Title: Knowing
Rating: K+-T (Referenced violence)
It hurt. They left me behind, left me for dead. What happened to all those promises? Promises of love, friendship, and family? The promises of that no matter where I came from or who I was born to, I shouldn't take any of their blame. Why did those once shining words crash and burn me so terribly? I trusted them... believed they wouldn't care and that nothing could ever change how they felt about me. But it was all a lie, I see that now.
Trapped in this dank and dark cell, malnourished and beaten to a state of almost complete black and blue. It was never the commanders or Whitebeard themselves that showed. No, it was always Teach. Teach constantly teased and brought new messages of hate from everyone else, leaving another scar in their name. No one cared whether the scar was mental or physical, only that it caused me pain.
Once Teach brought my hat down with him, strutting in proudly while wearing it as if it was his. He had said that he came with a message from my brother and pulled out a visual transponder snail, the display shocked me into a breathless state. It was Luffy, my little brother, I didn't like the thought of this monster contacting Luffy in the least.
But such thoughts were soon knocked out of my head the second the words fell from Luffy's mouth. "Ace? He shouldn't exist. Did you know his father was the pirate king? Such a demon should be killed just as their father."
I felt my heart shatter. I knew that this recording had to be fake, Luffy would never say something like that. But the previously planted seeds of self-hate just proceeded to suck up every word that poured from my brothers mouth. Each insult and slur and more fuel to the flame and another knife through my heart. My breath was sharp and fast, mind running a mile a minute and supplying even worse words along with the images of what 'should' be done to me. After all, my brother said that such things should happen. So why shouldn't my mind supply how it will happen. Ranging from being chopped to pieces and having each scrap feeding to dogs and seakings, to being put on display for anyone to do anything to.
It hurt... but I heard them. They are coming now, far too late if they wanted to break me themselves. Teach had already succeeded in that. Beaten within an inch of my life and my mind shattered after hearing those hate filled words that fell freely from the messages Teach brought from my brother. Slowly the noises grew louder, it sounded a lot like a fight was happening. But why, why would Teach and the Whitebeards be fighting? Teach was only doing this for them... wasn't he? My mind wandered try to come up with a reasonable answer, when a single shout broke my train of thought and skyrocketed my hopes of Teach lying.
"GIVE ME BACK MY SON!" Pops yelled at the top of his voice, shaking the very structure of my prison. The fighting was a lot closer now if going by the noise, and I could place a few voices that screamed in retribution. Marco and Thatch calling out my name, Izou screaming out threats that if a single hair upon my head had been damaged then those who did such would truly experience hell on earth. They truly meant those things, right?
"Marco... Thatch... Haruta... Izou..." I muttered softly, internally celebrating. I didn't care about what I went through, as long as my family still loved and accepted me I would be fine... I hope so at least.
"POPS!" I screamed out, my voice dripping with relief as I desperately called for my father figure to find and rescue me just as I had so many times before. The difference this time? I knew he would come.