Chapter Three: D

Warnings: Cursing, short chapter, death, unedited

Grief was a word that could describe a part of the feeling that was bubbling up in the teen's gut. Guilt, yeah, but it was more than that. Everything the teen was feeling was more, more—he couldn't describe the feeling entirely even if his or his brother's lives depended on it. The feeling was growing, too. Growing into this large mass inside of his mind that wouldn't go away. The mass would always be there, dormant; there was no way that he would allow these feelings to surface; his brothers would know then. Maybe they already know. But at least they don't show it. And he sure as hell doesn't share it either.

Sabo is a gentleman after all. He's well trained in the aspect of holding in feelings as if they were never there.

The blond teen brushes his scarred part of his face, remembering. Remembering how he had no idea who his brothers were. It's not like it would have changed anything, though. His older brother Ace would have sacrificed himself to keep him alive, even if it was for one more second. They were family, a bond deeper than blood and sake—a bond that would never falter. They only had each other now, Sabo reminds himself as he turns away from the burning island.

The ocean sent a peace offering to Sabo as it rocked him gently to sleep. Without thinking of it he pulled his younger brother, Luffy, closer to his chest as he stretches his feet on top of his older brother. The boat they escaped in was a mere row boat, barely holding the two fourteen year olds and the toddler. This boat was enough, though. It was enough. Ace, the eldest, kept his eyes closed as he felt Sabo drift to sleep.

God, did he need that, Ace thought.

They've been through enough already. Been through too much to be awake for three consecutive days. Sabo had been the one to plan it, though. He was the one who made it possible to sleep, hell, he was the one who made it possible that Ace and Luffy were still breathing. A miracle one would say but in this case it was no work of mysterious acts of a heavenly figure; it was the act of concise, backstabbing planning that made it possible. All those people who had raised Ace and Luffy were dead. The only good thing that came out of that was the only people—excluding the three on the row boat—who knew of their existence were also dead. That means that the three could start all over; start over with lies, deceit and murder.

Ace had no problem killing off people he grew up with which scared the life out of the older teen. He had no problem at all. It was all for a cause, though. Everything they have ever done was for a cause. Ace knew there was no hope for him to get better, Sabo knew too, but Luffy—he had all the time in the world. He'd never get sick, get cursed, but he would be hunted down. Hunted down just like the Celestial Dragons did to Ace.

Gol D. Ace, the only son of Gol D. Rodger, the King of Pirates. Of course the title didn't mean he was a pirate, no, it meant something more important. It symbolized his importance to the Government. Even though the World Government is similar to a dictatorship it did not mean that they could execute just anyone. They needed a reason to justify Rodger's disappearance without telling the world of who he really was: a "D". A true member of the "D" clan, not just somebody who wants to be a somebody who had changed their middle initial to a "D". With the world economy this low it was a fast train to glory and riches if a person had presented themselves with their middle initial "D".

Nobody knows what D stands for, nobody but the true D members.

Only Ace; only Ace knows.

0o0

On the Moby Ship it was not easy to hide who one truly is. Secrets don't hide on that ship and neither do evil lying traitors. Once word gets to one ear it ends up going around the entire ship: who banged who, who stole from who, who killed who. Teach knew this before he ever went on board the Moby Dick and before he got the mark on his back; before the sun first rose when he was born to the first night that he ever saw. It was common sense around the world that the Whitebeard Pirates were a loyal family who just loved gossip. Gossip was what the entire ship thrived on whether it was one of the division commanders or the lowest rankers on the ship; but Teach knew differently. He knew what the gossip really meant; it was to keep tabs on everyone, everything.

Nobody really trusted Teach. They didn't know him. All they knew was that there was something strange about him, something incredibly strange. But Whitebeard trusted him enough to allow him to have his mark. Something good must have shown through Teach. Something. So the members began to gossip and talk and talk.

'I bet he was an assassin who ran away from home'

'I heard one of the Vinsmoke ran away from home'

'Bet he's still holdin' on ta his cherry'

'Cruel, saw him in the last attack…'

It never stopped. Never. And to be truthful it bothered Teach enough to go to Whitebeard. He heard that Thatch had left and thought he could strike up a conversation about that or something; Thatch was the one who had initially brought him to this ship saying that it would help his light break through the darkness. Crazy man, Teach smiled as he remembered how he met the fourth.

Dead bodies filled the air with a rotting sensation. Any sane man would gag at the smell and if not the smell than the sight alone would. Dismembered body parts lingered around one man: Marshall D. Teach. His wanted poster was all around the world now even though he wanted to keep a more private life. But being born a D meant trouble and lots of it.

Teach turned around as he heard a faint whistle. It grew stronger as it neared. The whistle brought in a man with a strange 3-D hair style in a chief's outfit. His shoes were pure black and skipped through the puddles of blood and dead bodies, splashing onto his pure white outfit. Teach subconsciously stepped back as the man neared, obviously setting his sights on the bigger man. He flinched when the cook began to talk to him so casually.

"Howdy stranger, fancy meeting you here. I was just gonna smash this dirt around but it seems like someone already did that work for me. You know, usually farmers burn the ground after the season's over. To help the soil become healthier for the next season of growing. But you went up and just chopped them down. Lucky them."

Teach, appalled by this strange man, grunted. He wanted to leave because something was off about this man; he didn't run away from the bodies or the stench; he didn't look disgusted by the sloppy looks Teach was born with; he didn't turn away even though he is from the D clan. These signs frightened the fatter man profoundly, slightly disgusted by this act of friendliness. The act of familiarity.

"I saw yer wanted poster by the way. It's pretty high up on the mark, isn't it? A man should celebrate his bounty."

"And what's it to you? You have a high bounty."

"I celebrate every day," The crazy man said as he took out a bottle of rum from somewhere in his pocket. "You seem like you don't. Let's change that." He threw Teach the bottle after he took a sip.

Teach brought up his hand to his Pop's door, knocking gently. He knocked gently in case the old man was actually there. Teach was a nervous man; Whitebeard was a very intimidating man. Most times Whitebeard didn't mean to be. He was just huge. Teach was a big guy, fat, tall-ish, big head. But Whitebeard was a whole different kind of man. 'Big' didn't do him any justice. If 6 feet was tall, he was a giant. He had abs, though, something Teach was jealous of.

Teach never wanted to be who he was. He never wanted to be a 'D'. He never wanted to be cursed and thrown away by life as if he was trash. Teach knew what it meant when a man like him would be infected; the D clan was apart of the reason why the curse began with. He will die a very painful death with his eyes ripped out of his sockets. He would live in a world full of darkness and shame. Time will eat away his name and force his body to cease to exist. And when that happens he will be just a fragment in the dark, a whisper when the lights turn off.

That is what he feared more than anything in the world.

0o0

Marco was having a hard time talking with his father. Whitebeard knew it, too. But he couldn't do anything about it; it was a fact: he was going to die. Nothing could change that. But Whitebeard had lived a very fulfilling life so far: he made a family, made friends and enemies, breathed, hurt, and loved. It was a wonderful life. So wonderful.

So short.

Marco sighed as he heard a knock on Whitebeard's door. Nodding to his father he got up to open the door. Deep in thought he opened the door, unaware on who it was. He was about to leave the room to give the person some privacy with Pops until he saw who it was: Teach. There was always something that bothered Marco about Teach and it wasn't because of the rumors. His bird instincts told him to rip apart the man and peck his insides out but he had to fight the animalistic urge because what was standing before him was his brother. Many years ago he promised to protect his family, his sisters and brothers, his father, himself. Protecting them came from the core of who Marco was: a protector.

But he still wanted to rip apart every organ in that man.

Marco left the room with a glare as he turned the corner and then stopped. He didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave his father. Something was brewing up, or that was what Marco used as an excuse to stay there. He could barely hear the words being muttered but what he heard stuck inside of his head.

What? Marco couldn't gather up the majority of what was being said. Whitebeard had used the vibrations of his curse through the walls to warn Marco not to linger any more. Of course Whitebeard would know he was there. Pops had allowed him to hear one word clearly, though. The first commander didn't know what it meant or the importance of it.

Descendants.

0o0

The waters were getting dangerously aggressive by this point. The small row boat would break sooner than later. Fear crawled in the gut of the teenage boys as Sabo held onto Luffy tighter than necessary. He didn't want to lose anymore people at this point and Ace couldn't blame him for wanting that. Sabo wasn't like Ace in the manner of being numb to losing people; Ace lost his mother when he was four years old by marines; he lost his father when he was two by marines; he lost his adoptive mother, Dadan, due to a fire accident when he was twelve; lost his grandpa when he was thirteen when the World Government found out who he was and what he was capable of; lost his will to live, his sense of adventure and a part of him would say he lost a part of his soul.

Ace didn't want to admit it, but once Luffy was brought into his life he seemed to brighten up if only just a little. Luffy was this little ball of life that knew nothing of his heritage or about the history of the world. He was innocent and naive and always hungry and sometimes a little shithead but he was there, he was here. He was everything to Ace and Sabo. Something that they swore to protect. Luffy was... Their hope. Their present. Their future. And Ace would do anything to keep that baby boy alive, even if it meant he would be exposed to the entire goddamn world.

The row boat ripped in half as the waves crushed the wood. In that second Ace jumped over to Sabo and Luffy and grabbed them as his feet morphed together into a fish tail. Scales crawled up his spine, wrapping around his belly button. His features, no longer awkward and gawky, fined out into a beautified beast. His eyes began to glow in the dark, this bright gray shimmer. The waves were no longer a danger for the three kids; the water was now their home. Ace felt alive, really alive, in the water. His arms held Sabo, the slightly taller teen, who was currently holding Luffy.

Sabo mouthed a question to Ace as his long arms wrapped around his older brother, pushing Luffy in between the two teen's chests.

"Luffy isn't a siren." Ace said in the most exotic voice Sabo had ever heard, much less imagined. As Ace spoke, explaining how he and Luffy were different yet extremely similar, the water near them calmed down. The deep blue ocean began to lighten up the more he spoke as if he was purifying the water around them.

Guest: D has something to do with it but it's a little more than that. I'll explain it in other chapters because I don't want to give away any spoilers :) But yes, there can be more than one person with the same curse.