'Ever since this began,
I was blessed with a curse'
"So, so pretty!" Giola cooed as she tied a giant pink bow into Mei's half pulled back hair. The older woman beamed as the young girl's blonde, wavy hair bounced softly against her shoulders as she stood. "Now let's smooth out this white dress and you'll be all perfect!"
"It's time to go."
Doflamingo announced himself before he even entered the room. He had his hands casually shoved into the pockets of his black trousers: for once he didn't don his pink feather coat, only wearing a black blazer on top of a white button up shirt. Law followed shortly after, wearing a matching outfit with the first few buttons of his shirt undone.
Giolla huffed and pulled Mei in front of her, placing her cold hands on both shoulders. "Young Master it takes time to make a girl look beautiful! Besides, we haven't done one of these in almost two years, I want to outdo myself this time!" She whined. Doflamingo grinned and shook his head. "It doesn't take much to make my daughter look beautiful, right Law?"
"Hm." Law muttered, not really caring about the adult's conversation. He was more focused on his heart rapidly beating in his chest. His nerves were starting to get the better of him. He had been put on several missions since the Wellington incident months ago, and he was starting to notice his improvements with the help of Mei's training. But this was a different type of mission, something he hadn't done. There was going to be a fake trade off: the promise of Mei's hand in marriage to some creepy guy in exchange for total control of his underground drug trading, but then kill them all before . Mei had told him last night they used to do these a lot back in North Blue, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about. He figured, if she wasn't concerned, then he shouldn't be either.
Mei stared ahead, not really paying attention to anyone. She really just wanted to get this over with. She had hoped they'd never have to do these fake trade offs again. It made her skin crawl the way these men talked about her, even the way they looked at her. She didn't think her father would ever let anything bad happen to her, but he couldn't always be trusted.
Removing herself from Giolla's control, she walked forward in between her father and Law. "I'm ready." Her voice was empty and cold. Doflamingo chuckled as he followed close behind her, Law at his side. "Someone's eager to get started, I see."
The trio met Corazon and Pica on the deck, both men wearing suits as well. The sun was setting as the ship pulled up to the dock of an island with a large, bustling city. "We'll be having dinner tonight with Sugawara, one of the leading drug lords in North Blue. He's requested no more than five of our Family members be present."
"Doffy, what if they turn on us?!" Pica asked in his high pitched voice. Mei could see a smile wriggling its way onto Law's mouth. She quickly elbowed him the ribcage and he shot her glare as he rubbed his side. "What if, my dear Pica. I think you know what happens to anyone who crosses us."
The five of them headed down the ramp onto land with Lao G, Baby 5, Giolla, and Diamante waving them off. Mei grabbed onto Corazon's pants, tugging gently so he would pick her up. He scooped her up in his arms and she held onto his blazer tightly. "Do you not take your hat off because you don't brush your hair?" She pulled the end of his hat, making him smile with the cigarette dangling from his lips. He nodded silently and she laughed.
Law glared at the two of them from the corner of his eye as they walked into the city. People were flooding the streets, most of them already drunk. It was already obvious this wasn't a very friendly place. Women in strange outfits were calling out to people, including himself, asking provocative questions. He picked up his pace, putting himself in between Doflamingo and Pica. "This is your first time in a place like this, neh, Law?" Dofalmingo was grinning down at him. "Just ignore them, they won't bother people who aren't interested."
It wasn't much longer before they reached an extremely large casino. There were a number of guards outside the door blocking guests from getting in. The five of them pushed their way to the front. "Ah, Don Quixote-san! Please, come right this way! We have everything set up for you!"
There were hundreds of maids and butlers running around the inside of the casino. Mei frowned and pushed herself into Corazon. She was hoping that they'd never go through this again, but here they were. Again. She was tired of being inappropriately touched by gross, older men.
They walked into the dining hall, which, for the amount of people working, was not as full as expected. There were three round tables, each seating ten people. Both tables on the sides were full while the middle one had set placements for the five of them.
"Don Quixote Doflamingo! You've finally arrived!"
To no one's surprise. The man sitting at the head of the middle table was large and greasy. His big nose had a large septum piercing a scar that ran across it horizontally. His vibrantly blue hair sat on top of his head in a bun. He was happily munching on a drumstick, sauce dripping down his chin and onto his grey button up shirt. "Please, come take a seat!"
"Yamaguchi-san, it's nice to finally meet you." Doflamingo bowed half way. "Ah, no need for formalities! Let's eat!" Yamaguchi smacked a chair that was left empty in between himself and a younger man with a bald head. "Please, let the guest of honor sit here!" The other two tables were immersed in conversation and other shenanigans, too busy to focus on the new arrivals. Everyone else turned their attention to Mei, still in Corazon's arms.
She wasn't scared or nervous anymore, not like the first time. With a gentle squeeze, he reluctantly set her down on the ground. She smoothed out her dress and curtsied. "Don Quixote Mei." Her voice was empty but powerful; Law was a little surprised. "Oi, you brought me a child?!" Yamaguchi grumbled through mouthfuls of food. Doflamingo chuckled. "You never specified a specific age."
"Tch." The blue haired man rolled his eyes and gestured towards the empty seat. "This'll have to do then. Come, child. Sit here. You'll make a fine bride for my son Keshin." The bald man on the other side gave an awkward wave. He was a skinny man with a kind looking face, the exact opposite of his father. Mei calmly walked over and pulled herself into the seat. "Is there any food that you'd like, my lady?" Keshin's voice was soft as he beckoned a waiter over to them.
"I'm not very hungry. Something light please." She said shortly as the rest of the crew sat down. Law was seated across from her, a big scowl plastered across his face like usual. "How about a salad then, my lady?" Keshin suggested. She nodded, "That will be fine." The waiter took off in a hurry to fetch her food. These people were more talkative than normal; she hoped they could go home soon. She had practice writing and reading every day since Law had started helping her. She was hoping to surprise Corazon by reading one of his notes for him.
"Ah, Yamaguchi. Let's get to business then shall we?"
"So early? You've just sat down? At least eat a meal and relax before we deal with other things." Yamaguchi waved Doflamingo off. A tick formed on his forehead as he gripped the silverware tightly. "We don't have all day for this." He said seriously. His tone forced the other man to stop his own feasting and set the almost bare bone down on his plate. The waiter placed Mei's salad in front of her, but quickly departed when the atmosphere of the room seemed to change. The other two tables suddenly quieted, raising suspicion. "And why don't we have time, Don Quixote-san?"
"I have other businesses to attend to. I'm a very busy man." Law grew uneasy in his seat; he could see the other two moving their hands towards their own weapons. He watched Mei, who solemnly stabbed at her salad on the other side. He might not know much about fighting, but he knew they had already separated a crucial person from them. He didn't want to think about what they had planned for her.
"But you're selling your own daughter off, do you not care to be here for her?" He was right. Doflamingo didn't care for her. Just another pawn in his game, something she already knew as well. Keshin was trying to distract her from the ongoing argument with small talk, but failed miserably. Something was about to happen, she could feel it.
"I don't normally show my face to people I make deals with, yet here I am with my own daughter and very little of my family, just for you."
Law didn't hate Mei, he'ld never admit that he actually liked her, but he couldn't stand the sound of two grown men treating her like an object. His hand gripped his pants leg tightly to keep him calm.
Everything that happened next was almost a blur, he had zero time to react. Keshin, who had been quietly talking to Mei, stabbed her in the shoulder suddenly with a dagger made purely of seastone. Yamaguchi began cackling and started filling the room up with smoke from the plan of his hands. "I knew you were untrustworthy from the beginning, Don Quixote! We'll kill your daughter and take you down with her!" His voice boomed as their silhouettes disappeared. The groups at the other tables began to move, covering their own faces with gas masks, and pulling out their weapons.
"Oi! Corazon, grab Law and move out of this room." Doflamingo shouted before covering his mouth. Law was gagging, he could barely make anything out in the thick gas, but he could see Mei getting pulled from her seat and taken from them. Corazon grabbed him up by the waist and dragged him out of the building, with just the two of them.
Doflamingo's all too familiar sting marks could be seen on some of the rubble that was flying from the now crumbling casino. People were screaming and rushing away from the scene. "Oi! Corazon!" Law coughed some and pulled on the man's shirt. He knelt down and placed his hands on either side of his shoulders.
"That kid took Mei with him out of the back room. They might still be in there!" He rubbed the debris from his eyes. Corazon scribbled on a paper quickly. 'I'll go back inside and check with Doffy and Pica. Stay here.' he wrote but didn't give Law enough time to react before making his way back inside. 'Dammit. Useless, again.' He cursed to himself as he watched the structure shake and slowly collapse in certain points. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the shadow of someone running down the back alleyway. It looked like they had something on their shoulders. Mei?
Without hesitation, he took off after the figure. Luckily, he managed to find a lone dagger on the ground towards the back exit of the casino. It was hard to follow the person, there were so many colorful citizens running amuck, but he distinctly made out Mei's pink bow Giolla had placed in her hair bouncing on the back of the person's shoulders. They turned and ran into an abandoned building. Law stood outside of the window, standing on his tiptoes to peek inside.
Mei was slumped over, hands bound and her back leaning against the wall. That young, bald guy, Keshin, was pacing worriedly in front of her. "Damn you, Don Quixote pirates." He placed his hands on his head dramatically. "We were supposed to have a nice dinner, quickly end all of this and take over your stuff. It was going to be quick and easy, like father said so! But you guys had to ruin it all!" He shouted angrily before turning to her. She didn't look up at him. "Well, what do you have to say, huh!?" Her refusal to answer pissed him off, and he kicked her across the face. Her body fell over and she spit some blood on the ground. Law's fingers gripped the windowsill so hard he was sure it would splinter into his hand. "Fine, whatever. Don't speak, you rotten bitch. I guess I'll just go check to see if the guards made it out." Keshin mumbled the last part to himself before stomping his way to the back of the house.
Law took the opportunity to sneak in through the front door. The floorboards creaked, but with the commotion outside, he could barely even hear it. "Mei…" He sat the young girl back up gently. The pink ribbon slipped out of her messy blonde hair and onto the floor. Her nose was bloody and her eye bruised; she looked up at him with confusion. "Why did you come here?" He furrowed his eyebrows angrily at her. "Don't ask stupid questions, idiot. Let's just get out of here." He noticed the dagger still stuck her shoulder, but the bleeding had stopped. She shook her head. "No. Just get out of here, it'll be fine." He stood up quickly, glaring down on her.
"Why?! So you can just die?"
"Yes."
He clenched his fists. That was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard her say, and he genuinely thought she was the more rational one here. "That's selfish of you." She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. "Law, please just leave me." She was starting to shout now. He crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not the one who knows when they're going to die!"
"Get the hell out of here you brat!" Keshin had come barging back into the old house. Thankfully, he was still alone. "I can't use my powers with all this seastone." Mei pulled herself to her feet, a bit unsteady. "It's fine, I'll take care of it." Law held the dagger firmly in his hand. He knew she had no faith in him, but there were no other options left except to fight. Keshin lunged at Law, no weapon in hand besides the height and weight he had on the smaller boy. Without hesitation, for once, Law moved forward against him, dodging his oncoming fist and bringing the dagger up by his head to slice open Keshin's arm.
"Shithead." Keshin cursed, pulling back and clutching his new injury. It was easy to tell the man had no real fighting experience, well, even less than Law had. But, there was no time to think. He moved forward again, dagger in both hands and placed it in front of him. He stabbed it deep into the man's belly, something he hadn't seen coming. Law knew he could survive this, so he pushed up, slicing up the man's abdomen and into his diaphragm, stopping just below his sternum. There was so much blood as he removed the dagger: on his hands, his shirt, most of it dripping down from Keshin's wound and mouth.
His body made a loud thud as it fell to the ground. He gurgled for a few moments before his body ceased movements. Law stared him in the eyes as the life left his body. His hands were wet, he wasn't sure if it was the blood or sweat. He was mixed with emotions of revolt and relief. He realized, in this moment, he didn't really enjoy killing people as much as he thought he would.
"I think the key is in his hand."
Mei's small voice brought him back into reality. He opened the dead man's hand and a little gold key dropped onto the floor with a 'clink'. Law could barely grasp it in his hands. "Thank you." She said quietly as he fumbled to unlock her handcuffs. "Why? I thought you wanted to die?" He was still upset with her; he'd never admit that she was his only friend right now. He couldn't bear to be left alone, not again.
"I do, but…." The handcuffs finally snapped open. "You just risked your life for mine, and it wouldn't sit right with me to waste that." She gave him a small smile through her messy hair. "Tch. Shut up." Her words embarrassed him. "I still need you to finish training me, that's why I saved you." He tried to cover it up. She saw through it, of course, but played along. "And you have to finish teaching me to read and write."
She went to remove the sea stone weapon from her shoulder, but he grabbed her hand. "No." She frowned at him. "If you take it out you might hurt yourself more, cause more bleeding. Wait until we get back on the ship and can safely remove it." He explained. "But-"
"But nothing. Don't be stupid. Let's leave." He grabbed her hand in his and pulled her behind him. "You're so demanding." She muttered, dragging her feet behind him dramatically. She knew in her heart he meant well; he'd never tell her that he would actually be sad if she died. And she was right, he wouldn't understand what it was like to live a lie as the daughter of the man who murdered her parents. How hard it was for her to push down the sick feeling every time she was forced to call him 'Father'. But she also had no idea what it was like to know how little time she had left in this world. Things were bad for her, but they could be worse. She had Corazon, Law, and even Baby 5 (on occasion) who actually cared for her.
"What are you smiling about, idiot?"
She couldn't stop a light from escaping as Law dragged her down the chaotic and half destroyed streets. "Oh, nothing. Just thinking about how sad you'd be if i died." His grip on her hand tightened so much it hurt a little. "If you don't shuttup I'll leave you here."
"Ah, no you wouldn't, Law-kun."
"...shut up."
The pair continued their way back to the ship, the popular gambling city burning behind them in failure. It would be a long time before another such heist would be attempted again by the Don Quixote Family.