Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Reader pov

The warlock who had made the mistake of challenging you exploded in a burst of blood and black shadows, his soul shrieking as it was consumed by his demonic patron once his mortal body had taken his last breath.

Yet his last attempted attack, while interrupted, seemed to still had been close enough to completion to activate partially. You only got the time to curse and put up a shield before a flash of light flooded the entire zone along with a massive deflagration of raw magical energy.

Once the uncontrollable flow of magic fully dissipated, you groaned and put your hands on your knees with a huge relieved sight. The warlock himself had not been particularly strong, but the volatility of uncontrolled magic powers was a completely different story.

"Fuck that was a close one," you mumbled.

"Sure looks like it."

Your head snapped to the side at the words, and you suddenly noticed the slightly translucent presence of two people. A man wearing a red coat, with a curious but enthusiastic smile and a wide black mustache, and a woman with long blond hair, a flower in said hair, who was wearing a long light blue dress.

You blinked.

What the fuck.

"What the fuck ?" you asked plainly.

"We were hoping you would tell us," the woman said gently.

"I- How would I know ?" you retorted with a frown. "What are you two doing- wait. Don't tell me that dumbass was trying to resurrect people to kill me," you groaned and facepalmed.

Though as soon as you said it, you knew it had to have been exactly that. Stars above, to think that second-rate warlock had tried to pull a forbidden necromancy move to compensate his blatant lack of skill, it was no wonder he had lost so quickly. Even if you had not interrupted his incantation, there was no way even the middle-ranked demon he had made a contract with would have been willing to grant him enough power for the ritual to succeed.

"Oooh, that makes sense," the man laughed happily. "It felt weird to be pulled out of the afterworld ! So we're back to the land of the livings ?"

"Roger, I think it's not that simple."

Your heart missed a beat, and you stared at the two people again, this time with a bad feeling settling in your guts and your professional eye as a magic wielder, which quickly revealed a gold string of pure energy linking each of them to your soul and revealing their identities to your mind.

"Oh no. Oh hell to the no. Nope, nope, all fucking hell nope," you declared as you paled.

There was no way you were magically bonded to the ghost of the late Pirate King and whoever that Portgas D Rouge woman who seemed to be very close to him was.

"Oh, you figured out what's going on and what's that gold string ?" the pirate asked you with a bright smile.

Fuck my life.

You ran both hands over your face and then through your hair with the most tired sigh you had ever sighed, knowing you were in for a very long and very awful time.

Then to your surprise, you felt the faint sensation of hands on your shoulders, and when you looked back up, both ghosts were next to you and looking at you with soft and encouraging smiles.

"Looks like we're in this together, little lass."

"We might not be able to leave on our own, but we'll help you solve this problem however we can," the woman assured you with a gentle voice but determined expression.

For some reason, their support helped you feel a bit better about the upcoming trials, and you took a deep breath before standing a little straighter. Your rational mind took the reins, and you reminded yourself that they were just as much in the dark as you were, arguably more than, since you at least knew how magic worked.

"Alright," you stated, and decided you might as well show some manners. "Let's start again with a proper introduction. My name's Y/N, and I'm a wizard."

"Don't you mean a witch ?" the man asked curiously. "Also, the name's Gol D Roger, I was the Pirate King before my death."

"Honey, I told you before, witch and wizard hold the same kind of meaning as pirate and Marine, it has nothing to do with genre," the woman sighed like it was something she had said many times before. "My name is Portgas D Rouge, I was a witch. And that silly man's wife, though you probably never heard of it."

Your jaw dropped in shock.

"The Pirate King had a wife !?"

"Our marriage happened shortly before I turned myself in, it's a pretty secret thing," the man grinned.

You stared at the two floating transluscent silhouettes for a while, just taking the situation in since that had not been what you had signed up for when the day had started.

At the very least, you had not expected to end up introducing yourself to the ghost of the late Pirate King and his all but unknown wife in a random meadow full of flowers – though said flowers had not survived your stupid opponent's death, alas – with the sunset bathing the burnt and destroyed place in gold and red lights, right after you had defeated a warlock determined to kill you and possibly steal your magic knowledge.

To think you had been so sure that residing in the South Blue was going to ensure you at least a couple decades of a peaceful life, where you would be able to happily practice your art in secrecy and do your research without any unnecessary trouble.

"Alright," you grumbled, and had to remind yourself that neither of the two ghosts in front of you was responsible for this situation. "Regardless of who you are, here's what I can tell right now. Some asshole attacked me today, and he started an incantation to resurrect powerful people through a binding soul contract to kill me. I killed him before that could happen, but apparently he was far enough in his ritual for the summoning part to happen and now you're here and bound to me," you explained as plainly as you could.

The Pirate King's jaw dropped in shock, but the witch brought a hand to her chin in clear thinking process, which made sense since she would understand the implications better.

"But we only latched onto you because you were the last conscious living being around," she stated knowingly. "Since you were not the one to summon us, you can't give us orders, set us free, or send us back to the afterlife."

"Eeyup," you agreed with a tired smile. "So now we're stuck together, and I have no idea how to undo any of it. Ghosts and magic bindings aren't my area of expertise to begin with, throw in the fact that our situation is the result of a failed and interrupted ritual by a second-rate warlock, and there's no way I'm going to risk meddling with what looks a hell of a lot like a soulbond. I'm really sorry to tell you this, but unfortunately I don't even have access to the kind of knowledge susceptible to help me solve what's happening to us."

Then you grimaced and amended that last statement.

"I mean, technically speaking I know enough about warlock practices to summon a demon powerful enough to undo or at least explain how to undo this whole shitshow, but I would rather not do that unless we've exhausted absolutely all other available options," you said with absolute certainty. "Those fuckers are vicious and the second they realise who I am, their price is going to triple at the very least."

There was a beat of silence, during which both ghosts looked at you, then at each other to have what appeared to be a silent conversation through their eyes, and ultimately nodded solemnly before smiling at you.

"It's alright, little lass, we'll stay with you for now. We can try and see how far away we can go so you get some privacy anyway !" the Pirate King grinned.

"But if you want to try to find a solution, my mentor was a warlock specialised in ghosts, and ghouls along other low-level demons since those where the easiest magical entities to negotiate with," Rouge informed you, which piqued your interest immediately. "She was already old when I reached eighteen so she's likely dead now, but she told me the name of the island where she intended to spend the rest of her days and hide her scrolls so the World Government would never get their hands on it, maybe there'll be something there to free us from this situation."

Your eyes widened in hope. As a wizard, your knowledge of bindings to other magic beings was rudimentary since you had dedicated your life to a whole other field, but you still knew enough to be able to use a warlock's notes and perform the spells required to free you from those two ghosts and give them peace again.

"That would be mighty useful," you chuckled. "So where's her secret stash ?"

The blond woman's smile turned a little nervous, and she avoided your eyes for a few seconds, to the point her husband looked confused as well.

"Honey ? What's up ?"

"Well… it's in an island called Atlantis, and I know how to get there even without a log pose, but it's located in the New World."

Your curious look turned into a crestfallen expression. There was no way you could reach, enter, explore, and find your way in the New World even with a ghost to help you.

"We're in the South Blue !" you protested in shock. "I don't even know how to sail, how do you expect me to reach that island on my own ?"

"We won't force you to do anything, dearie," Rouge instantly assured you with a soothing tone and a barely-there caress on your cheek. "I'm just telling you everything I know so you can make your own choice."

You bit your lips at that, since her kindness was almost overwhelming. Your own mother had certainly never shown you that kind of soft and gentle affection, and you could tell it was already doing a lot to convince you to help this blond woman who exsuded kind protective mom vibes in spades.

Damn your familial trauma.

"And I'm pretty sure there's at least a couple people out there who wouldn't mind lending you a hand once they know you're helping me," Roger grinned. "My first mate had planned to retire in Sabaody with his special lady, maybe you can meet him there !"

Which sounded both reassuring and not at all, since you knew the reputation of the Dark King painted him as a man few would dare to mess with, and you really did not feel like taking the risk of pissing him off.

You looked down at the pitiful circle of green grass between your feet, the only patch saved from utter destruction by your shield, and tried to put some order into your thoughts and options. As far as you could see, you had three possibilities.

One, you could keep things as they were, and learn to live the rest of your existence being soulbonded to the ghost of the Pirate King and the witch he was married to, which meant staying in their general vicinity for however long you had left to live.

Two, you could summon a demon and likely end up free of ghosts, but stuck in hell with your soul belonging to a sadistic asshole for the next hundred years or so.

And three, you could risk your life on the off-chance that Roger's two decades old contacts might be willing to help you reach the island where Rouge's dead former master had hidden scrolls that might contain something that could perhaps send them back to the afterlife.

Not to mention the presence of the warlock who had challenged you proved your existence and location were already known to rather unsavory people, so staying on the island you currently resided was no longer an option no matter what decision you ended up making.

You raised your head back up, just in time to see the two ghosts looking at each other with an intense gaze full of gooey love and absolute devotion, like they had clearly done for years, would undoubtedly do for decades to come at the very least, and strongly suggested that at one point or another, they would start having ghost sex.

"New World it is !"

Chapter Text

Rayleigh pov

Rayleigh was peacefully reading his newspaper in his wife's pub with a drink, a little grin on his face as he enjoyed another day of his retired pirate's life, and felt amused at the youngsters making waves in Paradise.

Then the door was pushed open, and a split-second look was all it took for him to realise the person coming in was not a threat, more like a random lady unaware of the kind of establishment she had entered. Despite her cloak and cautious attitude, she had the tired look of a woman who had just arrived from the Blues.

"What will it be for you ?" Shakky asked her once she reached the counter.

The woman looked at her right, then at her left, then sighed loudly and mustered a clearly forced smile.

"Help to reach the New World, preferably with the Dark King's approval."

Rayleigh froze.

Then he exchanged a quick but meaningful glance with his wife, and folded his newspaper before standing up and turning the open sign on the door to close. The woman did not move aside from removing her hood, and revealing her hair and a rather pretty face.

"Bold of you to come in and ask for that kind of favour," Shakky stated and lit a cigarette.

"Wouldn't have done it if I had another option," the woman admitted. "Look, I don't want to go into the details, but I'm bound to Roger and Rouge's ghosts and the only way for me to get free of them is to find a specific island in the New World. I can't get there on my own because I'm not a sailor, so I need Rayleigh's help."

The old pirate blinked, then felt a smirk settle on his face. Few people knew Shakky could lead them to him, and few among those would be both direct enough to ask for it and stupid enough to come up with such a crazy excuse.

Which meant, of course, that Rayleigh's curiousity was piqued.

So he sat next to the woman and watched her turn to him in surprise. Shakky handed him a drink and he hummed.

"That might be the most insane claim I've heard since I retired. You got something to back it up ?" he challenged her.

If she failed that test, Rayleigh would not hesitate a second to kill her to protect his and Shakky's identities. It would not be the first time he killed someone to ensure their peaceful retirement would remain secret.

"How do you want me to prove it ?" the woman asked, her voice calm and unbothered, which intrigued Rayleigh further and even amused him to some extent.

"If you're really talking with my Captain, ask him to tell you something only him and I would know," the Dark King stated.

A lot of things fell under that category, and Rayleigh was confident none would be the kind this little fresh Blue rookie might have managed to get her hands upon. At most, she might have heard of some well-known fact about Roger's crew, something so washed-up that no one in the New World would even consider it valuable information.

She looked at her left for a while, then she groaned loudly.

"I'm not saying that to the Dark King !" she protested. "Pick something else !"

Well your act is more entertaining than what most idiots try when they pass through this bar, I'll give you that.

She pretended to listen to whatever imaginary presence was talking to her for a while longer, until she relented and slammed her head on the counter before peaking at him with a strangely exhausted look.

"Can you promise you won't attack me for what I'm about to say ?"

Rayleigh laughed at that, now genuinely entertained by her antics, and determined to grant her a quick and painless death after her scam was revealed, even more so since Shakky seemed just as amused as he felt.

"Alright, kid, you got my word. Whatever you say next, I won't attack you for it," the Dark King promised.

She took a deep breath, then straightened on her tool, squared her shoulders, and looked him right in the eyes.

"Roger told me to remind you of the foursome you had with him, Shakky, and Rouge, when the four of you met in Mysteria Island right after he disbanded the crew. And he adds that you still owe him for pushing you and Shakky together by telling you to chose who you'd go down on first and you picked her," she deadpanned.

Rayleigh's glass slipped through his fingers and the cigarette in Shakky's hand fell in the sink.

-o-oOo-o-

Reader pov

This might be the longest awkward silence of your life, which was saying something.

Both the Dark King and the former Kuja Empress were staring at you with shell-shocked expressions, and you were determined not to speak first, despite the fact that Roger was cackling next to you.

"Explain," the Dark King ordered faintly after several seconds, visibly uncaring that his glass had shattered on the floor.

So you spilled everything. How magic was real. How you had ended up linked to the ghosts of Roger and Rouge. How you were trying to find Rouge's former master's scrolls to set the ghosts free and send their souls back to the afterlife. You even added more anecdotes that Roger told you in order to fully convince the two powerful pirates.

By the time you were done, both powerhouses were looking at you incredulously, but like they believed you anyway. Although there was a a strong undercurrent of I'm-not-paid-enough-for-that-shit in their gaze, something you heavily related to.

"I think you did really well," Rouge assured you once you were done.

"Of course she did, look at Ray, he looks like the time I told him we were keeping Shanks !" Roger laughed.

"Roger," the Dark King suddenly said with a glare in the general direction you had been looking to whenever you talked to the former Pirate King, "you're a fucking asshole. I can't believe you're making me work twenty years after you died."

Roger's ghost burst out laughing at that, to the point you felt like you had to send him a glare, which had absolutely no effect whatsoever.

"Look, at this point I don't even care about the why or how," you admitted to the couple still looking like they had a hard time processing your story. "But can you please just help me reach that Atlantis island Rouge told me about ?"

The Kuja Empress lit up a new cigarette, exchanged another long meaningful look with her husband, then they nodded at each other and she smiled knowingly at you.

"That island is situated pretty deep in Whitebeard's territories," she told you, and you took a deep breath. "You're going to need a very competent crew to lead you there, and not many who have the skill to do it will want to risk angering an Emperor by sailing uninvited in the waters he controls."

"Can't believe Newgate is still kicking too, how big is his family now ?" Roger grinned. "That bird boy's still with him ?"

"Roger wants to know how big his family is now and if the bird boy is still with him," you transmitted, which had for effect to make Rayleigh laugh.

"Yeah, Marco's his first mate now," the Dark King answered. "And Newgate got sixteen divisions with a hundred men each, so he's gotten even worse with age when it comes to adoption."

Roger whistled and grinned, then chuckled something about not being surprised by that, and you turned your attention back to Shakky.

"So I need to find the Whitebeard Pirates and ask for permission to reach Atlantis, that's it ?" you summed up.

"It's your best bet, yes, but even just reaching the Moby Dick won't be easy," she replied with a strange sparkle in her eyes.

"Mmh," Rayleigh hummed knowingly with just as weird a glint in his gaze. "I think I know someone who can get you there. Once he's close enough to the other side of the Calm Belt, I'll take you to his ship and you can make the rest of the journey with him."

Your eyes widened at the good news, but at the same time, your instincts were blaring in your heads that something was up with that offer and they looked a little too happy with that solution, so you narrowed your eyes.

"What's the catch ?" you asked.

"On my part, having a magic users in my contacts will be pretty useful," Shakky stated without an ounce of shame. "If some clients ask for information about magic, it'll be good business to have your number and your advice when I need it."

You stared at her for a moment, thought it through, and nodded. That was an honest request for the service you needed.

"I won't perform spells for anyone, but I'm willing to play the role of consultant for the next decade in exchange for your help today."

"Two decades."

"One decade free of charge as paiment for today, the following decade with a contract giving me ten to fifteen percents of the profits you make on the deals depending on the complexity of the request," you countered.

"Deal. Pleasure to do business with you," the Kuja Empress smiled amusingly.

You shook her extended hand, then turned toward Silver Rayleigh, who still looked way too amused to your taste.

"And you ?"

"Just a favour of my choice in the future," he grinned.

You sighed, knowing that was both too much and really cheap considering the help they were giving you. You checked quickly on the two ghosts next to you, and saw both Rouge and Roger nodding encouragingly.

"He won't screw you over, lassie, don't worry," the Pirate King assured you.

"You can trust them," Rouge added.

And in truth, it was not like you had a lot of choices, so you nodded.

"Alright then, a favour of your choice in the future."

"Great. I'm gonna make the call, it should take a few days for him to make his way to the border of the New World, you can stay here in the meantime," the Dark King grinned.

"You could just say you want to reconnect with your friends and use me as a translator," you snorted.

Four laughs answered you, and you prepared yourself for several days of wait filled with anecdotes from some of the most powerful people in the world.

-o-oOo-o-

Roger pov

As far as Roger was concerned, this unexpected trip in the land of livings was a blast. His lovely wife was with him, he had reconnected with his best friend – and got chewed up for hiding he had planned to turn himself in back then – and the lass he was bonded to by magic was pretty fun.

The only thing he could not bring himself to do was asking her to look for his son. After a long talk with Rouge on the first night they had spent back in this world, they had agreed it would be both too complicated since they had no idea what had happened after Garp promised to hide him, too risky to draw attention to their boy, and too much to ask of the woman who was already risking a lot to free them from this situation.

So as much as it pained him to not be able to see what his baby boy looked like now and what kind of person he had grown into, Roger had agreed to keep even his existence secret from everyone.

After a few days spent in Sabaody, Ray took the little wizard lass for a trip under the sea to bring her to the New World, where his contact was supposed to wait for them. With the gleeful look in his first mate's eyes, Roger strongly suspected this contact to be another former member of his crew, and when they emerged not far from a pretty cool-looking ship with a lot of red-themed stuff, the Pirate King beamed.

That had to be Shanks' ship, and he could not wait to see how his boy had grown up in twenty years. Damn, to think he had become a Captain of his own, and good enough that Ray would trust him with this kind of mission with no hesitation, Roger was so proud.

"So that's your contact ?" Y/N asked.

"Sure is. They can be a lot, but they're a good bunch," Ray smirked. "Don't be afraid to put them back in their place and you'll be good."

"Very reassuring," she snorted.

Rouge discreetly came next to him as Ray's little boat came closer to the ship.

"You're going to play matchmaker, aren't you ?" she murmured knowingly.

"No idea what you're talking about, love," Roger snickered.

His wife gave him a slightly reproachful look, but she seemed mostly amused anyway so it clearly did not count as a real reproach.

They floated to the deck while Ray and Y/N used a rope ladder to make their way up, and Roger instantly felt his heart miss a beat at the sight of Shanks.

Damn, you've grown up so much, kid.

 His boy was just as smiling as twenty years ago, his hair just as red in that shaggy cut, his skin just as tanned, but he exsuded confidence and power in a way he had not back then. A missing arm that Roger wondered what the story was, three parallel scars on his left eye, and a myriad of little scars on what was visible of his body showed he had fought and won his way in the world.

The boisterous teenager was a man now, and had grown into a good leader according to the atmosphere Roger could feel on this ship. Trust and happiness were obvious all around, along with a heavy undercurrent of respect.

His son had clearly become the great pirate Roger had always known he would, and few things could have made him happier or prouder.

Then Ray stepped on deck, quickly followed by their little wizard, and the curiousity Roger had felt simmering among the crew before obviously skyrocketed at the sight of the young woman.

"Hey Ray, so that's the favour you need ?" Shanks asked with his eyes glued to the lass.

And not on her eyes.

"That little one is special," Ray hummed knowingly, "and she needs a ride. Figured you'd be best suited for the job."

"Your kid better be careful with his words or that's not going to end well," Rouge whispered, but there was a wicked smirk on her lips that Roger knew to be afraid of.

And indeed, the wizard they were stuck with was eyeing Shanks with a very unimpressed expression, that clearly turned into annoyance when the red-head stepped toward her with a cocky grin.

"Mmh, can't say I'd mind a ride with a beauty like you, sugar."

And he put his hand around her waist, possibly low enough to touch her ass.

Wrong call, boy.

Y/N's expression turned into a smile that was way too sweet to be anything else than a warning.

And then she punched Shanks square in the face.

Roger's jaw dropped, Rayleigh burst out laughing, and Rouge's smirk widened.

Shanks took a couple steps back and stared incredulously at the little lady with a hand on his cheek, like he could not believe what had happened.

"I sleep with who I want, when I want, where I want," their wizard stated as she crossed her arms on her chest with a glare. "You don't make the cut."

There was a beat of absolute silence on deck, aside from Ray's laughter that had yet to dim as he hit the railing with his fist, and the whole pirate crew was staring at the young woman with gobsmacked expressions.

But Roger could only think of one thing.

And it was that he had seen this scene before.

That was almost word for word how he had met Rouge, with the exact same reaction.

When Shanks' eyes took that amazed glint that Roger knew he had felt himself back then, he burst out laughing too. Like father like son, they were the love at first punch kind of guys all the way.

"Yep, calling it right now, they're gonna get married !" the Pirate King guffawed.

"Just because we did doesn't mean they will," Rouge nuanced, but she looked just as amused as he felt.

-o-oOo-o-

Beckman pov

Beckman stared at the woman who was still glaring at his Captain, and all he could think of was that he liked her already. Her punch had obviously not been strong enough to truly hurt Shanks, but the shock of the act itself had been enough for the red-head to take a couple steps back. Fearless, fiery, feisty, approved by Silvers Rayleigh, all of that wrapped in a sexy body, Beckman was ready to bet his friend had fallen half-way in love in less than a second.

While the Dark King was still laughing his ass off and Shanks was stuck staring dazedly at the beauty who still looked pretty pissed, the rest of the crew seemed to get out of that weird moment.

"I like you," Hongo stated suddenly.

"Seconded," Yasopp said next.

"Thirded," Limejuice snickered.

"Fourthed !" Lucky laughed.

Beckman did not react aside from taking a drag of his smoke and then exhaling with a smirk. What fully put an end to the scene, however, was the Dark King getting his laugh under control and putting a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Alright," he huffed with mirth in his eyes. "Let's try this again. Lass, that's an Emperor's crew, there's basically nothing they can't do and nowhere they're not able to go. You lot, when I say this lady is special, it's not in the way you think of and trust me, you better show her some respect."

Beckman raised an eyebrow, his curiousity piqued at the serious in the tone of the old pirate despite the glint in his gaze.

"Gotcha. So what's making you so special, baby ?" Shanks asked with a wink.

She glared harder, and Beckman sighed when he realised it only made Shanks swoon harder as well.

Half an hour and a closed-off meeting with only the officers later, Beckman was still trying to wrap his mind about what she had told them, and several of his friends had not closed their jaw in quite a few minutes.

"So," the first mate tried to sum up after a long breath. "You're stuck with the ghosts of Roger and his wife after another magician tried to resurrect them to attack you."

"Yep," she confirmed.

"Because even if magic is real, you don't know the kind of magic that will set them free," Beckman pushed.

"Correct."

"But Roger's wife was a witch and her warlock teacher knew a lot about ghosts so her scrolls could contain a solution."

"Still correct."

"And those scrolls are in an island that's in Whitebeard's territory and you need us to bring you there," the grey-haired pirate completed.

"Unfortunately correct too."

And truly, if it was not for the Dark King nodding along and clearly vouching for her, Beckman would have asked what kind of drug she was high on. Just the sentence magic is real was enough to make him heavily doubt any kind of claim.

But suddenly she said a word in a strange language and made a flick of her wrist, which created a dark red circle full of weird symbols out of thin air next to her arm.

Beckman's eyes widened, Shanks cursed, and half the officers took a step back while putting a hand on their weapon, but she confidently put her hand inside the circle and came back with a thick book that she then put on the table.

"That's the most complete volume I have on ghosts, I plan to thoroughly read it during the journey to start making theories and work on the kind of ritual I'll need to perform," she said casually, like creating a weird magic circle leading to seas knew where was not that impressive.

"Wait, but if you're a witch-" Shanks started.

"I'm a wizard," she cut him off with an annoyed glance.

Shanks blinked and Beckman did too at the correction.

"Uh, what's the difference ?" his Captain asked in confusion.

"Witches are magic doctors. Wizards are magic researchers," she deadpanned. "Consider yourself lucky I'm not an artificer or a druid."

"And those would be ?" Yasopp asked her curiously.

"Druids are all about plants, so magic gardeners. Artificers like to think they're magic engineers, but really, they just make things explode," she snorted with a flip of her hair.

"And warlocks ?" Beckman asked with a raised eyebrow, since those were the only ones she had mentioned but not described.

She stared at him for a second, then exhaled a long-suffering sigh that clearly made every pirate present in the room curious one more time.

"Magic sugar babies."

And everyone burst out laughing again.

Chapter Text

Reader pov

Rayleigh left the Red Force with a tap on your shoulder, a way-too-amused grin, a reminder to let him know how things would go, and a few words to tell Rouge and Roger's ghosts he was glad to have been able to talk again, but he would still kick his former Captain's ass once they met again in the afterlife.

And so you set sail toward Whitebeard's territory to find the island where a dead warlock had hidden scrolls that might contain the solution to untie the bond between you and the ghosts of the Pirate King and his witchy wife who also was the only one able to know the way to said island.

Should've become a librarian while I had the chance.

Once you had gone through the medical check-up and the pirates had pretty much forced you to accept a solo cabin on the motive that a lady deserved privacy – as if you did not know what a dick looked like – you made your way on deck with the firm intention to start reading your book and plan ahead.

So you made your way toward one of the few unoccupied tables outside, but before you were even half-way there, Roger's ghost stopped you.

"Wait, girl, can you go ask Shanks to tell us what he's been up to since I died ?"

You raised an eyebrow and turned toward the former pirate, whose expression was way too innocent for you to not instantly get suspicious. However, you also had understood that both Rayleigh and Roger thought of Shanks as a son, and your own complicated family history meant you could not help but want them to at least have that healthy reconnection-closure moment while they had the opportunity.

Even Rouge had admitted she knew enough about Shanks to feel pretty fond of him, the reason of which you could not begin to fathom but felt like you had to respect anyway.

"Fine," you relented, and looked around until you found the cocky and stupid red-head.

You walked straight to the table he was at with two of his lieutenants, and as soon as he looked at you with a wide smile, you felt your patience grow thin.

"Roger would like to hear the kind of adventures you've had since he died," you stated before the pirate could even speak.

"You know, if you want to spend time with me, you don't have to make up excuses, baby. I'll be delighted to tell you all about me," the Emperor purred with a wink.

And that was it, your patience was already running out.

But then Roger whispered a few sentences in your ear, and you smirked wickedly, which seemed to worry the red-head a bit.

"Like the time Roger caught you jerking off in the crow's nest when you were thirteen ?" you challenged.

The grey-haired man and the one with dreadlocks burst out laughing at once, while the red-head turned crimson, then white.

"Also," you added just to rub it in, "Roger reminds you he didn't break his promise by telling me about it since he had only promised he wouldn't tell the rest of the crew, which I'm very much not part of."

"Uh, how many stories did he tell you ?" the Captain asked you faintly.

"That's for me to know and for you to worry about," you grinned. "Also, I'm not going to stay, I was just informing you so you can talk on your own while I go sit elsewhere to work in peace," you explained.

"Hey no you can't do that !" Roger protested at once.

"Why ?" you asked with narrowed eyes as you turned toward him.

"What if I have questions ? You're the only one who can ask them !"

You looked to the sky with a long-suffering ugh, then sat at the table with the men and opened your book.

"Fine," you relented, then explained the situation to the three confused pirates looking at you. "Roger wants me to stay in case he's got questions and I know he's going to pester me to no end if I don't. So I will be working on this, and you can blabber all you want."

"Okay," the red-head chuckled, then hummed and smiled. "Then let's start with how I recruited everyone, I got a few good tales about that."

You tuned the words out as you opened your notebooks and started to look at the chapter you had on reasons why ghosts might stick around on earth, in the vague hope it would contain something useful. To be fair, you doubted it, especially since any attempt you might make at a spell would likely reverberate through the soulbond and create unpredictable side effects.

You did not want to try and make them visible to humans only to end up taking their transparancy instead.

As you started to peruse your book, Shanks' voice quickly turned into a background rumbling that weirdly helped your focus, and so you dove into your work.

-o-oOo-o-

Shanks pov

Shanks kept retelling how he had met every member of his crew for the next couple of hours, and to his surprise, the magic lady only interrupted him three times to ask a question on Roger's behalf. To his delight, however, she did not seem to mind his presence or voice, and he even caught her smiling a bit at some of the funniest parts.

The Emperor only stopped when she closed her massive book full of weird symbols and strange pictures, since he assumed it meant she was done for the day. Beckman and Yasopp had already left a while ago to do their thing, so it was just the two of them, and Shanks very much hoped he could get to know this amazing lady a little better.

"Hey so, I wanted to ask, how does this whole magic thing work ?" he asked her with his trademark seducing grin.

She raised an eyebrow in a very judgemental manner, and somehow it still made her look insanely attractive.

If only her white flowy shirt had a couple less buttons at the top.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that," she deadpanned. "It's like asking how the whole piracy thing work."

Shanks' eyes widened, then he smiled wider. It was so sweet of her to make comparisons with his line of work.

"Fair," he chuckled. "Then it's like piracy, anyone can do magic ?"

She made a few grimacing expressions that clearly meant it's-more-complicated-than-that, then seemed to think about her words for a few moments, and ultimately took a swig of the tankard they had brought her earlier and she had not touched until then.

"Yes and no. Warlocks usually have very little magic themselves, they borrow the power of another entity in exchange of something like their soul, riches, their firstborn, sex, that kind of things," she explained. "That's the type of magic almost anyone can learn, but the price can get high fast depending on who or what they pass a contract with."

"Sounds risky," Shanks whistled, and she nodded.

"It is. You have no idea the amount of idiots who get tricked by demons every year because they read one book about summoning and think they know enough to get the upper hand," she said with an eyeroll.

"So it's like a guy leaving on his own without knowing how to sail," the Emperor suggested. "He either gets real lucky or the sea takes her due."

Her expression turned surprised and she blinked several times. Shanks felt pretty proud when she nodded slowly, like she had not expected him to make an actually good comparison.

"That's… yes, that's pretty similar," she admitted.

"And the other type of magic ?" Shanks asked curiously.

"You've got to be born with it," she shrugged. "No ifs or but, no two ways about it. You either have it in you or you don't and that's that."

"So more like Conqueror Haki," the red-head commented.

"What do you think Conqueror Haki is if not magic, exactly ?" she snorted.

Shanks' brain crashed and his jaw dropped.

"Wait. Wait a damn minute. You say I have magic powers !?" he exclaimed excitedly.

From his peripheric vision, Shanks vaguely noticed half the people on deck snapped their head in their direction at his outburst.

Then Y/N laughed, and all his attention came back straight on her. Then she grinned widely and looked at him with an extremely amused gaze that made her eyes sparkle in the late afternoon light.

"Yep," she confirmed.

"Wait, what do you mean Captain has magic powers !?" Lucky asked incredulously.

"Wait does that mean we can do magic too ?" Gab asked curiously.

In a couple seconds, most of his closest friends had come next to them and the rest of the crew was blatantly eavesdropping on the conversation. The woman looked around, then shook her head good-heartedly and turned to face everyone, much to Shanks' disappointment since he liked it better when he was the only one she looked at.

"Alright, I'm going to explain the basics of magic to you all so you get the gist of it. First thing to know is that magic is both an inherent part of life, and a matter of will and intent," she explained confidently.

"Wait but you said that magicians had to be born with their powers ?" Shanks countered with a confused frown.

"Yes, but almost everyone is born with magic in them, it's just so weak most of the time that they can't truly channel it," she developped. "Some people are born with a little more than the norm, and manage to train it enough to apply it to enhance their body and their attentiveness through sheer will."

"So Armament and Observation Haki are a form of magic ?" Beck asked with both eyebrows raised high.

"Eeyup. The more skilled a person is with those, the more magic it means they possess. The reason all types of Haki developp through training is that a person simply learns to use and channel more of their inner power," she nodded. "That's why some people manage to developp advanced techniques while others will be stuck at a lower level, they've simply got a different amount of magic in them."

"Holy fucking shit, that explains so much !" Yasopp swore.

"So that's why the few people who have Conqueror Haki also often have really good Armament and Observation ?" Bonk asked next.

She smiled brightly at that, and wow did that make her whole face light up.

"Exactly ! Conqueror Haki requires a whole other amount of magic to begin with, so whoever can activate it also has the required capacities to become extremely good with the other two types," she confirmed.

Shanks was pretty sure his jaw had not closed since she had started speaking, his brain painfully trying to keep up with the origin of his powers being rocked upside down. And then one question popped in his mind that he simply had to ask immediately.

"So you can teach me how to do spells and magic stuff ?" he beamed with sheer excitement at the thought.

She turned to him at once with an outraged expression and her eyes even seemed to glow red for an instant, but then she closed them with a deep breath and Shanks wondered if he had messed up again.

"Okay, first, that's extremely rude," she informed him with a glare that made the Emperor wince. "You don't ask a magician to teach you their techniques, it's like asking them to bear their soul to you. Second, even if I accepted, you wouldn't be able to actually do what I can do."

"Sorry, didn't know," the red-head apologised with a crooked smile while running his hand through his hair.

"Why do you mean he can't ?" Hongo asked curiously. "You just said Captain had a lot more magic than normal people."

She turned to the doctor with a snort, that quickly turned into a smirk.

"Let me put it differently. Let's say the deck is the level zero of magic, one inch above it is what most people have. This," she continued while showing the chairmat of the seat she was on, "is what people who can use the first two types of Haki have. To be able to use Conqueror, you'd have to be at… let's say Gab's height."

Several whistles followed, then Shanks asked the big question.

"And to be able to do what you do ?"

She smiled sweetly, then raised her hand next to her face and pointed upward with her finger.

"The jolly roger on the top mast."

Holy mother of all fucking seas.

"Wait, so you have Conqueror Haki ?" Yasopp asked her with a gobsmacked expression after a few seconds in complete silence around deck.

"Nope," she refuted with a shook of her head. "Haki is for people who use magic instinctively without any proper teaching, it's like pushing sheer energy through a hose. The kind of magic wizards, witches, and other magicians do is more like a super precise shower head with multiples little canals leading to it and firing energy in different directions. You can't really switch from one to the other once you've gotten used to it."

Which, again, made sense, but it still sent Shanks reeling at the prospect of how powerful it meant she was. Then her head moved to the left for a moment and she hummed pensively before nodding, so Shanks assumed either Rouge or Roger was talking to her.

"You're right," she admitted. "I'm on the higher range when it comes to the amount of magic people are born with, most magic wielders are only between the first and second set of sails. And having a lot of magic is not the same as being good at using it."

Shanks was pretty sure he heard Snake mutter that it was not all that reassuring, but the red-head was also fascinated by this little woman who clearly was a much bigger deal than he had expected. With every word, he wanted to learn more about her.

"Let me guess, you're really good at using it ?" the Emperor prompted knowingly.

She grinned and even winked at him, which was deliciously tempting, but Shanks still tried to force himself to focus on her words rather than the way her soft-looking lips moved.

"Sure am," she confirmed. "I specialise in instantaneous spatial distortion, but I'm also pretty damn good when it comes to the creation and manipulation of compelling seals."

Shanks blinked.

"Uh."

She looked at him with the same judgemental gaze than before, then sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I can open portals on different places or dimensions at the same time and I know where is all the stuff I put in there."

Which made a lot more sense already.

"Thanks for dumbing it down, sweetheart," the red-head swooned.

"That's so freaking cool," Limejuice grinned.

"Sounds super useful too," Gab added.

"So that's why you don't travel with bags, you can access everything you need with those portals," Beckman commented impressively before looking curious. "How come you didn't open a portal on the ghost dimension ? Would be easier than the whole trip."

"Oh, I can open a portal to the afterlife in fifteen minutes tops," she confirmed like it was no big deal, "but I can't send them through it as long as they're tied to me through soul and magic, so it'd be pointless," she shrugged.

Then she stood up and stretched her arms above her head, which showed more of her sensual curves since those black leather pants looked painted on her legs, and Shanks shamelessly enjoyed the view until she put one hand back on her hip and the other at her side.

"Now with that being said, you guys got the basics of what magic is and how it works," she declared. "Lesson's over."

"Wait but I have more questions !" Shanks protested immediately.

"You also have a crew to lead and a ship to sail," she retorted.

Shanks pouted immediately, even more so when all his friends either snickered or outright laughed at her words. Even Beck was smirking like the traitor he was.

The red-head was about to protest when his navigator jumped on the occasion to steal the pretty wizard away with mentions of talking about the kind of directions and other things they needed to discuss in order to reach the island Roger's wife had talked about.

Really, Shanks was not getting any support to conquer this pretty lady.

-o-oOo-o-

Reader pov

Two weeks passed, and you very unfortunately had to admit that you did not completely hate your time on the Red Force. Sure, that bunch of crazy dumbasses with sometimes questionable hygiene habits and arguably alcoholic tendancies was annoying, but they were also surprisingly nice and fun to be around.

Not to mention it gave Roger and Rouge other people to see – if not interact with directly – and the ghosts were clearly enjoying their time among so many living people.

Truly, it was mostly fine.

But there was one major exception to all of that in the form of a red-haired menace who kept looking at you with a cocky grin and making up the stupidest excuses to spend time with you, much to your displeasure.

One evening, after you finally managed to give him the slip by pretending to need the bathroom and then just stayed on the other side of the helm to avoid said red-haired menace, Rouge joined you, her blond hair and long dress floating with her.

"You're avoiding Shanks again ?" she asked you with an amused smile.

You frowned and then groaned before crossing your arms on your chest.

"He's so annoying !" you complained.

"And loud," she nodded knowingly.

"Ugh, yes," you sighed. "It's like he never shuts up."

"And he's always checking you out like a starved man in front of a buffet."

"Exactly, he's about as subtle as a sea king," you groaned. "And he's always acting like no matter how much I glare or how many times I reject his stupid flirting or how much I threaten him, he just- just likes it !"

"Like when he pretended to be hurt by your rejection and spilled his drink on himself just to have an excuse to take off his shirt in front of you and splash himself with water ?" the blond woman suggested.

The memory of tanned skin and a ripped chest packed with muscles and droplets falling from wet crimson hair to follow perfectly sculpted pecs and abs slammed into your mind, and you felt your throat become a little dry. As annoying as that pirate was, you were not entirely blind nor immune to that kind of spectacular eye candy.

"Yeah, like that," you mumbled with a little cough.

"And he's way too curious about your passion to spend so much as a single day without asking you about it," she hummed.

"Yeah, but that's not… I mean, I don't often get to talk about magic to someone who won't use it against me and asks more questions instead of telling me it's boring," you admitted in a grumble. "So that's not- not so awful, I guess."

"But he's got the manners of a ruffian," Rouge continued.

"Well yeah, but not that much," you had to amend. "I mean, his jokes are stupid and he can't drink without spilling booze on his chin, but having only one arm obviously complicates a lot of things, he's still attentive to his crew's well-being, he never crosses the line of real disrespect with me, and- wait a minute. What are you doing here ?" you asked with narrowed eyes.

The witch's ghost smiled and batted her eyes innocently.

"You know, I punched Roger in the face too the first time we met," she told you innocently.

"You- no. That's completely different !" you protested instantly while feeling blood rush to your cheeks in a way that definitely came from anger and not embarrassment.

"Oh, of course. I'm just a skilled magician who fell in love with a powerful pirate Captain despite how much he annoyed me at first with his cockiness and his lack of proper manners, it has nothing to do with your situation. It's not like you think he's attractive despite his terrible first impression or like you actually feel flattered by his attention despite how annoying he can be, right ?" she asked you with the same gentle and innocent smile.

Never before had you felt so tempted to tell a ghost to go fuck herself.

"That's just because I haven't had sex in a while," you retorted without looking at her. "I'm sure I wouldn't give a shit about how hot he looks if I just had some action."

"Well, only one way to find out," Rouge hummed. "But of course, the choice is entirely yours, since he's clearly just waiting for you to say yes to take you to bed… or wherever you want, for that matter."

"Oh fuck you," you finally gave up and told her.

"No thanks, that's my husband's job."

Your eyes widened at the casual way the sweet and proper woman said that, and then she just winked at you and floated away to another part of the ship, leaving you gobsmacked and with the absolutely unsufferable and unfairly torrid idea of sex with Shanks stuck in your mind.

Like you would ever want to have that loud and annoying and stupid sexy red-head with you in bed and feel his skin on yours or his lips on your throat or his hand between your legs.

You made your way back to the party happening on the main deck and snatched a tankard with a grumbling expression, perfectly determined to stay away from Shanks and his stupid sexy body and warm laugh and handsome roguish face.

Chapter Text

Shanks pov

Shanks sighed longingly for what might have been the hundredth time in not that long this evening, because both Hongo and Beckman groaned.

"Get over it, boss," his doctor told him bluntly. "No amount of puppy eyes and shirtless stripping is gonna make her want you."

"But she's so smart and pretty and perfect," Shanks whined as he looked to the content of his tankard.

If you can't get laid, then get drunk.

Those words had been one of Roger's wisest life advices, a saying Shanks had always followed and still applied to this day.

"And patient," Beck snorted. "Seas know I would've sent your ass into the abyss by now if I had her powers."

"Hey !" Shanks protested at the unfair statement.

Then he thought about it, winced, and emptied his tankard. In all honesty, chances were good the only reason she had not sent him to the deepest pit of hell yet was that she needed his help for her quest and was grinding her teeth until she could get away from him. But she was so sexy even when she pursed her pretty lips-

Then Shanks realised thinking of Y/N and her lips in the same sentence when he was drunk brought up a very different kind of ideas to his mind, and he groaned louder.

"Fuck, I need something stronger. I'm gonna get a bottle in my room, don't wait for me, lads," he instructed.

"First or second time today you're going to jerk off to her ?" Hongo snickered.

"Third," the Emperor replied without an ounce of shame and put his tankard on the nearest table before walking straight to his quarters.

Once the door closed behind him, Shanks dropped his cloak on the chair and kicked his sandals off. Then he went to the cabinet to get a bottle of rum, and hopefully get rid of the bitter feeling of not being appealing enough for the amazing and beautiful magician to reciprocate his interest.

Then the door opened and Shanks turned around just in time to see said beautiful magician coming inside with a pissed-off expression on her face. Which for once, he was pretty sure he had done nothing to be on the receiving end of. She slammed the door behind her and walked straight to him, which made Shanks gulp and put the bottle back down to raise his hand in front of him.

"Look, whatever I did this time-"

"You're annoying," she cut him off as she grabbed him by the collar and her glare instensified at the same time Shanks noticed her cheeks looked redder than usual. "You're loud, you drink too much, and you've got the flirting manners of a rabbit during mating season."

Ouch.

"But for some reason I can't get you out of my system, so you get one night to fuck my brains out," she stated next.

Shanks' brain crashed.

"What ?" he blurted out.

"Do you want to have sex with me or not ?" she asked him with a glare.

Had he been sober, Shanks might have slowed down and taken the time to properly ask whether she really wanted it, how much she had drunk, even tell her he was not sure he wanted a single night of sex fueled by anger when he was developping softer feelings for her.

But Shanks was not sober and the prospect of sex with the gorgeous woman he had just been about to jerk off to while she was holding him by the collar and looked two seconds away from kissing him short-circuited his mind, so all hesitations flew out of the window.

"Fuck yes."

The next second, a soft pair of lips crashed on his own for a sultry and demanding kiss, and all of the Emperor's brain functions not dedicated to pleasure were completely turned off.

Shanks woke up the next morning with a light headache, a sore throat, a weird sting on his upper back, and the blissful feeling of lingering endorphines flooding his body.

Habit made him immediately associate all of those signals with a night of drunken sex with a gal wild enough to both make him see stars and scratch his back like a feral kitten when he made her cum, so the red-head smiled smugly in his half-asleep state.

Then memories kicked in.

Shit. Oh fuck. Oh shit fuck nope tell me I'm wrong seas please please tell me I'm wrong and this was all a dream-

Shanks' eyes snapped open and he was immediately faced with the naked back of the only woman currently on his ship, her hair failing to hide what had to be at least three hickeys on her neck.

His arm went to cover his eyes for a moment as his brain faithfully brought forward the images of his magic lady arching her back in absolute lust, of her ravenous hands and passionate lips roaming all over his body, of her screams of pleasure as he fucked her deep while her legs rested on his shoulders.

And how it had started because she was drunk and angry and wanted to get him out of her system with one night and nothing more, and Shanks himself had been too drunk and horny to do the smart respectful thing and send her away because neither of them were capable to give true consent at the time.

If he had ever had the slightest bit of a chance with her, it was clearly good and gone now.

A muffled groan echoed from her side as she started to shuffle in bed, and Shanks braced himself for the perfectly justified fury coming his way.

After a few seconds of shuffling, she froze for a long moment and the Emperor steeled his nerves. He had fucked up, the least he could do was own up to it and apologise.

She turned in a flash and while the sight of her breasts and many more hickeys dispatched on her skin distracted Shanks for a second, the panic in her eyes quickly took precedence.

"I'm so-"

"Please tell me you didn't cum in me last night," she urged with sheer terror in her voice.

Shanks blinked, then realised what she implied and went through all the times he had climaxed, only to relax slightly when he remembered.

"Nope, you asked me not to everytime so I just kind of did it everywhere on you but not in you," he admitted and sent a little look on her breasts and belly where he was pretty sure he could spot the dried remnants of his seed.

"Oh thank fuck," she exhaled in relief and fell back on the mattress.

"You're not on a contraceptive shot ?" Shanks asked her cautiously, partially because he was curious and partially to delay the inevitable shouted reproaches he definitely deserved.

"Doesn't work on magicians," she grimaced. "Vaccines aren't a problem because it just protects the body further, but the only  kind of contraceptive that truly works on a born mage is a specific spell and there's a risk it'll mess with the magic flow of the body for a while after it's cast so I've never used it. And since magic's all about intent, the more a magician enjoys the sex-"

"The bigger the chance of getting pregnant or getting their partner pregnant," Shanks completed and paled. "Holy shit, even if I'm on a contraceptive ?"

"Between your level of magic and mine ?" she snorted. "It's maybe ten to fifteen percents effective tops compared to the hundred percent it would be with everyone else."

Shanks took a deep breath and felt glad he was on his back already, because this was the kind of close call he very much did not feel comfortable with.

A minute passed without either of them saying anything as they processed it, and Shanks forced himself to ignore how cute a kid looking like him and Y/N would be. But he could not help asking a slightly related question while looking pointedly at the ceiling.

"Guess you don't want to deal with a magic kid anyway, right ?"

"Just because I'm a wizard doesn't mean they'd be magicians too," she replied in a weird detached voice without looking at him either. "I mean, kids often take more after their mother than their father when it comes to magic since they spend nine months sharing a body, but it's not a foolproof rule, especially if the father is a powerful magic wielder and really wants that baby. Same way sometimes powerful kids are born without either parent being a mage, even if that's pretty rare."

"Huh," Shanks said smartly at her short explanation, then turned his head toward her. "So your family… ?"

"We are not talking about that hornet's nest," she shuddered and then grimaced. "Ever."

"Got it, mine's not a subject I like to talk about either," Shanks huffed with a brief frown at the thought of his twin and father in Marie Geoise.

A complicated birth family one did not want to talk about was something the Emperor could understand better than most and would absolutely respect.

"Good," she nodded.

"Good," Shanks repeated with a nod too.

And then the following silence became awkward.

Doubly so since both of them were back to looking at the ceiling.

Shanks waited for the shouting to begin, but after a minute of increasingly tense silence, he gave up and turned on his side.

"Look I'm so fucking sorry for-"

"I guess that's when I apologi-"

They both shut up while facing each other, and the awkwardness rose again when they both tried to tell the other to go first, until Shanks fully shut up and waited for Y/N to talk.

"Alright, I apologise for last night," she sighed. "You were drunk and I shouldn't have taken advantage of that to ambush you."

"Uh, I was going to apologise for taking advantage of you when you were drunk," Shanks blinked. "Since you made it pretty clear you weren't interested sober."

"Didn't stop you from flirting with me," she snorted.

"There's a difference between flirting and fucking until we pass out when you were clearly drunk," the Emperor retorted.

"We were both drunk," she countered, which was a valid point except for one little detail.

"Yeah but I would've been more than happy to do it sober, you wouldn't even let me hug you without the booze," Shanks reminded her.

"I know, you got Rouge to thank for making me realise I was developping a crush on you despite how annoying you were, and the seas to thank for her and Roger leaving us alone last night," she hummed like it was no big deal.

Like she had not just dropped a bomb on him.

"Wait. Crush ? You have a crush ? On me !?" Shanks blurted incredulously.

"Against my better judgement, yes," she grumbled and turned around, but the tip of her ears still looked redder than normal. "Twas a matter of time before all your innuendos and shirtless teasing made me lose it and drag you to bed one way or another."

Shanks felt a beaming smile stretch his lips until it threatened to split his face in two, and then he moved to plaster himself against his pretty wizard's back with his hand around her waist and plant a big kiss on her neck.

"You like me !" he exclaimed happily and nuzzled her further. "You know I like you too, right ? So now I can get all lovey-dovey with you and you won't push me away ? Oh and also you can just sleep here with me from now on and I can hug you and kiss you all the time and-"

"And you're back to being annoying," she grumbled, but it lacked all the fire she had during the first few days and Shanks felt his heart ready to burst.

"But you still like me," he smiled.

"Yes."

Shanks hugged his newly aquired girlfriend tighter against him, and he when he got a glimpse of her expression, he was sure to have spotted a smile on her face too.

-o-oOo-o-

Reader pov

Shanks waited less than three seconds to proudly announce you two were dating to the entire crew when you reached the galley for breakfast. You could not even say you were surprised when you heard groans, nor when pouches of berry started flying around.

"What was the bet about ?" you asked while you sat next to your boyfriend who was looking as proud as a peacock.

"Whether you'd kill him or fuck him first and when it would happen," Beckman replied with a smirk just as he caught what you were pretty sure was his third pouch. "You lasted longer than most people gave you credit for."

"It was a close call," you admitted honestly as you picked a mug of coffee.

"You couldn't have done it two days ago ?" Yasopp grumbled.

"Eh, I only received ghostly advice from another magic user who ended up with a pirate Captain last night," you shrugged. "She made pretty good points."

"Why thank you, Y/N," the woman in question told you as she appeared, followed by a pouting Pirate King.

"I helped too !" Roger protested.

You turned fully to the ghost and gave him the most deadpan stare you could.

"No you didn't," you said bluntly. "Your idea of a subtle matchmaking method was to force me to spend time with Shanks by asking about his adventures and pretending that my presence was necessary when it was painfully obvious that you just wanted to give him an occasion to brag and show how great he was."

"Wait, Roger did that ?" Shanks asked you with wide eyes, and then smiled brightly. "Thanks Captain !"

"You're welcome, kiddo !"

"I just told you it didn't help," you reminded your boyfriend with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah but I got to spend more time with you and I know you liked at least some of my stories with the way you smiled, baby," the red-head cooed and kissed your cheek.

Damn it, you could not deny that. Instead, you chose to focus on your breakfast and ignore your boyfriend's puppy eyes as he cooed and bragged in equal measure about your night together and both your hickeys and the red lines you had left on his back.

You had a feeling trying to stop him would be pretty pointless, and it was not like you truly cared about secrecy concerning your sex life, anyway.

And regardless of your ascendance and what it meant about your affinity with lust, it was pretty flattering to hear how much this handsome seducer had enjoyed his night with you.

"I can't believe he made you change your mind with sex," Hongo snorted at some point.

"That's because you haven't heard him moan my name like I'm the best fuck he's ever had when he's slamming his dick deep enough in my pussy to make me feel it all the way to my stomach," you replied with a smirk.

Half the galley turned silent and Shanks made a smile so wide it bordered on manic. You could pretty much feel the smugness emanating from him, but when it came to his sexual prowess, he deserved bragging rights.

"Oh seas, she's as shameless as he is," Snake groaned in the silence.

"When it comes to lust, I'm arguably worse," you informed them with your knowing smirk firmly in place. "So I'd suggest you lot to not ask questions if you're not ready to hear the answers."

Then, just to drive the point home, you turned to your utterly delighted lover who was still looking at you in sheer glee and kissed his cheek.

"Next time, remind me to bring some of my toys. I think there's a few you're going to really like."

Shanks burst out laughing at the same time his crew grimaced, paled, facepalmed or groaned, and you took another sip of your coffee with a satisfied smirk. You were definitely getting used to this bunch.

The next evening, when Shanks and you called it a night to retire to his quarters – with Roger and Rouge having the decency to leave you alone – and he took off his shirt, you were suddenly reminded of something you had wanted to ask for a while but had so far refrained out of politeness.

"Say, I know this kind of things is pretty private and you can tell me it's none of my business, but I'm curious. How did that happen ?" you asked while nodding toward his left side.

"Nothing secret here, I lost my arm when-"

"I wasn't talking about how you lost your arm," you corrected him quickly while sitting in bed, your clothes already discarded. "I was there when you told Roger about that kid you saved from a sea monster. I was asking about the magic seal on the back of your biceps. It's not often that I see one that is so weakened but still active."

"What."

Your lover froze at your words, his expression both serious and the closest you had seen of afraid, which made you frown instantly while a dangerous theory started to form in your mind.

"That tattoo is a magic mark," you repeated slowly. "I could feel it on you the second we met, but I didn't try to look closer at the type of spell put on you since it's usually a very private thing."

Shanks' fist closed and he turned a glare to the sheets.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered darkly, then turned a look between serious and pleading to you. "You're really sure it's still active ? Losing my arm wasn't enough ?"

It was your turn to freeze at the implication of his question, and you had to take a deep breath to calm your nerves before your powers exploded in fury.

"Shanks. Was that seal put on you without your consent ?" you asked as composedly as you could. "Because if so, unless it was done during a fight, it's one of the worst crimes a magic user can commit and I assure you I will do everything in my power to remove it if you want me to."

"That fucking tattoo is something my birth father forced me to take before I disowned that whole blasted family and ran away," the Emperor told you with a bitter smile then finally sat on the bed as well. "If you can remove it and free me for good, I'll be forever grateful."

You nodded grimly and went closer to examine the black mark and identify the type of seal used, along with what it was supposed to do. It became clear in less than three minutes and you felt apalled for at least two different reasons.

"What kind of lazy asshole did that ?" you muttered. "Looks like something a wizard would have come up with five hundred years ago."

"You can still remove it ?" your lover asked you currently.

"Duh," you snorted, then explained what you had found. "For your information, that thing basically transfers all forms of Haki-based types of power of someone else on you, so whoever made that mark could control your body, your mind, and perceive the reality around you. But it relies heavily on their body aligning with yours so losing your arm definitely weakened that ability. They probably wouldn't be able to do more than cause you headaches and maybe a light loss of balance if they tried to use it now."

You could tell that last part was a huge relief to Shanks, and you smiled more gently at him before motionning him to sit against the bedframe, which he did without more than a curious glance.

"Alright, if you still want me to remove it-"

"Yes," he cut you off.

"- here's what going to happen," you continued. "The seal itself is simple, but the amount of time it has been on you means the whole process will take between fifteen minutes and an hour. It will be a bit painful, but I can garantee you will feel a lot better without that thing disturbing the natural flow of energy in your body. And lastly, it's imperative that you don't move or distract me when I work."

"Alright," the red-head nodded decisively.

Then you smirked.

"Which makes it the perfect occasion for cockwarming."

Shanks' jaw dropped, and your smirk widened.

-o-oOo-o-

Shanks pov

Twenty minutes in, Shanks hardly felt the sting on his arm anymore, yet his abs clenched regularly and he could tell there was sweat rolling on his temples. When his wizard girlfriend had suggested cockwarming to keep his focus on something else while she removed the symbol of the God's Knights inked on his skin and the spell imbued in it, he had thought it was a brilliant idea.

Shanks had tried cockwarming before with other partners and always enjoyed flustering them with the control he had on his body, but for some reason, this specific time was pushing his iron will to the limit. Maybe it was because his lover was a magician, but her absolute focus on her task and the way her warm and wet pussy had to massage his cock were driving him insane with lust.

At this point, the Emperor needed to keep his eyes on the two red magic pentacles-circles-things around his arm to distract his brain from the desire demanding more and more that he fucked his girlfriend with the passion of a thousand suns.

Even just looking at the way her eyes were glowing red with magic from time to time was close to turn Shanks into a simpering mess. This gorgeous naked woman impaled on his dick and skillfully setting him free of Marie Geoise's influence for good was just too much for his libido.

Then a black mist started to leave his skin in a thin volute with a hissing sound, and the sting of pain she had mentioned became more pronounced, but still nowhere near enough to really dim the pleasure of her cunt surrounding his cock.

Shanks gulped when her whole body began to tense and then relax with every breath she took, including her pussy, and his own breath turned heavy. He almost let his head fall on her shoulder, but then she spoke.

"Don't move."

The plain order was nothing mean or haughty, just a reminder of her instructions, and the red-head took a deep breath before straightening again to let her work.

"Good boy."

His dick jerked incontrollably at her praise, and the left corner of her lips stretched in a smirk even with her eyes only focused on the glowing magic circles sucking the spell out of him.

It took ten more excruciatingly long minutes before Shanks felt something snap. Then he suddenly got the faint sensation of being more attuned to his body than before, which unfortunately also meant he felt even more clearly how close he was to cum despite not being in a position where he was allowed to give in to lust yet.

His girlfriend moved back on him and Shanks bit his lips, all his muscles contracted in a desperate effort to keep his climax under control for just a bit longer.

Y/N had a hand open with the palm facing up, a red pentacle hovering above it and keeping an orb of shadowy dark energy contained at the center of it. The minuscule part of Shanks' brain that was not completely consumed by desire somehow connected the dots.

"Tha- is it-"

"The spell put on you," his magic girlfriend hummed. "Removing a seal like that will have an effect on the caster too, you know, like a rubber band snapping back. If I'm not careful about it, it might cause them a light headache for a few hours."

She said a word in a weird language the Emperor did not understand, and the orb of lashing black shadows suddenly tripled in size right before she clenched her fist and both the pentacle and black magic stuff vanished, leaving Shanks to stare at his lover who was now sporting a devious expression.

"Or I could go the other way and add a little amplifying spell to make them have a massive migraine for the next few days," she smirked.

Oh fuck I love you.

"I'm free ?" Shanks managed to ask through gritted teeth.

"Mh-hm, no foreign magic left on you," she confirmed and even moved again to kiss his cheek, the movement creating more friction on his dick and pushing Shanks to his absolute limit.

"Get off me now."

She moved up and the second her pussy's sensual caress fully left him, Shanks let go and his orgasm slammed into him, a wave of pure pleasure making white stars flash in front of his eyes and putting every single nerve of his body on fire, while his cock spurted row after row of sperm on his stomach.

It took Shanks a moment to come back from his high. Even then, he still felt dazzled and like he was high in the heavens after what was definitely the most powerful orgasm he had felt in seas knew how long.

And even then, what made him come back to himself was the sensation of his girlfriend licking the cum on his skin and occasionally kissing his dick.

"Told you it would feel better afterwards," she grinned when their eyes met.

Shanks' jaw dropped.

"You knew I'd feel everything harder !?"

"Why do you think I suggested cockwarming rather than something else ?" she chuckled. "Did you enjoy that little surprise ?"

Seas, she was the most devious lover Shanks had ever met in his entire life and he felt his cock get hard again, despite his usual refractory period being longer than that.

"More than enjoyed, babe," he assured her, then moved to lay fully on his back and motioned her to move higher with his fingers and a hungry grin on his face. "Come on, let me show you how grateful I feel."

Her eyes looked just as lustful as Shanks felt, and she diligently came sit on his face, much to the Emperor's delight. He had no intention of letting her pussy leave his mouth until he repaid every single second of teasing she had put him through, with interests.

Chapter Text

Beckman pov

The next morning, Beckman was not surprised to see his Captain and the wizard come together at breakfast again, but he instantly noticed a difference in Shanks. It was subtle, especially since he tended to always be smiling and that tendance had been amplified after she had agreed to date him the day prior, but still.

The first mate knew his friend, and a quick glance toward Yasopp and Lucky confirmed he was not the only one able to tell Shanks looked different. A tiny bit more relaxed, a tiny bit freer, a tiny bit happier, and his whole body reflected this change.

The way he looked at his girlfriend had also changed, it was still stupidly adoring, but there was something both softer and more intense in his eyes now.

The three of them got the answer a little later in the morning, after the wizard informed them all she had complex magic technical stuff to discuss with Rouge and did not want to be disturbed. She sat herself at a table with a pile of books and writing stuff, and soon started to take notes and talk to the ghost with terms no one who was in earshot could even begin to comprehend.

Shanks kept staring at her while he was manning the helm, and after the third time Beckman had to remind him to check the log to make sure they would not get off-route to the rendez-vous island they had picked for their meeting with Whitebeard, Yasopp and Lucky joined them and the sniper asked the question.

"So, you're gonna tell us what happened last night ?"

"Huh ? Oh sure, I let her use my face like a throne and she-" the red-head started with a wide smirk.

"Not the sex, boss !" Lucky laughed around his meat.

"The thing that makes you look at her like she's given you the world," Beckman precised as he lit up a smoke. "And that got you moving like you've got a massive weight off your shoulders."

His Captain glanced at the woman again, who was frowning and writing furiously on a notebook. His smile turned more reserved, softer, something that showed more feelings that any of his beaming grins would ever do.

"She removed the mark from my arm."

Beckman's eyes widened and he almost lost his grip on his cigarette.

"Holy seas," Yasopp blurted in a whisper. "That's possible ?"

"Turns out it is when you've got a magic girlfriend," Shanks chuckled incredulously. "Apparently she clocked in on it when we met but didn't want to ask because it's not polite, and when she realised I didn't want it… damn, she looked furious. You should've heard her roast the caster," he added knowingly.

"What did she say ?" Lucky asked with a grin.

"Basically that he had done a lazy and sloppy job of it," the red-head laughed. "Only took her a minute to figure out what it did and maybe half an hour to remove it, with a little gift of her own to give him migraines for days."

Beckman chuckled at that and took a long drag of his smoke. That tattoo linking Shanks to the God's Knights and Marie Geoise had been a source of worry and shame for as long as Beckman had known him, and even the reason he had admitted the truth of his biological family to them in the first place.

Regardless of their relationship, regardless of her tie to Roger and his wife's ghosts, this alone would have placed the Red-Haired Pirates in her debt. The first mate briefly wondered if she realised the might of what she had done for their crew by setting their Captain free.

With the kind of gal she was, however, Beckman was ready to bet she had rather done it for the principle of the thing or because she was protective enough to refuse to let her lover be in danger when she could do something about it. Possibly a mix of both.

"Looks like you hit the jackpot with that one," the grey-haired man grinned.

"Sure fucking did," Shanks smiled like a sappy fool. "Even without all the magic stuff, the sex, Beck, the sex. Fucking phenomenal. I swear she's made of lust or something, can you believe she got me desperate to blow my load from cockwarming in just thirty minutes ? I've never had anyone making me feel so aroused, it's like-"

"Too much information, boss," Yasopp cut him off with a facepalm.

"Maybe she can even do something to soundproof your room," Lucky laughed.

Shanks laughed too, and Beckman grinned while he kept enjoying his smoke and the overall happiness of his friend. Then he glanced at the lady again, and decided he was due a little conversation with her. He just needed to keep Shanks busy long enough to be the one bringing her lunch.

In the end, he just sticked Hongo on it with the reminder that even the Captain needed to do his medical check-ups, and grabbed a few sandwiches with two tankards to bring to the table she was at. She raised her head before he truly reached her, which either meant she was very attentive to her environment or one of the ghosts had warned her.

"Thought you'd need the food to keep going."

"Good idea," she nodded and gave him a brief smile. "Thanks."

Beckman nodded, then sat next to her and when she raised her head again, it was more appraising this time. She narrowed her eyes a second, then sighed loudly.

"Is it when you give me a shovel talk about what you'll do to me if I break Shanks' heart ?" she asked him.

"After what you did for him, I'd rather give you the opposite of that," he smirked and picked a sandwich. "I'm here to ask how you'd feel about becoming crew."

Her gaze turned serious and she straightened before putting her books and notes to the side to take a sandwich instead. They ate in silence for a while and the first mate let her think about it. He would rather have her consider the question seriously and give an answer she was sure of rather than a spur-of-the-moment reply.

"I'm not opposed to the idea," she said after a moment. "Even if Shanks and I don't work out on the long run, he doesn't strike me as the type who'd kick me out just because we break up."

"Not a chance," Beckman assured confidently as took a swig. "Being part of his crew and his lover on top of that will put a target on your back, he won't abandon you no matter what your couple becomes."

"I already got a target on my back, but good to know," she shrugged.

"Didn't know you had a bounty," the first mate asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Not in that sense," she corrected with a bittersweet smile. "The World Government has been hunting all types of natural-born magicians for centuries by sending warlocks after them. That's why there's so few of us left and we all tend to either live in hiding, keep our powers secret, or both. It's a very unofficial thing, those warlocks are a secret elite unit under the direct orders of the Council of Elders and pretty much no one knows about them."

Beckman went still for a second. That was not what he had expected, but it made an awful lot of sense and explained why neither he nor anyone in the crew had heard of magic until then. But if she was so certain she had a target on her back at the moment, it could only mean one thing.

"They found you already," he stated more than he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I got stuck with the ghosts of Roger and Rouge, no offense you two, after a fight with a warlock sent by the Gorosei. The guy was clearly on the weaker side because since I lived in South Blue, they assumed it meant I had to either be a non-combattant or low-level mage."

Which was very clearly wrong of her enemies, and a smart move on her side. Appearing weaker than you really were was a good technique to survive out there, Beckman was more than ready to acknowledge it. But most importantly, this information meant she would be hunted whether or not she joined their crew, so letting her leave after this quest in order to protect her from a dangerous life was no longer relevant.

"Figured you could hold your own in battle. Alright then, Shanks will have to be the one making an official offer to join, but as far as I'm concerned, you're welcome aboard," the first mate assured her, then smirked. "I got a feeling your skillset is going to be pretty damn useful."

The mirroring smirk she gave him confirmed his intuition, and he stood up before taking both empty tankards and the plate.

"Though if you could start by soundproofing Shanks' quarters, we'd all appreciate it."

She laughed loudly at that, and Beckman left her to her work. He would have to inform Shanks of her hunted status, possibly the rest of the officers as well, but something in his guts told him recruiting her was a great idea.

There was something about this woman that screamed you wanted her on your side rather than as your enemy.

-o-oOo-o-

Reader pov

Beckman's offer stayed in the back of your mind for the rest of the day, and you could not deny it made you feel pretty happy. You had never considered joining a pirate crew, but between the sheer practicality of having a bunch of powerful fighters at your back that the World Government could not easily attack and your own growing affection for them all on top of your budging relationship with Shanks, you had to admit you would have to be an idiot to not accept it.

If and when Shanks offered, that was.

But ironically, Beckman's clear acceptance of you as an all-but-official part of crew comforted you in your previous plan concerning your next magic move for them.

Which was not soundproofing Shanks' quarters, despite the first mate's request.

"You know, if you want my brat to propose, you could just say it," Roger snickered. "No need to go all out like that, you already have him wrapped around your finger."

"That's not why I'm doing this," you retorted with a glare to the Pirate King.

Said Pirate King kept snickering like your annoyance and protest had no effect on him whatsoever, much to your disappointment.

"You can't say you don't realise how much this gesture is going to mean to him," Rouge smiled. "Especially when you're going out of your area of expertise for it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm an idiot."

"Not the word I would have used," the blond witch said with a sparkle in her eyes.

You chose to ignore that comment and what she implied with it to instead go to your lover with the firm intention to steal him away from the starting party before he could get too drunk to think straight. What you had in mind required his full conscious consent, which meant you could not wait until he was further away than a couple tankards.

You left the deck under a lot of whistles and made your way to his quarters, a sense of nervousness rising in you with every step.

"Relax, lassie, you've got this," Roger smiled with a ghost squeeze on your shoulder that you barely felt.

"And I'm here to help you," Rouge reminded you calmly.

As soon as you stepped inside the room, Shanks grabbed you by the waist from behind, his fingers immediately slipping under the hem of the long green skirt you had opted for that day.

"Didn't think I'd awake such an unsatiable horny little thing when we fucked the first time, baby, you really couldn't wait longer ?" he purred in your ear.

You grabbed his wrist to stop him and turned around to face him instead.

"Not tonight," you told him firmly. "That's not why I asked you to leave the party early."

Your lover blinked in surprise but clearly went with it, his expression turning into something more curious than aroused.

"Alright, then what's up ?" Shanks asked you, then his gaze softened. "If it's about what you told Beck today, he talked to me about it and of course I won't abandon you no matter what. But just so you know, even if you want to leave, I can totally help you hide in one of my territories."

"It's not about that," you replied, which clearly surprised him.

"Then- oh right I almost forgot, join my crew ? Pretty please ?" he smiled excitedly.

"Yes," you replied immediately, then talked before he could lead you outside to celebrate. "But that's not what I had in mind either."

"Then about your quest ? We'll meet Whitebeard tomorrow afternoon and frankly, he's got no reason to refuse a simple trip in his territory, worst case scenario he'll send one of his Commanders along to check we're not doing anything fishy," the Emperor assured you with a smile and his hand replacing your hair behind your ear.

"Still not that," you smiled, "but thanks for keeping me in the loop."

You saw curiousity settle for good in your lover's eyes, and you led him to the bed so he would be sitting when you made your offer. Once you were both there, you took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes, which made him almost vibrate with excitement.

"Alright, I bite," he grinned amusingly before you could speak. "What did you want to talk about in private like that, sweetheart ?"

"Would you like to have your arm back ?"

Shanks froze, absolute shock taking hold of his features for a while, like he had trouble processing the words you had just said. His hand went to his biceps almost mechanically, like he was not even consciously moving it.

"You- you can- but- you said you weren't-" he stuttered after a few minutes, his voice trembling.

"I'm not a witch," you conceded gently since the subject was clearly too sensitive for you to use your usual blunt way. "But Rouge is, and she specialised in injuries before she met Roger. That's why I talked all day with her. With a sample of your genes, I can use my powers to call back all the particules that used to compose your left arm, and then she can guide me into reforming all the bones, tendons, muscles, everything."

Shanks huffed a watery laugh, then he hid his gaze under his fingers for a few seconds before he looked at you with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"You're- fuck, you don't even have to- you know I'd never have asked that of you right ?" he chuckled weakly.

"Just like I'd never have asked if I could join your crew," you replied and put your left hand on his cheek.

He stared at you for a little while, then laughed and wiped his tears.

"At this rate I'm gonna ask you to marry me before the end of the week," Shanks joked with an intense emotion in his eyes that you were not sure you wanted to risk naming yet.

"HA ! Called it !" Roger exulted, which completely broke the moment.

Then Rouge smacked his shoulder, and never before had you felt grateful for ghosts' abilities to touch other ghosts like humans could touch each other.

"Don't push it," you told your lover with a mild reproachful look.

"Alright, alright, too soon, got it. I'll wait until next month," the red-head grinned and winked at you.

Stars above, you really had agreed to date an idiot.

But he was still your idiot, and that meant you were going to support him to the best of your abilities, which included repaying the risks he was taking by assisting you in your quest. You wanted the two of you to be on equal grounds rather than feeling like you owed him.

"Wait a bit before you get a ring, you're going to have to stay still again and the pain's going to be a lot more intense for a longer period. And no cockwarming this time," you added before he could ask.

"Not sure I would've been able to hold on longer than I did yesterday," Shanks smirked. "And you need me to stay fully still or just my arm ? Cause if it's the second option then just keep booze near me and I'll be good with the pain."

You thought about it for a while, then shrugged. Alcohol would not change much since the blood would refill the limb as you reformed it, and it did tend to numb sensations. Still, you turned to Rouge, who was already nodding.

"It won't affect him or the surgery in a negative way," she confirmed.

"Alright," you said, and became more serious. "Get as much booze as you'll need for two to three hours, four tops. Same as last time, don't move your arm, don't distract me, and I mean it because healing is not my field of expertise. I'll need total focus."

To your surprise, Shanks smiled and brought his hand to your face to bring you closer and kiss you fondly, his lips slow and sensual as they moved against yours.

"I trust you, baby," he whispered against your lips.

Then he grabbed several bottles from a cabinet and put them all on the nightstand before removing his shirt to sit fully on the bed, one bottle uncapped and already in his hand as he took a hearty gulp.

You waited for him to be done, then swiftly picked a hair from his head.

"Hey !" Shanks protested.

"Need something with your genes to call the rest," you reminded him with an innocent smile. "Now let me and Rouge work. Roger's here too, so if you want to talk to him to help with the pain, go for it but don't be too loud."

"Yes ma'am," the Emperor joked.

You rolled your eyes and looked at the blond witch next to you, who nodded back seriously. You had planned the whole procedure together and she was as confident as you were that it was, if very delicate work, still doable.

You said a few words to summon a pentacle under the single red hair you had taken from your lover and create a link between it and the missing parts of his body dispatched all over the world. Then you opened up five other portals destined to bring and accumulate the various components of his missing limbs.

That was the easiest part of the process for you, since it relied on the two types of spells you specialised in. As such, it only took a reasonable time before each of the pentacles was containing a moving cloud of microscopic elements. Once you felt the last of them had answered your summon, you exhaled softly.

"We're good," you murmured.

"Agreed, I feel the presence of everything we need," Rouge approved. "Are you ready for the hard part ?"

In the background, you heard Shanks babble about some adventure or other, but only the sound of his voice was reaching you rather than the actual words. Which showed how far you were lost in the absolute focus required for this ultimate challenge of your skills as a magic wielder.

"Let's do this," you declared with a determined look.

You created a pentacle around Shanks' deltoid, his flesh at the center of the star, then started a much longer spell to transfer the components held in your other circles to this one while forcing them to latch onto the remaining limb and take back their rightful place.

Rouge guided you all along with the amount of bone, skin, ligament, tendon, muscle, and everything you might need as you assembled them again and recreated an entire arm, one millimeter at a time.

You had no idea how much time had passed when you finally finished the last of his fingers and nails, but you could feel sweat on your back and your own hands starting to tremble since you had needed to end by the most delicate and complex part of the whole arm.

But there was nothing left in the components you had summoned and Rouge gave you one last single spell to cast in order to check everything was in working order. You cast it, and felt intense relief when the result showed everything was exactly as it should be.

"You did amazing," the witch congratulated you with a smile. "We're going to leave you two alone now, alright ?"

"Wait, we are ? But my boy just got his arm back !" Roger protested. "We need to celebrate and-"

You did not have the energy to do more than huff a tired laugh before Rouge picked her husband by the wrist and led him through the wall with shushing words about intimacy and vulnerability. You closed all your portals right after and they vanished into nothing, the red light disappearing at once.

"All done," you smiled tiredly at your lover and wiped the sweat from your brow. "Try to open and close your fist, see how it feels."

You could not help but snort when you noticed Shanks was staring incredulously at his arm, and slowly did as you ask, moving his fingers and bending his elbow while he kept looking like he doubted his own eyes and senses. Which, given the amount of rum probably running in his veins at the moment, was understandable.

When your laugh became a little louder at his gobsmacked expression, his eyes suddenly snapped on you and before you knew it, you were engulfed in a bear hug by a red-head who hid his face in your neck.

"Thank you," he whispered in a shaking voice after a while. "Thank you so much."

Any reply you could have come up with was replaced by a sudden yawn you had no chance to keep quiet, since you were pretty much prisoner of two strong arms very intent of keeping you where you were.

Next thing you knew, Shanks had made both of you fall to the side without letting you go so you both laid on the bed while hugging still.

"Need to clean up," you protested before another yawn escaped you.

"Tomorrow," your red-head stated like it was not up for debate in a surprisingly clear voice. "I need to keep you like that now. If it's a dream, I need to remember exactly how it feels when I wake up."

And damn it, you were tired and his words were going straight to your heart. Plus it was not like you had enough energy left to really push your lover away and he was really warm against you.

"Kay," you accepted.

So you moved your left arm just enough to hug him back and closed your eyes to let sleep take you.

Chapter Text

Hongo pov

Like at least three other people on the Red Force, Hongo was not someone to talk to before he had drunk his first mug of coffee. He knew it, his Captain knew it, everyone in the crew knew it. And if they valued their life, it was better to wait until he had had a refill as well.

He had just gotten said refill when Shanks and Y/N stepped in the galley, with the red-head looking even more in love than the previous day somehow and holding his girlfriend's right hand in his left one.

Hongo raised his mug to take a sip, then his brain fully processed what he had just seen and he looked again.

His jaw and mug dropped at the same time.

And the entire room erupted in crashing noises, sounds of people falling, and a lot of shouting.

Shanks burst out laughing and he scooped his lady bridal style before planting a ridiculously sweet kiss on her cheek. Hongo absentmindedly thought the only reason she let it happen was clearly because she was still more asleep than awake, but he was stuck on the fact that his Captain had two arms.

"WHAT THE FUCK !??" half the crew yelled at once.

"Too loud," Y/N grumbled. "Coffee ?"

"Anything you want, baby," Shanks cooed as he brought her to a table and poured her a mug while looking like a loving puppy all along.

"Wait," Hongo blinked himself back to reality as the only sane explanation imposed itself in his mind. "Y/N, did you- did you fucking- did you just magic his arm back last night !?"

But she was already drinking her coffee, and everyone waited in total silence until she was done. Then she put the mug down and looked up.

"Yep. Witchy ghosty guided me for the healing part," she added like it diminished such an impossible feat. "Then someone decided to hold me like a teddy bear for the rest of the night," she added with a nasty side eye to her boyfriend.

"Holy fucking seas," Yasopp cursed, his eyes switching between the incredible woman and their Captain's left arm. "Wasn't that, like, imposible ?"

"Perks of having a magic girlfriend," Shanks swooned like the worst besotted moron to ever live.

Seriously, Hongo could practically see the hearts in his Captain's eyes and the waves of gooey adoration rolling from his body.

"That and I don't like owing debts," she grumbled and poured herself a second mug. "Consider it payment for helping me with my quest."

Which, fair.

But Hongo could tell everyone who had heard her was of the same opinion he was, which was that this specific payment exceeded the assistance they were giving her, and by a very large margin.

"Doesn't work like that but if it makes you feel better, then sure, you can call us even," Shanks grinned, then he blinked like he just remembered something and stood up with a tankard that definitely did not contain coffee. "By the way lads, let's welcome the new member of the crew !"

Hongo grinned and cheered with everyone else, then turned to Gab.

"Pay up !"

Hongo had been sure Shanks would ask her to join very soon when Beckman had told him to distract the red-head so he could talk to the wizard one-on-one. The doctor knew his first mate well enough to guess he had planned to lay the groundwork for making her recruitment official.

And since Beckman received several pouches as well with a smug smirk, it was clear he had not doubted Shanks would pop that question as soon as the first mate gave him his full approval.

"Let's throw a party !" Shanks exclaimed.

"You party if you want, I'm gonna take it easy today," their new crewmember yawned again before sending a nasty look at the wall, so probably either Roger or his wife. "Yeah well I'm not a witch ! Next time I'll show you how to open five interdimensional portals at the same time, see how you fare !"

So the Pirate King's wife, visibly. At this point Hongo was not even blinking anymore at the way she randomly looked and talked to the void.

But damn, even if she was not a magic doctor, he was going to talk to her about the potential her powers had in the medical area. Witch or not, he was pretty sure there were at least a few techniques she knew that could complement his own knowledge and skills.

Though it would probably be wiser to keep his questions for after she felt more rested.

"Might want to keep it on the down low until tonight," Beckman stopped the starting merriment. "We're still meeting Whitebeard this afternoon and I got a feeling he's gonna have a few questions when he sees you."

Shanks blinked, both hands in the air with a tankard in each.

"Oh right, I forgot about that part."

Hongo facepalmed.

Then he looked down at the spilled coffee and shards of ceramic at his feet. He had a feeling he was going to need another coffee and then go work on more hangover remedies to be ready for when they would meet the other Emperor's crew.

-o-oOo-o-

Marco pov

Like everyone else, Marco was curious about the reason Akagami had scheduled a meeting, but Beckman had affirmed it was nothing more than a courtesy visit with a simple favour to ask. Pops had raised an eyebrow but agreed anyway, and Marco, while still cautious, remained relatively calm about it.

For another Yonko, Akagami was a pretty decent and laidback man, far from the psychopathic and volatile tempers Big Mom and Kaido had.

It did not mean they would be careless about the whole ordeal, obviously, but there was no need to be overly wary about this visit.

So the Moby Dick reached the deserted island they usually picked as a rendez-vous point since it was basically at the border between their territories, and stayed nearby. When the Red Force came into view around mid afternoon, Marco took flight above deck and gave his usual instructions to ensure all new members would go inside.

"Wonder what kind of favour that brat needs," Pops hummed curiously when Marco took his spot on the armrest. "He's not the kind to ask for things in the first place."

"Beckman said it was something simple yoi," Marco replied as the Red Force came closer and a bridge was put in place.

"I suppose we'll see soon enough, gurararara," Whitebeard grinned.

Less than a minute later, Akagami stepped on deck with a surprisingly light wave of Haki instead of his usual stronger warning, but what made Marco's eyes widen suddenly before he rubbed them and had to do a double, then a triple take, was what he was seeing.

Because the famously one-armed Emperor was no longer missing his left arm.

Which, last the phoenix knew, was not exactly supposed to be something possible to cure or heal or get back in any way, less so after almost a decade.

"Looks like good things happened to you since the last time we met, brat !" Whitebeard greeted him with a laugh and a hit of his naginata on deck.

"More than you think, Old Man," Akagami replied with a wide grin, then raised his left hand to clench and unclench his fist a few times with a warm look at his recovered member. "But yeah, turns out this world still holds a few surprises."

"Well ain't that interesting to hear. Care to share that story ?" Pops asked curiously.

Marco found himself nodding along almost inconsciously, his pride and curiousity as a doctor flaring up at the medical impossibility. All around, he could hear Commanders and regular crewmembers alike muttering things along the general vibe of what the fuck, which seemed to sum up the situation pretty well.

"Not that one," the red-haired Emperor declined. "As things are, I'm just here because I need to reach an island in your territory and I'd rather not cause a war by coming uninvited," he grinned.

Marco could tell his father immediately went on the defensive. As good a relationship their crew had with the Red-Haired Pirates, it was a far cry from allowing another Emperor unsupervised in the territories under their protection.

"Which island and why yoi ?" the phoenix asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, Marco !" Akagami smiled. "How about you join my crew ? You'll see for yourself where we're heading !"

"When hell freezes over yoi," Marco snorted, but a light smirk tugged at the corner of his lips at the familiar banter.

"Huh, actually I think that could be arranged," the Emperor pondered with a hand on his chin, then muttered something among which the phoenix was almost sure he heard the words ask her.

"You didn't answer the question, Brat. Which island do you want to sail to and what is your business there ?" Pops repeated seriously.

"Somewhere called Atlantis, my new crewmember has something personal to do there. Shouldn't be anyone living on that island, so don't worry about the people under your protection," Akagami smiled, though this time his expression and voice were a little more guarded.

Marco's suspicion skyrocketed and he could tell his father was surprised by the reply. Atlantis, while technically located in their territory, was not explicitely under their protection for the two very good reasons that no one lived there as far as they knew, and the weather around the island was so awful that it was almost impossible to reach it anyway.

"That so ?" Whitebeard hummed, and Marco already knew what was coming next. "Mind telling us what kind of personal business that new crewmember of yours has there ?"

Because of course Pops' curiousity had been piqued and now he wanted to learn more about it instead of just agreeing and sending a division or two with the Red-Hair Pirates as extra precaution. Marco barely refrained a sigh at how much more nosy his father was becoming with age.

"That's the whole point of personal business, Newgate. It's personal," the Emperor said, still with a smile on his face but this time a clear warning to not push in his voice and gaze.

"Fair point, but since you still need to get into my territories for that, you won't mind that I meet that new crewmember, at least ?" Pops asked with a grin of his own and a eyebrow raised in warning as well.

Akagami looked a moment like he was going to instantly deny that request, then he seemed to think about it and nodded.

"Alright then. But I won't tolerate any disrespect, got it ?"

Before Marco could protest at the barely veiled threat and insult, Whitebeard laughed.

"Gurararara ! No need to be so protective, Brat, we're not enemies !"

Akagami made a little nod conceding the point, then turned around in a clear meaning he would be back soon with the man he was willing to cross another Emperor for.

"You couldn't just let him go with supervision yoi," Marco sighed once Akagami was back to his ship.

Pops only grinned at that, which clearly meant he could not care less about the remark, and the doctor rolled his eyes with a grin while most of his brothers were hastily placing bets on the kind of guy who was behind that request and had Akagami backing him up so completely.

Then the red-haired Emperor walked back on deck and for the second time in a row, Marco had to check again in utter shock.

Because Akagami was coming back to the Moby's deck with a woman.

Since when do you take women in your crew !?

Seas, at this point Marco was starting to wonder if he was hallucinating this whole encounter.

"YOU FUCKING MONSTER !!"

Marco's eyes snapped to Ace who had roared in pure fury and was now running at Akagami and the woman with his Devil Fruit activated, and looking beyond mad with rage.

"ACE !" Pops called.

The shock lasted half a second, during which Akagami put his left hand on his sword, the woman's eyes turned to her left with a shocked expression, Pops stood up from his chair, Marco activated his Devil Fruit, and all Commanders grabbed their weapons.

Then two circles of red light filled with strange symbols appeared out of thin air, one right in front of Ace and the other above the railing of the Moby Dick.

"Wha-"

Before anyone could even shout at the impossible sight of whatever Devil Fruit could do this, the first circle had absorbed the fire and Ace had run into it, only to instantly appear out of the second one and sending him toward the sea.

Then again, still faster for anyone to react, both portals disappeared and another red circle of light and symbols appeared above the deck with a second smaller one right on the woman's palm. Ace fell from the one in the air to land in front of the woman, she slammed her hand right on his chest before he could move, and Ace's flames disappeared as he crumbled on the floor, still breathing but clearly unconscious.

"EVERYONE CALM DOWN !" the woman shouted with both hands extended on her sides.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO OUR BROTHER !?" Thatch yelled.

Marco flew to at least grab Ace from the deck, but Akagami's Haki suddenly slammed into him and he fell on his knees with his jaw clenched under the effort it took to stay conscious. Never before had the phoenix struggled so much under the Emperor's Conqueror Haki, it was as if his power had somehow been enhanced with the recovery of his left arm, which was not good news under the current circumstances.

"RELEASE MY SONS AT ONCE !" Pops roared.

Shit, this was going to be an all-out fight and Marco could already see several officers of the Red-Haired Pirates joining their Captain on deck.

But then Rakuyo jumped in the middle of it with his hands extended as well.

"POPS WAIT !"

"SHANKS PLEASE STOP !" the woman yelled right after.

The pressure on Marco's mind lessened and he felt himself able to breathe easily once more just as he noticed his father had avorted what looked like a massive blow.

Rakuyo and the woman stared at each other for a few seconds, during which Marco swore he saw her eyes glowing red for an instant, and then his brother bowed deeply.

"It's an honour to meet one of the last born mages."

One of the last what !?

"Pleasure to meet you as well, thanks for the help. Since you're not one of us, I guess your parents… ?" she trailed after bowing as well and looking relieved.

"My mother was a druid, but I didn't inherit enough to do more than identify magic users and keep most plants alive," Rakuyo confirmed. "Are you a wizard ?" he asked, and she nodded in a confirmation that Marco felt slightly confused by.

However, Pops seemed to understand what it meant and calmed as well, though Akagami's sword was still unsheathed, his close lieutenants still looked ready to fight, and the air was still thrumming with the red-head's power.

"What… what's going on ?" Haruta asked.

Rakuyo turned toward them and there was more admiration in his eyes than Marco had seen in a while.

"Pops, I will vouch for this woman. I don't know what Ace saw to make him react like that, but she could have killed him instead of neutralising him and she's-"

"I know how rare magicians are, son," Pops cut him off, then looked at the woman with renewed interest. "Do you know what triggered my boy's reaction ?"

"Yes, and on this subject, I need to speak with him in private. Now," she urged.

"Babe," Akagami warned her, and Marco's eyes widened again when he realised the kind of bond there was between them.

Seas, that woman was not just a new crewmember, she was Akagami's girlfriend. Ace had attacked an Emperor's girlfriend.

In that light, it was a miracle the red-haired Yonko had not done anything worse than making half the crew faint and the wood of the railings crack, and it was just as clear he was not going to let his lover out of his sight after what had happened.

"Shanks, believe me, I need to talk to him in private right now," she insisted with a light move of her head to the side like she was pointing at something invisible. "This takes absolute precedence."

The Emperor frowned, and to Marco's surprise, it was Beckman who suddenly looked like a shocked comprehension washed over him.

"Wait. Y/N, you don't actually mean he's… ?"

"That's exactly what I mean," she confirmed with a tense and urgent smile.

"Shit. Captain, I'm with her. We need to let her talk to him, no one else in the room," Beckman stated with a weird insistance on the last part.

Akagami frowned, but his first mate moved his eyebrows in a meaningful way and the Emperor looked at him, then at his girlfriend who was still making an urgent expression like she was trying to tell him something by looking to the side and then to Ace over and over again, until it seemed to click and Akagami paled.

"You're joking," he blurted out.

"Wish I were," she smiled faintly.

"Fuck. Okay, alright," Akagami nodded frantically. "Yeah, you're right, this comes first. Newgate, I'm taking the kid on my ship, he-"

"No," Pops frowned. "I don't know what is going on, but you're not taking my son away from my ship after what just happened."

"It's okay, I can just talk to him in a room on this ship," the woman named Y/N suggested as she kept looking at Akagami. "You can stay aboard until I'm back."

"Alright, but at the slightest doubt, you portal yourself next to me, got it ?" Akagami told her.

"Got it, Captain," the woman smiled and winked. "It'd take more than a hothead to take me down, anyway."

Marco watched the couple kiss briefly and then Akagami glared at Pops.

"I'm letting this meeting happen here, but you better not try anything against my lady or there'll be hell to pay," he warned.

"Same goes for my son, brat."

The woman who Rakuyo was still staring at like she was incredible seemed massively relieved, then she looked at the slumped form of Ace on the floor and grimaced. Marco understood she was hesitating to wake him up before going to a more private place, and he got a little grasp back on the situation.

He grabbed his brother to put him above his shoulder and addressed the woman directly.

"Follow me yoi, I'll show you to the Commanders' meeting room, you can talk to him there."

"Awesome."

A couple minutes later, Marco closed the door behind him to leave Ace unconscious with a woman they had only just met. He would never have trusted her with his brother if Rakuyo had not seemed so certain she was trustworthy, and even then, the phoenix had to force himself to go back on deck instead of staying nearby and either wait for them or blatantly eavesdrop on the conversation.

Chapter Text

Ace pov

Ace came back to his senses in a dark room and felt instantly relieved. It had been a nightmare, the day had not started yet, everything was fine. Then he snorted at the ridiculous shit his brain had come up with. Akagami turning up with two arms, a woman as new crewmember, and both the Pirate King and Ace's mother in tow.

Completely unrealistic.

"I know you're awake," a feminine voice said.

Ace opened his eyes and paled.

Not a dream.

The same woman he had seen was in the room with both the Pirate King and his mother next to her, the latter two looking at him with tears in their eyes.

Which was not something Ace ever wanted to see.

Anger flooded him again, but when he tried to jump on his feet call on his fire, something blocked him and he fell back on his knees instead of managing to stand up, not even a spark getting out of his skin.

"Sorry about that, I had to block your powers for a while to avoid another reaction like earlier," she apologised without looking sorry.

"The fuck did you do to me !?" Ace growled. "And why did you bring them !? Why did you show my crew who my- who-"

"No one but you and me can see them," she deadpanned with her arms crossed on her chest. "What you're looking at are the ghosts of Roger and Rouge, brought back to the land of the livings by a failed ritual that forced them to latch onto me instead of the caster. That's why I can see them. The reason you can see them is because, well. You clearly inherited a higher amount of magic than what most people get, and since you're their son, you have an instinctive and higher sensibility to their presence."

The second she said the words you're their son, the freckled man forgot all about the magic ghost thing or even that no one else had seen them.

"I'm not-" Ace clenched his fists and jaw and glared at the man who was looking at him in silence. "I'm only Portgas D Rouge's son. Whitebeard's my only father."

To his surprise, the image of the Pirate King flinched and then gave him a watery smile.

"Guess you didn't have it easy growing up, eh ?" the man said with a hand rubbing his neck. "I'm sorry I couldn't be around to see you grow and, well, be your dad. For what it's worth, I've loved you since the second I knew you existed."

"THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE !?" Ace shouted, feeling his fire blocked once more.

"Because he's an idiot," his mother said plainly, and moved toward him until she crouched and put her hands on his face, letting Ace feel the barely-there sensation of something soft grazing his cheeks. "My beautiful baby boy, you've grown into such a fine young man."

Something in Ace broke and he started sobbing.

"Why did you die, mom ?" he sobbed. "Why did you leave me too !?"

"I'm so sorry, my baby, I would have stayed around if I could. But even being a witch was not enough to keep me alive after carrying you in secret for twenty months and going through childbirth," she apologised gently. "But I never regretted giving my life to give yours a chance. I too have loved you since the second I learned you existed."

Tears flooded his cheeks, but Ace did nothing to stop them, did not even try to stand back up from where he was kneeling on the ground, not when his heart felt like someone was picking all the bloody shards it was in to glue them together with words he never knew he needed to hear.

"Ace…" the Pirate King said hesitantly and Ace barely noticed through his tears that he was kneeling next to him too. "I was sick. Something incurable, and Rouge was specialised in healing injuries rather than illnesses anyway. Staying hidden with you two for the few more months I had left meant there was more risks you would have been found out and killed because of me. Leaving was the best way I had to protect you and make the Marines and Government focus on me rather than you and your mom."

"Bullshit, you're the Pirate King ! You could have- you- there was something else- there had to be-" Ace denied while shaking his head wildly. "They called me the devil's spawn ! A child that should not exist ! Someone that- that shouldn't live !"

The silence that followed was heavy, until Ace suddenly felt a powerful rage flood the room to the point red lightnings cracked the air.

But when he looked up, even if his parents Rouge and Roger looked beyond furious, he realised the rage saturating the room was coming from the woman who had not said a word in a while and he had almost forgotten was in the room too.

Her eyes were blazing with hatred and her fingers were gripping her arms strongly enough to probably leave bruises.

"I'm gonna need you to give me names," she growled in a low voice. "No one can say a child should die because of their parents' identity."

"Easy for you to say," Ace glared back despite the little warmth in his heart at the indirect way she was saying he deserved to live. "You're not the child of a demon."

She laughed at that, something dark and bitter and dangerous that Ace felt in his bones was like a warning. When she stopped, she looked at him with a dark smile.

"Oh, you sweet innocent child. You have no idea how wrong you are."

"What ?"

"What ?"

"What ?"

Ace blinked and looked at the two ghosts who looked just as taken aback as he did.

"Your parents were humans, you idiot. People called your father a demon because of Marine propaganda."

Ace blinked, but when he opened his mouth to retort, Roger stopped him.

"Uh no, she's got a point there. I'm human through and through and so's your mom," the Pirate King said.

And fine, maybe that was technically right, so Ace closed his mouth.

"Meanwhile my mother was a warlock, even if not one on the World Government's payroll," the woman continued with a grim expression. "For your information, warlocks aren't born with large amounts of magic like witches and wizards. They gain it by making contracts with other entities. The higher the price they pay, the more power and favours they get."

Ace blinked again, but even if he had a hard time to follow her explanation, he thought he got the main idea even he failed to see where she was going with all that.

"So what about it ?" he asked.

"My mother wanted eternal youth, which she paid for with her soul, and enough magic powers to rival natural born wizards. What do you think she offered the demon she made a pact with in exchange for that ?" the woman asked with a glare and her eyes suddenly glowing red.

Though Ace had no idea why that was and what her mom could have paid with. Matter of fact, he did not even see what that had to do with the conversation.

"Oh no. She did not-" his own mother mumbled and paled with a hand on her mouth.

"Fucking seas ! What kind of monster would do that !?" Roger shouted.

And Ace started to feel frustrated at being the only one left out.

"Did what ? What did she pay ?" he asked annoyingly.

Then he felt the full force of two glowing red eyes thrumming with power looking right through his soul, and a shudder ran through his spine.

"She agreed to carry that demon's baby as her first-born and unique descendant. You're looking at that child."

Ace paled.

Holy great fucking seas in all the world.

"You- you're-"

"The child of a literal demon, and nothing more than a payment for power. The only reason I'm in this world instead of hell is because my mother was tricky enough to make sure I was born human, and before you think it was out of kindness, think again. She wanted to have something up her sleeve to bargain one more time with my father," the woman glared. "She failed at getting the upper hand during that third contract, so she and I both got trapped as a result. I had to spend the second decade of my life in literal hell before I managed to escape and come back to this world, where natural born magicians like me are hunted by the World Government."

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and the tension lessened in the room. When her eyelids opened again, her eyes were back to what Ace assumed was their natural not-glowing colour, but he still gulped with a heavy mix of shock and guilt. He had never imagined there was someone else in this world who might understand what he had been through.

"So don't think I don't know what it means to be the child of a demon, or to be hunted by the Government for the mighty sin of existing. Don't think I don't know what it's like to have a hard time growing up," she told him in a dark voice. "I'm not saying you didn't have it rough, but you definitely weren't the only one and at least you know both your parents loved you and your mother wanted you for you, not as payment or bargaining chip."

Ace stayed speechless for a long moment once she was done, his world turned completely upside down in the span of a few minutes. He knew he was not the only one to have it rough as a kid, seas knew Sabo and Luffy had shared the same shitty childhood conditions, Sabo had even died, but what she described…

"Sorry," he muttered with his head hung low. "I didn't think… sorry."

"You couldn't know. No one else does, and I'd rather keep it that way," she told him in what Ace instantly identified as an order, one he did not really mind since that was something he could totally understand.

"Promise, I won't tell anyone !" he assured her with his hands flaining in front of him, before glancing at the two ghosts who were still next to him. "But… please don't say anything about my father as well."

She grimaced at that.

"Shanks and Beckman already know, they figured it out after you tried to attack me and I said I needed to talk to you alone."

Ace felt his world crumble.

"Wait, Shanks won't say anything !" Roger suddenly assured him with his arms flailing around.

"And neither will Beckman, he's smart enough to keep his mouth shut about it," his mother said with complete confidence.

"You don't know that !"

"I'm dating Shanks," the woman deadpanned like it was not a completely unexpected bomb to drop on top of everything else. "And he thinks of Roger as a father. If I ask him and Beckman to keep your secret, they will. No one else has to know. We can make up an excuse about you mistaking me for a past enemy or something," she shrugged like it was no big deal.

Ace suddenly felt like he could breathe again. Things were still under control, his secret was not out in the world, he would not be kicked out of his family after all his brothers learned his biological father's identity, it was fine.

"Yeah, we can say that. And, uh, I'm sorry for attacking you earlier," he winced. "I just kinda lost it."

"Water under the bridge," she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Give me a minute and I'll undo the spell I put on you to block your powers. By the way, the reason I'm here is because I'm trying to set your parents free from the tie they have to me and go back to the afterlife. Rouge's mentor hid scrolls on an island that might help me do that, that's why Shanks asked Whitebeard to let us sail there."

"Oh, okay," Ace nodded. "Makes sense."

She grinned, and for some reason, Roger looked stupidly happy. Ace narrowed his eyes at him, and the Pirate King beamed brighter.

"You didn't deny we're both your parents ! And you called me your father ! Newgate can claim you all he wants, you're still my son first !" he shouted triumphally.

"THE HELL I AM !"

-o-oOo-o-

Whitebeard pov

The entire time waiting for the lass and Ace to have their chat was filled with tension, even with drinks flowing to defuse it. Truly, if not for Rakuyo's certainty and the woman effectively keeping to defensive actions only, Newgate would never had agreed to that private talk between them, be it on his ship or not.

Though the Brat's flabbergasted expression had lasted long enough to confuse the old Emperor. He was not sure what kind of unspoken conversation had happened between him, this Y/N, and his first mate, but it had obviously shocked Shanks enough to completely erase all hostility toward Ace.

Either that or he was so confident in his girlfriend's power that he did not doubt she would be able to keep Ace in check no matter how much that hothead raged and shouted.

Fifty-fifty.

But then Newgate's son and the magic lass came back on deck, with Ace looking like he had both been crying and been through one hell of a healing moment, and the lingering tension fully disappeared.

"Everything alright, son ?" he asked anyway.

"Yeah, it's… yeah," Ace replied with a sniff, a watery smile, and a hand rubbing his neck. "I'm sorry for reacting like that earlier."

Whitebeard nodded, while making a mental note to still give the boy some extra bathroom cleaning duty as punishment for risking a war with the Brat. His eyes briefly crossed Marco's gaze, who nodded in understanding.

"Eh, don't mention it," the woman smiled, then made her way back to Shanks. "Everything's fine."

"Good to hear, babe," the red-head smiled and took her hand in his.

And by the seas did he look a sappy fool in love. It was enough to make Newgate snort amusingly at the sight.

"So, about this island you want to sail to," Newgate started seriously, since they might as well go back to the reason this meeting was happening in the first place.

"I'm going with them !" Ace shouted with his hand held high.

"Fine by me, kiddo," Shanks grinned. "You're more than welcome."

Newgate's eyes narrowed suspiciously just as all his other children shouted in shock at this complete turnaround. There was something fishy going on, and while the old Emperor could not tell what yet, he was certainly not going to let his youngest hothead of a son go alone on a strange quest with Shanks and the mysterious magic-wielding woman who had captured an Emperor's heart – and most likely been the reason the Brat had suddenly gotten his left arm back.

Which meant there was a very easy solution to get the whole story.

"Not so fast," the old Emperor stated with all the authority and wisdom of his title and age, then grinned. "We're all going with you. Need to make sure you're not trying anything funny in my territories, after all."

His sons shouted in shock again, the Brat frowned, Ace paled, Marco protested, the woman raised an eyebrow, and Whitebeard hit the desk with his naginata to enshrine his decision.

He could already tell this was going to be one hell of an adventure, and by the seas, Edward Newgate was not one to pass up on that.

A few days of sailing later, the Moby Dick and the Red Force were still moving side by side, with Marco and Ace regularly making back-and-forths between the two ships because for some reason, Ace had taken a huge liking to the Brat's girlfriend. Though from what he said and showed, it was very clear his feelings were purely platonic and way closer to an admiring sibling bond than a romantic form of attraction.

Had she not been already claimed by Shanks, Newgate would definitively have tried to snatch the lass into his own family just because of the clear fondness his most traumatised son had for her. Not to mention Rakuyo's obvious admiration, since he had spent quite a while explaining to the crew how rare born magicians were in this era, the differences between the various types of specialists, how powerful this one clearly was, and so on.

Even Marco had commented that she was smarter and more tolerable than most people he had to interact with on a daily basis, which was both high praise and quite amusing to hear.

When it came to Newgate's personal impression of the lass, there were two things he was certain of. One, she was very powerful, and two, she was very protective of the people she perceived as her own.

Which definitely put her in his good books.

And then one early afternoon, the wind picked up and the sky started to darken out of nowhere, which might have seemed normal for the New World, but meant something else in this specific case.

They had reached the outter limits of Atlantis' waters.

As if to prove him right, the snail Newgate kept near him at all time started ringing.

Purupurupuru.

Gatcha.

"Whitebeard."

"You're seeing that too ?" the Brat's voice asked.

"I'm old, not blind," the old pirate snorted. "Your lady's got something to say about it ?"

"Nothing fully sure yet, but her money's on a perpetual curse to prevent ships from reaching the island. And- what's that babe ? Alright, you do you sweetheart," Shanks said with a much sweeter voice, which was almost ridiculous for a man of his status and reputation, thus all the more amusing for it. "She says to sail forward like normal and leave the storm to her unless she says otherwise, and keep the call going until we're through."

"Alright, I'll trust the expert here," Newgate agreed readily, then spotted his first son. "Oi Marco ! You're in charge of communication with the Red Force until we reach the island !"

"Got it Pops yoi," Marco nodded as he flew to him and took the snail to start talking with whoever had replaced Shanks on the other side.

Whitebeard stood up from his chair to get all his children's attention.

"To your stations, boys ! Brace for a storm !"

Chapter Text

Reader pov

You had told Shanks you were not entirely certain of the storm's magical nature, but the truth was that you were just being cautious about it and ensuring both pirate crews would be as well.

"I'm staying at the helm, warn me if anything specific needs to happen," Shanks told you.

The dark clouds were now covering the entire sky up to the horizon, and both the wind and waves were rising in a way that was too coordinated to be purely natural. However, you were still confident that was not the real challenge yet.

"Keep sailing toward the island, and let me know if and when it becomes too dangerous to keep going," you replied, then turned to Beckman who was staying in contact with the Moby Dick. "Same goes for them."

The first mate nodded briefly and transmitted your instructions.

Then both ships sailed straight into the storm starting to rage and block the path to Atlantis.

"Mighty tantrum the sea's having today," Roger commented as the rain began to fall and lightnings started to break the sky.

"Not a natural one," Rouge said seriously and turned to you. "Are you sure you can face it while protecting ships of these sizes ?"

"I know this kind of pattern," you grinned confidently. "Warlocks are all the same dramatic bitches, they try to build fear with a dark atmosphere, then they make one big showy move to crush their opponents in one strike because they can't do more than that or keep fighting after their ultimate attack. That curse isn't going to be any different."

In fact, you already had an idea what that big showy attack would be in this specific case, and you were fairly confident it would not be that hard to counter for a wizard of your calibre and specialisation.

"Wait you mean it's gonna get worse !?" Bonk yelled louder than the howling wind.

And just as he spoke, a giant wave suddenly rose in your path, easily twice the height of the Moby Dick and rushing straight toward the ships in a sight of absolute and inevitable death. You had to admit that under the clouds so dark they looked black, the lightnings and thunder turning the sky into a sign of pure danger, the rain whipping people and ships alike, the winds so strong they put the sails to the test, and the dark blue-grey colour of the angry water, it was quite the impressive display of power.

It was also exactly what you had anticipated.

"Knew it," you snickered, then turned to your lover while calling upon the power thrumming in your veins. "Full speed ahead, tell Whitebeard to get behind you and do the same !"

You did not wait to hear the reply and opened a portal under your feet to make you disappear, and you fell from its twin way up in the air between the Red Force and the upcoming tsunami. You opened another portal under your feet but keep it right at the limit before it fully activated to transport you elsewhere, leaving just the solid ground under your feet to ensure you were perfectly stable.

Then you created a teleporting pentacle in front of you, the classic size of a man, and visualised the distance you wanted between this one and the second one associated to it.

Which was behind the massive wall of water.

When the sight of your portal showed peaceful azure water and clear blue sky, you grinned in manic delight.

You had never tried to create a portal big enough to let ships like the Red Force and the Moby Dick go through them, but damn did you love that kind of challenge on your abilities.

You spent the next seconds alternating between shouting the word activating a simple enlarging spell, and spreading your arms again and again to use pure willpower and double the effect.

By the time the Red Force reached it, the ship was not even close to reach the limits of your portal, and they went through without the slighest hinch.

Though you could hear the cheering coming from the deck and it made you laugh happily.

When the Moby Dick followed, it was a tighter fit since simple or not, creating and maintaining a portal of this size for several minutes was requiring a lot more power than you usually had to call upon. However, it was enough for them to go through it before the wave reached your circle. As such, you merely stepped from your floating ground to the top of the mast coming conveniently close to you in order to accompany the huge ship through your pentacle.

In an instant, you went from being in a raging storm to a calm blue sea under a cloud-free sky and a gentle breeze grazing your skin. Just as you had anticipated, that storm and giant wave were the only defense the warlock had left behind, probably by selling their life to protect their secrets once they had grown too old to keep doing magic.

You waited a few more seconds than necessary to close your pentacles, just to be on the safe side, then created a human-sized portal in front of you with its counterpart on the Moby's deck. You stepped forward with a bright grin and one hand in the pockets of your pants, while you snapped your fingers with the other one to close those last pentacles.

"Well that was fun," you stated.

Then the yelling started and you laughed frankly at all the pirates rushing toward you with incredulous shouting and admiring compliments about your skills and powers. You enjoyed it for a while, then Whitebeard himself told his sons to give you a bit of space, and the old Emperor bent with one knee down to put a hand on your shoulder.

"That was mighty impressive, child."

"Thanks, I had never tried to do a portal that big," you smiled wildly. "Good to know I can."

"Gurararara, say, what do you think of leaving that brat and becoming my daughter ?" the old Emperor offered you with a grin and a glint in his eyes.

"Oh hell no, fuck off Newgate, you already stole one of my sons, you're not stealing my daughter-in-law to boot !" Roger ranted as he planted himself straight between you and Newgate and started to flail his arms at the massive Emperor. "Back off !"

"He can't see you," Ace snickered on the side.

Which obviously confused everyone who had heard him, and really, you wondered how an air-head like that had managed to keep a secret for two decades. At this rate, he was going to out himself before you could send Rouge and Roger back to the afterlife.

"Ace, sweetie, it's not very smart to let everyone know you can see us when no one else does," Rouge smiled fondly.

The freckled young man paled, then laughed awkwardly and ran away while yelling he was hungry and falling asleep mid-way on the deck, where he started to snore.

Scratch keeping a secret, you were surprised that guy had managed to stay alive for two decades.

Still, you turned your attention back to the old Emperor, and smiled brightly as you gave him your answer.

"Not a chance."

"Damn right !" Roger approved with both arms crossed on his chest.

"Eh, if you change your mind, you'll have a place here," Whitebeard grinned.

You raised an eyebrow, but it did not seem to deter the pirate and so you just sighed good-heartedly and shook your head.

"Not happening, but thanks. Talking about my man, I'm gonna go back to him now, see you on the island !"

And with that, you opened a portal under your feet to make you disappear from their ship and land down on the Red Force, where you were instantly grabbed and trapped into a massive hug by your boyfriend.

"That was incredible baby !" Shanks laughed and shouted at the same time.

"Why thank you," you chuckled. "Twas a fun little challenge."

"A fun little challenge," Beckman repeated in a deadpan tone.

You were still in Shanks' arms, who seemed determined to not let you go and kiss every part of your face and hair he could access, so you took the time to reach the lips of your lover and kiss him properly for a while, enjoying his sensual desire and teasing licks.

Then you broke it, kissed his cheek with a wink, and turned around so he was plastered against your back and you had a chance to talk to other people without losing the very cosy feeling of being hugged by a big strong man who clearly adored it as much as you did.

"Mh-hm," you smiled. "I told you, I specialise in portals. The distance was pretty short here and all I had to do was to keep making the pentacle bigger to let the ships use it. Very demonstrative, but nothing overly complicated in terms of pure technique given the mastery I have on this specific magic field. It was a lot harder to give Shanks his arm back," you explained.

"Don't make it sound so lame, sweetheart, it was amazing," Shanks laughed.

"And it's not like most wizards could ever hope to create a teleportation pentacle that big even with months of training," Rouge told you knowingly. "Take the credit, dear, you deserve it."

"Yeah, that's one of the most insane things I've ever seen !" Yasopp grinned. "Don't worry, we'll teach you how to tell stories to make them sound as awesome as they really are !"

You smiled and shook your head fondly at that, but did nothing to deter the enthusiastic pirate crew that you were now a part of. You had a feeling most of the upcoming evening would consist of retelling what had just happened in that storm, and there was no denying you were prideful enough to enjoy so many people admiring the skills you had built through years of studying and training.

-o-oOo-o-

Shanks pov

The rest of the day consisted of actually reaching the island, then rigorously following Y/N's order to not venture further than the beach without her in case magic traps were hidden on land.

Needless to say, after her incredible demonstration of power to make them pass that giant wave, everyone on both crews instantly nodded with fear or at least worry in their eyes. Shanks just smiled at his amazing girlfriend, and then spent the rest of the afternoon having fun watching her make a game of using her portals to instantly transport everything they needed on the beach.

And after Monster accidentally fell into one of the red circles, thus proving it truly was harmless, everyone in his crew started to jump through them as well.

As such, they set camp in record time and only bothered to bring one boat to the beach. All the while, Shanks and his friends snickered at the jealous gazes of Whitebeard's crew since they obviously had to set camp the old school way.

Suck it, that's my awesome magic girlfriend and I don't share.

Which meant the Emperor had very officiously used his authority as Captain to tell her to take it easy after all the hard work she had already pulled, and let them handle the rest.

She had clearly not been fooled by that, but seemed amused enough to follow his order and Shanks thus had the pleasure to spend the rest of the afternoon drinking in a lounge chair next to his lady. Even if he could not do more than watching her read another of her big complicated books about magic with another notebook next to her, he was happy to observe all her little expressions and the way sunlight reflected on her hair.

Then as evening started to settle, Shanks had the surprise to see Marco come to them while dragging Ace by the ear, and looking like he was at the end of his rope in terms of patience.

"Y/N, can you please remind that idiot why he can't go explore on his own yoi ?" the first division Commander asked with his eye twitching.

"But it's a magic island !" Ace protested with clear excitement in him. "It can't get more awesome than that !"

Which in all honesty, Shanks agreed on, but he also knew better than to go against his magic girlfriend's instructions when she was on her turf. To his surprise however, instead of reiterating her order, she did not even look up from her book.

"Then you won't mind joining me tomorrow morning to go looking for hidden magic scrolls left by a dead warlock ?"

"Thank- what ?" Marco gaped.

"Wait really !?" Ace beamed.

"That's why I wanted to come here," Y/N hummed and kept writing something in her notebook. "I'm not sure where exactly those scrolls are on the island, but since I'm the only one able to handle the magic traps left behind, I was thinking of asking one or two people to join me."

"I'll go with you, babe," Shanks volunteered instantly.

Partly because he wanted to explore the island with her, partly because there was no way magic was the only dangerous thing on this island and he was better suited to protect his lover from those.

"Then it's settled," she commented and finally looked at them. "Shanks and Ace will come with me tomorrow to explore the island and search for those scrolls. Works for you ?"

"Yes ! Woohoo, party tonight and exploration tomorrow, let's gooooo !" the kid shouted and threw both fists in the air to shoot fire toward the sky.

Then he ran back to the other camp while yelling he wanted to spar with someone else, and Marco sighed very tiredly at the sight. Really, it was no wonder that kid was both Roger's son and Luffy's brother, he had the same chaotic energy.

"Thanks yoi, that'll keep him in camp til tomorrow," Marco told Y/N. "You're sure you can handle him in the wild ?"

"We'll take care of him," Shanks assured, then chuckled. "Can't promise he'll come back without a scratch, but we'll do our best to bring him back in one piece."

"Can't ask for more with that one yoi," the phoenix snorted, then smirked. "I'll let Pops know you volunteered for babysitting duty."

"Not gonna make me change my mind," the wizard smirked back with her eyes flashing red.

"Didn't think it would yoi."

Then Marco left and Shanks turned to his wonderful lover, who was already back to her reading.

"Babe ? What was that about ?"

"Whitebeard offered to adopt me," she sighed.

"WHAT !?"

"Don't worry, I said no," she smirked and even moved to kiss his cheek. "You should have heard how mad Roger got, it was hilarious. And I don't want to see my father challenge Whitebeard if I accepted, anyway."

Shanks felt a little mollified by that, as well as proud that Roger had stood up to his old rival to claim her even if he could not be seen or heard. Though the red-head was also both curious and worried about her brief grimace when she evoked the possibility that her father went against Newgate.

It was only the second time she mentioned her parents, or any kind of family for that matter, and it was clear the subject was a touchy one. Even if the red-head could not shake the feeling that she had told Ace about at least part of it.

The kinship that kid had seemed to developp with Y/N after the single conversation he had shared with her and his parents was just too strong and immediate for it to only be the result of a reconciliation. And that meant that Shanks felt a little jealous of it.

Just a little, though, since it was obvious she was treating said kid like a little brother and Ace was looking at her like some sort of older sister or role model he admired and respected. Shanks also hoped that if she had truly told Roger's son about her family, then maybe one day she would feel comfortable enough to tell him too.

Perhaps after the Emperor would gather the guts to tell her the truth about his own biological family as well. However, before either of those complicated conversations could happen, Shanks was aware they had Roger and Rouge to set free.

Thus, complicated families were problems for another day.

-o-oOo-o-

Reader pov

On the morning after the party, Shanks and you made your way to the camp Whitebeard and his sons had set up next to the one the Red-Haired Pirates had prepared. Somehow, you were not particularly surprised to see Ace bursting with excitement and bragging about going on an adventure to get the secret magic scrolls of a dead warlock.

You sighed deeply, fully aware that keeping that one on track was going to be a hassle, but unfortunately, he was quite powerful, more sensitive to magic than most, and could see and hear Roger and Rouge too. And his Devil Fruit could complement Shanks' swordsmanship and your magic pretty well.

"Alright, ready to go ?" you asked.

"Hell yeah !"

"Good luck," half the Commanders and divisions wished you at the same time.

"If you lose him forever, we won't be mad," Thatch said solemnly.

"Hey !" Ace protested.

"Really, we'll all understand," another one you were pretty sure was called Haruta added just as solemnly.

"Rude, you'd all miss me !"

"Of course, little brother," Izou assured in a tone that sounded far too composed to be honest.

"Be careful, my boy, and listen to Y/N," Whitebeard ordered.

You appreciated the old Emperor's attempt, as vain as it probably was when it concerned a guy whose brain seemed to be controlled by a dozen cats constantly high on catnip and all relayed each other to have their zoomies.

"Don't get your mustache upside down, Old Man," your lover grinned. "I'm sure it's gonna be fine !"

Famous last words.

You came back to the beach seven hours later with the scrolls, a headache, half a temple's worth of dust in your hair, Ace's left leg still engulfed in some sort of green goo that took an awfully long time to burn, Rouge floating and fretting over him, Shanks trying to get rid of an army of stone-made tiny frogs following him and jumping on his cloak with angry ribbit sounds, Roger laughing his ass off to the point he was wheezing, and in your case, half a mind to summon the ghost of that warlock to make sure they were going to spend a good long time in the most awful pit of hell.

Needless to say, there was a lot of snickering and badly hidden laughter at your return.

"Looks like it went well," Beckman smirked after blowing his smoke.

"Better than usual when Ace is part of the equation," Marco approved with an impressed expression.

Your left eyebrow twitched.

"I'm taking a shower. Ace, keep burning that stuff, it'll go away eventually. Everyone else just crush the frogs into dust and throw that into the sea," you instructed. "And for the love of the stars, someone better get me something to drink when I get back !"

Chapter Text

Reader pov

Thankfully, you indeed had a drink waiting for you when you came back, while Ace and Shanks were retelling your grand adventure with a lot of exaggerated gestures and dramatic exclamations, to both crews' obvious delight.

You shook your head with what you liked to think conveyed annoyance, but was more likely to look like the exasperated fondness it truly was. Still, you made a little sign to your lover to let him know you were going to let him do the retelling. Instead of joining the loud crowd of pirates, you went to your lounge chair in order to start looking through the many scrolls you had unceremoniously stolen from the former magic user's library.

You could already tell just finding out the ones concerning the subject you were looking for was going to be a hassle and a half, but at least you were able to do it in relative peace and quiet since Roger and Rouge were also floating above the two men spinning their tale.

A simple portal to one of your many storage pocket dimensions allowed you to bring a dozen empty crates, and then you opened a second one to dump all the scrolls into those. You had been in too much of a hurry to take the time to properly mark each of them with a unique tracking seal, and it meant you had to go through this tedious process now.

"Time to do some inventory," you sighed, then started the job.

After a few minutes, however, you heard steps in the sand and looked up in time to notice a black-haired man making his way toward you.

"Hey, do you need help with those scrolls ?" he asked you.

You raised an eyebrow at that.

"You really want to help me sort the equivalent of textbooks and essays instead of listening to the guys retelling how we got them ?" you asked dubiously.

"Zehahaha, sure do, magic sounds more interesting than another tale of adventure," he laughed. "Name's Teach."

You thought you noticed a weird glint in his eyes, but it was gone with your next blink and so you brushed it off. You were not going to say no to help for the most boring part of a researcher's job.

"Alright, then you can start with that crate," you instructed while showing one to the side. "All you have to do is to open the scrolls to see what they're about without reading anything out loud, then sort them according to their main subject in five different piles. Ghosts, demons, other creatures, summoning spells, and everything else. Let me know when you've got a question, when you're done, or when you get bored."

"You got it," the man said before sitting with his back to you to avoid the sun in his eyes, and so you went back to work.

Thankfully, Teach seemed to be the kind of guy who worked in silence, and only asked you questions when he had doubts about a scroll's specific subject.

One hour later, you had done pretty good progress and even found several promising scrolls about ghosts and soulbonds, even if you were aware you would have to tread carefully. Not only was it not your area of expertise, but your specific bond was the result of a failed and unfinished resurrection attempt.

Then you suddenly felt Shanks' Haki flood the air with anger, and you raised your head in surprise since you could not fathom what could have provoked such a strong reaction from him.

"Get away from her," your boyfriend ordered, and you were surprised to see the amount of hatred in his eyes when he glared at the black-haired man next to you.

"Just helping out, zehahaha," Teach laughed, but this time you definitely heard something a little darker and defiant in his voice. "No need to be so angry, Akagami."

Still, he stood up when Shanks put a hand on the pommel of his sword, and left with a wave of his hand and a word about being happy to have helped you. It was only once he was back on Whitebeard's side of the beach – though it was more and more merging into one big camp rather than two separate ones – that your lover seemed to let go of the tension.

"What was that about ?" you asked with a frown.

"I don't want that guy within a hundred feet of you," the red-head said seriously and stepped over a crate to reach your lounge chair and cup your cheek with his left hand. "Are you okay ? He didn't try anything ?"

"No, he only helped me sort through the scrolls, nothing else," you assured, feeling more suspicious by the second.

"Alright," the Emperor said with obvious relief.

"Shanks, an explanation would be nice right now."

"Teach is the asshole who gave me these," your boyfriend replied while pointing at the scars over his left eye. "And not because he got a lucky shot or because I was careless."

Your eyes widened and you straightened your back in shock at the news.

"Holy shit, then how come-"

"He joined Newgate's crew before I could get him back for it," Shanks anticipated your question with a serious expression. "So now I can't attack him without starting a war with the Old Man."

Damn, you had to admit that was smart. Awful, and you were suddenly very pissed at the idea that this guy had shamelessly came to you while knowing very well you were Shanks' girlfriend, but you still had to acknowledge joining an Emperor's crew to be protected from another remained a smart move.

Smart enough to convince you that this Teach would not be dumb to the point of trying something like stealing scrolls to attempt a summoning, especially since Rakuyo had been talking a lot about how complex magic was and how risky making a contract with a magic entity could be.

"What an asshole," you settled for.

Shanks snorted, then his gaze softened.

"As long as you're okay, it's fine. I just don't like the idea of him being near you," he told you, and you understood the implied request. "I wouldn't trust him with a single grain of sand, much less the woman sharing my life."

"Don't worry, I don't really need an assistant to go through all these," you smiled, and give him a brief kiss on the lips.

Then you smirked and changed the subject.

"By the way, good to see you're finally free from those frogs."

That made your lover laugh, and he plopped himself on the chair next to you just as you made the crates of unchecked scrolls disappear back into your storage dimension to be sorted later.

"Most annoying trap I've ever had to deal with, I think," the Emperor confirmed as he put you in his lap.

"You think ?" you repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Mmh, I haven't told you all my adventures before we met, you know ? I still got a couple good stories in store," your lover grinned.

"Good or weird ?" you challenged.

"Ain't it the same ?" Shanks winked back.

You sighed dramatically, then stood up.

"Alright, let's get a refill and then you can tell me about it."

"You know, one day you'll have to tell me about your adventures too, I'm sure you got some crazy stuff to share," the red-head prompted you as he took your free hand in his.

Which was quite true, but retelling the kind of crazy stuff you had been through during your time in hell would force you to unravel a much longer thread leading to your origins, and that was not something you intended to do anytime soon.

However, there were things you could safely tell.

"Well… let's just say that I wasn't always as experimented as I am today when it comes to complex spells, and I've tried a few things when I was younger that did not always give the results I expected," you admitted while thinking back on your magic hair die attempts or the time you had tried befriending firebirds with chili flakes.

"Oh now you've done it, I have to hear all about that !" Shanks laughed.

You smiled and briefly squeezed his hand as you made your way to camp, more specifically to the barrels of booze and the cooking area where Lucky was getting the barbecue started.

As the evening started to blend into the night with cheerful stories and raunchy songs, you found yourself relaxing. You were especially enjoying watching the way Roger and Rouge were reconnecting with their son and clearly doing a lot to help him heal some of the trauma he had grown up with.

Though it did not make you feel any happier when a clearly plastered Ace spilled his drink on you while sobbing about wanting you to be his big sister and crushing you into a hug that made you fall into the sand under general hilarity.

You thus felt entirely justified in a revenge consisting of using a portal to teleport the young man right above the first waves of the shore to douse him in water, without actually taking the risk of letting him drown.

Damn it, you really were acting like an older sister already, weren't you ?

-o-oOo-o-

Teach pov

Things could not have been more perfect.

Not only had Teach learned about a new kind of power he could aquire on top of the Devil Fruit he still had not found, but he had even managed to steal some of the magic scrolls the naive wizard had found with Ace and Akagami. She had not even questionned his intentions or checked what he was doing, which meant that with everyone else distracted by the two idiots boasting about their adventure, Teach had been able to purloin four scrolls about summoning spells and three more about demons and hell's hierarchy, complete with the names and titles to call them by.

He had never cared for magic beyond vague tales from his childhood that he had never considered as anything more than pure fiction, but the incredible feat that woman had accomplished by teleporting two huge ships on the other side of a giant wave had forced him to reconsider his opinion.

To become the strongest, he needed that power.

So Teach had made sure to listen attentively to Rakuyo's rambling about magic and carefully noted the one possibility people had to get magic powers when they were not born with it. Summoning a magic creature to borrow their power through a contract.

That was the kind of arrangement Teach could get behind without the slightest hesitation.

There were so many things he could offer, starting with other people's lives and souls, in exchange for magic powers and the Yami Yami no Mi he had spent his life looking for. The commander of the seventh division had once said demons were the strongest creatures a warlock could make a pact with, but also the most dangerous.

So Teach had started to devise a plan to figure out how to do it, and then destiny had handed him a golden opportunity on a silver platter once again, when Ace had returned to camp boasting about going on an adventure to get magic scrolls from a dead warlock.

Truly, there could not have been a clearer sign that Fate was on his side.

Even the fact that both crews had decided to stay several days on Atlantis so Akagami's girlfriend had time to sort all the scrolls and see if she found whatever specific thing she wanted in them was giving him the perfect occasion to read the information he had stolen and prepare his summoning.

After four days of careful reading, Teach knew exactly what to do and which demon to summon in order to anihilate both Emperors and get everything he wanted.

Who cared if he could not use the weird magic language or pronounce the runes, magic was a matter of intent or so Rakuyo and the wizard said, which meant common language would work perfectly as long as he had enough will and determination to back it up.

Once he made a pact with the strongest demon of hell, not even Akagami's little bitch would be able to stop him. Teach might even manage to get all her knowledge and secret scrolls as ransom for her precious boyfriend's soul or life or whatever Teach felt like sparing.

Which, truth be told, was not much when it came to Akagami.

But what kind of pirate never lied to obtain what they wanted, after all.

So on the fifth day, just as the lowering sun started to touch the horizon and the barrier between the human world and the demon realm was at its weakest, when both crews were once again starting a party, Teach put his plan into action.

For the past hour, he had remained just far enough on the beach to be slightly out of sight with an excuse about wanting to search for something, while he actually had been tracing the lines of a summoning circle called pentacle.

The second the sun started to cross the horizon, he drew the last symbol from the center of the five pointed stars surrounded by a circle, and started to shout with all the intent he felt, all his hunger for power, everything he had bottled up during his life.

"COME TO ME NOW ! ANSWER THE CALL OF YOUR NEW MASTER !"

The pentacle around him started to glow with a black light oozing from every line he had drawn in the sand, and Teach felt the intoxicating feeling of success flood his whole body. He kept shouting his incantation with a dark glee just as everyone else noticed too late what was happening.

"TEACH !"

"SON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING !?"

"STOP THIS MADNESS !"

But Teach kept going, knowing he was almost done and soon these fools would be dead or worse, all because he had been smarter and more cunning than they could ever hope to be.

He especially exulted when Akagami's wizard stopped him from drawing his sword.

"Don't attack him, this type of summoning could blow half the island if interrupted !" she said loud enough for everyone to hear her.

I knew it, not even you can stop me ! Bow to me, you pretentious born mage !

And so Teach grinned as he finished the perfect incantation that would finally give him access to everything he deserved.

"I SUMMON YOU, KING OF HELL AND LORD OF OF ALL DEMONS, MASTER OF CURSES AND MOST POWERFUL OF ALL !" he yelled with glee. "BREAK THE BARRIER BETWEEN DIMENSIONS AND JOIN THE HUMAN WORLD, SUKUNA !"

Black light exploded from the pentacle he had traced as soon as he pronounced the name of the most powerful demon who reigned on hell, and for a moment, the mix of light and darkness blinded Teach. It took a few seconds for him to recover, but when he did, the first thing he noticed was the faint black translucent barrier going upward from the circle and star of his design.

Then it was an overwhelming presence, a sensation that something terrible was nearby, something that sent cold sweat down his spine and made his legs shake just from being in its vicinity. The certainty that a creature who could kill with a snap of his fingers or even a blink of his eyes was lurking and searching for his next prey.

Terror made reality.

Yet Teach saw no one in the pentacle, and only belatedly realised the otherwordly feeling of death, cruelty, and pure evil, were coming from above him.

When he finally saw the entity he had summoned, the sheer fear mixed to triumph make him laugh incredulously.

The demon had four arms, pink hair, two pairs of eyes, black tattoo lines all over his body and a mouth on his stomach revealed by the light kimono that was undone above the belt, and covering a pair of black pants on the lower half. But more than his looks, more than his arrogant smirk and the danger lurking in his red glowing eyes, more than the obvious physical strength he possessed, it was the aura he emanated that showed this demon held both the power to destroy worlds and the wickedness to do it if given the chance.

That was exactly the kind of being Teach needed to build his legend.

And so he turned to the sorry array of pirates on the beach with an exulting laugh.

"ZEHAHAHAHA ! Finally my day has come ! You're powerless ! No one can defeat the king of hell, and once I make a contract with him, you will all die at his hand !" Teach exulted. "No more bowing to an senile old man, no more threat from a drunk asshole, you will all lose your souls to me !"

The fear and terror in the eyes of the pirates filled him with a thrilling sensation of gleeful power. Finally, Marshall D Teach was taking control and claiming the power he deserved. After this day, two Emperors would have fallen to him and him alone, proving his strength to the world and ensuring no one would ever dare to contest his might.

The pain in his former Captain and Commander's eyes at the reveal of his betrayal made this exceptional moment even sweeter.

"Son, stop this," Whitebeard told him. "You're still family, it's not too late for you to-"

"Keep your weak bullshit to yourself, old geezer, there's no such thing as family among pirates, only power ! The weak die and the strong ascend !" Teach cut him off. "You're a delusional idiot who just got lucky to be born half Giant and find a powerful Devil Fruit !"

"TEACH ! TAKE THAT BACK !" Ace roared with his flames reaching for him and immediately being absorbed by the power of his pentacle and the presence of the demon king.

"You're so pathetic," Teach snorted. "The only reason you got promoted Commander was because of your Devil Fruit and the old geezer favouring you, take your fire away and you're not any better than everyone else ! Matter of fact, you're worth even less than everyone else !"

The stupid teenager took a step back and paled, which made Teach smile cruelly.

"Shut the fuck up, that kid is not worthless !" Akagami growled. "And you won't insult my friends on my watch !"

"Oh no, the great Akagami no Shanks is angry," Teach mocked, and smirked wickedly while using his trump card against the red-head, something he had learned by chance years before. "As if you've ever been anything more than the disgraced offspring of a Celestial Dragon ! Say, how does it feel to know that your dad chose your twin brother but not you ? That only criminals could accept you when your own brother was deemed worthy of being a god ? Face it, Akagami, you can pretend all you want but at the end of the day, you're nothing more than a drunken failure !"

Even scarring that asshole had not been as satisfying as this. The best part, however, was still to watch him suddenly pale and turn to his lover who was staring at him in shock.

"Babe, wait, I can explain-"

"Oh, you didn't tell her ?" Teach grinned gleefully. "You fucked that wizard without telling her your dad and brother were the ones hunting her ? And you think she'll let you touch her again !?"

"Were you truly born a Celestial Dragon ?" the woman asked in a calm voice that Teach was sure she only used to conceal her pain and fury at the lie.

"I- yes, but, babe look I never was one of them ! I promise !" the red-head swore with a despair no one claiming to be an Emperor should ever show, even more so when he clearly did not even dare to touch her. "I rejected it when I went to Marie Geoise after Roger's death, I swear, this isn't who I am !"

A common yell of shock echoed through the Whitebeard Pirates at the confirmation, and Teach snickered.

"So pathetic."

"TEACH !" Whitebeard roared. "THIS IS THE LAST-"

"SHUT UP ! I'M CLAIMING MY DESTINY TODAY ! THE DEMON KING IS ON MY SIDE AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ! NOTHING CAN SAVE YOU FROM ME ANYMORE, NOT EVEN AKAGAMI'S BITCH !" Teach shouted.

This was the beginning of his triumph.

The start of the life he had always known he was born to live.

An era like the world had never seen.

The only thing Teach had left to do was to carefully choose his words to make a contract with the most powerful demon of hell, and then the entire world would be at his feet.

A powerful demon that had not said a word since he had been summoned, now that he thought about it.

And then the wizard woman stepped forward.

"Guess if we're airing everyone's dirty laundry in public and getting the skelettons out of their closets, might as well go all the way," she said in a deadpan voice.

"Babe, wait, what are you doing, please-"

So pathetic.

The way Akagami was begging and obviously one second from crying at the way the woman he loved was ignoring him was most entertaining, but the complete nonchalance said woman showed had something unnerving.

She was too confident.

Too calm.

She stopped right in front of his pentacle, sighed loudly, put her hands in the pockets of her pants, and raised her head to look straight at the king of hell without an ounce of fear or even doubt.

"Hi dad."

Chapter Text

Reader pov

You sighed, knowing this was very much not how you had intended to tell the truth to your lover, if you ever planned to do it. But his own shitty family history had been outed in front of everyone without his consent, and that made you angry enough to reclaim control of the situation by taking that Teach asshole down a notch.

Especially when in the end, he had been stupid enough to steal a couple magic scrolls and summon a demon after only a few days of reading and studying.

You really had to stop overestimating your opponents' intellect.

So you put your hands in the pockets of your pants, then raised your head and looked at the different kind of asshole who was clearly having a blast at the whole show unfolding in front of him.

"Hi dad."

Your father burst out laughing and levitated back down to the ground. You put your left hand out of your pocket and on the black translucent limit of the pentacle at the same time he did, then pushed your magic into it as he did the same. The next second, the weak barrier – made from drawings in the sand, for stars' sake, not even rocks or a secondary element, what a shitty job – exploded in thousands of fragments that dissolved into smoke and disappeared into thin air.

"So this is what you've been up to since you left home ?" the pink-haired demon grinned as he stepped closer to you.

"Hell's not my home," you retorted with a roll of your eyes. "Did you really answer such a sloppy summoning just to see me ?"

"Eh, you're my favourite child, I wasn't going to miss the occasion," your father replied without looking any less delighted by the situation, his upper arms crossed on his chest and his lower arms on his hips. "So, you're coming back to take your rightful place as my second in hell's hierarchy ?"

"Not a chance," you snorted. "I didn't spend a decade plotting my escape to go back just because you ask nicely."

"Even if you could see your mom again ?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"You know I'd pay you to keep that selfish bitch away from me," you deadpanned. "And let me guess, she's still trying to kill you three times a week, trying to escape three times a week, and you solve it with sex six times a week ?"

"Four, one, and eight, actually," Sukuna corrected with a smirk. "Left her naked and chained up to the wall with a vibrator on her clit to come see you, I think she's gonna be pissed when I come back. Good thing I like her most when she's feisty."

"And you wonder why I don't want to go back to hell with you," you snorted.

 "Don't play prude with me, princess, you have the same major sin affinity I do," your father grinned and his two right eyes winking. "We're both horny sluts made for lust and carnal pleasure."

"Doesn't mean I want to know what you get up to with the woman who gave birth to me," you shrugged, and put both hands back in the pockets of your pants before making a little chin movement toward the would-be warlock. "Anyway, you can take that one, he's an arrogant traitor who fell for greed, I think you're gonna have fun with him."

"Wha- what ?" Teach asked with the first tremors of fear in his voice, though arrogance and anger were still predominant. "NO ! I summoned the king of hell, I'm the one he's going to obey !"

"Don't think you're hot shit just because I made the trip," your father retorted with a disdainful voice and his eyes glowing brighter in warning. "If I hadn't felt my daughter's magic nearby, I wouldn't even have allowed my other offsprings to answer such a weak-ass summoning. Maybe one of the lower-ranked ghouls, if that."

"What !?"

"Not even my dad has enough fingers to enumerate all the mistakes you made in that ritual," you stated with just as much contempt your father had spoken. "That had to be the most pathetic attempt at a pentacle I've seen in at least a decade, and I'm including the demons I fought in hell's tournament in that."

Sukuna whistled and snapped his fingers to force Teach to shut up through his own magic, then smirked gleefully at you.

"You really are your father's daughter, princess."

"Better than being compared to my mother, I'll take it," you grinned, then stretched your arms above your head and went back to the subject at hand, since you had no idea how long the shock would keep the two pirate crews behind you quiet. "So, you get his life, his body, his mind, his soul."

"Mmh, that's a bit on the cheap side. Throw in a month-long visit and then I'll reconsider," your father suggested with a glint in his eyes.

"Or I could just send you back to hell without anything and kill him myself, and then you'd have to explain to all the demons waiting to challenge you for the throne why you not only answered a sloppy summoning, but also came back empty-handed," you retorted with your own eyes glowing red as well and a warning smile on your lips.

"I really taught you too well, eh ?" Sukuna smirked wildly, but you could hear the pride in his voice.

"Guess there's a reason you always say I'm your favourite," you quipped back.

The king of hell burst out laughing, and then he nodded.

"Alright, I'd usually charge a higher fee, but you get the family rate. So all of that guy, what do you want in exchange ?" he asked you with a dangerous smirk.

"See those ghosts other there ? I want you to untie the bond linking them to me so they can finally be where they belong," you said while being careful in your phrasing.

Your father turned his head to watch to the side, and both pairs of eyes started glowing again, until he seemed to find what he wanted and he grinned knowingly.

"Alright, you got a deal. Just one little thing before we seal it."

You frowned, and then facepalmed when he walked until he was standing threateningly in front of Shanks, making his intentions perfectly clear. You were pretty sure your father was not going to do anything worse than a shovel talk to show everyone that he was ridiculously powerful, and slightly overprotective in his weird sadistic demonic way. It would be stupid of him to actually try to attack your lover when you were right there, but you still prepared two portals ready to activate, just in case.

"So you're the mortal banging my favourite child."

You were pretty impressed to see your red-haired pirate Emperor hold his ground in front of the king of hell, but when Shanks opened his mouth to reply, your father's lower right arm rose and he shook his index in front of his face.

"That wasn't a question."

"Then what's this about ?" Shanks asked cautiously.

"You know the saying hell has no fury like a woman scorned ?"

"Yes ?"

"Then you understand that if you piss off this one, she has the power to send you to literal hell," Sukuna warned with a wide smile and his evil-demon-king aura intensifying, making a lot of pirates faint, step back, or fall on their ass. "And if that happens, I'll make sure to handle your case personally, completely free of charge for her. Got it ?"

"Yes sir," Shanks replied instantly and although he had clearly paled, he was still standing and looking your father in the eyes.

"Hm, not bad," Sukuna commented and stepped back to join you again. "They're usually shitting their pants or unconscious by now. You picked a good one."

"I know," you grinned smugly, if only because you were damn proud of your lover.

And also a bit because gaining your father's approval was no easy task, so Shanks earning Sukuna's respect so fast was objectively impressive on top of showing you had great taste in partner. Your father laughed once more and winked knowingly, with both left eyes this time.

"Make sure to drop by for a family dinner one of these days, I'm sure your siblings will like him too."

"Hell to the no," you shut down immediately, knowing all your half-brothers and half-sisters would inevitably try to either trap your boyfriend in a contract or make him enter the next demonic tournament. "So, our deal ?"

The king of hell placed himself right in front of you, then you both extended your left hand – upper one in his case – to the side, before slamming them together in a clashing handclap that provoked a massive wave of magic, while his eyes and yours glowed red with the power each of you wielded.

The magic surrounded both of you in a storm of crimson lightnings for a moment. Then your own power shot straight to Teach, while your father's power shot to you and followed the bonds linking you to Roger and Rouge, before surrounding both of them as well.

Then another massive flash of red light happened to show the completion of the deal. You suddenly felt free of the soulbond, which made you sigh in relief, and a portal opened behind your father to bring him back to hell with his payment. When you unclasped your hand from Sukuna's, he was watching you with a shit-eating grin that made any relief vanish immediately.

"Wait. Dad, I know that smile, what did you do !?"

"You still got a couple things to learn to outsmart me," he laughed loudly.

"Uh, are we… alive ?" Roger asked incredulously.

Your head snapped toward the two people who were definitely fully alive again and you gaped. Then you connected the dots and felt a vein pulse on your forehead. You had asked for them to be where they belonged, and since their presence was the result of a failed resurrection attempt, your father had interpreted it in the sense of finishing the ritual and bringing them back to life instead of letting their ghosts go back to the afterlife.

"DAD FOR FUCK'S SAKE !" you screamed.

But all you saw when you turned your head toward him was your father's back, with his lower right hand dragging a panicking and thrashing but still silenced Teach behind him, while Sukuna was laughing wildly and stepping into the pentacle.

"See you next time, princess !" your father waved with his upper left hand.

And then the portal closed, leaving you fuming at the unfair trick and word manipulation he had used.

"That fucking son of a bitch !" you cursed, then ughed loudly for several seconds and ran both hands over your face.

Of course this chaotic asshole had opted to break the laws of nature and permanently bring back two people whose death had been a major event in the history of the world. Knowing the tricky little shit your father could be, he had even taken away the disease plaguing Roger just to ensure he would live a good long while and not die again any time soon.

Damn it, this was going to make everything even more complicated than before.

You turned around, only to find several hundreds of shocked and befuddled faces staring at either you or Roger and Rouge.

Three, two, one…

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH !!!????"

You really should have just become a librarian.

-o-oOo-o-

Beckman pov

Beckman prided himself on his even temper.

Granted, he would not have lasted as long as he had in his role of first mate to the Red-Haired Pirates if he had not been able to keep his calm and be the pragmatic counterpoint to Shanks' craziness, but the facts remained that he was good at quickly reading a situation and adequately adapt to it.

However, that was too much to ask of anyone, even him.

Teach being crazy enough to summon a powerful demon despite not knowing anything about magic, he could easily picture, but everything that had happened after that had simply been too crazy for him to do anything else than watching in baffled silence.

One hour and three cigarettes after the whole event, well after the sun had finished to set, Beckman was still wrapping his mind about everything that had happened in a matter of minutes.

Shanks had barely taken the time to fiercely hug the Pirate King for a moment, and after that, he had not left the side of his magic lady and they had spent a long moment talking in private, which had seemed to confirm their relationship and feelings for each other despite their respective… unexpected families.

Meanwhile Roger had revealed to everyone that Ace was his and Rouge's kid, and had been bickering with Whitebeard since then about stealing other people's children, under the amused eye of his wife who was busy hugging her son, the latter sounding like he was sniffling loudly and clinging to her for dear life.

Everyone else was sitting anywhere they could and either trying to process what they had witnessed, or straight-up getting drunk without bothering to eat anything despite Lucky and Thatch cooking up a storm, probably to distract themselves.

Beckman had half a mind getting a tankard or several as well.

Marco suddenly came to sit next to him on the dried wood trunk, and both of them stayed there in complete silence for several moments as they did what first mates always did, namely keeping an eye on everyone else.

"So, Akagami's a willingly disgraced World Noble and his wizard girlfriend is the daughter of the king of hell yoi," the phoenix stated with only a faint incredulity lingering in his voice. "And her dad just brought Ace's parents, who are the Pirate King and his wife who's a witch yoi, back to life."

"She'd been stuck with their ghosts for a while, she was lookin' for a way to set them free and send them back to the afterlife," Beckman replied honestly, since hiding the purpose of their coming to Atlantis clearly no longer mattered. "I'm pretty sure she didn't plan for her dad to finish the resurrection spell that failed when she killed the warlock casting it."

"Ah, makes sense."

Beckman hummed, and then they both chuckled incredulously for a while before Marco sighed fondly and smirked as he put both elbows on his knees, the two of them still looking at the bonfire rather than each other.

"Seas, what a fucking day yoi."

"You tell me," the grey-haired pirate snorted good-heartedly. "I'm still not sure who of Shanks or Y/N gets the worst biological in-laws, and that's saying something."

Marco snickered at that, then his expression turned more serious.

"We owe her for dealing with Teach. If it hadn't been for this adventure and her powers yoi, who knows what he might have done to our family in the future," the phoenix stated.

"Just make sure Whitebeard doesn't try to adopt her again and knowing her, she'll be happy to call it even," the grey-haired pirate hummed knowingly.

"After meeting her dad, I don't think Pops wants to risk it yoi, especially when it's pretty clear they get along," the phoenix assured.

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommand trying to steal the king of hell's favourite kid," Beckman smirked. "And Roger's pretty much claimed her as his daughter-in-law already, you know he's not gonna give an inch on that when his other son is in your crew."

"I don't think Pops' going to let him get Ace back yoi," Marco smirked, then shook his head. "Seas, I can't believe the Pirate King is just… alive again."

Beckman only nodded at that. One way or another, a lot of things had happened in the past hours that were going to change the course of history. Though as he watched the power couple at the center of it, and noted how lovingly Shanks and Y/N were holding each other on that lounge chair, he found himself pretty optimistic about what the future would bring.