Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

I know it has been a long time since I last updated, but here it is finally. This one is a bit short, but the next one will be longer, promise. I have a couple ideas for it which I'm putting together

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Ace moved to the sink in the bathroom, coughing into it, and as he was done, he moved a hand to his mouth as he felt something drip down from his mouth, and when he moved his hands, he saw blood on his hands. And in the sink, laid the three pills he had taken. Why did he cough them up? He needed them to feel normal and fed. He then went to his room and took three more pills. His stomach did hurt a bit with it, but he was sure it would go by fine. But when he was out on deck, he moved over to Lance, needing to ask. "Lance, is there a chance I can throw the pills back up?" Lance sighed. "You took them too long, didn't you?" Ace blinked. "I- no?" Lance lifted an eyebrow. "Why did that sound like a question?" Ace sighed. "Maybe I did. It can't be dangerous, can it?" Lance hummed. "If you just cough them up, then it's fine. If you cough up blood, that's worse. It might mean you will react to blood when you drink it again." Ace blinked, that he didn't want. He hadn't been drinking blood for some time now. When he didn't say anything, Lance sighed again. "And you've coughed up blood. How often?" Ace shrugged. "Once." Lance nodded. "Listen, go get some blood, you need it, so it doesn't get worse. You can dangerously harm yourself. You can get a reaction to blood, meaning you can't drink it and you will starve to death." Ace blinked. "Oh…" He didn't know it could be that bad. Lance sighed again. "I should have said this to begin with, that's my mistake. But get some blood, you might react a bit, hopefully just a bit. As in it will taste bad and you might throw up if it's worse. Tell me if you do, we need to act quickly." Ace nodded, he could do that, he didn't want to starve to death.

He then went to the infirmary, asking Bay carefully for some blood, and when he was handed a bag, he looked at it, hoping he wouldn't react. As he just stood there, Bay frowned. "Is anything wrong with it?" Ace shook his head. "No, it's just… those tablets I got, I took them too long, so I might react to this." Bay frowned more. "React how?" Ace sighed. "It might taste bad and I might throw it back up. I can starve to death." Bay blinked. "Why did you do it? What if you starve to death now!" Bay was mad, which he got. And he sighed again. "I hope I won't react, I just took them for a bit longer. I don't want to use up all the blood." Bay shook her head. "We have more than enough. I have bags for you, more than enough for both you and Pops. I made sure of that whenever we restock on islands." That Ace didn't know. "Oh…" Bay sighed. "But done is done. Hopefully you won't starve to death." Ace hoped that himself, that this would go by fine. Bay then moved away, so he could drink in peace, not liking to be looked at when he drank blood.

Ace then took a breath, before he moved to drink the blood, and as he did, he felt his face morph into disgust. It tasted horrible, like rotten food. Or it tasted worse, it just tasted stale and rotten. But he needed the blood, so he got through it, drinking the entire bag, before he moved it away. As he did, Bay was back in front of him. "Did it go fine?" Ace let out a breath. "It tastes horrible." Bay nodded. "And that is since you took the pills for too long? Not anything wrong with the blood, I hope." Ace shook his head. "Oh no, not the blood. Lance said it would taste bad, I just didn't expect it to be so bad." Bay nodded. "That's good. Serves you right for not following what Lance said. I am sure he said how long you could take them. As long as you don't starve to death. I wouldn't want to bring the news that you starved to death for a simple mistake." Ace was glad he wouldn't starve to death himself. He felt fine, maybe a bit queasy, but he was sure it would go away.

When he headed out, he headed to Lance and said it went fine to drink blood, which had the man give a breath. "That's good. I was worried. How did it taste?" Ace shuddered. "Like hell. Tasted stale, rotten, and just horrible. How long will it last?" Lance hummed. "Depends. For some, it lasts for a few days, others for months." Ace blinked, that was long. He hoped it wouldn't be so long. "Oh," Continued Lance. "When you drink warm blood, it will taste worse than cold blood." Ace frowned. "How can something that's already foul taste worse?" Lance shrugged. "Beats me, I just have heard it from others. I know a few who starved to death even. I am glad you didn't." Ace was as well. "Okay, I will be prepared for it." Lance nodded. "Good. Even your preference will taste bad, not as bad as this, but bad." Ace nodded. "What about meat?" Lance hummed. "That I don't know. I would love to hear it from you." Ace nodded, before he frowned a bit. "Actually, why did you join us? Why not stay as you have and help others? I am fine." Lance nodded. "You are, but I want my hands on the Dread Doctors-" Ace shuddered at the name, "-and I can maybe do that through you. I don't want them to come for you, I don't want anyone to be taken again, but it might need to happen for us to learn more about them, and hopefully, you will live." Ace nodded. "I am worried about that. I know they will come for me, and I hate it. Why do you want to get your hands on them?" Lance sighed. "That's my ordeal, not yours." Ace nodded, he could accept that.

He then went on with his day, hoping meat and organs wouldn't taste bad as well, and if his counting was right, it was just a couple days until he got his monthly shipment of food. He would be ready for it. When the shipment came two days later, he was excited. When he was handed the box, he headed for his room, as it was a light box it meant there wasn't much meat in it. Hidan probably didn't kill too many in the last few days. That man, he loved to kill others. He was thankful for his help, even though he was an asshole. He helped a few of them, who had the preference for immortality. There weren't many of them, as it was a rare preference, but a few had. Ace shook his head, looking at the box he opened, seeing it had 3 organs in it and 2 blood bags. He would eat those organs now, they weren't large or a lot, which meant the next one would be fuller. And as he took the first bite, he grimaced a bit as it tasted bad. Not as bad as the blood, but bad. But it was bearable. So he ate up the organs, before he brought the blood to Bay, so she could store it for him, which she said was good, and would be sure to take good care of them.

As that was settled, he moved back to his room, staying there for a bit, not feeling like he wanted to stay out. He did head out when there were meal times, and got food from Thatch, food made with blood, so he could eat it. The rest of the day went by fine, and when the next day came, he noticed he was able to sleep long, which was unusual. It was the first of the month, he was always woken early by Marco. Maybe he had forgotten? He usually was up to help prepare things for the kitchen, duty he got for being a bit annoying to Marco at times. So when he got out and found Marco, he headed over. "Why didn't you wake me?" Marco hummed. "I was told you shouldn't be up early. It's not in you or your instincts. Aoba told me, yoi." Ace blinked. "Oh… Thank you." He didn't expect it, that Marco would listen to Aoba and do it, he felt cared for, in a way. Marco shook his head. "It's nothing. I want the best for you, yoi. But you're on duty when evening comes." Ace nodded. That was fine, he could handle that. The day went by fine, and he enjoyed it on duty when evening came, much better than the early one as he felt he could keep awake and felt normal. He was excited for the day Aoba would come back and visit them, he liked the other a lot. For now, things were fine, he just hoped blood would taste better soon.

And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed

I know it was short, but it's something. The next one will be more exciting as more happens. Hope you forgive me for making this so short

If you have any scenes you would like to see, don't be afraid to leave a comment, or send a PM

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