"You both need to look at this."

It was late afternoon currently, and Nami had taken both her map and her book out of her room. She was intent on showing both Sanji and Robin, the former of whom was standing near the front of the ship. No doubt, he was busy recuperating from the chaos that was the crew's earlier lunch. Nami had spied him easily, as well as Robin, upon stepping outside. The other woman had merely been sitting in a chair, engrossed in her own book. She had a small foldable table beside her, which was fairly ideal for Nami's purposes. So Nami had all but dragged Sanji over by his wrist and set her own book on that table.

Perhaps out of protectiveness over the sweet beverage he had only just made and shared with Robin, Sanji had been quick to scoop the drink up. Or maybe he was just wary of the glass winding up broken somehow. "What's this about?"

Nami cast Robin an apologetic glance over disturbing her, then did the same with Sanji. "This is a book I borrowed from Vivi-chan," she explained. "Or, well, it was given to me. Robin, how old would you say it is?"

Robin let out a thoughtful hum and picked it up. Her own reading material lay open in her lap. "I suppose if I had to guess, I'd say a few centuries or older. I must admit that I'm surprised by just how pristine it is."

A few centuries… That lines up with my guess. With gentle hands, Nami took the book back and flipped open to the drawings of the Poneglyph and pointed at them. "Do you recognize this language at all?"

Intelligent eyes scanned the page but, nevertheless, Robin shook her head. "Not in the slightest. I've no idea what it might be."

"Right. Well…" Nami hesitated, cleared her throat, and tried again. "The author of this book was writing about all kinds of myths and legends. He claimed they were all true stories, even though people would doubt it. He claimed that he translated the words in these drawings. The story was clumsily written, or maybe it was his translation that was clumsy, but…" She glanced to her side, finally acknowledging Sanji again. "Either way, I think you both should read it."

Sanji needed no further prompting. His eyes devoured the words at a swift pace, though he couldn't hope to keep up with Robin. All this talk of gods and heaven seemed fanciful at best, right up until he stopped to consider where they were. I suppose it would make sense for ancient people to think of a place like this as heavenly… and any native peoples as 'divine'. Still, he didn't see why this was so important… until his brain finally registered one at first seemingly inconsequential detail that had been mentioned at the top of the paragraph. His body tensed. A white sword…

Zoro's blade flashed through his mind unbidden.

Once it was clear that they had both finished, Nami flipped the pages until she found what she was looking for. "Now take a look at this," she said in a hushed tone, as if wary of being overheard. "He says that Skypiea - as in, where we are right now - is the 'heaven' that was mentioned in that legend. He even drew a map. This map. The one we've been using this entire time." She opened the map in her hands for emphasis and, sure enough, the drawing in her book was a nearly exact replica. It was only missing some of the finer details, nothing more.

"It makes sense that this place would be that heaven," she continued, "but it's good to have proof. As for everything else, though… I don't know what to make of it. I mean, it's a story about gods and a heavenly civil war. It's too fantastical to believe, right?"

"And yet, his mention of a ruler with a white sword and animalistic traits is quite… striking," Robin answered evenly. "In fact, I believe we are in possession of a crewmate who fits that very description quite nicely." A mysterious smile graced her face. "The comparison isn't exactly subtle, now is it?"

Sanji stared blankly at her. "But… a god, Robin? A god? Really?"

"Perhaps not," she conceded, "but it doesn't hurt to consider that there may be some measure of truth to this ancient tale. Perhaps our crewmate, or at least some distant ancestor of his, is from here as opposed to our portion of the world."

This was too much for Sanji to process. He needed time to digest this, time he felt unsure if he even had. But he was distracted from thinking on it too hard when a shout came from the other side of the ship. "Laaand!" This was closely followed by Luffy propelling himself from that side of the ship to this one using his stretchy arms. He had Usopp, Chopper, and Zoro trapped between his tightly wound legs, much to the loud dismay of the first two. Surprisingly, even Zoro looked annoyed as they sailed overhead, even if only mildly so.

Nami let out a sigh when the four of them slammed into the mast and fell into a jumbled heap onto the deck below. Groans and complaints sounded out, mostly from Usopp. Chopper appeared dazed while Zoro just cut Luffy a silent but displeased glance. Luffy's laughter was unrepentant at best… highly amused at worst. "Luffy, I don't even see anything up ahead. Can't you contain yourself? Someone will say something whenev-"

Their captain silenced her with even louder laughter as Zoro got disentabled his limbs from the others, stood, and wandered off to where he'd been before. "He already did," Luffy said with a wide grin. "Well, sorta."

Usopp groaned again and lifted his head. "Huh? 'Sorta'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, he didn't say anything," Luffy admitted, still grinning like a fool. "But he smelled something. I could tell."

"Huh?" Usopp repeated, even more confused. "Smelled? Luffy, are you sure you didn't hit your head? Hey Chopper, maybe you oughta-"

"No, Luffy is fine," Sanji cut in. Leave it to him to be so scarily perceptive at the most random times. "Anyway, listen… there's a lot you three should probably know…"

"He's right," Nami agreed. At about the same time, Chopper finally recovered from his daze and moved into a sitting position not too dissimilar from Luffy's. "We didn't mean to keep this from all of you, but we've just been so lost and confused about the whole thing…"

Now Usopp seemed concerned, but not in his usual fearful way. "What's going on?" he asked.

Luffy's grin had faded, replaced by that exceedingly rare serious expression that always gave certain members of his crew chills. "It's about Zoro, right?"

Nami winced, but Robin just nodded and said, "Yes. I believe we may finally be on the cusp of understanding what's happening to him, though some key information is still missing. Regardless, it's high time you all were filled in."

"She's right," Sanji agreed. He looked at Nami. "Let's start from the beginning. We can go from there."

Nami took in a deep breath. The beginning. …Right. "Well… it started back at Alabastra."

~伝説の~

"Whoa," Usopp said for at least the hundredth time. "Just… I mean… Whoa."

"It's a lot to take in," Robin acknowledged with an indulgent smile. How could she stay so cool about this? Sanji had no idea. "However, we cannot doubt some of the story's veracity. Zoro does indeed possess a highly unique sword which is entirely white."

"And the 'traits if an animal' part isn't too far off either," Nami mused. "I mean, that thing that's happened with his pupils a few times, his heightened sense of smell, the fact that even his ears seem to be bothering him here and there now, too…"

"He's been getting stronger, too," Sanji reminded everyone. "What he did to that Sarkies guy and his partner, almost without the use of his weapon at all, was no joke. He even fended off one of my kicks and sent me skidding without breaking a sweat. And that was when he'd only just woken up after the mess with Crocodile."

"There's definitely nothing medical that could explain what's happening to him," Chopper told them. "Especially not the bit you guys told us about the lightning. I thought it was bizarre at the time, even impossible, when he came back without any electrical burns at all while you two," he looked at Sanji and Nami in turn, "were covered in them. I didn't understand it then, so I just tried to put it out of my mind. It's sort of impossible to ignore now, though."

Luffy's face remained serious, though it had by now lost most of that frightening edge. Still, anyone who knew him could recognize that expression without even having to stop and think about it. His desire to protect his crewmates was by far one of his most powerful traits, and it shone brightly in his eyes. "We're gonna find this Eneru guy," he muttered dangerously. "And when we do… I'm gonna punch him."

He stood and walked away without waiting for a reply. The remainder of the group traded glances that were at once confused and wary. All except for Robin, who only wore that mysterious smile she so often sported. "It seems our captain has chosen to take this story at face-value. I think I may be inclined to agree with him."

"What? But why?" Usopp asked. "It doesn't make a lick of sense, you know."

Her smile widened to a degree. "We're pirates," she reminded him softly. "Legends and treasure are what we do."

For the first time since she'd been discovered aboard their ship, Sanji was forced to wonder just what kind of person they'd allowed to join their crew.

~伝説の~

1,717 words this time. I'm, um... sorry it's taken me so many years to update this. I stopped watching One Piece for a long time and I kinda lost my inspiration as a result. I finally managed to rekindle some of that fire, though, hence this update. I'm going to really, genuinely try to get this fic finished, though at this point I have no idea how long it's going to be. If anyone winds up reading this fic again after so long and seeing this note, just know that I'm sorry but I'm also committed this time. I also hope you all enjoyed, short and lackluster though this chapter was. Posted (at about 5:00 p.m.) 04-11-25.