Hi! Thanks to everyone who voted on the popularity poll. I am happy to announce that Cavalier received 29 votes out of a total of 48 or a 27% of the vote. Making him come joint first with Night Terror. As promised, I'll make a special chapter for both of them so make sure to look out for it.


thekombatant2002 - Correctamundo! (Huh, that's a word I have never used before...and probably never use again)

Djinn - Thanks so much! I think the WG would censor certain Devil Fruits and write them out of history. After all, that's exactly what they did with the Hito Hito No Mi: Model Nika Fruit by labelling it the Gum Gum Fruit. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.

FanSuperAnime - Thanks so much, I'm so happy that you enjoyed it so much. Also, I have nothing against Sanji (he's a great character) but he and Cavalier do tend to clash over women (well, unintentionally in Cavalier's case).

Yeah, I just finished the MHA manga a while back. I can't believe it's over. I really liked it. Ah well, all things must come to an end and, as you say, this is a great opportunity to finish 'The Disappearing Hero'. I heard they are making MHA: Vigilantes into an anime now, so I'm looking forward to that. Anyway, thanks again and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

wellingtonlucas282 - No problem. Thanks for reading!

SentryTorch - Thanks so much! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much!

Guestfyre - Hello again to you. It's always great to read your reviews.

You've hit the bull's eye about the extinct Devil Fruit; they are kept by the Secret Empire. Let's see now, I have already introduced the Snatch Snatch Fruit (Cavalier), the Salt Salt Fruit (Crow), the Tick Tick Fruit (Raven), the Space Space Fruit (Cuckoo) and the Matter Matter Fruit (Bower). Which means that there are six more Paramecia fruits, six more Zoan fruit and five more Logia fruit to be introduced. Honestly, I'm pretty excited about revealing them as the story goes on. I'm always thinking of new Devil Fruits that could exist in the One Piece world; I find Zoan and Logia fruit, by far, the easiest to think up and Paramecia being the hardest since, as you already said, there's a range of abilities they could possess.

I can see Burgess being the sole member of the Blackbeard pirates to have a one-sided rivalry against Cavalier. It will be pretty interesting to see when they meet up again in Impel Down, at Marineford and in Dresrossa in the coliseum.

Yeah, it's a shame. That's what happens when you've been under the control of the Secret Empire for so long. His bruised, scarred skin, his large lungs, his small stomach and his inability to sleep for more than fifty minutes a day is what he's cursed with. But, now that he's free, he can get better and adapt to his new body. It might take a while, but he'll get through it.

Haha, yeah, it's a good thing he knows things like sex and the difference between men and women; that would come in handy later on...although, I do have to wonder how he knows all of that.

Hmm, I'll definitely think about Durandal. In any case, however, Cavalier will always accidentally one-up Cavandish in popularity and, eventually, bounty.

I imagine that it was Vice-Admiral Nazu Ketagari (the one who gave all the admirals their codenames) who came up with the 'Wangling And Imprisonment allFemale Union Squad' name. He would already have had the acronym printed out on their sails and everything before Hina and Doll could deal with him.

Huh, I haven't really considered him having a pet. I suppose he could have a little mouse or even a cat that he picked up somewhere. I can imagine it going something like this:

Nami: Cav, where did you get that cat?

Cavalier: Oh, do you mean Captain Gizmo Kittykat Von Fluffywhiskers IV?

Nami: ...what sort of a name is that?

I read all your suggestions and I really liked them.

I'm sure Cavalier could convince Franky to make part of the Sunny out of the Merry. It might be a small thing which none of the crew mates would notice, but it would mean the world to Cavalier.

Oh, Cavalier will be absolutely brutal in getting Robin back. That's all I'm going to say.

I can see Big Mom liking Cavalier and vise versa, but they will conflict over a few things.

Lilith, I can imagine, would be like Nami; she just can't bring herself to hate him.

I think that Cav would automatically want to adopt the seraphim as soon as he discovers them. The Vegapunks would keep on telling him that they are powerful weapons and Cavalier is not having any of that. They are his children and they are his now. S-Snake would be particlarly funny as he keeps calling her 'Chibi-hime'.

Yes, Gerd will find him the cutest of the cutest and will ride on her shoulder much to Road's annoyance.

Since there's also mixed bathing on Wano, I can't see a reason why Cavalier wouln't be mixed up about going into fhe women's baths. They won't notice him first, but when they finally do, they'll just accept it and let him join.

A second Devil Fruit, hmm? That would be interesting. I'll have to think about that.

I really do like the Den Den Mushi idea. Maybe that could happen in the next arc.

Anyway, thanks so much and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Guest - Thanks so much, I'm so happy that you liked it. I don't have an exact number to how many girlfriends will be with Cavalier, but it's going to be quite a lot...[sigh] this is really pushing my skills as a writer. Sorry to hear about Bonney and everything and don't worry, it's been a weird few months for me as well...well, maybe a weird year. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well.

ShashankBhatt - I'm sure he would like to. He declared to Raven (a few chapters ago) that he'll save everyone who has fallen victim to the Secret Empire. However, it won't be easy at all.

James D. Heavens - Thanks so much. I'm so glad that you liked it as well as the omake. I've been thinking of writing it for a while so it's nice that it's finally published. Hmm, interesting theory...you'll have to wait and see to find out. Thanks again and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much.

Imperial Superior - [Sips tea casually]

Haha, yeah, that's...HEY! WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?

[Sips tea aggressively]

Guest - Unfortunately not. I have no plans for doing a crossover, but I have been planning a sequel to 'The Good Dragon'.

joseskywalker02 - No problem, I'm so glad that you liked it.

I don't think it takes very long for the Straw Hats to get into trouble and Cavalier usually contributes to it or make it much worse. But yes, he's a real idol.

You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to writing more about the Secret Empire. They will crop up here and there in every arc, but the real Secret Empire arc won't start until during the time skip. Oh, btw, it's going to be devastating, so be prepared.

Haha! You know what, fair enough for Oda. He knows what he likes and draws what he wants. I can't fault him for that. I'm just glad he branched out when he did the Egghead arc and really drew in support from Team Butts...not that I'm associated with that group or anything, haha...ahem...let's move on.

7thManiac - I'm think so too. There aren't many other crew members who could actually cook instead of Sanji. I think Usopp, Nami and Robin can, but Usopp and Robin are usually busy while Nami charges others for the food she cooks. I think it's something he and Sanji can bond over.

Aha! That's why you always read the omakes, lol. Cavalier can be very surprising and unpredictable. It's just one of his quirks, I guess. Thanks so much for reading.

Guest - That is certainly the wildest theory I ever heard and certainly the most imaginative. Just one flaw to it...Cavendish is six years older than Cavalier. But I still enjoyed it all the same. Thanks so much for reading.

Guest - Sorry for the wait!

GreatAsura - That's...that's...that's actually a good point. He really does fit the criteria. Alright, Cavalier is a Disney princess. It's cannon now.

ShadowSsp - I read the manga and watch the anime (back when it was actually airing). Both have their positives and negatives, but I enjoy them both. And yes, I do wear glasses. I spend way too much time reading at night.

Foxfire573 - 1) It really is. The Snatch Snatch Fruit is unexpectedly powerful.

2) I love this question! I'm so glad you asked. Cavalier would be a Fairy/Steel type Pokemon.

3) Cavalier is a surprising person. You never really know what to expect from him or what sort of things he knows.

Thanks so much for reading.

Thanks for reviewing :)


Chapter 13: God's Realm

White White Sea, Off The Coast Of Upper Yard

The bolt of lightning came crashing down and erupted into a massive explosion.

They felt the crackling, sparkling wave of energy wash over them; the force of which made the sea clouds they were on to tremor violently and they couldn't see anything but the bright white light that flooded the area. The noise was tremendous and powerful; like the booming roar of thunder but only hundreds of times louder.

Nami could only shut her eyes, grit her teeth and hold onto the handlebars of the waver for dear life as the waves generated by the explosion were so ferocious that she was almost tossed off of it. Even Cavalier was at the mercy of the savage lightning. He was flung into the air and thrown back several meters before he fell back towards the White White Sea.

He fell onto his back onto the sea clouds, but managed to move his legs so he could put the blades of the shooters he was wearing on the clouds as well. He needed to get up back onto his feet before his body could sink into the clouds; every millisecond his body spent in the sea clouds could be the death of him. He tightened his core, raised his hips and tried, with every fibre of his body, to pull himself up. It would have been much easier if the clouds weren't still stirring and the force of the explosion wasn't so powerful. However, to his surprise, he felt a pressure placed on his back pushing him upwards; helping him to get back on his feet. Because of the mysterious pressure, he was able to get up the rest of the way and stand on the waves as they rocked him all over the place. He was relieved to be saved from drowning, but his relief turned to curiosity as he reached back and felt the place on his back where the pressure had been. Obviously, nothing was there. The only evidence that there had been anything was the sensation on his skin which was quickly disappearing. He frowned curiously, but decided that maybe it was nothing after all. However, for a few moments, he was utterly convinced that the pressure, that had helped him up, felt like human hands.

By that time, the bright light had faded and the sea clouds began to slowly transition from waves into ripples. The bitter smell of burning wood filled the air as Cavalier turned towards Upper Yard once more. The place where the man had been, the one that was begging Nami to let him onto her waver, had been eviscerated. The part of the coast line had been destroyed and burnt leaving nothing behind but a circular charred hole twenty meters wide and a bunch of burning trees behind. In one deadly strike, the lightning bolt had scarred the ground it impacted...and killed the man in a split second.

Cavalier felt his heart sink when he thought about him. If he had come sooner, perhaps he could have saved him.

"Hey! Somebody get a Water Dial over here!"

A shout made him snap out of his thoughts and look towards Upper Yard. There were more people in the forest that had somehow survived the blast.

"Extinguish the fire before it spreads!"

Quickly, he used the shooters to propel him towards Upper Yard before the smoke cleared up and the fires could be put out. He stopped on the edge of the cliff and pressed his back against the face of it to avoid him being seen by them.

"Was that guy talking to somebody?" another voice grumbled from above.

"I think he said something about a Shandoran," the first voice answered, "Must be one who was nearby."

"Yeah and got spooked and ran off. Ah well, nothing we can do about it now," another voice said uncaringly, "It was quite amusing to hear him beg, wasn't it? Ho! Ho! Hoooo!"

Cavalier frowned at the voices. It sounded like there were four of them in total. One was rough and haughty, another was grumbly and dark, another was high pitched and squeaky while the last one was gravelly and serious. He looked around and saw, to his relief, Nami was nearby. She too had sailed the waver towards the shore and hid herself between the cliff's face and a large tree root that had grown into the clouds.

Quietly and quickly, he made his way over to her and tapped her on the shoulder to gain her attention. She whipped head head around in fright, but calmed down when she saw that it was only him. Cavalier gave her a small wave and gave her a thumbs up to ask her if she was alright. She hesitantly nodded her head in reply.

"I'm okay...physically," she whispered.

"Brilliant," he whispered back, "By the way, have we seen this forest before?" he asked her.

"...what?"

"I swear I've seen this forest before."

"What are you talking about, Cav?"

"What was God Enel thinking?" the grumbly voice asked, making the two of them shut up immediately, "Why did he do it himself?"

"Time was up probably," the rough voiced replied.

"Silence. We have another mission issued to us," the gravelly voice said, "We have illegal trespasses that have entered this country. Amazon messaged us saying that eight citizens of the Blue Sea came up on a ship."

Nami's eyes widened when she heard that.

'Eight citizens from the Blue Sea,' she thought, 'Do they mean us? But we're not...wait.'

Her mind flashed back to a couple of hours earlier when they sailed into Skypiea and had met that old woman at the gate.

'She asked us for a entry fee, but she said we could enter even if we don't pay...does that make us illegal trespassers. Damn it! I should have known that it was too good to be true!' she scolded herself before she cast her eyes back towards the devastation a few meters away from their hiding place, 'Does that mean...they'll do the same to us like they did to him?'

"Only eight?" the high-pitched voice cried, "That doesn't sound exciting at all."

"At least it's divisible by four," the rough voice joked earning a chuckle from the other men with him.

Their voices faded away into the distance to which Nami and Cavalier assumed that they had left, making them released the air that they were holding in their lungs.

"This is bad," Nami muttered in fear, "This is really bad."

"I know," Cavalier agreed, "Those poor chaps from the Blue Sea. I hope they are alright."

"They meant us!" Nami shouted at him, "We're the eight illegal trespassers!"

"Ooh right, yes, that make sense."

Nami reached forwards, grabbed the waver's handlebars and revved the engine, "We have to get back to Angel Beach now and warn the others. Quick!" she urgently before she drove the waver away, speeding into the distance as fast as she could.

"Right o!" Cavalier called back as he pushed the shooters to move forwards...

...only for the shooters to sputter and choke as the Breath Dials failed.

He felt himself sinking again and so he leapt onto the giant root before he could fall through. He looked down at the shooters and hummed slightly when he noticed that the Breath Dials were barely releasing enough power to keep him afloat.

"Ah, they must need recharging," he said as he used his power to steal the dials, one in each hand, and began to spin them around to collect the air, "I'll catch up Nami. Don't worry," he cheerfully said as he watched Nami drive off into the distance.


Angel Beach

"There is no point in denying. We already received a picture taken of all you going through Heaven's Gate without paying."

"But that's impossible. Surely that can't be true."

The situation, back on Angel Beach, had taken a turn for the worse.

The Straw Hat crew had returned to the place on the beach where the Merry had been anchored so they could wait for Nami's and Cavalier's return. However, they were intercepted by a military group known as the White Berets. There were just over ten of them and all had the white wings that all Sky People had. Their uniforms consisted of a purple short-sleeved shirt, large blue baggy trousers with cloud prints on them, black boots and a white beret (hence the name) on their heads.

Judging by Conis' and Pagaya's reactions when they first saw them crawling (yes, crawling) on the beach towards them, they were a group that they should be concerned about. As soon as they caught sight of them, the two Skypians froze in worry. Palgaya stood before his daughter protectively while Conis hugged Su closely to her chest. Their commander, a tall man in his thirties with short hair and a square jaw, was the most intimidating of them all. His uniform was the same as the rest of his troops expect that he wore a long light blue coat over his shoulders.

"Commander McKinley, please," Palgaya said pleadingly to him and his troops, "They are our guests. They have not harmed us at all."

McKinley narrowed his dark eyes at the old man in annoyance, "It is our duty as the White Berets to uphold the law and to punish any criminals," he said brashly, "And those Blue Sea Dwellers have broken the law. They have illegally trespassed onto Skypiea."

"Trespassed?" Zoro muttered

"He's probably referring to us not paying the 1 Billion Extol toll when we were passing through Heaven's Gate," Robin hummed.

"But that old lady said we could pass," Usopp complained to Commander McKinley, "Talk to her about it."

"Stop arguing and just confess to your crimes," McKinley cut him off sharply, "The situation is not serious enough to cause a panic. In Skypiea, illegally trespassing is only a Class 11 crime. After your punishment, you will immediately become regular tourists."

Sanji raised his curled eyebrow, "Huh? Really? You should have said that from the beginning. What's the punishment?"

"It's very simple. Just pay a fine that is ten times the entry fee," McKinley explained calmly, "Each person is ten billion Extol which means eighty billion Extol for eight people. Pay now and your criminal status will be erased immediately."

"E-eighty billion Extol!" Usopp exclaimed, "How much is that in Berrys!?"

"Berrys?" the commander of the White Berets grumbled, "That's your Blue Sea currency, isn't it? In that case...hmm...ten thousand Extol is equal to one Berry."

"So...that's...how much?"

"Eight million Berrys," Robin quickly answered.

"That's way too much!" the rest of the crew cried out.

"If you had paid at Heaven's Gate then you would only have to pay eight hundred thousand Berrys," McKinley pointed out.

"That's still a lot!"

McKinley's eyes narrowed at the crew, "I will give you a warning. We are the White Berets, direct servants of the High Priests. If you continue to deny, your criminal status will worsen."

"HESO!" the other White Berets shouted in agreement as they put their right hand behind their head and, with two fingers, gave themselves 'bunny ears' as a form of a salute.

"What the hell was that!?" Luffy shouted at them.

"Also," McKinley said as he pointed sharply to the broken waver that the crew brought up that was now lying on the beach, "This waver looks broken. If you broke it, then it's a Class 10 crime."

"But that was theirs to begin with," Conis told the commander, "They didn't break it."

"Theirs?" McKinley tsked in annoyance, "There shouldn't be a waver in the Blue Sea. If this was stolen from a Sky Island then that's a Class 8 crime."

"AH, COME ON!" Luffy yelled at them.

"WAAAAIIIITTT! STOP!"

At the shout, all eyes turned to the White White Sea as somebody sailed towards them quickly. Sanji squinted into the distance to see who it could be, but, as soon as he realised who it was, he threw his arms up in the air and began to wiggle happily.

"Miss Nami! You're safe!~"

Nami drove the waver towards the shore of Angel Beach and stopped before she hit the island. She leapt off it and ran up the beach towards them; wiping the sweat from her brow as she did.

"Don't oppose them," she pleaded her crew, "Whatever they say, don't fight them over it. We will accept any punishment they offer."

"Huh? Why?" Luffy questioned.

"Just don't please," Nami begged.

"But they're telling us to pay a eight million Berry fine. Can we afford that?" Usopp asked her.

...

...

...

...

"...Eight...million...Berrys, huh?" Nami uttered in a eerily calm tone that made the Straw Hat crew shiver, "Eight...MILLION...BERRYS!" she screamed in fury as she leapt at a surprised McKinley.

Her eyes were dark, her teeth had become as sharp as razors and, if Usopp wasn't holding her back, was the commander would have certainly have been dead.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME! THAT'S FAR TOO EXPENSIVE!"

McKinley and the rest of the White Berets nervously took a step back to avoid the rabid Nami as she tried to scratch at them. The commander shivered slightly before he cleared his throat.

"T-threatening a White Beret is a Class 7 crime, you know?"

"Nami," Usopp begged as he pulled her by the arm away from the troops, "Stop! You're only going to get us into more trouble! Look come over here!"

He somehow managed to pull Nami over to the side and got to her to slightly calm down. He pressed a finger to his lips to signal her to lower her voice.

"I've got an idea," Usopp whispered.

"You better, because I'm not paying that much," she hissed at him.

"You don't have to, because we've got him."

"Him?"

"Cavalier."

Nami gasped happily, "Of course, that sweet hearted himbo can convince them to let us go," she said, pressing her hands together and closing her eyes in glee, "He might even be able to make them give us money."

"Boy, I'm so glad he's around," Usopp grinned as he did the same pose Nami was doing, "It really puts the pressure off of us, huh?"

"It sure does. He's like a buffer zone between Luffy, Zoro and Sanji and us normal people."

"He's great, isn't he?"

"So great."

"So, where is he?"

"Who?"

"Cavalier."

"Cavalier?"

...

...

...

...

Nami's face turned from happy to absolutely horrified in an instant. Her face turned pale, she began to shake and sweat began to pour down from her brow.

"I left him at Upper Yard," she uttered in realisation.

...

...

...

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Usopp shrieked in fear, "HOW COULD YOU LEAVE OUR NEGOTIATOR!?"

"I didn't mean to! Why was he with me in the first place!?"

"Heso, chaps! How's it going!?"

"Cav, not now," Usopp sighed, "We're trying to work out how to-"

He stopped suddenly as, once again, all eyes turned to the White White Sea where Cavalier, on his newly charged shooters came skating in. Usopp and Nami sighed in relief as tears formed in their eyes while the others casually waved to him in return.

"Thank goodness," Usopp and Nami sighed.

"Hey Cavvy," Luffy cried out, "You're late!"

"You didn't get lost did you?" Chopper asked in worry.

Cavalier rode the shooters onto the shore and stepped onto the beach, "Nope. I was just rechar-whoops!"

Unfortunately, as he stepped onto the shore, Cavalier had accidently stepped on the acceleration on the shooter which meant it went flying forwards. His leg made the shooter swung up in arc upwards and the straps snapped off of it, making the shooter fly off his boot, zoom through the air and...

SMASH!

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

...hit McKinley right in the face.

The commander of the White Berets was knocked off his feet and was sent flying back. He landed in the grove several feet back on his back; his face was bruised, his nose was broken and bloodied and his eyes were spinning in their sockets dizzily.

"CAVALIER, NO!" Usopp and Nami yelled.

"COMMANDER MCKINLEY!" the White Berets cried out in concern.

"On dear," Conis uttered as she placed a hand over her mouth.

"HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!" Luffy laughed, "That was hilarious!"

Cavalier, who had recovered from the accident, rubbed the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly, "Ah, whoops. Haha! Sorry about that, chap. Are you alright?"

McKinley groaned as he rolled onto his front and shakily got back onto his feet. He wiped hid blood from his face and gave Cavalier a deadly glare.

"Ah good. You're alright," Cavalier said with a relived sigh, "Bloomin' heck, you had me worried there for a-"

"You...you damn Blue Sea Dwellers," he spat furiously, "That's it! You are all under arrest! With the power invested by God Enel, I sentence you to Drifting Cloud!"

Conis and Pagaya gasped in horror at his declaration, much to the confusion of the rest of the crew.

"No," the young woman uttered as she placed her hands over her face, "Not Drifting Cloud."

"What's Drifting Cloud?" Luffy asked her.

"Is it a type of scented candle?" Cavalier added.

"No, not at all," Conis told them in panic, "It means marooning you on a little piece of Island Cloud so you will drift in the sky until you die. It's a death penalty!"

Robin hummed thoughtfully at that, "Well, that explains why the galleon fell from the sky. It probably received the same sentence two hundred years ago."

However, they didn't have time to ponder on that for too long. McKinley had stepped in front of his fellow White Berets and pointed at the crew which looked to be the signal for the other Beret's to act. The closest four Berets reached behind them and took our a bow and a single arrow; the bow wasn't anything special, but the arrow was tipped with a cone-shaped seashell. They pulled back the bowstrings and loaded their arrows instantly.

"White Berets! Take aim!" McKinley ordered, making Luffy, Cavalier, Sanji and Zoro tense up, "FIRE!"

The White Berets released their bowstrings and shot their arrows...but none of them hit them. Instead, a trail of white fluffy clouds spouted from the arrows; they hung in the air, twisting and turning around them like snakes encircling their prey. They looked curiously at the trails of clouds; Cavalier even poked one of them and felt how soft it was.

"Blimey! It feels like a Sea Cloud, but a little more dense," he commented.

Suddenly, several of the White Berets leapt on the trails of clouds and, using their own Shooters, zoomed along them at great speeds. They used the trails of clouds as a means to surround them and attack them at all angles. With their speed and their agility, they could cut down a group of people with their knives in an instant...

…unfortunately for them, the Straw Hats weren't just ordinary people.

Luffy ducked under a swipe from a White Beret's knife before he leapt into the air and punched forwards. His arm extended far further than any of the White Berets were expecting and so three of them were taken out by one of Luffy's punches.

Sanji leapt upwards to avoid another White Beret before flipping over and slamming his foot down on the back of his head, knocking him our instantly.

Zoro deflected two blades with his own sword. He closed his eyes and waited for the right moment. Not a few seconds later, another Beret came zooming towards him and so he opened his sharp eyes, twisted around and swiped his own blade before the Beret could. The guard yelled out in pain as he flew through the air and landed on the ground with a large cut on his chest.

Cavalier looked left and saw a Beret coming towards him. He looked right and saw a Beret towards him. Therefore, he shrugged and, just as the Berets were about to pounce on him, ducked. The Berets slammed into each other hard and both fell into a heap on the ground; their heads began to spin as the front of their body was racked with pain. Cavalier gave them an apologetic smile and patted their shoulders comfortingly.

One by one, the White Berets fell. Luffy punched, Sanji kicked, Zoro slashed and Cavalier...stole their Shooters so they would crash into nearby trees or into each other. Eventually the last White Beret fell to the ground in pain amongst his comrades. All of them were bruised, cut and had some broken bones. Conis and her father were beyond shocked. It had hardly been two minutes and all of Skypiea's elite fighters had been taken out.

"They defeated the...White Berets," Pagaya uttered in shock.

"Blue Sea Dwellers should have problems fighting here," Conis said.

They were taken out of their stupor when they saw Luffy, Sanji and Zoro standing over a hunched over Cavalier; the latter of the men seemed to having trouble breathing.

"Can...'t...brea...th," Cavalier sputtered as his face turned very pale, "...please...hel..p!"

"Okay, okay, hold still," Sanji sighed as he pressed the Jet Dial to a half-dead Cavalier's mouth and pressed the apex, allowing the wind from inside it to fill his lungs, "You going to make it, alright?"

"We really need to sort you out with something," Zoro sighed as Luffy patted Cavalier's back.

"Ha! Your kind of lame up here, aren't you!?" Luffy laughed.

"If I remember correctly, he almost defeated you a while ago back on that island."

"Hey! Shut up! That was Magpie, not Cavvy!"

Conis sweat dropped, "Okay, maybe they have a few problems."

However, to their surprise, their heard a dark chuckle from behind them. They turned around and saw McKinley limping out of the tree grove. He was battered and bruised, but still he was smirking at them.

"You fools," he spat, "It would have been fine if you had done as I said...we, the White Berets, are the nicest law enforces in Skypiea. They, on the other hand, won't be so forgiving," he coldly said, making some gulp in fear, "With this, you have become Class 2 criminals. No matter how much you cry or scream...THE PRIESTS OF UPPER YARD WILL PERSONALLY JUDGE YOU! HESO!"


The White Berets a retreated as fast as they could with their injuries and they were soon left alone on Angel Beach. Seeing that the fighting was over, Nami climbed out of the hiding place that Usopp and Chopper had made for themselves and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Damn it! We were tricked! That old lady said we can go through, didn't she!" she yelled in annoyance, "And now we're illegally trespassing! They can't do this!"

"That's true," Usopp admitted, "However, even she did tell us that we can't pass then we probably would've forced our way through."

"Shut up!"

Pagaya wiped the sweat from his brow nervously, "Things have become really complicated. If you're Class 2 criminals then we can't help you," he said as he and Conis subtly began to back away from them.

"WHY ARE YOU SUBTLY BACKING AWAY FROM US!?" Nami yelled before she growled angrily and glared at Cavalier, "Of course, we would be Class 2 criminals if you hadn't kicked your boot at his face!" she snapped as she stomped towards him, "What's the matter with you!? I thought you were supposed to be good with this stuff!"

Cavalier looked guiltily down at his feet. He rubbed his left arm sadly and furrowed his eyebrows; which, in Nami's eyes, made him look like a kicked puppy.

"I'm really sorry, Nami. I must not have tied them onto my feet properly when I took them off," he softly said, "I didn't mean to that."

Nami's eye twitched and began to shake slightly. She looked like she was going through an internal conflict with herself on whether she should punch him for angering her or comfort him for looking like this. Eventually, she ended the conflict by turning around and sighing in mild annoyance.

"It's fine...just be careful, okay?"

"Right o," Cavalier chirped, happy that he wasn't being scolded anymore.

'Amazing!' all the other men on Straw Hat crew thought in disbelief, 'Can we learn this power as well?'

"So, why did you come back?" Robin asked as she walked over, "You seemed quite concerned. Is there something we should know?"

"Oh, yeah!" Luffy said, "Did you find the place 'that no one should ever enter'? Let's go now! I want to see it!"

"No way!" Nami yelled at him, "We're not going there again! That place is terrible and there's something there that we shouldn't mess with!"

Luffy frowned in disappointment, "Aww what! I want to go there! That's not fair!"

"Didn't you hear me!" Nami roared as slammed her fist onto his forehead, "There are some really scary guys on that island! You're just saying that because you didn't see them yourself! Even though I don't know if they're really Gods, they are too strong and have stupidly strong powers! Isn't that right, Cav?"

"Well-"

"Exactly, that is why we are never going there again!"

"Fine! We'll just by ourselves," Luffy complained as he rubbed his sore forehead, "You can stay here!"

"I'm not doing that! We're leaving this place right now!"

"WHAT!?" Luffy yelled, "BUT WE JUST GOT HERE! WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, ADVENTURE OR YOUR LIFE!?"

"My life! Followed by money!"

"Ah, then followed by me?~" Sanji cooed.

"Shut up!" Nami shouted as she punched him in the face.

Usopp hummed thoughtfully, "You know, we have spent so much time here that we haven't really thought of how to get down," he said as he turned to Conis, "Is there a way to get back to the Blue Sea...safely, preferably?"

Conis frowned slightly, "Well...there is a way. You must go back down to the White Sea and then head to the far east to a place called Cloud End," she looked over her shoulder in concern as if she was expecting somebody to be listening in, "But I don't think you should run. You might not be able to make on time before the authorities catch you."

Nami laughed slightly and gave a casual wave, "Same old thing for us, then. We better go. If we stay here any longer than we'll just cause you more troubles," she turned around and headed towards where the Merry was harboured, "Let's go, Conis, Pagaya, thanks for everything."

Zoro clicked his tongue in annoyance and went with her along with Robin and Chopper.

"Tsk, barely had time to have a nap," he grumbled.

"You can have one on the ship," Chopper told him.

Instead of going back to the Merry as Nami had ordered, Luffy turned to Pagaya and grinned eagerly at him.

"Ah mister, can I take all the food from earlier?"

Pagaya chuckled slightly, "Oh, of course."

"I have a request too," Usopp said, "You're an engineer too, right? Can I have some tools and materials for fixing up the Merry?"

"No problem at all."

Nami looked around and noticed Luffy and Usopp heading back to Pagaya's and Conis' house and frowned angrily.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going!?"

"I'm going to get some food!" Luffy replied, "You guys go ahead and prepare for our adventure."

"Argh! Son of a-"

"Don't worry, Nami, my sweet," Sanji called back, "I'll keep an eye on him while I'll prepare our lunches."

Nami sighed and shook her head, "Oh, for goodness sake!" she muttered.

She looked to her left to see Cavalier looking down at her pleadingly and sighed once again.

"Alright, go on then," she reluctantly muttered.

"Yay!" he whooped happily before he sprinted up the beach in a split second and stood in between Conis and Pagaya, much to the two's surprise, "We were interrupted earlier. Can I make you another cup of tea?"

Pagaya sweat dropped while Conis gave him an amused smile.

"Of course. It'll be our pleasure."


Living Room, Pagaya and Conis' House

"...so, once you pour it in and give it a few minutes to mix with the milk and to cool a little, you can drink it," Cavalier said as he poured the freshly brewed tea from the pot into Pagaya's cup, "And that's how you make a cup of tea."

"My word, what a peculiar custom," Pagaya hummed as he watched the tea turn from dark brown to a lighter brown, "And you do this every day?"

"Yep," Cavalier said as he leaned away from the table and back on the sofa, "It's one of the best things ever. Robin mention something else called 'iced tea'. I tried making it once, but the ice just kept melting in the kettle."

"I see."

"I'll work it out eventually."

"So, what else do you do with this...tea?"

Cavalier tilted his head slightly, "Well, we usually have a nice chat. Oh, but we should wait for Conis. It's more fun that way," he looked around the living room curiously, "Where is she by the way?"

Pagaya hesitated slightly; something that Cavalier picked up on instantly. He cleared his throat and looked down at the table as he gave his answer.

"She'll...be here in a moment," he answered, "A-anyway, what sort of things do you talk about?"

Cavalier raised a curious eyebrow at his behaviour, but happily answered instead.

"Oh, things like...um...Oh! The weather!"

"I see...nice weather we're having lately."

"Amazing!" Cavalier gasped, "You're a natural. Lovely jubbly!"

At that point, Conis had returned and sat on the seat beside Cavalier. She gave him a kind smile and picked up the cup of tea that he had recently poured for her.

"Oh, is this for me...thank you. How kind of you to share you Blue Sea beverage," she said as she took a sip...only to flinch as soon as the hot tea hit her tongue, "Ow! That's hot!"

"You're supposed to let it cool down a little first," Cavalier reminded.

"Oh...right. O-of course," she said as she set her cup down with a shaky hand, "M-must of slipped my mind."

Cavalier frowned a little at her behaviour. She seemed different. Maybe it was her smile was too wide or the fact that she stammered slightly when she spoke; her hands were shaking slightly and her eyes were slightly wet with tears. He glanced over at Pagaya and saw that he was acting in almost the same way; they were both overly friendly, but not in the Cavalier sort of way. It was as if they were forcing themselves to be as kind as possible. Why they were doing this...well, he couldn't say at the moment.

But he'll keep a keen eye on them just in case.

"Hey mister, is it really alright for me to take all of these?"

They turned to the corner of the room and spotted Usopp crouched down next to Pagaya's large toolbox. It had everything he needed to make the proper repairs to the Merry.

"Oh yes, it's fine," Pagaya replied with a wave of his hand, "I'm quite surprised that you wouldn't have you own considering you're the ship's carpenter."

"No, I'm not the carpenter," he said with a chuckle, "I'm the sniper. Our ship doesn't have a carpenter yet...but since everyone depends on my skills then I might as well be. It's a lot of pressure. If I'm gone, the Merry would sink."

"I sometimes help as well," Cavalier chipped in.

"You only pass me the right tools when I need them."

"Yep, I know the difference between a cross-head and a flat-head screw."

"Is that so," Pagaya hummed.

"Everyone I made lunches," Sanji called out as he walked in with a stack of boxed lunches. He made a beeline towards Conis, got down on one knee and handed her one of the top box in the stack, "Here you are, my lady~ One meal catered for you~"

"Really? For me?" Conis said happily as she took the box, "What a beautiful display of food."

"Of course~" Sanji cooed before he sent a competitive look towards Cavalier, "Is it better than Cav's simple cup of tea?"

"Umm..." Conis hummed in puzzlingly, "...I think they're both great."

"I like your boxed lunches as well," Cavalier commented.

"Yeah, yeah, I wasn't asking you, Cav. Go on. What do you truly think?"

"Who cares," Luffy called out as he wondered into the room. He sensed food being served and instantly made his way over, "After you eat it, it all becomes the same thing."

"Don't be disgusting!" Sanji yelled at him as Conis and Cavalier chuckled in amusement.

Suddenly, Usopp heard a noise from outside and snapped his head up. He ran to the balcony and looked over the side down towards the beach; he gasped in horror and turned back to them.

"Guys! The Merry is leaving!"

"What!?"

They scrambled to the balcony and honed in on the ship down below. Usopp was right, the Merry was leaving...but it was going backwards. From what they could see, the sails were up, the anchor was still in the Sea Clouds and their crew mates on board were holding onto the sides by the force of them moving so fast. They could hear their confused yells and screams from all the way up here. There was no way they should be moving at all.

"I can't believe it," Sanji gasped.

"I know, how strange," Cavalier commented.

To his surprise, Sanji began to cry and clamp his teeth tightly over the napkin he had with him.

"WHY DID YOU PUT ON THAT SHIRT, NAMI!? WHY!?" AAAHHHH!"

Cavalier sweat dropped and patted his shoulder.

"Where are they going?" Luffy grumbled, "We weren't supposed to leave yet."

Cavalier focused not on the ship, but what was below it and saw something big moving underneath the Sea Clouds.

"It's being taken by something," he told them, "Look!"

Just as he pointed, the thing burst out of the cloud cover below. It was a gigantic red shelled shrimp that was four times bigger than the size of the Going Merry. It looked like the one that carried them up the Milky Road when they reached Heaven's Gate, but this one had the word 'God' printed on its shell. It clutched the Merry in its mighty claws and carried it away quickly. Before they knew it, both the Going Merry and the shrimp had disappeared into the horizon, taking their friends in the process.

They stood in shocked silence for a few seconds as they stared out into the horizon. The silence was, however, broken, when Sanji murmured in despair.

"Why is Nami wearing a shirt now?"

"Get over it!" Usopp yelled at him as he slapped his shoulder, "Luffy, this is bad, what do we do now?"

Luffy scratched his chin, "Where are they going, hmm?"

"A little more urgency, please!"

"The Express Shrimp is God's servant," Pagaya solemnly said.

They looked around to him and Conis who was hugging Su for comfort. Both Skypiens looked incredibly sombre; they eyes were stared down at their feet and their bodies were stiff. It was as if they had just been informed that a close friend of theirs was on their deathbed and they were coming to terms with how little they could do about it.

"Anything it transports is always a sacrifice for God," Pagaya continued, "In other words, they are going to the Northeast area of Upper Yard. To the Sacrificial Altar."

"Sacrifices!?" Sanji yelled, "Are you saying Nami and Robin are going to be sacrificed to some God!?"

"Chopper and Zoro as well, Sanji," Cavalier added in.

Pagaya held up his hands to them, "Wait! It's not what you think! For sacrifices...I only head about it. In Heaven's Judgement, there are two types of punishments for criminals. One is 'Sacrifice' and the other is a 'Trial'. That's what I heard. In other words, they're now in God's hands. They're called sacrifices but really they are more like...hostages."

"Well, that's a relief," Cavalier sighed, "I guess we'll just pop on over to Upper Yard and get them back. Simple as that."

"I'm afraid not," Pagaya said with a shake of his head, "If they are the ones to be sacrificed then that would mean you four are the ones to be judged," he hummed and scathed his head, "If only I had a map..."

"Ah, if you mean a map of Skypiea, I have one here," Usopp said.

He reached into his bag and brought the rolled up map that they had found on the wrecked galleon. He handed it over to Pagaya who inspected it keenly.

"The map looks old...but it looks correct," he said as he showed them map and pointed to one area of it, "Here is where you are. The Sacrificial Altar is in the Northeast," he told them pointing to the top left corner of the island on the map, "There is only one way to get there and it's via the Milky Road from this island. You must use a Dial Boat and pass through the forest where the Priests reside."

"Can't we go around it?" Cavalier asked, "I was able to do that earlier with the Shooters?"

"No, you can't get to the altar on foot if you land near it. The biggest difference between this old map and the current God's island is the addition of the Milky Roads."

"You mean those cloud river things?"

"Yes, I heard that there is a main cloud river as well as hundred of others," he sighed and returned the map to Usopp, "So other than entering via the central Milky Road there is no other way."

"I see," Sanji muttered, "So if we land directly, we would get blocked by the rivers."

"Exactly. Also in those rivers are man-eating fish."

"Sounds fun," Cavalier said, "Should we go?"

"If we want our crew back then we ought to," Sanji agreed as he lit up another cigarette, "Let's not keep those bastards waiting any longer."

"...trials..." Usopp gulped, "...Heaven's judgment..."

"Doesn't sound to hard," Luffy said with a grin, "All we have to do is kick those Priests' asses."

Pagaya wiped the sweat from his brow and shook his head, "Don't be reckless, please," he begged, "The Priests are stronger than you think. Most importantly..." he gulped nervously, "...God Enel himself...is on Upper Yard."


Lovely Street

Lovely Street was...well, lovely.

It was the largest and only street on Angel Island with hundreds of Skypiean residents visiting everyday. The fluffy cloud road was flanked by colourful buildings on either side; there were countless shops, boutiques and food stalls selling hundreds of exotic things that they had never seen before. Strange fruit and vegetables, the latest Skypiean fashion trends, toys, hats, dials and many more were sold here. There were even shops adrift clouds above the street which could only be accessed by a rope pulley system.

The Blue Sea Dwellers were captivated by the sights and sounds of Lovely Street. Luffy pressed his face against ever shop that sold food, Usopp wanted to see all the dials available and Sanji was admiring some of the female residents on the way. Conis tried her best to shepherd them through the street and towards the harbour; from there they could get a boat and sail on the Milky Road toward Upper Yard. Cavalier stayed close to her, but only because none of the other Skypieans wanted to say hello to him when he greeted them. He tried his usual opening line and had said 'Heso' about a million times, but all of them gave him the cold shoulder and avoided him like the plague.

He looked around and noticed that people would stop what they were doing so they could stare at them. Men, women, children and the elderly; all of them gave the impression that they were not wanted here. Cavalier glanced at Conis; she seemed like she was trying her best to ignore the cold stares as well by staring at the clouds below. He hummed in concern and leaned over to whisper to her.

"If you want, you can just tell point us in the direction of the harbour and we can make our way to it," he asked, making her flinch slightly, "I wouldn't want to get you into any more trouble by just being near us."

Conis hesitated slightly before she smiled at him, "Oh no, it's fine. Honestly. You're not troubling me at all," she insisted, "It's not too far away. Just around the corner, I promise."

"...right o," Cavalier said unsurely, before he straightened himself and grinned happily, "Well, we better go then. Let's-"

"Hey Conis!"

He was interrupted by Luffy shouting in the street which irritated some of the locals.

"What's this in the middle of the street? Is it a seal?"

They followed to where he was pointing and saw what he was referring to. In a clear cylindrical box was a statue of...well, Cavalier had no idea what it was to be honest. It had a round cone-shaped body and a rounded head; its face was long with small beady eyes, a large wide mouth with fangs sticking out of its lip, a long nose and long arms that was crossed over its chest. It wore a round helmet which covered the back of its neck and had patterns sculptured along its back to make it look like it was wearing some sort of cloak.

Cavalier along with Sanji, Usopp and Luffy observed the strange stone statue in wonder.

"Is it some religious figure?" Sanji muttered as he pressed his hand on the glass case.

"Of course not. This is art," Usopp boasted, "Of course, only I understand it."

"That's Vearth," Conis told them, "The idol of the Sky People."

"Eh? That's your idol?" Luffy muttered in distaste, "That's stupid," earning a kick to the head from Sanji for being rude.

Cavalier tried to step towards it, but stopped and, instead, stepped back away from it. He did not know why, but for some reason he really didn't want to get closer to the fierce face of Vearth.

Instead, Cavalier grinned and turned to the others.

"Come on chaps, let's get to the port. I'm sure the others are waiting for us."


Angel Island Harbour

As Conis had promised, the harbour was only a five minute walk from Lovely Street. As usual, the port was busy with fishermen, vendors and traders going about their daily business and selling their wares. The marina was full of boats and gondolas; some were owned for personal use while others could be rented out to anybody who wished to. Beyond the port were two large gates which marked the entranceway to one of the two main Milky Roads out of Angel Island; they presumed that one of them would take them straight to Upper Yard so all they needed was a boat.

Conis led them down the pier to the boat that she had rented out for them. Luffy was impressed with the wide range of boats and gondolas that were up for rent and was eager to get on one of them.

"Woah!" he yelled as he pointed to one large boat which had an ox head figurehead, "That one's awesome! Let's take this one!"

Conis hummed patiently before she pointed to another boat further down, "Actually, your boat is right over there."

"Ah cool! I wonder what it looks like!" Luffy said with a grin.

"I bet it looks brilliant!" Cavalier chirped.

However, they were soon disappointed when they actually saw it. The boat was much smaller than the others and could only fit a maximum of three or four people at the time. It had a black body, a red and while umbrella for a roof and a poorly crafted crow's head for a figurehead. It wasn't as spectacular as the other boats, but Cavalier wasn't concerned about that.

"It's called the Karsumaru," Conis told them, "It has two jet dials so it's a little slow, but it'll get you anywhere you want."

"Aw, what?" Luffy uttered in disappointment.

"A crow? It's not even a seabird," Usopp muttered.

Cavalier gave the figurehead an annoyed look and shivered slightly, "Why did it have to be a crow?"

"Oh, don't you like crows?" Conis asked sheepishly.

"No...just...one crow in particular," Cavalier sighed much to her confusion.

Luffy turned away and huffed in annoyance, "That's lame. Let's get another one."

Conis looked surprised, "You don't like it? Those are for rent, but I don't have the money to-"

Before she could finish, however, Sanji slammed his foot against Luffy's head angrily.

"You ungrateful kid! Apologise!"

"Sowwy!" Luffy yelped in pain.

Conis sighed slightly before she pointed towards Gate 2 across the harbour, "Go through the 2nd gate to enter the Milky Road to God's Island. That's the only way."

Cavalier grinned and nodded his head, "Brilliant, let's go chaps."

He made his way over to the Karasumaru along with Sanji and Usopp, but noticed that Luffy wasn't coming with them. He turned around and saw him looking at Conis strangely and frowned slightly.

"Err...Luffy?"

"Hey Conis," Luffy said, ignoring Cavalier for the moment, "How come you've been shaking...ever since you left home?"

The young woman was stunned by the question. Her eyes grew wide, her face grew paler and she began to physically tremble as beads of sweat poured down her face. She remained silent for a good few seconds which allowed Cavalier time to realise that everybody was watching them. From the fishermen to the traders, to the bystanders to the White Berets who been crawling and following them since they left Conis' house...he noticed them earlier on but was to polite to ask what they were doing. All of them had gone very silent and were staring straight at her in fear.

"Shaking?" Conis uttered.

"Yeah, what are you afraid of?" Luffy asked bluntly, causing her to step back away from him.

Cavalier cleared his throat to catch Luffy's attention, "Captain, perhaps we should leave-"

"Wait, what's going on," Sanji asked as he made his way over, "If Conis is afraid of something then we can't leave her now. She must be worried about us~"

Usopp rolled his eyes and made his over as well, much to Cavalier's concern.

"Will you be alright? The others on the street we're clearly avoiding us. Yet, you led us here...and lent us your boat...wouldn't that make you a criminal as well?" Usopp asked.

"Chaps, really-"

"You know, you look really pale close up," Luffy interrupted, "You should have just told us, if you're that scared. We could have come here by ourselves."

Conis shook her head and stepped back once again, "No...I...it's not like that..."

She glanced around and trembled as she saw the others watching her in anticipation. From the crowd that had gathered, Cavalier thought he heard them mutter to themselves. They didn't look irritated anymore, they looked panicked and fearful.

"Is she..." he heard one of them whisper.

"She can't...no way..."

After a few seconds of silence, Conis stared straight at the ground and clutched her fists tightly.

"It's strange...right?" she murmured, "Explaining the trials to you and then taking you here...it's like tricking you."

"Conis, you really don't have to say anything," Cavalier insisted as he walked on over, "Come on, chaps. Let's go."

Luffy glared at him seriously, "What's wrong, Cavvy? What do you know?"

Cavalier sighed, "It doesn't matter. I'll explain later. We just need to get to Upper Yard and away from Angel Island-"

"Can't you just run!" Conis shouted at them, "You don't have to go to Upper Yard! You can get out of here when you still can!"

She suddenly fell to her knees and pressed her hands over her face. She began to sob uncontrollably; tears running down her face and falling onto the ground.

"I'm really sorry!"

"HEY! SHUT UP!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED!"

The citizens of Angle Island began to shout at her. Even McKinley, who had been observing them for a while now had jumped out of his hiding space and began to yell at Conis. But there was no stopping her now; she couldn't pretend anymore that everything is alright.

"The one who called for the Express Shrimp! It was me!" Conis yelled, "I'm sorry! I had to! After discovering a criminal, if we don't take them to the judgement ground...WE WILL GET KILLED!"

"Oh dear," Cavalier sighed.

He was too late.

"SHUT HER NOW! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!?"

"THAT'S BLASPHEMY!"

"SOMEBODY STOP HER!"

The citizens continued to yell at scream at her as she wept into her hands and mutter how sorry she was. Luffy, Sanji and Usopp stared down at her in shock and horror. They had thought something suspicious was going on, but they never thought this could happen. Cavalier felt his heartbreak as he watched Conis cry; she had been so nice to them, but because it was her 'civic duty' she had to trick them into getting them to Upper Yard. He couldn't imagine what she has been going through. He glanced up at the sky and saw nothing yet, but he could feel something coming.

Luffy stepped up to her and loomed over her. His usual dopey look was replaced by a serious frown; something Cavalier hadn't seen since they were in Mock Town.

"You idiot," he snapped at her, "You did it because you had no other choice, right?" he questioned, causing her to sob harder, "So why..."

"WHY DID YOU TELL US!?" Luffy, Sanji and Usopp yelled at her.

Conis looked up in shock, her eyes were filled with tears, "W-what?"

"You shouldn't have told us, you silly goose," Cavalier calmly said, "You'll be in trouble as well."

"Hey Cav, you know all this time, huh?" Sanji muttered, "And you kept quiet to protect Conis?"

The young woman looked up at Cavalier in surprise, "Y-you knew and you-"

"Not exactly, but you look terrified. You've been scared ever since we were back at your house," he looked back at his fellow crew mates and sighed, "I'm sorry chaps. I should have told you something was strange, but..."

He flinched suddenly and stood straight up. There it was again; the same feeling of energy building up; the smell of ozone in the air; and the sound of sparks and electrical crackling could be heard. He looked up at the same time as the others and saw what appeared just off the coast of Upper Yard earlier that day. A gigantic pillar of crackling, sparking, zapping lightning hanging right above their heads.

"...but I've seen what he does to people," he muttered.

The citizens screamed and ran away as quickly as possible. The entire harbour was in uproar as every man, woman and child tried to get away from the pillar of lighting.

"IT'S TOO LATE!"

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

"THE JUDGEMENT IS COMING!"

Just as the lightning fell down, blinding everybody with its radiant hot light, Cavalier sprinted forwards and scooped Conis in his arms. Time slowed down for him as he ran; if the onlookers were not distracted by the attack then they would have only seen him as a blur. He had to get her out of the electrical beam and to safety; if he had time to take a run up or if he wasn't carrying somebody or if the lighting wasn't so fast, he could have made it all the way. But he had only made it to the edge of the impact zone when he felt the sparkling heat right over his head.

'Not good,' he thought as he prepared to throw Conis out of the way...

...but then he felt something grab a hold of him.

The pillar of lightning came down and a mighty eruption rang out with a mighty boom. Everybody covered their eyes with their hands and fell onto their backs. Buildings broke and crumbled into debris. Boats rocked and capsized over. The blast could be heard throughout the island and everyone, even those who were on the other side of Angel Island were knocked off their feet.

Eventually and slowly, the bright dimmed until it became normal again. The smell of ozone had disappeared and the loud sparkling sound resided into nothingness. Luffy, Sanji and Usopp looked up and saw, to their utter disbelief, that a wide circle several feet wide had been cut into the cloud that had been standing on. There was nothing left except for a gaping hole which revealed the earth below it.

"What!?" Usopp yelped as the other citizens began to recover, "What happened!?"

"Cavvy!" Luffy yelled in panic.

"Conis!" Sanji roared in fear.

"It's useless," one of the citizens grumbled, "The almighty Enel is always watching."

"No way!" Luffy shouted, "CAVVY!"

"Yes, captain?"

"Huh!?"

At the familiar voice everybody turned to the sky and saw to their utter disbelief that, hovering above the hole in the clouds, was Gan Fall, the Sky Knight, and his steed Pierre in his horse form. Sitting comfortably on Pierre's flank was Cavalier grinning down at them; in his arms, safe but very stunned, was Conis who had her arms wrapped around his neck for comfort. They sighed in relief at the sight of them.

"Cav! Are you alright?!" Usopp yelled up at him.

"Fine, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm not making small talk! I'm asking if you're injured!"

"Conis!" Sanji called up, "Cav, is she okay?"

Cavalier looked down at her and offered a gentle smile, "Are you alright?"

She hesitated slightly before she simply nodded.

"Good," Cavalier said before he called down to Sanji, "She's fine!"

"Great! NOW GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" he yelled angrily, causing Cavalier to sweat drop.

"I've got her, young man," Gan Fall told him, "She'll be safe me. Inpromise you that."

"Oh, right o," Cavalier chirped as he helped a shocked Conis further onto Pierre's back.

Once she was comfortable and holding onto Gall Fall's cloak, he gave her a comforting hug and small smile.

"You take care, okay?" he said.

Conis hesitated slighted but nodded in understanding. Cavalier smiled before he jumped off the back of the flying horse, did a forward somersault in the air and landed on his feet back on the ground with ease...all before he was forced to use his make-shift inhaler for using up too much oxygen.

From Pierre's back, Gan Fall looked down at the Straw Hat crew and the citizens of Skypiea. His white eyebrows were furrowed in steely concern and his old fingers were tightly gripped on the reins; he cast one look back at Conis to see if she was alright before he addressed the four pirates below.

"I will temporarily take care of this. I will not let her get attacked. Not that you know the truth about this country...as well as its God's power. You should decided what you will do by yourself," Gan Fall called down.

"This place's business has nothing to do with us!" Luffy yelled back up at him, "But our friends are trapped on that island. We're going after them."

Gan Fall gave a weary sigh, "I see," he said as he pulled the reins, "I wish you luck then!"

And, with those final words, Gan Fall ordered Pierre to fly away over the docks and across the White White Sea, much to the amazement of the Skypieans. Conis looked back at them in a mixture of sadness and guilt before turning her head away and gripping tightly to Gan Fall's cloak.

She couldn't believe what had just happened to her...and what she did to them.

As the pink and spotted horse flew out of sight, silence fell across the docks. Nobody spoke a word or moved a muscle; even the White Berets were shocked by what had occurred. The silence was suddenly broken by Cavalier.

"So, should we go?"

"Yep."

"I'll drive!"

"Alright fine."

"Can I be the Watchman?"

"You're already the Watchman."

"Brilliant!"

The Straw Hat crew leapt on board the Karusumaru eagerly. Usopp had taken a seat on the stern and tried not to cry, Sanji sat on the side of the boat along with Cavalier while Luffy had taken the helm in his hands.

"Alright!" Luffy yelled, "Let's go to Upper Yard!"

"Ah, before we go," Cavalier said as he skipped to the front of the Karasumaru, "I just wanted to make one minor adjustment."

He stepped up to the large crow-headed figurehead and raised his arms up with his hands pointed up at the sky. Using his Devil Fruit power, he took the crow's wooden eyes right off the figurehead, leaving behind empty wooden sockets where they had previously been. He then took the wooden eyes and tucked them under one of the seats so that they couldn't not be seen before turning away.

"I must remember to fix those when we return it to Conis," he told them as he sat back down, "Okay, let's go!"

Luffy, Sanji and Usopp stared at him in confusion.

"Err...why...did you do that?" Usopp questioned.

"Oh, I just didn't like it looking at us," Cavalier answered honestly, "It's pretty unnerving, isn't it?"

"O-okay?" Usopp uttered.


Upper Yard

After half an hour of sailing on the milky road, they had reached the entrance into God's Realm.

The towering trees, packed together on the ground, loomed over them like ancient giants and cloaked them with their massive shadows. There was a chill in the air; whisps of clouds wafted around them like a cold mist. The milky road flowed right into the forest like a wandering river; it must have been a hundred meters wide from bank to bank and, from their position, seemingly miles in length. It could possibly endless. The bushes on either side of the bank shook and shivered as if a predator was stalking through them and, in the distance, a menacing animalistic cry rang out from somewhere. It was a wild place. They wouldn't be surprised if they were the first people to come here in years.

"I think it's neat," Cavalier commented as he cheerfully sat on the roof of the Karasumaru, "It's charming."

"We really need to teach you more social norms," Usopp stammered from the boat's stern, flinching slightly when he saw another bush shake from the right side bank, "A place like this is creepy, not charming."

"Hey, is there a forest like this on the map?" Sanji asked as he sat on the side.

Usopp looked down at the map on his lap and shook his head, "Not...really. There's a forest, but it's not specifically marked. It's just...well, a normal forest according to this."

"The guy who had that map was here over two hundred years ago, right? And it was probably an old map even then," Sanji said as he took a drag from cigarette, "It probably took more than a thousand years for these ones to grow so big. Hey, Luffy! Keep the boat steady!" he suddenly shouted towards the driver of the boat.

"I'm doing fine," Luffy insisted with a wide grin as he piloted the boat wildly.

Cavalier leaned over the side of the roof and down at the others, "Are you sure you chaps have never seen forest before?"

"Stop asking us that," Sanji sighed with a roll of his eyes, "Yes, I'm sure I haven't seen this forest before."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Usopp questioned the Watchman, "All forests look the same, don't they? There are trees, bushes, an animal or two. That's what a forest is."

Cavalier tilted his head to the side and hummed unsurely, "I'm not too certain. That's why I was hoping you chaps would know," he said before he gasped happily, "Wait. You don't think this is my home, do you? That's why I know it from?"

"I don't know, you don't look Skypiean. For one thing, you don't have any wings," Sanji pointed out.

"And you don't have that goofy haircut they have," Luffy piped up.

"Hey, don't be rude to Conis!" the cook shouted at him.

"I wasn't talking about her! I meant everybody else!"

With a hum in disappointment, Cavalier nodded in understanding.

"I guess you chaps are right...ah well, I'll keep on thinking. I love thinking!" Cavalier chirped, "Anyway, I see something up ahead."

They looked to where he was pointing and saw an entrance way of sorts. Two giant poles, several meters tall, stood on either bank with a beacon of blazing fire balanced on the top. Tied to the pole's body, about half way up, were two large pointed spears crossed over each other and a large round shield with the characters for 'God' inscribed on its centre. Below the beacons of fire there was a skull of some sort of horned creature; like a bull, but a hundred times larger than the ones found back on the ground. Behind the entrance way, lining the banks on either side, were more of the large toothed, small eyed, vicious-looking stone statues of Vearth. They were much larger than the one back on Lovely Street; each was as tall as a house and all were as intimidating.

Usopp gulped in fear. He look at the dark stone statues, the animal skulls and the fiery beacon in terror. For him, things have become much, much worse.

"You know what," he uttered, "Maybe we should head on b-"

"Let's go!" Luffy yelled as he drove the Karasumaru faster through the gates, "Things are starting to get exciting!"

"What's up with this?" Sanji asked with a raised eyebrow, "Is this meant to scare us or something?"

"It's doing a good job," Usopp gulped.

"What a nice welcoming sign," Cavalier happily said, "How kind of them."

"It's not a welcoming sign!" Usopp yelled up at Cavalier, "They are clearly warning us to stay away!"

Cavalier tilted his head to the side in the confusion, "But if it's not a welcoming sign, why are there so many shipwrecks here. Clearly, a lot of people want to come here."

"...Shipwrecks?"

Usopp looked over the side and went deathly pale as he saw hundreds and hundreds of shipwrecks dotted on either side of the Milky Road. Everything from galleons to sloops to brigs to barks; all of it had been chopped up, destroyed and left abandoned.

"...I want to go home."

"No way. So do I," Cavalier chirped happily, oblivious to his whimpers of fear.

Suddenly, Cavalier's smile dropped as he heard something. He sat straight up and tilted his head to the side slightly so he could hear the mysterious sound coming from the right bank. It was a sort of clicking, clacking noise as well as the strained groan of rope being pulled and rhythmic snapping. It sounded mechanical, like the sounds of cogs and gears turning quickly and levers being pulled. It wasn't until he saw a small glinting light through the trees did he instantly alert the others.

"Chaps, get ready. Something inbound on the starboard side."

Sanji instantly got onto his feet and snapped his head around to the direction Cavalier was referring to while Usopp tremored in fear. Luffy looked around and tensed in preparation; he knew very well that when Cavalier was serious, he should be serious as well.

"What sort of thing?" Sanji asked.

"I'm not too sure, but-"

Cavalier heard a loud snapping sound from the forest and instantly got onto his feet. He saw the branches of the trees move and the leafs quake as something fast swung towards them.

"Full speed ahead! Quick!" he yelled down.

Sanji saw the thing coming towards them as well and grabbed a nearby paddle, "QUICK! GET A PADDLE! MOVE THE SHIP FORWARD!"

Without hesitation, Luffy and Usopp both grabbed a paddle and rowed forwards along with Sanji. They had only managed to move away in the nick of time before a large crescent-shaped scythe swung across the Milky Road, almost cleaving the Karasumaru in half. The scythe was almost as wide as the Going Merry with a razor sharp edge that cut through almost anything. Above the blade, attached to the rope that was holding everything attached, was a large tribal mask with a brown grass trimming all around it. Having just avoided their deaths, they witness the scythe swing across the Milky Road and sever one of the shipwrecked boats in half as if it was merely made of twigs.

"A scythe monster!" Luffy exclaimed.

"And a bloomin' big one," Cavalier added.

"Don't let your guard down!" Usopp yelled as he pointed to the other bank in peril, "Another one's coming!"

"One's coming from there as well!" Sanji shouted.

"I can hear two more, chaps!"

"PADDLE AS FAST AS YOU CAN!" Luffy roared.

Urgently, the crew paddled down the Milky Road faster as they tried their best to avoid the deadly scythes coming towards them. The scythes came at all angles and on both banks; they kept their bombardment and never allowed them to rest for a single second. They moved left and right, twisting and turning on the Sea Clouds in order to avoid them. But the scythes kept coming and they were lagging behind.

Cavalier noticed that they were not going faster enough and so dropped his paddle, snapped on his Shooters onto his feet and jumped over the boat's stern and landed on the Sea Clouds. Using his Shooters for propulsion, he pushed the Karasumaru forwards and quicker past the swing scythes; the Shooters were not strong enough to send them flying forwards, but it made it much faster than just paddling. They managed to zip past the scythes much easily than before; some of them almost hit the bow while other ones almost hit Cavalier if he hadn't moved away in time. It was all going fine for a few seconds, when suddenly Usopp looked forwards.

"GAH! LOOK UP FRONT!" Usopp suddenly screamed, pointing to a scythe that was aimed right at the boat's centre, "HIT THE BREAKS!"

"It's too late for that!" Luffy yelled as he dropped his paddle and leapt to the boat's stern.

He stretched his arms back several meters, dug his feet into the floor of the boat and tensed the muscles in his arms.

"GUM GUM..."

Cavalier looked up at his captain's shout and instantly recognised what he was about to do.

"Oh dear," he said in concern.

He let go of the boat and allowed himself to fall into the Sea Clouds before he could be hit by the powerful-

"...BAZOOKA!"

Just as the scythe was about to smash into them, Luffy threw his hands forwards and slammed them onto the Milky Road. The force of the attack sent the Karasumaru flying forwards into the air and out of the way of the deadly scythe. The boat flew in the air for a few seconds before landing hard on the Sea Clouds with a mighty splash.

Usopp grabbed hold of the boat's helm and steadied it. He was expecting for more scythes to come swinging out to dice them up into little pieces, but was surprised when nothing came.

"Is it over!" he gasped, "Have we finally past all of them!"

"Looks like it," Sanji said as he observed the banks on either side, "Whoever set those traps up were not expecting anybody to get this far down."

"Woohoo! That was awesome!" Luffy yelled happily, "I wonder if there are more traps!"

"Are you insane!" Usopp and Sanji shouted at him.

The long-nosed teen looked back and grimaced. In the distance, past the already sprung traps, he could see the gateway that they had come through and whimpered sadly.

"It's too late. We're too far in."

"Looks like we have to keep going, huh?" Sanji grumbled as he lit a new cigarette.

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

As the Karasumaru sailed further into Upper Yard, a creature beneath the wispy clouds of the Milky Road began to stir. It looked like a gigantic eel with its long slippery brown and grey body, two small eyes at the front and a circular mouth filled with hundreds upon hundreds of razor sharp teeth. To the Skypians, this creature was known as a Sky Lamprey and it is known for its foul temper and its ability to smash ships to splinters and pray on sailors.

However, this Sky Lamprey was acting...strangely.

It squirmed and moved in pain. It shrieked and yelled in agony. The creature managed to swim up to the nearest bank it could reach and slammed its head onto the it. It felt its jaws being pulled open wide easily and, no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't shut them again. Its large maw grew wider and wider until it open up completely and revealed Cavalier grinning happily from inside its jaws. He had his gloved hands holding up the top jaw and his legs pushing down the bottom jaw.

Eventually, Cavalier skipped out of the maw of the giant Sky Lamprey and onto the grassy bank and released his hold on its jaws which snapped shut behind him. Cavalier turned around and, with a closed fist, bonked the Sky Lamprey right on his head.

"Bad Sky Lamprey! Bad! Don't eat people!" he scolded as he wagged his finger at him.

The Sky Lamprey whimpered from both the pain and the scolding, but Cavalier reached forwards and hugged its head comfortingly.

"Aww, it's alright. I'm sorry for getting cross at you," he gave the bump on the Sky Lamprey's head a little kiss to make it feel better before pulling away, "Okay, you can...err...wiggle away now."

The Sky Lamprey gave an shrill shriek in understanding before it dived back underneath the Sea Clouds and disappeared from sight. Cavalier smiled in satisfaction...before he noticed that Luffy, Usopp and Sanji were still sailing on the Karasumaru without noticing that he was gone. The river of clouds flowed around a tight bend which meant that the boat with his friends on it were gone from his sight.

He was completely alone in the middle of God's realm.

"Ah, well. I guess I'll catch up to them later," Cavalier said with a happy shrug.

He looked down at himself and noticed he was still dripping wet from being in the clouds and so he unsheathed his rapier, stuck it into the ground before he draped his cloak and hat onto it. Then he began to rapidly shake his head until it was a silver blur and worked himself down to his shoulders, then his torso, then his legs and lastly his feet; exactly how a dog would shake off water from its fur. After flicking off the last bit of water from the tip of boot and happy that he was now bone dry, he picked up his hat, cloak and sheathed his rapier.

"Hmm, I wonder what's over here," he wondered as he meandered into the forest, "I swear I've seen this place before."


As Cavalier began to journey through the thick forest, somebody watched him closely from their perch on a large tree branch. His narrow, dark eyes honed on him; watching every single step and skip he made. The figure gritted his teeth tight in anger and his lips clamped shut tight.

'Who is this fool?' he thought as he trailed him through the thick foliage, 'To dare step into my territory and to sully God Enel's sacred ground. He shall be punished for his crimes by my own hand,' his eyes narrowed at him as he gave Cavalier a deadly gaze, 'Prepare heretic! You will pay for your trespasses with you blood!"

The figure watched him...

...and watched...

...and watched...

...still watching...

...until Cavalier was completely out of sight; disappeared into the forest without a trace.

The figure frowned in confusion, 'Why did he not stop? Is he that arrogant?'

...

...

...

...

"Ah!" the figure suddenly cried out, "I forgot to challenge him! How careless!"


Somewhere In Upper Yard

The forest was ginormous. Not just in the sense of distance, but everything from the trees as tall as mountains to the massive roots that wound its way across the ground. The vegetation was thick with leaves that could cast shadows ten feet wide and bushes taller than even Cavalier himself. Getting from here or there was difficult; the tree roots were covered in slippery moss and there were sections where you would have clamber over low hanging tree branches just to get past. However, Cavalier was perfectly fine with it.

He walked through the forest as if it was a normal one. He jumped over vegetation, skipped over tree roots and slid elegantly across the moss covered ground. His main focus was on admiring the forest in its entirety; he was awed by the sheer scale of it all.

"How absolutely brilliant! These trees are so big! I have to come back here with my friends...as soon as I find them," he spoke to himself before he stopped as he remembered something, "Ah, I haven't been using my Breath Dial. In fact..." he took a deep breath in and then out, "I don't think I need it. I can breathe fine. Must be enough oxygen around to share," he said as he patted the trunk of nearby tree happily, "Thanks Mr Tree for keeping me alive."

He suddenly heard something nearby and turned his ear towards it; it was the sound of rapid footsteps on soft ground and it was coming from the other side of the tree that he was next to. He hummed in content curiosity and looked around it to see a young girl crouched down to the ground in a small clearing.

She must have been eight or nine years old with straight brown hair that reached her shoulders, large brown eyes, slightly tanned skin and white wings on her back. She wore a light brown dress made of felt and cream cap with a flap that covered the back of her neck. Clutched in her hands was grey satchel that looked to be filled with something.

The young girl appeared nervous and cautious; her eyes darted around the area as if she was worried about being caught; although, it seems that she hadn't spotted Cavalier yet. Once she was satisfied that she was not being watched, she began to scoop the dirt underneath her into her open satchel hurriedly; grabbing chunks of it as if it was gold that she had just found.

"A little bit more," she mumbled, "Just a little bit more."

"Here you go."

"Huh?"

The young girl looked up and saw a pair of cupped hands holding up a heap of dirt to her face. She blinked in surprise before her eyes travelled up and saw the bright face Cavalier smiling down at her.

"Would you like some help gathe-"

"AAHHH!"

The young girl screamed in terror. She dropped her satchel and sprinted as fast as she could in the opposite direction. She swerved around trees, ran through bushes and jumped over roots. Finally, she jumped behind the largest tree she could spot at the moment and pressed her back against the rough bark. She breathing was heavy, her eyes were wide in fear; she gulped deeply as she wiped the sweat of her brow.

"Who was that?" she whispered in shock, "Where did he come from?"

"Well, I don't know about my actual home, but I know I'm from down below," said a voice beside her. She snapped her head to the right and flinched when she saw Cavalier standing right next to her, "I think you call it the Blue Sea."

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Once again, she screamed and sprinted out of her hiding place. She had to get out of here. She had to get to the coast and back to her village.

The young girl leapt off a small cliff and onto a root that was as big as a two story house. She almost slipped on the moss covered bark, but caught herself at the last moment before she stepped carefully the side of the root and began to scale down it. She was about half way down when her foot slipped from out of its hold and she was left dangling six foot of the ground. She gritted her teeth and tried to her best to cling on…when she felt two hands go under her arms and gently lift her off the side.

"Upsy daisy," Cavalier said as he carefully lifted her off the side of the root and place her down on the ground beside him, "There you go."

"AH!" the girl shouted, but this time it was out of annoyance. She began to punch his right knee and leg as hard as could in frustration, "Why! Are! You! Following! Me!?"

Cavalier, unfazed by the punching, responded by dangling her satchel, that he picked up, in front of her face.

"You dropped your bag," he chirped.

The girl stopped her punching and snatched her satchel back…she then started kicking him in the leg instead.

"Who are you!? I've never seen you before! Do you work for Enel!?"

Cavalier grinned and stuck out his hand for her to shake, "Heso, my name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you. I like how adorably violent you are," he greeted as she ignored his hand and continued to kick his leg, "To answer your question, I don't work for this...Enel chap you mention."

The girl stepped back and glared at him, "If you don't worship him then you better get out of here before he smites you," she warned, "This is sacred ground. It's dangerous. Even stepping one toe on this land is a crime if you don't work under him."

"Oh?" Cavalier said as he crouched down to her level, "Do you work for him then?"

"What!? Of course not!" she shouted at him, her face turning red in anger, "I'm a Shandia warrior! No way would I ever worship a tyrant like him!"

"Well, I guess you're in just as much danger as I am, huh?" he pointed out.

She opened her mouth to argue...before shutting it, turning away and pouting in annoyance. Cavalier chuckled before he patted her cap-covered head.

"Aww, don't worry. I'll protect you from any dangers. You won't be smited as long as I'm around...wait, smited? Or is it smote? Smitted? Ah, never mind. I'll still protect you. What's you name, by the way?"

"It's Aisa," she huffed in annoyance, "And I don't need protecting. I'm a Shandia warrior; I can protect myself."

"Okay, I'll just look out for you then."

"I don't need anybody looking out for me either!"

"I won't be a bother at all. I'm a Watchman so it's my job to look out for people and make sure everybody is safe and happy," he told her, "So, Aisa, since you're a visitor as well, what brings you here?"

"It's none of you business," she muttered as she tightened her grip on her satchel, "It's...it's private, got it? What are you doing here, huh?" she interrogated fiercely.

"Just having a stroll, that's all."

"What part of 'sacred ground' and 'dangerous' don't you understand!?" she yelled in disbelief. She then huffed, spun on her heel and began to march away in the opposite direction, "You're annoying! I'm going home!"

She grumbled irritably under her breath as she stomped her way through the forest. A small part of her was glad that she had run into him; there were much much worse people to encounter in Upper Yard. But, nonetheless, she was irritated for...for some reason.

"Eugh! That lousy guy," she muttered, "Why is he so nice? Doesn't he know anything?"

"Aw, thanks. I try to be as nice as possible."

Aisa stopped before glaring up at Cavalier who was walking right beside her.

"Why are you following me!?"

"I'm walking you home," he replied cheerily, "I would love to meet your family."

"Stop that! I don't need you to walk me home, okay!?" she shouted angrily at him, "Now stay!"

"Right o," Cavalier chirped, causing her to growl in annoyance and stomp away once more into the thick forest.

This time Cavalier didn't follow her. He watched her leave until she was out of his sight before turning back around and beginning to stroll away.

"She's seems nice. I hope she gets back safe and sound," he said out loud to himself. However, he then frowned thoughtfully and stroked his chin, "Shandia? I believe that's the name the poor chap said before he..."

The image of the lighting bolt plunging down on the man he and Nami encountered at the edge of Upper Yard played in his head. It made him shiver slightly in dread and so he decided not to think about it.

"...so she must belong to the Shandia along with the chap we met this morning with the Shooters. Judging by her reaction, she doesn't seem to like this Enel chap either. I wonder why? Oh? What's this?"

He happened to look down and saw a trail of dirt on the ground. He followed it behind him and saw that it lead into the forest; the exact direction that Aisa had taken a few moments ago.

"Oh dear, there must have been a hole in her satchel," he said as he took the dirt at the start of the trail and allowed it to pool into his gloved hands. He then began to follow the trail itself and gather it the rest of the way, "I'll return it to her. I'm sure she won't mind me bringing back her dirt collection."


White White Sea

Following the trail of dirt, he soon found himself at a the top of a cliff which marked the edge of Upper Yard; the sea of white fluffy clouds stretching out as far as the horizon. However, he couldn't fine Aisa anywhere along the cliff edge are in the tree line. The trail ended right at the edge and his first thought was that she had fallen in and started to panic. He was relieved when he spotted trail once again which lead across island clouds that led out into the White White Sea; like a path a stepping stones across a river.

He began to follow the trail again; bounding and jumping across the fluffy island clouds joyfully. He must have travelled about three miles away from Upper Yard when he landed on one particular island cloud that was less dense than the other ones he jumped on before. He prodded it with his foot curiously and fell it sink in slightly. Throwing caution to the wind, he leapt into the middle of the cloud and fell right through it the clouds...

...and landed on another island cloud just below it.

"Gosh, that's weird," he said to himself as he looked around.

The White White Sea hung about twenty feet in the air above, blocking his view of the sky, but with some light getting through. He was now stood on the edge of another Sky Island, but unlike Skypeia it was very different. It was far smaller firstly; no longer than half a mile in all directions and held a small settlement consisting of brown wigwam tents with elaborate red patterns on them and colourful totem poles. There had to be fifty or so in total where the residents of the settlement lived in; some had smoke billowing out of the tops as the hearths burned within. The people wore the same type of clothing Aisa wore; simple brown felt clothing and caps. Some of them wore skirts made of brown leafs while others had feathers in their caps; most of them, but mainly the men, had black tribal-patten tattoos on their faces and their bodies. It looked peaceful; an entire village hidden away under the cover of the White White Sea.

"Ah brilliant," he said as he wondered towards the village, "New people to meet."

After a small stroll, he reached the edge of the village where he found a small path made of wooden planks leading into the village. However, he slowed to a stop when he spotted somebody sitting on a stool next to one of the smaller wigwams.

He was a lean, tanned-skin man who looked to be around his age with brown hair shaved into a Mohawk style and a pair of white wings on his back. He wore a brown leath skirt held up by a colourful belt, a vest made of pinkish red fur and a pair of red round sunglasses that covered his eyes. He was busy sharpening one of the many knives he had with him with a whetstone and didn't seem to notice his presence at all.

"Heso!" Cavalier called out, "I'm looking for a young girl called Aisa. Have you seen her?"

"Huh?" the man grunted, not looking up from what he was doing, "Yeah, she ran by about a minute ago. Think she went to her family's tent so try there."

"Right o. Thanks so much," he replied before he continued walking down the path into the village.

The man continued to sharpen his knife...

...before he whipped his head around towards where Cavalier had been in confusion.

"Wait. Who was that?"

He walked past the tall wigwams and the totem polls in enthusiastic curiosity; smiling and waving to every villager he passed by. The villagers, although a little surprised, greeted him back as he went by before continuing what they were doing. On the way, he helped an older villager carry some firewood to his home and complemented another villager's cooking by how nice it smelled.

At this point, you must be wondering why the villagers didn't say anything on the lines of 'Who are you?" or 'What are you doing in our villager, strange man?' to him. Well, to explain this phenomenon, you will have to understand something that most of the Straw Hat crew (i.e: Chopper, Nami, Robin and Usopp) had observed as they journeyed with Cavalier. It is a peculiar human trait that when a person notices something strange thing or event, but everything else seems normal, they'll just pass the strange thing or event off as normal as well. There are a number of reasons why this happens: a fear of being incorrect and the strange thing or event is actually normal; being unintentional ignorant of their surroundings; or, just simply, out of politeness. That's why, despite how strange Cavalier is in his appearance, he manages to act like it is completely normal for him to be here because of a mixture of naivety, politeness and the fact that he doesn't give off hostile vibes. Therefore...

"Wow! That smells delicious," Cavalier said to the villager woman as she stirred her large cauldron of strew on a fire just outside her tent, "It must be really tasty."

"Oh...err...thank you," the villager said hesitantly as she watched him walk on by until he was out of sight, "What a nice young man."

...nobody really kicked up a fuss about him being there.

Later on, Chopper would name this phenomenon the 'Cavalier Effect' for obvious reasons.

Cavalier happily made his way through the village with no trouble at all; trying his best to find Aisa and where her family lived. He stepped to the side to allow a couple of children run on by and was about to carry on when he heard voices from inside the wigwam he was next to.

"We don't know why, but Gan Fall entered the Upper Yard..."

Cavalier hummed in interest, "Hm? Gan Fall? As in the Sky Knight?"

"...that old man probably thinks everything on the island is going to be solved somehow," the male voice continued, "He's wrong. War only has two ways of ending; either you win or you're dead."

He stepped closer to the fabric side of the wigwam and pressed his ear against it to hear more of the conversation.

Meanwhile, inside the spacious wigwam, an important meeting was happening between four people. Three of them, two men and a woman, were sat cross-legged on woven carpets in a circle. The first man was a large, bald man with tanned skin, narrow eyes, a thin mouth and triangular nose. He wore a yellow and white striped tall cap along with a jaguar-print vest that covered his shoulders and arms, a skirt made of brown leafs and a large brown belt that was strapped over his right shoulder and across his round belly. The second man was a muscular tall man with brown hair and tanned skin. Half of his face is covered brown wicker cap with only the ends of his hair poking out from underneath. He wore a green fur-lined jacket and a brown leaf skirt that was held up by an orange belt. The only woman in the meeting was tall with long black hair pulled up into a high ponytail, tanned skin and had kind green eyes. She wore a short purple tunic which showed off her midriff and light red trousers with a fur trim on the sides. The last person attending the meeting was sat on a wicker chair with a large bazooka gun at his side. He was a tall, muscular man with dark brown hair cut into a Mohawk style that follows into a segmented braid that goes past his waist. He was tanned with sharp, dangerous eyes and had dark tribal tattoos over his face and over his shoulder. At his side, beside his wicker chair, was a wooden tribal mask which resembled the one that was worn by the raider that attacked the Straw Hat crew when they first arrived in Skypiea. All of them had the same white feathery wings sprouting from their back, but they were shaped a little differently than the ones the Skypians had.

The mood was tense; every single member didn't look happy with what was spoken. The most displeased out of all of them, however, was the man in the wicker chair. His lit cigarette was clenched tightly in his jaw as he glared at the ground down below. There was a burning fury in his eyes; the sort of fury created from years of agony and anger. A fury that a true warrior would have.

"Great warrior Kalgara once said 'relight the fire of Shandora'," the man all but growled as he shifted his weapon onto his shoulder, "those words should be our principle. Be it Ex-God Gan Fall or God Enel...it doesn't matter who are enemy is! Despite their differences, as long as they're both 'Gods', then they are the same to us," he slammed his fist on the arm of his chair, "Both must be eliminated!"

"I heard that there was some resistance against Enel on Angel Island, Wyper," the woman said, being the only one brave enough to speak up, "This is the first time since Enel took the title of 'God' six years ago."

"So what?" Wyper snapped at her.

"Gan Fall saved that girl from judgment," the woman continued soundly, "So now Enel has an excuse to get rid of the Ex-God. As the Knight of the Sky, Gan Fall has never hurt any of us nor did he ever confront Enel head on. But now, not only has he set foot on Upper Yard, but he had battled one of Enel's priests. Shouldn't we take that into consideration? Aren't you curious about the sudden change?"

"It doesn't matter, Raki."

"It doesn't matter? More progress has been made today than the six years Enel has been in power and you're saying it doesn't matter?" the woman, known known as Raki, questioned.

Wyper leaned closer towards her and glared down at her. Despite her bravery at speaking back at him, Raki couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine from the cold look he was giving her. The other two men looked down at the floor and remained slient.

"What are you suggesting, huh?" Wyper snarled, "Are you saying that it's good that he and the priests are killing each other...or are you saying that Gan Fall isn't our enemy anymore?"

"I'm sure that wasn't what she was saying, Wyper," the man in the tall cap reassured him.

The other man nodded in agreement, "Raki was just suggesting-"

"Shut up!" Wyper snapped at them as he spat his cigarette onto the ground, "If you, and I mean any one of you, have doubts than don't join the battle! Otherwise, you'll only be in the way!

"Oh, but the Sky Knight is a lovely person, Wyper" Cavalier said as he sat crossed-legged in between Raki and the man with the tall cap, "I'm sure if you just talk it out or-"

"Talk!?" Wyper snapped at him, "Words are cheap and meaningless. Especially when the person we are referring to bestows himself the name of god. They are our enemies and they will remain enemies until every last one of them leaves what's rightfully ours!"

...

...

...

...

Silence fell within the wigwam at a drop of a hat. The eyes of every Shandoran present snapped towards the intruder that had somehow made his way into their meeting without them knowing and instinctively grabbed their weapons. Cavalier, however, was unaware of their angry, confused stares for a few moments as he pondered on the situation that he had accidently stumbled on.

"Let's see, let's see," he murmured to himself as he rubbed his chin pensively, "what should we do? Perhaps we can meet up over tea and biscuits. Wait, did I bring biscuits? Oh, maybe Sanji can bake a cake instead. I hope they don't mind."

Finally, he glanced up and saw everyone glaring towards him. He hummed in confusion before he looked behind him to see who they were staring at.

"What's wrong? Is there an intruder?" he asked as turned back...

...only for him to look down the barrel of a bazooka that was suddenly in front of him.

"Ah, wait. I'm intruding, aren't I?" he realised as he softly hit himself on the head and stuck out his tongue, "Whoops."

"Who. Are. You?" Wyper growled as he squeezed the trigger of the bazooka tightly.

"A spy?" the man with the tall cap questioned as he maintained his spear at Cavalier's neck.

"And a really good one," Raki murmured as she raised an eyebrow, "but, at the same time, a really bad one."

Cavalier grinned, "Heso, my name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you. I like your bazooka it looks..." he gave the weapon another look and hummed curiously, "Ah, that looks like the one I saw this morning," he said as he glanced towards Wyper's chair where the familiar wooden mask was, "Oh, of course. We met earlier didn't we? Remember? You tried to attack our ship and I manage to take one of your shooters. Sorry about that, by the way."

Wyper raised an eyebrow at him, "Huh? It's you. That guy from the ship."

"You know him Wyper?" the man with the cap that covered his eyes asked him, his knife poised at Cavalier's face.

"No. He's just some idiot from the Blue Sea that somehow managed to find his way up here," Wyper muttered, "Where's the rest of your crew!? Are they here!?"

"Nope, just me."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because I can't lie."

"You won't lie to us?"

"Oh no, I'm actually physically incapable of lying," Cavalier said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "when I try, my face goes a weird colour and if I'm not sitting down then I'll fall over. It's a bit worrying actually."

"Fine then," Wyper said as he moved the bazooka so close to his face that the barrel was almost touching him, "Why are you here then? I can't imagine any other reason for you being here other than to take revenge on us."

"Ah well, then you'll be wrong. There are two reasons. Firstly- Oh, hang on a moment..."

He reached into his side cloak which instantly made the warriors tense up in preparation. However, they were even more confused when he pulled out a normal Jet Dial, put it to his mouth and inhaled the stream of air that came out of it like an inhaler. He then exhaled deeply and put the dial away before smiling again.

"...Sorry. This air is too thin for me out here. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I wanted to pay a visit and get to know all of you."

"What?"

"It's nice to meet you. You must be Wyper and your name is Raki, right?" he asked, looking towards the woman, "You're very beautiful."

"...Err...thanks," she replied unsurely.

Cavalier then turned to the other men, "I love both of your caps. What are your names?"

"He's Braham and my name is Genbo," the one with the tall cap answered.

"Don't tell him your names!" Wyper shouted at them.

"I tried to knock, but...well, there's just an open flap. It's kind of hard to do it on the wall of this..." Cavalier hummed curiously, "...what do you call this tent, by the way?"

"We call it a wigwam."

"Well, wigwam bam, thank you ma'am."

"Raki!" Wyper snapped at her in irritation, "Stop giving him information about us. He could be a spy working for Enel."

"What possible use would knowing what a wigwam is be any use to Enel?" she snapped back at him, "Look, Cavalier is it? We just want to know why you're here and how you managed to find our village."

"Oh, that's easy. I was actually looking for Aisa."

Raki's eyes widened slightly while Wyper glowered down at him.

"How do you know Aisa?"

"Oh, you know her. That's good. I've got her dirt collection."

"Dirt?"

Suddenly, Aisa came bursting through the open flap to the wigwam and stopped in the middle of it. She leaned over with her hands on her knees as she caught her breath from running too fast before she turned towards Raki.

"Raki!" she cried out in relief, "I've got something to tell you. There's a strange man on Upper Yard who's just wondering around. I think he might be insane or suicidal or-" she finally looked to her right and saw the person she was talking about, "AH! YOU'RE HERE!"

"Hi Aisa. How's it going?"

"I THOUGHT TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT!"

Cavalier responded by reaching into the pouch on his belt and pulling out a handful of dirt that fell out of Aisa's satchel earlier. Aisa paled as she saw it as her hands gripped her bag and felt that it was empty. The other Shandians looked down at the dirt in his hand as well and were equally just as shocked.

"Vearth?" Wyper snarled, "You stole our Vearth?"

Cavalier tilted his head to the side, "Huh? Vearth? I thought that was a statue?"

Raki glared down at the young girl, "You went to Upper Yard again. Aisa, you know you're not supposed to be there."

"Not only that, but you led this freak all the way to us," Genbo muttered as he pointed towards a grinning Cavalier.

"I didn't mean to lead him here," she muttered.

Wyper's eyes sharpened down at her, "What else didn't you mean to do, eh?" he growled causing Aisa to gulp nervously and back away from him, "You want to bring the priests here as well or Enel! How could you be so stupid!"

Aisa shrunk into the side of the wigwam in fear of Wyper's vicious glare as she tried her best to avoid his wrath. But, to everyone's surprise, somebody stepped in front of her and shielded her from Wyper.

"Hey now. Let's not be like that," Cavalier said as he defended Aisa.

Braham and Genbo looked at him in surprise before glancing at the place he had been.

"When did he-"

Wyper snarled at pointed the barrel of his bazooka at his face again, "You don't decide what goes on around here! You shouldn't be-"

"Yes, yes I know. I shouldn't be here and I do apologise," Cavalier cut him off, "I don't want to interfere with anything that goes on around here, however, I won't tolerate you insulting any child like that. I was the one who came to your village so Aisa did nothing wrong. Don't speak to her like that again or...well, let's just say I'll be less polite that's all," he said, sending him a warning glare at him.

Wyper clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Little bastard," he muttered,

"That's better," Cavalier chirped as he looked over his shoulder towards Raki, "Quite the grumpy one, isn't he?"

A ghost of an amused smile appeared on her lips but it quickly disappeared. Aisa gave a little giggle while Braham and Genbo smirked behind Wyper's back, but one look from the head warrior made them maintain their composure.

"Ow!"

Everyone whipped around to Aisa as she gave a pained cry. She was clutching her head in her hands and her teeth were gritted together tightly; small tears appeared in the corners of her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. Cavalier and Raki immediately knelt to either side of her concern and gently held her shoulders.

"What's wrong?" Cavalier asked in worry, "Have you got a headache?"

"Is it your mantra again?" Raki questioned, earning a puzzled look from Cavalier.

Aisa nodded her head in reply.

"Sorry, mantra?"

Raki looked like was about to reply to him, but a glare from Wyper silenced her quickly. However, by that time, Aisa had raised her head and wiped away the tears; she gave a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm...I'm better now. It's gone."

"Are you sure?" Cavalier asked, "You don't want to sit down for a bit or have a bite to eat. I can make you some tea."

"What's tea?" Aisa asked in confusion.

However, she instantly regretted it when she saw Cavalier's purple eyes light up in excitement.

"I'm so glad you asked," he said with a grin, causing her to sweat drop.

However, before he could introduce her to the wonderful thing that was tea, Wyper shoved him over to the side and glared down at her. Aisa gulped nervously and instinctively hid behind Raki's legs.

"What did your mantra tell you, Aisa?" he asked seriously.

The young girl frowned in concentration, "Two...two voices have gone silent...one happened a while ago and that was the second."

"And who did those voices belong to?"

"...Probably Gan Fall...and one of the priests..." she answered.

"A priest has been defeated?" Braham gasped in shock, "Impossible!"

"It was possibly Gan Fall who did it," Raki murmured, "And then, in the process, he was taken down with the priest."

Aisa, however, shook her head, "No, I don't that's what-"

"It doesn't matter," Wyper firmly said as he marched towards the wigwam's exit, "This is our chance! The true God had answered our prayers! We can't let this opportunity slip away!"

"Wyper, you don't mean-"

"Gather the warriors!" Wyper commanded, "In five minutes we will all meet at the statue to Kalgara and will set off immediately to Upper Yard!" he stood at the entrance of the wigwam and glared at them over his shoulder, "This is the day we'll take back what is rightfully ours!"

The older Shandians shared a look with one another before they nodded in understanding.

"This is risky," Raki muttered.

"But it's worth it," Genbo said, "If we attack now, when they least expect it, then we stand a better chance of winning."

Braham hummed in agreement, "After all these years, we're so close. I can practically taste it."

"Relight the fire of Shandora," Wyper said as he clenched his fists at his side, "This is our time to carry out our ancestors' wishes. We will not let it go to waste!"

"You got it, Wyper!"

"Let's do it!"

"For Kalgara and our ancestors!"

"Brilliant! Go Shandians! Woohoo!"

...

...

...

All eyes turned to Cavalier once again. His fists were in the air, his bright smile was on his face and his eyes dazzled in fascination and excitement. He then sighed and placed his hands on hips.

"So, what do you want me to do? I can make everyone sandwiches for the journey."

...

...

...


-Two Minutes Later -


The next thing he knew, Cavalier's arms and legs were bound to a large wooden pole in the middle of the village. His hat was slightly tilted on his head, his side cloak was thrown roughly over his shoulders and his weapons have been confiscated from him and locked away in a box next to Wyper's chair in the main wigwam.

"Hmm," he hummed to himself with a sweat drop, "I feel like that could have gone better."


That's it for now! I hope you enjoyed it.

Sorry it took so long. Life's been busy (well, it's always busy to be honest).

A lot of new characters in this chapter and now Cavalier is with the Shandians...and is already causing a ruckus.

I'll probably write the special chapter after I publish this one so make sure to look out for it.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you guys later in...

Chapter 14: War Of The Heretics


Omake

Meanwhile, A Few Minutes After Cavalier left the Karasumaru

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"Hey," Usopp suddenly said as he Sanji and Luffy continued to calmly sail down the Milky Road deeper into Upper Yard, "Is it me or... are we forgetting something?"

Luffy and Sanji looked up from what they were doing. They looked around the forest, hummed curiously and shrugged.

"Beats me," Luffy said.

"I can't think of anything," Sanji answered.

"Huh...must be me, then," Usopp said as he lazily scratched his head and watched the scenery go by.