Hi, guys! I hope school's going well for you! I've got a thunderstorm over my head at the moment, so I don't really feel like doing anything too much today.
Thanks for Keeperofhounds, Redangel14, seanstergamefan, xenocanaan, Shun'in Ventus, and chibianimefan26 for the Favs and Follows!
Guest/SkittlesLover (who posted multiple reviews): I'm glad you like my story that much! But please refrain from posting so many reviews on this next chapter! XD As for your questions, I said pretty early on in the Water 7 arc that I wasn't planning on putting Maria in any romantic relationships. She's going to see them as an adopted family. As for your other two questions...well, that would be telling. And I'm not planning on giving away any spoilers, so you're just going to have to wait until we get to that point in order to find out.
xenocanaan - Hi! I'm glad you like it! Here's another one!
Alder Niis (Guest): Luffy mentions he has a brother when they leave Thriller Bark; that's the first time in-canon that Robin, Franky, and Brook hear about it. There was an anime episode, too, that showed Brook reading the logs (or, ship journals) after leaving Thriller Bark. Nami (who writes in them) probably made mention of Ace in there.
chibianimefan26 - I'm glad you like my story and Maria! And yeah, it's going to take a while - both for Maria to get all her memories back and for chapters to come out, what with school dragging on like it usually does. I hope you'll be able to hold out inbetween chapters!
And now...here's the next one!
Chapter 60 (or 2) - Skull Jokes and Stolen Shadows
"Yohohohohoho! It's such a pleasure to meet you! Hello and good day to you all! As of today, I will be joining you on this ship as your newest crew member! Once dead and all bones, my name is Brook and I do hope we can get along!"
"Are you kidding me? What the heck is this thing?"
Maria sighed at Franky's, Usopp's, and Zoro's reactions, noting that Usopp and Chopper had managed to grab a pair of crosses and were holding them in front of themselves. Like that was going to be able to do anything in their present situation.
"Yohohohoho! My, my, what a tough crowd you all are!"
Luffy snickered while Nami and Sanji sighed dejectedly.
"Please don't haunt me!" Chopper whimpered behind his cross.
"I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon..." Maria muttered under her breath.
"My goodness, what a lovely young woman!" Brook turned his attention to Robin; Maria eyed the two of them and suspected that she knew what exactly was coming. "Perhaps you'd like to show my your panties?"
"That's enough sexual harassment!" Nami threw one of her shoes and beaned the skeleton in the side of the head...not that it would have done any damage, considering that Brook had a large afro.
Maria let out a groan as quick flashes of her interactions with Ghost-Types went through her head. She was used to dealing with things that could technically be called "supernatural," but it didn't exactly help that there was a skeleton with no proof of being possessed by a Ghost-Type standing right there on the ship.
Chopper suddenly let out an excited noise. "It's a full set of anti-ghost gear! You've got him, now!"
Maria looked over in the direction of the reindeer, and caught sight of Usopp standing there with garlic wrapped around his neck and what looked like a banner of some kind attached to his back. As the sniper started forward, Maria intercepted him.
"Usopp, I don't think that's going to help," Maria stated, frowning at him. She held up her right wrist, where the Cleanse Tags were still tied. "If these aren't going to drive him away, then he's not a ghost."
"Maybe they're not strong enough!" Usopp protested.
"I picked these up in graveyards where ghosts were avoiding these things like you tend to try and avoid trouble." Maria lowered her arm. "All that stuff isn't going to work on Brook."
Brook yelped. "Are you saying that a g-g-ghost followed me on board?!"
"It's you, stupid!" Usopp and Chopper responded at once, pointing their crosses at Brook. This resulted in a girlish squeal from the skeleton and another facepalm from Maria.
Luffy started laughing again.
"Damnit, there's no way that a walking, talking, afro-sporting skeleton could exist!" Usopp declared shortly, glaring at Brook. "This must be a dream! We just need to wake up!"
"Keep telling yourself that," Maria muttered, sighing.
"Oh, it's a dream?" Chopper let out a sigh. "What a relief!" He fell back onto the grass, looking strangely relaxed.
"Uh...excuse me? Hello?" Brook moved over Chopper, speaking softly. "Hello? Good morning?"
Chopper opened his eyes and let out a scream of terror at the sight of Brook standing over the little reindeer.
Maria snorted. "Okay, now that was funny. I could see you pulling a lot of pranks by doing that, Brook."
"Yohohoho! An interesting idea!"
Chopper continued to scream.
"That's enough!" Zoro roared. He turned and glared at Luffy. "What is this thing and why is it on our ship?"
"That's a new member of our crew!" Luffy responded, grinning. "Isn't he funny?"
"Who cares?! He's not joining our crew!" Zoro turned sharply to look at Nami, Sanji, and Maria. "This is exactly why I wanted you to go with him! What the hell happened?! Were you just picking your noses while he brought a skeleton back to the ship?!"
"I know, we messed up," Nami and Sanji muttered.
"Do you really expect us to be able to stop Luffy?" Maria retorted, shrugging. "You didn't have this much of a problem when I joined up."
"Because you came to us asking for help and looking like a regular human," Zoro hissed. "I'm not expecting you to be actually crazy like people that Luffy usually tries to pick up!"
"Yohohohoho! Now, now, let's be civil, everyone." Brook moved across the lawn and turned when he stood next to Luffy. "Why don't we go inside? You can treat me to dinner!"
"You don't get to decide that!" Zoro, Nami, and Sanji yelled at the ghost.
Luffy laughed. "I love this guy!"
"That may be, but I don't think most of us do," Maria commented in reply, sighing and shaking her head.
Time Break
"Yohohohohoho! My, what a spacious dining room you have!" Brook looked around the galley with what sounded like awe in his voice. "And what a splendid kitchen! A magnificent ship if I've ever seen one! Yohohohoho!"
"Yup!" Luffy grinned widely.
"Of course it is," Franky commented from where he sat next to Maria at the counter. "It's the most super ship I've ever made. Those sockets look empty, but you've got a good eye for quality!"
"Franky, don't get friendly with the skeleton," Sanji said from where he stood near the stove, not even bothering to look up from his cooking.
"Speaking of quality, I can't wait to try out your cooking," Brook continued. "Since I was stuck on that dreary ghost ship, it's been decades since I've eaten a proper meal!" He collapsed onto the table. "My stomach shrank and shrank until I couldn't even tell the back of my belly from the front of my back anymore. That was the sort of miserable life I led."
"Considering that you're still alive..." Maria muttered.
Brook sat up again and pulled back his jacket, revealing his ribs. "And let me tell you, that's saying a lot since skeletons don't even have a proper back or stomach! Yohohohoho!"
Luffy snickered while Maria groaned and put her head in her hands at the bad joke that had just been made.
"It's a skull joke!" Brook exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.
Luffy laughed loudly. "Skull joke! I get it!" He clapped his hands above his head, grinning widely.
Maria ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "Well then. Can't say that I've heard a joke like that before."
"And I hope I won't hear it all that often," she added under her breath. "Bad puns..."
"Let me say, I am quite the gentleman," Brook continued, messing with the strange, intricately tied knot of blue fabric around his neck. "So I am well-versed in the art of waiting patiently for my food, no matter how long it takes."
The skeleton instantly took up his fork and knife and started slamming them together, chanting "Food!" in time with Luffy.
"You call that being well-versed?!" Maria demanded, looking over at Sanji while she motioned to the skeleton. The cook didn't so much as glance over in her direction, and the teenager wondered if he had managed to block everything out.
"My dear boy, can I have a glass of milk? It's good for the bones, they say!"
"Shut up or I'm gonna smash your skull!" Sanji barked.
Guess the cook didn't have his ears plugged.
"Oh, by the way, skeleton-"
"Sorry," Brook interrupted Luffy. "My name is Brook. Ah, that reminds me. I know this is rude, but I don't believe I ever caught your name."
"Oh? Well, my name's Luffy. So, as I was saying, what are you?"
"You invited him to join the crew and you just now ask him that?!" Zoro demanded from his seat next to Luffy.
"Okay, food's ready! Franky, help me get this stuff onto the table, would you?" Sanji stepped around the counter, balancing a bunch of delicacies on his arms.
"Yeah, sure." Frank hopped over the counter and grabbed the rest of the dishes Sanji had prepared before following the cook over to the table and helping him set everything out.
Maria licked her lips and snagged an empty plate. She couldn't wait to try whatever it was that Sanji had managed to cook up.
"We can finish interrogating the skeleton later. For now, let's put all those octopi you caught to good use!"
"This is going to be a good meal," Maria commented, grinning. She quickly leapt for the table and piled her plate high with the seafood dishes before retreating to the counter again to eat.
"Go ahead and eat all of this if you want, Brook!" Luffy told the skeleton. "Sanji's cooking is the best in the whole world!"
"Even though my stomach is empty, I think my heart...has already been filled." Brook moved his skeletal hands over his skeletal face and wept for a moment.
"Don't cry," Sanji muttered.
Brook picked up his fork and knife again and turned to look at Robin. "I couldn't help but notice your portions a bit large. Would you be interested in switching plates?"
"You can have seconds!" Sanji barked. "Just leave her alone!"
And with that, everyone started digging into the meal. Maria would glance over occasionally from her dinner, wondering why the skeleton had turned out to be a more polite version of Luffy.
Or that he could translate what it was that Luffy was saying when he had food in his mouth, for that matter.
"You have a fish tank with octopus on your ship?" Brook repeated, sounding surprised. "Truly, the wonders never cease with you people! How splendid!"
Luffy started talking again; at the same time, Maria made it a point to finish off her plate and dash over to the table again for seconds before returning to her seat.
"I've never heard of anything like it!" Brook exclaimed. This time, Maria had been able to translate what it was that Luffy was saying - he had been talking about the fact that the ship could fly and do other stuff like that. "How fortunate that I met with such a fascinating ship!"
"If you're that interested, we could show you," Luffy suggested through his full mouth.
"Yoho!" Brook nodded. "By all means, right after dinner!" The two slammed their forks together in what Maria suspected was meant to be a toast.
"Gonna see the ship! Yeah! Gonna see the ship!" Brook somehow managed to chant in time with Luffy's mumbling.
"Would you shut up and eat?!" Sanji yelled at the two of them, getting the chanting to stop short.
It didn't take too long for the table to get cleared off. Maria had only gone up for two helpings because her stomach wasn't as large as her captain's - or the skeleton's, apparently.
Speak of the skeleton...
"The Revive Revive Fruit?" Nami repeated, curious.
"So it was a Devil Fruit after all," Franky muttered.
"It's a complicated tale," Brook admitted, looking at the others sitting around him.
Maria frowned disapprovingly at all the crumbs that were stuck in the skeleton's afro and scattered around his face. Couldn't he have eaten a little more like an actual gentleman?
"The truth of the matter is I actually did die already, many years ago," the skeleton continued.
"Could you clean off your damn face?" Sanji spoke up, voicing Maria's question before she could. "I've never seen such a messy eater."
Brook complied easily, pulling a handkerchief seemingly out of nowhere before he wiped off his face and picked every single crumb out of his hair. It took a few minutes, considering that the afro was so large, but if it meant that the skeleton wasn't going to look so dirty anymore, the wait was worth it.
The skeleton put his handkerchief on the table, then picked up a toothpick.
"The Revive Revive fruit-" Brook paused to pick at his teeth with the toothpick. "-allows a person to come back to life after being killed." He picked at his teeth again, then added, "Even among Devil Fruit powers, the ability to live two lives is indeed quite strange."
"So you're a Revive Man!" Luffy exclaimed.
Maria flinched when she got the mental picture of what looked like a person with rotting flesh at the back of her head. Only...the rotting flesh seemed to shine with an almost metallic quality.
She shook her head. There's no way I could have run into something like that in the past.
"Then you're not immortal," Franky noted. "It's more like you died once and it gave you a second chance at life."
"In short, yes, but - ah, excuse me." Brook opened his mouth and burped, then continued speaking. "As I said, it's complicated, but during my first life, if you will, I was a pirate, just like you."
"That explains the ship," Luffy commented.
"That it does." It sounded to Maria like Brook should have been smiling at that point, but he didn't necessarily have any way to show that, since he was only a skeleton at this point. "Excuse me again."
This time, the noise came out Brook's other end.
"I'm gonna beat some manners into you if I have to break every single one of your bones," Sanji muttered.
"At least he said 'excuse me,'" Maria commented in reply, looking at the skeleton. "Although, I didn't think that a skeleton could make that noise..."
Brook cleared his throat. "A long time ago, I was sailing with the rest of my crew through these accursed waters. Now, for the record, I had flesh and blood like anyone else back then."
Like I'd expect anything less, Maria thought, nodding slightly.
"At any rate, we had the misfortune of running afowl of a very powerful adversary. Soon, the entire crew met its demise - of course, that included me, as well.
"When I was alive, the Revive Revive fruit did precious little but robbed my of my ability to swim. But on that fateful day, it's true power awakened as I lay dead! My spirit returned from the nether world, and came to reunite with this body of mine once again."
Brook paused for a moment, as though to gather his thoughts.
"Now, if it had actually found my body as intended, that would all be well and good. But, as you can see, the fog around here is quite thick, so the matter became a bit...complicated. In short, poor little soul Brook wouldn't find his way back home. All in all, my spirit wandered through the foggy waters, searching for my body for an entire year. Then, at the end of its tragic journey, the two were reunited once again!
"Much to my soul's dismay, by the time it found my body, there was nothing left but a miserable pile of bones! I was so shocked my eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Not that I have eyes to begin with! Yohohohoho!"
Maria blinked a couple times, taking Brook's story in. It seemed a little bit far-fetched, but...well, with the talking skeleton right in front of them, there really wasn't much that could have suggested anything otherwise.
"So you got lost, huh?" Luffy asked. "So you're stupid, just like Zoro!"
"Hey, now!" Zoro barked, frowning at Luffy as he laughed. Maria couldn't help but smirk at the comparison that had been made.
"And so a walkin', talkin' skeleton was born," Franky commented. "Man, those Devil Fruit powers can be scary sometimes! Even though you're just bones, it still brought you back to life!"
"Yeah, but it only does it once, despite the fact that he still can't swim and he's stuck like this," Sanji commented. "Seems kind of like a crappy deal if you ask me."
"Skeletons aren't supposed to have hair, are they?" Zoro asked cautiously. "Especially not so much of it. Is that afro a wig or something?"
Brook reached up for the mass of black hair that was on top of his skull. "No, my roots are just very strong."
"...I'll take your word for it."
"So that means you're not actually a ghost after all?" Usopp shoved his golden cross in Brook's face. "You're just a normal human like us?" His eyes narrowed. "Well, normal is a stretch, I suppose, but...the important thing is that you're definitely not a ghost."
Brook shuddered. "Oh, heavens, no! I hate ghosts! If I saw one, I'd scream my lungs out if I had any."
Chopper let out a sigh of relief, but Maria frowned at the statement. And apparently, she wasn't the only one who found it weird, either.
"You're a skeleton and you're afraid of ghosts?" Nami held up a pink hand mirror. "Have you tried looking in the mirror lately?"
Brook let out a shriek and held his hands in front of his face. "No mirrors!"
Usopp slipped over, curious, but no longer really terrified of the skeleton. "What's wrong?" His eyes widened a moment later in alarm. "Hey! Hold up! What's going on, here?"
"What is it?" Maria moved away from the counter and started toward Brook and Usopp so that she could see what it was that they were seeing.
Chopper appeared from behind Brook, gripping one of the skeleton's pants legs with his hooves. "No...why..."
"Why can't we see you?" Usopp and Chopper asked at once. "Why don't you show up in the mirror?!"
That question caused Maria to dash over so that she could have a look herself. "Whoa! Man, that's really weird." She blinked a couple times as she stood behind Brook, wondering how in the world a skeleton could manage to be unseeable in a mirror. "It's almost like he's not really there."
Nami and the others suddenly jumped away from the skeleton, Chopper and Usopp holding up their crosses protectively in front of them as Nami, Usopp, and Chopper yelled, "A vampire!"
The exclamation caused Maria to jump back herself, an expression of apprehension and curiosity coming over her face.
Maria's POV
A vampire? I think I heard about those from somewhere, but I'm not exactly sure as to where. Doesn't that usually mean that someone with that title likes to drink blood? A lot? But those are only supposed to exist in fairy tales...aren't they?
And I thought it was weird that a skeleton could move around on its own because of a Devil Fruit ability.
"Are you for real?!" Luffy demanded, looking at Brook with wide eyes. "That's awesome!"
"L-look at his feet!" Usopp yelped. "He doesn't even have a shadow!"
No shadow? What-
I looked down for myself at the planks under Brook's feet, and my eyes widened significantly when I saw that there was now dark splotch of shade underneath the skeleton. I probably went a little pale at the sight.
Chopper squealed. "Yeah! You're right! What kind of creature are you?!"
I backed up a little bit when Brook started moving again, but relaxed only slightly when the skeleton sat down. Something about all this wasn't right...
I felt a prickling sensation at the back of my neck, and it was instantly followed by a major headache.
Memory Break
"Okay, that's kinda freaky." I motioned to the screen that was in front of me before gripping the controller in my hands again.
"Freaky?" The voice was familiar, but the face of the person speaking was strangely blurred, so I couldn't tell who was speaking. "Freaky how?"
"Those things look like they're made of shadows or something. I wouldn't want to see one of them in a dark alley - or anywhere, for that matter." I started mashing buttons.
"Well, I can agree to that, I guess." The voice sounded amused, somehow...
Memory Break
I blinked as my vision cleared up. That...wasn't like the other memories that I had managed to reclaim already. Where was that? And what kind of technology was I messing with? It definitely didn't look like anything Usopp had managed to cook up...
"You'd better explain yourself right away, mister!" Usopp ordered, holding his cross in front of him.
Brook paused, holding the chipped teacup from his ship in one of his skeletal hands. He must have picked it up when I was having that memory come back. "I suppose I should tell you the rest of my story - about what happened while I was drifting in this evil sea, and the second tragedy I was forced to face."
Second tragedy? I looked at Book in confusion. Did this have something to do with the fact that his shadow was missing?
"What I told you about becoming a skeleton is true, but the reason that I don't have a shadow is a different matter entirely...To be continued."
Wait, what?
"How about you tell us now?" Sanji barked at him.
Oi...does this skeleton have anything against telling this to us straight?
"My shadow was stolen," Brook admitted. "Someone took it from me several years ago."
"Stolen?" Usopp and I repeated at once.
"But how?" Robin murmured, frowning slightly.
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you'd kinda think that it would be hard to remove something that can't be grabbed." I looked down at my own shadow and got a minor tremor of a headache - something about a boy wearing green leaves and spending most of his days with a little yellow fairy that spoke in bells and a group of orphaned boys.
"I guess that's not anymore ridiculous than a talking skeleton," Zoro commented. "But it's still hard to swallow. Can something like that really happen?"
"Yes, I'm afraid it can," Brook replied. "And in addition to losing my reflection, having my shadow stolen means that I can no longer exist in the world of light."
Not exist in the world of light? I blinked a couple times as I thought this through. Considering that he didn't look like he had changed at all when he came in here, I guess the artificial kind of light doesn't do anything against him. Still...
"But...you're still alive, right?" Luffy pointed out.
"Yes - for now, at least. But only because I'm able to stay in this place with no sunlight. Although you can scarcely call it living." Brook sounded a little disgusted. I would be, too, if I had to float around in this place for who-knows-how-long he's had his second life.
"I am saved by the grace of the thick fog that surrounds these seas," Brook added.
"And what would happen if you were exposed to sunlight?" Robin inquired.
"If even a ray of sunlight touched me, every inch that it fell upon would be reduced to naught but ash. A single step into the sun, and in a matter of moments, every trace would be wiped from this world."
My eyes widened when I heard that.
"You'd be killed?" everyone except for me asked.
Whoa. "So you kinda are like a vampire - at least, with the sunlight thing." Still...that sounds like a nasty end - one I wouldn't want to wish on anybody. "Ouch."
Brook nodded grimly. "I saw someone with the same curse as me lose his mind and run into the sunlight. And at last, when his screams went silent there was nothing left but a pile of dust. It was so frightful, I swear my soul practically left my body a second time."
I flinched. Ouch.
"And just as the sunlight does not cast my shadow, my image cannot be reflected in a mirror or captured in a photograph. You must forgive me for startling you, but I hope that you can understand my reluctance to share this story. For as you can see, not only have all of my comrades been slain, I also live in a world without light!"
"Well, I hate to say it, but your life sure does suck," Sanji commented, glancing over at the skeleton.
Brook shrugged. "Even still, I'm so happy right now to have it! I've got the afro, a big smile - the cheery gentleman skeleton Brook! Always a pleasure!"
"Well, I guess that's one way of looking at things," I commented, rubbing the back of my head. It was kinda surprising to hear that Brook was able to have such a happy outlook on life, despite the fact that he had gone through so many bad things.
"Where does all this optimism come from?" Sanji demanded.
Then Brook started laughing. At least, I think that's what he was doing, what with him yelling "Yohohohoho!" while throwing his head back at least a little bit while his arms were far above his head.
"Hey...what's wrong?" Usopp sounded hesitant. "He's flipping out!"
Brook continued laughing for a moment more - kinda starting to freak me out a bit - and then he exclaimed, "What a wonderful day this has been! I met other people!" He lowered his arms and looked at the rest of us. "Buried in a heavy fog, even though I knew decades had passed, I couldn't tell when one day ended and another began. Unable to navigate or steer the ship...my companions long since dead...I could only drift aimlessly. And so I waited and waited, as the waves rocked me back and forth.
"You can't even imagine how lonely I was all those years! Not just lonely, but scared! Wanting to die every single day!"
Something in those words made me want to burst out into words myself; I could feel an ache in my chest at the same time. But...no headache came to tell me why I felt like this. So I couldn't try and figure out why it was that something in me was...I dunno, calling out to Brook. Like I had been through something like what he was describing.
I decided to put thoughts of that aside. There was no way that I could have lived as long as Brook had. I mean, I only look what - eighteen? Nineteen? There's no way that I could have memories like what Brook was describing.
Right?
"Even still, a long life is a blessing, not a curse." Brook raised his arms again as he threw his head back. "You've made me so happy! Meeting wonderful people gives my life meaning! Yohohoho! If I had but the eyes to shed them, I would be crying tears of happiness right now!"
Wow...to think that this guy could remain so optimistic after everything that had happened to him...was concentrating on happy thoughts how he coped with the loneliness for who knows how long he was alone?
Brook turned to look at Luffy. "I was happy beyond measure when you asked me to join your crew, and I sincerely want to thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Luffy grinned and laughed through his teeth like he usually did. I smirked.
"However, I fear that I must decline your offer."
My smirk disappeared pretty quickly as Luffy stared at the skeleton in shock.
"What? Why would you do that?!" Luffy demanded.
"As I mentioned to all of you just now, my shadow has been stolen from me, and I am unable to come into contact with any sunlight. Lonely though I may be, for now I am able to survive thanks to the thick fog covering these seas. However, if I were to go on a journey with you, it would only be a matter of time before I met my unfortunate demise. Therefore, however unlikely it may be, I'll wait for the day that my shadow can be restored - make no bones about it. Yohohohoho!"
So, even though he's optimistic, he's pretty much resigned to his fate...
I got the aching feeling in my chest again, and, like before, no memories decided to surface. I wonder why my body wasn't helping me recover those memories at the moment, but decided to put the thought out of my head.
Luffy jumped to his feet, slamming his hands onto the table. "I don't want to hear you make excuses like that! If you need your shadow back so bad, then we'll get it back for you! You said someone stole it from you, right? Who was it? Where can we find them?"
Brook shifted his stance a little bit. "Thank you. You truly are a kind person, aren't you? But I'm afraid that, for that reason, I cannot tell you. We only just met, you see, and I cannot ask you to throw your life away attempting something that's nearly impossible."
"He's helping me recover my memories by having me journey around with him as a part of the crew," I piped up from where I stood near the skeleton. "And we had only just met when he said he would help. So I don't see why we can't do the same thing for you."
Brook looked back at me; I couldn't tell what he was thinking, thanks to the fact that he was a skeleton and technically didn't have a face. A sigh escaped from him, and he shook his head. "It sounds like your problem isn't as bad as mine."
"I'm sure the guy who stole it is tough and all," Franky spoke up, "but give me a break! You've got nothing to lose. The least you can do is tell us his name."
"No...it's best that I don't." Brook looked around the room at all of us. "Besides, I doubt I could find him, anyway. Yohohoho."
That sounded like a very sad laugh, considering how bouncy Brook was when he got on our ship.
"But, I have decided that if and whenever I do reach him, I will fight him to the death for my shadow. I...don't know when my second life will end, but I am willing to wait for him for the rest of my days."
Wow. Talk about commitment. I was pretty impressed with the skeleton's sense of patience...even if he was probably starting to annoy Luffy with it.
"But nevermind that." Brook turned and walked over to a case of some kind that he had managed to sneak onto the ship with him - Sanji wouldn't let him put it on the table, considering that it was a place for eating. Honestly, considering that the skeleton had been sitting on an old, rotting ship for who knows how long...well, I couldn't blame the cook for being a little cautious.
"Why don't I play a song for you?" Brook knelt down in front of the case and started messing with the claps that were keeping it closed...before pulling out a violin.
My eyebrows shot up in surprise when I saw the instrument. It looked like it was in good condition, too. I wonder how he managed that?
"I am skilled with a great many instruments," Brook commented, resting the violin on his shoulder. "When I sailed the seas with my old crew, I was their musician."
Musician? Why does that word seem so familiar?
"What?" Luffy looked eager when he heard that. "Are you serious? Our crew needs a musician! Hurry up and join us already - I'm begging you!"
Brook laughed. "I haven't played music for anyone in years, but here goes." He turned his head to look at the violin...and paused.
A frown came over my face. Surely he wasn't getting stage fright right-
My thoughts came to a halt when Brook let out an ear-shattering scream that caused me to cover my ears and shut my eyes.
"Ow! Watch your volume!" I yelped, opening one eye to shoot him a glare. I jumped back in surprise, though, when he fell to the floor.
"Hey!" Sanji moved forward. "What's wrong? You're freaking out!"
Brook's lower jaw started clattering as he tried to get the words out of his mouth. It looked kinda like he was staring at something, so I followed his line of vision...and froze.
"A g-g-g-g-ghost!" Brook yelped.
My eyes widened in shock when I saw the strange, white thing float through the wall and enter the room, remaining pretty close to the ceiling.
"Get out!" Chopper squeaked.
Luffy had the opposite reaction. "This is too cool!" He looked over at me. "Maria, is that one of those Pokemon things?"
"It doesn't look like one I've seen before," I responded, shaking my head. "Ghost-Types are usually dark purple, not a translucent white like that."
The white thing, with big red lips and round, black eyes flew across the ceiling in a moment before disappearing through the wall.
"Hey, look - it's leaving," Zoro commented.
And then there came a loud grinding noise, and the entire room shook.
"What in the name of Moltres?" I yelped, stumbling and coming up against a wall so that I could stay on my feet.
"Something's happening to the ship!" Zoro gripped one of the swords at his side, like he was about to whip it out and slash something.
Brook started moving, and he dashed out of the room through the door that led out to the central area of the surface of the ship. "Oh no, it can't be-"
Curious, I followed after the skeleton as he ran out the door.
Brook burst out the door, me on his heels. The two of us stopped short upon seeing what exactly it was that was ahead of us.
"Oh, what terrible fortune!" Brook exclaimed. "You must have been watching them - that's the only thing that makes sense!"
"What's going on, Brook?" I asked, eyeing the wall of white rocks in front of the ship uneasily. "That...doesn't exactly look friendly."
"Everyone, look to the front!" Brook called back into the galley. "That noise we heard was this gate slamming shut. Our passage has already been blocked off."
Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro came out and joined the two of us.
"That thing is a gate?" Luffy asked, frowning slightly.
"It looks like teeth," Usopp commented nervously. "Like a giant sea monster is gonna eat us all!"
"What's goin' on here?" Zoro muttered, frowning.
"That's what I'd like to know," I piped up in agreement. I looked up at the gate in front of us...and shuddered a little when I saw that it looked like the top of the gate was a lip - like what you might see on a person. Was there a sea monster in front of us that looked like a human?
"It seems this is the back side of the gate," Brook stated somewhat fearfully.
"That bad?" Luffy asked.
"Considering the fact that Brook looks like he's panicking," I commented, "yeah, I think it is."
"This is very bad," the skeleton confirmed. He turned and ran back into the galley, calling, "Come to the rear of the ship! Hurry!"
We ran after him, taking a shortcut through Chopper's doctor's office in order to get to the rear deck quickly.
As soon as I got there - the last of the group - I came to a skidding halt and stared at what was ahead of us with wide eyes.
"What the..." I couldn't believe my eyes.
Brook let out a gasp before he turned to look at Luffy, who was standing on top of the railing. "Did you by any chance pick up a barrel from the waters on your way here?"
A barrel? It didn't take me too long to remember the thing that had sent up that bright red flare before the storm had hit us.
It seemed that Luffy remembered it about the same time because he said rather guiltily, "Yeah, we did..."
"It was a trap. You're all in great danger." Brook looked around at us. "Simply put, your ship's been targeted ever since you came here."
"Targeted?" I repeated, surprised. I swallowed nervously as I continued to look at what was inside the gate with us.
"You mean there's someone out there hunting us down?" Luffy asked, frowning. He looked back at the gate. "And by the way, how'd we run into that gate when our ship's not moving?"
"I think another, more important question we should ask is where the island came from," I remarked, looking at what was behind the ship. "Because I definitely did not see that thing when we went over to Brook's ship."
Like anyone would be able to miss the creepy-looking old mansion, the giant chain wrapped around a wheel high above us, and the heavy fog that was coating the trees. It looked like the entire stretch of land was a graveyard.
It was almost like we had found an island version of Lavender Town, with Mt. Pyre's fog problems. I could almost hear the creepy music playing at the back of my head, and that was something I could do well without!
"Yeah...where did the creepy island come from?" Luffy glanced over at Brook.
"This is the ghost island that wanders throughout these seas," the skeleton murmured. "They call it Thriller Bark."
I felt a shudder pass through me. Yeah...definitely did not sound like a fun place.
"Uh huh." Luffy stated with a straight face. "I see."
Here we go...
Whelp, see you guys next week!
