Chapter 169: Trenza's Pain?

Walking through the ruined city, we took our time exploring the place while heading toward the pyramid-like structure in the center of the city; however, it was just as desolate as we imagined; other than overgrown vegetation, there were no other signs of life.

"Hmm, can't smell anyone, so if anyone does visit this place, it is probably infrequent." Said Diddy lightly while sniffing around the buildings and air, looking very much like a dog, though neither Trenza nor Sebas was courageous enough to point it out, unlike a certain Succubus.

"That shouldn't be too surprising, no? If the only people who live in this forest beside the beats are Enel's cult, they must've visited this place many times in the past, so it's probably nothing of interest to them." Remarked Trenza lightly as she looked inside a collapsed building, though there was nothing else besides dust, roots, vines, and unrecognizable items.

"Yes, you're not wrong, but this place is somewhat centralized, so I'm decently surprised they wouldn't use this as a base of operations; there are already plenty of materials to work with." Stated Sebas with a nod as he slowly walked behind Diddy, taking his time to appreciate the sights of the destroyed city, finding it marvelous in its own unique way.

"Well, it's not completely empty, Enel; that fool is decently close by. I can more clearly feel his haki; it's coming down from up there, above the clouds." Remarked Diddy with a faint smirk as he pointed to the sky directly above the pyramid-like structure, though other than thick clouds, they saw nothing.

"If Enel's really up there, shouldn't Mael and Grand be pretty close by? He sounded like he would split him in half from how angry he was." Asked Trenza curiously as she squinted and gazed at the cloudy sky before looking back at Diddy, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Who knows where those two fools are; neither of them has any way to reliably find someone, so they're probably just aimlessly flying through the forest. Though we can leave Enel be, he's not of interest to us right now, of course, unless you wish to go fight him, yourself?" Replied Diddy while dismissively shaking his head, only to turn and grin at Trenza, who swiftly took several steps back.

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"So, umm, Mael, do you have any idea where we are at?" Asked Grand softly as he stood beside Mael, the two currently on the leftmost side of the Upperyard.

"No." Replied Mael as he clenched his goldened axe while sweeping the surroundings with eyes, looking for anything that could assist them, though he returned empty-handed.

"I say let's head to the center of the island; that's a good place to start." Remarked Grand eagerly as he slammed his gauntlets together and glanced at Mael, who nodded in agreement.

"Smart. So, which direction is the center at?"

"Umm, I don't know; I was kind of hoping you knew." Replied Grand softly as he awkwardly rubbed his head while looking away, prompting Mael to grunt in anger as he spread his wings and suddenly started flying in a random direction.

"Hey! Wait for me, Mael! My legs can only move so fast!" Yelled Grand with widened eyes as he ran through the forest, chasing after Mael, who was, luckily, flying right toward the island's center.

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"No, thank you, Captain; I've got no desire to fight someone who can turn me into a burnt corpse from anywhere within Skypiea. Unless Father accompanies me, then I'll go and fight!" Stated Trenza, rapidly shaking her head while gulping in fear, only to look at Sebas with a pouting face.

"Hoho, even at your old age, I still can't resist your beautiful eyes, Trenza; if you so wish, I shall oblige and accompany you on your expedition." Said Sebas with a soft chuckle as he looked at Trenza, who frowned and huffed in annoyance.

"Hmph, don't try to compliment me after just calling me old, Father; I'm only 28; I'm not that old; I'm still very youthful. See, look how youthful I am." Remarked Trenza as she provokingly eyed Sebas, who merely chuckled before she enthusiastically did a cartwheel, only for her arms to buckle.

"Oww." Added Trenza loudly as she landed on a stone hitting directly on her spine, causing her to roll onto her stomach while grabbing her back.

"Hehe, yeah, that's awfully youthful of you, Trenza. Does your back hurt, you old woman?" Remarked Diddy with a chuckle as he looked at Trenza whimpering in pain while Sebas just shook his head and sighed.

"Be more careful, dear; you are getting up there in age." Added Sebas lightly as he walked forward and helped Trenza stand up, though she stayed hunched over while holding her lower back.

"Ugh, am I really old? I-I'm only 28, though." Muttered Trenza in disbelief as she looked at her hand while Diddy laughed, something she opted to ignore.

Ignoring Trenza's manifestation of old age, the three of us continued walking deeper into the city, passing by numerous collapsed structures that continued to get larger until we eventually stood before the pyramid-like structure.

"Does this type of building have a name, or what?" Asked Diddy with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Trenza, who was still hunched over, before looking at Sebas.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were one, but I don't know; calling it a pyramid is good enough in my books though." Replied Sebas lightly with a shake of his head, prompting Diddy to nod as he started walking up the golden stairs, followed by Sebas and a hunched Trenza.

This entire pyramid was constructed of gold, and while I'm no architect, that doesn't seem very safe; gold is a dense metal, so it's heavy, but it's also relatively soft, at least compared to other metals, so I'm pretty sure it's not the kind of material you use to build.

'Though I'm thinking of buildings from my home, this specific building doesn't seem to be very hallow, so it's probably fine; not to mention this place is the world is weird, so who knows if gold even acts the same.' Mused Diddy as he used his feet to scrap one of the golden steps, his nails digging into the gold before he shrugged his shoulders and continued walking.

The walk was unnecessarily long, and I was even thinking about just flying up there, but I was committed to walking, so I was going to finish it; eventually, we reached the clouds that were previously blocking our vision from above, and after a minute or so of walking through it, we arrived at the top, only to see a massive twisted beanstalk going even higher into the sky.

"Is there an end?" Asked Didy with an annoyed look as he glared at the beanstalk while Sebas whistled in awe.

"Most definitely, but it doesn't seem like we've arrived at it yet; is whatever calling you coming from above?" Said Sebas with a raised eyebrow while blocking the sun with his eyes before staring higher, looking for the peak of the beanstalk, though more clouds blocked his view.

"Please tell me we don't have to climb it." Muttered Trenza with a pleading expression as she stood upright, only to quickly wince in pain afterward while grabbing her back once more.

"No, we don't; whatever is calling me is coming from inside this pyramid." Remarked Diddy as he ignored the beanstalk before pointing at the entrance to the pyramid in front of them, which was blocked off by two large golden doors.

Approaching the two golden doors, I placed my hand atop them and tried to push, yet nothing happened; using more force, I continued to push, yet still nothing; there wasn't even a slight budge.

'I swear to fucking god if it's a pull door.' Thought Diddy with a frown as he dug his nails into the golden doors and tried pulling with all of his might, yet, just like the previous two times, nothing happened.

Annoyed at my lack of progress, I was about to grab Naga-sa and simply bust my way through the doors, but before I could, I saw Trenza standing upright while intently looking at the doors, rubbing her hands across the writings embedded into the doors.

"Can you read that, Trenza?" Asked Diddy curiously as he slightly calmed down, resting Naga-sa on his shoulder while looking at Trenza.

"I-I don't know; these words, I don't know why, but they feel so familiar, yet I know I've never seen this language before." Replied Trenza with a slight frown and an uncertain expression as she looked at the writings, only to suddenly grab her head in pain.

"Trenza, are you alright?" Asked Sebas in concern as he quickly approached Trenza and helped her stand up while she shut her eyes, wincing in pain.

"M-My head and my eyes, they hurt, and it's only getting worse." Replied Trenza gently as she collapsed to her knees while holding her forehead and tightly shutting her eyes, though nothing she did worked to alleviate the pain.

"Ugh! C-Can s-someone do something! It hurts!" Yelled Trenza in agony as she banged her head against the wall while Sebas looked through her mind, trying to figure out what was wrong with her.

"Trenza, open your eyes; try opening your eyes; I believe that's the problem." Stated Sebas quickly as he yelled over Trenza's grunts of pain, prompting her to do as she was told, though nothing changed.

"I-It's ugh, n-not working!" Remarked Trenza as blood leaked from her eyes.