| The Saver | Portgas D Ace x Reader

Chapter 24: Ace's Tears

You looked at where Ace fell, satisfied knowing he would land on a pile of rocks rather than the sea and comforted by the fact that he was too far away to intervene.

Without missing a beat you turned towards Blackbeard, sending him flying with a bolt of water. He let out a noise of surprise at the sudden attack. You ran towards him, calling forth waves as you pushed him down towards the ground, drowning him with the full force of your power. His struggle was futile, you had caught him by surprise. You stopped yourself from thinking about who you were fighting, the extent of his powers and what he could actually do to you.

Just then something caught your eye. Your staff- the jewel was filling with water. It was a small but noticeable build up of water that was moving inside the gem. Was something wrong with your staff?

Your distraction gave way for Blackbeard, as he stood up against the waves in your moment of confusion and punched you. You flew back, your face not broken into pieces simply due to the wall of water you had formed seconds before impact.

You fell hard on the ground, affected vastly even with the water's protection keeping you from his maximum strength. You coughed as you struggled to breathe. Your hands were shaking both from adrenaline and from seeing Ace, whose eyes had been cold and distant.

-"And who might you be?" Blackbeard asked with an energetic smile and eyes filled with interest. The village was no longer present, now only a clear terrain lay on the ground, filled with dirt, soil and dust.

Without waiting for your reply Blackbeard's powers rose among the light, filling the air with darkness. Your eyes widened in panic when you realised the shadows were not aiming for you but towards where you had pushed Ace.

You cut his attack off and sent darts of water his way, piercing his legs and arms before he managed to block your attacks. You knew that Blackbeard did not see you as a worthy opponent and wanted to cut the issue from its stem. Ace. But you wouldn't let him through.

He grunted in pain at the wounds that were now bleeding. In his moment of distraction you eyed your staff once again, panicking once you noticed the amount of water had increased much more than when you first noticed the leak. What was wrong with your staff?

-"They call you the Saver right? How interesting, that the name has led you here." Blackbeard spoke up, laughing at his own joke as he regained his balance. "You caught me by surprise. But now you will get a taste of real darkness." he spoke up again, seeming to enjoy your attempts which were -in his eyes- futile.

-"I don't care how you think this is going to turn out. I won't let you touch him." you said, hoping Ace wouldn't have time to intervene.

The ground trembled. You raised up an earthquake as cracks started to form on the ground, before Blackbeard realised a hole had opened up on the place where he stood, sending him spiraling down. Your tremor abilities continued to shake the land as even more cracks appeared in the ground.

The midday sun was unforgiving as it shined upon you. There was nothing blocking it from reaching you. The area now resembled a desert; There were no signs of civilization left on the battlefield. Simply men and their disastrous damage to an island and its ecosystem.

You breathed in a gulp of air to regain your stamina, the humidity along with the constant use of your staff tiring you out. However, before you actually managed to regain your energy, you felt yourself being pulled by your ankles as you fell to the ground and got dragged across the dirt.

Screaming in shock and pain at the sudden impact, you looked down to see what was grabbing you and saw a shadow in the shape of a hand latched on to your ankle. The sight gave you chills, making you claw the ground you were being dragged on. Suddenly you came to a halt, laying frozen on the ground as Blackbeard towered over you, resembling a devil. He glared down at you, making you feel small and weak. You whimpered.