*sigh* It's nice to have peace. Of everything in the world, peace is best. *drinks tea and sighs*. Now then, let's see how Xion is doing. *Clicks remote and reveals a struggling Xion in a sunny forest* Whoops, wrong button. The story Xion. Let's get started~
*OPENING*
Let's fly to the sky
(The sun rises as Merry sails across the ocean)
There's not a single cloud in the sky
(All the current Straw Hats watched the sun rises, Luffy on the figurehead)
Let's fly to the sky. (It's time to fly around) Catch the perfect breeze for you
(The camera faces the sky as the title appears on the screen)
Paint the sky with (Let's go to the wonder world) imagination that no one's ever seen
(Camera faces back to the Going Merry as everyone went on with their peaceful business)
OH! OH! Even if it's too dazzling (Come on)
(Xion looked up and saw Marines ahead of them and warned everyone)
OH! OH! under the sun
(They all prepared themselves for battle. Marines fired cannon balls at them)
OH! OH! If it's you, you can make it! Throw away your pride and FLY!
(Luffy, Zoro and Sanji sent the cannons back at them. Usopp fired a cannon of their own with Xion, in her Wisdom Form, unleashed Triple Firaga at them, followed by a Thundaga, clearing their path)
Everyday is plain!
Real talent makes the world go round
(Going Merry sailed through the smoke. Everyone looked content as they enjoyed the sea breeze)
Deceit won't work anymore.
(Scene changed to Jaya in Mock Town, as camera faced each of the Blackbeard Pirates.)
Mayday, the red light is stopping you too
(Scene changed to Cricket's home, showing Cricket with Masira and Shojo side by side.)
Lend me an ear! And I'm gonna stick on my RAP! Wussup!
(Guthrie fights against some pirates and Heartless. One tried to sneak up on him and Chirithy knocked it away.)
"From tomorrow on I'll get serious!"- seriously cut it out with excuses like that
(Allen danced as he dodged the attacks of the pirates and attacked them at the same time)
Increase your money with your dream! Time is money like NASDAQ!
(The Straw Hats looked at Cricket's gold and searched for the South Bird)
When will you do it boy? It's now or never man! This is the moment, right?
(The crew then arrived at the Knock Up Stream and went to the skies.)
Everybody put ya hands in the air and clap ya hands like this like that
Clap ya hands everybody! Everybody just clap ya hands!
(Scenes quickly changed to different scenes. Xion and Guthrie crossed blades, Luffy's one-hit KO on Bellamy, the group trying to catch the South Bird, then finally their first encounter with the Shandia Warriors)
Let's fly to the sky (It's time to fly around) Catch the perfect breeze for you
(The Straw Hat Pirates arrived on Skypiea and were approached by the White Berets and fought them)
Paint the sky with (Let's go to the wonder world) imagination that no one's ever seen
(Scene changed to the group in the Upper Yard fighting against Heartless, Shandians and Priests)
OH! OH! Even if it's too dazzling (Come on)
(Scene changed to Xion fighting against a blonde Organization XIII member with knives and lightning magic)
OH! OH! under the sun
(Changed to Guthrie and Allen teaming up against the Nobodies)
OH! OH! If it's you, you can make it! Throw away your pride and FLY!
(Changed to Luffy battling Enel. In a flash of light, opening ends with all of Straw Hats on Merry, facing the camera)
Last time:
"I see! You guys came from the East Blue, huh?!" Masira asked.
"Yeah! But really, you look just like a monkey!" Luffy replied.
"Quit complimenting me!" Although it should've been an insult, for some reason, Masira took it as a compliment. Saying something like being a monkey means being handsome.
All of a sudden, everything went dark.
*MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE SURFACE**GENERAL'S P.O.V*
As the two crew wondered what was going on under water, something big was swimming up to the surface. Well, big would be an understatement, for a HUGE turtle emerged from the water. The creature was so big, the ships were about the width of its flipper. Width, not length.
"WHAT IS THAT?! WHAT IS IT?!" Nami screamed. "What is that thing?! What is it?! A continent?!"
"I don't know! I don't know! I don't see a thing! Not one thing!" Usopp exclaimed, covering his eyes. "This is a dream!"
"A dream?! Really?!" Chopper asked.
As if it was the solution to all their problems, the scaredy-cat trio sighed in relief. "Ah... Thank goodness it's only a dream," they said.
Just as they walked away, the one other and last person on Going Merry with them said, "Oh my..." They stopped in their tracks at her voice. "Those four were all eaten along with the ship."
"DON'T SAY IT!" Usopp shouted at Robin.
As the huge turtle before them continued to chew on the boat, as Robin stated, she continued her observation, ignoring Usopp and Chopper's expressions telling her to stop talking. "Their air hoses are coming out of its mouth. I say that decides it."
"XION-NEE AND THE OTHERS HAVE BEEN EATEN!" Chopper cried out, running all over the ship.
"THIS IS ALL YOU'RE FAULT!" Usopp accused Nami. "You made them go to the bottom of the Grand Line! You said it would be okay even though you had no prrof and now they're-!"
"You're right," she admitted, cutting him off. Looked up at the turtle's mouth, where their devoured comrades are, she raised a hand to her mouth and casually shouted, "Sorry!"
Hearing something so simple made Usopp collapse. "That's almost it... but not quite right..."
The next thing they knew, the turtle decided to move. As it did, it dragged the air hoses that was still attached to the Going Merry.
"We'll be helpless unless we cut the air hoses," Robin pointed out calmly. "It's going to drag the ship underwater."
That made Usopp and Chopper panic again.
"Robin, you're strong right?! Do something!" the sniper begged.
"I can't. It's too big," she calmly reasoned, as the giant turtle began to pull the Going Merry and the Masira Pirates' ship.
"Okay boys! Reel in the ropes and save the Boss!" one of the latter pirates shouted. "The pride and honor of the Masira Pirates depend on it! The Boss is still alive!" At that, the group actually reeled themselves closer to the turtle in an attempt to save their captain.
Usopp watched them and steeled up some courage himself. "That's right. This is a time when the crew's loyalty is put to the test!"
"Usopp!" Nami called.
The sniper had a feeling she was thinking the same way he was. "Yeah!"
Unfortunately... "Cut the lines and take us to safety!"
"You're a devil!"
"A devil!" Chopper agreed with the sniper.
All of a sudden, the sky turned dark.
"What the-?! What's going on?!" Usopp asked.
Chopper looked up, shocked at what had just transpired. "It just turned dark!"
Nami looked at the time on her pocket watch. "That's impossible. It's not even the evening."
"THEN WHAT IS IT?!" Usopp demanded. "LUFFY! ZORO! SANJI! XION!"
Unknown to them, the air hose on their ships seemed to loosened up at bit.
"A bad omen! Sudden nightfall is a sign that monsters will appear, Captain!" one of the Masira pirates shouted. "The ship's gonna sink!"
"Hurry up and reel in the Boss!" the captain of their ship ordered.
All of a sudden, something leapt out of the water. Rather, it was thrown out. The Straw Hat Pirates looked up and saw it was their captain, tied up in a sack, that emerged as he fell onto the ship.
Nami approached the rubberman and slapped him silly. "Luffy! What's wrong?! Are you dead?!"
The heard the sound of more feet landing on their ship and looked to see- "Zoro! Sanji! Xion!"
Indeed, it was the chef, swordsman and Keyblade wielder who also landed on Going Merry, as was the latter's Dream Eater. All four were panting and each human were carrying a sack.
"Set sail! We have to get away from here!" Zoro warned.
"That guy's trouble!" Sanji said.
"I'm so glad you're all alive!" Usopp exclaimed in relief.
"Xion-nee!" Chopper leapt into his sister's free arm.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Chopper-kun," she apologized.
As nice of a reunion it was, Usopp had remembered their current situation. "Oh right! Let's get away from that turtle!"
Hearing that confused the four. Torpedo looked behind and stared and gaped in shock.
"A turtle? No, there was a monkey in the ocean," Zoro corrected.
"Must be some kind of sea monster," Sanji guessed.
"He and Luffy became fast friends..." Xion continued.
"They're both monkeys!"
"After we picked up this stuff from that ship, he started rampaging."
"Like a gorilla!"
"That weirdo's Masira, a salvager!" Usopp told the three. "But it's amazing you escaped from the turtle's mouth!"
"Turtle? What turtle?" they asked.
Xion looked behind them and saw what their sniper meant.
Usopp noticed something odd about the turtle. "Huh? The turtle's acting weird... It's just staring with its mouth wide open. That's how you guys escaped!"
The three let out a loud gasp.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Sanji asked.
"NOTICE THESE THINGS!" Usopp shouted. "That thing ate you along with the whole ship!"
"You think we would know if we were being eaten?!" Xion demanded. "We jumped off beforehand! Ugh! In any case, let's get away from here!"
"Aye!" they all agreed.
As they were about to get to work, a certain captain of their's decided to finally wake up. "Huh? How come it's nighttime?" he asked.
"Luffy! Come help!" Zoro shouted.
This time, something actually did leap out of the water. "HOLD IT! YOU GUYS!" Masira landed on the side of the ship, as the Straw Hat Pirates stared at the newcomer. "You guys better not think you'll get away with barging onto Masira-sama's turf and stealing treasure!"
Nami perked up at the sound of one little word. "Teasure?! You found treasure?"
Luffy giggled and answered, "Yeah! There were ton!"
'This is bad,' Zoro thought. 'If he starts rampaging on the ship...'
Everyone prepared themselves for the worse. As they did, Xion heard something.
'Oh... My... God...' She looked over to the huge turtle and noticed how it was staring at something, jaw dropped. She looked at where she was looking and her eyes widened in great shock. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, hoping she was imagining things, only to see them still there.
"Xion-nee, what's wrong?" Chopper asked. His question brought attention to the rest of their crew as they saw their First Mate seemingly pale.
All Xion could do was shakily raise an arm and point at what was ahead of them.
Everyone looked at where they were looking and were all in the same condition as Xion, the turtle, and the Masira Pirates.
Before them... were shadows much bigger than the turtle. In fact they were bigger than giants, and they met giants. No, if anything, they were big enough to even reach the clouds.
"MONSTERS!" Luffy and Masira cried out, as one of the shadows raised a spear-like weapon.
In a flash, Xion and the boys grabbed out the oars and rowed away, causing Merry to swim as fast as a rocket. Soon enough, they were back in the sunlight away from the shadowy figures.
"That couldn't have been real..." Zoro breathed.
"Those things... were too huge to be real..." Usopp whimpered.
Sanji lit a cigarette. "Man, the Grand Line is just a big parade of one mysterious thing after another..."
"No kidding," Xion agreed, hugging Chopper and Torpedo. "First a giant galleon fell down on us."
"The Log Pose's needle points up to the sky..." Nami continued.
"Some weird monkey comes and raises the ship..." Usopp added on.
"But then a giant turtle comes and gobbles up the ship," Chopper pointed out.
"Night falls," Robin kept listing.
"And then giant monsters a hundred times bigger than the Giants appeared!" Luffy ended.
"Yeah, that sure was scary, I can tell you," Masira commented.
Everyone relaxed for a while, trying to forget about the shadowy figures. As they did so, they realized the trespasser on their ship.
"GET OFF!" Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Xion shouted, kicking Masira off their ship. Literally.
A little while later, the Going Merry smoothly sailed across the Grand Line. As they sailed, Xion, Torpedo and the Monster Trio revealed what they hauled up. The boys brought nothing but armor, weapons and cooking pots, while Xion revealed a few old books and a couple seashells. As Nami scolded the boys for bringing nothing but trash, Xion tried looking through the books to see if there was anything useful, only to find nothing.
'There's nothing here about Sky Island. Even in the log book,' she thought. Xion then looked up and saw Torpedo trying to hand her one of the seashells. 'I know I have a seashell necklace, but you didn't have to find me more seashells. I'm not a collector.'
"Xion! Are you listening?!" Nami called. The raven-haired teen looked up at her name being called and saw the navigator looking down at her. "Please tell me there's something in those books that tells us how to get to the sky."
"I checked them all, but there's nothing about how to get the the sky. Even the log book had nothing," she said.
Nami sighed at the information. "Even though you were the only one who actually brought back something we need, none of them had anything... And also, what's with the seashells?"
"How should I know? Torpedo just dumped them in the sack while I was collecting the books." Xion looked down and saw the Fin Fatale still giving her the objects. She sighed and just took them from its mouth. "Sometimes I wish there was a translator for Dream Eaters. Chopper-kun and I can only understand animals."
"That would be nice." Nami looked at Luffy, who approached her with a worn armor and sword. "And what is that, Luffy?"
"Armor," he simply answered.
A second later, Nami hit the boy hard. Enough to destroy the armor as well.
"She smashed the armor!" Zoro shouted in shock.
"Look, Nami-san! I brought you some pretty shells!" Sanji tried to swoon, as usual.
"I don't want them, you dork!" Nami said as she and Xion, who returned Torpedo back in his card, walked to upper deck.
"Nami-san's so cute when she's angry~!"
"Give it up. You should just stay away from her," Usopp tried to advise.
"Having a rough time?" Robin asked from the railing.
"It's only gonna get rougher," the navigator answered.
"Well, we are surrounded by idiots," Xion reasoned. "Even the log book said nothing about how to get to Sky Island, so we're sitting duck."
Robin handed Nami something. "Here."
Both girls looked at it in slight shock. "Huh? An Eternal Pose?" Nami asked.
"When did you...?" Xion tried to question.
"I took it from that monkey's ship... just in case," the older woman answered. She then noticed the two girls trembling.
"Us girls really need to stick together after all..." the Keyblade wielder stated, Nami nodding in agreement.
From the background, Robin can see why they would say such a thing, since Luffy was more eager to have takoyaki for dinner rather than do something that can actually help them find clues about getting to Sky Island.
"Things certainly are stressful for you two," she pitied.
Nami read the name on the pose. "Jaya? This must be their headquarters."
"Jaya? We're going there?" Luffy asked, eating some takoyaki.
"That's something you decide on!"
'I've a bad feeling about what comes next,' Xion thought, going to the back to train in peace.
As she had predicted, Luffy decided to have the ship head to Jaya. Usopp pointed out that the Log Pose would change course if they did that. Luffy realized that it was true and questioned Nami. After a bit of bickering, in the end, the group were on their way to Jaya.
*XION'S P.O.V*
As we continued sailing to Jaya, I couldn't help but be curious of the shells Torpedo gave me. Normally Dream Eaters would get excited for something if they found something odd or suspicious, or so Voice told me. For seashells? Especially fake ones?
As I took a closer look at the item, I found something off about it.
'Are these... holes? Really small... and no cracks?' I wondered. I looked on the other side and saw something odd about the apex. 'Is there... a line? And... is it just me, or does the apex feel a bit loose?' Curiosity got the best of me and I pressed the apex, which surprisingly enough went down. Another shocker...
"AYEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Literally... A shocker... The little seashell actually shocked me!
"Xion! What's wrong?!" I heard Nami asked, as she and everyone else ran to the back and saw me lying on the floor, slightly charred.
Breathing out a bit of smoke, I answered, "I think... I have proof sky island exists... Unless if it is common in the Grand Line..." I raised the shell in the air. Everyone looked at it in confusion.
"What's so special about the seashell?" Usopp asked, taking it from my hand.
"Press down the apex."
Not questioning my instructions, the sniper did as requested and ended up with the same fate as me. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" After the little light show was over, he collapsed on the floor like I did, more charred than me.
"Whoa! That's so cool! It's a Mystery Seashell!" Luffy excitedly called it.
"No it isn't!" everyone else, minus Robin, Usopp and me, denied.
After I healed myself, I get the shell out of Usopp's hand and showed it to the group. "So? Did any of you hear anything about seashells that does this in the Grand Line?" I asked, specifically to Robin, who had been here the longest out of all of us.
"No. I haven't seen anything like it actually," she replied.
"So then... that must mean it's from the sky island!" Nami said.
Hearing that made Luffy even more excited. "Woo-hoo! Yes! We have proof sky island exists~!"
"Well, that explains why Torpedo was so insistent in giving me these," I muttered, carefully feeling the other shells in my pocket.
Despite my mutter, Luffy heard what I said. "There are more?! Let's see what they all do!"
"NO!" We, minus Robin, including the recovered Usopp, hit the rubberman hard on the head.
"After what one of them did, I rather not have the ladies get hurt because of your curiosity!" Sanji said.
"And what would happen if one of them can explode?!" Usopp asked.
"We would sink!" Chopper answered and pointed out.
"We would do more than sinking," Zoro added.
"With that said, Luffy, I am going to lock these up," I declared.
The captain of the ship recovered and got back up on his feet. "What?! You can't do that! As captain, I refuse to have you lock them up! Show us what they can all do!"
"I could care less if you were a king! Think about the consequences if one of these were dangerous enough to destroy this ship or kill us! Plus, Torpedo found these and, considering he gave them to me, it would either mean they would be useful to us in the future or I have to keep these out of sight. Either way, I will decide what to do with these. In the mean time, you do whatever you want. But do not even think about trying to get to these!" With that being said, I walked to the girls' bedroom to put the shells in the safe.
'These will be pretty useful if I can't use my magic,' I thought. 'And it would also give me a reason to keep my black coat on.' After putting the shells away, I went to my training session in my Dive to the Heart.
In my dive, I was fighting off against some Pirates, Air Pirates, Barrel Spiders, Cannon Guns, Air Soldiers, and Aerial Vikings. Considering we will be heading to Sky Island, there might be enemies that can fly. Why do I assume there will be trouble? We're the Straw Hat Pirates; trouble is bound to find us.
"Strike Raid!" I tossed my Keyblade at the aerial Heartless. My weapon struck them all before returning to me, stunning them. I then noticed some of the ground Heartless running to me, prepared for attacks. "Confusion Strike!" I did a spin attack, pushing back my enemies. "Time to finish this. Critical Impact!" I was once again covered in bright gold aura as I attacked my weakened enemies. I ended the training by slamming my Keyblade down on the ground, sending shockwaves that destroyed the Heartless.
'You are getting better,' Voice commented.
"Only because I had a good teacher," I said.
'However, as good as this is, shouldn't you be focusing on your Wisdom Form?'
"True, but that doesn't mean I should be lacking in my attack power. Can't always rely on my magic. Besides, you let me decide what kind of training I should do."
'Which will now be a one-time thing, with that attitude.'
I chuckled a bit at those words. "I promise next time I train here, I will practice that form."
'Your words, not mine. Now, I believe your ship arrived on the island. Time for you to get some information, don't you think?'
I nodded at his words and returned to the real world.
By the time I returned, I noticed some of us were already missing. "Where is everyone?"
"Luffy, Zoro and Nami went to get information about the sky island," Usopp answered. "I think Robin went to get some information too."
I raised a brow at the last one. "You think?"
"She just disappeared," Chopper-kun explained.
I sighed at how silent and secretive our newest member seemed to be. "I should go look for some information too. I'll leave some of my Dream Eaters here to watch the ship. Is that okay with you?"
"Sure thing."
"If Xion-san is going then-"
Before the chef of our's could finish, I quickly told him, "Sanji, stay."
Like an obedient dog, a ladies-man of a dog at that, he happily obliged.
I then realized I haven't revived the two Dream Eaters I found. 'Might as well make their first line of duty be bodyguards,' I thought, taking out the new recipes and the ingredients. After I finished the ritual, a pair of Dream Eaters appeared before us.
They were known as Tatsu Steed and Tatsu Blaze. Both resembled seahorses, one blue and the other red. Both main bodies were either yellow-green or yellow-orange with the Dream Eater sigil on their chest.
"Steed, Blaze. You two stay on this ship and be on guard duty," I ordered. "I'll be in town for a bit. A small group of people might return. An idiot with a straw hat, a green-head swordsman, an uptight navigator and a calm, collected, mysterious woman." The two nodded and saluted in understanding.
"Did you really have to give them so much details?" Usopp asked.
"What would happen if they assume them to be enemies?" I asked back. The sniper agreed to that statement and went back to work on Merry.
"Xion-nee, don't get into too much trouble," Chopper-kun advised.
"I got it, bro." At that, I walked right into town.
*MEANWHILE**GENERAL'S P.O.V*
Robin looked around Mock Town, nearing a bar. 'I bet I could find some information if I go poking into here,' she thought to herself. 'By the looks of the townspeople, I might need to twist a few arms or break a few backs to get the info I need.'
As she was nearing the bar, there was a blast of wind in the alleyway nearby. A muscular man in a mask came pelting out of it, covered in bruises and scratches. The sight startled many of the people about the area and almost startled Robin. She watched as the man squinted back up into the alleyway with a snarl.
"Damn you, bastard…" he moaned. His head fell backwards, as he was losing the stamina to stay conscious.
Inside the alleyway, a shadowy figure sighed as something on his upper left arm shined. A coin shot out into the air from it. He caught it in his right hand, looked at it, and pocketed the coin.
"I told you already, Burgess. I'm not interested in joining your crew, so stop demanding fights against me," he said.
As he walked out, something in his left hand vanished in a gale of light. Robin watched as she saw a young man come out of the alleyway, looking down at the man he called Burgess with a calm expression.
He was maybe eighteen, though he did look a bit on the short side for his age. He had feathered blonde hair and green eyes, a silver earring on his right ear. He also had a lean, yet muscular and slightly tanned body, a dark blue and silver-lined sleeveless vest over light blue short-sleeved shirt, a yellow belt wrapped diagonally across his chest and around his waist, and light brown pants with black belts wrapped at the ankles, one of which held a dark blue and silver-stripped satchel. His shoes were blue with light blue stripes and definitely not a style Robin seen before. He also wore light blue fingerless gloves with white stripes round the wrists and a golden filigree vambrace on his left arm, with a topaz attached.
The young man looked down at Burgess, shaking his head at the sight of him. "Honestly, I just don't understand his problem..." he sighed. He looked up at the crowd watching him. "Shows over, people! I'm not looking for popularity!" he shouted. The people looked scared at how he beaten that muscular guy so easily and left before he decided to turn his strength on them. The young man turned, and saw Robin standing there, with a blank expression on her face. "New to this town?"
"Is it that easy to notice?" Robin question with a smile.
"Nah. I just know a lot of people here. Better watch your step. Lot of guys around here like to boast there strengths and pick fights for no good reason. I don't see what's the big deal about it. I've only been in town for a few days, though, and already, people like this guy..." He poked a thumb back at Burgess. "...want to show they are better than me."
"Well, don't you worry. I'm not here looking for a fight. I'm looking for information."
"Is that so? Well, maybe I can help you. Is there anything you're looking for?"
"Yes. I was hoping if anyone could tell me anything at all about the Sky Islands?" she asked.
"Sky Islands?" the young man questioned. "Well, I don't know anything about it, but I do know someone who does. An old guy by the name of Montblanc Cricket. I've been at his place on the other side of this island since I arrived here. The guy's better than anyone in this shabby old town. Got kicked out for being a big dreamer. But he has mentioned some things about the Sky Islands."
This was just the info that Robin had looked for. She smiled happily at the boy. "Thank you so much. You've been a big help."
The boy felt his heart skip a beat and blushed at how beautiful her smile was. "N-No problem. I'm always glad to help people out. Oh, maybe this will help you, as well." He dug into his satchel and pulled out a map. "This is a map of the island. The left is this town, Mock Town. Cricket's place is on the 'x'. If you see Cricket, tell him Guthrie sent you his way. He knows me, so I'm sure that will be fine."
"Thank you, Guthrie," Robin replied. She turned and left him as she headed back to the Going Merry.
'What a helpful young man he was,' she thought to herself. 'He doesn't seem like a local. And those clothes of his are certainly unusual. I wonder who he really was?'
Guthrie went back to the other side of the alleyway, thinking back to the woman he just met. 'Who was she? She does seem very charming, and I couldn't just walk away from her when she needed some help,' he thought as he turned left along the docks on the other side. 'Ah, who am I kidding? I'm sure that was just because of how pretty she was. I can't go judging people on just that! Get ahold of yourself, Guthrie.'
"Get ahold of yourself, Guthrie," a high-pitched voice echoed Guthrie's thoughts. He stopped and turned to see a small gray and black-striped character with a cat-like head the size of its entire body, a blue and white cape on its back, and a pink and yellow-trimmed pouch around his neck, which also had a white star. "You can't just go helping every single kind-hearted person you meet. Now, that woman has the only map we have of this island!"
"It's not like I don't know my way around, Chirithy," Guthrie answered. "Besides, all I did was tell her where Cricket's place was at. I was planning to go back there anyway, so maybe she can give me back the map."
"Well, forget all that, 'kay?" Chirithy questioned seriously. "You still haven't found the girl, have you?"
"Nothing. No signs of her. I've been looking around this town for days and she hasn't even appeared once! You sure she will come here?"
"Absolutely! I'd bet my best dream on it. You just have to keep looking for her, no matter what, got it?! It's your duty to find her!"
"I don't see how it is my duty, but okay." Guthrie walked along the docks once more. "But first, let's go home and grab a snack. I'm sure Cricket is still diving for more artifacts, right now."
"That old guy with the acorn hat just won't quit on doing that, will he?" Chirithy hopped onto Guthrie's shoulder as they walked off.
*BACK WITH XION**XION'S P.O.V*
They say a bar is the best place to find information. Either that or some shady place. Of what I can see, this town is pirate-infested. I highly doubt there would be a shady place anywhere here.
"The era where pirates have dreams will be over, they say?! Huh?!" came a loud voice. One that was so familiar to me. "People's dreams... have no end!" I looked over and, from the other side of an alley, I saw one pirate I never thought I'd see again.
'Blackbeard?!' I was prepared to fight him, when I noticed Luffy, Zoro and Nami standing in front of him, the latter two bloody, but not that beaten. 'What happened to them?'
"Isn't that right?!" Blackbeard continued to speak. Around them, many people, either other pirates or people who live in this town, started to mock him for his claims. Instead of beating them for defying him like how I remembered, Blackbeard ignored them and continued to speak to my crewmates. "Outdoing others isn't easy! Zehahahahaha! They can go ahead and laugh at us. When you aim high, you sometimes come across fights not worth fighting. Isn't that right?! Zehahahahaha!" I noticed Zoro walking away and Nami calling for Luffy. "Oh, looks like I interrupted you. Are you in a hurry? I hope you can go to the sky island!" He took a drink of his rum and walked away.
Seeing this baffled me. Last time I saw Blackbeard, he was a jerk. But now, he seemed like a good guy. Had he changed?
I shook my head and let the matter slide.
"Oh? What are you doing here, Demon-san?" came a voice behind me, much to my surprise.
"Robin! Don't do that!" I said.
"My... If I didn't know any better, I might not think of you as a demon."
I glared at her and her amusement. "So? Did you find anything?"
"Yes. And a little something extra, as you can see," she answered, holding up some bags.
"Then I guess I got off the ship for no reason." I turned to the direction of Merry. "Let's go back. The faster we get out of here, the faster we can get to sky island." She nodded in agreement and we walked back to the ship.
As we returned, we noticed an upset looking Nami glaring at Usopp and Chopper-kun, one who was playing dead and the other in his Guard Point. Steed and Blaze hugged each other in fear for our navigator.
"It's quite lively up here," Robin spoke. "Why are you so upset?"
"Oh! Welcome back, Robin-chan, Xion-san! Would you like to eat first, or shall I prepare you a bath?"
"I'll pass on both," I answered. The two seahorse Dream Eaters ran to my side. "What's wrong? Did something scare you?" I asked, petting them on the head. "Don't worry, it's okay now."
"Oh, Robin, Xion. Did you two go somewhere?" Luffy asked.
"Yeah. I got some clothes and information about the sky island," the archeologist answered.
"I was about to get information about the sky island, but by the time we met up, Robin already got something so I came back," I answered after.
"That's right! You, Robin and Xion!" Nami began to accuse, pointing at us. "This all happened because you both started talking about that sky island! If it doesn't exist, I'll send you both to a watery grave!"
"Leave her alone for now. Or rather, you's better not get close to her. Just don't rock the boat," Usopp advised.
I couldn't help but be a bit frightened myself of the orange-head girl. 'What happened while they were out?' I wondered, returning my new, scared Dream Eaters to their cards.
In the mean time, as Robin walked away, she used her devil fruit powers to hand Luffy a map. "Here, Captain."
"Oh! It's a treasure map!" he instantly said.
Usopp looked over his shoulder and saw it wasn't a treasure map. "Hm? Isn't it just an ordinary map? Where is it?"
"It's this island," Robin answered. "The town drawn on the left is Mock Town, where we are now. And you see an 'x' on the other side of the map, right? I heard that a man who doesn't blend in with Jaya lives there."
We were all confused at the description. "Doesn't blend in?"
"His name is Montblanc Cricket. A man who talked about dreams and was driven out of this town. You might have something in common to discuss." Robin then went into the girls' bedroom.
"Then, why don't we try going there?" Luffy suggested.
Usopp tried to warn him about something. "Hey, wait a sec, Luffy. I'm not sure if we should go now because..." Cutting himself off, he looked over to our doctor. "Hey Chopper, you saw it too earlier, didn't you?" Only to see him and Zoro soaked, the former heavily breathing.
"What were you guys doing?" I asked, slightly worried for my brother-figure.
"Man, you're such a pain," I heard Zoro mutter.
"But... Nami was-"
Before Chopper could say anymore, Nami snapped at him again. "What?! I'm what?! You're trying to say I'm some simple-minded idiot?!"
"No one said that," I corrected.
And so we sailed to the other side of the island, where Cricket is said to live. On the way there, there was a ship in our way, one that seems strangely familiar.
"Didn't take long for us to come across something weird," Luffy stated. "But it doesn't look like the same guys from before, Usopp." As we sailed earlier, Usopp warned us about the salvagers being on the island.
"Well, whether that's a good or bad thing is another story," Sanji said.
"In any case, we did see them! Right?" Usopp exclaimed.
"Yeah. As we thought, that salvager is from this island! We saw his ship coming back!" Chopper supported.
"I see. But I don't mind seeing him again," our captain said.
"Though you have to give them credit for being able to return here without their Eternal Pose. Unless if they had more than one that is," I commented.
"Hey, hey, you guys! Quit mumbling over there!" said someone from the other ship. "Ha! Honestly, I got all worked up wondering who you guys were!"
We all simply stared at the large, monkey-like figure in green, who is most likely the captain, in silence. A silence Luffy broke. "That's quite a reckless face you got! What species are you?"
"I'm human, you moron!"
'I find that hard to believe,' I thought.
"You punks! You don't know Shojo-sama?!" demanded one of his crew members. "He's the big boss of the of the Shojo Pirates and king of the undersea search!"
"Don't make our big boss angry!" another member of his crew said.
Their captain just waved off their words. "Now, now... Looks like you're pirates. Did you know that Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords, was defeated? When you consider my abilities, that post may come to me. So I've been getting all worked up, waiting to be contacted."
"I see... So you want to be one of the Seven Warlords of the sea?" Luffy asked.
"Well, in any case, the great part about me is that I haven't had my hair cut in all my 25 years of life. Now, aren't you surprised?"
'Is he really proud of having long hair?' I wondered.
"Sounds stupid," Luffy blurted out.
"Whoa! I'm surprised!" Shojo said.
"Hey! Watch your mouth!" one of his men shouted.
"Now, now. What you say really gets me all worked up. Listen. You will come out of the tunnel that is my anger into a sea of blood."
"Okay, whatever. But there's a place we wanna go. So move aside." the straw hat idiot of our's said.
That made Shojo snap. "Idiot! This area is my turf! If you wanna pass through, pay the toll!"
"What does he mean his turf?" Usopp asked. "He's talking like Masira."
"Masira? The salvaging guy? He said something like that?" I asked.
"What?! Masira?! What about Masira?!" What got that guy worked up?
"Huh? Well, we kicked him off our ship, but-"
"K-Kicked? Kicked?!" Luffy's answer made him even more mad. "KICKED?! How dare you do that to my brother?! I'll make you pay for that!"
"Hey! Hang on a second! We kicked him, but he's still alive!" Luffy tried to reason. But Shojo would have none of it.
He took out a mic and shouted, "Sound Wave! Havoc Sonar!" The next thing we knew, he started screaming into the mic. It was so bad, the ship, their ship, was starting to get torn apart.
"What is he doing?" I asked.
"Who knows? But it's amazing. He's destroying his own ship," Luffy said in amazement.
"Hey everyone! Stop gawking and let's get through here while we can!" Nami told us.
"Okay~!" Sanji swooned.
"Oh! Nami's not a demon anymore!" Luffy said.
"Really?!" Chopper was happy at the news.
"Yeah, she should be calmer after letting off that much steam," Usopp stated.
Just then, we all heard a crack and looked to see Merry starting to break apart.
...
Wait, what?!
"H-Hey! Hold on!" Usopp cried out. "This isn't good. The waves made it to this ship as well! The ship's starting to fall apart, particularly the repaired areas! The ship's body is already worn out as is! If we stay here, the ship will be torn apart!"
"Full speed ahead!" Nami ordered. "To someplace out of his voice's reach!" With that, we quickly sailed away from Shojo and his ship.