The Summer and Winter series is a crossover series of One Piece and Rise of the Guardians written by SolarisLupi. The series has two installments; Fire and Ice and Embers and Frost. The series was completed on June 27, 2017. It can be read on Archive of Our Own.
- Fire and Ice: "When Ace left Dawn Island to begin his journey, he was not alone. Not that anyone else was able to see his invisible, icy Guardian. One Shot." It can be found here
. - Embers and Frost: "After becoming the new Spirit of Summer, Ace struggles with the knowledge that one day he will be forced to leave everyone he loves behind. Jack questions how far he would go for those he cares about. And Luffy, unaware of Ace's rebirth, is plagued by visions of his brother's death and other horrors. But those nightmares may be more than just dreams..." It can be found here.
Tropes for the series:
Warning: Spoilers for Fire and Ice are unmarked.- The Ageless: Marco slowly stopped aging after eating his Phoenix Devil Fruit. The Guardians tell him he is welcome on Earth if he wants to come after his crew grows old and dies. Not in those words, mind you.
- Alternate Universe: Along with the crossover AU elements, the series is an AU that takes place sometime after Dressrosa but where the Whole Cake Island Arc did not happen. Case in point, Blackbeard is killed and Whitebeard and Thatch are alive.
- Amputation Stops Spread:
- If someone is hit with the black sand, the only way to save them is to remove the limb before it can spread to the heart. There is only seconds to do this.
- Law saves Marco from turning into a Fearling by removing his heart.
- An Arm and a Leg: A hallucinating Tashigi accidentally cuts off Sanji's arm.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: The Straw Hats and Law all have trouble believing Luffy when he claims a Shadow Man appeared in his dreams and said he was going to attack their ship. They quickly change their tune when it happens.
- Asshole Victim: The first thing Pitch does upon arriving on One Piece's world is kill Blackbeard and his crew. No one mourns.
- Awful Truth: Devil Fruits' powers come from the drained essences of Spirits that were captured and experimented on by the pre-World Government. Devil Fruit users drown in the sea because Mother Nature and the Ocean Spirits cursed them as revenge for what the pre-World Government did to their kin.
- Big Brother Bully: Haruta is very cruel to Ace after his return. He belittles Ace for "not acting like himself", insults him multiple times, and refuses to forgive him after Ace accidentally burns him. He acts this way because he feels guilty for not knowing Ace was alive and for moving on with his life while his little brother was in trouble. Ace's struggles remind Haruta of his failure every time he sees him.
- Big Brother Instinct:
- Jack is very protective of Ace, Sabo, and Luffy.
- The Whitebeards towards Ace, especially Marco, Izo, and Thatch.
- Law towards Baby Tooth. He's ready to attack Luffy when he accidentally knocks her off Law's hat.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Downplayed. Nature Spirits usually have morality comparable to a human's, but when it comes to their season and the disastrous weather it brings, they cannot allow themselves to hold back or interfere in order to not accidentally kill any humans. Ferrying the weather and keeping the balance of nature is their job, and if they try to ensure no humans die because of their storms, they will be unable to work. Jack has accepted this part of being a Nature Spirit, though Ace struggles with it.
- Body Horror:
- The black sand leaves shifting tattoo-like marks on Ace's skin as it creeps through his body.
- Marco's corrupted Phoenix form is completely black with yellow eyes. His transformation (which is usually smooth and painless) is described horrifically, with breaking bones and splitting skin.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Marco, while infected with Pitch’s Black Sand. He kidnaps and fights Ace while trapped in nightmares and is unaware of what he is doing in the real world.
- Came Back Strong: After dying, Ace is resurrected by the Man in the Moon and Mother Nature to be the new Spirit of Summer. He no longer has weakness to sea water, and can control thunderstorms along with fire.
- Child of Two Worlds: Ace becomes this after his resurrection. He is a Whitebeard, but also the Spirit of Summer, the latter duty of which will force him to go to Earth one day. The thought of having to leave his old life behind tears him up inside, and makes him feel guilty for having to choose one world over the other.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Pitch tortures Ace with the nightmare sand inside him, causing him to fall into nightmares and experience horrific deaths over and over and over and over—
- Completed Fic: The series was completed on June 27, 2017.
- The Corruption: Pitch's nightmare sand turns its targets into Fearlings.
- Pitch infects Ace with nightmare sand, but since he is a Nature Spirit, it cannot turn him. It gives him terrible nightmares instead.
- Marco is also infected but his Healing Factor delays the transformation long enough that Law can remove his heart before the sand can reach it and turn him.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Prevalent whenever Nature Spirits or Pitch can go all-out.
- Pitch does not even need to lift a finger to kill Blackbeard and his crew.
- Jack easily defeats Smoker, Tashigi, and G-8.
- Ace completely obliterates Onigumo's entire crew and ship by making it rain fire from the sky.
- Decomposite Character: Jack Frost and Nightlight are separate characters in this series.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Downplayed but present in the fic's portrayal of Luffy. One of the points of the series is to show that some of Luffy's selfish and childish behaviors— like refusing to believe in Jack or brushing off the consequences of his actions because there is no lasting damage done— and inability to understand complex matters— like mental illness— can and will hurt the people he cares about.
- Demonic Possession: Pitch possesses Marco's body after infecting him with the Black Sand.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Ace calls Pitch "Kozmotis" so Pitch beats him nearly to death and leaves him to die of his injuries in an alley.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Marco puts together the facts that Ace's abilities do not come from a Devil Fruit and that he is a Spirit, but comes to the terrifying conclusion that the Man in the Moon has enslaved Ace. While that is partially true from a certain point of view— Ace can't refuse to do his duties as a Spirit— Jack reassures him that is not the case.
- Fatal Flaw: Ace's inability to back down from a fight gets him nearly beaten to death by Pitch. This is right after Ace managed to escape him. If Shanks had not arrived and helped him, he would have died again. He grows out of this over the course of Embers and Frost.
- Fallen Hero: Kozmotis Pitchner was the Hero of the Golden Age. Then the Fearlings devoured him and turned him into Pitch Black.
- Fate Worse than Death: Becoming a Fearling. Your soul is corrupted into a monster and you become a slave of Pitch until you are killed.
- Flashback Nightmare: Tooth has a nightmare not about her past, but Kozmotis's. She sees how he was turned into the Nightmare King, from his point of view.
- Foreshadowing:
- Foreshadowing that Earth Spirits have been to One Piece's world and were involved in the Void Century come throughout both fics, starting with the Man in the Moon's ability to talk to Jack through the One Piece world's moon.
- Jack mentions the Spirit of Summer position has been vacant for centuries. Ace becomes the new Spirit of Summer. Pitch killed his predecessor.
- The Ghost: The Spirits of Spring and Fall are mentioned a few times but never seen. Since they are on Earth and the series mostly takes place on One Piece's world, it makes sense.
- Heroic Sacrifice: To save Ace, Kozmotis uses the diamond moontear dagger on himself to seal the Nightmare King away.
- Hope Spot: Jack appears and frees Ace from his cell in Pitch's lair. It is not real. It is yet another dream. The truth brings Ace to his knees with a scream of despair.
- Humanoid Abomination:
- Pitch looks human but many characters can tell something is off about him upon meeting him.
- The Fearlings are corrupted souls that maintain their humanoid shape. If Dementor-like demons with glowing eyes, sharp claws and teeth can be considered "humanoid".
- Innocently Insensitive: Luffy tends to lead with his mouth and not his head, which hurts both Jack and Ace multiple times, such as when Luffy fails to understand why Jack was upset after Law nearly drowned due to Luffy's recklessness.
- Kidnapped from Behind: Law is silently grabbed by Pitch Black and trapped in shadows without the Straw Hats realizing what happened until much later. Pitch took Law to stop him from being able to teleport the Straw Hats out of his lair, allowing him to trap the rest of them in nightmares.
- Killed Off for Real:
- Blackbeard is killed by Pitch in the first chapter.
- Ace kills Akainu after the Fleet Admiral tries to take him prisoner.
- Legacy Character: Both Jack and Ace are Chosen One type versions to the previous Spirit of Summer. Ace's predecessor was intended to become the first Guardian and Nature Spirit in the hopes that he'd be able to combat Pitch. Pitch found out, hunted him down, and viciously killed him with his sand.
- Leonine Contract: Discussed. Marco fears that the Man in the Moon helped Ace while he was dying because Ace would have no choice but to do what MiM wanted. Jack reassures him this is not the case.
- Limited-Use Magical Device: The special Snow Globe can be used once, and only to go to Raftel.
- Mind Rape: Pitch's go-to tactic while torturing his victims, primarily Ace. He likes using nightmares that show Ace's greatest fears or make him unable to tell dreams from reality.
- Mind Screw: When Ace is in a nightmare, it is often impossible to tell. The story can go for almost whole chapters in "the real world" before revealing Ace is still trapped in a nightmare and nothing around him really happened.
- Mistaken for Suicidal: Believing he is in a nightmare, Ace goes to the railing of the Moby Dick and stands on it in preparation to fly. Thatch finds him there and (since he is unaware of Ace's new powers) panics, believing Ace is going to jump. Ace steps off the railing to go comfort him.
- Nature Spirit: Jack is the Spirit of Winter. Ace is the Spirit of Summer. Mother Nature is their matriarch. There are also Spirits of Spring and Fall though they are never seen.
- Nightmare Sequence: After being infected by the black sand, Ace becomes trapped in nightmares filled with his worst fears every time he falls asleep.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Other than obvious characters like Whitebeard, Jack and Pitch. Also, Ace after he becomes the Spirit of Summer. The latter does not have full control over his powers yet, but at one point he makes it rain fire.
- Playing with Syringes: The World Government intends to experiment on any Spirits they capture in order to learn the secrets of their powers. It's not the first time. They've done it before, during the Void Century.
- Personality Powers: The basis of "Guardian" abilities.
- Bunny can make the people around him hopeful.
- North can bring out people's wonder and make it easier for them to believe.
- Tooth's presence makes it easier for people to recall memories with clarity.
- Jack's snowballs can make anyone laugh and have fun.
- Ace's white flames can free trapped souls, including Kozmotis.
- Rewatch Bonus: There is a lot of foreshadowing for things like Sabo and Koala's eventual involvement, Shanks's past with Spirits, and Kozmotis still being alive inside Pitch Black.
- The Reveal: Spirits came to One Piece's world during the Void Century, where everyone could see and believe in them. They were betrayed and experimented on by what would later become the World Government, who used some of them to create Devil Fruits. Angered, the Ocean Spirits and Mother Nature cursed those that ate Devil Fruits to drown in the seas. The Spirits erased the world's memories of them, and took away their ability to see Spirits before departing.
- Slashed Throat: Ace "dies" from this in many of his nightmares, usually at the hands of his "family".
- Spared by the Adaptation: Ace survives Marineford, albeit as the Spirit of Summer. Thatch survives Blackbeard's attack. Whitebeard survives Marineford because of Jack's interference.
- The Speechless: Due to his injuries and constant screaming from his nightmares, Ace loses the ability to speak and is left mute. He never recovers his voice.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: In one of his nightmares, Ace is captured and dissected by the World Government, who want to learn the secret to his newfound immortality.
- That Man Is Dead: Pitch says this about Kozmotis Pitchner. He's wrong. Kozmotis still lives inside Pitch.
- Took a Level in Badass: Ace. He becomes a Spirit in Marineford, and becomes much stronger and more effective than even in canon. He even kills Akainu!
- Tranquil Fury: After Marco is injured by them, Ace serenely destroys Onigumo and his crew with fire raining from the sky.
- Wham Line:Bay: "I'm sorry, but it's likely you'll never speak again."
- The World Is Not Ready: Shanks, Roger and the Man in the Moon all agree the One Piece world is not ready to learn about their history with the Spirits yet. Though they may be once Luffy becomes Pirate King.
