Sanji dutifully wiped Luffy and Law's vacant table with a rag. They'd slunk out the door half an hour ago, leaving fed and satisfied without paying so much as a single bronze berry. The two of them were completely oblivious towards the shit show Sanji had ahead of him…
Luckily no one had said anything to him yet. Even the dishwasher, after he watched Sanji haul dozens of plates to the sink without bragging about how much money he'd scored even once.
He'd be in serious trouble for letting those two bastards walk out home free, but Sanji couldn't have given a rat's ass. Those men had been starving. People didn't starve. Not on his watch. Not even assholes like Trafalgar-fucking-Law.
With a huff, Sanji tossed the rag over his shoulder and stomped back into the kitchen. With a heavy shadow across his brow and a stormy expression on his face, the other chefs did themselves a favor and left him the hell alone. Even Patty, which was a miracle in its own right.
Sanji stepped behind his work station and began cleaning up what little mess he'd left behind.
He kept seeing Luffy's face flash behind his eyes. Dirty hair, skinny frame, an appetite and a half. The guy was skeletal yet laced with muscle, his eyes bright and cheerful yet hardened in spite of that. Sanji didn't see Dirties at the Baratie hardly ever, but after watching a pair of them eat like starving men he couldn't get it out of his head.
What was it like on the Dregs, anyways? If it made men eat like that… If it made men that desperate to get to the Clear of all places. Sanji's hands shook as he placed his knives back in their designated drawers.
He shook himself and forced any and all thoughts about Luffy out of his head. It wasn't his problem if he enabled reckless idiots to get the Clear. He was still here, still on the Mid, safe and sound with meters upon meters of solid metal over his head. Sanji took a shuddering breath and leaned against the counter.
Almost as if summoned by the storm of thoughts in Sanji's mind, Zeff materialized beside him to make his problems worse.
"Are you alright?" Zeff grunted, standing beside Sanji and eyeing him with that look of his. Sanji gritted his teeth. He couldn't stand seeing that look in the old man's eye. That glint of worry, that glint of care. As if he looked at Sanji and saw the sniveling, bloodied child he'd found on the street rather than the man that stood before him today.
"'M fine," Sanji grumbled. "Not that it's any of your business." He realized his fingers were still tangled in his hair, and quickly snapped his hand down to stuff it inside his pocket as punishment.
Zeff rolled his eyes, "I was just checking, no need to get your panties in a wad."
"I'm perfectly fine on my own," Sanji snapped. "I don't need you hovering over me every second of every day."
Zeff fixed the blonde with a hard stare. Sanji refused to meet his eye. He knew what he'd find there…
After a minute of painful silence, the old man sighed and finally broke his stare. "You let those two men walk out without paying," he said. His voice soft, hushed so that the other chef's wouldn't hear. As if they didn't already know by the look on Sanji's face. As if he didn't do this at least twice a week…
"They were starving," Sanji sighed. There was no point in trying to deny his actions. He stared at his shoes, glaring into his own distorted reflection. Luffy was going to the Clear of all places for his brother of all people? Sanji ground his teeth. He didn't fucking get it.
Zeff fixed Sanji with a knowing glance, but he didn't push the subject. "You've gotta stop letting people eat for free," he admonished, though there wasn't any heat behind it. "We're a business. Letting too many people off the hook is how we go under."
Sanji rolled his eyes and reached for a cigarette. "Yeah, I know. You think I'm stupid?"
Zeff pulled his fingers over his comical mustache. "Not stupid, just kind. Too kind for your own good." A heavy hand fell upon Sanji's shoulder. Zeff was quiet for a moment, glaring off into space before he spoke up again. "You've been seated again. They asked for you specifically."
The blonde perked up, raising an eyebrow. "Okay?" People asked for him specifically every day. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But the tone in Zeff's voice… he sounded reluctant. Tentative. Something was off, Sanji could feel it.
"If you need anything," the old man trailed off. He awkwardly patted Sanji on the shoulder before turning on his heel and immediately screaming at a neighboring chef to stop cooking utter dogshit.
Sanji watched him go in an air of confusion.
Whatever.
He pushed off his station and marched out of the kitchen. The kitchen was oddly hushed as he stalked through it. There was a buzz in the air, a tension. Something was definitely off.
With a furrow in his brow, Sanji slipped out of the kitchen and headed towards his section. He walked slowly, keeping close to the wall and concealed in the shadows of the low lighting. The tense mood from the kitchen was amplified tenfold outside in the dining room. Everything was silent. Frozen. Guests had paused in their meals, sitting with their heads bowed and their hands folded tightly in their laps. Fear stunk in the air like rot, and Sanji's stomach dropped like a rock.
He should have known.
The blonde trudged to a halt against the wall when the back corner of the Baratie came into view. Sure enough, occupying the table that two Dirties had just eaten at, was a man above all.
He was dressed in white robes with dark skin and jagged black hair. His eyes were sharp and predatory, even from the distance Sanji held himself at. He sat at the table like a king perched on a throne, completely oblivious to the scum that had been in his place mere minutes beforehand.
Haloed by a ring of men dressed in black and women in little more than gossamer, the Celestial Dragon sneered at the decor and drummed his fingers on the table as he waited for Sanji to arrive.
The blonde quickly plucked the cigarette from his lips and crushed it in his fist. His heart rattled in his chest. Shit. Shit.
He cursed that bastard Zeff a thousand times over. So this was why he'd been acting so fucking weird. Cause he'd known a fucking Celestial Dragon was sitting in Sanji's section like a predator lying in wait.
Dammit.
Sanji took a deep breath and stood up a little straighter. Anxiety clawed at his insides and burned between his shoulder blades, but it didn't matter. There was a hungry man in Sanji's restaurant, and it was his job to feed him. No matter who he was… or what Layer he had come from.
The dutiful chef emerged from the shadows, and approached the Celestial Dragon with his head held high. Suddenly the tension in the air made total sense. The fear in the eyes of the guests. The rigidity in the shoulders of the chefs.
Sanji's world was contained within the walls of a gargantuan city, divided into five Layers. Five walks of life. The Dregs, the Shade, the Mid, the Clear… and the Holy Land. All stacked on top of each other, with the Holy Land stationed as the crowning jewel at the very peak of the Layered City.
Only royalty and the most decorated military officers walked the Holy Land, the Layer that sat atop the clouds. That horrid place was populated by Nobles, people who had been living on the topmost Layer since before the Layered City had even been erected. Since before history had begun…
People born on the Holy Land were titled Celestial Dragons, named after the tattoo of a coiled beast they all wore on their backs. Sanji absentmindedly rubbed at the tattoos on the insides of his wrists, branding him a Shiftie.
He felt the gazes of the other guests as he approached the Celestial Dragon. Everyone else in the restaurant was terrified.
The laws of the Layered City didn't apply to the Nobles. As royalty, it would be treason to punish them. They could travel between the Layers whenever the hell they wanted; they didn't have to climb through the walls, the military let them through the borders no questions asked. They could steal whatever they wanted, it would be beneath them to pass their riches into the hands of a Lower. They could get away with murder. If a Lower had stepped across their path then it was their right to kill them.
A single man had left Sanji's entire restaurant in terror, because if someone breathed the wrong way he could have everyone in the building slaughtered, and the military would simply look the other way.
It made Sanji sick.
So what, just because this man had been born on the Holy Land it made him better than everyone else? He'd never understood that shit. It didn't make any sense.
But this was the world Sanji lived in, and if he wanted to protect the lives of everyone in his restaurant then he needed to respect this man's authority. Even if he didn't deserve it.
However… the situation was far worse than Sanji had assumed at first glance.
He only truly understood when he arrived at the table, and finally looked the Celestial Dragon in the eye.
Sanji bowed low when he arrived at the table, sinking to the ground and pressing his forehead against the cold hardwood. "My Lord," he announced, loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear. He sensed the Celestial Dragon's satisfied smile like a stench in the air, he'd said the right thing.
"My name is Sanji," the blonde continued, "And it is my humble honor to serve and cook for your excellency on this fine occasion." He was glad that his face was smooshed against the ground. This way no one would see the disgust on his face.
When the Celestial Dragon spoke, it sent a shiver up Sanji's spine. "Wonderful. It's a privilege to have you." His voice was smooth and baritone, it curled in his throat like smoke and whispered against Sanji's ears like the growl of a cat. "It has come to my attention that you are the most talented chef in this establishment, Blackleg Sanji."
The blonde slowly rose to his feet, and almost tripped when he finally laid eyes on the Celestial Dragon that sat in his restaurant. With a sinister smirk displaying serrated teeth and a row of sharp piercings stabbed directly through his nose, Sanji would have recognized this man anywhere. Along with everyone else on the entire Layer.
"Lord Arlong," Sanji choked out, quickly folding at the waist in a second bow. "It is a pleasure to serve you."
The infamous man chuckled. "The pleasure is all mine," he purred. "Now, if I could have a glass of your finest chardonnay?"
…
Sanji stood against the door to the kitchen. His heart was in his throat and his pulse was like a drum. He swallowed dryly and dragged his hand down his face. Patty and several other chefs flocked to him immediately.
"Is it really him?" Patty demanded, his voice terse and unreadable.
Sanji scoffed and pushed off the door, shoving through the gathering crowd as he stormed to the wine cabinet. "Yes. It's fucking Arlong."
The entire kitchen gasped, and suddenly Sanji had a procession of thirty six in total, all of them speaking at once.
"Are you sure?!"
"There's literally no fucking way."
"Get your eyes checked!"
Sanji growled as he yanked an expensive bottle of wine from the back of the cabinet and blew dust off the label. "Shut up!" he barked. "I don't have shit for brains like the rest of you girls; I know Arlong when I see him." He ignored the dozens of insults tossed his way and waded through the crowd to collect a wine glass.
"I'm not jealous of you, buddy!" Patty cackled. He slapped Sanji roughly across the back as he polished a crystal glass. "Maybe if you were a little more modest the Celestials would stop requesting you!"
"Kill yourself," Sanji spat. He elbowed Patty out of the way and began shouldering through the ocean of men blocking his path to the door.
Zeff watched from the corner, his arms crossed tightly across his chest and a heavy frown on his face as he traced Sanji's path with his eyes. The old man had a bad feeling…
As Sanji drew closer to the door, Patty turned serious. "Don't fuck this up for us," he warned, poking Sanji between the shoulder blades one last time before he ducked into the dining room.
His final words echoed in Sanji's mind as he returned to Arlong's table: "If you screw up then you're dead, and not in a good way."
Yeah. Sanji wasn't a fucking idiot. He knew what the consequences would be if he pissed Arlong off…
He glanced at the rest of the dining room as he marched back to Arlong like a well trained pet. The other guests hadn't moved. Their heads were still down, their hands still fisted in their laps. One woman was even crying into her soup.
Shit.
Fuck.
It all made so much sense now. Celestial Dragons were bad but Arlong was a million times worse. He was probably the worst Nobel of them all, excluding possibly Lord Orochi.
Arlong was different from the others in that he didn't coop himself up on the Holy Land all hours of every day. Other Celestials traveled to lower Layers simply to prove that they could too, sure, but they weren't like him. Everyone on the Mid with their head screwed on right knew his story, because he terrorized the entire Layer.
If there was one thing Arlong cared about it was money. It was common knowledge that he was one of the lowest ranked Celestial Dragons, and it was also common knowledge that he hated that truth with every fiber of his being. To make up for his inferiority complex, he took advantage of his position by running the biggest, most violent and dangerous gang in the entire Layered City.
The Fishmen.
If you messed with the Fishmen, you died.
Other smugglers and smuggling rings got caught and busted by the military for their crimes, but not Arlong. He was a Celestial Dragon, and to challenge a Nobel was to be put to death. Especially a Nobel as dangerous as Arlong. He didn't have any standing on the Holy Land, but he ruled the Mid, and everyone knew his name. Every single one of the Lowers hated him, for he treated them like little more than livestock yet participated fully in their society.
And now that exact bastard was sitting in Sanji's restaurant, terrorizing his guests and putting the old man in a mood.
Sanji would sooner kick a Fishman in the face than serve one, but he didn't exactly have that option with their leader staring him down like a goldfish in a barrel. The blonde had thought that Luffy and Law had ruined his day. But hell, he'd long forgotten about those two fools now that Arlong himself was sitting in his fucking restaurant.
Fucking hell, Sanji would be in a bad mood for a month after this fucking fiasco. There was nothing that could turn this day around, everything was ruined and horrible and–
A flash of orange hair caught Sanji's eye, and he stopped in his tracks.
From the front of the restaurant came a woman in black. Her dress hugged her body and lapped against the floor, cascades of orange hair poured down her back and glowed like fire in the low lighting. She crossed the restaurant with purpose, a group of armed men in crisp black tuxes trailing dutifully after her in a neat formation. A jarring sawfish tattoo lurked on her left shoulder… the emblem of Arlong himself.
Not that Sanji noticed. A gorgeous woman had entered his establishment, and he could do little but gape in the face of her beauty with his feet glued in place.
The woman with flaming hair marched directly up to Arlong's table, where she stood across from him and held his gaze without an ounce of fear. While the men at her back pressed their foreheads to the floor, she alone stood straight and proud. Sanji could have cried.
Arlong smirked at her, and nodded for her to take a seat across from him.
Sanji was in and out of the kitchen with a second wine glass in half a second.
The woman sat with the grace of a swan, sweeping her mass of orange hair over her shoulder and crossing long legs, peeking through a generous slit in silken black fabric. Sanji would have gushed over her heels if Arlong hadn't been there.
"You finally made it," Arlong hummed, sneering at the woman as he rested his chin on his knuckles. "It's great to finally have you back, Nami."
Nami?! Is that her name?! That's such a beautiful name! I've never heard such a perfect name for such a perfect woman in my entire life! She's so beautiful and lovely and glorious, I think I'm in love!
Sanji all but skipped to their table.
He placed the wine glasses with a flourish. "A glass for my Lord and his lovely lady," he said, nodding respectfully to Arlong and tossing a wink in Nami's direction. Her nose curled in annoyance, though Sanji was none the wiser.
"What would you like me to prepare for you, sir?" Sanji asked, turning his attention back to Arlong as he filled their glasses generously.
The man hummed through his nose, "Surprise me." He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms tightly across his chest, his gaze fixed firmly on Nami. Nami who sat rigid, her hands tucked under her legs with her eyes fixed on the tablecloth. She worried at her lip.
Sanji, however, was completely oblivious, as he had been blinded by her glory.
"And what can I get for you, my dear?" he cooed, turning to face Nami.
Her gaze flicked to Sanji and then back to the table. Eyes of amber wavered as she spoke, "Just water."
"Anything for you, I'll have that right out!" Sanji cheered. He then turned on his heel and scurried back to the kitchen. Patty and a couple of the others facepalmed from where they watched around a corner.
Dammit. Sanji was acting like an idiot at the worst possible time!
Sanji burst back into the kitchen with a grin on his face and hearts in his eyes. He was once again swarmed by the other chefs, who followed him around as he filled a glass with water and retrieved a woven basket of freshly baked rolls to serve Arlong and the beautiful Nami.
"What did he say?"
"Why hasn't he killed you yet?!"
"Is he in a bad mood? Please tell me he's not in a bad mood-"
"Her name is Nami and she is the love of my life!" Sanji wailed, much to the dismay of his fellow men. In the corner, Zeff turned to face the wall and knocked his forehead against the brick a couple of times.
This… was bad.
When Sanji reemerged from the kitchen he hurried back to the table, completely oblivious to the tense air that surrounded the Celestial Dragon and the beautiful woman.
"You've been radio silent for days," Arlong mused, still pining Nami under his intense gaze.
"I have to be careful," Nami replied, her voice calm and proud. "I don't have the privilege of status like you do." A couple of the tuxedoed men surrounding the table snickered in amusement, they clearly favored Nami quite a bit.
Arlong frowned, grumbling as he swirled the wine in his glass. "Don't you trust me at all? I wouldn't let Smoker and his dogs lay a finger on you."
"Maybe," Nami rasped.
"Now tell me," Arlong said slowly. "How did our arrangement with the military at Marineford go over?"
Nami stiffened, alongside the men at her back. Arlong quirked a brow.
At this point Sanji arrived at the table, placing the basket of steaming bread in the center of the table and pushing a glass of water before Nami. He shot her a flirtatious smile, which she pointedly ignored. Arlong watched the exchange with an air of amusement.
As Sanji turned away, Nami finally spoke.
She cleared her throat, her fingers nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "The trade off was… compromised."
The change in Arlong's mood could be felt in the air.
"Excuse me?" Arlong growled.
Sanji slowed in his walk to the kitchen. That wasn't a very polite way to speak to a woman.
"A group of smugglers attacked us and stole the case," Nami explained in a rush. "We had to retreat–"
"-You lost the case," Arlong deadpanned.
"Yes," Nami said. Her voice was empty, reserved. She held Arlong's enraged gaze without wavering.
Arlong's fist slammed down onto the table with a crash that echoed throughout the entire restaurant. Nami jumped in surprise. "Do you have any idea how valuable the contents of that case were?" Arlong said slowly, speaking through gritted teeth.
"I'm not stupid," Nami hissed. "Of course I knew what was in there, which is why the military was on edge and why we had to–"
"-Do NOT talk back to me!" Arlong roared, making the very foundation of the restaurant quiver.
Nami flinched, though barely. The movement could have been missed in the blink of an eye. She held her ground, still glaring at Arlong even as he exuded murder like a noxious gas.
"How much money was on the line here?" Arlong asked, his voice once again calm, though laced with a dangerous undertone.
Nami drew a breath, "Thirteen billion berries." Her voice was tense, angry. She seemed just as upset about losing the enormous sum as Arlong was.
"And how much money did we lose by watching that case slip through our fingers?" Arlong continued.
"Twenty billion berries," Nami whispered. "Thirteen for the reward, and eight for the value of the object within the case."
Arlong inhaled deeply, his eyes closed as he dug his fingers into his arms. "Tell me again, Nami. How did our arrangement with the military at Marineford go over?"
The silence that followed was deafening.
Nami bowed her head. "The mission failed." Her voice was dead. Her tone unremorseful.
Arlong was standing within one split second and the next. "I own you," he growled. His arm jerked across the table and grabbed Nami by the jaw, yanking her towards him and lifting her off the ground as she cried out in pain and clawed at his arm. "The least you can do is obey my orders!" he roared, screaming into Nami's face as she choked and gagged.
Sanji froze with his hand on the door to the kitchen.
"Whose fault is this?!" Arlong demanded, jerking Nami close to his face, his fingers digging into her jaw as he held her a foot off the ground.
Nami gasped and clawed at his wrist, struggling against the pain of his grip. When she snapped her eyes open, the rage within them could have set a lesser man aflame. "A–" she sputtered, struggling to find her voice around Arlong's grip. "A man in a straw hat. He's the one who stole your–"
"NO!" Arlong screamed, making his men scramble backwards and the other guests in the restaurant thrash as their eardrums rattled with pain.
Arlong then threw Nami onto the ground, where she screamed in pain as the floor caved and shattered beneath the force of her fall. Blood splattered across the white tablecloth as her skull cracked against tough wood.
"This failure was YOUR DOING!" Arlong roared. He lifted his leg to stomp Nami's skull–
Sanji moved.
His foot collided with the side of Arlong's head, and the enormous man crashed through his table with a shout of surprise.
The silence could have been cut with a knife. Arlong's men gawked. The other guests gawked. Patty and the others gawked.
Sanji landed gracefully with a clack of his shoes against the floor, glaring Arlong down through wisps of blonde hair. "How dare you strike a woman," he snarled. "I will never sit back and watch anyone degrade a patron of my restaurant."
Arlong slowly sat up on his elbows. The expression he gave Sanji was unreadable at best.
"Not even you," Sanji breathed, his eyes burning with a fiery rage as his eyes burrowed holes into Arlong's skull. "Celestial fucker." A nearby man gasped. Sanji was treading in dangerous waters, the Fishmen circling him in the murky deep with bared fangs and beady eyes.
Nami pushed herself from the ground, and stared in utter horror up at Sanji through the mixture of blood and sweat that trickled across her brow. Arlong lay in the shards of the table for one minute. Two. Holding the chef's gaze and waiting for him to back down. To admit his fault and offer himself up to the slaughter.
Sanji didn't budge an inch.
The crowded restaurant sat in silence, left with no choice but to follow in his example. Whatever the Celestial Dragon did next would determine the fate of everyone within the building.
Just when it seemed that the silence would drag on for an eternity, Arlong began to laugh.
"My, my," he announced as he rose to his feet, towering over Sanji. "Well, isn't this interesting." He stepped up to the blond, standing close enough for their chests to brush.
Sanji looked Arlong dead in the eye and spat across his shoes.
The echo could have been heard from the street.
From the door to the kitchen, Zeff watched in terror as his Sanji threw his life on the line as if it was meaningless in the face of a single woman. "What have you done?" he breathed, unable to do anything but stand and watch as Arlong's men snapped out of their stupor and tackled Sanji to the ground.
Sanji gritted his teeth as he was pounced on by three men from behind. One shoved his face into the ground, while another dug a knee into his back and the third took his wrists up in a death grip.
"Nami," Arlong called to her as she stumbled to her feet. "This young man tried to save you from your own execution! Why don't you thank your mighty hero?" His laughter shook the walls.
The woman panted, her eyes wide with shock and hair wild.
Arlong basked in her turmoil. He stalked over to where the blonde lay splayed across the floor beneath the weight of three men. He gazed down his pierced nose with a haughty gleam in his eye. "Blackleg Sanji," he taunted, before stooping low to Sanji's level. The three men quickly scrambled away, leaving the chef bound in ropes on the ground.
With a crooked smirk on his face, Arlong grabbed Sanji by the hair and lifted him up. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?" he sneered.
Still blinded by rage, Sanji huffed a laugh and gazed up at Arlong through his fringe. "I defended a helpless lady from a bastard like you. Men like you make me sick."
Arlong barked a laugh, tossing Sanji back into the floor as he stood. "Helpless? Oh, that's rich." He motioned with his hand for one of his men. "You, contact Captain Smoker. Tell him I've got a criminal on my hands."
"O-Of course, right away, Sir!" the man sputtered, before sprinting out the door to find the nearest military officer. The rest of the patrons in the restaurant quickly followed suit, seeing their opportunity to run and taking it. Even the host followed after them.
Sanji didn't blame them.
He'd gotten himself into some serious shit, hadn't he?
He probably should have been pissing his pants right about then… but he didn't regret a damn thing. Arlong had been about to kill Nami. He'd rather be taken into military custody than watch a beautiful woman die at the hands of an abusive man.
"Nami, do you have any words for your savior?" Arlong cooed as he gazed down at the man who had challenged him.
The woman with orange hair shook herself where she stood, staring down at Sanji with her eyes glazed over. The blonde gazed up at her, relieved beyond relief that he'd been able to step in before Arlong had killed her.
Nami clenched her fists, glaring down at the foolish chef who had stood up against a Celestial Dragon. All for her. All for one seemingly insignificant life. "What in the fuck is wrong with you?" she hissed. "You're going to be sentenced to death for assaulting a Celestial Dragon!"
Sanji watched dozens of distressed emotions fire behind those tawny eyes of hers. He couldn't stand to see a woman upset. He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'd die a million deaths if it meant I could keep you out of harm's way, my sweet," he replied, speaking from his heart.
Any and all hopes of Sanji being bailed out were shattered right in that moment. Patty and the others that watched from the kitchen threw their hands up and turned their backs on the blonde. Yeah, no. They weren't throwing hands with the Fishmen for a fool of those proportions.
Nami's reaction mirrored their own. She scoffed, and her face contorted in utter disgust. "Pervert," she growled, before kicking Sanji across the face. The blonde gagged as the tip of her heel connected with his jaw.
Perhaps Zeff cried his name somewhere in the distance, but the other chefs were quick to hold him back. Pleading with him not to get involved. If he stepped in now, then all of them would be killed alongside Sanji.
There was nothing he could do.
Nothing at all.
Not in the face of a Celestial Dragon's rage.
Sanji gazed with heartbroken eyes up at Nami as his consciousness faded away. Watched as Arlong cackled in delight, slinging his arm across her shoulders and pulling her close as if he hadn't just tried to kill her. "See, that's why you're my favorite!" Arlong boomed. "You're always full of fire!"
Sanji watched pure, unbridled rage flash across Nami's beautiful eyes.
She hated that man.
But there was another emotion hiding behind her eyes. Fear.
Perhaps Sanji had saved her this time, but her troubles were far from over.
And there was nothing Sanji could do for her.
With this realization, he lost consciousness mere moments before a squadron of military officers burst into the Baratie to take him into custody.
…
"Do you ever wonder what that big thing is, Traffy?"
Law rolled his eyes and paused to wait for Luffy to catch up. The two of them were lost (again) but slightly less lost than last time. They'd made it to a street that would allegedly lead them out of the capital and down to the street market, so at least they were making some semblance of progress.
The two of them had been in the middle of crossing one of three dozen enormous glass bridges when Luffy had gotten distracted… again. This time by the view of the surrounding Layer.
"What are you talking about?" Law asked gruffly. He begrudgingly turned on his heel and backtracked to stand beside Luffy against the thin metal railing.
"That thing," Luffy explained, pointing across the urban jungle that splayed out beneath them, all settled within the warm embrace of the Mid's outer wall.
Law furrowed his brow at the "thing" Luffy was pointing at. In the dead center of the Layer was an enormous, rounded metal structure that reached from the ground all the way to the sky overhead. It was made from a different material from the outer walls… this metal was dark, smooth. Almost as if it were one enormous chunk rather than welded sheets. It had to be a half a mile in diameter at least. Its surface gleamed under the lamplights, silent and lurking.
"They have those things on the Shade and the Dregs, too, don't you pay any attention?" Law asked, dodging Luffy's question.
It was true, the metal structure lay within the dead center of the entirety of the Layered City. It was the singular feature that each and every Layer shared, yet it blended in with the cityscape, never given a second glance. Save for the curious gaze of one Monkey D. Luffy, of course.
The raven rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know that. My brothers and I used to play beside the one on the Dregs when we were younger."
Law nodded, seemingly lost in thought as he gazed out at the enormous metal beam. A storm of emotions churned in the depths of his eyes; memories stirred up in the darkest corners of his mind like silt at the bottom of a frigid, untouched lake.
"We raced in circles around it!" Luffy boasted. "I always lost, but Ace and Sabo liked to cheat!"
Law's attention snapped back to Luffy; the raven's words like echoes, the sound muffled as if they clawed for him through meters of murky water. The older man sighed heavily, casting the sticky silt aside, back to the bottom of the lake where it belonged. "And why are we talking about these things now?"
"Well," Luffy shrugged. "They're really big. And in the center of all the Layers I've seen. Dadan and all the other old people called it 'the Abyss,' which is stupid. Why would you give such a freaky name to something so boring?"
Law hummed softly, his eyes once again drawing to the enormous structure. Magnetized.
"Ace says it's for structural support n'junk," Luffy sighed. "Ya know, to keep the ceiling up?" He gestured lazily with a hand. "But why do people call it the Abyss if it's just a giant support beam? It's that so stupid?" Luffy cackled, amused by the strange title.
"I dunno," Law sighed. He leaned against the railing beside Luffy with his chin propped on the heel of his hand. Foot traffic swirled around at their backs, hundreds of Shifties always passing the enormous black structure that lurked in the center of their Layer, and never paying it any mind. Parting around it as a river washed over stone.
After standing in silence for a time Law finally spoke up again, the silt beginning to clog the gears in his mind. "You know, some people speculate that the Abyss is more than just a support structure."
Luffy perked up, glancing over at Law. The older man met his gaze, his golden eyes calculating as they copped Luffy's reaction.
"What do they say about it?" Luffy pushed, ever curious.
"The Abyss breaches every Lower Layer, maybe even the Clear and the Holy Land. It transcends our borders, and some believe that it even connects them." Law spoke in a hushed tone, a strange gleam lurking in his eye.
Luffy watched him as he spoke, still gazing at Law even as the older man snapped his gaze back to the metal structure, continuing to scrutinize the Abyss in curious wonder. "Do 'some people' include you?" Luffy teased.
"Maybe," Law mumbled.
"Huh," Luffy nodded.
"What?" Law grumbled in response. "You sound judgemental."
The raven barked a laugh, flopping his hand in reassurance. "Oh, I'm not judging! It's just interesting, is all. So what, is the giant metal thing like some sort of door? Is there a giant staircase in the center?" He giggled, the concept sounded so outlandish!
"Something like that," Law huffed, tugging his cap lower over his eyes.
"You really believe it, don't you?" Luffy asked, elbowing his friend in the ribs.
The older man grumbled and placed a couple of steps between them, though Luffy seamlessly closed the gap as if it had never opened. "Do you believe it?" Law countered.
Luffy grinned, "I mean, yeah."
Law frowned at him. "Already? You don't need any convincing whatsoever?"
"You believe it, and you're pretty smart," Luffy reasoned. "Also who wouldn't want to believe in a giant staircase?"
Law rolled his eyes, though his lips flicked up in the barest hint of a smile all the same.
"Oh! Idea!" Luffy cried out. He pushed off the railing and walked backwards across the bridge, the crowd around them arching into a bubble of space around him. A commanding rock in the center of a thrashing sea. "After we make it to the Clear and save my brother and do your thing, we should look for the giant staircase together!" He tossed his hands in the air, clearly proud of his ridiculous plan.
Golden eyes fluttered as they stared in bewilderment at the man before them. "After we make it to the Clear?" Law repeated, his tone tentative and confused.
"Yup!" Luffy chirped. "Sounds fun, doesn't it?"
"Uh… yeah, I guess."
Luffy's smile could have countered the lamplights overhead. "Hell yeah! It's a plan then! Don't forget it, Traffy!"
Law merely blinked at him. "...Yeah." He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something else, then shut it again. The older man readjusted his cap and pushed off the railing to rejoin Luffy. Funny, that Luffy was already planning what they'd do after achieving their current objective.
The silt resettled, far below the surface. Back where it belonged, untouched by light as it lay to rot and fester. Only stirred up by the occasional stray current before returning to the shadows. Silt to silt, ashes to ashes.
Although Law had the fleeting concern that Luffy was far greater a hindrance than a mere shift in the currents.