No one knew how much time had passed.
The sea around them remained silent. Only the bow disturbed the surface, sending a soft line of water along both sides of the hull.
Below the ship, the water was so clear that they could see far into the depths. What moved beneath them went against everything sailors believed about the sea.
The waters of the East, South, West, and North Blue met here without walls between them. Warm currents and freezing water flowed through the same place.
Silver-scaled cod from beneath the ice of the North Blue swam beside red sea bream from the warm coral reefs of the South Blue. Red and silver flashes crossed beneath the ship as the two schools passed through each other.
Anglerfish and glowing jellyfish that normally remained deep below the surface now swam through the upper water. Their pale lights drifted through the darkness like lanterns.
Creatures from the East Blue, West Blue, South Blue, and North Blue moved beside fish from the deepest trenches and the shallowest shores.
Species that should never have shared the same waters swam together in this single ocean.
"Is this... what the sea originally looked like?"
Aiden stood at the bow and watched schools of fish from every sea pass beneath the hull.
The surface reflected the seven moons overhead and the stars spread across the night sky.
Fish passed through the reflected light, breaking the stars into silver ripples.
The ship sailed across the reflection, and the horizon disappeared between the water and the sky.
"So beautiful..."
Tia still leaned against Aiden's chest. She remained there without noticing how much time had passed.
"Is this... the legendary Sea of Dreams?"
Tia whispered the question, barely louder than the water against the bow.
"The All Blue," Aiden said.
"So... it really does exist."
The sea that most people dismissed as a legend was right in front of them.
Aiden stopped watching the fish and thought about the world eight hundred years in the future.
He knew what the All Blue would mean to the people of that era.
In the future he came from, most people treated it as an old tale passed between cooks and sailors.
He remembered Zeff, the stubborn old man who had lost a leg at sea. He also remembered Sanji, the blond cook who smoked constantly and joined the Straw Hat Pirates to search for this place.
For both men, finding the All Blue had become the dream that guided their lives, even though neither of them knew whether it was real.
When Aiden was sent into the past, neither of them had found it.
Now he understood why.
The world had not always looked the way it did in his era.
Aiden raised his eyes toward the empty darkness in the distance. In the future, the Red Line would stand there.
In the time he knew, that continent divided the world.
The Red Line cut across the ocean, while the two Calm Belts made ordinary travel between the regions almost impossible.
Sailors already used the names East, West, North, and South Blue for the different parts of the ocean, but those waters were still connected. After the world changed, those regional names would become true divisions.
People and nations would be separated by routes that few ships could cross.
"How cruel..."
Aiden's hand tightened around the railing.
They had arrived just before this sea was destroyed.
Soon, the red continent would rise.
The victors of the war would cut the natural paths between the oceans and place a physical wall across the world.
The All Blue before him would disappear when those waters were separated. In the future, only scattered stories about it would remain.
Aiden looked down at the stars reflected in the water. He had not entered this place only to pass through it and leave.
He had seen the divided oceans of the future. Now he had also seen what existed before them.
No one else from his time had shared both of those views.
Aiden lowered his head and watched the fish beneath the ship.
He could not stop the future by simply remembering this place, but he refused to let the sight disappear from his mind.
The world would be divided, and this sea would be lost.
He would remember what stood here before the Red Line. One day, the people trapped on opposite sides of that wall might once again search for the sea that connected them all.
Remember how wide it was. Remember how freely everything moved. Remember what the sea once was.
Once the thought settled in his mind, something inside Aiden changed.
His breathing slowed.
Until now, he had mostly used Conqueror's Haki to overwhelm enemies and force weaker wills into submission.
Standing before this sea, he understood that strength did not always need to crush what surrounded it.
A ruler did not have to stand above everyone and demand that they kneel.
The sea could destroy entire fleets, yet it also gave countless lives a place to exist together.
Aiden said nothing.
His Conqueror's Haki spread from his body.
There was none of the violent black lightning that usually appeared when his will struck an enemy.
This time, the pressure moved quietly across the water without targeting anyone.
The reach of his Haki continued to expand until it passed far beyond the ship.
The sea remained calm.
The fish did not flee or lose consciousness. They changed direction together and began circling the ship.
More schools joined them. Silver, red, blue, and golden bodies formed long streams beneath the water.
The drifting lights of the jellyfish moved with them, filling the dark sea around the ship.
Rumble...
Large shapes began rising from the depths. Water rolled away from broad backs covered in moss and coral.
They were dozens of enormous Sea Kings.
Thick shells and old scars covered their bodies. Coral had grown along deep grooves in their skin. They surfaced slowly, sending broad waves away from the ship.
The Sea Kings did not attack.
They lowered their heads until their huge eyes were level with the deck.
Aiden's Haki had not forced them into submission. Through the Voice of All Things, he sensed their attention and a calm recognition that he could not put into words.
"Ooooh—"
A deep call rolled through the water and shook the hull.
A second Sea King answered, then a third. Soon, low cries surrounded the ship and traveled across the quiet sea.
The crew stopped moving.
Several men dropped the bottles and bowls in their hands. Others gripped the railing and stared at Aiden as the Sea Kings gathered around him.
Beside Aiden, Tia remained against his chest.
She raised her head and studied his face.
The stars reflected across the water behind him, while the Sea Kings waited around the ship without attacking.
For a moment, Aiden reminded her of someone else.
She remembered a man who laughed loudly, crossed borders without caring about rank or race, and drew people toward him without taking away their freedom.
Joy Boy.
Tia's breath caught as the resemblance became harder to ignore.
"He's like... the sun before dawn."
Aiden did not hear her.
He stood at the bow and listened to the distant voices moving through the sea.
Then he understood something else.
He had spent a long time thinking of himself as someone displaced from his own era, watching events that had already become history in the future.
But his actions here were changing those events.
"Let's go."
Aiden spoke after the Sea Kings fell quiet.
The largest creature turned toward the southeast. The others followed, moving ahead of the ship and opening a path through the water.
With the Sea Kings swimming around it, the Freedom continued toward the southeast.
...
The reflected stars gradually faded behind them.
As the Freedom sailed southeast, the clear water darkened and returned to its usual deep blue.
The clean, cool air of the All Blue gave way to the ordinary smell of salt and damp wood.
Several hours later, land appeared ahead.
"We're almost there."
Captain Banks stood at the bow. His usual grin was gone as he leaned forward and watched the dark outline grow larger.
The rest of the crew crowded behind him. Some laughed under their breath, while others slapped each other on the shoulders.
They had done it.
They had crossed the Death Corridor, a route that sailors had avoided for hundreds of years. They had also seen the All Blue with their own eyes.
They were the first crew in generations to reach the other side.
"Once we cross this last stretch of water, we'll be there."
Banks drew a deep breath and gripped the railing.
"We... we really made it through!"
The outline of a large island rose ahead.
"Is that... Binta Island?"
Captain Banks studied the coastline, then smiled when he recognized it.
"That's an island affiliated with the Great Kingdom. It's famous for its wine and instruments! Some of the best brewers and musicians on the sea live there. Their Binta Rum is—"
His words stopped.
Smoke covered the island.
Binta Island was burning.
The battle had already ended. No cannon fire or shouting came from the shore. Flames moved through the vineyards, houses, workshops, and forests across the hills.
The fire lit the thick smoke above the island with a dark red glow.
Broken instruments and burned wine barrels floated across the water among hundreds of bodies.
There were old people, children, and musicians who still held their violins in their arms.
Only the crackle of the flames and the sound of waves striking the wreckage reached the ship.
"This..."
Banks's hands began to shake. Tears gathered in his eyes as he stared at the shore.
Aiden watched the island in silence. On the horizon, a large fleet was sailing away from the burning coast.
Flags of the 20-Nation Alliance flew above the ships.
Among them, Tia recognized one immediately.
A round sun sat at the center of the crest, surrounded by eight curved rays.
It was the emblem of the Nefertari family, the sun that watched over the desert kingdom of Alabasta.
"It's a lie..."
Tia staggered backward until her back struck the cabin wall.
She continued staring at the sun emblem flying above the smoke.
Her face lost its color, and her lips parted without another sound.
Then her gaze dropped to the water. The body of a little girl floated among the wreckage with a broken doll held against her chest.
The flag that represented protection now flew above burned homes and dead civilians.
Its clean golden sun stood above the smoke and bodies left behind by the fleet.
"Ugh..."
Tia covered her mouth, but her stomach turned. She dropped to her knees and grabbed the railing as a dry heave tore through her.
Her fingers scraped across the wood as she held on.
Alabasta's soldiers had been here.
She had betrayed her own people to stop this war, yet the killing had continued without her.
"Don't look."
Aiden stepped behind her and covered her eyes with one hand.
He remembered how fiercely she had defended Alabasta on the ship. Now she had recognized its flag at once and reacted as though the deaths belonged to her.
He did not know the full truth, but he no longer believed she was only an ordinary traveler.
"You couldn't have stopped this alone."
Aiden crouched beside her and placed a hand on her back.
"This is war. This is what the people leading it are willing to do."
Tia's breathing broke.
She turned and wrapped both arms around Aiden's waist.
"Sob..."
She buried her face against his chest. Her body shook, and the quiet sounds soon became loud, broken sobs.
Her tears spread across the front of Aiden's shirt.
She could not tell him that the army responsible for this served her country. She could not admit that she had turned against them and still failed to save these people.
All she could do was hold on to him while the guilt she had hidden finally came out.
Aiden released a slow breath and did not push her away.
He let her hold him and ran one hand through her long, water-blue hair.
There was nothing he could say that would undo what lay in the water.
This was war.
This was only one part of the purge that would stain the history of the next eight hundred years.
The deck went silent.
No one spoke. The crew stood along the railing and watched the bodies drift past the ship.
Then wood scraped across the deck behind them.
Captain Banks came out of the cabin, dragging the last barrel of aged liquor aboard the ship.
His face had gone still.
He opened the barrel, filled a large bowl, and poured the liquor over the side into the water among the dead.
"To the sea."
"To the souls of the dead."
Afterward, he sat cross-legged on the deck and picked up the worn tambourine that always hung from his waist.
Thump... jingle... thump...
He struck the frame with his palm, and the small metal discs rang between each slow beat.
Banks looked toward the burning island and began to hum.
It was a cheerful melody, the kind his crew usually played during parties.
Against the crackle of the fires and the sight of the dead, every bright note carried a different weight.
Banks and his crew had created the melody together, but they had never found words that fit it.
Aiden listened.
He knew the tune immediately. In the future he came from, sailors across the world would sing it.
The lyrics returned to him line by line.
He stepped closer to Banks, faced the distant flames, and began to sing in a low voice.
"Yohohoho, yohohoho..."
"Yohohoho, yohohoho..."
Banks looked up, but his hand did not stop. He struck the tambourine harder and followed Aiden's rhythm.
Aiden continued.
"We'll deliver Binks' Sake to you..."
"With the sea breeze behind us, we ride the wind and waves..."
"Beyond the sea, the setting sun burns gold..."
"And circling birds sing high above..."
The song traveled across the water.
"Farewell to the harbor and the home we leave behind..."
"Let us raise a song as we set sail..."
"Golden waves, silver waves, and the salty sea wind..."
"The sea will always be our home..."
Chord lifted his violin first. The other crew members brought out their accordions and instruments and joined him.
The flames rose above the island while the song crossed the water and reached the bodies floating around the ship.
The tune remained cheerful, but no one smiled carelessly now. They played it as a farewell to the dead and a promise to keep carrying their memory from port to port.
"The dark night stretches across the sky..."
"But every storm will meet the dawn..."
"No matter who we are, we all become bones someday..."
"So laugh while the journey carries on..."
The final notes faded.
The wind carried the last part of the song toward the burning shore.
Tears covered Banks's face. He wiped them away with the back of his hand and stared at Aiden.
"Those words fit the tune perfectly. How did you come up with them?"
"What is the song called?"
Aiden looked toward the flames instead of answering immediately.
The lyrics had not truly come from him. He remembered them from a future in which this song had already existed for centuries.
"Your melody brought the words back to me," Aiden said.
He continued looking at the island.
The song he had known eight hundred years in the future had now entered the past through his own voice.
He had not written it from nothing, but he had become part of the moment when its melody and lyrics first came together.
"The name..."
Aiden turned back to Banks.
"Let's call it 'Banks' Sake.' We can name it after you and your crew."
"Banks' Sake?"
Banks stared at him for a moment.
"Yes!!"
The crew reacted before Aiden could say anything else.
"That's a great name! Banks' Sake! Let the captain's name spread across the sea!!"
"Captain! Everyone will know who you are!"
Banks did not answer them.
He lowered his tambourine and looked toward Binta Island.
Several seconds passed.
Then he shook his head and gave a small, tired smile.
"No. It can't be called Banks."
"I'm only a drunk with more flaws than sense. I don't need my name on a song like this."
He raised his cup toward the burning island.
"This song is too good to belong to one man."
"It should belong to every sailor chasing freedom. It should belong to the fools who keep singing even when the sea gives them every reason to stop."
"If we call it Banks' Sake, people will always think of me. I want them to think of their own crews, their own homes, and whoever they lost along the way."
He looked at Aiden again.
"Let's use another name."
"Let's call it 'Binks' Sake.'"
"Binks can be anyone. A sailor, a friend, or someone waiting at the next port. Every crew can decide for themselves."
Banks struck his chest with one fist and laughed.
"As for me, I'll carry the song from island to island with a barrel of sake. That's enough."
Aiden watched him for a moment, then raised his cup.
Now he understood how the song could survive for eight hundred years. It did not belong to one captain or one pirate crew.
Anyone could sing it.
Aiden had known the song in the future, and Banks had given it a name in the past.
For a moment, Aiden could not tell whether he had witnessed history or helped create it.
"All right."
Aiden accepted the cup Banks offered him and tapped it against the captain's.
"Then we'll call it 'Binks' Sake.'"