__________ POV Narration __________ 

Thunder bellowed in the sky above the kingdom of Alabasta. 

Things had mostly calmed down, only the occasional pirate would sometimes encroach on their territory, but the guards in Alabasta were already prepared for them. 

Despite the chaos in the world, piracy was not really that much more prominent than before. It was safer to say that the world had yet to see the effects of the World Government oppression for now at least. 

But Nefertari Cobra was confident that things would end favourably with time. He trusted that Enel, the Emperor who provided them with protection, would win at the end of the day.

He already knew of the Sky King's overwhelming strength. Even the likes of Crocodile were nothing to the wayward Emperor. Surely he'd be able to stand up to the government, right? 

Well, at least the sickly King liked to hope so. He sat down in his wheelchair, on the balcony overlooking the capital, his palace, and his people. 

His calm gaze pierced through the walls of the castle and beyond. His subjects were the main thing he saw, and the main thing he wanted to protect.

"Father..." But they weren't the only ones that he hoped to be able to protect.

His daughter, the blue-haired princess Nefertari Vivi was walking up behind him, gently and with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Please be careful with your health. Come inside, the air is cold, and a storm is brewing..." 

The princess slowly wrapped a blanket around her sickly father. Cobra gave her an appreciative gaze, but remained unmoved, turning his head and looking up at the sky. 

Vivi raised an eyebrow, and also looked up, only to see angry clouds and constant flashes of light.

Thunder bellowed, making the princess slightly uncomfortable as she looked up with a tinge of fear.

"It's rare that we get storms this powerful..." Her voice was merely a whisper in the middle of a tornado of thunder, but the King still heard his daughter's words clearly.

"There is no need to fear it, our Kingdom had withstood greater adversity..." Cobra's eyes narrowed.

"Father, let's go inside already..." Vivi grabbed the handles on her father's wheelchair and prepared to bring him away, but the King stopped her by putting his hands on the wheels. 

Through the flash of lightning, he caught the figure of something large in the distance. His eyes widened immediately and his ears perked up. 

Immediately the sound of thunder was overshadowed by the sound of a rhythmic beat, one both familiar and unknown, a symphony that he recognized.

Drums of war...

"No... I want to bear witness to it."

The King flashed the Princess a wide toothy smile. And the princess's gaze wandered upwards as well, only for her eyes to widen in shock.

A scene almost out of Fairy Tails. A cluster of flying islands, dazzling waterfalls and forests, snowy mountains, and grand jungles. It was as if an entire world had spawned from the sky.

The moving cluster covered the sky for as long as the princess's eyes could see and pushed every storm cloud away.

The sound of the drums thundered louder than anything the princess had heard, and it was clear that their subjects below had also heard it.

The islands all seemed to be carrying large banners, a strange amalgamation of what the King and Princess recognized as the flag of the Marines, the Revolutionary Army, and a Skull that seemed to have glowing eyes made out of lightning. 

Cobra's smile became even wider, as he recognized that flag, despite never seeing it in the past. 

Everyone looked up in wonder at the moving and shifting cluster of islands, many failed to understand what was happening, and fear rippled through them, but they also felt something else...

Pure and unadulterated astonishment, their eyes were witnessing an otherworldly scene, one so beautiful that it almost felt natural, despite it defying all common sense.

"F-father is that...?!?" Vivi shouted, her voice a bit panicked as she took a step back.

"The Sky King finally makes his move, a flashy one at that! Yet the World Government is silent... It seems that they have given up on anything but the Holy Land..." Cobra closed his eyes in contentment when seeing the gigantic 'ship' of the Sky Emperor. 

The sound of thunder seemed to have completely stopped, but the sound of drumming seemed to quiet down a bit, seemingly in consideration of the regular people below, something that Cobra was thankful for. 

"Father... Can I join them?" Vivi clenched her fists as she looked up at the skies.

She was not the type of person to simply sit idly while something so important and world-changing was happening.

Her people, her father, and even she would be ultimately impacted by the upcoming war. And she wanted to do anything in her power to help.

Cobra sighed, seemingly already expecting such a request. His gaze turned to the side as he tried to look at his daughter's face.

"... I don't want you to go... But I also do not have the power to stop you. I trust you, and I trust Enel..." 

The king's voice sounded reluctant, regretful, and worried. But he didn't forbid his daughter from doing what she felt was best. He knew how stubborn she was, and he realized that forbidding her wasn't going to work.

 In an instant, a large patch of land started lowering itself towards the ground.

"... It seems that you are being invited to go up." Cobra sighed once more, taking one more look at his daughter as she walked up to the edge of the balcony.

"D- Does that mean he heard our conversation?" Vivi asked in a gentle, confused voice.

"Of course he did... He hears everything. That's why he's fit to challenge the empty throne..." Cobra shook his head as he gestured for his daughter to jump on the gigantic rock that had floated over to their balcony. 

At that moment, someone else rushed into the room, a man with sharp features and strange markings on his face. Most of his body was covered in a loose white cloak, and a white turban was on his head.

He was none other than Pell, the captain of the Royal Guards within the Kingdom of Alabasta. He had somehow survived being stabbed in the gut by Crocodile's hook and had resumed his duties as soon as he recovered. 

"King Cobra! Islands are-" The Falcon Devil Fruit User immediately rushed into the room, and was immediately silenced by the scene in front of him.

"Relax Pell... They are allies, Enel's army is marching now, war is imminent, and Vivi wishes to join them."

Cobra's gaze landed on Pell as the rock that was carrying Princess Vivi strayed further and further away.

Pell gasped, and his hands immediately turned into wings, as he hoped to go and dissuade the princess from her foolishness. 

But Cobra had other plans. 

"Say, would you mind going with my daughter? Please make sure she stays safe." Cobra didn't want Vivi to be stopped.

God only knew he had kept her back enough.

After all, had it not been for her status, she would have joined her friends in the straw hats long ago. 

'Maybe this way they may reunite...'

Pell's eyes widened as he looked at Cobra for a few seconds. Upon seeing the King's resolute gaze, he knew that the king hadn't asked him a question, no he had given him an order. 

 "I will make sure that she is safe Your Majesty..." So he could only nod and spread his wings, flying upwards towards the islands. 

Cobra merely shook his head as more of his Royal Guards reached his chambers in a hurry. But he paid them no mind. 

"It's only a matter of time, before the final confrontation... I wish you all the luck in the world, Enel." The King spoke in an even tone, his eyes still fixated on the back of Pell and his daughter. 

"Thank you, Cobra. We will only come back with good news, but I'll make sure that your daughter doesn't get hurt..." The King smiled as he heard a voice ring in his ears.

'I guess he can even project his own voice now, huh? Really, what can't he do at this point?' The king sighed deeply before turning around and heading for his room, he knew he needed rest, he just hoped to be able to fall asleep given the circumstances. 

Up on the Sky Islands, Vivi and Pell had finally reached the Sky Islands.

Shiki had floated them up at Enel's orders, but he ended up just sending them to one of his original islands, filled with pirates, as it was the closest one. 

"Hoh?! Fresh meat?!?"

Said pirates were less than friendly, and they immediately crowded around the newcomers, getting rowdy and quite boisterous.

Vivi looked a bit uncomfortable, and Pell immediately spread his wings and stood in front of her, his gaze resolute and quite worried.

"Haha! They look pretty weak! I wonder if they're meant to be food or relief-" The gloating pirate was interrupted by a slight quake, and his eyes widened as the ground opened up underneath him.

He and many of the other pirates immediately fell through the island and towards the lower seas. 

"Shut your vomit holes, you bastards!" Immediately, their leader stepped out. His voice thundered through the island and made everyone present to cover their ears in discomfort.

The Golder Lion scowled as he floated out of his residence and towards the newcomers.

His bladed legs stood on the ground without even scratching it, as he crossed his arms and greeted Pell and Vivi accordingly. 

"Princess Vivi and... Guest..." Well, at least he tried. "I am Shiki, the Golden Lion!" At the very least he introduced himself. 

"T-thank you for the help..." The princess spoke with a bit of fear in her voice, her gaze wandering around at all of the men who had been accosting them previously.

They seemed to have shrunk back in absolute terror at just the sight of the man in front of them. 

"M-my name is Pell... I am the princess's guard..." The Falcon-Human hybrid sweated a bit as he spoke out.

He recognized Shiki's name, he remembered having heard of it in the past.

An infamous pirate said to be on par with the ruling emperors of the world. A man who had once challenged Gold Roger on the daily. 

"Welcome to the Sky Islands, let us go to a more friendly place." Shiki clapped his hands and the ground underneath the three of them started moving once more, this time heading for one of the other islands.

While doing so, he kept grumbling about how useless his men were and how they didn't seem to behave properly.

Vivi and Pell could only sweat a bit, neither of them spoke in the man's presence, as he exuded an aura that made it quite hard for either of them to speak. 

Eventually, they reached an island that seemed to be suspended on clouds, a sight so beautiful that it made Vivi smile warmly.

At the edge of that island stood a few marines, as well as an Aokiji.

Shiki landed near them and scowled at Aokiji before turning around and flying away.

Vivi and Pell looked back at him before turning to Aokiji, who greeted them and led them to their quarters.

Enel sighed as he felt them reach their quarters eventually.

"You know, they may just prove to be extra baggage at the end of the day..." Francisco commented as he stood by the Emperor's side.

"I doubt it... They are stronger than the regular navy soldiers who work with us.

Also, that girl is part of the Straw Hats if my memory serves me right, so at the very least she may reunite with them." 

Enel yawned and slowly rested his head on his metallic chair. 

Francisco blinked a few times when hearing about Vivi being part of the Straw Hats, he remembered Luffy's courageous effort when they were fighting Kaido quite fondly. 

"Very well then... Let us sail further then." Francisco smiled and nodded to his captain before scratching his chin.

"It's a shame old Doctorine wasn't in her home at the Drum Kingdom, but maybe we'll get the chance to meet her later..." 

Enel simply shrugged, also quite unsure as to where the ol-young doctor was exactly. Her whereabouts weren't exactly the focus of his journey at the end of the day. 

But if they were to run into her, then he'd surely invite her for Francisco's sake. And on that note, the journey continued. 

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Hope you are all doing well! Every day I'm struggling :))

We are at the end point of the story, and writing is becoming harder and harder tbh. Motivation's at an all-time low and all that. But hey, we are close to the ending, so I ain't stopping

Dunno, when starting a project/book it all flows so nicely, so many paths to take and so many roads to lay out. But now every road needs to nicely merge into one, and I am struggling a bit. But I'll manage somehow :)) 

Even if uploads are slow, I'll finish this(btw when I finish it on Patr-eon I'll start uploading the rest of the chapters in more rapid succession here too 

Story Shoutout : Hell Difficulty Tutorial

Discord, again: https://discord.gg/xQTK8caFEQ

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patre_on, you'd also get 15 chapters in advance (or 10/5 depending on tier)