#demon ace

You all sat together. Just like before. In Luffy's living room, with all the lamps lit, curtains rippling from the open window, laughter, nostalgia, and Ace. Alive. Or something close to it.

He laughed like he used to. That unmistakable, raspy laugh. He poked Luffy, argued with Sabo about who was stronger, and then subtly handed you a can of soda, just like in the old days. 

And even though you knew it wasn't possible, you succumbed for a moment. He was here. With you. As if he had never left. But his arms were still black, cracked. And a flame burned in his chest, warm, steady, as if it were beating in place of his heart.

You talked about everything when Luffy got a great idea. He would quickly run to the corner store to buy some food, so Ace could feel like he used to. And so you could all stuff your faces.

"I'll go with you if you want," Sabo said to Luffy as he got up.

"We'll be right back," Luffy smiled at the two of you before disappearing out the door, listing all the things he had to buy. And a moment later, the door closed behind them. Silence.

It was strange how quickly you could forget that something was wrong. Luffy and Sabo had left. The laughter slowly died down, the door closed, and Ace was left with you in the living room, where the silence suddenly felt... thicker. Heavier.

"They always go shopping together," you tried to lighten the mood and smiled. "That hasn't changed."

"Yeah... those two." Ace chuckled quietly. But something in that laugh was off. 

You looked into his eyes, and the flames in them were darker. Hungrier. The sparkle was gone, that familiar look that said I'm here, everything will be okay. That look was gone.

He stepped closer. Slowly. Every step he took made you want to back away. His gaze was literally burning you.

"I can feel it, Y/N... your soul. It's like a scent that pulls me in. And it can't be stopped. Sweet... warm... full of life..." he whispered, and a drop of saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth. 

"I've never felt anything like this. It's like... as if your light could satisfy me..." His body began to tremble. The cracks on his arms burned brighter. The chest flame went wild, flicking all around.

"I want you. I want all of you. Your light, your laughter, what you are. Your soul. But if I took it... would anything be left of you?" And for a moment, you had the impression you saw the old Ace in him. He closed his eyes and recoiled. Abruptly. He took a few steps back, fell to his knees, and grabbed his head.

"No... no... I don't want to. I can't. I didn't want this, I swear," he mumbled and looked as if he was fighting with himself. He looked at his hands as if they were foreign. 

"I... I'm a monster... I'm not human anymore... I shouldn't have come back," he said weakly.

You slowly came to him. You stopped a little in front of him. He was still kneeling, not moving. The fire in his chest was now barely burning. He knelt down. He was breathing heavily. He didn't even dare to look at you.

"Ace..." you said softly and placed your hand on his shoulder. He flinched as if he was afraid of burning you. Without looking at you, he began to speak.

"You know... I loved you. Even back then. When we were just a bunch of kids sleeping under the stars and pretending the world wasn't cruel," he said with a trembling voice. He laughed. A short, bitter laugh. 

"I never said it. I didn't want to accidentally lose you. And now..." He raised a hand as if examining his own body. "Now I come back here as... this. A demon with a hole in my chest and fire instead of a heart." He looked at you. For the first time, really, directly. Hot tears flowed from his eyes, evaporating instantly on his burnt skin.

 "How could you love something like this?" he asked, almost inaudibly. "I shouldn't have come back..." he shook his head.

"Then Luffy would have tried again until he summoned you," you said and took his hand. "And I would have been there with Sabo. You know... I love you too, and I regretted for a long time that I never told you while I had the chance," you said. 

Under those horns and flames, you saw that it was still Ace. The flame in his chest flickered fiercely and blazed up again, as if his heartbeat had quickened. And Ace pressed himself against you, carefully so he wouldn't burn you. And to your surprise, he stayed.

Morning started quite normally. You returned home yesterday, and Ace promised to stay in your world for a while. Now, to your surprise, a half-naked demon was sitting in your kitchen.

"You said I should make myself at home," he reminded you with an innocent smile when you appeared in the doorway in a nightshirt with messy hair.

"I didn't say you should turn on the toaster with your bare hands," you mumbled, looking at the melted metal.

"It was off. It wouldn't turn on. I thought it was broken... So I heated it from the inside. You always said you loved crispy toast," he smiled innocently.

You fell silent. Because yes. You had said that. Maybe five years ago. Maybe just once, when he was still alive. And he remembered.

"Ace... just because you're... different... doesn't mean you have to be a toaster," you finally said, looking at the black, burnt fingerprints on your toast. He frowned, as if he was seriously considering whether it was an insult or not.

"But you have to admit," you added and pulled a piece of toast out with tongs, "they're perfect." You smiled. And he returned your smile, already thinking in his head about how he could make it even better next time.

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Ace Masterlist

You lay in bed, where you spent almost 24 hours the last few days. Ace lay beside you, stroking your arm as he told you stories of his adventures and tales of his brothers and all they had been through back then. 

You loved his stories and you devoured every word. You were able to forget about your illness while he was telling you and transport yourself somewhere away into the story. 

You didn't know exactly when, but somewhere in his next story you fell asleep. When Ace noticed, he finished his story and sighed. He was glad you found comfort in his stories, but at the same time, your condition was weighing on him more and more.

But he knew he wouldn't help you with his worries. Instead, he wanted to encourage you as much as he could and put the smile on your face that he loved so much. 

He lay there with you for a while, stroking your hair. He wished with all his heart that you would get better and heal. 

"'Not going to last much longer eh?" came a strange voice behind him. Ace was immediately on his feet ready to burn the intruder to the ground. 

"Easy there, tiger. I come in peace," came the voice again mockingly this time from the other side. 

"Who the devil are you?" asked Ace, turning to the devil. 

"That's right," he grinned. "I have a proposition for you that you can't refuse. And before you jump in, it involves your flower here," he said, playing with a lock of your hair. 

"Don't touch her!" Ace shouted at him, surprised he hadn't woken you up yet. 

"I see," and he withdrew his hands in the air in a playful gesture of peace. "What if I tell you I can save her, interested?" He grinned. Ace's face clearly showed how hesitant he was. He knew full well that he should watch out for the devil. That such things were not to be taken lightly. 

"And what would that cost?" He asked hesitantly. If it was going to save you, he wanted to know the price first. He'd die for you willingly, but he knew you'd be able to walk back into the depths of hell for him or sacrifice yourself for his good.

"Nothing to keep you two apart. You will still have the power to be together and live a long life. I can even offer that the disease will completely disappear and no one will be able to inherit it. How about that?" he grinned smugly, seeing an easy win. 

Ace looked at you and your calm expression. If only you knew what was going on right now. He looked again at the devil, who looked perfectly innocent and honest. He wanted to save face until the contract was confirmed. 

"It was an honour doing business with you," the devil smirked smugly as Ace shook his hand. At that moment, the three of you were enveloped in flames that climbed up to the ceiling before suddenly evaporating and taking the devil with them. As if he had never been there. 

The next day you woke up in Ace's arms feeling unusually good. Like you hadn't felt in a long time. As you lay there, you could feel your heart pounding. Strong and regular. You felt like it wasn't even your heart. 

When Ace woke up, you both went to see Marco, who confirmed your suspicions. He never expected such a change for the better, and perhaps he'd never experienced it. He was happy for you.

Ace was happy that you were well. Of course, he kept the real reason why to himself. He didn't want to worry you unnecessarily when you finally started to get better. 

No less not too long after your heart got better you noticed something strange about Ace. You noticed how the skin on his hands started to turn black. At firs,t you dismissed it, thinking it was just dirt, but the blaccolouror wasn't disappearing from his hands and even his feet at all. 

When you looked at his hands, it reminded you of black, burnt skin. As if his powers had burned him to the flesh. 

You tried to treat his skin, but no ointment or medicine worked. His skin blackened more and more and slowly began to crack. His hands now reminded you of the cracking surface of solidified magma. 

As his black skin cracked, the cracks were filled with both the magma and his fire. 

You could feel the fire-like heat radiating from the cracks, and when he got excited or angry, flames would burst from them. As if he couldn't control the ability of his fruit. 

Just like on his hands, a black spot slowly formed on his chest, right where his heart was. The black scorched spot began to grow larger and larger with each passing day until it was about the size of an open palm with fingers. 

Moreover, he began to feel a strange weakness and uncontrollable heat on him, as if his Mera Mera no Mi fruit was burning him from the inside. 

Now it was as if you had switched roles. Now he was the one who was in bed and you were taking care of him and trying to help him as best you could. 

You were about to treat a black spot on his chest when something unexpected happened. Just as your fingers gently touched the burnt skin, it began to crumble, crumbling inwards, with a deep hole forming around the entire circumference of the black spot, where you could see clearly through it to the bed. 

You couldn't control the tears that welled up in your eyes at that moment, because the thing you feared the most happened at that moment. Ace breathed his last. 

You let the tears fall and hugged his limp body. And even though he wasn't moving and his body wasn't moving either, you felt yourself growing warmer and warmer. 

When his body grew so warm that you couldn't hold him any longer, you pulled away just in time. A strong flame appeared in the middle of the hole in his chest and flared out, nearly burning you. The flame lowered and enveloped his entire body. You had to step away from him, even though you didn't want to. 

Under those flames, three pairs of horns appeared on his forehead, slowly disappearing into his hair. The flames crawled up his body until they stopped two at his tallest horns and in the hole in his chest where it fluttered like his new heart. 

You also noticed something crawling out of the leg of his shorts. It slowly lengthened, it was skinny and as black as his arms. Only then did you realize it was a tail. 

As unexpectedly as he had died, he took a deep breath, as if he had no air and was hungry for it, and sat up. He was breathing deeply and looked disoriented. 

"What happened?" He asked in surprise, feeling as if he was underwater and couldn't swim to the surface. 

" Y-you d-died," you stammered in surprise, wondering if it was still him. 

"What?" He asked in surprise, looking down at his hands and the hole in his chest. He felt so strange, but at the same time good, like he hadn't felt in a long time. He was brimming with energy and felt no pain. 

He walked over to you and was about to hug you when he paused. With every movement and breath he took, the fire inside him was stoked and he pulled back. He was afraid of accidentally burning you. 

You saw his hands smoulder, but you could see in his eyes that it was still him. You carefully reached out and took his hands. They were hot, but they didn't burn. Ace looked at your hands as if they were an apparition. He looked startled before a smile appeared on his face and he pulled you into a strong hug.

He looked into your eyes and gently took your cheek. How much softer your skin was compared to his. He leaned in close and kissed you gently on the lips. He may have been different in appearance now, but deep down he was still your beloved fiery Ace.

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Together with the six-armed demon, you had travelled the world, and now you were passing through the kingdom of Alabastra. You made a small stop at a nearby small oasis to gather supplies for your journey through the desert.

You went into a tavern to get something good for lunch when you noticed a commotion at the counter. You couldn't see much over the deafness of the people, but you thought you saw someone familiar at the counter.

It wasn't until later that you realized it was a demon you knew from your childhood that you thought you wouldn't see. When Ace saw you, a smile immediately spread across his face. 

Ace was in Alabastra looking for his brother because he wanted to tell him something, but when he saw you, his decision changed. He decided to stay with you instead.

You were a little hesitant about it since you were already travelling with a demon, but it seemed that Zoro didn't mind Ace. As you expressed your doubts to him, he looked at you with such puppy dog eyes that you couldn't say no. He looked like a kicked puppy. You tried to look away, but it was no use. He's already gotten under your skin.

You finally had no choice but to agree and make a pact with him. Ace beamed with joy before he nuzzled his face against your shoulder, before biting it. Under his teeth, his mark appeared on your shoulder. 

Ace was a fire demon, his limbs black as burnt, with a thick fire crackling and shining through beneath. His eyes were red to the point of glowing. 

With two demons, it was easy to walk through the desert as no one dared to attack you, plus you were able to hunt some animals to eat. 

Still, you made it to a new city that was full of water and riches. However, it happened at night when you were asleep and so were the demons. Though they were both resting by your side, you still woke up on the floor of the golden palace. 

You sat up and noticed a man, actually a demon, sitting at the large table in front of you, smoking a cigar and grinning smugly. Just as his name implied, he was a sand and crocodile demon. He had the teeth of a crocodile, and a long tail that turned into sand at the end, crumbling and renewing itself again. The crocodile teeth also grew from a scar on his face. 

Crocodile noticed you and was intrigued by you. Someone who attracted demons to himself and who had more than one pact. He's never seen that before. Plus, he liked the way you tried to resist him, even though he had you in his power. 

It wasn't even a day before Ace and Zoro burst into the palace with a plan to save you. However, that's what Crocodile had been waiting for all along. Plus, the sand demon wanted to keep you for himself. He wasn't going to share with other demons.

Crocodile used his sand against which your demons were powerless. Zoro's sword attacks were completely useless and Ace was trapped in the sand moments later. At first, he managed to melt the sand into glass, but that became just as much of a problem as a giant glass bubble formed around him that he couldn't get out of. In addition, the limited oxygen dampened his fire abilities. 

The sand demon smiled devilishly, intending to send the two demons back to hell where they would no longer disturb him. But before he could send sand as sharp as Zoro's katanas at them, you lunged in front of them. They were more than just ordinary demons to you. 

But this is what the sand demon assumed all along. He planned it all, so he agreed to spare the others on one condition. You make a pact with him and become his alone. You refused to do that, but you also refused to move from the others. 

Your refusal, however, made him even more angry and indignant, and it looked like he was going to have you crushed. You only stopped him when you said you agreed, but you had your conditions. This caught him off guard, but he finally smiled with satisfaction, as if he had won and agreed. 

Ace and Zoro tried to convince you not to do it, that it would somehow be saved, that it was an obvious trap. But you knew full well what your options were and you didn't want to lose them. 

You went over to him and let him make a pact with you. Crocodile stroked your neck with a golden hook before he leaned in. He liked how small you were compared to him. He licked his lips hungrily before biting the crook of your neck and shoulder where his mark appeared on your skin. Exactly on the other side from Ace's.

After that, you were on your way again. However, with the sand demon at your side, you travelled in much more luxury. He even got you a much bigger, better ship. Even with a new demon at your side, your lives have returned to their relatively old ways. 

Zoro regularly fell asleep with you in his arms, in a triple hug, or let you use him as a pillow, with you lying on top of him and him holding you. He would never admit to anyone that he liked to cuddle with you like that. And if anyone accused him of it, he'd deny everything. Plus, he only hugs you like that when it's just the two of you and he's sure no one will see you. 

You've been practising fighting and self-defence with Ace. He was proud of how well you were doing, and of course, he praised you, which was his way of trying to motivate you to keep going. You kissed him on the cheek for his praise. You had to pull away as his whole face turned red before it lit up like a campfire. It was a cute reaction and you chuckled weakly at the reaction.

Crocodile, meanwhile, was watching you from the bridge. Sure, he'd rather have you in his lap, but he'd made a pact with you and had to abide by your terms. However, he too had his moments with you.

He gave you advice on steering the ship and other things. He liked it when you listened to him and most of all when you thanked him for his advice and praised him. It was like something was warming his heart. A feeling he thought he'd buried long ago.

However, all was not as rosy as it first appeared. It was obvious that Ace and Zoro didn't like Crocodile, and he didn't like sharing either. This led to regular fights that you had to intervene in to keep them from killing each other. The worst part was that you then had to nurse them back to health, and they were thrilled to have you all to themselves for the moment.

During one particularly heated fight, Ace and Zoro managed to figure out what Crocodile's weakness was and used it perfectly to bring him to his knees. If you hadn't intervened, you'd have thought he'd been executed. You stopped the fight and stood up for the sand demon. 

After that, you completely reprimanded them all and gave them a lecture on how they should learn to get along. They were on the same ship, travelling together, and even if they didn't like each other, they should learn to work together. 

Ace apologized almost immediately. He didn't want you to be mad at him. It took Zoro a while since he had his pride, but eventually, he apologized too. But you couldn't expect the same from Crocodile. He just resigned, but didn't apologize, even though you rose even higher in his eyes. 

Instead, he thanked you for standing up for him. You took that as a great success and kissed him on the cheek. 

There was a bit of a lull after that incident. You landed on a small island to resupply. All was going quietly until the demons started arguing over something again and it culminated into a giant fight. 

You were fed up with their behaviour. You used their marks on your body to set them straight. In response, you told them to leave you alone and angrily walked away. You headed for the hot springs off to the side. You wanted some peace all to yourself. 

Neither of the demons followed you as they had to obey your orders. Even though they didn't like it. They wanted to be by your side at all times. 

You relaxed as you sank into the hot water and closed your eyes. You missed this. The silence was strange but comfortable. You were up to your nose in the water when someone pulled a bag over your head and pulled you out of the water. Then you felt someone hit you in the back of the head and you lost consciousness. 

You woke up in a dungeon with shackles on your hands blocking your fruit's abilities. You couldn't use the markings to connect with your demons, and you couldn't even feel their presence. Most of the time, even when you were away from them, you felt some connection to them. But now, nothing. 

You sat there waiting for what to do next when two figures came to the door of your cell. You recognized them immediately. It was your father, the crown glistening on his head and the same cold expression on his face as you remembered. His counsellor walked on his beech tree as always. 

"You've come back to me at last. You gave me quite a hard time before I finally found you," the king smirked. Even though he was your biological father, he was a stranger you wanted nothing to do with. 

"You're beautiful and the right age to get married. You should have been married a long time ago. I plan to marry you to the highest bidder. Now you won't escape me or your fate," he grinned. 

You didn't say anything to him and just looked at them defiantly. You didn't want to give him the pleasure of your scorn and rejection.

The demons sensed something was wrong the moment they lost contact with you. Just as you felt them, they were connected to you. It was a two-way channel. 

They followed you to the hot springs where they smelled your scent for the last time. They got there when you were long gone, but there were still soldiers there, covering their tracks. Even though they were defeated in a flash, no one told them where they'd taken you. 

However, they did find the medallion you always wore around your neck, but which you also always kept hidden under your clothes. They noticed that the medallion bore the same emblem that the soldiers wore on their armour. 

They immediately began to work together to find out what might have happened to you, where you might have been taken, and how to save you. At that moment, they didn't even think to argue or fight. Your rescue was more important than that. 

You were eventually dragged from the cell to your old room, but it meant the same thing to you. It was just a better-decorated cell. There, you were to prepare for guests and potential suitors for your hand. 

You were dressed in expensive, ornate clothes and fitted with gloves that acted as shackles and which equally blocked your ability. You felt like you were at a slave auction and it made you sick. 

Like a precious jewel, you stood before the king and pierced everyone around you with your gaze. You weren't going to let yourself be sold so easily. You were going to fight as hard as you could. You just had to find an opportunity and take it. 

And you saw Crocodile in the throne room. It was strange to see him as a human when you were used to him as a demon. At his side were Ace and Zoro, posing as his bodyguards. Your gazes met for a moment and they gave you fleeting smiles. However, they couldn't rush over to you, lest they reveal themselves and ruin your rescue. 

After this, any auction began, with the princes strutting and showing off their wealth. However, Crocodile, being a powerful man, bid more. It didn't matter how much the others bid, Crocodile always had the upper hand. And your father seemed to like him too.

"I offer that much and more. Your daughter's beauty is like a rare desert flower that is worth it. May I have a closer look at her?" He asked confidently. The king had no problem with that and motioned for you to come closer to him. 

You kept your face impassive and cool, so as not to give them away. Crocodile bowed slightly in front of you and looked you over with a predator's gaze. Then he took your hand and kissed you on your fingers. 

"We're here for you. Hang in there a little longer," he hissed at you as he was close, using the sand to unlock the cuffs on your hands. 

"What are you telling her?!" The king wondered, not liking being left out of the action. 

"That I have never seen anyone more beautiful in my life," he replied, and you could hear the sincerity and tenderness in his voice. 

His sincere compliment made your cheeks flush slightly. The king was decided. After that, he had you escorted back to your room so he could have the peace to negotiate the rest with the demon. 

As soon as the door to your room closed, you refused to wait to see if the king would be free to give you to the demon. You wanted to be with them as soon as possible. You changed into your more comfortable clothes and opened the window. 

Now that your hands were free, you could easily escape. Just like you used to. You looked out the window and noticed that guards were patrolling below your window.

You cursed and looked towards the harbour. There you noticed your ship and the figures that were there. You immediately recognized your demons in them. You saw them wave at you, but that's all they dared. You waved at them, too, before crawling back in. You decided to wait. For now.

While the king was negotiating your marriage with Crocodile, the noose was being tightened over the demon. The king was very greedy and knew who had a price on his head and how big. And Crocodile was a gold mine for him, just like you. 

He knew his weakness as well, and in his weakened state he had him captured and planned to collect the bounty from his head. He felt like he had finally gotten lucky.

The other demons found out about it and secretly informed you in your room. They wanted to go fight. First, the king captures you and then this. They wanted to fight to get you away. But you stopped them. You didn't want to leave the sand demon behind.

The others didn't agree, because they still didn't like him. However, they were willing to listen to your plan and finally agreed. After all, they wanted you to be happy and that meant freeing Crocodile. Besides, you explained it very well. What if it was one of them? You wouldn't want to leave them there either.

Since you lived in the castle before, you knew where everything was. You, Zoro and Ace were sneaking into the prison. Sure, you'd fight, but you also wanted to keep the surprise effect. 

Zoro simply took care of the guards and kept watch at the door while Ace went inside with you. You made it to a special cell that didn't have bars but instead had water running through its entrance. Water was the Crocodile's weakness. Water dripped in the cell and from the ceiling and the demon couldn't hide from it. 

Crocodile smiled with satisfaction when he saw you. You helped him out and hugged him. You were glad that he was okay and that he had tried to save you, even if it didn't work out as planned.

However, you had to pull away after a while since you had to get away as soon as possible before anyone found out what happened. You and your demons fled the palace by taking the direct route to the ship and out to sea. 

You anchored near the kingdom, however, as the demons were out for revenge. Now that you were in the safety of your ship, they could unleash hell on Earth. 

It was quite a surprise to them that you didn't stop them this time, or say anything to them. That made them even more determined to get their revenge, and they left you alone on the ship. 

Less than a few hours later, alarm bells rang throughout the kingdom and the island, and all you could see was the thick smoke that burned the kingdom, along with the sandstorm that buried the island alive. 

When the demons returned, you tended to their wounds. But then you locked yourself in your quarters because you wanted to be alone for a while. You wondered if you'd done the right thing, and questioned your life choices and decisions. But you didn't come up with much. 

You were disturbed from your thoughts by approaching footsteps followed by a muffled thud. You got out of bed and went to see what they were. 

To your surprise, Ace had fallen asleep and was now lying on the floor. That was the thump you heard. You knew about his narcolepsy and it didn't surprise you. 

Instead, you dragged him to your room and pulled him into bed. There you sat down next to him. 

Moments later, Zoro walked by, peeked into your quarters, and decided to join you. He sat down on the other side next to you and hugged you. That's how you finally fell asleep in the demon sandwich. 

You had no idea how long you had slept, but when you woke up, you found that you were lying on a sand demon. Ace had one arm around you, and Zoro was holding you on the other side. 

It was such a peaceful and comfortable feeling that you smiled contentedly. You didn't want to wake them, so you fell back to sleep contentedly.  

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