Written for Corazon Week 2018
Prompts: Day 1- Fury / Pity, Day 2 - Savior, Day 3 - Memory
I rarely do prompts, but I'm actually very pleased with how this turned out, especially since I have never actually written about Doflamingo and Rosinante's family before or them as kids. The only thing is the fic ended up being a little more Doflamingo-centric than I intended even though it's for Corazon Week, but I had a lot of fun writing it!
As always, many thanks to Aori for beta-ing.
In retrospect, Doffy should have expected Roci taking Law and running. He had always been like that even when he was young, silent and passive, an adoring pathetic puppy following Doffy around up until he suddenly wasn't.
Doffy remembered the time when they had snuck out to visit Sabaody Archipelago while their parents were otherwise occupied. Roci had nervously tugged on Doffy's shirt when he had shared his plan, concerned timid eyes peering out at Doffy through a mop of yellow hair.
"Are you sure we can do this, Doffy?" Roci asked, and Doffy's grin widened as he replied with a certain, "Yeah," because he had saw even if Roci didn't seem to realize, the excited way - buried underneath all that concern - that Roci had looked at the vehicle their slave had prepared for them for their trip and how his entire body was subconsciously already turned towards it even as he voiced his uncertainty.
Roci may be afraid to take what he wanted, but Doffy was a World Noble, a Donquixote. Doffy would take whatever he wanted and nothing - least of all something as pitiful as fear - would stop him.
Nor would he let anything stop his little brother from getting what he wanted.
They went to Sabaody Archipelago unannounced, and Doffy relished in the terror and obsequious manner that they were greeted with as the entire front row of the auction house was forced to relinquish their seating to the Donquixote brothers.
"Stop gawking like an ill-bred pup," Doffy said, pulling Roci back from where he was leaning over the banister separating the seating and the auction stage. "You are a Donquixote," he said, knocking lightly against the round helmet around Roci's head that protect him against breathing the same air as the commoners. "Have some dignity."
Roci pressed his lips together at the rebuke and nodded obediently, settling back even as his eyes continued to shine bright with excitement as the auction started. Doffy half-minded the auction, unamazed by any of the valuables that the other commoners bid and fought so hard to possess, and half kept an eye on Roci.
Doffy noticed immediately near the end of the auction when something captured Roci's attention from the way he nearly jolted out of his seat and how his eyes shone with awe. Doffy would have called Roci's reaction pathetic if only he didn't think it was a little cute as well. Doffy could indulge him a little.
Doffy turned to face the stage and there on full display was a mermaid, a shock collar around its neck and its dark blue tail gleaming with lean power under the stage light.
"You want it, Roci?" Doffy asked, and Roci nodded eagerly before he recalled himself and faltered. That was enough. Doffy raised his sign and the entire auction house hushed. No one dared to move. Life only resumed when the auctioner's hammer hit the gravel, declaring the mermaid theirs.
They returned home with the mermaid, and their mother rushed to greet them, sweeping both of them into a hug. Doffy leaned into the warmth even as he scowled.
"I'm too old for this, Mother," Doffy said, pulling away.
Their mother giggled as she let Doffy go and Roci burrowed himself against her like a baby, babbling to her about their day and all the things they'd seen.
Their father walked out a few seconds later, a wide genial smile on his face. "Didn't I say they would be fine, dear? Castro was with them, and they can always ask the Marines for help if they needed anything."
It took a moment for Doffy to recall who their father was referring to. Castro was their slave and their bodyguard, and, even if their father and mother frowned at the phrasing, their human shield if necessary.
"Yes, yes," their mother said. "Of course they're fine. Our boys are all grown up now, aren't you?"
Roci nodded eagerly.
Their father hummed in agreement as he knelt in front of Doffy, putting them at the same level. "Was today fun? Did you learn a lot, Doffy?"
Doffy raised his nose and said, "It was okay. The auction house had too many commoners."
"Rosinate was telling me that you two bought something - oh," their mother said as her eyes fell upon the tank Castro brought with it. "Oh my, she's gorgeous," she said, a brightness that Doffy had seen a few hours ago when Roci first saw the mermaid appearing in their mother's eyes.
"I bought it for you," Doffy said, elbowing Roci just as he was about to protest and make a scene.
Fat tears welled in Roci's eyes. He immediately turned back into their mother's arms and buried his face against her neck.
"Oh, that's so sweet of you, Doffy. Thank you," their mother said, a brilliant smile spreading across her face. She glanced down at Roci and brushed her hand against his head. "Roci baby, what's wrong?"
Roci let out a small sob and shook his head. "Nothing," he said, pulling away from their mother to scrub at his eyes. He glanced at Doffy for a moment, before his gaze darted away. "I… I didn't buy you anything."
Their mother let out a sweet giggle that tinkled in the air. "Silly, the presence of my husband and two sons are lovely enough."
Roci let out an another sniffle, even as a watery smile slowly wobbled onto his face at her words.
"We'll have to build a magnificent aquarium to hold such a beautiful creature, won't we?" their father said as he approached the tank. The mermaid in it was slamming its fist against the side, its chains around its wrist clanking loudly as it glared furiously at them through the tears bubbling from the corner of its eyes.
"Oh, stop it, would you!" Doffy shouted, kicking at the tank, and the mermaid skittered back even as its look of hatred remained.
"Doffy!" Roci protested, like he had done on the two separate occasions on the way back when Doffy kicked the tank to quiet the mermaid down. Just like before, he slunk back as Doffy's dark gaze fell on him.
"Oh Doffy, the poor thing is just frightened," their mother said, and Doffy scowled.
"It's annoying!" Doffy hissed.
"Now, now, let's get the aquarium set up quickly so the mermaid can settle in, alright?" their father said, and Roci nodded rapidly and their mother smiled. Doffy let out a huff as their father ruffled his hair.
Xxx
They built a glass aquarium at the center of the house with clear tunnels that branched off to other rooms, giving the mermaid access to everywhere except for the bedrooms and bathrooms. The aquarium reached all the way to the third floor, where the top was left open in a room they refurbished for designated feeding and maintenance so the slaves can take care of the mermaid and the family can interact with it if they wish. Their parents and Roci showered the aquarium with live fishes, corals and other decorations to best mimic the ocean for the mermaid's comfort, and although they urged him to, Doffy took no part in it.
Doffy could tell the mermaid hate him. It would always glare at him and then swim away, yet it would occasionally swim with his parents and Roci throughout the house, eliciting smiles and laughs from them.
Doffy would have been miffed if he had cared about the mermaid at all. As it was, he was only annoyed that he bought the mermaid and brought it into the Donquixote household, since it unexpectedly captured much of his family's attention.
Nowadays, Roci spent most of the time on the third floor with the mermaid. Doffy was content to let him be for now and spent his newly acquired freedom away from his little brother to attend activities with other World Nobles that usually resulted in Roci covering his eyes and crying after. Before that, Doffy did take the precaution to send the Donquixote's bodyguard slave to stand near the third floor in case the mermaid tried pulling his foolishly trusting little brother down into the water, however.
Doffy was willing to wait out Roci's fascination with the mermaid, but he was not prepared for Roci to one day announce, "Mother, Shyarly said that she misses her family. May we please let her go?"
Even without Doffy knowing who Shyarly was, all he had to do was look back to the connecting aquarium in the back of the dining room and see the flash of a sleek blue tail for him to guess what Roci was referring to.
"No!" Doffy exclaimed, slamming the fork and knife against the dining table. Doffy reined his temper in when their mother gasped, but that didn't stop himself from saying, "That mermaid is mine . You can't release it, Roci."
Roci pressed his wobbling lips together, and a flash of irritation went through Doffy as Roci turned beseechingly to their mother and father.
"No!" Doffy shouted again just as their father was about to speak. "You always take his side! It's not fair. I bought it!"
"Doffy," their father said, reaching for him, and Doffy slapped his hand away.
"Dear, let me," their mother's voice sounded, and then their father pulled back and their mother replaced him.
"Doffy," their mother said, and Doffy's lips twisted to a scowl. He crossed his arms and turned away. A hand gently tugged him to her. "Doffy sweetheart, look at me."
Doffy whipped his head around to his mother. "It's not fair!"
His mother opened her arms, and Doffy burrowed himself against her. Her warm and gentle scent soothed Doffy's anger a little.
"Doffy," his mother said after a moment, hand brushing through his hair, "if the mermaid is not happy here, we cannot keep her." Doffy tried twisting out of her arms but she did not relent, and Doffy didn't force it, not wanting to accidentally hurt her. "I'll go talk to her and see what she wants first, alright? We can figure out what to do after."
Doffy knew how that would end. He shook his head.
"Doffy," his mother murmured, pressing a kiss to his head. "Please?"
Doffy pressed his lips together and reluctantly nodded.
As expected, when their mother came down from the aquarium room on the third floor, she announced that the mermaid wanted to leave, so they will release it tomorrow morning after they got people to connect her aquarium to the ocean so they could directly release her back.
Doffy stormed away and slammed the door of his bedroom shut. He refused to acknowledge his parents when they called for him, and eventually, they went away.
Xxx
Deep into the night, after everyone had already been asleep, Doffy snuck into the storage room where the shock collar controllers for the slaves were stored. It was dusty from disuse, and Doffy made a face as he picked out their bodyguard slave's controller.
Doffy woke the slave up via a shock and the face that the slave made at the sight of him - surprise, anger and borderline insolence - made Doffy shocked him with the collar again just because he could.
"Follow me," Doffy commanded, and walked away before the slave recovered, knowing it would follow because it didn't have any other choice.
Doffy led it up to the third floor of the house to the room where the top of the aquarium was left opened, ignoring the slave's confusion the entire way. When they finally arrived, Doffy saw a flicker of blue as the mermaid investigated the new arrival, only for it to bare its teeth and swim away when it saw it was Doffy.
Doffy huffed and ignored it, turning towards the bodyguard slave instead.
"Young master?" it said, and Doffy backhanded the slave for addressing him so casually out of turn. Doffy just knew it was Roci's fault for letting the slaves get away with bad habits around him.
"Don't talk to me, you slave!" Doffy said. The slave recovered from the slap and turned its head towards him, a poorly-hidden glower in his gaze. Doffy kicked him, and continued to until it went down. Punctuating every other word with a kick, he said, "Mother and Father may be kind and my brother may be soft, but I'm not. You lack discipline. You're just a slave, and other World Nobles have whipped their slaves bloodied for less." Doffy stopped to take a breath. "Do you understand? You're nothing, and you only need to follow my order and nothing else."
The slave nodded without lifting its head or body from where it fell.
"Good," Doffy said and withdrew a bag of powder from his pocket. "Get up. This is sleeping powder. I'm going to toss it into the aquarium and once the mermaid is unconscious, you're going to swim down there and retrieve it, since Mother took off its chains and collar on the first day."
The slave looked like it had questions, but it didn't say anything, having learnt its lesson. Then, its gaze darted to the side, a second before a clank sounded as something hard hit the ground.
Doffy turned around to the sight of Roci standing a few feet behind him, a round crystal ball rolling by his feet where it was dropped.
"Doffy?" he said, and Doffy's fist clenched. Of course Roci visited the mermaid at night. Roci took a step forward, gaze darting from Doffy to the slave to the aquarium and then to the packet in Doffy's hand, and his foot bumped into the crystal ball, sending it rolling until it fell over the ledge into the aquarium with a small splash. "What are you trying to do to Shyarly?"
Doffy's lips twisted to a scowl. "It's none of your business," he said, turning back to the aquarium to toss the bag in, but then Roci was in front of him, standing between the aquarium and Doffy.
"Move!" Doffy hissed, and Roci trembled, but he shook his head.
"No! You're going to hurt Shyarly," Roci said, and it was infuriating, the way everyone dared to stand in his way.
"Get out of my way," Doffy shouted, grabbing Roci's arm. "The mermaid is mine and I can do whatever I want with it. It's too wasteful to let it go. The other day, the other World Nobles just mentioned wanting to try mermaid meat." A cruel smirk spread across Doffy's face at the horror on Roci's. "It's supposed to be a delicacy. If you're good, maybe I'll even let you try -"
"No!" Roci shouted, wrenching himself away from Doffy and back towards the aquarium. "No! Shyarly's my friend!"
"Shut up!" Doffy hissed, lunging at Roci and pressing a hand against his mouth. His heart pounded at the thought of their mother and father waking up to this before the deed was done. They would surely take Roci's side. He had initially wanted to smuggle the mermaid out and then pretend to have released the mermaid overnight because it begged to go home earlier, but then Roci appeared.
It was all Roci's fault. He ruined his grand plan!
Doffy pressed harder against Roci to silent him, and then he was tipping over. Both Roci and Doffy's eyes widened, Roci's with terror as tears lined his eyes and Doffy's with mounting horror as he watched his little brother fall over the side and into the aquarium.
"No! Roci!" Doffy shouted, rushing forward, but it was too late. Doffy stared into the clear water as Roci's small form sunk deeper and deeper into the aquarium. He whirled around, recalling the slave. "Go! Save him!"
The slave looked at him helplessly. It opened its mouth for a second, closed it, before finally saying, "I can't. The mermaid would attack me the moment I go in."
Doffy couldn't breath. The mermaid only ever tolerated his parents and Roci and no one else. There was no way anyone could go in safely while it was awake, nevermind rescue someone from its lair.
He looked at the packet of sleeping powder in his hand, and another hand immediately closed over it. Doffy lashed out, but the slave didn't pull away even as it flinched.
"No. Please, Young Master Doflamingo," the slave said. "Young Master Rosinante is small; that large quantity of sleeping powder could kill him!"
"What can I do then?! He -" Doffy's eyes caught sight of the lever at the side of the aquarium. The one they were going to use to release the content of the aquarium and the mermaid into the ocean tomorrow. "Pull that lever!" Doffy shouted, shoving the slave towards it. "It'll drain the water out!"
The slave ran towards it and Doffy immediately turned back to the aquarium, leaning over as close as he dared as he sought Roci's form. "Roci, Roci, Roci…" Doffy's eyes burned as his vision blurred. The water level slowly began to dip. "Come on…"
Doffy roughly swiped his sleeve over his eyes, and when he pulled it away, he screamed. In front of him was the mermaid, viciously sharp teeth exposed and barred towards him. Doffy stumbled back and fell.
The mermaid scoffed, and Doffy's temper flared before he caught sight of the small form in her arm.
"Roci!"
"Donquixote Doflamingo," the mermaid said, and Doffy startled at the softness of its voice in contrast to how it usually acted around him and its contemptuous tone. He had never heard it spoke before. "Is there anyone who is worth anything to you? You would harm other humans being, harm creatures like mermaids such as myself, and now you even harmed your own blood brother."
"Shut up," Doffy hissed, "and give him to me."
The mermaid's hold on Roci tightened for a moment, and then Doffy noticed the crystal ball that she held in her hand. She shook her head, and Doffy's eyes grew sharp at her refusal before she gently placed Roci down onto the ground.
"Heed my word, Donquixote Doflamingo," she said. Doffy stared, transfixed, as the crystal ball swirled with images and the mermaid stared deep at it. "There will be blood and destruction at your hands. You will destroy your family and all that you hold dear with the path that you choose." The mermaid looked sad for a second, but then furious as it spat out, "I pity Roci and your family for who you are!"
Doffy's blood ran cold. "Shut up. You're just a mermaid, a beast, lower than even a commoner!" Doffy noticed the sleep powder lying on the ground and grabbed it. "Pull up the lever and block its exit, slave!" Doffy shouted. The slave didn't move. "Go!" he shouted again, and tossed the sleeping powder into the water, but by then, it was too late. The mermaid had already swam through the opening and was gone.
Doffy whirled towards the slave, fiery blood rushing through his veins. "Why didn't you listen to me?!" Doffy exclaimed. He turned the shocker on and the slave fell to his knees screaming. Doffy didn't let up on the shock. "This is all your fault, this is all your fault!"
"Doffy?" a soft voice sounded, and then Doffy looked up to the sight of their mother at the door, taking in the slave screaming in pain and the shock controller in his hand. Her hand slowly rose to cover her mouth.
Their father pushed past her and grabbed the shock controller out of his hand, and Doffy let him. He barely noticed the slave's screams dying down as their father turned the shocker off.
"What's going on here?!" their father exclaimed, angry and concerned, and their mother just stared at Doffy from behind.
Doffy turned around and took in the scene before him. Roci was on the ground, at an angle out of sight from the door of the room for now, shivering unconsciously in his wet clothes and his face deathly pale. The slave was crumbled on the ground near the lever, holding back little noises of pain. The aquarium water, clouded from the sleeping powder, was slowly draining, and in the water that was still there, the fishes and sea-life fell one by one under the strong influence of the drug.
The mermaid's words echoed in his mind like a scream.
"Doffy?" their mother said, her voice closer than before. He turned around and her nightgown brushed against his face. "Are you okay?" She leaned down to check on him, and then gasped as she caught sight of Roci. "Oh heavens, what happened to Roci?!"
She tried to go to Roci, but Doffy grabbed her, held her wrist tight in his grip.
"Doffy?" she said, glancing down at him. A hand gently closed around his cheek, sweeping through the wetness there, and then Doffy was gasping, choking, sobbing as tears flooded down his face.
"He's fine," he heard their father say from Roci's direction, and then their mother's arms enveloped Doffy and he pressed back against her and let himself be held.
When Roci awoke, their parents asked him what happened, but he took one look at Doffy and his red-rimmed eyes and shook his head. The slave took Roci's lead and didn't say anything, only answering that Doffy let the mermaid go when questioned.
Their father and mother knew there was more to what transpired, but let it go since no one was really hurt in the end. A few days after the mermaid was released, they also let go all of Donquixote family's slaves, stating that it was about time since their father had been considering living a normal life anyway.
Doffy didn't get to find out what that really meant until two months later, when he found himself on a ship abound to the lower lands with only his family and little money to their name. All of a sudden, they were no longer World Nobles and their name Donquixote meant nothing at all.
Then, the commoners discovered they were former World Nobles and burned their house down. Their mother became sick and despite all their efforts, she eventually died from the illness. The next time the mob attacked them, Doffy killed them with a power called Conqueror's Haki, and then Doffy killed their father for killing their mother, for forcing them to live through such indignity. When he returned after failing to negotiate for their reentry into Mariejois using their father's head, Roci was gone.
He came back fourteen years later, and Doffy thought, A miracle. But then Roci stood up to Doffy for Law, and revealed himself to be an undercover Marine trying to take Doffy and his Family down. As Doffy shot him for his betrayal, Doffy thought, Roci never could stand up for himself, only for others, and then inevitably, She was right, she was right.
I killed them all.