Pairing: Ace/Marco
Notes: Written for yozoraarashi and a prompt meme on tumblr. The theme for this one was God and Counterpart From Another Pantheon!AU, I hope you enjoy!
This is also un-betaed so I'd appreciate any mistakes to be pointed out!
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Ace looked at the group of old people behind the desk with an incredulous stare.
"Excuse me?" he said and the woman he'd been addressed by rolled her eyes.
"There are many paths open to you once you accept your fate. By taking on the power of a Devil's Fruit in your world, you marked your soul in the afterlife." She tapped her wrinkled fingers on the table. "The people here live much as they do in your world, except the worship of gods and demons is of utmost importance."
An old man sneezed into a handkerchief and Ace looked at him with disgust, still trying to process everything that had happened. There had been Marineford, Luffy, Akainu and then… darkness for a long time. It had been welcoming and Ace had been content – until he'd been dragged from the darkness and put before a council of crones.
"You'll be shipped off to one of the religions they worship. HR will place you later on, but you'll be given your title here." Ace raised an eyebrow.
"Surely I'll be god of fire," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and, well, Ace was relieved to find that whatever hole Akainu had blasted through him had healed up seamlessly.
The bored woman glared down at him and sighed.
"God of the seas," she said, flicking a page from the stack before her. The man to her right stamped it and passed it down to Ace.
"You'll be the Sea-God for religion 3a. Directions are on that paper and your orientation will begin when you arrive for training," the man said and that was it.
Life had never been easy before, why should the afterlife?
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Being a god wasn't all it was cracked out to be, especially as the crone council liked to sort people randomly. Ace had met a few familiar faces in his time and been pulled up before the council when he'd sent the rage of the seas after religion y's god of domesticity when they tuned out to be Teach.
That had been a few hundred years or so ago now though. Ace sighed. Being a god really wasn't what he'd imagined. Each religion had an island of their own, much like the sky islands of his birth-world, and the gods remained on the islands unless called for by their worshippers. Ace was quite busy for a god and often accompanied by the god of fishing. She was a stern faced woman with a soft spot for gruesome tales and often visited the other religions in search of tales to share with Ace.
The gods were free to move from island to island at will. Many people took it upon themselves to seek lost loved ones and Ace had been no different. After time, familiar faces appeared in minor and major positions, regardless of rank in their previous life.
Whitebeard was the first Ace found. They'd shared a tearful reunion, Whitebeard proudly disclosing he was the god of children for his religion. He looked on fondly as Ace told him of his seas and they still saw each other every month or so – timekeeping was a tricky one when eternity stretched before you.
Sometimes, new religions popped up. It wasn't common, but it wasn't out of place and Ace had witnessed perhaps ten or so in the years he had been here. Of course, the introduction of religion r9 had brought the council to almost tears and Ace had understood why when he visited the island.
Apparently, Luffy wasn't in the way of letting any of his nakama slip away in the afterlife. Somehow the council had been persuaded and Luffy's crew – with a few additions he'd not had the pleasure of meeting – were gods of the new religion. Ace supposed they were all kind of a package deal and the island lit up in festivities when he visited.
(It resulted in Ace being brought before the council yet again when he failed to perform his duties – something that was explained by Luffy refusing to let him leave his sight for days.)
That too had been a while ago now and Ace sighed as he looked around his room, wondering what to do. Luffy had somehow converted his island to resemble his old ship and the entire religion had gone off on a trip. It didn't matter where you were, gods could perform their duties whoever they liked.
They had invited Ace, but something felt different, as if Ace was expecting something to happen. The feeling made him uneasy and he pressed a small button on the bracelet around his wrist, transporting him down to his religion's area.
The people were happy, from what Ace could tell. The world was a little more primitive than his own had been, but the people never seemed to be under too great a threat or need much governance. Ace was usually called upon to celebrate, though there had been a terrible day a few decades ago when he'd been unable to stop a tsunami and the damage had been costly. No one had died – Ace had made sure of that – but the loss to their livelihood was a big blow to a lot of people.
Ace headed towards his shrine, delighted to see someone had left out an offering. It was just a peach, but the skin was soft and fruit juicy as Ace bit into it. He sat down next to his shrine, spreading his legs out on the beach and watching the tide ebb and flow.
The bracelet around his wrist vibrated and Ace sighed, pressing the button and transporting himself back to his home in the sky. The vibration indicated that someone was at his door, but Ace couldn't think of who would be visiting – unless the council wanted to drag him up for something again.
Ace opened the door, fully prepared to argue his case, but was brought up short by the man before him.
"Marco?" he said, voice barely a whisper.
He hadn't changed much, unlike the others. The council had explained it to him before and Ace knew that age didn't exist here. Everyone was allowed to pick an appearance they preferred – most chose a more youthful one to combat the ache of limbs and tiredness and old body hides – though Ace would never be able to pass beyond 20 given that was the age he'd died.
"Ace," Marco said softly, his bottom lip wobbling. He gave a weak laugh, tears spilling down his cheek before he grabbed Ace, pulling him tight to his chest.
No matter how many times Ace was reunited with his loved ones, the ease of his stomach and the warmth he felt in his heart would never go away. His hands gripped the back of Marco's shirt tightly, burying his head against Marco's neck, unashamed of the mess his tears were making of Marco's collar.
They separated eventually and Ace wiped his eyes with a grin, sniffing and dragging Marco inside his home. They had so much to catch up on – Ace had heard the story of his world from Luffy and others, but there were gaps in what Marco had done. Ace had missed a lot and he wanted to hear everything.
"It took a while to find you," Marco said, lying down on Ace's bed. Ace joined him, tucking himself to Marco's side as if he hundreds of years between now and the Moby Dick were but a blink of an eye. Marco wrapped an arm around him, fingers tracing along Ace's bicep fondly, reacquainting themselves with the touch of Ace's skin.
"Oyaji was the one who directed me here," Marco said, voice low. He tucked his face against the top of Ace's head, just as Ace was buried against his chest. "He seems happy."
"You're the last one, you know," Ace said, closing his eyes. Even in this afterlife Marco somehow had the scent of the ocean spray embedded in his skin, something wild and free.
"Sorry it took me so long," he said and Ace pushed up, leaning on his elbow. He used his other hand to comb through Marco's hair and smiled when he saw what he'd been looking for.
"You got older," he said, pulling one of many grey hairs out. Marco hissed in pain, shrugging in answer.
"You caused a few of those and the rest were put there by your brother." He smiled softly, fingers still smoothing the muscle of Ace's arm, as if Marco could lose him if he stopped touching him. "I like them though."
"Me too," Ace agreed. He'd never be able to have his own hair streaked with grey, but seeing the strands in Marco's hair warmed his chest. Marco had lived, he'd survived and become wrinkled and grey. Satisfaction curled in his belly and Ace lowered himself, kissing Marco gently.
Ace had never felt that he was lacking in anything being a god, though the boredom sometimes was a little unbearable. As he kissed Marco, however, Ace felt as if every piece of his life came together neatly. He didn't need Marco to live, but Marco was still part of him and Ace was happier to have him in his arms.
"What did they choose for you to be god of?" Ace asked a few moments later, rolling onto his stomach. He took Marco's hand between his own, familiarising himself with each knuckle and tiny scar. There were a few more Ace hadn't been around for and he pressed each raised line a gentle kiss.
"I'm the maritime god for t1. They're not much for the sea though. They have a good farming community and the sea around their island is pretty barren." Marco sighed. "They're also scared of venturing out into better oceans."
"No one can be afraid forever," Ace whispered, kissing Marco again. Ace smiled as Marco pulled him on top of him and he wondered. If Luffy could swing the rules then surely Ace could too.
On the land below them, years in the future, a new legend was born. It spoke of the gods of the sea, two lovers who had been separated for years. One of them had been so distraught that they'd depleted the seas and hidden inland and the other had taken to searching for their love, encouraging their people to explore the seas.
Eventually the people with the bountiful god (Ace, though they had no names for their gods) stumbled upon a barren shoreline. They taught the people how to cultivate their seas with hopes of drawing out their god (Marco, who watched the proceedings from Ace's window with interest).
The seas gave fish, though it was hardly a god's doing. Well, he and Ace might have collected some species that would be suitable for the area from Whitebeard's island, but that was neither here nor there. Still, it led the people to believe that there was a bigger reason and so the legend of the two lovers arose.
It did mean the council had to do a bit of shifting around for the gods of both islands, but no one objected and Ace got to wake up tangled in Marco's limbs every morning.
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