Here I am again, I haven't had a lot of comments so I don't know if you like the story, but since it's also holidays I will wait. About posting I'm going from my home for a few months so I don't know if I will be able to post. I hope I am, but well, who knows. In any case thanks for reading, and lots of love and hugs for the one leaving reviews, hope you like this one. As always special thanks to my beta, hope I see you soon.
"Waves will rise on silent water"
- Gaelic Proverb
When Law woke, the world around him didn't make any sense at all, the room he was in coming out from his wilder dreams or his worst nightmares. A rough, coarse glass that imitated the stones of a cave covered the floor, walls and ceiling in a show of light and shadows that seemed to dance with the water and the fire from the fireplace. The view was breathtaking, the room seeming spacious and wild. It was made of glass for god's sake, a room made with the strange material would could cost the money of a whole kingdom! Yet what left Law speechless wasn't the room, but the huge and strange creatures that could be seen on the other side.
Jellyfish gleaming in the darkness of the water with a pale green hue, fishes with huge teeth and distinctive blue designs on their backs, thousands of gigantic snakes, stingrays, corals, and so, so much more. All of them drawn from the old stories, myths, monsters, now swimming around him behind the glass, making him feel as if Law could touch them just by raising a hand.
After turning around the room several times following the different creatures, Law decided to get out of bed feeling still a bit confused about his whereabouts. Sitting between the sheets, he realized then that his clothes were still muddy and that they seemed to have soaked the huge fluffy bed he was in. To Law's relief his knives and his sword were still with him. Good, because Law had the habit of getting slightly nervous when he found himself weaponless.
But what had happened? Where was he? Law remembered the idiotic god -who might not be such an idiot since he had saved his life- rescuing him from a certain death, but that did not explain why he was in this stunning place. This didn't look like the kingdom or the palace of the god of the sky. Or a prison as Law had expected.
Getting out of the bed and feeling his boots suddenly sink into the soft, warm fur of a polar bear, Law stood motionless for a moment, observing the darkness that stretched beneath his feet like a black abyss under the floor of glass.
Tempting, thrilling, cold. Law found himself staring at it, with clenched fists, his breathe accelerating, slowly sinking into the blackness.
A click sounded in front of him.
Lifting his eyes, Law focused on the bright, warm fire burning in the stone fireplace of the room. He focused on the bright creatures on the other side of the glass in the calm light. He simply forced himself to ignore the call of the abyss. Unlike other children who feared it Law had always been drawn to it, to the darkness, the cold, the hidden. It was something he knew was wrong, something that had always made him uneasy and had caused problems.
Law knew he was different, broken, wrong. He had tried to fight it when he was younger, be normal, like others, but soon he had learned that that was not possible.
So Law tried to ignore the pit beneath his feet and simply focused on his surroundings. The room was not very big, but with the transparent glass, the feeling of the size got amplified. It harbored a bed, a fireplace, a closet that turned out to be full of clothes when Law opened it, and what looked like a huge black glass tub surrounded by soaps.
Without the glass walls and the stunning view, it wasn't a place out of legends, it wouldn't take your breath away, but still, it was better than anything Law ever had.
Stripping and hanging his clothes by the fireplace to dry, Law studied the bathtub. His body was still weak and cold and the thought of a hot bath was just too tempting to ignore. A bath to relax his muscles, to give him warmth, and to allow the weird and smelly mud accumulated on his skin after weeks of sleeping under the rain, to finally go away.
Approaching the furniture of precious, black and polished stone, Law ran his fingers along the soft surface fascinated by the smooth texture. The furniture suddenly lit up in a blue soft color and the water began to flow from the bottom with a loud sound. Law retreated scared. What had he done? Was something broken? Was he flooding the room?
However, when the water seemed to reach a point ready to overflow, and Law felt ready to panic, the sound stopped, the light vanished and the water calmed reflecting the precious images and symbols carved into the walls of the room.
Law carefully approached the steaming surface again and slowly put a hand inside. Warm, almost boiling, just as Law adored and desperately needed.
Singing in relief, Law contemplated then if he should really get inside the strange water and the magical tub, but finally he frowned, sending all caution to hell. Law was in another world, in another dimension, he had to be prepared for things like this, for monsters, for things he just couldn't understand. He should not show weakness over a simple bath. So, without hesitation Law took one of the herbal soap tablets of the pile and got into the tub, ready to confront whatever happened.
For a while Law rubbed himself in the water, removing the mud, the dirt and the sweat of the travel looking uneasy at any sound the device made, but after some time of peace and normality he was leaning against the black stone, enjoying the heat and ready to fall asleep.
He seemed to be more tired than he'd thought.
It was then, when Law was about to fall back into unconsciousness in the relaxing tub, that the door burst open causing him to jump and water splashing everywhere.
Sitting up quickly, Law took the dagger that he had left beside the bathtub, -always ready for the battle- and leaned forward in a position of attack. As a warrior, always focused, always trusting his instinct. But that instinct was also a weakness, and without helping it, he also turned a bit into the water, losing the strategic position, not letting the other see what was on his back, the embarrassment that even his tattoos had failed to cover.
But in front of him was just the idiotic god. Now without the cape and without the sword, only with heavy black pants, the heavy boots, and his chest covered by a black shirt that seemed to make his muscles stand out even more. Two worn out leather bracelets covered his exposed forearms, and a dark leather strap seemed to hold his hair and kept it from getting into his eyes.
He looked good. Dangerous.
Now, without the layers of fur hiding his body, he also looked even bigger, taller, stronger. Law felt the embarrassment and humiliation grow in him as he remembered how the other had carried him in his arms the last time, like a weak woman, and without being able to avoid it, he frowned angrily trying to hide the blush in his cheeks.
"So you're finally awake," the stranger announced before closing the door behind him, clearly smirking at Law's extreme reaction.
Law ignored it. Instead he stared at the tray of food the other was carrying, the scent that suddenly flooded the room causing his stomach to protest. Freshly baked bread, smoked salmon, and vegetables stewed with wine. His mind seemed to stop just by smelling the delicious food, and Law remembered sadly that he had been weeks without eating a decent meal other than dried meat, cheese, and hardened bread.
"Where am I?" Law asked however, not letting the other see his weakness, not showing how hungry he was. Weakness was a death sentence, and after what had happened, Law needed to regain control of the situation, to show the god he won't be able to take advantage of anything.
"In a friend's house," replied the other, leaving the tray of food on the bed and approaching Law who was still in the bathtub with his dagger in his hand not moving at all.
The hunger was a weakness right now, but Law had also never been comfortable with someone else seeing him naked. For many reasons, and the way the redhead stood in front of him and folded his arms with a frown make him uneasy. Law wanted to dig the knife in his huge chest hating being so helpless.
"You seem ... different" the god anounced.
Law wanted to roll his eyes and stab him even more. The last time he had been on the verge of collapse. Now he had rested, was clean, still needed to regain the musculature and weight he had lost, but still he felt a thousand times better.
The other, however, seemed to study him more closely than that. As if Law had suddenly aroused his interest. The brunet forced himself to hold still and withstand the scrutiny while the other's eyes seemed to stare at his tattoos, pecs and biceps before disappearing under the water that reached his waist. Law hated being naked in front of others.
Finally the god realized what he was doing and looked away frowning.
"I brought you food," said the other in a tone that seemed threatening and slightly uncomfortable as he ran a hand through his hair. "You can also wear the clothes in the wardrobe and sleep here till the door opens. Do you mortals need anything else?"
Law lowered the dagger from the defense position, but still held it in his hands ready for an attack. The other did not seem to want to hurt him, but Law had long learned not to trust anyone. So instead he faked another of his forced smiles and answered the god's question with as much annoyance as he could show.
"You could stop the rain"
The other went from relaxed to tense in seconds. The look that the other gave him then could cause storms and hurricanes even under the water.
"I told you I do not want to," he said in a voice that froze Law's blood that froze the whole world. "Ask me again, and I swear it will be the last thing you do mortal"
"Trafalgar Law," Law answered with another half-smile, as if a god had not just threatened him, as if this was one of his daily conversations.
"What?" Asked the confused redhead.
"My name, Trafalgar Law, don't call me mortal," Law continued, still smiling, but this time with the same menacing tone as the other, making him look as a crazy murderous person. Subtlety was the key sometimes.
The other one opened his eyes slightly, as if surprised by Law's stupidity and lack of self preservation, or maybe his creepy smile, but finally the god shrugged ignoring him.
"I don't care-"
"You said no one calls you Kalirte," Law interrupted without giving him a chance to continue. "What do they call you then?"
The other frowned again in annoyance. Law was secretly having fun.
"Kidd, Eustass Kidd"
"Eustass Kidd," Law repeated, staring at him, "the god who controls the weather, but can not even stop the rain," Law said matter of factly, still deep in the boiling water.
The atmosphere of the room changed abruptly again. The light from the chimney seemed to shine less, the creatures on the other side of the glass seemed to fade into nowhere, fleeing the place, while the god himself seemed to grow a few inches.
The stranger's eyes even seemed to glow with a supernatural hue.
"Do you have a death wish?" Asked the other, not moving, without changing his position, but suddenly looking much more intimidating "I told you that I don't want to, not that I can't"
Law knew he had to keep quiet, that he should not provoke him any more. If you kicked a rabid dog it could bite you. But instinct, the one who was attracted to the darkness, to the abyss, told him it was now or never. He had to insist, he had to prove the god that he was not afraid of him, that he would continue to ask for it even if it costs him his life. Maybe the other was a god, a rabid dog, but Law also had a mission to fulfill, he had been sacrificed for this.
Leaning on the edge of the bath with his arms crossed, Law stared at him from the water, dropping his false smile and his whole façade, looking at him in the eye as serious and angry as the other.
"Prove it" he challenged.
The other tensed even more. His eyes became murderous, and Law suddenly realised with surprise that he had been right. The problem wasn't that the other didn't want to stop the rain, it was that he didn't have the power to do it. But why? Wasn't he the weather god? Didn't he handle weather at his whim?
However, before he could say anything, ask the questions, demand a fucking answer, the other turned and began to walk to the door with clenched fists and the atmosphere of the room about to unleash a storm from the electricity in the air. Law had learned a secret. A secret the god didn't want him to know.
He had power over the god. As the other had over him. They were on the same level now, equals. Law felt the shift of power and feel a strange satisfaction bloom in his chest.
"When the damn door opens, I'm going to kick you out of this world," Law heard him mutter under his breath. Angry. Defeated.
Law watched him walk to the door, slightly amused with the god's anger, satisfied, but still quite worried. If the other could not stop the rain, what could he do? Law still didn't know much about this world to try to find a solution. Hell, he had been scared of a bath! His situation was still too precarious. Watching the other's back start disappearing through the door Law decided to make one last question. The one that had been haunting his mind since he'd woken up.
"Why did you save my life?" He asked, feeling uneasy at the other's motives, he might have control over one of the god's secrets, he might have gained a bit of control, but he still have a lot to learn.
He still owed the other his life.
The god had been clear the first time. Law's life did not matter in the least, Law meant nothing, was nobody, and was totally defenseless against the god. Then why?
Kidd peered over his shoulder from the door with a new arrogant smile, and his eyes filled with hatred. Clearly, the problem with his power was a delicate subject, and the god was looking at him now with a slight air of superiority.
"Because I can and you don't " he replied slamming the door behind him.
Law wanted to roll his eyes. "Because I'm stronger than you" "Because my dick is bigger than yours" He wanted to scream and see how he could piss off the god even more. The god could be so childish at times that Law could not wait to make fun of him. But instead Law just stepped out of the tub and went for the food. The bathtub began to empty instantly with that gurgling sound, but Law ignored it, his mind busier with other matters.
Sitting by the fire to dry on a low, fluffy couch, Law began to devour his first hot meal in months with a sense of satisfaction and acomplisment.
...oOo...
Kidd punched Zoro again, but as usual the green haired man dodged it easily, grabbed him by the wrist and without much effort threw him over his head against the cold ground. Kidd fell onto the furs and rugs that covered the training room as the only furniture and groaned as his head hit the floor hard .
Normally training and practicing with Zoro relaxed him, both had known each other for years and knew the other's way of moving and fighting. Zoro was a better swordsman than Kidd, but the redhead always won in hand-to-hand combat. Both had fought together thousands of times, both knew every weak point of the other.
Today, however, Kidd seemed to be distracted, and Zoro, realizing it, crossed his arms in front of him with a face of annoyance. If, for Kidd, this sessions helped him relax, for the green haired man they had become a new need. Zoro trained like his life depended in it. The green haired man needed to practice each and every day to keep his mind and rage in check. To calm down and move on.
Zoro took trainings very seriously.
So Kidd ignored the disappointed look of his friend, and lay down on the soft skins on the floor and looked at the bright roof above his head, so close to the surface of the sea that it seemed to reflect the very light of the sun.
This was not going to work, today Kidd felt like he could do nothing, his mind kept rambling and going back to the boy he had gone to see a moment ago to bring him food.
Now that his rage after the discussion had calmed down Kidd was beginning to notice certain problems. The boy had tensed and turned to face him when Kidd had come in, even when Kidd had moved around the room the boy had always followed his movement as if preparing for an attack, or so he had thought, now Kidd realized the impractical defense positions of the other and how he seemed to be hiding something on his back. Besides, the boy continued to put on that unnerving fake smile thinking that Kidd would not notice it, keep hiding things, pressing him. The provocations, the insults, he even seemed to believe himself capable of manipulating him even though Kidd was a god.
He had also discovered his most cruel secret.
Kidd already detested the mortal and they had hardly interacted. Even so, despite his frustration, his mind kept coming back to him. His mind returned to the dark lines of the tattoos highlighting his dark skin so different from Kidd's pale one. The scars trailing over a chest, much stronger than Kidd had expected, but still full of elegant and lean lines.
The boy was like a rough diamond, he hid much more than at first glimpse and Kidd couldn't help but be amazed and hate each new thing he discovered from the boy. But, as if his exotic looks and attitude were not enough to catch anybody's attention, his intelligence wasn't left behind. The boy seemed to hide behind a mask of stupidity and weakness, hiding his quick eyes, and sharp thoughts, but Kidd could see through it, the façade even felt when the boy was pissed.
And if he could see the diamond under the mud, so could others. Kidd supposed that the boy was quite popular in his world with such attributes, he might have many lovers, perhaps even with wife and children. That thought made him frown and get even more annoyed for a reason he didn't understand. So, shaking his head again, he focused on the important things: the total lack of respect on the boy's part.
"When have mortals lost their respect for us?" Kidd asked, looking at a group of fish glistening on the ceiling of the room, looking curiously at the two gods.
Zoro sighed with resignation and finally seemed to surrender with the training. Kidd was not at his best today and they both seemed to understand it. So instead, Zoro lay down beside Kidd between the skins, and rested his head on the redhead's leg as he sometimes did. Zoro was still shirtless, sweaty after training, with hard focused eyes and messed hair, but Kidd did not notice how imposing his friend's was, only the huge scar that ran across his chest.
The scar of that time, the one that reminded him of the consequences of disobeying the rules. The one that always made his chest tight from just seeing it.
"I do not want to talk about it," Zoro announced, his eyes already closed, ready to fall asleep on Kidd as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Kidd understood that the other did not want to talk about it. This was taboo for his friend and they both knew the answer to the question. So he did not say anything when the green haired man began to snore. Lately it was costing Zoro more and more to just sleep. Just as Kidd was finding it harder and harder to master his power.
The gods were not what they had been. Their golden age had passed centuries ago and they were now in a clear decline. There were fewer and fewer mortals in the world, less and less people worshipping them and telling their legends. The fact that a mortal had come through the door and remained alive for more than a minute, already told much of the point where his civilization was. Kidd understood for a moment the insults and contempt of the mortal, they no longer conveyed the fear and respect they had once imposed, if the boy had said the same words when Kidd had been young, he would be dead by now.
Kidd knew that the incident and the tragedy with Zoro had only been the beginning, the detonator centuries ago. But the fact that they had done nothing to stop the decline also meant that it was the fault of the rest. When the first god had perished and vanished into nothingness the surprise had been great, but even then they had done nothing. His civilization was disappearing, its knowledge, its culture, its power.
Now even the magic or the world didn't seem to respond to them.
The fact that the sky and earth in their world were frozen, already indicated what was happening to Kidd and all other gods. The fact that his magic had even reached the human world and had started to cause disasters, announced that the end was near. And if they perished, the world would also disappear.
But it was inevitable. It was the cycle of life. Everything that was born must die and now their time has come.
Kidd watched his friend Zoro sleeping placidly for the first time in weeks on top of him. Zoro might have started it all, but Kidd would never blame him for what had happened, no, Zoro had been the victim of the tragedy, the real culprit had been and always would be another.
The one whom Kidd had always hated since he was born into this world.
Kidd closed his eyes and locked those treacherous thoughts inside him. Betrayal right now was something that could not be allowed and was something that would instantly kill him if someone realized what was going through his mind. No, Kidd had to hide his true feelings as he was now even weaker than he had been before, now he had rescued a mortal from death and broken one of the sacred rules of his people.
If someone noticed and started a conflict, neither Zoro nor he would survive. The mortal wouldn't either.
...oOo...
Zoro watched as his friend cooked the huge animal that he had managed to hunt even though they both lived in the middle of nowhere. Kidd used to love cooking, Zoro would never understand why, but he suspected that feeling the heat and fire again in his hands helped him overcome the loss of his powers. Zoro had never said anything about it, and, after the thousands of years that they had lived together, Zoro could not say that the other was not a great cook.
However, today, his friend, instead of smiling and looking slightly happier while cooking, was frowning as he argued with the mortal boy who, again, wanted to know why Kidd couldn't save his village. Zoro wanted to smile only at seeing the determination and passion that the mortal seemed to be putting into this, but unfortunately smiling was something that he had forgotten to do centuries ago.
Kidd snarled again beside the huge fire clearly annoyed by the subject but unable to change the course of the conversation. The boy rolled his eyes in clear exasperation and Zoro, from one of the shadows of the immense blue crystal cave that served as a kitchen only watched them with raised curiosity.
Kidd was his friend, the only one in that unforgivable world whom Zoro regarded as such. Without lies, without ulterior motives, without looking for something else in exchange of their friendship. No, Kidd had helped and protected him when Zoro had lost everything and had asked for nothing in return, but to let share his home so that Kidd could watch over him and make sure that Zoro would recover. Since then, and although Kidd had been of a lower social rank than Zoro, the green haired man had always considered him as part of his family and had made sure that nothing happened to him.
That is why, now, Zoro studied the mortal from the darkness of his hiding place seriously. The boy who was making his friend begin to change without even realizing it. Zoro understood, he too had been fascinated with mortals long ago and this one in particular seemed to hold too many secrets and mysteries.
The boy looked better, his skin no longer as pale and cold as the first time he'd seen him, his appearance now cleaner and somewhat recovered. The clothes he wore now -the fine woolen sweater and the combat pants he had probably found in his room- were all well-fitting and emphasized his lean but strong appearance. Clearly he was attractive and also quite intelligent if he was able to make Kidd so angry so quikly.
The green haired man knew that the boy had been exploring his castle, trying to escape, or perhaps just getting acquainted with the place. Zoro controlled that world under the water, it was his territory and his magic the one who supported it, and therefore he knew every step and movement of the creatures that lived there. The boy was not only smart but curious too. It was a dangerous combination, but he was still a mortal. It would be easy to kill him in case a problem arised and they needed to get rid of him. Zoro knew from experience how fragile a human life was, and the boy in front of him did not inspire him any trust yet, so better be prepared.
The boy asked again about Kidd's power. His dear friend stopped cutting the meat of the bison and threw the knife at the boy, missing only by a few millimeters and causing the weapon to end up stuck in the glass.
The boy however didn't seem to be disturbed by the attack as many other mortals would be and, after a moment, he resumed asking. Kidd cursed. Zoro wondered again who the boy was to be so fearless and insistent.
However, that was a question for another time, the old god needed to go out and breathe some fresh air. Meeting new people was exhausting. Mortals were something that Zoro always tried to avoid.
So Zoro glared at Kidd one last time before leaving the room. Zoro hated that the redhead sometimes damaged parts of the house during his outbursts of anger. It was an argument they had had several times and had cost them more than a scar. He would have him pay later for the knife in the wall.
Walking through the long, dark corridors of his house under the ocean, Zoro finally managed to reach the surface and entrance of the place, and go out onto the icy surface.
Just to end up frozen when he saw what happened there.
It had stopped snowing.
It was a change that many would not even notice, something that was simply insignificant in a world of gods. But not for Zoro. Zoro had watched his friend's magic decline with alarm. He had seen the sun cover with clouds, the rain, the storms, and finally the placid and cold snow that for centuries and centuries had covered his world in white.
Until now.
Now for the first time in years, it had stopped snowing. Instead, immense and threatening storm clouds flooded the sky, pouring an icy rain and dangerous lightning over the huge cliffs of ice. With the rain, the snow almost looked able to melt and expose the earth below and the shores of his world.
For a moment Zoro only watched it fall. Strong and furious from the sky. But why had this change occurred? Why right now? Why did the weather seem to be getting better? The only new thing in Kidd's life was ...
Zoro felt the surprise and panic flooding him, and this time he could not help but contain the alarm that appeared on his face. The fate was too ironic. Too cruel. It could not happen again, not him, not his friend.
The story seemed to be repeating itself as Zoro had never imagined. But under the heavy rain, this time Zoro made a promise. This time he would not let the tragedy happen, this time he would fight to protect what deserved to be protected.
Turning around, Zoro returned to his kingdom ready to kill himself in another training session. Then it would be time to talk with a mortal that might be more important to them than he had first realized.
So yeah, the castle is made of cristal, at first I thought about the tipical igloos, but it didn't seem practical, I didn't want Kidd to lose an important part of his anatomy in the middle of a smut cos it had frozen to death. So yeah, glass it is. Glass was also a weird and rich material in old times so it adds to Law's image of an imposible world.
Hope you have liked it.