Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

This will be a bit of different things

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Ace gave a breath, sitting in his room and relaxing as it was in the middle of the day, and he felt tired. Probably since he had been up all night. He didn't mean to, but it had happened. They had gotten rescued two days ago now, Pops had said they were let off easy since the enemy crew was scared of Pops's wrath if they had hurt them. But still, Pops was still mad they had been taken. But it had gone by fine. He was glad Marco had been with him, and not been alone. Ace wasn't sure if he would have survived that, he needed blood now, he couldn't eat normal food. Which he hated. He missed food, it tasted good. Now it tasted like dirt and made him sick if he ate it.

But then again, being trapped with Marco made Marco think he might be immortal, which made sense. Why else would Marco taste good? He hadn't expected that. So it had taken him by shock too. But it made sense. He hoped Marco would come to terms with it and be okay with it. Ace knew he would live long, but to know Marco would too, meant Ace could be around Marco for a long while, even after the others were dead. Ace knew he would outlive them, and he tried not to think of that. It made him feel blue, knowing he would watch them die slowly. He wasn't looking forward to that. But now he had Aoba and Marco with him for a long while, which meant a lot. He didn't want to spend years and years alone.

He did try and sleep, but wasn't able to, but it was dinner soon anyhow, and headed there. He also had duties after it, which he wasn't looking forward to. As he was at dinner and got his food and ate, he yawned, which had Marco hum. "You tired, yoi?" Ace nodded. "Yeah, I was up all night." Marco frowned a bit. "Why?" Ace shrugged. "It just happened, I didn't mean to. Suddenly it was morning." Marco nodded. "After the meal, you should head and sleep for a bit, you." Ace blinked. "But, I have duties." Marco nodded. "I know, but you need sleep as well. Go sleep, we can handle that." Ace nodded slowly. "Okay…" He hoped Marco wasn't acting favorable to him since he was a vampire, he didn't want that. He wanted to be treated as everyone else. But he didn't want to bring it up now with everyone around.

So when the meal was overt , Ace did head to sleep, managing a few hours, which felt really good. He needed that. When he headed out and walked around, trying to figure out what to do now, the duties he had was done now, he ran into Marco, who asked if he felt better, which he nodded to, and Marco seemed glad by that. Before Marco could move away, Ace held a hand out. "Are you acting favorable to me? Since you let me sleep?" Marco shook his head. "No, had it been someone else, I would have said the same, yoi." That was good to know. "Even though I missed my duties?" Marco nodded. "Yes. Sleep is important to a person. You don't usually like duties though." Ace shrugged. "I know, but I don't want to get out of it since you're being favorable, since I'm a vampire. That's wrong." Marco smiled. "That's true, and I'm not being favorable." Ace nodded, that was good to know. He knew Marco always said the truth, it was something he liked about Marco.

The rest of the day went by fine.

-x-

Ace stood beside Marco, jumping up and down as his shipment had come now, and he was excited. When the package was handed to him, he opened it and took away the normal food so he could see what he got. He got tongue, liver, an arm, and a heart, also getting 2 packs of blood. As he looked at it, he remembered something and looked at Marco. "I forgot, but Hidan is also like really old, maybe he knows something about your phoenix?" Marco frowned. "He's old?" Ace nodded. "Yeah, that's why he's such an asshole, he is just sick of this life and doesn't care. You can't kill him, even if you decapitate him. He's just sick of life." Marco nodded. "I can understand that, yoi. How did you figure out he was your preference?" Ace hummed. "Oh, I met up with this other vampire some years ago, and she got her shipment and offered a bit to me, and it was like super good. And that's when we knew."

Marco nodded, that made sense. "Is he okay with helping you guys? He seems so…" Ace chuckled. "Like an asshole? He is. He helps and then he is on terms with us. We help him out now and then as well." Marco blinked. "With what, yoi?" Ace hummed. "Well, he is immortal, but while he is, he feels better if he kills others in a ritual, makes him feel… fed in a way. So we help him find people or level D vampires he can kill, to make him feel well. And, we, Vincent's father, kind of saved him. He was buried for a long long while, before he got him up, and they made this deal." Marco nodded. "How long had he been buried?" Ace gave a hum. "Some thousand years." That was long. "He really is immortal then." Ace gave him a look. "Didn't you believe me?" Marco shrugged. "Never thought it excited immortal people, yoi." Ace nodded. "Many don't, many think it's just rumors." Marco nodded. "If rituals exist, if vampires and other beings exist, does God exist? Which religion is right, yoi? If you know."

Ace hummed. "Not one is right, but not all are wrong. There exists a heaven and hell I believe, and it is different for everyone. It's your heaven, and your hell." Marco nodded, that also made sense. "How do you know this?" Ace blinked. "Oh, Heather told me. Witches usually know a lot. Ask Lance, he probably knows much more than me." Marco could understand that, Lance seemed to know a lot. He should probably speak to him if he wanted to know things like this. He knew a lot about vampires, that was how he had helped Ace. He was still glad Lance had found Ace, and not someone else, but someone that could help him. And now, he just hoped the doctors wouldn't come back for Ace. That he was safe for now, but had a feeling they would come, as Lance had said. He knew about these doctors and how they worked apparently. He should probably speak more with him about this, on how he knew.

So later that day, when he saw Lance, he headed over to him. "How do you know what these Dread Doctors do, yoi?" Lance hummed. "My dad did go after them and found out a lot. Now, I am walking in his footsteps, I want to stop these doctors, I am not sure he wanted that though. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to join them. He was an evil man. I want to be nothing like him." Marco nodded, he understood that. "I can understand that and you seem to be a smart and kind man, yoi." Lance smiled. "Makes me glad to hear, I try my best. I've helped many, and now, I have a chance to get closer to the Dread Doctors. I know you hate this, but this is my chance." Marco nodded, he got this was his chance. "I just hope you're wrong, that they won't come." Lance nodded. "I know, but I am sure they will come. We just need to be prepared. To try and stop them." Marco nodded. "I hope we can. I don't want to lose a family member, yoi."

Lance nodded, having an understanding look. "That I get, and I hope I can be of some help in this." Marco nodded. "You've already been a huge help, you saved Ace, yoi. I still wonder how he knocked us out." Lance blinked, before he frowned. "What?" Marco frowned a bit as well, now realising they had never said this to Lance. "He knocked all of us out, when his body started to bleed mercury, yoi. I am sure it wasn't haki." Lance frowned. "That doesn't fit. How did he do that? A normal vampire can't do that." Marco blinked, he had thought they could, he didn't know why, but he did. "Then how did he do that, yoi?" Lance shook her head. "I have no idea, but maybe it will help me figure something out." Marco hoped so. He should have told this to Lance before. He had just forgotten about it somehow. Hopefully, this would lead somewhere. Lance then took a breath. "I will do some research and come back to you if I find out anything." Marco nodded, that sounded to be an idea.

Lance then left to do these things, and as he was gone, the day went on normally, and as dinner was starting, Thatch was fooling around with a cross for some reason, throwing it around. Why? Don't ask him, Thatch was weird at times. Thatch, however, chuckled as he threw the cross towards him, and Marco caught it with a sigh. "Don't throw things, yoi." He said as he threw it back, but as he did, Ace came through the door and Thatch moved a bit to the left, so the cross went towards Ace. That was bad, he knew crosses hurt vampires. But as it was close, Ace just caught it. It had him frown when nothing happened. "Doesn't it hurt you?" Ace blinked, before he frowned in confusion, and Marco motioned towards the cross and Ace chuckled. "Oh no, that's a myth."

Marco blinked. "A myth, yoi?" Ace nodded. "Yeah." That was something he didn't know. "But I've heard it's dangerous for you, yoi?" Ace shrugged. "We made it to give a false sense of safety, and make so people didn't know we were vampires as we could touch crosses." That made sense. Thatch frowned. "What else are myths? A stake through the heart?" Ace snorted. "Would that kill you?" Thatch nodded which had Ace shrug. "Not a myth, but that would kill any normal being, actually most beings." That also made sense. "What isn't a myth?" Ace shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I don't know all the myths and such." Marco got that, there were many myths that existed, probably much more than what he knew himself. He would see if he could come up with more things he knew and then ask about them. He would check some books and see what he found.

The rest of the day went by fine, and when the next day came, Marco moved over to Ace, Ace looking a bit melancholy. "How do you feel, yoi?" Ace sighed. "It still feels weird I'm no longer a hybrid, that I'm a regular vampire. I liked being a hybrid, I liked food. I miss that the most." Marco understood that, Ace ate a lot. "You don't eat as much anymore, yoi." Ace shrugged. "I don't need to as a vampire. I just need to feed the hunger, not to feel full." Marco blinked. "So, you don't feel full?" Ace shrugged. "No vampire does, we just feel… not hungry. That's why those who lose themselves can tear through villages and kill hundreds; we never feel full." That did make sense, and he didn't know that. "Did you feel full when you were a hybrid, yoi?" Ace nodded. "Much more than now, the reason I still want to eat food, because it helps. But now, I get sick…" Marco nodded. "I'm sorry this happened, yoi." Ace shrugged. "Not your fault. It's those doctors." That was true, but he still felt on Ace's behalf. He still wondered why the doctors made him a full vampire, it sounded to be more special being a hybrid than a full vampire, as Lance had said. It didn't really make sense. There had to be a bigger ploy here, he just didn't know what. He hoped it was nothing bad.

And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed

This was a bit of this and that and hope it came together well

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