Hello! As always, Legal Notice: All original characters, plot, and settings belong to Eiichiro Oda. I did not receive any revenue for writing this fan fiction. Enjoy Chapter 47!
"…swordswoman…"
The word called him out of the darkness. His fingers twitched. He pressed his palms on the smooth deck and stood up.
"Swordswoman?"
Usopp grinned. "See? I knew that would work! Though, it looks like Magina is still out cold."
Robin frowned. "I hoped that once you woke up, Zoro, that Magina would also come back to us."
Zoro tried to get his bearings, but he was still a little confused. "Where are we? What happened to Magina?"
"You're back on Sunny," Franky answered as he held Luffy back, "Calm down, Straw Hat! Moria's not here!"
He glanced around. They were in the galley, though their supplies were strewn on the floor. Chopper knelt next to the prone body of the siren. Zoro growled. What happened to her?
"Robin said that Magina had a similar reaction after Sanji disappeared. It looks like it might have been worse since you were involved, Zoro," Chopper looked up at him.
He sighed. Sometimes this link was more problematic than helpful. Memories of a dark figure shining a bright light on him before cutting his shadow from him resurfaced dimly. Zoro looked at the ground below him. There was nothing there. He peered closer at Magina's body. She still had a shadow, so Moria hadn't taken it away from her. Chopper was probably right. She felt his shock of losing his shadow which was why she was unconscious.
"Then, that wasn't a dream. I was careless. I let my guard down. Usopp, how did you wake us up?" Zoro asked seriously. He was not going to leave her like this.
The marksman shrugged, "All I said was that there was a hot swordswoman with meat, and all three of you woke up. I've tried saying something about fishing and singing, but none of that worked."
Zoro rubbed his chin, deep in thought. It sounded like Usopp triggered a response in each of them by talking about what they desired most. The Love Cook always wanted to see a hot beauty, Luffy never got enough meat, and he was always looking to test his strength against a worthy opponent. Usopp said that he tried bringing Magina out of it by talking about fish and the songs. The more he thought about it, the more Zoro questioned the marksman's approach. What did Magina want most? 'Here I had a chance to help, and I was sleeping. Sleeping!' He smacked his head. That's why it didn't work!
"I know what to say," he groaned.
"Got it! We'll leave this to you, Zoro!" Usopp said, hurrying away.
Zoro sat on the ground behind her. This had to work! He leaned forward so that he bent close to her ear and quietly murmured.
"Siren, if you stay sleeping like this, we'll leave you behind. We're going to need you."
Leaning back, he and Chopper waited impatiently. Moments later, the siren twitched and started moving. She groaned before she sat up stiffly. She blinked in confusion.
"What happened to me?"
Chopper immediately knelt beside her and started bombarding her with questions.
"Are you in any pain, Magina? Are you hurt anywhere?"
The siren shook her head. She glanced around frantically.
"Zoro? Where's Zoro? Something strange is going on!"
He shook his head. Of course, the siren would worry about him rather than herself. This woman…
"I'm fine, siren," he assured her.
Magina twisted her head around to look at him when he spoke. She turned to face him, searching for the truth in his eyes. She frowned.
"'Fine' isn't exactly right. I'm not sure what happened, but your song is in two different places at once. It's almost like there's another copy of your song, only it's a pale shadow of the real thing. It's the same for Luffy and Sanji!"
Zoro grunted. To think that she could so accurately hear the truth of the situation was amazing.
"You're not far off, siren. That Moria bastard stole our shadows from us. We all passed out when it happened. That's probably why you did too."
Magina didn't respond right away. Then, she smiled brilliantly at him. Zoro dragged in a breath when his heart pounded quickly. Well, that was going to be annoying as hell if it persisted.
"What has you in such a great mood all of a sudden?" he growled.
Magina's exuberance didn't fade. "I can fight!"
He gave her a questioning look. "I know you can. That's why I let you borrow my bandana."
The siren shook her head, "No, no. I mean, I can use my songs! Where did your shadows end up?"
Chopper answered her excited question. "Sanji's shadow is in a dog-penguin zombie, Luffy's went into a giant. Zoro's…"
Luffy walked past, "If it's Zoro's zombie, I met him!"
Zoro was intrigued despite himself. "What was he like?"
"Hmm…" Luffy thought for a moment, "he was exactly like you!"
Magina nodded enthusiastically. "That's what I mean! Your shadows are occupying corpses. I didn't know if my songs could affect something dead, like a zombie, but if each zombie has a shadow animating it, my songs should affect them! Let's go! I have work to do!"
"Ah, wait, Magina! I'm prepping a little more. I know the zombies' weakness," Usopp said, bringing out a large bag and dragging a wooden platform behind him.
Everyone moved to the top deck. Usopp set up the wooden platform in the middle of the deck, while Franky sat near the mast. The siren picked a spot between them and sat cross-legged on the ground. Zoro could just catch fragments of mumbled phrases. She must be hurriedly constructing a new song, specific to zombies.
"Good job on finding those zombies' weakness," Love Cook said.
Usopp kept preparing. Franky shook his head in denial.
"We didn't. It was all that bag of bones. If he hadn't come when he did, we would have been captured too. Everything we learned about zombies was from the Skeleton."
"Brook? You saw Brook?" Luffy asked happily.
Franky's aura turned serious and compassionate.
"That guy… He's been through a lot. I was dead set against him joining us before talking with him. Now, I'm not so sure."
Zoro listened in rapt attention as Franky gave them details about the skeleton's conversation. It wasn't until the end that even Magina and Usopp stopped what they were doing. He could feel the siren's shock. The recollection of entering the Grand Line and of the fight that Luffy started was burned in everyone's memories.
"No way…" Magina muttered.
"You can't be serious," Usopp stated.
"What's wrong with all of you! You look like you've seen a ghost," Franky demanded an explanation.
"That's right. You weren't with the crew yet. Neither was Robin or Chopper. The rest of us… We know that whale," Luffy answered slowly. "We've met Laboon."
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Magina couldn't believe it. Brook was one of Laboon's friends. He didn't abandon the whale after all. They both waited 50 years to meet each other! Now, the skeleton's intense loneliness made a lot of sense. She blinked back the tears that filled her eyes suddenly.
"You know that whale? How?" Franky demanded incredulously.
Zoro grunted. "He was still waiting at the capes. When we first entered the Grand Line, he made a mess of our ship. Of course, he wasn't the only one…"
His pointed look at Luffy nearly made her giggle.
Luffy grinned. "It all worked out in the end! Flower Ossan was grateful!"
Sanji sighed heavily. "Yes, the doctor geezer was happier after you explained your ridiculous actions."
"Hmm? A doctor? Was the whale sick?" Chopper asked.
Magina shook her head. "Not exactly. He was bashing his head against Reverse Mountain, and it was slowly killing him. Crocus-san had to live inside of Laboon to treat him."
Zoro stood behind her. "Luffy fought with the whale. The captain promised that he would return. He painted his mark on Laboon's head to keep him from smashing into the Red Line. That probably saved the whale's life. Sometimes it's unbelievable how this guy's mind works."
Magina was going to return to concentrating on the new song, only Franky's loud wailing startled her. Chopper joined in tears just moments later. She breathed in deeply and slowly let it out. She couldn't be distracted. Magina figured that her songs would be able to affect the zombies, or rather, the shadows inside of the animated corpses. Would she be able to do more than that? Would she be able to pull the shadows out of the zombies?
Zoro stepped away and began to leave the ship. She hurried after him. She had a few questions that might help her plan the song better.
"Hey, Zoro, wait—"
"Oi, Zoro, Magina! Where are you going?" Luffy called.
The swordsman gave her a look before turning and replying.
"We can't just wait around here now that we have one more shadow to rescue. Isn't that right, siren?"
Magina paused before nodding in agreement. "I won't lie; it's going to take some getting used to, having a death omen on board. But he's one of Laboon's nakama, I'll get used to it eventually."
Luffy whooped excitedly. The others filed down to the docks. Zoro nudged her discreetly.
"He interrupted. Did you need something?"
She smiled tightly. "I know your shadows are in the zombies. Can you tell me what happened? How did he separate you from your shadow?"
Zoro sighed. "Moria shone a bright light on me. He peeled away my shadow and used cutting shears to sever the connection. The next thing I knew, I was back on Sunny."
He paused.
"Are you trying to sing our shadows out of the zombies?"
Magina rubbed her forehead, trying to press the growing tension away. "I'm hoping, but since I'm still not sure what Moria did, or even why it works, I'm not sure I'll be able to."
"Well, even if your songs won't be able to expel the shadows, I know what will. We just need to shove this down their throats, and the shadows are as good as gone!" Usopp said while handing small bags to her and Zoro.
The briny odor was unmistakable. Magina quietly chuckled. She should have known; salt was a purifying agent. It was logical that it was the answer.
"Thanks, Usopp."
"That's what you were busy with on the ship. Good job preparing this much in so little time," Zoro held up the pouch in appreciation.
"I'm going straight to Moria," Luffy declared suddenly.
Cold sweat slowly trickled down her neck. From what she heard, from the victims, from her nakama, even from the enemy, Moria was very powerful. Zoro scoffed, though even he seemed nervous.
"We don't have much time. If we went after the zombies with our shadows…" he started saying.
Luffy shook his head. "The zombie-ossan said it, right? Unless we go after Moria, the problem won't be solved. Going after our zombies won't fix anything. Though, I would like to see mine. I'm going after Moria. Sanji, you rescue Nami."
Magina winced at the seething emotions that emanated from the usually suave cook. Zoro shook his head as Sanji practically exploded in rage. She looked back up the stairs. Soon, they would be back at the mansion. Zoro and Franky were going to check on Brook. She jostled the bag before tying it to her belt. At least, they were better prepared this time. And now that she knew that they weren't really fighting the living dead, the fear had vanished. She probably wouldn't even need Zoro's bandana anymore… She checked her arm in anxiety. She didn't lose it during the fight, or when she passed out, did she? Magina sighed in relief when her fingertips brushed the fabric. Zoro's low growl sounded behind her.
"Why so panicked all of a sudden, siren?"
She untied the cloth and held it out to him.
"For a moment, I thought that I lost it," she explained.
Zoro grunted before taking the bandana back, "Even if you did lose it, once everything was over, we could've searched for it. There's no need to worry about a little thing like that. Though, if you lost it, I would insist that you come and look for it with me."
Magina snickered softly. "I think that you just want someone with you so that you don't get lost."
Zoro snorted before he followed behind the others. He glanced back, a teasing smile full force on his face.
"Well, maybe you're partially right about that, siren. Then again, I wouldn't want just anyone to come with me."
He trailed after the others while she was rooted to the ground. They were almost out of sight when Luffy called back for her.
"Come on, Magina! We've got to go fast!"
Magina hauled in a breath and hurried after her nakama. She shook her head. That Zoro! Sometimes, his teasing got out of hand. It didn't help that when she finally caught up, he glanced at her face and chuckled softly. Her face flamed instantly.
"Magina, are you feeling all right? You look flushed," Chopper asked.
Zoro laughed again. She glared angrily at the swordsman.
"I'm fine, Chopper. If you don't stop teasing me, swordsman, then I'll hit you!"
His sniggering quieted, though his song was still amused. He flashed her an unrepentant smile.
"I'm surprised you think that you can get away with that sort of behavior. Sanji will try to kick your ass," Usopp said as he gave them a sidelong glance.
Zoro snorted derisively. "I'd like to see him try. Besides, he's distracted right now. He's not going to notice."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Usopp murmured, "he has a sixth sense about that sort of thing."
Zoro scoffed, "Idiot, he's only thinking about rescuing…"
"Ohhh! And you!" Sanji turned his head to look straight at Zoro.
"What the hell do you want, Dart-Brow?"
"As soon as I'm done saving Nami-swan and kicking that invisible bastard's ass, you're next!"
Usopp snickered under his breath. Magina giggled softly too.
"Why? What did I do?" Zoro growled.
"Not sure. You're just pissing me off. Ohh! Wait for me, Nami swan!"
She and Usopp burst out laughing. Usopp wiped tears from his eyes.
"See? I told you so."
The swordsman's annoyed growl set Magina giggling again. Zoro swung angrily back. She couldn't resist teasing him one more time before they approached the mansion.
"I can't believe that you weren't prepared, swordsman. You walked right into that one," Magina said lightly.
"Shut up, siren!"
Zoro's ears were red, and he wouldn't turn around. She chuckled as he and Franky went to find Brook. She'd hate to be the enemy that met the swordsman next. The residents in the mansion wouldn't see this coming.
Hi, all! I hope you all enjoyed reading Chapter 47. The Straw Hats are taking the fight to Moria. He'd better be prepared for trouble!