Hello everyone, here is the next chapter
And I REALLY apologize for how late this is, I just haven't had time and everything have just been hectic. But, here it is at last
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
Ace stood and watched the trees a bit away, looking at the beautiful leaves in it, seeing red, white, and black ones. It was beautiful. Ace really liked the colors of the leaves, and even the trees themselves looked nice, having a much darker color and some even the same as the leaves in a hue. They were nice, and Ace wanted to go closer, maybe even pluck some leaves, but didn't know if it was dangerous or not. He was in Hell; things could be venomous here.
Ace wasn't far away from the trees, having gone closer- around 8 feet away from them- but didn't want to go closer. Marco had said he could show him a bit around outside today, which he hadn't done, and Ace was currently waiting for the other, going to ask if the trees were safe. Ace also mildly wondered if the leaves would just die if he plucked them, and didn't hope so, as he would like to have a few with him. Would they blossom? That must be even more amazing.
As he was looking at the trees, wrapped up in his own mind, a voice had him startled. ¨Beautiful, aren't they?¨
Ace looked to his left, seeing Izou there, also looking at the trees, Haruta beside the other. Ace gave a slow nod, looking back at the trees. "Yes, they are." Ace wasn't sure what to do now. He didn't want to be around the others, but knew he had told Marco he would meet the other here, and he didn't want to be rude either. Marco had said he had talked to them, so maybe they would at least pretend to be nice now. That was better than nothing at least.
Ace felt Izou look at him, which had him keep an uncomfortable fidget down, before the man spoke. "You can go and take some leaves. They don't rot." Ace gave a small nod, before shaking his head. He wanted to, but didn't trust what the man said. They might be dangerous or poisonous.
"Hey," said a voice behind him, which had Ace turn, seeing Marco there, and he gave a smile. "Hi, Marco." Marco gave a smile back, coming up to them. "Ready to look around, yoi?" Ace gave a nod, but before Marco could move, Ace spoke, looking at the trees. "What kind of trees are those?" Marco gave a hum. "We just call them Hell trees, yoi." Ace gave a nod. He should have guessed that. "They're beautiful."
He heard Marco give a chuckle. "They are, yoi. You can get a few leaves; they stay alive for long, maybe forever." As Marco spoke, he walked up to the tree with the white leaves, plucking a few, and handing them to him. Ace gave a smile, taking them. They were beautiful, and felt a bit warm to the touch, which was nice. "Thank you." Marco gave a chuckle. "It's nothing, yoi. Let's go," Said Marco, making Ace nod. When they walked, Marco gave a nod to the other two, who nodded back, before heading to look around.
Ace would be sure to get more leaves later. They were pretty.
-x-
Izou could only stare as the two walked away. It was easy to see what had just happened. Izou had said the leaves weren't dangerous, and Ace had just shook his head. But, he had taken them from Marco when he said they weren't dangerous and handed them to him.
Ace didn't trust them, at least not what they said.
They hadn't given the kid a reason to trust them, but it still hurt. They would need to fix this somehow. Izou looked at the trees. Ace liked them, he had said so himself. And, there were other trees with different colors in other places in Hell, and Izou was sure Marco wouldn't take Ace to those places; they were full of death and pain, Ace wouldn't like that- no humans did. They were used to it, and it was their job.
Izou shared a look with Haruta, her seeming to have the same idea. They needed to try and do something. They told a gremlin where they were heading, so Pops knew, but not why, and then went off.
They would try and fix this.
-x-
Ace had a smile when he walked back to Marco's room, having enjoyed himself the last few hours.
Marco had showed him around the outside and they had gone to the usual places outside, checking things out. Marco had also explained how to get back or find his way if he was lost. Ace could also just ask a gremlin or some other demon or such for the way, but Ace would never do that. He would try and remember it, trying to remember things to get his way back. It was a surprisingly beautiful place, at least for Hell. Ace had been sure it would be more of a red-deserted-hell-fire place. Yes, it was red my places, but still nice. Even having plant and such, even rivers and everything. Marco had just left to do some work for a few hours, making sure Ace knew his way back, which he did from where they were.
When Ace got to the door, or where he could see the door, he stopped and frowned. There was something in front of it.
Ace looked around himself, not seeing anyone around, not even a gremlin. He knew it wasn't Marco- he would just put it inside the room. That, and Marco had been with him the whole time up until now. He didn't have time to put anything there. Ace walked up and moved to crouch down, grabbing what it was, which was wrapped in paper. Ace frowned more when he saw his name on it, and carefully opened it, knowing it was for him, as he walked inside the room. When he was inside and closed the door, the paper now opened, he blinked.
It was more leaves, even a few flowers. All in different colors, even more than the ones he had seen outside.
Some of the leaves were blue, orange, silver, golden, and mix of multiple colors, such as white and black, gold and silver, and green and blue. The flowers looked like snowflakes, having different colors, but Ace liked the white ones best- which there were the most- and many looked like roses, but had two or three colors.
They were beautiful. It was an amazing bouquet.
Ace had a smile as he looked around the room for a place to put it, before he remembered they had drinking glasses in the bathroom, and went and grabbed one, putting the flowers and leaves in it, placing it on his desk, taking them completely out of the paper. When he did, a card fell down on the ground. Ace placed the flowers in the glass, before he reached down and took the card, reading it.
'Sorry for how we acted. Hope you can forgive us one time.'
Ace blinked as he reread it, to be sure he had read right. Who was it from? It was obviously from one of the High Lords here, seeing as Ace hadn't spoken to anyone else than them, Marco, and Pops. But, which of the High Lords was it from? Who knew that he liked the trees? Ace gave a small frown as he thought back to this morning. Could it be from Izou and Haruta? They were the ones who knew that he liked the leaves and trees. Ace was glad they had given him these flowers and leaves; they were amazing and beautiful. He would need to try and find out who it was from. He needed to thank them.
Ace stayed in the room after that, looking at the flowers more, seeing more and more of the details, which made them even prettier, before grabbing for a book, starting to read as he waited for Marco, who would return in not too long. When Marco did return a couple of hours later, he blinked when he saw the leaves and flowers. "Did you pick them, yoi?" Ace shook his head. "No. Someone did and placed it outside the door." Ace looked over at the leaves and flowers. "They're beautiful. Different from the ones I've seen out by the house." Marco gave a nod. "Those aren't found close, yoi. They are in the deeper part, especially the flowers. That's why I wondered."
Ace gave a slow nod. Had someone really gone to pick them for him? Even when they were far away? Why would someone do that? Who would go out of their way to do this for him?
Ace reached over to grab the card he had gotten. "This was also in it. I don't know who it is," Said Ace as he handed it to Marco. Marco took it and looked it over, having a small frown, but it changed to a small smile when he was done. "This is from Izou, yoi. It's her handwriting." Ace gave a nod, before he frowned. "Her?" Ace was sure Marco had said Izou was a male. He did wear a kimono and make up, but he was a male. Marco nodded. "Izou is male, but prefers to be called she, yoi.¨ Ace gave a nod. "I understand." Ace didn't mind it, and would remember it. If that was what he- she wanted, Ace would be sure to do that. Ace didn't want to cause a bigger mess and give them more reasons to not like him.
Ace stayed in Marco's room for a few hours, Marco doing the same, the two of them just relaxing, Ace reading a book and Marco doing a bit of small work, before also settling to read a book, the two having a bit of conversation now and then. After 3 hours had passed, there was a knock at the door, and a gremlin said The King wanted to speak to Ace, possibly Marco if he had time. Both of them did head to the king's room, the man being there, and Marco having the time, which Ace liked. He felt better when the other was around. When they got to Whitebeard's room, he was glad to see Marco too, and invited them to play a game of cards, which both joined in on. Ace enjoyed playing cards, it was nice.
They played and talked for a couple of hours, before both Marco and Whitebeard had things to do, and Ace left, deciding to look a bit around again, feeling a bit more courageous to look around. The fact it had been a good day helped, and Ace hoped it would stay good for the reminder.
Ace looked around, finding a few places that looked like living rooms, some bigger than others. One even had a tv of sorts, but was occupied by some gremlin and a High Lord, Curiel, if Ace remembered, and he didn't want to bother, so Ace just went on. After walking around for a few more minutes, Ace getting to a hallway he didn't remember being in before, he heard some sort of commotion a bit down the hallway, in an open door. It sounded like someone lost something and something shattering, and Ace carefully went to the door to check, to see if someone was injured or not. When Ace got to the door, he stopped.
It looked to be a kitchen of sorts, a shattered plate on the ground, Thatch standing beside the broken plate, a hand on his face and giving a sigh.
It didn't look like the man was injured, but he looked stressed. "Umm, hi," Started Ace, getting the man's attention. "Are you okay? I heard the plate shatter." Ace might know the others didn't like him, but Ace didn't want them to get injured. The man looked a bit shocked to see him there, but gave a nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a wet plate and a bit stressed." Ace gave a nod. It was closing in on dinner time, so the man was probably preparing for that. "Um. Do you… Do you need help?" Thatch looked at him and blinked, as if shocked. "Yeah. If you want to. You don't need to though."
Ace shook his head, walking into the kitchen. "I can help. I have nothing else to do." Ace really didn't have much else to do, and he wanted to try and be nice. Maybe that would help them accept him too, or make it easier for them to pretend to be nice.
Ace washed his hands, before the man said he could cut the vegetables, and Ace could do that, the man doing things by the oven. It was done mostly in silence, which was fine by Ace. Silence was good. It went well, Ace doing his best to cut evenly, and when Ace was finished with the carrots, he started at the onions- there being 4 big ones, and when Ace was halfway with the first one, he felt his eyes water, a few stray tears making its way down his cheeks. Ace wasn't good with onions, the fumes really bothering him, more so than normal, or at least the ones he had met before. Ace could handle it.
It felt good to have something to do, feeling a bit useful as he was helping. Ace could handle a bit of burning and stinging in his eyes.
-x-
Thatch tried to focus on his cooking, wanting to make the chicken just perfect, but it was a bit hard as what had happened was shocking.
When he had heard someone speak, the last one he was expecting was Ace, even more when the kid had asked if he was fine, him having heard the plate shattering. It was nice of him to ask, but he had no reason to do so. Thatch had been way less than friendly earlier, but Ace still wanted to make sure he was fine? Why was the kid as kind-hearted? Thatch didn't deserve that. It made him feel even more guilty, especially when Ace asked to help after Thatch said he was a bit stressed. Why was the kid so helpful? It made him feel way more guilty. Why did he even think this kid had done anything? He seemed like the most innocent kid he had met.
Thatch had said Ace could help if he wanted to, but only if he wanted to; he didn't want to force the kid. Ace had said he could, not having anything else to do right now. Thatch really did appreciate the help, it wasn't that, but he felt like it should be the other way around. He should be the one to ask to help Ace. Thatch should be the one who was worried for Ace, not the other way around. He needed to find a way to try and fix this the best way he could. He needed to try something, he just didn't know what. After around 10 minutes, them just being in silence, Thatch was on his way to turn and try and start a conversation, going to try and be nice.
But, when he turned, he noticed Ace using a hand to dry his cheek, tears going down them. Ace was crying? Why?
Thatch moved to dry his hands in a cloth he had, half-panicking and thinking he had done something wrong, even though he didn't know what. "Ace? Are you okay?" Ace looked at him, looking a bit startled, but nodded, moving his hand to dry his eyes. "Yeah. The fumes just bother my eyes." Thatch frowned. Fumes? Which fum-. Thatch understood when he saw what Ace was cutting. He was cutting onions, and Ace was a human, or half human now. The fumes from the onions bothered their eyes. He forgot about that, the fumes not bothering their eyes as they were demons.
Thatch looked at Ace, feeling bad for making Ace cut the onions. He should have remembered this. If he remembered right, warm water helped get the stinging away. "Why don't you go wash your eyes with warm water? That helps. I can finish the onions." Ace blinked, before shaking his head a bit. "No, it's fine. It's not that bad." Thatch didn't believe that for a second. He had heard on how bothersome and even somewhat painful the fumes could be for humans. "No, go do it. The fumes don't bother me. I forgot it did to humans. I'm sorry," Thatch said as he moved to take over, seeing Ace on his way to shake his head. "You can do the rest of the vegetables later. You shouldn't have to be bothered by it." Ace gave a nod, before he walked over to the sink, washing his eyes with a bit of water and drying it with paper.
Ace was a really helpful kid, and didn't even tell the onion was bothering him. Ace really just wanted to help, not complaining.
It made the chef feel more guilty, seeing the kid didn't want to complain, even telling it was fine. It wasn't fine, not for him when he could do it without being bothered by the onions. When Ace had finished washing his eyes, Thatch had finished cutting the one and half onion left, and took them away, before Ace started up with the rest of the vegetables, Thatch looking them over and seeing none that could be in any way bothersome for Ace.
When he moved for Ace, Ace gave a small smile and a "Thank you," which had Thatch nodding and saying it was nothing. When he started up with the chicken again, he thought on what he should say, wanting to try and start a conversation up. After a few seconds, he decided to just go for it. "How do you like it here?" Thatch almost wanted to hit himself. How he liked it here? They had been assholes to him earlier.
Before he could say anything to take it back or turn it to something else, Ace spoke. "It's… nice… Not as I thought Hell would look like. I like the trees; the colors."
Thatch was glad Ace answered, telling it was nice, even when they had been acting mean. Thatch also had to agree on the trees. "Yeah, they're nice. The ones that are close don't blossom though. But, some others deeper in Hell do." Thatch saw Ace give a nod in his peripheral vision. "I know. I got some, Izou gave me a bouquet of leaves and flowers. They're really amazing. I still haven't managed to thank her for that."
Thatch gave a nod, feeling a small smile on his face. It was good Izou had done that, most likely seeing Ace liking the trees. He was also a bit surprised Ace called Izou 'she', but glad too. She wanted to be called that, and while they didn't mind, he knew many did. It was good to know Ace didn't mind it, and would make sure to tell her later. "I'm sure she knows you like them. She's busy today, needing to fix things." Izou was still doing the punishment from Marco, which was to help with the boat to Hell- which Izou hated- with Shanks, who steered the boat and guided the souls here. Ace gave a nod. "I'll try to thank her later then." Thatch gave a nod. Thatch would tell Izou about it later tonight, when she returned for the usual wrap-up of the day, delivering her paperwork to Pops and Marco.
They spoke about the trees for a bit, Thatch feeling Ace really liked them, and was thinking of taking him out to see them himself. That was always much better. And, he would ask Izou to join, seeing as she knew them more than him, her knowing where the best were. After around 10 minutes, Thatch turned to the door when a voice spoke up, seeing Marco there. "Ace, I've been looking for you, yoi." Ace turned to Marco, giving a small sheepish smile. "Sorry. I should have told I was here." Marco shook his head. "It's fine. It's good to see you out of the room."
Marco gave a small frown as he looked at Ace. "Why are your eyes red, yoi?" Thatch frowned too, looking at Ace, seeing his eyes was still a bit red from before. The fumes really must have bothered Ace.
Ace shook his head. "It's nothing. I just cut some onions before, and the fumes bothered my eyes." Ace ended with a smile, which had Marco nod, frown going away. "Pops wanted to ask if you wanted to play a game of cards again, yoi." That had the kid light up, before it fell a bit, looking at the vegetables that were still uncut. Thatch understood and spoke. "No, it's fine, go. You've been a huge help, Ace. Hope we can do it again, or just hang out together." Ace looked at him, before nodding. "Yeah." Ace didn't sound or look too sure, but it was better than nothing. And, he had been a huge help.
The two then left, Marco giving a nod to him, which had him feeling good. He had done something right, and did hope he could spend more time with Ace.
Thatch then finished up dinner, it helping a lot that most of the vegetables were cut. When it was dinner time, Ace wasn't present as usual, always eating in his room. It was either Marco who came and grabbed food for both of them, or a gremlin who brought food to Ace if Marco was busy. It showed that Ace still didn't want to be too much around them, which Thatch understood. They would work to change that.
When the usual wrap-up meeting was later, Thatch managed to speak to Izou, Izou a bit shocked Ace knew it was her, but Marco had most likely said so. Izou had left a card, and Marco knew her handwriting. Izou also said Haruta had joined, telling she had seen him really liking the flowers earlier when Marco had given him some, Ace even admiring the trees. When Thatch told he wanted to try and maybe bring Ace to see the trees that had flowers, she agreed that was a good idea, but not now. Ace really didn't feel comfortable around them, and they would need to fix that first. Thatch agreed on that. They would fix it, it would just take time.
Before they went their ways for the evening, Thatch told Izou the last thing. "And, when I asked who it was who gave him the leaves and flowers, he told me it was you, or her." Izou seemed shocked, before she smiled. "I like him." Thatch gave a nod. "I do too. We just need to show him we do, and that we really regret how we acted before." Izou gave a nod. "We will." They then bid each other goodbye for the night, Thatch heading to his room.
They would fix this, no matter how long it would take.
And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed
The High Lords are trying to fix their mistakes, and that will take long. They feel very guilty, even more so as Ace is a really kind soul who just want to help and not be a bother. If you want the High Lords to do something specific, tell me and I will do my best. Or if you just have an idea for anything. Don't be afraid to tell
I make no promises when this will be updated again, but I will try for the next weekend, but might be in two, or even three weeks. Everything is just hectic right now
And if you have the time, I greatly appreciate feedback
