Unbreakable (Killer X OC)

Chapter 6 BlackBird

**Chapter 6: Blackbird**

Healing her wounds was slow, and Shakky started training her to run the bar. Cytherea wonders how Shakky got men to keep coming in here. The prices Shakky set are truly a rip-off. The only times there seem to be an exception to that were when she was friends with them or they had good information to share. Shakky always had the newest information, from pirates to the world government. Slowly, Cytherea did too; Shakky would read the paper out loud while Cytherea cleaned the bar.

Delivery birds were frequent too. Shakky had her web of spies and informants everywhere. She would also ask Cytherea the craziest questions about her time as a slave, like what kind of food the Celestial Dragons would eat or how often they left Marijoa. Before long, Shakky started sending Cytherea on errands around Sabaody. She would try to protest and say how she had a bounty. Shakky just tossed her a new knife and told her to get back soon.

Most of the trips were fine; Cytherea tried walking around the tree island only to realize that bridges were not something she could detect with her Haki. This just made her work on jumping around the trees, and she would be exhausted when she got back. The next part was that she was still blind, so shops and Grove signs were out. That meant she started to expand her Haki to be able to read people's movements, and she thought it was possible to expand it even further. That also came in handy when avoiding bounty hunters.

After about a month, Shakky came up to her asking about being the bouncer for the bar. It turns out Shakky didn't like it when Cytherea stabbed every customer who refused to pay 100,000 berries for one beer. Shakky said they can't pay their tab if they are dead. So, Shakky got Cytherea a whip, which meant she had to practice. She had only used a whip a few times in the circus when working with animals. The one she got was a red leather bullwhip about 10 ft long. Cytherea would train before her shift at the bar each day. She managed to only give herself a few more scares, mostly around her arms.

The trees she was practicing with got beat up pretty badly. Shakky would tell her to point the handle of the whip, and it would land there. During the day, she would tie it around her belt when she went through her chore list. The days went by fast. Cytherea would go to sleep exhausted every night, not that she slept much. There were days when she would have off from the bar. Shakky gave her a small payment so she could get things for herself. After the major wound on her chest healed, she decided to take Camie with her shopping. Shakky let them borrow her bonchari, with the promise to bring back groceries too. The two girls got snacks and went shopping. Pappag helped Cytherea pick out clothes. He had many ideas that helped her cover all her scars but still feel confident about her body. (25)

Camie was so cute to Cytherea; it was like having a little sister. They would stay up talking late; Camie would talk about Fish-Man Island. Cytherea would talk about some of the islands she visited as a kid. Camie would sometimes ask more questions about Cytherea's past and family. Mostly, Cytherea would change the subject. A few times, she had to walk away. The next morning, Camie would always give a teary-eyed apology. Cytherea would just pat her head and tell her it's fine. After about three months into this routine, Hatchan was getting better and able to help out more before they had to go back. Cytherea was hesitant to get to know the Fishman because, to her, when she tried to stop Straw Hat from saving him, it meant it was okay for Saint Charlos to shoot him. After a night of deep conversation, both of them realized that they were a lot alike.

Hatchan even told her how he covered his brand with a new symbol. Cytherea loved that idea; she may be able to see the brand anymore. Yet she didn't want Saint Charlos to have any control over her body. With Shakky and the fish folk's suggestion, the four of them came up with an eye-shaped brand with an X through it. (26) Cytherea got it tattooed the next day; it now covered up half her back, and it was slow to heal, but she loved it. Two more months flew by, and it was time for Hatchan and Camie to go back to Fish-Man Island. Both girls had tears running down their cheeks. Hatchan gave Cytherea his number so that when it was time for her to go to the New World, he would take her to Fish-Man Island.