Because of the "errand" Papa asked of me, we decided to head for a Sky Island.
It's far, and it's dangerous, so I brought Honey as an attendant—along with the usual three fishman girls: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald.
They can all use Haki to a reasonable degree, so they're real combat power… and since all three are fishmen, they're excellent swimmers. They'll be invaluable when we have to dive down and harvest wild Dials.
But there was one thing I hadn't expected…
We ended up with one more companion.
"You're coming too, Lupus?" Ruby said. "Are you sure you'll be okay? Your first outing and it's straight to a weird place like a Sky Island?"
"Don't say that, Ruby!" the maid snapped back from right in front of me. "I finally got the all-clear from Dr. Indigo and the instructors—starting now, I'm officially allowed to accompany Miss!"
She was a striking beauty with reddish-brown hair and tanned skin—she looked about high-school age, slim and long-limbed, wearing a cosplay-style maid outfit with a miniskirt.
And personally…
That strip of "absolute territory" between her thigh-highs and the skirt hem—especially on tanned skin—was very nice.
"Besides, if it's a Sky Island, it's basically like I'm there all the time!" Lupus continued. "I'm used to low-oxygen environments, so I can move, fight, and work just fine! And I'll prove I can be useful as a maid too!"
Her speech style was… distinctive, though.
Anyway—this girl, Lupus, is joining my travels for the first time.
Normally she works at my base in Merveille as a dedicated maid for me and my three daughters, but for various reasons she couldn't leave the premises or accompany me outside—so that was the only place we ever interacted.
The details are messy and long, so I'll skip them for now.
But recently, she got a pass from her trainers and Dr. Indigo, which means she can finally leave and serve me outside as well.
And right when that happened, she heard I was looking for companions to go to Skypiea. She contacted Tesoro and the others and apparently appealed so aggressively that I ended up giving in.
Well… we're short on hands anyway. Having one more attendant isn't a bad thing.
Her maid skills are unquestionably solid—and her combat ability is more than enough.
If anything, in combat she's clearly above Honey and the three fishman girls. She can use Haki, too.
The only issue is that she's an Ability User, so she can't fight in the sea. That's where the roles split.
And if I—or Honey, or Lupus—fall into the sea, then Ruby and the others will have to rescue us. From that perspective, having half swimmers (fishmen) and half non-swimmers (Ability Users) might actually be a perfectly balanced lineup.
"Still… out of the six sisters in the Maid Squad, I didn't think you'd be the first to pass," Ruby muttered.
"Honestly, same," Sapphire added. "I thought Yuri or Nabe would be first."
"I figured Shizu or Solution," Emerald said. "I assumed Lupus would be last."
"I even thought Entoma was a dark horse," Honey said. "But you? You weren't even on my list."
"You're all so mean…" Lupus groaned.
And that's how this trip ended up being six of us: me, Honey, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald… and Lupus.
"I really need to be careful not to add too many characters," I muttered. "It gets hard to keep everyone distinct, and the spotlight starts to skew…"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Miss?" Lupus asked, a question mark practically floating over her head.
"A novel thing?" Sapphire tilted her head.
"Yep. Novel thing," I answered.
Alright—let's move.
Everyone aboard! We're taking off—in both senses of the word!
---
☆☆☆
And so we quite literally "took off."
Using the paper-clay wings stored inside our ship, we flew straight through the sky… and arrived at Sky Island.
We plunged into the Stacked Imperial Cloud—the fossilized cloud formation so thick it can bring "night" to the world below, and so stable it produces neither rain nor lightning—and broke through into Skypiea.
That ocean of clouds stretching endlessly in every direction… no matter how many times I see it, it feels like a dream. It's breathtaking. A true, unreal kind of beauty.
Too bad we can't swim in Sea Clouds.
Honey, Lupus, and I are Ability Users.
Every time, that part stings a little… I've always wanted to try swimming in a sea of clouds, just once.
Well. No helping it.
We moved quickly into what we came for: searching and collecting Dials.
Sky Islands don't have a seabed, so in the open cloud-sea, Dials generally can't live. Which means the best hunting grounds are the shallows near the landmasses—near Island Clouds, where there's actual terrain.
Our method was simple.
First, I fly.
I can either sprout paper wings and fly myself, or make a large origami construct and ride it. This time, I chose the latter—no deep reason. Just felt like it.
From above, I scan the distance for Island Clouds, then contact the ship with a Small Den Den Mushi.
Honey and Lupus stay on the ship. When I call, they relay my location using another Den Den Mushi to Ruby's team, who are waiting in the cloud-sea.
Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald rush to the spot, search for Dials, and bring anything they find back to the ship.
While they search, I scout the next harvesting location.
Repeat that loop—over and over—gathering wild Dials.
Papa wanted "new kinds we've never seen."
I'd like to satisfy that request as much as possible… but there's no trick to it.
We just have to collect an absurd number and hope something rare turns up. We don't have the ecological knowledge to know where unusual Dials might naturally live.
For cultivation, living Dials are best—but even if we only bring back shells, Dr. Indigo can probably reproduce them somehow.
He's already revived Dials from shells before—successfully—and then transitioned them into normal cultivation.
That makes you start daydreaming.
Extinct species, maybe…
But—
"Yeah… it's not that easy, is it…"
From the Den Den Mushi, the conversation drifted back.
'Ehh, why, Sister? We've caught a ton!' Ruby's voice.
'But they're all ones we already know… and we've already cultivated most of these. Are they even useful?' Sapphire.
'This area feels pretty thoroughly explored,' Emerald said. 'If we want something different, we probably have to move somewhere completely new—far away.'
'Most Sky Islands have stable, similar environments,' Lupus added. 'So the species end up similar too. If we want the ecosystem itself to change… we'd probably have to travel really far.'
'…Or we change altitude drastically,' Honey said.
Hearing that, I let out a quiet sigh and flopped onto the back of my oversized origami bird.
So far we'd collected:
Tone Dials, Breath Dials, Lamp Dials, Heat Dials, Water Dials… and more.
All familiar. All species we'd already seen, already cultivated.
Of course we weren't going to just casually stumble onto something completely new.
If we want truly rare Dials, we need truly rare environments.
And I do know one place like that.
Skypiea has a two-layer structure.
The lower layer is the White Sea—still high altitude, but comparatively lower.
Above it is the White-White Sea.
If we go up there, I'm almost certain we'll find many Dials we haven't seen down here. Vertical shifts change the environment dramatically.
But going there also—
…increases the odds I'll get entangled with original-story events.
And given the timing, those events would involve all of Skypiea…
I'd wanted to finish fast and leave before anything like that happened, but… I'm not sure we can get what we need without taking the risk.
If I stop overthinking, the White-White Sea is practically a guaranteed jackpot of rare Dials.
Maybe even extinct ones. In the original Skypiea arc's climax, both sides were tossing around "extinct" Dials like they grew on trees.
So… do I just bite the bullet and intervene?
As a fan of the original story, I've instinctively avoided messing with the big flow.
But honestly, I've already crossed plenty of lines without meaning to. Hancock alone is proof of that.
Still… I couldn't quite commit.
If only I had some kind of push—some catalyst that would force me to make up my mind—
That was what I was thinking…
When it happened.
"…Muuuu—!"
A voice—faint, human-ish—reached my ears from far away.
Then came the sound of something slicing through wind—
"Hyuoooo…"
And the next instant—
"ROCKETOOO—!!"
"DOGYASS?!"
Something slammed straight into the side of my origami bird.
The impact threw my balance off completely.
I tumbled—lying down on an unstable platform was my own fault—and got tossed into the open air.
Wait—what?!
What was that?!
Something hit us… a bird? No, I definitely heard someone shout—
And that voice—
A voice that made me think of ridiculous attacks, dramatic saves, and that unmistakable tone—
Even after thirty-four years, even without ever meeting him in person…
I knew that voice.
"Huh? That's not a bird—paper? …Huh? Who the hell are you?"
"——?!"
Right as I was falling, I saw him—falling too.
A boy—no, a young man.
Red vest. Blue shorts.
And above all—
A straw hat.
That face was too familiar.
There was no way I could mistake it.
(Oh no… I met him!! Straw Hat Luffy—the original protagonist!!)
My brain froze from how absurdly unexpected it was.
Then I remembered my situation—
Too late.
"Ah!"
"Ah."
—SPLASH! ×2
…
Ahh.
So this is what the sea of clouds feels like…
(Reality escape.)
To be continued...