Chapter 16: Spirits on the Tongue
Sabo and Ace were both accustomed to rising early, but sometimes now they both held on to their time in bed, using it to doze on top of one another in their mind space and talk without interruption.
They lay entwined under the warmth of the covers, as if Sabo had his head on Ace’s chest, and Ace were lazily stroking his hair.
“Even after two years, I’m still surprised, you know, how easy it is for you to get the Revolutionary Army to do whatever the hell you want.” Ace’s tone was teasing, but at the same time, it was true. Sabo’s status was higher than any ship captain; they’d been put on course for the fruit they were hunting for Koala with barely a word, and not even a batting of an eyelash.
Sabo shook his head gently, nuzzling Ace’s fingers. “If something ever happened to Dragon, it’d all fall on me. I don’t even know how it happened, really. There are army members who were just as strong, and who’ve been with the cause longer.”
“You said all of the old guard were killed or captured, didn’t you? Iva, Ginny, Kuma.”
“Maybe so,” Sabo murmured, holding him tighter. Ace could feel the anxiety that pulsed with his thoughts. “People think it’s because I’m close to Dragon, of course.”
Sabo’s feelings about Dragon were more complicated than Ace’s increasing bitterness toward Whitebeard. Dragon had saved Sabo’s life. He had been a mentor. But never a father. Never someone closer than arm’s reach. Sabo had been raised, if you could call it being raised, by the Revolutionary Army as a whole; raised as a soldier, not as a child.
He had been raised in the cause, its members were his brothers and sisters, and that along with Koala, was what kept him from simply fleeing with Ace over the last two years.
He couldn’t simply leave them all leaderless and adrift, even if Dragon’s icy distance made it seem easy sometimes.
“He didn’t know, right?” Ace asked. “About you and Luffy?”
The question was like an icy knife in Sabo’s guts. Luffy was Dragon’s son by blood, and Dragon had kept a covert eye on him as he was growing up.
Had Dragon really never known that Sabo had been Luffy’s friend? Never seen them together? Never heard Luffy and Ace say Sabo’s name with sad, reverent tones in the aftermath?
Asking the question made Ace angry, and it made Sabo feel sick.
“I don’t want to ask him.”
Depending on the answer, Sabo might be angry enough to leave.
“If you leave, won’t Dragon just put Iva in your place? Everyone loves Iva.”
“Sure, but Iva’s not a leader.” Sabo shook his head. In their mental space, positions reversed, and Ace looked up at Sabo from his lap. Sabo cupped his jaw gently. He knew Ace knew exactly how troubled he was.
“So what can we do?”
“I wish I knew. For now, we just keep forging ahead, hoping at some point the path becomes clear.”
Ace chuckled softly and kissed Sabo’s fingers. “Well, I’m really good at just charging ahead, so if you say that’s the play, that’s the play.”
“For now,” Sabo agreed. He traced his fingers along the memory of Ace’s lips, wishing he could hold the real thing. “I’m just waiting for an opening.”
The thugs hadn’t been a big deal, hiding out on a little island just slightly closer to Whole Cake than Dressrosa. They were in disarray with their bosses taken out, and their supply chain in chaos. When Koala and the others had overtaken them in their hideout they’d been in the middle of discussing whether or not it was too dangerous to sell the fruits they had to Big Mom themselves.
They hadn’t stood a chance against the Revolutionary Army’s tactics. With the windows smashed in and walls of living flame blocking them inside, Koala and Isuka were able to rout them effectively and efficiently.
She moved among the Deuce’s bullets, Isuka’s lightning, and Ace and Sabo’s flames, delivering brutal strikes with her palm to stomachs, throats, and skulls. She’d heard bones crack, feeling the impact roll through her as she moved from enemy to enemy until they’d all dropped to the floor below.
A piece of cake. They were so wrapped up in the danger of Big Mom that they hadn’t even known the danger that was knocking on their front door.
Now Ace and Sabo were tying one of the higher rankers up for interrogation, and the rest of them were picking out the loot. Like in Dressrosa there were weapons, and a small treasure cache.
And then there was the fruit. It was a little bit like a melon shape, with a fat body leading to a long, thin neck and curling stem– a little like the shape of a bottle.
Koala held it up to the light with a broad smile on her face, turning it this way and that in her hands. “Isn’t it an interesting looking thing?” she said over her shoulder, as Isuka chuckled.
“I’d say it’s gotta be the one you’re looking for, Koala. Bottle shaped for a liquor fruit.”
Sabo looked over from where he was busy. “That should be it, but if you’re worried, let’s match it to the picture in the guide when we’re back on the ship.”
“No,” Koala shook her head with a brightness to her smile as she turned it around in her hands. It was beautiful. As absolutely beautiful as it was likely vile tasting. A curse in consumptive form, still managing to be something so gorgeous it distracted her eye.
“I remember the guide’s picture. You know how good my recall is, Sabo. This is it!”
He dusted his gloved hands off and grinned– Ace’s grin was hidden at the corners of it as well. “Well then, it’s all yours, isn’t it? Whenever you’re ready.”
The tied up Donquixote thug groaned and they gave him a little kick.
Koala flushed. It was handsome, the way they mingled sometimes. She tossed her hair back and raised the fruit. “Here’s to a whole new Koala, eh?”
“Cheers.” Deuce grinned as he spun a knife he’d swiped from one of the weapon stores between his fingers.
“Careful, it tastes like ass,” Isuka warned.
“In a minute, all of us will know how disgusting they are,” Ace chuckled. “How’s that for bonding?”
They straightened up and adjusted their hat, stepping closer as if this were some solemn ceremony.
“And I’m the only one who didn’t get shit out of it except a stomach ache,” Deuce griped playfully.
Koala nudged him with a wink. “It just means you could get to try it twice, Deuce! But for now…bottoms up!” She closed her eyes, and took a rather conservative bite—no sense eating more than she strictly had to if it was that bad.
The tiny, innocent little bite was at once moist and mealy in texture. The juice that ran down her throat was thin, and bitter, and the pulp of the fruit ground against her teeth.
She shuddered, swallowing it as fast as she could before she leaned against the boxes with a sickened groan. “Wow, it was worse than I thought.”
Sabo and Ace patted her on the back. “At least you only have to have the one bite, huh? -Not like you’re starving!”
The taste of the foul fruit lingered in her mouth.
“Yeah, eating the whole thing was fucking miserable, but it beat dying.” Deuce snickered.
Koala wanted to laugh but she really did feel sick from the taste. Or maybe it was the start of a change in her constitution.Either way, she smiled weakly and nodded, before resting her head against the boxes.
“Ugh. I’m lucky then.”
Devil Fruits were the sea’s curse; a source of shame to any fish man, because of the way it robbed you of your ability to swim. Great power with a steep price; one she wouldn’t have ever paid if it weren’t clear she was falling behind her aquatic peers, and her own comrades in the army— and in her life.
She’d never get to swim again, as she once loved to do with the Sun Pirates; even a shower would take her out at the knees.
But at the same time, she was going to gain a power nobody else in the world had.
Something unique to her, Koala, the woman formed from living liquor…something she could use to protect the people she loved and fight alongside them as they faced greater threats in the Army—and perhaps as pirates in the distant future too.
“Hey, uh, Ko? You’re dripping.”
Ace’s words brought her out of the little reverie and she saw that he was correct.
Koala hadn’t noticed it at first but now it was all she could feel. Her body felt strange, a tingling burn down her extremities that was already fading into a strangely comfortable fluidity. Looking down, she saw the droplets of pale amber fluid falling from her arm to splash upon the growing puddle below her.
It drooped in a way that an arm absolutely should not do, before skin and bone turned to more of the same liquid that now splashed at her feet and shifted like something alive. At the same time she felt that she could feel the puddle below her, especially as a leg gave out dissolved into the same.
“Ghh…”
Her head felt light, almost dizzy as she held what used to be her arm up to her face in surprise, alcohol pouring from the stump where it seamlessly transitioned into what still looked like her.
She took a deep breath, kneeling in the pooling liquid.
“This is…very different…” Her breath felt shaky. “It’s a little hard to get a handle on.”
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Ace promised in a low, tender tone. “You don’t have to be afraid of it. It’s just something your body can do now.”
Isuka nodded slowly. “When I first ate mine, I kept starting fires, dissolving into lightning and passing through the fucking metal contacts in the walls of the ship.”
Deuce whistled. “I can only imagine it ain’t easy to wrap your head around…”
Koala laughed, and laughing made her cough. Liquid poured from her mouth before she fully fell into the puddle.
Her senses adjusted, and she was acutely aware of everywhere her transformed body was touching. A large puddle that still refused to pool out all the way across the floor. She managed to pull it in enough to form a hand of the intoxicating fluid. She didn’t feel drunk, but the sharp, alcoholic sensation of the fluid was pervasive through her body.
The hand became an arm to start hauling herself up and back into shape.
Ace grinned and knelt down, offering their hand to her. “That is so cool. Bet it feels weird as hell. It was weird as hell the first time I turned into fire.”
Koala clasped his hand. She was startled by the fact that she could still see and sense the world around her despite the liquid form she was in. Slowly she rose up into an approximation of herself and fell against him with a wet thwack.
“Ghh..” She coughed again before her words formed along with her body. She was breathless with the exertion. “Did you almost burn Deuce?”
“You bet your ass he did.” Koala could see how Deuce was staring at her— enraptured by the display, it seemed.
It had to be a strange show from the other side.
“Might have singed him a little bit.” Ace grinned widely at her. “Hey I won’t complain if you accidentally get me a little drunk.”
“A little bit he says,” Deuce stuck his tongue out. “I lost my shirt to you!”
Isuka was watching with amusement, leaning on her hand.
“When you get good at it, your clothes kind of become an extension of you. But for the moment watch out for reforming naked.”
Koala flustered, feeling—well. She didn’t flush, but she did bubble a little bit internally as she wrapped arms that were not yet flesh, and still quite fluid, around Ace’s shoulders.
“Feel free to try it and see if you DO get drunk, Ace. And Isuka, I’m in the right company for that sort of foible. It’s fine.”
Sabo– it was definitely Sabo– coughed gently. “Actually dear, we’re not exactly in the right company at the moment if you recall that we’re surrounded by unconscious and some maybe dead thugs. Perhaps when we get back?”
“Oh..yeah…them,” Koala grumbled as she leaned too far back and splashed down into the puddle again with a yelp.
“Do we gotta get a bucket?” Isuka asked dryly.
“Ah, if we’re being serious a sponge might be more useful,” Sabo pointed out. “Let’s call in the army for clean up and get Koala back to the ship however we can.”
In the end they did need a sponge; at least until about halfway to the ship when Koala figured a trick to getting herself back on her own two feet, nearly scaring Deuce to death when she caused the sponge to wriggle in his hand. She twisted herself out of it and into the shape of her reformed body.
She wasn’t perfect—but it wasn’t far to the ship, and during her stumbling, occasionally dissolving path there was vital enough practice for getting her used to the strangeness of her body.
They helped her from there back to the ship and to the larger of their two cabins.
“It’s gonna smell like we had a party in here,” Ace teased.
Koala sniffed. At the moment all she could smell was the sharp, almost warm scent of alcohol, like some sort of rum.
“…a very, very rowdy , very very drunk party.” she agreed..
“Is there any other kind?” Isuka laughed out loud.
“Definitely not.” Ace laughed and sat down on the bed. “How are you feeling, Ko? Now that you’ve had a couple of minutes with it.”
Koala flexed her fingers, feeling them shift from fluid to flesh as she did. It felt weird— very very weird.
But at the same time there was an excitement to it. She had a wider range of movement; a strike or slash wouldn’t kill her unless it was imbued with enough haki, or was a contrasting element—and there was that sharp, exciting burn.
She tilted her head to the side. “It feels weird; like my whole body’s more mobile and malleable. But I kinda like it. It feels—well. Good. Definitely weird though. Like, it’s like that warm feeling you get when you’ve had a good drink but all over my body.”
“That kind of sounds amazing,” Ace said, leaning his arms on his knees. “Oh, hey, want me to try to drink you now?”
He asked if he wanted her to, but it certainly sounded like he was eager to try it.
Koala felt herself flush with that bubbly sensation again.
“You know, I’m curious about that myself. I don’t even know what kind of alcohol I am, at least at the moment…”
“Rum, from the smell of it,” Deuce interjected.
Ace nodded, pulling off Sabo’s hat and dropping it to the bed. “I’d trust Deu’s sense of smell, Ko. Rum it is.”
He leaned in close toward her.
“It’s keen, especially for drinks,” Isuka ribbed him, which made the masked man flush deeper.
Koala laughed, before she locked eyes with Ace, and leaned slowly towards him. “Wanna try it through a kiss?”
Ace looked like she’d told him that Christmas had come early.
“Do I?!” He threw his arms around her, wiggling his eyebrows.
Koala giggled, before she wrapped her hands around the side of his face and pulled him into a deep and eager kiss. The kiss started out normal—like the hundreds of lovely kisses they’d shared before—but then she let her power shift her composition, a trickle of fluid running down his throat as she pulled him closer and very partially into the area that was once her shirt.
Ace made a slightly surprised noise– that turned into a pleased one– as the kiss melted into something like a sip.
He eased up from her with a huge grin on his face. “Yep, that’s rum alright. You two gotta try this.”
Isuka flushed a deep red, tugging at her collar for a moment as she glanced up at the ceiling. “…ever since I quit the marines I’ve said I’d try anything once. Why not.”
Deuce didn’t even hesitate before he hopped onto the bed with a wide grin. “it is?? Like, it tastes the same?”
Koala felt like the star of the show, and she squirmed with a flustered grin as she wiped her lips. “I wonder if I can do other sorts of drinks…”
“You should try!” Ace insisted excitedly. His manner shifted slightly, and Sabo chuckled. “Careful, dear, Ace is going to start passing you around like the evening’s bottle.”
Koala laughed, and shook her head, feeling parts of her body drip, only to reform only moments later as she continued to get the hang of it.
“I think tonight I AM the evening’s bottle, darling!”
“And every evening from now on, huh?” Ace cackled. “I’d say a hell of a lot better than custard, even if I teased Deuce about that one.”
“Way better than custard,” Deuce drawled. “At least everyone here can enjoy a good drink!”
Koala laughed into her hand “it’s not too late, Deuce!” she looped her arm around him and drew him closer with Ace as she smiled from ear to ear.
It was strange. It was absolutely a curse in its way, the hatred of the sea towards a girl raised as an honorary daughter of it—but at the same time the possibilities were endless. From battle–to recreation with the people she loved just like this…
It was a gift, just as much as it was the sea’s curse on her. It was enough to almost make her feel drunk with excitement.
As far as days in the Revolutionary Army went, Deuce felt this one had been a little weirder than usual. The customary sorting and inventory that came from the capture of a haul meant to be shipped back to headquarters had taken a large portion of the day, as had the interrogation of the surviving prisoners from their main assault.
Information was gathered (his specialty along with Koala), reports were made, and things were all sewn up on the tiny stopgap island—but that wasn’t what made it weird.
No, that honor belonged to Koala, and portions of the day devoted towards helping her get a handle on her new powers. She’d had a few mistakes here and there, a couple unsettling dissolvings, a few times she’d managed to change the alcoholic composition she was formed from, only for it to be far too potent or weak. But overall , with the help from her lovers, she was getting back on her two feet again.
Ace and Sabo had even already started helping her hone her skill for combat.
It was in a moment of downtime the next day that Ace and Sabo came and folded themselves around Deuce from behind as he was standing on the deck, watching the ocean.
“Hey, partner,” Ace murmured.
Deuce flushed, leaning back against him with a lopsided smile. “Hey, partner. How went the sparring sesh?”
“Not bad. The fruit’s already made her karate even more fucking devestating. So hey, that’s mission accomplished right there.” He nuzzled his lips gently against the side of Deuce’s face just below his mask.
“That doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Deuce chuckled as he nuzzled gently back. Ace was very cuddly, even more so at the moment, honestly. But he sure wasn’t about to complain. The contact of his warm body, and warm lips against him was a genuine comfort. “She’s gonna be a nightmare once she perfects it.”
“She sure is.” He chuckled, squeezing Deuce gently. “All the better for us, right?”
“All the better for us is right,” He leaned back into him. “I know she was worried about keeping up with you guys, probably even more after Isuka came back. You’ve both got impressive powers.”
“How are you feeling about that, partner?” Ace nuzzled him, his voice dropping a little lower. It was clear he was worried that Deuce might also start to feel out classed.
Deuce flushed—hiding it by facing the sea and leaning into him with a quiet huff of breath. The truth was, he’d felt outclassed since the days of the Spade Pirates. He was a decent marksman, a medic, and an excellent writer which translated decently well into strategy on the battlefield. But he wasn’t as much an expert on the battlefield as Ace was. Just like he wasn’t much of a doctor either.
But it was a hard choice to make, especially when it was your body on the line. If he got something worthless from a devil fruit, he’d be stuck with it forever.
“Me? I’m not the one who ate the thing!”
“Yeah, babe, that’s my point.” No hiding from Ace. “Wanted to make sure you weren’t brooding.”
Deuce made a low gurgling noise, and thunked his head against Ace’s chest. “Aw come on! I never brood, Ace! Ever!”
It was a bald faced lie.
Ace laughed so hard that Deuce bounced against his chest. “Yeah, alright, Deu. Is it my pants that are on fire, or yours?”
Deuce turned to look over his shoulder with a snort. “It’s probably yours, mr. fireball! But geeze…alright fine.” He was brooding a little. “Maybe a bit—but that doesn’t mean I’m looking to eat one of Charlotte’s freakass food fruits.”
Ace rearranged him in his arms to face him, Sabo’s fluffy blond hair falling over his eyes. “Well, sure, you don’t have to. But if you know if there were something you wanted, I’d go after it with you, right?”
Deuce looked up at him, before he reached up to brush the fluffy blond hair from his face with a flustered grin. “I mean…I know you would! There’s a couple devil fruits I’ve always envied, but…well…”
“Oh yeah?” Ace grinned widely. “Lay it on–”
They were interrupted. Of course they were interrupted.
“Sabo, sir! We’ve finished compiling the information from the interrogation. You’re going to want to have a look at this!”
Deuce grimaced, and shook off his irritation to look up over Ace’s shoulder at the interloper. Of course it was always when they were about to really talk that interruptions happened.
Ace sighed and put his hand on Deuce’s shoulder. “We’ll talk about it later. Duty calls.”
Koala sat with Sabo in the small office room, with the stack of papers between them.
Flipping one of the pages curiously over, she read the details again with a quiet hum of breath. She’d been in the middle of adapting the use of the sea in her karate to the use of her own liquid—managing to destroy a punching bag in the process—when the call came to review the findings.
She was still riding high on the feeling of slowly getting a handle on her devil fruit, and the increasing understanding of her newly unique body. It wasn’t instant, but it felt like every second she was getting better.
Sadly, she had to stop training for a moment for the briefing, and worse, the news wasn’t great. Gran Tesero, the massive mobile casino run by the richest man in the Grand Line, had one of the Revolutionary Army’s officers captive, as well as holding a rather large stake in Joker’s old network.
“Raise Max,” Sabo murmured. “I’m surprised he’s still alive.”
“Me too, he’d gone pretty much radio silent for a while. I thought luck had finally caught up to him…though I guess in a way it has,” Koala murmured quietly. “The golden king of gambling’s got him—and the keys to a large amount of Joker’s assets just waiting to be absorbed into his organization instead.”
Sabo set his jaw. “We’re going to have to mount a rescue.”
She knew why his voice was tense. Gild Tesoro was a monster. A massively powerful opponent, and the floating casino was his home territory. They’d be facing powerful opposition– nearly as powerful as they’d faced in Dressrosa.
He was a real, genuine monster. Koala had heard stories, and it made her own blood boil just thinking about it. Tesoro—he had his hands firmly in the heart of the slaving rings that plagued the world. He was a man who was happy—too happy— to steal the freedom of others for his own power and comfort.
It made her scars itch just thinking about it.
“We’ve got to. For him, and all the others he may have captive.”
Sabo nodded firmly and put his hand on hers. “I knew you’d say that. It might be a tough fight, but it’s worth it for a half a dozen reasons. Plus… well… it’s possible he has usable intel that never made its way back to headquarters.”
Raise Max as a gambler was an excellent spy. The last time anyone had seen him, he’d been working to investigate rumors surrounding the Warlords of the Sea.
Including Bartholomew Kuma.
Koala squeezed his hand tightly as she gave him a wan smile. “Two birds with one stone—he could tell us some of what happened to Kuma. We save an agent’s life, we get intel we need—and we stop a slaver.”
Sabo matched her smile. “Seems like we have our next destination. Are you ready for it?”
The question from Sabo’s lips was both serious and tender.
Koala flexed her fingers against his, looking up into his eyes with a quiet chuckle “a little more now than I was before. It won’t be easy but…yeah. I think I am.”
It drove home just how glad she was to have the power she’d been given—a power that could actually help make a difference on operations like this.
The operation didn’t end up being as difficult as they’d anticipated, thanks in large part to Straw Hat Luffy. In fact, when Koala confirmed the intel that Raise Max was indeed on the Gran Tersoro via wiretap, that was when they found out that Straw Hat was there as well, and they reorganized the entire operation around the fact.
They stuck to the Revolutionary Army playbook, staying as subtle and in the shadows as possible. Despite Koala’s eagerness to test out her new powers, and Isuka’s eagerness to show off, it was only Ace and Sabo who were drawn into the open, clashing briefly with one of the heads of Cipher Pol in a bid to pull him off Luffy.
It wasn’t the most glamorous mission they’d ever been on, but after they managed to sink or shake all of the ships in their marine tail, it was at least a success.
Staying in the shadows wasn’t exactly Isuka’s style nowadays. Even as a marine, she was always at the forefront with her rapier and a declaration of arrest—but in this case, for the Rev Army’s purposes, subtlety was key.
She followed her orders, she only intervened when necessary, and they let Sabo and Ace take the big guy as he threatened their plans. At least, as they were sailing away, she got to let loose with lightning upon the enemy ships, shocking their remarkably conductive gunpods and triggering chain explosions through their gunner’s decks.
In all honesty, the work so far wasn’t that much different than what she’d been doing with Crocodile. Intercepting marine and enemy pirate intel, and using it to take hauls and capture targets that Croc wanted to work for him.
It was all the same stuff with a different name, but at least it beat being in the marines.
So as she watched the Marine ships fade into the skyline, she smiled with satisfaction at a job well done. Besides the raid for the devil fruit—this was her first big op in the Army.
“You look like you’re having a pretty good time, ‘Suka.” Ace– it was certainly Ace– grinned at her.
She brushed her hair out of her face, glancing over her shoulder at him with a wide grin of her own.
“I was just thinking how this wasn’t too different from the stuff Croc had me do in Baroque Works—it’s all piracy by another name.”
Ace chuckled and teasingly put a finger to their lips. “Don’t let anybody hear you say that too loud, but you’re right, especially lately.”
“It’s our little secret. Don’t worry. I know we’re relatively private at the moment. It’s just kind of funny, you know?” She favored him with a small smile as she leaned on the banister and looked out at the sea. “I’m just glad to be away from the marines. Cipher Pol’s more active lately…it makes me uncomfortable.”
He put his arm around her, looking out at the sea as well.
“I don’t like the smell of it myself.” His manner changed a little as Sabo crept to the front. “I’d wager it has something to do with the Revelry coming up.”
“The big meetup of the world’s royalty.” She nodded her head “that’s what I’m thinking too. They’ve had some blows to their reputation. They’re probably trying to make it look like everything’s fine by sending in the big guns to quell things before they go public.”
It was Ace again when they snorted. “All smiles and waves for the newspapers. It’d be nice if there was something we could do to put one in their eye, wouldn’t it?”
Isuka’s smile grew a little wider when she imagined her old superiors’ faces; if something were to disrupt the world government’s wishes for an ‘all is well’ in the world’s eye. “Oh they’d be furious. It’d be great—if only, huh? But short of raiding the Revelry…”
They grinned in return. “That’d be a hell of an op. …though we’d need a goal bigger than just ‘causing chaos’ to make it worth the risk.”
Isuka looped an arm around their shoulders with a wide grin.
“Maybe fate’ll smile on us then, huh? Maybe the chance of a lifetime will just fall in our laps—I’m pretty lucky, after all. That’s how things aligned to bring me back to your crew, in a way.”
She winked “I’ll blow on the dice, and maybe fate’ll let us put their big party to the torch.”
Isuka’s words rang in Ace and Sabo’s ears a few hours later when they got the report on Raise Max’s intel.
Bartholomew Kuma was being held as a slave for hire in Mary Geoise.
A lump grew in their throat.
If they could rescue Kuma. If they could give the World Government a black eye during their public moment of glory. They could leave the Revolutionary Army without regrets.
Assuming Koala was ready to go with them.