After picking up Leona and Shizu in the forest, I followed Honey's Vivre Card and returned to the ship.
The moment I came back—with Leona and Shizu in tow—the four who'd been waiting onboard practically froze.
Which… yeah. Fair reaction.
Meeting that pair in a place like this, at a moment like this, was ridiculous even by our standards.
…Though honestly, there was a different reason I'd been shocked too.
But I'll get to that later.
With our numbers bumped up to seven, we pushed onward along the Cloud River.
All the while, the island kept throbbing with the presence of battle—something I could catch in fragments through Observation Haki. Shandia and Priests. Wyper's people, most likely, still clashing across the forest.
I couldn't read the details. My range wasn't refined enough to track movements precisely, or tell who was where doing what.
But the shape of the conflict was clear enough.
The Priests were monsters—overwhelming individual strength.
And Shandia… were hanging on through numbers, teamwork, and sheer stubborn refusal to collapse.
Still, unless you were talking about their heavy hitters, the gap was brutal. They pressed and pressed, but couldn't crack the line.
Back and forth. Grind. Stalemate.
…
"Feeling impatient… feeling like it's all too slow…"
I exhaled quietly.
"Maybe that's arrogance," I muttered, "the kind you earn by getting stronger."
"Hm?" Leona looked over. "You say something, Mama?"
"No," I said, smoothing my tone like it hadn't slipped. "Nothing. …And—yeah. It should be about time."
Ahead, voices rose through the mist.
"I see them! I see them! Hey—Sister!"
"Oh! It's true! It's Sue's ship!"
"Thank god… Sue-chan and the others made it."
"So we've all reunited safely again—wait. Hold on. Nami, why does it look like… there're more people over there?"
"Huh? What do you mean, 'more'—"
And then the reaction hit like a wave.
"—WHAT?! Lady Leona?! And Shizu too?! Why are you here?!"
So Luffy's group had already linked up first.
Sapphire looked fine—no obvious injuries, no limp, no blood. Good. Really good.
☆☆☆
We made camp by the lakeshore.
Same as the original flow: the Going Merry had taken a beating after being hauled around by that Super Express Shrimp, and in its current state it'd struggle to float properly without repairs.
First things first—food.
We roasted a Sky Shark that had been swimming nearby, ate until we could think again, and then started trading information. Everyone reported what they'd found, piece by piece, so it all matched up in one shared picture.
Nami, Zoro, and Robin had done what they'd done in the original timeline—explored the island, investigated the ruins, and arrived at the conclusion.
This was the Golden City.
The one that had vanished four hundred years ago.
And with that came the meaning of Noland's words—"I saw gold in the skull's right eye."
Luffy's group, as expected, had crushed the Priest of "Ball."
So they described the Ordeal itself—and the way their enemy kept reading their actions, predicting their moves with that eerie accuracy.
Which, obviously, was Mantra—Observation Haki.
To us, it was basic knowledge. Almost background noise at this point.
But… do I actually tell them?
That's not just a small hint. It's a spoiler from way, way further ahead—like tossing a whole future arc into their laps.
…No.
For now, I'll keep quiet.
If anyone presses me directly, I already have ways to dodge without lying too blatantly.
Next came Chopper and Sapphire—our altar-side team, plus the Sky Knight who answered the whistle.
Just like in the original story, a Priest showed up riding a giant bird and attacked the ship.
Reason?
Because the "sacrifices" were supposed to stay put and wait.
We were never told that rule. And even if we had been, we don't owe them obedience.
It still irritates me, how naturally they assume we'll play along.
Chopper called the attack a "Burning Spear."
But with Sapphire there, it didn't become the kind of one-sided slaughter it could've been.
Close range? Sapphire dominated.
She'd trained staff and spear work properly, and she could use Armament Haki. The Priest—clearly expecting helpless prey—was thrown off by the resistance.
Of course, he could fly, which normally makes a fight like this lopsided.
Except Sapphire wasn't helpless at range, either.
Fish-Man Karate and Fish-Man Jujutsu—built-in compatibility.
She could launch a Water Shot, or form a dense rod of water and fire it like a spear—Spear Wave—striking even a moving target in the air.
When the enemy's Heat Javelin and the bird's flames ignited the ship, Sapphire dove under the altar into the cloud-lake, pulled up a heavy mass of water, and threw it over the deck to smother the blaze.
She'd been everywhere at once.
Still, even with those tools, finishing the fight cleanly was hard. The Priest could disengage whenever he wanted, and Sapphire couldn't exactly chase him into the sky.
So the battle stalled.
And then Gan Fall arrived—drawn by the whistle.
Aerial combat erupted.
Mounted on their Partners, they fought evenly… until the Priest activated his Ordeal.
Just like the original story, Gan Fall was immobilized—caught, frozen in place—and exposed.
But Sapphire intervened.
She fired Water Shot to force the Priest back, then cut the surrounding String Cloud that had been used to trap and bind—resetting the situation in one clean move.
The Priest glared at Sapphire, face twisted with pure annoyance… then abruptly retreated, as if he'd sensed something.
Probably the Shandia assault beginning.
He prioritized defense, and withdrew.
Result?
Unlike the original timeline, Gan Fall didn't take a brutal wound, and the Merry survived with only scorched damage on top of its existing injuries.
Banged up, yes.
But not broken.
Once everyone finished, it was our turn.
We reported what happened on our side.
Sanji frowned as he listened.
"So… your group didn't even have an Ordeal? There were supposed to be four gates, but in the end the only one that actually happened was ours?"
"Maybe they called it off because of something," Usopp said, sounding both relieved and bitter. "Either way, I'm glad nothing happened to you guys… would've been nice if we got that version too."
Gan Fall—who'd been listening in silence—finally spoke.
"Most likely," he said, "it ceased to be a matter of 'Trial' at all. They abandoned the Ordeals to respond to the Shandia invasion."
"Shandia…?" someone repeated.
"They are also called 'guerrillas,'" Gan Fall continued. "One of them attacked you in the White Sea. And… the girl over there is one as well."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward the edge of our circle.
Not Leona.
Leona was wearing normal Blue Sea clothing now—nothing about her screamed 'Shandia' unless she admitted it.
No.
Gan Fall was looking at someone else.
A woman sat there with her mouth shut, silent, watching.
She didn't belong to the Straw Hats.
She didn't belong to the Merveille group either.
Long black hair tied back, and a distinctly tribal outfit that stood out even in this strange sky-world.
She didn't throw off open killing intent like Wyper did… but she was alert, wary, constantly measuring us.
Her wrists were bound.
Even restrained, her posture screamed: I'm waiting for the smallest opening.
Her name was Raki.
One of the Shandia's main fighters.
Usopp scratched his head.
"Still… when you showed up, it freaked me out. I'm glad you're safe, but… I didn't expect you to bring extra people!"
"And one of them is Sue's 'daughter,'" Nami added.
"And another is a captured guerrilla woman," Zoro said.
"And the last one is… I dunno, but she's a maid like Lupus," Sanji finished.
That pretty much covered it.
Leona and Shizu aside, the reason Raki was on our ship was simple:
While I was running into Wyper, Honey's group had run into a different Shandia unit.
Raki had been leading it.
A skirmish broke out.
And Honey's side won—cleanly.
They restrained the one who seemed to be the commander—Raki—and locked her in the ship's holding cell. The plan was to question her later… or, once I returned, to "read" her.
The others were left behind.
So when I got back and found a familiar face from the original story tied up as a prisoner… yeah.
I nearly blinked myself into another universe.
To make it worse, Raki and Leona recognized each other immediately.
"Leona?!"
"Raki!"
And that was when the conversation took a turn.
Luffy stared at Leona like he'd just noticed her properly.
"Wait—Sue… you got a kid?"
Robin, calm as ever, tilted her head.
"I've never heard rumors that the 'Pirate Literary Master' had children. And… forgive me, but you don't look very alike."
Leona answered instantly.
"Well, we're not related by blood."
That landed.
And because Leona had zero sense for "dramatic timing," she kept going like it was nothing.
"I had amnesia. I collapsed, didn't know where to go… Mama's the one who helped me and took me in. Before that, I was… like Raki. A Shandia warrior."
Chopper yelped.
"EHH?! You were a guerrilla too?!"
Usopp recoiled.
"So you're from this Skypiea—?!"
Most of the others didn't shout, but their faces said enough.
Even Gan Fall looked unsettled—though for a different reason.
(So that's it…)
(No wonder she felt familiar. If she'd been a warrior—or a candidate—she may have stood before me back when I still wore the title of 'God,' in that hidden village among the clouds…)
Luffy scratched his head.
"But why'd a guerrilla end up being your 'daughter'? Did you quit? And—wait—she met you in the Blue Sea, right? Why was she even down there?"
Zoro shrugged.
"Who knows. But there's definitely a story."
Leona didn't react much to the questions. She just spoke, straightforward.
"When Mama mentioned Skypiea over the Den Den Mushi back home… it triggered something. I remembered. And I couldn't stay still anymore, so I asked Shizu to bring me here."
Robin's voice stayed soft, but her question was sharp.
"And why? Now that you remember… do you intend to return to Shandia?"
Leona's head snapped up.
"That—!"
She faltered.
Her eyes flicked, just once, toward Raki.
Raki met her gaze. Stayed quiet for a beat.
Then, carefully—like she didn't want to provoke anyone—she spoke.
"Do what you want, Leona," Raki said. "If you don't want to return… if you want to stay with your 'mother' and keep living that way… then say it. You have the right to choose that. You're allowed."
Leona's breath caught.
Raki's words weren't rejection.
They were… permission.
"The elders might complain," Raki continued quietly. "Hotheads like Wyper might not accept it. But Leona… you've been gone too long."
"…Thank you," Leona whispered.
Then she lifted her head and spoke clearly—so everyone could hear.
"I'm not going back," she said. "I'm going to live with Mama, Suzu, Alice, and Gramps and the others. That's the life I chose."
Raki watched her without interrupting.
Leona's voice tightened—but she didn't waver.
"But before that… I have one last obligation to my birthplace. I came here to defeat Enel. I came to make a path—so the people who raised me, so Shandia… can return to the homeland they lost four hundred years ago."
"…I see," Raki said.
And she smiled—barely, but unmistakably.
Right.
Raki had always been closer to the "moderate" side, even in the original story. She wasn't the type to blindly drown in bloodlust the way Wyper could.
Leona pointed suddenly.
"Raki… that bag. That's Aisa's, isn't it?"
Raki shifted awkwardly with her bound wrists and tugged the bag forward.
"Yeah," she said. "She said it was her treasure. Same as Vearth… and honestly, the bag itself probably is too. She said you gave it to her."
Leona stepped closer and opened it.
Curiosity pulled Luffy and Usopp right in.
Nami too—drawn by the word treasure like a moth to flame.
Inside—
"...Huh?" Luffy said.
"What is this?" Usopp blinked. "Just… dirt?"
Nami's face fell instantly.
"That's not treasure…"
Usopp frowned, still stuck on a different detail.
"Wait—'Vearth'… isn't that the sea-lion statue on Angel Island? Why are you calling this Vearth?"
Sanji leaned forward, thoughtful.
"Also… Leona-chan. Earlier you said 'our homeland from four hundred years ago.' Nami-san and the others just said this island is Jaya, the one that got blasted into the sky four hundred years ago—an island that used to be in the Blue Sea. So that means… the Shandia are—"
"Correct," Gan Fall said, cutting in.
His voice was quiet.
But it carried weight.
"They were originally the people who lived upon this Vearth."
He paused, eyes sweeping the circle—this odd gathering of pirates, strangers, warriors, and captured enemies.
"Now is as good a time as any," he said, "to speak of this land's history. Of this country that has never known peace. Of Skypiea… and how it came to be."
He drew a slow breath.
"Indulge an old man's story for a while."
To be continued...