Chapter II: Mountain of corpses

A circle. That is what they were right now. They were sitting in a circle on the deck with a book placed in the middle. Robin said earlier that the book tells the story of countless pirates who came to this particular island and got lost in their memories. The island did not have a name, yet it was unforgiving to those who sinned. Apparently only those who have sinned are punished by the presence, by the islands' soul. The graver the sin the more painful the punishment was. The book said that to cure a sinful past was to forget said past. That made everyone stop searching.

"But forgetting the past… Doesn't that mean Zoro will forget everything ? Including us ?"

"Yes. That is what it means."

"Then… we are going to find another way. Not the one this island offers."

"I will look more into the book. Maybe there is another way of rescuing Kenshi-san. I do recall an excerpt speaking of a voyage to seek out memories and heal them."

Everybody was agreeing that it was the only thing they could do at the moment. They were terrified of this new Zoro, but they wanted to help, to get the old Zoro back. Only three of them realized that such a thing was impossible, since the old Zoro did not exist in the first place.

"Nee… Zoro…stop sulking. We will get your memories back, so don't worry. Just trust us."

As cute as it may seem, coming from Chopper, it only annoyed him. Get back his memories ? They never left in the first place. Trust ? Like hell!

"My memories are just fine."

"Eh… but then why did you said you don't remember being our nakama."

"I said no such thing. I said I don't consider you lot nakama. I don't understand the concept of nakama. For me it is stupid and worthless, but I'll let you lot have your fun, until you will realize that I'm a lost cause. Then you will stop pretending to want to save me and just leave me behind."

"We won't leave you behind. Ever."

"Why ? And don't tell me it's because we are nakama. I do not believe in such things."

Quiet. The quiet was the answer. They did not have an answer. They had no reason to save him. His sins were too great. He did not deserve salvation in the first place. Robin looked up from the page she was reading and asked the thing they all wanted to know yet none had the guts to ask:

"Why do you believe you are unsalvageable?"

"Because of sins. My sins."

"I see… Captain-san I found the excerpt I was looking for. It certainly is an interesting theory, traveling in such ways."

"Tell us, Robin."

"Well, the book says that at the centre of the island there is an altar for the gods of ancient times. Their names have been forgotten, but a legend still stands. It says that those with pure hearts can go to the altar and drink from the chalice, then go and seek out the pain and drive it away."

"So… what does that mean?"

"Seek out the pain and drive it away…Hmm, I believe it means that we might be able to go to whatever memory is troubling Kenshi-san and heal the wound it created over time. It might be considered something like a trip down memory lane, but we are the one who will travel into Kenshi-san's mind and seek out whatever is hurting him."

"Travel in his memories… That is quite a scary concept, yohohoho."

"Ok, then let's go and get the mystery chalice."

Easier said than done. Sure, getting to the chalice was easy, since there was no wildlife on this god forsaken island. All they had to do was go to the centre of the island and find the altar. The hard part was figuring out how to use the chalice to enter Zoro's mind. They decided to regroup back on the Thousand Sunny-Go and try to brainstorm into finding out a solution for their problem. It was Robin who figured it out, one hour later. She had been reading and re-reading the story of the chalice from the book, but she found her answer in the end. It was a simple concept, they each had to lift the chalice to their mouth and pretend to drink. Afterwards they would join hands with Kenshi-san in the middle of their circle. And it worked. Well, when do Robin's plans not work? They always do.

The trip down 'memory lane' was not a pleasant one, but it was short. It was dark around them, the frightening type of dark. It seemed to flow from the recesses of Zoro's mind and taint everything in their path. It enveloped anything it touched, even them. The Strawhats looked around and noticed Zoro did not join them. Well, they were in his mind after all.

"It feels suffocating…like an entity trying to swallow us whole."

"Indeed. Something is awfully wrong in here…we'll have to fix it…I guess."

"So…which way do we go ? Everything is pitch black in here."

"Probably the reason why he gets lost so often. His mind is completely empty."

"I doubt this is all it is to Kenshi-san's mind. We might have just scratched the surface. We will have to look around for a landmark of sorts to guide us into his memories."

"Hmm…like that door over there."

"Exactly. Like that door…what door ?"

"Ah ! There is a door over there. As expected of the sniper…his eyes can see even in this pitch black darkness. Good job, Usopp-san, yohohoho."

As they were approaching the door they could see a number carved into it. It was the number 5, in big gothic letters. The door was exuding large amounts of pressure. It was like something big and dark and evil was waiting for them to open the door and eat them. Usopp was trembling and muttering something about an 'I can't step through that door- disease'. Luffy was having none of that. His mind was focused on getting Zoro out of whatever slump he had fallen in. He wanted Zoro back and he will have him back, even if he had to go to the other end of the world looking for him. He was the first to step through the dark door, full of conviction that he will help his nakama. The others soon followed and they found themselves on a plain surrounded by thick smoke. The gray smoke was coming out from the strange lumps and piles on the ground. It was Nami's shriek of terror that made them look closer. The lumps were actually dead bodies stacked one on top of the other. There were countless of such plies on the horizon. It was a horrifying sight.

"Why are there so many dead ?…What happed to these people…?"

"It could have multiple reasons . It might have been war or epidemics. Who knows…?"

"Why do I have the feeling we will find out soon ?"

"Actually…right now I have a gut feeling telling me not to find out what this is about."

"Usopp, stop whining would you. I get it…it's creepy and all but we have to rescue Zoro-bro."

Reluctantly they started walking down the field until Luffy seemed to suddenly stop. The others were looking around, trying to see what made him freeze on the spot. Then a wide eyed Robin lifted a shaking hand and pointed at a huge pile near them. It was a sight that made their blood freeze . There at the top of the mountain of bodies was a person, no, a child. He was clutching a wakizashi and looking around. He was covered in blood, both fresh and dried and was grinning like a mad man. The one thing that frightened them the most was the smoking green hair the child had.

Then he jumped, not caring that he crushed a dead man's skull by landing on it. The child seemed like nothing around him could faze him, certainly not this massacre scene. He looked like the devil himself, grinning like that. Then he picked up the decapitated head of a child, the same age as him and said:

"You had I coming, Shuu-chan. You pissed me off even when I warned you that I will kill not only your family, but the whole town. See ! You made me do it Shuu-chan. It is your fault, but, oh well, I admit it was fun, ripping out the guts from so many people."

Laughter resounded around them. It made them feel like there was ice pouring through their veins, not blood. Such maniac and disturbed laughter coming from such a tiny child. He certainly could not be older than five or six. To think Zoro was capable of such things ?

"Ah…I must return to Master soon. I believe he will be happy with the success of this mission. I wonder what will he make me kill next…I can't wait."

The child Zoro spoke in such a malevolent voice that it made the rest of the crew shudder in fear. It probably was their self preservation instinct that was acting up around this monster. He could not be called anything else beside monster. Was this really Zoro ? This were his memories ? And if they were… were all of them so dark ? Just what had happened to this kid to make him like this ?

The memory suddenly ended and the crew was back in the endless darkness. They had returned to their starting point, but now everyone was silent. No one dared talk, terrified that the little monster will appear again. After a short while it was Luffy that broke the silence.

"Let's go. We can't stay here and mope around. Let's look for our Zoro and bring him back."

He had said it while smiling but a closer look into his eyes could tell he was furious. He was seething in silence. Luffy would get to the bottom of this affair and he swore that whomever had hurt Zoro so much, to turn him into such a death bringing creature, will pay. Oh, he will pay dearly, this Master, whoever he was. Identity did not matter, but the price will be paid. No one hurt his nakama and get away with it. If necessary he will put a hold on his adventures and seek out this Master, to get revenge for Zoro.

A new door appeared in their way, this one having a gothic 8 carved into it. They were scared of what they will find on the other side, but they knew they had to go through it to see the old Zoro again. So Luffy opened the door and down the rabbit hole they went.

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Author's note: Well like I promised this will be something like a trip down memory lane. It's a common subject on fanfiction, but I have no idea why everybody applies it just to Luffy. Zoro's past is just as mysterious.

Warning: This will not follow any type of pre-established canon lines. Well, I guess you have already realized that from this chapter, but Zoro's past will be a pit of endless pain and mental torture. Kuina will appear but in a slightly different context. I still have nothing planned ahead, since my ideas come while I'm writing. But please review and express your opinions. Likes or dislikes, but please review. I will try to improve the quality of my works, since English is not my mother tongue. I started learning English three years ago and I believe it shows through my style of writing. Oh well ! I started rambling, so I better stop and focus on writing a new chapter.

Bye Bye!