A/N: So, yeah, this is kinda late, but not as much as last time! And yeah, this chapter is going to be actually longer than the last one, so there is that. 😅
Hopefully, you guys enjoy it! This chapter is almost entirely Law-centric, and since he is my favorite character, I hope I did right by him.
There is a WARNING for this chapter as it does contain a scene of intense bullying of a minor. I can't stand bullies and I give you full permission to hate this one!😡
Chapter 7 - As Good As You
Kicking his door closed, Law barely took two steps before collapsing into the plush armchair near his bed.
It had been a grueling ten hours of emergency surgery before StrawHat even came close to stabilizing. After what his medical team had dubbed "The Incident" thankfully they had had no more strange transformations into creepy laughing helions, but it was still an arduous task to repair the enormity of the damage the Red Dog had caused to the rubber pirate.
He was beyond beat, existing basically on caffeine and adrenaline. He has already commanded that he wasn't to be disturbed for anything short of the hull decompressing or either of his patients flatlining. He trusted Bepo to keep everyone on their toes, and he knew his medical assistants were probably already dead to the world in their bunks.
He would be joining them soon, but he decided that he had to wash up first. He hadn't had time to change or take a shower before they had had to begin work on StrawHat, so he was beyond due. And he absolutely hated going to bed grimy.
He had developed an aversion to staying dirty ever since...well...
Not wanting to pursue that line of thinking at this exact moment, he instead kicked off his shoes, stripped off his clothes, and stepped into the shower.
One of the perks of being a captain was having a private bathroom, and being in a submarine, they had pretty much piping hot water, heated by the engine, 24/7. So Law took his time and let the scalding hot water soothe the kinks in his tense and cramped muscles.
Standing there under the spray, his thoughts inevitably came back to the brunet teen who was currently in critical condition on his ship.
He knew his crew was wondering why he had made the decision to intervene to step into a war he had no part in, and purposely put a target on his back, simply for a kid he had only met once.
And yet, there was something about "StrawHat" Monkey D. Luffy…
His eyes narrowed in thought as his mind tried to put into words what his instincts had somehow already figured out.
He remembered his first glance at the kid in the flesh in Sabaody and had balanced it with what he had seen of the pirate captain's bounty poster. There had been a few things that had instantly caught his attention.
First, it was the smile. That smile was no trick of a camera. It was quite real, and the smile of a D if he had ever seen one. His own was not nearly as wide, but it was no less enigmatic.
And those eyes…
There was something about StrawHat's eyes that drew him. At first glance, there was nothing special of note. In fact, the teen looked rather dumb and clueless on most occasions. However, while brief, when his friend had been hurt, or when the freedom of another had been challenged, Law had seen a flash of something other.
During those moments, he had seen a hidden depth to StrawHat, a discernment and perceptivity that one would have never suspected were beneath the surface. It fascinated him and he never forgot it, even once the two had gone their own ways. He had come to that mangrove archipelago in order to scout out the competition as well as to get some information about Doflamingo's movements in the New World.
He had accomplished the task of the latter, but as for the former?
Of all the supernovas that he observed… none of them captured his attention like that of StrawHat Luffy.
Turning off the water, Law got out of the shower and went over to fish for a towel from off the shelf. Drying himself off, he glanced at himself in the mirror. The dark lines under his eyes had increased, physical evidence of his exhaustion. Leaning against the counter, staring at his reflection, he was reminded of what he had observed while watching the events of Marineford play out.
Once again it was StrawHat Luffy's eyes. Those brown eyes had the same savage, indomitable determination in them that he had already seen before in the human auctioning house, but now, that hidden, perceptive, serious side, was more prevalent. Not simply flickers, but full bursts came to the surface. He had watched the events with interest to see what the kid would do.
But it wasn't then that he had decided to intervene. No…even then he was fine with simply sitting back and watching the events play out. But then FireFist had gone down, his wound mortal the moment Law had seen the admiral pull his fist from out of the commander's torso.
Even with his abilities, he didn't think he could have done anything. It was actually amazing the man had been as coherent for as long as he was. The fist had carved its way through his thoracic vertebrae, instantly turning the commander into a paraplegic. If it had stopped there, that alone would have put an end to the man's pirating career. But it had gone further, carving up FireFist's ventral cavity and dooming him to an agonizing death.
Well…that was if the magma hadn't probably cauterized all of the nerve endings before the full brunt of the pain had set in.
It was, however, the point where the look in StrawHat's eyes changed once again. This time there was a vulnerability that had never been there before. There was a helplessness there, a cry for someone– anyone –to do something. It was the look of a child who did not know what to do, and who was begging for someone stronger and bigger, someone that they trusted without question, that would make everything better again.
The only problem was that, that someone the kid was looking for, was laying dying in StrawHat's arms.
When he had seen those wide brown eyes, etched in anguish, begging for help—in an instant another pair of child-like brown orbs had taken their place.
At that moment, the eyes that Law saw calling for help weren't Monkey D. Luffy's…
Instead, they were the eyes of someone he had tried to lock away in the recesses of his mind for many years.
It wasn't StrawHat's eyes he had seen at that moment.
No, he had seen hers …
Fourteen and a half years ago in a doomed city
Sitting down in his favorite area of the garden, Law settled in to read his new book. He had a weakness for science thrillers and his favorite writer had just come out with his latest. He had had time to drop by the library after school and pick it up and he was excited to take the rest of the afternoon to read it.
His reading place was in a little alcove that was surrounded by the branches of two ivory rose bushes and he had added a small bench and table. His family knew about it, but unless they really needed him, they didn't bother him there. His parents were still at the hospital and his sister should be at her dance class. He would have to go pick her up in about an hour, but until then, his time was his own.
Or…. that had been the plan at least.
The soft sound of sniffling soon reached his ears and he raised an eyebrow in curious confusion. He knew who it was, of course, his sense of hearing had always been keen. But what was she doing at home?
When the sniffles began to be peppered with pained whimpers, his curiosity changed to concern. Closing his book, he got up and pushed away the white branches, and followed the sound to another part of the garden where a white elm tree stood.
On the other side of the elm's huge trunk, a small feminine head of brown hair was hunched over, buried in a small set of shuddering arms. The navy jumper dress she wore, was smudged with dirt, and the white blouse beneath was torn.
His concern increased exponentially and Law called his little sister's name with worry.
"Lami? What happened? What happened to your ballet class?"
At the sound of his voice, the five-year-old girl looked up at him in surprise, her warm brown eyes were swimming in tears. The moment her eyes landed on him, an immediate look of relief entered them and she instinctively made to move over to him.
She crashed into his side, her arms going around him. "Big brother!"
His arm instinctively pulled the small girl closer, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the very apparent presence of bright, claret red blood streaming down the right side of her head, along with the fact that one of his sister's ponytails had been roughly hacked off!
A myriad of questions came to his head, and a cold fire was simmering further below that, but there would be time for those things later. Right now, his vision zeroed in on the wound on his sister's head and he was already mentally gathering all the materials he would need to treat it. He silently pulled Lami off the side of him before turning around and bending down on one knee.
"Come on, let's get you to the house." He indicated for her to grasp onto his neck and climb onto his back. She futilely tried to wipe away at her tears only for more to replace them, before moving to hold on to him.
He grabbed hold of her legs and hefted her up, her weight not all that much to carry, and he had had plenty of practice in carrying his little sister around.
Holding on, he hurried back into the house and to his dad's home office. Sitting Lami down in a chair, he quickly went through some drawers pulling out cotton, gauze, antiseptic, and other first aid items. Bringing them all over to the counter, he finally brought up his father's stool and hopped onto that, rolling his way to his sister's side.
"Alright, hold still a little, and let me see."
She obeyed and he wet the gauze with some clean water before attempting to carefully clean the blood off her face. He spoke softly to try to take her mind off what he was doing, similar to what he saw his mom do when with her child patients. It would also help him find out who had done this to his little sister…
"Hey, I don't think it looks too bad. Where does it hurt the most, Lam?"
She sniffed, her voice still hiccuping with soft sobs. "I-It h-hurts behind m-m-my ear."
He turned his attention to her right ear, and sure enough, that was where all the blood was coming from. "Okay, I'm going to take a look. I want you to squeeze my hand if it hurts too much, okay Lam?"
She gave a slight nod and took his offered hand into her slightly smaller one. Having put on the smallest set of sterile gloves that came from his mother's set, he very carefully pushed back on his sister's ear.
Lami clutched his hand tightly as he gave a quick clinical look to the back of her auditory appendage.
Seeing what he needed to see, Law quickly removed his hand before pulling his gloves off. He pushed his hat down over his face.
"You're gonna need stitches Lami, The cut's too deep. I'm going to go and get the supplies from the back observation room. Use some gauze to put pressure on it until I get back."
Without looking at her, he headed quickly out of the room, only pausing long enough to hear her soft "okay" in response.
Once out of the room, Law allowed the snarl that could no longer be pushed down, to appear on his face, matching the frosty look in his dark eyes. Lami didn't need to see his rage, she needed her big brother to be calm and steady, shelter from the storm that she could always count on.
He had never been one to burn hot though, his anger was always one that burned cold. And right now, the look in his eyes could have frozen Hell over.
The cut on the back of his sister's ear had been done with a razor blade, probably the same one that had hacked her hair off. If it had gone any deeper it might have torn through the delicate connective tissues and cartilage and he would have had to get her to a hospital in order to have a real surgeon try to reattach the thing.
Getting the needles and sutures, he silently got his emotions under control. He needed more information first and Lami needed him.
When he returned to her side, he was once again calm and he let a reassuring smile appear on his face.
"Alright, just give me a minute and I'll get you all sewn up in no time."
His sister continued to look miserable, though he was happy that her tears were finally beginning to come to an end.
He came closer, turning on the examination light, he rinsed the entire area with saline solution before applying antiseptic and a local anesthetic. Because of the pressure that Lami had applied, the bleeding had slowed down quite a bit.
Before he began, he took off his hat and placed it on his sister's head, making sure to angle it away from the wound area. He saw her trembling hands grab the fur brim and clutch onto it.
She was still the only person he would let touch it.
Three years even further back…
When Lami had been only a toddler, and with his parents much too busy at the hospital, he had often been left in charge of his younger sibling. At first, he resented having to take care of what he had originally simply thought of as an intruder to his carefully ordered and constructive life. He had often left the then 2-year-old on her own, doing his best to lose her when she sought to follow him, avoid her when she wanted to play, or simply not be around her as much as possible. Eventually, as he hoped, his sister gave up on searching him out, but because of this, little Lami, often lonely, would tend to cry alone in her room.
He had at first been annoyed with the crying and tried to ignore it. Yet, somehow, someway, no matter where he went, he could fear her cries in his ears as well as in his head. It was maddening.
Struggling with what to do to cease her incessant caterwauling, one day, completely fed up, he marched into her room to command her to shut up.
What he found, was that the little girl had stumbled against the grate of the fireplace screen, and she had a huge gash in her little leg. The sight of the blood had alarmed him and was immediately trying to placate his sister, telling her he was going to get the first aid kit.
Surprisingly, Lami had already calmed down, her huge watery brown orbs looking at him in amazement. Happy that she had stopped crying, he had been about to go out to get the medical supplies, when she immediately began to wail again, her tiny arms reaching out to him.
Feeling horrible for being the cause of all this, Law didn't know what to do. He had to treat his sister's leg and yet she obviously couldn't take him leaving her. He wasn't strong enough to carry her around yet either.
Not quite sure what to do, but running out of options and becoming panicked, in an impulsive move he took off his hat and gave it to her to hold. Babies like soft furry things right?
He had no idea if it would work, but shockingly it did! She stopped once again, her tiny hand closing around the fur of the hat and bringing it close to her. Her eyes stared at the white and black pattern and the very peaks of a small smile began to emerge on her face. Relieved, Law had backed up slowly and this time was able to leave the room without incident.
When he returned, Lami was still in the same position he had left her, still clutching the hat, but this time, when he came in her smile was huge and for a moment he could only stare. Why was she so happy to see him, when he had been the cause of all of her misery? He hadn't taken care of her, fed her, or watched out for her like he was supposed to. She had even gotten hurt because of him. Why did she look at him like that? Why didn't she hate him? Was it just a baby thing?
He cleaned her wound and bandaged it. Afterward, he found a way to carry her on his back to the kitchen to get some food, and then even further afterward to the bath to get cleaned up. That evening, he struggled to put her to sleep, making up a melody in his head as he couldn't think of any of the lullabies his mom would sing for the little girl. He knew it sounded horrid and he wasn't the best when it came to music and son, it had no lyrics and he could only really hum it out, but Lami seemed to enjoy it, smiling the whole way and eventually drifting off.
The whole time she never let go of his hat, and while it was strange at first, he was actually okay with that.
It had been the first time he and Lami had bonded, and it wasn't long before the two were inseparable. Especially when he discovered that Lami enjoyed science and medicine as much as he did. The two of them would have fun talking about different things they discovered in school or raiding their parents' offices for books and journals. But even with all that, the hat was a link between them.
They never really talked about it out loud but it was just something silently acknowledged between them. He often used the hat as a way to calm his sister when she was really upset and distressed, giving her a lifeline to be able to concentrate and ground herself. It was his way of saying, 'I'm here now. You don't need to be afraid.'
Once she was settled a bit more, he looked at the wound once again before selecting a suture needle from the tray and threading it. He casually spoke to his sister in order to keep her mind away from what he was doing.
"You're doing well, Lam. I know you've seen Mom and Dad do this several times, you know it's going to be okay, right? Stitches are nothing to be scared off. I've practiced this tons of times."
(So what if it had all been on dead specimens, practice was practice right?)
Lami kept her head still but her voice spoke of the absolute faith she held in her big brother's talents. "O-of course, Law. You're going to become the best surgeon in the world!"
The nine-and-a-half-year-old couldn't help but beam at his sister's words. But of course, the little munchkin couldn't just stop there.
"At least that is, until I become older than you, and then I'LL be the best surgeon in the world!"
He grimaced and stopped himself from contaminating his gloved hands by pinching the little girl's cheeks.
"I don't think that's how that works Lami. I will always be older than you, and therefore by default, always the best."
The idea seemed to astound his baby sister, and irritate her to no end, all evidence of tears having disappeared. "What?! That's not fair!"
He smirked, "Life's not fair, Lam-Lam. I'll be nice though and let you be the 2nd best surgeon, 'kay?"
Her cheeks puffed up in a full-on pout, "Second best is for losers!"
He rose an eyebrow at that, "Hey, didn't you just want me to be "second best"? Are you calling me a loser?"
Lami thought about it for a second before amending her statement, "But you will have already been the best for 3 and half years, and then I wanted a turn."
"I will always be 3 ½ years older than you, but that doesn't mean that we both can't be the best."
Her big brown eyes were the size of moons. "What! Really?!"
"Of course. I mean look at mom and dad. Dad's the best doctor in the whole country, and Mom's the best pediatrician around. Both of them are the best, why can't we? Right now, I'm still just studying general surgery, but I'll probably want to specialize eventually, and you can do the same thing. Then we can both be the best."
He could bring up the fact that Dad, by being the best doctor in Flevance, was by default, ranked him ahead of Mom, but that wasn't something his little sister needed to know at the moment.
The brunette girl seemed to think about it for a moment before sighing. "I guess that's okay then."
He smiled before grabbing a small flexible bandage and affixing it to the back of her ear. "And with that, I'm done! See that wasn't so bad, right Lam?"
She blinked in surprise before hurriedly sitting up in the chair to look at herself in the observation mirror.
He stood behind her as she examined the cloth-covered stitches. It wasn't too bad if he did say so himself. Probably better than any actual medical student.
Lami looked at herself for a moment, before a look of disappointed sadness appeared on her face. "It's going to leave a scar, isn't it?"
It would. He didn't have really any choice or ability that would prevent that. Though he hated how unhappy it made his sister. The idea of a reminder of her attack staying with Lami for the rest of her life brought the fact that his little sister was attacked back to the forefront of his mind.
He took his sister's hand and moved her over to face him. "It will, but we'll think about what to do about that once it heals. For now, you're going to tell me what happened."
Lami's face crumpled and she sat back down in the chair, pulling her knees up against her chest again. Tears once again began to appear in the corner of her eyes, and her hand instinctively grabbed for the brim of the fur hat once again.
She squeaked with surprise when she felt her brother swing her up into his arms, and carry her in his grasp out of the office without a word to the sunroom. He sat on the window seat facing the garden his back against the corner of the wall, and he sat her down in his lap. Careful of her injury, he guided her to lean back against his chest and kept his arms loosely curled around her. After they had both gotten settled, he simply—waited.
His silent message to her was clear. Nothing will hurt you. Not while I'm around.
And she smiled a bit and moved the unhurt side of her head into her big brother's side, snuggling close. Her voice was a heavy whisper when she spoke. "I was on my way to dance practice after school when this big guy blocked my path…."
"Hey! Your name's Trafalgar?"
Lami stopped at the sound of someone shouting her name and looked up to see a big, kinda pudgy blond kid about twice her age, blocking her way. He was dressed in the fine clothes of a noble and even she could recognize the crest of one of the noble houses embroidering his clothes.
Why would a noble be interested in her?
She didn't like the look in the older boy's eyes. He had these tiny eyes and an upturned nose that reminded her of a pig. He seemed to be looking at her like she was both dirt he wanted to avoid, and also as an insect he wanted to torture.
"Y-yes, what do you want?"
The boy's eyes narrowed and he smirked before snapping his fingers.
Lami jumped nearly sky-high as she suddenly felt a hand grab her shoulder from behind!
She automatically screamed and tried to pull away, only to feel another hand grab her other arm and slap a hand over her mouth. She looked up in fright as two boys similar to the first, both sneering and sniggering, lifted her up between them.
She twisted away violently, her legs trying to swing around and hit them, anything to jerk herself loose. However, her strength was too little and her reach too small in comparison to the bigger boys and they simply shook her soundly before bringing her before the first one who had known her name.
The panic had already settled in and tears were forming in her eyes as she searched widely around for someone, anyone who could help her!
Unfortunately, the street was small, out of the way, and quite abandoned. She tried her best to scream once again and bit at the hand holding her mouth, the boy holding her swore, before striking her across the face!
She was stunned silent, never having been hit like that before. One of her captors took the opportunity to push a cloth in her mouth. The two threw her to the ground and then forcibly held her there at the first boy's feet. The first boy had been waiting patiently before looking down his nose at her frightened tear-stained face. For some reason, liking what he saw, he smirked cruelly before removing an object from his pocket.
Flicking it in his fingers, a blade appeared and Lami's eyes grew huge and round at the sight of the weapon.
She began to try to get away all the more as panic settled in. Mommy!...Daddy!
The boy kneeled next to her, the metal of his knife flashing dangerously in the afternoon sun. Her eyes automatically followed the blade and she froze as he brought it closer to her face.
Her eyes closed in terror, as she began to fully weep. Big brother!
"You're Trafalgar Law's sister, correct?"
Her eyes opened in shock at her brother's name, and the piggy-jerk leader seemed to see the recognition in her frightened gaze.
Taking that as confirmation, the pig noble boy continued sneering down at her. "You charity cases need to learn your place. Nobody makes Cuttingham III Snidley look like a fool!"
Her eyes widened at the mention of the name. Even she recognized the name of one of the most famous noble families in the region, the head of the family was the brother of the king, their duchy wasn't far from the capital.
"This is a message for your brother to know his place, and to think twice next time before upstaging me!"
He grabbed her hair violently and jerked her head to the side. Lami screamed in fear but the sound was again muffled. She tried her best to fight and pull away, but to no avail, the boys only laughing at her struggles and continuing to hold her down as the Cuttingham boy pulled violently on her hair and actually began sawing through it!
She sobbed inconsolably, her body being bruised by their hold on her, her clothes getting dirty and torn in her struggles to get free.
The boy continued to hack away at her hair and this time she felt his hold on her head slightly loosen. She attempted to jerk her head away totally, however, was stopped in her tracks when she felt hot fire along the side of her head, right behind her ear. Blood quickly followed, running down the side of her head and neck.
She screamed once again, but this time from the stinging pain!
It hurt! It hurt so much!
Mom! Dad!
Law! Where are you?
Help me!
Surprisingly, this made the noble jump up, "Ugh, you stupid, idiot girl! How dare you get your commoner's blood on me!"
He kicked at her side, causing her to cry out.
"Well, no matter, we got what we came for." He held part of her hair in his hand like a trophy, blood dripping off his knife onto the ground.
Cuttingham III then smirked and looked down at the little girl. "I'd suggest you not tell anyone of this little girl, not unless you want your mommy and daddy to be sacked and your family ruined. One little word to my father and its curtains for the entire lot of you."
He laughed cruelly before kicking her again. All three jumped off her and ran off down the street, the other two boys joined him, cackling the whole way, Leaving Lami alone, crying in the dirt, with blood continuing to stream down her face…
As his sister finished her story, Law tightened his hold on his sister, slowly caressing her hair as she cried in his arms. He held her close to him, telling her it was alright and that she had been very brave even in the face of such big bullies who were twice her size.
However, even as he comforted her, holding her close, his gray eyes had gone from stormy to tempestuous, with a sharp glint that was as hard as a diamond.
He knew exactly who her attacker was. The second son of the Duke of Cuttingham tried to lord it over everyone in his class that he deemed "beneath" him. Law and his family weren't nobles, their parents' prestige and position within the royal association of medicine allowed them access to place their two children in the top schools. Sadly, that made Law and his sister the target of the upper crust who considered them bourgeoise outsiders who hadn't been taught their place.
Law had learned early to let all the insults roll off his back and to show his enemies that he was not someone you'd like to mess with. Most of his classmates respected him and many even liked him despite his sometimes strange interests. He often was at the top of his class and that had also gained him respect.
Cuttingham III had tried to mess with him for years, annoyed that Law wasn't pulsed by any of his fear or bullying tactics, and he was too scared to physically attack Law.
So it seems he found a weaker target to hurt instead.
It wasn't a secret that Law had a little sister, both of them were often seen together or with their parents. And it wouldn't be hard to find out where Lami went to school (they only had one kindergarten in town) and to corner her once she left for the day.
He could only guess that the fact that he had just recently won the top honors for his class once again, had somehow set Cuttingham off. He never really thought much about those sorts of things, as he won them all so wearily often. However, he should definitely have considered how it would have affected his enemies and how they would have turned to find other weaknesses to attack.
Like Lami…
Little Lami, still in kindergarten, hadn't really had to deal with all this. She got along with her classmates fine and enjoyed school life. He hated that his sister was brought into all this, had he detested seeing the fear in her eyes. He knew it would take time for her to once again feel safe in her surroundings when not at home.
Damn that noble!
He took his sister to take a bath before treating her scrapes and bruises and then getting her some soup with a steaming mug of her favorite hot chocolate, white peppermint. As she sipped at it in her robe, her fuzzy slippers going to and fro, Law took his hat off her head while he removed her barrettes and combed through her hair with his fingers. He was going to have to cut the other side of her hair to match and then let both sides grow out again evenly.
When he told this to Lam she looked sad for a moment before brightening. "You could make my hair match yours!"
He playfully grimaced before flicking her on her forehead. "I'm not going to make you look like a boy, silly."
She rubbed her forehead with a frown, "But if I look like you, maybe guys like that jerk won't mess with me anymore."
His look of exasperation became one of tender affection. He grasped her shoulder and kneeled a little to look directly into her eyes. "You are going to be very tough one day, like when mom tells the king's men where they can go drown themselves when they try to hit on her at the hospital. You remember the stupid look on their faces?"
Lami giggled at the thought and Law continued. "It's going to take time though. You're still only 5. That pig-nosed jerk is just a big coward. And don't you worry, your big brother is going to take care of him. He's not going to mess with you ever again. I promise."
She looked up at him in awe, her voice trembled only a little. "Promise?"
He pressed his forehead against hers, letting her see the solemn oath in his eyes. "Promise."
He then got up and took up the scissors in his hand, before carefully trimming the end of her already hacked-up hair. "Besides, maybe it's time I started to teach you how to act tough so people will think twice before ever messing with my little sister again."
Lami giggled once again, "Really, Law?"
He nodded, not taking his eyes off his work even though the gears were already turning at full speed in his brain.
"Yep, and if all else fails and they still want to mess with you? Just tell them your big brother's coming for them…no matter who they are."
The next day, as he expected, like clockwork, he opened his locker to find an envelope demanding that he meet Cuttingham outside in the alley behind the school, or else.
Enclosed inside the envelope were also the missing locks of his sister's hair.
He could even still see flecks of blood on the strands.
The two Trafalgar siblings had decided to make up a story for their parents about an accident that happened to Lami after school. Sadly, Cuttingham's threat about his father making things very difficult for their parents was not an idle threat. Law knew that his parents would be furious if they found out what happened and would probably do something that would cost them their jobs and careers. Law didn't want that, even if their parents would have thought it worth the sacrifice. Their parents' research was too important. He'd read through the reports about there being more and more victims of White Lead poisoning. Even from what he could see, it didn't look good.
No, this was something he would see to on his own. Cuttingham had decided to make him his enemy—he would show him what that really entailed…
Law came out to the alley at the appointed time. Cuttingham III and his two sycophant cronies were already waiting there, looking at him with some form of sick evil glee.
"So, the so-called "prince" of the school decides to show his face. I'm assuming you got my message, commoner?"
Law's eyes narrowed and if looks could kill, all three nobles would be dead ten times over by now.
His hands in his pockets, he didn't allow emotion to taint his voice. "What do you want?"
The noble boy sneered, "Well first, I want you to get on your knees and apologize for not knowing your station, for trying to act like you're above your betters."
Law raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
A large vein seemed to tic on the boy's forehead, his pig nose raising up even further into the air. "You Trafalgar always act like you're better than everyone else, even though everyone knows that you're common filth! Putting on airs and acting like you're so smart. I was supposed to be at the top of the class. It had all been arranged, but then you came along and stole the spotlight. One of the Sisters wouldn't play along so daddy will be making sure she's gone by the end of the week, and then that just leaves you. If it wasn't for the fact that your father is a stupid big-shot doctor, you wouldn't even be here!"
Law continued to look at him in disinterest, "And why don't you just get rid of me, like you do everyone else in your way?"
"If I could I would! But everyone already knows you're the "golden child" of the school and if the school were to suddenly get rid of you there would be too many questions! However…"
Cuttingham snapped his fingers. His two lackeys seemed to jump to attention, though they seemed slower than usual. They crowded in around Law and tried to grab hold of him, but he easily darted out of the way and sidestepped them both.
He spoke, his tone was unconcerned. "Let me guess? You're going to try to either frame me or force me to do something horribly unethical in order to use that as evidence to get the school to expel me, thus getting me out of the way? Is that about right?"
The other boy was furious. Stupid peasant putting on airs. He'd learn soon enough that Cuttingham Snidely the Third, always gets what he wants!
"Yes, you have the right of it, Trafalgar. And you're going to do it too."
Law continued to avoid the other two idiots and looked up at him with vague curiosity. "And why would I do that?"
Snidely smirked wickedly, "Because you care about that little brat, don't you?"
Law stopped and looked at the other with eyes that had become instantly venomous, his features glacial. He didn't say anything though, so Cuttingham took that as his cue to continue.
"Here's the deal, Trafalgar. You're going to do every little thing I say. Who knows? Perhaps I'll let the school keep you around once you've been completely disgraced and put in your place. I'll let you have the honor of serving me, completing my work, giving me the answers for tests, that sort of thing. Because if you don't, I know some people that are willing to take a lot more from your sister than simply her hair. Cute little girls like her can be worth quite a bit, you know. Get the picture?"
His implications were clear, and Law could feel his muscles begin to tremble from the building rage of what the noble filth was insinuating. But he continued to keep himself under control…if barely.
Cuttingham walked closer to him, his smug, vicious grin spread across his prig face. "So, what do you say, Trafalgar? Ready to get on your knees and beg now?"
Tension was thick in the air, and neither of the boys said anything. Cuttingham knew he had won. He had finally pushed that stupid peasant into a corner and he was going to savor what was coming next.
Unfortunately, the standoff was interrupted by the sudden sound of violent vomiting.
Cuttingham jerked his head over and saw one of his followers (his name completely escaping his mind) hunched over, a pool of vomit on the ground in front of him.
Jumping back in disgust at the display, he placed a handkerchief over his nose to avoid the smell.
Only for his other lackey, who was behind him, to launch into his own episode of projectile vomiting!
Snidely screamed at the vile substance getting on his clothes. "What the heck do you think you're doing?! How dare you!"
But both boys weren't done, their faces were crunched up in distress as they continued to throw up everything that could possibly be in their stomachs, falling over on their sides in pain. The moment one had supposedly ended, the other would start up again, violently upchucking onto the ground.
It would have even been almost comical if the vomit didn't start to turn bloody…
"What the heck is wrong with you two?!" Cuttingham yelled at the two boys, not understanding what was going on.
It was at that moment, he felt a sudden pulsing sharp twist within his own abdomen. And without warning, a rapid sense of nausea overtook him and he too was on his knees throwing up as well!
What the?
And even as he fell victim to the same violent regurgitation as the other two, the first two boys were further gone, in between dry heaving, everything in their systems already on the ground, and clutching at their throats, gasping, unable to get enough air in their lungs. Trickles of blood began to run from the side of their mouths.
Cuttingham barely had time to think between the pain beginning to wrack his body, each wave more intense than the last, the constant vomit spewing from his mouth, and the fact that he could feel like his chest was on fire. What the heck? Had those idiots contaminated him with something? Had it been something they had at lunch?
Oh, he was totally going to have this school pay through the nose if it had had the gall to give him food poisoning.
He needed a doctor. Where was that blasted Trafalgar? He was the son of a doctor. He had to go and get—
Snidely eyes went wide as he looked up at Trafalgar Law from his shacking position on the ground.
The boy hadn't moved.
In fact, he was casually watching them with a calm, wintry expression in his placid grey eyes that glowed under the shadow of the brim of his hat. But even that icy gaze wasn't as utterly frightening as the wide, rapacious grin that he wore.
It chilled him to his very core…reminding him very much of a huge, predatory wolf that was watching its mortally wounded prey struggle.
And just like that, it all clicked.
This was no accident.
It wasn't some simple bug.
It wasn't food poisoning…or at least not the classic version of it.
No…this was….
A stony voice spoke softly, the entire surrounding atmosphere felt like it got hit by an arctic current.
"Right on time…yes, very interesting results."
The noble was left gasping, as he watched the dark-haired boy coolly walking around the three of them—his victims—with detached interest.
He continued to speak, even as he watched the first two boys, who were already too far gone, convulsing, the stench of their bowels and bladders releasing wafting through the air.
" Cassiopeia's Mirror …it's a poison that's composed partially of organic mercury, and partially of cyanide. Not really all that hard to make if you know what you're doing. It's quite deadly…but how long it takes to take effect can depend on the constitution of its victim."
Trafalgar seemed to have finished with the other two and was now standing over him, watching him struggling to gasp for air covered in his own fluids, blood beginning to leak from several orifices.
He hunched over and looked the other boy directly in the eyes, and it was at that moment that Cuttingham III knew true fear…
"I'm actually surprised you didn't notice the strange taste of your food during lunch, but then again, you nobles take so many things for granted, why not a sense of taste as well?"
Law shrugged, "The symptoms are rather simple all things considered. Violent nausea and vomiting, internal hemorrhaging, the breath will still, blood congeal, systems collapse one after another like dominos. But of course, it couldn't be too quick. I had to adjust the dose just right in order to make sure that you suffer."
The boy then kicked over the shaking noble onto his back before planting his foot in the center of his chest, the boy's body already shuddering at the sheer agony of it all. The predatory smile was replaced with a joyless smirk.
"You humiliated my sister, so I'm going to humiliate you … You made my sister suffer, so now you will suffer… You scared my sister, so now you will also know fear… You scarred my sister, and now you will never forget this day. Do you get the picture?"
Hearing his own words returning to mock him and feeling Law's foot pressing down painfully against his sternum, only one thing kept running through his mind.
I'm going to die here.
I'm going to die here.
No! I'm too young to die! Mommy! Daddy! Help me!
Trafalgar then looked away as if now unconcerned about the whole situation. "Now, here's the thing about Cassiopeia's Mirror. While very deadly, it is also not hard to reverse ….as long as one has the antidote."
The nine-year-old took his hand out of his pocket, withdrawing a small vial of clear liquid. Snidley's eyes were immediately drawn to it as he struggled to remain conscious.
Law got close once again to the other, making sure that his meaning got through loud and clear.
"Now I'm willing to give it to you and the other two IF—how did you say it again?—' you do every little thing I say'. Is that clear?"
The noble tried to nod, but could barely keep control of his own body anymore.
Law came closer, his voice low and menacing. "I said: Is. That. Clear?"
This time Snidely was able to get his head to nod vigorously, tears and blood streaming down his face from his eyes.
"Good. So we're indeed clear. You, nor any of yours, are to ever go near me, my sister, or our family again. If you threaten my family, friends, anyone at the school, and especially my sister, again—you will answer to me. And next time I won't be so nice. Got that?"
Again an enthusiastic nod.
"It's nice to see that we can come to an understanding, noble. Now you sit tight while I go take care of the other two morons first."
Law left him then to continue suffering alone, his body twitching and convulsing on the ground. The warmth of urine soaked his pants as his bladder involuntarily released.
His fight against his inflamed and swollen lungs, the torturous pangs raging around his body, the utter indignity of it all, and the widespread fear of being at another's mercy, was just too much.
Cuttingham III Snidely, fell into unconsciousness not knowing if he was going to wake up in the world of the living again.
"Come on, Big brother! When are we going to get there?"
"Lami, don't go running off. I told you, you have to hold my hand on this side of town."
Law watched his younger sibling sigh before coming back to him and grasping his hand.
It had been about a month since the "Cuttingham incident" and his sister had shown a great amount of resilience and was beginning to get back to normal.
As for the blaggard himself, he had mysteriously left school for good and was rumored to have opted instead for personal tutors.
Law wasn't surprised. After he had injected the antidote into each of the boys and made sure they hadn't died and were on their way to somewhat of a recovery, he had simply left them there. Uncaring of anyone finding them covered in their own bile, blood, vomit, and piss.
He was pretty sure that the noble wouldn't say anything. Too scared and ashamed of a "commoner trash" getting the best of him.
Law didn't really care all that much, as long as it meant that he left Lami alone.
The very idea of what he had suggested being done to his sister almost made him want to have left the filth to die. But that was neither here nor there.
Right now, he had better things to think about.
Lami had gotten all of her stitches removed a while ago and the wound had finally finished healing fully. Unfortunately, as expected, it had left a sizeable scar behind her right ear.
Not liking his sister feeling so self-conscious or wanting her to be reminded of that horrible day constantly, Law had gotten some ideas of what to do, and finally came together with the perfect solution. When he had run it by Lami, she had first been horrified, before being a little intrigued when he explained, and then being totally on board when he said he was going to come too.
Doing his research, he had finally found the right place in the shadier side of Flevance. Many thought the "White City" didn't have a dark side, but they would be wrong. People just tended to not advertise it much. It wasn't a good look for the kingdom after all.
It wasn't unusual for kids to be seen skulking around this part of town, as long as they blended in. Law had seen to that, making sure the two of them looked the part and made sure to give off the feeling as if they belonged to the area. He had done his own independent trips to this side of town on his own, but taking Lami here was different and he became hyper-vigilant in keeping up with her. Thankfully, they were basically ignored the whole time.
Eventually, they came to their destination in a seedy alcove in an alleyway.
Taking a breath and straightening his back, he looked down at his little sister. "Remember, let me do the talking. Follow my lead, If anything goes wrong, always stick by my side and do what I tell you. Right?"
She nodded seriously, "Right!"
Law took a breath before entering the door. The guy at the front desk listened to what he wanted, and looked at the two of them for a second longer than usual, before simply shrugging, taking their money, and ushering them to the back.
As the man got out his ink and tools and needles, Law was happy to see the man kept them sterile and despite the look of the place, took good care of his equipment.
The man asked casually, "Do you have a design?"
Law gave him a piece of paper that held the tattoo design that he and his sister had thought through for the last week.
.
.
.
"A tattoo?"
"Yeah, we can use it to hide your scar. And turn into something all your own."
"But what will mom say?"
"We won't tell her. She won't really be checking all that much behind your ear anyway. It'll just be a secret between us."
.
.
.
The man took it and after looking at it for a moment, raising an eyebrow in confusion, "What is this? Some strange ancient tongue?"
Law rolled his eyes, "In a way…"
.
.
.
"Let's have it be our names!"
"Hmm, that feels too simple... kinda blase."
"Uhhh….what if…what if we used our true secret names instead?"
"Hmm, that would be different at least. Yet…it's still–"
"Oh, I know! Let's write them in Latin!"
"Latin?"
Yeah, the language of science and medicine!"
"I think you might be on to something, Lami."
.
.
.
Law sat in the chair first with Lami sitting in another chair across from him watching quietly. He wasn't going to let his sister be the proverbial guinea pig here. Lami had been shocked at first that he was going to get the same tattoo as her. He had shrugged and said it was only ink. He wouldn't let his little sister get one alone. It was all or nothing.
Lami was overjoyed to the point of tears, claiming that they finally had something that would be able to link them together forever.
Law could only shake his head with a smile, saying that they had something like that already. And it was stronger than any tattoo.
Feeling the man work behind his right ear, it was uncomfortable at first, but Law found that it wasn't all that bad. The tattoo wouldn't be that big and would be practically unnoticeable unless one knew where to look, but he knew it would make Lami happy and would cover up a bad memory with a happy one. And that alone made it worth it.
Once he was done and he saw the results in a mirror, he smiled rather liking what he saw. He might like to get one or two more when he was older, Not all the noticeable of course, but maybe a few other small designs. As the man cleaned up and changed out his tools. Law went to his sister who had continued to watch him in silence.
"You sure about this, Lam? If you don't want to do this, we can leave now. Okay?"
The tiny brunette, her hair even now trying to escape the pixie cut he'd given her all those weeks ago, shook her head. "Nope, Let's do this."
Lami hopped into the chair and he sat by her side holding onto her hand. As the man first began working, he could hear a muffled whimper as she tried her best to keep from tearing up.
Without hesitation, Law took off his fur hat and placed it in her hands to hold. As she grasped onto it, he began to hum the lullaby melody he had made up all those years ago when he had tried to put her to sleep after their first real disastrous day together. Over the years, he had perfected it and it had become her favorite "song" even though it still as of yet had no lyrics.
Maybe one day he'd get to that, but for now? There was no need to worry about all that. They had time…
Present Day, on the Polar Tang
Drops of moisture fell onto Law's hand, and he jerked out of his memories in surprise.
Looking down at the droplets, he glanced back up at the mirror and was shocked to see silent streams of tears running down his face.
What the?
Had he really been that absorbed in the voices of the past?
He had thought he had cried all the tears there was left to cry years ago, that his well of stuff had run dry after Cora died. And yet, it seems that while he tried his best to bury them, the pain from losing his family…from losing Lami...still hurt on some fundamental level.
Wiping his face on a towel, Law thought about the striking and also rather annoying fact, that StrawHat had reminded him a lot of his baby sister. That the connection he had seemed to share with FireFist, wasn't all that dissimilar to the one he and Lami had shared.
It hadn't been long after the two had gotten their shared tattoos that Lami had gotten sick. And then not long after that, he too also succumbed to the effects of White Lead as well.
And of course, that was the beginning of the end. For Flevance. For his family. For Lami. And for himself.
He would never return to the boy he had been. He had gone through too much and had been changed by too much.
And yet…in some ways, especially thanks to Cora, some parts of the old him had remained. Not everything about him had been destroyed those last horrible days.
And who was he kidding? Parts of who he was today, had been lying under the surface barely dormant in that 9 ½-year-old boy.
However, thoughts of Lami laid heavy on his heart, and taking a breath, really looking at it for the first time in years, Law bent his right ear back and stared at the reflection of what was written in the mirror.
It had faded slightly with time. His first ever tattoo that he had gotten long before he had become a pirate or the "Surgeon of Death". It was small and simple, especially in comparison to the many others he had gotten over the years.
Latin, the language of science and medicine, as Lami put it, in intricate, scrawled text was written:
Aqua et Lilium
He hadn't looked at the words in years, but he knew them like the back of his own hand. His and Lami's secret names that really only their family and a few others knew about. Lami had been scared at first, but once it was done, she was so proud and excited about the tat. He would catch her looking at it all the time.
A sad smile appeared on his face at the memory. If she had gotten a chance to grow up, he knew his sister would have become a better doctor, a better surgeon, a better person than he could ever hope to be.
Hey Lam…up there in heaven where you are. I want you to know, that I….with some luck… without shame, without blame…or the curse of my name…might have been as good as you…
A quiet knock interrupted his thoughts and brought him back down solidly in the present. Scowling, Trafalgar Law pulled a pair of pants on before yanking open his cabin door in annoyance.
Bepo stood there more apologetic than usual. "I'm sorry Captain, I know you're tired. I wouldn't have gotten you if it wasn't an emergency."
He lifted an eyebrow, "Is the ship going to implode?"
Bepo looked at him in confusion, "Uh…no?"
"Is StrawHat dying?"
"Um, no..."
"Are the marines chasing us?"
"No…"
"Then as far as I can see, there is no 'emergency' that I'm needed for."
Bepo looked even more apologetic than usual. "Captainnnn…"
He rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. His impromptu stroll down memory lane had done nothing for his bone-deep fatigue. "What is it, Bepo?"
"The Kuja pirates are right outside, Captain. They hailed us and they want to talk to you."
His face crossed in confusion. "The Amazonian Man-haters? What do they want?"
"I don't know, Captain. Boa Hancock is with them and she insists."
Great. Just Great.
His irritation levels were gaining a new high. Going back into his room, he pulled on a shirt, and grabbed his hat and Kikoku, before heading out again.
Yep…if circumstances were different Lam, I might have been as good as you.
Because right now, I think I might just murder an empress…
A/N 2:Hehehe...I'm getting closer and closer to having to change the character tags of this story. Some of you have figured out what's going on by now, but just in case you haven't I'm not going to fully reveal the surprise yet.
A few other things. I really like music and song and tend to use them to help me to frame the story as well as to give characters more depth.
Since no one was able to figure out the song references from last chapter, I will reveal them here.
1) There's a line from Marco reflecting on what it's like to lose Ace and he talks about it being like "to catch a butterfly and simply tear off its wings". This is from the song "Before the Summer Ends" from the Broadway musical version of Dracula.
2) Rouge is singing a lullaby to Ace that she had sung to him while he was still in the womb. This song is "Della's Moon Lullaby" from the Ducktales TV series.
3) In this chapter, there is also a few song references. Yes, Law's lullaby for his sister will eventually have lyrics and there's a clue in the chapter as to what the song is, but I'm not going to reveal that yet.
4) The chapter's title and Law's thoughts towards Lami, in the end, are references to a song called "As Good as You" from the Broadway musical Jane Eyre. While the subject matter is very different. I found the overarching theme of the song in regard to having missed dreams and becoming disenfranchised with life, and yet some small bits of hope remaining, fit very well here.
Alright, that's it from me! See you next time!
Questions, Comments, and Reviews are all welcome!