Reboot to Minion Island; a second chance
Cold…It was so cold. The air in the chest was warmer, but it was freezing all the same. The tears, they wouldn’t stop pouring. The heart, it wouldn’t stop aching. It hurt. He couldn’t breathe. Gunshots pierced through the silence. They couldn’t hear him, but he could hear them. Ever too vividly.
He didn’t want this. His life, in exchange for Corazon’s? No, please. Please tell me it’s all a nightmare. Wake up! I’ve got to wake up. Make this end. Let’s go back…back to before. You said you’d be all right! You lied—
An unrecognizable mess—his face was a mess of dribble, snot, and tears. His little chest convulsed as he bawled in utter anguish, banging his fists against the inside of the container. His eyes were red and smarting from the fountain of tears that it had been made to spew forth. Please, stop! Don’t hurt him anymore! He’ll die—
History was repeating itself. Death would follow him like a shadow, perched over his shoulder. He was cursed. That was his retribution for surviving the massacre of Flevance, for outliving his family, for escaping alive.
Helpless, hopeless, useless—wasn’t he simply worthless, to that regard? He could do nothing. He did nothing. Beside him, in the chest, was the other boy, Luffy, but Law barely even registered his presence. His mind was reeling and spinning and everything was happening both so slowly and yet so quickly at the same time.
He squeezed his eyes shut, but he couldn’t block out the visual imagery of the events that were happening on the outside. Bluish hands clutching the blanket tighter around quaking shoulders, he couldn’t stop the cries, and he didn’t try to repress them either, all while Corazon’s last words echoed through his mind—followed by the series of gunshots replaying over and over, a haunting torment that prevented him from noticing that the chest was being carried away.
But he couldn’t waste…Corazon’s sacrifice. Through a blurry vision and spasms of blubbering, he recalled of the other boy sitting with him. They had to make it out of there. He didn’t want to live Corazon behind, but he didn’t want to go against Corazon’s dying wishes either.
Somehow, in spite of his agonizing despair, he managed to come to his senses. In between gasps and choked sobs, he stuttered, “W-we have…to l-leave.” If there was any reason left for him to live, it would be to repay Corazon’s kindness and to save the other boy.
There didn’t seem to be any movement on the outside, and so, stumbling on weak knees, he pulled himself to a stand and gradually pushed the lid of the box, peering out through swollen eyes. Their surroundings seemed to be clear. Fighting to keep silent and stifle his wailings, he lifted the lid completely and climbed out of the box, before offering a hand to help Luffy out as well.
He didn’t know where they would go, but they had to keep moving. An island…nearby. Corazon had mentioned connecting islands to Minion Island. Corazon—the tears gushed once more. He didn’t even get to say his goodbyes.