#like. all I wanna do is work on Seagull fic and this invaded | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nehswritesstuffs · 10 months

Text

banish every gaslight; let clarity shine - Part 1

I’ve been stewing over this for, like, three/four months at the very least and it recently exploded in my drafts so congrats y’all are being subjected to this now.

2694 words to start, going to be over 12-15k altogether; shout out to @gendervapor14 who was not my beta per say, but they did suffer through my ranting and raving and raging over this fic (so more like my enabler I guess lol; blame them for it getting as far as it has); will ultimately contain lots of Dressrosa bullshit and headcanons and so on and so forth (surprise, surprise, surprise); title comes from the English translation of Ado’s Fleeting Lullaby bc that song is fire; fair warning: I headcanon Dressrossan as an unholy union of Castilian Spanish and Catalan and thus act accordingly

Someone is sitting on the Heart Seat when the Straw Hats and Law head into Dressrosa. It changes nothing… until it does. [AU where there is a Third Corazón, whose very existence makes Law’s life hell]

It was the middle of the night as toys rushed to load crates onto the cutter ship docked in the underground port, the ship’s Human crew staring in amazement.

“So, they just… do this like it’s normal…?” the captain asked. A young woman in a bright pink roquelaure cloak and gilded half-columbina mask shrugged nonchalantly as she checked off the crates on a clipboard.

“I guess when you see them for ten years, they don’t faze you anymore,” she said. “Come on—pick up the pace, hobbies! We only got the one tonight, so the sooner we can get this done and the sooner we can all rest!” The toys all seemed to regard her with silent ambiguity and did not, in fact, pick up the pace.

“Hobbies…?” the captain wondered.

“Just what we call them; nothing to it.” She smiled devilishly, the smirk being accented by the blood-red lipstick that sliced all the way into her cheeks. “You got a problem with that?”

“Why would he have a problem with you, Corazón?” the first mate laughed awkwardly. He didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a kick from her steel-capped heeled boots, and he was sure his captain didn’t either.

“It just seems like something that happens after people meet me,” she replied. The Corazón flipped her high ponytail of sun-bleached light brown hair back and pretended as though it did not bother her. “They don’t expect an Elite Officer of the Family to be so young… to be a woman… to be me…”

“…well that’s silly,” the first mate assured. “I mean, you earned that position, right? Problem solved.”

“One would hope,” the captain scoffed. He then suddenly found himself with a sword to his throat, the Corazón having not made a sound as she moved.

“I really don’t think that you want to continue along that line of thinking,” she warned. “Since I’m feeling generous, you’ll get to sail away… except…” She snapped her fingers and the toys stopped loading up the crates. “This is all you’re leaving with.”

“We paid the whole amount!” the captain snarled. “That’s extortion!”

“…and if you lie to Kaidou about where the rest of the merch is, I’ll let him know exactly where everything is and why.”

“Please, Corazón, forgive him,” the first mate implored. “He is of no importance to us… to our organizations.”

“Like hell I am!” the captain snapped. He turned towards the first mate only for a knife to find its way between his ribs. Blood gurgled from his lips and he slumped to the floor, dead. The first mate wiped his blade with the corpse’s cape and turned back towards the Corazón.

“As I said: he is of no importance. Please reconsider.”

She snapped her fingers again and the toys reluctantly resumed their work, the task of tidying up the fresh corpse now added to their load.

“Many men are lost at sea, especially in the currents around Wano; I wish your promotion had been under better circumstances,” Corazón nodded. The new captain returned the nod—their additional contract was now sealed despite not even being one of words. “Give my regards to Kaidou and his son if you can; I look forward to our next meeting.”

“As you wish, Corazón, ma’am,” the new captain said with a bow. He then turned towards the rest of the crew and began commanding orders as though it had been his job the entire voyage.

The Corazón allowed herself a faint smile.

This… this was power… and she was right to wield it.

Before long, the toys finished loading up the cargo and the Beast Pirates left the underground port. Feeling the weight of the hour, the Corazón went to the lift that brought her to the first floor of the palace, taking a deep breath once she was out in the open air. Fruit trees and flowers filled her nose with what was likely the best scent in the entire world. She meandered in the gardens until she came upon her favorite bench and sat down, looking up at the moon and stars.

“I can smell you,” she said, not taking her eyes away from the sky. Someone nearby scoffed and sat down next to her.

“I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you,” Baby 5 grumbled. She stubbed her cigarette out on the side of the bench and blew out the last of the smoke. “You shouldn’t be out here, Antonia. The night air is bad for you—it’ll make you sick.”

“Superstition,” Corazón chuckled. She looked at the other woman—so much like a sister—and shook her head. “You’re going to ask me to read your humors or recommend a chiropractor next. Maybe that smoking relaxes the vocal chords…”

“Even when you’re joking, you’re always serious,” Baby 5 said. The Corazón took off her mask and stared at it—the design was one to invoke her father, and yet it always made her sad to see. She ran her thumb over the partial starburst that sat under her right eye and felt something was simply off about it. “Maybe if you stopped beating yourself up over it…”

“I had two parents who loved me, and now I can barely remember Dad and Mom is just this fuzzy thing…” She looked at Baby 5 with tears in her eyes. “My strongest memories are from after we landed in Dressrosa. I’m scared I’ll forget them. They’re fading every day…”

“The Young Master won’t allow that,” Baby 5 assured. She let Corazón lean on her, the other woman bending awkwardly in order to rest her forehead on her shoulder. A choked sound escaped the Elite Officer as she tried not to sob, causing Baby 5 to bite her lower lip in an attempt to steel herself.

Donquixote Antonia, Third Corazón of the Donquixote Pirates and Princess of Dressrosa, needed her to be strong, and strong she was going to be.

“Ah, two of my favorite youngsters.” Baby 5 looked—it was Doflamingo sauntering up towards them. “My darling Antonia, you’re late with your brief.”

“Can you let her give it later?” Baby 5 scowled. “She’s not feeling well.”

“Oh…? Should I fetch a doctor…?” His tone was frivolous and dismissive, sparking a fire in the young woman’s gut.

“Girl things—you wouldn’t understand,” she claimed. He held up his hands in surrender before crouching down and sliding his pointer finger beneath Antonia’s chin, turning her head towards him.

“Did the cargo get loaded, at least?”

She nodded.

“Good—I’ll get the rest of the brief tomorrow. We have a busy day ahead of us: all the preparations for the Levely need to be kicked off. Plus the factory needs inspecting.”

“It’s not due until after we return,” Antonia replied. Doflamingo let go of her chin and shrugged.

“While technically-true, I want it done before we go, so that we are not thinking about it. This is going to be a generational Levely and I don’t want us to miss out on anything.”

“Yes, Uncle Doffy,” the young woman muttered. Doflamingo glanced over at Baby 5, noting how pointed her glare was becoming. “Fufufufu… what’s with that look?”

“I need to get her to bed—she’s been working too hard.”

“Suit yourself.” He sauntered off, not sparing them another look, while Baby 5 indeed helped Antonia to her feet. She put the Corazón’s arm around her shoulder and she led her along, bringing her through the castle corridors.

“Bee?” Antonia whispered when they were just outside her room.

“Yeah?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“The pressures of being Corazón, I’m certain,” she replied. “It would drive anyone mad.” They were now inside Antonia’s room and she let her sit down in a chair. “Do you want me to get you for breakfast?”

“Please. Thank you, Bee.”

“You’re welcome, Nia.”

As Baby 5 entered the corridor, her knees began to feel weak. She shut the door to Antonia’s room and leaned against it, certain that nothing was going to feel right ever again…

…not unless Law came back.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Alright, so tell us what it is that we’re preparing for.”

Law looked up from his plate and turned his attention to Nami, who was sitting across from him at the table. He swallowed the food that was in his mouth and took a drink of water.

“In terms of what?” he asked. “There’s a lot to cover.”

“The Donquixote Pirates: what are we preparing for? What’s their organization like?”

Law exhaled heavily and frowned. “They’re a pseudo-royal family, who moonlight as underground crime bosses,” he explained. “Doflamingo’s at the top, under him are four Elite Officers, and under them are other, junior-ranking Officers. The man we saw on Punk Hazard was a former Elite Officer.”

“I could tell you he wasn’t Elite,” Zoro grunted. “Who are they? The big ones?”

“Trebol, Pica, Diamante, Corazón, with Doflamingo above them as the Joker,” Law listed, ticking them off on his long fingers. “They act like his Cabinet and Ministers, helping to keep his rule over Dressrosa tight. The first three have been with him from the beginning, the last being more recent an addition.”

“Then the first three must be closest to him,” Robin figured.

“No.” Law shook his head. “That would be the Corazón. It means Heart in Dressrosan—whomever holds the title of Corazón is Joker’s closest confidant. I wouldn’t be able to pick her out of a lineup, unfortunately.”

“A lady~?” Sanji gasped. “I wonder what wonderful Dressrosan beauty is burdened with such a title as Heart?”

“Cool it, love-cook,” Zoro chided. Sanji got ready to kick the swordsman in the face as Zoro reached for his swords, only for Robin to hold them both back.

“A woman like that is dangerous, or have you forgotten the last time you two had a Warlord’s right-hand woman to contend with?” she reminded them. Sanji and Zoro both soured on the idea of fighting and Robin gestured towards Law to continue.

“Her public persona is Princess Antonia of Dressrosa, Doflamingo’s niece and heir,” the surgeon continued. “I’ve tried to get a decent photo of her, but nothing I’ve been able to scrounge up gives me anything identifiable.”

“So then a true family affair,” Brook noted. “It must be something in their bones.”

“Last I checked, Doflamingo didn’t have a niece, so this woman’s true identity is a mystery,” Law frowned. “You’ll be able to tell the other Elite Officers apart—overly-tall men in their forties—but the Corazón? All I can tell is that she’s about a shade over six feet tall and is very dangerous.”

“Doesn’t she have a bounty poster?” Luffy asked, mouth full of meat. “There has to be something; she’s a princess.”

“Unfortunately, she came into the crew after Doflamingo was invited to join the Shichibukai. The best images I’ve been able to get are out of the social section of the newspaper.” Law took some papers from his inner jacket pocket and placed them on the table: old and crinkled bounty posters for Trebol, Pica, and Diamante, along with a newspaper clipping that contained a blurry photo, one figure in motion circled in red. “For being the darling of the nation, she is notoriously difficult to photograph.”

“Verily, we’ll have to ensure we take extra heed when dealing with women in the area, to be safe,” Kin’emon nodded sagely. His face then grew red with blush. “I wonder what sort of beauty she is if she avoids the camera.”

“Probably just someone aiming for the Joker position who wants to balance her rise to her intended reign,” Law scoffed. “I’m sure she’s there for a reason, so we will have to watch our backs until we know exactly what we’re dealing with.”

‘Until I know what poor kid he took in to replace me,’ he thought privately. Law picked up the newspaper clipping and looked at the photo in it for what felt like the thousandth time. Princess Donquixote Antonia of Dressrosa and her lady in-waiting. Whomever the false princess was, it certainly wasn’t Baby 5, as her face was clear in the photograph.

At least he knew that whomever she was, she was going to regret taking on the name Corazón.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Viola did not like waiting.

Ten long years she had been waiting for the justice owed to her family and nation. Ten years she suffered as she worked within the very organization that disgraced her father and threw her niece—only a child!—into the coliseum as a participant, no less. Ten years she watched as Doflamingo made a mockery of everything she was raised on…

Ten years of waiting and she was no closer to her goals.

She was changing behind her dressing screen, listening to Doflamingo as he talked on the transponder snail with the man whom she only knew in whispers and secrets: Trafalgar Law. This man was high on Doflamingo’s Shit List, something that honestly made her immensely proud of him. The more the pretender was upset, the more likely it was he would make a mistake and fall to those who opposed him. She heard the clunk of the call ending and the scrape of his chair against the floor, only to moments later feel his hands against her bare hips and his breath on her neck.

“I’ll be back later,” he purred, lips not quite touching the back of her jaw. He must have been kneeling down or crouching somehow though she did not dare turn around and look. “I have to take care of a little pest problem.”

“Take your time—you know where I’ll be,” she replied.

Viola tried not to grimace as he dug his fingertips into her before letting go, jumping out the open window with a laugh. She finished putting her clothes on and had to actively stop herself from rushing through putting her hair up. The more different she acted, the more suspicious it would look, and while finally so close to progress? It would be foolish to fuck up now. She left the bedroom and made her way down the corridors, knowing precisely who she needed to find.

“Baby 5,” she said coolly, keeping herself level as entered the sparring room. She waited until Baby 5 and Antonia stopped their match, the two women breathing heavily from their hand-to-hand combat training.

“Yeah?”

“I need to speak with you. Now.”

“Let us have another go, Violet,” Antonia smirked. “No Devil Fruits makes this a fun match.”

“It’s urgent.”

Antonia raised an eyebrow. “An emergency? What is it?”

“You should clean up before a meeting is called of the Elite Officers, nena,” Viola replied. Antonia gave a low whistle.

“Sounds intense—we’ll finish this later, germana.” Antonia took her workout bag and left, leaving only Viola and Baby 5 in the sparring room.

“What can’t wait that you have to interrupt us?” Baby 5 frowned as she grabbed her water bottle. Viola waited until after the younger woman had taken a drink and was toweling off her face before she broke the news.

“Law is coming.”

Baby 5 froze, staring slack-jawed at Viola.

“Law…? As in Law-nii…?”

“The very one.” Viola folded her arms across her chest and shifted her weight onto one hip. “Doffy’s headed towards his current location, but I doubt he’s going to find anything except for maybe why Buffalo hasn’t been reporting back.”

“Then it’s a good thing I stayed behind with Nia,” Baby 5 realized. “Who knows?”

“Just you.”

“How much time do you think we have?”

“Knowing how quickly Doffy moves? A few hours before a meeting is called in the Hall of Suites.” She saw the worry in Baby 5’s expression and she sighed heavily. “Don’t worry—we’ll save her. We all will.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“…because if Law’s coming, then that means that our best time to act is almost here, and I am not going to let ten years piss down the drain like Pink’s dignity.”

Baby 5 could only let out a weak chuckle at that—seas, she hoped Viola was right.

#this thing is fucking insane lemme tell ya #like. all I wanna do is work on Seagull fic and this invaded #*ignores cries from other wips oops*#One Piece #fan fiction #Trafalgar Law #Baby 5 #Riku Viola #Donquixote Doflamingo #Donquixote Pirates #Straw Hat Pirates #Mugiwara Kaizoku #Alternate Universe fic #Trafalgar D. Water Law #Trafalgar Lami #Trafalgar D. Water Lami

7 notes · View notes