The ruins of the ancient Kingdom of Asuka spanned all over the Island. Around the Temple of Stars were the remnants of the ancient Royal Palace. And where once used to be a capital city of the Asuka Kingdom, now stood a humble village.

"Hey!" A cheerful little girl happily rushed over to them as they entered the Village, on their way to the Temple. "Are you here to see the Temple?" 

Seeing her bright smile, Sin gently patted her head and nodded. 

"I will show you around!" She happily clapped her hands. 

"Okay." Hancock giggled and nodded. 

"Yay!" The girl nearly jumped in excitement when they agreed to let her show them around the place. "I am Maya! And my Grandmother is the Priestess of the Temple of Stars." She introduced herself, and soon everyone gave her their names. 

Nami and Nojiko were happy to meet someone their age, and they asked Maya a lot of questions about her Village, life, activities, and even the flowers that were found on the Island. The three little girls were so consumed in their chat that they completely ignored the people around them.

Seeing that they were getting along just fine, the crew let the younger girls be. Maya forgot that she was supposed to show them around the place, and only happily chatted with Nami and Nojiko. It was obvious that she did not have a lot of friends her age, and she was excited to have Nami and Nojiko talk to her. 

The people of the village were curiously looking at them, and perhaps the presence of two little girls in their group was the reason why everyone felt at ease, not worried that they might be people with bad intentions or Pirates. 

"Halt!" 

A loud and cold voice called out when they were about to step on the stairway that led to the Temple of Stars. 

"You can not enter the Temple without someone escorting you." A tall, dark and muscular man approached with a machete on his waist. "I am Lacos, the protector of the Village and the Guardian of the Star Temple." He introduced himself as soon as he came to a stop. 

"Black D. Sin." Sin smiled at him. "And this is my Crew." 

"Crew?" Lacos raised his brow. "Merchants? or Travellers?" 

"Adventurers and Explorers." Sin lightly said. 

Lacos seemed satisfied with his answer and then ran his eyes over all of them. 

"Before I take you inside, you must promise that you will listen to me and not touch what you are not supposed to touch. The Priestess is usually asleep at this time of the day, so we must not disturb her." 

"Lead the way." Sin readily nodded to him. 

He had sensed the peaceful intentions of the people of this Village, and he was not worried about the safety of the two girls who were playing around happily. It was also the reason why he had hidden the truth from Lacos. He did not want to distress the people and ruin the peaceful atmosphere.

Lacos led them up the 196 Stairs of the Temple of Stars. Each stair was engraved with Tribal Tattoos and depictions of wild and ancient animals. There were some texts too, holding some miscellaneous information about the Ancient Kingdom of Asuka. What was surprising was that the language used was an ancient language that was no longer spoken in the World. It was even rare in the olden times.

"You can read what's written here?" Lacos couldn't contain his curiosity and asked when he saw Robin and Sin take their time going through the texts. 

"Yes." Sin nodded to him. "But the information here is not of any importance. Most of the texts document the achievements of some Kings and Princes of the Ancient Kingdom, and the rest of the texts hold some information on the Animals that can be found on the Island. Also, there's plenty of information about the grace and beauty of the Peacock, which was the National Animal of the Kingdom." 

Even if the information was of no use to Lacos, he was euphoric to finally get to know what was written in these texts. 

"How can you read it?" His curiosity got the better of him again.

"Our mother taught us how to decipher ancient texts, and we are well-versed in a lot of different languages that are no longer spoken. The one that Asuka Kingdom used in these texts is one such language." Sin told him, and cut him off before he could ask more questions. "Let's go inside." 

The door of the Temple was made completely out of Stone, and it was also decorated with Tribal patterns and depictions of two humans with bird-like wings and crowns on their heads, making them look somewhat like the angels of the myths.

"The one on the right is Ra, and the one on the left is his wife, Hathor. The two of them founded the Ancient Kingdom of Asuka." Lacos informed them before opening the door. "The inside of the Temple is carved out of some mystical stones, and as you can see, it has its own light that illuminates this place."

The stones that were carved to form the walls of the Temple naturally glowed and emitted a blue hue of light. It was only bright enough to allow people to see clearly and was comforting to the eyes as well. All of them felt refreshed when they entered the Temple and curiously began looking around.

There were several idols of deities that the Asuka Kingdom used to worship, and one of them was a six-winged angel that stood tall, holding onto a long sword with its tip buried in the ground.

"Shichiseiken?" Robin read the name that was carved into the stone sword and curiously looked at the figure of the angel. 

"Yes." An ancient voice of a woman resounded from behind the Statue of Barakiel, and then an aged, short woman walked out holding a staff in her hand. "Shichiseiken, the sword of the Angel of Blessings, Barakiel. The stories say that a king of the Asuka Kingdom came across a strange glowing metal, and he ordered the best of his Swordsmiths, and even hired some from around the world to craft a sword in the image of Barakiel's Shichiseiken." 

"Priestess Izaya!" Lacos respectfully bowed to her as soon as she finished her words. 

"You may go if you want, Lacos." Izaya cryptically said, which made the Warrior frown and look at Sin and his crew in suspicion. 

"I wish to stay, Priestess." He gave his answer to which Izaya lightly nodded. "You are here to see Shichiseiken, right?" She looked Sin in the eyes after briefly glancing at the Odachi on his back. 

"What gave that away?" Sin smiled and asked. 

"I have seen a lot of people in my life, child, and it's just a blessing from the Gods that I can sense the Intentions of the people." 

"And what are my intentions?" He curiously asked. 

"You want to see Shichiseiken, no matter the cost." Izaya narrowed her eyes and her voice grew cold. 

Sin stared back into her eyes, with a light smile plastered on his face. The tension in the air grew, and soon it started suffocating Lacos, but before he could act, another voice broke in the conversation. 

"And did the King manage to get what he wanted?" Robin casually asked and inspected the stone version of Shichiseiken. 

"He did, and he died." The Priestess answered with a nod. "Come." turned around and walked behind the Angel's Statue, asking them to follow her. 

There was a trapdoor behind the Statue that had stairs leading to the bottom of the Temple, in a chamber where several Books and slabs of Stones were present. 

"The Sword that was crafted out of the metal was enchantingly beautiful, but the King was still not satisfied. He sent the sword to the Priest of the Kingdom, asking him to bless it with his Powers. And on the day of the Annual Celebrations, the Sword was presented back to him. He drew it out in front of all his people, laughing proudly, but then he began screaming out in unimaginable pain. His screams reverberated throughout the Palace and the City, and he died, bleeding out of his eyes and ears." 

"The Sword seemed to have a Will of its own and returned to its scabbard, shocking everyone that witnessed the phenomenon. And later, the Priest was held responsible for what happened to the King." She sighed and after shaking her head, looked back at their group. "Everyone thought that it was the Priest's doing, and he was executed for the crime. With his death, the Sword gained more power, and years later, when a Prince decided to draw it out again, losing to his curiosity, he died before he even managed to do it. Everyone who tried it after died too, until one day, a Prince, driven by confidence and desire, decided to draw it out to gain the favour of the new Priestess of the Kingdom." Izaya's voice grew ominous. "And he was the only one who succeeded in fully drawing it out and not dying, but then the Devil sang in his ears, the Curse took hold, and he went mad, slaughtering everyone that stood in his path. He killed his own brothers and the rest of the family, and for two nights he slaughtered people until only the Priestess remained in the Capital. She used her Powers to save the Prince from the hold of the sword but failed. The Prince plunged the sword in his own heart, dying in her arms, and the Cursed Sword victoriously returned to its scabbard once more." 

"You read it in these books?" Hancock curiously asked, and she did not seem bothered at all by what was revealed. 

"No," Izaya shook her head. "The account of events was passed from generation to generation of this Temple's Priests and Priestesses. The language was lost somewhere in the line, and I am the fifth generation of the Priestess of Star Temple, who can not read the ancient language of Asuka Kingdom." 

"I am afraid that is not exactly what transpired in the Kingdom back then." Robin lightly spoke as she read through all the information written on the slabs of stones. "There's much more to the story you just told."