Enter The Devil's Child: Nico Robin 2...

Chapter 24.5 - Enter The Devil's Child: Nico Robin 2...

Past Nami was then asking if they had any idea who he was.

"I dunno," Luffy confessed softly, in serious voice that was almost unheard of from him, "But it's not he."

"Huh? What's he talking about?" Franky asked their Zoro who didn't answer as they kept walking.

Memory Nami looked at him in confusion and asked, "If it's not he then… what is it?"

"Probably they," Zoro answered, who seemed to know what Luffy was taking about as his captain rubbed some blood off near his mouth before the two headed onwards, not bothering to answer any of Nami's questions as she asked what they were talking about.

"That there were others with him," current Zoro answered in annoyance.

"But how did you know?" Chopper asked in confusion.

Zoro didn't answer. The truth was, he could feel similar feelings of annoyance from some of the other guys in town, including the two he saw. He couldn't be completely sure, but something just told him that they were together.

He shook his head as the memory faded and Chopper was frowning heavily as he began picking at the grass beneath their feet in a frustrated way.

"Who would've guess that guy was a real rat?" Usopp asked with a pout, not getting this. "I mean, he doesn't seem like the guy who would've betrayed his crew like how he did?"

"It doesn't matter," Sanji stated, breathing out smoke again, "Words don't mean anything… actions do. You could say something that sounds brave and kind, but that could just as easily be a lie. It's what we do that shows off what kind of person you are."

"That guy's a monster," Nami said firmly, thinking about how bitterly Jimbei talked about him. Anyone who he shows such disgust for had to be rotten to the core in her book.

The next memory turned up and they were back on the Merry with Zoro and Luffy both cleaned up and Chopper treating their many cuts and bruises.

"So… what happened to you guys?" memory Usopp asked in concern, leaning against the railing and watched as Chopper dabbed disinfectant on a deep cut on Luffy's arm. "It looks like you were mauled by a pack of rabid wolves."

"Not quite, but not a bad guess," current Zoro stated causally.

"It was pirates," Luffy admitted before he assured him, "But we're ok. Just some scratches."

"Yeah," past Zoro added, looking as if they had just got into a simple misunderstanding—but memory Nami was looking put out as she sat on the stairs, her back to them all.

"You guys seemed to be ok with everything, but I certainly am not!" she said as the boys looked at her. She seemed to be trying to hold her rage back before she lost it and began yelling out, "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU TWO?! YOU ARE MEN RIGHT?! WHEN SOMEONE PROVOKES YOU, THE ONLY LOGICAL RESPONSE WOULD BE TO PUMMEL THEIR FACES AND THEN WIPE UP THE BLOOD WITH THEIR FRIEND'S FACES! OR BETTER YET YOU SHOULD'VE JUST BLOWN UP THE ENTIRE ANNOYING TOWN!"

"Dang," Franky gulped, suddenly inching away from the Nami standing next to him.

"And I thought Zoro was scary," Usopp whispered as Chopper nodded firmly by his side. Memory Zoro asked what happened to all her pacifist talk, but shut up at once when she turned the evil eye at him.

"SHUT UP ZORO! WHAT'S PAST IS PAST! WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT ANCIENT HISTORY HERE!" she shrieked at him.

"Why are you so mad here?" Robin asked her curiously as she watched both Nami's shaking in anger.

"I just… wanted to shut them all up," she muttered, her hands in tight fists. "First they laughed at us, and then they did all that stuff to us? I just couldn't stand it! But I knew I couldn't do anything to stop it. I really thought that they had turned into cowards there."

"Hey!" Zoro snapped as memory Usopp was asking Luffy was she was in such a bad mood since she didn't get a scratch on her.

"And if there had been a scratch on Nami-swan's delicate skin, I would've killed everyone in this town," Sanji said firmly, "So you guys were lucky on that."

"I thought we went over this," Zoro said firmly, "We weren't afraid! There just was only one way to win!"

Nami didn't think of anything to counter as Luffy answered he had no idea. Chopper then bravely asked if they found any information on Sky Island… which seemed to bring up those bad memories from Nami as she slowly turned her wrath onto him, who was crying in fear.

"I'm not that scary," Nami said as she watched past Chopper and Usopp, who were scared so badly, that they were guarding themselves and pretending to be dead. But her past self didn't seem to notice as she screamed out that she honestly couldn't care less about Sky Island anymore. That all she had to do was say the name and they laughed at her. She then screamed out, demanding to know what was so funny about saying it.

"I could never laugh at you my dear!" current Sanji swooned at their Nami and she hit him to shut him up.

"She's scaring me again," Chopper whispered as he, Usopp, and Brook all moved back.

"You and me both, Chopper," Usopp whispered. Thankfully, memory Robin returned at that moment and Nami turned her wrath onto her. Yelling that if it turned out that Sky Island didn't exist, she was going to throw her overboard with rocks in her pockets for good measure.

"Dang girl…" Franky whispered as memory Usopp warned Robin to keep her distance for a while until she calmed down. "You're practically foaming at the mouth here."

"When she's in a bad mood she likes to spread it around," Usopp whispered as Nami narrowed her eyes at him and he froze up at once as if it was death he was looking at.

"What did you say? Wait a second, you better not be laughing at me!" she demanded softly and Usopp hid behind Franky, croaking out that he didn't say anything. But memory Robin only smiled as she gave Luffy a map of this island, telling him that she got some information on it. As they looked over it, they saw that they were at the point labeled 'Mock Town' but on the other side of the island was a large X. And Robin told them that apparently a man was banished there because he didn't blend in with the town here.

"What does that mean?" Brook asked in surprise.

"Didn't blend in?" Usopp and Luffy repeated in surprise.

"His name is Montblanc Cricket," memory Robin explained as she headed to the door to the galley, "Apparently Mr. Cricket talked about his dreams too much. Sounds like you have something in common." She smiled brightly as she closed the door and Luffy beamed at the map, loudly proclaiming that they needed to go pay this guy a visit.

"So we get to see Cricket again?!" Usopp beamed. "That's great! I've been wanting to see him again!"

"Who is this guy?" Franky asked curiously.

"He was a good friend of ours," Sanji told them, watching as the final embers of his cigarette die out sadly. "We never would've made it to Skypiea without him."

"Yeah, he was great!" Chopper agreed as he jumped up to Franky's shoulders.

"He was a real inspiration!" Usopp said a little tearfully as the next memory popped up. They were back out at sea on the Merry, with a large ship right in front of them. It looked a great deal like Masira's ship, with the giant trees that served as masts, the sides of the ship were covered in little doors and ladders where some men, dressed in wetsuits, were climbing up, and a large orangutan skull and crossbones for the Jolly Roger.

"And this fellow is…?" Brook asked in surprise.

"That would be Shoujou's ship," Zoro stated, "Masira's brother."

"Oh, that explains a lot," Franky said, "But what's with the monkey theme?"

"Don't know," Zoro stated as Luffy asked the others if this was the same salvage ship from before, with the others dismissing that, saying that it though it looked the same, it wasn't Masira's crew. The memory versions of Usopp and Chopper both nodded in firm agreement behind them, saying that they saw those guys and it turns out that they docked at Mock Town just like most ships in these waters. And they reasoned they must be all the same as the guys who fought them.

"I'm glad that we were wrong about that," Usopp said just as a large man who looked like an orangutan with long green hair and wearing a black button up shirt that is too small for his body showing off his hairy torso. "Can you believe I got all worked up, wondering who you people are?" he asked them all.

"Your face looks weird," Luffy called bluntly, "What species are you?"

"I didn't think he could get any ruder," Sanji whispered.

"I don't know, I kinda see what he means," Zoro added.

"I'm human, moron!" Shoujou yelled angrily as his crew all yelled in outrage as well. That there was no one out there who knew more about underwater search than their captain. But Shoujou calmed them down, going on to admit that his temper was short these days because he wanted to be named as the next Warlord since Crocodile was defeated, but he hadn't gotten the news yet.

"I don't see why they would?" Franky said, this guy seemed pretty harmless to him.

"Well, what a shock it would've been to them if you told him that you guys were the ones who took him out," Brook laughed happily.

"Well, one thing I've always liked about Luffy is that he's modest," Sanji stated, "He doesn't go around talking about the people he's beaten… unlike that Bellamy."

"Yeah, why can't you be a little more like that, Usopp?" Nami asked, who had calmed down enough to start returning to her old self.

"Hey!" Usopp yelled back as Luffy asked Shoujou, "So your goal is to become one of the seven Warlords of the Sea?!"

"Didn't I just say that?" Shoujou called in annoyance. But then he went on to introduce himself, bragging about how he never cut his hair once in his whole life. But when Luffy said that was lame that got Shoujou angry.

"Sensitive or what?" Franky asked with a sweat-drop.

"Yeah, he is," Chopper nodded sagely. However, when Luffy told Shoujou to move, the ape seemed to lose it as he screamed out, "YOU JUST DON'T GET IT DO YOU?! THIS IS MY TURF! IF YOU WANT TO PASS YOU EITHER PAY THE TOLL OR BE SUNK! GOT IT?!"

"Yeah, you can tell that he and Masira are brothers," Nami nodded as memory Usopp, who was crouching low behind Chopper, began asking what he was talking about 'his turf?'. "He's starting to sound like our old friend Masira…?" he ended.

"Huh?" Luffy asked, looking at him in surprise, "Masira said stuff like that?"

That also got Shoujou's attention. "Masira?" he asked at once, "What about Masira?!"

"He really shouldn't go talking about his brother and how you guys treated him," Brook warned, but Luffy went on anyway.

"If you must know," Luffy said, looking back up at him, "We kicked his butt off our boat! But we didn't think…?"

But Shoujou screamed in outrage as he yelled at him to how dare he kicked his own brother.

"Wait, hold on!" Luffy yelled, trying to make himself heard, "Listen to me! Sure we threw him off our boat, but I bet he's alive!"

"Yeah, I mean, you guys just kicked him off, you didn't even beat him up," Franky said. "Unless he was eaten by a Sea King or something—or by one of those giants—?" he shivered at the thought, "I'm sure that he's just fine."

"These two were tough," Usopp said, remembering how they found them all beaten unconscious, but still ended up recovering enough to help them fix the ship up. But Shoujou was far from listening as he pulled out his microphone and began to scream into it. No one could tell what he was doing at first, but the sound waves from his voice was actually causing pain to his crew and destroy his ship. The Straw Hats didn't seem to think it was anything to worry about until the Merry was also being torn apart. The planking was coming up, the patches that Usopp worked so hard to fix were falling apart and looked close to being blown away…

"What's going on?!" Brook cried out in confusion. "How's he doing all this?!"

"Sonic vibrations!" Robin had to call through the noise. "He's using the wavelengths from his voice to do all this. The vibrations are ringing through the ship and causing it to all fall apart."

"Oh, hell! Let's get out of here! This guy's as crazy as his brother!" Franky yelled, his hands over his ears as the past Straw Hats realized what was going on and knew that if they stayed for too much longer, they were sure to sink. Memory Nami calmed down from her experience in Mock Town enough to give them all orders, and soon they were able to sail away from the range of Shoujou's voice, though the damage had been done—the Merry was in such bad shape that they were actually leaving a trail of debris behind them and Usopp was now pulling planks of wood and his tool set out as they quickly began patching it up as best as they could.

"That won't work," Franky frowned, not liking what he was seeing.

"How bad was the Merry here?!" Chopper asked him worriedly. "Was Merry already in such bad shape here that she couldn't be fixed?"

"Hard to say since I can't really look at her from here," he answered as the memory faded once again. "But from what I could see, the frame seemed to be shot. And that's not good."

"So Merry was already irreparable even here?" Nami asked in surprise.

"Maybe not just yet," Franky said, wishing that he could examine her. "So long as the keel itself isn't broken, I guess that it could've all be replaced… but even then, that's a long shot. She's taken quite a beating here… I mean, she's falling apart at the seams and the only kind of repairs you guys could do was amateur ones. It would take a master shipwright to save her at this point, but I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"That bad?" Sanji asked worriedly.

"Very bad," Frank confirmed. "I don't know how you guys did such damage to the keel, but from what I remember when I looked at her myself at Water 7, she looked like she fell from a great height, any ideas to how that happened?"

The six Straw Hats who had been to Skypiea, all glanced at each other, all of them thinking the same thing. But before they could give Franky any kind of details, the next memory appeared and as the boys patched up the ship as best as they could, Nami and Robin were looking over the map.

"We left Mock Town and headed east by circling around the northern shore of the island. Our destination… is here," memory Nami said as she traced the path with her finger before she looked to Robin and asked, "We're supposed to meet that man here. What's that name?"

"His name is Montblanc Cricket," she answered calmly as they turned the bend.

"And you're sure he'll be able to help us out right?" past Nami asked. But her voice was drowned out by Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper when they spotted a beautiful palace right on the edge of the water.

"Gorgeous!" Brook cried in wonder. "This Cricket gentleman must be very rich!"

"Not really," Nami answered as the past versions of the 'Goofy Trio' were gapping at it, but the others all sighed at it, having already figured out what it was. It wasn't until Luffy jumped off to get a closer look, and yell in shock did they all find out that it was just a paper covering part of a house that looked like it had been carved right in half.

"Well, that's a letdown," Franky sighed as memory Nami asked Robin why Cricket decided to live here.

"I don't know all the details," she admitted leaning against the rails, "But I think it has something to do with his belief that a large amount of gold rests somewhere in the hills of Jaya.

"GOLD?!" Brook cried in excitement with memory Usopp.

"Do you think he's here looking for some kind of buried treasure?!" past Nami asked at once, her eyes lighting up. But even when Robin admitted that she didn't know, Nami didn't care as she began chanting about gold and beri marks in her eyes. In fact, as soon as they landed, she was having Chopper digging up places around the house. But Luffy didn't really mind as he stuck his head into the house, looking for anyone who lived there. After he confirmed that no one was home, Usopp snapped at him to get out of there in case this guy was dangerous. But as they started making themselves comfortable, on a large tree stump, Nami found a book and started to read it out loud for them all. Noland the Liar.

"I think I heard that story," Franky said thinking back. "Something about a guy who told tall tales about seeing a city made of gold?"

"Yeah, only it wasn't a lie," Sanji muttered as memory Nami began reading it out. About how an explorer named Montblanc Noland who always told amazing stories about his adventures. But they sounded so far-fetched, no one was sure if they were to believe him or not. One day, when he returned from one expedition, he reported back to his king that on an island he found a city built out of solid gold. To see if tor himself, the king took two thousands of his own soldiers and set out with Noland to find this city for himself, fighting off powerful storms and sea monsters. By the time they finally found the island that Noland talked about, there were only a hundred of his soldiers left. But all they found was deserted island with an ordinary jungle. Because of this, the outraged king sentenced Noland to death for his lies. His final words before he was executed were the followed:

"I can only assume that the City of Gold sunk into the sea!"

But no one believed him anymore, even though he never swayed from his story until he died.

Luffy, who was kneeling near the water's edge was looking down to see bubbles coming up and bursting at the surface. As he looked a little closer, something was swimming up towards him.

"A… chestnut?" Brook said in surprise when he finished listening to the story and went to see what had gotten Luffy's attention.

"That's ah… not a chestnut," Zoro stated just as a large hand shot out of the water and grabbed Luffy by the front of his vest. With a startled scream Luffy was pulled right into the sea and that's when the memory faded until it came back with Usopp pulling Luffy back out of the water.

"What happened?" Franky asked, not sure he understood what he saw.

"Cricket thought that we were all just a bunch of thieves," Usopp explained as his past self snarled at Luffy to be more careful. "So he attacked us and collapsed halfway through the fight."

"Why?" Brook said in surprise, looking around in confusion as Luffy coughed up seawater and tried to explain what happened. Once he had coughed the water all up, he asked who that man was. They looked to see a rather muscular, middle-age man with blond hair, and a large chestnut on his head; he was also bare-chested and barefooted and had a strange tattoo of a chestnut with the word 'Maroon' on his arm… but he was laying on the ground and struggling for air, as if in terrible pain.

"Is that Cricket?" Brook asked as they pulled Luffy out of the sea and memory Chopper was carefully approaching the man to get a good look at him for any injuries.

"That's right," Nami answered, "He was really sick here, and Chopper helped him out."

"I really hope that he hasn't been diving since then," Chopper whispered to himself anxiously. After all, Decompression Sickness wasn't like taking some medicine and that was the end of it. Once his past self was sure that he was out cold, he ordered for the others to bring him inside the house so that he could see what was wrong with him.

"Is he ok?" Franky asked, not liking how pale the old man looked.

No one felt the need to explain to him, because they knew that memory Chopper would do that for them, and sure enough he told them the whole story. He explained that he was actually really sick and suffering from a serious disease known as Caisson Disease, or Decompression Sickness. Apparently a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out as bubbles inside the body on depressurization. Since bubbles can form in or migrate to any part of the body, DCS can produce many symptoms, and its effects may vary from joint pain and rashes to paralysis and death and it happens with divers.

"I see," Brook whispered. "How did he get in such a state?"

"He was looking for something," Sanji whispered to him as Luffy naturally called it a 'Mystery Disease' even Chopper explained it in full detail.

"And that's why he would never be a good doctor," Nami whispered with a smile as Chopper gave them all orders on how to help this man—knowing just what to do to make him comfortable and ease up some of Cricket's suffering. But memory Chopper confessed to them all that he wasn't sure if he could help him here, guessing that he must've been diving every day for years without letting his body fully rest and it finally caught up to him… that was why he collapsed during the fight.

As they watched the scene, no one really bothering to talk, two more guests showed up—both Masira and Shoujou appeared, so big that they couldn't fight through the doorway together and had to settle by sticking their large heads in. "HEY OLD TIMER!" they cried together, "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

"Wow, didn't expect to see them again so soon," Franky said, now that they were side by side, he could definitely see the family resemblance. As they looked up and saw who it was, memory Usopp and Chopper screamed, as they started to run around in fear as Usopp cried out, sounding close to tears, "THEY'VE COME TO KILL US!"

"What in the world are you people doing there?!" Shoujou demanded angrily.

"And what do you think you're doing to our friend?!" Masira added just as angry.

"Well, you can't blame them for being upset," Robin offered, "After all, Cricket was like a father to them, and we didn't exactly leave good impressions on either of them…?"

"When you put it that way, I guess I get it," Usopp said, laughing a little at how his past self was acting just as Luffy answered, "We're trying to help. So I suggest that you either lend us a hand or find somebody else to bother."

Memory Usopp was screaming at him not to antagonize them, reminding them what they were capable of, and was even suggesting that they just jump outside the window and run away. But then the two over-sized monkeys surprised them all by thanking them and practically crying—startling over Usopp and Chopper.

"Wow," Franky said, unable to think of anything to say.

"They must've really been worried about their friend," Robin said kindly as their past selves explained what was going on. Luffy went outside so that they could really talk to them—already getting along great with them like old friends. As they listened in, the two admitted that they did live here as well, but spent most of their time on their ships since this place was too small for them. It turns out that this little house was the headquarters for what they called the Saruyama Alliance. Shoujou was talking to Luffy, saying how impressed he was that he got Masira off his ship like that, which Luffy responded that he was sure that even he could kick his ass if he tried.

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard," Sanji admitted as memory Chopper came running out of the house, calling Luffy that Cricket was awake. As he went in to see him, Shoujou had kicked Masira and seemed surprised that he was able to do so as he went flying off into the distance.

"I can tell that these two are a handful," Brook said with a cheery laugh.

"They remind me a lot of Luffy," Nami stated, "You can't take your eyes off them for a moment without them getting into trouble…" Or maybe even like Zoro and Sanji since they fight all the time. She giggled to herself a little as they followed Luffy into the house.

"Oh, that is good," Brook said in relief to see that Cricket was sitting up, a great deal calmer than before, and smoking a cigarette like how Sanji did before he spoke. "I'm sorry I attacked you," he said sincerely. "I thought that you were nothing more than another group of bandits who had come to steal my gold."

Nami's eyes turned to beri symbols. "Did somebody say something about gold?!"

"Just calm down Nami," Usopp hissed as Cricket asked, "What exactly was it you wanted to ask me?"

Luffy walked over to him and said eagerly, "We're searching for Sky Island! And we were told you might be able to tell us how to get there!"

"Yeah, how do you do it?" Franky asked, still not able to figure out how to get your ship to fly straight up… not even the Sunny could fly like that.

"Are you serious?" Cricket asked before he burst out laughing, "DON'T TELL ME YOU BELIEVE THAT PLACE ACTUALLY EXISTS?!"

"You mean he thinks it's impossible too?!" Brook cried out in shock as the laughing ticked memory Nami off, looking ready to slug Cricket. With Usopp desperately trying to hold her back as Luffy cried out, "YOU MEAN THERE'S NO SKY ISLAND?! ARE YOU SURE?!"

"It does exist!" Chopper yelled out firmly, wishing that they could've gone back to find Cricket and told him all about Sky Island and the City of Gold.

Though he had calmed down greatly, Cricket was still chuckling as he admitted, "I don't know," he breathed a little more on his cigarette before he finished, "See… nobody really knows if the Sky Island exists or not. I know only one man who claims to have seen the island himself but he's considered a liar of epic proportions."

Luffy turned to look at memory Usopp—as well as most of the Straw Hats looked at their Usopp and Robin giggled to herself as both Usopp's asked what they were looking at.

"There's an old fairytale that the people in the North Blue know very well," Cricket went on. "It's called Noland the Liar."

Again, Luffy looked to Usopp. "Quit looking at me Luffy!" he yelled, "My name's not Noland!"

"I can see it now," Sanji said as they all laughed, "Usopp the Cowardly Liar…"

"Can't you all leave me alone?!" current Usopp yelled as memory Sanji spoke from a chair near the window, "Now that I think about it… Noland's family name… was also Montblanc. Does that make you related to him somehow?"

"You mean that storybook is about his ancestor?!" Brook stated in great surprise.

"That's right," Zoro nodded as Nami in the memory gasped if that was true as well. Cricket looked out one of the windows and admitted it all without any shame. Noland was his distant ancestor. However, he also added that they were so far removed, he doubted that he had any of Noland's blood in his veins. He acknowledged that his family was driven out of the North Blue a long time ago. And though his family may deny the name, they have never hated Noland for it because contrary to what everyone else believed, Noland had been a very honest man.

"He was?" Franky asked, wondering how two sides of the same story could be so different but both be true, "But… but that doesn't add up?"

"Because Noland wasn't lying about the City of Gold!" Usopp explained. "I don't know how it all happened, but you see, the City of Gold didn't sink into the sea, but rather was shot up into the air!"

"The air?!" Franky and Brook repeated in bafflement.

"I think you're going to see how it happened very soon," Nami answered.

Cricket went on to state that he knew that Noland was far from stupid. That he truly believed what he saw and stuck to this story even though he was put to death for it. Memory Usopp got excited, thinking he had it all figured it out, that Cricket came here to prove Noland right and clear the family name. However, Cricket lost it, "DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!"

And to their surprise, he fired at him, freezing them all as they stared at him. Though it was clear that he never intended to hit him, missing him clear by a mile, it was enough to get his point across. "I DON'T EVEN CARE IF THE CITY OF GOLD EXISTS OR NOT! THE ACTIONS OF MY ANCESTOR HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ME AND MY LIFE!" Cricket screamed out, "YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BEGIN TO IMAGINE WHAT IT'S LIKE! AS A KID FOR EVERYONE TO LAUGH AT YOU AND RIDDICULE YOU CAUSE YOU'RE A DESCENDANT OF THAT IDIOT NOLAND? THAT'S WHAT I DEALT WITH MY WHOLE LIFE!"

Brook gulped down as Cricket took several calming breaths, putting the gun back down. "It must've been hard for him," Brook said softly.

"I don't get it," Franky asked, "If he doesn't care about the City of Gold, then why's he here? Why's he risking so much to try and find a place if he doesn't care?"

"Oh, I think he does care," Robin answered, "But this was something that he needed to prove to himself."

Their Usopp began to sniffle at that as Cricket declared that many members of his family tried to do the same thing, to find the city and clear the family name. But in the end each one of them died in the attempt—long before they even reached the island. Ashamed of his family, Cricket ran away from home and became the captain of a crew of pirates. He did not necessarily wanted to become a pirate then, he just wanted to escape the curse of carrying the Montblanc family name.

However, ten years ago, Cricket and his crew accidentally came across Jaya, the island that Noland supposedly found the city and the island that so many of Cricket's family members failed to find their way to. Standing upon the cape where the City of Gold was supposed to be, Cricket decided to accept his fate and find out once and for all if there was the legendary city that Noland found or not. His crew however, did not agree with his decision and left him alone on the island. Cricket finished his story by telling them that he began diving all alone in these waters every day in search of any clue of the City of Gold.

"With a crew like that, who needs enemies?" Zoro stated in a dull voice.

"They weren't a real crew," Sanji stated. "A real crew would've stayed and helped him look."

"What has happened to the world of pirates since I set sail I wonder?" Brook whispered, remembering how pirates used to be in the good old days, to just search the world and live on the sea… not all these cowards and bullies…

"I don't care if I find the city or not!" Cricket finished with a sigh, "I'm not here to prove Noland right or wrong. I have no interest in rewriting history. All I'm doing is following what I believe to be my destiny. This is between me and Noland. I am facing what I fear. And whatever the outcome, the act is all that matters."

His words moved, not only past Usopp to tears, but the present day Usopp, Franky, and Brook.

"What a sad story!" Brook cried out, wiping up his tears with his boa once again. "It truly touches my heart! Not that I have one, Yohohoho!"

"A real man facing his fears without any hesitation or doubts! That is something truly amazing that's so rare in this world!" Franky sobbed out. "What a guy! I wish I could meet him!"

"But what about the monkeys?" Luffy suddenly asked. "How did they come to be on this island with you anyway?"

"I'm sure that's another story of bravery in the face of incredible odds!" memory Usopp said tearfully, "Your life reads like a great book, you know Cricket?"

"Not quite," Sanji said before Nami told the more sensitive men to be quiet.

"They're just fans of the fairytale," Cricket answered and that ticked Usopp off, as well as starting Franky and Brook.

"How did they find you?" memory Nami asked with a few sweatdrops around her head.

"I think it was about five or six years ago," Cricket said, thinking back. "They heard a rumor and set out to find me. Those two truly believe that the City of Gold exists somewhere and they're me find it."

"Really?" Brook said in interest as they could hear the very same monkeys fighting and arguing outside the house. It was truly touching to hear Cricket admit that they showed up out of the blue one day, proclaiming themselves as his followers without his permission, and became part of his crew without asking. Though they were loud and did nothing but fight all the time, Cricket allowed them to help him in his search and accepted them as his surrogate sons.

To Cricket, their barging into his life out of the blue saved his life from the constant loneliness he felt before they came. With this, Cricket became the leader of the Saruyama Alliance. Together with the two brothers and their pirate crews, they had been searching all around Jaya for the lost city. Once he told him how much he had grown to enjoy their company and put him at ease, past Usopp cried again. But Luffy said bluntly, "Are you just about finished telling us your life story?"

"Shut your mouth you ungrateful brat!" Usopp yelled, punching him, which Luffy responded by throwing him off him and saying loudly that all he wanted to know about was Sky Island.

"You think that he could be a little more touched by what he said," Usopp whispered harshly.

"Well, he's got a one track mind," Zoro reminded him calmly, "And the only thing he was thinking about was going to Skypiea.

Cricket chuckled again. "You're a pushy guy aren't ya?" he asked in amusement, "But like I told you before earlier, the only person who's claimed to see Sky Island is Noland. And nobody knows if it's the truth or just another tall tale." He then reached to the bookshelf next to him and pulled off a very old and worn-out book as he flicked through it.

"Is there any record of his trip to the island?" Luffy asked hurriedly.

"Officially? No," Cricket admitted, "But he does mention it in here."

"It's amazing that his family was able to hold onto that after all these years," Robin smiled, truly glad that she could read something like that herself before they were forced to say goodbye. Nami then gasped, asking if that was Noland's logbook and Cricket threw it roughly at her, telling her to read there.

She looked at it in amazement, and read out things that Noland had claimed to have seen such as Sky Fish, and the Sky Waver that was said to be created in the Sky Island along with many other strange and fabulous objects. As she read on, everyone's eyes grew wider and wider with every word like a fascinating story that they wanted to know the ending to.

"Do you know what this means?!" memory Nami cried out excitedly.

"Sky Island must really exist!" Luffy cried out and seeing that, the present-day Straw Hats all knew that Luffy was now determined to head to the floating island no matter what it took. The memory disappeared around them and Brook asked, "What kind of place is it? And please tell me something! Don't make me wait to see for myself!"

"Yeah!" Franky added, raising his iron fist high. "I wanna hear!"

"I don't know how we can describe it," Robin answered as some of them grew dreamy looks. "It was like something out of a dream."

"It was fun! But scary too!" Chopper added, "I wonder if we'll ever see it again someday?"

"Well, we did promise Konis that we'd be back," Nami smiled.

"Konis?" Brook repeated in shock. "You mean there are people living up there?"

"Ah… Konis…" Sanji said dreamingly, hearts back in his eyes. "A beautiful angel we met there… I wonder if she misses me as much as I miss her."

They looked like they wanted to go on explaining it, but the newest memory was up. Cricket was in front of a tree stump that served as a table as Luffy, Usopp, Nami, and Chopper sat down, listening to him talk.

"Listen up and listen good," Cricket said, "I decided to tell you guys everything I know about the Sky Island. Most of this is rumor and hear-say so you'll have to make up your own minds whether you believe it or not. There's something very strange that happens in this part of the ocean." He pointed out to the sea, "Everything will suddenly turn dark as night, right in the middle of the brightest day."

"Oh!" Brook called in surprise. "That's what happened to you all before! It turned dark and then those giants appeared!"

"That's right," Sanji agreed, as Luffy held up his hand as if he were in class and exclaimed that happened to them as well.

"Yeah," past Usopp agreed at once, "It was like the sun vanished! And then these enormous monsters showed up!"

"You've seen the giants," Cricket said, not sounding the least bit surprised at that, "There's a tale on where those things come from but forget about it for now, we can go into it later. Now about this sudden nightfall… it's caused by the shadow of an incredibly dense cloud."

But memory Nami was lost, telling him that it was too dark for clouds, it was as if the sun went out. He then explained that this cloud is special from every other cloud in that it forms high in the sky, has no internal air currents and never turns to rain. No light can reach the ground and it turns even the brightest day dark. These clouds, called the Cumuloregalis cloud, never changed at all… and some people actually believe that these clouds are like fossils. Petrified clouds that drift around for centuries unchanged.

"Is there such a thing?!" Brook gasped out as Franky looked skeptical.

"Anything can happen in the Grand Line," Nami told them as her past self doubted all that before Cricket added that this was all rumors that he heard and what she believes is up to her. "But compared to some of the other things we've seen here, this blew all our minds."

"So it's… a 'Mystery Cloud'," Luffy decided upon.

Instead of telling him he was stupid, Cricket agreed with that statement, but also said that there was only one place that Sky Island could be and it's on top of one of those clouds. Luffy and Usopp were both cheering, getting ready to go, but Nami hit them both, screaming at them that they still didn't know how to get there.

"She sure is quick to resort to violence isn't she?" Franky whispered to Usopp who nodded, truly grateful that Nami was so focused on the memories that she didn't hear them.

"Yeah, that's gonna be the hard part," Cricket agreed, "Because you'll be risking your life every minute."

"You mean like now?" the boys whimpered behind him, memory Chopper looking at their beaten and swollen faces.

"There's only one way to get there, the Knock-Up Stream," Cricket answered for them, "It shoots straight up in the air, so theoretically, it can take you into the sky if you're lucky."

"What is this thing?" Franky asked in surprise.

"Remember the 'Thrust-Up Stream' we used to escape the Marines in the Maubeugemour Sea?" Nami asked them, "Imagine something like that, only a hundred times more powerful!"

"More powerful?!" Franky yelled out. "That thing blew apart a Marine Ship!"

"Yeah, and let me tell you that it almost killed us," Sanji muttered darkly. Luffy was looking thrilled at this idea and said that all they had to do was hitch a ride when it next went off, but memory Nami countered by asking if they would end up falling back to the ocean and get smashed to pieces.

"Usually, that's true," Cricket stated, "Unless you can get the timing just right. It's one thing to sit here all comfy and talk about riding the Knock-Up Stream. But if you think this trip is gonna be some kind of pleasure cruise you're in for a very rude awaken."

"He had that right," Usopp said, shivering at the power that thing had. Luffy had wide eyes as Usopp and Chopper both looked freaked out. Cricket said that he heard many theories about it, but only one has ever made any real sense to him however no one's ever been stupid enough to confirm it. The Knock-Up Stream is apparently created by giant underwater pockets below the ocean floor. Water seeps in, and is heated by geothermal energy until it turns to steam. At some point the pressure becomes too great and explodes, sending a giant stream upwards. The strength of each particular event varies dramatically but they all last for about a minute each time.

"Makes sense to me," Franky muttered.

"One full minute?!" memory Nami cried out in shock, getting up, "Do you realize how enormous an explosion like that would have to be?!"

Cricket turned his back on them as they tried to digest this thought as he finished, "Anyway, you can't really explain something like this with words and theories. It's one of the great mysteries of creation."

"So…" memory Usopp said, summing it all up, "So then… we gotta ride this current that shows up five times a month into to reach some island in the sky… and just hope it's waiting for us?!"

"That's a pretty suckish deal here bro," Franky nodded firmly. "Did you guys think of what you were going to do if Sky Island didn't exist and you were falling?"

"Get killed most likely," Zoro stated with a shrug. "Luffy was going to try it no matter what we said to him."

"In the end, can we really resent that?" Sanji asked, "We did get to see an amazing place…"

"Now this I can't wait to see!" Brook cried out, excitement building inside him at the thought of seeing such a legendary place.

"I'd say that sums it up pretty well," Cricket said. "And if you miss, you fall back down, slam into the ocean, and get blown into fish food. Just like you said."

Usopp, pale and sweating, turned to Luffy's smiling face. "Ok, so we're gonna forget about Sky Island right?" The two laughed, though Usopp a little forced before he said seriously, that this was nuts. That they would have to be beyond lucky to be able to pull off a stunt like this. But Luffy's eyes were shining at the thought and said that they will go anyway.

"I don't see why you bother to try talking him out of it," Zoro said to him. "It never works and it gets real old, real quick."

"Doesn't mean that I can't try!" Usopp yelled at him as his past self reminded him about the Merry's condition, that she'll never be able to withstand something like that in her condition. Cricket agreed, saying that she was worthless… even brand new she would never have been able survive it. Usopp frowned at him for that, as if almost tempted to do it just to prove that the Merry could, but let the insult slide before he thought that it would settle the matter. But then Cricket surprised them by offering to fix and reinforce the ship. Which Masira and Shoujou happily agreed to from inside the house.

"How helpful they're being!" Brook said happily.

"But why?" Franky asked, "They don't owe you all anything, why do they want to help you reach this place?"

"He didn't have a reason," Usopp said.

"He sure was nice!" Chopper laughed a little, "We all even had a fun party while we were at it! It was great!"

Past Nami then reminded them that they could only stay on this island for one more day before the Log Pose reset and they'd be forced to move on. Usopp beamed at that thought and asked Cricket when he thought that the next time the Knock-Up Stream would line up with those clouds—clearly sounding like he believed that they would be long gone by the time that it did line up perfectly. But that didn't last when Cricket stated that it would be at around noon tomorrow.

"WAIT A MINUTE! YOU MEAN WE CAN MAKE IT?!" memory Usopp screamed.

"'Fraid so," Cricket said, back still to him. "If you're scared then don't go."

"But how did he know about all that?" Franky asked again, "I mean… unless you can see the future…?"

"It was simple logic here," Robin answered calmly as memory Usopp's eyes turned angry and he began to shout, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You're lying!" Cricket turned to look back at him as he went on yelling, "There's something's fishy about this! We've known you less than 24 hours why are you being so helpful? And what's more…?"

Luffy then stepped up, looking angry as he tried to tell him off, but Usopp snapped at him to shut up before he turned back to Cricket, yelling, "This Sky Island… this legendary place, that we don't even know the location of is just gonna show up outta the blue? At noon tomorrow? And to help us get there you're gonna rebuild and reinforce our ship… for nothing?!"

"When you put it all like that, it does sound a little too good to be true," Sanji admitted, "But what would he gain by lying to us?"

"That was rather rude of you, Usopp-san," Brook said, deciding not to point out how he treated his captain like that.

"When something looks too good to be true, it probably is!" memory Usopp yelled, "The infamous liar Noland was your great-great grand whatever right? So how do we know we can trust you?!"

"Because it's wrong to blame a descendant for something that their families did," Robin answered, her eyes overshadowed by her long hair—remembering painful memories as she spoke those words. "Whether it's his father, or distant ancestor, you shouldn't base your judgment on someone purely on who their family is."

Usopp lowered his head with every word that Robin spoke, feeling more like slime with everything that she said. Cricket didn't seemed fazed at all by this as he pulled out his cigarette and looked at him, Usopp tense up as if expecting a fight. The two monkeys were calling from inside the house that dinner was ready and Sanji came stumbling out and noticed the tense atmosphere.

Untroubled Cricked said as he slowly walked to him, "Masira said, whenever the midday night happens in this area, the Cumuloregalis cloud appears in the southern sky the next day. Based on its usual cycle of five appearances a month, I'm guessing the Knock-Up Stream will also erupt tomorrow at midday. That will probably also be to the south. I can't be 100% certain but there's a good chance the two events will coincide."

"That is all very smart thinking," Robin answered, "And hard to argue with."

Cricket walked passed Usopp, whose anger faded to a look of nervousness and confusion. "I'm proud to have met a bunch of brave fools like you," he said warmly, "You're true pirates."

"So that's it," Brook said softly.

"He was just happy to meet a bunch of dreamers like him who were just as crazy," Sanji laughed a little, "So he wanted to help us try to reach it."

"What a kind-hearted man!" Brook called happily. "I truly look forward to the day that we can meet him! I hope that he found his answers!"

"I have a feeling that he did," Nami answered with a smile, wondering how everyone was going to react to when they saw Luffy ring the golden bell. Meanwhile, shame came over Usopp's face at those words as Cricket finished, "Now then, let's go inside and eat. Tonight I want you to call my home your home… my friends."

Those words were enough to cause Usopp to fall to his knees and Luffy smiled happily at that as the memory faded around them. Usopp, feeling down for his behavior, apologized to Cricket. Cricket however, was a bit disgusted by Usopp as he was rubbing his running nose on Cricket's pants while apologizing on his knees just as the memory disappeared.

"I really was an idiot here," Usopp sighed, looking off into the darkness, "I mean… it really did seem too good to be true…"

"I don't blame you for being suspicious here," Zoro told him. "But maybe next time you'll think before you start accusing people of something."

Usopp laughed a little uncomfortably at that as he lay back onto the grass, thinking long and hard about what Zoro said, even as the next memory was of them back inside Cricket's house, with all the Straw Hats, Cricket, and the monkeys laughing and enjoying a good party. Masira was chasing Usopp around for tricking him to eat hot sauce, Cricket was drinking so much that his face was red, and Luffy and Shoujou were dancing together.

Franky laughed out loud, "Never a dull moment with you guys around. Seems like you can make friends anywhere you go?"

"These guys really weren't so bad," Sanji offered as they noticed that the past version of Robin was sitting in the background, reading Noland's logbook. Cricket noticed it as well and when he went over to her, he quoted from a passage, "The Skull's right eye. That's where I saw the gold."

And they all fell silent as they looked to him, waiting for him to speak as if he was giving a speech.

"The City of Gold?" Brook said, his own finger going up to touch his empty eye socket.

"It was the place that he saw the city," Nami sighed, wondering what it would've been like to really see the city before Eneru got his hands on it. "It all makes sense after we get to Skypiea.

"Those words, smeared with tears, were the last words Noland wrote in his logbook," Cricket answered as he stood up. "'The skull's right eye, that's where I saw the gold.' That very same day, Noland was executed. I still don't know what he meant by that… it doesn't refer to the name of a city or some landmark that used to be on the island. Or is it just a poetic illusion to his own impeding death?"

"That would make a lot of sense," Usopp whispered, "They do say that when a man is about to die, they suddenly become poets."

"I thought that applied when they fall in love too," Robin joked a little and Sanji's eyes turned to hearts.

"And can write books full of poems from just the two of you alone!" he declared.

"Who wants to hear a poem from you, Love-Cook?" Zoro asked in annoyance.

"The blank pages the follow give us no clue," Cricket sighed, his face still red as he tilted his head back and drank deeply, "And that's why we continue to dive to the bottom of the sea… we dream."

"I see that he's got a little poetry in him as well," Nami laughed as their past selves all raised their glasses high to that as they went on to enjoy the party. It was fun to watch, even as Cricket took the logbook and began to read out a particular entry. It was when Noland first arrived on Jaya. They heard the peculiar cries of a strange bird and the ringing of a grand bell. "'In our pride and arrogance we thought we've seen and heard everything in our short lives," Cricket recited, obviously knowing this part by heart, "But the sound of that bell tolling left us all speechless! It was as if the clang of that bell all struck us dumb with wonder!'"

"Must've been one heck of a sound," Franky said as the six Straw Hats smiled. They agreed whole-heartedly with what Noland said. Even after all this time, they had never heard anything like the ringing of that bell.

Cricket let out a loud cry which Luffy and the monkeys echoed happily.

"Hey old timer, it sounds like you just might be a little fond of Noland after all," Usopp teased and they all laughed. Smiling, Cricket pulled out a few bags from a trunk. He passed one of them to Masira before he sat back down and opened up the one he still had and revealed three miniature golden bells.

"Amazing! Are these from the Golden City?!" Brook cried out.

"I bet you anything they did," Usopp smiled knowingly as their past selves were in awe as they stared at them.

"You mean these little things are the bells that Noland heard?" Franky asked in confusion.

"No, the real one is a lot bigger," Nami sighed happily.

"The real…?" Franky asked before Usopp stated that they didn't seem so impressive to him, sounding a little let down.

"None of these is the bell that Noland was writing about in his logbook," Cricket informed him as Nami picked up one and ran her hands over it lovingly. "These are bell shaped golden ingots we found on the ocean floor during a dive."

"They're still so beautiful," current Nami sighed, suddenly wishing that she held onto one of the golden bells they found from that giant snake's stomach.

"Golden ingots?" Chopper repeated in surprise.

"They were a way to use as currency such as gold bars," Robin answered as Luffy cried out happily that the City of Gold was real.

"Too bad that it's going to take a lot more than a few pieces of gold to convince the rest of the world," Sanji muttered grimly.

"It's still not prove though," Shoujou said sadly, voicing Sanji as he sat up from where he fell over from drinking too much. "You can find golden relics like that lying around any old ruin in this part of the world."

"Maybe so," memory Robin agreed, "But that does suggest there was some civilization here sometime in the past. Ingots are made to divide gold into standard unit of weight… and that would indicate an advantage trading society."

"Which means they were on the right track!" Franky called happily. "People had to have lived on this island some time a long time ago. So that part of the story was wrong when it said that no one lived on the island before right?"

"True," Robin agreed with a chuckle.

"But then what happened to the people?" Brook asked, still not getting any of this.

"Right," Cricket spoke up to what Robin had said, "And you remember that peculiar bird call he said they heard when they arrived?" he looked to Masira and told them to show it to them. He opened the bag and revealed the enormous chunk of gold that was carved into the shape of a strange looking bird holding a bell.

As they all gasped in wonder at it, Cricket told them that was the last of it as Nami swooned over it, reminding them all of how Sanji did the same whenever he saw a cute girl.

"Golden bells and birds, huh?" past Sanji smiled, "Do you think that these are symbols of some ancient, giant civilization?"

"Truly a beautiful piece of work," Brook said as he walked over and bent down to get a really good look at it.

Cricket shrugged at Sanji's question, but said that he was sure they had all come from the same casting. He then began to talk about the golden statue being a South Bird and that they could still find some on the island today. Masira began to talk more about them about how sailors had used them on their ships, but before he even finished, he and his brother both stared at each other and Cricket gasped.

"OH NO!" they yelled out so suddenly that it startled them all. And Franky and Brook jumped at their sudden tone, not getting what the problem was.

"What's wrong?" they cried out in surprise.

"This is really bad!" Cricket said, his face no longer holding any trace of the party and was deadly serious, "You guys gotta get to the forest on the south side of the island quick!" when Luffy tried to ask what was going on, Cricket pointed to the gold bird and added that they had to go and catch one of the South Birds and fast.

"What brought this on all of a sudden?" Brook asked in confusion.

"There is something really special about the South Bird," Robin answered, "And without it, we never would've found Skypiea.

"Why?" Franky asked in wonder.

"He couldn't have mentioned something as important as that before the sun went down could he?" Usopp asked in irritation as the past selves asked why they needed the bird. They spent hours running around that creepy forest trying to find a bird, and it was an experience that he never wanted to go through a madness like that again if he could help it. Getting chased all night by bugs and giant animals wasn't a fun experience in his book.

"Now listen carefully," Cricket said crossly, "Tomorrow you're gonna sail for the Knock-Up Stream. It lies directly south of here… how are you gonna get there?"

"We just sail the ship due south of course," Luffy said obviously.

"Have you forgotten this is the Grand Line?!" Cricket yelled at him. "You're heading for open sea! You won't be able to get your bearings!"

"In our excitement to go to Sky Island, we didn't think everything through," Nami said with a laugh as her past self gasped at that, realizing that he was right. That since they were in the Grand Line, the Straw Hats would not know where to go south since normal compasses would not work. Also since the place that they were headed to was a location in the sea and not an island, the Log Pose would not help either.

Cricket told them that they could still make it if they could capture a South Bird and follow its direction. These strange looking birds have an odd habit of always pointing their head south, no matter where they are. Because of this, they were used in ancient times to navigate. With it, they could get the direction and just follow it…