So here I am again with a new long fic. Hope you all like it cos it has taken me a few weeks to came up with a good plot. In any case I wanna dedicate this fic to my lovely beta that I keep torturing but that still stays by my side and help me with this things no matter how bussy she is, and also to K. Frost and Leena who give me a lot of motivation to keep writing and who had managed (somehow) to print a fanbook of Ignis Draco. Love you all.
As allways the characters don't belong to me but to Echiroo Oda that is torturing us with the lack of Kidd and Law in the manga. Also any resemblance with real people or real stories is mere coincidence, and children please, don't do what the characters do, it's dangerous. In any case, I hope you all like it.
Law took another small step dodging one of the will-o'-wispthat glowed with a dim light in the dark night. His boots felt heavy, soaked and dirtied with the mud and gray water of the swamp, but still, Law strode forward through the dark place, going deeper and deeper into the cold dark forest. North, always northward, to where the world ended and a new land of miracles and magic began.
Towards his only salvation.
The young man with silver eyes stopped for a moment on top of one of the black branches of a fallen tree, trying to catch his breath. The cold and toxic air of this land made it difficult to breathe and advance, but Law simply couldn't surrender. This swamp was one of the boundaries of the world, the border of the unknown, a cursed forest where no one dared to enter and where everything seemed to be designed to destroy him. Inside it nothing green could grow, animals could not survive without food, and any human who stayed in this place longer than needed would end up crazy. Not even the black, viscous water at Law's feet could be considered drinkable, so survival -without food, without water- was pretty tough.
His main problem was indeed the food, with nothing alive in the place Law couldn't hunt, couldn't regain strength to continue his way. The portions of food were getting smaller and smaller each passing day and the little water he could catch from the strange rain wasn't enough to quench his thirst.
To make things worse, Law was tired, but falling asleep in this place was a death sentence. Gangrene or the loss of a limb through a simple distraction and a fall into the water could already be his end. Not that it was a huge deal, Law had learned years ago to sleep with one open eye, but the lack of sleep paired with the hunger, and his exhaustion after days traveling was starting to become a problem.
The swamp was a place to go to die and where intelligent people would not dare enter under normal circumstances and even less spend the amount of time Law was wasting there. But this wasn't a normal situation, and Law had never been like the rest.
Looking up, the dark-haired man gazed at the gray sky above his head, at that strange tumult of clouds that had become something constant in the world since a few decades ago. From the first day they had appeared over their heads, the dark ominous clouds had begun to pour rain on the world and Law's people. Because of that the young man had never seen the sun in his whole life. The greatest problem has been the lack of light. The sky had quickly become a curse, and was, of course, the reason of Law's entry into the swamp.
Law sighed. There was no need to remember what had happened, now there was no other option but to move forward and survive another day. Dodging another lost soul, another will-o'-wisp, those strange lights that lit his way at night, Law kept walking, unwilling to stop for just a moment.
He had to reach his destination soon or he will follow the same fate as those lights around him.
Jumping to the next fallen trunk and then to the next, Law tried to avoid the gray water of the swamp which would melt his leather boots in seconds. His whole body felt numb from the weeks of travel, the wet clothes, and the lack of a good meal, but his anger and hatred kept him going.
This was a suicide mission.
The elders had known it, his friends had known it, even Law. But it had been a desperate situation. Law still saw the smiles on their faces, the satisfaction in their eyes when finding the perfect excuse to get rid of him, and getting the possibility to solve the strange phenomenon at the same time.
Law's mission had sounded even simple at the time: Law had to stop the eternal rain, the one flooding the crops, the one that caused new diseases, the one that was killing his people. And to do this he had to go through the swamp, the legendary gate of Heimdal, and reach a place where no man had been able to enter.
It was simply absurd. There was no evidence that the legends were true, Law could go deeper and deeper into the swamp, until he ran out of food, until he couldn't go further, and even that wouldn't solve the problem of the rain. This was a suicidal mission, and Law was very sure about his fate and what was going to happen.
Releasing another branch and advancing even deeper into the forest pursuing his own death, Law almost stumbled and fell into the murky water that would easily end his life. Cursing and finally getting a hold in another branch managing to dodge the water, Law knelt on the dark wood forcing himself to calm down. He couldn't lose his temper in a place like this! Not in a situation where a bad decision would end his life as many wanted. He had to concentrate!
That's when he saw it.
With his mind focused thanks to the adrenaline of the accident, with his senses more sensitive than ever. A little glow. Unlike the fatuous lights or the dull sunlight between the clouds, something that illuminated the leather straps that protected his hands from the branches with a purple and supernatural hue.
Rising quickly from his position, Law ran among the trees and pools of grey water, stumbling over the branches in his eagerness to reach the place, pursuing a light that couldn't possibly exist, that Law hadn't believe that would be there.
Law didn't even notice when the rain stopped falling on him for the first time in his life, he didn't even notice when the ground became smooth, steady, without treacherous holes, puddles or hidden branches, just green and shiny grass crowned with small white flowers that invited to roll over.
No, Law only saw the blue stones. A perfect carved stone arc with thousands of filigrees and knots that crossed and twisted one over another, creating an impossible design. An arc whose cracks emanated the bright light of a thousand stars.
Heimdal. The door of the end of the world. The place where everything ends.
Law, standing in front of it, couldn't help but look beyond the clearing where the rain didn't fall and the black trees didn't grow, just behind the gate. But there was nothing there. As if everything disappeared, as if the world simply ceased to exist. Not even a precipice, not a mist, simply nothing.
He had done it. Law had discovered the legend.
The young man advanced then to the threshold of the door, where everything began and ended, to the point that connected the human world and the other world. But he doubted. Legends said that humans couldn't go beyond. Legends warned about the consequences of talking to the other beings. Crossing to the other side could mean his death, indeed, even worse, the legend could be a lie too and Law could disappear into nothingness on the other side.
But this was a desperate situation. There was no choice. There was no turning back. Law would not survive the return journey with his remaining supplies, and even if he did, he would not be able to return to the village if he hadn't accomplished his mission.
He could only move forward.
Stopping in front of the door, a single step away of crossing to the unknown, Law stupidly thought of his own appearance. His clothes were soaked and worn after the trip, his trousers and arms were covered with the black mud from the swamp and the knives and swords he wore had even rusted with the moisture. He might also look a bit sick. With the intense exercise and little rations, Law had even lost weight and now his clothes seemed to be too big, to sad. His appearance was not imposing, it was neither surprising nor worthy of that place.
But Law had never been worthy. That had been clear from the day he had been born. They had repeated it to him thousands of times throughout his live, so perhaps it was better this way, without tricks, without deception, only Law.
Taking one last breath of putrid air of his world, Law advanced the last step and walked through the door that seemed to vibrate and illuminate with the light of a thousand suns around him.
Forward. Towards the unknown. Towards the world of the gods.
I am going out of my country for holidays so I don't know if I will be able to post a chapter in a month or even more. In any case leave me a review and I might get motivated to do it~
See ya.