'A Doctor's Story'
act 2 | scene 6
"Ne, ne, why are you running, Raelynn-chan?" smirked the man, lashing his whip against the ground with a sinister grin on his features, "you know..."
"Leave me alone!"
Tears streaked down her cheeks as she ran down the cobblestone paths weaving through the building, too terrified to even glance back at her livid slave master. She continued running. Where to? She didn't know, but all she knew was that she needed to get away from there.
"You can't run forever, Raelynn-chan~" he cracked the whip onto the ground, the lash echoing through the chambers. Ragged pants exited her mouth in hoarse gasps, the girl limping as she ran. She gripped her white cloth tightly, turning back slightly as she saw the man's limbs turn into claws and talons, a great blunder on her part.
Not watching where she was running, the Fanalis harshly collided with the wall, letting out a yelp as she groaned, letting a soft whimper fly past her lips as all the blood suddenly rushed to her head, her cloth falling over the girl's head. The girl swallowed, her mouth opening to yelp as he struck her but nothing came out but blood dripping down her cheek. She squinted, her lip trembling.
"It's useless, Raelynn-chan~" he murmured, swinging her and smashing her against the wall, watching as the child fell limp, "after all..." he walked over to her, his whip in one hand as he loomed over her, "you will always be a slave, regardless of where you run..."
In the present, the girl woke up in a sweat, not realising that she was crying until a tear dropped onto her quilts. She blinked, rubbing her eyes wearily as she slipped out of her bed - unwillingly, as it was the most comfortable she had been in a while - quietly as to not wake either Robin or Nami up, though her heart pounded against her chest as she saw the latter groan, rolling over with a slight frown on her face, continuing to sleep soundly.
She made a mental note to remember to ask them if they were light or heavy sleepers.
She exhaled, closing the door though she quickly stiffened again when a familiar voice called her name.
"Raelynn-ya?"
She slowly turned to see the black-haired male gazing at her with one eye open, his sword propped up next to him as his hands were placed behind his head.
"L-Law?"
"Doshite?" he kept a steady gaze on her.
"E-eto..."
She wasn't sure what to say.
"I'm not going to pry," he stated monotonously, "but if you want t-"
"I-I h-had a ni..." her voice was barely audible, so much so that he had to strain to hear her to no avail, asking her to repeat it slightly louder. He noticed how her eyes seemed to dart from place to place as if she was terrified of something - or someone, rather - appearing and attacking her out of nowhere. "I... I had a... nightmare..."
He hummed, relaxing slightly as he patted the space next to him.
"Sit."
She didn't move from her spot, shifting anxiously. The surgeon patiently waited, making sure to not force her to come to him. After what seemed like an eternity - in reality, it was only ten minutes - she slowly started to shuffle towards him, her feet rubbing against the grass. She sat next to him, feeling largely aware of his unwavering stare.
The silence prolonged and the girl wanted nothing more than to run away from this awkward stillness.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She hesitated.
"I'm not going to f-"
"Who came up with the horrible idea of chaining people?" she murmured, more to herself than the taken-aback surgeon who blinked, falling silent. Her bronze eyes fell to the ground, her hand self-consciously wrapping around her ankle, where a faded purple hue was visible.
"I... don't know," he admitted truthfully, "it's inhumane and unnecessary. I've always thought of slavery... as theft." Raelynn sent him a quizzical glance. "It's theft of a life, theft of work, theft of any property or produce..." his voice lowered slightly with hatred, "theft... even of the children a slave might have borne."
An uncomfortable, tense silence ensued.
"I... was running from him," she hesitated, "i-in a long a-and dark hallway..."
The man was briefly puzzled for a moment before it came to him.
Ah... she's talking about her nightmare...
"A-and... he..."
He quickly realised that she was beginning to shake, from either the cold or from fear (or perhaps both), he wasn't sure. Acting quickly, he quickly took off his coat.
"H-he..."
"Don't force yourself," he stated gently, even surprising himself with his tone. She opened her mouth to continue, cutting herself off when she felt a heavy object draped onto her shoulders. Blinking in surprise, she turned up to face him.
"H-huh?"
He opened both eyes, raising a brow in confusion.
"Nani?"
"Who's... C... Cor... Cora... zon?" she struggled to read the yellow text on his coat, "Corazon..."
"If you're gonna remember me one day... isn't it better that you remember my smile, Law?"
He blinked, snapping out of his trance and letting a soft smile grace over his tanned face.
"I... suffered from Amber Lead Disease as a child," he began bitterly, "before long, my sister was infected, followed by my parents. There was no outside help, everybody thought the Disease was contagious - it wasn't - and..." he swallowed, "they were killed."
Her heart shattered, her jaw opening slightly and forming an 'o'.
"I ran from home, I was the only survivor - as far as I was concerned - and ended up in a waste dump... I met a band of Pirates who prided themselves in terrorizing others - not that I knew that at the time," he stated slowly, waiting to see her reaction - none - "and... long story short, we met because he had returned from a mission and threw me out the window."
"H-he what?" an aghast expression flashed over her face, "a-are you okay?"
"Hmm? Oh, that happened ages ago," he dismissed, "probably when I was slightly older than you... Anyway, I quickly learnt that he didn't like children," he scowled slightly, "every time we crossed paths, he always threw me out the window, and I... stabbed him in a fit of anger."
The girl sweat-dropped.
How violent...
"But... he eventually started warming up to me, taking me to hospitals to try and find a cure for my Amber Lead."
"D-did you find one?" she whispered, her voice hushed. Gazing down at her, his dark eyes met her bronze orbs. Her bright orbs were filled with innocence and wonder, hope for the man who once thought he despised children.
"No," he admitted, "not at first... he attacked the doctors and burnt down the hospitals for their naivete, accusing them and asking how they could call themselves doctors if they didn't
"B-but y-you don't have it anymo-"
"Room," he spoke, the familiar hemispherical blue dome emerging from his hand and surrounding the pair. At her confused glance, he continued to explain that his Devil Fruit had arrived due to a trade between 'Corazon' and the Navy - after six months of burning hospitals and arguments and establishing a closer relationship with one another - and at the cost of Corazon's life.
"After that, he-" he was cut off by light snores, gazing down at the snoozing girl who had fallen asleep, her head resting on his knee. His mouth opened slightly but it slowly closed and morphed into a soft smile.
Maybe... just maybe...
Children weren't as bad as Trafalgar D. Water Law thought.
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𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝟐: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒
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This is by far one of my favourite chapters in this story so far, I've had this scene in mind since I finished Act 1 and Law is my favourite character in One Piece... anyway, see you guys in Act 3!!!