Warnings: Dark themes, lots of mentions of death, strong language, human experimentation, experimenting on children, child abduction, graphic descriptions of experimenting, lots of needles, lots of violence, poor descriptions of panic attacks, descriptions of blood, rated M for safety.

*If I need to add anymore warnings please tell me in the reviews or a PM and I'll be sure to add it!*

Chapter 77: Unfair Trial

The brothers were excited to land at the new island like always. It was fun for them to explore the new islands, even if more times then not they were interrupted prematurely by a bad event.

This time was no different, and the time after that probably wouldn't be either. It was something the three didn't think they could ever get used to. The freedom to sail the seas, to land on new islands all around the world, it was exhilarating. It showed they were free, out of the facility that had held them captive for most of their lives.

They were paired up with Marco, Jozu, and Haruta for their newest outing. The 12th division needed some supplies from one of the villages on the island and Jozu apparently knew the way to the village seeing as it was normally his division that went to get the supplies. He and Haruta had decided to come along with the brothers and Marco, and they saw no issue with that, even going as far as to agree to help carry the supplies back.

Stepping onto the island, they found themselves in a village that had people bustling around. It was midday now, so it was no surprise that the villagers were out and about. Apparently, this island had two villages, and this wasn't the one they needed to be in.

The group followed Jozu as he maneuvered through the small village, and soon they were heading out on a barely visible path that obviously wasn't used a lot, if at all. They were surrounded by trees as they walked, but Ace could see that it cleared up further up ahead. In the clearing, he could see a big circular structure that almost looked like a colosseum or something similar.

"What's the giant structure ahead of us?" Ace asked Jozu, thinking the man might know seeing as he had walked this path before. It was still a good thirty minutes ahead of them, but without any trees to block his vision Ace could see it clearly.

"Oh, you can see that already? I'm not really sure. I think its a temple or something though. The village we're heading to is weirdly religious and I think they used to use it in ceremonies or something of the sorts, but I never asked too many questions. Honestly, the people there give me the creeps so I normally get the supplies as quickly as possible and get out." Jozu said with a shake of his head.

"Big bad Jozu's scared of a tiny little village?" Haruta teased, nudging the 3rd commander with his elbow. Jozu glared at Haruta while Marco rolled his eyes at the two's antics.

"I'm not scared, Haruta. I get unnerved is all. As I said, they're creepy and heavy into the whole religion thing. Its almost like that one story Thatch told about the crazy zealots trying to summon demons that they thought would, 'heal the world'." Jozu said as he made air quotes, causing Marco and Haruta both to raise their eyebrows at him while the brothers listened on in interest.

"You mean the one story where he claimed they tried to sacrifice him?" Marco asked in confusion.

"Yeah, that's the one!" Jozu agreed with a nod.

"Jozu, you do know Thatch's stories are supposed to be taken with a grain of salt right? Especially when he's drunk. For all we know, that story is actually about a squirrel that looked at him the wrong way and he turned it into the crazy religious sacrifice story we all know and love." Haruta said. Ace and Sabo shared a look at that, wondering how a squirrel looking at Thatch the wrong way correlated to the story he had told, but they merely shrugged and returned to listening.

"I didn't say I believed it, I just said that's what it reminds me of! For all, we know that's what the structure is for; sacrifices!" Jozu said defensively with a frown. Haruta laughed at that and Marco was once again shaking his head, muttering about how stupid his brothers could be which made Sabo smile knowingly, looking at his own idiot brothers.

"Uh-huh, I'm sure that's exactly what it's used for," Haruta said as he nodded his head in mock agreement. Jozu scowled.

"I'm just saying that you never know and the people in the village are creepy. That's it." Jozu said, scowl still present.

"No need to continue defending yourself, I'm agreeing with you here Jozu," Haruta said as he patted Jozus arm which only earned him another glare. Haruta snickered now but decided to ease off on the teasing for now.

"Are you two done now, yoi?" Marco asked them with a frown, almost like a parent who was one step away from grounding their children.

"Yes, mom." Haruta moaned while Jozu rolled his eyes, knowing better than to egg on an impatient Marco.

"Remind me again why we agreed to go with them?" Marco asked, turning to look at the brothers who all merely shrugged back.

"We were all going to the island so why not go together?" Sabo asked with a smile, still thoroughly enjoying the conversation. Marco sighed but didn't say anything in response. After some more time spent walking quietly through the trees on their nearly invisible path, they finally reached the structure that Ace and Jozu had been talking about. It did look oddly colosseum like in the way it was shaped, but the stone structures and patterns screamed temple. It had a path all the way around it and Jozu told them that they would have to circle around to the other side of the temple to continue going towards the village.

As they walked up to the structure they all took in the intricate carvings in the stone. There were small patterns like flowers and swirling patterns, and then there were bigger carvings that created beautiful statues of women and men all holding various objects; from vases to scepter looking objects. Columns were also carved out of the stone as well as archways that allowed the group to see inside the temple, but all they could see was hallways lined with more columns that led to stairs going up.

"You know, I could see a religious cult doing sacrifices here," Haruta said as he peered inside the temple. Jozu didn't respond to the words, but he did cross his arms over his chest as he gave the 12th commander an, 'I told you so' look.

The group continued walking, peering in every archway but seeing only the same hall leading to stairs. Eventually, they made their way around the temple and were heading back on another overgrown path that led into another patch of trees.

"How far away is this village, yoi?" Marco asked curiously. He hadn't explored this island much before, never venturing further than the main village that they always docked at, so he had no clue how much longer of a walk they had ahead of them.

"Shouldn't be more than another half hour now," Jozu replied as he moved a tree branch out of their path.

"I think it's safe to say that this village is pretty secluded from the other," Haruta said, looking around at all the trees that surrounded them.

"Only further proving my case that they're crazy zealots!" Jozu pointed out, but Haruta didn't respond.

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, who had been mostly quiet this entire time, looked around with smiles on their faces. There was something about being surrounded by trees that made the three feel at home. Safe. Of course, this could be attributed to the fact that they grew up in a place filled with trees, but they didn't pay too much mind to that.

Luffy was itching to go climbing in one of the trees, to find the tallest one he could and climb all the way to the top of it, and honestly, Ace and Sabo felt much the same way as he did. They restrained themselves from doing so, but after looking at Luffy who was practically vibrating with pent up energy, they both sighed.

"If you promise to stay in the trees along the path," Sabo said suddenly, surprising the Commanders as they turned their heads to see what Sabo was talking about.

"Really?!" Luffy asked excitedly, now jumping up and down beside Sabo in excitement.

"And you have to stay with Ace," Sabo added as an afterthought, knowing that if he didn't leave the boy with one of the older two he would get himself lost. Even if they did go with him, there was still a possibility of him getting lost, but at least this way Ace would probably be able to find him quickly with his sight, and if they needed him, they could yell and Sabo would hear.

"I will!" Luffy agreed, grabbing Ace's hand and pulling him towards the tree closest to them. Ace, who wore a smile of his own, followed easily. Luffy stretched his arm up towards a sturdy branch and promptly lifted both himself and Ace up into the tree.

"What are they doing, yoi?" Marco asked as he watched the two begin hopping through the different trees, though always staying within their sight.

"These trees remind us of home. Luffy wanted to go climbing and I agreed as long as he stays close and with Ace." Sabo said as he watched his brothers swing along the branches like monkeys.

"Don't you want to go too?" Jozu asked, not wanting to keep the teen back from having fun. The brothers deserved to have some fun after everything they'd been through.

"Nah, I'd rather not spend all my energy trying to keep up with those two. After all, it's a long walk back. If anything happens I'll be able to hear them." The blonde said. The Commanders seemed to accept this explanation and they turned back around, now watching Ace and Luffy as they walked. The two were definitely energetic as they jumped, swung and, in Luffy's case, rocketed back and forth across the path, crisscrossing through the trees as they slowly yet surely continued down the path. They listened to Sabo's instructions and stayed strictly within the trees lining the path, but that didn't seem to bother them.

Luffy at one point climbed to the very top of one of the trees up ahead, hand shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked ahead towards the direction they were heading towards. He shouted something to Ace and pointed towards wherever he was looking, waiting for the eldest brother to make his way up the tree. Ace looked towards the direction before nodding, saying something back to Luffy before the two disappeared back into the trees.

"Luffy thought he saw something weird in the town so he asked Ace what it was," Sabo explained for those who didn't know what had been said.

"Something weird?" Haruta asked, looking towards the town that was now visible ahead of them. Sabo nodded, frowning.

"Yeah, and apparently its nothing good," Sabo said which further confused the Commanders as they tensed.

"What do you mean?" Marco asked, wanting to know what they were walking into.

"Looks like these people might be as crazy as Jozu said they were." Ace answered before Sabo could, he and Luffy jumping out of the trees and onto the path in front of them.

"How so?" Marco asked, still not sure what was happening in the town. This wasn't one of Whitebeards territories, but that didn't mean they would let anyone do anything to the villagers without reason.

"Looks like there's a trial going on, and from the looks of it the girls not winning her case." Ace said, turning to look towards the village, walking quickly with Luffy at his side.

"More information would be helpful you know," Sabo said with a sigh, becoming a bit annoyed with Aces vagueness. Ace merely rolled his eyes but sighed.

"Some girl in chains is getting questioned and the villagers don't look too happy with her. They have a cross in the town center and everything. Wouldn't be surprised if they plan to burn her at the stake." Ace said, making everyone frown and quicken their pace as well.

"Can you hear what's happening?" Haruta asked Sabo. The blonde frowned, but nodded, focusing on the village.

"Yeah, hold on... alright, they're questioning her like Ace said. Calling her a heretic... saying she isn't a true believer anymore... yeah, definitely sounds like they're not listening to a word she's saying." Sabo agreed. The group was now on the outskirts of the village, Jozu taking the lead as he showed them how to get to the town center where everything was taking place.

'Grey color.' Luffy tapped, everyone picking up on the word as they turned to look at Luffy.

'Where?' Ace asked, his eyes scanning over the crowd of people they were standing at the edges of.

'Big guy over there, the one shouting at the girl.' Luffy said, nodding towards the man in question, eyes locked onto him. Everyone frowned as they took in the scene in front of them.

Ace and Sabo's descriptions had been pretty accurate as a girl in chains was on her knees in front of the man with the grey aura. The two of them were up on a platform, a giant cross behind them and a pile of wood off to the side. The girl had pale green hair and blue eyes, barely looking to be older than fifteen, and was wearing a white pristine dress, no shoes on her bare feet. She was crying as she tried to explain whatever she had done, but the man was hearing none of it, interrupting her every time she attempted to speak. Said man was big and burly, with no hair on is head besides his eyebrows. He wore an angry scowl and his face was nearly red with the effort it took to yell at the poor girl.

As Ace had said before, it looked as if they were getting ready to burn the girl on the cross, and no one looked like they had any disagreements with this besides a boy near the front who was being held back by a few of the townspeople. He was young as well, no more than ten or eleven, and had brown hair and blue eyes that looked the same as the girls. Possibly a sibling.

"Please, listen I beg you-"

"Heretics don't have the right to speak! You went against God's will and for that, you will be rightfully punished!" The man screamed, the crowd cheering in agreement.

"Please, I believe, I do, I-"

"Lies! We'll hear no more lies out of you, non-believer!" The man screamed, once again cutting the sobbing girl off. Two of the villagers made their way up the platform and walked up to the girl, grabbing her by both of her arms and hoisting her up.

"Send her to the cells! Prepare her for the sacrifice!" The man called to the men, both of them nodding as they dragged her off the platform. People were screaming in agreement and throwing stones at the girl as she was dragged passed them. At the man's words, Jozu sent Haruta a look, which the 12th commander promptly ignored.

Now that the girl was gone the man was leaving the platform as well and the crowd was beginning to disperse.

"Excuse me, yoi," Marco said, grabbing someone by the shoulder as they passed, a man.

"Yes?" He asked any ill will aimed at the girl gone now as he inspected Marco curiously.

"Could you tell me what that was about?" Marco asked, referring to the scene they'd all just witnessed. The man sneered, crossing his arms.

"That? Just dealing with a nuisance is all. You'd do best to just run along and let this town handle its own affairs." The man said, walking away before Marco could respond. Marco scoffed, turning to look to everyone else.

"Why don't we talk to the sad kid?" Luffy asked, eyes trained on the boy that had been struggling to get to the platform earlier. The kid was still sobbing, but there was no one holding him back now. He was sitting on the ground, unmoving save for the shaking of his shoulders as he cried, fists clenched on the ground.

Before getting a response Luffy headed off to him, the others following. The crowd was all but gone now, and none of them seemed to pay any mind to the little boy.

"Hey, you," Luffy said bluntly, but it got the boy's attention. He wiped at his eyes as he looked up at Luffy.

"Huh?" He asked in confusion. Luffy squatted in front of the boy, head tilted.

"She was important to you, right?" Luffy asked, feeling the boys distraught and misery. The boy's lip trembled again and he nodded.

"S-she's my older sister." He said softly, tears falling all over again.

"What'd she do?" Ace asked from where he stood behind Luffy.

"She didn't do anything! She just wanted to help!" The boy said angrily, but his fury quickly turned to sorrow as he began crying once again. Ace gave a frustrated look to Sabo who rolled his eyes, pushing Ace away from the kid as he knelt beside Luffy.

"Hey, look, we didn't say she did anything wrong, we just want to know why they did that to her," Sabo said, much gentler then his brothers had been. The boy's tears stopped again as he studied Sabo.

"She got medicine. F-for our dad." He said, confusing everyone.

"Medicine? All of this is happening over medicine?" Haruta asked in confusion. The boy nodded, wiping his eyes again.

"We're not allowed to use medicine, cause its Gods will whether we get sick or not, live or die. Our dad was sick, and all he needed was a little bit of medicine, but they wouldn't let us help him. Mary just wanted to help our dad so she went and got the medicine for him, but the others found out and took it before she could give it to him." He said, and Luffy could feel the sadness beginning to get stronger in the boy as he spoke.

"Dad died that night and they took Mary to the cells. They're gonna make her repent and sacrifice her to make amends." He said, once again beginning to cry at the thought of what was to come.

"Over medicine. Alright, Jozu, you were right, this town is filled with crazy religious sacrificing zealots." Haruta said apologetically as he massaged his temples. Jozu decided not to say I told you so.

"What's your name, yoi?" Marco asked.

"Henry." He said quietly. Marco nodded.

"Do you have any more family? Mom? Aunt? Uncle?" Jozu asked, but Henry shook his head.

"Only Mary." He said sadly.

"Well Henry, we'll help your sister, so don't worry," Marco said, placing a hand comfortingly on Henry's shoulder. His eyes lit up, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Really?!" He asked. Marco nodded.

"Sure will kid." He said. Luffy smiled as he felt the elation filling the small boy. Henry jumped up, hugging Marco tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He chanted over and over. Marco smiled, ruffling the kid's hair.

"Don't worry about it, yoi. Why don't we have Haruta here take you to our ship. You can stay there while we take care of things, yoi." Marco said, nodding to Haruta.

"But what about the supplies?" Haruta asked.

"Jozu can still get them and carry them back. Once you get Henry to the Moby you can head back here. It might not be so easy as to just grab Mary and run, yoi." Marco said, Haruta nodding in understanding.

"Alright, I'll be as quick as I can. Come on Henry, let's go." Haruta said, ushering the boy back towards the path they'd used before. The group watched as they left for a minute before they continued.

"Jozu, you go get the supplies and take them to the Moby. When you get there tell Oyaji about whats happening if Haruta doesn't already." Marco said Jozu nodding.

"Should I come back too?" He asked arms crossed as he looked around the village. It felt as if all eyes were on them and he was reminded of how creepy the town always felt whenever he was here.

"No, we should keep our numbers to a minimum, and if we're sneaking around it'll be better to have fewer of us. Haruta coming back is already going to make us a bit obvious, yoi." Marco said as he also looked around. He also had the sense of being watched, and from the looks of it, the brothers felt the same way as they shifted slightly, eyes darting around like they did when they were first on the Moby.

"Sounds good. See you guys soon." Jozu said, waving to them as he headed off to get the necessary supplies. Marco looked to the brothers, eyebrow raised and smile on his face.

"So, how good are you three at sneaking around, yoi?"

Just a quick disclaimer: I am in no way comparing this made up religion with any current, or past, religion that exists. Believe whatever you want to believe in, I won't stop you so long as you're not doing anything to hurt yourselves or others. This religion is completely, 100%, made up. Not real. Doesn't exist. Honestly, it's more of a cult, but that's not the point either. Alright, I'll stop talking about it now.

Anyways, it seems that this island should be interesting. I had fun coming up with the idea for this section of the story. It isn't too long, just a few chapters and then we'll be moving on to the next thing, but never-the-less, it was fun to think up. And for those who want to see Teach's comeuppance, it will happen soon, but not quite just yet. I know it was hinted at more last chapter, but I want a few more things to happen before he reveals his master plans to everyone. I have planned up to it, but I haven't written up to it just yet. It's still a little while away, but it'll be here before you know it!

Thank you all as usual for your amazing support for this story! I hope you all have a fantastic Monday and I'll see you all again this Friday!