dirge of flevance.

the thing about life was, that although it had a certain way of undergoing unexpected twists and turns, there were still certain rules every human being must abide by. death was one such thing, and other than one source he only knew about from history, rosinante was certain that there was no way one could cheat ones demise, whether untimely or not. once dead, a person did not suddenly come back to life.

except that was exactly the case at this very moment. the big hand that should be unmoving ran towards his chest where his brother's bullets had pierced, the pain from the last moments of his life flashing before him as all he could do was hold on. hold on just long enough for that crying child to escape in silence. it had been his duty to follow through towards the end, and he could only die because he knew law was able to walk as a free person from thereon out. grow up. spite fate. become a remarkable adult. so how was he alive again?

the initial shock, however, only lasted mere moments. how long had he been gone for? how long had he left that child wounded in body and soul, left to fend for himself in the midst of the enemy's zone? no allies in the marines, no allies in the family. but law was a smart kid, he was bound to make it out alive.

wherever he was, it definitely wasn't rubeck island, nor did his surroundings resemble any of the other islands in the vicinity. could it be law had returned for him, that he wasn't actually dead and that the kid had managed to heal his wounds and brought him to a safe space? in that case he'd have to find him. but without fully knowing the situation he still had to be careful. after all, he had disobeyed orders, and would most likely find no help within the local authorities.

being trapped in such a place made of more unknowns and incognita than actual tangible answers for him to hold onto and consult, with no way to properly access the ope ope no mi outside of one or two techniques at best and his haki completely unresponsive to his pleas was something he could deal with —stressful but manageable, comparable somehow to a fight with seastone latched 'pon his wrists, for surgeon of death already had the misfortune of being all too knowledgeable of survival arts long before heartshaped fruit of desire oh so intrinsically hated by all - seas had received his bite within cold lands of endless snow, back when everything burned and ached and was oh so ready to loom over and claim his life the moment little hands would've lost their grasp on that given, fleeting morsel of hope.

not that he needed to actually move within the arrangements and guidelines of strict survival, really —whoever ruled with the lives of the many dragged within island's confine and played along as if they were but puppets and toys at their all - observing disposal for sure didn't seem to want them struggle that much or be in excessive distress to make their fun unenjoyable somehow, granting them roofs 'bove their heads and sources of income that somehow didn't involve any pillaging or activities more attuned to a pirate's ungrateful existence.

and yet, even if being merely a doctor was but a dream at home and a reality within those limited and overly observed confines, without being able to at least assess the condition of his crew it all seemed to just amplify tenfold —the sleeplessness, hunger barely hanging there as a routinely habit rather than a proper need, worries increasing just alongside pictorials of worst case scenarios having too much glee in reminding themselves of their presence to hold onto whatever still remained of his poor, shattered heart as if it hadn't been long broken and scattered across all four blues enough.

( he could only hope —just like back then, within swallow island's infinite snowscapes painted in red by fratricide's blood and his own screams, he could only cling to hope. )

alas hope was of no use when things such as this happened regardless of this being someplace akin to environment under cautious monitoring and control or the unruly, chaotic seas with its waves and magnetic irruences and hungry beasts and hungrier sailors who made of seafaring their life and purpose and freedom —teeth gritting at sudden threat made of a shoulder being grabbed and collar of yellow shirt, disgruntled groan off rosegold lips and gaze of dull oldcoin gold daring to roll in mockery of grimace. " oi, what the fuck is wrong with you ?! " last time he checked ghost of old flevance wasn't back within groves of sabaody nor he was in the presence of that redhaired idiot who loved to play invincible behind layers of overly elaborate metal, nothing he couldn't easily flick away with a simple hue of TAKT. " i've always had this hat, what are you talking a— "

eyes of ore darting back to assailant's only to widen in sudden and yet oh so painful shock, his own heart surely reaching a standstill because it couldn't be, it just couldn't be real, it had to be some sort of trick from uppermost echelons of that wretched rock surrounded by unsailable seas —it had to be a fucking nightmare.

"I'm not really sure how to explain it." They start with a hum. "It's kinda like...." Not like using the bathroom. That's a weird way to explain it. "Let's see. It just happens. I guess you can say it's my devil fruit...Without me having to have eaten anything? I'm the devil fruit?"

he stopped asking when things had ever made sense long before even ending up in spirale, sadly —which was already telling, perhaps, of how things were beyond fucked within endless seas and cluster of thousand islands where he came from.

“ yep —most of our tech is built to use this connection these specific snails have and hold them as catalyst, which is how we have your equivalent of a radio, broadcast systems, signal jammers, even surveillance cameras made with those things. it all depends on the type of snail you’re dealing with —some of them get pretty fucking huge. ” still, it felt very limited compared to what he’s found around spirale, let alone what some of the people at the hospital have told him —yet another evidence for law of how the world government really had been stunting his world’s growth for so long.

“ but we do have basic electric systems too, especially in ships and more civilian contexts. ”

Wow...wow! All he can do is just mouth 'wow' over and over. The weirdest thing he's heard lately is that people eat snails, like a delicacy, rich folks. But they can be telepathic?

"Where do they even come from? To have the capability to jam uh, signals or whatever."

" i'm not sure about that —i'm a doctor, not a biologist. what i know when it comes to them is mainly related to the maintenance of my submarine, and i suppose because when you're a pirate, you gotta know at least the basics of the communication devices used by other pirates, or the marines. " and memory easily traveled to little white snail linked to bigger one so adeptly imitating quips and quirks of one donquixote doflamingo —dull eyes of gold fogged by feverish bursts of amber lead poisoning of one sickly, angry child daring to stare with hints of a curiosity he knew heavenly demon in flutters of pink feathers so much loved to see, a fuel to exploit and light on destructive fires further.

" i personally don't mind, really. " maybe because he too, was someone who would rather not engage in friendly sparring rather than fight with weapons ( or replicas of them ) that just would make the whole experience sour and filled with groans of utter nuisance —and it was also not fair towards the other who so much was into the idea of measuring each other's strengths.

“ smartphones are too complicated, if you ask me —but i don’t know how much my opinion can count when the equivalent of phones in my world are literal telepathic snails with an electric apparatus attached to them. ”

Livio does a double-take, baffled.

"Snails? They're telepathic, too? That's....we have radios, and some phone stuff."

" yep —most of our tech is built to use this connection these specific snails have and hold them as catalyst, which is how we have your equivalent of a radio, broadcast systems, signal jammers, even surveillance cameras made with those things. it all depends on the type of snail you're dealing with —some of them get pretty fucking huge. " still, it felt very limited compared to what he's found around spirale, let alone what some of the people at the hospital have told him —yet another evidence for law of how the world government really had been stunting his world's growth for so long.