Chapter 9 (Glad to see you guys liked the last chapter! I FINALLY FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE LEGIT LINES! YUS! I don't have much to say, so I'll just shut up and let you all read the chapter now. 'Kay bye.)

Thatch tried to melt into the floorboards. It wasn't working. Marco was making his "you-are-in-such-deep-shit" face, and Whitebeard was still smiling in that hard, not happy way that only parents can really produce. Ace was looking between them in confusion.

"What? What's the matter?" Marco turned away from Thatch to look at Ace. He put on a friendly smile. He came up to Ace and began herding him out of the room.

"Nothing. Oyaji just needs to have a nice little chat with Thatch. While he's doing that, why don't we find you something to eat?" He finished shooing Ace out of the room and turned to give Thatch one last semi-glare. Marco shut the door behind himself, leaving Thatch alone with Whitebeard. Whitebeard folded his arms across his chest and looked down at Thatch.

"So. Why don't you tell me how this managed to happen." Thatch tried to melt into the floor again. It still wasn't working.

Ace found himself seated at one of the tables in the galley. Marco sat across from him, and in front of him was a bowl of soup. It was some kind of beef stew, and it really was delicious. Marco was studying him unobtrusively. After several moments of silence, Marco spoke.

"How did you get here?" Ace looked up.

"I…I don't know. I was in East Blue this morning, on the East Wind," Dammit, shouldn't have said that. "When suddenly I saw a bright flash of light and I wake up next to some stone tablet with Thatch speaking to me." Marco blinked.

"The East Wind? Isn't that Red Haired Shanks' ship?" Ace nodded mutely. "What were you doing there?" Ace didn't reply. Marco was curious, but didn't press the matter. Ace finally looked up again.

"Where are we exactly? Thatch said we were in the Grand Line, but then how did I end up here?" Marco's brows furrowed.

"We are on the Grand Line, a ways from Shabondy Archipelago. As to how you got here, I don't really know."

Back in Whitebeard's cabin, Thatch had finished his story. Whitebeard was looking down at him, deep in thought. After several moments of silence Whitebeard spoke.

"And you say he doesn't remember anything?" Thatch nodded. Whitebeard thought for another moment. "What if we brought him back to the tablet and had him touch it again?" Thatch seemed to consider it for a moment, then spoke.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea. For all we know it could shrink him another ten years and then we'd have a baby Ace on our hands, and I don't think that'd be an improvement." Whitebeard nodded and spoke in a calm voice.

"We have to tell the crew. If they see him before they know, they could act hastily. In his current state Ace doesn't know them, so he could misinterpret their actions." Whitebeard rubbed his face thoughtfully. "I'll send Marco to the shore. Most of the crew is there, so he can alert them to the situation. The news should spread on its own, but could you tell the people still on the ship what's going on? Until the whole crew knows what's happening, I think it'd be best if we kept Ace out of sight. By dinner, everybody should be aware of the situation, so I think it'll be fine to introduce him then." Thatch nodded. "Also, make sure to tell them to act as if they don't know Ace." Thatch looked at Whitebeard in confusion.

"But why?" Whitebeard's face and voice didn't change.

"The poor child is already confused enough, do you really want to make it worse? He might panic and run." Thatch considered it, then nodded.

"Alright. I'll head off to tell Marco what's going on. Do you want me to send him in here?" Whitebeard nodded. Thatch headed off towards the door.

"Wait just a moment, Thatch." Thatch stopped and turned around. Whitebeard looked him in the eye and smiled. "You're on dish duty for the next eight months. Every day. I thought I should let you know before you headed into the kitchen." Thatch wilted. He thought he had gotten away free and clear.

"Yes Oyaji."

"Your devil fruit ability is useful, yes, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's impregnable." Marco quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh really? And how do you figure that?" Ace leaned forward smugly.

"Seastone can still hurt you. Even one counterexample disproves a statement."

"But I can recover instantly."

"Only if the seastone is removed. Suppose someone were able to make seastone bullets. You'd be like a turkey on thanksgiving. Or suppose someone made knives or swords with seastone and you were stabbed. As long as the weapon wasn't removed, you'd be nearly powerless. That's a rather gaping weakness, wouldn't you say?"

"Seastone is rare and expensive. There aren't exactly hordes of people armed with seastone weapons out there."

"But we're talking about the world government. They can just commandeer stuff. And with a bounty like yours, hunters would pay the cash because your bounty would compensate them and they'd still make a large net profit." Marco raised an amused eyebrow.

"So you're saying my devil fruit isn't useful?"

"No, it's plenty useful, it's just imperfect. It's beyond helpful in a myriad of situations, it's just that you should prepare for the ones where it's not. You have to think Marco." Ace was gesturing now to emphasize his point. "If one marine happens to have a seastone weapon or a weird devil fruit and catches you off guard, you're screwed." Marco huffed indignantly.

"As if some pansy-" Ace cut him off.

"And suppose he didn't kill you. Then you'd have a hostage situation and your whole crew is at risk. I haven't known you guys for very long, but your captain at least seems like he'd be more than willing to sacrifice himself for even one of you guys. Would you really want there to even be the remotest chance of that happening?" Marco was looking at Ace seriously now. "You should at least train yourself in other kinds of combat, hand-to-hand, swordplay, knife fighting. Even a basic understanding could be enough to save one of your friend's lives. I can't make the choice for you, but if I were in your shoes that's what I would do." Ace's eyes grew dark. "Nothing in this entire world is worse than helplessness." Marco looked at Ace in concern and opened his mouth to speak, but just as he did, Thatch walked in. Both turned to look up at him. Thatch stopped and looked between the two.

"…I just interrupted something important, didn't I?" Marco laughed.

"Not really. What's up?" Thatch hesitated for another moment before speaking.

"Oyaji wants to see you." He turned to Ace. "And he wants me to show you around the ship. Is that alright with you?" Ace nodded and stood, following Thatch out of the galley.

Damn this ship is big. Ace was looking around in mild awe. The 'tour' had been going on for about 10 minutes and they hadn't seen half of it. They were currently walking down one of the innumerable hallways, Thatch telling a story about something or other. Ace wasn't really paying attention to the story, instead studying every detail of the ship.

The wood was well maintained, if somewhat worn from constant use. It was obvious there had been repairs made over the years, but the ship's mighty image hadn't suffered for it. It was like an ancient whale, it had survived the years and the battles and emerged victorious, the scars boons of honor for which it was respected. Ace stopped when he noticed something odd. He walked closer to one of the boards on the wall, studying it closely. Thatch noticed and stopped himself, approaching Ace from behind.

"What is it?" Ace was looking intently at the wall. He gently ran a finger over the board.

"So. Who on the crew speaks Armenian?" Thatch looked at Ace in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Ace pointed to a spot on the wood.

"Here. There's Armenian written on the wood." Thatch looked closer, squinting.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing there."

"No, here." Ace circled a smaller area with his finger. "It's disguised to blend in with the grain of the wood." Thatch still couldn't see it.

"What's it say?" Ace bent closer, studying the wall.

"It says 'door.'" Ace reached a hand up and pressed it against the wall. A small, undetectable panel switch pushed into the wall, and a door-sized piece of the wall slid away, revealing a smallish room with a desk, window, weird plants, a bed, and the black cat currently sleeping on it. Serpent stood up, stretching and yawning.

"What do you want-" her eyes landed on Ace and she froze. She looked to Thatch, glaring. "What did you do?" Thatch raised his hands placatingly.

"Nothing! I swear!" Serpent rolled her eyes. Ace was the next to speak. He was studying Serpent with fascination.

"How are you talking?" Serpent's eyes focused on him, seeming to smile.

"It's a secret. Now, why don't we have introductions?" She padded over and sat directly in front of Ace, looking up at him. "My name is Serpent. I live on this ship. I suppose you could say I'm a member of this crew, though their only official pet is the dog, Stephan." Ace kneeled down.

"Your name's a little ironic for a cat, don't you think?" Serpent nodded and seemed to shrug before looking right into Ace's eyes.

"It's very rare that we're allowed to choose our own names, even though they're such a huge part of us. It's a little unfair, no?" Ace blinked and looked down into Serpent's face deeply.

"Yes, I agree. It's nice to meet you, I'm Ace." Thatch sensed an understanding pass between the two, then spoke.

"I was planning on showing this to you last, but you can look around now. This is the room Oyaji wants you to use while you stay with us. Is it suitable?" Ace nodded and stepped through the doorway, looking around at the furniture and plants.

"Who stays here most of the time?" Thatch blinked and tried to buy himself time.

"What?" Ace gestured to one of the plants.

"That's a rare hybrid of jungle fireweed. If it isn't watered every day at the same time it dies in less than a week. So," He turned to look at Thatch. "Who usually lives in this room?" Thatch didn't know what to say, couldn't think of a good enough lie. Luckily Serpent could, and she spoke.

"We had a botanist who was staying with us for quite some time. He was very introverted, to the point where he actually disguised the door to his room. He left us at the last island we passed. Left all his plants here. No idea why. He was kind of a weird guy, but nice enough. He made me a door so I could get in here on my own." She paused. "Actually, the mechanism's been jammed for a little while, do you think you can fix it?" Ace blinked.

"Yeah, probably. If I had the right tools, that is." He looked around the room. "Where's the mechanism?" Serpent flicked her tail in the direction of the door. Ace walked over and crouched by the smaller door. Serpent winked at Thatch. She spoke quietly, so only he could hear.

"I can keep him out of sight for the next couple hours. Try to have an early dinner this evening, though. He'll probably get restless." Thatch blinked and whispered back.

"How could you possibly know-"

"It's like I told Marco. I'm a cat, okay? I know everything." Ace called from where he was crouched near the door.

"Hey Serpent, you wouldn't happen to have blueprints for the mechanism, would you?" Serpent smiled at Thatch and turned around to walk over to Ace.

"They should be somewhere in the filing in the bottom drawer of the desk." Ace stood and walked over towards the writing surface, opening the drawer and sifting through the documents stored there.

"…It's not here." Serpent walked over to him with a sigh.

"Yes it is. I saw him put it in there. Now scoot over and let me look." Serpent lifted herself onto her back paws, front paws braced against the side of the drawer. "Baka, they're right here." Ace pulled out the indicated document and began to study it closely. His eyes flicked over the paper, never staying in one place for long. He reached into another drawer of the desk and pulled out an assortment of tools distractedly. He looked almost surprised when he saw them in his hand, but carried the assembly over to the door, setting the blueprints in such a way that he could see them while working. Serpent followed him, giving him occasional tips, pieces of advice, or sarcastic comments. Thatch smiled at the pair and backed out the door.

By dinnertime, the whole crew knew. The news had spread like a veritable fire. Everyone had heard, and at the beginning of the meal there had been many discreet and indiscreet looks. Ace seemed to accept them as just the curiosity of the crew about their sudden visitor. Eventually the crew seemed to grow more used to it and dinner proceeded as usual. There was only one hitch.

Dammit. Of course he has to screw this up. Of course he does. Thatch felt his annoyance growing by the minute. Throughout the entire meal Jericho had been glaring at Ace. Literally, for the entire meal. Ace had noticed and kept throwing mildly confused looks at the ireful crewmember. It seemed as though Ace was beginning to lose his patience now too, as his looks became more and more annoyed. After another moment of exchanged glares, Jericho stood up.

He brought his dishes to the kitchen and seemed to be on his way out of the mess hall. He was taking a route that would bring him right past Ace, Thatch, and Marco's table, and Ace was watching his progress across the mess hall with undisguised annoyance. When Jericho was next to Ace he paused and glared down at him. Ace looked back up defiantly. Jericho scowled.

"What're you looking at?" Ace looked him up and down and replied with cold disinterest.

"Nothing much." Jericho's scowl deepened.

"You little bitch!" He raised his hand back in preparation to strike Ace, and suddenly Ace wasn't seeing the galley anymore. Instead, he saw a different hand coming down, in a different room. It was darker, the only illumination coming from a single light. The room had no windows. He felt terror grip his heart in steel. He was back. Ace felt the closed fist come down across his face and tasted blood. He felt the hand grab him by the throat and raise him off his feet, momentarily suffocating him before throwing him across the room and into the wall. His head collided hard and he felt blood beginning to run down his face-

"Ace! Ace, are you alright?" Ace blinked several times and the vision faded, replaced by the concerned face of Marco. Behind him, Thatch had Jericho pinned against a wall. Ace raised a hand to his head. There was no injury, no blood. His hand trailed down his face to his mouth to find no split lip or fractured jaw. He took a deep breath. Relax. You're fine. Ace rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

"I'm fine, Marco. I'm fine." Marco continued to study Ace worriedly. His eyes. Marco thought. There was so much fear…

Thatch, meanwhile, had Jericho pinned against a wall, his arm twisted behind him in a near-unbreakable hold.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Thatch's face was a mask of rage. Jericho made an effort of speaking, but Thatch had his face shoved against the wall so hard his speech came out muffled and inarticulate. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you, you crazy son of a bitch." Again Jericho tried to speak. Thatch's anger didn't fade.

"Don't you even fucking try to justify yourself. You attacked an unarmed child, unprovoked. Is that the kind of things bastards like you do in their free time?" Thatch's tirade continued, and showed no signs of stopping any time soon. Marco had been glaring over his shoulder dangerously at Jericho, but turned back and spoke to Ace gently.

"You sure you're alright? Thatch kept him from actually hitting you, but…" Marco trailed off, looking Ace in the eye. Both turned to look up as Whitebeard approached. Thatch didn't even pause in his angry rant. Whitebeard eventually spoke, voice hard and dark.

"Jericho. My room. Now." Whitebeard's face was almost as dark as Thatch's. Thatch, hearing the command, half-threw Jericho away from the wall in the direction of the door. Jericho stumbled a few steps, then recovered, walking with as much dignity as he could manage towards the door. Thatch knelt down by Ace, his voice and face infinitely kinder than when he had been speaking to Jericho.

"Sorry about that, Ace. Jericho is…a rather disagreeable person." Ace gave a small laugh.

"I seem to remember you using different adjectives to describe him." Thatch scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yeah…sorry about that too. On the upside, I guess you learned some new words today." Ace shrugged, still smiling.

"Meh, I've heard better." Thatch raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" Ace smirked.

"Yes. You see, you were rather uncreative. You should try swearing in different languages, as a starter. Also, try to come up with insults that don't involve profanity, they're more effective. People are used to getting sworn at, but if you call someone, for example, a canker-toothed mole cricket, you will not only be calling them one of the ugliest things I've ever seen, it'll take them a while to figure out what the heck you're talking about, which establishes you as more intelligent. See? Double whammie." Thatch laughed.

"I guess you're right." He stood, and Ace and Marco followed suit. "Well, on that note, I think you should be heading off to bed now." Thatch and Marco shooed Ace down the hallway and into his room. Before leaving, both bid Ace goodnight. Ace replied in kind and shut the door. The smile faded from his face. His eyes grew dark, remembering what had transpired in the galley. He gave a violent shudder, eyes squeezing shut tightly. He swallowed and tried to force himself to calm down. He felt a gentle pressure against his legs and looked down to see Serpent rubbing herself against his calves comfortingly. He smiled down at her and stroked her along her spine. She purred warmly. Ace's smile returned and he turned around and began getting ready for bed. Once he was finished, he turned off the lights and climbed under the covers. Serpent had remained pressed against him for the whole process, but now turned in preparation to leave.

"Serpent…wait." Ace's voice was quiet. He sounded more like a child then than he had for the entire time since he had been shrunk. He was lying on his side, face turned towards the door. "Can you…Can you stay until I fall asleep? Please?" His voice was weak, tremulous. Serpent looked up at him with sympathy and jumped up onto the bed, curling up in the curve of his body, radiating the comforting warmth of life. She tried to be as soothing as possible.

"I will be here. For as long as you need me." Ace curled tighter around her so that his body was pressing against hers. He was trembling lightly. "Ace, remember. You're not alone, you're never alone." Ace's voice was muffled.

"I'm no longer naive enough to believe in a God. God died with my innocence. I think it was sometime after hope and memory's passing. Now there's just dissolution and pain, but you can't build a life out of those. What am I supposed to do, Serpent, when I've forgotten how to live?" Serpent was silent. There was no answer she could give. She closed her eyes in sadness. Ace put his arm around her gently.

"Serpent…at least tell me this. With everything I've endured, everything I've lost…" Serpent might have felt a tear dampen her fur, and Ace's grip tightened. "Just…Just tell me it's worth it. Tell me it's worth living through this, that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't just another shade of grey…" Ace's voice was weak. A suppressed sob shuddered through him. "Please…just make me believe I'm still human."

(A/N: Well bros? Whadja think? :I I don't think I really liked it…again there were scenes that I liked, but overall I think it was one of my worse chapters. Let me know what you think. This chapter's reviews come with SHORTBREAD COOKIES because I just made a batch at home C: I love shortbread cookies. Seriously. They're more addictive than drugs. They're just butter, sugar, and flower. I think they may have eggs in 'em too, but either way, they're fat and sugary heaven on earth. If you want them, please write at least 2 sentences. They're small, so I'll make a deal. For each sentence I'll give you one cookie, but the review has to be longer than two sentences. Let me know if you didn't really like this chapter either! Hopefully the next chapter will be better…no promises though. See you all in the next update! ~Mountain97)