Samster7241: Luffy is their little angel.

School starts a week from now and I'm writing up another story like crazy and I really want to finish it in time. it's really long, though, and will no doubt take awhile to edit so I'm not sure when it will be done. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. A little creepiness, but not too bad.

Around noon, with most of the Spades asleep, the second very strange event occurred. It wasn't like the previous one where the whole ship turned into a very detailed castle, each room affected. This time, it wasn't just startling, but a bit frightening. Screams and shouts of confusion or horror filled the Moby Dick. Marco was walking down one of the hallways, heading to the kitchen for some blood, when he saw the first person running past him.

He paused, and then heard the shouts of alarm. The man sprinted down the hall towards the shouts and came to a sudden halt in front of a figure that clearly wasn't human. Marco felt no presence from it, like it wasn't even there. As some pirates ran away from the sight, Marco slowly walked closer.

The figure was all black except for a white face, with no face on it. It was much taller than any of the normal human sized pirates. It did nothing but stand there and face Marco, like it was staring at him, but had no eyes.

To say it was creepy would be an understatement.

"Commander, what are you doing?" a man from the second division asked when Marco reached out a hand to touch it. Surprisingly, Marco's hand went right through it. Previously, Luffy's dream creations had been solid. His powers really were a mystery, but these were clearly nightmares, even if they did nothing hostile and were just creepy.

Marco calmly and quickly turned around and headed to the Spades' room, passing more of the tall figures, who didn't move. They just stood there. It didn't make Marco the least bit afraid. He did wonder where such a creepy concept had come from in the innocent little boy's head. Marco was positive his brothers would never read Luffy any scary stories.

The phoenix vampire reached the Spades' room and slowly opened the door without knocking. They were all asleep, so no one saw one of the creepy figures standing in the room. It would be best that none of them woke to that, and Marco walked to the bed and reached over Sabo's side and gently shook Luffy awake. The moment his eyes opened, the disturbing figure vanished.

"Hey, Luffy, you okay?" Marco asked quietly. Luffy sniffled, clearly remembering the scary dream, whatever it had been. But the boy nodded. Ace and Sabo both woke up, wondering why Marco was there. Ace got defensive, glaring up at him, irritated someone got that close to them without either of them waking up immediately.

"What are you doing here, commander?" Sabo asked curiously, sleep still thick in his voice. Marco leaned back and now stood next to the bed instead of over them. Marco didn't know if he should explain what had happened or not with Luffy awake.

"Bad dream," Marco hinted, his eyes flicking to Luffy, who was hugging his stuffed animal tightly to his chest, wobbly bottom lip and teary eyes present. Sabo understood what Marco was trying to say, and looked worried and guilty. The worst thing had happened that they were nervous about. Luffy had unknowingly projected whatever nightmare he was having on the ship.

Marco seemed to understand what Sabo must be thinking, and said, "Don't worry, no one got hurt." He gave the brothers a reassuring smile. Ace's cheeks turned red again, and he looked down at his hands irritably. Sabo saw this out of the corner of his eye, and held in an amused smile.

"Thank you, commander, for waking Luffy up when we didn't know. Sorry to cause any trouble because of it," Sabo replied.

"It's fine. Get some more sleep. I'll see you later," the vampire phoenix said. He closed the door quietly behind him and Luffy shimmied back under the covers and fell asleep. The sun was still up after all.

Sabo smirked. "Marco is attractive, isn't he?" Sabo teased. Ace's face turned dark red and he glared hatefully at Sabo. He turned onto his other side, reminding Sabo of a child. Sabo snickered behind Ace, but didn't say anything else on the subject. They both fell asleep again in the silence of the room. Neither noticed the others in the room who silently laughed at Sabo's words. They weren't brave enough to tease their captain, though.

-x-

People were shaken by the illusions that had suddenly disappeared. Marco walked past pirates, telling them everything was fine. But, many were now convinced the ship was haunted, and asked Marco to talk with the captain about it. Marco assured them as best as he could that he was positive the ship wasn't haunted. But what was he supposed to tell them had happened? What he and the others who knew had been worrying about was true. Nightmares could come to life. This time it wasn't harmful, just unnerving, but what about the next time the boy has a bad dream?

He had to go talk to Whitebeard about it.

It was still daytime, but the captain needed to know about it as soon as possible, especially as it could happen again anytime soon if Luffy had gone back to sleep. Marco had to agree with his family, though. The apparations were quite alarming, even just doing nothing. He passed Jozu in the commander's hallway, and was given a questioning look for going to wake up Pops in the middle of the day when he was sleeping. Marco just told him everything was fine, and he just had something important to tell the captain.

Marco knocked on the bedroom door, and was answered immediately. "Come in," Whitebeard's deep voice said. Marco opened the door and entered, closing it quietly behind him. "What is it, son?" Whitebeard asked, looking concerned even though Marco had done his best to conceal his nervousness.

"Luffy had a nightmare that affected the whole ship," Marco said, getting right to the point. The captain's face suddenly looked grim. "The apparitions didn't hurt anyone, they just stood around and did nothing. They also weren't tangible. When I went to wake him up, they disappeared," the first mate explained. "What should we do?"

Whitebeard thought for a moment. "Luffy didn't mean for that to happen. He can't control his dreams. It will be hard to train him to not having his dreams or nightmares become illusions everyone else can see. You said the nightmares didn't hurt anyone?" Marco shook his head. "I don't think we should kick them off or anything rash like that. We should wait it out. Our crew is strong, I doubt any monsters from a four year old is going to get the best of us."

"Well, people think the ship is haunted now," Marco pointed out. His father laughed loudly. "Well, it's the only semi-logical guess hey have."

"I suppose that is true. Still, I don't know what we should tell them. I'm positive Ace and Sabo, and their crew, would not like Luffy being the center of everyone's attention again, especially for something that could have mixed reactions. After all, these powers might be able to do harm, even if it is unintentional. When Luffy just gave off the nice feeling, there was nothing negative about that."

Marco frowned. "You think some of the crew will hurt or hate him?"

"Well, I sure hope not. But, some are afraid of the unknown, you know. As far as I know, there is no devil fruit that is what Luffy's powers are. I could be wrong, but it just seems too overpowered in a way to be a devil fruit."

"Plus, it takes a long time to master a devil fruit. Took you and I decades to fully master our powers. Luffy is four, meaning, if he did eat a devil fruit, he would have learned all of these powers in just a few years or even months. He can't control them yet, but I know it takes a long time to unlock a variety of powers for such a versatile fruit. I think the smarter of the crew would make that leap and agree with me, becoming more suspicious," Marco hypothesized.

"Luffy sure does make things interesting. And Ace, I heard about the narcolepsy incident." Then he wore a mischievous grin. "But, if he's having trouble with it, then he might want to stay after all. To help us protect Luffy whenever he feels he can't." Then he laughed. Marco shook his head.

"Don't let him hear you say that. He's quite the hot head. Except when it comes to Luffy, of course," Marco replied.

"Their bond is very tight. Makes me wonder what really happened when their mother was starting to turn. Must have been a nightmare experience," the captain said sadly. "Well, I'm going back to bed for now. I think we should have a talk with the Spades and our commanders about where to move on from here. We should have more people knowing so they can calm the others below them."

Marco nodded and said good day and left the room. Jozu was still there in the hallway, and Marco said, "We'll talk about it when the Spades are awake. Why don't you help me tell the others to be prepared to stay up late tonight?" Jozu agreed and walked off to inform the human commanders about the meeting. The vampires were still sleeping. Most of them. They would be awake for the meeting.

-x-

Luffy had no more nightmares, to everyones' thanks. Almost the minute the sun officially set, and the night sky shone above them, there was a knock on the bedroom door. Luffy and his brothers had already awoken, but the knock on the door woke up the other Spades. All of them had come in sometime during the day and so they were all present for Marco telling them there was a meeting that the pirates would like them to come to.

Ace and Sabo became worried. Marco seemed to know this, and smiled at them. "Don't worry, no one is in trouble," he assured. Sabo snickered when Ace blushed again, who hit him painfully in the shoulder. Luffy looked up at them with a frown. Sabo gave him a reassuring smile that they weren't really mad at each other.

"Let's go meet the rest of the commanders. How about it?" Sabo asked Luffy, who nodded with a smile, happy to meet more people. So many new people made him very happy. The Spades, all together now and dressed in changes of clothes, walked in their usual pattern, like they didn't know they were in strategic positions to keep anyone from harming Luffy.

Marco walked ahead of all of them, leading them through the ship's long and many halls. When they reached a part none of them had seen yet, they came to a large double door. When they opened it, there were already fourteen commanders there and the captain. There were nine chairs on the opposite side of the table, which were clearly meant for the Spades. The one meant for Luffy had a stack of large books on it so he could reach the table.

Ace lifted him onto it and both he and Sabo sat on either side of the boy. Both were a bit nervous. Marco went to his seat, next to the captain, and clasped his hands together on the table.

"First, we'll start off this meeting by explaining Luffy's new powers. But, none of this information will make it to the ears of anyone outside of this room. Do not worry, we are all trustworthy, why these men are the commanders." Sabo nodded, but Ace was wearing a small frown. Many of the pirates looked surprised about the boy having powers. Those who already knew, like Marco, Izo and Thatch didn't seem surprised at all.

"The illusions we saw a few days ago, the one where the ship turned into a castle, as well as the mystery puppies," (Luffy smiled), "as well as the not so nice looking figures earlier today, were all conjured by Luffy."

Luffy raised his hand excitedly, and announced that he also made toys and bath bubbles. A few commanders chuckled, and Ace ruffled Luffy's hair. Jojo noticed there was one commander who did not seem to like Luffy's presence. She glared at him, but he didn't notice.

"Is there a way for him to stop?" the unhappy commander asked, rather shortly. Ace and Sabo glared at him, and Luffy looked confused. All he did was make puppies and toys and bubbles.

"Why?" he asked, not understanding what was bad about it. The commander looked at Luffy with disdain, an expression Luffy had never been given before. He didn't like this man.

"Because being unable to control a power like that is dangerous," he replied. Thatch smacked his arm. "Kingdew" was his name. They heard Thatch whisper, "He's four, Kingdew, ease up." Luffy had a wobbly lower lip. He didn't mean to do anything bad.

Ace put his hand on Luffy's head. "You didn't do anything wrong, Lu. Some people just can't handle something different," Ace said, loud enough for the human commanders to hear. "Some people are just small minded." Kingdew glared at the teen, who gave him a sneer. Nobody upsets his baby brother. Nobody and no one has any right to hurt an angel like Luffy, even just his feelings.

Luffy made a small, "Oh," as he didn't know what small minded was and he didn't want to ask because that human looked angry and Luffy didn't like angry people. Kingdew and Ace shared a stare that clearly showed neither liked the other.

"Son," Whitebeard said gruffly. "Calm yourself, this is meant to be a peaceful discussion." A few of the other commanders looked at their brother a bit irritably. Ace kept the cold look at the man, narrowing his eyes just barely as a threat to not upset Luffy. He slightly smirked when Kingdew was the first to look away.

"Anyways," Marco said loudly. "We don't know the extent of Luffy's abilities, so you should start trying to train him as soon as you can. Being on a ship where you don't have captains' duties and are not the only ones fighting against any enemies, starting on our ship might be the most productive place to train him. There is plenty of room if you need some alone spaces, and no one on this crew is weak, so you don't need to worry about Luffy's powers affecting anyone. Even if something unwanted does appear, we will be fine." Marco gave all of the Spades a reassuring look.

"Thank you commander," Sabo said with a slight bow. "We have been trying, but small steps. We'll make longer sessions for it after what happened recently." He kept his reply vague so it didn't give off anything negative to Luffy, who was looking at his small hands resting on the table.

Whitebeard spoke next. "Don't overdo anything. We don't want one step ahead and two steps back," he said. "Please do not worry about your safety being threatened here. You are all safe on this ship. I promise you that." Luffy grinned at him, earning a warm smile from the man across the table.

Marco spoke again, and added, "We're sailing as fast as possible to the next island to have your ship properly assessed. If something is wrong with it, you are welcome to stay here." No one noticed Marco's jaw clench when Ace's face went red. The Spades didn't notice, but the vampires in the room suddenly looked ready to burst into laughter. Marco looked at them all individually and gave them a menacing eye. No one said anything.

"Have a nice night, everyone," Whitebeard said in an amused voice. Luckily, Ace didn't notice the timing of his blush and the vampires' reactions. After the Spades left, the more polite ones giving bows (which did not include Ace, who still seemed irate with Kingdew), the vampires in the room burst into laughter.

Marco glared at them all. "Don't say a word," he threatened. Whitebeard chuckled deeply.

"Well, this is a surprise," he commented amusedly. Marco sighed and put his head in his hands. "I doubt he even notices it, son. Besides, these humans aren't around vampires regularly. They just aren't used to it yet," Whitebeard assured. Marco nodded in response with a sigh.

Many of the commanders were in the dark about what Whitebeard was talking about and what had Marco upset and the others amused.

"Mind letting us in on whatever is so funny?" Izo asked irritably.

"It's nothing," Marco insisted tiredly. "Just drop it, please." Those who weren't in on it looked frustrated and confused. Whitebeard sympathized with his son and told the other vampires to not say a word about what they all knew now. It was still hilarious for the captain, but he didn't want them to make Ace or Marco angry. Though, what a surprise it was. Ace, who fears vampires, seemed to have a crush on one of them.

Though, he was a human and they are susceptible to vampires just by being vampires, even if they don't know why. Though, it might not just be physical, with how Marco helped them out first and was kind to Luffy several times. Marco knew this might be the case as well, but he wasn't going to say anything first.

Though, to Whitebeard, age didn't matter when in love. But, that thought didn't usually include an over one hundred years age gap between both parties. Poor Ace. It was hard to say if it was wrong or not. Human and vampire partnerships often drew criticism, but it wasn't as if the vampire could de-age and go back in time to be nearer the age of their human partner. Vampires and humans alike had different views based on the situation and given circumstances.

They would just see what would happen next. After all, the Spades would still be with them for awhile. Hopefully, to the captain, indefinitely. Having youngsters aboard was a first in awhile and Whitebeard was enjoying being kept on his toes with the surprises the little one kept throwing at everyone. It left Whitebeard excited for more, knowing that they would all be fine regardless of what happened next.