Chapter Text
YEARS AGO
UNKNOWN, NEW WORLD
GRAND LINE
“Is this right?” Belle stared at Penny, who was crouched by a tide pool, face bobbing in and out of the water as she attempted to look at the creatures in its depths. “Raising her like this? Shouldn’t she have friends? Go to school?”
“Do you miss all that?”
Belle leaned back on his elbows, staring up at the clouds. He spoke after a long pause, voice low, “I don’t remember it anymore.”
In the distance, Hal wiped Penny’s face clean of saltwater. Lucy wondered if Penny would’ve been better off staying in a place like Bourgeoise, raised in glided halls and gardens full of roses. A childhood wrapped in safety and stability. Penny didn’t have any friends. She’d never gone to school. She was more equipped to give goodbyes than hellos. Was love enough to make up for all that Penny lacked?
“Maybe that’s for the best,” said Lucy, with a solemn expression. “Nothing about this world is normal anyway. There’s no point in pretending that it is.”
“Do you wish you could go back?”
“Sometimes.” Lucy’s brow furrowed. “But, I think I’m better off here.”
“Almost at the end.”
“We won’t live to see it.”
“You don’t think so?”
“People like us always die young.”
Belle scoffed, shaking his head. “You can walk into hell on your own. I don’t plan on following.”
Lucy didn’t understand him. He had a stupid dream to die of old age and had taken to the seas, looking for some island to retire to, but he was constantly fighting. Getting himself into trouble. Always two words away from pissing the wrong person off. And there was that treasure he claimed to have hidden away somewhere—Lucy was half convinced he was as much of a liar as she was.
The world she came from was so much bigger and so much of it was lost, but Lucy knew that there was no magic that would send her back home. No, there was no going back. It was the future that concerned Lucy most and the reason she had traveled so far to begin with, but she was too early.
The world was not ready yet.
PRESENT DAY
ON THE DECKS OF THE THOUSAND SUNNY
“Penny! Penny!”
“Who—” Nami. It was Nami. The dream was already turning to haze in her mind, leaving Penny only with the disquieting feeling that something was terribly wrong. She breathed in and out deeply, trying to bring her heart down to a normal rate. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“Are you okay?” asked Nami, sitting beside her. Her face was flooded with a warm glow, but the corners of her eyes revealed her worry. “That’s the fourth night in a row.”
“I get a little confused by all the things I have in my head. It’s hard to…” Penny shook her head, falling silent.
“Do you want me to sleep with you? My sister and I would share a bed when we were younger. It helped sometimes.”
By now, Robin was also awake, listening to them from across the room. Penny never had trouble sleeping, so she wasn’t sure what was going on. Most of her dreams revolved around her mother, but none were frightening. Old memories coming to the surface. Penny wished that she could sleep longer and linger in the warmth, but she would wake up in a cold sweat, feverish and clammy at the same time, heart flying out of her chest. Maybe, training Luffy was more exhausting than she thought.
Nami pulled back the blanket and squeezed next to her. Penny wondered if she had ever been this mature. She didn’t think so. It seemed most of her life was full of other people taking care of her.
“We’ll be there in a few days,” murmured Nami, sleepily. “It’s not far off.”
Sabaody. Maybe that was why Penny was feeling so off. She didn’t have a good history with the island, and she knew that going there would bring nothing but trouble. Ace would be there though. And Sabo. Shakky and Rayleigh too. Maybe…she’d have a chance to slip in and out quietly and be on her way.
Quietly, she settled back into the dark, not really sleeping, but not quite awake. Her mind swirled back to Spider Miles and Doflamingo and their terrible crossing in Sabaody. Would he come there too? Would there be more Celestial Dragons crossing her path? There was so much that she wanted to know about that secret name, but it would mean nothing at all right now. The stories her mother told her at night would be unraveled when she made it to the New World.
Nami’s arm stretched out over her, tightening her hold. Penny succumbed to sleep. It had been a long time since she shared a room with anyone. It was nice to hear another heartbeat beside her own.
***
“I don’t know which one,” admitted Luffy, a scowl on his face. “Quit running around!”
“Stop looking with your eyes,” ordered Penny, smacking the back of his leg with a broomstick. Luffy’s Observation Haki wasn’t getting anywhere. Zoro, who had watched all their training sessions with interest, had yet to act on anything they learned. Penny’s copies kept Luffy plenty busy, while she sat on an upper ledge watching with a puzzled expression.
“Don’t hit him so hard,” she called out, only to be waived off by her clone. “It’s not going to teach him anything.”
“Huh?! There’s another one?!” Luffy tore at the blindfold, head whipping around to find Penny. She leapt off and zipped away before Luffy could punch her in the face for messing around. “Zoro, give me your sword!”
All of Penny’s clones froze, matching expressions of horror crossing their faces, “No, don’t!”
A sword in Luffy’s hands was the same as giving one to a gorilla. He had no skill to use it properly but would swing it wildly with the sole intention of causing damage. Penny shuddered recalling a time when he demanded to learn after watching Shanks teach her.
“Alright,” said Zoro, meeting her eyes briefly. A demonic smile crossed his face—had he crawled his way out of hell?
“Zoro!” Penny's voice cracked with panic as she materialized behind Luffy, grabbing for the sword. “You can't be serious!”
But Luffy had already taken hold of Wado Ichimonji's hilt, grinning wildly. “This is gonna be fun!”
“It's going to be a disaster!” Penny clapped her hands together, jumping into the fray as her remaining clones scattered. She pressed her palms against the deck, and suddenly there were three identical sections of ship flooring rising up like shields around her.
Luffy swung the sword in a wide arc, completely lacking any form or technique. The blade whistled through the air, and Penny had to duck and roll to avoid getting her head taken off.
“Luffy, you're supposed to be training your Observation Haki, not trying to kill me.”
“I won’t,” he laughed, taking another wild swing. “Quit crying.”
“The grass!” shouted Penny. One of her copies threw themselves in the sword's path, blocking it from uprooting all of Franky's hard work at the cost of her own demise. Usopp whistled, muttering something about her having the wrong priorities to Robin.
But, to everyone's surprise, Luffy seemed to know where to strike. He hadn't been wasting any time at all, but slowly acclimating to the new ability.
“Wait...” Penny's eyes widened as she watched him move. His swings weren't as wild as she'd thought. Each time he struck, he was aiming for her, not her clone. “He's actually...”
“Using his Haki?” Nami called from the upper deck.
Penny created two more copies of herself, sending them in opposite directions. But Luffy's head turned directly toward the real her, even as she tried to mask her presence among the duplicates.
“Found you,” he grinned, lunging forward.
Penny's heart raced. For a split second, she felt something strange—a warmth in her chest, something close to pride, because she had known Luffy could do it, but seeing it was something else.
Luffy was already moving again, and this time his Observation Haki locked onto her with precision she didn't expect. He discarded the sword, stretching his arm back.
“Gomu Gomu no—”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Penny threw up her hands, but it was too late.
“Pistol!”
His fist connected with her stomach, sending her flying across the deck. All her copies vanished simultaneously as she skidded to a halt near the mast.
The silence stretched on for minutes. Penny slowly regained her ability to breath, but remained on the deck, watching the clouds pass by.
She sat up slowly, rubbing her chest with a wince. “…ow….”
“What?” asked Zoro, once it was clear that she wasn’t dead. “How did you know?”
“That one felt like she was trying too hard,” said Luffy, with a wide grin. “Right, Penny?”
“…did Luffy just win?” asked Nami, bewildered.
Penny’s lower lip jutted out, tears welling in her eyes as she looked to find a drop of pity in the Straw Hats. It seemed that everyone had caught on to her usual tricks already. Had she been on the Red Force, she knew at least one of them would’ve entertained her antics. “You guys are the worst!” declared Penny, childishly.
Luffy laughed, sitting down on her just as she tried to get up. “I’ve got 99 to go, right?”
“I wasn’t paying attention! It doesn’t count!”
He laughed. “What’re you crying about? Just say you lost!”
“You cheated!”
“We’re pirates,” he said proudly. “Not saints.”
From then on, Luffy had an easier time getting the best of Penny. He might have known deep down that what she was showing him wasn’t all she could, but neither expected the other to reveal all their talents. She was opening his eyes to the strength he would need in the New World, but no more than that.
***
“Something ominous this way comes…”
“What?”
“The air,” said Penny, leaning over the side of the Sunny. “Isn’t it spooky?”
“No.” Usopp did a double-take and screeched, jumping away from Penny. She had her hair draped down her back and was wearing a long, elaborate nightgown that only served to highlight the ghostly white make-up she was wearing. “Why do you look like that?!”
“I was thinking of going for vampire, but corpse is not a good look on anyone, so I went for the lady-in-a-night-dress-about-to-get-killed vibe.”
“You’re gonna jinx yourself.”
“I’ve never been that lucky, Usopp.”
Chopper emerged onto the deck, humming a light song to himself as he giggled like a child caught up in mischief. All his humor fled upon seeing her and Usopp together.
“AHHHH,” screamed Chopper, jumping high into the air. “A GHOST!”
“What?!” demanded Penny, spinning around to look for the spirit as well. “Where? Who?! I’ve never had the pleasure of…” She deflated immediately at Usopp’s snickering, a scowl crossing her face. “I will repay you for this trickery one day.”
“Scary,” mocked Usopp. She was glad that his fear of her seemed to have disappeared.
“You know, rather than watching me and Luffy, I could teach you as well. I can tell you want to learn.”
“Wh—how?!”
Penny wiggled her fingers in the air.
“Don’t do that!” snapped Usopp, slapping her hand away. “It’s creepy!”
Penny couldn’t help the fact that all the Straw Hats were touchy people. No one seemed to have much of an issue with her Devil Fruit, though Sanji, who had reacted strongly to in Alabasta seemed to still avoid any direct contact. “I’ll have Zoro chop them off as compensation. We can put them in a jar and—”
Robin joined the conversation with a coy expression, “You shouldn’t encroach on another’s territory. My sense of humor doesn’t suit you very well.”
“You’re right,” said Penny, with a light laugh. “You’re ten times scarier than I am.”
“My line of work made it hard to be anything else.”
“With a bit of effort, it wouldn’t be hard to turn you guys into an acting troupe.”
“You’re in a good mood this morning. No more dreams?”
“When you live a life of passion like I have, even the ficklest memories make your heart race.”
“What does that mean?”
Under ordinary circumstances, Penny might have taken delight in horrifying a young adolescent with her horror stories, but Chopper had the strongest of the Straw Hats protecting him from corrupt people like her.
“There's something floating in the water,” called Zoro from the Crow’s Nest. Penny had paid a single visit to his training room, hoping to make use of it with Luffy, but she was not suited for lifting weights.
Franky had built an impressive ship, but despite her best efforts, Penny felt rather lost on the Thousand Sunny. A stranger among friends. Perhaps, the truth was that she and Luffy were two mismatched puzzle pieces desperately trying to fit together. Reality told another story. One day, they would need to face the fact that their paths were only destined to converge, not entwine.
The boys, not ones to see the danger in anything, lifted the mysterious barrel out of the ocean. Penny stared at it for a long moment, “I shouldn’t intervene with fate.”
“Huh? Wha—”
It was too late. By the time Luffy had turned around to look for her, Penny was gone. Over the next few hours, they faced a terrible storm that tested the Thousand Sunny fiercely, only to emerge in a thick, endless fog.
Penny returned, scaring Usopp so badly he nearly tipped overboard had she not reached out to grab him. “I told you something ominous was coming,” she said.
“Don’t do that!”
“I wish I could swim. I would’ve left you all behind,” she said, shoulders sagging. “Why do you get into so much trouble?”
“Trouble? What trouble?”
“Have you been here before, Penny? I was hoping we’d have more time before sailing here,” said Nami, leaning against the railing of the upper deck. Her eyes narrowed at Penny, “Thanks for all your help during the storm,” she deadpanned.
Penny had elected to take a nice long nap.
“We should find a way out,” she said, chewing at her thumb-nail. “It smells weird here.”
“We have to get past the ghosts to get to Fishman Island,” said Luffy, hopping over some of the rigging to land next to her.
“You all better stay on your guard,” warned Franky, a sharp look in his eyes, “This is the Florian Triangle—”
“Demons live here,” Penny's voice drifted through the thickening mist. The corner of her mouth twitched upward as she watched Usopp's shoulders tense, his grip on the ship's railing turning white-knuckled.
“—a place where ships disappear into the darkness forever.” Franky let the final word hang in the air.
Usopp's eyes were wide. A visible shudder ran down his spine. “W—what?! G—ghosts?!” His voice cracked on the last word, jumping an octave higher than usual.
Luffy's delighted laughter filled the air. His grin stretched wide, the kind that made his eyes crinkle at the corners with unfiltered joy. He bounced on his toes, “That's right, there's ghosts here!”
“…never shall we die…” Penny began to sing.
“NO NO NO NO—” Usopp lunged forward, his panic overriding any sense of survival. His palm slammed against Penny's face with enough force to push her back several steps. “STOP! Just—just stop talking!”
Penny's muffled protests came from behind his hand, her own hands flailing slightly as she tried to maintain her balance. Her eyes held a mixture of amusement and mild indignation.
“WHY DO YOU ALL KNOW THIS AND I'M ONLY JUST FINDING OUT?” Usopp's voice rose to a near-shriek. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool, damp air.
“Old Lady Kokoro told us about it,” Luffy said as he rocked back on his heels, hands clasped behind his back. “She said there's a living skeleton around here!”
Sanji stepped forward. One hand wrapped around Usopp's wrist, gently but firmly pulling it away from Penny's face. “That's just your imagination,” he said, shaking his head at Luffy. “Don't scare him so easily, you guys.”
Penny stumbled back, steadied by Sanji before she could hit the mast. She rubbed her face, shooting Usopp a look that promised a future death.
“Listen to me, Usopp.” The cook's shoulders were taut with tension, his expression darkening until a heavy shadow fell across his eyes. There was something haunted lurking in his gaze. A natural born actor, thought Penny, enamored by the sudden talent that Sanji displayed.
Sanji's voice dropped to a gravelly whisper, weighted with dread. “Every year, over a hundred ships vanish in the Florian Triangle without a trace. People say that a ghost-ship roams these waters, inhabited by the spirits of the dead...”
Penny's hands flew together in enthusiastic applause. The sound startled poor Chopper. “Bravo!” she whispered.
Sanji straightened. A pleased flush colored his cheeks as he swept into an elegant bow, one hand pressed to his chest. “Mademoiselle, it’s my pleasure,” he murmured, his voice returning to its usual warm timbre.
Penny beamed at him, careful to keep her hands clasped tightly in front of her chest, well away from his person. She'd noticed how he still tensed slightly when she moved too quickly, how his eyes would track her hands with barely concealed wariness.
“WHY DID YOU ONLY TELL ME ABOUT THIS NOW, YOU JERKS?” Usopp's cried, his voice cracking with terror. His whole body trembled, hands shaking.
“What would you have done if we told you earlier?” asked Sanji, a bit of a smirk at the corner of his mouth.
Usopp’s face crumpled, and he let out a long, wailing sob that echoed in the mist. “I gotta get ready!” he wailed, thick with panic. “I have to cover myself in anti-ghost stuff!”
“Me too, Usopp!” Chopper's small voice piped up, high and quavering with terror. The little reindeer clutched at Usopp’s leg. “You have to let me borrow something! Please!”
A faint voice carried in the air, belonging to none of them. Penny strained to hear it, making out the first notes of a song, “Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho…”
It was a song she knew well—one that she could've sung in her sleep and often had when she'd had a bit too much Green Fairy. Bink's Brew. But this version...this version was no happy drinking song.
Where there should have been laughter and the clinking of tankards, there were only hollow, mournful notes. The familiar tune had been stripped of all its warmth.
Floating behind them was an old pirate ship. It’s sails and jolly roger hung in tatters off the mast making it a miracle that the ship could ever move forward. Shadow crept over the deck of the Thousand Sunny as it inched toward them. Though the storm was gone, the fog remained adding an eerie effect to the ghost ship as the singing continue.
“GHOST SHIP!” roared the crew, Luffy and Usopp loudest among them. Robin was the only one who’s curiosity outweighed her fear.
Penny inched toward Luffy. When it came to a fight, he was reliable and springy enough that she could use him as a shield without risking outright dismemberment. Survival plan secured.
Usopp, panicking to the point of hyperventilating, gripped his head tightly, shouting at Luffy. “That’s the sailing song of evil spirits! Don’t listen to it! You’ll get cursed!” Penny suffered a mini flashback, remembering Yasopp getting fooled into giving all their gold to a shaman after he’d been told he had the blackspot.
Luffy’s eyes bulged out of his head. “WHAT?!”
A cross and string of garlic appeared in Usopp’s hands. “Don’t listen to ghosts even if they talk to you! If you answer, they’ll drag you out to sea! Evil spirits are always hungry to drag other people in the world of the undead!”
“It’s true,” said Penny, holding Luffy’s arm tightly. “It’s the only way we have fun.”
“Who could be on that ship?” asked Robin with a gleam of interest.
Zoro scoffed, a bright light entering his gaze. “If it’s an enemy, all I have to do it cut it down.”
“Hey.” Sanji’s voice was low and serious. “Something’s there.”
The fog began to clear. They all held their breath, watching as an eerie figure came into their view. The man raised a teacup to his mouth. He seemed the gentlemanly kind, but she had been fooled by outward appearances before. “Time to ship out…” he sang. “…Bink’s brew…”
Frowning she squinted and realized why everyone was freaking out.
“Oh, wow!” Penny rushed to climb onto the side of the ship, hanging as far out as she could without falling. “You’re a skeleton!”
“PENNY, YOU FOOL!” Usopp gripped her legs, using his strength to try and pull her down. “DID YOU NOT HEAR A WORD I SAID! IF IT DRAGS YOU OUT, I’M NOT SAVING YOU!”
“How rude would it be if I didn’t talk to him? He’s just a skeleton. If anything, that’s the exact reason we should be talking to him.”
“Good day to you, fair lady!” called the skeleton-man.
“Hello, I’m Penny! Pleased to meet you—may we board your ship?!”
The skeleton seemed delighted by her directness. “Oh my! How wonderfully bold! Though I must warn you, young lady, you might not be able to keep up with these old bones.”
“She's lost her mind,” Chopper whimpered, hiding behind Zoro.
“We can't let her go alone,” Nami said firmly.
Penny wasn't a child to be coddled, so while they set about arguing and drawing straws, she made her decision. She grabbed hold of the rigging and hauled herself up, her feet finding purchase on the railing. Before anyone could stop her, she launched herself across the gap between ships.
“PENNY!” Sanji's voice cracked with panic as he rushed to the rail, his hands gripping the wood so tightly his knuckles went white. “Come back! It's not safe!”
But his words fell on deaf ears. Penny had already landed on the ship's deck with a soft thud, her knees bending to absorb the impact. She straightened up, brushing imaginary dust from her clothes, completely ignoring the increasingly frantic calls behind her.
“How absolutely delightful!” the skeleton exclaimed, setting down his teacup with a delicate clink. “It's been so terribly long since I've had visitors who weren't trying to run away screaming.”
Penny studied the figure before her with the practiced eye of someone accustomed to mending what others had discarded. The skeleton, and he was indeed a skeleton, possessed a certain elegance despite his obvious neglect. He was all bones, except for a thick, shiny afro that haloed his skull. His top hat sat at a rakish angle, its felt worn thin at the crown. His jacket, once fine wool by the look of it, now bore patches of mismatched fabric, all stitched by someone who knew how to hold a needle and thread but not much more. Penny could, and would, fix him up a nice suit.
“I am Brook,” he said, rising from his chair. He removed his hat in a sweeping gesture, bowing low. “At your service, young lady.”
Though he possessed no eyes, Penny felt the weight of his attention as he looked her over. There was something almost clinical in his assessment, the way a student might examine a particularly challenging math problem. He leaned forward, and when he spoke again, he asked, “Might I take a look at your panties?”
Heat flooded Penny's cheeks, but not from embarrassment. Her hands flew to her face as her smile stretched wide. “I'm quite good at lacemaking,” she said, practically glowing with the opportunity. “It's rare I get a chance to show off.”
She began reaching for her skirts when the thunder of footsteps across the deck announced the arrival of chaos.
Luffy vaulted over the railing with his usual disregard for conventional entry methods, while Sanji raced ahead to get to her, his face shifting between outrage at Brook’s audacity and protective fury. But it was Nami who reached Penny first, her hand clamping over Penny's shoulders before any demonstrations could commence.
“No, no, no,” Nami snapped, dragging her backward with surprising strength. “We do not indulge the perverted skeleton's hobbies.”
“YO HO HO HO!” Brook took a deep sip of his tea and tipped his hat toward Nami. “And your charming friend’s as well?”
“YOU MAY NOT LOOK AT ANYONE’S PANTIES! DON’T ASK AGAIN!”
“What a feisty lass!”
Nami whacked him so hard that Penny stepped back into Sanji, afraid she’d get hit next. By some miraculous power, afforded only to Nami, Brooks went tumbling down, a bump forming on his bone where Nami had struck him.
“That hurt me right down to the bone!” He paused, letting the air stale, before delivering the punchline. “Because I’m a skeleton!”
Penny inhaled, puffing her cheeks out to hold her own laughter in. If she revealed that her and Luffy had the same sense of humor, everyone would lose the little respect they held for her. But, a talking skeleton wearing a suit who drank tea and made puns was basically a mountain’s worth of gold handed to them on a silver platter. What other ship in the world could claim to have such a man on their crew?
Poking Luffy on the arm, she tried to mentally communicate the question he should ask, but Luffy’s head was emptier than a cloud and was currently occupied with something far more important.
“Do you still have to poo?”
As far as questions went, it wasn’t the worst one he could ask, but it also wasn’t the one Penny was thinking of. Luffy’s question did lead to a rather inappropriate one of her own. “Is it still a boner if there’s only bone?”
She wondered if one could even bone a skeleton, and how such a thing might work. How old was he, anyway? And was it even appropriate to entertain her curiosity, if only to have a story worth carrying back with her?
Luffy lost it, rolling around on the ground as he clutched at his chest, breathless with laughter. She offered Nami what she hoped was an apologetic smile and promptly sought refuge behind Sanji's broad shoulders.
This was precisely why she avoided prolonged exposure with Luffy’s friends. Soon enough, they would see through the stories, realize that her reputation for chaos stemmed not from cleverness but from a particular brand of stupidity that occasionally made even Luffy look like the smarter of the two.
“I do poo and that’s a very good question, my dear. In fact, a demonstration would be—”
“You don't need to answer that! We don't care!” Sanji's voice cracked with exasperation under the weight of increasingly absurd questions. “First! Why are you nothing but bones yet still alive and talking?! Who are you and why are you here?! What happens in the waters around here?! Answer all of that!”
Luffy stepped forward, peering up at Brook. “Never mind all that,” he said, hands settling on his hips. “Do you wanna join my crew?”
Brook's response came without hesitation, as if he'd been waiting his entire afterlife for someone to ask. “I'd love to.”
And so, having tacked on one extra member to their group, they turned to head back to the Thousand Sunny, but Penny lingered, her gaze wandering across the ship's weathered deck.
Sanji paused, fingers reaching to pull his cigarette from his mouth. He flicked it away. “Penny?”
Penny looked off into the horizon, where the line between sea and sky blurred into an indistinct haze, her gut churning with dread. She pulled at the sleeve of her dress, the fabric sliding between her fingers in a nervous tick. Her mouth pursed into a thin line as she tried to parse the sensation crawling up her spine—not fear, exactly.
“What is it?”
Paranoia, maybe? But, her mother always used to say that one’s instincts were never wrong. “I don’t know.”
Sanji’s expression softened, “That’s alright,” he said, comfort with no demand for an explanation. “I’ll make you a cup of tea when we’re back on the ship.”
The kitchen aboard the Thousand Sunny buzzed with chatter as Sanji prepared dinner. Brook's presence had brought more questions than answers, but everything went down better with a bit of food. Though, their new skeleton friend had all but demanded dinner.
“This is quite the magnificent dining room,” Brook observed, his head tilting appreciatively toward the polished wood and gleaming fixtures. “And a fine kitchen to match! This is a splendid ship, yohohoho.”
“You’ve got a good eye,” smiled Franky, pleased by the compliment. “I built this super ship myself!”
Sanji's knife paused mid-chop against the cutting board, a subtle tension threading through his shoulders. “Don't get so friendly with him, Franky,” he warned.
Brook looked at each of them, lingering on their faces. “I haven't eaten very well for the past few decades,” he began. “I am so looking forward to a warm meal. I lived every day in suffering as I felt my stomach shrink more and more.”
The silence that followed was heavy with sympathy. Penny felt her heart constrict at the deep sadness threading through his words. The notion of decades spent in hunger seemed unbearable to her. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
“But of course,” Brook continued, “I'm a skeleton, so I don't have a stomach! Skull joke! Yohohohoho!”
Luffy erupted into laughter, clapping with such enthusiasm that the table shook. The joke only made Penny want to cry more, because Brooke had told it for their sake as much as his own. A way to shape the darkness into light.
“I am a gentleman, so I just love…this time when we wait for the meal.” His gentleman's facade crumbled almost immediately. Brook began banging on the table with his fists. “Dinner! Dinn-nner!”
Sanji's patience snapped. “Shut up and wait!”
“Head chef,” Brook ventured with renewed politeness, “might I have a glass of milk with my dinner?”
Penny rose and went to pour him a glass. As she placed the glass before Brook, she rested a hand on his shoulder, shocking the man. He was warm, even if there was nothing but bones to him. So very human despite his appearance. “Why don’t I mend this for you?”
Brook's gratitude was immediate. “My dear lady, your kindness knows no bounds! To think that such generosity exists in this world.” He shrugged out of the weathered garment, handling it off with great care. Penny wandered over to a corner of the room, away from any potential spills, to patch it up.
“By the way, Corbuckle...”
“Oh, my name is Brook,” the skeleton corrected. “And your name is...?”
“I'm Luffy. By the way, what are you?”
Zoro's exasperation was clear. “You know nothing about him, and you brought him here?!”
“We'll get rid of the skeleton later,” Sanji announced, setting dishes on the table. “For now, dinner's ready!”
Golden-crusted fish fillets were drizzled with butter and lemon, paired with roasted onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Bowls of beef stew, rich with red wine and garden herbs, were served with fresh bread, straight from the oven. Luffy set upon it like a man starved, tearing pieces off to soak up the stew. Chopper and Usopp bounded over to the table like eager.
“Hey, Brook!” Luffy smiled, “Eat all you want! Sanji's cooking is the best!”
Brook's voice caught, “I'm so happy...! My hunger seems trivial all of a sudden...!” His attention turned to Robin, “Oh, Miss. Your piece of meat is a bit larger than mine. Do you mind if we switch?”
Sanji's nearly struck the man, “There's enough for seconds, so eat your own!”
Penny rejoined them once she’d finished mending the jacket, returning it to Brook. Given more time, she might have redone the entire suit, but for now her work would have to do. The warm meal helped ease some of her nerves, and it was clear from Brook’s delight that Sanji’s cooking was more than appreciated. Penny often found a strange comfort in tragedies—after all, no life was without sorrow, and learning to live with grief was part of growing. Yet she couldn’t pretend she had Brook’s grace in handling it.
The mystery of his existence began to unravel only after the meal had ended. Penny gathered the plates and carried them to the sink, despite Sanji’s loud protests that the kitchen was his domain and he would see to the cleaning himself.
Penny worked at the sink while her attention remained fixed on the conversation. Brook's explanation of the Revive-Revive Fruit should have been the most shocking revelation of the evening, yet Penny found herself oddly unsurprised. Devil Fruit were strange things. Mysteries that Penny hadn’t found the answer for.
“So, you're not a ghost?” Usopp's voice cracked with nerves. “You're human, right? But you don't look like it!”
Penny smiled at Brook's earnest response about hating ghosts. She heard the scrape of chairs and sudden commotion as Nami produced a mirror. Brook tried to avoid it, but in the crash of bodies colliding as he backed away, they all saw that he had no reflection at all.
“Why don't you show up in the mirror?” Usopp's question was more an accusation. “You don't have a shadow either!”
Brook deflected, settling down to drink his tea much to Sanji’s annoyance. Penny began to frown, realizing why she’d felt odd all day. They were sailing directly into trouble. Goodness, she’d found herself on a ship that could’ve rivaled Shanks’ magnet for chaos. From fighting the World Government, straight into a fight with a Warlord? Gecko Moria was a known thief, but it was usually bodies she’d heard about.
She dried her hands, turning to face the group. “His shadow was stolen.”
The room fell quiet, all eyes turning to her with expressions ranging from surprise to bewilderment. Except for Robin, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion, likely much faster than Penny had.
Zoro's frowned, “Losing your shadow? Is that even possible?”
“Yes,” murmured Brook, “Having my shadow stolen means that I can no longer exist in the world of light. If I bask in direct sunlight, my body will disintegrate! I knew someone in a similar situation. He went into the sun, and I watched him vanish. That sight made my hair stand on end, even though I'm a skeleton.”
There was something cruel about being cut off from something as fundamental as sunlight—the very thing that brought warmth and life to the world.
“And just as the light does not make me cast a shadow, I cannot be reflected in mirrors or be seen in photographs. In other words, I am a being shunned by the light. And all my friends are dead. Dead and bones! My name is Brook! Pleased to make your acquaintance! Yohohoho!”
“Why are you so cheery?” Sanji's exasperation was reaching its end, sweat beading on his forehead. “Your life sucks.”
“It's true! I managed to survive by working myself to the bone. But it was easy! After all, I was bones already!”
“Shut up!” Franky and Sanji shouted in unison, their frustration with his puns evident.
Then Brook began to dance…an absurd, joyful dance. His laughter bubbled up brightly as he spun in place.
“Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?” Usopp asked, clearly bewildered by the sudden burst of energy.
Brook's answer came breathless with happiness, “What a wonderful day this has been! I met people!”
Here was someone who'd lost everything…his crew, his life, his very ability to exist in daylight…and his greatest joy was simply meeting other people. Not treasure or adventure or revenge against whoever had stolen his shadow, but people.
The tears came without warning, hot and sudden, spilling down her cheeks. All her own griefs seemed suddenly overwhelming in the face of Brook's warmth. Bad things would always happen, but they would pass too. Wasn’t it better to face them with friends, then alone? But, what did you do when your friends kept dying? When you couldn't even protect them from that?
Sanji noticed, his usual dramatic flair for women evaporating as he stepped closer, fishing a clean handkerchief from his jacket pocket. “Here,” he murmured, pressing it into her trembling hands.
Brook's voice broke as he continued. “In this dark ocean and heavy fog, I cannot tell when one day ends and another begins. All alone on a ship which I could not steer or navigate... I could only wait for decades and let the waves rock me back and forth.”
Penny's grip tightened on the handkerchief, her knuckles white.
“I felt so very lonely! I was so lonely and scared! I wanted to die!”
Brook threw his arms up, “A long life certainly is a blessing. Rejoice, everyone! If my tears had not already dried, I would cry from happiness. You people have made me so happy! Yohohohoho!”
Brook leaned down toward Luffy, until they were nearly eye to eye, “But, I’m afraid that I must decline your offer to join.”
Luffy's expression hardened with familiar stubbornness. “Don't be such a loner. I'll get your shadow back for you. Someone stole it from you, right? Who is it?! Tell me where he is and I'll get it back!”
Brook stepped back, “You're a very kind person. It's such a surprise, but alas, I cannot tell you. We just met a few moments ago. I cannot ask you to die for my sake.”
Franky crossed his arms, tilting his head. “It's not like you have anything to lose by giving us a name.”
Brook shook his head vigorously. “No, I cannot say it. I don't even know where to begin looking. I don't even know if I can meet him before my second life is up. If I were to see him again, I have resolved to fight him myself.”
As if summoned by magic, a violin appeared in his hands. Usopp and Chopper exchanged glances, clearly thinking it was magic. “At any rate! Let us sing! We must celebrate this encounter. I am rather skilled with instruments, you know! Back on the pirate ship, I was the ship's musician!”
Luffy practically bounced in his seat. “What? Really? Then, you have to join my crew!”
Brook positioned the violin under his chin bone with practiced ease. “Let me start with a boatman's song!”
Penny wiped her nose. “Save the music for later," she said, shaking her head. "Luffy, if you want his shadow back, you can take it now. We're here.”
Brook's bow froze midair. Every head in the room swiveled toward her. Luffy's mouth hung open, Zoro's hand instinctively moved toward his swords, and Nami's grip tightened on her teacup.
“Here?” Chopper's voice pitched higher with anxiety.
“Here where?” Usopp's finger pointed at her accusingly, his whole body coiled like a spring ready to bolt.
“Where are we?”
Penny let the silence linger for a long moment. She dabbed at her eyes and then straightened out, stiffening her spine. “The Isle of the Dead—Thriller Bark. Home of the Warlord, Gecko Moria. He's probably the one who sent that barrel trap to us earlier. Luring in unsuspecting pirates to steal their shadows for his army.”
“Army?”
Usopp's pointing finger began to shake. “How do you know all this? Are you working with him?"
Penny shot him a glare, “Don't you smell that?”
The question prompted sniffing from all the Straw Hats as each crew member tested the air. Luffy's brow furrowed in concentration, his nose wrinkling as he drew in a long breath. “Smell what?”
“Death.”
At that precise moment, a translucent figure materialized through the wall. The temperature plummeted so suddenly that their breath became visible in small puffs. The ghost opened its mouth, “Boo!”
Chaos erupted.