52 Once Upon A Time

AN: Lore drop, skip if you want.

[Wealth, fame, power. Everything in this world can be attained. And yet some would not see this as a bounty to be shared, but a resource to monopolize. It is this very greed that led our world into the deep darkness of a long night it yet sleeps in.

Over a millennia ago, our world below lay divided and fragmented, torn apart by struggles and inequality. Despite the many varied races there existed in the world, there was one that possessed the strongest advantage there could be: numbers.

And so the humans took advantage of their numbers to take hold of power and make them the dominating species of the planet. Yet even among them, they found ways to divide each other, until some clutched the power at the top while all others suffered beneath them.

Peoples of other races, peasants, and prisoners had no choice but to escape, yet those who could not, like the Tontatta, fell to slavery, treated like nothing more than tools to fuel the wealth and power of the human kings who stood at the top.

So horrible were the deeds of these kings that those who suffered under them began referring to these cruel tyrants with the monicker of "Devils". Some fled to the seabed below. Some on unreachable peaks. But others took to the skies. People who had been blessed with wings, which some called "angels" or sky people, fled the troubled lands of the world below, for the celestial body that is the Moon, where they developed a civilization that could remain undisturbed by the racial conflicts below.

This was the Moon Capital of Birka, where the angels were able to quickly develop industrialization, reaching a technology far more advanced than anything that came prior. However, in their quest for science, they came upon a critical problem; the creation of energy required the primal source: fire.

But to achieve fire, natural resources were needed, the likes of which were simply not available in abundance on the barren wasteland that was the Moon. As such, left with a lack of resources to propel their technology and long term survival, the angels of the Moon had no other choice but to return to the blue planet below to further their research. Some decided to stay while others migrated.

Once descended over time, the angels split into tribes in search of different places to inhabit across the seas. Some of them discovered how to use their scientific prowess to alter the density of a substance known as pyrobloin, allowing them to turn clouds into solid land, the sky islands upon which some of them settled to keep away from the humans.

However, another subset of angels decided to locate themselves somewhere else, but still somewhere high above the tides and far away from humans… they built their settlement atop the Red Wall. The titanic continent surrounding the colossal tree that was known as the Sun Tree Eve, whose length spawned the entire Red Wall all the way from the sunlight at the top all the way to the roots at the bottom of the sea where lies a similarly ostracized race, the Fishman Island.

This mystical tree brought bountiful resources along with it, providing a veritable garden of Eden atop the Red Wall, providing natural resources that could develop the technology of the angels even further. Their quest for knowledge advanced, until one day, a certain scientist made a groundbreaking discovery, one that would veritably change the history of the world.

They realized the existence of the "bloodline elements" aka the lineage factor, a genetic code that exists within all living beings, essentially the blueprints of life. If, potentially, the angels could find a way to modify the bloodline elements through genetic alterations, then they could quite possibly allow their people to evolve far beyond any other creature… it was very nearly a step into the realm of godhood. And so, they eventually did, learning how to bend and alter the bloodline elements of their future children to allow their descendants to evolve into genetically superior creatures. They made their skin as tough as steel, attaining a dark color, to the point that normal attacks could not harm them. They gained massive black wings that, unlike other angels, actually allowed them to soar through the skies. They gained pure white hair and red eyes, a symbol of strength and unbridled power. And most importantly of all, they gained the ability to self-ignite and generate flames with their bodies. Through this self-ignition, they could circumvent the biggest hurdle that impeded their advancement of science: they essentially now had an unlimited resource at hand, allowing them to power all of their technology without limits.

Through these advancements, these angels became the strongest form of humanity in all the history of this sea, genetically superior creatures. People began to call them the "Lunarians", those who brought blessings from the Moon, and due to their lack of understanding of this technology, many people created legends around them, treating them like heavenly beings who had descended from the heavens to the planet below to bring judgment upon the greedy humans. People began to venerate them as "gods", be it out of admiration or fear, and the settlement they had built upon the Red Wall came to be known as the "God Country". But despite their unprecedented might, the Lunaria could not circumvent the issue of numbers. While their strength was enough to drive invaders away from their homes, it was not enough to protect others beyond their kin. And such power in their hands helped nothing but to attract the envy of many.

However, this is where our story would take a critical turning point, as the protagonist of this tale would finally take the stage. A young Lunarian boy of no particular remark, who was simply known by the name of Nika. But he was a boy of lofty ambitions who had a grand dream he wanted to accomplish.

The story goes that to make this dream a reality, he had set to sea as a pirate in search of freedom, and on his travels, he made steadfast friends with people all around the world, adding new members to his crew and forming strong bonds with kingdoms all across, no matter who they were. You see, Nika was an odd fellow, for he did not care what his friends looked or were like, and instead wished to be friends with people from the entire world. In his grand adventure, he challenged and took down many of the tyrants that oppressed the lands he visited, to bring liberation to everyone, taking all the wealth, fame, and power he attained, not for himself, but to share it with all.

Onlookers would remain stunned at Nika's ridiculously wild and stretchy powers, yet the sight of them could not help but bring laughter to their faces. Wherever he went, whichever civilization he touched, Nika would always bring cheer and joy with him. To the point, he came to be known by the nickname "Joyboy". He created alliances and united various races and soon created the Ancient Kingdom, the Laughtale. The sky people too revered and respected Joyboy. The Lunarians, the merman and the Buccaneers in particular were the most loyal of them all. ]

"So that explains why the World Government wiped out the Lunarians off the face of the Earth!" Victor said somberly as Robin finally deciphered the poneglyph. These were not the exact words but the cryptic messages hinted at such conclusions. 

"JoyBoy, Laughtale, Birka, Sky Islands and Lunarians. It's truly an amazing and groundbreaking piece of information. I can understand why the government wants to hide such information." Robin said thoughtfully as new questions began to pop up.

"Why did the twenty kingdoms attack the Ancient Kingdom?"

"Fear"

"Fear of what?"

"Fear of the unknown. Humans are inherently suspicious. Against a common 'enemy' with superior technology, the 20 kingdoms must have banded together to protect their own interests whatever that may be."

"I want to find all the missing pieces of the puzzle. What happened 800 years ago? Who was this Joyboy? When did devil fruits come into being?" Robin muttered slowly as she touched the stone poneglyph. 

Victor's mind was a little blown away too. He wad read the story till Wano Arc so he knew a bit about the Ancient Kingdom. Now he understands why Alber was so loyal to Kaido who he thought was the next JoyBoy as the legend says one day he will return to liberate this world once again.

"I want to go to the East Blue before heading to the Grand Line." 

Robin was startled by Victor's words, in the last three years Victor has holed himself in his lab most of the time when he was spending time with her. Letting his clones manage the Moriarty Family and development of the Syndicate territory he didn't have much chance to explore outside West Blue. Not had he shown much interest too.

"Why East Blue in particular?" Robin asked as she raised her eyebrows. "It's one of the Weakest of all Blues."

"Robin, don't trust the propaganda. It may not have high levels of strength but it has also created a powerhouse like Marine Hero Monkey D. Garp and the Pirate King Gold D. Roger himself. It's called the Weakest Blue called so because the Government and the Marines had the most control over it after Roger's execution."

"Now that you say it like this, It doesn't seem that weak anymore," Robin said thoughtfully. "So what's your goal in East Blue?"

"Let's go meet the next JoyBoy," Victor said with a scummy smirk. 'Since I selfishly stole your crewmate, I should repay with something of higher value. All this was a lie, he just wants to bully kid Luffy a little just for fun and keep some pictures too just for memories.'

"How old would he be right now? Seven or eight?" Victor started to make his usual nefarious plans. Fu*k the butterfly effect, he was just a speck of dust in this cosmic universe to worry about such things.