Unbreakable

Chapter 8 Waiting

After they decided to remain friends as they head down stairs. Shakky and Rayleigh have a knowing smile but Camie is just happy that the two are finally awake. Waiting by her usual bar stool was the gift everyone brought her unopened. Cytherea was surprised by it and looked at Shakky for answers. "Bean you never opened any presents last night, you were too excited to sit still you kept singing and dancing all night." Cytherea knew she added that last part to give her an excuse for the noise her and Hatchan made. Blushes as she starts to open the gifts. The first one was from Camie and Pappag. It was new clothes. A few sets of black sweatpants, black cargo pants and a red shirt that zips up front. She was so excited and thanked them gushing how the clothes were perfect. New was from Hatchan it was a bubble coral so when she was ready he would take her to fishman Island safely. He also got a few new dials that were full of music. Shakky got her a new pair of boots, they were lace up black combat boots. There were little charms on the back and Shakky told her to try them on. When she did there was a small button inside by the toes. When she pressed it a small fork blade came out. Shakky explained even though she can moonwalk now. They would be useful to climb a ship's mast especially when it rains. Last present was from Rayleigh, it was a small thing poorly wrapped in newspaper. When she opened it, she paused and looked at him waiting for him to explain. He smiles and says, "your grandfather always wore these types of sunglasses when he was a pirate. (32) Even though he kept his bangs over his eyes to hide his identity. He got them from a merchant from Seven Waters. They are not the same pair he wore but they are the style of frames, I thought you would appreciate the blue lenses instead of purple ones like he used to wear." Cytherea picked up the glasses and began to rub her thumb on them. She didn't remember Jiji ever wearing sunglasses, but her mother did. A gold pair of frames that were slightly square with purple tint to them.(33) Small tears creep to the edge of her eyes. "Thank you" she whispered. The small group just smiled back at her. They may have not been the family she lost but they were dear to her now.

Cytherea talked to Shakky and Rayleigh, they all agreed that she has grown a lot. There was only so much they could teach her. What she was missing now was experience. They waited til the next morning so she could travel with the Fishman to Fishman Island. The goodbye was short and sweet. With using her new bubbles coral she got they start heading down below the water. (34) Cytherea enjoys the peaceful ride below. Hatchan pushed the bubble, he kept smiling and pointing out types of fish and things around them. Cytherea wished that she was able to see but with her haki she had a good idea what he was talking about. It took about 2 hours to get to Fishman Island. Camie kept talking about all the places she wanted to show Cytherea. She was so excited about everything, Cytherea just smiled and agreed to do whatever the little mermaid wanted. She wasn't sure what her next step was but she was going to enjoy every step she made. Cytherea knew that they were there before the merpeople did. She was dozing off in the bubble then sat up quick startling Hatchan when she sensed the island was near. She was smiling at how beautiful she could tell it was. There was so much of the city she could tell was alive. The buildings were made of coral and all types of merpeople were around. When they made their way over to where Camie was renting. Hatchan said goodbye because he had to take care of a few things, but promised to see them soon. Camie promised Cytherea that she could stay with her till she figured out how to get to the new world. She also promised to help her find a job. Cytherea ended up finding a small bar that was frequented by pirates. Turns out a bar full of mermaids, that made her an oddity. She served the customers who kept trying to take advantage of the mermaids. (35) She did not make as much in tips as the rest of them. The mermaids would always give her extra because she helped so much. It was the best place to also listen to information about what was going on in the new world. She made a few friends with the mermaids that she worked with and staying with Camie was fun. About after two months of staying down at fishman Island. She knew she needed to move on. Especially now that Big Mama was enforcing higher demands and there weren't that many visitors coming to the island. There was also a rumor going around that the Kids Pirates were attacking Big Mama pirates. So she made a deal with a merchant that was going to a port island in the new world. She promised to sell him some rare fishman saki that was hard to get. Hatchan and her exchanged numbers and virvie cards. Then she was off to the next island. She continued to sail from island to island working at local bars. Then hitching rides with merchants. There was a few times someone would try to take advantage of her but it wasn't anything she couldn't
handle. The rumors were true about the Kid Pirates they were going after the Emperor. So she focused on finding as much information and getting stronger. (36) Life continues this way exploring island to island. She honestly can't remember the last time she had this much control of anything. The problem was, she was lonely. There were people she made friends with, but no one was as close. Cytherea couldn't think of a reason not to find the Kids Pirates. She ran into a few of his ships but never the main ship. Still when she did come across the pirates she would give them all the information she had that would help. She was not surprised that the crew did trust her or the information, yet they accepted it. Cytherea could have just explained to them that she wanted to join the main ship, or gotten an Eustass or Killer vivre card. Hell, even the ship's number at this point. But she didn't. Cytherea couldn't say why but the timing didn't feel right. Before she knew it eight months went by and she was on a well known island that the kid pirates frequented. She was nervous to come here at first but it was time. It had been two years since she had been free, and there was the beginning of a major shift to the world. Cytherea was very proud of the network of information she made. There wasn't much information she couldn't get ahold of and most islands she had spies on now. She made connections with a few Marines who gave her information when needed. She also had a lot of money saved up. As much as she moved she knew that it couldn't stay in one place. So using the idea Shakky gave her. She kept the money hidden in her outfit. The charms on the back of her boots look like cheap metal but actually worth about 100,000,000 berries. She made enough to be able to pay off her bounty which she kept on her at all times. She also kept other precious jewelry with her to sell if needed. She is ready to join the crew. Now all she had to do was wait for her crew to find her.With all her information it was pretty spot on. She only had to work at this newest bar for about a month. It was a pretty busy day, she was jumping between dropping off drinks to being a bouncer. Several pirate crews showed up at once and the bar was full and loud. Most of the men who came here were for the wide alcohol selection they had. Some came because the bar had a reputation of having beautiful bartenders. The only reason the bar was able to not be overrun was how strict they kept the rules. One of the main reasons Cytherea enjoyed working here. Being in the new world the only way to survive was not having mercy. The bar had the reputation of killing unruly patrons here. As a worker though the owner was very generous with pay and how he treated his staff. Out of the many places she has worked, it was one of her favorites. This did not mean that some dumb ass pirate wouldn't try to pull something. Luckily for her there was no rule on how the staff decided to retaliate. Cytherea was sweating from all the running back and forth she was doing. The bar was loud, they had a live band tonight. They also had a rush of rookies come in, eager to prove themselves to the new world. She barely had enough to keep tabs on everything going on. Luckily she wasn't the only bouncer today, so she was able to run drinks. "Cytherea, you look like you just ran a mile." The tall dark skinned bar owner Edwy was the one behind the bar tonight. Cytherea reaches and grabs her glass of water she had back there and leans against the bar signing. (37) "Yeah the crowd is lively tonight, I don't feel many troublemakers in my section at least. How is everyone else holding up?" Edwy liked how she worried about the other staff members. "Most of the other parts are doing fine, a small time crew is trying to make amends with Briget earlier. We handled it though." Cytherea hums as she takes a few more sips of her water. "Would you do me a favor, Cyth, and run these beers to table 12 for me? Laurie is trying to get a bigger tip from some big shots and keeps forgetting she has other tables." Edwy says with a sigh. "Yeah I got it chief, table 12 you said?" "Yep" he was already making more drinks when she grabbed the tray. She makes her way through the crowd, one nice thing about the past two years was how tall she was now. Probably around 6'1 made her as tall as most men. Along with the muscle growth in her arms most people didn't mess with her too much. She can tell Laurie is still sitting on some random pirates lap flirting with them as she walks by. Laurie whispers an apology when they make eye contact, Cytherea just jesters back how she was going to get tipped by Laurie for this. Over at table 12, she couldn't make out any voices and was trying to make sure none of the beers spilled as the bar was pretty packed. So when she made it to the table she didn't have her focus on who was sitting there. She started taking drinks off the tray saying what they were when she heard Laurie scream. Not thinking, she places the whole tray on the table. And rushed to Laurie, the poor girl is on the ground crying as a crew she was with earlier was screaming at her. Something to do with her being a useless whore. Cytherea doesn't slow down as she shoves the man off of Laurie, sending him back into his booth. She crouches down to check on her coworker. Laurie was alright for the most part a decent sized cut was on her arm. Cytherea looked up the pirates say, "pay your fucking tab and leave." While pointing at the door. The ring leader was the one she shoved down earlier who hurt Laurie. Say "do you know who I am bitch? I am going to be one of the next emperors! This whore you have wouldn't give up the goods so I put her back in place." This man just signed his own death sentence. Edwy was by the poor girl's side and nodded for Cytherea to take care of the situation. Cytherea stands slowly letting the shadow cover her face. She is struggling to keep her rage contained now. She begins again staring the man in the eyes as they are the same height. "If you don't pay your crew's tab and leave, I will run my blade from your balls up to your throat." As she says this she jesters with her finger the path it will go. "Ha! Like to see..." the pirate didn't get to finish, because just like she promised. The blade ran smoothly up the entire man's body. The blood splashes on Cytherea and the dead men's crew. She looks at them with a wicked smile and says "Alright who is second in command? It's time to take out this trash you brought in and pay your fucking tab." Cytherea can smell piss, one of the crew wet themselves. The men scramble to get out the door. Before they can reach it Cytherea has her whip out smacking the first one hand away. "Um, forgetting something?" The pirates drop a bag of berries on the floor, coins spilling out. Then try to leave again, this time Cytherea was standing in front of the door "take the trash you use to call a captain with you, or I'll take you all out with the rest of the garbage." A few of them were openigly crying now, but two went back dragging their dead captain. Cytherea opens the door for them, then turns back to the now silence bar. She misses putting on a performance so she decides to get the party going by saying "why did the music stop? The night is still young! NEXT ROUND IS ON THE HOUSE!" (38) The crowd cheers and music starts up again.