After some discussion with their resident Reaper and adding Law back to the conversation as he returned to his own ship, the Heart Pirates came up with a plan for the next island. Some of the hostility Toshiro had felt among the other members of the crew seemed to lift quite a bit after he helped them figure out the best way to deal with the death of one of their own. Since Heartless left no form behind upon their destruction, all they could use was the hat he had left behind in the infirmary, given to him many years ago by the crew as a way of fully welcoming him, along with his fellow orphans. Toshiro said this was no problem, as anything with significance to the spirit of the deceased was enough to make a connection.

Upon reaching the next island, they could follow the plan properly, the Straw Hats hanging back in the waters until it was done as a sign of respect, allowing the crew their space. Most methods Toshiro knew people to deal with their dead involved cremation, allowing the spirit to be released – though he knew the spirit was already out the moment someone died, and cremation just helped sever the chain of fate so they couldn't try to repossess the body – but since there was nothing to burn and the spirit already loose, they skipped to burning incense and using the hat left behind as a focus for prayers. The pirates weren't super sure about the praying, but played along to help the children, who did the action willingly.

Thursday had to be helped around, still very weak as she recovered from the Stigma's effect on her body, and Dextra still had a limp, but that wouldn't stop them from this funeral. Book gladly helped his twin around and kept an eye on her so Law could focus on Thursday since she was sicker. Daniel followed around between the two with great concern but the girls assured him it was fine. The youngest of the orphans was front and center and unable to hold back tears for most of the ceremony.

No words were exchanged throughout the event, choosing silence to focus solely on Heinrich and his memory. Toshiro watched everything from the shore, not feeling comfortable taking part since he had never been part of the Heart Pirate family. Instead he observed the island, noticing how this shore was a tiny piece, and the only part that allowed for landing. The rest was steep and barren, the majority of the island rising up into a mountain. He wondered absentmindedly if this was just the top of one that went further into the ocean, though he supposed that was true for most islands. There was a distinct open cave that could be accessed by ship, and thankfully both the Sunny and the submarine were small enough to fit. It was their next task, exploring inside the mountain, but he would not rush their memorial.

Once they felt they had spent enough time, their shoulders feeling lighter, Thursday was allowed to carefully take the hat from where they had it and carefully wrapped it in a clean cloth. Law had Puffin help her back to the ship, watching them carefully, before turning to his crew about what was next.

"Thank you." Thursday said to Toshiro as she passed by him.

"Why are you thanking me?" He asked, confused.

"This all really helped. I mean it. I… I could have sworn I felt a pat on my head. He appreciated it, so thank you." She really did look like she had been given new life, standing tall and proud.

Toshiro could only nod, not wanting to ruin it. Spirits seemed to work differently here, after all, just because he didn't see one didn't mean they weren't there. If Heinrich had gathered enough energy to give at least her a sign he would believe it.

He was caught by surprise, then, as she stumbled over to give him a tight hug. He stiffened, never having been fond of contact and used to a particular woman almost strangling him every time she hugged him, but didn't push her off.

"I'm glad you feel better." He responded instead, trying his best to be supportive. He wasn't usually hugged or thanked for a death.

She pulled away with a smile and a nod, wiping a stray tear, before she returned to Puffin's side so he could gently help her back to the infirmary. A few moments after, Penguin and Shachi stepped over, the latter holding up an odd little creature in his hand.

"Alright, well, guess we should call the Straw Hats over." Shachi said with a long sigh, doing his best to move on quickly.

"Call?" Toshiro asked, looking oddly at what he now recognized to be a snail. It looked grumpy, with a hat that matched the Captain of the crew's own.

"Oh, I guess you've never seen us use the Den Den Mushi before." Penguin recalled. "Snail phones are super useful for long distance communication. Maybe you guys don't have something like that in Soul Society? Do you guys still use letters?"

"Sometimes, but usually we use Hell Butterflies or when we're in the World of the living just regular cell phones." Toshiro pulled out the small square object from his pocket. It still worked, but he had refused to use it, and in fact had turned it off in case they tried to use it to find him. He didn't want to be found until he fixed his current situation, and he didn't want to jeopardize that goal by Soul Society coming to arrest him.

"Whoa, that can make a call between realms?" Penguin looked uncertain, the tiny device hardly bigger than the snail in his hands, and this version of the Den Den Mushi could only make calls a certain distance, the bigger ones on the ships were used for long distance.

"We had to report in somehow." Toshiro shrugged, choosing not to mention that it could call between worlds as well, not wanting them to ask why he hadn't called home. "Why a snail though?"

"Hey, you said you used butterflies." Shachi defended.

"They can fly, so they're faster than the messengers for distributing orders. The butterflies are also what allow us to travel between Soul Society and the World of the Living, they are completely artificial to be used for those purposes."

"Damn, the dead guys have us beat…"

"Ah, who cares, just call." Penguin grumbled. He was interested in getting his hands on the phone, but noticing the stare Toshiro quickly hid it away. He might not want to be found yet, but he would still need it at some point, and the Head Captain would be pissed if he let pirates break it. He already expected an earful about the ruined uniform, even if they did accept him back, Yamamoto hated when Captains ruined the robes for no reason, as they were a symbol of status.

The snail perked its attention up and mouthed out the sounds of a ringing phone. It only took two turns before it mimicked what sounded like Jimbei's voice.

"Are you sure you don't want more time?" The fishman skipped greetings since they knew who to expect, his tone gentle since he knew what they were dealing with.

"No, I think we're all good here, Captain says a few of us are gonna jump on with you guys to explore the cave, hopefully there's something useful here." Shachi answered.

There was the distant sound of Luffy shouting excitedly for adventure and Nami yelling at him to be quiet before Jimbei's voice took over. For each different voice the snail seemed to change its expression and movement to match the speaker. It was very odd for Toshiro to see.

"We'll make a stop for whoever is going then." Then there was a click and the snail went back to sleep.

"Weird." Toshiro muttered at the creature, turning a glare on the mechanics when they snickered at him.

The Sunny began to approach the shore slowly, aimed towards the river leading into the cave and stopping near an outcropping of rock rather than the shore. There, Franky was able to just spread some planks across for people to walk on. Law approached the trio already near the shore.

"Ready?" He asked, not needing to tell them they were going to. He couldn't exactly choose Toshiro's path for him, and his trusted engineers always went with him. Bepo was at his side holding his sword, never far from the surgeon.

"Yup!" Shachi saluted. "Maybe the mountain has a ton of gems in it, if nothing else."

"With a barren land like this, anything other than rock would be surprising." Law agreed with a shrug.

Dextra popped up at his side, if a bit slowly with her limp, and like Thursday looked a lot better than she had previously.

"How's the neck, Toshiro?" She asked.

The Nobody just blinked at first, confused, before realizing he'd forgotten all about the bandages around his neck. The moment he thought about them the itch to take them off came back, but he was surprised he'd let them stay so long. Turning his head didn't hurt anymore, either, so he was hopeful he could remove them and stop worrying about it.

"I guess I'll double check with Chopper if I can take them off." He responded.

"I'm a doctor too, you know." Law said with a single brow raised, the smirk on his face suggesting he wasn't being mean about it.

"True, I just thought since he put them on he would have the first say."

"Fair enough, but he trusts my word just fine, and I trust his. He's very good for being so young."

"He did help figure out the Stigma." Dextra added.

"Yes, which I'm very grateful for." The Captain nodded. "I was assuming a virus considering its behavior, but his knowledge in plant based ailments helped him notice what I ignored."

"I am interested in how it worked so well against not just the sickness, but the Heartless as well." Toshiro spoke up. As he did so, Hyorinmaru moved from out of his shadow – he'd retreated there after returning earlier with no spoils from his hunt in the sea in a foul mood – and moved to his master's shoulder. "Hyorinmaru wasn't heavily affected, but the snow I made with the cure was irritating to him. It makes sense since the stigma was based on the darkness in them, but it was interesting to see it could hurt them."

"I was thinking about it as well; it could be useful if put into a weaponized form." Law mused aloud, Toshiro nodding his agreement. If the cure could hurt Heartless, it was possible to give it to those unable to hurt the creatures on their own and give them some kind of defense they otherwise didn't have.

"What an unfortunate turn of events." The voice echoing over them made everyone tense, turning towards the source as a burst of green fire brought a figure into their sight. She was up on a ledge of the mountain, able to speak with them fine but out of easy reach.

"Maleficent!" Toshiro growled out the name. This was the worst time for her to appear. The Straw Hats had never seen her before, but they could tell she was bad news, prepped for a fight.

"Greetings, dear, did you enjoy my gift?" The witch sneered down at them all. A pitch black raven with a smug expression alighted on the top of her staff.

"What gift?" Came the scowled response.

"Why, surely you haven't forgotten it? And I worked so hard on it, too." The pout on her lips was clearly fake, proven as she gave a malicious laugh at their irritated expressions.

"Say what needs to be said and get on with it!"

"I wouldn't be so quick to get angry if I were you, my dear, that lovely nightmare I gave you should have reminded you of that." Her chuckle was packed full of smug evil.

Dextra turned in time to see the color drain from Toshiro's face and his eyes expressing only horror as the realization struck. Hyorinmaru gave an angry snarl on his shoulder.

"Hey, wait, YOU did that to him!?" Nami was surprisingly the first to call out, pointing accusingly at the dark fairy with fury in her eyes.

"So I DID sense something nearby." Zoro scowled, unsheathing a blade in each hand, ready to strike.

"It was an absolute joy to craft, and so much to use, I hope everyone had fun with the consequences." Maleficent waved her hands towards them, clearly feeling pretty good about her success. "Oh, I see someone got hurt, too." Her gaze focused on Dextra, who tensed, before Law stepped in between the two with a fierce scowl that only made her laugh again.

She was about to continue her boasting, Toshiro holding his hands over his ears as if to block her out, when something flew right past her head, startling her. There was a screech and something hit the ground, and in alarm she turned to see what had happened. The rubbery arm of a certain Straw Hat snapped back across the distance to the furious owner of the body, and her raven lay crumpled on the rocks. Luffy had struck down her companion.

"You shut up right now!" Luffy shouted viciously. He may have only known the Nobody for one island, but he was already a friend to him. Weird and a little broken, but a friend, and if there was one thing Luffy was known for, it was beating down anyone who hurt his friends.

"You…insolent little ape!" Now Maleficent was angry, green fire licking at her robes to further express her rage. She had not expected such a bold move. "I will be back for you… in the meantime, I hope those waiting for you in the mountain damage you beyond repair!" With a flurry of her cloak and a slam of her staff on the ground, she vanished in fire, taking her raven with her, leaving only the ominous message in her stead.

"Waiting for us?" Usopp gulped nervously, more nervous than he had been previously about going inside the cave.

While the others muttered to each other about whether or not the witch was lying or if they should move on to the next island just in case, Dextra turned towards Toshiro, Law observing from where he was in case the shock caused another episode of darkness. The Nobody's hands were shaking and he definitely looked spooked.

"Toshiro?" Dextra used a gentle tone as others had when he was like this, reaching out to carefully touch him.

He jumped away at her touch, startled, but it did what it needed to do. Once he was focused back on reality he took a few deep breaths with his eyes closed.

"The witch is just as bad as you said she was." Law spoke up, glad to see Toshiro had control this time.

"She's underhanded and manipulative, anything to get her way." Toshiro added on, barely holding back his anger. "Whether it's gods or children, if she can use them she will."

"And apparently dreams."

Toshiro said nothing, just scowled, though the approach of some of the Straw Hats would have cut off any words he had. Luffy was still steaming and wanted to know about Maleficent, while Nami and Chopper just wanted to see if he was okay. Toshiro first asked Chopper if it was alright to remove his bandages, and while the reindeer took care of that he explained what he could from his brief interactions with Maleficent, especially her constant attempts to win him to her side using any bit of his past she could dig up.

"At this point she seems to be trying to isolate me." He finished his explanation, rubbing at his now bandage free neck. The scars were hardly any more noticeable than the ones that had already been there. "By putting me back in a situation where everyone keeps away from me, she probably thinks she can approach as a friend and make me her ally."

"A dirty trick for sure." Law frowned, glancing for a brief second at Dextra. Toshiro noticed but said nothing, not wanting to pry into a past he had no right to, especially with how defensive Dextra got last time he tried. It was not necessary for him to know, the problem now was Maleficent and whoever she seemed to know was inside the cave.

"Next time I hit her face!" Luffy saw no problem with this idea, despite hearing how easy it was for her to disappear, and looked like a bull ready to charge if she dared to show her face in the next few moments.

"I doubt she'd make it that easy." Toshiro sighed. "More importantly, we need to be ready for whatever is inside."

"I really don't think we should explore in there, there's obviously an ambush." Nami argued, glancing at the mountain in worry. "I for one don't want to go walking in there."

"It could just be a farce, there could be something valuable in there she doesn't want us to find." The Nobody countered, standing firm on the idea of exploring. There was a curiosity growing within him, and he wanted to know what was inside.

"It could be more trouble than it's worth." Law seemed to be more on Nami's side, wary of risking their group after an obvious threat, and with no knowledge of anything worthwhile to be had. "The island has nothing on it, I doubt inside will provide anything for us either, best to hurry out to the next island and hope for better supply chances."

The doctor turned back to Toshiro to see if he disagreed still, knowing the Reaper to be more logical than most, only to find Toshiro's gaze fixed firmly on the cave entrance. Luffy was of course off to the side demanding to go in and challenge whatever poor sap was waiting to mess with them, still in a foul mood, but that voice didn't seem to reach Toshiro. The Nobody seemed to have a different need to go inside, not to rise to a challenge but to search for something.

"What is it you think we'll find in there?" Law questioned, curious.

"I… don't know. Call it a hunch, but there's something in there I want to find."

Hyorinmaru gave a rumble of agreement from his master's shoulder.

"What kind of smell?" Chopper, who had been fairly quiet until then, asked after hearing the dragon's comment. He listened to Hyorinmaru's reply and looked intrigued. "Something familiar? To you? But I thought neither of you had been here."

"He might have." Toshiro responded in a vague tone. The other gave him odd looks, wanting answers, but he said nothing else.

"Oh, does this have to do with that guardian thing Maleficent mentioned before?" Dextra asked, perking up as she remembered.

"Guardian?" Nami wondered aloud as Toshiro nodded to her. "Wait, what's this about a guardian? Hyorinmaru?"

"He says his master is the Heavenly Guardian, and that he pledged his loyalty and power to the first one centuries ago." Chopper translated the growls.

"There's a lot I still don't know about it, only that I'm a reincarnation." Toshiro added on. He had never fully explained this role to the others, even the Heart Pirates, and still couldn't fully explain it simply because he himself was still very in the dark on the subject. "It's why I have a Keyblade, and why they're after my power."

"Wow, that sounds powerful." Chopper looked excited.

"It… might be… there's still so much I don't know, so much that hasn't been explained to me. I don't have a grasp on what I'm supposed to do with this role at all." Toshiro summoned his Keyblade to hand and looked over it as if it held the answers to all his questions. "Plus, with me being a Nobody now… I don't know if the role even wants me anymore."

"I suppose that's up to you in the end." Law stated, deciding this was something too big for them to get into, especially if Toshiro himself didn't understand it. "You asked me to help fix you two, so there's still hope."

"True…" Toshiro glanced at the Keyblade before letting it vanish back into light and looking back up at the others. "In any case, it's like Hyorinmaru said, there's something in that cave I need to see for myself. Whether it helps me or not I don't know, but Maleficent wouldn't have someone there to ambush us if it did nothing."

"Well, it's not like Luffy will argue." The Straw Hat navigator huffed, looking at her Captain in irritation. Between Luffy's itch for a fight and Toshiro's curiosity there was no more point arguing about whether or not they would go in, now it was just who. The Sunny would still be making the trip, so those not wanting to go were staying out of the mountain with the submarine to look out for trouble approaching from the waters.

"Let's go then." Law sighed, heading towards the lion-headed ship. The quicker he got this over with the better, and he was sure some of the others felt the same.

Their foe awaited them patiently inside, deep within the caves.