Archive of Our Own ^beta

The harsh sound of the cuff-edge scrapping into stone will never fail to make his ears sting, but it's the best way to keep track of time.

Rosinante hums, recounting the marks along the walls and floors around him carefully. 1,826 days. Over five years. He slumps a bit, leaning against the wall as his chains clink quietly.

Of course, that's only the time he's spent in Impel Down's precious, hidden Level 6. Before that, six months in a coma, then five years and a few months of being tossed around through different prisons. He hasn't been 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 in over a decade.

Maybe he never truly was, but anything is better than cold walls and colder seastone, despite his developed tolerance for the stuff. He sighs, adjusting as much as he can to be comfortable. They let him keep his feather cloak, at least.

Rosinante spends most of his time sleeping. Sometimes trying to chat with the prisoners in other cells, like that Sir Crocodile guy, but most of them don't make very good company. Even by his standards. Daydreaming can be fun, but ends up repetitive after a while.

Garp's occasional visits, once every few months, are a nice treat. But the last one was recent, only a week or so ago. Each visit reignites his frustration with those blasted higher-ups who decided his Aunt and Dad can't visit. Uncle Garp technically can't either, but you can't make a 𝘋 do anything they don't want to.

Not like he can say anything about that without being a hypocrite now. Waking up after the coma with a set of double-fangs, only to be informed that D-clan members can 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 other people Ds? Craziest day of his life. His gold implants ached for days.

He's pretty sure it was Law, but not like he can confirm. Thinking about t̶h̶e̶ 𝘩𝘪𝘴 brat still makes his chest sting with worry. Thankfully, Garp did show him the recent bounty poster for a certain "Surgeon of Death", so he knows he's doing somewhat alright.

It was sweet to hear the name Heart Pirates, to see that Jolly Roger design, even though his Uncle laughed so hard it made the Warden ask him to leave early. His kid is still a softie under all that confident smirking and crazy usage of a Devil Fruit. Rosinante's so proud.

The sound of someone coming down the stairs was startling enough that the feathers of his coat puffed up. Thankfully they didn't spark, that would be a disaster, but still. Loose black feathers scattered around him as the clinking of chains and the tap of footsteps echoed down the halls.

He carefully inched back as far as his chains would allow, tucking his coat around himself and hiding in the half-shadowed corner. Warden Magellan made his way down the hall with a small group of guards, all surrounding someone Rosinante couldn't quite make out.

The other prisoners began muttering, but quieted when Magellan glared. The devil-like man came to a stop in front of his cell, "Congrats birdy, you're getting a cellmate. Until his execution, that is." He unlocked the cell and stepped aside, allowing the guards to shove in—

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. The former Marine thought in shock as the guards chained the young man to the wall, far shorter chains than his own. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘸! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?!

The confusion spiked further when he noticed that the boy was awake, but not struggling. Was it because of the seastone, or is he choosing not to? Either way, concerning.

Rosinante shifts, getting a bit of fun out of the way the guards flinch. They scramble out of the cell and all vanish back down the hall, Magellan sending one last glare over his shoulder before he too leaves.

He glances at the boy, who's glaring harshly at the floor. He carefully focuses his Observation, curiosity staining his own presence. 𝘌𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳.

That last note makes him hum. Conqueror's Haki is rather uncommon, so finding it in his cellmate is interesting. There's also something about the signature itself that reads as familiar, but he can't place it.

Rosinante adjusts again, moving back out of the corner and leaning against the wall casually, ignoring the redirected glare from the young man. He's dealt with the worst brat in the world, this isn't going to phase him.

𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.

~

The tall, feathered bastard hasn't stopped trying to talk to him for over 30 minutes.

Ace sends another death glare, which is swiftly ignored as the freak continues rambling about nothing specific. Right now it's something about his son getting a bounty recently. Apparently he's roughly the same age as the guy's kid. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥?

"Do you ever shut up?" He finally snaps, chains clinking as he tries to lunge into the man's space only to be stopped by the shortness of the damn things. The stranger moves back, blonde bangs parting to reveal red eyes that stare at him with undisguised 𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

Ace damn near snarls, baring his fangs, which— actually gets the weirdo to drop his grin. The pirate pauses, sitting back as the blonde tilts his head, "You're a D? So am I nowadays." He smiles softly and Ace blinks.

"Could you tell me your name, kiddo?" The man asks, all calm vibes and a soft look. Ace can't handle this, today's too stressful, he deserves to have 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 amount of friendly company— "Portgas D Ace. I'm... I'm a Whitebeard Commander." He mutters, shifting out of a kneel to sit as comfortably as possible.

He perks up, grinning enough to reveal— 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴?! 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴— "My name is Donquixote Rosinante. I was a Commander once too." The feathered man's smile gentles before he says something that actually interests Ace, "I knew the Whitebeards a couple years back, wanna hear about it?"

...Maybe the days he has left won't be too bad.

~

"They attacked you guys?!"

Rosinante laughs as the kid sputters in shock, "Yup! They didn't care we were just a bunch of teenagers, we shot first admittedly." He shrugs, "Though I guess they broke that habit by the time you joined 'em?"

Ace nods, leaning back against the cold wall, "Yeah we don't really attack Marines if they have younger recruits with them. Actually, I remember Marco saying something about not underestimating rookies?" He tilts his head and Rosinante snorts.

"Probably figured that out after he dropped me from three stories in the air and I still got back up with a torn shoulder and broken leg." He grins as Ace blinks repeatedly, snickering at the bafflement in his expression. "Are— are you insane?" ; "Yeah, by most definitions!"

Echoing footsteps sound again, catching their attention. Ace leans forwards with a curious look beyond the glaring, while the ex-marine just shifts back to hide in the corner again. Two visits to Level 6 within the span of a couple hours can't be good.

That was until his Observation locks onto the familiar signature— 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘴. Monkey D Garp. The infamous Hero of the Marines.

He tilts his head and mutters in Ace's direction, "It's my Uncle. He visits me once every few months, but his last visit was only a week ago, so I don't know what this is about." The kid hums, slumping back against the wall with a wince. 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵'𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘞𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.

When Garp steps into view, his new kid blinks in shock, glancing between him and the hero with visible confusion. Rosinante just shrugs as the brute stops in front of their cell, giving them both a judgemental squint.

He suddenly shouts over his shoulder, startling both prisoners, "OI, MAGELLAN! YOU REALLY PUT MY GRANDSON IN THE SAME CELL AS MY NEPHEW?!" The Warden pokes his head around the corner, rubbing his ear with a grimace, "Didn't want you wandering around more than necessary. Now hurry your visit up, there's paperwork to be done, 𝘴𝘪𝘳."

Magellan ducks away and Garp grumbles, sitting down in front of the cell, directly across from Ace; who's apparently boxed his confusion in favor of— 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦? The ex-marine can't help but feel like he's missing a lot of context.

He stays in the corner, passively listening to the... Concerning, if he's allowed the understatement, conversation. The Luffy kid sounds fascinating at least, but he's starting to see a bit too much of 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 in Ace, and based off Garp's repeated glances, it's not just him drawing connections.

𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴.

𝘞𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳!

𝘐 𝘰𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳

𝘞𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳

Rosinante ducks his head, hiding the lower half of his face in his feather coat's collar like he used to as a kid. His fangs ache when he thinks too hard about... Well, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 relating to the Celestial Dragons. But specifically his father.

𝘖𝘩. 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘴. His brain sparks faintly, memories of a red & blue duo dragging him along to meet the newest member of their Captain's crew, a woman with a flower in her hair and freckles that stood out in the sun. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. That's what was so familiar— It was part of 𝘙𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘳'𝘴 signature.

Hearing Ace declare his choice is sweet. Garp, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴, just sighs mournfully. The brute stands, staring them down for a couple seconds.

"Ace. Rosinante here is a good brat. Don't bother being a shit to him, alright? Might as well enjoy what you've got." He turns and waves a hand over his shoulder, storming off with a war of emotions hidden in his Haki.

The kid slumps once the staring stops, breathing in a way that sound a bit too close to held-back sobs for Rosinante's taste, so he shifts closer. His longer chains and lack of ankle cuffs allow him to move around the cell more freely than you would expect, he can even reach the bars if he felt like it.

For now, he just settles next to the young (𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨, 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘱, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨—) man, carefully reaching out to grab his shoulder. Silver eyes meet red, and Ace leans against him as much as he can, visibly trying not to break down.

Shuffling till the side-hug they've fallen into is a bit more comfortable, Rosinante tucks as much of his coat around them both as he can manage. He begins humming a tune, ignoring the memory of holding a too-small sickly child to his chest, and the half-muffled crying.

𝘏𝘪𝘫𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘰́𝘯...

~

After a week of only having him for company, aside from the assholes in the other cells, Ace can say a couple things about Donquixote Rosinante.

1; he's nice

2; he's weird

3; he's a fucking mystery

There's very little he actually 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴, despite the bastard being very chatty and willing to share stories. What he does know is infuriatingly disconnected bits of information.

Rosinante used to be a 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 Commander. He has a pirate son. Garp's his adoptive Uncle. He's as attached to his cloak as Luffy is to his hat. He'd met the Whitebeards long ago and was friendly with Marco.

He wasn't born a D, instead inDucted by someone he refuses to elaborate on. He's been in Impel for five years, and spent the previous five being tossed around through various different prisons. He likes starting fires, which is relatable, at least.

Right now, Ace is letting himself be held to fight off the cold from the cell. The cloak is 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 warm, and once he'd told Rosinante what his Devil Fruit was, he got mother hen'd into this. He huffs, messing with a loose feather and watching bits of dust sprinkle off of it.

"What's your cloak even made of? These feathers are weirdly shiny for how soot-stained they are." He snipes and the blonde just laughs, readjusting to pluck one of the feathers out and hold it.

"They're not real feathers, actually. They're made of steel and flint, and the base of the coat itself is like an insulated fire-blanket." He chuckles as the pirate blinks, and answers the unsaid question, "It was a birthday gift from my Dad. He recognized my... admittedly 𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘤 tendencies and decided to get me a coat that won't burn me when I inevitably set it on fire."

He can't help but tilt his head, Luffy really rubbed off on him. "So your arson isn't Devil Fruit related like mine?" A nod and honestly way too smug smirk that he chooses to ignore, "Then what 𝘪𝘴 your Devil Fruit? Or did they just use Seastone on you for fun?" He teases.

Rosinante barks a laugh and grins, flashing those dangerously sharp double fangs, "Nah, I have a Fruit. Paramecia, it's called—" He's cut off by the sound of the door above the staircase slamming open, and the faint sounds of a struggle.

They both whip their heads up. He tries to shuffle out of the hold, but the grip tightens. "No. Stay put." The parental tone makes him pause enough that the blonde is able to wrangle him back into the cloak. A bit more shifting and they're backed against the wall, unable to reach the preferred corner due to Ace's short chains.

The sounds of struggle and heavy footsteps echo until they come into view, revealing a very exhausted looking Magellan, a large group of guards, and— "𝙅𝙄𝙉𝘽𝙀𝙄?!" The shout is chorused by that Crocodile guy in the nearby cell, but Ace doesn't care right now.

Rosinante seems confused, but still won't let him go. Screw the fact he can't do anything about Jinbei being fucking 𝘮𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦𝘥 and extensively chained to the wall. Screw this entire prison. If he manages a second before he's shipped off to be killed, he's going to burn this entire place to ground.

Magellan sighs, reaching up and tearing the muzzle off the fishman, who frantically takes a deep breath as the Warden and guards leave. The silence echoes with the pirate's heaving breaths, the distant sound of the upstairs door slamming almost sounding like a seal on their fates.

Ace waits until his friend seems to get his breath under control, "𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵, you alright? The hell'd you do to get thrown in here with me?" He worries as Rosinante releases him and shuffles back, giving them space. There's an odd look in his eyes, but the logia doesn't care to dissect that.

Jinbei nods faintly, gills sealing shut as his lungs apparently remember how to cooperate, "Yes, I am alright. Apologies, that muzzle was tight enough that my gills tried to open out of water. Not a pleasant experience." His tail twitches as much as it can under the chains, ear fins flared.

Ace smiles faintly, about to ask again 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, when the fishman suddenly startles. He turns, following his gaze back to Rosinante. Jinbei leans forward, chains clinking.

"Doflamingo?!"

~

He admittedly startles a bit when the new cellmate moves, but grins brightly once he processes. "Ah, you've met him, sorry about that! I'm Doffy's younger brother, Rosinante, nice to meet you." He chirps, and the fishman slumps back against the wall.

Ace glances between them in visible confusion before whirling back on him, "Wait, you have a brother?! Your brother's a goddamn Warlord?!" He barks, straining against his own chains while Jinbei stays silent.

The blonde laughs, "Yeah! But we haven't talked in well over a decade now, and weren't very close before that." Understatement of the century, but he's not about to start trauma-dumping all over this kid, so he shrugs, "Pretty sure he thinks I'm dead."

Crocodile shouts from his cell, startling the trio, "Get over it, Jinbei! They're nothing alike, I had to get used to it too." Rosinante hums, finally putting together scraps of information Garp offered him. "Oh, you're the fishman Warlord nobody ever shuts up about, that's cool. Explains how you met Doffy."

He doesn't wait for a reply, instead turning to shout in Crocodile's direction, "Also, you shut it, 𝒞𝑜𝒸𝑜𝒹𝓇𝒾𝓁𝑜! Of course I'm nothing like Doffy, you've met the guy! He's a freak in his own league." He teases, forever getting sadistic enjoyment out of bullying his older sibling behind his back.

Jinbei hums curiously, "What does that mean, that nickname? Doflamingo calls him it too." Crocodile's annoyed grumbling is ignored and Ace tilts his head in curiosity too, so Rosinante indulges them.

"It just means crocodile, referring to the animal." He shrugs as the duo pout (in their own ways) at the disappointing answer, "Not the most creative nickname ever, but it works. I'll think of something better eventually."

Ace shivers and the ex-marine shuffles closer, letting the boy under his coat again. Jinbei's ear-fins flick, so he answers the unasked question, "I have a son around his age, little older. I've got a soft spot for kids." He smiles, wincing a bit when Ace elbows his side. The fishman warbles a fond laugh.

New company, and good company at that. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥.

~

Days pass, maybe another week, he doesn't care to keep track the same way Rosinante does.

Speak of the devil, no, having Jinbei here hasn't helped him get any more information about the guy. In fact, it seems like he's clammed up even more! Ace has to directly ask for elaborations on things he off-handedly mentions, instead of just giving a look.

Sucks that he's going to die not even getting to really know his cellmate turned dad-friend.

Apparently Jinbei was thrown in here for a temporary sentence due to refusing to participate in his execution. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦? 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘥?

He still doesn't fully know what Rosinante's in for, all he got was a vague shrug and 'general treason', which isn't enough information to kill his curiosity. Jinbei informed him, while the blonde was sleeping, that those gold fang implants are a 𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 thing.

They agreed not to ask. It's probably nothing good for him, if he's been imprisoned in here for five years despite his blood-status. The question of how the hell a 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦 ended up an imprisoned 𝘋 is still unanswered, of course.

His conversation with Jinbei, after one of those freaky beast things came to beat him up again, is interesting at least. Finding out what happened to Fishman Island before Pops stepped in– it's tragic.

Rosinante's listening in, and ends up commenting, "There's not many slaves from the old Fishman Island incidents anymore, actually. Because of Fisher Tiger." Jinbei startles, and Ace is... deeply confused.

He tilts his head, glancing back and forth between his cellmates, "Who's Fisher Tiger?" The fishman huffs, tail twitching and rattling the chains, "We'll tell you in a minute. Rosinante, right? How do you know about him?" He interrogates.

Ace, admittedly, pouts while the blonde answers smoothly, "He's a bit of a horror story in the Holy Land, though I wasn't around for the incident, I've just heard about it." He shrugs and slumps back, clearly not willing to elaborate.

Jinbei sighs and turns back to the logia, finally explaining the story. It's brief, and his friend is obviously leaving out some details, but it's interesting. The conversation shifts back to Whitebeard after that, which prompts the other prisoners into shouting how they want 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘴 dead.

Rosinante shifts, tilting his head enough that his bangs reveal his eyes fully. They're an odd color, a rusted blood red, and almost seem to glow in the dim blue lighting, "Quiet down, all of you." He mutters with a hateful glare, and oddly enough–

Several prisoners 𝘥𝘰. The ones who have been here longer, if Ace had to guess. Crocodile just laughs again, but seems to notice the other cells' silence, and backs down. The ex-marine sighs and moves over, offering his cloak.

The pirate stares for a second before shifting closer, allowing the warm feathers to fight back the seastone-cold. "Why'd they back down so easily?" Rosinante hums and ruffles his hair, ignoring the growl that action prompts. Jinbei flicks an ear-fin, blatantly curious too. "Don't worry about it."

𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥.

~

From what they were told, Ace is going to be executed in roughly thirty hours.

Rosinante hums to himself, staring at his resting cellmates. They decided to sleep in shifts, to give Ace's narcolepsy a break and Jinbei's body a chance to handle the wounds. ... 𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥– 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘬𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵.

𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳, 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯.

𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥?

The former noble shakes his head, banishing those dark thoughts to the box where they belong. He can't afford to think about that, he needs to figure out a plan. 𝘈 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

He glances at the other cells, narrowing his eyes and baring his fangs at the prisoners. His gaze shifts to Crocodile, who raises an eyebrow. "𝒞𝑜𝒸𝑜𝒹𝓇𝒾𝓁𝑜, what's your Devil Fruit?" He asks, keeping his tone smooth and innocent, a casual curiosity to fill the quiet.

It works, and the hooked man rolls his eyes before answering, "The Suna-Suna No Mi, sand logia. I can become sand or dry things out until they too become sand, which I can manipulate into storms or quicksand." He explains. Rosinante nods, filing away the information in the hoard of his brain. "Thank you."

The sound of the door atop the staircase opening 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 immediately makes his stomach drop. It's starting to get ridiculous how many visits are occurring this month, but hey, guess the world found an axis to twist on.

He hisses lightly, nudging Ace and clinking his chains to wake Jinbei. Both pirates blink groggily before they register the commotion and perk up. Rosinante shuffles back to the corner, cloak carefully tucked around him while the kid puts on a confident facade and the fishman flares his fins.

The Warden emerges, along with his weird lackies (𝘏𝘢𝘯-𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴), and a beautiful woman. The other prisoners started shouting while Jinbei leaned forward, Crocodile making a noise of curiosity from his own cell. Ace was just as lost as Rosinante, evidently.

Han-whatever gives an introduction to the woman, a Warlord named Boa Hancock. A Kuja, and the current empress of Amazon Lily. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. He shifts out of his corner, feathers scattering, and the woman startles. "Doflamingo?!" She barks and he can't help but snort.

"Okay, that's 3 for 3 of you Warlords mistaking me for him. Hello ma'am, I'm Rosinante, the younger brother of that pink fool." He smiles kindly, hoping his calm vibes persist even with her obvious disgust. The other prisoners shout, something about 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 and 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥. He ignores them.

The Warden activates his fancy Hydra move, and the prisoners shut their traps, finally. Crocodile's Haki is behaving oddly, but he isn't talking, so Rosinante decides to ask later. Jinbei is giving an aggressive side-eye to the empress, while Ace leans forward, "What do you want?"

Her response is casual and uncaring, so the ex-marine leans back, deciding to let Jinbei and Ace talk to her. His gaze drifts around, Observation flared as he checks for weaknesses.

𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘏𝘢𝘬𝘪, 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘑𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘏𝘢𝘬𝘪 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴. The prisoners start their shouting again, and the Warden reactivates his poison.

While the guards are all collectively distracted, the empress leans forward slightly, catching his attention back. "𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘏𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦." She mutters a half-whisper, and Ace jerks, chains clinking loudly with the movement. Jinbei freezes, fins flared, and Rosinante isn't much better with his frantic blinking.

They watch the Warlord brush off the Warden and his lackies before they all leave, Hancock tossing one last comment and wave over her shoulder. Something about having no reason to lie, Rosinante's not really listening even as the elevator rises away.

"Ace..? You alright, kid?" He worries, shifting closer so that the logia can lean on him if he wants. The fishman is also concerned, straining against his chains to lean forward.

Ace just half-sobs, coils of 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 staining his presence and flooding the cell.

~

29 hours until his execution, and Luffy is 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 in fucking 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 trying to 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

He tries to pry some answers from a guard, but the bastard doesn't give him 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨! He snarls, fangs catching the dim light in a way that makes the guy step back with a nervous look. He's snapped out of it by the sound of rustling feathers, and whips around to stare at Rosinante.

"Ace, do you have any level of Observation Haki?" He blinks in confusion at the question, but nods slowly. "Your brother. What does his signature feel like? I have 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 Observation, I can find out where he is."

The blonde is giving him a serious but deeply kind look, and relief floods Ace's chest. "Sunshine. Luffy— Luffy's like the 𝘴𝘶𝘯. Happy but wild, I can't think of a word for it." He stutters out, grasping desperately onto a thin line of hope.

There's a firm nod and his cellmate leans back, eyes shut in focus. Ace glances over at Jinbei, who's giving him an odd look. He raises an eyebrow and fishman shakes his head. 𝘘𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. He decides, focusing back on the ex-marine—

—who suddenly gasps and jolts forward, cloak puffing up and scattering feathers everywhere. He mutters under his breath, a single word that Ace fails to catch.

Rosinante shakes his head and sits back to watch the ceiling with a far-away glint in his eyes. "He's on Level 4, I think he's fighting 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯." Ace stops breathing there, but the next sentence— a couple minutes later, paired with a pained look in those rust-red eyes— makes his heart 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱.

"𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵."

.....

It's been an hour since Rosinante reported that Luffy lost, but thankfully, the man is continuing to keep an eye on the signature.

His little brother is apparently tough enough to still be alive after losing that fight, and has been moved to Level 5. Rosinante tilts his head, eyes almost seeming 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘦 when he's using Haki.

"I can sense some other signatures flaring whenever your brother's does. I think he has allies?" He mutters, and Ace can't help but huff out a laugh. His cellmates turn to him, "Yeah. That's Luffy for ya, he can make friends anywhere and outta anyone." He whispers fondly, trying to fight back the tears in his eyes.

"One of the signatures just met up with him! 𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘯, I'll call 'em." The blonde suddenly chirps, making the duo perk up. Unbeknownst to the trio, Crocodile is leaning against the wall of his cell, listening in on the updates.

"They seem to be in another fight, probably against the wolves—" ; "THE 𝘞𝘏𝘈𝘛?!"

It takes a concerning amount of time, but eventually, the Haki user reports another signature (𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴) joining Swan and Luffy. "Based off the fact they're not flaring, and those two are passed out but being moved, I say it's a new ally." He comments, eyes narrowed.

Ace nods, sighing in relief before Jinbei speaks up, "He's still alive? But the poison– It's been hours!" The logia rolls his eyes while the ex-marine nods, "Yeah, still alive. His Haki 𝘪𝘴 concerningly faint, but still so damn 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵." They both look over when he leans against his chains.

"It's Luffy. He stayed wide awake during an untrained Conqueror's Haki blast when he was 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯. That brat's got insane Willpower." He boasts proudly, grinning wide while the other two give him comical shocked faces.

26 hours until he dies. He hopes Luffy won't have to see it.

~

16 hours until the execution. Rosinante's head hurts.

His Observation is strained in single-point focus, trying to stay locked onto that specific signature— 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵, 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚— underneath what he and Swan were dragged into.

It's a mess he's noticed before. A swirling bundle of Haki signatures, hidden somewhere in the 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 above them. When he found out that a Revolutionary had been brought in, he expected something like this, but not so 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. It's just a mass of neon.

𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦. He ponders, keeping his focus on Luffy's flickering signature as it seemingly 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 to keep him alive. He can sense Swan's signature, along with a few others, flaring repeatedly in support. It's honestly very sweet.

...It's been 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 since they were first dragged there, and the flares of sunlight are still weak. It's concerning, and Ace stopped responding to his worry a while ago. The kid is cuddled under his coat at the moment while Jinbei rests. He can sense Crocodile's gaze on them, but it's not worth focusing on.

Hours pass. Three. Seven. Jinbei woke up around hour five. Ace is still silent, but now shifts, shoving out of the hold Rosinante had on him in order to slump against the wall, hanging from his chains limply. His signature is subdued, smoldering like the last embers of a bonfire.

He speaks up, voice strained and grief pouring off him in waves, "I'm sorry... Both of you. My brother's always been foolhardy! I've always had to worry about him, even when we were kids, because he's a reckless idiot!" The boy's holding back tears, leaned forward and half-sobbing around the words.

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪! 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴!

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺! 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

Another hour passes in silence. Rosinante keeps his Observation pinned on those flickers of sunlight-Haki, trying to ignore the memories clawing at his mind.

Suddenly, there's a flare so bright he has to look away, curling his Observation in frantically. He ducks his head, wincing loudly enough that his cellmates snap to look at him.

Ace yanks his chains, "What?! What happened?!? Is Luffy okay?!" He shouts, chains rattling loudly while Jinbei leans forward in concern. Rosinante raises his head, carefully extending his Observation again.

𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯, 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦—

The former noble shudders, breathing out slowly and hurriedly pushing down his own Haki, fighting to keep it from responding. Despite his efforts, a small laugh slips out, a soft smile pulling at his scars. He blinks, settling his Observation and turning to grin at his cellmates.

"He's alive. He's 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦."

Ace shakes, visibly tearing up as his presence floods with relief. Jinbei grins, leaning back against the wall. Rosinante chuckles, shifting his focus back on the signatures above, "Seems like they're making a plan. Probably coming rescue you."

The kid blinks, breathing out slowly like— like he hadn't even considered the possibility of 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 saved. They both notice, of course, sending him harsh looks that he ignores.

But it seems that everything is finally looking up. The ex-marine spends the next fifteen minutes watching the signatures flit around frantically; organizing, planning, running.

Of course, at the end of those fifteen minutes, they hear the distinct sound of the elevator door opening. A presence like rotten bloodflow creeps down the hall, accompanied by a hive of weaker signatures.

𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬. 𝘕𝘰. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘯𝘰. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦— 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚—

Magellan stops in front of the cell. The door is opened, and some nameless bastard (𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧) reaches for Ace— for 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘥— 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯—

He lungs, razor sharp feathers scattering across the cell as he sinks sharp fangs into the hand that dared to try and take what is 𝘩𝘪𝘴.

The fact Rosinante himself is 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘬𝘶'𝘴 is likely the only reason Magellan doesn't use his poison, instead darting into the cell and yanking him off the faceless idiot by his collar.

𝘈 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, the d̶r̶a̶g̶o̶n̶ ex-marine thinks smugly, spitting out blood and flesh before baring his fangs again, fully ready to risk the poisoning just to tear into 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 bastard, remind him what happens when 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨—

𝘛𝘏𝘜𝘕𝘒

His vision swims, head pounding as he's dropped to the ground, forced to watch helplessly through blurred vision as Ace is dragged out of the cell. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘯, he thinks spitefully, wincing as he manages to sit up, making eye contact with Jinbei.

"What? You think the fangs were just for show?" He mutters, leaning back and watching through narrowed eyes as 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘥 is dragged into the elevator. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙝𝙨, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯.

Speaking of plans— barely five seconds pass before there's the sound of the staircase door slamming open and a stampede down the steps.

A kid wearing— 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘦𝘥'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘵?!— skids to a stop, shouting loudly. "ACE!! WHERE ARE YOU?! I'M HERE TO RESCUE YOU!!!" His allies are right behind him, frantically darting between cells.

Evidently-Luffy stops in front of their cell, alongside a man with a wine glass and someone with a large purple afro. They spot the empty shackles and quickly break into an argument before Jinbei speaks up.

"Are you Straw Hat Luffy?!" An affirmative hum, "Go after him, hurry! They just put Ace on the elevator!" The fishman shouts, flicking his tail in the direction of the still open doors. Luffy thanks him before darting off with his allies.

Rosinante tilts his head. Ducked in his shadowed corner, they evidently hadn't seen him. He's happy Ace has people going after him, but the curiosity about 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘵 is itching under his skin. Or maybe that's the drying blood, he can't really tell.

Unfortunately, it appears the guards are watching from those blasted monitor snails. First a spiked ball down the elevator shaft, then a cage around the staircase, then a blast of sleep-gas.

There's a sharp sound, a flare against the former noble's Observation that indicates the activation of a Devil Fruit. Surely enough, the smoke fades, revealing that the man with the wine glass transformed his hands into scissors and blocked the device. 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

They break into an argument, because of course, Luffy wants to go after his brother. All the way to 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥. "That's the D clan for you." He can't help but whisper, glancing at Jinbei, who nods with a stunned expression.

Crocodile offers his assistance, under a threat of blackmail from the Ivankov person. 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦— He stands, blood still dripping off his face as he steps to the bars and flares his Haki enough to catch attention. Jinbei stares up at him, but the ex-marine chooses to ignore that.

"If you're looking to save Ace, we'll gladly help!" He chirps, grinning sharply enough to flash his bloodied canines. "Jinbei here is a long-time friend of your brother, Luffy. And I may have only met him a couple weeks ago, but I've been looking for an excuse to break out! For a friend is a good reason, no?" He tilts his head lightly, an action the young boy mimics.

Ivankov squints then jolts back, sputtering, "You! You have Celestial Dragon fangs 𝘢𝘯𝘥—?!" ; "And D clan fangs, yes." He shrugs, then steps back a bit as they stick their needle-sharp nails between the bars threateningly.

"What is your name?" They interrogate, eyes narrowed in suspicion with a flash of familiar hatred. 𝘈𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘚𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴. He grins again, squinting his eyes shut.

"My name is Donquixote 𝘋 Rosinante, younger brother of the Warlord Doflamingo! Pleasure to meet you."

.....

Rosinante rubs his wrists, wincing a bit. Those cuffs irritated the 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 out of his old scars, he'll have to ask for any medical supplies they may have during the planned stop at Newkama Land.

He relishes in the thrum under his skin, a feeling not a sound, the power at his beck and call despite being locked away for five years. The previous prisons didn't bother using seastone, a mistake Impel refused to make.

The ex-marine tilts his head down at Luffy, who's still staring at him. He decides to take the moment and ask a question while Crocodile and Jinbei bicker, "Hey, Luffy– where'd you get that hat of yours, hm?" He speaks casually, wiping the blood off his mouth with the handkerchief Inazuma passes him.

The boy grins, Haki brightening around him, "Shanks gave it to me!" Neither of them care to address the way the rest of the group freezes and turns to stare, "He said I can give it back when I become Pirate King!" He chirps, putting a hand over the hat protectively.

Rosinante chuckles fondly, "That sounds like something Red would do. Me and Shanks are friends, actually. Knew each other as rookies." Luffy gasps, eyes sparkling, and the blonde can't help but scoop him up. "Here, you shouldn't be walking after fighting Magellan, you can hold onto my coat."

The supernova grins again, adjusting to get comfy, "Thanks Rosh– uh– Donki–... Don-guy!" Rosinante winces and reaches over to ruffle his hair under the hat, "You can call me Cora-san. That's what my son called me." That gets Ivankov's attention, who spins on their heels impressively.

"You have a son, noble-boy?" They chirp, and he snarls faintly up at them, "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 call me 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, but yes. He's a pirate. A good one." He doesn't offer more than that, instead turning to grab Crocodile when he notices the man about to use his Devil Fruit.

"Wait a minute, we need a full plan." He states, ignoring how Luffy immediately starts complaining. "If we want even a chance at actually getting to Ace 𝘰𝘳 Marineford, we have to be subtle. A direct break-out will only lead to fighting, slowing us down."

The group is somewhat gathered around him as he speaks, so he continues, letting his tone slip back to something fitting a Commander. "My Devil Fruit, the Nagi-Nagi No Mi, cancels sound. Entirely. It even hides Haki signatures."

He notices Luffy's confused hum and whispers over quickly, "I'll explain later– Anyway. I suggest we use both Crocodile and Inazuma's abilities in tandem to tunnel through the walls, where we can then stop at Newkama land for our injuries and clothes, before making our way out and 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘺 stealing a ship. They won't see us coming, much less hear us." He smirks proudly at the impressed looks.

Jinbei huffs suddenly, "You weren't just any Marine Commander. You were an Intelligence Agent. A 𝘴𝘱𝘺." Rosinante grins, still-bloody fangs flashing. "Correct! But, you know, treason." He gestures around at the walls, "Now let's get out of here." He raises his hand, and all it takes is a quick 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱.

"𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚."

~

Crocodile is having what certainly counts as a 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

He continues walking next to Inazuma, both of their Devil Fruits active and creating a smooth path through the walls back towards Level 5.5, 𝘖𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥— He snarls faintly, glaring back over his shoulder at Ivankov, who just smirks smugly.

He shifts his gaze over to the others, deciding to ignore the okama for now. H̶i̶s̶ s̶o̶n̶ Monkey D Luffy is holding onto Donquixote Rosinante's shoulder as they chat with Jinbei about— something. He can't tell, him and Inazuma being outside the odd 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 bubble.

He has no real complaints about Jinbei being here, he's one of the more tolerable Warlords out of the bunch. He feels 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 annoyed resentment towards the Straw Hat brat, but he can tolerate being around him until they get to Whitebeard.

Rosinante is a mystery. Nothing like his 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 at first glance, but grins that same cruel way and clearly retains the same violent instincts. He smells like smoke and kerosene, but 𝘋𝘰𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘰 has pyrophobia. For all he talks, every detail is either not about him or disconnected from everything else.

With a twitch of the blonde's hand, the bubble extends around them, the sound of breathing and mindless chatter rushing back over the tunneling. "Don't want anyone near the edges hearing you, just being safe." Rosinante chirps before turning back to the conversation he was having. Crocodile scoffs, rolling his eyes.

They make it to Newkama Land eventually, tunneling smoothly into the eye-bleedingly colorful 'paradise'. There's a soft noise that makes the Warlord glance over his shoulder, eyebrow raised in half-judgement.

The younger Donquixote is squinting around, looking torn. "This seems like a place Doffy would enjoy. Not that 𝘐 don't like it, Ivankov, it's just a lot." He chuckles warmly, gaze drifting as he lets Luffy down to go eat with Jinbei.

The okama hums, "It's alright Heart-boy! Now, you and Croco-boy come with me, we'll find clothes in your size and we managed to recover yours." That last bit is aimed at him, and he lets himself smile for a second. He adores that outfit, would be a shame to replace it.

The second they're in the changing area, the desert king spots his outfit and grabs it, darting behind one of the curtains to change quickly. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴. He glares at the prison uniform, wondering if there's anything nearby he can use to burn it.

He 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 nicotine, so steps out of the curtained section. "Ivankov, do you or your cult have 𝘢𝘯𝘺 cigars—" He stops. Rosinante has ditched his prison uniform, down to his briefs with that cloak laid carefully on the box-turned-seat next to him, shedding odd dust and feathers all over the floor. But that's not what catches Crocodile's eye.

𝘐𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘰𝘷'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. He notes, silently staring at the patches of scars taking over most of the man's skin. A massive burn on the side, another on his shoulder, a trio of 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 stretching down his back, a bite mark for some reason, deep wrist scars matching Doflamingo's, several razor thin lines, various gunshot or burn or stab wounds—

It paints a grim picture, but eventually the Donquixote notices his staring and turns with a small smile, "Eh? Oh, is it the scars or...?" He asks with a slight head tilt that highlights 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 scar across his throat. The king takes a steadying breath.

"Yes. It's the scars. How the hell are you still alive?" He gestures vaguely, and the bastard just chuckles, "They're not 𝘢𝘭𝘭 as serious as they look. I just scar easily, and am admittedly pretty clumsy." He shrugs, still smiling softly even as the okama turns around and starts freaking out as they are prone to do.

Eventually the dramatics die down, Rosinante tossing his cloak over a surprisingly modest outfit, and Crocodile provided with a pack of cigars, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬. There was absolutely no way he's putting up with these people without smoke in his lungs.

Stepping back into the main area, Straw Hat is tearing through the food supply like a tornado. Jinbei is sat next to him, blinking a few times but seeming more amused than surprised. He personally can't bring himself to be shocked either, the boy's father certainly had a comparable appetite whenever he bothered to eat.

Rosinante tilts his head, soft smile still firmly in place like it would kill him to stop, "Huh. Guess that's another common 𝘋 thing. Never noticed, but it tracks." The mutter seemed more to himself, but it gets the logia's attention. A raised eyebrow is waved off as the feathered man slips into the crowd, hopefully to reign in the miniature terror.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦. Crocodile thinks, narrowed eyes tracking the cheerful man who, despite everything, clearly carries something traumatic. 𝘈 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴.

~

Buggy has no idea whether to call the chaos erupting around him 𝘧𝘶𝘯 or 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.

On one hand, riots and chaos are always fun, and in the middle of a massive prison break out of the most inescapable prison in the world? It's flashy! It's hilarious! And of course, he has several new followers appreciating his greatness and ready to join his crew!

On the other hand— "ACK!" He scrambles to the side, out from the path of one those scary Jailer Beast things. "First all that damn poison from the Warden guy, now this?! Can I 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 catch a break?!" He screeches, darting away. He spots Galdino scrambling along too, which is good, because he actually kinda likes the guy.

And then— and 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯—

There's not much use for Observation, 𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, Haki in the East Blue. Being the weakest Blue and all, Buggy was fine polishing up his other skills while definitely-not-hiding in the middle of nowhere.

So, over the years, he's kinda... gotten a bit rusty at keeping his Observation up. Thing hasn't 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨ed in a couple years. Definitely not on anything familiar, not even when he ran into good ol' Cigar in Loguetown.

But— here, in the middle of Hell on the Calm Belt, in a place he'd never expect to find anyone trustworthy or familiarly 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, his Observation locks onto the signature of a dead man.

𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴, 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵

He freezes. Turns slowly towards the erupting and fading dust cloud as one of walls crumbles apart from neat paper-like slices into sand. His mind feels like static, barely hearing Galdino's sputtering or fucking 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘏𝘢𝘵's random exclamations. His Haki trails out hesitantly, hope fluttering in his chest.

His own signature, 𝘉𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥𝘴, is clearly sensed– he hears the sharp inhale as a faint purple haze fades with the settling of the dust cloud. A tall blonde covered in black metal feathers turns slowly, barely visible red eyes wide and shining with tears.

Buggy takes a breath, processes, and– of course– immediately starts yelling as he tearfully flings himself at his favorite dumbass. "𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙄𝙉𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙀!!! YOU GOTH 𝘑𝘈𝘊𝘒𝘈𝘚𝘚, HOW FUCKING 𝘋𝘈𝘙𝘌 YOU LET US THINK YOU WERE DEAD?!" His screeches go muffled as he buries his face in the bastard's neck, rage further covered by that achingly familiar laughter.

"Blue! I'm so happy to see you, not in this place, of course! Sorry, wasn't my idea to get thrown in jail after jail for the past decade!" Rosinante chirps, happy as ever as he cradles the clown carefully, nuzzling into his hair like he used to when they were both dumb kids.

They both slump to the ground, Buggy carefully cradled in the way-too-tall idiot's lap. He grumbles a few more times, shifting enough to feel the feathers, "Holy shit these are 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 in dust, you're more of a walking inferno waiting to happen than usual!" This rewards him with another laugh, of course. 𝘗𝘺𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘤 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥, he thinks hypocritically.

There's a polite ahem and they both startle, heads snapping up to stare at their audience. Rosinante chuckles good-naturedly while Buggy bares his teeth, "What're you all staring at?!" He shoves out of the hug, ignoring the yelp as Rosi obviously falls onto his back because his sense of balance is 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥.

The pirate brushes himself off before helping his friend up, turning his attention back when that hat-stealing little shit speaks up. "Woah, Cora-san knows Buffoon?" The brat grins and there's a soft chuckle from Rosinante as he Silences the blue-haired thief's incoming rant, like an asshole. "Yeah! He grew up with Red, and I already told you I knew him."

Straw Hat nods and turns back around, getting distracted by something else while Buggy reaches over and tugs on the blonde's sleeve repeatedly until he's unsilenced, "Bastard. You and that damn Fruit I swear." He complains, old instincts leading him to latch onto black feathers and scramble up to his friend's shoulder.

Rosinante laughs, tilting his head to fondly bump it against his, "You're not much better, heard you've gotten pretty skilled with yours! Garp showed me your latest bounty poster, it's good considering you've been holding back!" The clown preens under the praise, grinning and chuckling along. Something in his chest feels distinctly 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, for some reason.

Of course, that's the moment fucking 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯 decides to show back up and do his favorite activity; ruin all the fun of everything. The reunited duo both groan, the ex-marine grumbling, "We were able to avoid him and that Blackbeard guy earlier thanks to traveling in the walls, but guess he caught up." ; "I don't even feel like being scared of him right now, I'm just annoyed." The blue-haired fool complains in solidarity, nuzzling his cheek against the smooth feathers.

As the fight rages on, Straw Hat and Galdino teaming up and creating some really weird attack combos while the rest of the wall-squad run off for some reason or another, the duo stay to the side and an idea 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘴 in Buggy's head.

He grins, leaning back a bit to catch his friend's attention, "Hey Rosi? How much you wanna bet that all that poison is 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦?"

The responding feral grin he gets reminds him why they were friends in the first place.

.....

It's honestly hilarious watching his new crew members, Galdino, and Straw Hat all panic over Magellan's big fancy poison demon.

Yeah, he'd be scared too, especially since the apparent Revolutionary duo who can heal the poison left with those two Warlords, but he's not now! With this plan, and his partner in crime, it's truly embarrassing how easy it is to solve a big problem.

After all, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Here's how it works out; Rosinante is light as hell despite how tall he is, Impel Down food being shit and all. Light enough that Buggy can pick him up and float them both pretty high while the blonde holds his feet.

When the Warden foolishly activates his big scary poison move, they're already above him. A pair of matching grins are quickly flashed as the flint dust off the feathers coats over the venom. A thin, seemingly harmless black film that Magellan 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, but obliviously ignores.

A feather is snapped and dropped. Steel rachis scrapes against flint vane, sparks trailing down and 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 the dust in a nostalgic way, flames quickly burning through to eat away at the poison.

The best part? Magellan is no logia, so the fire eagerly bites into him too, naturally uncaring as he screams.

The duo float clumsily to the ground, collapsing into an awkward tangle as they laugh over the Warden's agonized screaming. Buggy whoops, sitting up with a bright grin and turning to the crowd. He stands up, dusts himself off, and bows flawlessly. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 is what happens when I have my right hand man with me!"

Rosinante chuckles behind him, getting up with a stumble but grinning just as brightly, "It's been forever since I've been able to do that! Especially directly to a 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯! The last time was all those hospitals." The pyromaniac chirps, turning to watch the flames as they begin to creep across the rest of the dust scattered across walls and floors of the infamous prison.

Mugiwara brat blinks a few times before smiling widely, "I wanted to be the one to beat that guy, but that was so cool I'm okay with it!" The rest of the crowd, especially Buggy's new worshippers, also sing their praises. The duo flush under the affection, Rosi leaning lightly on the clown.

Any further celebration is interrupted the chirping of a Transponder Snail, and a quick debate about escape methods. Apparently those Revolutionaries and Warlords got a ship, but can't turn it all the way around and get back to Impel without wasting a stupid amount of time.

And then. The fishman guy. Says 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. To a bunch of Devil Fruit users.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘏𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴?!?!??? The flashier pirate blinks repeatedly, jaw literally on the floor before he picks it up and whips around, "Rosi. Crow. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 tell me I heard that wrong." ; "Unfortunately, I think you know you didn't."

"...I'm going to kill Red for this."

~

Rosinante hums a tune softly, watching calm water be disrupted by the ship's path. The prisoners around him are probably causing a ruckus, but he put a bubble around himself so he could have some peace.

It's an odd thing, being on a Marine ship headed for Marineford, but to 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 instead of simply heading home. He's not entirely sure he'll be 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 to call it home after this, after his Dad has decided to go through with executing a boy so similar to him.

The blonde huffs, tilting his head to stare at the slowly fading silhouette of the great prison. There was a lot of chaos during the escape, with someone (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 '𝘚𝘸𝘢𝘯' 𝘏𝘢𝘬𝘪 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺) even being forced to be left behind to get the gates open. He hopes they're able to find some safety, despite everything.

He sighs, staring up at the sun shining bright in the clear sky. A sign of hope, that freedom is attainable. He knows this, but it still sends an instinctive shiver down his spine. Something trained into your nightmares since childhood isn't very easily ignored.

He tracks the distance of the sun from the horizon and frowns. 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦? A sigh is dragged out him and he forces a smile back on, snapping his fingers to dispel the Silence and let the excited chaos surround him again, easily overpowering his dark thoughts.

He can't help but laugh as he overhears the yelling, and quickly makes his way to the helm. "Of course we're going to war, Blue!" He chirps, scooping up his friend under the arms and hugging him to his chest casually, "I've decided I like 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘴 D Ace, so we're gonna go save him." He stresses the family name carefully, making eye contact with the clown.

Red reflects heterochromic gold & green, and he smiles at the flash of recognition he catches. The blue-haired pirate sputters a few times before seperating out of his hold and reassembling to grin at his lackeys, "R-right! Of course! I'm not scared to fight in a war, and none of you should be either! Not with me and Rosi here!"

And then a den-den rings, and Rosinante discovers that 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 apparently not public knowledge. Red & Blue's closeness to each other and Roger, that is. He tilts his head at the all the chaos, "You didn't know? It's not like their hair colors are common, and we were all causing plenty of chaos back then."

He shrugs off the next eruption of yelling, wandering over and hanging up the snail quickly, "They can track calls, Luffy. Don't pick those up without being sure it's someone you know." More yelling covers whatever the kid might've responded with, this mismatched crew truly doesn't know when to shut up.

The ex-marine tries to ignore what his friend's plotting with his new lackeys, but the bit about killing Whitebeard gets to him, okay? He marches over and slaps the idiot on the back of the head, accidentally seperating it from his body. "Don't talk like that about Oyaji, or did you forget all Marco ever did for us?" He scolds quietly, deciding not to ruin whatever the prisoners choose to think.

Blue pouts at him as he reattaches his head, "I wasn't actually gonna try anything, you know that. Would never, not Oyaji. He helped us all get home that one time, you remember that." He whispers back, offering a softer smile which Rosinante returns.

He chuckles fondly as his friend goes back to hyping everyone up, and wanders over to Luffy again, "Alright. You need some rest, gotta be in top shape for the war." He tunes out the kid's protests as he scoops him up, though does take note of Crocodile's Haki shifting oddly as he carries the small boy away.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually he manages to gather enough pillows and blankets to make a decent nest on the deck. Luffy hums and squints up at him judgementally, causing his feathers to ruffle a bit. "Look, I've spent my entire time as a D clan member in prison! Sue me for not being a good nester." He grumbles, letting the kid down to rearrange the nest a bit.

He stops adjusting eventually and flops over, scooting aside enough to leave room for Rosinante. "Used to sharing a nest, hm? With Ace I'm guessing?" He asks, settling to sit comfortably, no way he'll be sleeping anytime soon with this much stress.

Luffy grins, "Yup! And our other brother, before– I don't wanna talk about it!" The blonde just nods in solidarity, sitting back with a chuckle when Ivankov asks if Dragon will show, only for Luffy to casually admit that Ace is the son of Gold Roger.

𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘱'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. The blonde shares a grin with Buggy, who looks mildly disturbed. Expected, since he didn't 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. It's messing with Rosi too. Roger was admittedly a bit of a father figure in his life, called himself that at least.

The ex-marine hums, snapping to make a firm Silence bubble around the nest. Luffy blinks and tilts his head, "Your Fruit is silly!" ; "...I'll take that as a compliment." Blue manages to sneak away from the chaos as everyone on the ship yells at each other over all the groundbreaking news shared recently, slipping into the nest despite the kid's mild glare.

Buggy returns the look with a snarl, and Rosi just sighs, "Can you two not fight in the nest? Just relax, we're about to head into a war, you need to rest." He ends his point by flopping onto his back, forming a nice border between the two idiots.

They share a look over him before nodding and settling down themselves. Rosinante smirks in triumph, earning him a punch to the side from Blue. He laughs, shoving the clown lightly as Luffy giggles.

They're going to war. A young man may die for the sins of blood he never met. A child is going into the middle of a kill zone to save his brother. Cigar & Flower might be there. Sengoku will be there. 𝘋𝘰𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘰 will be there.

But Rosinante has his friend back. His 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 back, at least a scrap of it. And maybe, just maybe, that can make him think it'll all work out.

𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.