With the mansion, and its butler, a distance behind them, the rest of the group took the time to process what exactly just happened.

Ellis, in particular, was reflecting on his behavior.

The blatant disregard of Kaya's authority, for one. Actually, more like acting like he was the owner of the mansion and Kaya was some unruly child beneath him. Then right after, he immediately singled out Usopp. He knew more about his dad than anyone else on the island, which is strange in and of itself.

"Hey," Ellis called to the kid next to her. "Onion."

"Yeah? What's up?" he responded.

"That butler," Ellis wasn't sure how to word it. "Has… has he always lived on the island?"

The kid thought for a bit. "No, Klahadore showed up a few years ago. If I remember correctly, he got kicked off his ship and had to crawl his way up to the mansion for help."

"Thanks."

The butler had to have crawled right through the entire village to get to the mansion. Not to mention, getting kicked off a ship so brutally he couldn't even walk (if that even happened)? He had to have done something terrible.

Her first instinct was to think it was a pirate ship, but they would have just thrown him overboard after beating him half to death. That is, if the story is true. Him crawling past help to the richest visible house is sketchy as hell.

Then, she has to consider his stance on pirates. Nami hates pirates. Normal people hate pirates. That was beyond a hatred of pirates, beyond a personal vendetta against pirates. It was such an extreme reaction, there was no way it was true. It was almost like a politician trying to rally against a group of people.

That is to say, it was a performance, and a way to bait a reaction out of his opponent. Ideally a violent reaction, so he could then say, 'see? These people are violent. They don't deserve the peaceful conversation I'm trying to have with them. They're the savages!'

"You will never be more than the son of a filthy pirate!"

With such an extreme opinion, and with such an accusation, it almost felt like projection.

"Is it money you're after?"

"You proceed to the lady of the house to steal her fortune!"

"Treachery is in [a pirate's] blood, of course you would have such an evil scheme!"

No, more like a confession. Ellis had known Usopp for less than a day, and even she knew he wasn't a schemer. His lies are too out there, and he shows everything in his expressions. Klahadore wasn't talking about him.

This kind of person doesn't tend to pull these kinds of accusations out of thin air. It's a pattern extreme criminals follow. It had to have been a surface thought, to be so quick to accuse someone of who was absolutely not doing it.

Not to mention…

"Klahadore isn't a bad person! He's just… He's just trying to do what he thinks is best for me. Sometimes he goes too far!"

There's a word for that. An acronym, actually.

DARVO.

Deny.

Attack.

Reverse Victim and Offender.

A way to point away blame and avoid responsibility for their actions. A common tactic to manipulate their target.

Klahadore reeks of it. He also reeks of slowly isolating Kaya and pushing away all her friends so she only has him to rely on. All for her best interest, of course.

The butler was probably doing some damage control at this moment, making sure Kaya still sees him in a good light, after acting out the way he had.

"Who else works at the mansion?" Ellis asked Onion.

"Just those gate guards, Klahadore, and Merry. Merry's the other butler, and he's worked there for as long as I can remember," he replied.

"No one else? That's so few people, for such a large mansion," Ellis commented, concerned.

"Yeah, after her parents died, a bunch of maids and stuff left."

That's… not normal.

This is some serial killer shit. You don't need to do any of this if all you're after is someone's fortune. This is what you do if you want to emotionally devastate someone before you kill them. It's for emotional gratification.

He wants to slowly ruin her life, get her to rely on him, emotionally devastate her, and kill her. The fortune is just a bonus.

Her parents died after he showed up, right? A year ago? Could he have–

Shut up.

SHUT UP.

Don't think about it. She's just overreacting. Ellis has nothing substantial for any of these claims. She can't just accuse any old asshole of being a murderer. She has nothing to go on.

She's overreacting.

(But what if I'm not–)

SHUT UP.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Nami asked.

Ellis looked up to see the group settled against a fence along the side of the road, just outside of the village. Well, the group minus Luffy and Onion. Nami sat on the fence, while Zoro sat on the ground against it, to the left of Nami. The two kids did the same on the right.

Ellis sighed, choosing to just lean against it.

They took a moment to settle and take in the calming atmosphere. The distant sheep grazing beyond the fence, the gentle breeze, the drifting clouds.

"Hey, where'd Luffy go?" Nami asked.

"Who knows?" Zoro languidly responded. "He probably ran after that 'captain.'"

Ellis tried to focus on their conversation instead of her racing thoughts.

"I bet he's at his secret spot!" the green kid exclaimed.

"Yeah, over by the shore!" the purple kid chimed in. "He always goes there when he's gonna think something over."

"Should we go see?" the green kid asked.

"Huh?" Zoro peered at the kids. "He's fine."

This island seems like such a peaceful place. Ellis really hopes it stays that way.

"Luffy can take care of himself, but where's your other friend?" Nami asked the two kids.

Simultaneously they replied, "Oh yeah, Onion!"

"Come to think of it, he just ups and disappears a lot," the green kid commented.

"Yeah, and then he shows up out of nowhere, all freaked out," the purple kid adds.

"Ah!" a boy's voice shrieks. "Terrible news, guys!"

They all turn their heads to face the path coming from the village, only to spot said kid, running frantically at them, sweat and tears covering his face.

"You see?" the purple kid said, not at all concerned at his friend's approach.

"Listen to me!" Onion pants out, stopping in front of his two friends. "Some nutjob's on his way here and he only walks backwards!"

"You liar," the two kids comment.

Onion stamps his foot, glaring. "It's the truth!" He snaps his arm out in the direction he came from, pointing. "He's right there!"

The two kids jumped up from their place on the ground.

They all look to see the form of a man in the distance slowly approaching with an unusual gait. They all watch in silence as he slowly makes his way to them.

This village doesn't seem like the kind of place to have visitors often, Ellis thought. What a weird coincidence for her group to show up at the same time as this guy.

Coincidence, Ellis desperately repeated.

As he approached, it was clear that the kid was right. His back was facing them, and he was moonwalking instead of literally anything else. Once he was close enough, he stopped and turned his head to face them.

"Now, which one of you people has the nerve to call me weird?"

Considering the heart glasses, moonwalking, and pairing white leg warmers with a blazer, he definitely meets the requirements.

Having terrible fashion, or wearing what you want regardless of it, doesn't really matter to Ellis. However, bizarre fashion and people with the ability to fuck shit up in a fight have an unusual amount of overlap. Enough to keep her wary.

Not to mention her previous paranoia.

"I'm just a normal guy," the guy continued after an uncomfortable pause, turning his body to completely face them.

He had shoulder-length, slightly wavy, gray hair, heart glasses with red lenses, a blue hat with a long brim, an open blazer the same navy blue as the hat, a loose white t-shirt with a low neckline, green pants, and green gloves. Oh, not to mention the pharaoh-like chin thing.

"Is that so?" Nami flatly asked. "You look insane."

"Don't be silly. I'm just an ordinary, run of the mill hypnotist."

Nobody normal becomes a hypnotist.

"A hypnotist? Really?" Onion asks. "Awesome!"

"Show us something!" the green kid exclaimed.

"Yeah! Do something!" the purple kid adds.

The hypnotist ominously turns away from Nami to face the kids. "What? You fools. What makes you think that I would want to reveal my masterful hypnosis techniques to a bunch of roadside strangers?" He pulls out a pendulum with a large ring at the end. "Okay, you've convinced me. Now watch the ring closely."

"What a ham," Zoro mutters.

Ellis silently agrees.

The hypnotist starts swinging the pendulum back and forth. "So, by the count of Jango, you'll be in a deep sleep. Alright, are you ready?" The kids observed the pendulum with sparkling eyes. "One, two, Jango!"

Then all four of them fell on their backs, snoring. Though, somehow, the hypnotist still had his arm up, holding the swinging pendulum.

"Who is this freaky weirdo?!" Zoro exclaimed, irked.

"I thought you had to have your mind empty to be lulled into getting hypnotized," Ellis commented. "I didn't think it was even possible to hypnotize himself."

Good to know, in case she needs that tidbit in the future.

It's kind of funny to watch Zoro get irked by ridiculous scenarios. It reminds her of an older brother reacting to the dumb things younger siblings get up to.

Nami goes to wake them up, but Ellis kind of wants to see how long it lasts.It only took the hypnotist about a minute to get up, not remembering what happened before looking at the sleeping kids in front of him.

They just let him go on his way.

After he becomes a speck in the distance, Ellis decides to move the kids from the middle of the dirt road. She drags them one by one onto the grass along the fence. Then she settled next to them, positioning herself so she and Zoro sat on the outer edges.

"So, what was with your face?" Nami piped up.

"Huh?" Ellis questioned. "What are you talking about?"

"As we were leaving the mansion, you had a stressed out look that only got worse as we got farther away," Nami said. "You didn't even notice when we stopped."

Ellis furrowed her brow. "I don't really know how to say it. Or what to say."

Nami hummed. "Then, do you want to say why you jumped between Usopp and the butler?"

Ellis blinked. "What?"

"You hate confrontation," Nami said. "So why did you get in the middle of one?"

She sighed. "He was trying to get Usopp to act out. To get him to justify Klahadore's behavior."

"Why? And what was with those questions you asked that kid?" Nami asked.

"He wasn't trying to get us to leave. At least, not primarily," Ellis muttered. "He's been slowly isolating Kaya. He got rid of almost all the workers at the mansion, and just now trying to get rid of her last friend. He wants to be the only person left in her life."

"Why?" Nami repeated. Ellis was seriously starting to stress out again.

"To get her to rely on her? I don't know!"

"Man, why is getting you to explain always like pulling teeth from a baby?"

"I just don't want to accuse every asshole we meet of being a serial killer!"

That got Zoro's attention. "What do you mean?"

Ellis explained her earlier thoughts. Her audience's faces only grew more and more grave.

"The biggest thing I'm worried about is that these kinds of people tend to act on days that are important to them and their victims."

The kids stirred, and slowly woke up. The kids said something about not remembering falling asleep, then wondered where the hypnotist went.

"Hey," Nami interrupted them. "There doesn't happen to be a day coming up that would be important to Kaya and Klahadore, would there?"

"Oh! Actually, Onion was telling us earlier today!" The purple haired kid responded.

"Yeah, he overheard the butler Merry this morning!" The green kid added.

"Tomorrow's actually the three year anniversary of Klahadore working there!" Onion exclaimed.

Fuck.

Ellis, Nami, and Zoro all exchanged glances. Ellis let her head fall as she covered her face with her hands, the world around her stopped. Dread. Foreboding. Some third synonym. All filled her as she bemoaned her life.

As much as she wants to be wrong, it just looks more and more the contrary.

Zoro's now standing, Nami was standing from the revelation but sat back on the fence.

Then they all spot Usopp running on the path in the direction headed to the village with desperation.

"Captain!" The kids exclaim.

"Hold on, I thought Luffy was supposed to be with him."

The kids run into the road, in front of Usopp. "Captain!" They exclaim again, only Usopp runs right past them.

"Hey, where's Luffy?" Nami calls out, her face falling the farther Usopp gets from them. "Is he still at the shore…?" her voice dying out.

They just watch for a few moments.

"Wow, he looks really upset," Nami comments. "But why? Still mad at the butler?"

He's coming from the direction the hypnotist went, Ellis observed. Does that have something to do with it?

"Who knows?" Zoro replied.

"No, that wasn't just a mad face!" the purple kid exclaimed.

"That look was different!" the green kid added.

"It was the tragic face of sheer desperation!" Onion finished.

Zoro turned from the direction Usopp ran to face the kids. "Hey, why don't you guys show us the way to get down to that shore?"

"This smells like an adventure to me," one of the kids said as the trio huddled.

"Yeah! Something happened at the shore!"

"I think this calls for the Usopp Pirates!"

Zoro approached them, irritated that the kids were treating the situation like a game. Then again, they were oblivious to the atmosphere they woke up in. "Enough, already! How do we get to the place?!"

Nami hopped off of the fence, and they all headed to the cliffs.

Ellis really hoped the moonwalker didn't, like, murder someone. She really wasn't in the mood to find a dead body.

The kids were chatting excitedly about their new adventure, while the three oldest in the group were more solemn the entire trip.

"This is the place!"

"Our captain always comes here to be alone and think."

"It is nice."

The kids led them near the edge of the cliff, where there was only a single tree, grass, and rocks, and started looking around.

If she looked out, Ellis could see the ocean turn from seafoam green to deep blue, the closer it got to the horizon. She could see the ocean on almost all sides with the way the cliff was shaped.

Then she looked at her closer surroundings.

There aren't exactly any hiding places in the area, or anywhere anyone can stash a corpse (except maybe the ocean), should that have been the situation. The soil level would be very shallow, and it's not like they can dig through stone.

"I don't think that straw-hat-guy is here," the green kid almost immediately concludes.

Zoro acknowledges the kid, and Nami walks past them all to stand at the very edge of the cliff. You know, where it would be the most unstable. A few rocks crumble off and fall, and they could all hear it hit the side of the cliff as it fell before finally clattering at the bottom a while later.

"The rocks sure are loose here," Nami mutters, peering over the cliff.

Zoro, standing about a yard behind her, calls after her, "Nami, be careful."

"Right," Nami responds, finally backing up. Then she spots something at the bottom. "Look! Down there!"

Zoro peers down. "Luffy?!"

"Woah," Onion utters.

"Hey, it's that straw-hat-guy!" the green kid exclaims.

"And his butt," the purple kid adds.

They all look down and spot Luffy sprawled at the bottom, as if he fell from the cliff, with his hat on the ground close by. Or pushed.

Man, Ellis really hopes Luffy's rubber powers saved him, because she's not prepared to watch these kids find their first dead body. Not to mention the absolute gore from falling that height onto presumably sharp rocks.

Luckily for her, she didn't spot any red under him. At least, not from here.

The kids ran away from the cliff's edge, the rest following, to the path that leads to the base of the cliff. The kids slowed down, so the older three were able to catch up. However, once they reached the bottom, Ellis surged forward. If it were a dead body, she wanted to be there before the kids, and hopefully keep them away. It's not something a kid needs to see.

Luckily for her, Luffy was in one piece when she ran over. He was on the ground in such a way that it appeared he rolled down the cliff face instead of a straight fall. His head was rolled under his shoulders, and his ass was up in the air. His knees touched the ground, and his legs flat behind him. He was almost curled up, in a way. She maneuvered her arm to reach for his neck, checking for a pulse.

Luckily, she caught a snore and a steady heartbeat before the kids turned the corner and came into view. The group sped up once she and Luffy were visible. Ellis was about to speak when Nami interrupted her.

"Luffy, what did you do? How did this happen?!" Nami cried.

"He fell!" one of the kids answered unhelpfully.

Or got pushed, Ellis's mind offered.

Not helping, she thought, shoving the idea to the back of her mind.

"He's a goner!" Onion wailed.

"So that's why our captain looked so upset!"

Luffy quietly snored some more, and Ellis could see Zoro caught on.

"Wait a minute," he said. They all stood quietly, with only the sounds of Luffy sleeping and the waves crashing in the distance.

Zoro chuckled and lifted one of his swords, still sheathed. "Lazy bum." He took a few steps closer to Luffy before jabbing him in the butt.

Luffy groaned, flexing his hands. Nami gasped and took a step back, the kids hiding behind her and screaming. Luffy then uncurled himself, stretching his arms out and giving a big yawn. Then he relaxed and peered at the group in front of him.

"Good morning, guys!" They all just stared at him, flabbergasted at his lack of a reaction to dodging death once more. Then he took in their looks of dread. "What's with the faces?"

Then, with some prodding from Nami, he told them about what he overheard. And Ellis watched Nami's face get more and more murderous at how he talked about the village.

"What?! Pirates are going to attack the village?!" The kids shrieked as Luffy put his hat back on. "Then they're gonna kill Kaya?!"

"Yep, that's what they said. No question about it," Luffy confirms flatly.

Zoro steps closer. "So, what made you think it'd be a good time for a nap?"

Luffy grins up at him. "That's the thing! I don't remember going to sleep or getting down here at all!"

"That sounds an awful lot like the kids waking up from that hypnotist," Ellis comments. Then she spots the kids once again huddled up.

"This proves it! Klahadore is a bad guy!" the purple kid said.

"Usopp saw right through it!" the green kid added.

"I bet he's on his way to warn the villagers so they'll have time to run away!" Onion exclaims.

"Well, that's perfect!" Nami said, face relaxing to relief. "Those stupid pirates won't hurt anyone because the town will be abandoned by the time they get there!"

Ellis seemed to be the only one dreading their confidence. Usopp's renowned for being a liar. She doesn't want to be pessimistic, but she doesn't find it likely that he'll succeed.

"Yeah, that's right! We'd better run away too if we wanna live!" the purple kid exclaimed.

"Alright, let's pack our treasure and–"

The kids continued in unison, "run like the wind!"

The trio then ran off, just leaving the four of them to watch.

"Oh, no!" Luffy said.

"What's up?" Zoro asked.

Luffy screamed in genuine horror, concerning Ellis. At least, until he continued to speak.

"We need to stock up before the meat shop guy leaves!"

Ellis sighed in disappointment. Zoro seemed to agree with her because he jabbed Luffy in the back of the head with the end of his sheathed sword. Luffy flailed before falling forward.

"Come on. That's not really the issue at hand, here."

Luffy pushed himself back to a sitting position, hand securing his hat on his head. He looked back at Zoro, but Zoro was looking at Ellis, so he turned to look at her too.

With all three of them focusing on her, Ellis felt her nerves act up.

"You should tell him what you told us," Nami stated. "You were on the nose with this one, and it overlaps with what Luffy just said."

"I don't want to just accuse random people of being, like, serial killers," Ellis repeated from earlier.

"It's too late for that," Zoro said.

So, she repeated herself.

"If Kaya finds out what the butler's planning, she'd probably go right to him and comply with his demands to keep him from hurting anyone else. All it would do is save him time in finding her," Ellis states.

"What? Why?" Nami asks.

"I already mentioned he's in it for her emotional devastation. In this case, he'll probably make her watch him kill everyone and save her for last. It's not about the money, that's just what he tells himself."

"This is so messed up," Nami groans.

Ellis just nods. "We should probably go after the kids, they'll probably lead us right to Usopp. I doubt the villagers took him seriously."

As she and the others started to head back onto the island, Luffy took a moment to watch her walk away.

The gleam in his eyes would have made her worried.