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Perona came to awareness slowly and painfully. A horrible stabbing pain ran from her temple to behind her left eye.
She was on the ground and there were people shouting in surprise and anger, but that was as far as she got without opening her eyes.
Her memory was a bit fuzzy too. She remembered her and Moria had been travelling for some time in search of sanctuary from Blackbeard and his horrible crew of Absalom murderers and they’d hit an island due to a desperate need for supplies. But after that?
The shouting began turning into frightened screaming.
A low groan like the deck of an old wooden boat was followed by a rumble of the ground beneath her.
Perona fought back a wave of nausea, using one arm to leverage herself up, her eyes opening just enough to get more than a blurry picture of her surroundings.
She was in an alleyway of some town. Most likely the town where she’d been buying\stealing things for their ship. She was practically wedged between two buildings, the vibrating cobbles beneath her ice cold and wet against her bare arms.
Perona raised a hand to press against her aching head, immediately regretting it when her fingers found an oozing wound. The sting blurred her vision. She might throw up.
Perona wanted nothing more than to stay where she was, wallowing in her pain and self pity. But she wasn’t sure if she was safe. Whatever had happened, whether it be natural disaster or an attack, had clearly left the buildings and streets unstable.
She could hear the sound of bricks shifting and falling to the ground, the low groaning sound becoming stronger.
Perona used her ability to float to ease herself to a sitting position, her mouth into a tiny frown as she considered what to do.
After only a few seconds of thought she decided that getting back to the ship was the better option, as much as the idea pained her and her poor aching head.
Who knew how long she’d been knocked out? If she was gone too long, then surely Moria would come to get her and completely ruin her plan to remain unseen by the masses. Gecko Moria, a former Shichibukai and twenty two foot horned monster, would not go unnoticed.
The Ghost Princess was on her feet before she knew it, though her legs were a bit shaky, she managed an uneasy hover above the rumbling earth which helped ease some of the tension in her body. Slowly and carefully, Perona began floating forward.
Only a few feet and suddenly a crowd of frightened townsfolk came barreling towards her. Perona squeaked, pushing herself back out of their way towards one of the many houses. Technically she could go through them if she wanted, but her brain was so scrambled the thought had not occurred to her until it was too late. Probably best not to risk using too much of her powers while injured like this anyway right?
Perona cursed the crowd silently, frustrated that she had no idea which direction to even go to get back to the blasted ship!
BOOM
All heads predictably turned towards the sound, mouths agape. The fools stopped running to stare at the destruction and make obvious comments that something must have just exploded.
Out of the corner of her eye, Perona saw a building across the street begin to shift. She turned to look at it fully, her eyes blowing wide at the sight.
The entire structure, a thick slab of bricks with two broken windows and a shingled roof, began to move like it was being carried by the shifting ground towards something. Dust and debris flew from the bottom of the structure which whined and groaned (the sound from earlier) against whatever was forcing it to move slowly through the street.
“There look there-its shadow!”
One figure pointed a desperate finger towards the bottom of the building, where Perona realized that indeed- the shadow did not match its brethren. While the other buildings cast a half darkness across the street, the house that had begun to move’s shadow had twisted around in the direction it was going like it was being pulled along on a leash!
BOOM
Perona rushed a hand to her heart, her gaze swinging from the moving house to the explosion now even closer than before.
That was when she saw him.
Moria had taken in some shadows, his figure even more hulking, his whole body arched like a predator. He was bleeding from his mouth, sharp teeth bared, face unfocused and filled with a rage she had never seen before.
“M-Moria sama?”
Was this a power he had that she didn’t know about? Dang, it would have been pretty useful against those Strawhats or in escaping Fullalead if he could control the shadows of inanimate objects! Then again, it had been two years. She'd just never known him to train his abilities before.
Perona, despite the danger, floated towards him only to be stopped by another sight. A man, not as big as Moria but still large, built of muscle and sinew with a long green ponytail. He was attacking her captain with what appeared to be dozens of whips shooting from the palms of his hands. They wrapped around the larger man’s neck and arms in an attempt to pull Moria off his feet.
Of course, then Perona remembered him!
She’d been casually walking through the marketplace when the muscled creep had attacked her with one of his “whips” clearly coated in Haki! She’d managed to wriggle free from one, but then he’d chased her and- he must have hit her and knocked her out!
Perona’s chest felt tight, a panic she only felt around that long nosed freak building inside of her. Moria wasn’t fully healed from his stint in Blackbeard’s prison! She swooped towards the battle.
She knew her Captain wouldn’t like her coming to help him in this situation, considering what had happened to Absalom, but she couldn’t bear to watch him get hurt anymore!
The closer she got, the more she saw that something wasn’t right.
It was not just one house that was moving, but several, all inching their way towards Moria and his attacker. Beside the buildings were humans, screaming and begging as they walked like zombie soldiers towards the fight, tears streaming down their faces as they cried desperately for someone to help them. Their shadows looked to be alive, even still attached to the townsfolk’s feet, desperately clawing at the ground to reach their true master.
Perona had never seen him control a shadow without a contract, much less one still with its owner!
Moria took hold of a whip wrapped around the opposite arm and pulled it until it snapped, letting out an animal cry that sent blood and spittle onto the other man. Perona stuttered to a stop.
Moria’s eyes were black!
What… What was this? What was going on?! Was this the Whip Man’s powers? Had he hypnotized her captain? But if that was true, surely he wouldn’t be putting up such a fight! Perona watched Moria take a wild swing at the Whip Guy who moved to dodge, only to be tripped up by a human and its shadow; throwing itself at his arm and clinging to him.
“Kill him!”
Moria spoke for the first time. His voice sounded warped, like when he took in a huge number of shadows. The stitches on his forehead and neck looked like they might burst, black lumps of shadow seeming to fight beneath his skin.
Perona covered her mouth, speechless and helpless.
The nausea she’d been ignoring came back in full swing, forcing her to land on the uneven ground. The Whip Man cried out in rage, desperately trying to fight off ten or so men all clinging to him. Their shadows began to desperately tear at the muscled man’s own, pulling at the darkness that spilled across the ground and forcing him off his feet. His attempt to catch himself accidentally sent one of his whips towards Perona who, despite still being grounded, managed to stumble out of the way before it could strike her.
The man shouted furiously as he knocked off several of his attackers, their shadows following the thrown bodies into the dirt. He got to his feet, swinging his muscular arms at the pitiful townsfolk. He laughed, like he’d won somehow- and Perona hated him. Enough was enough.
“Negative Hollow!”
A Ghost flew from her outstretched hand and sped across the expanse of debris and bodies to the Whip Man. It passed through his chest before he even noticed it was coming, the negativity hitting him hard enough to yet again stagger him.
“I’m sorry I was bo-”
BOOM
One of the houses had reached him, followed by another collapsing into a disordered heap. All the people whose shadows had been controlled were surely crushed to death. Perona was shocked for a few seconds. Then she was moving again.
“Moria sama! You got him!” She cried happily. Of course, a building falling on top of someone wasn’t always a guarantee of defeat in this world, but the rubble remained unmoving.
If he was alive, it would take him a long time to recover.
Perona took a few breaths to ease her aching head, then floated towards her captain. She was very ready for both of them to forget about this stupid ordeal and go back to their ship!
Except. Moria’s eyes were still black. And the shadows were still moving.
Perona noticed that Doppleman was not beneath its master’s feet, and that was very concerning.
“Moria sama?” she piped, floating in front of her captain’s face.
The black eyes were certainly creepy, that coupled with the blood and darkness seeping out of his wounds, he looked properly demonic!
He ignored her, waving a commanding hand towards a small broken tree sadly ensconced in a brick planter. The tree’s shadow began to waver than crawl as the others had, desperate to obey his command.
Perona’s brow furrowed, “You got him I-I think you can stop now!”
She looked around, searching for signs of any other attackers that he might be preparing for- but there were none.
The two of them were alone, own hunched and snarling the other floating like a cloud in a massive circle of rubble that might have actually been the marketplace judging by the mass of mashed produce littered about the place.
"Destroy everything!" Moria roared as one would an army.
Perona backed away from him to avoid getting spit on, “Wha- what’s happening?” she squeaked out.
“Moria sama you can stop now! You defeated that guy, he’s dead! What are you doing?!”
Nothing.
Perona was starting to panic. If they didn’t leave soon whatever was going on with her captain would be the least of their troubles!
“You’ll pay!”
Even the shadows created by uneven cobblestone were moving like river water towards him, rocks tumbling out of their homes so as not to be separated. Did these Shadows have consciousness like the zombie’s shadows? Or were they merely drawn like metal to a magnet? The entire area seemed to buzz and groan, an energy rippling through everything and every shadow except for Perona’s.
It was clear Moria didn’t recognize her. Perhaps he had gone completely blind in whatever haze he was experiencing.
Perona was forced to dodge a massive arm swung in her direction, his hands taut like extended claws, his gloves torn in several places.
“Mo- uh, Captain! Captain, it’s Perona!”
The Ghost Princess called to him, weaving a few more times to avoid getting knocked out of the air. Her breaths were becoming short, her head sorer than ever and the dust in the air thick enough to choke on.
Moria’s lurched forwards, a hacking cough escaping between clenched teeth. He snarled at nothing in particular, appearing more and more to be a feral beast.
“Moria sama please! We can’t stay here and-and you’re hurting yourself!
Desperately, Perona flew up close to his face, reaching out her hands to touch his cheek, “Dad please!”
The buzzing stopped.
Perona watched with growing hope as Moria’s tight muscles eased, his lips slowly closing over the blades inside his mouth. Everything that had been pulled towards him, sputtered to a pathetic stop, cobbles rolling downhill and bricks hitting the dirt.
From Moria’s eyes, the blackness drained. It spilled down his face and pooled at his feet, becoming Gecko Moria’s shadow once again.
“Wha?” The giant man groaned, pressing the heel of his hand against an eye. Perona remained where she was, a massive smile splitting her face.
“You’re back! You’re ba-ack!” she did a little air happy dance at the recognition coming to his face.
“P- Perona!”
The girl found herself enveloped by one massive hand. After the day she’d had it was great to feel something so familiar.
“You’re alright? I saw-” Moria shook his head, “That Whip freak attacked you.”
“C’mon Moria sama I’m a little stronger than that, he just knocked me out!” Perona defended, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms.
Her irritation melted quickly at his pensive expression, “I’m ok, see?” she stroked a hand over his thumb, “We killed that guy.”
“Did we?” Moria smiled faintly, his brow wrought with concern and confusion.
“I bet he was a bounty hunter,” Perona continued, words spilling out of her because silence felt wrong, “or one of those weak pirates working for that Blackbeard guy!”
Moria’s smile grew, “Probably.” He looked over the scene, “Damn. I did this huh?”
Perona snorted, settling herself further into her captain’s hand. She didn’t quite fit like she did when she was a kid, but it was still one of the best places to be.
What had truly happened remained unspoken between them. At least for now. Perona sure had a lot of questions as to whatever the heck all that was, but for now, she was just relieved.
“We should get back to the boat before the marines show up,” the Ghost Princess suggested.
“You’re right.” Moria straightened his posture (accompanied by a few cracks), then he began to walk. “It’s a shame all the food is destroyed,” he added.
No kidding.
Perona let herself be carried towards the ship, if only because she still had no idea which direction it was in. Hopefully she didn’t have brain damage, sheesh.
“So...”
Gecko Moria’s voice cut through the silence that had fallen between them.
“Yes captain?” Perona asked cheekily.
“Did you just call me dad?”
“UUuuuuuh….”
FIN