"But man, those were some spineless zombies."
Franky agreed with Luffy as he stretched his arm out, "Yeah that didn't even count as a warm up."
I sweatdropped at the two as I walked in between them. I shot a weird look at both of them as I secretly marveled at their overwhelming strength, "No, you guys are just not human."
They both looked at me with a blank stare and a tilt of the head making me shake my head at the two before speeding up to match Zoro's pace. I walked next to him and he seemed to give me a slight nod in acknowledgment before talking to Luffy and Franky, "Don't let your guard down, we don't know what'll turn around the next corner and attack us."
"What's this?" Sanji raised his eyebrow at Zoro in a patronizing way as he seemed more irritated than usual, "Starting to chicken out, Swordsuss?"
"Shut up you, stupid cook! Don't lump me in with you!"
"What'd you say, you disorientated mosshead?!"
"You heard me swirly brow!"
"Okay guys..." I laughed nervously as they got up in each others faces angrily except I was in the middle of them so it was just a really awkward position for me. I had to push them away by their chests to stop them from trampling over me.
"Please hold up!" A weak, tired voice called out to us from behind and when we turned a round a lantern's light emerged from the darkness, "I saw what you did! You're terribly strong aren't you!? Can you hear me out for a second?!"
Luffy looked at him concerned once the man's wrinkly skin became evident along with the dirt on his clothes, skin, and fingernails. The old man had bandages wrapped around him and to be honest he seemed like the zombies we had beat up before, "A terribly injured man!"
"We told you already, that's a zombie!"
"No!" The old man denied the others claims as he put his hand up, "Im a terribly injured man!"
The three guys got irritated as they yelled and pointed at him in unison, "That's confusing! Just pass yourself off as a zombie!"
"Anyways, what did you want to talk about?" Luffy took a step toward the old man with a blank expression.
"There's a man I want you to defeat."
I raised my eyebrow as I listened to him ask Luffy to defeat this 'man' who supposedly has created multiple victims.
What in the side quest?
The mention of him getting his shadow back made me nod in realization as I braced myself for the fight to come.
Ah, so this 'man' must be the one who stole Brook's shadow.
"Your shadow...woah! It's true!" Luffy took a couple steps closer as he looked closely at the ground where the light was shining only to notice the lack of a shadow, "Gramps...you don't have a shadow...you're just like Brook!"
"So who's the one who stole it?" Sanji asked as he looked down at the man who had gotten down on his knees to beg.
Their nails dog into the dirt as they hold a frightened stare. It looked as if there was a frog stuck in his throat and it didn't want to come out. He finally worked up the courage to mutter the name, "M-Moria...the man's name is Moria...he is truly terrifying."
"Moria?" The atmosphere seems to get denser as Robin steps forward with a worried look, "You mean...Gecko Moria?"
Once the old man nodded, Luffy turned to her in confusion, "Robin you know him?"
She nodded, sweat dripping down her face as she seemed pretty worried, "I know him quite well. His bounty used to surpass even yours, Luffy."
"Used to?"
"Gecko Moria is one of the seven warlords of the sea."
The familiar title rang a bell in my head as I remembered Crocodile and Mihawk. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of man this Moria was and if he was as smart and clever as the other two were.
"Are you sure, Robin?!"
"Yes," Robin confirmed Luffy's questions as she recalled the encounters she's had with the man or the stories she's heard, "Gecko Moria is a man shrouded in mystery."
"But what is a man like that doing at an island like this?" Franky seemed less concerned and more confused as to the powerful man's presence.
The old man looked back at the dirty ground, trying to search for a reason, but came up empty handed, "I don't know," He shook his head with a hopeless frown, "But there have been a lot of victims left to wander this forest after he stole their shadows." The old man looked at all of us with a weary look, "You should be wise to remember that Moria has his eye on you since he's already invited you."
"Invited us?"
I answered Zoro's question as I crossed my arms, a habit I've picked up after seeing Zoro do it so many times, "Must've been the barrel..."
Before we know it, the old man starts to cry as tears slowly drop from his eyes. You could tell he's been miserable for months, maybe even years and it seemed to make my heart sting, "Those who stayed must creep around the forest in fear of zombies and those who left must hide from the light in fear of dying. Either way, it hardly feels like we're even alive anymore."
The lantern he was holding rolls towards us as he is placed his hands down on the ground in front of him. As he begs us to help him walk under the sun again the lantern illuminates the area close to us, emphasizing our shadows and the lack of his.
Franky, touched by the story and the heartfelt speech, starts crying in empathy as he comments on how the story was tragic. Sanji doesn't share the same sentiment though as he points at the old man telling him only ladies crying makes his heart throb not dirty old men, translating to: I'm not as emotional as Franky so you're story won't make me cry!
"I was searching for the shadow thief anyway," Luffy's words that he spoke so nonchalantly made a smile creep onto my face. He stood up as he smiled reassuringly at the old man, "If he's after us we're gonna have to kick his butt so wouldn't we wind up helping you anyway?"
The man was ecstatic to hear that he will finally be getting help and that there might be a chance to get his shadow back. Other voices from around us seemed to join into the conversation, surprising a few of us.
"Thank you, Mister!"
"Kick stinky Morias butt!"
"Huh?" Sanji looked around to see figures in the bushes and trees popping out, "There were other victims listening to us this whole time?"
I follow Sanji's actions as I looked at the figures, summing up that they were probably the ones in the bushes when we first entered. My eyes scan the figures to get a better idea of the people we were going to be saving and my gaze lands on a kid. The child sees my eyes on him and quickly hides behind the tree in which I looked away to not make them feel uncomfortable.
Another voice calls out from the bushes with an almost playful voice, mocking Sanji's previous words, "Sorry for not making your heart throb Curly Brows!"
"Shut up!"
"I mean they're not wrong..." I gave a pause before smiling teasingly at the cook, "Curly Brows."
Sanji's face fell as he sulked, "Not you too, Y/n..."
~•~
"Rain?" Luffy looked up to the sky and, as if on cue, water started to fall from the sky. At first it was light rain until it became heavier and heavier.
"Alright, let's run for the mansion!"
"Hold on," Luffy's order stopped all of us from continuing forward as he put his hand above his eyes to shield the rain, "I can see something huge behind the mansion. It's like a giant mark of some kind."
"Mark?" I looked up questioningly, not being able to see because of the rain and my hand wasn't working as a shield.
"Here," Luffy placed his strawhat on my head and when I looked at him in slight shock he grinned and pointed at what he was looking at earlier, "Maybe this'll help!"
"Oh," I was a little in shock still so I was a bit hesitant to really look at the so called 'mark', but when I did I understood what he met, "It kinda looks like a Jolly Rodger."
"What is that? A flag?" Sanji looked up as well as he squinted his eyes before Franky answered his question.
"No! Isn't that a sail?" Franky stared at it bewildered at the huge sail and questioning why it's there and how it's there.
"A sail?!"
"It sure is!" The old man confirmed our suspicions as he popped up behind us with a lantern.
We all turned to him in shock before shouting in unison, "You're still following us?!"
He completely ignored the fact that it was weird and continued on with his explanation, "Just as that man said it is a sail. It's so big you can't even see the whole thing. Thriller Bark is carrying a whole village making it the largest pirate ship in the world!"
We all had our doubts and shock, though Zoro was the first to voice it, "It's a pirate ship that hauls around a village??"
Luffy, on the other hand, was in complete awe as stars appeared in his eyes, "Awesome!"
"I see..." Franky pushed Luffy's overly excited face down as he recalled his shipwright knowledge, "Bark is a term to define that kind of a ship. Never thought I'd see a ship carrying a whole village though."
The old man nodded at Franky's words before he pointed at the large sail, "The main mast is connected to the part of the mansion where you'll find Moria."
We all looked at the mansion, specifically the part where Moria was supposed to be, and stood in silence for a second. It wasn't until the sound Luffy hitting his fist into his palm with a determined grin that we had snapped out of our daze, "Well, shall we go? Into the haunted mansion!"
~•~
"Doesn't look like anyone's home."
I nodded in agreement to Zoro's words as I scanned the room. It was completely empty, but there were objects all over the floor along with ripped paintings hung up on the peeling wallpaper.
"Hey!" Luffy put his hands around his mouth to imitate a speaker phone as he yelled out to the empty mansion, "Anyone around? Gecko Moria!"
"This is such a huge mansion..." Franky scratched his head as he looked around the mansion, "Shouldn't there be at least one servant?"
"Look at the rest of the island," I walked next to Franky as I stepped over a knocked down table, "I doubt theres anything living here except for this Moria guy."
The cyborg hummed in response, pushing me closer to his side to help me not run into a chair while I wasn't looking, "I guess that makes sense."
Weird laughter interrupted everyone's conversation and when we looked up to find the source we saw a big head sticking out as if it were mounted on the wall, "You've got some guts walking in here when you know our masters name."
"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head as we looked up to the mounted pig, "A piggy's growing out of the wall?"
It looked like when people kill deers and then mount it as a trophy. The pig smiled grimly at us, "Ive got a nice surprise for you! Give our new guests a good welcome!"
And on cue, the paintings that were hanging on the walls came to life, jumping out of their frames and attacking all of us. One, an ugly version of the Mona Lisa, jumped out at me with a cocky grin. Her friend, a deformed bear that looked more like cat if anything, jumped at me as well with the same cocky look plastered on its face.
"I hate girls like you! I cant wait to tear up that pretty face of yours!" She cackled as the bear next to her growled with a proud smirk on its face.
I raised my eyebrow at the compliment meant to be a threat as I took out my scythe. Twirling it a little to warm my hand up, preparing to shred the painting in pieces, "Thanks for calling me pretty." I dodged their first attack before swinging my scythe with ease, knocking them to the ground as I tore the girls hair and cut the bears right ear off.
"Looks like we took care of all of them," Luffy dusted his hands off each other, satisfied with the job well done.
Franky removed his attention from the beaten paintings on the floor with their face planted on the floor, "Nope we're not done." He pointed up at the pig that started it all with a blank look, "There's still one up there."
When we took him off the wall he immediately got nervous as he tried to save himself from being beaten up badly, "Um...those three are safe asleep in their rooms! Isn't that a relief!"
The others yelled at the pig for the obvious lie while I looked around confused feeling like something was missing. I tried to shake the feeling, thinking it was nothing, before deciding to do a headcount. Once I was done, I realized why I was feeling the way I was, "Um...where's Sanji?"
Everyone looked at me before looking around realizing that the cook was actually gone. Luffy scratched his head as he seemed clueless about the situation, "How weird...he was just here."
"They must've done something during the fray," Zoro clicked his tongue in annoyance as he glared at the paintings on the floor. He held the ghost of a smile on his face as he shrugged his shoulders with an obviously satisfied expression, "What a shame."
I shook my head at the evident distaste for the cook before turning to Luffy and asking him what we should do. The paintings seemed to find our realization funny as they began to snicker under their breath.
"Eh," He waved his hand dismissively, "Sanji will be fine. Anyways I'm more concerned on finding those three."
Franky nodded at his captains words as he carelessly pointed at the pig once more, "Then lets take this pig as a guide."
The conversation came to a stop once the laughing from the paintings got louder, though it fazed no one. They began to flaunt their master and laugh at how 'naive and stupid' we were for thinking we could beat him. "Go! Go and learn how terrifying our master is! Your missing crewmates won't come back unscathed! You'll lose one pal after the next."
Everyone just stared back at the paintings with a blank stare, not feeling a hint of intimidation.
"You sure love to ramble on and on," Luffy stepped forward with his hair covering his eyes casting a shadow on his face.
It wasn't until now that I noticed I still had his strawhat on. My hand subconsciously reached up to the old thing as I gently pinch the rim of the hat.
"Alright...then pass this message on to Gecko Moria," He looked up so that they could see his threatening expression as he spoke in a clear and low voice, "'If anything happens to my crew I'll send you and this entire island flying!'" As the paintings looked as If they were going to wet their pants, Luffy let his words sink in before he dropped the threatening aura and went back to his usual self, "Anyway, it won't kill Sanji to fend for himself, let's go."
.
.
.
.
Oh.
.
.
.
I stared at Luffy for what felt like forever. Everything seemed to get tuned out as I watched the captain slowly smile at something someone said.
.
.
.
Weird. A weird, weird feeling rushes through my body and I can feel it coursing through my veins.
.
.
.
"Y/n?"
I blinked a few times before snapping out of it as I turned to Franky who called my name. I hummed in response, still kind of out of it.
The cyborg gave me a concerned look as he pointed to the others, "You coming?"
My eyes shifted from Franky to Luffy again before I spoke hesitantly, "Yeah...sorry."
Franky smiled at me and told me not to worry about it as he turned to the others and caught up to them.
My hand goes up to the hat again and I take in it's rough texture before letting go and calling Luffy's name. He turned back to look at me with a bright smile as he asked me what was up. I took a deep breath in before jogging up to him—he was in the front of the group—and taking off the hat before giving it to him, "Thanks for letting me use it earlier. Sorry I kept it for so long, I forgot I had it on."
He looked at it with a fond smile before placing it on his head with a slight laugh, "Don't worry about it! It looks good on you anyways!"