"You're quite the sly one, Aisa, going off to say goodbye to those Blue Sea people all by yourself without telling anyone."
Laki snipped away at the hair of the quirky little girl in front of her, speaking with mock reproach. "Everyone is feeling quite regretful that they didn't get the chance to see our benefactors off."
"Heeheehee… it couldn't be helped! If it weren't for my Mantra, I wouldn't have even noticed they were trying to leave without a word. Besides, Luffy and the others specifically emphasized that I shouldn't tell anyone. What choice did I have?"
Sticking out her tongue, Aisa tilted her small head up slightly and gazed toward the distant sky. "I wonder when we'll see them again."
"I didn't expect those Blue Sea warriors to be so strong. One could stretch, another could reflect things, and one could even control lightning just like Enel…"
The more the little Shandia girl spoke, the more excited she became, eventually gesturing wildly with her hands. "Laki, you should have seen it! Sherlock's blood-red lightning clashing with Enel's blue lightning in mid-air… even though it felt terrifying at the time, it was seriously, seriously, seriously cool!!!"
"When I grow up, do you think I can become as strong as them?" Aisa's face was full of yearning.
"Sherlock? You mean that Blue Sea man with the glasses?"
Laki gently snipped off a small lock of Aisa's hair. "I remember seeing him the night before last, discussing things with the Great Elder and Gan Fall. He seemed very interested in why the plants on the Sky Island grow so tall."
"And Aisa, the battle is over. We don't need to pick up weapons anymore. We just need to live happily like ordinary Sky Islanders; that's enough."
Setting down her scissors, the beautiful warrior gave a heartfelt smile. "Alright, that's enough cutting. I'm sure you'll look very cute once you grow your hair out~"
"Cute? Me??" Aisa, who had always been as boisterous as a tomboy, found the word "cute" quite foreign.
"That's right, you are a girl, after all," Laki nodded. "As a girl, you should start paying a little more attention to your image."
"Pay attention to my image? Oh, I get it."
Aisa clapped her hands in realization. "So that's why you didn't forget to carry a hair-drying tool with you even when we were attacking Upper Yard!"
Thinking back to how she had been silly enough to steal a hair dryer and sneak into the danger-filled Upper Yard, the red-haired girl's gaze toward Laki suddenly filled with resentment. Her dark, spirited eyes seemed to say:
(Hmph, vain Laki…)
"Ahem."
Coughing lightly, Laki turned her head away. Her usually dignified and beautiful face was now the picture of sheer embarrassment.
"Anyway, Wyper and the others should be ringing the bell to see our great benefactors off. We should hurry over too."
"Don't change the subject! Ahhh, Laki, don't run! Dammit! You're just bullying me because I don't know how to use a Waver! Don't run! Laki!!!"
Meanwhile, the crew on the Going Merry all looked like they were still in a state of shock. After all, a free-fall from over 10,000 meters in the air—ship and all—was a bit too intense.
"Phew, thank goodness we've slowed down…"
Seeing that the ship had begun a steady descent, Nami wiped the thin sweat from her brow and let out a long sigh of relief. "Hey, guys, is everyone okay?"
"I… I thought I was dead for sure this time~~" Usopp lay prone on the deck, looking completely over-stimulated.
"What is this? A hot air balloon?" Sanji looked up at the giant octopus that had enveloped the ship like a balloon and lit a cigarette.
"This should be a local specialty of the Sky Island, the 'Octopus Balloon.'"
Sherlock leaned against the ship's railing, pushing up his glasses with a calm expression as he explained to his crewmates. "Don't worry. With this to slow us down, we will descend at a very leisurely pace. Calculating the time, I'm afraid it will be night by the time we land in the Blue Sea."
After hearing the Sorcerer's explanation, everyone's hearts settled, and the anxiety from a moment ago vanished into thin air.
"But Sherlock, since you knew about this beforehand…"
Robin crossed her arms, her eyes shimmering with a mysterious glint as she looked at the man in glasses. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? You gave us quite a scare."
"Yeah! Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"You could have at least given us some time to prepare mentally, Sherlock!"
Hearing this, Nami and the others immediately turned their questioning gazes toward the Sorcerer.
"Well, about that…" Sherlock contemplated for a moment, then revealed a harmless, innocent smile.
"I simply forgot."
"Forgot? Did you really forget?"
Nami stared suspiciously into his eyes, activating her Observation Haki on Sherlock. Then, the navigator narrowed her eyes and whispered with a fake, stiff smile, "You didn't do this on purpose just to see us panicking like a bunch of idiots, did you?"
"The wind is very strong at high altitudes, and it will be a long time before we land in the Blue Sea. I wonder where we'll drift to."
Uttering a non sequitur that had absolutely nothing to do with the conversation, Sherlock simply turned his head away, leaving the others with nothing but his elegant profile.
(That subject change was way too clumsy! And don't you dare turn your head away, hey!)
Everyone had lines of frustration on their faces as they complained loudly in their heads. They suddenly realized that while this man in glasses usually acted like a refined, perfect gentleman, he was actually a man with a very "twisted sense of humor" at certain times.
Furthermore, Nami and the others felt that rather than saying Sherlock's way of changing the subject was clumsy, it was more like he was tacitly admitting it in a very subtle way—as if he were saying, "Yes, that's right, I just wanted to see your hilarious faces. Hahaha, come and hit me then~~~"
"Yeah, I wonder where we'll drift to! I'm looking forward to it! I hope it's somewhere interesting, hahahaha…" Completely unaware that Sherlock was deflecting, the dimwitted Captain scratched his head and laughed heartily.
(Sigh, looking at it this way, being a simple-minded idiot like Luffy is actually quite a blessing.)
The crew looked at their Straw Hat Captain, then at their bespectacled strategist, and then let out a collective sigh, thinking to themselves how the two of them were actually quite a pair.
Clang~
Clang~
Clang~
A familiar tolling of a bell suddenly echoed through the sky. Even from so far away, the Straw Hat Pirates heard it with perfect clarity. That great sound, piercing through the clouds, seemed to play a farewell movement for their journey to the Sky Island—or perhaps it was a proud song for the land that sat atop the clouds.
"It's the sound of the Golden Bell!" Chopper scrambled up from the deck in excitement.
"They must be seeing us off."
Robin reached out to tuck a few strands of wind-blown hair behind her ear, murmuring, "After all, four hundred years ago, their ancestors saw off their friends in the same way."
"I wonder if Old Man Cricket heard the bell."
"Don't worry, Luffy. You rang it so hard, he definitely heard it." Saying this, Zoro actually lay down on the spot, looking like he was about to start his daily nap.
(Speaking of which, wasn't my mother's dream before she passed away to take a trip to a Sky Island?)
Listening to the chimes echoing across the sky, the floodgates of Sherlock's memory began to open. The chaotic high-altitude currents blew through his black-and-silver hair. As he gazed at the Kingdom of Heaven—which looked close enough to touch but was actually already far away—the eyes behind his lenses grew misty.
(I suppose I've fulfilled her dream for her. Seeing for her how beautiful the islands above the clouds are, and how cute the winged angels are.)
(Though to be honest, while the scenery of the Sky Island is indeed beautiful and dreamlike, as for the angels…)
While Sherlock had indeed met "proper" and cute angels like Conis, the first person to pop into the Sorcerer's mind when "angels" were mentioned was a certain energetic and audacious Shandia brat.
(…I really didn't see anything 'cute' about her.)
Looking down at the spot on the back of his hand where Aisa had once bitten him, the corners of Sherlock's mouth curled up slightly. He gently pushed up his glasses, and two streaks of white light reflected off the lenses for a fleeting second.
(Utterly foolish.)
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze