"Earth Magic; Sinkhole!"
"Water Magic; Waterlogged!"
"Power Magic; Drain!"
"Air Magic; Razor Whip!"
She was exhausted.
She could feel it, the Soul deep exhaustion that came with overuse of Magic and yet she didn't stop, creating holes for Marines to fall through, making water appear in the lungs of others so they drowned on dry land, draining them of their energy so they couldn't even stand up and throwing razor sharp air at them, even as she felt herself stumble from the strain on her Core.
Luffy apparently noticed her stumble, because he stopped and turned to her with a concerned look on his face.
"Skylar, are you okay?!" he asked, looking at her with worry, not noticing the Marine trying to cut him down.
"Earth Magic; Mole!" she, however, did, making the earth swallow the man up with a sneer, tipping forward to rest her hands on her knees when the spell drained her even more, panting harshly.
"Skylar!"
"Shit," she hissed, trying to right herself and only making herself fall even further, landing knee first on the ground, trying to catch her breath. "Luffy, I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to go on your own for a bit."
"EH!?" he exclaimed, punching a Marine that came too close. "What's that supposed to mean!?"
"It means I'm almost out of Magic," she told him, dead serious. "I'm just going to slow you down. Please, just go."
"I can't just leave you here!" he yelled, barely dogging a slash aimed at his throat.
"BY THE MOON AND STARS LUFFY!" she roared, making him jerk back in surprise. "I CAN'T BE KILLED, ACE-SAN CAN! SAVE YOUR BROTHER BEFORE WORRYING ABOUT ME YOU DAMN IDIOT CAPTAIN!"
He froze, staring down at her in shock, before his eyes hardened and he nodded, turning around to punch another Marine in the face and started running again.
"YOU'D BETTER NOT DIE, YOU HEAR!?" she huffed, lips quirking into a small smile at the yell.
"I just told you I couldn't, idiot," she whispered fondly, closing her eyes and dropping her head, retreating to her Core as Marines descended on her, weapons lifted to strike her.
'Idiots,' she thought, a smirk playing on her lips as she became blind to the outside world. 'As if something like that could ever hurt me.'
There were Chains around Her Core.
She had known They were there, but had done nothing about Them. After all, what did it matter that Her Magic was Chained when She was Trapped like She was? It wasn't like She would be able to get out even if She Broke Them.
But Now wasn't Then, wasn't the Time Trapped in Her own Mind with no way out, wasn't the Time of crippling Loneliness and slow Insanity.
Now was the Time of Belonging, of Entertaining Chopper and Usopp with Her Magic, of Talking with Nami and Robin, of Cooking with Sanji and Training with Zoro and Dancing with Brook and Franky.
Now, was the Time of slowly Falling In Love with her Captain, with Luffy, the One who showed Her She didn't have to be Lonely anymore, that She didn't have to slowly Waste Away, that She could Love and be Loved in return without consequence.
Now was the Time of Fighting for Her Happiness and the Happiness of Her Crew, and that meant that the Chains binding Her Core and Restricting Her Magic had to go.
After all, They Limited Her Magic. And really, They were so Easy to Break, Her Core so Large and All Encompassing that a simple flex of Her Magic was enough to Shatter Them like glass.
And just in Time too, it would seem.
"Who is making my Captain Scream?"
The battlefield was silent, both Marine and Pirate staring at the fallen body of Portgas D. Ace, somehow unable to believe their eyes.
Then Straw Hat started screaming.
It was a bone-chilling sound, pure grief and anguish, the scream of someone who had just lost something they treasured above all.
But then…
"WHITEBEARD!"
Their focus shifted to the one who had yelled, the form of the young woman that had been running with Straw Hat drawing their eyes to where she was standing on a broken piece of stone, clutching her right arm tightly and panting.
"OLD MAN!" she screamed, staring up at Whitebeard with desperate eyes. "WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE FOR YOUR SON'S LIFE!?"
"What are you talking about gir-?" he didn't finish.
"WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE!?" she interrupted him, her desperation now clear in her voice.
Whitebeard locked eyes with the young woman who may not be as young as she looked, his gaze heavy.
"My life," the old man rumbled, seeming to see something in her ancient golden gaze. "I would give my life."
The woman nodded sharply, whipping her head around to yell in the direction of Fire Fist's body. "SOMEBODY GET HIM TO ME!" she roared, leaping off the stone to sprint towards Whitebeard. "THERE ISN'T MUCH TIME! GET HIM TO ME!"
"Do as she says, my sons," Whitebeard commanded, getting disbelieving looks from his crew. "I think we are about to see a miracle."
Everybody on the battlefield stared at the Emperor, shocked he would tell his children to do something so… pointless.
"I've got it!" Flower Sword Vista ran up to his fallen brother, leaning down to pick him up as Jinbei grabbed the still screaming Straw Hat. "I don't know what you intend to do, but if Pops says to do it then I will!"
"You think I would let you?" Admiral Akainu asked darkly, lifting his magma fist towards the running Pirate. "You think I would let you leave?"
"You don't have a choice!" roared Marco the Phoenix, forcing the Admiral to block a kick to his side. "Run Vista!"
The battle started up again, this time with different objectives for both sides, the Pirates making sure Fire Fist's body got to the young woman that claims to know magic, the Marines trying to stop it, even if they didn't truly understand why they would need to.
The woman and Vista arrived at Whitebeard's feet at the same time, the Pirates around them fighting off Marines and creating something like a clearing around them.
"Get down here," commanded the woman who didn't have a scratch on her, the weapons and fists of the attacking force having gone straight through her, as if she wasn't even there. "I need access to your heart, get down here."
"What do you intend to do, girl?" Whitebeard rumbled, even as he obeyed and got down on one knee, giving the woman access to his chest.
"Bring him back," she told him, a fire in her eyes as her voice carried over the battlefield and stopped everyone in their tracks, Whitebeard's eyes widening. "I can bring him back, but I someone needs to give their life for his."
"And you needed to know that I would give it," he realised, expression hardening with determination and hope, hope of his son living again. "Do what you have to."
"Your body will dissolve," she warned even as she ripped her necklace off, the chain wrapping around her hand on its own. "There will be nothing left, nothing to bury."
"That is a small price to pay for the life of my son," Whitebeard told her firmly as the woman flicked the multicoloured stone and made it spin. "It is a father's duty to give their life for their children's. Do it."
The woman nodded sharply, taking a deep breath and planting her feet firmly on the ground, placing her left hand on top of her right, arms stretched out in front of her and the spinning stone dangling from her fingers.
"Colour Shift, Black!" she commanded, the stone turning the black of a lightless pit, seeming to darken the air around her as she stretched her arms out to the side, her right pointing at the prone body of Ace, the left at Whitebeard.
"STOP HER RIGHT NOW!" Sengoku ordered, bringing his subordinates out of the stupor they had fallen into at the woman's claim of reviving the dead. "WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THAT WOMAN IS CAPABLE OF! DO NOT LET HER FINISH THAT SPELL!"
Few noticed the way Sengoku faltered slightly at the word 'Spell', likely finding it absurd that that was a word he had just used seriously in a sentence.
It was too late however, because the woman had just started the last part of the incantation.
"Death Magic!" was heard all over, the veins in the woman's right arm turning black. "Equivalent Exchange!"
The black stone stopped dead as the bubbled exploded outwards, expanding until it enveloped both the woman, Whitebeard and Fire Fist, pushing Flower Sword away from the body and preventing anyone from entering.
The woman lowered her arms, her chin hitting her collarbone as her head dropped, the black veins spreading to her chest.
There was quiet for a time, both Marine and Pirate staring at the limp woman in shock, waiting for what would happen next
Then.
"It has been many millennia since This One was last Summoned," a deep, rasping voice boomed across the battlefield, like rattling bones and ragged gasps and the screams of the dying. "This One had thought all Mages were in This One's grasp." the woman lifted her head, exposing black eyes and a dark smile and bulging black veins. "This One does not know whether to be Pleased or Infuriated." the smile twisted into a scowl, sending shivers down the spines of all who saw it.
No one knew what was going on, but it was very, very clear, that it was not the woman who was talking right now, but something much more powerful. Every user of Observation Haki could feel it, the Ancient Power pulsating off of the woman's body in waves, oppressive and dark.
"But This One sees 'twas This One's favourite Mage that Summoned This One, so This One will listen," the Entity possessing the woman turned to Whitebeard, who was looking at It with wary eyes. "What Spell did This One's favourite Mage say?" the Entity questioned, like nails on a chalkboard.
"Equivalent Exchange," the old man answered, feeling the chill spreading through his body.
The Entity hummed, the sounds of dying cats, and turned the woman's head to look at the body of Fire Fist. "What is He to you?"
"He is my son," Whitebeard told It without hesitation. "She said she could bring him back if I gave my life for his."
"This is true," the Entity said, like fire eating away at flesh. "This One can do that." Whitebeard relaxed minutely, but that didn't last long as the Entity started speaking again. "But…" the Entity looked up at Whitebeard again, a sick grin stretching the woman's lips, like flesh peeling from bones. "It would seem that This One's favourite Mage has forgotten one thing in Her many years alone." that got everyone's attention.
"This One does not accept the Souls of those that are already within This One's grasp as bargaining chips," the old man tensed, his eyes widening at the Entity's words. "You will Die today, Edward Newgate, and your Soul will belong to This One, just as Gol D. Ace now belongs to This One."
"You are Death," Whitebeard rumbled, shock colouring his words.
The Entity, Death, grinned even wider. "That is what Mortals call This One indeed, Edward Newgate," It sounded amused, like screaming infants. "For the Spell This One's favourite Mage used to work, This One must be given a Soul This One would not have gotten in Return. An Equivalent Exchange, as it were."
"And mine is already yours, because I will die today, regardless of her spell," Newgate concluded, eyes closing in defeat. "So it was a fool's hope."
The Pirates could feel the old man's grief, many of them slumping over, lowering their weapons or closing their eyes like the man they called Father, trying not to let the hopelessness drag them down.
The Marines, however, felt vicious satisfaction rush through them. Oh sure, it was terrifying to have the literal Death in front of them, and the knowledge that there existed someone who could summon It was equally horrifying, but at least the line of Gold Roger would stay dead.
"Now wait just a second," aaannnddd there went that feeling, crashing and burning as all eyes turned to Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp, who had somehow gotten to across the battlefield without anyone noticing and was now standing in front of the black barrier keeping people away from the Entity (Or perhaps, keeping the Entity away from them), arms crossed and glaring at the grinning Entity with determination.
"Oh?" Death breathed, like blood dripping from a wound, sounding intrigued and uninterested at the same time. "Do you have something to say to This One, Mortal?"
"Yes," the Hero of the Marines said firmly, not backing down as he continued to stare down the Entity. "Take my life instead."
"WWWWWHHHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTT!?" echoed across the battlefield as everyone, Pirate and Marine alike, screamed out their confusion.
Meanwhile, Death just smiled wider.
"I see," the Entity said, screams echoing Its words, as it waved the woman's hand and Garp was pulled into the bubbled by an unseen force, while Whitebeard was shoved out, barely managing to stay on his feet as he stared at Garp in disbelief. "Is that your final decision?"
"Yes," he said stubbornly, eyes locked on the cold body of the man he called his grandson. "I promised his mother that I would protect him, seconds before she entered Your embrace, and his father's last words to me made me promise the same to him." his eyes shifted to lock with the Entity's, ignoring the way those black orbs seemed to pull at his Soul, leaving his limbs weak and shaking. "I broke that promise today," he told It, even as he doubted it cared. After all, what was the struggles of Mortals to Death Itself? "That young woman that summoned You has given me the chance to remedy that." he took a deep breath, letting his shaking arms fall to his side. "So please, take my life so that he can live again."
The Entity threw the woman's head back and laughed. It laughed and laughed, the sound bloodcurdling and soul sucking, pulling the air straight out of people's lungs, making them fall to their knees and cover their ears to block out the sounds of dying screams and breaking steel and grinding stones and tortured souls that was making them bleed from their eyes.
Garp had it the worst, falling to his knees with blood spewing from his mouth, eyes and ears, choking on it, his brain rattling in his skull as the Entity in front of him laughed, uncaring of the damage It was doing.
As abruptly as it had begun, it ended, the Entity stopping Its unnatural laughter to stare at the downed D kneeling in front of It.
"So it will be Done," It intoned, the bulging black veins now spread all across the woman's body, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. "The Offer has been made, the Deal has been accepted." It lifted a hand, finger curled as if to grab something. "Your Life, for His. Goodbye, Monkey D. Garp."
The Entity clenched the woman's hand and Garp knew no more, the last thing he felt the chill of Death gripping his heart before it all went black.
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