The air around him is stifling, the flames licking at his body hot yet not burning him; they merely lap at his body, and it is comforting.
For a moment, all he knows is the fire about him - then a sound snaps him from his reverie.
To his right is a boy, his little brother; his leg is clearly broken, snapped bone poking from flesh and he is whimpering softly - the sound that attracted his attention.
A part of his mind not yet diseased supplies a thought - his little brother is in agony, and as the older brother he must do something to soothe him.
"Luffy." He speaks and the noise stops, the younger man looking at him with wide eyes. Sabo's heart swells at the sight, reaffirming to him that his choice was the right one. "Don't worry, Luffy." He speaks calm words as he steps closer. "I'll make the pain go away."
Sabo threads his fingers through his little brother's hair when he is close enough, a soothing gesture that Luffy presses into; he trails his hand lower, along Luffy's cheek, thumb catching his bottom lip before moving past his chin and down to his throat.
His brother gives him a confused look before it morphs into panic as his hand tightens around his throat; Luffy immediately pulls at his hand with blood slicked fingers, forcing Sabo to wrap his other hand around his neck as well.
"Shh," He presses a gentle kiss to his brother's forehead as the younger man gasps for air beneath him. "Just relax, Luffy, I'll make it all better."
The tinge of blue around his lips, the slowing of his struggle, is a good sign; he's doing it right and the thought of setting Luffy free from his pain makes warmth blossom in his chest - but the warmth radiates outwards and pain follows it.
He glances down, taking note of new blood (his blood) splattered across Luffy, and finds a hand glowing with flame that should be his has pierced his chest.
Sabo jerks as the pain suddenly, sharply, intensifies, wrenching his hands from about his little brother's neck as the hand pulls away from him; the flames he inherited confusedly lick at the open wound as if they know he should be healing, regenerating, yet he isn't.
The blood still flows freely from his wound as he turns to face his aggressor, only for his words to die on his tongue and his body freezes.
Though his skin glows with flame, his eyes are pitch, and there is a hollow cavity in his chest, Ace is recognizable immediately.
"Why, Ace?" Sabo is confused, hurt; why would his brother do this to him?
Behind him, Luffy wheezes pitifully, trying to say something but unable to manage more than unintelligible sounds. It almost sounds like a name.
A hand closes around the collar of Sabo's shirt as he falls to his knees, blood loss leaving him dizzy and weak; the hollow yet undeniably angry eyes of Ace stare into him when he tilts his head back.
He feels cold, his breath slowing and feet clumsy beneath him, as he is half dragged to a pit, a thing that had not existed before now and he fears the closer he grows to it.
It smells of sulfur and rot and burning flesh, and the heat from it makes him recoil though there is no where he can go.
"A-Ace?"
The demon (for no word fits better) glances back at their little brother, who is still struggling for proper breath. "Don't worry, Luffy," It speaks with a voice that is Ace's, yet not Ace's and so horrifically awful. "I'll take good care of Sabo."
It turns back to Sabo, grinning cruelly at him as it holds him at the lip of the pit. "You won't ever have to worry about him again."
That cruel grin is the last thing he sees before flame, and darkness, and unending agony rush to greet and swallow him.