I felt generous and posted double chapters today, and this is the last chapter I have done
Thanks for reading this so far!
xXx
Three weeks had passed since Luffy had been rescued from the Celestial Dragons, and he was very clearly different from how he was when he was with Ace and Sabo. Luffy rarely smiled and never really showed much emotion besides anxiety. Most of his bandages had been removed, his sea stone removed during the initial surgery, exposing his inflamed skin. His normal tanned flesh was a sickly pale color, and the smell of dried blood clung to his body. He was still incredibly skinny and small, his growth no doubt stunted due to his time as a slave. Marco had just cleared him to be able to take a bath as his wounds had mostly closed up.
"You're also free to go outside now, yoi. Just get your brothers to help you walk around, as you have minor atrophy from not being able to move around much, yoi." Luffy never really answered him, only giving a short nod.
Ace and Sabo helped Luffy out of the hospital bed, his oily hair brushing against Ace's arms.
"Ace."
"What's up, Lu?"
"You remind me of mom."
"What? Luffy, you don't have a mom," Ace said with concern.
"I met her in there. She's not my actual mom, like how we are." Luffy explained quietly, memories of his 'mom' surfacing. She had light blueish brown skin, white hair, sharp teeth, and gills. She was also incredibly kind, well that was until she died in the arena.
"I'm sorry Luffy." Ace gave Sabo a sad, confused look and Sabo only shrugged in response. Ace took Luffy's left arm in his and Sabo took his right.
The light outside was blinding, Luffy had been stuck inside for weeks with little light so seeing the sun was a shock. The only time he had seen the sun during his time there had been in the arena. The arena where he was forced to kill for entertainment. The arena where he was often beaten after the battle. Beaten by Master. Oh God, am I back there? Please God, no, no no, No, No, NO!
"Luffy, calm down! You're ok! We promise!" Ace called out to deaf ears.
xXx
The cell I was placed in had one other person with me. There was a burning pain in the center of my back that threatened to explode if I dared to move. I wanted Ace and Sabo back, but I was also happy that they weren't here. Sure, I was alone, but at least they were safe. My precious big brothers.
I began to look around, and my eyes fell on the other person who began shuffling towards me.
"Oh dear! You just got branded! They branded a child! What horrible humans." The lady hunched over me with such tender care that I had not felt in, I think a month? "Here, just focus on my voice and not the pain. My name is Nami, what's your name?"
"L-Luffy," I managed to croak out. The pain in my back was so immense that it threatened to send me unconscious. It's almost as bad as the time with Porchemy.
"Luffy. That's a wonderful name. Do you want to hear a story? I bet you do! See, there's this island under the ocean called Fishman Island, it is a beautiful island that I come from. King Neptune is such a great king, but a lot of my people hate all humans. I think it's unfair to hurt humans who did nothing wrong, don't you think? Do you want to go exploring? The Great Pirate Era has just begun, so now is the time to go explore and live! Go see my home, right? You have to pass through Fishman Island in order to get to a place called the New World!"
I was patched up before I knew it, I guess the funny fish lady did her job pretty well all things considered. I gave her one of the biggest smiles that I could, which she cooed at.
"Sorry I went on rambling, I just didn't want you to focus on your pain."
"You're ok, thank you miss! I've been through worse, shishishi!"
"Say Luffy, do you have a family?"
"Mhm, I have two big brothers, Ace and Sabo! Oh, and grandpa."
"Your parents?"
"Don't know 'em. Grandpa once said that my mom was a nice person, but that's about it."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she sadly said.
As we continued talking, a guard bastard unlocked our cell and dragged me out of it. The sudden movements made my back ache, but he gave me no time to catch my breath. Then harshly threw me into a lavishly decorated room, gold adorning everywhere. There was this odd, ruby I think, circle with three triangles on the top and one on the bottom plastered above the bed.
I looked around dumbly when I heard the door to my left open. I recognized her as the lady who "bought" me at I think it was Smelly Archipelago. I can't remember, all I know is that one of the people there was talking about how he couldn't pay off his taxes or whatnot. That was before he was sold.
The weird lady continued to walk towards me. She adorned a crooked smile that sent shivers down my spine,
"Hello, little bunny. From now on you will call me mistress, are we clear?" Her voice was smooth like butter.
"Why would you want me to call you mattress?" I reply truly confused.
"Mistress, not mattress. You are quite a dumb slave~" Somehow her voice came off as, what was the word that Sabo said, seductive. She approached me slyly, with all the grace of a crocodile at home. My top had been taken from me during the branding process, so all the coolness surrounding Mattress crept onto my body.
"Mattress, what are you doing? Why are you so close?"
"Don't worry about it, I want to see if you would be… eligible to play, you are cute enough." From there my brain just stopped. All that I know is that there was a lot of screaming, crying, and laughing (the last one from Mattress). My blood was all over the room.
xXx
"L-fy"
Who was that now?
"L-ffy"
Just leave me alone.
"Luffy-yoi, you ok?" Luffy's eyes were lined with tears as his eyes reopened. "This is to be expected, Ace, Sabo. He was just recently freed from whatever the hell he went through there, so it's to be expected that there is going to be mental scarring afterward, yoi. Just by what we have observed in these past three weeks, he suffers from C-PTSD, chronic depression, anxiety, and psychosis being the main things, mentally that is. '' Marco explained all of this so matter-of-factly that it made Ace feel a bit dumb in comparison. "Luffy, I'm going to need you to calm down a bit, yoi. I know you've been through a lot, but we can't have you passing out again, yoi."
Sabo began to gently hug Luffy, which seemed to ground him back into reality.
"I'm sorry," Luffy said in a whisper, almost to the point where you couldn't even hear him.
"Don't be, we'll take it as slow as you need us to, 'kay?" Sabo said gently and with oddly such regalness that it made Ace question where it came from. "Do you want to go take a bath real quick? We have our own personal bathroom in the room so no one will see you. It's up to you, I don't want to overwhelm you."
"... sure," Luffy pushed himself further into Sabo's chest, desperately trying to cling to the warmth and comfort that he seemed to radiate. Sabo gently picked Luffy up, carrying him bridal style to the room with Ace trailing behind.
The brothers walked lightly down the corridors that led to the old Second Division's Commander's room, some man named Oden who was now dead. The room was simple, with wooden floors and walls with two desks, one nice and tidy with a large number of books on it, the other messy and unorganized like a tornado was in that one spot, a large bed that could fit all three boys on it, and a simple bathroom. There was a simple change of clothes laid out on the bed for Luffy, as he only had the hospital gown.
The brothers entered the bathroom and helped Luffy get undressed. A lot of his smaller wounds had healed nicely, only leaving light spots on his skin that even though he was rubber would most likely never go away due to the sea stone, however, his bigger wounds were still healing.
The brothers had gotten through the fairly uneventful bath. They had removed a lot of the dried blood and grime from Luffy's body, causing him to smell like pleasant roses (the soap was Izou's).
"Can I go to sleep?" Luffy asked quietly, as if unsure if he was even allowed to ask questions.
"Of course, why wouldn't you be?" Ace replied, to which Luffy didn't respond. Luffy limped over to the large bed, his hip still healing from being shattered possibly leaving a permanent limp. Ace and Sabo sat down while getting Luffy comfortable. They had discovered that Luffy dealt with vivid nightmares when he fell asleep, so one of the brothers had to be there with him to help him escape the six years of hell. Part of them felt like Luffy was still trapped, the unimaginable horrors he went through still shackling him into that place. They couldn't set sail knowing their baby brother wasn't truly free. Sabo had decided to become a revolutionary and fight against the government that allowed the enslavement of innocent people, including their brother. Ace had still wanted to become a pirate, but not for the original reasons. Instead of wanting his name to be known, he wanted it to be known and to piss off the government as much as humanly possible. He hated them with every fiber of his sad being, but if he could be at least an absolute pain in their side, he'd consider that a win. His awful blood helped with that further, Roger did one good thing for Ace in that sense. That left Luffy. Luffy, who had been suffering under the rule of the government. Luffy, who had been through hell and still hadn't truly escaped. Luffy, who had been Ace and Sabo's reason for living and going on. Had Luffy given up on his dream of becoming the Pirate King, or his true dream?
Luffy began to sweat and shift uncomfortably in the covers, signs of a nightmare.
"Luffy, Luffy, I'm gonna need you to wake up. Whatever your dreamin' it's no longer your reality, you're free," Ace coaxed him out of the nightmare. Luffy half opened his glazed eyes and looked at Ace with such all-powerful fear that it suffocated Ace.
"D-Don't…"
"What?" Ace inquired, confused.
"Are…you going to take me back? Do I need to fight and kill people again?! I don't want to! Please, I don't want to! You bastards already made me kill Mom! Please leave me alone! Please! Please." Tears streamed down Luffy's sunken face while Ace processed all Luffy said. Luffy in his delusional mind, thought Ace was going to bring him back to that hell. And he apparently had killed before, then suddenly the sink incident made too much sense. It won't come off. It was blood he was trying to wash off, the blood of the people he was forced to kill, including his adoptive mother.
Suddenly Ace wanted to throw up, the thought of an eight-year-old being forced to kill for the pleasure of some sick bastards made him furious. The damn government allowed Luffy to go through this. Soft whispers of please escaped from the small boy. Ace took a deep breath and began speaking.
"I'm never going to let anyone take you, Lu. You're my baby brother, I failed to protect you once. I'm never going to make that mistake again." Luffy's small body was shaking violently, but the begging had slowed. Luffy looked up to Ace with hollow eyes that peered straight through the teen.
"Ace?"
"Yea, I'm here Lu."
"Burn my brand off."
xXx
Luffy and Ace walked back outside slowly, so as to not overwhelm Luffy again. The sky was so blue and bright and calming. Luffy just stopped and took a deep breath of air.
"Heyo, kiddo." The bread haired man said gently and warmly.
"H-Hello, sir."
"You don't have to call me sir, ya know, Thatch is fine."
"I'm sorry, … Thatch. I'll do better." It was such a slave mentality that this poor 13 year old thought that he had to kiss Thatch's ass to get by without a beating.
"Do you want some food? I can make you something real quick. You're onto being able to eat some meat now, which will help bulk you back up."
"Ace, Sabo, do you two want me to eat meat? Meat is for non-slaves."
"Of course Lu, you don't need to ask for any type of food ever again." Sabo spoke up so Ace didn't snap. Ace was very clearly angered by Luffy's responses to Thatch's questions about food. Food. One thing that Luffy of all people should never have to worry about. Their baby brother's whole world was put through hell, and it was their fault.
Ace and Sabo had been discussing the best course of action regarding Luffy and fulfilling not only his dream but their own. They concluded that due to Sabo going to join the revolutionaries, Ace would take Luffy with him. Until Luffy turned 17 and was recovered enough to be on his own, Luffy would sail under the protection of Ace with an alliance with the Whitebeard pirates. They had discussed this plan with Luffy, who accepted it, and within four years the former slave set off.