"We'll be out in the hall," Robin announces to the boys, leading us towards the opening we got distracted from.
"Do these guys understand the situation?" Oink grimaces.
"Whoa," I gasp as Robin and I step into the room that has multiple circus looking tents scattered about.
Oink lets out a chuckle.
"The hall?" Luffy asks, walking over with each step producing constant clanking. "Did you find the others?"
Franky's discarded his guitar and makes his way towards us. Even Oink is jumping to catch up.
"No, but we'll be outdoors once we get past this hall," Robin answers.
"What is this place!?" Luffy exclaims. "It's like a coliseum!"
Besides the tents in the room, there is an oval stage in the middle of the room, and various tattered flags hanging on the walls. It appears to be empty, but I have a feeling that something is lurking in the shadows.
Oink chuckles, "It's much more than that."
Something catches enough like to glint, and Franky looks up just in time to jump back before a sword pierces through his body. The armored being wielding that sword most likely one of the undead that are everywhere on this island.
"Franky!" Luffy exclaims. "Who is it!?"
The armor slowly stands up, and if I didn't believe it to be a zombie before, the two spears stuck in its body confirm that for me.
"Whoa, it's living armor!"
"It has to be a zombie!" I shout. "It's moving even with those spears piercing his body."
"So the zombie is arming itself now!" Franky grunts. "Don't scare me like that!"
The armor slices at Franky, but the cyborg uses his forearm as a shield.
"Strong Right!" His right fist slams into the stomach of the armored zombie, but it digs its feet into the stone to stop itself from going too far.
The armor barely tilts its head up to stare down Franky for a moment. Then it is slashing in a cross motion that Franky luckily dodges.
"Hey! The wall!" He holds his left hand up, revealing the cannon within. "So you know how to use a sword!" He takes a few seconds to aim at the zombie. "Weapons Left!"
The explosion sends the armor to the ground, but it only stays down for a few moments. Once it is back up on its feet, snapping anything dislocated back into place, it is slashing at Franky once again, but his forearm shield protects him. Somehow, the armor slashes through Franky, now they are back-to-back.
"Hey! Franky just-!" Luffy blurts out.
Franky turns around to grab the armor by the helmet. "I'm not going to lose to some zombie!" he chucks the zombie with all his might at the oval stage.
With only a few seconds of calm, I take Luffy's straw hat and slip the string over his head so it hangs around his neck. As much as I love to wear his straw hat when I can, if we get separated for some reason, I don't want him to be without it.
"It's getting up again!" Luffy shouts as the armored zombie begins to pick itself out of the rubble.
"There's no end to this!" Franky grimaces. "Its completely different from the other zombies!"
Oink chuckles, but he doesn't sound nearly as close as he did before. "You will know true fear when you face real zombies!"
"Hey! He got so far away!" Luffy glares behind us at the pig head scurrying away down the hall we came through.
"That damn pig," I grumble.
"They may malfunction, but they don't feel pain! And each of the armed zombie generals were powerful warriors who were famous when they were alive! Oink! The head knight of a country, a fierce criminal, a legendary samurai! A pirate! A pistol master! Such people have been made immortal! There's no way you can win against them! Oink! All of your friends will be killed! Serves you right!" He bursts into laughter.
"Why you!" Luffy makes a move to chase after him, but the armor slows him down.
"Wall Zombie!"
The hall is completely blocked off by a wall with a face. Our escape route can no longer be where we came from, and the way forward is not looking good.
"Hey!" Luffy screams. "They blocked our path!"
"Turn around," I suck in a breath as my eyes widen.
"They did more than just block our path from behind," Robin says.
In front of us now stands a couple dozen armored zombies that all tower over us with their various sharp weapons that could easily slice through us. Even if we had the entire crew, there's no way we could take them all down.
"Based on my experience," Franky starts.
"Whoa!" Luffy blurts out.
"This is going to get rough!"
"They're all wearing armor!"
"All those attacks were ineffective against one of them. It's going to take too much energy to fight all of them!"
"Right. This isn't even supposed to be the final battle anyway."
"If you get through this hall, we can go to the courtyard outside," Robin says.
"Get them!" the zombies roar.
"Okay, then we'll meet up over there!" Luffy orders.
"Make sure none of you disappear!" I shout.
"Let's go!"
I take off with the speed of Soru, dodging any attack that comes my way with ease. Still, that doesn't mean it is a straight shot to the other side, and this room is now packed with armored zombies. My shurikens are useless in a situation like this, but I know how to fight in other ways.
There's a blur of Robin's arms sprouting all over the zombies to clear her path; Franky is punching the stomach of every zombie he comes across; Luffy is doing his best to use his various Gum-Gum moves in his restrictive armor.
"One-Sword Style...Thirty-six Pound Phoenix!" a voice that isn't Zoro's, but is using a technique that I only know to belong to Zoro, calls out.
"Zoro!?" I spin around to try and spot the man, but I am sorely disappointed by what I actually see.
"A scar on the back is a swordsman's shame!" the imposter shouts. He's an old man with long hair, countless scars all over his body, and a contraption around his waist that might be holding him together.
"Ugh, whatever," I grumble, dodging a sword before bursting with speed once more.
It doesn't take much longer for me to reach the other side. Robin reaches the open door at the same time, and we flash a smile at each other as we rush outside. Franky is a few seconds behind us, but Luffy is nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Luffy!?" I scream even though my lungs are burning.
"He's not here yet," Franky huffs. "That idiot is wearing armor, so I can't tell him apart from the rest of them!"
The three of stop in the middle of the bridge we find ourselves on, turning back to look at the advancing armored zombies.
"But we don't have time to wait!" Robin shouts. "The zombies will be here soon."
The zombies let out a garbled roar.
"Damn it," Franky grunts. "Don't tell me he disappeared too. Hey! Straw Hat!"
"Luffy!" I scream.
There's a loud clunk before a metal chain going from the building we were just in to the building we are going to starts moving. Then a coffin tightly wrapped with what looks to be spider's web. The coffin is wildly shaking, which means someone is inside.
"Let me out of here!" A voice shouts that I wish wasn't coming from the coffin.
"What's that? A coffin?" Franky asks.
"That voice!" Robin exclaims.
"I love that boy so much, yet he never ceases to surprise me," I sigh.
"Open the lid!" Luffy pleads. "Let me out!"
"Luffy!?" Robin and I exclaim.
"What!?" Franky shouts. "Straw hat is in there!"
The three of us start running again to keep up with Luffy in the coffin being taken to who knows where.
"What's he doing!? He got caught!? We have to follow it, Nico Robin and Lil Sis!"
"It was that damn armor!" I grumble.
"I won't let you go!" a nasally male voice declares. "Oh-oh-oh. Here, Monkey, Monkey, Monkey!" The owner of the voice is a giant spider with a monkey face and front legs containing monkey hands that drop down right in front of us to block the way forward. There's a couple of people I know that would hate this monstrosity. He laughs using only oh's. "I'm the famous spider monkey!"
"Literally!"
"A giant spider!" Robin cries out.
"It's bigger than any bug I've ever seen. It's a monster!"
The coffin disappears into the wall of the other building, taking with it Luffy and our chance to get him back.
"Oh, there goes another one," Spider-Monkey glances back at where the coffin just went.
"Shit!" Franky snaps. "The coffin! What are we going to do with him!?"
"What are they going to do with him?" I blurt out. "We've now lost three, and I fear they are having the same bad thing happening to them."
"Rest assured that you will experience it for yourself sooner or later," Spider-Monkey says. "You should worry more about yourself! I'm in front of you and the armored warriors are behind you! This is the end for your little band of pirates."
"You don't mean to say that all three of them got sucking into that wall like Straw Hat just did!?" Franky questions.
"Monkey! Monkey!" he laughs. "You'll suffer the same fate soon! Die-hard zombies in front and behind you! Just give up!"
"I don't know if you're an idiot spider or an idiot monkey, but the giant spider web that caught Sunny was your work, wasn't it?"
He laughs, "Mistress Perona's ghost network can see through anything you do!"
"Those large ears of yours must be useful for gathering information," Robin says.
"Excuse me, what?" He holds a hand up to cup around his ear.
"They're just for show!?" Franky snaps.
"I'm usually a fan of bugs, but this is one that I want to squish," I sneer.
"The situation is hopeless! Completely surrounded, as they say. I'll need to take action, quick...you want to leave it to me?" He looks between Robin and me.
"As you wish," Robin softly smiles. "I'll try to follow your lead."
"Do whatever needs to be done, Big Bro," I grin.
"Sounds like a plan," Franky smirks as he readies a hand cannon. "Let's do it. Coup de Vent!" He's aimed right at the bridge, and the ensuing explosion tears it from the two buildings, sending everyone and thing on it to start falling down.
"What!?" Spider-Monkey exclaims. "You destroyed the connecting passageway!?"
"That's what I wanted to do," Franky assures as the three of us are plummeting down on a piece of rubble.
"You're so rough," Robin says.
"It was kickass," I smile. "Now, how do we not fall to our deaths?"
Robin crosses her arms, "Cien Fleurs...Wing!" Hundreds of arms sprout from her shoulders to create wings, and she snatches Franky by the collar of his shirt while he does the same for me.
"This is awesome!"
"What!?" Franky chokes out. "You...you can fly!?"
"For about five seconds," Robin nonchalantly answers.
"That's really short!" I scream.
"No!" Franky declares. "That's more than enough time!" He lifts up his free arm to point at the side we were making our way to. "Strong Right!" His hand shoots out to grab what is left of the bridge. "If we get to that entrance, we can chase after Straw Hat!"
"Ugh!" Robin groans. "I'm sorry! I can't hold you two up any longer!"
"Hurry up and pull up!" I scream as Robin's wings poof out of existence.
Franky can't pull us up fast enough, so we are sailing right for the stone wall at an alarming speed.
"Akari!" Robin sprouts enough hands to pull me up onto Franky's shoulders with her. "Jump!"
Right before we slam into the stone wall, Robin and I take a leap to land on the stone walkway. Franky unfortunately still slams face first into the wall.
I fall to my knees as it feels like my heart is about to pound out of my chest. "Damn, that was intense. Thanks for pulling me up."
"No problem at all," Robin pats my head as she takes a step to look over the edge. Her breathing is labored after the exertion of the move she performed. "Everyone fell down to the courtyard. I'm sure this isn't the end of it, but they won't come after us for a while. Everything went all right."
"Hey!" Franky shouts, holding on to the edge by his fingertips. "You stepped on me to jump up there! And you helped Lil Sis to do the same!"
"Of course. I couldn't let us crash into the wall like a buffoon."
I struggle to hold the laugh in.
"Whatever," Franky grunts as he starts to pull himself up to our level.
"Why you!?" Spider-Monkey screams. "I'm a spider! I'll scurry up to you right away!"
The air is filled with a scream before anyone can think to make a move.
"What's that?" I look over to see a skinny man with an impressive afro falling from somewhere above us. "Hold on a second!"
"Something...no, someone is falling from the sky!" Franky shouts.
"Bone!" Brook screams. "Because I'm a skeleton!"
"Someone fell from the sky!" voices from down below bellow.
"What fell?" Franky grunts.
"Could it be?" Robin looks over at me. "No, wait."
"I have a pretty good idea of who it was," I nod. "I wonder what he was doing up wherever he was."
Spiderwebs slam into the wall and broken bridge all around us, creating a bridge for one giant spider. Franky scrambles the rest of the way to be on the same level as Robin and I before Spider-Monkey appears right in front of us.
"Hey! Hey!" Spider-Monkey laughs. "We were interrupted back there, but you're not getting away from me! I can always get to you, however I want! Monkey! Monkey!"
"Oh," Franky pulls the weapon off his back, revealing it to be nunchucks. "There's a perfect stone pillar. Can you two buy me some time? I'm going to make a weapon."
"We'll figure something out," I grin, pulling out shurikens as Robin crosses her arms.
Franky nods, rushing off to create whatever is building in his mind.
Spider-Monkey holds his hands out towards us. "Sticky Spider Net!" A wave of spiderweb shoots from his palms.
"He has a spinneret on his hand!" Robin exclaims.
"The thing that lets him shoot webs!?" I clarify, sending my shurikens flying to slice at the spiderweb trying to encase us.
"Seis Fleurs...slap!" Robin's Devil Fruit arms appear on the eye of Spider-Monkey, slapping the vulnerable organ.
"Ah! Something touched my eye!" Spider-Monkey covers his eyes, but not before stopping the web coming out of his hands. "Curses! My sicky net is stuck on me!" He pulls his hands away, revealing the absolute mess he's in.
"That was too easy," I frown, using my magnet to get my shurikens back.
"Good!" Franky shouts as he returns. "I'm ready, Nico Robin, Lil Sis, stand back."
"What is that?" Robin asks, grabbing my elbow and pulling me to the side.
"Oh, nothing," he holds the stone pillar nunchucks in both his hands. "I just stuck my personal steel nunchucks into the stone pillar. You need some heavy weapons to fight against these monsters!"
"The perfect weapon to squash that annoying spider," I say.
"That's right," he grins. "Heavy Nunchucks!" He sends one stone pillar to slam into the head of Spider-Monkey. With our enemy in shock at the power of him, he twirls the nunchucks above his head before slamming one down right on Spider-Monkey's head. He does this a couple of times, each time a spurt of blood explodes out of Spider-Monkey.
"W-wait!" Spider-Monkey pleads. "Hold...stop it!!!" Even flipped over on his back, he's able to hold his arms out to shoot webs at the nunchucks. "Sticky Spider Net!" He chokes out a laugh at the predicament he's placed Franky in.
But Franky doesn't even flinch. He just lets go of the nunchucks and holds up his left arm to shoot from the cannon within. "Weapons Left!"
A squeal is ripped from my throat as a swarm of smaller spiders with mouse faces descend on Robin and me. They instantly have us tangled in their spiderwebs, restricting our arms and legs to ensure we can't free ourselves.
"Ah!" Robin groans.
"Franky!" I scream, putting all my strength into trying to escape.
"Nico Robin! Lil Sis!" Franky turns around to see the trouble we're in. "What are they!?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" the Spider-Mice chant. "Mouse, mouse!"
"I'm sorry!" Robin cries. "I was caught off guard! I didn't think there were other spiders."
"I was too focused on watching you kick that giant spider's ass!" I whine.
With Franky too focused on trying to figure out how to help us, he was left himself vulnerable. Spider-Monkey sends a burst of web right at Franky's back to keep him down.
"Damn it!" Franky groans.
Spider-Monkey laughs. "You fool! Monkey! Monkey! You'll always be caught off guard! Those are my underlings, the Spider Mice! There are five hundred of them in Thriller Bark! There's no prey I can't catch! They always snare you unexpectedly! They attack from the darkness, in the prey's blind spot! And thanks to Dr. Hogback's modifications, humans cannot tear my silk web!"
"We caught all of your friends form behind the ceiling," a Spider-Mouse near me speaks up. "We pulled them away without a sound! We'll take you to your friends right away. Prepare yourself!"
I freeze, but not because of the threat these freak spiders are giving. There's a soft voice singing out a song like an angel come down to save us.
"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo ho-ho ho, yo-ho-ho-ho. It's time to ship out Bink's brew. Sea wind blows to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide."
"Eh? What's that!?" Spider-Monkey exclaims.
"O'er cross the oceans tide, rays of sunshine far and wide. Birds they sing of cheerful things in circles passing by!"
"Who is it! Who's singing!?"
"Your doom," I sneer.
Brook steps into view, catching sight of Robin and I in our predicament, he lets out a laugh. "Oh my, looks like you came to the island after all," he tips his top hat. The cane he's been carrying around now reveal to be a sword in disguise.
"What? How did you get here form the bottom?" Robin huffs.
"I jumped. I'm very light, you know."
"Are you going to get us out of this mess?" I ask.
"If you're already here, then there's no helping it! I'll tell you everything about this island."
"Hey, you!" Spider-Monkey snaps. "You're not a zombie, are you? You're with the pirates, huh!? Hey, skeleton!"
"Yes, yes," Brook spins around. "It's all right. The match is already over." He slowly slides the sword back into the cane body, stopping a few inches before it is fully sheathed. "Three-Pace Hum...Notch Slash!" He shoves the sword the rest of the way in, and the Spider-Monkey is sliced right down the middle, sending it crumbling down.
"How did he do that?" I gasp.
"We're not done yet!" Franky shouts. "Even after being cut down, the zombies keep getting back up!"
"Why, you," Spider-Monkey struggles to push up. "Wait! I've seen you somewhere before!"
Brook chuckles, "Worry not, I've already taken countermeasures."
"Countermeasures?" Franky grunts.
"The zombies have a certain weakness..."
Spider-Monkey lets out a scream of agony, and in the next second a black mass is being dragged out of its mouth.
"That's the zombie's soul!"
"Soul!?" I blurt out. "But I can see it!"
The black mass escapes Spider-Monkey's mouth and shoots up into the sky.
"Now, return to your original master!" Brook orders.
Spider-Monkey's body flops to the ground. Not even a single twitch coming from his body. He is completely void of life.
"No!" the Spider-Mouse army scream. "Captain Taralan! Captain! Captain was defeated!"
"You really knocked it out for good," Franky says. "What did you do?"
"I purified it," Brook answers.
"Look!" a Spider-Mouse screams. "It's the Humming Swordsman! That's the man who made a mess of Thriller Bark five years ago! We have to report this to Master!" With that order, every single Spider-Mouse runs into the building.
"Oh, and those spiderwebs are resistant to strength, but vulnerable to fire."
Franky breathes some fire onto his web restraints, "You're right! It's melting!"
Once Franky has freed himself, he makes his way over to do the same for Robin and then me. First it was wax, now it is spiderwebs, I am not looking forward to what could possibly trap me next.
"You have a lovely singing voice, Brook," I smile.
"Thank you, young lady," Brook slightly bows. "Now, there's only three of you here, so where is the rest of your crew?"
"Straw Hat and the others were taken!" Franky answers. "You seem to know a lot about this island."
"Yes, but I don't know where to start. If they were captured, it may already be too late."
"What do you mean 'too late'!?"
"What has happened to the others!?" I exclaim.
"P-please don't yell at me in public like that," Brook waves his hands in front of him. "I might lose face! But I'm a skeleton, so I don't have a face!" He laughs, "Get it!? Another skull joke!"
Franky is fuming, raising his arms to reveal his arm cannon.
"Stop it, he's already dead," Robin holds up her hand in defense.
I take a deep breath, "I don't think we're really in the mood for jokes."
"Anyway, seriously, please listen to me."
"Gah," Franky growls.
"Stop it, he's already dead," Robin repeats, and this time Franky lowers his arm.
"As I told you before, I wandered the seas for decades on a ship that couldn't be steered," Brook continues. "Though I wanted to escape these demonic waters, the rudder was broken, so I had to just let the currents carry me. And that's how I arrived at Thriller Bark five years ago. Much in the same way you did. Because I wanted to escape form the Florian Triangle, I stared searching for parts to fix the rudder and explored this place on foot, but all I found were monsters and zombies. I was eventually captures and taken to this building."
I glance at Franky to see him deeply frowning, but his arms stay crossed.
"What I witnessed inside was a martial arts dancer and a patched-up corpse they called a marionette. Then a large man appeared, and what I saw next struck fear in my heart. The martial artist's shadow was pulled rom the ground and removed!" Brook can't make many facial expressions, but the horror is clear on his face.
"Do you even still have a physical heart?" I mumble, shifting around on my feet.
"He cut off the shadow!?" Franky bellows.
Brook shrugs, "I doubted my eyes too, at first. Even though I don't have any eyes!"
"I'm going to beat you up if you don't quit joking!" He slaps the back of Brook's head, sending the skeleton face first into the spiderweb bridge as the welt swells up.
"Yes, go ahead and beat him up," Robin says.
"I kind of like his bad jokes," I pout. "At least he is still finding the bright side in his situation."
"I would soon suffer the same fate," Brook continues unfazed, "but first I saw the man collapse after his shadow was taken. And the shadow itself was pressed inside the lifeless marionette. What do you think happened next? The marionette, which was originally a motionless corpse, started to move!"
"What do you mean?" Franky grits his teeth.
"Holy shit," I breath out, feeling my entire face widen in shock as I realize that must mean every single zombie we've come in contact with harbors a person's shadow. That is hundreds of people without their shadows if my theory is correct.
"The shadow is another soul that follows its master's moves," Brook explains. "The shadow at your feet is the same. Under normal circumstances, that soul is supposed to follow you from birth to death. The man who is able to capture and force those shadows to submit to him, is one of the Seven Warlords...Gecko Moria! He has the power of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit."
"A Devil Fruit," Franky hums.
"As long as he has the corpses to us, he can manipulate shadows and create zombies. The problem here is that he's working with a talented surgeon who can build powerful corpses using the body parts of various creatures. As long as Dr. Hogback is on Gecko Moria's side, our troubles have no end. His medical skills make it possible for him to go to various cemeteries and revive the bodies of legendary warriors. There are still a huge number of marionettes preserved in his laboratory freezer."
"Dr. Hogback," Robin contemplates. "I didn't realize that after he went missing, the famous physician came here to work for a pirate."
"It kind of freaks me out that Moria found out he could steal people's shadows, and the first thing he decides to do is make a legion of zombies to rule over whatever it is he wants to rule over," I shake my head.
"So, what you're saying is that the zombies can move around, but that doesn't mean the dead have actually come back to life," Franky firmly asks.
"Correct," Brook answers. "The personality and battle abilities are retained from the original owner of the shadow, though the physical strength will be dependent on the body of the marionette. The stronger the combination of the physical body and shadow warrior is, the more powerful the zombie soldier will be. That's why Moria seeks out the shadows of people with bounties on their heads. It makes things easier."
"I get it, so that's why he's after us."
"He got three strong shadows with the three boys he's already taken," I place my hands on my hips. "Which really sucks for us."
"So that's what Thriller Bark really is," Brook says. "To Moria, the overwhelming benefit of using zombies is likely their obedience. Usually the power of a warrior is directly proportional to how difficult it is to control them. Yes, after taking a shadow that has the same battle abilities as the actual person, he has no need for the original owner of the shadow. The stronger they are, the more quickly they are sent back out to sea while still unconscious."
"What!?" Franky and I blurt out. "Then they're in trouble!"
"It's alright," Brook holds his hand up. "We still have time."
"We better have time!" I scream, quickly taking a deep breath to settle my nerves. "Sorry, all this new information is putting me on edge."
"I will explain the best plan of action," Brook says. "Please trust me and do as I say!"
"What!? Trust you!?" Franky juts his jaw out.
"You'd have to be out of you skull!" Brook begins to spin around on one leg as a warm laugh leaves him. "Get it!? I haven't had this kind of audience in decades! It's so fun!"
The giggle bubbles out of my mouth but fizzles out when Robin looks over at me. "Sorry."
Robin links her arm with mine, "No, don't be sorry. I was just thinking of how Luffy would have done the same thing." She turns to address Brook. "We're listening. Hurry up and talk."
"Yes ma'am," Brook stops spinning and bows towards her. "First course of action, you must go back to your ship."
"Go back to the ship?" Franky questions. "You want us to go back to Sunny?"
"That's right. The worst possible situation for your captured crewmembers is to have their shadows taken away! But just because their shadows have been taken, it doesn't mean they'll die. Take me, for example. Oh wait, I am dead! Get it!?"
"This situation has nothing to do with that!"
"I remember you saying that if a shadow is taken, the only thing a person needs to fear is the sun," I say.
"Correct!" Brook says. But right when your shadow is taken away, you lose consciousness on the spot, and you don't wake up for at least two days. The stronger the person is, the more likely it is they'll be put on a ship and ejected from Thriller Bark. Do you understand why they would do that?"
"To prevent the victims from coming back to the island, perhaps?" Robin suggests.
"That's right!"
"Then why don't they just kill the victim while they're passed out?" Franky asks.
"They can't! This is important, so please listen carefully. The original and the shadow are a part of the same person. If the original dies, then the shadow will vanish as well. Basically, the zombie will die at the same time! The enemy doesn't want this to happen, so they always keep the original alive! So, even if your crewmates' shadows were taken, they will definitely be alive and on their way back to the ship. Now, if you three fall victim as well, that would be the worst possible state of affairs! You'd all lose your shadows and end up having to wander the seas! The best thing you can do is wake up the ones who are sleeping. That is the only way you'll have a chance to retake the shadows!"
"I see," Franky nods. "Makes sense to me."
"They'd be fighting against someone with the same skill as themselves, but in a completely different body," I say. "How do you even get your shadow back, though?"
"With this," Brook hands Franky a small pouch.
"What?" Franky looks down at the pouch.
"It's the zombies' weakness. You just saw how effective it was against the Spider Monkey."
"What is it? What's their weakness?"
"Salt."
"Salt!? Is it a charm to ward off evil spirits or something?"
"They're zombies which aren't necessarily spirits," I comment.
"In a way, the effect is similar," Brook says. "The zombies are able to move due to the powers of the Devil Fruit. Since salt embodies the power of the ocean, the body and its fake soul will not be able to maintain a bond."
"I see," Robin muses. "So the thing that the Monkey spat out was the shadow that was inside it. I didn't know they had that weakness."
"It's simple—to defeat the zombies, just put salt in their mouths. There. I made no bones about it! No bones! Ha!"
"Simple would just be hitting them with salt, but I guess getting it into their mouths makes the most sense," I sigh.
"But how do you know so much about the zombies on this island?" Robin asks.
"My shadow was taken from me five years ago," Brook answers, turning away from us. "I was drifting on my ship, but luckily I woke up with enough time to turn back, so I returned to the island and fought, which resulted in utter defeat. I fled because I feared for my life. I just did not want to die. I am the last survivor from my ship, so I must escape these demonic waters and fulfill the pact I made with a friend. That is why I ran to save my life! Though I survived, it didn't solve anything. That's why I will not run away this time! I will defeat that man and take back my shadow!"
"Well, you can't break a promise," I softly grin.
"Now, if you'll excuse me! I must hurry on my way!" He tips his top hat to us.
"Wait a second!" Franky blurts out. "You might as well answer one more question before you go."
I glance up at Franky, curiosity bursting within me.
"If you go out in public looking like that, you know what people's reactions will be. You're a talking skeleton. There's no way someone as creepy as you will be able to make any friends. People who look that different from others will always be cast aside!"
"Franky, what are you saying?" Robin hisses.
"You don't have to make the truth sound that harsh," I frown, feeling tears building in the corners of my eyes.
"Even if you managed to escape these demonic waters, your fate is clear," Franky continues without acknowledging Robin or me. "Not to mention the decades you spend here in despair. You said yourself that you were so lonely you wanted to die. If I were you, I would have killed myself a long time ago."
I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand.
Brook continues to face away from us, not saying a single word.
"Your entire existence is fragile, yet you still act like a gentleman," Franky says. "You always cover up your problems when talking to us too! What is it that's keeping you alive? What is that pact with a friend you need to fulfill?"
Brook sadly chuckles, "You like to meddle in other people's business, I see. It's very simple. We left behind a friend of our pirate crew at some point in the past. It was a troubling separation, but we did it out of necessity. We set sail after we promised to return at all costs, and our band of pirates died off in these waters, leaving that promise unfulfilled. Because I am the only one who survived from the ship, it is my duty to return and tell him about us! It has probably been fifty years since the day we died."
I wipe away the tears that have started to fall.
"Fifty years!?" Franky exclaims. "That long ago! I wasn't even born yet! I really don't think the guy would wait for so long."
"I have no right to assume that he is not waiting anymore," Brook says. "If by chance he is still waiting for us, still believing in that promise... How sad would he be right now? Still thinking that we have all betrayed him, and yet still waiting for us in the same place... How miserable would that be?"
"You..."
"The friend we promised to meet again at the cape is named Laboon."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hope you enjoyed reading! When it was revealed that Brook knew Laboon, I was so shocked and excited. I couldn't believe that storyline from so long ago was going to have such significance on getting another Straw Hat member. Anyways, I would love to know what you thought! :D