Twelve Red Lines

by Vikingr

I expected to die when I went into the water. Instead, I was rescued by a crew of people who I knew only as characters in a story. But what does it take to become worthy of being a Straw Hat? And why are so many little details not matching up to what I know?

34. Apotheosis

Apotheosis: the elevation of someone to divine status; deification.

Vikingr A/N: Hi everyone... I'm pretty sure everyone's noticed that I disappeared for a few months- that even my old account is gone. I'm sorry about that... There were some issues with my family that I won't go into that led to them trying to get me to stop writing. It's not going to work, though... I love my stories too much. But updates will be a lot slower than they were before. I'm back now, though, and hopefully for good this time. I hope you'll forgive me, and I thank any returning readers profusely.

Also... quadtriguple tap. Sure, it's a repost of a whole fic, but still... Beat that.

This was bad. Merry was gone- again!- and with her, Ghin and Toma. Luffy smacked himself in the face. Hard. "Crap! Where's that lobster thing taking our ship?"

It was a rota- reta- retorque- He didn't expect an answer. So when he got one, the rubber captain nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Upper Yard…"

It was the weak voice of one of the partially frozen White Berets. Leaping back in surprise, Luffy slipped on a patch of ice and fell on his butt. Which was fine, since it didn't hurt and it startled a snort of laughter out of Nami. Sighing heavily, Luffy's sailing master took his hat off and stomped over to squash it down onto his head.

"Just great. We're not only flat broke, now we don't even have our ship." Nami still sounded completely pissed off, but at least she wasn't attacking people anymore. Luffy gave her an hour or two before she'd be back to normal.

Johnny and Yosaku looked like they were about to pat her back to try and reassure her, although they decided against it. Instead, the hunters forced smiles onto their faces as they fiddled with their spray guns.

"How bad can it be, Big Sis?" Yosaku asked.

Johnny nodded. "Yeah. All we've gotta do is head to this Upper Yard place and find everybody."

Nami turned and shot them a dark look. "How do we get there, though?"

"Conis will know how!" Luffy leapt to his feet- and almost immediately slipped again. The captain stretched his arm out to grab Zoro, pulling himself over to his bosun in order to avoid skidding anymore on the ice. "We can go find her!"

"She… May be unwilling to help us," Robin pointed out quietly. "You scared her, Tovarisch Captain. Badly. How… If I may ask, how did you know her name? She didn't introduce herself."

"We've seen her before." Luffy tilted his head to the side. "In the Mists. But… You- this you, anyway- weren't with us then, so you don't know."

"The… Mists?" The archaeologist frowned in confusion. Lisa explained, brushing cloud and frost off her skirt.

"The Rainbow Mists- like in one of your books. We sailed into them a while ago and met another version of our crew. They… Acted as sort of a gate to a place between worlds. Time and space don't mean anything there. It was kinda scary, but also fun."

"Oh." Robin's eyes widened ever so slightly. Then she turned and looked away, her hair falling forward to shadow her face. "And… This other version of the crew… Conis was a member?"

"Yep!" Lisa skipped over to Luffy and grabbed his hand, swinging it back and forth. As far as the rubber boy could tell, this was just because she needed something to do. "They were really different, though, so she might not join us."

"I'm still gonna ask," Luffy pouted.

Sanji huffed and tapped his foot. His visible eye rolled. "Sure you will. Just… Don't hound the beautiful angel like you did me, yeah?"

"Fine…" Pouting even more- because why couldn't he pester Conis the way he'd pestered Sanji? It was fun- Luffy took a few bouncing steps towards the town. That was where Conis had run to, after all; they needed to go there to ask her how to get to Upper Yard.

His crew mates followed behind. Chopper, though, stopped before they'd gone very far. The doctor shot a concerned look at the frozen White Berets. "Should… Should we thaw them out?"

Nami glanced down at the men. "They should be fine," she said coolly. "The sun's bright enough up here that they should melt free in no time. Most of them won't even get frostbite. And if we thaw them out now, they'll just come after us while we're trying to talk to Conis."

"Okay…" Chopper didn't sound entirely sure. His ears drooped. Grunting, Zoro picked up the tiny doctor with one arm.

"The yuki-onna knows snow almost as well as you do," the swordsman assured the reindeer, rubbing behind furry ears with one finger. "If she says they're fine, they'll be fine."

Nami turned to Zoro and stuck her tongue out. "Hey! I resent that!"

The bosun frowned. "You resent what?"

"Being called a yuki-onna. I went to Shimotsuki Village a few times; I know what that means." The sailing master offered the bosun a somewhat sinister grin. "And I can do so much more than just make it snow."

Zoro snorted and looked away. "Yeah, well, I can't call you witch because that's Jones' thing, and I don't know any demons that control all the weather."

"Nami isn't a demon, shitty Moss Brain!" Sanji swung a kick at Zoro. The bosun stepped back out of the way to ensure Chopper wasn't hit, one hand going to his swords. Before a fight could break out, Robin stepped between them.

"Gospodin Swordsman, Gospodin Cook, I don't think this is the right time for that. Especially since Gospozha Navigator didn't appear to be offended."

"I wasn't," Nami confirmed. Her words made Sanji wilt and back down.

The clouds were bouncy under Luffy's feet as they made their way towards the town. It kinda felt like walking on a trampoline. He found himself skipping along, humming happily. This was fun! And Lisa seemed to agree; the little girl was skipping along right beside him, tiny fingers intertwined with Luffy's rubber ones, swinging their arms back and forth.

Street clouds, once they got to town, were slightly less bouncy than beach clouds, but still lots of fun.

Less fun, though, was the way people were looking at them. All of the people in the cloudy town were like Conis- pale and delicate, with small, fluffy wings. Which would have been cool, except everyone was staring at Luffy and his crewmates like they had the plague or something. People kept disappearing down side streets as the Straw Hats approached or raced into their houses and slammed the doors. It was like… Like back in Shells Town, when Luffy had asked Coby about Zoro and the entire population panicked.

It stung a bit, but Luffy forced a smile. After all… If this was like Shells Town, then after they kicked that Enel guy's ass and recruited Conis, everyone would like them. Right?

Although… To do any of that, they still needed to find a way to Upper Yard first. Since none of the angels were letting him get anywhere near close enough to ask for directions, Luffy looked back at Chopper and Zoro.

"Chopper, can you smell where Conis went?"

Hiff hiff hiff

Chopper snuffled the air, his muzzle twitching. After a few seconds, the reindeer turned in Zoro's arms and pointed up a nearby street. "There. Her scent's all over town, weakly, but fairly strong in that direction."

"Right. Let's go!" Luffy was all for bouncing off towards where Chopper was pointing. Unfortunately…

"Wrong way Zoro."

The captain paused at Nami's voice, having only taken two steps. Spinning his head around, he saw Zoro striding purposefully towards a fountain. In the opposite direction.

Sanji snickered. "Stupid Moss Brain. Do we need to get you a leash?"

"HELL NO!" Ears turning red, Zoro spun around and came back. He looked like the only thing that was keeping him from attacking Sanji was the fact that he was carrying Chopper. Which…

"How'd you go the wrong way when you're holding Chopper and he just pointed us in the right direction?" Lisa wanted to know. Zoro grumbled under his breath, ears turning even redder.

Johnny and Yosaku giggled. The look Zoro shot them afterwards promised pain. Lots and lots of pain.

Chopper's nose eventually led them to a large, rather nice-looking house. Or, mostly nice looking. There were a few strange things about it that had seen better days. The garden, for one- it was full of weeds, the flowers choked and dying. And the curtains on the windows looked frayed and old even through the glass, and the walls looked like they could use a fresh coat of paint.

Nami appraised the whole property coolly. "A single parent lives here," was her analysis. "One who has the opposite of a green thumb."

That sure took the wind from Luffy's sails. Because… He didn't want to recruit someone with little kids. It wouldn't be fair to take them away from their family, and it'd be dangerous to bring them along. But… If Conis was on other-him's crew…

Luffy's head was starting to hurt.

Well, the only way to solve this was to find out. They needed Conis to tell them how to get to Upper Yard anyway, whether he recruited her or not. Luffy raised a hand to the pale yellow door. Rap, rap, rap, rap, rap!

Yosaku sweatdropped. "Um, Big Bro, she might not be to helpful if you bust down her door."

"Especially since we already scared the crap outta her," Johnny agreed. Luffy was about to retort when he heard rapid footsteps and a voice from inside the house- a voice that most definitely did not belong to Conis.

"Coming! Coming! I'll be there in just a second!"

The door opened to reveal a short, middle aged man with narrow, kind eyes and a beard like a fluffy brown cloud. His wings and hands had grease stains on them, like he'd been tinkering with something before coming to answer the door. The man blinked at Luffy and his friends, face sagging in confusion.

"You're… Hello. Who are you? What are you doing here?" The man looked cautious, and more than a little scared. He didn't close the door all the way, but he did narrow the entry slightly, as well as partially shielding his own body behind the yellow barrier.

"Does Conis live here?" Luffy asked. "We need to talk to her."

The man looked torn over whether he should say anything or not. Eventually, he sighed. "Yes. Conis is my daughter. But I don't believe she wishes to see anyone right now, least of all you. Please just let us be; we don't want any trouble."

"But we need Conis to tell us how to get to Upper Yard!" Luffy bounced in frustration. He had half a mind to go inside and look for Conis anyway, no matter what her father said. Half. He didn't want to hurt anybody right now- they seemed like nice people- so he didn't actually do it.

Robin placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tovarisch Captain, please settle down. You and Gospozha Navigator terrified the poor girl back at the beach. She may be unwilling to help us at all, and certainly will be if you charge in without thinking."

"Right…" As impatient as Luffy was, that was a good point. Turning back to Conis' dad, the rubber boy bowed his head. "Please… We need to get to Upper Yard. Some of our friends are supposed to meet us there. Please let us talk to Conis- or if you could help us, that'd be great too."

Conis' father stared at him sadly. "I wish I could help you. But I really shouldn't."

"But aren't criminals like us supposed to go to Upper Yard?" Lisa asked, lower lip quivering. Conis' father nodded slowly.

"Yes… Which is possibly the only reason Conis hasn't… She's already told you too much."

"Which is still less than we already know," Nami said with a wry smile. Conis' father stiffened.

Luffy nodded. His navigator was right. "It's that lightning jerk who won't let you say anything, right? Eve- Enel. He's scaring everyone… Does he hurt you?"

No answer was forthcoming, but that in itself was an answer. If this Enel guy wasn't hurting people, he was certainly threatening to. Luffy growled. "Never mind. It'll take longer, but we can find Upper Yard by ourselves. You guys stay safe. And once we get there… I'm gonna kick Enel's ass."

Jones and Usopp would have to look after themselves for a bit. Which… He trusted his gunner to keep his quartermaster out of too much trouble. And hopefully Ruatha, Drifter, and Geier would find them. Between the five of them, they'd be fine.

Maybe Upper Yard was in that jungle behind the town. It was as good a place to start as any- the only place, as far as Luffy could tell. Spinning on his heel, Luffy marched away from the house. "Come on guys. Let's go find this Up-!"

"Wait!"

Luffy froze mid-step at the sound of Conis' voice. Turning back towards the house, he saw Conis in the doorway behind her father. The blonde angel looked terrified; she was shaking like a leaf in a strong wind. But her jaw was set and her eyes shone with determination.

"You… Can you do it? Really?"

"Can we do what?" Zoro demanded gruffly. Sanji started dancing at the same moment.

"Of course we can, my lady! We can do anything!"

The rubber captain was more of his bosun's bent. "Can we do what? Kick Enel's ass?"

"Yes." Conis nodded. Her voice was very quiet. "I… I can't… No one… But if…" She couldn't finish. Hanging her head, Conis stared at the ground.

Something crackled in the air, like when Nami used her Thunderbolt Tempo. Luffy looked up just in time to get hit with a small bolt, coming down from the sky out of nowhere. It struck the buttons on his vest, crackling and sparking. Nami yelped and clutched her Clima-Tact at the sight; Johnny and Yosakuy jumped away. Lisa, standing so close to him, fell on her bum, shaking one reddened, blistered hand as her eyes spun.

Luffy glared up at the blank space the bolt had come from. That was a test. He knew what lightning could do- burn people, break trees, kill an unlucky cow in its tracks. A bolt that small… If this Enel guy had his lightning Fruit for any length of time, he'd be able to do more than that.

"We can," Luffy confirmed. "Enel and any bastards standing with him are going down."

Conis blinked for a few seconds, her eyes adjusting after the crackle and flash. Once they were clear again, she nodded firmly, meeting Luffy's eyes for the first time. "I… I can't fight with you. It's too much… But I can show you the fastest way to Upper Yard."

"Thanks!" Luffy instinctively moved to hug Conis. She flinched; he frantically aborted the motion, instead scooping up Lisa and cuddling the little painter. Right. Not everyone liked to be hugged out of the blue.

The pale angel put on a jacket and grabbed some sort of cylindrical pack from behind the door. Her father placed a hand on her shoulder. "Take care, dearest."

"You're not going to stop me?"

"No." Conis' father shook his head and gave her a brief hug. "I'm scared for you… But I also think what you're doing is right. So I won't stop you. I will beg you to come home safe, though. Don't leave your poor old dad all alone."

"You're not that old, Daddy." A small smile crossed Conis' face. Taking a deep breath, the angel turned and stepped out the door. Her eyes were shut tight as she did so, as if she expected to be struck down by lightning the instant she left her house. It didn't happen, though.

Letting out a little sigh of relief, Conis stepped up beside Luffy. "F-Follow me. This way."

Heading up a quiet street lines with expensive-looking shops, Conis scanned her surroundings constantly. Luffy didn't think it was necessary, bouncing along behind the angel. Everyone was running away from them as if his crewmates were wild, vicious beasts. Which was totally unfair… Zoro was the only one of them who was scary at all, and he wasn't wild.

Shortly after passing a sign that read Lovely Street, Conis lead the Straw Hats to a river of cloud. A small pier jutted out into the channel, creating a small marina and boat launch. Almost two dozen boats of various sizes bobbed on the waves, tethered securely to the little pier.

None of them had sails, though, and most didn't have oars either. Luffy was confused. And he wasn't the only one.

"How do they move?" Zoro asked gruffly. Conis answered absently as she scanned the boats.

"Dials, mostly. How else? Now, this river flows from somewhere in the heart of Upper Yard, so if you follow it all the way up, you should end up somewhere near Enel's temple." The angel frowned. "I think. I've never been there- no one has in decades- so I'm not entirely sure."

That was great, but…

"What're Dials?" Luffy remembered Jones saying something about those a while ago, but she'd never explained them.

"You… don't know what Dials are?" Conis was completely stunned. "Do they not have Dials on the Blue Sea?"

As she spoke, she pulled a number of shells out of her pockets. They were all different- some smooth, some spiked, some round, some conical, and all in different colours. The only similarity Luffy could see was that they all seemed to have movable portions somewhere on their surfaces. Kind of like little buttons.

Zoro frowned thoughtfully. "Aren't those the things Jones asked us to get from the shipwreck?"

"Yep." Nami nodded in confirmation. "She never said why, though."

Johnny and Yosaku were examining the shell with interest, closing in on Conis enough to make her visibly uncomfortable. "What do these Dial things do? How do they work?"

"Well, that depends on the Dial." Taking a step back, Conis clicked the shell he was holding. A puff of yellowish gas came out; the smell of rotten eggs filled the air. "A Flavour Dial, like this, stores and releases smells and flavours. Other Dials do the same with other things- heat, wind, sounds, or force, for example. Although some kinds are rarer than others."

Putting her Dial away, Conis cast a wary eye around the marina. "Look… I'll explain better later. If- if you succeed. If you don't… If you don't, we're all dead, so it doesn't matter. But for now, every minute we're out in the open is another chance for Enel to strike us down. I'm honestly not sure why he hasn't already."

That was a fair point. Aside from the testing bolt, they hadn't seen any sign of this lightning bastard. Which meant…

"He's plotting something." Robin said aloud what Luffy was thinking. Conis nodded.

"And that's what scares me most. Enel has never planned things before, when punishing criminals. So I have no idea what he might do."

"Don't worry," Luffy grinned, "This Enel jerk doesn't know what we might do either."

Conis didn't look too certain of that, but she didn't say anything. Just kept scanning the sky. Then she shook her head and pointed at a long boat with a crow for a figurehead. "Take that one. I know she doesn't look like much, but she's a steady boat. She'll get you where you need to go."

Luffy was all for jumping in and heading out. Yosaku, however, hesitated. "Will the owner be okay with us just taking it?"

Everyone shot him a series of deadpan looks. Lisa rolled her eyes. "We're pirates," she reminded the green hunter. Yosaku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Eheh… Fair enough. Sorry, Li'l Sis."

They boarded the boat with no more delay. Nami took the tiller. "Johnny, Yosaku, I need you on that Dial thing. You can probably figure out the propulsion system faster than anyone else, since Usopp's not here."

"On it Big Sis!"

The two hunters raced to the Dial engine and began poking around as everyone else boarded. Zoro eyed them suspiciously, settling down with Chopper near the bow.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to let the- OI!"

His question was cut off when Johnny pressed something and the boat lurched. Wind and water rushed; the crow-headed boat shot forward like a rocket. Sanji, who'd been boarding at the time, fell forward into the boat, landing on his face on one of the benches. Luffy held onto his hat to keep it from flying away. All his crewmates had made it onto the boat; good. But where was-?

"Wait!" Conis ran along the riverbank for a little bit, waving her arms, but the crow-headed boat quickly left her behind. Soon the angel was barely a speck on the riverbank behind them as the Straw Hats were flung forwards.

Johnny clung to the gunwales, eyes scrunched tightly shut. "Sorry!"

"We can fix this, I swear!" Yosaku added as he fiddled with the Dials. Despite his words, he didn't seem to be making any progress.

The crow-headed boat continued to shoot up the river like a rocket, leaving mighty waves in its wake. It was all Nami could do to steer as they raced around broad bends and bounced through a small set of rapids. One of the rocks was completely unavoidable, tearing a small hole in the bottom of the boat; Robin pulled a handkerchief from one of her pockets and held it over the damaged area to keep clouds from flowing in. A dozen hands pinned the fabric to the wood.

As this was going on, Luffy hung off the figurehead grinning. This was fun. He loved going fast like this- it was too bad the Merry couldn't do it without Ace. Even the bouncing and rocking that nearly knocked him clear of the boat couldn't dampen the rubber captain's mood.

"SHISHISHISHISHI! THIS IS AMAZING!"

"CLOUDFALL!" Chopper screamed in response. At first no one quite understood- the word had come out of nowhere. Then Nami's eyes went wide.

"OH SHIT! EVERYONE HANG ON!"

Sanji glared at Johnny and Yosaku. "Slow us down! Now!"

"We don't know how!" The hunters were fiddling frantically with the Dials, but nothing was working.

Nami wrenched the helm over, trying to ram the crow-headed boat into the shore so they wouldn't go over. She wasn't fast enough. A scant couple of meters from safety, the boat was caught side on by the current and shoved over the edge. She actually flipped over in the air; for a moment, the world was upside down. Then she kept rolling, landing right way up with a great splash of cloud.

"Shouldn't we have met the cloudfall the other way?" Lisa wondered. "I thought we were heading for the source of the river?"

"I gave up trying to make sense of the weather and currents on the Grand Line when we sailed up a mountain," Nami grunted, "And that goes double for rivers made out of clouds."

Luffy frowned. He didn't get it either. Then again, he didn't need to. As long as they got where they were going, that was what mattered. The how of it was Nami's department.

On this side of the cloudfall, the river was somehow both broader and faster. Nami was having even more trouble steering; Sanji moved to the helm to help her. For once, the cook was doing so without hearts in his eyes. This was too important for that. Even with his aid, though, it seemed to be all Nami could do to keep the boat from hitting the shore. Or rocks. Or getting lost up some tributary somewhere.

And then… CRACK!

The boat slowed drastically, the rushing of her Dials falling silent. Johnny and Yosaku looked up from their tinkering, somehow both horrified and triumphant at the same time. Each was holding a couple of smaller shells, torn loose from the Dial engine array.

"Did… Did that slow us down?" Yosaku asked hesitantly.

The crow-headed boat, now without propulsion or a way to steer, drifted in the swift current. Nami shot the hunters a flat, dark look that sent Johnny leaping into Yosaku's arms. "Yes. Too much."

"Sorry!"

Robin looked around calmly. "We should get to shore, lest we flip over and drown due to our inability to fight the current. Are those more rapids I see?"

They were. Larger and sharper than the last set, great grey stones sticking up from the water like the jagged, broken teeth of an ogre. The clouds swirled about their bases in tiny whirlpools.

"Got it!" Luffy knew his crewmates probably wouldn't be too happy with him for this, but he was equally sure they wouldn't like what happened if they hit the rocks instead. Hugging the figurehead tightly with three limbs, the rubber boy stretched out his arm to grab a tree. "GUM-GUM ROCKET!"

Swoosh!

"WAAAAAAAAAAAH! LUFFY, NO!"

"LUFFY, YES!"

"AAH-AAH-AAH! AAH-AAH-AAH!"

"WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!"

CRASH!

The crow-headed boat crashed into a large tree figurehead first- or rather, Luffy first, which didn't cushion the impact all that much despite how bouncy he was. Wood shattered, leaving painted splinters scattered across the ground. As well as a fair bit of broken bark.

Luffy's crewmates were flung in every direction. Zoro and Sanji landed roughly on their feet, with Chopper still safely in the bosun's arms. Robin bloomed dozens of hands, using them to grab at vines and branches to slow her fall. Nami snapped her Clima-Tact down like a vaulting pole; the sailing master changed direction in midair, turning her fall into a semi-graceful jump that had her landing on a mossy log. And Johnny and Yosaku crashed down in a jumbled heap, with Lisa landing lightly on top.

"Shitty Rubber, at least give us some warning next time." Sanji huffed and lit a cigarette, scowling. Luffy grinned at his cook.

"Sorry! I just wanted us away from those rocks fast!"

The sun was starting to go down now. Fast. Days seemed longer up in the sky, but once they were over, they were over. The jungle went from brightly lit to a maze of dim violet shadows very quickly as the Straw Hats collected themselves and looked around.

"I don't think this is where we're trying to go," Lisa said drily as she looked around at the dense undergrowth. Chopper giggled at her words; Luffy pouted. Sighing, Nami looked up at a nearby tree.

"It's not. We'll need to follow the river. But for now… It's getting too dark. We should make camp."

Luffy bounced eagerly. Camp meant food- he liked that idea. If they had any, he'd suggest roasting marshmallows, but he was pretty sure those were all still on the Going Merry. So instead… "Yeah! And we've gotta make a big fire so Jones and Usopp can see us if they're lost up here! Make it shaped like our Jolly Roger so they know who it is!"

"That's impossible!" Nami whacked Luffy over the head with her Clima-Tact. He rubbed the resulting… lump? Was Nami doing Fists of Love now too?

"Ace could do it," Luffy whined. Nami sighed, barely restraining herself from hitting him again.

"Your brother has the Flame-Flame Fruit. He can make fire do whatever he wants. Do any of us have a Devil Fruit that can do that? Hmm?"

"Fine…" Nami was right. Didn't mean Luffy wasn't disappointed, though. A fire that looked like their Jolly Roger would be so cool.

Putting Chopper down, Zoro drew one of his swords. "I'll get the firewood."

"Don't overdo things with your leg," the reindeer grumbled. With no sign of response from the bosun, Chopper sighed and wandered over to check the stitches on Luffy's chest. "And don't get lost."

"I won't!" Zoro's indignant voice startled a few bats that were just beginning their nightly journey.

Sanji blew a smoke ring. "Well, I guess if we're gonna have a fire, I can go look for some meat. I'll be back soon- probably before the shitty moss ball."

The cook waved one hand as he disappeared into the trees. Already well away from the camp, a faint voice rose on the wind.

"I heard that, Shit Cook!"

"You were supposed to!"

Robin shook her head at their antics. Her eyes were closed, her arms folded in front of her. "Don't worry; I'll keep an eye on Gospodin Swordsman to keep him from getting lost. And yes, I mean that literally. Face Fleur!"

Luffy snickered. Even he knew why that was funny! The rubber boy would've liked to go hunt too, but with Chopper sitting on him, that was impossible. And yes, Luffy could have moved his doctor, but… It'd be a worse crime than any pirate would commit, disturbing that adorableness as he worked. Chopper was the best, cutest doctor.

Lisa wandered around the area, painting symbols at various heights on every tree. Soon the crew's resting place was entirely encircled by splashes of deep blue paint. Johnny and Yosaku stared at it in confusion.

"Hey, Li'l Sis, ain't that-?"

"The same symbol you used on Big Bro Ace in Alabasta?"

"Yep." Lisa smiled. "Hraethigaldur in Sadness Blue. If that doesn't keep everything away from us while we sleep, nothing will."

The hunters both shivered a little at that. They- and Nami- quickly busied themselves with making beds out of piles of leaves and grass. A task which also involved frightening away a multitude of tiny, striped snakes like nothing Luffy had ever seen before. Not threatening snakes, thankfully; each was quickly sent scurrying by a tiny zap from Nami's Clima-Tact.

By the time the beds were done, Sanji had returned with a large, pure white boar draped over his shoulder. He was followed not long after by Zoro; the bosun looked supremely uncomfortable as he dragged five logs through the underbrush.

And when the swordsman turned to cut the logs into pieces of a size actually useable for firewood, Luffy saw why. It was only there for an instant, but the rubber boy caught a quick glimpse of Robin's face sticking out of Zoro's shoulder. Which was cool, but also creepy. The face disappeared in a flurry of flower petals as soon as Luffy laid eyes on it, as if it had only stayed as long as it did so he would be able to see it.

Robin must've been giving Zoro directions to get him back to camp.

Soon enough, there was a cheery fire going, and the delicious smell of roasting boar sizzling on the air. A pack of wolves gathered not far from the camp site, but true to her word, Lisa's paints kept them away. Any time one of the beasts tried to approach, it would get to a certain point, then crouch low to the ground and bolt away, whimpering.

Luffy licked his lips. That boar smelled good… He really didn't want to share it with anyone else. He probably should, though. They'd all need their strength tomorrow, and meat was the best way to make sure they had it…

Johnny smiled as he stared into the fire. "This is nice…" The blue hunter leaned against his partner. "How long's it been, Bro, since we went camping together?"

"Just the two of us? Since that night on Sopwith Island last year." Yosaku ran his fingers through Johnny's hair.

Smiling, Johnny's eyes glinted. "Hey! You should tell everyone that story you told me about the headless man with a pumpkin for a-!"

"No."

"Meep!" Johnny's mouth snapped shut with an audible clack as Lisa glared at him.

"No scary stories. They give me nightmares."

Both hunters deflated and edged away. Yosaku hummed understandingly, a worried expression pulling at the scars from his encounter with Mr Five. "Alright then. What about happy stories?"

Thinking for a moment, Lisa nodded. "Those are okay."

Luffy bounced eagerly at the mention of stories. He liked stories almost as much as he liked food. And if you had both stories and food, like they would in a few minutes, it was even better! "Sanji, hurry up!"

"I can only cook things so fast, Shitty Rubber!"

Yosaku nodded at Lisa and cleared his throat. "Well, I'm not the storyteller Big Sis Jones and Big Bro Usopp are, but I know a couple good ones. Let's see… How about the tale of the dragon who became the Red Line?"

Everyone fell quiet at that, even Robin listening with poorly disguised eagerness. Although the archaeologist also wore a slight frown. "I've studied the legends of a dozen cultures, and I've never even heard of that story."

"It's one my father used to tell me." Yosaku looked lost for a moment. Then he smiled. "Once upon a time, before kings, before queens, there was a little boy named Guams who was so jealous of his older sister that whenever he saw her, his face would turn green…"

-V-

Chocolate-coloured eyes started to drift closed not long after the sun went down. Well, that wouldn't do. Grunting loudly, Ghin slammed his remaining hand against the mast with a deafening noise. "Oi! Wake up! Chopper said you're not supposed to sleep tonight, remember?"

Toma blinked at him blearily. "I- Sorry. I'm just so tired."

It had been several hours since something had grabbed the Going Merry, racing her and her two convalescent occupants off away from their crewmates. The ride had not been comfortable- Ghin, unbalanced by the recent loss of a limb, had stumbled and staggered everywhere as he tried in vain to figure out how to stop what was going on. And Toma was still barely able to stand without getting dizzy and vomiting. But eventually it had stopped. Whatever had grabbed them deposited the ship atop an overgrown pyramid in the middle of a cloudy lake.

And left.

Of course, being by themselves didn't mean the pair could actually do anything. They had no idea where they were or how to get back- or even get a message to- the rest of their crew. And leaving the ship was no option. Even if they'd been able to swim across the cloud lake, neither was in any shape to fight their way through the jungle.

Again, if they could manage the swim. Ghin doubted they could. Injuries notwithstanding, he didn't think clouds were as buoyant as water. And there were sharks in the lake.

They'd at least been able to eat- Ghin wasn't much of a cook, but even with one arm, he could put together a couple of sandwiches. The next thing on his to-do list was finding a way to signal the rest of the crew, but he'd been having no luck with that. Not with any methods that would leave the ship intact, at least. So he was left with nothing to do but make sure Toma followed the doctor's orders.

"What're you gonna do?"

Ghin was pulled out of his thoughts by Toma's voice. "What?"

The boy nodded towards his stump. Following the motion immediately with a wince of pain. "Your arm. Are… You used two tonfa. You have two pistols. How will you fight, once you can again?"

One of the many questions Ghin had been trying not to think about. But he really shouldn't ignore them, should he? They were important… "I don't know," the rigger answered honestly. "I just… don't know…"

And that was another thing. He was the rigger- if anyone on the ship needed two hands, it was him. Even if there'd been enough of his arm left to get a hook hand- which there wasn't, not by a long shot- things wouldn't work properly. It was damn near impossible to tie some of the knots he knew with one hand. A hook, maybe, but even that was questionable. Certainly not possible with his current state of affairs.

A headache started to pound behind Ghin's eyes; he reached up and rubbed his temple to try and relieve it. He'd never thought this would happen… For all his time on the street, for all his time as a pirate under Krieg… He'd seen so many men maimed before, but it had never occurred to him that it could happen to him. He was scared. More scared than he'd been at any point in his life since losing Tippy.

…

Okay, not technically true. The most scared he'd been since that day was when those claws were slicing down at Jones' head and she wasn't getting out of the way. He was going to lose another little sister. His worries about the future, about how he'd be a pirate with only one arm, those came third. As for his terror of Mihawk… As much as the sight of the man made him freeze, that was a distant fourth. Very distant.

He couldn't freeze now, though. Ghin stared up at the stars, closer than he'd ever seen them before, but still so far away. If he did, the kids would worry- one of them might get hurt. Get killed. Which couldn't happen. Not on his watch. So the one-armed rigger turned back to Toma, trying to force a smile. Although it came out as more of a cross between a scowl and a grimace.

"I'll think of something. Not much I can do for the moment- not until it's all the way healed. After that… I dunno. Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku are pretty clever with their gadgets. Maybe between the three of them, they could rig me something useable."

Then… "Worry about yourself. Didn't that Blackbeard fellow break your sword?"

"I can find a new one," Toma said hesitantly. "Next time we're in town… I'm not as strong as Sensei, so I don't need anything special."

Ghin grunted. Maybe not right away, but that wouldn't last forever. Sooner or later, everyone on the crew came up with some sort of special weapon. Zoro had his named blades, Nami had a staff that could control the weather, several others had their Devil Fruits. Even Johnny and Yosaku had those spray guns and their electrified swords. Someday, when Toma had found a style that suited him, he would need a special sword.

The one-armed rigger almost felt left behind by the thought.

Slow, unsteady footsteps dragged across the deck. Ghin didn't register them. Not right away, not until Toma had placed a hand on his good shoulder and gripped it surprisingly tightly for such a skinny lad. Then Ghin startled a bit. Not much, though. He'd never hurt one of his kids.

His kids. But if he was left behind, how could he protect them?

"Um, Ghin-san?" Toma's voice was very unsteady. "Ghin-san, are you okay?"

He really wanted to say yes. Ghin wished with all his might that he could say yes. Instead, he looked up at the stars with a sigh.

"No." He didn't elaborate. No need to burden the boy. Toma didn't need to know that losing his arm had made Ghin lose his place. That for all his assurances to Jones, the rigger didn't know how he would continue being a pirate. And it terrified him.

Reaching his hand up, Ghin ran his fingers over the armband Jones had made for him. It seemed so long ago, but it wasn't, was it? Smooth ivory, marred by the jagged, roughly hacked lightning bolt Jones had carved in with that little knife of hers. The band was snug around his stump, just a few centimeters above the stitches and blood and raw flesh.

A painful reminder. Ghin worked it off carefully and almost threw it across the ship in anger. At the last moment, though… At the last moment he tucked it into his jacket, into one of the deepest pockets. He just couldn't bear to get rid of something like that.

The armband clinked against a golden hairclip with a sound like a chiming bell.

Sighing again, Ghin kept his eyes fixed on the sky. "Do I have one?"

"Nani?" Toma blinked, startled. "One what?"

"You said some people glow," Ghin explained quietly, "And that you don't know what causes it. Am I one of them?"

"No."

He'd expected that. It was always good to make sure, though. Ghin closed his eyes. "Who does? On our crew, I mean. There must be someone, the way you twitched when you first came aboard."

"Luffy." Well, that was to be expected. Their captain was like a miniature sun.

"Ace, when he was with us." That made sense. Fire powers.

"Jones." Also expected, if only because Ghin was sure she'd find a way to make light with her powers someday. Her portfolio didn't really make much sense to him.

"Marco the Phoenix." Of course. Glowing blue bird.

"Chopper." Okay, that was a little odd. Although the doctor certainly had his own brand of adorable charisma.

"Robin." Even more unusual.

"Blackbeard." That was a name Ghin really hadn't been expecting. Unless…

"I think… What you're seeing might be their Devil Fruits." It was a strange thing, no doubt about it, but that was the only thing Ghin could think of that those names had in common. Well, that they had in common that no one else on the crew shared.

Toma shook his head with a wince. "That's what I thought at first too, but… The ship glows too. Not all the time, but sometimes. And there's a hazy blue glowing shape that wraps around Jones when she's upset. It's not part of her usual glow."

Well then… In that case, Ghin had no idea what it might be. He was pretty sure a ship and a patch of air couldn't eat Devil Fruits.

Things were silent for a long time. It got awkward quickly- Toma didn't appear certain when he was supposed to let go of Ghin's shoulder, so he just kept holding. And holding. Forget swordsmanship, Zoro needed to teach the boy about personal boundaries. Then…

"I know it's hard." Toma's voice was going quiet again. "Saga-sensei only had one arm that worked, and some days he cursed it. At least, before the sword cursed him. It drove him crazy… But he managed to hold on and be a good swordsman. If he can do it, you can too."

A chuckle bubbled up against Ghin's will. "I'm not a swordsman."

"Warrior in general then." Toma shrugged. "Bushido doesn't just apply to the sword."

Snorting, Ghin shook his head. "Even calling me a warrior's generous. Everything I know about fighting, I learned on the streets and in dockside brawls. Picked up the tonfa because they looked cool and freaked most people out."

"And the pistols?"

Ghin glanced over at the boy, one eyebrow raised. "What pirate in his right mind doesn't have a pistol secreted away somewhere?"

"Swordsmen. Most of our crew."

"Brat. I said in their right mind." If Toma hadn't been injured, Ghin would've ruffled his hair. Or maybe poked his forehead. As it was, he had to settle for rolling his eyes.

Toma's hand dropped now. But the boy was smiling. Or trying to. His stitched-up cheek wasn't cooperating, turning the smile into a stiff, twisted grimace.

Then Toma yawned, and one of those stitches snapped. A few drops of blood welled up- not enough to be dangerous, but enough to leave a bright red smear on the boy's face. He was too tired even to flinch at this point, though. Instead, Toma was reduced to blinking rapidly as he tried to keep his eyes open.

"I don't think I can stay up all night. Why does Chopper-senpai want me to?"

"Not sure. Probably because if you're awake, it'll be easier for me to tell if there's something wrong with that little head of yours." Ghin couldn't help the sadistic little grin that grew across his face. He may love his kids, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy teasing them from time to time. "I've heard that if a head injury is too bad, you can bleed to death through your ears. And no one would know until they went to wake you up for breakfast."

"Aiiieee?" Toma's eyes went wide. Then he scowled. "That's mean. Lisa said you were one of the nice ones."

"Well, Lisa told you wrong. I like you kids; I'm loyal to Don Luffy and I do my best to look after this crew. But that doesn't make me a good man, or a nice one."

Frowning slightly, Toma whistled through his teeth. "I don't think that's true. I think you're a good man, or at least, you try to be. A bad man wouldn't have done what you did for Jones."

Ghin had no response to that.

So instead, he changed the subject. "Doesn't matter why you need to- Chopper said you need to stay awake. How do we keep you up 'til then?"

Toma shrugged. "Normally I'd train, but I don't think I'm supposed to do that until Chopper says."

"No wonder Zoro likes you." Admittedly, Ghin wouldn't have minded training himself, but that would have to wait until they were healed. Until he figured out what he was going to do. "Wait here. I've got an idea. Just gotta get something from the hold- assuming Jones doesn't keep it in her pouches."

"I think she'd keep the world in those pouches if she could," Toma muttered as Ghin stepped away. "Why does she bother? Most of the time she doesn't use all that stuff."

Ghin wasn't sure either, and he'd been there on the shopping spree that had resulted in the overstuffed utility belt. Although he supposed it was from before Jones got her Fruit-of-all-Trades, back when she thought she'd need to be sneaky and clever all the time instead of just sometimes. There'd also been repeated mentions of someone called Batman, though, which the rigger didn't know what to make heads or tails of.

The things Ghin was looking for, thankfully, had not been stuffed into one of those pouches that were full of everything except what he thought most useful (Bandages. The answer was bandages. And maybe pain relievers.). No, the small, brightly coloured, carefully molded pieces of plastic lay scattered across a crate Jones had apparently been using as a desk. Their jewel-like hues stood out brightly against the papers covered in Jones' small, looping handwriting.

She'd been busy, it looked like. Where had she found time, when they were preparing to face Blackbeard, to write all that? And what did level eleven Monk/Noble gestalt mean? Or any of the other things, for that matter?

Shrugging, Ghin ignored the papers, scooped up the dice sitting atop them, and made his way back on deck. Toma looked askance at him; grunting, the rigger sat down beside the boy.

"I'm gonna teach you a game." It would be a little odd- some of Jones' dice had weird numbers of sides- but it should work.

Toma nodded slowly. "Okay… What kind of game? What are those?"

The boy… had never seen dice before? Ghin's eyebrows rose. Odd… Hadn't he been raised in a marine dojo? Marines in the East Blue loved dice just as much as any other sailor. "These are dice. Not normal ones- well, these ones with six sides are. The others are weird. They're for playing games of chance."

"I see… How?"

Ghin smiled. "Well, I don't know the name of this one, but it's popular in the East Blue. At the start of each round, one of us rolls one of these six-sided fellas. Whatever number comes up- say it's five- is the one we need to match. Then we each take a turn rolling all four of them. Whoever matches the most wins that round. So if you rolled and two of the dice showed fives, and then I rolled and none of my dice showed fives, you'd win. Then we start over. Keeps going for twenty-one rounds, and whoever won the most, wins the game."

Frowning, Toma poked one of the dice. "And how do I know you're not cheating?"

"These ain't my dice," Ghin huffed, "There's no way I could've done anything to them. Jones might've, though… I dunno. We'll find out soon enough, I guess."

A few rolls confirmed that Jones didn't appear to have weighted any of the dice. With Toma's honour satisfied, Ghin was about to begin play, when…

"So… Are we supposed to bet something?" The boy's frown deepened. "That's how gambling works, right?"

Oh dear. The kid really was completely clueless. They couldn't have that; a pirate being that much of a sucker was embarrassing. Ghin had been able to gamble since he was barely taller than Chopper. His reading skills may still be shaky even after a few months with Jones, but he'd been able to match dice and count cards for ages.

"If you want. But we're on the same crew, and this is just a friendly game for you to learn, so there's no need to worry this time. Remind me to give you a lesson on these things someday, though. Chopper too, probably, and Luffy…" Lisa probably already knew, though. Criminal background and all.

Toma shot him a sheepish look. "I don't think Sensei would like that."

"And why not?" Ghin scowled. "Does he want you to end up a moss-brain like him?"

Biting his lip, Toma stared at the deck. "No… But he'll probably say it's a waste of time."

"Well, if he does, tell him I said all his drinking is a waste of time." It was slightly unfair- Zoro didn't spend much more time in the bottle than any other sailor Ghin had met, and he certainly never got drunk- but Ghin felt entitled to being a little grumpy at the moment.

He rolled the first set. Two. A small smile growing across his face, Ghin passed the dice off to Toma. "You match first."

Hands shaking slightly, Toma picked up the dice and tossed. They clattered across the deck- the boy had a slight excess of enthusiasm- before coming to rest at the base of the mast. Ghin whistled as he went to retrieve them.

Four twos. No way to beat that- tie at best. First round was probably going to the boy. Well then… They'd just have to see if his luck held.

The pair played for several hours, and Ghin very quickly became glad there were no stakes. Toma may not have understood gambling, but his luck- at least with dice- was insane. The first game, he'd trounced Ghin eighteen to three, and most others weren't that much less embarrassing.

"I like this game," Toma yawned as the sun started to rise above the trees.

Well, at least there'd been no signs of trouble during the night, and his brain couldn't be too damaged if he'd found a way to use his sword skills to control the throws of the dice- which Ghin was starting to think he had. No way to prove it, though. Even without Chopper's say so, Ghin was fairly sure it was safe to let Toma sleep if they were out here another night.

Birds started to call as the sun rose higher- not as many as there would've been on an island at sea level, but still plenty. None of the calls belonged to any East Blue species; Ghin could tell that much. Couldn't tell what any of them were, though. Except one.

"JYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

Southbirds. Hidden in the jungle, dozens of southbirds. Ghin never saw them, though- flashes of purple through the trees, at best.

A shadow flashed over the ship, momentarily blocking out the light of the dawn. At first, Ghin's exhausted mind thought it belonged to Ruatha. It was much too large, though, to be the baby dragon. Especially since Ruatha couldn't carry a rider yet, and the shadow had both a human shape and a lance on its back.

Jones didn't wield a lance.

It must be that Gan Fall knight, then. Why was he around, though? Had someone called him to check on them, or to bring Chopper? Ghin raised his arm to wave at the figure descending from the east, to let the old man know they were there.

"KON-KA-REE!"

Huge wings descended in a spiral dive, great claws extending to land. And at the last minute, Ghin realized his mistake. The lance was wrong, the armour was leather instead of metal, the feathers dull grey-violet instead of pink. Snarling, the rigger grabbed Toma and dropped flat on the deck as the bird skimmed through the air where their heads had just been. Wicked talons slashed the air.

The bird's rider smirked as he came around. He had a skinny little moustache that made Ghin want to punch him in the face. "Well, Fuza, would you look at that? They're actually going to try and fight back."

"KON-KA-REE!"

"Toma, stay down!" The boy wouldn't be able to do anything without a sword, not when he could barely see straight. Not that Ghin was up for much of a fight either. The rigger drew one of his pistols as the strange bird rider dove again.

"Who are you and why the Hell are you attacking us?"

"Because those who enter the domain of God Enel must be punished!" And because the bird rider just liked attacking people, judging by the eagerness of his expression. The rider pressed something on his lance with his thumb, prompting the steel to glow red hot before bursting into flames. "Heat Javelin!"

KCHOW!

Ghin was barely able to fire and get out of the way before the rider's lance struck the deck where he'd been standing. And his shot missed- the rider nudged his bird at the last second, the pair shifting so Ghin's bullet barely clipped a feather. Growling, Ghin tossed his first pistol aside and drew his second.

If he didn't hit this time, things were going to get awkward.

KCHOW!

This time he fired as the rider and bird were coming around, before the rider could possibly have seen him. But again, the leather-clad man nudged his bird just so and edged them out of danger. The bullet didn't even touch a feather this time, whizzing harmlessly away into the underbrush.

Desperate, Ghin dropped to his knees, wedging the pistol between them. He bit his next ball out of its pack, grateful he'd stuck with old-fashioned guns rather than the newfangled revolver Jones favoured. But even this way, getting the powder in with one hand, without spilling was just. Too. Slow. He was only half reloaded when the bird rider struck again.

"Heat Javelin!"

"Ryu Shou Sen!"

Fwung! Wood thudded against metal. Toma, feet set in a wide stance to keep him from keeling over, struck the bird rider's lance from the side with a belaying pin, knocking it up and away. Instead of piercing Ghin's skull, hot steel ripped through the Going Merry's mainsail, setting it aflame. The bird spiralled through the air to regain its balance; it's rider was grinning.

"Ohoho! Look at that, Fuza! The little kitten has claws too!"

"KON-KA-REE!"

Ghin scowled at Toma. "What part of stay down don't you understand?"

The boy shot him a cheeky smile. "Sorry, Ghin-san, but you seem to have forgotten. I listen to Zoro-sensei, not you." Then he sobered. "Joking aside, we're both injured and you're not used to only having one arm yet. It makes more tactical sense for us to work together at this time."

Fair enough. Ghin grunted and finished reloading as the bird and rider dove again. At his side, Toma readied his belaying pin. And then, taking aim at their adversaries, Ghin saw it. The rider nudging his bird before Ghin's finger could fully close on the trigger.

KCHOW!

"Shit!" Ghin pulled Toma out of the way as enormous talons tore through the air where the boy had been standing. That fiery lance ripped through the rigging this time, sparking more flames to join the ones on the sail. "The bastard has Kenbunshoku Haki!"

Which none of their crew had been able to figure out yet. They'd tried a bit, while preparing to fight Blackbeard, but most of their practice had emphasized crew formations and trying to avoid being caught by the Dark-Dark Fruit.

"Kenbunshoku Haki?" The bird rider grinned. "Is that what they call Mantra on the Blue Seas?"

Then he patted his bird's neck. "As much as I like to draw these things out, God Enel called a meeting that I guess I probably should be heading for. Fuza… Sunbird."

"KON-KA-REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The enormous bird swooped low over the ship. White beak opening wide, the bird inhaled deeply… Then spat out a mass of brilliant flames. A cone of orange swept from one end of the Merry to the other, lighting everything on fire. The mast, the rails, the sails, the rigging… The deck didn't light so easily, but unless Ghin and Toma could get rid of their attackers quickly and put out the fire, it would follow soon enough.

Smoke and sparks filled the air. Ghin coughed and squinted, his eyes and lungs burning. "Toma, you okay?"

"For… Khch… For now!" Toma's eyes were watering as he stumbled through the flames.

It was too dangerous, now, to try and reload one of his pistols again. Dropping the gun, Ghin pulled out one of his tonfa and gave it an experimental spin. His balance was way off; this likely wouldn't go well. Not well at all.

Kling-kling! The Going Merry's bell chimed in the wind. The sound of home; a sound that Ghin might never hear again if he wasn't careful.

"Still alive," the bird rider sneered, "Oh well. We'll remedy that before long. Heat Javelin!"

Diving down once more, lance aimed for Ghin's heart. The rigger held his ground, lone tonfa spinning, hoping to get a strike in even if doing so resulted in him getting hurt. Getting killed. He would not hold his kids back. He was going to protect them!

And then one of the burning lines snapped. With the release of tension, a charred end flew up, bringing with it a shower of embers and a heavy wooden block. A block which hit home with a resounding thud, knocking the bird off course and singeing its feathers.

Kling-kling!

Even through the smoke and his own watering eyes, Ghin could see the look of surprise on the bird rider's face. The man hadn't expected that at all. Or rather… he had, because Ghin had seen that flash of reaction that was from Kenbunshoku Haki. But rather than getting out of the way, the reaction had been entirely one of confusion and disbelief.

Did Haki not usually tell you when ship lines were about to break? Interesting…

The bird rider gathered his wits quickly, bringing his mount around again. "Fuza, Sunbi-ACK!"

This time there wasn't even a pretense of it being accidental. A group of lines, some of which had yet to be touched by the fire, all snapped and unravelled at once, their ends whipping up to strike at the bird and rider. A few heavy blocks nearly separated the pair, clocking the rider in the ribs and on the side of his leather helmet.

"What's going on here?" the bird rider demanded. And really, Ghin would've liked an answer to that question too. There was clearly something wrong with the ship, if lines were always coming undone so easily.

"Heat Javelin!"

"Black Dog's Howl!" Not that Ghin expected to do much good as he rushed to meet the lance head on. Not with only half his power, not with his balance shot. But he had to try.

"OH NO YA DON', YA TAR-FACED SUNNUVA JUNK!"

Something got between Ghin and his opponent at the last second, a small shape whirling within the flames. It pushed the rigger back with one small, but surprisingly strong hand; another hand grabbed the fiery lance and twisted, sending both bird and rider crashing into the mast.

Had it not been for the strength the figure displayed, Ghin would've thought it was Lisa- it was about the same size, wearing some sort of short dress or long coat that resembled the painter's usual attire. He couldn't make out any proper colours or details through the flames and smoke. At least, not at first.

The bird rider dismounted, his companion shaking itself after its collision. That irritating little moustache, formerly straight as the hands of a clock on the bird rider's face, was now crumpled into his upper lip as he sneered.

"A little girl? You insult me, Blue Sea Dwellers, if that's the best you have on offer. Heat Javelin!"

He thrust his lance forwards, creating a spiralling gap through the flames. Shining steel pierced through a skinny shoulder covered in yellow oilskin- or rather, flowed through, as it came back with no blood staining the tip. The bird rider's eyes went wide.

"I- I hit you! I know I did!"

A small patch of flames cleared to reveal a little girl in an oversized raincoat. Barnacles clung to the back of the tattered garment. Her flat, black shoes resembled the hooves of some mountain animal. Suntanned, acne-pocked skin split around a wide, white grin. Above gleaming brown eyes, curly white hair gave way to a wickedly curving set of golden horns- far too large, by all appearances, for the head on which they perched.

Horns that were soon buried in the bird rider's gut as the strange little girl headbutted him. "Pick on some'un yer own size, ya scummy landlubber!"

"GYAH!" The bird rider coughed and swiped his lance at the girl. It went right through her little face, leaving a rippling shimmer like hot air rising off pavement. By all appearances, the girl was unharmed.

Heat was starting to warp the boards as the fire spread over the deck. Several of the boards nearest the bird rider and his mount popped up completely, nails firing at the invaders in ways that should've been totally impossible given the angle. The little girl stepped in behind them, kicking the bird rider in the shin. Hard.

"GET! OFF! ME! YA! PRICK!"

"Heat Javelin! Sunbird!"

Neither another strike from the lance, not the bird's jet of flames seemed to touch the girl. Eyes wide with confusion, the bird rider leapt onto his mount's back. "Why can't I hit you?"

"Ya did!" the girl snarled. She jumped forward, ramming her horned head into the bird's side. "An' it 'urt loik a fuckin' bitch! Now get. Off!"

"KON-KA-REE!"

Even before its rider gave an order, the bird opened its wings to take off. What seemed like every line on the ship came loose as it did so, whipping the avian around the head as it took to the sky. Eyes closed to protect them, the bird nearly rammed into a tree in its haste to escape.

"An' stay oot!" The little girl threw a handful of broken nails after the retreating bird. Every one dug into its target's tail.

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

KA-CHOOM! The cannon fired with no one manning it. Ghin could only assume that Usopp had left it loaded for some reason, and that the fire of battle had set it off. The cannonball flew too low to hit anything of importance. It was a valiant effort, though, and loud- eight pounds of iron snapped a tree on the lakeshore in half.

The little girl collapsed as soon as the bird and its rider were out of sight. Her entire body seemed to be flickering in and out of existence with the light of the flames. Parts, particularly the tips of her horns and the edges of her coat, looked almost transparent. Her hands were covered in burns, with more slowly appearing on her neck, creeping up towards her face.

"Owwie…"

Shit. The ship was still burning, and if they couldn't do anything about it, it wouldn't matter that their attackers were gone. Ghin dropped his tonfa and headed for the bilge. Hopefully Johnny and Yosaku had left some prototypes lying around. "Toma! Turn the galley tap on- use buckets until the water reservoir runs dry!"

"Hai!" The boy scrambled for the galley as fast as his concussion would allow. Ghin heard the tap start running as he headed below deck. The heat of the flames had yet to reach the inside of the ship- it would take a while to burn down. Wouldn't burn down, if Ghin had anything to say about it.

Sliding down the ladders to reach the bilge quickly was difficult with only one arm. Ghin managed, though, splinters digging into his thumb from the descent. Something gleamed dully in the dim light- wires. Someone had painted wires black and stretched them all across the floor at ankle height. Between the dim lighting and the sheer number, there was no way to avoid them all.

He was going to kill those two.

Several tiny catapults fired balloons at Ghin as he strode through the forest of wires. They burst with mixed results- some contained paint, others glue or insect repellent. Eventually, though, the sticky, irate rigger was able to find what he was looking for. Hiking it awkwardly up onto his shoulder, he hauled himself back up top.

Toma was standing in the galley door, flinging bowls of water over any patches of fire he could reach. The strange little girl was with him, running the bowls back to the sink for filling. Ghin nodded at the pair as he struggled to figure out how the clunky prototype tank worked. Hopefully it didn't blow up in his face.

FWWWWSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

As soon as he opened it up, Ghin could tell why this particular spray gun was still on the workbench. Water fired out in every direction from where the hose connected to the tank and the firing mechanism. It was accompanied by small amounts of white foam- probably produced by whatever the hunters used to pressurize their guns.

For putting out a large fire, it was actually perfect.

Soon enough, the flames were dying down. Ghin actually stomped the last few out with his foot- the foaming water spray didn't last forever. Slick ash covered the entire ship; the deck and rails were almost as slippery as soap. Above, the sails were mere scraps and most of the rigging had been burned beyond use. Only the flag still fluttered proudly, untouched at the tip of the mainmast.

There would be a lot of repair work to do. But at least they were no longer in immediate danger. Ghin nodded to himself, testing to make sure the deck was still strong enough to hold his weight. It seemed to be; the fire hadn't gotten to the supports inside. Satisfied, he headed over to the galley to check on Toma and the strange girl.

"Are you two alright?"

"Hai." Toma nodded firmly. It was followed immediately by him coughing and wincing. Ghin frowned in concern; the boy forced back his coughs to smile up at the rigger.

"I… I may have inhaled a bit too much smoke, Ghin-san. Nothing a little fresh air and rest won't fix."

"If you're sure…" Not that there was much else they could do, until Chopper got there. Ghin could handle superficial cuts and burns, but nothing more.

Toma smiled. His coughs really did seem to be already dying down. "Don't worry. I'll be okay."

Reassured for now, Ghin turned to the strange little girl. She was flickering even more now, rubbing at the burns on her hands and wincing in pain. Her breath came in rapid pants. The rigger fished in his coat pockets until he found a little container of Chopper's favourite disinfectant. He tossed it to the girl; she caught it, eyes wide.

"Here. Put this on. It'll sting, but it'll clean things up so you don't get an infection." Ghin shrugged self-consciously. "I'd help, but… Well, I'm a little short-handed at the moment."

The little girl shot his stump a look of horror… Before doubling over in pained laughter. Ghin smiled. Good. Nothing was better than little girls laughing.

"Ye… Oi can' believe ya made a dad joke." The girl shook her horned head and looked at the salve. Then she offered it back to Ghin. "Thanks, but Oi ain't gonna be needin' that. Don' work on me."

"What're you talking about? Of course that stuff works. Chopper makes the best medicines I've ever seen." And if the little reindeer had been around to hear that, he would've been dancing all over the ship.

The little girl shot Ghin a dry look. "Works fer yer kind. Not moin. If ye don' see, Oi ain' 'xac'ly 'human." She tapped one of her horns meaningfully.

Her accent was so thick and strange, Ghin couldn't always be sure he understood what she was saying. And it was mixed, too, taking bits and pieces from all over the Four Blues. Plus a few hints from various places they'd been to since coming to the Grand Line. Ghin had never heard anything like it.

Well, except the one time Jones made up a fake accent to trick those idiots in Loguetown.

That wasn't the primary concern, though. Ghin frowned. "What do you mean, your kind? Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Why are you glowing?" Toma added. The boy's eyes were shining.

The girl stared at them as if they were stupid. Which somehow reminded Ghin of the rare occasions when Luffy did it. "Ya… Ya can' tell? Oi'm crewed by a bunch o'bloody fools…"

She sighed, one hand reaching up to rub the blisters on the side of her neck. So many burns… But despite them, she didn't seem to be in that much pain. "Oi'm part o'this crew, ya dunder'eads."

Ghin scowled. "I've never seen you before in my life. Tell the truth."

Dark brown eyes blazed. "Tell the truth? Tell the truth, 'e says! Listen 'ere, Tar-Face, if ya don' recognize yer own fuckin' ship, ya need yer bloody ois checked. Ne'er seen me 'afore me oaken arse! Ye're standin' on me!"

Toma jumped at her words. The boy stared around at the ship around them, head injury apparently forgotten in his panic. Ghin sighed. Gullible boy… Scowl deepening, the rigger tried to fold his arms, forgetting momentarily that he only had one left.

The result was less intimidating than he would've liked.

"You can't be our ship. That's impossible. Who are you really?"

Snarling, the little girl jumped up into Ghin's face. And stayed there- Ghin was expecting her to fall back to the deck, but instead a board popped up beneath her feet. She balanced on the revealed end with a dancer's grace.

"Me name is Goin' Marian. Oi'm an East Blue caravel built boi Merry the Butler and Oi joined this crew at the same toim as Usopp!"

"Marian?" Ghin's eyebrows rose up under his headband. "Now I know you're lying. Our ship is the Going Merry."

"An' ye think me name as a person 'as to be same as me name as a ship why?" Marian leaned in until her horns were almost touching Ghin's head. "Look, mate, if Oi ain' yer ship, 'o'd ya think picked up that damn anchor all the toim when Jonesie were bleedin' out all o'er me decks an' needed a doctor, eh?"

That was a good point, actually… And not something someone outside the crew would know. Even Chopper and those who'd joined later… Marian grinned widely at the hesitation in Ghin's eyes. She faded out of view for a minute as she did so, blurring back in an instant later.

"Ye're a clever lad, Ghin, an' ye grew up runnin' the docks. Lotsa ships 'round there. Lotsa sailors, and lotsa sail lore. Ye've 'eard of Klabautermann, aye?"

Ghin felt his blood run cold. He fell back on his ass in shock, his legs giving out underneath him. Toma yelped in surprise. Marian stepped down off her support, smirking; the board snapped back down into its place in the deck. Perfectly. The translucent girl cleaned tar from under her nails with a toothpick.

"Ye can keep callin' me Merry if ya like, Oi guess. Me ship name's close enough to me person name as Oi won' get confused."

Ghin couldn't respond to that. His blood was still frozen colder than a Drum Island winter. He couldn't move. Toma edged over hesitantly, prodding at the rigger.

"You… You okay Ghin-san?"

"Klabautermann… Are real?" This was bad. This was very, very bad. Ghin swallowed his fear. If Klabautermann were real, that meant… "How long do we have?"

Marian looked away, suddenly unwilling to meet his eyes. "Problem with bein' part o'all o'ye… Oi know so much future stuffs. Water Se'en. Jonesie thinks Oi've got 'til Water Se'en."

That meant nothing to Ghin. It could've been the next island, or several islands down. "I- She- You- It's already irreversible?"

"Oi dunno." Marian- Merry- rubbed self-consciously at her arms. More burns were revealed as her battered oilskin shifted around. All the way up her arms, across her shoulders to connect with the ones on her neck. And Ghin would've bet anything there were more he couldn't see. The little caravel's voice shook.

"Oi- Oi panicked, see. Wi'the foir an' the bird an' yer arm an' Toma's skull an' the loneliness an' the knowin'. If Oi didn' show meself, we was all toast."

She was a ship. She was a ship and a warrior and a pirate and a little girl. Merry was crying now, and the sight was making Ghin sick. He hated it when little girls cried and he couldn't fix it. Little girls were supposed to laugh.

Toma looked from Ghin to Merry. "What- what's going on? How can she be the ship?"

Ghin couldn't tear his eyes away to acknowledge the boy's question. The part of his brain that wasn't totally numb, though, tried to answer it. "A Klabautermann… They're the spirits of ships- specifically of ships who are loved by their crews, and who love their crews in return. They only show themselves to their humans if- if the ship is doomed and the spirit is giving the last of its powers to get its family to a safe island."

The blood drained from Toma's face. He squeaked, clapping his hands over his mouth. Then, very quietly… "Is that why you glow?"

"Dunno…" Merry rubbed her eyes on the hem of her oilskin. She was fading, becoming more transparent. Slowly, but it was definitely happening. "Oi only know stuff as me crew know. Nothin' 'bout any glowin' stuff."

Ghin was starting to warm up again, able to think. Time to see if he could dry the tears, if there was anything he could do at all. "Where's the damage?" Depending where the break was, how bad it was, maybe there was still something they could do.

"Keel…" The little caravel sniffled. "Me keel's gonna snap loik a stick o'cinnamon."

"It hasn't already?" A broken keel wasn't something anyone could fix, but if it wasn't fully broken yet…Maybe if it was just a little crack, there was still something they could do. "How bad is it right now?"

"Can' tell. Scared. It hurts thinkin' 'bout it. So I don'." Merry forced a smile, suddenly resembling Jones as strongly as she had Luffy a few moments before. "Oi'll be foin. S'long as Oi get e'eryone to Water Se'en, 's good enough for me."

Then she fidgeted, her resemblance to Jones melting into more of a nervous Usopp expression. "Sayin' that, though… C'n ya promise me somethin'? Both o'ye?"

"Of course!" Toma jumped in before Ghin could respond. Not that the rigger was any less enthusiastic. Just… Quieter about it.

Merry fidgeted, one blistered finger rubbing her nose. "When… When ye need a new ship… Take a piece o'me with ye. Please. Anythin', I don' care what. Figure'ead, anchor, e'en a fuckin' board from the bilge… Just somethin', so's Oi can keep goin' wi'ye. Oi wanna make it to the end o'the Loin too."

"Of course." It was a simple enough request, and one Ghin was glad to fulfill. Something he was sure someone on the crew would've done, even without being asked. They were sentimental like that… Not that he was one to talk.

By now, Merry had almost faded completely from view. Ghin rested his hand on her head, rubbing between the huge horns. "We'll do our best to find a way to save you, though. So you can reach the end of the Grand Line properly."

"Jonesie's been tryin'," Merry sniffed. "She ain' thought o'anythin' though. Oi'm scared…"

"Well, maybe with all of us working together, we'll have more luck." If he'd had two arms, Ghin would've hugged the little caravel. As it was, he just kept rubbing her head. "You'll show yourself to the others too, right? Because I don't think Toma and I are all that good at keeping secrets."

"Not about something like this!" Toma confirmed, a little too loudly.

Merry snickered and yawned as she faded away. "Oi'll troi. Roit now, though… Now, Oi need a bit o'rest. Burnin' loik that takes a lot outta me. Yell if ye need anythin'; Oi'll be right 'ere. Always."

Then she was gone. Ghin's hand dropped to his side, no longer supported by Merry's head. He stared at where the little caravel had been standing. Or… Had she? Or was that just some sort of image she projected? Was her human form her body, or was her body the ship on which they stood?

Sighing, Ghin rubbed his head. "Sometimes I think life woulda been easier if I'd stayed in the East Blue."

"Easier… But less fun, right?" Toma's voice was quiet, his eyes almost pleading.

Ghin winced and touched his stump… Then smiled. "Aye, a lot less fun."

-V-

"Get up!"

The sun was barely over the horizon when Wyper stomped into the tent. His assumption about the night before had been correct, by the way- Aisa snuck in shortly after sunset to give Usopp and I a plate of what looked like squash stuffed with corn and beans. Different varieties than any I'd seen before, though. For Ruatha, she brought a number of crayfish that looked to have been cooked in some kind of syrup. She also brought cups of a drink that tasted like what you'd get if you mixed dark chocolate, coffee, and chili peppers.

Wyper kicked the dishes aside as he stormed through the tent, ceramic clinking against his cloud skates. The berserker reached behind me to detach three sets of manacles from the tent pole, only to freeze in surprise when he realized that the pole was broken. The glare he fixed on us could've cut granite.

"Who did this?"

"Ni zey!" Ruatha hit his head under my coat. Usopp and I looked at each other nervously; I inclined my head slightly, while the gunner's eyes went wide with fear.

"It was me." My manacles jangled as I shifted slightly in front of the other two, blocking them as much as I could in case Wyper tried anything. His eyes narrowed to pinpricks. I continued.

"We could've escaped at any time, but we didn't. And we won't, because believe it or not, we don't want to hurt anyone. Or at least, no one here; we're totally fine with hurting Enel and his priests as much as we can. We'll come with you willingly, let you test us however you will. So please… You can remove the chains. We won't try to run away, I swear."

Wyper snarled at me as he detached our manacles from the pole, clipping them instead to a belt he was wearing that had rings looped through the back. "I don't trust you as far as I can throw you."

"Well, given that you could throw me and I'd come around the world to hit you in the back of the head, you must still trust me fairly far." Okay, slight exaggeration there. I was pretty sure you could do that sort of thing with a golf ball and the moon, if you hit it hard enough, but I had no idea if I could replicate it with my powers. Probably not, but I wouldn't know unless I tried.

"Shut up!"

I spread my arms as wide as the chains would allow. "Come on. What promise can I make that you'll trust?"

"Nothing you can say will sway my decision. Now come on."

Wyper dragged us to our feet and pulled us out of the tent. Ruatha squawked and climbed up onto my shoulders, hissing; luckily, my thick clothes and leather armour kept me from being affected by the seastone chains thus caused to drape over my arm. Usopp yelped before suddenly finding a spoonful of courage.

"Hey! There's three of us and one of you! What makes you think you can just drag us around? We could overpower you easy!"

"Only one of who?" came the answering voice as we emerged from the tent. Laki was there, sitting on a large stone pot, an oversized rifle slung across her back. The wicked weapon- which was tipped with a rather jagged bayonet- was at odds with here pretty purple tunic.

Laki pursed her lips as we came into view. "Wyper, is it really necessary to chain them that way? It'll make them slower, and there's enough of us to keep them contained without it."

"There's only two of you," Usopp pointed out. Although he sounded more hesitant now.

"You're wrong about that, Longnose." Kamakiri skidded in on his cloudboard, spraying debris on us as he came to a halt. The dark-skinned warrior fiddled with his goggles and leaned on his spear.

He was followed by towering, chubby Genbo. Striped hat bobbing, the bazooka wielder looked around and sighed. "Braham's late."

"No I'm not!" The final warrior of our entourage ran up, pistols bouncing on his hips. I wondered how he could see, with his toque pulled down over his eyes like that.

Huffing and shaking his head, Wyper turned to Laki. "Yes, chaining them is necessary. We don't know what these people are capable of. Just that they're dangerous. Or did you not see the little girl catch one of my shots like Aisa would a thrown fruit?"

"It's rude to talk about us like we're not here," I muttered before Laki got a chance to reply. That drew Wyper's attention back to me.

"Shut up! You will speak only when spoken to, Blue Sea Dwellers. And you will be quiet when we enter Upper Yard. If you draw Enel's attention to us, you won't live to see what he'll do- I'll kill you myself."

"Go ahead and try- it's what you're itching to do anyway."

"ENOUGH!" Wyper cocked his bazooka, although he looked uncertain as to how well it would work. Before he could find out, Laki hopped down from her perch and got right in his face.

"Wyper, calm down. I don't believe in the gods any more than you do, but this might be our best chance. If you screw it up, the chief will never let us leave the village again."

"I- You- ARGH!" He still looked like he wanted to kill someone, but Wyper lowered his weapon. "Fine. But we are keeping them chained."

"We are not." Laki glared. "Could you move through the jungle quietly with your hands bound?"

"What? Of course not!" Anyone else probably would've looked sheepish; Wyper was just pissed off. Laki nodded sharply.

"Then how do you expect them to? Unchain them."

Laki didn't actually wait for Wyper to move; she snatched the keys off his belt and started undoing the manacles herself. "I'm sorry about him. Wyper's heart's in the right place, but he's always been a bit of a hot-tempered blockhead."

"Apology accepted." I unwrapped the dragon-slobber-soaked rags from my wrists and gave them back to Usopp. He made a face as he shoved them into his bag. Which seemed to have a special pocket for dirty laundry- good to know.

Laki smiled. "Excellent. Of course, keep in mind that if you try to escape, we'll have to stop you. For your own good, and all, so you don't run into Enel or any of his priests. And you're quite durable, so we may have to get experimental while doing so."

Somehow, Laki's smile and soft words were far more worrying than any of Wyper's shouting. Possibly because I was more afraid of her bayonet than any explosions. Or maybe it was something about the way her eyes flashed darkly as she smiled, or the cold breeze that hit just at that moment. It was hard to tell.

Beside me, Usopp gulped and nodded. "We'll be good!"

"That's what I like to hear." Stepping back, Laki fixed Wyper with her smile. "See? They won't be any trouble."

Wyper grumbled incoherently for a minute before sighing. "Fine. But they better keep up, and they better be quiet."

"And just how quiet do you want us to be?" I asked, stroking Ruatha. My dragon purred. "Enel uses Kenbunshoku Haki- you call it Mantra. He can hear the movement of our bones and muscles, the beating of our hearts. How do you intend us to be quiet enough not to draw his attention?"

Usopp's eyes lit up. "Are you gonna teach us how to counter Haki?"

"N-!" Wyper froze mid-scowl. Then he seemed almost to deflate for a moment before returning to his usual grumpy self. "We don't have a method for that. Which is why we usually move quickly."

"Here," Braham tossed some thing silver at us; Usopp caught it without really looking, "Put these on."

That earned the gunslinger a glare from Wyper. Braham shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant- although it was spoiled by the subtle move he made to hide behind Laki. "What? How else are they supposed to keep up?"

"Fine." Wyper huffed and turned away, folding his arms as he scowled into the distance. "Can we just get moving already?"

Skates. The silvery bundle was two pairs of skates. I put mine on quickly, fingers moving with years of practice. Usopp followed behind, watching what I was doing. When both of us stood, he was a little shaky, although not to bad. I, on the other hand…

"There's something wrong…" The blades were the wrong shape. But maybe… There was a good chance of this failing. Let's call it fifty-fifty; I was either going to succeed, or break them and piss everyone off.

Picking up one foot, I ran my fingers over the blade, alternating pressure and friction with quick bursts in between for me to breathe. Slowly, the metal changed shape. At the very last, I knocked a few triangles out of the front to make a jagged pick. Then I put that foot back on the ground and repeated the process on the other side.

It wasn't perfect- in fact, it was an ugly job that really would've done better with a forge or at least a proper grinder- but it was workable. Yes.

Usopp looked at me with concern. "Jones… What're you doing? And should you really be doing it while standing?"

"In reverse order: probably not, and I'm fixing my skates." Thankfully, nothing had broken. Or at least, nothing I didn't want to break. Although the picks I'd made were crude and uuuuuuug-lee.

Everyone stared at me. Or, well, some of them were staring at my crudely MacGuyvered figure skates. But really… I could never have done it using the clunky hybrids between hockey and speed skates the way they were originally. I'd trip.

Forcing a smile- which was hard in the face of Wyper's scowling disbelief and disapproval- I bounced up onto my picks to test them. A little uneven, but not bad. I'd never been able to do anything big enough that this would be a problem. "So… Where are we going?"

Shaking his head, Wyper motioned with his hand. I didn't know what it meant, but it made Laki, Kamakiri, Genbo, and Braham immediately surround Usopp and myself. Ruatha growled when Genbo got too close; the bazooka wielder took a cautious step back as my dragon showed his teeth.

"Alright," Wyper snarled, "Let's move out. Finally."

Skating on clouds took some getting used to as we moved out. They're much bouncier than ice. More fluid. I certainly wouldn't be pulling any tricks any time soon. I was steadier than Usopp, though, so I did my best to help him along.

Wyper set a punishing pace across the clouds. My lungs began to burn a few minutes in; I upped the air pressure around myself in response. Breathing at this altitude was a pain. Strange winds whipped up around me as I played with the pressure; this caused more than one of the Shandians to shoot Usopp strange looks, as they couldn't tell which of us was producing the wind.

"You don't think…?" Kamakiri left the question hanging, addressing Laki as he glanced nervously at Wyper's back. The dark-haired woman shook her head.

"Don't be silly."

"But what if it's not silly?"

"Then we'll have some serious thinking to do. Until then, though, just keep your eyes sharp."

Soon enough, there was a patch of green rising on the horizon. Upper Yard. A great, emerald rainforest set amidst pearly clouds… I wished I had more time to appreciate it. And maybe I would- later.

As it was, we skated into a bay and were up amongst the trees in almost no time. Not that Upper Yard was any less beautiful from the inside. It was eerily quiet in amongst the trees- not loud like there would've been in a rainforest at sea level. I heard the occasional bird call, but no monkeys or insects or anything else. The most distinctive sound was the loud Jyooooooooooh of the southbirds.

Not that we could see any of them. Not as dark as it was among the trees. Like a midnight cathedral made of leaves… And it smelled like one too, all earth and decaying plant life and ozone.

Laki paused and bent down to grab a scoop of earth as we moved under the trees. Wyper snapped his head around with a scowl and a hiss. "Laki! What are you doing?"

"Getting some vearth for Aisa." Laki straightened quickly, slipping a handful of earth into a pouch hanging from her belt. Wyper's frown deepened.

"You don't need to do that. When we retake Shandora, Aisa will have all the vearth she could ever want."

My first instinct was to correct their pronunciation. It was earth, not vearth. But instead, it was my second instinct that burst out of my mouth. "I should've known you were just using us as an excuse."

Usopp flailed and clapped his hands over my mouth. "Jones!" The gunner stared around as if he expected disaster to befall us out of nowhere. Wyper was included in this frantic scan. "I thought you said it wasn't safe to say things!"

Growling, Wyper stepped in and grabbed my wrist. My skin crawled; I hate it when people do that. Usopp squeaked and jumped away. Wyper followed the gunner briefly with his eyes before focusing on me.

"Look, Blue Sea Dweller… I don't care what you think about my motivations. I don't care what you think about anything. Yes, I intend to take back Shandora; this may be the only chance we ever get. But I will test you." One corner of Wyper's mouth jerked up, an expression somewhere between a sneer and a snarl. "Not because I believe you can pass. But because I think I'll enjoy seeing false gods fall."

"We never claimed to be gods," Usopp pointed out, fidgeting. "It was all that little girl."

His words made Wyper soften slightly. Slightly. The berserker turned away and started heading deeper into the jungle. "Aisa's a good girl. But she's also a fool. Maybe learning she was wrong about you will help her grow up."

The soil was soft and thick as we went further in- probably due to a combination of mixing with clouds for hundreds of years, and minimal compaction due to a shortage of large animals. My skates- which I'd hung over my shoulder, tied together by their laces- bounced against my back and chest as we climbed over logs and hills and tree roots. It was uncomfortable, but the only way I could think of to carry them. They wouldn't fit in my utility belt or bandoliers.

A soft rushing sound rose up slowly under the birdcalls and footsteps. Eventually, the source was revealed to be a river meandering through the trees- a river of cloud that wove up and down as well as from side to side. Some of the waterfalls- cloudfalls?- even seemed to go down opposite the current. One Piece physics, everyone.

Wyper turned and led us upriver, towards the source. I frowned. This wasn't the way I'd been expecting him to take us. Not Enel's temple? Hmm… I'd need a new plan, then. A few more minutes of walking, and then the jungle opened out into a lake. There was a small island in the middle, but I couldn't get a very good look at it. There was too much mist rising off the cloudy surface, lit golden by the sun so close.

Living up in the sky like this was hard, but it sure was beautiful.

Wyper grabbed my wrist again, and Usopp's as well. Ruatha puffed up and hissed as the berserker dragged us down to the lakeshore. The other Shandians stood back, watching the perimeter, weapons at the ready.

"Lif mii naalein! Vos shur do dii monah!"

"Shut up, you stupid lizard!" Wyper swatted my baby on the snout. Neither Ruatha nor I nor Usopp took that well.

"SSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Marzuh!"

"Don't touch him!"

"Keep your hands off my baby!"

A sonic burst- not the biggest Ruatha could produce, but still fairly substantial- hit Wyper in the chest, stunning him. Usopp waved his hammer in the berserker's face. For my part, I grabbed the hand Wyper'd hit Ruatha with and released a burst of force into it. Not sure how much- I don't think I broke anything, but from the face Wyper made, it sure smarted.

Laki, Kamakiri, Genbo, and Braham all turned and pointed their weapons at us. Wyper raised his hands as they did so, taking a step back.

"It's alright. Don't shoot. We'll let the ancient guardian of Shandora settle them." Taking a few more steps away, the berserker turned his scowl upon the lake. "I may not believe in gods… But I know monsters exist. Face your test, Blue Sea Dwellers."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The cloudy lake started to ripple. Something bulged under the surface, rushing towards the shore. At first I thought it was one of the cloud sharks. But as it got closer, it got bigger. Too big. Then blue scales and white fur burst from the lake. Twenty meters, thirty… The snake's head rose high above us, swaying back and forth as she fixed her yellow gaze on Ruatha, Usopp, and myself.

"SHARASHAH!"

Nola opened her mouth wide, jaws unhinging. Condensation dripped from her fangs- fangs that, judging by the arrangement, were venomous. They folded and unfolded like a rattlesnake's. Which… Where I came from, snakes with that kind of fangs used them for defense. What could a snake the size of Nola need to defend herself from?

She was so huge… Such a bright blue… I felt myself starting to sway back and forth with the same rhythm as the huge serpent, mesmerized by the gentle motion of her dangling fluffs… Ruatha chirped inquiringly and wrapped his tail tightly around my arm; Usopp waved a hand in front of my face.

"Jones! Jones, are you okay? What's going on? Jones, snap out of it!"

"So fluffy…"

Wyper let out a triumphant snort as Nola surged towards us, her mouth still wide. Usopp, however, groaned. The gunner facepalmed, rubbing his temples. "Not again…"

"So fluffy… So CUTE! Newton's First!"

I launched myself into the air with a burst of force. Even that was only enough to get me about halfway up to Nola's head, so I played with the air pressure around me, kicking off a dense patch to boost myself higher. "Geppo!"

My control with that technique still wasn't great- I overshot at first, falling back down onto Nola's head from several meters up. A soft thump as my leather boots met damp scales. Nola froze, confused. She'd probably never had anything or anyone land on her head before. Crouching down, I gathered a clump of white fur in my hands and rubbed it against my cheek.

So soft… Like tendrils of fluffy cloud.

"Nola's so snuggly! Yes she is!" I laid flat on the snake's head, eyes closed as I cuddled the fluffy clumps of fur. "So fuzzy and soft and pretty… Yes, such a pretty girl. You weren't really gonna eat us, were you? Not such a nice snakey…"

Nola shook her head slowly. There was no way to know if it was in response to my question, or if she was trying to shake me off. If it was the latter, she wasn't doing a very good job of it. I continued snuggling the soft fur. Ruatha whined, claws digging into my shoulders.

"Monah…"

Down below, I heard Kamakiri's disbelieving voice. "What… What is she doing?"

"Jones does this all the time," Usopp groaned. "Every time we meet some sort of giant monster, she has to hug it."

Then all of a sudden the gunner burst out laughing. I can only assume he spun around to face Wyper. "This? This was your big test? Sending us to face a snake? You're an idiot! You'll be lucky if Jones doesn't make a pet out of it!"

Nola was shaking her head more aggressively now, definitely trying to get me off. I had to open my eyes to find handholds, make sure I didn't fall. No, I wasn't about to cling on using friction, not to a living being. I might hurt Nola's pretty scales!

Down below, Usopp looked worried… But so did the Shandians. This clearly wasn't going as they had expected. Still rubbing Nola's fluffs against my cheek, I released one hand briefly in order to wave.

"Usopp, you've gotta try this! Just touch some of her fur- it's so fluffy I could die!"

"I- You- Ugh…" Usopp edged slowly towards the body of the massive snake, looking like he wanted to bolt. Then he rested one hand on blue scales, the other in damp, white fur. His eyes lit up with surprise; he started rubbing.

"Wow… I've never felt fur this soft."

"Monah." Ruatha whined again and butted his head into the back of mine. Then he rubbed his head against my neck, humming. When that still didn't get him my attention, he began thumping his head against Nola's. She didn't notice, too concerned with trying to detach me from her fur.

"SHASHASHASHASHA!"

Clouds whipped up from the lake as Nola's tail, still immersed, began to lash. The snake squirmed, before lunging to snap at the first person she saw. Laki. And as much as I loved her fluff, my good feelings quickly went sour.

"Oi! Be good!"

I slapped Nola's head, releasing a small burst of force. Not enough to do any real damage; plenty enough to give her a good sting, though. The enormous snake froze, startled.

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSAAA?"

"Eating people isn't nice," I admonished. Nola blinked and closed her mouth. She looked almost sheepish. I rubbed the spot I'd slapped gently.

"It's okay. I know you're not a bad girl. No one ever taught you manners, is all." Looking down at the ground, I raised my eyebrows at Wyper. "So… When's the test coming?"

"That… was the test." Wyper's left eye twitched; I think I broke him.

"Nola was the test?" I snuggled a clump of white fur, despite Ruatha's chirping protests. "That's not very nice… You shouldn't pull her into your shenanigans."

Wyper continued to twitch. Usopp smirked at him smugly. "So… If the snake was the test," the gunner asked slowly, "What was supposed to happen?"

Since Wyper was too stunned- or possibly infuriated, it was hard to tell- to answer, Laki did it for him. Her hands were shaking as she clung to her rifle; the angel bowed her head. "The… The guardian serpents were once considered gods themselves. Legend says they were supposed to eat you if you proved imposters."

Oh. I rubbed Nola's head some more. "Well, that's silly. Nola wouldn't eat us, would you?"

"SSSSSRRRRRRR…"

The snake scowled. Down below, the Shandian warriors were all just… staring. Like they weren't sure what to do with this turn of events. Me? I saw two options. Option one was to get Usopp and ride Nola out of here like Fremen on a sandworm. But that could hurt the snake… So option two might be better.

Quickly putting my skates back on, I slid down Nola's back like a slide. I landed beside Usopp with a thump, skate blades digging into the dirt. Which wasn't the best for them, but I could be careful.

"And now comes the part where we ditch the highly dangerous sky warriors on their own turf," I said cheerfully. Usopp paled. Turning to face the Shandians, I bowed dramatically. When I spoke, I did my best impression of Miguel from The Road to El Dorado.

"Thanks for putting us up for the night. Your prison tent was absolutely lovely. But if you don't mind, we're on a schedule. Have to get back to our crew, take down some false gods and priests, that sort of thing. See you later."

Scooping Usopp up in my arms- which set him flailing- I turned and jumped onto the surface of the cloudy lake. Usopp immediately stopped flailing in favour of clinging tightly to my neck.

"Don't you dare drop me!"

"Nepnepnepnepnepnepnep!" Ruatha cackled as we sped away through the mist. And… smoke? I could smell something burning as we crossed the lake. Couldn't go looking for the source, though, not when I could hear the Shandians snapping back to their senses right behind us.

"They're getting away! After them!"

"Shoot them!"

"I can't see them to aim!"

The mist and smoke closed tight around us. I did my best not to disturb them too much. Of course, while they kept us relatively hidden from our pursuers, they also made it harder for me to see where I was headed. "Usopp, your eyes are better than mine. Can you see anything over the top of the mist?"

"Liddle bid o'da forest," Usopp responded, holding his nose against the smell of smoke. "Why?"

"Tell me if you see anything that looks like a temple or a city or something poking above the trees. That's where we're headed."

"Okay." Then… "Jones… I don'd dink you really 'ad a plan. Or did you know da mist was gonna be here?"

"Not a clue," I bit my lip. "The smoke neither. When I said I had a plan, I was expecting them to take us somewhere else. No big deal, though; we still got away just fine."

Usopp gasped for breath as we got further away from the smoke. Then he whined. "Please don't say that 'til we're back with the others," he begged. "It's just asking for us to get caught again."

Then, before I could respond, the gunner pointed at something to my left. "There! Some sort of roof- a temple or fancy building!"

"Excellent." Grinning, I turned and skated towards what Usopp had seen. Not that I could skate very long; we hit the shore all too soon. I didn't bother taking my skates off, though; there was no time, and I could move well enough in them on solid ground. "City of gold, here we come. Come on, Usopp, let's follow that trail!"

"What trail?"

"The trail that we blaze!" Although we'd blaze it carefully. Didn't want to make our passage too obvious- the last thing we needed was Wyper and company attacking the crew while Luffy was dealing with Enel.

-V-

{{I'm really starting to hate these guys,}} Drifter grumbled as Geier dove through a gap in the trees to avoid yet another giant southbird. The vulture rolled her eyes.

{{You're telling me. It's not your tail feathers they keep ripping out.}} Geier moaned wistfully. {{Why, why did that idiot with the magic sword have to break my gun?}}

{{Because you would've shot him with it?}}

Geier hissed. {{No one likes a smartass.}}

{{Except you.}} Drifter patted Geier's neck. {{Don't worry. I'm sure we can get you a new gun next time we visit a town for any length of time. Something nice, light, and fully automatic.}}

{{I'll hold you to that.}}

{{Get back here and die, Sea Rats!}} The giant southbird clawed at the trees blocking its path. It let out a shriek of anger; the wood was too strong for it to get through.

{{I'd really rather not.}} Geier waggled her tail in the avian equivalent of giving someone the middle finger. Drifter cackled.

"UH EE! UH UH UH EE!"

{{You're lucky I'm not an owl,}} Geier drawled, {{Else you would've blown out my eardrums years ago.}}

{{Why would I want an owl for a partner? You're so much more…}} Drifter trailed off as he saw a flash of something through the trees. He frowned. {{Left!}}

{{Left? What's left?}} Geier turned on her tailfeathers to face the direction Drifter had indicated. When she did, her eyes went wide. {{Is that…?}}

{{So you see it too. I'm not imagining things…}} Drifter's paws went to his blades. Geier sighed.

{{Even if he was here, the chances he still is are very low. And it might not be his.}}

{{We won't know until we check it out.}}

Snorting, Geier swooped down to land by the object of their discussion. A piece of torn fabric, faded from what looked like months in the sun. Once upon a time, it had been bright scarlet. Geier clacked her beak.

{{Well, it's the right colour, but that's it. Whatever it is, it's been out here so long… You'll never be able to tell what it was a part of, let alone get a scent off of it.}}

Drifter grabbed the cloth and crumpled it into a ball. {{I know that,}} the otter snarled. {{But it still means he could have been here, that we could be on the right trail. That's better than nothing. Just let me do a quick sweep, see if there's anything else around.}}

Hopping off Geier's back, Drifter began nosing around through the undergrowth. The cloudy soil felt so weird under his paws- too soft, and somehow both warm and cold at the same time. Very damp too, although he didn't mind that bit.

No matter how hard he tried, though, Drifter couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary. Not even on the cloth, let along the jungle floor. No, all he smelled was clouds, dirt, plant matter, and the ever-present smell of those infernal southbirds and their relatives. Couldn't even smell many land animals, which was odd. Although there was a canine scent and a human-ish smell. Not quite human- there was bird mixed in, like with everything else up here- but pretty close. Interesting…

Heavy wingbeats approached overhead. Geier looked up at the sky and snapped, her feathers fluffing out. {{Hate to cut an investigation short, but we've got company. Quick look around took a bit too long.}}

{{Not another one!}} Drifter leapt onto his partner's back and readied his blades as she launched herself into the air.

What appeared through the trees, though, was no southbird. No, it resembled a great golden eagle, except its feathers were purple and red and it was at least twenty times the size. A human- or maybe not; humans didn't usually have wings- rode on its back. Both bird and rider were singed and terrified, as if they'd just been chased out of a burning house by a ghost. Or maybe a ghost had tried to light them on fire.

Drifter smelled his crew on them. Strongest were Ghin and Toma, but he smelled everyone, including the tangerine trees and tar of the Going Merry.

{{I think they attacked the ship,}} the otter snarled, gesturing towards the strange bird rider as the huge avian soared overhead. Geier glared and pumped her wings hard, taking off in pursuit.

{{Understood.}}

For a while, they simply chased the larger team through the upper canopy. Drifter didn't think the winged person and the giant eagle even knew he and his partner were there. At least, not until the large pair swung around in a wide arc to halt in the air facing himself and Geier. Both birds hovered, although Drifter's partner did so much more gracefully than the larger raptor.

The humanoid jabbed some sort of lance at the Unluckies accusingly. "You! What are you and why are you following us?"

Rolling his eyes, Drifter quickly wrote up one of his signs. He hated having to communicate this way- so awkward- but it couldn't be helped. We're members of the crew whose ship you just tried to burn.

"You… First phantoms, now animals?" Drifter had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but okay then… The eagle rider lowered his lance. "Ah, well, at least I can fight you. Prepare yourselves, heathens, for you face the Trial of String! Heat Lance!"

The eagle rider's lance lit up orange, glowing with flames as he and his mount shot towards the Unluckies. Drifter gripped his clam blades tight, preparing for battle. Beneath him, Geier grinned. Her eyes lit up like stars as she surged forward.

{{Screw getting me a new gun- I want his pointy stick!}}

{{Your wish is my command.}} Drifter tipped his hat briefly before launching himself off of Geier's back as their opponents came in range. {{Bell Toll!}}

-V-

"How. Could they. ESCAPE?" Wyper blasted a rock with his Burn Bazooka; said rock shattered.

"What happened to being quiet?" Laki asked wryly. Wyper didn't bother to acknowledge her question.

How had those Blue Sea Dwellers managed to get away? They shouldn't have been able to out-skate him! Not across the cloud lake! Especially not with those strange modifications the girl had made to her blades- it should've made skating quickly impossible! But they were gone, there was no question of it, disappeared into the mist and smoke.

He'd worry about where the smoke was coming from later. After he regained his captives. Probably just Enel destroying something to show off his powers anyway.

"Kamakiri! Head back to the village! We need backup- trackers. Yotsubane and Mayushika, at least!" No matter how hard the Blue Sea Dwellers hid, those two should be able to find them.

Fidgeting, Kamakiri looked away. "You know the chief won't allow it. We should ret-!"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THE CHIEF WILL OR WILL NOT ALLOW!" Wyper slammed his bazooka on the ground for emphasis. "I AM THE WAR LEADER! AND WE ARE AT WAR! WE NEED TRACKERS TO FIND THE BLUE SEA DWELLERS! AND AFTER THAT, WE NEED BACKUP TO TAKE DOWN ENEL AND HIS PRIESTS! THE TIME IS NOW!"

"Don't you think-?"
"JUST GO!"

"Yessir!" Kamakiri sped away towards the village. A small wake billowed up behind him; the mist and fog swirled.

Wyper sighed, although it sounded more like a growl. He just wanted to get his people's homeland back, and then be left alone. Why was that so much to ask? It shouldn't have been so complicated.

For several minutes, he, Laki, Braham, and Genbo walked in silence, searching for any sign of the Blue Sea Dwellers. For a trio who'd never been in the jungles of Shandora before, they were doing a surprisingly good job of concealing themselves. Both on the lake and on the shore… They were cleverer that way than most of Enel's priests; Wyper would give them that much. But it made them all the more frustrating. If only one of his warband could use Mantra as Aisa could… The little girl would be the best tracker in the village someday soon.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

A trio of cloud wolves appeared out of the undergrowth, snarling. Behind them, Wyper caught a glimpse of a half-eaten cloud shark with more wolves surrounding it. The largest wolf took a step towards him, its teeth bared; he fired his bazooka in response.

KA-FWOOM!

"Ar! Ar! Ar! Ar! Ar!" The cloud wolves took off, yelping. Even the ones around the shark carcass wanted nothing to do with the area. Laki shot Wyper a reproachful look.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Yes."

More silence. Unable to find tracks, Wyper kicked a tree. Hard. The tree shook but didn't crack; his foot burned. Laki shook her head and opened her mouth, probably to give him another of her interminable lectures on self-control. Which… He'd just had one last night, so this was a bit ahead of schedule. Usually she waited at least three days in between.

Before Laki could get started, though, Genbo spoke up. "The snake didn't eat them."

"What?" Wyper froze mid-stride. What the fuck was Genbo going on about?

"The strangers," Genbo said quietly, "The snake didn't eat them. All the old stories say that if a stranger is presented to the snakes and lives, it's because the snakes recognized their divinity. You told them yourself that's why we brought them here."

"Just stories," Wyper snapped. His friends weren't seriously buying into this, were they? There was no such thing as gods who fell from the sky. "I only said that because I wanted the snake to eat them. One less thing for me to worry about in this war."

"But it is what the old stories say," Braham mused. "What if… What if they're true?"

"Not you too." Wyper groaned and ground his knuckles into his forehead. "Look… There are no gods. Just men."

"AHEM."

"And women," Wyper added as Laki tapped her foot. He knew better than to open up that argument again. "Just people who have strange powers. And once we reclaim Shandora from Enel, we'll find out how his powers work so no one can take our home again."

Coming to a momentary halt, Wyper took a deep breath. "This is going too slowly. We'll cover more ground if we split up."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Laki frowned in concern. Wyper looked away, the better to prevent her from talking him down.

"If we stick together, we're less likely to find the Blue Sea Dwellers and we're an easier target for Enel and his priests. Just go; we'll meet back by the shore at sunset to check in."

"Very well." Laki briefly reached out to brush Wyper's hand. "Take care of yourself… War Leader."

"You as well. I don't want to lose any soldiers if I can avoid it."

Wyper didn't turn around, so he didn't see what caused Genbo and Braham to sigh before disappearing into the trees. Laki stayed for a moment longer, but then she too stepped away and vanished. They did their training proud, although there was only so much concealment amongst the trees could do against Enel's Mantra and lightning.

Which… There had been no sign of Enel since they'd entered the jungle. Either the false god was occupied with someone else… Or he was planning something.

That wasn't a reassuring thought. Enel rarely bothered to plan things- he didn't need to. So if he was planning something… Wyper was worried. Because he had no way to predict what such a plan might be or who Enel would be aiming for.

Worry boiled over into anger as Wyper shoved his way through the undergrowth in search of the Blue Sea Dwellers. This was a waste of his time. Maybe he should just go after Enel first, then deal with the strangers. They were less of a threat… right?

. . .

He'd left his Reject Dial in his tent. Stupid, stupid, stupid. This was supposed to be quick, in and out fast enough to keep the chief happy. Going after Enel without the Reject Dial would be tantamount to suicide.

Wait… That girl, the Blue Sea Dweller. The way she'd caught it when he fired at her, the way she broke the tent pole while awkwardly bound, the way she must've flown to the village after taking his fire to protect her ship… She was a living Reject Dial, wasn't she? So if he could find her, he could take out Enel. Didn't she say she wanted to do that too?

Storming through the trees, Wyper searched with renewed vigour. A part of him was glad, now, that the Blue Sea Dwellers hadn't been eaten. Their existence was still a frustration, but he'd deal with that later.

There. Was that a blade mark in the soil? Had the Blue Sea Dwellers not taken their skates off after leaving the lake? Ducking down over a floating ball of cloud, Wyper looked closer. Yes, definitely skate marks. Well, that was a good way to ruin the blades. What a waste. Although it made sense, if they were in a hurry…

There weren't enough tracks for him to tell which way they were going, though. Just the one blade, and a slight hole in the ground beside it. As if the Blue Sea Dwellers were jumping around in an effort to hide their passage. Strange… But it seemed to be working for them. Growling, Wyper straightened and continued.

A light wind sprang up, rustling the leaves and causing more cloud spheres to appear and swarm about his head. Wyper waved them away angrily. Stupid things… He didn't need that kind of distraction. Now, there had to be another blade mark around here somewhe- there! And there was a third! So they were going… that way!

Towards the heart of Old Shandora.

And not by the fastest route. There was a shortcut- Wyper would be able to go around and intercept them, pick them up before they got there. And at that point they'd be close enough to launch an attack on Enel's stronghold easily. Excellent.

Turning slightly, Wyper headed for the path he knew the chief hated that he knew about. What was left of an ancient highway- well-hidden and overgrown, but still useable. He bounded quickly through the forest, batting aside the occasional cloud ball- those things were so annoying. He had to make sure he got to the crossing as soon as possible. He may be taking a shortcut, but the Blue Sea Dwellers had a head start and unknown powers.

FWAM!

And then one of the cloud balls blew up in his face, chains exploding everywhere. The explosion nearly made Wyper drop his bazooka- nearly. He'd been trained since he was a child not to relinquish his weapon involuntarily.

More concerning was the fact that several of the chains had wrapped around him and bound him to a tree. He could barely move. Fighting Enel- fighting anyone- like this wouldn't be easy. And it would only give the Blue Sea Dwellers more time to get away…

He was such an idiot. He hadn't been paying attention, hadn't realized he was walking into Satori's area of the jungle. Some of those annoying balls were laced with traps. And he'd fallen for it. And now he couldn't move. The one good thing was that no one was here to see him trapped this way, but even then… Whether one of his own people, or the Blue Sea Dwellers, or the priests, someone was bound to show up soon. And Wyper would be helpless in dealing with them if he couldn't get free.

Wyper's anger boiled over. He was just. So. Angry. At Enel, at the priests, at himself. He shouldn't have fallen for such a stupid, obvious trap. Letting his short-term goals blind him… Throwing his head back, Wyper let out an enraged scream.

"GRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

-V-

"What are you doing, Aisa?"

Startled out of her concentration, Aisa glanced up at Isa. "I'm checking which kind of stones look best with ololiuqui flowers!"

"Okay…" Isa frowned thoughtfully. "But… Why? We don't build with stone."

"But when we reclaim Shandora, we will." The ololiuqui showed best against reddish flints and jaspers… Aisa hoped she'd be able to find enough to build the shrine. Rocks were in a bit of a short supply when you lived in the sky.

The problem was that red stones did not look good with sinicuichi, which she also wanted to include. That looked better with jet- which was in even shorter supply. And mixitl looked best with jet too, although tlapatl was equally pretty against any stone. So did pipiltzintzintli… The little girl groaned and clutched at her hair.

"I can't leave out one of the sacred flowers just because it doesn't match the stone! There has to be something that will work!"

Isa blinked slowly, stepping forward to place her hand on Aisa's shoulder. "Aisa… What in Shandora's name are you trying to do?"

"The gods returned in order to help us retake Shandora," Aisa explained, comparing her flower samples to another set of stones. Maybe if she chose something grey… Yes, a dark grey should be a good compromise. Maybe a polished granite… "Once we return to our old home, I'm gonna build them a new shrine as thanks. It has to be perfect, though, so I've gotta plan it now."

"Oh Aisa…" Isa pulled Aisa into a hug. It was kind of uncomfortable… Her wings were getting crushed. Aisa squirmed free.

"Put me down! I've got important stuff to do!" Now, what colour should the altar cloth be?

Shaking her head, Isa patted Aisa once more and wandered away. The little girl didn't pay her any mind. Aisa was completely occupied by fabric. She needed something that would match the blue ololiuqui, yellow sinicuichi, white tlapatl, purple mixitl, and green pipiltzintzintli all at once. And it had to stand out against the stone…

Blue. Maybe if she matched the blue of the ololiuqui. Yes, that should work. And it was a colour that went well with her hair, so if she made her robes to match, Laki wouldn't come after her about not looking like a lady.

And the lamps and such would be gold, of course. There were bound to be some old artifacts somewhere. Gold didn't tarnish, so a quick cleaning should be enough. Of course, she'd need to use the sacred oils, but those were relatively easy to get.

Now, what to paint on the walls…

According to Calli, most of the old temples had pictures depicting the gods' deeds. Which meant all the old stories had already been painted… That wouldn't do. She needed something new, something that would set her shrine apart. Something that would honour the gods and the opening of a new era.

. . .

What she needed was to paint the story of the gods as they took down Enel. That would honour their deeds and open the new era. But for that… For that, she needed to see them defeat Enel.

Stopping suddenly, Aisa bolted to her tent. No one was there, not with Laki out with Wyper. The little girl quickly gathered a few essentials- a vision dial, paper and charcoal for sketching, her knife, a blanket, and some snack rations. Tucking it all into a little pack, Aisa peeked out the front of her tent… Then slipped out under the back. No one was around, all occupied with their daily tasks. No one saw her leave.

Aisa scrambled down to the river and grabbed one of the cloudboards the warriors sometimes used. She'd practiced with them before, in anticipation of being able to join Wyper and Laki when she was older. And with her Mantra, she could track the gods- she'd gotten a good feel for them when she brought them food. And Nanhuatzin had a very distinctive aura.

Clouds splashed around her as Aisa jetted away. Just before she got out of sight of the village, she thought she heard someone calling her name. Calli or Isa or the chief. She didn't look back to see who it was, though. Getting a picture of the gods fighting Enel was more important.

-V-

Bounding through the jungle towards the temple was easier once I'd put Usopp down. The gunner scrambled along ahead of me, keeping his eyes on the temple roof he'd spotted. His breathing was heavy; unlike me, he couldn't increase the air pressure around his head. So while he'd adjusted better to the thin atmosphere than I initially, his endurance still had a lower limit.

And mine wasn't doing all that hot either.

"Sounds like… your breath… can run better… than you can," I panted as we raced through the undergrowth. Usopp frowned.

"If that was… a joke… I don't think it's very… funny."

"Running…? Catch your breath…? Eh, forget it…" I stopped talking and focused on my feet. Just in time too- my toe picks nearly caught on a log. Running like this in skates was not one of my best plans.

Then the trees opened up and we nearly slammed into a stone wall.

Yes, stone. The temple Usopp had spotted was not part of the city of gold. It was an aged ring of walls and buildings, half covered in vines, made of clearly white stone. Or, it had once been white. But definitely not gold.

Usopp skidded to a stop so quickly he fell back on his ass. I was right behind him, my blades ripping gouges in the forest floor as I came to a halt. Ruatha squawked, flaring his wings in surprise.

"Monah?"

"Is this that city of gold?" Usopp asked as he stood, brushing himself off. I shook my head slowly.

"No… This isn't the right place at all…" It did look familiar, though. "Come on, let's check it out."

Usopp's eyes went wide. For a moment, I worried he might bolt. Instead, though… Instead he scrambled up the nearest wall and poked his head over the edge. Less than a second later, he ducked down and hissed at me, still hanging off the wall like a cat.

"There's people in there!"

"People?" My stomach sank. The only people who it could be… They'd probably already heard us arrive. We should run. We didn't, though. Instead, Usopp continued hanging and I jumped up beside him. One of my toe picks dug into a crack in the stones; my hands closed over the top of the wall. My heart stopped at what I saw.

Enel. Enel and his priests. We'd stumbled onto Enel's home. And most of his followers were there.

Most. Not all. The guy with the bird- Shura?- was conspicuously absent. But the others were all there- Gedatsu the idiot, Ohm and his giant dog, Yama the destroyer, Satori of the spheres, all those weird looking goat guys… I flattened myself to the wall as much as I could, Usopp and Ruatha following my lead. Not that it would help us much. Enel must've heard us coming ages ago with his Haki.

So…

Why wasn't he reacting?

No, that wasn't right- Enel did react. I saw his eyes flick over at Usopp and I, where we were hanging. But he didn't say anything; no lightning rained from the sky. And none of his priests seemed to notice us at all. They just stayed where they were, squabbling quietly, until Enel tapped his staff on the stone.

"Enough! There's a reason I called you all together- don't make me waste time listening to your petty grievances."

Everyone shut down immediately- although Ohm was still glowering at Satori, and Gedatsu was chewing on his own hair like a piece of gum. Enel stared at them with hooded eyes, toying thoughtfully with his staff.

"Good. Now, we have here and unprecedented number of outlaws running around Upper Yard- one of whom claims to be immune to my powers." I wouldn't call the expression that grew across Enel's face a smile, but it was something similar. With a lot of smug malice mixed in. "We can't let anyone go around believing that, now, can we?"

The priests nodded one by one. Ohm turned his scowl from Satori to just general grumpiness. "What do you want us to do about it?" No preamble, just straight to business.

"I want you to track down the outlaws and kill them. Kill them all." Enel's malicious expression broadened. "Except the one named Luffy. The one who claims to be immune to my powers. Leave him to me. I wish to make an example of him. Let him know what happens to people who dare to challenge God."

"Yes sir!" The priests spoke in unison. Some of them gave the odd little Skypeian salute, although most didn't.

I felt something boiling up in my chest, my throat. Words. Like when I snarked at Arlong, so long ago. I bit my lip. Usopp must've seen something in my face, because he edged one hand over to brush against mine. A supportive gesture.

But support wasn't what I wanted.

Please, Criwe, Natrimpe, Patoll… Perkunas and Laukosargas and Kurche. Gods of ancient Pruten, forgive me for the claims I am about to make. Not that I was too worried about what my gods would think, not really. They did tend to have more of a sense of humour than most of the more familiar pantheons.

The priests were preparing to move out. I didn't want to let them leave. Turning to Usopp, I whispered softly. "Usopp… You said you're out of ammunition. Does that include smoke bombs and sparklers? Stuff you could use for a distraction?"

Usopp shook his head. His knees were trembling. "No… I have some of those. Not a lot, but some. Why?"

"Because I'm scared out of my mind, but I can't get these words out of my head, and if I'm gonna give in and do it, then I'm gonna do it right." I shivered. "Not… Judging by last time, this might get me killed. You don't have to stick around- I just need the smoke bombs."

"And leave you without the best backup on the Grand Line?" Usopp looked both terrified and offended. "Not a chance! I'm not leaving you alone to die!"

He gulped. "A-After all… You need at least three false gods to take down a real one… right?"

"Not exactly…" I turned back to glare over the wall at Enel. "I know what he is… And I know what he's not. And he's not a god."

That got Enel's attention. He stiffened and froze; his right eye twitched. All of his priests paused too, on their way out into the jungle. Slowly, so slowly, everyone turned to look at me, Ruatha, and Usopp.

My baby chirped nervously.

Gedatsu was the first to say something, jumping back in surprise. For a given value of say, that is. "MMMM! MMMM MMM MMMM MMM MMMM?!"

Satori rolled his eyes. "You need to open your mouth. Idiot."

"OH! RIGHT!" Gedatsu's voice was loud enough to hurt my ears even from this far away. "WHEN DID THEY GET HERE?!"

"They've been there for ages," Yama grumbled.

Enel turned his hooded gaze on me with a sniff. His earlobes waved gently with every movement of his head… It was both weird and fascinating. Kind of gross, at least to me. Those earlobes were huge- what did he do to get them to do that?

"And who are you to challenge my divinity?" Oh, I just wanted to punch Enel in his smug face. But since that would just get me electrocuted, I did the next best thing. Namely, gave in to the words boiling up in my throat.

Clearly, my writer really wanted to make this reference.

Hauling myself up over the wall, I jumped down into Enel's courtyard. I wished we'd come up with hand signs for crew communication as I waved vaguely at Usopp behind my back. We really needed to get on that- it would be so useful. Thankfully, the gunner seemed to know what I needed. A small smoke bomb hit the ground at the same moment I did, exploding into a cloud around me.

"I hardly think you're qualified to come across all sanctified." Standing in front of Enel and his priests, I was glad to still be wearing my skates. They added about ten centimeters to my height. "You just don't cut it with the cherubim."

A vein twitched on the side of Enel's forehead. On my shoulders, Ruatha stood up tall and flared his wings. Usopp jumped down behind me, one hand full of more smoke bombs as his knees shook. His other hand held a collection of sparklers.

Momentarily dropping control of the air pressure around myself, I ramped up my own personal gravity. Fast. Usopp and Ruatha braced themselves- they hadn't been expecting it, but they knew what was happening. The priests didn't. Many of them splayed their feet wide, or even fell forward as they tried to support themselves. Only Enel remained unaffected.

I waved my hands at the priests who were struggling to keep their balance. Keeping my voice steady when I could barely breathe was a struggle- it hurt my chest and throat- but I managed. For a few words at least.

"There again, they're on their knees. Being worshipped is a breeze."

"I b-bet you b-barely know the words to any hymn," Usopp stammered accusingly at Enel as I got my breath back. The sparklers in his hand suddenly all burst into flames without him seeming to do anything.

A neat trick. I wondered how it worked.

Most of the priests were just staring at us, unsure what to make of this intrusion. Even after I dropped control over gravity in order to pick up air pressure again, no one moved. Except Enel- one of his eyes was twitching as a vein throbbed in his temple.

"It's tough to be a god! To tread where mortals have not trod!" I Geppoed over to Enel, Ruatha taking off from my shoulders to fly circles overhead. Feeling rather daring, I actually slung my arm briefly around the lightning logia's shoulders; this seemed to stun him and his priests even more.

"Count your blessings! Keep 'em sweet- that's our advice."

"It's great advice," Usopp put in. His voice was less shaky now, and he was juggling his smoke bombs and sparklers. Funny, I didn't know he could juggle. Although it made sense- a sniper like him needed excellent hand-eye coordination.

The goat-looking guys were fascinated by Usopp's juggling, their eyes following his sparklers and shining. As if they were hypnotized. This emboldened him. While he still kept further back than I did, his voice grew louder and the pattern of his juggling more intricate.

"Be an object of devotion! Be the subject of psalms! It's a rather touching notion- all those prayers and those salaams!" Usopp shot me a meaningful look as he threw one of his sparklers really high into the air. "Got a supernatural habit!"

"We'd be crazy not to grab it!" A big jump carried me away from Enel- just in time to avoid a zapping, I think- so my hand could close over the sparkler. By some miracle I caught the end that wasn't on fire before falling down to land at Usopp's side.

Arm in arm, Usopp and I thrust our sparklers skyward. A small release of force was enough to set them exploding in a shower of embers as Usopp dropped his smoke bombs to create a huge cloud. The gunner and I spoke in unison. "So sign on three new gods for Paradise!"

"Los buruk kosa aan rah," Ruatha put in, landing on my shoulder now that I was further from Enel, "Nuz waan hei lost faal joriinheii krolurend…"

I wasn't sure what my baby said, but I couldn't hesitate, couldn't miss a beat. So I rubbed my dragon's head and fixed my gaze on Enel, steady as I could. A chaotic neutral grin grew across my face. "You've been deified, but really, you're a sham."

Crunch.

I'd never heard gold crack like that before. Didn't even know it was possible. But for a moment, Enel gripped his staff so hard that the malleable metal splintered. Beside me, Usopp paled. The gunner clung to my back without prompting, knowing I had the fastest way to make an escape.

Enel was glowing now, a dangerous shade of blue-white. Heat rolled off him. Most of his priests bolted (pun!) without even a word. The few remaining- Gedatsu, Satori, and Ohm- took off at a glare and snarl from the irate lightning logia.

"Go. Find the others. Kill them. Leave these ones and the one named Luffy for me."

"Yessir!" Even stoic Ohm scuttled away so fast that he left a bit of an afterimage.

ZZZZZZZZZT!

A bolt of lightning struck where I'd just been standing as I leapt into the air. It was followed by a second; that one struck the wall behind me. There was no time to say the name of the technique as I Geppoed out of there like I had an angry thunderstorm on my tail. Which I did. Usopp clung tight to my back, burying his face in Ruatha's wings.

"Why did you do that? Why did I do that? That was insane! We're dead! We're dead, we're dead, we're dead!"

We did it, my dear gunner, because my writer is pulling the strings for her own amusement. And also because I thought it was funny, despite how terrifying and dangerous the situation was.

"Feels good, don't it?" I forced a smile, although my heart was pounding somewhere around my small intestine, making me nauseous. On the plus side, Enel seemed to be so aggressively pissed off that he'd forgotten to use his Haki to take aim at us.

For now. In case he calmed down, I needed to at least make an effort at concealing my intentions. So I started humming, filling the air and my mind with distraction and instinct. Hopefully it would be enough to keep Enel from getting a lock on me, since I was the one who was doing most of the moving and dodging.

This is the song that never ends! Yes, it goes on and on my friends! Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue singing it forever just because this is the song that never ends…

ZZZZZZZZZT!

Haki or no, Enel was still trying to hit us. And he was fast. Even if I could keep him from getting a lock, I couldn't lose him. Electricity made my hair stand on end with every near miss. Usopp's too. Within short order, Ruatha had morphed into some sort of static-filled puffball.

A flock of giant southbirds took to the sky, screaming, as one of the lightning bolts struck just a little too close to home.

Electrostatic force… The song in my head faded away as I wracked my brains. Shouldn't I be able to do something with this? But we'd confirmed in Alabasta that I couldn't absorb it, back when Nami had been testing her Clima-Tact. So what…?

Tabarnak. I had no idea.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

A bolt of lightning broke a tree branch I settled on briefly to catch my breath. So many successive Geppos was taking a toll on my lungs. I really needed to learn to do that without forces… More training. Later. When we had time.

I fell as the wood shattered, spinning around from the weight on my back. Instinct made me fling my arms out, even though there was nothing there to grab or strike. Nothing but Enel's enraged face, still glowing blue-white as he closed in. His skin pulled tight in a death grin, the lightning logia hauled one arm back… And hurled a lightning bolt like Zeus from the legends.

As it often does when I'm in danger, time seemed to slow down. Or maybe my brain sped up- I've never figured out exactly how it works. Of course, no matter what was going on, it was still lighting coming at me, so it was still bloody fast. Just… More like an arrow. Something I could actually track, even if I couldn't get out of the way.

My body moved on its own, karate instincts taking over. Right hand up and across in kake uke, just before the lightning struck. And it… moved? The bolt of lightning that had been about to hit me in the chest slid off to the side, slamming into a tree instead.

The tree exploded in a shower of bark and splinters.

Time sped up again. Still clinging to my back with his legs, Usopp reached his arms up and grabbed a vine, swinging us out of the way as Enel flew forward. The lightning logia slammed into yet another tree, unable to stop fast enough. Usopp stared at me in shock as I launched us back into the air.

Lighting pun.

"What was that?" Usopp demanded. He was shaking; I was shaking. And something warm and wet was trickling over my shoulder from between Ruatha's legs. Lovely.

I shook my head, panting. "No idea… Electricity's a force, but… Didn't know… When Nami tested…" So, I couldn't absorb electricity, but I could deflect it. If I was fast enough. Good to know.

Usopp suddenly clung tighter to my shoulders. "Whatever it was, I hope you can do it again!"

Enel had risen behind us, still raging. Merde. What in the Nine Hells was I going to do about that? Because even if he couldn't hurt me any more than I could hurt him, he could still hurt my passengers. Usopp, Ruatha… I needed to protect them. I was the tank.

"Usopp, keep an eye out for anything we can use as shelter!" My legs burned as I ran through the air. "I can't keep this up forever! We need to go to ground!"

"I'm on it! Just hold on!" The gunner pulled his sniping goggles down over his eyes as he scanned the trees desperately.

ZZZZZT!

A smaller, weaker bolt came at Usopp as if to hit him in the side, just under his ribs; I flailed my arm backwards to send it ricocheting off in a random direction. As the bizarre chase scene through the sky continued, there was only one thought running through my head on a loop.

I love my Devil Fruit!

-V-

Brilliant yellow metal rose high in front of them. Most of it was covered in twisting vines, but there were enough gaps to see that the entire construction was built of pure, untarnished gold. Not that the two hunters staring up at it cared much for that. Aside from knowing that if they could figure out a way to bring some back, it would make Nami very happy.

No, what interested Johnny and Yosaku the most was the circular gold door they'd spent the better part of a half hour uncovering.

It was a great golden disk, twice as tall as a man and nearly half that thick. Impossibly heavy. Resting in a shallow trench filled with sand and dead leaves, the huge door had resisted all attempts to roll it out of the way.

"You'd think a circular door should roll…" Yosaku muttered darkly. Johnny shrugged, never taking his eyes off the gleaming gold.

"Maybe it's trapped somehow? Or there's a special mechanism that rolls it?"

"Maybe…" Yosaku tilted his head as something occurred to him. "Bro… Should we really be worrying about this? We're supposed to be looking for Big Sis Jones and Big Bro Usopp."

Johnny snorted. "Would you really put it past Big Sis to somehow get stuck inside a building that ain't been opened for a thousand years? We've gotta check everything."

That was a good point. Yosaku turned his attention back to the strange door. Maybe it would be easier to roll if they cleaned out that trench it was resting in? "Bro, set your sprayer to sandblasting mode. I've got an idea."

Eyes lighting up behind his sunglasses, Johnny spun the dial. A broad grin grew across his face. Sandblast was a setting he'd included, after all- Yosaku thought it was useless overkill, since they weren't expecting to use their spray guns to pressure wash any houses.

. . .

Old man Burro and his stupid, stinking stables…

Shaking his head, Yosaku changed the settings on his sprayer too. And then… "On the count of fire… Fire!"

PWSHT!

Two highly pressurized jets of water shot into the ground. Sand, dead leaves, and clouds flew up in a massive burst. A clod of it hit Yosaku in the face- and it was harder than it looked, having been packed down for who-knows-how-many years. The green hunter raised a hand to wipe away the resulting mud.

"Move in closer! We've gotta get under the door too!"

Slowly, so slowly, they managed to get the trench clear. By the time they were done, their spray guns were starting to run out of juice; the hunters shut them off quickly so as not to waste their last few shots. Johnny frowned.

"Electroblade if we run into anything?"

Yosaku nodded. "Spray only as a last resort. Otherwise we disable both, and I haven't been practicing plain swordsmanship enough to be comfortable with that."

"Me neither. Probably a mistake."

"Yep."

Clearing the trench wasn't enough to make the door move, though. The hunters moved in close, examining the golden disc from every angle- with both hands and eyes. Johnny even took off his sunglasses to see better, which distracted Yosaku for a moment. He loved his partner's eyes. Such a bright blue…

Click.

Something gave under Yosaku's finger as he probed around the strange door. Gold shifted- slowly at first, then faster. He had to jump out of the way as the great disk rolled in its trench, lest his foot be crushed by the heavy construction.

The door finished rolling with an ominous creak. Its movement revealed a small, dark entrance- low enough that the hunters would have to duck to get through. This revelation was accompanied by a blast of stale air. Thankfully there was no smell of decay, so Yosaku was relatively certain they wouldn't stumble onto any dead bodies inside.

Before they went in, though, there was a very important test yet to be performed. Pulling several matches out of his pocket, Johnny lit them and tossed them through the doorway in quick succession. Each one fizzled out against the gold floor. Grinning, Johnny flashed a thumbs-up.

"No methane or anything like that! We're good for a light!"

"Great!" Unfortunately, though, there wasn't really much around for making a torch. In the end, Yosaku just snapped a few branches off a tree and handed one to Johnny. The blue hunter lit it, as well as one of the branches Yosaku had kept; they held the rest in reserve.

Torchlight flickered against gold, turning the inner walls bright orange. Johnny and Yosaku found themselves in a long room with a low ceiling- although thankfully high enough that they could stand once they'd ducked through the door. Barely. Directly across from them was another small doorway. The light of their makeshift torches didn't reach far enough to see anything through it.

With only one way to go, Yosaku strode forward. Johnny stopped him after less than three steps, grabbing his arm and hauling him back. "Hey! Look out! The floor's made of pressure plates!"

"Of course it is…" Yosaku facepalmed. Reason number two he loved his partner's eyes- Johnny was second to none when it came to spotting things like that. Despite having lost track of Zoro on multiple occasions when they worked as bounty hunters, but hey, unlike pressure plates, Zoro tended to move around in almost random directions.

Taking a closer look at the floor, Yosaku tried to determine if there was a safe path across. And why someone would tile an entire floor with pressure plates and traps. There must be something important on the other side. At the very least, whoever had built this place considered it important.

The floor was covered in pictures, but there was no pattern to them. In the dim light, Yosaku couldn't even make out what most of them were. One of them might've been a nest of Millennial Dragons… Although it could just as easily have been a giant octopus.

Johnny shot him an uncertain look. "I don't suppose you've got any scrap we could use to jam the plates? I'm fresh out."

"Me too."

"Dammit."

Sighing, Yosaku rubbed his forehead. "Starting to wish I'd listened to Dad's stories more as a kid. He liked to talk about exploring old temples and stuff- I just never believed any of it."

That made Johnny raise an eyebrow. "Your dad? In a place like this? I thought I remembered him as being all proper and quiet."

"He was, usually." Yosaku shrugged. "But he did like a little bit of exploring, or even a good fight every once in a while. Only if the other guy started it, though. Fast as lightning…"

"Listen, Yosaku." A tall, slender man with a shadowed face crouched in front of his son in the middle of an outdoor market. All around them, tables had been overturned and sliced in half. A thin line of blood trickled down the man's forehead, although it was nothing compared to the wounds on the six unconscious bodies nearby.

"Never, ever start a fight. Only uncultured brigands fight for the joy of fighting. You're better than that. Use your brain- I know you have one." Light flashed briefly off of a pair of glasses. "That said… If someone else starts it, finish the fight as quickly as you can."

"I don't like fighting…" A tearful young Yosaku mumbled, clutching his stuffed sheep. "It's loud and scary…"

His father's arms wrapped around him, strong and warm. Yosaku clung to his father's coat. "I know… But sometimes you have to fight, to protect people you care about. Do you understand?"

Nodding, Yosaku bit his lip. His father smiled. "Now then… Why don't you show me that cave you were talking about before these buffoons showed up?"

"Bro, you alright?" Johnny waved his hand in front of Yosaku's face, pulling the green hunter out of his thoughts. Yosaku blinked and smiled.

"Yeah, sure. Just… Thinking about Dad." Then he felt something light up in his head. "And I think I know how to get across. Come on; help me cut down a tree."

It didn't take them long to find a narrow, relatively straight tree that they'd be able to get through the low door. Cutting it down was harder- unlike Zoro, Johnny and Yosaku never practiced doing such things with their swords. But the heavy blades of their dadao were decent enough substitutes for axes, especially with the two of them working together. They had a decent log soon enough.

"Alright." Yosaku picked up one end and began dragging it towards the old building. "Now, let's lay this sucker across the floor. If we crawl across on it, we won't set off the pressure plates."

Johnny looked dubious, but he said nothing- just picked up the other end of the log and helped move it. The blue hunter stood well back, though, as his partner heaved the log through the door and into the trapped room.

Almost immediately, Yosaku regretted his idea. Yes, the log sat on top of the floor and they'd be able to crawl across without putting any pressure on the plates- but the log itself set off a row of pressure plates.

Flames and darts shot out of hidden holes in the wall, enough to kill a man in an instant. And they kept coming for two minutes- Yosaku counted- before finally trailing off. Although the log and all the darts embedded in it were still on fire. Johnny peeked through the door as Yosaku rubbed soot out of his eyebrows.

Or sudden lack of eyebrows, rather.

"You okay, Bro?" Johnny edged in around the end of the charred tree.

Grinning, Yosaku flashed a thumbs-up. "I'm fine. And it didn't go as planned, but I'm pretty sure it's safe to cross now- the traps are prob'ly all outta juice."

"Let's just check, first…" Johnny went back outside for a minute. When he returned, he was holding a rather large rock. About the size of an ostrich egg or so. The blue hunter let the rock fly with a mighty heave, sending it bouncing across the pressure plates on the floor.

Nothing happened.

"Excellent!" The former bounty hunters scrambled forward in unison. They flinched instinctively every time a pressure plate sank under their feet, but nothing happened. Or, well, nothing besides a few mechanisms opening up and clicking harmlessly, their payloads empty.

The little door across the way led to a small, dark room with a low ceiling. It was nearly pitch-black inside; Johnny and Yosaku lit up the circuits in their swords to get a bit of light. They examined the room by the dim, silvery light of their electroblades.

Not that there was much to examine. The room was perfectly circular and mostly bare, devoid of any furniture or decoration. Except a small, round altar seated dead center. Atop this altar stood a clay jar and a small sculpture carved of wood.

Yosaku tilted his head to one side; since Johnny tilted his head to the other, this lead to them knocking skulls lightly. Not enough to hurt. "That's… disappointing," the green hunter observed.

"Yeah… You'd think, with the traps and everything, there'd be some sort of big treasure in here." Johnny shrugged. "Maybe it's in the jar?"

"Good idea." Stepping up to the altar, Yosaku lifted the jar and opened it. Inside was… a bunch of topsoil? It was definitely topsoil, and from sea level- there was no cloud mixed in like in the jungle soil outside. Bewildered, Yosaku showed this to his partner.

Johnny shook his head and began examining the little statue. "This is weird," the blue hunter muttered. "Who sets traps to guard a jar of dirt and a little wooden man?"

"Maybe if we show one of the people who live here, they'll know what it's for?" Yosaku doubted it, but it was worth a try. As it was, though, this place was a bust. No sign of Big Sis Jones or Big Bro Usopp. "We should get going. There's gotta be a hundred places to look around here."

"True…" Johnny sighed. "Of course, knowing Big Sis Jones, she'll have found the one with the most trouble."

"That'll be fine then. Big Bro Luffy always finds the place with the most trouble too."

The hunters pocketed their meagre findings for later consideration and headed out of the temple. As they ducked out of the door, though, they were met with a strange sight. Even stranger, in Yosaku's opinion, than an island in the sky.

Namely, there was a man standing upside down on the bottom of a tree branch.

"Um… How did you get up there?"

"Up where?" The stranger looked around in surprise. As soon as he realized he was hanging upside down in a way that defied all physics- and what Yosaku knew of Devil Fruits- he fell to the ground in a heap. Not that it seemed to phase him.

Standing and brushing himself off- and man was he tall- the stranger waved at Johnny and Yosaku. "MM! MMM MMMMMM MM MMM MMMMM MMMMM?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Yosaku's head; beside him, Johnny blinked in confusion. "Um… Dude? Use your words. We can't understand you when you don't even open your mouth."

"I DIDN'T OPEN MY MOUTH? OOPS! HOW CARELESS OF ME!" The stranger cleared his throat and fiddled with something on one of his sleeves. "I SIMPLY WANTED TO ASK THE TWO OF YOU IF EITHER OF YOU WAS NAMED LUFFY."

"Um… No. That's our captain." Yosaku looked at Johnny in confusion; the blue hunter nodded. At least they hadn't put out their electroblades yet. Trying- and failing- to be subtle about it, the hunters slid into a ready stance.

The towering stranger responded to this by eagerly bouncing into his own ready position. A broad, menacing- yet still somewhat dimwitted- grin grew across his face. "EXCELLENT! THAT MEANS I CAN KILL YOU TWO!"

"We'll just see about that!" Johnny and Yosaku moved so they were back to back, the better to keep an eye on the deranged stranger. They were still taken totally by surprise, however, by how fast he was as he leapt forward.

-V-

"This is fascinating," Robin whispered as she examined a heavily carved wall of crumbling gold. Or, well, not crumbling really, but a lot of the bricks had been knocked off over the years; they now lay scattered about the immediate area. "From the look of things, I'd say it predates the Void Century by at least 600 years."

Sanji wasn't sure how she could possibly know that, but he nodded anyway. He was more focused on Robin than on the ruins, aside from watching his step to make sure he didn't trip and make a fool of himself. She was quite lovely, especially when she got that little frown that meant she was thinking really hard about something and almost had it, but not quite. Such a cute expression.

Almost as cute as Nami when she was drawing her maps, all delicate and careful, her tongue stinking out of the corner of her mouth.

. . .

Actually, Sanji couldn't decide who was cuter. They were both lovely, intelligent ladies. He was so lucky to be on a crew with them. He was so lucky to be on this crew at all. Zeff had been right to send him out, as much as he hated to admit it. If he'd never joined the Straw Hats, he'd never have had friends his own age. Never have learned that you could think of someone as a brother without thinking of them as a raging asshole, that not all brothers were raging assholes. Even the Mosshead… Crude as he was, Sanji would take that grass-brained sword-slinger over his blood brothers a thousand times.

Even Jones… Although she really was reminding him more and more of his sister.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, the cook returned to keeping an eye on Robin and their surroundings. It wouldn't do for her to get attacked, now would it? Although admittedly, they were supposed to be looking for Jones and Usopp rather than some old buildings… But who was he to fault anyone for getting distracted by something they were passionate about? He certainly knew what it was like, having lost track of time often enough while perfecting a new recipe.

"Are you sure you don't need any help, Robin dear?"

Robin waved him away, letting out some sort of affirmative grunt without even looking at him. Sanji sighed and leaned against a broken pillar. He'd just keep watch then. Lighting a cigarette, he scanned the jungle slowly. His gaze occasionally wandered back to Robin's form, the way her body and clothing stretched and pulled and moved as she rolled pieces of rubble around, trying to put together a puzzle.

She was so lovely…

He could feel his eyes warming up and changing shape.

Robin made a soft noise of effort as she made to flip a particularly large piece of gold. Music to Sanji's ears. He leapt forward eager to help. "Allow me, my dea-!"

"Ocho Fleur Flip!" Eight arms sprouted around the carved gold and flipped it over. It thudded heavily to the ground in between Robin and Sanji, stopping the cook dead.

"I can do it myself, Gospodin Cook." The look Robin shot him was unusually cold. Sanji took an involuntary step back. He knew she was still trying to distance herself from the crew sometimes, but she'd never acted that way around anyone, as far as he knew.

"Sorry, Robin Dear. I was just trying to help." Sanji took a few more steps back, hands raised. She smiled, her cold expression evaporating, and went back to her examinations.

Sanji couldn't make heads or tails of the markings all over the gold rubble, but they seemed to mean something to Robin. Apparently satisfied with the way she'd arranged things, the archaeologist pulled out a notebook and began sketching. It didn't take her long to finish; soon enough she was moving on.

"Would you like me to put things back?" Sanji asked hesitantly. Archaeologists were supposed to leave ruins the way they'd found them, right?

Robin shook her head. "Don't bother."

Moving further into what appeared to be a ruined city made entirely of precious metals, Robin frequently stopped to sketch more artifacts and carvings. Occasionally she'd move something or flip it over; Sanji soon learned that attempts to help with some of the heavier objects earned him another oddly cold look.

Eventually, their wanderings took them to a largely intact pillar, sheer and smooth and topped with some sort of statue. Sanji couldn't tell what it was from the ground. Neither could Robin, from the way she was examining the structure. Sanji stepped in and offered a hand.

"I could give you a boost, Robin Dear, if you'd like to see what's up there."

His words made her go stiff. Robin turned her head slowly to look at him, then down at herself, then back up at him. During the process, her eyes lingered on her legs, as if checking something. When she was satisfied with whatever it was, her eyes snapped back up to meet Sanji's and they were like ice.

SHWAP!

Then she slapped him.

Pain bloomed briefly across his cheek. Sanji raised a hand to rub the affected area, taking a step back. His eyes cooled; he felt them slowly relax back to their normal shape. "Ouch! Robin, dear, what was that for? I was just trying to be a gentleman. Is it a crime, where you come from, to help a lovely lady?"

"Let me be perfectly clear," she said quietly, "I enjoy occasional chivalry and special treatment, and were I certain your intentions were honourable, I might not object to you continuing them. But I know no such thing, so if you actually want me to feel welcome, I would appreciate less shallow behavior. I have had too many experiences in the past with individuals whose only interest in me was my body."

Her words made Sanji's blood run cold. "What? That wasn't-! I would never-!"

"You think I didn't see the way you were looking at me?" One dark, elegant eyebrow rose. "You're hardly subtle, Gospodin Cook, and I can produce literal eyes on the back of my head."

She wasn't crying, but when Sanji looked at Robin's eyes, he could see the shine of hidden tears. An expression he knew well… He desperately wanted to reach out and comfort her, but given what she'd just said, that likely wasn't a good idea. So he settled for staring at the ground off to one side as he snuffed out his cigarette.

"I promise, I don't mean anything by it. I'm just trying to make lovely ladies like yourself feel appreciated." Like his mother should've been…

"All very well and good." Robin had opened up her notebook again now. She was no longer facing him, busy sketching the pillar. Her eyes were still shiny, though. "But has it occurred to you that we may wish to be appreciated for something other than our appearance- or even the fact that we're women?"

That… Did not compute. Sanji felt the gears in his brain grind to a halt. "I… I don't understand. Haven't I expressed my appreciation for-?"

"No." Somehow Robin didn't even need him to finish his sentence. "You have commented on how lovely you think Gospozha Navigator and I look while we are thinking; never on the actual thought process. And I find it curious that you tend to ignore the underage girl, and actively treat the least attractive one like she is lesser."

Robin paused and snorted, a very unladylike sound. "Not to mention… Shouldn't you want all of your crewmates to feel appreciated? Not just the women? I thought you Straw Hats were supposed to be a family."

That one actually hurt Sanji. Family… He didn't know how to act with brothers he actually liked. And he… He didn't ignore Lisa, did he? He just… Didn't tend to interact with her much. She spent most of her time painting, or training with Jones and Ghin, or playing with the other young and/or childish members of the crew. Not things he was interested in. And as for Jones…

"She asked me to treat her like one of the shitheads. And then her stunt with the poison…"

"Oh, will you just get over that?" Robin snapped. Her eyes burned. "I understand that you have principles- it's a common affliction of young men. But you need to learn that you can't always stick to them to the point of idiocy. Principles are not always practical."

Robin bowed her head, her cowboy hat shadowing her eyes. "Sometimes you have to be cruel to people you would rather comfort. Sometimes you have to steal from people to whom you would rather give charity. And sometimes… Sometimes you have to poison a bad man to keep him from doing terrible things."

"You speak from experience?" A brief flash of cold ran through Sanji's blood. The thought of what Robin was saying…

"Let me put it this way, Gospodin Cook… I have been surviving in a world that wanted to kill me since before you were born." Robin finished her sketch of the pillar and closed her notebook with a snap.

They explored in silence again for some time after that. Catching a glimpse of the tower drawing when Robin opened her book to scribble a few notes, Sanji felt foolish for asking if she needed help. She had sprouted eyes higher up; she'd managed to sketch the whole thing.

Feeling slightly ill, Sanji wandered about the ruins, not really looking where he was going. Down stairs, over a log, through a tangle of vines… The cook continued, lost in thought, until he wandered up a set of stairs and into a wall. There he stood, head pressed against cool gold, just absorbing what Robin had said. He… It was hard for him to take in. He didn't know what to make of all of it. Not yet.

Did women really not like it when he acted that way? Was… Did it hurt or offend people in some way when he treated them differently? But that was what Zeff taught him… And it was better than what Judge…

Wasn't it?

Somewhere behind him, Sanji heard a gasp. It was followed by rapid footsteps as Robin raced up the stairs he'd just stumbled up. The woman rushed at something off to one side and stopped dead. Hear breath came slow and deep, as if she could barely believe what she was seeing. In spite of himself, Sanji turned away from his thoughts and looked up at her.

Adventures really didn't give you much time for reflection after someone tore into you like that.

All traces of her previous anger were gone- a remarkable turnaround. It took Sanji a few seconds to register what could've distracted the archaeologist so quickly… Then he saw the heavy, black, metallic stone wedged into the bottom of a flat-topped pyramid. It was covered in some sort of arcane scribblings, writing like nothing Sanji had never seen before. Or at least, he thought it was meant to be writing.

Although Robin wasn't focused on the main body of the writing. Rather, she was looking at a set of scribbles in the gold off to one side. She ran her fingers over them, almost in awe.

"Who made these?" She hissed, eyes narrowing. Seconds later, her eyes widened again at something in the scribbles. "Roger…"

Roger…? The Pirate King had been here? The first thing Sanji thought when he heard that was that Luffy would be so upset to have missed it. Then again… The captain probably wouldn't care much about scribbles in a stone. Especially scribbles he couldn't read.

Robin, however, loved them. She whipped open her notebook and began writing. Her eyes were glowing softly as she copied down everything that was written on the stone- both in English and in their original tongue. Sanji didn't get a good look at it, though; he wasn't close enough.

"This is such an odd place to find one… I never thought to check the sky of all places." Robin traced the scribbles with one finger. "Perhaps tagging along with your crew wasn't such a bad thig after all."

Sanji bit his lip. Was he supposed to agree with here? Was he supposed to disagree with her, so she didn't accuse him of kissing up to get in her pants? Why was this so confusing? In the end, he just ended up staring at the archaeologist dumbly. She saw this out of the corner of her eye and let out a huff, shaking her head.

"Speak your mind, Gospodin Cook. Just… learn to simply treat men and women the same and respect it if someone appears offended or uncomfortable with your actions. But you will never know unless you say what you're thinking."

"Heh…" Sanji itched to light a cigarette but decided against it. He was running a bit low; didn't want to run out before the next time they got a chance to go shopping. "It's not easy for me, you know. Shitty geezer had some real strong opinions on how to act around women."

"It's understandable that you have difficulty overcoming your upbringing. I ask that you try, though." Robin finished copying down the strange markings with a flourish. Then she sighed.

"I really shouldn't be writing these down…"

"Why not?" Sanji frowned. What was the harm in copying some scribbles and drawings? Wasn't that what archaeologists did?

Robin rubbed her temples, sighing again. "The less you know about these particular writings, the better. Let me just say that they've gotten people in a great deal of trouble in the past. Normally I wouldn't copy them down, but… Gospozha Navigator already took a rubbing of the one in Alabasta. So I don't suppose it can make anything worse."

Running her hand across the strange carvings once more, Robin turned away. Sanji followed, a few steps back and off to her left. He… wasn't sure if it was appropriate, but… If he worried about that too much, he'd never get anything done. He'd start by making a conscious effort to interact more with the younger members of the crew… Get to know his crewmates as people, rather than as "ladies" and "shitheads."

Even figuring that out was a daunting task.

The pair descended the stairs and resumed wandering around the ruins in search of more interesting artifacts. Somewhere overhead, a southbird called loudly. Its cry sent centipedes scampering out of a small, grass-covered lump with regularly spaced holes. Was… was that a human skull? Shuddering, Sanji tried to put the bugs out of his mind.

"Is that a pre-Void burial vase?" Had Robin been anyone else, Sanji was sure she would've been dancing as she crouched to pick up a piece of half-buried pottery. As it was, her eyes shone. She sprouted four additional hands to dig it up. Once unearthed, the vase shone dark green, plain and dirty and chipped, but whole. Robin held it as if showing someone her child.

"Before the Void Century, the dead of many cultures were burned and buried in these," Robin breathed. "I've never seen one intact before."

Sanji wasn't sure what to say about that. He knew nothing about archaeology. After a brief period of hesitation, the cook managed to muster a response. "Does that mean there's a dead guy's ashes in there?"

"Most likely. Although they may be in some state of dec-!"

SMASH!

A rock flew out from behind a nearby tree, smashing the vase in Robin's hand. It exploded in a cloud- there had indeed been some dead guy's ashes in there. After the rock passed, they were all over her face. The archaeologist wiped black dust away from her eyes.

From behind the offending tree stepped a towering man in a toga. Tiny black wings sprouted from his broad shoulders; his bushy black beard divided around a wide, nasty grin. He threw a rock up and down in one hand, the same size as the one that had hit Robin's vase.

"I didn't have to miss."

Azure eyes snapped up to glare at the newcomer. Robin's voice was low and dangerous. "If you're insinuating that you just smashed a priceless pre-Void artifact on purpose…" She took a deep breath. "You have three seconds to provide me with a reasonable explanation for your behaviour."

"Explain my behaviour? I am Yama, a priest of God Enel; you are intruders on His land. You explain your behaviour." The winged man's nasty grin widened. "Or… That's what I would be saying, had God Enel not already ordered the termination of all except the one named Luffy. Does either of you bear that name?"

Before Sanji could answer, Robin shoved her notebook into her chest. Her cowboy hat shadowed her eyes; despite this, a faint glint of red was visible. "Hold this please, Gospodin Cook. I'd hate for it to get damaged."

Then she folded her arms in front of her chest, face going hard. "Now watch closely, Gospodin Cook, while I show you how a girl fights."

-V-

Chopper was practically dancing as he trotted through the forest. So many plants he'd never seen before… How many of them had medicinal properties? He'd have to run tests… The little reindeer took samples wherever he could- seeds, bulbs, root and stem clippings. Hopefully Nami would be fine with him growing a medicinal plant garden near her orchard. Assuming he could get these growing, and that they had medicinal properties. Although he should probably grow some of the more useful sea level plants he knew about too…

Crunching footsteps were growing more distant… Quickly screwing a cap on a jar of seeds, Chopper popped into Walk Point and cantered after his wayward partner. "Zoro! Wait up! We're supposed to stick together!"

"But you weren't moving." Zoro frowned. "You were looking at plants. I don't think Usopp and Jones are hiding in a flower."

"A fat lot of good finding them will do us if we just have to go looking for you after!" Chopper had heard some of the others teasing Zoro about getting lost, even if he'd never seen it. Just like he'd heard that Jones wasn't allowed to cook, actually…

There was a lot he didn't know about some of his crewmates, wasn't there? The ones who came from the East Blue.

Chopper's ears twitched. He'd never been to any of the Blues. As a scientist, this piqued his curiosity; as a doctor, he should know as much as possible about his patients' backgrounds.

"Hey, Zoro… What was it like, living in the East Blue? I've read that it's considered the weakest of the seas, but a bunch of you guys come from there and you don't seem weak." There was also Garp the marine hero, and the Pirate King Gol D Roger… None of the people Chopper knew of from that sea actually fit with its reputation.

"Huh?" Zoro tugged experimentally at a vine. "Well, that depends where you were. Some people were weak, some people were strong. Some people were good, some were slimeballs."

Chopper waited, but there was no sign of Zoro elaborating. Instead, the swordsman began climbing up the vine he'd tested, as if he intended to look for Usopp and Jones in the trees. Which… Actually made sense. Those two liked to climb. Not wanting to be left behind, the little reindeer scampered over and followed the swordsman aloft.

It was hard with hooves. Facepalming, Chopper popped into Heavy Point halfway up the vine, which made climbing much easier. The change in weight made the vine swing back and forth.

Zoro came to a stop standing on a wide branch about five meters up. Chopper crouched beside him- his reindeer instincts weren't happy with being up in a tree like this, even in his most humanoid form.

Looking out over the jungle, Zoro sighed. "It's home," he said finally, "The East Blue. There's some people and places I miss. But I know I'll see them again someday."

His eyes closed. "What I don't understand is why it has a reputation for being the weakest or the nicest sea. A lot of places are relaxing, sure, quiet… But they're just as dangerous as anything on the Grand Line. And sneakier. I like it better out here, that way. Everything makes sense."

Then Zoro grinned and opened his eyes, presenting Chopper with another vine. "Like this. I look at this and I know exactly what to do with it."

Chopper frowned. He had no idea what Zoro meant by that. "What do you mean? It's just an ordinary vine- no edible or medicinal properties."

A large hand ruffled the fur on the back of Chopper's neck. "Why would I care about that? That's your thing, just like I don't expect you to worry about swords. But there's one thing that any man, doctor or not, should do with a vine if he ends up in the jungle."

Tugging a vine to make sure it was secure, Zoro grabbed on wit both hands. "AH-AH-AH! AH-AH-AH!"

The swordsman leapt out over the gap between two trees. His pack arched as he flew- then Zoro swung his feet forwards and up, rising like a child on a swing. Reaching another branch, he hooked one leg over it in order to hold himself to his new tree before pulling himself onto the new limb.

Just like… Luffy last night. Zoro really was the perfect bosun for their captain. Chopper shook his head, shifted to Walk Point, and jumped. As soon as he was in the air, he switched to Brain point for less weight and air resistance, then to Heavy Point as he came within arm's length of Zoro's new tree. Grabbing on, the doctor hauled himself up like a gorilla, panting heavily.

Zoro shot him a disappointed look. Chopper didn't particularly care. "I'm a reindeer, not a monkey."

The swordsman sighed and shook his head, a rueful smile briefly crossing his face. "And I'm a swordsman, not a gun for hire."

His voice was slightly bitter; there was a story there. Chopper's ears drooped. "Sorry… I didn't mean to bring up anything painful, asking about the East Blue."

"What?" Zoro sounded genuinely surprised. "No, it wasn't painful. For me anyway. I kinda wonder what happened to the other guy, though."

Chopper waited quietly for the swordsman to elaborate as they climbed back down to ground level. Zoro was quiet for a long moment- storytelling wasn't really his strong suit. When he finally got around to speaking, it was with a small frown creasing his face.

"Nobles in the East Blue are sneaky. A lot of them play mind games with each other. And sometimes they hire pirates or bounty hunters to do their dirty work, so it can't be traced back to them. I got messed up in that once that I know of- maybe a few other times before I figured it out." Zoro shrugged, almost self-consciously. "Goa Kingdom's pretty bad. S'where I noticed it, at least, about a year before I met Luffy."

"I got hired by some noble in Goa Kingdom. Artois? Stella? Weiser?" Zoro shrugged again. "Forget his name- just know it reminded me of beer. He wanted me to track down somebody and kill them for him."

Zoro's eyes were hooded as he shoved a path through a clump of massive ferns. "That's not the part I had a problem with. Bounty hunters get jobs like that sometimes- track down some bastard who hurt someone and make sure he never hurts them again. It's why there are bounty hunters. The marines can't get everybody. But this one was different."

"Before I met the noble to get a picture of the guy he wanted me to find, I had a look around town. Checked out the area, the local bar, that sorta thing." Chopper was pretty sure that what Zoro meant was I got lost in town for a couple hours, but he didn't comment. "Heard a guy- raging drunk, way past his senses- going on and on about some noble kid who was trying to get into the princess' skirts and kill her dad. Or something like that anyways. I didn't pay much attention at the time."

"Then I went to meet the noble who'd hired me at his parents' house. Scrawny kid with a weird face- wasn't surprising that he couldn't do his own fighting. He gave me a picture… of the guy I'd heard spreading rumours in the bar." Zoro kicked a half-rotted log; hundreds of insects swarmed out. "Made me wonder if the rumours were just some drunk guy going off after all."

Wow… Chopper's ears twitched. He was seeing some unfortunate implications there. "What did you do?"

"What any self-respecting swordsman would've done." Zoro grinned. "Asked for half my payment up front. When he agreed, I went back to the bar, threw the bag of beris in the drunk's face and told him to get outta there fast because some noble kid wanted him dead. I didn't know why and I didn't care; the kid himself rubbed me the wrong way, and with those rumours… No way was I working for him. Got outta there pretty fast after that myself."

Snorting, Zoro reached up and rubbed the fur on the back of Chopper's neck- which was a little harder in Heavy Point, but still felt nice. "Things like that… East Blue's just as tough and mean as any other sea. Just quieter about it."

"Yeah…" Hiring a bounty hunter to kill someone he didn't like sounded like something Wapol would do. People like that made Chopper's hair stand on end. Why, though, did books always call East Blue the weakest sea if people like Zoro said it wasn't?

Chopper shook his head. That was a problem for another time. If they were headed for the end of the Grand Line, it could be years before they visited any of the Blues again. Although they would need to eventually, so Nami could make her map of the entire world. That would be fun. The little reindeer smiled at the thought. Their adventure wouldn't end at Raftel.

There was a strong scent rising in the air. A large carnivore of some sort, probably canine. Chopper popped into Brain Point when he suddenly realized he had no idea where they were and had a possible threat approaching. Fast. His instincts screamed at him to run- if whatever he smelled wasn't a wolf, it was close enough that the reindeer in him was terrified.

Straw Hat pirates didn't run, though.

Or, well, they did sometimes, but they always came back to fight. And Chopper really didn't want to risk being alone if predators were around. So he did the only sensible thing- squeaking like the tiny, adorable herbivore he was, he climbed up onto Zoro's shoulders. Just in time, too; he'd barely gotten up there when seven wolves came loping through the trees.

{{Roo! Strangers? On our territory?}}

The wolves stopped dead on seeing Zoro. They didn't seem to have been expecting to encounter anyone, nor were they hunting. Although that didn't make Chopper's screaming instincts feel any better. The leader- a massive wolf with a scar over one eye- took a few steps forward and stared at Zoro in a clear challenge.

Zoro stared back.

{{Why are you on my territory, human? Move!}}

Growling, the lead wolf stared harder. Zoro continued to stare back, unperturbed. Chopper tried to join in, but one look from those brilliant green canine eyes was enough to send the little reindeer trembling.

Stare.

. . .

Stare.

A huge, bushy tail flicked; the lead wolf's eyes narrowed. Zoro's did as well, the swordsman letting out a soft growl of his own. It was a quiet war of wills. Then there was a great crash as something flew overhead, leaves dropping from above like rain. Several landed on the two combatants' heads, tickling Zoro's nose and the wolf's muzzle.

"ACHOO!"

{{HA-ROO!}}

Both Zoro and the wolf sneezed explosively, blinking in unison. This set Chopper and the other wolves to jumping. But while the little reindeer clutched even tighter at his crewmates shoulders, the lesser wolves went on the attack. Six white canines leapt at Zoro in unison, growling and snapping.

{{Get him!}}

"Tatsumaki!"

They didn't have time to make contact. Before those snapping teeth could even get within arms' reach, Zoro had all three swords out. A quick spin launched the wolves flying, shallow gashes opening up along their flanks as they slammed into trees. When they rose, their ears were laid back as they whined.

The leader looked, for a moment, like he might be considering avenging his pack mates. Then Zoro's eyes flashed red and light gleamed off Wado Ichimonji. That slight hint of threat was enough to change the alpha wolf's mind, after seeing what its pack had just been through. Growling, the leader flicked its tail and bowed its head before fading into the trees. The others followed soon after.

"Heh. They weren't so bad." Zoro sheathed his swords with a click.

Chopper didn't agree. The human part of his mind knew he could've beaten the wolves with his powers if he needed to- not as easily as Zoro had done, but he could've done it. The reindeer part of his mind, on the other hand… That part of him was still terrified and shaking. He still smelled canine on the air…

Sighing, Zoro reached up and pulled Chopper off his shoulders. The swordsman held the reindeer against his chest, rubbing gently at coarse fur. Chopper leaned into the touch; Zoro's hands were large and warm. He gave the third-best scratches of anyone on the crew, after Jones and Drifter. It was a little surprising, with how strong and rough his hands were.

"Maybe we should get a dog," Zoro said softly, "So you can work on your fear of wolves."

That was probably a good idea… Although Chopper didn't think he'd enjoy it very much. What he really didn't understand, though, was why the smell of more exotic predators didn't bother him. Cats and dogs terrified him, but he had no trouble with vultures, dragons, or sea kings. He never got scared like this around Ruatha and Geier.

Nodding, Chopper buried his face in Zoro's shirt to try and escape the canine smell. Sea salt and sweat… Slowly, the little reindeer's trembling calmed. Zoro continued to rub his fur, plodding along through the jungle.

After a while, Zoro stopped walking, although the rubbing continued. "How about that one?"

"Eh? That one what?" Chopper raised his head to blink up at the swordsman. Zoro pointed at something in a gap between some trees.

"That dog. We should keep it. Then you can work on your fear of wolves."

Chopper turned to look- and immediately let out an involuntary yelp. That was a big dog. Like, the size of an elephant. He didn't know dogs could get that big! But there it was, in all its huge, golden glory, sitting in a treefall clearing. Its massive tail thumped against a fallen log as it stared at them with a dumb, glassy look.

{{Who're you?}} the dog barked, floppy ears perking up slightly. Its wagging tail didn't miss a beat.

{{My name's Chopper,}} the doctor whined quietly. {{What's yours?}}

{{I'm Holy. My human left me here while he went to look for someone. You smell nice. I've never smelled something like you before. Do you come from the Blue Sea?}}

{{I think that's what you call it up here, yes.}}

Zoro frowned in confusion. "Is he saying something, Chopper?"

"Yeah. He says his name's Holy; he's waiting for his human." Chopper's nose twitched. "Or sky person, more likely."

Before Chopper could say anything more, Holy suddenly started baying out of nowhere. Loud, booming barks that shook the trees. The ground shook too, momentarily, as he leapt to stand on his four huge paws. His tail wagged still, beating the air like a drum.

{{OHM! OHM! OHM!}}

Within seconds, a tall man dressed in black appeared out of the trees. The bladeless hilt of a sword was tucked into his belt; his eyes were hidden behind dark glasses. White wings twitched. One hand reached out to stroke just once down Holy's leg. "What is it boy? Did you find someone?"

{{YES! OVER THERE!}}

Holy took a step towards Chopper and Zoro. Scowling- or maybe his face just always looked like that- the winged man turned to look at them. His grim expression hardened. "Is either of you the one named Luffy?"

In near perfect unison, Chopper and Zoro shook their heads. The little reindeer tried to slip surreptitiously out of the swordsman's arms. Since the winged man was staring directly at them, though, Chopper could be sure the movement had been noticed. A small smile twisted the harsh face.

"Excellent."

Drawing his bladeless hilt, the winged man flicked his wrist and clicked something just under the guard. A jet of dense cloud shot out, rippling and twisting, shaping into a long, broad blade. It was as turbulent, as changing as river rapids- and yet when he whirled it around, it cut through branches like the finest steel.

"That means no one will protest if I kill you."

Zoro met that declaration with a wide, mad grin. The bosun undid his bandanna from his arm and tied it around his head, eyes shining with delight. He likes this, Chopper realized as his crewmate drew his swords, Zoro enjoys battle.

"Go ahead and try it," Zoro smiled around Wado Ichimonji. "You aren't the first, and you won't be the last. But go ahead and show me what you've got anyway."

-V-

The day started as days had for the past several years- Gan Fall woke up to Pierre's gentle cooing, washed and ate, and was outside in time to see the rising sun. He spent the next several hours tending his garden, one ear out for the sound of one of his whistles blowing. There were a few in circulation, among the people still living in Skypeia. Not that he got called often, but sometimes if there was a Shandian raid…

He wasn't sure if he should be worried about the fact that those pirate children hadn't whistled for him. Gan fall knew they weren't the sort to stay out of trouble, so the lack of a call meant either that they could handle any trouble… Or that trouble had already handled them. It wore on his nerves as the hours went by.

Hours and hours and hours…

Gan Fall had eaten lunch and was spreading fertilizer on his pumpkins before there was any sign of activity. And it wasn't from a whistle. Just the sound of a flock of southbirds flying by, screeching wildly. Even that was enough to make the aging knight of the sky jump.

"Stupid birds… Nearly made me waste a month's worth of serpent dung!" Grumbling, Gan Fall righted his bags of fertilizer. Thankfully he hadn't had anything open yet.

Sighing, Gan Fall unsheathed his knife. He wondered what had the birds in such a tizzy. Was Nola nesting again? He didn't think it was time- her last clutch hadn't hatched yet. And there was nothing else in the forest that would cause the southbirds to go crazy like that. Not even the wolves.

Well, maybe Enel could, but the false god had no interest in lowly birds. A mistake, as far as Gan Fall was concerned. Animals could teach you so much, if you were willing to listen.

Case in point- ever since the southbirds went screeching past, Pierre had been freaking out. The spotted bird flapped his wings rapidly, morphing into his hybrid form to better rear and whinny. When Gan Fall didn't immediately respond, Pierre began kicking at the apple tree by the house.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down old friend. I'm coming, I'm coming." Gan Fall dusted off his hands as he headed over to pat Pierre's nose. "What's wrong?"

"NNNFFFFFFFFFFT!" Pierre actually shifted all the way to horse form for a minute as he pawed at the ground. His pink and purple mane fluttered in the light breeze. "Eigh!"

Shifting back to bird form, Pierre scratched the tree roots a bit before reaching over to peck Gan Fall's armour. Then he flared his wings, beating them a few times. "YEEEEEEE! YASCREEEEEEEEEEEE!"

That was interesting. And worrisome. Gan Fall frowned. "Are you sure?"

"YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAR!" Pierre flared his wings and nodded once.

Well, well, well… Enel and his priests were on the move. After the pirates… And all because the little captain had powers that kept him from being hurt by lightning. That made Gan Fall smile in spite of himself. So… He played at being a god, but Enel's ego was as fragile as any child.

Still, he was a child with the immense powers of a storm at his beck and call. In his youth, Gan Fall had seen a hurricane that nearly ripped Angel Beach from Upper Yard. Not to mention the battle when Enel and his priests first appeared… Yes, Gan Fall was more than familiar with the kind of damage a storm could inflict.

The question was, what should he do about it? Gan Fall sighed. As much as he hated it, he knew he couldn't fight Enel. That had been proven years ago. And if the pirates weren't calling for help, they probably thought they could handle it. Him appearing out of nowhere would throw off any strategy they'd been able to figure out.

And… What if Enel won? It was quite likely, given the power of a storm. And if Enel won and his blood was still up… Or even if he lost, but the pirates managed to push him to the limits of his power…

Skypeia could be torn apart.

There was only one thing for it, then. They had to warn the people, get them away from the island. As many as possible… And the Shandians too, if they could. Gan Fall closed his eyes, steeling himself as he donned his armour. The citizens of Skypeia might listen to him, but the Shandians were… unlikely. He had to try, though.

"Pierre, hybrid form if you please."

"YEEEEEEEEEIGH!" The spotted bird shifted, prancing as Gan Fall mounted up. The knight patted his friend's neck.

"To Lovely Street first, old friend. It's the Angel Beach market today; the majority of her citizens should be there. After that…" Gan Fall gripped his lance tightly. "After that, I'm afraid we'll just have to see what we can do."

-V-

Lisa knew something was wrong when Nami didn't even react to the sight of an ancient chapel made all of silver and gold. True, it was half overgrown with vines and leaves, but it was still gold, and enough of it was visible to see that. Between her love of money and her love of pretty things, Lisa would've expected the sailing master to be all over that. But no, Nami was lost in thought as they walked, her hands fiddling with a sliderule that her eyes couldn't even focus on.

Actually, Lisa was surprised Nami hadn't tripped yet as they waded through the jungle. Nami wasn't looking where she was going, and she was wearing heels, unlike Lisa's sensible flats.

"Are you okay?" Lisa was hesitant to ask. Sometimes Nami seemed to bite people's heads off for no reason, although she'd never been the target. But there was a first time for everything.

"Yes."

Nami's voice was as distracted as her gaze. Which… The sailing master walked right between the legs of an enormous gold leopard without even glancing up, so there was something seriously wrong. Lisa frowned and took her crewmate's hand.

"You don't sound okay. What're you doing?"

"Trying to figure out how we ran out of money so quickly. We got a government reward in Alabasta. A big one!" Nami rubbed a hand against her forehead. "We shouldn't have gone broke so quickly!"

The hand rubbing her head turned to knuckles grinding between her eyes. "Let's see… We had to restock on food after Alabasta- that's always a big one. And most of us went shopping after. So, Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku's tinkering gear; your paints; medicines and books for Chopper; clothes for you, me, Ghin, and Sanji; the stuff Ghin got to make Jones' new armour; and general ship repair type supplies."

"Don't forget that race we entered," Lisa piped up. "There was an entry fee for that, right? And we didn't get any prize or anything."

"Right. And then there were all those books Jones and Robin bought." Nami sighed. "At least Jones paid for the piano on her own. It's risky, but maybe we should start selling a few of those gems of hers. One or two every time we hit a decently sized island won't draw any attention."

Lisa thought they'd need to get more materials for that- didn't Jones use coal and aluminum and stuff to make gems? Although in most cities they'd still turn a decent profit easy. Of course, it would be even easier if Nami would just look up and they could get their hands on some of the gold.

. . .
Actually, as far as Lisa could tell, it would be harder to leave without gold. She'd be washing gold dust out of her shoes for a week.

Something exploded in the distance, a crash of thunder. Lisa readied her paints in case they had to fight- a nice Forgetful Fuchsia to get things started. She was dying to see how that one affected sapient creatures. It worked wonders on the rats on the Merry.

But no attack came- although something did streak overhead, large and purple and brown and red and black and white. Maybe a southbird. It was followed by something even larger that crackled and snarled; Lisa didn't even try to guess what kind of predator that might be. A naturalist she was not.

"This… Not having enough money really bothers you, huh?" Lisa squeezed Nami's hand. The sailing master sighed.

"Yeah… Growing up- growing up, Nojiko and I never had much. It wouldn't have been a big issue, once I matured a little bit, but… But before I got a chance, our adoptive mother was killed. Our island was taken over by a fish-faced bastard. He demanded blood money to spare everyone; Bellemere couldn't afford to pay for our whole family. She could save us… or herself. And she chose us. She always, always chose us."

"She was a good mother," Lisa observed quietly. Nami nodded.

"The best. I just wish… Just wish she'd been around longer."

The ensuing quiet made Lisa uncomfortable. She itched to do something- to splash Nami with Calming Green or Laughter Yellow. Something to cheer her up. But using her colours on crewmates without permission wasn't good… So tempting sometimes, though. And she never meant any harm…

"When the Fleylin Archipelago was attacked, Mama and Papa put me out to sea in one of Tio Lovino's fishing boats." If she couldn't change the mood with paint, speaking was the next best option. Show Nami she wasn't alone. "They didn't have time to send any of my sisters with me- but they were warriors in training, anyway. They would've wanted to fight."

Lisa bowed her head, hat shadowing her eyes as she let go of Nami's hand. "Later, I learned that the entire Fleylin fishing and trade fleet had been burned, and that no one had any news of current happenings on the island. At the very least, my family is bankrupt and struggling to rebuild; they may be dead, depending how things turned out. And I have no way of knowing. Not until I find a way to return."

Nami's hand came down to rest on her head. "Do you want us to take you there? Once we're back at sea level, we could find an Eternal Pose to Fleylin and take you home."

That was… Something Lisa had to think about. Back when she'd first joined the crew, she might've taken the offer. She'd liked the Straw Hats, but she hadn't always known and trusted them. But now… Now she was one of them. And whatever was happening at home, she couldn't fix or change it. Not alone. Not as she was now.

"I- I'd like to go home, yes. But… Not yet." Lisa clenched her fist. It was so small… "I can't do any good there, whatever happened. Not until I'm older. Not until I'm better. Whatever happened, I can't do anything if I'm still just a little girl they have to protect."

A rueful chuckle. Nami ruffled her hair. "I hate to break it to you, Lisa, but you're the most terrifying little girl I've ever met. Your paints can subdue armies."

"That's great for an assassin, but in a fight, not so much." Lisa made a face. "And for earning money to rebuild a fishing and shipping company… Less than useless. My art isn't good enough for that yet. I need to learn to paint to take people to another world."

Lisa wasn't sure how to explain it. But some of the paintings she'd seen when she was just learning were… magnificent. Just looking at them made her feel like she was inside the pictures. It was something more than just temporarily seizing the emotions. And until she could master painting like that and fighting like a Straw Hat, she'd never be able to restore her homeland.

If it needed restoring, that is. It might be fine. But she doubted it.

"Someday I'd like to go home- and to have everyone with me when I do. But not yet. Not until I can do something about whoever burned Fleylin. Whether they're still there or not."

Nodding silently, Nami stroked Lisa's braids comfortingly. Then, all of a sudden, it was like the sailing master saw all the gleaming ruins for the first time. Namely, while still stroking Lisa's hair, she stopped dead in her tracks and let out a little gasp. Her eyes briefly turned to beri symbols; Nami shook her head to bring them back to normal as she stared around them.

Admittedly, most of the buildings and statuary were crumbling and overgrown, but there was still enough gold and silver visible that there was no question of what they'd been made of. Even the roads… Lisa pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and reached up to prod the side of Nami's face.

The sailing master was drooling.

"Huh? Oh, thanks." Nami snapped out of it. Mostly. Her eyes were still glittering as she stared around. "Dust… Nuggets… Bricks… Temples of gold where you could pluck gold from the very walls… Panthers and eagles and serpents… How much gold is up here?"

Lisa shrugged helplessly. She had no idea and no way to find out. And honestly, she doubted even the people living here knew. There might be more gold on this one island than in the rest of the entire world.

. . .

Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but there was still a lot.

The large southbird from earlier flew overhead again, going the opposite direction. It was moving funny, now, and wailing like it was being tortured. Funny; it almost sounded like Usopp. Maybe southbirds could imitate human voices? Whatever was chasing it crackled through the trees a few seconds later.

Except the crackling predator paused when it saw Nami and Lisa, falling to the ground with a boom of thunder. It was… a man. A tall, pale man with no shirt and giant, flappy earlobes and some sort of piercing with thunder drums sticking out of his shoulders. Lisa had only seen something like that once before- in a painting her uncle said had come all the way from Wano Kingdom.

This man's skin was made of lightning.

"You…" His voice cracked and boomed, "You're friends with the cocoxqui coconeh I'm chasing… Perhaps if I take you, they'll stop running and come fight me so I can show them who the TRUE god is."

Oh Sugar Honey Iced Tea. Lisa swiped her paintbrush as the lightning man flashed forwards. "Forgetful Fuchsia!"

The burst of colour passed right through him. Ah- a logia Fruit then. And Nami's attack an instant later didn't do any better. May have actually made things worse- Lisa had no idea if a logia absorbed their element when they were struck by it.

"Thunder Tempo!"

ZZZZZZZZZZZT! FWAM!

Lightning turned to flesh as the strange man slammed into Nami and Lisa. It was all the little painter could do not to drop her paints. As for Nami… As for Nami, her Clima-Tact began to glow and warp at the stranger's touch. As if it were overloading… Melting. Only the heavy rubber grips kept Nami from burning her hands as she held on.

Powerful arms wrapped around the girls. They kicked and struggled, but every blow passed harmlessly through lightning. Nami glowered.

"Rain Te- no, that's a bad idea. Shit!"

Then the lightning man took to the air. Lisa felt her stomach drop away. She swung a kick at the man's crotch- when she'd first joined Baroque Works, Galdino had told her that if a man touched her in a way she didn't like, she was to kick him there as hard as she could, and both Jones and Ghin supported that. But men who were made of lightning didn't double over and wheeze when kicked in the crotch; they just crackled and reformed as she pulled back.

"Come here, tiny pretenders! Come try to save your friends, if you think you can!" The lightning man's face split into a deranged grin. "Or maybe that's all you are- pretenders who can't back up their words! Maybe I should make your friends pay for your insult to me!"

He turned in the air, suddenly moving away from whatever he'd been chasing. Not that it mattered; what he'd been chasing became clear when Lisa heard three voices screech. One in anger, two in fear.

"LISA! NAMI! PUT THEM DOWN!"

"WAAAAAAAH! JONES! CALM DOWN!"

"MONAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

After a few seconds- although with the speed at which lightning flew, they may very well have crossed the entire island- the lightning man landed in front of a cave. He shoved Nami and Lisa inside so roughly he practically threw them. Lisa tumbled and rolled across the floor, coming to a halt against something large and curved. Nami set down just in front of her; the sailing master landed on her feet, her warped and melted Clima-Tact pointed at the lightning man's chest.

"Blizzard Tempo!"

BOOM.

A massive door rolled across the entrance of the cave, blocking out their view of the lightning man. Nami's frosty blast splashed across it, delayed by the damage to her weapon. The sailing master growled. "Son of a bitch!"

She clanged the Clima-Tact off the ground- just once. It sparked slightly. Then she sighed, although the tension didn't leave her. "Are you okay, Lisa?"

"Yeah." The little girl got to her feet and walked over to the door. It was entirely smooth and seamless to both her eyes and her hands; she could see where it connected to the wall, but there wasn't even room for a hair to be slipped in. And no lock mechanism visible either.

Nami joined her, double-checking for things Lisa wouldn't know to look for. The sailing master hissed between her teeth. "This… I've never seen a door like this. It's some sort of ancient thing- Robin's domain, not mine. Probably locks on the outside with logs or a sand pit or something."

Then Nami looked around. "But there's still light coming from somewhere, which means there must be another way out. Come on."

There were no obvious light sources by the door, which meant there was only one way to go- further into the cave. So back they went, and were rewarded with the light growing slightly stronger as they approached a sharp corner. And then around it…

Gold.

A great ship of gold and copper, burnished so that even in the dim light it gleamed like the sun. It had no sails; instead, there were strange devices on the deck and hatches in the sides. It looked brand new- even if gold didn't tarnish, copper did, but the copper fittings were as bright as the rest. Although that could just be a sign of good care… Lisa didn't think so, though. Enough of the golden buildings outside had pieces missing. This must be where it'd gone.

The source of light was somewhere above the ship.

They couldn't climb the smooth, golden sides- there were no chinks like you'd find between wooden boards. But one of the lowest hatches was open. Probably for repairs of some sort. Lisa was able to get in with a boost from Nami, who jumped up behind her.

Almost immediately, they came face to face with some sort of golden pinwheel. Or… propeller? It was attached to a series of gears with no apparent source of power. The sort of thing Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku would love. Lisa didn't care for them much, though, except to file them away as an interesting potential art piece. They sent a nice mood.

There were a great many passages and rooms on the three inner decks of the golden ship. Each posed more questions than it answered. Strange devices filled most of them- great fuses or rough wire and imperfect glass, nets and cages of wire, towers with odd bulges and spheres near the top, broad dishes with thick antennae in the centers. Lisa had no idea what any of it meant.

Neither did Nami, although her eyes were constantly glowing. No matter how much she tried to shake herself out of it, the sailing master's eyes were beri symbols.

The deck of the ship was the same as the inside- all covered in technological bits and bobs, including two large spheres with just enough room in between for a man to stand. They were absolutely perfect… and still warm. As if they'd just been forged earlier that day.

High above, they could finally see the source of the light in the cave. A narrow crack in the ceiling. It was far out of reach from the deck of the ship, or even from the boxy cabin in the center. And even if they could get up there, there was no guarantee it was wide enough for them to fit through.

Lisa turned to Nami. The sailing master had more experience than she did with this sort of thing. But Nami looked just as confused- and frustrated- as Lisa felt.

"No way out…"

Nami scowled. "No, there has to be a way out. If we figure out what this place is. Wait… gold and copper… This whole ship's a conductor. It must belong to that lightning logia. But what's it for…?"

Frowning to herself, the sailing master tapped her Clima-Tact on the golden deck. It sparked where it had been melted and twisted. That made Nami's face light up.

"Hold on to something Lisa. We're gonna find out what this thing does. Just gimme a minute to figure out how to complete the circuit…"

Nodding mutely- she wasn't sure what a circuit was, but if it had something to do with lightning, she trusted Nami to be an expert- Lisa clung to one of the golden ship's rails. Because whatever it was supposed to do, it was a ship, so it was going to move at some point. That's what ships were made for.

Nothing happened for a couple of minutes. Nami paced around the deck, muttering things Lisa couldn't hear. Then at last, the sailing master stopped between the two strange spheres.

"I hope this works…"

The sailing master wedged her Clima-Tact between the spheres and twisted one of the grips as if she was preparing a Thunderbolt Tempo. It began to spark and hiss. So to did the spheres after a moment, and then… and then the ship itself came alive.

Down on her sides, and even on her deck, hatches opened. Propellers pushed out and began to spin. Slowly, very slowly, the ship began to lift into the air. It was very unsteady, as if not getting quite enough power. But Nami's weapon was already working at full capacity.

"Oooooh…" A catlike smile grew on the sailing master's face. "I like this."

"I don't," Lisa mumbled. She clung tighter to the rail. Flying wasn't her idea of fun. Although if it got them out of here…

Nami clicked her tongue. "Now, how do I steer this thing?"

She fiddled with her Clima-Tact for a bit, to no effect. Then, letting out a sigh of frustration, Nami leaned on one of the spheres.

A bolt of lightning shot out of the bow of the ship.

It weakened the vessel's flight momentarily, making it lurch. Lisa squealed involuntarily and clung to the rail tighter still. But the ship didn't crash, and Nami was smiling again, wider than ever. "Okay, now I really like this thing. Okay, new plan- I figure out how to steer this thing and we take out the door. A strong enough bolt should do the trick."

-V-

Where was everybody? Luffy bounced through the trees, searching for any sign of his wayward crewmates. Jones hadn't said, when she told them to meet her and Usopp in Upper Yard, she hadn't mentioned that it was so big. They could be searching for days.

"Jones! Usopp! Where are you?"

No answer. Luffy scampered up into the trees for a better view. He jumped and swung from branch to vine, like the monkey he was named. It was fun; it would've been even more fun if he were doing it with his friends. Usopp would've complained that he was going too fast, but kept up anyway. Nami would've kept pace on the ground, Sanji alongside to protect her. Zoro would've been just behind Luffy, laughing quietly, with Toma scrambling along behind. Ghin probably would've been carrying Lisa…

No. That wasn't right. Ghin would've had to stay on the ground too, with just one arm. Luffy frowned, good feelings suddenly gone.

"Usopp! Jones!"

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHA?"

Pausing, Luffy flipped backwards on his current branch so he was hanging upside down. Dark eyes scanned for the source of the noise behind him. Tree. Tree. Southbird. Tree. Vine. Vine. Tree. Giant snake. Tree. Flower. Tre-

Wait.

Giant snake.

Luffy scowled at the towering wall of blue scales and white fluff. "Did you just hiss at me?"

"SSSSSSSSSS." White fangs gleamed as the snake opened its mouth, longer than Zoro's swords.

"I was calling Jones and Usopp. You aren't Jones or Usopp."

"SSNSSSSSSSSSSSSS… HHHSSSSSSSSSS…"

"A skinny guy with a big nose and a scar-faced girl with awesome armour. They might've had a dragon with them. Ruatha." Part of Luffy wondered why he always seemed to be able to understand what giant fluffy lizards were saying. Only the grown-up ones, though; he hadn't figured out Ruatha yet, even though he'd been able to understand the older dragons. The rest of him decided it didn't matter how this worked. It was just cool.

And useful.

"KSSKSS!"

The snake lunged before Luffy could process its answer. Massive jaws closed over him, temporarily locking him in darkness that stank of rotting meat. Its slippery tongue moved under him, trying to fling him back in its throat to swallow. But Luffy didn't want to be anybody's lunch.

"Oi! Spit me out!" His shout only made the snake redouble its efforts to swallow him. So Luffy swung his foot up, then down. Hard.

"Gum-Gum Axe!"

Shocked to the brain, then with its lower jaw forced open, the snake was forced to spit Luffy out. The rubber boy snapped an arm up to grab some of the fluffs on its head, hauling himself aboard. Blue scales thrashed.

"SSSSSSSSSSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS!"

"HEY!" Luffy slammed a fist down on the snake's head. "IT'S NOT NICE TO EAT PEOPLE!"

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN…" The snake drooped. Luffy patted above one of her eyes.

"That's better. Now, what's your name?"

"NNNSSSSSSSSSSS."

"Nola? That's a nice name." Luffy rubbed Nola's head where he'd hit her. "Now… You said you'd seen Jones and Usopp?"

"SSS." Nola nodded dully, careful not to throw Luffy off.

"Can you take me there?"

"SSKSS."

That made Luffy frown. "What do you mean, they're not still there?"

"SSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHAAAAAAAAAAASHA."

"Well, can you find them?"

Another nod, less sullen this time. Nola slowly lowered herself flat to the ground and began winding her way through the trees. Every once in a while she flicked her tongue out, tasting the air. Often right after this she'd turn slightly, adjusting her course.

The huge snake couldn't take as direct a route through the trees as Luffy could have; she was just too big. But she still made good time, and unlike her, Luffy couldn't sniff out his crewmates with a flicking tongue. He liked this snake. Nola was nice. Too bad she couldn't come with them. She was just too big for the ship.

It was about fifteen minutes before something exploded- distant, but still near enough to startle Nola into rearing. She probably didn't see many things blow up around here. It was too quiet for that. Which was too bad; blowing stuff up was fun!

Whatever exploded was in the direction Nola had been taking him.

Luffy grinned. That had to be either Usopp or Jones- maybe both. No one else on his crew fought by blowing stuff up! On purpose, anyway. An instant later, lightning flashed in the same area. So Nami was there too. Excellent. If the three of them were fighting together, they should be okay.

And if they weren't, he'd get there soon enough to help. Luffy leaned low over Nola's head and gripped her fluffs tightly. "Faster Nola!"

"SKAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

The great snake resumed winding through the trees, twisting and slithering through huge trunks. She wound her way around the knotted base of a towering beanstalk, with a tip that disappeared into a yet higher layer of cloud. So cool! Luffy would have to have a look at that later, when there was more time. And then into more trees…

More explosions, more lightning. So, so much more lightning. Blue-white flash after blue-white flash crackled through the trees. The fighting was getting more intense. Luffy gripped Nola's fluffs even harder. Please, please, let the others hold out long enough for him to get there.

-V-

The sky kept flashing, blue-white and gold. Conis stared up at it, fiddling nervously with her bazooka. Those newcomers… Those illegal immigrants had angered God. And she'd helped them to do it. What was she supposed to do? When Enel defeated them, he'd be furious.

If. If Enel defeated them. She had to be optimistic. Or at least try.

But the flashes were getting brighter and more frequent, coming from the center of Upper Yard. They were accompanied by great cracks and booms, each louder than the last. Sometimes it sounded like a storm fighting itself; at others it was like two fully charged Impact Dials being banged together.

A warm hand closed over her shoulder. Her father. Conis reached up to place her hand over his, not even turning to look. "Daddy… Daddy, what have I done?"

"What you thought you had to." Pagaya gently pulled his daughter around to face him and drew her into a hug. "And if they win, it will have been the right thing."

Su crawled up onto Conis' shoulders as her father stepped back; the angel stroked her fox's soft fur for comfort. Sighing, Conis' father looked up at the flashing sky.

"But if they lose… If they lose, I fear it may be the end of us all. God has never been this angry. So, my dear, there's one more thing we must do."

"Daddy?"

Pagaya's face hardened. "We must run. We must go to sea, and convince everyone to come with us. Even the Shandians, if we can find them. We must get as far away from our island as we can, in case Enel's wrath comes down upon us all."

But… But who would listen? It was market day; the entire population of the city was on Lovely Street, trading and talking and unable to hear anything over the noise of themselves. Even the presence of the Straw Hats hadn't delayed that by more than a few minutes.

She had to try though. Conis closed her eyes for a moment, sighing. "Daddy, take the waver and go. I'll get everyone to evacuate."

"Are you sure, dearest?" Her father stared at her with worried eyes.

Conis wanted to say no. She wasn't sure about anything right now. She wanted to hide somewhere until this all blew over; to pinch herself and wake up and realize this was all a dream. But it wasn't, and the lights in the sky were growing brighter still.

Instead, she bit her lip and nodded. "I'm sure, Daddy. I can do this. Go. Just… If you see anyone along the way, try and get them to go with you."

"Of course." Conis' father briefly pressed his forehead against hers. "Take care, Dearest."

"You too, Daddy."

Parting ways with her father, Conis ran towards Lovely Street as fast as she could. As soon as she could see the market, she started waving her arms and shouting. "EVERYONE! EVERYONE, WE HAVE TO GO NOW! WE HAVE TO TAKE TO THE BOATS! GOD IS ANGRY! HE'S FIGHTING THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND IF HE WINS, HE'LL LIKELY DESTROY THE ISLAND!"

No one reacted. They couldn't hear her over the market day bustle. And to a one, they were all afflicted with one tremendous bit of stupidity- not a single person on the street ever looked up at the sky. A common human error, believing that everything of interest will be roughly at eye level. Conis had exploited it many times as a child playing hide and seek.

Now it just left her frustrated.

Taking a deep breath, Conis tried again. "EVERYONE, PLEASE! WE NEED TO EVACUATE THE ISLAND! ENEL IS ANGRY!"

A couple people glanced at her but didn't seem to hear what she was saying. Otherwise they would've reacted with more than a shrug and some whispering. An involuntary whine escaped her throat; Conis couldn't believe this. She waved her arms frantically, pointing at the sky. The only result was that a few people started taking pictures of the flashing lights on Vision Dials.

Anger momentarily seized the angel. Conis kicked the ground and screamed. How could people be so dense?! "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHY CAN'T EVERYONE JUST LISTEN? PLEASE!"

"Please…" Her anger left as quickly as it had appeared. Conis sank to her knees on the side of the road. She was shaking, spent. Nothing was working. Vision blurring, Conis bit her lip to fight back tears. They fell anyway.

This was all her fault. She'd helped the pirates go to Enel and now he was angry and would probably destroy Angel Island for her part in this, once he'd dealt with the invaders.

If. If he dealt with the invaders. She had to try and be optimistic, although she couldn't see how.

"My fault…" A sob shook the angel's shoulders, "All my fault…"

People were talking, haggling, laughing… But all Conis could hear was her own heart pounding in her ears. Her throat was starting to close up; she couldn't shout any more even if she could find the words. All her fault… It was her fault Angel Island was going to be destroyed and everyone was going to die.

Her head was starting to feel strange, her heartbeat getting louder and stranger until it almost sounded like the approach of a giant bird. Then a shadow swept overhead and Conis realized that what she'd been earing was a giant bird- one with the body of a horse. Astride its broad back sat a somewhat familiar armoured figure.

Conis had never met Gan Fall before, but she knew him to see him. The former god, overthrown by Enel. He came to fight sometimes when the Shandians raided Angel Island, and to give food and blankets to the orphanage.

"EVERYONE, LISTEN, I BEG OF YOU!" Gan Fall's voice boomed out over the noise of the market in a way Conis' never could. "ENEL IS CURRENTLY LOCKED IN COMBAT WITH A GROUP FROM THE BLUE SEAS! THEY HAVE ANGERED HIM MIGHTILY! SHOULD THEY FALL AT HIS HANDS, I FEAR HE WILL TURN HIS RAGE ON THE ISLAND BEFORE HE COMES TO HIS SENSES!"

"Whatever senses he has…" Conis heard someone mutter in the sudden silence. The speaker's neighbors stepped far away from him, a long-ingrained reflex. But nothing happened. Enel was otherwise occupied.

Click-clack. Hooves tapped on the street beside Conis as Gan Fall's mount landed. The old knight spoke, his voice lower than before, but still crystal clear. "Please, everyone, we must try to make it a safe distance from the island. I pray the Blue Sea dwellers shall prevail, but if not…"

He left the sentence hanging. For a moment, no one moved. Then one older woman slowly raised a hand. "But… If Enel destroys the island, where will we go?"

"I don't know," Gan Fall sighed. He stroked the side of his horse-bird's neck. "But I'd prefer we all be alive to deal with such an issue. Homes can be replaced; lives cannot. Everyone, please- take to your boats. Head out to sea. If necessary, we can even sail off the edge of the clouds and make our way down to the Blue Sea to start anew."

It started out slowly after that- people picking up their shopping and, in ones and twos, heading for the marina. Most were more hesitant, though. One young girl stared up at Gan Fall with teary eyes.

"Can I go get Vixy?"

Gan Fall hesitated, then smiled. "If you are quick, yes, you can go home and get your Vixy. Do not take too long, though; taking time to pack too much could cost you your life. But by all means, rescue your pets and a couple of mementos if you think you can do so quickly."

And then there was chaos. People bolted, scrambling for their houses to rescue southbirds and cloud foxes and octopus balloons. Conis gasped, hands going to her mouth. What if someone was trampled? Surging to her feet, the pale angel took a shaky step forward. A heavy hand rested on her shoulder, Gan Fall leaning down to steady her.

Conis shot him a grateful smile. Then, to her surprise, the knight handed her a small device made of an assortment of Dials.

"Speak into this, and they'll be able to hear you over any chaos."

"Thank you." Conis eyes watered, this time with grateful tears, as she raised the device to her mouth. "EVERYONE, PLEASE REMAIN CALM! LET'S NOT ANYONE GET HURT, EH? BE CAREFUL OF THE CHILDREN!"

The chaos froze for a moment. As if compelled by some invisible mind, children slowly filtered out of the crowd. They moved in clumps, groups of friends or siblings, occasionally accompanied by parents or babysitters. One of the chaperones- a severe older mother with a heavily lined face- took charge, leading the group to the marina ahead of the mob.

Conis sighed in relief. Her knees felt like they were about to melt. But then Gan Fall's grip on her shoulder firmed, reminding her that she couldn't relax just yet. "Can you coordinate the evacuation of the civilians, my dear? I have others who need my attention."

"Of course." Conis nodded, biting her lip. She had to do this… It was her fault Enel was angry, so it was the least she could do to help people escape. Not that they needed much coordinating now; people were starting to organize themselves as they quickly retrieved the most important items from their homes.

Nodding, Gan Fall spurred his mount into the air. The bird took off with a loud neighing squawk- no other creature in the world could've made such a sound. As for the knight… His face was grim, as if he thought he was heading to his death. Or at the very least to a task he knew he may not succeed.

And then, as she kept a sharp eye out for people who needed help, Conis' blood ran cold. The White Berets! She hadn't seen any of them. They must be still on Angel Beach; some of them had been frozen pretty badly.

"SANDRAH!" Conis yelled for one of her childhood friends using Gan Fall's projection device. Seconds later, the aforementioned young woman appeared, red hair in disarray.

"Conis? Is something wrong?" A wide mouth quirked up in a wry smile. "Aside from the whole bit where the island might soon explode in lightning and doom?"

That made Conis smile in spite of herself. Sandrah was such a rock… Exactly what Conis needed right now. "Sandrah, when the Blue Sea dwellers came up on Angel Beach, I called the White Berets to arrest them. One of them- a woman who controls weather- froze the squad. I need someone to help me thaw them out." Conis was pretty sure she had enough Flame Dials to do it quickly, if she had help.

Sandrah nodded, her wry smile morphing into a determined one. "You've got it. Oi, Faless!"

"Yes?" Sandrah's boyfriend appeared out of the crowd, bag slung over his shoulder. The redheaded angel plucked the projection device from Conis' hands and tossed it to him.

"Keep things in order here! Me'n Conis gotta go save your brother and his friends." Sandrah gave Faless a quick peck on the cheek. "Don't die, 'kay?"

"I'll do my best." Faless smirked, waving a little as the girls scampered away for the beach.

"I don't suppose you have any Heat or Flame Dials?" Conis asked her friend as they ran. "I think I have enough, but…"

"Worry not, my pallid pal." Sandrah grinned and turned up the inside of her pockets. Heat Dials galore. "I found the motherload last time Faless and I went treasure hunting. Was gonna sell them at the market today, but there wasn't enough time. Good thing, huh?"

Conis gave a watery smile. "I never thought I'd say this, but I could kiss you packrats right now."

-V-

Enel had Nami and Lisa. Enel had taken Nami and Lisa to get to us! He'd thrown them into ca cave, locked them in, hurt them… I charged, screaming, my vision going red. Usopp and Ruatha were on my back, wailing; I could barely hear them.

Enel stood in front of the cave, looking smug and deranged and oh so punch-able. I landed across from him, skidding and nearly falling over. Even if my powers were doing most of the work, my legs and lungs burned from using Geppo for so long. If Usopp and Ruatha hadn't been on my back as a counterbalance, I probably would've fallen on my face. As it was, I ended up on my knees, broken pieces of undergrowth flying up from the ruts my landing tore in the forest floor.

My thighs were killing me.

Usopp leapt clear as if touching me burned him. One shaking hand held his hammer; the gunner hid partway behind a tree before realizing that staying at range could do him no good. He was out of ammo, and even if he had anything, Enel's range was greater than that of a slingshot.

Ruatha jumped down too, as I got to my feet. My baby wasn't as inclined to hide as Usopp. Instead, he raised himself up to his full height and hissed, wings flaring. With his head almost level with my shoulders and a wingspan nearly twice the length of his body, Ruatha was actually quite impressive.

Not as impressive as he would be when he was fully grown, but still.

"You…" Gold jangled as Enel pointed his staff at me, the rings clanking together. "I know you're not Luffy- your heartbeat wasn't at Angel Beach during that. So, if you're not the one who claims to be immune to my powers… How dare you challenge God?"

"We dare challenge because you are not a god." How best to do this? Force alone? Sais? Gun? Whip? Pipe? None of those sounded like a particularly good idea. What I'd give for some seastone… Kairoseki would make a great an excellent addition to the tsukagashira of my sais.

Shitshitshit, this was a Luffy fight! I had no right to be here! Holy Shitballs!

But I couldn't let Enel see how terrified I was, so I pasted a smirk on my face. This infuriated him. The lightning logia hissed, releasing his power into his golden staff to morph it into a trident before my eyes.

"Luminous Forge!"

Wow. A Luffy countering technique. I was as honoured even as I screamed internally. My smirk broadened as I fought the rush of adrenaline in my blood. Keeping my voice level was a struggle- especially with how much anger was mixing with my fear. "Impressive. But what does it prove?"

"This." And then Enel stabbed himself in the hand with his trident, lightning crackling. "Men bleed. I do not. Gods do not."

Then, almost faster than I could follow, the trident flew forth, thrown by muscle and lightning. I couldn't dodge; I barely had time to raise my arm to deflect the strike. It tore lightly across my forearm, reopening one of twelve red lines. My new armour left those on display. Red dripped out, splattering on the ground.

Behind me, behind Usopp even, something rustled in the trees.

Enel sneered. "Gods don't bleed," he reiterated. With anyone else, I would've told them off for being so smug after throwing away their weapon, but… For a logia in Paradise, it wasn't much of a handicap.

"Actually…" A tiny voice sounded behind me. My blood ran cold. Aisa. "Actually, gods do bleed."

I couldn't look back at her, but I could hear fear and admiration in Aisa's voice. "Nanahuatzin, the Sun Beginning, gives of his blood that the world might survive. That's where his scars come from. Fire and sacrifice."

Tabarnak. My stomach dropped to my feet. This just got even more complicated. "Usopp get the kid outta here!"

"I'm not leaving you!" The gunner was shaking as he prepped something using sparklers. What could he possibly be doing? Growling, I searched for other options.

"Ruatha, take Aisa home!"

"Niid!"

"I'm not leaving!" Aisa put her own two cents in as she clung to a towering fern. "I have to see this!"

"Then you will all die together!" Enel waved his hands in a wide arc. "Shango!"

A wave-shaped blast of lightning exploded from his hands. I threw myself forward, flinging my arms apart as I dove into the electricity. Words leapt to my lips unbidden. "Coulomb's Field!"

It stung- I won't pretend it didn't. Lightning crackled over my arms as I sent it flying to either side; it burnt my hairs and danced on the studs in my armour. A couple of trees exploded when the deflected charge hit them. But… Usopp, Ruatha, and Aisa were safe. That was most important.

Enel froze and stared. His mouth fell open; his eyes bulged in their sockets and turned white. I grinned- a real one, not forced this time. "And me without a Vision Dial."

My blood sang with excitement. I could do this. Heart pounding, mind racing, I slid back into a fighting stance. Enel did as well, although his movement was slightly shaky, off. He was still recovering from the surprise. Whether it was greater or lesser than it would've been, because he was already expecting Luffy… That I couldn't tell.

Behind me, Usopp cackled. Although it sounded kind of hollow- he was still terrified. "You fool! You really think we'd challenge you if only one of our crew was immune to your powers? We have a whole army of people who could swat you like a fly!"

Enel twitched towards the gunner, although the larger portion of his attention was still fixed on me. This proved to be undoing. Disoriented as he was, Enel wasn't making use of his Haki, so he wasn't fast enough to dodge when Usopp pulled back and fired something from his slingshot.

Wait- what? Wasn't he out of ammo?

"Usopp Hammer- Firework Edition!" A small hammer spun through the air, lit sparklers bound to its handle. Right before it hit, Enel regained his composure enough to laugh as his lightning body pa-

Thunked loudly with the sound of a hammer hitting a skull?

My smirk fell away from my face, replaced by utter bafflement. "Was… Was that a rubber mallet?"

"Yup." Usopp was even more stunned than I was. The gunner edged further behind his tree. Not that it would provide all that much protection against all but the smallest of Enel's attacks…

"Ack!" Enel wiped sparks and ashes away from his eyes. Bits of cornea healed with little pops of lightning; his creepy ears waved as he moved. "Stupid mortals! You're really pissing me off!"

"Yeah… We're good at that." My smirk returned full force. "If you think we're bad, you should see our captain."

"You little-!" Enel surged forward, hands crackling blue-white. "Five Million Vo-!"

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!"

Ruatha dug his claws into the soil and screeched, wings spread for balance. The sound nearly knocked me off my feet; my ears rang like the bells of Notre Dame. Enel aborted his attack to clap his hands over his ears- apparently being intangible didn't protect logias from assaults on their hearing. Sadly, it did protect him from electrocuting himself with his own lightning.

The ground trembled slightly, as if there was a stampede approaching.

"Newton's Second!" I darted forth, drawing a sai with one hand as I lashed out with the other. I released three bursts of force in quick succession, punching and swinging. "Tiger Blade!"

Something… interesting happened then. Each charge I released made Enel flash bright gold, but they didn't seem to hurt him at all. His eyes went wide. Then Enel struck back at me and sent my flying back in a burst of lightning. I struck a tree, falling to land on me feet.

Usopp gaped. "What the Hell was that?!"

"Tabarnak!" I spat a gob of blood into the dirt. I'd bitten my tongue when I hit the tree. "Osti d'épais de marde… I didn't think about that…"

"Didn't think about what?!" Usopp was flailing now, as if me not thinking about something was the worst news he could possibly hear.

"I control forces- he's made of one. Makes this complicated." But not impossible. After all, Enel still couldn't hurt me, while I could figure out a way to hurt him.

Of course, Enel didn't seem to think so. "Twenty Million Volt Vari!"

Lightning-infused fists rained on me from every direction. I blocked a few, but Enel was remembering to use Haki now; most strikes flowed past my defenses like water. I managed to twist slightly with each one, though, enough to send the electricity rolling off. An instant before I could swing my foot up into his crotch, the lightning logia jumped back.

"You're too slow." Oh, how I wanted to punch that smirk off Enel's face.

Blue slid slowly around a clump of trees; Nola appeared, bowing her head. Her rider- wait, what?- beamed and waved, sunlight glinting off golden straw. "Hi Jones! Hi Usopp! What'd I miss!"

"Hi Captain," I panted, "Just kicking butt and taking names." Three steps forward; I kicked Usopp's hammer back to him so he could fling it if I could get him another opening.

"Hey Luffy!" Picking up the weapon, Usopp immediately began tying something around the handle. His hands were shaking. "Wait- Jones if Enel's made of forces, shouldn't you be able to control him?"

"Maybe if I Awakened my Fruit," I ground out, spinning to dissipate a bolt of lightning. Although even then… That would open up a contest of wills, which would probably be won by whoever had the greatest Haki. "Right now… As I am now, the best I could do would be causing a feedback loop that would kill us both."

Aisa gasped; Luffy frowned in concern. "No good! I don't like plans that have the words would kill us both!"

"I know that, Captain!"

"Thirty Million Volt Hino!" Enel opened his hands like wings; a falcon made of lightning soared forth from his shoulders and drums.

"Coulomb's Field!" The thunderbird was too big. I could punch a safe corridor through the middle, but the wings continued on. Several trees exploded; several more caught fire. The smell of smoke permeated the air.

Usopp flinched and crouched behind the smouldering remains of his shelter. "Luffy! Intervene! Do something!"

"I can't! This is your guys's fight!" An unspoken for now hung in the air. I had no doubt that the instant something happened to us, Luffy would jump right in.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAARZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!"

Ruatha screeched again, forcing Enel to cover his ears. Usopp and I took the opening. Such as it was; Enel was focused now. Even with his hands occupied, he made an effort to get out of the way.

"TAI!"

"Usopp Hammer- Trip!"

While the lightning logia avoided my punch with relative ease, he wasn't quite able to predict the spinning rubber mallet that came in just below his knee. Usopp's attack smashed into Enel's shin. The rope he'd tied around the handle briefly entangled the false god's legs- long enough for me to smash my elbow into Enel's face.

For all the good that did. Stupid logia ethereal body shenanigans.

"GAH!" Flowing free of his restraints, Enel snarled at Ruatha. "You- You are an annoyance. Face the wrath of a divine dragon! Sixty Million Volt Julunggul!"

Enel reached back and slapped two of his drums, setting the air thrumming. Loud, powerful… I'd never heard drums quite like them. A huge, spiralling dragon, far larger than his earlier thunderbird, emerged with a crack of thunder. There was no way I could dissipate this one. Not that I didn't try.

"Coulomb's Field!"

"Mon-AAAAAAAAAAAAACH!" Lightning crackled around me, barely impeded by my presence. Several million volts struck my baby full in the face. Ruatha screamed, blown backwards by the impact alone. Every muscle in his body went completely tense, then started twitching uncontrollably.

Thankfully he was still breathing.

"FUCK YOU, TABARNAK!" I jumped forward, unthinking, full of nothing but rage. One fist plunged through Enel's stomach. "COULOMB'S FIELD!"

Enel's body temporarily dissipated. The difference this time was that when he reformed, he had a giant bruise below his ribs. He hissed. "You loathsome little bitch! That actually hurt! KITEN!"

Now, there is exactly one thing that can snap me out of a rage. One thing that I'd never actually encountered in the context of a fight before, so I had no idea that it could snap me out until that moment. Now, I doubt it would've happened had I not been sure Ruatha would survive this, but even so… My anger evaporated briefly, in part from surprise, and in part because of another emotion that snapped through my brain for a split second.

"Kitten?"

The shining form surging towards me was meant to be a wolf. Later I would remember that. At the time, though, all I saw was pointy ears, shaggy hair, and a puffy tail. My arms closed around what appeared to be a great, fluffy neck; I dug my fingers into a soft golden mane.

"Kitty!"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

Every muscle in my body went rigid; I flew almost a hundred meters back. After a brief second of blackness- I think I passed out for a moment- I slammed head first into a tree. Upon sliding to the bottom, I lay there on my back, limp. Didn't even have enough strength to move a finger. Blue, green, and purple lights and afterimages flashed throughout my vision.

Apparently whatever I was doing to deflect and dissipate lightning didn't take effect if I actively hugged it.

My eyes spun, time slowing down as my heart raced to catch up with the lightning. It wasn't succeeding. Blackness took bites out of the edges of my vision- I was about ten seconds from passing out. Which, in my sluggish, racing, disoriented state, was plenty of time to see what was going on around me.

The afterimages were pretty… Some of them looked like stars and hearts. Or flowers. Or fireworks. Or people- those ones were probably afterimages of the battle that had momentarily frozen around me.

Ruatha raised his head weakly, sweatdropping as he stared at me. Usopp sweatdropped from behind the ruins of his sheltering tree. Luffy sweatdropped and groaned, tugging his hat down over his ears; Nola produced a drop of sweat so large it nearly washed the captain off her head. Aisa sweatdropped and let out a small, distressed whine, biting down on the crumpled edge of her sleeve. Even Enel sweatdropped, apparently unable to believe what had just happened.

One of the blue afterimages flashing around me facepalmed. A low voice sighed in my ear, so quiet I couldn't tell if I was hallucinating or not. Keira, my love…

. . .

. . .

Wait, WHAT?!

THUNK.