Work Text:
Ace pov
I sat in the corner in of the deck as I leaned against the wall, being forced to join this damn party.
I hate loud noises in all honesty, and everybody was yelling like they didn't care but again the still don't know
I roll my eyes turning my head to the sea, it was a clear view of the horizon, I took a breath as I felt the cold salty air hit my face, my hair blowing in the wind reminding me if the cliff on dawn Island, the cliff I wanted to end my life on and yet here I am, alive and still sulking in endless depression
Why must everything remind me if that samn hell whole of an island, and the misery it brought to me, I felt a light tap on my shoulder, my tired eyes turn to see thatch, the cook of this ship, he was nice I guess but sometimes he could just be a bit annoying but it was fine since he wasn't the one pushing my buttons every five minutes.
Marco the first commander, he tries to get close to me but just ends up annoying me and pushes the goal of 'me excepting that I'm their new brothers' away
But since tonight they were partying once more I finally got some piece for once, thatch put on a warm smile as he handed me a cup of hot chocolate.
I gladly accept it, my hoodies' sleeves' still covering my hands and arms, along with that bandages, that covered my skin, the skin that was filled with marks that will remind me of things that I never wanted to remember or see.
The brunette sits next to me, still smiling, how could he smile like that when he was sitting next to such a failure, the same failure that he still seemed to want to call his youngest brother
I turn to the mug taking a sip of the liquid that filled it as he just stared at me.
"You know its rude to stare right" I ask sarcastically still facing forward with a gloomy look on my face "why are you so quiet" He questioned with a small chuckle following behind the sentence I sighed as I turned to him accepting that this has turned to a conversation with almost no way out
"Why can't I just be quiet" I say with same expression that also filled my voice, "But your too quiet, and you always have that look on your face" The cook added to his reasons, I don't reply and continue stare at my mug "And plus your always hiding under this hoodie, I mean what is there to hide" Thatch says as he pulls on my hood, but this time I grab his wrist with a tight grip as I put my hood back "Don't ever touch me or my hood without my permission!"
I sort of yell at the man with a deathening glare piercing into his soul, he groans, the noise filling my ears I gasp and let go of his wrist, with a gulp my voice quivers as my body shakes harshly "I-I I'm sorry, thanks for the hot chocolate though" I whisper quietly before I quickly walk throw the sea of drunk crewmates.
I could here Thatch yell my name but it only made me walk even faster
I look down at the old wooden floors filled scratches and marks, I bump into what felt like a wall, whats wrong with me I always have to mess something up
I look up to see Marco standing there with a wide smile "Hey Ace, how are you yoi"
I ignore his greeting and stare at the person behind him him, he had familiar light brown hair and green eyes it was at the tip of my tongue but I couldn't get to it, as I rummage through my thoughts Marco speaks up again "Oh this is jinbe's friend, what was your name again" marci turns to the man who seemed to be in his late twenties
"Names Kage nice to meet you" My eyes widened in horror my breath quickens and anxiety fills my body, that awfully familiar voice, the same one that traumatized me and ruined my life.
I see his same crooked smile that still haunts me today, this couldn't be happening, garp made sure that he couldn't find me.
But...
Garp doesn't know where I am
He raised his arm, suddenly a flashback of him raising his arm to hit me comes to mind, and I panic as I get into an defensive pose looking away from the man, fear filled my eyes "Please no" my body shakes even more as I whisper.
By now people began to stare and I realize what I'm doing, I look back at Kage who had a 'concerned' look on his face but only I knew it was fake, he was always too good at acting for the crowd
Pressure joins my anxiety feeling the stares hearing the quiet whispers that were so loud, and at the moment I felt like I could pass out at any second, I just couldn't handle it
I run through the crowd of people trying to escape my emotions but I know I can't.
I run to the only room that felt somewhat safe o. The ship.
It was an old storage room they had cleaned out and it had finally came to use.
I lock the door behind me as I rummage through the draws looking for it.
Finally I find the old rusted blade, I lift up my sleeve revealing so many scars some old some freshly opened.
But the image that I saw adozen times doesn't bother me as I go crazy, they were so deep but it couldn't satisfy me, nothing could at this point as I burst out into tears, screaming crying in rage and fear, I drop the blad on the now bloodied wooden floor as I bang my fist on my head, I can't stop bawling my eyes out, my head lands on the floor my hood long gone as I just whimper in silence, I couldn't take, I don't think anybody could...
• — •
Nobodys pov
Ace woke up still in the same room yet covered in blood, the blood that dripped on the floor and the blood that stained the bedsheets, it wasn't hard to clean up it was just unsettling
It reminded him of the times where he would be locked in the basement and beaten halfway to death
He shivered at being reminded of the traumatizing memory, it was almost like he was there again, bleeding to death in the arms of the bitch he called his older brother
Not to mention the water room, he didn't even have a devil fruit and it felt like he was eternally sinking, one of the most horrifying feelings ever
Ace shook his head trying to get rid of the bumps that crawled on his skin yet they would never disappear
The child inside of him was still there, although it was faint Ace could hear himself screaming, begging to let himself out, that he needed help quickly before it was too late.
But the question that lingered and the raven haired kids mind was, 'too late for what exactly' anything could happen at any moment, he had to stay on high alert or something could get hurt
Before Ace had noticed, one salty singular tears was racing down his cheek, quickly he wiped his his face, he didn't want to seem weak, even in front of himself, he couldn't cry, he wasn't the same five year old boy anymore
Somehow the boy built up some courage to walk out the door after freshening up a bit.
And then already he bumped into somebody, he felt he always had to mess something up, even for on tiniest mistake could ruin everything, and for other people as well, but all in all he had to open his eyes to see who he had ran into
and low and behold it was teach, it seemed that teach didn't like Ace, and don't get him wrong, Ace didn't like teach either, he was weird and suspicious, the man creeped him out so they usually kept their distance but what was unusual was to see the man anywhere near Aces room
when they kept their distance it meant staying at least ten feet away from each other if not more.
The tall man smiled down at Ace which was a bit suspicious "Sorry about that kiddo" he chuckled holding out a hand for ace to grab onto which the boy immediately rejected, got up and dusted himself off.
Just then marco came up too the two followed by kage, now Ace was feeling a bit pressured and claustrophobic, surrounded by tall, dangerous men.
His breath hitched, as random thoughts filled his mind, what if he messed something up, what is he choked, what if he- "Ace!" Marco yelled the boys name, catching his attention immediately.
"Y-yeah, what is it?" Ace fumbled over his word's a bit as he tried to gulp the nervousness down and tuck it in with the rest of his feelings.
"Are... you ok? Now that I mentioned it what was that yesterday? Its like as soon as you saw kage you went into full panic mode" the Phoenix asked the raven haired kid, who was fully ignoring the blond and looking over his shoulder and at kage who was shaking his head and glaring at Ace.
"N-No I'm perfectly f-fine" Ace rubbed his bandaged arms, feeling the urge to do it again.
Marco sighed as he and teach left, but kage stayed behind "...kage... you comin yoi" marco asked the strawberry blond haired man.
"Nah, I wanna talk to ace... privately" fear immediately entered the raven haired boys body but out of the corner of his eye, he saw teach smirk.
Aces' pov
Suddenly the kind and friendly aura that surrounded him changed into a dark and frightening one in a matter of seconds.
Kage then shoved me into the wall pinning me there as I grunted in pain before 8 turned back to kages glaring face.
"Long time no see baby bro" The older man said in a deep tone.
"I was never your brother" I replied back in a monotone as kage gripped my shoulder even tighter "shut it you fucking slut" he stated harshly.
I tried to struggle against the man but he his grip only worsened, "stop, now if you tell anybody about our past, even if we're blood related, I'll make you experience hell over and over again. Do you understand?" He asked as I stayed silent, all I could do was wince in pain.
He shook me violently, slamming me back into the wall "do you understand!" Kage almost yelled this time as I flinched.
"Yes I understand! Now please! Let me go!" Unexpectedly he kissed me deeply, forcing his tongue inside my mouth, as I cried out.
Finally he stopped with a lustful smirk, I took a breath and coughed a bit before I ran back into my room with tears in my eyes.
I hated this feeling, a current reminder of who I used to be, weak, defenseless, useless little boy who's only use was to pleasure men.
A disgusting little toy...
• — •
Thatch's POV
I groaned in annoyance as my mind reminisced through reasons why he had ran away last night. Why Ace just would just keep to himself when he had us.
I started to get tired of thinking about it, but the real question is what happened.
My tall figure sat in the dining hall with my head down on the table, a confused expression on my face as I was in deep thought.
"Son... you should rest, we'll take care of Ace." Pops said in a tone of patience before I sat up.
"Pops I'm not just gonna sit around and not care about the guy" I argued looking up at my captain with a slight angry pout. I felt a hand on my shoulder, I looked up to see it was kage with a warm smile on his lips. "I'm sure Ace is going to be fine. You know kids these day, always so moody and in their rooms. Ace is just being childish." I brushed the man's hand away.
"He seems a bit sad, I feel like he's hiding something. I'm just not sure what it is" As I say this, my tone switches from a tired one to a serious one, and so does me expression as I sigh heavily.
I felt like passing out on my bed right now, I was done with everything, but I couldn't end it here, I still had a lot to prove before I can relax.
"Well son, if your that stressed about it then I'll schedule a meeting for tonight. Will that calm your nerves?"
I nod in response, if it gets the answers we need then I'd try anything.
• — •
3rd POV
Ace slowly entered the room, nervously rubbing his arm while looking at all of the commander's including whitebeard.
"Listen brat, we called you here for a reason" Whitebeard started after a minute of silence.
"And that reason is?" Ace replied shortly after, trying not to faulter under the pressure of the superior. "Your not really in trouble but we're just a bit mislead by your recent actions on the Moby" Marco explained to the younge pirate, his tone sounded a bit stern but the rest of the emotion was unreadable to the boy as he waited for the men in front of him to continue.
Whitebeard spoke up once again with a low yet suspicious tone. "Why have we been worrying us lately, you seem to be a bit off these past few days" Thatch could be seen with a look of impatience as he tapped his foot on the wooden board floor. Ace took a deep breath in and out of his lung's, and with a visible shakey voice, he says. "What I'm doing is none of your concern, but I can reassure you, that I'm perfectly fine."
The rest of the commander's looked at eachother in concern, Ace didn't know it but his voice made it clear that he was obviously lying, to himself, and to everybody in the room, straight to their faces as well. Haruta walked over and pushed Ace down by his shoulders, making him sit down in the chair that jozu put behind him while he wasn't looking. Rakuyo glared into the raven haired boys eyes as he spoke in a serious tone "Stop lying kid."
Ace tried to act confused, but his skills were obviously poor as he was caught in another lie. "W-What do you mean?" He fumbled over his word's, he felt a lump of stress built up in his throat that he was unable to swallow.
"Tell us... whats the matter with you?" Asked Namur who sat on the sidelines up until now. "I-I told you I-" Ace could barely finish his sentence before Rakuyo interrupted him once more "I swear if you lie again, we have other ways to get the truth out of you. Now speak boy!" The older man threatened, the silver eyed boy looked around the room with a tense expression before he sighed and let his guard down. He had given in. "You really wanna know?"
"What the hell do you think?!" Ace flinched as his unofficial crewmate yelled before breathing deeply and looked down, reluctantly rummaging through his memories. "Kage... he..."
Ace paused for a moment "he was my brother" Ace we gulped, trying to muster up the courage to say the other part "And he abused me for most of my life" the boy admitted.
The room fell before haruta chuckled "Come on Ace, be serious" the red head commented "Right, you can tell us if somethings wrong" Jozu added as Ace kept a straight face.
"But... I'm not joking..."
"Stop" A voice spoke
"Stop making up lies" Marco revealed it to be his voice.
Ace's eyes went wide with shock. The one who tried so hard to get him to get along with the rest of the crew didn't believe him not one bit.
"I-I-" Ace was cut off by another voice. This time Thatch.
"Are you doing this for attention?" He seemed annoyed.
The raven haired boy couldn't believe it. Even thatch, the most trustworthy one on the entire ship. The one who Ace himself was questioning himself about not trusting Thatch, was going against him. "I'm not making anything up I swear!" Ace responded, his eyes looking around the room frantically, for a comforting face but every face he saw was filled with anger or disappointment. Especially whitebeard, he was the most disappointed. "Kid, you all made us worry just for some attention?" Cruiel raised and eyebrow.
Ace's pov
"I promise you, I'm not lying"
"Well it really doesn't seem like it to me"
No no no, this can't be happening, this crew was so nice at first. Why now? Why did it have to be now?!
"How could you Ace, and to kage too?" Whitebeard had a sad gaze toward me as I look at him with betrayal in my eyes but he just looked away.
"That bastards only been here for a week! I've been here for four months!" Suddenly thatch yelled "Don't insult the guest! Your making this up and you know it! Your the bastard here!cracking up lies for attention! You had me worried sick for what?!" Fear, was the first emotion that came to mind.
"Thatch..." rakuyo put a hand on the brunettes shoulder "Let's not waist time on him" he glared at me.
Thatch shoved his fellow commander's hand off of his shoulder before shoving past me while storming off.
Finally the last emotion that hit me...
Hurt...
• — •
Ace's POV
I speed walked through the halls, my hands were clenched, I couldn't help but whimper on the way to my room.
Once I get there, I slam the door and turn around. Letting my back slide down the wooden wall.
Tears reluctantly poured down my cheeks as my lips frowned in a downward motion.
Why can't they just listen to me for just a moment, why, why, why!
I banged my hands on the floor.
I can't believe that they betrayed me like this, does my trauma even matter to them even matter to them anymore.
Or my feelings?
Dammit! This is getting out of hand, where are my pills?
I get up from the hard, wood floors and search my drawers for any pill capsul, but the only one I had was empty.
Did I really use them all? Why do I have such bad luck?!
Why did I even tell them in the first place.
This is why I hate myself.
I smirk while tears continued to glow out of my eyes as I lay on the floor.
At this point I'm not human to them, not to anyone, not even to me.
Where's has this gone?
Maybe if I tell them again, will they believe me?
Probably not,
I'm ok right, most definitely, just put a smile on my face. They won't notice.
They won't have to worry anymore, they don't have to be angry anymore.
Maybe it'd be better if they never even noticed me in the first place. But how would that happen?
...Maybe I could...
No, not that, I promised. I promised him...
Everything will be fine, its just me... and me alone...
• — •
TW: RAPE
Nobody's POV
Kage barged into Ace's room angrily. A dark glare coming from the man.
"So I heard you told on me" That sentence sent cold, cold chills down his spine.
He backed away with fear "I- Bu-" the boy was cut off by a sudden slap coming from his brother.
"Do you remember anything I told you?!" The gray haired man screamed in Ace's face, holding the raven haired boy by the collar.
Meanwhile Ace was struggling to breathe, he tried to grab kage by the arm but kage fought back and grabbed Ace by both of his wrists.
Ace winced in pain in response as his eyes roamed the room to try and spot anybody else in the tight space but there was only him and kage.
Kage punched Ace in the stomach, making the poor boy cough out the little to no air he had in his lungs, Ace whimpered quietly.
Kage finally let go and walked towards the door, he shut it and locked it behind him.
all of a sudden, Ace was pinned to the bed, and then he began to shake in fear. Thoughts coursing through his brain like an endless train, He could barely breathe although his chest was rising and falling in a harsh and quick motion.
Kage smirked, amused by the fear and saddness in the boys eyes before the older man went down and kissed him deeply. Ace resisted, not wanting to experience those same traumatizing memories.
tears welled up in Ace's eyes, his breath hitched as kage's hands roamed up Ace's shirt, caressing the poor boys back, "yours so helpless~" kage's voice lingered in ace's ear, Kage then took the raven haired boy's shirt. Revealing a slim abdomen underneath.
This only made the grown man's crooked smirk grow wider. "You've matured greatly since the last time I've soon you" Ace shook his head side to side.
"P-Please! I'm sorry!" Ace pleaded, eye's wide and his mouth held agape. The only thing holding him up was... actually there was nothing holding him up. He was just absolutely frozen in fear.
Ace let out a yelp of pain as Kage bit him. Kage's teeth digging into the boy's skin as Ace whimpered even more.
"This is what you fucking get for snitching on me you damn brat!" The grown man scolded the younge boy, a small chuckle following after his word's.
Kage swiftly flipped Ace over onto his stomach. Ace's face leaning on his cheek as Ace looked back at Kage.
Who was obviously staring at the boy's ass. A perverted blush on his face as he gripped the piece of meet.
It was faint but footsteps could able heard from outside of the door. It seemed like Kage heard this noise as well since he had backed away a bit. Turning his head to the door and staring at it for a bit instead of staring at Ace's bottom.
Which gave Ace a small and short moment of relief. Cautiously Kage removed himself from the bed and cracked the door open slightly.
Looking left, then looking right for anything that could possibly be watching them.
Yet there was nobody, kage could have sworn he heard somebody. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before brushing it off and turning back to his soon to be meal. Who was quivering. Awaiting his disgusting fate.
The only thing going through his mind was when it was going to end...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Kage took out a cigarette, lightning it before taking a quick puff. Ace layed on his bed, his eyes hurt and lifeless. Staring into nothing.
Kage glanced at his little brother's limp body and snickered.
"You know this is your fault right? You were born with a body like that." Kage walked towards Ace. Still with that same, disgusting, perverted smile on.
"There's always consequences to your actions Ace, and this is your consequences of being born." Kage mocked "pathetic little brat... thinking he has a say in things... Thinking that he actually matters..."
"They'll never believe you, you runt."
• — •
Ace's POV
Its been a week since kage touched me again, and its been a week of relapse, break downs, anxiety attacks, starvation. You know, the usual.
Well the usual for me at least. I couldn't have felt worse a day in my life, I hate this. When will this bastard stop torturing me already.
I'm terrified to leave my room, what if I bump into kage, or teach. And Teach has been off lately.
I've caught him staring at me multiple times and he's been coming up and talking to me like we're friends.
Its so random, a bit too random. Everybody else seems happy that we're supposedly "getting along" but to me its getting creepy.
And something seems up with this, what I think is a facade.
You know what? Nevermind, I need to keep my mind off of that dude. Its been messing with me lately and he'll probably just make things worse anyways.
I sigh as I lie in bed. My wet, puffy eyes staring tiredly at the ceiling. A raging headache pestering my already depressed soul. Can I ever get a break.
But considering the state I'm in and the possibility of kage planning something else for me I think not.
You thought this punishment was over? Hell no, Kage never stops when you defy his orders. He will come back again and again to take any faith you have left of whatever you have and crush it like its nothing.
It makes me sick to my stomach honestly. I mean how could someone be so cruel. What even is his motive?
Dammit Ace stop it! This isn't making the situation any better for me, myself and I. What do I have to do to get this headache to leave me alone?!
Do we have any Tylenol on this damn boat? I'll talk to whiskey about it but for now, I'm staving my ass off, and as much as I deserve it, I'm hungry.
I slowly sit up, something I hadn't done in a good, long while.
A wave of fatigue washed over me, I stumbled onto my feet and held onto my night stand for support as I held my head with my free hand in severe, aching pain.
There were small black spots in my vision, and I struggled to keep myself from fainting as I took small shaky steps towards the hard wooden door.
My shaky hand twisted the doorknob and slowly opened the fram to only be hit by the cold air of the hallway.
I shivered before taking in a deep breath and stepping out of the room.
I hesitantly made my way to the mess hall where the crew settled to eat around this time. It was more crowded than usual. Cold sweat dripped down my face as I continued looking for whiskey or at least something to eat.
I felt eyes all around me, Staring at me and making my skin crawl. Did I look that bad?
My anxiety continued to rise with every step I took. At this point fusk the Tylenol or eating, I wanted to go back into my room and disappear.
A pair of eyes caught my attention, eyes that were staring at me since the moment I walked in.
I turned to see thatch glaring at me me menacingly. I gulped, I've never really been afraid of him until now and it scared me terribly...
Thatch's POV
That little bastard, how dare he come out of that damn room still faking for attention... this is getting worse by the second
• — •
Ace's POV
I began to shake as Thatch stormed towards me with a look of anger in his eyes.
My short frame tried backing away but the older man caught up to me, grabing me by my wrist. His grip was tight and I'd have to admit painful.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" The cook yelled at me. I looked at him a bit confused. Raising an eyebrow. "W-What do you mean?" My voice shook, making it clear to the crew just how scared I was of the man standing in front of me.
"Don't act so damn innocent! You know exactly what the hell your doing and its sick!" The brunette looked like he was about to explode with rage until Marco glared at him.
Marco kept everybody in line no matter what and everybody in the room could read his glare like a book.
The Phoenix turned to me with the same expression that he gave thatch. "Why do you crave the attention so badly?" He asked me. I finally began to understand the situation a bit but yet I still questioned why they would believe such a thing.
"Do I really look that sad cuz I really am." I responded, Thatch roled his eyes, tired of my supposed "antics".
"You think this shit is funny don't you ya little brat?!" Thatch grabbed me by the collar, almost lifting me off of my feet. It wasn't surprising how easy he did it, I haven't eaten in weeks.
"Thatch!" Marco push the cook off of me. A look of surprise filled my face as he did so but it soon disappeared as he looked over to me with even more anger. "You can't just go around provoking others Ace!"
It seemed like everybody was against me now. "I'm not provoking anybody! And I'm not faking anything!" I yelled back trying to defend myself but it only worsened the situation.
Suddenly I felt a hand on my back, I turned around to see kage and I flinched away. "Don't touch me!" I told the older man.
And of course Marco was quick to defend his new best bud. "Don't talk to him like that." The blond said in a stern tone.
Marco's eyes met Kage's and he tilted his head, signaling Kage to leave. "What do you have against Kage kid?"
"I already told you what I went through with him and you still ask what I have against him." My voice was tired and strained. "You know damn well those are lies." Thatch butted in.
"Well considering what you guys did last week it seems like you guys have nothing g against eachother. I'd even say you guys are close." The crew looked at the Phoenix confused as to what he ment, including me. "What are you talking about, we aren't close."
I voiced my confusion back to him. "You know last Friday, I saw what you guys did. And it was quite inappropriate I'd say the least." The realization hit me and it soon turned to anger, Rage even as the words poured out of his mouth.
The crew looked shocked, some even blushed hearing what the first commander said. "Wow thats... different from what I expected." Cruiel murmured.
"You heard me getting fucking raped and you did nothing?!" "Raped...? Raped??! Now you've crossed the damn line! You know that Kage wouldn't do that!" The first commander of the ship temper grew short.
"That man is a sick bastard! You don't know him like I do! He doesn't give shit about anybody and only cares about himself! He's a selfish Asshole and none of you can see that!" Nobody saw it coming but Marco's fist suddenly connected with my face and he punched me hard.
The impact of the hit made me fall to the ground. I held my cheek in pain as I got up. But when I looked back at Marco, two crew members were holding him back from literally beating me. He finally lost his temper, tears filled my eyes as I looked at what once was a calm and collected first commander to whatever he was now. "I'm tired of your bullshit you little brat! Stop bringing other people into your fake fucking problems!"
Some other crew members roughly picked me up and dragged me back to my cabin but I could tell they were just as angry as Marco but they were holding back.
They threw me into my room and glared at me as they slammed the door.
As soon as they left I began sobbing my eyes out. For some reason it hurt, it hurt badly. To see everybody turn against me and hating me.
I felt I couldn't breathe, and my chest was tight. All my suffering was catching up to me. I couldn't take it anymore, the pain was too much to bare.
I slowly got up, and walked over to the bathroom. The water ran as I turned on the faucet. My hands moved to splash water on my face. After, I looked up at the mirror. Flashes of Kage appeared in my vision.
Suddenly my brain reminded itself that we had the same blood running through our veins. What if I turned into him someday?
I couldn't let that happen. I began to hyperventilate as I opened the cabinet and grabbed some sleeping pills. Nobody loved me anyway. I'm sorry Sabo but I'll see you and Luffy soon.
• — •
Nobody's pov
Rakuyo walked to the young boy's door in anger. Whitebeard had sent him to have a talk with Ace after they successfully calmed down Marco.
There was a chilling sense coming from the room as the commander hesitantly turned the doorknob.
Rakuyo's eyes widened with shock, his heart pounding out of his own chest as he saw the new crew mate Ace lying on the floor limp. Immediately the man ran towards the boy in a panicked sense. He felt Ace's heart slowly thump against his chest.
The commander tried to shake the raven haired boys body back and forth, his moments rough and desperate but to no avail. The disturbing breeze .came over Rakuyo's body once more. Rakuyo looked down at the source, his breath faltering slightly.
Immediatley Rakuyo squeezed Ace close to his chest as if it would help save the the boy. He yelled for help with a crack in his tone.
Those around wasted no time in coming to investigate. However they were not as shocked as Rakuyo when they saw the scene and Ace. Yet still the situation escalated when Cruiel snatched Ace away from Rakuyo's grasp.
The boy was put on a stratcher and raced to the infirmary. Passersby glanced with either hesitation, hate, or the slightest bit a of worry but the majority of the pirates could care less.
To them Ace was a regret, traitor, actor, weirdo, Fake, etc.
Everyone except whitebeard, even the elderly man never saw it with his own eyes. The commotion carried the word.
The man's face grew grim with a hint of irritation behind it. Marco saw this reaction and carried it with slight surprise and understanding. From his point of view he thought pops saw Ace as a son already but thought wrong.
Which was good in his tense, he started to hate Ace after the situation that just occurred with him and the boy not even an hour ago.
A brunette chef walked up to the duo with obvious confusion on his mind. "Hey pops you kno-" he was cut off, "I know son. Ace is in the infirmary."
"He's in the infirmary?" That part Thatch hadn't known, he was only going to bring up the suspicious whispers outside of the office. He was oblivious toward the fact the Ace was in the infirmary.
"Yeah he is, bet he's just trying to get more attention again yoi." Marco smirked and chuckled, but whitebeard didn't find his sons jokes so funny as whitebeard glared at the Phoenix. "I-I'm sure he's there for a good reason." Thatch tried to make light of Marco's words
Thatch still being shocked by the new information was slightly nervous. Ace could have tried anything and nobody knew what.
"What even happened?" He questioned. The cook looked around the room for any sort of answer, yet nobody could come up with anything to satisfy his worries.
Izo came came into picture, just as worried as Thatch. "What the fuck is going on right now, if I don't get an answer in the next 15 seconds I-"
"We don't know." Whitebeard cut in nonchalantly, stopping Izo's small break out of anger for a split second. "The hell you mean you don't know?!"
"He means the brat did something that landed him in the infirmary and we haven't been informed on what it was yet." Marco looked annoyed as he spoke.
Izo began to argue with his brother "Anything could of happened and your not worried?!" "Why should I be worried about the brat, it was probably his fault."
A shuttering breath could be heard, a breath that distracted Marco and Izo from their quarrel. The group turned to see a slightly traumatized Rakuyo holding a pill capsul in his right hand. The other in a fist.
He gave the capsul to whitebeard. "This was in his hand when I found him..." The commander shakily said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"He was on the floor unconscious, barely breathing but alive, he's in the infirmary being treated at the moment."
Thatch's eyes widened with shock. "He tried to..." Rakuyo nodded, Whitebeard stood. "I understand..." the captain walked off to his office.
"What a joke." Kage chuckled, Marco smiled at him. "I knew I wasn't the only one." The blond laughed along with the other man. "Who would've thought he would go that far for someone to like him."
Izo snapped at the two. "He's not an attention seeker he's a kid! Nobody knows whats going on in his head!"
Marco looked at the cross dresser. "Its obvious what he was trying to do. He's a dumb kid."
"Do you not understand your making fun of a dying child right now?!" Izo cried out. "Izo!" Thatch called out to him.
The man went silent, acknowledging that there was no room for arguments just yet. He turned around and stormed off. Know his brother Thatch began walking away as well. "We're going to check up on Ace..."
Ace's Pov
Where am I?
Why is it so dark?
A child's laughing could be heard from a distance
W-What? Who's there?
I called for the child in worry for his and their safety.
I looked down to see Luffy running across the spacious void, Sabo chasing after him.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched them laugh and play together. Their supposed to be dead, why are they there?
Sabo stood still before turning to me and tilting his head. "Ace? Are you ok?" The child asked as Luffy stopped as well. "Whats wrong? You never cry!"
I-I... your not real...
"Come play Ace! Join us!" Luffy called out.
N-No I can't! Where am I?! This has to be impossible!
"...It's your fault..."
My fault?
"...Why did you leave us to burn Ace?..."
The children's bodies flashed back and forth from being covered in burn scars and looking as if a regular child.
I didn't mean to, I thought you two were following me...
"You didn't hear our screams?"
The two began screaming for help and I jumped awake.
Teach Pov
"Well that makes things a lot easier for me." I licked my teeth and laughed.
"Things will be smooth sailing from here on out."
• — •
3rd POV
The boy sat up quickly, his eyes searching the room frantically for the two boys. Yet all he found were hesitant, irritated eyes which lingered on him.
They belonged to Whiskey. She sighed, scribbled something down in her note pad and adjusted the IV for Ace to be more comfortable. The Raven head hadn’t even noticed the needle.
Ace stared at the women in scrubs, waiting for her to say something yet she stayed silent.
She then walked away with her heals clicking behind her and another different nurse walked in to what Ace assumed monitor him.
The kid looked at his lap, his breathing much more calmer than before. Who had found him? Why so soon? Couldn’t they wait just a bit longer so he could die? This crew didn’t even like Ace anyway so what was the point in saving his life?
Ace looked up at the watching nurse. “…Why am I here?” He asked, his voice raspy from crying so much. The women handed him a glass of what but didn’t speak.
Cautiously Ace drank it but still questioned why he was there. “Are you gonna answer me?” “You should know enough why you’re here” the nurse replied. So they knew what he had attempted?
“I suggest that you stay and rest, pops will not be happy at all.” She spoke once more.
Right, they probably did tell whitebeard and that bitch bird too. Bet he’s laughing his ass off right now. Ace thought
Ace’s POV
I honestly could care less about what this crew did anymore if they couldn’t trust me anyway. This was so damn irritating. Couldn’t this happen another day? Or maybe I should have attempted to do it later on. To see the look on their faces when they if found me dead. Priceless!
I can’t remember the last time I thought of something that I would enjoy. This didn’t really count either but I would be smiling.
What if I faked my own death and blamed Kage for it? Nah, Kage is a saint to them so they probably wouldn’t believe that either. One way or another I want to escape this ship. I don’t know how much longer I can take.
I was snapped out of my thoughts by a grunt. It was Whiskey again. She seemed impatient. The head nurses urged the other to leave the room. Whiskey took her seat and closed her eyes as if she was giving herself the strength to move on.
“Ace what’s been going on?* the women started off “huh?” I said in confusion. “What’s going on? Why are you doing this to yourself?”
Out of habit my eyes rolled and I turned my head. “I’ll listen kid, just tell me.” I looked at her with disdainful eyes. I wouldn’t be here for long so why not?
I began to vent to her which I’d hate to admit felt relieving to do. The pressure on my chest was heavy still but at least I could say something.
I was lost in speech for what felt like hours. This had to be the most that I ever spoke to a person on this old ship. Finally after I finished I noticed the look on the older women’s face. I sighed in expectation.
“Is that all? I’ll see what I can do.” She said walking away while she tried to hide the pure disgust on her face. That face is never going to be new to me. But what are they gonna do if I were lying? Punish me?
• — •
3rd POV
“Do not leave your room under any circumstance.”
~
After whiskey’s report to Whitebeard, the man only felt annoyed? From what everyone else knew Whitebeard could never actually be annoyed or angry at any of his children, the worst he’d ever gone was a disappointment talk.
”So the boy is sticking to the lie?”
“Yes pops, it seems almost psychotic of him to go this deep.”
“I’ll get him to tell the truth. Brats always like to be by himself correct?”
“What else does he do in his spare time?”
“So we’ll give him some peace and quiet then.”
~
“Stay in my room for what?”
“For this unnecessary propaganda you’ve brought on my ship.” Whitebeard smirked at the raven hair, it was obvious that it was amusing the old man.
“There’s no need for you to be confused boy, we’ve warned you about lying” rather than an argumentative sentence, it seemed the old man was more so mocking him.
Ace gritted his teeth in irritation as he spoke on defense. “Your the ones who asked for my problem.”
“And in response you lied to us. This is your consequence.” Now in a flat tone, the captain stared at the boy. “I never lied! No I never asked you to believe me either but you still shame me for things that you don’t even think are true!” The boy yelled in response which he instantly regretted.
Whitebeard stood up now less amused and his face replaced with anger. “You dare to speak to me like that child? Who’s ship are you on?”
Ace shivered at the older man’s glare, his eyes with anxiety as flashbacks of his angry brother came to mind. His breathing grew irregular as he tried to get the images out of his head.
Seeing this, Whitebeard immediately rested his face and sat back down. Saving his negativity for later. Whiskey who was watching on the sidelines the whole time rushed to the boy, helping him relax.
Whitebeard, now looking at the boy with an almost confused look stare sighed. Standing up once more as he got ready to leave room.
“Continue these actions and you’ll at risk of a home.” The strongest turned to the door, leaving Ace with his messy head getting even dirtier. “I’m sorry kid but with the situation your in there’s nothing much you can do.” Whiskey commented but she was right.
There really wasn’t anything left for him to do at all. He’d have to sit low for now, not wanting to lose this luxury of free food and housing. He didn’t want to be homeless again either and he definitely wouldn’t go to his soul sucking grandfather.
He seemed more like a vampire of all things pirate rather than an actual marine. Sometimes he thought he only became a pirate out of spite of Garp’s word.
Other than that it wouldn’t be so hard to hide his crippling feelings and waking up with anxiety in the middle of the night. Like said previously, nobody has to know.
• — •
3rd pov
Nobody noticed, some may have but they were more relieved than worried. It showed just how much nobody really cared about Ace’s wellbeing. Only worried if he was alive or not because killing a crew member was and unforgivable deed.
Ace didn’t mind though, at least nobody was bother ing him other than his odd thoughts. But it bugged him that nobody would know that they brought a disease onto their home.
But that wasn’t Ace’s problem. They did it to themselves, but what was Ace’s problem was how was he not gonna starve with only one serving of food a day.
Defiant of Whitebeards command, the cooks started shortening his food consumption just to see how thin he would get before begging to get out. Meanwhile Kage was on the deck, talking to a few crewmates. Of course he was trash talking Ace, it was one of his favorite things to do. “Hey, what are you talking-“ Haruta approached but he was cut off. “Oh, no can you go?” Kage smirked.
“Why? Can I not talk to you?” The redhead questioned but he was met with a somewhat unserious response. “No you can’t, bye.” The others around him snickered which only humiliated Haruta and urged him to leave.
As he walked away, he could hear comments spoken under breath like “Why did he even come over here?” Or “Ew, he really tried to force himself into our conversation.”
The commander’s frustration built up with every word and he forced himself to keep walking forward instead of turning around and yelling. He would only make fool of himself that way.
Thatch heard a pounding sound on his door, “Coming!” He communicated before putting aside the unfinished paper work that he had just been doing. The chef opened the door and Haruta stormed through, immediately starting to rant on and on about how Kage dismissed him and made fun of him.
“W-Wait, slow down. Why are you so pissed again?” Thatch stopped the younger male before he got ahead of himself. Haruta sighed and sat down on the bed. “Kage dismissed me when I tried to talk to him and then him and some other guys started laughing and saying stuff about me under their breath.” Haruta re-stated with a more calm sense of mind.
“That’s scary, can’t say it to your face or something?” Thatch exerted “That’s what I said!”
“What’s scary?”
The two froze in silence, now staring back at Marco who was leaning against the doorframe. “Kage is what?” Marco’s expression was one of expectancy. “He’s a pissy little-“ “He was just rude toward Haruta and we thought that was unfair is all.” Thatch took over for a quite overstimulated Haruta.
“How so?” The phoenix pushed further. “He really just made fun of Haruta when Haruta was making a friendly approach.”
Marco thought for a moment. “I see yoi, that’s odd of him.” “We thought too.” The brunette voiced in a whimsical matter.
“I’ll go see the problem with him then. Calm down in the meantime yoi.” As Marco began his advance he felt a cold presence, his eyes immediately wandered toward the source and saw one of his most trusted brothers. Teach.
It bothered his phoenix and his mind. But he shook it off and continued his stride. He reached Kage who was still surrounded by the same people from before.
When Kage noticed the second in command his demeanor changed slightly as if he were used to switching personas at the right moments. “I need to speak to you yoi, in private.” His expresses enough to drive away those who surrounded him and only himself and Kage were left.
“What’s wrong Marco?” Kage started, his tone soothing, almost asking Marco to believe. “Did you and Haruta talk earlier?” The blond asked, not even trying to cover anything up. “He approached but walked away just a moment later.” Marco nodded, this might’ve been the first time he didn’t believe what Kage said.
He know his crew, they were brothers. Haruta did have slight anger issues but he never flared up for no reason. Especially like that. “Okay… I’ll talk to you later.” There, could’ve been a misunderstanding, yeah it had to be that.
Marco thought, either way it was nothing too serious. No physical harm done at least. But what stayed on Marco’s mind was that Kage effortlessly changed the way he act when he saw him, like it was practiced, like a reflex.
Kage really is odd…
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*I will be adding more to this one shot so regularly check in for updates if you wish