It took me a little longer than I expected, but here is the next update :)
As always, beta-read by Anjelle :D
Progress
Marco lands on his back on the floor of the now empty storage room they cleared earlier today to turn into a makeshift training room —Newgate doesn't feel comfortable training on deck when they are both devil fruit users and there is no one who can fish them out of the water in case either of them falls overboard.
The kid jumps back to his feet, and though there are no visible blue flames, there is no doubt whatever damage his back has received has been healed immediately. Newgate isn't holding back too much —certainly not as much as he would if Marco didn't have that power of his— and the boy has no real experience deflecting blows or minimizing their damage. The man doesn't need an accurate account of Marco's life to know as much, because he is as sure that the boy wasn't allowed to try to defend himself as he is of the fact that Marco's pain threshold is horrifyingly high.
"You are supposed to prevent the fall from doing damage, not heal it afterwards," he chides, trying to keep it as light as possible. Marco wouldn't dare argue with him —and the captain wishes the day when he will to arrive— but Newgate has already learned to identify that slow blink the boy sometimes does as his way of disagreeing. "I saw the way you fell. It was sloppy, you wouldn't have been able to dodge if I'd attacked again right after."
"… Oh." Marco swallows. "I'm sorry."
Newgate doesn't shake his head in frustration, but it is a close thing.
"Let's try again. Pay attention, you have to-"
Marco steps out of the shower —he still hasn't convinced himself entirely that he can really take a shower whenever he wants, and thus he tries to keep them short even though he knows the water is filtered from the ocean and, consequently, free.
He moves to stand before the mirror and stares at himself. There is no trace of the earlier training on his body, no bruises to show the many times he couldn't block or dodge an attack or fell, and he doesn't feel any of the soreness most people would feel after the exercise: instead, he looks in perfect health. It is a bizarre appearance he still has trouble associating with himself. He has gained weight, and can no longer count his ribs at a glance as he once could whenever he caught a glimpse of himself in one of the mockingly shiny surfaces in that hellhole; his hair is clean, and even soaking it has more shape than it did before; his skin doesn't look deadly pale anymore, and instead he has even started to gain a light tan. Anyone else in his position, he knows, would have a serious case of sunburn right now, but he is protected from such a thing. If he squints, Marco can even see how he is developing the beginnings of some muscles.
The boy in the mirror is someone Marco is making his best efforts to try to associate with himself.
Marco mentally congratulates himself when he successfully rolls out of the way of a kick and doesn't hurt himself in the process. It has taken some effort, but he has finally managed to stop counting on the strengthening ability to protect himself from damage and actually follow the instructions he is given even when instinct kicks in and he doesn't have time to think about what to do. The ability is still there, of course, and it activates from time to time, but now he can control its appearance to some extent and concentrate on learning what his captain is teaching him.
As a child, Marco knew how to fight, and he suspects that knowledge he thought had been lost is now resurfacing from some recess of his mind and helping him progress faster than he would otherwise. The captain actually looks pleased with his progress.
This is good.
Okay, note, in case you don't remember (very likely, seeing how long it's been) the 'strengthening ability' Marco mentions is NOT his devil fruit. Any guesses? :D I mentioned it in the first part of the story :)
Remember to review :D
