The realization of the map sinks into your soul and you look around the room more intently, running from one place to another, scanning the room as fast and as efficiently as you can. You had been keeping out of the details of the crew's quest, so you hadn't seen anything they had brought back before, but you find what you're looking for.

The massive stone cube, the one they had described to you before – completely indestructible. Words carved deep into the surface that nearly made your legs buckle.

"Oooooh." Your head swims at the implications and you teeter a bit before Chopper steadies you.

"You can read it?" Zoro asks.

You nod. "It's the language of winter magic. Not of the duchy, not of the kingdom, of the actual magic." You take in a breath and let it out shakily. "We learn to use magic by doing, much like you learn to master haki, but winter magic speaks to you. In dreams and words, in emotions and symbols. It's formless and completely set in stone."

"That... doesn't make sense." Sanji admits.

"You're right. No one sees winter magic's language the same way, that's why you can't teach it by study, like wizards do for other magic. You can't commit it to paper, because no one comprehends it the same way. But once you see the language of winter magic for yourself, it does not change."

"Miss (Y/N), are you saying -."

"I'm the only native speaker of this language. At least as far as I know." You slump to your knees and look up at the stone cube. You read it in silence for a moment and feel your stomach knot. "It's a prophecy. It's ... talking about me."

"Huh?" Several voices make the noise at the same time as the group looks at you.

Breathing in deep, you begin to read. You can feel your emotions draining right out of you.

"This language will draw into this world one born who can read these when the time is right." You recite. "I imagine all of these start this way. It goes on, 'The magic of winter speaks to each of us differently, but one will be born who reads as I do, and they will decide with whom to stand, and virtue of their decision shall the piece of the one be found. Because I have placed upon this item the timeless heart of winter'."

Your shoulders slump. You were dragged into this world to be a compass, because someone from your world decided to protect this place some however many centuries ago. You weren't entirely sure how to feel about it all, but now you had a real predicament.

How could you leave now?

You were the sole being able to read the language. You were the only person on this world who could detect winter magic. If a chance for you to go back home happens before you can help Luffy, what are you going to do? If news of what you're capable of spreads across this world, you'll be in immense danger. There are people far beyond Luffy's crew who are looking for this item, and you're already well-aware that Luffy and his crew's kindness is not the standard for this world.

What if you have another prophecy and admit to your ability against your will? It's bad enough that your words basically turned into prophecy in the port town. Even if the ex-marine kept his mouth shut, the town was full of people, and some of those people wouldn't know how dangerous it was to speak about the event.

You just want to stay in this cave for the rest of your life.

"You... can find the One Piece?" Zoro questions and you nod.

"According to the big indestructible block, yes." You reply sardonically.

"Does it say why you've been prophesizing?" Sanji asks.

You get yourself to your feet and look over the block – it's the same text on all the sides you can see and nothing around the room adds to it. "No, not this one at least."

You realize that you're having a hard time matching anyone's gaze. Suddenly, you feel like an object, and you can't shake it. It was bad enough that the government of this world saw you as a prophet, but now this. You were little more than a divining rod.

"(Y/N)." Luffy's voice cuts through your haze and you look over at him. He's staring at the block. "Can you teach Robin to read your language?"

"I... maybe? I think so." You're confused by the question and start rambling. "I've never instructed someone on it before, but Robin's already got a grasp on the concepts, so it shouldn't be too hard-but-why-are-you-asking?"

"You still want to go home, don't you?" Luffy asks, turning to you with his usual smile. "It's a long trip back the Metro, you might get a chance to go home before we get back, so you gotta teach Robin!"

"But-."

"Captain's already decided." Zoro says, and you feel an incredible sense of déjà vu.

You smile softly. "It seems my debt to you all continues to grow."

"Debt? What debt?" Luffy dismisses the concept. "We're friends!"

"I... I don't know what to do with that." You admit, feeling tears start to sting your eyes. "I don't know what to do with any of this. I've yet to see the moon complete a cycle and yet so much has happened in that time and I can barely comprehend any of it. I'm here? Here!? On a completely different world because someone from centuries ago created a language only I know? Some fucking asshole from my world who stumbled into this one by some means and decided to help this world before going back home?

"Or dying here." You heave in a big breath feeling it all roil inside of you. "I'm going to die here because I just happen to be able to read the winter magic the same way. Centuries, centuries of time between them and I and so here I am – deciding the fate of this world whether I care to or not."

You're quiet for long moments and so is everyone else. You feel sick, exhausted, angry and drained all at once. You might be on your knees, but you're surprised you haven't just fallen flat onto the ice. The only thing keeping you even remotely upright at this point is spite. Finally, tears drying on your face, you look up at Luffy and manage to match his gaze. "Doesn't it anger you? That someone from another world decides your fate for you?"

"No." Luffy answers swiftly, crouching down and putting himself at your eye level. The seriousness of his eyes doesn't falter, but his body is relaxed and he's smiling. "I decided my own fate long before you got here, (Y/N)."

You laugh. It's soft, and half-broken, but the tentative chuckle slips past your lips despite it all. He's so sure, so positive, so relentlessly mired in his belief in himself. It's almost terrifying. It's like coming up against a force of nature and having it pat you on the head. The mountain is a mountain, it can be naught else, and yet if that mountain were Luffy you were certain it could fly if that's what it so desired.

This is what surrounded him with monsters and demons. He is what pulls this world. If anything, you simply got caught in the current, a rip-tide set up by some well-meaning Winternight knight – or Lord, for all you knew right now.

You slump forward, Luffy's hands on your shoulders keeping you from face-planting into the icy floor. "Sorry," you murmur, failing to even lift your head. "I'm exhausted."

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You remember vaguely, falling into a deep sleep in the icy cave, but you were so thoroughly exhausted, that you don't remember leaving the cave. You come around and feel yourself up against something warm. You nuzzle into the soft fur, tightening your grip for a moment as you begin to wake up.

"Mornin'." The soft deep voice rumbles against your chest more than in your ear and it takes you a moment to take in what's going on.

It's light enough outside that you can see, so it's daytime at some point. If it's not dawn then it's cloudy, because the snow's not reflecting light. There's a soft steady crunch of snow and you realize that the group is on the march. You're not horizontal, you're vertical, and there's a hand on either of your thighs. Your arms are wrapped around broad shoulders, and the fluffy furry collar of Zoro's coat was what you had nuzzled into earlier.

You're not on his back, you're chest to chest with him as he walks just behind Luffy and Chopper. You can see Sanji and Brook behind him, from your position, and the blood rushes to your face as the two give you a small wave and smile.

You bury your face in the furry collar for a completely different reason. "Zoro."

"Mm."

"W-why?"

"Couldn't fit you in the coat when you were on my back." He says, beginning to explain. "But you kept slipping off when you were over the coat and walking hunched over was irritating. Then the shitty cook suggested I carry you like a princess, and that worked for a while."

"But?"

"... You didn't like it, I guess. You moved into the position a couple hours ago."

"I moved."

"Yup."

You were never going to remove your face from this furry coat collar.

"Mortified again?" You could hear a smile in his voice, this amused bastard.

"Beyond." You reply, voice muffled as you try to disappear into a coat that is already occupied. You glance up from the fluffy collar and look at Sanji and Brook, both of whom are pointedly looking away from you. The attempt to spare your feelings is appreciated.

Camp was created, food at, and you slept again. The next day you were walking under your own power, and trying not to think about anything to do with the island. Not the revelation in the cave, nor the fact that you had clung to the demon swordsman in your sleep. Such thoughts could be sorted out when you got back to the Sunny.

The revelation especially, since the other clues had been copied and were located on the ship. You were equal parts curious and nervous about having the chance to read them, but whatever impact they had on you wouldn't be something you'd know until you got back.

Two days later you were nearly back. A few more hours of marching through the snow and you'd back aboard. The journey back had been much quieter than the march to the mountain. You didn't know if the somber mood was normal, or if everyone was just trying to give you a break. You didn't have the heart to ask.

The wind shifts suddenly, and you can feel the soft sting of cold nip your nose as sharp lines of cold whip past the six of you. Flurries come from nowhere as the skies are clear, the flakes of snow so big that you can almost make out the individual shapes of each one. A shiver of ice, a glimmer of reflected sun – the long comfortable prickle of winter magic skipping across your fingers.

You stopped walking, murmuring a quiet, "Wait." As the rest of the group comes to a halt with you.

There it was again, the crackle of magic, the familiar feeling. Barely a foot off the snow, practically at shoulder height, and a mere few yards away from you it was gathering. Coalescing into a tangible circle, crystals in the middle of it hardening into an icy reflective surface that seemed to be a mirror before the spell finished and you could see through the center of the portal.

Just as before, your legs move before you are aware of your own actions. The familiar faces of Lucaren Winternight, Archduke of Winternight, and Lady Elizabeth Winternight, Duchess of the same, are looking back at you. They are in good health; their faces are bright, and their smiles warm your heart. You're pushing through the snow to reach them.

"My Lord! My Lady!"

"(Y/N)! We're sorry it took so long!" Lucaren calls out, his hand pressed against the edge of the portal. "We wanted to make sure it wouldn't cause another ice pillar to form before we tried again."

You're shaking your head, you had just a few feet left to go. "It's quite alright, I have been in good com... pany." You stop, a tightness in your chest, and turn back toward the others. Five members of a ten-man crew are standing right where you left them. All of them are watching you with smiles on their faces.

Chopper looks to be ready to cry, the poor young soft-hearted doctor, but he's holding himself steady. Brook and Luffy and Sanji are okay with your choice, but you can see the quiet pangs on each of their faces. You had been in their company for nearly a month, and bonds had formed.

Though not quite like they had with Zoro – the small smile on his face is unusual, but you know what it means. You know how that expression feels because you can feel yourself returning it.

There was more there whether or not you wanted there to be, but this was the inevitable outcome. This was what you wanted, and this was what he promised.

You risk the seconds needed and bow deeply. "THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!"

You turn and run for the portal, plowing through the snow as though you could still push it aside, fingers reaching for your Lord and Lady. You had to move quickly before your resolve waivered, before your growing desire to stay overpowered your desperate need to return home.

Your fingers touch the portal, and you feel the winter magic connect with your body and soul.

A/N - Well, that's a good place to stop for now. ♥