The time has finally come. We tied everything in the ship down, and everyone was close to something to hold on to, but I had my hand on Triton's handle to steer the black pearl to safety in case.
I definitely trusted Laffite's navigation and steering skills, but I still had to take precautions to ensure the lives of my crewmates and the survival of my ship.
I could already feel the sea shaking below the black pearl, and everyone had tense expressions on their faces as we waited for the knock-up stream.
Wilson, of course, was the only one who did not look tense and was grinning like a maniac instead. The big guy always loved to experience new things, the more dangerous, the better, but I digress.
The sea quakes began rapidly increasing in intensity, and I could see small fish and dreadful sea creatures alike fleeing in all directions underwater in a frenzy.
'And yet here we are waiting for the damn thing to blast us into the sky,' I thought with a grin while watching the sea creatures stampede their way in all directions underwater.
"Here it comes," Laffite exclaimed while holding the black pearl's wheel.
"Three," he began counting down as his hands tightened on the wheel.
"Two," he counted as his eyes frowned in concentration.
"One," he exclaimed as he lowered his posture, planting his feet into the wooden boards when bubbles began emerging from the seawater.
"Now," he concluded as the knock-up stream emerged from right below the black pearl with a roaring sound, pushing our ship upward at incredible speed.
My grip tightened on Triton's as we began to gain altitude, but I didn't need to do anything in the end as Laffite skillfully steered the ship, spinning around the knock-up stream.
"REHAHAHAHAHAHA," I involuntarily began to laugh as I took a look down and saw how high we've gone while feeling the intense winds hitting my face.
"Leaving that island with was definitely the smartest thing I've done in my life, Johnny," Willson said from the side, holding on the railing with one hand as he smacked his chest with the other in his excitement as he grinned like a loon.
"The hell are you are you saying all of a sudden, you gorilla," I replied with a smile. "Are you only realizing that now?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, causing him to begin laughing.
"This is incredible," Elly said from the side while holding on to the rope that she tied to the mast. "It's incredible, alright. I only hope we don't fall to our deaths," Byron commented with a blank expression, holding on to the railing for dear life.
"This is... new," Bob said, trailing at the end of his sentence, smiling as he did.
"This so exciting I think my heart would stop from excitement," Doc Q said in a wheezing tone, his body leaning motionlessly on the main mast that we tied him on so he wouldn't fall.
"I didn't sign up for this shit, captain-YA," Law said from the side with a frown, his hand already in motion to use room, preparing for the worst.
"Don't be such a baby, Law," Kozue replied in my stead. "The grand line is full of such dangers, and you'll have to face even worse things to reach Doflamingo," she added with a smile.
"What she said!" I remarked with a grin, causing Law to sigh in resignation.
Our trip on the knock-up stream lasted approximately fifty seconds, and suddenly the black pearl penetrated the clouds, and there was nothing but bright white in our vision.
The knock-up stream ran out of gas (literally) when the black pearl was ten or so feet above the cloud, causing her ascent to came to an abrupt stop, falling towards the cloud surface.
I tensed, preparing myself to fly under the ship and gently guide it down in case the black pearl didn't flout, but my precaution proved unnecessary again as my ship stayed afloat in the sky.
"REHAHAHAHAHA," I began laughing again, and everyone smiled in relief at our success while looking at the surroundings with awe-filled expressions.
"It's like a sea in the sky," Laffite said, his usual smiling expression gone, replaced by an amazed one. "And it comes with its own sea cloud creatures as well," I remarked from the side, causing everyone to turn their eyes to me.
"There should be a cloud island nearby as well," I added while pointing at the horizon. "It seems that there are many types of clouds. Some of them are sea clouds like the ones we're floating on right now," I explained.
"There are island clouds that people can live on as well, and that's what we're looking for," I added with a smile. "So I want everyone who can use Geppo to choose a direction to scout for said island," I instructed.
"We'll meet back here in an hour to share our findings, but remember to be mindful of the creatures living in the clouds, as I have no idea how strong they can be," I said, suddenly turning to the side as a gigantic sky shark emerged, rushing towards the black pearl.
"I'll take care of it. Room." Law said, promptly throwing something towards the shark and activating his Room ability, causing a giant, transparent dome to surround the ship.
"Shambles," Law remarked, switching places with the pebble he threw, swinging his sword and cutting the shark in half without touching it and causing me to nod in appreciation.
"Nicely done," I complimented while giving him a thumbs up with a smile.
"Alright, everyone who knows Geppo, be on your way. The others stay and guard the ship," I exclaimed. "I'll go this way," I concluded, launching myself into the sky and making my way towards the east.
"This is the end," I hummed as I weightlessly flew in the air, superman style. Why superman style, you ask? Well, if you're going to fly in the air, then you might as well do it in the right way. (Song name: Skyfall.)
"Hold your breath and count to ten," I kept singing, smiling as I felt the refreshing air hit my face while flying. "Feel the Earth move and then, Hear my heart burst again," I didn't stop singing as I began to do barrel rolls in the air simply for the of it.
"For this is the end. I've drowned and dreamt this moment," I hummed as I stopped in my tracks in the air, smiling as a sky shark jumped from the water in front of me.
"Let the sky fall. When it crumbles," I spun around the shark as I drew Triton, swinging my sword at it, chopping to tens of pieces that fell towards the sea clouds.
"We will stand tall and face it all together," I hummed as I kept flying towards the east, still finding nothing but white clouds and sea cloud creatures.
When it crumbles, we will stand tall," I stopped singing and flying again as a red whale jumped from the water in front of me, diving back again without giving me another look.
It looked harmless, so let it be without bothering it, peacefully resuming my flight with a smile on my face.
"Face it all together..., At Skyfall...," I kept singing as I explored the sea clouds for half an hour, unfortunately finding nothing and going back to the ship after killing many sea cloud creatures that thought I was an easy meal.
There were the sky sharks, sky squids, gigantic sky fish, and even whales, but most of them were docile, except for the sharks, which would attack on sight, but I digress.
After another thirty minutes, I finally reached the ship and found Laffite already back while the others came back one after another soon after.