Immortal

Characters: Shachi, Law. Rating: K. Warnings: none

Shachi knew they were hunting for information on Doflamingo, although it had to be done slowly and carefully so the tyrant didn't get wind of it. Law was unwilling to tell them much, but he had impressed on them way back when they'd left Swallow Island the terror of the man he was hiding from. It had been an obvious ploy to try and stop them from getting on the boat with him, and to begin with neither he nor Penguin had taken the stories too seriously.

Landing on an island recently vacated by the pirates had wizened them up immediately. The carnage made him sick to his stomach, and he was glad he hadn't truly believed Law originally. If he had, he would never have stepped off of Swallow Island, no matter how interesting the kid was. Not if it meant being hunting by this.

The thing that none of them knew, not even Law, was why Doflamingo was hunting him so viciously. It had something to do with his devil fruit, but what use did the man have for the Ope Ope no Mi? Law had admitted that Doflamingo had intended for it to be eaten, so it wasn't for the money (he'd also implied that he knew how much his fruit was worth, but he hadn't given a number and Shachi was learning when not to ask questions).

Therefore, aside from information on Doflamingo – so they could stay well away from him at all times (and Shachi got the impression Law wanted to become the hunter one day but the idea of facing that monster was far from welcome) – Law expanded his research into anything concerning his fruit. He seemed convinced that there was some, somewhere, although he wouldn't say why he was so certain.

There were a lot of things Law wouldn't say. Shachi didn't like going in blind, but with Law it was quickly apparent that everything was on a strictly need to know basis – and that nothing was 'need to know' for the rest of them. Bepo, the odd creature, appeared to lack the curiosity of a human and settled down to follow orders blindly, but for Penguin and himself it was more of a stretch.

It took months of searching. More than once they'd had to divert themselves when last minute news of Doflamingo's latest location sprung up, hiding deep beneath the waves and quaking in terror as the unmistakable flamingo-shaped ship passed by on the horizon, hoping and praying they hadn't been noticed. It slowed them up, Law often demanding that they remain submerged as deep as the Tang could safely remain for up to a week after a possible sighting to no complaints from his crew.

Eventually, they struck gold, landing on the island a previous user of the fruit had occupied and finding a treasure trove of research. Predictably, the inhabitants were at loath to surrender the information, but when faced with the same ability they were trying to protect, Law had managed to obtain the precious papers.

He wouldn't let Shachi see. Nor did Penguin have any luck, while Bepo continued to play the part of a loyal follower and not even try, despite Law using him as a backrest while he scoured the papers desperately. The single-mindedness of his research left Penguin and Shachi to do almost everything on the ship by themselves, from steering to tending the engines to even the cooking and cleaning. Bepo, of course, remained in charge of navigating whenever he wasn't being used as the captain's backrest.

Even though Shachi knew Law's research was important, he couldn't help but gripe in the safety of his own mind. The Polar Tang was reasonably large – too large for two teenagers to handle competently, especially when they were still learning how to control her.

The sound of something falling caught his attention as he was making his way into the infirmary to fetch his captain for dinner, and he hastened his pace until he was almost running.

Law was on the floor, his chair on its side as if he'd just fallen off it, and Shachi hurried to his side.

"Law?" he asked, only for the younger team to look at him with his eyes wide. Scared. Shachi had seen him scared before, whether it be the brief waking period after a nightmare, or their near-misses with the Donquixote Pirates, but this was different. He crouched down in front of him slowly, waiting to be acknowledged.

"I… I don't want to die," Law rasped hoarsely, his voice small and frail.

Dumfounded, Shachi stared at him before wrapping his arms around him tightly, feeling his captain tense and half-heartedly attempt to push him away. Shachi refused to be so easily dislodged, clinging to him as if their lives depended on it.

One of the pages of research had fluttered to the ground beside Law and Shachi glanced over at it, wondering if that was the culprit for Law's fall. Eternal Youth Operation it declared loudly, drawing Shachi's attention almost completely.

'Eternal Youth' sounded… odd. It reminded Shachi of 'immortality' and he knew enough about the frailty of humans to know that they would all die eventually. Trying to change that would be perverse, not to mention impossible.

Except, he realised as he read the section, it was possible. There, right before his eyes, was instructions on how to obtain it, using the Ope Ope no Mi.

Using the life of the Ope Ope no Mi's user.

He had started to help Law up, into a better seating position, but with the realisation he pulled the younger teen closer again, his earlier words suddenly making sense.

"Never use it," he said firmly, his lips by Law's ear. "Never." Law still trembled and Shachi dislodged his hat to stroke his hair gently, the way his mother had always comforted him after a nightmare so many years ago. "Promise, Law. They can't make you use it."

Minutes passed in silence, before Law let out a shaky breath Shachi hadn't even realised he'd been holding.

"I promise," he said quietly. "Doflamingo doesn't deserve it."

"No matter what," Shachi pressed, because he'd seen the carnage the pirate could cause and knew he would do everything in his power to persuade Law if a chance ever arose.

"No matter what," Law repeated, his voice breaking in the middle. Shachi wondered if his thoughts had taken the same path, assessing the Donquixote Pirates' cruelty to identify the possible blackmail they might scrounge up. "No matter what."

While Cora-san knew about the Eternal Youth Operation, I don't recall it ever being mentioned to Law himself (Doflamingo himself wasn't certain Law knew about it even in Dressrosa thirteen years later), so he most likely learnt about it later. I also don't think learning that you're being hunted so you can make your enemy immortal at the cost of your own life is something that can be easily shrugged off, no matter how much Law's already been through.

I also think this is one of the reasons Law didn't bring his crew with him to Dressrosa - if Doflamingo got hold of them and held them hostage, would he have still been able to refuse?

Thanks for reading!
Tsari