March 11, 801 WG
"Damn it!" cried Law when he saw them. There were five and they couldn't all be from the harbor. Reinforcements had arrived.
"We need to hurry," said Jinbei.
"Loosen your hold but don't lose the rope!" instructed Franky.
The words were barely out of his mouth before the battleships began firing. The screams of terrified children echoed up from below along with shouts for them to get below deck. Counter fire and defensive attacks erupted from the ship. Then one ship aimed high and blasted the cliff near the lift. The rope burned then snapped and the lift plummeted.
As they entered freefall, Law summoned his power but in order to shift them to the deck he needed a substitute to take their place. There was nothing on the decks he could move in exchange. He wrapped his arms around his still unconscious sister and prepared for the worst.
The lift slowed and then stopped a few feet above the stern of the Thousand Sunny. He looked over. Nami and Sanji were staring at them in shock. He stared back, unable to comprehend what was going on. Bolts of blue and white crawled all over the lift and he turned slowly in disbelief. These were same tiny bolts of lightning that had been dancing over Luffy's arms when he had stopped Lucci.
Luffy hovered in the air a foot above the lift's floor. His hands were spread out, his hair waved as it did before, as if he were underwater. Blue lightning danced from his fingers and his feet.
"Hurry and get off!" cried Sanji. Practical advice. None of them understood what was going on, never mind how long it would remain this way. Everyone jumped onto the Sunny. Everyone… except Luffy.
Luffy remained hovering above the lift he was holding up. Law turned to face him.
"Luffy, get over here! We have to leave!" yelled Sanji.
"Stop using that power already," cried Nami, her expression frightened. "You're going to kill yourself!"
Luffy's blue eyes were distant and he seemed focused on the battleships. Law turned his attention on the threat. The growing light revealed heavy poles sticking into the water. Drag nets the type designed to catch ships like the Polar Tang. They were meant to keep his ship from leaving. Polar Tang was fastest beneath the waves. She was also safest there. Law might be able to force his way through, but could Tang handle the cannon barrage that would be coming in from all directions and at point-blank range?
Law hissed as he spotted more ships. The Marines had summoned a fleet to the area. Thousand Sunny might be able to jump that with her flying ability but Polar Tang would not escape. At the same time Law realized this, Luffy floated forward.
The lift dropped and sank into the water. Law turned then felt himself being pushed back. The air was thick and electrified around the Straw Hat captain. Nami and Sanji were equally pushed away by it.
Then he heard it. It started as the faintest of whispers as if he were recovering his hearing, after having not had it for so long that he had forgotten what sound was. His eyes widened. The voices. He could hear them again! They were swirling around Luffy and growing more numerous by the second.
Luffy raised his left hand. Bolts of lightning collected in his palm, forming a blue ball of light. He snapped his hand outward and the ball turned into a giant bolt of lightning that snaked through the air toward the oncoming battleships. It struck two of the ships. One had its mast break with a thunderous clap and fall over, crashing into its neighbor, its yard arm spearing the deck and cracking the hulls of both ships. The second had its side ripped open and the ocean poured into the gaping wound, sinking the ship with terrifying speed.
Luffy lashed out with a second strike from his right hand. Another ship was ripped apart. The Thousand Sunny and the Polar Tang lurched forward without warning. Law fell to his knees. He glanced around but every crew member was similarly caught off guard by the abrupt movement. None of them were responsible for it.
Impossible, Law thought and turned to face Luffy again. Bolts of blue were once again dropping from his feet onto the deck of the Sunny. They moved down the hull and leapt across to the Polar Tang that was also in motion. Luffy continued to launch attacks against Marine ships. Lightning danced around him now in a sphere as if it strived to keep all threats away from him. Law, Nami and Sanji were forced back even further until they stood at the landing of the stairs leading to the main deck.
Then the voices grew alarmed and frantic.
Law gazed through the dancing bolts and gasped. Blood was leaking from Luffy's nose. It flowed like tears from his eyes and oozed out his ears. He coughed and it bubbled out of his mouth. Sanji and Nami must have seen it too.
"Luffy! Stop!" screamed Nami.
"Luffy!" shouted Sanji. The cook rushed forward only to be slashed by the lightning that surrounded his captain and was repulsed. Sanji flew backwards, striking the railing before tumbling over to main deck. Jinbei caught the man, sparing him further injury.
"Luffy!" Nami's shout had become desperate.
Zoro rushed up the stairs, probably to make his own attempt. It would fail. The power flowing around Luffy was not allowing anything to approach. Zoro would just end up like Sanji if he tried and possibly worse off.
The din around Luffy was growing and Law saw a possibility. He held out his hand to stop Zoro.
"Get out of my way, Law!" snapped Zoro.
"You'll just end up like the cook," said Law as he focused his attention on the voices.
"You think I'm as weak as him? Besides, I can't just ignore Luffy!"
Law strained his ears for the voices, blocking out Zoro's. He could hear them, but they were focused on Luffy. He needed them to talk to him again. To guide him again. He was certain they knew the way through this maelstrom.
"Oi! Are you even listening?" snarled Zoro.
Law laid his sister down on the stairs so she was out of the way then held out his hands. There was only one thing he could do now. "You who have guided me on this journey since I was a boy. You who have showed me the world's secrets and exposed the path I needed to walk until now. I know I didn't listen when I needed to before. I know now you have chosen him, but surely you aren't through with me. You knew of him then as well. If I didn't matter why guide me at all? He's in danger now. Let me save him! You trusted me once. Trust me again, with your guidance. Show me the path I must walk!"
For a second nothing changed, then the wind swirled around Luffy and rushed forward. Law heard the frantic whispers, the gentle pressure on his mind, urging him forward into the maelstrom.
"Law!" cried Nami.
"What are you doing?" shouted Zoro.
"Trust me!" growled Law as he stepped forward into the dance of lightning. There was no time to explain and he doubted they would understand. He would just have to do it and hope they didn't interfere.
Law forced his way through the crawling bolts of lightning. The energy lashed him, cutting his skin and pressing against his chest with such force he could barely breath. He thought his ribs were going to break from the force being driven against him. The voices were growing more and more alarmed, both from Luffy's deteriorating condition and Law's continued approach.
A great bolt of blue lightning launched from swirling mass surrounding Luffy and struck another Marine ship. The ship exploded in a massive fireball. The magazine must have been hit. The waves were growing in size and the wind was increasing as it swirled around the Straw Hat captain. Their own ships would be in danger soon if they couldn't get Luffy to stop.
The voices guided Law closer even as they remained concerned for him. He stopped outside the sphere of dancing, tangling light storm. He waited for the voices to show him the path through what had to be instant death if he touched it. They called and Law, on blind faith, launched himself forward. An opening appeared for an instant and he passed through unharmed.
In a move that was out of character for him but so very necessary, he wrapped his arms around Luffy, embracing the younger man. The pressure against him was enormous and he felt his own lungs begin to tear from trying to inhale.
"Luffy-ya!" Was he actually speaking or was he merely thinking the words? It didn't matter. He somehow knew it wouldn't. Luffy could hear anyway. In fact, somehow he realized Luffy could hear Law's thoughts better than his voice.
"Luffy-ya! Stop! You're killing yourself!" Law cried.
Something flashed in Law's mind. A feeling… a word. Despair… "Awakened!"
"Luffy-ya! Stop! We're safe! We can get away now! But you need to stop!"
An image. A round belly within a green silk tunic. Pain beyond words.
"Luffy-ya!"
Blue lightning tearing through flesh. Darkness… cold… bright… alone.
Suddenly the power stopped with all the force of a door being slammed shut. Law fell backward onto the deck with Luffy in his arms. He hit the grass with a painful thud and lay there unmoving. How did they end up on the main deck? The Straw Hats swarmed them, Chopper pulled Luffy off of Law and began examining him.
Law sat up and propped himself against the railing. He looked around. They were past the Marine ships and all of them were wrecked. Law wondered if he had actually managed to talk Luffy down or if the power turned off because they were no longer in danger. He didn't think that was the case. He doubted the voices would have become so panicked if Luffy was going to shut down on his own. The danger was past and they were clear.
Sanji knelt down next to him and asked, "Do you need any help?"
Law sent his awareness into his body, assessing his internal injuries. The damage was minor. It had just felt serious. "I just need to rest." His voice was hoarse and painful, as if he had been screaming for hours.
Zoro looked down at him, kneeling after a moment. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"You were speaking to something and by doing so were able to get to Luffy," said Zoro. "What was that?"
Law hesitated, unsure of what to say but decided to go with the truth. Straw Hats were a strange group. There was no telling what they would believe. "I think it's called the Voice of All Things. Though it is more like a whole gathering of voices that never speak above a whisper and never use words you can consciously understand. It's more like it speaks to your subconscious and then you just know. It was how I read the Poneglyphs up until now."
"So that's why you were satisfied with just getting the location for the fourth Poneglyph. You didn't need Robin-chan for the translation," said Sanji.
"I thought so too. However, after I killed Luffy-ya, I couldn't hear it anymore. That's why I attacked you the second time," said Law. He looked away in shame. "Because I needed Robin."
"Then, what you were doing right now… You were calling to those voices to help you save Luffy?" asked Nami.
"I started hearing them again soon after Luffy went berserk. However, they were focused on him. I think he hears them just not consciously like I can. Might explain his really good instincts. Anyway, I was making a plea for them to let me help. They must have wanted me to do that or they might not have allowed me to hear them at all."
"You said he was their 'Chosen One' in your grand plea," said Zoro.
"I didn't make it sound like that but it's obvious now that they want him to find the One Piece. They didn't want me to hurt him. They tried to dissuade me the whole time, but I ignored them. I should have listened and asked for his help like they wanted." Law stopped as he realized something and gaped at the crew in stunned disbelief. "You actually believe all this?"
"Rayleigh told us about Roger's ability to read the Poneglyphs. So it isn't something we haven't heard of before," said Nami with a shrug. Law didn't know what to say to that. The Straw Hats really were something else. Anyone else would have thought he was crazy and seek to lock him up in a asylum.
"Hello?"
The group turned toward the small voice. Law stared in surprise and wonder. Lami stood at the bottom of the stares, awake and looking much stronger than she had on Veranian.
"Lami? Are you feeling all right?" asked Law once he recovered his voice.
Lami stepped forward, her expression uncertain. She nodded. "I feel much better, Papa, but where are we and who are all these people? And why are you wearing those strange closes?"
Law felt his heart catch in his throat. He was going to have to tell her their parents were dead. He knew he would have to explain everything to her. He would or someone else would have since he probably would not have been allowed to interact with her if he gone through Lucci's plan. The reality was much harder to deal with that he had thought it would be.
"Lami, I'm not our father. I'm… I'm your brother Law," he replied in a soft and gentle voice.
Lami stared at him in confusion. "But Onii-chan is only a few years older than me. You're an adult."
Law moved closer then took his sister's hands into his while gazing into her ebony eyes with his gray ones, their mother's eyes. "Lami, you and the others were really really sick. You were put in a special chamber that made you sleep until a cure could be found. While you slept you didn't age. There weren't many. Only some could be saved. I… survived without having to be put in that chamber, but… no one else did. Not even our parents."
Lami's face fell as she realized the truth. Law struggled to lean forward. He may not have been seriously hurt but all his nerves were raw. He pulled her into his chest in a warm embrace. "I'm sorry."
"Is that really you, Onii-chan?" she asked, her small frame trembling as tears started to slide down her cheeks.
"Yes," replied Law. "It's been sixteen years since you were put in the chamber. That's why I'm an adult now." He wished he could spare her this pain. But that was impossible, he couldn't lie about their parents or their friends. Lami began crying and buried her face into his chest, wailing, ignoring the bloodstains on his shirt. He held her close and just let her cry.
Hot tears began to slide down his cheeks. Whether it was in fresh grief from empathizing with his sister or just the happiness of knowing she was alive in his arms again he didn't know.
Probably both.
"Thank you, Luffy-ya," he whispered as he hugged his sister. He didn't see the small smiles that now adorned the Straw Hats around him.