AN: i forgot to mention this last chapter so i'm telling you here: Not-Sabo's appearance is based off the cover of chapter 596, where Oda drew what Sabo would have looked like had he grown up with his brothers! :3
Only Ace can see it. It's pretty easy to figure that out by how relaxed Luffy is around this… whatever the thing sitting on the floor with them is. Unless maybe Luffy's just completely ignoring that this thing has voids where its eyes are supposed to be. Maybe Luffy just forgot what Sabo's face actually looked like? Luffy's always been kind of faceblind, so- No, even Luffy's level of face blindness does not excuse forgetting your brother has eyes.
Ace is pretty sure that the thing can tell it's freaking Ace out, too. It knows whatever spell it's got on Luffy isn't working on Ace, but that fact doesn't upset it. No, if anything, Not-Sabo is amused by the fact Ace very clearly wants to pull his little brother away from it.
"Luffy, can I talk to you for a second?" Ace says. Luffy looks to his tag-along demon, but before he can invite it, Ace adds "One on one?"
"Oh, sure." Luffy says. He stands, grinning as he waits for Ace to do the same. "Be right back, Sabo!"
"See you soon." the thing replies. Its voice is far too… Off. Ace doesn't know. There's something unworldly about it, like Ace can't quite place where it's coming from. The thing's mouth moves when it speaks, but Ace feels as though he hears its voice from within his own head rather than its mouth.
Ace sets his hand on Luffy's back, half-pushing him out the front door of Dadan's house.
"Luffy?" Ace asks. He's trying not to make it clear he's freaking the hell out, but it's hard. How can Luffy be so… Luffy about this?
"Yeah?" Luffy asks "Isn't this cool? I went back to the treehouse and slept in there and when I woke up, Sabo was there!"
"Luffy, that this isn't Sabo." Ace says. "Did you even see its face?"
"Don't be mean, Ace. He's not a thing, he's Sabo." Luffy crosses his arms. "Just cuz his tooth grew back in doesn't mean he's not Sabo anymore."
"His- His tooth? That's what you think the problem is?" Ace asks. Luffy really can't see it.
"What else would it be?" Luffy asks. Ace stares at Luffy for a long moment, but Luffy gives no indication he knows any more than he's saying. Ace sighs. Luffy genuinely believes this thing is Sabo, and after their argument last night...
"...Right. Fine." Ace says. Whatever the… Not-Sabo is, Ace has to play nice for now and get rid of it-him?-without upsetting Luffy.
"Then let's go back inside. He's been gone for so long! I don't want to leave him alone in there." Luffy says, grinning. Ace nods, letting Luffy lead so he can hang back a second to wipe the sweat off his face.
"Sabo!" Luffy says "We're back!"
"Hi, Luffy." Not-Sabo says. Another warm smile, though it doesn't reach his eyes. Even though his face is pointing at Luffy, Ace can feel Not-Sabo's gaze. Ace crosses his arms. "Ace, why were you sleeping at Dadan's tonight? Is something wrong with the treehouse?"
"No. We haven't used the treehouse since you… Left." Ace says.
"I'm back now, aren't I?" The stranger says. "It looked like it needed a little work, but I'm sure we could fix it up. Just the three of us, like when we were kids."
Ace wants to ask how he knows about that, but Luffy's already excited about the idea.
"We can fix it today! I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, too, so it'll be done a lot faster." Luffy says "I bet you're a lot stronger, too! But I could beat you now!"
"Luffy…" Ace mumbles. Luffy frowns, then leans towards Not-Sabo.
"Ace doesn't let me fight him anymore. He's afraid I'm gonna get hurt." Luffy stage-whispers to Not-Sabo, clearly unbothered Ace can still hear him. "He worries so much now!"
"I'll fight you if you'd like, but I'm not going easy on you." Not-Sabo says. He stands, brushing the dust off his pants from sitting on the floor. "But how about we head to the treehouse first? If we're going to stay there tonight, it'll be best to get to work on it now."
"I'll tell Dadan we're leaving and grab my stuff." Luffy says, hopping to his feet. "Help Ace get his stuff together! I know he missed you a lot. We both did."
With that Luffy is off, and Ace feels Not-Sabo's gaze agan. It lifts a moment later, and Not-Sabo bends down to pick something up.
"A telescope?" He asks. Ace looks up, seeing the golden telescope in Not-Sabo's hand. "Looks just like the one I found for Luffy when we were kids."
"What? No, it doesn't. That one was…" Ace starts, but he's unsure. What did that one look like again? A second ago he was sure they were nothing alike, but suddenly, no matter how hard he thinks back, all he can remember is this same sleek, unblemished gold. It's far too nice for Grey Terminal, Ace knows there's no way… But what did it look like?
Not-Sabo watches Ace puzzle a moment with a quiet, closed-lip smile.
"Come on, Ace." Not-Sabo says. "We should get ready."
"No, a little more to the- Perfect!" Not-Sabo directs Luffy from the ground, grinning as Luffy sets in the last board. Ace stands next to him, frowning as Luffy hammers it in.
Ace doesn't want to sleep when Not-Sabo is around, especially not out here where Dadan and the others are so far off. Ace knows that when they were kids he was stronger than Sabo then (if only by a hair), but he doesn't know how strong this stranger is.
Not-Sabo is clearly not even human. Ace has no idea what he actually is, what he's weak to, or what he's capable of. The fact Not-Sabo has Luffy's full trust is dangerous in and of itself. The worst part may be that Ace has no idea what Not-Sabo wants from them. Why even come here? What does some other-worldly being gain from disguising as their dead brother? And why can only Ace see it for what it is?
Not-Sabo bumps Ace's arm with his elbow to rouse Ace from his thoughts.
"Don't want to keep him waiting." Not-Sabo says, pointing to Luffy. Luffy's hanging out the window, waving to Ace and Not-Sabo from the top.
Ace's arm feels cold.
"The cups are still up here, see?" Luffy says, pointing to where their sake cups are hanging in a net on the wall. He's giving an attentive Not-Sabo a tour of their treehouse, though it's not like there's much to show. "We mostly left the treehouse alone after you left."
"And where did you say you went again?" Ace asks. "I'm surprised you never even wrote. Forget our address?"
"I told Luffy already, It's a secret." Every word Not-Sabo says to Ace is clipped, offhand. He barely finds Ace worth humoring. "Some questions are safer unanswered."
"Then what brings you back now?" Ace asks.
"I was in the area." Not-Sabo says.
"We thought you died." Luffy says. Ace crosses his arms. His hand lands on his scarred left shoulder, half reminding him the injury is real.
"You did?" Not-Sabo asks. His voice is much warmer when he talks to Luffy. "I'm so sorry. I would have come back sooner if I'd known."
"Well, you apologized, so I forgive you." Luffy grins. "You just have to visit way more! Though it'll probably just be me, Ace's 17th birthday is coming up!"
"Is it? That's exciting." Not-Sabo says. "Are you going to set out?"
"No." Ace says. Especially not now, since Luffy's invited a fucking demon into their house and he doesn't even know about it.
"A shame." Not-Sabo says. "But it might be for the best."
"What?" Luffy asks.
"Oh, well… If Ace isn't strong in his conviction to set out, he's only going to get killed." Not-Sabo says. He looks at Ace, and somehow, Ace knows Not-Sabo is meeting his eyes. "You won't be able to do anything by running away."
Luffy says something in response, but Ace doesn't really hear it, his heart pounding in his ears. Not-Sabo's sentence repeats over and over in his mind like a broken dial.
He knows?
Diving, diving, diving, The ocean is deep, vast, far too deep. Everything burns, every inch of his body and the surface, his eyes and his lungs and his heart. Somewhere below Ace, if he can just reach…! Hold his breath a little longer, swim a little faster, hold his breath- His breath- He can't breathe-!
Ace's eyes fly open, landing on two light-sucking eye sockets looming above him.
"What're you-" Ace chokes, hands flying to the two around his neck. Not-Sabo grins.
"Quiet." He drops Ace's neck. "Don't want to wake our brother."
"What-" Ace coughs, shoving Not-Sabo off himself. He sits up, trying to catch his breath. His chest is burning, but his neck is icy cold where Not-Sabo's fingers just left.
If Ace hadn't insisted on sleeping between Not-Sabo and Luffy, would it be Luffy gasping for breath right now? Or is Not-Sabo targeting him?
Not-Sabo watches in silence, sitting up straight.
"I saw Sabo die." Ace spits "I don't know what you want from us, but you aren't going to get it. I'm not letting anyone else take another brother from me."
Not-Sabo watches Ace's coughing die down. When Ace finally looks up at him again, he sees something starting to seep out of Not-Sabo's eye socket. It crawls up and down out of the hole, over his chin and down his neck. It settles in an instant, and Ace finally realizes what it is: A burn scar.
"What… Are you?" Ace asks. Not-Sabo smiles. Ace hates looking at it.
"A wish." Not-Sabo says. "If you're not ready to complete me yet, that's alright. I'm not going anywhere."
"Bastard." Ace mutters. Not-Sabo's expression doesn't waver. That same cold, closed-lip smile. Ace is starting to realize it's a threat.
"Go back to sleep, Ace. Rest your eyes. I only wanted to speak to you." Not-Sabo says, then adds, almost sing-song, "One-on-one."
Ace doesn't move.
"I have only your best interests in mind, you know." Not-Sabo says. "Both of you."
As Ace's breathing finally levels, he wonders-Does the stranger even breathe? Can he be strangled? Can he be drowned?
Despite his better judgement, Ace lies down on his side. He faces Luffy, frowning as he feels Not-Sabo's gaze on his back.
"Sleep well, brother."
Is Luffy going to notice? He has to, right? There's no way Luffy can miss that their fake brother has a giant fucking scar covering a third of his face which wasn't there yesterday.
But… Luffy interacts with Not-Sabo just the same, wishing him and Ace the same cheerful good morning. Is it like the eyes? Can Luffy just not see it? Or…
"Luffy?" Ace asks, slowing his run to drop back beside Luffy. Luffy insisted they all hunt breakfast together, and Ace has been waiting for Not-Sabo to build a lead big enough he won't hear them. Probably. How good is his hearing, anyway...?
"Yeah?" Luffy asks, "You don't have to drop back anymore, Ace. I can keep up with you just fine!"
"That's not- Have you noticed anything weird about Sabo's face this morning?" Ace asks.
"This again? The tooth isn't that big a deal!" Luffy says. Ace groans.
"Not the tooth, Luffy. The scar!" Ace says, skidding to a stop. Luffy stops as well, glancing ahead at Not-Sabo's back. It occurs to Ace dimly that Not-Sabo "remembers" this forest far too well for someone who's been gone seven years, but what's yet another weird fucking thing about the guy?
"The big one?" Luffy asks. "All over his face?"
"It wasn't there yesterday!" Ace says. Luffy stares at him a moment before reaching up to try and put a hand on Ace's forehead. Ace smacks him away.
"You feeling okay?" Luffy asks. "We can bring you back breakfast if you wanna go back and lie down."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ace asks. Luffy frowns.
"Sabo's had that scar since he got back." Luffy says. "He got it when he left."
"No, he- Last night, I saw him. It came out of his eye." Ace says, almost frantic, pointing to his own left eye. Luffy glances forward to where Not-Sabo has disappeared into the forest.
"Sabo always had the scar." Luffy says. "Remember?"
"No! Last night, it-" Ace starts, but when he thinks back to yesterday...
Just like with the telescope, Ace finds himself unable to remember what Not-Sabo's face originally looked like. If Ace couldn't remember seeing it form, he's unsure he'd believe it hadn't always been there the way Luffy does.
"Ace?" Luffy asks. His head tilts to the side, watching Ace's no-doubt visible desperation. Is Ace just losing it? Why can't he remember?!
Ace clenches his fist, releasing a long sigh.
"I… Sorry." Ace says. "Never mind. I don't know what came over me."
"If you say so." Luffy says, and he smiles. "We should catch up to Sabo before he gets too far away."
Ace only nods, following after Luffy and Not-Sabo.
AN: as always, thank you for reading!