Chapter 5- Fratres in æternum, in æternum fratres: Pars II

Marguerite sighed inwardly but didn't let it show on her face, knowing that it would be ill-received by the blond. She knew that he hadn't believed her when she said she would do whatever it took to get them all out of there. She didn't blame him for that, but it hurt her heart to see that even within the small bit of faith that she could get his brother out, he didn't even bother to think about such a possibility for himself.

He had never answered what had happened to his other brothers (quadruplets? Mon Dieu…), but the look on his face told a story. And with the one brother he had left, he was willing to do whatever it took to save his life. He had actually trusted her with something, someone that he held more important than his own life. And as God was her witness, his trust in her would not be misplaced.

"I promise I'll get Yonji out of here, one way or another."

He seemed to relax a bit at that, but she continued, taking his hand and leaning in closer to him to show him her resolve. "I'm getting you out too, Sanji. And little mignon over there, and every other poor soul on this ship."

She hadn't forgotten her little cellmate, who had been watching everything with interested wide observant eyes from behind them. She had kept an eye on him even while treating Yonji, making sure his breathing stayed steady. Sanji, who adorably had been blushing ever so slightly from her nearness, seemed to jump a little as if just remembering the kid was there.

He looked back at the younger boy, who raised a hand from where he lay, waving back at him. The blond seemed to smile despite himself. "His name is 'Mignon'?"

She shook her head, "That's just my nickname for him. He was injured before he met me, so I don't know his name."

"Huh."

He looked back at his unconscious brother for another moment, before crawling back to be closer to the black-haired boy. He started talking again with the boy, and surprisingly while talking was accentuating every word with the use of sign language!

Would wonders never cease? No wonder Sanji had survived so long in such a hellish place. He was very resourceful and had many hidden talents. Learning some form of communication without using his voice would be a useful tool for the younger boy until his voice hopefully returned.

Anyway, he had given her a chance to make her call with a bit of privacy. He really didn't need to, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

Now to only hope that the signal was strong enough to reach the Moby Dick, wherever it was.

Please let it be close. Neither of her patients had much time to spare.

Dialing the memorized number she let the snail ring.

Pururu…

Pururu….

Pururu…

Come on guys! Pick up!

Pururu…gatcha.

Yes!

A voice answered that sounded both tired and annoyed, "You'd better have a good reason for calling this number."

She nearly shrieked with happiness at the sound of her brother's voice. "Haruta! Haruta, it's me!"

For a second there was a pause, before the sound of a bang and a rush of movement. "Marguerite?! Is that you?"

She felt tears well up in her eyes and her smile brightened. "Yes! It's me! You don't know how good it is to hear your voice!"

"Oh wow, give me a second. I'm going to go take you to Pops and Marco. Are you okay? We've been sooo worried about you!"

She smiled as she heard the commander's frazzled tone while running. She heard commotion all around and Haruta's shouts of "It's Margot!" to others as he went. She could only chokingly giggle, the feel of a tear finally making its way down from out of the corner of her eye and down her cheek.

It was one thing to believe that her family would come for her, and quite another to hear the evidence of it, to actually hear their voices again and know that they were looking for her.

After a few moments, she heard a bang and then Haruta shouting, "Pops! It's her! It's Marguerite!"

She heard quite a chatter of voices sounding both excited and relieved, but one voice spoke above them all, causing all the others to quiet.

"Daughter, is that really you?"

The sound of her father's voice made her feel warm inside almost instantly. Well, there goes another tear.

"Yes, Papa. It's me."

The sound of cheers went up, but Whitebeard continued to speak, and again everyone quieted down.

"Are you alright? Can you tell us where you are?"

She exhaled, steadying herself. "I'm alright, Papa. I'm a prisoner on a large galleon slave ship. I've escaped my cell and I'm hiding on board in the air ducts of the ship."

She could feel a dark resonance make its way from the other side of the line, and it was so quiet you could probably hear a pin drop. She heard a bit of a shift and then Marco's voice could be heard, all business. "Are you able to find the bearing and heading of the ship, Margot?"

She felt a bit of despair at that. She hadn't been able to get to the transponder room, much less to navigation in order to find that information. She looked over at Sanji, who had been quietly listening along with the little black-haired boy. He nodded, before shuffling closer to her. She answered the Phoenix saying, "I wasn't able to, but I have someone who does know."

She passed the transponder to him and Sanji spoke up swiftly but clearly, "We're at a heading 220 degrees, with a bearing of 310 and our coordinates are…"

He kept going on, giving them directions and the ship's current course. She was again reminded of how resourceful Sanji was and how she probably would have never made it on this ship without him.

Marco for his part didn't seem put off by the new unknown young voice and simply kept asking questions and clarifying.

"Can you tell me brat, who these guys are and their operation? Any information you give us can be helpful." His voice kept its stalwart drawl, but Margot sensed a bit of tenderness there that was usually reserved for the younger siblings of the ship.

Sanji didn't seem to have any problem answering his questions. He had been on the ship for 4 years and he was observant and noticed the small things. He outlined how the entire operation was headed by a band of pirates turned mercenaries, who were all employed by a high noble from the Grand Line named Lord Reginald Kelp.

The nobleman had decided to expand his own riches by making an enterprise in the slave market, but at the same time liked to micromanage his business. So his personal ship was used to carry "merchandise" around the Grand Line and just recently, the New World. He eventually expanded to two main ships as well as 4 smaller vessels that were manned by well-paid mercenaries and ex-pirates. He sold to all sorts of black markets and even a few open human markets.

Sanji didn't know where the other ships were, they didn't usually stay together once they had finished a raid. Usually, once Lord Reginald and his mercenaries had raided a small village or whatever, they would process the prisoners captured before the noble would decide which he would keep for himself, and which ones would be sold off.

After about a week or two, the prisoners would be branded, collared, and moved out. Lord Reginald would then either decide to go back to his estate or stay on the seas. Currently, the ship they were on—the main ship—was crewed by 35 pirates and 28 slaves, holding a total of 20 prisoners including Marguerite and the young boy.

Sanji also spoke about what he knew about the weapons on the ship, though he wasn't quite as sure about everything as he hadn't been allowed near them.

"That's all I know. I hope it helps you." The blond leaned against the wall tiredly.

There was a lot of discussion on the other side of the transponder, but a large bang sounded, quieting everyone.

Marco spoke up again while the flipping of papers could also be heard. "You've helped more than you can know, kid."

The fifteen-year-old sighed, "I'm not a kid. And as long as Ms. Marguerite keeps her promise, I'll do whatever's asked of me."

There was a pause before Marco responded again, but while he probably would have sounded as serious as always to the untrained ear, the brunette woman could hear the slightly curious teasing tone underlying his voice. "Alright, not a kid. Got it. You gotta name? And what promise was that…..?"

Another sigh, "Name's Sanji, and she promised to take my brother out of here when you guys come and get her."

She interjected. "I promised to get him, his brother, and everyone else in this ship out of here, Marco."

Whitebeard's voice spoke up this time. "My daughter tells the truth, brat. I stand by her promise. You will not have to spend another night on the ship again, you have my word."

Sanji didn't seem to believe him, though he did seem slightly affected by the strength behind the words. However, her father's wording got her attention, "Wait! 'Another night'? Are you really that close?!"

Marco spoke up again, "If your coordinates are correct, you're less than a day away from our current position. I'll do some reconnaissance tonight and we'll reach you by morning. Right now, you're currently safe. I want you to stay put, unless absolutely necessary, you and all your 'patients'. We'll come and find you."

Sanji exhaled heavily before moving away to his brother's side. He pushed the boy over carefully before squeezing in beside him. "So you say. We'll see if you actually keep your word, pirates. You have until first light and then I'll be called for kitchen duties. If you're not here by then, I'll have to go or it'll cause trouble."

Normally a person doubting the word of their captain once given would have the Whitebeard pirates up in arms. But instead, the first division commander only laughed lightly, "You're very brave Sanji. I'll see you tomorrow morning, first light. Can I trust you to keep my sister safe?"

For some reason, Marguerite noticed that Sanji tensed, his back as straight as a rod, though his limbs trembled. He looked away from her but whispered,

"I will."

The unspoken words seemed to ring even louder. This time–I will…

She looked at him with concern, but whatever had been bothering him was hidden away once again.

As she finished the call, giving some last-minute information and making plans, she watched as all of her boys fell to sleep. Some time while they had been talking, Yonji had shifted from unconsciousness to sleep. Sanji fell asleep the moment his head hit the ground. The little silent one had tried to hang on, but he too fell asleep. She could still hear the growling of his stomach and she felt horrible that she couldn't feed him in the last couple of days. She couldn't risk him choking and there was nothing that she could find for him that he could eat in the condition he was in.

However, tomorrow that would all change.

She nearly trilled with excitement. Her family was coming for her and she would be able to leave this nightmare, and finally burn the whole thing to the ground.

On the High Seas, at the Break of Dawn

Luffy woke up both hungry and scared.

His stomach felt like a yawning pit. He couldn't guess how many meals he'd missed but it must be lots and lots!

He hated this stupid place so much! His throat was constantly on fire and everything felt thick and icky around it. He could still breathe but it felt very weak and fragile like it could slip at any minute. Stupid noble! Everything was his fault!

But then, at least he had Margo, who tried her best even though she was hurting bad herself.

And then there was his new friend Sanji! He reminded him of Sabo a little, especially with how kind he was to his brother.

Parts of him reminded him of Ace too.

The way he tried to shoulder everything by himself and would often get hurt because of it. They always had to get on Ace about that sort of thing. He'd go into some really dark places after they had had to leave Dawn Island.

Sanji was like an interesting mix of them both, a protector and a teacher. He was slowly learning a few of the signs that the blond tried to teach him. And it helped to be able to "talk"...at least kinda.

He also wasn't dumb, he knew what those collars on Sanji and Yonji's necks meant. Sabo and Dad had shown him once. He also saw the brands and other wounds on both of their backs. He knew they had been hurt, and hurt bad. That they had had their freedom taken away from them.

Luffy wouldn't stand for it.

Sanji talked with him and sat with him when he was alone. He was now his friend. And while he didn't know Yonji well yet, he was Sanji's brother, which made him his friend too. He might not be able to do much right now (Gosh, he hated being so weak—and hungry!) but he swore that when he finally escaped this ship, he was taking his new friends with him!

BOOM!

FWOOSH! KABOOM!

BLAST!

And there was the reason that he had woken up in fear.

What was that noise? The entire area was shaking and rattling with the sound of cannon fire. His brown eyes snapped open all traces of sleep were gone. What was that? Was it them?

His heart began to speed up as his eyes tried to look everywhere at once, and yet he couldn't see anything. His heartbeat went from fast to racing and his breathing attempted to speed up to match. His mind could only focus on those horrible sounds and what they might mean.

He didn't know where he was anymore. He wasn't home. He wasn't at the treehouse. He wasn't safe.

He was alone.

Where were his brothers?

Where was Dad? His uncles?

Makino? Grandpa!

Anyone!

Gasping faster and faster, that incredible pounding in his ears nearly drowned out the horrible booming sound of explosions.

Nearly, but not completely.

Fear and panic at the sounds nearly took over and Luffy could feel the darkness creeping in. In the back of his mind, he could hear Sabo's voice telling him he was having another panic attack and that he needed to calm down and breathe.

But Sabo wasn't here this time. Ace wasn't there to hold him against his chest and tell him to just feel and concentrate on him and the steady movements of his lungs. In. Out. In. Out.

He needed them!

Instinctively, he called out for his brothers, only to nearly choke as fire flared up in his throat. And then the slip happened.

Pressure and pain began to build and his vision clouded, the darkness encroached. It was like he was drowning in water and he couldn't find up from down and the air could not be found. Voices, which had been calling to him unnoticed, were now muffled and he couldn't respond even if he wished to.

"Please little one, we're almost there, don't give up on me now!"

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Marguerite! Are you okay, what's wrong?"

"He's not breathing! His windpipe's crushed. I was able to hold it open for a while, but he started to scream and the whole thing collapsed! Please! You have to do something!"

"Let me see him."

All of sudden, Luffy's vision shifted, and instead of dark vague hazy blobs of grey and brown, his field of view lit up with brilliant blue.

The striking flares of blue and gold flickered like beautiful twinkling lights in front of him. If it wasn't for the horrible pressure building up inside him, and the fact that he couldn't find the air, he would have enjoyed gazing at them.

Warmth suddenly surrounded him and a weird tingling sensation that reminded him of Ace's fireflies, flitted all over his body. It wasn't ticklish, but it did feel strange.

The warming glow surrounded his neck and chest and seemed to intensify a bit more. It was beginning to get uncomfortable. He didn't like it now. He wanted to move away from it, afraid of it getting too hot and burning him, but his body was held fast.

Suddenly the pressure in his chest was released with a pop and air flooded his lungs! It felt so sweet after not having it for so long!

He wanted to gasp for more, but that was a bit too much to ask of his body, so he was stuck taking shallow breaths. But still! He could breathe again!

Continuing to take those wonderful small intakes of air, his vision began to lighten up a bit, the image in front of his eyes gaining a bit of clarity. The twinkling lights changed into licking tongues of bright azure and golden flame, A being which seemed to be both bird and man was surrounded and nearly consumed by these flames, The man was holding him, his fire surrounding him as well but he didn't feel burnt.

The man…bird…creature was smiling at him, saying something that he couldn't hear quite all that well. It was such a weird experience that Luffy had to wonder if he was still dreaming! Maybe Sabo would know what the strange birdman was all about and why his fire didn't hurt? He was made of blue flames too, perhaps it was similar?

He felt warm and safe and comfortable now, though incredibly sleepy. And he wasn't scared anymore.

Well…maybe not as much.

He couldn't hear the cannon fire anymore because of the close roar and crackling of the flames. So that helped a lot.

He was still hungry though. And sleepy.

Maybe if he could breathe a little now, he could get some food later?

Yeah, later.

Sleep now…

Marco released the breath that he'd been holding as the kid fell asleep. His phoenix flames were a temporary fix, at least allowing for the boy to take in oxygen for the time being. However, he would need surgery now.

The slavers' ship was still shaking and they were on a tight timetable. They had crippled the ship in their first attacks to prevent it from escaping, but the idiots had tried to run anyway which irreparably damaged the ship to the point it was now taking on water. It was doomed and sinking fast.

They had to get all the prisoners and slaves off the ship prior to it falling beneath the waves, and it had to be done yesterday. If time allowed, they would also take on the ship's dastardly crew, as they wanted to find out the entire breadth of the slave operation.

While they normally didn't personally go after slavers unless they crossed them or messed with their territory. These soon-to-be dead men had done both, and so they decided to make a special example here. They were going to pick apart this entire enterprise. Not just this one ship, but the whole fleet, hunting all connections on both land and sea. Pops had contacts with Dragon and the Revs who could help with the more technical aspects of taking down a slavery enterprise.

But that was for later. He had done the reconnaissance of the ship during the night in his phoenix form and it had been much as the boy, Sanji had said. They had made a plan of attack. This was going to be a usual raid operation with the exception that they were going to be taking on at least 40 passengers, many of them probably in questionable states of health and mental state. Most of the time he would have to balance coordinating the attack with heading the plan of rescue. However, this time, Pops himself was joining the battle and that changed things significantly. In fact, he had only one order for Marco personally.

"Find your sister. Find those brats with her. Bring them home."

And thus that had led him here.

He looked up at his sister and his eyes grew dark at how vulnerable she looked to him. Dark bruises had formed on her face and even with the ragged clothing, he could see others had formed elsewhere on her body. His temper flared as he could guess at some of the things she had been put through.

He sighed, anger could wait. She was alive and that's what was important. She was already fretfully taking the boy from his arms and looking over him with worry.

"It's time to go, Margot."

She looked up at him, "What about the others?"

"I've got Thatch and Vista and some of their men getting the captives from Larkspur. Izo and Vista are taking care of the slave quarters, don't worry we won't miss anyone."

A tense voice spoke up. "If you don't get the key to the collars, every one of them will get blown to bits if they go more than two meters off the ship."

He looked over to the boy that stood near Marguerite. Long dirty blond hair, skinny and lean and covered in bruises and scars, a brat of no more than 14 or 15, was maintaining his balance while carrying another boy of about the same size and age (but who somehow looked even worse!) with green hair on his back. Both of them wore metal collars around their necks.

He looked on edge about the entire situation as the boat continued to rock from the impact of several concussive blasts.

"You must be Sanji. Told you I'd see you at first light." He spoke lightly, as disarmingly as possible. "Don't worry about the collars, the guys who are getting your friends out know what they're doing. Speaking of which—"

He took a step towards the kid, but the blond instinctively took a step back away from him.

Marco stopped in his tracks, letting him have his space. They were short on time, but this wasn't going to work if he scared the boy more than he already was.

Marco had dealt with enough kids and unruly younger siblings, to know when angsty bravado was being used as a front, and he recognized it in Sanji's voice over the transponder. However, it didn't take a Vegapunk-level genius to understand why he would and probably had to put up such a front. The kid was shaking even though he probably wasn't fully aware of it. His world as he knew it was breaking apart around him and the reality wasn't yet setting in. A powerful strange man coming near him wasn't going to inspire confidence.

He glanced over at Marguerite who seemed to understand. She stepped in front of him, slightly blocking the blond's view of him and taking over his field of vision.

"Sanji, this is my brother Marco. Just as you are to Yonji, he is to me. I promised to get Yonji out of here, but I'm going to need Marco's help. I know you don't trust him. But do you trust me?"

The boy looked over at him again before looking back at her. "What are you gonna do?"

His question was addressed to him.

Marco answered truthfully, "I'm going to take the collar off."

Another step back. "I told you, you need–"

"We don't have time to find the key. And I can remove it without it."

"And how exactly are you gonna do that?" The kid asked, his gaze both frenzied and hostile.

Margot took hold of the kid's face and made it look at only her. "I'll be right here, Sanji. If Marco says he can do it, he can. I will be right here and will not move from your brother's side until it is off. If it blows up, I perish with you both. Marco will have killed me too. But that is how much I trust him. You don't have to trust him, just trust me."

Sanji looked at her intensely, his eyes wide with shock, before looked back at him. Marco opened himself up not holding anything back, letting him see whatever he needed to see.

After a moment or two, the kid exhaled loudly looking away with a begrudging smirk. "You know what? If it doesn't work, we'll be dead anyway. Might as well take that jump outta the frying pan."

Marco took that as his cue and came closer to the two. Margot stayed put as promised, still holding the unconscious black-haired boy in her arms.

Sanji didn't look up at the blond commander but kept his eyes on his brother, who he had shifted from off his back, to laying in his arms. "Do mine first."

Ah, definitely an elder brother.

But judging from the list and lean of the ship and the tossing of the waves, he wasn't going to have time to do this one at a time. Though he didn't say that part out loud. Instead, he just reassured as much as he was able.

"Be calm and hold still for me."

The boy flinched at his words and his touch but he didn't take it to heart.

He couldn't even begin to wonder what kind of trauma this kid had gone through in this place. It was going to be a long road of recovery for any of the slaves they would free this day.

He reached for the collar at the blond's neck. "On three."

Black haki began to cover his hands and arms as he counted down even as the boy nodded his head in agreement.

"One…two…"

Even before hitting the last digit, Marco switched positions and grabbed hold of the metal on both boys' collars. Using advanced armament, he destroyed both mechanisms, yanked both of the offensive objects—even as they began to beep from the breach in containment—and threw them to the far end of the hall!

He pushed down all three children and Marguerite to the floor and shielded them using armament along his body and his phoenix fire to encircle them.

BOOMMM!

The explosion rocked them all. Though it was a drop in the bucket compared to the bombardment going on outside.

An outside that just happened to now be visible thanks to the explosion.

Perfect.

The light of dawn was beginning to come in full as Marco helped up his group of charges from the ground. "Time to go."

Marguerite cheered, "You don't have to tell me twice. I never want to see a galleon again, and we need to get this little one and Yonji to sick bay ASAP."

You as well. Marco prefaced in his mind. The medical department on the Moby was going to be busy the next few days.

He called to his other half and let himself fully transform into his zoan form. His Phoenix let out her cry as she grew. He let her have a bit more control as she had been waiting pretty impatiently for this moment.

Ruffling out his fiery feathers, he lowered himself to let the others on. "Margot, you take the little one. Sanji, you can—Sanji?"

The young now ex-slave had yet to move from where Marco had pushed him to the ground.

His eyes were wide but unseeing. His brother was still held in his arms, still in feverish unconsciousness. However, even as he held the emerald-haired boy close with one hand, his other was held to his neck. To the now naked skin there that was vastly discolored, scarred, tender, and burned—but for the first time in years, free from a heavy ring of metal that had kept him as bound as iron chains.

His breathing was strained as if he didn't know what to do with the sudden absence of the extra weight. And his fingertips never left that newly uncovered flesh.

Marco and his Phoenix watched Margot go to the boy's side and speak quietly to him. As she spoke, a single tear fell down the blond's face and he leaned against her side in a half embrace which she was quick to give.

He could have probably heard what was said using his raptor hearing, but he decided against it. The kid deserved this moment. All the while, his other half was just eying two new potential chicks to take under her aegis.

You're as bad as Pops. These kids will be free to go wherever they want once they're on the mend. You can't keep them.

~But—~

No "but"s.

~What if they want to stay?~

We'll think about that later.

Marguerite pulled Sanji up by the hand, his brother now on his back, towards Marco and she helped him cautiously climb up onto the fiery bird of prey.

"Hold on tight."

Using the opening in the ship's hull, Marco unfurled his wings and in one full strong push took to the air, past the wooden timbers, swooping into the fresh early morning sky.

His Phoenix decided to soar higher than really was necessary and he let her as he kept a feel out for his passengers to make sure everyone was secure. He could now see the entire battlefield and the dying galleon ship below. The entire area of the sea was ablaze, the light igniting the early morning sky.

He caught sight of Whitebeard out on the deck of the Moby Dick, standing tall, his signature blade in hand. Their eyes met and Whitebeard nodded with a smile as he saw the group making their way over. Marguerite must have waved to him because he gave a brief salute back in return.

As they sailed over the waters, it was quieter up in the sky and Marco's mind was already on the aftermath of this rescue mission. Of where they were going to house all their guests, as well as what they would need to wash, clothe, and feed them. Also how he was going to parcel out duties and who he was going to call on to help calm fears and build assurances. These thoughts took up wholly in his mind so that he was careful to not pay attention to the quiet sobbing on his back, or the tearful murmured words of comfort and solace.

And if they stayed in the air just a little bit longer than was necessary, until tear wells were dried up and some of his passengers had passed out from the excitement and exhaustion, no one was going to complain.

A Few Days Later, an Island further to the East

Sabo watched the galleon ship from his perch on the cliff, a pair of binoculars in hand. It had been five days since they had set out from Larkspur in search of their little brother. Stopping at two different islands prior had led to no leads and he could already tell his brother was reaching max frustration. And Ace's mind went to dark places when he reached max frustration. Even their dad's worry was beginning to show in the small tremors they could hear when they reported their progress.

However, after four days of nothing, they were finally able to find a break when one of their dad's sources reported unknown galleon ships frequenting some of the underground black market sites in the New World. Such sites were known to sell all kinds of things including, of course, slaves. One such site hadn't been far from their location and the blond reasoned that it would be fairly reasonable that Luffy could have been taken there considering its proximity to Larkspur, and if not, they could at least get a possible lead on the raiders' movements.

If all else failed, at least he and Ace could release some steam by bashing in some slaver heads. That was always satisfying.

But it looked like they had caught the biggest break of all, because when they had finally come into port, who should also be there but one of the galleon ships that had been seared into their memory since the raid!

It had taken all the persuasion skill that he had possessed to stop Ace from just attacking head-on, and instead going along with a plan. Though he had to admit that he was also rather impatient to get this ugly business over with so that they could get Lu back safe and sound and go home.

Hearing a beep on his wrist transponder snail, Sabo clicked it on. "How many?"

Ace's voice spoke up from the other side, "There are only about 20 people I can see from here, mostly just fodder as far as I can tell."

That coincided with what he had gathered from his own observations. The ship had the bare minimum of a crew, just enough to keep the ship running. He would have to guess that any captives would be below deck, though from what he could see, they were preparing to disembark.

"Why can't we just get Luffy and torch this eyesore again?"

Sabo interjected for what felt like the 10th time, "Because we don't know if he's even on there, and if he is, where he is. There were two main ships, remember? not to mention the smaller ones. He could be on any one of them."

"But he could be there."

"Yes, and if he was, would you want him to get accidentally hurt or trapped in the chaos that would result from burning a ship of that size? Especially if we don't know where he is or if he's chained up or locked up somewhere? We also can't leave any other prisoners on board to die, Ace."

The ravenette groaned, "Alright, alright. So your plan is to get one of them to help us?"

Sabo's smile was deadly. "Hey, you know I can be…persuasive when I want to be. We just need a bit more information before we go charging in."

Ace sighed, "Fine then let's do this. I grab a guard, we torture 'em for information, we get Lu, and then we blow this place to kingdom come. Got it."

"Well you don't have to be so uncouth about it, but that is the general plan, yes."

"Sorry if my commoner speech offends you, good sir," Ace responded with as overblown of a posh accent as he could muster.

Sabo frowned deeply, "Alright, now you're just asking for it, Portgas."

Laughter was all that answered him and all Sabo could do was roll his eyes. It wouldn't do to encourage the idiot.

The blond watched through the binoculars as Ace moved through the cargo stored on the pier, ducking and weaving closer and closer to the galleon ship and the raiders and an assortment of other crewmen who had disembarked. He just had to wait around long enough for one of them to straggle behind in order to strike.

Sabo was about to get down from his vantage point to go and join him when some movement on the ship caught his eye.

From out of the hold of the ship he watched with a grimace as a line of young men, women, and children, all chained together by shackles on their wrists, all dressed in rags, with collars around their necks, were marched onto the deck. Most of them were docile and obeyed without resistance. His heart was heavy to look at them, knowing all of these poor souls had been broken long ago. These weren't the recent captives from Larkspur Island. These wretched creatures had been slaves for a long while and had accepted their fate for some time.

He'd seen others like them before, and while he could never see Lu bending the knee to anyone, he also knew that if nothing was done and they didn't find him, he would ultimately break just as these poor people had. Even the most stalwart spirit could only resist for so long. And if it didn't bend under the pressure and constant abuse, it would shatter instead. Either way, they would lose the exuberant ball of joy that was their brother.

That thought and this visual reminder steeled his resolve once again to do whatever he had to do to get their brother back. If he had to be "uncouth" then so be it. (And if all else failed—he could always sic Ace on them.)

A sudden commotion drew him away from the slaves being made to line up on the deck. Many of the slavers were yelling down below and it looked as if they were struggling with something, pulling on chains to try to get whatever it was out of the hold. Sabo narrowed his eyes with interest. Was it some kind of creature or non-human prisoner that was resisting being ordered around?

The other men jeered with laughter at the plight of those who were struggling. They weren't watching the other slaves any longer, but they only continued to look at the ground, not even the noise drawing them out of their blank dispositions.

Finally, it seemed that the situation had resolved itself in some way as they dragged from out of the hold, not a giant or a Fishman or even a large human, but an adolescent human boy of all things, one who appeared to be about his own age.

The boy held a head of shockingly red hair that was poorly taken care of, hacked off and broken, and long all at the same time. He was pale and with long sinewy limbs, and tall stature, though it was obvious that he was regularly starved and beaten. He held shackles on both his wrists and ankles, and even with that, it was taking all 4 fully-grown men to try and drag him along.

The boy himself was resisting with all of his might, snarling and snapping like a rabid dog. His movements were weirdly erratic, but not inefficient. He was resisting their pull, even with the painful electric burns of the collar around his neck. Though his goal was bizarre.

He was trying to head back down into the hold of the ship? But why?

The answer to that appeared as another boy, the same age as the first but with a head of dingy blue hair and a face identical to the redhead, was pulled up next, also in chains, resistant, but not as strong. He could only guess that the two were brothers, if not twins.

Sabo saw the blue-haired brother didn't resist as much as the red one had, but he also looked to be slightly weaker in shape. He got tossed to the ground and uttered what seemed to be a groan of pain.

The redhead ceased all movement at that and quirked his head as if listening for something. At that time, the guards had gotten a harsher grip on the chains and had pulled the slave boy back onto the deck. One of the rougher guards socked the kid full in the face, sending him down on the ground. He didn't resist but slowly sat up, not making any quick movements. He didn't move to defend his bruised body, and he seemed to not have eyes for any of the guards, but rather was feeling around looking for something on the ground near him.

It was at that moment that Sabo realized why the kid's movements were so erratic and why he was listening to cues around him so intensely.

The boy was blind.

The azure-haired brother looked over at the other boy, who was trying to feel his way over to find him. He moved over to his side, placing his hand within reach. The first seemed to hear his movement and reached for the hand, grabbing hold tightly. The guards pulled Red to join the rest of the chained-up slaves, and this time he didn't resist—though he also didn't let go of Blue's forearm. Blue simply moved along with him, and the raiders were happy to let him do so, seeming to understand that it was less of a headache if they left the two together.

Sabo thought about the two and about their original plan to threaten one of the slavers into helping them get information on the large galleon ship and the location of their captured brother.

However…what if…

He looked at the two brothers and the fire he could still see burning within them.

These two hadn't been broken by the yoke of slavery and he knew that brothers who fought for each other as these two had done, would understand their situation the most.

Making a quick decision, he called on the transponder snail. "Ace! Hold up!"

"What?!", he could hear the aggression and the annoyance in the other's voice, probably at the interruption to his train of thought.

He simply ignored it. "Change of plan. Forget the guard."

"But I thought you said—"

"I think I've got something better."

A/N: And there we have it! Luffy, Marguerite, Sanji, and Yonji have been saved! The Whitebeards coming in clutch!😁

Unfortunately, our bad boy elder brothers don't know that yet and are still on the search. But they've run into two people who may just be able to help them.

And yes, before you ask, I'm not going to trick you this time around. Those two are indeed our missing two Vinsmoke boys, Ichiji and Niji.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I read all comments and reviews. I'm so grateful to you all for reading!

See you next time.😉