HAVE NO FEAR THE NEXT UPDATE IS HERE! Let's pretend it didn't take me months to get this out? In my defense I lost the hard copy I had, and then when I found it again it took me a week to get this whole chapter out and transcribed as well as edited (which might not be perfect I tried). That being said its one of the shorter chapters, and I think this makes the whole thing 70k, excluding author notes. Still a shortish chapter because I'm trying to get ready for the next arc. That being said, there's some description of injuries and some medical terminology I probably messed up. Ah, I've rambled long enough, see you at the bottom!
DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE
Ace groaned as he awoke. His face felt sticky, and he took a second to realize that wherever he was smelled like copper. Dried blood? The (maybe) blood covered half of his head and underneath his nose. Beneath him he felt wood and there was a slight sway.
Am I on a ship? He wondered.
Also, he wondered why he tired, beyond tired actually and he ached... not unlike a hangover. Odd, he didn't remember drinking that much, nor had he ever been so drunk that he had a blackout. He pursed his lips, trying to think of what happened but his thoughts were muddled.
There was a tavern, and he went with everyone... but that was where his memory stopped. His consciousness was fading, so he switched to doing something less strenuous (though how trying to recall memories was tiring he didn't understand), like waking his body the rest of the way up. Ace moved to push himself up and then he was vomiting.
After he finished, he noted with distaste that it was mostly bile with a chemical aftertaste. He shoved himself away from it, rolling onto his back. A gasp escaped him when he felt something puncture him near his spine. Frowning when his fire didn't move to heal it.
He tried summoning it, only to have it stir underneath his skin and the return to its slumber. That was bizarre... being hungover had never affected his powers before and he was out of energy to move off the puncture. It was a small injury so he wasn't that worried about it. His head throbbed sharply and he lost his train of thought.
He reacted instinctively attempting to rub at his temples only to be met with resistance and the sound of chains being pulled taut. Admittedly, this wasn't the first time he had woken up chained to something. He vividly remembers a night before the Grand Line and... huh, he doesn't remember it as vividly as he thought, but, he knew it had been fun.
Pulling himself back to the present, he knew he still needed to figure out what happened. It would probably explain why his head was so foggy and his memories were so spotty.
Ace blinked his eyes open, after realizing that he had never opened them, noting with some worry that the room was completely dark. He prayed that it was because he was somewhere dark to not aggravate his hangover. Shifting once more caused whatever was puncturing his back to dig deeper. That was another question, why was he so disconnected from his body. There should be more feeling from something digging into his back; but, all he felt was a slight pressure. Not at all painful.
He's more concerned now. Things kept piling up: the lack of his powers, the chains, the amnesia, and the chemical taste. He had been drugged, more than likely after he was cuffed with seastone (his fire would've burned off any of the chemical) so there had to have been a struggle. Never would he willingly submit himself to seastone. Recent experiences with it have left him wary.
His breath came quicker wincing at the pain it caused in his chest, and his head throbbed in time to breaths, making any advanced thought difficult. He needed to know what happened after the bar. The tavern... He left early, but then what?
Whitebeard. He went to Pops. Talked to him. Said something important, but what...? Did he leave the ship?
There were footsteps coming from somewhere nearby and Ace quickly relaxed his body and tried to even out his breathing. If this was an enemy, then it would be best to be asleep. It was the only advantage that he could have at the moment.
Something opened, it squeaked so he assumed it was a cell door, and someone stepped inside. He was certain that he wasn't on Pops' ship anymore (unless what he told the man was that bad). His small panic had pushed out whatever affects the drug still had on his system, and he felt the puncture wound more acutely now as well as the blood leaking from the wound.
"Hmm, must've woken up at some point." The voice said.
It didn't sound the least bit familiar. What had happened?
"Pass out again? Or playing possum?" Without any warning a foot slammed down onto his chest.
The stomp wasn't hard enough to break any new ribs, but the cracked ones gave more under the force (and when did that happen?). Surprisingly he remained limp, but it took everything he had. The puncture dug in deeper.
"Guess you are out cold." The voice murmured.
There was some rustling, and the sound of glass hitting another glass. He felt a prick on his thigh. A few minutes later he could feel his heart rate and breathing start to pick up. For a few seconds he tried to fight it but he ended up taking in a large breath to try and calm himself. It was too similar to a panic attack for him not to react.
"Wakey, wakey."
Ace couldn't make out the face, or any of the features, the light was too poor. Though he doubted he could make one out even with good lighting.
"The serum will wear off soon, but know it's only this bad because you didn't need it? Faking being asleep like that, naughty boy."
He scowled, in hopefully the right direction. The man crouched down, and Ace could feel his breath, it smelled horrible. "Now, let me give you the rundown of what's going to happen to you, and then let's see if we can do anything about your pain.
The strange thing was, the moment that he said it Ace was very nearly overwhelmed with the pain from various parts of his body. He couldn't stop the grunt from escaping his lips. While he wanted nothing more than to tell this guy to fuck off, he knew that he would be wasting a valuable resource. The only thing to do was play along a be docile.
Ace needed those answers, and time to heal.
"So, then, what is going to happen to me?"
Marco grit his teeth as another drunkard scurried away from him. The other commanders and himself had started asking around town for anything that could help them find Ace, after Thatch and him had gone back to the trees. Someone had to have seen something. They needed that information, any information actually, the traffickers or whatever they were already had a full day and several hours on them. Any longer and it was incredibly likely that they would lose the trail.
It seemed as though they were chasing professionals, there was very little to go off of. The point of abduction hadn't had any clues. He wouldn't lose heart, but it was worrisome, who knew what their goals with Ace were.
Slamming his fist into the wall did nothing to relieve the anger igniting under the surface. He breathed deeply as the blue flame licked away the injury.
"No luck?" Izou said from behind him.
"None. Did you have any, yoi?" He turned around.
Izou shook his head. "Thatch hasn't reported in yet. Maybe he has something? People like talking to him."
Marco said nothing.
"Don't blame yourself." Izou set a hand on his shoulder. "It was arrogant of us to think that no one would challenge us by taking one of our brothers."
Unless they found out about Ace being blind. Then they'd go for him, Whitebeard or not. He caught himself before he could speak.
That would've been another mess, blurting Ace's secret like that. Calm down, think about your words before you speak.
"Let's head back, the others might be waiting on us." His fellow commander squeezed his shoulder before he started walking.
He followed behind. Marco was concerned about Ace, if he truly was at someone's mercy even if they didn't know about his blindness now, they soon would. The Whitebeards would have to find him before any lasting damage was done.
The ship came into view, and it was only due to his enhanced eyesight that he saw that the crew was in a frantic but controlled chaos. It was different from how he left the ship (which was mostly chaos). A glance back at Izou said that he was also surprised by this.
With a nod from his companion Marco was flying to the ship. From his vantage point he could see no signs of battle or impending attack, despite this, his apprehension grew.
He rose and then dived towards the ship, and the crew left enough room for him to land and and keep his momentum up to Pops' chair as he shifted. Off to the side he saw that two crewmates were prepared to raise the anchor.
"Pops?" He spoke first.
"Haruta was able to learn the name of the organization that took Ace, as well as get a rough location of their base."
Marco looked over to Haruta, eyebrows raised. "Who was it?"
First they shrugged, and then answered. "They call themselves The Snapdragons."
He tilted his head trying to recall if he had heard that name before. Behind him heard someone running.
"Like- Like the flower?" Izou was doubled over panting.
"I believe so," Pops answered, "is that of some significance?"
"The flower means deception." The commander replied.
Marco bit his lip, then addressed Haruta. "Where are they?"
"Supposedly their base is located on the opposite side of the New World."
"We'll set sail and hopefully catch up to them before they have a chance to do something. When everyone is back we're casting off." Several lower ranking members of the crew nodded and Pops' order.
Marco was glad that organizations like these tended to have a fault. Most of the hunters had a bounty on them, making them unable to turn in the bounty themselves; which meant that they had to regroup and send another person out. Likely, they would catch up to them when kidnappers were leaving the base.
It was simple, most groups didn't have the manpower or strength to stand up to the full might of the Whitebeard Pirates (not to mention a pissed off phoenix). The trick was going to be getting across the New World, especially if it was an unfamiliar part. A month, at the earliest, is what they were looking at travelwise, and that was with everything going well. Marco knew very well that things never went well in this sea.
"How many are off ship?" He asked instead.
Pops was silent for a few seconds. "Fifty."
The Phoenix had to stop himself from growling. It would take several hours for everyone to wander back to the ship. Personally, he wanted to fly out and round them up himself; but, past experience taught him that it would just cause a delay if they arrived and he was still flying around. Every second counted, and a month was already too long to have Ace off ship (captured, he amended it would be different if was by his own violation, he didn't actually believe that which bothered him more than he would've liked). Marco tried to ignore his how restless his phoenix was, it was restless, which was more of a reason that he should stay grounded.
Loud footsteps came from the stairs and three of the search party reported in.
47 to go.
He remained by his father for a few minutes more, watching the crew move around. Rushing off would show how troubled he was by this event. Instead he climbed up to the uppermost crow's nest to wait for everyone to return.
The leader nodded as his lieutenant reported on their captive's status. It seemed that Portgas hadn't put up much of a fight, even allowing him to be injected with the drug again. Despite how disconcerted he was involving Portgas' docileness he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Perhaps the pain was bad enough that the drug was a true blessing.
All that mattered was that it was taken, no matter the reasons behind it. If they could get the results they wanted without torture it was a win. He simply detested torture, it was gruesome, but should the success mission relay on it, then he'd be willing to toss away his personal feelings on the matter. The pirate probably wouldn't realize what was happening until it was too late.
Everything else was proceeding as planned. The pirates would be out of the picture for a month, which is all he needed, and the doctor should be at the rendezvous point. The marines had very few questions about someone turning in a pirate, and even less if it was someone of a noble profession like a doctor. They had the tale worked out as well so that the World Government wouldn't get wind of their activities.
He leaned back satisfied. This was perhaps one of the easiest bounties that he had brought in. All because the kid was stupid enough to go out to sea blind and then raise enough hell to get the Marines' attention. The only variable was Whitebeard and his crew, even if they were a month out of the way, if anything gave them away then they'd have the first division Commander on them quickly.
Perhaps the first mate wouldn't do anything so long as they had Portgas, and then they could capture him as well. If they got him, they wouldn't need to worry about working a day for the rest of their life.
Easy money.
Ace was finally alone and his head was spinning, and that had nothing to do with his injuries. The pain medication was coursing through his system and on top of the legrathy from the seastone made him slump to the ground.
His captor had pulled him off what was puncturing him, which he learned was a rusty nail. So that was some relief, but he doubt that he could really feel it at the moment. Also, his head was foggy making thinking hard, which is what he needed to do.
What he actually needed to do was get out of these chains and off this ship. They were taking him to the marines, and it sounded like his captors only knew that he was blind and not the son of the devil, which meant that he was going to spend the rest of his life in Impel Down. A far more terrifying fate than a public execution.
Preferably he'd have neither happen to him. So far he's only thought of three options that would let him get off of this ship: A rescue, him saving himself, or being turned over to the Marines. The first option was the most favorable, but he doubted that the Whitebeard Pirates would risk themselves for someone who had only been on the crew for a few months. The last option was not much of an option. Meaning that he would have to save himself.
Why should I expect anything else? Its nothing new, he'd been doing it since he could hunt for himself.
He blinked his eyes rapidly, they were becoming harder to keep open.
When he awoke he was surprised, he didn't remember falling asleep. Ace moved around, knowing that they wouldn't have moved him but hoping none the less. Unsurprising he found that he was still in the same room.
It also seemed like he had been undisturbed throughout his sleep. He had no idea if it had been hours or minutes. The ache that was coursing through his body made him lean towards the former. His stomach growled telling him that it had been hours since his last meal.
Were they going to starve him? For some reason they wanted him alive, so it was unlikely unless their travel time was very short. But, if it was a long travel time he could use it to his advantage. The guy yesterday didn't know of their exact destination.
Ace wondered if they were going to give him any more of that painkiller. It worked well, and might numb him enough that he could try and pull himself out of his cuffs. The action would end up dislocating his wrists and ankles, but there was really no other option of quick escape.
A door opened and Ace stilled. He didn't have time to fake being asleep, also, he didn't want to throw his already sore body onto the ground.
"C'mon, someone wants to meet you." Someone said.
Ace shifted. "How am I supposed to follow you? I mean, I'm a bit tied up at the moment."
The blow to his cheek stung, and made him bite the inside of his cheek. He spat out blood.
"I'd advise you to bite your cheek."
He growled. It was the short tempered guard today. Maybe he could use it to his advantage. Make him slip up somehow.
"I mean you did make me do that already so..."
This time he was expecting the blow and kept himself from drawing any more blood. After that he stopped his taunting not wanting to rile him up anymore and earn a more serious injury. He already knew that he was going to have a nice bruise on his face.
The guard set to work removing the chains around his ankles, and unfastening his chains from what he assumed was an anchor point on the floor. Mentally Ace tsked, he had wanted them to give him full range of his appendages, maybe if he played along as much as it pained him he'd be reward with that luxury.
Suddenly he felt himself being hoisted up by his arms, grunting as it tugged on his wounded chest. Blood also rushed away from his head making him dizzy. Then he found himself upside down, something pointy (boney?) pressing into his ribs.
Damn it. Can't count the steps. Ace pursed his lips thinking. "Careful! Do you want my ribs to stab into my lungs?"
For his complaint he got bounced.
"Your poster does say dead or alive, so watch yourself."
"But you want me alive, that's why you haven't killed me yet." Ace countered.
The man grumbled something, that he clearly wasn't meant to hear but still, it reached his ears.
"If it wouldn't cost us 20% of your bounty you would be dead already."
Ace blinked. He had never heard of Marines taking off money for bringing in a dead pirate. So then these guys weren't getting his full bounty... were they working with someone? It'd make sense but... who? Obviously someone doesn't like him, but everyone that has had a problem with him he's settled like a man. Maybe whoever he was going to meet would give more information.
They started walking and he tried to count the steps that were taken. It was harder since they weren't his own. He was also having a hard time figuring out which way they turned.
A door knob was turned and suddenly he found himself assaulted by the sounds of the ocean. Waves, gulls (they were near land?), wind blowing through a sail, and wind making a flag flutter. The sun hit his back, and it was hot, meaning it was around the middle of the day.
Ace swallowed thickly, feeling his pulse speed up. If it was noon, and not cloudy (which it didn't feel like it was) then what he is seeing should be brightly colored. Not this muted whatever he was seeing. He knew what it was.
"And the worst?"
"A year."
"You're kidding?"
"No, and that's going off the assumption it won't speed up and you avoid severe trauma to your eyes and head."
His heart sped up. That conversation had only been a couple of months ago. Had the blow to his head last night been that bad? Wait, how long had it been?
Memories stirred. There was an ambush... and he had fought... then... his head was smashed into the grass. Ace was pretty sure that it qualified as trauma, but he didn't think that it was bad enough to cause this drastic of a change.
Suddenly he was set down. Shit, I lost count. If he was going to escape that would've been valuable knowledge. Was it forty steps to the outside or fifty?
"So, you're the man who's going to make me rich?"
It was a voice he's never heard before, there were a lot of those apparently. "Not if I can help it."
"And can you?"
Ace didn't have an answer for that.
"I mean, you're injured, not horribly, and on ship you know nothing about in an area that you have no idea where. Not too bad of a situation, but for you it's impossible isn't it?"
He knew those facts very well. But it wouldn't stop him from trying. Like hell he was going walk straight into the marines' hands. Dying in the escape would at least tell the Whitebeard Pirates that he didn't give up without a fight.
"I can at least make your last few days comfortable before the marines take you to Impel Down."
Instead of answering he glared in the direction he thought the man was speaking from.
"Now, now, we don't need any of that." Footsteps thudded loudly.
His head was pushed backwards by a finger underneath his chin.
"These are your last few days of freedom. I suggest you don't make them horrible."
If I can just make it through today, it'll be enough. The old mantra rose to the front of his mind.
"I mean it isn't like you're waiting to be rescued by the Whitebeards, are you? They're going the completely wrong way."
He went cold. No, they wouldn't. He called me his son, Marco called me brother. "You're wrong!"
"I mean why would they risk injuries and casualties for someone like you?"
"They welcomed me into their family." Ace defended.
"Well, let's see how hopeful you are when its been a month and they still haven't come to save you."
He didn't respond to it. Though, he knew that it was more than likely that they set off without him, he wouldn't give this bastard that satisfaction. Part of him still thought that they might come for him. You don't leave family behind.
Doctor Conner paced nervously. Sure, he had dealt with pirates before, they had subsidized his income for many years. Those days he could ignore the actions that they took, because it wasn't due to him. But now he was part of a group currently kidnapping a crewmember of Whitebeard.
If what they say about his loyalty is true, then... "No, I can't think like that. He assured me the Whitebeard Pirates would be miles away, in the New World!"
Even with that thought, he held his hand up for the server to come by and give him another ale. It had only been a couple of years since he had last seen Ace, maybe the pirate wouldn't recognize his voice. What if he does and then escapes? I'll have Whitebeard banging down my door!
His knees were shaking and he drank the ale quickly, slamming some bills onto the table. Outside the cool air calmed him down. Drum Island was one of the few islands that he could get to easy. While he knew of the cruelties that Wapo had done to his own doctors, the king wouldn't dare touch another nation's doctor.
Especially if he was there in secret. Which he was. Not even his nurse knew where he went. Now that he gave it thought, he probably should've told someone incase this backfired.
"Oh, this whole ordeal has got me frazzled. It'll be over within a month I just have to wait here. And keep my eyes on the newspapers! Those pirates won't get the drop on me!"
There, easy fix. Just a month, and then I can stop living in squalor in a clinic barely staying above water.
If Doctor Conner had been paying any decent attention instead of focusing on himself. He would've noticed the Monster of Drum Island watching over him.
"Pirates? I'll have to tell Doctorine!"
/+4 days/
Izou watched as Marco shifted uneasily at the stern. He sighed. Seriously, these boys needed to learn how to talk properly. When they got Ace back he would make sure he and Marco had a long chat about in which direction they wanted their relationship to go.
Silently he stepped up next to his brother.
"Beli for your thoughts?"
Marco shook his head. "Its nothing serious, yoi..."
"Your face says otherwise." Izou raised an eyebrow.
The phoenix sighed, turning his gaze back out to the sea. "How did we let this happen? I mean, we're one of the strongest crews in all of the seas, and someone took our brother so close to our ship, yoi!"
"Marco, you know Ace likes to spend time on his own, and someone took advantage of it. More than likely for a bounty than any ill intentions towards Ace himself." He tried to speak calmly, there was no doubt that they were all in the same mindset as Marco.
It was unheard of, but just because of that doesn't mean it isn't possible.
"I don't know. He was off that entire night, restless, yoi."
It was about whatever he told Pops, but what... no it couldn't be?
Izou pursed his lips. "I know, but there was nothing that we could've done, he's still adjusting to the ship. Maybe being docked made him anxious."
"Maybe." Marco straightened up and sent a look to the top-most crows nest.
He knew that his brother had been spending as much time as he could without neglecting his duties up there. Probably even sleeping, but he couldn't know for certain. What Izou did know was this ordeal was bothering his brother deeply.
Like he was terrified for Ace, and while they were all a little worried. Could Marco know something that he wasn't sharing? If it was anything major he would've said it, and Izou knew now wasn't the time for baseless accusations.
"Maybe you should talk it out with Pops?"
Marco made a noise. "I'm going to confirm our course heading, yoi."
Izou watched him go. The faster they got Ace back the better. Hopefully they would be able to make the journey quickly, they had a solid tail wind and favorable seas, if it held they could in theory shave five days off of their travel.
As the first division commander, Marco didn't have the luxury of sitting around twiddling his thumbs waiting for the ship to arrive at their destination. However in exchange for his loyalty to his duty, he knew Pops very well, and he knew when there was something he was keeping quiet. Which is why when he left Izou he didn't check the course but went to Pops' room. He see if he was right about the topic of conversation. It might lift some of the burden.
"Pops?"
"Come in."
Pops was leaning back in his chair, bottle of sake for once forgotten as he looked through the porthole. "I was wondering when you'd come by."
Marco raised an eyebrow.
"Thatch said you were looking more stressed than normal."
"I suppose, yoi." He sat down.
They sat in silence for a few moments. Marco wondering if he should actually spill Ace's secret, if he was wrong about his guess. He might never regain his trust, but... this was an emergency. Though it would hurt having Ace lose all of that trust he displayed when they were together, it was something that needed to be done.
"It's about Ace, yoi." He started. "It's something he doesn't tell people freely, but it's why we need to get their at the first possible moment."
"Ace's secret? He already told me, the night he was taken. It took a lot for him to say something, which is why he went to the clearing to calm down."
Marco blinked and then blinked again. Ace had told Pops already? Certainly, it explained why he had been so agitated that day and why he was alone. But he wanted to know why he hadn't been told about this. He wasn't entitled to everything that the younger pirate did, but he was a confident. Well... If Pops knew, then it wasn't a problem.
A burden was lifted off of him, he really didn't want to betray the trust he was given.
"We need to get to him before they hand him over to the marines. If they find out..."
"It'll be trouble, yoi." Marco finished.
Pops fell silent once more, drumming his fingers on his chair. He hadn't sensed a dismissal and remained seated looking out of the porthole, in the distances clouds were gather; they wouldn't reach the Moby it wasn't that strong of a storm.
"Marco," and he turned his head back to his father, "fly ahead, see if you can find them. Don't get further than two days out."
He sighed, relieved to have a proactive roll now. Nodding he stood up. "I'll take one of the mini den-dens, yoi."
"Good."
Now that he was dismissed he quickly moved to the deck, looking for one of the commanders to have relay his whereabouts to the rest of the crew. Haruta was sitting on the railing, tossing something overboard, pieces of wood?
"Haruta!"
"Marco!" They turned around quickly. "Any news?"
"Not yet, can you tell anyone who comes looking for me that I'm scouting, yoi?"
"Sure, Pops is letting you isn't he?"
The question was unneeded, he wouldn't do anything against Pops' orders no matter how much he wanted too. He still confirmed it for them. "Yeah."
"Okay! Good luck."
Marco went back under deck to grab the den-den, which in his haste to get of the ship he nearly forgot, and climbed back out onto the deck. He waved to a few people, slipped the snail into one of his pockets; then jumped onto the Moby's figure head.
Taking a step off the whale he fell towards the sea for a few seconds before his phoenix erupted letting him coast harmlessly above the waves for a few seconds. After he was fully adjusted Marco raised himself to circle around the Moby once to orientate himself (thank whoever that phoenixes had a natural sense of direction able to find the location of their "nest") and then he sped off in the Moby's current heading. As usual he had a log pose nestled in one of his pockets, it would be foolish not to have one with him.
With the wind behind him and his natural strength he was gaining leagues on the Moby. All he had to worry about was any storms that might stir up and conserving his energy.
He loved flying, perhaps more than anything, and even dire circumstances never managed to lessen his enjoyment of flying (really the only time that he didn't like it was when he had to do fast shifting). There was nothing more freeing than flying through clouds miles above anyone else. Yet, as he flew on, the familiar light feeling he got in his stomach turned heavy. Marco tried to shake it off by barrel rolling in the air and doing some loops. It had been a long time since he had flown after all.
Still, the feeling remained. Hopefully, a long flight could disperse it. When he ran into trouble he needed to be in his best shape (which one could argue that he already wasn't), and this feeling was distracting.
Clouds moved in front of him, and he dived below them to keep the ocean in view. It was clear and calm, and very different from his mental state.
Ace wasn't entirely sure how long he had been captured, longer than a day but shorter than a month. While it would've been wise of him to count the meals he was getting, just for a rough estimate, his mind was always in a pleasant haze whenever the meals were brought to him.
When he came out of the haze, he knew what it was from, whatever pain medication they were using for him. The dosage had to be off, it was very rare that he was affected badly by medication (aside from sleepiness). He hated losing control of his facilities like that, but the medication lessened the chills he was feeling. Not that he was a doctor, but he knew that chills weren't good. The area around his ribs also felt funny, it hurt horribly but there was something else too it.
Losing his sight did make him more attuned with his body, it was the only way that he could keep injuries and illness from progressing to something worse.
All he really needed was medication that could dull the pain he was feeling but not muddle his head. He'd have a better chance of getting off of the ship then. Surviving getting off the ship, now, that part was the question. The ocean would claim him, so unless they docked before this "transfer" point they were talking about, drowning might be his only option. If they were right about the Whitebeard Pirates.
You know they probably are. You're some new kid, and not to mention, you told Pops who your father was. He might think it's lucky to get rid of the son of a demon like this.
Ace hung his head, and let the words soak in. At the moment he didn't believe them, not completely.
This cell was familiar. The dampness and coolness the most notable, but more prominent was the hopelessness seeping through the walls. Immediately he tensed up, his fire tired to bubble up to the surface only to be stopped by his own lack of strength.
"What?" He whispered. The words tore through his throat, like he hadn't had anything to drink in weeks.
"After that last incident, we couldn't have you damaging yourself, Demon Son. Perfect condition for the big show."
The voice was still unfamiliar, but the intent was easily known. They meant to do harm.
"Why do you still have the strength to raise your head? They won't come for you, Demon Son. It's been months and there's been no movement from them, they're going to let you march to that execution platform and then they're going to let you die. So do everyone a favor and do just that!"
There was a roar, and him praying for just an ounce of sight (and really was he in a place with no light or...) so that he could dodge out of the way.
A hand was around his throat and tightening, tightening, tightening. He couldn't breathe, just a single breath, just one breath. Please. His thoughts were getting sluggish. Dying here, it wasn't an option, he needed to get out. See Luffy one more time, make Pops the king, even if the man wanted nothing to with him.
If he just lived, he'd be happy, if just for this day.
Please.
"Please."
The word startled the guard. He had been coming to check on the bounty after hearing some strange sounds from the cell. Briefly he questioned why they were leaving him in a spot that could be easily found if they were boarded, but let the thought drift away.
It was the first time that he had seen the prisoner. Everything he had heard about this guy had made him think that he was an older pirate. It was rare for young people to be blind, especially warriors of any kind. There was that one guy, a swordsman from far lands who was rumored to be blind, but he was still an adult.
This bounty was...young. He couldn't be out of his teen years. Freckles covered his face and arms with wild black hair, but it wasn't that that made him seem so little. Portgas (that was his name right?) was curled up as much as he could be with the chains restricting his movements and his head tilted down towards his chest. On closer inspection, it wasn't the broken ribs that they hadn't treated causing the uneven breathing but the tears running down his face even though he looked to be asleep.
"Please!" He cried out again.
The guard satisfied that the bounty wouldn't die on his watch shut the cell door. He was young but he still was a pirate. That kid didn't deserve empathy or sympathy. It was a bad hand to be dealt, and he had played it. Whatever he got he deserved be it the block or imprisonment.
There was no need for him to get any more involved with the prisoner. He'd done his duty.
But it was hard, the pirate reminded him of his own boys who would be teenagers now.
Annnnd we're at the bottom! Chat session time!
1) Oh my goodness all of you are so nice? Thank you so much for your reviews/comments. I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing it and I'll work on my writing pace. School is winding down, only two months before break (however have some heavy testing to do RIP this month, so there's that.) ((Also Whitebeard is not happy, but he has it under control, for the crew and only that reason)
Honestly that's its, just thank you all so much!
We're at the bottom! Please leave your thoughts below!
AS A REMINDER TO MY READERS:
1.) I am doing this for fun so I don't mean to offend anyone so I'm doing my research but if you have any suggestions or something is factually wrong feel free to tell me! Please.
2.) Ace's condition is one that I made up using parts from several others, just because I don't think I could've written any of them the way that I wanted to portray Ace.
3.) I am going to update this irregularly