A/N: Since I’ve been on vacation for the past week, Chapter 8’s progress has been delayed. However, because Chapter 7 will be publicly posted soon, I figured I should give my awesome supporters a sneak peak of the progress on the coming chapter.
Hope you enjoy!
…
Far above Upper Yard, Kami’s Shrine rested upon its own island-cloud, pierced through by the colossal beanstalk known by the locals as Giant Jack.
Once, this place had housed Skypiea’s rulers. Under Eneru, it had become something colder.
Attendants moved quietly through the shrine with trays of fruit and drink, while musicians played near the chamber’s edge with lowered eyes. Their soft, airy notes drifted through the still air, offering peace to a man who had brought none.
Eneru reclined upon his seat as if everything beneath him existed only to entertain him. From here, Upper Yard’s vast forest stretched below while Angel Island rested beyond the White-White Sea in all its fragile little peace.
His fingers rested lightly against the arm of his seat as a faint smile touched his mouth.
He had just cast judgment. By now, the girl should have been gone.
Conis, daughter of Pagaya. The girl who had befriended the shape-shifting man who mysteriously arrived in Skypiea and claimed to be from another world. Eneru could have judged both Conis and her father for failing to report the intruder sooner.
However Ben Tennyson had intrigued him.
So, just this once, Eneru had allowed mercy. Not that it mattered much, in the end. Not with what he intended for Skypiea.
But after the girl broke beneath her guilt, after she revealed the truth aloud in her mistaken belief that she had led Ben to his death, Eneru could not extend mercy a second time.
Such a small thing, really. One more citizen of Skypiea learning what every citizen should have understood already.
Kami heard all and Kami judged all.
And yet… Eneru’s smile faded by a fraction. The sound rising from the wharf was not right.
He closed his eyes.
His Mantra spread outward, slipping through cloud and air, through streets and rooftops, through the frightened hearts of Angel Island. Voices reached him at once. Gasps. Cries. Stammered disbelief. Not mourning. Not the proper despair of citizens who had watched Heaven’s Judgment erase a blasphemer.
Shock. Fear, yes. But not the fear of death confirmed.
The fear of impossibility.
"What… what is that?"
"It moved before the lightning."
"But… no one outruns judgment,"
Eneru’s eyes opened. For the first time since casting the bolt, genuine interest crossed his face.
“Oh?”
Below, the wharf churned with confusion. Skypieans trembled. The White Beret captain’s voice shook with anger. The Blue Sea pirate captain shouted something with that brainless confidence of his. The long-nosed one panicked. The cook cursed. And beneath it all, the girl still breathed.
Eneru sat a little straighter.
Impossible. No, not impossible. Merely unexpected.
His fingers tapped once against the armrest before he heard it.
“B-Ben…?”
The name slid through the air and reached him as if Conis had said it to him.
Eneru’s expression stilled. For a moment, the music playing in the background did not reach his ears.
Another voice followed. One he immediately recognized.
“Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry. Really. I didn't mean to deceive you…”
Eneru’s lips curved slowly in delight.
“So,” he murmured. “The ‘superhero’ has returned.”
A low laugh rolled from his throat, bright with amusement. He leaned back again, one hand lifting to his chin.
With the assortment of abilities Ben had displayed during their confrontation, Eneru had wondered, briefly, if the young man had somehow survived.
Now he had his answer. More than that, he had a joke worthy of appreciation.
The shape-shifter had returned to Skypiea beneath his notice. Not by avoiding the island entirely. Not by fleeing the White-White Sea. He had walked through Angel Island under a disguise, spoken to citizens, fooled White Berets, sat in the house of the very girl who mourned him, and waited until the last possible moment to reveal himself.
Arrogant. Reckless. Ingenious. Entertaining.
Eneru’s gaze drifted toward the far distance, where the Great Milky Road twisted through Upper Yard’s forest.
The Blue Sea pirates and Ben were moving now, boarding that small Dial Boat. They would not arrive at the Ordeals entrance immediately. Not for at least another hour based on their speed.
How convenient.
Eneru lifted two fingers and snapped them lightly. A nearby servant startled and hurried away.
“Summon the priests.”
It did not take long.
One by one, his priests gathered before him.
Satori arrived with his usual bouncing cheer, round body swaying as he folded his arms within his sleeves. “Hohoho! Kami! Has the trial begun earlier than expected?”
Gedatsu stood rigidly beside him, arms folded, eyes stern and unblinking. His expression carried absolute seriousness, though one of his sandals sat slightly crooked on his foot.
Ohm remained quiet, his tall frame still and severe, with Holy beside him. The large dog sat obediently, staring ahead with a blank, dutiful face.
Shura arrived last, spear in hand and his large bird, Fuza, looming near the edge of the chamber. The priest’s eyes were sharp beneath his helmet, his posture full of the impatient aggression of someone who preferred flame and spearpoint to discussion.
Eneru looked down at them all.
“My priests,” he said lightly, “it seems our guests have become more interesting.”
Satori tilted his head. “The Blue Sea dwellers?”
“The pirates, yes,” Eneru replied. “And another.”
Shura cocked a brow. “One other? Who?”
Eneru’s smile did not change. “The shape-shifter, Ben Tennyson. He is alive.”
A small ripple passed through the room. Satori’s mouth opened in delighted surprise. Gedatsu’s face tightened with stern resolve. Ohm’s eyes lowered slightly, as though the answer merely confirmed some grim inevitability.
Shura’s grip on his spear tightened. “Then allow me to burn him before he reaches the forest.”
Fuza gave a low, rough cry beside him, flame stirring faintly in its beak.
Eneru raised one hand and Shura stopped.
“No.” The word was soft, but it killed the impulse immediately.
Shura lowered his spear by a fraction, though his jaw remained tense. “Kami?”
Eneru’s eyes drifted toward the distant road again. “Tennyson returned wearing another man’s face. He has deceived citizens, hidden among pirates, and escaped Heaven’s Judgment a second time.” His smile grew brighter. “Such effort deserves a proper stage.”
Satori giggled. “A stage? Hohoho! That sounds delightful.”
Gedatsu nodded once, grave and intense. “A proper punishment must be properly prepared.”
Ohm’s voice came low and even. “Those who resist heaven walk willingly toward suffering.”
“Just so,” Eneru said. “But suffering without entertainment is a waste.” He rose from his seat.
“Tennyson’s games has given me inspiration.” He chuckled softly. “If he and his pirate companions wish to challenge Kami. Very well. Kami will answer with a game of his own.”
Satori’s grin widened. “Then shall I return to my forest, Kami?”
“Yes.” Eneru’s gaze passed over him. “All of you will return to your territories. Prepare your ordeals. Let the criminals enter Upper Yard believing the path before them is the one they chose.”
Gedatsu nodded sharply. “Understood.”
Ohm turned without flourish. “They will learn despair.”
Satori bounced lightly on his heels. “Hohoho! I shall welcome them warmly if they choose through my Ordeal.”
Eneru’s gaze shifted. “Not you, Shura.”
The other priests paused.
Shura lifted his head. “Kami?”
Eneru stepped down from his seat, moving with the lazy confidence of a man who had never needed to hurry in his life. He passed Satori, Gedatsu, and Ohm without looking at them again.
“You may go,” he said to the others.
Satori’s eyes flicked curiously toward Shura, but he obeyed. Gedatsu followed with stiff discipline. Ohm turned away, Holy padding beside him with a soft thud of paws against the floor.
Soon, only Shura remained. Fuza lowered its head, smoke curling faintly from its beak.
Eneru stopped in front of them.
Shura stood straighter. “What would you have me do?”
The blonde man’s smile became thinner. “Tennyson’s group will not reach Upper Yard for some time. That leaves you and Fuza enough time to complete a task for me. Once you’re done, then you may return to your territory.”
Shura’s eyes sharpened.
Fuza’s wings shifted with a low, eager rustle.
Eneru leaned closer, his voice dropping into something almost pleasant. “Handle it swiftly.”
…
The Shandorian Cloud Village had not grown quieter since Wyper and several others had left to patrol Upper Yard.
If anything, it felt louder.
Warriors moved between huts with spears, packs, and Dial weapons. Craftsmen worked near low fires, shaping turquoise crystal fragments into blades, spearheads, and ammunition. The village’s usual rhythm had sharpened into preparation.
War was coming.
Aisa sat near her mother’s dwelling, knees tucked close to her chest, one hand curled around the small crystal shard in her palm. Its edge pressed lightly into her skin, cold and familiar.
Wyper’s words had been hard enough to leave bruises where they landed.
People die when children chase hope.
Aisa squeezed the crystal tighter.
She hated that he had said it. She hated more that he had sounded like he meant it. Wyper was wrong. He had to be wrong. Ben was not just a risk. He was not just the Blue Sea boy who made Eneru bleed, or the stranger whose crystals might help Shandora strike back.
He was Ben.
He had stood in front of her when he did not have to. He had been willing to give his life for a complete stranger. That had to count for something.
Aisa shut her eyes, breathing slowly through her nose.
Stay silent. Stay here. Tell no one.
That was what Wyper had ordered.
She understood why. That was the worst part. If Eneru heard even a whisper that Ben had survived, he might strike before the warriors were ready. He might strike the village. He might strike her mother.
Aisa’s grip loosened for half a second, and then tightened again.
But if Ben was alive, if he was really here, then how was she supposed to do nothing?
The village stretched around her through Mantra: familiar voices, familiar steps, familiar hearts. Warriors preparing for battle. Children being pulled indoors. Her mother moving quietly inside the dwelling, trying not to let her worry show too loudly.
Aisa tried not to listen beyond the village.
She really did.
Most of the time, she had to. If she let her Mantra stretch too far, too many voices pressed in at once. The scouts moving through Upper Yard. Animals prowling through the forest. Fear, anger, pain, and restless hearts all brushing against her from places she could not see.
So she kept her hands around the turquoise crystal and tried to stay small, quiet, and still.
Then something brushed against her senses.
Aisa’s eyes snapped open and, for one heartbeat, she forgot how to breathe.
It was faint at first. Distant. Not deep in Upper Yard, but somewhere beyond it, toward Angel Island maybe. Too far for her to know exactly where, but once she noticed it, she could not stop noticing.
A familiar voice and presence.
Aisa’s fingers loosened around the crystal.
“Ben?” she whispered.
Her heart began pounding.
It couldn’t be. She had thought that before. She had hoped that before. Wyper had said he saw someone change on the Blue Sea ship, but that was not the same as feeling him through Mantra. That was not the same as hearing the shape of his presence with her own senses.
Aisa closed her eyes again, harder this time.
She reached out with her Mantra, pushing past the familiar presences in the village, past the warriors, past the noise of Upper Yard.
There.
Her breath hitched so sharply that she nearly made a sound.
There was no doubt.
Ben was alive.
The strange Blue Sea boy who had stood up to Eneru and made him bleed, who had shoved her away from judgment, who had shielded her from Eneru’s wrath, was alive.
Relief struck so hard it hurt. However, fear followed right behind it.
He was moving toward Upper Yard.
Aisa pushed herself to her feet. “No,” she whispered.
He did not know what Wyper was planning. He did not know the Shandorians were preparing to attack. He did not know the priests were waiting, or that Eneru could hear the sky itself when he cared enough to listen.
Aisa looked toward her home.
Inside, Isa’s presence shifted, worried and tired.
Her chest tightened. “I’m sorry mom,” she whispered.
She slipped behind the dwelling first, keeping low as she passed the supply racks. A pair of warriors crossed near the center path, and she ducked behind a hanging hide until they were gone. Her bare feet made almost no sound against the island-cloud.
Wyper’s command echoed in her head.
“Stay in the village, Aisa.”
She clenched her jaw before taking off.
Ben had not stayed safe when she was in danger. So she would not stay safe while he was heading straight toward danger himself.
…
The Little Crow moved along the Great Milky Road, its twin Breath Dials humming steadily as the small boat followed the pale cloud-river over an arching bridge toward Upper Yard.
“Is Conis really going to be okay?” Usopp asked from the back of the boat.
“Well,” Luffy said, seated behind the steering wheel up front, “that strange old man seemed all right.”
Sitting to Luffy’s left, Ben kept his eyes on the looming curve of the bridge ahead. “With all the craziness going on, she and her dad are better off somewhere far from here.”
“He’s right,” Sanji said from the back, seated across from Usopp. “Besides, that old man can protect them better than we can right now.”
“This boat is slow,” Luffy complained.
“It can’t be helped,” Sanji said. “This thing’s a lot heavier than a Waver, so don’t expect too much.”
Ben glanced toward the boat’s stern, where the Dial housings were set in place. For a moment, he considered turning into Juryrigg, tearing the setup apart, and reconfiguring it to squeeze a little more power out of the system. Given how small the Dials were, and the fact that there was little on the boat to work with, he doubted any power gain would be noticeable.
As the boat crested the bridge’s peak, a vast and massive forest loomed in the distance.
“Whoa…” Sanji muttered, staring ahead. “So that’s Upper Yard?”
“It’s huge!” Usopp exclaimed.
Luffy turned to Ben. “So that’s where you fought that Eneru guy?”
“That’s the place,” Ben replied, his gaze fixed on the forest. “Beautiful scenery, horrible management. I’d give it one star.”
Usopp pulled the old map from his overall pocket and unfolded it with a frown. “The forest illustrated on here is nothing like that.”
“Whoever had that map lived two hundred years ago, right?” Sanji asked. “It may have been an old map even then. A forest like that would take over a thousand years to grow.”
“I wanna climb a tree!” Luffy declared excitedly.
Ben snapped his fingers in front of Luffy’s face. “Focus. Friends first. Giant tree playground later.”
Luffy blinked, then grinned. “Right! Friends first, then giant tree playground!”
Usopp’s face went pale. “Why did you leave that as an option?”
“Motivation,” Ben replied simply.
The forest ahead rose higher and higher until it no longer looked like a forest at all. It looked like an entire world of trunks and roots, each tree large enough to dwarf the buildings on Angel Island.
As they approached the entrance, two tall poles stood on either side of the canal, each topped with a skull-shaped marker wearing a shallow dish-like cap. Crossed spears jutted from behind the round shields below them, and strange markings had been carved into the wood and bone.
Usopp gulped audibly as his whole body went rigid.
Sanji looked ahead, cigarette smoke curling from his mouth. “Guess this is the entrance.”
“All right, if we’re going to turn back, now’s the time.” Luffy glanced over his shoulder. “What do you say, Usopp?”
Usopp’s mouth stretched into a nervous grin. “Well, I’d like to go home if we could.”
“Too bad. We’re going in!” Luffy leaned forward over the steering wheel, eyes bright.
“Then why’d you ask?!” Usopp shouted.
Ben chuckled at the exchange, reminded for a second of the kind of banter he used to have with Gwen and Kevin.
The Little Crow kept moving.
Ben stared at the entrance, eyes narrowing slightly. The skull markers were not subtle. Then again, nothing about Skypiea had been subtle since he arrived.
The boat slipped between the two skull markers, and the forest swallowed them.
The light changed first. The bright openness dimmed beneath the canopy, filtered through layers of massive leaves and curling branches far above. The trunks on either side of the Milky Road rose like pale walls, their surfaces ridged and twisted. Roots as thick as houses curved through the ground and disappeared beneath the cloud-river.
Usopp shrank lower in his seat.
A faint rustle came from somewhere above.
His head snapped up. “What was that?”
“Probably wind,” Sanji said.
Another sound answered, sharper this time.
Kaw. Kaw.
Luffy blinked and looked toward the trees. “Birds?”
Something large moved in the shadows.
Usopp’s jaw dropped. “Th-There’s something out there!”
Ben followed his gaze.
A massive bird-like creature clung to one of the trunks, its long neck stretching from the branches while its eyes fixed on the passing boat. Its beak opened, revealing a mouth far wider than any normal bird had any right to possess.
Kaw! Kaw!
Usopp screamed.
Luffy stared at it. “Whoa! That bird’s huge!”
“That is not the important part!” Usopp cried.
The bird snapped its beak in their direction.
The Straw Hat’s sniper ducked so low his long nose nearly hit the deck boards. “Don’t make eye contact! It might see us!”
“It already sees us!” Sanji snapped.
“Then stop reminding it!”
Ben scanned the trunks, the roots, and the narrow gaps between them. “Giant birds aside, last time I was here, I saw some giant eel things in these canals. Also a pack of cloud wolves. Just thought I should mention that.”
Sanji’s curly brow twitched as he slowly turned his head. “You waited until now to mention that?”
Luffy’s eyes lit up. “There are sky eels too?!”
“Don’t sound excited!” Usopp cried.
“Just your casual Tuesday,” Ben remarked, “riding a boat through a cloud river in a sky jungle ruled by a wannabe lightning god.”
“It’s not Tuesday,” Sanji pointed out.
Ben sighed. “It’s an expression, dude.” He then blinked. “Actually, what day is it?”
“Thursday.”
“Why are you both having such a casual discussion?!” Usopp shouted.
“Well, sitting here panicking isn’t really helpful,” Ben said.
Sanji gave a small shrug, eyes still on the forest ahead. “He’s got a point. If something attacks, screaming won’t stop it.”
Usopp pointed at him accusingly. “It might confuse it!”
Luffy grinned. “That sounds like something Usopp would do.”
“I call it a tactical distraction!”
Luffy turned the wheel slightly, and the Little Crow swerved around a thick root that curved up through the Milky Road. The boat rocked, and Usopp flailed, grabbing the side with both hands.
“Careful, Luffy!”
“I am!”
“You are never careful!”
The boat rounded the root, and the forest opened a little wider. That was when they saw them.
Broken ships lay scattered along both sides of the Milky Road, half-buried in island-cloud and tangled among the roots. Old hulls leaned against trunks at impossible angles. Splintered masts jutted upward like bones. Some vessels looked ancient, their wood warped and pale from age. Others seemed newer, cracked open as if something had picked them up and dropped them there.
Usopp went pale all over again. “Wait! Look! We’re surrounded by shipwrecks!”
Luffy looked left, then right. “Huh.”
Sanji’s eyes narrowed. “Ships from the Blue Sea?”
“Probably,” Ben said, his voice lower now.
He stared at the wreckage as the Little Crow drifted past. One ship had been torn nearly in half. Another had its bow crushed inward. A third hung high between two enormous roots, as if it had been carried there and abandoned.
Ben’s brows furrowed. Those were not decorations.
They were warnings.
Usopp pointed frantically at the wrecks. “Do you see that?! Do you understand what that means?! People came in here and didn’t come out!”
Luffy nodded once. “Yeah.”
“Yeah?! That’s all you have to say?!”
Sanji glanced at the wrecked ships with a thoughtful frown. “It could mean several things. Bad currents. Traps. Monsters. Priests.”
“Thank you for naming all the things I didn’t want named!”
Ben’s eyes continued moving. “Or all of the above.”
Usopp slowly turned toward him. “Why would you say that?”
“Because lying would feel rude.”
“Try being rude!”
Luffy grinned, completely undeterred. “This place is awesome!”
Ben gave him a flat look. “There are shipwrecks everywhere.”
“Well,” Luffy said, as if that explained everything, “this is a forest.”
Sanji’s brow twitched. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
Luffy pointed toward one of the broken hulls. “There’s trees.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” Usopp said.
“Well, ships are made of trees,” Ben offered. “Maybe that’s where he was going with it?”
“Yeah!” Luffy said. “That’s it! Ben gets it!”
“Don’t pretend that’s where you were going!” Usopp shouted.
Before the conversation could continue, something suddenly hissed above them.
A large round tribal face came swinging down in an arc, long blades jutting from both ends like a massive sickle.
Usopp’s eyes bulged. “Huh?!”
Sanji looked up sharply. “Luffy!”
The sickle-like blade dropped closer, hanging from a chain as it swung behind them. It carved straight through the already sliced remains of an old shipwreck, splitting the rotted wood apart with a vicious sound.
Ben stared for half a second. “Well, at least we know how the ships got cut in half.”
Luffy chuckled. “You find all sorts of things in the jungle.”
“That is not helping!” Usopp screamed.
Another giant sickle slashed downward toward them.
“Faster!” Usopp yelled, voice cracking. “Row! Hurry up! Make the boat fly!”
Sanji’s jaw tightened. “There is no full power! This thing only goes so fast!”
The sickle came down in a wide arc, its blade cleaving through the air just behind them. The Little Crow shot forward enough that the strike missed by inches, slicing through the cloud-river and spraying soft white vapor across the back of the boat.
Usopp screamed anyway.
Ben’s hand snapped toward the Omnitrix. “Okay, enough sightseeing.”
He tapped the faceplate, and the green holo-ring with alien head icons appeared above the watch.
If the blades are metal, Lodestar can control them no sweat, he thought, searching quickly through the ring.
The Little Crow suddenly jolted over a rough swell in the Milky Road.
Ben stumbled, one foot sliding out from under him as the boat rocked hard. His finger jabbed the ring at the wrong angle.
The selected icon shifted at the last second and he did not notice.
Ben slammed the core down out of reflex and brilliant green light flashed across the boat.
Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp all threw up their arms as the glare washed over them. When it faded, Ben was no longer sitting beside Luffy.
In his place stood a short, vaguely humanoid creature with an amoeba-like body and green skin. A darker green patch covered the top of his head, while lighter green skin ran over his face and rounded belly. Six sprout-like growths stuck out from the back of his head, and a small green tail curled behind him. Ventilation-like slits marked his face, and his wide mouth was set with a crooked overbite that made him look permanently ready to bite into something he probably should not eat. The Omnitrix symbol sat squarely on his stomach.
Ben stopped to look himself over. “Or Upchuck. Upchuck is good too,” he said, sounding annoyed.
…
A/N: That’s all I have for now. I plan to have more done by the end of next week.
Thank you all for your patience and support! You make these long, entertaining chapters possible.