Chapter Text
The island is an odd one.
They come ashore in the night. The landscape is already aglow with bioluminescence: violet blossoms unfurl beneath the moon and golden insects dart through the grass. The sands are streaked with neon blue algae that sparkle like stars. The terrain is mostly forest, and mist rolls through the trees in shimmering waves of pastel pink.
Kidd sneezes, loud and obnoxious as ever. There isn’t a single part of him— not his body, not his voice, certainly not his personality— that isn’t inclined to take up as much space as possible.
“This is a waste of time. We should be rebuilding our ships, not chasing fairy tales.”
Part of Law agrees. He isn’t any more thrilled to be relying on the StrawHats’ kindness, and doesn't intend to prolong the experience. Where the three of them once stood as equals, now Law and Kidd stand shipless and with broken crews; dependant on their own rival-turned-emperor for help. It’s mortifying, but Law would sacrifice his pride a hundred times over for his crew.
He’ll owe Monkey D. Luffy for the rest of his life. He has to make peace with that, even if it means taking a detour for information-gathering. Nico Robin is convinced this island holds an archive of secret knowledge, the type that the World Government has otherwise managed to suppress. With war brewing all around them, it’s worth looking into.
“I’m helping you, so you gotta help me help my crew, Jaggy.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s go, then.”
Law and Kidd almost always go ashore with Luffy. In part because they can’t stand to be left behind, but mostly because they feel obliged to pull their weight. Law is not the only one with a debt.
The nearest settlement, if that's the right word for it, doesn't take long to find. The locals are a glowing, shroomlike species that only come up to Law’s hip. As night deepens they pop right out of the ground, yawning and shaking their heads with plumes of glowing spores.
Though timid, they seem friendly enough. As soon as they lay eyes upon Luffy and Law, several ask in unison,
“Are you here for the rites?”
Mushrooms, right. A mycelium-based hive mind. Law makes a mental note to watch Kidd. The shroomlings are already eyeing him warily, and offending even one of these people could mean offending the entire island.
The brute sneers and leans toward Law. “Get me some kindling and some gravy, and I can make ‘em talk.”
Law elbows him hard.
“We’re told this is home to a great archive of knowledge,” Nico Robin says. “Are these rites—?”
“The rites! Rites for the Heirs of D!” A shrill chant goes up across the glade. Law can tell it’s going to be a very long night.
One shroomling steps forward. “Our sacred archives are the work of generations! Knowledge and memories from centuries past, stored forever!”
“Saved by the Unity!”
“They can only be accessed by those who are worthy! Outsiders cannot join the Unity, but if they prove themselves capable of Connection—”
“Connect! Connect!”
“Then we will share with them what we can!” The shroomlings hone in on Luffy and Law. “Your roots are what you seek? You are ready to undergo the rites?”
“Okay!” Luffy is as unfazed as ever, smiling gormlessly at the crowd. “How ‘bout it, Traffy?”
They still don’t know what these rites even are, and it’s a little unnerving that these creatures can sense his D status on sight. Yet the decision has clearly been made; Luffy is the reigning captain here. If he’s going forward, Law won’t back down.
“Hang the fuck on! I’m sure not gonna sit back with the knitting while Monkey and Trafalgar do seas know what,” Kidd says. “Count me in.”
Law rolls his eyes. “You didn’t even want to be here.”
“Changed my mind. Got a problem?”
Whatever. He’s learned that some things aren’t worth fighting Kidd on. Not if he wants to spare himself a headache.
“Of course you can come, Jaggy!” Luffy bounces in place, grin stretching past the point of human capability. “This is gonna be great!”
The shroomlings’ eyes go wide, all of them suddenly glowing an unearthly hue.
“You wish to undergo the rites? Together, with the blood of D?”
“A historic day! A historic memory for the Unity!”
Law and Kidd exchange bemused looks. Luffy continues to be unbothered.
“… Fine,” Law says. “Where do we start?”
“This is so fucking dumb.”
Law is similarly miserable, but will be damned if he agrees with Eustass on anything right now. “No one forced you to come along.”
The caverns beneath the island are vast and impossibly cold. Ice pools down the walls and cakes the floor. Luffy’s footwear quickly proved unsuitable. Rather than risk slipping off the narrow path and into the dark ravine below, he had clambered up Kidd’s coat to perch on the larger man’s back.
“They didn’t tell us what we’re looking for,” Luffy says with a sniffle. “The rites can’t just be walking, eh?”
“Fuck knows.” Kidd cranes his neck to shoot him a look. “You sneeze on me and I’m dumping your ass down the abyss.”
Luffy grins, his arms and legs stretching to fully ensnare Kidd’s body. “Do it and I’m taking you with me, Jaggy.”
“Will you two be adults for five minutes?” Law has taken up the lead, treading carefully along the narrow stone path. “I see a light up ahead.”
Flames flicker in the distance, beckoning them onward. They finally step onto sturdier ground, the path having led them across the chasm and to a tunnel flanked by torches. Law notes the frosty moss and fungal tendrils that lace the rock. Depending on how far the shroomlings’ “unity” extends, they could well be aware of the trio’s every move down here.
“Stay sharp. There’s a good chance we're being watched right now.”
“I’m always sharp.”
“Ha, okay Traffy!”
Progress abruptly ends with an obstruction in the tunnel. Large boulders lay directly in their way, eclipsing the passage.
Law frowns. He doesn’t see any evidence of a cave-in or general instability. It’s as if someone deliberately placed a stone blockade in their path. He tests his weight against it, shoving to see if there’s any give. He accomplishes a small cascade of disturbed pebbles and little else.
Ill-concealed snickering echoes behind him.
“Doing alright, Trafalgar?” Law doesn’t need to look to know Kidd’s face is as smug as his tone. “You need a big strong man to lend a hand?”
“Yeah Traffy,” Luffy giggles. “We’re happy to help!”
Law scowls, hand grasping for Kikoku’s hilt. “Some of you don’t have any more hands to lose, so watch your mouth!”
“Touchy, touchy.” Kidd shoulders him aside. “We got you, princess.”
“You—!”
Kidd heaves a boulder, muscle and steel straining to rotate it upright and out of their way. Luffy drops off his back and coils around another large rock, slinging it aside. Metallic and rubber-armed cheaters.
Law sees red. “Shambles!”
The boulders disappear with a flash, leaving only the torches from the entryway in their place. There is an ominous rumble from behind them— the grind and tumble of heavy stone toppling into the chasm. The ground beneath their feet quakes with small tremors.
Kidd whistles as Luffy’s laugh echoes through the cave.
“Traffy’s scary when he’s mad, huh?”
“Shut up.” Law shoves them both aside, his ears burning against the cold air. “I’m already sick of the both of you.”
The obstructions continue as they push forward, hindering their progress in a way that can only be by design. At one point Law has to shamble them each across a crystal lake. At another, Luffy has to expand himself to form a living bridge over a bottomless pit. Each chamber has increasingly elaborate obstacles, platforms, and obscure ways out. It’s a watery, underground labyrinth of puzzles that forces them to lean on each other in turns (albeit to the tune of many setbacks and much, much bickering).
Aside from the occasional chasm and constant presence of water, there isn’t much by way of danger. They come across some large, rat-wolf type creatures a few times, but the beasts are so easily dispatched it’s unclear if they’re part of the test or just local vermin.
“They’re fucking with us.”
Kidd is carrying them down a flooded passage, his 6’9” stature rendering him the only one tall enough to wade it without risking paralysis. Water he can endure to mid-thigh would come dangerously close to Law’s hips and Luffy’s navel.
“The hell does it mean, anyway? This D bullshit,” Kidd grouses. “And why is it worth me being near ass-deep in ice water? ‘s it like haki?”
“Dunno! But a lot of people have brought it up, so it’s gotta be something,” Luffy says, feet wagging from his perch on Kidd’s shoulders.
Law has to suffer the indignity of being carried bridal style. Luffy’s arm winds around him for extra stability, just in case Kidd’s control of his metal prosthetic gives out.
“Doing okay, Traffy?”
“No. And I won’t be until this is over so don’t ask again.”
“Someone’s ungrateful.”
Law glares at Kidd from the corner of his eye.
“I think Jaggy’s doing a great job! What’s the point of being so big if you don’t carry your friends or keep ‘em cozy?”
“Cozy…?”
“Yeah! I found out when we were in prison! Jaggy’s really big and warm and soft in nice places.”
Law turns to Kidd with utter bewilderment. The man flushes almost as red as his hair.
“You fuckin’ brat— I told you what happens in prison, stays in prison!”
Kidd and Luffy are weirdly cavalier with physical touch, now that Law thinks about it. It’s Luffy who initiates, grabbing Kidd’s arm or jumping on his back at will, but Kidd never protests beyond a scoff or roll of the eyes.
Meanwhile Law is curling in on himself, as if he can reduce his points of contact with the man literally holding him.
“To answer your initial question, something about the Clan of D scares the World Nobles,” Law says, straining to sound nonchalant. “They wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to bury history, otherwise.”
“Anything that fucks off the Celestial Dragons is fine by me,” Kidd says. “But if these spore bastards are jerking us around, I’m cooking the entire island.”
“Aw Jaggy, don’t be mean! We’re having fun, aren’t we?”
The air grows heavier as they press on, warmth seeping in and eventually manifesting as steam. The channel opens up into a vast cavern, glittering with crystals and bioluminescent fungus. Light dances across the walls, reflecting off the surface of numerous pools. The ground is warm beneath their feet when they clamber out of the spring. Currents of cold water flow and mix with hot, which then cascade down tiers of natural basins.
Luffy is already stripping off his clothes.
“What the hell are you doing?” Law’s head swivels so fast he feels his neck crack. “We’re in the middle of something!”
“Don’t be a grump, Traffy. Just a few minutes!”
Luffy at least makes for the shallowest of the pools, a basin lined with natural ridges that allow a person to sit more out of the water than in. A nearby steam vent hisses as Luffy kicks his feet, splashing like a child and enjoying the natural sauna.
He is, of course, heedless of his own nudity.
Kidd stares without shame. After a moment he shrugs and moves to unfasten his pants. “I oughta dry my trousers out, anyway.”
“Oh give me a break—”
Hideously patterned fabric slaps Law in the face. Kidd unhitches his metal arm and continues stripping. It can’t be happening. This can not happen.
It happens. Law peeks over his hand a second too soon, and the image of Kidd’s ass is now burned into his mind for life.
Luffy cheers as Kidd joins him. “Come on, Traffy! You next!”
“Absolutely not.”
“Tch. Always knew you’d be a prude.” Kidd stretches out, broad body uncoiling in the heat. “No thawing that stick up your ass, I guess.”
Law snarls, his nails digging harshly into his palms. “Burn in hell, Eustass.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“No fighting! Unless it’s the fun kind,” Luffy says. “Come sit, Traffy. We still don’t know what we’re looking for. Don’t you want to make some dumb fifty-step plan?”
“Dumb—?!” Law storms over, clothes staying on regardless of how damp and uncomfortable they currently feel. “You’re the ones having a spa day on the job!”
Kidd nudges Luffy with his foot. “Does he never run out of things to bitch about?”
Luffy giggles but shushes him, possibly sensing that Law is about to run him through.
“I’m not sure we’re even looking for anything tangible,” Law says, sitting criss-cross on the ground. The stone radiates heat that warms him even through his sodden clothing. “You heard the villagers up there. This is more of a test of character than a quest.”
Blank looks.
“The unity? Connection?” Law prompts. “Ring any bells?”
Kidd shrugs. Luffy blinks.
“Seas, use your brains. Fungi are capable of interfacing with each other to form a massive collective organism. It’s clearly sacred to them,” Law says. “We’re obviously not mushrooms, but they still want us to prove we’re capable of mutual collaboration and understanding.”
“So we’re fucked.”
“Don’t say that, Jaggy! Of course we can do it!” Luffy flicks him with water. “We’re friends!”
Kidd and Law share a doubtful look.
“I can’t believe we made it all the way here and neither of you had a clue what we were doing,” Law says. “Unbelievable.”
Kidd waves him off. “Whatever. Just because you know some useless facts about mold, it doesn’t make you better than us.”
“Well, I’m certainly smarter.”
“Meh.”
Law stares (determinedly above the waist) in abject disbelief. He knows Kidd is proud and stubborn, but surely not that delusional. Law's seen enough of his blueprints to know that Kidd is quite the self-taught engineer, but still.
“You two are barely literate, and I’m an actual surgeon.”
Kidd snorts. “You didn’t graduate from no med school.”
“Yeah!” Luffy says with a clap. “Show! Us! The papers!”
Law’s eye twitches as the two morons devolve into tittering laughter. He knows they’re just trying to get a rise out of him. And yet...
“Forget it! This whole endeavor is doomed after all. We may as well go back to the ship.”
Luffy catches him by the collar of his shirt and drags him closer to the pool. “Stop being dramatic, Traffy. Breathe in some steam and relax.”
Law settles but refuses to look at either of them. He doesn’t need to see the condensation dripping down Luffy’s bronze skin, water running in rivulets down his abs and into dangerous territory. He doesn’t need to watch the rhythmic rise and fall of Kidd’s chest, pecs plump and round with nipples pebbling in the steam.
Law is not going to do that. There is a road down which madness lies, and it’s marked by his two [former?] rivals sitting naked in a shallow hot spring.
“Fucking hell, Trafalgar. You’re looking like an even bigger virgin than the virgin.”
Law chokes on nothing as Luffy tilts his head.
“Eh? You’re talking about me?”
“Uh, yeah. Why, you gonna tell me I’m wrong?”
Luffy hums, feet idly kicking through the water. “Nah. I just didn’t think virgins looked like anything in particular.”
“I’m surprised you know what sex is at all,” Kidd says. “You look like you think babies grow in gardens.”
“Jaggy! Of course I know where babies come from. Animals had them all the time back home,” Luffy says. “And my brothers talked about sex sometimes. It must be good if everybody thinks about it so much, but I don’t see the big deal.”
“Oh, is that right? You and all your experience think sex is overrated?”
“Kinda! Doing it by myself is enough, and I don’t even like doing that too much. It’s kinda gross and annoying to deal with the mess after,” Luffy says as Law tries very hard to not throw himself down the cascade. “Listen, I’m sure having orgasms with you would be really fun, Jaggy. But I’d like it just as much if you rubbed my feet and called me the Pirate King.”
A pause.
“… I would like that a lot more, actually. Can we do that?”
“Not on your life, Monkey.”
“I bet you will! When I find the One Piece, you gotta!”
Law focuses on the little glowing mushrooms that dot the cavern, determinedly not part of this conversation. It’s surreal enough to even be here, listening to Luffy and Kidd bicker in the nude like it’s all normal. It’s not a position he could have imagined for himself that morning, let alone years ago when he’d first met these two.
“Why do you even want to be the Pirate King?” The question slips out, cutting through the splashing banter.
Kidd and Luffy turn to look at him. Being the focus of their attention certainly hits differently when they’re wet and unclothed.
“What kind of question is that?” Kidd asks. “Why do you want it?”
“I didn’t.” Not really. “I always had another agenda.”
It’s becoming clear that he wasn’t the only one. They of the Worst Generation all set sail with the same apparent goal, but few if any had intentions as straightforward or pure as Luffy’s. How many Supernovas really cared about the One Piece, the title, Gol D. Roger's legacy? How many just saw it as a means to an end?
Kidd grunts. “Right, your little warlord stunt. I remember.”
“I had a lot of plans. Not that StrawHat ever cares about those.”
“Your plans suck, Traffy! I make them better!” Luffy leans back, his expression turning contemplative. “I’ve wanted to be the Pirate King since I was little. To be a pirate is to be free, and to become king is the biggest adventure! By the time I get there… I’ll be strong enough to protect my friends from anything, and to help make all their dreams come true, too!”
Kidd scoffs, but not harshly. “I guess you’ve got the half of it. Being a pirate means no one can tell you what to do, let alone those fucks in the World Government. As king I could set their whole bloody world on fire, and ain’t none of them could stop me.”
“Your dream is to freely commit acts of terrorism? Out of spite?” Images of burning hospitals flash in Law’s mind. “Not that I’m judging. You just didn’t seem the type to even have such principles.”
“Nah, it’s not like that. It’s about being the best. Back in that junkyard I grew up in, people laughed at the idea of us getting out. Said I was just gonna die in a gutter with the rest of the rats.” Kidd glowers down at the water. “The strong survive and the weak get eaten. But I ain’t fucking weak. I’ll show ‘em. I’ll be the strongest there is. No one’s gonna look down on me an’ mine ever again.”
“You don’t have anything to prove, Jaggy. You’re plenty strong.” Luffy’s eyes shine bright and earnest. “Please don’t fight Shanks anymore. If you attack his friends again, he’s really gonna hurt you. And you’re my friend, so then I’m gonna have to fight him, and I’m not ready yet.”
“I don’t need you to fight my fucking battles for me. As soon as I get my new ship together, that bastard’s dead.”
“Redhair Shanks already took you down twice. Don’t you learn?” Law shakes his head. “How many times are you going to risk your crew?”
“You don’t get to talk to me about my crew, Trafalgar—”
“You think I don’t know?!”
Law doesn’t mean to shout, but suddenly he’s hearing his own voice echoing throughout the chamber. He stares into his lap, fists clenched on his knees.
“My crew got hurt and it was my fault. I let my pride and my plans get in the way of being a good captain from the start. They followed me, they trusted their lives to me, and I wasn’t even honest with them about my intentions.”
About his death wish. About how prepared he’d been to sacrifice himself for the chance of taking Doflamingo down with him. As if that’s what Cora died for.
Maybe he’s cursed. It was Law that Blackbeard wanted, Law and the power of the Op-Op Fruit. It’s always other people who pay the price for his sake.
“Your crew believes in you. Enough to follow you into fights they’re not ready for. You can’t…” Law clears his throat, which has suddenly gone tight on him. “You can’t waste love like that on revenge.”
He feels so cold and tired all of a sudden. It’s quiet as he finally peels off his damp clothes, Kikoku laid reverently atop the pile.
The water doesn’t help his fatigue. Even this shallow, he feels it licking at his power. He doesn’t hate it. It feels like permission. Like he’s finally being allowed his exhaustion.
The room is silent, save for the hiss of steam and babble of running water. There’s a ripple as Luffy slides toward him.
“I promised I’d help you and I will, Traffy. And Jaggy will, too. Between the three of us, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
Law’s heart clenches. He believes it, is the thing. He’s been wondering for a while if there’s anything Luffy can’t do— let alone the three of them as a unit.
Kidd huffs. “Normally I’d ream you out for volunteering me for shit, but… sure. I never say no to a fight.”
“You two make promises too easily. It's not wise.”
“Just ‘cause you’re old don’t mean you can talk to us like children, Trafalgar,” Kidd says. “I know how the world works. I was on the streets seeing it while you were at not-med-school learning to read good.”
“You don’t know my life, Eustass.” A beat. “What the hell do you mean, old?”
“Well, yeah. Ain’t you like 35, now?”
“I’m 26!”
“Ancient!” Luffy crowed. “Do you need help getting out of the bath, sensei? We don’t want you to break your hip!”
“Yeah, why’re we asking shroom people what happened to this clan way back when? You were probably there!”
Law snarls, unable to stop himself from rising to their bait. “If you don’t want to be treated like children, you sure aren’t acting like it! Being raised by animals as you both were, it’s no surprise you don’t know what adulthood looks like!”
Laughter bounces off the walls, resounding on all sides. Law scoffs and simmers in it. He doesn’t know why these two bring out the worst in him, never failing to cut through his composure and drag him to their level (which is far, far beneath him, thank you very much). It’s shameful, really.
Law nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels Luffy press a cheek to his shoulder. He holds his breath and desperately thinks flaccid thoughts.
He has already witnessed things that can never be unseen. Like how Luffy has hardly any body hair, thighs that could crush skulls, and random spots of melanin adorning his skin. That Kidd has a scarlet treasure trail and an ass that could sink ships if he didn’t keep it hidden with that stupid coat all the time.
Terrible news all around. The absolute last thing Law needed.
“We’ll set things right, Traffy,” Luffy says. “I can’t get the One Piece until we do! It’s not a real win if you and Jaggy aren’t there!”
“This shit again…”
But Law hears the resignation in Kidd’s voice. He’s starting to realize what Law already has: that Monkey D. Luffy is special in ways that defy logic or reason, and that what he wants, he’s likely to get.
The fungal moss is glowing even brighter as they leave the hot springs.
The stone corridors become more smooth and deliberately carved. Roots snake across the cavern walls, heavy with luminescent flowers. The tepid air and occasional wisp of mist tell them the surface is near.
It’s almost pleasant. Their clothes are blown as dry as they were likely to get by the heat vents. Luffy walks with a spring in his step, arms linked (or rather, twisted) with Law and Kidd. They share a glance over the shorter boy’s head but say nothing, allowing him to herd them onward without complaints.
Something unspoken has settled between them, at least for now. No doubt they’ll find something new to argue or compete over in due time. The bite has gone, though. Any venom that once laced their rivalry has been drained. The thing that remains is… complicated.
Law already knew that he harbored something in his chest for Monkey D. Luffy. This ridiculous boy several years his junior, this endless well of sincerety and trust who has come through for Law many times over.
There’s something between Luffy and Kidd, too. It doesn’t take Observation to see it. Their casual affection, their vibrant emotions, a shared simple-mindedness Law won’t call charming. Time and again Luffy has shown Kidd great and unselfish kindness, and is clearly one of very few to ever do so. Kidd won’t admit it, but Luffy won his loyalty a while ago.
Their dynamic made Law feel threatened at first; the idea of being so free with his feelings or his touch is alarming. It leaves him vulnerable and exposed like a raw nerve. Luffy and Kidd laugh and grapple and manhandle each other like it’s nothing— Is that what they want from him? What they would need?
He’s getting ahead of himself. Luffy doesn’t want anything from Law, and Kidd (lustful brute though he is) certainly has no need. It’s stupid.
He’s being stupid.
“Ooh. What is it?”
Glowing spores drift through the air like fireflies, bouncing and listing through the mist. The passageway has opened up into a great doline cave. Towering walls of karst stretch overhead before opening to a huge skylight.
Despite them being literally at the bottom of a massive hole, it’s still a relief to see the stars and breathe fresh air. The cave itself has been fashioned into a sort of temple. Torches flicker with blue flame, though their light is secondary to the powerful glow of assorted flora.
At the center of the room is a fountain bubbling with gleaming water. A golden chalice is placed upon the basin’s altar.
“That’s nice of them!” Luffy’s hands snatch it up with a rubbery twang. “I’m parched. Do you think they’ll give us food too, after all this is over?”
“Maybe don’t go drinking whatever random shit you find, brat.” Kidd examines the fountain with a frown. “What’s all this glittery crap?”
“Zoro drinks stuff with glitter in it, sometimes! He says ‘sometimes happy hour chooses for you’.”
“God damn.”
Drink. All three of them jump as sourceless voices resound through the air as one. It sounds ancient and solemn, distinctly unlike the tittering shroomlings they’d met that afternoon. Drink and complete the rites.
Law scowls. “What exactly—”
Luffy’s already drinking it. Of course. He swallows and loudly smacks his lips, nose scrunched as he tries to gauge the flavor.
“… I’ve had weirder-tasting water, I guess.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me.” Kidd snatches the chalice from him before taking his own swig. “Hn. Yeah. Tastes like I licked it off a tree.”
“Are you two for real?!” Law’s foot stings as he stamps the ground. “You just drink random, glowing glitter water without even thinking about it?”
“Isn’t it what we’re here for, Traffy?” Luffy asks. “We were always gonna drink it.”
“Yeah, Trafalgar. You scared or something?”
The water is down Law’s throat before Kidd’s even done talking. Fuck these guys. Whatever they can do, he can.
At first, nothing happens. Then he feels a tingling that reminds him of Observation; a prickle of awareness that is locked on Kidd and Luffy specifically. There’s now an aura to them both, distinct and unmistakeable.
Kidd radiates an air of iron and carbon with a spark of something transcendant. It's blood and bone, but also blazing meteors and stardust.
Luffy… Luffy is something Law doesn’t even know how to articulate at first. He’s pure light— sunshine and sea air and aerosol clouds— everything that is formless and free. There’s a power under his skin that burns with such ancient might that Law would dare to call it holy.
“What the fuck is this?” Kidd is leaning against the fountain, his pupils blown wide.
“Wow,” Luffy is looking around like he’s seeing them for the first time. “You’re so pretty, Traffy. You’re moonlight and ice crystals and rainbow lights in the sky.”
“I…” Law hasn’t seen a Northern aurora in a long time. An unexpected pang of homesickness strikes his chest.
Luffy’s expression instantly shifts. “I didn’t mean to make you sad! I like it a lot! I always knew Traffy’s soul would be pretty!”
The rites are complete. You have survived Connection.
Law tenses. “There was a chance we wouldn’t?”
The labyrinth usually reveals incompatibility. We observe, and those we deem unlikely to Connect are not allowed to proceed. However, there is never a guarantee of successful synchronism.
“You literally saw us bitch each other out all night,” Kidd says, and Law can feel his ire as if it were his own, “And still gave us the go-ahead to drink this shit?”
Congratulations.
“Stick it up your ass, you—!”
“Is it permanent?” Law cuts in. Someone has to ask the important questions before they shift to violence.
Effects are more pronounced while the libation is in your system. They will settle in time, but the bond is struck.
Law is about to give Kidd permission to start setting things on fire when Luffy pipes up.
“So we did it, right? You’ll show us what we came for? Your fancy archives or whatever?”
You have bathed in the sacred spring and partaken in our libations, the voices agree. We must be swift, while the mycellium water is still active within you.
Every mushroom in the temple releases a plume of neon spores, flooding the cavern. The light dazzles their eyes and fills the air with a strange perfume. Images shimmer in the mist, and Law can’t tell if the illusions are projected into the air or in his mind.
He sees flashes of the sea, of tides changing over centuries. The roots of mushrooms, thin but dense, threading through rock and soil. There are glimpses of a world war. The collapse of one great kingdom under many.
Law sees the silhouettes of a sovereign in black and a knight in gold, both so unearthly that they can’t be literal, must be some mythic distortion of the collective’s memory.
Yours is an endless cycle of darkness and light, order and chaos. Dominance and liberation, the voices say.
Gold and black swirl together until an approximation of a yin-yang symbol takes shape.
It is a conflict that precedes the Great War, but crueler weapons have made for obscene escalation. The Unity has survived to see the wheel turn once more, but this may well be the final age for us all.
Oceans rise, seafoam frothing and streaked with blood. Landmasses shift and shrink into islands. Most disappear entirely beneath the waves.
All are collateral in the games of gods.
“The Celestial Dragons are not gods, regardless of what they want the world to believe,” Law says.
Clans are not just born of blood, but of creed. Their clan is pledged to the Dark One. They have sought the destruction of your kind for millenia, just as your clan sought theirs.
‘The Clan of D is the natural enemy of God’. Isn’t that what Cora had told him? Law always knew that D’s were persecuted by the World Government, but bringing theology into it is a bit much.
“So what’s the point of all this?” Kidd asks. “We already know there’s a war coming, and it’s not some fairy tale bullshit.”
Child of oblivion. If you do not believe, why have you come? D’s are the natural predators of Celestial blood. Why do you bind yourself to the ancestral enemies of heaven?
“First of all, I did not know this was how my night was gonna go. Second, I don’t give a shit about the Celestial Dragons. The World Government can fuck itself to hell and back, but we’re not revolutionaries. We’re pirates.”
To combat the abyss is the sacred ordinance of D. By their Will may they defy and rewrite fate.
Kidd mouths ‘fate’ with an expression of bewilderment and disgust.
“So there’s nothing you can tell us that we can actually use, is what I’m hearing,” he says. “Because StrawHat sure isn’t gonna fight God and save the world, or whatever you’re on about.”
“Hey! I could totally fight a god!” Luffy says. “In Gear 5 there’s nothing I can’t do. I’ll fight anybody who comes after my friends and I’ll win, too!”
Law’s mind spins, and from more than the fading effects of the mycellium water. There are too many variables to process in the moment.
Overthrowing the government isn’t in his plans either. Law has always been content to bide his time, to play it smart and hide his true name… but it sounds like war may be coming for them regardless. May be coming for Luffy, who isn’t going to refuse the call when it does. And if so…
“It doesn’t matter if I like it or not,” he says. “StrawHat’s fight is my fight. Whatever happens, we’ll see it through.”
Luffy glows with a joy so bright Law can feel it warming his own chest.
“You mean it, Traffy? That’s great!” Rubber arms wrap around him, the embrace more like a chokehold.
“Well I didn’t say I wasn’t gonna do it!” Kidd snaps. “I’m just saying it’s stupid! Because it is!”
“So? You do stupid stuff all the time, Jaggy!”
“The hell did you just say to me—!?”
Thank you for allowing us to bear witness. Truly this is a historic memory for our collective.
“You’re welcome!” Luffy says brightly. “Although I don’t think we really did anything.”
It has been an honor to host your sacred rites. We wish you all the best with your nuptials.
At that moment, the first rays of sunrise breach the horizon. Every glowing spore in the cavern promptly snuffs out.
The three of them stand in the murk of dawn for several long moments.
“Um,” Luffy’s voice seems louder in the dark. “What does nup-shulls mean?”