Chapter 5

Thriller Bark

"Argh! If those ghosts come again, I won't forgive them!" Luffy steamed as he marched through the forest. "I'm not gonna raise them either! I don't need them!"

Franky was cracking his knuckles, "They must have a weakness! Hey, Long-beard! How do I eradicate a ghost?"

Maxwell gave them both a depreciating smile, "I'm afraid you won't be able to do much, Franky. The spirits I know, capable of intangibility, usually required magic in order to counteract their effects."

He was glad both Luffy and Franky had recovered from their ordeal with the ghosts. They had regained their usual dispositions fairly quickly after the ghosts ran off. However, both Luffy and Franky were rather embarrassed, and indignant, at having being humiliated so easily. Those ghosts just went right through them, leaving broken depressed husks.

So far, only Maxwell had any sort of defence towards them.

"I wouldn't worry about it to much, Max," said Sanji. He was currently riding Cerberus alongside with Robin, seeing as Luffy and Franky were walking. "At least I got to see something funny! Wahahaha!"

"SHUT UP!" Zoro yelled back at the chef. He distinctly knew Sanji was laughing at him. The swordsman had also had a ghost go through him, when he was so confident he couldn't be affected. Zoro's embarrassment was also made worse by having the 'shit cook' being witness to it.

Sanji waved a hand in a placating gesture, "Hehehe, sorry. Sorry… 'I'm sorry for BEING ALIVE!' WAHAHAHAHA!" The cook feel back laughing. Even the dog laughed, with all three heads.

"WHY YOU LITTLE—!"

"Calm down—" Maxwell started pushing Zoro away, by the shoulders, before he could draw a sword, "Calm down… You know it ain't worth it."

"Grr…!" His face was still red, but at least Zoro wasn't drawing his katana.

"The stitched-together creatures seem to be in a category of their own, but…" Robin thought trailed off for a moment. "Actually, now I'm curious. Maxwell, how do spirits interact with the physical world? Are they a natural part of it, or is it an unusual occurrence?"

Maxwell looked back at the archeologist, "Hm… Now that is a good question…" The group kept walking, but they were all looking at the mage.

"Well, I believed I explained this before, but spirits are inherently conceptual beings. So no, in that way, they are not natural. However, I've noticed how the Fade interacts with this world and allows for unnatural occurrences. So, who's to say they aren't natural?"

"Spirits encompass aspects of life and are naturally drawn towards its happenings. Most are content to stay in the Fade and watch their interests from there. However, a spirit might desire to interact with the event itself. Either to try and obtain a deeper understanding, try and correct an event that went against their calling, or perhaps they are over simply indulgent."

Maxwell looks at the Monster Trio as they all walk, "You guys might remember seeing spirits before. Little Garden in particular." Zoro and Sanji grimace remembering that giant cloud of ash rumbling in the sky. "It was a part of the island. Outraged at how the Giant's honour was sullied, because that event became a part of its identity."

"However, this is where it gets weird for me. I'm used to seeing spirits in my dreams, whether they are going about their business, or have an interest in me. I simply am not getting that here. Compared my world, your part of the Fade is practically desolate. Crossing over here would be easy, with no Veil to stop them. They could just show up, manifest, stick around as long as they want, and then move on… Though I suppose that does beg the question: Why are these 'ghosts' here? They're certainly like no spirit I've ever met."

Sanji took a drag of his cigarette, "They've been keeping an eye on us. Both here and on the ship… Hey Max, I don't suppose another mage could be controlling them, do you think?"

"…I hope not," the mage grimaced. "Whether the spirit is bound, or doing it of their own free will—neither is a particularly hopeful notion."

Spiritual mediation was always a dangerous business. It took extensive training, elusive knowledge, and progressive negotiations for a mage to use a spirit. The problem was, you just didn't know if a spirit was what they said they were. You could be speaking with your desired spirit one night, then be talking to a disguised demon the next time. You were actively combing the Fade trying to find what you're looking for, and that drew attention. Unwanted attention…

The Straw-Hat Pirates then noticed they were exiting the forest and came out on top of hill. However, this was no barren hilltop. Tombstones and monuments littered the craggy earth where they stood. Obelisks and crosses stood unkept and leaning as they walked down the path. They seemed to have unknowingly crossed a hole in the fence as they walked onto the grounds.

"Hey, it's a huge graveyard! It really sets the mood." Luffy looked rather excited in the torchlight. "Hey! Let's eat lunch here!"

Maxwell was rather disturbed at the thought. "In a graveyard…?"

"Idiot. It'll make the food taste bad. Not to mention, we're in a hurry!" their chef scolded the captain. They still had to find Usopp, Chopper, and Nami after all.

"Mrrrr…."

They all paused as they heard a low moan sounding from somewhere…

There was the distinct sound of rustling dirt, and Luffy saw a hand emerge from the base of a grave. "Aaaaah…!"

However, Luffy just walked up and pushed the decaying corpse back into the ground.

The zombie then shot out of the grave, "I'M NOT GOING BACK INTO THE GROUND JUST LIKE THAT, YOU FOOL!"

Maxwell's eyebrow started to twitch, forgetting any sort of fear he had before, "What the f #$?"

"An old man with serious injuries?"

"IT'S OBVIOUSLY A ZOMBIE, YOU IDIOT!" Zoro, Sanji, and Franky all yelled at Luffy.

Then more zombies started jumping out of the ground!

"How dare you look down on zombies…!" "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE US!" "URUA!" "UOACHAH!" "HOA—CHOH~!"

Some of them were doing kung-fu posses as they leapt out of the ground.

"I didn't know zombies could be this lively," Sanji sweat-dropped at the irony. Typically, zombies were slow, mindless undead usually seen in fiction. These things were acting as human as anyone else. Only, their flesh was rotten.

"LET'S SHOW THEM HOW DANGEROUS ZOMBIES ARE!" One of the undead shouted.

"WUOOOOH!" By this point the entire graveyard had risen from the dead, and now the Straw-Hat Pirates stood there in the middle, surrounded.

"…I see. So they want a fight, huh?" Luffy grinned, cracking his knuckles. He may not have been able to punch a ghost, but he could punch these things!

The rest of the crew got ready as well. Franky had taken the skin off his right hand, revealing the iron fist underneath. Sanji took a smoke, counting how many zombies their were. Maxwell energized his foci to rise above his head as the spirit anchors glowed. Robin stood with her signature crossed arms, ready to break anything that got close to her. And Zoro just looked bored, breaking the seal between his katana in it's sheath.

Then they all attacked. Zoro slashed with his two katanas, swathing through the zombie hoard like wheat under a farmers sickle. Fresh limbs grew out of undead corpses, pinning their limbs and breaking their backs. Maxwell's foci hovered in the air above him like rotating firing squad, spewing arcane bolts out of the hilt, book, and skull as he directed the energy. Sanji's legs hit like a piston, sending zombies flying with each kick of his leg. And of course Luffy and Franky sent their own limbs lying. Luffy's Gomu-Gomu no Pistol and Franky's Strong Right hit like a couple of locomotives.

The zombies didn't stand a chance against them. Many of them didn't even get close.

"TRIPLE SEVEN MILLION JACKPOT!"

O O O

"So… What are you guys doing here?" Luffy asked the hoard of zombies. He was sitting on top of one of the taller graves in the graveyard, looking down on them with his arms crossed. The crew had defeated the zombies rather handily, and the yard of corpses had surrendered.

"Um…" One of the zombies muttered.

"…Well, we're zombies you see, so… we were buried more or less?"

"We were rotting…" "Yeah. I was rotting." "Me too."

Luffy wasn't impressed. "Are you trying to be funny with me?"

"NONONO! WE'RE SORRY!" Many of them quickly apologized for trying to avoid the question. "For real!" They didn't want to be put down in the dirt again.

Luffy frowned, "…A guy with a long nose, a girl with orange hair, and a tanuki looking like a reindeer. Did any of these guys pass through here?"

One zombie looked up in recognition, "Ah! Aaaahhh, yes, yes… I mean no!"

"We cannot say," another one explained. "We're not supposed to share information like that with outsiders."

"…Hm…" Luffy started cracking his knuckles again, "So you won't talk, huh?"

"The three of them passed."

Maxwell raised a brow as he watched Luffy interrogate the zombies. "Well, that was rather quick."

He and the others had taken to watching Luffy try to get information out of the zombies. Luffy was actually being rather adept when it came to interrogation. He wasn't even uttering any threats. His natural charisma was doing all the work for him.

"They're my nakama. You didn't mess with them, did you?"

"Eh…!?" "N-No, I didn't!" "I didn't either." "Nope!"

Maxwell was still racking his brain about how all of this was possible. There had to be at least a hundred undead in this graveyard, and each one of them was a thinking, coherent, corpse! It just didn't make sense! Unless there were multiple copies of the same Devil Fruit, there was no way they should be speaking like this! Not unless they were ALL being possessed by powerful spirits, and these things were weak as shit!

…By the Maker, what was this island doing to them? Luffy was being an active thinker, zombies were rising from the dead, and his thoughts were becoming more and more vulgar like a sailor's.

"Perhaps you're finally accepting the insanity of this world?" Mineive asked within his head.

…

"Be truthful!" Luffy barked at the undead. He knew the zombies had attacked their party. Why wouldn't they attack Nami, Chopper, and Usopp?

One of the zombies pointed at another, "This guys attacked them."

"Eh!? Hey!" The offending zombie balked, "Don't sell out your friends! Besides you decided to nibble on one of them!"

"We all attacked them."

"FOOL! DON'T SAY THAT!" Many of the zombies nearby had quickly tried to shut their friend's mouth before he could confess their guilt. However it was too late.

"So… Cremation or burial?" Maxwell asked his captain. He had a fireball in his hand, ready for cremation. The others looked ready to puree these zombies again too.

"Burial," Luffy nodded as he jumped off the gravestone.

"Wait! Wait!" One of the zombies tried to plead, "They went that way! Up to the mansion!"

"Quick question, do you know a skeleton called Brook?" Luffy asked them.

"Who?"

WHAM!

Luffy punched the zombie down into the dirt.

They all tried to run, but the Strawhat Pirates had surrounded them now and blocked any way out of the courtyard. They were going to take their punishment, and do it like men… Er, zombies.

WHAM—WHACK—BONK—WHACK—WHAM!

By the end of it, the zombies were all buried again. Their legs sticking out off the dirt like darts on a dartboard.

Luffy opened the gate out of the cemetery, "It seems as though they headed towards that mansion. I'm glad they're safe. They didn't know anything about Brook though…"

Sanji looked at him weirdly, "It's alright if he's not around you know…"

"Speaking of not around…" Maxwell looked at their group, "Where's that three-headed monstrosity?" Cerberus wasn't with them anymore.

"Hm?" Zoro scowled, "Maybe the mutt must have wussed out with his tail between his legs."

That or it got caught in the crossfire…

"Hey! …H-Hey, you! …Wait a moment!"

The crew looked back confused. A voice then started calling behind them.

The newcomer came closer with a lantern, "I… was watching you guys. You're horrendously strong. W-Will you let me speak?" He spoke with a laboured, wheezing voice.

"An old man with serious injuries!?"

"WE ALREADY SAID IT'S A ZOMBIE!" Zoro, Sanji, and Franky yelled again.

"No, I'm just an old man with serious injuries," the 'zombie' replied.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" the three doubters balked at the old man. "HOW CONFUSING! YOU COULD PASS FOR A ZOMBIE!"

Maxwell took another look at him. Multiple contusions, dehydration, a black eye, dead eye, scars on the chest and forehead… By the Maker, what had happened to this man?

The mage approached the ragged elder and invited him to sit down. He immediately started to cast healing magic on the old man's arm.

"Oh… oh… That feels nice…!" He let the green glow of magic envelop him.

"What's your name, good sir?" Maxwell asked.

"My… My name is Spoil," the man stuttered out. "And… There is a guy I want you to beat…!"

"You guys might be able to do it!" Spoil quickly wailed, grabbing Maxwell's arm. Maxwell grabbed Spoil's arm back, trying to portray a aura of calm. However, he could feel the old man shaking.

"There are a whole bunch of victims, but… if you beat him, they'll all be saved! Once our shadows return, I'll thank you as much as you want!" He was almost hysteric.

Luffy approached, looking beneath the old man, "It's true! You don't have a shadow either… Just like Brook!"

"Whose work is this anyway? Who's on this island?" Zoro asked. Brook wouldn't tell them who got his shadow, and now they might be able to find out, here.

"…M-M," Spoil started to shake again, quivering in fear. "…Moria… His name is Moria…! And he is truly frightening…!"

"Moria?" Robin stepped forward in front of the group, "…You don't mean Gecko Moria, do you…!?"

"Yeah… That's right! That Moria!" Spoil's eyes widened as he looked at Robin. Maxwell thought he saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes as Spoil started to move towards Robin. If she knew about Moria, then she maybe she had an idea on how to beat him?

However, Spoil's desperation was starting to cloud his judgment. "Heyheyheyhey…!" Maxwell grabbed him before Spoil could get up, "Hold on, you're still injured…!"

To be honest, there wasn't much Maxwell could do for Spoil. He'd still live, but his injuries were numerous, and many of them were old. The best he could do now was soothe the old man's bones and quell any inflammation spouting in Spoil's body.

"You know about him, Robin?" Luffy looked over at his archeologist.

"…I know his name rather well. His original bounty surpassed even yours, Luffy."

…Now Maxwell was worried. Robin was actually starting to look nervous.

"Gecko Moria… He is one of the Seven Warlords."

"Warlord!?" The guys all exclaimed. This wasn't their first time hearing of the Seven Warlords. They were privateers in the World Government's employ, though they were much more dangerous than that. In exchange for hunting down other pirates, the Warlords were exempt from all forms of prosecution by the World Government, and allowed to continue practicing piracy.

The Straw-Hats had actually fought a Warlord before, Sir Crocodile. They had accidentally discovering his identity involving him as the head of a crime syndicate. One that prided itself on secrecy. Since they knew, the Straw-Hat Pirates were targeted for elimination, or at least until they won. The crew had even saved an entire country in the process.

However, Crocodile was no joke. Robin used to be part of his organization and the man was absolutely ruthless. He employed assassins, bounty hunters, terrorists, spies, mercenaries, and even smugglers for his organization. Any form of underworld activity, Crocodile was free to have a hand in using. He had planned to take over a country acting like their hero, and the Navy couldn't do a thing to stop him…

And on top of his cunning and ruthlessness, Crocodile was a Devil Fruit user. A Logia type, able to manipulate and transform into sand at will. He could suck the moisture right out of you, leaving you like a dried tomato. Rip your skin off like a dessert wind. Or perhaps he's choke you to death, burying you alive under heaps of sand. It certainly didn't help that they fought him in the middle of a damn desert!

…The point was, the Seven Warlords were dangerous. And Gecko Moria was among their ilk.

"Is he actually a Warlord, Robin?" Luffy asked his crewmate.

Robin looked back at her captain, "He's a man shrouded in mystery… But he is one of them."

"What's a man like that doing here?" Franky asked. If a Warlord was supposed to hunt pirates, what was he doing on some haunted island?

"If you've come this far, then you should assume Moria already has his eye on you," Spoil replied. "But there are many victims that wander around this forest, just like me…"

That caught Luffy's attention. "There are more of you?"

Spoil nodded. "Some stay behind on this island, crawling around this dark forest while fearing the zombies… Others have sailed out to sea, but have to live in fear of the sun…!" Spoil then started weeping, trying not to appear so pitiful, "We don't feel truly alive living like this… I wish… I'd like to walk under the sun again one more time before I die…!"

"…So that's how it is?" Empathy welled up in Franky like a faucet, "That's tough…! Alright! I'll be your help. Don't worry!" Tears ran down Frankys cheeks—"SHUBBUP! I AIN CWRYING!"

"You're feeling too much for him," Zoro deadpanned at the cyborg, "Don't try shouldering responsible you aren't prepared for."

"He's right," Sanji scowled, "Hey geezer! Only beautiful ladies can make tearful entreaties! You don't make my heart throb!"

"Oh for Andraste's sake…!" Maxwell looks back at the chef in exasperation. Was now really the time to bring up women? Again!?

Either way, Maxwell had completed his treatment on Spoil.

"Well, we are looking for a guy who steals shadows," said Luffy. He then gave a brilliant grin, "If he's after us, we'll just kick his ass and gramps will be saved, too!"

Spoil couldn't believe his ears, "W-What kind words…! Now I have hope, even if you're doing it for your own reasons!"

"I'm counting on you!" A new voice sounded in the wood. Maxwell nearly jumped in surprise. But then more voices called out to them.

"Good luck!" "Just kick Moria's ass." "Sorry we couldn't make your heart throb!"

"The rest of you victims were listening too!?" Sanji did not want to hear that last comment. If you looked carefully among the trees, you could see figures hiding behind the trunks. Some were in the bushes, while others were in the branches. Most of them were men, but they looked little more than silhouettes in the lamp-light.

…How many people has Moria stolen from? How many people had Moria condemned to darkness? To live without sun, hidden away in the dark for fear of a stray sunbeam killing you. Deprived of daylight, deprived of image, denied reality… How many of these victims were before his time as a Warlord?

Seeing them hide like this, it reminded Maxwell to much of the Mage Rebellion. Of those that hadn't joined either cause. Apostates, Circle mages, and civilians alike.

Some have had to hide to avoid the fighting. Templars were indiscriminate in who they hunted. If they caught even a whiff of magic they'd kill without question. Maxwell knew of Dalish clans that had been wiped out by Templars since their leaders, the Keepers, were always mages.

Mages weren't innocent either. Apostates that went crazy with power often sought out what they wanted, whether that was food, coin, or blood. They were drunk on the openness that the Mage Rebellion allow them. And Abominations were just as much as a risk. Monsters in human clothing, employing Blood Magic to control them. Civilians were right to be scared.

"…I think it's time we moved on," said Maxwell. "We're still heading towards the mansion, right Luffy?"

"Hm? Right!" Luffy then smiled, "Alright! I'm off to kick Moria's ass! See you later gramps!" Luffy then started walking down the path.

"Goodbye!" "Sayonara!" "Go kick his ass!" "You carry all our hopes and dreams!"

"SHUT UP!" Sanji yelled back as the crew started following Luffy. The last thing he wanted was a bunch of guys worshiping his feet. He'd rather be worshiping Robin or Nami's feet, surrounded by candlelight—

"YEOCH!" Sanji suddenly clutched his head, "What the hell was that for!?" He shouted back Maxwell. He had hit him on the head again with his staff.

"You were having perverted thoughts again, weren't you." It wasn't so much as a question as a statement. Maxwell had seen Sanji get that dopey look on his face whenever he fantasized about women.

"Shut up!" Sanji shouted. "The last thing I need is to have a crusty old chaperone in the form you, old man!"

"No. You need therapy," said Zoro.

"WHAT WAS THAT SWORD-WUSS!" "YOU HEARD ME SHIT-COOK!" "WHY I OUGHT'A—"

*drip*

"Hm?" Luffy suddenly looked up.

*drip-drip-dripdripdripdrip—*

It was starting to rain.

"This rain is coming down pretty hard," Maxwell observed. His beard was already soaked from the torrent.

"Should we run for the mansion?" Franky used his large forearm to shield his sunglasses from the rain.

"Wait a sec…" Luffy was still looking up, "I see a mark behind the mansion! I can see something huge!"

Zoro also looked up, "The fog is pretty thin here… Wait, is that a flag!?"

"No…! That's a sail, isn't it?"

"A sail!?" Up above the mansion, with mists trailing around it, was an immense black sail. A bat winged skull on a trident, surrounded by flames hung in the air. The sail was caught in the wind, and it almost made the Jolly Roger look Ike it was looking down on them.

"That's right! It's almost so large, you can't see the full picture."

"YOU'RE STILL FOLLOWING US!?" The crew yelled.

It had been Spoil that had spoken.

"Thriller Bark is a whole village being carried by the World's Largest Pirate Ship! Under the main mast, which is behind the mansion, is where Gecko Moria resides…"

Maxwell looked up at the sky, rationalizing what he just heard. This whole island was a pirate ship. This whole island was Gecko Moria's pirate ship!

Maxwell could see it now! The chains from the moat, it was leading all the way up to the sail! In and behind! The mast was like a giant tower, a palace behind the manse. On one side was an arch. Three chambers suspended in the air, leading towards a staircase. On the other side was a massive wheel. A gear that suspended the chains from the ground. That likely controlled the ship's rudder! How does a man collect such an island!?

…Gecko Moria… He's likely the one responsible for all the disappearances in the newspaper! He scouts potential targets with false offerings in the ocean. He then stalks those ships as they enter the Florian Triangle and captures them in his moat. From there, those potential victims were rounded up and have their shadows taken! It was a devilish plot. And he didn't just target pirates either. He stole from whatever vessel entered these haunted waters!

They had to find the others. Quickly!

Luffy opens the gate in front of the manse, "Alright, let's go! To the Haunted Mansion!"