Chapter Text
Ace's ears were ringing and he couldn't breathe. He'd wanted to scream and rage at Luffy, and he would have, he would have if-
If-
“I HAVE SACRIFICED NOTHING! BECAUSE THE ONLY THING LEFT FOR ME TO SACRIFICE IS HIM! AND I REFUSE!!!”
The Division Commander hunched over, trying to keep it together.
She was supposed to be safe-!
“Do not dare presume you know anything about me! You know nothing! NOTHING! I am Potter J. Holly!”
Tears streamed down his face. Everyone would know her name now. Everyone knew she existed.
But why did he feel so happy?
“I love you. Gods, Holly, I'm sorry and I love you, ok?”
“Ace, no please-”
She's not crying anymore.
Maybe... that was why.
Ace straightened up as he tried to get his emotions under control, only for his train of thought to be cut off as he once again laid eyes on his soulmate, eyes widening at the new state of her dress.
What is she doing???
~
Holly huffed and turned to face the battlefield, her glare softening as she laid eyes on Ace's hunched-over form. It wasn't surprising, his reaction. The overwhelming panic must have stopped the screaming he wanted to let loose.
Looking back at the blond who'd landed next to Whitebeard to tell him the same thing Holly and Luffy already had, she decided he'd been good enough to point out her targets to her “Hey, Marco! Point out the Admirals to me, I need to know who needs to die!”
The Zoan looked at her with an unreadable expression but did as asked. Everyone had heard her rant, so it wasn't that surprising.
“The yellow one with shades is Kizaru, yoi. He has the Pika Pika no Mi. Akainu, the red one, has the Magu Magu no Mi and Aokiji-”
“Is the blue one, right, thanks. I'm going to cull the opposition a little- help me with my skirt please.” the witch nonchalantly asked as she pulled her hair into a tight ponytail.
The blond blinked at the request “Your skir-?”
Rrrrriiiiiiippp!
Holly didn't wait for him to reply as she proceeded to tear her skirt off. She refused fight in a dress and heels.
Marco, to his defense, only froze for a moment before grabbing the torn cloth and pulling it all off, leaving just a few tatters clinging to her waist, showing the shorts she was wearing underneath. Holly then proceeded to take her heels off and chuck them somewhere behind her before bringing her hands together.
She had long since mastered wandless casting, even if she preferred her wand when complicated movements were a must to channel the spell needed, such as the more surgical medical spells.
But this was not a medical spell.
This... was pure destruction.
She thrust her hands in the air, letting loose the flames of an over-powered Fiendfyre, which took the form of a dragon and surged into the Marine troops. The fiery beast was still connected to her through a tendril of flame, but otherwise, it seemed to have a mind of its own. This was true, of course, but Holly exerted her will over it so that it would not go near the fighting Whitebeards. Once she had burned a good chunk of the enemy forces, she focused on the Admirals. Specifically... the red one.
The Fiendfyre dragon reared it's head in a roar that shook the ground, before lunging, jaws open, at the Magma Logia. The man tried to fight, but the beast only re-formed after being hit, so there was no stopping it from clamping. Down.
It was obvious no one expected the waterfall of blood drip from the fiery dragon's mouth. They'd expected the man's Logia defense to kick in.
But Fiendfyre was a spell that needed much willpower to control.
This meant, in essence, it was the same as using Haki against a Logia.
Meaning Akainu's defense was useless and he would burn.
The dragon had bitten him in the neck, so there were no screams, which, in all honesty, was probably even more eerie to the Marines. The dragon shaking the man's bleeding, burning body vigorously like a puppy was- well, that was all Holly.
This was all the humiliating she would allow herself. Teach had died too quickly, but she hadn't wanted to take any chances. Speaking of which, she wondered if she should gift the man's head to Ace or her future father-in-law. Oh, well.
Akainu would die, perhaps not as, but quickly enough to not have the chance of escape. He would be humiliated and hurt before he passed, however. But he would die.
She would have nothing less.
Kizaru was dangerous, yes, but he wasn't a zealot like Akainu. She could afford to let him live if she had to. Aokiji...
He didn't have to die, either, but for different reasons. Actually, she'd rather he... not.
From what she'd heard from Ace, the man had morals. And... honestly, that was enough.
It wouldn't do to get rid of the few good ones, after all. Just because most of the Marines were bad eggs didn't mean she could raze the entire organization. The few good ones just needed more room to gain influence, and if she took out some really bad ones taking all the room, well...
She could scheme too. There was a reason the hat considered Slytherin, after all.
A swipe of the dragon's tail and- it seemed only Aokiji had the capacity to learn. He, at least, had tried to dodge.
Tried.
Kizaru, meanwhile, got the full force of the flaming tail smacking into him and was horribly wounded. Enough that he wasn't trying to get up, at least.
Aokiji was the same, but he'd only been glanced, really. He was burned, sure, but only a third as much as Kizaru. The man must just be taking advantage of the situation and pretending to be just as wounded.
Good. The man was smart.
Less work for her side, too.
With that in mind, she surveyed the battlefield. She had most likely killed at least a third of the Marine forces and wounded a good chunk of them. Akainu was dead and the other two admirals were down for the count. Some other big players were alive but otherwise occupied and-
Morale was low. For the Marines.
It also wouldn't do for her to focus too much on the opposition, she was here for a different reason, she'd just wanted to make it easier for herself. While also telling the World Government exactly where they could stuff it.
She was here to save Ace, not much more, and not a drop less.
She was willing to do anything to achieve this goal.
Her secondary goal, however...
She let the dark spell taper off, feeling slightly winded after using it, she'd better hold off using anything big for a while, but she'd be able to fill up her reserves relatively fast, so she wasn't going to be helpless any time soon. Lowering her arms, she let out a shaky breath, before wiping her brow of the sweat that had culminated there.
That had been... slightly harder than she'd expected, but no matter.
Turning on her heel and plunging her hand into her purse, she fished out a rather nifty invention of hers that would serve well as a means of insurance. The two green ribbons fluttered in the wind as she marched over to Whitebeard and quickly and decisively tied the first ribbon around the man's wrist. It barely reached and she'd have to cut it off rather than open the knot she'd had to tie because there was no way to open it again.
“Hold this.” she deadpanned, channeling magic into the embroidered runes and watching as the entire thing lit up.
The man raised an eyebrow “What is this?”
She went to flip her hair, only to remember it was in a ponytail, and instead just flicked her wrist “A shield and passive healing charm. Morale will dip harshly if something happens to you and Ace will be a hindrance if you are not marginally safe. I will not allow you to traumatize him by dying.” she jabbed, knowing his type.
He was the type to want to die in a glorious battle, but today was not that day.
She refused.
The man, rather surprisingly, started laughing, causing the young woman to blink.
“Very well, daughter. Go save my stupid son already, would you?”
Oh.
…
Oh.
That-
Holly spun around to hide her wide eyes as she felt a wave of warmth at those words. She-
She had not expected that.
She quickly tied the second ribbon around Marco's wrist and activated it before taking a running, magic-boosted leap off of the very edge of Moby's whale figurehead, firing a cushioning charm at the ground as it neared and rolling forwards, not breaking her stride as she ran straight towards her soulmate.
I'm coming for you, Ace! Don't you dare leave me now!
