Chapter 19
Caelum
"Be quiet! You're talking to loud!" "You're talking way louder!" "SHUT UP! I CAN'T SLEEP!"
Three days...
The celebration of Skypiea's New Found Peace lasted for three days...
...Or was it six?
...No, it was four...
"Ugh..." Maxwell's head pounded from the hangover he was apparently having. A non-stop party had certainly taken it's toll on the mage's head. Singing, dancing, singing, Maxwell even got to try the sky tobacco the Shandian's had. And there was a bonfire every night since.
Luffy and Nami were busy yelling at each other now, and the others were starting to get involved too.
Maxwell peered up to see a black sky.
...
...
...
It was way to early to deal with this shit...
"...Zzz... Zzz—"
"Max! Wake up!"
"Z—Snort! What...!? What...?" Maxwell woke up with a start, though he was still incredibly drowsy. He peered out of his heavy eyelids to see Luffy staring down at him, "What do you want...?"
"Shishishi! I got a plan!"
Luffy had a plan... Wait—did he hear him right? "...Aw f #$, now I got to be awake." The sorcerer groaned as he got up from the leaf mattress he'd been using, "Okay... What's going on?" Maxwell rubbed his face as he sat up.
"We're going to make off with the gold!"
...
...
...
"...Did you smoke some that peace pipe too?"
O O O
No, Luffy didn't smoke anything. He had been completely serious. There was apparently a boatload of gold nearby and they were going to make off with it. So they had come up with a plan.
"Rubber... band?" A Skypiean stretched a band between his two hands, "This is what a rubber band is?" He seemed amazingly shocked. Though admittedly, Maxwell didn't do any better when he first saw rubber... And that was after meeting Luffy...
"Oh yes! About 90% of the work in felling Giant Jack came from the power of these rubber bands—" Usopp and Maxwell were running a con.
"Rubber bands my ass..." Though calling it a con was a generous term.
"—I'm the only one in the world with a supply of these. But wait, there's more!" Usopp took out a rolled up piece of metal, "Check out these iron sheets! You'd all like some iron, right?"
Apparently these people have been so isolated, most common folk didn't even SEE any goods from the Blue Seas. Between the skirmishes with pirates and the war amongst themselves, no one had really had the opportunity to offer trade.
"I brought over these specialities from my ship! You can trade for these with your dials..." No, this plan was a distraction. They had set up in the hall the locals had been using. The crewmates were busy advertising to the remaining people inside the space. The rest had gone somewhere, and Maxwell thinks it was the golden bell.
Maxwell had made good on his promise to help Usopp get some dials while they were still here. Usopp had been busy marketing their goods off the the Skypieans and Shandians, while Maxwell drew their attention some magic tricks.
He was going to get back at Usopp for this!
"No, I like these rubber bands more! I'd be happy to trade for them!" "I want some too! Is that okay!?"
"Eh, hehehe...! heh... (This sounds worse then that time the Circle proposed raising mabari pups...) Take a look around! Some of these things we got are truly magical!" Maxwell threw a small sparkling light in the air. He was hating Usopp so much right now. And worse, there were kids watching!
In reality, what they were selling were odds and end from the Going Merry. While the island did party for several days in the Shandora ruins, there some people who took breaks in between. Usopp had spent some of that time sprucing up the ship, leaving left over timber's and scraps from Merry's self-repair. They had sheet metal, aluminum foil, bent nails, tacks, screws, office supplies, paper bags, and a whole lot of other junk for sale.
It was going great! ...Yet Maxwell's ego felt sullied for having to sellout for such refuse.
"GAHAHAHAHAHA!" Usopp however was in great spirits.
"You're in a good mood, Usopp. Did you get a good deal?" Zoro was waiting for them in the middle of the ruins, when they had finished their trading. He was busy testing his katas while everybody else was collecting treasure.
"YOU BET! We got a bag full of 'em! Though we might have scored a bit more if the old man here wasn't such a downer."
"I told you! When dealing with equal trade, you gotta set a standard for monetary value and—" "Oh come off it, old man! We got a sweat deal!" "YOU HAD ME PERFORMING LIKE A DANCING STREET MONKEY!" "But think of the children, Max! The children!" "SCREW YOU!"
Usopp didn't care about Maxwell's problems though. He was just so happy he even started doing his own little dance, "Ah, who cares! I can do so much with these! It's time for a dial revolution for Usopp's Factory! Hey Zoro! You want me to make that katana of yours into a flavour sword?"
Zoro just looked at him oddly, "No thanks..."
"I can even make Nami's climatact even stronger now! Can't wait to do all the things to my slingshot too... Hehehe!"
"Don't forget you owe me a new staff too, long-nose!" Maxwell growled as he crossed his arms. He still couldn't believe how much of a sweet talker Usopp was. Perhaps it was his pride as a nobleman... But the barter should not have been so easy! And the children...!
Usopp waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, just wait for your armour to be refurbished first..." Then the sniper looked around, "Speaking of which, where are Luffy and the others? Or Robin, for that matter...?" Robin hadn't gone with them either to get the gold.
Zoro pointed his katana, "Their still inside. And as for Robin, she went off somewhere."
Maxwell didn't blame her. She probably preferred somewhere other than a sleeping snake's gullet.
Because that's where the rest of the crew were.
The King of the Forest was a leviathan sized serpent that had partied with them all, along with the rest of the wildlife. Maxwell was amazed a creature could grow so large, in any dimension. They'd already established that the pyrobloin made plant and wildlife bigger, BUT IT WAS HUGE! It was bigger than a high dragon, longer than a river, and apparently had acidic venom in those four long fangs! And that snake had even fought in the Battle Royale! That said, snake was also quite the party animal.
Luffy had apparently been eaten by it at one point, and found a ton of gold and jewels in the Forest King's belly. It was a wonder Luffy wasn't digested...
"This snake sure sleeps like a log," Usopp commented as he looked at the giant serpent. It was sprawled over the ruins and slept on it's side, snoring, jaws open wide.
Zoro looked up where one of it's giant eye would have been, "Well, it did dance non-stop for four days... I don't know what it was so happy about, but we better get going before it wakes up and causes trouble again."
"Huh? This gentle snake?" Usopp asked.
"Gentle, my ass! You have no idea how bad this snake can be."
"Huh? This gentle snake?"
Maxwell stiff led a laugh as he realized Zoro wasn't looking at Usopp, "Like I just said, you can only say that because you haven't seen what it's really like."
"Huh? This gentle snake?"
Zoro finally turned around, "You even listening to me, Usopp!?"
Usopp laughed as he showed Zoro a shell, "It's a tone dial!"
*Click. "Huh? This gentle snake?"*
"QUIT WASTING MY TIME!"
Both Usopp and Maxwell cackled having pulled a fast one over Zoro. Most of the time the swordsman was either sleeping, training, or having booze, and he was generally one of the more serious people on the crew. Maxwell could interact with him just fine, but it was hard to actually prank the man.
"Tch" Zoro took note of Maxwell's laughter, "I hope you've at least been training old man! Next island, you owe me a duel—Don't think I didn't notice you making a new spell!"
Maxwell had to grimace at Zoro's declaration. Since the mage kept losing his staves, Maxwell had been at a distinct disadvantage in their more recent sparing matches. How did Usopp describe Maxwell's style again? A "glass cannon?"
The mage sighed, "You'll get your duel, Zoro. I'm curious to see how'd you handle the Horror spell anyways." He should probably start working with Mineive as well. Maxwell wanted his Winter spells back, not to mention start learning the battle magic.
"'Horror?' Sounds fun." "Wait, you got a spell that actually scares the crap out of people!?"
"What's Usopp being scared of now?" Everyone looked to the serpents maw to see Sanji climbing out of it. He held out a hand to Nami who was climbing out after him, "Here you go Nami~!"
"Thank you, Sanji," Maxwell noticed a particular lack of bags with them, "Now go back inside and help get the treasure."
"Yes, ma'am~!" Sanji grinned like a loon as he climbed back inside.
"...You actually went inside that thing?" Maxwell looked down the snake's throat, seeing how cavernous it was.
"Eh, if you can do it once, you can do it again."
Maxwell blinked at Nami, "...What in the Maker's name happened to you during the battle?"
Nami shook her head, "You do not want to know. Anyways, I'm going to head back and prep the ship. Max, you mind sticking around to help carry the gold?"
"Sure thing, Nami," the mage nodded. Conis was already at the ship with Pagaya. They would be their guides on the way back to the Grand Line. Plus, Pagaya knew a little about boat design, going over any flaws Usopp might have missed.
"Alright! I'll see you all in a bit," the navigator then started yelling as she walked off, "Zoro! I better see you carrying a sack when you get back to the ship! No lazing around! And no going off by yourself!"
"Tch. Yeah, yeah, devil woman," the swordsman scratched his neck in annoyance. It was a genuine concern though. Zoro has a habit of getting lost, even with directions.
"Hey~!" Chopper's voice echoed from the opening. He was in his human form, carrying a sack of treasure on his back. Luffy and Sanji then followed, carrying two bags each, "We're back!"
"Whoa! That's a lot of gold!" The mage peered into one of the treasure bags. Silver, gold, jewelry in all sorts of artistic pieces. Maxwell even saw a few emeralds and rubies. What had that snake been eating?
Luffy then appeared beside him, "I know! Pretty awesome, right?"
Maxwell gave Luffy a sideways glance, "...This is a one time occurrence. Don't let it go to your head, Luffy." The captain merely laughed at his first-mate's response.
"Luffy!" Maxwell and Luffy both looked up to see little Aisa running towards them.
"Hey! Aisa!" Luffy waved at her. Aisa first met Luffy inside the King of the Forest actually. Max was still hazy on the details but Aisa had helped Luffy get out. She had originally snuck onto the island because she didn't want any of her tribesmen to die. With two of the priests defeated, they decided on a major offensive at the time. Not only that, somehow she was somehow capable of Mantra, like Enel and his priests were.
"...Are guys leaving?" Aisa got that sad look only kids could pull off. It made Maxwell wince as the responsible adult in him wanted to comfort a hurting child. It didn't help had recently performed in front of a crowd. The rest of the guys looked just as guilty about it.
"Yeah," Luffy had no such qualms though, "We've stayed here long enough. It's time for us to get back to our adventure! I'm going to be the Pirate King ya'know."
Aisa blink at her new hero, "Your going to be a king? With a castle and everything?"
"Bwhahahaha!" Luffy burst out laughing, "Heck no! Being the Pirate King is being the freest man alive! Sailing the seas and having fun with your friends! It'd be no fun otherwise.
Luffy then put up a finger, "BUT, I still need to find the treasure of the last King of the Pirates. I can't find it if we're stuck up here, now can I?"
"No, I guess not..." Aisa then looked at the rest of the guys, "...Do you all want to be Pirate King too?"
Zoro snorts, "No, but each of us follows him for our own reasons."
"Yeah! I for one want to be a Brave Warrior of the Seas!" Usopp puffed out his chest at his declaration.
"Whoa, really!?" Aisa looked around at the other crewmates, "What about the rest of you? What do you want to be?"
"Heh, I'm going to be the Greatest Swordsman in the world!" "I want to find the place of every chef's dream, the Legendary Ocean: All Blue." "I want to see the world, with my own eyes!" "To be the greatest sorcerer in world—the likes this world has never seen."
"Whoa...!" Aisa looked at all of them in awe. They had such big dreams, "Can I ever have a dream like that?"
"Shishishi! Of course! Your country's free now, right?" Luffy smiled at the 7 year old.
"...Hm!" Aisa smiled as she nodded, "Then I've decided! Someday I'm going to be a strong warrior like you some day!"
"Shishishi! You better catch up then! I'm pretty strong you know," Luffy held up his arm and patted his bicep. Then Luffy realized something and quickly put a finger to his lip, "Oh, and don't tell we're leaving! We're planning on our own farewell!"
"Haha! Okay!" Aisa moves to leave but suddenly stops to look back at them all, "Everyone! Thanks for saving us! Good luck!"
"Bye...!" Both Maxwell and Usopp wave at the retreating girl. Then they both sigh, "That was way too adorable..."
Sanji blew some smoke, breathing out his own feelings, "Well, we got the gold. The ship is being prepped. All we got to do now—Is wait for Robin~!" Sanji's eye turned into a heart again, "Oh Robin~! Whatever could she be up too~? Perhaps I can over her a foot massage after all the walking in her fine leather boots~!"
"...You have issues..." Maxwell deadpanned at the perverted cook.
"Put a sock in it, old man!" was Sanji's retort.
Maxwell growled at being called old, but he thinks he's getting used to it now, "Anyways, give me a bag. I'll carry for Chopper."
"Thanks, Maxwell!" Chopper nodded appreciatively as he reverted to his usual half-and-half form. The mage picks up the sack of gold and winced at how heavy it was. It was certainly heavier than he was expecting.
Now they just need to wait for Robin.
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...
...
Where did she head off too, anyway?
O O O
"Robin's sooo late..." Luffy moaned as he stood at the top of a piece of rubble. It had at least been an hour and it was now afternoon.
"Anyways, why's it so empty here? What happened to all the guerillas and angels?" "Well I think I heard them mention the gold bell earlier..." "It's better this way though. They'd come chasing after us if they spotted us. After all, we're trying to make off with all this gold!" "Well, Nami and Conis should be getting the ship ready to leave at a moment's notice but—"
"Ugh, what a bother," Zoro stood up from waiting on the groud, "We don't have to wait for her. I'm heading to the ship!"
"Oh no you don't, dumbass!" "Dumbass!" "Marimo Dumbass!" "Dumbass Marimo!"
"AS IF YOU CAN TALK!" "Dumbass! Hahaha!" "OH PLEASE, YOU'D BECOME A LOST CHILD AFTER TAKING 3 STEPS INTO THAT FOREST!"
Maxwell sighed as the guys started fighting amongst themselves. Well, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji started to tussle. Usopp and Chopper were laid flat after the first punch.
"Hey look, it's Robin!" Usopp looked up from the cobblestone to see Robin walking towards them. However, what they didn't expect were all the island natives behind her. And they were carrying something rather large.
"Hey! Robin!" Luffy waved to her, "Hurry up! We stole the gold, so it's time to run!"
"ARE YOU RETARDED!? DON'T SAY THAT! JUST LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE COMING BACK FROM BEHIND HER!" "Oh, NOW they all come back." "OH CRAP! THEY'VE GOT A HUGE CANNON!' "AGH! THERE'S SO MANY OF THEM!" "Well... So much for without a trace..."
"Get on the ship! We can't stay here any longer!" Luffy then turned around to show off the sack he was carrying, "See!? Look at our haul! We're rich now! My sack's completely stuffed!"
Some of the locals carrying the wrapped cylinder took note of this, "Hm? Don't tell me they're planning to leave already!?" "No, wait! Please wait a moment!"
"Oh crap, they're on to us!" "RUN FOR IT!" "Hey wait!"
Usopp decided to strike a pose towards the local peoples, "You can tell us to wait as much as you want, BUT...!"
"Woohoo! Preach it Usopp!" "RISKED OUR LIVES DID WE! IN VENTURING OUT TO THIS REMOTE ISLAND IN THE SKY! IN EXPLORING THE LEGENDARY CITY OF GOLD! FOR PROUD PIRATES ARE WE! TO RETURN EMPTY HANDED AFTER SUCH GLORIOUS EVENTS SHAN'T DO!" "Robin~! Hurry up or you'll be caught~!"
Maxwell had to laugh at that part. The guys knew full well that they were in no danger here. But, they couldn't really call themselves pirates if they didn't run off the island after some occurrence.
It happened at every other island. Why stop now? Robin seemed to get it.
"RUUUUNNNNN!" It was time to head back. Out to open sea.
O O O
*BADA BABA! BADA BABA! BADABADABADABOW~!* "Sweat Andraste... How can you contraption be so noisy?" "GOLD!" "GOLD!" "GOLD!" "GOLD!"
The Straw-Hats had reached their ship and were currently sailing on the White Sea. Maxwell steered the Going Merry following behind Pagaya and Conis as they sailed their own boat with dials. Though that musical horn of their early starting to grate on his nerves.
"Gold makes us... SUPER RICH!" There was also the fact that the boys were all flustering with gold fever. Luffy was busy posing, "WHAT'LL WE BUY!? HOW ABOUT A HUGE~ STATUE!?"
"Don't be stupid! We gotta use this to increase our firepower! Let's buy 10 cannons!" "Nami~ I'd I've a lock for the fridge~!" "Ooh! Ooh! I want some books! I want to read medical books of other countries!" "More booze."
"Hehehehe...!" Maxwell had to laugh at some of their idea. He wasn't immune to any ideas himself, he'd love to get a carved oaken desk to write papers on! But he wisely pretended to be busy with the ship's rigging. Though the thought was rather tempting with all their loot spread out before them.
"Hold your horses!" Nami scolded, "We'll split the treasure after we get down from here! I can't have you guys just going out and buying every little thing you want."
The guys didn't care. They were just laughing around celebrating their newfound treasure. "Books pwease—" Nami grabbed Choppers cheeks as he tried begging Nami again.
"Everyone! Please look towards the front!" Conis' voice came from the dial boat below, "It's Cloud End!"
Maxwell looked at the structure, impressed. It was a lot let gaudy than the original Heaven's Gate, and appeared much more rustic. Cloud End was white in colour, with the egg-shaped lamps, domed buildings, and the two rising fish fountains on either side. The gate seemed more of a tourist perch than anything.
Luffy looked at it excited, "Oh~! So we can get down from here!?" But then he suddenly lost that enthusiasm, "Sigh... So we're gonna go down...?"
Sanji and the others looked our at the ocean of cloud, "Now that we're about to leave, it certainly is hard to say goodbye..."
Everyone convened on the prow, enjoying the sight one last time, "Guess it's time to say goodbye to these white seas," said Zoro.
Chopper sighed fondly at the scenery, "Sky Island sure was fun... But also scary." He had his fill seeing this beautiful place. He even beaten a priest back on the island. Gedatu, Maxwell seemed to recall. Zoro had taken out Ohm.
"So beyond that arch is a Milky Road that'll take us all the way don to the blue seas, huh..." "I wonder if we'll ever be able to come up again...?' "It'd certainly be hard..."
Conis and Pagaya had parked their boat and ran alongside them on the pier, "It looks like we can only accompany you up to here everyone!" "Please take care!"
"Thanks for seeing us off!" "Thanks for everything, you two!" "Stay safe, Conis~!" "Conis! Old Man! White Fluffball! Take care!"
"Please raise your sails and hang on tight to your ship!" Pagaya called out to them.
"Understood!" Maxwell did just that, energizing the ship to pull all the ropes and raise the sails, "Get ready to go down boys and girls! Stow the gold! Grab a rope! Tie it to your waist! I ain't catching you with magic as we go down the Milky Way!"
*JOOEEE! JOOOEEE!*
"Huh?" "AGH!" "W-What!?" *Crash!*
Something had crash into Luffy making him fall the main deck. Everyone paused to se what was up.
*JOOEE! JOOEE! JOOEE!* "It said, 'Don't forget me!'" Chopper translated.
Nami sweat-dropped, "Oh right... It's the southbird that we brought along up here." And it had landed on Luffy's pinned head.
"Alright, off you come...!" Maxwell scooped up the bird so that it sat on his forearm, rather than his captain's head. It then hopped up his arm to sit on his shoulder. The mage didn't mind.
"Alright then captain..." Nami took a look at their compass, The log's set and pointing for our next destination!"
"Alright!" Luffy up and stood on the deck, "Once we get down from here, we can start new adventures! ALRIGHT, GUYS! READY!?" The crew nods, "DOWN TO THE BLUE SEAS WE GO!"
"AYE-AYE!" "PLEASE BE CAREFUL DURING THE FALL!"
Why would Conis be talking...
Wait...
...
...
...
"...Oh Sweet Andraste, no..."
There as no Milky Way ramp down.
It was a drop.
"Heso!"
"GGGGGGYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
"SWEET BLIGHTED #$&*()% OF A #$& +=/;: # #$&*()% WITH A BUCKET OF +=- #$& SINGING #$&*()%-+=/—" *Tweet~!* "—AND ORLESIAN OPERA! MAMA NOOOO—OOPH!"
...
...
...
Something had stopped their fall.
"GUYS, LOOK! IT'S AMAZING!"
...Maxwell had made sure didn't soil his trousers first, but when he got off from the deck, he was glad he did.
"WHAT!?" "We slowed down..." "WHOA! THIS IS SO COOL!" "What is this!?" "It's a balloon!" "I... I thought for sure I was a goner...!"
They were flying in the sky! Tethered by tentacles under some giant sky octopus balloon, but they were flying! The southbird was gone too. Good riddance.
*GONG~~~~~!*
*GONG~~~~~!*
...It was the great golden bell again. The Flame of Shandora!
*GONG~~~~~!*
It seemed like their new found friends wanted to give them a proper sound off...
*GONG~~~~~!*
—The sky visible upon upwards glance... Was it a dream or a reality? God's country above the clouds... 10,000 metres above the sky. Upon concentration, the bell becomes audible. It rings today, and it will ring tomorrow. Ringing across the skies, wandering over lands. Proudly, does it sing—
*GONG~~~~~!*
"Ah, what a lovely sound..."
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To be continued...