Previously on Dark Sea Chronicles...

After being assaulted by Pudding, Luffy, his friends and his niece arrive on Mendora where Luffy meets a friendly town of people who once flew White Beard's flag of protection. There he discovers his father one-time friend and his own godfather in Lance, the village head. While trying to recover his confidence, he is attacked by Law who is seeking the coordinates to Raftel. Luffy is killed in the conflict but revived by the mysterious ways of the Mendora people and the healer Grandmother Gwendolyn. After reviving, Luffy nearly disbands the Straw Hats for good but Dragon and Sabo arrive, and Dragon is able to talk his son out of it. Luffy then decides to confront Law about the nature of his attack and learns that Lucci of CP0 is holding Law's sister captive. He and Law team up to rescue Lami. During the battle Lucci is killed by Law after Luffy prevents the assassin from killing Law. During their escape, Luffy awakens to a startling new ability that quickly goes out of control. Law is able to stop it and the gain make it back to Mendora. Later the two crews arrive on Raftel where Law and Luffy swear an oath of brotherhood.

The story continues...

Chapter 1: The Terrible Truth

April 1, 801 WG

Robin stood before the nine blocks of the Rio Poneglyph. Her life's goal sat in front of her, all she had to do was look upon the characters of the Ancient Kingdom and she would complete the mission of the scholars of Ohara and her dream. Yet now she hesitated. Over two decades of purpose was about to be fulfilled and she found herself frightened. She had only ever dreamed of reading the true history, she had never once given a thought to what lay beyond. Probably because somewhere deep within herself she never thought she would actually succeed. Beyond this point lay the unknown.

There was also trepidation that she may come to wish she hadn't read the truth. The World Government had gone to such extremes to eradicate the events of the void century, even destroying a world treasure in the form of the Great Library of Ohara by burning the Tree of Knowledge. The outrage of such a sin could not be ignored, but the World Government believed itself immune to divine justice and thus far these beliefs had held when no obvious signs of celestial wrath was visited upon the tyrannical government in retribution. There had been a quaking when several nations of influence, particularly in West Blue where Ohara was, had raised voice in protest but that had eventually died with little bloodshed.

Whatever secrets the past held needed to be known. She would not let fear grant the World Government its final victory. She would know the truth and the reason why her people, her teachers, her mother, her friends had to die.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes to the blocks and began to read.

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Law felt the wind shift and the countless voices that had been his guide for years began to yammer once again. They demanded his attention as they never had before. He looked over toward Luffy, who glanced in the direction his archeologist, Nico Robin, had disappeared. The voices were swarming him again and the young pirate remained ignorant to their presence. However, he was not oblivious to whatever was causing their anxiety.

Luffy stood, his face tight, his black hair waving counter to the breeze that blew over the island. Law rose and looked in the same direction. He sent out his senses, fearing an attack, even though they should have been the only ones on the lost isle. Malice filled the air, though it had no source, and drew the attention of the others. Even those with no known haki abilities were being affected.

Zoro abandoned his drink and stood, his hands gripping his sword hilts. The cook set down his carefully prepared dishes and came up to stand near the women. Ikkaku glared at the man but Nami ignored him as she raised her staff. The minks, Bepo and Carrot, raised their hands, electricity dancing around their nails. The reindeer had taken his chubby kung fu form and, skeleton, Brook had his cane sword out. The fishman, Jinbei, looked stern as he held his hands in his traditional karate style. Law's own men were on their feet.

"This gives me a chill in my bones," whispered the skeleton musician, for once forgoing cheap puns.

"Robin went up the hill to read the Poneglyph, is she all right?" asked Usopp as he readied his slingshot. With no idea where the threat was coming from, they had circled up. Nothing came at them, but the malice didn't dissipate, though, neither did it increase.

"Let's get up to where Robin is," suggested Nami.

"I don't like leaving the ship's unattended in this air," said the cyborg.

"And I don't want to take the girls with us. Franky, you stay and watch Lami and Ann along with the ships," said Luffy. Law grinned, Franky, the cyborg was a one-man army with all his enhancements and even his extra gear like General Franky. Nothing was going to harm those ships or his sister and Luffy's niece while he was on duty. The rest of them could travel together toward Robin. If something attacked it would be harder to surprise or overwhelm the two crews.

"Ji-kun!" protested Ann, too little to understand the mood or feel the threat the others felt. Lami clung to Law's hand. Waking up to learn their parents were dead and that her big brother was grown, and a pirate, had shaken the young girl. She could forgive the pirate part as long as her brother never left her again like he had that day. Lami was old enough to pick up the mood of the crews even if she couldn't sense the malice in the air.

"No buts!" said Luffy as he glared at his young niece. "You and Lami get to the Sunny and go into your room and stay there until I come get you. Franky will be outside standing watch. Do NOT cause him any trouble!"

Ann puffed her cheeks but conceded. She had been dodging Marines with her mother for the first three years of her life. She understood what she had to do even if she didn't like it.

"Onii-chan…" said Lami, gazing up at her brother.

"Do as he says," said Law, rubbing her head in reassurance. "We'll be back, but it will make things easier for us if we know you two are safe." Lami nodded, gave her brother a hug around his knee then ran over to join Ann and Franky.

Luffy and Law led the group inland while they stayed on their guard. Law glanced at his newly sworn brother. If he knew the Straw Hat captain, the young man should have been bounding ahead with the rest of the rushing to catch up. Instead Luffy stayed with them, only committing to a light jog to get him to his missing companion faster while keeping an eye out for threats. Had Law misunderstood him? He glanced at the rest of the Straw Hats, some were on guard, but a few others glanced at Luffy and frowned. Nami look especially troubled. Law took that as a sign that Luffy was indeed not acting like himself.

Law grimaced and returned his attention to the path ahead. Was this his fault? He couldn't help but think it was. He had betrayed and nearly killed Luffy only weeks ago. Or more accurately, he had killed Luffy. All of Luffy's vivre cards had burnt up as proof and the Straw Hat captain was now without his devil fruit powers because of it.

This had been no mere cardiac arrest event. According to the others, Luffy had been dead for two hours before the Mendorans could conduct a special ritual that restored him to life. They had been shocked it had worked, considering the delay, but the whole thing had left Luffy physically weak and now Law was seeing some of the mental damage it had caused.

Law had been blackmailed to take the actions he had by Lucci and the World Government when they revealed his sister, whom he had thought many years dead, to be alive along with several citizens from his home country. Law had been determined to save her, and them, no matter the cost. Lucci had demanded the coordinates to Raftel for unknown reasons. The actions Law had taken to acquire the coordinates had resulted in Luffy's death. When the Straw Hats had confronted Law later and learned of his sister's plight, they chose to help him. They saved Lami and the survivors of Flevance Kingdom.

Law had apologized several times for his actions and Luffy was tired of hearing them. He had forgiven Law the moment he realized the predicament he was in. It only made Law hate himself more for the choices he had made. He knew he would never doubt Luffy again and the sworn brotherhood only emphasized that belief. He knew the crew was still wary but were following their captain's lead on this matter. It didn't mean he didn't feel their chill when they interacted. Time alone would determine if they could forgive him. It was painful to see Luffy altered by his actions, scars that would never heal no matter how much time went by.

They arrived at the courtyard where the Rio Poneglyphs were located. Robin stood before them, unmoving.

"Robin?" said Luffy as they all stopped. "Are you all right?"

Law didn't think so, something was off with the woman right then. She turned around and smiled, her gaze was distant. Her blue eyes held an unnatural light.

"I fine, Luffy," she replied as she turned toward the crew. "I have learned the true history, just like I dreamed I would. Now we must go and inform the world of the truth. The truth of what the despicable Twenty Kings did to gain their exalted status."

"Robin?" Luffy looked even more concerned. Everyone became wary.

Law glanced at Robin. The Twenty Kings were the ones that formed the World Government eight hundred years ago, but it seemed odd for Robin to say it the way she had.

"Come Luffy! We must spread the truth; the world must know!" she said while reaching out to her captain.

This sounded bad, every instinct in Law screamed in protest of Robin's planned action. What did she learn? he wondered as he turned toward the Poneglyphs. The World Government had buried this secret for eight hundred years. Was it that threatening or just that damning? He focused his attention on the Poneglyphs. He felt the voices speak as they always did when he approached Poneglyphs.

"Law? Wait!" cried Luffy.

Too late, his brother cried out in warning. Law placed his hand on the stone, understanding filled him at once. He understood the past and he understood what he must do. He must tell the world of this truth then… burn it all to the ground!

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Luffy stared in horror as the malice that filled the air poured itself into Law. His new brother smiled the same smile Robin had. When Law had reached toward the Poneglyph, Luffy had felt something tickle the back of his mind with alarm, like a memory of a nightmare. However, he had been too late to stop Law and now the man turned and gave Luffy a dark smile.

"I know the truth, and the whole world needs to learn it, too," he said.

"Captain?" squeaked Bepo, his crew staring at Law in growing horror. Luffy's own crew were equally alarmed.

"Law, snap out of it!" said Luffy.

"What's going on? What exactly did you 'learn'?" snapped Zoro.

Luffy turned alarmed eyes on his swordsman, his heart skipping a beat. "Don't ask that!" he cried.

But it was far too late.

"The truth," said Law then he began to recite what he had read. It contained the ideals of the Ancient Kingdom, no surprise and not troubling but then he reached the part of how the Ancient Kingdom had lost. Law described the final battle, of the Twenty Kings deploying a weapon known as Cronus. The weapon had been power incarnate and it had devastated the Ancient Kingdom, leaving the lifeless ruins that now stood and shattering the Family of D, the citizens of that nation. It also contained the terrible truth of how Cronus had come to be.

A serum and been given to several of their people, all but one had died terrible deaths that resulted in the destruction of the facility and all those who had been near the unfortunate. The survivor had lost his mind and destroyed everything in his path. The Twenty Kings had merely pushed the out of control man in the direction of the Ancient Kingdom then sat back and watched. The man had only stopped his rampage when he starved to death, his own madness depriving him of the will to take care of himself. Several nations had been destroyed before he collapsed and died. The Twenty Kings hadn't cared about the tremendous loss of life because they had won. They knew once the battered nations recovered if they remembered, they would turn on the them, so they erased it from history while everyone was still weak. Now no one knew the terrible atrocity they had summoned and the devastation they had allowed.

Luffy felt rage and hatred swell within him and his mind was nearly consumed before a small part screamed out. This wasn't his feelings! It was outrageous what had happened, but this anger wasn't his. This hate wasn't his. It was too intense for someone just learning about it. He had felt anger on the behalf of others before and he felt anger at something himself. He knew the difference of those feelings. This had the sensation of self-anger when he had never lived those events. He fought against the emotions that flooded his being and finally managed to drive it out.

He consciousness returned to the present and he looked around. Everyone was gone, walking back down the path toward their ships. They were going to spread the cursed history to the world and unleash a firestorm upon the World Government. This was not the intentions of he and his friends. This fury, this determination, this single-mindedness…

This was the will of the dead!

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Luffy rushed to get ahead of the crews. If they reached the ships, Franky and the girls would be caught up in this. He needed to wake everyone back up, break the hold of the wrathful dead. His lungs burned and his legs ached from his run. He was nowhere close to recovered from his resurrection. A ship was not a good place to recover stamina.

He couldn't believe how far ahead they had gotten before he regained consciousness. How long had he wrestled with his own sanity? He caught up to them at last, but the beach was in sight, a few dozen yards were left.

He launched himself at his possessed friends. He would just have to punch them back to their senses. He slammed a punch into Usopp. The sniper fell then rose again like the zombies of Thriller Bark.

"Come on, Captain, we must tell the world the truth," said Usopp as he reached toward Luffy.

Luffy stared in horror then launched another punch, this time at Zoro. How hard did he have to hit them to wake them up? Zoro didn't even flinch. Luffy cursed his lack of strength. He hadn't recovered that either.

Zoro grabbed Luffy's arm and twisted it causing Luffy to yell in pain. "Come on, Captain, we need to tell the world," said Zoro. Then Zoro frowned and stared at Luffy. But it wasn't Zoro staring at him. The eyes held an alien light to them. "You heard, yet you aren't willing to spread the word. You're resisting." The others stopped and turned, surrounding him.

"Luffy?"

Luffy felt his heart skip a beat. They were close enough that Franky could see them. If he came over…

"Franky! Don't come! They're possessed! Get the ships away from here! I'll settle this! Just don't let them have the-!" He shouts were cut off when Zoro twisted his arm even more and the shoulder popped out of its socket. Luffy bit back a scream. If he cried out it would only drive Franky, the remaining rational member of his crew to try to save him.

"Luffy!" Franky sounded both furious and terrified.

"Don't come!" gasped Luffy as Zoro slammed him into the ground, he still held the dislocated arm. It felt as if Zoro was one inch from tearing his arm completely off.

"Take those ships…" said Robin.

"And we'll tear him apart…" added Sanji.

"One limb at a time," finished Law.

"Guys, that is not funny! You're seriously hurting him! Zoro!" cried Franky. Luffy sensed the cyborg raising his arms to fire his strong right arm but hesitate. He was firing on his friends after all. It also meant he wasn't leaving which was what the angry spirits wanted.

"You just need to understand, then all this violence won't be necessary," said Nami.

Luffy panicked. If they recited the story like Law had, Franky would be possessed just like them. "Franky! Plug your ears! Don't listen to- Yahh!" Zoro pulled on Luffy's arm and he felt the flesh beginning to tear.

"ZORO!" screamed Franky.

Luffy felt Franky was about to attack. With a yell he let off the strongest haki blast he could muster. He didn't think it would work. Neither his nor Law's people were weak willed and would faint, but he didn't know what else to do. Maybe it would be enough to jar them awake, or perhaps the spirits would be knocked out. He was grasping at straws either way.

Zoro went limp and fell over, so did everyone else. Luffy lay there panting, thankful for the small miracle. Whether they would awaken as themselves or still possessed would remain to be seen.

"Luffy!" Franky called again. "Are you all right?"

The hair on the back of Luffy's neck prickled. "Don't come!" he screamed as felt a homicidal presence materialize behind him. He sat up and grabbed his injured shoulder. He glanced at Franky who was preparing his laser beam while staring beyond Luffy in terror. Luffy shuffled his knees so he could look behind him and gasped.

A red mist was gathering over his unconscious friends, but it had already formed two blood-red eyes that glared at him.

"You dare interfere with our purpose once again, Moondancer!"

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This takes up within maybe hours if not minutes after the ending of "A Matter of Trust".

The "previously on" is just the cliff notes of the previous novel, but you might be less lost if you actually read the preceding entries for Dark Sea Chronicles.