Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If you told Ace a couple months ago, that he would be dropped in a foster home with a violent and crazy ex-marine as his custodian after sending another kid to the hospital in his last foster home (like that asshole didn't deserve it) with another kid. Then became "brothers" with said kid, make a contract with a magical being that grants wishes in exchange of become a magical girl (boy?) after a couple of terrible decision that leave you with no other options. And ended up fighting witches in a daily basis.

He probabily would have send you to the hospital like he did with that kid in his old foster home. Ace has always been considered violent and brash in every foster home he went to. To many outbusrt, to much anger they said. Like they cared about him at all. Being a magical boy lets him use that anger against something, and he got a cool as fuck gun and can shoot fire with his fist now. A really cool up-grade in his opinion.

Yeah, Sabo can now crush walls with his bare hands but I can use FIRE, that is a hundred porcent cooler that whatever victorian aestethic he has going on in his magical outfit.

"Are we there yet?" Ace asked for the what it seems a hundrend and one times already. "Not yet, Ace." the exasperetion on Sabo's voice is undeniable. "If you remember correctly, Ace, the Tenryūbitos told us that this particular witch is a very tricky one, and powerful." Sabo started rambling. "They said he is fairly new, only two years old. But by the Tenryūbitos descriptions it appears this 'Nika' has an almost imposible to navigate labyrinth, almost none of the other magical girls or boys they sent could even find the entrance to it's place and the few that could only went in circles before being toss outside again. Making it difficult to eliminated. It most be strong to managed to wrap reality like that, so it must be stopped before more damage is made. Remeber the plan Ace we need-" "Blablabla YES Sabo, I know the plan." Ace lets out a long sigh after interruping Sabo's explanation.

"We find the labyrinths entrance, we kick some witches ass, and we go back home for dinner. Easy." Ace dismissed Sabo's worries. Sabo just let a long and strong sigh. Sabo tended to overcomplicate things sometimes, when the solution could be quite simple. That's why they make a great team. Ace's laid back and straight to the point actitude makes a great balence with Sabo's calculated and strategic approach.

Ace's straightforward and simple solutions helps unwind Sabo's overcomplicated plans. And Sabo's levelheadedness makes Ace think before making a rash decision. And the fact that the both of them get along splendid it just a bonus point. Life could not be better,  their guardian is a distant ex-Marine, named something like Gary or Gerard or something, that is barely home, which is great because they can do whatever they want whenever they want without to constant nagging he got in another foster homes. And he now he has a brother to share all things good in life with. Maybe he got a little lost in the head while hearing Sabo's soft rambling and just enyojing the sun, when they suddlenly end up in the witch's labyrinth. Uh.

"That was easy." Ace comments out loud. "Yes" Sabo responds. "Way to easy compared to everyone else reports." the silence and darkness of this entrance only makes the pause longer. "Maybe everywhere else overshadow by our great teamwork capabilities." Ace says with a smug and over confident voice. "This is going to be easy." During the next step they take in the labyrinth changes, the darkness and silence is gone and the place becomes full of light (maybe too much light) with colors they have never seen with combinations with ryme or sense, just a smudge of changing colors and figures. The ground becomes unstable, gone is the sturdiness expect for the ground and a bounciness remplaces it.

The shapes and textures and everything that is in this place is like a completely disobedience of every law of physic or sense, is like no other labyrinth they have seen. The warning in the reports started making sense.

"I mean, sure the witch is just a weakling. It must be really patetich not scary at all." Ace said with certain cockiness. A oppresive presence that wasn't there before appears, the feeling of it approching faster that they could expect. Quickly Ace grabs Sabo and they both hide behind one of the weird structures that this strange place is full off.

"Ace! what are you-" before he could finish. A long hand appears out of nowhere, from a door and hallway that definitely wasn't there before. Sabo's prostet dies in his throat.

The hand is bone-y like, with long and thin mismatched fingers, the "skin" (if you could even called it that) shines with the light in an in-humane way, reflecting the light with an strange shines and smoothness. The skin doesn't fit the bones and the bones don't seem to fit the skin, they keep stretching and compressing in a way that it seems like too tight and too loose at the same time.

The whitness of the hand is early unnatural, and the whole space smells like predator and danger. They stood unmoving watching its next move. The hand keeps stretching and stretching with no near end or connection with a body, the pure with of it's skin marks a contrast with the colorful background the labyrinth has. The hand keeps stretching until it stops and another hands appears from the door. Then a leg and then another. The torso, and last the head.

It appears. The witch, taller and bigger that every other witch they have ever encountered, with long and thin mismatched limbs that seems like elongated and shorten on a blink of an eye. The head so tall they just see the clouds resting on it's head. The sound of drums overpowering their senses.

He could feel it, Sabo's heart beat, he is scared. And Sabo could feel his too, he is also scared. Shit, this is way out of their league. What where the Tenryūbitos thinking about?! Sending him and Sabo to deal with this- this thing! They are newbies in this magical person stuff! Assholes! 

They need to get out of here quickly.

He looks at Sabo's eyes, and he could see they where both thinking the same. Fuck the Tenryūbitos mission, they could take another. They both look ahead of where they stood, searching for a possible exit. A percing pair of red eyes appear during a blink of a eye in front of them.

It's face looking a them, crouching down at their level too big and too small in where it stood. It's pure white face with a head full of clouds vanishing and appearing, in perpetual moving, no other factions beside the red eyes. It extends it's hand, gracing it's finger in a mockery of tenderness at Ace's face. A wide smile appears on its face, full of too many teeth and streching its face impossible wide. It appears to be the current team.

Both, Ace and Sabo, hold their breaths. The touch dispaears, and within a breath and another. The witch vanishes and something else appears in it's place.

A light to bright appears, blinding both of them in the spot. They could feel the overpowering presence is gone, and the harsh and migrane induce colors and shapes of the labyrinth changes. The place, in lack of a better word, softness. Resembeling a child's play room and less like a nightmare rainbow color material it was a moment before.

They stood distracted for the new presence in the place of the witch. Both Ace and Sabo, remembering where they stood. Quickly turn their gaze at the new presence. Like a mockery of it was before, at fornt it stands a creature that reesembles very little of the witch before. It now seems like a toy, a clown-themed toy to be precise. With a wide smile and red colored cheecks, the thing they notice is the strawhat it stood in its head, too real and out-of-theme to be part of the witch. They keep staring and it stares back. 

They stay staring for a while.

.

.

.

"What-" Ace begings. "the-"Sabo continues. "FUCK?!" they both finish. "There is no way THAT and THIS are the same thing!" Ace exclaimed. "Whatever that ever-fucking thing was, it was fucking terrifying!! Like what the actual fuck?!?" 

"It makes no sense, we don't a register of this witch forms so it's possible it could be an allucination??" Sabo stated not seemed fully convinced. They continued bickering, ignoring the straw hat wearing clown, giving the back to it, dispite the number one rule is never give a back to a witch. It thinks they are silly.

"For fuck sake's Sabo! We need to get out of here-" Ace abruptly shuts up, after feeling something collided with his back. Turning his head slowly to his back, feeling sweat start running on his skin. Looking at his back, in what is most definitely a really uncomfortable angle, he sees it. The fucking clown-witch-whatever thing leeched in his back. The reaction is almost commical in the time it takes to Ace and Sabo to react.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAH! IS GRABBING ME!!!" the reactions is what you expect. "GET IT OUT, SABO! GET IT OUT!!" Ace starts yelling while trying to grab from his back while going on circles. "Shit, fuck, let me thing of something quick!" Sabo panicked response just exacerbate Ace's panic. "I don't care what you do! Just take it out of me!" Ace yells.

Sabo in his frensy state, does the first thing that pop-ups to his mind. Grabs his pipe that he uses has a weapon and proceeds to hit with all the force he got at Ace's back. It moves before the pipe gets it. Letting the full blown impact hit Ace's back sending him flying out of where he stood.

"SABO!" Ace complains. "Sorry! I panicked and did what first come to mind!" Sabo excused himself. "Your first thought is hit me with your magic pipe?!" The bickering starts and the discussion continues. It finds it hillarious and it cannot contains itself anylonger so it starts laughing. And keeps laughing.

"SHUT UP!!" Both Ace and Sabo shout simultaneously. For their surprise, it actually stops laughing. They stood there dumb-founded.

"Did- did you understand us?" Sabo asks. It nods its head vigorously. "Ah, weird." Ace complements.

"Well!" Sabo finally says with a clap of his hands, getting both Ace and the things attetion. "It was a pleasure (this is a lie) be here and all, but my brother must go. Sorry for bother you and your... friend, whatever it was. Bye" Sabo gives a little tilt with his top-hat, grabs Ace's hand, and proceeds to getting the fuck out of the labyrinth. Between a breath and another they are out.

They keep walking for a couple of minutes. In the woods they were before they entered the labyrinth. When Sabo feels they are far enough, he stops and starts breathing again. "Lets... just said we didn't found the labyrinth and get back home." Finally, Sabo mutters. "Great idea, Sabo." Ace agrees and they both keep walking.

It doesn't take long before they hear a sound from the bushes.

They look back, and they look back at the front. And yeah, there it is. THE FUCKING CLOWN WITH THE STRAW-HAT.

"God-dammit!" Ace yelps. Sabo stares dumb founded "You can get out of the labyrinth? I never heard of a witch that can leave it's labyrinth." Sabo mutters with exciment. "And! We won't we hearing about it!" Ace interrumps Sabos mumbling, pushing him to keep walking foward past the witch.

A couple of minutes past, the minutes extended to half and hour, and eventually to an hour or two. And he can still hear that witch following them. He is tired of going on circles to try to lose it.

"STOP FOLLOWING US!!" Ace finally snaps and yells. Not knowing this was the begining of his and Sabo's problems.

Chapter Text

First: Sabo & Ace.

 When they got with Garp at the same time (if it wasn't obvious their caretaker is Garp), they didn't get along in the begining. But after some punches, and an attempted murder later, they get on like a house on fire (sometimes literaly currently). Sometimes after Sabo and Ace's brotherhood begins, Sabo's parents try to get Sabo back by not so legal methods. Ending with Ace getting involve in the situation. They almost die too many times in the process of breaking free of their captors. Where was Garp? Who knows.

They finally got free of the not-legal people that Sabo's biological dad hired to bring him back, when they met the Tenryūbitos (this au version of kyubey). Sabo's wish was to be free, from his biological parents grasp and for whatever comes in his way. Ace's wish was to protect, to protect Sabo and all he cares about for whatever the feautre awaits.

Ace here still has a lot of issues, anger issues, daddy issues, mommy issues, lot of issues. Ace mom's dies giving birth so he got in the system at a early age. And people don't want him for who his father was. He grow up isolated from his peers and learned to hurt before the others can.

Sabo got taken away from his biological parents because they were abusive. Physical and neglectful, they didn't take it very well and being told "no".

Ace desing is Cowboy inspired, he has fire powers and has gun he sometimes uses with his fire poweres (when he doesn't just punch his problems away). Sabo inspired by Victoria (?) fashion, more clasical approch when magical boys is bring on the table, he still has his top hat and glasses, and he got a pipe as a weapon (don't understimated the pipe).

They are both like 12-13 years old ,and they met at 10 years old. 

Second: Luffy (Aka. Nika, Joyboy)

Yes, Luffy is the witch. The first appearence is his "Gear-5 form" try to imanige Gear-5 in the most nightmare inducing, body-horror way possible. Yep, lovecraftian horror baby. His other form resembles more his magical boy transformation. And him has a witch is refered as Nika. In the writing, I write that he is like two-years old as a witch, but he may be older. Time doesn't work the same for Luffy anymore.

He got lonely, that is what make his soul gem turn black. Luffy grow up just with Garp, and Garp was kinda neglectful. He loves his grandson very much, but he choose his duties as a marine before his grandson, and Luffy by result, felt lonely. His wish was to be wanted, and he was wanted, but not as Luffy, but as "Joyboy" his magical boy persona. Maybe he still got to meet his crew, but they weren't enough since the loneliness always stayed in his life. When he transformed in a witch his curse was to be forgotten as Joyboy and only remains of their memories as Luffy (and Luffy wasn't very known)

He still got his Strawhat from Shanks, but when Shanks left (he was his neighboor and moved away) he felt alone again. Garp reteried after his grandson disparence, decided to be a foster parent and search for Luffy, that is why he isn't in home often, but he doesn't realize he is commiting the same mistake twice (don't worry the boys will meet Whitebeard and Dragon and have semi present parental figures, I cannot say the same for Luffy).

His desing is Jester inspired. He is the clown making everyone smile and happy, shinning like the sun. After all the sun is wanted. He originally got a different hat to match the Jester/clown theme, but he ditched and uses his strawhat instead. He keep his strawhat when he became a witch, maybe that is why he remains with a concious. He would be 9-10 years old in the little snippet I write, he disspared at 7 years old.

Third: Law! (beacuse I couldn't leave him out)

He is tragic, he is emo, he is Law. His wish is probably something like "wanted to be loved" or somethig like that (maybe it explains all the hearts) and he remembers Joyboy, he didn't met Luffy, but he somehow remembers Joyboy even if the rest forgot him (he is sneaky like that), how he do it? He can keep his secrets for now. He is a very secretive magical boy. Older, like 15 years old?

Weapon: Who gave him a sword to the edgy teen?

General plot:

Ace and Sabo figure out witches were magical boy/girls once. They get fond of Luffy and want to meet him from who he (is?) was, and what to bring him back to normal before Luffy reaches the breaking point, even thought he is a witch now, he goes out of his way to never hurt a magical boy/girl. They probably sus Law out and force him to reveal his secrets. Meet Luffy's crew in the way of remembering who he was. Obviously, the kyubey equivalents aren't happy about this. Meanwhile Garp needs to get his shit together to start actually taking care of the boys. (He does get his shit together eventually, but he stays has a grandpa figure, not a dad)