Twist of fate

On the run

Four months had passed since Ava had popped out of the portal, her eleventh birthday having come and passed just last month in June. She'd celebrated alone, just like she had for the past five years. She hadn't even realized, thinking she still had a couple months, but her computer had. Before dropping here she never knew what day it was thanks to always being locked away and the nano blocking cuffs, they shut down everything but the nanos pertaining to health.
  Reading had become her favorite thing to do, it also helped her learn about this new world she was now stuck in. It was so much different to her world, the history less dark, but not by much.
She'd tried to leave Totto a few times over the last four months, especially after Cracker had thrown down the gauntlet, vowing to capture her. But the weather outside of the group of islands kept shifting and she had been caught in storms or giant hail showers, the hail being as big as some of the ships she would see in the harbors.
And then there was her. She couldn't get more then a fifty miles before a ball of... something.. formed in her stomach. Dread maybe? For some reason she felt like she couldn't leave.
So here she was dressed in black rags and a fake beak, made of plastic she had molded.
Most of the time when someone seen her they didn't know what they where looking at. That was fine by her.
Only issue is it alerted Cracker to her location, so she never stuck in one place for more then a few days.
She perched on the roof of a chocolate house somewhere on Cacao island and broke a piece of the roofing off, tossing it into her mouth.
She never thought she would see the day where sweets became her least favorite food. Between the cheese, pop, and all the candy she had consumed in the last few months the day had come. It still boggled her that this place was primarily made of food, but being able to eat was a nice change.
She pulled her wings close to her side, grabbing a book from the bag she had snatched from some unsuspecting person.
Pulling the beak from her face she settled down to read.
This book was about the Devil Fruits and their powers, it was just one of the many books she'd pilfered. But she was no thief, she always returned them once she was done reading.
Time passed by and she got lost in the pages, eating more of the candy house as she went.
It was weird, a lot of these Devil fruits had no applicable use but people still ate them. Some where over powered and, in the wrong hands, could cause mass destruction. Then there was the draw back of eating them.
Who in their right mind would want to lose the ability to swim?
A noise drew her attention and she looked up.
One of Crackers biscuit soldiers was heading down the street, right for her.
Stupid things where ugly, with their long, wide mouthed faces and large, tall disproportionate body's.
  It meant the man himself was here and it was time to go.
  Standing, she grabbed her fake beak, pushed her book back into her bag and turned, ready to take flight. Cracker stood at the end of the roof, his giant sword Pretzel drawn and pointed straight at her.
  Ava sighed in resignation. Hiding the fear she always felt, she put on a tough face and looked up to meet his pink eyes. "Don't you get tired of this Cracker?"
  He growled and spit at her, venom in his voice. "I do. But I have a lot riding on bringing you in."
"Like?" She asked, giving him a droll look.
"You wouldn't understand, your only ten." He shot back, aggravated.
  She shook her head, heart trying so very very hard to beat out of her chest. "I may only be ten but I'm not stupid. I've lived most of my life in a prison, surrounded by adults who thought they where smart." She spread her wings, sifting on her feet preparing to run. "None of them realized that I was learning from them as the years passed. I had nothing better to do but listen and watch what was going on around me."
  He took a step forward, his biscuit soldier now right behind her, two more stepped up to the sides of the house.
  "Let me ask you something!" Cracker said snidely, his smile turning twisted.
  She tilted her head to the side, her knees threatening to start shaking. God, how was she still scared? He hadn't hurt her in all these months, he'd just been highly aggressive.
  "Why haven't you left, you've had every opportunity?"
  She shrugged, being nonchalant. She wouldn't tell him something was holding her here. "Don't know."
  "So why do you keep running, why not just give up and come with me? You would be doted on, given fine things. You would want for nothing."
  Ava took a step back, her eyes blazing at him. "A gilded prison is still a prison, Cracker. I've had my freedom stolen once already, I won't let it happen again. I know what your mother has in store for me. I've heard your brothers and sisters talking when they thought no one was listening."
  Cracker took another step forward, his face giving nothing away. "And what have you heard?"
  "Your mom wants me to marry into the family when I turn nineteen. She thinks I'm from Skypiea, a place I've only read about. But because of the wings, she convinced I'm lying, along with all your brothers and sister."
  Crackers brows furrowed, but he never lost his smile. The child was smarter then any of them had given her credit for.
  "Well you just have it all figured out don't you." He said mockingly.
  "I do, yes." Ava nodded. She wouldn't let him goad her. If she lost her temper it would lead to mistakes.
  Mistakes that could get her caught.
  She gave him her beast smile, and his brows furrowed farther down his smile wilting a little.
  "As much as I love our chats Cracker, I must be going, places to be and all."
  She took off running to the left, jumping on one of the biscuit soldiers heads.
  Leaping from him she landed on the next roof over. Shoving her mask down over her face, she jumped from the back of the home, her wings catching the air and she was gone, raising up out of reach.
  Cracker wouldn't hurt her, she'd found that out in the beginning. She wondered if it was because she was a child, or maybe his mother didn't want damaged goods.
  If only they knew that her nanos would heal anything short of decapitation in hours, as long as she continued to eat and drink regularly. She didn't know how any of it worked, just knew what they did and what they where capable of.
  It was one of the few things she'd ever be thankful to Caesar for. She knew if she really wanted, she could fight back. Caesar had pumped her full of so many different nanos, she wasn't even sure what most of them did. It's why she had always had the nano blockers on when she'd been a captive. It was the same for Eris.
She really hoped her feelers would lock onto her sisters GPS chip soon. She was tired of being alone, tired of the worry.
But most of all, she was sick of being scared.
She flapped her wings harder, Cacao island growing smaller by the second as she glided over the water.
Her next stop Komugi island.
She would have to be carful there. Katakuri was always vigilant, watching for her like a hawk. He'd almost gotten her a couple times, his Devil Fruit ability a pain to deal with. He was gentle compared to the other Charlotte's she come across. It was like he knew she was just putting on a show of bravery. It still didn't mean that he wouldn't hurt her if she made one wrong move or said the wrong thing.
  She would have to lose the wings for her short stay, change into some different clothes to blend in with the residents.
Katakuri was an overly tall man, towering over everyone but some of his siblings and his mother. His intense crimson eyes always made her feel small and just a tad bit worthless. His cock sure attitude unnerving her.
His mouth was the most notable feature.
He always kept it covered with a large saggy scarf that went from nose down to shoulders.
She hadn't meant to, but one night she'd flown past his window to make sure he was settling in for the night. She'd gotten an eye full of sharp teeth and a large mouth opening wide to devour a big donut the size of herself whole.
Thankfully he hadn't seen her, and she'd flown to a new island.
It wasn't that the sight had scared her, she'd seen much worse passing by her door through the window of her prison, it was that he hid it and probably didn't want anyone to know.
She didn't want him knowing that she knew his secret.