Chapter 4
"Bring it on, you bastard!" Sabo yelled in defiance.
Ace laughed, even as the Shadow lady smacked the back of Sabo's head, earning another curse. Luffy was screaming, clinging to the railing of their tree house as the storm battered against them. Ace clung to the helm, grinning.
If this was what the seas were like, they would be in for a true adventure for sure.
'Use your manners. You've been taught them,' Shadow lady lectured.
Sabo stuck his tongue out. "Doesn't mean I want to use them!"
'And since when did I care what you want?'
"You made me your responsibility when you dragged me off to live with Dadan," Sabo said sweetly. "So you should care."
'Aw, you're adorable. You want me to care about you, yeah sweetheart?' Sabo flushed, even as the Shadow lady chuckled. 'Don't worry, I'll tuck you into bed tonight and read you a bedtime story-'
Ace laughed. He couldn't help it, Sabo looked absolutely horrified. But before he could try to come up with some clever reply, the winds blasted into them with a vengeance. Their attention returned to the storm, although Luffy's attention probably never left it since he was still yelling at them to pull him in.
Eh, he was probably the safest of them all. Shadow Lady was holding his hand after all. Although she was leaving him dangling out in the wind, so maybe he wasn't safe after all.
"This is amazing!" Ace grinned.
"And this isn't even like the storms in the Grandline. This is gentle compared to one of those." Shadow lady sat on the railing, the one Luffy was dangling off of.
Sabo gasped. "Seriously? Good thing I managed to get those books on navigation and weather. I'm seriously going to need to read into those!"
Ace planned to just throw himself into the chaos and see what happened. That way he could enjoy the adventure to it's fullest instead of cheating his way through. But for now, he enjoyed the storm.
.::.
The storm had damaged the tree house. Ace grimaced, eyeing his grimoire, then Luffy and Sabo. He was supposed to practise his magic today, but his brothers probably needed help fixing the tree house.
Sabo shook his head. "We can gather the materials ourselves. Hopefully by the time we're back we can start fixing the tree house together."
Ace frowned. "Are you sure? I could skip practise today-"
"You've been trying to stop the flow of water for weeks," Sabo reminded him. "And you've made good progress. You shouldn't skip your lessons now. Not when you're so close."
"Yeah! We can do this ourselves." Luffy grinned. "I can carry everything by myself! I'm strong after all."
Ace snorted. "Yeah, right."
"I am!"
"You haven't even won a single fight yet."
"When I'm ten I'll win all my fights!"
"And I'll be thirteen, so I'll still be older than you!"
"Stop fighting, you guys," Sabo sighed.
"I want to find a telescope!" Luffy grinned.
"You'll never find that sort of thing there," Ace said, shaking his head.
"Well I'm going to try anyway." Luffy stuck out his tongue.
Ace rolled his eyes. "Fine, but don't come crying to me when you get disappointed."
"We'll look, Luffy. But Ace is right, the chances of finding one is very low," Sabo soothed.
Ace twitched. "Don't baby him, Sabo."
"He's being mean, Sabo! He always gets crankier during his magic lessons since it makes him tired."
"I do not!"
Sabo groaned.
.::.
Ace panted, sweat dripping down his brow. Shadow lady had poured out cup after cup of water, and Ace had tried to stop the flow hundreds of times, only to never succeed. He could slow it down, force it to a crawl, but he could never stop it entirely.
Shadow lady remained by his side the entire time, making sure he took plenty of breaks. Ace wouldn't have if she hadn't been here. He would have pushed on, but the shadow lady never let him.
He finally got it at sunset. Something in his magic clicked into place, smoothing out the rough edges, and coaxed the water to obey. It froze in place, and he cheered.
Shadow lady smiled warmly, Ace felt it, and couldn't help but grin when she ruffled his hair.
"I need to show Sabo and Luffy when they come back-" Ace began, but looking around, he frowned.
It was getting very late.
"I thought they would be back by now..." Ace admitted.
Shadow lady tilted her head, then wrote on the paper. One of the rare time she choose paper over blood. 'Maybe they went straight home?'
"Maybe..." Ace nodded. "Alright, let's head over there then. Hopefully they caught dinner."
Shadow lady nodded and together they headed back. Ace yawned into his palm, stretching out.
"Magic is really tiring. Will it get easier when I'm older?"
That earned him a thumbs up.
"That's good. It would be so cool, being a pirate with awesome magical powers. I'd kick everyone's ass!" Ace grinned.
Shadow lady tilted her head, and waved her hand in a 'sort of' sign. Ace huffed.
"I won't be strong enough still?" he complained. "Jeez, these guys in the Grandline must be tough."
Shadow lady nodded, raising her hand. That meant very strong. Huh, well, with that heads up Ace just had to train himself up more.
"Stronger than Gramps?" Ace asked.
Another nod.
"Bloody hell..."
He grimaced when she tapped his head.
"Sorry," he sighed.
When they got back to the tree house there was no sign of Sabo or Luffy. They waited an hour but headed out when neither of the two returned. Ace's stomach turning at the thought of every danger the pair might be facing without him. All because he had been too busy practising. The Shadow lady distracted him a lot when Ace began to fret. Ace ended up passing out during the search, exhausted, but the Shadow lady continued on. When Ace got up the next morning he began helping her look again in town.
They were looking through the forest again when the Grey Terminal exploded into flames. Ace felt a wave of exhaustion hit him when the Shadow lady grabbed him, and ran. A click of her fingers opened up a path through the fire for them.
"Luffy and Sabo can't be here!" Ace gasped.
She kept running, reaching a burning hut where Ace could hear screaming. Luffy's screaming. Shadow lady broke down the wall with a punch, and rushed right in. Luffy was tied to a support beam, but she kicked it down, grabbed him, and was out in a manner of seconds. The building collapsed behind them, sending a wave of dust and smoke their way. Ace and Luffy coughed and gasped, before a wave of fresh air brushed the smoke and dust away.
"ACE! SHADOW LADY!" Luffy wailed.
"Luffy! What the hell is going on? Where's Sabo?" Ace yelled.
"His dad took him! Bluejam found us and Sabo's dad took Sabo away!" Luffy sobbed.
"Stop crying-"
Shadow lady sat them both down, ruffling their hair. They were fine. Sabo would be fine too. He'd be with the nobles.
Ace softened. "Sabo should be safe then... He won't be out here..."
"R-Right!" Luffy whimpered. "Bluejam got me to hand out these crates. Said I could make some money, and that he'd let me go back to you if I did well."
"Dammit, if I hadn't been practising my magic I could have been with you-" Ace cursed, but froze as the fire continued to spread.
Shadow lady raised her hands, and the fires began to die out, forming another path. She gestured for them to go. Ace was hesitant, but she waved them off again, oddly calm.
.::.
"A-Ace, can't you use your magic?"
Bluejam paused. Ace, the little brat was here, and his crybaby brat. Ace must have set the little shit free.
"I'm not old enough yet. Besides, the Shadow lady is holding most of the flames back. We've just got to keep moving."
"But you can control water!"
"A cup of it sure! But not much else yet!" Ace snapped.
An elemental witch? Bluejam laughed, and the boys startled.
"If we had just had you all this time!" Bluejam cackled. "You would have made me far more money and connections than that snotty brat ever could have."
"What are you-" Ace had gone pale.
Bluejam laughed gleefully. "A Portgas witch. A treasure among treasures, and they are leaving you to burn! If they knew, oh if they knew the nobles would run in here to save you themselves! All for the pleasure of having the acknowledgement of the Celestial Dragons."
.::.
Ace didn't like this. Bluejam sounded deranged. The bastard was even reaching out for him, and it made Ace shiver. It reminded Ace of the men that tried to buy him nice things, and convince him to stay with them for the night. Shadow lady had gotten him out of those kinds of situations quickly.
Those men had been found with their necks snapped a day later.
"Luffy, we need to go!"
"Grab them!" Bluejam ordered. "Don't let them escape!"
They were quickly snatched up. But much to Ace's disgust, Bluejam approached him, grabbing his hair and twisting it. Ace grimaced at the pain.
"A precious Portgas, come on, why won't you do some magic for us? Teleport us out of here," Bluejam cooed, his face surprisingly soft, and it made Ace want to vomit. "Such a young witch, but you're in danger, we all are. Save us from the flames, little one."
"LEAVE ACE ALONE!" Luffy screamed.
Bluejam's soft looked turned murderous in a second. He pulled out his gun, aiming it at Luffy-
"NO!" Ace screamed.
Instantly people began to collapse around him. Ace had no idea why, but the bastard holding him released him, going limp on the ground. Ace raced to Luffy's side, but Bluejam pinned him down by his neck, and Ace could feel the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of his head.
"I wonder if I fire this, would that kick start your magic into saving us?" Bluejam asked, laughing manically. "You just knocked out all my men to save this little shit. You could save us all."
Ace gritted his teeth, clawing at the ground beneath him, trying to wriggle free. If he could he would have done it already. He would have gotten Luffy to safety.
"ACE!" Luffy screamed.
He saw Luffy try to crawl his way through the dirt, his eyes wide with horror.
Ace bit back a sob of his own. He didn't want to die like this. Not in front of Luffy, and not without ever seeing Sabo again. He didn't even know if the shadow lady had gotten out of the fire or not.
The gun pressed closer, grinding against his skull. Ace bit back a hiss of pain, and shivered when Bluejam's hand rubbed his shoulders.
"Now, be a good boy and save us, little Portgas."
.::.
Bluejam began to pull the trigger. This was it. He'd be saved. The little Portgas witch would save him, and then. Oh then he'd get his revenge. With a witch on his side, one of the Head Witches, he'd be powerful. So powerful that everyone would cower beneath him.
He grinned.
He barely registered the flash of lightning out the corner of his eye. Ace was struggling beneath him, and the little shit was still screaming. But Bluejam was the winner here.
He'd have his revenge all with his little witch at his side.
Bluejam began to squeeze the trigger. Until a hand grabbed his and shoved the gun aside, the bullet sinking into the ground. Ace let out a startled cry and the little shit began wailing even louder.
Bluejam looked up, a snarl on his lips.
He froze.
Piercing red eyes bored into his own. Whatever strength he had left drained away, replaced with absolute terror. Bluejam blinked, startling. His trousers were warm and damp, his legs shaking.
The hand holding his twisted his arm, and broke it clean in half.
Bluejam screamed. The shadowy figure dragged him off the Portgas witch, before releasing him, letting him cradle his arm. He stumbled back, trying to put some space between himself and the woman forming before him.
Strawberry blonde hair, red eyes, and a cowboy hat with a hibiscus flower tucked on it struck a an old memory. He recognised the look, but for the life of him he couldn't recall who they were.
"Keep your fucking hands off my kid, you son of a bitch."
.::.
Dadan had ran, she was mere inches from Bluejam, but the shadowy woman had beaten her there in a flash of lightning. The bullet had sunk into the dirt by Ace's head. Ace who was pinned down on his stomach, Bluejam almost on top of him, and that made Dadan's blood boil.
The shadows melted off the woman once she broke Bluejam's arm, and dragged him off Ace. A vaguely familiar strawberry blonde woman stood before them all.
Dadan's blood was no longer boiling. It was frozen.
She barely fought off a whimper.
"H-HI-HIBISCUS ROUGE!" Dadan screeched.