It's been a while! I didn't give the story up, but I have just too many ongoing projects I'm probably not going to finish. I'm still writing this story tho, and man this chapter was hard to write. It's done now, and the next one is ongoing but do be patient as it will probably take a couple of months, cya then!

Chapter 16

~ ASL ~

It was deep into the night, the lamp was dangling from a rope attached to the mast and was moving side by side as their ship rocked on the ocean, giving the best effect on the shadows. Ace stared, interested in the shapes, his finger deep into his nose, he jumped at Sabo's slap on the barrel.

"Ace, are you listening?" Asked his blond brother, and Ace nodded. They would dock to Oykot the next day by Sabo's estimates, and they were planning for what they would be doing there. Their crewmates, not having the captain role, just went to sleep, at least Zoro did and Deuce just followed his lead, he trusted Ace to make the decisions it seemed.

Ace didn't like planning much, he wanted to just rush in and have fun, but there was a good reason to be careful this time. Sabo caught Luffy's stretching ear when he wouldn't stop staring at the waving lamp. Luffy whined like a kid and dropped his head down on his side of the barrel.

"This is serious Luffy, we don't want your granpa-" Ace elbowed his side, Sabo rolled his eyes and corrected himself.

"... our granpa to know we're there, or he's going to catch and arrest us." Arrest them or kill them for becoming pirates, Sabo didn't want to think about it much.

"Do you remember what you have to do, Luffy?" Sabo released his ear and Luffy nodded.

"I go to the city and uh buy stuff?" He asked unsure and Ace chuckled while Sabo shook his head tiredly, hopefully Zoro would remember the list of supplies and keep his captain focused.

"Remember, no exploring until you brought all the supplies to the ship." Luffy nodded while being distracted by the lamp again, Sabo seemed to give up and turned to Ace, he interrupted before Sabo could ask.

"Yeah, yeah, I will go with Deuce to the shadiest place we can get to and find buyers for the treasure. When we have the money, we go to the doctor school and get him to enter".

Sabo nodded then added. "Diamonds are pretty valuable, don't sell the diamonds at once, go for small quantities to different people, or it's going to be suspicious."

Ace waved at him.

"Sure, sure but what about you? You aren't staying on the ship doing nothing, are you?"

Sabo looked down at the documents on the barrel, it was one of the maps he got from the bandits, a map of Oykot's capital city.

"Well, there's some information I need to check before I do anything, but I have some things planned." He waved his hand around vaguely and in the end closed the journal he was reading and motionned to his brothers.

"Okay, we're good, we need to sleep." Luffy seemed to spring up at those words and jumped from his chair, almost pushing the barrel over

"K, g'night" He mumbled before running away.

Ace caught the barrel as their little brother left the deck. Sabo had a pretty good idea what to do, but he would need to be very careful, his brothers were exactly known for their discretion, so he decided he would go alone this time. He would have to make sure about the absence of the Marines, to his knowledge they weren't welcome on the island, but he couldn't be certain.

"Sabo?" Ace called his brother.

Sabo made a noise, still seemingly deep in thought.

"You should come with me and Deuce"

Sabo blinked and finally looked at Ace.

"Well actually… I kind of wanted to go explore something" He reached inside his journal and pulled out a small notebook and as he opened it, Ace could see a black and white picture glued to it. The picture was showing a pile of gold, the title said. "Best riches of East Blue"

"This is talking about some kind of treasure in this kingdom, not sure why those bandits kept this newspaper but I want to find some information about it."

"So… you plan going alone there, without... us" He almost said 'me', barely changing it at the last second. He was trying not to make it look like a big deal. Sabo rubbed his neck, a bit embarrassed to admit his brother's lack of discretion.

"I mean… it's not even sure it's going to get anywhere, maybe I won't find anything, and can you imagine Luffy trying to be subtle? That's bound to fail, so I'd rather go on my own so the chances to figure something out are higher."

Ace just stared, he didn't like breaching this issue that way but it had been bothering him for a while.

"Why don't you join my crew?" Ace asked, he wasn't all that good at dancing around the topic, and he decided to just go for the heart of the problem.

Sabo was obviously not expecting that question and just opened his mouth for a second before closing it, a startled expression on his face. Ace continued.

"I know it was not to upset Luffy at the time and it was fine but now he has a crewmate and you didn't say anything." Ace could feel his throat tightening a little at the end of his words but he forced them out, it was now or never.

Sabo remained silent and Ace's frown deepened, the emotion now tainting his voice he whispered.

"What happened to being my navigator?"

Sabo looked down and Ace felt suddenly quite selfish, what if Sabo changed his mind? It was up to him right? He was his brother and would care for him no matter what he decided to do. Hell, he could even join the marines, he was still his brother forever. So why did he feel so terribly unhappy about this?

"I…" started Sabo. "I don't know what I want anymore" He was still not looking at Ace and he felt hurt that his brother didn't even look at him saying that.

"Before I just wanted to be free but… But now I… I care about you both but it's different, I can't join your crew like this" He added and this time looked at Ace but the dark haired felt irrationally angry about this. A part of him wanted to spit it out, throw accusations around but instead he simply took a deep breath and decided he wasn't going to face him now.

"Okay, fine, do what you want" Ace spat out and left the deck, it was late anyway.

~ D ~

They decked in during the night and apparently Sabo moored the ship on his own. The docks were foggy and eerily empty this early in the morning, and there was no trace of the blond captain of the ship. He didn't know what happened, but Sabo was gone and Ace was brooding, saying it was nothing to worry about. Deuce would ask what happened, why Sabo left early on his own but no one else seemed to really care, even Luffy was all joyful and ready for adventure, he did look like the excitable kind of guy who wouldn't want to stay on the ship longer than he had to. And so they learned that Sabo also paid the fees for the ship when he left, and they were told to thank their sick uncle for the tip he gave the docking master.

"See ya later guys!" saluted Luffy, bouncing in place pulling Zoro to the city already while Deuce waved them goodbye.

Otoyok was the main coastal city and capital of the kingdom. He was pretty amazed by the white towers in the distance, even the buildings followed suit, all white and grey and beautiful. In the light of dawn, the sun rose behind the towers, it was all orange and red, and he was almost shaking in anticipation.

The blue haired teen was feeling afraid but also excited about being in a new place, he'd never actually got to visit any islands, the merchants didn't do tourism, and he was really nervous about the school. Deuce had his doubts about being able to join the school, about actually joining it, about leaving Ace until he was a doctor. What if he failed? What if Ace forgot about him? He didn't want to think about that, but as he grabbed the bag of treasure his Captain handed him, he thought that he never felt this indecisive about something.

"Hey Deuce, it's gonna be okay." He looked up at Ace and smiled shakily, it was going to be fine, no matter what happened next, his captain would stand by his choice.

~ S ~

Getting lost was surprisingly easy in this huge city but at least the huge white castle was looming above everything, like a beacon in the light of morning. More prestigious than the red tiles of the white/grey buildings and markets surrounding it, the white walls were so pristine they hurt to look at. Sabo didn't like this castle already but he needed what was in there. Sabo didn't want to think much about the night before and allowed himself to forget by focusing on his task. He would still take advantage of the festival, he wasn't in a hurry after all, and he bought some blue snacks and candy from the market, those looked like a specialty around here. He kind of still regretted leaving early on his own but he really needed some time alone to think things through. Sabo resented Ace for being a prick about his choices but at the same time he understood, he was supposed to be his navigator but something about this decision still rubbed him wrong.

It was already late noon when he finally got inside the walls. The white towers were all linked by buildings and bridges, and he was kind of eager to check it out. He didn't actually think he'd find this infamous treasure but maybe he'd find some things of value around here. He had to wait a little around the giant gates but a fight broke out just around the market outside the giant doors. The guards rushed to protect the citizens, so Sabo slipped inside with incredible ease. Once inside the first tower, he picked a box and walked around like the place belonged to him. It was all too easy, he wondered when trouble would rise.

Sabo walked to another corridor, walking by a woman carrying a tray of food. He was calm and didn't hurry as she walked past him and looked back with relief, it was a success! He only had a couple more minutes to walk around, and he noticed a door, it looked pretty nice, big doorway and nicely decorated. He tried to open it but it was locked, what a shame. The blond continued on his exploration when he heard steps on the next corner, he slammed into someone's face. He didn't notice they were so close! His forehead hurt and the box fell on his leg and he opened his eyes to see a pair of dark, terrified, orbs staring at him. She (he was assuming it was a she) was wearing a strange blue costume hiding her whole face and hair, letting only her eyes show through a small gap in the fabric.

He opened his mouth, but closed it as a yell in the distance cut him.

"The princess has escaped!" Screamed a voice and while he pondered what it meant, thinking, he got caught for a second before the words registered.

"Princess?" He mumbled, standing up, and before he could react, his face got covered by a blue fabric and handed a couple of cold stones that fell on his lap but mostly all around his legs.

Before he was able to untangle his face from the fabric, he heard some people running towards his direction and looked down at what was on his hands, big beautiful stones of multiple colors. Those were real rubies! Why would anyone throw those here?

"W-what?"

"Thief!" screamed someone and he didn't think at all as he started running, the blue clothed person was missing and he was screwed.

~ N ~

The empty corridor called for her, she walked in as silently as she could. If everything went well, it was the last time she would be walking in those gray walls, it was perfect and the door was just in the next area she needed to hurry though the second they noticed she was gone, her time would be running out. It was right there, behind the next corner, when she bumped someone. She gasped in panic until she realized it wasn't a guard but just a small boy. What was he doing here? She didn't know about any young kids living or working around here. Then the warning scream of the missing princess woke her up from her confusion.

"Princess?" He said, how did he recognize her?! Oh no, if he decided to scream to warn the guards, she was done! She covered his face with her fabric to confuse him and threw a couple of gems at him. No one liked thieves and it was her only reliable option, it would maybe distract them from looking for her. By that point she knew the hiding spots better than anyone, and as she ran back from where she came from, she slid behind a curtain, hoping for the best.

She internally groaned in frustration, It was almost over, but this dumb kid was almost enough to screw everything up. She just needed to get to the bedroom but he got there first and she was so close…

She closed her eyes tight as she heard the boy run behind the door, followed by the guards. A couple of minutes later, the silence still welcomed her, and she peeked behind the curtain. An empty corridor welcomed her again.

She started running immediately, there was a chance, she got her spare modified fork out and unlocked the door. She heard the commotion this morning, when Sandra left the castle to prepare her speech for the plaza. As expected, the room was empty, and she breathed deeply. The message said twelve twenty, twelve twenty…. There! She pushed the brick and she heard a sudden sound coming from the wall. An old forgotten mechanism opened the smallest trap inside the chimney. She stared at it, mildly surprised, then rushed in. And just in time because the stone closed on its own behind her.

Nojiko's excitement grew, she was safe, finally safe! She just needed to get out of here and… Yes she would go find Camille, she would help her, like she had before.

~ RZ ~

They were lost, completely lost. Yeah he tried to pretend they weren't at first, the city was very big and he was pretty sure he managed to locate the right area but somehow all the roads kept leading to the same place. Instead of the city they were in the middle of some kind of field full of smelly blue flowers, he had no idea how they got there, surely they just needed to walk back. He could see the walls of the city, he was sure they didn't leave it but he was pretty confused.

"Zorooo, I'm hungryyyy-" His proud and powerful captain was whining like a kid again, and he resisted the urge of slapping his own face in frustration. He took a deep breath instead, he was a kid, it was to be expected. He was getting hungry himself but he wasn't about to admit it out loud.

He heard a noise and turned around to see a thin woman with a basket watching them from afar.

"Hey a person! Maybe they have some food!"

"Wait Lu-!" Too late, his captain already jumped the poor person, making her fall in the flowers. Zoro ran to pull his captain off the poor woman's face and punched the top of his bouncy head for the trouble. He knew it wouldn't hurt his shitty captain much anyway.

The woman was stunned but didn't seem to be hurt, he helped her up.

"I'm really sorry about him." He bowed to the woman as he apologized, then noticing Luffy standing back up grabbed his straw hat as well to make him bow.

"But I smell food on her!" His Captain mumbled.

"Yeah and you could have seriously hurt her, not everyone can take hits like your brothers or me!"

"They can't?" Luffy blinked and Zoro wanted to punt the child into the ocean and sighed. The kid seriously needed some more education.

"I-it's okay, you poor kids seemed lost… Can I help you?"

Luffy looked at Zoro with a wide smile, about to be a rude brat again so Zoro grabbed his arm before he could do something dumb again.

"You bow down and ask nicely, don't forget to say please!"

Luffy blinked confusedly, then bowed again.

"Please food, please M'am!" Then he raised his head with a giant smile. Zoro sighed, he would have to ask Sabo to teach his captain some manners.

~ S ~

It lasted less than the blink of an eye. One second he was running, successfully evading the guards towards the plaza, he was positive he would be able to lose them in the crowd, he knew there was a big gathering of people here and Sabo could feel the satisfaction of having successfully escaped an awful situation creeping in. The next second, he felt a hand grabbing his head and his face was painfully pushed on the floor, one of his arms stuck in an arm lock. He had no time to react and he immediately struggled but the pain of his arm stopped him, he couldn't even see who caught him but one thing was certain, he wasn't going anywhere and he could hear the guards running closer.

Crap.

And this was how he ended up in his cell, well he thought at first that he'd be able to escape once the person who caught him was gone. But not only this person, a woman, was apparently the mayor of this place but also almost as strong as Garp. He tried to run away after their attention was taken elsewhere but immediately the older woman's fist was right at the top of his head the second he tried to jump out of the guard's grasp. It actually hurt quite a lot and the Mayor followed him here. Sabo sighed, letting his head fall in his hands, despairing. After what happened at the ship, Ace would never ever let him forget this if he knew. And he was bound to know, the whole city was there to witness his capture, he whined in his hands again.

"Crying will not get you out of there." Sabo blinked and raised his head, oh she was back.

It was the same woman, tall and wearing some expensive gown and smelling like awful expensive perfume that made him wince. The only thing he might have liked was her dark top hat similar to his own.

"Nothing to say, thief?" She asked, and he just wanted her to go away, Ace would certainly learn of his stupidness soon and come rescue him.

"'m not a thief" He mumbled, remembering the girl that shoved the jewels in his hands.

"Well it's pretty hard to believe considering the precious gems you were carrying and I checked they do come from our treasury.

"Yeah well I didn't steal them, can't help it if you just let them lay 'round." He crossed his arms, not really willing to share much.

"So you didn't see the girl. That's unfortunate, there's a pretty hefty prize for her capture now."

He blinked, that was the most obvious attempt to get information he's ever heard, and yeah he was biting.

"What kind of prize?"

Had to cut there, but here's the newest arc I've been preparing for a year, hope you like it!

Don't forget to review it makes me write faster!

Cheers!