I am deeply sorry for the delay. As I explained this story was getting out of hand and turning into an orgy. It started as a One-shot, and I tried to continue it without and actual plan and it gor out of hand. I was looking for a quick way to finish this, in a good way, but well, I have to acept the fate of a story.

Again I am sorry for the delay, and for other things. Love you and thanks a lot for following the story.


When Mihawk woke, he knew his time had come.

As a vampire he had lived more than any human and more than any of his ancient race. Vampires just didn't last so long. The fact that he could still think and move despite of the thirst was a miracle on its own, all vampires always fell into the bloodlust, sooner or later, becoming monsters that needed to be killed.

Mihawk had taken millenia to fall.

'At last', a little part of his mind thought, the one that still remembered those first days, one that reminded him of his beautiful wife and the little boy with green hair, both of them covered in blood, both dead, because of his lack of control those first days. It had taken longer than he had believed possible to fall, his punishment prolonging millenia.

But now he had fallen. He remembered what he had done to Law yesterday, he remembered the power, the lust, the blood. It had tasted so sweet, so intoxicating, so full of magic and wonders. He also remembered Law, the pain and fear in the boys eyes, the horror, the warnings, that little human part of himself had felt terrified at what he was doing. Still, it had taken Mihawk a full day to recover from that trance and the bliss. It had been long since he had drunk so much blood to sate the thirst for a few seconds. In consequence, now his mind belonged to him again and not to the monster.

He knew what he had to do, what he had promised himself to do should a day like this one come.

Getting up from the floor of his castle where he had fallen last night passing out drugged from the pleasure of blood, Mihawk walked among the dark corridors of his palace. The once imposing palace, center of an old kingdom was now covered in wild green plants and eroded by time. Mihawk stumbled among the corridors, his body unresponding, his mind still dizzy in his freedom, until he arrived at his beloved library, the reason he was still alive.

Shelf upon shelf of books surrounded him, from floor to ceiling, big, small, thick and thin. The biggest library of the world. Slowly, with a strange peace on his mind, Mihawk started to pull the books from the shelves and threw them carelessly into the center of the room.

The monster inside him growled, trying to wake up and stop him. It knew what he was going to do. But Mihawk knew it was still too dazed from Law's blood to resist his human half. The mountain soon started to grow, book after book, knowledge over knowledge.

The only thing that had kept him alive and the reason he hadn't fallen into bloodlust so long ago had been his books. He had always been fighting to find a way to become himself again, human, but he had always known all along that it was impossible. There were things that couldn't be changed, deaths, illness or his nature.

When the mountain was big enough for his liking, and there were no more books to throw away, Mihawk stopped. The wooden shelves around him looked empty, void, and Mihawk could notice some branches from the ivy outside starting to penetrate so deep into the palace between the rocks, inviding and seeking new places to grow into.

Mihawk observed them for a moment before finally moving to the chimney. There he took the pedernal rocks that he had used to lit the fires, and turned toward the mountain of books that now spread on the floor, big and ominous.

There was no light in the room, there was never light in this palace, yet the plants had grown here, the branches digging into the rock as if searching for Mihawk.

MIhawk kneeled and hit the rocks together, producing little sparks of light. The books took little to catch fire after that. They were old, the pages dry and brown, the dust on their covers helping the little sparks. After a few minutes half the mountain of books was burning with an intense and yellowish colour, light booming in the center of his dark realm.

Years of research and hope destroyed before his eyes. Mihawk observed it in silence, hypnotized by the flames, by the ivy, by the darkness.

When the flames reached the ceiling and the shelved started burning along with the ivy, Mihawk took a step forward and entered into the fire.

There were a lot of ways to kill a vampire, religion, light, a stake through the heart, a sword separating his head from the body... They were as easy to kill as humans. The problem wasn't the kill itself, but to get close enough to perform it, with their speed, resistance and strength, the task always looked more difficult than it really was. That speed and strength also increased the older the vampire was. Mihawk was certain that there was no one in the world who could kill him now. No hunters, no human, no beast.

He could be immortal if he wished.

So he let the fire burn him. Pain seared his flesh. The beast screamed inside him scared. Mihawk only smiled. He remembered Law's trusting eyes. His wife's beautiful smile. Little Zoro's laugh.

And finally, he let go.

...oOo...

The night looked too silent for Kidd's liking, the moon had vanished in one of those moonless nights and the world seemed to fall into chaos without it, darkness looming in every corner, animals hiding in their nests. Kidd said nothing. He did nothing, he just continued to stare at the man who had become so important for him in such a short time.

Law hadn't woken up. A whole day had passed since the vampire had left, but Kidd suspected Mihawk had drunk more from Law than Kidd had anticipated. He was going to kill the bastard, definitely, but first, he needed Law to recover and get back his strength.

Last night Kidd had cleaned the mess in the room, the torn and dirty clothes, and the general mess in Law's house. He had checked Law's condition, his pulse, his breath, and had wrapped him in as many blankets as he could find. He had been so cold, his body warmth vanishing without the blood pumping in him, he had looked pale, sick, almost...

Kidd had fed him what he could find, soup, milk with honey, all nutritious food he could find. He had healed the wound on his neck following instructions in the books Law had around, and then had proceeded to spend the whole day looking over him.

Still Law hadn't moved. The only things that had Kidd shown he was alive had been his breath and the pulse in his throat. Kidd was worried. Not just for Law, but for other things too.

Mihawk hadn't reappeared and the shadow had stopped calling him in his head. Kidd couldn't feel it anymore, he knew it was there, lurking, waiting, but Kidd just couldn't know where, and today the night was so silent, so dead.

Kidd pushed away a strand of hair from Law's forehead. The man looked pale, a frown on his face as if he was suffering a lot of pain, his lips were parted letting out a ragged breath that Kidd wasn't liking one bit. Still he couldn't do anything. He was a warrior, not a healer, he was a leader, he knew how to command, organize armies and lead a country, not save a man.

Law was dying next to him.

Kidd got up frustrated and walked around into the main room. Books over books piled around in every corner, holding the knowledge he needed to help the person he loved the most, but Kidd didn't know which book he needed to pick, he couldn't even read the words, he had healed Law's wound because the book had contained pictures he had known to follow. There were just so many book in this house, Law's mixed with the ones from Mihawk, from generation after generation of Law's family, pile after pile. Law would die before Kidd could get to the answer, before he could learn to read.

Kidd picked another cup and filled it with a soup he had prepared for Law to help him recover. Overcooked rice, broth, a few bland vegetables...This was the only thing he knew how to do. He was going to return to the bedroom when a weird sensation stopped him.

A little bit of light was filtering through the closed door, as if something really bright was beyond the door.

Kidd frowned. It was deep in the night. It was a night with no moon. Where was the light coming from? Another problem? Putting the bowl down and picking up a knife, Kidd stepped closer to the door and rose a hand.

And felt it.

The shadow was outside. Waiting. Angry. Hungry. It had come for him and it was barely being restrained by the spells Law had placed around the house. The light was making it nervous, as if something was approaching and it was running out of time.

Kidd trembled. The house shook. Herbs and pots fell to the ground, books scrambled to the floor and Kidd stepped back on uneven ground. The shadow had realized that Kidd had seen it. It had realized Kidd was barely a step away behind the door and had turned mad, pressing against the wood, trying to reach him. As Kidd realized this, another shake ran through the house. Like a raging dog, the shadow was pounding on the cage that held its prey. So so hungry, so in need of him to achieve its goal of destruction.

Kidd didn't know why it had come tonight. Maybe it was because of the silence. The moonless sky. Maybe it was because of the light that was getting so close.

Yet, the time had come.

Turning around, Kidd walked back into the room where Law slept, taking the soup back from the table. The sunrise was just a few hours away. Kidd sat on the bed next to Law and made him drink the soup slowly as the house shook again and again, the wood cracking, more things falling to the ground.

Law wasn't waking up. There wouldn't be time, and Kidd knew what he had to do. If that thing entered it would tear Law apart. He caressed his face, cold and pale, he memorized his expression, the texture of his lips, the arch of his nose.

He kissed him one last time. Tender, loving, so delicate.

"I love you" he said, moving the blankets up so Law wouldn't get cold "I love you like I didn't believe it was possible. Thank you, for this second chance"

Then he stood up, controlled his tears, his fear, his cowardice, and walked right out the house and into the living darkness waiting for him.

...oOo...

Law knew he needed to be somewhere else. All instinct inside him warned him that he needed to wake up, that something was happening, that someone needed him, someone important that he couldn't lose, the only thing he had left.

Kidd. His lover. The man who had hurt him. Who had tried to leave him too.

Yet his body didn't move. It was as if his legs and arms weighted so much more than usual. His mind felt dizzy, numb, as if he had hit it with something. He couldn't even open his eyes. Instinct urged him, quickly, wake up, but Law just felt darkness closing around him once again.

...oOo...

It hurt. There was so much pain, Kidd felt his skin being torn apart, his flesh consumed, the same air he breathed eating him from the inside. There was so much fear and terror. Kidd felt himself melting in the darkness and evilness. They had been apart yeah, but they were whole again, powerful and terrible. The darkness wanted to consume him, it wanted his pain, it wanted fresh blood, destruction, it wanted to see it all burn, with a hunger that could never be satiated.

It was wrong. So wrong. It shouldn't have existed in the first place. It's mere existence shouldn't have been possible. But it was, and it had taken so much, trying to make itself right again.

Kidd remembered it. The deaths, masacres, so many faces, so many monsters, boys, girls, cities, towns, elders, children, religious, poor, rich... Kidd had known that if this happened again he would be consumed. He was not strong enough to live through this twice. This were his finals moments.

Yet he had a plan.

With his body being torn apart, his mind so terrified he couldn't think, Kidd for the first time in centuries fought the creature again. It raged, it pushed against his skin, devouring him faster, trying to make him fall again. Kidd resisted it. If he surrendered, if he let it go, he would go for Law just mere steps away from him, the closest living creature. The creature hated Law too, it hated him with passion, Law was powerful, Law had separated them, he would try to kill them again.

It needed to kill. It had been so long since they had been together. They were powerful once again. He needed blood. Kidd screamed. His voice an echo of terror, of darkness, of death.

Just a bit more.

...oOo…

Law woke up coughing. The house was a burning torch around him. His books and herbs feeding the flames, the whole building cracking around him about to fall over his head. The smoke was so deep and the heat so intense that Law felt his lungs on fire too.

Law moved out of bed getting out several blankets and falling onto the floor. His arms and legs felt heavy, his moves were sluggish, every move hurt. He was having difficulty even concentrating. Yet, he couldn't stay here, he didn't know what was happening, but he needed to get out of the house before it collapsed.

Crawling on the floor unable to stand up, Law slowly advanced through his home. His belongings, years of history and traditions, burned around him, all of them having fallen onto the ground. Crystals, pots, herbs, books... His family's home turned into a pyre of flames, one of the biggest fears of every wizard.

The entrance door was open thankfully, a cool breeze entered the main room making the flames burn hotter and the smoke swirl around the room spinning quickly. Law coughted and moved towards it. His fingers were red, and the wood from the floor he touched felt scalding hot, so hot he felt blisters start to appear on his skin. His mind was so numb he couldn't even feel the pain.

He had to move on. Staying inside would mean death. A wood plank on the ceiling cracked ominously and Law whimpered. With a shout of frustration he reached the door and pushed himself outside with bleeding fingers. Tears fell from itching eyes and a coughing fit made him double over for a moment. Law shook his head breathing cold pure air finally, he was alive, he had survived. Still confused, he looked up.

A nightmare welcomed him.

Not only his home was burning, but the whole forest seemed to be on fire, the light was blinding, red and yellow, trees turned into torches, grass like a glowing path between them, the smoke going up into the sky mixing with the dark night.

Law stood still in the clearing in front of his house feeling surrounded by flames, by death, by an enemy he couldn't defeat. But the worst part wasn't that, the worst part was the figure standing in the middle of the clearing looking back at him.

Kidd stood surrounded by dark smoke,, a darkness so intense that it seemed to absorb the light. The runes on his arms shone brightly. His eyes kept shifting colours at a pace to quick for Law to understand, and even his skin seemed to shift and change under Law's eyes.

The Dragur was whole again. Man and monster.

"Kidd?" Law asked, his voice lost over the roaring of the fire and his house collapsing under the flames.

Still, Kidd seemed to be able to hear him. The redhead turned slowly, as if every little move was a fight for him, the shadow circling Kidd however suddenly stopped and Kidd turned his head his eyes completely, focusing on him.

"Thank you, Law" Kidd said, his voice also changing from his normal one to another one more dark and hateful, again and again, giving his voice a strange cadence that didn't sound natural "I would never forget you"

Law numbness disappeared. The Dragur was whole again. Kidd. Kidd was going to die. He had said it himself. He won't survive second time on the hands of the monster. He would die. A terror would be set free into the world. Law needed to stop him. He needed to save Kidd.

Kidd might have betrayed Law. He might be angry at Kidd, but he didn't want him to die. After what had happened yesterday with Mihawk, he didn't think he had any right to ask anything from Kidd any longer. He had seen the redhead's eyes as Law had flirted with Mihawk, he knew he had been hurting him. Law was the one who needed punishment, not Kidd, Kidd had betrayed Law but he had done it for a good reason, to save this world.

Law had been the stupid, the arrogant and the egoist. Law loved him. He couldn't die. Law tried to stand up. He tried to get to Kidd and the shadow, his mind felt dizzy, his body weak, his magic undetected, but he would save him.

Kidd turned his back to Law suddenly facing east, the mountains. He closed his eyes with a smile. The shadow moved around him, more fanatic, almost scared.

A ray of sunlight illuminated the world. Over the mountains, over the smoke, over the fire, over them.

The shadow seemed to retreat, he tried to flee and hide among the flames around them, but it didn't seem to be able to do that. Kidd seemed to have it gripped tightly. They were one again, the shadow claws deep inside Kidd in it's eagerness. The shadow grew, it pushed, Kidd's face turned to one of pain but he still resisted.

Light increased over the burning forest.

Law finally understood.

A ray of sunshine finally seemed to fall over Kidd as if guided by a divine hand. A scream seemed to break the world. High, painful and horrid. Something unseen seemed to explode, something seemed to break and shatter to never exist again. The shadow vanished. Like smoke in the air, like darkness to light, the shadow vanished leaving the world pure again, right and beautiful.

Kidd fell to the ground. A peaceful and satisfied expression on his face. The runes on his body seemed to burn and fade away following the shadow, leaving behind only white pale skin, golden eyes and that flaming red hair. Leaving behind only Eustass Kidd, the man and King of men.

Kidd looked at Law and Law crawled towards Kidd reaching his side still with bleeding numb fingers. The redhead didn't move, his face was turning more and more pale as if sick. Law touched his cheek. He felt cold against his burned skin, too cold, his body seemed to be growing paler and paler, the sin cracking as if made of ash, the color draining as if unnaturally. He was dying.

If there was no shadow there was no curse. Without a curse, there was nothing holding Kidd in the living world.

"Thank you" Kidd repeated, his voice so weak Law could barely hear it. The forest kept burning, his house collapsed, but at this moment everything looked silent, quiet, and sorrowful.

"No, no!" Law cried. His voice feeling drugged from the smoke, his eyes continued watering despite the lack of smoke in the clearing "This can't happen"

"I'm sorry for the problems I caused" Kidd continued, his red flaming hair turning a horrible gray colour, his lips drying and the gold in his eyes burning away.

"No, Kidd, I love you, you can't leave me like this, no" Law said as the other's body seemed to die in his arms, crumbling, the warrior turning into ash and dust.

"I love you too, Law" Kidd voice whispered "It's okay, I will be waiting for you on the other side. Always"

The sun rose over the mountains, bright and pale. Law felt his body give up. The tiredness. The shock. The fire. He crumbled over Kidd's bones and lost consciousness.

...oOo...

—A month later —

"Are you sure of this, wizard?" a balding man asked with worried eyes.

Law nooded, pushing the bag over his shoulder. His fingers still felt numb, sensibility hadn't returned to his fingers after he had burned them in the fire a month ago. Law didn't think it will ever return. His body been already weakened enough at the beginning thanks to the loss of blood, and the weakness didn't seem to leave no matter what he did or what potion he created. He had lost his home, a friend, and lover to the fire, apparently, he had lost much more.

The man in front of him shook his head disappointedly. "You know, we could use a man like you on the caravans, your kind had always been useful when traveling this hard lands"

Law ignored the man's words and gave him a few golden coins in thanks. This man and his family had been the ones who had found him in the forest hugging the bones of a man dead centuries ago. They had taken care of him when Law had been too haunted and terrified by his own injuries and what he had seen. They had helped him recover.

Still, he couldn't stay with them any longer. He couldn't remain on the valley and mountains any longer. There was nothing left for him here, it was better to move out, find another place, start a new life in a land where he could forget.

Law said his goodbyes to the family and started to walk the path leading outside from the valley. The family looked at his departure relieved. They were scared of him. That was the way of the world. Wizards weren't well accepted, they didn't fit into any of the religions.

Law pulled the hood over his face, hiding the strange white marks the fire had left on his body and started walking peacefully. Unaware of the rain who had started pouring over the place. Unaware of the blackness that now covered the once green valley in ash over every little rock.

Unaware of a red curl of shadow who had been looking over him since the day he had lost a part of his soul. A shadow that now followed him, loving and protective, so different from what it had once been. The shadow was waiting. It would always be waiting for him.

END