A/N: The angst is coming.
Warnings: Violence, Blood, Sexual aggression (not graphic and not carried through, you can skip it, it will be contained between *.*.* *.*.*), Trauma, Dissociation.
Chapter 3: Power
Without wasting time, he pulled the remaining shards out of the frame, not wanting to gut himself while passing through. Glancing outside, he saw the deadly water below. Looking up, the railing was within reach thanks to his rubber powers. He heard hurried footsteps coming for the cabin.
Grabbing his bag, he squeezed himself halfway through the hole and threw his hand to the railing. The door slammed open as his body soared into the night. He felt elated by the sensation of the wind on his skin. The sensation of freedom. He was sent flying high above the ship, and bounced against a sail before crashing into the deck.
"What was that!"
"I heard something over there!"
"Who's there?!"
So much for being discreet. Several marines were patrolling, lanterns in their hands. He ran in the only direction he couldn't see a light.
"Here! I see him! It's the kid, he escaped!"
The marines were on his tail, making a racket that was sure to wake up every soul on the ship. Luffy threw himself under three gigantic cannons that were blocking his way, sliding on the floor and crawling. He needed to put some distance between him and his pursuers, find a boat, or hide somewhere. Emerging from under the cannons, he continued to run toward the back of the ship. The marines were distracted by the obstacles.
A door slammed open in front of him on a disgruntled Vice-Admiral Momosomething.
Sliding a little, Luffy veered mid step, barely losing speed. He wasn't foolish enough to fight a Vice-Admiral. His Gramps was a Vice-Admiral. Even if he doubted this one could be as strong as his Gramps, he wouldn't wait to find out.
Spotting a rope taut in the air, he stretched to grab it and flew where none could reach him. Under him, he could hear the cries of "what the fuck!" and "he ate a devil fruit!" from the marines.
Then his head collided with a fist, hard. An eruption of pain, a brief fall, and the resounding crack of the wood.
He was seeing stars. Literally and figuratively.
His body had made a dent in the deck. If not for his bones being rubber, some of them would surely have shattered on impact. The real damage had come from the punch, though. If the Vice-Admiral Purple-Momo-Guy wasn't looming over him, he would have sworn that he had been punched by his Gramps. Something wet was running down his forehead. Feeling dizzy, he hauled himself to his feet, in a fighting position. The man raised an eyebrow.
"Haven't you had enough?"
"Screw you! Let me go home!" He knew he didn't stand a chance, but he would never surrender. They'd have to drag him back kicking and screaming.
He launched himself at his opponent, channelling all his frustration into his fist, which was stopped in one swift movement by the Vice-Admiral.
"Don't be foolish boy, you are outnumbered and outmatched. There's nothing you can do."
Luffy glared, still held in the air by the fist trapped in the man's hand. He punched him with his other fist, but the man didn't even flinch. He felt like a kitten suspended by the scruff of its neck after having done something stupid. It was humiliating. Especially surrounded by a growing group of marines watching the show. One of them came running with something that the Vice-Admiral grabbed. Before Luffy saw what it was, the thing was slapped on his wrist, and he was drowning.
Well, not drowning drowning. He could still breathe, but it felt like plunging into the sea. His feet touched the floor, and when the Vice-Admiral let out his hand he came crashing to his knees, barely able to stop his head to bang on the deck, again. He was powerless.
"Congratulations, you will be wearing this seastone bracelet until we reach our destination. Five days with only bread and water. If you step one foot out of your cabin again, you'll spend the rest of the trip down in the brig."
Luffy raised his head and locked eyes with the man towering over him. He might be tired and beaten, but he wasn't cowering. He wanted it to be clear. The other smirked.
"Bring him back to his cabin." He ordered a group of marines.
"Sir, he broke the porthole to escape."
"Oh?" He turned his gaze back to the boy at his feet. "We'll send a shipwright in the morning to repair it, meanwhile, just chain him up to his bed."
Luffy was dragged back, maintaining eye contact with the Vice-Admiral until he wasn't in his line of sight any more.
When they reached his cabin, they dropped him carelessly. One of them yanked his arms behind him and fastened manacles at his wrists, the chain trapped by the foot of the bed.
Of course, they had to interpret the order that way, they couldn't possibly find a more comfortable position for him to spend the night in. The jerk who'd tethered him took his time, pulling on the chain unnecessarily. It was unpleasant. He was too close and smelled like cheap alcohol.
"Hurry up, I want to go to bed already…" The only marine left said, stifling a yawn. He was waiting for the jerk on the other side of the door.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead, I'm just making sure he can't escape…"
He left without asking for more, certainly confident that his colleague would follow soon.
Luffy felt acutely aware of how alone he was with the man next to him. He wanted him gone. Jerk stopped playing with the chain and crouched in front of him, a smirk on his lips and a glimmer in his eyes that sent shivers of repulsion down Luffy's spine.
*.*.*
No.
No no no no no no.
That was way too close to his experience with Porchemy.
How the bastard had looked at him after being tired of beating him up with spiked gloves. The same eyes. The things he said he'd do had scared him, though he hadn't understood all of it. He thought he would die alone and broken. Luckily, Ace and Sabo had appeared and saved him before anything could happen.
But he had no brothers to save him now, and he felt like shit. He couldn't stop the memory of being helpless in front of Porchemy overwhelm him.
He flinched when Jerk's hand ran through his hair, which made the other laugh softly. Luffy pulled his head away from the intrusive touch.
"Leave me alone."
He was appalled by how pathetic his voice sounded. He felt disconnected from himself. In a battle, he would have destroyed Jerk without batting an eye, but right now, he was seven years old again, at the mercy of a grown man who would hurt him. Breathing was becoming hard, and his vision was almost blurry.
A thumb stroked his blooded face, stinging when it touched the wound on his forehead, tracing down the trail of blood, smearing it. Jerk snickered, and it was an ugly sound.
"You're a cutie, aren't you?" His stale breath washed over Luffy's face. "We could be good friends, you and I. It's a long trip, I could visit sometimes, keep you company…" His voice was sickeningly sweet.
The thumb brushed against his lips, pulling slowly on the lower one until it opened. The unwanted contact brought Luffy back to himself and he bucked violently, sending Jerk onto his ass.
*.*.*
"Leave me alone!" This time his voice was strong, carrying through the room, but the sudden outburst drained him of his energy and he collapsed to the side of the bed.
"You little fucker! I'll teach you respect!" Jerk said while straightening.
He was about to hit him when the other marine came back. He looked at the scene. Luffy curled up on the floor, bloody drawings on the face. Jerk, fist still upped in the air.
Jerk opened his mouth but the other interrupted him.
"I don't want to know! I don't wanna be dragged into your shit! God I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with the kid…" he seemed pissed and tired. "Go take a shower, cold!" He turned to Luffy, not raising his voice, but with venom in his words. "And you! Nothing happened! I don't wanna hear tales about that, understood? He's a good marine, he's just a bit stupid when he drinks…" He went to the cabinet, grabbed a towel that he dipped in the bucket of water before throwing it to Luffy's feet. "And wash your face, you're revolting!" He stormed out of the room without another glance and locked the door.
What just happened?
Luffy was in shock.
Empty.
He felt disgusting. Shameful. Weak. He had been paralysed, unable to defend himself. He hadn't fought back. Let the man touch him. Why? Why hadn't he disappeared already? He wished the ground could swallow him until he reached the cold embrace of the sea. Tears fell silently from his half-opened eyes.
The wet towel stayed on the floor, discarded. He didn't have the will to move, although he wanted nothing but clean his face raw. He could still feel Jerk's hand on his skin, like a burning sensation. It was sickening.
He stayed there, motionless, in the awkward position he had fallen into. It was uncomfortable, his arm twisted under him, but he couldn't see the point of arranging himself differently.
It's what the next marine who opened the trapdoor saw.
Luffy must have looked a bit dead, in the dark, with blood all over his face, because the marine cussed loudly before hurrying inside. She kneeled beside him, the warm light of her lantern falling on his crooked body.
"Hey kid? Shit, are you okay?" She touched his shoulder and he flinched.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" Her voice was motherly. It reminded him of Makino. He missed her. "Kid, listen, I gotta grab something real quick, okay, but I'm coming back for you, okay?"
If Makino were here, she would hug him tight and reassure him, he would tell her that he was fine, but he would hug her back with all his heart. Maybe she would make him a hot coco, and tell him stories of pirates on endless seas, free as the wind…
"I'm back, see? I wasn't too long."
And treasures so secret only the Sea-Kings whispered about them…
Delicately, the marine gathered him in her arms, and this time he didn't react to her touch. She had removed his manacles, he hadn't noticed when. She sat on the bed, and started to clean his face gently with a wet cloth, careful around his wound. It was nice, soothing. At some point he realised she was humming a lullaby. He fell asleep, his face buried into her neck.
The nightmare that woke him up left him feeling as if he had raced a tiger through the forest. His heart was beating in his throat, his eyes wide open. Details of his dream flashed in his mind, a mix of last night's events, and Porchemy, chasing him through the ship.
He took a deep breath, hold it, and released it slowly, then repeated the action until he felt calmer (something Makino had taught him after Sabo… left).
He really had lost it last night.
Looking around him, he realised he was no longer lying on the floor, but tucked in bed, chained to the bedhead. So Makino-Marine wasn't a dream! He was grateful. If he saw her again when he escapes, he promised not to hit her.
The sun had risen a long time ago when the door opened. As announced by the Vice-Admiral, he was given a small piece of bread and some water as breakfast.
He had to wait on the bed, manacles still in place, while the shipwright changed the porthole. The new one looked even thicker, with metal bars crossing it.
They unchained him, leaving only the bracelet on. It was draining his energy, but it was a bit easier to move, now that he was used to the feeling. After eating the slightly stale bread (he had had worse, and food was food), he exercised to see how much it impeded his actions. His body wasn't rubber any more, he couldn't stretch. He tried jumping though he couldn't go very high, and he had to lay down a few minutes afterwards to catch his breath. He guessed that running would be the same, but there wasn't enough space to test it out.
Escaping seemed more and more out of reach.
The time went on, dull, paced only by the periodic clank of the marines opening the trapdoor to check on him. Luffy couldn't help but experience trepidation at the thought it might be Jerk, or Jerk's friend. He didn't show it, though. He didn't even flinch the two times the door opened to bring him stale bread.
By the end of the day, he was hungry. He allowed himself to eat one of the pieces of jerky tucked in his bag, but he still had four days to go, and he suspected he would be glad to have some, then. Yes, denying himself food was a torture.
The rest of the days passed the same way, without any visits from Jerk and Jerk's friend, nor Makino-Marine. The nights were sometimes hunted by nightmares, and his sleep was a bit restless, the more he grew hungry, but he made it through.
The morning he was supposed to be back on a normal diet, he waited anxiously for the food to be brought. He was so happy and relieved to see it was porridge, that he smiled brightly and thanked the astounded marine who gave it to him.
To occupy himself, and because planning to escape was currently going nowhere, Luffy started training.
It couldn't be long sessions. He usually ended up sprawled on the ground, completely out of breath, after jumping three times or a few push-ups. But he needed to do something, to have a goal. Jumping higher. Doing one more push-up than yesterday. Then maybe, if the opportunity to escape presented itself, he would be able to run despite the bracelet.
Days melted together. He had nothing to track time, but it had to be around his twelfth day on the ship that something happened.
He woke up that morning from his own shivering. The temperature had dropped considerably since he had gone to bed. Half awake, he wondered briefly if he had slept the summer and autumn away, but it was a stupid thought, he would be way more hungry if it was the case!
He put on all of his clothes, and rolled himself tightly into the cover. It wasn't much, he only had a few summer clothes, and the cover was thin, hardly enough for a normal night. He was so cold his body felt rigid. Combined with the bracelet, he could barely move. Curling up in a foetal position, he hopped it wouldn't last.
When the door opened, he peeked from under the cover, keeping it tight around his face to prevent the heat from escaping. The marine who brought him breakfast was draped in a warm-looking coat. Before he could leave the room, Luffy asked him through chattering teeth why it was so cold.
"We entered the Grand Line yesterday, the weather's always weird here. Now we're near a winter island, that's why."
They had reached the Grand Line, and he hadn't even realised it.
Growing up, he had always pictured himself entering for the first time as a captain, surrounded by his nakamas. It would have been the real start of his adventure. A new sea where every pirate converged in the quest for the One Piece.
Well, it couldn't be helped. He was here now, wasn't he? And when he'll escape, he will come back to Dawn Island and wait until he turned seventeen to start his journey for real. Yeah, right now didn't count. He wasn't even a pirate yet.
The warmth came back sometime around mid-morning, but it took several hours before he stopped shivering. After that, he felt drained and just laid on his bed for the rest of the day.
One evening, while sleep was eluding him, Luffy sat in a corner of the cabin, mulling over stupid marines and stupid ships when he heard a key turning slowly into the lock. It had never happened before. The door only opened three times a day, to bring him food, and somehow he didn't think it was someone bringing him second.
It was late into the night. The room was dark, and when the door creaked open, no light came in. Whoever it was didn't carry any.
The first thing that entered through the door was a pungent smell of cheap alcohol, followed by the dark shape of a man.
A/N: Thank you for reading!
I think it's the chapter where Luffy is the most out of character. Don't worry though, he will bounce back, and who knows, maybe have some kind of revenge next chapter?
I hope it was ok, please tell me your thoughts. I'm really enjoying writing so far (currently working on chapter 6) and I'd love to have your impressions. No pressure though.
Thank you for the favs and follows, always appreciated.
Until next time folks!
