Digging through boxes when you got back to the house was turning into a thing of frustration. There wasn't a spare computer that you could find, and Sabo wasn't keen on letting anyone risk their primary device just to see what it was that Ichiji had graced you with. Virus aside, he was concerned that the small device would just explode and ruin whatever it was plugged into.

You wanted to tease him for his paranoia, but experience told you he wasn't as far off the mark as you'd prefer, so you let it drop.

The two of you were looking for listings of a cheap refurbished item when Ace interrupted you both. Marco had completed the research he needed to and wanted to meet with everyone. Ace had taken the initiative to ask, and learned that the station had a few old computers, so the three of you piled into Sabo's car again and were back on the road.

You slump a bit in the passenger seat, and can feel Sabo glancing at you.

"How're you holding up, lil' spark?"

"Well enough," you assure him, pushing yourself to a more upright position. "Camping, and an odd sleep schedule, plus helping out at the restaurant, and the stress of Ichiji, and it's barely lunch and I'm realizing none of us has eaten. I don't think I've ever done so much in a twenty-four hour span, and yet the kind of tired that I feel is almost... fake? I feel like I should be dead on my feet, but I'm sure I could go another eight hours easily. Cranky with hunger, perhaps, but nothing that would even begin to require medical attention."

"I'm impressed how much you've improved already." Sabo smiles.

"Well, catching fire an-." You catch yourself as the car swerves slightly.

"You. Caught. Fire?" Sabo's voice is more strained than you've heard it in years, and you can tell he is scrambling to keep his focus on the road.

"I'm okay, brother." You put a hand on his arm and repeat the words. "Sabo, I'm okay. I was completely unharmed by it, it's a side effect of the curse."

Sabo's hands tighten on the wheel and for a second you're worried he's going to shatter the steel in his hands before he relaxes. You keep speaking to him, quietly, answering the questions he asks as he comes back into focus. The last time Sabo had almost lost control of himself it was because you had nearly died at the hospital.

Neither of you knew back then that your mother was the cause of your "illness", but Sabo himself was only just recently fully recovered from the wounds your father had inflicted upon him. It was less your situation you thought, and more that he was finding himself back in the hospital. It was a hard place for either of you to be, and with luck it would be years before either of you needed to set foot in one.

"I'm sorry," you say finally, once everything is settled. "With everything else going on, I wasn't even thinking about it."

"S'alright, lil' spark." He says, his voice and smile strained. "I guess I should be relieved that you can't be burned. Makes the two of you quite the match."

You tense, feeling the heat rising to your face before you tucked yourself back into your seat. "Even if I was highly flammable, I'd trust Ace not to burn me."

"DON'T YOU DARE IGNITE IN MY CAR!" Sabo bellows suddenly, eyes on his rear view mirror. You didn't turn to look at Ace, it would've only made it worse, but you bit your lower lip to keep from laughing.

"I'm," smack. "Not! I'm not!"

"You're both going to be the death of me." Sabo grumbles, but you can hear the relief in his voice, and see the smile pulling at his lips.

The rest of the drive was fairly quiet. Ace was focusing on keeping his cool, and you were letting yourself doze a little bit. Sabo drove to relax, so it was the best thing he could be doing anyway. It didn't take that much longer to reach the station, and the three of you were greeted by Thatch.

"Hey, Izou and Kiku are trying to piece together a couple different old computers." He explains, walking with you all and opening the door. "Marco's in the office, he, uh, had us clean it, but don't let that stop you from being comfortable and all."

"I appreciate the effort," Sabo says easily. "I keep trying to explain to him that I'm not actually a noble anymore, and that my sister won't mind."

You look at Ace and he gives you a very slight shrug, before holding the door and letting you by. You waved at some of the people you recognized from your first visit as the three of you, led by Thatch, walked up and into the main office.

It was a complete mess. There were books and papers and binders everywhere, and hardly a patch of carpet was visible, never mind a place to sit. The windows seemed to be blacked out, and there were a couple extra lamps to help keep the room lit enough. Still, it was pretty dim inside.

Marco was seated at the main desk, glasses lit by the two computer monitors before him. His eyes shifted up toward all of you, but he didn't say anything right away. Thatch closed the door behind you, and you were left with the distinct impression he was standing guard outside. You weren't entirely sure what was going on, but you felt like Sabo had picked up on it from the start.

"There's something of note about my sister's curse." Sabo says, and Marco nods.

"Oh... cleaned up bugs." Ace mutters, the light coming on for him as he moves a stack of binders out of a chair and motions for you to sit. "I get it now."

"I'm used to clandestine situations because of my family," you say, taking up the seat Ace cleaned off for you. "But this is certainly different."

"The good news is, I'm pretty sure I know what your curse is," Marco says, taking his glasses off and leaning back in the chair. "The bad news is, if word gets out you might find yourself forcefully recruited."

"Considering you don't even want to say what it is," you leave the thought to drop, taking a moment to consider your options. Ignorance could work in your favor, since if you didn't know there was no way for someone to force you to say what it was.

Unfortunately, you already understood there were risks to not knowing. Knowledge would provide control, and control would be more important in the long run than anything else. Ignorance, as well, wasn't something you were comfortable with no matter how useful it could be.

"I need to know, however. I can't make decisions ill-informed."

Marco smiles, but it fades quickly. "You're correct, but it doesn't make it any easier, yoi." He turns one of the monitors around and you see an article about a mythical bird known as Caladrius. You read the article along with Sabo and Ace and you can feel your stomach knot the more you read.

"A bird that heals any disease." Sabo murmurs.

"Burning the disease away in the sun..." Ace says. "Oh no."

"Curses usually work a little differently than what myth and legend would have us think." Marco interjects, turning the monitor back around. "I doubt you'll be making round trips to the sun and back."

"Yeah... me too." You put your hand over your mouth and lean down.

"Take your time, lass." Marco says softly. "It's a lot to process."

You shake your head. You can feel panic rising up in you. Everything was coming together in your mind and you couldn't grasp or focus on any one thing. Above all other concerns though, was fear. Fear that you wouldn't be able to control yourself. That the curse itself would compel you to leap into fire of any kind. That it would only be a matter of time before the world knew all there was to know about your curse.

"I flew into Ace's fire." You say it quietly, reaching out and grabbing Ace's hand with your left, and Sabo's hand with your right, head still nearly between your knees. "He was showing me because I asked, and I... I thought it was the sun and I just flew right into it. I felt better after. I'd been feeling better since Dr. Law took most of that poison away, but I still felt better."

Your grip tightens on both of their hands and you heave in a deep breath. "I couldn't stop - I couldn't!" You gasp, tears burning your eyes. "Control it! I - I!"

Sabo and Ace move to help you sit up. You're gulping in air like there's none in the room, thick tears burning down your cheeks. Ace crouches down to his knees, and turns you to face him with his free hand.

"You know now," he says, holding onto your hand even as your fingers are nearly bruising his skin. "You didn't know and it's hard to control what you don't know. But you know now. Sabo and I, and Marco, we're not going to let you lose control like that."

"Breathe, lil' spark." Sabo adds quietly and you take in a deep breath, nodding your head and loosening your grip on both of them a bit. "There you go, breathe, it's okay. Ace is right, we're going to help."

Sabo's eyes shift away from you and look toward Ace. "Flame Emperor?" He asks and Ace nods.

"Out in the field, who was gonna see?"

"Don't -." You turn to Sabo, letting go of Ace and grabbing onto your brother with both hands. Your panicked state was subsiding, but if the two of them began to argue because of you, you didn't know what you were going to do. "Don't be angry with him, I-."

"I'm not," Sabo assures you, crouching down as well. "I promise. He couldn't have known anymore than you." He adds, pulling a handkerchief from his vest pocket and handing it to you. "Deep breath. It's going to be okay."

"It's a lot to take in all at once, yoi." Marco says. "Even without realizing how instinctual a Zoan type curse can be. Paramecia and Logia don't have the same voice to contend with, but the good news is that you already know what it feels like. That'll make it easier to deal with going forward."

"Purification," you mutter the word, leaning back into the chair and nearly sinking into it. Never mind everything else surrounding your curse, that was by far the worst part about it. Being able to heal people would've been the only thing that would've been worse. Curses that could benefit society were often pressed into service, and then utilized almost entirely by Celestials and Royals, never even to be seen by nobles, let alone commoners.

Being a noble wouldn't save you, especially since you were going to be stripped of your title the moment your parents learned you were cursed. Even if you had gone through with the marriage to Ichiji, royalty wouldn't save you either, at best you would've simply been controlled by the Vinsmoke family instead of being controlled by the government.

"It's not a given." Ace says sternly, almost angrily. You look over at him and he nods toward Marco. "They couldn't take him."

Marco smiles. "Pops played a large role in that, but he's still alive, and the station will be on your side."

"Dragon and I as well." Sabo affirms, putting a hand on your shoulder. "You will not be forced to do anything you don't want to."

"Morgans is an Albatross," Marco muses. "You could probably easily get away with saying you're a dove, or pigeon."

"She looks more like a swan when she changes though." Ace says, looking to Marco. "Like your form, her neck's a little too long for dove or pigeon."

"Oh?"

"It looks a bit like a sparrow when I'm small." You correct.

Ace beams. "Yeah, I guess it does."

"Small?" Marco and Sabo ask in unison.

"Yeah, hang on." You sit properly in the chair, taking a deep breath to calm yourself down before you change. Your first shift is to a bird that's about the same size as you are. Like Ace said, your neck's a little too long to be strictly pigeon or dove, but you have traits from those birds certainly. "Now, if I concentrate I can."

You feel yourself collapse and change, and Ace puts a hand out so you land in his palm instead of descending to the chair cushion.

"How?" Marco starts.

"I wanted to fly in the basement!" You declare in a voice far squeakier and trill than your usual voice. Sabo snorts, putting a hand over his mouth and turning away for a moment. "Don't laugh." You huff and your poor brother loses it entirely.

"Cute," he gasps, turned away from you completely and trying desperately to compose himself. You look over at Ace who looks away from you quickly, already biting down on his bottom lip. He can't turn away from you entirely, however, since he's still holding you in his hands.

You jump out of his hand and fly over to the desk, landing awkwardly on top of some papers as Marco holds out a hand. Hopping over to it, you climb on and he picks you up easily.

"That's unique." He admits. "You don't even weigh anything. Can you go bigger?"

"Not in here!" Ace shouts and your laugh sounds like a bird song before you flit away from Marco's hand and change back, white flames dissipating as you set your feet on an empty patch of carpet. "She was the size of my truck!" He warns. "And that was before she spread her wings." He opens his arms out wide, standing up on his tiptoes to help illustrate his point.

"That's quite the range, yoi."

Your smile fades and you look down for a moment before looking back to Marco. "That's not normal for a Zoan, is it?"

Marco's reassuring smile does fade, but he shakes his head. "It's not. Zoan curses usually come with partial control, hybrid forms, and full forms. There might be differences in size between those three forms, but changes in size within a form is..." He pauses, brows furrowing, and thinks. "Unique, yoi."

"Unique to the Caladrius."

"As far as I know, yes." He answers evenly. "You've got some heavy decisions to make, but don't rush the process. For now it's best to keep as many details about your curse secret as possible, yoi. You'll have to show something if you're going to use it to absolve yourself of your family ties, but I doubt anyone will need or want more than a partial transformation as a sign of proof."

"Ichiji certainly didn't." Sabo grumbles, before shaking off his disdain for the prince and smiling. "He's right though, that works in our favor."

"A dove then." You say with a nod as Ace tenses. "That'll be easy to remember."

"With that as settled as it's going to get, we should see what's on that drive before Ace bursts into flames." Sabo says as Ace pulls his hat over his face and flips him the bird. "Don't worry freckles, no one else will call her palomita, I'm sure."

"Not unless they want to get set on fire, yoi." Marco says, a laugh in his voice as you and Ace both flicker a bit despite your best efforts. He gets up from the desk and heads out. "I'm sure Izou and Kiku have made progress cobbling something together by now."

Sabo steps aside and motions for you to walk by with a slight bow. You walk by, and aren't surprised to find that when you, Marco and Thatch are heading down the hall, Sabo and Ace are still in the office. They don't lag behind for long, and catch up with the rest of you as Izou's turning on the computer.

"It took some work." He admits, tucking an errant hair back into place. "But aside from being plugged in for power, this isn't connected to anything else. While still having, we hope, the capacity to read whatever's on that drive without exploding."

"Unless the drive's meant to explode." Sabo points out.

"Well, yes, unless that." Izou agrees.

"It wouldn't matter what kind of computer it was, if that was the case." Kiku interjects. "Should we get some safety glass from the back?"

Izou looks over at Sabo at the question and your brother shrugs. "It is statistically unlikely, but not impossible."

"I'm here, yoi." Marco says. "There won't be a need for any more safety than that."

"Show off." Thatch teases as the computer boots up.

You hand over the data stick and Izou plugs it into the back of the older desktop model. A few clicks and a frustratingly long wait as the old system goes as fast as it can, and there's a single item inside the folder of the drive.

It's a movie file with a date for the name.

"That's a week after my graduation." You murmur. "I hadn't left campus to move in with you all yet."

Izou clicks the file after you nod for him to continue and when it opens up there's no video just audio. Kiku turns up the speakers a bit and the shuffle of papers can be heard.

"We'll be at that island in a couple of weeks." Ichiji's voice can be heard clearly.

"Good then," your father's voice comes through distorted, and you realize his voice is coming through a phone. Given everything surrounding Ichiji handing this over, you doubted your father knew he was being recorded. "She's going to be staying with her brother, we couldn't convince her to come back home."

"That won't be an issue. You said she was going to look for work?"

"Yes. I believe she'll end up at the same firm as her brother, but it's possible she'll find work elsewhere. Her marks in school were exceptional, if not for her illness, she could flourish."

"And you still want me to go through with things even if she's employed alongside her brother?"

There's a moment's silence and finally an answer. "Yes. The simple fact of the matter is, that in order to force her cooperation we'll need her desperate. Eliminating the business itself is the only way to keep her from digging her heels in. The boy is impossible to kill, I'm not worried about him."

You grab Sabo's hand and he gives you a strained smile.

"You could just demand she quit."

"Forgive me, Prince, but I wish I could promise I had such control over that ungrateful, willful creature."

"And if she dies in the fire?"

"She could die tomorrow from her illness, what would be the difference?"

You shouldn't be surprised by the words, but a sob escapes you and Sabo and Ace steady you as your knees buckle, both of them easing you to the floor. You already knew, but hearing it so plainly was still difficult.

"It is as you say. Both fulfill the bargain. Very well, we have an agreement. Whether via complications of travel, or by accident, the death of your daughter will be the goal. Then only Sabo will remain."

The recording ended there, and the entire room was silent. Sabo put your head against his shoulder, running his hand over your hair. You weren't sobbing, but you weren't sure what to think. The entire thing had shook you more than you expected and your thoughts were shattering before you could really form them.

"... What did they mean, that only Sabo will remain, yoi?" Marco questions after a moment's silence. "You two have an adopted brother, yeah?

"Sterry's marrying a princess." You say flatly, reaching out and threading your fingers between Ace's.

"He'll become a prince. If the crown prince ascends, Sterry would return to the family house with his wife and take over as head of the house." Sabo explains with a sigh. "If something happens to the crown prince, as a prince he'd be next in line."

"And if he dies for whatever reason, before taking over your family's House, then... what? Would they force you to go back?" Ace questions.

"Possibly." Sabo admits. "But I don't know why that would be their end game. I'd have all the leverage. They couldn't get me to do what they wanted before, they'd be in a worse position, it doesn't make sense."

"It must have something to do with why the Vinsmokes would go to such extremes." Izou offers. "If there's no great gain for your parents, it must be on the other side of the equation."

"In which case, Ichiji effectively killed the agreement by sharing that." Sabo points to the flash drive. "Royalty or not, he's not going to want 'conspiracy to kill a noble' come to the surface anymore than..." He lets the sentence drop, leaning back and looking at you. You both knew your parents were more concerned about the nobility than their own children, but hearing your father say it so plainly was still harsh.

"Little Spark."

You manage a very small, very tired smile. "I'm okay... or, well, I will be okay." Letting out a slow breath you sink into your brother. "I just, just." Tears well up in your eyes and spill over. You haven't slept much, you had a heavy conversation with Sanji, a tense meeting with Ichiji, a heavy revelation from Marco, and now this.

And that didn't even touch everything else.

The exhaustion that gripped you was strange, different from what you'd felt most of your life. You were at a limit you'd never been able to reach before and you were falling into a rest you couldn't hope to fight. You muttered something, an apology, a statement of your sleepiness, you weren't sure. Your lips moved but you weren't processing anything clearly.

The only comfort, as sleep forcefully took you, was knowing that you were safe. With Ace and Sabo close by, there was nothing that could hurt you.