When hinges creak in doorless chambers,
And strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls.
Whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still —
That is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight!
"Horororo! It's here! It's finally here!"
In the eerie part of town, in the small sector of Thriller Bark Road, there was a large mansion that screamed haunted house. No sunlight shone, a fog covered the area, and moaning sounds of the dead were heard. Yes, it was inside this mansion where a young girl in her second year of schooling was prancing around her godfather's house. The mansion itself was decorated with swords and red roses with the occasional ghost plush from the girl.
This girl had unusually big, round eyes, and long, light pink hair that she keeps tied into two pigtails with black and white flower hairpins. She wears a red crown with a black cross on her head, as well as red lipstick and a thick layer of black eyeliner. Her school uniform was a white blouse with a purple ribbon on the front, dark purple skirt with cobweb outlines, long black and white striped stockings, and black flats that had cat ears. Under her arms was a scary zombie bear plushie wrapped in bandages.
As she entered the kitchen area, her godfather looked up from his morning paper and took a long sip of his coffee. He was a tall lean man with black hair, a short beard, mustache and sideburns that point upwards. His strangely colored red eyes which resemble a hawk's eyes was filled with a spot of happiness at his goddaughter's delight. He wore an open white shirt with a ruffled neck, black dress pants, and a red and black cape on his back.
"Perona," His voice made the girl stop dancing for a second and sit down at the table in front of him. "What could be the cause of you prancing around my house for?"
Perona giggled, handing him the letting in her hand. "This Hawkie! I got invited to Whole Cake Academy to help prepare them for their Halloween festival! They want me to write and direct their Halloween play!"
Mihawk scoured the letter, smirking when he noticed that Akagami Shanks was helping with the preparations as well. "Whole Cake is that fancy girl school that Akagami's nephew attends. Surprised they let him in despite the controversy it causes."
"A boy going to an all girls school? This is perfect for my play idea then!" Wasting no time, she grabbed a box of Count Chocula from the cabinet and kissed him on the cheek. "I need to catch the bus to the school. Headmistress Shakky said she's going to let me attend for awhile to help set things up."
Mihawk sighed, taking another sip of coffee. He wondered where she got all this energy from since she mostly dwells in darkness and shadows for most of her life. Halloween was the only time of year where she was at her highest happy.
Between her and Zoro, they were the only two whom he showed care for.
"Wait Perona, I'll drive you to school. It's close to my job."
"Magical Halloween Theater Show?"
Autumn had hit the school as the cherry blossoms that flew in the air were now leaves flying down to the ground. Luffy was seen walking into the school with Robin and her mother who were holding books to place into the school's library. Since it was that time of year, they usually place some of the more obscure titles of spooky and macabre with the school textbooks. Olvia grinned as she watched her daughter and the young man chat on the way into the building.
"Every year, the girls hold a festival for Halloween where some make food, some hold games in booths, and we put on a a show for the children of the neighborhood." Robin adjusted her stack of books. "Last year, we put our own creepy spin on Little Red Riding Hood and other fairy tales. President-san was the witch that wanted to eat Hansel and Gretel."
Luffy laughed, picturing Linlin wearing dark robes and cooking children. "Seems like a role made for her. I'll help out in any way I can. What's the show going to be this year?"
Olvia turned to look at him. "The headmistress hired someone from Thriller Bark Theater School to help write and produce the show this year. After last year, she didn't want Linlin to write anymore plays for the school. That girl can throw the biggest tantrums."
Luffy and Robin both sighed loudly as they entered the school. Seeing pumpkins on the ground and purple, orange, and black streamers hanging from the ceiling, Luffy concluded that the whole school was now excited for the holiday to come. Several females even changed their regular pins to include spiders, skulls, and other Halloween elements to their outfits. Olvia waved goodbye to her daughter and Luffy, telling them to drop by the library for a special treat later. Luffy offered to help Robin drop off the rest of the books to
"Trick-or-Treat! Hand over your candy and be afraid!" Carrot popped out of nowhere, startling Robin into dropping her books. The girl's bunny eared headband now had a pumpkin barrette on its ear. "Oops! Sorry Miss Robin! I didn't mean for you to drop those books."
Robin waved her off and Luffy helped her pick up her books. "It's okay Carrot, just be careful next time." Noticing her new accessory, she smiled. "How cute."
"Ya think so? I had Camie make it for me while I helped the fashion club the other day. They are excited for the Halloween Theater play this year. Whomever is coming to write the play is going to have fun making costumes."
"I just hope I'll get a role in the play." Luffy said, making Carrot giggle. "Who knows what kind of play we'll put on. I can be a prince or the big bad wolf."
"Or maybe you can be a troll or oni!" Carrot chimed in, making the two laugh at her cuteness. "Hey, Luffy could play a myriad of roles here!"
Unbeknownst to the trio, Linlin was listening in on their conversation from the chemistry lab as they passed by. Kalifa was about to add more to their project before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What has caught your attention this time?" The bespectacled girl asked, trying to finish up her notes before the professor came over.
"That strawhat boy thinks he can take the lead role in the school Halloween play! I always play the lead role and he's not going to take that away from me!" Linlin bit down on her notebook, liking the lingering taste of chocolate that came off from it. "I don't know who's making the play this year, but I'm going to make sure they put me on the leading role!"
"I heard she's attending courses here while she stays. According to Alvida, she's from the Thriller Bark sector of town, the place where no sun shines and all that junk."
"I'm familiar with Thriller Bark, stupid Gecko Moria and his band of misfits help out with the Haunted House every year at the school festival." Groaning, she took out a piece of taffy from her pencil case. "No matter, I'll hunt down that playwrite and force her to make me the lead role or else."
Perona looked around the school, her excitement growing as she tried to find her way to the headmistress' office. Never had she seen so many females in one area before and it was quite overwhelming. The theater school she attended didn't have many females attending unless you count Cindry who was always willing to help her perform and Lola who was a kind stagehand that taught her the ins and outs of the stage. Most of the time she was alone in her room surrounded by all her stuffed animals or fixing up Zoro who she saw as her older brother figure.
Clutching her bear and playwrite in her arms, she nervously scampered through the halls before bumping right into a tall female and falling over.
"My play!" Perona exclaimed, desperately trying to grab all the pages as they fell. The tall girl helped her out, picking some off the floor before handing them to her. "Oh thank you! If these were to have gotten mixed up or lost, then the Halloween Play would be ruined."
Reiju raised an eyebrow at her words, but nodded nonetheless. She noticed how different her uniform was with all its extra additions."I don't recognize you, are you new?"
Perona rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm Perona, I'm just visiting the school to help put on the play this year. I got lost in all these hallways to find the office of your headmistress." Staring intently at Reiju, she winked. "You would make an excellent ghost bride!"
Reiju rolled her eyes as she went along with her playful banter. "I'm Reiju Vinsmoke, third year here at Whole Cake. I can take you to the headmistress office. In fact, I was on my way there to discuss the Halloween festival with her."
"Hororororo! This is great luck for me! I can show her my play while you get your work done!" Perona took her by the hand and started dragging her down the hall. "Let's go!"
"Um...you are aware that you have no idea where you're going."
Next Chapter:
Perona: Luffy will be the our monster man!
Reiju: Special effects, I can do. But acting?
Boa: I get to be in a play with Luffy!?
?: Let's make a trick that girl school will never forget!
