Hello everyone, here is the next chapter!
This is a bit of a wild one, but I enjoyed writing it
This also have some parts that might be a bit rushed, but I hope it is okay
I know I have had a lot of chapters with small things, but now we're now heading into the next big event! I hope you will enjoy this! I had some issues trying to decide which event I should start first as I have a few planned, and this is one of them and I am so excited for this!
Read and relax
Ace took a breath as he was ready to head to the dinner with Dadan. He was just glad Luffy and Sab were also there. Ace then felt he was ready and left with his powers, walking to the hideout, and knocking on the door, and Daniel opened it and gave a sheepish smile, to which Ace shook his head. "No, it's fine. I know you didn't mean to tell. And maybe something good came out of it." Daniel nodded. "Maybe. Come in, we're having steak." That sounded nice, and he walked in and smiled when he saw his brothers and hugged them. Or more like Luffy tackling him almost and Ace moving to hug Sabo as well. Then Ace sat down and Dadan gave a nod to him. "How are you?" Ace hummed. "I am good, thank you for inviting me." Dadan shook her head. "It is nothing." Luffy grinned. "It has been so long since you've eaten here!" Ace smiled. "I know, but we never managed to fit it into our schedules."
Dadan got a guilty look then, as she realized he was trying to make it so Luffy didn't dislike her for banishing Ace. Ace didn't want that, as Luffy liked Dadan. The dinner then went on and it was a bit awkward, as he hadn't spoken with Dadan for years, and they had a lot to catch up on in a way, but it was also nice. He had, he now noticed, missed this. This was nice. At the end of the dinner, he felt it was going well and they were all laughing about escapades they did as a child, Luffy also mentioning some they did after Ace was banished, and Dadan looked to feel bad, but in Ace's mind, she didn't need to feel bad. She didn't know what kind of assassin Ace was, but it was good now. He now understood why Dadan didn't like assassins, but not everyone was bad, and Dadan had now realized that. It also felt good to finally start to mend their relationship.
When the dinner was over and they were about to leave, Dadan asked to speak with him, so Ace sent Luffy and Sabo outside to wait for him. When they were gone, Dadan looked at him. "I hope this went well for you." Ace nodded and smiled. "It did, I am glad we can start to mend this. I get your side now, and I understand it." Dadan nodded. "You always were a kind one, I just regret it took me so long to see it." Ace shook his head. "It is okay, for now, let us look forward." Dadan nodded and then Ace left with his brothers, and Ace felt this was a huge step in the right direction, and Sabo seemed very happy as well, same with Luffy.
Ace was glad it had gone fine.
-x-
The next day, Marco walked into Ace's room, where Ace was sitting. Marco had a question. When Ace saw him and smiled, Marco smiled back, before he spoke. "Ace, is there something you don't like about Anna?" Ace blinked. "What? What makes you think that?" Marco gave a comforting look. Anna had changed into her cat from earlier, trying to catch a bird, probably her cat instinct kicking in. She had also been a bit embarrassed about it afterwards, but took it with a smile. But while it happened Marco had seen something while the others either found it amusing or had tried to help Anna, or the bird.
Marco moved a hand to Ace's. "It's just, when she was a cat earlier, you looked… upset." Ace gave a breath. "It's just…" Ace took another breath. "When I was 11, Azuruko took me on a mission to teach me how to sneak and such, it was in the middle of the night and pitch black outside. When I walked a bit away to look around, I heard this sound, and my mind was sure it was a monster, a zombie, a dinosaur, something, you name it, and I just ran back to Azuruko and basically jumped into his arms as I wanted to cry because there was a monster there. But just as I reached him, a cat ran away. It was just a cat. And since then, I would like to know who gave cats the ability to make the sounds of monsters." Ace shook his head. "And Azuruko loved this, loved to rub it in my face whenever he could, that I got scared by a cat. And I remember just thinking 'when this teasing stops, I will be so happy'. But now…" Marco moved a hand to hold Ace's. "You want it back since then he would be back, yoi." Ace nodded. "Yeah. And I always remember this when I see a cat. Anna is amazing, it's nothing against her. I love working with her. But I also miss… him." Marco nodded, he got this fully. He moved and hugged Ace, who seemed thankful for the hug.
When they parted a bit later, Ace spoke. "We're still headed towards Biyangdo, right?" Marco nodded. "Yes, we will dock tomorrow, why, yoi?" Ace shrugged. "Just wondering. I also have an assignment I need to do and will leave in a small bit." Marco nodded. "That's fine, just be safe, yoi." Ace looked at him. "I will." The day then went on, Ace leaving for his assignment, before he returned, saying it went fine. Then they soon docked and many headed onto the island to have fun. They would stay docked for a couple to three days. The commanders would have their meeting in a small bit too, after dinner, as they usually did when they would be docked for a bit, after getting the lay of the island. This one seemed like a good one, nothing standing out.
-x-
Whitebeard sat in the meeting room, going to have the meeting now, and as everyone was coming into the meeting room, he blinked when all the assassins came in, beside Ace. He did get Trevor and Mika, but not why Cioup and Anna also joined. When he asked, Anna shrugged. "Ace asked us to sit in." Odd, but he probably had a reason. Ace came a minute later, and they started the meeting, which went by without a hitch, nothing special being mentioned.
As the meeting was coming to an end, when the captain asked if anyone had anything else to bring up, when Ace hummed. "I do." Whitebeard nodded and gave Ace the word, and Ace hummed. "I have decided on something, and that is to retire being an assassin. So I will be more around here." Everyone blinked, even Trevor, who looked at Ace shocked. "What? No, you're not? Why!" Ace shrugged. "Just, something I've decided on." Mika looked shocked as well. "But why now?" Ace shrugged. "Why not now?" Anna and Cioup looked shocked as well, sharing a look, before looking back at Ace and Cioup spoke. "How will we manage without you!" Ace shrugged. "You just have to." Whitebeard felt this was rushed, as no one knew anything. He would try to speak with Ace about this. If Ace wanted to quit and retire, he wouldn't stop him, but this did feel very rushed.
-x-
Trevor sat down on his chair, Mika, Cioup, and Anna with him, and Trevor spoke first. "Did you all hear right? Ace is retiring?" Mika nodded a bit. "He did say that. But why? He hasn't been working much lately. He had a small one yesterday. Yes, the assignment he had was a bit bad, but still. Quitting?" Cioup looked thoughtful. "Something must have happened!" Anna nodded. "Yes. This is Ace. He wouldn't just quit. Does anyone know what could have happened?" They all shook their heads, as no one knew anything. This was so odd and wrong. Cioup then stood up and said she would get someone, and a minute later she returned with Marco, who looked unsure as well. When the door was closed, Trevor asked if Marco knew anything, to which Marco shook his head to. "No, yoi. He has maybe looked a bit in thought since yesterday, after we docked, but that is it." They all nodded, and Mika spoke. "So what it is must have happened in the last 24 hours. But what?" Cioup sighed. "No clue. Maybe we should ask Moira? Benn? Daisuke, even though we are mad at him?" Trevor nodded and went and got a Den Den.
When Trevor returned, he called a number, before Moira picked up, and Trevor explained what had happened, how Ace was quitting. Moira was shocked and said she knew nothing, and asked why, to which they had no answer. Half an hour later, they had called anyone who might have known anything, even Raiden and Hanzo, but no one knew. Benn did say he could drop by and speak with Ace. And that sounded good. They weren't far away as well, and could be here in some hours. Now, they just needed to wait and see what would happen.
-x-
Marco moved into Ace's room, glad to see Ace there and Marco moved over to the bed and sat down, looking at Ace, who was looking over some papers as he stood by his desk. "Ace," Started Marco, and when Ace hummed, Marco continued. "Why are you quitting being an assassin, yoi?" Ace shrugged. "Maybe it is time for me to quit. I can be around more now." This didn't feel right and Marco felt this was wrong. "But why, yoi? I mean, this seems… rushed." Ace shrugged a bit again. "I mean, most do quit, Benn did. Now, it is my turn." Marco felt this wasn't something Ace was sure of, this all felt so rushed. But he was sure Ace wouldn't say anything.
Marco moved a hand to Ace's. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right, yoi?" Ace nodded and gave a smile. "I do. And now I will be more around, and be safer." That was good, but he knew, while it was hard and had a lot of bad days, Ace liked being an assassin and helping others. This wasn't right. But if Ace didn't want to tell, he couldn't make him.
The day then went on, and some hours later, Shanks and his boat were spotted, and when the evening came, he noticed Benn out and asked Ace to the galley on the Red Force's boat, which Ace went along with. Marco really hoped Benn would figure out something. This was a huge decision.
-x-
Benn looked at Ace, having invited him to the galley. "Ace, I heard you're quitting. Why is that?" Ace shrugged. "I just felt it was time." Benn hummed. "This feels rushed, Ace. Are you sure of this? And if you are, how are you so sure? It took me years." Ace shrugged. "I just am." No, this didn't feel right. "Ace, look me in the eyes and tell me you are quitting." Ace didn't hesitate and looked him straight in the eyes. "I am retiring from being an assassin. Effective immediately." Benn saw no lies in his eyes, which meant Ace was sure of this. While still having eye contact, Benn spoke again. "Did something happen in the last 48 hours to make this decision?" That had Ace avert his eyes, so he was in on something here. "What has happened?" Ace shook his head. "Nothing. Just realized it was my time to quit." Benn tried to get more information, but Ace didn't tell. So either it was something he was hiding, or it was very bad, or both. He would do his best to figure this out. This wasn't like Ace.
-x-
Thatch was making some preparations for breakfast, benign in the kitchen right now, even though it was like 3am. As he was making some preparations, he felt he smelled smoke and went in search to find if a fish was being burned or if someone had forgotten something, but found nothing. That was when he noticed smoke from the door and went to the galley to see it was on fire. Thatch felt shocked, seeing flames going from the floor to the ceiling. Thatch quickly got his mind with him and yelled fire, that there was a fire, before he went to the kitchen and grabbed a fire blanket, put it around himself, and ran out of the kitchen and through the fire, the fire blanket making it so he didn't get burned. When he got out, more seemed to notice it was a fire and they were grabbing the fire extinguishers they had, and they did their best, but were also careful.
They managed to put the fire out, and the damage was bad, but no one got hurt thankfully, which he felt was a miracle. How had this fire started? It hadn't started in the kitchen, but the galley, so this didn't feel right. Had someone set the galley on fire? He hoped not, he hoped they didn't need to deal with an arsonist.
-x-
Whitebeard felt shocked when he woke up and was told there had been a fire, but it was okay now, but the kitchen and galley were badly damaged. He was glad to hear everyone was safe and no one was injured, that was good. When they went over the damages, Jozu blinked as he was by one of the corners and lifted something. "Thatch, this is… Is this what I think it is?" Thatch walked over and blinked. "Yes, that is… remains of one of my clothes. But this smell." Thatch smelled it. "It's gasoline. Which means…" Jozu nodded. "Yes. Someone started this fire. But who?" Whitebeard didn't like this. Someone had set his boat on fire? He was about to speak, when Izou did. "Ace, where are you going?" Whitebeard turned to see Ace heading towards the plank, before he was gone in black smoke. Thatch blinked. "Do you think he knows who did this?" Whitebeard felt unsure. "Maybe. But this feels… off."
Shanks and Benn then came over, asking what was happening, and Whitebeard said they felt someone had put the galley on fire, and Benn asked to check around, which they allowed. After half an hour, Benn said someone had set the galley on fire, he was sure of it, but who was the question. Benn then asked those who had been up if anyone had seen anything, and no one had, not even Thatch had seen or heard anything, and he was in the galley, which Benn said they were dealing with someone who knew what they were doing. This could be bad. So he put on extra people to keep watch, and no one unfamiliar would come on the boat. And everyone agreed.
Benn then left for the island to ask around, to see if anyone knew anything. The other assassins did the same, needing to figure this out. It was an hour later that Benn came onto the boat and said they needed to search the island. But just as it was said, he felt something wash over him, making him feel… weaker, not sure why, when Marco spoke. "My devil fruit… it isn't working, yoi." Whitebeard blinked and tried to make a quake, but nothing. Benn spoke first. "This island has a seastone tower, but it has been turned off for a while. It suddenly being on now feels odd and not like a coincidence." Whitebeard agreed.
They then gathered a group and headed to the island, finding the mayor, who seemed busy and asked why the tower was on, which had the mayor look at them. "Why do you care? Just set sail if you hate it." Trevor spoke first. "You know who we are, right?" The mayor sighed. "Yes, I do, you are powerful. We don't want issues, but we are swamped already." Benn nodded. "We get that, but someone on your island just tried to burn down the Whitebeards boat, an act of arson with intent to kill. So, what is going on here?" The mayor blinked. "What? Oh God." She moved a hand to her face. "We have a dead body, I got one of my best men missing, and now this?" The mayor sighed, before looking at them. "I am sorry, I don't know who that was, but my bet; the rebels."
Benn nodded. "We can help, where can we find them?" The mayor sighed. "I know it feels… bearable here, but we have some things to create airflow as the heat here is actually excruciating, just go 5 minutes from the city and you feel it, the horrible heat and sun. People can die within 2 hours. We just found one of my men dead, but we also found 2 of the enemies, but one of my men is still missing." Benn nodded. "And we are missing one man as well, and I have a feeling he is with your man I think, to help. He is a good man, strong man, and likes to help. Where can we find them?" The mayor nodded and went over to a map, showing this area had a lot of harsh terrain, very hard to navigate, so they needed to work together. They found out the person they were looking for was a man called Miller, a doctor who helped around, and was a very good man.
They then got a Den Den and to not wander off, before they went to search the area they could think of. And as soon as they got out of the city, he could feel the heat hitting him right on, on how heavy and hot the air got. They had the mayor with them, and they had all gotten some equipment to have on to hopefully handle the heat. They then searched, and time went by, and they did get some leads, that led them to a building, a sort of base they had, but when they got there, it was in full fire, and if anyone was inside, they were dead. They couldn't stop the fire, so it needed to stop on its own, but it would go fast. But they couldn't stay here all the time, so a few stayed behind, getting a Den Den, and the rest headed to search on.
It was hours later, the night nearing, and he felt the heat was just as bad, and sun high, so he looked at the mayor. "When does the sun go down?" The mayor sighed. "In some hours, we got a lot of sun, but the heat won't stop. We are not in the desert, just an extremely warm island. It barely drops any degrees during the night. If your friend is here and has nothing, he will die soon." That wasn't good, so they went on to search. They still didn't have their fruits, and Marco did ask if they could turn the tower off, so he could fly, but the mayor said no, as the enemy had a lot of devil fruits, this was a precaution, and they got it. So they continued searching.
It was a bit later, when Benn suddenly stopped and held his hand up, telling them to stop. When the mayor tried to speak, Benn said. "Shhh, listen." They all did and they could hear what sounded like someone dragging something heavy. They headed that way, which seemed to be in a sort of pathway between some rocks, a long pathway some used to walk, but it was treacherous and you were an open target if you walked there. But they went and as they got a look, they soon started to run as they saw Ace, who was dragging something behind him. They started to yell out for him, but it didn't seem like Ace heard them, still walking, before he collapsed as they were nearing. When they reached him, Benn was first and Ace was alive, which was good, but he had a heavy sunburn on his face and arms, as he had a shirt, and a huge bloodstain on his chest. He wondered why he didn't take the shirt off, to which Benn said it was to keep the sun from burning his entire torso, that made sense.
The mayor went to see what he was dragging behind himself, and it had her shocked. "It's Miller! My missing man!" Trevor nodded. "I said Ace was a good one." The mayor nodded. "Apparently." Ace did half wake up, and Benn spoke. "We got you, Ace. We got you." That was good. Ace did quickly pass out, and they got both of them back to safety, Ace to the boat and Miller with the mayor. As they reached the boat, the seastone tower was turned off, and one could instantly see the sunburn healing itself, which was good. Bay did say Ace would be fine, he was dehydrated and had a gunshot wound, but would make full and quick recovery.
The mayor did drop by a bit later, and said Miller was up and had said where to find the rebels, who Ace had killed, as Miller was shot and injured, so he couldn't fight, but she had sent people to check and found 15 dead rebels, including the leader. And they were the ones to put their boat on fire, trying to rile Ace up Miller had said, and Ace had helped him, which was good. Ace really liked to help people, so he shouldn't quit being an assassin, he still needed to speak with him about this.
Ace did come out an hour later, and he looked fine, which was good. No sunburn and he said the gunshot wound was healed, so he was fine. That was good. He was glad about that. One did ask how Ace knew where to go, to which Ace said he spoke with Miller, who led him there. When asked more on how, Ace didn't say much. Which he did find odd, this didn't all make sense. On how Ace knew to get to Miller, and how Miller disappeared from on duty, but Ace didn't say anything more on this. Which he found odd. But he would try again when he had Ace alone.
Ace did head away for a minute, to check something in his room, Marco joining. And as they were gone, a man with some large burn scars came to the plank, and looked at him. "Is your second commander, Ace, here?" Whitebeard wasn't too sure of this, but told someone to get Ace. When Ace came a bit later, he looked a bit shocked, before he looked unsure. "Miller?" Ah, so this was the man who Ace had helped, the captain hadn't gotten a good look at him earlier.
Miller moved a hand a bit. "I didn't show up at that meeting to corner you or make you feel bad. I have issues. But when you said you felt blessed, I was jealous. And then you come and tell me you need to finish step 9 and I am just more mad. You have what I once had, but lost, because of you. Because you were high. But then you head after me when someone does arson to your boat, sure it is me. But you still hear me out and help me as I was framed. You had no reason to hear me out. So, I am here to say, don't stop going to meetings, and consider step 9 finished with me. I accept your amends and apology. And me holding this grudge against you isn't fair. You have issues as well." Ace looked upset and emotional as he just nodded, before he took a breath. "Yeah, thanks, Miller." Miller shook his head. "It is nothing. Should you need a field doctor, you know where I am." Ace nodded. "I do."
Miller then left with a wave, and Marco went over to Ace, bringing an arm around his back, and Ace leaned his head on Marco's shoulder and quickly moved a hand to dry what Whitebeard saw was a tear from his eye that fell, his eyes still watery. As Miller was gone, Ace said he had some paperwork to do, a blatant lie, everyone could see that, and Marco followed, same with Trevor, and Whitebeard had a feeling things would be okay.
When the night came, Trevor came to his room to speak, and Ace hadn't been out since all this had gone down. As the door was closed, Whitebeard looked at Trevor. "How is Ace?" Trevor hummed. "Good. He is very good actually." That was good. Whitebeard had many questions, but he would start with this. "What is step 9? That man, Miller, mentioned it, and it made Ace so emotional."
Trevor hummed. "It is from AA, you know, Alcoholic Anonymous. Although it isn't just for alcoholics, but also drug users now. Step 9 is 'Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.' Ace went to a meeting as he felt he needed one, when we docked here, and he spoke a bit, telling how he felt so lucky to be happy now, but had a bad day, and Miller was there and also went to speak, and basically bashed Ace without mentioning his name. You see, when Ace was 16, he was very high, before we truly caught on, he did an assignment but ended up setting a building on fire and killed some people, which included that man's wife. Ace has carried this around since then, but never did he think of those who survived, how they might still be suffering. Then the fire on the boat, Ace sure it was him trying to kill some of us, or all of us, take revenge, so Ace went to find him, but it wasn't him, he was framed. They hoped to have Ace kill Miller as they knew this, and Miller is a very strong person and great doctor, they wanted Miller gone. But Ace helped him and yeah. Miller knew Ace had no reason to believe him, but he did. Ace didn't expect forgiveness, but he got it. That is why he was so emotional."
Whitebeard nodded, that made sense. "I see. So Ace goes to AA meetings?" Trevor nodded. "He does. At times when he feels he needs it. But I made a deal with him. He is not allowed to head alone right now to a meeting, just in case. I am not about to stop him from going to one, but I don't want a repeat. This is why Ace said he would retire and quit being an assassin. He felt so bad for this. That maybe he did more harm than good. But I think he will return now." Whitebeard nodded. "That is good." Trevor nodded. "Yeah. It is. It was very rash, and Ace is currently with Benn, as Benn is amazing." Whitebeard could agree with that, and Benn seemed to understand Ace very well. He was just glad everything was back to normal now.
When Ace came back later, he seemed himself and when Trevor asked if he was still retiring, Ace said no, he wasn't, which had Trevor smile, same with the others, which was good. Things were back to normal.
-x-
Marco felt himself waking up and turned in bed to see Ace in bed now, which had him smile, but the smile faded as Ace reeked of booze. He was obviously out cold from drinking. And when Ace came drunk, he usually made some noise, so this was odd. Things had been calm the last couple weeks, since the Miller stuff on that island, with Ace retiring. Ace had been working a lot lately, leaving every now and then and being gone for some hours. Marco wondered what it was.
When morning came and Ace woke up, he seemed very confused and disoriented, more than usual, which he didn't like. When Ace got his bearings right, Marco asked if he was fine, to which Ace smiled and said yes to, he was okay. Marco didn't believe it for one second, but wouldn't push right now. Ace looked confused enough. Then the days went on, and after 3 days, it happened again. Marco woke up and found a black out drunk Ace in his bed, and the same again after 2 more days. Whenever Marco tried to ask about it, Ace said it was just something work related, never going into more depth, even when Marco pushed. But it might be because it was something he needed to keep low.
But then, 2 days later, when Marco was in bed, trying to sleep, Marco blinked when he heard a weak knock, barely audible. He used a second to decide, but he decided to not say anything. It wasn't a loud knock, meaning it wasn't something serious. If it was, they would knock again and louder. But as he didn't say anything and was about to turn and try and fall asleep again, the door opened carefully. Marco felt confused, but decided to see what happened. He knew it wasn't Ace, as he didn't knock. And if he was needed, they knocked harder until he spoke up. So who was this?
When the door was open, he saw Trevor there, which was odd. What was odder, was how when he came into the room, as Trevor came in with his back first, had Ace in his arms, seeming out cold. He felt confused, but decided to remain still, eyes barely open. Trevor moved carefully and when he was close to the bed, he carefully put Ace down in bed next to him, being sure to place him on his side, and he got why, as Ace reeked of vodka. Then it made sense to Marco. That's how Ace managed to get into the room and bed so silently, as he usually wasn't silent when he was drunk. Or, he was silent, but not as he usually was. And why he was so confused when he woke. He didn't fall asleep here, he didn't come here to sleep. Either he got drunk around Trevor, or Trevor found him passed out, and brought him here. But why? He knew Trevor wanted to be close to Ace, and Ace was clingy drunk.
He then watched as Trevor moved a hand to Ace's cheek, the back of his hand, before he gave a nod and carefully left after dragging the covers over Ace. This didn't add up all the way. It was clear Trevor brought Ace here when he was black our drunk, which was common the last few days, but why was another thing. Marco tried to rouse Ace, but to no avail, and after a bit, Marco fell asleep, wondering what this was and would take it when day came.
When he woke up again, it was early morning and Ace was still asleep. So Marco waited until Ace woke up, which he did confused, before he got his bearings. Then they started their day a bit later, just relaxing a bit. When breakfast was over and Ace went to do something, Marco went and found Trevor and asked for a word in private. When they were private and Trevor asked what was up, Marco looked at Trevor. "Why do you bring Ace to me drunk, yoi?" Trevor sighed. "I hoped you wouldn't notice it was me. He got a hard thing to do, an assignment, which takes time. But he can only work now and then during the day, keep up the play, and it is something very tough clearly. And he can't tell anyone about it. He's been drinking himself stupid each night he has to work."
Marco nodded. "But why do you bring him to me?" Trevor gave a look to him. "Don't you want him?" Marco nodded. "I do, yoi. I just, why don't you stay with him?" Trevor shrugged. "He is your husband, not mine. He should sleep in your bed rather than mine if possible." Marco nodded. "Then why doesn't he come to my room, yoi?" Trevor sighed. "He doesn't want to be around you when drunk right now. It's not that he doesn't trust you, he doesn't trust himself. He isn't just drunk, he is so damn drunk and might let a few details about what he's doing go. And you didn't hear this from me, but it is something connected to your past. And I don't know more than that. He doesn't want to alert you until this is done, but he is very upset about it, but can't tell anyone about it. So he drinks in my room, as he's scared he will fall off the whale's teeth and fall into the ocean, and is scared to slip up around you. So, I bring him back when he can't slip up since he's passed out."
Marco blinked, he didn't expect that. He was sure Trevor would grab that opportunity without hesitation to be with Ace. But this might be worrisome. What about his past was this? He hoped it wasn't what he thought it was, but quickly shook his head. It couldn't be that. No one knew about that.
-x-
The next day, when Marco sat and did some paperwork in his room, some commander work, Ace came into the room and gave a smile to him, and they spoke a bit, before Ace hummed. "Also, have you ever in your life met any fairies? We know there is a genie, so who knows." Marco felt his hand stop for a second, before he continued the paperwork as he spoke. "No, I can't say I have, yoi. But I didn't know about mythicals either, so who knows." Ace nodded and they spoke on, but Marco didn't like this at all.
When night came, him being up late with some more paperwork, as he promised to help out Thatch, Trevor came with a black out drunk Ace, putting him in his bed, and as Trevor moved to leave, Marco spoke. "Do you know what Ace is working with on my past, yoi?" Trevor shook his head. "No, I don't. Why?" Marco shook his head a bit. "I just wonder, it seems to have him so… upset, yoi." Trevor sighed. "Yeah, we don't know much yet. Right now, Ace and Moira are working the most on this, same with Hanzo." Marco nodded, he hoped this wasn't what he thought it was.
When Ace woke up, he seemed confused again, but quickly got his bearings, and the day went on. And the next week, Ace, every now and then, often actually, when they were alone, asked if he had met something or someone with certain abilities, knew about certain hidden places, and Marco said no every time. He couldn't tell about this. This was his to bear alone. Hopefully, Ace, and the others, wouldn't find out more about this, no one should know about this, it would only cause issues. Hopefully they would let this go.
Then Ace stopped asking, which he took as a good sign, and Ace stopped drinking himself stupid. This had to be good. He did notice a small shift, but he wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, with the assassins. It was probably in his mind, but it was like they were seeding him looks, but Marco tried to ignore it. Ace didn't, which he took some comfort in. When he tried asking about it, everyone said it was nothing, and Acehad said it was probably nothing, he was imagining it. But something about the way Ace said it made him feel like he wasn't. Did… had they stopped working on the case? Did they know more? Marco hoped they had stopped trying to find out about what Marco had done.
After two weeks, Marco went to his room to grab something, Ace stood in it and seemed to wait for him, and Ace spoke. "Would you ever have told me?" Marco blinked, having a bad feeling. "About what, yoi?" Ace looked at him with a bit of stern and hurt eyes. "About her." Marco opened his mouth, but nothing came out, before he sighed. "Ace, I… I couldn't tell you." Ace looked more hurt. "But why lie about it? Do you know what she is going through?" Marco closed his eyes. Ace knew. Marco opened his mouth, but nothing came out, before he tried again. "Ace, I'm sorry." Ace shook his head. "No, you're not. Which is why I am going to fix this and save her." And Ace walked past him and out the door. Marco felt his brain halt, Ace couldn't be serious, could he? He didn't know the whole story, obviously, and headed after him when he got his mind with him, needing to stop Ace right now.
-x-
Whitebeard watched as Ace came walking over deck, looking annoyed, and he was about to speak when he saw Marco coming after him hurriedly. "Ace, let me explain, yoi." Ace shook his head. "No. You lied to me." Said Ace as he walked on and seemed to walk towards Trevor's room maybe, at least towards the door heading to his hallway to his room. Marco then managed to catch up with Ace and grabbed his arm to stop him. "I couldn't tell you, yoi. Because I knew you would react like this." Ace stopped as Marco grabbed his arm, before Ace took a breath. "You knew I would do the right thing? Don't you care?" Marco nodded. "I do. Which is why I didn't tell you, yoi." Ace took another breath. "That's not it. I didn't care if you didn't tell me. But you lied about it to me. Not once, not twice, but more than I can count. That's it, isn't it?" Ace turned to look at Marco."I can't trust. And you can't be trusted. I thought you were, but I was wrong." Whitebeard didn't know what this was about, but everyone was looking at the two.
Marco shook his head. "No. I care about you. Why is this so important, yoi? This doesn't change anything. We don't need to do anything, and if we do, we don't know what happens for sure. I want to spend life with you, and if you do this, it might jeopardize that. That's what I think." Ace looked at Marco with a compassionate look, and the captain was sure Marco got through to Ace on whatever this was. Ace moved and kissed Marco, and he was sure this was it, but when they parted, Ace looked at Marco with a somber look. "I know. But I'm not you." Then Ace got his hand away from Marco's and disappeared in black smoke and Marco stod shocked.
Marco then took a breath and seemed to try and compose himself. Whitebeard started to speak, but as he got through the first syllable of Marco's name, Marco spoke. "We need to change course, now." Whitebeard felt confused, but before he could voice that, Trevor spoke up, standing in the doorway to the hallway he had a room. "Why? Where did Bunny go? We kinda need to go to-" Trevor didn't get to finish as Marco cut him off. "Ace is going to release Chi Yosei. (Means blood fairy)"
Whitebeard didn't know who that was, but he could see all the blood drain from Trevor's face, before he started to run towards the communication room. "Change course! I need to speak with Moira! Now!" Then Trevor was gone. Whitebeard looked at Marco. "Son, wha-" Marco shook his head, moving a hand to his face as he looked upset, which was rare, before Marco spoke. "Let's just hope they can stop Ace, yoi." Whitebeard nodded, he felt this was something bad.
After a minute, Trevor came out and looked at Marco as Trevor shook his head a bit. "But I don't get it. He promised me he would speak with us, as in Daisuke, Moira, Mika, Hanzo, Raiden, and I, before he did anything. At least Moira and Hanzo. Why did he just leave?" Marco closed his eyes. "Because of me." Trevor blinked. "What? Why would you make him rash?" Marco gave a breath. "Because I lied to him." Trevor blinked and moved his hand a bit. "So what? You knew about her, but so what? You probably weren't allowed to talk about it. I know this is like one of the greatest secrets in the world." Marco closed his eyes. "I… I was the one to put her there, yoi." Marco looked at Trevor. "I put her in that prison."
Trevor blinked. "Excuse me?" Marco nodded. "I did. So long ago, yoi. She is there because of me." Trevor looked seriously at Marco. "Why didn't you tell us? Did Ace even ask?" Marco nodded. "Yes. Multiple times, yoi. I lied every time." Trevor looked shocked. "So, you knew all this time where she was?" Marco nodded, which had Trevor look upset. "Why didn't you tell this?" Marco shook his head a bit. "Since I swore to never tell anyone, yoi." Trevor gave a small snort. "So, since you swore on something centuries ago, you didn't tell Ace until he found out you knew? And he got mad and left? Hopefully he comes back and gets us at least. We need to save her."
Marco took a breath. "I swore to never tell anyone." Trevor looked on his way to talk, when Marco closed his eyes and continued. "But I might just have lost Ace because of it, yoi. So screw it." Marco opened his eyes and looked at Trevor. "The one I swore secrecy to, was her. I promised to never tell where she was, or why she was there, yoi." Trevor blinked, before he looked confused. "What? Why would she do that? She's trapped forever. Forever tortured." Marco nodded. "I know. But, if she leaves, if she moves out of her room, if she has energy," Marco looked at Trevor. "She will lose control of her powers and go on a rampage. That's why I was the one to put her there, the one she swore to." As Marco had spoken, it looked like something dawned on Trevor. "Because you can't die." Marco nodded. "I can't be killed normally. The second Ace opens that door, she will leave with him, and Ace will die, yoi."
Trevor blinked. "But why? If she knows, she will say this and stay behind. Won't she?" Marco shook his head. "No. The closer she is to a heartbeat, the more the bloodlust roars in her. She can't control it, yoi." Marco looked at Trevor desperately. "The moment Ace steps foot inside that room, she will lie and deceive him, to get out of the room, get her powers, and kill everyone who approaches her, before she seeks out more victims, yoi. When no one is close by, no beating hearts, she gets clarity and regrets it all. That's why she begged me to put her there, to not kill more innocent people. She was in her mind for a small bit then. I don't know how many times she tried to kill me before I got her back to that place, yoi. It was made for her specifically, because she is dangerous. And this wasn't built for her. She built it for herself. We used some time to make it, it is the only thing containing her, yoi. I helped make it with a few others with special powers and found people to guard it."
Trevor looked shocked. "We need to stop Ace." Marco nodded. "We do." Trevor looked to be thinking, before he looked at Marco. "Can you tell us everything?" Marco nodded. "I am willing to do all I can to save Ace, yoi. I care about him more than my promise to her." Trevor nodded. "Good. Moira, Daisuke, Hanzo, and Raiden will be here soon, you need to tell us everything." Marco nodded and looked sincere. "I will, I can't lose Ace, not now, not like this." Trevor nodded. "Hopefully, we are not too late." Marco looked upset and worried, and Whitebeard didn't know what this was, but he would get information soon. This sounded very bad.
And that's the chapter!
If you wonder, I got the Ace retiring idea from the show 911, and we've now entered the next big event I have planned! And it is about Marco's past! I hope you're excited for it! I know I am!
If you have any ideas, don't be afraid to share them!
I hope you enjoyed, and if you want to, I do love feedback, so don't be afraid to leave a review, or send a PM!
If you also want to, I have a Twitter, my name is Azuruko, and I have a discord, my tag/username is just azuruko, as well as a server (Instant invite: discord . gg / 6hzMhbR) where everyone is welcomed! Updates is also posted there, both on discord and on twitter