Thrice Prophesized - Zoro x Reader

Chapter 6: Frozen Heart

A/N - Since I'm not easily weaving in what (Y/N)'s Archduke and Duchess look like, I figured I'd cut you all a break and include an image of them.

You could see a spire of ice and recognized the magic pouring from it. You ran so fast toward it you crashed into the ice; the wind shoved out of you for a moment as you scrambled to take in the details.

The spire of ice was no more than fifteen feet high, but it was thick, more boulder than tower. The crystal-clear ice had, trapped within it, a portal. You knew the magic of your world well, and what little air you had caught in your throat.

On the other side of the portal was your Archduke and Duchess. You all seemed to register one another at the same time. Faces of relief turned to faces of concern as you beat against the ice. You could feel the connection of your homeland through the portal that was buried in this terrible wall of ice, and so you focused on it.

As you pull on the magic you can see the understanding on the faces on the other side. There's a surge as they channel the magic toward you. The air around you becomes yours to command and spires of ice jut up from the ground, knocking the nearest snowmobiles into the air as the magic reflexively tries to protect you. Magic and haki both coat your blade as you bring it down on the tower of ice. Once you crack it you can tear it apart and reach the space within.

Your sword drives into the ice like butter, shattering a deep gash into it. You reach out with your magic to tear it asunder and feel the core of your body shudder. Magic tore through your internal organs wildly and you realized too late you no longer had a mana core to safely contain the mana flowing into you. Haki required no such core, so the people of this world didn't have one. There's no pool, it's a muscle.

But mana doesn't bend to the will of the body and requires a place to exist safely.

Small wounds ripped across your skin and the tender skin in your mouth and nose pooled blood in a rush. You looked ghastly, even if most of the damage was superficial you had been nearly exhausted before your mad dash to the spire of ice, the flood of small cuts that riddled your body were worse for you than if you had been rested.

Fine, if you can't split it with winter magic, you can still carve it aside with haki. You just needed a moment to catch your breath.

The buzz of snowmobiles circling you brought you back to your other predicament. You looked to the Duke and Duchess and held up your hands. You flashed ten fingers twice, and furrowed, but determined brows nodded in understanding. Portals were hard to maintain, but if they could buy you ten minutes, you'd have the ice cleared and you'd be back home.

You might go back home as a corpse, given the state of your body and the number of marines surrounding you, but you'd get back home.

You had no magic, and you couldn't risk using haki. You needed to rest it while fighting. You needed to fight while covered in blood and teetering on the edge of exhaustion.

You realized as the snowmobiles came to a stop and the marines started toward you, that they did not want to fight you. They wanted to capture you, and the state you were in had them hesitant. Which worked well for you, because it bought you a spare moment to catch your breath and rest.

These men were well-trained, but you weren't feeling the kind of power and skill coming from them that you felt from Smoker, or, admittedly, even Tashigi. Chopper was almost caught up, but he might be another minute at least and you had precious little time to spare. Well-trained weak men could subdue you with enough time, so you couldn't let them close ranks even if you needed the break.

You sprinted for someone who was working open a net with someone else's help. They panicked as you came toward them, but his companion did not. The net came for you, but you had expected it – whether it had happened or not you had already determined your course of action and turned sharply toward someone else.