Side: Third-person perspective
That day, Skypiea—God's Island, Upper Yard in particular—was plunged into upheaval.
A report came in: a pirate crew from the Blue Sea had arrived, been branded "Second-Class Criminals" on Angel Island, and placed under the Priests' Judgment.
When the Priests—the executors of Judgment—and those who served them heard the news, they assumed the outcome was already decided. As always, the intruders wouldn't be able to keep up with combat in the sky. They'd be trampled, hunted down, and wiped out to the last.
But when the lid was opened…
The Ordeal of Balls had been broken through, and Priest Satori had fallen.
For the first time since God Enel established his regime, one of the four Priests—who had long upheld an image of absolute, unassailable invincibility—had been defeated.
And perhaps they sensed their chance.
Skypiea's "Guerrillas"—the Shandia—came surging onto God's Island.
Warriors who had fought for ages to reclaim a homeland stolen long ago stormed the island with fierce morale, clashing head-on with the Priests, who had temporarily abandoned their Trial Grounds to ride out and defend the territory.
Gunshots and cannon blasts thundered across the island. The stench of smoke and blood thickened the air.
In the middle of it all, Wyper—the foremost among the Shandia warriors—drove straight toward the God's Shrine.
On the way, he ran into Luffy and his crew as they moved through the Trial areas. He warned them—if they valued their lives, they should leave at once—and then let them be.
To the Shandia, outsiders were outsiders. Blue Sea, Sky, it didn't matter. All were targets to be driven out.
But their highest priority remained clear: overthrow God Enel, and crush the Priests beneath him. They couldn't afford to waste strength on needless skirmishes with intruders.
In that sense, the fact that Luffy's group didn't chase him could be called luck.
Yet even as a faint, almost unconscious sliver of relief flickered somewhere inside him, it was drowned out by fury and battle intent—pushing him onward.
And then, again…
An outsider appeared before him.
"…!"
"Huh? …Huh!?"
Wyper and the warriors racing through the forest at breakneck speed spotted someone ahead—someone literally flying—and swerved hard to avoid a collision.
Even as they dodged, Wyper fired his bazooka almost on reflex, trying to drop the intruder as they passed.
But the flying figure—Sue—simply twisted midair and evaded the blast with ease.
Another Shandia warrior lunged in from behind, spear poised to skewer her.
The next instant—
CRACK!!
"Gah…!"
Sue didn't even look back.
She slipped aside as though she'd known it was coming, then used the attacker's own momentum—swinging her Japanese umbrella in a clean arc that smashed him out of the air and into the ground.
The blow caught him squarely on the crown of the head. It landed perfectly.
The guerrilla convulsed once on impact… and then didn't rise.
"Who are you?" Wyper demanded.
"And who are you?!" Sue shot back. "Don't try to kill people you've never even met!"
One glance was enough for Wyper to judge: she wasn't one of the Sky People, nor did she look like one of God's agents.
By her clothes, she resembled the Blue Sea outsiders he had encountered earlier. This was probably nothing more than an unlucky chance encounter—an unfortunate clash in the middle of war.
Ideally, he should avoid wasting strength on an outsider again.
But the reflexive strike had cost them a fighter.
The man didn't appear mortally wounded. If it was simply a clean concussion, he might return to the battlefield soon enough. Retrieve him and withdraw?
Still…
If there was even the slightest chance this outsider could become an enemy later, letting her go was unacceptable—especially when her combat ability was this high.
And beyond that, the Shandia despised anyone who intruded carelessly onto this island—their ancestral homeland.
Unlike earlier, Wyper's fighting spirit didn't fade.
Sensing it, the surrounding Shandia warriors tightened their stances, eyes hard, as if to say: if Wyper fights, they fight.
Sue faced their hostility—past hostility, into something close to pure killing intent—then abruptly glanced over her shoulder, as if noticing something.
And just like that, she looked away.
The moment she exposed that opening, Wyper and his warriors moved like they'd been waiting for it—hands snapping up, bullets and cannon fire flooding toward her.
But Sue didn't even look.
She only moved one hand, opening her umbrella—
And every shot, every blast, even the exploding shells, was stopped cold.
A paper umbrella with a simple wooden frame should have been shredded in an instant.
Instead, it held.
The sight itself was unbelievable.
But what truly chilled Wyper was the way she had moved from the start—like she could read their intentions without seeing them, like she already knew where each attack would be.
No doubt about it.
This woman is using Mantra.
Is she connected to the Priests? Or is it innate, like Aisa…?
As Wyper weighed whether to interrogate her, Sue's expression twisted into clear irritation. She glanced at them—only with her eyes.
"Don't get in my way. I'm a little busy right now—tch. Knew they'd show up."
Then, again, she shifted her gaze away—toward a patch of forest where nothing seemed to be there at all.
This time, Wyper didn't order another volley.
He watched, wary, and so did the others—tracking both Sue and the direction she was staring.
And then, in the next moment, they saw something they never expected.
A presence flickered beyond the brush—
And from behind the greenery, two small figures stepped out.
The instant they recognized them, Sue and Wyper spoke at the same time.
"Leona?!"
"Hah… hah… I—I knew it… you really are here, Mama… and—W-Wyper?!"
☆☆☆
Side: Sue
It was right after I'd gotten the Den Den Mushi call from Suzu—telling me Leona had vanished.
Using what Suzu said, and what I knew from the day I first found Leona, I formed a hypothesis.
And not long after that, I felt the whole of God's Island growing louder—more violent—more chaotic.
Probably the original story's flow.
Luffy's group defeated the "Ball" Priest.
Then the Shandia seized the opening and launched their assault.
With the Priests pulled out to repel them, the remaining Trial areas would turn into a free pass—meaning we could link up with the Merry group before sunset.
That was how it should go.
In the original story, the Sky Knight was taken down by another Priest at the Sacrificial Altar…
But this world isn't exactly the same. With Sapphire there, I doubt it would become that one-sided.
Still, this island is huge.
My Observation Haki can't cover the whole thing.
Even when I push it to the limit, the range doesn't reach everywhere—and what I do catch is too rough. I can't pinpoint who's where doing what. At best, I can vaguely sense clusters of people, or the presence of larger animals.
The Priests can cover the entire island, can't they?
Even if it's a specialization thing, it's irritating.
Anyway. Setting aside how the "plot" should move…
Leona.
If hearing about Skypiea made her remember things, then the simplest answer is the most likely one: she's from Skypiea.
And if she regained her memories and immediately disappeared, bringing along Shizu—who can fly—then it wouldn't be strange for her to aim straight for here.
Good news and bad news: Merveille isn't that far from Skypiea right now.
A few hours of travel, at most.
I contacted Papa while we were still on Angel Island, before we set out. If Suzu heard about Skypiea right after that, and Leona moved instantly…
Depending on Shizu's speed, they could already be here.
And then—like a nail hammered through my thoughts—I felt it.
That sense.
I've mentioned it before: when I incorporate a Vivre Card into my body, I don't need to take it out to get the direction. I can feel where that person is, relative to me.
Inside me, I've stored Vivre Cards for Rayleigh, Shakky, Hancock…
And Papa, and the three girls.
So if I focus inward, I can tell where each of them is—where they are, or at least which direction.
When I checked Leona's…
She was close.
Really close.
My guess had been dead on. She was within a few kilometers.
I immediately left the ship to Honey and the others and took off in that direction.
Leona was probably flying straight toward me too.
She likely used my Vivre Card to reach Skypiea—each of the girls had one for emergencies.
Skypiea is always moving. Without real-time location, finding it is nearly impossible.
But Suzu's Den Den Mushi call meant Leona knew I was here—so she bet she could reach me by following the Vivre Card.
And then, as I flew through the trees, weaving around branches…
I ran into the worst possible "random encounter":
A Shandia guerrilla squad.
And not just any squad—
Wyper's.
They attacked first, too, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
But right after that, my Observation Haki caught two familiar presences nearby.
I looked—
And there she was.
Leona.
Emerging from the brush, out of breath—
And right into Wyper's line of fire.
"Hah… hah… I—I knew it… you really are here, Mama… and—W-Wyper?!"
So my "Skypiea" hypothesis was correct.
But something else hit like a second punch.
Leona knew Wyper.
And from the way she froze—how fear flashed across her face—and the way Wyper's anger surged…
It wasn't a good connection.
Leona's eyes flicked between him and me, like she didn't know what to say, like the words were trapped in her throat.
The other Shandia warriors reacted too—murmurs and sharp breaths.
"Leona…?"
"That can't be…"
"Why now…?"
They knew her.
Which meant Leona's "origin" wasn't just Skypiea—
It was Shandia.
"…I was told you died," Wyper said, voice low, like he was forcing the words through his teeth. "Seeing you alive is a shock. That alone… might be something to be glad for."
"W-Wyper…"
But he didn't wait for her to answer.
He just kept going, almost one-sided.
"If you lived, then where were you? What were you doing all this time? And that clothing—Blue Sea design. And just now… what did you call that Blue Sea woman?"
"Th-that's… I…"
"…You were a Shandia warrior. Still young, maybe, but a warrior. Don't tell me you abandoned your duty and ran."
Leona flinched.
He was already leaning toward the conclusion he wanted.
And yeah—there it is.
That tone.
That pressure.
The kind of "conversation" where the other person pretends to ask, pretends to listen, but really only wants one answer—and everything else is dismissed as excuses.
It was obvious Leona was scared.
Whatever her past with him was, she was already shrinking under it.
"W-… Wyper, no! I didn't… I didn't abandon anything! I— I forgot! I really did! It wasn't like I was slacking off, I just… I had amnesia. I couldn't remember Skypiea or Shandia… nothing. This person took care of me after I fell to the Blue Sea, so… I'm not your enemy, and neither is she—"
She didn't even get to finish.
Wyper's bazooka clicked into place.
The barrel swung toward us, fury blazing straight down the line.
Leona made a small, terrified sound.
"You lost your memories," Wyper said. "That's what you claim. True or not, why come back now? You don't look like you intend to fight as a Shandia warrior."
"I… I…"
"Whatever the reason, don't think you have a place among us. Not after forgetting four hundred years of resentment stretching back to Great Warrior Kalgara. Not after abandoning the mission of the Shandia warriors. And especially not you—who had expectations placed on you as a future warrior, only to fail them and run."
Leona's mouth opened—
Then shut.
She wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
Yeah.
This isn't a discussion.
Not like this.
So—
"Ah—mmph?!"
"…?"
I stepped in and pulled Leona into my arms, tight.
Not to hide her like a shield—just to stop her from having to face that barrel, that glare. I pressed her face against my chest, blocking her view.
And then I met Wyper's eyes.
"Sorry," I said. "I'm taking her with me. You just said you don't need her, right? So this shouldn't be a problem, Mister Guerrilla."
Wyper's killing intent sharpened—worse than when he'd been speaking to her.
But he didn't shoot.
And I didn't flinch.
Leona trembled once—then, almost instinctively, her arms wrapped around me, clinging.
A few seconds passed that felt much longer than they should have.
Then Wyper spoke.
"Do what you want. Someone who hesitates, someone who's lost the will to fight… isn't needed as a Shandia warrior. Disappear wherever you like."
He signaled his people to stand down, and they moved to recover the warrior I'd knocked out.
"I told the Blue Sea group earlier too. Leave this island. If you get in our way… we'll erase you."
With that, he kicked his Waver and shot off through the trees, vanishing into the smoke and noise.
Once he was gone, the forest seemed to exhale.
That left me, Leona—
And Shizu, stepping out after her in her maid uniform.
When I confirmed Wyper was truly out of sight, I loosened my grip and let Leona breathe.
"Ugh… M-Mama, um… thanks. And, I—"
Thunk.
I gave her a single clean knuckle to the head.
"Do you know why you got hit?"
"Eh?! Uh… because I ran out of the house and came here without warning?"
"That too," I said. "But I heard. Suzu and Alice were worried. You disappeared without saying anything. And I… was worried too."
This time, I hugged her again—no tricks, no cover.
Just straight emotion.
Leona stiffened for a heartbeat, then softened in my arms.
"…I'm sorry," she said, voice small.
"I heard Suzu talking… and I remembered. My own past. And when I heard you were here, I couldn't stay still anymore. And there were things… Shandia village, and Aisa… and— I mean, it's just… I—"
Her thoughts were tangled.
Too many things at once, no idea where to start.
Pressing her now would only make it worse.
"Alright," I said. "We move first. It's almost evening. We'll take a breather, calm down, and then you'll tell me everything properly. No rush. Take your time and sort it out in your head."
"…Okay."
"Good."
Then I looked to the side.
"And Shizu," I said. "You too. Unlike Lupus, you don't have permission to go out yet, do you? Honestly…"
Shizu was small and slender, with an eyepatch over her left eye and heavy, mechanical gauntlets over both hands.
She was the maid Leona had chosen as her "legs" for this trip.
Her face didn't change much—she was naturally expressionless—but she lowered her head, just slightly.
"My apologies, Lady Sue. I will accept any punishment."
"Wait—Mama!" Leona blurted. "Shizu didn't do anything wrong! I forced her. I couldn't think of any other way to reach Sky Island, so I—so please don't punish her—"
"I know," I cut in. "I'm not an idiot. I'll hear the whole story later. For now, we move. Getting tangled up with another group like that would be a pain. And relax—no one's getting punished right now."
Shizu's shoulders eased by a fraction.
"Thank you for your mercy, Lady Sue."
"Let's regroup with Honey and the others," I said. "And we need to reunite with Sapphire and Luffy's group too. After that, we're going to talk. Properly."
"…Luffy?" Leona blinked. "Who's that?"
"I'll explain later," I said. "Come on."
I lifted Leona into my arms, spread my paper wings, and rose into the air.
Behind us, Shizu's thrusters ignited—back and legs—and she followed, gliding after me in a clean, controlled line.
Every time I see it, it still feels like she's breaking the world's rules.
Pure science fiction.
…Though to be fair, this world has Franky and the Pacifista, so who am I to complain?
Alright.
Let's move.
We'll reach the Sacrificial Altar before nightfall—no matter what.
To be continued...