Chapter 1: The Beginning

It was at 5 years old when Ace began to notice the reoccurring dreams and visions in the form of either happy imaginations or terrifying nightmares. They would sometimes seep into his reality. He would blank out and – according to the doctors – dissociate. They would come at the most random times with no warning. Ace merely brushes them off, feeling as though it was simpler to deal with them that way.

But Ace could not ignore the reoccurring pattern. While he never recalls much from the dreams and nightmares, the visions always stayed with him. It was like a warning of sorts. Not necessarily a bad thing but it was scaring him as much as it was scaring others.

Age 10

Ace was at a breaking point. the last five years were spent living with hallucinations and paranoia that crept up his body in cold shivers. It came to the point that his body gave in and he collapsed. images, visions, memories came to him in a blur of voices. Yet, Ace can see everything clearly.

"My father is Gol D. Roger."

"Brothers by bond, brothers in crime, bothers 'till we die."

"My name is Gol D. Ace. And as long as I breathe I will stand my ground. Even if it means that I will become a demon."

"Did you know... that if men drink sake, they become brothers?"

"I cannot speak loud enough to reach everyone so please pass on this message. Even though I carry the blood of a demon, even though my very existence is a sin, thank you... for loving me."

"Whatever you do, do NOT forget."

"This whole mess started because of me... and I'm going to end it."

The voices continued to echo in his head. All of them deep and filled with emotions. they were loud and they continued to bounce off the walls of his mind, pounding against his skull. the ringing against his ears would not stop, chanting in a tune that screeched at him. His head was close to exploding.

Ace breathed out a sigh of relief when the voices and the pounding against his head died down. He opened his eyes slowly, afraid of what may or may not be there. All that greeted him was the ocean and the deck of a ship he stood on. The ship was not small nor was it large. It resembled more of a pirate ship that he saw in movies rather than a cruise ship. It was clean, too. The deck polished and none of the ropes seemed to be out of place. Above him was a black flag, flowing with the wind to proudly show off the skull with an orange cowboy hat and two 'smileys', one frowning and the other smiling.

It had only occurred to him a second later that the ship was moving. The wind blew a steady yet strong breeze, allowing the scent of the salty water reach him. The birds above sang an old and familiar tune. The sound of the waves hitting the side of the ship eased his tensed body.

"So you finally show up after 30? 40 lives?" The voice made him jump. Ace whisked around to face a man. The man wore no shirt, only wearing a pair of pants, boots, a beaded necklace and an orange cowboy hat with smileys. He sported an awfully large scar on his chest. His cheeks were dusted lightly with freckles, eyes a dark grey, full of life and wisdom. His midnight hair blew with the wind, framing his face.

"You..." It was like staring at a mirror, a mirror that shows what he would look like in the future. "You're... me?" Once again, Ace's head was pounding, waiting to explode. "What's going on?"

The man chuckled, apparently finding his situation hilarious. "Slow down. You're not the first to find this confusing"

"The first?"

"Trust me," the man chuckled once more, "It only gets confusing. Especially for you. From what I heard, you sent a lot of them through hell and back."

"Who's 'them'?"

"Your past selves. Surely you've seen their memories."

Ace had. Those visions and dreams, even the nightmares, were all memories. But they were not his. Those memories... are my past selves?

Seeing Ace's obvious disbelief, Older-Ace – because what else can the ten-year-old Ace call the man? – sighed. "Long story short, you're the 30th or 40th reincarnation. I don't know, I lost count after the 16th."

"Is that how reincarnation works? Because that's a lot of lives."

Older-Ace shrugged, "I suppose. I never really got time to look into it. "His mouth formed a grin, nothing malicious, the man was friendly and patient, reminding him of his father's signature grin. Ace wondered if the man was the one who always explains to the many different Aces. "Anyways, you – I mean, we are a slightly different case. While most who are reincarnated could not remember their past lives – and if they do, they only remember the life before their own – we remember all of our lives."

Ace glanced up at the black flag. "So I was a pirate?"

Said pirate laughed nervously, hand reaching up to scratch the nape of his neck absentmindedly – a nervous habit that the younger Ace was often reminded by many. "It's a little more complicated than that. You see, instead of reincarnating in the same universe in the same timeline, we reincarnate in different universes. For example, I came from a world where I am a pirate and you came from a world that is very advanced in terms of technology." Sensing Ace's disbelief, Older-Ace decided to conclude the explanation, "It'll make sense once you get used to it."

It did not make sense. Ace was sure his head was actually going to explode – is it just him or is there a lot of head-exploding? – But then again, that was the only explanation that his young mind can process and accept. He was quite smart – more like 'too curious' – for his age, always asking for answers. Speaking of answers to his curious mind...

"Where are we? How did I get here?"

The man chuckled, "I'm surprised that isn't your first words to me. Your past selves did not recognize the similarities at first but it seems as though you got more of the brains than most at this age." Older-Ace hummed in thought, "But then again, we always either end up being the strong and reckless type or the sadistic tactician type."

"...Sadistic?"

He shrugged, "Not always. The only real explanation that I got for that is that it's a D. thing. I try not to question it. But to answer your question. This," he gestured to the ship they stood on, "is the Piece of Spadille. The first ship I boarded and sailed through Blues and to the Grand Line... Well, until I was kidnapped." The corner of his lips twisted from a grin to a nostalgic smile, remembering an old memory.

He must be one of the first reincarnations. He must've missed something or someone from his old life. Ace wondered if they were cursed for an eternity of an endless loop of reincarnation.

Older-Ace shook out of the memories, noticing Ace's worried look. "Don't worry, I'm not stuck here. I see them all the time. Remember, I'm you." He shook his head, deciding to change the subject. "Anyways, in terms of how you got here, well..." He paused, trying to find an easy explanation. "You didn't go anywhere. This whole thing is a figment of your imagination. I wouldn't actually say that it's your imagination. Rather, one of your memories."

"You mean one of my past memories."

Older-Ace grinned, "Yup! You're catching on pretty quickly. I'm surprised that you didn't try to kill me or threaten me. I guess you have to be different from the rest because of what you'll end up doing later on."

Ace was almost afraid to ask. "What will I be doing?"

The man shrugged, "Don't know. I don't think it's anything too life-threatening."

Ace can only nod, hoping to understand later, like how the adults say that he will understand when he's older.

The pirate chuckled after a moment of silence. "You know, I've been waiting specifically for you."

Ace frowned, wondering if he should be worried. "Why?"

"Because you have influenced the worlds in such an... interesting way."

"Me? How so?"

Older-Ace shook his head, "It's best not to say in case it may turn for the worst." They stood there for a moment. The man smiled, he walked over to the young Ace and kneeled down to eye-level. "You're about to wake up. You'll see me again. Maybe when you get to the part that I'm waiting for, or maybe before that. But until then..." He took Ace's hand and placed something on his palm. Ace looked down at his hands holding a single large red bead. Looking up, he eyes the red-beaded necklace that rested around the man's neck. Older-Ace patted Ace's hair before standing up and walking away. This was the first time Ace saw the man's back. The tattoo of a cross and a grinning face under a white crescent that resembles a mustache stared back at him proudly as Older-Ace walks away. There was some scarring at the edges of the face. Ace assumed the tattoo was to cover up the scar of some ugly wound that man had in his life.

"Oh!" Ace's attention went back to the man. "You might want to make sure to keep up with your academics and physical abilities. I have a feeling you'll need it." Those last words remained with Ace as well as the rest of the knowledge he attained about himself. His vision began to narrow and spots danced in front of him before he was engulfed by a blinding white void.

Author's Notes:

Hi! This is my first story on this site so I'm still getting used to the whole system and formatting.

So a bit of how I'm going to set this out:
I'm going to be placing the Author's Notes at the bottom of each chapter in bold so it should be easy to find.
Any warnings and such about a chapter will be put at the top of the page in bold so please read them just in case (this includes warnings, triggers and a possible change in content ratings for the chapter or possibly the rest of the story)

About the story:
This story is inspired by a lot of fandoms and One Piece AUs that just sort of molded into one. Basically, it's Ace reincarnating but instead of reincarnating in the same universe or timeline, this one has Ace reincarnating in different universes. The bonus bit is that Ace remembers each one in the form of memories (like how you would normally remember things that stood out the most instead of the finer details). In this world, as hinted a few times in this chapter and the summary, Ace will be going to other worlds and most likely going to cause chaos and give the people in those dimensions a hell of a ride.
I already know what kind of AU Ace is going to be living in but I'm still debating on what kind of AU he'll be going to first (assuming that you guys are interested enough to see the story through) but it will be set as an AU in the One Piece world.

Just a heads up:
I will not be involving any type of romance other than what is canon. The closest romance that you might get are hints that you may take as romance or friendship, or a possible gag, or it just happens to be in a side conversation. But otherwise, no romance will be focused on in this story.

Depending on how many are interested in the story in the next few chapters will determine how far I want to continue the story.

I cannot promise updates being consistent but I'll try.

English is not my first language so please forgive any grammar and spelling mistakes. I'll try to edit at least twice for each chapter but I could have missed something.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, it helps determine who is interested in the story (this includes constructive criticism and ideas for the story).

That's all for now. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

~AJ