The Archaeologist Mage

by Ersunde

Shortly after the destruction of Ohara, a young Nico Robin finds herself in a place entirely foreign to her. The locals speak a language she doesn't understand, and have inhuman powers, similar to devil fruits, yet entirely different. She needs to learn to navigate her new surroundings if she wants to live her life to its fullest, and one day return home to learn the true history.

Prologue -

Derishishishishi Derishishishishi Derishishishishi. Awash with grief and memories, Robin made herself laugh. However, Despite Saul's advice, she only felt her grief grow. Everyone; Professor Clover, the Archaeologists, Saul, her mother, and even the townsfolk were dead. The tree of Knowledge that had stood for so many centuries had fallen. Ohara was gone.

As she sat in a boat two miles from the coast of the island on which she had lived until a few hours ago, watching as it burned, she unwittingly found her laughter turn to sobs, unable to control her emotions.

She sat, curled into a ball, crying for all that had been lost, for a while. Quickly, she realized that she needed to continue paddling her rowboat along the ice path laid for her, if she wanted to outrun the marines who would surely be chasing her; for a long while, her grief left her unable to function, barely able to even keep her eyes open long enough to check her surroundings, never mind continuing the journey that would start the rest of her life.

Eventually though, fear overcame grief, and she continued forward. By this time, night had fully fallen, cloaking the boat, but making the ice harder to see. Multiple times, she accidentally directed the boat into the ice, jolting her but fortunately not damaging the boat. Part of her wished she had a light, though she knew it would just give her location away. She paddled for a long time; eyes sharp looking for the ice. Occasionally, she would let herself get distracted by thoughts, only to end up hitting ice and knocking herself back to reality.

Though she had been paddling for hours, she still could not see land. The day had left her utterly exhausted, but she could not stop. She needed to reach land, needed to keep going, needed to live. Living was all she could do for the dead.

Adrenaline kept her paddling for far longer than she otherwise would have been able to, but land still wasn't in sight. She was starting to think she would never reach land.

Just then, a large, swirling, deep purple, blindingly bright light appeared blocking her path. It stretched much further in width than the width of the ice path. She was trapped. She couldn't turn around, for all that would await her was the charred remains of Ohara, and death. She couldn't leave the path, for the boat could not get past the ice, and she could not swim. Worse, the light was large enough to be visible from a great distance away, and it was too bright to see through, so she was unsure if danger awaited her on its other side. She couldn't go back, and she couldn't wait for the light to disappear for it would be a beacon for the Marines.

And so, Robin took the only option she could think of. To reduce how bright the light felt, and to avoid seeing any dangers if they existed, in an attempt to wish them out of existence, she closed her eyes and paddled headfirst towards the light. Due to regularly hitting the ice, her speed was slow. She hoped to get through the light quickly, so she could be as far away as possible when the marines came to investigate; she did not want to be illuminated by the light.

Originally, she had thought she would know when she'd made it through the light because it would become less bright. Instead, however, she opened her eyes with a start when her paddle hit something hard. Directly thereafter, the boat itself hit something hard, and Robin was flung backwards to the bottom of the rowboat facing the sky.

No longer was she surrounded by ocean; now her boat was mostly on a weedy cobblestone path, though parts overhung onto the grass, and she could see buildings and a canal nearby. Behind her lay a weather-worn house, that looked like it could collapse at any moment. The grass around the building was heavily overgrown, suggesting the house had been empty for some time. It was heavily juxtaposed by the surrounding houses, all beautifully landscaped and well-maintained.

While two seconds earlier, it had been the dead of night, now the sun hung high in the sky. And hanging directly above her head was a huge amount of water which she barely had time to notice, before it came crashing down. Her boat quickly flooded, though the rest of the water seemed to disappear into the grass nearby. She quickly realized it had to be seawater because she lost the ability to move. She was going to drown.

Robin was uncertain whether it was the certainty of death or her exhaustion but the adrenaline that had been keeping her going seemed to fade and left behind a peaceful sensation. The world was determined for her to die today, and there was nothing she could do about it. As she proceeded to drown, and her sight turned to black, Robin's thoughts turned back to her mother and the other archaeologists. She wasn't going to be able to fulfil her mother's last request, but at least she'd see them again soon.