Consistent update will never be my thing adkh;ash sorry guys. And also, I kinda rewrote some things in the previous chapter because I didn't like it :/ you can go back to read it if you want to.
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I didn't own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda who created such a wonderful fictional world.
Chapter summary: She got hungry because time was not on her side. There's some talking about Gods and rebellion.
(Chapter is edited; there might some mistakes still. Additional note that English is not my first language.)
Chapter 2:
"There are always cruelty around us."
(Day 5)
She squinted her eyes under the bright sun, sprawled unceremoniously under the shade of the tree. When she arrived the island two days ago, being escorted by Rob Lucci whom she assumed had gone back to 'work', she got a bit too excited at the little freedom she got and walk around the island to satiate her thirst for adventure. Unfortunately, time was not with her side and two days had already passed with her stomach loudly complaining for food.
Who thought it was a great idea to run around the island without rest, search for strange things and almost forgot her 'job' as CONSORT? It's her, obviously.
She forced her body to get up and without missing a beat, her stomach loudly grumbled. She groaned in response. She doesn't even know if she had enough money for food. She should have search for a part-time job in the island instead of running around.
Despite the shaky legs, she walked away from the shade with her destination in the nearby she can already see. Right…left…right…left…she closely monitored her footsteps under her, serving her as a distraction from her hungry stomach. The prickly feeling crawling in her belly… a familiarity was roused at the memory of her childhood as an orphan who lived in the streets, where she begged for coins at strangers—depended for their compassion and empathy as her way of survival.
Her stomach growled and she put her hands to her stomach as if to ease her hunger pangs. She smiled despite her predicament. It has been a while since she felt this starvation. If it wasn't for her aunt who found her half-dead lying in the dirty corner, she would have already buried underground.
Reminiscing her experience as a child, she was really thankful at the marine who also her blood-relative aunt, Trueheart Beatrix. According to her aunt, she had been searching for her niece—which is her—in the far places and corners around the world. Her sister—which is her mother—ran away from home, leaving a letter that she was carrying a child and was ashamed to face her sister. The reason why she was ashamed because both of them made a promise that they'll never entangle themselves at the idea of love—as they already had each other. Because her sister was a prideful woman, she was embarrassed of her actions and ran away while still carrying a child.
Bea had no memory of her mother. She had no idea what kind of person who bore her in this world. Whether if they are kind, fair, arrogant or greedy—the thought actually never crossed her mind. She was too coped to ease her hunger and survive. But that didn't matter to her anymore. No matter what person her mother had ended up, she was grateful at the blessing at being born.
Her aunt questioned why she was thankful at being born when the world has been unfair to her. She replied.
"The world is not always cruel, Bea-san. Why focus on the negatives when there are always positives."
And her aunt cried that was equivalent of a river.
"Oh? What are you doing all alone here, little girl?"
She stopped in her tracks and look up to see men with creepy grins plastered on their faces. She hanged her head in dismay. Mountain bandits… I don't want to deal with them right now…
"Huh? Did you say something, little gi—"
"Soru."
She kicked the person in the middle of their rag-tag group which she assumed to be their leader. Taking advantage of their shocked stupor, she used the leader as a platform to knee the person nearby in the face as he recoiled and thrown at the unaware companion who stood beside him. She stumbled a bit when she landed on her feet.
"You…!"
She rolled to dodge from the attack behind her and flipped herself to steady herself. For a split second, she noticed something a sliver of sharpness from her peripheral view that caused her muscles to contract and freeze at the spot.
The silver glare.
A sword covered in blood dripping from its edges.
A small figure.
The excruciating pain of her arm.
A figure raising the sword above its head, as if they were readying to cut off her arm—
She shook her head at the memory and forced herself to focus at her current situation as she caught the downward swing with their sword on hand which she tried so hard to not look at it and punched under their elbow along with the crunching sound of bones. The object clattered to the ground as the wielder screamed and clutched their arm in pain, rolling pathetically under the scorching sun. She stared down at the sword that fell to the ground before she kicked it away from the bandit's reach and side-stepped when another bandit threw a punch aimed at her head, turning around to kick them in the gut.
She felt her stomach grumbling again but the bandits didn't gave her time to think and stumbled backwards when they attacked her before countering them with each punches to the gut. Damn bandits… can't they see I'm hungry…?!
"You're stronger than you look, girl." The first person she attacked, the leader towered behind her. She looked behind at his intimidating figure. He grinned with a crazed look. "This will be fun so don't disappoint me."
She attempted to back away from him but her hunger starting to get her as her knees started to tremble in the effort to balance herself. Seeing the bandit raising their weapon above, she accidentally tripped at the stray rock and started to fall on her back. She gasped, seeing the bandit bringing down the weapon to her at the same time as her descend to the floor. She raised her arms to protect herself.
"That was impressive, Bea. Leave the rest to me."
She heard a voice behind her as stream of fire went over her head, burning the bandit to crisp before she landed to a body which she noticed was already unnecessary warm under the blazing weather. She looked to her savior seeing a curly raven hair under the bright-colored hat.
"A…" She wasn't able to finish her words as dizziness and hunger took her to the darkness.
He frowned at the sickly-looking woman in his arms. He knew in first sight that she was hungry, judging from her rumbling stomach. Grabbing his spare water, he removed her mask and tilted its contents to her chapped, pale lips. As instantly the water started to spill to her mouth, she gripped his hand to bring the water closer and vigorously drank to her heart's content. She coughed when she accidentally got choked by the liquid.
"It's been a while, isn't it, Bea?" He shook his head with a sigh.
"A—"she coughed, pounding her chest. "Ace…!"
"Yup. The one and only Portgas D. Ace."
She took a steady breaths before she glared at him. "Why in a world you're so hot?"
He threw a suggestive look. "Thank you for the compliment."
"That's not what I meant." She gave him an exasperated look before she attempted to stand up. Keyword: attempted—that he had to catch her in his arms again. She sighed. "Not really ideal for our reunion, isn't it?"
"Both of us weren't exactly prepared for it." He shrugged as he put his hands to her waist which she automatically threw her arm to his shoulder to support herself. They both started to walk. "But still, this is so like you. Starving in the middle of the road and then you would eat lots of food later. You remind me of Luffy sometimes."
She gave him a hesitant, agreeing look. "Well… I'm not hardheaded like Lucky. I only got his appetite when I'm hungry."
He laughed. "Lucky! I can't believe you are still sticking to that name!"
"It's his fault for introducing himself while his mouth is full of meat that I misheard it as Lucky!" She retorted before she chuckled. "But… Luffy is lucky kid. He got someone to inspire him what he wants in the future."
He saw her melancholic smile in the corner of his eye. "Speaking of that someone, you know his name is Shanks, right?"
She blinked with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah…? What about it?"
He grinned. "I met him in person."
"Really?" He saw her lighten up. "What is he like?"
"He got red hair and claw-like scars over his left eye. When I first met him, I was kinda afraid that we'll be fighting in the cave."
"…a cave?"
"Well, long story short, he was actually good guy with party animal streak."
"…and that's what you noticed from him?"
"More or less. And also, he's one of the Four Emperor in the seas."
"What's… that?"
He threw her an incredulous look. "Are you kidding me? You've been in the seas for three years, you don't know?"
"Um…" She looked away from him with unreadable look in her face before looking back to him and forced a smile. "I'm not good keeping up with the news so…"
He frowned, doubting her words. That sounds like an excuse but… "Basically, the Four Emperor are the strongest in the seas. Just like the name suggests, there are four of them. Namely; Kaido, Big Mom, Shanks and Whitebeard." He grinned proudly. "And I'm under the Whitebeard Pirates as the Second Division Commander!"
She looked up with a surprised wide eyes. "Under? I thought you were gonna be a pirate."
"I did but I lost to him."
"…I see." She became silent after that. Glancing at her, he noticed a dejected expression painted to her face and immediately looked away when she glanced to him. He heard her chuckle. "Did you know Luffy's words to me when we first met?"
He glance at her. "What?"
"He told me that he reminds me of Shanks because of the arm and the golden marks over my left eye to his eye."
"That's so like him to say that." He chuckled before he involuntarily moved his attention to her left side of her face. "…that reminds me, have you finally found a cure to... that?"
She reached to the left side of her face using her right gloved hand which he just noticed. "No, not yet."
"Right. Uh…" He pointed at her right arm. "Since when did you get that?"
She gasped at his statement and retreated her hand out of sight. "I-I got this during my journeys. You know… when you meet people who is kind enough to get me this."
"Hmm…" He gave her a doubting frown. "That's…nice of them. Care to tell me their name?"
"The thing is… I don't know."
"You didn't ask?"
"Not… really."
He frowned at the grimaced look on her face as if she was guilty of something. He was about to open his mouth to ask about it—
—her stomach growled.
"I think we should hurry. I'm hungry." She rested her head to his shoulder whilst still walking, increasingly getting paler.
He sighed, decided to drop the issue. "I hope I have enough money."
"I think I have…" She reached for her pocket, shaking her wallet pouch. "…few berries I think."
"Should we go back and rob the bandits?"
"We're about to reach the town. I'm hungry."
He chuckled, adjusting his hold from her waist while he grabbed her hands that was around his shoulder and lifted her to his back—now piggybacking him. "Well then, let's go!"
He started to run at their destination as he felt her tightly wrapping her arms to his neck behind him. Involuntarily, he felt something soft that he can't help but comment about it. "You have truly grown, aren't you?"
He received a punch to his head. "Thanks for the obvious."
"You're welcome." He laughed, shaking the pain away from his head. He felt her resting her head in his shoulder.
"…speaking of bandits," she started, her voice muffled to his shoulder. "I wonder how Dadan-san is doing now…"
He scoffed. "Probably living her life since we've set out." He blinked as he remembered something. "Wait, Luffy is already in the age to set out, right?"
"…"
He glanced behind him to see her already passed out. He smiled at her peaceful expression. All that talking finally drained her, huh?
Readjusting her behind him, he hurriedly resumed to his destination from the heating weather that, in his defense alone, doesn't affect him at all.
Without due, he remembered how they first met in their childhood.
"Luffy, Beauty, this is Ace. He's the same age as Beauty."
Ace doesn't always have a great relationship with Beauty—or Bea as she prefers—during their childhood. In their first meeting, he didn't liked her because she was an outsider and weird-looking girl. The gold streaks on her faces, while it intrigued him, creeped him out because her skin reminds him of cracks of a vase that can be picked on. While seemingly looks normal, the image of her unskinned face… ugh, he doesn't particularly liked the idea cause its making him cringe whenever an image of her bloody peeled face popped up. Moreover, he doesn't want to be in her business.
Definitely not beautiful at all. He remembered reflecting the irony of her name.
The first thing he remembered when Bea and Luffy was dropped by Garp at Dadan's house was when he threw the boy to the precipice in his annoyance. He would never forget the horrified look in her face directed at him. The unfiltered fear from her eyes and the trembling body of her frozen state. And when he glared at her, she seemed to reach her wit's end and ran away from him. Remembering that over and over again makes him want to apologize to her again.
"What the hell is her deal…?" He recalled being confused.
The second thing was when she defended herself against him when she stalked him going to the Gray Terminal to meet Sabo. At first, he didn't know it was her since she covered herself with a scarf but when he heard her yelp as she dodged his pipe—that was the moment he realized and wondered why he was followed. She ran away from him when her stalking was revealed but decided to confront her later and continue his way to Gray Terminal.
"Why did you follow me earlier, ugly?" He flinched at the reminder of his former insult.
The next thing she did amazed him greatly. When Luffy and Bea accidentally found their lair where they hid their treasure, Porchemy also waltz in unintentionally and Luffy was captured in his hands. While the three of them—Ace, Sabo and Bea—hid behind the bush what they should do, it was her who moved forward to rescue him and told them she'll lure the man out to relocate their treasure. After that, she disappeared—
—and reappeared kicking Porchemy in the face.
"What the…?!" He was astonished at her amazing speed. It was the first time he saw someone in a blurring haste that he almost saw her disappear.
"Ace, Ace!" He remembered Sabo running at him, breathless. "She failed! They were captured!"
But despite her efforts, Bea was eventually caught along with Luffy. And both of the boys decided to rescue both of them.
"I owed her, that's why we're rescuing them." Those were the words he convinced himself to save them.
After they were rescued, their relationship among each other gradually improved. The boys constantly nagged her whenever they had an opportunity to ask about her 'cool moves'—with Luffy being the loudest—but kept her mouth shut about it. They were a bit disappointed when she told them that was a one-time thing and she'll never do it again, despite the situation calls for it.
"I've already told many times… I will not tell you, ever!" He recalled her sighing exasperatedly.
His memory was a bit hazy that time but he can remember Sabo and Bea talking to each other with themselves. He doesn't know what they were talking about nor can he even remember. He decided to leave it at that.
"I see, I see! I didn't know about that!" He remembered Bea smiling with eyes wide of wonder at Sabo.
Those were the good times he can remember in the past, including his and Bea's sibling relationship along Luffy…
"There are always cruelty around us." The three of them stood at the hill as Luffy tried to his best to stifle his sobbing. "Ace, Luffy. Even though I don't share the same dream with you three—please don't forget that in the seas, Sabo is finally free."
…along with the memory of Sabo.
"Hmm? That tattoo… Did you misspell your name?"
Both of them sat on a ramen stand. When they arrived in the town, Ace hurried went to the closest and cheapest food establishment he can see. Seeing a small one at the side, that's where he ran and drop her into one of the chairs, almost scaring away the other customer. And that's how they end up in this stand with Bea slurping her noodles beside him.
"This?" He touched his tattooed bicep. "Not really. Do you know what this crossed 'S' means?"
She gulped her food first before she shifted her attention to his bicep. "Hmm… Serenity…?"
He cast her a dubious look. The hell? "How that is related… never mind. It means Sabo. SABO."
She seemed stunned at his words, silently looking at him before she nodded. "Ah. I see. That's good." She silently murmured before she put the chopsticks down at the counter and clasp her hands together. "Thanks for the food."
He raised both eyebrows. "That's it? I thought you were hungrier."
She turned him with her hands still clasp to her chest as if like a prayer. "I decided to give mercy for your wallet."
Really? He threw her a look before he glanced with a helpless expression on the three EX-sized empty bowl to her side. "I, thank you, my lady." He dryly replied.
Ace paid for her ramen and went out to the streets. He followed Bea behind, walking to whatever their destination before he noticed her current clothes. She didn't change at all, isn't she… She always been a fan wearing long skirts and long sleeved blouses—perhaps because of her golden cracked skin—and made her look constricted with the dark colors of her clothes, giving her an image of a Lady of Black.
"Wait," Bea started as she stopped her trail. "Where's my mask?"
He walked to her without a word and hand her the mask.
"Oh. Thanks." She nodded at him and equipped her muffle mask.
Now, she looks even more ominous. He doesn't even know whether he should be worried or feel sorry for her. Well, he's the one to talk since he only wore shorts and a hat. And also… He moved his attention to her well-kept hair in a bun. Since when did she know how to tie her hair? He can still remember in his childhood that she doesn't like styling her hair because she likes it simple, only tying it in ponytail. But now… she changed. He internally shook his head. Three years had gone before their reunion. Of course there would be some changes.
But still… there's something in his gut that there is… something. It is like a misplaced feeling that shouldn't fit her at all. He touched his chin in thought.
"Are you going to follow me?"
He stopped in his tracks as he looked at her looking back at him. "Where are you going?"
"To a church. If there is one."
For some reason, he felt relief from his gut. "I had nothing to do anyway so sure."
She nodded before she walked, continuing her trail.
And then something clicked. In their first meeting compared to their childhood, she was a silent little girl who had a knack of observing things along with her observant eyes. She had a muted presence who likes being in the shadows. Perhaps it was in her favor because she likes observing. But now… she was weirdly talkative. The girl who can't hold a candle for a little talk now has streak for various topic. How suspicious.
But still. The misplaced feeling was perhaps unnecessary. His suspicious feeling probably came from his overprotectiveness. The overprotectiveness that was born when he heard about her childhood.
She's still the same Bea he knows. A friend and a sibling whom he met in the past who is a fan of churches… for some reason. Huh… now that he thought about it… He ran up beside her.
"Bea, I know this is already long overdue but what's up with you and the church?"
She chuckled. "It's not overdue; I just didn't tell you why. It's nothing really special. I just liked the silence when there are few people who went there when there's no mass going on. And the pastor and nuns sometimes gives me food if they feel like it."
He smiled in sympathy, remembering her history as a street child. "So it was like home."
She nodded. "Yes. The church is a reminder of my upbringings as a child who lived in the streets. They weren't always kind, some churches are, but the memory of a person who gave me compassion in a form of a half-eaten bread is something that I will always remember."
This is the first time he heard about this. She told them (him, Luffy and Sabo) in their childhood of the hardships she experienced, including the reason of her missing right limb and the promise that may be or may not have been influenced him as a pirate he had grown to be.
"I hope you guys won't become a pirate who did this to me."
That wasn't really a promise but it was an oath he kept close to his heart. Unnecessary cruelty will always be a no go for him for those who doesn't deserve it.
"I see. That's why you always liked churches." He brought his hand together behind his head. "Churches aside but do you believe, as what they called, God?"
"Hmm… God, huh…" She looked up with a thoughtful expression. "It's true I visit the church if I see one but God…? … I really don't know. I always thought it was some sort of escape from reality, an excuse. From what I observe, they believe in God because they are the one who created the world, the universe. The miracles and luck were all the inner workings of God's action. So perhaps…maybe…I guess…?" She said with a conflicted look on her face.
She have not thought about it that much, Ace observed. Her statement ended up in a confusing manner as if she didn't know if she believed her words rather than an answer to a simple question.
And talking about synonymous to God… "Then, what do you think of the Celestial Dragon?"
Her face fell after those words and glanced at him with wide guarded eyes. "What about them?"
"They got ridiculous names with 'Saint' in front of their names. So basically, they are some sort of like…Gods?"
He really want to hit himself at those ridiculous words he just spouted. How dare he just said those words who killed their friend who just wanted to grant his ambition in the seas? Their cruelty and arrogance are not supposed to be synonymous to the likes of benevolent Gods.
Unless if the Gods are exactly like them.
"Ah, sorry, sorry! Ignore what I just said!" He immediately added, slapping her back. "Can't help but say what I had in mind. That was pretty careless of me!" He forced a laugh to lighten the mood.
"O-oh." She seem to be startled at his sudden apology.
"Really, don't think too much about it. That was my fault." He gave her a loop-sided grin in another attempt to ease her.
"Hmm." She just nodded and looked down to her feet with a bothered look.
He scratched his head. Did that really disturbed her? That was just harmless question…
"Oh, that looks like a church!" He exclaimed as she looked up ahead in response.
It was a small local church, the walls made of bamboo and a small gate to keep out the people. It was pitiful looking church in his perspective. Dadan's house was even bigger than the church. The reason why it was recognizable as one because of the large handmade cross at the top of the roof.
"Excuse me," Bea approached the gate, calling out to a man who cleaned inside. "Can we come in?"
The elder tilted his head. "Are you from here, miss?"
"No, we're not. My brother and I are here for sightseeing and this particular church caught my eyes."
Ace turned his head to her. Since when she can lie like that so smoothly? It wasn't actually a full blown lie since there was some truth in it, but only in Bea's part.
The elder opened the gate for them to enter. "I see, I see. Please come in."
"Thank you very much."
"If you'd like to, miss, I have some candles with me."
Her eyes crinkled, smiling under her mask. "Sure. How much?"
"One thousand berries."
She froze.
"Seriously, old man?" Ace scowled at the elder. "I can buy many cabbages in that price."
"Actually… that was the point, sir. Not many people come here, not even as a leisure. I need money to live." The elder sheepishly replied.
Her eyes softened at him. "I see. I'd like two candles, please."
The old man's face brightened. "Yes! Here it is, miss. Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome."
He glanced at her with a concerned look as the old man returned to his work after he gave them candles. "Are you sure about that? He might be lying."
"Hush! Don't raise your voice! Yes, I am sure."
He shook his head with a sigh. Her kindness would bite her in the ass these days if she continues that.
"I mean," She continues, with a soft look on her face. "Did you see his smile? I want to spread that to other people. That feeling of happiness and gratitude."
Can't come up something to rebut her words, he light the candle in her hands instead.
"Wha…?" She blinked, startled at the soft glow in the top of the candle.
"It's my Devil Fruit. I ate Flame-Flame Fruit." He said as he demonstrated his abilities by lighting up his own candle.
Her eyes lit up in recognition. "That's why you were so hot."
He smiled. "Thank you for the compliment."
Her bright green eyes transitioned to a narrowed unimpressed look. She rolled her eyes. "Let's put this away and enter the church."
Both of them put their candle at the candle holder that was put in the side of the church with Bea making a silent prayer before she entered the church.
"Bea." He called out to her, having no intention to follow her inside. "Why are you always so kind when there are always cruelty around us?"
There was a certain déjà vu when he said the last part, but he can't recall when or where.
Stopping at the entrance of the church, she removed her mask and turned to him with her bare face, the golden cracks on her shining when it hit the sun as she smiled. "Funny how familiar that question is... This is my answer. There are good in this world, but only it was hidden. We're blinded with cruelty because it was around us. If you want happiness, search for it. If you wanted pleasure, grasp it. But the adversity always concealed that as we're slowly getting influenced by it." She faced back to the church. "Why am I always kind? That's obvious. It's my act of rebellion in this cruel world."
He stood stunned at the entrance. He never thought he would get that type of response as he watched her back entering the church and kneeled in front of the altar.
Kindness as a spiteful action rather than naiveté. He never foresaw it like that since he always saw kindness as an innocent, harmless deed.
But that won't be enough if you wanted to change the world, Bea. He silently responded to her back. You're only one who'd used it when everyone already resorted force.
The world won't owe her a thing. Not a single bit. But despite that, she won't ask something in return. He knows she doesn't like that.
a/n(very long): cruelty and fairness, what a world she was thrusted into... but still, her unwavering kindness is what makes her move forward...
Okay! Enough of that! Not need to be sappy, you goddamn author! Anyway, there's one thing I want to clarify in this story and that is the relationship that Bea she was/will/would be subjected into. You might be thinking this is a blushy-mushy tug-of-war reverse harem (you're not exactly wrong to think about it though), sadly this is not that type of story. This is more about her different relationship between characters and how they push her forward. As a reader, I am that kind of person who reads xReader/OC fics but I eventually got tired reading of it because... hmm... (please don't kill me about this) I started to think romantic love as kind of overrated. So I started searching for platonic stories and decided to write one for myself. And that is how CONSORT was born.
(I'm sorry if this disappoints you).
Alright! Pushing that aside, I'm a mess in this chapter. There are things didn't made it as I planned because it was a bit complicated to write so I decided to a simple route. Things that are cut out like:
*Bea being sick with fever (with Ace freaking out)
*An intimate talk between (just like the previous chapter)
*Hair pulling (not that kind of hair pulling; don't ask me)
Other things might made it to the next chapter but I dunno, maybe not.
Review response for those who don't have account:
*Monnie's: ahhh... him. Hmm... I was originally gonna meet them very, very late to the story but I might sneak in a cameo. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Such is my power as a writer.
Review for the day: What do you think was going on in her head when they talk about Celestial Dragon/Tenryubito?
(I'm not forcing you guys to just review about what's above, you can review other things! Like my mistakes and inconsistencies and whatnot!).
Next chapter! Ace and Bea's farewell and her next destination!
See ya next chapter (^_^)!
