There's a saying — you search the world in vain, only to find what you seek by accident.
Last time, Sugisawa Yuuto had wandered through this ghostly sea for an entire week and found absolutely nothing.
This time, they had only been here for an hour. Before they even began searching, the target came knocking on its own.
Some things really can't be explained by luck alone.
At last, Yuuto could complete Laboon's commission. The heavy stone that had been weighing on his heart could finally be lifted.
As Yuuto sighed quietly to himself, all the Fairy Tail girls stared at him in shock.
"Found it?"
"What did you find?"
"You mean—you found the Rumba Pirates?"
Their eyes darted around, scanning the misty deck and the eerie, drifting ship.
But there was no one—only ghost ships and skeletal remains.
"Wait… the skeletons—are they the Rumba Pirates?"
The thought struck them all at once.
The girls' eyes went wide; disbelief and shock colored each beautiful face.
"Wait, wait, wait! President, what did you just say!?" Nami cried out, incredulous.
"The Rumba Pirates? Where are they? I don't see them!" Vivi exclaimed, looking around blankly.
"President," Erza said with a twitching mouth, "even if we didn't find them before, you shouldn't joke about it now. We have to take every commission seriously!"
Mirajane crossed her arms and added earnestly, "You can't just point at anyone and call them the Rumba Pirates—especially not when they're… not even human!"
Given Yuuto's skills, he'd searched here for an entire week without results. Now, after only an hour, he'd supposedly found the crew that Laboon had been waiting fifty years to see? And that "crew" was a skeleton?
No wonder Mira didn't believe it.
"If we take that skeleton back and say it's the Rumba Pirates, Laboon will probably faint from fright!" Juvia said seriously. Even she—who trusted Yuuto more than anyone—found this hard to believe.
Yuuto wasn't surprised by their doubts. It was natural; the situation was too strange.
The Rumba Pirates had vanished fifty years ago, and now, out of nowhere, a skeleton appeared claiming to be one of them.
To anyone who wasn't a time traveler, it would sound insane.
Without offering any explanation, Yuuto stepped forward, his gaze falling on the stunned skeleton before him.
"Hey, skeleton. State your name."
At the sound of his voice, the bony figure trembled violently. Brook—little more than a collection of bones—snapped out of his dazed stupor, overcome with emotion and disbelief.
For nearly fifty years, he had drifted alone in this cursed sea.
Decades without seeing a single living soul.
Now, surrounded by Fairy Tail's group—and especially so many girls—the ever-flamboyant "gentleman skeleton" had half a mind to flirt a little, maybe tell a joke to ease the tension.
But before he could even open his mouth, he heard Yuuto mention the words Rumba Pirates.
Those words struck him like lightning.
Memories long buried came flooding back—faces, laughter, music, and… Laboon.
Then Yuuto said more names—Twin Cape, Crocus, the whale Laboon—and Brook froze completely.
It was their first meeting, yet this stranger knew everything.
Tears began to stream from his hollow eye sockets.
"Th-The skeleton is crying!"
"Wait, how can a skeleton cry!?" Nami and Vivi yelped in shock.
"I—I am… Brook! Violinist and acting captain of the Rumba Pirates, the crew that could even make crying children laugh!!!" Brook declared, voice trembling with emotion.
"But… how does a skeleton even cry?"
"He doesn't even have tear glands…"
"Maybe… maybe there are tears in the bones?" the girls whispered among themselves.
Their chatter stopped abruptly.
All at once, Nami, Vivi, and Erza's eyes locked on Brook.
Violinist and acting captain of the Rumba Pirates!
Their hearts skipped a beat.
Up until now, they'd thought Yuuto was joking—trying to lighten the mood. But no… what he said was true.
This skeleton really was a member of the Rumba Pirates!
"What's going on?" Nami breathed.
"Let the skeleton explain!" Vivi urged.
Yuuto smiled faintly. "Go ahead."
"Yes…" Brook nodded heavily and leapt onto the Fairy Tail's deck.
"Are you truly one of the Rumba Pirates?" Erza asked.
"Why do you look like that?"
"How can you still be alive if you're just bones?"
"Where are your tears coming from?"
"Where's the rest of your crew?"
"Have you been trapped here this whole time?"
"Laboon has been waiting fifty years—why didn't you return? Did you forget him?"
The questions came in a flood.
Brook pressed a bony hand over his face. "Forget Laboon? Never! I could never forget!"
He took a deep, shuddering breath before speaking again.
"I'm the last survivor of the Rumba Pirates. Fifty years ago, we were attacked in these waters and wiped out. I survived only because I'd eaten a Devil Fruit called the Revive-Revive Fruit. It gave me a second chance at life—but…" His voice faltered.
"For forty-seven years since then, I've been drifting here, unable to escape this cursed sea. Laboon… is he… still waiting for us?"
The Fairy Tail girls were silent for a long moment. Their eyes softened, touched by his story.
"So that's why…" Mirajane whispered.
"Not only has Laboon been waiting all this time," Nami said tearfully, "but the Rumba Pirates have been waiting for him too."
"Waaaaah! The friendship between Laboon and the Rumba Pirates is just like me and Grandine!" Wendy sobbed, thinking of her dragon mother.
"President, we have to reunite Brook and Laboon!" Vivi said through tears.
"Of course! Let's turn around and sail back to Twin Cape right now!" Erza declared.
But before Yuuto could say anything, Brook suddenly shouted, "No! We can't leave yet!"
"Eh? Why not?"
"Don't you want to see Laboon again?"
"Are you worried Laboon won't recognize you because you're a skeleton now?"
"Even if that's true, friendship goes beyond appearances!" Wendy cried. "Laboon will definitely know it's you!"
Brook shook his head. "Ladies, that's not the reason!"
He took a flashlight from his coat and shone it at his own feet.
"Huh? What's that for?"
Robin's sharp eyes widened. "His shadow… Brook has no shadow!"
"What!? How!?" Nami gasped.
"Two years ago, my shadow was stolen," Brook said heavily. "I know it's a lot to ask, but please—help me reclaim it! I beg you!"
The skeleton dropped to his knees, skull touching the deck.
He knew this might be his only chance.
"The shadow was stolen…" Erza muttered, frowning. "That reminds me…"
Robin reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of old commission letters. "I found these while sorting through the guild's requests. They're all about people losing their shadows."
"Right! That's the one!" Erza said. "How convenient—we can solve both problems at once!"
"Mr. Brook," Mirajane said, handing him paper and a pen, "please write down your request formally."
A few moments later, Brook finished writing.
"Your request," Yuuto said with a small smile, "is officially accepted by Fairy Tail."
"Brook," Erza asked, "the one who stole your shadow—is he still in this sea? Do you know who he is?"
"Yes," Brook said gravely. "He's here… one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—Gekko Moria."
"Gekko Moria?" the girls echoed.
Brook nodded. "Be careful. He's not someone to underestimate—"
"What!" Nami interrupted, laughing. "So it's just a Shichibukai?"
"I thought it was going to be some terrible monster!" Wendy giggled.
Brook stared at them, utterly bewildered.
"'Just' a Shichibukai!?"
He'd been trapped here for decades. He knew how terrifying Moria was. The man commanded legions of zombies and wielded unimaginable power.
And yet these girls—these carefree, bright-eyed girls—spoke as if it were nothing.
"Who… who are you people!?" he stammered.
"We're Fairy Tail!" they chorused proudly.
"Erza," Yuuto said calmly, "ring the golden bell."
"Yes!"
Erza summoned a gleaming bell from her magical armory and struck it.
DONG… DONG… DONG…
The resonant sound rolled across the misty waters.
Yuuto's strategy was simple—rather than chase through the endless fog, better to lure Moria out himself.
The last time Yuuto came here, he'd hoped to find Brook and perhaps recruit Moria—but bad luck ruined both plans.
This time, though, things were different.
He'd found Brook almost immediately. Maybe this was fate.
Perhaps today, everything in this haunted sea would be resolved.
The bell rang again and again.
Far away, deep in the fog, a colossal ship—large enough to be called an island—drifted slowly through the waters.
The world's largest vessel: the Thriller Bark.
Ten years ago, Moria had brought it here from the West Blue, building his undead army in secret.
For a man who preferred idleness and darkness, today had been a peaceful day—until now.
DONG… DONG… DONG…
"Ugh, what's that racket?" Moria grumbled, frowning.
A bat-faced zombie flapped frantically into the room. "L-Lord Moria! It's… it's Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail and the Five Emperor Sugisawa Yuuto are near us right now!"
"What!?"
Moria's eyes widened.
He'd heard the recent news from the sea—the Alabasta incident, the Sky Island gold town, Enies Lobby… Sugisawa Yuuto's name was all over them.
"Should we hide, Lord Moria?" the bat zombie asked nervously. "They say he's one of the Five Emperors now…"
Moria's grin widened. "Hide? Hah! Who do you think I am!? Five Emperors? I don't acknowledge any of them!"
He rose from his throne, laughter echoing through the gloomy chamber.
"They've come right to my doorstep. Perfect! I'll take his shadow too—and the golden bell tower of Fairy Tail! With both, I'll create the ultimate zombie!!! Wahahahaha!"
...
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