Sons of Beasts Part 2

Four Months Later

We meet someone new in this chapter. Well not meet, pass by. And he ends up being very important even if he isn't in the story much. Posting this from school. 4 hour break between classes. FML. Anyways, enjoy~

Ace sobbed horrible, heartbreaking sobs on deck as he curled into a ball, shaking with grief. He couldn't even feel Luffy in his head anymore. He felt colder than he ever had before. Even before his powers awakened. Luffy was gone. He knew that. That's why his mind and heart felt so empty.

Marco was kneeling in front of Ace, feeling panic. What had happened? "Ace, Ace? What's wrong? What's wrong with Luffy?" he questioned frantically, yelling at the pirates to stop staring and leave, only having the commanders remain.

Ace couldn't reply, though. His heart was broken. It felt like half of him was torn away and it hurt physically. He scraped his fingernails down his face, leaving red marks, but no blood came. He just wanted to feel anything other than his grief and pain. The emptiness. He felt empty.

The commanders all tried comforting him, still not knowing what had happened to Luffy to cause this reaction. But it wasn't good. They had an overall feeling that Luffy was dead. And it made all of them hate themselves. That they couldn't save Luffy, couldn't take back one of their own and now he was dead.

-x-

Thatch carried a comatose Ace to his own room, not his and Luffy's. It was in an area of the ship that there would be no other sounds. And the pirates under the commanders wouldn't come to this part of the ship.

He laid Ace down on his bed, taking his boots off, with Haruta, Marco and Izo nearby and looking very unsettled and upset. Was Ace broken? Had some sort of bond the brothers had broken and now Ace couldn't function anymore?

They still hadn't gotten any answers as what had happened to Luffy, and if Ace stayed in this state, they would never know. Ace's eyes looked empty, without that fire of life, or determination, or happiness, joy, sadness, anger. Nothing.

-Four Months Later-

"To Ace!" the crew cheered as they raised their mugs to the new second division commander. This was something that had to happen. Ace was worthy of the role due to his strength, but he needed a purpose in life. After Luffy was gone, he didn't speak for over a week. He refused to eat, so had been forced to eat, and ended up in the infirmary by purposely trying to starve himself.

The crew, his new family, did the best they could to get Ace back. Any part of Ace, but Luffy's assumed death had cripppled him, and he lost a lot of weight and color. The only thing that ended up keeping him going was fighting. Fighting other pirate crews, Marines, anyone they came across who wasn't a civilian. It was the only thing that got Ace to show any emotion, so they let him fight as much as he wanted.

That's what started to coax him back out of his shell. He had been appointed second division commander, finally filling the space, to give him something to live for. And what brought him back the most was protecting someone. Well, multiple someones. His crew, and family.

"Luffy" was a name that no one said anymore. Not yet, Ace wasn't ready. They still had no idea what had happened to the poor dragon. Something bad, clearly. There had been no update or sightings that raised the bounty, so it was clear that Luffy had somehow died. Somehow painfully, based on the way Ace had reacted that day.

Ace raised his mug, which still wasn't alcohol, and thanked everyone with a half-there smile. It was a smile, but it wasn't a true one. They were glad Ace hadn't coped by turning to alcohol, not that they were even sure he could get drunk in the first place.