MinnyFox: I'm glad! I had a real hankering for this story, so boom! I tend to follow my impulses :D Yeah, the silver fox and Sanji's situation is kinda squicky for me to even write this much, but it fits so hard in this fic...it makes me feel gross. So I know i'm doing awesome! haha Zoro as Gaston, god, that makes me laugh...he's just a manly sort of guy that knows what he wants, he just gets lost getting to it. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Alasse-m: Doffy explains why 'virgins' in particular, here (of course, he's so batty, that's probably his own thing.) You narrowly hit the target with your comment about Rayleigh...and I told you it was gross! I can't even with it - yet i can't stop writing about it, so...here we are.
3: The Birthday Cake
By the time Sanji made it through the enchanted forest, he was shivering so violently that breathing was difficult. He could hear all sorts of voices murmuring through the trees, the cold wind slashing through them, causing leaves to rustle. It was frightening how the voices wandered through the darkness, speaking so casually to each other. There was gentle laughter, earnest conversations, and, in the distance, movement. The lamp he carried barely lit the footpath he was sure Zeff had taken a few days prior, and thunder rumbled overhead. A cigarette at his lips, he looked around himself apprehensively, feeling as if there were a thousand eyes on him.
An owl called from somewhere in the trees, then fluttered away, causing him to tremble. He hadn't realized just how scary the forest could be, always shaking off traveler's tales as nonsense – experiencing it for himself was a whole other story.
"Hey," he heard someone say, directed right at him. His hair stood up on end, and he gave a startled gasp, nearly losing his cigarette, looking in that direction. The lamp's light showed him nothing, but he heard a faint rustle overhead. Thinking it was another night bird, Sanji looked up in the trees, then around him, clutching the basket tight in his grasp. "Hey, you Zeff's kid?"
It took Sanji a few moments to answer, his throat dry. He couldn't see anybody – he was sure a ghost was talking to him. He managed a nod, shaking violently as he listened to the silence right after that. Something moved in the underbrush, and that voice said, "C'mon, follow me. This deer trail leads right up to the gates."
Follow what? Sanji thought with bewildered action, hearing the rustling noises move away. But his lamp did catch sight of a narrow trail in the brush, and he took it carefully, walking up a very steep incline. The constant rain lately had rendered the ground surface slippery, moist, and every step was a battle. He didn't have the appropriate shoes for off road travel, and his feet were already cold, soaked.
By the time he reached the top, he was panting heavily, out of breath as he stumbled into a fragrant field of flowers. He'd only seen this part from town, and to be in the midst of it left him in awe. Dying sunflowers waved around him, and leaves rustled noisily in rose bushes. Mums bloomed brilliantly, with various other wildflowers closed into tight, trembling buds. The rustling noises continued, a man muttering to himself as he 'led' the way, and Sanji followed, hearing that most of the voices were gone. When he came up to the castle walls, he gaped up at the sight of the large vines, in awe of their thickness and weight. From them hung tightly closed buds that seemed to shimmer as lighting flashed in the distance.
They were of a different fragrance – as he leaned over to sniff one, he caught a strange, musky scent that made his blood tingle. He shivered in reaction, mystified by how powerful the smell was. As he drew back, the flower bloomed before him, and he gasped, stepping back as the leaves unfurled and opened to reveal itself. The flower was pure black on the insides, with tiny sparkles that reflected light from his lamp. It didn't present a threat in any way, but the smell was so fragrant that he leaned in, sniffing again. It made him shiver again, alarmed at how his blood seemed to warm suddenly, pooling uncomfortably in certain areas of his body.
Horrified that he had a hard-on just from smelling a flower, Sanji stood there, staring at it. The flower closed itself after a few seconds, furling tightly into a bud. Sanji moved on, unable to fathom why he'd react that way. The massive gates opened just behind a couple of ropes, forcing him to crawl through them. Once he made it inside, he felt fear crawl up his back, apprehensive over what he'd find. The mountain fog seemed trapped within the courtyard, giving him limited view. There were trees growing everywhere, with vines crawling along the grounds like massive snakes, constantly moving and shifting over each other in the dark. They cleared a path for him, revealing a faded stone walkway leading up to the castle. A constant clanging ahead of him made him wonder what exactly was leading him – like someone was walking with some sort of metal cane. He looked up at the castle with awe, admiring the uneven towers, the faded glass art in several of the windows, and watchtowers that looked like monstrous Cyclops with small shoulders. The stairway up to the castle was covered in dead leaves, dead flowerbeds, and fallen branches from nearby trees. Carefully, he made his way over those, hearing voices whispering around him.
"It's only a guy in a hood. And basket. Like fucking red riding hood, only it's not red."
"Real observant, dumbass."
"He's not armed."
"Hey, Vergo, what's the deal with this guy?"
"This is official business, please step aside."
"Hey!" someone shouted in the distance, and it startled him so badly that he dropped his lamp. Glass shattered noisily, the fire sputtering out over the stone, and he nearly swallowed his tongue as his cigarette fell from his mouth. It sounded like a woman yelling at him from one of the towers. "Pull down your hood!"
Sanji couldn't see anybody in that direction, but he wasn't about to follow with the request. Why should he? Now caught within the immense darkness, he looked around himself, shivering violently as a cold wind swept around him, scattering dead leaves around his feet. The heavy wooden doors suddenly opened, and he watched, terrified, as they moved inward without visible help, revealing a dark hallway that sputtered with mysteriously lighting candles to show him the way in.
For several moments he stood at the top of the stairway, hearing his heart slam against his chest, fear rendering his legs weak, but he took a deep breath and ventured in from the cold. It was surprisingly warm inside, and he took in the sight of banners hanging from the stone walls, the flicker of light showing him portraits of children, men and women – most of which were shredded, as if something sharp had 'x'ed them out. The door slammed shut behind him, and he nearly jerked into a run, cradling the basket in his hands as he looked for the persons that had shut them.
Seeing absolutely nobody, Sanji moved in a slow circle, biting his lip so he wouldn't make any embarrassing noises. He reached up and lowered his hood as he walked forward, following the candles towards what looked to be a stairway up at the end of the hall.
"FUCK! You're a cute kid!" a woman exclaimed from a nearby stairway, and Sanji looked in that direction with a light gasp, unable to see anything there. There was the clink of metal, as if it were falling down the stairs, and he caught sight of a paintbrush landing on the zebra skin carpet underfoot. He stared at it, then at the stairway, then back at the paintbrush. It seemed to wiggle before propping itself up, and that was it for Sanji. He raced away from it because inanimate objects shouldn't be moving without anybody holding them.
The woman shouted after him, "COME BACK HERE! I didn't get to see the rest of you!"
Panting heavily, Sanji ran up the stairway, then looked back – but all the candles in the hall were dying out, and the darkness that fell over the Great Hall was unsettling. So he continued following the ones that were lit, seeing that one room in particular was bright with a live fire. Breathing tightly, he headed in that direction, hearing his own footsteps ringing out in the empty halls. He heard voices murmuring all around him, but he couldn't pinpoint their exact location.
"Who is that?"
"I don't know, some kid."
"What's he doing here?"
"Looks like a basket, or some kind."
"You're so fucking observant, it kills me."
The room he reached had a massive fire going, and it was inviting – there were couches, stand alone chairs, and shelves upon shelves of books. In front of those shelves was a narrow walkway that allowed a person to climb a rolling ladder to access books nearest the ceiling. From floor to ceiling, he looked up at them in awe – there was a staircase towards the back that led up a spiraling walkway, and the windows to his left were open, revealing the town in the valley below. He looked around the room, catching sight of movement from the corner of his eye, but seeing nobody.
"Hey, young man," he heard from near his ear, and he jerked around, only to see a shelf full of odds and ends there, with only a massive painting above it. He looked up at the painting, but it had been shredded, too, revealing a man with blond hair and a somewhat creepy grin. He gave it a skeptical look, unable to fully picture the man with the amount of damage done to it. Next to it was the painting of another man, but his blond hair covered his eyes – Sanji couldn't see too much of him, because this one was colored over with deep scratches, tic tac toe puzzleboards, and various expletives.
"Ugly, huh?" someone said nearby. "That man haunts my dreams."
"I'm fucking beautiful, goddamn it."
"Oh, look, it scares him, too."
"ZEFF!" Sanji cried out, unable to pinpoint where these voices were coming from.
"Not so loud," someone complained near his right, and he jerked around to see seeing a coat rack shift uneasily, metal creaking slightly as its arms shifted about. Sanji pulled away from it as its arms moved towards the top, as if covering its ears. "Whatever ear drums I had are gone. G! GONE!"
"If Zeff's here, where is he?" someone asked curiously.
Sanji ran away from it, spotting a corridor that promised more light, seeing that it dropped down a stairway. But as he did so, he heard the sound of a sharp snarl, an animalistic sound that made his hairs stand straight up, again. He whirled around, hitting the wall, looking up at the stairway he'd just descended. From the firelight, he saw a large shadow pass, as if something had walked right in front of the fire.
"What's all the fucking noise about?" he heard a growl, indicating it was coming from something terribly large.
"There's some guy walking around the castle, looking innocent and scared. We're trying to find out if he's single and ready to mingle."
Blood running cold, he pushed away from the wall and ran the short distance to a large kitchen.
"FUCKING HELL!" he heard something massive yell with frustration. "WHY DO YOU PEOPLE DO THIS TO ME?"
Sanji looked around with awe, setting the basket down on a nearby kitchen island. The place was really massive – the stove was in great condition, the counters were dark marble, the cabinets and pantry dark cherrywood – it looked fitting for the castle. There were skylights in the ceiling, with candles on the walls and shelves, giving the kitchen a soft, enigmatic glow. It was nothing like the tavern, and more like something he'd only imagined. There was so much space and organization to it that he felt lost just standing in the center of it.
"Zeff usually makes the cake, but we can't seem to find him," a voice said from behind him, Sanji whirling around to look for the source of it. But all he saw were the appliances against the walls, candles flicking soundlessly. "So they sent for you."
"Cake for…what cake?" Sanji asked, absolutely clueless.
"For Law's birthday. Zeff made his cake for the past four years, so…I guess it's up to you, now."
Sanji looked at the basket with puzzled action. He searched his memory, trying to remember Zeff making any sort of cake at this time of year. Zeff did go to another town a lot, but never did he mention anyone's birthday with that name. He looked over again, looking for the person speaking to him.
"Where is Zeff?" he asked cautiously.
"You tell us! We've been looking for him!" someone else said from his right, and there was nothing there but dishes, utensils, all sorted neatly and arranged in open shelves for easy access. "He had mentioned you as his helper, so we thought we'd use you, instead."
Sanji was absolutely baffled by their words. Even more so that Zeff would take on such a clandestine purpose every year without saying anything to him. For a few moments he stood there, staring at the basket he'd brought. He looked around himself again, seeing nobody, but feeling as if he were surrounded by people. He fiddled with his cloak, then looked towards the stairway, abandoning the island to walk back up.
Right up top, a flash of metal caught his eye, and he looked down at a single wine opener that stood there, much like how the paintbrush had earlier.
"You're in charge, now, huh?" it said, Sanji's eyes widening as the thing looked up at him. With its shape, it looked like it was constantly with its hands flaring out to the sides, with spiky shoulders. But the arms lifted and moved without help, the metal skewer within the center of it popping out with the action – almost obscenely. "We've been looking for Zeff for the past couple of days – he usually comes right over on time. I'm seriously reconsidering our payment plans for his services."
For a few moments, Sanji was sure he was mistaking things. "I…I'm sorry?"
"Zeff has made Law's birthday cake, every year, for the past four years. For some reason, he disappeared this year, which means it's now your responsibility!"
Feeling ridiculous, Sanji answered tentatively, "But I knew nothing about this arrangement. Zeff…never said anything about making anybody's birthday cake."
"Of course he wouldn't! It's a fucking secret!" the wine opener declared. "If he did, we'd kill him! We are everywhere!"
"Everywhere!" filled the castle with voices, more than Sanji could imagine in one area, and he tensed, face filling with fright.
"Since we couldn't find him, it's up to you," the wine opener said gravely. "Don't fuck this up. Or we'll murder you."
At this, Sanji looked at him with distaste. Then kicked the item across the room, shouting, "Don't threaten me! You want me up here, you don't fucking threaten me! You ask me, you dipshit! That's what people do, they fucking ask things of another, nicely!"
"Everyone, back away!" came a stern voice. "I've seen him kick through doors like they were nothing!"
"He's dangerous!"
"Maul him!"
"Get him from behind!"
"Everyone! Calm your ass!" came another voice, and Sanji watched as a hand mirror stood up atop of the nearby couch, whirling around in place. "Doffy deserved that kick, he knew better! Set aside your differences – this is for Law."
Sanji felt pressure on his ankle, and he looked back, seeing that a baby blanket was wrapping tightly around him, growling. From the voice, he determined that it was a child, cursing with a muffled voice. He reached down and jerked the material away, the kid shouting, "I'll kill you for hurting Doffy! The young master does not deserve your brutality!"
Frowning at it, the blanket struggling in his hand, Sanji looked around himself. Then began walking towards the fire, intending on throwing the thing into the hearth. This time, everyone screamed with horror, and the blanket wrapped around his arm with a shrill scream. He paused in mid-step, hearing the blanket start to cry.
"What is…this?" he questioned, utterly bewildered.
"Fuck!"
"Damn!"
"Shit!"
"Ass!"
"We've been discovered-dasuyan!"
Sanji looked about, unsure of where the voices were coming from. But then movement caught his eye, and he saw a broom and an ice cream scooper moving out from near the back staircase, as if they had just descended it; the paintbrush from earlier screeching out with dismay, moving hastily in his direction, shouting at him to put the blanket down.
The coat rack had also shifted out of its spot, standing like some shadow against the couch. Next to it stood an armoire, a dresser, and what looked to be a fireplace poker. A suit of armor in the corner clacked its helmet, but all he was saying was 'blah blah blah'.
His face paled significantly as the wine opener hopped up to the couch next to the mirror.
"Put Dellinger down! If you have a heart in that harpy body of yours, you'll realize you're about to throw a child into the fire!"
Because it was intensely disturbing to think that he was holding a 'child' – looking at the teddy bears imprinted on the material, hearing the young voice – Sanji tossed the blanket away from him.
Then he stared at the gathering of supposedly inanimate objects around him, the blanket shuffling towards the paintbrush, who twirled its long handle into the center of it, wrapping the material around itself, as if hugging it.
"What…what is this?" he questioned, a little breathlessly.
Moments later, from the window, the quill flew in, fluttering lightly until it landed on the floor.
"Damn, it's starting to rain again," it complained. "Did he make it up?"
Sanji stared at it, then started inching towards the doorway, so he could leave this enchanted castle. But as he did so, he heard something bigger moving behind him. He looked over his shoulder to where the bookshelves were, and saw the Beast standing there, glowering at him.
The intense silence was heavy for a few moments, Sanji's eyes widening significantly. He felt all the terror building in his chest, lungs tightening up, and before anything could happen, the wine opener screamed, so loud and high pitched that it caused everyone to complain and for Sanji to startle out of that state, looking to it with surprise.
The wine opener relaxed once more, saying, "Sorry. Just thought I'd do it for ya, save you some wind."
"You scared the shit out of me," the mirror scolded him.
"Out of you? I lost all of my clothes," the dresser complained, looking down at the opened drawers, clothes spilled over them, onto the floor.
"Ew, disgusting!" the broom yelled.
"Please get the fuck out," the Beast told Sanji, saying this in such a calm voice that it completely betrayed its appearance. Sanji stared at it once more, taking in the sight of its dark fur, its white-spotted horns, its rather threatening mouth with sharp, pointed teeth. From the distance between them, those narrow, angry eyes were amber with vertical pupils, rimmed with black. Overall, it reminded him of a mutated wolf, or a cow – if a cow could glare venomously.
"And if you know any singles, please urge them this way," the mirror said to Sanji, hanging over the arm of the couch, showing him his terrified expression.
"Why?" Sanji asked, looking back at the Beast with fright. "So it can eat them?"
"FUCK!" it shouted angrily, looming so viciously that Sanji jerked back, terrified. "Don't talk to him!"
"I don't want to die like this!" the wine opener yelled, jumping onto the back of the couch to face Sanji. "Look, make sure they're virgins."
"SHUT UP, DOFFY!"
"I only ask this because he's terribly embarrassed about his marital duties," the wine opener concluded. "It's easier if they're virgins so they can be embarrassed together."
"CORA! Make him stop!"
"FINE! Find him a super slut!"
"Knock it off, Doffy, you're embarrassing him! This is not a very good first impression," the mirror scolded the wine opener, and Sanji found the entire thing so perplexing that he could not feel fear, anymore. He just looked back at the Beast as it paced the stairway, wearing curiously mended clothes that fit its rather slender frame. Its tail slashed the air with agitation, and it seemed to snort, breathing heavily, walking on all fours like an anxious animal.
"Who are all of you?" he questioned, a little breathlessly.
"How dare you not recognize this presence of command," the wine opener said, jumping and leaping until it was posted in front of the first portrait. "THIS is me! Doflamingo Donquixote."
"Your appearance changed a bit," Sanji pointed out tonelessly.
"That is Corazon, the reason behind this entire mess," Doflamingo said, the mirror grumbling. "There is Vergo, Lao-G, Pink, Machvise, Trebol…over there is Jora, Dellinger, Baby 5 and Buffalo. That glowering mass with teeth is Law."
"Look, kid," Corazon said, hanging over the couch arm once more, "for the past four years, Zeff came up here to make Law a birthday cake. We can't find him anywhere, so it was suggested that we ask you, because you help him."
"Even enchanted things don't know where Zeff is?" Sanji asked, mainly to himself. His expression grew heavy with more worry. But he swallowed hard, taking in the situation with nervous action – faced with talking inanimate objects, along with a Beast with a somewhat childish composition, Sanji found himself less frightened than he was earlier. But given weight to the kitchen talk about Zeff, he found himself nodding slightly. "Okay. If this was Zeff's will, I will take his place."
Corazon looked at him with a slight tilt. "How old are you?"
"Seventeen," Sanji answered with hesitation. "Why?"
"Law, he's seventeen!" Corazon said, as if the Beast couldn't hear him. "That's pretty close to your age, right? Maybe you can be friends!"
"NO!"
Sanji looked at the Beast once more, uncertain of what to say or think as the creature jerked upward onto its hind legs, holding onto the railing of the pathway with hugely clawed hands.
"How old are you?" he asked curiously.
"This is his twenty-second birthday!" Corazon cried happily, then was hit with a bunch of 'boos!' and hisses from the objects around him, the couch moving violently to toss it to the floor.
The Beast gave an enraged roar. "KNOCK IT OFF! This is no reason to celebrate my stupid birthday, anyway! It's the last year! We're all going to die!"
"Then you do it with one last cake!" Corazon cried. He looked at Sanji once more, whose cynical expression said everything for the moment. "Please make it special. More than likely, with his attitude, it'll be his last. Our last."
"…Okay. Uh…I brought…blueberries. It'll…there were no specifics, so it'll be lemon with blueberries, with a light strawberry glaze. Um, with filling….for just…you?" Sanji asked, looking at the Beast with a tentative expression, then looking around. "Yes. Just you. There's…no other human here?"
"I don't like blueberries – "
"You'll eat what I fucking serve you! Don't complain about the shit I make after I went through all this rain and trouble just to make you a fucking birthday cake! You wanted specifics, you should've told me beforehand!"
All of them were stunned into silence, the Beast's mouth dropping open with insult, outraged that Sanji would speak to him that way.
"Well," Doflamingo commented, 'hands' on its supports, "if we all lacked a mother in our lives, now we've found one."
"I had intense flashbacks," Pica commented.
"Mine used to hit me with her shoe if I disobeyed," Pink said slowly.
"I didn't want a birthday cake!" the Beast snapped. "But if you're going to make it anyway…"
"So, we hear you're getting married," Jora interrupted, completely changing the subject. In the bright firelight, Sanji could see that her bristles were stiff with bright orange paint. "To whom, may we ask? Give us the gossip!"
All the objects looked at him as the Beast settled, sitting with a 'humph!' as they waited for his answer. Faced with all these objects looking at him, Sanji felt he were forcefully placed in the spotlight. He felt nervous, fiddling with his cloak.
"Uh…R-Rayleigh Silvers," Sanji answered slowly, then jerked back as all objects reacted with cries of upset, outrage.
"That guy is nearly eighty years old!" Doflamingo cried.
"Oh saints and stars, WHY?" Corazon exclaimed with horror.
"That ancient guy with the huge muscles?" Baby gasped, bristling.
"What a pedo!" Machvise cried with horror.
"That's outrageous!" Lao-G shouted, arms waving about. "He's only a few years younger than I! What is wrong with this world?"
"Even we weren't so wretched," Vergo muttered grievously, wearing what looked like a piece of wood on its long body.
"Who is it? Who is it?" Dellinger asked, fluttering about, crawling over the dresser and armoire before flopping over the top of it.
"And I thought my situation was bad," the Beast muttered with disgust. "But yours takes the cake."
"If I had known that bothers you, I would've used that threat a long time ago to have you all behave," Doflamingo commented.
"You…you all know him?" Sanji asked incredulously, taking another step forward as all the objects before him voiced their horror and outrage over the name.
"Is this acceptable to you?" Corazon asked with concern. "That you're marrying such an old man?"
Sanji shrugged, fiddling with his cloak. "I've known him most of my life. I have no…no reason to reject him."
"Do you love him?" Baby asked, scandalized by her own question.
Sanji shook his head, answering truthfully. His expression spoke volumes. He then added, "But I'm sure Zeff had my best interests in mind when he made the arrangements."
"Zeff is okay with this nonsense?" Doflamingo asked with bewilderment. "I pegged him for a different sort of guy!"
" 'Pegged'…you really had to go there, didn't you?" Corazon scolded.
"It's not that big of a deal," Sanji muttered. "It happens all the time. If he felt this was appropriate, I need to go with it."
"If Zeff cared about you in anyway, he wouldn't just give you to some child molester without protest!"
"But he's seventeen," the armoire, Trebol, stated. "He's old enough to make his own decisions, so why go with this one if it troubles you so much?"
"I can't wait to have a boyfriend!" the broom whispered to the ice cream scooper.
"It works out fine," Sanji muttered, feeling his face warm with embarrassment. "He offered, and…he treats me well. There are really no objections."
"But he's so old," the Beast muttered with disgust, lips drawn back to show frighteningly sharp teeth.
"Yeah, how gross!" Baby snapped.
"That's like Dellinger hooking up with Lao G-dasuyan," Buffalo said with immense disgust.
"EW!" the baby blanket cried. "Lao G is ancient!"
"Hey!" the coat rack complained.
Fists balling at his sides, Sanji snapped, "I don't owe any of you any explanations! You want this cake made, or not?"
"Fuck if I care, it's not like I can eat it. This was for Law, anyway," Doflamingo muttered with disgust.
"I don't want a fucking cake," the Beast growled, baring its teeth. "I DIDN'T WANT TO CELEBRATE THIS STUPID BIRTHDAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
"STOP YELLING!" Sanji snapped at him, covering his ears at his close proximity.
"I CAN'T HELP IT!" the Beast roared, the sound so loud that Sanji now knew why he'd always thought those previous roars were nothing but noise. "It's my stupid voice! What the fuck am I supposed to do, whisper?"
"For ten minutes," Doflamingo advised.
"Law, listen, it's your birthday, and the rose is in full bloom," Corazon said soothingly. "Now is the time we really start on this. Let's celebrate it with a cake. It's been awhile!"
"I don't want it," Law whispered, but it was still angry, and he clearly lacked patience for it, because he ended up yelling, "NO ONE WILL CARE! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"At least we got a few more years in," Corazon said with a sigh. "Otherwise, we would've all died that night. Those townspeople were triggered."
"What sort of rose?" Sanji asked curiously.
"After Tsuru cursed us, she left behind a single rose that bloomed upon his twenty-second birthday," Vergo answered stoically. "It is basically a timer. Once he reaches the last of this year, we will die if he doesn't find, a, ah, wife or husband."
"Oh!" Sanji said, now understanding why the hunters spoke of the topics they had. "So…with the vines loosening, that means your birthday was just…the other day? The sixth?"
"What amazing observational skills you have," Law said sarcastically.
Sanji then cleared his throat, headed to towards the kitchen, saying, "Excuse me…"
"Gotta poo?" the dresser asked him with concern.
Sanji frowned at him with disgust. "I have a fucking cake to make. Don't make stupid comments like that."
"He's way meaner than you are, Law," the dresser commented as Sanji stalked down to the kitchen.
Sanji ignored all that. In the kitchen, he went straight for the basket and unloaded all the ingredients. He heard the voices coming from the room upstairs, but gave it no more attention. The oven turned on on its own, giving the kitchen a pleasant warmth, and when he needed something, things moved on their own to accommodate him. He didn't know how many people were under this weird curse, but it did not make him feel better knowing he was mixing things with people that grunted and complained as he was using their bodies to do so.
But over an hour later, he had the cake finished, and he took the time to decorate it. he added icing flowers atop of it, sprinkled the remaining blueberries over it, and made star-like designs around the bottom. Once he was done, the workers in the kitchen 'ooh'ed and 'aw'ed over the finished product. He cleaned up his entire work area, much to the kitchen's delight. After he was through wiping down the counters, he surveyed the area with a nod of approval. He found a fork and then took the cake upstairs, finding that most of the objects had cleared out, and only the Beast – Law – and Corazon were there. Law was glaring out the windows, positioned in a way that his head wasn't fully visible, and Corazon was at his feet, moving to side to side, talking in action.
"Finished," Sanji muttered, catching their attention. With an excited sound, Corazon waddled from side to side as Sanji walked over. But before he could reach him, Law reached out and pushed him back, away from the window.
"There's hunters out there, watching," Law muttered, to which Sanji looked over with understanding. At that moment, he felt bad that these people were watched so closely in their own home that they could not look out the window without being targeted. He wondered if Zeff had felt the same sort of compassion.
Sanji crouched, and pushed the platter over to them, Corazon looking over it with a light gasp.
"That's so pretty!" he exclaimed. "It's so wonderful! Look at it, Law! It's - !"
Corazon stopped talking as, despite his earlier complaints, Law pulled the platter to him and demolished the entire cake without the use of the fork. Sanji gaped at him with horror, watching as his carefully decorated creation disappeared in literal seconds, Law dropping the platter with icing, crumbs and glaze all over his furry face.
"It was okay," he muttered, long tongue flicking out to lick the sides of his muzzle. "I still don't like blueberries. And the filling was lame. There was too much of it. All in all, too sweet. Good thing I won't have another birthday, because this one already sucks."
Corazon cleared his throat with some embarrassment. "It was really nice of you to do this, Sanji," he said. "It was beautiful."
Sanji stood, saying nothing. But his hands balled into fists. "My food is …lame? 'Okay'?"
Law stood, carefully out of sight of the window. He turned away, brushing crumbs from his furry face as Sanji stared after him. Without a 'thank you' or any expression of appreciation, Law headed for the stairway.
But before he could get there, Sanji picked up a nearby table with various decorations atop of it and flung it at the Beast, catching him in the back. Corazon screamed in startled alarm as Law tumbled over the stairs, Sanji marching over with an enraged snarl.
"You stupid dog! My food is not 'lame', or just 'okay'!" he snapped. "I made it so that it appealed to your beastish taste, and it's light and delicate and the filling was made with a light cream as to not destroy your intestines, in case you're lactose intolerant! I know nothing about you, but I put a lot of care into it after all this, and you'll fucking appreciate it!"
"It tasted like shit! One day," Law snarled, rising up to his full height to loom over him, "you'll give your future old man food poisoning so bad he'll die!"
Sanji glared up at him, wanting to strike out so badly that every part of him trembled with the urge. But then he thought about how all these people had been cursed and confined to this castle for twelve years, and he couldn't make himself do it. He then turned and snatched his cloak from the couch, and left the room, heading for the main doors.
"Law," Corazon said quietly as the Beast paced furiously, glaring at the windows. "Law, I'll never forgive you if you don't go and apologize to him."
"WHY SHOULD I?"
"It's important to me."
"Maybe this is his lesson for thinking it's okay to talk to me this way!"
"Please."
Giving the mirror a look of consideration, Law then grumbled, heading upstairs.
Sanji hurried his steps, feeling like he couldn't breathe. Running out from the stairway he headed for the Great Hall, making his way to the doors. They opened without him needing to slow and wait, and once he was outside, the chill of the night hit him, as well as the pelting rain. He stood out there for several moments, breathing heavily, feeling his eyes well up with tears.
"Hey. Guy."
He looked up then over his shoulder, pulling his hood up and over as he acknowledged the voice – mainly to hide his expression, and not to protect himself from the rain. It was the Beast, crawling over the stone wall to drop down into the heavy shadows on the walkway, fitting in against one of the pillars. From there, Sanji could see his eyes, and they were frightening in the dark, being that they were the only things he could really see.
"What the fuck do you want, you fucking jerk?"
"I said, 'I'm sorry!'" the Beast whispered, struggling with the patience to do so.
Sanji stared at him in silence, having never heard him the first time. But after a moments, he mumbled, "Apology accepted."
Law then exhaled, a huge puff of steam in the air. "Also, why don't you just run away, if you don't want to get married?"
"And go where?"
"Fuck if I know."
"…Thanks. But I can't disobey Rayleigh," Sanji added grimly. He furrowed his brow as he watched rain create puddles at their feet. "Him or Zeff."
"Stupid."
Instantly offended, Sanji turned to face him, fists balled up at his sides. "Why is it? Fucker. You're the one trapped in a fucking castle for the rest of your fucking life! Who the fuck are you judging?"
"DON'T YELL AT ME!"
"LOWER YOUR GODDAMN VOICE!" Sanji looked away, feeling the tightness in his chest again, a feeling of helplessness swarming up from deep inside of him. "Besides, if it were that simple, I would've done so years ago!"
"It's not that hard to take a goddamn road out of town!"
Sanji closed his eyes with exasperation. The rain poured down, made it difficult to see twenty feet ahead of him.
"Then why don't all of you leave this fucking place?"
"Because we're fucking cursed here! We can wander around the fucking valley, but we can't leave here!"
"So it is true," Sanji commented, frowning a little. "What can you do to lift it? Get married?"
Grumbling, Law muttered so quietly that Sanji had to lean in just to hear him. He straightened up with a startled look.
"Blue gloves prove amiss?" he repeated with a puzzled expression.
"TRUE LOVE'S FIRST KISS!"
Sanji stood there for a few moments, then sputtered before slapping his hands over his mouth as Law glared at him, heaving with breath. After composing himself, Sanji cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. But you're going to die. My condolences."
"I KNOW! There's no point to this stupidity!"
Sanji exhaled lightly, shaking his head. Seeing the frustrated look on the Beast's face, the acknowledgment of defeat, left him feeling sympathy. He reached out and touched the top of his head, ruffling slightly the soft fur there.
"Let's make a deal," he said. "You guys help me find Zeff. I'll help you find this 'true love'."
"Why even bother?" Law muttered, a little surprised at the feel of Sanji's hand atop of his head. "I'm a fucking monstrosity. Do you honestly think that someone's going to think of me fondly in anyway? NO. This stupid curse was supposed to be Doffy's."
"I forgive you for being an ass to me, earlier."
"Look…we'll help you find Zeff. As for the other thing, forget about it. There's no chance," the Beast said, shaking his head. His ears shifted a bit, then he stepped out just a little to fling an arm out, causing Sanji to jump back, startled when wood shattered over him. When Law pulled his arm back, he was clutching part of an arrow he'd just snatched out of mid-air, examining it.
"Ah," he commented as Sanji looked towards the gates, startled that someone would shoot at him when he couldn't see anything beyond the front walkway. He hurried closer to the pillar Beast was hiding behind, looking around anxiously. Then he noticed that Law was examining the weapon, interested in the stone that could have pierced his head. "This arrow, these are hunters from the East. Look at this arrowhead, it's carved from – "
Sanji reached out and grabbed the arrow, tossing it into the pelting rain. "These people are trying to kill you for the glory of the hunt, and you just comment on their fucking weapons with praise? Fuck on out of here, you stupid shit! I'm leaving!"
"Why are you so fucking angry?" the Beast yelled at him, standing full height – nearly eight feet tall. "I'm the one that's angry! Get out of here!"
With that, he crawled back up the wall, a moving shadow that easily blended in with those created by the castle's towers, and disappeared somewhere where Sanji couldn't see, being that the rain pelted over him with a vengeance.
He struggled to hold in the growing feelings in his chest, then ran out over the walkway. The voices around murmured with question, but nothing stood in his path as he raced home, letting him go without a fight.