There was a frozen fracture of thought, mind torn in too many directions and left blank, a numb state that left gaze locked onto the deepening rise of crimson, dark stain to pool into black abyss from which there could be no return. He stared into the depths of darkness with wide ashen hues glued to the wound, the bloom of red rose falling in a splattering of petals and the sweet arouma tainted in copper.

Blood.

Marco was bleeding…

He was a phoenix, a creature of legend. He wasn't supposed to bleed, wasn't known to suffer from injury or sickness, not with the accursed blue bird both gifting and damning the blond with life eternal. A life meant to outlast those of others. How was it that the zoan of legend, a blessing of life and healing had left him in such a time as this?

"Mar…co…" It was a broken utterance on his lips, hands stilled at his sides, warm with the spread of precious lifeblood, dark pool of threatened death that seemed to stretch around the two.

It was impossible to pull gaze from that entrancing cerulean he had grown to know over years past, that mob of sorry gold now crimson at the back of neck, a sight that wrought pain through the young raven's chest. Need for air was forgotten in tortured lungs, lips parted to spill words and exclamations only for speech to falter and fail. It was Marco that spoke next, a forceful slap into reality.

"A-Ace…"

He jerked at the drop of name, eyes flying from bloodstained chest to meet with blue as finally air pushed its way into lungs. There was a cough and a flinch broke through him, finally snapping frozen palms into action as he pressed desperately against the growing stain against chest. The rush of fresh blood that rose to envelop locked fingers sent shivers across skin, fearful echoes of terror and confusion jumping from nerve to nerve from the rise of shoulders to shaking fingertips. He gasped for breath and the words finally sprang free, breaking that damn to allow slip the flood.

"Marco… Macro, how? You're—" There was a clatter or stone against stone and Ace froze once more in the haunting realization, one clasped wrist circled in seastone to drag home the feeble reality of mortality now forced upon his fellow commander and friend.

A shackle to tear away his wings and bullets to push him down onto shared earth.

Marco was dying and his phoenix could no longer save him

"A-Ace… Listen to me."

He wasn't listening though, breath hitching in panic as he pressed further against the wound in vain attempt at halting blood flow. There was a t least one bullet lodged in his chest, Ace terrified to consider what that meant for his chances of survival, painfully aware of the lock of damning stone that dared to steal Marco away from him. He had already lost Thatch, Pop's, Sabo and countless others. He was not about to lose another member of his precious family!

Hand rose to cup shaking cheek and he stilled, panic laced hues once more falling upon that haunting blue, now dull and faded. A trail of blood fell from Marco's lips in taunting trail, those same lips frozen in half-hearted smile that made him want to smack the zoan user. Instead, he choked on breath once more, leaning into touch with gaze suddenly too blurry for his tastes. The sting of tears that damned at the edges of ash only to spill over in rivers across freckled skin.

"Ace…"

Grip upon cheek slackened and fell with sickening finality, Ace staring into those fading blue with another gasp of breath as he pressed against wound once more. Marco seemed to stare past him, an empty gaze overshadowed with the sneaking wave of grey.

"No… Marco, come on! D-Don't—" Tears slid down his cheeks and he shook, ignoring the cries of gunfire and yells deaf to his ears as bloodstained hands rose to cup the blond's cheeks and stare into hollow emptiness with a cry of outrage and sorrow. He pressed against his chest, searching for heartbeat gone and finding none with a curse to slip past pale lips.

"Marco! Marco, please… You can't… You can't leave me too…" He choked on his own words, a mumble of denial that fell free as he shook and dragged corpse to his chest to rock back and forth with form held close.

"You said that you'd never leave…"