A/N: Oh my goodness! I am so sorry that this chapter took sooo long to get out!😩
It was just not wanting to be written and while I had an outline of where to go, the actual formation of events was just escaping me.
But anyway, Success! 🎉
It's a bit long, but enjoy!
Chapter 6- Surdi, audite; et cæci, intuemini ad videndum
A Few Days Ago, the Operating Room of the Moby Dick
Beep…Beep…Beep….
The first sound he became aware of was a weird beeping noise. What was that?
Was that his alarm clock? Was it Sabo's alarm clock?
Ugh…it was annoying.
He wanted to get up and shut it up, but his body wouldn't move.
Hmm, that was new. Why couldn't he move?
As he continued to try, more sensations began to come to him.
The coolness of the room…the hard yet soft surface underneath him…the sounds of whispers around him…
'Hand me the secondary scalpel…'
'...trachea nearly completely collapsed…'
'...almost cut into an artery…'
Smells tickled his nose.
The ashy smell of cinders mixed with the wind-worn scent of avian feathers… The chilly sharp fresh tang of Adam wood and sea salt… A light sweet scent of downy daisies…
But above them all, a sterile, empty, almost medicine-y scent was the most prevalent. He'd never liked that smell. It was always associated with illness and sadness and—
A sharp metallic biting pungency suddenly cut through.
It started in small, but quickly grew to fill his entire being and he wanted to choke but couldn't even move to do that.
He knew this smell.
The thick irony sanguine sickly-sweet odor of blood.
'...damn it, it burst. Hand me the cautery…'
A new smell was added to the mix. This scent was one that he also knew well. The rancid, stomach-curdling stench of burning flesh.
The two smells twisted and mixed, clogging his senses and flooding his entire aura…awakening memories and emotions that he long wished to shut away forever and forget.
Memories of burning trees…chilling screams ringing out into the night, filling it with despair.
The perfume of charred bodies and spilling claret life soaking the earth consumed the place that he had once called home. So thick and overwhelming that he was sure he would carry such a stench for the rest of his life.
The cacophony of cannons and gunfire and the echoes of screams now began to fill his mind. He almost felt as if he was shrinking in on himself, becoming smaller, more vulnerable, fearing for his life and those he cared for.
Dadan…the bandits….the Mayor….Makino….Sabo….Ace!
Please…someone…help them!
Please help us!
Help me…
Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep!
'Marco, he's crashing!'
'Crap, it was only a small nick, why is he going into arrest? Get the defibrilator.'
He couldn't move. He couldn't get free.
What was happening?
Where was everyone?
Why was he all alone?
Why did they leave him alone?
.
.
.
Please…
Don't leave me alone…
.
.
.
.
Clouded unseeing brown eyes snapped open and a boy's young body started convulsing. He intrinsically tried to gasp around the tubes within his throat.
'Shit! What the heck?! Is he conscious?! Impossible!'
'Sara! What's going on with the anesthesia?'
'I don't know sir! I'm trying to adjust the levels!'
'We don't have time, I have to risk it. Clear!'
A bolt of lightning shot through his body and shook him to his core, sending him careening off the edge of a cliff.
He fell and fell into the darkness. Into an abyss of the past and a chasm filled with the shadows of memory….
A Few Days Later, Back to An Island further to the East
Devin was getting tired of this outfit. It paid well and everything, but they always ended up sticking him with the crappiest jobs.
It was supposed to be a routine transaction job. Every so often, any merchandise that didn't sell well or that was damaged, they'd dump them off at the human shop markets for a few berries and then go on their way to reunite with the other ship. However, this time they'd finally decided to get rid of two of the biggest troublemakers of the "merchandise", and guess who they decided to stick with the job of getting them to market?
Him! That's who. It just wasn't fair that he get stuck with these two rabid monsters!
Nothing worked to get them to heel. Cannings, floggings, and other punishments did nothing. The only thing that would affect them would be to use one against the other. But that only worked to the point that they didn't coordinate their efforts.
Eventually, the original set of four was broken into two sets of two, and these specific two were often kept apart. They would have honestly gotten rid of them much sooner if it wasn't for their enormous strength. Only adolescent boys, and they had already proven incredibly hearty and durable than ten men, able to endure nearly three times as much hard labor as a normal adult man without breaking.
They would get a good price for these two, which was why they were going to go to a special buyer rather than simply being put on the auction block with the rest of the spent slaves.
They were slightly damaged and hard to control, but if they fudged some of the facts about the merchandise, who could tell?
He had brought five of the boys as a safeguard just in case. Devin laid his hand on the remote on his belt that would control the slave collars on Red and Blue. And as long as he had this, the two slaves would behave for the time being.
They had been walking toward the transaction location for about twenty minutes now, and he was thinking of speeding up the pace even faster. They were getting closer to town and he wanted to get this over with so he could enjoy all the delights of the local bar that much quicker.
It was awfully hot on this summer island and going faster would be exhausting. However, he could just command the slaves to simply carry him while they did all the work. And why not? Might as well get all the use out of the multicolored bastards while he still had 'em.
He turned around to bark orders at the two chained-up adolescents. "Hey, you two—"
The sound of footsteps scrapping against the stones of the road distracted him, and he turned to see that someone had come from off the path.
It was a young man dressed in black shorts, an open orange shirt, boots, and a cowboy hat which he had pulled low over his face. He silently walked to the center of the road and stopped, blocking their way. His hand stayed ominously on the tip of his hat, both acknowledging them and keeping his face hidden.
Ugh, Devin didn't have time for this and he couldn't let anyone steal the merchandise. He unholstered his gun and pointed it toward the kid. "Hey, you're blocking the road. Get out of the way brat or you're gonna be sorry."
When the kid didn't move or even say anything, causing Devin began to hesitate. Could this kid be part of some other big group lying in wait to ambush them? Best be cautious then. The idiot guards were waiting on his decision on what to do. They might not have much in brains, but they also wouldn't be a meat shield if he just commanded them. That meant—
He looked over at Red. "Hey, go kill that kid and do it quick." indicating the other slave, " Blue, don't move from that spot."
The redhead tensed and you could see frustration and anger pass over him with slight hesitation.
"Do it, slave or Blue will pay for it!"
The boy's fists clenched tightly before releasing in resignation, his azure twin took his arm and his fingers moved in several signs over his skin before releasing him. His eyes followed the other with a mix of regret and agitation.
However, before the redheaded boy could move, a shot rang out from behind them! Turning, Devin looked in shock, seeing a blond young man wearing a top hat standing behind the group holding a smoking pistol in the air.
The blond smiled a cat-like grin from beneath the shadow of the brim of his hat. His voice was like that of grinding glass clashing with steel, "Oh come now, big tough guys like you can't take on lil' ol' us without hiding behind two unarmed slaves? What, you don't have the balls to do it yourselves?"
Devin and his men all sneered at the blond."We don't need them to take on a couple of little boys. You've messed with the wrong crew, kid. That gun only has one shot. It's 6 against 2."
The top-hatted boy placed the gun purposefully back into his belt before casually removing the strange pipe strapped to his back. The boy with the cowboy hat, who had stayed quiet so far, smiled in anticipation.
The two slave brothers moved subtly to the side and out of the way.
The blond gave a small laugh that was full of danger, "I think those are pretty good odds…for us."
Ichiji could feel the trembling in his body still, even as he kept his iron grip on Niji's arm.
Nii didn't say anything, but from the slight vibrations that he could feel under his fingertips, he knew that his little brother had been just as terror-stricken as he had been.
Ichiji knew he was a failure.
When he was young, he had been proud that his father had noticed him and praised him for his strength. Had made him feel special and chosen from among his other siblings. However, he learned how wrong he was when everything in Germa went to Hell in a handbasket.
His mother's death had been the most visible catalyst, but he reasoned that it had probably started long before that, probably prior to any of them being conceived.
And then there was Reiju's murder. (Because that's what it was. His father could call it an unfortunate "incident" all he wanted, but his sister's blood-soaked body and Sanji's mental trauma said otherwise.)
And then there were the experiments. He had lost his sight and Niji, his voice, and his hearing.
At that point, he had begun to question and had started to cling more and more to his other tortured brothers.
And then there had been their sister's journal and within it the story of what their mom had sacrificed for them. No longer did Ichi have to wonder why his ability to empathize, connect, and feel, had changed as he got older, and sections of his red hair turned blond. What had started as a strange weakness and seeming failure in only Sanji, spread quickly through all 4 boys by the time they were 6. The people that he once felt were his competition for his father's notice and affection, became not so different.
Eventually, they were all deemed "failures".
And failures were disposed of.
After 8 years, Ichiji had pretty much made peace with the fact that he and his brothers were on their own, a small family of just the four of them in the world. As far as they or their sire were concerned, they were orphans.
He had been the eldest for some time. He took the role in stride and his siblings looked to him for leadership. He was also the most dangerous of his brothers and despite his lack of sight, made sure it was known to their owners that if they had a problem with the Vinsmoke boys, to take it up with him.
Any punishment, he'd take it. Any reprimand, he'd deal with it. His body was built to take it. He might not measure up in Vinsmoke Judge's eyes, but he was strong enough to serve as the aegis for his little siblings.
Yet now, Ichiji acknowledged that he was a failure.
Not because of anything his sire had spouted out of his inconsequential mouth.
No, it was because he had failed his family. He had failed his brothers.
He'd allowed them all to be separated, and now he had no idea if Sanji or Yonji were still on the main ship, sold off, separated and cast apart, or even if they were still alive.
He knew without his interference and his protection, the youngest kids would now be subjected to an even worse hell than before. He guessed that it was partially his fault that they were separated in the first place.
Maybe if he had been more submissive and made more allowances to their masters, they would have overlooked his obvious disabilities and allowed him and his brothers to stay together. But Ichiji couldn't find it in himself to regret his actions. He would still interfere when they delighted in tormenting Nii, or when they looked at San with those disgusting leering glances, or when they purposefully egged Yonji into an unfair "fight" that would leave him black and blue, and them amused.
And yet—hadn't he now left them to that continued fate anyway? Without his limited protection, he knew in the back of his mind what would happen to the youngest two, and what probably had been done to them for the last year since he'd seen them.
He knew he had doomed them to that, he had failed them.
If he ever made it out of this and found them again, he wouldn't know how he would face them. How they would ever forgive him. The feel of Sanji's tears and the sound of Yonji's wrenching screams would forever be etched in his soul, The last time he had seen them, he had promised that he would find them again one day. But as time dragged on and days, weeks, and months merged, he was farther away from that possibility than ever. And now they wanted to separate him from Niji, the one brother he had left?
He had snapped.
They could break all his limbs, beat him to a pulp, whip him until his flesh was cut to ribbons, he would take it all. Just…don't take him too.
Not him too.
The sound of flames roaring brought his mind back to the present. He knew there was a fight going on around him and their current captors were facing an attack from the highwaymen who had told him to not bother getting involved.
He was glad to do so, and no further order came for him to fight. He guessed that whoever had attacked, was keeping their current babysitter occupied. Which was fine with him. Let the rats die if at all possible.
The best outcome would be if all parties killed each other, leaving him and Niji alone. However, Ichiji had long ago become a realist and so shoved that possibility away. The most likely fallout to this unexpected incident was that he and Niji would either find themselves with new owners now, or their previous holders would win out, probably met out some slight punishment for him not obeying orders, and then they would be sold to new owners anyway. In the end, not really that big of a difference. As long as he and Nii stayed together, he didn't care either way.
His slightly sharper hearing allowed him to track the sounds of the motion around him, and he made sure to pull Nii and himself back. Not out of range of the tracker radius, but out of range of the danger. Niji kept a hold of his arm and as usual, served as his eyes. He communicated via signing against his skin.
"So cool!"
Ichi rolled his eyes, before subtly signing back. "Keep focused, Nii."
He held up two fingers facing towards himself to indicate his brother.
"Tell me what's going on."
Niji signed back excitedly. "There are two of them. They're the same age as us. And they're on fire!"
"Enough hyperbole, tell me what they're doing."
"No joke, Ich, they are literally on fire."
"What?"
Devil fruit users? He thought carefully about that, having only two of them and them being about the same age and build could be a good thing for them. Though from the sounds of it, they had devil fruits, which could be a problem.
"What's the status of the fight?"
"It–"
Niji's signs stopped suddenly and he quickly became more subdued, stepping closer to him. Ichiji realized that it was now uncomfortably quiet around them, signaling that the fight–however it had gone–was over.
He felt his younger brother subtly shaping the sign for fire against his arm, letting him know who the winners of the fight were and therefore who the holders of their fate also were. Shoring up his strength and his reserve, Ichiji decided to display a strong but demure demeanor. He didn't want to anger them or present a threat that could lead to harm to Nii, nor did he want to incur an injury that would prevent him from being able to maneuver. He would have to literally play this by ear.
Vinsmoke Niji was laughing.
Well, inwardly laughing. He knew better than to cause trouble in such a tense situation. One, it would annoy Ichi, and Two, their imprisoners never seemed to get the joke and this would usually lead to them getting mad, and that usually led to them wanting to assert their perceived dominance, which usually led to pain for both of them, but especially for his elder brother.
Niji was in no way as serious as his brother. He tried his best to try to find something funny to laugh at in this crappy world they found themselves in.
His world had been silent since the time he was 7 years old, with only the memories of the voices of his family and himself to go on. And while he had ejected Judge's aka "sperm-donating shlock receptacle"'s voice long ago from his mind, he kept also the fainter mementos of his sister and mother close, as the only remembrance of the time before—when they had been free.
His brothers' voices were always there.
This was a double-edged sword. They kept him company inside his own head which was comforting, but they also could at times transform into his greatest critics and the greatest reminder of his own failure. Because while Ichiji had taken up the position of protector for the family, being the second eldest came with its own set of responsibilities. Ones which he too had failed.
He was the emotional core, the backup, and Ichi's partner in taking care of the two younger ones. He covered for what Ichi lacked and vice versa. While the elder protected them all physically, he had looked out for the four of them emotionally and mentally.
Ichiji, when he became too despondent, Sanji when he became too self-sacrificing, Yonji when he became too consumed by his own feelings, he took the time to know his brothers, their strengths and their faults and did his best to keep them all intact the best that he could. And yet, because of that, he knew, so much more intimately, what his brothers would go through–had gone through–now that they were alone somewhere out there.
Hearing young San and little Yon's voices in his head after they had been so cruelly torn from his side, was both a blessing and a curse. It reminded him that there was still family and kinship and love that existed in this world for someone as lowly as him. That there was something worth getting up for, worth continuing on for, worth protecting in this world.
That he wasn't alone.
And yet, it also served as a reminder of how cruel that world was and continued to be. Their voices without their physical presence only served to remind him that he was weak and pathetic and that their lives were controlled by another's whim. That Sanji would sacrifice himself again and again to protect, and that in the end, there would be little left behind of the kindest among them. Yonji would eventually implode if left on his own and probably take many others with him. Ichiji's entire life was now dedicated to taking care of their family, and he was already radiating cracks. He would shatter into a billion pieces if anyone else was taken away from him.
For him, the fact that at any instant their family could be torn apart without reason or rhyme, and eventually he could very well have no one left. Completely alone other than the voices in his head?
The very thought terrified him. Being torn away from Sanji and Yonji had opened up a nightmarish possibility that prior, he hadn't even considered. Ever since, in the back of his mind, he feared the possibility that Ichiji too would be ripped from him. He unconsciously stayed close to his side more than ever.
It had never become more real to him than when this morning, they tried to do just as he feared and pulled Ichiji away, leaving him floundering. For the first time in a long time, his body practically shut down, drowning in a sea of emptiness and silence, and shock.
When Ichi fought like a banshee to come back to him, he took his arm in trembling hands and held on to his anchor like there was no tomorrow. If they wanted to separate them again, they'd have to rip his arms off this time.
It had become so tense that he couldn't smile, even a little.
So when they had first been accosted by these highwaymen giving him a chance to concentrate on something other than his own dire circumstance, he took it, And he reveled in it.
At first, he was concerned about Ichi being pulled into a fight, not ready yet to physically be separated from him so soon. But these two newcomers had thankfully stopped it from coming to that. And so he stood with delight and relief, watching them demolish the slavers that had guarded them.
The two worked in flawless unity, one coming from the front, the other from the back, each complimenting the attack of the other. The blond attacked with cold precision, a long pipe in his hands that he used as a bo staff, blue flames appearing on his arms and back, his gloved hands black.
He struck out at his opponents with measured blows, crushing the skulls of any who came into his range. He was dressed as sort of a renegade nobleman? His clothing was not nearly as pristine or uptight as that of a normal noble, but his bearing and certain elements leftover in his outfit such as the waistcoat, tophat, and cravat, still suggested that that had been the nature of his birth.
Ichi didn't judge him on that of course, he'd deny it if asked, but he knew that if that fat bastard hadn't been a fat bastard, he'd still be a noble himself. So nobility wasn't a turn-off for him, at least at first glance.
As the blond systematically worked through his opponents, his partner did the same from the other side, each consciously moving toward the middle in a pincer movement. The raven was a bit looser with his attacks, but no less deadly. Instead of a staff, he fought with his fists, as well as two daggers, one in each hand. He utilized an orange-yellow flame that surrounded his hands and weapons. He knocked out his opponents with silent ferocity using his fists, before using his blade to finish the job, A quick jab to the jugular and that was all she wrote.
In truth, it didn't take them long, only a few moments before all of them were dead. Niji delighted in it. Devin and his jerk goons had terrorized them for too long and he had zero sympathies for the whole lot of them. He laughed raucously when Devin himself went down with a squeal, the bumbling coward dying a coward's death with a thrown dagger stuck in his back as he tried to run away.
He was enjoying the whole display for what was worth, the huge case of schadenfreude that he felt was more than earned. Though he also wasn't stupid. He knew as he talked to Ichi, that there was obvious danger for them here.
The two adolescents hadn't come near to attack them, ignoring them entirely. This could go many ways for them, and most of them bad, so he kept an observant eye on the two, measuring and watching their movements. Ichi was the ears while he was the eyes. He knew his brother saw as he did, a possible opportunity here, but they'd have to feel things out first, watch and listen carefully. If they had to fight, they'd lose quickly, but new circumstances offered new possible chances, and while he knew better than to get his hopes up…the situation was at the very least encouraging.
Sabo cleared the brain matter and viscera from his pipe with a quick swipe before replacing the weapon back onto his back. He let his flames die down before turning to get a look at his brother, doing a quick check-over to make sure that he was okay.
Ace still held himself ready for action for a few more moments, seeming to check from all sides to make sure there was no more danger from the downed corpses, or from the surrounding forests before he himself began to disarm.
It hadn't been a difficult fight, but Dad always taught them that one could never be too sure. And while he utilized observation haki to check for any possible opponents they could have missed, Ace relied more on his physical senses, needing to see that there was no danger remaining to him and his.
The blond let him calm down while he went over to the leader of the group, who Ace had cut down from the back. Bending down, he pulled out the dagger, noticing with satisfaction that it was the one with the red jewel in the hilt–Luffy's dagger–before wiping it clean on the dead man's clothes. He quickly searched the man's pockets and belt, not wanting to be near such a disgusting worm for longer than necessary. He found what he was looking for just as Ace approached him. He knew his twin was searching him for injuries just as he had him earlier, so he let him do so while he passed the blade back to him.
As Ace silently took it back and sheathed it, while Sabo stood, the small remote he found in hand. He heard a slight intake of breath, but he didn't call attention to it. He had been keeping his eye on the two slaves the entire time. They had stuck together like glue and had stayed out of the fight, showing absolutely no loyalty to their masters. In fact, the blue-haired one had shown a bit of vicious delight in watching their deaths.
This was a good thing. He had been expecting it, but it was always problematic wherever they ran into slaves who had either over time grown attached to their masters, or who had been worn down to the point where they served them blindly as they were all they knew.
No such problem with these two, but he also knew that getting them to trust them was going to be an uphill climb.
By taking the remote to their slave collars in his hands, he had also basically taken ownership of them. Their freedom and their lives were now in his grasp, to do with what he wanted with it.
The very idea of it, made him want to vomit. Unfortunately, the two brothers didn't know that and he watched Blue take note of his movements, any joviality leaving him in an instant. Instead, he closed himself off, his fingers moving subtly over his brother's arm in what Sabo could only guess was a modified type of sign language. He was pretty sure that Red was blind. Now that he could see him close up, his milky blue eyes and the scarring around them were a dead giveaway, even if he hadn't noticed that he didn't quite meet anyone's eyes. There was something wrong with Blue too, but that was a bit harder to pinpoint.
After Blue signed to Red, his face also became unreadable, what little emotion that had been there was locked firmly behind a stoic demeanor.
Ace was watching them as well, mostly on the off chance that the two pulled any fast moves, even if that was very unlikely. For the most part, he was silently waiting for the blond to make the first move, trusting him to take the lead here. It was his plan after all.
Taking the remote lightly in hand, he approached the two, standing on the outskirts in chains. Red heard or sensed him coming and ever so slightly placed himself in front of the other one. Sabo stopped a good meter and a half away, but before he could even say anything, the two dropped onto their knees before him, their heads bowed toward the ground. Red presented his shackled hands, palms facing upwards to show that he was no threat and that he submitted.
His voice when he spoke was gruff but subdued, "My brother and I are no threat to you. Please let us live and we will serve you well. Whatever you ask of us, we will do."
Ace could only look away with an uncomfortable if vehement, "Tch"
Sabo however didn't react to the subservient display. Instead, he took a breath and clicked the last button on the control. He knew from experience, as well as a quick scan of the device, that this was the switch to disarm the explosives on the slaves' restraints. Blue flinched at first in response to his action, before his face took on a perplexed air even while he continued to face the dirt.
Not wanting there to be any false pretenses as to their motivations, Sabo quickly switched to the next highest button on the remote before pressing down hard.
CLICK.
CLANK! THUD.
The heavy collars around both boys' necks unlocked and fell open. And because of the position they had been in, they fell with a loud metallic thud onto the ground.
Red's head snapped up looking in their direction in complete confusion. Blue's eyes widened in shock, his jaw dropping as he zeroed in on the thick piece of metal now lying harmlessly on the grass. His hand moved slowly, hesitatingly up to his now uncovered neck and the pale stripe of skin that was newly unfettered.
Sabo's heart swelled at the fact that neither boy seemed quite sure what to do or say, or even how to react. He didn't know how long the two had been slaves, but no matter how long it had been, it had been too long. His mind went to Lu, who if not already in the same position as these two, soon would be. Him having to be chained down, a heavy explosive collar crushing him, and his stomach turned.
No one deserved to have their freedom taken away. And while this was a step toward getting their little brother back, he would have done this regardless. His heart, his principles, his very raison d'etre demanded it. He could do no other.
Taking the remote in hand, he tossed it toward Blue. However, before it could land, Red quickly reached over and snatched it out of the air. Looking further in shock once he used his fingers to feel out what it was. It seemed that despite his visual impairment, Red was both quick and aware and very good at using his other senses.
He spoke quickly and succinctly, "Your collars have been removed and disarmed. My brother and I have no interest in slaves. By returning to you that remote, I am placing your lives back into your hands. I require nothing for this action. I do indeed have an ulterior motive, but your freedom is yours regardless."
Both boys looked at him bewildered, neither no longer looking to the ground nor holding their hands out in supplication, but neither making a move to get up either.
Sabo knew that they suspected a trick and didn't trust him but that was going to par for the course. He had been truthful with the fact that they had a reason for freeing them, as very few would believe him doing this out of the goodness of his heart. But if he could get at least their agreement to help, then they could handle everything else later.
He came closer, and both boys flinched, though they didn't back away. Red if anything, became a bit bolder, moving in front of his sibling fully. He stopped about a foot from them and held out his hand to him. "I can get rid of the shackles too if you let me."
Red didn't make a move, his clouded eyes narrowing unsure of the situation. Suddenly Blue seemed to wake up out of the frozen stupor he had been cast into ever since his collar had fallen off his neck. A huge smile sprang up onto his face and his Sabo was sure he caught his blue eyes brimming with unshed tears.
He grabbed Red's face and turned it towards him, his fingers moving in a flurry against the other's skin. He made one sign over and over again, before guiding his brother's hands to his uncollared neck, while he himself examined Red's own. His face was enraptured in pure joy that warmed both of the Dawn Island natives' hearts.
Red smiled and shushed Blue gently with a hand carding through the younger's hair. His hands came up and he began to sign to the other, though his signs were more of the traditional nature.
"Yes, I know. And I'm going to keep it that way, I promise. No matter what it takes."
It was at that point that he realized that the signing wasn't simply to communicate with Red, but that Blue required signing to communicate as well. Deaf, maybe? Or mute? Perhaps both?
Once he had reassured the other, Red keeping the collar remote in hand, turned back to him with a bit of hesitance, before he took on a determined and resolute glint in his eyes. He silently reached up and took hold of his hand, letting Sabo pull him up. The blond chose to do him first since once he had Red's okay, Blue would most likely follow.
Using armament haki, he took hold of the chains and shackles and easily shattered them before doing it again with the ones on his ankles. The other boy held out his freed limbs, loosening them up, no little bit of wonder appearing on his face.
CRUNCH!
Both he and Red turned at the sound and he saw that Ace had done the same to Blue's fetters. Red's hands immediately took hold of his brother again, his hand encircling, checking the boy's unshackled wrists. What tears that had been brimming there for Blue, now spilled over running down his face. His brother seemed to notice and pushed him closer to his side, turning his crying face into the crook of his neck in comfort, a slight tender upturn to his lips. However, when he turned back toward Sabo, his face was all business.
"Know that now that you've taken them off, those chains are never going back on."
The blond nodded, "Of course, putting them back on after having just freed you would be redundant."
"I don't understand, why did you do this? What is it you want in return?" Red asked in suspicion.
Ace, who was getting a bit impatient, cut in. "Look, what you do after this is going to be up to you, you're now free to do whatever you want. You can burn the world down for all I care. All we ask for is your help."
Red turned his head in his direction, "Help with what?"
Sabo responded, "My name is Sabo, and the other one you're hearing is my brother, Ace. Almost a week ago, my brothers and I were on Larkspur Island when the group of slavers that were holding you," he offhandedly indicated the corpses that surrounded them, "raided the island and took a bunch of prisoners including our little brother."
"We want to know if the prisoners from that raid were on the ship you guys were just brought on, and if they are, where to find them." Ace requested while folding his arms in barely maintained patience.
Red frowned in thought, his tone a bit incredulous. "And that's it?"
Sabo nodded, "That's it, no strings attached."
Red didn't seem to believe him, his countenance even more suspicious than before, however, Blue sat up and got his brother's attention, quickly swiping away the tears, before moving his hands in determined strokes against the other's skin.
Sabo's sign language was not fluent, especially this modified one that was scrawled against the skin. But he got the gist that he was telling the other to just tell them what they needed to know and that it wasn't too much to ask for what they had done for them.
The older redheaded ex-slave sighed, "My brother's right, it's not asking for much if that's all you want. What I can tell you is that while I don't remember this particular raid, all incoming new prisoners to be branded and sold would have been on the primary ship. The ship we were on is the secondary main ship. It usually handles the exchange of goods on the black market or forced labor that has dissatisfied the master."
His tongue clicked at that, a distinct flavor of distaste in his mouth. It would obviously take time to get rid of a word that had become so integral to his vocabulary for so long.
He continued on past it, "If your brother is as new as you say, he wouldn't be on this ship. Do you know how old he is?"
Sabo had been afraid of that. "He's 13, though he might appear a bit small for his age. His name is Luffy."
He had been hopeful, but Red was already shaking his head. "There was no slave by that name on the ship, and again, no new prisoners either…I'm sorry."
Ace snarled in response before whipping around and punching a nearby tree in frustration. The two ex-slaves automatically stepped back, startled, but Sabo tried to get a handle on the situation. "Ace, we knew it was a long shot. But at least we know."
However, he also knew it wasn't a total loss. Getting the attention of the two brothers again, he asked, "You said that most of the new prisoners are on the primary ship? Do you know the heading of that ship, or possibly where it might be? Will it be meeting up with this one?"
Red looked unsure, "That's the thing, once the primary ship unloads any cargo or slaves they're going to get rid of or sell, they don't usually meet up with the secondary ship again for months at a time. I'm not sure about headings or anything—"
Blue quickly pulled on the other's arm, before signing against it quickly, a smile actually coming to his face.
Red looked over at him in surprise before simply saying aloud, "You do?"
Blue nodded with confirmation.
Sabo was surprised that the azure-haired brother could understand vocal speech. Perhaps he could read lips?
"My brother said that he might not know the path of the primary ship exactly, but he does know its usual main stops."
The blond turned to the blue-haired kid and caught his eyes with his own. This time he talked directly to him, using both audible speech as well as signing.
"Is this true?"
The kid raised an eyebrow, surprised at his knowledge of the skill, while Red, spoke up, "My brother is deaf, sir. He also can't speak, at least not in the usual sense."
"Yeah, I kinda gathered that," Sabo responded distractedly. He was much more interested in what the other boy could tell him.
However, while his brother was forthcoming, if all business, Sabo detected a bit of guile in this one's eyes, which he used to express a great deal of meaning and expression. He seemed to be deliberating over something before he stepped away from his brother and began signing to him directly.
"My brother wouldn't go for this, but I'm willing to take a chance. I want to make a deal with you."
Sabo raised an eyebrow at that. This time he didn't speak aloud, only signed. "You want to bargain?"
Blue looked to the ground for a moment as if gathering his thoughts and courage, before looking back at him, allowing him to see him open and unguarded, all defenses down. His vulnerability on full display.
"I know I have no right to ask anything of you, after what you have done for us. But like you, my brother and I have been separated from our little brothers who are still enslaved. The last we saw them, they were on the same ship your brother is on. We will help you find the ship and anything else you need about these bastards, and in return, you take us with you."
The blond looked at him surprised. He suspected that they might find a connection with these two and he was right about the fire they still held. Willing to take chances even if it might cost them, for family. He personally didn't see anything wrong with taking the two along, in fact, it might be better since they would have their inside knowledge on hand. He also doubted they had anywhere to go on this particular island And while he knew the two were no doubt resourceful, leaving two obviously escaped slaves on an island with a heavy black market presence was just asking for trouble. They could probably use some food, a shower, and a bath.
He smiled gently before nodding and then signing, "Works for us. You help us find the ship and hopefully, we can both find our missing siblings. Again, no strings attached, you can leave whenever you want, as long as we get the information we need, and we don't expect you to earn your keep on the ship or anything, just help out if you can, but it's your choice."
This time Blue's grin was brilliant, giving a hint of life to his sallow features, suddenly before pulling Sabo into an embrace and then backing away, a hint of red on his cheeks.
Sabo was startled, but he allowed it, happy to share in his happiness.
The two elder brothers simply stood on the outskirts, feeling just a little bit left out.
Red frowned, suspicion growing since the conversation dropped and his brother drifted away. He reached out and tried to feel for his missing sibling. "Nii, what are you saying without telling me?"
Ace, who was used to his younger twin just going off and doing things, just shrugged. "Younger brothers—you can't live with them and you can't live without them."
He then bluntly took hold of the blond, who squeaked out a yelp of surprise before dragging him away. At the same time, Red found his brother's arm and did the same with him, though Blue seemed to have been expecting it.
Ace pulled his brother off to a copse of trees on the side of the road. "Alright spill, tell me what you just committed us to."
Sabo straightened his shirt with an annoyed look at the other boy before explaining what it was that he had agreed to. Ace was less than enthused, and going by the "What!" that was exclaimed from the other side, the elder brother of the two twins seemed to feel the same.
"So we're dragging those two around with us? And you don't think they might be a bit of dead weight? One of them is blind and one of them is deaf, 'Bo."
The blond folded his arms, a nonplussed look on his face. "No, I hadn't noticed, Ace."
The brunet sighed at the other's sarcastic tone. "We don't have time for this. Lu's not here and we've already wasted time as it is. Besides you know what the old man says about the emotional state of slaves who were just freed."
"Which is another reason we should take them with us." the blond reasoned, "We can't just leave them here, and they have information that can help us. I thought you wanted to get to Luffy faster?"
"We're gonna have to leave the other slaves here once we free them anyway, we can't take them all with us." Ace reasoned.
"Don't worry about that, I already let one of Dad's contacts know and they'll take care of it. These two have what we need and they just want a ride. Are you really going to deny them that?"
Sabo could see his brother wavering, deliberating on the pros and cons, but he knew it was already a done deal. His brother wasn't really all that concerned about the particulars as long as it meant they got to Lu faster. However, to drive it home he said somberly, "Ace…they tore their little brothers from them."
Predatory eyes glinting like steel, snapped up at him but he continued.
"You know how it is…they can get more profit if they split families up. And they've had to suffer all this time for who knows how long, with no way of knowing if their siblings are alive or dead. No way of getting to them, protecting them, or rescuing them until now…and it just so happens that those missing brothers—who are still slaves by the way—are on the same ship Luffy's on. It's hitting two crocs with one pipe. Can you really just stand there and say 'no'?"
Ace balled up his fist for a second before looking back over to the two ex-slave siblings, their hands moving in a flurry of sign language as they argued with each other. Though similarly, it looked like the younger one was winning his argument as well.
He stomped over to them before curtly pushing between the two and continuing past them.
"Come on Red and Blue! We've got places to go and a ship to burn. We don't have all day!"
Sabo shook his head and smiled before following, turning to the two, he both signed and spoke, "We are on a tight timetable, but just follow our lead. We're only gonna stop long enough to crush the rest of the operation here before we head back out to sea."
Blue nodded enthusiastically and went to follow, though frowned when Red pulled him back. The elder of the two sighed before looking toward's Sabo's direction. "Fine, and thank you for this. If you're genuine then I would be a fool to turn it down, as my brother keeps telling me. But again, know that I have to be cautious here."
The blond nodded, "Understood."
Red began to follow using the sound of footsteps and voices to maneuver, trailed closely by his brother. "Also, please don't call us 'Red' and 'Blue'. It's aggravating."
The azure-haired brother jumped ahead excitedly, signing quickly, "Yeah, my name is N-I-J-I. And he's I-C-H-I-J-I."
Sabo put the letters together into names. "Ichiji and Niji? I'm going to guess there was some naming system to that?"
Ichiji shrugged, carefully feeling his way around the path. Niji moved back to his brother's side and took his arm unconsciously to lead him forward. "Probably, not that it matters anymore."
"None of my business, got it." Sabo held up his hands in a gesture of backing off.
"No, it's fine. Just really doesn't matter. Our names are our own now, so the reason isn't important." Niji interjected.
Ace called from up ahead, "Enough chit-chat. Find out what we need to know, 'Bo."
Sabo simply shook his head in regard to his brother's impatience, before flipping on his heel and walking backwards as he address the two brothers. "Okay you two, I'm gonna need to know the numbers of men on that ship you came on, how many more slaves are on it, if any, not counting the ones that were already offloaded, the locations of the communications and navigation rooms, and the captain's quarters."
The two looked back at each other before Ichiji asked, "What do you plan to do?"
A devilish grin grew on the young man's face, which could compare to even that of his D siblings. Flames and smoke rose up from along his shoulders.
"We're going to burn it all down, of course."
Ichiji used a towel to dry off his hair and had to stop himself from once again pausing in wonder at the unaccustomed feeling of being clean. It had been forever since he had access to soap, and taking a real shower for once instead of being hosed down was nothing short of amazing. As he placed the towel around his neck, his hand skimmed the still-tingling newly naked skin.
After 8 long years…
It still didn't feel real.
He felt Niji take his hands and guide him to an area where he could sit down. A bed maybe, judging from the softness. It would take him time to learn his way around this new ship, but Nii said it wasn't that large so that was good. He took up the clothes that were passed to him and judged them to be a plain shirt and pants and carefully slipped them on. They were a slight bit baggy, but other than that, they fit, and they weren't rags, which was a huge plus in his book.
Nii, who had showered and dressed before him, moved over to his side and signed against his arm, "Your clothes are red and black by the way, though I know you don't care. I think they belong to the older one. Ace, I think his name is."
Ichi hummed in response as he felt his brother working through his hair, using scissors to level out his choppy locks. He didn't really care how he looked and hadn't for a long time, but Nii insisted, and it would probably be helpful in the long run.
The two brothers, Sabo and Ace had taken the information they'd given them before one of them split off, and the other took them to a small ship docked in a secluded location on the island. Sabo (the one with a rugged East Blue high-class accent) took them aboard and showed them the area to bathe, an extra room they could stay in, and where the larder and kitchen was. He said for them to make themselves at home and they had his permission to use anything they wanted on the ship (though he did "joke" that it wouldn't be very nice if they absconded with the entire ship itself, his tone holding a dangerous promise underneath the laughter).
He said they would be back by sundown and that whatever they saw and heard, to keep hidden for their own safety. Niji of course wanted to come along and both help and watch them bring judgment onto their ex-tormentors, but he had held him back. Sabo thankfully helped by stating the obvious—they weren't in much shape to fight, and their appearance might cause problems if anyone got the word out to the rest of the fleet. He did promise though that when they caught up to the second ship, they could do whatever they wanted.
Once Sabo left, they explored the ship, though Niji had been more thorough than he.
"You sure we're alone on this ship?"
"Again, yes. I'm not dumb. I checked as soon as they were out of sight. It wouldn't make sense for them to trap us on here anyway, brother. I was the one who insisted on them bringing us along."
The redhead knew that, and his instincts told him these two guys who had set them free were on the level. However, he had Niji to consider. He would cross his Ts and dot his Is just to be sure.
His finger skimmed the cuts on his wrists, indents, and scarring from years of being bound in chains.
He meant what he said. Now that he had tasted freedom for the first time since he was a child, he refused to be bound ever again. He would steal, kill, destroy, and do whatever it took to maintain his liberty now that he had regained it. And that went double for his brothers. No matter how long it took or how they had to go about doing it, he wouldn't rest until they were reunited with Sanji and Yonji again. Until they were—
He felt Niji press something warm into his hands.
"Some soup they had sitting in the kitchen. You haven't eaten since the day before yesterday."
He had long learned to manage his hunger, but any slave learned that when food was put in front of you, you ate. And if possible, you took and hid some for later. You never knew when you'd get more.
However, before he could eat he had to make sure–
Niji touched the back of his hand with his own bowl, allowing the eldest to relax.
Over the years, one of the ways they would punish him or his brothers would be to separate them and starve one of them while forcing the other to eat. Eventually, it got to the point where they couldn't seem to eat unless they made sure the other sibling also ate. Ichiji especially made sure that all the younger ones were fed before he even bothered to partake himself.
Knowing that Nii was taken care of, he felt up the side of the bowl and heard the clatter of a spoon. Huh, a spoon…now that was nostalgic.
It had been a while, but he successfully maneuvered the spoon into his mouth.
An explosion of flavor hit his tongue. Fresh tomatoes and parmesan and cream and…and…
A funny feeling came over his face right near the upper part of his cheeks and below his eyes. His nose and throat felt full, and were his eyes leaking?!
Had there been poison in the soup?!
More liquid fell and began to soak his cheeks and he couldn't quite understand what was happening to him.
He felt his brother's hands remove the bowl of soup from his shaky fingers and place it somewhere before gently bringing him forward and embracing him! He applied small comforting, shushing, motions to his back, and every so often, an "it's okay". It was similar to how he had held Nii himself earlier when he was…when he was…
Wait…
Wait a minute…
Was he—crying?
It seemed that the moment his mind finally realized that his body was still capable of doing a function he hadn't done since he had lost his mother and sister, the damn suddenly completely shattered.
And if his little brother hadn't held him up, he wasn't sure if he wouldn't have broken with it.
Niji held his elder brother close as he wept. All of the Vinsmoke boys knew that Ichi took the most onto himself of all of them, and knew that they could be weak with him because he would always cover them and be strong for them.
But he couldn't even remember the last time it had been the other way around.
It figured that the breaking point was finally getting a decent meal, a soup that reminded them of Sanji's secret cooking when they were children, using a recipe from their mother's family.
That on top of it probably just now, sinking in that they were actually well and truly free…
It had sent his brother's formidable walls crumbling down.
As he felt the other reaching back slowly to cling to him, his own tears came back in response to his quadruplet. The two sat there in the small cabin, the sounds of distant explosions, screams, and roaring flames ignored as they shared this moment together. One that they had almost lost hope would ever come.
Later That Evening, At Sea
Niji awoke blinkingly, wiping at his eyes sleepily. The sway of the ship under him threatened to send him back into sleep's embrace. It had been a while since he had slept so soundly.
His body felt a bit weird though, almost off balance–lighter somehow. It was almost like—
His eyes snapped open and he sat up with a sharp gasp. Quickly his hands went to his wrists and then his neck. For a second, absolute fear overcame him. Had it been a—? It couldn't have been only a—?!
A hand gently touched his face, breaking through the panic and turning his head toward it.
Ichiji's indirect gaze was calm, and he looked a bit fresher than he felt. He spoke aloud but made sure that Nii could read his lips.
"It wasn'ta dream, Nii. We really are free."
Niji had always trusted his brother's word explicitly, and his words cut through the trepidation like a breath of fresh air. He let out a long sigh of relief, calming down, his eyes dewing up slightly as he reached forward and pulled the elder into an embrace and the two sat calmly for a moment.
After the cloud of sleep had been shaken off, the events of the day came back to him. He looked around the cabin and saw that after their emotional crash, they must have fallen asleep together on the bed. Ichi had probably woken up first as he usually did, but considering he hadn't moved far, it most likely hadn't been for long.
The movement of the ship and the relative quiet told him that they had set sail. And the gloom of eventide coming through the cracks of the door told him that they had been asleep for a few hours at least.
He signed this information against his brother's skin.
"It's gotten dark, have you heard those two about?"
"I've heard them walking around above, but neither has approached here." the redhead signed back.
Nii stood up and looked around the room. Nothing looked to have been touched since they had fallen asleep, though he would be a fool to think that they hadn't at least been there to check on them. The bowls of soup they had been eating were as they left them, though cold now. However, that didn't stop him from taking it up and consuming the whole thing in only a few ravenous gulps. He handed Ichi his bowl and he did the same. You never wasted food. It was too valuable a commodity.
The redhead placed the dishes to the side to clean later before saying, "Let's go."
Nii breathed out a calming sigh before taking his brother's hand and opening the door. He moved his fingers swiftly over the hand in his grasp, giving his brother indicators of where there was a turn in the path, or where the steps going up to the deck started. It wouldn't be long before Ichiji committed it to memory, but he had long been his guide at the onset when stepping into a new environment.
Walking out onto the deck, he saw that it was indeed evening, the night wind feeling wonderful on his face. They were already in the open ocean with the island nowhere in sight.
He felt Ichiji pull on his hand before pointing upwards and behind him.
"They said they're up there."
Nii looked and saw that there was a warm glow emanating from the upper deck and so guided his brother up the stairs to where their hosts and saviors seemed to be. Coming to the top of where the helm was, he finally located the two brothers.
The blond one, Sabo, was on the transponder snail with someone in the navigation room. He acknowledged them with a smile.
The black-haired one, Ace, was near an open space at the stern, and he was sitting near what was essentially a campfire set up on the deck. It was curiously not affecting the boat's wood or any of its surroundings, but Niji just guessed that perhaps it was thanks to the other's devil fruit powers.
Ace didn't smile but nodded at them all the same, his mind seemingly preoccupied. He did indicate with his head that they were welcome to sit by the fire before he got up and handed them both mugs of what seemed to be broth.
Niji observed them subtly but carefully and noted that both had recently showered and changed into fresh clothes, Both had also divested themselves of their weapons and looked to be relaxed now that they were back on the ship.
He signed into Ichi's skin with his finger, "Safe" before taking a sip of the broth. Only then did his brother release him and move to stretch out a bit, feeling out and taking a measure of his surroundings with his senses.
It wasn't long before Sabo joined them. He greeted them and asked if everything was okay so far, which was a strange question to Niji. It was the first time in forever that he was not being forced to work till he was bone-tired and was allowed to simply sit and eat freely under the stars. Everything was better than okay.
Ichiji spoke for them, "We can't thank you enough for everything."
Sabo was roasting some meat over the fire, giving some of it over to his brother. The smell made Nii's mouth water, he hadn't had anything that substantial in forever. But at the same time, he wasn't sure about eating something that hearty on a relatively empty stomach.
However, he needn't have worried. He handed them over hot bowls of what looked like a stew made from the meat he was cooking and tomato soup from before. It was more suited to their adjusting stomachs and they dug in with relish.
Sabo responded, "It was no problem. We hate slavers. And we were going to take care of them anyway."
"And did you?" Ichi asked quietly, "Take care of them, that is?"
"Not one escaped, and we sent the galleon down to Davy Jones' locker," Ace answered solemnly.
Nii smiled derisively. So, that was why they had changed clothes.
His brother nodded thoughtfully before responding. "Good."
Nii felt a mix of apathy and relief at the thought of his prison for so long finally being gone along with all of their tormentors. It didn't quite feel real quite yet, but he knew that it would take some time to sink in.
So instead he asked, "What about the others?"
"We got them to safety and a friend of our dad's is coming to help them. He will make sure they are taken care of." the blond responded lightly.
He was relieved at that, but he could see a bit of his brother's spine straighten and he wondered what was wrong.
The elder asked solemnly, "Your father isn't here with you to look for your brother?"
Ah, that made sense. Fathers were not something either of them thought about much. However the mention here, in culmination with everything that happened so far today had probably awakened some feelings in the older quadruplet.
However, Ace spoke up quietly. "He's helping with the search on his own ship, crosswise to us. It allows our search radius to be bigger."
Ichi seemed to take that explanation well, and the small of his back relaxed once again.
Sabo sat down finally to his own meal before asking, "Do you guys have parents out there somewhere?"
The redhead shook his head, "Our mother's dead."
If Sabo noticed the implications of the short statement, he didn't let on and instead just continued. "And your siblings?"
Nii would have jumped in, but he was too busy using his hands to eat. But Ichiji continued to keep up the conversation. "We had a sister—Reiju…but she was killed when we were little. Now it's me, Niji, and the two younger ones, Sanji and Yonji."
The blond took this with a nod, seeming to understand a lot that was being said between the lines. However, even as he seemed to be deep in thought, he absently swatted at Ace's hand that seemed to be creeping to pilfer some of his meat.
It reminded him a bit of when Yonji would try and sneak some of his hidden cache of bruised fruit. Most of the time he would put a stop to it, not sharing his stash, but sometimes he would let their youngest brother have a treat. They were antics that they naturally did as siblings. And he could see that in full display in the siblings in front of him.
Remembering the last time he had seen Yonji brought a wave of melancholy over him and he had to put his food to the side.
"We've been separated from San and Yon for more than a year now."
Sabo's eyes flicked with both anguish and understanding, before he translated for Ace, who it seemed couldn't understand sign language at all.
Ace shook his head, "I can't imagine going through that. The just 'not knowing' for so long. Lu–Luffy, our little brother—has been missing for a few weeks and I already feel like it's tearing me apart."
Ichiji spoke up resolutely, "Now that we are free, we will find them. We'll find them and free them too."
Sabo looked at the fire, his mind already planning their next move. "When we find that first ship, we'll keep on the lookout for each other's siblings. Luffy is 13 but pretty short for his age. He has Ace's coloring, though his eyes are brown rather than gray. He's got a crescent-shaped scar under his left eye, and he'll probably be wearing seastone, but he normally has a body made of rubber thanks to his devil fruit power."
Niji and Ichiji nodded at that, keeping the description in mind. "All four of us are quadruplets. So, Sanji and Yonji look just like the two of us, except Sanji's hair is blond and Yonji's is green. It'll have slight strands of blond similar to myself and Nii."
Sabo brought over a map and laid it down on the deck while Niji moved over closer to it. "We've searched from Larkspur all the way to these islands in the west, if we can compare the path we've already traveled and the path you know, Ace, you can–Ace?"
Looking over, Nii saw that the black-haired brother appeared to have nodded off where he sat. Sabo however only frowned and reached over with his leg, knocking the other over onto his side. "Wake up, ya jerk! You're not leaving me with all the work this time."
Ace sat up from where he had been kicked peering at his sibling coarsely, "You of all people should know when I'm actually asleep and when I'm just resting my eyes."
Sabo peered over at him dryly, "Oh is that what they're calling it these days?"
Nii laughed silently at them while asking. "By the way, you two don't seem like you're from the New World. How did you get all the way out here?"
"Oh, well we're originally from the East." The blond explained. "We came here to live with Dad."
Ichiji inclined his head, "Did you live with your mom before that?"
Both Ace and Sabo stared at him blankly for a few solid moments before crumpling into laughter.
Ichi signed to him, unsure if had been something he said, but the azure-haired Vinsmoke teen was just as clueless.
Sabo, in between chuckles, reassured them. "No, haha…No, it's nothing you've done. It's just that…most of the time people are always asking us how we're related since Ace and I look nothing like each other, and yet you two really did think that we were blood-related all this time."
"Well, I can only take what my brother tells me and what I can infer from your relationship. And from that, I can tell you're true brothers. Whether or not you share blood is another matter." the redhead clarified.
Sabo breathed out calming down and smiled appreciatively, "Thanks Ichiji…but no, we don't share a mom. We came to the New World because we had to."
"You can't very well live on an island that doesn't really exist anymore," Ace commented, having sobered up quickly, his eyes becoming dark and shadowed.
His mood seemed to affect the other and Sabo's own blue eyes took on a glacial tint. "...or stay in a sea where you're being actively hunted down. We couldn't let Lu grow up like that."
Niji felt his brother come by his side, his hand seeking out and taking hold of his wrist. "How long have you been on the run?"
Ace stood up silently and walked over to the side of the ship, his hand on the balustrade as he looked out into the calm waters. Sabo only watched his twin with an air of sadness before answering. "It's been about 6 years now…more or less…"
The somber tone of his voice gave the feeling that for them, it had been both a moment ago…and forever ago…
For both of them, their minds had been thrust back to a simpler time. Back to the moment when their once straightforward lives, had taken a turn that would change everything.
In a place known as Dawn Island, a few days before a rotting kingdom would meet its doom…
A/N 2: And done!
This will most likely mark the end of part 1 of the story. Basically like the prologue. We'll be coming back to the present events here and there, but from here we'll be going back to the events that lead to our ASL trio being who they are today!
A few notes for this chapter, I hope that you enjoyed Ichiji and Niji. I actually love the Vinsmoke boys and I've always considered all of the Vinsmoke kids to be victims of their father's evil. I had to completely transform both Ichiji and Niji's characters, but also keep some of their core aspects. I also decided to make Ichiji blind and Niji deaf and mute since I wanted to have something that allows the brothers to have to truly rely on each other, as well as to show the true cruelty and evil of Judge.
And yes, poor Reiju is dead.😭 I love her, but I didn't want to put her in the same situation as her brothers, and because Sanji doesn't have Zeff in his life in this version, I had to create a different way for our favorite cook to still have that same moral code that he lives by. In my version, it comes sadly more from the trauma of his mother's and then his sister's deaths, and especially from witnessing his sister's murder and being too young and weak at the time to prevent it.
And in case it wasn't clear, the medicine that Sora drank, in this universe, affected all 4 brothers, but Sanji the most, and as the brothers aged, the other brothers also began to change because of it. They do still have genetic super abilities like in canon, but not as strong. It's the reason they are so valuable as slaves even though two of them are considered "damaged".
Okay! Thank you for reading, if you have any other questions or comments, please let me know. 😉br /
I will try not to take so long for the next one!😘