The Empyreans Kings!

The sun peeked over the distant hills as the odyssey is seen gliding over the sea, calmly and steadily advancing through it to reach its destination in the fastest way possible.

On the deck of the marvelous ship, Ian could be seen sitting on a chair. Gusts of winds blowing his hair backward as he enjoyed the morning breeze.

On his lap sat one slender young woman with black hair. Right now she was wearing a slightly longer t-shirt that belonged to Ian, along with small shorts.

He had his arms draped around her and he laid his head on her shoulder, while she leaned on his back and enjoyed his warmth in this cold morning.

The both of them had woken up before the rest.

Bert was usually the first to wake up, but since he didn't Ian didn't bother waking him up. As for the rest, they were always quite lazy so it was nothing new.

Elene had been sleeping with Ian and Robin in their shared room, but when they woke up and saw her lazily sprawled on the bed, they smiled and left her asleep.

And since they were early they decided to just enjoy each other's company before the rest woke up.

Today was the following day after Ian and co had fought the Diávoloi. As such everyone was a bit tired, and they deserved their rest.

Ian had gotten some answers from the winged-Lion, and afterward, they enjoyed their time for a while as they partied before Ian proceeded to send everyone back to their place.

He then proceeded to continued sailing to Wano. After all, he was on a schedule to beat an overgrown lizard.

This was where Ian's future knowledge would end. He only watched a bit after the arc of big mom. So while he knew a bit about the Wano happenings, he was not sure that even those bits would get fulfilled. After all, he had changed so many things. The most glaring of all is the death of big mom.

Ian moved his gaze towards Robin as he decided to ask her something.

"What do you think about what Ariel had said?" Ian asked. Curiosity for her opinion apparent in his eyes and tone.

As to what Ian was talking about?

It was what the huge winged-lion had spoken about to Ian.

****Flashback****

Ian had come near the beast and the very first thing he did was thank him.

He knew he was male. He also knew by now that all these mysterious beings communicated via telepathy with anyone they wanted to.

"Thank you for your help this time. May I know your name?" Ian asked politely.

The winged-lion replied shortly after on.

"I have been called by the supreme one since ages ago by the calling, Ariel. As for thanks, there is no need for such a thing, my lord orders and I obey." He looked deeply at Ian as he said this. His voice majestic and at the same time full of reverence for this supreme one.

His words directly confirmed Ian's earlier guess. About the mysterious voice helping him.

As he thought it turned out that he was the one leading these beings.

Ian knew that any questions about the war in the void century would not be answered and he already understood that they would be once he reaches the last island of this world. Quite possibly by this very same 'supreme one'.

But he had some questions that maybe can be answered right now.

One of them was: Zunesha, Kurma, and now Ariel…

Were they an old race that went into hiding due to the war?

Ian made this thought know as he asked.

"Who are you? Zunesha, Kurma, and now you. Just who are you? Are you like the sea kings?" Ian asked.

And he was met by a nod.

"Indeed, they are our distant brethren. But we go by a different name. Since the dawn of time, we served our Lord, the ruler of the skies, and thus we earned the title: The Empyreans Kings." Ariel explained to him.

Empyreans Kings. Such a royal-sounding name.

Ian was excited at this.

Forget about what he knew about this world from before. Right now he could confidently say this world was definitely different.

For one, there was no such thing as an Empyrean King… nor any diávolois…

This led Ian to ask another question.

"The war that happened in the void century… did you fight in it against the diávolois?" Ian directly asked.

This was already indirectly confirmed by Zunesha back then. He had said that a war was fought and due to cowardice he had not joined. The time that happened is the same as the date of the void century.

However, Zunesha had said not to ask who the war was fought against… but who could it be other than the diávolois?

Ariel took a few seconds to think before he replied.

"Indeed we had fought against the invaders. Though we were not the only ones…" Ariel confirmed for him.

'Invaders?' Ian thought.

But he didn't allow Ian to ask anything more.

"I was allowed to say this much to you Ian Louis, but you will have to find the rest yourselves. Judging by your current whereabouts… I'd say you are much closer to reaching the end of your journey, as such do not be hasty and take your time. We will be meeting again sooner than you think…" Ariel spoke up.

And Ian knew that he would not be getting any more answers.

And while it may not look like much, Ian had gotten answers he had been only guessing about.

He now knew by what name he should call these beings. He also knew that they are a race that existed a long time ago. Possibly even before humans.

Another thing was that it was confirmed for him that these Empyreans had fought against the diávolois. Meaning both sides were huge in numbers… The diávolois were also called invaders…

And also that the leader of the Empyreans king was the skies ruler.

And if there was a sky ruler, who rules over them, then for their supposed brethren the sea kings, there should also be a sea ruler right?

Ian had gotten many questions answered this time so he was satisfied.

****

Robin looked at Ian from the side.

She had been told by him about everything Ariel had said.

And in all her journey to get answers about the void century, this was the closest she had gotten.

She now knew about two parts who fought in the Great War that happened in the great century. From here many conclusions could be reached.

"Most likely the great kingdom allied with these Empyreans and sea kings. And somehow the twenty kingdoms of the world government had joined with the diávolois. And that would explain why Im, a diávoloi, is leading them." She told him as she snuggled into his arms.

Ian gave a nod, this was the same conclusion he had reached.

He would also have to reevaluate the threat of the diávolois…

If there was both a sky ruler and a sea one with armies on their side, but they still lost in the war then perhaps Im's ancestor or she herself, are much stronger than he thought…

And Ian was leaning more to thinking that this was the same Im and not a descendant… not to mention the ancient weapons who the great kingdom had, but still, they lost…

Robin did tell Ian in the past that she knew where Pluton was, but Ian told her that they didn't need it. But if they did in the future she could lead them, and she agreed. She knew Ian well enough to trust him with this.

Ian leaned in and kissed Robin on her cheeks.

Before he let her go and started to get up.

"I think I should go cook something for us and Elene," Ian said.

And Robin nodded as she also got up to follow him. She enjoys watching him cook.