I'm back with another chapter. Oouf feels like it's been an eternity. Anyway i hope you enjoy this chapter!
"I don't own one piece - I hope I did"
"Please untie me! Vander Decken is going after my daughter! I will give you anything you ask, just let me save my daughter's life!" Neptune pleaded. "You can have any treasure! You have my soldiers! Anything!"
"Tch! Look at that pathetic display, Neptune!" Hody laughed. "To think the straw hats helped us to capture the castle!"
It was then Nami noticed the Arlong pirates' mark on the arm of Hody jones. Her entire body immediately stiffened up and her face became pale at the recognition. Hancock, who also noticed the mark, became expressionless and her fists tightened, but this went unnoticed.
"Tch! Jinbei told us something was going at the fish-man district! To think that you would be the mastermind!" Ministers yelled.
"I take no pride in serving Neptune. I only joined to learn how to fight. Thanks to you, I am strong now!" Arlong said. "We fishman have been oppressed by humans unjustly for long, I looked up to Arlong because he turned the tables. Now the legacy will continue with us!"
"I trained to become Arlong's right hand man when he started his conquest in the east blue, but a group of childish pirates thwarted him!" As Hody talked, Nami's become paler and paler, and she started sweating. Her face was set on a tight frown as the memories of her oppression was brought forth as he talked.
"Those fishman want to continue where Arlong left off? Are you crazy?" Usopp yelled.
Arlong walked forward and grabbed on to the wall closest to him. His muscles tightened as he grabbed the wall, cracks forming around and continued along.
"Shark Grip!"
Everyone was shocked seeing the strength of his grip. The New fishman pirates just smirked at the power of their captain. Some straw hats gasped at the strength, but paled realizing what was about to happen next. Zoro's eyes narrowed and he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, intending to slash it, but someone beat him to it.
"Femur Magna: Diagonal Slash" Hancock swung her leg at high speed, creating a sharp gale of wind which slashed through the ground, heading towards Hody. He just smirked, thinking it wouldn't hurt him, but the sharp pain that spread across his hand said otherwise. A gash formed on his forearm, blood flowing from it freely.
A wave of rage and disbelief flowed through Hody. He didn't think these fragile weakling race could be capable of drawing blood from him. It seemed that he slightly miscalculated. He could already see that the wound was closing up and the blood seemed to stop, only the gash remained. He smirked at the prowess of the drug.
Straw hats grinned at the damage done to their enemy, but it soon turned into frown as the wounds healed quickly, too quickly for them to take any real advantage of the situation. The wall crumbled, giving way for sea water to rush in, and filled the place. Hancock hopped up, using sky walk, but she knew she wouldn't be able to stay like that forever. Also, her crewmates, especially those who have devil fruit powers won't be able to stay afloat and would quickly lose strength.
"Hancock!" Zoro's voice broke her out of her thoughts, she looked down at the swordsman who looked ready to fight. "Take the crewmates who cannot swim to safety. It will be best for us to separate here and we will meet later."
Hancock hesitated, as she hadn't seen the swordsman in action, but also the fact the entire arena was being filled with water.
"Let's go, Hancock-chan!" Sanji said, but he wasn't dancing around like a fool. "That moss head could hold him off until we get everyone to safety. Don't be concerned about him." Though they often fought with each other often, Hancock could see the absolute trust and confidence on his crewmate which shone in his eyes. That assured her and she swiftly nodded and turned towards the crew who would need help the most. It was a good thing that three of the Devil Fruit users weren't on the palace at the time. It only left Brook.
Sanji dashed at him at full speed and caught him before he drowned. Usopp was dragged by Camie. That left Nami. Hancock dived at her and caught her. She then held the Navigator and dashed off towards the top of the palace.
Hody dropped a hand into the flowing water and jerked it forward with enough force that small droplets rocketed towards the remaining soldiers, piercing them.
"Shark Arrows!"
"You dare harm my soldiers?" Neptune bellowed out and he crawled forward into the way of the water droplets, letting it hit him instead of the soldiers. Soldiers protested in vain about the king getting hurt, but Neptune stayed, all the soldiers being protected by his body.
"You are a fool, Neptune!" Hody shouted, dropping his hand into the water again. But Zoro unsheathed his sword and swung at him.
"Single sword style – Bird Dance!"
A large wind blade advanced towards Hody, who just smirked. He brought a crewmate of his own forward, who was standing beside him. The wind blade hit him, cutting him vertically from his abdomen towards his skull.
'Tch! He used his own man as shield!' Zoro thought. Though he supposed it was common in the world of pirates.
Zoro slashed his sword again, cutting the ropes and chains holding the king and the ministers.
"We didn't hold up our end of the deal, we promised the hostages wouldn't be harmed!" Zoro said. "Escape from this place, we will hold off for now!"
"No! this is my country, I will fight till the end of my life to defend the country!" Neptune refused. "Minister! Ensure the safety of the soldiers and find a way to inform the princes about Shirahoshi!" He ordered. Ministers nodded.
The water rushed towards them, submerging the place in water. King Neptune raised his spear, looking ready to fight.
Group 2, (Hancock's group),
"Hancock-chin!" Camie called out. Hancock turned towards the mermaid, who was swimming towards them with bubbles around them.
"Use these corals to make bubbles which would let you breathe and move underwater without being concerned about drowning and effects due to eating devil fruit!" She said, handing out a bunch of coral things.
"Oh… Thank you..." Hancock replied, using the bubble coral to cover herself and Nami.
"What's our plan?" Nami asked.
"We should go and help the swordsman!" Hancock replied, looking at Nami stating as if it was obvious.
"No, he would hold them for now, he won't get injured or die that easily." Nami replied.
"This is also the matter of Fishman Island, if you involve directly, it might affect the human merman relationship" Camie said.
"We should move towards the Forest of the sea, that's where Luffy went apparently. It will be his decision to make" Nami said. Hancock nodded at that. They can't fight someone without the orders of the captain, especially if the situation is as serious as this.
The coast of Coral Hill, Near Forest of the sea,
"Heyy! Luffy!" Chopper's voice rang out, reaching the captain who was riding on the shark.
"Ohh! Chopper!" Luffy exclaimed as they descended towards the land.
"Are those your friends, Luffy?" Shirahoshi asked.
"Yes, they are my pirate crew!"
The citizens around them were on the edge as the captain, who was the suspect of abducting several mermaids as well as the one who was holding the palace hostage was nearing towards them.
Luffy immediately noticed the aura which was near Chopper. "I am going down there for a second!" Luffy said as he jumped from the flying shark, landing on the hill.
The citizens immediately scattered back as Luffy approached Chopper.
"Hachi! Its you! How are you hurt? Who did this to you!?" Luffy questioned.
Megalo also landed on the ground. He couldn't hold his mouth tight for too long. He spluttered his mouth open, revealing the mermaid princess.
"EHhh? Princess Shirahoshi!" Everyone in the vicinity yelled. "She was kidnapped!"
Sadly, before Princess could confirm that she wasn't kidnapped but came out on her own, they tied up Chopper and Luffy. Luffy simply let them, knowing that he could easily get out from the ropes without any effort. He wanted to see if the situation proceeds exactly as in the memories and he wondered what changes it would bring.
"We got em! We got the captain of the straw hats!" the people around rejoiced at the capture and grinned. They would finally have a way to save the royal family without harm. Little did they know that the situation up there was much worse than they could imagine.
"W-wait! You got it all wrong… Luffy was just" Shirahoshi tried, but her protests were in vain as they wouldn't here any of it and simply thought that the princess was threatened to say so.
Luffy's Observation pinged at upcoming danger. He could already sense who it was and his future sight also confirmed the same. He still made no moves, stayed calm and sat on the ground. He kept his gaze pointed at the approaching person. Those who noticed his gaze turned around to see something approaching them.
"Oi! Something is coming towards us!" someone yelled.
"Is that? Vander Decken?" They gasped. Shirahoshi's face paled at hearing the name. years of memories being locked in a single tower rushed into her. Her breathing became ragged and she started sweating heavily. The fish folk surrounded her, yelling to move away from there and hide.
"Don't run! If you run away, I won't be able to protect you, crybaby!" Luffy shouted. Everyone around him protested, telling the princess to run away. Shirahoshi stayed, putting her trust on him.
"Okay, Luffy… I-I will stay here" Her entire body protested otherwise.
"How dare you threaten the princess?" A merfolk came forward with a stick on his hand.
A sudden wave of pressure settled on the place as merfolk started fainting one by one. Luffy's Conqueror's Haki burst forth from him and knocked out many. The bindings on Luffy burned off, leaving him free.
He shook his hands and looked up, locking on to his target. He disappeared and cocked back his fists, delivering a square punch on to Decken's jaw. He fell on the ground below, bleeding from the punch.
"This is between Shirahoshi and me. Why are you butting in?" He yelled, then realized, "So, you were the one who brought Shirahoshi here!"
"And you are the one throwing weapons at her!" Luffy vanished again before appearing Infront of Decken,
"Gomu Gomu no whip!"
He hit him on the chest, sending him flying into the mountain. Luffy turned back and went to Shirahoshi and Chopper who were waiting for him.
"Hey Shark! Get up. We are going!"
Luffy mounted the shark and Princess got inside it's mouth as it started flying. People below yelled and cursed Luffy and tried to get the princess away from Luffy, but it didn't work. Chopper and Hachi were also on Megalo as it went further inside the Forest of the sea.
Ryugu Palace,
"Soldiers! Listen to me!" King Neptune bellowed as he slowly stood up, Blood dripping from all over his body. Even though he was someone not to be underestimated in a fight, protecting all the soldiers from the Water Bullets had taken quite a toll on him. He faced thousands of little bullets hit him all over his body, leaving him dripping blood.
"Yes, your majesty! We will destroy Hody and his band of pirates right away!" The remaining soldiers yelled.
"No! As I am unable to fight right now, you would only die in vain… we must surrender now and reunite with Fukaboshi and others." Neptune said.
"Surrender? This palace seriously?"
"Surrender to me and I will think of leaving those little runts you have as soldiers!" Hody laughed. "You and me both know you won't be able to fight me and protect them at the same time."
Zoro wasn't concerned about the lives of either the soldiers or the pirates. His crew was safe for now and he has nothing to worry. But he didn't interfere the fight as the King had his own duty to protect his subjects. It irked him that they couldn't keep the promise of keeping the royal family safe. He wanted nothing more to cut the overgrown fish into pieces. 'Tch, the water is almost to my neck level. This could prove bothersome in a while. Should I finish it now?'
"Oi! You are talking too much. Should I finish him here now?" Zoro snapped towards the King. King wanted to refuse it, as it would hurt his pride, but the life of his soldiers valued more. But before He could give him the answer, Zoro drew a sword and dashed towards Hody.
Hody was busy taunting Zoro and the royal family that he didn't Zoro to suddenly attack him. He barely had any time before the sword struck his chest, leaving a deep gash on him. By now, Zoro was completely underwater, leaving the mermen shocked.
"One-eyed swordsman!" Neptune called "The palace will be completely submerged soon. I will get my soldiers out of danger from here. I will create an escape path! Hold on to me tight!"
Neptune seemed to grab water, with water bubbling all around his hand.
"Merman Combat – Ultra Marine!"
A giant water stream shot at the pirates, Killing several of them. Several were defeated, unable to defend themselves from the attack.
"Captain Hody! Do something"
The attack took every bit of energy that Neptune had, leaving him immobile on the platform. Zoro was losing his breath very fast and the pressure underwater didn't help him either. Neptune pushed another stream from his hand as it was the only thing he could do in his current situation. The water shot out like a rocket, dragging along Zoro from the palace and out into the fishman island. several soldiers were dragged out from the palace in the stream. The water stream entered into the tube connecting the two bubbles and popped them into the Fishman Island. Neptune could only hope that they had a safe landing.
"Hahaha! That was a very lame thing to do, Neptune!" Hody opened his eyes, revealing the red orbs. His veins bulged, indicating that he had eaten another pill.
"I am not going to let them die under your hands. Fishman Island will never yield to you!"
"We will see about that!" Hody smirked.
Meanwhile, Zoro shot out of the bubble, heading towards the ground at a very high speed. The rest of the soldiers were floating, indicating the use of bubbly coral. Zoro maneuvered his body midair to face the ground. He then swung his sword towards the ground, sending air blades.
"108-pound cannon!"
As the air blade left the swords, the backlash was enough to slow down Zoro's momentum for him to land safely on land. He looked up to see that he had travelled quite far away from the palace. Whatever the King had planned, he managed to get many of his soldiers to safety. It didn't quite sit right with Zoro, but he had no other way to travel back to the Palace. So, the only thing he could do currently was to return back to his crew and decide from there on. He looked around, trying to determine the place he was in. He focused on his observation Haki, which pinged him that there were people currently in the left side of where he was.
Hence, he turned and started walking… and walked in the opposite direction.
Forest of the sea,
"Wow this place is nice!" Chopper commented as they neared the forest of the sea. Shirahoshi was in tears as this was somewhere she wanted to go for a long time.
"I can see Sunny there! And Franky too." Luffy said.
"Ohh? Is that you Luffy?" Franky shouted. "And who is that beauty with you?"
"Oh, this is a wimpy!" Luffy introduced.
"Wimpy? Huh?" Franky was confused. Shirahoshi was on the verge of tears, but controlled and introduced herself.
"Robin was here a few moments before. She wanted to look into something." Franky commented. Luffy hummed.
"Ohh! Luffy. Is that you? I couldn't recognize you at all" A voice sounded from behind. He had already sensed the aura. Luffy turned around with a big smile on his face.
"Jinbei! It is really you! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see you!" Luffy said.
"What? Didn't you get my message?" Jinbei asked. "Oh, Princess Shirahoshi! It's good to see y-"
". . . . ."
"Ehhh?! Princess Shirahoshi?" Jinbei was shocked.
"Franky! I am going to put Hachi down, Catch him!" Chopper said and Franky nodded. Chopper pushed Hachi down from the shark and Franky caught him gently.
"Hachi!?" Jinbei was shocked again.
"Oii! Everyone!" Usopp voice sounded as everyone turned towards the sky. They saw most of the crew float down or drop down.
"Ohh! Everyone's here!" Luffy said. "Jinbei! Look here! This is my crew!"
"Ohh! It's nice to meet everyo- Wait! Hancock?!" Jinbei was shocked…again.
"So, this is the place you wanted to visit, eh?" Luffy asked Shirahoshi, looking at the structure behind him.
"Her mother, Late Queen Otohime rests on that tomb" Jinbei replied. "Shirahoshi fell victim to Vander Decken at the worst time possible. Due to that, she wasn't able to attend the funeral of her mother. I am sure she has a lot to say"
"What happened to the feast that the Big merman guy was about to give?" Luffy's memories were still hazy about that part. But he knew it wasn't good, and the faces of his crew only confirmed it.
"About that…" Nami explained the situation.
"Is that true? Hody did that?" Jinbei asked. His face was grave, like he was expecting this. "I didn't realize Ryugu palace was in danger." Shirahoshi was shocked and started crying.
"I'm sorry. You've been through a lot. There's a little time. But there's something I want to tell you" Jinbei said. "I am grateful that you a stop to Arlong's rampage in east blue. But you must allow me to apologize. Eleven years ago, I was the one who released Arlong into east blue!"
"Ughh... Jinbei!" Hachi tried.
"Jinbei, if you want to give us an explanation, we will listen to it. But be careful. Based on what you say, you may not live to see the next day." Sanji warned. Some looked shocked at the warning.
"Sanji-kun…" Nami sighed. Jinbei looked down in shame. Nami's memories flashed. Years and years of torture and misery. She closed her eyes tightly to prevent tears from falling.
"...It seems that you have endured a great deal of pain." Jinbei said. Sanji's eye twitched in anger.
"Yes, I don't pity Arlong no matter what happened to him. But, when we reached Sabody, we also saw that the might fishmen were being persecuted by the humans." Nami said.
"He admired the Sabody park. But he went too far. Until 200 years ago, we were classified as 'Fish' rather than fishmen. When we joined the world government and made peace with them, we got our titles. But humans continued to hate us. Worst of all, the great pirate era began. Humans wretched havoc on the island and we were powerless to stop them, until he saved our islands." Jinbei said.
'This island belongs to me.' Whitebeard's voice rang.
"But that didn't solve the hate. You all saw the truth. It's almost ironic, those with greatest power fear the change the most. Even in the world government, their racism runs deep." He continued. "There was one person who wanted to change the history and make way to a better future. That person was Queen Otohime." Luffy was sitting on a log near them, listening to Jinbei. Hancock was standing beside him. "And the other one was the hero who saved all the slaves of the Mary Geoise."
There was a sharp intake of breath. Everyone turned towards Hancock who looked pale and sweaty. Her breath started to become ragged. Luffy placed his hand on her shoulder and her breathing calmed down. Usopp wanted to ask something, but Luffy shook his head, stopping him from asking anything. He motioned Jinbei to continue.
"He rescued the fishmen slaves and formed the Sun Pirates. Hachi and I were among his ranks." Jinbei parted his Kimono to reveal a tattoo resembling a sun. "Both Fisher Tiger and Queen Otohime took different approaches. I am not sure who is correct. The Fishman district began as a giant orphanage. But it soon fell into chaos and the managers of the orphanage lost control. It became a lawless area. At the time, Fisher tiger was the boss of the Fishman district, but he sailed off in search of adventure. I myself was one of the king's elite soldiers. Arlong was the fiercest of the orphans and became pirate to terrorize others."
Everyone was listening with rapt attention. "But one event changed everything. That was when Fisher Tiger raided Mary Geoise. He was hailed hero who freed slaves and reviled as the greatest criminal in the world. The citizens of the fishman district rose to protect him from world government. The warships which kept attacking were sunk. For the liberated slaves might blend in more easily, everyone received the sun brand that covered the brand of slaves." Hancock's shoulder tightened. Luffy's grip reassured her. "And thus, the Sun pirates of the Fish-men Island were formed."
Candy Factory town, Northwest of Fish-man Island,
"I can't do it! I can't step on her face!" Cries sounded as citizens were tortured to step on the picture of Queen Otohime.
"If you can't step on that face, then you want to be friends with humans huh?!" Daruma yelled as he hit him in the head, knocking him out.
"Simple right? Just step on the picture or leave the island, do it now!" Hyouzou said.
The same was happening all over the island. those who tried to oppose them were either beheaded or beaten to death. People had no choice but to step on the pictures. Soldiers were killed outright.
The princes who heard the commotion tried to stop them, but with the help of drugs, they were defeated by the New Fish men pirates.
The Forest of the sea,
"It'll be alright, Princess. Don't worry. We will definitely save King Neptune. He won't be defeated that easily." Jinbei assured.
"Y-yes" She sniffed and answered.
"What…happened to Fisher tiger than, Jinbei?" Usopp questioned.
"It was Chaos. We were being attacked by marines. We also attacked several slaver's ships and rescued several slaves. Fisher Tiger was soft in nature. He never wanted to kill anyone, but the members didn't receive it well. But didn't refute him and had great respect of him."
"We will fight and rob those who attack us… but we must never cross that final line. We will never kill!" Fisher Tiger said resolutely.
"But I wanted to make an example of them. Let the fear sink in their hearts." Arlong voiced.
….
"Jinbei... Queen Otohime's quest is an idealistic dream. Doesn't she see any difference between me and Arlong?" Fisher tiger asked, standing at the helm of ship drinking sake.
….
"Please sign the petition! Sign it so that we can live under the sun!" Queen Otohime cried to the public.
"No, your majesty, we don't want to live with the humans!"
…..
"Hey you! This child escaped from Mary Geoise when you freed the slaves three years ago. But her home is very far away and we are not enough to take her there"
"Hello! I'm Koala. 11 Years old. Thank you very much for what you did three years ago!"
…..
"It's a human brat on our ship! This is too much!" Arlong yelled as he backhanded Koala across the deck.
"It can't be helped. She's only a child!" Koala picked herself up and started scrubbing the ground.
"I'm Sorry! I'm sorry! I won't cry no matter what! So, please don't kill me!"
"Hey, stop that. Are you afraid of us?" Jinbei questioned.
"Yes! But I want to see my mother. So, I gathered my courage to come on this ship. If I stop working, you might kill me, right?" Koala said. "So, I will make myself useful by working. So, don't kill me please!"
"Carry her to my cabin!" Fisher tiger ordered.
….
"Captain! What are you doing?" The crew yelled as they saw the girl lying unconscious on the ground, the skin of her back charred as sizzling hot iron was pressed on to her back, where the slave mark was present.
…..
"Ohh? I passed out! I'm sorry! But I didn't cry! So please don't kill me. I will do whatever you want!"
"Cry if you want to cry! We are not like those idiotic celestial dragons!" Tiger yelled. "We will never kill anybody! Let's go! We're taking her back to home" Fisher tiger ordered.
Koala cried.
….
"Koala! Get off the ship! This is your home!"
"Where's your village, I will walk you there!"
"I'll tell everyone in the village, lots of fish-man are good people!" Koala said.
"Bye! Koala!"
….
"Was that the sound of gunshot!? It came in the direction where captain went!"
"Look at the sea! It was a trap!"
"Abandon ship and dive deep down!"
….
"Why won't he go down!"
"Be careful! He attacked Mary Geoise by himself!"
The sun pirates were ambushed and their captain was gravely wounded.
"Captain! What are you talking about? You lost too much blood. You will die without a transfusion!"
"But the blood on this navy ship is human blood! That's right. Humans and Fishman have compatible blood. We can use it!"
"NO! I'd rather die than have their blood!" Fisher Tiger's voice resounded. "I will never yield to the humans. Their blood is unclean. I didn't want to tell you, but on my last journey, I saw the human nature. I was captured and I spent several years on Mary Geoise. I was a slave!"
"I witnessed the barbarity of humans. I barely escaped with my life. But I couldn't abandon the other slaves." He said. "I have lived the life I wanted and everything I did went against what Queen Otohime wanted to accomplish! She is right, everyone wants peace. But we can never change this island. It's the job of youngsters like Koala who know nothing of the past! There are plenty of compassionate humans in this world! But my reason is overpowered by the demon in my heart! I cannot love humans EVER!"
And thus, the leader of Sun Pirates, the great Fisher Tiger, Died.
….
With the death of Fisher Tiger, the hero who freed the slave, Arlong's hatred burned bright.
The Sun pirates, Under the leadership of Jinbei, continued their unending war.
….
Ryugu Palace,
"…there was no other way for tiger. I finally understand the pain in his heart that day. I will be alright. I will not fail!"
Otohime struggled day after day to realize her dream. She organized rescue operations for wrecked ship. But it was for naught.
As Jinbei joined as one of the seven warlords, Arlong was released. It served nothing but divide between the two.
….
"Ryugu Palace! This is border patrol! We have a giant wrecked ship! Requesting emergency entry!"
"A celestial dragon on the ship? Bring them in!" Queen ordered. "I am going there right now!"
"This place reeks of fish-man! Bring me my mask and save me you fools!" St. Myosgard yelled. "Bring me doctor! Get me a doctor quickly!"
"We should kill him! That kind is the world's worst trash!" Hody said. Guns were pointed at the world noble. "The power you wield on the surface… is only guaranteed by the admirals. You're on the sea floor. As long as the islanders keep quiet, you are just another shipwrecked corpse.'
Gun shot rang, but it never reached the world noble. It was stopped by Queen Otohime who intercepted the bullet with her own body.
"Put down your guns right now!" She ordered. "The children are watching!"
….
"What's a celestial dragon, Brother?" Shirahoshi asked.
"They're humans, Shirahoshi. One of the scarier types." Fukaboshi answered.
"Why are you protecting him, your majesty?"
"I feel the suffering in your hearts. I know how much you hurt, but don't let yourselves hate the humans and don't teach your children to hate them."
"Hey! Mother look out!" Shirahoshi yelled as the world noble cocked the pistol and aimed at Otohime's head.
Shirahoshi cried loudly for help and waves spread across the sea. The ground rumbled and Sea kings rose from the depths, crushing the ships into pieces.
"Shirahoshi, you are!"
'Long ago a mermaid princess had the uncanny ability to control Neptunians. That legend was what lured the first Vander Decken to the sea floor. I have finally found her!' Vander Decken yelled.
A few weeks later, the celestial dragon recovered from his wounds.
"I will accompany him to the surface!" Queen Otohime proclaimed. The people protested.
"I won't allow you do anything reckless like that. I will go and talk with them!" Neptune protested.
"No, it means nothing if you go. If someone weak as me go there and return, it will prove for us that the surface is safe."
"Believe in the woman you love and, in the humans, too!"
….
As days and nights passed, the entire kingdom worried about the queen. A single week felt like a hundred days. After some days of negotiations, Queen Otohime was able to appease the celestial dragon. Moreover, a piece of paper she held, would become a ray of hope for all of fish-man island.
"I, too, approve of friendship between the fish-man and humans… as stated in the petition" she said. "If we were to present lots of signatures at the reverie… this one piece of paper could make our dreams become a reality!"
People signed, Boxes filled, Hope bloomed. People from all over the kingdom gathered at the plaza with their signatures in hand, day after day.
"Shirahoshi summoned them?!"
"Yes, none of us can speak to Neptunians. According to a legend, A mermaid who can communicate with the Neptunians… is born every few centuries. Along with that special mermaid will come one who can guide her to use her power for good. And when the time comes, the world will change"
"But if used maliciously, it could sink the entire world. It's a formidable power that can be utterly destructive. If anything, truly traumatic should happen to her… she might unwittingly cause the Neptunians to run havoc. That's why you princes must grow up to be brave warriors as her brothers and protect her with your lives!"
….
The box went up in flames, with all the signed papers burning into ashes. A sudden gun shot was heard, but it wasn't caught on in the commotion.
Blood dripped from her as she stood, bullet pierced into her heart, consciousness slowly fading, body weakening.
"Queen Otohime has been shot!"
"Who did it!? Where did it come from!?"
Everyone was shocked, Vander Decken took this opportunity to touch Shirahoshi with his right hand.
The Neptune brothers and Shirahoshi rushed to their mother. "Side by side, my little angels. Calm down, I let my guard down. I was so happy about the signatures…"
"Whoever the culprit is… don't be angry on my behalf. Don't let hatred consume you. Shirahoshi, stay strong."
Shirahoshi started to cry, her emotions running haywire. But the sudden dance of the princes distracted her. "Mother! Look at us … we're gonna stay right here and protect our little sister La ti do!"
"We'll gather the signatures again and the three of us will become great warriors like we promised. So please don't worry!" Fukaboshi said, eyes riddled with tears.
"Soon… we'll look upon the real sun!"
"Queen Otohime died that day. We found who the assassin was. It was a human pirate. I wanted to hide him, but Hody went ahead and announced the killer to the entire island." Jinbei said. "The king locked himself up in a tower for a long time."
"There was something else that happened. Princess Shirahoshi started getting Love letters from Vander Decken."
"Pzztt… Attention citizens!"
"Ohh! It's prince Fukaboshi!"
"Mother said… that soon we would see the real sun. The next reverie is in two years. Maybe that's too soon for your hearts and minds to become as one. We will realize our mother's dream even if it takes the rest of our lives. One day, when your wounded hearts have healed, let us dream of the sun once more!"
"People's tears flowed. Princes Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi and Mamboshi led the way. That's the story of the island's prejudice over the last sixteen years and the origin of the fish-man pirates. The responsibility for Arlong's Reign of terror in your homeland rests entirely with me. It was my intention to stop him if he ever run havoc. But Arlong bribed the Local Navy officers and made sure the information didn't reach Navy headquarters."
Everyone was paying attention clearly. Luffy felt that this whole story was connected to him somehow. But he couldn't exactly place it. He had nothing about this in his earlier memories as well.
"Alright! Now kill yourself! It won't undo the crime, but at least Nami will feel a little better!" Sanji yelled, pointing at Jinbei. The straw hats had divided opinions, but neither wanted Jinbei to die. Hence, they argued over it.
"Sanji!" Luffy's voice rumbled. The place became deathly silent. Everyone was listening with rapt attention. No one showed any outward reaction, but Luffy's voice chilled them to the bone. It sent shivers over their body. Sanji's face became a little pale.
"This isn't something that you decide. I understand that you care about the crew and Nami, but this is something that she should decide. I won't interfere in her decision and neither will you. "he said. Sanji wanted to protest, but Nami stopped him.
"It's fine, Sanji. He didn't mean any harm." Nami said.
"I will accept any punishment!" Jinbei bowed.
"Stop it! It's Arlong that I hate! And I'm glad you weren't an accomplice to his atrocities. You're Luffy's friend, right?" She continued. "It's true that I suffered because of Arlong… But I met some great people because of that, it's all connected. I can't just hate you because you're a fish-man! So please don't apologize to me about my life. It's not all bad" Nami said, looking at Luffy and her crew.
"Your words… touch me deeply.! Thank you!" Jinbei replied, tears flowing from his eyes.
And there's a new chapter. Sorry that it took so long, it seems like I have been giving excuses to being late so often. A lot of stuff has been going on and I am having a very busy schedule for the next month. So expect the next chapter to be a bit late than usual.
Thank you everyone for the follows and favorites. I really appreciate your support to this story.
Soon the fight is going to start. I can't wait to write that part. I hope you will like it. So, sit tight and I will try to post it as soon as possible. Bye bye!