Chapter 3 - Unfinished Business and Open Wounds

Shanks stood in the middle of the battlefield watching the proceedings as the two sides began to disarm and withdraw. It was a bleak day, with so much sadness and death on both sides. Watching the Whitebeards carry the body of their father back to their ship was a sight that made his heart heavy with sorrow. He had known for some time that the old giant of a man wouldn't last much longer. That if this war continued on its doomed course, the oldest emperor of the sea would most likely not live through it.

Damn that Kaido! If he had only been here a little earlier…

He didn't like to think in what-ifs, but he couldn't help the regret he felt.

He already knew Benn would tell him that it wasn't his fault and that he had done everything he possibly could to avoid this tragedy. That the winds of change had blown so chaotically this time that no one person could have prevented its natural course. And yet, it did nothing to console him. All he could do now was to prevent further unnecessary bloodshed and try to help sweep up the pieces.

His captain's friend and his only child…his Anchor's brother… all in one afternoon. It was a fiasco through and through.

I'm sorry Captain…Luffy…I tried. It just wasn't enough.

He continued his quiet musings as he watched the two sides retreat. The Whitebeard ships had already begun to move out. The Marines were gathering their dead and wounded. An air of gloom and melancholy had taken hold over the former battle stage and neither side seemed to have the will to fight anymore.

That wasn't to say that there weren't intense feelings still smoldering on both sides. He had his men keeping an eye out for anyone who was willing to stoke the flames once again, whether from a misplaced sense of obsessed justice or plain vengeance.

And speaking of flames…

Shanks watched from the corner of his eye as Benn approached him with a troubled look on his face, Marco was following closely behind. If Shanks didn't know the Phoenix so well, he'd have thought the man to be as stoic as ever if a little unsettled. Yet to his well-trained eye, he knew the 1st commander was just barely hanging on emotionally. In fact, he was positively livid if he translated the slight tremble to the man's arms correctly. This couldn't be good.

His first mate came up to him, one hand on his firearm, the other holding one of his ever-present cigarettes. He took a long drag from it before speaking up, his tone disturbed.

"We've got a problem."

He lifted an inquisitive eyebrow at that, before looking over at Marco questioningly.

An irate fire was smoldering behind the flat look the blond gave back in return. And when Shanks heard his next words, he could understand why.

"Ace is missing."

He turned fully towards them, "What? What do you mean he's 'missing'?"

"His body is gone, captain. We've checked the area, the Whitebeards have been combing the place where he fell. Nothing."

His eyes narrowed, "Could he have been washed out to sea?"

Marco shook his head, "He was too far inland, the place he di– fell is still covered with blood. Everything is as it was, but no Ace."

Shanks put a hand to his chin in thought, baffled. With everything that had happened to the landscape of Marineford during the battle, many things could have happened to Ace's body in the heat of the fight. There were enough problems to deal with without adding another snag to the situation.

Marco took a step forward, his eyes flashing like steel, making his resolution clear. "I'm not leaving without him, Shanks."

Sighing, Shanks nodded, knowing that Marco was trying his best to be the new leader his family needed right now. However, the deaths of their fallen kin were still too new and fresh, even for the stalwart Phoenix. He needed this closure and to bring his brother home. The Whitebeard clan would not be satisfied otherwise. Besides…if there was some kind of foul play afoot…

He clenched his fist. Let's think about that, when and if the time comes.

"Show me."

Sure enough, the place where Portgas D. Ace had breathed his last was barren.

Crimson viscous liquid was splattered across the ground in some areas, in others it had pooled in puddles before being absorbed by the bloodthirsty earth. Bending down the young redheaded emperor examined the area closely, while Benn and Marco watched in wait.

He looked out to the sea and saw that they were right, it was just too far for some rogue wave to have taken the body. There were no cracks or crevasses in the ground in this area for it to have fallen through either.

Reaching out, he traced the different outlines in the blood with his finger. His keen eye picked up the outline of Firefist's body when he fell. He also could trace where poor Anchor had been when he had held his brother's body in his arms as he was bleeding out.

His eyes narrowed as his finger found the small impression of a shoe in the drying blood, and even more suspiciously, slight drag marks. What the–?

"Are those what I think they are?" Marco's cold voice pierced through his thoughts.

The man's abilities in perception could probably rival his own. They didn't have time for this. They were all in enemy territory and had already overextended their stay. But they needed to get to the bottom of this. He trusted Sengoku to keep his word, but it was becoming increasingly evident that someone had moved Firefist's body.

For what purpose? He couldn't guess. But he also knew that whoever had moved it, had better have a damn good explanation!

For now, he had to get to the bottom of this quickly. "Benn, get Lime."

The raven gunslinger gave a single nod before going to find their crewmate.

"I don't know how you did it."

Shanks looked up at Marco's words, only to be faced with the man's back. The commander's back was ramrod straight, his entire demeanor like a closed-off vault.

It had been many years since the two had been alone and talked like this. But that time apart didn't mean that Shanks understood the man's body language any less. The man was hurting, and hurting bad. That was obvious. What wasn't so obvious was the weariness, anxiousness, and even slight fear that lay far below the surface of the man's withdrawn exterior.

The redhead was quiet for a moment, thinking about what his words had meant. It took some time for the realization to hit.

He spoke softly, looking off at the now calm waters that had been his home for most of his life. "One day at a time, Marco. It hurts like Hell at first, and it probably will for weeks, maybe even months after that."

He thought back to the days after Roger's execution, running from those hunting and trying to destroy anything and everything that had to do with Roger. Trying to get by on his own for the first time in a long time, the family and captain that had been by his side for much of his young life, suddenly gone.

It had left him floundering for some time after that tragic day, a corrosive agony eating a hole in his soul that had required years and the presence of his own crew to heal. The fact that they had known Captain was dying long before it happened, did nothing to mitigate the pain when he was finally gone.

Probably no more than the knowledge that Whitebeard had long been sick, had in any way allayed Marco's obvious pain when the old man had breathed his last…

He knew his words were to a degree, hollow. Nothing he could say right now would magically make everything better. No… he could only tell this man who he had grown up knowing, as two separately adopted children of two legendary pirates, his own experience.

"All I can tell you Marco, is that it will get better…with time."

Silence was his only response, but Shanks hadn't really been expecting one.

It didn't take long for Beckman to get back, this time with one of the Red Hair Pirates' executives, Lime Juice, following in his wake.

Long blond hair under a black cap, a pair of black shades, and a green coat, Lime came up to Shanks with his hands casually in his pockets.

"You called, Captain?"

The redhead nodded, "We have a situation. I need you to find out and tell me what happened here in the last hour to half an hour. Ace's body is missing and we need to know what happened to it."

Lime nodded and walked over to the bloodstain on the ground. Squatting down, he removed his gloves and his shades. He placed his bare hand in the middle of the blood.

Almost immediately his eyes began to glow a fierce red, and he started staring ahead in concentration as if looking at a moving scene only he could see.

Marco looked on curiously, "Devil fruit?"

It was unusual to see a member of the Red Hair Pirates with devil fruit powers. Most of them were experts in their natural honed skills.

Shanks nodded in confirmation, "He has the Seer-Seer fruit. Lime is able to see the past events of any thing or area he touches with his bare hands. He can go back up to a few days, but we won't need anything that extensive."

After a few moments, Lime spoke up, his glowing eyes still watching in concentration.

"I trust you want everything after Firefist's death?"

"Yes", the emperor answered softly.

The man continued his work, quiet again for another few minutes.

When Lime Juice finally spoke again, he reported back what he saw, like a reporter listing off notes. "Anchor was with him for a while. Jinbe gets him, then nothing….nothing…nothing…"

He's quiet again for a moment before his eyes widen in interest, "Wait..."

"You see something?" Shanks raised a brow in question.

Juice's glowing eyes narrowed in concentration. "There was nothing for a while, but then I can see some girl approach him."

Marco frowned before taking a step closer, and looked at the spot where his little brother had fallen. He wished he could see what the Red Hair pirate could see. Ugh, he hated being so helpless, he'd had enough of that today already!

"A woman? What does she look like?"

It couldn't have been any of theirs or Shanks' people, so it had to be a Marine. So help him, if they planned to make some kind of trophy out of Ace…

His fist began to shake once again with hastily buried, simple, pure, pent-up rage. He had so much anger and sorrow bottled up already in him, it was a miracle that he could still keep his flames in check. Today had been the worst day of his life and yet it Just. Wouldn't. End.

A blanketing presence shifted to his right and Marco could feel a brush of cloth against his shoulder.

The redhead didn't look at him or even acknowledge him in any way as he stood by his side, but the silent steady power that he emanated had a weirdly calming presence.

He knew Shanks was doing it on purpose, and while he didn't like to owe the guy anything, he was thankful. It allowed the older blond to take a subtle deep breath calming his roiling emotions and pacifying the predator and fire within.

At least for a time anyway…

Lime, unaware of the exchange, continued to watch the impression of the past using his ability, doing his best to explain to the others.

"Girl's got brown hair, dark eyes, about medium height, nothing really remarkable. She's got a Marine captain's uniform on."

Marco had expected that, but his eyes still darkened at the confirmation, becoming like steel flints. "If Sengoku goes back on his word, I'm burning what's left of this place down."

Shanks knew the man and his brothers would do it too. Emotions were still way too high and everything was balancing on a knife's edge. Right now, level heads were prevailing but any word of the Marines stealing Firefist's body for their own purposes would catapult it back into chaos again.

The emperor beside him shook his head, frowning in concern. "I can't see Sengoku doing this. He can be wily when it comes to battle, but he's not vindictive. It's got to be some other party."

"Then how about we ask him."

"That's not a good idea right now and you know it."

"Watch me."

A deep rumbling cough interrupted them before things could get too out of hand. Benn pushed a strand of hair out of his face before removing his cigarette to speak. "How about we get the full story from Juice first before we decide who to kill?"

The tension held for a second or two before Marco backed off and took a shaking deep breath. "Let's just get this over with. I just want to bring my brother home and leave this place."

Shanks sighs before looking back over to his crewmate, "Juice, where did this Marine girl take him?"

Lime Juice had been ignoring their outburst, his mind immersed in his vision. But he tuned back in at the sound of his name. "Captain? You ever seen a moving shadow?"

"You mean like Moria's crap?"

"Nah, this is different…I think? Next to the woman, I thought it was her shadow at first until it moved and turned into some…huge…mist… monster ? I honestly have never seen anything like it before?"

The redheaded captain "Hmm, it could still be Moria, he's a warlord after all. Though honestly this really doesn't sound like him. He's a scavenging coward, but I can't see him risking it when he knows the Whitebeards would come after him."

Marco nodded his agreement, crossing his arms. "He's trash, but he likes to take it easy. He knows what we would do to him if he turned Ace into one of his zombies."

Shanks looked back at the blond seer, "What happened next, Lime?"

Juice stood up, his eyes going back to normal, showing he was done with his devil fruit visions. " The woman grabs Fire-Fist and the shadow monster seems to engulf them both. Then poof! All 3 are gone."

All 3 pirates look at him with blank looks on their faces, obvious questions in their eyes.

Putting his sunglasses back on, he shrugs in response, "Hey, I'm just telling you what I saw. Marine girl, Portgas' body, the Shadow? All gone. There one moment, gone the next."

Hearing this, Shanks looked to the ground in thought at a loss at what to do next. He wanted to prevent disaster at all costs. This war had already been as devastating as he had imagined. He didn't have much hope in trying to convince Marco and the other Whitebeards to leave this matter until they had regrouped away from enemy territory. He himself hated to leave Ace's whereabouts in limbo like this but it wasn't like—

"Do you want to follow them?"

He looked up in shock at Lime, the blond was pulling his gloves back on while staring back at them casually.

Marco, who had himself been in thought going through his options took a step forward, "What do you mean 'follow them'? I thought you said they disappeared without a trace?"

The man shrugged, "I said they were gone, I didn't say I couldn't track them. The mist monster thing has a very obvious haki signature. I can follow it with my powers."

A red eyebrow began to twitch, "Wait a minute, you're telling me you could do that the whole time?"

"Well, yeah. As long as the haki sig is recent and strong, I can follow it for a while."

"And the reason you didn't say this earlier was…..?"

"You didn't ask earlier, Captain."

Benn laughed lightly before instinctively grabbing his captain's collar before the man could irately strangle the man. "Lead the way Lime. The sooner we get this taken care of, the sooner we can get off this rock."

Akainu watched from afar as Redhair, Phoenix, and the commanders ran off from the battlefield. He couldn't stand the fact that they were letting all these pirate scum just go on their merry way. Sengoku was going soft. If the man couldn't do what needed to be done, then it was time for him to step aside and let someone who would do whatever it took, to take over.

At the very least Whitebeard was dead, Roger's devil spawn was slain, and while Dragon's spawn had gotten away despite his best efforts, at least he left the boy with a lasting reminder that absolute justice was coming for him. If all went well, the pirate scum would die of his injuries. If not, it was only a matter of time. He could only run for so long.

Calling over a couple of his more trusted men, he gave them an assignment. Find out what Redhair and the Phoenix were up to, and report back the situation. Something was happening, and he would be prepared to act.

Juice's eyes continued to glow red as he allowed his fruit's sight to guide him. While he had assured his captain that he could follow the haki signature with his sight, this was undoubtedly one of the most challenging ones he'd ever had to trace.

In his sight, haki appeared almost like blackish-purple glowing dots. The stronger your haki, the easier it was to see. But while he could see the dots with his sight, they seemed extremely hazy and traveled through the ground and the sky!

They went through solid objects and through thin air in the same way. He didn't understand if it was simply because of the way their body-snatching suspects had disappeared, or because of the weird nature of that mist monster, but whatever it was it was the strangest trail he'd ever seen.

Finally, the trail ended at the edge of a small destroyed pier. Well…not so much ended, as….

Walking on the wrecked wood of the pier, he gazed out into the blue. He heard his captain speak out behind him.

"Lose the trail? Or did they go into the water?"

Lime shook his head and pointed out, "The trail continues, but it changes slightly. It was going all over the place at first, the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. But here," he pointed to a spot near the deck. "They stopped for a while and then the path becomes more linear."

Marco bent down and examined some of the pylons. "I'm guessing that the erratic nature of the trail you're seeing is what they look like while teleporting. They disappeared from the battlefield, reappeared here, and then probably swam away or took a boat."

He nodded, "Probably. The trail continues out into the ocean but I can still follow it."

Shanks put a hand to his chin in thought. This could be a good thing for them if the perpetrators had left the island. The water was their domain. They could do everything at their leisure.

"Marco–"

But the bird commander–no, captain–had already transformed and taken to the sky.

Marco was happy to have a singular task. Find the bastards who took his brother, destroy them, and bring him home. It honestly wasn't that different from the mission he had started the day with. Though this time the context was quite different. This had been his worst-case scenario, but he was drawing the line here. He refused for the day to get any worse than it had already.

The smoke-filled air cleared as he rose up higher and higher into the atmosphere. For a second he took a moment to close his eyes and just breathe. Nothing else existed up here, nothing but the wind, clouds, and sky. For just a moment, he's alone and his heart feels just the slightest bit lighter.

Of course, every whisper of responsibility that was hardwired into him was never far away. And so he opened his eyes and through his keen telescopic phoenix sight, he scanned the waters searching for his target.

He didn't have to look for long. Not far out to sea, but wisely out of target range of the remnants of Marineford, he spotted a small vessel. It looked big enough to house a small crew, 3-4 people at most with a couple of small cabins. It currently had not released its sails and instead was just steadily drifting away, probably to avoid notice.

Marco's anger flared at the sight of the perpetrators trying to get away with his brother's body. The marines had always just been a necessary enemy to him before, an obstacle, a stumbling block that had to be dealt with every so often or avoided. Never had he actively hated them. And yet his ire continued to build at the thought of why they possibly could want Ace's body.

He knew that Shanks was trying to make the best out of a bad situation, and he knew that while his brothers would follow his lead, he also knew that he would lose even more of them if he decided to get retribution right now. His mind knew these things. And yet his heart screamed out for vengeance.

Breathing out a sigh, he looked darkly at the little boat, barely a ship below him. He would have to compromise and sate his bloodlust on the soon-to-be victims below. He might not be able to make Akainu pay–yet, or destroy that traitor–murderer!–Blackbeard yet. But this day? These poor Marines were going to face the full force of his anger.

Flying back to Red-Hair, Marco transformed back before nodding, telling them the distance and heading of the boat.

Shanks nodded before turning to his second in command, "Benn, take the ship out, we're leaving. We've got no more business in this place of death and grief. Lime, you stay with me just in case we have to give chase and track them down. Teleporters can be a pain."

Beckman let out a breath of smoke from his cigarette, "Don't take too long, captain." Before doing a two-finger salute and heading back to round up their people.

Shanks then turned to Marco and waited. He wouldn't give another captain orders or attempt to lead his crew. All decisions would go to the Whitebeards' new leader.

Marco transformed once again and flew to the sky, his flames blazing brighter and brighter as he rose higher and higher. When he had reached the point where all could see him, he let his flames flare out in an explosive wave filling the sky with blue light. His phoenix scream followed and he heard the distant roar of his siblings as they understood his signal for them to head out. They trusted him and he would work to make sure that trust was never misplaced. No one else would die today. And he would bring Ace home.

Shanks watched the display, a slight curve at the corner of his mouth showing his amusement. "Show off…"

He looked over at Lime who had been watching the Phoenix in awe. "You might want to raise your arm."

Lime looked at his captain in confusion as the redhead placed his own remaining arm in the air above his head.

The answer to his unspoken question came swiftly enough as the mythical bird of prey swooped down in an arc, dive-bombing towards them. Huge gleaming talons open and ready, Juice barely had time to place his own arm in the air before the phoenix grabbed onto both of them and pulled them off into the sky and out to sea. And he really, really hoped that his captain wouldn't mention his panicked squeal after this.

Though from the wide grin on his face, that might be a hope that was in vain.

On heady breezes that surrounded the Marineford base, far away from the Marines who were trying to pick up the pieces, and the pirates whose ships were already in the process of departure, a small piece of ash was whisked away.

It's a law of the universe that nothing is truly destroyed…nor created. It simply changes its form from one to another.

The ash was whisked away in the wind, forgotten by the world around it. Destined to be swallowed by the sea or its bits and pieces strewn across some lonely rock or even a godforsaken forest.

And so, it was no one except nature itself, that was witness to the ash beginning to change form once again.

Bit by bit, the cinder became larger and larger. The grey burnt bits became lighter, larger, and more sturdy, the tiniest bit of white paper beginning to reform once again.

The paper was very tiny, so light that the wind was still able to send it whirling across the waters.

Time went on as it always did.

But little by little, the tiny paper continued to grow until eventually, a small "A-" written on the paper became more and more visible.