Book1: Chapter-2
After Six had vomited out his breakfast, a shivering fever broke out in his little body and a terrified Luffy had called for Corazón and the best doctor of the kingdom, Dr. Kureha.
The adults and the ancients had arrived not long after. Six was crying—whimpering to be precise. He was curled up and clinging to Luffy's waist.
Luffy had never paid much attention to people's appearances; it was hard for him to distinguish people just by their faces after one or two interactions, among the handful of faces he remembered well; Dr. Kureha was one of them, her deep-set wrinkles and white snowy hair and a high nose made her scary, she looked like a picture book witch. She was known as the Ancient One, the Scowling Witch of the North, and The Miracle Doctor, and she was also the resident doctor of the King and as well as Chopper's mother.
Dr Kureha thoroughly examined Six's body. The little boy was in pain and didn't even have the basic vocabulary to explain his troubles. Her eyes were trained, hence, she didn't anyone to tell her what had happened to the boy.
"I thought he was recovering." Luffy finally broke his silence and looked at Corazón who was standing in the farthest corner with worry painted on his face and Dr. Kureha who was manhandling Six's face scowled at Luffy. Her glare made Luffy speak of crimes he had never committed. "Before his breakfast, he drank the water from the bathing pool. Do you think that did something to him?" Luffy wanted to continue his questions, but another stern glare from the ancient one shut him up.
Dr. Kureha opened Six's mouth and pulled out his tongue and that's when Luffy and Corazón noticed Six's tongue had turned white like porcelain, and so had the inside of his mouth; pristine shiny white.
"Amber lead syndrome?" Corazón asked, and Dr. Kureha nodded. Luffy had not paid attention to the white patches that covered Six's entire body when the first time he saw the boy naked. Luffy had assumed they were bruises with discoloured dead skin, but in reality, Six's copper-brown skin had stopped producing melanin and turned into a patchwork of melamine.
"It is in the advanced stage of vitiligo. He is so young. He must be a third or fourth-generation victim." Dr. Kureha sighed.
"So we were correct that it was an amber lead quarry?" Luffy asked Corazón who nodded.
"But did we not ban its mining a hundred years back!" The young master of Joy Boy Castle growled in frustration. "Hence we had to ambush the place the way we did."
A few weeks back, one of Luffy's fathers received an anonymous tip about the illegal mining of amber lead on the borders of the continent!
Amber lead was a white mineral that was once used widely to make paints, pottery, and weapons, now banned. But when directly exposed or handled, it poisoned the body; eroding the inside and outside of the human anatomy. The effects of the mineral were a hushed-up matter until a century back, when one of the richest kingdoms on the continent found its population's mortality rate dropping and its teenagers and children having outbreaks of skin de-colourification. By the time the entire continent learned of amber lead's side effects, many cities and other kingdoms had been burned to the ground.
"How do we cure him?" Luffy knew the bare minimum of Amber Lead's history. His goal was to keep Six alive. "What about the children? Are they showing similar symptoms? Ace will have to tell dads about this." Luffy was now gripped by panic. "And I will have to tell Sabo and Ace that I hid him."
"I don't think other children were affected the way Six was," Corazón added. "Only, he has white patches. I think he is a direct descendent of the last generation that may have survived Amber Lead a couple of years after the genocide. We know it aggravates in each new generation."
"How do we save him? Dr. Kureha, you are a hundred years old! You must know." Luffy pleaded as he grabbed her wise and aged hands.
"Tch! I am a hundred and thirty! I can't promise. But I can try. We will have to do multiple blood transfusions and extract the poison. He will be in pain. Excruciating pain! It is good he is young, I don't have to drug him."
"But if it hurts, isn't it better if we make him unconscious? He is a little boy and hasn't he suffered enough, hasn't he?" Corazón asked, his sharp brows knitted into a frustrated knot.
"I would like him unconscious too. But there is a high possibility of him becoming addicted to painkillers later, we had seen it when we tried curing the amber lead poisoning, those who had been unconscious and given painkillers while in the surgery, became addicted later. On the other hand, the ones without any anaesthesia though in more pain didn't get hooked up. Since he is a child, I am willing to take the risk. It will be painful, trust me, you don't want him to be dependent on lifelong pain-numbing drugs." Dr. Kureha informed both Luffy and Corazón in what she had assumed was her compassionate voice. But she had actually sent shivers down their spine.
"When does the procedure start?" The Knight asked. "Ummm. First, we have to clean his blood with transfusion every month until the poison content has lowered, and its spread has been controlled and stabilized. Then we locate the source— where his poison concentration is maximum. Then we chuck that organ out. Generally, it is either the kidney or the liver and rarely the heart. If it's heart, we will be in trouble."
"Why?" Luffy asked. "Why is it trouble if it's heart? There are organ donors; there are sadly many brain-dead children of his age whose parents have registered their dear children to save others. So why?"
"Master Luffy—" Corazón interrupted.
"Yes?"
"It is for the worst-case scenario. Six will be fine." Corazón calmed his young master.
"Send the child over to me tomorrow. And my son Chopper as well, and send a letter to Dr. Marco." Dr. Kureha stood.
"But if we tell Marco— Ace will find out and then Sabo will and then dads!" Luffy almost cried. "Please cure him here. I will make arrangements for everything, this castle is huge, right Corazón?"
"Okay. I am doing you a favour here. On top of it, you want me to drop to this horror castle! The cheek of this boy! Do you remember, I am not to serve bastards like you! It is because you are Chopper's friend." Dr. Kureha wanted to whack the young lord. "But we need Marco!" Dr. Kureha announced and stood up in her chair.
"I am going to get into trouble! How will I explain?" Luffy hid his face in his palm while his other hand patted Six's trembling arm.
"Not my business. Get Marco tomorrow if you want this little rat to live."
"He has a name! Six." Corazón added.
"Are you sure that is his name and not just his labourer number?"
"His what?" Corazón's voice turned angry and Luffy's face darkened. "What is his name then?"
"Actually, I am being polite, looking at the partner of the branding on his skin, I can tell you it's his slave number. Turn that boy around, and clean his back, I bet you will spot his number" Dr. Kureha sighed.
"Six is not his name?" Luffy almost lost control of his voice. "The hell is wrong with people?"
"Master Lu, turn him over, let's check." Corazón walked to crying Six and gently held his legs as Luffy laid him on his stomach. Luffy rolled up Six's gown up to the shoulders, his entire back was scarred with whip marks and weal, and patches of white skin. His buttocks and thighs had more scars left by sharp leather objects.
Among those white patches, there was a 6! Branded between his shoulder blades!
The knight felt his blood boiling— the child was barely alive, and each wound on his body would have sent an adult into hospital for days! And here he was carrying a rivulet of pain on his small back! "I should've waited! Killing them with a crossbow was mercy!" Corazón walked away pushed open the window and pulled out a stick of cigarette from his boot, but didn't light it.
"Is there a way we can find his name?" Luffy looked at Dr. Kureha whose eyes were blazing at the sight of Six's naked back.
"No. He was most probably born to a generation that survived the genocide of Amber lead infected people and most probably was sold off as a slave to make some last attempt at labour profiteering, and I bet his real parents are gone too."
"Savages th—"
"Master Luffy, take a few samples of his blood, send it to Amazon Lily, ask your fiancé Hancock to trace the DNA. This boy might be more than a survivor, he might be the cure! Corazón, run to Amazon Lily today!" Dr Kureha's eyes were glowing.
"What do you mean by cure?" Luffy asked.
"Which year is this?" Dr. Kureha asked.
"The Celestial Year of 991" Corazón added.
"The last time Amber Lead syndrome was recorded was in the year 889, some scholars debate the exact date. I was still a young doctor back then. The patient recorded was a five-year-old, he was rescued by the Nuns, but he didn't survive the past two days. Amber lead reduces life span! There is no way those who survived the genocide could sire children! They were children themselves! This boy—" Dr. Kureha's worried met Corazón, who shook his head, her sentence converted into a mumbling that Luffy could make no sense of. She again looked at Six, whose face now hid in Luffy's arms. She walked over to Corazón and took his unlit cigarette.
"We have to save him at any cost, you must understand this, young Lord!" Saying this, Dr. Kureha walked out of Luffy's chamber.
Corazón followed after her. Then he stopped and turned around to talk to Luffy, "Master Lu, you should explain your situation to Mistress Boa in a letter so that we can sort this mess out." Corazón prepared himself to draw some blood out of the skinny hands of Six.
"She is going to chew me!"
"Well— You want to save him, don't you."
"I do."
"Then you better write a letter explaining why you didn't show up at dinner a month back."
"Why is she so invested in me? I thought she hated men!" Luffy growled.
"Well, you are a child in her eyes! She finds it easier to deal with you than adult men who look down upon her!" Corazón sighed and injected.
"Why am I even engaged to that person?"
"They need an heir! We require an heir! We can never have enough heirs!" Corazón laughed.
"I am a bastard! My child will not even earn a title!" Luffy huffed as Six whimpered at the first jab into his arms.
"The heir is not for the Spade Kingdom."
"Eh?"
"Boa Hancock needs an heir, too."
"So my fathers' sold me off as a broodmare the moment I turned 14! How kind!— Did that hurt Six? There, there, it will be over soon." Luffy patted Six's head.
"Technically, you are a stallion being sold."
"That is very reassuring, sir Corazón! Isn't it?" Luffy laughed. "A stallion indeed. Six you better grow up healthy and protect me from this marriage, okay? How about I avoid the truth in a letter now, just tell her it for something top secret."
"Then make Sanji write it for you. And…" Corazón pulled the curtains, "We can't let anyone else find out that we brought Six from the labour camp, Master Lu."
"But how do we hide it?"
"Robin and Nami are cooking up a plan with Sanji." Corazón sighed.
"For a gallant knight, you sure trust us teenagers a lot!" Luffy giggled.
"I am not the smartest person around, I may be an adult, but I do trust Robin, Nami and Sanji when it comes to planning. My task is to keep you alive. Now will you please write the letter please!"
Corazón sighed again looking at the boy in Luffy's arms, "Let me talk to Dr. Kureha, after that we will collect the child's blood." Saying this, Corazón rushed after Kureha who was already scolding her son Chopper on the other side of the castle for working with a dumbass lord.
Robin had come to Spade Kingdom when she was just sixteen; her home, the little provincial kingdom of Ohara was destroyed when it was caught between two warring nations. With bare minimum possessions and under the cover of the night, Robin and her mother escaped and came to Spade Kingdom.
The Spade Kingdom was known for being a refugee-friendly and mighty power that could hold its fort against its enemies. Robin's mother was a scholar and a linguist, back in their home, and Robin was her best student. After they were officially made subjects of the kingdom, Robin's mother found herself employed as a chronicler of the court, and Robin was made a new teacher of the youngest bastard prince, Monkey D. Luffy.
When she met Luffy for the first time, he was four, a riot on two feet, and he had no interest in getting educated. But she succeeded where most teachers had failed. Though Luffy still didn't have any interest in education, by Robin's willpower and determination he was not illiterate.
So to find Luffy knocking on her door in the middle of the night meant the boy was in trouble. She knew about the mission of rescuing from the children's labour camp; she was part of the planning.
But Luffy had rescued a child and smuggled him home! The rescue of the sickly boy back home was not part of the plan she created. Robin had her ways of knowing what Luffy was doing most of the time, but a distressed Luffy was not a prediction she made for that night.
"Do you know about amber lead syndrome?" As soon as the door opened, Luffy barged in with the question. "Is the child you brought sick with it?" Robin shut the door and followed Luffy into her own study.
"He has amber lead syndrome."
"But Lu, that was a plague that ended a hundred years back! How can it continue because it is supposed to die down with its victims? Wait a minute! Did you pick the boy from an Amber Lead Quarry? Sir Rosinante didn't tell me that the children were infected." Robin stood in front of her student, who slunk into the empty chair.
"He is a child, not, actually almost a baby, Robin. How do we help him?" Luffy's voice cracked up.
"What did Dr. Kureha say?" Robin began rummaging through her shelves. "You know there has to be some history about its cure. We just have to get the right books! We live in modern times; we have the technology and the care system! Buckle up okay?" Robin did her best to not let Luffy learn of her own fear and collected her long raven hair into a ponytail.
"You think so?"
"Yes, Lu! Come help me find books now. Start from 870WG of Frevlance on the right corner, fourth shelf."
"But Robin, if Amber Lead Syndrome broke out a hundred years back, should it not be 891? We are in the year 991" Luffy was not unintelligent, when he tried he could use his brain, but his general rule was not to use his brain much. An impressed Robin smiled at her student.
"That's an official record. If the first outbreak is mentioned in 899, by nature of human error of history we know it most probably is at least the third or fourth case. Because information collection and recording keeping don't often run parallel."
"I don't understand."
"Of course you do." Robin pulled her hair ponytail into a bun as she began examining her books.
"No, I don't." Luffy pouted.
"It is like, you bought the boy a few days back , is the information I collected. But as your advisor and personal chronicler, I have not put this information in your official book. Understood?"
"OOO"
"Yes. Frevlance officially entered the first date outbreak in 899, but guess what?"
"What?"
"The Amber Lead Mines were there for centuries, so the disease must have existed and manifested multiple times in history, but the rulers might have erased their stories by refusing to acknowledge them."
"Then how will we trace them?" Luffy was now thoroughly confused.
"You will track down all minor rebellions and attempted rebellions from 865 and note them down. The first outbreak will be among them, infections and ailments are one of the major reasons for the collapse of empires."
"Was it not 870 a few moments back?" Luffy cried.
"I thought we should start from a little back. Hmm? You want to help the child, no?" Robin ruffled Luffy's hair.
"Robin—" Luffy reclined his head into Robin's palms.
"What?" Robin gently patted his cheeks, which still had the markings of a child. Though she was his teacher and advisor, she also adored him as her younger brother, though Lord Luffy of Joy Boy Castle was almost ready to debut in High Society in a few years, Luffy the boy in front of her eyes was still a child. No one knew the pains of growing up before they were meant to be better than a refugee girl like her. Overnight, you were expected to behave like an adult and take care of things you were not meant for. Watching Luffy grow up as a healthy young man was her dream, so finding his face wrinkled up like a discarded paper ball between her fingers was driving her anxiety.
"Six— I mean the boy."
"Yeah? What about him?"
"He doesn't have a name."
"I thought Six was his name."
"Corazón and I turned him over for a check-up, I didn't see it yesterday or today while bathing. But it was there between his shoulder blades—"
"Was it a branding Luffy?"
"Yes. His number was six." Luffy's eyes saddened and shut close. He could only imagine the things that happened to the boy.
"Then we must make sure, he recovers and chooses his own name, no?" Robin kissed Luffy's crown and pushed him to search for the books. "But you can pick him a nickname until then."
"Yes!"
"Good! Now help me."
"Oh, Robin—"
"Yes?"
"Six— I mean the child. He doesn't know how to speak. But I can see he is intelligent. I am sure he is intelligent, like you and Nami, Sanji and Sabo."
"You know if Ace hears that you didn't call him intelligent, he will hunt you down." Robin chuckled.
"He is smart— But this child I know is intelligent-er than my brother. His eyes went glittering when he was identifying things with me today in the bath." Luffy pouted and continued, "Just like how your eyes glow when you discuss things with Auntie Olivia or Sabo. So imagine when the child learns to talk, and he will discuss things with you, you both will have glowing eyes."
Robin was not surprised that the boy couldn't talk; a child from labour camps would need many training sessions, which ordinary folks took for granted. Robin had sensed it, because Sanji, the head chef who had helped Luffy distract Sabo when they found the camp, had returned to complain to her and Nami the next day about Luffy bringing a wild child to the household.
Though Sanji had yet to see the boy with his own eyes, the handprints on the tablecloth, scoops of missing jam and bite marks on cubes of butter were enough for Sanji to know what had happened in the morning. Sanji had remarked the child would need education when Robin, Nami, and Sanji sat down for evening tea. Later, the three of them found out that Luffy was calling Dr. Kureha to check up on the boy, which only meant one thing; the child was not well.
"We will help him talk, but first we will help him stay alive, Luffy!" Robin took a deep breath and sat down on the table.
"YES!" Luffy grinned.
Marco was Ace— the crown prince's personal physician and friend, so his finding a begging letter from Luffy indicated only one possibility; Luffy was in trouble and didn't want to be found out. Marco, like his profession, swore to respect the privacy of his clients, so he burned the letter. He arrived at the infamous Joy Boy Castle and entered it from a secret passage, a door even Ace and Sabo were not aware of.
Instead of Corazón, he found Robin was the one to receive him. Robin was dressed in her scholarly robes of blue and green, and her hair was braided.
"Let me guess, he picked up something he shouldn't have had?"
"Someone—"
"Another someone?"
"Hmm"
"Robin! Last time was hard enough. That man is still recovering! Ace was ready to shave my head." Marco almost slammed his head into the expensive vase that stood in one corner.
"If Chopper could've handled it, we would've not bothered you. But this time Dr. Kureha has asked for you."
"You want me to meet that hag?"
"Language!"
"Fine— Let's see, why would the Scowling Witch of the North need me!"
One look at the wriggling child on the bed and Marco forgot all his complaints and began examining the child. The boy was crying and kept muttering. When Marco bent closer to hear, almost every syllable spoken was gibberish, except for one word, 'Luffy.'
"He knows not our language," Robin informed.
"Where is Luffy?" Marco asked. Corazón was guarding the door and Dr. Kureha was sitting opposite studying the reports.
"This was my decision to not bring him in now. As his advisor, I need to assess the situation." Robin sighed.
"This child, he is standing on the thin line between death and life." Dr. Kureha stood up and handed the report to Marco.
"He has amber lead syndrome? How? It is a disease that can only pass through the bloodline."
"We do not know 'how'. Robin has few guesses." Corazón spoke.
"So, last night, Luffy and I, we dug out of history books," Robin informed. "We found something."
Marco arched an eyebrow, "Luffy can read?"
"Be serious!" Dr. Kureha hissed, "Listen to us!"
Robin closing her eyes continued, "The first unofficial outbreak happened around 854WG."
"Okay! And what? Was it not the 890s?" Marco almost flipped the table he was resting his arm on.
"Yes. Some rebellions had happened in the vessel provinces of Frevlance. My guess is the first outbreaks of Amber Lead Syndrome happened with immigrant workers of Frevlance, who somehow went back to their respective rulers and raised concerns."
"And when those rulers raised their concerns, they were crushed…?" Marco added.
"Yes. And we know for the next sixty years Frevlance was actively on campaigns where they look numerous prisoners of wars."
"They kept replacing the labour force with each new set of wars they won?" Corazón asked with disgust evident in his voice.
"Yes. My theory is— that when the final civil war broke out, some of the perceptive nobility had fled early. A few among them continued to carry on mining business in secret even long after the Kingdom of Frevlance had fallen."
"So our initial guess that he must have been the child of labourers of the Amber Lead camps was not far off?" Dr. Kureha barked. She was angry.
"Yes, the other kids we saved maybe are the children of the labourers who were forced into the camps after Frevlance fell."
"And you expect me to hide this from Ace?" Marco asked.
"No. Hide it from Sabo! And. We want you to examine the other children when you return. But we want you to help us with this boy first. Dr. Kureha has an idea, a way to save him, but she will need your assistance."
"And I am tasked with tracking down at least one case of survivor," Robin added. "All I need is a name. If we can track a person's name and if they somehow sired a family, maybe, just maybe, we can create a vaccination." Though she tried hard to sound positive, it truly was a task of looking for a needle in the haystack.
"There is no vaccination for this at the moment! We need test subjects, and we have to cultivate the blood for years to make a functional cure, every attempt has failed because test subjects die. How will I be able to help this boy?"
"Blood transfusion"
"He is— what, four? Five? Six? Say we transfer blood, how can that tiny body deal with dialysis? He will be in so much pain."
Dr Kureha cut in, "He is used to pain, I may sound cruel, but that boy has known nothing but pain. If saving his life will cause him a few more months of pain, I will take the risk." Dr. Kureha adjusted her glasses, not calmly.
"Then why do you need me? Since you made up your mind."
"Organs." Corazón replied.
"We will need to be prepared for worst-case scenarios. We will need organs; he will have at least one organ failure. We need to be practical. And we need a blood donor and organ donors. And only you can operate with precision."
"I don't think our blood banks are going to refuse him blood or organs."
Robin bit her lips, "No— his blood type is rare."
"Is it F?"
"Yes."
Dr Kureha smiled, "There are two people who have F-type blood that I know who can immediately give us blood."
Marco wanted to cry and pull his hair, he knew exactly who they were. "You are asking for so much trouble. On top of it, and now you want royal…"
"Ace and Luffy." Robin sighed. "There is Sir Crocodile, but I don't think, we can ask him at the moment he is still on his hormonal treatments."
"Ace will agree to give blood, we all know. But he has to be informed about everything, which means Sabo needs to be told everything as well! You can not tell the future king of the kingdom that his idiot brother is keeping a sick child in his chamber."
"We do not need Ace's blood now." Dr Kureha grinned. "Luffy will do."
"Wait, Luffy wants to give him blood every month?"
"Yes."
"Is he even allowed? He is fourteen! Isn't the standard age sixteen? And he needs consent from his guardian, which is SABO! Or Boa Hancock, his future spouse, as she is the adult one in this arrangement! Or his parents!"
Again, Dr. Kureha hissed, "If he has a fiancé, he is mature enough to give blood." And she yelled, "That's a sham engagement anyway!"
"Tell that to Boa Hancock!" Corazón cut in. "She has prepared a mansion for Luffy! She is waiting to welcome her husband the moment he turns adult!"
Robin nodded in agreement, "I agree, Boa is serious about this marriage! She is not that selfish if Luffy asks she will permit it, but the whole point is saving the child is a hush-hush matter! So we cannot tell Boa anything!"
"But are you sure, can he give blood? Even if it's a paper engagement, Luffy is supposed to sire offspring for Boa Hancock! She won't want a weak father!" Marco snared at Corazón. "We can't do anything that may hamper his future sperm count!"
"We did a blood mass count, Luffy can give him blood for a few years, it will not impact his semen. That boy is strong and young. Did you forget what he is?"
"He is D."
"Isn't it better to get Ace's blood, he is D. too?"
"Like you said, he is the future king, we cannot keep poking holes in his body." Robin smiled. "And Sabo would stab all of us."
"Fine. When do we start blood transfusion?"
"Once his fever comes down, we will begin tests and give him preventive meds." Dr. Kureha informed. "In a week's time, I dare say."
"Robin—" Marco smiled, "None of Luffy's fathers can't find out, okay!"
Dr. Kureha was tired of this family of D, especially with their constant messy love lives and scattered genealogy, "Which one?"
Corazón, Marco and Robin cried, "The Biological Ones!"
"Shouldn't we worry about the Adopted one most?" Robin laughed.
"I hope he doesn't return home anytime soon!"
"Fine!"
Marco straightened his back, "Fine, book an appointment with Franky."
The name piqued Robin's interest, "Franky?"
"He is our bioengineer-biochemist guy; a genius actually, he wants to create better machines to help cure ailments. Maybe he can help us. It is always better to have more minds in a group. Because blood transfusion and possible organ transplant are too much for a child. I want him to prepare artificial organs for the child. Let's leave no stones unturned. If we can save him, we can solve many medical problems."
Marco walked towards the boy. "You better survive boy."
"He will survive." Corazón went and patted the crying boy.
Franky, a man with blue hair and a large build, dropped by in the middle of the week with Marco. "Hello Lord Monkey D, I am Franky."
Franky pulled his glasses down and looked at Robin with awe, "Hello! Wow, you are gorgeous in person. Would you love to go on a date with me?"
The reply came from Luffy who was sitting beside the boy and biting his nails, "Robin is off limits if you can't help me!" Luffy hated pulling ranks, but at that moment he was going to pull everything to save the boy, "The child is more important!"
"Yes my lord," Franky grinned at Luffy and walked towards the child. "Marco, help me," both the doctor and the engineer lifted the child, who made soft protesting noises. "The fuck", Franky's curses did stop, but his anger kept rising.
With Corazón hawking behind him and Robin explaining to him the situation he understood what was expected of him fast. He studied the boy for hours and made notes. Marco examined the legs and arms, "We have to rework his legs in future!"
"What do you mean by rework?" Robin asked.
"As he grows up, his bones will grow weaker, his knees are fine but…" Franky sighed.
Luffy had no time for hitting around the bush, "But?"
"His fibula and tibia are already broken and unrecovered! So we will replace them with something more substantial. Like metal after we completely eradicate the poison in his system."
Robin let her emotions show, "He will be in so much pain, poor child.!"
"Young miss, he is already hurt. We will heal him!" Franky gave a sad smile. "No pain no gain eh?"
Robin asked, "When will you operate?"
"Not now, after he recovers from his blood poisoning. Today, I just came to look at him. He is more resilient and tinier than I thought! I will prepare the blueprints for artificial organs as well, according to Marco the child is likely to—"
Luffy, impatience was showing, "What do I do for him, now?"
Marco and Franky flashed their toothy grin, "Be healthy and keep giving him blood!"
"And I would like someone who is a doctor to help me while designing a few things for the blood transfusion."
Robin and Luffy wasted no time, Chopper was summoned. After explaining why he needed to be with Franky the young doctor agreed. He felt terrified in the presence of a laughing Franky patting his back; he had ideas that scared Chopper, who tagged along with him to study his plans out of moral obligation towards humanity's safety.
Chopper returned with new pieces of equipment two days later, which the crazy bioengineer made specifically for the boy. Because the types of equipment were not state-approved, Marco was sceptical, but none could stop Dr Kureha who wasted no time in prodding the child with needles and began his treatment.
The first blood transfusion was a test, just to see if the boy's body was compatible with Luffy's blood. To Luffy's surprise, it was over quicker than he expected. The bastard prince was doing his best to not call the boy his numerical identification.
After three days everyone was relieved, the child's body had not rejected his blood, which eased everyone's mind.
Luffy was observing him, the child was under the soft sheets, his fever had broken long back and the shivering had stopped. After he had received his first dose of blood, his face relaxed and the pain subsided. Yet he had not woken up. Luffy and Corazón took turns caring for his little body, cleaning and wiping him every day. Feeding him every two hours and monitoring him for abnormalities.
Dr. Kureha had put him on an extremely strict diet, he was not allowed any rich food! Luffy was warned by her specifically to not try to feed anything to the boy without her permission. The only things he was allowed were liquids and mashed fish in tiny quantities!
Luffy's chef-confidant Sanji, had taken up the challenge, he had yet to meet the boy, but the moment he learnt of his medical condition, he began cooking the most nutritional liquids he could for the boy.
"He needs a name, a good name." Nami, Luffy's personal advisor and chief of staff, gently patted the little boy's forehead while Corazón fed him.
"Why? I assumed I was going to give him a nickname until he can decide for himself."
"No person chooses their own name! A name is a gift of affection and promise of future potential." Nami scolded. "It is better we choose his name Luffy! It is best if you or Corazón choose it."
Robin entered the room with an armful of books, she had spent nights tracing cases of amber lead outbreaks in hopes of finding that one person who may've survived it. Hearing Nami's words, she immediately asked, "What do you mean by good name? Luffy and I had decided the child would pick his name when he is a little more mature and able to speak the common tongue."
"So did I Robin! Nami here has other ideas." Luffy was pacing to and fro impatiently looking at Corazón's meticulously feeding the child. Luffy walked towards Robin and helped her with the books. "Robin, when will he wake up? It's been thirteen days since I gave him my blood. Should I slice my hand and mix my blood with his food?" Luffy's words were sincere, but the after-image of his words scared Nami and Corazón. "His hair needs to be cleaned too! He has not had a proper bath in days!"
"Lu…" Nami hissed, and then she answered Robin. "Sooner or later the word will spread, that this idiot has got a stray in. Luffy, picking a name for the child is urgent, and Sanji agrees!" Nami yelled.
"Why me?"
"You are responsible for him and give him a magnificent name."
"But why me?" Luffy cribbed. "You think I am the right person to name a child? My parents are named after animals and beasts, and I am named like a puppy dog! Might I remind you the future king is named after a card!"
"Point." Nami nodded. "Your bloodline has bad naming sense."
Robin was pressed for time, so she cut the bickering "Nami what did you mean by name? Background I understand. But why is the name so important."
"So that she cooks up a background befitting the name, it makes sense to me. Right, little miss advisor?" Corazón added. "Whatever the name we give, we will need a solid background story to justify it."
"What solid background?" Luffy asked. "Why do we need a story, can't we say I found him in a basket in the river while hunting some werewolves or boars and made him my squire or something."
"You are still too young for court politics." Corazón sighed.
"I have created something with Sanji." Nami smiled. "I think it's both believable and cannot be refuted by facts."
Corazón's eyes glowed, "You kids are fast. Can you tell me what the plan is?"
"We are not kids! Sanji and I are twenty-one and twenty, and Robin here is twenty-six! We just never grow under your eyes." Nami laughed.
"Yes, tell me plaaaaaaaaan NAMI! Tell me then!" Luffy pouted.
Nami ignored him and answered Corazón, "After he wakes up, we will share the backgrounds we created. "Trust us, Sir Knight!"
Luffy who was paying attention and full of impatience yelled again. "Why are you not answering me? Who pays your salary, huh?" Pulling his socks in anger, he rolled them into balls, "Hey! I am your lord! You serve me! How dare you ignore me!" And threw it at Nami. "Tell me the background."
"Stop throwing your smelly socks at me, you dumb lord." Nami threw the sock balls back at Luffy. "More than Six, you need a bath!"
"Don't call him that." Luffy's tone changed. "That is not a name, Nami."
"Fuck, I am sorry. It slipped." Nami lowered her eyes and then barked, "See, that's why we need a good name for the child."
"Say sorry to him first!" Luffy barked back. "I will not name him on a whim! He is a human, not a puppy!"
"Master Luffy stop it!" Corazón scolded his young lord. "You don't want to disturb Si— I mean the boy's sleeping. I think Nami is right. Robin, why don't you prepare a name list to help Luffy here?"
"Sorry, Sir Corazón, I think I don't want to influence Luffy here. If anyone has the right to name him; it's you both." Robin smiled. "Luffy don't be angry."
Sensing the change of tone, Nami spoke, "As I was saying, people will find out. If words reach to Boa that Luffy has got a child into the castle, the alliance will be hampered. And if she finds out about the blood transfusion, hell will break loose! So we have to come up with a solid cover story!"
Luffy now turned around at the mention of his fiancé, Boa Hancock, whom he had only met once. "Why will Boa break our engagement with me? She already has his blood and is doing the DNA thing Dr Kureha asked us to do. I just omitted the truth."
"Boa is not our greatest worry. She is sensible." Robin slapped her forehead, "Yes, I know we want to keep it hidden from Ace and Sabo and his parents. Word will eventually get out; the castle staff talk and rumours spread like wildfire."
"See, Robin gets it!" Nami clapped her hands. "Sanji has created few backgrounds. I will run them by with you guys once the boy wakes up."
"I still don't understand, Robin." Luffy was distressed, not being able to grasp the situation. "I really don't."
"People will say the boy is your illegitimate child!"
"What, how can I be the father of a six-year-old? I am fourteen! I have not even had sex!" Luffy's face disgusted, "How can my son be that skinny? Shouldn't the rumour be he is my father's legitimate child? Like if the rumour spread it should be that no?" Luffy didn't like court politics, he hated being a bastard prince, but he was perceptive enough to know what kind of rumour would do more damage. "I mean, look at him, he has raven hair like me and Ace! And his skin is like dads' and his eyes! He can easily pass as a D."
Nami wanted to tease, so she did, "Which dad?"
Luffy was not in the mood to joke back, "Not Shanks, obviously! And my other two dads are busy fighting a custody battle over me! So you tell me!"
Robin sighed, "We don't want rumour of another illegitimate son from royalty either!"
"We really don't." Corazón nodded.
"He can be some dead noble's bastard love child?" walked inside a man with raging bright blue braided hair, the man was tall and dressed inappropriately to visit a castle, absolutely ill-suited to meet a bastard prince. But the prince in question didn't care.
"Franky." Robin beamed with a smile. "I called him Lu. He wanted to check on the child."
"I brought him something." Franky went to the child and placed a small metal pendant in his tiny palm. "Make him carry it with him for the next couple of weeks."
"What is it"
"A device that will study his heartbeat and check for any poison fluctuation. Chopper suggested this, and I thought why not, if we have a daily record of his movements, will know how his body is responding to the new blood and later the medicine we pump into him. And we will compare each week's information to create the best course of action to make this little rabbit into a tiger!"
"Genius!" Robin smiled. "That will help him so much!"
"Yes, that's the plan."
"Lu….." the child opened his eyes and raised his hand in a daze to grab onto something. "ffy…."
Immediately the prince ran to him, "I am here. I am here." Franky and Croazon helped the child sit up and hugged Luffy. His face fused to Luffy's neck, and his tiny hands hugged the teen with all his might.
"Luffy! Luffy! Luffy!" The child continued crying, and everyone in the room let him cry. Nami ran to call for Marco and Kureha. Robin came to Luffy and the child with a glass of water.
It took a while for the child to calm down. Corazon took his palms and gestured to make him understand his words. The child nodded and took the glass from the Knight and gulped the entire glass of water in one go! After that, he was back in Luffy's arms, who rubbed assuring circles on his back.
The boy broke the hug to look at Luffy. "You are safe. I am Luffy and you are?" Then he smiled with red eyes after hearing Luffy say the words.
And he replied, "s…ix…"
"No." Luffy hissed. "You are not six! Okay? No six you." Luffy aggressively moved his hands to form a cross. "No six."
"No six I?"
Robin knew the boy was smart from what she heard from Luffy, so she was not surprised that even with his broken language system he understood Luffy's microexpressions and tones and hand movements. After a while she chided herself for not realizing, that the child had spent his entire life in survival mode, he understood expressions better than words.
"Luffy, I know we want him to choose his own name, for now, give him a small name that he can memorize and replace with six. Something all of us can call him. Something with three to five syllables." Robin suggested. She knew the task of naming someone was a responsibility. Since Luffy had decided he was going to be responsible for this child, it was only fair Luffy was the one who named him.
"Alright." Vocabulary and spelling were not Luffy's strongest points. Yet, he paid attention to his studies. So he racked his brain and looked for a three-letter name that would overpower the numerical that possessed the child's mind. He thought of Day, Dawn, and Joy which were part of Luffy's inherited title and responsibilities. Luffy would gladly give him his entire title if it meant he could erase the numerical past of the child. There was always Ace, many children in the kingdom were named after his brother. But none fit the boy in Luffy's head. He pondered on Eli and Leo for a while and then finally a word struck him, "Law…"
"Law?" All the people except the child spoke the name in unison.
"Like the Law we pra…" Franky's mouth was covered by Robin's hand and glare.
"Robin you taught me, Law originally means what is right."
"I did."
"Look at him, we will make everything right for him, won't we Corazón?" Luffy asked. "Won't we? We will fix the laws and protect children like him."
"Yes, we will Master Lu." Corazón nodded, he understood because his own life was a path of following what was righteous and lawful. Like Luffy he wanted the child to live in a just world.
"He is Law." Luffy was assured that this was the name that suited the boy. He gestured his hands to draw the attention of the child, who was looking at everyone like a rabbit caught in a cage; moving his fingers slowly, Luffy tried to make him understand. "You are safe. I am Luffy and you are Law."
"You are Luffy and I am Si—"
"No. I am Law. Say it."
"I am Si…" the child frowned. For years, six was the only word he associated himself with. It was not easy. But Luffy's pained look made him understand six was not the word that made him: him .
"You are Law," Luffy repeated. "Say, I am Law." With tears breaking down his face again the child hugged Luffy. "It's okay, it's hard but not impossible." Luffy patted his back.
"I…" The child looked at everyone. "I…"
"Yes, you can say it, tiger!" Franky cheered. "You are strong like the Law that protects people!"
Robin joined in too, "Yes! You can! You are Law!"
"I am…"
"You are Law" Corazón gently smiled at him, "You are my baby boy! And you are Law!"
"See…" Luffy patted the boy, who hid his face in his neck again. "It's your name. Not a number, not a branding. This is your name from today." The child still didn't understand everything they were saying. Yet, he understood, he was no longer going to be pushed to the ground when the word "six" was uttered. He was no longer going to be offered half a bowl of gruel when the guards called him "six." He was no longer going to break stones with the hammer when the guards screamed, "SIX!" The child took a deep breath and hugged Luffy tightly. "Who are you?" Luffy asked softly and in a whisper he replied.
"I am Law."
TBC
SORRY! I know you all are waiting for this story. It just takes so much brain power to write this story. I swear the chapter was meant to come out in october, but then so much shit happened in my life; I just didn't realize where time went by! I blinked, and it's already three months into 2024! Depression really ruins everything! To the people still returning to this story after my bad scheduling THANK YOU! And to the new readers, I am sorry I don't know when the next chapter will come I AM SORRY!
P.S: Luffy has more than two fathers in this story. I will explain as the story progresses. And you all can guess who they are anyway.