Author's Note - Not super happy with this chapter, but it could have been worse.
Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece or any of the other fandoms from which names, places, abilities, or references are taken! Imaginary points to anyone who catches said references throughout the story and PM's them to me. Dunno if you'll get anything real, but i give sneak peaks and deleted scenes to my repeated reviewers, so it isn't unthinkable.
Chapter 12 - Warm Welcome
"Captain!? Are you alright?!" A man knelt beside the pirate captain, a finger on his pulse. The man roughed a mouthful of water down the side of his face, then drew a ragged breath. "He's alive!"
The crew cheered for their captain as he slowly sat up, holding his head in pain.
"What happened?" Nathaniel asked, looking around his crew.
"Grand Line weather. You got struck by lightning and fell right into the ocean. We barely got you out in time." The crew's doctor sat back and laughed. "Thought we hadn't, for a minute."
"So we failed... Damn!" Nathaniel jumped to his feet and stomped to the railing, glaring at the sea around him. He closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. "We need to get out of the calm belt. Do we have any idea where they went? The revolutionaries or the Phoenix?"
"The revolutionaries headed back to Paradise, I believe. We lost track of the others, I'm sorry captain." The doctor reported.
"It is no matter. We'll find them. I will have the Mera Mera no Mi. Blackbeard had the right idea. A man with the strongest Logia, Paramecia, and Zoan will be unstoppable. Marco is far too close, having a mythical Zoan and the power of fire." Nathaniel ground his teeth. "And we never recovered the darkness fruit or the quake fruit."
"If you do find the darkness fruit, you can not have the fire fruit as well. Which will you choose?"
"I fear the darkness fruit is lost. I will take whichever I acquire first." Nathaniel turned to his crew. "I have the world's most powerful zoan ability! The great power of fire will be mine soon enough! Now, I just need the paramecia of the Pirate King! Go to Loguetown and bring me the Gomu Gomu no Mi!"
"No luck?" Soul contained a laugh as his captain and the navigator appeared on the deck, covered in scratches and leaves from head to toe.
"None. Apparently even the people hiding the poneglyphs didn't want to fight through that particular corner of the jungle." Kuina plucked a wad of greenery from her hair. "Apparently the name Monkey isn't just for show. How did you get out of there without looking like a tree molested you?"
"I just walked without tripping over every vine in the jungle." Ace grinned at her as he brushed some of the plant matter from her back. "You make a cute tree."
"Thanks." She sits down on a chair on the deck, stripping her shirt off and shaking a small pile of leaves out of it. She groaned and lay back in her chair, ignoring the stare her bathing suit attracted from her captain. "So, there are no other poneglyphs on Jaya. How do we get to Skypiea?"
"The Summit of High West was written in the logs... Is there an island to the west of here?" Ace asked.
"Yeah, it's out of line with this route or the next route over through Paradise. That must be it. We'll have no trouble finding it if the location is recorded correctly." Soul said. "Want me to set the course, since our navigator is recovering from your little field trip?"
"Yeah, take care of it. I'm going to see if I can dig up any more information on this place." Ace walked to the library, but stopped and looked at the board leaning against the mast. "Nice job, Cora." The center of the board was nearly destroyed from dozens of knife holes. She smiled proudly.
"Thanks, Ace!" The girl said, tossing a knife into the board, landing it perfectly in the center.
"Show off." Soul teased, throwing his own knife next to hers.
Cora stuck out her tongue and threw another knife, harder than before. It slammed into the board directly between the first two hard enough to knock Soul's loose.
Soul rolled his eyes and left the deck to set their course, while Kuina relaxed in her deck chair. A few moments later, her twin jumped to the deck with the cook.
"We're back! Cora, you and Soul can go back out now if you want!" Olivia was smiling brightly and had a pile of books in her arms. As she walked past, she dropped one on her sister's lap. Kuina cracked an eyelid and looked at the book, smiling at her sister when she realized what it was. The Swordsman's Daughter. Their mother had read it to them once when they were very young, and it had always been Kuina's favorite.
"Thanks, Liv." Kuina immediately opened the book and began reading, remembering her mothers voice as she had heard it years before.
It took them a full day to reach the small island they had made their destination.
The fog was too thick to see more than a few yards in any direction. Once they had jumped to shore, Kuina began taking notes to improve navigation around the island. She planed to continue fulfilling her mentor's dream where she could.
"I think I see something over there!" Roger ran a few feet ahead and pointed off toward the center of the island where the fog was thickest. "It looks like a tower."
When the rest of the crew caught up to him, they could see a dense white pillar, many yards wide, stretching all the way up to the sky. When they moved closer, they could see that it was a spiraling ribbon of thick cloud.
"Soul, can your Striker make it up this? Check it out, but don't go too far without the rest of us." Ace said to his first mate. The shipwright nodded and approached the end of the ribbon, pulling the Striker out of nowhere and experimentally propelling himself up the incline as smoothly as over level water.
"We can travel up it, but we won't all fit on the Striker. Let's go back to the ship and I'll get to work making us all wavers to take up." Soul reported back to his captain.
"I agree. Kuina, let's check out the rest of the island for your notes while he works on that. Roger, Olivia, make sure we have supplies for at least a few days. We don't know what may happen up there, but I feel like taking the whole ship would be a bad idea." Ace ordered. The crew nodded, except for Cora, who stood awkwardly, wondering what to do.
"W-what about me? Is there anything I can do to help?" Cora asked, looking around her.
"Keep practicing with those knives. Throw them while moving. Throw them from farther away. Throw more than one at a time. It has been twenty years since anyone has been to Skypiea, so we have no idea what to expect. Until we find a sniper, your knives are the only ranged defense we have, and sky warfare is specialized for hand to hand." Ace directed her. Then he called to the others. "That goes for all of you. As soon as you finish your duties, practice. Be ready for anything."
"Sabo! One of the scouts spotted the Black Wing Pirates crossing into Paradise!" Coby shouted to his leader. The blonde man turned to his commander in surprise and motioned for him to join him on the upper deck.
"How long ago?" Sabo asked.
"Almost a week. We have no idea where they were heading, but we're pretty sure it is a plan to attack either you or Ace." Coby reported.
"This is bad... They could be at Jaya in only a few days. We need to get back there now. The Straw Hat Pirates arrived there two weeks ago, but I have heard no word that they have arrived anywhere else. We have to assume they are still there. Coby, send word to Helmeppo to bring any forces still stationed near Alabasta and meet us near Jaya. We'll draw more trouble than anything else right now."
"Yes, sir." Coby rushed off to deliver the message as Sabo pushed his will into the air around him, causing the wind to being building, pushing their sails toward Jaya. Koala was standing beside him without warning.
"Are you sure they can't handle this?" She asked, looking at him with some concern. "We aren't supposed to stop them from getting stronger at any point along their journey."
"I know... But this man is strong. He was able to go up against Marco as an equal, and I don't think Ace and his crew are ready for that yet. We will wait and see though." Sabo sighed. "I don't want to let down Luffy..."
"I know. You won't." Koala nudged his shoulder affectionately, then left to instruct a class of their newest recruits.
The Straw Hat pirates spent longer than anticipated training for their journey into the sky. After several days, Soul nearly had the wavers ready. Ace had decided it would be better to take plenty of time to prepare. They all needed to become stronger. When his father had made this journey, he had seven people on his crew, not six, and they had been much stronger than they were.
He and Kuina had explored the island thoroughly, discovering several caves that could provide shelter if necessary. There was evidence of travelers who had failed to survive the trip into the sky as well. Crashed ships, skeletons, shattered dials. It made Ace even more determined to wait until his crew was ready before venturing upward.
"Alright, that is the last one!" Soul grinned as he inspected the fifth waiver he had built from scratch. He had harvested what he could from the wreckage on the island, and built the rest from supplies on the ship.
"Good timing, dinner's ready!" Roger called from the kitchen. The crew was relieved to turn away from their tasks and gather around the table.
It had been eleven days since they had landed, and in that time they had rarely taken a break.
Cora had become very skillful with her knives, and now felt comfortable taking apples off of her nakama's heads. She had started with Ace, since his haki would allow him to protect himself if she had failed. After three days of practicing like this, and never once missing a throw, the others were content to help her practice as well. Roger would throw apples to Soul and they would arrive cut in fourths by the musician. The twins could set up targets in a closed room and jump Cora inside, where she could locate and hit each target faster than the twins could call them out.
Roger had begun practicing with Soul, much to Olivia's dismay. She would spend their sessions sitting tensed on the upper railing, waiting to rush in an save the cook in case the shipwright slipped. It never became necessary as the red head improved to the point he could occasionally make an offensive strike. As much as he improved through, he could never break through Soul's defense.
Soul only took breaks from his task to eat and spar, spending the rest of his time in the workshop or on the island, designing and assembling waivers for his nakama. Each one was personalized to the person who would be riding it. Ace's was simple, with a hook between the handles to hold his hat. Kuina's had points to attach her navigational equipment so her maps would not be blown out of sight in the wind. Olivia's had a compartment for her medical equipment as well as a slot to hold a book. Roger's had a sheath for his sword and storage for a few meals to distribute to his nakama when necessary. Cora's had slots in various locations so that no matter what position she was in, she could always reach a knife.
Kuina had added detail to the map of the island Nami had left for her, as well as compiling all of her research from their library on the road to Skypiea. She and Olivia had been practicing their jumping ability as well, each now able to transport the entire crew at once if they could touch them. Cora particularly enjoyed their ability and the rush of suddenly being in a different place.
Ace was never still. He sparred with every member of the crew, as well as his own training, driving himself to be stronger every day. He was determined to protect his crew, and to surpass even his father's crew. Now, after almost two weeks of waiting and preparing, it was time to go into the sky.
"Alright, everyone, Soul has explained how to work your waivers. We're going to take it slow at first. Once all of us are comfortable riding these, Soul will take the lead and I will bring up the rear. Don't let your guard down at any time. Just because you can't see past the clouds doesn't mean there's not an enemy waiting behind them. You are all to remain armed and move in pairs. The ship has been docked on the far side of the island and camouflaged as well as we could manage. We don't know how long we'll be up there, so go easy on our rations until we know if there is another source of food and water. Let's go!" Ace turned and led the way to the foot of the spiral pathway, his crew following.
They started rough. Cora took to the waiver like a bird to air, but Roger found ever more creative ways to loose control of the vehicle. Soul gave in and modified his design, adding a wider base and heavier balance, causing the waiver to respond slower, but making it much easier to control. Kuina and Olivia took an hour to get the hang of the new mode of transportation, but were finally able to keep pace with their captain and first mate.
After their morning of practice, they were only a few hundred yards up the ribbon. They made camp near the center of the strip, hoping no one would fall over the edge in the night. They found it impossible to create a fire on the solid clouds beneath them and settled for eating cold food Roger had prepared before.
Soul was keeping watch when Cora sat up and hugged her knees to her chest, looking out into the for surrounding them. He walked over and sat next to her.
"Are you alright?" He asked, offering her a bite of the apple he was eating. She shook her head and sighed.
"I'm partnered with Roger this time. I thought I would be working with you from now on. Did I do something wrong?" Cora looked at him and he laughed. He stopped when he noticed it had made her look even more defeated.
"No, of course not. Down on Jaya he had us paired with the thought of getting back to the ship in mind, so he split the twins. This time he paired us up to fight. My style of fighting is very hard to pair up with, but with his observation haki he can fight by my side safely. The twins can all but read each others minds, so they fight really well together. You and Roger both have very predictable fighting styles, but he has close quarters and you have range, so you will be able to fight well together. You see? Ace wants us to be as strong as possible, and he thinks you will be the strongest fighting with Roger." Soul explained her new assignment and she nodded her understanding, smiling slightly and relaxing.
"Okay, I'm glad. I thought you hated having me as a partner and had him stick me with someone else. I'm sorry, I guess that was stupid. I'm still not used to being around other people." Cora stretched her legs out and fell back on the cloud. "You should bring some of this stuff to make beds out of on the ship!"
"I wish. According to our research, this solid cloud can't remain solid at the atmospheric pressure in the Grand Line, only up in the sky. This pathway is unique in that respect, but it may be because of the fog. This island may have a specifically lower pressure that allowed this path to form. Or it may be a type of cloud that can survive a higher pressure, in which case I'll see what I can do." Soul smiled at her and patted her shoulder before standing. He walked over to Roger and nudged him gently awake. "Hey, your watch. You've got till morning."
"Alright. Good night." Roger yawned and sat up, blinking drowsily in the darkness before standing and stretching. He usually got the morning watch because he could then cook breakfast, but he usually had Olivia to keep him company. Ace wanted as many well rested bodies as possible at all times on this journey.
Soul walked back over to the musician and stretched out on the clouds beside her, pulling a thick blanket from nowhere and stretching it over her as well.
"My power does have its uses." He grinned and closed his eyes, exhausted from the day of teaching the crew to ride waivers. Cora blushed and rolled onto her side, her back to the shipwright.
"We're off course, captain." One of the pirates said, looking at his log pose. "Did you change our destination?"
"I did. Did you ever wonder how Straw Hat Luffy and his allies were always able to meet at sea in the Grand Line? Navigating to a place besides an island with a magnetic field to lock to is impossible. I think their shipwright created a new kind of eternal pose that is paired with others of it's kind. That New World pose we stole from the Dark King? The one that never worked? It had one needle pointing to Marco's ship, one pointing toward Shanks' ship, and the other pointing toward paradise. I'd bet it points to Straw Hat and his crew, so that is where we're going." Nathaniel grinned and held up the device, showing the third needle pointing dead ahead.
"That's brilliant! Why doesn't the Revolutionary Army have one, though?" The man asked his captain.
"I think they do, but each one only points to the Straw Hat crew and two others. No single pose will track down all of their allies. It is a clever defense. Issue a pose to each of his allies so they can all find him, and they could all come together in agreement, but no single one could find everyone else. Their shipwright truly was a genius. After we're through with Straw Hat, we should go to Water 7 and either recruit or kill him. No reason to leave a valuable resource like that laying around."
"Yes, we need to visit a good shipwright anyway. The ship is in rough condition after that storm."
"It will hold up until we finish off this young pirate. We may just take their ship. I hear it is a work of art." Nathaniel checked the log pose and adjusted their course slightly to keep on track. "Go make sure our guest is still alive. We get 65,000,000 beli if we turn him in to the government dead or alive, but we get 117,000,000 beli if we return him to his parents alive. I'd prefer the ransom to the bounty, if it can be done without too much trouble."
"Yes sir!" The man grinned and went below deck to ensure their cargo was still breathing. Maybe he'd kick him a few times, just to be sure.
"Hey! Little Hawk! You still alive in there?!" He smirked through the bars at the pile of rags that shifted at his shouts. "Good! Your worth nearly twice as much alive, you know!"
"I'd pay you the difference to kill me now. Do you know how hard it was to run away once? I really don't want to go back. Still nothing more useful to do than chat with me, Little Brain?" The prisoner shifted and fixed his unnerving gaze on the man who had come to harass him nearly every day.
"Oh, I'd take you back to your parents even if the ransom was lower, just to see you miserable! They only said you had to be alive. I can still cut out those eyes of yours, so behave!" The pirate kicked the cell door before walking away. The boy's eyes still scared him. He knew how his father had earned the nick name Hawk Eye.
"Can I know your real name, Little Brain? I'd like a little hint when I come after you someday!" The boy grinned at the retreating back, eyes still fixed on the pirate.
"You wouldn't stand a chance, Little Hawk. But go ahead. Try and find me, so I can turn you in for another ransom. My name is Valkon James, first mate of the Black Wing Pirates." He could help but rise to the bait. He would curse himself later.
"Valkon James. Well, Jim. Watch your back. Dracule Steel will remember your name, and you should remember mine." The boy laughed as the pirate left the cell block, leaving him alone again. As soon as he was alone, he turned back to his work, using a broken piece of bone to slowly twist the screws holding his cell wall on out of the wood frame. He'd be free in a matter of days, then they would see, he was not so helpless after all.
"We're nearly there. Leave the waivers out of sight on the ribbon, we'll go in on foot. Stay with your partner. Weapons away, but ready. We don't want to start a fight, but we want to be ready if they do." Ace led his crew up the last few yards of the ribbon. It had taken them most of the day of solid travel to finally make it to the top, and they weren't completely sure they were actually at the top yet. He had sensed other people with his haki and decided it was time to stop their advance.
Cora was no longer worried about standing at Roger's side. Now that she knew she had been paired with him because of fighting ability, not because she was a punishment to be passed around to whoever deserved it most, she was happy to work with him.
"There are a lot of people ahead, Ace." Soul was standing quietly, head tilted as he listened to the sounds of a large crowd. "I don't think they want to fight..."
As they finally stepped out of the spiral pathway and into the fog free air at the Summit of High West, the Straw Hat Crew was greeted by the cheers of hundreds of men, women, and children.
"That's unexpected..." Roger stared around, taking in the enormous crowd that had gathered to welcome them.
"But not unwelcome." Olivia walked past him, grinning at his surprised expression. "Come on, it's rude to keep them waiting!"
Noticing that Ace and Soul had moved apart and Kuina had joined the captain to speak with the Skypieans, Cora moved closer to Soul, looking to him for guidance.
"What's going on?" She looked up at him, more than a little confused by the sudden drop in tension around her.
"They knew we were coming, and they think of Ace's father as a hero and a great friend of their people. Which is good, because they had us outnumbered by a lot. We'd have had a hard time if it came to a fight." Soul gestured toward Ace. "Let's go meet the people in charge."
As they approached, the man Ace was speaking to turned toward them and spread his arms in welcome.
"I am Wiper, chief of the Shandians, and leader of Skypiea. You are our honored guests." The man was tall and muscular, with intricate tattoos covering part of his face and arm. "Kamakiri will show you a place to stay, then you will be allowed to take a tour of Skypiea."
"We are grateful, Wiper. We weren't sure what to expect when we arrived, and we could all use the chance to relax." Ace was smiling excitedly, no doubt forcing himself to hold back questions about his father and the poneglyphs.
"Your father freed us from the tyranny of a vengeful god and helped bring peace between Shandia and Skypiea. There is little I would deny his son." Wiper bowed to the pirate captain, and the crowd around followed his lead. When he straightened, he motioned for one of the men at his side to lead them off.
They were shown to a large but not extravagant mansion where they each were allowed their own room. The twins chose to share. Cora was delighted to find they made the beds from the soft cloud she adored. Once they had settled in, the man returned with a woman at his side to take them out to see the city.
Olivia and Kuina were fascinated by the magnificent city, inspecting the archetecture and asking a constant stream of questions from their guides.
The man, Kamakiri, seemed to know more about the city, but the woman who they learned was called Laki was much more interested in the visitors. Between them, there was not a moment of silence as questions passed back and forth between guides and tourists.
"Callan, return their belongings now!" Laki crossed her arms and fixed a passing man with a stern look. He was the same age as Roger, only he had dark brown hair cut short and spiky. He grinned and unloaded his pockets, returning food, money, books, and paper to the group of pirates. "These are honored guests, so behave yourself! Have you finished your lessons for today?"
"Yeah Mom. Aisa gave me the rest of the day off. And I would have given it back, I just wanted to see if I could do it." The man didn't look remotely apologetic as he shrugged to his mother. She sighed and waved him off.
"He is a handful, sometimes." Kamakiri laughs as he explains to the pirates. "He has the most developed mantra of anyone our people have seen since Laki's cousin Aisa, and he likes to use it to get in trouble. He's stolen something from almost every person on this cloud, although he almost always returns it."
"I can understand that. I get into quite a bit of trouble myself." Ace looks back at the retreating back of the thief and calls out to him. "There is room on my crew for a thief, as long as they can teach mantra!" Callan stopped walking and looked back, one eyebrow raised.
"You don't know anything about me. Why would you offer to let me join your crew?"
"You don't know anything about me, either. Why are you considering it?" Ace grinned.
"We'll see." Callan laughed as he left them.
"Would you allow him to join us? I can use mantra well enough, but I am not a master, and I need someone to teach my crew. He is skilled, and I can teach him to fight. He would be able to put his trouble making to good use." Ace spoke to Kamakiri and Laki. The man spoke.
"It is his choice, but I would be proud for my son to follow the son of a hero like Luffy."
"I agree. We have been at peace for years, and he has the blood of warriors. We named him after one of Wiper's fiercest ancestors and his closest friend. Calgara and Norlan. He is very much like Wiper. If he had the opportunity to fight for something he believed in, I think he would rise to the challenge." Laki smiled, turning toward the town. "Well, you have seen all we have to show you. You can explore the city to your heart's content, and tomorrow Wiper will take you to the ruins of Shandora to see the poneglyphs."
"Thank you both for your hospitality. It was very nice to meet you!" Kuina waved goodbye to the two Shandians and the turned to Ace. "The city is all well and good, but you've kept us tense for the past two weeks. I want to sleep the rest of the day and all night on one of those cloud beds."
"Me too." Olivia was at her sister's side in an instant. Roger nodded his agreement, followed by the others.
"Alright, let's head back and take advantage of a good night's rest." Ace gave in.
The crew of pirates returned to the mansion and found their rooms. They didn't stir until the next day when their hosts came to wake them. They ate a large meal that Roger dissected and determined he could make as long as he brought some supplies down with them, and then they were on their way to the ruins. This time, Callan joined them.
Wiper smirked at their looks of astonishment when they finally came into sight of the city of gold.
"The first set of symbols is in the center. The archaeologist Nico Robin was not sure that it is a poneglyph, or just similar to one." Wiper pointed to the carved wall ahead of them. The twins ran to it and immediately began inspecting it, writing down every symbol and examining the surrounding stone.
"There is writing on the other side." Ace and Callan spoke together, then looked at each other. The rest of the group was surprised by the sudden words.
"What makes you think that?" Kuina looked back at her captain, hands already searching for a way to the other side.
"Poneglyphs are square, from the top. The stone walls are probably of uniform thickness, and I can feel a space behind the block with my haki. You feel the same with mantra, don't you?" Ace looked to Callan, who nodded. "I think there is enough room for you to jump inside. Take a torch, and be careful."
Olivia lit a torch and walked around the structure, carefully judging the exact position she wanted to jump to. Deciding on the right location, she vanished. They heard three sharp knocks from inside the stone. She had made it safely. After several minutes, she reappeared, grinning widely.
"They were right! It is definitely a poneglyph!" Olivia handed her paper to her sister, most of it translated already, and Kuina quickly filling in the blanks.
The government fears the rise of the fourth, and will strike out against it when it is discovered. The one with the will of the fourth will lead the way to the place of the king, wearing his crown. He will slay the gods to reclaim one who was lost, and the world will finally know freedom.
"Any idea what that means?" Soul asks, reading the short passage over his captain's shoulder.
"The fourth... I'm sure it has something to do with the fourth kind of devil's fruit... We'll keep looking. More information will turn up. Perhaps other poneglyphs have hidden passages like this one." Ace turned to Wiper. "Can you take us to the other one?"
"Yes. It is set in the base of the golden bell." Wiper led them to the bell that was once called the Fire of Shandora. After a thorough inspection, the twins determined there was no hidden passage. They copied down the symbols that they knew from their mother described the ancient weapon Poseidon.
"Can you tell me what you remember of my father?" Ace asked Wiper on their way back from the gold city.
"He was like no one I have met before or since. Loyal and devoted to his crew, and strong beyond imagining. I watched him topple a god where no one else could lay a finger on him." Wiper grinned as he remembered hearing the great bell ring for the first time in his life. "He acted on instinct, and it always seemed to work out. You look just like him."
"I wish I could have met him. I hope to live up to his memory." Ace said, imagining the pirate king fighting a man of lightning.
The pirates spent the evening swapping stories with their hosts, enjoying the history of the sky island as well as tales about the pirate king and his crew. They told their own stories about the few battles they had been in, as well as the adventures they had been told about by their parents.
"I'll go with you." Callan said to Ace as he was leaving. "I'll go with you and teach your crew mantra."
"Thank you. I'm honored to have you join us." Ace nodded to the man and went to his room. The next day they would depart down the spiral, and the Shandian would see the lower world for the first time in his life.
The names of the warlord at Loguetown and this fourth emperor are taken from the effective Pirate King in Treasure Planet, Captain Nathaniel Flint. Imaginary Points to anyone who figured that out!
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