Chapter 18: The Light and the Song

Chapter 18: The Light and the Song

“Yahahahaha! The sky is God’s territory! Neither man nor earth should exist here! They all belong on the ground!”

Enel laughed out loudly as he looked down on everyone beneath him.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the skies.

“The sky's my territory as well. Does that make me a God?”

Lucas glared at Enel but Enel didn’t mind him.

“Hahaha! As I said, you all are too late! Nothing can stop this now!”

“Not if I can help it!”

Lucas had set up a water dome a while ago, now, it can finally be of use!

He controlled the water and started to compact it, all the while pushing the thunder clouds out of the dome while protecting everyone from the lightning inside it!

Seeing this, Enel gritted his teeth in anger! But soon, he started to laugh.

“Yahahaha! You may have stopped the destruction of the island for now, but this isn’t over yet!

Enel laughed as his body turned into lightning and disappeared!

“Come back here!”

Lucas chased up in the sky but when he disappeared in the thunder clouds, it was impossible to track him down!

As soon as Enel went in the thunder cloud, the clouds started to form and compact and condense itself, creating a huge...black cloud filled with lightning!

Lucas’ face was pale, something as large as that...his water dome won’t be able to block it!

Advent of Thunder!

As the black mass of thunder cloud fell down, Lucas began to move as well!

The only way to stop something that big...was to create something bigger!

Lucas flew beneath the black cloud and expanded his wings! Water began to pour out of his body as he also started to gather the water from the water dome to create an even bigger water orb to trap the lightning inside!

In the sky, the black and blue orbs clashed!

Lightning began to expand in the water but was contained there, not able to escape from inside!

With all the lightning contained, Lucas began to compress the water orb even more along with the lightning! When it was small enough, he quickly tossed it far away from the island!

*BOOOOOOOM!*

The destruction left by the explosion caused everyone’s faces to turn as white as snow!

If that explosion had hit the island…

The Skypia citizens saw this as well and started to chant once again!

“God! God! God! God!”

At the distance, Enel’s face blackened! In his anger, he shot another huge pillar of lightning towards the citizens!

“I AM YOUR GOD! NOT HIM!”

Lucas moved quickly and shielded everyone from the lightning pillar!

“I may not be a God. But you’re definitely not one either!”

As the two of them began to fight once more in the sky, they noticed something shining on top of a cloud.

That was...the golden bell!

Enel’s eyes lit up and quickly went that way but Lucas stopped him.

“You’re not getting that bell! Our captain...still needs it!”

“You…!!!”

Enel was truly angered now! 

Meanwhile, Luffy had reached near the top of the beanstalk together with Nami.

“Luffy! Get on the waiver! We’re leaving!"

Nami tried to convince Luffy but he only shook his head.

“No.”

“What do you mean ‘No’!? This is…”

“I still have something to take care of! The golden bell is here!”

“Gold!? I know gold is important, but we will die if we don’t escape now! You saw it too, right!? Even if you are immune to lightning, he can still destroy the entire island and you with it! Lucas can’t possibly stop all of Enel’s attacks all the time!”

However, Luffy was still adamant on finding the golden bell!

“You saw it down there, right!?”

“Saw what?”

“The Golden City! The Golden City does exist!”

“...”

“It wasn’t a lie…! That diamond head mister’s ancestor...wasn’t lying! I have to tell him that Norland wasn’t lying...and the Golden City is here in the sky!”

Nami fell silent.

She remembered the man who helped them find a way to get to the Sky Island. Montblanc Cricket...in order to prove that his ancestor wasn’t lying, he kept diving the sea to look for traces of the Golden City...

“If I ring the bell really hard, I’m sure that he’ll hear it! Otherwise, he’ll keep diving into the sea trying to find this Golden City, and that’s dangerous!”

“Luffy…”

“I can’t let that bastard Enel get the bell! I have to ring it so loud that everyone in the Blue Seas will hear it! That’s why I’m staying here...and ring the golden bell no matter what!”

Since Luffy had already said so, and looking at his determined face, Nami can only sigh and follow along with the captain’s wishes.

Nami took a leaf from the beanstalk and began to write something on it before tossing it below.

On the ground, Zoro and the rest saw the huge leaf and the writings on it.

“There’s something written.”

“What does it say?”

“It says to cut the beanstalk...and make it fall westward…”

“What good would that do?”

Everyone looked up and saw the Maxim ship on the west side. Everyone understood Nami’s intention.

Zoro acted quickly and held his sword!

Slash!

In one second, he had slashed his sword two times, cutting a large chunk of the beanstalk on one side!

However...it wasn’t enough!

Suddenly, the huge snake seemed to have woken up and banged its head on the beanstalk!

“W-what!?”

But...the beanstalk only tilted a bit! It’s still not enough!

“Out of the way.”

Wyper, shoved Usopp who was on the way and moved quickly as well.

He jumped on the beanstalk and faced his palm on it as he gritted his teeth!

“REJECT!”

*Boom!*

A huge chunk of the beanstalk was blown away!

While everyone was still surprised by the power of the Reject dial, the beanstalk...began to tilt to the west side!

Above the beanstalk, Nami and Luffy noticed the commotion as well.

“It’s tilting! Luffy! This is it!”

“Okay! Let’s go, Nami!”

“I’ve never actually tried...turning the jet dial to the highest, so...I’m actually not sure if I can control this when we-...”

Nami was still feeling nervous as she spoke but Luffy didn’t bother about the details and simply trusted her instead.

“I trust you!”

“OK!”

*VROOOOM!!!*

The two drove towards the beanstalk with extreme speed!

In the sky, Enel and Lucas both noticed the two moving their way as well.

Enel was the first to react as he sent a lightning bolt towards Luffy and Nami!

Lucas moved as well and swung his iron cloud sword to block the lightning!

On the ground below, Wyper was looking upwards despite his bloodied body suffering from the backlash of the Reject dial.

“Go get him...brat…”

He fell on his knees as he was no longer able to stand still. But he never left his eyes in the sky above him.

“RING IT, BRAT! RING IT! RELIGHT THE LIGHT OF SHANDORA!!!”

On the side, Gan Fall was also looking up.

“Yes...my young friend...PLEASE LET US HEAR THE SONG OF THE ISLAND!!!”

Above the sky, Luffy had already pushed Nami away on top of a floating cloud so she wouldn’t get hurt.

As Luffy floated, the hand holding the huge golden orb was right behind him and his arm was twisted!

Enel gritted his teeth as he glared at Luffy!

“Hehe, hi again! This time, it’s my turn to knock you off!”

“You dammed monkey of the Blue Sea! Now you have truly angered God!”

Enel’s body expanded as he turned into pure electricity!

“MAX 200 MILLION VOLTS...AMARU!”

“Enel! Are you forgetting about me!?”

Lucas moved in front of Luffy and also expanded his body, turning into a huge figure made of pure water!

“NEPTUNE’S WRATH!”

The lightning and water Gods collided!

With one hand to block Enel, and another hand to support Luffy, Lucas gritted his teeth as he pulled Luffy towards Enel and manipulated the water such that three swirling spikes could be seen on the golden orb!

“Gomu gomu no…!”

“Mizu mizu no…!”

“Golden…!”

“Neptune’s…!”

Luffy and Lucas both glared at Enel…!

Enel also gritted his teeth as he could see what would happen yet unable to dodge!

“I AM GOD!!!”

““TRIDENT RIFLE!!!””

WOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“RIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!”

…

…

…

Together with Enel crashing on the golden bell and the golden orb in Luffy’s hand finally destroyed, the golden bell...finally rung!

For the first time...in 400 hundred years…!

The light of Shandora...the song of the island...was finally heard once more!!!

The golden bell fell off the floating cloud along with Luffy so Lucas flew down to catch him.

All the while, Luffy was still shouting!

“Do you hear it!? Diamond head mister!? Big monkeys!?”

The south birds began to cry out once more as they heard the familiar sound.

“The Golden City...does exist!!!”

On the ground, the others also looked up happily.

“He did it!”

“What a beautiful sound…”

“Wow! How nice! What’s that sound? What’s that sound?”

“...So this is what Norland heard back then…”

As the Strawhat crew smiled, Gan Fall cried tears of joy.

“I knew it...I knew this day would come...I knew it would…”

In the city of Skypiea, Conis also looked up.

“This is...the earth...it is singing…!”

“Does God...really exist?”

“It’s a miracle! After 400 years of silence...the bell has finally...rang again!”

Wyper closed his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing out.

“Do you hear it? Montblanc Norland...I’m sorry to be a little late. I only hope your descendant can hear this…”

Suddenly, the huge snake woke up once more and started to cry happily!

“Tsulalalala~!”

Back on the ground below the skies...Jaya.

Montblanc Cricket and the monkey brothers looked up to the clouds. Though they can’t see the Sky Island, they could hear the bell and also see something even better!

“Boss, is that…”

“There’s no doubt about it…”

Cricket grinned.

“Romantic, isn’t it…?”

They knew what this sound meant...his ancestor, Montblanc Norland was not a liar!

“The sound is...the proof he sent us from the sky!”

Cricket looked up on the clouds and saw two giant figures!

A man wearing what seemed to be a strawhat...and an angel reaching his hands towards him!

“Hey kid...so the Golden City...is all the way up there, huh? Thanks for telling us…!”

The three of them grinned for a moment before Cricket suddenly groaned.

“Boss!?”

“Is there something wrong!? Are you okay!?”

The monkey brothers panicked, but when they saw the tears and the grin on Cricket’s face, they smiled.

“I’m glad...you guys are alive and kicking up there…! I was worried…!”

Cricket was feeling worried if his actions of guiding them had actually killed Luffy and the rest!

But now...they seemed to be alive and fine!

As such, Cricket was finally relieved from his worries!

While Cricket and the monkey brothers celebrated, the Skypiea citizens saw Enel’s ship sank along with him!

“God Enel...sank with the ship!”

Everyone fell silent.

The sound of the bell...the proof of the Ancient city’s once prosperous past...the light of Shandora.

It is also the declaration of truce...the song of the island.

Though 400 years late, it is also...the sound of a promise kept.

No matter how long the journey of the floating island is...the memories of those in the past, are never forgotten.

Using the sound of the bell as a medium of message, blessings, and hope is spread...to the corners of the world!

“We will...always be here!!!”

That was what the sound from the bell seemed to have relayed to everyone who heard it…!

Luffy lay on the ground while Nami and Lucas watched over him.

“It rung…”

“Yup.”

“Think they...heard it…?”

Lucas smiled.

“I’m sure they did.”

As Luffy laughed, Lucas stood up.

“Come on...we should get down and check on the others.”

“Shishishishi!”

After Lucas flew Luffy and Nami back down, they reunited with everyone else along with Conis who also came when everything settled down.

“Heyy!!!”

“Luffy!”

“Miss Nami~! Conis-chan~!”

“Lucas!”

Seeing everyone all fine, Conis began to cry.

“I’m so glad you are all safe! I was so worried, but...I couldn't do a thing…”

“Oh, Conis-chan~ were you really that worried about me~?”

Sanji’s body twirled crazily towards Conis.

“Stop acting crazy.”

“Hey Conis, where’s your father?”

“Ah...he...um...he...tried to protect me...and Enel…!”

Hearing the tone of Conis, everyone more or less understood what had happened and they all looked at Conis with pity and sadness.

“You mean…”

“...”

“Conis-chan…”

“Conis…”

Seeing this scene, Lucas felt a bit weird.

He looked around but didn’t see Conis’ father at all. He was supposed to appear here!

...Hold on, if I remember correctly, Conis’ father fell to the White Sea...and was saved by the people who were escaping to Cloud’s End…

Lucas grimaced.

In this version, he had convinced everyone not to leave so...no one is there to save Conis’ father!

Lucas sighed and patted Conis' head.

“I’ll be back.”

“?”

Lucas didn’t wait for anyone to react and flew away!

He hurried towards the White Sea to search for Conis’ father!

Thankfully, he was still alive.

Lucas saw Conis’s father was injured and quickly used his water to heal him.

At that moment, he seemed to feel a bit weak but just shrugged it off, thinking he was too tired from the battle just now.

“Who…?”

“You’re awake. Come, I’ll take you to your daughter.”

“Ah...an angel? Am I dead? Wait, if you're taking me to my daughter...is she dead too!?”

…

Lucas felt it was weird to be called an angel by these Skypiea people who obviously have wings on their backs as well.

“You’re not dead. Neither is your daughter. I’ll take you to her now.”

No longer minding his reaction, Lucas simply carried him away and flew back to where Luffy and the rest is.

Conis saw that her father was still alive and well immediately jumped to embrace him!

“Father!”

“Conis!”

The two hugged for a while as they were watched by the others who had a smile on their faces.

Nami was moved by the warm atmosphere and moved to secretly hold Lucas’ hand.

Lucas was surprised by the sudden touch and enjoyed the warmth of her hand.

After Conis and her father separated, she looked at Lucas with eyes filled with gratitude.

“Thank you...God.”

“Uh...please stop calling me that…”

While Lucas was trying his hardest to dissuade Conis to stop calling him God, the ex-God, Gan Fall, had just freed the people Enel had slaved away to work on Maxim.

“You have all been imprisoned here for the past 6 years? I...I am sorry...fortunately now that the war is finally over, everyone can return home!”

With the ex-slaves finally reunited with their people and families, the Shandian tribe were also meeting their chief.

“Chief...will the 400 years of anguish really just simply go away like this?”

“Well...the God’s militia is destroyed so…”

However, the chief remained silent, seemingly thinking of something…

No one noticed that the Maxim had once again appeared in the skies with Enel driving it.

“God can never be defeated! I’ll come back someday...I will not allow anything in this world to stand in my way! Yahahaha...only I am worthy of this...the endless land like in a dream…”

Enel looked up and saw the huge moon that shone above.

“Go, Maxim! To the land that glows in the darkened sky...the Endless Land!!!”

We are now nearing the end of the Skypiea arc...finally. Coming up with names for the MC's attacks are really hard...but I have to since everyone in One Piece seems to have it -_- Even Zoro names his special moves...

Well, I am tired. And sleepy...see ya in the next chap!...Which is next Saturday...but if I got the time, I may post on Wednesday...fingers crossed :P