”Well… I guess this  is a blessing in disguise.” said Rick.

 

The giant red crab had taken the Merry across the sky sea towards the forest before entering it. Soon enough they arrived at an altar surrounded by sea clouds. Their kidnapper laid the Merry 9n the altar then left. The crew tried to leave the ship early during their abduction but giant sea monsters blocking any retreat dissuaded them.

 

”What blessing?! We’re separated from the rest of the crew and the Merry is stuck on this…” yelled Nami.

”Altar.” said Robin.

”It doesn’t matter we’re stuck anyway.” answered the navigator.

”The Merry is stuck, we’re not. Besides we’re now closer to Shandora.” said Rick

”How do you know that?” asked Chopper.

”The architecture of the altar is not unlike the one of Cricket Montblanc’s house on Jaya.” declared Robin.

”And from the carvings on the wall over there it’s a sacrificial altar. Normally those kinds of altar are built in a remote place not far from cities” added the ex-marine.

”You’re really knowledgeable  about ancient civilisation” remarked the archeologist.

”Told you I’ve read three or four books” replied Rick, sending a wink her way.

 

In the end it was decided to explore the area. Chopper had stayed behind on Merry to guard it while the rest went into the forest. For some reason, Zoro tried to reach it by swimming but got attacked by a sky shark. He defeated it but soon many of its friends made themselves known. The Vice-Captain made them all float and Zoro didn’t miss the opportunity to make some food out of them. With the sea around the altar now safe, the swordsman tried again to swim towards the forest before Rick made him float, like everyone else but Chopper, and brought them to the forest floor. They walked a few hours when they found the ruins of a well partially covered by a giant tree’s roots. Robin didn’t miss a beat and started to study it. Zoro guarded her while Nami and Rick floated to a really high branch of the same tree.  The swordsman was getting impatient, he was not much for historical stuff.

 

“Nami! Rick! See anything?” he asked 

 

Nami was looking around with binoculars and stopped when something caught her eyes.

“Holy… Rick, you were right!”

“I’m always right, so you’re going to be more specific here.” answered the ex-marine.

 

Nami rolled her eyes and gave him the binoculars.

“Look.”

 

He took them and looked towards the direction Nami was pointing. He finally locked on what the navigator saw. Some houses, in the same architectural style as the house Cricket Montblanc live in. This discovery further proved that Shandora landed on Skypiea.

 

“So Shandora is really on upper-yard. We really must go there and take a look.”

 

Nami agreed and both of them floated down to ground level to tell of her findings. Robin had to see it with her own eyes. Despite everything she still had some doubt. The most real evidence that Rick might have been right was the architectural similarities but it wasn’t foolproof as after all civilisation spreads. There still was a possibility that Shandora was not on Skypiea. They decided to walk branch to branch, as doing so made an easier journey. The ground was uneven and full of giant roots making reaching their destination a lot more difficult and physically taxing. On the other hand the branches were so large that they were almost flat, flat enough to walk on without any problem at least. They reached their destination soon enough and among the few houses there was one that interested them in particular.

 

“May that be a lesson to you all. Never doubt me!’ joked Rick.

The others were too dumbfounded to say anything. The house they were currently looking at was bordering the cost, split in half vertically.

 

“That’s…” began Nami.

“The other half of Montblanc’s house.” ended Robin.

“So Robin… Convinced  or do you still have any doubts?” asked Rick.

 

She had no words and just shook her head sideways.

 

“What are we doing now?” asked Zoro.

“Right now, I think it would be best to regroup. Go back to Merry and search for Luffy, Usopp and Sanji. I don’t really want to go to god’s domain with more than half our fighting force missing.” answered Rick

 

Zoro agreed, he may want a good fight but taking gods, his priests and lackeys with only him and Rick as Nami and Robin were not really fighters, was not a good idea.

 

“Besides, if we go explore any further Luffy may throw a tantrum.” joked the Vice-captain.

“May?” said Zoro, an eyebrow raised.

 

No one added anything but everyone smirked. They went the way they came from and after a long while finally reached Merry. Something was amiss, The Merry’s mast was nowhere to be found. Zoro was about to yell, probably to Chopper to ask him what happened but Rick stopped him in time by covering the swordsman's mouth with his right hand and making a shush sound with his left.

 

“The enemy may still be there. If they are, they don’t know we’re here. We can’t let go of that advantage.” whispered Rick.

 

He floated high in the air before flying at high speed towards the Merry. Once above it he observed what was going on on the ship for a few moments, waiting to see if the enemy was inside or hiding somewhere. He didn’t have too, he knew Shura, one of Ener’s priests was already gone but he had to play the part in front of the other. Once he deemed enough time had passed, he attracted Nami, Zoro and Robin to him and landed everyone on deck. Chopper was hiding behind what was left of the mast and jumped in fright when Zoro asked what happened. 

 

“A guy on a giant bird attacked the Merry! He had a lance that burned things it touched and…”

 

“HEY GUYS!”

 

Chopper was interrupted by Luffy’s yell. Everyone on board turned towards the direction of their captain’s voice. They were riding a small boat and looked like they had a big fight. Chopper’s explanation was put on hold. Once on the deck the three mates newly arrived related their encounter with one of the priests. Usopp was shocked and saddened to see Merry without a mast but glad that Chopper was alright. That relieved the little doctor, he knew how much his friend cared for Merry, it was a gift from the girl he loved after all. Usopp’s words fired up Chopper more than ever to be a dependable crewmate.

 

“That guy was really annoying, with explosive cloud balls and all, but we kicked his ass so that’s that.” said Sanji.

“I was attacked too! A guy on a giant bird with a lance that set on fire everything it touched! He set aflame the Merry’s mast and I didn’t have any other choice to rip it and toss it into the sea. Thankfully the old… Ha! The old knight!”

 

Chopper cut his story short and rushed inside the ship. The crew followed and saw him tend to a sleeping Gan Fall.

“I couldn’t fight and protect the Merry at the same time and the enemy was flying too, so I used the whistle. He came fast and fought hard. In the end he got injured but made the enemy run away.”

“To go that far for a free whistle…” said Nami.

“That’s not surprising actually.” declared Rick.

“What do you mean?” she asked

“Gan fall is the former god. He may not be in power anymore but apparently he still bears the burden of protecting people” Robin answered.

 

Besides Rick who was already aware everyone was astonished by this revelation.

 

“I have a lot of things to ask him. Until then why don’t we camp outside? Oh, and many thanks for helping us.” said Sanji to Pierre, Gan Fall’s mount that was in the corner of the room. The bird answered with a short “Pii”.

 

“Camping outside?! In the middle of the enemy’s territory?!” yelled Usopp.

 

“That’s a good idea. If we had to fight it would be on the forest shore, Merry would not get damaged any further.” noted Rick.

~~~~~~~~

They ended up grilling one of the sharks Rick and Zoro ‘fished’. Usopp was done processing everyone’s testimony about what they went through and was devising a plan. The crew was enjoying a good evening meal when Zoro asked about mantra.

 

“What about that mantra thing?” he asked Sanji

“The only thing I know is that he was using it to predict my move.” answered the cook while making shark soup for the former god as his gullet has been injured.

“Mantra? So that’s what it is called in sky islands” said Rick.He was hoping introducing the group to haki before the time skip would be a good idea.

“You know about it?” questioned Zoro

“Yes. In the blue sea it’s called haki. It’s… a mysterious power that utilizes your own spiritual energy for various purposes. There are three types of haki. What the guy you fought used was the haki of observation. It is like a sixth sense of the world around you. It gives limited precognitive abilities. People using it can sense someone’s presence, strength, emotions and intentions. There are even stories of people mastering it to such a level that they could see into the future for a few seconds.”

“That’s insane! To think some people are able to see the future.” exclaimed Sanji

“Everyone has the ability to do it Sanji, as long as you know how to train for it.”

 

‘Unless you’re an artificial human like me.’

 

“You said there were three types of haki, what about the other two?” asked Zoro, really into this conversation.

“The second one is armament haki. That one too is innate to everyone and needs training. It makes the body harder than anything. The higher your mastery the harder your armor.  A good armament user can use it not only on his body but on objects too.”

“Like swords?” said Zoro.

“Like swords. However, it can do much more than just raising your attack and defense. Logia type devil fruit user? With this haki you can nullify their power. Luffy wouldn’t have to use water to beat Crocodile if he could have used it.”

“So logias are not only weak to their opposite element?” asked Sanji.

“Nope.”

 

“You said people who mastered the first haki could see the future, what can a master of this one do?” wondered Zoro.

“Nasty things. An advanced haki user can emit it a short distance away without any medium. Beyond that level, they can flow the haki into a target's body and destroy it inside out. You don’t even have to touch the target or put strength in your hit.” answered Rick.

“That’s almost as much a cheat than seeing the future.” Usopp noted.

“You said ‘that one too is innate to everyone and needs training’, I’m guessing that’s not the case for the third one ?” asked Robin.

“Correct. The third one is the conqueror haki, it’s…”

“Conqueror?” interrupted Luffy.

“Yes because it allows the user to exert his own willpower over others, making them submit. This type of haki cannot be attained through training and only one in several millions are born with it. It is said that whoever has this type of haki has the qualities of a king.”

“Do you know how to train them?” asked Zoro

 

Rick shook his head sideways.

“I was supposed to begin my training when… well… shit happened.”

 

He didn’t elaborate, he didn’t need to and none of his crewmates asked. They knew the reason why he stopped.  His parting with the marines was not done on good terms and they knew it was a sore subject for him. Surprisingly it was Luffy that lifted up the mood.

“So there really is gold, eh?! I’ve been waiting for an adventure like this!”

“Yup! With you interested it will makes things easier” said Nami

“Oi, oi, Luffy did you forget that raider’s warning?” was the answer Usopp gave Luffy.

“The god will be angry!” added Chopper.

“Hehe… Sounds interesting.” declared Robin.

“With treasures up for grabs, pirates can’t stay silent, right?”

“With plenty of enemies!”

“Yoooooooooshhhh it’s decided!  We’ll go and find gold!” Yelled Luffy

“And ring that golden bell for old man Montblanc!” added Rick.

 

““““““““YES!”””””””””

 

The guys went back to the Merry for their camping gear. While Zoro and Sanji were putting up the tent for the girls, Nami, thanks to Rick bringing her stuff, began drawing a map of the complete Jaya. She had changed her hairstyle and was wearing glasses. That was a new look on her and Rick was mesmerized.

 

“Do I have something on my face?” she asked.

“Hmm?”

“You’ve been looking at me for a while now.” she added.

“Oh! Sorry, no you don’t have anything.” he answered.

“Then why the look?”

“I’ve never seen that look on you before. The pigtails and glasses suit you well. You’re cuter than you usually are like that.”

“Thank you. You should stop it though or it will be 50 thousand berry.”

“It’s fine, you already owe me a 100 thousand for making you float around all day.”

“IN YOUR DREAMS!” she screamed.

“In my dreams you’re not paying in berry” the Vice-captain said adding a wink towards her.

 

That was a bad idea. Nami launched so many love punches at him that he had lumps on his lumps.

 

‘How the hell does she do that?!’

 

He didn’t miss the slight blush on her face, signaling him that his words were effective. He raised himself from the ground and sat next to her to look at the map.

“I’m surprised Sanji is not doing his… thing around you right now.” he whispered.

“That’s… true. Must be really focused on putting up the tent.” she whispered back.

“Or you unknowingly find a way to deal with him.”

“You think it’s the glasses ?” she asked

“Maybe. It requires further research. That would be funny if it is. You could make him behave whenever.”

“That’s a really interesting idea! I’m going to have so much fun finding out!”

“It’s decided then, the next island first thing we do is shopping for clothes.”

“We?” asked Nami with an eyebrow raised

“You, Robin and me. Can’t let Robin out on a shopping trip, it’s criminal.”

“I was referring to you! Why would you be part of it?”

“To have a male opinion on what would work and what wouldn’t! I’ll be your test subject.”

“Translation: ’So you could ogle me legitimately.” That was said with a deadpan face.

“Ooooh Nami… I admit you’re gorgeous but you’re too young for me. If I have to ogle someone it would be Robin.”

“You’re lucky Vivi isn’t here.” she smirked.

“Please don’t talk about Vivi.” Rick’s face paled, a lot. Goddess knows what the princess would have done to him if she had heard him.

“Too young for you too? She won’t give up, you know she’s relentless.”

“Please don’t remind me… Can we change the topic?”

“Sure. So… What about ogling Robin?”

“Oh my god!”

“Hey, you started it, not me.”

“Why is my love life so interesting to you? I’m so NOT talking about it.”

“HEY ROBIN!” she yelled.

“Shhhhhhhh! Are you insane?!”

 

Unfortunately for him, Nami was too loud and Robin heard. She approached them and asked :

“Yes, What is it, miss navigator?”

“Rick was talking to me about his desires to…”

“Buy some clothes. I didn’t think of buying some on Jaya, so I was asking Nami if you girls could help me with it. My fashion sense is terrible.”

“Sure, I don’t have any problem with that.” answered Robin before going back to her book.

 

The ex-marine turned his head towards Nami and whispered angrily.

“You really have a mean streak.”

“What? That was fun! Nice save by the way.”

“Don’t do that again!”

“That’s entirely up to you.”

“... You’re not gonna drop it aren’t you.”

“No ~~”.

“Fine, what do you wanna know?”

“Besides her age, what does she have that makes you tick?”

“She has really nice curves.”

“Well duh, captain obvious.” Nami looked at him as if he was an idiot.

“Alright, alright. She has beautiful legs that never seem to end, making her quite tall.”

“That’s it?”

“Nami, I’m 188cm (6”2) tall. Do you know how rare it is to meet someone my height? The average height for women is 160cm (5”3) and for tall people like me it’s really tiring to always look down or lean.”

“Okay I get it. What else?”

“She has nice blue eyes, that’s not something common.”

 

Nami just contented to nod as an answer. She understood and agreed with Rick, most people in the world had brown eyes. Robin’s were beautiful and a nice change. They were somewhat exotic.

“What else?”

“She is smart and knowledgeable. After 12 years in the marines I can tell you that it’s a rare sight. I’m really glad to journey with her. Hanging out with her is both fun and refreshing. She has a good sense of humour.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Robin has a sense of humour?”

“Oh yes, a pretty good one. She has a really melodious laugh too.”

 

Nami was surprised, she never saw Robin make a joke or anything remotely close to one. She had seen her smile and had a little laugh but nothing like Rick described. She wondered if he was pulling her leg for a moment but the way he looked furtively at the crew’s archeologist and smile told her it wasn’t the case.

“I see. However my intuition tells me that’s not everything.” she noted.

“True. What I like most about Robin is that she knows and understand.” said Rick.

 

Nami looked at him; he was still watching intently at the subject of their conversation. She didn’t understand what he meant at first, but the sad and lost glim in his eyes gave her the hint.

 

‘They both had the same life.’

“You know something about her that we don’t.” stated Nami.

 

The Vice-captain stopped looking at the archeologist and redirected his gaze on the navigator next to him. He didn’t say anything, he just stared.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Nami, this is Robin’s personal business.”

“Do you want me to call her again?”

“Go ahead.”

 

Seeing him not budging an inch, she understood that it was a serious matter. Still Robin was the only other girl on the crew. She was probably the only person in here that she could get really close to so she needed to know. 

“Please Ric, tell me.”

 

She was looking at Rick with a look of sincerity, worry and care.

‘Perhaps I should tell her. The events of Water Seven may play differently.’

 

The Vice-captain drew a long breath and sighed heavily.

“This is between you and I. Nobody must know, especially Robin. Do you understand?”

 

Nami nodded and waited for him to start the story.

“What do you know about Robin?”

“Besides the fact she's been running away from the world government by joining criminal organizations since she was 8 ? Not much.”

“So you don’t know why she’s wanted?”

“Her wanted poster says she sank six marines battleships.”

“Let’s start with that. It’s not true. The reason she’s wanted is because she’s the only one to know how to read the poneglyphs. The marines are scared she will find the location of ancient and forgotten weapons whose power is a threat to the world. And most of all she could uncover the story of what happened 800 years ago and from what I gathered the government doesn’t want that at all cost.”

“Why?”

“My guess? Because 800 years ago was when the world government was created. And knowing how corrupt it is, I’d bet anything that the true story is not what is being taught in textbooks. They are covering up for something really bad that could jeopardize the world order.”

“Really?”

“You don’t know how bad it is behind the scenes Nami.Trust me you don’t want to know.”

“How come robin is the only one who can read the poneglyphs?”

“Because the world government murdered everyone else who could.”

“Everyone?”

 

Rick nodded.

 

“It was a genocide Nami. Robin’s home island was known for their archeologists. Many came to their lands to know more about history, culture, well basically everything. But in secret all of them were studying the poneglyphs, trying to record and uncover the events of the void century. I don’t know how, but that got leaked to the marines who decided to use the buster call on the island.”

“What’s that?”

“The buster call is the most terrifying assault force of the marines. It is their ultimate attack. Five vice-admirals and ten heavy battleships gather at the location designated and start firing their cannons at the target. They only stop once the target has been obliterated.”

“My god! That’s insane!” she exclaimed.

 

“What is?” asked Robin from her seat, father away. Fortunately for them, she couldn’t hear their conversation as they were whispering but she was suspicious.

 

““Nothing”” was the synchronised answer she got.

 

‘Truly suspicious...’ In the end she decided to let it go.

 

Rick signaled nami to lower her voice and be quieter.

 

“That’s not the worst. It’s not about the infrastructure only, it’s about the people too. No survivors are to be left alive.”

“And Robin’s home suffered from that?”

“Yes. The results are horrifying. Buildings and bodies; nothing is left intact, everything is torn apart. It’s a genocide pure and simple, to the marines it’s just erasing a dot on a map. ”

 

Nami noted that Rick spoke from experience. She had to ask.

“You saw one didn’t you?”

“No, but I saw the results. When I fled the marines I needed to hide in a place they would never think to look…”

“Holy… You fled there! You were hiding on Robin’s home island.”

“Yes. When I saw the consequences of the buster call, I was even more disgusted with the marines than I already was. I spent ten years there. I buried the dead, cleaned the place and rebuilt it.”

“Why didn’t you tell Robin?”

“Are you crazy?! I’m an ex-marines! She may think it’s some kind of ploy to capture her. Like I’m a double still working for the marines or something!”

 

Nami took a good look at him before saying:

“You’re not, right?”

“Of course not!”

“Then you have nothing to fear. Tell her.”

“Nami for fugitives like Robin and I, trust in others is a luxury we can’t afford to have. You trust the wrong person and you’re dead or worse. We’ve been at it for so long that distrusting people is more than a reflex, it’s an instinct.”

 

Nami didn’t know what to say. After Arlong, she was used to distrust, she was a pirate after all, she couldn’t remember how many times she betrayed someone for her goals. The difference is, she was never wanted by the entire world government. She tried to put herself in Robin’s shoes for a moment.

 

‘Rick is right, nothing good would come to Robin knowing about the restoration of her home.’

 

Nami was suddenly overcome with emotions. All this time Robin has been alone with no one to trust. No one to confide in or find support. That didn’t sit well with her. She stood up and rushed towards Robin to hug her.

 

“Wow. What is that for?” asked the archeologist.

“Robin, Rick is bullying me!” said Nami. She sounded like a victim and even added some crocodile’s tears.

“Oh really?” answered Robin.

 

Nami had her head in Robin’s bosom and nodded. The latter was scowling at Rick.

 

“HE DID WHAT?”

 

Sanji, who was just done with the tent, heard Nami’s complaint and went Berserk. He rushed Rick at a frightening speed.

 

“Oh that’s bullshit!” the Vice-captain said before dodging a fast coming kick from the cook.

He dodged another and another again. He soon had enough and used his gravity to send Sanji into the sea to cool him down a bit. That worked.

 

Rick looked at Nami who was still in Robin’s embrace. She was sticking out her tongue to him.

He swore to pay her back another time.