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The Straw Hat Pirates had left Water 7 some time ago; they still had a few islands to go before reaching Fish-Man Island, but old Kokoro's warning had them quite excited about it.
They were getting closer to the Florian Triangle each day, with Usopp growing more fearful each day, always looking for an excuse not to go there, claiming to have the "can't-go-into-cursed-fog" illness.
No one listened to him.
The sea was calm and the breeze was slightly icy, indicating that they were approaching the climatic zone of an island. It was during lunch that Sanji made an announcement.
"We're running out of food," he said, exhaling a thin cloud of smoke while holding a cigarette between his fingers, "we'll have to resupply on the next island."
Luffy looked desperate at the prospect of running out of food (no surprise), while Usopp thanked the heavens for more time avoiding the pirate graveyard. Nami sighed, already doing the math to revise the budget.
"We're running out of money," she reminded him, clicking her tongue in irritation. "Someone spent most of our money on a party." If looks could kill, Luffy would be at the bottom of the ocean.
"Well, it seems we'll have to steal," said Robin, a delicate smile on her face, knowing full well what she was inciting.
"Yes! Let's get food!" said Luffy, seeing no problem with the idea, receiving a punch to the head.
"You idiot! We just escaped the Marines! They're watching us, we have to stay quiet for a while or they might try to ambush us in the Florian Triangle, or on Fish-Man Island!"
Luffy grumbled, but didn't contradict the navigator's logic. The day went normally apart, with Nami and Sanji in the kitchen debating about the stock and money, not that Zoro cared, going up to the crow's nest to train. Even up there, however, he couldn't shake the bad feeling that plagued him. It wasn't a sign of something truly bad, though; it was a sign of something unsettling, and as they sailed toward the next island in the log, he grew increasingly apprehensive.
"There's no island on the map," Nami said at dusk, during dinner. "This area is very poorly mapped because it's near the Florian Triangle, so most cartographers haven't ventured into this region. I have no idea where we're going," she sighed, looking annoyed by the lazy cartography work.
"That's really intriguing," Robin said, while eating her macaroni. "Maybe it's an island with a haunted castle, home to ghosts and a powerful vampire who will lead us all to a painful death by his sword." A calm smile graced her face, sending shivers down Usopp's spine.
"Don't say such a thing, Robin!"
"Yeah, sis, that was SUUUPER macabre!"
An island with a castle inhabited by ghosts and a vampire? Well, that reminded Zoro of a certain island where he lived, with a ghost princess and a swordsman vampire. Although Mihawk wasn't a real vampire, he fit the description well. A shiver ran through his body and he turned around, sweating profusely at the prospect of his friends meeting his sister. Surely Perona would be unbearable and tell all sorts of embarrassing stories, so it was best to stay away from Kurugaina. (It wasn't like he missed her or his father, much less his home, not at all) (maybe just a little, but he wouldn't admit it).
His reaction didn't go unnoticed by the archaeologist, who raised an eyebrow.
"Any problem, Zoro?" Everyone turned to him, but he managed to maintain his unperturbed expression.
"No."
"What's wrong, moss-head? Did Robin-swan's horror story scare you?" -Sanji mocked, putting his hands on his cheeks and feigning innocence while pouting, before bursting into laughter along with Luffy and Franky. Usopp slowly removed his noodles from the table, afraid the two idiots would ruin his food (Zoro would never do that; everyone knew how Sanji was with wasteful). Zoro gritted his teeth, but suddenly felt a paw brush against his leg.
-It's okay, Zoro, I was scared too, -said Chopper. Zoro didn't have the courage to fight with the younger one and just patted him on the head.
-Yeah, yeah, thanks Chopper.
Everything would be alright, after all, what were the chances of them ending up in Kuraigana?
***
The next day everyone was woken up by Franky's shouts.
-LAND HO!!!
It was a rush, everyone getting ready and putting on their fangs, quickly climbing to the deck. The sun had barely risen and the air was still cold, with a light mist in the air, accompanied by a familiar, almost nostalgic scent. Despite all the fog, the island's silhouette was still quite distinguishable.
Zoro froze in place, paralyzed as he stared at the island before him.
His home
Kuraigana
It had to be a joke.
The island had countless winding mountains and a dense forest; it was impossible to distinguish anything beyond a dark, black mass, but it was definitely Kuraigana.
That's when he realized why the air was so familiar: the smell of the mist from his morning training sessions, the clouds that covered the sky most days, the beautiful sunrise behind them, which reminded him of when Mihawk had tried to teach him and Perona to navigate (he at least learned to survive, and after getting them lost several times, Mihawk gave up, and Perona was the only one allowed to leave the island unsupervised).
Everything was familiar, everything was identical and nostalgic. It was as if a part of himself that he didn't even realize he would miss, much less lose, had returned. Suddenly, he wasn't the Straw Hat Pirates' first mate, the future world's greatest swordsman, a wanted pirate who defied the government. He was a 10-year-old boy returning home after a long time away.
The voices of his crew cheering and preparing to release the landing plank, along with Nami's shouts preventing Luffy from jumping onto the island, finally brought him back to reality.
"It looks abandoned," Robin observed.
"It looks haunted!" Usopp said, hiding behind Franky.
"Are you alright, bro? Your legs are shaking more than usual."
"No, I have the 'can't-land-on-scary-islands' disease!!"
"Does anyone live there?" Sanji asked, and Zoro felt a chill at the thought that yes, people lived, or at least had lived, there, and he was one of them.
"There's something moving over there!" Chopper pointed excitedly. It was a group of tall humanoid silhouettes among the trees, and Zoro recognized them immediately from the humansdrills.
"Could there be a village or a city over there?" Luffy asked, now tucked under Franky's arm, as the little brat was still trying to run there.
"No," Zoro replied before he could think of what he was saying, all eyes turning to him. Nami, who was about to shout and attract the attention of the figures who had seen her, slowly turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
"No...?" Nami asked. Zoro froze, before wondering why he was hesitating so much; it wasn't a secret he wanted to keep.
"Yes, there's no city or civilization on this island," he explained, Nami's eyes narrowing.
"And how do you know that?"
"I've been to this island. There hasn't been a civilization here for hundreds of years, probably." -He shrugged, Robin's eyes gleaming with curiosity- Anyway, there's an island further north where we can resupply, since we can't do it here - because there was no way he would let them loot Mihawk's wine stock.
-Okay, as if we'd accept directions from you, we'll end up lost like you at sea -Sanji snorted, and Zoro frowned, annoyed.
-I don't get lost! Besides, I know exactly where that island is! -Sanji raised an eyebrow.
-You do? Then where is it? -Zoro pointed in a direction and Sanji snorted- That's east, moss head.
-Screw it! The island is that way anyway! -he said angrily, the others blinking, surprised by the conviction in his voice.
Something stirred in the forest and shadows approached the shore, Usopp cursing gleefully.
"People!" Chopper frowned.
"But Zoro said there weren't any people!" As soon as he said that, the silhouettes revealed themselves as enormous baboons wearing human armor and wielding swords and weapons.
"AAAAAAAAAAA MONSTROUS MONKEYS!!!" Usopp yelled, hiding behind Franky. Luffy broke free from the larger man's grip and ran to the edge, grabbing the railing as he jumped into place.
"That's awesome!!!"
"What are those things?!" Nami yelled, while Sanji screaming about protecting her.
"Humandrills," Zoro said as if it were obvious. He saw Luffy stretching too far to the edge and pulled him back by the collar of his shirt. "They eat people."
"E-e-EAT PEOPLE?!" Usopp, Nami, and Chopper yelled at the same time.
"Yeah, they attract people by imitating humans."
Luffy still seemed excited while the others looked scared and worried...except for Robin, who looked curiously at them, probably thinking of the countless ways they could kill them to tell later.
"They're annoying and ugly animals," he grumbled. Suddenly the wind blew stronger and a dark laugh was heard behind them, making many people's hair stand up.
"Horohorohorohoro, not very different from you, are they?" a female voice said. Everyone turned and faced the intruder already in a fighting stance, except for Zoro, who just rolled his eyes, not even needing to turn around to know who it was. "Besides, they're even cute."
"You've spent too much time with these things if you consider them cute," Zoro snorted, turning around and finally seeing the spectral figure of his sister.
Perona floated in the air above the deck, her long pink hair tied in two high pigtails, a crown atop her head, an umbrella over her shoulder (which Zoro knew was her rapier in disguise), black fingerless gloves with pink accents, knee-high boots with heart-shaped buckles, and a black dress full of ruffles and a large bow at the back. She was beautiful, but he never said so; she already had enough ego. She approached, her ghosts surrounding her.
-ENEMY! ENEMY! ENEMY!
-AAAAAAAA A GHOST!
-W-WHO ARE YOU?!
-Maybe she came to drag us to the world of the dead.
-DON'T SAY SUCH A THING, WOMAN!
-MELORRINE! MELORRINE!
Chaos reigned on deck. Luffy was the only one calm, tilting his head in confusion before turning to Zoro.
"OE Zoro, do you know her?" Everyone turned to the swordsman, who sighed.
"Unfortunately, yes," the woman gasped.
"What do you mean, unfortunately?! I am who should be complaining about already knowing that ugly face of yours, you lost seaweed!"
"I don't get lost, you stupid ghost!"
"Stinky moss!"
"Ugly girl!"
"Horrible swordsman!"
The two exchanged insults under the confused gaze of the crew. The conversation escalated, and Perona lost her patience, moving her hands and launching an attack on Zoro, to the despair of her friends.
"NEGATIVE HOLLOW!" A ghost passed through the swordsman, who staggered before falling to his knees.
"ZORO!" Luffy shouted.
"I'm sorry for being alive, I want to be reborn as a stone," he said melancholically, everyone staring at him in shock. Under different circumstances, Sanji would have laughed, but he was too worried at the moment, so Luffy adopted a more serious posture.
"What did you do to Zoro?!" he shouted, the ghost only laughed, irritating him even more.
"Nothing much, I just exposed him to my power, nothing he's not used to," she said, still laughing at the man's reaction to being hit; it never lost its charm for her. A shadow raise in front of her as a very angry Zoro headed towards she.
"Pe-ro-na!" he roared, drawing two swords and running towards her, brandishing the blades menacingly. Although she couldn't be hit in her spectral form, she ran terrified, fleeing towards the island and trying to float out of the man's reach.
"AAAAAA LEAVE ME ALONE YOU CRAZY SEAWEED! DAAAAAAD HELP!!!!"
"DAD ISN'T GOING TO SAVE YOU NOW!!!" he yelled behind her, a maniacal grin on his face, the crew watched, shocked, except for Luffy, who laughed at the scene.
Perona jumped high and stuck her tongue out at Zoro along with her ghosts, while the man got annoyed at not being able to reach her.
"Ehem" Nami cleared her throat, drawing the woman's attention back to her "you still haven't told us who you are."
"Oh, excuse my manners, this idiot must be infecting me" he gave her the middle finger, which she promptly ignored "I'm Dra- Perona, this idiot's sister" she said, pointing with her thumb at Zoro, holding back before revealing her unofficial surname, it was easy to forget that it should be a secret when her brother was right next to her.
"SISTER?!" They all shouted, shocked. Sanji froze, remembering another pink-haired girl who was also an older sister. He shook his head, trying to get the thought out of his head.
"What?! Zoro! You didn't tell us about me?!"
"They didn't ask" he shrugged. Perona huffed, not at all surprised.
"Since when do you have a sister?!" Nami asked.
"A long time ago" he said simply. The navigator rubbed her hands over her face, exasperated.
"It's like Ace, all over again… Does anyone else have another sibling or relative they haven't told us about?" She asked, staring intently at Luffy, who decided to stay quiet for now. It had been a while since he'd seen Uta, and Sabo was still a sensitive subject. Sanji stayed very quiet in his corner.
"Where the hell are you, anyway?" Zoro asked, ignoring Nami's tantrum.
"Ahm, Zoro, she's right there, partner," Usopp gestured to her, not understanding his friend's silly question and still stunned by the revelation.
"It's Marimo, don't pretend you don't see the beautiful lady!" Sanji forced himself to speak, his mind still on Reiju.
"I'm asking where her body is, this is just a ghost," Zoro waved his hand, ignoring the confused and shocked looks of the others.
"Horohorohorohoro, I'm in the room, Zozo. Why don't you bring your friends home? I just arrived too," Zoro frowned.
"Just arrived?"
"Yes, I left the day after you. Without you and U, I didn't have much company anymore. I decided to live my own adventures," she said, already entering the island. "See you later!" she said before disappearing.
"Wait, did she say home?" Nami asked, oblivious to Zoro's surprise that his sister no longer lived on the island. "You used to live here?"
"Yes, I said I'd been to this island before. This is where I trained."
"But I thought you were from the East Blue, just like us," Usopp said, confused. "I am, but my father brought me here when I was 8 years old and raised me along with my sisters," he shrugged, already jumping off the Sunny's fence.
"Wait, did he say sisters?" Chopper asked.
"Hey bro! Wait for us!" Frank shouted as he and the rest of the crew ran to get off the ship before losing the swordsman in the fog. They found Zoro not far into the forest, looking around, clearly confused.
"Zoro…don't you know the way?" Usopp asked, Zoro's cheeks flushing slightly as he clicked his tongue.
"This forest is a labyrinth!"
"You grew up here," Sanji observed.
"It's not my fault the path always kept changing! I'm sure the humandrills were moving things around when I wasn't looking!" an animalistic cry was heard from inside the woods.
"I think they disagree, bro," Robin chuckled discreetly.
"Right, as much as it's fun to laugh at Zoro's lack of direction," he growled at Nami, "how did we get to your house?"
"It's in the center of the island, just walk straight ahead," they all exchanged glances, understanding why the swordsman always got lost.
"And how did you find your way home?" Robin asked as they all resumed walking. Zoro blushed slightly before nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
"...Rona usually sent a ghost to guide me back when I took too long, or she would come herself and take the opportunity to laugh at me," he rolled his eyes, but it was possible to feel the affection in how he spoke of his sister.
"You two seem very close," Nami said with a small smile.
"Yeah, you could say that. I'm sure you'll get along well with her, you two are witches," Sanji kicked him in the head, which he blocked.
"Don't call Nami-Swan a witch!!" They started fighting, only stopping when Nami punched them both in the head.
"Honestly, at least Luffy is quiet today" she suddenly froze and looked around "…where is Luffy?!"
A loud bang in the middle of the forest.
"I'll go get him" Robin volunteered "Come with me, Frank, we don't know what kind of situation he'll be in when we find him" the cyborg yelled a super and followed the woman into the woods. When they disappeared from sight, everyone started walking again.
"Honestly, on an uninhabited island, you'd expect Luffy not to cause trouble."
"It's Luffy, what did you expect?"
***
"Zoro" said Nami calmly "when were you planning on telling us that your "house" IS A FUCKING CASTLE?!"
Zoro opened his mouth.
"IF YOU SAY IT'S BECAUSE WE DIDN'T ASK, I'LL INCREASE YOUR DEBT!!"
Zoro shut his mouth.
Surprisingly, it didn't take long for them to arrive, with Zoro making only a few accidental detours. What none of them expected, however, was to come face to face with a large, ancient castle. The building was a Gothic architectural structure, made of dark stone; the lack of sunlight and the mist in the air made the building seem even more frightening, it looked abandoned and, without a doubt, haunted.
Everyone stared at the building, surprised, while they waited a while longer at the door, when they finally heard Luffy's shouts approaching, followed by the roars of the humandrills.
"Hey! Guys!!" The captain waved excitedly as he ran towards the rest of the group, Robin and Franky as he's side, with the humandrills right behind them. Usopp, Nami, and Chopper let out frightened screams.
"Zoro!! Open the door! Open the door!!" The trio desperately banged on the large wooden door. Zoro just rolled his eyes, pushing the two out of the way while simply pushing the door open.
Once everyone was inside, Franky and Sanji closed the door to prevent the humandrills from entering. Everyone breathed heavily from the frantic run (what run? everything is a run when you're Usopp and you're scared). When they finally calmed down and looked around, Nami and Usopp hugged each other, Chopper squeezed between, frightened by the castle's interior. There were some sofas and wooden furniture scattered around, suits of armor lined up in the corners, and stone gargoyles in some higher places, all covered by cloths and a thick layer of dust, indicating that they hadn't been touched in a while. The environment was only illuminated by the weak light coming from the large windows, but otherwise, it was quite dark.
"Wow, it's really dusty in here," Sanji observed. Everyone looked at Zoro, waiting for an answer. He sighed.
"The castle was abandoned before my father came here, and even when we all lived here, the castle was always bigger than we needed, so there's still a lot of stuff from the old owners, dusty rooms and abandoned places" he explained. Everyone spun around the room, observing the new surroundings as he explained. Robin approached one of the dressers and reached out, curious about a candelabra above the furniture "and with secret passages, so I wouldn't mess with that if I were you, Robin. We don't want to be separated now, who knows what Luffy might do."
"Hehehe, you're right," she laughed, while Nami seemed to remember the existence of the rubber idiot and promptly intertwined they arms to avoid losing him in the Suddenly, Luffy pouted and tried to stretch away, but the navigator just punched he on the head.
While guiding everyone to the living room where he knew his sister would be, Zoro found himself absorbed in memories. He remembered running through those corridors fleeing his sisters' tea parties, spending afternoons training, or simply getting lost and waiting for Perona to send one of her ghosts to his rescue. And now, having his nakamas by his side, in his home, he could only feel his chest filling with even more joy. It seemed right to bring them home; they were his family now too.
Wow, he was emotional today, wasn't he?
He opened the bedroom doors and entered without knocking. Perona didn't even move, remaining comfortably settled in her place on the sofa, hugging her old teddy bear.
"Finally! I thought I'd have to send a ghost after you guys!"
Zoro just grumbled, throwing himself into his spot at the other end of the sofa. The rest of the crew scattered around the room, sprawling on the floor or walking around, observing the decorations. Robin stared intently at a spot, and Zoro followed her gaze, discovering what she was staring at: a shelf above the fireplace, where five somewhat crumpled origami animals were displayed: a falcon, a pink bat, a green tiger with poorly painted stripes, a rabbit half red, half white, and a red lion with three scars on its left eye.
"How cute!" she said, Perona's eyes sparkling.
"They really are, aren't they? It's the only cute thing Zoro's ever done," Luffy grinned as everyone turned to face the swordsman.
"Huh? You made this, Zoro? That's awesome! Make one for me! Make one for me!" he grabbed the swordsman's arm and started shaking it.
"Tsk, I'll do it later," he conceded, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Perona laughed at his awkwardness.
"He made one for each of us, birthday presents."
"Oh, who would have thought you'd be so soft, right Zoro?" Usopp teased, but hid behind Franky when the swordsman gave him a death glare.
Perona grinned mischievously and began telling all sorts of stories about their childhood, especially the most embarrassing ones, much to Zoro's frustration, who simply leaned back further on the sofa, letting the conversation continue as he drifted off to sleep.
***
The Straw Hat Pirates stared stunned at the castle walls. Sanji had prepared the meal with the food Perona and Zoro had brought from the garden (Zoro and Perona almost had a meltdown when the others tried to touch it, frightened, only saying "You don't want to mess with Dad's things"), and now everyone was heading to the dining room when suddenly Nami screamed.
"What happened?!" Usopp asked.
"Nami-Swan, what happened?!" Sanji ran to the back of the group, where the woman was staring at the wall, shocked.
Everyone turned to where she was looking and blinked in surprise.
On the wall were numerous photos with elegant frames, several pictures of Zoro and Perona as children fighting, tending the garden, them as adults, but the ones that surprised them were photos of a certain warlord and a well-known Yonkou (Luffy recognized that girl with red and white hair, but why would there be a picture of her in Zoro's house?).
"WHY ARE THERE PICTURES OF DRACULE MIHAWK AND AKAGAMI NO SHANKS HERE?!" they shouted, Luffy staring at the photos of Shanks, shocked but with shining eyes.
"Well, I guess you'd have to find out eventually," Zoro shrugged.
"Find out what?" Sanji asked. Zoro and Perona exchanged glances, seemingly communicating telepathically. Perona sighed, appearing to have lost the argument.
"There are pictures of them because they live here, they are our adoptive parents."
Silence.
Everyone stared at them with wide eyes; the moment lasted what seemed like minutes before screams filled the room.
"THEY'RE YOUR WHAT?!"
"Parents, you know? When two men love each other very much—" Zoro put his hand in front of her mouth, seeming to have heard this same joke before.
"They adopted us when we were children, at different times," Frank lowered his glasses to look at them. Nami seemed to be having an aneurysm, murmuring something that sounded like "another one with a family of strong monsters." Robin was the first to recover, flashing an amused smile, hiding it behind her hand. Luffy, with bulging eyes, seemed to have had a realization.
"Wait! If you're the children of Shanks and the guy who gave Zoro his scar—" (Zoro, what's he talking about? Long story…)—then you're Uta's siblings?!"
"Yes, we are—DO YOU KNOW HER?!" Perona began alternating between staring at the young captain and her younger brother, trying to gauge if he knew about it. Zoro seemed to be pondering something, while the crew just stared at the scene, even more confused.
"Luffy, Shanks gave you that hat, right?" The captain nodded, and Perona's eyes widened even more.
"You're that Luffy?!" She pointed at the younger man, astonished. "The brat that Shanks and Uta wouldn't stop talking about?!"
"They talked about me?" He smiled a silly grin.
"You have no idea!" She seemed exasperated, waving her arms frantically in the air. "Uta spent months talking about you, and Shanks told her about the brat he left the hat with" this news seemed to please the pirate, but he couldn't speak before Nami intervened.
"Okay, time" she squeezed between the three of them and raised her hands in a soothing gesture "I'm still processing the shock that my friend is the son of the world's greatest swordsman and a Yonkou. Who is Uta?"
Zoro grinned, amused by his crewmates' confusion. Perona was still focused on Luffy, the boy she'd heard so many stories about that she already considered him a brother, and wondering if she could convince him to attend one of her tea parties. The straw hat's smile widened even more at the navigator's question.
"Her!" he turned to the photo wall and pointed to one where the young woman with two-toned hair was on a large stage, probably from one of her most recent shows.
Several of their eyes widened, with Robin raising a curious eyebrow.
"T-that's—" Usopp stammered, his eyes seeming to burst out of his skull.
"No, it can't be that Uta…" Nami said, in denial.
"Who?" Chopper alternated his confused gaze between the humans in the room, with Zoro picking him up.
"By any chance, Luffy, isn't that the famous singer, Uta?" Robin asked.
"Huh? She became famous? Shishishi, that's great, that was her dream!" The navigator and the sniper stared at him in shock.
"Oh yes, Uta is on tour right now in the South Blue."
"Oh my God!" Usopp sat on the floor with his head between his knees. Nami seemed in denial and shook her head rapidly.
"That's it, that's my limit!" she shouted and pointed her finger at all the crew members. "If anyone else in this crew has a famous family member, DON'T SAY IT!!!"
Silence.
"I wasn't even going to tell you I was disinherited from the royal family," Sanji murmured very quietly, but in the silence of the large corridors it was very easy to hear. Nami spun on her heels and everyone in the room turned to look at him.
"YOU WAS WHAT OF WHAT?!"