Ignoring the stinging in her eyes, Cassandra exhaled shakily as she let go of and stared at her Sisters assembled in the backyard of a large estate. "I love you all. So much." She frowned when Jen gave her a strange cylindrical object divided into six sections, transparent panes allowing her to see the scrap of paper inside each one. "What's this?"

"A present from all of us to you," Jen explained. "Well, Alexander helped out with the aluminosilicate glass. Vivre Card pieces from all of us. We know Krees will be with you all the time, but hers is there to match everyone else's. Plus, she has one too." They held up their own containers, everyone's scraps scooting slightly towards their respective owners. "Peace of mind on how we all are doing, and you know how to get to whoever's in trouble."

She choked back a sob as she embraced them again. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well, you get the best end of it," Jordan said with a watery laugh. "Theoretically, yours should only burn down when your Fruit is at its limit instead of how much of your body is intact at any given time, but we couldn't have surprised you if we asked you to test it."

"Better find out now than later." She pulled her shirt collar down and lifted her chin. "Knowing is worth the energy spent to heal. Who's wanted to the most?"

Her Sisters looked unsurely at each other until Shinobu closed her fingers around one katana's hilt. "I can do it the most cleanly so you don't get too tired. Shunkan Touketsu."

Cassandra barely felt a thing. Pythia caught her head while Jen supported her body and Raven kept every bit of blood from getting on their clothing. It was only a second later that pain came rushing in to overwhelm her, and only her desire to keep her Sisters from getting distressed kept it at bay. As she was unable to speak, she blinked and smiled to assure everyone that she was okay. To their relief, her pieces in their containers remained the exact same size. She coughed as her head reconnected with her body, steadying herself against Pythia's finger. "That makes things easier for you."

"Try not to check it more than once per day," Pythia boomed. "I know that's like asking water to be dry, but the point of this is to give you peace of mind."

"Yeah, it's to let you know we're safe, not for you to monitor waiting for something to go wrong," Yin said. "Seventh, make sure she doesn't. Actually, you should probably just take hers and tell her if any of ours start burning more than a quarter of the card."

"Don't you dare, Raven." She gave them all one last hug and kiss. "So long as you're responsible, please come visit when you can. I want you to."

"We all will," Jen promised.

Cassandra waved at them all as she ran inside the building. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Helen waiting with her arms crossed. "They're fucking idiots." Her voice sounded like it was coming from inside Cassandra's head. "That's only going to make your anxiety worse. I know you're listening, Raven. Yin's right; you need to keep it from her and only tell her if someone's card is more than half gone."

"Always nice to see the heiresses working together, even if it's against me." She caught the dagger thrust at her face and kissed Helen. "Ready to meet my idiots?"

Helen bit her lip. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't really need to and-"

"As a matter of fact, you do. Let's go." She led Helen by the hand to the entryway and kicked the door open. "Crew, Helen. Hel, my idiots."

They watched the pirates' brains turn to mush as they beheld her for the first time. Morgan jumped slightly, and Cain and Theo stared with slack-jawed awe. Alexander, ordinarily the first to recover in such situations, slowly blinked in disbelief. Lyn appeared undecided on whether to approach or flee, and Aisha had to sit down, her gloved hand on her forehead. "Hey," Helen said awkwardly without her usual ventriloquism.

Cassandra carried over Helen's personal battlesuit, and her crew let go of the breath they were collectively holding when Helen climbed inside, checking to see each other's reactions. "I know it's hard for everybody present, but since I've asked all of my sisters to visit me if they can find me and time allows, I needed to take this opportunity for you to really know what seeing Hel is like. Your minds will have time to process what you just saw so you have a chance of functioning the next time you see her."

"It's Okay, Cass," Helen pleaded, her digitized voice devoid of its natural hypnotic quality. "I Don't Need To Visit You."

"I'm not saying you need to. I am saying I'd really like you to. Mom was right about navigating the New World being a nightmare so you probably won't have time to visit anyway, but I want that to be the reason you didn't come, not discomfort."

Helen leaned in to whisper, "But I Mean, Look At Them. Are You Sure I Won't Be A Bother?"

"You will never ever be a bother to me. You shouldn't have to wear this every time you talk to any member of my family. The Sisters can briefly talk to you face to face now, and I want the same for my crew. They have a better starting position than the Sisters because they're used to conversing with Miserie, whom we also can't stare at for very long. I know my efforts for complete family unity may well be in vain, but that doesn't mean I won't try. Even if that'll be harder than becoming Pirate Queen."

"I'll Think About It," Helen said at last.

Cassandra drew her into a tight hug. "Good enough for me. As a reminder to everyone, Lyn, the currently most accessible way to get to Lustrate's current position is a Knock Up Stream. We'd be sitting ducks if we went up alone, so Hel got us a few hundred ships to increase our chances of making it up there. Once we're in the White Sea, they'll keep the government busy while we pick up Miserie and Damien. So show her some gratitude. I'm gonna finish saying good-bye; be back in a bit."

Pursued by a chorus of thanks, Helen exited her suit after the doors closed behind her. "I hate that you can't stay," she said with tears in her eyes. "I'm gonna miss you so much."

"Same." Cassandra pulled her into a long kiss, embracing her as hard as she could. "I love you so much, Hel."

"I love you more."

Cassandra gave a wet laugh as she wiped the tears from her face. "This is it. I'm going to miss the timing if I stay any longer. I can't thank you enough for everything you do for me." She turned to head back to her crew, but paused. "Exactly how many ships did you wind up getting, and what did it cost you?"

"'A few hundred'? Please. There's no way I'd risk you with only that. Between bribes, threats, promises of WG secrets, and them seeing my face, I had no trouble increasing your odds of survival. There aren't just hundreds." Helen beamed. "There are a thousand."

"Wow," was all Cassandra could say. "Thank you. Okay, I gotta go. Love you." She kissed Helen one last time before running back to her crew.

"Ooh, what's that?" Lyn asked, pulled from her daze.

"The Moon Sisters' Vivre Cards," Cassandra said as she kept going, forcing her crew to follow. "Made with toenails or hair, always moves towards its owner and burns down the closer they get to death. Mine's based on my Fruit, not my body."

Needing some physical activity to distract herself, she focused on sprinting as hard as she could. Cain's long strides allowed him to keep up with her, and Morgan's water elemental coursed alongside them. They left the countryside and were soon at the beach. She kicked off a rock and flew through the air towards the departing ships, searching for a specific flag. The horizon to horizon fleet of vessels made her task slightly more difficult as she hopped from top yard to top yard, but she soon located her target. She slid along the sail, swung around the rigging, and landed at the helm.

"Good day," greeted Captain Bhule. "I was wondering if you'd make it. The water's already moving."

"We did." The large ship barely tilted as her crew arrived. "That's what matters."

Cassandra ascended to the crow's nest so she could get a better look of their surroundings. There appeared to be a shallow depression in the ocean some distance away, at least a hundred ships spinning slowly around the nadir. The farther away Bhule went from the island, the stronger the current became. The indentation grew larger every minute, its turbulent waters increasing in speed until the ships caught within it were hurtling around the sides.

"Wow!" Lyn exclaimed, climbing on top of her. "It's like Nemu-Nemu!"

"Hardly a fair comparison," Morgan scoffed. "That is a mere eddy compared to Nemuartsksom."

Cassandra waited until Theo had captured a good video from inside NYMPHE before motioning for everyone to return to the main deck. Bhule's crew were almost done putting on their safety harnesses, and the pirates swiftly followed suit. The ship's gradual acceleration was slightly nostalgic and only served to remind her of her last two nakama. Damien would love navigating a Knock Up Stream. Once again, only a few hours separated her from her nakama, along with several kilometers in this case.

Everyone grew increasingly antsy until a call sounded out among the phone snails connecting all of the ships. "IT'S COMING!"

A brief moment of silence seemed to stretch out forever before the ocean erupted. A column of water shot into the sky, carrying countless ships along with it. The sea rushed in, pulling more and more ships into the vertical current. Everyone scrambled to position themselves against the aft cabins and waited for their turn to ascend. Various members of Bhule's crew prayed as the ship was pulled closer, especially as pieces of ruined ships began raining down around them. "It was an honor sailing with you all," Bhule shouted, "and will continue to be! Unfurl the sails and extend the wings!"

The ship jolted when it hit the Knock Up Stream, and for a moment it seemed it was going to be smashed apart. Relieved exhalations almost drowned out the roaring water as it swooped up the steep incline and took off towards the cloudy sky. Aisha was seriously rethinking her decision to join if her scrunched eyes and how tightly she had shoved herself into the corner were any indication, but Theo was cheering her head off while Bhule barked orders at his crew.

"So this is what it's like being Doc!" Lyn shouted, casually standing on the side of the mast with Alexander. "How did she get used to seeing things from completely different angles? It's so disorienting!"

Raven crouched on the deck above Aisha's head where nobody could see her. "Do you require medical assistance?"

"Do you have a medical cure for fearing kilometer-long drops?" she groaned.

"No."

Aisha snorted. "Then no."

Morgan's eyes narrowed as he stared upwards. He grabbed a sword from a sailor, sprang upwards from mast to mast, and swung his long metal arm at a piece of debris headed towards the ship. Cassandra contributed by spotting dangers well before anyone else could and giving them advance warning, while Theo flew about to minimize how many broken fragments actually hit people. Cain was in the cargo hold getting ready for the attack on the island, seemingly undisturbed by the unusual angle of the ship.

"Drop everything and hang on!" Bhule bellowed. "We're about to hit the winding winds!"

Morgan dropped down to secure Lyn and Alexander to the mast while everybody gripped whatever they could. The Knock Up Stream suddenly went from a thick, straight column to a thinner one that twisted and turned as the winds bandied it around. No few people lost their lunches, and even some of her pirates needed to get their sea legs back under them for when Damien was back at the helm. She really had to find a Knock Up Stream for him.

At long last, they pierced the cloud layer and soared into a battlefield. The cannons on the tall ivory walls that ran along the coast as far as the eye could see were raining hell down upon the armada, with rotary guns shredding ships in seconds. The ships enthusiastically returned fire, explosions leaving noticeable cracks on the gleaming ramparts.

Cain emerged from the cargo hold, his white armor shining and a box thrice his height and covered in sailcloth on his shoulders. "Ready, Captain Libera!"

Morgan secured the rest of the crew to his back with metal bands before Cain leapt towards the large double doors set in the walls. The armor and cloth camouflaged them against the sea of clouds and allowed them to advance without being specifically targeted. Shells and bullets struck the box, but never penetrated it. The ships they were about to land on were obliterated a couple times, and they had to scramble to get to a relatively safer place.

Once they were close enough to what little pale dirt existed between the walls and the clouds, Cain shouted loudly and hurled the box and pirates as far as he could. Morgan wrapped the cloth off to lessen the impact of their landing as an elemental, and Cassandra's boosted strength somewhat helped them stabilize. They all hid behind the box when Aisha righted it, and Alexander planted his hand on the back. "Maji Dlo."

The side melted away to reveal Theo's brand new battlesuit. While she hadn't had the time or resources to get it fully operational, TITANIDE was still more than dangerous enough with its current schematics. Its chest opened up to reveal KYKLOPS curled up inside, which climbed out to similarly reveal a curled up HEROINE. Cain landed as Theo entered her progressively larger suits, a charred wooden sword over his shoulder. "I'm okay."

He hefted the box from the inside this time, the shell providing shelter as they went towards the gates. Cassandra remained outside to witness TITANIDE's debut battle. The faceplate descended to reveal her automated rotary cannon. It lifted a massive oscillating sword in one hand, and a harpoon was nestled in the outside of its other arm. "ARTEMIS ONLINE. MENOITIOS Online. APHRODITE Online. ARES Online. HERA Online. DAMYSOS Online. The Last Three Are My RPG, Self-Healing Electric Armor, And Speed Boosting Systems."

Theo threw her hand out, and the harpoon shot towards one of the doors. Cassandra listened to the chain in TITANIDE's back unwind, really hoping that Teutania wouldn't recognize the weapon's inspiration the next time they met. The harpoon stuck fast, and Theo retracted the chain as she jumped, pulling herself into the door. She rammed the thick metal slab with her shoulder and stepped back to analyze it when it didn't budge. Moving towards the middle of the archway, she sliced enough of the doors away so she could wedge her fingers between them. The strain of machinery sounded out as she fought to pull them apart and their mechanism endeavored to keep them shut.

When that proved fruitless, she knocked on the gates experimentally as her crew caught up. "It Should Be Fine."

"Metall Bronyu." Morgan jumped onto her shoulder and hurled himself at the center of one door. Wrapping it the instant he came into contact, he sank into the metal as if it were rubber. The entire door flowed around him as he landed at a run, Theo hot on his heels. His elemental looked significantly more like him than it had before, his facial features distinct enough that even his beard could be discerned.

His hands and forearms melted into long blades as he swiped at the opposition, and Theo's barrage of rockets further disrupted their ranks. The islanders gave up remarkably quickly and fled, prompting Cassandra to shout, "Don't chase them! It's a waste of time! We need to find Heavens Above."

Lyn accompanied Theo as she entered a building in NYMPHE to see if there was a computer network to search. When pressed as to why Lyn wasn't carrying a greatsword, she had explained how she needed one with a spirit that didn't die when the sword was broken and that she had no intention of destroying swords over and over until she found the right one. Cain had only been slightly surprised when she had asked him to teach her how to make them, but hadn't had time to do so while making their armor.

TITANIDE thrummed beneath Cassandra's feet as she stood on its head, her vision completely unobstructed by any buildings. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the wall in the distance that had to be several hundred meters high. There was no way that the island comprised just a single town. Her suspicions were confirmed when Theo finally reentered her suits. "This Town Is Named Bed. Everything Outside Of Bed Is Heavens Above."

Cassandra pointed at the enormous doors leading further inland. "Run and elaborate."

"I Can't Really. Lustrate Has Two Separate Closed Networks, One For Bed And One For Heavens Above, And Neither Of Them Have Wireless Access. There Are A Bunch Of Movies And Books And Stuff On Bed's Network, So It Must Periodically Get New Material From The Blue Sea, But There's No Data On Where The Rest Of Bed's Resources Come From, Only The Amount It Gets."

"Then we'll see when we get there."

"I've never seen so many cars," Alexander commented through his new HT snail. "I guess that's what happens when you don't have constant fights wrecking the place."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Lyn exclaimed. "I have names for all the snails!"

"Amica, now isn't-"

"I have time to tell you before we get to Heavens Above if you don't interrupt me. We have two for our next ship - Central for the ship and Cochlea for the medbay - that aren't being used right now. Cee has Skipper, Damien will get Scarry, Alexander has Gent, Raven has Void, Cain has Chilled, Morgan has Aide, Miserie will get Blub, Theo's workshop gets Playback, and Aisha gets Rebound. Theo can add more as necessary."

Aisha was the only one who didn't know better than to ask, "What about yours?"

"Magical Technological Sorta Long Distance Communication Mazing Mollusc Supreme Connection Love Helix!"

"So… Helix," Alexander said without missing a beat.

"C'mon," Lyn whined, "still?"

"We should be the ones saying that."

Cassandra opted not to assuage her pouting girlfriend, instead scanning Bed for signs of resistance. She had suspected getting in was going to be the difficult part, but the complete lack of opposition was noteworthy. Security on Lustrate was designed purely to keep people off of the island and prisoners inside Heavens Above, not anybody out. She had thought there would be some system in place for if a prisoner had escaped, but no. The islanders simply hid in buildings and waited for the Black Glove Pirates to pass in eerie silence.

"Is this normal?" Aisha inquired.

"I expected to fight every step, but I have a very bad feeling as to why we haven't seen any sort of fighting force. This place houses the most dangerous criminals in the world, but they're trusted to produce everything to keep Bed running. Maybe they're trusted with other duties. I think they are Lustrate's military, organized and led by the real guards, and they're being put to use for the first time in history."

Her crew stopped dead. "Wait, we're going up against people of that caliber?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know. That's just speculation. You all know just as much as I do when it comes to what's beyond those doors. I'm just saying most people powerful enough to keep these prisoners at bay wouldn't want to stay here for their entire lives. Why not use the people who are already stuck here and have shown how strong they are? Aisha, stay a bit away from us. You'll have a better chance to avoid getting involved."

"This is not one of those times when I'll take you up on that offer, Captain." The title still sounded odd coming from her mouth. "My right hand says that I'm as involved as everyone else in this."

The corners of Cassandra's mouth twitched. "Fair enough. Silence TITANIDE for a moment." She strained her hearing as the battlesuit shut down all non-essential functions, but the walls were too thick and high for any useful sounds to reach her. "Damn. There's no way TITANIDE can climb over. Alexander, you're up."

"Pesepsyon Ekstrasansoryel." He put his fingers on the thick doors and closed his eyes for a moment. "There are four layers. The second is made of seastone, so I had to go underneath it. The first and third doors open by sliding into the walls, the second is raised, and the fourth is a drawbridge of sorts, I think."

"How in the saints did you learn that?" Lyn demanded.

"I can tell when my power hits different materials, which allows me to tell what shapes they're in. Then it's a matter of transmuting them into the substance I'm familiar with that is closest to the original. It gets more difficult the more different materials I have to go through. I think the seastone is Grade A judging by how I couldn't get right up to it."

Cassandra grinned. "Renaissance Man, indeed. Are the walls any better?"

They walked some distance from the doors so he could try again. "The second layer is Grade C seastone. I can't get past it. It's probably made of plates, but they're too large for me to make space to pull it out. They extend deep underground too."

"The gates, it is. Transmute one of these doors as much as you can and estimate how close you got to the second. Actually, leave a thin layer. Aisha, carry Lyn's body so she can investigate the drawbridge mechanism. Everyone besides Theo, stand way back."

"Maji Dlo." He formed a thin cocoon of metal around himself so as to not be swept away. "I dunno, less than 40 centimeters? I stopped one centimeter short."

"Good. Time to make your brother proud. Raven, get ready to take him away."

Alexander laughed and pressed his fingers to the remaining metal as a hatch on TITANIDE's shoulder opened and shut. "Maji Dife Lamne."

Cassandra nodded in satisfaction as she loaded an incendiary round into Haruspex. A transparent gel coated the remainder of the first gate, and she held out her rifle before it had a chance to ooze downward. "Damn, have I missed your Fruit."

She pulled the trigger, and ocean blue flames spread circularly away from the impact point. Overwhelming heat swept over her, putting her trained heat resistance to the test as she shielded her eyes. Molten metal flowed around TITANIDE's feet, sea fire still burning on large patches of it. "Theo, cleanup."

"BOREAS Online." Flames continued to burn beneath the sticky nevermeltice mixture before dying out from lack of oxygen. "I Could Have Used PROMETHEUS," she sulked.

"No need to burn through fuel unnecessarily." Although Theo had improved the audio quality coming from her speakers, her giggles still sounded slightly odd. "Morgan, how does Grade A seastone affect your elemental?"

He stretched out and put a large metal hand directly on the gate. "It doesn't, apparently. How fortunate."

"Get your… I guess the equivalent to fingernails underneath it and lift it enough for Cain to get his fingers in, who will do the same for Theo. Wrap the molten metal to get it out of our way. Alexander gets rid of the third doors, and you three transfer under one at a time. Lyn, what do you have?" she shouted as she landed on the ground.

She received no response. Cain was struggling against the seastone when a loud clanking noise started up. Puzzlement filled the air until Lyn stretched and smacked her lips. "The drawbridge controls were above it. The room was completely sealed shut, and the guy was so not prepared for an invisible thrashing."

Cassandra sighed. "So three gates and probably the gatehouse door are remotely operated, but the drawbridge itself isn't. I wish you had waited to open it; someone is undoubtedly heading there as we speak. Go back and see if you can hold them off. Okay, we have a timer! Crawl under that as soon as you can, Alexander! The sooner you start channeling, the better chance we have!"

As much as she hated standing idly by, there was no sense stressing about her complete inability to help. Even encouraging words were unnecessary. Water streamed by as Alexander slowly got through the doors, taking care not to be pushed back. Cain positioned himself underneath the seastone gate as soon as he was able, his steady limbs showing none of the strain he was feeling.

"I'll scout." She ran and slid through the opening Alexander had made as soon as she could see daylight on the other side. Stopping at the edge of the lowering drawbridge, she found herself in front of yet another set of double doors. Propelling herself the remainder of the way over the chasm, she landed on the tiny bit of space between the doors and the abyss and gave one an experimental shove. To her surprise, it budged ever so slightly. Smirking, she planted one hand on each door and pushed them open, delighted by the loud creaking of the hinges. As the first invader to set foot in Heavens Above, she deserved a dramatic entrance.

The cavernous rectangular room was empty save for the judge's bench at the far end. A set of white gates with gold trimming dominated the back wall, but her attention was drawn to the person sleeping in a chair behind the bench. Her footsteps echoed off the walls and pillars as she strode forward, and a strange, intermittent sound became audible. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Who am I?" She realized the odd sound was the person's dry cackle. "Eh eh eh. Such a question pales in significance to the labor required to determine the existence of this island, the power necessary to reach this point, and the audacity to attempt such a feat. When compared to that, my identity has as much meaning as a single raindrop in a storm. The collection of sounds associated with me is of no use to you, nor is the description of my position as a cog in a machine."

Cassandra flattened her gaze. "Sesquipedalian, aren't you. Where is everyone? Why are you unguarded?"

"Eh eh eh. You are definitely not of the variety of individuals with which auditory input is sufficient to discern every quality of interest." The wizened woman opened her eyes, large cataracts occluding her pale pink irides, and briefly glanced upwards. "Ah. Rarely before have I encountered such a kaleidoscopic creature. Alienating skin over liquidized flesh and magnetic blood. A hundred eyes pointed every direction away from warm embers. A eternally-raised shield of malignancy blocking out all light. A shaded sphere held aloft by an actualized masquerade."

It took every bit of self-control she had not to pull the trigger when she aimed a pistol at the woman's head. "One more chance."

She raised an eyebrow when the woman's head moved towards her, revealing the prehensile neck hidden beneath her hood. "Continued obfuscation will negatively alter the course of history. I am Oya, caged jurat of the Nacre Gates, employed for my talent to determine the Truth of every soul setting foot in these halls."

"So you're a fancy lie detector," Alexander said as her crew caught up.

"Eh eh eh. Shed the notion that any piece of information stored in your neurons was perceived correctly. My eyes no longer delude me into believing that a painting of an apple will sate my hunger. Objectivity is subjective, and I can See that which every sentient being blinds themselves to: the absolute Truth underpinning the very fabric of our limited reality." She extended her neck until their noses were almost touching. "And you, Captain Cassandra Libera, will never become Queen of the Pirates."