Hi guys! Here is the next chapter!

I still have some things to explain before we move on, but I hope you'll bear with me

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Whitebeard sat out on deck, them just sailing and was close to a few islands a bit away. But as they were sailing, Thatch suddenly blinked as he looked to the side. "Hey, is he with you?" They all looked and saw nothing, but Ace hummed. "Curious." Whitebeard blinked. "There is no one there." Ace blinked, before clapping his hands hard, before a small force came and now he could see a man running in the air a bit away, heading to one of the islands. He had a sword by his side and on white clothes. He had a sort of mask on his eyes, which he found odd. How did he see? Trevor hummed. "Should we get him?" Ace hummed. "Yeah, we should. He shouldn't be here." Trevor nodded. "Who wants the honors?" Whitebeard didn't know what they spoke off.

Ace hummed and looked at Izou. "Izou, see his eye cover?" Izou blinked, but nodded, making Ace continue. "Shoot it." Izou blinked. "Shoot him in the head?" Ace shook his head. "No. Just shoot what covers his eyes. You can do that, right?" Izou blinked, but nodded and took his gun out and used a second to aim, before he pulled the trigger and sent a bullet. They all looked at the guy, and what he had to cover his eyes got hit by the bullet og broke into half as it fell off his face. Whitebeard didn't get why Ace wanted this. What would this do?

But as it got hit and fell down, the man looked horrified as the pieces fell off his face and he looked down and started to fall as he seemed to try and catch the pieces as he yelled "No!" Whitebeard didn't know what was happening. But as the man almost managed to grab the pieces, he froze in mid air as Whitebeard felt a force suddenly come. It felt a bit like Haki, but not the same and it was as if it pushed him down. It was like a force was on his shoulders. Ace and Trevor didn't seem affected though.

But then, behind the man in the air, apparead a huge set of doors, shaped like a sort of coffin, purple in color. On each door was a skeleton with spears in their chest. Then the doors opened and he just saw a black abyss, before out of it came a huge upper body, pale in color, no hair on its head, looking skinny as its ribs protrude his skin. It had no eyes, just holes that were black and empty. And only half of its body was outside, and it was the same size as the hands which had been by its side came out, first the left one, and the skin was still pale and the fingernails black. It moved his hand a bit as it was out and the guy in the air arms moved out as if he was being controlled by this creature, before the other arm from the monster came out, which held a sword. It moved its hand slowly with the sword, which was long and grew more narrow and thinner than its base.

Then as the hand with the sword moved slowly, it moved to stab the guy in the air, who opened his mouth in a silent scream as the sword pierced his back and went through his chest. When the sword was about 3 feet through him, the monster started to go back into the set of doors slowly, the hand with the sword going in last, the guy still pierced on it, blood dripping down from where the sword pierced him. When the sword was also gone into the black abyss, the doors closed, before it faded.

Everyone looked shocked, and Thatch spoke. "W-what was that?" Ace hummed. "The gates of Hell. That was the guardian of Hell. He brings back those who have escaped." Thatch swallowed. "Why did he suddenly show up now?" Ace hummed. "Because, you have probably heard that the eyes are the gateway to your soul. The guardian can't find you if you cover your eyes, the reason they cover them, to be invisible and not be found by him." That was terrifying.

Trevor hummed. "I could have called on him, you know." Ace blinked. "Oh yeah, I forget since I can't do it anymore." Thatch looked at Trevor. "You can call on him?!" Trevor nodded. "Yeah, with my sword. You can either call on the gates to Heaven or to Hell. Depends on where you are from." Ace hummed. "Like I can call on the gates of Heaven, since I work for them now." That was interesting. The day then went on.

The next day, Whitebeard sat in the galley as it was dinner time, everyone being in a good mood. But after a bit, he looked over at Thatch when he heard a sound and saw he had dropped his fork, a shocked and painful look on his face, before Thatch moved to look behind him and seemed shocked to see no one. Ace hummed. "You felt it, didn't you?" Thatch swallowed and nodded as he looked at Ace. "I did." Ace nodded. "You're going to feel it again, until you feel it constantly." Thatch's eyes widened and looked horrified.

Whitebeard looked at them. "What are you talking about?" Thatch swallowed. "I felt… the knife in my back again. It felt so… real." Ace nodded. "Yeah, it feels real. But, you will get used to it after a while." Thatch nodded. "So the pain stops?" Ace shook his head. "No. You just get used to feeling it. My first month after I started feeling it constantly, I constantly rubbed my neck as I felt the sword which decapitated me. I still feel it clear as day, but I'm used to it." That sounded horrible.

Thatch looked to be on his way to speak when his entire form flinched, and Ace hummed. "It actually gets easier once you feel it constantly. Because now it is a sudden pain, not constant pain." Thatch blinked. "You all… feel the pain of how you died?" Ace nodded. "Yes. Hiro froze to death, so he is cold all the time. Lori got stabbed in her heart, she still feels the knife move through her. Ken burned to death, he says he is still burning to this day." Thatch looked horrified, and Whitebeard felt horrified himself. They all lived in constant pain.

Ace sighed. "I am just glad Nell, Aaron, and Ylva are born dead. So they don't feel constant pain since they haven't been killed. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone." Trevor gave a breath. "I drowned. I can still feel the last breath I took that filled my lungs with water with each breath I take." That sounded horrible. Ace looked at Thatch. "I know you're probably thinking with each time the pain comes, that you want it to pass. But in reality, you don't want it to pass. Because if it never stops, if the pain is constant, you can learn to live with it." Thatch looked shocked, and Whitebeard felt bad for them, to always have a constant pain of what killed them.

The rest of the day, he noticed Thatch flinching now and then, not looking happy at all, which he got, and he hoped it would stop, but based on Ace, it wouldn't. Which was sad. He wished he could help, but he couldn't. He just hoped it was as Ace said, that he would get used to it, even though that was horrific.

The next day, Haruta gave a small gasp after dinner when they went back out on deck. "Oh my God! A cat!" Whitebeard blinked and looked at where the female commander was looking, and yes, there was a cat. It was a black and white cat. It got everyone's attention and soon everyone looked at the cat and petted it. The cat had a black back and tail, and its head was black and the front was white and went up in a pointy shape on its forehead before it got black. It had a black mark on its right hind leg that had a black mark, and Izou said it looked like a heart, which it kinda did as he looked closer.

Vista looked confused. "When did it come onto the boat? We haven't docked in a while now. And we're in the middle of the ocean." That was true. They had been close to some islands, but not docked. The cat then gave a meow, and everyone's heart melted, before Haruta looked at him. "Can we keep it?!" Whitebeard blinked. "It's a small cat, daughter." Haruta shrugged. "So? We have Stefan!" Whitebeard nodded. "Yes, but he is a war dog, not a small cat." The cat gave a small growl, as if it understood him and didn't like to be called small. Thatch then walked over and petted the cat. "Something about it seems… off." Haruta blinked. "What? No. Look at it! A small cat! We need to protect it! I wonder if it is a he or a she?" Rakuyo hummed. "We should check and give it a name." He said as he reached for the cat, but the cat hissed at his hand. Haruta looked at Rakuyo. "You're scaring it!" Rakuyo blinked. "Sorry."

Haruta then hummed and looked at the cat. "We need a gender neutral name then. How about… Blake." Rakuyo hummed. "Sounds off. How about Riley?" Haruta shook her head. "No. Sounds weird." Everyone then started to mention names, but none seemed to fit. Then Ace came out and headed over to the circle, probably wondering what they were doing, before Ace sighed. "Pepper." Haruta looked at Ace. "No. Pepper is all black, the cat isn't all black." Ace blinked. "What? No, his name is Pepper." Haruta looked at the cat. "He has a name? You know this cat?" Ace nodded. "Yeah." Ace then moved over to the cat and lifted it by his neck and looked at the cat, who seemed to be glaring at Ace, before Ace smiled. "Yeet?" The cat gave a growl, making Ace hum. "If you don't want to be yeeted, use your words." What?

Haruta looked at Ace. "You're not going to actually throw him? It's just a cat!" Ace hummed. "If he don't want to, he needs to say that." Haruta blinked. "It's a cat!" Ace shook his head, before he looked at the cat. "What do you say?" The cat gave a small snarl, and Ace nodded. "Yeet it is." Then Ace took a step back, which had Haruta's eyes widened. "You can't-" Ace then stepped forward and threw the cat as hard as he could towards the sea as he said "Yeet!" And the cat went flying as it shrieked. And they all just felt shocked, before Haruta spoke. "He's going to drown!" Cats might be able to swim, but there was nothing close. It would drown. Ace shook his head. "Nope. Isn't that right, Pepper?" Whitebeard blinked. Pepper was gone.

But then he heard a sound and behind Ace stood the cat, now dripping wet. Haruta gave a relieved breath, glad to see the cat fine. But how did it get back? The cat then opened its mouth, and he expected it to hiss, when the cat spoke. "Don't throw me!" Said the cat with a woman's voice. Haruta blinked. "It spoke…" Ace turned around and looked at the cat. "I told you to say no if you didn't want to be thrown." The cat gave a growl. "I didn't want to give myself away!" Ace shrugged. "Then don't come here, Pepper." The cat rolled its eyes. "Ace, you're immature and mean." Ace shook his head. "No. You are. Hiding as a cat." Haruta spoke. "I thought you said it was a he? That's clearly a woman's voice." Ace hummed. "Pepper. Why not just change? Your cover is blown." The cat rolled its eyes, before it closed his eyes, and then came a smoke cloud. And when it was blown away by the wind, a man stood there. Maybe in his late thirties based on his face, his hair was half black half white. He had dark blue eyes. He had on a dark shirt and white pants with a spot on his right leg like a heart, kinda like the mark the cat had on his back leg. He had a sword by his hip in its sheath.

The man hummed. "Happy now?" He said in a normal man's voice. Haruta blinked. "But… you sounded like a female?" The man nodded. "Yes. I don't know why my voice is so light as a cat's, but it is." Haruta blinked, before Ace hummed. "This is Pepper. Why are you here?" Pepper shrugged. "Wanted to check on you, Acey." Ace sighed. "I don't like you." Pepper shrugged. "Too bad. I am here for now." Ace sighed. "I don't like you." Izou blinked. "You're also with Heaven?" Pepper looked offended. "No!" Ace chuckled. "He was. But he left to roam the world when he was exiled." Izou blinked. "Why… were you exiled?" Pepper hummed. "Secret~" They all looked at Ace, who shrugged. "I don't know. Was before I got to Heaven." Made sense.

Ace looked at Pepper. "How long are you staying?" Pepper shrugged. "I dunno. Until I grow bored." Ace just rolled his eyes. The day then went on and Pepper was around and seemed bored. Trevor had also looked at Pepper, before saying. "I don't like you." Which had Pepper smirk. "Oh no, Hell boy don't like me. Whatever shall I do?" Trevor blinked. "You're odd." Pepper hummed. "And you look dumb." Trevor rolled his eyes and then two tried to avoid each other. The next day, he asked Marco to scout a bit ahead and changed to his phoenix form and flew a bit around, as they were close to an island and they weren't sure to dock or not, before Marco flew back to the boat.

Marco changed back as he landed, and Pepper looked at him. "You're a bird?" Marco blinked. "I am a phoenix, yoi." Pepper shrugged. "So, a bird." Marco looked a bit offended. "I am not a bird, I am a phoenix. They are amazing creatures, yoi. And very elegant." Pepper hummed. "Whatever you say, bird. But do remember, I am a cat." He said with a wink, which had Marco blink, before he gave a small glare. "I am not a simple bird, yoi! I am a gracious legendary phoenix!" Pepper chuckled. "Someone thinks highly of themselves for being a bird." Marco's eye twitched, before he changed a bit into the phoenix and puffed his chest up. "I am a mighty phoenix, I-" Marco didn't get to finish as Pepper walked up and moved a hand to Marco's chest and removed a burning feather as he said "pluck."

Marco looked shocked, before Pepper moved and took another feather as he said "pluck." Before he went for another one, dropping the feather he held which disappeared in the wind. "Pluck." He said as he grabbed for another one, which had Marco take a step back as he changed back. "You can't pluck all my feathers, yoi. They will come back." Pepper smirked. "Wanna bet?" Marco blinked, looking shocked. "You can't hurt me, yoi. I can regenerate." Pepper hummed. "Oh, you can? I thought you were a human. Or, a human bird." Marco blinked. "I have a Devil fruit, yoi. I am a phoenix, you can not hurt me." Pepper chuckled. "Oh, I 'can't' you say?"

Pepper then took up his sword. Was he going to fight Marco? Pepper hummed, before he threw the sword into the air. And he instantly remembered Ace's powers and he didn't know how this would end. But Marco was a phoenix, he could regenerate instantly. Killing him without seastone was basically impossible. Pepper chuckled. "Artemis, clapperclaw." He said, and the sword disappeared into a sort of light, which went to Pepper's hands, before he lifted his hand and his nails now looked like claws, completely white. Pepper then took a step towards Marco and moved to have his index finger out, before he moved it to Marco's cheek and made an x, before he took a step back. "Heal that, Birdy boy."

Marco gave a small snort. "You barely grazed me, yoi." Pepper hummed. "Then, why isn't it healed already if I just grazed you?" Marco blinked, before he moved his hand to his cheek, the x bleeding a bit, before Marco's eyes widened as he moved his hand away and looked at the blood in his palm, before he looked at Pepper. "What did you do, yoi?" Pepper hummed. "You see. I'm dead. My powers-" Pepper moved his hand up and showed his claws. "Aren't just sharp and amazing. They counter any living power. So, if I claw you or cut you, your precious phoenix can't do anything. So, what do you say, Birdy boy, wanna bet I can't pluck you dry?" Marco looked horrified, before he swallowed and took a step back, which had Pepper chuckle. "I thought so, Birdy boy."

Whitebeard felt shocked too. That meant their powers were nothing to them. Not even Marco's powers could heal him if he got hurt by them. That was terrifying. Ace looked at Pepper. "You pluck one more feather on him, I will skin you alive." Pepper looked at Ace. "You can't skin me alive." Ace hummed. "You're right." Pepper smirked, but Ace looked at Pepper in a serious way with a small smirk. "But Azruel can." Pepper looked shocked. "You wouldn't." Ace gave a look. "Try me." Pepper didn't look happy and looked at Marco. "You lucked out, Birdy. Killjoy over there is boring." Ace hummed. "Careful, Pepper." Pepper gave a small purr as he looked at Ace. "Not going to Hell today." Pepper then started to walk away, before he sent a look over his shoulder at Marco. "So, better watch your back, Birdy boy. Cats like to play with their prey." Then he took a step and was gone.

As he was gone, Marco swallowed. "What was that, yoi?" Ace hummed. "Our swords or powers are a dead power. It is not just made to kill or injure, but to send the souls of our victims to Hell. So, we don't only damage your body, but your soul as well. Which is why your powers won't heal it, since it is a living power, it heals your body, but not your soul." Marco swallowed. "But this will heal, yoi?" Ace nodded. "Yes. But it will heal at a normal rate, unless you have a soul healer, they can heal soul wounds." Marco blinked. "Wait. So, he hurt my soul, yoi?" Ace hummed. "Simple answer, yes. The real answer, it is complicated. Many think the soul is like this small thing inside your body. But it isn't. I'm a soul, I don't have a body anymore. My body is rotting away somewhere, it's been some years now in Earth time." They all blinked, and Thatch looked at his hands. "Wait… I don't have a body?" Ace shook his head. "No, you don't."

Haruta, who was close to Thatch, moved her hand and poked Thatch. "You feel real." Ace sighed. "You're not just a simple soul. Souls just… exist and can't be seen by most or touched by most. You were a simple soul, before I got you in Heaven. Every soul can become what we are, and we have many names, but are known as Death Gods, which I feel is wrong as we aren't Gods. More like guardians that try to keep the peace. We are not supposed to interact or interfere with humans unless we need to. I can do this-" And Ace moved his hand a bit and he disappeared, and Whitebeard was sure Ace just teleported, but then he heard his voice speak. "You can still see me, Thatch, you're dead. But they shouldn't." Thatch looked at him and he nodded. "I can't see him." Ace then came back.

Ace then grabbed his sword. "And you are given a spirit once you die, but you need to awaken it. Which is hard and takes time. I speeded up the process by giving a sliver of my power to you. If I hadn't, you would just be a simple soul still. In Heaven, we have a sort of school for lack of words. Where once you've started to awaken your powers, you can join and train. Learn how to wield a sword and then awaken your powers. This can take a long while, because they kinda go soft on you I believe. But if you take Hell, you need to survive. If you die, you die and get reborn, where you lose most of your powers, but it is easier to get it back than the first time, but it still takes time. And if you're strong, Jon might take you in. It is a huge place and everything tries to kill you that are not damned souls. Like Hell people, monsters, Hollows, and other things. Hollows are not supposed to be on Earth, but it happens that they escape, sometimes on their own, sometimes they get help from Hell people to lure out Heaven. Hollows is either a body who lost its soul, or a soul who is corrupted. But they can be created on Earth as well, which is why they are here and there. But Hell has millions and hundreds created each day."

They all nodded, Thatch speaking. "So, basically Heaven tries to fix what Hell does?" Ace hummed. "No. This will sound weird, but Hell people also roam the world to take back Hollows to Hell and keep the peace. A hollow let out by Hell is easily noticed, as a normal Hollow is weak. But they come in categories. The lowest one is just a Hollow, the worst one is a Lord. They are all driven by hunger and devour souls, which is bad. So we both fight them. But they can sort of be tamed, which is the ones Hell sends out. And, you cannot go from a Hollow to Lord on Earth, that happens in Hell. You can go straight into a Lord if your soul is above a certain power. Jon has been known to kill someone to create a Lord. But again, they can only be tamed to a certain point, like a wolf. They are very unpredictable. Also, a normal Hollow can be compared to a simple soul. They have no weapons. A Lord has a sword and powers. They were used in the war by Hell."

Whitebeard blinked. "War?" Ace nodded. "Yes. There has been… 2 war fights. Where we seek out each other to fight. Jon himself has never joined one, but kept watch. But he has sent a few Lords to fight for him, but they have been known to turn on other Hell people as they aren't tame. But, Jon has a few around Hell as guards or in cages. And they are not fun, very unpredictable." Trevor nodded. "Yeah. I hate them. But Jon doesn't want us to kill them, in case he needs them, so we are just to keep them alive but away from the base." That could make sense.

Thatch hummed. "Can a… Lord send out a pulse?" Ace nodded. "Yes. But they cannot activate their sword. They go on raw strength." Thatch nodded. "I want to be able to make a pulse." Trevor blinked. "You can't yet? I know you can't see or hear your spirit's name yet, but a pulse can be achieved earlier." Ace hummed. "You know I can't teach him how to make one, as I can't make one. I use others against them." Trevor blinked. "Ah, true. I can teach you." Thatch blinked. "You can?!" Trevor nodded. "Sure. What you do is-" Ace moved his hand. "No! Bad Trevor!" Ace said as he swatted Trevor on the head.

Trevor rolled his eyes. "Come on!" Ace shook his head. "No! We are close to an inhabited island!" Trevor blinked. "I won't hit them!" Ace gave a look. "Who is it that got banned from ever using his pulse close to the base? Because that person disintegrated an entire tower by accident?" Trevor sighed. "It was me, I know. But I won't do it again!" Ace glared. "When we are back out on sea with no inhabited islands close by, or an uninhabited one, you can show him." Trevor rolled his eyes. "Fine. You always were the kind one." Whitebeard blinked. Ace was a kind one? Moira had said he was a violent one. Before he could voice this, Trevor and Ace started to bicker, and he decided he could take it later.

And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed it

We are soon heading into what I have planned to happen for this

If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to share them!

I hope you enjoyed, and if you want to, I do love feedback, so don't be afraid to leave a review, or send a PM!

If you also want to, I have a Twitter, my name is Azuruko, and I have a discord, my tag/username is just azuruko, as well as a server (Instant invite: discord . gg / 6hzMhbR) where everyone is welcomed! Updates is also posted there, both on discord and on twitter