***Amaya's POV***
It's been a little over a week since Chi and I arrived in Skypiea. Conis and I became good friends, and she started to teach me how to play the harp. I was terrible at first, but now I'm able to play a couple of easy songs.
Right now Chi and I are chilling on a couch in the living room, while I read about Skypiea's History. I think Robin will enjoy this when they eventually show up. I'll probably give it to her as a present.
Conis was out by the beach, practicing her harp, and her father was out on a job, probably apologizing somewhere.
I was just starting to read about when the Upper Yard first appeared before I heard a familiar voice in front of the house.
"Oh! What a great view!" I hear my childhood friend exclaim.
Looks like the Starwhats have finally made it. Took them long enough. I grin as I close my book and stand up.
"We can see Nami riding the waver, too!" I hear Chopper mention excitedly.
I step out of the house to join the others. "Looks like she found out about the waver." I comment. "I knew she would love it."
Everyone except Luffy turned to look at me surprised. Luffy continued to watch Nami in the distance.
"Ama-Swan!" Sanji cheerily greets me.
Zoro gives me a head nod, Robin smiles, and Usopp greets me.
Chopper starts his little happy dance. "It's not like we're happy to see you or anything." He refuted his actions with his words.
Realizing that his captain still hadn't greeted me. Sanji started to speak towards the Strawhat. "Oi Luffy, what are you doing?" He questioned.
"Why can she ride it so easily? Sink!" He childishly protested.
"Shut it!" Snaji whacked him up the back of his head.
"Ouch! I just bit my tongue, Sanji!" Luffy complained.
I lightly laugh. "Still childish as always eh Luffy?" I question him, finally earning his attention.
"Ama!" He then wrapped his arms around me in a hug.
"Okay okay calm down. You just saw me a week ago." I told him with an amused smile.
"I still missed you." He stated.
Sanji whacked him up the back of the head again to get him off me before dragging him into the house.
"Let go of me Sanji!"
"Hey Old man, where's the kitchen?" Sanji ignored his captain.
"Yes! This way, sorry." Pagaya responded.
We made our way into the living room where Chi and I were earlier while Sanji and Pagaya headed for the kitchen.
I was told what happened after I left the ship. Of course it was highly exaggerated since Usopp filled me in on most of it.
"Ahh!" I heard Sanji yell in surprise in the kitchen.
"Sorry, it's rotten." Pagaya apologized.
"Don't keep stuff like this around!" Sanji shouted again before the sound of glass smashing on the floor was made.
"It sounds cheery over there." Luffy comments, showing his lack of observation skills.
Usopp tried to make up an excuse for Sanji to Luffy. Zoro looked unamused as always while I think I had a sweatdrop on my head. Still not use to those popping up on occasion.
Robin then asks Conis to tell them more about dials since I already knew I zoned out during the explanation.
I tuned back in when Usopp mentioned that they found a beat up waver earlier when I was gone. I'd forgotten about that little detail. My Air Board was still way better though, and it was harder to control too.
Eventually Sanji came into the room, bringing a deliciously smelling dinner.
"It's a hearty sky seafood course with sky island fruits!" He presented the food as he set it on the table.
"Wow!" Luffy cheered.
"Amazing!" Chopper added before they both started to chow down.
The rest of us quickly followed suit, so we would have some food to eat before Luffy finished it all.
Everyone started to throw out compliments about the food, and I was about to do the same until I noticed that Sanji had walked over to the balcony.
"Hey, where did Nami-san go?" He asks the crew still looking towards the cloud filled ocean.
"She's out there on the sea, isn't she?" Luffy comments with his mouth stuffed with food.
"No, she isn't." Sanji turned around to look at us.
"Then, she probably went a little far. Don't worry about her." Usopp voiced his opinion.
Conis set her fork down with a worried expression. "Father, I wonder if she's all right."
"Yes, Conis, I'm a bit concerned myself."
"Why? What's the matter?" Luffy asks, meat still stretching out his cheeks.
"Here in Skypiea, there's a place that we're never to step foot in no matter what. That place is next to this island, so if you travel a bit by waver, you can get there."
"Never to step foot in? Why's that?" Usopp questioned her.
"It's sacred ground. We call that place, Upper Yard, the land where god lives."
"There's a god?! In a place where we're never to set foot in?!" Luffy clarifies with a large smile starting to form.
"Yes. Since Skypiea is God's Land, it's ruled by the almighty god Eneru. He knows everything in this world."
"Everything?!" Usopp repeats.
"He also watches us all the time."
"All the time?!" Usopp continued to echo Conis. "Now too?" He questioned.
"Of course." She responded, making Chopper freak out and Zoro scoff at the idea of a god.
"So, have you seen that god who lives in Upper Yard, Conis-chan?" Snaji asks stoically.
"Of course not! We cannot step foot in Upper Yard. The sacred ground, Upper Yard, is forbidden."
"I see. A place that we're not allowed to go no matter what, huh?" Luffy says, sensing an adventure.
Feeling his spidy senses tingling, Usopp tries to distract Luffy from the potential adventure. "Ah! Your eyes! What are you thinking about?!" He started to shake Luffy back and forth. "Listen good! 'Never step food in' means you're absolutely not supposed to go there, Luffy!"
Luffy continued to smile like an idiot, making his crew realize that it was already too late to change his mind.
"So what happens if someone goes into that forbidden Upper Yard?" Robin asks the million berry question.
"Th-that's" Conis started to say but stopped.
"The person cannot come back alive. Everyone believes so." Pagaya explains for her, freaking out Usopp and causing Sanji to worry for Nami. "I-I'm worried about Nami-san. I hope she isn't near Upper Yard." He finished.
I sighed before heading to my room to quickly grab my things. I stuffed everything in my bag and grabbed my air board. I returned to the living room to see Sanji yelling Nami's name off the balcony and Usopp shaking the life out of Luffy.
"Don't worry Sanji." I called to him, causing him to turn and face me. "From what I've seen, Nami's best skill is survival, and on the off chance that she's not. I'll go get her."
"How?" Usopp wondered.
I grin a large grin. "With my air board I built of course. It's similar to a waver only it works in the air too." I explain happily while showing off my board.
"Cool!" Chopper and Luffy say at the same time while Usopp was looking impressed.
I walk over to the balcony to prepare for take off.
"Sorry for the trouble Amaya-san." Sanji said my full name for the first time.
I give him a small smile. "No worries. You're concerned for your crewmate. It's only natural." I step onto board before hitting the thunder dial with my foot to power it on.
I shot forward on the air board, leaving everyone behind as I rode the air waves. "I'll be back with Nami soon!" I called over my shoulder as I made my way towards Upper Yard.
Nearing the place, I saw Nami hiding behind a section of the 'Vearth' as they called it here. Before I could join her, she started to speed her waver in my direction.
Since she was in such a panicked state, she went right past me without slowing down. I maneuvered the air board around and tapped one of the jet dials to catch up with her.
"Nami!" I called once I caught up, turning off the jet dial to coast alongside her in the air.
"Ama?!?" She shouted in shock, nearly losing her balance in her surprise.
I smile. "Yo! The others were worried about you. They should be near the beach when we arrive." I tell her as we race for the shore where the others were.
"Good! We need to leave this place immediately!" She declared.
I decided not to rain on her parade. She'll figure it out eventually, so why ruin the surprise.
We soon neared the beach where we could see the officers of Skypiea talking to the rest of the crew. If I remember correctly, I think they were called the White Berets. The one thing I did remember clearly was that they had stupid laws that they enforced. Oh! Also that they crawled on the ground often. Too bad I missed that bit. It would have been funny.
"Oh, no." Nami starts to speak. "There's already someone there! I hope they're not with those guys from earlier. Please don't do anything stupid, everyone!" She comments about the White Berets.
"I don't know anything about that." I stop. "But they look like weaklings to me." I assess the group on the beach.
We got within shouting distance of the crowd on the beach.
"Hold on a second!" She shouted to our group.
Sanji started to shout back, but considering it was obvious what he was going to say, I tuned him out.
"Luffy! Don't give them any trouble!" Nami ordered him.
I stifle a laugh. Sorry Nami but I have a feeling it's too late for that.
Luffy started to protest only to be cut off by Usopp. "Nami! Go ahead and pay them the 7 million-Berry fee for our illegal entry using your secret stash!" He informed her.
Nami looked relieved. "Good! We can still get by with a fine, then!?" Her face then turned dark as she hid her eyes under her hair.
I inwardly sigh. And there goes your last hope Usopp.
"7 million Berries, he said?" I heard Nami question herself. She floored her waver onto the beach, ramming the boat into the captain of the White Berets, knocking out some of his teeth in the process. "That's too expensive!!" She hollered as she slammed into him, her shark-like teeth bared in fury.
The captain went flying into a coerced area near the beach as Nami landed on the beach. I followed behind before landing my air board. I turned it off, picked it up, then went to stand next to Zoro. Chi then came over to me and hopped on my shoulder, happy that I was back.
Once Nami landed her attitude changed into regret. "Oh, shoot! Because they demanded such an unreasonably high fee, I unintentionally" she trailed off, causing Usopp and Zoro to look at her ridiculously. She then walked the waver back to Conis and Pagaya. "Hey, mister, thanks for letting me use your waver. It was fun."
"No, no. I'm terribly sorry." Pagaya responded. "More importantly, you all are in big trouble!" He started to panic.
Focusing back on the problem, Nami turned to face us. "Everyone! Let's run!"
"Why?" Luffy asks. "I thought you started a fight." He mentions her previous actions.
We all turned to look at the captain who was knocked out cold. Pathetic. It wouldn't last a day on the Blue Sea. Pagaya then started to explain what rate this crime counted as and that the punishment was a type of death penalty by banishment on the clouds.
Robin then realized that the ship that nearly fell on us on the sea went through the same punishment.
The remaining White Berets then decided to focus their attention on us instead of their captain. Nami then tried to convince them that it was an accident since she was new to riding a waver. Unfortunately for her, Luffy completely outed her.
Luckily for the rest of us, Pagaya then distracted them, saying that it would be better if they prioritized getting treatment for their captain first. All of them then started to freak out, realizing that he was totally right. Pagaya then started to escort them to their home, so that the captain could be treated.
The White Berets shouted at the group not to leave before they returned. They then loaded their captain onto a stretcher before crawling away. Oh my goodness. That is so hilarious. They look absolutely ridiculous, and it makes them go so slow.
"They're crawling again?" Sanji asks in disbelief. That was my final straw. I busted out laughing, making some of the group glance at me.
"I know you're not bad people." Conis says to our group facing the way that her father was leaving with the others. She then faced us. "So, please use this chance to get away from here!" She finishes seriously before turning and running to catch up with her father.
"Let's do as she said." Nami suggests. "I saw it with my own eyes. An island with these scary guys on it!" She told them, worried.
"So you did go to the place they call forbidden sacred ground." Zoro comments, making Usopp and Chopper freeze in shock.
Luffy's face then burst into a grin with sparkles flying off him.
"Ah! Don't listen! Don't talk!" Usopp yelled to his captain as he and Chopper covered his eyes and ears from the conversation.
"In any case, we're leaving! Leaving!" Nami then ordered.
Part of the group headed for the ship as others stayed either in the water or on the beach. Luffy stayed on the cloud sand, unmoving.
"Luffy? What are you doing?" I heard Nami question him from my position on the ship's deck.
"Why are we running away?" He wondered.
"Because we'll be in big trouble!" She responded.
"We're always in big trouble." He stated, straightforwardly.
They continued going back and forth. Nami was worried about Conis and Pagaya getting involved while Luffy pointed out that they were innocent.
Having enough, Usopp called to them next to me. "How long are you guys going to argue? Let's go!"
They took so long that the White Berets returned, which quickly escalated into a fight between them, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. Nami ran away safely of course.
They fired off Milky arrows that created streams of clouds for the White Berets to travel on with their skate type dials. They then attempted to surround Luffy and attack him with their various sharp weapons. Luffy avoided them using his devil fruit on a nearby tree to pull him to safety, freaking out the White Berets in the process.
"Gum Gum Fireworks!" He called, releasing a fun looking technique to knock out the majority of the White Berets out. Zoro took out the ones that stayed hidden in the freshly made clouds.
"Hey Nami?" Zoro called to the girl who was now safely on the ship. "What's our financial situation?"
"50,000 Berries. That'll last about a day or two." She answered.
"We're that poor." Sanji analyzes next to the swordsman.
"Why are we so poor?" Luffy asks. "As your captain, I gotta say this. You should think more about how you use money and"
"It's because you eat so much!!" Sanji hollered at him with an obvious irk mark.
"Eh!!" Luffy said, surprised at the revelation.
The White Beret's Captain then stood back up, claiming that we were in trouble now. He said that we should have surrendered when we were given the chance and that we would soon be judged by the priests of Upper Yard. He tried so hard to sound ominous, but to me he sounded like a whining toddler who lost a game. Whatever.
Having everything settled, Nami and Luffy started to argue again about what to do next.
"What's more important? Adventure or life?" Luffy questioned her, thinking that the obvious answer was adventure.
"Life! Then money!" She answered. "We have to leave this place!" She concluded. "Come on everyone, let's set sail." She then ordered, causing the rest of the crew to join us.
Luffy of course then decided to ask Pagaya if they could have the left overs of the meal we eat earlier. Sanji went with him, and Usopp decided to tag along to ask about different tools for potential repairs.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Nami shouted.
"Getting food! Go ahead and get the ship ready for an adventure!" Luffy ordered.
"He's totally planning on going there." She claimed. "He doesn't know how scary those people are!"
"Like I care." Zoro huffs. "Don't take it out on me."
"Chopper!" Nami called sweetly. "You're on my side aren't you?"
He froze on the spot, clearly showing otherwise.
"Don't threaten him." Zoro commanded, allowing Chopper to make his getaway. "You realize that there's no persuading Luffy, don't you?" Zoro asks her. "Even if we all get together and protest, he won't listen."
"Ama! What about you? Can you change his mind?" She asks with slight hope in her eyes. "After all, you're his childhood friend." She reasoned.
"He'd be more likely to drag me along for the ride then listen to me about not going." I retorted her reasoning. "Besides, I'm looking forward to going. Also, I kinda parked my plane there, so I'd have to go there either way at some point."
"Fine! Then, I'll stay here." She declared.
"Go right ahead." Zoro comments before making his way over to the mast to take a nap.
"Why you," Nami started to say before calming herself down.
We then heard Conis calling from the side of the ship, asking to speak to us for a moment. She told Nami of a current that would lead back to the Blue Sea.
I was skeptical of what she had to say for two reasons. One, I don't recall them ever using a current like that in the original story, and two, Conis looked slightly panicked. I noticed that Robin was also skeptical about the whole ordeal.
Nami, trusting her wholeheartedly due to Conis relighting Nami's hope of leaving this place, ordered Chopper to raise the anchor.
"Now we just have to wait till Luffy and the others come back." Nami states with a smile.
The White-White Sea that we were sailing on then became rough. The cloud filled waters started to shake the boat as they moved harshly.
"I wonder if we're already on the current." Chopper says.
The ship then lurched backwards, nearly causing Chi and I to fall over. The ship was moving backwards at a rapid pace.
"Hold on! What is this? What's going on?!" Nami sprouts off questions while clinging onto the rail.
Zoro was woken up from his nap and ran over to the side of the ship. "Did we get on that current thing earlier than we expected?"
"No, it doesn't look that way." Robin comments, looking over the back of the ship into the water.
The ship was then raised higher into the sky, where it was on longer touching the cloud water. It was being carried by a large lobster that was about ten times the size of the ship.
Our speed increased with the sudden elevation of the ship. Zoro had to take out one of his swords to keep him from falling over, using it like a crutch.
"It's trying to take us somewhere!" He announced. "Hey! Everyone off the ship! There's still time!"
"What about our ship?!" Chopper cries out. "If our ship is taken."
"Don't worry. I'll stay." Zoro explains.
"C'mon! What can you do by yourself?!" Nami griped at him.
"I'll figure it out!" Zoro answered before jumping off the ship and onto the giant crab. He then attempted to slice the shell of the beast before noticing that he couldn't break through. "So, it doesn't work?" He grimaced. The shell then started to crack slightly, making the green haired man smirk slightly. "Right, it'll do."
"Looks like that won't work." Robin comments, dropping the rope ladder over the side. "Come on board."
"What'd you say?" Zoro looked offended at her comment. I sigh and shake my head.
"Chill, Zoro." I say. "It would take too long, and when you're done, they would just do something else." I explained.
"She's right. Look." Robin directed his attention.
"What?" He turned around to see what was chasing us the entire time.
"Large skyfish are following us with their mouths open." Robin verbalized our situation. "We can't jump off the ship now. Even if we defeat them, another batch will probably arrive soon. There's nothing we can do for now."
"Heaven's Judgment, huh? So, instead of sending people after us, they're bringing us in." Zoro observes our opponents strategy. "What a prudent guy." He finished, making his way over to the rope ladder.
"Then, I'm going back to that island?" Nami realized sinking to the floor of the ship. She then started to call out for the members that they left behind.
We soon reached the end of the White-White Sea and started to be carried over the Upper Yard's 'Vearth' by way of Milky Roads. The lobster's speed stayed at a quick pace, despite the many twists and turns.
Many large trees that appeared to be centuries old zoomed by us in a flash until we arrived at the lobster's intended destination. The sacrificial altar.
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New Update! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for your patience. My writing schedule got interrupted this week since I caught a cold. Should be back on track now. Also many thanks to all my readers. I can't believe how many people have read this. It make me very happy and motivated to continue. Until Next Time...
World_Imaginer