| The Saver | Portgas D Ace x Reader

Chapter 25: Revelation

It felt like you had been sleeping for a long time. A timeless but lengthy slumber that had thrown you into disarray.

You rose up from the ground, gasping in and out short breaths. Similar to the feeling of drowning; Your whole body felt under pressure, as did your mind.

Unlike all the other times you had wound up failing, turning back to this godforsaken place, where it all started, your mind felt clear. You remembered and knew everything leading up to this moment distinctly and openly. Expect one thing:

Why were you alive?

You looked around, trying to process the area you had revived in. Your emotions could simply be described as appalled when you observed the landscape. There were no snowfalls, no bone chilling coldness or nothing that resembled the white cotton called snow. In fact, the weather was the complete opposite: a midsummer heat with its occasional breeze that spread comfort. Green trees and a calm scenery surrounded you. You crunched your nose and raised your hand, trying to look up at the sky, the blazing sun causing your vision to blur.

You sighed as you let your hand fall back on your lap, still confused as to what was going on.

Maybe this was heaven.

Did I really die? If not..Where is everyone? Ace?

-"You are actually here." A sudden voice filled the serene atmosphere, sounding shocked despite its declaration, cutting the silence off with one word. You turned your head in surprise. You knew that voice.

-"Old man!" Your shout rang across the field. His appearance shocked you, he looked exhausted, stressed out. "What's wrong-"

-"I didn't actually think you would be here." he sat down next to you before you could finish asking your question, seemingly exhausted, his face held pure relief.

-"What's wrong? Were you searching for me?" you asked with dread, getting panicked from the puzzlingly unfamiliar events taking place. He sighed and rubbed his head until his eyes fixated on the flowers surrounding you, his hands nonchalantly played with one of the many small flowers on the ground, pushing and pulling it.

-"When a Saver's staff breaks, the cycle is damaged. It's no longer a cycle; The timeline, the powerhouse of the cycle gets broken. When your staff broke, there was no way of knowing when you would show up. It could be years before, or even years after Ace's death. I have been checking here every day..for months. I never imagined.." he sighed, as if he was letting go of months of stress with these words. You gulped, feeling like something was blocking your throat. You opened your mouth hesitant to ask a question whose answer you were dreading:

-"Old man..What's the date?"

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You sighed, rubbing your head between the palms of your hands, trying to absorb the explanation the old man had provided you with.

You were much earlier- much much earlier then when you had first arrived here. Ace hadn't even departed on his mission to find Blackbeard. This information had brought you so much comfort that you physically felt your chest lightening up at the thought.

You knew that the old man had something to do with you arriving in this world, you guessed that was why he remembered you even thought none of this had taken place. But something vital felt missing. Your eyes widened when you realised what:

-"Wait where's my staff??" you quickly stood up, scanning the area for any sight of the aged wood. Your old man shifted next to you, causing even more worry to fill your brain. As your eyes continued to skim the greenery, you saw the same brown you were used to seeing every day. Your face beamed as your ran over to the located spot:

-"There it is!" as you reached your hand over to grab it, seeking it's routine comfort, your happiness didn't last long. You gasped, halting in your steps. While the staff itself looked fine, its gem- it was completely busted into tiny little pieces.

-"Why is it like this??" You asked your old man with panic, wanting an explanation for the horrible sight. It looked just like it did when it blew into pieces at..Bohora Island. He looked at the staff, with sad eyes, like something precious and mythical had been lost.

-"The staff itself is timeless; Each Saver in their own cycle only ever gets such an item once. And unlike its owner, it doesn't change with time. It is time itself. That's why you and Whitebeard can have the tremor ability at the same time, which is normally impossible. So whatever happens to the staff during the cycle is permanent." He spoke, sounding mournful with each word, mourning for the loss of such a beautiful object. "I'm afraid the staff is gone forever."

You scowled, not wanting to believe his words. Grabbing the staff, caressing the wood as though the affectionate action would turn it into its original form.

Abruptly a memory filled your head, one of your last memories before...before your departure from your last cycle. You could swear you had heard the old man's voice shouting at you about the staff. Telling you not to use the last move that head caused the demise of your only power.

You turned towards him questioningly. "I remember your voice telling me not to use the staff at the battle in Bohora. What the hell was that?" he looked back at you, meeting your gaze with a cold stare of his own.

-"Huh? What do you mean?" You scowled at his response, finding it way too convenient, but also noting that you did sound a little weird. The old man at Bohora Island? How could he possibly be there? You turned towards the staff again, a pang of hurt playing across your chest when you looked back at it.

You felt sad, and ashamed that you had caused it to turn into this state. It was your only source of power...what would you even do without it? You were powerless. To lose such an essential part of your mission-

You froze. Your mission- your mission had been to save Ace? And you had done just that. Why would you need to use any sort of power if he was safe? Unless something had-

You cut yourself of. Not allowing yourself to finish the thought. Your hands started to tingle just as millions of ants were crawling on them, marching towards your body. Why had you turned back in time?

You slowly willed your body to move, turning towards the old man who was staring at you callously. As if he knew what you would ask him before you even opened your mouth. Your lips shook as you opened them, getting yourself mentally ready for whatever answer you would get.

-"Old man..What happened to Ace."

The old man flinched back, for the first time showing any sign of vulnerability or emotion amidst the time you two had spent together.

Such wrong time, such horrible time. No matter how much you had prepared yourself, you would never be ready for the words that came out of his mouth.

-"I'm sorry."

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Hii! Did you miss me?  I missed you guys! 

Writing the first part of this chapter was such a pain in the ass. I had to delete and rewrite at least 5 times. 

I bet you are all shook right now but patience my dear readers, everything comes with time. Lol

ANYWAYS

DID YOU ENJOY THE CHAPTER? BTW I read all your comments on the last chapter, I'm sorry for making some of you cry, but mood. I'm literally so happy you enjoyed reading the last chapter, I though people would be so mad I killed you off like that. Like what? you know. 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. 

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

but most importantly HAVE A NICE DAY!