CHAPTER 12 "Fire Trap"

ACE'S POV

I spotted Aria quickly and grabbed her arm and spun her around, I laughed at her shocked face.

"What do you want Ace?" She blushed and shook my hand off her. "I thought we weren't talking." I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Sorry about that, I was just well... Pops told me that you and Marco were um... Together and I um, I was a bit upset that you eh, that you didn't tell me or something." She looked at me like I grew a beard or something. "What? Did I forget to shave again?" She giggled.

"No I just- Me? With Marco? I mean, I love the guy I just... He's not my type." She said with a shrug. I smiled grateful that she believed it.

"So we're good?"

"Yeah, I guess we are. Why did you feel the need to stun me anyways?"

"Well, I'm going on a mission and I didn't want to die with regrets is all." Her head snapped up at the word 'die', I knew what she was going to do next.

"Let me go with you!" She said standing before me looking up into my face.

"Relax, it's not like I can be beaten." I grinned and patted her head. "I'll be fine so stay here and watch after our nakama, okay?"

"No. Ace, I'm going with you."

"What? I just- you can't! Pops wants me to do this alone."

"Good, then I can carry your stuff."

"What is it with you and insisting to go?!"

"I owe you my life; if there's any possibility of you dying I need to be there to make sure you live!" The determination and will power she put into her reply almost activated her Haki, I could feel the pressure growing.

"Aria," I grabbed her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. "I will not die. I'll come back in one piece and we will drink, and party, and celebrate, maybe even a bit of kissing..."

"Eww." She giggled and shoved me off. We looked at each other and she sighed. "You have three weeks to come back or I will find you and kill you myself after saving your sorry ass!"

"Sure, sure!" I laughed and grabbed my special fire generated board and roared off towards Cat's Cradle! Syris, here I come!

ARIA'S POV

"Aria!" Whitebeard's voice boomed throughout the ship. I walked over to see what he wanted. I saw a few nakama holding a strange silver board; it was similar to Ace's little boat. Ten feet long, two feet wide, narrow nose, parasail, handle and even an engine!

"Yessir-"

"Ace has gone after Syris." I paled at the mention of that man. "I'm sending you after him. You owe him your life after all."

I looked up into this great man's face and grabbed the board and looked over it.

"Here's the instruction manual to work it." One of the tech guys said stepping forth.

"I've got this." I said and jumped overboard with it. It floated amazingly enough and I pulled the engine's string and flinched as a deafening roar filled my ears.

"Save my son you dumb bitch!" Whitebeard yelled teasing from the top deck. I grinned and waved before zooming off a bit awkwardly and I almost fell off a few times but I managed it.

RAY'S POV

"Hey ho, nobody's home,

Meat nor drink nor money have I none,

Still I will be me-eh-eh-eh-ehrry,

Hey ho, nobody's home..." I sang miserably. My voice was like nails on a chalkboard or a slowly dying cat, it was mostly to piss off my guard.

"Hey ho-"

"What the he-?!" I looked up at the door where noises of fighting took place. I stared at the door before noticing the black smoke slowly filling my room.

"Hey! I'm back here! Help me!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, coughing and spluttering I cried for help. "Help me!" Then a voice answered me.

"Hello?!"

"I'm in the back room!" I croaked and coughed, choking on the ash polluted air. The door burst open and flames roared as my savior messed with my chains. The metal grew hot and melted off but it left me with blisters on my wrists. I was hoisted over my savior's shoulder as he ran out of the burning building, I watched as flames consumed the whole gild.

"Hey, you all right there kid?" I looked up to see the guy from before! I punched his chest, tears welling up and spilling over my face. "Ow- hey watch it!"

"If you didn't take Aria this wouldn't have happened! Now she'll get in trouble!" Crap!

"What? Aria's in danger? But she's with pops, she's safest there." I glared past him, if I said any more Syris would kill me too! Gild rule 47 clearly states that "any leakage of information to an outsider warrants immediate execution of all gild and non-gild members of common knowledge".

"Whatever," I looked up at the man as he walked towards our gild. "Look I'm going in there. You gonna be okay out here?"

"Can I go with you?" I had to stop all of this and make sure Aria didn't fail.

"Sure but the moment it gets ugly I want you out of there got it?"

"Yes sir!" He smiled down at me and I took his hand. The moment I walk into the bar the gild members will know something's up and they'll attack him.

"You were the kid with Aria right? Um... Ray, I think?" I looked up at the mention of my name. He remembered me?

I nodded and he grinned and patted my head.

"Yeah she mentions you a lot. She's worried for you." I felt my heart lurch painfully. She cared about me and this man- this man was trying to help me and I was going to turn him over to Syris. I shook my head and sighed, Aria's safety comes first above else right now.

We pushed open the doors to the gild and I stepped forwards earning many shocked glances.

"I'm back. This man saved me."