(Bellamy POV)
When I was a child, I always wondered what it would be like to wander across the clouds. I'd look out my little airplane window down at the vast, white plain in wonder and imagine all the adventures one could have there. Castles in the sky, wondrous creatures roaming the cloudy sea, crystalline treasures which mankind had never seen before. I had wanted to know what the view would be like from those pure lands, to know what I would see if I poked my head over the edge to let my eyes wander across the earth below.

Now I knew.

The view was beautiful.

"We're not dead." Giggle. "Shitheads, I told you we wouldn't die!"

"We're not dead!" Hewitt cheered, quickly slinging an arm around the nearest human being, who just happened to be Ross and dancing a little jig.

"We're not dead!" Ross participated willingly, the pair dancing up and down the deck in a celebration of life. Others like Sarquiss elected to sprawl across a barrel and go limp, using all of his energy to let out a victorious whoop for all the world to hear.

"We made it! We actually fucking made it!"

"I can't believe we did that! That has to be the coolest thing I've ever done!" Rivers shouted, pumping his fists.

"I'm so happy to be alive!" Mani sobbed, hugging Muret as if she never ever wanted to let go.

"An ocean in the sky. Who would've thought it could exist…"

I let my crew celebrate for a while, they deserved that much at least. In the meantime, I went down to the cargo hold to prepare a gift for our eventual guest, because if I remember my canon right, Wyper should soon be attempting to blow up my ship. I would hate to be a poor host.

(Lily POV)
When the captain first broached the topic, she'd thought he had gone insane. Lily had been born and raised a noble, which included the best education money could buy or at least the equivalent on the cultural backwater she'd once called home. She knew how clouds worked. Or at least she once thought she did.

She obviously didn't as they were currently sailing on a fucking cloud!

And honestly, it felt amazing being up here. Sure, it was a little hard to breathe, but that was probably just the excitement. She had achieved something no Wright had done before, and it made her head spin. Was this what accomplishment felt like? If it was, Lily decidedly liked that feeling and wouldn't mind experiencing it a lot more in the future.

It felt even better, than the time she gave her father the finger last year before sneaking aboard Bellamy's ship. An arranged marriage indeed. The fucker was older than her grandfather. The very idea of that pervy withered half-corpse touching her made her skin crawl. Such a creature didn't even deserve to be called the worst expletive she could imagine. What had her old fuck of a father been thinking?

Scratch that, she knew what her father had been thinking. Her father was a weak man, always in such a rush to auction off his daughter for a better position at court. The venerable Viscount of Wright had of course not spared a single as to whether or not he could have even held on to those gains for longer than a moon's turn. He simply lacked the will and the conviction to see things through, something which his peers had laughed about whenever his back was turned. In short, he wasn't anything special, merely a sycophant with a beautiful daughter.

Not like her captain. Bellamy was strong, but she had known that. Known it ever since he beat her up for being a stowaway on his fishing boat. In retrospect, she had been lucky that he'd liked her "spunk" and didn't throw her overboard. That encounter had eventually lead to Lily joining the crew years down the line when Bellamy decided to go and become a pirate.

What she hadn't known about Bellamy was that he was a visionary. Oh, he always did talk about how a new era was coming and how much he admired Doflamingo. If he'd gone any further, she may even have almost misjudged him as a follower just like her father.

However, that speech on Jaya had been a startling but welcome revelation. No one who aspired to be one of the Four could possibly be a follower. She still remembers the fire she felt burning in her core, the sheer adrenalin rush as she screamed out her answer alongside the others. She'd never been as proud to be the quartermaster of the Bellamy pirates as she had been then.

Where would they be now, if her captain hadn't dragged them up here by their metaphorical collars? If he hadn't forcibly expanded their world like this? Would they have ever challenged the impossible and come out victorious?

No, they'd still be sitting in dirty little pub and drinking their life away, likely bemoaning the cruel hand fate had dealt them. In the evenings, they'd be staring forlornly out at the sea as other crews left Jaya for richer waters, while they were stuck on an undeveloped island in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps, they would they have split up, attempting to return home on separate ships to escape the curse of log pose.

Lily had to giggle.

They beat the curse, didn't they? Just like Bellamy had said they would. How did he phrase it? He took it, broke it and made it his bitch? Well, this shitty curse can kiss her glorious derriere.

She giggled again.

The last three days had been a bloody emotional rollercoaster. She hadn't known you could be that terrified of heights before. And now this…this new dizzying feeling. Almost like being pleasantly buzzed but a million times better.

She had to do this. She would explode otherwise.

"You see this, fuckers! We took that curse, broke it and MADE IT OUR BITCH!"

(Bellamy POV)
Lily sure is excited and I'm glad to see her in good spirits. I just hope she remembers to breathe. The air is so much thinner up here, that climbing mount Everest will almost certainly be a light jog in comparison.

I'm a little jittery myself, though it's mostly in anticipation of the things to come.

When I arrive back on deck, my crew is in various states of arousal. Of course, Lily is the most vocal but every last of them is red faced and grinning like a loon. I mean, I get it. How would you feel if you knew you were going to die, felt death's cold grip tightening around your heart but were suddenly safe and sound?

Eh, they'll calm down eventually and it's not like there's any rush. As they are now, they'd be useless against Wyper anyway. The monstrous trio couldn't beat him without first adapting to their new environment so I've got no hopes for these guys. The best course of action is to just let them get used to the different atmosphere up here.

And if my plan works, we won't have to worry about Wyper anyway. I only need a little of bit of assistance to set everything up.

"Hey Muret? Mind helping me with this?"

"Of course, captain. What do I need to do?"

My smile is the very definition of conspiratorial. "We're going to paint a banner."

Muret looks cute when she's confused.

(Muret POV)
Bellamy had changed, that much was obvious, even if there hadn't been some giant shift which had tipped her off. Instead, it was mostly a collection of little things, most of them innocuous on their own but when taken together painted a rather jarring picture. He started drinking more ale instead of rum, made his bed in the mornings and stopped fussing when she patched up some raw skin on his knuckles.

And he thanked people now. That time on Jaya had been the first time Bellamy had thanked anyone ever who wasn't named Dofflamingo, at least to Muret's knowledge.

He was still Bellamy, just as loud and confident as before, but there was more…thought to his actions now.

Then there were the bigger things. The Bellamy Muret knew wouldn't have believed an island in the sky could exist in the first place, never mind decide to ride the Knock Up Stream into an uncertain future. That was something so far outside the norm, even for the Grand Line, that it would have been difficult to accept for a realist like the old Bellamy. Not that she could have blamed him. Muret still had problems wrapping her head around it and she was up here.

Also, the old Bellamy wouldn't have asked her to treat his minor training injuries. More than likely, he would have tried to tough it out like most of the crew did. The only other one who visited her as regularly was Eddy or Mani to an extent, but then again the girl was obsessed with being beautiful and preventing any scarring which could mar her beauty. Seriously, Mani had a bigger collection of beauty creams than Muret had medicinal supplies.

Anyway, while she didn't know what had triggered this transformation in her captain, so far the changes seemed innocent if not downright positive.

In fact, Muret had already decided that she liked the new Bellamy much better than the old one. She felt safer sailing with him, despite the journey being far more harrowing than anything she'd done prior to this point. The cherry on top had been his promise to her while they watched the sunset together. The simple promise that they would all make it. His presence just had this new quality to it, an absolute certainty in the future, which made it much easier to trust and rely on him. Trust which had been rewarded. Hence, Muret would keep her mouth shut and ignore any potential suspicions which may arise in the future. Why question a good thing?

Looking out at her cheering crewmates, Muret couldn't help but smile as well, as their joy was more infectious than the most contagious disease. Maybe that's why she put a little bit more of skip into her step when the captain called her to his side.

"Hey Muret? Mind helping me with this?" He asked, his voice reminding her of her little prankster of a brother.

"Of course, captain. What do I need to do?" she chirped, having a look at the assortment of items her captain had brought with him.

A stretch of white cloth some three meters long and a meter wide, a paintbrush and some paint, two long wooden rods and full sack of dirt.

"We're going to paint a banner." Muret doesn't understand but that's ok. She's sure the captain has a plan.

(Bellamy POV)
"Captain! Unknown approaching! Potentially hostile!"

After coming down from their joint adrenalin rush, the crew had dispersed to attend to their tasks on the ship and perform a thorough inspection of every nook and cranny. Even if she had been modified for just this purpose, it's very likely that something may have been broken or gotten loose during our ride up the knock up stream.

We also had to find the Strawhats, which is why I had Rivers up in the crow's nest. But instead of the rubber idiot and friends, Rivers had found Wyper almost as soon as the warrior had found us.

Thankfully it had been after Muret and I finished our handy work.

"Alright, let's get her up!"

"Aye aye, captain."

The white and black banner unfurls, revealing a succinct message to the world.

Genuine Vearth for Sale
30% off, limited supply
Get yours before it's gone
All dials welcome

You can see the exact moment that Wyper takes in the message because he trips over his own two feet and faceplants into the clouds. Within seconds he's submerged beneath the waves.

"Alright people, show's over. Get back to work!" A couple of guys still hang around but for the most part they do disperse. Of course, they come back again shortly after when a sodden Wyper heaves himself over the railing.

"You…what…V-Earth…sale…what?" I distinctly remember Wyper as being a bit more articulate. And more angry. Right now, he seems to be more flummoxed than anything else.

Maybe the sign wasn't clear enough?

"We're merchants from the blue sea." I begin, ignoring the incredulous looks my crew is sending my way. "We've got half a ship's hold's worth of prime Vearth for sale. Are you interested?"

"What? How do you Blue-Sea dwellers know about…hiiek?" That last bit comes out as a squeak when I open the bag and show him the contents. Rich, dark, loamy earth, freshly harvested from Jaya jungles and untouched and unspoiled by agriculture.

Unable to hold himself back, Wyper pushes Sarquiss aside and sinks his hand inside the bag, elbow deep, luxuriating in the feeling. If I had brought forth any more, he might have just started wallowing in it. In fact, if I didn't know him to be a non-believer, I'd have said Wyper was having a religious experience.

After deeming that enough time had passed that I had given him enough of a sample, I grab the warrior by the scruff and pull him back and away from my dirt, garnering myself a yowl of protest.

"Buddy, if you want it, you're going to have to pay." I curtly tell him.

Wyper responds by pointing his bazooka at me and screaming something, probably demands that I release my precious property to him on pain of death, but his words are garbled in his haste to bring them into the world. His actions though extracts shouts of alarm from my crew, who draw their own weapons and point them at him in my defence. However, before things can escalate, I hold up my hand to calm my crew. Wyper also hesitates, no doubt worried about the earth in my hold, though I notice that he doesn't lower his bazooka.

"Can you maybe take that mask off? It's very distracting and you mumble when you speak through it."

A few tense moments pass before Wyper slowly removes his mask in response to my demand, revealing a face which looks more or less like it did in the show, frown and all.

"You will hand over the V-Earth!"

"No."

"You will hand over the V-Earth!"

"No."

"You will hand it over or I will blow up your ship." He growls, pointing his bazooka at the deck. I believe him when he says that he can blow up a ship. He did so in the show to a random ship before attempting the same with the Going Merry. But here? With all the dirt in the cargo hold? There is no way he would risk it sinking and being lost to him and his people forever.

If he wanted to threaten us, he should have threatened to blow us up instead, but he is probably not in his right mind at the moment and his usually sharp judgment is more than likely impaired. Though this exactly was what I had been counting upon when I planned this little stunt. The clouds here can grow crops, but earth is like a million times better so the earth I have with me is worth a king's ransom. It's a rare breed of man who can stay calm when faced with such wealth, never mind perform under pressure. This is doubly true, if said wealth has the potential to secure the future of your family and tribe for generations to come

Apparently, this also belatedly dawns on him because he aims his bazooka at me again. In response, I dangle my sack of dirt over the side of the railing and Wyper has to visibly hold himself back from diving for it.

"You try anything, buddy, and I let go." Wyper's eyes start shaking like crazy, his dilated pupils dashing continuously back and forth between the sack and my face, almost as if he couldn't believe that anyone would dare to destroy something so precious.

"No, wait! There's no need for that!"

"So, Mr. Manners," I drawl, "are we ready to talk business?"