Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter
I know this is so late, and I am so sorry about that, but a lot of things have happened lately as well as issues with my will to write has been down for some reason which I don't know why, but here it is!
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
Azuruko gave a small sigh as he saw it was noon, and no one had seen or heard from Ace. He had told everyone to not bother Ace this morning, and everyone knew what that meant. He then made his way towards Ace's room, and when he got there, he knocked on the door, and after waiting a few seconds and not hearing anything, he carefully opened the door. He had done this routine before, and he didn't encourage it, but also didn't deny them doing it. But he would be sure to be there, the reason he told Ace to come to his room if he didn't want to do it all alone, but Ace hadn't come to his room.
As he walked into the room, he gave a breath as he saw Ace lying on his back on the bed, hands on his face. Based on how his hands were, he wasn't dead, he hadn't done it. He heard a sniffle from the bed as Ace shook his head. "I couldn't do it. I keep seeing Luffy's sweet eyes and smile, I don't want to leave him." Azuruko moved into the room and closed the door, before he moved to sit on the bed and Ace spoke again with a small sob. "I know I can never see him again, he probably hates me, but I can't leave him alone." Azuruko nodded and moved a hand to Ace's shoulder. "You care about him a lot, and I know this is very unfair, but this is your life now." Ace nodded as he sniffled. "I know. It feels so bad, but I can't leave him yet." Azuruko nodded. "I get it. I know you really care about him, I can see it. I know you want to help all of us. But you can't. Not without them noticing you." Ace nodded. "I know. And you're right, this is no life. But still, I can't leave Luffy, even if I mean nothing to him now. I just can't." Azuruko nodded. "I know. If you change your mind, let me know." Just because Ace chose to live on now, didn't mean he would forever.
Ace nodded and moved and handed the small bottle to him and he took it. He felt bad for Ace, but this was his choice. Azuruko had given Ace the chance to choose, and this showed how much he cared for his brother. Many had taken the pills, to make sure their loved ones were safe forever, that they couldn't mess up. Azuruko wished he could help everyone as well, but he had been trying for years, there was no way.
They then went out, and when they got out to everyone, everyone sent a look at Ace, showing sympathy, as they all had been where Ace was now, before they went on with the day. No one mentioned it, no one talked about it, as it wouldn't help at all. They just went on and tried to make the best of this Hell situation.
As the days went on, he noticed Ace seemed… empty and hollow, just done. He didn't seem to be full of emotions anymore, like he had. He didn't seem to have a strong drive and will. Ace had given up, but even still, he couldn't leave his brother alone in this world. Ace's brother, Luffy, meant so much to him that Ace would push on more. Azuruko wished things were different. This was no life. When they got to an island some days later, they would stay for a week or so, before they moved on. It was now a whole different atmosphere around, since Ace had no more will. He had sort of been a light, someone who tried his best to fight and fix it all, but as everyone else here, he reached his point and no longer saw any hope. It was sad, but it was how this life was now, and it wouldn't change. This was their life from now on out.
-x-
Sabo docked on the island and did his best to search around, to find any clues or prints to find the hideout here. He saw no boats that stood out, but these ones were good at what they did. They knew how to hide. The only reason he had found the other hideout, was since he had learned how to see clues. Sabo was extremely good at seeing patterns. He had been told the only thing he needed to get better at, was how to read people and between lines in the newspaper and that sort of thing.
He searched for hours, and did his best to do it a bit carefully, to not cause suspicion to himself, and it seemed it worked. When it was a couple hours until the sun set, Sabo blinked as he saw a man who had the Grinning Rats mark on his hand. This was his shot. He walked up carefully as he spoke. "Hey, I need help finding someone." The man turned away from him, but didn't move. "I can't help you, I'm sorry. I don't live here. I am simply a traveler." Then the man started walking away and Sabo got it was to hide his face. Sabo took a breath. "Please, I need to find my brother. I hope he is with you, that he is safe. He has that… mark on his cheek. I need to find him and help him. Because this is all lies." The man stopped. "Are you… talking about Ace?" Sabo nodded. "Yes. Where is he?" Sabo needed to find him.
The man was silent for a few seconds. "How do I know you're not here to kill him?" Sabo nodded. "Because I love him. I know something is wrong. Do what you need to do. Search me for any weapon, Den Den, tracker, I don't know. Cuff me, tie me up, or whatever you need to do. I just need to speak with him. Please, just let me speak to my brother." The man was silent again, before he turned to look at him, before he frowned. "You're with the revolutionary army." Sabo nodded, which made the man continue. "What does the Revolutionary army want with us?" Sabo shook his head. "With you, nothing. I just need to help my brother." The man nodded a bit. "And I can pat you down?" Sabo nodded and held his arms out to be searched.
The man moved over and started to check him, when he got to his back and found the pole, Sabo spoke. "That's my weapon. Take it off me if you need to, but hold onto it, I would like it back. It means a lot to me." The man nodded and took it before he searched him more and found nothing, before he nodded and said to follow him. They walked a bit into the forest, before the man said to wait there while he went on, probably to not show where they were hiding, and Sabo complied.
After a bit, a pink haired man came, who had the mark on his neck, looking at him with assessing eyes. "Why are you here for us?" Sabo shook his head. "I'm not here for you, but for my brother; Ace. He needs help. I don't know what has happened, but I know he needs help. He would never do what the newspaper said." The man nodded. "How do I know you speak the truth and not here to kill him? How do I know the rest of you aren't hiding nearby?" Sabo took a breath. "You can't know for sure, and I'm sure my words mean nothing to you, so I'm not going to waste my breath telling you they aren't. I don't want to cause trouble or harm you. I simply want to help my brother." The man assessed him, before he nodded. "Wait here. Try and follow and you will never see him or us again." Sabo nodded and decided to just move and sit down on the ground to show he had no interest in following.
The man nodded, before he started to walk away and Sabo spoke. "I know you won't, but don't walk in too many circles. The sun is soon setting. But do what you must to feel like no one is following you." The man nodded, but didn't speak as he walked. Sabo then took a breath and closed his eyes, and hoped the man believed him. If not, he just blew his chance at finding Ace.
-x-
Ace sat in the hideout, just playing some cards with a couple others. Ace had never felt this… empty. It sort of felt like he was lost and abandoned, but he wasn't lost. He knew where his path was and felt he was around people who cared, but he felt no happiness, not since he had almost taken those pills to die. But he couldn't, he couldn't because of Luffy. As Ace had opened the bottle to put the pills in his hands, on his way to take them, he could only see Luffy's sweet eyes and smile, and if Ace died, even if Luffy hated him, it would hurt him. At the start, when Ace thought about Luffy, remembering those eyes, smile, and face, it messed with his temper. But now, he felt nothing. There was no escape, there was no way to fix this. This was Ace's life now. And he was at peace with it he felt now. And he had a feeling he was that since if he wasn't, he would have taken those pills and left Luffy forever.
As he drew a card from the deck, Azuruko came into the room. "Ace, come here." Ace looked up and nodded as he stood up and headed after Azuruko into the other room, and Azuruko looked at him. "Ace. Someone is here looking for you." Ace blinked. "Do we need to move to be safe again? Did someone see me yesterday?" Ace had been out to gather a few things yesterday.
Azuruko shook his head. "No. Not here for us. Here for you, he says. Says he is your brother." Ace blinked before he felt dread. "Is Luffy here?" He couldn't be here. He might die. Luffy couldn't die because of him. Azuruko shook his head. "No. This one had blond hair and looked young. Around your age." Ace blinked and felt confused as that made no sense. They had no one blond on the Moby that was around his age. Besides Haruta, but she was a female. He looked at Azuruko. "What was his name?" Azuruko didn't seem like he knew and looked at John, who also shook his head, before Azuruko looked at him. "I don't know his name unfortunately. If you want, you can come with me, hide so he can't see you but you him, and take it from there. Okay?" Ace nodded. "Okay." Azuruko nodded, then they headed out and took a long way so it made it harder to backtrack, as well as taking random turns here and there, no set path.
Azuruko then looked at him. "Do you know anyone from the Revolutionary Army?" Ace frowned. "No. Why?" Azuruko hummed. "This guy is with them it looks like. The clothes. Be on the alert, okay?" Ace nodded, he would be. He didn't want anyone else to die because of him. They then walked to the forest, and as they were in the middle of the woods, Azuruko stopped and looked at him. "He's just a bit ahead, in a clearing. Stay still some seconds, then follow, okay?" Ace nodded and Azuruko walked, before Ace waited and counted to 5, before he followed slowly and carefully. He then carefully walked towards the clearing, and saw Azuruko standing a bit from the forest edge, speaking to someone he couldn't see. The person Azuruko spoke with did say something, but Ace didn't recognize the voice. But something also felt familiar with it.
Ace then carefully got closer to the clearing so he could see the one Azuruko spoke with. When he walked past some trees, he started to see the shape of the person. When he was in full view and Ace looked at his face, he felt himself freeze as he recognized that face. It had been years, many years, but he knew that face. But he didn't know how. Before Ace knew it himself, he had started to run, running past Azuruko who tried to stop him, before he ran and hugged the other man.
Ace then felt like he couldn't breathe, before he felt hands hold around him, before Ace took a step back and looked at the blond. "Are you… real?" The other man nodded. "I am." Ace blinked, not sure how to react. "Tell me something only-" Ace didn't get to finish as the other man did. "We shared a cup of sake at a young age and made a bond to always be together, to be brothers and then be pirates when we grew up." Ace felt shocked. No one knew that. Unless… They found Luffy and got him to say this to trick him. Luffy must hate him, and this would be a perfect trick. Ace didn't know what to say, when the man spoke again. "On your hip, left side, you have a scar. I gave you that. You told Dadan and Luffy you fell on a sharp stick, you didn't want to tell it was me, since it was an accident and you didn't want anyone to blame me."
Ace blinked, only Sabo knew that. "How?" Sabo shook his head a bit. "I… don't know. I woke up on a boat as a child, fished out from the ocean by the Revolutionary Army. I remembered nothing. Didn't know anything other than my name. Then I saw you in the newspaper and then I remembered it. You're my brother. And you would never do what they said. Tell me what happened, so I can see if I can help." Ace wasn't sure what to say, before he shook his head. "I can't." Sabo blinked, before Ace did his best to put on a small smile, pretending he was okay. "How have you been? You look… good. Seeing how you should be dead and all." Ace gave a small prayer inside himself that Sabo got what he did now. That he wanted to speak with him away from Auzruko.
Sabo nodded. "I am. Why don't we go talk somewhere?" Ace gave a silent 'thank God' inside himself. "We can't go back to my place, and I can't go to town." Sabo nodded. "I have my own boat, I am alone on it." Ace nodded and looked at Auzurko. "If I am not back by noon tomorrow, leave the island. If I come back, I will say the code to get back into the home." There was no code, but this was in case this wasn't Sabo and all a ruse and trap, that if Ace said the code, it meant lockdown, it meant he was followed or in distress and not to let him in. Azuruko nodded. "If you're sure. Be careful, Ace." Ace nodded. "I will. I haven't seen Sabo for many many years. Was sure he was dead. I need to know how he is. Give me until noon." Azuruko nodded and started to walk back, and he and Sabo walked the other way towards the dock.
As they walked, Sabo handed a scarf to him, but Ace shook his head. "I can't." If he was seen hiding the mark on purpose, Luffy was dead. And if he said this out loud, Luffy was dead as well. He didn't want to sound rude, but he couldn't explain why he said no, and hopefully Sabo got there was a reason and not since he was a traitor and didn't want to hide it. Sabo nodded and put the scarf away, before he moved his hand over his shoulder and pulled him close and started to go on and on on how he had missed him. At first, Ace was confused, before he understood it. The way they stood and walked now, the mark on his cheek wasn't fully visible as it was pressed against Sabo's cheek. Ace didn't hide it on purpose now, this worked. He could now walk to the boat by the dock without needing to be worried to be seen.
They then got to the boat Sabo had, and as they got inside, Ace hugged Sabo again. "I can't believe you're alive." Sabo hummed. "I am as well. I have been searching for you since I read it." Ace nodded, before something hit him. The ones who put the grinning rat on him, most likely didn't know about Sabo. Sabo meant a lot to him, like Luffy did, and Sabo wasn't mentioned as a collateral. And he knew it could be more than one collateral. That meant for the ones who did this to him, Sabo didn't exist. Sabo was a wild card.
Ace moved back and looked at Sabo. Sabo was with the Revolutionary army now. That could be good. "I need help." He said, and Sabo nodded. "With what? I will help. What is going on?" Ace took a breath. "I need you to just trust me." Sabo blinked. "I do trust you." Ace nodded. "Then do this for me," Said Ace as he told about everyone's collateral and where to find them, how they looked and their age. When he had told everyone, Ace swallowed. "And you need to find Luffy. Do you remember him?" Sabo blinked, before he saw recognition shining his eyes before he nodded. "Our other brother. Is he in danger? What danger?" Ace took a breath. "If I say, Luffy will die. They all will die. You just need to trust me. Get them to safety, keep them safe. When they all are, I can explain. And don't tell anyone that you've spoken with me, okay? And try to get everyone at the same time, without creating a scene, or no scene at all." Ace hadn't mentioned anything that they were collateral and used as leverage in a sick game. He just said where they were and what they looked like, and that they were in danger.
Sabo nodded. "I won't, I promise. I trust you, Ace. I will make someone get them and keep them safe." Ace nodded, feeling relief. Finally someone who just trusted him. Sabo didn't need to hear an explanation as Sabo truly trusted Ace. Sabo didn't need to be convinced that Ace wasn't evil and a sadistic bastard and a traitor, since he wasn't. Sabo then told him to stay in this room, and Ace moved and sat down on a chair as he hoped this would work. He didn't feel too optimistic, but Sabo didn't know that this mark was a lie, that it was fake by some real sadistic evil bastards.
As Ace had been waiting a few minutes, he looked around the room and saw some papers and such, and moved to look at them and saw the newspaper with the news Ace had betrayed the Whitebeards and joined the Grinning Rats, as well as notes in it that this didn't add up or seemed to real, but they didn't have much to go on, and next to it was a map with pins and notes, and he saw at least 5 of their islands and hiding places on it were marked. Sabo really had been searching for him for a while.
He then looked around and found something to read, and did so while he waited. After some hours, Sabo came into the room again and looked at him. "They are safe, all of them. No drama, no public scene." Ace nodded. "I need proof." Sabo nodded and went away and came back half an hour later with pictures of them all. And not just a random picture, they all had the symbol of the Revolutionary army in the background, as well as today's newspaper. They were all safe. Sabo moved a hand to his shoulder. "What is going on?" Ace took a deep breath, and he hoped he wouldn't doom everyone now as he started to speak, to tell the entire truth. Starting from the beginning, before he said what he had been told by everyone else who had the mark. How the entire world believed this lie, how the ones truly responsible had fooled everyone and still were.
When he had, Sabo looked thoughtful. "Dragon did feel something was up with this mark, but this is… huge and horrible. Are you sure they would do it?" Ace nodded and then explained about those who had tried to tell the truth, but their collateral had been killed. He even told about Daisuke, who hadn't even been believed, but still, the promise was kept and his wife was killed brutally. When he was done, Sabo nodded and motioned him to follow, which he did as he asked where they were going, which had Sabo nod. "We need to speak to Dragon. He can help." Ace nodded and they walked to a room with a Den Den, and Sabo called Dragon, before he told the truth about the mark of the Grinning Rats to him.
When done, the Den Den was quiet for a few seconds. "I see. I knew it was false, that they weren't traitors. But no one has dared to say the truth, and this explains why. But still, this is far-fetched, but it also makes sense. Here is what you will do-" And then Dragon made a plan, which sounded amazing and Ace hoped it would work. If it didn't, Ace just doomed everyone.
And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed
I am sorry this has been so late, and I hope the next one won't be as late, but might be a bit as December is here and a lot of holidays and stuff happening, but hopefully not as late as this
And this won't be the longest story I have, and a lot will happen in the next chapter if my plan goes as planned
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