Disclaimer:One Piece belongs to Eeichiro Oda-sensei and whatever else that has rights on it. This is for personal use and not for commercial use.
Author's Note:I've realized that the previous version 'The Age of Kings' was very badly organized. So now I've reorganized them and put a clearer focus on the story. This is the story of Trafalgar Law.
Chapter 1
PROLOGUE
"That's a very long sword, old man." A young boy with unruly black hair asked the old man in the workshop as he stared at the said sword hanging proudly on the wall.
"Ah, are you interested in it? It's called a nodachi. It's a field sword that the soldiers in my home country used when they battled in open space. Nowadays this kind of sword is not popular because it's not easy to carry around, so people prefer the standard-size swords. It's a pity, really." The old man said with a sigh.
"Can I try it?"
The old man gave the little boy a piercing look, as if trying to measure the boy and see his worth. In the end, he gave his consent.
"Sure. But don't swing it around in my workshop. Otherwise you'll demolish my workshop."
The boy carefully took the sword off the hooks that cradled it on the wall. The sword was even taller than he was, and he was already considered taller than the average boys his age in his town. He weighed the sword with his hands, and tried unsheathing the sword.
"I SAID NOT IN MY WORKSHOP, BOY!" The old man roared at him, causing him to jump slightly.
"Sorry." The black-haired boy quickly said while he ran—or rather flew—out of the workshop. The boy never knew that the old man could be really that scary; he was usually placid and calm.
Once outside, the young boy unsheathed the sword and took a long look at it. Under the glory of the sunlight, the blade of the sword glistened majestically. It had a very deadly gleam as if it could cut down anything that the wielder wished to cut. He experimentally swung around the sword. At first it was awkward because not only the length of the sword was absurd, it was also the first time he ever handled a sword. After a while, he started feeling comfortable with the weight of the sword in his hand. So immersed he was in experimenting with the sword that he didn't notice the old man watching him working with the sword with hawk-like eyes.
"Looks like my nodachi likes you, boy."
The said boy stopped with a start when he heard the old man's cackling voice. There was amusement in his voice, and when the boy looked at his wrinkled face he could see the excitement in those dark green eyes. The old man had lit his long pipe—one that he had brought from his homeland, he had claimed—and was sitting down contently on the porch of his humble house.
"I like it."
"Sure you do. I can see it." The old man grinned. "But too bad, I can't give it to you. At least not yet."
"Why not?" There was a slight disappointment in the boy's voice.
"Because I promised someone that I won't part with it until I die." The old man's grin widened.
"Then I need to kill you if I want to have this sword?" The boy broke into a sadistic grin.
The old man was silent for a while; probably stunned by that sentence that was uncharacteristic of a boy his age, but soon he burst into a roar of mirthful laughter. He smacked his lap excitedly while throwing back his head. The boy didn't find himself liking the old man's response. Usually people winced when they noticed his morbid sense of humour, but the old man laughed!
"I like your guts, boy! You are welcome to try, but I'm afraid that you are 20 years too early to try killing this old man!"
"You are just an old man!" He protested.
"Not an ordinary old man, apparently."
Feeling insulted, the boy lunged at the old man with the nodachi in his hand. He swept the blade—in the manner of someone who was about to maul someone to death instead of slashing—at the old man, aiming for his neck. In the next instant, the blade of the nodachi was stopped by another blade that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Too surprised by the sudden appearance of the other blade, the young boy grip on the hilt of the nodachi—he was gripping it like he did a club—slackened and the old man took that opportunity to knock the sword off the boy's hand. In the next second, the skinny boy found himself flying into the dirt.
"For your information, a bladesmith can't be a real bladesmith if he can't handle blades." The old man laughed as he stood up with the nodachi and the other sword on his hands. He looked at the boy; who was hurriedly standing up, and gave a brilliant grin. "You know, I think I'm feeling generous."
"So? I don't believe that you're going to give me this blade just because you're feeling generous, you stingy old fart." The boy said snappishly, embarrassed that he had been knocked down by an old man.
In a flash, he felt himself being jerked up by the front of his shirt. The old man had somehow reached him and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, and he was now glaring at him reproachfully.
"Manners, boy! First I'm going to beat that mannerism into you." He growled at him.
"And then what?" The boy challenged him.
"Then I'm going to teach you how to beat an old man like me." The old man now smirked smugly at him before releasing his grip on the boy's shirt. "Now, since I'll be your teacher— "
"Hey, I never ask you! Don't decide on your—"
"Don't interrupt when people are talking!" He barked at the boy, effectively silencing him. "I'm your teacher, so you have to call me 'Gramps'!"
The young boy stared at him as if he had grown another head.
"Not 'Master' or 'Teacher' or something like that?" He tried to clarify.
"No. I like 'Gramps' better. My granddaughter calls me like that."
"What the hell! I'm not your grandchild!"
"You don't have to be my grandchild to call me 'Gramps'! Call me with names other than 'Gramps', and I'll beat the living day out of you, understand?"
"You're one screwed up old man…"
"Do I make myself clear, boy?"
"Yes…" The old man glared at him, so he quickly added, "Gramps."
"Good. Now, for starter, what's your name, boy?"
The boy mumbled something that the old man didn't catch.
"Speak loud and clear like a man, boy! What's your name?"
"…Law. Trafalgar Law."
A solemn singing voice drifted through the twisting corridors of the huge complex of an ancient house that was sitting on a hill in Kaigara Island of Wano Country in the 'New World' Grand Line. The residents of the house would stop for a while, listening to the lullaby-like hymn for a while before going back to their chores. Some stopped altogether in order to fully appreciate the song, while very few hummed along the melody quietly.
In one of the gardens of the complex were a small-bodied woman and a petite little girl. The little girl sat on the woman's lap, leaning on the latter's chest while listening to the soft singing contently. Both the little girl and the woman were staring at the vast stretch of ocean before them. The lyrics of the song spilled from the woman's lips smoothly, like a peaceful pure stream.
As the King has come of age
Him who is of the purest bloodline
He will set his feet on the oceans
To tread the path of trials and pains
.
He delivers no judgment and accepts none
For he walks in his freedom to his throne
Procuring the hearts of the people
Calling the world to his cause
.
The King answers his call of destiny
The remnants pledgeto him their loyalty
Beckoning at the warriors of the ancient time
The Old Gods will be awakened in his wake
.
The Capital awaits his return
To restore the glory long forgotten
In his throne the King will raise his hand
The fate of the world will be decided
.
"Mother, you sing that often. What's that?" The little girl suddenly asked, interrupting the woman's singing.
"Hm?" The woman looked down at her daughter. "It's a prophecy, dear."
"Prophecy?" This time, the girl looked up to look into her mother's aquamarine eyes.
"Yes. A prophecy." The woman wrapped the little girl on her lap with her arms gently. "One day, the prophecy will be fulfilled. Our people have been waiting for centuries for that time to come."
"When will it be?" The girl asked innocently.
"I don't know, dear. Nobody knows. Perhaps the Trinity knows, but we are not privy to their knowledge. They are beyond our reach." She murmured while caressing the crown of her daughter's silky hair. "The hymn will be your guide once you go out to the sea, you should memorise it soon."
The girl shrunk in her mother's arms.
"Do I really have to go out to the sea?" She whimpered.
"It's our destiny, darling. It's in our genes, passed down from generation to generation." The woman kissed her daughter's hair. "The sea will call you, and you will answer to it. It is inevitable."
The girl hummed as she relaxed in her mother's arms. She gazed at the horizon, and then at the glittering ocean surface. They were so pretty, like a sea of diamonds.
"Mother…"
"Hm?"
"When do you think Gramps will come back home?"
The woman stroke the girl's black hair thoughtfully as she thought over the innocent question. The girl loved her grandfather so very much, she almost broke down in an ocean of tears when the old man decided to take up the sail and answer the call of the sea.
"I don't know, dear. I truly don't." The mother said in a quiet sigh.
She didn't have the heart to tell her daughter that the old man had departed with the intention of spending his old age in a peaceful place. The old man was never going back home.
Author's Note: Awright, review please =D Oh, and if you see some words meshed up together, don't blame me. The stupid web just jumbled up the whole thing when I uploaded the story =_=