I'd like to proudly present my entry to the One Piece Big Bang of 2016, and also my first multi chapter fic for this fandom. I'll post a chapter twice a week, I think, or something along those lines at least.
The cover art was done (used with permission!) by the amazing qpeura, check it out! ( bit . ly/ 1SZDVOx ) Also a huge thank you to my amazing betas, Emygrl99 and Beyond Kailani!
Prologue
Amber eyes followed small torrents of seawater as they danced lazily outside the window. There was nothing else to focus on, really; the surrounding water was far too dim and murky to allow any light shine through, leaving the ocean veiled in darkness.
Law sighed, aiming a glance in askance to his foster father.
What had been Cora's selling point to get Law to join him on the trip, again? The new culture, the local cuisine, and the scenery. What a joke. Law could only hope that things would pick up once they reached their destination, but the chances of that were slim at best.
He had always imagined that a diplomatic mission would be exciting and full of action, and Cora's stories of his visits to kingdoms far, far away had only fed that delusion further. The truth, however, was that the traveling alone was unbelievably tedious and the itinerary seemed equally uneventful. A talk with the local royals, a dinner and then back to the small carriage it was.
Ironically enough, the trip to Newgate's kingdom was supposed to be a present for Law's upcoming seventeenth birthday, and a way for Cora to prepare the teen for assignments of his own. Frankly, Law would have rather passed up on the opportunity and focused on his own studies in the meantime, but Cora had been insistent and, in the end, Law had deemed acquiescing to be the lesser evil.
Besides, when the King of the Merfolk sent an invitation to a meeting, there was no turning it down.
They had entered Edward Newgate's realm some time ago, but the king resided far deeper in the territory, near the ocean floor, so the trip from Dressrosa to their destination took up a better part of twenty four hours.
As if to add insult to injury, their driver had offhandedly mentioned that a mermaid would have been able to cover the distance in half that time without breaking a sweat. Not to mention that the King of Dressrosa, Doflamingo Donquixote, could have done the same in a matter of hours with his magic, much to Law's added ire.
But Law didn't have any magic suitable for making the trip, nor did Cora, so the two humans were left with no other choice but to wait inside the small carriage.
The sixteen year old scowled and rested his head against the wall behind him, trying to focus on anything but the unbearable heat. It was like traveling in a sweat lodge. If Law was still correct in his calculations - and he was - he still had three excruciatingly long hours left in that small, sealed off space with nothing to do and no one to talk to. 'How delightful.'
Begrudgingly, Law had to admit that even Cora's mindless babbling would have been preferable in comparison to the endless hours of inactivity. But the tall blond he was traveling with had fallen asleep hours ago, an unlit cigarette between his teeth and his bangs shadowing his eyes.
It wasn't that Law particularly minded the long hours of loneliness and quiet. No, he was accustomed to a certain level of introverted isolation, and was rather comfortable with having only the company of his own thoughts. But being stuck in such a small space only made him claustrophobic, and Law swore he could practically feel the ocean pressing down on him and robbing him of what little breathing room there was.
Law wasn't completely against the visit to the merfolk city, even if the hours of humdrum travel were ebbing away at what little enthusiasm he still had for the idea. The denizens of the deep were well renowned in all of Dressrosa, and while surface tourists were not as much as a rarity as one might have thought, Law had still only ever seen glimpses of their presence. A part of him, in truth, was intrigued by the new experience. It was an opportunity to finally see the creatures he had previously only seen from afar or from the pages of some age-old tomes.
In his books, they were creatures of grace and elegance with long, vibrant tails that reflected light in mesmerizing shades of gold and jade. The knowledge that in only a few short hours - no matter how long they would seem - they'd be surrounded by merfolk was alluring to Law's methodical side, and piqued his interest as a healer.
Law wondered if one of their hosts would be willing to let him take a scale from their tail. That would sure be something to examine back home.
Letting out a bored sigh, the teen leaned his head in his hand and gazed blankly out the window. The diplomatic representative of Dressrosa was still snoring loudly in his corner, and Law was suddenly rather jealous of Cora's ability to doze off whenever and wherever he wanted.
After an unprecedented amount of time spent lamenting his temporary imprisonment, a glimmer of bright red light caught Law's eye. Having fallen into a borderline catatonic state of inactivity, the young healer lifted his head and gaped at the view with barely contained astonishment.
In the horizon was the silhouette of a magnificent settlement within a large translucent bubble of air, giving the buildings and vegetation inside an iridescent glow. The sight of it was breath-taking, and Law's brow furrowed in concentration and wonder as he took in the vivacious colours and exotic corals that made up the foundations for the merfolk capital.
The carriage's speed picked up, and they practically flew through the protective air bubble that kept the seawater at bay. Law made a mental note to ask someone about the physics of it all.; there must have been a charm or a spell that made the seemingly fragile bubble retain its original form so easily.
Law peered out the window curiously, left speechless in the face of what must have been dozens of merfolk of all shapes and sizes, swimming below them in a labyrinthine network of canals. It was certainly something one didn't see back in Dressrosa, he mused.
The thought of his homeland pulled Law's focus back to the present and he nudged the older man's forearm none too gently.
"Cora-san?" Law said. "Are you awake? We're almost there."
But the honoured guest continued his one man snore concert, oblivious to Law's attempts to rouse him. The young healer rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Wake up, Cora-san. The least you could do is be awake when we arrive!" he snapped and shoved the older man's arm again, coming close to knocking his adoptive father from his perch.
Cora caught himself at the last second, arms flailing wildly and mouth suddenly agape with a grunted curse. Law smirked briefly at the nobleman's elegance - or lack thereof - and rolled his eyes. "About time for you to wake up, we'll be there in any minute now."
Cora rubbed the sleep out of his eyes hastily and joined Law by the window, drawing an annoyed huff from the teen as he got into Law's space, squeezing against him in the limited space by the sole window.
"Sheesh, kid, you could have woken me sooner," Cora grumbled half-heartedly, paying no heed to the glare that was Law's only reply. "Well, no matter, the important thing is that we are finally here, eh?" he said, ruffling Law's hair.
Law smacked his hand away. "Yeah, finally. Once we get there, how about you at least try to act like the responsible and trustworthy diplomat you claim yourself to be?" he quipped, fixing his hair back to its usual not quite as messy style.
The king's advisor let out an elated laugh, marvelling at the exotic view. He rather resembled a child looking through a toy shop's window, Law thought; conveniently forgetting his own wonderment mere moments ago.
"Sure, I promise I'll behave. As long as you wipe that frown of your face, Lawsie. Try to have a more positive outlook," Cora assured warmly, straightening the wrinkles in his long black coat.
The carriage slowed to a crawl as they reached the foot of the most prevalent building in the city; the palace. It was surprisingly modest, juxtaposing the extravagant architecture Law was used to seeing back in Dressrosa. The palace was built on a thick network of colourful corals that lifted the structure high above ground level, and many of the water pipes that served as passageways for the merfolk connected to its floors.
Law watched curiously as two mermen with tails of bright blue and auburn, respectively, swum uphill in a canal with their friend, who looked rather tiny in comparison.
They were just children, Law realised, probably no more than ten years old. The smallest of the three spun in the canal, doing flips and twirls with grace no human could ever hope to achieve underwater, and Law could almost hear the runt's laughter all the way to his spot in the carriage. He absently wondered if they were servants, or perhaps even some merman noble's children.
They came to a gradual halt, and Cora scrambled to his feet with a wide grin. "Okay then, that was over in a blink of an eye, wouldn't you say?"
Law didn't dignify his words with a response.
Their driver, a puffer type fishman with a permanent scowl opened the doors and offered Law his hand to help him down, which the teen promptly declined. Their driver bowed and gestured Law to get moving in a way that led the teen to believe the fishman wasn't too keen on decorum.
Cora followed his adoptive son to the clearing with little grace, almost falling out of the carriage with an undignified lieu of curses. He stumbled and caught onto the door handle at the very last second, frowning at his own discomposure.
Law smirked and helped Cora return to his feet. "Way to go, Cora-san. That must have been a great first impression," he said with poorly hidden amusement.
"First impression for whom, exactly? There's no one here, Law," Cora replied irritably, rubbing the back of his neck and eyeing their surroundings. Law shrugged, feigning ignorance whilst snickering inwardly.
To their credit, their welcome wagon pretended to be oblivious to the duke's entrance, and merely chatted amiably amongst themselves. One was a merman sitting atop a large air bubble, and the other was a fishman, leaning to a wall with his arms crossed.
Keeping his face meticulously expressionless but eyes trained on the mermen and their scales - he'd never even seen that shade of purple before - Law dragged Cora along by the blond's sleeve. One of them might as well keep the show going.
Law's stomach coiled in a tight knot of apprehension as the mermen closed the distance between the two parties. The merman manoeuvred his air bubble expertly, and Law took a tentative step back when the bubble stopped within metres of him and Cora. It was an interesting sight to behold, and Law surmised that the mermen and mermaids must be using the air bubbles to move around in the drier areas of their kingdom.
The merfolk were exotic, that was for sure. The merman had a lilac tail and a painted face. He was wearing a loose fitting kimono and a sardonic smile that was somehow simultaneously both belittling and kind.
His companion, a fishman with bright lime green and yellow scales, seemed to be doing his damnedest not to laugh at their less than graceful human guests. He had a noticeable scar on his temple and a lazy smirk on his face, and his hair was styled in a pompadour that Law suspected had taken the man years to perfect.
"Hey, kid. My eyes are up here," the man said teasingly, and Law broke the one-sided staring contest with the fishman's fins that he had never consciously initiated. He was barely able to mutter a small apology, but the fishman didn't seem to think much of it, and simply laughed at the teen's obvious interest.
"Don't sweat it, I bet you haven't seen too many of our kind before. The name's Thatch, and this is Izo."
Cora extended his hand with a crooked smile. "Yes, we don't really get too many visitors from around here. I'm Cora and this is my son, Law. We're here to see-"
"Pops, yeah," Thatch cut in, shaking Cora's hand good naturedly. "Just follow us."
Soon enough they were settled in an elevator made entirely of shells and what appeared to be clay. Law stifled a shudder. He was almost at his limit when it came to frail means of transportation and enclosed spaces.
"How was your voyage?" Izo asked with a hint of concern in his voice. "You look a bit pale, dear."
"It was… interesting. And it's over now," Law answered, shrugging.
He didn't want to focus on the past few hours too much, or to be reminded of the fact that he would be back in that forsaken carriage before nightfall. Swimming to the surface would have surely been a lot more gratifying, Law thought as he watched Izo flick his tail against the bubble he was sitting on.
Izo noticed his stare and smiled knowingly at Law. "I hear the currents should be in you favour tonight. Travelling home should be less grating."
Law shot a disbelievingly glance at Izo. "I doubt anything could make that pleasant."
"Well I hope it will be. But you should try to enjoy your stay regardless, it's always nice to see new faces," Izo chuckled.
"Thanks, I'll do my best," Law said, unsure of what he was expected to say. Saved by the fishman, Thatch slapped Law in the back abruptly, right between his shoulder blades.
"Oi, we're here kid. You can slip away if you want, just wait in the room over there."
It didn't seem like request as much as a command, and Law peeked inquisitively at Cora, who just nodded encouragingly. All the low key cloak and dagger business just made Law want to protest that much more, and he opened his mouth to voice his counterarguments. He wanted to tell them that he was almost old enough, and for better or worse he was Cora's successor, thus having the right to hear the negotiations.
And yet, Law found himself sulking in a large room with only three walls. The fourth wall was covered by nothing but vines and flowers, overlooking the city. The view was astounding and under different circumstances it would have surely enthralled Law, but now he didn't spare it a second glance. His attention was reserved for the meeting room not ten metres from him, where he knew the King of the Merfolk was currently chatting with his adoptive father.
Law grumbled a curse or a dozen under his breath and tried to will his eyes to pierce through the stone wall so that he could see what exactly was happening inside. He had heard stories of the man who ruled the merfolk; a hulking figure with tentacles the size of full grown men and a laugh that could set earthquakes in motion. And Law would have been lying if he'd said he wasn't burning with curiosity to confirm the rumours with his own eyes.
Alas, he had no choice but to wait and hope to maybe catch a glimpse of Newgate when the meeting was over. Law sighed desolately. Having to wait outside like the toddler at the kiddie table was enraging to say the least.
"Hey, mister," someone said right next to Law, poking the teen's shoulder and snapping him out of his furious musings. "Hey, have you seen Ace and Sabo?"
Law turned his head just enough to see a merman - merboy? - with big doe eyes and an exquisite red tail. He wore a red vest and a weathered straw hat, and was perched atop an air balloon just like the ones Law had seen Thatch and Izo using earlier, if not a tad more modest. His tail was a small stump in comparison to the other mermens', and his fins seemed disproportionate and awkward for such a tiny kid.
Law realised absently that this must have been the same child he'd seen swimming earlier in the canal with his older friends. 'Ace and Sabo, perhaps?'
The kid poked Law again, a bit harder this time, and Law frowned in disapproval. He didn't recall signing up to be some fish kid's babysitter. "What?"
"Have you seen my brothers? They were taking me to the kitchen, and I guess I took a wrong turn," the child said, grinning sheepishly. He didn't look at all surprised or shaken about being separated from his brothers in the enormous castle, instead acting like it was no big deal at all, an everyday occurrence. The kid jumped off his air bubble to sit on the bench next to Law.
He fidgeted, waiting for Law's response impatiently, and the teen stifled a groan. He had not signed up for this.
"What do your brothers look like?" he asked, "and what's your name, kid?"
"Luffy!" the merboy beamed. "I'm Luffy and I'm nine years old and I have two brothers, Ace and Sabo, and they're super cool. I bet they could kick your ass, too."
"Why on earth would they want to do that?" Law murmured to himself. "Where did you lose Ace-ya, then?"
Luffy tilted his head thoughtfully and cupped his chin. "Well, we were swimming up here to go see Thatchy, and then there was a fish and it looked neat, so… That way?" he wagered a guess, gesturing to the castle. The kid snickered to himself and pointed to the complete opposite direction. "Might be that way too, though."
Law bit back the 'are you fucking kidding me' that threatened to leave his tongue like a reflex. The kid had no clue where he was. "That's a pretty vague estimate, Luffy-ya. Do you know where your parents are? Go find them."
"All I have is Ace and Sabo," Luffy said nonchalantly, like he was speaking of bunny rabbits instead of telling Law that he was most likely an orphan. "Hey, what's your name?"
"Trafalgar Law."
Luffy's mouth gaped open like a fish's. "That's a stupid name," he declared flatly, "I'm going to call you something else."
"What's difficult about saying my name, kid? Too big of a word for you?" Law chaffed.
"No, it's just a silly name!" Luffy giggled back, "I think you need a nickname, mister. How about Tiger? No, that's no good… Or Tornado? No..."
"You think?" Law repeated. Now that must have been a rarity all in itself. Law couldn't have disagreed more - there was nothing wrong with his name - but he didn't have the energy or the motivation to argue with the kid, and simply huffed.
"How about really cool guy?" he offered. The small smirk playing on his lips was nothing short of preternatural, but he did nothing to suppress it.
The overly energetic nine year old was kind of fun to be around, a bit like Cora.
Luffy laughed openly at his suggestion, and the lively snicker kept the smirk in place on Law's lips. "You're funny. I'm going to call you Torao."
And that was it, pure and simple. Law listened to the merboy ramble about his brothers and friends, about different types of fish and how he thought that Law's robes were like a cape and a dress all rolled in one. He swung his arms wildly every which way as he spoke, and Law tried his best to hum and nod at the appropriate moments. But in the end, it was Luffy's tail that truly captured his interest.
He had to admit that it was rather beautiful; different shades of bright colours mixed together in cascades, creating a captivating canvas of silver and rose scales. The colour was not as deep and vivid as Izo's lilac or Thatch's green, but Law surmised that Luffy's young age must play a part in that.
Law idly wondered what touching the scaly surface would be like, but he caught himself before acting on the impulse. Somehow he doubted that suddenly probing at a random kid's tail would be appreciated even in the much more liberal merfolk society, and it sure as hell wouldn't do the diplomatic relations between humans and the merfolk any favours.
Luffy, however, didn't seem to have such qualms, and broke his monologue out of the blue to pinch Law's thigh experimentally.
"Why don't you have a tail? How do you swim? Do you poop?" the kid blurted out, tugging on the fabric of Law's dark, silken robes as if to see if there was a tail hidden underneath. Law snorted out a laugh and quirked an incredulous eyebrow.
"What, you've never seen a human before?" he asked, but it was such a hypocritical thing to say that it almost made Law sneer at his own words. Not like he had ever been within a touching distance of a real life merman before, either.
Even if said merman was a pint sized brat.
Luffy stared blankly back at Law and shook his head. "No, Acey says that I should keep away since I would just annoy them. But I think he's just being a meanie when he says that," he snickered, and Law seriously doubted that the kid's inexperience when it came to humans was from lack of trying. He was growing convinced that the nine year old was the absolute daftest person he had ever met in his life.
"That's alright," Law said dismissively and pulled his robes aside just enough to show Luffy his shoes. "See, no scales?"
"Weird…" Luffy stated, flexing his own tail in bewilderment. "How do you get anywhere with those?"
"They're feet. Really, no one's told you about humans before?"
"Nope," Luffy chirped, picking his nose absent-mindedly. He wiped his hand in his t-shirt, and Law just couldn't be mad at someone who looked like the very definition of blissful ignorance. "And I think my feet are cooler than yours, anyway."
Law opened his mouth to correct the kid - No, Luffy-ya, you don't have feet - but the words got caught in his throat and Law surprised himself by chuckling instead, genuinely amused by the kid's bluntness. It was something he rarely encountered or experienced among the other nobles.
"Yeah, I guess yours are pretty cool," he acknowledged, and Luffy looked so smug that Law couldn't resist the opportunity to push him over with his much less amazing feet.
The young merman toppled to the ground, giggling happily. Law reached his hand out to Luffy, but the kid batted it away, making Law's knuckles brush against the side of Luffy's tail by accident. The human's eyes widened marginally in surprise.
The ruby scales were softer than he'd assumed them to be, and Law could only stare at the strong muscles as they flexed to help Luffy back to a seated position. What he wouldn't give for the opportunity to study the anatomy and the inner workings of such a system. For all the research he'd done on the merfolk, Law had never been within a touching distance of a fin and scales and…
The nine year old boy snickered at Law, pointing at him with a shit eating grin plastered on his face. "You were staring, old guy. That's rude."
"What's rude is you pointing that finger at me," Law said, suppressing a scoff. "And I'm not old, Luffy-ya, I'm sixteen."
"Shishishi, you're old!" Luffy said with a tune to his words. "My brothers are older than me and they're only, hmm… Twelve!"
Law rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He didn't exactly want to argue with the boy when he knew it would be a losing battle. "Whatever you say, Luffy-ya."
'Obstinate brat.'
Luffy grinned widely, and Law noted that the kid had a scrap of food or stuck between his teeth. How charming. Law shook his head and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall. He was halfway expecting Luffy to grow bored of him and wander off, but the boy just climbed back on the bench, scrambling for purchase when his tail slipped on the smooth tiles.
Law decided right there and then that all his books had either been ludicrously generalizing the mermen as a race, or they had just gotten all the facts completely, utterly wrong. Luffy was unbelievably clumsy and uncoordinated with his tail, falling on his nose every two seconds in what must have been the definite antonym of the word grace and a polar opposite to the elegant creatures pictured in Law's books.
What the hell was the kid even still doing out on the balcony with him, when he had no idea about Law's intentions? Slave trade, while far less common than it used to be, was still a real threat to merfolk, and it was not exactly a rarity to hear of people disappearing and being sold. Law knew there were many a slave serving the nobles back in Dressrosa, too; it was just how things were and had always been.
Didn't Luffy have any sense of self-preservation?
Apparently not. The kid wound up leaning comfortably against Law's side, acting like they hadn't been complete strangers to one another mere minutes ago. The small merman's tail reflected the sunlight into Law's eyes, or whatever passed for sunlight ten thousand metres below surface level, and Law squinted his eyes from the sheer intensity.
Luffy snuggled closer to Law, practically hugging him and, much to his surprise, the healer found that he didn't fully detest the contact. He still pushed Luffy off of him, out of principle if nothing else.
The kid fell on his behind, bending almost in half and holding his side. For a fleeting moment of dread and what someone might have called worry, Law thought he'd hurt the brat. Sparking an altercation or even a war didn't sound like a great way to start his diplomatic career.
Law reached out to Luffy to pick him up, but the merman only let out a gleeful laugh.
"Silly Torao, I almost fell! What did you do that for?" he asked, although it seemed more like a statement than a question. As if Luffy knew the answer already, but just wanted to drive his point home; that Law was apparently also the daftest person Luffy had ever met. Imagine the irony.
"You almost fell? Well darn, what are you doing on the ground then?" Law teased, but his focus was elsewhere.
"Hey, Luffy-ya," he started without thinking much of his words and, okay, maybe Law had no self-preservation instincts to speak of either. "Can I have that?"
"Huh?" The merman - Law was still struggling with associating the word man with the runt, but it really couldn't be helped - voiced, looking confused. He followed the direction of Law's gaze and the healer could practically see the light bulb appearing above the small raven head as Luffy connected the dots. A wide smile lit his features. "Oh, you mean-"
"Luffy!"
A sharp yell cut the kid off, and Law frowned as one of the young mermen he'd seen swimming with Luffy emerged from behind a corner. He wore a fierce scowl in his freckled face, and his tail was a mix of red and gold. Not long after a second boy trailed after the freckled one. His blond hair was hidden under a top hat, and his tail of bronze and azure swivelled back and forth as he sat on the bubble. Law was surprised to see that half of the child's smirking face was covered in scars.
If Law'd have to hazard a guess, he'd say that he was looking at Ace and Sabo. Hadn't Luffy mentioned he had two brothers?
Luffy tensed and grinned sheepishly. "Ace, Sabo! You found me already," he greeted, letting out a nervous chuckle. "I was just talking to my new friend."
"Yeah, I can see that," Ace scoffed and aimed a piercing glare Law's way. "He's a human, Luffy, haven't you been listening to anything we've been telling you?"
"But he's cool!" Luffy laughed and bounced off the bench to join his brothers without a single glance or a word of goodbye to the sixteen year old healer. Law was left on the balcony, staring at his hand and the small, crimson scale that this strange merboy had pressed into his palm before vanishing.
Law couldn't wipe the smug smile off his face. The long trek to the underwater kingdom seemed that much more worthwhile now that he had a souvenir, something to show for it.
Thank you for reading, please leave a comment! I'd love some feedback ~
Also, some of the working titles for this fic have included: "The Encyclopaedia of Shitty Jokes" and "Merstuck". Is the latter a reference to Homestuck, you ask? Why yes, yes it is.