Chapter XLI: None Shall Pass

Sabo sat across from Firefist - no, Ace, he reminded himself - in silent contemplation. He had a lot to take in. From being told stories of his past that he he himself didn't remember, to finding out he had two brothers...not by blood, but what did that matter when none of his greater connections in life were not blood related to begin with? Just the fact that he had family, whether by blood or otherwise, was more than he could have claimed waking up in the morning. At first he was hard pressed to believe everything he was being told, but it soon became evident that Ace knew too much about the circumstances of his incident. He knew he had lost his memories off the coast of Dawn Island. He knew he'd been shipwrecked by the Celestial Dragons, information which only the boss and some higher ups of the Revolutionary Army knew. But above all, Sabo knew that the look of shock, nostalgia, and happiness that finally settled onto Ace's face upon seeing his own had not been faked.

Not a day normally went by when Sabo didn't think about his life before that incident. Now, he had some idea of what it had been like. He had been conceived by nobles - oh, the irony - but had grown to despise the suffocating lifestyle. He had met Ace in the Grey Terminal, and they had dreamed of becoming pirates together. Later on they had met a boy named Luffy, and eventually the three of them would become brothers through spilling blood sweat and tears together. They had even exchanged cups of sake. Even though he couldn't remember it, these thoughts brought a warm feeling to his stomach that he couldn't quite explain. It was as if his unconscious mind remembered...which, come to think of it, it probably did. He was no expert on amnesia though.

Ace was giving him space, which he was grateful for, but he could tell that the only thing the guy wanted to do at this moment was envelop him in a bone crushing hug. From what he'd been told, he couldn't really blame him. If he had lived for 10 years thinking his brother was dead only to later find out that he was alive, he would be feeling sentimental too. But for the life of him, he just couldn't remember. No matter how much his thoughts would attempt to penetrate though the sea of blackness that haunted his dreams, he could not recall anything prior to the suffocating murky depths.

He was starting to think that an inability to breath, whether literal or metaphorical, had been a defining trait of his previous life.

"Ace?" he spoke up. The flameman's head perked up at the sound of his voice breaking the silence. "I'm glad I met you," Sabo said. "But I need time to adjust. And I don't think I can be a pirate...not now."

Ace flashed him a grin. "Whatever you decide is fine with me, Sabo. I'm just glad to have you back, even if you can't remember it all. Take all the time you need."

Sabo grinned back. "Actually, there is one thing I'd like to ask."

"Anything," Ace replied.

"Do you think I could meet Luffy?"

"What the hell is wrong with this bird?" Nami screeched in frustration as she ran from the forest's abnormal wildlife. The hunt for the southbird was going smoothly…at least that's what Luffy would say. Said rubber man was currently using his haki to tame any animal that he found interesting while he left the rest of the crew to their own devices. If Nami wasn't so busy running away from giant centipedes, she'd be giving him a piece of her mind right about now. What was so funny anyway? Wasn't it enough that she had a goddamn bird laughing at her? Why did Luffy have to join in?

Robin was faring better, watching in amusement as everything unfolded from atop a high branch of a tree she had cleverly scaled with her powers. Of course, if it looked like anyone was going to get hurt, she was ready to intervene, but somehow, she didn't feel the need at the moment. It was just so funny.

The southbird had ambushed them. There was no other way to explain their current predicament. She was mildly curious to know how smart such birds would have to be to have known they were coming and prepared for them. She giggled as Usopp scrambled up a tree himself in a panic as he was chased by a man sized praying mantis. He may not have her devil fruit ability, but no one could tell him he wasn't a good climber.

Sanji seemed to be the only one actually fighting right now, content in protecting Nami from the animals that were assaulting her. Robin noted with interest that he visibly cringed every time he kicked a giant insect. Was he afraid of bugs? If he was, it seemed he was too devoted to his chivalrous ways to care at the moment.

Chopper was the only one the various animals weren't trying to attack. Robin guessed that they probably viewed humans as hostile but didn't consider a talking bipedal reindeer a threat. The reindeer was attempting to convince them not to harm the crew, but his pleas were being for the most part ignored.

Every once in awhile one of them would sneak up behind Zoro, who was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. But then he would shoot them a glare and they would scurry away to find a less intimidating target.

"Cho!" came the familiar yet strange call of the southbird, which Robin instinctively knew was mocking them all. She looked out at the sun through the trees and noted that it was setting. Seeing as they had a deadline, it was probably intervention time. She closed her eyes and focused on the area that the bird call had originated from, and sprouted two eyes on a nearby tree. Seeing the bird, she sprouted two arms around its body and gripped it before pushing it out of the tree. It fell onto the ground below with a thud, struggling and cursing loudly in bird language all the while.

Robin jumped down from the tree and calmly walked over to the bird before picking it up. It glared at her, and she smiled apologetically back at it. "Captain-san!" she called out. Luffy looked up from the mantis that was being compelled to shake his hand. "The sun is getting low. We might want to report back to Cricket-san soon."

Luffy pouted, but nonetheless nodded his head before releasing his haki. Immediately all of the animals that he hadn't tamed dropped like rocks into unconsciousness. Zoro yawned and got up, stretching his limbs. "So quiet," he commented. "Is it time to go?"

"Yeah, they've had their fun. But we came here for a reason," Luffy said with an infuriating smile. Nami walked up to him and predictably bonked him over the head before grabbing him by the collar and shaking him angrily.

"Why didn't you do that earlier, stupid captain!?"

"Because Nami! It's training! Survival trai-" he was cut off as her fist made contact with his head again and he plummeted to the ground.

When the Strawhats arrived back at Cricket's home, they were in equal parts impressed and puzzled by the new appearance of the Going Merry?

"Is it supposed to be a chicken?" Chopper asked in confusion.

"Who knows?" Usopp replied. "But Merry is still Merry. If she can fly now, I'm not complaining."

As it turned out, they still had a few hours to kill before they had to set sail for the knockup stream, so they ended up spending the morning partying. When Luffy noticed that the southbird was pouting inside its cage, he walked up to it and said he'd let it out if it promised not to fly away. Much to everyone's surprise, it agreed, and much to their chagrin, Luffy, the ever trusting buffoon, let him out. Robin was resignedly prepared to catch it again, but was surprised when it stayed put. Chopper asked why it was so cooperative now, to which the bird vaguely responded that it had been listening to their plans and had its own reasons for wanting to find Sky Island. Whatever that meant.

As noon approached, the Strawhats got ready for their departure. Once they packed everything onto the Going Merry, they raised anchor.

"Hey kid!" Cricket shouted from ground level. "Don't go falling out of the sky now!" Luffy grinned and flashed him a thumbs up in acknowledgement.

"Why is this whirlpool so big!?" Nami and Usopp shouted fearfully. The false night had already fallen, and they were currently getting sucked into the biggest whirlpool that could be found in the first half of the Grand Line. The only ones who seemed unperturbed by this were the monster trio and Robin. While Luffy and Zoro knew what was going to happen, Sanji was simply too busy comforting Nami (who wasn't paying attention to him) and Robin (who didn't need comforting) to care. And Robin...well, she was Robin.

Soon the whirlpool disappeared completely, leaving most of the Strawhats dumbfounded. After about 30 seconds, they were wondering whether they were in the wrong place. After another 10 seconds, they were retracting that doubt as they were violently blasted off of the surface of the ocean by the monstrous current.

It was quite the experience, even for those who had lived through it before. But soon, the ship started to slip from the vertical current, which was pointed out by a slightly distressed Sanji. Nami soon proved herself as their navigator, however, telling them to unfurl the sails so they could catch the rising wind and ride it up the stream the rest of the way. It wasn't long before they finally ascended through the surface of the clouds.

Most of the Strawhats were sprawled out across the deck. Luffy was the only devil fruit user who had managed to keep his footing despite having been momentarily sapped of his strength. Zoro and Sanji had also kept upright, so the three of them walked around and helped the rest of the crew regain their bearings. After everyone had recovered, they took a look around, and were shocked beyond belief.

"It's...amazing!" Usopp exclaimed.

"Beautiful," Robin agreed.

"We really are floating on the clouds," Sanji commented. "How is that possible?"

Luffy glanced at him quizzically. "Of course we can float on them...they're just clouds," he reasoned. Nami shot him a mild glare.

"I think you need to get your facts straight," she mumbled, to which Luffy smiled innocently.

"Do I really though? Take a look around you," he said in a smug tone that didn't match his expression, causing Nami's eye to twitch in the way it often did.

"So then," she said in annoyance. "That makes this the sea of the sky. Cricket-san said that it was less dense than air, like a cloud, but could support buoyant objects, like the sea. That explains how our ship is floating on it. My question is, how could it support an island?"

Robin hummed in thought. "One with a magnetic field no less. It does seem bizarre. Perhaps there is another natural formation holding the other half of Jaya up?"

"Another formation?" Nami questioned. "What do you mean?"

"I'd imagine it's like a ship and its cargo," Robin reasoned. "Be it passengers or supplies, ships are designed to carry things that wouldn't normally float over the water safely." Although it seemed she was stating the obvious, the rest of the Strawhats soon caught on to her analogy.

"So then the island is the cargo," Nami stated. "And the ship is something solid enough to support an island like Jaya, and either light or buoyant enough to float on the sea of the sky."

"That would be my guess," Robin confirmed.

"Nami-san and Robin-chan are so incredibly smart!" Sanji swooned.

"So...it's a mystery ship!" Luffy concluded happily.

"Navigator-san, perhaps you should check the log pose," Robin suggested. "We still don't know which direction we're headed from here."

Nami looked down at the log and was shocked. "It's still pointing up!" she exclaimed. "Does that mean we need to go higher?"

"That would mean there is another layer of Millennium Cumulonimbus cloud above this one," the archaeologist stated calmly. "The only question is, how do we get higher?"

"You guys need to lighten up!" Usopp shouted. "Enjoy the adventure and we'll figure it out as we go! I for one, am looking forward to going for a swim in the sea of the sky!"

Luffy instantly grew serious hearing that. "Usopp, don't do that," he said in a surprisingly stern voice.

"He's probably right," Sanji stated. "We still don't know much about this sea. It's best not to fool around."

"Oh come on! A sea is a sea!" the sniper insisted, leaning over the railing to get a better look. Before he could go any farther, however, Luffy pulled him back. "Hey! What's your problem, Luffy?" he whined.

"Usopp," Zoro spoke up, "How far are you planning to swim?"

"How far?" Usopp shrugged. "I just wanted to see if I could touch the bottom. I can hold my breath really well, so it shouldn't be a…"

"Bottom?" Zoro repeated.

There was silence for a moment as the Strawhats' caught on and their eyes widened. Usopp gradually grew pale and started sweating, and Chopper screamed in panic. "Usopp, don't swim! Please don't swim!" he cried.

Nami smacked Usopp upside the head. "You idiot! You could have fallen right out of the sky! This is why we need to gather information first!" she shouted.

Usopp went into a corner to brood. "Sky Island is scary…" he muttered quietly.

Suddenly a loud splash of water was heard, and the Strawhats turned to see a large, purple, eel like creature advancing toward the ship.

"Sky Island is scary!" Usopp repeated loudly.

After Sanji knocked out the sea monster, or rather the sky monster, it coughed up a small, oddly shaped fish. Robin walked over and picked it up. "So then this is a skyfish? It seems that since there is no seafloor here and the sea cloud is much less dense than water, they must have undergone various adaptations to survive." As she was speaking, Luffy came over and grabbed the fish out of her hands. Robin, assuming he wanted to observe it, said nothing. Moments later, he was eating it out of a plate happily.

"I sauteed it," Sanji stated absently.

"We weren't done looking at it yet!" Nami shouted in aggravation, although Robin didn't seem to mind much.

Meanwhile, Chopper was staring out at the expanse of cloud through binoculars. "It's so white…" he said dreamily, catching Luffy's attention.

"See anything Chopper?" Luffy asked with a grin.

"Yea! There's another ship!" Chopper reported eagerly. "And...a person?"

Luffy watched as Chopper gradually paled, then started panicking. "Aaaauuughh! He blew up the ship!" he shouted, dropping the binoculars and running around the deck frantically.

"Chopper, what's wrong?" Usopp asked, having broken out of his depressed stupor.

"There's someone coming! He's gonna sink our ship!" the reindeer said in distress. The Strawhats looked out over the sea cloud and saw that there was indeed someone riding towards them on what looked like...skates?

Luffy thought back. That's...the bazooka guy. Wiper I think.

As the Shandian landed on the deck of the Going Merry, Luffy let loose a liberal blast of haki. He could see Wiper's eyes narrow under his mask, indicating that he had noticed the mental assault, but he seemed unfazed by the unidentified attack.

"Your mind games have no effect, Blue Sea dweller! I shall reject you!" He swung his bazooka at Luffy, who leapt to the side to avoid it, and then made a beeline for Sanji, who blocked his kick with his leg. The chef was pushed back though, and had to catch himself by doing a backflip to regain his balance. Seeing him gasp for breath, Luffy and Zoro remembered that it was everyone's first time in the thin air. Sanji would normally be up to the task, but he was struggling to keep up. They were getting ready to intervene when they heard a shout from the distance.

"That's quite enough!" the weird knight that Luffy identified as Gan Fall shouted, aiming his spear at the Shandian. The spear was blocked by his shield, but Wiper, realizing he was outnumbered, took his leave and disappeared over the clouds again.

"Who the hell was that?" Nami asked, before turning to Sanji. "And what's with you?"

"Sorry Nami-san," Sanji said, recovering his breath. "My body feels weak for some reason."

"It must be because of the low air pressure up here," Robin surmised.

"Ah, you must be residents of the Blue Sea then," Gan Fall stated.

"Blue Sea? Who are you old man?" Usopp asked.

"Ah, forgive me. I am Gan Fall, the Knight of the Sky, and this is my partner, Pierre. Those who are born below the clouds are called Blue Sea dwellers."

"That would apply to us then," Zoro confirmed.

"It can't be helped then. This is the White Sea, 7000 meters above the Blue Sea. Above us still is the White White Sea, 3000 meters higher. It will take a while for your bodies to adjust to the atmosphere.

Sanji got up from his seated position. "No problem. I think I'm getting used to it now," he stated, throwing a few experimental kicks at the air.

"No, no, I'm afraid that's not possible," Gan Fall said. "It takes more time than that to grow accustomed…"

"Ah, don't worry about it old guy!" Luffy assured. "If we can handle the knock-up stream, we can handle some thin air!"

Gan Fall's eyes widened comically. "The - the knock-up stream!? You mean to tell me you actually arrived here on that monstrous current!? To think there would still be some brave enough to make that venture…"

Nami was growing more teary eyed with every word. "I knew that couldn't be the normal route! Luffy! If we had just gathered more information, we could have gone the safe way! I blame you!"

Luffy scratched his head. "Does it matter? We're here anyway, right?"

"Have you lost any of your crew?" Gan Fall asked.

Luffy's body went completely rigid hearing that question. "No." he said in a neutral voice, a little quieter than usual. But the only ones who noticed his behavior were Zoro, who closed his eyes, and Robin, who's eyes widened slightly.

"I see," Gan Fall said. "The other routes would not have been so forgiving. The knock-up stream is a life or death gamble. Either everyone lives, or everyone dies. Many do not have the heart to make that gamble these days. Those who do, I view as the most courageous of sailors." He sighed in resignation. "Be that as it may, I fear you all have come at a bad time. You will most likely not be welcome here with open arms."

"We're kind of used to that," Luffy said. "We're pirates."

"Pirates?" Gan Fall asked. "How nostalgic. Nevertheless, I fear for your safety. This land has not taken well to visitors recently, ever since…" he trailed off. Luffy's brow furrowed. That was...different. Ever since what?

But Gan Fall didn't elaborate, choosing instead to drop a whistle onto the deck. "This is a service. Blow the whistle once, and I will come to your aid. After that, each blow will cost you 50 million extol. I have to make a living, you know."

"Extol, what is that?" Nami asked.

"Extol are the currency of the sky islands. You Blue Sea dwellers use Berry, correct? I believe 1 Berry is worth 10,000 extol. If that is all, I will take my leave. Best of luck to you all."

After the revelation that his bird was a devil fruit user and could turn into a bird/horse hybrid that looked a lot like a pink pegasus, the Strawhats were left in the middle of the White Sea. They soon decided to head towards a waterfall that they saw in the distance. They sailed under a sign labeled Heaven's Gate, and were soon surrounded by large bundles of cloud on all sides. Luffy stretched his arm out and commented that they were solid, which led to him, Usopp, and Chopper taking a detour to bounce around excitedly on the dream-like substance.

They sailed under a waterfall and were met by a short old woman with what appeared to be a camera. "Hello there, may I ask where you are from and what your business in Skypeia is?" she asked.

"We're from the Blue Sea," Usopp said. "And...I guess you could say we're sightseeing."

"Oh, I see. In that case, none of you are permitted to enter," she stated with a neutral expression.

There was silence for a moment, before her statement registered.

The fuck?