A/N: Hello everyone and welcome back to the official first chapter of this story. First things first, review answers.
BlueAutumn12: Hello, thank you for the review! I'm glad you thought this was a unique way of starting off the story. As for Charlotte's access to past information... well, she does know that this isn't the first life she's lived, and she can remember bits and pieces, but it's sort of like trying to remember a dream, where sometimes the details are foggy and then you'll randomly remember something. Anyway, glad you enjoyed it so far.
Shion Lee: Thank you for your review! And I certainly will. :)
MonochromeJoker29: Ahh! well I'm glad you've found a fic that you're so sure you're going to enjoy. I do plan to continue it, as you can tell from there being a new chapter haha. I'm going to do everything I can to keep it interesting and to keep Charlotte from becoming cliche or sue-ish.
Thanks to Glassdrop, neo gen x, Arvas13, FahmiWasHere, Harkawa Ayame, rock legend 166, sdkop21, zecran, MonochromeJoker29, Brie45, 204shipper, Parfois, Sc0ttSpencer, Taiski, 2, MangaFreak3, agnesmaria120, jammylee, ShionLee, RiverSong456, Copykat2, CrystalSeker, 4311001134, Yveltan, KurosuPoison, TheLoneAce, Seiren Miyuki, GlenSmecker, and Aishh for either adding this story to their alerts or to their favorites.
Sorry this took so long to crank out, but guess which poor unfortunate soul has been sick since Thanksgiving? That's right, me. First it was allergy crap, then strep throat, and now? A freaking chest cold. Also doesn't help that I finally bought a switch and have been playing Breath of the Wild pretty much nonstop...
Questions: if you guys could have ANY devil fruit power (currently existing or made up),
What would it be?
My Answer: A Zoan fruit - maybe a fox? It's kinda a toss up between fox and jaguar. Anyway, onto this chapter. If the chapter title is any indication, this chapter is small snippets of Charlotte's life growing up. Next chapter is where the real story begins!
CHILDHOOD ARC
CHAPTER ONE: Brief Moments in Time
Charlotte, Age 7
For as long as Charlotte could remember she had always been able to see things that she shouldn't - know things she shouldn't know without having been there to live through the events that she loved to babble on about to anyone who would listen. Most dismissed it as the pointless babble of a child who was still stuck in the imaginary friend phase of life. After all, how else could a young noble girl who had never left her island before come up with stories like the ones she spouted?
Stories of a young orphan girl raised by a former marine, or of a boy who was dedicating himself to learning three sword style fighting? Tales of a young man famous in his home town for being a liar, or stories of a girl forced to always flee for her life after yet another person stabbed her in the back?
Fanciful tales of fun loving, music obsessed pirates, who all died tragically save for one who was kept alive only due to a devil fruit. Or the story of a young boy in a straw hat and the two brothers he bonded with not through blood ties but the strong loyalty they shared with one another. They couldn't possibly be more than stories made up by a bored little girl with no friends to call her own.
The villagers saw her as a minor annoyance, one to be ignored. Her parents hardly ever saw her and easily waved off the concerns of others, sure that she would get over this phase soon. Her older sisters and older brother all thought that she was a freak of nature and often called her a little witch girl whenever she would speak of bad things that would happen. They gave little to no thought to tales spun about reincarnation and previous lives that she had supposedly lived. But Charlotte always knew the truth, this world wasn't her first life, or her second or third, she was only a couple shy from double digits and the idea unnerved her. But she didn't let the nerves change her from the happy, cheerful girl that bounced around, talking about amazing machines and technology one minute and flipping to tales of magic and schools for witches and wizards.
It didn't bother her that no one believed, because she knew the truth and in the end that was all that mattered to her. The thoughts of these small minded Nobles and the stiff, formal attitudes of the townspeople didn't bother her. She had her friends - even if she hadn't met them yet. She could feel it in her bones that they would all be together some day. Maybe not soon, but the day was coming.
"Charlotte."
"Lottie."
"LADY CHARLOTTE!"
Jerking from her train of thought, Charlotte was only just able to keep herself from crashing face first into a tree.
"You okay, Lady Charlotte?"
"Mmhm, I'm fine, Koga," Charlotte replied breezily, waving off his concern.
The boy's twin sister scoffed. "I wouldn't call nearly walking into a tree fine, Lottie."
"Mari!" Koga hissed. "Don't speak to Lady Charlotte so casually!"
Charlotte's shoulders hunched. "S'fine. I like when Mari calls me Lottie."
"Just don't do it around Dad," Koga warned his sister, green eyes sharp with warning.
"Whatever," Mari snorted, flicking long brown hair over her shoulder. "I'm not scared of Dad."
"You should be," Koga muttered. "And show some respect - he's a Marine Captain."
Charlotte groaned. "Oh, now you've done it, Mari. He's about to rant about how amazing the Marines are again."
Koga's face turned an angry red and he looked about ready to blow before Mari changed the subject.
"So what had you so distracted?"
"Luffy."
The twins both perked up - they had heard that name from their friends mouth many times, but she hardly ever elaborated on much of anything about the boy or the other names she so frequently muttered.
"What about him?"
"I was just thinking about some of the things he's done in the past," Charlotte sighed. "I dunno, he just... he has this thing... this urge that makes him feel like he needs to fix people. It's like he sees someone who's in pain or hurting and he sees right through it to the person they really are. He looks at them and decides that they need a friend - and that friend is going to be him. And the strange thing is that it works."
"What do you mean 'fix people'" Koga asked.
"Well... take Luffy's brothers for example," Charlotte began. "When Luffy's grandpa dumped him with the mountain bandits and he met Ace, it was very clear that Ace hated him. I remember wondering how a ten year old boy could have so much hate in their body, but as time went on, it became clear why. His whole life people have told him he's a monster, a mistake, that he shouldn't have been born, that he should die... he has every single right to hate the world and every person in it who draws breath."
The twins exchanged a glance, obviously uncomfortable with Charlotte agreeing with the boy who hated the world.
"But Luffy took one look at Ace and decided that he was going to be that angry boy's friend no matter what. Even when Ace did everything to scare Luffy off, he still never gave up. And now? Ace and Sabo... they love him so much, are so protective of their baby brother... it's amazing how one person can inspire such a change in two people."
"It's not that amazing," Koga argued. "People will go to extreme lengths to protect those who are precious to them. If Luffy is one of the few people to have ever shown Ace kindness, then it's not surprising that Ace is super defensive of him. As for this Sabo, Im sure the reasons are similar."
"Thank you."
The twins blinked in surprise. "What for?" They chorused
"For not telling me to shut up about my imaginary friends."
"They're real to you," Koga shrugged. "That's all that should matter."
Charlotte laughed. "You're good friends."
The twins shared a look, and Charlotte tried to ignore it because they all knew the truth - they weren't friends, not really. They spent time with her because it was expected of them by their father and that was that.
XxXxXxXx
Fire was everywhere. She could feel the flames and the heat licking at her skin, the smoke choking her every breath. She could make out the two hazy shapes in front of her as they fled for their lives. At first, she couldn't pin who the two people were. It wasn't until they burst into a small fire free spot that she finally recognized Ace and a crying Luffy.
But this was wrong. Everything about this scene was wrong! Why were Ace and Luffy trapped alone in this fire? Where was Dadan and the bandits? Where were the Gray Terminal residents? Where was Sabo? Who had done this? And why? Why would anyone burn down Gray Terminal?
And then an image began to form in her mind - an ugly, ostentatious ship was sailing towards Goa Kingdom. And even though Charlotte couldn't see the man on board, a shiver went up her spine. Celestial Dragons. Truly one of the most despicable beings that had ever graced the earth. It made sense now, why the trash heap was burning.
But it didn't explain Sabo. Where was he? Charlotte tried to focus her vision, to redirect it away from the fire and the Celestial and focus on the cheerful blonde. But all that she could find when she searched his future was flames, and pain. So much pain - his face! His face felt like it was on fire!
Then nothing but darkness.
"No!" Charlotte's scream tore from her throat as she jolted upright in her bed. "No, nonono... Luffy. Oh gods, Luffy, I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
No one came to comfort her cries, but it didn't surprise the girl.
She was used to dealing with the nightmares alone. She had been alone when she dreamed of Ohara being wiped off the map at the tender age of four. She'd been alone when she saw Kuina's death - and the death of Usopp's mother. By the time she had dreamed of what happened to Brook, Charlotte had known better than to wake any of her siblings for comfort, it would only end in a rough shove and shouting. When the dream of Franky being hit by the sea train occurred, Charlotte had simply curled up in her bed and muffled her cries into her pillow. Despite knowing that her future friends would be okay, it didn't stop that traumatic feeling of hopelessness that she felt from being unable to help them.
And now Luffy was going to lose Sabo. Or had already lost him. Charlotte still had trouble placing the timing of events she saw in her visions to the timing of the real world. Right now, winter was still in full swing, but there hadn't been any signs of what the season was in the vision of fire.
She was useless, once again.
XxXxXxXx
Charlotte, Age 9
The laugh would haunt her forever
Shahahaha!
The beady eyes, the saw-like nose, the sharp teeth of the saw shark fishman. Arlong would forever haunt Charlotte's dreams and sometimes she would hear his laughter when she was awake, too.
But what haunted her most that the eerie noise of a single gunshot and the terrified, grief filled cries of two little girls as they watched their mother fall to the ground with a gunshot wound in her head.
Charlotte groaned, burying her face further into her arms as she fought back tears. Watching the death of Bellemere had been hard, but not as hard as seeing what happened to Nami as she was dragged away by the Fishmen, when they forcibly put that tattoo on her arm to mark her as a member of their crew.
"Lady Charlotte?"
"Go away, Koga."
"Lady Charlotte, why are you crying?" Koga questioned firmly, stepping forward to rest his hand on her shoulder.
Charlotte sniffled and lifted her head to look at the boy, now sixteen years old and looking rather spiffy in his marine uniform. "She's dead."
Koga stiffened, before roughly grabbing her shoulders. "Who?"
"Bellemere," Charlotte rubbed at her eyes. "Nami's mother. They - she... Arlong attacked their island, he made them all pay money to stay alive and Bellemere... she only had enough to pay for Nami and Nojiko, So Arlong killed her right in front of them."
A loud, frustrated sigh came from the boy. "Damnit, Charlotte, you're going to be ten soon, don't you think it's about time you knock it off with these stories?"
"They're not stories!" Charlotte argued heatedly. "It really happened! Saw Tooth Arlong killed Belemere! The Nobles of Goa Kingdom burned Gray Terminal to the ground, not caring about the innocent lives they would be wiping out. An entire island was wiped off the face of the map just because a little girl learned how to read an ancient language!"
"Enough of your nonsense, Lady Charlotte!" Koga snarled. "For years we've all put up with it, but now it is time for you to grow up."
"Me? I'm not the one who's blind to the real evils in the world," Charlotte scoffed. "At the end of the day, it's not as black and white as Pirates and Marines. I don't know who I'm more sorry for, you for not seeing that, or the world because you refuse to."
Roughly shrugging his hands off, she stood and wiped the dirt from from her dress. She stiffened when his hand closed around her wrist.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He demanded, green eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Let go." Charlotte's gray eyes flashed darkly, like storm clouds ready to blow. "I said unhand me, Seaman."
Spine stiffening, Koga released his hold. "Forgive me, Lady Charlotte."
Charlotte didn't know who she was more angry with - Koga or herself for using that same haughty noble tone that her parents and siblings were so fond of.
XxXxXxXx
Charlotte, Age 13
"No."
"Oh, don't be so childish, Clair."
Charlotte glared at her brother. "Shut up, Toma, no one asked you."
"Little shit -"
"That is enough!" Mother's voice lashed out. "Sinclair, we have been over this. You are going to be meeting this boy - he's a possible future suitor of yours. His family are extremely well known in their town - why the Outlooks are -"
"Hell no."
"Come now, Sinclair, Stelly is a very nice boy," her mother argued.
"He's not the one I have a problem with," Charlotte grumbled.
"Speak up, Clair, you know no one can hear your idiotic mumbling," Toma scoffed.
"Stupid people say what?" Charlotte muttered.
"What?" Toma scowled at the victorious smirk that spread over his sister's face. "Real mature. Mother, perhaps she's not ready for courting, not with her attitude."
"Oh, that's rich coming from you, playboy -"
"Mother!"
"Oh for the love of -" Charlotte snarled just as the doors slammed open and her eldest sister, Eliana, charged into the room, tears pooling in the corner of her eyes.
"Eliana, what's wrong?"
"Everything! My dress, it's ruined! There's a giant red wine stain on it!" Eliana wailed. "You must get it fixed, Mother! There can be no other wedding dress."
Maybe if you didn't drink during the fitting, it wouldn't be stained. Charlotte thought with a roll of her eyes. "I'm leaving, Mother, and the answer is still no."
"Wha - SINCLAIR! Get back here righ- oh, forget it. Eliana, dear? Show me this stain."
As Charlotte took her favorite shortcut through her father's trophy room, she fought to ignore all the things mounted to the wall - fishman heads, mermaid tails... but she did allow herself to stop before the locked case and stare at the two fruits inside. Her father kept them around for decoration, but he never came in here.
Would he notice if one went missing?
XxXxXxXx
Charlotte, Age 16
Something was not right. That was all Charlotte could think as she wandered the silent halls of the manor. Even for being the middle of the night, it was eerily quiet in a way that Charlotte wasn't used to.
"Mother? Toma?" she called out hesitantly as she wandered into the the 'family room'. She didn't notice the figure in the chair until it spoke.
"It's odd, you know?"
"Koga?" Charlotte's hand went to her chest. "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"All these years, I just thought you were crazy."
"What in the seven circles of hell are you talking about?"
"But then I got curious - and you'd be surprised at the kind of things you can find if you really dig," Koga leaned back in the chair, smirking. "An island wiped off the map. A trash heap burned to the ground. Tracking Saw Tooth Arlong's movements in the east."
Something cold settled in the pit of Charlotte's stomach. "You need to leave before I call the guards."
"You can't call a dead man," Koga retorted lightly. "Imagine my surprise when I realized that the annoying little girl who always went on and on about people I was sure didn't exist was telling the truth all along. And just image how surprised my superiors were when I told them."
"You didn't," Charlotte muttered. "There's no way."
"They were so pleased with it, I got promoted," Koga laughed. "Say hello to Warrant Officer Tanaka Koga. The Five Elder Stars were quite pleased to learn that we had stumbled across a seer. The only known one is some woman on Fishman Island, and they can't exactly convince her to help us."
"You can't convince me either," Charlotte narrowed her eyes furiously. "I'd rather die than help the corrupt World Government or the Marines. You can both go rot in hell."
"You think you have a choice?" Koga smirked. "You have nothing left. No guards, no family - the World Government ordered them all killed. And you'll be coming with us, whether you like it or not."
"Killed... because of me?" Charlotte had no love for her family, but she hadn't wanted them dead.
"Of course, we couldn't be sure of what they knew," Koga waved his hand carelessly. "You babbled about your visions to everyone who would listen. Thankfully, most thought you crazy, but we couldn't be sure you hadn't mentioned the Goa Kingdom incident. Better safe than sorry, you understand."
She didn't. She would never understand what drive the government to kill innocents. She didn't want to understand.
"Now then, let's talk about what is expected of you, Lady Charlotte..."
Luffy, help me...