Author Note: This is the start of a new story, which will be added separately on AO3 but am too lazy to do so on FF.
LOL
))Between these is the voice of the Earth((
}}Between these is the voice of the Seas{{
The ocean was a vast body of water, unpredictable most times with raging waves or calmed waters. She loved those who sailed her surface and dived to the very depths, she tolerated those who tormented and tried to conquer hers because it is not solely up to her in their punishments. She cried out when her sons' fruits were taken, twisted, and given to those who were not deserving.
But oh, she loved her children.
The select few whose soul reflected those of her beloved child long ago, the very one taken from her.
Some bore just a fraction of his Will, and then some were so much like him that she favoured them greatly. Though, there were those who stood out above all others.
The Captain with a wide smile and laugh that shook the world, it felt like the rumble of her brother in the currents… he who longed for freedom and adventure.
The boy, Red-of-the-Coral who was found by him, his soul flickering but glittered like the sun's rays in the shallows of her realm of the rubies of her brother's earth… he who longed for family.
Then one day something changed, the world of her brother felt different, and her waters trembled. A bright bubbling giggle rents the air and carries across all seas with a familiar thump of a drum. A child, one destined and one long thought lost had been found.
His soul shone bright like the very sun, and though he looked nothing like her Nika, she could tell he was him reborn.
She rejoiced as he grew, freedom and adventure echoing with every step… yet, there was something different too… there was war and anger that mimicked her own. Pride was a new thing to the Ocean, awe, and love.
The tapestry that was woven the moment his first breath happened span before the Ocean's very being and she couldn't help but laugh, her waves bobbing gleefully and toppling craggy rocks and rocking those that sailed on her…. But she also raged and sobbed, churning the waters, and flooding away the lands at how much this child would suffer.
Lonely her child should never be, unloved he should never feel…
And that was all he felt till her Red-of-the-Coral found him, swam, and called him son.
Her magic swirled around them both, her voice crying out as her child began to drown… not from the fruit that was so very much his but because the child could not swim in her oceans, had never been taught…
Blood was freely given, a limb taken as a willing price.
And so, she bound them as tightly as she could because Her blessed child of Red-of-the-Coral's soul sparked brighter than she had ever seen it the moment her Liberating-Joy called for him. She bound them tight, wove her magic through their very veins and claimed them both twice over.
She had never heard or seen something more beautiful than the sound of Liberating-Joyful-Protective-Love.
Years passed and though her Red-of-the-Coral was gone from the sea of her Liberating-Joy and said child was taken further from her reach into the land of her brother… She kept an eye on him, the joy that was felt at the discovery her Captain had a child but saddened by the fact said child radiated so much anger and loss.
She raged the day her boy's blood soaked into the earth of her brother and could feel his rage as well as it did. Her waters were turbulent for many travellers alike across all seas.
She did all she could to help the boy her Liberating-Joy loved so dearly in a way she loved the land. Something within her soul ached when the man who birthed her Child took him and his tapestry changed.
Calm were the Seas when the son of her Captain sailed. Joyful was her laughter with each adventure he took.
All was well till she heard them, the whispers of her creations and the warnings of her brother.
))Hunt for the Liberation-Child… death to the Joy-of-the-Seas… Save him sister… save the child who changes the foundations of the very world.((
So, she does, she screams for her child who laughs on the cliffs while trying all her might to slow and cease the ships that sail towards her Liberation-Child but it was with no success, there was only so much she was able to do without causing too much disruption with the balance of all things.
It did not matter if this was not how things were supposed to be.
She could feel the soul of her creation, the small Sea King youngling that grew close to her Liberation-Child react, pushing himself faster and faster back home, dropping all the shells he went to collect for his favourite King.
JUMP LITTLE KING!
X
Fire rained down upon the small island Luffy called home, his heart hammered in his chest, screams tearing from his throat as he dashed towards the cliff edge where the voices told him to run. Tears ran freely down his face with each resounding boom and flash of heat. He could hear the screaming on the wind, could taste the fires on his tongue and feel the sickening sense of loss and chains wrap around his very being.
He ran till a crack sent him flying the moment the cliff came into view, blood splashing across the craggy ground as he landed, rolling harshly till he came to a sudden stop.
))Run child, to the sea((
))RUN((
Firefiredeathpainpainpainscreaming… over and over the noise repeats, louder sometimes than the voice that calls for him, louder than the voice that tells him to run.
His eyes cast out blearily over the Sea, widening in horror as he sees the vast amount of navy ships firing upon his home. He twirls and falls back, watches the mountain crack and crumble, watches as the forest of his home and the last reminder of his family – SaboSaboSabo – burns.
"Hat!" He screams as he realises its gone, body and hands scrambling towards where he can see it in his frantic scrambling.
JUMP LITTLE KING!
A voice booms in his head, deafening just as the cliff under his feet begins to crumble, his eyes widen, and his arm desperately reaches out for his treasure, the first important thing his Dad gave him… he couldn't lose his dad's treasure! He made a promise!
His hand stretches again, fingers grazing the straw before something collides with his head… burningburningpain and the last thing, he sees is the haze of the fire and King's teeth snapping close.
No… my promise… please…
XX
King – the name given to him – rode the currents set by his Mother as fast as he could away from the island. He could feel her rage deep in his bones, could hear the screams in the very vibrations, and taste the blood with each pull of water into his lungs.
His home was gone, but his charge was not.
He was almost too slow, too slow to be there to catch his charge, his Little King.
Long has it been since he was alone. Long has it been since he felt the fleeting terror of being lost and unwanted.
Though their kinship didn't start well, the Little King was angry at him for taking Blessed-Sire's weird fin – Little King called it an arm – and well… King was scared, he told the Little King, scared of those that sail in weird shells – boats – because they took him from his home, killed his Bearer.
Little King was kind, and understanding, and spoke more to King when the angry one left. He was sadder too, sad in a way that ached, and King did all he could to cheer the Little King up. Earth-Kin called his Little King Joy-of-the-Sea, and his Mother called him Liberating-Joy… Joy is what he should always be because when he laughed it sounded like the vibrations of harmony on his scales, when he smiled it shone bright like the rays of the sun in the depths of his home.
King could feel his Little King shift and whimper in the depths of him, nestled amongst the glittering things he ate long ago and the boats that scared him so. He could feel the live things, the things that critter and crawl with clacks carry the child away from the burning of his stomach.
He thanked his Mother that he was big enough to protect him like this, that she told him he could without harm.
}}Carry him to the calm waters{{ his mother's voice echoes softly, her currents shifting to guide the way.
Worry churned, the Calm Waters were where he was born and he had only returned once to gather the special shell for his Little King, the one that records the sounds for others to hear long after they were made… but that was the fringes of the water, he was still safely in the Sea of Stories then.
But now… now his Mother wishes him to swim in the Calm Waters with those larger than he.
}}Safe you two shall be. He needs aid that we cannot give him.{{ She whispers with regret.
King closed his eyes briefly before nodding and pushing himself faster, his Little King was hurt and only those of his kind could heal him. He wonders… why his Mother wishes not to direct him to Blessed-Sire?
}}Because the tapestry Life has woven has decreed it so. A test.{{
XX
Luffy didn't know what was happening, he knew he was moving, knew he was safe but everything hurt, hurt in a way he hasn't felt in a long time, not since Porchemy. How long has he been in and out? Was he back there? No, Ace and Sabo saved him…
Wait…
No, it's been years since then.
Thinkthink…
He remembers running. He remembers screaming in his head and the fire. It all flashes back to him like photographs of the island burning, of the Navy but Luffy was confused. Were the Navy helping or were they the ones that caused this?
He remembers his hat and reaching for it, the panic in his chest as he failed… failedfailedfailed… Shanks would never forgive him for losing his treasure, he promised to keep it safe to return it to him in pristine condition and he failedfailedfailed… Luffy broke a promise. The first ever.
It tore at him.
But still, he didn't know where he was. Somewhere damp and smelly, something that moved and rumbled. He felt weak here, wet in a way that felt like the ocean.
A whimper escaped his lips, throat aching at the noise as he snapped his eyes open at the rumbling snarl of King. Everything was blurry and dark, flickers of glowing mystery stuff – he remembered Sabo telling him it was some glowing sea bug – on things around him. Was… was he in Kings stomach?
Hands came up to clutch painfully at his hair, hissing as they brushed over the scorching heat across his neck and jaw. Bile rose in his throat as the pain tripled, his head aching as voices screamed at him, there was too much noise.
}}Calm Liberating-Joy, calm. Hear my voice and focus on drowning out the others.{{ This voice was one he was familiar with, it wasn't one he heard the most, very rarely only hearing it when Shanks lost his arm, when Porchemy had him within his grasp. It was loudest then.
But he recognised the Ocean, it was a sound that was in the whisper of the ocean winds, the tinkling giggles of the rain. It was the hushed lullaby of a bubbling brook near the treehouse and the strength of the roaring waves crashing into the cliffs and rejoicing with him and his brothers as they screamed their dreams.
"What… what happened?" He sobbed as he tried to hold still, his entire right side burning. "Is everyone else okay?"
}}Oh sweet child I am sorry…{{ The Ocean whispered sorrowfully. }}Your home is gone Liberating-Joy, taken from you by those who sail my seas and taint my waters.{{
Flashes of the navy firing on Dawn reared up in his mind, the island burning. Did Gramps know? Why didn't he come? Am I the only one left?
Tears pooled and spilled, hot and painfully down his face. He was out in the sea, his home was gone and everyone he loved there was dead. He knew it deep down, he felt it. So many questions he needed to know, so many promises he had broken because of the Navy.
Promise me you won't sail the seas till you're seventeen Lu. I swear Ace, we made Sabo a promise.
I'll leave this hat here with you, it's my treasure, take good care of it okay? Return it to me when you become a great pirate, that'll be our promise. Okay dad! I promise to take good care of it!
Be safe Brat! I promise Dadan.
Come see me tomorrow okay Luffy? Shank's will be waiting! I promise Makino!
He hears King pleading as flickers of gold and red reflect around him, but Luffy ignores him. He could feel the scream building in his throat, fingers twisting in dark red locks and yanking. A shudder runs through King and Luffy finds himself rolling, back catching the sharp teeth and biting into it as he rolls across the sandy beach.
The bile that was threatening to escape before spilled past his lips, a mix of what he had consumed in his bouts of consciousness to wherever he is and blood. He could hear voices, two of them, speaking in hurried tones. Hands touching him sparking pain and agony as they find the tender spots and try to get him to unfurl from the tight ball he had curled himself in.
But he couldn't… he was bombarded with the voices from Dawn ricocheting in his brain like a bullet. Snippets of words passed on by the voices from the Marines that were sent to Dawn. They were after Son of Dragon and a mythical fruit but… but… realisation flooded him as everything clicked.
It was his fault…
"Rosi get back!" A voice yelled as frantically as Luffy felt his chest heave and something in his chest burst out.
"Ka…kuri… what… shi… all Law!" another voice deeper echoed over the screams that poured from Luffy's mouth.
Something sweet-smelling invaded Luffy's nose as the world suddenly grew silent, a wave of heaviness crashed down upon him and began to drag him back down into unconsciousness and though his body fought it… he wanted to succumb… he wanted his dad… please he just wanted his dad…
"DAD PLEASE!" He cried and cried, over and over, the heaviness fading till he was pulled into a tight embrace.
It ached. His jaw and neck burned as he sobbed into the arms that held him, wishing it was Shanks.
But the man that held him was blonde, surrounded by black feathers and above with wide eyes and red hair was a taller man, sharp pointed teeth in full display.
"Shh rest kid, we got you, you're safe. Rest." The blonde cooed, voice deep and soothing.
Luffy let the darkness drag him under.
X
Back on the island of East Blue, a father mourned for his son, a faint shishishi echoing out from a cracked dial.