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"It is believed that long ago, there were two brothers whose bond was strong enough to garner the attention of the gods. They fought against anything that tried to force them apart, stopping for nothing and nobody to achieve their dreams. They were known to be a force of nature to be reckoned with during the Great Wars, going against the gods of war and calamity,"
"Pssh- Sounds like a load of bullcrap,"
"You aren't the one who can read, are you?"
"Shh- Ace, let Sabo continue!"
"As I was saying... The two brothers fought through many battles throughout the years, never seen without the other close behind. But all of that came to an end during an impossible battle near the end of the Grand Line they fell to a great enemy. There was nothing on their minds more than saving the other from their doom and with one final plea to the gods, they begged to be able to protect one another. The gods heard them and turned them into twin blades. They were meant to be wielded by each other but as they were both changed they were left to rust on their final battlefield. Waiting for the day someone worthy enough to wield them comes along,"
"Whoa..."
"Don't get any ideas, you idiot. Even if there was such a thing as god he sure as hell ain't listening to us,"
"Don't be such a spoilsport, you ass,"
He didn't care if he got caught or punished, he was not letting his brothers get killed because of these stupid nobles. He refused to let this be the end of their brotherhood, not when they had so much left to accomplish. He was done sitting idle while those wretched assholes treated his brothers like trash. He would do everything in his power to save them or burn along with them.
Anything was better than going back to them.
The heat was unbearable even from the other side of the wall but the growing flames did little to deter the child as he climbed his way to the top. His makeshift ladder shook dangerously and Sabo hurriedly scrambled off of it. He heard some guards shouting at him so he knocked over the shaky tower he had made onto them. Hearing their pained shouts spurred the boy onward. He jumped onto a tall trash pile, sliding down clumsily and tucking into a ball to reduce the damage as much as possible.
Panting heavily, Sabo took stock of the damage, noting only his clothes came out a bit singed. He then surveyed his surroundings, feeling anxious at the roaring flames and pained screams that came from all around him. The poor boy's heart was pounding in his chest but he slapped his cheeks roughly to snap himself out of it. He had a mission to focus on.
The smell of burning trash assaulted his nose, causing Sabo to gag and cover his mouth in a vain attempt to block out the smell and cloying smoke. It was extremely difficult to navigate when most of the landmarks had collapsed or had already been consumed by flames. Sabo wasn't proud to admit he was merely running around blindly.
"Luffy! Where the hell did you go?!"
Sabo nearly tripped at the sudden shout. It sounded like it came just a little bit ahead of him.
"Ace!" He shouted once he caught sight of his brother's silhouette, leaping over a scrapped metal sheet. Tears came forth in his eyes as his brother's figure became clearer the closer he got to him. The older boy spun around fast enough to nearly lose his footing, wide eyes spotting Sabo easily as he bulldozed towards him. The blonde launched himself at Ace, causing them to nearly stumble if not for Ace's strong footing. Sabo couldn't deny that he cried into the other boy's chest, relief and fear raging in his chest violently. Ace pushed him away to look at his face, hands clasping his shoulders as he looks him over. The fear on his older twin's face is so heartbreaking and Sabo can't stop the sob that slips past as he holds Ace's wrists tightly.
"You came back..." Ace muttered with wide eyes as if he didn't believe he was seeing Sabo in front of him.
"Of course I did, dumbass," Sabo huffed wetly, shoving Ace lightly. "I wasn't going to let you idiots burn to death!" He added moving to grip Ace's shoulders just as the other still was to his. He glared at Ace lightly before his gaze traveled behind the black-haired boy and around him, looking for their baby brother. "Where's Luffy?" He manages to get out through the fear clogging his throat. Ace's brow furrowed deeper as he gritted his teeth and averted his gaze. Sabo felt his heart drop at the reaction, he glanced around at the encroaching flames worriedly before looking back to his twin. " Ace ," He stressed, fear spiking.
"We got split up-" Ace spat angrily, moving his hands off of Sabo's shoulder to grab one of his wrists and began to pull him in the direction he had been calling for their youngest. "I-" He released a frustrated sob. "I can't find him, 'Bo," He cried. "I don't know if those- those bastards found him or-" Ace cut himself off as they made a sharp turn. Sabo could hardly hear over his thundering heartbeat. He moved his hand to hold Ace's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. The other didn't look back but silently returned the gesture.
"Luffy!" Sabo screamed through the smoke, his shout cut off by a coughing fit. Ace joined him in calling for the little boy, each cry getting more desperate than the last. "Dammit!" Ace shouted, covering his mouth with his shirt and coughing roughly. He looked back to check on Sabo and felt his heart drop when he realized a pile of melting trash was tipping over and dangerously close to falling on them. "Move, Sabo!" He yanks his brother forward, causing the blonde to crash into him which sent them rolling down an unforeseen slope. It felt as if they were rolling through glass shards and very much could have considering where they were.
Once they hit the bottom, all the air in their lungs was forced out by the force of their landing. Ace groaned and tried to sit up, looking for Sabo but a sudden pain in his back held him in place. He hissed in pain, too stunned to move further. His eyes darted around desperately, feeling panic set in as his immobility became increasingly prominent. Somewhere to his side, he heard a pained noise and forced himself to roll over. Ace couldn't stop the scream that tore itself from his throat at the blinding pain that laced up his spine.
"Ace!" Sabo's voice called out and suddenly the blonde was crawling into his field of vision, face dripping with blood and several more teeth missing than Ace remembered. He gasped for air, fighting against the urge to curl up into a ball. Sabo was calling out to him again but Ace could barely hear him over the ringing in his ears. It hurt. It hurt so goddamn much. He felt like he could breathe, no air was making it to his lungs. Every movement sent liquid fire through his veins, causing him to involuntarily seize which restarted the whole cycle. He didn't know how long he was out of it but when he could think clearly enough he noticed how close the fire had gotten and the lack of a certain blonde by his side. Someone was shouting, he couldn't tell who.
"Stay away from him you filthy bastard!" Sabo's shrieking voice finally registered in Ace's muddled brain. He craned his neck, biting his tongue at the spike of pain the action caused. When he finally caught sight of his twin his blood ran cold.
Sabo stood a few feet in front of Ace, arm wrapped around his middle with the other spread out to either shield Ace or make himself bigger somehow. He was facing away from the downed boy so he couldn't see his expression but the blonde's fury leaked off of him in waves. A broken sliver of rusted metal stuck out from his brother's side. Blood leaked sluggishly from the wound, still plugged with the debris. It certainly looked painful but the boy stood tall as if it didn't affect him. Ace's eyes flickered away from his twin and toward where Sabo was facing.
"Luffy!" Ace gasped out, arm reaching out instinctively. He cried out and let his hand fall with a dull thump onto the burning ground, his eyes still fixated on the small form farther ahead. Luffy was backing away slowly, cornered by the fire and gripping his right shoulder as blood leaked through his small fingers. His wide eyes kept flitting to his brothers and back to the looming figure of Bluejam as he glared down at him with a large knife pointed menacingly in the child's direction. Bluejam seemed to finally register the twins' presence, glaring over his shoulder without moving his blade from where it aimed for the youngest.
"You little shits fucked me over for the last time," He snarled, cutting his blade through the air in front of him. Luffy jolted back, yelping when he got too close to the flames surrounding them.
"This is what you get for making deals with shitty nobles!" Sabo spat back, anger spiking as he remembered Bluejam's deal with his piece of shit sperm donor. "What did you expect to happen?!" He asked near hysterically, throwing his hands up despite his wounds. "This whole thing was bound to end in betrayal, you're an idiot for thinking otherwise!" The blonde jabbed a finger at the pirate captain bitterly.
"You'd be wise to watch your tone with me, boy," Bluejam warned, gesturing his blade to the small child he still had cornered. "After I gut this brat, you two are next. Noble or not, you'll pay for crossing Captain Bluejam!" He roared, spittle flying from his mouth as he howled in rage. Sabo shouted wordlessly in reply as the man surged forward, eliciting a frightened shout from Luffy as he ducked behind his arms in an attempt to protect himself. It wouldn't be enough. They knew blades were one of Luffy's severe weaknesses and it seemed Bluejam had remembered that as well.
Sabo screamed in tune with Ace as they both lunged forward despite their wounded bodies' protests. As the sword swung down on their baby brother it felt as if the world held its breath.
Please! Dear, God, not Luffy! Please, anything but their baby brother!
The air around them group rippled before a sharp clang rang out through the burning Terminal. Bluejam looked down in surprise as the pipsqueak held him back with two blades of his own. When had he had the time to pull them out? Why hadn't he done so earlier?
Bluejam's moment of distraction would prove to be his undoing as the child lept forward and brought both daggers into the meat of his chest like he was scaling a mountain. Luffy didn't hesitate to rip the knives out and bring them back down. Over and over and over again. Once. Twice. Thrice. He didn't know where this strength came from, he was small for his age and often was easily overpowered. Luffy knew he shouldn't be able to do this but the knives continued to sink into flesh like it was warm butter. Bluejam fought against him but Luffy was too small to focus on and wiggled around too much for the man to grab a hold of. Each time Luffy ducked away from the pirate's hands he swung one of the knives down to keep his hold on the burly man. He didn't stop until the man went still.
The fog cleared and Luffy fell on his bum as his strength abruptly left him. He stared blankly at the dead man in front of him. He'd done that. He'd killed someone. Luffy looked down at his blood-soaked hands and peered cautiously at the knives in his hands. Where...?
A faint scream in the distance broke him out of his reverie and the small boy's head snapped up to look for his brothers. They should be- They weren't there? Luffy's brow furrowed in belated confusion, his mind moving through molasses as he struggled to piece his thoughts together.
"Ace?" He croaked, his throat burning. "Sabo?" He looked around with a deep frown when neither of his brothers responded. "You guys?" He whimpered, fear bleeding through his senses like a slow poison. "Where'd you go?" Luffy shakily got to his feet, clutching the daggers tightly as he bumbled through the burning trash. "Sabo? Ace? Hello?" He continued to call out weakly until Dadan and her crew found him nearly dead on his feet and covered in blood.
Garp mourned not being any faster back to Dawn Island. Once he'd caught wind of what Goa Kingdom had done to the Gray Terminal he wasn't able to rein in his worry for his grandsons and immediately set sail for his home island. Stopping by Makino's bar caused his worry to flare higher when the young lady had told him she hadn't seen hide nor hair of the three brats since a few days before the burning.
He didn't think he'd gone up the mountain faster than he had that day, practically bulldozing through the jungle and its animals like death himself was nipping at his heels. He'd burst through Dadan's doors like a bat from hell, scaring her underlings. The old man leveled her with a silent glare and her weary sigh was all he got for an answer. She nodded her head in the direction the kids had built their fort and that was all Garp stayed for.
Garp had a thousand of things fears and worries about what he might see once he arrived at the boys' treehouse. Each one was worse than the last. So when he stepped into the clearing and saw his youngest grandson sitting alone and quiet, oh so worryingly quiet he was terrified. Luffy didn't do quiet. He was a never-ending ball of energy and cheer. Garp stepped forward, purposely making his footfalls louder to get the boy's attention. Luffy's head snapped up so quickly that his beloved straw hat flopped to hang on his back by its string. His eyes widened at the sight of his grandfather but he made no move to greet him or even run away like menace as he always did.
"Did you find them, Gramps?" Luffy asked softly, desperately . Garp felt his eyes mist over with unshed tears as his grandson's words hit him like a loose cannonball. Something had happened to Ace and Sabo and he hadn't been here to stop it. Luffy took his silence as an answer itself and his face crumpled. The small child curled into himself, bringing his hands to his chest and ducking his head. His cries started soft, inaudible, before growing into raging gasping sobs. Garp approached the screaming child, tears of his own falling down his wrinkled cheeks. He knelt and placed a large hand on the boy's shoulder, prompting Luffy to launch himself into the old man's stomach.
"What happened, kid?" Garp murmured gently as he cradled the small boy in his arms. Luffy hiccupped as he peered through his messy bangs, tears, and snot covering his face.
"The fire-" He gasped out, hand reaching out to grasp tightly at his grandpa's shirt. "They took Sabo, Grampa- Me an' Ace wanted to get him back but the pirates wouldn't let us and-" Luffy's face screwed up as he looked down at the daggers clutched tightly in each of his little fists. He shuddered at the sudden memory of blood coating his fingers. "Sabo an' Ace found me when Bluejam was trying to get me. He tried to kill me, Gramps, I heard them scream- and I killed him," Luffy choked out, hiding his face in his grandfather's shirt again. "I don't know what happened but when it was over I couldn't find them and I had these," He said as he pulled away to show Garp the mismatched daggers. The older man's brow furrowed as he looked between the boy and the knives in growing confusion. Garp moved a hand to reach for one but the second Luffy registered the movement he jerked back, pulling the weapons close to his chest protectively. The boy fell from his lap, scooting away quickly to put more space between them. Garp froze with his hand still outstretched as he stared at the boy in concern. Luffy was staring at him with wide eyes, looking just as surprised at his action as Garp was.
"You can't touch them," He mumbled in a daze, staring the older male down with more intensity than a seven-year-old should have.
"Okay, I won't touch them if you don't want me to," Garp conceded, holding both hands out placatingly. None of this sat right with him. Two of his grandsons were missing, possibly dead as much as he loathed to even consider that a possibility. Luff gave a jerky nod, pulling his straw hat back onto his head and over his eyes.
Ace didn't know where the hell he was. It was dark and he felt lost. His thoughts trailed back to his brothers. Was Luffy safe? Did Sabo manage to get to him in time? Gods, he was such a shitty older brother. How could he have let this happen? He needed to get out of here, wherever here was. He felt like he was grasping at straws trying to figure out where the hell he was. It was driving him insane. He didn't have time for this! His brothers could be in trouble! He didn't even want to think of what could've possibly become of the two of them.
As if the thought of his family summoned it, a small light sparked into existence. Ace's attention snapped to it, throwing his everything into grasping the small, glimmering, light. As he came in contact with it, feelings washed over him in a flood. It felt comforting. The light felt like sitting next to a bonfire after a successful hunt, or cozy, winter evenings in the treehouse. Ace shoves himself further into the sensation and falls into the light.
His senses come back gradually, the chirping cicadas assaulting his ears and the wind whispering through the jungle's leaves. Opening his eyes showed he was in the treehouse, the familiar ceiling greeting him. He eyed the grooves and lines in the old wood as he slowly came back to himself. He felt heavy and groggy. The boy was also hesitant to move as vague flashes of pain came to mind.
Ace's eyes widened as he remembered just what caused that pain and the boy surged up into a sitting position. A clattering noise diverted his attention to the ground next to him where he found a lone dagger with a silver and blue handle. He stared at it in confusion as his brow furrowed, a deep frown marring his face. Where did this come from? He didn't recall owning such an expensive-looking item as most of their things were either stolen or garbage from the Terminal.
When he reached for it a chill ran down his spine and caused the hair on his neck to stand on end. Flashes of blue, the smell of old books and spilled ink, a soft laugh devolving into raspy cackles. The blade sat there innocently but Ace felt so intimately connected with it and he had no idea where all these feelings were coming from or what the fuck was going. Just as he was about to move on and begin looking for his brothers he was suddenly tackled by a familiar rubber ball of energy.
"Ace! You came back!" Luffy screamed in his ear, causing the older boy to wince as his ears rang. "I'm sorry for being a crybaby! Please don't leave me again, I'll be good I promise!" Luffy bawled into his chest, his arms wrapped around Ace several times over in a vise grip that Ace knew he had no chance of escaping anytime soon.
"Wha- Luffy, what the hell are you talking about?!" Ace sputtered, fruitlessly shoving Luffy's head in an attempt to dislodge the rubber boy from his torso. "I didn't go anywhere!" Ace's confusion continued to mount as he looked down at his inconsolable baby brother.
"You and Sabo disappeared after I fought Bluejam!" Luffy wailed as if that explained everything. "I tried looking everywhere for you but you were nowhere!" He finally looked up at Ace, snot and tears dripping down his face as he continued to sob heavily. Ace's brain short-circuited at Luffy's words.
"You fought Bluejam by yourself ?!" He cried out, gripping Luffy's shoulder tightly and looking him over worriedly. He noticed the boy had some bandages peaking out from his loose tanktop and shorts but seemed fine otherwise.
"With the knives you gave me," Luffy added plainly, finally releasing Ace to look around him. He picked up the silver knife, still looking around. Ace watched in confusion as Luffy seemed to get more distressed the longer he couldn't find whatever else he was looking for. "Where's the other one?! I put it right here!" He cried, shuffling around Ace and even going as far as to shove the older boy in his haste to continue looking.
"What are you looking for?" Ace asked exasperatedly, knowing he wouldn't be getting a straight answer from the smaller boy anytime soon. He supposed he would have to ask Sabo what happened. Ace's blinked as his thoughts caught up to him fully. "Where's Sabo?" He asked, voice sounding far away in his ears. Luffy whirled around to face him with a deep frown.
"He's not with you?" He asked tearfully. Ace felt his heart pounding with fear in his chest.
"I don't even know how I got here, let alone where the hell that idiot went!" Ace yelled, hands flying to his hair, and began to yank on the strands. Luffy stared at him blankly for a moment before staring down at the knife in his hands. He turned the blade around in his hands carefully as he observed it. The funny warm feeling was still there, even without the other dagger accompanying it. Luffy looked back at Ace and crawled forward. Ace watched him with a raised brow, too stressed to properly question his idiot of a brother. Luffy raised a hand and set it on Ace's chest, staring at it with a focused pout.
"I feel it," He said suddenly, looking up at Ace as if expecting him to know what he meant.
"What?" Ace deadpanned, feeling utterly drained despite only having been awake for ten minutes max. Luffy's pout deepened and he handed the dagger to Ace, the older boy unconsciously leaning away from it. He didn't like the vulnerable feelings holding it brought him.
"The knives feel warm when I hold them," Luffy explained with a furrowed brow. "Ace feels warm too," He mumbled to himself, staring pensively at the silver blade. His eyes widened and his head snapped up, knocking his hat onto his back as he stared at Ace. A grin spread across his face as he seemed to have come to a conclusion. "Sabo's here!" He gestured the dagger to Ace again. "He's here, Ace!"
"Luffy- What the hell do you mean?" Ace asked breathlessly, understanding came unbidden despite his roaring confusion.
"He's sleeping like you were! He should come back when he wakes up!" He explained and Ace for the life of him could not put the pieces together. Luffy huffed and shoved the silver dagger into Ace's hands with uncharacteristic care and the second the metal touched Ace he felt a raw connection slam into him with the force of a train. He pulled his hand away as if burned, feeling flayed and raw from the inside out. He doesn't know how he knows just that he knows that's his idiot twin brother. He stared at Luffy with wide eyes and dropped jaw. None of this makes sense. Luffy saw his confusion tip into fear and crawled into his lap carefully and wrapped his arms around his brother's torso, much more gently this time. Ace felt sick to his stomach as flashes of a scene he doesn't remember come to mind. Flashes of his sweet baby brother tearing through the flesh of that bastard, Bluejam. Feeling gleeful as he watched the man bleed out from somewhere even though he doesn't remember being there.
"You and 'Bo, protected me," Luffy whispered, tears filling his eyes again. "Didn't you?" Ace doesn't respond, only curled around the smaller boy. He held Luffy and Luffy held Sabo , and Ace doesn't think he'll be able to get used to referring to a knife as his brother. They stayed there for hours, not saying anything as they waited for their brother to wake up. And when he did it was just as discombobulating as it was for Ace. All three cried as it truly settled in just what they had gotten into, Sabo recalling the old legend he has shared with them months ago. None of it made any sense to the three boys but either way, they were together and safe. And that was what truly mattered.