A Splash of Trouble

The cloud beneath us crunched softly with each step as Robin and I finally crested the last ridge. After all the chaos—Satori's ambush, splitting from the others, the storm of sky beasts and endless forest—what stood before us now was something out of myth.

The City of Gold.

Sunlight pierced the thinning clouds, illuminating towers of ruined stone wrapped in climbing vines and glints of treasure embedded in fallen debris. The grandeur of it was undeniable, even if time and nature had taken their toll.

But the strangest part?

There wasn't any gold.

Not a single golden street or glittering statue like the legends had whispered about. Just half-collapsed buildings, platforms made from Sky Island stone, and scattered remnants of a civilization long vanished.

Robin knelt by an ancient pillar, her gloved fingers brushing strange glyphs etched into the stone.

"It's just as I thought," she murmured. "Shandora. This was once a flourishing city... and somewhere within it is the golden bell."

I crossed my arms, scanning the crumbling towers and split platforms rising through different layers of clouds. "It doesn't make sense. All this... and not even a speck of gold?"

Robin nodded. "It was likely hidden—or taken—centuries ago. But what matters most may not be the gold."

She brushed her hand along a circular stone plate embedded in the platform's center.

"A Poneglyph," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "It's here. It has to be."

I watched her eyes glow with excitement. For Robin, this was more than treasure—it was history whispering secrets through stone. And even though part of me wanted to stay and search with her, something about this place tugged at my senses. Like a thread unraveling behind my sternum.

"Robin," I said quietly, eyes narrowing at the distant mist curling between towers. "I'm going to scout ahead."

She glanced over but gave a short nod. "Be careful."

I slipped away through a narrow gap between pillars, Grimm padding silently at my heels in his tiny form. The deeper I wandered, the stranger the city felt. Shandora pulsed with old energy. As a sea witch and siren, I could feel the hum of the place—the ghosts of stories buried beneath these clouds. The breeze smelled like forgotten oaths and thunder.

Then I felt it.

A pressure behind me, heavy and cold.

I spun around.

A figure stood at the end of the ruined path. He wore a white cloak with golden filigree, a helm shaped like a hawk, and carried a long lance etched with glowing script. Unlike the other priests, his presence didn't shout for attention. It whispered it.

"I wondered when one of you would stray," he said. His voice was flat, emotionless, like someone who'd given up dreaming long ago. "I am Kazal, one of Enel's Watchful Eyes."

"A little dramatic, don't you think?" I tilted my head. "You don't have to announce yourself like you're in a stage play."

He didn't flinch. "You reek of sea magic."

My smile faltered.

"You're not like the others," he continued, lowering his lance. "You carry the old powers. Powers that shouldn't exist above the sea."

I braced, Grimm leaping from my shoulder and transforming mid-air into his massive lynx form. "And you're about to find out exactly why they shouldn't be messed with."

Kazal lunged, faster than I expected. His lance cut a gleaming arc, but I ducked low, sliding across the cloudstone floor and calling up water from the moisture in the air. It swirled to my palms, forming long, narrow blades. My specialty—hydroblades—cut cleaner than steel.

Grimm intercepted his second strike, teeth bared, but Kazal twisted unnaturally, flipping mid-air and landing behind me. I lashed out, slicing across his chest with water blades, but he barely flinched.

"Mantra..." I muttered under my breath.

He was reading my movements.

Like Satori.

"Predictable," he said, charging again.

I fought harder, sharper, letting instinct lead. My siren blood surged—faintly tempting me to hum, to call to the old magic deep in my lungs—but I held back. Singing was for emergencies. The kind you don't walk away from.

Kazal's lance caught my side, slicing a line of pain just above my hip. I gasped and retaliated, forming a whip of spinning water and lashing it across his helm. It cracked. He stumbled.

"Grimm, now!" I shouted.

Grimm roared, slamming into Kazal and pinning him down while I drew the water from the air and crashed it down like a hammer. The blast sent him skidding across the clouds, his armor sparking.

I thought it was over.

But then the air changed.

Buzzing.

Pressure.

I turned toward the sound—too late.

Lightning struck like judgment from above. White-hot, searing.

I screamed, the world splitting with light.

⸻

When I woke, the scent of metal and ozone filled my nose. I groaned, body aching from the lightning's kiss, and tried to sit up. I was on a ship—wooden deck, dark clouds overhead, thunder rumbling far off.

And I wasn't alone.

Nami rushed to my side, eyes wide. "Y/N! You're awake! Are you okay?!"

My throat was dry. "I've had better days..."

She helped me sit up slowly, hands trembling slightly. "Enel brought you here. He... he said he wanted to keep you as a prize."

I blinked. "He what?"

She nodded grimly. "I don't know what he meant exactly, but... he took you after the lightning hit. I tried to stop him, but..."

I squeezed her hand. "It's not your fault."

The ship swayed gently in the cloud sea, but there were no chains, no ropes. Just an eerie silence—and the figure of Enel himself standing at the bow.

He turned slowly, that smug smile playing across his lips. "You're awake."

His voice grated on my nerves.

"I should have known someone like you would be more... resistant. That power of yours. It intrigued me."

I glared at him, standing on shaking legs. "You attacked me."

"You were trespassing in a sacred place." He stepped closer. "But I admit... I didn't expect to feel the sea singing in your blood."

My breath caught. "What do you want?"

He studied me. "I want to understand. A siren with sea witch blood... up here? You're unnatural. Beautiful, but unnatural."

I spat at his feet. "You don't get to cage people just because they don't fit your sky god fantasy."

He chuckled. "You misunderstand. You're not a prisoner. Consider this... an invitation. When I rule the new world, you could have a place beside me."

Nami growled. "She'd rather jump into a lightning bolt."

"I already did," I muttered, still wincing from the burns. "Didn't take."

Enel's smile faded. "Enjoy your freedom while you have it. I'll return soon... and I hope you've reconsidered by then."

With a swirl of static, he vanished in a flash of light.

I slumped back beside Nami, my strength sapped.

She wrapped an arm around me. "We'll figure out a way out of this. I promise."

"I know," I said, watching the dark sky above, plotting revenge.