City of Gold

-The Next Morning-

Zeph woke up from his sleep, freshened up and proceeded towards the Straw Hat's ship. Yesterday, the Straw Hats decided they would meet him at their ship and proceed to the place that Zeph had located the Golden Bell. He reached the beach and saw the ship with it's occupants waiting for him. Luffy saw Zeph at the beach and waved at him enthusiastically. Soon, he was near the ship and hopped into the ship.

"I hope I'm not too late." Zeph said, looking around the ship and thought, 'So, this is Going Merry!'

"You came right on time. Now, hurry up. Take us to the City of Gold!" Nami, rubbing her hands, said with her eyes sparkling magnificently.

"Don't mind her impatience. She loves gold more than her life." Chopper said with a sigh.

"I see.." Zeph commented with a knowing smile.

"Since, everyone is here. Lead the way, Zeph." Sanji said, lighting up a smoke.

"LET'S GOO!" Luffy yelled excitedly.

"Wait, there's a BIG problem! How is the ship gonna move? We don't have any of those dials that'll help move the ship" Usopp pointed out. This made Luffy feel despondent.

"Indeed, that's a big issue." Robin said, while thinking of something.

Zeph chuckled and said, "You're right. That would normally be the case if we don't have any Breath Dials attached to the ship but I have something even better." The crew looked confused and waited for Zeph to continue.

Zeph walked towards the figurehead and hopped on to the rail. He looked ahead and waited. After waiting for a few seconds, he brought his right hand to his mouth and whistled loudly. Rumbling sounds could be heard from below the hull of the ship. Two gigantic claws protruded out from the sea of clouds from either side of the ship. The two gigantic claws gently clamped on to the sides of the ship, holding the ship in its grasp.

"W-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!!" Usopp's voice shrilled through the air. Chopper jumped backwards and gripped his hold around Zoro's legs tightly in fear.

"Protect me, ZORO!" Chopper yelled.

"Oi, get off me!" Zoro said in frustration as he couldn't get into his fighting stance.

"Do not worry. It is going to help us move towards our destination." Zeph relieved them of their fear.

"It does look familiar." Robin commented, looking at the familiar claws.

"IT'S SMALL SHRIMPY'S DAD" Luffy cheered out loudly.

"That would make sense." Nami uttered.

"It's the Super-Express Speedy Shrimp. It's twice the size and speed of the shrimp that led you here. It'll take us to our destination following the milky road present throughout Skypiea." Zeph explained.

"Does the Big Shrimp follow you?" Sanji asked.

"No, it doesn't." Zeph replied.

"Then, why did it appear after you whistled?"

"Because it....likes me?" Zeph answered with a straight face. This confused Sanji even more and didn't continue with the topic.

"Woah!!"

The ship slowly ascended above the sea of clouds and the crew finally could see why. A gigantic red shrimp positioned below the ship bearing the two gigantic claws that help the ship on it's body.

"Amazing!" Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were amazed at the sight.

"Hold on to something. It's going to be very speedy." Zeph warned them.

As soon as Zeph finished warning them, the shrimp holding the ship quickly sped through the clouds on to the Milky Road. The crew quickly stabilized themselves and enjoyed the breeze and scenery that went past them.

"This is amazing!" Luffy said, with his tongue sticking out. Soon after, Chopper and Usopp joined him. Nami and Robin were sitting on their chairs and enjoying the breeze with Sanji occasionally coming in to serve them food. Zoro as usual, was napping with his swords leaning on him.

Zeph looked at Luffy and thought, 'The time is near. Hopefully, everything goes well.'

An unfamiliar fragrant scent assaulted him as he looked over to see who it was. He saw the familiar charming face of the one who asked him to accompany her not long ago.

"What were you thinking about?" Robin asked curiously.

Zeph smiled and answered, "Nothing much. Just enjoying the wind."

"It is indeed pleasant." Robin added and they both silently enjoyed the breeze. After about a few mins, Robin was curious about something and called out to him.

"Zeph-san"

"Yeah?" Zeph replied.

"How did you find out the location of the Golden Bell?" Robin asked curiously.

Zeph looked at her and then looked straight ahead, answering her, "I traveled to Upper Yard to fight the Evil God and upon the middle of my fight, I sensed the presence of the Golden Bell."

"How did you sense it?" Robin asked once again.

Zeph chuckled and replied with a half-hearted answer, "Because I'm a God!"

Sensing that it was a half-hearted answer, Robin didn't push him for an answer and enjoyed the breeze once again with him.

After an hour of traveling through the Milky Roads, an island came into the ship's view. Zeph looked at the island and smiled.

"Everyone, look! That huge island is where we are going. It is known as Upper Yard by the citizens of Skypiea." Zeph pointed out.

Seeing the huge island in front of them, the crew were astonished and marveled at the sight of the humongous trees covering the island.

"The trees are huge." Chopper said with an amazed tone.

"Amazinngg!" Luffy uttered.

"I wonder what kind of stock will I find in there." Sanji thought out loud. As they were making their way towards the island, a disturbance could be felt in the sea clouds. The clouds could be seen being stirred up by something below it leaving trails violent currents around the shrimp.

"Be careful, everyone! There's something below the clouds." Zeph alerted the crew and stood in front of Robin protectively, advising her, "Stay behind me!"

Robin followed his advice and crossed her arms in preparation for a battle. Luffy and Zoro jumped on to the figurehead and the mast respectively, adorning their battle stances. Chopper, Usopp and Nami rushed behind Sanji and looked around.

"Don't worry, Nami-san! I'll protect you with my life~!" Sanji declared with heart-filled eyes.

All of a sudden, the sea clouds in front of them exploded outwards and a gigantic worm-like creature emerged from beneath looking menacing and hungry for food.

"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" Nami yelled in panic. Chopper joined Usopp and they both knelt and prayed with tears, "Forgive us, Oh Lord."

"A Sky Lamprey." Zeph replied, preparing to deliver a deadly blow. Zoro readied his swords and prepared to attack but was interrupted by the shout of Luffy. The Sky Lamprey roared before its wide sharp-toothed open mouth lunged forward in hopes of devouring the ship along with the crew in it. Seeing the Sky Lamprey attack, Luffy jumped from the figurehead and stretched his arm all the way back, uttering, "Gomu Gomu no Pistol", and released his arm throwing an overwhelming punch hitting the body of the huge creature, throwing it back into the sea clouds successfully knocking it down.

"Tch, I was going to cut into pieces." Zoro complained.

"Heheh, You were too slow." Luffy laughed, landing on top of the figurehead. Chopper and Usopp let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." Robin thanked Zeph for his effort.

"It's all good." Zeph responded with a wink.

After the small forgettable incident was dealt with, the shrimp proceeded to speed through. Eventually coming to a halt as they finally have reached close to the center portion of the Upper Yard.

"We're here. Follow me." Zeph beckoned them to follow him. Jumping out of the ship, the crew followed after him.

"This is....land." Nami noticed after she felt her feet touching the hard surface.

"Yeah, it is. This was once part of another island but due to some circumstances, it appeared here in Skypiea." Zeph explained.

'Then, this land is part of Jaya?!' Robin thought. They walked for a few minutes before they could see a Giant Beanstalk piercing through the sky ahead of them. Zeph explained to the crew that it is Giant Jack and the Straw Hats were amazed once again.

Reaching the vicinity of Giant Jack, Zeph and the crew walked ahead a few metres before they came upon a massive tunnel like entrance leading somewhere lower and deep into the ruins. They entered the tunnel and followed the pathway to the exit. They came out of the tunnel and they saw a lot of huts and shacks positioned around a massive monument like structure with people occupying the place of what seemed to be the ruins of a city. They also saw a massive structure right below Giant Jack with multiple entrances followed by numerous stairs.

"The ruins right here are the broken pieces of the fallen Golden City of Shandora. The people occupying and working there are the Shandians, the citizens of Shandora." Zeph explained to the crew.

"Wonderful." Robin was amazed.

"Do not break anything and do not antagonize the Shandians. They are a race of prideful warriors." Zeph warned them.

Soon, they entered the ruins and the Shandians noticed them. The Shandians quickly got into their battle stance ready for battle but they noticed the person leading them and recognized him as their Saviour. They dropped their aggressiveness and welcomed them into the city which is currently a work in progress.

"It's been a long time since we met each other, Zeph." A long haired tattooed man came out from a shack.

"Indeed, it's been a while, Wyper. How is Nola doing?" Zeph asked.

"She's feeling a bit grumpy but she's still waiting for you take her." Wyper said.

"Ah! It's my fault that I haven't kept my word but it's finally time to go there." Zeph said ashamedly.

"So, who are they?" Wyper asked, pointing towards the people behind Zeph.

"They are the Straw Hat Pirates and they're from the blue sea like me. We came here to check out the underground area." Zeph answered.

"So, they're like you eh. Alright, take them with you but if they do any mischievous stuff, I'll beat them with no mercy!" Wyper warned them with a menacing tone.

"You have my word as the Captain that we will not do anything suspicious!" Usopp came out with his head up high and spoke with false bravery. Chopper followed with a sigh.

Don't worry, Wyper! I'm here. Nothing will happen." Zeph smiled. Wyper nodded and went away to help his fellow tribe mates.

Zeph and the crew went ahead and entered the huge structure. They found a massive hole in the middle of the room with numerous ladders attached in it. Zeph jumped in to the hole, who was soon followed by the crew. They explored the area under the structure but Zeph led them away into an another exit. After coming out of that exit, they were greeted with an astounding spectacle.

"This right here is the actual City of Gold, Shandora!" Zeph stated.