Chapter 9
Dragon Temple
The group arrived at the Dragon Temple, which awed some of the Straw Hat Pirates.
"That's the Dragon Temple?" Franky said.
"Looks that way," Robin said.
Terrador and Cyril opened the doors together, and the group walked in. The pirates were astonished by the structure of the temple, including a giant dragon statue which only sinks to the ground for Spyro's training.
"What an astonishing statue," said Brook. "Such great looks almost made my eyes sore. But I don't have any eyes. Yohohoho."
Chopper noticed a small pool of green water. "I don't think I can drink that," he said.
"I don't think that's for drinking, Chopper," said Robin. She opened the book and checked the pages. "According to this, the pool is how the Guardian Dragons see through things."
"Like what?"
"Well, let's say a dragon has a dream, and the pool's magic exposes what kind of dream that dragon has, in an image."
"Image?" Usopp asked. "What kind of image?"
"I'm not sure, but I think it's something to do with showing the past or the present, or one's dream."
"Or maybe the future?"
Cyril hit his claw on the ground, getting the Straw Hats' attention. "What are you doing in our world? And how did you enter it?" he asked.
"Cyril, I can fill in," said Spyro, but Cyril held his claw out to silence him.
"Long story short, we sailed through some mysterious barrier, and we came to this world," Usopp said.
"A little more detail would suffice, you know!" yelled Zoro.
"Barrier? That's your answer?" Cyril said.
"I don't see any barrier in my life as a dragon," Terrador said.
"Barriers are supposed to be the force of protection," said Volteer, "often used a shield to defend their users and supposedly the entire city in an area..." He kept on talking about barriers.
"What if a barrier is something to phase through?" Nami asked. "The barrier has brought us to this world."
"Impossible!" Cyril shouted, slamming his claw on the ground. "No one could ever arrive at our world simply by going through some barrier!"
"Calm yourself, Cyril," said Terrador. "There is no need for interrogation."
Luffy crossed his arms. "You guys don't believe anything. What kind of dragons are you?"
"Gah! Don't insult them, you idiot!" cried Usopp as Chopper shrieked.
"Hey, show some respect!" Volteer shouted, attacking Luffy with his electricity breath. But his eyes widen to see Luffy unharmed.
"That won't work," Luffy said with a toothy grin. "I'm made of rubber." He spun his arm. "Shall we have a little fun?"
Nami hit Luffy on the back of his head with her Clima-Tact, knocking him to the ground. "That's enough," she said.
"Hey, let's not start the whole thing here," said Sparx. "I just went with Spyro and Cynder to the woods. We had to get a drink, and then we come across this guy right here." He pointed at Luffy, who just got up rubbing his head.
"Him? The one with electric proof skin?" Cyril asked.
"Luffy's different from us," said Robin. "His skin's rubber from the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit."
"Devil Fruit? What was she talking about?"
"What world do they come from?" Volteer asked.
"Everyone," said Terrador. "Let those strangers speak. I would like to know their story."
The Straw Hat Pirates explained to the Guardian Dragons of their adventures as pirates, their Devil Fruit powers, Haki, and Luffy's quest for the treasure One Piece.
"I must say, it is rather fascinating to hear a pirate's tale," Cyril said. "I mean, fruits with powers? Legendary treasure? Curious."
"Yep, curious indeed," Luffy smiled. "My quest was to find One Piece and become King of the Pirates."
"Hold on there," said Kane, noticing the book in Robin's bag and taking it out. "Where did you get this book?"
"Top secret!" Usopp yelled, tackling Kane with hands up.
"Usopp!" Nami and Sanji yelled.
The book fell from Kane dropping it, and it landed on the ground, opening the pages to reveal the image of Agatina. Seeing the image made the Guardian Dragons gasp.
"Agatina!" Terrador said.
Sanji dragged Usopp by the leg after a kick on the head as Robin said, "Who?" She looked at the book. "Oh, that. I get that you all know of Agatina as well?"
"Yes. She was Ignitus' best friend. Agatina used to be one of us Guardian Dragons, being the dragon of wind. But after the raid resulted in many eggs lost, she left in disgrace despite our objections. We hadn't seen her ever since. I just wish we could see her again, but it wouldn't be the same without Ignitus around."
"I missed that dragon," Volteer said. "I hope she's alright."
Terrador checked the Pool of Vision for Agatina's whereabouts, and to his surprise, the image showed her, with Robin standing by. He turned to Robin. "Human. You have seen Agatina."
"Hm?" Robin asked.
"From this Pool of Vision, you have seen her. Where precisely did you see her?"
Robin blushed. "You had to ask. I had seen her outside the forest. She had mentioned Ignitus, something to do with that collar she wears."
"The collar. That gift Ignitus had given her years ago."
"But how could she have met Agatina?" Cyril asked.
"I didn't get to meet her," Robin said. "But I only get to see her."
"I see," Terrador said. "I wish we could meet her again."
"Same here, Terrador," said Cyril. "We all miss her. I wish there was something we could do to help her."
"Do you guys know where she lives?" Usopp asked.
"Her cavern lies in a mountain where the winds blow in all directions," Terrador said.
"I can fly there," Spyro said.
"No, Spyro. The winds in the sky where the mountain is blows in all directions. It will be difficult for you to fly there."
"What mountain would that be?" Nami asked.
"The Mountain of the Wind. It is where the winds are."
"No problem, I can fly us there with my Gum-Gum Balloon," Luffy said with a toothy grin.
"And then what, get us lost again?!" Usopp yelled. "You knew what happened back in that forest, so there's no way you'll get us lost in that mountain with your stupid ideas!"
"I'm sure it'll work out somehow."
"Didn't you hear what he said?! That mountain has a lot of winds blowing in all directions!"
"Is there any other way to get to the cave?" Franky asked.
"Climbing will be the only option," Volteer said. "All it takes is finding the right edges where climbing is possible, and then continue climbing while withstanding the winds from all directions and around the mountain with the spiraling and the blowing from every multiple angle..." He continued on babbling about the winds.
"If she went back there, perhaps we'll go meet her," Robin said.
"But we don't know where to find this mountain," Usopp said. "And our ship is behind the forest where we started!"
"I feel excitement for an adventure!" Luffy said, excited.
"Luffy, we're all tired from fighting those rats earlier," Nami said. "I say we deserve a rest."
"What?"
"Luffy, she does have a point," Usopp said.
"Um, surely you don't mind us staying here, do you?" Chopper asked.
"Well, after what we had seen out there earlier today, I don't see why not," Terrador said. "But considering you are pirates in our world, that's something a dragon would not trust."
Later that night, the dragons were sleeping, and so were the Straw Hat Pirates. Except Robin had checked the book, looking back at Spyro's adventures. She noticed about the purple beams in their battle against Malefor. "Convexity," she read. "So that's what the purple beam is." She checked more pages. "I wish I could've asked Spyro more about his adventure with Cynder." She noticed the group asleep. "Maybe I'll ask in the morning." She then closed the book.
Outside on the balcony, Spyro looked out the view of the night sky.
"Spyro," said Cynder, approaching him. "Why are you still awake? It's the middle of the night."
"I've been thinking, Cynder," said Spyro. "After all those adventures we had, I wonder if there's still more to explore, and a chance to meet this Agatina dragon."
"Oh, I'm sure there's still adventures waiting for us. We might have a chance someday."
Spyro looked at Cynder, and then he put his arm around her. Cynder felt this and did the same.
"I sure hope so, Cynder," said Spyro. "I'm always ready for the next adventure."