Chapter 20 - Confrontation
This is a dream.
It was Luffy's first cognizant thought when he realized where he was.
Luffy wasn't always the sharpest crayon in the box, but he had always had a very astute ability to tell the difference between the truth and a lie, between reality versus the facade, even if that truth wasn't always apparent to most people.
So he knew pretty much right away that where he was now, was indeed a dream.
Not what he'd been expecting, but dreams were nice.
There didn't seem to be much to this dream though. No matter where he looked around him, all he could find was darkness. It was pitch black for as far as the eye could see.
Walking around a bit, he couldn't see neither hide nor hair of anyone or anything. Not liking the silence, he ran forward in a random direction calling out.
'HELLOOOOOOO! ANYBODY THERE?'
His voice echoed hollowly throughout the cavernous void, but no reply came back in return.
Luffy scratched his head in confusion and annoyance before hopping down on the ground (which was also just black nothingness, just solid for some reason) and trying to think of what to do next.
This was a boring dream. Normally, his dreams were full of wacky adventures, like running with a hippo in a field full of cotton candy and candied apples, all while racing a giant beetle! Yeah, that was a great one! Or the time he and Shanks had fallen down a giant rabbit's hole and ended up in a weird land with talking caterpillars and a creepy purple cat, and a fat woman dressed in hearts! There had been some really strange food there. He didn't know about that one.
Speaking of food though, those dreams were some of the best!
Ones where he was just surrounded by tons of delicious stuff! Cookies, candy, pie, cake, ramen, hot dogs, burgers, chicken, roast beast, crocodile, roasted pig—he was basically drooling already! He could practically smell the meat cook—wait!
Luffy's eyes snapped open, his nose twitching. He could smell it!
Jumping up, he swung around following the tantalizing smell of meat like a bloodhound. Awesomely, he didn't have to go all that far before out of the blue, a great mountain of meat of all kinds appeared before him!
Luffy didn't question it, it was a dream. (He wouldn't have questioned it in the real world either, but hey, it was meat! He could be forgiven.) Almost in a reflex, he leaped up, catapulting himself towards the giant mound of food before diving in!
He practically inhaled the delectable savory victuals. Beef, pork, mutton, venison, rabbit, boar, lizard, snake, Luffy had never known a type of meat that he didn't like. And the pile seemed endless! No matter how much he ate, more would appear! Forget what he said earlier! This was an awesome dream!
Unbeknownst to the teenage pirate, not far away from him in the darkness, the sound of splashing liquid could be heard. It was reminiscent of a presence rising from out of the depths of the water and coming onto the land.
A dark figure slunk forward towards the unsuspecting boy, his steps loud in the emptiness, but unsure in their tread. The figure held the shape of a boy, with long lanky limbs and a slim wiry frame. He huddled upon himself, his arms wrapped around themselves, as he approached hesitantly.
Luffy had been completely consumed with stuffing as much meat as he could into his mouth, that he didn't notice the shadowy figure until he had cleared his throat twice.
Looking down, from off his mountain of meat, Luffy was surprised to find someone else was here! The boy was strange looking though. He had absolutely no features, reminding him more of a shadow like those they had seen in Thriller Bark than an actual person. From what he could see, the boy was about his height and build but completely black. He could barely see the kid's outline against the rest of the dark void that surrounded them.
Strange, but hey, at least he wasn't alone anymore!
Swallowing the drumstick in his mouth, he waved to the other from where he was. 'Hey!'
The boy seemed to look up at him, though it was hard to tell with the absence of eyes. He tilted his head in acknowledgment, but he continued to clasp onto his arms, trembling and unsure and trying his best to make himself smaller and unseen. Luffy watched him while munching as he seemed to be trying to figure out his response. Kind of reminded him of that weakling, Koby when he first met him.
The smallness in his voice fit that image too, almost as if he was about to cry at any moment. It was to the point that Luffy was having a hard time hearing him.
Crawling forward, he jumped from off the food mountain carrying a skewer of steak with him. When he landed in front of the shadow boy, the other jumped a bit, startled.
There, now that he was closer he could hear better. He spoke through his full mouth as he munched on his shake. 'What did you say?'
The shadow boy looked down and away, dancing slightly back and forth as if trying to regain his courage again. He looked down for a moment, before finally glancing in Luffy's direction. Even though they were the same height, to the pirate it almost felt as if he was inadvertently domineering over the other because of his shrinking posture.
But thankfully, his question was now clear, if unwelcome.
'Hey, c-can you let me have some?'
Luffy's answer was immediate. Staring down with a grimace and turning away.
'No. Mine.'
The boy was taken aback, almost as if he couldn't believe it.
'No?'
Luffy nodded sternly before sitting in front of HIS pile of meat in a guarding position, arms crossed while absently grabbing another drumstick to chew.
He didn't share his meat. Especially in a dream. And especially not with a weakling crybaby like this guy.
The shadow figure seemed to stand there for a moment as if trying to comprehend Luffy's response. The pirate expected the boy to cry or sulk off in dejection. However, to his utter surprise, the slender shadow figure did neither.
Instead, he seemed to suddenly lose all timidity and fear, not only rising to his full height but actually adopting a swagger to his posture. A hand on one hip and a looseness to his gait. Even his voice adopted this teasing, yet disappointed snideness to it, as if Luffy had failed somehow in his nonexistent eyes.
'Ohhh, I see how it is. You think you're better than me?'
Suddenly the boy shadow was moving quicker than the eye could see, and he was already behind Luffy and whispering threateningly in his ear.
'I'll show you…'
With a single sweep and great strength, the boy picked up the entire pile of meat in his two arms and ran off!
Luffy jumped to his feet, following the other in anger. 'Hey! GET BACK HERE! THAT'S MINE!'
He chased the boy on and on before suddenly his target—and more importantly the meat—disappeared! Wait, where did they go? What happened?
Luffy stopped for a moment to look around. How such a large mountain of meat could just vanish was beyond him. Where was the meat? Oh, meat! Where are you?
A sniggering laugh sounded behind him and he turned, but the figure was gone before he could catch sight of him. Luffy ran over but couldn't see anything.
Skipping steps and laughter rang out to his left, but by the time Luffy had rushed over to catch the thief, they were once again gone!
This game kept up for several minutes with Luffy rushing around in circles trying to catch the vanishing shadow boy only to just miss him! No matter how fast the rubber pirate tried, he just couldn't grab the bandit!
Stupid, stupid swiping jerk!
Completely exhausted and pissed off, Luffy collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion. This sucked! This was his dream! Stupid meat thief!
The sound of somebody munching echoed loudly and the noise electrified right through the rubber boy. How DARE he!
Leaning up tiredly and entirely pissed off, he looked over to the source of the sound, only to see the figure lounging nearby against a thin pillar that seemed to have come out of nowhere. He seemed to have a mouth now, his bright white teeth in a grin as he snacked blatantly on a large shank of mutton.
He…was eating…his…MEAT.
OH, THAT'S IT!
'Give it back!'
Luffy jumped up and pulled his arm back, letting his rubber limb stretch as far back as he could. 'GUM-GUM—!'
The boy didn't seem to worry much about the attack, only smirking devilishly. Fine then. He had his chance.
Luffy released his arm and it shot forward at super-fast speeds, picking up force as it continued on its path. 'PISTOL!'
He would teach this guy and knock him into next week!
Or at least that had been the plan until at the very last moment, the shadow stretched his body out the way dodging the attack, causing his fist to miss its target entirely and instead smash into the pillar behind him.
SLASH!
As it fell to the ground, the boy snicked as he relaxed from his new more comfortable position lounging in front of an even bigger pillar. He waved a finished bone back at the pirate.
'Missed me! Though I think you're gonna regret that, mate.'
'Shut up!'
Luffy attacked again, this time intending to speed up his attack towards his enemy. However, just like the last time, while his aim was perfect his opponent was just too quick, and once again another pillar fell to the ground broken into pieces.
CRACK!
Ugh! If he could just stop the shadow boy from moving he could finally hit him!
But no matter what he did, the other was just too quick for him! He seemed to move and slither and stretch out of the way of each attack or grapple. Even if Luffy tried to trap him or just charge at him headlong, nothing worked. The guy was just too slippery! It was so annoying! It was almost like he was made of rubber too!
But Luffy was never one to give it up!
BANG!
SWAAP!
BOOM!
BAM!
SMASH!
THWACK!
Six more times he tried but each time he missed, only for his fist to instead destroy the many strangely shaped pillars and mounds that the boy always seemed to be lingering around.
Breathing heavily, Luffy clenched his fist and his jaw in anger and frustration. What was going on? Why couldn't he hit this guy? He was just a little weakling and yet it was almost like he was toying with him! Ugh!
The boy had just hopped away again and this time he stood in the open, hands in his shadow pockets with a wide Cheshire grin on his face.
'You doing okay, pirate brat? Don't you think you've done enough?'
The term "pirate brat" irked Luffy for some reason, and he was nowhere near done!
He had yet to go into any of his gears yet. He didn't think he'd need it for this guy! But he was tired of this, and he was tired of this kid laughing! He was going to get serious now!
'I haven't done anything yet! But I will! Just you watch!'
The shadow boy tapped the side of his cheek in question, 'Are you sure about that?'
'Lu-cough-Luffy…'
A new voice called out from nearby.
A woman's voice.
A very familiar woman's voice.
However this voice was not the strong, dry, smart, compassionate dulcet tones that Luffy was used to hearing, but one that sounded boughed down with pain—a sticky, squelchy, and wet pain.
The sound of this voice was like an electric rod across his spine, and Luffy's face went blank, his eyes huge with confused horror. Slowly he turned towards the voice, his movements jerking and staggered as if his body wasn't sure what to expect, was scared to find out, but had to see anyway.
Wide brown eyes finally turned and looked down to the ground—and then wished that they hadn't.
On the ground, in a pool of crimson blood, lay the crumpled form of a brunette woman. She had been dressed in a black and leopard-print outfit, but it was hard to see much of it past the blood coming from the hole in her abdomen. Her wide blue eyes were hazy, practically clouded over, but they looked up at the blue-shirted pirate captain with a look of both disbelief…and betrayal.
His body was paralyzed, but it wasn't out of not being able to recognize the person in front of him.
The world knew her by many names…
Demon of Ohara…Devil Child…Light of the Revolution…Ms. All-Sunday…and newest of all…archeologist/historian of the StrawHat Pirates.
For Luffy, he only knew her by one.
'ROBIIIIINNNN!'
Suddenly as if the world had been allowed to continue again, his body moved of its own accord and he ran to her side. Despite the slippery blood, he gathered the body of Nico Robin into his arms.
Why? Why was there so much blood?!
Tears were already welling hot and heavy and he bit hard at his lip. He'd tried to put pressure on her wound only for more blood to gush out. He felt panic and anguish rise up in him.
What happened to her? Who had done this to his precious crewmate?! 'ROBIN! Robin, please! Hold on! I'm gonna get you some help!'
She tried to speak, but every time she did, more claret liquid spilled from her mouth. 'C-Captain…why?'
Luffy didn't even quite comprehend her words, but the terror and dismay that bubbled up inside took all of his attention. 'Hold on Robin! I'll get you to Chopper. He'll fix you up, I promise.'
The woman coughed up more blood and she grabbed onto his arm, her nails sharp against his skin, pulling his attention. This time when she looked up at him though, her clouded blue eyes were full of accusation. 'L-Luffy…cough, cough—Ch…Chopper's dead.'
The Monkey child jerked back as if stung. What was she talking about? Chopper wasn't dead, he couldn't be dead! He was his doctor! He had to be alive! He had to save Robin!
Nico Robin's voice was as sharp as it could possibly be while one was in the process of exsanguination.
'H-H-He's dead. They…They're all dead. You killed…us all.'
Luffy couldn't move, his entire being wanted to jump away, not sure why she would say such horrible things. To demand that she take those words back. He would never hurt his precious friends…his crew. His family. How could she even suggest that?
His head was pounding. There was such a loud roaring in his ears.
Maybe it was because she was losing so much blood? Yeah, that had to be it.
'It's okay Robin, losing all this blood is just making your head fuzzy. Just let me—'
As he tried to gather her up in her arms, she flinched and cried out in agony and he lost his grip. He gazed down at her, lost as to how to get her to help without hurting her. 'I'm sorry!'
She gritted her teeth and looked up at him, this time in anger. This time in venomous defiance and with a surge of strength, she spit in his face.
The blood landed squarely on his cheek, but he made no move to remove it.
'L-Look around you…Captain! See…what you've done…gasp…with your own hands.'
As if triggered by her words, the shadows that had been over the surrounding void, seemed to lift from all around him. And with them, they revealed their gruesome and grisly secret.
The pillars and mounds that had been spread across the area…the ones he had shattered with his punches in an effort to destroy his enemy?
Those weren't pillars.
Once the darkness receded, it revealed the bodies of seven others.
And not just any bodies.
Eight of them in total including that of Nico Robin were strewn across the black veldt.
Lying near Robin was the broken body of the StrawHat Pirates' doctor, Tony Tony Chopper. He still lay in his Monster Point form, but his limbs were all twisted at wrong angles. Blood poured from his body and his mouth and his once-shining eyes were now empty. From the position of his head and neck, he had died almost instantly.
Slightly further away from him, a young woman's body rested. Her large chestnut brown eyes stared blankly upwards, frozen in a visual plea for help. The tears on her cheeks were still fresh to the point that they were still drying on her paling flesh. Her tangerine tresses were stained red from the blow that killed her.
Further on it just got worse.
A body of metal and flesh had been shattered into many various pieces. The vague smattering of blue hair and the tattered remains of a shirt were the only evidence that this being had ever been human…
A blond man whose face was so ravaged, that it was now unrecognizable, though his black suit he had worn was still mostly spotless…
A black-haired boy who looked like all his bones had been broken, visage still fear-bound as blood congealed from a wound in his chest…
One "body" was just a pile of bones that looked like they had been pulverized beyond recognition, tatters of black cloth, a top hat, and a silver-tipped cane were intermixed within…
The very last of the eight was the one that appeared outwardly to be the least damaged. The man's form simply lay there without any defensive wounds, as if he had taken the attack with no resistance. Indeed, the three swords hanging from his waist still sat undrawn within their sheaths. No blood spilled from his flesh, but dark black bruises could be seen covering him from head to foot. If one were to feel the area of the contusions, it would have felt similar to mush in their hands as the internal damage was vast and had ultimately led to the man's death.
Viridian hair shadowed his hardened, still face, which showed no sign of fear, anger, or sadness, but rather resignation.
These seven pirates lay dead before their captain, the last of them—Robin—was in the process of joining them, her body already beginning to shut down.
To say that Luffy was horror-stricken would be far too tame a word.
He tried to breathe, but every gasp was strangled almost before it could begin. He began to hyperventilate, his pupils barely pinpricks in a field of brown. Panic had shifted into shock and hysteria. A cold sweat raged over his entire quivering body.
No…No!
NO!
This could not be happening! This COULD NOT happen!
This was a dream! It HAS to be a dream!
Please…he couldn't lose them. Not his precious, precious friends…his crew…!
Zoro, Brook, Usopp, Sanji, Franky, Nami, Chopper, Robin—each he had carefully chosen and they had chosen him as their captain. He was responsible for them. He couldn't be Pirate King without them! He couldn't do anything without them! Why did this…how could this….WHO HAD DONE THIS?!
Robin coughed again, reminding the boy that at least one of his crewmates still lived and he became hyper-focused, pressing down with pressure on her wound and trying to keep the red liquid from escaping.
'Robin, Robin, please stay with me. Please! I need you to live, remember? Remember? You told me you wanted to live. So live, I'm begging you!' He pleaded with her sobbingly. He was unknowingly long past crying at this point. His entire face was drenched and mucus ran freely down his nose.
However, it was far too late for the brunette woman. She knew it and in the back of his mind, the rubber boy knew it too.
With her last breaths, she laughed sardonically, her eyes barely meeting that of the D bearer. 'I-If you wanted me….gasp….to live so badly….why did you kill me?'
He shook his head violently, his eyes blown wide. He'd never do that! He couldn't've!
Her body suddenly seized, her back arched, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She contorted a couple more times before, like a marionette who had had its strings cut, her body went limp and detached. Her hand collapsed to the ground—lifeless.
Luffy sniffed and observed her like an uncertain baby animal, unsure of what to do. He shook the woman, calling out her name hesitantly…fearfully.
'Robin?'
There was no response.
'Please…please say something.' His voice was quieter now.
Nothing.
He was desperate now, even willing to beg.'Please….Please don't leave me.'
He bawled loudly, looking at all the dead bodies of his dead comrades around him, in shock and at a loss at what to do, He gathered up Robin's body to him, not caring as her blood soaked into his clothes and marked his skin, and he wept and wailed and howled. His heart fragmenting and splintering into shards.
Why?
He was their captain. How could he have let this happen?
What was wrong with him?
He couldn't save…any of them!
'Shishishi!'
The sound of laughter broke through the boy's anguish, almost making a mockery of his sorrow. Luffy in seeing his dead crew, had forgotten about the boy made of shadow. The boy who had started all this. The one who was responsible .
The shadow continued to laugh even as Luffy carefully laid Robin to the ground, placing her hands reverently together across her abdomen and carefully closing her eyes before standing on his two feet.
His back straight and shoulders ridged, he turned and faced his enemy. To anyone who looked upon him, he would have appeared an absolute fright. His shirt and shorts had been turned nearly black with blood. It marked his arms, legs, and face, his hands were painted scarlet. His raven hair shadowed his tear-stained staid face, even the straw hat that swung at the hollow of his back seemed to be less bright than it once was.
He spoke quietly to his enemy, 'You…you did this?'
The boy seemed almost to raise a questioning eyebrow at him, smiling knowingly. 'Me? I didn't do anything. It's as Robin told you. You are the one who did all this. It's your fault.'
'Liar!' Luffy spit out venomously, 'I would never hurt my crew!'
The other didn't seem to be afraid of his rising anger and only crossed his arms deliberately. 'Don't you remember?'
He walked up closer to where Luffy stood, walking casually over the line of bodies to where the rubber boy stood trembling with rage. He stopped about a yard away. 'You were trying to hurt me, but every time you attacked me, you didn't hit ME did you?'
The words began to sink into the pirate's head, and even to his simple mind wracked with grief, these casual words struck like lightning. 'B-But those were…they could be…I didn't…!'
The shadow began to circle him, his arms still crossed in mock deliberation. 'Each crewmate stood at my back. They were protecting me. And you thoughtlessly destroyed each and every one of them—with your own hands.'
Luffy had never before considered the environment when he fought, he had been trying to hit his enemy! He hadn't seen anyone behind him! They only looked like pillars, mountains, nothing of any consequence! How was he to know that they were…how could he have known?! Why would they protect the other anyway?! They had to have been tricked! He had been tricked!
Anger and denial, guilt and grief, all of it roiled in a giant maelstrom inside of Luffy and ultimately it was anger that rose up the strongest among them. Outrage built up strong and hot within him, his blood boiling with rage and vengeance.
He swung around, his bloodstained hand balled into tight fists, his face pulled back into a vicious snarl and murder in his russet eyes. He faced his enemy who now stood casually a few meters behind him.
'You did this! You made me do this!'
Still not at all worried, the other shadow boy shrugged before leaning on a nearby leaning mountain that had appeared behind him. 'I didn't make you do anything. I'm a "weakling", remember?'
Luffy was done listening, robbed of conscious thought and fully in Wrath's embrace. He charged at the other, livid, his body already going into Gear 2, his body glowing and steam rising from his flesh.
'THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!'
The other boy tutted him, clicking his tongue in disapproval and forewarning. 'I don't think you wanna do that.'
But Luffy didn't stop. Using his increased speed, he threw his fists back.
'GUM-GUM TWIN JET PISTOL!'
He attacked the other boy with ferocity, making sure to remember the shadow's maneuverability. This time, even as the other moved out of the way, he controlled his fists' trajectory, using one to block escape and knocking one arm into the other, using the momentum of the attack to cause his fist to swing around his captive and the mountain repeatedly, trapping him in place.
The shadow boy was strapped down by the rubber arm and had nowhere to run. Luffy wasn't going to hold back. He was going to kill him!
Retracting his free limb, he viciously bit into his thumb and blew air into his arm, going into Gear 3.
It was honestly unnecessary for a foe that was only the same size as himself, but Luffy was beyond caring about that at this point.
The shadow merely laughed with that white Cheshire grin once more appearing on his face. 'Last chance. You're gonna be sorry!'
'SHUT UP!' Luffy yelled back in, his eyes seeing red, his arm now gigantic in size. 'You're gonna PAY! GUM-GUM—!'
He threw back his giant fist before punching forward with all the strength he had!
'GIANT PISTOL!'
The attack rang true, hitting dead center.
Hitting the shadow full-on, the impact also continued through to the mountain behind him, its dark form crumbling from the huge hole that had now been made in its center.
The rubber boy breathed heavily as his body adjusted from coming out of its gears. The arm that had been restraining the enemy retracted back into place. He tried to retract his giant pistol arm, but it was a bit wedged into the mountain and would need a bit of maneuvering to become dislodged. No matter. His stamina was shot, but he didn't care. He had destroyed the bastard and gotten payback for his friends. That's all that—
Suddenly an arm was laid across his shoulder, that Cheshire grin whispering into his ear. 'Did you really think that I would ever let you go? Did you think I'd ever set you free?'
Luffy jumped in shock, ripping his trapped arm out and back into place before bolting away. His eyes widened and were unsettled to see the boy standing behind him, no worse for wear. But how? How could he still have escaped his attack?!
The shadow boy continued commenting on the situation, answering his own question with a shrug. 'Sorry but if you did, I'm sad to say, it simply isn't so. You will never get away from me. It's impossible.'
The fury reignited and Luffy was both happy and annoyed that his target could still take even more punishment! However, even as his grin became maniacal and he once more clenched his fists in preparation to keep fighting (stamina be damned!), he noticed that his right hand was incredibly hot and wet.
Looking down at it with mild concern, thinking maybe something had happened to it when he had done his giant pistol attack, he saw that for some reason it now looked distinctly different from his left.
This one was now coated in a new bright fresh red hot layer of blood…
So thick was it, that it dripped from off his fingertips onto the ground.
Luffy could only stare at it, baffled. He was sure it wasn't his blood. He was made of rubber, he wouldn't have—
Realization kicked in. All the pillars before hadn't been pillars at all.
What if the mountain—?
Abject fear took over the pirate's body and he ran to where the dust was still settling, panic taking over. No, no, no, no, no, no….please…not again.
The shadow watched him rush over in dismay, frenzy, and fearful dread. He whispered somberly. 'I tried to warn you.'
He stood still and unmoving as the moans of desperation became screams of denial and pleas of non-acceptance as the pirate discovered what he had done. Unrestrained sobs and outcries of speech eventually became so intermixed that no understanding could be taken from it any longer. They were heartrending wails that would have torn at the very soul of any who heard.
Reservedly, the shadow approached as the dust fully dissipated, fully revealing the tragic harrowing scene.
The StrawHat pirate captain had collapsed once again on his knees. At this point, he was nearly unrecognizable, covered in grime from the fight, bloody from head to toe, and tears and mucus marring his face. The shadow knew that the deaths of his entire crew had shattered something within the boy, but this death would be the coup de grâce.
The boy clutched at the body of a young man, a few years older than he, with a lanky stature, but prominent musculature, his dark hair covering a smiling but peaceful face hidden under an orange cowboy hat, a string of red beads at his neck. A giant fist had punctured the man's bare torso, destroying flesh and bone, heart and lung, causing rivers of scarlet to soak into the ground and into the boy who held him. The man was dead.
Killed by his own brother.
Luffy's psyche was breaking, his mind wasn't built to deal with this. He couldn't lose Ace. Ace was his brother. The only family he had left. He was ALL that he had left. He'd promised that he wouldn't die. That he wouldn't leave him. Why?
Why?!
He had thought this all a dream.
This is not a dream—it was a neverending nightmare.
He watched the shadow boy approach and could only shakily look up at him, clasping his brother's body close to him. He mumbled desperately through the sobs. 'This is all your fault. Give him back…Give them ALL back!'
The shadow shrugged, 'Their deaths are on your hands. Your crew died because of you. Ace died because of you.'
An animalistic roar ripped from Luffy's throat and he flung himself at the shadow. This time, he allowed himself to be caught and pressed into the ground with the pirate's hands around his throat. Traumatized, broken, and enraged, Luffy yelled at the other as he simultaneously tried to wring his neck and bash his brains in, all sense gone from his head.
'THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!' He yelled into the shadow's face, nearly foaming at the mouth.
The shadow only smiled joylessly. His body shifted and changed, shadow becoming flesh. As he transformed, Luffy froze, his movement suspended as he looked down into a face that was now identical to his own. The shadow became his doppelganger, though his eyes were now dark blue and his hair a stark white.
The other Luffy looked up at him knowingly, speaking a truth that perhaps should have been obvious from the beginning.
'But can't you see? You are me.'
The other him then vanished leaving Luffy alone, surrounded by the bodies of all of those he held dear.
Laying there desolate and forsaken, his mind began to unravel even further. There was no one left to blame. No one left to direct his anguish and ire.
No one that is…except himself.
He looked horrifyingly at his own blood-soaked hands, feeling his brother's life's essence sticking to his flesh. It burned like acid.
It was him.
He had done it. He had killed his big brother. He had killed his crew.
He was the weakling. He was the selfish one.
It was his fault.
It was all his fault.
CRACK.
Everything in him broke. His eyes went blank and he screamed. He screamed and screamed and screamed even as his throat became raw.
It was all he could do.
.
.
.
Polar Tang Infirmary, Rocky Bay in Amazon Lily
Law sat at his desk going over some reports when a loud strangled scream ripped through the air, startling him and having him take up his sword on instinct. However, after a moment of observation, he calmed and lowered his guard. Instead, he thought to himself: well, it's about time.
His infirmary was set up as a place for patients that needed overnight observation or OR recovery patients that were still in a precarious condition to stay, while also housing his desk, records, and some of his standard equipment. It was also used of course as the standard sickbay for non-surgical and non-emergency medical treatment.
He had had StrawHat placed here after surgery rather than in a personal patient room since, even though he had awakened once briefly, the teenage pirate had slipped right back into a coma. It was concerning and so Law had decided to keep him in the infirmary where an eye could be kept on him.
Now he had to admit that he had expected him to wake gradually from the coma, similar to how he had done a week ago. So while he had expected StrawHat's awakening sooner than later, he hadn't expected it to be so abrupt.
The kid was wide awake this time and seemed to be in the midst of a disoriented panic. His eyes were moving in every direction wildly, and he was trying to sit up but the pain, the many wires and tubes, and the restraints (one could never be too sure after "The Incident") were making it difficult. Not to mention that all those aforementioned tubes and wires were quite invasive to the average person, and their unknown appearance on and in one's body would cause distress in even the best of times.
Normally, Law would have his medical assistants and nurses take over this process when a patient awoke, but his entire crew was on shore leave (the small amount they could have on Amazon Lily) while their ship was moored in the bay and so he just so happened to be the only one left on board. But no matter, he was a doctor, he would never ask his crew to do a task that he wasn't able to do himself.
He walked quickly over to StrawHat and immediately began to do his best to hush and calm him while trying to help him get acclimated. "Calm down, StrawHat. Breathe with me okay? You're not in danger. I mean you no harm. You're safe."
The words didn't quite seem to reach the teen, who was still in the midst of a panic and couldn't quite seem to focus on any one thing, let alone Law himself. He seemed to want to speak, but his words were garbled by all the tubes that were currently down his throat.
Law didn't let this concern him and continued his actions smoothly. Still speaking calmingly and soothingly, he quickly began to disengage many of the different medical attachments that had been given to the pirate in order to maintain his life while he was unconscious. Breathing tube, catheter, nasogastric tube, and multiple IVs, Law began to remove them each one at a time. Normally, this would probably be a pretty painful process and he'd have rather done it when his patient was either still unconscious or gradually as they were in that groggy semi-conscious state. But he was trained to always expect the unexpected.
He left the restraints for last as he worked quickly but thoroughly. Once he was done (even using Chambres to put a pair of pants on him) with the exception of a single IV he left for fluids, he finally released the young pirate.
Immediately StrawHat jerked up to a sitting position coughing roughly from his agitated throat. His breathing was much too fast, his body trembling and heaving under his many bandages, and his eyes were severely dilated. He was glancing all over the room, nearly frenzied and delirious. Something had clearly terrified the kid, but the doctor couldn't tell if it was from the memories and trauma of the Paramount War, some kind of nosocomephobia, or something completely unrelated.
Well, whatever it was, Law had to break him out of it before he lost consciousness and they were right back where they started.
Without preamble, he grabbed the younger pirate captain by his shoulders and turned him towards himself, and without preamble, slapped him solidly in the face! Not enough to cause more injuries of course, but enough to gain his attention.
And as he hoped, it worked. The raven-haired boy stilled and his breathing got a chance to catch up. He still seemed to not be focusing or even truly noticing him though.
Trafalgar got closer while absently checking his patient's eyes, pulse, and responsiveness. He attempted to draw his attention, "StrawHat?"
There was no response, the boy's brown eyes still were unfocused and undiscerning.
"StrawHat!"
Still nothing. He'd have to change tactics.
"Luffy!"
This time he succeeded. The other captain began to finally blink and focus, even if it was just barely.
Law decided it was enough of a response to press on. He asked gently, continuing to use the name the boy seemed to best respond to, "Luffy, do you remember who I am?"
The black-haired pirate still seemed to be looking almost past him, his gaze not quite vacant, but haunted. He shook his head ever so slightly.
Well, at least he seemed to be able to hear and respond.
"My name is Trafalgar Law, of the Heart Pirates. What's the last thing you remember?"
The vacant look continued, so Law changed tactics again.
"Luffy, do you remember how you got here?"
This time StrawHat actually spoke, even if it was barely a whisper. "My crew…"
A captain's life's blood was his crew, so Law could understand that being the other's first thought and concern. Also being able to verbally respond to questions was good progress, so he encouraged it even as he took the moment to check over Strawhat's dilated eyes with his penlight. "Hmm? Go on."
Another groggy whisper, "Where's my crew?"
Law answered truthfully, "I'm not sure. Do you remember what happened on Sabaody?"
"Sabaody…?"
"Yes, that's where we met. Remember the Human Auction House? You punched a Celestial Dragon in the face?"
Finally, some sense of recognition came to the boy's face. "Sabaody…the bear guy…he separated us all…"
The "bear guy"? Was he talking about Bepo or the Warlord Bartholomew Kuma?
StrawHat seemed to realize something and his entire body relaxed in relief as if a great burden had been lifted. "That's right…they're alive. I'm alive, so they have to be too….it really was just a dream. That's all…only a dream."
Law only continued to observe him as he took shuddering breaths and was finally making an effort to compose himself. He wasn't really in any position to comment on being plagued by bad dreams. He had had enough of his own.
The young rubber pirate closed his eyes and hunched over, placing his hands against his forehead, and taking deep breaths. Even as he seemed to be getting his bearings, his body was still trembling and his respiration process was still ragged.
It was then that he asked Law a question that he really wished he hadn't.
Luffy was all kinds of confused. His body was in huge amounts of pain, but even that took a backseat to the fact that his mind was more traumatically scrambled than a plate of Makino's delicious eggs.
The world of the unknown he was currently in and the world of his horrible dream turned nightmare overshadowed each other, almost merging, and the key perceptive talent that allowed him to decipher between truth and fiction, the real from the illusory, had all but failed him.
There was somebody near him, someone somewhat familiar that was asking him questions, but Luffy couldn't quite get a grasp on who they were or what they were asking. His eyes were open, but all he could see was the dead bodies of everyone he loved and their blood on his hands.
The word "Sabaody" had awoken the memory of what had happened to him and his crew, reminding him of the event that had already been etched into his brain. The bear warlord guy had sent him flying for days until he had ended up on an island far from where he started, and he remembered that if he had done so with him, then the same applied to the rest of his crew. They had all been defeated and lost and it was absolutely Luffy's fault…but even still…
They weren't dead. They hadn't been killed by his own hands.
It was all a dream. Only a dream.
He knew this and yet his body continued to tremble with cold sweat, and his mind was so muddled that he barely knew what to do with himself. He hadn't felt this weak and helpless in a long time. Hadn't been this consumed by nightmares since Sabo's death. The seventeen-year-old struggled with what to do and how to handle the mental collapse. Eventually, he could only rely on hardwired instincts and sought out the only constant source of comfort and safety that his mind knew.
And so, almost childlike in his plea, he asked, "Do you know where my brother is? Can you take me to him?"
No matter what Ace was doing (even if he tried to act as if it was an annoyance), his big brother always had time for him. Especially when he really needed him. He always knew just what to do. He would clear all this up and make everything better.
The other familiar person in the room, whom Luffy could both see and not, seemed to hesitate for a while in his answer.
Lu had begun to worry if the man was going to answer at all before he spoke again with that cold, clinical, and yet human voice of his.
"StrawHa—Luffy, do you remember what happened right before you lost consciousness?"
Well, of course not. He could barely get a grasp on reality as it was. He didn't even know he had—what had he said?—"lost consciousness".
When he didn't respond, the man asked, "Do you remember the war?"
War?
What wa—?
Suddenly the sounds of yelling, and flashes of explosions, gunfire, smoke, and debris pierced through his head.
'Stay back! Luffy!'
The teen held his head in his hands as a headache pounded at his brain. He mewled rather pathetically, "P-Please, just tell me where Ace is. Please tell him I need to see him."
Strong but considerate hands took hold of his head and angled it upward. He found himself face to face with a pair of somber eyes that in one light appeared silver, and in another light appeared gold.
"StrawHat-ya…listen to me."
Brown eyes managed to meet them.
A voice, both thoughtful and yet matter-of-fact, said forthrightly, "You were in a war. A war with pirates and marines. In that war, your brother…FireFist-ya…was killed."
The words once again triggered another jumble of scenes to flash through his head. This time there is fire and blood—so, so much blood. Crimson claret coating his hands, was juxtaposed by a wide Cheshire grin.
'I'm sorry…Luffy.'
'Their deaths are on your hands. Your crew died because of you. Ace died because of you.'
'I'm sorry you didn't get to save me.'
'I didn't make you do anything. I'm a 'weakling', remember?'
'Thank you…for loving me.'
'Can't you see? You are me.'
It was all too much! Too much!
His automatic response was a violent one as in one quick unpredictable move, he jumped up from the bed so fast that the IV was ripped out of his skin! He barely even noticed.
He kept the bed between himself and the other man—the liar!—in the room. The gray-gold-eyed man only watched him, keeping his distance.
Luffy growled, "Where is Ace? Tell me now!"
Ace wasn't dead. It was a dream! Only a dream!
The response wasn't a satisfactory one.
The man only placed his hands in his pockets, his expression stalwart and passive. "No matter how many times you ask, the answer will still be the same."
Luffy decided he wasn't going to get answers here. He had to find Ace. His big brother would be able to fix everything.
And with that, without having any sort of direction in mind, he ran out of the room without a single look back.
An Hour Later, Outside on the Rocky Bay, Amazon Lily
"ACE!"
"Hey! Stop that! Calm down, StrawHat!"
"Where are you going?! Stop that! FireFist is already…"
"AAAAAAAH! ACE! WHERE ARE YOU?! ACE!"
"He's uncontrollable! StrawHat, stop!"
Law watched as his men chased after the rubber pirate captain who was running into the nearby forest.
After StrawHat had responded "strongly" to his words in the infirmary, he had run all over the Polar Tang before eventually finding his way off the ship and onto land.
It was obvious that his emotional turmoil was overriding his body's physical shutoff switches, and he didn't seem to be aware of the damage he was causing by all his reckless running around and fighting back against his crew.
Law outwardly acted indifferent and aloof to the other pirate's behavior, but inwardly he was getting rather annoyed at the heedless undoing of all his hard work. The response was understandable of course, but the lack of care for his own survival, still irked him.
A recovering Jinbe sat opposite him on the grass and was also watching with worried eyes. He asked, "What will happen if we leave him alone?"
The kid was in the middle of a mental breakdown due to all the traumatic stress. If they left him alone long enough, it would progress into extreme depression and possibly even psychosis. None of that was really Law's field of expertise, but he had both seen and experienced enough to know the dangerous road StrawHat's unaddressed grief would take him. The test would come once the grieving process truly began. Right now, the kid was still firmly in the denial phase.
For now, he would only speak for his own area of specialty. "Simply put…if his wounds reopen, he could die."
He didn't like to mince words, especially when it came to medicine. He had allowed himself to soften a bit when talking to StrawHat, as it didn't take much to sense how fragile his mind was. But that wasn't really his usual modus operandi.
If the ex-warlord needed more, he would tell him straight up. The teen was still healing, in fact, he really shouldn't be out of bed. While, because of his constitution and devil fruit, his healing factor would probably be faster than most, he would still need weeks if not months to fully recover from his wounds. And now was an especially dangerous time, as his sutures were still holding his incisions together and could easily rip and open up causing him to bleed out. This of course also meant that he was quite susceptible to infection, which was just as, if not more dangerous than exsanguination.
However, the Fishman didn't inquire further, and only seemed to sink into worried thought, probably already knowing everything that the surgeon had left unsaid. He wasn't sure about the older pirate's motives, and he didn't really care to ask, but the male had risked his life and even shielded StrawHat with his own body, so he had to have at least some vested interest in the adolescent's survival.
Law turned and watched as his crew lost sight of Monkey D. Luffy, not able to keep up with his frantic attempts of evasion. He gave a signal for them to come back and let the boy alone. Nothing they said or did was going to get through to the wounded pirate right now, and taking him back by force would only harm both them and him.
He sent someone to let the Snake Empress know that Luffy was awake while the rest of his men went back to discussing random things and doing whatever they had been doing. Law and Jinbe continued to sit in comfortable silence. After a few contemplative minutes however, the atmosphere was suddenly broken by the cacophony of far-off splitting timber, shattered rock, the crash of entire sections of the earth being upturned, and in the midst of it all, comparatively fainter, the sound of high-pitched anguished cries could be heard.
This seemed to make up the Fishman's mind and he stood from his place and silently and morosely made his way towards the sounds' origin, in the direction the StrawHat captain had disappeared in.
A few minutes later
With both StrawHat and the First Son of the Sea gone, the Heart Pirates were left on their own. Law ignored his crew as they discussed the Amazonian warriors, Amazon Lily, and everything else trivial. His mind was filtering through several things at once.
First and foremost, his thoughts surrounded his patient, who had charged off in an emotionally stressful and broken mess toward the wilds of the island. Though considering his status, he may not be his patient for much longer, one way or the other. If he continued as he was, he would injure himself, split his sutures, and bleed out. He was alive enough that he could move and was conscious, but he was in no way recovered nor out of danger.
But even if that didn't happen, he would have to leave eventually. He had his own plans that he had put on pause for a whim, though there were future potentials that could be taken advantage of if StrawHat survived. Law still held onto the younger kid's namesake hat that had been passed to him by the red-haired pirate emperor. The 17-year-old had been so mentally distraught when he awoke and ran off that he never even glanced at the thing.
Law examined it thoughtfully in his hands. The hat was obviously well-worn and well-loved, having been repaired multiple times and retouched and resown. It showed frayed edges but it also showed care. It was bright and yellow like the sun, but also was covered with bits of grime and blood and smelled of smoke and burnt flesh. It was very much like its bearer.
A bright and sunny and nearly mythic individual, who had become covered and spattered and bogged down with the tragedies that life had pilled on him. He was still very much intrigued by StrawHat, but he did not envy him. He empathized with him–very much so–but he would not go through that pain again for the world.
As he continued to dwell on the mystery that was StrawHat Luffy, as well as intermittent memories of his own past, something in the sky caught his eye. Standing up from his spot, the man's eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at.
Bepo approached from behind him looking up in the same direction, "What is that? It looks like a bird?"
Sachi looked up, shading his eyes with his hand. "What kind of bird is that? It's blue! And it looks like it's completely on fire!"
Law rolled his eyes. Was it only he who paid attention to things? He called out to his entire crew. "Look alive, and keep on your toes. We've got company."
And powerful company at that.
There was only one man in the entire world who took the form of a mythical fiery blue bird of prey. Though what he was doing here, Law had no idea. Was he concerned about the fate of FireFist's brother?
An ear-piercing raptor's scream resounded across the sky and the Heart Pirates gathered nervously closer to him as a huge fiery phoenix soared overhead. Its sharp golden eyes honed in on Law and he met its gaze with a pensive look of his own. The bird only smiled.
Without warning, the bird dropped into a dive and many of the newer members of his men yelled out, scrambling to get out of the way, but thankfully all the veterans stood firm, following his lead even if they were nervous.
Law continued to stand his ground. If the older pirate had wanted to pick a fight, this was the worst way to do so. And while he didn't know a lot about the complicated intricacies of the Whitebeard Pirates, he did know that Marco the Phoenix was anything but stupid.
Besides, he figured that they owed him a favor for services rendered, if not at least the assurance of nonaggression toward him and his.
As expected the zoan user came out of his dive, about ten feet off the ground, and instead began to hover in midair. The large avian predator eyed them all and seemed to be searching for something—or someone—before partially transforming back into a hybrid human form.
The blond 1st commander—well perhaps captain now—made a dominating and intimidating figure flying over their heads, a chimera of fiery avian wings for arms, razor-sharp talons for feet, and what could be seen of his human torso was bathed in flame. The Heart Pirate captain could see why the veteran pirate was one of the most infamous on the seas. The man was notoriously hard to read, but Law didn't sense any threat. In fact, if anything, if he had to guess, he would say the man was relieved if anything else.
The Whitebeard pirate didn't seem to want to leave them in suspense and called out to him from the air. "Trafalgar Law of the Heart Pirates, correct?"
He nodded in return, "Aye."
"A couple of weeks ago, near the war's end, you rescued StrawHat Luffy with the intent of protecting and treating him." The blond stared purposefully at the telling straw hat that Law still held in his hands. "Tell me, did he survive?"
Law's eyes narrowed. Normally, he wasn't one to share information about his patients, even their current status, unless it was absolutely necessary. However, somehow the Phoenix had tracked down their location and came all the way himself, showing that he was already well-informed. Also, there already were a number of individuals who knew the truth that could and would inform him anyway, so in the end, it wasn't much skin off his nose.
The surgeon solemnly nodded. "He lives." For now.
Phoenix's guarded visage opened a bit to reveal a relaxed smile and he gave off an assuaged inclination. "Thank you, you don't know how good that is to hear. We owe you one, Trafalgar."
Outwardly, Law remained unaffected, only giving a signal of acknowledgment, though inwardly, he smirked with satisfaction. Gaining the favor of the Whitebeard clan—and from their new captain no less—was still a valuable commodity. Yes, it had depreciated somewhat with the war's ending outcome. But still, it was a strength that could be useful for his future plans.
He hadn't intended this when he'd decided to save StrawHat's life on an instinctive whim, but he'd be a fool to waste the opportunities that it afforded.
The Phoenix looked like he was about to ask something else, when like a switch, his demeanor completely changed, and the small traces of exhaustion and true emotion that Law had noted, disappeared behind a nonchalant, collected mask.
His eyes turned upward and away from them and he murmured, "Can you hold on for a moment?"
All of a sudden, the atmosphere shifted, and the Whitebeard captain suddenly increased his flame and the movement of his wings, picking up speed before suddenly shifting his entire body 180 degrees into an upside-down loop in an excellent show of aerial dexterity and prowess. The reason for doing so soon became clear as he used his now haki-laced talons to catch the powerful high-heeled, right-leg guillotine kick that had been aimed at his head!
Trafalgar's eyes widened at the scene in front of him as the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock, came out of absolutely nowhere, attacking the mythical zoan user. She was looking pretty irate while he continued to carry that calm, collected air as he deflected her infamous Perfume Femur attack, all the while kicking back, using the force of his flame and talons to push her away.
While he maintained his aeriform position, Hancock landed back on the ground, surrounded by her giant snake. Her sisters and a few of her forces were running to catch up to her, unsure of what happened, but armed and ready nonetheless.
Law turned and caught Hakugan and Penguin's eyes before indicating toward the ship below. The men nodded before subtly moving away and toward the Polar Tang. If this was going to turn into a battlefield between the Kuja and the Whitebeard remnant, he wanted no part of it. They would ready the ship to move at a moment's notice if things went south.
However, he was also willing to stick it out and see what happens. First, he was curious, and it seemed, for now at least, that the Phoenix had come alone. He still gave no indication that he had come for a fight. And second, despite his usual rule of emotional detachment, something didn't sit right with him in leaving StrawHat as he was in his current condition, at least not without giving someone trustworthy instructions on further care for him (if he didn't die of further injury and blood loss of course).
Hancock gazed up at the hovering blond pirate veteran in angry contempt. "Get off my island, Phoenix! You are not welcome here!"
Marco's presence remained unflappable, "I have no quarrel with you, Boa Hancock."
Hancock's eyes narrowed, the thought that the Whitebeards would get vengeance on the Warlords for their participation in the Paramount War had been the first thought that had crossed her mind, even though that wasn't like them. However, the presence of Marco the Phoenix on the Island of Women couldn't be taken lightly.
She continued harshly, "Whitebeard was passable as far as men go. I had assumed that he taught his sons that unless one wishes war, to respect the sovereignty of a pirate captain's ship and territory. Have you come for another war, Phoenix?"
Calling Whitebeard "passable" was a compliment as far as the Empress was concerned, so Marco didn't take offense to it. He instead simply replied, "As far as I can see, I haven't intruded on sovereign soil. As I said, I have no quarrel with you nor your people."
She glared up at him. "Then perhaps you are lost, you birdbrained man. This is Amazon Lily, MY domain! No man is allowed here, and that includes you! Get out!"
At this, the blond let out a small smirk before glancing down obviously at the Heart Pirate crew and its noticeable 99% male population. "Hmm, are you sure about that?"
The Kuja Pirate captain ground her teeth in anger and annoyance. Though her thoughts immediately went to her precious soon-to-be husband. She had to protect him at all costs and that included the doctor who was still treating him. It didn't make any sense for the Whitebeards to wish Luffy harm, but she wouldn't take chances.
"They are none of your concern. Get off my island."
"Well, the thing about that is, I'm not on your island. Also, my business has nothing to do with you. My business is with your guests."
The woman growled in outrage. "You simple, insufferable simpleton! The air is also ours!"
Marco raised a questioning eyebrow, "I'm pretty sure it's not."
Law smirked, technically he was right since the air was always neutral "ground" for the most part. No wonder the man had been constantly hovering since he'd arrived.
"Then allow me to ground you!"
The empress came at the flying zoan once again, and Law could only be impressed by her strength and ferocity. She didn't let the fact that her opponent was airborne stop her, able to reach great heights using the power of her legs and her agility with the terrain alone. If she had been against any other flying opponent, she might have had a chance.
But Marco the Phoenix wasn't any other pirate, and his power, age, and experience showed as he easily outmaneuvered her. The air was his domain and he handled aerial combat with flawless precision. He didn't return her attacks, however, and so in the end, they were right back where they started.
Hancock was more than annoyed. She couldn't let an invader stand, but she also knew that even with their loss at Marineford, the Whitebeards were not to be messed with. But she couldn't be seen to be giving ground either!
"I will ask you again, what do you want, Phoenix?"
Not commenting on the fact that she hadn't actually asked him that before in the first place, Marco didn't answer her but instead turned to Law, who was still standing on the shore, arms crossed, silently observing the whole affair.
"Captain Trafalgar?"
He was hesitant about getting pulled into this, but at the same time, he was intrigued by the events. And so he responded, "Hmm?"
"Permission to come aboard, Captain?"
Well, that was a surprise. He wasn't prepared to ferry the man around, but he highly doubted, that that was the man's purpose.
Hancock growled with outrage, her angry eyes turning to him. "Trafalgar!"
The ball was in his court and for Law there wasn't really that much of a decision to make. His relationship with the Kuja was tenuous and really only made possible by StrawHat. In comparison, having the favor of powerful figures like Marco the Phoenix and his ilk was much more valuable. Also, as long as he was the only one who could help StrawHat, the Snake Empress wouldn't touch him—and she knew it.
He turned towards her and shrugged his shoulders before giving his permission to the older man. "You can come aboard."
Hancock snarled in frustration even as the blond smirked before circling the submarine and lighting down upon the main deck. Passing StrawHat's hat to Bepo for safekeeping, Law picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it over to the deck before using his devil fruit to teleport over to the Polar Tang. He left his men as a bit of a peace offering. Boa had promised he and his men allowance of the bay for as long as it took to treat the StrawHat captain, and she wouldn't go back on her word. Leaving the men on the shore said that he trusted her to keep said word, though he wouldn't leave them for long, and Bepo and Sachi could take care of things if necessary.
The moment he came to the deck, the blond Whitebeard captain walked up to him while Boa chose to sit on her snake's coils and silently stare at them in a very pissed-off mood. Her sisters and an older Kuja woman came and spoke to her in what was quickly looking to become an argument with the stubborn woman.
As Marco approached, he transformed back into his full human form. Law had never been this close to the man, but even he could feel the air of power that the man held within him. He would be an idiot to say that he didn't consider it, but he also wasn't intimidated. This was his turf, and the Phoenix had respected that, just as much as the stewing Hancock had.
The blond offered his hand, "Sorry to get you involved in all this. Thank you for all you've done so far."
The black-haired northerner eyed the hand hesitantly before grasping it with his own.
However, the moment that he did so, the man grasped it firmly before suddenly pulling him forward in a half embrace! At the same time, something foreign, as light as a feather, transferred from his arm onto his own! Law started, not having expected the move or whatever the heck the blond was trying to pull, but before he could respond or push the man away, the Phoenix whispered into his ear.
"Don't be alarmed, that was a friend of mine. I'll keep the empress busy, my friend needs a safe place to unload his cargo."
He then pulled away and smiled casually, saying louder. "Thanks for letting me roost here for a while, it's been a long trip. And thanks for all you've done for StrawHat. He's very important to both of us."
Law frowned, noting the hint but not sure what all the subterfuge was about. He tried not to shiver at the feeling of the strange being that had currently shifted under his shirt. He subtly flipped the guy off before speaking out loud. "Don't make me regret it."
Marco subtly nodded in agreement before transforming again and flying to the roof of the observation room. As he returned to human form and relaxed his body into a lounging position on the top of the ship, he turned and winked at the brooding empress over on the shore before folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.
Law wasn't sure he had ever seen a woman turn red with anger so quickly before.
He noted that Bepo and Sachi had gotten the crew to calm down, but they were still pretty nervous being caught in the middle of this. He'd return to them as soon as he could. But first, he had to deal with the Phoenix's "friend". Let's hope that he hadn't signed up for more than he bargained for.
He turned and stalked through the main doors before opting to take the stairs rather than the elevator down to Deck 2. As he did, he pulled his hoodie off and noted the bizarre black shadowlike presence that had wrapped around his arm and traveled down his back.
He shook his limb out, "Alright, get off."
Suddenly two bright violet glowing eyes appeared within the black shadow! Yet, before he could even react, the shadow slipped off of him and headed ahead of him, slinking down the stairway and out of sight around the corner.
"Ay! Get back here!"
He struggled to get his shirt back on as he ran ahead to catch up to his intruding "guest". However, instead, it was Penguin and Hakugan who met him in the Deck 2 hall. They were both full of questions about what was going on, but Law quickly hushed them. "First, did you guys see a shadow creature go by?"
The two looked at each other in confusion before shaking their heads. Figures. "Alright, Hakugan, you go back down to the control room. Keep on standby. Penguin, you go to the observation room and keep an eye on the situation on the shore. There shouldn't be any problems for us but stay on guard just in case. Let me know the moment the situation changes."
Both saluted, "Aye, Captain!", before going about their tasks and leaving Law once again alone.
Okay, if he was a strange, shadow creature that was friends with Marco the Phoenix, where would he hide?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices coming from the door to his immediate right. The library…
Activating his devil fruit, he allowed the blue energy to whirl around in his hand. It was a precaution, but he hated it when he wasn't in control of his surroundings. Especially his OWN surroundings.
As he approached cautiously, he noted the presence of not one, but multiple voices inside. What the heck was going on here?
The first two voices were a male and a female, both sounded young and one strangely familiar.
"Ange, why do you look so weird?"
"In what way do I look 'weird' exactly?"
"What happened to your eyes, and your hair, and your skin? They all look sooo…normal."
"I think I'm just going to ignore that. Anyway, don't worry about it, it's temporary. I do it for my own safety. Now, can you let me help poor Scha?"
"Hmph, if you say so. And why do I have to wear this thing, again?"
A third voice, this one also male, but older and also vaguely familiar, spoke up.
"You know why, stop complaining."
"Ugh, can we just see Luffy now? You said we were here."
"Patience, Wildfire. We have company."
Suddenly the older male spoke louder, "Please come in, Trafalgar. We mean you no harm, I promise."
Startled by the conversation turning his way and surprised that someone had detected his presence, Law growled in annoyance before pushing the door open and turning the lights on. "Okay, what the hell is going on here? What are you people doing on my—"
He had only taken a single step into the room before he had to stop in his tracks. Of all the people that he had ever imagined invading his ship's library, this man definitely was not one of them.
There were indeed three people in the room. All three were wearing cloaks, though only two had their hoods up, their faces hidden. One was near the bookshelves, the other was sitting at the large reading table in the middle of the room. The last, who hadn't bothered to disguise his face at all, was sitting next to him on the table itself. Looking up at him with his arms crossed, sat the Dark King himself, Silvers Rayleigh.
He smiled wryly, "I didn't think we'd meet again so soon, but it seems fate had other plans. I'm sorry if we're imposing, Schaden said we had permission to come aboard."
Law struggled to shake himself out of his stupor. "W-Wait…who…who's Schaden?"
Rayleigh inclined his head to the corner near a bookshelf. It was there that he finally found the runaway shadow creature, though now it looked more like a vacillating hazy cloud, small purple sparks coming from off of it. Kneeling by its side was a cloaked figure (the female from what he could see of the physique) who was running her hands over and through the being.
He came over to stand next to her, looking apologetically over the creature. "He's a Cimmerian, a shade being that has the ability to teleport both himself and others. He was carrying us with him."
Well…wasn't that convenient…
This must have been the "cargo" Phoenix had been talking about.
Law was going to have to be more specific in his wording the next time he made allowances for who could come on his ship.
He raised an eyebrow, "Are there any more of you coming?"
The older legend shook his head, "No, it's just us. However, be sure we won't overstay our welcome. We're actually here for one Monkey D. Luffy. It's imperative that we see him. You being his attending physician, I was hoping you could tell us how he's doing and where we can find him?"
StrawHat sure was a lot more popular than he'd thought. At this point, he was pretty close to washing his hands of the whole affair. This was getting to be just a little bit too much. They wanted to know? He'd let them know.
He folded his arms before leaning back on a nearby bookcase. "As I told Phoenix, StrawHat survived the operation."
The concealed male who sat by Silvers' side appeared to breathe a sigh of relief.
Law continued. "After a few incidents during surgery, eventually we were finally able to get him stable, though he slipped into a coma right afterward and stayed that way for about a week. He came out of it a couple of times, only to slip back in it again. He only woke up from it fully about two hours ago."
The seated male immediately tried to get up, but the Dark King placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping him seated. "Let him finish, Wildfire. We need to get all the facts first to see what we're facing."
A "tch" could be heard, but it seemed that he was willing to wait a little longer and listen. The older man nodded for him to go on.
Law continued, subtly shoring himself, knowing he was coming to the more difficult bits. "I'm going to be blunt here. StrawHat's wounds were severe. He crashed multiple times on the table. I did all I could, but even after two weeks, he's still not out of danger. This is on top of the fact that he was completely traumatized by the war and how it ended. He's in the middle of a mental breakdown and it's beginning to decline into a psychotic break."
The room was now so quiet, you could hear a proverbial pin drop.
Rayleigh's demeanor had turned grave and his hand clasped the shoulder of the man next to him heavily. "Where is he now?"
Law hunched his shoulders with a sigh."I honestly have no idea. When he woke up he couldn't seem to be able to tell reality from illusion, the inciting incident being his brother's death of course. Though considering the severity of his condition, this has built up over time, and I'd say this was one traumatic incident too many for him. He kept asking for FireFist and when I finally had to tell him the truth, he reacted pretty adversely. He ran off, escaping all of us, and headed into the forest where the ex-Warlord Jinbe went after him. And I'll tell you like I told him: if StrawHat's wounds reopen, he'll die. Simple as that."
The heavy atmosphere of the room felt thick enough that one could cut it with a knife.
But it was broken just as quickly as the male who had been sitting all that time, jumped to his feet and stalked towards the door. Trafalgar noticed that his gait was a bit stiff and awkward but dauntless in its purpose.
Rayleigh grabbed the cloaked man's arm and this time there was a bit of resistance. The man snarled, his voice low and dangerous (Law was once again hit with a sense of déjà vu. He'd heard this voice before, but where?).
"Let me go–"
Rayleigh turned to the corner where the woman still sat with the shadow creature–Cimmerian–thing. "Schaden, I know you've been put through the wringer, but I need you to do one more trip."
A wheezing, creaking sound that sounded like the shifting of a settling house could be heard, and Law found himself fascinated. So the shadow had a form of audible communication? Interesting.
The Dark King also unsurprisingly could understand it. "All I ask is your best, tonight I'll personally get you the best dinner this island can afford. Give me a second to find Luffy's location."
Before the pirate captain could ask how, a blanketing blast of observation haki so strong that it could be felt, went out from the man, and true to his word, a second later, he reported back with a set of coordinates as well as landmarks.
He then turned to the cloaked figure, who had elected to impatiently wait once he saw what the old man's plan was. He said solemnly, "Schaden will take you to him, though the ride might be a bit bumpy. He only has one more trip in him. Make it count, kid. I'll come for the both of you later."
The male nodded sharply and he looked over to the hooded woman who had brought over the shadow cloud in her arms. Suddenly the cloud grew several times its original size and even while it crackled with unstable purple energy, it slowly surrounded the hooded male and with a sudden flash, they both disappeared!
Well, that wasn't something you see every day.
Once they were gone, Rayleigh turned to the Heart Pirate captain. "I'm going to go help Marco with Boa Hancock. Thank you so much for all you've already done."
He nodded blankly, not sure what else could be said.
The older man looked to the woman, "Can you stay here for a little while missy, while I go and smooth things over with the Kuja Empress?"
The woman nodded, already looking over the contents of the bookshelves. "Go ahead."
The older man nodded and walked out of the room, not seeming to need directions to know where to go.
Law watched him head up the stairs to the main deck and shook his head. What a day this had turned out to be. If he had known all this would happen when he'd volunteered to save StrawHat's life, he wondered if he'd still have done so.
Well, that was all in the past. No use dwelling on it.
Though now that the kid had several competent people who were willing to look after him, this meant that Law and his crew could probably depart soon and leave the rest to them. He could just leave the treatment instructions with one of them before he headed out. He'd detoured for long enough as it was.
Going back into the library to find his last "houseguest", he was surprised to see her struggling to grasp a book on one of the top shelves. A streak of concern came over him and he called out. "Hey, be careful!"
Unfortunately, this had the opposite desired effect.
"Ahhh!" The startled woman fell over and several books fell to the ground with her.
Working on instinct, Law rapidly cast his ROOM over the small space, before using Takt to quickly move the woman to one side, while moving the books to another. Once he had done that, he moved to dispel the whole thing before coming up to see the damage that had been done.
He thought to see to his precious books first, but some annoyingly nagging bit of conscience had him instead go over to where he'd thrown the lady. He goes and makes one decision on a whim and suddenly he was beginning to go soft. Go figure.
He stood over her, placing a hand on his hip. "You okay?"
She was brushing herself off and was trying to pick herself up from her sprawled position. "Yes, thank you. It's harder to get to the top shelves without a ladder."
He extended his hand to her to help her up and she grasped onto it. Conveniently enough, her hood had somehow stayed in place the whole time. She was a petite thing, about 5'9 in height with a slender build, and dressed in a light blue blouse and jeans underneath her cloak. Her skin was pale but he reasoned that wasn't unusual considering the North Blue accent he detected in her speech. 80% of people from the North were pretty pale.
But what was with all this cloak-and-dagger business, anyway? Yes, it wasn't really his affair, and he should keep out of it, but he was a doctor and curiosity was the life's blood of science.
Once she was on her feet, he went over to pick up his books and saw they were some of his more advanced medical texts. "Most people don't really read any of the books on the top shelf other than me, and I generally don't need a ladder to get them."
She bent over to help him gather the tomes. "You do have a pretty useful ability…and also a pretty extensive library." She turned to look at all the many shelves of books.
He raised an eyebrow, "You're interested in medicine?"
She gave off a bashful offhand laugh, "Oh, I'm sorry, we haven't really gotten a chance for introductions, have we? You see, I'm a—Oh wow! You have an original copy of the Canon Medicinae! Those are nearly impossible to find after the burning of the Libraries of Andriania!"
She held up the gigantic medical text, handling it like the treasure that it was. He was surprised, even many doctors he knew didn't care to go that in-depth in their research that they were interested in rare texts.
She then turned and apparently spied another book that had fallen a little to the side of him, "And is that La Chirurgie?!"
As she rushed over to pick it up, Law noticed that in her excitement she had completely missed the pile of books that were right in her path. "Hey, wait—!"
But it was too little too late as she toppled over and was sent sprawling over into Law himself. He let go of the book he was holding in order to catch her and the both of them fell to the floor in one tangled pile.
The woman moaned and clasped his shoulders in an attempt to right herself. Law himself didn't bother to move as since his body was cushioning hers, it would be much easier for her to rise first before he did. Interestingly, in this tumble, her hood had finally fallen off, revealing a head of fine auburn hair that fell along her shoulders.
As she gained her bearing, she stiffened with embarrassment as she realized exactly where she'd fallen. She tried to jump off him, but only succeded in elbowing him in the stomach and tripping over her own feet.
She shook her bowed head completely mortified. "I'm SO sorry! I didn't mean to—I mean, I'm usually not this clumsy, and—I just had never seen a–I mean—!"
Law let her keep stammering, finding the entire situation amusing, if not slightly charming. A woman who was an unapologetic medical bibliophile was a rare find. He wondered if she was an associate of Rayleigh or the Whitebeards, because he could use more women on his crew. If her medical prowess matched her interest, she would be a shoo-in, and he was pretty confident that he could entice her into joining.
He took a comforting hold of her shoulder in silent encouragement to bring her head up, even as his voice was purposefully teasing. "Hey, it's fine. It's not every day I get completely bowled over by a beautiful bru…nette…."
The words slowly died on his lips…
Because for the first time since they had been in the same room together, their eyes met.
Stormy golden gray and warm honeyed chestnut converged, and one and the other immediately became spellbound.
At that moment, words—for both of them—became completely meaningless.
A/N: 😈
Hehehe, yeah I'm leaving you guys off there!
So yes, FINALLY, we're having our parties meet! Most of this takes place around Ch 582 in the manga and many of the lines are lifted straight from there. Luffy's dream was inspired by a sequence and song called "Confrontation" in the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Broadway musical, and the title of the chapter also is taken from that as well.
I liked the idea of Luffy having to face a darker version of himself which is basically serving as the embodiment of his guilt and sense of weakness that he has accumulated since his loss as Sabaody and culminating in Ace's death.
The StrawHats are "killed" in the order they vanished from Sabaody. Starting with Zoro and ending with Robin, and I even tried to hint a little at that with the sound effect associated with Luffy's destructive blows to each of them.
Luffy, I have found, is the hardest of all the ASL to write for some reason. His simple mind is a little too simple for my writing style so it's difficult to "think Luffy", but I think I found a nice balance.
So now we have Ace on his way to Luffy, and Lily and Law having finally met face to face. I foresee no problems or angst going forward whatsoever.😏
Thank you so much for all my readers. It's been fun and I've enjoyed all your supporting comments and questions. I'm really excited for the next chapter! See you then!😁