Shanks' explanation has been fixed. It should make more sense now. Be sure to go reread it
The Keys
"Hm?" Zoro lifted his attention to the east when he heard some distant noise that sounded like a battle. "What's going on over there?"
"A battle, of sorts," Mari replied.
"What?!" Usopp, Nami and Chopper shrieked.
"That shouldn't be much of a surprise considering you all know what's been going on here," Mari said as they lead them through the thick forest. She looked over at Shanks, who nodded to confirm her suspicions. She nodded back.
"So what happened? Zerina said that Angel said you and some other person was dead," Sanji said. He looked at Mari then down at Zerina when she shifted in his hold. Zerina had her eyes closed, but when she heard Sanji asked about Mari and Jon, she opened her eyes and glanced at the woman.
"She only said that because she w-i-s-h-e-d we were dead," Mari replied. She ducked under a low hanging branch and paused. When everyone had ducked under the branch, she turned to a small hillside that was to her left. She muttered something under her breath. The Straw Hats gasped when a small section of the hillside started to glow. It opened up, revealing a door. She slipped inside and waved for them to follow.
Shanks was the first to enter. The rest exchanged looks before Sanji entered soon followed by the rest. They remained quiet as Mari led them through a tight, lightly light tunnel, Franky had to walk sideways to fit through. It was lit with strange glowing orbs that seem to hang in the air on their own power. The Straw Hats looked around curiously, occasionally looking back at their quiet captain. Luffy's eyes were still covered with shadows. They flinched and look away, all wondering when he was going to finally explode.
A few minutes later the tunnel ended and they entered into a very large cavern. Most of the Straw Hats gasped again when they saw the cavern they were now standing in. It had several beds, chairs, tables and games scattered about the large floor. A ton of people were sitting around, chatting and having fun, seemingly oblivious to the dangers going on outside.
"Welcome to the resistance head quarters," Mari said.
"There's a battle outside and everyone's in here having fun?!" Usopp shrieked.
"Well, no one here has ever fought a battle before," Mari replied. She gestured to one of the beds. Sanji laid Zerina on the bed and stepped back. "You sit on the bed, young man."
"Uh?" Sanji blinked confused.
"Just sit and hold your hands out, palm up," Mari instructed. Sanji nodded and sat down then held up his hands. She ran her eyes over him and Zerina before mumbling something under her breath. The Straw Hats gasped when the woman started to glow. The glow extended over Sanji's hands and Zerina's body. Sanji's eyes widened when his damaged hands started to heal right before his eyes. A minute later, the glow faded. "There you go. All fix up now."
"Huh?" Sanji flexed his fingers out then curled them into his palms. "This is incredible! They're completely healed!"
"Wishes are good with that." Mari nodded.
"I'm healed?" Zerina asked. She sat up and looked down at her body. All of her pain was gone. She was looking at her wrist when Mari mumbled under her breath again. The cast on Zerina's arm cracked then fell off her wrist. "It's not broken anymore."
"That's right." Mari nodded. "I fix-"
"Mari!" Zerina launched herself off the bed. She wrapped her arms around the older woman's neck and cried. "I was so worried! What happened to you?! Where's Jon?!"
"I'm right here," Jon then said. The group turned to the new person a second before Zerina grabbed him and pulled him into their hug.
"You stupid idiots! I was so worried about you!" Zerina cried as she held on to them both. "What happened?! I thought you were dead!"
"Let's sit down," Mari suggest, turning a bit blue in the cheeks. Zerina, reluctantly, released them. The woman then led them all over to a sitting area. They sat down and waited for the answer. Zerina, feeling so happy her friends were alive, sat between Mari and Jon. Luffy sat directly across from her, though no one knew if he did it on purpose or not. Shanks sat on Luffy's left side while Robin sat on his right. Usopp, Frank and Chopper sat on the floor. Nami and Zoro each sat in two chairs that were near by while Sanji remained standing. Zerina glanced at Luffy before pulling her eyes away from him. Her heart raced with the thoughts of what he was possible thinking and what he was going to say to her once he started speaking again. Mari and Jon exchanged a nod before the woman started speaking. "Well, Angel did want to kill us when she figured out you were no longer on Hydra. After you left, we made a wish for a replacement you. We disguised another member or our resistance that's your age and about your height and weight. She took your place once you were gone."
"What?! But that's crazy! No one should have taken my place! Angel would have-" Zerina started.
"Angel didn't notice for over a year," Jon said, cutting Zerina off. "She was so happy about your engagement to Taru she hardly even looked at you for an entire year."
Luffy growled at the mention of the engagement and Taru. Everyone, but Shanks, flinched at the dangerous aura the young pirate captain was putting off. Zerina looked at him, but quickly looked away. She swallowed. Her throat was dry but she couldn't bring herself to ask for a drink. She turned her eyes back to Mari and asked, "So what happened? Was the wish really that good to hide the fact it wasn't me?"
"It was." Mari nodded.
"Luckily," Jon added, "for us your replacement was blind to the true about Taru. She was head over heels for the man for a while. Then she realized how dangerous he really was."
"So she was happy about being me?!" Zerina asked in disbelief.
"Yeah." Jon nodded. "She played the part well. Too well, if you ask me. But it worked so I'm not complaining about it."
"So what happened?" Zerina asked.
"Angel planned your wedding," Mari replied, causing Luffy to growl again. Everyone, but for Shanks, started to inch away from the enraged captain. "But, unfortunately, the magic of our wish wore off before we thought it would and we were busted."
Zerina's face grew pale. She grabbed Mari and Jon's hands.
"Don't worry. We were prepared enough to handle that," Mari said, patting Zerina's hand. "See, a lot of people are tired of living under Angel. We've been setting up this revolt for several years. Pretty much when we learned of your existence."
"So you knew about Zerina?" Nami asked. "Before she came to live on Hydra?"
"We did." Jon nodded. "We were friends with Zerina's mother. She told us of her plans. While she was working on the baby thing, we were up here working things out on this end."
"So you've been planning this revolt for longer than Zerina's been alive?" Sanji asked.
"Yup." Jon nodded. "We had to move slow. We had to make sure that those we talked to weren't allied with Angel."
"And the battle outside?" Zoro asked. "Before you said no one here knew how to fight. What did you mean by that?"
"People here rely completely on their magic," Jon replied. Mari nodded in agreement. "There's never been an actual fight with fists, swords, guns or whatever, on this island. The people here only use their magic. And since the elite always had the most magic, they've ruled over us."
"So how have you been able to hold them off?" Brook asked.
"We set up dummy bases all over Hydra and leaked false information about where we've been hiding," Mari said. "There's no way we can directly fight them despite there only being about three thousand elites out there trying to find us. Most people here are cowards once the people they bullied have stood up to them. They're currently in hiding. They fear what Zerina can do."
"Which brings us back to the real problem," Nami said. She took a cautious look at Luffy. "We need to get the Starlings freed, but…"
Everyone's eyes shot to Zerina. She asked, "What?"
"Zerina, it's time for you and Luffy to do what you were destined to do," Shanks said. Zerina raised an eyebrow at him. He stood up and stepped over to her. He kneeled down and placed his hand on her knee. "Baby, I know you've noticed gaps in your memory. And there's a reason for that. I can't flat out tell you why that's happened. You have to find that out for yourself. And Luffy is the only one who can help you do that. You have to remember what happened when you first met him."
"When we first met?" Zerina asked. She started to gnaw on her bottom lip and think about the gaps in her memory. "But…I thought the only gap was when I came to see you."
"It's a bit complicated to explain. There's hardly ever clear answers when dealing with magic," Mari said.
Shanks glanced at her then back at Zerina. He said, "It's time to end this nightmare. It's time for you to be free. I couldn't do anything to save your mother. I wasn't strong enough then. And I'm still not strong enough now to save you."
"Daddy…" Zerina's eyes filled with tears. She placed both her hands over his. "Please don't. You are strong. You wouldn't be an emperor if you weren't."
"I'm strong in that world. I'm not strong in the world of magic," Shanks corrected her. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at Luffy. "But he is. He can protect you. He can help you."
"Help me? That's what that voice keeps saying," Zerina mumbled. She dropped her eyes to their connected hands.
"And it's time you started listening to it," Shanks said. He squeezed her knee before leaning in towards her. He whispered, "There's nothing wrong for admitting weakness and asking for help. Just ask him."
"But I…I don't know how," Zerina replied.
"That's stupid!" Luffy suddenly yelled, making everyone flinch. He jumped to his feet. The shadows remained over his eyes for two seconds before he revealed his angry eyes to Zerina, causing her to flinch. "What do you mean 'You don't know how'?! All you have to do is say, 'Luffy! I need your help! Help me!' Or anything else like that! How is that hard?! Now say it! I want to hear you say it! Ask for my help!"
Zerina gritted her teeth as Shanks moved away from her. She clenched her hands over her legs, barely noticing she didn't have her shirt and pants anymore. Her shoulders slumped. Her hair fell over her eyes. She was scared. She wanted to ask him to help her, but she just couldn't get the words out. She was far to scared of losing him.
The rest of the Straw Hats remained quiet as they watched the display. They all knew this had to play out on it's own. Jon, however, started to stand up. He said, "Hey, hey! There's not need to-"
Shanks held out his hand to stop the man. When he made eye contact with Jon, he shook his head. Jon frowned, but sat back down.
"Why won't you ask me to help you?!" Luffy demanded. "Do you think that I won't do it?!"
"No," Zerina squeaked. "I know you will."
"Then why?! Why won't you just ask it?!" Luffy screamed.
"Because I was scared! I am scared!" Zerina shouted back. She shot her tear filled eyes up to Luffy before jumping to her feet. She glared right at him, her tears streaming down her cheeks. "I know how you are! If I had told you about everything that I have been going through here, you would have ran off and tried to fight all these people on your own!"
"Of course I would have! And so what?! I'll do anything to protect you!" Luffy snapped.
"You're an idiot! Why don't you think for once?! I couldn't tell you because I love you! You mean the world to me! You saved me already! You kept me from going insane! Besides that, how do you think that you would have been able to beat the elite here?!" Zerina demanded. "You can't fight someone who can destroy you with a wish! With words!"
"I don't care! I would have figured out a way to fight them anyway! You're my girlfriend, Zerina! I'm supposed to protect you!"
"Ah! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Zerina shouted. She covered her ears with her hands. "Stop calling me your girlfriend! I don't want to hear that anymore! I'm not! Do you even know what that word means?! What all that entails?!"
"What are you talking about?" Luffy asked. Over half of his fervor disappeared. He tilted his head and took her in. "Of course I know what it means."
"Don't try to humor me!" Zerina snapped, lowering her hands. "You don't have any idea! You have no clue that a girlfriend is a-"
"A regular companion which a man, as in me, has romantic or sexual relationship with," Luffy said, cutting her off. "And that would be you. You're my girlfriend. You always have been."
Zerina blinked. Her eyes locked onto Luffy's. He was serious. He was sincere. She was confused. Her head tilted to the left. She said, "Huh?"
The Straw Hats looked at their captain. They were confused as well. Their heads tilted. They said, "Huh?"
"What are you saying?!" Nami, Chopper and Usopp demanded after a few seconds of silence. They grabbed onto his cheeks and pulled them. "Are you saying that this whole entire time you knew what a girlfriend was?!"
"-uh? Wh-t ar- yoush all –alkin- a-out?" Luffy asked through his stretched out cheeks. "O- cour-e I now –aht a irl-riend is!"
"And you let Zerina think this whole entire time that you didn't?!" Sanji screamed. His sharp teeth gnashed together as he yelled. He dropped his foot on top of his captain's head, causing the captain's body to sink to the floor then snap back up. "What's the matter with you?!"
"-ill ou et go o- my f-ce?" Luffy asked.
"Fine! But don't be so stupid!" Usopp, Nami and Chopper shouted before releasing their hold on the young captain.
"Ouch!" Luffy while when his face snapped back into place. He rubbed his red cheeks. "Did you really have to do that?!"
"Of course we did!" Usopp and Chopper yelled.
"Why didn't you say something about this before?!" Nami demanded.
"Why don't you all stop yelling and give him an actual chance to answer the question?" Zoro said. "He can't speak well with you all pulling on his face and yelling at him like that."
"I'm curious as well," Robin said as calm as ever.
"Luffy just seemed so oblivious as always," Franky said.
"I wonder why he didn't speak up," Brook added. "Please, let him speak."
"Luffy?" Zerina asked. Everyone turned their attention back to her. Her eyebrows were turned up in confusion. "Do you…this whole time? You actually knew what a girlfriend was?"
"I did," Luffy replied with a nod.
"But you never said anything. And I kept telling everyone you didn't know what that meant," Zerina said. She rubbed her fingers over her forehead. "I feel so confused. You mean, literally, this entire time?"
"I knew!" Luffy nodded with a huge grin.
"Then why didn't you say so?!" Zerina demanded. "Why let me keep telling people you didn't know what that meant?!"
"Because I thought you looked so cute," Luffy replied. His eyes took on a mischievous smile.
Zerina's jaw dropped. She stared in disbelief at the man before her. Her face flushed as her mind reminded her about the times that Luffy kissed her. He was completely aware of what he was doing the entire time. She was the one who was being naïve. She was the one who didn't know what was going on. She had no clue. She didn't know anything.
She let her bangs fall over her eyes. Without warning, she reached up and slapped him. The slap resonated through the cavern. It made everyone stop and look at the pirates. The Straw Hats gasped. Mari and Jon blinked. Shanks smiled.
Zerina gritted her teeth. Fresh tears dripped down her cheeks as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She said, "Lalu…please…help me."
Luffy turned his head back in the correct position. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close to his body. He said, "Of course I will."
The Straw Hats smile.
"About time," Shanks said.
"So you knew despite her living here on Hydra?" Mari asked.
"Of course I did," Shanks replied with a nod. He then held a grumpy expression on his face. "Despite it being Luffy, I'm still upset that my baby has a boyfriend! She's far too young for all of that!"
Luffy held her close until her crying started to fade away. He then pushed her away from him just enough to press his lips to hers. Her cheeks flushed, but she kissed him back. She ran her fingers through his hair, pushing off his straw hat, and pulled him closer to her.
The more loud Straw Hats couldn't help but cheer. Usopp said, "Woohoo! Yeah!"
"Super cute!" Franky said.
"That's so sweet!" Chopper said.
Jon, rolling his eyes, said, "All right, all right! There will be plenty of time for that later. Right now, we've got far more important things to worry about."
Luffy pulled away from Zerina and chuckled. He said, "Sorry, sorry. Let's get to work then."
"Yeah, sorry." Zerina chuckled nervousily.
"All right," Jon said. "First thing we need to do is-"
"Get Zerina some clothes!" Luffy announced. Zerina looked down at herself and blinked as he wrapped himself around her body a couple of times. She had forgotten she was in nothing but her underwear and bra. He glared at his male crew subordinates. "I won't have you perverts looking at her like this any longer."
"We're not looking at her like that!" Usopp shouted.
"Don't call me a pervert!" Zoro snapped. The two started beating Luffy up.
Zerina shook her head at the display the pirates put on before her. She said, "I don't think I'll ever get use to them."
"Well, he is right. You should get dress," Mari said, standing up. She took a hold of Zerina's arm and led her away from the group.
"Don't take too long, Rina!" Luffy called out.
Zerina waved to him from over her shoulder. She gave him a sympathetic look when she saw his sad, puppy dog expression from her being separated from him. She sighed. "He's such a silly guy. I'm only going to be gone for a few minutes."
"He's love-struck," Mari said. "I think it helped that you two finally got your feelings out in the opening. It was sweet."
"I can't believe he knew this entire time," Zerina said with another sigh, a slightly aggravated one. "And I can't believe I never noticed."
"It doesn't matter now," Mari said with a chuckle. She led Zerina over to a smaller cavern that was connected to the larger one. Inside were a couple of suitcases. "I snuck out some of your clothes while you were gone."
"This is insane," Zerina said. She knelt down to the one of the suitcases and opened it. She filtered through it until she found a black tank top and matching cargo pants. While she pulled them on, Mari grabbed a pair of boots for her. She sat down on the suitcase and pulled the shoes on.
"I suppose it is," Mari said. She looked up at the ceiling of the cavern. "It's kind of odd that we're in the middle of a war. It really doesn't feel like it."
"Hm," Zerina hummed. "I feel like I've been in a war for my entire life. I just w-i-s-h I knew what the heck I was suppose to do now."
"You're going to save us," Mari said. She looked at Zerina.
"I don't know how," Zerina whispered.
"It's time you figured that out," Mari replied. "If you are done dressing and moping about, you have an entire army of your own who's ready to help you take that witch out. Are you ready?"
Zerina took in a deep breath. Her mind filled with all the things that has happened these past two years. It felt impossible that it was coming to an end. Was it possible? Was she actually going to be free? She released her breath. "Let's get this over with."
"Right!" Mari nodded. She led the way back to the pirates.
Zerina sat down. Luffy immediately plopped down beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders while rubbing his cheek against hers. She chuckled before looking over the rest of the pirates. Her eyes came to rest on Shanks. He said, "It's time. Let's get to work."
"Right." Zerina nodded. Shanks then filled her in on what he had told the Straw Hats before they came here. "Are you serious? The answer to all of this is in the song that mother taught me? That's why you said it was so important."
"That's correct." Shanks nodded.
"That doesn't seem like much help," Zerina muttered. "How is it possible a song can be the key to leading me and Luffy to freeing the Starlings?"
"The answer is there," Shanks said. "You just have to find it."
"But how can I find it when I don't have all my memories?" Zerina asked. "I don't…didn't even notice I was missing so many. I can't even tell what I'm missing. Ugh! This whole magic thing doesn't make sense. I still feel like the only memory that's missing is from the time I spent on your ship."
"And you're not alone," Robin said.
"We're here to help you," Sanji added.
"Let's see what we can figure out," Usopp said. He looked at Zerina. "Would you mind singing the song for us?"
"Well, I, uh," Zerina mutter. She's never sung that song in front of so many people. Usually, it was just in front of Luffy or by herself. She never was the shy type, but suddenly, that's all she felt like she was.
"Go on, Rina!" Luffy cheered. "You've a beautiful voice! Let's hear it!"
Zerina turned her eyes to him. She took in his confident, childlike smile before letting her eyes drift up to the eight-pointed star that was still on his forehead. She sighed. She wanted to deny it, but knew it wasn't possible. He wouldn't let her if she tried. So she took a deep breath and let it out. She started to sing.
"Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu
Oh, my little star keeper
He'll gather up the stardust for you
Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu
Little soft wish maker
Here comes the star key for you
Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu
Little sweet star sprites are dancing just for you
So trust in him, let him help
Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu
And his love be your keeper
Oh La Lalu, La Lalu, La Lalu"
It was awkward and shy at first, but once she got through the first half of the song, Brook pulled out his violin. She smiled at him, a simple thanks for the assistance, and raised her voice.
Everyone in the cavern stopped what they were doing. They gathered around her and listened to her song. She blocked them out. Pretending they weren't there, she closed her eyes and sang through the song once more before easing into a stop. The gathered crowd clapped. Zerina's cheeks flushed a bright red. She waved and politely thanked them. "Thank you all."
She was grateful when they all wondered off instead of staying around. She slumped into Luffy's hold then looked around at the crew. All of their eyes were widened. They were impressed.
"You have a very lovely voice," Nami said after five minutes, solid, of silence.
"Thanks, but it's nothing special," Zerina replied. She twitched and scratched her ear.
"Don't be so humble," Brook said. Zerina looked up at him when he bent over in front of her. "With some more practice, you could be world famous. I could assist you with that if you like."
"Oh no, no, no!" Zerina waved her hands. "I don't want to be a singer! I just like singing occasionally! I really only know that one song so well because I've sung it for so long!"
"It's settled then!" Luffy announced.
"What's settled?" Zerina asked, wiping her eyes to him.
"You're the Straw Hat crew's official singer!" Luffy shouted.
"That's not even a real position on a pirate crew!" Zerina snapped, half-heartedly. She pinched his cheek. "Will you stop making things up?"
"It is too real! Brook's our musician after all! You're co-captain and our singer!" Luffy huffed. "And that's final!"
"Don't fight it, Zer," Zoro said. Zerina snapped her eyes over to him. "You know how he is. He got you to be co-captain after all."
Zerina growled and glared at the swordsman. He was the last she expected to agree with Luffy so easily. She released Luffy's cheek and said, "Fine! I'll be the Straw Hat crew's co-captain and singer! But I do not want to be world famous!"
"Well, tough! I'm going to be King of the Pirates!" Luffy said. He pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. "That automatically makes you my Pirate Queen!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Zerina rolled her eyes. "You gonna become king first, Mr. I'm in a Hurry to Become Pirate King!"
"If you two are done flirting," Jon then said. The two teens looked at the man. He had his arms crossed and a highly annoyed look on his face.
"Sorry," Luffy and Zerina said.
"Let's get started then," Franky said. "Has anyone figured out anything yet?"
"Nope," Usopp said.
"No idea," Chopper added.
"I don't think we're going to figure anything out without the complete memories of Zerina," Robin said.
All eyes turned to the pair. Luffy and Zerina looked at everyone before looking at each other. Luffy tilted his head. He said, "I don't know. What could we possibly be missing in our memories?"
"What do you mean by that, Luffy?" Usopp asked.
"What do you mean?" Luffy asked.
"You said 'in our memories'," Usopp replied. "But Shanks said only Zerina was missing memories."
"I dunno," Luffy said with a shrug.
"Then stop saying things like that!" Usopp shouted.
"Wait," Sanji said. They all looked at him. He then looked at Shanks. "Luffy might actually be on to something. Tell me what all you told the crew again."
Shanks nodded then proceeded to the cook what all he told the Straw Hat crew back on the Sunny once more.
"I see," Sanji said. He puffed on his cigarette.
"What is it, Sanji?" Chopper asked.
"Zerina?" Sanji turned to the red haired girl.
"Yes?" Zerina returned his look. "What is it?"
"Why do you call Luffy Lalu?" Sanji asked.
"Well, because I…" Zerina paused. With her eyebrows kneaded, she looked at Luffy then back at Sanji. "I don't know. I just always called him that."
"What's up, Sanji?" Nami asked.
"Zerina calls Luffy Lalu," Sanji said. "Don't you remember the song?"
"Lalu is in the lyrics," Brook said. Sanji nodded.
Zerina started speaking the words to the song again.
"Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu
Oh, my little star keeper
He'll gather up the stardust for you
Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu
Little soft wish maker
Here comes the star key for you
Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu
Little sweet star sprites are dancing just for you
So trust in him, let him help
Oh La Lalu, Oh La Lalu
And his love be your keeper
Oh La Lalu, La Lalu, La Lalu"
She tapped her fingers on her knees. "Lalu…star keeper…gather up the stardust…little soft wish maker…here comes the…star key for you!"
Zerina whipped her eyes to the star on Luffy's forehead. She placed her index and middle finger of her right hand on the star. Before anyone else could say anything, she said, "I wish to be taken to the Starlings!"
"Ah!" The Straw Hats, but Robin, screamed. "She made a wish!"
"Why would she do that knowing what happens?!" Usopp shrieked. Tears were pouring down his eyes like waterfalls.
"Zerina! What were you thinking?!" Mari and Jon demanded. They're eyes were widened with fear.
Shanks just smiled as Luffy and Zerina started to glow white. He closed his eyes and dipped his chin when, with a flash of light, the two disappeared from sight. He said, "So she finally figured it out. That didn't take as long as I thought it would."
Once the light vanished, the Straw Hats looked around. Chopper asked, "Where did they go?!"
"Is she crazy?!" Nami demanded. She whipped out her staff. "Why would she make a wish like that when she knows what happens when wishes are made on her?!"
"What happened?!" Usopp pulled out his slingshot. He loaded it and aimed it everywhere in the cavern. "Where is it?! Where's the danger?! What did the wish create this time?!"
"I don't see anything!" Franky said. His eyes darted around the cave. "Didn't she make a wish? She did, right? Or were we all hearing things?"
"She made a wish, all right," Shanks said. "And it was the right wish."
"Okay, what's going on?" Zoro asked.
"Zerina and Luffy went to retrieve the Starlings," Shanks replied. "They both were the key this entire time. See, when Zerina and Luffy met for the first time, she gave him half of her magic. Therefore, she gave him half of the key that would lead her to the Starlings."
"She did that on purpose? Why?" Nami asked.
"No, it wasn't on purpose," Shanks said. "We, Zerina's mother and I, don't know why she did it. As said before, magic often never has completely clear answers. We believe that this is one of those times. Zerina's mother suspected it had something to do with Zerina's instability. She thinks that Luffy was meant to be that stabilizing force that Zerina needed to complete this mission. She also thinks this separation caused Zerina to forget some things."
"So what was that star gem thing?" Chopper asked.
"That was created when Zerina gave half of her magic to Luffy. It helped Zerina sleep and become stable at certain times. This happen more often when she was a child. And it's only happened once since she's been with you Straw Hats," Shanks said. "But that's all I know. I believe if we are to get anymore answers, we're just going to have to wait for Zerina and Luffy to come back with the Starlings. This is originally their magic after all."
"So what do we do now?" Zoro asked.
"We wait for them to come back with the Starlings," Shanks replied. "That's all we can do."
"Well, so far, this is the easiest battle we've ever been in," Usopp said as he kicked back on the couch and crossed his legs. Just then, everything started shaking. Pieces of the cavern started to fall in on them.
"You just had to open your big, fat mouth!" Sanji snapped as he kicked away a large piece of rock that was about to fall onto some kids.
"What's happening?" Robin asked. She crossed her arms. Forming her giant arms to grab some falling rocks. "Mil Fleur! Gigantesco Mano!"
"Weapon's Left!" Franky cried.
"Ah!" Brook screamed when a large rock about landed on him. "We're going to get buried alive here! Or crushed to death! Well, not me since I'm already dead!"
"Angel might be up there," Mira said. "It feels like she's shaking this whole entire island to find us."
"Can she do that?!" Usopp shrieked.
"Well, they do make wishes," Zoro said calmly while slicing up some falling rocks.
"We're going to be in serious trouble if they break into this place," Mari said. She looked at the other inhabitants of Hydra. Some were running around, trying to escape from the falling rocks while others were making wishes to remove the rocks or change them into something less heavy and harmful. "We're not strong enough to fight directly with the elite. And I doubt you pirates have anything in your fighting styles to handle them."
"Ah! So what do we do?!" Chopper asked. "We literally can't fight them then!"
"I think that's already been established!" Zoro snapped.
"Ah! Luffy! Zerina! Hurry up!" Usopp wailed. "I don't want to die here!"
…
Author Notes: I hope this chapter is okay. I still feel like it's a bit confusing. The Starlings explanation next chapter might fix that.
grace-adalyn: Thanks. I'm glad you like it. Though it's not the best. I didn't realize making a story about wishes like this would turn out to be so hard to write.
Hikari302: Thanks. Glad ya like it.
Rodinaashraf: I'm trying to get it all cleared up. I meant to answer the question to why she couldn't be killed in the last chapter, but forgot it. Hopefully it's cleared up now that I fixed Shanks' explanation.