The Power of One Dream (A One Piece x Fairy Tail Story)

Part 19

A/N: Warning: Mentions of Past Child Abuse, Religious Persecution, bloody violence, character death and some unsettling scenes to follow.

Flashback (17 Years Earlier; Year X775)

A then biologically-9-year-old Elfman Straus pleaded desperately in defence of his elder sister. His biologically-8-year-old sister Lisanna behind him offering what meagre moral support she could to her big brother under their mother's fierce glare.

"Mother please! Mira faced that demon for us. To save all of us from living in fear of its rampages! And now we're free because of her. She's a hero! She doesn't deserve punishment! To be treated like a Prisoner in our own home-"

"The Demon wasn't a threat as long as we all stayed hidden when it hunted and didn't provoke it!.." Mrs. Straus chastised her son unsympathetically. "...I told that silly girl to stay away from that Chapel! And I would have thought the two of you would have the sense to stop her or to tell your father and I. YOU ALL DELIBERATELY DISOBEYED ME!!" She raised her voice as her rant reached its peak. The Straus Household since time immemorial (much like the rest of their small community) were a humble, hard-working, pious, gods-fearing people. The sort that NEVER had anything to do with Adventurers or Magic, and never jeopardised the natural order of things. As those that did would be evermore dubbed a threat to upstanding citizens of the community. A mark of shame that the ever vigilant Mr. and Mrs. Straus would not tolerate.

"Mirajane endangered herself and all of us confronting the beast. For that she now bears the mark of its curse as penance for her foolishness. And for yours!" She stared down her nose at the young Elfman and young Lisanna standing resolutely before the door to the sitting room of their humble home (one of few rooms in the hovel). A room where the eldest Straus Sibling was currently receiving her own chastisement for her actions from their father. Chastisement that sounded a lot from the other side of the door (and gradually getting louder) like the crack of a belt.

"Mother, please! Make it stop..." Lisanna begged with tearful eyes, imagining all manner of punishments her Big Sister now faced as a result of her indecisiveness and fear. "NO!" Mrs. Straus raised her voice again, having had enough of her youngest daughter's whinning. "I will not tolerate defiance under this roof. It's time your sister learnt that foolish actions have consequences! As you two shall as well if you fail to learn from her mistakes." Elfman's knees quivered, and he fought to hold back tears under the weight of their mother's harsh rebuke. But casting a sideways-glance at Lisanna who looked ready herself to breakdown and cry on the spot, somehow he found a little courage left. "But Mother... please-"

"ENOUGH ELFMAN, YOU STUPID BOY!! GO BACK TO YOUR ROOM AND DON'T LET ME SEE EITHER OF YOU FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT!! OR I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT!!!!"

The silence that followed their mother's shout was deafening. And yet, somewhere in the depths of the silence from behind the door, Elfman could swear he heard the stirring of an iron implement in the fireplace. And a soft whimper from his elder sister. Something then snapped within Elfman. An urge that frightened him, and yet took complete control of him. An urge to be with his sister, to protect her, and to let nothing, Absolutely Nothing, stand in his way.

For the first time ever, he shoved his mother aside roughly and burst into the sitting room. And stared at the scene in silent horror.

There was his biologically-10-year-old sister Mirajane on her knees in the centre of the room. The back of her tattered smock (held up at the front by one human hand and a demonic one to preserve what remained of her modesty) exposed fresh deep and bloodied gashes on her back, and her face bore a surprised look at Elfman's outburst. An otherwise fair-featured face that could no longer hide the tears falling. "ELFMAN!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YOU STUPID BOY!? GET OUT!!!"