One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Dominica belongs to me.
The nightmare began after the funeral, or, if the truth was to be said, the lack thereof. The siblings were only eight when their mother passed away, having made the mistake of looking their father in the eye and not bowing to him in a fit of anger, but they understood very well that it was disrespectful of their father not to hold a funeral, to not grant them a last farewell. Dominica had asked him after she had managed to stop crying why he would not hold a funeral for their mother and was rewarded with a slap to the face.
"Do not talk to me, cur!" Doflamingo had stared on in shock as his sister fell the floor, cheek swelling and darkening, turning an angry red instead of the slight tan it normally was. His eyes widened along with hers, and he watched speechlessly as tears gathered and overflowed from her eyes and how she cried in pain. He felt a dull ache in his chest before anger overpowered it. He screamed in rage, ran forward and hit his father's legs. It earned him a swift kick which sent him sprawling back to his sister. The man screamed at them in rage himself, telling them how worthless half-breeds like them did not deserve the time of day, how they were insignificant to him, how he had no need for them, And then he stormed off, leaving the two children alone.
Once the door shut behind him Dominica crawled over to her brother and clung to him, and only then, when he hugged her back, did he allow himself to cry, though it was not out of sadness. He felt empty, alone and angry. Their father's words, which they had given no thought to when their mother was alive, finally managed to hurt them. Finally, after having ignored those words for years, did they finally realize one horrible truth.
They were alone.
They were alone in a mansion which seemed to be twice the size now, and hollow to the bone. The light they had clung onto since birth was gone, and no longer did it fill the halls of their home with warmth, they felt out of place and not welcome. In their own home! Looking down at Dominica, who was still crying loudly, both in fear and pain, a thought came to the young boy's mind.
Was this even their home anymore? Did they belong here, or had they lost what little connection they had to this place when their mother passed away, in a pool of her own blood in their father's office?
"Don't cry." Doflamingo suddenly said and Dominica looked up, though she did not manage to stop crying. Never had anyone hit her before, least of all an adult, and having had to go through such an experience when she was just a little girl was quite frightening. The man that had hit her was her father, someone who according to their late mother should love them just as much as she did, someone who should hold their hands in times like these, someone who should tuck them into bed and tell them a bedtime story. There was no love to be found in that noble's eyes though, only cold disgust. The man was cruel, and there was nothing in the two she could relate to him, and somehow, even though it was disheartening, it was also so very relieving.
"I said don't cry!" The rough outburst shocked his sister into silence and for a moment it seemed like she was afraid of him. As if she thought he was just like their fath- No! That man did not deserve that title! He did not like it so he quickly hugged her tighter.
"Sorry, don't cry, don't cry." Dominica always smiled, always laughed. Her eyes would shine with the same light as their mother, except hers were wider, more naïve. He loved that about her. He did not want that to change, he did not want to wake up every morning to see that light dull with each day that passed.
"Father… Father hit me!" She finally managed to speak and Doflamingo clenched his eyes shut. "He's not our father!" Doflamingo exclaimed. The words tasted right on his tongue, and he liked it, and that would never change.
"He… He's not our father. We don't have one!" Those words made the mansion feel even bigger and more hollow again and he almost regretted them as soon as they were out his mouth if it was not for the angry reminder on Dominica's cheek. The bruised skin screamed at him and he glowered at it.
If he could one day repay the noble pig with pain worth a thousand times more, it would still not be enough to satisfy him.
No one hurt Dominica. She was his little sister, and he would protect her.
Always and forever.
