4/7

For a few seconds, Sanji and Usopp watched him stand there, unmoving. And then, at the end of those few seconds, Sanji made his displeasure at being kept waiting clear by booting the Dugong off the cliff.

To Mikey's credit, he recovered his graceful form after a mere split second of falling. Sanji eyed the falling amphibian for a few more seconds before jumping off himself, and Usopp spared the time to double-check the device on his back before following suit.

The sniper only let himself fall for a few seconds before he yanked his ripcord, and with a bellow of "USOPP SKYGLIDER!", his chute unfurled and yanked him above his freefalling crewmates.

[Aaaand here comes our final contestant in the high dive, the greatest of the Teenage Dugong Warrior Squad, Mikey!] Mikey barked as he accelerated towards the lake down below. [Even after a disastrous start, the diver has managed to recover, and is about to perform an utterly perfect straight dive with perfect posture, discipline and—OH OCEANUS ALMIGHTY MY SNOUT IS ON FIRE!]

Sanji, Conis and Su all blinked in confusion when Mikey's dive pose suddenly collapsed into a flailing mess, the dugong wailing in misery behind the flippers clawing at his nose. Said flailing persisted up until the dugong unceremoniously face-planted into the lake.

"Well… guess the village really is protected," Sanji decided.

"Ye—wait…" Conis' eyes widened in shocked realization and snapped to her friend. "What about Su!?"

The fox scoffed and snapped her tail indifferently. "Su su—KAI!" Su's nonchalance shattered into an agonized howl and she practically flung herself from Conis' shoulder, writhing and squirming against an intangible torment.

"SU!" Conis exclaimed. Without thinking, she practically flung herself after her friend, grabbing the fox tight in her arms to try and keep her as still as possible so that she didn't hurt herself.

It took a full second for Conis to realize that in moving to save Su, she'd inadvertently thrown herself clean out of Sanji's arms. And because of how hard she'd pushed herself, she was well below him, too far for him to catch up and catch her in time.

That poor decision was followed up with the supreme mistake of gazing downwards. On the one hand, Conis knew that while it was definitely going to hurt like hell, the impact with the lake below wouldn't kill her; on the other hand, some reptilian part of her hindbrain took one look at the drop below her and triggered every panic reflex her body had.

And on any other day, all those panic reflexes would have done was tempt her to scream, or threaten to send her into unconsciousness. Neither actually happened, because over the past week, all of the SIQ-infected flesh and foliage she'd consumed had grown a brand-spanking-new reflex in her body.

A reflex that killed Conis' shriek in her throat when she was suddenly jerked to a halt by something yanking her up by her shoulder-blades and stopping her momentum dead.

Conis started to look around in confusion, but the first turn of her head provided the answer. Though that still left her with the glaring question of how the hell her wings—her cute but physically useless vestigial wings—had grown to five times their original size and were now letting her glide gracefully instead of drop like a less-aerodynamic stone. Naturally, her mind stalled for a solid thirty seconds as it tried to even contextualize what the optic nerve was sending it. 'I—how—what the—!?'

THROB!

The far more angelic angel paled as she suddenly became aware of something else. Namely, the fact that her entire back felt like it was on fire. And in response to that pain, her suddenly useful wings lost that usefulness, and her plunge downward abruptly resumed.

Sanji saw the whole thing, all three seconds of it. When Conis resumed falling above him, he shook off his shock enough to kick against the air and let her fall back into his arms.

And that was the end of the excitement; Sanji exercised his Sky Walk to slow his descent and land reasonably gently on the pier below. Su barely lasted that long before resuming her squirming, paws clamped tightly over her nose. Usopp was still a ways up, descending at a controlled pace with his parachute. Mikey was floating belly-up in the pool, at least ensuring that he would not drown. Though from the moans he was producing, he probably didn't think that was a good thing.

For now, though, Sanji was concerned with far more pressing matters. "Conis!" he lamented, cradling the angel protectively. "Are you alright, my dear, sweet, beloved—!"

"Sanji, please don't take this the wrong way, but for the love of Gan Fall, please shut the hell up," Conis hissed in a strained tone, her entire body twitching in distress. "I think I just pulled a million muscles all at once and it is taking every fiber of my being not to scream bloody murder."

"Ah… right, sorry," Sanji winced sympathetically. He then glanced down at her wings. "Speaking of which, not that your wings aren't lovelier than those of a dove or—!" CLICK! The compliment died in his throat at the feel of a gun barrel pressing into his gut. "Right, focusing. What the heck is going on?!"

"I… think I can help you with that."

Sanji and Conis turned to see a somewhat older woman walking up to them. She wore a simple dress and had feathers on her arms from the wrists almost to the shoulder. Then, after a moment, Sanji let himself sag. "Please tell me you're a friend, because we have been through a hell like you wouldn't believe."

The woman smiled comfortingly. "Hordes upon hordes of monsters and beasts, each more titanic than the last?"

Realizing his mistake, Sanji winced. "Riiiight… don't suppose you could help us understand the situation we're in?"

The local nodded and moved to give Sanji a hand with his yet-incapacitated burden. "Right this way, I'll help you all get settled in. Though…" She winced and shot a fearful glance towards the village. "We will have to be a bit careful. Even behind the Daft Greens, nowhere is truly safe here."

Sanji narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Because of a certain lion-headed bastard by the name of Shiki?" The woman's grimace was answer enough. "Oh yeah, we definitely have a lot to talk about."

And with that, the woman helped Sanji carry Conis into the village… leaving Mikey gurgling face-up in the lake. [Someone kiiiilllll meeee…]

-o-

"Donny, don't you think that if Boss were here, he would have you Tidal Swimming alongside us for training instead of resting?" Robin posed, not even looking up from the journal she was writing in.

{Oh, shut up. We've all earned a little rest after a straight week of monsters,} the Dugong grumpily signed back.

"Mmm, yes, a good point," Robin conceded.

The two, along with Franky and Brook, were perched on the back of what Franky called a "Crawley-Davidson" and which everyone else called "a giant-ass crawdad with wheels and steering". This left Carue, with Vivi slumped on his back, running alongside the improvised vehicle, something the duck didn't mind despite being at the tail end of a week of non-stop running for his life.

"Hey, it looks like there's something up ahead!" Brook exclaimed, pointing in the direction of a small mountain. Upon closer inspection, a cluster of buildings around the top of the mountain and an Asian-style palace at its peak made themselves known.

"Is that a town?" Franky asked in some surprise.

"Looks like it," Vivi said, perking up. "Maybe we can get some answers there. Carue—WAAAGH!"

The sudden scream was a result of Carue suddenly skidding to an uneven halt, coming within an inch of losing his balance and a wailing quack leaking out between the feathers suddenly clamped over his beak. At the same time, Crawley-Davidson reared up, leaping backward by several meters and nearly bucking its passengers off in the process.

Well, nearly bucking most of them off; Donny fell off immediately, his flippers too busy grinding against his face. Brook fell off mostly, hanging on only by a leg, while Franky kept a firm hold on his handlebars and Robin sprouted a few extra arms to keep herself in place. Shortly after the crawdad stopped bucking, Carue made his way back to the group, Donny in tow.

"I think I bit my tongue… not that I have a tongue," Brook commented weakly.

"DAGH!" Franky grunted in annoyance, whacking the crawfish on the head. "Motorcycles don't jump backward, stupid!"

{Urgh, don't blame him,} Donny shakily signed, one flipper still grinding against his nostrils. {There's some kind of stench in the air around that place, it smells like what Devil Fruits taste like. It must be how they keep those monsters away! It's taking everything I have not to bolt as it is!}

"A rotten smell?" Vivi asked, taking a sniff as she dismounted from Carue. "Huh, I think I can smell something… and that does make a lot of sense. Something like that would be the only thing capable of keeping monsters like the ones we've been seeing from attacking."

Carue squawked in miserable agreement. Looking around and spying one of the many cacti that surrounded them, he dashed over, clawed an arm off and stuck his beak into the juicy inside with a relieved quack.

[GIMME!] Donny barked, leapfrogging off the duck's head and grabbing a cactus branch of his own to plug his muzzle with. [Oh, thank Gooood. Ergh, but I can still smell it a bit…]

"Quaaaa…" Carue moaned in agreement.

"But we're in the middle of the desert," Franky protested. "Where could a smell—!?"

"Unless my nose deceives me, I think it's coming from those odd trees over there!" Brook said, pointing out a wall of off-color shrubbery. "Though of course—!"

"Yeah yeah, no nose, we get it, come on already," Franky grumbled, yanking the skeleton free of their twitchy mount's saddle and dragging him along by the leg. All the while, the cyborg grumbled mutinously under his breath. "Stupid trees, stupid smell, stupid instincts and inferior building materials, give me good old-fashioned metal and I could make something ten times better in a damn heartbeat…"

Vivi eyed her cactus-snorting mount and how he was still shaky on his webbed feet before hanging her head with a sigh. "Guess we're walking. Don't suppose anyone has any ideas on how to pass the time?"

"Recite the entirety of the review sheet I gave you the day before we met Shiki," Robin immediately stated, still yet to look up from her journal.

Vivi paled at the suggestion and snapped a shaky grin at the rest of her friends. "Anyone else have any suggestions?"

The princess paled even further when the crew's archaeologist slammed her journal shut with a too-loud slam and a menacing gleam in her eye. "I don't recall saying that that was a suggestion, Your Highness."

"A-Ah, j-just a minute," Vivi said hastily. "The stones' indestructibility was determined four years after the founding of the World Government…"

"And she's off," Franky sighed. "You ever feel lucky to not have a woman jamming you up?"

"Honestly, I just feel lucky every time I talk to living people instead of the voices in my head," Brook replied in a perfectly pleasant tone of voice.

The cyborg shot a doubtful look over his shoulder. "We have really got to stick some books about psychology in front of Chopper sometime."

"For all the good that they'd do me! It's quite impossible to treat senility, after all, and I'm twenty years past the pale on that! Yohohoho!"

"See, it's things like that that really don't inspire confidence."

-o-

"How much longer until we get there?" Zoro grunted inquisitively, stubbornly not looking down at their 'guide'. A word he used only under extreme duress, mind you; it didn't matter what anyone else said, that tundra had been moving under their feet, damn it!

Said 'guide' scanned their surroundings before giving him a nod. "Don't worry, we're really really close! Just a few more minutes down this river and we'll be at my home!" Xiao confidently stated, the precious flower she was cradling in her hands nodding alongside her.

Zoro grunted again but gave no further response to the girl sitting before him. Chopper sat behind him, looming over them both and keeping a tentative eye on the girl; he had given her treatment for cold and shock, but the feathers on her arms and the unusual biology they signified kept him anxious.

Looking over all of them from up on the mammoth's back was Merry, a rope wound around each of her arms and tied to the tusks of the pachyderm they were using as a mount as the nearest and easiest thing to a bridle they could assemble on such short notice. And behind her, Leo was as close to kneeling as a creature with a legless lower body could be, taking advantage of their current peace to meditate.

"Glad to hear it, because we've been out of that winter wasteland for for hours and I swear I've still got hoarfrost in crevices I didn't know I had until now!" Merry lamented, wincing as she rolled her neck. "I don't care if I almost drown from it, I need a hot bath stat!" And with that, she snapped her reigns and urged the mammoth to a faster pace.

Xiao looked up in panic at the sudden acceleration. "Ah, no, wait! You can't do that, we can't ride this thing anymore! We need to walk from here on out!"

Merry looked down in confusion at the feathered girl. "The heck are you talking about? Why wouldn't we ride this wooly lug all the way? I mean, there's nothing in our way! It's clean sailing all the—!"

"BAROOOOOOH!"

"—UWAH!?"

All of a sudden their mount not only stopped dead in its tracks but actually bucked forward in a blind panic, launching its riders from its back. Free of its restraints, the mammoth turned tail and stampeded its way back towards its natural habitat as fast as its bulky mass allowed.

"Argh, sonnuva—!" Zoro winced as he sat up, rubbing the back of his skull. The swordsman shot an accusatory glare at the crew's helmsgirl. "What the heck, Merry?! What happened to 'clean sailing', huh?!"

"Uwah, nonono, it wasn't her fault!" Xiao hastily reassured him, waving her free hand desperately. "It's my fault! I didn't think to tell you guys about the barrier sooner, I'm really sorry!"

The three-swords master looked at her with a confused grunt. "'Barrier'? What are you—?"

"Ughhhh…"

A miserable moan from Chopper drew Zoro and Merry's attention. The human-reindeer had a pained grimace on his face as he clamped his hands over his nose.

"She must be talking about the smell…" Chopper choked out, disgust clogging his every word. "It feels like someone shoved red hot pokers up my nostrils it hurts so much…"

"Uh-huh," Xiao nodded, bearing an apologetic expression. "They're called Daft Greens; they're trees that smell really bad, so they drive all the scary monsters away from the village. In fact, they stink so bad that they drive animals away before they even see them!" She paused after that statement, thoughtfully cocking her head. "…Oh, yeah, and they're poisonous, too."

"MENTION THAT FIRST!" the Straw Hats all roared at once.

"Ah, n-not right away I mean!" the girl hastily explained. "Th-The thing is, they're—! I-I mean that they, w-well…" Xiao trailed off and bowed her head mournfully, holding the flower she was carrying to her chest. "It… It's complicated, alright?"

The anger the Straw Hats felt melted away at the sudden shift in her demeanor, and after some swift and silent communication, elected to let the matter drop.

"Well!" Merry clapped her hands. "If we can smell those things, then that means that we're a stone's throw away! Come on, guys! Let's suck in our guts and hop to it, yeah?"

"Hmph." "Right!" "…"

Two of the three answers were as expected, but the third had Merry looking around in confusion. "Eh? Where the heck's Leo?"

"Uh…" Leaning around merry, Xiao quickly spotted and pointed out the dugong. "Ah, there he is!" She let out a whistle. "And he's still holding that pose!"

"That is some pretty impressive meditation," Zoro said sincerely. He waited for a few seconds and then nodded. "Didn't react to me saying that, very impressive meditation."

"Unless you're willing to carry him to the village, you'll still need to snap him out of it," Merry huffed, leaning over the Dugong and poking him repeatedly in the cheek. "Because in case you've forgotten, he's your punching bag, so if you seriously expect me to be the one to haul his blubbery ass, you've got another thing—!"

Squish.

Merry froze as she realized she'd missed in her poking, and instead of putting her finger in the amphibian's jowl, she'd put it in his eye instead. "Ah… whoops?"

[GAH!]

Leo suddenly shot up with a pained shriek, clutching his face in agony. [MY EYE! AGH! MY NOOOOSE!] A second after that, his flippers move to his nose, before shoving his snarling face in Merry's bemused one. [YOU LITTLE BRAT, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!? I WAS TRYING TO ESCAPE THIS DAMN STENCH AND NOW I'M SUFFERING WORSE THAN EVER! I DEMAND COMPENSATION, YOU HEAR ME!? COM-PEN—!]

"We've found somewhere where we should be absolutely safe from those monsters for a while," Merry calmly said.

[—pleasure doing business with you, which way did you say this safe haven where I could sleep for a thousand years was?] Leo cleanly segued.

Merry chuckled in childlike amusement at the reversal before turning on her heel and heading right past Leo. More specifically, right back the way they came.

"…I was wondering how much of Zoro rubbed off on her," Chopper muttered.

Proving that she had very good hearing, Merry froze, spun on her heel, and stormed past them in the correct direction, her face red and expression daring anyone to comment. That didn't stop Leo and Chopper from snickering behind the appendages that were already clamped over their noses. She stopped before Zoro for a moment so that she could shoot a rabid snarl at him, and continued on without looking back.

The first mate blinked after her in confusion before looking back at the rest of the crew. "Someone wanna tell me what that was about?"

"I'll tell you later…" Chopper sighed with a wave of his hoof as he walked past, and then glanced aside. "Or maybe never…" he muttered under his breath. "Yeah, never's better."

Zoro just shrugged and followed after them, Leo bringing up the rear.

[You think some of the rest of the crew will be there?] the Dugong asked.

"Let's hope so," Chopper said fervently. "The sooner we're all back together, the better."

-One Hour Later-

"Not quite what I had in mind,] Leo and Chopper deadpanned as the usual two-thirds of the Monster Trio got into another spar. An unrestrained spar, mind you, thanks to the majority of the crew—minus Mikey and Usopp, who'd elected to stay behind and keep resting—having relocated to a hill a good distance away from the village to keep themselves away from Shiki's prying, invertebrate-borne eyes.

"Well, at least the last week is keeping them from pushing themselves too hard," Merry said, shaking her head. An explosion of utterly innocent earth drew a slight twitch from her gaze. "…to a point, anyway."

Chopper sighed, turning his attention back to the chemistry set he'd set up between his legs. "I'll worry about them later; for now, I need to work this out." Holding up a triple-sealed test tube, he scrutinized the verdant twig resting inside. "If Daft Green is the only defense against those animals, then it's best I make sure we don't get poisoned in the process. Though…" The human-reindeer's frown deepened as he put down the test tube and held up a beaker, this one containing a unique pink flower. "I'd really prefer it if I had a larger sample size of the cure…"

"Ah, Chopper?" Conis said, tentatively poking him in the shoulder. "Sorry for bothering you, but if you have the time, would you mind taking a look at, well…" She flapped her larger than normal wings for emphasis. "Me?"

"Are you currently in agonizing pain and/or dying?" the reindeer absently asked without looking up from his work.

Said work was promptly interrupted by a white paw clamping down on the vial of daft green, and a snarling vulpine muzzle in his face. [Rethink that prognosis, doc,] Su hissed. [Before I shove this devil-stick clean into your brain.]

Chopper shivered at the cloud fox's tone, before sagging with a defeated sigh. "I… I'm sorry, Conis, that just slipped out…" He started to knead the bridge of his nose, wincing. "This last week has been… hard."

"I know, I know, it's… well, not fine, but I understand," Conis soothed, rubbing the doctor's back. "It's not even that I'm worried they're dangerous or anything like that, they're just kind of in the way right now. I just really wish I knew how to make my wings smaller and compact like they were befo—"

FWUMP!

As fast as they had grown, her wings shrank back to their original cosmetic form, and Conis staggered, almost losing her balance. Everyone blinked in confusion.

"…Psychosomatic trigger, got it," Conis said flatly.

"When this mess is over, we will need to look into that," Chopper groused, shaking his head. "But for now…" He held up the beaker and tube again, superimposing one over the other. "I need to figure out how the IQ serves to neutralize the Daft Green's miasma. Seriously, it can't be that… hard… if…" Chopper eyes widened in realization, his voice slowly trailing off into silence.

"Chopper?" Conis asked gently after a few moments.

"I am a Luffy-grade moron," the human-reindeer breathed.

[Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with—WAH!] Thrown off when Chopper suddenly shifted into his Walk Point and shot off like a cloven bullet, the fox blinked after him and then looked up at her human in confusion. [The heck was that about?]

Conis sighed as she picked her old friend up. "I wish I knew, Su, I wish I knew…"

-o-

"—and so, much like other languages, small marks can make all the difference in the symbol's pronunciation and meaning, as can the variations of the arches forming—"

"That will do for now," Robin interrupted as they reached the entrance to the fortress. The princess sagged slightly in relief, an honest smile on both of their faces; for all that Robin was scarily strict, both of them were happy about the learning.

That did nothing to ease the worries of their companions that Robin might try to rope them into it as well if they made the mistake of showing an iota of interest. Which, in all honesty, all three of them did possess. When Robin knocked at the door of the fortress, though, they all shoved that interest down as deep as they could.

Their wait was brief; the door opened about a foot, and a thuggish individual showed his face, took one look at them, and made to slam it in their faces. He didn't get far; Robin had arms blooming on his body, bending his fingers backwards and covering his mouth before he could so much as twitch. Her move to open the door wider proved superfluous, as a second thug yanked it open, brandishing a large sword at her. The others readied themselves, Robin herself growing several arms over him and Vivi opening her mouth, but a sound of splattering liquid, not unlike blood being spilled, prompted both of them to wait.

At the same time as that noise reached them, they saw the thugs' expressions go wide in shock and panic. Then, just as quickly, all emotion left their faces and their bodies slumped where they stood, nearly falling over from the new slackness.

It was obvious to any experienced eye that someone had just taken them out from behind. But Robin and Vivi recognized much more than that, causing a smirk to crawl over the elder's face, and a grimace over the younger's.

"Well, now, this is a pleasant surprise," Robin said calmly. "I suppose I should have realized that we would be crossing paths again soon, but I did not expect it to be under these circumstances."

"Likewise," came an even voice from behind the thugs. "But it's good to see that you haven't lost your touch, Miss All Sunday."

The voice's owner stepped past the mindless thugs and came into view. Franky and Brook both blinked at the girl before them, dressed in a fancy, white, tomboyish outfit, but Donny put together the pieces immediately from the use of the codename and, much more glaringly, the palette and paintbrush she was carrying. Paying them no mind, the girl cocked an eyebrow at Vivi.

"You could stand to be faster on the draw, Miss Wednesday," she said blandly.

"Nice to see you too, Miss Goldenweek," Vivi bit out, doing her level best to obliterate the diminutive assassin with her glare. "Dare I ask what you're doing here?"

"Right this way," Goldenweek hummed serenely in response, waving the Straw Hats inside, though not before she took out her paintbrush again and scribbled symbols on the backs of the men's heads.

Robin cocked an eyebrow at the symbols as she passed. "Forgetful Fuchsia, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Amnestic Aubergine," the painter corrected. "I've been getting a lot of practice with it lately, and it never ceases to be a good thing. It would be inconvenient if anyone finds out you're here."

"At least there's some benefit to working with you…" Vivi sighed in reluctant approval.

While Robin and Vivi walked in, Franky, Brook and Donny all hung back and exchanged confused glances.

"You ever feel like a heaping heck of a lot of context just went right over your head?" Franky asked.

"Well, to be fair, I am half a century behind the times!" Brook noted. "But yes, I felt that as well."

[Honestly, I say we just go with what you said earlier: women,] Donny sighed, shrugging helplessly.

[Just shaddup and follow us, already,] Carue called back from further down the hall, prompting the trio to scramble after everyone else.

The building that they entered was a three story hall filled with bars and sturdy wooden tables. Light came from the many elegant lanterns hanging from the ceilings, creating a homey, classic tavern-type atmosphere. This picture was only enhanced by the rambunctious groups of men—most of them looking like well-dressed thugs—drinking and laughing at the tables. Young women clad in pink outfits with feathers on their arms moved between tables and took the men's orders or delivered food and drink.

Overall, it seemed like an ordinary banquet hall with an only slightly extraordinary clientele and staff. Though Robin's keen eyes noticed that Eternal Poses bearing the name 'Merveille' were on every table.

"What is this place…?" Vivi asked quietly, sticking to the shadows in an attempt to keep her distinctive hair from being noticed.

"Hell," Goldenweek answered. She then paused and glanced back at the frozen-in-shock Straw Hats. "That's what you call a gathering place of demons, yes?" She shrugged and started walking again. "Almost there."

The assassin led the group through the upper level of the hall, until they finally reached a booth tucked away in a corner, mostly out of sight of the room's general population.

"Got them," Goldenweek announced as she slipped into the booth, idly grabbing a rice-cracker off the table. "You were right, they were close enough to find this place. It was a good call. Very surprising."

"Well, what can I say?" a familiar voice sneered from the shadows, causing Vivi to stiffen in shock. "I'm all about being a contourarian kinda guy."

"Contrarian."

"That too!"

"Wait, you're—!?" the princess gasped.

"Well, well, well…" a cool and comported drawl interrupted her. "The Straw Hats have entered the building…"

"Which means that sanity can exit stage left! Kyahahaha!" a far more chipper and manic voice laughed.

"Hehahaha!" the familiar voice cackled, and its owner drew the cover from the lamp's table to reveal a spike-toothed smirk. "Ain't that the truth!?"