Days passed. Enel could not tell how many. In the white room, without windows, without changing light, time stretched endlessly.
But his body began to heal. The pain that had gnawed at his bones faded. The hunger that had burned his stomach eased. The thirst that had choked his throat subsided. He felt strength returning to his muscles, awareness returning to his mind.
On the morning of the fifth day—or what he thought was the fifth—he stood on his feet. No dizziness. No weakness. His body had finally rested.
He raised his hand. Focused. Tried to form lightning.
Nothing.
No spark. No flicker. No energy. It was as if the fruit he had eaten years ago had never existed. As if it were a distant dream.
He tried again. Nothing.
He tried to use Haki. Nothing. He couldn't sense anyone. Couldn't feel their heartbeats. The world around him was empty, silent, as if he were alone in this white room.
He struck the wall with his hand. Sharp pain in his fingers. The wall was solid, cold, unmoving.
"What is this place doing to me?" he whispered to himself.
He opened the door. Stepped into the corridor. The corridor was long, lit by the same cold blue light. He walked. Found no one. Continued walking. The corridors were intertwined, like a maze.
Then he heard voices. They came from behind a wall. He approached. Placed his ear against the cold metal.
"...we don't know if he's an enemy." It was the bald man's voice—Kain. Dry, sharp, like a blade.
"But he is weak," Miria's voice said. "He can't use his power. Can't even form a spark."
"Weakness does not mean innocence." The old woman's voice—Selene. Deep, calm, as if coming from a well. "Danger can come in a weak form."
"What do we do with him?" Miria asked.
"We watch him," Kain said. "The Suppression System will remain active. The room we placed him in contains the same material that blocks Devil Fruit powers."
"Like Seastone?" Miria asked.
"Like Seastone," Kain said. "But stronger. More precise. It does not affect our bodies, but prevents any outsider from using their power."
"And if he tries to escape?"
Kain did not answer. But his silence was louder than any word.
Enel stepped back from the wall. Returned to his room. Sat on the cold metal bed.
Seastone. He knew this. On Earth, Seastone blocked Devil Fruit powers. It was used to restrain dangerous pirates. Used to build prisons from which no one could escape.
And here, in this white room, it was the same. The walls. The floor. The ceiling. Everything made of a material resembling Seastone. Preventing him from using his power. Preventing him from using Haki. Making him helpless.
"The Suppression System," he said in a low voice. "That's what they call it."
He raised his hand. Looked at it. It was empty. No lightning. No power. Just two human hands.
"They don't trust me," he whispered. "They're afraid of me."
He laughed. A short, bitter laugh.
"They're afraid of me... and I can't even form a spark."
The next day, Miria came to his room. She carried food and water. Sat on the floor before him, as she usually did.
"I heard you," Enel said.
She looked at him. "What did you hear?"
"Yesterday. In the corridor. You were talking with Kain and Selene."
She was silent. She did not deny it. Did not justify. Just looked at him.
"The Suppression System," Enel said. "The walls of this room block my power."
"Yes."
"Like Seastone."
"Yes."
"Because you don't trust me."
She looked at him for a long time. Then she said, "Should we trust you?"
Enel was silent. He had no answer.
"You are a stranger," Miria said. "You came from Earth. From a place that betrayed us. From a world that destroyed us. You chase treasure. You chase power. What do we know about you?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing," she repeated. "We don't know if you are a spy. We don't know if you are an enemy. We don't know if you will betray us as others did."
"I am not a spy."
"That's what a spy would say."
Enel was silent. He was angry. He felt insulted. He wanted to shout, to threaten, to tell them he was a god who should not be imprisoned.
But he remembered. Remembered his defeat. Remembered Luffy. Remembered how weak he was when he arrived here. Remembered how much he needed them.
"I don't know how to convince you," he said. "But I am not an enemy. I came to learn. I came to become stronger. That's all."
Miria looked at him. In her golden eyes, he saw something he could not interpret. Caution? Curiosity? Perhaps something else.
"We will watch you," she said. "When we trust you... we will lift the Suppression. Not before."
"How do I know I can trust you?"
She smiled. A small, mysterious smile.
"You don't. Just as we don't."
In the following days, Enel began to explore the room where he was held. It was not large. Four white walls, a cold metal bed, one door. No windows. No furniture. Nothing.
But he noticed something. The walls were not ordinary. Their surface was smooth, cold, but they looked different from the metal he had seen in the great hall. Slightly darker. Denser.
He struck one with his hand. It left no mark. But he felt something strange. A faint vibration beneath his hand. As if the wall were breathing.
He sat on the bed. Raised his hand. Tried to form lightning. Nothing.
Tried Haki. Nothing.
He was helpless. For the first time since eating the lightning fruit, he was completely helpless. No lightning. No power. Nothing.
He closed his eyes. Breathed deeply.
"Don't panic," he told himself. "I will get out of here. I will regain my power. I will become stronger."
But his voice lacked certainty.
On the eighth day—or what he thought was the eighth—Kain came to his room.
The bald man stood at the door. Did not enter. Looked at Enel with his sharp eyes.
"Come," he said.
Enel followed him through the corridors. Kain did not speak. He walked quickly, his steps confident, as if he knew every corner of this maze.
He took him to a large hall. It was wide, walls of ordinary white metal, lit by blue light. In the center, Selene sat on a high chair. Beside her, Miria stood.
"Sit," Kain said.
Enel sat on the floor. Looked at the three.
"We want to know," Selene said. "About Earth. About the world there. About what happened after... after we left."
"I don't know what happened before you left," Enel said. "I know nothing about you."
Selene looked at Kain. Kain looked at Miria. They exchanged glances.
"What do you know?" Miria asked.
Enel thought. He knew little. Stories he heard in Skypiea. Ancient manuscripts. Legends about a lost kingdom.
"I know there is a void in history," he said. "A hundred years erased. No one knows what happened in them."
"A hundred years," Selene whispered. "They erased it. As they erased us."
"I know there are stone manuscripts. Poneglyphs. Forbidden to read. Those who read them are killed."
"The Poneglyphs," Kain said. "They still exist?"
"Yes. Scattered across the world. Some hidden. Some guarded by the World Government."
"The World Government," Kain said. His voice was cold. "That's what they call themselves now."
"Who are they?" Enel asked.
No one answered. Selene looked at the ground. Her trembling hands rested on a staff she had not carried before.
"We will talk later," Selene said. "Take him to his room."
Enel stood. He wanted to ask more. But he saw something in their eyes that stopped him. There was pain there. Old pain, deep, that had not yet healed.
That same night, Enel could not sleep.
He sat on the cold metal bed. Looked at the white walls. They trapped him. Prevented him from using his power. Made him weak.
But were they also protecting him? From what?
He remembered Miria's words: "We don't know if you will betray us as others did."
Who betrayed them? What happened to them? Why did they flee to the moon? Why did they disappear from history?
There were so many questions. And few answers.
He raised his hand. Looked at it. No lightning. No power. Just a hand.
"I will know," he whispered. "I will know everything."
He closed his eyes. Tried to listen. Not to the sounds around him. To his inner voice.
And for the first time in weeks, he felt something. A faint pulse. Distant. Weak. But there.
The lightning inside him. Still alive. Still there.
He smiled in the darkness.
"Still there."