lew: hello and welcome this fic is co-written w maddie ( baratiepromise on tumblr/twitter) for zolu week. its supposed to be for day 4 but technically im posting this at 1am on day 5 but like. its fine.

also dont ask me what time this is supposed to take place in bc halfway thru mads n i realized wed been writing it entirely different time/place. and then we had them visit a diner. so it doesnt matter. anyway thank you for coming enjoy ily

In the beginning there was nothing. An infinite expanse of darkness, too large to be understood by any mortal. On a whim of the universe, emerged from this darkness a God. He was called Brook, skeletal in appearance, as the skeleton is the structure on which all life is supported.

However, Brook was alone, and for a long time he remained that way. He hummed into the dark, the sound reaching far into its expanse, and as though only just noticing him, the empty air creates light. A burning ball which humans would one day name the sun formed in front of him, blinding in its brightness and kind in its warmth, granting the God an idea. Brook sang into the new light the first true songs, asking the universe to grant him company.

The first song, cheerful and inviting, reached far off into the surrounding light, traveling in front of Brook. In a far off pocket of the vast space, slowly it won over the universe. The space bent into the shape of a new God. He was called Franky. He bent the air around him to create something of a telescope to travel towards Brook, making him the God of invention. But this was not all.

The second song, lonely and forlorn, traveled farther, inspiring another section of the vast emptiness's kindness to create a second God. She was called Robin. Robin turned to the empty expanse around her and created thousands of twinkling eyes which humans would one day name stars. She became the Goddess of the sky, using these eyes to find her way to Brook and Franky.

One male and one female, these Gods were not simply bone like Brook but flesh and blood. They went shortly after their creation to find Brook, Robin arriving first, Franky shortly after. They were the first couple, and the songs imploring the universe for their creation shaped Brook into the God of music and love.

The three of them were happy for a time, but found that this was not enough.

They felt as if they could have more.

Thusly, It was Franky's idea that the two of them create more Gods. He wanted to create the first family, and so the God of family he became. Franky and Robin asked the starry emptiness for a family, the universe answering with four new Gods: Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji.

The Gods, now numbering seven, set for themselves a new task: creating a place to stay. Franky gathered up as many of his wife's stars as he could to compact them and create the basis for what would one day be known as the Earth.

The universe answered its creation with a new God called Jinbe. Jinbe was created to furnish the new space, creating rock and dirt to stand on and water to drink from. However, the Earth was not yet livable, only a place for the Gods to get their footing. It also served as the perfect template for the four young Gods to test their powers.

Usopp took the first step. He covered the new planet with plant life, making the surface beautiful, flush with nature. Being the first to act made him the God of bravery, with his creations making him the God of agriculture. After seeing what he had made, the other young Gods moved into action. Nami created weather and seasons, giving their new planet wind and rains and a number of other wonderful creations. Sanji went through the plants which Usopp had created and made fruits which could be eaten, introducing food to the Gods. When night fell, Sanji created fire to keep them warm, give them light. Each God answered a pull deep in themselves, improving the Earth and making it the place we know today. The only one who did not act was Zoro, who sat back, watching his siblings build their world with happiness lining their features. He did not yet feel a pull to act, but his family did not mind. They loved him and each other no matter what they had to offer, allowing for the family of nine to live together as one on the world which they had created.

They were happy.

But they were not yet done.

Pulled by the new need to express their powers, build this place up as their own, they traveled around to find new discoveries that they didn't see when putting their gifts in motions, new surprises along their little journeys together, the four young gods filled with reckless abandon at the world stretched out before them.

In the desert, Nami discovered a Goddess called Vivi. She was the Goddess of peace, appearing from the calm and quiet which the Earth spent its time, emerging from the dunes silently.

Nami, upon seeing the young Goddess turn to her, felt the stars twine around her heart. The world seemed to bend with Vivi's appearance, her voice. Brook felt the blessing upon them before either of them realized, granting passage for the first love born on Earth soil.

The final God to appear was found first by his creations. The Gods began to find bugs and small critters in their forests, things with four legs and fur and which did not look like them. The Gods followed their trails, and eventually the last God was introduced. Zoro stumbled upon him, a deer with intelligent eyes along with human speech. The God of life and animals, Chopper populated the planet with new and exciting life. He was loved by all the Gods. He was also the last God to emerge.

After a few hundred years of this life, though, Chopper approached the others with an idea. Whether he suggested the nine of them create another God or if he suggested the first human is another detail lost to time, but regardless the Gods which had created the Heavens and Earth worked together to create another being. Once again, Zoro stayed back, but his help was not needed. Each of the other Gods worked to create a wonderful being. Her name was Merry, the first human being. Each of the Gods loved her and bestowed her with gifts. The wealth of the planet, bravery, food and charity, peace, health, knowledge, invention, and love.

However, because she was a human, Merry lacked things that the Gods had. She bled red instead of gold, and she could not create things from nothing the way other Gods could. The difference which would prove to be the most terrible, however was that Merry could not fly the way the Gods could, grounded by the Earth's tug.

Despite this, everything seemed happy for a time, at least to most of the Gods. The Gods and Merry lived on Earth together, but this happy existence would not last.

Secretly Zoro, the God of nothing, was jealous. He had no power, just like Merry. The only difference between them was that he was a God, and yet she seemed to be more favored than he was. It seemed unfair to him that someone below him should be considered above him, and so he decided to act. Zoro tricked Merry into following him up to the top of the tallest mountain, telling her he would teach her how to fly like the others. Once they reached the highest point, he pushed her down, and when she reached the bottom Zoro claimed his new title: the God of death.

The other Gods were heartbroken and furious, inventing together the emotions of anger and grief. Zoro was cast away from the other Gods, and around them as they mourned things began to die. Plants wilted, animals passed on, and the first seasons of fall and winter passed as Zoro explored his new domain. Finally, after months, things began to live again. Merry was buried on the mountain on which she had died. Brook, the first God, gave Merry one last gift: in the spring her body began to decay, so her body could become one with the Earth once more, and she could live again through the plants which sprang from her body.

The Gods decided to create a new human, which they would not tell Zoro about. Her name was Sunny, and to her they gifted all the same things they gifted Merry. Though they did their best to keep her creation a secret, Zoro found out anyway, and he was angry. He appeared as they made her and gifted her something new: violence. This violence would then create all the evils of the world, corrupting the gifts which the other Gods had given Sunny. The Gods were furious, but there was nothing which could be done.

Sunny, like all humans, would one day die. The other Gods where unready to cope with another heartbreak, so they made for her dozens of other humans to keep her company. These are the humans which would eventually become all of us. With this final gift, the Gods retreated to the mountain which Merry was buried on. They created for themselves a place to live, Skypiea, retreating there for most of their time. Zoro was not welcome in this place—"

"But he is now," Luffy says, cutting into the story. He moves off the broom he'd been leaning on as he listened while the storyteller looks to him. "Zoro made up with the Gods years ago! He's welcome there whenever he wants, but he stays in the Afterlife to welcome the dead! When we die, he shows us where to go."

The storyteller slumps his shoulders, body lined with irritation at the young attendant interrupting his retelling of the creation myth, "Well, yes, I was getting there," The storyteller grumbles, "Though I can't imagine why the Gods would allow him to return..."

Moving with his broom, Luffy strides to where the storyteller sits in front of temple goers, devout religious heads, children, and offers them all a welcoming smile.

"Zoro provides shelter for all passing souls," Luffy recites dutifully, chipper as he does, "The Gods accepted him and his role, the end of life, and now we use this temple to worship him and what he does for those we love who may have left this world. Why wouldn't the Gods let him back in? He's the coolest one out of all of them!"

"The... coolest? Perhaps, but certainly the cruelest," The storyteller responds with disdain, eyes rolling at the idea of Zoro being worshiped at all, "He's been around since the beginning of the Earth, and yet that's one of the only stories about him. There are many stories of other Gods roaming the Earth, meeting their followers, rewarding the faithful... Zoro never does any of these things. A temple to him is a thankless job. Killing the first human is possibly the only important thing he's ever done."

"You probably shouldn't be talking bad about him in his own temple. You may get led away by spirits," Luffy hums, stepping away from the small crowd to resume sweeping. "If you're here to leave a offering, he likes booze! Oh, and rice, if you've got any."

"Right. Of course," The storyteller says, standing. With this motion, those gathered to hear him begin to disperse, all muttering excuses about forgetting offerings, not having anything to offer, bad timings, the like. They all shuffle away, the storyteller warily eyeing Zoro's statue at the front as he does, like it'd come crashing down at any moment.

"Zoro's forgiving," Luffy calls out to the lurkers, then moves his eyes back to the floor, the smalle pile of dirt he's created from sweeping. Everyone always forgets their offerings, leaving the plates bare under Zoro's statue. The only people who offer are the ones who work under him, him and his two brothers.

After the story that was just preached at Zoro's own temple, Luffy isn't exactly surprised to see the statue empty once again tonight.

Luffy snaps his head up when he hears the sound of a door shutting, faced with his brother looking a bit sheepish as he watches the people leave, almost looking disappointed with their work and the empty plates.

"It's getting late. We should lock up for the night." Ace comments, turning toward Zoro's statue. "Nothing again, huh?"

"Nothing again!" Luffy reports, leaning on his broom, a slight whine in his voice. "Why does nobody want to offer something to him? He never gets anything. I can't even steal snacks when there are no snacks to steal!"

"You should really find a less selfish reason for worrying about your God, you know," Ace snorts at the notion, though if he's honest, he's stolen snacks from the altar plenty of times as well. It's not like Zoro ever comes down to punish him for it. He doesn't seem to mind.

"Now, you two," a voice laughs, the owner of it walking in from the outside. "Don't be so worried about the altar, selfish reasons or not. Zoro knows his problems, right?"

"Sabo," Luffy huffs a sigh, the broom dropping as he moves to look up at the large statue of their infamous God. He's meant to look terrifying, clad in armor and a cloak bearing the visible dents and scratches of war. However, parts are crumbling away with the etchings faded out after years of its existence, the stringy cobwebs gathered by its head a testament to that. "It isn't fair. All the other temples get tons of snacks, but we get... dirt!"

"They'll have to come to Zoro soon enough. No matter who you are and what god you worship, we all die in the end," Sabo points out. Luffy groans at the familiar, often repeated sentence, since Zoro never gets offerings or guests to his temple. With a kick to his broom, slouching grumpily, he stomps off to start locking up the temple.

Luffy heads outside into the crisp summer air to check for any stragglers to their temple. Seeing no one, Luffy plops down on the step a moment, wanting to clear his head. Luffy's spent his whole life working in this temple. Zoro isn't as social with his devotees like the other Gods are, nor is he one to give blessings, so Luffy's one of very few followers. The temple's been in his family for a long time, and is both the nicest and the oldest that Luffy knows of. Even so, it's just him and his brothers working there. Luffy doesn't think it's fair. Even if Zoro's never given him a 'sign' or a gift, Luffy still feels like he knows Zoro. He believes strongly that Zoro isn't as bad as everyone says. He thinks, if they met, they could be friends, and Luffy would know for sure everyone else is wrong about Zoro.

"Tomorrow I'll just show everyone," Luffy decides, standing up, "I'll figure out a way for Zoro to give us a sign! I should pick up lots of booze, that's gotta bring him down here!"

With his plan in mind, Luffy hops back inside, locking the door. He and his brothers live in a back room of the temple, a little storage room that's more like a glorified closet than a living space, but with the temple closed for the night, he heads to the back to join his brothers for dinner.

The air shifts to welcome a powerful presence outdoors, unbeknownst to the brothers. Draped in a cloak, a figure circles the temple in the dark, walking through the dead brush, the wilting plants, onto the stone courtyard, just looking into the windows of the temple, as if checking for something, humming a happy little tune to himself as he does.

"Another empty one, huh?" The cloaked figure muses, looking around at the lack of life in this place, "I guess this will do, then."

From his hand appears a flame. He touches it to the temple, and though it's stone, it begins to burn.

The flames of a God are more powerful than any mortal-made building, after all.

"No hard feelings," The God apologizes to the temple's stone, as though it could answer him. He pulls his hand away to watch the fires slowly spread. He moves back, turning away with confidence it'll be burning down within minutes. "Just a little bit of a grudge."

The cloaked man walks off, picking his tune up again. He doesn't care to stick around and see the destruction. He already knows how this ends.

"Did you leave something on the fire?" Sabo asks, looking to Ace, "I smell smoke."

"Smoke?" Ace sniffs the air, smelling it as well. He stands, his chair clattering to the floor. "...I put out the fire. There shouldn't be anything burning. Luffy, did you re-light it?"

"I didn't," Luffy says, as Ace walks over to the back door. When he touches the handle, though, he immediately has to pull away, the handle too hot to touch. He looks back to Luffy and Sabo, "Shit. We need to get out of here."

"Huh?" Luffy looks over at Ace, then protests as he's pulled up, "Wait, what?! How did a fire start?!"

"I don't know, but we don't really have time to talk about it," Ace says, "Come on, Luffy, Sabo. We can't stay."

Sabo pushes Luffy forward, to the door leading through the temple.

"Check the other door, go! It shouldn't be as hot!" He says. Luffy lets himself be shoved, and Ace opens the door. Even behind Ace, Luffy feels a wave of heat him.

"Holy shit," Sabo says, "The stone is burning."

"The stone!?" Ace repeats, "How the fuck is the stone burning?! Ah, shit-"

Ace covers his mouth and nose, eyeing the smoke. It's quickly filling the room from the fire burning the walls, so they need to move fast.

"I don't know!" Sabo says, coughing. He pushes ahead of Ace, putting Luffy in front of himself. He knows Luffy is Ace's priority, too, so he knows Ace won't care. All they have to do is cut through the temple door and they'll be out. Luffy lets himself get shoved along to the front of the pack, running as fast as he can, trying to be careful of anything that might catch his clothes on fire. He keeps checking behind himself to make sure Ace and Sabo are with him, stumbling through the flames of their temple. He drops his hand from his nose, rushing toward the door. As soon as his hand touches the door, he flinches back.

"It's too hot!" Luffy yells.

"What?" Ace asks. He touches the handle, then coughs out a curse. "There has to be another— the windows!"

As he finishes speaking, they hear above them the loud groaning of a ceiling struggling to support itself. They look up, seeing the ceiling is incredibly unstable. If they aren't fast, they'll be crushed to death by stone long before any fire can touch them.

"Go!" Sabo yells, running forwards. Ace is behind him, running, and Luffy lingers just a moment at the door, trying to open it still. The ceiling comes down, Luffy startles when he hears a crash behind him. He turns to see the ceiling has crashed down between them, separating him from his brothers.

"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy yells, rushing toward the wreckage. "Don't worry, I'll move these!"

"That fire is hot enough to burn stone, don't touch it!" Sabo yells. He looks back to the window, then to Ace. They're able to leave by the window, but Luffy is stuck. If they go now, at the rate this temple is falling apart... "We can't— We can't leave him."

"Then what do you want to do?!" Ace demands, looking around the area they've been trapped in. There's too much destruction around them, and the temple collapsing in as they speak.

"I don't—" Sabo starts, but a wall crashes next to them. Their section of the temple is quickly crumbling, and they've lost their chance at escape. Soon they'll be buried, all three of them. Their section is smaller than Luffy's, however, so it will collapse sooner. "Zoro. We... We need to ask Zoro to save him."

"Zoro?!" Ace repeats, incredulous, "He's never-he's never even shown us he's there! What if he doesn't even… he doesn't even show himself?"

"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy flinches as he burns his hands, furiously trying to make it through the collapsed stone and wood, trying to get his brothers out. He coughs loudly, the burning rubble giving off large amounts of smoke which he's breathing in while trying to free himself.

"Well, if we stay here-which we have to, we're stuck-we're all going to die! Luffy has more time than us, but he can't get out," Sabo says, "We're going to burn to death anyway. We could... Gods take sacrifices. Zoro has to listen to two of his own priests."

Ace looks at Sabo for a moment. He takes Sabo's hand, nodding, holding out the other one for him.

"Right. Come on, then. We have a lot of praying to do," Ace says. Sabo takes it, grim determination set on his face considering what exactly they're planning. Betting everything on a distant God is insane, but if they can't believe in him after dedicating their whole lives to him, who can?

"If he ignores this..." Sabo mumbles, "Then I'm kicking his ass once we see him." He looks to the wreckage. He can't see Luffy through the rubble. "Luffy! Move away from the wreckage! Find somewhere safe, we're getting... we're getting help! Just stay calm, okay? We love you!"

"What're you guys talking about?!" Luffy demands, "You can't—I heard everything collapse, what're you doing?!"

Luffy keeps trying to move things, but he can feel his body getting weaker as his head grows more light, the smoke getting to him. Luffy doesn't hear a response. Before he can yell again, he hears another loud crash on the other side of the wreckage.

"Ace!? Sabo!?" Luffy yells. He takes a few steps back. They... they're fine, right? They went for help! But... that was his only way out. He's trapped. Luffy runs back to the door and slams himself against it, trying to break it down. He throws himself again and again, but fails continuously. The door is meant to stand against the furious loved ones of the deceased, of course it won't move for Luffy. He's alone now, Ace and Sabo gone, nobody in the temple. Falling back from the door, Luffy winces as he presses against hot stone. More of the temple collapses around Luffy, but the fact he's about to die by himself scares him more than his own death. He struggles to his feet, turning to find Zoro's statue looming above him: an angry but familiar face peering out from the smoke. Luffy stumbles over to the statue. He's sure he won't be conscious much longer, but... at least he has Zoro to see him out. He doesn't want to die alone.

Luffy collapses at the statue's feet, half on top of the metal serving as a base, his eyes dropping shut. The metal of the base burns his chest and his arms, but he can't find it in him to care. He'd rather burn here, on the statue, than die by himself on the cooler floor.

As Luffy slowly blacks out, he could almost swear the foot of the statue in front of him looks like flesh. Maybe Zoro has come to personally see him off? In his last moments of consciousness, Luffy feels two hands on his shoulders. Luffy smiles a bit. He's probably hallucinating, but at least he doesn't feel alone.

"Alright, stay with me," A voice mutters. It's smooth, pleasing to his ears. He doesn't have the energy to respond, and in a few seconds he's unconscious.

Zoro sighs, tucking his hands under Luffy to pick him up. He's pretty sure smoke inhalation alone could kill Luffy, but he has to at least try to help. Two of his three most dedicated priests sacrificed themselves for the third's survival, after all. Zoro steps forwards, stretching his stiff limbs—possessing a statue for quick access to the mortal realm is always annoying—and walks towards the temple door. Weakened now by the fire, and Zoro having the strength of a God at his disposal, the wood splinters and breaks apart under Zoro's touch. Black smoke pours out of the front of the temple, causing Zoro to cradle Luffy close to his chest and into the stone of his statue. Better for them both if he doesn't inhale any more of it.

Zoro eases out of the marble form with one movement, bleeding out of the rocks to reform and take Luffy from the statue's arms.

"Here we go," He mutters quietly as he carefully holds Luffy, knowing full well the fragility of human life. He uses the cloth of his cloak to wipe away ash and sweat plastered onto Luffy's face. Luffy is completely unconscious, eyebrows pinched in pain. Zoro scans him. He's covered in burns and scratches, and there's no doubt he has some trauma to match. His hands are the most damaged from trying to pull apart the wreckage of the temple.

Zoro walks a few paces away from the door, looking back at the temple. It's upsetting, even to him, watching it burn away. The fire burns so fast no one has even had time to come help put it out yet—or maybe no one in town cares to try. Zoro doesn't have much time to linger, though, and so turns back towards the town. He's got to find a doctor who can help Luffy if there is any chance of Luffy surviving. The walk down to the town is a bit of a long one, but he keeps Luffy close. That was his last temple, as well as those three being his last priests. It hurts to think about for too long. Zoro looks down at Luffy, his only living priest. He doesn't know if Luffy will stay with him, given he'll be taking Luffy's brothers once he's brought Luffy to town.

Following the smell of death, of injury and sickness, Zoro can easily find the hospital. This little town is run down, no doubt from the fact it's plagued with his presence. The grass is dead, the buildings cracked, rotting wood, nearly barren. It's a familiar sight to Zoro. The hospital building looks nicer than most.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but—" The doctor starts to say, but stops when he sees Zoro's face. Although all of Zoro's statues are wrong about his appearance, Zoro looks threatening enough without people knowing who he is. Zoro is adorned with numerous swords at his waist and obvious muscle in his arms showing that he can use them. This, accompanied by the heavy, beaten armor that gleams through holes in the torn cloak around his shoulders, would stop anyone from wanting to cross him. Besides, even if they don't realize it, mortals often know when they're in the presence of a God.

"I don't believe it's a good practice to reject the injured," Zoro comments calmly, walking past the doctor to one of the empty beds where he lies Luffy down, "The injured and sick are in need of constant care. You would be wise to remember that."

In one motion, Zoro unclasps his cloak to drape it over Luffy's body, grimacing at the ripped fabric revealing some of his burnt skin. It's dirty as well, but holds the protective properties of a God, preventing him from further harm. He hopes Luffy takes it as a form of comfort, as well.

He can feel the eyes of the doctor on him, waiting. With a sigh, Zoro starts to explain the sabotage of the temple atop the hill, the two brothers dead within the collapsed form of the building, not surprised when he's met with hesitation from the doctor.

"Are you sure?" The doctor asks, looking toward a window in the back, where the stairs to the Temple are visible, "We could try searching the wreckage. They might need help."

"Do as you please, although it's pointless. As far as I'm concerned, your only job is to make sure this man doesn't die." Zoro's voice is commanding, walking away from the two of them, straight out the door. He can't stay for too long, especially with two new souls to guide. The doctor does not bother to watch him go, turning quickly to Luffy. Something about the way the stranger spoke, perhaps, or maybe the way he carried himself... The doctor is compelled to believe Zoro on Ace and Sabo's fate.

Zoro walks back to his temple, fading himself out of existence and through a portal that leads him back home—which is, unfortunately, the Afterlife.

He steps in onto a cloud to walk toward the large temple he occupied up here, where most of the dead know they can visit if they have any troubles. The ones not being punished, anyhow. Zoro's throne room is relatively small, his "throne" nothing more than a wood chair with symbols carved into it, red cushions on the seat and the backrest. The entire place is also crumbling, as though abandoned. Plants grow through cracks on the floor, and vines weave their way up the walls and through the windows. Some of the ceiling is in pieces on the floor, that being just the half of it. Many rooms themselves are just collapsed in, waiting to be broken off.

Zoro walks inside, seeing two familiar priests waiting for him.

"You!" Ace marches up to the Death God without a second thought. He's already dead, after all. "Where were you? Is Luffy alright? Did you help him?"

"Calm down." Zoro raises a hand to silence them, wanting to rest but instead getting a shrill older brother. "I've helped him, I got him out and took him to the doctors. He has my cloak, so I can't lose track of him."

"He's going to live, right?" Sabo continues, following Zoro when he pushes past them, ignoring the irritation in the lines of his face, "it worked, right?! Us sacrificing ourselves?"

"If your town doctor's any good, sure," Zoro says, walking towards his throne, "I don't have any ability to heal. The best I could do was take him from the temple and to the doctor, which I did. I heard your sacrifice just fine. He should live."

"Is there any way we can see him?" Sabo continues. Zoro doesn't reply at first, busy unclasping armor. The armor is heavy and sort of annoying, but when he uses a statue to appear on Earth, he ends up wearing a copy of its clothing. Taking it off leaves him in a loose white shirt, haramaki, and black pants.

"I guess," Zoro says. He stands, stretching himself out until his back cracks. He groans, rubbing the back of his neck, and then looking to Ace and Sabo, "Come with me."

Ace and Sabo follow diligently, taking in their surroundings. This temple is quiet and pleasantly warm. Even falling apart, it's clear how nice of a place this temple once was. It's nicer than most human houses, even if Ace and Sabo have to watch their step for broken tiles or ceiling pieces on the floor, vines they could trip over... there was a lot to look out for, actually.

"Sure is luxurious... in its... own weird way," Ace mutters.

"You should see the other temples," Zoro says "The other Gods get a lot nicer places since they've actually got followers. I'm sure this one's going to change soon, even, once the effects of your deaths hit it. Maybe the west wing will finally fuckin' fall off."

He leads Ace and Sabo to a room in the back, where what appears to be a bird bath sits in the center. However, upon walking closer, Ace and Sabo find the water is black. Not only is it impossible to see the bottom of the shallow basin, but there's no reflection on the surface. Whatever the basin contains has not even a slight sheen, as though it sucks up light.

"Tell it what you'd like to see and it will show you. I use it to keep tabs on the Gods and the mortal world. I'm sure you could do the same," Zoro explains, "But be careful. If you ask to see a God, they'll be able to sense you watching them."

Ace shoves to the front of the pack, bracing his hands on either side of the bird bath.

"Show me Luffy!" He demands. The water swirls and changes colors slowly, the background forming first, then Luffy's sleeping form. He's got bandages on his hands, and he looks to be in less pain than he was before.

"This is yours to use as much as you'd like," Zoro says, "And whenever you're ready, I can show you to the Afterlife."

"The Afterlife?" Sabo turns to Zoro, "...Right, you have to take us to that. We can't just stay up here?"

"You can," Zoro says, "Souls are free to visit up here, but generally should stay in the Afterlife. As my priests, though, I'll allow you to roam my temple...I suppose. Don't get too comfortable."

"It looks like he probably won't be waking up for a while." Ace speaks up, looking at Sabo. He steps away from the bath, the image fading back into black water. "We seriously get a full ride here?"

"You do," Zoro says, "You spent your whole life tending to the God of death. Didn't you think you'd get some perks? You're my first Priests to actually die, too. Most of 'em just kind of abandon me."

"No offense, but I can't blame them. For a while, it was like we were worshipping and tending to air." Sabo crosses his arms, frowning. "At least you answered when we needed you."

"It's not like I had any gift I could give you to show I was listening," Zoro grins, "Nami can gift her followers with wealth, Usopp can gift his with bravery, Chopper makes gifted doctors like the one treating your brother. What could death and violence have given you? Nothing you'd want, I imagine."

"Well, we got it anyway!" Ace jokes, looking at his hands, trying to spot differences. He abruptly shoves his hand at Sabo, ending up smacking him in the face.

"Tell you what, being dead doesn't feel much different than being alive!" Ace laughs, ignoring the way Sabo grips his wrist in a way that would've broken it if they were alive.

"I wouldn't know," Zoro says, leaning on his arm, watching the basin. "Lucky for you that you died young. You get to be youthful for eternity. Not so lucky for everyone else, though. Luffy, notably. And me, I guess, now that I'm stuck with you."

Ace pauses at that, his good mood quickly souring as he considers the consequences of their actions.

"...Ah, shit. We left Luffy alone down there." He rubs the back of his neck. The plan was okay in the moment, but now Luffy's going to wake up to nobody with him, lost.

"You did, and I doubt he'll appreciate that. It's not you he'll be upset with, though."

Sabo takes in Zoro's words, piecing them together. "You think he's going to be mad at you?"

"Of course. I just took his two older brothers from him. I've known the three of you just as long as you've known me. I know he hates being alone, and death just took all he had," Zoro doesn't look too excited about this, locking eyes with Sabo as he speaks, "Do you know why I don't ever seem to answer prayers?"

"Because people don't believe in you?" Ace guesses, "Or hate you?"

"No. Second one's close, though," Zoro gestures his hand towards Ace and Sabo, the room filling with screaming as he moves. Both of them can hear dozens of voices. Some are angry, others devastated. Screaming and whispering, demanding and pleading, all saying the same thing: they want someone they loved back. It's horrible to listen to, hundreds of voices screaming in the same sort of agony worse than even the pain of dying with which Ace and Sabo are now so intimately familiar. The voices stop with another movement from Zoro.

"No one prays to me because they want to. They do when feel they need to. People hate me because I take without giving and am unrelenting in my work. But humans must die. I can't save everyone or bring everyone back."

"But that's… just your job, isn't it?" Ace points out, "Shouldn't they accept it?"

Sabo looks to the bird bath once more, his heart sinking to his stomach. They shouldn't have left Luffy down there, shouldn't have left him become one of those voices.

"It doesn't matter. When humans are hurting, they want something to blame," Zoro says, "I've been doing this a long time. It won't change any time soon. I wouldn't be surprised if I lost my last priest to grief. Would sure be ironic, though."

"Your last priest?" Sabo turns back, eyes widened with surprise, Ace leveling him with a similar look

"Wait, we were the last temple for you? Knew you were unpopular, but..."

"That was the last one in use. Like I said, most priests abandon me before they can die. There's a number of them left standing and empty, but none other with priests. Luffy is now all I have," Zoro drops his gaze, staring at the basin.

"You have until he wakes up, if he abandons you," Ace says, "He doesn't even have a temple or a home anymore."

"No, he doesn't," Zoro murmurs, "And that's on me."

Luffy snores softly in the image of the dark liquid, unaware, almost blissful in the way he sleeps. It claws at Zoro in a way he hasn't felt in a long time, a certain feeling that he usually only gets with having to deal with the deaths of young children or wrongly murdered. That feeling of unfairness, of the harshness of a reality he created.

"He may as well just be the most unlucky mortal in the entire world."

The first thing that Luffy registers when he comes to is the sound of rustling. Metal tools clanking together, soft discussions about sickness and illness-things that wouldn't be present in his shared bedroom with Ace and Sabo. Foreign sounds that clearly set off that this is NOT his home in the glorified storage room of his home, and that something is wrong.

And then there's pain. The dull, warm ache in his hands and in his chest, a stark reminder of what happened the night before. The temple had burnt down and he was supposed to be dead.

Luffy flies up into a sitting position, head whipping around to look at his surroundings. He's at the hospital. Ace and Sabo must have got help, just like they said! Hopefully they're in better shape than he is, though.

Luffy moves to get up, and an old blanket falls off of him onto the floor. When he climbs out of bed and picks it up, he realizes it's a cloak. He throws it around his shoulders before walking towards the door. He wants to find Ace and Sabo, if he can. He leans against various objects for support as he moves, and when he approaches the door he begins to hear a conversation between two people.

"—found nothing? The temple was stone, surely there had to be something left."

"Barely a pebble. We looked everywhere, hoping to find their remains, but there isn't anything left except that statue."

"Whose remains?" Luffy speaks up, leaning on the door frame. He stares at them, holding tightly. "Who?"

"Luffy, you're hurt. You should be resting in bed, not walking around," The doctor says, buying a few seconds before he has to answer the question, "Though you were rescued in the fire, your brothers weren't so lucky. Both of them were killed."

Luffy's eyes widen in shock a moment. His head slowly starts to shake, denying the claims.

"No! No, they said they were getting help! Since I'm here, that means they-they got help! They shouldn't be dead! They're not!"

"They're dead," The other man says, "There's nothing left of that temple. The only help your brothers received is a hand from your God to end their suffering after burning to death."

"No!" Luffy denies, "I'm-I'm dreaming. Zoro would save them, he wouldn't take them!"

"Zoro is the God of death. Why would he stop people from dying? He's cruel. He doesn't save anyone. He took your brothers like he takes everyone else," The man says, but the doctor seems to be thinking.

"I'm going to the temple!" Luffy exclaims, "You'll see-my brothers will be there! You didn't look hard enough!"

"Go, then. See your temple. Face the God you've spent so much of your time worshiping," The man scoffs as Luffy stumbles off in the direction of his home.

Luffy's temple is located on the top of a hill off to the edge of town. No one likes to be anywhere near it, yet its shadow stretched across the town every afternoon as the sun set. Something symbolic could be said about it's far reaching shadow at the end of the sun's life each day, or on the fact it's shadow did not touch Luffy now, but Luffy didn't really care. He climbed up the steps to the temple as fast as he could, pulling himself up a handrail. His brothers can't be dead, they were just going to look for help!

His foot catches on a step as he reaches the top, throwing him to the ground. When he looks up to see his home, he finds no temple. It's just like the man had said: a patch of ash, hinting nothing of the building razed with his family inside. There's nowhere to look. Everything is gone. All that stands is one statue, right outside where the door once was, as though Zoro had saved himself and nothing else.

"Ace!?" Luffy yells into nothing, pushing himself onto his knees. "Sabo!"

He stands, shaking, walking toward the ashen statue out front. How the hell did it get out? Looking at the statue closer, Luffy sees it's changed. It seems more life-sized, and the arms are no longer crossed but instead held as though carrying something. Luffy moves to its side, grabbing onto its arms as though searching for the comfort of a familiar touch. Instead he finds the same cool marble it's always been, and he feels devastated. Everything really is gone. This statue is here, and Zoro... well, Zoro was here. Zoro finally appeared at the temple, and he took two of his priests. He took Luffy's brothers. Luffy slams his fist into the statue's chest, and the chest plate above Zoro's heart chips just a bit.

"You did this!" Luffy exclaims, banging his fists on the statue over and over again, "You-Give them back to me! Give them back, you bastard! I've been in this temple my whole life for you, give my brothers back!"

Luffy slams his fists into the statue until they bleed, injuries opening again with a vengeance. He doesn't care. His hands don't hurt anywhere near as much as the aching in his chest, a terrible chasm opening up inside him where everything he once was has been torn away from him. He turns his head into the chest of the statue, sobbing into the stone, as though unsure whether to cry or to scream. As much as he hates Zoro in this moment, Zoro is still all he has.

Zoro can feel Luffy cursing his name up in his temple, resisting a sigh. He knew it was bound to happen, leaving him alone like that. He almost thinks it hurts, to have his last priest despising him. To have him feel like Zoro's taken everything-and Zoro has.

"After all of this, you still won't answer me!?" Luffy yells. Under his fist the statue begins to crack, spreading across the chest plate. "I spent my whole life on you, defending you! You could at least answer me after taking it all away!"

Luffy reels his fist back once more to hit the statue again, but his fist is caught.

"I'm doing my job," Zoro answers, looking down at the scorned human, his form occupying from the statue again. His armor cracked where Luffy has broken it. "I understand you're upset. Most are."

Luffy stares in shock a second, and Zoro lets go of his fist. He pulls back, standing in front of Zoro instead of leaning against him, though without support his legs wobble. From his hands and eyes spring wells of blood and tears. It's not a state befitting of meeting with any God but death.

"Give them back." Luffy whispers, voice breaking as he repeats it over and over, louder each time. He raises a fist again, the movement caught by Zoro once again. Zoro doesn't let go this time, knowing Luffy will only hurt himself if freed. "Give them back! Let me hit you and give me my brothers back!"

"I can't," Zoro says, "You know that I can't. I don't have the power to raise the dead. You can scream all you'd like, it won't help you. They've made peace with their deaths, now it's time for you to do the same."

" I can't!" Luffy insists, "I was supposed to die back there, not them! Why did Zoro save me when he could've saved them?!"

"They realized they were about to die, so in their last moments before the temple ceiling crushed them they offered themselves to me in exchange for your life," Zoro says, "They made themselves sacrifices."

"The first offering Zoro gets in years, and its my brothers." Luffy hisses, wrestling against his hold. He glares up at Zoro, pissed. "Then take me to Chopper!"

"To Chopper? You want— Luffy, I'm not doing that," Zoro says, "You're so badly injured, you'll die long before we get there."

"I don't care if I die," Luffy insists, "You took my brothers, so take some responsibility. Take me to Chopper and revive them."

Zoro frowns. While it's true that with Chopper's help he could bring them back...

"Chopper—when living among humans—spends his time weeks away on a dangerous mountain. If you survive the time traveling to the base, the climb up the mountain will take another day if you're lucky. You'll die and waste your brothers' sacrifices," Zoro says, "And then the process of bringing people back is risky. If done improperly, your brothers' souls will be destroyed."

"I have to try!" Luffy insists, "I'm going to save them, I don't care if you help me get there or not. I have to bring my brothers back. I'll get Chopper to revive them."

"If I don't help you, you'll die for sure," Zoro sighs. Luffy is the only priest he has left. Zoro knows what Luffy really wants is to not be alone. If nothing else, Zoro can help him with that. "I'll help you."

"...You will?" Luffy asks, seeming a bit surprised. "You'll take me to Chopper?"

"I will." Zoro feels a little underhanded doing this, but without a priest, his powers considerably lessened and his temple becomes less of a home but more of a glorified pile of garbage.

"...Yeah, you better!" Luffy shoves him slightly, filled with more confidence at Zoro's agreement. "You're responsible."

Zoro doesn't seem to be affected by Luffy's accusations. He's heard it all before. There's nothing Luffy could say that could hurt him now.

"I have conditions, though," Zoro says, "I'll take you back to the hospital and you'll rest a while first. You're in no state to be making any journeys. You also can't tell anyone who I am."

"I don't think anyone would care."

"Maybe not, but I'd still rather you not do it," Zoro messes with his armor from the statue, clearly not happy with the look, "Come on. I can help you down to the doctor."

"I don't need your help." Luffy grumbles, turning away from him on stumbling and shaking legs.

"You look like you're about to collapse," Zoro notes, but he doesn't help, just following Luffy to the stairs.

"Yeah, so?" Luffy holds onto the top of the railing, glaring back at Zoro.

"So, you won't make it to Chopper if you fall down the stairs and die," Zoro says.

"I won't fall!"

Luffy takes one step, slipping almost immediately right onto his ass. He denies it ever happened, pulling himself back up with a rough movement and starting back down the stairs.

Zoro snickers, following Luffy the entire way back into town, not helping once at the insistence of Luffy himself, who's hellbent on doing this alone.

"It's you!" The doctor looks a bit shocked when Zoro approaches behind Luffy, who begrudgngly heads back to his bed. "You brought back Luffy again. Good, he really shouldn't be up and about..."

"Yeah, I know," Zoro says, "That's why we're here."

"You recognize him?" Luffy questions, frowning at Zoro.

"He's the one who brought you here," The doctor says, "Just told me to take care of you."

Luffy considers Zoro a second but says nothing. Zoro pretends not to notice.

"I'm an old family friend." Zoro lies through his teeth easily, years of practice. His brother is also the God of Storytelling, which helps. "Once Luffy is feeling better, we're going to look for some of his cousins to stay with, since... you know. And if possible, we'd like to leave sooner rather than later."

"Right." The doctor nods, "I understand. He should be fit to travel in a couple of days if he rests enough."

Zoro turns to leave, offering a thanks to the doctor, giving Luffy the information that they'd be leaving once he's got enough supplies and Luffy's feeling more himself.

Luffy watches Zoro's back as he heads out of the room, then tugs the cloak around himself. It smells of smoke and something metallic, though Luffy doesn't think too hard on why that might be. He doesn't know what to think of Zoro right now. Zoro is both nothing and everything he expected. He's a cold God, uncaring in the face of a man in mourning, but also gentle enough to leave Luffy with a silent parting gift and help him on what would otherwise be a suicide mission. Luffy doesn't know what to think of Zoro anymore, but he'll find out soon enough.

Lew: ok yeah this starts sad but it gets more fun. i promise. and fun fact it took us seven incredibly distracted hours to come up w a title/summary. im exposing us for being dumbasses