-Real World-
The Going Merry cut through the blue waters toward Arabasta with precision, but the usual energy that permeated the Straw Hat Pirates' ship had been replaced by a heavy, oppressive silence. The revelation from the Sky Screen hung over the crew like storm clouds, casting shadows that seemed to reach into every corner of their floating home.
At the ship's bow, Monkey D. Luffy sat cross-legged with his back against the figurehead, his signature straw hat pulled low over his eyes. Bandages covered his arms and torso—remnants of their harrowing escape from Drum Island—but it wasn't physical pain that kept him motionless. In his trembling hands, he held a small piece of paper that seemed impossibly fragile, as if the slightest breeze might carry it away forever.
Ace's vivre card.
The life paper danced in the ocean wind, its movement erratic and somehow desperate. Luffy's dark eyes, usually bright with boundless optimism, were fixed on the small rectangle with an intensity that made his crewmates uncomfortable to witness.
"Why?" The word escaped his lips like a prayer, barely audible above the sound of waves against the hull. "Why did Ace have to die? He was so strong... stronger than anyone I knew. How could someone like him just... disappear?"
The crew had gathered behind their captain in a loose semicircle, each member grappling with their own thoughts about mortality and loss. None of them had known what to say when the Sky Screen's revelation hit. How do you comfort someone who has just watched their brother's death play out five years in the future?
Sanji took a long drag from his cigarette, the smoke mixing with the salty air. His usual flirtatious demeanor was nowhere to be found as he studied his captain's hunched shoulders. The cook understood family bonds, understood the weight of responsibility that came with protecting those you loved. Watching Luffy process this kind of pain made something twist in his chest.
"The Sky Screen didn't show how it happened," Nami said quietly, her voice lacking its usual edge. "Maybe... maybe if we know what's coming, we can change it. Save him."
Usopp shifted uncomfortably, his injured arm secured in a pristine white cast that made him look even more fragile than usual. "But if the future's already been shown, can it really be changed? I mean, what if trying to save Ace is what causes his death in the first place?"
The sniper's words sent a chill through the group. The philosophical implications of the Sky Screen's revelations were staggering—if the future was fixed, then free will was an illusion. If it could be changed, then why show it at all?
"There's something else bothering me," Usopp continued, desperate to fill the silence that had followed his last comment. "That whole thing about Garp raising Roger's son... I mean, think about it. The Hero of the Marines secretly protecting the Pirate King's bloodline? That's the kind of story you'd expect to read in some wild adventure novel."
His attempt at a joke fell flat, but it did serve to redirect the conversation. Nami's eyes suddenly sharpened with the calculating look that appeared whenever she sensed an opportunity for profit.
"You know what this means, don't you?" She leaned forward conspirationally. "If Ace has that kind of legendary pedigree—son of the Pirate King, raised by a Marine Hero, adopted by a Yonko—then Luffy might have similar connections. Think about it: they grew up together, they call each other brothers..."
"Garp is my grandpa."
The words hit the crew like a cannon blast. Luffy's voice was flat, matter-of-fact, as if he were commenting on the weather. He didn't look up from the vivre card, seemingly unaware that he had just dropped another bombshell on his already shocked crew.
"WHAT?!" The collective shout from the Straw Hats crew created a sound that could probably be heard on the next island.
Nami's carefully constructed fantasies of wealth and power crumbled instantly. "Your... your grandpa is the Hero of the Marines?!"
"Yeah," Luffy replied with typical casual indifference. "He left Ace and me in Windmill Village when we were kids. He's a Marine, so he didn't visit very often. Most of the time it was the villagers who took care of us."
He finally looked up, his expression softening with genuine warmth as he remembered those simpler times. "Gramps would show up every few months, usually to beat some 'training' into us. Said he was going to make us into strong Marines whether we liked it or not." A ghost of his usual grin appeared. "Obviously, that didn't work out the way he planned."
"Ace and I became brothers during one of those times," Luffy continued, his voice growing stronger. "We made a promise under the stars, swore we'd sail the seas together and find our own adventures. We shared sake and everything—made it official."
The memory seemed to give him strength, but it also highlighted the painful reality of what he had lost. "We had such good times back then. Ace was always looking out for me, always getting into trouble trying to prove he was strong enough to protect everyone he cared about..."
Zoro, who had been unusually quiet during the entire conversation, finally spoke up. "So the Marine Hero raised two grandsons who both became pirates. That's either the biggest failure in Marine history or the biggest success in human decency."
Princess Vivi, who had been listening to the conversation with growing amazement, felt a spark of hope ignite in her chest. If Luffy truly was the grandson of such a legendary figure, then perhaps Arabasta's chances of survival had just improved dramatically. Igaram would be overjoyed to learn that their chosen protector carried such prestigious blood.
But it was Nami who voiced the question that was on everyone's mind. "Wait a minute, Luffy. You and Ace both call Garp grandfather, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well..." Nami's brow furrowed as she processed that insane family tree. "So, Roger and Whitebeard—the two biggest legends ever—are somehow a whole generation younger than your grandpa? Garp literally raised kids who ended up being adopted by his pirate rivals. That's messed up."
The twisted family dynamics made everyone's heads spin. Three legends of the same generation, forever linked by the bonds of a single young man who had called them all family in different ways.
-Real World: Various Locations-
The revelations rippling out from the Sky Screen continued to reshape the world's understanding of power, family, and legacy.
Aboard the Moby Dick, the Whitebeard Pirates processed the news of their brother's true parentage with the stoic acceptance of men who had seen too much of the world's cruelty to be truly shocked by anything. The revelation that Ace was Roger's son barely registered compared to the devastating knowledge that both their father and brother would die in the coming years.
"Doesn't matter whose blood he carries," Marco said firmly, his phoenix flames flickering around his shoulders. "Ace is our brother. That's all that counts, yoi."
The other division commanders nodded in agreement, but the weight of the future pressed down on them like the depths of the ocean. If the Sky Screen was to be believed, their family was headed for destruction, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
On the distant island of Onigashima, Yamato stared at her own piece of Ace's vivre card with tears streaming down her face. The paper trembled in her massive hands, its instability a cruel reminder of mortality in a world where strength was supposed to be everything.
"Ace," she whispered to the empty room, her voice breaking with emotion. "I won't let you die. I don't care what the Sky Screen says, I don't care what fate has planned—I'll find a way to save you."
Her father Kaido was absent from the island, leaving only Queen and the lower-ranking members to maintain order. For the first time in years, Yamato saw an opportunity for escape, a chance to break free from the chains that had bound her to this cursed place.
"No matter how many obstacles stand in my way," she continued, her resolve hardening like steel in a forge, "I'll get to you. We'll face whatever's coming together."
-Broadcast-
In the ethereal realm of the underworld, the family drama between the three legendary figures continued to unfold with all the weight of a Shakespearean tragedy. Ace remained steadfastly at Whitebeard's side, his spiritual form radiating defiant loyalty, while Roger stood apart like a man watching his greatest treasure slip through his fingers.
Brook, the Soul King, observed the situation with the patient wisdom of one who had experienced both death and resurrection. His skeletal frame exuded an aura of ancient authority as he addressed the gathered spirits.
"Edward Newgate," he said, his voice carrying the weight of cosmic judgment, "I understand your request. When the time comes for your return to the underworld's depths, Ace will accompany you. The realm of the dead will no longer conspire to keep father and son apart—you have my word on this."
Whitebeard's massive frame seemed to relax slightly at the promise, though his eyes remained fixed on his adopted son with paternal affection. "That's all I ask, Soul King. As long as Ace and I can face whatever comes next together, I can accept any fate."
Brook's empty eye sockets turned toward the Pirate King, who stood in isolation like a man attending his own funeral. "Gol D. Roger, what would you ask of me? If you need time to consider your request, I can preserve this favor for our next meeting."
Roger's gaze lingered on the intimate scene between Whitebeard and Ace, jealousy and regret warring in his expression. Every instinct screamed at him to demand time with his son, to use this opportunity to force the reunion he desperately craved. But looking at Ace's peaceful expression as he stood beside his chosen father, Roger found he couldn't bring himself to shatter that contentment.
"I don't want to wait," Roger said finally, his voice carrying the impatience that had driven him to conquer the Grand Line in record time. "I have another concern, one that's been eating at me since I arrived in this realm."
He took a step forward, his legendary composure cracking slightly. "Soul King, I have a daughter. Is she still alive? Can your power determine her fate?"
The words hit Ace like a physical blow. His spiritual form flickered with renewed fury as he whirled to face his biological father. "A daughter?!" His voice carried the rage of absolute betrayal. "You had another child? How many women did you abandon, Roger? How many families did you destroy chasing your precious treasure?"
"Ace, wait—" Roger raised his hands desperately, recognizing the misunderstanding. "You don't understand. I only ever loved one woman. Your mother, Portgas D. Rouge, was the only one who ever held my heart."
His expression softened with genuine tenderness as he spoke her name. "It was Rouge herself who told me about your sister. When we met in the underworld before her reincarnation, she revealed the truth I never knew in life."
The revelation stopped Ace's advance cold. "My... mother told you?"
"Your mother was a woman of incredible strength," Roger continued, his voice growing stronger as he shared the memory. "When the government began their systematic elimination of anyone connected to my bloodline, she used her willpower—her love for you both—to extend her pregnancy to twenty months."
His voice broke slightly. "It killed her, like you said. The strain of carrying two children for that long, the exhaustion of fighting death itself... she died shortly after giving birth. But before she passed, she held both of you in her arms and named you with her final breaths."
Ace's anger began to ebb, replaced by a complex mixture of grief and wonder. A sister. He had a twin sister somewhere in the world.
"The first child to emerge was a girl," Roger said, his expression brightening with paternal pride. "Rouge named her Ann. You came second, Ace—my son and daughter, twins who shared the same impossible birth."
The revelation hung in the air between them like morning mist. Ann. His sister's name was Ann.
"She told me this when we met briefly in the underworld," Roger continued. "Rouge had earned reincarnation through her sacrifice—the cosmic balance judged her love greater than any association with my crimes. Before she left for her new life, she wanted me to know that both of her children had survived."
Ace's mind reeled as he processed this earth-shattering information. Roger looked at his son with growing hope, watching as the walls of hatred began to crack just slightly.
"The first child to come out of Rouge's belly was a girl named Ann, and the second one was you, Ace. You and Ann are twin siblings." Roger's voice grew more confident as he shared this precious knowledge. "You have lived on the sea for so many years—have you never seen her?"
This was the first time that the spirit Ace had heard the name Ann. The pieces of the puzzle didn't fit together in his mind. The old man Garp shouldn't have separated him from his sister—a Marine Hero wouldn't be so shameless. But what had gone wrong? He hadn't seen his sister once in twenty years.