Work Text:
The sun was out, but the wind was chilly. The water frothed gently on the stones of the tiny beach, but the recent tides made it unwise to go farther than a foot deep. The clouds were white and the sky was a pretty blue. The land beyond them extended in an endless white, beautiful to witness but blinding to look at.
Lammy loved her home. Even though she never went to any other towns, she was told that Flevance was a unique city and one of the most prettiest views in the world. And she liked to believe it.
She stared at the distant white buildings, a sense of contentment filling her tiny body. She hums to herself, smiling, before looking back to the rocky shoreline, jumping from one craggy boulder to another.
“Lami, be careful honey!” Calls her mother from a bit farther up, where her family stands on the grassy edges of the coastline.
“I will be!” Lammy calls back, determination compelling her five-year-old self to keep on going. The rocks were slippery, but she promised not to jump on the bigger ones near the water anymore. The last time she did that, she tripped and fell over, and her knees and hands had hurt badly for a few weeks afterward.
Even still though, she found rock jumping fun. It felt like a test to see if she could stand on the boulders without slipping, like she could balance on anything if she could accomplish this!
So, Lammy jumps and jumps and jumps, throwing her arms around when she feels herself losing traction and taking her time between each one.
Then, she jumps again, and she feels her tiny pink boot not catch right on the wet surface of the boulder, flailing around as she falls over onto the wet sandy beach. Lammy lets out a soft ‘Ooph’ as she makes contact with solid ground, and she huffs in frustration.
There’s footsteps approaching her, and Lammy looks over as she sits up and hears her name.
“Come on Lami,” her older brother says, his white puffy hat casting a shadow over his face in the sunlight. “Don’t hurt yourself, okay? Mom says it’s about time to head back and eat.”
Lammy visibly pouts. “I wanna try again, I was almost to the end!”
Law looks back up, examining the long distance of the beach shores with a confused look.
“Where’s the end?” He questions.
Lammy hums again and points towards the distance. “Over there.”
Law squinted, trying to see where exactly she was pointing.
“…Where?” He asks again, not knowing for certain what she means.
Lammy stands back up, and points towards the biggest rock a little ways down the line. “That big one! See, with the pointy bit at the end?”
It takes a few seconds, but Law eventually figures out which boulder she is talking about. With a small, “Oh”, he turns back to his younger sister.
“That’s too far away, though. Mom wants us to stay in her line of sight, and you could get hurt.”
“No, I can do it! It won’t take long, and I’ll be super careful!” Lammy tries, looking back up at her older brother with a pleading expression. She really was so close to winning! She may have fallen, but she wants to at least finish what she’s started!
“But we’re gonna leave soon anyways! We can come back later and start over again, okay?” Law barters, holding out his hand for Lammy to take. His own eyes were set, but they were filled with worry and love.
Lammy still groans in frustration, scowling as she feels the need to cross her arms and stomp her feet.
She looks between the seemingly endless coastline and the hand that’s still being held out for her to take.
Lammy loves her brother. She’s five years old and already knows that her older brother would do anything for her. He reads to her and helps guide her throughout festivals, and protects her when the dark is too scary or when other kids become too mean. Lammy knows how much Law loves her back.
But…she’s also a big girl now. She’s turning six here soon, and six-year-old girls can start doing things by themselves — like walking down the street without constantly holding a hand, or picking out what they want to wear, or reading by themselves.
And Lammy, she really, really wants to be a strong big girl. She wants to be as strong and smart as Law.
So, maybe in some other universe, she’ll take Law’s hand and walk back to her waiting mother, where they will then head back home for a late afternoon dinner. Because Lammy loves her brother, and she trusts him to always guide her.
But also, Lammy really, really wants to finish jumping on rocks — because she’s getting older, and she wants her older brother to be proud of her.
And right now, that means hopping on some soaking wet rocks!
“No! I wanna finish! I’ll be right back, I promise!” Lammy exclaims giving a startled Law a hard, determined look before rushing forward.
She hears Law call her name, but she doesn’t listen. She scrambles up onto a boulder, not caring that it makes her sandy clothes even dirtier, and takes a ready stance.
Hop.
Hop.
Hop.
In the background, she hears her brother try and call her back again, but she steadfastly ignores him. She can hear his footsteps patiently following her, so she picks up her pace.
Hop.
Hop.
Hop.
She’s close! She’s just a few rocks away now!
Hop.
Hop.
Hop.
Hop.
And with one final stumble, Lammy reaches her end goal.
She did it! She feels her chest puff up in pride as she touches the top of the final big boulder. And she didn’t slip once! Lammy feels so proud of herself right now!
She really is becoming a big girl! She can get things done, and finish them without help!
With a huge warmth filling her chest, Lammy begins to turn around to tell her brother about her new achievement, a smile on her face…
…And that’s when she sees it.
In the distance, clear to see from the other side of the hill that hid it from view, there was a tree.
It was as white as the environment, with greenish leaves dancing in the breeze. It was alone where it sat, with no other plants in sight, with its root visible from the mud and sand that kept it in place.
And in between its roots, too big and out of place, was a weirdly shaped object.
Lammy gazes at it, curiosity spiked.
It stuck out like a sore thumb the more that she stared at it. It was black from what she could see, and against endless pristine white it stood out. It was obviously out of place, and the more that Lammy stared, the more that she wanted to examine it.
So, she takes a step forward, intending to jump off of the rock—
Her boot slips again. Lammy lets out a yelp, and before she can reorient herself, she’s falling face forward into a rocky, jagged surface.
Luckily, her hands catch her before her head can crack too hard onto the jutting outcropping. A pain sears her forehead, causing her to moan in distress, and she hears Law’s panicked cry coming closer.
Lammy glances back up. Tears gather in her eyes as she steps closer to the tree, wanting to find out what the thing in its hold is.
She keeps her fingers to her cut as she approaches the roots, putting her open hand on its edge to help her lean her tiny body over and gaze down at the object.
And the thing - the weird object - looks like a fruit. A butterfly-shaped, half-black, and half-white fruit, with swirls encompassing its skin and a twirly stem to boot.
Lammy gasps, amazed and wide-eyed, and she doesn’t care that she’s hurt anymore. She jumps over the root, reaching down towards this very pretty newfound treasure of hers.
She picks it up, looking at it carefully. It really does look like a butterfly. It has the rounded humps of two wings, with a little sharp point on the bottom, and the stem curls away into what looks like a red antenna. She twists it around, smiling happily at her discovery.
“Lami, you okay?! Let me see your head, you’re bleeding!” She hears Law demand, her brother finally catching up to her. He jumps over the root and bends down towards her, a familiar comforting hand on her back.
She doesn’t care about that though, at least not right now. “Law, look what I found!” she responds instead, showing the unnatural fruit to him like one would with gold.
Law looks down, glancing at the fruit. He blinks. And blinks again.
“What…what is that?” He asks, reaching over to take it.
Lammy doesn’t let him grab it though, pulling it back to her chest. “Nuh-uh, it’s mine! I found it first!”
“I’m not taking it from you, I just wanna see it!” He explains, trying to get a better look at her treasure.
Lammy huffs. She holds out the fruit again, letting Law look at it as much as he wants to.
“Huh…it’s so…” Law tries, trying to find the right way to describe it.
“It’s pretty!” Lammy finishes for him, jumping up and down in glee.
“That’s one word for it, sure,” He nods, going along with it. “Are you bringing it back with you?”
“Yep! It’s my butterfly treasure! See, it looks like one!”
“It really does,” Law agrees. Finally, he looks up at her cut, his eyebrows furrowed. He gently puts a hand on her head, tilting it back to examine it further.
Lammy lets him, happy to just twirl her butterfly treasure in her hands.
“Mom needs to look at your cut when we get back.” He begins, frowning in thought. “It might need stitches.”
“Oh…” Lammy looks up, registering her brother's words, frowning.
“Yeah, but it’s okay. I’ll help you look after it.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, it’s no problem. We should go back now, Mom’s probably worried.”
And with that, Lammy finally takes her brother’s hand. They walk back down the shore, Lammy having to brush away blood from her face now and then. The cut still hurts, but it’s hard to cry as she gazes down at the pretty fruit that’s in her hand.
It’s a couple of minutes later that Lammy brings up an important question.
“Do you think it would taste good?” She asks, not looking away from the fruit.
“It’s not a good idea to just eat random fruit, Lami.” Law replies matter-of-factly.
“Hm…”
“You don’t know if it’ll make you sick, or poison you. There’s a reason why we grow certain foods on farms, and we buy them in markets. Eating stuff you don’t know could hurt you, so I would just--”
There was a spluttering sound, and Law looked down in shock at his sister as she made a disgusted face.
There was an evident chomp taken out of the butterfly fruit.
“LAMI!” Law yells, stopping them in their tracks as his sister continues to choke down the bite she took.
“It’s gross!” She yells back, making a gagging sound at the nasty taste.
“I JUST SAID DON’T TAKE A BITE! You don’t know what it is!” Law continues, worry and panic beginning to overwhelm him. As Lammy continues to spit out bits and chunks of black-and-white bits, trying to rid herself of the foulness, Law begins to run back as fast as he can, dragging his sister behind him.
“MOM! Lami got hurt, and she ate an unknown fruit!” The nine-year-old calls out, desperation in his voice. There was nothing for Lammy to do but follow suit.
Amidst the rush, the black-and-white devil fruit lays in the sand, forgotten and left to rot.
Back at their home, a mother and a son worry over their youngest family member as their father examines her. Her forehead cut was nicely stitched shut, blood dried away and no longer hurting, but the questions about what she ate didn’t cease up one bit.
Lammy explained as much as she could. It was black and white, with a red stem, and it looked like a butterfly. It tasted really gross, but she accidentally swallowed a piece in her haste to take a bite. She feels okay, she doesn’t feel off, her tummy isn’t aching and she doesn’t feel tired. Her brother backs her up on the description of the fruit, but he’s still obviously upset with her, his face full of worry as he explains what happened from his point of view.
When the two kids told their parents about what the fruit looked like, it quite frankly baffled them. The two looked at each other with a solemn but knowing expression, and they had to talk to themselves for a little bit after Lammy’s check-up.
Law had refused to leave his sister’s side. He was afraid, and even though he didn’t want to show it, not in front of Lammy, it was getting quite obvious. He shifted around, kept checking over Lammy with worried eyes, and kept asking if she wanted anything.
Lammy asked for water. The bad taste was still in her mouth, and she wanted to get rid of it. After her brother gave her a glass, she chugged it down and thanked him, cause she’s polite.
After around half an hour, their parents came back in, telling the both of them that they needed to have a serious talk. And that’s when Law and Lammy found out what devil fruits were.
Their parents weren’t sure if it was a devil fruit. After all, despite the unnatural description that didn’t correlate to any other kind of fruit, there was still a chance that it could have been a toxic wild plant. They had to keep a close eye on Lammy if it was, and they couldn’t afford to risk anything.
However, on the other hand…
“Lami, I’m so sorry sweetheart, but you have to be really careful around water from now on,” their father explains, eyes serious. “If it is a devil fruit, water can hurt you really badly. You can’t swim, and you have to be careful with baths. You can’t go around the ocean anymore, not without me, your mom, or Law around to watch you, okay?”
“But—” Lammy stutters, devastated at the news, “But I like swimming…”
Her mother had patted her head assuringly, voice full of genuine sympathy. “I know honey, but until we know which one this is, it’s better to be safe. You have to tell us if anything begins to hurt, okay? The moment that you feel weird, you have to tell one of us.”
There was a kiss on her forehead, and Lammy pouted. “Does that mean that I have to stay in bed all day?” She asks, frowning profusely.
Her parents had nodded. Law had seemed to ease up with the explanations for what his sister could be going through, but his eyes were determined and fretful. Lammy had felt like crying again.
She didn’t want to lose all her free time, but this is what she gets for being impulsive in a family of doctors. At least she would have her brother around her, since he didn’t really like to spend too much time outside anyway. That way, she wouldn’t be completely bored and alone as their parents went about doing their adult things.
Lammy didn’t know what devil fruits did. On the bright side, at least she won’t be alone figuring out what they were. Law seemed just as confused as she was, so they’ll be learning this entire thing new together.
A year passes.
Lammy is still in bed.
Spots cover her skin, scaley and scratchy, and she’s in so much pain. Constantly.
But she’s six now, and big girls have to be strong, especially for their big brothers.
Law has spots too. He still looks at her with those same determined, anxious eyes.
So she continues to smile at him, hoping to help him feel better too.
She doesn’t really get to know what devil fruits do in that entire year. Nothing about her changes, except for her environment. She’s transferred from her room and the watchful eye of her family to a hospital room, where doctors come and go.
And the doctors start coming in less. People around her start disappearing more.
But Law never does. He sticks by her bed whenever he can. He holds her hand and does everything she asks, even if it hurts to talk sometimes.
Lammy feels so weak, but it’ll be okay. Law promised her that their dad would find a cure.
He never breaks his promises.
There’s smoke in the air, and it hurts to breathe— it hurts to breathe—
Lammy couldn’t breathe, but she promised Law that she’d be in the closet, safe and away from the sound of gunshots. He’ll come back. He always does.
Law never left her side and has looked after her since the beach incident, and she trusts him now to always come back.
It’s getting harder to breathe. The room is so hot, and the fire begins to lick at the door, wood crackling around her in an ugly symphony. Her eyes begin to close, tears staining her cheeks.
She’s so tired. But she has to stay awake for Law.
He’ll come back.
He had promised her.
Law gazes at the fire, shock, and devastation shaking him down into his core.
Lami is in there.
Lami is in those flames, and there’s nothing Law can do to go back in. He can feel the hellish warmth even from this distance, and he knows, deep down—
No one—
No one would survive through this—
His parents' dead bodies, shot by the ones that said that they were there to protect the people.
Lami is in there.
And something breaks inside of him, never able to be whole again.
A month passes.
The only survivor of the genocide of Flevance wanders through the destroyed streets of his old home.
Sometimes marines would walk down the streets, trying to discover any living being that had managed to outlive the initial attack, but the patrols began to lessen the more that time went on. Those were the only noises that came from the City of White anymore.
Anytime Law noticed anyone approaching, he was able to hide away in the shadows of bodies. The smell of rot was horrible at first, but eventually, the ten-year-old had gotten used to it.
By this point, he could look at his old neighbors and familiar faces in their cold, white eyes and not even flinch.
Law could barely feel a thing anymore.
The only thing that kept him going, the only thing that he could live for now, was the all-consuming rage that burned inside of him, alongside the wish to see the world hurt and bleed in the same way that it made him.
But he can’t do the latter if he is dead. He’ll inevitably die eventually as Amber Lead Syndrome still pulses through his veins, but he refuses to die at the hands of a soldier in uniform. He’ll die when his body says it’s time, and if he could do something first to sully his already bloody hands even more…
Then it’s a chance that he’ll gladly take.
So, Law lives on. Barely, he’s hanging by a thread day by day, physically and mentally, but he survives. He eats what he can, fights when he has to, and stays in the shadows when it benefits him.
Law shivers in the corner of an empty building, an idea slowly coming to mind of how exactly he can continue surviving by making it out of Flevance.
There are no stars out tonight. It’s a new moon, and the clouds have taken over the sky, leaving no light to gleam on the sleeping world below. And whereas Law would have been helping his baby sister through nightmares during times like this so, so long ago, now he’s alone.
Alone.
He’s lost everything.
He’s lost everything.
And he’ll make the world pay.
It’s dark. There’s no light to see by, and it’s so cold.
A stray hand reaches out, trying to feel its way through the darkness. It touches something…soft…wet?
She’s woozy. She feels like she’s slept for an incredibly long time, and it’s making her reel to be awake now. She groans, shifting her body around to try and sit up, and her head hits something solid.
Not hard solid — it’s soft, like the wall that her hand is touching, but it also feels thick and icky. She’s…so tired. She’s inside of something, and she has to get out, now.
Lammy reaches forward, atop her head, and she pushes. It gives, but only a little. Not enough.
She pushes again, and this time she digs her fingers in and rips. The wall gives away, and it’s soft and stringy like cotton.
She reaches and digs, reaches and digs, pushing her hands through until finally she hits nothing, her arms reaching out into empty air. Clean oxygen hits her nose, and Lammy breathes in deeply as if it’s been an eternity since she last did so. She plunges her head through, tired yet resolved, and her body follows through. The ooze latches onto her skin and clings heavily onto her back as a foreign weight settles upon it. She feels little flicks coming from her head, her senses suddenly acute as her body readjusts to being physical again.
In the darkness of the night, a little moth crawls out of her cocoon, different from the girl that she used to be. Healed, and yet so alone.