𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 ➳ 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐚 (one piece fanfic)

Epilogue <3

welcome to the epilogue <3 

just kidding, this is chapter 106 :D

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"Are you-" Ace stopped as he took in her state—her hands which gripped raw magma were visibly burnt, flesh melting and revealing slivers of bones. Both of her arms were irremediably damaged. Haki couldn't stop the heat of magma from thawing everything in its path. Even more so in her case where it was applied in a hurry without proper countermeasures against his ability.

The tips of her fingers were visibly gnawed by magma, appearing a mess of flesh and blood. The skin on her arms was charred black with lines of scarlet red. It was horrifying to look at.

Konan was biting her tongue till it bled, muffling the screams that threatened to escape her mouth. She couldn't feel her fingers anymore, and the pain blaring in her head muffled all her thoughts.

"Konan-" Ace's voice pierced through the fog of her consciousness, filled with panic, regret and anxiousness, and anger, and sadness and regret, so much damn regret, and a million other thoughts, "Konan-"

The thought that the two still weren't safe made Konan persevere through the pain, through the wretched pain of her arms being torn into tiny pieces every mili-seconds. There was nothing she could do, and it hurt so damn much. She just wanted to slip into a blissful state of unconsciousness but she couldn't.

She knew that she had just lost something she might never recover that day. But there was more to lose if she didn't move right this instant. So she did, through sheer willpower, gritting her teeth and willing herself up.

Glancing at a frozen Ace, her wings silently pushed him away, papers forming makeshift bandages around her arms. "Don't look back. Both of you." She gritted her teeth, using Chakra to prevent her arms from degrading any further. "Run."

"You think I'll allow that?" Akainu snorted, another punch heading in her direction.

But this time, she was prepared. She avoided his attack, throwing her chakra like a thin blanket over the whole plaza. When she felt gasps resound around her, she knew she succeeded, so she raised her head, satisfied when she saw the sky darken with black butterflies. The fruit of her efforts.

People stopped fighting for a second, watching warily the waves of butterflies form from the ground and fly up—if they weren't on a battlefield they would have admired the sight. However in that situation, this could only mean something huge was coming.

When Akainu noticed that something was amiss, it was already too late, the swarm of flying insects were already headed his way, flying through his magma and attaching themselves to him. He wriggled around, batting them away to avail, he pushed back ten and a hundred others stuck to him. It was annoying but not dange- they started exploding. More and more piled up on him, exploding one after the other, muffling his screams, and brightening up the battlefield for a good dozen of minutes.

Konan simply watched from afar, glancing at her brothers who were already far away. She was about to intervene when she saw Kizuru aim at them but a masked blond man beat her to it. "You're late," she mumbled, though she was glad he finally joined them. He would be a better match for Kizuru, after all he had always been better at Haki than his brothers.

Knowing they were in safe hands, she turned back to the man below her, who had fallen down, smoke rising from him. He was panting and coughing, blood covering his whole body. His powers had probably managed to protect him somewhat, but the moment he even breathed, the butterflies slipped in and exploded. Even him wouldn't come out unscathed.

Just as she had expected he fell on his back, arms twitching with rage as he stared at her, but his body wouldn't obey him.

Konan simply glanced at him before flying away, he didn't deserve more of her time.

Behind her, she heard the distinct crumbling sound of the plaza. The old man had made his final stand, creating a huge chasm between him and the rest of the pirates. Even with a foot in the grave, he wasn't to be underestimated.

But what worried her most was the huge face they could see behind the marine headquarters, pirates were standing on top of the scaffold—Blackbeard's crew. Everyone seemed to notice at the same time as they finally revealed themselves.

Teach guffawed, arms spread like a cheap villain coming to harvest the fruits after everyone was already exhausted and injured. "Long time no see!! Sure am glad I was able to make it back on time to see you die, old man!"

"There's no mistaking them, they're the level 6 death row inmates from Impel Down!" Someone cried out.

Blackbeard jumped into the fray, heading straight for the head of Whitebeard, his darkness spreading from him and devouring everything in its path. "You've gotten old Whitebead!" he shouted, hands grabbing Whitebeard and nullifying his powers.

Whitebeard ignored his taunts as his naginata broke through Teach's defenses, slashing his shoulder. "You overestimate your abilities, your defenses are weak, it's always been your weakness." His hand gripped Teach's throat, slamming him into the ground.

"You monster! You should have already been dead!" Teach shouted, crying out in pain, "Let him have it!" He ordered his crew to attack, disregarding any pride he might have had.

Konan was still far away, and her chakra reserves were low. Time tickled by in an achingly slow manner as she watched bullets rain down on Whitebeard. Just a little more she thought as her wings threw her further and further till finally she reached her goal, just in time to hear Whitebeard speak.

"-ONE PIECE... IT EXISTS!!" Whitebeard threw a spark on a dying fire, and successfully rekindled another wave that would wash over the world. 

Sengoku knew all too well the implications of his words, "You bastard!!!" Just like that, his efforts to smother the Pirate wave was shattered. Everything he had done rendered pointless with just a few words.

Whitebeard stared into the distance as he mumbled his sons farewell, and just like that his life came to an end.

Teach couldn't believe his eyes. "He's... he's dead... He died standing!" He gave him another stab to make sure, but the man didn't move. He was finally dead. A wave of relief hit him—he could finally proceed with the next part of his plan. The most powerful devil fruit in existence would soon belong to him as would the world!

A powerful life came to an end, succumbing to hundreds of wounds, none of which scarring his back. He left the world at 72 years old, standing pridefully and protecting his family.

Konan swallowed the wave of sadness that hit her. In the end, she couldn't even bid him farewell, the man who had taken to calling her little flower, and someone she greatly respected. His life ended abruptly, one second he was still laughing, the next the deafening silence accompanied his departure.

She frowned when she saw Blackbeard was up to something else. She wouldn't allow him to defile his body. The next second she was standing in front of Whitebeard, glaring at Teach. "What do you think you're doing?"

When she saw the blanket of darkness that was about to cover them, she kicked it away with Haki, scattering it at once. "I just remembered something I heard recently..." She glared at him, sorting through her information bank in seconds, most of which she had gathered from the recent tailing. "You have the ability to absorb other devil fruits."

Blackbeard frowned, seeing the one who had gotten in his way numerous times before. He could feel dangerous gazes on him as his ability was revealed. It could quickly become risky if he wasted more time. Neither the pirates nor the Marines would allow him to take Whitebeard's powers.

He extended his darkness to Konan, canceling her devil fruit as he grinned, "With arms like that, what can you even do without your devil fruit?" She was barely holding herself straight, she was barely a threat in her state.