"This is awful Luffy, what are we going to do? We have to rescue them!" Usopp cried.
"Hmm, I wonder," Luffy replied as he thought hard. "Where are they going?"
"Yes!" Usopp exclaimed, then stopped, as he also had no idea. The balcony was silent as they pondered this thought, and as one, they turned to look at Pagaya and Conis.
"The super express lobster is a messenger of Eneru," Pagaya explained sorrowfully. "Everything it carries off becomes an offering. If that is the case, they are headed to the northeast side of the Upper Yard, to the sacrificial altar."
"What?!" Sanji yelled. "You don't mean Nami, Robin and the rest-"
"the rest?!" Usopp groused with a smack to Sanji's shoulder, before Sanji continued.
"-are going to be sacrificed?! That jerk better not harm a single hair on Nami's head!"
"I'm afraid you don't understand," Pagaya explained. "It's all part of heaven's punishment. Criminals either become offerings, or undergo a challenge- your friends are currently hostages in Eneru's hands, and they are headed to him as we speak."
"Hostages?" Usopp squeaked.
"I must tell you… the criminals who are to receive the punishment are not them… but, the three of you."
"Wow! This place is amazing!"
"Lovely Street is the center of commerce for Angel Island," Conis explained.
"Are those floating stores?" Usopp asked in awe.
"Yes, though it takes a certain kind of island cloud for that," Conis replied.
"Ooh, where are the floating restaurants?" Luffy asked.
"Is it me, or is everyone avoiding us?" Usopp asked.
"Word's probably already gotten out that we're criminals," Sanji said. "All these gorgeous angels, and they're avoiding me…" he sighed sadly.
"The docks are right over here," Conis explained as she led the way.
"Look at these cool boats!" Luffy said as he ran around looking at each of them. "I want this one, or maybe this one!"
"Get serious," Sanji ordered. "We have to focus on rescuing Nami and the others!"
"Your boat is this way," Conis said, and they followed after her.
"You worry too much," Luffy told Sanji. "They have Zoro with them!"
"Like we can trust that guy," Sanji muttered.
"I'm worried about the Merry," Usopp added. "She's taken a lot of abuse recently."
"Presenting, the crow!" Conis said with a smile, and the boys stopped to look at the small raft before them. Sanji and Usopp were diplomatic, but Luffy took one look, and then uttered, "I'm not going."
Conis looked shocked at Luffy's words, uncertain of what to do.
"Unless I can take that amazing gondola!" he continued as he pointed down the dock.
"Oh… I'm sorry," Conis said, both relieved and scared. "This is the only boat I own, so it is all I can offer…"
"Don't be sorry my dear…" Sanji said as he turned and started yelling at and kicking Luffy. "You're the one who should be sorry you ingrate! She went to all this trouble to help us, and all you do is complain! What's wrong with you?!"
"I'm shorry!" Luffy told Conis, through his kick-swollen face.
"It's okay," Conis replied, looking down. "Your exit is gate two. It merges onto the milky road that will take you all the way up to the Upper Yard. Just… just follow it, and you'll be fine."
"Hey, Conis…" Luffy asked.
"Yes?"
"You're trembling… in fact you've been trembling the entire way here. Is everything okay? It's like you're scared or something…"
"Speaking of..." Usopp said. "While everyone else is avoiding us like the plague, you're leading us around, lending us your boat, giving directions… is helping us going to get you and Pagaya into trouble? Doesn't that make you an accomplice?"
"Don't cry Conis… you should have just told us you were scared, and we would have come on our own," Luffy said.
"It…it's not… that," Conis looked pale and sweaty, and the boys wondered what was happening. "Don't you think it's strange that I would show you where to go? Almost as if I was leading you to your doom?" She fell on her knees, and her tears fell to the ground. "Please… just run away…"
Sanji looked around at the shaking citizens, wondering if they all were in on this.
"I'm so sorry!" Conis said, causing several citizens to shout out to stop her. "It was me! I called the super express lobster!"
"That thing that took Nami and the others away?" Sanji demanded. "You called it?"
"Please forgive me! If a citizen of Skypiea knows that someone is a criminal and doesn't lead them to Upper Yard, then that citizen is killed!"
"That's crazy!" Usopp said.
"It's our duty… the duty of any citizen…"
"You're saying," Luffy spoke up, "that they forced you to lead us here?"
Conis nodded.
"If that's true… than why even tell us at all?!"
"But-"
"Now your life is in danger too!" Luffy yelled at Conis, as the other citizens backed further away. Light brightened the sky, gathering together, and came shooting down as Luffy grabbed Conis and went running.
"It's too big!" he shouted, and the light consumed everything.
The dust settled, and everyone slowly got to their feet.
"Luffy!" Usopp called, he and Sanji seeing the massive crater in front of them. "Conis!"
"They are safe," a voice called, and looking up, they could see the sky knight atop his flying horse. He dropped Luffy down to his friends, but kept Conis with him. "And she will remain so, under my care. I will not let Eneru harm her."
"Thanks," Luffy said as he stood up and dusted himself off.
"What will you do now?" the sky knight asked him.
"The same thing we were going to do before," Luffy said, climbing aboard the crow boat. "We're going to rescue our friends."
"Nice punch," Kia said with a smirk at Zoro, and he gave her a withering look, as Nami snorted in laughter.
"Yeah," she agreed. "That was the last thing I expected from our swordsman."
"Probably the last thing the sky shark expected too," Kia added.
Zoro ignored them both, heading downstairs and returning a short time later in different clothes.
"Going somewhere?" Robin asked.
"Luffy and the others are going to come looking for us," he explained. "The ship will need repairs before we can sail anywhere."
"True," she agreed.
"So we'll make this our base camp. I want to take a look around, maybe find this Eneru guy."
"What?!" Chopper screeched. "What would you say to someone so scary?"
"Don't know," Zoro replied, and then smirked. "Depends on his attitude."
Kia chuckled, Nami rolled her eyes, and Chopper had stars in his eyes as he told Zoro what a badass he was.
"Making powerful people angry isn't the best idea!" Nami yelled at him. "Not only that, he has those priests we have to worry about too!"
"Pff," Zoro scoffed. "I don't believe there is a god here, so I don't owe him anything."
"Wow!" Chopper cheered.
"Oh powerful one, I don't know this guy, and we definitely don't feel the same way. Okay thanks, bye," Nami prayed up to the sky.
"Now who's being ridiculous?" Kia asked her.
"All of you are!" she retorted angrily. "I SAW his power, not you. I know what I'm talking about!"
"Swordsman," Robin asked, ignoring Nami's rant. "If you are going exploring, I'd like to come along."
"Uh, okay I guess. As long as you don't slow me down," Zoro replied.
"You too Robin?" Nami asked. "But why?"
"Look at this altar," Robin pointed to some symbols carved in the stone. "It must be a thousand years old. Who knows what valuable artifacts we could find out there?"
"Oh!" Nami exclaimed. "Then I'm coming too!"
"What?!" Chopper gaped at her.
"I have to Chopper," she replied, "for history!"
"Right…" Kia drawled, seeing the money hungry look on her face. "I guess you and I will stay here then, Chopper."
"Good idea," Zoro said, as Robin helped him cut a vine so that they could swing to shore. "Chopper, you're in charge. Protect the ship, and Kia, and we'll be back soon."
"Got it!" Chopper said as he gave a salute to Zoro.
Zoro nodded and cleared his throat before giving a Tarzan yell, and swinging over to the shore, Robin and finally Nami joining him.
"You didn't want to go Kia?" Chopper asked as the pair watched their friends disappear into the forest.
"I would have been okay with going, but I didn't want to leave you here alone," Kia replied. "Friends are there for each other, right?" she asked with a grin.
"Right!" he said as he started doing his cute flattered dance, causing her to chuckle.
She still had a slight limp, but Kia made her way towards the storage room below decks. "Come on Chopper, let's see what we can do to start repairs."
Chopper made trip after trip, bringing lumber and tools from the storage room to the different places that needed them, not once letting Kia help in carrying anything, even a hammer. She couldn't really blame him, as she limped along after him, occasionally groaning. I feel fine, in that I'm not in pain, but my body is sore like I had been clobbered… which, I had been, technically, she thought.
"One more trip Kia, so just sit here, and wait for me, okay?" he said, as he turned and headed back up the stairs. Kia gratefully sank down to sit, groaning the whole way, and trying to get comfortable. By no means could she repair a ship, but looking at Usopp's patch jobs, she figured between her and Chopper, they could get the Merry able to be in the water without sinking.
Kia leaned back, putting her arms out to help herself lay down. This was so annoying! She closed her eyes, and told herself she would be back to normal in no time, and to just be patient, but it didn't help. So instead, she thought about what she could do once that priest showed up. She was secretly hoping she could devise a way where the ship didn't have to have the mast ripped off.
The shrill of a whistle had her eyes popping open in shock, and staring at the ceiling. "No way! He's here already?!" she cried, as she started moving, ignoring the pains in her muscles as she got to her feet and hurried to the stairs. She could hear Chopper yelling, and pushed herself faster, tripping a few times on the steps as she made her way to the deck.
"Chopper!" Kia called as she came out the door, and stopped, staring at the roaring flames that were coating the base of the mast, with Chopper in his heavy point form, slapping at them and trying to put the fire out.
"STOP! Not the ship, PLEASE NOT THE SHIP!" Chopper yelled, as tears streamed down his face. He screamed in pain as he wrapped his arms around the mast, and tore it away, flinging it into the cloudy water.
The angry looking bird and large man landed nearby, speaking to Chopper as he panted from where he fell on the deck.
"How spoiled you are," the man said in disgust. "You don't want me to hurt your friends, you don't want me to destroy your ship, and you don't want to die. That doesn't leave me with any options." The priest whose name Kia couldn't recall, uh, string ordeal guy?, glared at Chopper as he moved forward to strike him. "If you want to live so badly, why are you then so weak?!"
He struck out with his lance, and Chopper barely dodged. But where the lance struck, the ship began burning. Chopper quickly put it out, slapping at the wood, then charged to hit the priest, but he had already moved out of the way.
"Here you are, atop the sacrificial altar," the priest spoke from the railing where he now stood, glaring down at Chopper as though he were speaking to a bug. "Your friends trying desperately to reach you so that you may escape."
"Wait... when Luffy and the others come to get us… we can escape?!" Chopper asked incredulously.
"Yes, that's right. You're free to go… provided you survive being here that is." The priest's face took on an ugly sneer. "Of course, when rules are broken, exceptions are made…"
"Exceptions?" Chopper asked uncertainly.
"Yes. For example, if sacrificial lambs were to leave the altar and go into the forest…"
Kia could see the shock and anger on Chopper's face as he realized why he was being attacked.
"There must be sacrifice. It is law here," the priest continued. "If one escapes… another must pay with death."
The priest put his lance into an attack stance, and yelled out, "Your life is an offering to the Almighty Eneru!" and lumped forward to attack.
"No!" Kia yelled, lurching forward.
Chopper hearing her shout, turned, and looked in horror when he realized she was there. The priest's lance struck him in the side of his chest and a flame erupted from the tip, as Chopper screamed in pain, and fell back. The priest pulled back his lance to strike again, but then moved quickly away from Chopper as the Sky Knight appeared to fight him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" he yelled, and Kia rushed to Chopper, as he cried.
"He came, Kia! The Sky Knight came!"
"I know, Shh…" she said as she moved his large hand away from his wound. It looked like a pretty bad burn, and she shuffled over to the door to find his medical bag.
Returning as quickly as she could, she tried to ignore the sounds of battle above them, as she treated Chopper's burn. He wasn't making it easy, as he moved constantly to follow the fight.
"Huh?! What's happening?" Chopper gasped, and Kia turned her head to look with him. The sky knight appeared as if he was floating in mid air, though the priest was laughing and yelling at him. He charged with his bird at the Knight, striking him with his lance and the Knight fell into the water below the altar.
Kia looked over at Chopper, seeing him trying to move to save the knight, and she grabbed his arm. "Get small, and get behind the stairs to hide Chopper," she said quickly. "I'll save him." She turned and rushed over to the side of the altar where the Knight fell, and dove into the cloudy water.
The world around her was suddenly silent, and she felt the oddness of the water. It was very similar to the ocean, yet there was no resistance, no tides or waves that pushed or pulled, and no salt to sting her eyes once she tried opening them. Knowing she wouldn't get back this far down if she went up for air already, Kia kept looking and swimming, determined to find the man who risked himself to save them… for free.
She spotted him, and made her way to him, finding it much easier to move under the water than she had previously on the ship. She grabbed him, and started kicking them both upwards, when something fell on top of them and pushed them further down. She saw pink… and… spots, and only then realized that she was out of air, as the darkness came.
Kia woke suddenly, bolting upright, and groaning in pain. Looking around, she realized she was on the deck of the Merry, with both the Knight, and his strange horse/bird. They were both severely injured, and she rolled over to her hands and knees in order to stand up. That was when she caught sight of Chopper, laying out in the open, and not moving.
"Chopper?" Kia called, as she didn't bother to stand, just crawled over to him, and shook him gently.
"Chopper?!" she called more loudly, patting his cheeks. When he still didn't stir, she checked his pulse, and was terrified when she couldn't find it at first. Eventually she discovered he was still alive, but barely. He had many more burns and injuries than he had when she had left him, and she glanced around at the three injured that were sprawled on the deck, hoping that they would be all right.
Chopper seemed the worst off, plus, she knew she needed his expertise if she was going to be able to help the other two, so she ignored her own pains, and grabbed his bag and started cleaning and bandaging his wounds.
"Thanks for saving us, Chopper," she said as she worked. "I'm so sorry…" she trailed off, as she realized that his fur wasn't wet. Thinking about it, she also realized that if he had jumped in the water, he would have been even worse off than she, with his devil fruit making him unable to swim.
"So… who saved us then?" she asked him, as she cleaned the blood from his face, wishing he would wake up. "I can't remember…"
Kia didn't get her wish, so she turned to the Sky Knight, determined to do whatever she could for him.
"Something happened."
Nami turned to Robin. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"The Merry Go's mast is missing!" Zoro observed. "This is no time to redecorate the ship."
"Obviously they were attacked!" Nami yelled at him. "CHOPPER! KIA! Where are they?!"
"Perhaps they were torn limb from limb," Robin suggested.
"Don't even joke about that!" Nami replied.
"Hey Chopper!" Zoro yelled. "Did something happen?!"
That was when Kia finally made it to the railing. All of her crying had made it impossible to yell that loudly, and they obviously hadn't heard her response since they were still calling out.
"Kia!" Nami called. "Are you guys okay?"
Kia shook her head, tears falling down her face again. Everyone turned the other direction as they heard Luffy's voice yelling about spotting the Merry, and Kia knew they would all make their way to her, so she turned to go back to Chopper's side. He still hadn't woken up, and she was starting to worry that he never would.
She stopped in the kitchen, realizing that everyone would need to know what happened, and she didn't want them all crowding in here around the injured, so she turned back yet again, and sat on the stairs waiting for the crew to show up.
When they boarded the ship, Kia could see how unsettled they were, looking at the burn marks on the deck, and the missing mast. It brought her thoughts back to Chopper, and she started crying again, hating herself as she did.
"Kia?" Luffy asked as he sat next to her, and put an arm around her shoulder. "What happened?"
She didn't look up… she didn't think she could stand to see the looks on their faces. "We split up, and Chopper and I stayed on the ship while the others looked around the forest. One of the priest guys showed up." She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm enough to get the words out.
"Chopper blew the whistle, and held off the priest as long as he could, but… but… he…" she couldn't contain her sobs anymore, as everything flooded back again. I have no idea how to make Chopper better.
A hand grabbed her shoulder, and Kia looked up into Sanji's face. "Is Chopper alive Kia?" he asked solemnly.
Kia nodded. "He's badly injured," she said, and everyone around her breathed a sigh of relief. "The Sky Knight came and fought the priest, but both he and his horse-bird were injured too. I jumped into the water to save him, and the horse fell right on top of us, and I blacked out. When I woke up, Chopper was unconscious, and badly burned. I did everything I could for them, but none of them have woken up yet."
That was the most information she could get out, and was almost surprised that they understood it, in between her crying, and deep breaths trying to calm herself.
Luffy, with his arm still around her, gave her another squeeze. "It's not your fault Kia. I'm sure all of them will be okay."
"I hope so," she replied, though she didn't agree with the first part of his statement. If I hadn't been here, Chopper would not be hurt nearly as badly. For all I could tell, he could die, and I would never be able to forgive myself. Kia stood up, and Luffy's arm fell from her. "I made beds for them in the kitchen. That's where I'll be, if you need me."
No one stopped her, as she made her way back to Chopper. She followed what he had taught her, and the first aid that she knew, though at this point, all she could do was wait. She held onto his wrist, letting the faint bump of his pulse reassure her as best as it could.
"This looks bad," Nami said as she looked around. "We'll need to stay here until we can fix the Merry. But for now, we should move to shore."
"Why?" Luffy asked.
"If anyone else attacks us, we don't want the Merry to get further damaged," Usopp explained exasperatedly.
"We'll make camp on the shore," Sanji said, his arms full of supplies.
"Party! All right!" Luffy exclaimed.
"We're definitely not having a party!" Usopp yelled.
"Oh, right," Luffy replied. Looking out at the cloudy water, he noticed the sky sharks and asked, "Usopp, is a barbecue a party?"
Usopp simply shook his head at Luffy, trying to keep himself calm, while Luffy was excited because to him it meant that he could have a barbecue.
After several trips in the crow boat, everyone and their supplies were on land. Kia remade beds for Chopper and the Sky Knight, and Zoro carried them carefully and placed them down.
After quickly cooking a sky shark for Luffy, Sanji started boiling water, setting up several pots inside each other to distill water for their canteens for the next day. They all sat around the fire pit, giving a report on what each group had discovered while separated.
Kia could admit, she really wasn't paying attention. She was thinking of what else she could try to help her patients, racking her brain and using her notes to help remember what Chopper had taught. In the end, she went with what she could do- making antiseptic and burn ointment.
Once the talking was done, Kia asked Zoro to go to the forest with her, and collect some plants. Sanji chimed in, and asked them to bring back anything they could add to his stew. Agreeing, the pair headed off.
They hadn't walked far when Zoro asked, "All right Kia, what's the problem?"
"Do you seriously not know?" she replied, shocked.
"Sometimes, our friends get hurt," he said bluntly. "That's part of the life we chose as pirates."
Kia started gathering aloe and garlic into the basket she carried, and pointed up to a tree with bananas hanging from its branches. Zoro unsheathed a sword and swung, cutting down half the tree's branches with the bananas.
"Chopper was doing well..," she said quietly. "I came to help, and distracted him right as the priest hit him. He got hurt much worse because of me."
Zoro looked at her skeptically. "If your positions were reversed, would you blame Chopper for your injuries?" he asked.
"No," she answered. He gave a smug look before she continued. "I wouldn't have to, since he'd be too busy blaming himself."
Kia didn't see Zoro roll his eyes, since she had turned away, but she could feel it.
After another ten minutes or so, she asked him if he was ready to go back. He held up several rat and frog bodies, and she made a face. "Are you really going to eat those?" she asked. They were much bigger than normal, about the size of cats or small dogs.
"Luffy will want meat," he replied. "He's not too picky about what kind."
"Very true, blech…" she said, leading the way back to camp. Zoro tried to get her to turn a few times, asking if she was sure of where she was going. She ignored him, and gave him a pointed look when they walked back into camp, which earned her a roll of his eyes.
Kia walked over to Sanji to let him know what they brought, and glanced over at the beds, and saw Chopper sitting up. She gasped and ran over to him, dropping the bowl of plants in his lap, and gently grabbing him into a hug.
"Chopper!" It came out in a whisper, but inside she was shouting. "I'm so glad you're awake!" She pulled back to look at him, tears running down her face, and he gave a smile.
"I'm okay, Kia. I think my body just needed a rest," he said. He looked down at the bowl full of plants and asked, "What's this?"
"I thought I could make some things," she said. "We're definitely going to need more burn ointment for one," she wiped her face, though her tears were more of relief than anything else at this point.
"That's a great idea!" he cheered, giving a grin. "I'll help!"
"You, will stay in bed," she retorted. "You gave me such a scare, Chopper. I was so worried!"
"I'm sorry…" he said with a gentle smile. "But, my wounds are mostly superficial," he said. "With some more rest, some medicine, and some food, I should be almost healed by tomorrow."
Kia continued to speak with Chopper, gathering all they needed to make the medicines, letting him know what she had done for both him and the Knight, and getting his input. He told of the giant south bird that came to her rescue, and praised her healing. She was just glad to find out that she hadn't made a total mess of things, but it didn't stop her from feeling guilty.
She stayed with Chopper the rest of the night, shamelessly doting on him. Everyone eventually made their way over and spoke to him, letting him know they were glad he was all right. Nami then told them how she had discovered the location of the city of gold, putting the maps of Jaya and Skypiea together to form what looked like a skull.
After Chopper translated for some sky wolves that showed up, and the party got underway, the Sky Knight woke up as well. He seemed all right, just weakened by his fight with the priest. He sat up without help, and told of what happened to the island when it appeared in the sky, and how the war between the people started.
Kia sat silently thinking for a very long time, as she sketched out some people in her sketch book. She would need to make a decision, because in the morning, the crew was splitting up again. If she somehow changed something again… she needed to decide which team would be okay even if that were to happen- and she wasn't even slightly sure which one that was.