A Mermaid Queen and Tenryuubito
The next chapter of One Piece: Final Holy War is out whereby the Straw Hats find out about Luffy's mother. A lot people were looking forward to this so I hope it doesn't disappoint.
Before you read this chapter, I would highly recommend reading or watching Jinbe's flashback about the history of Fishman Island and Otohime. It would help you understand a lot of what is going on in this chapter.
Enjoy and I hope to see plenty of reviews for this chapter since so many wanted to read it.
"It is time I revealed to you the identity of Luffy's mother," said Sanbi.
This was met with utter silence from everyone present. Part of it was due to confusion, after all what does Luffy's mother have to do with him being emperor of the world? But another part was out of curiosity. Everyone present knew that Luffy was an extraordinary individual destined for great things. And because of that everyone wondered who could have fathered such an extraordinary young man. What entity was so divine that it produced the strongest man they ever knew? For the Straw Hats that question was answered back at Water 7 after the Ennies Lobby incident when Luffy's grandfather Garp accidently revealed Luffy's father, Dragon the leader of the revolutionary army. They figured that Luffy's father must have been something but even they could not foresee Luffy's father being such a notorious figure, someone even more feared than the Yonko. But then it was later revealed that Dragon was undoubtedly that most evil entity in the world, a dark god wanting nothing but to make the world in his image. Despite how outrageous it was that Luffy's father was the revolutionary leader, it was at least believable given Luffy's penchant for outrageous deeds himself. What was completely unbelievable was how dark and evil his father was. After all how is it that someone who was the personification of evil be the father of Luffy who was by all accounts an angel?
The same logic applied to Luffy's mother whom they were also curious about, though not as much as Luffy's father. There was never any real clue as to who his mother was or what kind of woman she was. The only thing they had to go on was Luffy himself along with his father. It was clear that Luffy got his incredible strength, his charisma and ability to do great things from this father. But it was clear that he didn't inherit his stupidity from his father, after all that man led an entire army against the world government, kept it's true nature secret from the entire world and even from some of his own subordinates, someone like that had to be extremely intelligent and cunning, two things Luffy lacked. But most importantly what Luffy did not inherit from his father, was his dark mind. Every single individual who knew Luffy personally knew that he was the purest individual in the world, someone who loved his nakama more than anything, someone who has on many occasions risked his life for total strangers. Luffy could not have inherited that from his father, after all that man is the devil himself. So he must have inherited that from his mother.
She must have been a beautiful and extremely kind hearted woman for her to have passed on such qualities to Luffy, who certainly didn't inherit them from his father. That made everyone even more curious as to the kind of woman she was. The fact that according to Sanbi, whoever this woman was would make Luffy the future emperor of the world made them even more curious.
"His mother, who is she and what does she have to do with Luffy becoming emperor?" asked Nami very curious about the identity of the mother of her hero and savior.
Nami wasn't the only one curious, everyone present, the Straw Hats, Jinbe, the citizens, everyone was curious as to who Luffy's mother was. But among them all, none more so than Nami, Robin, Vivi and Shirahoshi. For them it was far more personal. Luffy was the man who freed them all from their own personal hell and gave them new hope and reason to live. They all wanted to know who was the mother of their savior, who was the one who brought Luffy into the world so that he may save them all. If she never gave birth to Luffy, none of them wanted to imagine what their lives would have been like. Also all of them had lost their mothers at an early age so they all knew from personal experience the pain of losing a mother. So they wanted to know if Luffy still had his around. He of all people, who has always done his best to make others happy deserves to have a mother around. All the girls wanted to know who was Luffy's mother and if possible to meet her, to thank her for bringing Luffy, their shining light into this dark cruel world.
"His mother is someone you would not expect to actually be the mother to someone like Luffy, in fact she is the last person you would expect to be mother to someone such as him. No she is someone you would never expect to be the mother to Luffy of all people," said Sanbi cryptically.
"Well enough with the suspense already, just who is she?" asked Franky.
"She is a Tenryuubito," replied Sanbi.
Shock was on the faces of everyone present. Everyone knew of the Tenryuubito and how they were amongst the most corrupt and cruelest individuals in the world, taking whatever they wanted, doing whatever they pleased and worst of all taking slaves for their own sick pleasures. They were indeed the worst kinds of people out there and all of the Straw Hats along with some of their friends on Fishman Island had horrible experiences with them. The Straw Hats saw first hand what they were capable of back at Sabody Archipelago. Keimi nearly became a slave to one of them and Hachi was shot by the same one. Shirahoshi saw how the Tenryuubito look down on fishmen and Vivi being the princess of Alabasta encountered the Tenryuubito a few times when she and her family went to Mariejois. Several former slaves knew from experience how cruel the Tenryuubito were. But what they could not figure out was how was it that a Tenryuubito was Luffy's mother, how was it that someone who causes so much pain and torment be the mother of someone like Luffy who makes the lives of all those he meets better.
"Luffy's mom is a Tenryuubito, how could that be?" asked Usopp.
"That can't be, it has to be some kind of trick. There's no way that one of those people could be Luffy's mom," said Chopper.
"It's is, Luffy's mother is Tenryuubito Saint Cassandra," said Sanbi.
"It's already something that Luffy's father is someone so evil but to hear that his mother is someone equally as bad is just unbelievable. How is it that Luffy-san turned out as he is with such terrible parents?" said Brook.
"I will ignore your disrespect of Lord Dragon but I will tell you that from the union of Lord Dragon and Saint Cassandra came the heir to the Revolutionary Army, Monkey D Luffy, the Half Blood Prince and the Child of God," said Sanbi.
"And as for you princess Shirahoshi, you will come with me where we will use your power to make your mother's dream a reality," said Sanbi to Shirahoshi.
"There's no way I would let that happen. Shirahoshi-chan isn't going anywhere. She's staying here with her friends and family. I wouldn't let you take her away to become a weapon for Dragon," said Vivi defiantly while standing protectively next to Shirahoshi.
Sanbi looked at Vivi as if contemplating something.
"You certainly are very brave princess Vivi and the way you're willing to protect princess Shirahoshi is admirable. The way you are willing to protect her is almost as if you two are sisters," said Sanbi.
"We are, I'm her big sister and Shirahoshi-chan is my little sister and I'm suppose to protect her," said Vivi protectively.
"I see, the bond between you two is strong, in fact it is similar to the one shared between Queen Otohime and Saint Cassandra," said Sanbi.
"Wait mother knew Luffy-sama's mother," said Shirahoshi curiously.
"Not just knew her, the two were practically sisters just like you and princess Vivi," said Sanbi.
Inside Revolutionary Head Quarters
"Good evening Cassandra," greeted Dragon.
Cassandra turned to Dragon's direction with a submissive look on her beautiful face.
"Hello there Dragon-sama," greeted Cassandra back.
"There is no need for you to be so submissive, after all you gave me the means needed to bring about a New World Order, you gave me an heir with the two most powerful bloodlines," said Dragon with a sinister grin.
Cassandra looked down in shame knowing just how she gave him his heir. She gave it to him through rape.
"By the way, I noticed that you haven't touched your food. Is it not to your liking? If it isn't, I could have the chefs prepare something else for you," said Dragon making small conversation.
"It isn't that," said Cassandra softly.
"Then what is it, this place is equally as luxurious as those the Tenryuubito reside in. You shouldn't feel uncomfortable here," said Dragon.
Cassandra didn't reply back.
"Well if that's how you're going to be then that's fine, but I'm here to bring you some very interesting news," said Dragon.
Cassandra didn't look too interested though.
"I sent one of my Knights to bring princess Shirahoshi to the army," said Dragon.
"Shirahoshi, isn't she …" started Cassandra who was suddenly now very interested.
"Yes, she's queen Otohime's daughter," replied Dragon.
"And furthermore, she is being protected by our son's ex-nakama, the Straw Hat pirates," continued Dragon.
Hearing her son's name made her eyes go wide with surprise.
"Luffy-kun," said Cassandra softly.
Seeing that he got a reaction out of the only surviving Tenryuubito, Dragon decided that now he could leave.
"I think that I'll leave you to your thoughts Cassandra," said Dragon who turned around and left.
Cassandra meanwhile was now filled with emotions, both from hearing Otohime's name and also the Straw Hat pirates. It reminded her about her close friend and big sister figure Otohime and most heartbreaking of all, reminded her about her beloved son. Walking towards the window of her room, she began to reminisce on past memories
"Otohime," said Cassandra softly as she began to reminisce on the mermaid queen that was like a big sister to her.
Flashback
Otohime was on board the repaired ship of Tenryuubito Saint Mjosgard escorting him back to Mariejois. Even though she did not show it, she was scared. She was going into unknown lands, lands that she knows very little about. She was fairly knowledgeable about the world above ground, knowledgeable enough to teach children of Fishman Island and argue the good points about it to persuade her people to join hands with humans, but that was it. Despite her love for it, she lacked any real knowledge about the world above. This lack of knowledge made this world very dangerous, especially to her since she wasn't a fighter. And if that wasn't enough, she was about to enter perhaps the most dangerous place for a fishman, Mariejois. Mariejois was where the tyrannical Tenryuubito reside, the very center of human cruelty and the center of fishman suffering. Mariejois was indeed the most dangerous place for a fishman and she was going there alone. There was a good chance that she may be taken as a slave, given the high price for mermaids on the slave market, the fact that Tenryuubito look down on fishmen and that Saint Mjosgard would likely make relations between the two races even worse because of in his mind, terrible treatment. She knew the moment she chose to accompany him to Mariejois, that there was a chance that she would never return. But she had to take that chance, for it would be the only way to show her people that the world above ground is safe. If she showed everyone that she entered the residence of the cruel Tenryuubito and returned home unharmed, then it meant that the world above ground was safe. If the most dangerous place for a mermaid was safe, then certainly the rest of the world would be equally if not safer. Thus the people of Fishman Island would be more inclined to accept humans and migrate.
Her thinking was interrupted by a figure behind her.
"I hope your happy coming with me, after all the harassment you fishes put me through you should be grateful that I'm allowing you to come with me," said Mjosgard arrogantly.
"Indeed I'm very grateful and honored to be allowed to accompany a respectable Tenryuubito such as yourself," replied Otohime choosing to ignore Mjosgard's insult.
Otohime may have wanted the two races to coexist but she was not foolish. She knew she had to watch what she said in front of the Tenryuubito given their cruel nature. Also the fact that she was in enemy territory made matters much worse.
"To think that a lowly fish such as yourself actually has the gall to invite herself onto my ship. How arrogant, a queen like you is just another lowly commoner compared to myself. In fact being the queen of a bunch of fishes makes you even more beneath me," said Mjosgard who ignored the fact that he was far more arrogant than Otohime while Otohime herself was very humble and modest.
Otohime chose not to reply and instead opted to keep silent and ignore the Tenryuubito's rambling.
"You fishes harassed and insulted me terribly. I'll make sure you cattle regret everything you put me through. When we get back, I'll get even with you fishes," said Mjosgard disdainfully.
Despite the people treating his wounds and providing him a ship to return home, he showed no gratitude towards them. By all means they could have left him to die since he was on the verge of death anyway and his death would have been written off as an accident. Furthermore since he came to actually take back the slaves despite them being legally free due to Jinbe being a Shichbukai and tried to kill Otohime, he deserved to have died. But he didn't die. He was saved and given a ship. To him it was expected that they help him and save his life simply because he was a Tenryuubito.
Otohime however didn't think ill of him since it wasn't in her nature to hate anyone, even those as disgusting as the Tenryuubito. Also if she hated him, then she would be no better than the rest of the fishmen who hates humans. If she hated him, then that hatred would be passed onto her people. The first step to building a better future for the children of Fishman Island was to not hate anyone.
"If that's the case, then you'll get the opportunity once we get back to Mariejois. There you can punish me as you see fit," replied Otohime.
In truth Otohime hoped that wouldn't happen. It wasn't because she was afraid for herself but because then her people would likely never accept humans if that happened. Also she may never see her children ever again which was something she was deeply afraid off. She merely said those words so that they would keep Saint Mjosgard happy.
Satisfied with the answer, Mjosgard turned around and began walking away but not before saying some final words.
"I'm glad at least you understand what kind of man I am. I guess you fish aren't as dumb as I thought," replied Mjosgard who finally left.
Otohime sighed, talking to the Tenryuubito would be even more difficult than she thought.
Later that day, the ship finally arrived at the bottom of the Red Line. Seeing the ship everyone present stopped what they were doing and went to assist the Tenryuubito they knew was onboard. Everyone knew about Saint Mjosgard leaving for Fishman Island to recover his ex slaves despite them being legally free. Everyone was also aware that something happened to the Tenryuubito on the way to Fishman Island that postponed his return. The world government wanted to send someone down there to retrieve Mjosgard but because they didn't even know if he was alive, they chose not to. The trip to Fishman Island was dangerous even to experienced marines so it was unthinkable that an inexperienced Tenryuubito would survive the journey and back again. But they recognized his ship which meant that he was alive, or at least his crew. All the world government officials and employees as a result gathered at the base of the Red Line to welcome back Saint Mjosgard. Everyone gathered into two rows to welcome back the Tenryuubito.
"Welcome back Saint Mjosgard-sama," said a government official quickly getting infront the Tenryuubito.
"Whatever, just take me to Mariejois. I'm tired from my journey and would like to rest. Those blasted fish gave me a hard time," said the Tenryuubito rudely not even acknowledging the welcome.
"Very well, follow me Mjosgard-sama," replied the official who then began walking towards the entrance to Mariejois.
What no one was expecting was for a mermaid to come down from the ship and walk fearlessly towards the Tenryuubito.
"What the, a mermaid, what's it doing here on the Red Line?" asked an official.
"More importantly, why was it with Mjosgard-sama?" asked another official.
"Well, we here fish queen," said Mjosgard to Otohime.
"Yes we finally are," replied Otohime.
"Che, worthless fish acting so arrogant in front of me, follow me and we'll take you to Mariejois. A mere fish woman like you should feel honored to actually get to see the Holy City," said Mjosgard.
Otohime didn't reply as she followed Mjosgard who took her to Mariejois. While walking through the Holy City, Otohime encountered several Tenryuubito and their slaves. All of their eyes were on her. They usually don't see commoners except during Reverie. Even then they don't see mermen, or mermaid in Otohime's case. All of them had a scowl on their face, clearly upset that this fish was allowed to set foot on their sacred residing place.
"What's that mermaid doing here at the Holy City?" said a Tenryuubito.
"That mere fish, how dare it thinks it could just waltz here into our sacred lands," said another Tenryuubito.
"How could Mjosgard-sama allow such a travesty to occur?" said another Tenryuubito.
Otohime for her part ignored all the glares and insults. Even though she didn't show it, she was afraid. The cruelty of the Tenryuubito was infamous especially on Fishman Island and now she was literally in their homeland, surrounded by them. She had no protection whatsoever and there was practically nothing stopping any of them from enslaving her right now. She really was inwardly frightened right now but she knew that she couldn't show any fear or else they would certainly pounce on that fear. She had to be strong, for her people, for her family.
Suddenly she sensed something, she felt a great pain and sorrow nearby. Stopping she turned towards the direction of the agony. Noticing that she stopped, Mjosgard turned to her.
"What is it, why'd you stop?" asked Mjosgard rudely.
Otohime completely ignored Mjosgard to focus on the figure she was currently looking at. The person in question was a Tenryuubito but she was different from the others. For one thing, this particular Tenryuubito was beautiful, in fact, her beauty exceeded that of even the most beautiful mermaids. Furthermore she had a different aura around her. Unlike the other Tenryuubito who have an aura of arrogance and cruelty, this Tenryuubito had an aura of kindness and love, completely unheard of in a Tenryuubito. But at the same time, Otohime could sense great pain and anguish from her like, as if she's suffering a lot and carries a great burden. It was so painful that Otohime resisted the urge to just go over to her and comfort her, since she was still in the lands of the Tenryuubito she had to watch the way she acted. Nonetheless for some strange reason, Otohime felt a strange connection to his Tenryuubito, a bond per say and Otohime wanted to go over and talk to her.
"Well answer me you stinking fish," Mjosgard said more forcefully this time.
Mjosgard's voice broke her out of her trance and she turned her attention back towards him.
"No, it's nothing, let's go," replied Otohime.
"Che," replied Mjosgard who continued walking forward.
Taking one last look at the female, Otohime then continued to follow Mjosgard.
The next day, a meeting was held between Otohime, Mjosgard and the other Tenryuubito and officials. Mjosgard expectedly gave a heavily biased description of his time on Fishman Island making it sound as if he was the victim and the residents abused him significantly blatantly ignoring the facts that he actually tried to kill Otohime, the people gave him medical treatment and repaired his ship and that he showed no gratefulness for all their help. All in all, he made it appear as if the fishmen were barbarians who made his time there miserable, not the kind of people who ignored his past enslavement of them and helped him recover and get him back to Mariejois. Nonetheless Mjosgard's clearly exaggerated account got the other Tenryuubito riled up and wanting to have Fishman Island invaded and all its residents enslaved. However when it was Otohime's turn to speak, she spoke the truth about what really happened on Fishman Island with the exception of the Sea Kings appearing to save her when she was at gunpoint from Mjosgard. She didn't think it was safe to let this information be known to the world. She explained the sea king attack as Mjosgard hallucinating due to being in an unknown land, very scared and near death. Mjosgard didn't like being contradicted by anyone much less a fish but he agreed that the Sea King attack was just him hallucinating. The other Tenryuubito clearly believed Mjosgard's word over hears attributing this to Mjosgard being a descendant of the world's creators while Otohime was just a fish. Otohime was unable to get the Tenryuubito to believe her story over Mjosgard's, however she was able to convince them to not do any harm to Fishman Island, something which in her mind was more than enough.
Now she was currently trying to convince them to lend their support towards the promotion of inter species relation.
"Our two species are different in size, skin color, culture and way of thinking. Despite this there is still much that we have in common. We both care for our loved ones, we both want happiness for ourselves and our families and we both want better futures for them. We can make this happen if our two races join hands. We can help each other in many ways and there is so much that we can learn from each other. We can build a better future if you all help me," said Otohime trying to persuade the Tenryuubito to help her.
"Why would we help you? Don't you know who we are? We are the descendants of the creators. Why would we want to help a bunch of lowly fishes?" retorted a Tenryuubito scornfully.
"You have the nerve to make one of us suffer unspeakably yet you still want us to help you. How arrogant are you," replied another Tenryuubito referring to the incident with Mjosgard.
"Get along with you fishes, please, after what you put me through, I'd rather make you my slave as punishment. I did lose all my fishman collection after all. Seize her now," demanded Mjosgard himself.
Immediately several men surrounded the mermaid queen. Otohime knew that there was no escape. Even though she possessed kenbunshoku haki, she was too fragile and weak to resist. Also being a mermaid, she may have been unstoppable in the water, but on land she was next to useless. And she was far from any water and far from home. She was completely alone. At that moment Otohime knew that it was all over. All her efforts would be for naught. When the people of Fishman Island find out that the Tenryuubito took their queen, they'll be out for blood. There would be no hope of fishmen ever getting along with humans. It was now all over. Otohime started to tear up as the painful realization sunk in.
Just as the men were about to seize her, a voice interrupted them.
"That's enough, all of you stand down now," commanded the voice.
Everyone turned to the voice and Otohime noted it belonged to a female Tenryuubito, specifically the one she encountered before who didn't have the cruel aura of the others but instead had one of kindness as well as a hidden anguish.
The female Tenryuubito in question began walking towards Otohime and the men.
"All of you, please leave now," said the Tenryuubito kindly even though it was an order.
"Why the hell should they take orders from you? You're just a disgraced world noble corrupted by these commoners," said Mjosgard condescendingly.
"That may be so but I'm still a Tenryuubito nonetheless and I am telling you to have your men stand down and leave her alone," replied the female Tenryuubito.
The female Tenryuubito and Mjosgard continued to have a staring contest with each other until Mjosgard finally relented and called his men off.
"Leave her," ordered Mjosgard to his men who all complied and left Otohime and went back to their usual spots.
"I don't why you stand up to these worthless commoners Cassandra. You're a world noble yet you actually choose to side with those pieces of trash. Now you go even lower as to side with fishes over us humans. You really are a disgrace to sully us by associating with this scum," said Mjosgard insulting the female Tenryuubito now named Cassandra harshly.
"That may be so but as a world noble I can do what I want. And right now I want to help her," replied Cassandra softly.
"Whatever just do what you want. A disgrace like you fits perfectly with a fish like her," insulted Mjosgard who left to go back to his position.
While everyone was returning to their usual positions, Otohime noted that many of the other Tenryuubito were make all sorts of derogatory comments about Saint Cassandra.
"Can you believe that disgrace, siding with a fish? How can someone like her actually be one of us?" said a Tenryuubito rudely.
"I wish we could just get rid of her. Everyday she continues to drag our great name into the mud by associating with those commoners," said another Tenryuubito rudely.
"That disgrace, first she associates with these filth, then she lets herself be taken by one of them and now she's siding with mere fish. Does that woman have no pride as a respectable Tenryuubito?" said another Tenryuubito.
From those remarks, Otohime could immediately tell that this Tenryuubito, whom she believes was called Saint Cassandra was not well liked amongst her peers. In fact, it seemed that everyone hated her. And from what she could tell, they hate her because she associates and stands up for regular people. That would explain her kind aura, for if she was willing to help common people, then she must have been a very kind Tenryuubito. It would also explain why they all hate her so much. For the Tenryuubito to show such feelings for commoners would be blasphemy and whoever did certainly would be a pariah amongst the world nobles.
But Otohime herself could relate to such a person. Just as a Tenryuubito actually wanting to get along with common people was unheard, so too was her idea of wanting humans and fishmen to get along equally as strange. Both of them were very different from the traditional mermaid and Tenryuubito. Also both of them were very kind. Perhaps it was these many similarities that she felt the strange connection with her.
"Thank you," said Otohime thanking Saint Cassandra.
"It's alright," replied Cassandra.
"Listen Otohime was it?" started Cassandra first seeing if she could get her name right since it wasn't said too often.
"That's right," replied Otohime understanding that her name wasn't mentioned too often since everyone called her a fish so it was understandable that she would not get her name.
Cassandra then gently placed her hands on Otohime's shoulders.
"I will help you Otohime-san. I will help you on your mission to form better relationships between humans and fishmen," said Cassandra with a smile.
Otohime could not believe it. Cassandra actually was supporting her wish to foster better relationships between humans and fishmen. She actually got the support of a Tenryuubito. She couldn't believe how this day turned out. While it was true that she chose to accompany Saint Mjosgard hoping to get an audience with the world nobles to support her wish, she didn't expect it to turn out this well. She more than just got her wish, she made a friend out of one of the world nobles. It was one thing to simply gain the support of a world noble, it was something else entirely to become a friend with one of them. This meant that the future of her people was practically secured. Her dream could one day be a reality.
Otohime in gratitude couldn't help but hug Saint Cassandra in gratitude who herself hugged her back.
"Thank you, thank you, just thank you," thanked Otohime.
Cassandra smiled back gently in return as the two released their hug.
"I'll have a letter prepared for you to take back to Fishman Island," said Cassandra.
"Right," replied Otohime.
After the meeting, Otohime chose to spend the rest of the night at Cassandra's room. It was not necessary as Otohime was already given a room by the world nobles despite being a mermaid. But by sleeping with Cassandra, the two got to know each other better, especially with the constricts of the other Tenryuubito preventing them from talking openly.
"By the way I'm getting hungry. Would you like some food?" asked Cassandra politely.
"Yes please," replied Otohime.
"Excuse me" asked Cassandra to one of her servants.
"What is it Cassandra-sama," replied the servant in a casual voice.
"Could you ask Barry-kun to come please?" asked Cassandra.
"Yes milday," replied the servant.
"Thank you," said Cassandra.
The servant left to get Barry.
"Barry-kun," said Otohime curiously.
"Yes, he's my chef and he cooks really great food. You should try, I know you'll love it," answered Cassandra.
"Alright then," replied Otohime.
Eventually the chef Barry arrived.
"You called me for Cassandra-sama," said the arriving chef.
"Yes we'd both like some food but I'm not quite sure what Otohime-sama here would like," said Cassandra.
"Oh, that's why you called him, well I'm a mermaid so I don't eat meat so I'll just have whatever you cook," said Otohime.
"Well in that case, could you make us the same thing, just don't put meat in her food," said Cassandra to Barry.
"Okay got it," replied Barry.
The chef then left to prepare Cassandra's and Otohime's meals.
"You seem to get along very well with your servants," said Otohime.
"I do and they aren't my servants, they're my friends," replied Cassandra.
"That's right, we're all friends, even family," replied a voice in the background.
"Shepherd, you here," said Cassandra.
"That I am," said Shepherd walking towards the two women.
"Good evening there Otohime-sama, I am Shepherd, Cassandra's head butler," said Shepherd.
"Nice to meet you there Shepherd-san, I'm Otohime, queen of Fishman Island," replied Otohime.
"I know who you are Otohime-sama and I must say that you have a lot of courage coming here to Mariejois by yourself. And the fact that you're a mermaid makes it even more outrageous. I just can't believe that you did something like this just to get your people to get together with humans," said Shepherd.
"Well as things are right now, fishmen just don't wish to accept humans ever since Fisher Tiger died and the reasons for his death were revealed. Tiger was a hero to all of them, so when it was known that he died because of humans, fishmen just don't seem to want to get together with humans," said Otohime softly remembering the struggles she went through trying to get signatures after Tiger's death.
"So when the chance to finally get them to accept humans came, I just had to take it. And that's when that Tenryuubito came to Fishman Island. I knew that if I went with him, then not only would I be able to gain an audience with the Tenryuubito but I would also be able to show my people that it is safe up there," said Otohime.
"But still it was a risky move. For anyone to just came to Mariejois the way you did was a huge risk by itself. You being a mermaid and Mjosgard obviously on bad terms made things much worse. You could have been captured and enslaved. In fact that would have happened if it wasn't for Cassandra-sama," said Shepherd.
Otohime flinched knowing that he was right. The only reason she was not captured was because Cassandra interfered and saved her. Had she not done that, then, she did not want to think about it.
"But listen, that's all in the past now, Otohime-sama is safe and that's all that matters," said Cassandra waving her hands around nervously trying to diffuse the depressive atmosphere.
"Yeah you right, thank you. Oh by the way, Shepherd-san what did you mean when you said that you're all friends, even family?" said Otohime referring to Shepherd's opening statement when he first arrived.
"It's just as he said, we're all family," said Barry arriving with their food.
Otohime, Cassandra and Shepherd turn to Barry who arrived with the two meals.
"The food's prepared," said Barry.
"Wait I'll get that Barry-kun," said Cassandra enthusiastically.
"Wait a minute Cass …" said Barry quickly only to be cut off as Cassandra took the tray.
Cassandra then began to walk towards Otohime casually as if she wasn't carrying any food. Otohime herself was perplexed at how Cassandra was walking with the food. They way she was walking, it was almost guaranteed that she'd fall and spill the food.
"Um Cassandra, shouldn't you be more careful walking with the food," said Otohime.
"Don't worry, nothing can go wrrooogggg…." replied Cassandra who at that moment tripped on her robes.
All the food spilled and fell all over Cassandra and Otohime. Cassandra slowly got up and looked around sheepishly.
"Ooops, I fell hahaha," laughed Cassandra sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head.
"Moron," said Shepherd and Barry with white eyes and sharp teeth.
Otohime however didn't know what to make of the scene. All she could do was sweatdrop at the scene.
"I guess being a Tenryuubito means that you're also an idiot," thought Otohime with a sweatdrop watching the scene.
"Sorry about that, Shepherd, could you get someone to clean this up. And Barry could you get some more food?" asked Cassandra.
"Jeez you really are a spoiled princess are you," said Shepherd with a sigh as he left to get someone to clean up Cassandra's mess.
"Sometimes I wonder why I choose to stay with you," said Barry with a joking regretful voice.
"Oh you stay with me because …" said Cassandra only to be cut off as she slipped on the food and fell again.
"Damn it," said both Shepherd with comically angry faces again.
"Indeed, being a Tenryuubito means you must be stupid," thought Otohime sweatdropping at the scene.
Thankfully it was only a soft fall and Cassandra recovered immediately.
A little afterwards, someone came and cleaned up Cassandra's mess and Barry returned with more food. This time he brought two extra plates for Shepherd and himself.
"So what did Shepherd mean when he said that you're all family?" asked Otohime.
"It means we're all family. Though not blood related, we're family. In fact, we along with Cassandra are more of a family than the other Tenryuubito ever hope to be," said Barry with a scowl when he mentioned the other Tenryuubito.
"You see, all of Cassandra's servants we're formerly slaves of the other Tenryuubito. We were just the hand downs, the ones that the Tenryuubito don't want anymore. Normally they'd just throw us away or even kill us but Cassandra chose to take us in and make us her slaves," explained Shepherd.
"However we are only her slaves in name. We are her family," said Shepherd with a grateful smile.
"I see, so that's why you all act so casually with her. It's because you're not her slaves but her family," said Otohime now realizing why they all act so friendly to each other.
"Yes, we all owe Cassandra-sama our lives. Of course none of us are forced to stay here. We can leave anytime we want. We just choose to stay because we've grown fond of Cassandra-sama and the others," said Shepherd.
"You see many of us have lives to return to. So when Cassandra-sama offered us freedom, we took it. Of course we couldn't just leave after she saved us. So whenever Cassandra-sama leaves Mariejois, she visits us whenever she can," said one of the cleaners joining the conversation.
"In some cases, to repay her, Cassandra-sama pretends to enslave us again so that we could spend time with her. She also pays us so that we could support our families," said another of the cleaners.
"I see so when she comes down, she pretends to enslave you so that you could spend time with her without worrying about the other Tenryuubito. And she pays you so that you could support yourselves and your families," said Otohime.
"That's right, but that only applies to those of us who have lives down below. For the rest of us, we've found lives here in Mariejois," said Barry.
"After we were freed by Cassandra-sama, we've been dedicated to helping other Tenryuubito slaves since we understand what they're going through. We can help those whom are discarded by the Tenryuubito by having them taken in by Cassandra-sama. The others though we have to be more discreet about. While Cassandra-sama can do what she wants with her own slaves, it'll cause big problems if she helps another Tenryuubito's. The most we can do is secretly give them food, treat their wounds and things like that without the other Tenryuubito knowing," said Barry.
"Because of that Cassandra-sama is the most beloved person in all of Mariejois. She is disliked by the other Tenryuubito but she's very much loved by the slaves," finished Barry.
"Oh it's really nothing guys," said Cassandra modestly.
Otohime looked at Cassandra and couldn't believe the kind of person she was. She knew the moment she met her that Cassandra was a very kind woman but she never expected this. Cassandra was dedicated to helping slaves get better lives and she did it right underneath the other Tenryuubito's noses. It had to take a lot of courage to do that because it was clear that the Tenryuubito heavily disliked her for helping the slaves. She herself could relate to that since her ideas of wanting humans and fishman get together was frowned upon by many. While her ideas were not outrightly hated, they were frowned upon. Furthermore Cassandra's helping of her slaves, no her friends was similar to how she actively tries to help her own people. The more she thought about it, the more she saw Cassandra not as just a different Tenryuubito, but a kind courageous woman who wanted to do the right thing even if no one agreed to it. With each second, she grew to admire Cassandra's kindness, bravery and good character even more.
"Also on another note Cassandra here has quite an adventures personality," said Shepherd.
"Huh," said Otohime confused.
"Yeah she likes to see the world a lot. Whenever there's a chance to leave Mariejois, she jumps at it, though I believe part of the reason is because she wants to see her friends that she freed from slavery," said one of the cleaners who finished but chose to stay and join the conversation.
"I suspect it's because that since she's a world noble, she doesn't get to see much outside Mariejois. So once she gets the opportunity to leave and explore, she takes it. She's probably the Tenryuubito who has left Mariejois the most," said another of the cleaners.
"She goes to Sabody Archipelago a lot to see the place and explore along with seeing her ex slaves. When she goes, she usually visits her ex slaves and they give her a good time. Of course, it'll be a scandal if she was acting so familiar with common people, so her ex slaves pretend to be her slaves to avoid that," said another cleaner.
"Believe it or not she's very well known at Sabody Archipelago. Since it's so close to Marine Headquarters it is one of the few places the Tenryuubito visit frequently. Since she's goes there so frequently, it became known that she was not like the other Tenryuubito and because of that she' very well known and loved there. The people however can't let that information known since it would cause problems for her. But whenever strangers, foreigners, marines or pirates aren't around, they all show her a good time. In fact whenever she's around, they all bow down not out of fear but to protect her. If anyone saw her having fun with commoners, well you know what will happen," explained Shepherd.
"In fact everyone, her ex slaves and the people of Sabody are fiercely protective of her. Whenever some pirate attempts to kidnap her for ransom or attack her for the crimes of the other Tenryuubito or something like that, it is not the marines who protect her but the citizens and her own slaves. In fact they are far more willing to help her than the marines or government officials. Obviously though they make sure that never gets out to the public and no one would really believe that anyone would willingly protect a Tenryuubito so that secret remains safe," said Barry.
"I can't believe that she's so well loved. It's already so hard to believe that all the slaves love her but to think that even the people at Sabody love her as well, it's just so hard to believe," said Otohime.
"We all love her and would do anything for her. Nothing could every repay all that's she's done for us but it's the least we can do. Besides every since a certain event happened, she needs it," said Shepherd who lost his smile at the last part.
Not only did Shepherd, loose his smile but so did the cleaners. But most of all was the look on Cassandra's face. Her eyes were shadowed and her face held great pain. It actually looked like she was about to cry. Otohime knew that Cassandra suffered deeply, she sensed it with observation haki but the look on Cassandra's face made Otohime almost afraid to know what happened. More importantly for such a terrible thing to happen to Cassandra of all people, the one who only thinks about others, it just wasn't right. Nonetheless she had to know what this was to cause her new friend such great pain and anguish.
"What happened?" asked Otohime.
I bet none of you saw all of this coming. I think everyone only expected Sanbi to reveal the identity of Luffy's mom. I don't think many people expected Cassandra to have such a prominent role in Fishman Island's history. And a certain incident happened that made the wonderful angel Cassandra suffer greatly. I think everyone already has an idea of what it is but you'll find out next time.
Well first to answer some questions.
Someone asked I put Kisara D Elektra of the Knights of D in the harem. The problem with that is I want the girls to be girls whom suffered greatly in the past and Luffy specifically was the one to save them. Nami was a slave to Arlong for eight years before Luffy saved her, Robin was hated by the world for most of her life before Luffy gave her a place in his crew, Vivi's suffered trying to save her kingdom from Crocodile before Luffy defeated him and Shirahoshi was isolated from the world for a long time and Hody tried to take over it before Luffy stopped him and made her mother's wish come true. Kisara may have had a harsh past but Luffy never saved her from it. Hancock was never saved by Luffy but he did strike a Tenryuubito, the same bastards who enslaved her and she has directly expressed actual love for him so I can't just ignore it.
Someone asked that I put more girls in the harem like Monet and Rebecca. Firstly Monet and Rebecca do not exist in this fic. Secondly, if the harem becomes too large, then it'll lose its realism. I mean having five girls is one thing but having ten or eleven, I don't think even I can pull that one off. So I probably wouldn't be adding any more girls to the harem.
Someone seems to want me to give Dragon a Shenlong Shenlong mythical zoan fruit. It's a cool idea but for some reason, it gives the wrong impression. This fic really is meant to portray Dragon as a powerful fallen god rather than a creature of sorts. I would be more satisfied if Dragon could command a dragon, not be a dragon himself. And he does command a dragon in the form of Sabo who possess the dragon dragon mythical zoan fruit. That is also a reason for not giving Dragon that fruit, Sabo already has a dragon based devil fruit.
Someone also asked I include Dressrosa. Well, the Kaien Kingdom arc could be thought of as a replacement for that arc, though not as in depth and epic as Dressrosa. Doflamingo instead of being the king of Kaien Kingdom was a Revolutionary Commander there.
Someone also asked that I include Wano country. This fic was meant to be connected to the first half of One Piece. Punk Hazzard and Dressrosa did not show up until well after the divergence point. However Wano county existed before that. So yes Wano Country will make an appearance, however it will probably be different from Oda's Wano country.
Now that that's that, onto the chapter notes itself.
Among everyone, I think Luffy's harem girls would probably be more affected by the knowledge of Luffy's mother than anyone else. After all, they unlike the rest of Luffy's nakama actually love him. But all of them lost their mothers which you can blame Oda for. Nami lost Bellemere to Arlong, Robin lost Olivia to the Buster Call and Shirahoshi lost Otohime to Hody. Even Vivi's mother is dead. It seems all of Luffy's girlfriends lost their mothers so naturally they would be very curious about Luffy's mom. Hancock is the exception but she isn't here right now but she suffered personally under the Tenryuubito so she would also be heavily affected by this knowledge.
What exactly is happening? Right now, Cassandra is remembering past events while Sanbi is explaining it at the same time. So Sanbi is explaining Cassandra's past through a flashback while Cassandra herself is having one. Oda did a similar thing in Jinbe's flashback. He revealed Fishman Island's history through a flashback he was experiencing. Also Sanbi is explaining Cassandra's history while Cassandra is remembering past events. She is remembering it the same way Sanbi is explaining it.
I conveniently had Cassandra's past made such that it doesn't include any of Cassandra's darker experiences. Remember that she is remembering her past just as Sanbi is explaining it, so if I include Dragon's darker aspects, Sanbi will know since he is telling the Straw Hats about Cassandra's past. And remember that Sanbi is very loyal to Dragon so if he knows certain things about Dragon then the whole fanfic certainly has a problem. So I created Cassandra's flashback such that it doesn't include Dragon's darker nature, at least she doesn't reveal it. This is done to create legitimacy since Sanbi is the one doing the storytelling and he is saying it exactly as Cassandra is remembering it.
All the other Tenryuubito are referring to Cassandra as a disgrace. This was due to her rape by Dragon. After all, for the other world nobles, Cassandra was "corrupted" by a "commoner" like Dragon. In addition Cassandra furthers her pariah status by associating with regular people thus isolating her even more from her fellow Tenryuubito and making her further a "disgraced" world noble.
The relationship between Cassandra and Otohime is similar to the one between Vivi and Shirahoshi. Just like how Otohime was a royal mermaid and Cassandra a noble, Shirahoshi is a mermaid princess and Vivi a noble. Just as how Vivi and Shirahoshi are sisters, so too are Otohime and Cassandra. Vivi is not biased to fishmen just like Cassandra and Shirahoshi is fighting for her people just like Otohime. In fact between Otohime and Cassandra, clearly Otohime is the more mature of the two while Cassandra is fairly sheltered similar to how Vivi is more mature that Shirahoshi who herself was a sheltered mermaid. Otohime is clearly a big sister to Cassandra just as Vivi is to Shirahoshi and Vivi is a source of strength to Shirahoshi just as Otohime was to Cassandra.
One of the reasons I made Vivi come to Fishman Island was to point out the similarities between her relationship with Shirahoshi and Cassandra's relationship with Otohime. Also Vivi's presence was the perfect opportunity to mention Luffy's mom. I wouldn't just mention it out of the blue but drawing on the similarities between her and Vivi allowed me to write more about her.
Why I chose to reveal Luffy's mom now, rather than later. Cassandra has an important role in the Fishman Island arc so the Return to Fishman Island arc would be a good time to reveal her. She also has a major role in Shirahoshi's life due to her friendship with Otohime and the similarities between Cassandra's relationship with Otohime and Vivi and Luffy's own relationship with Shirahoshi make this arc the perfect time to reveal the identity of Luffy's mother.
There is more to Cassandra than just her relationship with Otohime. This arc only reveals some of her past, specifically her friendship with Otohime. There is more backstory to Cassandra, however for this particular arc, her friendship with Otohime is most relevant.
The relationship between Cassandra and Otohime even extends to Luffy and Shirahoshi themselves. Luffy is a high ranking noble by birth similar to Cassandra while Shirahoshi is a royal mermaid similar to Otohime. Luffy and Shirahoshi who are Otohime and Cassandra's children become close friends just as Cassandra and Otohime themselves. Luffy being the strong willed one while Shirahoshi is the sheltered one is similar to Otohime being the strong willed one and Cassandra the sheltered noble. It's almost like destiny brought the children of Cassandra and Otohime together.
Otohime sensing Cassandra's pain. Otohime possessing observation haki and can sense emotions. On several occasions, in Jinbe's flashback she was able to sense the feelings of those around her. Upon her debut, she sensed the feelings of the fishman that was robbing the bank and when Mjosgard arrived on Fishman Island and his ex slaves tried to kill him, she was able to sense the great rage and suffering of his ex slaves. So she could sense Cassandra's suffering. She doesn't know the cause, but she does know that Cassandra is suffering badly.
How Otohime got the letter from the Tenryuubito has finally been revealed. I think everyone was wondering how Otohime actually got the Tenryuubito on her side. I mean with the kinds of bastards they were and Mjosgard clearly did not appreciate them for helping him and even thought of them as mere fish. So it was a wonder how Otohime got a letter of support from the Tenryuubito. Well now we know, said Tenryuubito is actually a good one, in fact said Tenryuubito is actually Luffy's mother. I think if a good Tenryuubito actually existed, then said Tenryuubito would be Luffy's mother. And with Luffy and Shirahoshi being friends, its like destiny is repeating itself with Otohime and Cassandra.
This is a flashback so naturally Otohime doesn't know the truth about Tiger's death. The truth about Tiger's death wasn't revealed until this arc so Otohime doesn't know the truth about Tiger.
The relationship that Cassandra has with her servants is similar to Luffy's own relationship with his crew. Even though they are Cassandra's servants, she doesn't see them that way. She sees them as family. Likewise Luffy doesn't see his crew members as his subordinates but as his friends. Now we can see where Luffy got his "They are not my subordinates, they are my friends mindset." He got his power and charisma from his father, and he got his love for his nakama from his mother.
Cassandra's slaves similar to Luffy's nakama. All of Cassandra's slaves were the discarded ones that the other Tenryuubito didn't want anymore. Normally they'd just kill or discard the slaves but Cassandra chose to take them in and make them her slaves, however they are only slaves by name. She treats them very well and as a result all of them are her family and owe her their lives. In this way she is similar to Luffy. Practically all the Straw Hats had harsh pasts similar to Cassandra's slaves and they were all saved by Luffy and made to be part of his crew just as Cassandra took all the cast out slaves and made them her family. They all owe Luffy their lives just as all of Cassandra's slaves owe her their lives. Also just like how all of Luffy's crew stays with him because they all love him, all of Cassandra's slaves stay with her because they love her. Even more so the casual and friendly relationship Luffy had with his crew is similar to the one that Cassandra has with her slaves. Cassandra's slaves don't care that she is a Tenryuubito just as Luffy's nakama don't care that he is the captain. To them, Luffy and Cassandra are their respective saviors and family. Cassandra's slaves only acknowledge Cassandra as a Tenryuubito to protect her from other Tenryuubito and the crew will respect Luffy as their captain.
Cassandra and her slaves. As soon as she takes in a slave, they are essentially free. Those that have nothing choose to stay with her. However those that have lives and families choose to leave Mariejois. She even gives them money to support themselves since she is a Tenryuubito and as a result very rich. They are essentially in her debt and are very grateful to her. Whenever she leaves Mariejois, she visits them and stuff. And if they want to spend more time with her, she pretends to enslave them so that they could spend time with her. They spend time with her at Mariejois as her "slave" and then leave. This is similar to Luffy. Despite Luffy being a pirate he doesn't act like one just as Cassandra doesn't act like a Tenryuubito. Cassandra only acts like one to help them just as Luffy only acts as a pirate so that his friends (not crewmates) wouldn't get into trouble, after all being friends with a pirate would cause problems for them. Luffy helps his friends just like Cassandra helps her slaves. Cassandra visits them to give them money and helps them while Luffy promises to visit them in the future. Cassandra's slaves that choose to stay at Mariejois do so because they see her and her other slaves as family. They are eternally grateful to her and want to remain with her to help her and her other slaves. This is similar to Luffy's nakama who all were saved by him and want to remain at his and their nakama's side.
Cassandra is also shown to have an adventurous side to her. She always jumps at the chance to leave Mariejois and see the outside world. This is similar to Shirahoshi who was locked away in the tower and wants to see the outside world just like how Cassandra enjoys leaving Mariejois. This side of Cassandra is due to her sheltered life. In fact, Luffy is similar to Cassandra in that regard. Cassandra enjoys being outside Mariejois since she doesn't leave too often and Luffy always goes for an opportunity to go on adventures. So Luffy pretty much got his adventurous side from his mother.
Cassandra being very famous at Sabody Archipelago. She is very loved at Sabody Archipelago since she is the only good Tenryuubito. The citizens there are also very protective of her, not because she is a Tenryuubito but because of her kind heart. In fact, the citizens there are actually better protection than the marines. Also a lot of the citizens are her ex slaves so they would go far and beyond to protect her. Of course they have to be discreet, if it gets out that a Tenryuubito is close to commoners, it will cause problems. And for that same reason, the citizens bow in her presence, this is not done out of fear, but for her protection.
The people of Sabody don't know that Luffy is Cassandra's child. They don't know Luffy well enough to actually see the similarities between him and his mother. Rayliegh also doesn't know that Luffy is Cassandra's child. He does know about that "kind beautiful female Tenryuubito" but he doesn't know that said Tenryuubito is actually Luffy's mother. He attributes most of Luffy's personality with Roger who is similar in personality to Luffy. Of course after Luffy became a Knight, his father's personality manifested itself, the rage and hatred.
We can see where Luffy got many of his personality from. He get his stupidity and idiocy from his mom. The scene where Cassandra slipped and spilled the food and her reaction is proof of her being a moron just like her son. She has a kind heart and is a pure person just like Luffy. She cares for her slaves deeply as Luffy cares about his nakama. This even extends to her ex slaves and other people similar to the friends Luffy made during his journey prior to joining Dragon. She has an adventurous personality and always wants to leave Mariejois just as Luffy also wants to go on adventures. Finally just as everyone seems to love Cassandra, everyone seems to love Luffy.
Well that's it for that. Hope you enjoy it and hope to see you next time. I know many people were looking forward to this so I hope I get plenty of reviews. Please leave a review telling me what you think. I always appreciate them.