Chapter 23: The Golden Lion's Invitation
The sea breeze near the entrance of Reverse Mountain usually carried the fresh, salty scent of adventure. Today, however, it carried the metallic tang of blood and the lingering ozone of destruction.
On the deck of the Freedom, a soft whoosh of displaced air signaled the return of the dark valkyrie. Albedo descended gracefully, the tips of her boots touching the wooden planks without making a sound.
Behind her, the massive, pitch-black wings that had just cast a shadow of death over the enemy fleet folded inwards, dissolving into particles of dark energy before vanishing completely.
The transformation was instantaneous and magical. The terrifying, full-body black armor that had deflected cannonballs and shattered ships melted away like mist under the morning sun. In its place, she was once again clad in her pristine, white gothic dress.
The fabric was immaculate, devoid of a single speck of dust or drop of blood, swaying gently in the wind as if she had just returned from a pleasant garden stroll rather than a massacre.
She raised a hand to her raven-black hair, smoothing a stray lock with elegant, slender fingers. Her posture was serene, her expression one of noble grace.
Nami, who was peeking out from behind the mainmast, felt a chill run down her spine. She had watched the slaughter.
She had seen this woman cleave a massive galleon in two with a single swing of an axe. To see her now, looking like a refined noblewoman, created a cognitive dissonance that terrified the young navigator.
'She… she wiped them out. Just like that,' Nami thought, her hands gripping her climatact tightly. 'Who are these people? I thought Arlong was a monster, but this… this is a different dimension entirely.'
She subconsciously swallowed a lump in her throat and shuffled half a step closer to Suzaku's back, seeking the only source of safety she could identify.
Albedo, however, paid no mind to the orange-haired girl. Her golden, vertically slit pupils were locked onto Suzaku with an intensity that bordered on religious fervor. To her, the rest of the world was merely background noise; only the Supreme Being mattered.
She approached him, lifting the hem of her dress in a curtsy that was perfection personified.
"Lord Suzaku," she purred, her voice dripping with honey and devotion. "The insects disturbing your peace have been cleared away. The silence has been restored."
"Lady Albedo," Rem interjected, her voice calm and practical as she stepped forward. She smoothed out her maid apron, her blue eyes scanning the floating debris in the distance.
"While your efficiency is commendable, Rem believes you should have left at least one alive. We have no intelligence on who sent them or why they targeted us specifically. Interrogation would have been prudent."
Albedo stood, her smile turning icy as she glanced at the maid. "The will of the Supreme Being is absolute. If they stand in his way, they die. Their reasons are irrelevant."
"It's alright, Rem," Suzaku said with a relaxed smile, reaching out to habitually ruffle Rem's short blue hair. The maid leaned into the touch slightly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "Albedo was just being thorough. Besides—"
He paused, the smile on his face fading into a look of sharp interest. He tilted his head back, his gaze moving past his companions, past the mast, and locking onto something high in the distant sky.
Albedo sensed the shift in his demeanor instantly. She spun around, her dress flaring, her face hardening into a mask of vigilance.
"It seems," Suzaku said, his voice dropping an octave, vibrating with a subtle excitement, "that the enemy has delivered themselves to our doorstep anyway."
"What?" Nami asked, her voice trembling.
"Look up," Suzaku commanded.
Nami and Rem followed his gaze.
Above the azure expanse of the East Blue, the sky was changing. The leisurely floating white clouds were being churned and pushed aside by a massive, unnatural force. The sunlight dimmed, cast into shadow by something colossal descending from the heavens.
Slowly, majestically, a silhouette tore through the cloud layer.
It wasn't a ship. It wasn't a bird.
It was an archipelago.
Massive chunks of earth, rocky crags, and lush vegetation defied gravity, floating in the air as if they were weightless.
Waterfalls cascaded from the edges of the floating islands, turning into mist long before they hit the ocean surface below. It appeared like a myth descending into reality, a kingdom of the gods lowering itself to the mortal realm.
The shadow it cast was immense, swallowing the Freedom and the surrounding sea in darkness. The air pressure grew heavy, pressing down on their chests, a physical manifestation of the power required to keep such mass afloat.
"No... you're kidding, right?!" Nami shrieked, her hands flying to her mouth. Her eyes bulged, her navigator's brain unable to process the impossibility before her. "The enemy is coming from the sky?! Islands... actual islands are floating in the air! That violates every law of physics! Barometric pressure doesn't work like that! Gravity doesn't work like that!"
The sight completely overturned her understanding of the world. She had drawn maps of islands, reefs, and currents, but she had never accounted for landmasses that flew.
The massive floating island cluster continued its descent, stopping at a height that was oppressive but allowed for conversation. The wind generated by its displacement whipped the sails of the Freedom violently.
Then, movement caught their eyes.
From the edge of the largest central island, a figure leaped.
It was a wild, domineering leap into the abyss. But the figure did not plummet to his death. Instead, he floated, defying gravity as easily as the islands behind him. He descended slowly, controlled, like a feather caught in a downdraft.
As he drew closer, his features became distinct. He was an imposing man, his presence radiating a raw, untamed power. A mane of golden hair flared out around his head like a lion's crest, reaching down to the ground. He wore a traditional orange and black kimono, open at the chest, revealing a body toughened by decades of war.
But the most horrifying detail was his legs.
Where flesh and bone should have been, two gleamed, cold steel blades replaced his shins and feet. The famous swords, Oto and Kogarashi, served as his prosthetics, clanking softly as he adjusted his floating stance.
Embedded deep in his skull was a wooden steering wheel, a permanent scar of a bygone era, giving him the appearance of a crazed rooster or a broken king.
He hovered in the air, just off the Freedom's gunwale, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked down at Suzaku with a playful, appraising gaze, like a veteran gladiator sizing up a promising rookie in the arena.
The air seemed to freeze. The waves stopped lapping against the hull. The seagulls fell silent.
On one side stood a living legend, a relic of the era of Gol D. Roger, a man who had once threatened to destroy the world. On the other, a newcomer from the weakest sea, aiming to turn the world upside down.
Golden Lion Shiki's gaze was sharp, heavy, and oppressive. It felt like physical weight. He was trying to pierce through Suzaku, to weigh his soul and gauge his worth. His eyes held a mix of curiosity, scrutiny, and the undisguised, condescending arrogance of a ruler looking at a subject.
Suzaku, however, did not flinch. He stood tall on the deck, his hands in his pockets. He met the terrifying gaze of the Golden Lion without a hint of fear. Instead, a faint, imperceptible smile played on his lips. His eyes didn't hold terror; they held the keen interest of a gamer encountering a hidden boss.
The silence stretched, thick and suffocating.
Nami felt her knees buckling. The pressure radiating from the man in the sky was triggering every survival instinct she had. It screamed at her to run, to hide, to grovel.
"Suzaku..." she whispered, shrinking behind him, using his back as a shield against the overwhelming aura. Her voice was barely audible, trembling with panic. "Who... who is this guy? Why can he float? Is he a god?"
"Him?" Suzaku's tone was nonchalant, casual, as if he were introducing a neighbor he met at the market rather than a world-ending threat. "He's pretty much a living legend. A relic of the old era."
Suzaku stepped forward, looking up at the floating man.
"He is the Great Pirate who once contended with the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, for dominance over this vast sea. He commanded the largest fleet in history. He fought Garp the Hero and Sengoku the Fleet Admiral simultaneously at Marineford, destroying half the fortress before he fell."
Suzaku paused, enjoying the look of horror dawning on Nami's face.
"He was the first man in history to successfully escape from the inescapable prison, Impel Down, by cutting off his own legs. His name is... Shiki. The Golden Lion."
High above the deck, Shiki raised an eyebrow. He listened as this overly young newcomer recited his resume with a calm accuracy that was unsettling. Most brats in the East Blue thought Roger was a myth; this kid knew the details of the Battle of Edd War and the escape from Impel Down.
Shiki glanced at the wreckage of his vanguard fleet sinking in the distance. Wood and canvas bobbed in the water, the only remains of his subordinates.
A complex glint flickered in his world-weary eyes.
"Jihahahaha!"
Shiki suddenly burst into loud, raucous laughter. It was a wild, penetrating sound that made the air hum and the water vibrate. It was the laugh of a madman, or a king.
"Jihahaha! Interesting! You know your history, brat! You're quite capable for a rookie!"
He stopped laughing abruptly. His gaze snapped to Albedo, analyzing her with the speed of a striking cobra, before pinning back onto Suzaku.
"The fleet I sent... it was that woman beside you who took them out, wasn't it? I felt the disturbance in the atmosphere. Truly impressive power. A Devil Fruit user? Or something else entirely?"
Shiki leaned forward, descending a few more inches. His expression shifted from scrutiny to the pure appreciation a predator has for a sharp set of claws.
"I have been planning for twenty years. I have been waiting for the right pieces to set my plan in motion. I need strength. I need ruthlessness."
He extended a hand towards Suzaku, palm open, an invitation that felt more like a decree.
"How about it, brat? The East Blue is too small for a monster like you. Are you interested in becoming my right hand?"
The Golden Lion grinned, his eyes manic.
"Become my subordinate! Join my fleet! Follow me, and together we will destroy this world and rule over the boundless sea!"