"Of course, this has to go for the worse"

"Have you been hit by one of those ghosts, En-nii?" Hakuryuu, who ran along with the other Rens through the castle, rolled his eyes. They had a recent encounter with Perona and her ghosts, deciding along with the Mugiwaras to leave her to Usopp, as he seemed to be immune to her spell because of his negative attitude. And to make things worse that damn giant was still out there behaving like their absolute idiot of an ally!

"When are those tremblors stopping?" he asked, grabbing a wall when the next set of jumps from the giant zombie made the entirety of the ship move. "And just how are we going to catch such a big zombie?"

"It´s not our problem, we are just finding the one that has your shadow and bringing it down" informed the older redhead. "You better prepare, because if we don´t win this, then we will need to complete the journey by flying."

"Flying? In our djinn equipment? Are you insane?" the raven commented. "Kouen, this world is basically a giant ocean with an unpredictable climate, there is no way we can make the journey to anywhere by flying, not without falling into the ocean and drowning for sure. Besides… do you know where the hell Judal is?"

"Apparently, he has made himself acquaintance with a certain pirate crew that roams the New World. They are called the Whitebeards" commented Koumei, stopping in his tracks. "It´s so… strange. And somehow sweet, don´t you think? The same old Judal, causing trouble."

"It´s not sweet, it´s dangerous. And scary"

"Yes, maybe, but… his willingness to cause trouble means that he is still our dear brother, that he hasn´t strayed so much from the Judal we all knew and love" they all were silent. Yes, in the time they had been without the magi, they all feared that their adoptive brother had somehow changed into something they wouldn´t recognize anymore, that they were going to lose the brother they love, that he would be a stranger, but… it was comforting to know they he still had some of his old self in him.

"Well, Judal will always be Judal" commented Hakuryuu, resting importance to the matter. "That troublesome magi enjoys what he does too much to change his ways."

"You are right" they continued on their way upstairs. The Mugiwaras seemed to be engaged in some kind of confrontation with the inhabitants of the island ship, so the majority of the zombies weren´t inside the castle… unless you were talking about Gekko Moriah´s henchmen´s personal quarters. "Okay, enough with this sentimental conversation" Kouen ended the moment. "which zombie has your shadow?"

"To be sincere… I have no idea" he answered sincerely, earning a look of disbelieve from his familiars. "What? I never claimed to know which zombie got my shadow. Moriah attacked me in the woods and took my shadow."

"You… don´t know which freaking zombie has your shadow?" the older redhead hissed, wanting to strangle the other. "Hakuryuu, there are millions of freaking zombies in this damn place, finding yours could take years."

"No if we know how to search" Koumei intervened in that moment. "Remember that boar lady zombie and the samurai one that asked Namie for his panties?"

"Yes, that's not easy to forget" then the first prince caught it. "You mean that… the zombie created with the shadow of a person has his or her personality?" he looked through the window. "Well, that surely explains the stupid attitude of that giant zombie. It´s like an overgrown Luffy."

"So, if I´m right and the zombie we are searching for has the same personality as Hakuryuu, then we surely will recognize it when we see him or simply lure him to a trap. After all, we know Hakuryuu very well."

"Yes… I have an idea" declared the eldest Ren. "Cover your ears" they did. He inhaled deeply and screamed, focussing on the spell to communicate his army developed. "HAKURYUUU! COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

"Do you think this will work?"

"It has to, we are all trained to respond this kind of call instantly" they waited for a moment.

"I´m here!" a strange bear/eagle/ugly bird zombie arrives in that moment. For a second, everybody was silent again, only for the two older ones to burst into laughter and the third one to get red in the face. "What? You called and…"

"That´s the ugliest thing I´ve ever seen!" Koumei commented between laughter, not caring that some tears appeared in the eyes of the undead soldier. "And I have seen my fair share of ugly things inside of this place! Specially in zombies!"

"Yeah! And we also saw those horrible dark djinns Al Tharmen used to create! Brilliant! You actually surpassed those idiots in making ugly things!"

"Of all the things…"

"Stop laughing! I know I´m horrible, but that didn´t mean you can say it to my face!" he suddenly broke down crying, much like the own Hakuryuu did in the Zagan dungeon. The three of them looked at each other, stopping their laughing fest. Koumei pulled out of his pocket a bag full of salt he managed to take from Usopp. They already saw what the salt did to the other zombies, it would not be hard to force this one to swallow it and finish this nightmare.

"Okay, we…" suddenly the thing jumped into the air, getting away from them.

"If you think I´m going to let you take my soul, you are mistaken! I will fight to my last breath!" Kouen growled, ready to call his djinn and chase that thing when a jump from the giant throw them all to the ground. He started running after the bird, who flew away until he reached a hall with many pillars on it. "Perona-sama! The intruders are here!"

"Perona again" clenched his teeth Hakuryuu. He swung his lance, calling Zagan´s power to cut his path to the ghost lady. "This is starting to get on my nerves."

"I got on my nerves a lot time ago" Kouen took his sword off. It busted in flames the next second. "Look, you over sensitive bird, the only way this could end is with roasted chicken zombie or with you swallowing a bit of salt and passing out calmly."

"I will fight to the end! For Perona-sama!"

"What a nuisance" the three of them positioned themselves in the darkness, all with their metal containers in hand. The zombie tried to attack them from the air, but Koumei sent him towards the Zagan creatures. It miraculously dodged them, only to be caught by a flaming sword through the wing. It made a scandal, screaming and tweeting loudly until Hakuryuu threw the bag of salt inside of it´s mouth. The creature got limp on a second and a black thing emerged from his mouth.

"My shadow!" the raven was happy, finally able to step into the sun and probably go on with his life. And finally he would be rid of Lola, who didn´t gave up the first time he told her that he was already engaged to other person. "Now… how are we going to get out of this place? Apparently we can´t just by boat."

"No, definitely not" Kouen was about to add something more when a voice reached each of them minds. It sounded awfully like…

"NEE-SAN!" the youngest in the room, distressed at the emergency call from his sister. The princess apparently found herself into trouble in her way to Thriller Bark, something to be expected as she decided to travel just with the company of Paimon, who really didn´t count as backup. "We have to save her!"

"But how?" Koumei lifted his fan, hiding his face. "I can´t transport us there if I don´t see or at least knew the place we are going to. And I doubt we can navigate in the middle of this darkness."

"That´s what I´m wondering too" another, much stronger voice surprised them. "It´s me, Kouha. I see you found fucking Hakuryuu… did you need a rescue as your beloved nanny Ei thought you need?"

"Shut up, I don´t have time for you now. My sister is in danger!"

"I already freaking know, you shit! Why the freaking hell do you think I´m flying right there at this moment?! It´s terribly hard to fly in such a place, the climate is doing crazy stuff, like… like… a rain of lightning and snow the size of a freaking horse!" the pink haired prince grunted. "Without Yunan´s and Sir Scheherazade´s borg I would have been struck by a hundredth different things by now!"

"That sounds like that new world place Nami was telling us about when we asked about the map of the world she was making" the freckled man frowned. "It´s not easy to reach that place because of the Marine control in the entrances" he sighed. "The Mugiwaras have been trying to reach that place for as long as they exist like a crew and they just reached the Florian Triangle."

"Dammit… What the situation, Kouha? Is she in much trouble?"

"According to Yunan, who managed to catch a few glimpses at her with a spell, she is" the third prince said. "She managed to land on an island full of marines… Fron I think is called… during the visit of one of the admirals. She is fighting them, but her magoi is banishing as we speak."

"And we are stuck in Paradise" grunted Hakuryuu "Great, what else could get wrong?"

"Stop being sarcastic and think" Kouen already had a plan in his head, but that would mean being dishonourable and stealing from people that helped them. But if it was for family, he wouldn´t even doubt it. "There is not other option. We need to get to the Thousand Sunny and steal it."

"En-nii…"

"I know, but we don´t have other option" he started walking. "And the Mugiwaras can always get another ship. Hell, they can still this castle from Gekko Moriah and continue their voyage with all luxury."

"I´m still against it" the ground trembled again, but they managed to stay on their feet. They walked quickly to the place the colourful ship was anchored and found that someone had the same idea as them before. Perona was there, awake after her shock and very upset, sacking the lion ship. Kouen took out his sword, ready to strike her when she was distracted, but another strange guy with a hat and a bible appeared out of nowhere.

"Dammit" the bear guy didn´t noticed them, but he seemed to be too concentrated in the pink haired girl to pay them some mind. He then asked the ghost woman about Gekko Moriah, the Shichibukai… hum, apparently he was a member of the same organization.

"If you were on a trip, where would you like to go?" he asked. The female was surprised for a moment, as were the Ren siblings. What the hell was he talking about.

"What do you care?!" She attacked the man in that moment, saying that he was powerful and that she was going to give his shadow to Moriah as a gift. With a moment of his bare hand, the girl disappeared. For an instant, Kouen believed that he killed her, but then Koumei put himself on the front.

"She is not dead, she was sent to somewhere. Dantalion told me that" he frowned. "This man´s power is much like mine, except that he can send people to places that he hasn´t seen before"

"Shit, just when we thought that we could leave this island" another tremblor from the giant was sensed. "Let´s go to the others. We have more opportunity with them as backup."

"Yes, En-nii" then they went away.

-Later-

"I guess we are not too late" commented Hakuryuu when he saw the giant Gekko Moriah has become because of his technique, Shadow´s Asgard. The raven looked at the horizon, the sun was rising. He didn´t have to fear anymore, but all the people that helped him during his stay in the damn boat castle… sun was deathly to them.

"Run, Hakuryuu! The sun is rising!" Lola screamed, passing by his side. She was trying to take cover before the rays caught her. The light hit him in that moment, not doing him a thing. "You recovered your shadow! Then save us! And marry me!"

"I already told you I´m promised to someone else" he answered to her, reading his lance. He shot his first batch of creatures at the giant lizard of a man, that distracted him enough for the raven to tie him to the ground with vines. The Mugiwaras came next, even the ones that would perish if the light of day reached them.

"We have to do this quickly and get out of here before the damn bear man caught us" Koumei commented, still don´t moving. The pirates were holding okay on their own, especially because Moriah was a craven and a weakling. Luffy´s punches were being more than effective and when he got into second and third gear was the end. The lizard Shichibukai was defeated and the shadows returned to their owners, saving them from the deathly rays. The sun stopped affecting their friends too. "Luffy looked exhausted"

"He seemed to be" Kouen started to walk towards the crew, trying to warn them about the other Shichibukai, but he appeared in that moment, talking on a snail phone with someone clearly of the marines. "He is in touch with someone in the world government."

"Don´t let him touch you, it´s dangerous!" warned Nami. The Rolling pirates wanted to attack him, ignoring her and Lola´s warnings, but were easily defeated. Zoro then stood in front of him, clearly in the mood to fight. Seeing their attitude and prowess, Kuma complimented them on their talent.

"They shouldn´t be taking any compliment from the enemy" commented Hakuryuu, using his plants again to tie the Shichibukai. This were easily cut, leaving the man free to attack the pirate crew. Koumei got in the middle, returning him his paw things with Dantalion.

"As you see, my powers are quite like yours, which means that I can reject your attacks and sent them back to you" explained the prince. Kouen and him stared at each other for a moment before the older nodding and the younger continuing. "This will get us anywhere, so I propose you a deal."

"Marines said that the destruction of the Strawhat crew is not negotiable" talked the bear man without putting back his gloves on. "I must fulfil my mission."

"I can see that" his tone was toneless, but even like that the redhead could sense the lie in them. He was going to let them escape. In fact, this façade was all made so they can escape and continue their journey. And there was something else, as if Kuma had a soft spot in his hearth for someone, namely Luffy. When had they met before? And why was he so interested in seeing him and his underlings triumph? He wanted to know, but right now Hakuei was a priority. "My deal has nothing to do with them."

"I´m listening"

"I want to be sent somewhere along with Hakuryuu and En-nii, to an island called Fron" this surprised Kuma. That place was a training base for marines, there was no way a pirate wanted to be sent there, but Koumei was so sure. "I can´t do that myself, so… would you be so kind as to send us there?"

"Are you abandoning us now?! You are sly traitors!" screamed Chopper, with tears in his eyes. "Luffy should have left you for his grandfather to…"

"Our sister is in danger! And our brother too!" Kouen finally screamed, effectively shutting up the reindeer. "They are trapped on that island, fighting the marines, and even if they are powerful they can´t keep up with them. They need us."

"We can take you…"

"There is no way we can get to the new world fast enough to help them in a ship, this is the only way" Koumei said, looking at the Shichibukai wearily. "What do you say? You will rid yourself of a few enemies and we get fast to our siblings. Everybody win."

"I will do it" finally conceded the man, lifting a pawed hand.

"There has to be other way…"

"Let them go" Nami suddenly said, crossing her arms. Zoro, who already caught his breath after the short battle, looked at her as if she was crazy. "I owe Hakuei my village´s security, the least I can do for her is letting her brother safe her life."

"Thank you" Hakuryuu politely said, joining his step siblings in front of the bear man. "I will tell aneue-san about you and how you helped us to escape dangerous situations."

"Come on, say goodbye to your captain for us" Kouen pushed him even more to the front. "Oh, and if you find a girl called Ren Kougyoku, tell her we are waiting for her in that Fron island. She is our last lost sister."

"Kougyoku…" but the Rens disappeared before Nami could finish that sentence. And the first thing they felt when they were in the paw thing was that the world was spinning on itself again and again, leaving them dizzy and somewhat nauseated. Then the thing landed on the ground, nearly leaving them unconscious for the impact. Koumei, rubbing his head, lifted himself.

"Well, at least we are no longer in Thriller Bark" commented the redheaded second prince. "Now we only need to find Hakuei and Kouha… if he ever managed to reach here along with the magis" he sighed. "It´s going to be such a reunion."

"Great" Kouen got out of the mark too, along with a still dizzy Hakuryuu. He nearly puked, but managed to still his stomach and stay on his feet. "Where could those two be?"

"There! The intruders went that way!"

"Oh, we found them" they all got into djinn equipment and went in the direction where the voices were coming from. There they found a completely exhausted Hakuei being protected by a nearly out of magoi Kouha, surrounded by armed marines.

"Drop your weapons and surrender!"

"No, you drop your weapons and surrender" they appeared nearly out of nowhere, easily taking care of the marines. Kouen stared at the younger Rens, who just stared back at them.

"What took you so long?" asked Kouha before falling to the ground, completely out of fuel. Kouen caught him and laid the pink haired male on the grass, while Hakuryuu addressed his sister´s injuries. She then stared at the oldest, who stared back.

"Did you find Kougyoku?" she asked, earning a shake from his head. "And Judal?"

"He is with some band, the Shiroiges, but…"

"Wait, the Shirohiges?" she asked in disbelieve and consternation. "What´s he doing there?"

"I don´t think that´s unbelievable coming from a war loving…"

"That´s the thing, there is a war coming and the Shirohiges are participating" she explained. "I heard the rumour in here… they are going to war at Marineford."

Hello! I hope you haven´t waited much. this was a complicated chapter to write, as I didn´t really know how to make the parting escene with the Rens believable in the context of the original One Piece history. Well, hope you liked it! Review!