Declaimer: I don´t own One Piece or Harry Potter.

A/N: So I decided I am doing weekly updates from this day on. Usually on Saturday, but may change to Sunday, as it happened today. For more information check my profile. That said, the chapters will usually be shorter... Enjoy.

Lately, Reina´s dreams were all plunged by nightmares. Dark dreams kept her mind awake, while the heart suffered in silence. They were somber, scary, terrifying, confusing and, most importantly, slippery. A good dream quickly merged into a nightmare, as the black thoughts and fears took over it in seconds, taunting her. A never-ending dream, a never-ending horror.

"A… Ace…" The sleeping witch called, turning around in her bed repeatedly, unable to shake of the strange feeling in her stomach. There he was, right in front of her, but instead of smiling, calling her, he was slowly bleeding out, eyes vacant and cold. Nothing else but those black, lifeless stones deserved her attention, as a weak, dirty hand reached for them. "Ace…" The trembling call was never answered as the pirate's body dissipated, burned by flame until nothing more was left. Blazing sparks flew up the blue sky. "ACE!"

Green emeralds opened violently, a slender body jerking up from the horror and fear, arms warping around it hurriedly. Something was burning her, slowly digging into her skin, the pain clearing her mind in second. It was hot, it was excruciating, and Reina found herself having difficulties breathing. A hand rose to the neck, having the impression something was suffocating her, but aside from the necklace, there was nothing else. Nothing but the horrifying sensation of helplessness.

Necklace.

Hand darted towards it, eyes suddenly as lucid as ever, grabbing the now burning stone and pushing it aside as quickly as humanly possible. One of the stones was burning, shining in fire shades that illuminated the half-gloomy room. It was the first time it shone so much, and Reina´s heart skipped furiously.

"This is… Ace´s?" Wait, Ace had only wrote a week ago… What could have happened for him to be…? Oh god. If the stone shone so much, if it burned as a wild fire, it only meant one thing: the owner was in great danger. Not even once, with all the crazy stuns Luffy had pulled, had it been so bright. Not. Even. Once. "Oh god, oh god…"

Jumping from the bed, Reina felt the world spin rapidly, as if nothing existed beneath her, but her feet refused to acknowledge it, moving forward. She needed to find Ace. Ace… he couldn´t die. She would never allow it, not on her watch. Death… wasn´t an option.

The dark door opened violently as the desperate witch kicked it, after failing miserably at turning the knot for the fourth time, stumbling forward. The walls seemed as unstable as the for-some-reason moving ground, but the girl leaned on them for support, struggling with every step, hoping to find some stability. There was only one thing in her mind, nothing else aside from Ace.

The knowledge that her brothers could die early had always accompanied her, considering two of them were pirates and another a revolutionary. What else was to be expected? However, the happiness of the moment usually hid the fears, deep inside the unconsciousness. They existed, somewhere in her heart, but they had been pushed aside skillfully, showing only in helpless dreams. To think she would be reminded of the possibility is such a cruel way…

"Pops, I checked the news…" A voice, a certain male voice, caught the teens attention, whom wasn´t even sure where she was anymore. Rooming around a boat without paying attention could do it to a person. "It is true. They caught him and there will be an execution." Execution. Nothing else registered in Reina´s mind, as she digested the news. Execution. "What are we going to do now? They are clearly waiting for a war to happen…"

A long, suffering sigh was heard, as Whitebeard stood up from his resting place. "I knew something bad would happen, but I didn´t expect it to be this… I knew I should have sent someone after him. How many days are there left?"

"Enough for us to arrive if we leave today." Reina barely recognized the voice, as her ears were failing her once again. Nevertheless, she did her best, trying not to give in to the dark fears. "Shall I redirect everyone there?" Marco´s voice was serious, with a hit of nervousness. No, there was something more… fear, just a faint amount of fear.

"Yes. Ace is my son, and I am not going to let Marine do whatever they want to." Whitebeards voice shook the room. "We are going all out! Send notice to everyone, we are at WAR!" The cold air of the morning seemed to heat up, those words bringing Reina memories, as the body shook. War… Oh, how scary was the war, how many people died. The memory of Alabaster was still fresh, but, for some reason, the fear and uneasiness never came. War… Blood, death… As long as it was for Ace, you could count her in.

Fears cleared away immediately, as a new resolve found its place in Reina´s heart. It didn´t matter if it was a war or a crusade. Ace would walk out of it alive, no matter what she would need to do. Only one thing mattered. Ace.

"What about Reina? Are we going to tell her?" Not that there was something to tell, since she already knew it. "I´m sure Ace won´t be happy if she goes with us. We can leave her at a nearby island as we make out way there. She´ll surely be more safe there than with us."

Green eyes narrowed. Oh no, she was not going to hide while Ace was in danger. Sure, she was not the strongest person out there, nor the sanest, but she would not back down. Finally, the feeling to her legs came back, and she stormed into the room angry. "I am coming with you." She announced, noticing Whitebeard wasn´t the least surprised about seeing her. Then again, it was probable he had sensed her. Marco, on other hand, looked as if he just swallowed a fish. "I cannot stay somewhere while my brother is in danger."

"What can you do, child?" Whitebeard´s big stature contributed to the heavy feeling he gave off, but the witch refused to give in, glaring back. "You are not powerful enough to fight along us. You have not been using your devil fruit for long, and your normal strength is not enough. You can do nothing to help. Do you want to become a deadweight?"

Reina knew it… she knew it better than anyone did, but she also knew she couldn't back down. Not now, not ever. "I may not be strong." She started, hiding the emeralds in the shadow. "I don´t know own my strength. I am unstable, bad things happen when I am stressed or scared, and it´s more probable I end up injuring myself than my enemies." Marcos frowned at her words, wondering why she called herself unstable.

"However, strength is not my specialty." Eyes narrowed at the statement, and Reina grinned. "I specialize in being invisible. You know, I have been traveling with the Straw Hats for a big while now. I have been there when Crocodile fell, and I was there every single time since then. And yet, not even once I was spotted. Intriguing, isn't it?"

Yes. Reina knew she could not win in the sea using strength… that´s why, she decided to relay on her intelligence. The witch wasn´t stupid, and cunningness ran in her blood. If fair fight was not the way out, she would cheat. In the sea, it didn´t matter. As long as you survived, as long as you lived to see another day, everything counted. If the shorting hat shorted her now, she would definitely end up in slytherin.

"What is your point?" It was damn obvious the captain was having fun, if the half smile said anything, but she ignored it. After all, she was there to convince them to allow her to join.

"My point is; I work in the shadows. If you need information, I am the person you are looking for. Trust me, I have ways to information you have never heard off." As no one expected the spy to be water, the number of conversation she had eavesdropped so far… if the marines knew, they would defiantly execute her. With pleasure. "Not to mention that I can make any boat go faster…"

Reina knew her value was high. In the word of pirates, information was as important as strength. If one had strength but no information, he could be heading to his imminent death. "You think you can gather us information? Enough to help Ace? The execution is few days away. When we arrive, we´ll already be heading to a war."

Whitebeard had a point, but the witch wasn´t going to quit now. "I´ll leave alone first. Using the water currents, I will arrive quickly and gather information." Marcos seemed ready to intervene, but a glare from both parties made him reconsider. "The same way, I´ll find you and share what I found out. Quick and simple. You cannot start a war without information. The world doesn´t work that way anymore and you´ll be heading to an unknown territory. Going blind is not an option."

"This Marineford we are talking about, little lady. If you are caught spying, they´ll kill you without hesitation. Even if it helped Ace escape, he would never forgive us." Marco jumped in almost blindly, noticing Whitebeard was considering it. "No, it isn´t something we can allow you to…"

"Oh, shut up." Glaring openly, Reina wanted to strangle him. "I am not little and I am of age. I can very well do whatever I want! And, I doubt they´ll catch me. I have been at top bases more than one, and those idiots don´t even know I exist." Then, a sudden memory hit her, and she smiled evilly. "Not to mention, I have something you don´t."

For a moment, the males stared at her confused, frowning while trying to decipher her words. Each had a few ideas of what they didn´t have and she did, but they couldn´t really see the relevance of it. After all, Ace had described her as a pure, strong-willed girl… "Oh, not that!" The dark haired girl yelled, blushing as she noticed their looks. "Perverts!"

"I don´t understand what you are talking about." Marcus defended himself, revealed it wasn´t what she knew he was thinking about. It would be hard to tell Ace his sister wasn´t as pure as they all through she was… "You are right, we cannot make you change your mind, but…"

"Enough." Whitebeard sat down, closing his eyes in process as he thought in silence. Having someone on the inside, knowing every detail, could be the difference between losing few man and hundreds. However, he couldn´t bring himself to allow a child to do it. If anything went wrong, she was still a child whom only lived a small portion of her life. Scrap Ace, Garp would kill him for sure. "Reina, I cannot make the decision for you, but if something goes wrong, it will weight on my consciousness. You´ll make people sad, because you were young and irresponsible. Unless you are confident you can pull it out, knowing there will be Admirals and Shichibukai´s there, I won´t allow you to leave."

"I am." The answer came immediately, and the girl smiled, her emerald eyes glinting with confidence. "No one will take some I love away from me ever again. Not when I am still alive and ready to fight back." Marcus wondered whom was taken away from her before, but her words left to room for a question. "I know I can do this, and I´ll do it, like it or not."

Once again silence, deafening silence, before a laughter shattered it away. "I like you even more now, Reina. If such is your will, who am I to ignore it? Go, do your best and come back here. We´ll be making our way starting today. Bring us as much as you can. Let´s bring Ace back."

Reina grinned, nodding. "Let´s."

A/N: The action is about to start, and I will be changing almost... everything. Reasons: I have only watched some of the episodes regarding this part, and I am a firm believed that Ace didn´t die because I haven´t seen that part. Yes, I know he did, but I am still on denial. For me, he is alive sailing somewhere. Secondly, I feel like it. XD

By the way, did you enjoy a month without updates... Haha... yes, you can kill me...

Kaggami-chan