(Bellamy POV)
“Impact!” BAMM “By Davy John’s locker, that fucking hurts!” Ross cursed, cradling his wrists while Hewitt looked on with a confident smirk on his face.
“That's because you're weak, Ross. You obviously need more strength training. Here, let me show you how a real man does it. Impact-fuck!”
Of course, that smirk got wiped off rather quickly, much to Ross' amusement.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of you being crybaby Hewitt."
Ahh, sweet sweet music.
“So, I’m supposed to press this?”
“Yes, the axe dial can release slashes of varying potency…wait wait wait wait! Sarquiss, you’re pointing it the wrong wa…”
“Gaaah! Muret, I’m bleeding!”
“Calm down you big sissy. It’s only a scratch.”
Can you hear it? The sound of weakness being hammered away.
“This breath dial could be used to store perfume, right?”
“What’s perfume?”
“Oh, girl, have you missed out.”
We spent the morning testing out the dials most commonly used in dial warfare. It hadn't taken much time to convince my crew of their usefulness, as the crew had been suitably impressed by the destructive potential of the impact and axe dials during the initial demonstrations. Once given the green light, they had scrambled to try them out for themselves and were currently paying the price.
"Rivers, you're on fire!"
"I know, right? I'm amazing."
"No, you're really on fire!"
But already, there were glimpses of future possibilities.
“Look at me, captain! This is great!”
Mani took to the skates near immediately and had been twirling and flipping around the training area all morning. “It feels like I’m flying! WheeeEEEEEEEH!?!”
Of course, it was only glimpses at the moment.
My crew wasn't going to be able to use these dials effectively any time soon, and it would take weeks if not months until my crew had fully integrated these dials into their personal fighting styles.
“You’re telling me I could have a fire sword?”
“Well, more like covering your sword in a layer of heat and flames…but yes. A fire sword.”
“You’ve got to teach me. Please please please pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease” CRACK “…ow!”
I hadn't quite figured out how to use these for myself either. The most obvious idea would have been to use an impact dial or a reject dial if I could get my hands on one. Like Luffy, my unique body should have no issue absorbing the backlash by turning a part of my arm into a spring, meaning that there wouldn't really be a downside to using one. Perhaps I could stud a glove with them for some extra oomph when I’m brawling?
Or I could use a water dial to store seawater and spray a devil fruit user…I was an idiot, wasn't I? Why didn’t I bottle up some seawater before coming up here? Robin tried that against Crocodile in Alabasta so it was obviously a viable tactic.
Plus, Enel was arrogant as fuck so chances were that he would have let my “attack” hit him, just to mock me afterwards for its ineffectiveness. And as a sky island resident, he'd likely never come into contact with sea water, so he wouldn’t have been aware of that particular weakness of his either.
That would have been so much simpler than my plan to destroy the Ark Maxim! Gods, this was so infuriating! Wait, seawater was just rain plus salt, right? And rain was just condensed cloud water…
“Why do you sound funny?” a high-pitched voice interrupted my thoughts before I could jump further down the rabbit hole.
Pardon?
“Hey, don’t ignore me! I’ve got a weapon!” the voice spoke up again, making me look down, only to be faced by a little girl brandishing a flame dial knife in my direction.
Aisa really was cute as a button. Almost like a little angel.
Must resist…the urge…
”Hello, I’m Bellamy. Who’re are you?” I asked.
“I’m Aisa!” she answered brightly.
Must resist…can’t…
I crouched, bringing my eyes to the same level as hers. “Nice to meet you Aisa. What was your question again?”
“You sound garbled, like two people talking over each other. Why is that?” she asked, tilting her head in confusion. Oh, my poor heart. Cuteness overload…wait, that wasn't really important right now.
“Like two people?” I repeated questioningly and she gave me an emphatic nod in response.
“Yeah, I can use mantra to hear the voices of everyone, but you almost sound like two people. And fuzzy. It’s really odd.”
That...that had to be a side effect of my reincarnation, but what did it mean? Was Bellamy still somehow alive inside of me? Was it something like an evil-me situation from Naruto? Or was it because Bellamy and I weren't fully integrated yet?
“I’m not sure, Aisa. You’re the first person I’ve met who has mantra. You must be really special.” I praised her. Children liked compliments and this obviously held true even up here, Aisa looking quite pleased with herself. “But can you please explain what you mean with fuzzy?”
“Yeah, so I can usually tell where people are, even when I close my eyes. However you're a bit different because it’s like you are vibrating really quickly. I can still sense you but it’s a lot harder.”
That…was potentially very useful information when fighting against Enel and his priests. The implications for my soul on the other hand were rather damning but in the here and now? Potentially useful. Now, if they decided that I was an abomination that needed culling under any circumstances, that would be a different matter entirely but as Aisa wasn't looking at me in disgust and horror, this was unlikely to be the case.
“Aisa, what does it feel like to you when you listen to me with your mantra?”
She scratched her head, deep in thought. I waited patiently, knowing that it was not an easy question to answer, especially if one was trying to put something as abstract as haki-sense into words. But eventually, she looked back up with a pleased grin on her face. “You sound like a badly tuned instrument, just like what Kamakiri plays when he thinks that no one is listening.”
“HEY!!! I do not!”
“Yes, you do! Why do you think we told you to replace that old thing years ago!” Laki shouted back.
“Screw you! It still sounds like it did when my grandpa played it!”
Then again, while Enel’s priests were strong, they were also simpletons who didn't really have a personal stake in Enel's final plans. They were merely sadists who would prefer to stick to their little games, and likely weren't going to come looking for me just because I felt a little odd. But Enel was a wildcard, as depending on his mood he may disqualify me from his tournament entirely. And that tended to go quite badly for the disqualified.
“Thank you, Aisa. You've helped me out a lot,” I said to her, gently patting her head and smiling to hide my inner turmoil. Of course, it didn't work.
“You…you don’t always sound bad. Sometimes you sound really nice, like two people singing!” So my soul-state was dynamic? “Like when you were talking to Grandpa! You sounded nice!”
“Thank you Aisa, that makes me feel much better.” Even if I didn't really know what that implied. I patted her on the head again, much to her vocal protest, but at least that distracted her from how I was feeling. Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t. Either way, Aisa soon changed gears.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Bellamy? What is it like living on the Blue Sea?”
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I felt as if I was forgetting something…
Breakfast? Check, had it at seven in the morning consisting of some grilled sky fish and an assortment of fresh vegetables and toast.
Lessons in dial warfare? Check. In fact, my crew was taking a well-deserved break after having spent the last two hours experimenting.
Regaled Aisa with tales from the world below? Check. She loved hearing about all the places we (that was the OG Bellamy & crew) had visited and the many tourist hotspots dotted along the Grand Line. She also salivated whenever I described the wide variety of cuisines one could experience. For a girl who’s diet had been limited to fish and vegetables until now, the world below must have sounded like paradise. Paradise…heh.
I even subtly probed her for knowledge on haki but that more or less came to nothing. Mostly because she couldn’t explain it beyond the words, “you just got to listen really carefully”. This was a common problem with geniuses. Oh, she did recognise that not everyone had haki, but she simply wasn't able to view the problem from a non-user’s point of view. Worse still, she had no idea as to how one should go about unlocking it. Aisa has had haki ever since she'd been a baby and hence to her it had just been ever present. This was probably why no other Shandian possessed haki, though I’m certain they tried. They would have been stupid not to attempt it and from what I could glean through our interactions so far, they were far from stupid.
Maybe I should capture one of Enel’s priests and interrogate him?
…Enel…priest…
…crap.
“Aisa, just out of curiosity, is there a possibility that perhaps there's a chance something out of the ordinary may have happened at the Upper Yard in the last two days?” Even to my own ears, my voice sounded really wooden. How could I forget? This had been the whole point of us coming up here in the first place!
Aisa thought it over for a moment before going absolutely still. Then, with a creaking sound, her head rotated in my direction, revealing her face distorted in horror.. “Oh no! I forgot to tell Wyper! What do I do?”
In the face of her obvious panic and being the sole adult around, I felt obligated to take charge. Which, for all practical intents and purposes meant delegating responsibility to the most capable and well-suited individuals.
“There’s only one thing you can do.” I said, my face solemn as I gently but firmly placed my hands on Aisa’s shoulders. “Go tell him right now and let him know I called for a meeting, so we can make a plan on what to do next.”
Aisa gave me a shaky nod before rushing off. I forgot to ask her exactly what had happened but it was probably going to be fine.
Anyway, worrying wasn't going to help right now and I had things to do. Such as getting my crew ready.
“Alright maggots! Break time is over! I want to be ready to set sail and I wanted it yesterday! Jump to it!”
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(Sarquiss POV)
Sarquiss thought himself a very open-minded person. He didn’t bat an eye when his best friend turned himself into a collection of springs. A noble turned pirate turned his girlfriend with a foul mouth? Yes, thank you very much. A geyser that can carry a ship into the sky? Been there, done that. People with wings and bazookas? Eh, sure why not.
But there had to be a limit. Rushing off to fight a god? Sarquiss was brave, not suicidal. You didn't fight the gods. One didn't have to look further than what had happened to Fisher Tiger. Judgement would find you. You could run for a while or hide, but it never ended well. This was utter madness and he didn't hesitate to tell his captain as much. His captain listened but tried to convince Sarquiss instead.
“We have no choice.” That seemed to happen a lot these days. “From what I hear, we are invaders to his realm. If we don’t fight him now, he’s going to come after us later.”
No choice but to ride the knock up stream. No choice but to fight a god. When had his life turned into a series of impossible decisions?
“Couldn’t we run away?” Muret asked, voicing what Sarquiss had been thinking, to which he could only think: Nicely done Muret, knew your brains were good for something. This wasn't cowardice. This was being smart.
“Where would we run? To another sky island? We would get lost with no way of finding this place again. The Shandians can’t spare a guide, because they are all joining the assault force.”
“Maybe, we could go back down…” Mani tried but was interrupted by Eddy.
“…back to the Blue Sea? The log pose hasn’t reset yet. Are you daft?”
“I was just making a suggestion... There's no need to get aggressive, Eddy.”
“The way I see it, we have two choices.” Bellamy slowly circled the table, stopping ever so briefly behind each member of the crew. “We can either join the Shandians in attacking the Upper Yard and fight together against this self-professed god. Or,”
Then he stopped by his own seat to lean his full weight on the table with both hands. “Or, we can try to run and fight this self-professed god on our own without backup, when he eventually comes looking for us. And make no mistake, we are in his backyard. He will find us.”
Fuck.
“What do you mean by self-professed, captain?” Muret asked, holding up a dainty hand.
“This Enel is not a real deity. Up here, the title of god is less a description of the divine but rather a label of rank for the local leader,” Bellamy explained while tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Though, that doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. From the reports, it is very likely that he has a devil fruit which is lightning based.”
That certainly didn't help their chances. Devil fruits were no joke.
“At least it’s only that, right captain? After all, you’ve got a devil fruit too.” Ross asked hopefully.
Sarquiss palmed his face in despair. That was just asking for bad news.
Ross…why? Just, why?
“I’m afraid not. Most of the rank and file are weaklings. But Enel and his four priests have something they call mantra, some mysterious ability which grants them very good reflexes, almost venturing into the realm of precognition.”
And here, girls and boys, was exhibit A on why you did not challenge fate like this. Because she could and would screw you over whenever and wherever possible.
The room fell silent while the crew let the message sink in. Despite all of their bravado, they themselves knew better than anybody else, that they weren't the strongest fighters around. To be honest, they had been coasting along on Bellamy’s coattails for a fair bit in the recent months. This kind of situation where each of them was required to actively participate in the fight against a foe objectively more powerful than they were, this was new and Sarquiss did not like it one little bit.
“It’s not without hope though. We outnumber the priests by a significant margin and the Strawhats are likely already fighting them. Which includes their hundred million belli captain and the pirate hunter.” That statement was greeted by some nods of assent. While they had no first hand evidence, surely two men with such high bounties had to be powerful, right? Then the captain tacked on: “Plus, I’m no slouch, either.”
Of that there was no doubt. Bellamy’s bounty did not reflect his true strength, this was known to all of them. The marines were just hesitant to increase Bellamy’s bounty due to who his patron was.
“A week ago, did any of you imagine that we’d be here? That we’d ride the knock-up stream with no hands lost?” At the rhetorical question, Sarquiss reflexively shook his head and clenched his fists. Even in such impossible situations, their captain had proven himself to be reliable. They had not doubted him then.
“I promised you then, and I’m promising you now. We’re not going to die.” Bellamy’s smile turned vicious. “Boys and girls, let's go kill ourselves a god.”
They would not doubt him now.