Chapter 24: Ace's Tears

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You looked at where Ace fell, satisfied knowing he would land on a pile of rocks rather than the sea and comforted by the fact that he was too far away to intervene.

Without missing a beat you turned towards Blackbeard, sending him flying with a bolt of water. He let out a noise of surprise at the sudden attack. You ran towards him, calling forth waves as you pushed him down towards the ground, drowning him with the full force of your power. His struggle was futile, you had caught him by surprise. You stopped yourself from thinking about who you were fighting, the extent of his powers and what he could actually do to you.

Just then something caught your eye. Your staff- the jewel was filling with water. It was a small but noticeable build up of water that was moving inside the gem. Was something wrong with your staff?

Your distraction gave way for Blackbeard, as he stood up against the waves in your moment of confusion and punched you. You flew back, your face not broken into pieces simply due to the wall of water you had formed seconds before impact.

You fell hard on the ground, affected vastly even with the water's protection keeping you from his maximum strength. You coughed as you struggled to breathe. Your hands were shaking both from adrenaline and from seeing Ace, whose eyes had been cold and distant.

-"And who might you be?" Blackbeard asked with an energetic smile and eyes filled with interest. The village was no longer present, now only a clear terrain lay on the ground, filled with dirt, soil and dust.

Without waiting for your reply Blackbeard's powers rose among the light, filling the air with darkness. Your eyes widened in panic when you realised the shadows were not aiming for you but towards where you had pushed Ace.

You cut his attack off and sent darts of water his way, piercing his legs and arms before he managed to block your attacks. You knew that Blackbeard did not see you as a worthy opponent and wanted to cut the issue from its stem. Ace. But you wouldn't let him through.

He grunted in pain at the wounds that were now bleeding. In his moment of distraction you eyed your staff once again, panicking once you noticed the amount of water had increased much more than when you first noticed the leak. What was wrong with your staff?

-"They call you the Saver right? How interesting, that the name has led you here." Blackbeard spoke up, laughing at his own joke as he regained his balance. "You caught me by surprise. But now you will get a taste of real darkness." he spoke up again, seeming to enjoy your attempts which were -in his eyes- futile.

-"I don't care how you think this is going to turn out. I won't let you touch him." you said, hoping Ace wouldn't have time to intervene.

The ground trembled. You raised up an earthquake as cracks started to form on the ground, before Blackbeard realised a hole had opened up on the place where he stood, sending him spiraling down. Your tremor abilities continued to shake the land as even more cracks appeared in the ground.

The midday sun was unforgiving as it shined upon you. There was nothing blocking it from reaching you. The area now resembled a desert; There were no signs of civilization left on the battlefield. Simply men and their disastrous damage to an island and its ecosystem.

You breathed in a gulp of air to regain your stamina, the humidity along with the constant use of your staff tiring you out. However, before you actually managed to regain your energy, you felt yourself being pulled by your ankles as you fell to the ground and got dragged across the dirt.

Screaming in shock and pain at the sudden impact, you looked down to see what was grabbing you and saw a shadow in the shape of a hand latched on to your ankle. The sight gave you chills, making you claw the ground you were being dragged on. Suddenly you came to a halt, laying frozen on the ground as Blackbeard towered over you, resembling a devil. He glared down at you, making you feel small and weak. You whimpered.

-"Quite an interesting power. So interesting that it reminds me of someone. Care to tell me where you got it from?" he said, raising you from the ground by your arm. You yelped, your arm stinging from his forceful grip. He knows my powers are similar to Whitebeards. The pain didn't last long as a sudden kick landed on Blackbeard's face causing both of you to pummel to the ground.

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You groaned as you rubbed your butt, which had taken much of the damage. Besides you Blackbeared complained and muttered out "Ow"s as he tried to put the fire out from his hair. You looked up, making eye contact with a furious Ace who stood a few feet in front of you, hands were engulfed in flames.

-"We will talk about this later. Don't move. And whatever you do, don't do the thing you did at the bar before I left." he said looking at you. Was he telling you not to use Whitebeard's power? It was a little late for that... Ace turned towards Blackbeard, who had stood up from the sudden attack, but was still rubbing the spot on his face where Ace had kicked him.

-"What's with you guys..." Blackbeard complained, tired from the quick attacks. Ace stared at him with disinterest.

-"Keep her out of this. She doesn't have anything to do with any of us." Ace spoke up, staring at Blackbeard with a threatening gaze. Making sure not to turn his gaze towards you.

-"Oh. Is that so?" Blackbeard asked as he turned towards you. Nothing you did could have braced you for his next move.

All at once, his colossal hand was at your throat as he raised you from the ground. You struggled to breath as you gasped out in agony.

-"I'm sorry it had to come to this, but her powers intrigue me. How did she come to have it? What is she hiding?" Blackbeared spoke, looking at Ace. Your throat burned from lack of oxygen, your eyes starting to blur, vision turning dark.

Ace's eyes widened in shock as he stopped in his tracks. It was too late; you had used Whitebeard's ability and caught Blackbeard's attention, Ace couldn't keep you away from this battle anymore. Your mind was in panic mode, as you tried to struggle, to get away from his hands. Fear pooled in your stomach.

-"Don't fucking touch her!" Ace growled.

-"Assuming she is a devil fruit user, now she can't use her power. I nullified them. As long as I'm touching her she is of no use. Without the devil fruit, her physical powers...won't help her much." Blackbeard threatened Ace as they stared each other off. Ace was in panic for the first time since the beginning of the battle, showing his emotions and losing his concentration.

Ace made a move to attack, but just as he did Blackbeard squeezed your throat even tighter, causing Ace to freeze. You tried to gasp in a breath, clawing at Blackbeard's hand that was holding you down. You could feel your body going numb.

Ace struggled to find a solution, his eyes full of worry as he stared at you. He was very headstrong when it came to issues involving himself, but when people close to him were hurt he was easily affected. The temperature turned hot, as Ace's fire surrounded him in angry frustration. He looked wild, brows furrowed, eyes filled with fury and his hands clenched, drawing blood from the inside of his palm.

-"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Blackbeard simply responded to Ace's reaction, knowing he had the upper hand and that you couldn't pull any tricks. You fought to keep your eyes open, to breathe. But you knew you were losing consciousness. Suddenly, through half a piece of mind, you had an idea.

You weren't a devil fruit user. Blackbeard's ability allowed him to block devil fruit users when he was physically touching them. He couldn't nullify your staff since he wasn't touching it!

You fought your eyes open, pushing yourself to your limits to look at your hands, which you could no longer feel, to check if you were still holding your staff. A surge of hope and energy filled you when you saw that you were still holding onto it.

The moment you willed yourself to use your powers, you felt the grip on your throat disappear. Blackbeard fell back as water surged towards him, pushing him back. You fell to the ground with a thud as you gasped in and out, your attack only taking place for mere seconds. Your eyes along with your throat burned in pain as you choked on your own spit. Coughing and crying at the same time.

Suddenly warm muscular arms surrounded you, trying to comfort you. Ace looked at you with shame as he stared at your throat, grasping tightly at your shoulders, he reached his hands over -hesitated- and finally  touched the bruise that had formed in the shape of a hand print. His expression looked miserable.

-"You keep getting bruised when you are with me." he said, still looking at your throat full of worry. At his words all you felt was guilt. You wanted to tell him so many things: "I want to help you." "I'm sorry." But your throat was completely closed up.

Ace gently placed you down towards the ground, as if he was trying to limit any other pain you would go through while being put down. Just as he did, darkness surrounded you two. Ace got thrown to the side and you tumbled back at the sudden force.

The clash had yet to end.

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You eyed your staff once again. The water was halfway up inside the gem. You didn't know what was wrong with it nor how to fix it but it would have to do until Luffy and his crew arrived.

You grasped your staff tightly. You knew you had taken damage, but Ace wasn't doing much better than you were. But after all of this you wouldn't let anything happen to Ace. You had come too far. You looked at Ace who seemed to have hit his head on a rock and was having an issue regaining his balance. You pushed him out of the way with water, hoping to distract him till the end.

-"Sorry to tell you but my powers don't work like a devil fruit users. Let's just end this." You said, your voice coming out horse. Blackbeard turned towards you in a quick move, pulling you in with his gravity. Before he could touch you, you hit him with water, creating space between you two.

You raised your hands. The staff glowed once again, as you called upon a huge force of water. The sea surrounding the island rose up high enough to block the sun and the temperature dropped. The staff trembled underneath your hand as you forced the water to move towards your target: Blackbeard.

He returned the favor, calling forth his darkness as he too surged towards you in quick moves. But you wouldn't have it. With each hit you drew him back, blocking him from getting close to you and Ace.

-"What the fuck are you doing!" Ace shouted towards you, trying to get out of the hold of your water lock. "Stop! You can't defeat him!" he shouted once again.

You smiled, knowing he was right and hoping to prove both of you wrong.

You flew back from a hit Blackbeard landed on you, tumbling on the ground but not releasing your hold on Ace nor your attacks on Blackbeard. Just then you saw something across the sea.

That ship. No way.

You knew that ship!

LUFFY!

You almost screamed in happiness but stopped yourself, not wanting Blackbeard to notice their arrival.

You turned towards Blackbeard once again knowing you had to distract him from the ship. You raised your hands and closed them up, the water moved along with you, closing in around him. You eyed your staff; The water was now on the verge of completely filling up the jewel.

You halted, scared of what would happen if it filled completely. But you didn't have time to think. At your smallest pause, Blackbeard broke free and surrounded your sight with darkness.

You couldn't question anything, you didn't have the luxury. You would have to do it.

You gritted your teeth, ignoring Ace who had freed himself from your water and was running towards you.

You raised your staff which was now lighting up the area, opposing the sinister aura Blackbeard had enclosed the island in.

-"Water lock!" Water once again closed around Blackbeard. However this time the attack was monstrous. It looked magnificent, as if a hurricane was taking place on top of the peninsula. The waves swirled around and rode the wind, slowly circling him. He had nowhere to run. You smiled.

Then a voice rose amongst the island:

-"NO! Don't use that attack! Don't let the staff-" What? You knew that voice.

Your old man? Was he here?

You immediately looked around to see where he was, but didn't see any sight of him.

Even if you did, it was too late.

You lowered the staff in a swift move as the water locked around Blackbeard in a blinding rage. Along with it, your staff emitted a striking glow. It shook underneath your hand.

Your eyes widened. The water had completely filled-

You flew back as a sudden explosion took place. You fell to the ground, hitting a rock harshly. Looking down at your hands the view made you scream. There was blood all over the place, but what caught your eye wasn't that.

It was the fact that your staff's jewel was broken into tiny little pieces.

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You looked up and saw Ace on the ground a few feet away from you. Affected by the impact of the explosion when he was trying to reach you. You scrunched your face and looked down at your hands, feeling the urge to throw up

What brought you back to reality was the laughter that filled the silent Island. You froze in fear. This all felt so unrealistic to you. A final attack, you had accomplished to form a final attack. You had given it your all but there he stood, Blackbeard in all of his glory atop the land, water pooled around him in the shape of a small pond.

-"I must give you credit. You scared me. I Thought you got me." Blackbeard laughed turning towards you. You wanted to cry, to scream at the world but it was too late. "But the attack cut short. I'm guessing it's because your staff broke?" he pointed at the broken piece of your jewel. You looked down at the pieces of the gem laying in your bloodied hands. What could this mean?

Your insides churned. You were powerless.

In the corner of your eyes, you saw movement. THE SHIP!

It was much closer! It could easily be seen once you knew it was there. There was still hope!

You fought to keep your face monotone. To keep Blackbeard from noticing your last chances of survival. Your hope.

-"So the staff is what gives you power. Where did you get that power? The tremors are so...so interesting. Too bad it broke." He continued to speak. You didn't respond, only hoping that he would continue his trivial talk till the ship got close enough.

-"You are shockingly quiet." Blackbeard joked and laughed at his own joke as he did. "Don't worry, we will talk much more about that staff of yours. But for now I have to settle some matters first." He turned towards Ace as he talked, who was still unconscious from the explosion. Your stomach dropped.

He was going to kill Ace.

You tried to stand up as Blackbeard walked but fell to the ground. Blackbeard wasn't moving too fast either, as if he was enjoying your futile attempts to help. Slowly he turned towards Ace. Still staring at your eyes as he moved, filling his sword with a dark hue, his devil ability.

Suddenly a shout rang across the empty land:

-"ACE!"

You looked up in a frenzy and saw Luffy who had thrown himself from the ship and was speeding towards the island. At his sudden outcry Blackbeard noticed their arrival, moving much more fast paced. Trying to end the battle before it turned even more messy.

At the barring noises Ace stirred in his place. But it was too late.

None of them would make it. Luffy was too far.

You jumped up from the ground, panic overriding your pain. Blackbeard raised his sword as you ran. Ace fully woke up. Blackbeard pulled down his sword in a swift move towards Ace and just as he did, you jumped.

Ace's eyes widened ten fold at what he saw.

The sword went through your stomach in one slicing move and you fell to the ground in a thud.

Blood leaked from your mouth as you struggled to breath. The pain all felt familiar.

Ace's mouth hung agape as he crawled towards you, screaming in anguish and pure terror. Luffy arrived seconds later landing on Blackbeard, sending both of them flying a few feet away from where your body lay, his teammates followed after him.

Your whole body felt numb, but from your position you guessed Ace had placed you in his lap. Ace gasped in and out as he took your face in his hands, calling your name. You looked over at Luffy's crew. They all seemed to be looking at Ace in horror, seeing him for the first time after their faithful encounter in Alabasta. Such a gentleman; now screaming and crying and you...All of you knew it was too late for you.

You laughed; a dry cough following in its stead. The crews terror making the situation seem funny.

-"Thank god they are here." you sighed out, barely a whisper.

-"Sav- Sav For the love of God stay with me. Don't close your eyes." Ace's face held pure horror as he stared at you. His hand covering half of your face, as you felt the only thing your body could recognize, heat.

You smiled. Barely hearing anything but knowing Luffy would take care of Ace.

-"Thank god." you said again, tears welling up in your eyes. There were so many things you wanted to say to Ace. So, so many things but your mouth clamped shut only allowing blood to escape from them.

-"Take ca-.." you tried to speak anyway, trying to tell him your emotions. Take care. Be well. Don't be too prideful. Don't act stupid. I love..

-"I.. I-" you coughed again, blood spreading everywhere.

You opted to smile. Even now you couldn't say anything to the man you were leaving behind. 

-"Please don't talk. Just- just breathe, I'm gonna get you out of here. Okay?" He spoke in short breaths, crouching towards you as he hugged your body close. Covering you with his body as if trying to protect you from any more harm. "Pops, Marco! What do I do!?" He gasped in trying to breathe. You raised your hands, trying to reach his face, but you were too weak, far too gone to do anything anymore. Using your last energy you said two word, the words he too had used in his final moments:

-"Thank you." You smiled as your hand fell back to your body limply. 

One single tear rolled down your cheeks, and one more landed on you from the sky... Even that final tear felt warm.

On a rainy day, you closed your eyes. Two teardrops sent you off in a warm farewell. 

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Please don't kill me. Please I beg you. Did you enjoy this chapter? 

I wanted to ask you guys a question in the conversation section in my profile but realized most of my readers don't follow so they wouldn't see it. Hence I decided to ask it here!

QUESTION: WHICH CHAPTER WAS YOUR FAVORITE OUT OFF ALL OF THEM THIS FAR?

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