Warnings: the usual jazz
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-
strays-fic dot tumblr dot com
im so fucking tired. what the fuck. also ari and ty and zoe and scandy, ily all? (you know who you are). youre so much fun to brainstorm with and chat to and honestly im fuckin sentimental when its 3am
anyway! read! i need to sleep right now, because i need to be alive tommorow lmao
Chapter 35 – The Little Girl
"So let me get this straight." Sabo kneads his forehead with his knuckles. "My little brother escaped from a naval base – one that happens to be Base 49, might I add – and became a pilot, lost three of his fingers and you…stabbed…him."
Law would never admit it, but he has to resist the urge to shiver. "It was necessary for the mission. And I missed more of his major organs, so your brother should be f-"
"You stabbed my little brother."
"…Yes. I did."
"And you expected me to be fine with this?!" Sabo takes a step forwards, moving between Law and the road. Suddenly, in a blur of movement, he reaches across the other and snags the scalpel in his hand between two fingers. Law just about manages to hold tightly to the other end and the pair stare at each other for a second, one glaring, the other raising an eyebrow as coldly as he can. Then Sabo practically growls, silver eyes flashing, and Law abruptly drops the scalpel.
He curses colourfully, looking down to see that the palm of his hand is burnt in a line where he was holding the medical instrument. Sabo spins the scalpel in his hands, and the metal is visibly red hot. Of course. How could Law forget that he just pissed off a fire user - somebody with the ability to burn his face clean off? That definitely wasn't the smartest idea. The burn across his hand, burning and smarting, is the hottest and most intense feeling Law has experienced since before he was sent here.
"Maybe I should… Give you a taste of what you made Luffy feel, hm?" Sabo's eyes are deep and dangerous.
Law takes a step back. Whoah. He tries to keep the apprehension from his face (unarmed and exhausted in front of a pyromaniac with a scalpel. It's an interesting life Law lives) as he says, "I might be of help to get us out of here, Sabo-ya."
Sabo glares for a second more, before shrugging and pocketing the scalpel. "I wasn't actually going to stab you, you know that, right?" He chuckles, before his face hardens. "Seriously, though. Don't hurt my little brother again."
"Noted." Law has his cool, collected composure back in place, though as he and Sabo start walking again, he makes sure not to get within a one foot radius of the younger teen. He doesn't ask for the scalpel back. Law prides himself on his nerve, but he isn't stupid.
After a few more hours - they could even be minutes, as it's hard to tell here - Law begins to feel the fatigue growing in his limbs. Every passing cloud looks the same, the barren landscape identical for miles and miles. Today, it feels like they walk for free. Law is sure that if he was to turn around, he would see the house looming behind them.
Sabo apparently agrees. "This place is too quiet," he mutters, voice sounding alien over the void that replaces background noise.
"I was thinking the same thing," Law replies, no discernible emotion in his voice. After a second he continues, "What do you know about Stormy Down?"
Sabo considers the question, expression unreadable. The scars across the side of his face contort with every minute movement he makes, every breath he takes, and Law wonders if he's noticed them yet. By the looks of them, they aren't old – maybe he even got them while he was in Stormy Down. It's not like there are many mirrors here - any, as a matter of fact.
"I heard about it in the navy. People talked about it like it was some kind of hell, I guess." The blonde shifts, uncomfortable. "What is it, really? How do they put people here?"
Law shrugs. "I'm one of the Foxes and even I don't really know. LUCFER49's leader, Doflamingo, controls it. I was pulled in by a whirlpool and according to the people I used to travel with, that's the usual way to get pulled in. I do have a few theories..."
Sabo's head snaps around, and Law once again marvels at the spark that bursts to life in his grey eyes. "Tell me?"
"Well for one thing, it probably can't be opened from anywhere, right?"
Sabo shifts so he and Law can look at each other more easily, walking backwards with his arms crossed. Comprehension enters his eyes, and he nods. "That makes sense. If it could, the government would probably have a lot more of an easier time, right?" He hums. "Whereabouts were you when you were pulled in?"
"About ten hours off northern territory, heading south," Law replies. "I was in the no-man's land, in between north and south."
"It makes sense." Sabo sweeps a lock of blonde hair out of his eyes. "The Revolutionaries probably have measures in place to stop him creating whirlpools there. What else do you know? Does Doflamingo have a Gift that lets him control something like that?"
"Have you ever heard of something called the Aura Effect?" Law asks, before watching as Sabo's face breaks out into a medley of mingled shock and understanding.
"The Aura Effect. The theory that, if a Gift-user dies before their time, their power leaves behind residual energy that can be stored and used at will." Sabo recites it word-perfectly; a textbook definition.
"Exactly. So think about this - if Doflamingo had a Gift that can control that energy, he could use it to create a place like this, right?" Law watches Sabo's face fold into a look of confusion and cuts in before he can speak. "Yeah, I know it seems far-fetched, but listen, I've been doing a lot of digging. A little girl in East Blue died an unfortunate death of illness seven years ago. It was found after her death that she was Gifted. CP9, who still investigated all Gift-user claims, identified her power as one that could be used to create hollows inside people. She could put them into a permanent phase of pseudo-depressive psychosis, rendering them incapable of feeling anything but anger and fear. Just like the infection here."
Sabo gapes but the other continues regardless, saying, "I had always thought that maybe it had something to do with that girl, especially since Doflamingo created this place only weeks after she died. Its original purpose was to imprison Gift-user twenty-one, as no other place could hold him. It served its purpose. And I was only made more sure when I saw a sign when I first arrived here. 'Loguetown'. The place Dracule Perona grew up. This place - Stormy Down - is a manifestation of what's left of her power."
Sabo is open-mouthed, but something angry stirs in his eyes. "How old was she when she died?"
"Nine. With an older brother, who was ten. Dracule Zack. Apparently he changed his name and disappeared, but he's no longer in our records." Law swallows. "They never identified what killed her. It's as if her body just stopped working altogether."
"Dolfamingo?" Voice shaking, Sabo doesn't let his gaze fall from the other's.
"Probably. He needed a way to imprison twenty-one, because they couldn't kill him. And it's not like Doflamingo cares about innocent lives."
Silence reins for a few minutes, and Sabo turns back around. His face is dark, eyes both angry and deeply, deeply empathetic. Soon, he says, "Maybe we should stop soon. I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired."
Law doesn't argue, and doubts he would even if he had the energy to do so. There's no landmark in sight, nothing to hide the pair from view, so eventually they settle on lying by the side of the road, a foot or so apart, staring up a the clouds. It's almost like watching a raging sea from under the surface, the surgeon contemplates. Like being stuck below the madness that rages above, in a silent, cold world.
"'Night, Law," Sabo says. For a second, his voice is small. He's eighteen - younger than Law, young enough to still be a kid - and is terrified that he's lost his brothers, stuck in some strange world far from home. If he even has one. Law is the same, of course, but can't find it within himself to relate.
"Goodnight, Sabo-ya," the doctor replies, rolling over on the rough ground. He falls asleep, hating the Foxes more than he ever has.
Sabo wakes up with his face pressed against the dusty ground, a rock digging into his cheek. Something cold is pressed against the curve of his spine, and as he lies there, he can feel it twitch. Slowly, he opens his eyes. The world around him is dark, colour sucked from every cell, and bare. He can feel dust in his eyes and on his eyelids and sits up, rubbing a hand across his face to dislodge the sand and sleep that have sunk into his pores.
Stretching, Sabo glances down. He must have shifted closer to Law in the night, as the young doctor was the thing he was pressed against. Law's face is tranquil in sleep, brow loose, lips slightly parted. His blueish skin looks even more pale and unhealthy when he's unmoving like this. He looks dead. Not one part of him manifests any sign of life – no heat, no breathing, no movement, no awareness. A wave of paranoia washes over Sabo, and he has to resist the urge to shake Law awake. He desperately doesn't want to be alone in a place like this.
The sky above hasn't changed gotten lighter or darker at all since Sabo woke up here. It's disconcerting, to say the least. There's no doubt that this whole place will take a lot of getting used to. Silence. Stillness. A disconcerting lack of feeling, like being disconnected to sensation in itself. To distract himself, Sabo pulls up his knees and wraps his arms around them, leg lightly touching Law's cold one. Closing his eyes as he catches sight of the blood on his old marine uniform, he focuses on the one sensation that's still perfectly clear to him. Ace.
Ace's fire, the feeling of his presence, presses against Sabo's own mind. He's steadily burning, fiercely alive, but still just out of reach. Sabo reaches for him, pushing against the iron veil that lies between them, but receives no answer. Still – the mere fact that he's there is enough. Ace is alive. He may have disappeared, strangely around the time Sabo was sent here, but he's not dead. Still burning. Still warm.
Sabo pulls his knees closer to himself, left cheek aching. The skin there is rough and occasionally numb. The blonde wants to ask Law what lies there – burns? Scars? Something worse? – but can't muster the courage to. He still isn't sure he wants to know what happened in that period of time he can't remember. It boils beneath the surface of his skin, like an unexploded mine.
Suddenly, so abruptly that it races through Sabo like an electric shock, Ace's presence flares.
Ace?! Ace, can you hear me?! Sabo pushes himself to his feet, urgency thrumming through him, leaving Law's side. He stands in the road for a second, tense, as if awaiting attack. Ace tried to talk to him. He knows it.
Sab-
There it is. Ace. He sounds, feels frantic. The most scared Sabo has heard him in a long time. But also, somehow, elated.
Ace? Are you there?
A stretch of silence. On the ground, Law shifts in his sleep, eyes squeezing together and face tightening. Sabo stays still, alert and ready, straining desperately to catch any trace of Ace that he can.
Sabo!
An image flashes through the blonde's mind like lightning, quick as a flash. Scarlet beads, shattered on a wooden floor. Blood on Ace's hands, which are bound at the wrists by chains. A single unshattered bead clutched between his fingers. The letter 'J' carved into its shining surface.
-abo, are you okay?! Please tell me-
Ace's voice flickers in and out like a broken radio, muffled with the static of his own panic, muffled every few seconds as the connection dims. But it's still there. Sabo's legs feel like jelly and he sits again, throat closing up with emotion as relief throbs through him. It feels like an eternity since he and Ace talked like this, since they truly connected.
Fuck- Ace. Sabo's thoughts are a mess. He hopes that Ace understands the objective behind his incoherent jumble of messages. Oh my god.
-ou're alive!
I should be the one telling you that!
Sabo doesn't realise that he's grinning, wide and bright, until his jaw starts to ache. He doesn't care. Past all the fear in Ace right now, past all the hurt Sabo can feel emanating from him, is pure relief. Disbelief. Joy.
Where are you? And what happened to you?! Ace's consciousness, the voice Sabo can hear, feels rough. Wounded. It's been months!
I don't know any better than you- shit, Ace, so much has happened. Sabo swipes furiously at the tears gathering in his eyes, determined not to let his emotions boil over as they have the urge to right now. I missed you so much. And I don't know what the hell happened to you but- I'm coming for you. I promise.
Don't you dare! A fresh wave of fear rolls off of Ace. It feels so foreign that Sabo shivers with the feeling of it. It's bad enough that the Revolutionaries are risking it all for me – don't do this. Please don't do this, Sabo.
Ace, I just got you back, I'm not-
Suddenly, the connection falters. The static returns. An image pushes to the forefront of Sabo's mind – his brother shoving the single unharmed bead into his pocket, adrenaline thick and hot as it pounds through his heart. They're coming. I have- go- miss-
With ever pause of silence, every beat where Ace's presence dims, Sabo's heart skips a beat. Ace? Where are you?! Just tell me, I swear I'll get out of-
Don't- Execu- A pause, tight with tension. Law shifts again. –Bo. Please just-
With one last heave of emotion, both brothers throwing everything they can into staying connected for just a second more, Ace goes silent.
Law jerks awake. Sabo can hear the yell catch in his throat before it can emerge and knows that his rapid breathing and darting eyes are the result of a nightmare. The blonde himself probably looks the same, breathing heavily, choked up with emotion from the brief exchange with his brother.
Sabo and Law meet eyes. Both are dusty and shaking, knees touching. Law's gaze is hard, tinged with something pained Sabo hasn't seen within it as of yet.
"We're getting the hell out of here." On shaking legs, Sabo pushes himself up. His fists are clenched hard enough for his nails to draw blood. "Now."
"Not that I'm arguing with that sentiment, Sabo-ya," Law says dryly, allowing the other to pull him to his feet, "But how are we supposed to do that?"
Sabo stares down the road, in the direction they were headed before they stopped for a break, eyes resting squarely on the horizon. "We're going to find Perona."
The building, just like everything else, is perfectly still. It seems frozen in time, hanging on the edge of a time lapse, like a monochrome photograph. Sabo and Law stand side-by-side, neither speaking, facing down the doors at its entrance. A sign above the door, rotted and dust-worn, reads, 'Loguetown Elementary'. A strange energy seems to emanate from the place, so intense that Law finds himself feeling strangely lightheaded, somehow. His hands feel stiff with cold sweat.
"Alright," Sabo says in a shaky voice, "Let's go in and see if we can find anything. Try to call out to her, I don't know. She might be the only way out of this place."
Law nods, not trusting himself to answer around the bitter feeling in his throat. They walk forwards in unison, moving in step with each other, and once inside the building they split. Sabo goes left, and Law takes a corridor leading right. Most of the windows leading up the hallways are smashed, grimy and jagged in their frames, and dirtied lockers are pushed up against each other along the walls like rotten teeth. Law turns a corner, fists clenched as his instincts scream at him to get out of here fast, and sees a word spray-painted in black across the opposite. 'HAPPY'.
A fine shiver runs along his spine. The more he looks, the more his mind plays tricks on him. It's not black at all, after a few seconds of staring - it's blood red. Grimacing, Law turns away and clenches his jaw, stepping through a shaft of sunlight that falls through a cracked window above. The fractures in the glass light up the floor like a ghost. Something moves, quick as a phantom, to Law's left. When his head snaps in its direction, it's gone without a trace. One locker, left slightly ajar, lets out a sickly, bitter smell like rotten meat.
Without warning, a child's laughter rings up the corridor. It sounds larger than life. As it echoes towards Law, softer and softer with each resounding sound, it morphs into a cruel snicker. The sound screams through Law's ears like a siren. Abruptly, he wishes for the silence again. Something about this place is horribly, horribly wrong. Something draws his feet forwards. Whether it's the strange energy of this place, or the desperation in Sabo's eyes when he said they were going to get out of here, Law doesn't know. All he knows is that he has to keep moving forwards. Something's here. Waiting for them. The locker letting off the bad smell lets out a soft clicking sound as he passes it, making Law's shoulders tense up, but he doesn't look back.
Around the next corner, the corridor is darker. Law realises that the sunlight that had been streaming through the windows previously - though he has no idea how it was - has dimmed. Outside, the sky churns with smoke. The lockers are all open now, their doors facing Law like rows of tin soldiers, and he can't see what's inside. As he walks, Law resolutely doesn't look back, no matter how strong the urge is. No matter how much he knows, deep down, that something is standing behind him.
Law walks forward. He has nothing to defend himself with, no weapons to brandish. He feels naked and small. Keeping his eyes glued directly ahead of him is hard, but something inside of him is screaming at him that he cannot turn around. No matter what happens, he can't see what's inside those lockers. As he passes one, the grime on it barely visible in the thinning light, another young, male laugh echoes out. It's harsh and distorted, warped by something that infects the air like a virus. He still can't turn around.
A shrill whistle begins in Law's ears. and rounding the next corner brings him to a flight of stairs. Each step, unlike the grime that coated the school before, is perfectly clean. And at the top of those stairs, looking at the floor with blank eyes, is a little girl with pink ringlets hanging around her heart-shaped face. Her cheeks are hollow, so much so that Law mistakes it for bruising for a second. Sallow skin clings to her bones, stretched painfully over bony wrists. Her slightly tanned skin and dark eyes remind Law of somebody.
"Perona?" The name slips from his lips before he can stop it.
The girl slowly looks up. She and Law stare at each other for a second, grey eyes burning into grey. Behind Law, the thing is still. He swears he can feel it breathing on his skin.
"Zack?" she asks, voice hopeful. "Are you feeling better?"
"I'm not- I'm not Zack," Law stutters. Perona's young face falls. There's a bone-deep sadness in the curve of her lips, in the wetness of her eyes, that ascends her age. She's hopeless.
"Nobody ever is." She tilts her head, so similarly to how Luffy used to a million years ago. "Do you know if he's feeling better? I worry about Zack a lot. And he should be happy. Not...hollow."
A memory, not his own, flashes before Law's eyes for a second. A young boy with green hair and no father. His eyes are dark and dead. He wants to end it. Perona cries in frustration every night because he just won't smile, won't speak, won't tell her that he's alright. Zack. Zoro. Suddenly, it all makes sense.
"He is," Law says, in the most even voice he can. Cautiously, he puts a foot on the first step. The thing behind him snarls, inhuman, twisted by Perona's mind. "I saw him a few days ago. He's living up there." Using slow, careful movements, Zoro points to the sky. "On the outside. And he has a family now. Zack's happy now, Perona. And you can rest. Just please - let go." He doesn't know where the words are coming from, but they flow from Law like a tide.
Perona takes a step forwards, foot poised over the top of the stairs. She's shaking. "The mean man doesn't want me to. He says- he says that if I stop, Z-Zack's going to die." She shivers. "He's behind you, you know. He d-doesn't really look like him. He looks like one of the boys, 'cause he knows they scare me. But it's him."
The innocence in Perona's voice makes Law's heart clench. He can feel breath on his neck, and knows that he doesn't have much time. "Perona... I need you to believe in me. Please. Zack has a big, strong family now. They're going to protect him." Law takes another step and then another. This is it. "I need you to let go now. It's not going to hurt anymore. So just let go, okay?"
Perona sniffs. "I-I'm scared. He wants me to hit you. He wants me to hurt you." She takes another step. "He's not very happy," she whispers.
Law takes two more steps. They're closer together now, only a few steps apart, and the thing behind Law feels weaker. Less real. "If you trust me, all this can end. I promise. Just help us - let yourself move on - and you'll be able to see your brother again. I promise." Each word feels painful, like it's forcing its way from his throat.
Perona stares at Law for a second more, still shaking, before she whispers, "He's behind you now. He wants to kill. Mr. Lucifer isn't very happy with us." Her eyes are filled with tears. The staircase lightens, and when Law looks up, he can see the ceiling beginning to splinter. The world itself is fracturing.
"Ignore him. Zack's alive. Isn't that what matters to you most?" Law takes one more step.
With a sob, Perona throws herself forwards. Law catches her, feels tears wet his shirt. Above, the ceiling disintegrates, opening up onto the cloudless, sunny sky. The light on Law's face stings his eyes like sea salt, raw and real. He spins on his heel, holding Perona tightly, in time to see a little boy with black eyes evaporate into nothing behind him. Down the corridor, two more demon boys do the same, screaming as they do. Their screams assault Law's ears in a lance of sound, almost overpowering the sting of harsh sunlight on his skin.
Sabo comes hurtling around the corner, catching sight of Law and throwing himself forwards into a sprint. He flies across the corridor and up the the stairs even the ground breaks beneath his feet, hair flying, scar gleaming in the light. The world cracks farther, the floor beneath their feet starting to dissolve into light, and Law yells, "Let go!"
Perona clutches him tightly for one more second. "Zack," she chokes out into his chest, "Zack." Then, just as Sabo reaches them, she seems to shrink in Law's arms. The surgeon falls to his knees but Sabo's there to support him, heaving his boneless body up and slinging his arm around his own shoulders.
A silver dove flies upwards from Law's arms, through the crumbling roof and into the light, soaring and swirling. As the floor falls out from underneath the pair, Sabo clutching Law's shirt roughly as the world tears around them, Law draws in a single ragged, painful breath.
Law sees the silver of Sabo's eyes, then the world spinning out from under them, and then nothing at all.
Phew.
Tetsik, Chapter 34, Jul 9:
iJ_OWNDJO{OI#RU PE
I READ THIS IN ADVANCE BUT STILL
YOU SLY DEVIL
im never goiNG TO STOP LAUGHING AT THIS REVIEW HOLY SHIT
zoewinter1, Chapter 1, Jul 9:
I had to wake up at stupid o clock in the morning today to do a yardsale but when I saw a notification for this I absolutely screamed. I started following your Tumblr btw cuz i was gonna message you to make sure you didn't fucking die BUT YOU LIVE! also I want to YELL about Thatch but... I really... can't... (why must all us authors insist on hurting the precious boy?) although I'm REALLY glad Sabo is becoming more aware but that means he'll remember what he did ;n; SHIT I'M TOO LATE AND THE NEW CHAPTER IS OUT BUT IMMA STILL POST THIS ANYWAYS I'VE BEEN SITTING ON THIS REVIEW FOR DAY K
Heyooo!
yeah, it was cool to message you on tumblr! And I love your blog :D
yep, poor sabo!
(im sorry this is a shitty reply, I'm so tired..)
TALK SOON!
ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 34, Jul 9:
Okay, I have a few simple words.
What. The. F * C K
Update~
HAHAHAHAHA
zoewinter1, Chapter 34, Jul 10:
I'm crying what the fuck? what the fuck man that's now how it's supposed to go! Sabo is supposed to burst out of the ground all Not Dead Bitch! in a giant ball of fire and save Ace at the last second? and this? is not the plan this is not how it's supposed to go! is Ace going to Stormy Down and meet Sabo? I'm? aaaaaAAAAA AA
This entire review is making me crack up lmao
well, I hope this chapter made you cheer up a little, at least. Pfffft, I would say sorry, but im really not
YJV, Chapter 34, 20h ago:
No no no Ace can't die! They have to be together! Please say that Ace will somehow, miraculously come back ? Maybe a time warp or something?
Im laughing so hard
fanfic writer is my name anarchy is my game
Guest, Chapter 33, 11h ago:
I'm sorry I missed a chapter but wow that was a really fast update so thanks. So, the HAPPY makes me think of Zoro and if I'm right then that would mean there's a way and it would explain how he knows things. Law is now out for revenge but he wants Doflamingo to win? And if he needs Sabo he better hope Sabo doesn't find out about him hurting Luffy, and I really want to see what the others do now seeing as they're suspicious. *returns hugs* now on to the next chapter
Heyoo!
yep, you're right about zoro :D as can be seen from this chapter!
where did I say he wants doflamingo to win?
*hugs* talk soon!
Guest, Chapter 34, 11h ago:
So many answers, now we know who's Sabo's father and that they indeed wanted the 3 brothers. Smart move Law, not telling Sabo you hurt Luffy. I'm sort of waiting for the rest of the group in Stormy down to show up and learning how they tie into this especially Rayleigh. Nooooooo, not Ace, not my baby, I'm guessing Jake is Leo's brother and Leo and Haruta are dead which means I have a feeling I'll be weeping soon. *more hugs*
Hehe, yep, so much exposition! Im glad you like it, anyway :P
so sad, I know. Accceee whyyy (oh wait I wrote it lmaO)
yep, you'll be crying soon!
*hugs*
FireArrowAce, Chapter 34, 10h ago:
Wait what the fack just happened?!
GOOD QUESTION LMAO