"The Sea King lifted the land on high on it's scaly scarred back and swore to never let it sink. To never let it so much as dip. The proud King had failed once already. He had failed to protect the friend he had loved more then anything. For him, the King swore to the sea and the sky, his friend's home would live on. Forever..."
Her voice let the final word trail, seeming to emphasize how long forever truly would be. Seeming to acknowledge how great his promise was.
As the scene faded from his mind he looked to the storyteller, a smile at the ready for the blond woman sitting at the foot of his bed.
Sanji blinked.
No blonde woman sat with him in his room. Her voice wasn't the one who'd recounted the story.
It was red haired Riley sitting at the counter in his kitchen. They were on the Sunny not in a home. They were in the Grand Linze not in the North Blue.
For a while, he'd forgotten where he was. Riley's voice wasn't as soft as the one he remembered but it was just as melodic and he'd easily let himself be bewitched by it the way he had when he was a child.
"Thanks." He smiled at her. "I hadn't even remembered that story until now."
Riley returned his smile. "Telling a good story is more a privilege then a burden."
Sanji sighed in admiration. "Your heart is as beautiful as the rest of you."
Riley laughed that laugh he knew was meant just for him.
She had a wonderful laugh, his Riley. It was a cheerfully honest laugh. It was a laugh he could listen to all day.
And all night...
"Ah, Sanji?" Riley interrupted his fantasy.
Sanji snapped to the present. He'd think about the future later.
Right now, the lovely lady sitting across the counter from him deserved his undivided attention. "Yes, Riley my love?"
"Would you mind making me something fruity to drink?"
Sanji grinned. "Of course!" he frowned. "I should check to see if Robin and Nami want one too."
"I'll check." Riley hopped off the stool and walked towards the dumbwaiter. "I think Nami said she was going to the aquarium bar."
Sanji began to concoct a few special drinks using his freshest supplies for his ladies while Riley let Nami know.
He presented Riley her drink with a flourish. "For you, my darling."
Riley grinned and accepted the drink happily. She took a sip and sighed. "Delicious."
Sanji beamed. He always loved her compliments.
He placed the other two drinks on the dumbwaiter. "Nami sweet. Robin dear. It's ready."
Luffy's shout wandered into the kitchen, reminding Sanji of a chore he wanted from them.
"If you'll excuse me a moment, my beauty, I need to make sure we have what we need for dinner."
Riley smiled and nodded, still enjoying her drink.
"Hey, you guys." He shouted down to the three laughing below. Usopp, Chopper and Luffy were merrily swinging on the swing while Kiri used his power to maximize their height and speed.
As always, they were having a blast. But Sanji needed their attention for the moment. "If you've got so much energy catch me some octopus. I think the tree swing can take care of itself for a while."
"Octopus?" A confused chorus rang up to him.
"Yeah." Sanji's mouth began to water at the menu he had planned to cook. "Octopus Rice. Octopus Shabu. And last but not least, Octopus Pomodoro piled high. I like this one extra spicy."
"So if all that sounds good to you, try to get the ingredients by dinnertime." he finished, leaving three excited faces staring up at him.
"Yeah! Sounds good!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, already drooling with anticipation. "Sanji, could you make Takoyaki, too?"
"Takoyaki party!" Usopp and Chopper shouted.
"Of course. No problem." Sanji grinned. He could cook anything they could think of, after all. "So, grab a bunch of them."
"Alright!" They shouted before racing towards the aquarium.
Kiri floated up the stairs and onto Sanji's shoulder.
"Cream for you, I assume?" he asked the cat as he returned to the kitchen.
Kiri meowed and then promptly left his shoulder in favor of Riley's lap.
Riley smiled down at him and began to run her fingers through his fur. "Have fun?"
"Lucky cat." Sanji murmured to himself as he gathered a bowl and cream for the spoiled feline.
And he was spoiled, that damn cat.
Always breezing around his ladies' bodies before settling on their shoulders. Always having them stroke him and cuddle with him. And he even slept in their bed every night.
Sanji placed the cream on the counter.
He was half tempted to be petty and tell the cat he could only drink water.
But he was Riley's cat. She'd get upset with him. Besides, the cat wasn't too bad most of the time.
Kiri protected Riley in every fight and looked after Nami whenever she was off the ship. He even made Robin smile just by curling up on her lap.
Kiri jumped onto the counter and began to lap up cream.
Riley picked up the green book on the counter and got up. "I'm going outside for a while."
Sanji smiled, recognizing the book in her hands. "To write?"
He knew Riley liked to write down the stories she heard or the ones she thought up. She had told him that it made her feel better knowing the stories wouldn't be forgotten.
Riley grinned. "I just had a wonderful idea."
"You never have anything but." Sanji assured her.
Riley shook her head with a smile. She grabbed her drink and walked out, leaving Sanji alone with Kiri.
He turned, deciding that he might as well do a bit of cleaning before Luffy and the others caught his octopi.
"Usopp!" Sanji looked up from the dishes at Chopper's shout. "You're not dead are you?"
"Answer me!" Luffy's frantic demand followed.
What was going?
How could Usopp get himself in trouble catching octopus?
Sanji dried off his hands and walked outside, going to check on the idiots. Kiri breezed past him and straight for his mistress sitting on the railing.
Inky water was splashed throughout the ship and Usopp stood before Luffy and Chopper.
He was battered, bruised, and angry. "Thanks pal." he snarled at Luffy.
"What's the big deal?" Sanji asked. "It's just octopus."
"Yeah!" Usopp shouted, getting close to Sanji. "Why don't you try going down there, then?"
"At least you caught a lot of them." Riley laughed.
Usopp turned to her with narrowed eyes.
"Hey!" Zoro's voice sounded from the crow's nest. "There's something floating in the ocean."
"Ooo," Luffy ran to the railing, excited. "Let me see."
"Where is it?" Usopp asked as they all looked around.
"There!" Sanji pointed, noticing the floating barrel.
"A barrel?" Chopper asked.
Usopp squinted and raised his hand to block the sun. "I think it says treasure on it."
"It says 'Treasure Offering to the Sea Gods'." Riley read the red sign out loud.
"Hey you're right!" Luffy noted. "Maybe it fell off a treasure ship!"
"Let's find out." Chopper and Sanji told him.
"I don't think you'll find much inside." Riley told them hesitantly.
"You never know." Sanji shrugged. Stranger things had happened so chances were good it actually was treasure.
"Hurry up, Luffy. Pull it in already." Usopp demanded, eager to see the treasure.
"I'm on it!" Luffy shouted, pulling back his arm before stretching it towards the sea.
When it was close enough, Kiri floated beneath it and gently took it to the middle of the deck where Zoro and Franky were already waiting.
"Treasure Time! Treasure Time!" Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy gleefully sang. "Open it up and see what's inside! Whatever it is, it's gonna be mine!"
Robin walked up the stairs with a smile on her lovely face.
"Pity," Nami said, walking out behind Robin. "It's probably just some old booze and preserved food."
"What?" Luffy shouted indignantly. "You can't see inside. How do you know?"
"Because it says a treasure offering to the sea gods." Nami brilliantly explained. "It's an old practice called barrel drifting. People pray for safe passage by making an offering to the guardian spirits of the sea. So it's more about superstition then actual treasure."
"In other words, we got our hopes up over a barrel of sea trash." Usopp slumped in disappointment.
"Whoa!" Zoro said, rising to his feet from his position on the bench. "Who says booze is trash? Let's drink it."
"What? No!" Usopp protested. "That's bad karma."
"You'll be fine." Nami assured him. "Just say a little prayer first."
"I pray to no god." Zoro frowned at her. "Sea or otherwise."
"Alcohol stirred by the waves." Nami sighed dreamily. "From what I hear, it improves the taste."
"Oh yeah? Let's find out!" Franky licked his lips eagerly.
"Alright!" Usopp shouted, already over his previous fears. "Then we'll make a toast!"
Chopper nodded in happy agreement.
"After you finish they say you're suppose to put in a new offering and set it adrift for good luck. Ok?" Robin told them.
"And adding something personal is even suppose to bring you good fortune." Riley added.
"Who cares?" Franky fiddled with the barrel impatiently. "Open up!"
"So, hey God?" Luffy shouted at the sky, clasping his hands together. "We're stealing your booze."
"Ha. Now you're praying to God?" Zoro asked in disbelief, saying exactly what Sanji had been thinking. "If I remember, you beat the crap out of God in Skypiea. Don't bother. God's a jerk."
"God was that Lightning Logia, right?" Riley asked Sanji.
Sanji nodded. "Exactly. Did Nami and Robin tell you about it?"
"Some. Zoro told me the rest."
Sanji frowned.
"Prayer's over!" Luffy declared. He unclasped his hands and began to untie the rope around the barrel. "Ok, let me see!"
The moment the lid was lifted from the barrel it exploded hurling Luffy back.
"Whoa! What is that?" Usopp shouted as the explosion rose into the air and blinded them all with red light.
"Fireworks?" Luffy asked confused.
"For sea gods?" Riley frowned, clutching the hilt of her daggers while Kiri sat on her shoulder.
Sanji sensed the tension and fear in the others as well.
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Well, this is no good." Franky complained as they each gathered a pack and left the Sunny. "Thanks to this giant spiderweb we're dead in the water." He paused as he thought about everything they had seen so far. They'd seen a talking, walking, skeleton musician, a ghost, and some invisible being had just messed with the Sunny. "Ah, no pun intended."
"Its not like we'd be leaving anyway." Sanji reminded him. "We have to find Nami. And the others too, I guess. Let's head out."
"Hey! Zoro!" Luffy shouted to Zoro who still stood on the Sunny. "Get your butt down here already!"
Zoro ignored them while he looked around the ship, mumbling something to himself.
"Zoro!" Luffy shouted up to him. "What are you mumbling about up there? You're going to miss all the fun."
Fun, huh?
Luffy sure was a strange guy. It seemed that anything that most people would deem terrifying their Captain just grinned and called "fun."
"Are you seriously just about to walk into a trap that's so damn obvious?" Zoro yelled down at him. "One that even a headless zombie would run away from?"
"Pretty much, yeah!" Luffy grinned. "It's not like we have anything better to do now. It'll be fun. If you don't go then I'm taking your lunchbox."
Yeah, their Captain was insane.
Zoro seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
He jumped off of the top deck and easily landed on the bridge.
"Alright. Onward!" Luffy shouted.
"Sure took you long enough, Moss head." Sanji complained.
"Oh, shut up." Zoro snapped back.
Riley bumped her shoulder with his. "Cheer up. This place looks interesting."
"It's a trap." Zoro reminded her.
"Most likely." Riley grinned.
Franky shook his head and followed Luffy. The swordsman seemed to be the only one with any sense.
That was a scary thought considering what he knew of the man.
"Why's there suddenly a staircase leading down?" Sanji asked as they descended the dock.
"It's the only way in." Luffy shrugged carelessly. "Let's just go with the flow."
Franky made sure to stay close to Robin. They were below sea-level now which meant that if the area flooded, he'd need to grab a hold of her and swim them to safety.
Zoro and Riley were right behind Luffy and he knew Zoro or Kiri would make sure the Captain wouldn't drown.
"Hey, I wonder if these skeletons can poop, too." Luffy asked about the skeletons lining their feet.
Luffy paused as something blocked their way.
"Yum!" He shouted.
"Check it out everyone, it's Cerberus." Sanji told them, his tone bored. "We're literally on the path to hell right now."
"Aw," Robin smiled at the creature. "I think it's kinda cute."
"He does look sort of sweet, doesn't he?" Riley cooed at the monster.
"Are they a threat?" Franky frowned at the creature. "Cuz I'm feeling super."
"Three heads are overkill." Zoro drawled.
"I wonder what they taste like!" Luffy shouted, almost drooling as he imagined the mythical meal.
Cerberus the terrifying seemed absolutely terrified.
Luffy laughed and began to bark at the creature causing it to panic.
"More like a three headed chicken." Zoro noted.
"I told you they looked sweet." Riley smiled.
Cerberus stiffened. It glared at them and each head barked. Well, sort of. There was something weird about the way the third one sounded. Franky wasn't absolutely certain but he thought that the third head might be a fox instead of dog.
"Weird how they got all riled up out of nowhere." Zoro mentioned.
"Maybe... One of the heads remembered that it was suppose to be brave?" Sanji asked.
"That's possible." Robin agreed.
"Anyway," Zoro grabbed onto the hilt of his sword.
Luffy's outstretched hand stopped Zoro. "Nah-uh. Dibs."
"I'm gonna tame this bad boy!" Luffy grinned, taking off his pack happily.
"You idiot." Zoro scoffed. "You can't just tame it. You do realize its not a regular dog, yeah?"
"How different could it be?" Luffy shrugged. He turned towards the dog and cooed. "Come on, who's a good boys?"
Luffy held out his hand. "Shake."
Instantly, three heads bit down on different parts of his body.
"I assume we all saw this moment coming?" Franky sighed.
Robin giggled beside him.
Yeah, they'd all seen that coming.
"What big strong teeth you have," Luffy patted the jaw that was clamped around his head. "Now let go of Uncle Luffy's head. That's a good boys."
Cerberus seemed to let go of him out of confusion. "Easy does it. Just like I said."
Luffy threw a punch that slammed the poor beast into the wall. "Now sit!"
The miserable thing lay fainted on the floor. "Roll over." Luffy ordered it.
"That just happened." Sanji said, probably as embarrassed for the creature as the rest of them were.
When the creature could once again stand, Luffy climbed on board with Kiri on his shoulders. He sat wearing a large grin of accomplishment at having tamed Cerberus.
They reached the top of the stairs and Franky looked around confused.
He felt disoriented and jumbled up. "I'm all turned around. It's like a maze full of creepy.
Franky tried to shake off the strange feeling and raced after the others who had gone ahead. "Hey wait up!"
They walked along the desolate road, Sanji yelling for Nami the entire time.
"I've got a strong sense of direction." Franky told them, the disorientation unwilling to leave him. "But I can barely tell my Strong Right from my Coup De Boo around here."
"With so much fog everywhere." Robin added. "For all we know, we could be gong in circles."
"Nami!" Sanji shouted at the top of his lungs. "We would've had better luck if old moss head would've just stayed on the boat."
"How is this my fault?" Zoro yelled at him.
Riley laughed. "What isn't your fault?"
"Don't encourage him!" Zoro told her.
They froze at the odd scene waiting on the road before them.
Everyone stood speechless.
"A tree with some geezer's face is totally getting drunk with a beat up unicorn."
Luffy ran after the tree thing and Franky took off after the unicorn. He was definitely going to catch the thing. It looked way too interesting to let get away.
Their Captain was right. This place definitely was fun.
"Hold on, something's wrong here."
Robin tensed, her eyes widening. Franky was right. They were a crew member short.
The scent of his cigarette still lingered in the air, but he was gone.
"Didn't you notice?" Franky asked Luffy who still seemed confused. "Our Chef's missing."
"He was just here a second ago." Luffy frowned. "Did any of you zombie guys see where he went?"
The zombies they had just defeated lay scattered on the floor around them. At Luffy's question, every single one of them began to snicker.
They knew something.
"Stop laughing," one whispered to another. "They can hear you."
"Must have nabbed him and taken him away while we weren't looking." Zoro surmised. He shook his head in mock sadness. "Good-bye Sanji. Rest in peace."
Riley hit his shoulder. "Must that make you so happy?"
Zoro looked at her sideways. "Yes."
"That ain't cool." Franky added.
"Eh," Luffy shrugged. "No biggie. It's Sanji. I'm sure he's going to be fine."
"Maybe." Robin agreed. "But I'm worried about the other three. If the zombies were able to kidnap Sanji so easily, I'm sure they're in a lot of trouble."
If the Cook was in trouble then it definitely boded ill for the others. They needed to find them as soon as possible.
The pig zombie snickered. "You're not so strong." he taunted them. "The truth of the matter is: you hardly even put a dent in our numbers."
"Oh?" Franky questioned in interest.
"You on the other hand, just lost one of your key fighters." The pig continued. "I wonder who's next."
"At any rate," Robin ignored the pig. "Lets be careful and stick together from now on."
"Admit it, you're scared!" the pig shouted in the background. "You don't stand a chance-"
"I suppose that we could threaten him but even if we did, I doubt he would tell us where they are." The pig seemed more likely to send them on a wild goose chance then be honest as to where their friends were.
"Fine," Zoro looked at the pig thoughtfully. "We'll just drag him with us and use him as a guide."
"What?!" The pig held its hands up in protest.
The snickering of the zombies on the floor grew once more.
"Yes, guide them." One of the zombies smirked at the pig.
"Hey now. Come on!" The pig complained.
"Go ahead." Another zombie spoke. "If you want to die so badly then challenge our master. It's your funeral."
"He's so frightening, I can't speak his name." the first trembled. "But here, let me try. Gecko Mor- Ah! Just as I thought, its too scary."
"That's right. He's one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, you know."
"Those missing friends of yours are probably dead or even worse. Consider yourself lucky that you've lost so few. I've save my own skin if I were you." A black haired zombie tried to reason with them. "If you face Gecko Mo-Ah, I mean if you face our master, none of you will survive. You'd do well to leave. Before you incur his wrath."
Luffy began to walk away. "Sorry, but I don't take advice from paintings. If you want to help, give a message to that stupid master of yours."
The zombies began to shiver and quake in fear.
Luffy smashed his foot against a broken piece of wood and glared at them. "Tell him that if he lays a single finger on any of my friends I'll kick his ass so hard this entire island will split in half."
All the zombies stared horrified and speechless at Luffy. Out of fear of him or fear of their master, Robin wasn't sure but she didn't much care either.
They were afraid of Moria because he was a Warlord.
At first, that had scared Robin as well. But Luffy had already gone against a Warlord. And won.
"Sanji's fine." Luffy looked at the zombies as if they were idiots while he picked his nose. "Even if he's alone its not like he's just going to roll over and die. Come on, guys."
Luffy led them towards the stairs from earlier and Franky made sure to bring the pig with them.
"Hold on!" The pig protested. "You're not really taking me along, are you? Say something you guys!" He pleaded with his fellow zombies. But they were all too petrified to respond.
They entered the dark hallway silently.
"I'm craving a ham sandwich now." Riley murmured suddenly.
"With bacon!" Luffy added excitedly.
"What?! No! You can't eat me!" The pig exclaimed.
"He's right." Robin agreed. "Zombies are dead creatures brought back. I doubt his meat is still edible."
"But we can always risk it if you really want the sandwich." Zoro added.
Riley looked at the pig and grimaced. "Nah. I'll wait until we get back on the Sunny."
Luffy nodded. "Which means we have to beat up Moria quick. Cuz I'm getting hungry."
Robin laughed and kept pace with Luffy and Franky while Riley, Kiri, and Zoro stayed a step behind.
"Kiri? Would you scout ahead for us?" Robin heard Riley speak behind them. "There's something... strange here."
Robin felt a gentle breeze stir her hair as Kiri did as Riley asked.
"That's a good idea." Franky noted. "I bet that old guy was right and Moria's been watching us this whole time. We've got to keep our eyes peeled for traps or we'll end up like our cook. We're already missing almost half our damn crew. Wouldn't surprise me if Moria was trying to split us up."
The pig snickered.
"Probably just Sanji's fault. He is pretty dumb." Zoro argued. "Still, I can't believe we found one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea out here."
"My question is, what are we going to do if one of our shadow's get's stolen?" Franky asked.
"Now that would be interesting." Robin spoke, her eyes glued to the pig, trying to figure out what the zombie knew. It was obvious he knew much more then he was willing to tell.
"Hey, don't look at me, I'm not squealing." The pig assured her.
"I know I promised that old guy I'd beat up Moria, but maybe that should be second on my list. Gotta look out for my crew first." Luffy decided out loud.
"I can't tell you where your friends are, but wherever it is they're in for a world of pain." The pig laughed. "But I wouldn't worry about them. You're not much better off yourself. You'll see."
Luffy punched the pig in annoyance. "Ok wall pig, you're going to stop oinking and start guiding us, got it."
"Yes sir." The pig promised meekly.
Robin sensed the Swordsman stop behind them.
Robin frowned and turned. If only the Swordsman had stopped...
"Riley?" Robin asked as she noticed the Bard missing.
"She was just here." Zoro murmured, hand on his sword as he scanned the dark hallway behind them.
"Riley's missing?" Luffy asked, looking around frantically for their missing crewmember.
Franky sighed. "Another one?"
The pig laughed.
Robin narrowed her eyes at him. He knew something.
"Where is she?" Zoro wondered.
Kiri breezed onto his shoulders.
He meowed as his furry head looked around.
"Check behind us?" Zoro asked. "Riley disappeared and we don't know where... or when."
Kiri growled and narrowed his golden eyes at the empty hallway.
He jumped off of Zoro's shoulder and breezed away.
"Come on, we should keep moving." Franky gestured forward.
Zoro stood still, looking at the hallway.
"If Kiri can't find her then she's most likely with the others." Robin reasoned with the stubborn Swordsman.
Zoro reluctantly nodded and followed them, looking over his shoulder every few steps.
Robin felt the tension increase in everyone the longer Kiri stayed away.
How many more friends were they going to lose before they managed to find everyone?
"Telling a story?" Riley lifted her head, stirring from her slumber.
"You guys are hopeless!" Chopper yelled in disbelief.
Riley got up from the bench seat she was laying on
Kiri instantly appeared on her shoulder and rubbed his head underneath her chin while he purred.
Riley leaned her head slightly on his tiredly and ran her fingers through his fur.
She looked around the room and frowned as she noticed she was in the Sunny's dinning room.
Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji sat surrounded by wood remnants and debris.
Had there been a fight?
"That bastard!" Luffy shouted angrily, rushing to his feet. "Where's my shadow?"
Franky stopped him with his hand on Luffy's face. "It ain't here, you idiot. Take a look at where you are."
Luffy looked around. "Huh. This is..."
"Yeah, the Sunny." Franky nodded.
"What are we doing back here all of a sudden?" Zoro asked, expression dazed.
Riley frowned as her memories came flooding back.
Riley jumped up from the couch and looked around her feet frantically.
Her shoulders slumped. "My shadow's gone."
"So are ours." Sanji noted, dusting himself off.
"Oh crap. It wasn't a dream after all, was it?" Zoro stared down at his feet. "I really lost my shadow. This feels weird."
She grabbed Kiri from her shoulder, earning a protesting meow, and held him out to the light.
Riley sighed in relief and hugged him to her chest. "At least you still have yours."
"I shouldn't have left you alone." Chopper translated for Kiri. "I should have protected you better."
Riley kissed the top of his head. "We'll get our shadows back."
"You guys! This is an emergency!" Luffy shouted as he ran in from the pantry with his mouth full of cheese. "Someone came in and stole all our food while we were out! Now I'm mad."
"The guy with a mouthful of grub is complaining that there's nothing to eat?" Sanji stated. "I'm mad too but at least they left the dried food behind."
"Who cares about that stuff?" Luffy yelled, hands full of said things. "I need meat! Bastards!"
"I screwed up." Zoro stared at his shadowless hand. "How could I let this happen? I really let my guard down."
Riley reached out and placed a hand on his arm.
Zoro shook it off and stood up.
Riley frowned.
"I need to fix this." Zoro told her, body rigid.
Riley didn't know what to say. He'd never pushed her away before.
"You let some bastard kidnap my angel?"
Riley turned to see Sanji clutching onto Usopp's cape while he stared him down menaceingly. "Why didn't you chase them til the ends of the world?"
Nami was missing?
"Its not really our fault, ok?" Usopp tried to explain. "This particular guy is kinda hard to catch, you see."
"You tell me who he is and where I can find him." Sanji ordered. "I'll hunt him down and bring her back."
"Wait!" Usopp pleaded. "Let me explain the situation here. It's sort of complicated."
Sanji reluctantly let go of him.
Usopp cleared his throat nervously. "Ok. So this is the deal, you guys. Even if it kills us, we have two big things we have to get back, no matter what."
"Food. And Nami." Luffy interrupted. "Oh and our shadows, too. That's three."
"Ok, ah, I'm not sure if one of those really makes the list." Usopp told them. "Food's great and all but lets focus on Nami and our shadows for now."
As Usopp told them everything that had happened, Riley began to check over her knives.
If they wanted Nami and their shadows back, they were in for one nightmarish fight.
