knight took something out of his armor, "One whistle," and dropped it on the deck, "Blow this whistle once and I will come down from Heaven to save you! Using the currency of the sky, each whistle would cost 5 million extol, but your first whistle will be free as my gift to you. Use the whistle to call me at any time!" The knight then stood up at went to the ledge.
"Wait! We don't even know your name!"
The man turned back to them, "I would be Gan Fall, the Knight of the Sky!" Gan Fall's bird then lands beside him, "This is my partner, Pierre!"
Pierre then began to transform, "And before I forget, Pierre, even though he's a bird, he had the power of the Uma-Uma Fruit. Which means he can became a winged horse!" Gran Fall then joins his mount, "In other words..."
"A pegasus!?" Nami looked at them excited.
"That's right! A pegasus!"
*Pieh~!*
Okay, that is not what a horse sounds like! And it would have been much more majestic, if the beast wasn't pink with polkadots, with a black and yellow head, and actually had a mane! Maxwell shivered just looking at the thing.
The cavalier than galloped into the sky, "I wish you luck, brave ones!"
...
...
...
"It turn into a strange animal," Sanji was referring to the bird.
"...In the end he didn't really tell us anything useful," stated Robin.
"...Yeah... Really, nothing at all," Usopp agreed with her.
Nami put her hands on her hips, "So we're back to square one,"
"Then how do we get higher?" Chopper asked.
Luffy grabbed the whistle, "Okay, let's call the mister and ask him."
"W-W-W-WAIT!" However before Luffy could even blow it, Nami and Usopp jump the rubber man. Usopp pulled on his face, while Nami had his neck and wrist.
"WAIT A MINUTE, LUFFY! THIS IS ONLY FOR AN EMERGENCY!" "IF THAT WEIRD MASK GUY COMES AGAIN, WHAT WILL WE DO WITHOUT THAT WHISTLE!"
"Anyways, Let's get the ship moving. Max?" Zoro turns the the mage.
"Alright," Maxwell powers up the Merry and she is able to catch the wind in her tattered sail.
"Hey, look over there!" Chopper calls out. Robin joins him where the doctor is hanging onto the ledge.
"What's that...?" "That cloud is weird right?" "It looks like a waterfall, but..."
Maxwell saw the hanging cloud they were talking about. It really did look like a waterfall, "Okay! It's decided! Let's go over there and check it out!" There weren't any other identifiable structures up here, so this was their safest bet. The energized Merry started to turn and they sailed toward the strange looking cloud.
Nami pipes up, taking the whistle off the deck, "Oh yeah, I'm going to hold onto the whistle for when we need to call Gran Fall. Who disagrees?" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all hold up their hands, "What!? I'm a feeble little girl! So I should have the whistle!"
Maxwell sighs in dismay. He knew this was eventually going to come up. The last thing the needed was a knight showing up for no reason. He'd heard stories about chevaliers out in Orlais, and they weren't always good ones...
"Luffy, you just want to blow it for fun! You can't have it!" Usopp held back Luffy from the whistle.
"I just want to call for that mister!"
"Let me keep it! I'm the weakest!" Chopper suggested.
"No! I'm the weakest guy here!" argued the sniper.
"No, I'm the weakest! Don't talk trash!" Nami protested.
"You guys have the strangest arguments..." said Robin.
Maxwell snaps his fingers and the whistle flies out of Nami's grip. The four crewmate all try to jump for it but only end up in a doggy-pile. A shadow falls over them and they look up to see Maxwell holding the whistle. He also had a nail and hammer in hand.
The mage then hammers the nail into the mast. It was pegged in just enough to keep in in place while still jutting out of the wood. Maxwell then hangs the whistle on it and turns to the crew, "This whistle does not leave the ship. Should there be an attack, or an enemy approach, those onboard will be allowed to use it. Should anyone go ashore, it stays here. And for added measure..." Maxwell sends a mental plea to the ship, and a blue forcefield appears around the whistle, "Merry will be the one watching it for you."
"What!? No fair! I want to call the mister!" "Merry~! How could you~!" "Merry get's to keep it?"
Max could hear the klabautermann giggle in the back of his head, "She's going to hold onto it for now, Chop. If you ask her nicely maybe she'll let it go. But for now, that barrier will go up if anyone tries to use it unnecessarily. I'm looking at you Luffy."
The captain pouts at this, "Dumb old men and their dumb magic..."
Maxwell wasn't going to dignify to that response, "Is that acceptable Nami?"
"...Fine. That'll do," Nami then points at Max, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Robin, "But you guys have no right to take it! If any of you do I'll kick you ass! Understood?"
"Understood," the crew parrots back. Well except for Luffy who kept sulking. The crew understood their combat skills had them more self-assured of their safety compared to Usopp, or Nami. Or Chopper for that matter.
"Alright! Now that that's settled, let's enjoy the view, shall we? We're in the sky for Andraste's sake!" The crew dispersed to enjoy the ride while Maxwell sailed the ship for their next destination.