Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Chapter Warnings: Mentions of violence, depictions of death, trauma and language.
(y/n)= Your name
(e/c) = Eye color
(hlc) = Hair color
(h/l) = Hair length
Taking a breath, you struggled to pull air into your lungs. The walls of smoke almost as unbearable as the heat licking at your back. All around you, the fire seemed to illuminate every blocked exit. Every chance of escape cruelly burning just out of reach. And yet, it was the lack of sound that truly terrified you. The absence of their screams made you think the worst as you were left to your fate within the city of flames.
Turning a corner, you desperately tried to keep the smoke from entering your airway as your eyes burned in protest. No matter which path you took, it always seemed to bring you back to a similar sight. Huge piles of burning logs placed strategically along the roads to freedom. Blocking any hope for those left within the walls to ever taste life again. Beyond the burning blooms lay the laughing faces of those responsible. Their swords raised in cheer as their white skull flag waved overhead. The jolly roger proudly on display for all to see through the inferno.
As if their crime of genocide wasn’t awful enough, they would encourage those that made it to the outer rim to jump the blaze. If the fire did not claim your life, the steel of their blades would. The group of pirates more than ready to finish whatever survivors the fire left. The bodies of women and children alike lying bloody at their feet.
Once more trying to gain your barrings, you felt the sting of tears dripping onto burned flesh. Nothing was as it should be. No one was coming to help you and that fact alone was terrifying. They were gone. Everyone you had ever known or loved was now gone. Yet try as the flames might, you still clung to the hope of life. Your feet taking you down ashen roadways to the center of town.
Taking in the sight of the only building that had yet to be scorched, you dashed for the open doors. The heavy oak slamming shut behind you as you tried once more to clear your lungs of smoke. Around you lay the bodies of those that weren’t as lucky. Their faces stained with ash and patterned with burns.
Turning your (e/c) eyes from the sight, you forced yourself deeper into the temple. Every muscle in your body shaking with the effort as you coughed out clouds of smog. This was it, you were going to die.
Using the wall as a guide, you found your way into the center of the temple. The large Buddhist statue standing tall as tears rolled freely down your face. You didn’t want to die! You didn’t want it to end here! But as you looked at the statue, you could feel your strength leaving you. There was nothing left, even your body seemed to embrace your impending end. Yet, just as hope faded from you, the movement of a body near the statue’s feet caught your attention.
Laying below the Budda was the village elder. A man you had long since grown to love and trust in your short life. Tumbling your way over to him, you gently reached out with burned fingers. His dark eyes opening as he gave a weak smile. You both knew this was where it would end, but at least you wouldn’t be alone when death came for you.
Helping the man to sit upright, you paused as he handed you a small white and blue speckled fruit. The exterior texture was soft beneath your touch as the elder encouraged you to eat it. To take revenge by denying those thugs what they truly wanted. His words becoming a haze as darkness folded in around you. The ringing in your ears became so intense that it was only when air passed over your face that you dared to open your eyes again.
Below you the city stretched out like an illusion. Bodies lay scattered where the flames had claimed their lives. Entire families annihilated by the power of the inferno. While those that were unlucky enough to chance jumping the blaze, lay slain at the feet of the criminals who had started this nightmare. Everything you had loved now lay beneath mountains of ash and smoke as you floated above the chaos. The red of the fire only outdone by the red of blood that painted the streets you once called home.
The sight was one you knew you would never forget. Yet as you looked into the faces of the pirates below you, you saw no remorse. Their heartless eyes remaining glued to your body as it flew above them. As if nothing leading up to this hell was of consequence to them. And it was then that you knew this wasn’t over. Despite having fought the odds, you were no safer now than you had been in the warm glow of the embers. The greed in their bodies radiating up to you as they pulled the trigger.
Feeling the world slow, your (e/c) eyes took in the sight of the weapon as it was aimed at your frame. The feathers of the arrow cutting a direct path across the sky to your body as panic filled your veins. This was it! You had managed to break free, but in the end, it didn't matter. Feeling the metal tip of the arrowhead zeroing in, you bottled upright in bed. The phantom pain stretching across your body as your nails dug into the flesh above the scar on your shoulder. Your eyes wide as sweat dripped from your face and your breath came in shallow puffs. Every inch of your body now shaking from the adrenaline caused by the memories.
Quickly scanning the chamber around you, you tried to ground yourself in the present. The wooden bars of that cage replaced with the earthen walls of white plaster within your room. The heat of the flames fading with the cool breeze that drifted throughout your home. And the faded pain of their cruelty, a distant memory drowned out by the sounds of the nature around you.
It had been a dream, just a nightmare.
Pulling your shaking hand from your shoulder, you felt the faint sting of injuries long healed. The dull pain tingling across your tired frame as the dream began to fade. How long had it been since the last time you dreamed of that day? How many years had passed since that time? And yet, it still seemed to haunt you. Then again, perhaps it always would. It had been a defining portion of your life. A portion that would always stick with you, no matter how many years you put between yourself and it. Still, you would be damned if you let it control you as it had before.
Taking a deep breath, you tried once more to remind yourself that you were safe. Talking yourself down until the shaking in your hands quieted and you could once more breathe without the weight of panic in your chest. You were safe, it was over, you were free. And no one would ever again control you.
Lifting your (e/c) gaze from your hands, you put on a somber smile before slipping out of bed and readying yourself for the day. Outside your windows, the sun bathed the world in light and warmth. Birds sang their morning songs as distant clouds painted the blue of the horizon with white. And miles from your shore, a young heart brewed with mischief as waves crashed against the ship he called home. His black eyes and dark freckles striking mistrust into everyone in his path.
Pausing in his efforts as a pair of blue orbs washed over his frame, Ace turned just in time to see Marco pinch the bridge of his nose.
“What are you doing yoi?” The blonde asked, already knowing the answer would be something he disapproved of.
“I’m setting up a prank to get Thatch back for all the pepper he put in my bread last week.” Ace grinned, turning back to balancing the bucket of sludge above Thatch’s office.
Sighing, Marco tried his best to ignore the sheer stupidity of the childish prank war his brothers were currently caught up in. What had started with hot sauce in someone’s coffee, was quickly getting out of hand. If they kept escalating like this, he was going to be seeing both of them more often in the med bay. Not that he wasn’t already treating Thatch for some progressively worsening cold symptoms. Still, it never ceased to amaze him just how immature the second division commander could be.
“I’m not sure that’s going to work.” Marco frowned, turning his gaze back to the items listed on his clipboard.
“Oh yeah? And why is that?” Ace asked, his smile turning to confusion at Marco’s words.
“I have Thatch on bed rest today to see if we can curb his cough,” Marco informed him. “He won’t be in anytime soon yoi.”
Frowning, Ace let out a loud groan as his prank was thwarted. He had spent the last two hours digging all this sludge out of the gutters for this prank and now it was going to go to waste.
“Can’t you just heal his lungs or something?” Ace whined, the frown growing on his face as Marco dug deep into his reserve of patience. “You know with your phoenix fire?”
Letting out another sigh, Marco felt his age show in the lines between his knitted brows. Honestly, ever since Ace had joined the crew he could swear his wrinkles were getting worse.
“No, I can’t.” Marco huffed, lowering his clipboard to halfway glare at the young commander.
“Huh? But you healed those people who had that smoke issue.” He gawked, finally getting down from the chair he was standing on.
“Yes, but those people had physical damage to their tracheas and lung tissue due to smoke inhalation,” Marco explained, taking the bucket of sludge from Ace before he could make another of his famous messes. “Thatch’s issue isn’t physical, he’s sick yoi. And the only cure for being sick is proper medication and rest. Unfortunately, I can only treat his symptoms, nothing else.”
Frowning at Marco’s explanation, Ace gave a defeated kick. He hated when the blonde made sense. Especially if it meant that his fun was put to an end.
“Well, when is he going to get better? He’s been coughing for days.” Ace pouted, dark eyes meeting blue ones.
“I’m not sure.” Marco frowned, his gaze softening at the concern written on his friend’s face. “I’m sure he will be back to his old self in no time, but until then. How are your reports coming along? I’m still missing the ones from last week.”
Blinking at the blonde’s question, Ace gave a sheepish smile as Marco exhaled loudly.
What a pain.