Luffy woke up quickly dazed and confused. His head felt light and he had a killing headache. The instinctual feeling of danger flooded him and he began to thrashing around. Before he could begin to process his surroundings he was dropped to the hard forest ground.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the memories of the last few hours came rushing back to him.

He had left Ace to go meet up with Sabo only to find him missing. Only Sabo wasn't at the meet up spot. Luffy managed to find him hours later unconscious but relatively unharmed. Luffy had gotten scared when at first he didn't wake up but eventually he was able to get the vampire to open his eyes. Then things had gotten weird as Sabo attacked him, taking his blood, something he had never done before. At least not without asking and most definitely not when Luffy was yelling at him to stop.

He looked up at his brother wearily.

"Sabo?"

Sabo dropped down to his knee's so they were eyelevel. "Yea?"

"What's happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" The teen asked innocently.

"You're scaring me." Luffy told him as he ignored the urge to scramble backwards.

Sabo lightly ran his hand over the wound on his nape making Luffy wince. It was mostly dried by now but it was still fresh enough to sting.

"I bet" He said with such a lightness in his tone. As if they were discussing lunch.

"Did the vampires hurt you… ?" Luffy asked worried.

"Not quite, it's not important." He pulled Luffy to his feet, supporting him when he staggered

"Now come along there's something I need you to help me with."

"No!" Luffy tugged his wrist. "Ace is really hurt. He wants us to come back quickly, I left him alone in the town. What if hunters find him?"

"Ace will be fine," Sabo said tugging Luffy's wrist harder forcing him forwards.

"He will not, you know how much he hates town." He dug his heels into the dirt trying to get Sabo to slow down. Instead the vampire tightened his grip on his wrist until it became to painful and he stumbled forward with a loud yelp.

"What's happened to you?" Luffy asked in concern as he tried to pull free.

Sabo finally let go with a laugh. "You're really messed up you know that?"

Luffy's brow furrowed. "What?"

"You said I'm scaring you." Sabo took a step closer. "Then why don't you leave? Why are you still going along with me?"

When Luffy didn't say anything the vampire leaned forwards and slapped him so hard he nearly fell backwards.

"What are you doing?" He asked clutching his swollen cheek.

Sabo rolled his eyes in response as he began to walk away. When the younger boy didn't move Sabo stopped gesturing for him to follow.

"Luffy come," He commanded like one controls a dog.

"But Ace is the other way!"

"Yes yes I am well aware of your codependent relationship, come on already."

Luffy frowned confused at what was going on. He didn't understand any of this. Why was Sabo, his kind older brother acting like this? Why didn't he care about Ace.

"Come now!" Sabo snapped, another thing Luffy had never heard him do before.

Frowning he ran to catch up. To his surprise instead of being cross the vampire began to laugh.

"I told you your messed up." He shook his head in amusement. "Not that I can't see why but still."

Luffy looked up at him with wide eyes, unsure of what to say. Sabo was truly scaring him. He wanted him to stop. He didn't know what to do.

"You won't put up with crap from anyone else but if it's me or Ace you don't even say anything." He stepped closer making Luffy shift uncomfortably. "I bet we could do whatever we wanted and you wouldn't even do anything. Are you that scared of being along? Or maybe you just don't care what happens to you as long as you're not with the hunters anymore."

Luffy dug his fingernails into his palm biting his lip. "Please stop." He didn't want to hear anymore. "Why are you saying this to me?"

Sabo shrugged, "I'm just pointing it out. Now come on."

Luffy shook his head, his hands clutched the hem of his hoodie. His eyes were stinging. Today had been exhausting, he couldn't take much more of this. He watched wearily as Sabo approached gripping his chin tightly.

"Come!" He commanded again his eyes glowing. Luffy found that he had no choice but to follow him.

He narrowed his eyes in disbelief. Sabo had told him about this once. It was the power only vampire nobles had. He had promised to never use it on Luffy or Ace. He would never have wanted to. Free will was a subject that wasn't taken lightly, especially in their household.

He tried to drag his feet but one look from Sabo and he found himself almost eager to keep up.

"You're not my brother." Luffy accused.

Sabo snorted at that. "I can assure you Lu I am."

"Sabo is strong and kind, nothing like you." Luffy snapped with unusual anger in his tone.

"If you say so." Sabo said patting the kid on the head.

XXX

"Somethings wrong!" Ace insisted as he pace around.

"Ace you're overreacting." Marco said as he watched the teen, who had shifted back, pace around the living room. Actually it was more of a limp as he was in no shape to be moving.

"I'm not, they should have been back by now. It's been hours."

"Maybe they got caught up in something." Thatch pointed out to his distressed friend.

Ace shook his head. They both knew how much he hated being in town. They wouldn't do that to him. No something had definitely happened and there was no way he could just sit here when the only family he had left was in trouble. No he had to help them.

He looked down at the sweater and pants Marco had lent him.

"Can I borrow these?" His plan was contingent on his friend saying yes.

"Uhh sure?"

Ace thanked him shortly. He doubted he could have gotten out of town as a wolf nor stark naked.

"Thank you guys for helping me." He said honestly. "I'm sorry about your leg." He told Sanji as he brushed past them.

"Nothing a few Band-Aids can't fix." Sanji said as he caught Ace's arm. "Where are you going?"

"I need to go find them."

"You can't help anyone like that." Marco pointed out.

"We won't know till I try Ace said as he gently pulled out of the blonds grasp. "Thank you, I mean it but I can't just leave them."

Marco sighed as he ran his hand over his face. Honestly why did he always end up strait back in the woods.

"Wait… I'll drive you."

XXX

So lost was probably a strong word but Koala was rather worried that it was the correct one. She hoisted the gun onto her shoulder as she checked her GPS. Still no word for the rest of her teammates. She had gotten separated from them when she had strayed off the path, the first rule about being a hunter. She hadn't gone far yet she quickly learned it had been far enough. Thankfully her radio still worked but nobody from the group was picking up.

She had been set on a reconnaissance mission after the wolves had taken a citizen back to the woods with them. She was starting to think it had been more of a suicide mission. Of all days to die why did it have to be today? What would her poor mother say. She pursed her lip as she turned around wondering if she was even headed in the right direction.

"Just my luck" A new voice said from behind her.

Koala whirled around her hands automatically reaching for her gun.

A man… or teenager stood behind her. He had been so silent she hadn't heard him approach. That should have been her fist clue.

The first thing that registered in her mind was that he was handsome. The very second thing was that he was a monster and the last thought she would ever have was positively idiotic.

In his arms he held a boy who was struggling and failing to break out of the creatures hold.

"Good evening," It greeted with infuriating politeness even as she raised her gun.

He frowned at that. "You're a hunter right? I thought you were supposed to be more intelligent than that?"

"Let the boy go!" she shouted hoping she sounded braver then she felt.

"Run!" The kid shouted before the thing covered his mouth with a gloved hand.

"Hush you!" He told the kid with a maddening self-satisfied smirk which perfectly showcased his two pointed teeth.

Koala stumbled back realizing her mistake too late. He was a vampire. She had never met a real one before. In training they had taught her that guns were all but useless with them.

"Look Lu," His tone was calm and smooth like glass. "A hunter, your favorite."

The kid yelled something too muffled for her to understand. She reached into her boot drawing out the stake. She had prayed she never have to use it but it looked like tonight was the lucky night.

"I didn't know hunters could be so beautiful."

"I didn't know vampires could be so annoying," she shot back raising the stake. "Now I'm going to say this one more time. Let him go."

The vampire seemed to think about that for a moment before nodding. "Alright, this is bound to be good." He let go.

"What's say you Luffy? Do you want to go with the nice hunter Lady?"

When the kid got free he scampered away from the vampire but he most certainly did not go towards Koala, instead he regarded her with weary eyes standing equidistant between the two of them. As if he liked neither of his options.

"It's okay," Koala gestured urgently at him. "I'm one of the good guys. You'll be safe with me."

The vampire actually laughed at that. She glared over at him as he wiped his eyes trying to get his mirth under control.

"That depends on who you ask," He said as he approached her. She raised the stake in response feeling her heart beat quicken.

"Run!" She cried to the boy as in an instant the vampire pounced. Before she could process it the stake was knocked away and she was left gasping on the ground. She struggled as she felt a knee planted on her back stopping her from rising.

"Why don't you stick around Luffy?" The creature said confidently. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to our pretty friend would you?"

Koala grunted as she was roughly hauled up to her feet, strong hands on her wrists prevented her from attacking.

To her surprise the boy did not run, he remained in place staring at both of them with wide eyes.

"Come here!" The vampire said again, commanding this time as the boy reluctantly made his way over to them despite Koala's yelling.

The creature nodded in satisfaction as he patted the teens head like one would a well behaved dog.

"I've got to tell you I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to find anyone in time." He said shoving Koala forwards and forcing her to walk. "You guys are going to help me so much."

"With what?" Koala gasped as she tried to twist away.

"There's a task I promised someone I would do. Otherwise I go back to the way I was before."

"I liked you better before." Luffy said sullenly.

"The feelings mutual." He agreed.

XXX

"That's as far as I can go," Marco told Ace as he reached the trail head.

Ace was already outside his head up to the sky as he tried to separate the different scents.

"Luffy has been through here." Ace said more to himself then anything.

"Can you track him?"

"I'm not a dog." Ace repeated scanning the woods with his dark eyes.

"Since when?"

"I'm a wolf there's a difference."

There wasn't really. They were the same genus and everything although Marco decided to keep his mouth shut on that one. He probably wouldn't like being referred to as man's best friend either if he was Ace.

"But can you find him?"

"Maybe," Ace said as he turned back to his friend.

Before either fully realized what they were doing Ace instinctually leaned forwards and licked Marco, exactly like his old dog Moby used to do when he was happy.

Then he was gone, lost to the darkened woods. It was clear he didn't want Marco to follow him.

The teen leaned back against his car. He was pretty sure this meant Ace liked him, or at the very least that was the sincerest way to say thank you that he knew. H wondered if that was Moby's way of saying thank you as well. For someone who claimed he wasn't a dog Ace acted a lot like one.

"I've got weird friends." He mused to himself.

XXX

They had been walking for what felt like hours. The vampire did his weird glowing eye thing on her and Koala had no choice but to obey. She tried desperately to resist but nothing was working. She could tell that the boy was having a similar problem. She had thought, overconfidently no doubt, that she could handle a vampire. After all her training had to pay off right? But after actually running into one she realized three things rather quickly. First she was by no means prepared, second Vampires could control minds and no one thought to tell her and third they were freaking polite. It was madding really. Not that anything he did was very civil but his tone sounded like they were on an afternoon stroll rather than a death march. His accent and fancy word play made her want to crack open a thesaurus to see if these were actually words or he was just making them up. She was fairly confident superfluous wasn't a real word.

"What?" The vampire asked as Koala kept glancing over at him

"Nothing." She said turning back away crossly.

"You're obviously thinking something." He said. "And I am growing quite bored. If you don't tell me I am going to start picking on you guys again."

Koala shuttered. The last thing she needed was more reverse psychology. This particular monster had a knack for finding your weak point and digging around in it. In fact she was fairly sure it was his idea of fun. Sort of like that one kid she used to go to school with who got his kicks out through winning at chess. The vampire teen had passed most of the time messing with both of them. He had attacked Koalas resolve, her chosen profession and her all round place in society. It had been even worse with the kid. He somehow seemed to have endless knowledge of the boy and made a sport out of upsetting him.

She could tell that's exactly what he was going to start doing again so she cleared her throat. If she was going to die anyways she may as well ask her question.

"In training we learned that you can sometimes identify vampires because they look to perfect to be human." Truth be told Koala had never met a real vampire before but she had seen pictures and they had looked like ugly saps. She had never expected they could be young… and blond.

"I've only ever met ugly monsters so I thought it was a myth until now."

A moment passed and she realized her mistake too late covering her mouth. Besides her the kid rolled his eyes

"I'm flattered you think I look 'perfect'." He said with a teasing smile making her heat up in embarrassment.

"Shut up," She said angrily wishing she had just kept quiet. At least then she could have died in peace.

"To answer your questions Vampires are supposed to be attractive to humans so we can lure you guys 'off the path' as the saying goes. But it's only the purebreds and nobles that it goes for."

Huh? She didn't know that there was even such a thing as a class systems in vampire nests. She suppose that this kind of knowledge was only known in the higher up circles.

"Now I have a question for you." He said with a smile.

"What?" she said warily.

"Why are you dressed like that? That's not very hunter like."

She looked down at her outfit. It was nothing special, just everyday street clothes. But he was right hunters didn't usually wear these kinds of clothes while on the job.

She pursed her lip challenging him.

"You might as well tell me. I'm going to find out anyways."

She knew the threat was real. And the glowing eyes thing made her teeth chatter so she caved, seeing no harm in it especially if she was about to die anyways.

"It's my mom's birthday today. I wasn't on call but it was an emergency so I came." She said between gritted teeth. Her mom hated seeing her in the hunter clothes, so much so she often burst into tears. Needless to say she did not approve of Koala's decision. Since this was her birthday Koala planed on showing up after her scouting trip to take her mother to dinner.

She squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of her mom sitting alone, tears in her eyes as she got the call that Koala wouldn't be able to make it home tonight nor ever again.

'I'm so sorry.' She thought as a tear leaked down her cheek. Both boys noticed, she knew they did. But they didn't say anything.

She wiped her tear away harshly and dried her cheeks all the while viciously fighting the vampires hold on her mind.

They continued on in silence for another hour or so no one saying anything. They didn't encounter another monster but she knew they were there. Every so often she would catch glimpses of red peering out at her from the dark woods. She gathered they didn't feel up to challenging him for his prey so they stayed away, merely observing.

Finally the blond came to a stop, forcing to two of them to follow suit.

"We're here." He said proudly. As far as Koala could see it was just a clearing surrounded by many tall boulders. Although she could vaguely see some weird text carved on the rocks. Near the center there were some crumbling ruins, obviously from a long time ago. They surrounded what looked like a stone table of sorts. It was the only thing that wasn't crumbling or weather beaten.

"What are you going to do to us?" She challenged as he forced them to sit down besides each other, his eyes flickering red briefly with the effort.

"You'll know in time." He promised as he turned her around roughly, rummaging through her backpack until he found some rope.

"Stay still." He told them seriously as he began to bind their arms. He left her legs free so she could walk but bound the kid's ankles tightly together.

"I can't hold you guys forever. It's starting to wear me out." He told them wiping sweat from his forehead. He had started to breathe harder as well. At the very least she was glad they were able to put up a fight.

"Sabo just stop!" The boy pleaded as he tried to break the ropes.

Koala could feel him shaking hard against her side. She tried to pull free to no avail.

"It's okay I won't let him hurt you." She promised, unaware she was the cause of his shivers.

"What exactly are you going to do to stop me?" The vampire asked in amusement as he hauled her back onto her feet.

"Sit tight Lu, I'll be back for you."

"Don't you dare hurt him." She said struggling viciously.

"I would be way more worried about yourself." He told her. "You're the one who is going to get hurt."

Her breath hitched at that as he pulled her across the clearing.

"What are you going to do with us?"

"I told you, your helping me with a chore. You are going to be the offering."

"The offering?"

"Yes trust me it's a lot scarier than it sounds." When she staggered he pushed her forwards harder than necessary.

She squeezed her eyes shut trying not to cry. This was it, it was really the end. At the hands of a know it all vampire.

'I'm so sorry mom.' She bit her lip squaring her shoulders. If she was really going to die she was going to die bravely like the well trained hunter she was. Not crying like a little girl.

"What about that kid?" She asked hiding the waver in her voice.

"Why do you care? It's not like it'll matter to you?" He pointed out.

"Humor me." She spat back. At the very least she wanted to know what she was dying for.

He is going to be the blood sacrifice," he told her. "I told you I'm doing a favor for some people and in exchange they won't change me back."

"Back to what?"

He gave her a mischievous smile. "What indeed?"

"Here we are?"

She looked down in surprise. In the center of the clearing was a hole, a huge one.

"What's down there?"

"A bunch of old vampires." Sabo told her rummaging through her pack once more.

"Why?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

"You're going to kill me the least you can do is tell me why."

"They were sealed down there after the fall of the king of wolves." Sabo told her as he roughly turned her around. "With the human monster war approaching once more some people think it would be nice to bring them back again."

"Who sealed them in the first place?"

"It's a long story," He sighed as he began to untie the ropes on her hands. "Basically those who supported the Wolf King were sealed away when he died by those who didn't."

"And you're going to break the seal how?"

"With you." He told her patting her head approvingly.

Before she could ask what he meant she felt the ropes on her hands come undone and his arms lifting her up against his chest.

"Congratulations," He told her with a smile.

"You're the snack."

As her mind wrapped around what he said the world tipped sideways as he threw her into the hole.

XXX

Sabo heard her scream as she fell. He glanced at the moon overhead anxiously. This had taken much longer then he intended. He had to get the timing just right otherwise the spell couldn't be broken and the vampires would revert him back.

He instantly heard the hunter girl scream up at him. He gathered she didn't like him much. That was a pity since he rather liked her. She was almost as fun to toy with as Luffy. It had been a while since he met a hunter with as much spunk as she had. He could tell she was biting back tears the whole time but at least she got brownie points for attitude.

He shook his head making his way back over to Luffy who looked up at him as he approached.

"What did you do to her?" He demanded as Sabo bent down next to him, rummaging around in Luffy's boot for his knife.

"Do you care?" Sabo asked as he picked up the squirming kid. When Luffy glared at him he just shrugged. "She's alive. For now at least. The vampires in the underground crypt were tired and weary. Barley alive. They would eventually sense her and be unable to resist. But that could take some time.

"Stop squirming!" Sabo told Luffy as he dumped him onto a stone table near the ruins.

"Let me go!" Luffy insisted.

"Well since you asked nicely." Sabo said securing the ropes to the chain link in the stone. He watched Luffy squirm for a moment with a sigh. It was almost time but not quite.

May as well have some more fun with the kid. After all they had been together seven years. If that wasn't grounds for some mind meddling Sabo didn't know what was.

His parents had loved to do it, especially to him. He had never seen the appeal until now but he was pleasantly surprised he had as much talent for it as they did.

He slid closer to Luffy who tried to wiggle away only to find the ropes were too tight.

"Want to hear a secret?"

Luffy shook his head.

Sabo continued anyways, grinning like a kid in a candy store. "Did you know that if you die, which you will, then Ace's going to die as well?"

"What?" Luffy frowned in confusion. "No he won't." He would be sad, very sad, but he would still have Sabo… at least once their Sabo came back to them.

"He will!" Sabo said happily as he tightened the ropes. "There's something we haven't told you yet."

"What?" Luffy asked feeling worry in his stomach.

"Well he didn't want you finding out, especially not like this but if you die he dies because he is bonded to you?"

Luffy's brow raised in confusion as he stopped struggling momentarily. "What? Like his parents were?"

"Sort of? Except that was kind of different because they were all romantic and what not."

Luffy barley registered him as he looked away. "Why… Why didn't Ace want to tell me?"

Sabo grinned as he leaned against the stone. "Well for starters you would worry. Secondly it means you can't have a normal life, not even when you get older. At least not if you want Ace to be happy."

Luffy bit down on his lip as he watched his brother put the knife down beside him. Luffy's knife, the one Garp had given to him long ago, the same one he carried with him everywhere in his boot. He saw how happy his grandfather was when he realized Luffy still had it. The thought that Sabo was going to use it to kill him made him inexplicably sad.

"Know what's even better than that?"

"Sabo please stop!" Luffy begged. He couldn't take much more of this. It took a lot to upset him but Sabo knew exactly how to do it.

Once again Sabo ignored him as he patted Luffy's head comfortingly. "Hush," He command his eyes burning red and in that moment Luffy clamped his mouth shut without meaning to.

"What would you say if I told you Ace killed your mom?"

Luffy opened his mouth, relieved to find that he could again. "I would say you were lying." He said immediately. For one thing Ace would never do that. For another he had seen the entire thing He knew who killed her and it most certainly was not Ace.

Sabo only shrugged as he stood up. "Maybe, maybe not. What I can say is you should ask him. See what he says."

That was it, Luffy had been pushed too far with that last one. In the last twenty four hours alone he had come face to face with his grandfather, he had been tazed and hunted ad gassed. What was worse was Ace was off hurt and afraid thinking Luffy was coming back. If Sabo really did kill him then Ace would die too and it would be all his fault. Not to mention his now evil older brother who was saying all these horrible things.

Luffy felt his eyes prickle. He shut his them trying to hide his tears from the ruthless vampire. Still he couldn't help the two that fell down his cheeks, nor the two after that. He sniffed trying to get his emotions under control.

The last thing he wanted was for not-Sabo to see him crying and lay into him the way he had been doing. To his surprise he felt something soft on his cheek. He opened his eyes in surprise to see Sabo wiping his tears away with his sleeve.

"Shhh," He shushed softly. He was looking at Luffy with concern. "Don't cry Lu. It's going to be okay."

Sabo was acting like he usually did when Luffy was upset. This only confused Luffy more. He didn't understand any of this, did Sabo truly feel bad or was this just another game.

"Please let us go." Luffy said as Sabo met his eyes. For a split second he thought Sabo was going to do it. Then the vampire turned away.

"Why are you doing this? You love me and Ace, I know you do? Sabo doesn't do things like this. He isn't mean, he doesn't hurt people. He doesn't hurt me!"

Sabo sighed as he ran his gloved fingers through his blond hair. "It's really me Lu." He picked up the knife. "And I do love you. That's why I'm not going to put you in the pit."

"If you love me then don't do this!" Luffy squirmed away from the knife as best he could being tied up.

"It'll only hurt for a bit." Sabo promised, "Then you'll be free and no one can ever hurt you again."

"NO!" Luffy yelled as the knife came closer. Try as he might he wasn't strong enough to break free of the ropes. "

"Listen Lu, dark times are coming for the humans. This is far kinder then any of their fates. You and Ace won't have to suffer."

"What about you?" He asked feeling a new set of tears well up in his eyes. Sabo was really going to do this wasn't he?

Sabo sighed as he took off one of his gloves. "Only you would still be worried about me. Now hush it's almost time." He forced the glove into Luffy's mouth.

Luffy stilled as Sabo leaned down to kiss his forehead the same way he had a million times before. Only this time it was to say goodbye.

He saw the glint of the knife and far above them he saw the stars. At that second he wanted nothing more than too stare up at them for hours. They were so beautiful, how had he never realized that before. He could see the Dog Star that Sabo had showed him, besides that was Ace's pudding star and way in the corner of the sky was the brightest star. His grandmother told him that that's where the angels lived, that that's where his mom went.

He wondered if this is what she felt like too. He hoped not. He didn't want to think she had been scared or in pain in her final moments. Until right now he hadn't understood how much it hurt to be betrayed by someone you loved. It wasn't so much anger as it was confusion. No doubt why she had looked so surprised.

He shut his eyes wishing on that bright star that the horrible memory wasn't going to be his last thought.

XXX

Ace had picked up their scents a long time ago. It was feint but by know he had lots of practice tracking Luffy. He had a tendency to get into trouble after all. Being bonded helped as well. He was able to pick out Luffy's trail easier.

What concerned him was the trail led him straight into vampire territory. Somewhere he had warned Luffy never to go. Although he understood why as far within it he picked up Sabo's smell as well. He knew enough about tracking to know that the vampire had been laying down, probably knocked out, when Luffy found him. He smelt other scents as well but they were older. What was most concerning was he smelt blood, Luffy's blood. It started from where he met up with Sabo.

It wasn't that surprising Ace reasoned. After all Sabo had no doubt been drained after facing all those bloodsuckers? So what Ace didn't get was why they hadn't doubled back and returned to the village. The blood spots had been dry for hours and as far as he could tell it was just Sabo and Luffy who continued on from here. Why wouldn't they come back for him? Hurt prickled in his stomach although it was quickly replaced by fear. Something was very wrong indeed.

He stood up a bit too quickly and was forced to kneel down panting heavily. Marco was right, this was the last thing he should be doing right now. Just walking was a chore, let alone running through the woods and stumbling into trees like a lunatic. Still he couldn't afford to take a break.

Using a sapling for support he climbed back onto unsteady feet, following the trail as quickly as he could without blacking out.

He stumbled further, picking up an unfamiliar scent as he did. A girl this time. The three of them continued together from there.

Ace frowned as he urged his aching body faster. There were times where he could feel Luffy. Very distantly but it was there none the less. It was only in times of extreme emotion. It was like an instinctual thing. He often wished he could for Sabo as well but his brother was a vampire and historically wolves and vampires did not mix. As such there was something in his mind preventing him from bonding with the boy. A species feud that was rooted deep within his gene's. Ace didn't fully understand it but he got the concept. Either way he knew both of them were still okay, relatively so at least. He could feel it through Luffy. The same way he could feel the teen was upset, heartbreakingly so.

Ace paused at a tree tilting his head to try and block out everything else in order to focus solely on his senses and their bond.

He could distantly smell salt…or rather tears.

"No!"

He had heard that one loud and clear

Acting purely on instinct Ace took off, tearing each one of his stiches in his haste. Even as his legs threatened to give out on him he kept running. His body didn't matter to him, not nearly as much as protecting his treasures.

XXX

Sabo brought the knife down at exactly midnight. You had to be precise with these things. Vampire magic, it was ridiculously strict. Perfect as his parents would say. Now he would be perfect as well and all he had to do was kill his little brother. Usually he would care, feel bad, feel something. But what Sabo quickly discovered when he woke up without any of his usual emotional constraints was that he was finally free. Love, anger, guilt, happiness, sadness, fear and compassion were all distractions. They were for lesser creatures like the one below him. He finally understood why vampires were the superior race and why they would ultimately always win.

The more you cared the more it opened up the possibly for hurt until you were so trapped in your life you lost sight of the bigger picture. It was the weak human's faults. Sabo had been able to hurt them so much more with words then he ever could physically. This made them weak in his books. What he failed to realize was these same bonds made them strong. They made the impossible possible.

As such he wasn't prepared for a pissed half wolf to barrel into him at top speed knocking the knife from his hands.

"Ace!" He cried in surprise as Luffy gave a muffle yell.

"What the hell Sabo!" Ace cried as he tried the wrestle the weapon away.

Sabo kicked Ace in the ribs as he made a grab for the knife only to be knocked backwards by the teen.

"You're going to ruin everything!" Sabo screamed in fury as he dug his knee into his brothers wound making him double over in pain.

While he was distracted Sabo grabbed the knife stepping over Ace as he approached Luffy. He grabbed his hair tilting his head back as he tried once again only to be tackled by Ace before the knife could even touch him.

"What are you doing?" Ace cried as he clocked Sabo across his face somewhat weakly.

Sabo didn't reply as the two of them tumbled around in the dirt. Sabo was running out of time. He had seconds left before midnight passed and the opportunity would be gone for the month. Sabo didn't care about that though. He had been told that if he failed tonight they would cancel the spell placed on him and everything would come rushing back into him. He was terrified of that happening.

"Freeze!" Sabo commanded as Ace came to a reluctant stop. He scrambled for the knife as he felt Ace fighting his hold. It worked much better on humans then it did wolves. His hands were shaking with adrenaline as he grabbed the knife and held it to Ace's throat looking him in his eyes.

Ace looked confused, possibly a little betrayed but worry shined in his gray eyes muting everything else. The concern wasn't because of the knife at his throat but rather for Sabo himself.

With that one look Sabo felt horror well up in his chest. It was at this moment he realized he had failed and the spell had been broken. His soul had been returned to him.

Sabo dropped the knife as he sunk to his knees in front of Ace. He brought his hands to his mouth at the horror of what he had tried to do.

"Ace?" He asked although it came out more like a whisper.

Ace looked down at him his emotions written across his face plain as day.

"Sabo?" He asked cautiously.

Sabo nodded as Ace slid down to the ground as well in relief.

"Are…are you okay?"

Sabo shook his head, his hands still covering his mouth. "No."

Ace leaned closer wrapping his arms around his brother lightly, like he was going to break apart any second. He rested his cheek on Sabo's shoulder feeling the shutters wrack the others body. Vampires couldn't cry. But he was willing to bet if they could Sabo would be crying. Ace really didn't understand anything. He didn't get why Sabo had tried to kill Luffy, he didn't get what had been wrong with his brother. All he knew was Sabo was back now and he needed Ace to not ask him any questions, at least not until he calmed down. He petted the blond's hair trying to tell him that it was okay now.

Sabo suddenly gasped and pushed Ace away as he stumbled to his feet. The girl, he could still save her.

"Get Luffy." He told Ace as he sprinted across the clearing. He crashed down beside the abandoned backpack rummaging around for her extra rope and flashlight. He tossed the bag aside, clutching the knotted rope in his right hand and the flashlight in his left as he knelt by the hole.

"Hunter?"

"Someone Help!" Her panicked voice floated up to him. "There's something down here."

Yea that was kind of the idea. He dropped the light down beside her as he worked on untangling the rope.

"Shine it at anything that moves." He yelled. "They don't like light."

Instead of listening to him she shined the light up at his face, blinding him.

"Not you," She whined. "You're the one who put me down here."

"Now I'm trying to get you out." He told her looping one end of the rope around his waist.

"Yea right!" She yelled as she used the flashlight as a weapon to ward off the creatures surrounding her. It was impossible to see them fully as they shrieked with the light, retreating back to the darkened areas. But the second the beam faltered they crept up on her again. Slowly and unsurely but with growing ferocity. They were collecting their strength, getting ready to kill. Sabo knew he had just moments left before he lost her.

"It's me or them." He told her, "Grab on and I'll pull you up."

"Fine." She hissed between clenched teeth. "But I want you to know I really don't like you!"

"I don't like me either right now." He sighed as he felt weight on the other end. Wrapping it around his palms he began to lift her up. He heard her scream as one of them grabbed her boot but he yanked harder praying he would win out. Sure enough they let go allowing him to drag her over the lip of the hole.

She was panting heavily and her ankle was at an odd angle, no doubt from the fall.

Sabo had never felt bad for hunters. He figured they were mostly asking for whatever death they got. But he felt for her. She looked about his age but not as worldly. She was still naive in her youth. He wondered if things would stay that way after tonight.

He looked at her mournfully.

"I'm sorry."

XXX

Luffy looked up with wide eyes as Ace approached. He couldn't talk but Ace knew he had been crying. The second Ace cut the ropes and taken the glove away Luffy threw himself at his brother hugging him tightly as he buried his face in Marco's shirt. He rested his chin on Luffy's head hearing him sniff. Ace liked to tease him about being a crybaby but now that he was older it took a lot to make him cry. Part of Ace didn't even want to know what had happened.

He looked up as Sabo made his way over to them. The girl sat watching them a ways away. She was visibly shaken but she wasn't seriously hurt. At least it looked like they had saved everybody so Sabo didn't have murder on his conscience. His brother looked like the worst out of all of them. Ace felt worry curl in his stomach. He hoped he was going to be okay. He was pretty sure the three of them had their fill of emotionally scaring memories. Any more just seemed like gross overkill.

"Sab?" Ace questioned softly as he ran his fingers through Luffy's hair. Sabo didn't meet his eyes.

"Can you manage getting back?"

Ace frowned. Now that his adrenaline had worn off he honestly didn't know. He was pretty sure he had reopened every wound. Even so they didn't have much of an option. He had made it this far on sheer will power alone, why not go back as well.

"We will manage." He said, "Luffy can help me right?"

Luffy nodded slightly against his chest letting him know he was still with them.

"What about you?"

Sabo looked back at the girl. "I have to make sure she gets back alright."

"Then you will come back… right?" Ace said, worry evident in his voice. He honestly didn't know what Sabo was thinking right now. It was rather worrying. He leaned forwards to give his brother a one armed hug. He felt Sabo stiffen at first before relaxing into the hug.

"When you return can you tell me what the hell happened?"

"Do I have to?" Sabo whined.

"Yes!" Ace said firmly.

XXX

Ace may have been forgiving but the girl was not as generous. Although to be fair she had every reason to hate him until the day she died. The least he could do was make sure that day was not today. He entrusted Ace and Luffy to look after each other before he made his way back over to her.

Her ankle was extremely broken and beginning to swell. It looked like a compound fracture. Still she had a hell of a fighting spirit. As he approached she tried to crawl away, knowing full well it was hopeless. Still Sabo could tell she wasn't ready to accept death yet.

"Wait!"

"Stay away from me!" She yelled as she tried to get up only for her ankle to give under the weight. She fell to the ground with a scream of pain.

"I want to help you." Sabo insisted as he bent down beside her.

"Funny that's not what you wanted a few minutes ago." She hissed trying once more to get away from him.

"You're not going to make it in the woods on your own." He told her truthfully. The wolves would tear her apart, especially as she was now. He doubted she would even be able to stay awake for more than ten minutes before the pain caught up to her and she crashed.

"I'm not going to make it with you either." She told him bitterly.

He could see that there was no way he was going to be able to talk to her sensibly. She would never trust him, especially not after what just happened. Steeling his resolve he ignored her screams of protests as he scooped her up. She struggled wildly, flailing about like a mad man.

"Put me down!" She demanded as he tightened his hold, making his way out of the clearing.

He had ever touched another human before. It was kind of strange. As a general rule Sabo did not like humans, most of the ones he met were selfish creatures who were as violent as they were greedy. He supposed the teenagers Ace and Luffy befriended weren't all bad, although he was a long ways away from trusting them. Although after watching the fight she put up and how brave she pretended to be Sabo couldn't help but feel a spark of admiration for the hunter girl. Maybe not all of them were horrible monsters. Although to be fair Luffy was still plenty scared of her. Sabo groaned as he added that to the list of things he needed to apologize for.

"What's the trick this time?" She asked as they made their way through the woods. "You pretend to help me then drop me in another hole?"

"No more holes he promised." One felt like enough.

"Then where are you taking me!" She said resuming her struggles.

"Home." He told her simply as her eyes narrowed.

"Yea right. One second you try to kill me and the next your Mr. Good Samaritan. What's the catch?"

Sabo did not want to be having this conversation. He didn't want to be doing anything. He wished the earth could swallow him up. But since that didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon he had to deal with the consequences of the mess he made.

"The catch is I'm really sorry for scaring you and I'm sorry about your ankle."

"That doesn't answer my question." She told him pulling his hair.

He swatted her hands away. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me." She challenged raising her eyebrow.

When Sabo didn't say anything she persisted. "If you really want to help me like you say tell me what's going on. You owe it to me."

She got him there.

"It was a spell." He told her grimly.

"It made you act crazy?" Her voice was skeptical but at least she had stopped fighting him.

He nodded. "Like the one I was trying to do."

"Aren't vampires evil and crazy all the time anyways?"

He shrugged not sure how to answer. "Some of us are," He told her honestly.

"But you're like Casper the friendly vampire or what?"

His lips twitched slightly at that before returning to his grim expression.

"Trust me I'm not. I'm just not usually that bad."

They were silent for a while before she spoke.

"Those boys. Who were they?"

Sabo shifted wondering how to handle this.

"They are… were friends of mine. When I went crazy I really scared them."

"Are they going to be okay? I mean they're in the woods alone."

"They can take care of themselves." He promised. At the very least they could take care of each other.

She nodded satisfied.

"I'm sorry about your mom's birthday," He told her.

"Me too." She breathed as she leaned back in his arms. The pain and stress was finally working its way through her body now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Her ankle was beginning to throb like nobody's business.

"What's your name?" She asked him after a moment catching him off guard. She liked to catch him off guard. He made the best faces.

When he didn't answer she told him, "Mines Koala."

"Sabo." He said softly as she closed her eyes for a minute.

"s'nice to meet you Sabo," She said feeling another fresh wave of pain washing over her. She heard him call to her worriedly but she was too far gone to care. When another wave of pain hit her she blacked out.

When Koala woke up hours later she was in the hospital, her mother crying besides her bed side table. A thick cast was around her leg and her mother's warm hand was in hers.

XXX

When Sabo came home much later he was unsurprised to find Ace and Luffy on the couch. They had both fallen asleep. Luffy still had his arms wrapped around Ace and his face was hidden against his shoulder. He suspected the night had traumatized the kid for probably the hundredth time in his young life. Sabo distinctly recalled telling Luffy he was messed up, amongst other things. He could see the swelling on his cheek where he had slapped him, just to prove the point. He did not have the heart to deal with this right now.

Sabo shook Ace awake gently and his concern grew when it took Ace a while to fully opened his eyes.

"Your back," Ace slurred as he sat up. "Did it go okay?"

Sabo nodded as he moved to get the first aid kit. Luffy wasn't lying Ace had gotten really hurt. Only Ace grabbed his hand stopping him from leaving.

"That can wait."

"No it can't you look like you've been through the works." Most of the bandages had come off when he fought Sabo.

"Yes it can!" Ace insisted pulling Sabo down to the couch with him. "Just talk to me okay. Tell me what happened."

Sabo shook his head. He didn't ever want to talk about it again. Although to be fair he definitely owed his brothers an explanation. He just really REALLY didn't want to.

"It can't be that bad." Ace reasoned.

"Of course it was! You were there." He could still see the image of Luffy's teary face begging Sabo not to kill him. Even without a soul Sabo had instinctively reacted, trying to ease his little brothers fear the way he had been doing all these years.

Sabo looked down at Luffy and then at the floor.

"I don't think he is ever going to forgive me."

"Sure he will," Ace told him. "This is Luffy we're talking about here."

Sabo shook his head. There were so many things he had sworn never to do, least he turn out like his parents and he had crossed every single line tonight. He had fed off Luffy by force, he had used his pureblood will on others and when he got bored he screwed with their heads, finding their weak points and digging around just to see what would happen. The very same thing his parents always excelled at with him.

"Just kill me it will be easier." Sabo bargained making Ace roll his eyes.

"Just tell me what happened? Why were you all psycho? It was because of the vampire's right?"

He nodded standing up. "I'll tell you if you let me bandage your wounds."

"Luffy bandaged them already." Ace protested shifting the sleeping teen to Sabo.

"He sucks at first aid." Sabo reminded him. He sucked at most practical things.

As Ace struggled to remove his shirt Sabo took Luffy to bed not willing to risk him waking up and having to talk to him as well. Just Ace was hard enough and he wasn't even mad at him. Thankfully the one good thing about anemia was it made you sleep like a log.

While he was at it he bandaged the nasty bite wound on his neck as well. He tucked his brother in giving him a kiss on the temple as a substitute apology.

When he got back downstairs he decided to forgo the stiches for now. Neither of them were willing to deal with the hassle tonight. As he methodically went about fixing his extremely reckless brother's wounds Ace coaxed the story out of him.

"So I went against the vampire army and I managed to stop most of them but it was all I could manage and I blacked out."

Ace had snorted at that but Sabo kept going, determined to get it all out before he changed his mind.

"Law took me back to Doflamingo and they used a sort of spell on me or something. They sealed my soul away and in exchange I had to do a task for them.

"How was it a favor if you didn't want them to do that in the first place?" Ace asked wincing when Sabo put the rubbing alcohol on a particularly nasty wound.

Sabo sighed. "When I'm in my right mind I want my soul of course. But not to feel guilt or fear or remorse or even love it's all very freeing."

"And it gives you a superiority complex," Ace muttered.

"That it does," Sabo agreed. It's why vampires were such assholes after all. "But it makes you weak. You proved that by beating me."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well for starters you stopped me, with like five bullet holes in you when I was all supercharged on blood and I had a knife."

"Yea how did I win?" Ace asked as he tried to swat Sabo's hands away from the wound on his shin.

"You were fighting for something." Sabo told him simply.

Ace smiled at him with one of his rare gentle smiles. "And now you are as well."

Sabo brought his knees closer to his chest as he buried his head. "Too little too late." He muttered angrily.

"What? Are you talking about Luffy? Are you sure he's even mad at you?"

"It wouldn't surprise me if he was." Sabo said bitterly. "I did try to kill him."

"Yea," Ace mused. I guess there's not exactly a card for that."

Sabo moaned as he laid his head in his hands.

Ace leaned closer putting his hand on his brother's shoulder comfortingly. "He will get over it Sab, probably before you."

"I told him you guys were bonded." Sabo said thinking he may as well put everything on the table.

"…Oh." Ace said somewhat taken back. "Oh." He said again softer.

"Are you upset?" Sabo asked peeking out from under his hands.

"No," Ace admitted. "It's my own fault for not saying anything sooner. Was he alright with it?"

"I mean immediately after that I told him that if he dies you die and then I tried to kill him so I feel like there may have been a better way to break the news."

Ace let out a whistle, "If that's not called ripping off the band aid I don't know what is."

"So you're okay with it?"

Ace shrugged. "I guess I have to be. You didn't tell him anything else right?"

Sabo looked down at the couch, picking a stray thread with his fingers. As much as he wanted to come clean there was one thing he couldn't admit to.

"No."

Ace sunk down lower on the couch as he ran his hands over his face. "Man today sucked."

"Tell me about it." Sabo grumbled.

"Let's go to bed," Ace said. "You'll feel better tomorrow."

"I don't want to go to sleep I want you to kill me."

"Nuh-uh." Ace tried to stand up only for his legs to give way on him.

"You didn't kill me like I asked when we had to sit through last week's gathering. Why should I do you any favors?"

Sabo helped him stand, throwing his arm out when Ace's unstable legs nearly toppled both of them over.

"What would I do without you?"

"Try to kill our little brother?"

"Ace!" Sabo gasped nearly dropping him in surprise.

"Too soon? Are we not joking about that yet?"

"It's not funny."

"If we only laughed at the funny things that happened to us our lives would be very joyless.

Well that was true but Sabo still fought the urge to push him over.

"Ace." Sabo said with a sigh as he put his hand on his brother's waist in efforts to keep them steady.

"Yea?"

"Go the hell to sleep."

XXX

Dragon had a very long day. He ran his calloused hands over his face with a sigh. At least the death count was minimal. Although they realized a bit later that he had lost a fair amount of hunters in the process.

He cast a glance down at the picture frame on his desk. The only personal item in the entire office. He kept it face down when he had company as he didn't like to disclose personal information. He felt like it put him at a disadvantage.

Now that he was alone he stood it up in front of his computer. His wife smiled back at him her dark eyes shining with mirth. God she was beautiful. In her arms she held a little kid. His smile mirrored hers perfectly but his eyes were Dragons.

No, what was he doing looking at this when there was work to be done. He put the picture back down as he turned his attention to his computer seeing dozens of urgent messages he had to attend to. It was going to be an all nighter for sure. As he scrolled through the copious emails one in particular caught his attention. The tittle was in caps and it read: 'trust me you will want to see this.' The sender's name was listed down as 'lone wolf.'

Frowning now he opened the file surprised to find a digital copy of a security tape. Upon closer inspection he realized it was from one of the military outposts on the edge of town. They had all been taken out before the attack. By dragons prediction they had been attacked roughly an hour before the wolves hit town.

He played the tape watching it fast forward through the night. True to his prediction the night had been uneventful until the wolf attack. It was brutal to say the least but the man had long since been desensitized to such violence. The crypticness of the sender was off putting but there was nothing particularly shocking about the tape. As horrible as the carnage was Dragon had been expecting it.

What he was not expecting was what happened fifteen minutes later. He was about to turn off the tape when movement at the door caught his attention. He thought maybe the monsters were back for seconds but to his immense surprise it wasn't a wolf at the door, nor a vampire, nor a man. Instead it was a boy in a hauntingly familiar red hoodie. He stood in the doorframe, a crossbow gripped tightly in his hands. He surveyed the bloodshed with a look of sick horror on his face until he had to look away. Just as Dragon thought he couldn't be more surprised a wolf joined the boy. Although he didn't seem to be interested in a human snack. Instead he pressed his snout to the kids hand and if Dragon didn't know any better he would almost think the wolf was trying to comfort him.

Clearly more used to the bodies the wolf walked into the lodge sniffing the air. The boy followed him still looking rather sick. They both took note of the broken radio panel.

The kid rested his hand on the wolf's shoulder like it was a damn lap dog rather than a cold blooded killer.

The man physically held his breath when the wolf turned its attention to the kid. Resting its forehead against his as it let out a low growl. But it wasn't just that, oh no. They were actually communicating. The kid could understand the growls and whines and the wolf answered back when he spoke.

He watched practically holding his breath as the monster pushed the kid away with his snout. The boy nodded reluctantly, turning on his feet and running out of the lodge. The wolf gave the body's one last reluctant look before taking off as well.

As the video ended Dragon realized there was text below the attached file. It read simply:

Thought you would want to see what your son was getting up to with the prince of mongrels.

XXX

To make up for the prolonged absence here is two chapters. It is a little unpleasant of a story. I don't know how it turned so dark. Poor Sabo. But all's well that ends well right? RIGHT? It is also the halfway point for the story. From here on the tones going to shift a little as everyone prepares for an all-out war. I know I always say this but this time in particular the spelling is going to be messy. I promised my friend I would go with her to her sorority's party, ah the joys of college. So I don't have a ton of time to spell check but I promise if you bare with me it should all be corrected by Friday when I get back. In other news this story just hit 100K for the word count. That's a lot of words. Thank you so much for reading it means the world to me. Please stick with it even if you hated the chapter as I promise things will get going next time when we get into the fallout from this chapter (because it's going to be a big one.) Also Chapter 22 is going to be a big chunk out of Ace's past. Please tell me what you thought of this monstrously long chapter!