Chapter 10

The Harrowing

The Straw-hat Pirates, minus their navigator, were all out on the dock. It was time to raze Thriller Bark! Find their friends, find their shadows, and take down the Moria Pirates!"

"You know… We might have some problems finding the zombies that have our shadows," said Zoro.

They had a lot of ground to cover, and only five of their targets were among the living. Not counting the countless zombies, Moria's crew was small but deadly. An invisible man that effectively held their nakama hostage, a lady that controlled this world's equivalent to despair demons, a world famous surgeon, and the shadow-man himself, Gecko Moria!

"Yeah. And Luffy's zombie is huge!" Chopper stressed, "It's at least twice the size of normal giants! I don't even think you guys can beat it!" According to Chopper, Moria had been waiting a long time to revive this ancient monster of his. The warlord had been waiting out for a strong enough shadow to enter his trap, and Luffy apparently fit the bill. Now Luffy had a horned giant double running around somewhere.

"…We don't have to look for our zombies," said Luffy. "—Even though I want to see mine."

Zoro turned around and looked at Luffy, "What are you talking about? We can't step into the sun like this." They would die at the first rays of sunlight.

"Yeah, but… Didn't that zombie guy said that if we beat Gecko Moria, we'll all get our shadows back?"

The whole crew froze for a moment.

"…He did say that…" Sanji reluctantly admitted. Spoil had mentioned that he and the other victims of Moria would get their shadows back if Moria was defeated. This logic inadvertently applied to themselves now, since he, Luffy, and the moss-head had lost their shadows. "Talk about hitting the nail on the head…"

"And Moria's just up those stairs, right?" Luffy pointed at the grand staircase they had just gone down.

"Ack! He's right again!" exclaimed Usopp. Moria was last seen in the giant freezer that contained Oars. The top floor was apparently a ballroom, and lead directly to the freezer. They had a direct path from the docks to the freezer!

"Yeah! So, I'm gonna go kick Moria's butt, and we'll all get our shadows back." Luffy then looked over at his ship cook, "Sanji, you go save Nami!"

"HELL YEAH!" Sanji combusted into another cloak of flames, "I'LL KICK HIS INVISIBLE BUTT TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS FOG! YOU'RE NOT GETTING MARRIED TODAY, YOU BASTARD!"

"Oh yeah, I didn't mention this earlier in our conversation, but that invisible guy took a long look at Nami while she was taking a shower."

"WHAT. DID. YOU. SAY!?"

Sanji's face contorted with rage, his skin a furious red, and the flames exploded into a fever pitch! "THAT %#- $+&=*/ %$-&+ !—"

Both Usopp and Zoro watched awkwardly as their curly-browed chef became an inferno of outrageous proportions. "Don't excite him anymore than you have. He might just turn into something..."

Usopp shook his head, "I'm going with Sanji. Nami was taken before my eyes, so I feel responsible for it… Plus, I don't want to meet that Warlord again!" He'd feel safer going with one of the Monster Trio, regardless of their state of mind.

"I'm worried about Brook, so I'm gonna go there!" said Franky. Brook was likely somewhere close to where they had left him. In a tower, close to the corner of the mansion. He had to have fallen from somewhere nearby. "If Luffy beats Moria first, then that's that. But it'd be pretty ironic if he died to his own shadow before then."

Zoro nodded his head, "I'll go with you, Franky. I want to meet this legendary samurai's zombie." Usopp and Chopper mentioned that the zombie hosting Brook's shadow was in fact a samurai warrior. It wore sandals, a kimono, and even had a dark looking katana. However that zombie had used Brook's laugh, and Brook was probably confronting it even now.

"Nami and the skeleton," Robin nodded, "Those two are our immediate problems. And then the key to winning this is to beat Moria."

"Hold on. What about Hogback and Perona?" asked Maxwell. "Hogback doesn't seem to have any combative capabilities, but is Perona is most certainly a threat."

"Would you prefer to be the one who faces her?" Robin looked over at their mage. "You did prove you could protect yourself from the ghosts."

Maxwell thought about it for a moment, "Maybe…" This may actually turn into the first one-on-one fight he'd had since… The East Blue. Now that felt like a long time ago! But they still had the problem of the ghosts to deal with…

Maxwell then had an idea. "Salem."

The grimoire's mirrored plaque lit up, "Yes, Maxwell?"

Maxwell took the book off the hook on his belt, "I want you to go with Luffy and Usopp's group. You can actually cast Barrier on the others, should you encounter any spirits." The familiars had proven to maintain spells outside of his vicinity before. Mordred, Mineive, and Salem were once used as torches back when they had to find a Southbird on Jaya, in the middle of the night. And Salem was particularly adept with the Spirit school of magic.

"Understood."

Maxwell held the book out, "Robin, would you mind if—"

"I'LL TAKE IT!" Usopp grabbed the grimoire out of the mage's hand, "Thanks Max! I'll make sure we'll put Salem to good use!"

Neither Max nor the demon looked impressed.

"…Just make sure to aim my cover," Salem's glowing eye retreated from his anchor.

"You guys are talking about this like it's really easy. But we're talking about on of the Seven Warlords here!" Chopper pointed out.

"It's fine," Luffy brushed him off, "He's basically the same as Crocodile, right?"

"AND YOU ALMOST DIED!" Chopper reminded him. Luffy had to use his own blood to defeat Crocodile, and he was left unconscious for three days afterwards. "Can you at least take better care of yourself here!? And… we've said this a lot, but your zombie is HUGE!"

"I get it, I get it…"

Usopp then took something out of his bag, and starting passing around satchels, "Alright! Everyone take a bag!"

"Huh?" Luffy looked at the parcel in his hand. Every adult had caught one while Chopper had to run to catch his.

"It's my new invention, the Raise-The-Zombies-Up-To-Heaven Salt Balls!" Maxwell took one out to look at Usopp's concoction. There was nothing complicated about it. It was simply salt crystals rolled into a granulated hardened paste, with the consistency of chalk.

"Ah… So this was what you were making earlier." Zoro had noticed Usopp working at hid workbench earlier, during Maxwell's explanation of Laboon. "Cool."

And since Usopp had their attention, he waved his finger at the others, "I'm telling you this now, since you people have no sense of danger!" Maxwell was mildly offended at that comment. "This place is surrounded by deep fog, but there is no guarantee that the sunlight won't shine through! It's only safe because it's the middle of the night right now, so think of dawn as our time limit!"

"You're right," Luffy caught his own fist. "It'd suck if I couldn't not eating anything beyond dawn, but let's go make Moria regret ever picking a fight with us! We'll get twice our food back before dawn!"

"You mean get our shadows back before dawn," Usopp corrected him.

Luffy didn't care, "Let's go!"

"YEAH!" "I'M COMING NAMI!"

"…Dah! Wait for me!" an exasperated Usopp followed after them.

O O O

From there, their crew had split into two groups. Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, and Robin had headed up the stairs up to where Moria was last seen. Luffy would fight him, while Usopp, Sanji, Robin, and Chopper would explore the castle from the top down. Meanwhile, Zoro, Franky, and Maxwell went along the parapet bridge, halfway up the stairway. They were heading towards the broken bridge, where they had last left Telleran's corpse. It's wasn't to far from Perona's Wonder Garden, so they at least had an idea where to look.

Zoro and Franky blitzed through zombies like bowling pins. The zombies had clearly known they were coming, meeting them on the castle walls, but that didn't seem to matter. Zoro brushed them aside like waves in a swimming pool, katanas slashing. Franky created mayhem just by firing across the bridge, creating bullet holes and explosions in his wake. Maxwell didn't even need to do anything. He just just flicked a small ball of salt into the mouth of any zombie left that came close.

This only increased the zombies' hesitance to fight them, Maxwell noticed. The zombies knew that the Straw-Hats had found their weakness, and like any sentient beings, they were scared of the end to their own existence. A fact Luffy and Sanji seemed to be taking advantage of up above, based on the number of zombies raining down from the bridge.

"To think I actually got taken by these weaklings. It's sickening…!" Zoro scowled.

"And I rescued you," Franky smirked. "So if you want, you can call me aniki as thanks."

"HELL NO!" Zoro barked back. There was no way Zoro was going to let himself call Franky big bro in any language.

"I seem to remember you failing to wake them up, Franky. You sure you weren't the one who needed rescuing? I still seem remember a certain spider you had your back too!" Maxwell teased the cyborg.

"Screw you, Longbeard!" Franky barked back, "Like I need your arachnophobic ass to tell me who needed rescuing!"

Maxwell rolled his eyes, "At least I got out of that web!"

"Wait. You're scared of spiders, Max?" Zoro asked the mage.

"HA!" "Oh real mature, Franky!"

CRASH!

"WHOA!" Franky, Maxwell, and Zoro skidded to a halt as something huge came crashing down above them. Large chunks of stone and zombies feel down all around them, and they had to cover their eyes from the dust cloud that followed. Thankfully, none of the debris landed on them!

There was something odd though…

"Hello again," Maxwell looked down at his grimoire staring back at him. Sanji and Usopp were stuck in the floor of the bridge, with their legs growing out of the cobblestone like a pair of potted plants. Salem was still on Usopp's waist, but the book seemed untarnished.

"…Well, so much for that idea." Luffy and the others will have to make do on their own.

"Usopp? Sanji? You still alive?" They must have fell down when something destroyed the bridge. Maxwell certainly knew he wouldn't survive a fall like that.

They seemed to groan their assent, and their legs started moving. Maxwell collected his foci and then start pulling on Usopp's legs, knowing he was the weaker of the two.

"They'll be fine Max… But what the hell is this?" Zoro crossed his arms looking at what had formally been the bridge.

Franky ran a comb through his cyan pompadour hair, "We're at a dead end… What is this wall doing here?" The bridge was now blocked by a pale red solid mass that was in their way.

Sanji and Usopp were finally able to get out of the floor. "—What happened..!?" "Ow… What was that…!?"

Zoro decided to try stabbing at the wall, and his blade sunk in, "…It's not stone." The wall almost felt leathery.

"WEAPONS LEFT!" Franky tried firing a cannonball at it, but it barely did anything to the red wall.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!?" Usopp yelled at them in alarm.

Zoro looked back at the sniper, "What? There's this wall in our—"

"THAT'S NOT A WALL!" Usopp interrupted, "THAT'S LUFFY'S ZOMBIE!"

"WHAT!?"

The five of them looked up in mounting terror as the red mass began to turn, revealing a devilish face. It had the upturned horns of a bull, accompanied by tusks with a sharp row of bottom teeth. It's face was gaunt and withered, stretched like a naked mummy with no nose or lips to speak of. And it's hair was a mane of long tarnished gold. Surgery scars, and wrapped bandage indicated it was a zombie, but this one was like nothing they had seen before! "Maker help us…!"

"What is he!? Some sort of demon lord!? I've never seen a giant this big!" Even high on this bridge, Oars towered over them like they were all the size of mice compared to him. "That's a zombie!?"

"That's…" "Luffy's—" "WE'RE DONE FOR! HE'S COME TO KILL US ALL!"

Oar's massive arms moved above them, and the crew braced for a fight. However, the giant's hands moved right pass them and picked up a massive peace of rubble. Oar lifted the stone above his head— "UWAAAAH! HE'S GONNA CRUSH US—!" And placed it on his head.

"Oh… Now I feel the part!" Maxwell blinked, realizing the zombie was wearing that piece of rubble like a tricorn hat. "ALRIGHT! I think I'm ready to go! I'm going the be King of the Pirates! …The building breaking like that was kinda scary though…" the undead giant started walking off. To where? …Maxwell wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"…What…?" Usopp poked his head out from behind some rubble. "He didn't even notice us…"

"…He's saying stuff that Luffy would say…" Zoro watched as Oars disappeared around the mast, "That body and Luffy's fighting skills… That zombie's going to be a problem."

Maxwell let out a breath, "…At least Moria doesn't have complete control over Luffy's zombie yet." It seemed his spirit and shadow parallels had held true, at least for now.

Usopp was on his hands and knees, "Why don't we give up on your shadows…" Any vestiges of courage had left him after that encounter.

"HELL NO!" Zoro and Sanji retorted.

"EVEN IF THAT WERE OKAY, WE'RE STILL GOING TO RESCUE NAMI! NOW GET IT TOGETHER!" The chef then looked at the giant gap in the bridge, "But I don't know what to do about this… It's not exactly a distance you can jump."

"It was a good shortcut…" Usopp started hugging his knees, "But we'll only run into more zombies if we go any other way."

"Just wait 30 more seconds! I'm not happy with this ornamentation…"

The four crewmates then looked at Franky in shock. "HE MADE A BRIDGE!"

"B-BUT HOW!?" They had their eyes off of Franky for like two minutes, and he had made this!?

It was an ornamental bridge, made of solid wood. The planks were held tight, yet smoothly, together, and had a solid spoked handrail. Maxwell also notice the giant hinge that held the bridge aloft. The bridge must had crossed the distance once Franky had made it topple over.

"I could make a bridge or two easily with all of material around here," Franky bragged.

"Yeah but…" Usopp looked at the vase shaped pillories and the gold painted plagues, "You didn't need to focus on this much detail."

"Are you telling me to do a half-assed job?" Franky grinned, teasingly.

"Well, we're certainly grateful, so let's go!" Sanji started to run across the bridge, and the others followed.

Franky and Zoro opened the double doors leading into the mast at this level. They were greeted by the same arching pillars Maxwell and Franky had seen on their way up trying to find everybody. Now that they were actively searching the mast, Maxwell, Franky, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp came across a rather odd room.

It was considerably bright, compared to the gloomy goth aesthetic throughout the castle. The walls were soft pearly white, transitioning to a gentle mauve blush. Paint gold inlay decorated the walls in frames, incorporating tall, thin, artistic windows. The ceiling was covered with pillowy purple and black striped cloth, with a crystal chandelier hanging above. But the most odd thing was that the very floor was covered in grass—fake grass, at that.

"…What's with this room?" "Isn't this room rather ostentatious?"

It was clearly someone's room. There was a four pole curtained bed, a leather couch, and statues of stuffed animals on dancing on pedestals. There was even a few beanbag chairs scattered around the room with heart shaped patterns. It would have been considered cute, in a word… Though Maxwell was curious was there was an anthropomorphic pig with tattoos of it's skeleton showing.

"Horohorohorohoro…" The crew froze as feminine laugh came from the couch. They weren't alone! "I was planning to leave you all to the zombies, but I never expected Oars to come jumping down… No matter."

Perona sat in the middle of the room. Cartoonish ghosts flew around the room with no apparent purpose. A giant stuffed bear, or more accurately, the zombie bear Kumashi stood behind her. It's wide googling eyes staring silently as it wore a medicine mask.

Maxwell drew his staff, "Perona, I assume?"

Perona flinched, "And you are 'Magister' Trevelyan. The master has been quite interested in your abilities." The spirits gathered around Perona watching the pirates.

"Those ghosts!" Zoro places a hand by his scabbards, "So she's the one who controls them… Bust still, what are they!?"

"Horohorohorohoro!" Perona opened a palm and opaque white bubbles floated out, coalescing into another ghost, "You already know the ghosts' abilities. I ate the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, making me a ghost-human. I can create ghosts at will, and these ghosts are a part of me, making anybody's heart feel hollow!"

"Are you telling me that cutie is the boss of these ghosts!?" Sanji looked at Perona heartbroken.

"Were you paying any attention in the meeting, at all!?" Maxwell barked back at the chef.

"How's not the time to be talking about that!" yelled Usopp. "If those things touch us, we're finished! Max!"

"Right!" Maxwell moved to cast a spell, but before he could complete the motion, something wrapped around his arm. "What—!? ACK!" Silk and gossamer had latched onto his wrist, and with a sudden jolt, he was hoisted up by the arm. Then he saw it, "Not you vermin again!"

"Hey-hey~! Mousymousymousy!" The Spider Mice dropped from the ceiling, lowering themselves on their rear spinnerets.

"You didn't think that you'd seen the last of us, did you?" "Yeah! Those fires hurt!" "Plus, we still need to avenge General Telleran!" "And even if we're not allowed to kill you, we can still make you regret the day you were born!"

"Well said, boys!" Perona laughed, "Horohorohoro! You're finished!" The ghost floating around Perona suddenly darted right towards them all.

"RUN FOR IT!"

Usopp, Sanji, and Franky all tried to run away as the ghosts raced towards them. Zoro didn't run though. He was able to send a flying slash towards the silk holding Maxwell aloft, which Maxwell honestly wished he hadn't done. The gossamer had snapped apart, but it left Maxwell in free-fall, and couldn't react to the ghosts in time.

All five of the those Straw-Hat Pirates felt the ghosts go through them. And each one of them fell to the ground in misery.

"Everything's finished…" "Yeah! I want to be stepped on by rabid dogs!" "Mackerel… I'm less than a mackerel. I want to die…" "I'm sorry for walking on the same earth as everyone…" "…"

"Horohorohoro! Get them!"

A bunch of other animal hybrids entered the other side of the room, "YES MA'AM!" It was a menagerie of zombies. With horned dogs, anthropomorphic koalas, a boxing zebra-kangaroo, even human faced heel and Rabbits! "UOOOO!"

"Well, that was quick." Perona turned around ready to walk out, Kumashi following behind her, "Now for the ones upstairs—"

"WILD SHOT: SALT STAR!"

Multiple zombies closed their mouths as they suddenly tasted the salty ammunition, but they realized too late! The salt immediately started doing its work, as shadows forced to open their way open and rise out of the zombies.

"WHAT!? WHO DID THAT!?" Perona demanded, suddenly seeing her cuties dropping like flies.

It was Usopp, seemingly recovered, and standing with his kabuto in hand! "I won't let you touch any of my crew!"

"Damn… He was only pretending to be hit by my attack! NEGATIVE HOLLOW!" Perona sent another spirit flying towards Usopp, and this one hit him too. However, Usopp remained standing.

"…My name, is Captain Usopp!"

"WHAT!? Why aren't you falling over!? The ghost touched you! How did you do it!?" Perona demanded. He should have been on his hands and knees, despairing on his life so far!

"I, didn't do anything! Because… I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN NEGATIVE!"

"WHAT!" Perona stumbled back in shock. No one was able to withstand her hollows! Not even the mage when he used his—

Wait, what had happened to the mage?

"Gah!" Maxwell let out a grunt as he was jerking around on the floor. His twitches made him contort at odd angles, and there was a green aura around him that was constantly fluctuating. As to why this was happening… Well one of Perona's ghosts was part way inside him, and it seemed to be stuck! "What are you three—Grk! —Doing!? Eerk!"

Mordred, Salem, and Minieve didn't answer through their foci, but Maxwell could still hear them. And coincidentally, Perona could hear them too. "Gotcha you little bugger!" She shared her senses with these ghostly clones, and could see the eldritch green ruins of Maxwell's mindscape.

"Ah~ so it is corporeal in the Fade!" Mordred's Fear Demon visage dominated Perona's secondary perception. She was held the the demon's spider-like legs, grown from Mordred's back.

Mineive then cusped the chin of the intruder, "How interesting." Perona could believe how hot this demon appeared. "The first spirit un-associated with a given location and it looks like the drawing of a child…" The Desire Demon practically exuded sensuality with it's purple skin and white leather corset coat. What were these things!?

"Enough," both demons heads turned to a third demon, and this one practically scared Perona out of her wits!

A putrid mantle and mask of flesh atop a human body, but this was no disguise. Puss and flesh and scab, latched and fused on to this one. Augmenting it, heightening it, like some hellish mutant. Salem's six hellish gazed upon her, with long spindly horns you could impale yourself on. "What are we to do with it?"

"Hm… How about we eat it?" Mordred suggested.

"What?" Minieve looked at the Fear Demon with loathing and disgust.

"Hear me out," Mordred raised his spindly withered hands. "So much of this part of the Fade has utilizes consumption and assimilation that it's had for a new spirit to form here. I'm curious whether we could use similar methods to augment ourselves in a similar manner."

"I'm more of the opinion to study it," said Salem. "It's a foreign entity that was produced from the power of a Devil Fruit. With it's affinity to the Fade, we could garner valuable insight into the mystery of the Devil Fruits."

"Ugh… Why do I put up with these idiots?" Minieve massaged her horned brow. "…Perhaps a compromise? We dissect the creature and play to all our wants. You eat, you study, and I'll have something either than Mordred to practice on."

In that moment, a grounded crucifix suddenly appeared in the ruins, promising pain to anything that was strapped into it.

"NOOOOOO!" Perona's double screeched in horror with the triumvirate of demons surrounding her. Mordred inspired a sadistic promise, Minieve exuded a seductive anticipation, while Salem stood with overwhelming domination. None were favourable. None were cute! "I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE!"

And apparently, Maxwell didn't want her either.

"I don't care what she represents…!" Maxwell growled. The inner world shook as it responded to Maxwell's wrath, "I. WANT. HER! OOOUUUTTT~!" The voice on high was deafening inside the Fade, and the demons only grinned.

In the physical world, Maxwell suddenly burst with energy! A magical shockwave exploded from the mage's body, blowing back any zombies that had gathered too close. Perona's ghost shot out of Maxwell's body like a bullet, returning to the woman as it dispersed into bubbles. She fell back in shock while Maxwell rose with his magic.

Mana coursed throughout his body! Spiderweb cracks ran across his skin like blemishes in marble, glowing with an ethereal green light and wispy vapour. Maxwell glared at Perona, his eyes glowing with an unholy vengeance—

Maxwell suddenly took a deep breath. Breathing in through the nose, closing his eyes, calming himself... Though it did little to abate his anger.

His voice came out like a steaming hiss, "Now I'm pissed…!"

"How's it feel, Maxwell?" Mordred possessed his skull to say it out loud. The hollow-woman scrabbled back realizing the demons were real! She could have sworn she saw a skeleton grin on that possessed skull!

Maxwell's eyes flashed open, his aura flaring as he bore down on the foci. "I'll deal with you three, later!" He was furious at them for not expunging it sooner! Catching that ghost had been more trouble than it was worth. Her ghosts had felt like a constant fast motion cheese grater, eroding away on his consciousness. Scraping and gouging off pieces of his mind! It was like Tranquility all over again, if Tranquility could be preformed with a chainsaw!

Now he understood Luffy, Franky, and Zoro's indignity after they recovered. Those ghost had literally rubbed them raw! And Maxwell had had enough of having his psyche tampered with! "USOPP!"

"Y-YES MAX!" Usopp suddenly straighten up, saluting. There was a slight echo in Maxwell's voice, like a demon's voice overlapping with Maxwell's tone.

"You and I are taking this woman down. NOW!"

"R-R-R-RIGHT!" Usopp didn't dare object. Maxwell was as much a disciplinarian as he was a den mother on their crew. It was insufferable, like they had an actual adult onboard, but the crew all loved him for it. However, this wasn't Maxwell getting back at them for having drawn on him in his sleep. No, this was a pissed off mage that could fry you in an instant, and he was a hair-trigger away from doing just that!

Did Usopp think Maxwell would hurt him?

…No.

But he wasn't about to take that risk it either…

Maxwell then noticed Zoro, Sanji, and Franky, having finally raised their heads at the display. "The rest of you, go find Nami and Brook! We are finishing off the Warlord's crew, once and for all!"