Hiiii! I found you by stumbling on the prompts you posted on AO3 and I love every single one of them, so I checked and there's more here on your blog and 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 Can anybody ask for more? Because I'd really like a continuation of the mischievous spirit summoning au. It's a beauty ☆☆☆☆☆
Finding the village was a brief sense of relief for Ace right up until he realizes no one knew what he was saying or able to help him get in contact with support.
He had taken the boy home only to discover that the woman he suspects is his mother bedridden with sickness. He isn’t sure which kind exactly but he makes sure to help in any way he can. That started by making sure the boy boiled the water he grew from the well in the village square. He also helped wash her down in order to help with the fever, and keep watch over her and the boy.
It didn’t take long to realize that the majority of the village suffered from an obvious famine, as almost everywhere he looked there were overly thin people. He couldn’t understand why seeing as the forest had plenty of signs of wildlife for them to feast on but maybe these people were like him.
Maybe they too were all kidnapped from different parts of the world for the freaks in the castle. Maybe they had been the cult’s other victims left to die on the island with no way home. He had noticed the fear of crossing the fence around the forest, especially when he brought the boy home after being attacked by the strange lion looking men and the people of the village actually screamed upon seeing them.
The little boy pointed the way after Ace had beaten the cultist lion asses and picked him up to run into the woods. He had noticed that the freaks had not been above hitting the kid around when they were ambushed. If he left him there then the young child would have died or worse.
As a man who worked in mercenary work, he knew what “or worse” looked like and couldn’t bear the thought of a child so young being hurt that way. Even his family, a long line of mercenaries who some may say we're worse than Ace, refused to hurt children.
He took it upon himself to start fires and keep the people warm as well as bring food for the mother and child. Ace slipped back into the forest later that night with a wary eye and his throwing knives. It was harder to hunt this way but he was able to catch a boar after a while and took it back to the village.
The hungry eyes that followed him as he marched over to the hut almost made Ace feel guilty but it was the boy that helped him and the woman who needed the meal. He couldn’t share until he was sure they eat first.
Once he got back the boy started yelling in that language he couldn’t understand staring up at him in awe that had Ace smirking slightly. He didn’t do a very good job hiding his admiration for Ace even though he has hardly done anything at all for him, right now it was letting him stay there was more then Ace could repay.
He set about fixing that, skinning the boar and cooking it on the open fire with the five-year-old rocking back and forth next too him. They watched the meat slowly turn a nice golden hue with the boy pressing himself to Ace’s side seeking comfort.
Ace gladly wrapped an arm around him until the food was ready and he served him some. The boy inhaled it with the speed of someone starved while the mercenary set some aside for the woman who was sleeping.
“Luffy!” The boy shouts patting his tiny chest then looking up at Ace with a determined look. “Luffy!”
Oh? Ace was going on a limb here and guess that was the child’s name. He patted his own chest with a smile. “Ace”
Luffy beamed up at him then patted the woman with a slightly wobbly voice. His eyes teared up as he cleaned the sweat off her forehead and then patted her chest twice. “Makino”
Ace’s heart clutch. Poor thing must know Makino won’t make it. Not if she didn’t get help from an actual doctor. He reached forward pulling the boy into his arms, trying to tell him everything would be fine without words. Luffy stiffens before hugging him back just as tightly crying into his chest.
That’s when the screaming starts.
Startled Ace pushed Luffy aware, yelling to stay put even though he knew the boy couldn’t understand him as he ran outside only to watch people run away in terror as the cultist broke down the fence yelling, the two blonds from before leading the charge.
Ace’s eyes narrowed as their gazes locked on him. Looks like the freaks are back for round two. So be it. “Bring it on assholes.”
