Chapter Text
96.
It was dismissible at first. The moments when Ace would find him when he hid after pulling a prank, then he was able to pick out the man quickly from a very dense crowd and during an incident where they had to split up to avoid marines, where Thatch had to venture way deep into a dense jungle.
It was how Ace could just walk right through. No compass, no lead, not a shout or action taken to track like a normal person. It's a hum. The way he inclines his head not to a sound but to something only he sees. He finds Thatch immediately and they were able to make it back safely.
" Ace, did you make a vivre card for me?" The chef finally asked as they were sitting over the deck for a night watch.
Izo is in the crow's nest today, the slight shift in his position showed that he was paying attention to their conversation. Vivre cards are personal, they can't be made without the owner's consent and Thatch doesn't remember ever agreeing to one of his own.
" No." There's not a hint of hesitation. " I don't need one when it comes to you. Like me and the Others, we can see each other. I shared with you my Light. I know you're there, no matter how far you'll be because I can see you."
" That... doesn't make much sense."
" Give me a sec." He ventured off, heading towards Pops' room. After a while, he returns with their Pops and Marco in tow. " Follow me." He takes Thatch's hand in his own and leads him up to the figurehead of the Moby.
Marco is with them, looking a bit displeased with whatever was on the figurehead. Thatch leans over for a better look and has to squint to properly see the rough scratches etched on the white head. " When did you put this here-yoi?"
" After the war." Ace admits, now standing over the mark. A ring of gold circled the outer rim of his silver eyes and he looks up into the sky. " Thatch, stand next to me."
He does as he's asked and immediately his gaze is drawn upwards. To a gathering of stars clearer than he's ever seen them before and he sees one burning brighter than the rest with the name right on the tip of his tongue, he gasps and stumbles. Marco catches him before he falls.
" What did you see?" Jozu asked.
" Stars." It was a rather cloudy night. That shouldn't be possible.
" You saw my name, right?" Ace says. " I can see yours too. I can see Luffy, Sabo, Uta, Yamato and even Law up there." They each exchanged a few understanding nods and curious glances.
" Do you see any more of us up there?" Squard, who was visiting at the time, asked in a surprisingly meek tone.
Ace shakes his head. " I can't really see anyone else but that's mostly because I shared Light with Thatch. Your names are up there, make no mistake. I just can't see them." He reassured his crew. " Think of it as a constellation. You could map out one or two groups of stars but that doesn't mean there aren't more of them. The universe is really fucking big."
Belheim couldn't help to snort.
" So, you carved a magic symbol on the figurehead to track down your cluster and Thatch?" Haruta asked.
" I also send them money with like cosmic magic." He demonstrates with some beli in hand which disappears into particles of light.
Thatch reaches into his previously empty pocket to discover the delivered beli.
" Ace."
" Yeah?"
" ACE." Haruta grabs his shoulders. " DOES THAT WORK WITH LETTERS?"
" No. Just money." The shorter man deflates.
" So magic transaction line?" Vista says unhelpfully.
" Magic transaction line."
97.
" What is your captain?" Zoro paused in the middle of his kata, turning towards his current mentor who was looking at him with an expectant gaze.
" We don't know." The swordsman answered before returning to his practice.
" You don't know." The man pointed out.
" I don't need to." He replied gruffly. " He doesn't know because there isn't anything to know. He talked about a Before, whatever that means. He doesn't have the answers you're looking for so neither do I?"
" What's the Before?" Perona asks this time, a hollow dangerously close to him. " Straight answers only."
" Hell if I know. He just says it's too quiet...and lonely. Best I got out of it was that he was on his own for a long time before he met Uta and they ended up Here right after that." He leans away from the hollow.
" Before and Here." Mihawk hums with interest. " You've chosen a very interesting man to follow."
98.
" Oh, Torao!" Luffy called with his mouth full. " Do you remember anything Before?"
The other captain looks up from where he was eating his onigiri. " It's not the same as you, Luffy-ya. It's not my Before that I remember."
" Still, what's it like? Me and Uta got a super boring Before. Sabo and Ace had lots more stuff than us. Especially Ace. His Before isn't his either, like you, but he had so much stuff! It sounded like a lot of fun." Not a single person on that table could make even a lick of sense of their conversation.
" Then, I guess mine is pretty...alive." It's the only description he gives, eyes looking more faraway. " But it's lonely." Luffy has a rare look of understanding before smiling wide.
" Yeah! I wouldn't trade Here for Before!"
" Even with all the darkness you've seen Here?" There's a ghost of a smile on his lips. His cluster was a new weakness he couldn't control.
Luffy grinned back regardless. " Never."
99.
Sabo was cool, not like that. Everyone knows he's a badass. But he's cool. As in, cold. It isn't freezing temperatures or anything that seems drastic, but it's like he was literally cold blooded.
Some compared him to a corpse, making all sorts of people worried especially when he was young. He would say that it's always been that way. That he was cold but Ace was warm and Luffy was probably the most normal when it comes to temperature.
And after he met with the rest of the six he proudly proclaimed that Law was colder than him. Iva confirmed that while Luffy was rather normal, he had an aversion to the cold and would quickly have frost on his clothes.
Yamato was the closest to a normal human being, but he enjoyed training in harsh conditions so it was difficult to say anything normal for the oni.
100.
It was supposed to be a very well thought out trap. All creatures have a weakness to their places of origin, their homes. The simultaneous attack against the six, with the use of a remarkable holographic technology that would have replicated exactly what their previous environments were Before, had failed spectacularly.
They took one glance at the recreated environment and immediately turned away. The reactions of their respective company varied from awe to concern. Especially when the six turned away.
" Why did you turn away?"
They heard the question asked by their respective companies either verbally or silently. By all means, each of their Befores were in beautiful scenic worlds with vast landscapes. At first glance you can see its brilliance, how vibrant and fantastical life was on the other side.
However, upon deeper inspection, you can see the emptiness within the vastness. Loneliness in the wide walks of life. There were some differences to each world but the constant remained.
" There's nothing for me there."
The six all answered the same.
For all its beauty, the worlds they saw had nothing but ruins. Even the world of Ace's Before, that were inhabited mostly by child-like beings, lived among ruins. Whatever civilizations that were there, had long gone.
For those who understand history, can already see the juxtaposition of those worlds with their current one. The dawning realisation of each end of their great work. The start, the prosperity, the ambition and the catastrophic downfall.
Promises that if nothing changes, this was what the future of their own world comes to be.
The six are different. For all that their worlds should have been. Should have strived to be.
In all that they are, they wouldn't have changed a thing if they were still simply human. It's why they were still born Here while retaining qualities from Before.
What they were had changed little of who they are.
They were simply themselves and that would always be enough.