Hello again, I'm sorry for the delay but I have been hella tired and hella bussy, I don't even know what I'm publishing, if I do it write and well, you will probably have to thank my beta for saving the day. In any case thanks a lot for the support and the comments, I hope you like this chap. There are a few funny parts (or at least they were funny in my sleep deprived mind. For the anons:
ThatBritishArsehole: I'm normally shy with reviews but this story is just perfection and keeps getting better! I cant help but keep reading and so far, the mysteries are so intriguing that i hope you never stop writing.
Woo thanks, I still feel there's things lacking, I have to think things a bit more. In any case thanks for making me blush and smile like a retarded girl. I will try to keep improving and giving you more stuff. Hope you like the chap.
Your fan: I love your story so much! Thank you for sharing and writing. You are amazing!
You are welcome darling, thanks to you for commenting and giving me your support.
Guest: Nice
Thanks
"He's the slave of all slaves who serves none but himself"
-Smoker, second ancient, about Trafalgar Law
Kidd looked again at the arrogant mortal and Zoro, both bowed over an old wooden bow where ancient and defied combat weapons were exhibited. Zoro -as a warrior who has fought in several wars and has known the importance of a good sword- was explaining to the brunette the uses and advantages of each of the knives and daggers of the chest. The god spoke of the rusty swords in a monotonous, emotionless tone, as always, but still, there was also a loving undertone in his voice. His passion for the worn metals made Kidd remember the old days when Zoro's passion for weapons had turned him into one of the higher ranks of their society.
Before the incident.
Kidd ignored the dark thoughts that always returned to the same place since the mortal had arrived and returned to focus on the situation that still didn't make any sense.
The mortal and Kidd had been in one of the common rooms, the library. Plagued with floor to ceiling shelves covered in books, parchments and tablets, the library was small, but had a bit of everything including books of runes, symbols and long forgotten languages that covered every topic and that weren't so known and made the library a bit special. Both of them had been reading quietly at both ends of the room, Law seizing the opportunity to be able to read the holy scriptures none had ever seen, and Kidd watching over him not trusting the boy. At the end, both had stared at each other with hatred for a few hours as huge jellyfish seemed to surround the library with comfortable sofas and warm fireplaces as if they expected another confrontation between them like earlier in the kitchen.
Zoro had come in then, returning from his unusual walk, and without sending Kidd even a glance, he had stopped in front of the mortal, as if the boy finally had his approval. For a moment Kidd found himself confused at the sudden change in his friend's attitude. Zoro didn't want to interact with mortals. Ever. But what had bothered Kidd the most had been the face of the boy, that had illuminated with surprise and almost respect when hearing Zoro's name and recognizing who he was. Sedna, god of the sea, one of the big five.
That definitely has not happened to Kidd who, despite everything, should be the priority and hero of the annoying boy. It was him who controlled the climate and on whom the future of those stupid people depended on after all. But ignoring him as if he was not even there, the other two started talking, Zoro with that dead monosyllabic tone and the boy with his dry black humor and sarcastic smiles.
The conversation had swiftly shifted from simple presentations to the weapons that were displayed on the walls of the room, which, as everyone knew, were Zoro's favorite subject and obsession. Shortly afterwards both have gone to the exhibitors on the walls.
Kidd now felt an increasing irritation within him.
The mortal seemed simply fascinated with Zoro, and kept asking, joking and smiling with a lopsided grin, entertained by the monosyllables that Zoro was able to pronounce. Not with the fake smile that the other put on his face so many times when talking to him, the one he tried to manipulate Kidd with, but a real one that would make many women blush just seeing it.
Kidd wanted to smash something.
The boy was attractive. Kidd had to acknowledge it. The redhead would have never thought that someone so thin and so weak, would interest him, but the more he knew and learned about the boy the more he seemed to end up becoming obsessed. The raven seemed to have a proud elegance in all his gestures, as if behind his disheveled appearance and seductive looks something shouted at every step the boy walked that he belonged to nobility. His features were slender and strong, his black hair begged for Kidd to stroked it and put the wild strands into order, his gray eyes made him remember the sky and ...
Kidd hit himself mentally. What the fuck? At this pace he was going to compose poems about the boy and be the laughingstock of his world. A god did not fall in love with a mortal. They were perfection, they were admired, not the other way around.
But Kidd couldn't deny that since the day before when he had seen Law naked in the bath, he had not been able to stop thinking about it. The tattoos, and the dark tanned skin that despite its colour had never seen the sun, the water caressing him, his parted lips... The other was a walking temptation for someone who had been more than three centuries without more contact than his silent friend. Not that he didn't appreciate his encounters with Zoro, but it was not the same, Zoro was a friend, his brother in arms, there was not the same passion or need as with a lover.
However, it wasn't like Kidd, the god of climate, the one all life depended on would bed a simple mortal. One he didn't even trust.
In any case, ignoring his treacherous mind which refused to acknowledge the attraction, Kidd focused on the current situation that kept him infuriated. Even Zoro himself seemed to be dazzled by the mortal and seemed to frown in confusion at every question and every smile of the brunette. Kidd understood Zoro's fascination, mortals had always been his weak point and this one in particular seemed to have thousands of secrets. But that did not take away the irritation he still felt every time Zoro seemed to smile back at the boy.
Why did they get along so suddenly? Why not with Kidd? Why did Zoro suddenly have so much interest in the boy? Kidd had been the one who found him lying in the snow and had rescued him from a certain death. This mortal was his. The green haired man had to respect the limitations. And why did suddenly the brunette smile so much? Zoro, no matter how much he tried, was not so amusing. Why did the mortal seem to worship his friend and not him?
Kidd felt his fists tighten and the pages of the book in his hands began to wrinkle to the point of tearing. Even the old wooden chair where he sat next to one of the fireplaces seemed to tremble at his fury.
When Law returned to smile at his friend with another sarcastic joke and Zoro finally put an arm around the boy's shoulders in a gesture that Kidd knew very well, Kidd had had enough. Rising from his place, and approaching the pair with long strides, Kidd grabbed the mortal on one arm and pushed him away from the arms of his friend without the least delicacy.
"I'm going hunting and you're coming with me," he said looking at Zoro before turning to the thin mortal to hiss "it's time you make a living"
Then, without even understanding why, Kidd wrapped his arm around the boy's shoulders and pushed him to his chest in a clearly possessive way he would never recognize in himself. Then, to finish his humiliation, he glared at Zoro with a clear warning. The mortal was his. He had found him.
However, instead of meeting his friend's offended or surprised face -as Kidd himself was surprised at himself- Kidd found Zoro only smiling back, for the first time in years, in that arrogant way which made him look incredibly attractive and hot.
But also with a calculating spark in the eyes that Kidd recognized from the thousands of battles that they had fought together. Zoro was plotting something. However, before Kidd could do anything to inquire into it, the mortal shifted in his arms until he was able to nail an elbow hard into his stomach.
"Do not touch me," he said angrily, getting rid of Kidd's grip with hatred, and a look of annoyance, before turning and heading for the door of the room with one hand pressed onto his sword.
And again the absurd rage returned. Zoro had touched him the same way. Why could Kidd not? Again, giving Zoro a look of annoyance, Kidd went out, chasing after the mortal.
...oOo...
Law walked behind the huge god over the thick blanket of snow that covered the world, still feeling quite pissed. He couldn't understand this man. The redhead was the exact opposite of what Law had always imagined of a god, without respect, arrogant, without the slightest concern for those whom he had to care for. The other just looked like a spoiled brat.
Law felt more and more frustrated as the days passed by, he did not understand how he could convince someone like him to help him, to stop the rain and save thousands of lives, if the other only cared for himself.
Law had never been good with children.
Sinking his boots into the heavy piles of snow that seemed to have begun melting in spite of the thick clouds, Law wrapped himself even tighter into the white cloak that the other had given him. Law watched the colossus ahead of him, who was also covered in white, camouflaging into their surroundings. They had been walking the enormous white esplanade for hours now without a word.
Law could not hold back the sigh that escaped his lips again. It would have been much easier if it had been Zoro who controlled the weather. The other god seemed at least more receptive to Law's questions, and though he seemed unable to utter a sentence that had more than two syllables, he seemed to have accepted Law in a way that the redhead certainly had not.
Law felt that Zoro considered him an equal, not inferior like Kidd.
"What is the matter with you now?" The red-haired god clearly said, having heard his sigh, and also clearly pissed at Law's mere presence.
"Nothing," replied the man in the same annoying tone. Why did he have to go hunting with this man? Did they seriously expect him to kill anything in the realm of the gods? Wasn't that a sacrilege or something? "Where exactly are we going? Is there still a lot to go?"
But as if that were his goal in life, the other ignored him and just kept on pissing him off even more. Law wanted to push him into the white snow that covered the esplanade they were crossing. He wanted to take one of the arrows behind him and drill it through him. However, before Law could do anything, the other stopped suddenly, causing Law to collide against his huge back.
"What the hell?" He cursed heavily.
But before he could protest further, Kidd turned, covered his mouth with a huge hand and forced him to crouch in the white snow beside him.
"There he is" said the other in a whisper against his ear, his body surrounding him, his warm breath and his hoarse voice making Law feel his pulse quicken.
But the other's eyes were clearly fixed elsewhere. Ignoring his unwelcome reaction, Law followed his gaze, understanding at last that they had found the prey they had been searching for. Feeling his hunter instinct take hold of him, Law knocked the other off of him, took the huge bow from behind him that had been given to him by the god, and studied the huge white esplanade that was the world across the cliffs of ice and the stone door.
And there, in the distance, nearly invisible in the world of ice and snow where they were, Law at last saw an enormous bear with glittering white fur, ambling lazily towards them.
Law drew his bow slowly, without uttering the slightest sound. This bow might not have been like his smaller and fragile one, but Law had long since trained himself to be able to fight with any weapon.
Law glanced at the god in case he could interfere with his hunt. Law didn't know what to expect but the image he received left him speechless. The god was still at his side, kneeling imposingly in the snow with his red hair twirling in the soft breeze and his whole body ready for battle. But what troubled Law was his smile, the other was smiling, but in a cruel, dark, and twisted way. His eyes seemed to shine with the light of a thousand suns, his body seemed to grow, his aura was changing.
In one instant, the irritating god disappeared to be replaced by another. A god of death.
Uncomfortable with the image, Law turned back to watch his prey. The sky above the bear seemed to writhe then, to darken before it shone with the light that announces the arrival of lightning and thunder. Law frowned. So the god could control the weather. Still something didn't seem right.
Law still had decided to beat the other at his own game. If he hunted the damn bear before the god, it might prove to him that mortals were not as useless as the other believed. Maybe he would see him as an equal at fucking last.
Focusing his sight and pointing the arrow at the huge animal, Law calmed his breathing, cleared his mind and took a breath. But then another small white bulge seemed to move behind the first. A small white bulge that seemed to be following the big one.
Law lowered the bow instantly and grabbed the god's arm, still kneeling beside him with the strange aura.
"Wait," Law stopped him.
"Why?" the other's voice had also changed, now he didn't even look human, without the slightest emotion, as if the god had lost himself in search for blood and slaughter.
"You can not kill it," Law insisted, swallowing the uneasiness.
"Why not?" The god did not even seem to be paying attention to him, his mind only focused on his prey. Law felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as if a storm was coming.
"She has a cub," Law said.
"...So what?"
Law blinked confused, but beginning to really worry. So what?! Perhaps the other did not know the rules. Every hunter knew that you should never kill the mothers or the cubs. It was the way to keep the balance. To make sure that there would be more prey in the future and that the species could survive. Besides doing this would be bad. Law didn't know why but his instinct told him that killing these animals would be wrong.
"The baby will not survive without the mother"
"Let's kill it along with her then" the god answered, taking Law's hand from his arm and pushing him to the floor without the least delicacy.
The thunder began to rumble in the distance.
The god raised a hand to where the creatures were. Law felt his whole body tensing at the energy that suddenly flooded the air, the raw power, the horrible situation. The light broke the sky announcing the end of two innocent lives. Without thinking, Law kicked the other behind the knees causing him to fall to the ground losing balance and aim.
Lightning broke the stillness, blinding Law. The thunder made the earth rumble under their bodies.
When Law opened his eyes again, he realized that the lightning had fallen just above them, over the stupid god. Law wished for a moment that it had killed him. Turning his head, Law watched the two bears run away, fleeing from them. Safe. Law let out the air he didn't know he had been holding, and turned heatedly to the god.
Anger was a too beautiful word to describe the fury he felt.
Rising from the ground, Law faced the god. The redhead was also sitting in the snow watching the animals rushing away, anger glowing in his eyes along with unwelcome surprise and confusion, but Law didn't notice it, Law noticed the abstract scars that furrowed the other's skin, like windings of roots that electricity had left as it passed through his skin.
Not trusting himself and the fury he felt, that made him want to shout at the other for his stupidity, Law sat down onto the god, making him fall back completely on the snow. Then he took a handful of cold snow and pressed it against the first warped scar he saw on the other's face that was starting to turn red.
"What do you think you're doing?" Hissed the god then, glaring at him now with those intense yellow eyes laden with power.
"Heal you" Law said through his teeth, taking another handful of snow and pressing it against the other's neck this time trying to stop the burning.
"I'm a god, you imbecile! I do not need to be cured!" Kidd continued, trying to get rid of him "Now, because of you, we have lost…"
Law could not help it. Catching the other by the neck, he slammed him back onto the floor and shouted at his face. "Shut up!" Then he took another handful of snow and put it back on the scars without being able to murmur anything else because of the rage that flooded him.
Because of the two innocent lives the other had almost taken.
The other suddenly lay still staring at him with his eyes wide open as if he simply couldn't believe Law had shouted at him. Yet his eyes slowly turned golden, without that buzzing dangerous aura or the immense power of before. Normal.
Law ignored him and continued to attend to his wounds, focusing on manual labor and trying to contain his anger. Focusing on calming with the snow the burns caused by electricity. However, before his eyes, Law saw them disappear, the red and the interwound marks giving way to the pale and soft skin of the god.
Law brushed his fingers against the smooth skin of the other's cheek where one of the hideous scars had been. The skin beneath his fingers was smooth, without the slightest mark that could give away what happened.
"Why are you doing this?" The other asked, his voice confused but still quiet beneath him.
Law looked up to see a face of utter mistrust of the god. His eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched, as if he couldn't trust Law. As if Law's care was only doing him more harm.
That for some reason annoyed Law even more.
No longer restraining himself, Law went to shout at the other, to beat him if it was necessary until he found his brain again, but then a warm sensation seemed to caress his skin from above.
Lifting his eyes confused and slightly blinded, Law looked up at the sky, just to meet with a huge glowing sphere. High and intense in the middle of an incredibly blue sky, warming his body and causing an euphoria that Law did not understand.
The sun.
For a moment the brunette only blinked in confusion at the bright light. For a little silent moment he wanted to curl under it and cry in a mix of happiness and sadness.
So that was the sun, what the elders of the village talked about so much. This was what he was fighting for, and why he had come to this world. Law felt his breath stopping as he realized that that big, warm, bright sphere that seemed to flood him with joy was something worth fighting and risking his life for. In an instant Law realized that his journey had not been in vain, and that his life had not been lost for something insignificant.
His sacrifice had been for something beautiful. Worthy.
He was a hero, not an assassin.
Looking at the god who was still looking at him suspiciously, now even more with the face of surprise and admiration that Law was surely putting, Law had to ask.
"Is that ... the sun?" He said, pointing to the bright light in the sky. He needed confirmation. He needed to know his life has worthed it.
The other seemed startled by his question. His golden eyes fixed on Law then charged to an intensity that left the raven breathless for a moment, the god's pale fingers seemed also to move as if they wanted to touch him, grab him, hug him.
The other seemed to look at him as if Law was from another world, as if he could not believe what lay ahead, but at the same time he wanted to protect and embrace him.
Law, unable to stand that look. With too many emotions in his body, he looked again at the warm and bright light without needing further confirmation.
"It's beautiful," he whispered as he closed his eyes trying to absorb the heat of the sun, the light, the peace that it inspired.
That's why he did not see the god beneath him blush. He did not see the panic in his eyes or how he frowned suddenly. He only felt the other's hands push him away as if he was suddenly burned by Law. Then, without a word, he rose and began to stride towards the cliffs and the palace under the ice with long, angry steps.
Quitting to hunt anything to eat.
Law ignored him. Rising from the floor where the other had pushed him, Law followed him silently, unable to take his eyes off the wide, pure sky above his head.
...oOo...
Doflamingo watched the rain stop and he could only clench his fists. So he had succeeded, the prodigy boy, the village boy who had done the impossible again.
Frustrated, Doflamingo hit the parchment-covered table where he had been studying his plans for the future just minutes before the shouts of surprise and joy reached his room.
Inverness Castle was one of the largest in Scotland -after Stirling and some more of the English royalty as Balmoral- yet Inverness was the first stronghold of the north. The real one. Doflamingo, as master and lord of that castle must feel powerful, imposing, the most powerful of the nobles of the country.
However, the shouts in the streets of the city prevented him from reaching that feeling. The boy, Law, the pariah he'd been torturing since he'd been born, since the fateful day that Doflamingo had risen to the throne, had once again made him look ridiculous.
No matter what he did, no matter what Doflamingo ordered him to do, the boy was always victorious. When the elders had proposed to send someone to the kingdom of the gods to stop the rain Doflamingo had seen his victory. Sending the boy to that suicide mission had been too easy, the boy would have to go through the northern swamp, and if he still managed to survive he would have to find a door that did not exist and reach a world where no one had ever returned from.
Doflamingo had thought that would be the perfect way to get rid of the young man. But again the boy had laughed in his face. Not only had he reached the other world, but he had stopped a rain that had lasted for half a century.
The shouts of joy in the streets made Doflamingo want to vomit. The people had always worshiped Law, they had always considered him one of their own, a peasant abused by the nobility. After this, the dark man would become a hero, their hero, their leader.
Doflamingo could not allow it. Trafalgar Law was the only one who could doubt his reign, the prophecy had been clear, the gods had whispered it to Doflamingo the day it had begun.
Law must die. One way or another. It was the only way Doflamingo could remain king. He was a king. He was the chosen one, the person to whom the gods spoke, his bloodline carried the blood of Arthur the great. He had been trained to fill the position!
Turning his back to the cheers in the street, in the bright sunshine of the world, Doflamingo took one of the golden glasses on one of the tables in his study and filled it with strong whiskey from the region. He needed to calm down. His intelligence was what had saved him many times and was the only thing that could do it now. He could not let the rage consume him.
"Vergo" he shouted, calling his second-in-command and feeling his voice still hoarse from the hard alcohol, "call the assembly of elders," he commanded when the man looked at him from the door with a military salute.
It was time to take the problem in his own hands. If the world and destiny did not want Law to die Doflamingo should do it with his own hands.
Convincing the assembly of elders of his plans would take days, it would also cost money to bribe some of them to speed things up. But if Law had taken two months to stop the rain, it would also take him at least two months to return.
This was plenty of time to organize his plans. It was plenty of time to talk to her.
Turning around again and looking at the stone window that overlooked the huge river that passed through the city, Doflamingo observed his dear citizens with hatred. It was time to stop being silly. Now was the time to show the claws.