Well you made it this far, might as well as finish the damn story….

Sabo's awakening was a harsh one. He flailed and fought, and almost clawed Ace with sharp talons, but the Gorgóna's soothing song was able to calm the harpy down quite a bit.

The next few hours were spend with Ace trying to fix up Sabo's few injuries, while also berating the blond for not taking better care of himself.

And once he was calm, Ace was able to explain that he was making friends with Marco (the blond that had threatened him at first) and that these human pirates weren't the bad sort.

Sabo took all that Ace said with a grain of salt and glared at anyone that tried to approach the, now shared, cage. But when Thatch caught, killed, and presented Sabo with an entire Sea King, the harpy was willing to accept the chef's presence.

Marco took a lot of getting used to.

The harpy wanted to spit and hiss at the pirate, for threatening Ace, for keeping him in a cage, for capturing Sabo as well, for being the cause of all their issues. But seeing Ace light up every time the other blond came on deck made it hard for the harpy to stay pissed off.

Instead, he sullenly nested in the corner while his brother chatted with Marco.

A week passed like that, with Sabo tolerating Marco's presence for Ace, when suddenly the blond pirate said something entirely wrong.

"We are probably a few days away from really needing a restock, so we are passing a few islands in favor of Drum, seeing as we normally stop there when we are in the area, yoi. The navigators think it'll be a week at most."

Sabo scoffed and hopped his way over to his brother and Marco, eyes lighting up in glee when the other blond gave him a glare. The pirate didn't like interruptions with Ace time, but tough shit. Ace was Sabo's first, anyway.

"What, yoi?"

Ace had told Sabo of Marco's speech impediment, but the harpy was still shocked every time he heard it. That didn't stop him from laying some knowledge onto the stupid human though.

"We are two weeks from Drum. The winds die down in this area, and the storms of this season will delay us pretty significantly."

"Oh? And what do you know about navigation, yoi?"

Sabo bared his teeth at the scathing question, but Ace stopped the fight before it even started with a simple look in the harpy's direction. Fine. He wouldn't start a fight with the unfairly attractive human.

"I'm a bloody harpy. I fly around all the time. I've flown these waters many times, and I think a ship that relies on the wind should pay some attention to a being that's flown."

Marco looked thoughtful at those words, and while Sabo kind of wanted to start a fight, he understood that the human wanted a somewhat pleasant relationship.

There was a fat chance of that, though. Ace may be oblivious, but Sabo recognized the attraction present in the pirate's eyes. It was no doubt similar to what Sabo's own blue eyes held.

"You make a fair point, yoi. But we are good for about two weeks anyway. We'll be fine till Drum. Past Drum if we really push it, yoi."

Sabo shrugged and nestled down next to his brother. There was something about the idea of Drum that was pressing on his memory, but the harpy couldn't pin down what it was and forgot it in favor of listening to the human's stories and basking in his brother's closeness.

After that particular exchange, Sabo was a lot more pleasant to Marco when he came by, which was more frequent than just during his shifts.

Now, not only did Ace enjoy having Marco's attention, but so did Sabo. The human was fascinating and not at all freaked out by how odd a male harpy was. Barely even batted an eyelash when Sabo mentioned he was the first of his kind.

Four days after Sabo arrived on deck, and both Mythicals were excited to see Marco and talking with other crewmates as well.

Namur in particular had made a quick move in apologizing shortly after they started opening up to the others. He told them he only held the water over Ace's head to calm them down, because of fire's weakness to the water, he didn't know it would kill the Gorgóna at all.

Both Sabo and Ace laughed it off and said no worries. How were any of them to know anything about a Gorgóna when Ace was the last one in existence?

A few more days pass, and both Sabo and Ace were greatly enjoying their time with the Whitebeards, but they noticed a temperature drop at night.

Sabo figures that it's just because they are near a spring island, and cuddles close to Ace at night while using his wings and feathers to keep out the cold.

But the nights start getting even colder than a spring island, and the cold starts seeping into the days too. Now a crew member would be shocked to not find Ace curled up in Sabo's lab, with the harpy gripping at the Gorgóna with tight arms.

Idly, the crew can't help but worry if they might be cold, but Ace has a tail of fire, so that can't be it.

Marco would have asked a question or two about their sudden weird behavior, but the first mate was out on a mission for Pops. He was tracking down a nearby ally to ask about a map that they needed to try and find their way back to the Sunny Go Island.

The first mate told Whitebeard that they should mark the islands location, but his old man just laughed it off and said they wouldn't need it.

Sure.

Well they sure did seem to need it now.

So while the nights were edging more and more towards freezing and frozen, and Ace and Sabo started slowing down, eating less, and refusing to move more, Marco was blissfully unaware as he shared drinks with one of the few siblings with their own ship.

The request had hardly taken any time at all, Whitey Bay was more than happy to hand over the map to Sunny Go, but like always, a party needed to be had.

On the day before Marco was due back, Izou took note of the fact that Ace's tail seemed smaller today than it normally did, but the pretty man put it to the side as a trick of the cold and went to talk to Thatch.

The chef was a little more worried than his boyfriend, and mentioned that they two Mythicals had been eating less, but Izou assuaged those worries by saying that they must no longer be starving if they are no longer eating like wild animals.

Morning dawned and Marco's small ship docked to the larger Moby, and the blond smiled to himself, excited to see the two attractive Mythicals. It had been a few days after all, and he was sure the two would like to try the exotic meat Bay had forced on him as he was leaving.

Unfortunately nothing could have prepared Marco for the sight that greeted him in the middle of the cage.

A happy Sabo and Ace waving to him, a song or exciting yelling, that's what he was expecting.

Never could he have imagined a shivering Sabo with his pale blue feathered wings wrapped around an Ace whose tail was out.

All Marco could see was bone. Stark white, thin, and not supposed to be there, bone.

Officially the last fucking line.

Marco was only gone for a few days, a week at the most, so arriving to the horrific sight of what looked like a dead Sabo and Ace? Not something he was expecting in the least.

The first mate threw his stuff to the side and ran to the cage, ripping the door open without even thinking about unlocking. Idly he wondered why the two hadn't tried to escape together, but maybe they both had simply gotten attached.

Entirely beside the point though.

He placed his two fingers on the side of the neck of Ace's neck, pleading for a pulse.

When he felt the weak but slightly steady thump thump thump of blood pulsing through the blood stream of the Gorgόna's body, he couldn't help but let out a huge sigh.

Looking up at Sabo, Marco was shocked again to see the male harpy blinking slowly, his head tilted down, body shaking subtly in what seemed to be cold.

"Sabo?"

It took a while for the other blond to respond, his eyes still blinking slowly, his mouth opening slightly as he turned to look at Marco more fully.

"M-m-ma-a-ar-marc-c-c-c-o-marco?" Sabo's teeth were chattering something fierce, and Marco yelled for some blankets and something warm.

"What happened, yoi? What's wrong with you? And Ace, yoi? What's wrong with Ace?!"

Marco was hard to shatter, hard to confuse, hard to shock, but the two Mythicals did things to the first mate that other people didn't. It was both annoying and hot as hell.

"C-co-c-c-col-cold. I-i-it-it-it's c-c-co-co-c-c-cold." Sabo stuttered out, his eyes closing slowly but not opening again. Marco was worried.

"Here, Marco, fleece blanket." Thatch's voice knocked Marco out of his fear, and he grabbed the blanket from his chef brother and wrapped the two Mythicals up in it tightly.

"Body heat, too. Don't forget body heat darling." Izou's voice was soothing and filled with some rather smart advice.

The first mate just nodded, ripping his shirt off in a smooth move, opening the blanket and joining the two Mythicals underneath it. Marco wrapped Ace up in his arms, pressing the Gorgόna's back to his own chest.

Sabo let out a light coo, eyes still blinking slowly, and cuddled into Marco's warmth. It was important moments like this that he really loved the fact that he tended to run higher than normal.

"Someone build a fire, yoi!"

Marco squeezed them both closer to his body, trying to share as much as his body heat as he possibly could, but the sight of bones where Ace's normally fiery tail was scared the fuck out of him. It was like a long rib cage, no muscles, just bone that went from thick ear his hips to narrower where his fins were supposed to be.

"M-mm-marc-marco…A-a-a-ace f-f-f-fi-fire…i-i-in." Sabo tried to speak again, his words coming out fragmented and slow, but Marco just pulled him in tighter and wrapped the blanket more firmly around the three of them.

But Sabo pushed the first mate away for some reason, Marco made a noise of negativity, but the harpy kept on pushing.

"N-n-no. A-a-ce, f-f-f-fire, pu-pu-put i-i-in."

The first mate was very confused. Did Sabo want Marco to put the Gorgόna in the fire the others were building? What would that do?

"I need to put Ace in the fire, yoi?"

Obviously that was what the harpy was trying to convey because he started to nod his head jerkily, still cold but also wanting to communicate the best he could.

After that though it seemed like Sabo had no more energy, as he just curled up tighter into Marco's open and welcoming arms.

"The fire is done, Marco, move a little closer." Izou's voice caressed his ears slightly, and the blond stood, holding a Mythical in each arm as he did. Sabo whined as the cold air hit his body and his feathers. However he did have enough energy to wrap his wings around Marco's neck as he moved.

The scary thing was the fact that Ace didn't make a single sound. Not a grunt, not a moan, not a light scream, nothing. It wasn't something that he expected of a Mythical like Ace who was constantly making a noise of some sort.

With care and maneuvering worthy of a ninja, Marco stepped his way through concerned crewmates and made for the nicely sized fire Izou had started.

Sabo made a slight whine with ever step, and there was nothing Marco could do to stop the soothing sounds that came from his own mouth in response to the pain the other was going through.

After throwing Ace in the fire, Marco would focus on warming up the harpy, maybe find him a coat that they could cut the sleeves off of for the beautiful wings. That might keep him warm enough for them to make it out of the cold island's pull.

"Oi, Thatch, tell the navigators to move us away from the winter islands, yoi. Tell them to head towards a summer one!" Marco yelled out, distracted from everything but the two in his arms and how he could save them from the cold.

"But we need supplies commander!"

"You can't just extend our trip by four more days!"

"More days means rationing!"

"Rationing fucking sucks commander!"

"Did I ask for your fucking opinion, yoi?!"

The crew all jumped back, surprised at the harshness in their first commander's voice, something they had only ever heard from him when he was talking to an enemy.

"Ace and Sabo could be fucking dying. And all you care about is fucking rations, about making your lives a little less comfortable, yoi. Stop being fucking assholes!" Marco cursed at them, his arms shaking as he held the two Mythicals close.

All of the Whitebeards had the decency to look ashamed as Izou ran off to the navigation room, telling them to change course for warmer climate.

Marco started when Thatch laid his hand on his should, almost shocking him into dropping both Mythicals into the blazing reds.

"I think you are close enough to fire there, bro. You can warm them up from here."

But the first mate shrugged his brother off, ignoring what would normally be good advice, but Sabo told Marco to put Ace into the fire, so Marco was damn well going to put the Gorgόna in the fire. If Ace's brother said that that was what was needed to get his tail going, then that was what Marco was going to trust.

Brothers often times knew best.

It was why Marco always told his siblings what to do, but that was more due to life experiences than actual knowledge. But like hell he was going to give away his secret.

"Wait, Marco, what are you doing?" Thatch's voice rose higher, but Marco ignored it, especially the alarm that was present in his tone. All he needed to do was put Ace into the fire. He would be fine then and not almost dead.

"Marco! Stop!"

This time the yelling came with another hand, but Marco slapped it away and glared at his red-haired brother. Ace's life was more important than any scrupulous feelings Thatch may or may not have had.

It was none of his business anyway. Sabo and Ace were his responsibilities. His.

Without even pausing to think of what this would look like, Marco turned back to the hot blaze and took a single step closer. Hauling Ace up just a little further until he was even with the tallest part of the flames, Marco took a deep breath.

"Παρακαλώ. (Please.)"

The whispered word in Mythikós was the only one that Sabo and Ace had taught him, a prayer to the All-One for kindness, or hope, or anything really. And if there was any time Marco would ever need the whispered word, it was now.

One more deep breath, Sabo's steadying presence to one side, and the Mythical the first mate needed to save on the other. Marco made to place the Gorgóna into the blaze but a hiss from Sabo had him stopping that action.

"D-don't. H-hurt. S-s-sel-self. T-t-t-toss."

"I'm not just going to toss him into the fire, Sabo, yoi." Marco responded to the harpy with a completely deadpan voice, looking at his blond companion like he had an extra head or two.

"You're not putting anyone in the fire, Marco! Stop being so stubborn!" Thatch's voice was both unwanted and annoying, so the first mate decided not to even warn him away again, or even acknowledge his presence. Marco was a bit busy have both a verbal and non-verbal conversation with a freezing dumb harpy.

"T-toss. Nnnn-ot. Hur-hur-hurt."

"I don't care if it won't hurt him, yoi. I'm not tossing him!"

"D-di-di-die. N-nee-need. Ffff-fi-fire."

"That's why I am going to place Ace into the fire."

"Nnnnno. Hh-hurt. Ssss-se-self."

"I'll be fire, Sabo. Don't worry about me, yoi."

"Ssss-stu-stupid."

The blue eyes' glaring into his own was what really had Marco saying fuck it and giving into the harpy's demands. For a harpy that was good at talking he also had expressive fucking eyes.

"Fine. But if he gets mad at me it's on your head, yoi." Marco huffed out, and Sabo answered with a broken chuckle, but it was an improvement on his previous almost cathartic state, so that had to count for something.

One more deep breath, and no whispered prayer this time, and Marco tossed Ace into the almost large bonfire burning on the deck.

There were gasps and shouts of shock from many different places around the ship, the loudest being from Thatch just behind Marco.

He really wanted to watch the process of Ace absorbing the fire, or whatever the hell he was doing in the flames, but that was kind of interrupted by a good right hook that connected to Marco's cheek.

Stopping yourself in midair is a talent that Marco unfortunately did not possess, so he crashed right into the deck, just in time to hear and loud, odd-sounding moan.

Marco's head snapped to the side, to where the fire and the Gorgóna were, Sabo doing much the same only at a slower rate from his side.

The sight was both breathtakingly beautiful and unfairly ethereal.

Ace was writhing in the flames. Body twisting and contorting and displaying every single muscle present in his torso as he did so. The bone tail was flailing, slapping back and forth on the deck as the fire spread for a second before being almost sucked into the position of Ace's tail. The more he squirmed and slapped his tail, the more like his old self the Gorgóna started to look.

Sobs from his side snapped Marco's attention from the beautiful sight of Ace practically reviving to the harpy that was still clearly a mess.

The blond Mythical was crying and trying to form words but nothing that made sense actually came out of his mouth, just moans, groans, and the odd word or two that actually sounded like real words. Marco strained his ears just to pick those strange instances up.

"Th-thank. All-One. Than-k thank. Aaall-Ooone."

Well Marco wasn't about to begrudge the smaller male his thanks. Especially not since it was his brother that almost just died. The first mate would probably be in a similar state if such a situation had happened to him instead of Sabo.

"Get some more fuel for the fire, yoi!" Marco yelled out to all his stunned crewmates, wanting to keep the bonfire going until they were safely out of the winter island's pull, a good day or two if they paddled strongly enough.

"Pile it up next to Ace, we need to keep that fire going until we are safe out of the island's pull!" Marco looked to Sabo as he yelled the next order out. He needed to move the harpy below deck. It was not only warmer down there, but was protected from the elements.

"Will you be alright in my rooms during the nights, Sabo, yoi?"

The blond looked shocked at the question and looked like he was about to answer with a firm and hard no, when Marco amended his statement again.

"I promise that during the day you can sit with Ace all you want, and at night I'll sit with him, yoi. I won't let him be alone, okay?"

Sabo blinked slowly again, like he was trying to think and process at the same time, and Marco waited patiently. He needed to get both Mythicals into a safe environment, whether the harpy agreed or not, one way or another, Marco was going to put Sabo in his room.

But it looked like he didn't need to resort to nasty methods or anything underhanded, because Sabo just nodded in confirmation before he slipped into a sleep that Marco would have been worried about if it weren't for the smile on that young face.

This time Marco didn't even try to stop the damn sigh from escaping as he slumped down next to Ace's blaze, smiling slightly when the Gorgóna rolled over to be a bit closer to the other two.

If this was before, the first mate would be questioning his own sanity, for being so attracted to two very different Mythicals, two very different brothers. But he really couldn't help it.

There were aspects of both brothers that Marco universally adored, and he could no longer see his life without either of them in it. It was quite a big stretch from finding them a necessity and a means to an end for Pops' continued health.

It was definitely going to be much more difficult to hold anything over Ace and Sabo's head when Marco could hardly bare seeing anything bad happen to them. This was just a sign that he could never be like those other pirates, that kidnap Mythicals with no care about their well-being. It made no sense to Marco…

Mythicals were just as capable as living as humans were, so who were the humans to think that they could dictate a whole race and subclass of people? That was both arrogant and stupid of them.

And dammit he was rambling to himself. This is what stressful situations do to him, they make him do stupid shit and think about things that had no relation to anything.

"What are you thinking so hard about?"

The soothing voice shocked the shit right out of Marco and he couldn't stop himself from jumping a little and clutching Sabo closer to his body in surge of protective instinct.

A look to the side revealed the now awake and much livelier Gorgóna swishing his tail in the fire as he laid stomach down, staring at Marco with wide eyes and an uneasy grin.

"Never ever do that ever again. My heart can't take shocks like that, yoi."

Ace let out a huff of a laugh, but that was enough for Marco, just hearing the sound lifted his spirits quite a bit.

"Surprising you? Or slowly dying of cold exposure while you were gone?"

Marco glared at his Gorgóna with fierce eyes, not appreciating the alluding to Ace's possible death.

"Either. Don't do fucking either. You aren't allowed to die, yoi."

Another laugh ripped its way out of Ace's throat, and this time Marco smiled in response to the sound. No use staying over something he can't change.

"I'll do my best, Marco, but I already made that promised Luffy that I wouldn't die, so I won't die." The way Ace just said that all nonchalantly when he really was so close to death made Marco laugh loudly instead. The irony was undeniable and funny as hell.

"It doesn't matter much, yoi. I'll protect you and Sabo anyway."

The wide eyes that Ace threw him was enough to keep Marco's dreams well populated for a few nights, and his smile just widened.

But then the Gorgóna bit his lip with his way too sharp teeth and suddenly Marco couldn't help but think that he had crossed some line somewhere without thinking about it. Were Gorgóna offended by offering protection? Or by stating it? Did he make another foot in mouth situation?

Of course, Ace decided to continue being the surprise that he was and said something that Marco wasn't prepared for in the least.

"I think I get why Luffy may have liked you so much."

A few long blinks of his own had Marco opening and closing his mouth with different starts to a conversation that he didn't know how to have. Finally he just settled on "Oh?"

"Mmhmm. I guess I can also see why he wanted to lead y'all to the fountain."

"We just want to have more time with our old man, yoi. Nothing else."

Human and Gorgóna both looked off into the ocean, the now midmorning sun dying the ocean into a myriad of blues and greens. The sight was beautiful but Marco couldn't help but think that there conversation was only half finished.

"Merpeople don't know the way to the Fountain of Youth."

And once again, Ace strikes with something Marco was not nor ever could expect. What did he mean merpeople didn't know the way to the Fountain? If they didn't know then why were humans so keen on catching them for the past hundred or so years?

"What, yoi?"

"Nope. I mean, you need a merperson after you get there, but no non-extinct Mythical knows where the Fountain is." Ace was speaking calmly, like they were talking about the weather and not about a plave Marco had been looking for, for almost six years.

"You mean to tell us that the last six years of our sailing was a complete waste?"

Marco tried very hard to not be heart broken, to not be utterly smashed at the idea that there was no feasible way to extend his father's life. But with Mythicals like Ace around, who needed pick-me-ups?

"I wouldn't say it was wasted. You met Luffy."

"Sure, that's all well and good, Ace. But if Luffy can't lead us to the Fountain then the past six years were a complete waste." Marco didn't want to hear any of Ace's platitudes. Not after that bomb.

"No, Marco, you don't understand-"

"What don't I understand?! Sure Luffy is a great kid, and he lead to you and Sabo and y'all are great too, but we spent six years trying to extend Pops' life! No matter what we might have gained it was still a waste!"

Marco probably would have continued yelling at his friend, but a warm slap by what seemed to be a tendril of flames stopped him in his tracks.

"I said no non-extinct Mythical knows the way to the Fountain." Ace said again, his youthful face uncharacteristically serious, and Marco knew he was trying to convey something or other by repeating the message but Marco had no idea what he meant.

"Last I checked…"

Marco watched Ace silently as he rose up a bit, the fire from the bonfire feeding him and surrounding him and making him seem like a devil straight from hell.

"Gorgónas are on the list of extinct Mythicals."

THE END! (Or is it..?)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT KNOW GREEK! I SHAMELESSLY USED GOOGLE TRANSLATE! SO IF YOU NOTICE ANYTHING WRONG PLEASE HELP ME FIX IT SO I DON'T MISREPRESENT A LANGUAGE! THANK YOU!