Lich sat on Perona's bed, cross-legged. One thought was going through his head repeatedly: "Moria-sama is dead."
Perona.walked into her room and saw Lich perched on her bed. She walked over to him.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Not really, no. This is a dark day for Thriller Bark."
"Hogback's having a funeral feast. Care to accompany me?"
Lich closed his eyes and shook his head. "It just wouldn't be the same without Moria-sama."
At this, Perona fired up. "So is this what it's come down to, is it? We all degenerate into mindless animals just because we don't have a leader?!"
Lich glared at her. "You wouldn't understand. Master Moria was like a father to me."
"YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE MORIA-SAMA WAS THE ONLY REASON YOU STAYED HERE!" shouted Perona, tears welling up in her eyes. Lich looked mortified, and lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry." he said, and he meant it.
"I should think so." replied Perona, storming off.
"Perona-chan, wait." said Lich, running after her. "Really, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act like that. It was cruel and hurtful."
Perona rested her head on Lich's shoulder. "I know, but……can't you just move on? People die, it happens a lot."
Lich said nothing for a while, before gently pulling Perona's head off his shoulder.
"Want to go to that feast now?"
Perona smiled. "Sure."
They went round to Hogback's side of the mansion and entered the dining room, but before Lich sat, down, he walked up to Cindry.
"If you don't actually serve the food on plates this time I'm going to slice you up into little pieces." he said grimly, before Perona pulled him away.
"Don't be mean." she said in his ear.
"What do you expect? Her hate for plates is over the top."
Dinner itself was rather uneventful, apart from the fact Cindry was straining not to break the plates she had brought out just for this occasion.
At the end, Lich stood up for a speech.
"Though our leader may be dead, we must continue on. He wouldn't have wanted us to stop fighting against other pirates because of a little thing like death. We will fight on for his cause, and we will forge a new dawn. A dawn of undead."
He then raised his glass. "To Moria-sama."
"To Moria-sama." the others repeated, and Perona smiled to herself.
Lich was right. They had seen the end of an era, but a new one was about to emerge.
End
A/N: I dunno….I'm still hung up on this fic. On the one hand, I thought Moria's death would make a good plot point, but on the other hand, how are they going to make more zombies without his Kage Kage no Mi power?
Oh well…..read and review, please.
Hakushi: That was the worst thing you've ever written.
Me: Oh, shut up, shorty.