Hi guys! Here is the next chapter!
I am sorry this is late, and it turned out way longer than planned, which is good as I would feel worse if it was short
Hope you enjoy
Read and relax
Ace sat on his knees by his small garden, readying spots to plant. He had already planted a few seeds, getting a few he liked from Marco, and was excited to get his garden started. As he had planted almost all he had gotten, he heard footsteps and turned his head to see Marco coming towards him, and a bit behind him were 3 gremlins carrying a large barrel which seemed heavy. Ace blinked. "What is that?" Marco hummed. "Watered out blood. I have given orders for it to be checked each morning, and if it needs to be filled, to fill it, yoi. If it grows close to empty, tell me." Ace nodded and gave a smile. "I will." Ace then went over to the barrel as it was put down and looked at the watered out blood, before he moved a hand to feel it. "It feels like water." Marco nodded. "I've watered it out so it lasts longer and looks more like water, yoi. It also makes it easier to water the plants." Ace nodded, he felt so excited.
Ace then walked to the tools he had and took a watering can he had and filled it, before he went and watered the places he had put seeds. As he had gone over once, he looked at Marco. "Can I overwater them?" Marco blinked. "Overwater?" Ace nodded. "Yes. On Earth, if you give a flower too much water, it dies." Marco blinked. "Odd. Here, they won't die. If you don't water them, they don't die either, just stop growing until they get nourishment. But I don't think you can water them too much, yoi. But I don't know for sure. Never tried growing anything on purpose before." Ace nodded. "Will watering them more make them grow faster?" Marco hummed. "I don't think they will grow faster, but make them blossom more, yoi. The trees where there is more blood have flowers, while those close to here do not." Ace nodded. He felt he wanted to water them a lot. Marco hummed. "But they won't blossom until they are ready, yoi. You can't speed that up. So, when they are ready, water them based on how much you want them to blossom." Ace nodded. He already loved this he believed.
So, for the next week, he kept maintaining the garden, watering them each day and just looking at it and feeling so glad he had a garden and hoped it wouldn't die. He felt even more joyous when he saw the plants starting to grow, and it seemed they grew faster here than on Earth, and he couldn't wait for them to flower so he could see how they looked. This was great.
-x-
Marco was in their meeting room, all the High Lords and Whitebeard here, as this was their usual meeting, and as they had dealt with their usual things, Marco looked at everyone. "Anyone find anything to help us prove the sin of suicide is wrong, yoi?" Everyone shook their heads. "No. Only ones we can ask are the ones here in the pit, and you know we can't trust souls in pits." Marco sighed, before he looked at Pops, who gave a nod, this needed to be done. "There is one who can help, but it might be hard to get him to agree." Everyone blinked, Izou speaking. "You know someone who can help? Why didn't we start there!" Marco sighed. "Because he tries to forget it. He doesn't want to be reminded he felt so bad he was going to end his life. That was plan B, yoi." Haruta blinked. "Is this someone we know? How do we know he wasn't supposed to end up here?" Marco took a breath. "When someone calls on a demon, it doesn't always mean a normal demon shows up, yoi."
Curiel nodded. "We know. We can be called too. If the person is kind and has kind intentions. Is this someone we made a deal with?" Marco shook his head. "No." Curiel shrugged. "Then why does that matter? If a normal demon showed up, they are bad." Marco nodded. "I know. But there is one more who can make deals, to the purest. Those who have never done anything bad, felt the need to do anything bad, and are as pure as one can be, yoi." Izou blinked. "So someone you made a deal with wants to commit suicide or did? Helps nothing. That's bad. The deal is made and if you out him, you break your end. If he's here, back at scratch." Marco closed his eyes and hoped this wouldn't be a mistake. "If I hadn't accepted this deal, Ace's deal. Which was to get a friend. Ace would have killed himself, yoi." Marco looked at everyone. "The one I'm talking about is Ace. He was planning to kill himself if calling a demon didn't work. He had no one, yoi." He could see everyone looking shocked.
After a bit of silence, Haruta spoke. "Please tell me you're joking? This is just something you're saying to make us work harder." Marco gave a breath. "It's not, unfortunately, yoi. Ace doesn't like to be reminded of it. So I would appreciate it if you don't mention it. Ace was really depressed, but he is getting better and wants to move on." Everyone nodded and looked concerned. Curiel spoke. "But he is getting better? Ace is so kind, and to be able to summon you means he is pure. He was going to kill himself and was okay with ending up here? Just mentioning going to Hell made people change their behavior." Marco nodded. "I know. But we've lost touch, yoi. Most now use God's name in vain as well. Hell for many seems like an escape, since they feel like they are just a burden, often depressed or are preyed upon or have lost it all. Hell seems like a vacation, it can't get worse, yoi."
Everyone looked shocked. "What?" Asked Izou, and Marco nodded. "Yes. A lot is bad there, yoi. Many even say the phrase 'I don't care if I go to Hell, I am already there'. Their only escape is to kill themselves, and they know they will end up here and they are okay with it. So please, help me search for something else to use so I don't need to put Ace on the stand, he doesn't want to." Everyone nodded, having an understating look while they also looked upset.
Marco sighed. "Don't ask Ace about this, yoi. He tries to forget it. Just, be there for him." Everyone nodded, and Marco hoped this wasn't a mistake. They then wrapped it up, before Marco left back to his room, where Ace was, seeming to relax as he looked at something, and he moved closer and saw he had taken out the seeds he had gotten for Ace. "What are you doing, yoi?" Ace hummed. "I don't have the space for all of them, so I need to decide which I need to use." Marco blinked. "We can expand your garden, yoi." Ace gave a small sound. "I don't know. I mean, what if I don't like it too long? I don't want it to take up too much space." Marco shook his head as he sat down on the bed, next to Ace. "That's no issue. If you decide you don't like it, we will just remove it, yoi. But so far, you seem to love it." Ace nodded. "Okay. But… maybe wait a month? So I can see if I really will like it?" Marco nodded. "Okay, yoi." Ace seemed happy, and that was good.
Marco then gave a sigh, before he looked at Ace. "Just so you know, the High Lords knows you planned to commit suicide, yoi. We found nothing else that could help us." Ace looked down and looked ashamed. "I see." Marco moved his hand to Ace's back. "It's okay." Ace shook his head and when he spoke he sounded as if he held back tears. "What if they think less of me now? We're finally on good terms. I don't want to be thought of as weak." Marco hugged Ace, bringing Ace's head to his chest. "It's okay. No one will, yoi." Ace gave a sniffle. "You promise?" Marco nodded. "Yes. No one here would think of you as weak, yoi. You're so utterly strong."
Ace nodded and gave a sniffle, and he felt Ace was feeling extremely sad, upset, and ashamed through the bond. He hugged Ace close. "It's going to be okay, yoi." Ace nodded. "I hope so." He then sat and hugged Ace for a bit, before Marco moved to look at the seeds. "What kind is it, yoi?" Ace probably needed to think of something else. Ace moved a hand and said what their names were, but it didn't say anything to him. Ace then handed a small seed bag to him. "Here. See that picture? That is what this seed usually looks like." Marco nodded and looked at the pictures of the different seeds.
He then found 3 that looked nice. "How about these 3?" Ace nodded and looked at them. "Maybe. Why did you like them?" Marco hummed. "I don't know, yoi. They just look nice." Ace nodded. "Yeah, they do. I will plant them. And…" Ace looked at the other bags. "This one." he said as he grabbed one. "I have 4 empty spaces." Marco nodded. "Sounds good, yoi. You can do it tomorrow." Ace blinked. "Why not now?" Marco hummed. "You can, but I have the rest of the day off, and thought we could spend it here and relax, yoi." Ace blinked, before he smiled. "Yeah, I would like that."
They then relaxed and Ace told a bit about flowers, and Marco kept Ace company. As evening came and they were ready to sleep, Ace hummed. "Would it be possible for me to maybe visit Eustass?" Marco nodded. "Of course, yoi. When do you want to?" Ace thought for a second. "Maybe in 2 days? That's Friday, so if I am in my house around 3pm would be good, so I don't mess with school. I know Euatss will skip it, and I don't want that." Marco nodded. "Sure. You can stay the night and I will get you before lunch, yoi." Ace nodded. "Yeah, I would like that."
Marco nodded. "I hope you're not only doing this to escape the others, yoi." Ace sighed. "I haven't seen Eustass for a bit, and I want to give him that soul flower I got for him. And I could use to escape for a bit to get my confidence up." Marco nodded. "Okay, yoi." Marco then moved and kissed Ace. "But it will go fine. And if anyone makes you uncomfortable, tell me, yoi." Ace nodded. "I will." That was good.
They then went to sleep, and when morning came, Marco spent the first bit with Ace, before he was needed and would get things ready for Ace to visit Eustass.
-x-
Ace walked out to his garden, as he wanted to check on it and do his best before he left to visit Eustass. He knew he would be only gone for a day and night, but still. But as he walked around the corner so he could see it, he blinked as he stopped. There was a small shed there now. He felt confused as he walked up to it and saw the door was open when he walked around it and saw Jozu inside it. "Jozu?" Jozu turned to see him and smiled. "Hey. I made this for you." Ace blinked. "Why?" Jozu hummed. "You didn't have a real place to have your tools and such, and the one you had was small. This is much better for you, even better if you want to expand your garden. I hope you'll like it."
Ace blinked, before he nodded and did his best to smile. "I love it. You didn't need to go out of your way." Jozu waved his hand. "It is nothing. I know my way around building stuff. I had fun. If you need anything else, tell me, okay?" Ace nodded. Jozu then left, and Ace looked at the shed and it was amazing and well built. He then placed the tools he had in it, before he watered his flowers that were growing, as well as planning the other seeds he wanted to. He did put the seed bag by it, so he knew which were which. He was glad to know they wouldn't die here if he didn't water them and he couldn't over water them either, it was nice.
He then just looked at his garden and it was nice. He then tried to make the time go by and avoided the other High Lords until then, so he could speak with Eustass and maybe get some confidence. When the time came for him to leave to his old house, he made sure to grab the soul flower which looked like gears, before Marco took him to his house. As he got there, he put the flower in a drawer, before he grabbed his cellphone and sent a message to Eustass that he was here until tomorrow. He hadn't told Euatsss ahead, as Eustass would have skipped school for sure, and Ace didn't want Eustass to destroy his future because of him.
Ace didn't get a response, which he found weird, but Eustass might be busy right now, he had a life as well, so Ace sat down and looked at a show on the Tv. Half an hour later, he heard the door get unlocked by a key, as he had given Eustass a set so he could keep this place okay, and it didn't take long before the red-haired kid burst through the door, and Ace moved to meet him halfway as they hugged, happy to see each others again. As they had hugged and said hi, Eustass moved to sit on the couch.
And Ace looked at Eustass as he sat down. "Okay. So, I have something for you. But I don't know if you will like it." Eustass looked at him. "Ace, just give it to me and I will decide. It can't be worse than my mom's gifts. Like 'here's a suit! So you can look presentable!' Like, pfft, who wants that." Ace chuckled, feeling better now, and went to where he put the flower from Hell, and took a breath, before he turned and put it behind his back as he walked back to Eustass. "It's okay if you don't like it." Eustass gave a breath. "Come on, Ace! What is it!" Ace hoped he would like it. "It is… a flower." Eustass groaned. "It will die! It always dies!" Ace shook his head. "No! This isn't a flower flower! It is a Hell flower! It can't die!" Eustass blinked. "Wait, what?" Ace nodded. "And! It's not like a tulip or rose! It is a special shape!" Eustass blinked. "Show me!" Ace nodded and held it out.
Eustass blinked, before he looked shocked. "Wow. That is… so cool. It looks like gears!" Ace nodded. "I know! And hear this-" Ace then moved it back and forward, making it sing/hum, in a woman's voice. Eustass looked stunned. "No way!" Eustass then took it and moved it back and forward and listened to it. "Holy crap! Hell flowers sing?!" Ace shook his head. "No, not all. This is a soul flower. They are in this ocean! Like the river Styx in greek. Even has a ferryman. I like him. He takes me to the flowers as they have their own small islands they grow on." Eustass blinked. "Wait, what? River Styx is real?!" Ace shrugged. "Sort of. It's… complicated. The ferryman isn't the one in Greek mythology, and the ocean looks like… an ocean, not a river, and it has no name."
Eustass nodded. "How do you know the ferryman isn't Charon?" Ace blinked. "That was it! I didn't remember the one in Greek mythology's name, and the one I know isn't Charon. It's Shanks." Eustass blinked. "Huh. But some of it is true? That's cool." Ace nodded. "It is." They then spoke for a while, both updating each other, before they went out to eat something good, before they went back to Ace's old house and watched a mix of some series and movies, but they didn't really dedicate to it and spent most of it speaking about random things and commenting on what they watched, and he had so much fun.
As evening came, they got ready to go to bed. Ace had a large bed, and he didn't want to make Eustass sleep in the guest room, and nothing would happen, so they slept in the same bed. As they were getting comfortable and just speaking about stuff, Eustass sent a look at him. "But I wonder, you didn't mention anything, but the issue last time, you saying 'oh God yes', have you dealt with that?" Ace hummed. "Yeah. We spoke about it, and he was shocked. But… there is one thing…" Eustass nodded. "What?" Ace gave a breath. "I am… worried about something." Eustass nodded. "What did Marco do?" Ace shook his head. "Not something Marco did. Nothing has happened yet, but I am worried it will."
Eustass nodded. "Okay. What?" Ace sighed. "They, like all of them, have lost touch with this world apparently. And they realized that many are suffering, in the sense of good people. Who… commits suicide. And no matter how good they are, they will end up in Hell since they killed themselves. And that is wrong. So they are trying to change it so each suicide is looked at and then decided. But they needed someone to reference, and it can't be someone who has already as they are not someone they can trust, no matter what. And they can't get someone from Earth because of some stuff…" Eustass nodded. "Okay?" Ace sighed. "But… I was going to. I honestly was. Because being in Hell couldn't be worse than being alone here. And Marco told everyone so we can try and change it. And now I am scared everyone will look at me as weak…" Ace felt emotional about this.
Eustass moved a hand to Ace's shoulder to comfort him. "They won't. The fact you contemplated it, means you felt so horrible and saw no other way. But you kept on. I am a horrible friend for making you feel that way. You kept on moving after your brothers died, then I abandoned you in your time of need. And I'm sorry." Eustass moved his head against his. "You are strong, so strong. Never doubt that." Ace shook his head and felt emotional as a couple tears fell. "You're not a bad friend." Eustass gave a sniffle as he sounded emotional himself. "You were going to kill yourself becouse you felt you had no one. That I abandoned you. I was a bad friend. But I'm never going to be again. You're stuck with me forever now." Ace nodded as a couple more tears fell. "I am okay with that." Eustass gave another small sniffle. "And if they do think of you as weak, tell me and I will kill them with my wrench." Ace gave a laugh, needing that cheering up.
Euatss then hugged him. "Now we need to try and sleep." Ace nodded. "We should." It was then silent for almost 10 seconds, before Eustass spoke. "But sleep is overrated. What's new?" Ace chuckled. "We've legit spoken all day." Eustass hummed. "Still. Come on, what's new?" Ace chuckled, before they started just speaking about random stuff again. He had no idea how long, but he did fall asleep eventually. When he opened his eyes, the sun was peeping through the curtains.
He groaned as he turned away from the light and pulled the blanket over his face as he groaned. He felt Eustass was still in bed and moved and kicked him a bit. "Wake up. You forgot to close the curtains entirely." Eustass gave a groan. "I was sure I did it perfectly! It was dark!" Ace shook his head. "But you didn't!" Eustass groaned. "You got too large windows!" Ace gave an unsatisfied sound. "Not my fault you suck! But we should probably get up." Eustass groaned. "Too early! Why must you leave so soon!" Ace felt a bit bad for that. He would leave at 2pm. He thought for a second. "I can probably stay until tomorrow. I mean, it is the weekend, so you won't miss school." Eustass hummed. "Stay until Monday. I can skip a day. School sucks. And I need to make up for being a bad friend." Ace blinked. "But school is important." Eustass hummed. "You quit it." Ace grumbled. "Fine. Monday. I'll stay."
Ace blinked when suddenly the covers were moved off him as Eustass moved to sit over him. "Really?!" Ace felt shocked. "Yes. I mean, Hell don't care if it is the weekend or not. I'll tell Marco when he comes to get me." Eustass nodded. "And if he says no, he's gonna have a bad headache, to say the least." Ace chuckled. "You're not allowed to hit him. I like him." Eustass groaned and moved off him to lie next to him. "Come on! I wanna hit someone!" Ace hummed. "You're skipping school on Monday, I'm here. Wanna head to the amusement park? You can play that thing where you hit the things that pop up." Eustass gasped. "Whack-a-mole! Yes!" Eustass then turned to hug him. "I love you!" Ace chuckled. "I love you too. But for today, we just… have fun here, okay?" Eustass nodded. "Perfect!"
They then stood up, and when Marco came around noon, Eustass was out getting lunch, and Ace asked if he could stay until Monday evening, and Marco did say that was fine, and that Marco was busy with meetings then, but Shanks could get him, and would pick him up by the pier, which would be nice. When Eustass came back with fresh bagels, he told him that he could stay until Monday, which made Eustass ecstatic.
They then enjoyed the weekend, just having a lot of fun together. When Monday came, they headed to the amusement park. They didn't head too early as they wanted to sleep without having an alarm to wake them. So, they got to the park around 9:30 am, and it opened at 8. So, they didn't get stuck in a queue as many came early, and since it was a Monday, it wasn't busy as most were at school or work.
When they walked in after paying, as Ace still had way too much money and he didn't get to use it as he was in Hell almost always now. And he was kind of thinking of giving half to his friends, most to Eustass, and the rest to a charity. But also keep a small amount for himself for when he came up to Earth. Maybe around 100k. He would think about it.
But as they were some feet inside the park from the gate, not many here as it was a Monday, he heard someone clear their throat and turned to see a man, based on his shirt and tag, he was a manager. The manager spoke. "It is a school day. I don't want more angry parents or principals calling me upset for letting what are obviously school kids inside." Eustass hummed. "My parents don't care. And the principal is probably celebrating that I am not in." Ace shrugged. "I quit school." The manager moved a hand to his face. "The red-haired one's story was at least believable. You can't just quit. Who would give up their future? What about your family? I don't believe that."
Ace blinked. "I don't have parents. My dad died before I was born. My mom died giving birth to me." The manager blinked. "Your guardians then." Ace shrugged. "They abandoned me and my younger brothers to fend for ourselves almost 3 years ago. They found out adopting kids was a long lasting thing." The manager gave a glare. "Oh, I see. Sob story. What about your brothers? You don't want to give them a good life? You quit school so they could do all the hard work for you? Spend your money here?" Ace actually felt upset now as this manager wasn't letting up, so Ace decided to just tell the truth. "Because they died in a fire in the shitty apartment building we had last year. I quit school since I have no family. And I can't complain since I got this stupid settlement and the government thinks it is fine now and I am whole. Money can't bring them back. Why can't I get to have one fun day? To not be reminded of them?"
The manager looked disbelieving at the start, before he looked appalled. "Oh my God. You're that Ace kid. I'm so sorry. Um, here-" The manager grabbed something from his pocket and handed it to them. "It's VIP passes. You don't need to wait in any line if you don't want to, half off anything from stores, 40 free games, which means all games, even stands." Ace took them and turned around and walked away, feeling sad now. He knew his brothers were happy in Heaven, but that didn't mean he didn't miss them.
He heard the manager say he was sorry again behind them, and Eustass moved to be beside him. "I'm not sure if I should give you a high five or a hug." Ace shook his head a bit. "I would like a hug." Eustass nodded and hugged him. "He was an ass." Ace nodded and hugged back as he took the hug. "Yeah. I know they are happy in Heaven, but still. I miss them." Eustass nodded. "I know." They hugged a bit, before they went on as Ace felt better.
As they walked on, they went to the first stand, and as he showed the band he got from the manager, it was scanned and the one in the stand blinked, before he smiled. "You get free shots, and if you miss, you get a free prize as well. If you hit, double prize. All of your choice." Ace blinked. "Wait, what? I know we get 40 free games, but free prizes?" The one in the stand blinked, and looked at the thing he used to scan his band. "No. You don't have 40 free ones. You got unlimited, with free prizes if you wish. This is the best VIP we have, usually given to make-a-wish kids, or those who did something to deserve it. It was a regular VIP one, but upgraded to this about a minute ago." Ace blinked. "Oh, cool." Euatss then did the game and got the second best one, and decided to get the second best one, and a small one. They then went away from this stand.
As they walked, Eustass handed the small one to him. "I know you're most fond of the small ones." Ace nodded and took it. "I am. I like to place them here and there. I wonder why it was upgraded." Eustass hummed. "When you needed that hug, I may have sent a really dirty look at the manager, as he really did upset you. He probably felt worse with that." Ace blinked. "Oh. I don't want free stuff because they died." Eustass nodded. "I know. It changes nothing, it won't bring them back. But hey, now we can go absolutely insane and have so much fun and play all we want. And, you can play that game Luffy and Sabo liked and get their favorite prizes, and give them to them. That's possible, right?" Ace blinked. "Yeah, I think so. I would really like that." Eustass smiled. "Good. Now, let us have fun."
And had so much fun, Ace was actually having fun, even winning a few prizes here and there, and doing some funny rides. He even got a few prizes he wanted to give to Luffy and Sabo. As they had been there for almost 6 hours, having a blast, before they decided to leave. As they walked towards the exit, the manager from before came up to them. "I just want to say I am very sorry for earlier." Ace didn't even look at him and walked a bit ahead as he didn't want to hear how sorry he was. It changed nothing. He only did it since he felt bad and wanted to feel better about being mean, and Ace didn't want that as he deserved to feel bad.
As he walked and made sure to have his back to the manager, he heard Eustass speak. "You know, you really upset him. For the advertisement to say 'where you can be happy', you don't play by that." He heard the manager speak as he sounded guilty. "I know. I was just mad since a minute before you walked in we had a woman and principal call and give me an earful for letting them in. I shouldn't have said anything to you. I am sorry." Eustass snorted. "That's your issue. You think saying 'I'm sorry' fixes everything. It doesn't." Eustass then walked up to him. "Let's leave, Ace." Ace nodded and they left, and he hoped the manager felt bad.
As they walked, Eustass shook his head. "I don't get those people. Like just saying 'I'm sorry' fixes it all. It doesn't." Ace shook his head. "They do it to make themselves feel better. Like they made amends. But it doesn't help at all." Eustass nodded and moved and gave him a half hug as they walked, which made him feel better.
They then enjoyed the rest of their time together, before they went to the ocean, where Shanks would get him. When they got there, Eustass blinked. "You will be gotten by Marco here? Why not at home?" Ace hummed. "Oh. No, Marco was busy. Shanks is getting me." Eustass blinked. "Shanks? Oh my God! You mean Charon!" Ace nodded. "Yeah. But his name is Shanks, not Charon." Eustass nodded. "Cool." Ace chuckled. "He is also a red-head." Eustass smiled. "Because red hair is so amazing." Ace nodded. "Agree." As he had spoken, he saw some ripples a bit away and turned to Eustass. "But bye. I will come soon, I promise." Eustass sounded confused. "But he's not here yet. We can't see anyone, not even a bird." True, but this was Shanks.
Ace chuckled as he let go. "Remember, he's not a normal ferryman, he is Shanks." As he spoke, he turned to the ocean and the ripples came closer and when they were close, Shanks appeared in his boat, as if coming out of dense fog that they couldn't see. Eustass whistled. "That was cool! Can you just appear where you want!? You can just go 'poof' here I am?!" Shanks hummed. "Yes. If there is water, I can." Eustass looked amazed. "Amazing." Ace then got into the boat and they started to sail away as he waved to Eustass, before it was like they headed into deep fog that wasn't visible.
As he couldn't see Eustass anymore, he looked at his hands, before he looked at Shanks. "I'm not in my demon form?" Shanks nodded. "We are not in Hell. We are between realms. My boat will not show your true self before we are in Hell." Ace blinked. "Sounds… odd." Shanks hummed. "It is actually very useful for when I bring souls. They often tell many lies and try to say they don't belong in Hell. And they can lie all they want before I go to Hell, but once we cross the threshold, they can no longer lie and will need to answer my questions truthfully." Ace blinked. "Oh. That's cool. Don't you get like thousands each day? Or do they need to have a coin?" Ace then blinked. "But you don't need to answer if you don't want to." Ace didn't want to be rude.
Shanks chuckled. "No issue, I like your curiosity. When you get sent to my boat, or I pick you up more like it, you are given a coin by Death, the coin is from where you grew up and your heart feels most at peace." Ace blinked. "Oh, that's so cool! In Greek mythology, they buried everyone with a silver coin to give to you. But how do you deal with so many? I mean, thousands die each day." Shanks hummed. "If I remember, about 150 000 die each day. But I don't get all of them." Ace blinked. "You don't? Oh yeah, you probably don't get those who go to Heaven. I meant like, all who go to Hell." Shanks chuckled. "I don't get all of those either." Ace blinked. "You don't?" That sounded confusing.
Shanks nodded. "I don't. Hell has different levels, or 'pits', based on what you did. And at times, Death is unsure where exactly you belong. So, those get sent to me and I decide." Ace blinked. "Oh. Cool. Is that since Death is like… new?" Shanks gave a small laugh. "Oh no. He is older than everyone around, even God. He was the first thing to exist, because death has always existed. You should meet him, he is very nice, and knows a lot." Ace blinked. "He is? He sounds… a bit terrifying." Shanks shook his head. "No. If you should feel someone is terrifying, you should fear Fury, or War. Strife is more understanding. But Death is the most reasonable. He is able to hear other peoples sides and change his opinion. He's the reason I am the ferryman. He understood he couldn't do all this himself and always make the perfect choice as fast as he needed to." Ace nodded before it hit him and he felt confused.
"Wait. The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse are around? Aren't they only supposed to be out when the Apocalypse happens?" Shanks blinked. "What horsemen?" Ace blinked. "Strife, Fury, Death, and War. They are The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in religion. They only come when the apocalypse happens, on judgment day." Shanks shook his head. "No, they are around, and do what needs to be done. But none of them interact a lot with humans, besides Death. So he is more understanding. I think you would like him, and he would like you." Ace nodded slowly. "Maybe…" Shanks chuckled. "Death is not a scary person. He is a good person. How about we meet him next time you come visit me?" Ace looked at Shanks. "Only if you join me as well. As moral support." Shanks blinked. "Moral support?" Ace nodded. "Yeah. Something we say when we don't want to do stuff alone since we're scared." Shanks nodded. "Of course I will join you." Ace smiled. "Yeah, thanks." Shanks shook his head. "It is nothing. I think you would be friends." Ace nodded. He felt unsure, but would try. He trusted Shanks.
They then sailed the rest of the way. When they got back to Hell and to the shore he usually met Shanks, Ace disembarked and gave a goodbye to Shanks, before he walked back to the home. And Ace still felt happy as he walked back into the home in Hell, having had a fun long weekend with Eustass. As he got to his room, he put his things away, before he changed clothes, wanting to have something more comfy on, there was a knock on the door and he gave a come in as he was dressed now, and blinked when Namur opened the door. "Namur? Do you need anything?" Ace was sure this was a gremlin or something, to tell him where Marco was. They did that at times. Namur hummed. "No. But I do have a surprise for you." Ace blinked. "Surprise?" Namur nodded. "Yes. Come." He said as he started to walk out, and Ace followed. He felt confused as they headed outside and towards his garden.
But when they got around the corner to his garden, he stopped as he saw his garden as he felt shocked. By his garden, was what looked like a large pond. As he stopped walking, it seemed Namur heard his footsteps stopping and turned to look at him. "Come on. You need to look at it and see if you like it." Ace nodded and walked again, feeling more and more shocked as he moved closer. When he was up close, he felt utterly shocked, and Namur looked at him. "Do you like it?"
Ace looked at the pond, on his way to speak, when he saw some movement, and saw it had fish in it, and as the fish moved around, he saw it was a sort of koi, which made him almost cry. Namur looked worried at him. "Don't you like it? I can remove it, no worries." Ace shook his head and did his best to speak. "No no. Lord no. Don't remove it. But… it has kois in it. I've always wanted a pond with kois." Namur looked confused. "kois?" Ace nodded. "The fish. They look like kois. It's a kind of fish I've always dreamt of having in a pond." Ace looked at Namur. "Thank you for this. I love it." Namur smiled. "That's good. They are a sort of the peaceful fish we have here." Ace nodded. "They mean peace and good luck on Earth. I've always wanted them."
Ace moved to crouch down, but before he touched the water, he blinked and looked at Namur. "Is the water dangerous? Like the ocean?" Namur looked confused. "Ocean?" Ace nodded. "Yeah. The one Shanks' has a boat in." Namur gave an 'ah'. "The river. No, this is normal water. You can touch it." Ace nodded and moved his hand down in the water and a koi came to his hand, making so he could touch it, and it was warm to the touch, which was so amazing. "Do I need to feed them?" Namur hummed. "You can. But they feast on flesh." Ace blinked. "Does that mean they will eat each other if they get hungry?" Namur hummed. "No. They eat other kinds of flesh. I can feed them if you like. I can add it when I feed the other fish." Ace smiled. "I would like that."
Ace then looked at the large pond. "Can things grow in it? Like on Earth?" Namur sounded a bit confused as he spoke. "Grow? In the water?" Ace nodded. "Yes. Earth has a lot of seaweed and kelp. I might want some kelp, but I would love some water lilies. They grow in water and are very pretty." Namur hummed. "I don't know to be honest. You can try, that is no harm." Ace nodded. "If I do try, do they need blood to grow?" Namur hummed. "Not sure. But if they do need blood, they might get enough when I feed them as some of the flesh I feed the fish is bloody." Ace nodded. "I would like to try." Ace then looked at Namur with a smile as he felt so happy. "Thank you so much for this." Namur shook his head as he smiled. "It is fine. I had fun making it. I was unsure about the fish as no one usually likes them." Ace blinked, he didn't get that, and looked back at the fish. "They are so perfect. I love it." He really did.
Namur chuckled. "And that's good. I had fun making it too. I am glad someone sees the beauty in them." Ace nodded, he really did. Namur then hummed. "I think dinner is soon though." Ace nodded, before he looked at the pond and sat down by it. "I'm coming. I just want to look at them for a bit." Namur nodded. "Of course." Then Namur left. Ace then sat by the pond and looked at it, and after a minute, him sure no one was close by, he felt tears falling as he was happy. This was his biggest dream. A garden with a koi pond. As he sat there, he was a bit startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Marco there, looking worried. "Are you okay, yoi?"
Ace nodded and dried his tears. "I am. I promise. I'm just…" Ace motioned to his garden and pond. "This is my dream. A garden with a koi pond. The fish, they look like kois. I love it so much." Marco nodded and crouched down next to him and moved a hand around his shoulder and brought him into a sort of small hug, moving to kiss him on his head. "And I am glad you're happy, yoi." Ace nodded and felt new tears go down his cheeks, and Marco sat with him a bit while hugging him, so Ace could look at this amazing garden.
After a couple minutes, Ace just looking at the koi that swam around, Marco hummed. "We should head to dinner before they come looking, yoi." Ace nodded and stood up, drying his tears a bit. When he was up, he looked at Marco. "Do I look okay?" Marco looked a bit confused. "You always look amazing, Ace." Ace chuckled. "I don't mean like that. I mean like, does it look like I have been crying?" Marco blinked. "Oh. No. I don't think so, yoi." Ace nodded. "Good."
They then started to walk back inside, and as they walked, Marco hummed. "How was it being with Eustass, yoi?" Ace hummed. "It was so much fun. Thank you for letting me stay longer. Oh. Um, would it be possible to arrange a meeting with my brothers again? I have something I want to give them." Marco hummed. "I can arrange it, but I might need a week, yoi. But if this is something you want them to keep, it would be best that I hand them over. That is since when they come down and then return, they don't usually get to keep anything. They are like that, especially when they meet with us from here, yoi. We are dangerous they think. They act like even if we have a dust particle on them, it will spread like a virus and kill them all."
Ace blinked. "Huh. Odd. But anyhow. Could you do that? They will get it if you deliver it?" Marco gave a breath. "I can't promise for sure, yoi. But it is a much higher chance. What is it you want to give them?" Ace hummed. "It is a… few plushies, and a couple squishmallows." Marco seemed to be thinking. "I have no idea what that is, yoi." Ace chuckled. "I will show you after we eat. I have them in my room. I love them, and my brothers do too." Marco nodded, seeming interested in this. Ace felt happy, and as he walked, he realized it had been a long while since last time.
And that's the chapter! Hope you enjoyed
This took some time and I've been busy, the next one won't be as long, and hopefully not as late
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