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There was a beautiful angel playing a harp not too far from our spot on the beach. She looked over at us and smiled warmly.
"Heso. Are you people from the Blue Sea?" she asked politely.
Luffy, who was having trouble opening a pumpkin-shaped fruit, answered with a full-mouthed smile, "We flew up from the bottom!"
The girl helped him cut the fruit. "My name is Conis. If you need anything at all, just ask."
Before Nami could ask her a dozen questions about the island, we were interrupted by a loud crash. Conis's dad, riding a strange machine called a 'Waver,' flew past us and slammed into a tree.
"That machine looks just like the one we fished out of that shipwreck," I said, looking at the broken vehicle.
Robin nodded. "And it matches the description we found in Noland's Logbook."
Conis's father, who introduced himself as Pagaya, invited us to his home to eat. Before we went, Nami asked him how the Waver worked. Luffy, in his usual impulsive way, tried to take the Waver for a ride and, as expected, immediately crashed into the sea of clouds.
"I wonder what will happen to Luffy in the sea of clouds," I said aloud, watching him sink.
Luffy began flailing and screaming for help, so I swam out and fished him out, dragging him back to shore. By the time we got back, Nami had already figured out how to operate the Waver and was zipping around on it like a pro. She decided to stay and practice, while the rest of us went to Conis's house for a meal.
On the way, Pagaya explained how they were able to build and live on the clouds. "There are two types of natural clouds here: 'Sea Clouds' and 'Island Clouds.' We harvest the Island Clouds to build our homes and live on them," he said. He also mentioned that the clouds have molecules similar to Seastone, which is why Luffy lost his strength when he fell in.
When we got inside, Sanji went to help Pagaya with the food while Conis taught us about 'Dials.' She explained that Dials are the remains of ancient sea creatures that can store and release various things. She showed us a Tone Dial that could record and replay sounds, Wind Dials that could blow gusts of wind, and Light Dials that held light.
"These things are incredible," I remarked, fascinated. "There are so many possibilities with them."
"Dials are used for everything up here," Conis explained. "In the right hands, they become amazing works of art, or, in some cases, powerful tools and weapons."
Sanji and Pagaya soon brought out the food, and we all sat down to eat. Sanji waited to start eating because he was worried about Nami, who Conis was a little worried had gone too far out on the Waver.
"Wadda you mean?" Ikki asked with his mouth full of food.
"Slob," I mumbled under my breath.
"I heard that!" he shot back.
Conis looked worried. "There's a place that nobody in Skypiea is supposed to enter. It's called the Upper Yard, the place where God lives."
"So, nobody's supposed to go there?" Luffy asked, a glint in his eye.
"Yes! No one at all!" Conis affirmed.
"Don't even think about it! God lives there!" Usopp yelled, shaking Luffy.
"Yeah, no one should go there," Luffy said, flapping his hand dismissively. I knew he was totally going to go.
"We don't even know if Nami is there," I told Luffy as he shoved more food in his mouth. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"You mentioned you had a Waver?" Pagaya said. "I'd be willing to take a look at it for you."
"Really?!" Luffy shouted, his eyes wide.
Ikki's POV
We headed back down to the beach so Pagaya could take a look at the Waver we found in the shipwreck.
"Can you fix it?" Luffy asked the old man.
"I'm not sure. I'll have to open it up and see," he explained.
Suddenly, we heard a commotion coming from the stairway nearby. We turned our attention towards the noise and saw a group of men crawling along the ground in our direction.
"Halt!" the lead man yelled.
Conis and Pagaya greeted the man with the usual Skypiean greeting. Sanji wanted Luffy to ignore them so we could go find Nami.
"You! The Blue Sea people who have illegally entered Skypiea!" the captain told us. "Don't deny it; we have this picture as proof." The man held up a blurry photo of us passing through the gate earlier.
"Yup, that's us," I said nonchalantly.
"This must be a mistake, Captain McKinley," Pagaya said, trying to defend us. "These are good people."
"The situation isn't that serious. There's no need to panic," McKinley told him. "This is only a Class Eleven crime. It will go away if you just pay the fine, and you'll become regular tourists."
"What's the fine?" I asked.
"Ten billion Extol for each person. Since there are nine of you, that's 90,000,000,000 Extol."
"What?! How much is that in Beli?" Usopp asked, his eyes popping out of his head.
"One Beli is equivalent to ten thousand Extol," Robin explained, doing the math quickly in her head. "So we owe seven million Beli."
The man wanted to give us another fine because we owned the broken Waver. At that moment, Nami arrived back at the beach.
"Nami, do we have seven million Beli to pay a fine?" Usopp asked desperately.
"That's way too expensive!" Nami yelled, crashing her Waver into Captain McKinley. She immediately grabbed Luffy and me and dragged us back to the ship so we could leave and not anger "God."
The captain Nami crashed into said we were now Class Five criminals and were sentenced to a place called the Drifting Cloud. The enemies fired arrows that, upon hitting the ground, created clouds that we could walk on.
Is this that Dial weaponry Conis mentioned?
"Nami, get back on the ship!" Luffy pushed Nami back as the arrows flew past.
The men soared past us, riding on the clouds with strange skates. They attacked us with swords, but Luffy and I dodged them easily.
"I see," I remarked, "you have cool shoes."
Luffy shouted, "Gum-Gum Firework!" as Usopp used his "Knife Rain!" attack. The others hopped off the ship to help us. We all realized that we could never pay that fine anyway since we always have to spend the money on Luffy's food.
"You Blue Sea people should have just left! Now you are Class Two criminals! Your fate is now up to the priest of the Upper Yard!" The man and his troop then walked off, leaving us.
"Seems like we're already being chased," I remarked.
Nami wanted to leave right away, but Luffy scolded her for missing the biggest adventure of her life. Nami asked Conis how we could get back down, and she explained we had to go to a place called Cloud's End.
"Can I have the food from earlier?" Luffy begged.
Luffy, Steve, Sanji, and Usopp went back to Conis's house to get some things while the rest of us got the ship ready. Nami, still wanting to leave, complained, but Zoro told her there was no changing Luffy's mind, so she should just accept it. Suddenly, the ship lurched and began moving on its own.
"Zoro, did you lift the anchor?" I asked.
"No, it's that thing!" he yelled, pointing under the ship. "Actually, don't look!"
When I peeked over the edge, there was a giant shrimp, like the one from earlier, dragging the ship on its back.
"So it's started," Robin said quietly. "Heaven's Judgment."
Steve's POV
I followed Luffy back to the house to make sure he didn't take too much food and eat Conis and her father out of house and home. Sanji put together some lunchboxes while Usopp added supplies to his toolbox.
I was outside, looking over the beach, when something caught my eye. The Going Merry was moving on its own!
Where are they going?
"Hey, guys!" I called out to the others inside.
They came over and saw what I did, and they began to panic just like me.
"It's sailing backward!" Luffy yelled.
"Look! Under the ship!" Usopp shouted.
When we looked under the ship, there was a large shrimp carrying the ship out to sea. Before long, the ship was out of sight, and we were the only ones left.
"They're gone," I muttered.
"Where are they going?" Luffy asked.
"That shrimp transports sacrifices," Pagaya explained. "I'm afraid your friends are headed to the sacrificial altar."
"Sacrifices?!" Sanji yelled.
"There are two types of punishment: sacrifices and judgment. Your friends are the sacrifices, so the four of you are the ones being judged," the old man explained.
Usopp pulled out the map, and Pagaya showed us where we would have to go to rescue our friends. We were going to have to go in the front door because that was the only way in.
"So, to get the crew and the ship back, we have to play by their rules," Sanji summed up.
"This is our trial, Heaven's Judgment," Usopp said, trying to put on a brave face.
"We'll have to deal with those priests Nami told us about," Luffy said with a smile.
"Looks like you got your adventure after all, Luffy," I said with a smile.
We changed into more comfortable combat attire and got ready to leave. I had ditched my usual outfit for a pair of plaid shorts and a green t-shirt. I also added a blue bandana to my neck.
I look good, if I do say so myself.
Conis led us through a road called Lovely Street, the main street of the island. Everyone in town gave us nasty looks and stopped talking when we walked past.
"They don't like us much," Usopp said.
"Probably because we're criminals," Sanji told him.
Luffy kept getting distracted and running off toward shops, and I had to pull him back every time. It was just another day of the usual.
"Focus, Luffy, we don't have time to fool around," I told him.
"Well, we don't have to save them since Zoro and Ikki are with them," he said, shrugging.
Zoro… and… Ikki? My eyes widened. "We have to hurry!" I told him, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him along.
A little further up the street, we passed by a statue.
"This is Vearth," Conis explained.
Whatever that idol was supposed to symbolize went over our heads, so Conis continued to lead us to the port. When we got there, all you could see were boats.
"These are all powered by Dials," Conis explained, looking off into the distance. She'd been like that since we left the house, unusually nervous.
Conis showed us our boat, the Crow. It was a small, tiny vessel barely capable of holding the four of us.
"That one's better," Luffy said, looking at a much larger boat nearby.
Sanji made Luffy apologize for hurting Conis's feelings. Conis gave us the directions to get to the Upper Yard so we could save our friends. She looked unusually nervous while doing it.
"Are you feeling alright, Conis? You've been trembling since we left," I pointed out. "Don't worry, we can handle this, no problem."
"The others are avoiding us, but you brought us here and gave us a boat," Usopp added. "Are you sure you won't get in trouble?"
"You look kind of pale," Luffy said. "We could have come alone if you were scared."
"I… It's not like that," she whispered, her voice shaking. "Don't you find it strange, the details I gave you about the trial, leading you here?"
The crowd began to mumble, telling her not to say stupid things. Something's up.
"Can't you just run away?" she said, falling to her knees. "I'm sorry! It was me! I called the express shrimp! If we see a criminal, we have to lead them to the execution ground!"
Stupid girl.
"You idiot!" Luffy told her. "You had no choice, so why…"
"WHY'D YOU TELL US?!"
"You're going to get attacked now!" Luffy yelled at the girl.
The sky darkened and rumbled. The people in the streets began to run away screaming. Luffy grabbed Conis and tried to avoid what was coming, but the attack was too large. A huge laser came from the clouds and annihilated Luffy and Conis.
"Luffy! Where are you?!" I yelled, hoping for a response.
"These two are safe."
The Sky Knight had saved Luffy and Conis just in time. He put Luffy back on the ground and told us he would look after Conis and her father.
"Let's go," Luffy said, hopping into our small boat. "To the Upper Yard."