revelations
Chapter Three
Morning came and so with it came a cranky Zoro who was still in his detached spirit-like form after a frustrating night of just laying there. He would bang his head against the wall, but of course nothing would happen—his head would just go through it.
Chopper came in to check on his vitals and examine him for any changes. Of course, there were none. He was still out like a light. However, Chopper had that same determined set to his eyes that he had the night before. It was a far better look than the worrisome expressions he had worn when Zoro’s spirit first became detached.
After running through all his tests and taking notes — with even more words Zoro didn’t understand — Chopper nodded to himself and put down his clipboard. He rested his hooves on Zoro’s shoulder.
“We’ll get you back, Zoro. Just you wait,” Chopper said with confidence. Zoro grinned. That was more like it.
He followed Chopper out of the infirmary and into the dining room where Sanji was just finishing preparing breakfast. Robin was already seated at the table sipping a coffee, but apart from her no one else was there but the three of them, well four if you counted Zoro.
“Good morning, Chopper,” Robin said, placing her mug on the coaster.
“Morning, Robin! Morning, Sanji!” Chopper said with far more cheer than yesterday.
Sanji turned, carrying a large tray of food on both forearms. He moved so smoothly. Zoro always wondered how he managed not to spill a single drop, especially given the sheer quantity of food he made for each meal. Luffy would accept no less. Though something about his movements seemed off—they weren’t as energetic as they usually were and were those bags under his eyes?
“Morning, Chopper,” Sanji said. He placed the food in the middle of the table and gave the top of Chopper’s head a rub. Chopper gushed under the attention.
Sanji yelled that breakfast was ready and the rest of the crew came clambering in. Luffy was prohibited from the dining room and kitchen until Sanji declared the food ready. And that rule had been created because of an exact situation where Luffy ate all the food before everyone arrived. He may be the captain, but everyone knew not to mess with Sanji when it came to meal times.
Zoro looked at the line up of food Sanji had prepared. As usual there was a large variety to choose from. There was fresh bread and croissants to rice balls, meats, and eggs to yoghurt, fruit, and muesli; Sanji catered to absolutely everyone. It looked really good too, but that was no surprise. Sanji always served up the best.
As everyone ate their breakfast, there was an obvious elephant in the room. That elephant being him.
“So… how’s Zoro-bro doing?” Franky said, eyeing the others tentatively.
“Franky—” Sanji said but was interrupted by Chopper.
“It’s okay, Sanji. Everyone wants to know. I was gonna wait ‘til we finished breakfast but now’s fine,” Chopper said. He eyed everyone in the room, it even felt like his eyes passed over Zoro’s, but that was definitely wishful thinking on Zoro’s part.
“His vitals are still good and after extensive research I had an epiphany last night about how we might be able to wake him.”
Zoro’s eyes widened as he listened intently to the doctor.
“What, really?! Why didn’t you say something last night?” Usopp said.
“Because I still needed to think it through. Theoretically, though, if it does work he could be awake soon. However, it’s not guaranteed to work.” A few crew members slightly deflated at that.
Sanji was not one of them. “But there’s a chance, right?” he said. “We’ve got to try.”
“Obviously!” Usopp said. “We can do this. Just tell us what we have to do, Chopper.” The rest of the crew perked back up to pay attention to Chopper.
“It’s simple. We each just have to spend one-on-one time in the infirmary with him,” Chopper said.
Nami frowned. “Um.. not to be a killjoy but how is that going to wake him?” she said. Zoro was thinking the same thing.
“I know, I know. It doesn’t sound like an effective method, but I have my reasons for it. You see, I noticed a slight change in Zoro when Brook came out of the infirmary last night. I didn’t think much of it until a few hours later after I’d done some reading of Robin’s books and looked at Nami’s maps. I hope that’s okay, Robin, Nami. Sorry for not asking.”
Robin just smiled with a soft nod.
“You’re fine, Chopper. Unless you’re one of these doofuses,” Nami said, gesturing mainly at Luffy but Franky and Brook were within the area too—Zoro had no doubt he would be included too, if conscious— “then you don’t need my permission. But my maps? What did you need them for?” Everyone ignored the cries from an offended Franky and Brook.
“Well, okay. Nami aside, do the rest of you know where we’re sailing right now?” Chopper said. Everyone but Nami and Robin shook their heads. Chopper gestured to the table. “Nami, could you please show everyone?”
Nami nodded and left to retrieve her maps. Sanji cleared up the table, much to Luffy’s annoyance. Once Nami was back and the table was clear and clean, she unfurled her large map over it. When Luffy got too close, Nami put her hand up in front of him and ushered him back. Luffy pouted but complied. Nami really was protective of those maps.
Chopper used the ruler Nami had brought out to point with. He pointed to a small spot in the middle of the map that read ‘God’s Islet’. “You might not recall but we passed God’s Islet during our post-battle celebrations with the marines.”
“And?” Jinbei said.
“And according to one of Robin’s books, there are rumours of a curse.”
“Oh boy,” Usopp said with an exhale.
“Of course there is,” Sanji said, tapping his fingers on his box of cigarettes through his pockets. An anxiety-induced habit of his, Zoro had noticed. “And typical Marimo copped it. What’s the curse?”
“It’s the ‘torn apart curse’ where the spirit becomes detached from the body,” Chopper said. Zoro’s eyes widened. That was exactly it! He tried to contain himself so he could listen to what else Chopper had to say.
“The book doesn’t really go into detail but this curse is said to target someone with great mental fortitude. And essentially the curse aims to break this person down.”
Huh. Zoro wouldn’t have guessed that. He knew he had good mental fortitude, but so did the others. Perhaps it was all the meditation he did.
Zoro turned his attention back to the conversation at hand.
“Did the book say how?” Nami asked.
“Yes. One’s spirit becomes detached from their unconscious body while their physical body is saddled by a heavy burden that prevents the reattachment of spirit to body. And the longer the two are split, the more likely the spirit is to lose themselves.”
Zoro frowned. This was all rather perplexing. How the heck was he gonna get back if this was all true?
“While there’s no established cure, the writer of the book theorised from her own experience that the spirit will be able to return to the body once the heavy burden has been alleviated. As I said, there’s no guarantee my solution will work.”
Luffy, who had been rather quiet, hummed. “What’s your solution, Chopper?”
“Well, remember how I said there had been a slight change in Zoro once Brook had finished up in the infirmary?” There were nods all around. “It was his scent. Most of you probably can’t detect it but when he first blacked out, there was a new strong indescribable smell coming from him. After Brook, the scent wasn’t as strong— though it’s definitely still there.”
What did this have to do with anything? If it hadn’t been Chopper explaining, Zoro would have long since lost his patience.
“But strangely enough, Brook now has the same scent coming from him, but only faintly. So here’s what I think: when Brook played for Zoro that evening, he unburdened a part of Zoro and took it with him. So my solution: we all relieve Zoro of his burden by having some proper one-on-one time with him—me included, as I’ve only been treating him as a patient. We want to remind him that we’re here to share his burden with.”
This all sounded very wild to Zoro. Could it really be true? He thought back to Brook’s visit, his eyebrows scrunched in thought, and his eyes widened. He remembered that he felt oddly lighter upon Brook’s departure. Could it be? Or was it his imagination?
Zoro really didn’t want to doubt their doctor, but this was in an entirely different realm to the world of medicine. Still, it was their only lead so what harm would there be in trying?
“Makes sense,” Luffy said, picking his nose.
Usopp scoffed. “None of this makes sense! Were you even listening!”
Robin hummed. “Perhaps. But we’re sailing on an unpredictable ocean and have no other leads to go off. If we don’t, Zoro may lose himself and be slowly tortured to death.”
Chopper and Usopp shrieked. “Robin! Why you gotta be so morbid!” Robin merely smiled.
Jinbei cleared his throat. “What about Zoro-san’s spirit? Can he hear and see everything going on?”
Yes, I can! Zoro wanted to shout, but he knew his efforts would come to nothing.
“I’m really not sure, but I wouldn’t rule it out,” Chopper said. Jinbei nodded.
“All right then, who’s accompanying Zoro-bro first?” Franky said.
Zoro expected Luffy to volunteer, but it was surprisingly Jinbei who beat him to it.
Sanji clapped his hands together. “All right, with that decided you can all clear out. Except for the ladies, of course. You’re more than welcome to stay.” Zoro rolled his eyes but cleared out with the rest of the crew.
— —
Zoro ended up following Jinbei into the infirmary. In all honesty, Zoro had no idea how this would work, none of them did. But he assumed it would probably work better if his spirit was present for it too. And at least Chopper had told them that he might be listening and seeing; Zoro didn’t feel so intrusive being present.
As he vanished through the door, Jinbei made himself comfortable on Chopper’s wheely chair — it must have been quite sturdy. Though Chopper had bigger forms too; the chair was probably inclusive of those too.
Jinbei wheeled over to Zoro’s bedside and stared down at his own hands.
After a long period of silence, Jinbei sighed. “Zoro-san, I owe you an apology,” he said.
Zoro did a double-take. What?
“You see, I doubted you. I’ve become somewhat sceptical in recent years. I’ve seen injustice after injustice like you wouldn’t believe. The ocean is unforgiving. It took me a while to learn that.”
Jinbei nodded to himself. “But after dwelling on a conversation I had with Franky-san about your state, I realised that I should have more faith. Luffy-san and the crew have re-familiarised the feeling of hope within me. None of them are giving up, and nor will I.”
Jinbei looked straight at Zoro’s unconscious face, a determined set to his face like Chopper had. “You can beat this curse, Zoro-san. I believe in you. And you have my apologies for the doubt.” He bowed his head.
Zoro blinked. Twice. A smile slowly formed on his lips. Well, that had been unexpected but it was definitely uplifting to hear. It felt wrong having Jinbei bow to him, though. Zoro supposed that was just what Jinbei was like. Deeply respectful.
Jinbei closed his eyes and exhaled, a content look on his face. “Now, Zoro-san. Did I ever tell you about a time in my youth when I terrorised a fleet of marine ships so badly that I got made into an urban legend? You’ve maybe heard of it: ‘The Nautical Nightmare’.”
Zoro thought it sounded vaguely familiar from his days as a bounty hunter, but listened closely as Jinbei recounted the tale. While he didn’t use grand gestures to explain the events like Luffy or Usopp did, there was definitely a light in his eyes and an upbeat energy to his voice that did not always come through in his usual conversations.
“… And to this day the marines have never figured out the identity of the ‘Nautical Nightmare’. Though, I doubt the truth would increase my bounty by much considering I have caused worse with my career as a pirate and former Warlord.”
It was an entertaining story and had Zoro chuckling the whole way through. He made a mental note to ask Jinbei to share it with the rest of the crew once things were back to normal.
With a sigh, Jinbei stood, rolling his shoulders as he did. “Ah, I sat still for too long.” He looked over at Zoro and gave a curt bow. “I’ll let you rest up, Zoro-san. I look forward to hearing of your adventures when you awake.” There was not a trace of hesitation in his voice.
With that Jinbei left the room and Zoro immediately felt lighter, just like he had with Brook. Could the theory Chopper found be true? Was there a burden weighing him down and if so had it been reduced thanks to Jinbei’s visit? Zoro was hopeful.
Just as he was about to get up, though, the infirmary door once again opened. Only, this time it was Franky. Unlike Jinbei, it was only the large bulk of Franky’s upper body that took up a lot of space. His lower half, in comparison, made him look like he skipped leg day. Zoro chuckled at his own joke.
Zoro was glad that Franky had thought ahead and made the Sunny so accommodating of all sizes. As much as Zoro missed the Merry, it would never have accommodated their bigger crew mates like the Sunny seemed to.
“Yo, Zoro! Been a while since we had a man to man, huh?” Franky said, as he sat down on that same chair. It creaked a little under Franky’s weight, but Franky didn’t seem fazed. But then he frowned, creased lines on his forehead like he was thinking hard. “Maybe man to man isn’t the most accurate term right now.”
Franky smashed his red fists together. “Nevertheless, get ready, because I’m gonna hit you with the manliest stories!”
Zoro made himself comfortable on the infirmary bed, well, as much as a floating spirit could.
Franky put a hand to his chin. “So. Where to start, Zoro-bro?”
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