A/N: WARNING, THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERNECES TO CHILD PROSTITUTION AND SUICIDE... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
2ND A/N: This one has been rattling around in my head for a while so let's see how it goes... updates will be sporadic as my muse takes me.
You ever screw something up so badly you wonder how you're going to fix this, only to realize that there is, in fact, no fixing this?
That's how I felt at the moment, covered in blood with a more than likely insane grin on my face as a trio of mostly nude girls tried to hide from me.
I bet you're more concerned with how I got here, so let me start at the beginning... way back at the beginning, thirteen years ago.
It was the Year 1467 of the Sea Circle circa Our Lord and Saviour Goda the One True Pirate blah blah blah, look do I really need to put all this. I was being born, how would a really know what was going on in the world, like Donquixote Homing giving up his position as a Celestial Dragon, or that it had been 5 years since the Rocks Pirates were disbanded, and the year The Big Mom Pirates were established. As I said, I was being born, I had no idea this stuff was going on in the world, I only learned about it later thanks to Mont-d'or-nii-san, that's a mouthful, but simply referring to someone as Big Brother, or Big Sister, Little Sister, Little Brother or any other title would just get confusing.
Where was I again? Oh right, I was being born...
Charlotte Perospero paced as Mam's cries reached a fever pitch, a nearly foreign sound to her children. The only other times they'd heard her in such agony was during her other births, and once during her infamous Hunger Pangs, where she'd nearly devastated their precious island home of Sweet City. Many would find it strange for the eldest of Linlin's children to be lurking outside a room where Mam was giving birth, but from the start, Perospero had been forced to taken on a substitute parental role when Mam would go off raiding with the Rocks Pirates, leaving her newborn children to fend for themselves.
They'd starved, fallen deathly ill, and even been forced to fight, all as young toddlers, and as the oldest of them all, Perospero had had to make hard choices and sacrifices for his siblings, forgoing food so the younger ones could eat, killing whenever necessary, and resorting to any means to make some money to buy basic provisions, and before he was a strong member of The Big Mom Pirates... he was a desperate child, that was all that needed to be thought about how far he'd go to protect his younger siblings.
Which was how he found himself here and now, pacing back-and-forth to meet the newest member of the family.
"Don't worry, it's going to be fine." A calm, deep voice said, well, as deep as a 15-year-old can be as Perospero looked to the side to see his slightly younger brother Katakuri 'lounging'. The air quotes were because Katakuri didn't lounge, he meditated as he was now, his eyes closed as he slowly took a deep breath in, and then a deep breath out.
"Speak for yourself." Perospero drolly replied, his long tongue following the same movement as his eyes, "I know you're just as worried as I am. That's why you're doing your exercises to keep calm so you can use your Observation Haki to see inside there. It just feels different this time, like something is going to go wrong, I can just feel it." Perospero exclaimed, ringing his hands nervously as a third voice spoke up.
"I'd say that your Observation Haki isn't quite at a level to predict the future yet." Their sister Compote teased as Perospero frowned, not appreciating the jest at his abilities.
"Mama will be fine, we all know how strong she is, and our new sibling will be just as fine, after all we made it through okay, right?" Compote added as the trio looked away, unpleasant memories resurfacing of their shared younger years.
"And where are Oven and Daifuku? Or Mondee, Amande, Hachee or Effliee?!" Perospero shouted, gesturing to the mostly empty waiting room, if you could call it that, it was just a room... where they were waiting.
"The quadruplets are helping Streusen with some weird concoction, one of Mama's cravings from right before she went in." Compote answered.
"And Oven and Daifuku are gone, they went on an inventory run since Mama tends get hungry right after giving birth, you remember Zuccotto?" Katakuri replied, eyes still closed as he spoke between breaths.
"Don't remind me, I understand Mama likes all kinds of food, but pickled herring in caramel sauce isn't food, I don't even think I could call it garbage! I know we struggled to make sure we had enough food to go around, but I'd sooner eat grass from the lawn than that!" Perospero shouted incredulously.
"Are we too late?" "Yeah, is our baby sister here yet?" Twins Brulee and Broye asked as they raced into the room, nearly running Katakuri as they fought to be the one to get closest to him.
"Not yet, and we don't know if mama's having a girl, it could be a baby brother." Katakuri said simply as the two girls pouted.
"Aww, but we wanted a little sister." "Can't we tell mama to have a girl, and not a yucky boy!" Brulee and Broye whined as Compote laughed at their childishness.
"You know, your precious Big Bro Katakuri is one of those yucky boys, you know?" The oldest sister pointed out as the twins shook their heads in unison.
"No, he's not," "Yeah, he's Big Bro." They argued, leading the three older siblings to laugh at the cute younger siblings.
The mood immediately shifted as Mama gave a loud cry, followed by a much shriller one as the older siblings' eyes met. "I think that is our newest sibling." Compote said, the other two nodding silently.
"Hello," A soft voice exclaimed as a young girl pushed through the doors, holding a whining, swaddled baby, two small lumps near their hairline. "This is the first one, the second should be along very quickly, her name is Melise." The nurse stated, smiling at the small group awaiting the results.
"Aww, she's so cute." The twins cheered at the same time, attempting to get a closer look.
"The next one, I thought this was meant to be a single birth?" Katakuri asked as the nurse turned towards him.
"We thought so as well, but-" Her eyes rolled back as a wave of something fell over everyone, both Broye and Brulee falling to the ground, clutching tightly to one another. The three older siblings moved quickly, Compote catching the nurse and baby in a moment, sweating pouring down her face. Perospero was on one knee, biting into his tongue as he collected himself, and Katakuri looked the picture of calm, but everyone could see how tense her was.
"Damn it," Compote swore, turning to her youngest brother present, "Can you watch Melise and the twins. Perospero and I will have to take over from here it seems. She's letting of her Haki, and I don't think any of the doctors or nurses can handle it, we've done this before, so don't worry." The eldest sister ordered, Katakuri nodding silently, not trusting his voice not to crack as he took the silent baby, eyes rolled back from the releasing of Mama's Haki.
"Once more unto the breach?" Compote teased as she held the door open, Perospero frowning as he strode past her. "I told you so, I just hope it's not as bad as I thought."
Meanwhile, in another world and at another time, I got home from work, the house quiet and dark as I pulled my shoes off, rubbing my eyes.
"Hey Mom, can you uh, call me back, as soon as you get off work, I really need to talk to you, please!" I whispered into the receiver of my phone, dropping it on the table by the door.
I thought about watching an episode of something, but it wouldn't matter, I could barely focus. I'd kept up a happy face at work so no one knew, but now that I was alone, I just couldn't hold it any longer, hot tears dripping down my face as the overwhelming weight swallowed me up.
"I'm gonna die... I can feel it, I'm going to die and go to Hell, I don't want to die." I whined, trying and failing to cut off the tears, hoping that f I could just shut them off, that I wouldn't feel so terrified, but nothing was working, it was like trying to lift myself by myself.
"Is it really that bad... I try not to lie, and I can't help when my eyes notice a hot girl in the store, or how I'm tempted to swipe a snack when the cameras aren't looking! I'm barely making enough to cover my insurance, I bust my as- my tail with whatever they need, it's not stealing when you need it... right? And it makes me happy to watch anime, the fighting or when a girl is hypersexualized, it's just a show it doesn't mean I think that about real people." I muttered, glancing at the clock, 5:03, really, I'd only been standing here for three minutes?
It didn't really matter, the cold weight in my hand more than told the story. I'd never drank before, because it was wrong, never smoked, because it was wrong, had never taken any drugs before because it was ALL JUST SO FUCKING WRONG, I NEED SOME HELP PLEASE! I clenched my fist tightly, my nails digging into the skin as I wandered towards the bathroom medicine cabinet.
On the top shelf, hidden behind the bandages, and the spare toothpaste, and the out-of-date dental floss was a small pill bottle. Vicodin, left over from three years ago after my mom's hysterectomy. I shook the bottle, a small rattling sound answering my call like the silver for Judas...
"I'm really going to Hell." I whispered, emptying the bottle int my hand, staring at 1...2...3...4...5...6 little pills, the small voice in the back of my head saying it wouldn't be enough to lift the terror on me, I was going to die scared, terrified of the very thing I was doing. I was sure it didn't make any sense; I'd always thought that when I heard someone killed themselves... about how bad it must have been to turn to that... fucking hypocrite!
I was scared of dying because I was going to Hell, but suicide was a surefire way to accomplish both those goals, but I couldn't put the pills down.
I could've chosen a more effective way, I knew the combination to the gun safe in my mom's closet, left after dad left, got dunk and cheated on my mom and just left town with the cheap bitch.
"I'm going to Hell for that, I'm supposed to forgive, but I can't even forgive myself, much less someone else." I whispered, falling into the chair along the wall, the setting sun shining through.
I 'borrowed' one of the complementary shot glasses my mom got when she was a kid, traveling around the country, dumped the pills in, and filled it to the brim with booze.
I looked at the clock again, 5:38... Mom would get off in thirty minutes, and it was a ten-minute drive to home assuming she didn't listen to my message first.
I turned up the glass and took it like a shot, drowning everything out, my fears, my hopes, my past, and my future, I just wanted it all to stop! I looked at the booze, considering drinking more, and my stomach was already churning, twisting like I swallowed a live animal instead of medicine. I let my eyes close, my breath slowing... "Maybe the pills are out-of-date too, maybe the beer will make me throw it all up, maybe Mom will get home in time... maybe-
Charlotte Lining screamed, her stomach feeling like it was going to burst any second.
"Hold on Mama, you're almost there, just think of all the chocolate pudding you can have once you're done!" Compote encouraged, another tight contraction squeezing the Yonko as she wailed, another wave of Haki blasting everyone in the room.
"VANILLA!" Linlin declared, Compote nodding a quick glance at a small cloud as Zues sped away to deliver the order.
"I can see the head Mama, one more push!" Perospero ordered unseen from his spot between Mama's legs. It was strange considering their positions, but Perospero was the older sibling, the more experienced sibling, and Compote and Linlin hadn't argued.
"RRRAAGGHH!" Linlin roared, giving yet another push, swearing that this baby would pay for hurting her once this was over!
...
...
...
"Big Bro Peros, wasn't wrong?" Compote asked worriedly, Linlin dazedly listening as the pain began to subside. She was hungry, but not too bad, not enough to send her into a Hunger Pang.
"He's not breathing, his face is all blue, I think..." The eldest child was scared, tears dripping from his eyes as he held the small newborn, its chest not moving. Compote was equally scared, despite their attempts, they were still just a couple of teenagers, albeit ones who'd had to grow up quickly for the sake of their younger siblings.
"Is it fluid, did he get choked by the cord, what's wrong!?" Compote cried, her true age showing as Perospero licked his lips, trying to think of something to do, did it need warmth, had the troubled birth been too much for him physically?
"Give him to me." Linlin ordered, the two children looking at her terrified, unsure what to do now. "I said, give me my son!" Linlin ordered a second time, Perospero shakily nodding as he passed the tiny blob to his mother, her massive hand so big compared to the tiny baby, Perospero was worried he'd accidently be crushed.
Minutes passed in dead silence as Linlin held her newborn son, his chocolate brown hair clinging to his face, his splotchy skin like a miscolored waffle until finally his tiny eyes opened, a pair of sharp pink as he grabbed towards Mama's chest.
"Mamamama, he's my son alright, just born and already demanding food." Linlin laughed, the picture of what she was deep down inside, a mother.
If anyone had walked in right then, seeing a laughing Linlin, and Compote and Perospero holding each other, they'd assume the two children were a pair of proud grandparents, and thankfully no one interrupted as Linlin smiled, tilting her head as the baby didn't make a sound, neither giggling nor crying.
"I think I'll call him... Merlot."
