LawLu Week 2022 Day-5
Theme: Captain's Quarters / Soul Mates.
Chosen: Soul Mates.
PART I- YOUTH IS BUT A FLICKERING LIGHT
The curse befell on the fourth grandson of the House of DonQuioxte. Though he was not bound by the blood, Trafalgar Law was very much part of the merchant family. He was a toddler when the second son of the family brought him in from the streets and adopted him as his son. Law became the family's seventh grandchild and fourth grandson. He was provided the best education, luxuries and training to carry on the family name. His father was keen on him becoming part of the family business, and his grandparents were inclined to the idea. His uncle, the first son, was more ambitious; he wanted Law to inherit the family business of medicine and magic. So not only was Law trained in commerce, he was made to apprentice under three witches and seven healers for nineteen years out of his twenty-three years on this planet.
The curse was sent in a lovely parcel; a brown envelope wrapped with golden strings, sealed with lacquer and perfumed with aromatics. It had arrived with numerous documents for his uncle, trading journals for his father, pickles and sweets for his grandparents, gifts from suitors for his three unmarried sisters, beauty products for his aunt, and herbs for his daily apothecary. Most importantly, Law got letters for dead, family members asking spells and totems to put rest to ghost of family members. The DonQuioxte Family also had ghosts walking around the house. Some helped with daily tasks, while a few just loved to bother family members because they were bored. Hence, the uneducated servant unable to read the name of the addressee did a guess work based on the smell on the envelope and dropped it in Law's corner of the courtyard. The prodigal grandson paid no attention to the envelope for an entire day. It was late in the evening when the lamps were lit and his aunt Giola yelled from the balcony for everyone to come for dinner that Law picked up the envelope. Unbothered by the smell of cheap aromatics on it, the tall man opened it with a wooden opener and pulled out its contents. Into his hands fell a mixture of lock of teal and golden hair, a dried rose, a dried tulip, a dried petunia and a dried alstroemeria; all tied with a thick red string.
Law examined the things in his hand carefully, this was a love spell, it would start affecting when the intended person panicked and tried to throw way the content or if they burned the content in fire. Since Law knew better than others a love spell was extremely irritating to remove, if nothing was done, the spell would remain contained within the hair and the flowers. Luck was not with him that night, Sugar his seven-year-old niece tiptoed behind her uncle with a lamp in her hand and "BOOOOOOOOOO!"
A startled Law tried to sidestep and his back hit his niece and the lamp fell from her grip. It happened so fast that Law couldn't even register his environment. His apothecary was old and full of paper and Sugar, was scared. Law immediately pushed his niece outside, and in doing so the lock of hair and flowers fell into the burning spilled oil of the lamp. Law wasted no time and grabbed the pail of water from his table, but the damage was done, the spell had been cast.
"Uncle Law!" Sugar cried as she saw her uncle shiver up and clutch his chest. "Go upstairs. Call dad or uncle" Law gritted his teeth. Sugar dashed in panic. Law's heart felt like it had been stung with a wooden needle, out of which poison dripped into his vein. It was an excruciating pain, Law tried not to scream in pain, but it was becoming harder by the second. By the time Law's father and uncle climbed down, Law was on his knees, clutching his chest and foaming out of his mouth. He had read love spells were strong, but none of the books had written that it came with acute pain.
"Law…" the concerned father, Corazón, rushed to his withering child and picked him up in his arms.
"Dad…"
"Yes."
"It hurts."
"Tell me what to do?"
"Grab that brown envelope" Law cried before he passed out.
He woke up half an hour later, his head rested on his sobbing sister Baby's lap, while his father sat in the corner with a frown and his uncle walked to and fro around the dining hall. Sugar was apologizing to her great-grandparents in another corner. Uncle LaoG and Aunt Giola were stressing out.
"Why are you sobbing?" Law asked.
"Law, is that you?" Baby hugged him.
"Why is it not me?" Law frowned.
"We have a situation." Corazón smiled at his son. "Don't lie to him. He has been cursed." His uncle Doffy yelled. His forehead was throbbing. He walked towards Law and stared down at his nephew.
"I know it is a love spell. We have to wait out five weeks, put me in a room and I will go insane in isolation. No love spell can last longer than five weeks. Or we find the caster and I have to kiss them to break my curse. I prefer being locked than kiss a lunatic who cursed me." Law informed, unable to break from his sister's grip, he continued to lie down.
"My dear boy, I don't think it is a love spell that affected you." Law's grandma added from the other side. "Doffy go bring the mirror." The matriarch stood up and walked towards Law, she gently tapped his face and sighed, "No matter what happens, you are handsome in every form."
"What is going on?" Law finally broke free of the grip and sat up, only to be hit by a sharp pain in his spine. "Ouch…"
"Time to check those knees too!" His grandfather suggested from his corner, as suggested, Law stretched his legs, his knees were shaking for no reason.
Doffy came and stood with a mirror in front of Law, the twenty-three-year-old's face was gone. In front of Law sat a stooped old man with grey hair, wrinkled mouth and eyes set with crow's feet. Law was old as his grandparents.
"It cannot be an age stealing curse. I am confident it was a love curse. The contents of the spell matched, the flowers, the red string and the hair… but there should've been three followers… and only type of hair…" Law touched his own hair, he was glad that at least he didn't have a bald patch. It was all white like a cluster of sewing thread.
"The envelope… Dad, give me the envelope." Corazón fished out the envelope and turned it over. Law's father's face darkened. "Dad?"
"Why did you open an envelope that was not meant for you?" Corazón yelled at his son.
"I didn't notice. Who is addressed to?" Law cowered back and Baby hugged him in attempts to protect him.
"Your uncle." All the eyes fell on Doflamingo, the current head of the family. Who looked as surprised as every other member sitting in the dining hall.
"You…" Corazón grabbed his elder brother's collar.
"I am sorry…? Law?" Doflamingo grinned in confusion.
"How many times did we beg you? To not have so many partners! Why can't you stop your playboy ways! Now look, it must be a scorned lover who tried to cast a love spell on you!" The matriarch yelled.
"Does it say who sent it?" Aunt Giola asked.
"Wow, honey, you think a criminal will leave behind their name card after committing a crime?" Uncle LaoG laughed.
"It is a love spell, how was Doffy to find him or her otherwise after he was under spell?" Aunt Giola ignored her husband and continued. "There has to be a clue."
"The lock of hair, it was teal and blonde… I am guessing the golden hair is yours uncle and the teal?" Law tried to get up but his thighs shivered. Doflamingo's face fell into a deep thought and five minutes his eyes glowed up in anger.
"Monet?" Doflamingo frowned.
"Monet, your store manager?" Baby asked.
"Yeah… But…" Doflamingo thought hard.
"Don't tell me you don't even remember if you had a fling with her or not."
"I had a fling, it is just she is getting married tomorrow. So why cast a spell?" Doflamingo groaned.
"Unless, the caster is not Monet, but someone who wants to thwart Monet's wedding." Baby added.
"Did you read too many of those peddler novels?" Everyone glared at Baby.
"Fine… then I guess Monet is getting married to someone else in hopes of getting your attention. Given Dad's nature, you most probably said her congratulations and gave her wedding bonus, didn't you dad?" Baby looked into her father's eyes with confidence. Doflamingo averted his eyes.
"Please go talk to Monet and find out where she purchased the spell from." Law groaned. He was feeling tired for no reason, and he found his generally loud family suddenly too noisy. Law yawned and took his steps towards his bedroom. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Law, his back was slightly hunched, his movements were slower and his hair was white. He looked like a man in his 70s.
"Is it just me or his personality finally matches his face?" Baby muttered.
"SHHHHHHHHH!"
Doflamingo, Corazón and Law found themselves, gate crashing Monet's wedding before the groom arrived. Everyone knew the DonQuixotes, Corazón was a crowd favourite in the city and Doflamingo the most sought after bachelor despite having strings of affair and children born out of wedlock. As the saying went, a crooked golden ring was still a golden ring, people desired him.
Monet looked beautiful, her teal hair was braided into a bun, and flowers were neatly tucked into them. She was greeting guests and smiling. Her smile vanished when she saw three people walk towards her. Her eyes focused on an old Law, they became shocked, then her eyes found Doflaimgo and became angry, and finally they went back to Law and became sad.
"We are not here to make a scene. We just want to know where did you purchase the spell from? As you can clearly see, my nephew has got caught up in whatever unresolved issues or feelings you have for me."
"Master Law, why did you open the envelope…" Monet covered her mouth with her gloved hands. Her gloves were made of the finest silk, on which wings were embroidered. On closer inspection, her gown too was of silk, embroidered with tiny wings.
"I really didn't read the name on it." Law sighed. "As you can see, since the spell didn't work the way it was meant to, I have somehow lost my youth. So I really need to know where you bought it from." Law felt like he had spoken too many words, he already wanted to sit in a chair and nap.
"The shopkeeper told me it was a love spell." Monet confessed.
"The ingredients were similar, the petunia was not meant to be in it. And only your lock of hair was needed. Instead of a love spell, I think you were sold a binding spell. Since I was neither object of affection nor the caster, the spell bound to my soul and is now feeding of my energy." Law explained.
"What do I do?" Monet cried.
"Name of the shop and shopkeeper." Corazón had no time for tears of a woman that tried to spellbind his brother.
"Dr. Hiriluk's Miracle Chamber." Monet cried. "He told me the curse would be lifted by a kiss from his a soulmate." Monet continued wiping her eyes.
"You thought Doffy is your soulmate!"
"You thought I am your soulmate?"
"You went to that quack?" Law now felt insulted. Hiriluk was known for good intentions but terrible outcome. To be spellbound by a quack magic healer felt like Law had been slapped by the tail of a bull that happened to cross path with him, it was embarrassingly insulting.
"I was desperate." Monet replied. "I was desperate for his attention."
"You have a terrible taste in men." Corazón and Law replied in unison.
"Hey!" Doflamingo protested.
"He is a fuckboy, why would you try to spellbind this good for nothing? Do you know how many children he has? Eight! None of them have same mothers!" Law's soul also felt old, he couldn't help but judge Monet, who was actually older than him. But right now, Law felt ancient and wise.
"Monet, do us a favour, get married today and quit your job in our store. I will send you a severance. I think it is better you stay away from Doffy."
The three walked out from the wedding when the groom was about to reach the venue. Doflamingo didn't feel any guilt about Monet's broken heart, he was just annoyed that he didn't know someone had stolen a lock of his hair and dared to curse him. Corazón was bothered, his only child was growing older by the day, and he could do nothing. He hugged a frail Law and tried to smile.
"Dad…"
"Yeah son?"
"My back hurts." Law complained.
"Do you want a walking stick?" Doflamingo asked.
Luck had truly abandoned the three, the quack who called himself a doctor was not in his shop. To be precise, his shop was gone. The shop was empty, his work table upturned and his medicine shelf empty. The signboard was gone too.
"When did he leave the city?" Doflamingo mumbled as he checked every nook and corner of the empty apothecary.
"I have no idea, we only sell him our medicine, I don't remember talking to him!" Corazón replied.
"Who sells him our medicine?" Doflamingo asked.
"Monet…" Law replied as he held on to his walking stick and reclined on the wall.
"Let's head back and check our ledgers, we can find his address." Doflamingo ordered.
"Wait a minute, let us ask the neighbours." Corazón stopped his brother.
"You guys go ahead, I will sit in this shop and rest."
"You are sure?"
"Yes Dad."
Law decided to settle inside a cool corner of the vaccant shop and began leafing through the brochures that were on the floor with his walking stick. Dr. Hiriluk had made tall claims in each one of them. First he would cure insomnia with new frog tonic, second he would cure melancholia with flour paste. Law chuckled at the thought of drinking frog tonic to cure his own insomnia. His bones were aching, and his sleep had gotten worse in one day after being cursed. Law had wanted to shout at Monet for her stupidity. He stopped himself because he felt it was too much of a hassle to shout at a woman who clearly was a fool in love. More importantly, he wanted to put on a chastity belt around his uncle's cock. His uncle Doffy was a notorious playboy; he fathered his first child at 15. When Law had arrived his uncle already had six children, the next two were born few years ago when the man was in his 40s. Doflamingo refused to marry any of his lovers, he was a good father but terrible role model. Just as Law kept worrying about his cousins, his eyes fell on the brochure, a name was written. With great difficulty, Law picked up the dirtied paper. Captain Monkey D. Luffy, underneath the name was a date and time and port name. It was scribbled in a rush, and was scribbled almost two months back. Monet had sat on the spell for two months before unleashing the chaos.
When Corazón and Doflamingo returned, Law was sleeping on the bench and snoring like a true old man. Corazón didn't want to wake up his wrinkled old son, Doflamingo went ahead and shook the skinny old man.
"Law, we have a lead."
"So do I." Law nodded.
Captain Monkey D Luffy's ship was a cavalier, his crew was small, and it had a ghost that played music and an inventor and liar who cooked when they ran out of canned food and dried food. The ship was called Going Merry, and it was reputed for going through long voyages. As long as the captain of the ship liked someone, they would give them a ride for a nominal fee.
"Ahoy, Captain Luffy," a woman with blonde hair waved at the captain.
"Ahoy Conis… Long time no see!" Captain Monkey D. Luffy waved back, while his crew of one began unloading the cargo.
"What did you bring to Angel Island?"
"Spices and herbs, and paper, just like your mayor had asked me."
Conis climbed up the ship and handed Luffy a pouch of silver and a letter. Luffy received the money and tossed it to his ghost musician, "Brook catch!" and took the letter and pretended to read it.
"I can barely read this…" Luffy lied.
"You see, one of the merchant families from Dressrosa have requested a ride for a passenger."
"But the ship left Dressrosa two months back, we are not heading back there for another six months." Luffy frowned.
"No… they don't want to you to turn around."
"Then?"
"They want you to wait for a day before you leave Angle Island."
"When did the letter come?" Luffy asked.
"Last week, they requested you to wait. They will pay for your stay and food." Conis explained animatedly.
"But if they are coming from Dressrosa the land routeway, they have to have started at least fifteen days ago." Luffy frowned. "How can I wait for fifteen days for them?"
"No Captain! The letter was sent by the family, the passenger has already left Dressrosa. It is all in the letter."
"Okay just because you have been asked to be the messenger, I will wait a day, if they don't arrive by then, I will set sail." Luffy sighed. "So where do my friends and lounge?"
"Follow me." Coins guided them.
Usopp, the inventor, storyteller and occasional cook of the two and a half-men crew, was busy chumming up to people in his table. The pub was crowded, Luffy was seated with his ghost musician, who was looking at the letter requesting a passage on his ship. Brook couldn't drink because he was ghost, and Luffy didn't drink alcohol because he hated bitter food. Hence, Usopp had left with a platter of food and gone drinking with club regulars.
"I have seen his insignia before" Brook hummed.
"Where?"
"I think we traded with them, we shipped their medicine around Aruba a few years back."
"I really don't remember."
"It is the DonQuixote Family. They are known in trade of their miracle medicine smile." Brook finally clapped his vapoury hands.
"What do they want from us?" Brook examined the letter closely, "Did you offend any family members?"
"Did I?"
"What are you losers talking about?" Usopp joined his captain and ghost mate.
"Did Luffy offend The DonQuioxte Family?" Brook asked.
"No, not that I think about it. But it is Luffy, he picks fights like I pick fans."
"You seem to be in a good mood Usopp" Brook asked.
"Yeah, I sold new novel, The High Sea Romance of the Countess. It is about a countess who casts a love spell on the man she loves but can't have. And on the wedding day everything is a mess because the spell was actually cast by her step-sister who wanted to marry the man the countess was engaged with!" Usopp grinned.
"Where is the sea in it?" Luffy asked.
"It is all happening on a ship, Luffy."
"And who reads this rubbish?" Brook asked.
"Hey! Young women love tales of deceit and passion!" Usopp rubbed his long sharp nose.
"Wasn't the last novel about string of fate gone wrong?" Luffy patted Usopp's curly hair.
"Yeah, it was about a prince who gets cursed to become old, and only true love's kiss can make him regain his lost beauty." Usopp explained.
"I don't understand this! Why should one always hide someone's true appearance? What if I really don't care about someone's looks or age and just fall in love with their soul?" Brook asked.
"Brook, you have no other option but fall in love with another ghost." Luffy grinned.
"LUFFFFY!"
"Sorry, sorry… But I agree, I do not understand this soulmate business."
"When you meet them a connection is formed, you will not care about their beauty or status, all you will care for is to become close to them." Usopp explained.
"So you both are my soulmates? Right?"
"NO LUFFY. A soulmate will make you feel concerned and happy. Most importantly, you will want to do nice things for them. Your heart will tingle, and your mind will want to mingle, and your body will have jingle!" Usopp stood up as the mood to dance possessed him, Brook and other pub ghosts too joined Usopp in his sudden jolly making.
Luffy unable to resist joined them and began partying, though his body got busy dancing his mind kept going back to the letter he pretended he couldn't read. The name of the passenger was Trafalgar Law, Luffy liked how the syllables rolled in his mouth. "Tra fal gar Law…" The captain grinned. "I can't wait to meet you."
TO BE CONTINUED
disclaimer: not my manga
This will be long so, I divided it into three parts! I love my Soulmate LawLu Stories to be detailed and lavish in world building. The story is a reimagining of Howl's Moving Castle, Luffy is no Howl, but he is fiercely independent and bratty here and as for Law, you have to read to find out what kind of person he is. I also generally don't like how in fairytales both Western and Asian stories, where parents are neglectful and children have to fend for themselves, in the Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie is sort of a neglected child who is expected to take responsibility and constantly reminded her looks are not attractive. I also don't like orphan children being adopted to become scapegoats for family, you know which Asian myths I mean. Likewise, I changed it here, Law is adopted but dearly loved by his entire family. They're maybe overbearing, but they mean well. As for Luffy, he is someone who has had to look out for himself all his life, he has no moving castle, but ship, and he tries his best to make a family of whatever he has.
