Unbreakable

Chapter 11 Men

**Chapter 11: Men**

The Kid Pirates were pretty welcoming after the fight. Many came up and introduced themselves. Cytherea was excited to finally be able to identify names with faces. She had read and learned so much about her crew during the two years that she felt like she knew a lot about them already. The dinner bell rang, and they all went to the galley. It was nothing fancy, just a long wooden table with a bench running down both sides.

Just like on the deck, she could tell where everything was, meaning at some point there had been blood there. "Hmm," she said quietly to herself. Gig seemed to have decided that even though she had defeated him, he was sticking next to her. He even went as far as to offer her his hand so she could swing her legs over the bench. She accepted the gesture, yet she could feel Killer watching the interaction. Thinking it was kind of cute and that it made him jealous, she decided to see how long he would observe before interfering.

The meal itself was interesting; the crew was loud, and threats were made over anything. At one point, two men broke out fighting over the last fish. A few men asked Cytherea questions about her fighting style. She told them some of her training and techniques, mostly just talking about her Haki and being able to use it at the right time. She was surprised by how well they listened and that they were welcoming. She figured they would be, just not on the first day.

After the conversation died down and everyone was focused on eating, Heat, who was sitting across from her, softly asked, "When did you join the crew? I figured by the way you spoke at Sabaody that you were a part of the crew before now?" These men were way smarter than they let on. Cytherea glanced at Eustass to see if he wanted her to go into their past. By his body language and heart rate, it didn't seem like he was overly emotional about talking about their past.

Shrugging, she decided to tell the basics. "Well, I met Killer and Eustass when we were all kids. I grew up with a traveling circus, and their island was one of the stops." "Cirque Sunset?" It was Wire who asked; he was quiet, but there was surprise in his voice. "Yep, I did acrobatics and some animal taming." "Wait, were you part of The Dynamic Duo?" It was Heat who asked, with some excitement in his quiet voice. This was starting to make her anxious; she had come far with the pain. It was still really painful, especially when people knew of her before.

She nodded and started tapping her fingers against the table. "Yep, that was me." "Wait, wait, wait! That means your grandfather is Jackson Burner!" It was Heat again, starting to get really excited at the connection. The crew went silent as they were figuring out the name. "WHATTTT??? YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS PART OF GOL ROGER'S CREW???" Cytherea just sighed; it had been a while since people had associated her with her grandfather.

The men all started yelling questions, and they began to get closer to her. She could tell they were excited and curious; still, the subject was hard to talk about. Her fingers tapped faster as she began to answer questions one after another. Her voice was getting quieter after each question she answered.

*BANG*

The crew went silent; no one dared to move. A very angry Eustass lifted his fist off the table and said, "If I wanted to hear about some dead pirate, I would ask. I am tired of this fucking conversation. Now get your sorry asses back to work!" The crew scrambled to get out of the galley, leaving only a few higher-ups and Cytherea. Not because she wasn't trying to get out of work; she just needed a minute to calm down.

The room was still silent, and Cytherea decided to break it. "Thank you, Captain." "Pff, I didn't do shit for you. I was tired of hearing their damn voices. I'm going to my workshop; don't break anything on my ship." She stood as he left and gave a little bow, a habit she had developed as a slave. Heat and Wire began to follow him out; Wire paused and said, "You go help Killer clean up after dinner. We will discuss your responsibility tomorrow." She nodded in agreement, watching them leave and waiting for the door to close.