#op au

This au is pretty bleak all the way through, with the sole exception being if your name is Donquixote Doflamingo, in which case you are having the absolute TIME OF YOUR LIFE.

Kill whoever you want, reputation be damned! Experiment with a fun new set of powers! Commit delicious interpersonal tragedies and sew a deep thread of fear into the ragtag band of idiots that made you destroy your country!

But only for like three weeks.

Getting stuck in Luffy’s body was decisively not the plan. Trapped, Doffy’s fun identity vacation stretches into a horrible nightmare. Not just because Doffy isn’t the kind of man who would take well to living out the rest of his days sharing a brain with Luffy, but also because being progressively less able to tell when he’s himself and not would be his literal ninth circle of hell! No joke, I cannot think of something he would hate more.

The backfire of the century, they’re calling it.

But Doffy and the rest of the straw hats don’t have to worry about that for a bit, because they’re currently Doffy’s playthings, and he’s still at the point in the story where everything is going great for him.

What does that mean in practice? He’s been coming up with quirky and interesting games nonstop!

Like the classics; deprive the straw brats of all but 3 hours of sleep, throw them in claustrophobic moving tunnel, make them guess how many innocents can be maimed with their bodies, and, of course, the infinite string-string dismemberment roundabout!

Some may call it psychological and physical torture. Doffy calls it quality time with the captain.

Meanwhile, Sabo and Law are faring… horrible!

Sabo was the first one to encounter Doffy after the body hop, and Doffy was able to convince Sabo to surrender, telling Sabo a bunch of misinformation that boils down to; “This brat is my puppet, so don’t bother resisting, because the only way to defeat me is to kill my real body— But not so fast, if you, or anyone else, gets close to this goal, I’ll just kill the Straw Brat. He’s my hostage, and the only hope of victory is to play my game and hope an opportunity opens up for you.”

(Reminder that What Doffy said here is a lie! Doffy’s entire fucking brain is in Luffy’s body— Luffy isn’t a puppet, he’s a host. If anything happens to Luffy it will fully kill Doffy, but by telling Sabo/the others to go after Doffy’s real body, he sets up a false goal to chase after. Even if they somehow kill Doffy’s real body, it’s just a shell. They’ll accomplish nothing.

(It’s the kind of double-bind I see Doffy really enjoying, a mind game within a mind game.)

(However, it’s worth noting that this lie ends up backfiring massively, causing the aforementioned ‘Doffy can’t leave Luffy’s body’ because Law operates on them believing Doffy’s fabrication to be reality.)

But back to Sabo. Who’s now failed to save his brothers twice. It’s arguably worse now, because unlike Marineford with Ace, Sabo was present in Dressrosa, and he still failed his brother. Saying Sabo feels like garbage is an understatement. He feels like a pane of glass that was shattered back into sand.

And Law? He’s watching people suffer fates worse than death on the daily, people who didn’t need to be involved, Luffy most of all. The only thing keeping him going is the fading chance to kill Doflamingo before Doffy gets tired of torturing the Straw Hats and decides to dispose of them, a goal so distant that it feels impossible.

Haha.. Would you believe me if I told you this is the less angsty section of the au? I have found a way to make things worse!

Also shoutout to @nneviil , they been a great sounding board for my ramblings about this au, and have given me tons of ideas on how to flesh things out! Not only did one of their doodles inspire the first drawing with Luffy ghost trying to throw hands with Doffy, they’re actually the one who first drew Luffy with the scar on his neck! I honestly think it’s my favorite part about drawing him now. Thanks again for that!

Hind compels men and women across all the islands in all the oceans. East Blue, North Blue, South Blue, West Blue, there is no escape from the voices which carry the will of the world from advising the lives of its vassals. Often these feelings lead the aware and unaware into doing the strangest things, but always towards the place they are meant to be.

In a dangerous world such as this, only the foolhardy choose to close their inner ears to the heart's whispers.

However, even those who do close themselves off to the wisdom within them will find that fate has a way of finding them anyway. In every world love is like a hurricane, and in hind, it is no different. The bond of mates is irrevocable. While this force of nature is so often experienced and spoken of, the lesson too often goes unheeded...

For what must have been the hundredth time in the last three days, Juraquille nee. Juniper Flora digs her blunt finger nails into the darkened mark on her skin. Idol scratching at the strange scar which darkens the skin at the junction of her pale shoulder and neck, just above the shelf of her clavicle. The imprint of the teeth which made this mark have faded, it's been so long since the one who made it has reaffirmed their sharp shape. 

Though the consequence of such a bite can never be overwritten, distance between the bonded can make the tie between them go thin. Without her bond mate, she feels antsy. But having gone so long without seeing him before, this unease has become normal.   

Flora wears a plain white linen shirt, and loose trousers in black closed at the bottom by her laced up boots. A large quartz amulet, held around her neck by a fine gold chain, and a pair of matching earrings are all that distinguish her from any generic sailor.

For the last few weeks, while they traveled past an archipelago of winter islands she'd also grown used to wearing a golden fur cape, a late courting gift from her mate. But now that they'd crossed on from the winter and autumn seas, she found the fur to be too hot and she'd laid it out on the deck rail beside her. 

She sighs. 

When she's not busy missing the one her life is immortally tied to, she is trying to listen to the chatter of the crew which has been uncharacteristically quiet today, so not even they could distract her from the lingering antsiness she was fighting.

She was half-tempted to return to her quarters. Why not spend the rest of the next week admiring her vast collection of rocks and specimens, who she could spend a lifetime with and never know all the secrets of? It seemed as good a use of time as any other.

Flora liked rocks, often more than people. They were pleasant and stable, and even when they weren't nice, they were very honest about their natures. A rock couldn't lie after all, and amongst her personal belongings there was not one she didn't love with all her heart. 

But today she was compelled on deck. Perhaps it was because of the weather. She'd grown weary of the cold and snow. As much as her bed and desk sounded like heaven, no matter how she sat, or what she studied, she simply couldn't sit still. 

It's been too long at sea for her taste, she determines. That must be what's wrong. 

She much prefers being on land, and the fact they are only a few days from their next destination makes her all the more impatient. And as many ceremonial dances as she'd learned, as many blessings as they could convey, one to magically make a week fast forward in time simply did not exist, or she would have used it many times before now. 

All the more irritated, she scratches at the place which covers the left side of her neck and a tightness in her heart grows more restrictive. Unfortunately for poor naïve Flora, she does not make a connection between the sensations. 

If she had, she would have been more content to go back to her room. There, lying in bed with a special handkerchief she kept hidden in her closet and pressed close to her nose, she would let her fingers slip between her legs to relieve the tension brewing within. Though the touch of her own fingers would always be a shallow comparison to the ones she craved...

While Flora remains unaware, the crew however, notices a very peculiar scent that grows stronger every day. Each time she scratches that mark, the strength of the scent bites the air, making their eyes water and their nose hairs curl. It's grown so intense that most crew members can't even look directly at her without passing out or crying so they avoid her stanchly. 

Better than she, they could sense the coming of something emanating from her aura, and instinctually they knew to keep as far away from her as possible. 

The woman, whose serious but somewhat airheaded nature the manning members of the Cloudfairer knew well, was truly, utterly, and completely oblivious to this all. Normally she was the jewel of their ship. They were fiercely loyal to her even though she was not their captain, but as their sole patron. She was head explorer, not to mention an omega scenting like sour candied cranberries when she was particularly happy and as kind as she was cute. 

Despite all that though, currently she was the source of their own flavor of ill ease. And yet, none complained. 

While they all secretly adored her delight, upsetting her was not why they did not speak their minds and tell her about their discomfort. It was also not because she was the patron of their expedition, or they were afraid of losing their good pay, or that she would attack them with her strange nails which seemed to be made of crystal.  

No. They were terrified of the unknown monster that put its teeth in her, whose mere ghost on her skin made them shiver as if the reaper was breathing down their necks. No one could touch her, and they feared even to offend her, or surely death awaited them. That was what that burning scent said, even when weakened by distance and time.

Perhaps then, it was lucky that their patron was a woman of good humor. She was hardly ever in a bad mood, even if she was irresponsible at times. And now was one of those times, for what would become a very obvious reason but is currently mysterious. 

Flora sends the young officer who has come to tell her that the Captain is asking for her presence on the main deck, one of her famous smiles. He stutters but looks away quickly, unable to hide the spring of tears that the pungent air in her cabin raises to his eyes, and he escorts her to the main deck of the clipper without another word. 

When nearby, she waves at Captain Cainis, who is waiting there on the opposite side of the decks with the ship navigator and his apprentice. When he notices her approach, he nods a simple greeting without interrupting the current conversation. 

"Aye Captain!" A young man's voice calls down from the crow's nest, loud enough to be heard over the ocean wind. "Land! West of starboard!" 

Strangely, a frown fixes onto to Cainis' face instead of his usual indifference. An older man with a distinct six-pronged beard in a sharp style, Cainis was a rugged man.

As a reformed mercenary, though not a renowned one, he'd fended off enough pirates to earn the respect of everyone on the crew. And what had first been a job taken on to return a favor for an old rival had become something more special, though he'd never ever say it aloud. 

Seeing his visible upset, Flora can't help but be curious.

At the call of land, the navigator Alex Crease, a small froggish man, immediately salutes. "Our destination in another four days journey if the winds don't change. We are sufficiently supplied to make the journey, I see no reason to stop before reaching Hoi Hoi." 

No reason? Flora knows she's not the only one on board feeling stuffy and stuck. Since she can't seem to scent herself, the only other aura on the ship was of a crew desperate for any excuse to stop for a while. 

As Alex reports, the captain nods. But at the same time, the patron pulls out her telescope and looks out at the ocean.

"If it's as you say, I have no argument. The sooner we hit our destination the better." The captain decided. "Onward than to Hoi Hoi Island."

An array of 'aye captains!' follow, but he looks to his right where she still stands with a small smile on her lips which grows larger the closer her lens zooms in on the fleck in the distance. 

"Wait a moment, captain." Flora interrupts. "I like the look of that island over there." 

The captain than raises his hand and the frenetic sounds of crew moving across the clipper comes to a sudden stop. 

"Are you sure you're not looking for a day at the beach after a month on the sea? It's only a few more days travel, you should be more patient, Miss Patron. We're staying on course, as agreed on." He says and levels a pointed look towards the woman. 

On the Cloudfairer, speaking the patrons name aloud was forbidden and only Captain Cainis knew it. He also knew the identity of the one who made the crew so uneasy. By now he has grown used to the both of them, and their unorthodox arrangement. However, even he is in complete disbelief that she does not seem to realize how her scent has shifted in the last days. 

Of all things she looks smug when she says, "And if I told you I believe that island holds a horde of raw sapphire worth over hundred and fifty million beri, would that change your mind?"

The sound of jaws dropping to the deck made an audible clink. 

The captain’s raised eyebrows are no longer chiding. "Are you certain?" 

She nods. 

"It might be home to the biggest deposit we've found this trip, by the looks of the sediment layers in the cliffs anyway. They're prefect, near the surface and easy to extract, Cainis, I can almost hear it already. Do you want to pass up this opportunity?"

Thinking for a moment, the captain's usual scowl curls deeper. If they stayed course, they would make it Hoi Hoi in four days, he calculates, and they'd promised to arrive in a little more than a weeks time which left a few days for delays. This would not be the first time they'd made an unexpected stop on their journey after all, and they did have the time to spare...

"Alright," he agrees begrudgingly, "but we stop for only three days." 

She gasps. "Only three days?? That's hardly any time at all!" 

"And you'll thank me for it later." He grumbles, then turns to the ship awaiting orders. "Men! We're headed ashore!" This time the 'ayes' are not interrupted. Reformed or not, no sailor can resist the idea of treasure on an island, even if they have to dig it up themselves.  

I looooooooo-ooooooooove Mihawk. I loooooooooove him. So. So. Much. My husband.

Anyway… this story is actually an accompaniment to an obsessively large project I’m working on, which is a write along of OP with a reader insert x Zoro at the center focus (but some unique pack building in there too). I have the entirety of the East Blue Saga done, almost done with everything through Alabasta, and some stuff written off and on up until Wano so… a huge project.

If you are interested please let me know!!

Now, you can get the rest of this story early on my Patreon for just a dollar, (plus some extra stuff I probably won’t publish here) and if you want to know more about my version of omegaverse the “Hind” you can get my free book on Smashwords or my Website! (The same deal will work with the big write-a-long too)

Thank you so much for reading my self indulgent friends! Until next time~

With Love, Bede

⊹₊ ˚🪷.˚₊ ₊˚.🪷˚₊⊹ 18+ ⊹₊ ˚🪷.˚₊ ₊˚.🪷˚₊⊹

Like my work and want more? If you like this, I promise you'll like my books.

You can also find all my available stories by supporting me on Patreon and have access to my entire catalog! Or if you'd rather leave a tip I'd be so grateful if you bought me a coffee. Hey, even reach out to order commissions! My asks are also open, so don't by shy!