Become Me Again

"Shanks, what was that all about?" Ben asked.

"You shot at her and a battle started. That's what happened." Shanks replied. "But, thanks for that."

"Huh?"

"I wanted to see if her powers had weakened at all. But it didn't, if anything, she had gotten stronger than before. How scary."

"You say scary yet you're laughing…"

"Well, if there's one person in the world who could convince my daughter. It would be her."

Imai woke up in the middle of the night with a sneeze.

"Was someone talking about me?"

There was a certain sensation of restlessness in her heart. She walked over to the side of the ship and let the calm breeze sweep along her skin.

She replayed the battle she had with Shanks in her head. Though she wasn't sure if she could even call it a battle. Imai knew it was a test. Shanks wanted to know if Imai still had it in her.

But that was the least of her worries. The sensation when she gripped her blade, her desire of wanting to fight, and the burning itch to slaughter.

That was her past self, the one called Empress of the Blade, and an insane battle maniac who didn't want to do anything but to become stronger and fight. As someone once said before, "With great power comes great responsibilities."

"What nonsense." Imai muttered. "Whoever said that shit can get bitten by a spider."

Imai gazed at the shining stars that covered the night sky. The title Empress of the Blade came across her mind once again. She placed her hand over her heart and felt the beat become quicker.

She smiled, perhaps it wasn't so bad to become the Empress of the Blade she once was before. After all, the New Era was giving birth to monsters.

"Good luck to the world, the Empress of the Blade has officially returned to conqueror and cause chaos once again!" Imai said with a grin.

The morning sun pierced through the curtain as Nico tiredly got out of bed. After tidying herself, she went to the deck, and saw that she was already steering the wheel.

"Good morning, Nico. There's breakfast on the table downstairs if you're hungry." Imai said.

"I ate it already, thanks for that." Nico said.

"Did you like it?"

"Yes, I did."

"Teehehehehe!~" Imai laughed as she spread out her arms. "Not only am I talented at fighting, but also cooking!"

Nico couldn't tell what had gotten into Imai's head. She had so much energy this early in the morning and was feeling a bit silly too.

"What's going on with you? Did something good happen?"

"No, it's nothing like that. I've just decided something and my head feels a bit clearer now."

That's true. Nico had noticed there was a different air around Imai. She couldn't pinpoint what it was but it should be fine - right?

"Do you have an idea where we're going?"

"Yep, we're now directly on the line that will eventually take us to Skypiea. After that, maybe we'll look for Shank's daughter after that. I'm curious about her."

"I am too. If she's Shank's daughter, then she should be quite strong right?" Nico asked. "I wonder why she wasn't given a bounty yet."

"Then she must be somewhere in the world doing her own thing currently. Somewhere where there aren't any marines. I want to go visit but I don't even know where she is. If fate allows it, we'll be meeting her soon."

"I'm kind of excited."

"Me too! Today, you're going to learn Haki!" Imai exclaimed with a wide smile. "And it starts now!"

Imai covered Nico's eyes with a blindfold.

"I'm going to attack you and you have to dodge it just by sensing it."

"Somehow, the training method you're using sounds unreasonable. You're not using this as an excuse to hit me right?"

"Don't worry, I trained with the same method. And I'll be holding back so you won't get a concussion or anything like that."

Nico sighed and agreed with Imai's unreasonable training method. She needed this training anyway to be able to fight alongside Imai. And so, the training method started.

*PAK* *PAK*

For the past couple hours, Nico was non stop getting hit by a stick in the head. She was starting to get tired of it. Why did she agree to this? Why was she the only one getting it?

A vein popped on Nico's forehead, she was tired of getting it. Suddenly, she saw a stick coming down towards her head. She instinctively moved her head out of the way to avoid getting hit. Finally, she took the blindfold off and it had already become evening.

"Ara? You finally dodged it?" Imai said with a mischievous grin. "Took you long enough."

"Shut up, I think I forgot some of the poneglyphs due to how many times you hit me in the head."

"Oh no, that can't be good. Do you want me to keep hitting you until I whack the information back in your brain?"

"Shut up."

"Haha! Well, now that you've obtained a glimpse of what Observation Haki is. I trust that you know what to do from now on."

"Of course, who do you think I am?"

Imai grinned. A couple hours to catch a glimpse of Observation Haki. She didn't know if Nico realized it or not, but she was a genius. Someone with that much potential, Imai couldn't let go of her no matter what.

"So then- WOAHHH!"

Right as Imai was about to speak, a burst of water from below them propelled them into the sky.

"Perfect timing! It looks like we'll be on Skypiea in no time!"

As if on cue, the burst of water shot them up with even more force than before. The two people on the ship held onto the raining tightly hoping to not fall off.

"Don't worry Nico! If you accidentally let go, I'll come save you!"

"Worry about yourself! You're levitating!"

"Oh?"

*PSHOOSH*

They had burst through the clouds and were now on the trail that would lead them to the entrance of the Sky World. Heaven's Gate.

"Get ready, Robin! A fun journey is just about to begin!"