Chapter 81: Of Curses and Ghosts

Merry Christmas, everyone! Or Happy Holidays. I celebrate Christmas, but I'm not one for holiday specials, so you all get a new chapter. To be honest, I had so much trouble writing this chapter because it's my least favorite arc to date, and because of that, I'm very unsure about this Arc as a whole. Still, the story must be told, so on to the chapter!

Chapter 85:

Of Curses and Ghosts

"This is wonderful!" Brook cried, tears impossibly leaking from his eye sockets as he continued to match Luffy's eating pace. "I haven't had food in decades!"

"Eat all you want!" Luffy stated with a mouth full of food. "We have plenty!"

"Moron," Nami sighed as Luffy's arm shoots over her plate so steal something from Gin.

"And yet-" Amy began as Gin stabbed at the captain's hand with a fork.

"I'm the one married to him," Nami cut her off, ignoring Luffy's cry of pain as his arm snaps back into place to smack him in the face, knocking him off his chair. "Yeah, I know. We've been over this."

"Oh, this is absolutely delightful!" Brook shouted. "Is there any dessert? I've barely had any sweets since setting sail over 60 years ago."

"Try some of the lemon cake," Amy suggested as Luffy pulls himself back into his chair. "I made it myself."

"Oh, no thank you," the skeleton denied. "I am not a fan of lemons."

"Luffy, he's not allowed to join," Amy declared. "He doesn't like lemons!"

"So Mr. Brook," Coby prodded. "Have you always been a skeleton, or...?" He trailed off.

"Oh, heavens no," Brook answered, swallowing (somehow). "A long time ago, back when I was still alive, I ate the Revive-Revive Fruit."

"So you're a Devil Fruit user?" Merry asked, swinging her feet from her spot on Usopp's lap, an empty salad bowl on the table before her. She ignored Usopp's angry cry as a piece of meat vanished from his plate.

"Indeed," the skeleton nodded. "My Fruit did precious little for me while I was alive, save for costing me the ability to swim. I used to lead a royal army for my birth country in the West Blue before I retired and became a pirate. We had many wonderful adventures until we had the bad luck of running into a much stronger pirate crew in these waters. The whole crew, including me, were killed."

"Don't you dare!" Amy yelled, the handle of her umbrella denting the table where she just missed the captain's hand. Said hand swiped a lemon tart from her dish. "Damn it!"

"Language!" Usopp yelled, covering Merry's ears.

"Shitty Rubber!" Sanji cursed, jumping over Nami to ax kick Luffy, the captain still stuffing the pastry in his mouth.

"You too!"

"So-" Coby prodded, actively ignoring the mini brawl.

"But!" Brook cut him off. "Upon my death was when the true power of my Devil Fruit manifested, calling my soul back from beyond the grave!" He took a breath. "Unfortunately, the fog around here is so thick, poor little Soul Brook got lost. I didn't find my body for a whole year, and when I did, there was nothing left of me but bones!"

"You got lost, huh?" Luffy blinked, is head retaking its normal shape. "That means you must be stupid like Zoro!"

"Hey!" the swordsman protested.

"Geeze," Franky shook his head, Luffy's hand bouncing off of his own where he'd placed it to block his plate. "Devil Fruits are weird."

"Tell me about it," Gin muttered, shifting his headband. "I mean, several of us here break the laws of physics on a daily basis without any reasoning."

"Like my big sister," Grace offered, not flinching as Luffy's arm sailed over her head, grabbing Coby's fork out of his hand. "She can change the mass of her body or anything she's touched, but that shouldn't be possible."

"Indeed," Brook agreed as Coby dove over the table to retrieve his fork from the captain, "but even amongst Devil Fruits, the ability to live two lives is quite strange." He glanced at the brawl, the second one in as many minutes, taking place on his right. "Is this normal for you all?"

"Yeah," most of the crew responded in a tired voice, Robin giggling over the sound.

"Don Luffy's actually been more well-behaved than normal," Gin added.

"Why do you still have hair?" Nami suddenly asked, catching the skeleton off guard.

"What?"

"Why do you still have hair?" the navigator repeated. "If you were dead for a year, your hair shouldn't still be around."

"Nami!" Amy admonished. "You can't just ask someone why they have hair!"

"I have very strong roots," Brook explained, squeezing his afro.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Usopp complained.

"Does this mean that you aren't a ghost?" Chopper questioned hopefully, oblivious to the fact that Merry was now swiping bits of his own salad.

"Dear me, no!" Brook denied. "I hate ghosts!"

"I'm still not sure you have a leg to stand on, there," Amy pointed out, pulling out a hand mirror. "I mean, have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"No!" Brook cowered, turning away from the reflective surface. "Please get rid of the mirror!"

"What's wrong?" Usopp questioned, putting Merry down and walking to stand beside the skeleton. He glanced at the thing in Amy's hands. "Ahhh! Why don't you appear in the mirror?!"

"Vampire!" Chopper panicked before pointing at the floor by the skeleton's feet. "He doesn't even have a shadow!" His declaration caused the rest of the crew to stand, making various noises ranging from screaming to bleating to a strangled roar that devolved into a growl. Gin pulled off his rubber-lined headgear.

"You're a vampire?!" Luffy gasped, throwing a growling Coby back across the table. "That's awesome!"

"He's not a vampire," Grace waved off skeptically as Coby landed in his chair and toppled backwards. "He doesn't have fangs. Everyone knows vampires have fangs."

"Indeed," Robin agreed. "Besides, the only known population of vampires are on the other side of the Red Line."

"Wait, what?" Usopp questioned, staring at Robin's blank face. He couldn't tell if she was lying or not.

"Care to explain?" Coby growled at Brook as he stood up, his eyes narrowing, his hands moving toward his swords, and his horns beginning to grow. Brook said nothing; rather, he sat down and took a sip of his tea.

"Now's not the time for that!" Sanji yelled.

"What I told you before was true," Brook sighed, setting his cup down. "Why I lost my shadow is another story entirely. You see, my shadow was stolen from me several years ago, cursing me to forever live in the darkness."

"Stop being so damn poetic and super tell us what happened already," Franky commented.

"I would rather not," Brook refused. "The man who took my shadow is more of a monster than a man. And without my shadow, I cannot exist in the world of light. Similarly, my reflection cannot be seen in any mirror, nor can my image be captured in any photograph."

"What happens if you step into the light?" Merry asked, no one noticing how pale Coby had suddenly become or that his horns were now receding. He was getting an idea of who or what they might end up facing if Luffy decided to step in.

It wasn't good, and Luffy always decided to step in.

"Every bit of me that the light touched would burn away until it was naught but ash," Brook answered grimly. "Years ago, I watched a man afflicted with the same curse as I go mad and run into the sunlight. His dying screams still haunt me today." Brook stood and turned toward Luffy as the rest of the crew slowly replaced their weapons. "Luffy-san," he began. "I'm honored and delighted that you would invite me to join your crew, but I'm afraid I must decline."

"But why?" the captain whined.

"As I said before, if I come into contact with sunlight, I will burn away until nothing remains. As much as my now-nonexistent heart yearns to join you, it would only be until I inevitably meet my end within the rays of the sun. The only reason I've lived this long is because the thick fog in this area protects me. And believe me, I intend to get my shadow back one day, but I'm prepared to die fighting the man that stole it." He breathed and continued.

"Some would claim that a long life is a curse, and I might agree with them. You don't know what it's like, drifting on an uncontrollable ship, nothing to keep you company but the memories of your long-dead friends and crewmates, wanting to die every day but not having the guts to throw yourself overboard for decades. Now, I know that it was worth it. I've met wonderful people like you! And I still have a chance to return! To return to my friend whom we left behind! Yohohoho! Yohohoho! Yoho yoho, yohohoho!"

"He's going crazy!" Sanji yelled, falling into a fighting stance. Brook suddenly stopped and turned, bending down to pull something out of the bag he'd brought with him. It was a violin.

"Why don't you let me play you a song?" Brook asked, heafting the violin to his face and resting the bow over the strings. "I was a musician on my last crew, after all."

"You're a musician, too?!" Luffy cried. "Hurry up and join us already!"

"Yohohoho! How about- AHHHH!" Brook fell backwards, the instrument falling to the floor. The crew stood again, each grabbing their weapons in preparation of a fight. Brook continued to cower, his eye sockets locked onto something by the far wall. "G-g-g-ghost!"

"Ghost!" Usopp and Chopper echoed, falling to the floor to cower with the undead pirate. The ghost in question was sticking halfway out of the wall, showing a defined head with black holes for eyes and large lips. Two stubby arms protruded from the body and a pink tongue stuck out of its mouth.

"It is a ghost!" Luffy cheered. "That's so cool! Hey, Nami? Can we keep it?"

"Of course we can't keep it," the navigator scolded as the apparition floated the rest of the way out of the wall.

"Negative~ Negative~" the ghost chanted in a higher voice, floating through the dinning room and out through the other wall. Just as it disappeared, a tremor raced through the ship, sending silverware and cookware to the floor.

"Oh no," Brook gasped, launching himself up and toward the door to the back of the ship. "Oh no! Oh no no no!"

"What is it?" Gin asked, the crew following the skeleton out the door. There appeared to be a set of giant teeth rising out of the water directly behind the Thousand Sunny. The boat Brook had come on still bobbed in the water to the right since Merry had tied the Sunny to it.

"What is that?" Usopp demanded, grabbing Merry and scooping her into his arms for protection (for himself or her was unknown). "Did we just get eaten by something again?!"

"Again?" Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Merry questioned. None of them had been on the crew (or in Merry's case, fully sentient) before the Island Eater had eaten them after Little Garden and those from before remembered Laboon.

"It's a gate," Brook whispered. He bolted back into the dinning room, flew into and through Chopper's doctor's office, and came out to stand before the railing over the grassy deck. His gaze landed on the massive form in the mist. "Oh no. Thriller Bark."

"That's not an ominous name at all," Amy sassed, alerting Brook that the others had followed him once more.

"You folks didn't happen to pick up a barrel on your way here, did you?" Brook questioned.

"We did," Franky answered.

"It was a trap. They've been watching us this entire time. Now, what you see before you is the Ghost Island of the Florian Triangle, Thriller Bark."

"It's not showing up on the Log Pose," Nami muttered.

"It wouldn't," Brook nodded. "You see, this island was originally from the West Blue."

"I think I know who we're up against," Coby stated, his ashen face showing how terrified he was, though he held his composure much better than he would have at any time before. "It's not good."

"Who's ass am I kicking today?" Luffy asked, his knuckles cracking.

"I'm not sure who will be the one getting their ass kicked," Coby whispered fearfully. "All the clues fit: stolen shadows, a ghost island, the name Thriller Bark. It has to be him."

"Who is it?" Zoro demanded. "Spit it out, Shrimp."

"It's one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea: Gekko Moria." The reaction was instantaneous. Nearly everyone panicked, only the Heartless Trio of Zoro, Amy, and Gin, as well as Luffy, Robin, and Coby not moving. The others either tripped over themselves in shock or tried to take cover behind something. Brook whirled around and stared at the rosette (though he did not have eyes to stare) and gawked at him while ignoring the artist who had planted herself behind the pale Zoan.

"Another Warlord, huh?" Luffy chuckled, shifting the skeleton's attention from Coby to him. "I wonder if this gecko is a bigger asshole than Crocodile was."

"What do you mean another Warlord," Franky gaped, speaking the question that Brook had been trying to get out. "Just what kind of crew have I super gotten myself involved in?"

"We haven't gotten around to telling you that, have we?" Gin chuckled. "Here's the short version. Crocodile was trying to overthrow a kingdom, Don Luffy befriended the princess of the kingdom, and then he kicked the sand-man out of the kingdom. It was really just a warm up before we went to Heaven and killed God."

"Rein yourself in, Gin," Zoro chastised, the handle of Wado Ichimonji hitting the human lightning-man. "You keep talking about killing God. That happened months ago."

"I'm proud of it," Gin defended. "Sue me."

"As amazing as that sounds," Brook interjected, "it is time we part ways." The skeleton moved back into the dining hall to retrieve his purple cane, but left his violin behind. As he returned, the pirates watched in awe as he jumped from the second-story deck to the top of the figurehead's mane. "I've had a wonderful time with you people, but I request that you turn around and flee while you still can. I know not if I will ever leave this island, but here's to hoping that we will meet again somewhere on the high seas! Yohohoho!" The undead man jumped after tipping his top hat, flipping backwards off of the ship while still laughing.

"Wait!" Coby yelled. "You can't swim!"

"He's gonna drown!" Franky shouted. Before the rest of the crew could move, a mist was kicked up from the sea along the side of the ship. The skeleton, still laughing, was running on top of the water.

"Holy cow!" Grace gasped. "I didn't think that was possible."

"That is surprising," Gin admitted, glancing over at the rest of the crew. "We aren't leaving, are we, Don Luffy?" The captain didn't answer, but the twinkle in his eye said enough.

"Guys," the teen smiled. "I smell adventure."

End of Chapter 85

Read and Review!

And if you haven't yet, remember to go vote on the poll for Ace's fate! For all you know, he could live... But then again, how drastically would that change the future? Would Luffy fight Doflamingo with the same intensity if he didn't try to offer Ace's legacy as a prize? Would Luffy become as strong as he did without Jinbe's words of "what's left?" You decide!

-SwordOfTheGods