Chapter Text
The heat was brutal this time of year. Dry, scorching heat that dominated the air and ground alike and made the atmosphere wobble in tall, frantic waves. The sun was high and glowing in the clear blue sky completely free from clouds due to the lack of wind; it shone down with its unforgiving radiance on those unfortunate enough to be without the protection of shade. There would be little to no rain at all for the upcoming two months and the nights would provide little relief from the unbearably high temperature.
It was currently midday and after hours of hard, non stop labor, Eustass Kid dared stopping for a brief pause to catch his breath without permission. There was still an hour left until the sorry excuse the masters liked to call lunch but he just needed a few seconds to rest.
He had been up since before dawn; with the sun rising especially early during the South Blue summers, the fields had enough light by then for the slaves to do their work efficiently enough. No time was to be wasted if money could be made.
Waking up at such an early hour in addition to a near sleepless night had left Kid exhausted. His marked up back still ached from his most recent punishment three days prior. A dull throbbing that came with the healing process as the wounds closed up. Not nearly as painful now, but painful nonetheless. He hadn't been given any food since then either, despite being sent back straight to work again the next day. Today that was thankfully to be revoked and as scarce as it was, the meal was a welcoming thought and he very much looked forward to it.
Kid took a quick, discrete look around the vast fields to make sure the overseers weren’t watching him and once the coast seemed to be clear he stabbed his shovel into the soil to rest his aching hands and arms. He grabbed the collar of his roughspun shirt, the fabric that was once pure white now discolored from weeks worth of sweat and blood, and lifted it to wipe his forehead. The shackles around his wrists rattled with the movement and scraped uncomfortably against his skin. The metal had gone hot from the sun, searing into his skin and the same went for the metal collar around his neck.
He wanted to rip the ragged shirt off completely for some relief, but knew from experience that it was wiser to keep it on or else he’d get even more burned. His pale skin was dotted with patches of red burns after such a long time spent in the scorching summer sun. The only luxury he and the other field slaves had was the small cup of water given to them once every hour by a group of house slaves.
When Kid heard the sound of hooves approaching, he quickly went back to work. And just in time too; one of the overseers rode past him on his horse shortly after. He glared at the man’s back and wished that he’d fall off and break his neck. Surely it couldn’t be too unusual an occurrence around here. Back and forth all day long on a horse; someone must’ve fallen off and died at least once.
That one overseer was particularly nasty and had given Kid several hard whippings during his eight months of servitude at the Dressrosa plantation. The bastard enjoyed it too and would find any excuse to use that damn whip of his on any slave that caught his particular interest. Just looking at the man was enough for Kid to feel the scars on his back ache with new intensity; a phantom pain that felt much too real and too fresh and added to the weaker, already existing one.
He ground his teeth hard together when he heard the whip snap at some other slave who wasn’t doing their job efficiently enough, along with some threatening words thrown at them. Had it not been for his recent punishment, he may have caused another scene and attempt to inflict some damage on the man, however small it may be. But for now it would be in his best interest to lay low and behave, as much as he loathed it. Instead he bent down and resumed his task of digging up the field for the upcoming batch; some new kind of plant for the master’s most recent business deal with the lords of the eastern region of Wano.
The Dressrosa plantation was the third largest in all of South Blue, both in terms of area and variety of crops. Cotton, sugar cane, corn, a wide assortment of exotic fruits and herbs were only a few examples. But the owner of the plantation dealt with other things as well. He owned several iron and gold mines, weapon factories, a vineyard and a slave market that hosted a grand spectacle of an auction once every week. And that was only in the South Blue. Kid knew that the master’s business spread out across several nations that had been colonized by the Mariejois empire. And from what he understood, North Blue had been his main base of operation before settling down here in the south.
Kid continued to dig for an additional ten minutes before he caught movement in the corner of his eyes. It would not have caught his attention -what with the fields being occupied by so many working slaves- if it wasn’t for the fact that said movement came from a certain direction, from an area that he knew lay beyond the field not too far away. Kid just had to turn his head halfway, straight ahead, to see it.
His shoulders sagged as he slowly came to a halt and with the heated debate that started to take place within his mind he bit his lower lip in hard contemplation.
He knew he shouldn’t. He wouldn’t be able to look away if he did; one glance and he would be trapped. But Kid had never been one to listen to reason and defied every part of him that urged him to resist. He peered up from underneath the sweaty bangs that had escaped the confines of his bandana, eyes instantly drawn to a certain figure up ahead where the fields ended.
It was a curious thing, that there could be such a stark contrast in such a short distance. Kid’s field was closer than the rest, about a little less than a hundred meters or so, and the difference between that side and his was like night and day. The field’s brown and beige soil met a line of lush, green grass; a border that someone like him may never cross.
Beyond that border, on a raised platform underneath a wooden pergola, sat the master himself. The one and only Doflamingo Donquixote. Mariejois noble and Warlord. The latter title had been given to all high ranked aristocrats that had fought by the emperor’s side during the colony wars. And as thanks for their service, they had all been granted territory to rule over once victory was achieved.
He was just about to have lunch by the looks of it, which he sometimes liked to do while watching the slaves work from that very spot. To observe the progress and success of his little empire.
Sadistic bastard.
The table was loaded with an abundance of fresh foods and drinks and Kid knew that not even half, maybe not even a third of it would be eaten. A large portion of it would be thrown away as waste and some would be used to feed the dogs. His stomach growled just thinking about it.
What he wouldn’t do for a piece of meat.
Doflamingo had every comfort one would want on a day such as this; comfortably seated in his plush chair, all the food and drink he could ask for, surrounded by cool shade and lush greenery and all the time in the world to enjoy it.
All of this may have been worthy of any other slave’s full attention, but it was not these luxuries that currently had Kid so enthralled and filled with envy. Oh no. It was the pretty little thing that climbed up to settle in Doflamingo’s lap.
The distance did nothing to inflict doubt about the figure’s identity. Kid would recognize that silhouette anywhere, along with the telltale colorscheme of black, white and gold of the outfit that left very little to the imagination. Black, shiny hair and tan skin decorated with tattoos of equally black ink. And the glimmer reflected by the sun’s light came from the gold cuffs around those delicate wrists and ankles as well as the exquisite collar around that slender neck. All custom made to decorate him accordingly. As far as slave ranks went, Trafalgar Law was at the very top and only the finest collar and chains would do.
It was a dangerous thing for a lowly slave like Kid to gander at Doflamingo’s personal favorite. His exclusive, pampered little pet that no other man than him and a select few were allowed to touch. The slaves that attended Law were all women and the men that did have permission to put their hands on him were the ones that Doflamingo trusted the most. But even then, any bodily contact between them and his precious slave was limited to the minimum necessities. Not even they would be forgiven from the sin of touching Law in places they had no right to.
Law turned halfway in Doflamingo’s lap to gather something from the table. From that angle, Kid got a better glimpse of him even if his face was still quite obscured by the distance. He caught the faint yellow that he knew made the irises of those pretty eyes, the small patch of black scruff on his chin and the pair of gold rings pierced into his earlobes.
Law’s hand reached out over the table and picked up a bowl. If Kid had been closer he would have been able to identify the contents as finely sliced pieces of fruit; strawberry, pineapple, grape, apple and honey melon. Fruits grown and harvested in the great greenhouse of the Dressrosa plantation. No doubt from Doflamingo’s personal batch from which only the finest was selected.
Kid would have continued to longingly stare at the beautiful slave’s backside if he hadn’t been rudely interrupted by a whip snapping at the ground by his feet. Red leather with a tip shaped like the card suit of diamond.
That. Damn. Whip.
Kid tensed and slowly turned his head to meet the cold eyes of the tall man made even taller while mounted on his horse. He refrained from snarling at the sight of that disgusting grin he’d grown to hate so fiercely.
“See anything interesting over there, Eleven?”
Eleven.
His number. His name. The digit that had both been branded into the skin of his back and inscribed on the rusty tag that dangled from his collar. It had once belonged to someone else; a slave who’d passed away from exhaustion mere weeks before Kid was purchased to serve as his replacement.
It was the first thing he had been given when he first arrived at the Dressrosa plantation. Branded, collared and dressed before being sent off to work the fields with nothing more than a piece of bread and a bowl of broth to fill his belly. With his physique there was no surprise that he was meant to be a labor slave. It was nothing short of a miracle that he’d escaped the doomed fate of working in the mines, considering his history with previous masters. The most recent one made sure to sell him cheap. He figured that was probably what saved him. With such a low price he was expendable and should he cause too much trouble the loss wouldn’t really mean a lot.
“Well?” The overseer known as Diamante asked impatiently when Kid didn’t answer right away.
Kid lowered his head to glare at the ground and bit out through his clenched teeth, “No.”
Diamante hummed knowingly and inspected the field Kid had been digging up since dawn. It took no time at all for him to recognize the lack of progress since his last inspection half an hour ago.
“Taking a little break, I see. Some would call that slacking off .”
Diamante’s grin stretched wider.
“You know what that means.”
Shit.
“I was just-”
“Another day without food for you. You will be spending lunchtime digging and making up for your laziness.”
Diamante’s long fingers fiddled with the diamond encrusted handle of his whip.
“I would give you ten lashes to go with that but considering the fifteen I gave you the other day, it would damage your productivity even further. We can’t have that, now can we.”
“...”
Diamante cocked his head to the side and watched him in silence with an expectant look and eventually Kid understood that he was waiting for him to express gratitude for the small mercy he had been oh so fortunate to receive.
“Thank you,” he spat out and kept his head down. If he looked up Diamante would not take kindly to the hatred that burned in his eyes. And at this moment, even if he was forced to look up, he wouldn’t be able to forgo said hateful burn.
“Hmm? What was that?” Diamante drawled teasingly and leaned forward with his hand exaggeratedly cupped behind his ear as if he really hadn’t heard Kid at all.
Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.
Kid took a deep breath through his nose, hands gripping his shovel so hard the knuckles turned white.
“Thank you... master .”
Pleased with the obedience from the otherwise unruly slave, Diamante straightened back up and pulled the reins of his horse in a silent order to move.
“That’s better. Now get to work.”
And with that he turned his horse around and trotted off to torment some other poor slave.
Kid went back to work and he resolved to not look at Law again for the rest of the day, no matter how hard of a task that was.