The Straw hats had arrived on the Forest of the Sea, and there they met with Jimbei. He and Otohime told of the story of Fisher Tiger, as well as her own past to the Straw Hats and how the spread of hatred began with their people, they talked about the World Nobles they talk about the slave trade they talked about how people above the sea always look down upon their race. Fisher Tiger's struggle was completely and utterly despairing for both The Queen and Jimbei himself. he talked about how his crew was divided after the death of Fisher Tiger. There was a lot of hatred swirling around specially with people like Arlong and that's why when Jimbei became a Warlord of the Sea. Arlong was unleashed on the East Blue. As for the Queen side of things, she struggled long and hard over more than 20 years forehead dream I'll be coming closer the world government and gaining acceptance through understanding. With Fisher Tiger and the Sun Pirates rampaging across the seas her message was barely felt by both her people and the people above. However even when she cried even when things got hard, she pushed herself and perseverance got what she wanted. A letter from a World Noble.
However tragedy struck. She was shot on her chest, the box of signatures from her people was burned and worst of all her husband, Neptune, was struck by an accursed corrupted spear. Hearing the news, bloody and insane, Otohime committed the greatest mistake in her life and killed the human responsible. She became a hypocrite, her message about acceptance and understanding was shot down the drain. Not willing to face her own people, she fled from the country. Finding herself on the North Blue where she remained for the better part of that year. She fled and did not even watch her husband die. She left her children behind.
And even when she did return, she committed one more mistake, neglecting her own daughter in favor of the Princes. Which now led to Shirahoshi's feelings of desolation and dependance on Luffy.
And now…
XOX
An assassin had fatally injured both King and Queen of the sea
After Otohime and Neptune were injured the soldiers scoured for the culprit.
"I got the Assassin! It's him! I know it's him!"
Hody Jones who rushed to the scene shot two bullets on the man, the bloodied man was on the ground, yet his constitution of being a pirate allowed him to survive.
"Who is it?!"
Jimbei asked, his face grave with eyes full of rage, his teeth sharp as he approached the roof, he walked calmly, yet the blue aura he was giving off as each step destroyed the ground he walked on.
"—Big Boss Jimbei," A soldier said as they converged on top of the assassin.
Jimbei looked at the man bleeding on the ground but still alive.
Jimbei looked shocked as Hody gave a subtle look in his direction waiting for something.
"Hide him! Get him to the palace dungeons now!" Jimbei ordered after careful consideration, Jimbei's eyes were shadowed.
"— Big Boss Jimbei?!"
"We will decide what to do with him privately! There is no need for the Kingdom to know of this do you hear?!" Jimbei turned around, he needed to get both Royals into safety, they were still both in critical condition, not to mention the children were mentally shattered from this incident, there was no need to announce that a human of all thing was responsible for it. "What will become of the Queen's dream?! An attack like this to our beloved rulers?! How will the people react?! This is too cruel!" Jimbei said as he walked away.
Hody had a somewhat disappointed look as he gazed Jimbei, he looked down at the bleeding human and Hody grabbed him, the culprit by the neck forcefully not caring about the two gunshot wounds that were still deeply lodged and hurting the human. "But this is the reality," Hody said with a deep voice as his face was shadowed, he started carrying the man by the nape of the neck with frustration and disappointment upon the man who was like a big brother to Arlong.
"No! He is a pirate! Not a normal human, can you not understand what I'm saying?" Jimbei argued turning around and facing Hody.
"It's a fact Jimbei-san!" Hody glared at Jimbei intensely, Jimbei stopped in his tracks by the intense hatred Hody had in his eyes.
"Stop! Hody Jones!" Jimbei yelled his orders yet he was ignored by the distinguished soldier.
"It was a human… who fatally injured our King and Queen! Our beloved rulers were targeted by a human!"
Hody screamed for all that gathered to see, in his hand he held the bloodied human for everyone there to witness, a shaggy brown haired pirate with a scruffy beard and a low-life attire, in his back he had other two spears, the pirate was out of it completely as his eyes were white as he fainted due to the pain of being shot twice.
The reaction for most of the hundreds of thousands gathered was first shock, then people started falling into the ground, rage and tears were an obvious emotion that welled up from inside of the people, their frustration reached a critical mass, their hatred for the humans ran too deep, having the great Sea God Neptune was heart crushing enough but to try and kill sweet innocent Otohime. The same Otohime whom everybody loved with all of their hearts, to them she was like a cute and innocent little sister as she was still in her early twenties at the prime of her life, always trying her best to strive for peace, yet she was brutally, cruelly shot, by non-other than violence, pure unadulterated brutality. They were citizens of this Kingdom swearing fealty to their Rulers as normal citizens, yet for them… Otohime was special, they really wanted to protect her but each and every one of them failed.
Shirahoshi had her hands below her mother's injured body, her hands holding her tiny mother like nothing as the blood dripped from her chest wound, she cried silently as she gazed downward, she could not afford to raise her voice, her baby blue eyes were so like her mother's, Shirahoshi gazed at the man being held in the sky, she could not understand why.
What did her mother and father deserve to be hurt by this?
Weren't they good people?
Her brothers cried as their shocked eyes locked on the human, Fukaboshi gritted his teeth in frustration and rage as he continued to cry. He was supposed to be the next great general, he was supposed to be the next great warrior of the sea. He adored his father Neptune. Fisher Tiger and Jimbei. Yet he was so far from them.
Why was he so weak?
Why did his father have to protect him?
Why, why am I so WEAK? Am I not going to become the great general of the sea? I can't even protect my mother and now my father is hurt because of me…
Neptune groaned in pain, his face was shadowed as his giant body stood protectively over his children and beloved wife.
"Mother…" Fukaboshi gazed at the unconscious woman, the beautiful but tragic bleeding figure of his mother.
"...Father I—I… we'll gather the signatures a...again! W—we promise t...to protect y—your dream! The three of us will become great warriors like Father! Like Tiger! A...and we'll defend our baby sister with our lives so don't worry, just like we promised s….so!" Fukaboshi stopped as he started weeping, Neptune supported his son.
"So, please don't worry… just promise me that you both will l...live we will not break our… promise, so … please… don't break yours!"
Fukaboshi said after many tears, Neptune looked at his firstborn with a sad smile, the spear in his back did not dig deep in his back, and a pierced lung would not faze him much, much less kill him, however, he felt numb, a cold fever… he was badly poisoned, he looked at his wife, she had a small smile on her face even while sleeping, her beautiful face even marred by blood was gorgeous, even with his mind numb he could not help but appreciate a tragic beauty.
Fukaboshi seeing her smile, grinned between tears, hope rose in him, she would survive, that smile said it all.
"My son… soon we'll look upon the real sun, don't forget my words." Neptune said with a deep voice, he picked up all of them with his incredible strength, the medics followed them to the flying ship, they boarded the deck as the spear fell from his back and stained the wooden deck with his blood, all of them were checked and given treatment, they went to the palace where they would be treated…
XOX
"Reaching the palace, the King and Queen were treated, she like I said was supposed to wait until surgery, and remove the bullet, Neptune had his bloodstream analyzed and proven positive for various toxins, the doctors estimated three days for him… normally with a poison, so lethal a normal Fishmen would be dead, but he was exceptional, truly powerful and had the endurance to match… but then…"
Neptune sat on his throne as he thought back to the past two hours.
"You will… you will die soon… my king… perhaps three days, no more…" The doctor said sadly as Aladdin confirmed.
He returned back as he heard a shift in the air.
"Father?" Shirahoshi asked with a tilt of her head.
"Move!…" He yelled as he tried moving his numb body, however, he fell to the ground in front of his throne, he held his bandaged chest, Shirahoshi who was close by tried to rush towards him to see what was wrong.
"MOVE SHIROSHI!" Neptune screamed in fear.
"Huh?" Shirahoshi asked confused.
A piercing sound of flesh was heard in the hall.
"…Ah…"
On her back was a piece of metal. Shirahoshi trembled in pain.
"Hiii…" Shirahoshi dropped to the ground as a dagger hit her back, a letter pierced near the handle was seen as it stained with her blood.
"Shirahoshi!" Neptune yelled.
However the blade, the sharp dagger was pushed back and fell to the ground, on her back was a tiny surface injury, a bloody bruise that broke the skin but did not carve deep, the tiny wound bled a bit as Shirahoshi shivered a bit, she looked to the side where the blade was.
That sharp dagger could not hurt her? Why? What is happening here? Where did it come from? Neptune thought as aid came fast as the King's yells boomed throughout the palace, his sons were terribly exhausted and passed out earlier, only Shirahoshi was still up as she had a strong mental fortitude, so strong it was almost scary.
Shirahoshi… Neptune gazed sadly as medics put a large band-aid over the superficial wound and reassured her.
Neptune picked the bloodstained letter.
"A love letter and a marriage proposal… Shirahoshi is only six! Who is this bastard Vander Decken?!"
"After the attack on Shirahoshi, the King locked her on Shell's tower for protection with her pet… but then a report that Otohime escaped ER reached the ears of the King, I, who had dealt punishment to Hody and brought the culprit to the palace dungeons joined the search for the Queen, we followed the trail of blood down to the dungeons and you know what we met down there…"
All of them were paralyzed, as they gazed the prison cell, it had blood on the walls, on the ceiling, the culprits body parts were all over the place as most of the soldiers avoided looking at the displayed organs. The only ones with the courage to look ahead was Neptune, Jimbei, and both ministers, there in front was a bloodied woman who was carving happily on the decapitated skull of the prisoner, she was using the spear which previously pierced their ruler. Then the Bloody Queen turned her head around instantly, her beautiful face was marred by ugly bruises one of her eyes had blood in them, it was a hard scene to watch, especially seeing those blank grey eyes staring at them as if she was blind.
They could do nothing as life came back into her eyes, as she fled the room.
After five minutes the ministers ordered to follow her, the soldiers compiled as they headed out, however, both Neptune and Jimbei gazed at the human's remains with shock, Jimbei grasped his clothes, he brought his palm to eye level, there was so much blood staining his shirt where she collided, this was her blood, the blood of his Queen. He started having a panic attack and anxiety, he started trembling in fear, no she could not die.
"Neptune…" Jimbei muttered after the panic attack left him.
"...Otohime, why?" Neptune started to cry; his hands reached the bloodied floor.
"..."
"'Killing someone only makes you a part of the cycle of murder', those words were hers when she was only ten, she said that to me Jimbei. She despised me, because as a warrior I killed hundreds, if not thousands of Humans, Fishmen and Mermen to either avenge my brethren or protect my home. That's why I felt that I had no right to help Otohime with her movement so I just stood by and watched over her… but recently I had a bad feeling welled in my gut I had since sneaked out of my palace to watch over her, and my fears were confirmed today, someone tried to assassinate my family. I could only arrive to save my son from death, my wife had already been hit…" Neptune said with slumped shoulders.
"When we married… Otohime was a rebel at age 11, she did not want to marry a killer like me…"
"..." Jimbei looked towards his King.
"After all she was promised to my oldest brother… the one who would inherit the Ryugu throne at the time…" Neptune revealed the secret as Jimbei had a cold sweat.
"—My King! We had found traces of blood leading out of the palace from the throne room… we organized a search party of the best swimmers and shark mermen in the army, we followed the cloud of blood on the water, however after few kilometers the trail became too dispersed…" The soldier arrived and gave his report
"Otohime… no wonder… she is the fastest swimmer in the Kingdom… all of you wouldn't be able to catch her even on her worst day… she left… Soldier, stop your search…. You won't find her… not anymore..." Neptune lamented as he clutched his chest.
"—But... about her extensive wounds and her loss of blood…"
"Soldier… I don't know what happened, but with her like this…" Neptune pointed at the blood and gore in the room… the soldier was nauseated…
"With her like this… I believe she won't die now… not so easily…"
"Distraught by the news, the King became saddened and I had to lead him to his quarters… there he told me the full story of your wedding and your origins Otohime…" Jimbei told them the story, when he spoke of Otohime she became saddened for a moment, remembering her early years…
"Jimbei…" Neptune started speaking as he covered himself with a warm blanket, to combat the numb, frostbite feeling in his body.
"Otohime was bred and nurtured to be a prize for the next King, a frail but a long-lived mermaid… that's the traits the King before me wanted for his eldest son…"
"My family and I, we had a lot of strife back then… the fact that my brother was next to the throne made me free and just like Fukaboshi I wanted to become a great warrior of the sea… I never bothered with politicking or mingling with 'high society' like my parents did or my brother…my goal was somewhat crude for a royal and Father and Mother were displeased by it… eventually we clashed and both sides stubbornly refused to back down. After that it led to an awfully bad rift between us."
"I became even more independent and started to roam the surface of the New World alone, it was back in the era of pirates like Xebec, Gol D. Roger or Shiki… The era of the hero Garp… all of these great names… among other criminals… I've… sigh… at the time I murdered thousands of warriors that came to duel me. I've sank thousands of pirates, privateers and marine ships trying to prove my mettle… I was never wanted because I never let anyone live… even when facing vice admirals and such… the only ones who knew me… were Whitebeard pirates and Roger pirates… after all I challenged them for a duel no less, although I lost in both instances…."
Neptune laughed at how horribly outmatched he was.
"The rift between my family caused mother to be sick and distraught… leading to an early death. She died when I was only seventeen. The Funeral was one of the hardest things I had to attend… while I did not love mother back then and did not even care about such things at my age, all of the people there silently blamed me… even big brother who was the pillar of goodness had a very pensive mood… he could not look me in the eye. A few days later he finally faced me and told that mother had called for me even during her last breath with a look of regret…"
"I couldn't understand that woman even after her death. Blaming me, screaming my name in rage. Disgusted or disappointed eyes gazing at me when I was young… looks of praise towards my kind, compassionate, leader-like, and peaceful brother… and in her death she called to me with sadness? What did that woman want from me?! Am I to forgive that woman just because she called my name in regret when I hadn't seen her in 7 years? Regret didn't bring back my bad childhood… the only good thing back then was my elder brother… He understood me, he supported my dream… he was there for me when my parents weren't."
Neptune's voice cracked with emotions, while Jimbei listened, some parts were actually shocking to him, as back then he was still young living around the Fishmen district, behind the door, both ministers were listening with their heads looking at the ground… they were there through all…
"I returned to the surface after a couple of weeks. Father and I could not see each other or a fight would break out… my size was of a giant and my family all of them were the size of a normal human so my father always got out of those fights seriously hurt… we couldn't stand each other so I left. Years later I returned I was in the middle of my twenties, and my brother would inherit the throne...his wedding was in a few months' time and right after that the coronation would happen. I wanted to participate in the proceedings as I held respect and loved my brother… he was somewhat happy I supported him… It was in those months that I met his bride Otohime…the first meeting was a disaster we had different view of the world and we clashed constantly. But unlike mother and father she actually talked to me… tried to understand me… tried to hear my tales of war… what was like to kill someone… all of this she learned from me… she tried her hardest to convince me to leave my ways… but I was stubborn and she also hated me..."
"Otohime hated you?" Jimbei asked shocked.
"Yes… she hated me with every fiber of her being… she never called me by my name for a long time, always calling me Murderer-san… or another derogatory name… she felt that I, who killed thousands for the pleasure of combat was unworthy of having the same blood as my elder brother… now that I remember she idolized my brother and his view of peace, I guess he was her first love in her young life… having been nurtured to marry the next King in line she spent much of her young years in the presence of my brother and he colored her views with his kind idealistic dream."
"Brother Tiger told me a bit of what happened a few days before the wedding but I don't remember as I couldn't care less about the royal family at the time, what happened?"
"A few days before the wedding big brother was assassinated by a rival faction… he was poisoned… traces were later found in his drink in one of the galas we had a few hours prior. On the day of the promised wedding Otohime cried on his coffin as he was carried away. The investigation continued pointing which faction killed him…"
"With the information in hands I arrived in their homes as an executioner and destroyer… I killed every last one of those bastards… destroyed their business and besmirched their name and families for the next generations… this sparked a lynch mob that killed the remaining survivors such as their wives, elders and children all killed and hanged on the streets… everyone praised me for my actions of vengeance, all but Otohime and my Father… "
"She slapped me and tried to pummel my body with her weak and frail hands… all the while crying 'This is not what he would have wanted!' I disagreed with her and pushed her aside… For me it was not what he would have thought of my actions. I valued freedom… while I respected my brother I would do as I pleased, not what I was told… As for my father… he stayed silent looking at me, with blame in his eyes… his old decrepit mind blamed the death of his favored son on me as in his later years, even when I was not there… I decided to stay in the Kingdom this time as my father health deteriorated… having the presence of such a powerful well-learned warrior, Prince Neptune the young Sea God made the kingdom rejoice… support for me to inherit the throne skyrocketed as I was the next in line… my brother dead… my mother dead and father dying of old age and grief…" Neptune continued his story.
"The responsibility of being the next ruler weighted heavily on my mind… Otohime, even in her hatred for me, even if she was a rebel, accompanied me during those times as I prepared for coronation… hah… Father finally left the world as he blamed and loathed my existence, I didn't even show up on his funeral, humph what is wrong with me… even during mother's funeral I didn't shed a tear for her, the only time I was genuinely sad was my brother's"
"After the coronation, the contract drafted by the old king forced Otohime and I together… after all she wasn't bred and nurtured for my brother, she was born to marry the next King… and without anyone else, that was me…"
"On the wedding, we didn't look at each other as we exchanged vows… we didn't even kiss…The same night we consummated our marriage, but it was more of an obligation, there was no love or effort involved… however with her I learned patience as we spent time with each other… her pregnancy, surprisingly — or perhaps unsurprisingly — drew us closer… hate arguments became heated discussions...and heated discussions became casual talks, we even went on friendly dates and became tentative friends... we were opposites... One was a berserk seeking battle, the other was a kind girl seeking peace. The tentative friendship eventually lead to a passionate love, and lust, a burning desire for one and the other… and from that love we became best friends even before Fukaboshi was born… when I first held him in my hand, I—I started believing in her dream, I—I wanted a world of peace, free of prejudice for my child to live in, so I supported her from afar…"
"Today… she did the same as I did when I avenged my brother, she mercilessly murdered that death row prisoner, the same prisoner who shot her and poisoned me…" Neptune said with regret.
"We are the same as people… we are not perfect… emotions can get to the better of us, hatred can get to the better of us… nobody is truly free of this… not even Otohime… having said that I still believe in a world free of prejudice Jimbei...If we all took the effort to cooperate, to learn and better control our emotions, to balance our selfish desires, we will leave this cycle of hatred… maybe it will not happen today… but at least down the line humans will be able to better comprehend one another… for now we can only seek acceptance for all of us… Jimbei… with my wife gone… I want you to lead our people until she returns, Fukaboshi is much too young to inherit the throne, he is barely a teenager, you are a Warlord, you'll do fine, if you ever need help you can ask our ministers for help, they will aid you with all their might."
Neptune concluded after much talk, the night grew old as he went to sleep, Jimbei in the room sitting cross legged absorbed every word that went out from the dying man, Jimbei started meditating and resting as well, until Neptune next awakens.
XOX
"The next days were hard as the king had to say his goodbyes to his children, breaking the news that their mother ran away was heart-wrenching… sigh… however all of them were strong of heart, especially you, princess Shirahoshi, you took the news very well even though you were attached to your mother, having your father on his deathbed at six years old must be traumatizing… and yet you endured… you have an impressive mental fortitude."
"N—No, Jimbei-sama, I...I just held back my tears, b...buried my feelings deep inside, I was being targeted… my family crumbled, however, I knew that I—If I was to lose myself, I would become someone who I am not… if I gave in… I might have bad regrets…" Shirahoshi softly spoke, Jimbei and all of them smiled.
"It's a bit lonely, but…" She softly muttered all while discreetly looking at Luffy.
I...I Luffy-sama...darling… Shirahoshi softly smiled, her heart thumped in her chest, she did not know why he evoked those feelings in her but, she never felt more alive, from what she could remember.
Meanwhile, when Shirahoshi spoke, four people tensed at the 'lonely' part, they were Luffy, Sora, Zoro, and Otohime, Nami herself had some questions floating in her head, but she didn't have observation to get a deeper understanding.
Was she? Zoro thought with his only eye open with surprise.
No, sweet and beautiful Otohime-chan wouldn't do this to you would she? Shirahoshi-chan? Sora thought in denial.
Shirahoshi what's wrong?... And why does my chest hurt so much? Otohime thought as she cluelessly stared at her daughter, as much as she studied State Crafting, she did not study reading other people much, why?
Her entire empathy was linked with her color of observation, so she did not know how to read a person's body language or eyes as her observation fed her everything about the person's emotional state and more since birth… so her empathy reading, stemming from her color observation, stunted her ability to read emotions like a normal person could basically.
And seeing she could not read her daughter at all made her oblivious of Shirahoshi's mental state, but having read both the confused state of Sora and the surprised but saddened state of Zoro, she did not know what to think… looking at Luffy she tried to read him, but unlike Shirahoshi's which Otohime could not even do anything, it's like her ability canceled. His was an endless miasma storm of red, which she could not find anything, she was eternally lost in him until she turned off her observation and activated again.
Hoshi-chan… you were…I see... Luffy looked a bit saddened, he was the most selfish person, that he knew but, while he did not realize it himself he treated people he liked as his personal possessions, he was the future king, his crew, his friends, his allies, and his lovers were his, that's what he unconsciously thought, having said that he was different than the world nobles — even if he had half their blood through his mother, and the arrogant, boisterous attitude that came from being from the Monkey family — he treated his possessions with care, giving them freedom to grow, achieving their dreams. But his possessive attitude was subconscious, he did not know he had this trait born from his selfishness, but eventually he will start to notice.
The point being at this time when he looked at Shirahoshi, he saw her as his already, no questions, he would not let anyone but him have her and seeing her bury her feelings of isolation, of abandonment even deeper, was bringing him sadness. To know that another one of his possessions Otohime was partly responsible… he would have to punish her later, after them both reach conciliation, he would not push it, 'his' Otohime would have to notice it herself and seek forgiveness for her neglectfulness for these past nine years since she returned.
"M—my father was in such a bad condition, yet he had time for us, he talked and talked, he spilled his story to us as well Jimbei-sama, it was hard on us especially my older brothers. I was just six at the time, my father was going to leave me like mommy did… those were my thoughts, those were my feelings at the time, days later and we couldn't even attend his funeral because of the threat of Vander Decken. The ministers ordered for us to stay in the palace, but brother Fukaboshi took hold of the broadcasting, we passed the message, a message we brainstormed. Our mother leaving us stung harshly but we wanted to continue that dream, the dream our mother had, brother Fukaboshi pulled us through the whole time, he took the lead and addressed the whole country gathered here plus the guests from the surface… he looked very kingly and cool after mother returned she and my brothers started collecting signatures again, and… finally…" Shirahoshi soft voice spread across the plain as everyone smiled towards her, everyone was already finished with the food but Luffy sneaked in a few pieces of meat in his mouth.
"Finally the reverie will arrive this year, the council of kings, this time we have everything we need to end this prejudice, and I finally gathered strength to protect my people…" Otohime flashed a grin, all of them were heart warmed and Shirahoshi smiled serenity, seeing her smile Luffy…
Hoshi-chan… your self-sacrificing nature is showing again, you might think all your suffering and sacrifice is okay if your mother's dream is achieved, as long as your mother is happy then you are happy? Stop! You'll only get hurt even later down the line; your mother's dream is not your dream is it? You've barely had contact with humans, I'm willing to believe I'm the first you actually had any conversation with, Shirahoshi, you need to find your own dream first then grasp and follow your goals to the skin of your teeth.
Luffy thought while giving a meaningful look at her, she noticed it immediately and then started to shiver.
Luffy-sama, don't look at me with those intense eyes, I—I'm feeling a bit funny, I—'ll go crazy… Shirahoshi's face was stuck alternating between a grin and a pout, it was comical.
Luffy wanted Shirahoshi to put herself first then others second, but she kept her selfless attitude naturally as if it was common occurrence to just give and grin and bear the pain, she was a complete opposite to him. In many ways Hancock was quite similar to him, selfish, a bit arrogant and very blunt — well when she was not dealing with him — so it would be agreeable that they would end up together, however someone like Shirahoshi who was his antithesis should have gotten on his nerves, irritating him, but he couldn't help but be drawn to her, to her beauty and personality, to her voice and her smells, to her mannerisms and her beautiful tragic eyes.
"Hmm, the last thing I wanted to tell you guys about his death was that the man prepared his own funeral, he did not want to be buried with his father mother and brother… while he didn't mind his brother he very much minded the old royal family so instead of being buried in the palace like all the others he asked to be buried here, in the sea forest, here where the whales gather, here who is most verdant, here which the riches are abundant… the man was part whale as well so it was understandable… many people from the new world also visited the funeral, including Whitebeard. It was a surprise, him and all of his crew here with us…" Jimbei said with a reminiscing smile.
XOX
"Hey, Jimbei where is that shrimp queen?"
Whitebeard asked, his imposing self, brought the admiration from the children and a bit of fear in the older fish-men population, after all, it was a human who killed their King, and drove their Queen away, having a human presence this early made the people cautious.
"Now that you talk about it, I'm not seeing her either yoi" Marco spoke lazily.
"Old man, she escaped the castle, the last trace found was north of the Grand Line, our soldiers can't cross the calm belt safely and now I'm saddled with running the kingdom, Me a pirate running a country?!" Jimbei asked sarcastically.
"Hrm… There are a lot of Warlords with their own country to run don't be so hard on yourself like I said Jimbei this is my territory, so any problems further down the line you can count on us to aid you." Whitebeard told Jimbei with sincerity in his eyes.
The problem with Vander Decken… He already fled the country and is roaming the sea floor… there is no way a human could hunt someone at the bottom of the sea, it is so large and so dark, it could take years upon years to find him… I can't trouble the Old man with this…. But his advice might be worth listening. Jimbei crossed his arms in thought.
"Even so… for that little Queen to evade all of the soldiers… and escape like this…." Marco commented.
"We can't do anything, mermaids are the fastest swimmers and it may not look like it but Otohime is the fastest swimmer in recorded history, she is as fast as a thousand ships," Jimbei told them resigned.
"Oi, Oi… that's… a normal ship is 30 knots, are you saying that she is as fast as 30000 knots?! Swimming?!" Marco said incredulously.
"To swim as fast as 50000 km/h… that is not only impressive but incredibly monstrous… she could cross the entire world in a few hours or less… to think that frail little girl has such swimming abilities is very out there… true there are far faster individuals up there on the surface but they are in the air, not water… Marco is also quite fast as well as me, but we can't test swimming because we are devil fruit users and such…" Whitebeard commented…
XOX
"So the Old man Whitebeard was friends with Neptune…" Luffy commented.
"Yes, we were great friends, but… as you know we couldn't aid him in the war of the best… in fact, we hadn't heard about the second commander Ace… until it was too late for help…" Otohime lamented the deceased Whitebeard.
The instant she commented about Ace, all of the crew turned discreetly to watch their Captain's reaction, they wanted to confirm he wasn't sad or upset by the mention of his brother's name. Thankfully Luffy was way past being triggered by peaceful comments made about his dead brother but make any bad comment and you would be in a world of hurt, no correction, you wouldn't realize you were dead.
"This might be heartless… but how did Neptune die?" Usopp asked with concern, his eyes a bit red from crying about some parts of the story, the same thing could be said for some members of the crew.
"Yes, you've skipped that part... although I understand why you did" Franky commented with red eyes as well.
Shirahoshi flinched a bit from remembering.
"Haaah, he did all he could in the first day and a half however, by the end of the second day, he was convulsing, hallucinating, he couldn't have any sense in reality anymore, he remained bedridden until the morning of the third day and died in the noon, there is no grandiose death for those who are sick… or in this case, poisoned…" Jimbei stopped with a grave tone.
"Father… in his last hour, I remember… he was full of life… energetic and he started playing games with us… I was so happy that he was well that he recuperated from the poison… but that was his last spurt of life he died peacefully afterward" Shirahoshi softly said facing Luffy.
"I see… I think all of us here know what this is…" Luffy said.
"When a sick person is going to die, they always look healthy before they die… It's almost like…" Zoro commented.
"The last spurt that the body gives the person to spend their final moments, right?" Sora asked.
The rest of the group gulped a bit, they, in their life had seen such cases, not in the wounded, but in the sick and poisoned, Usopp also had seen this, his mother was the same, it was cruel because it gave the people closest to them a hope that they would survive but in the end…
"Hrm… this is all you have to tell us Jimbei?" Luffy asked.
He didn't go into detail of what Neptune did in his last hour, but that is a private thing for him and the royal family only, he already told us enough already.
"No, Luffy-kun, this was the story of this island and it's sixteen years of prejudice and racism… and the origin of the Fishmen pirates, the responsibility for Arlong's reign of terror in your homeland rests entirely upon my shoulders as his sworn brother!" Jimbei faced Nami as he said it.
"It was my intention to stop if he ever ran amok..." Jimbei continued.
Nami leaned on Luffy's arm and nuzzled him a bit as she mulled over.
"...But Arlong bribed the local navy officers… and made sure the information didn't reach the navy headquarters nor the news"
Sora who was holding back wanted to kick Jimbei's head off, did he know how bad Nami actually had? She raised herself to lop Jimbei's head off, or at least teach him a lesson, but she was grabbed by Luffy, his warm hand on her belly as he pushed her back into his lap, she blushed a bit as her back touched his muscular chest.
"Sora, I know you are angry, but trust Nami on this, she is the one that's got to make a decision, I know you are a kind girl, but you don't need to be so angry for her," Luffy said calmly.
"Yes Sora, Jimbei didn't mean any harm." Nami said.
"Yes, but still…" Sora pouted angrily in Luffy's lap.
"I will accept any punishment!" Jimbei lowered his head.
"Jimbei-san." Otohime worried.
"Jimei-sama" Shirahoshi clutched her hands in a praying position.
"Stop it! It's Arlong that I hate! I'm just glad you weren't an accomplice to his atrocities, you are Luffy's close friend, right?" Nami said as she sat on Luffy's lap as well, she put her head on his chest as a pillow and hugged her knees as she closed her eyes. Luffy started to caress and pet her head.
"It's true that I suffered terribly because of Arlong… but I met some great friends because of that!" As well as the man I love.
"You mean me Nami-chan?" Sora caressed Nami's cheek.
Nami pushed the hand away bashfully.
"It's all connected Jimbei! I can't hate you because you are a Fishman..." Nami said smiling.
All of them had a happy expression, but Jimbei was surprised, Luffy smiled proudly at Nami.
"...So please don't apologize to me about my struggles in life… It's not all that bad… Actually, I'm having the time of my life right now… I've never had so much fun in my life before you know." Nami grinned.
"You words touch me deeply! Thank you!" He started crying a bit as he lowered his head.
His conscience was tormenting him. Nami thought.
"I totally get you brother! You are a man among men, Jimbei! That Tiger guy and Netupne or whoever, I love you all!" Franky cried; his arm blocked his face as he mispronounced Neptune's name.
"Shut up Franky!" Sora said as she kicked the sleeping Brook. "Hey, you how long are you going to sleep?!" Sora trembled with rage.
"Huh? Oh! Jimbei-san so what happened to the robber the Queen caught?" Brook asked.
"That was like the first scene! You slept through the whole thing you mannerless skeleton!" Sora cried in rage, everyone chuckled at the scene.
Luffy raised himself, he looked towards the forest.
"Time to find Robin-chan," Luffy said.
XOX
Luffy talked with everyone and departed deep into the forest to find Robin, she must have found someone interesting, while their captain was gone, the group familiarized themselves with the Queen, the princess, and Jimbei, they talked about the threat Hody Jones would be and when was he going to attack, not knowing he already usurped the kingdom.
Luffy eventually met with Robin as she finally read the entire poneglyph, he sat on a stone as she approached him, she sat on his lap as she told all about her findings, this poneglyph was a letter of apology towards someone, about a broken promise, this was written by a person name Joy Boy, she told him her theories and in turn he told her a summary version of the story told by the Queen and Jimbei, in the end he told her his opinions about the whole thing, during his talks she silently listened to his explanations, but on occasion she made a remark or inquisition for him to explain better, he wasn't the biggest story teller even if his charisma and confidence more than made up for his lack, but this was only because he had been deprived of society for too long, only having beast to fight daily had stunted a few his social skills, but he believed he was born to be a natural leader, regaining his social skill would be easy, just give him a week or two.
"Let's return, the others are waiting, and it seems something will happen to this kingdom soon, that's what the climate I've been seeing is telling me."
Luffy said with a grimace, he patted Robin shoulders as she agreed with him, they walked at a leisure pace, observing the scenery, looking up and seeing the whales swim, they were much bigger than the whales Luffy normally saw, after all, they were completely new species, being able to swim 10000 meters below sea level, Robin was by his side as they enjoyed the pleasant walk back.
XOX
"Hachi you were at the Fishman District… do you know of his plan?" Jimbei asked his arms crossed over his chest.
"Yes, I know," Hachi replied.
"Hody hates humans more than even Arlong does, he is the embodiment of the hatred accumulated in that place, Fishman district, while Arlong is cruel to his enemies he never hurt another Fishmen, but Hody will kill any who sympathizes with humans… in cold blood!" Hachi said with a cry.
"Hachi-san, this is the year of the reverie, we have lots of signatures! This year Okaa-sama intends to tell the world that the people want to emigrate, it is our dream to end this prejudice…" Shirahoshi said in a soft pleasing voice, however it had a tone of concern.
"...Hody wants to prevent that?" Jimbei asked in a low voice, his face glared into the distance with rage.
Otohime gripped her spear, the corrupted eye twitched and looked around.
"... well… not only that…." Hachi said panting from his wounds, the bandages were being reapplied by Chopper.
"Huh?!" Chopper cried out in surprise, all turned to the forest, their Captain went looking for Robin there but had not returned yet, instead, a giant snail crawled out of the forest.
"There is a huge transponder snail. In the forest.
"A broadcast?" Nami asked Sora and she nodded.
"It's a video transponder snail, look! The monitor is activating!" Den said to Franky as Franky pushed his sunglasses to the crown of his head.
"ZZT...ZZT...ZZT" The monitor activated in the sky, showing Hody Jones with the microphone in hand, his eyes were bloodshot.
"Testing…" His deep voice boomed.
"Attention all citizen of Fishmen island… can you hear me? I am… the Captain of the Fishmen Pirates… Hody Jones!" He grinned showing rows of diamond-sharp teeth.
"Hody!" Jimbei yelled in surprise.
He… he hijacked the communications… how? No this is not the time for how's, I have a bad feeling. Otohime twitched with worry.
XOX
A citizen raised his foot off the photo of Otohime in her wedding, his tears fell down as his mind trembled with unadulterated rage, while his heart beat with unbridled sorrow, the photo was already a bit dirty, but it still showed the beautiful visage of the Queen, 11 years old bratty and all, her wedding dress was peerless, and her eyes showed a lot of love, he clenched his fist in hatred of the new Fishman pirates.
"Alright next…"
Stomp!
"... next…"
Stomp!
"... next…"
Stomp!
"... next…"
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
"..." The citizen cried as they held their head.
—I had no choice, they'll kill my family if we don't step on it, no, once the Queen returns, she will forgive us, definitely! He looked back at the fishmen executive and concealed a glare —You'll get yours; she will definitely execute you people for this.
"-You pass! Next!" A grunt said pushing a random civilian away.
"Hey, Captain Hody is broadcasting!"
A huge screen lit in the Candy factory town
"Testing…" His deep voice boomed.
"Attention all citizen of Fishmen island… can you hear me? I am… the Captain of the Fishmen Pirates… Hody Jones!" He grinned showing rows of diamond-sharp teeth.
All of the pirates cheered loudly, and people flinched in fear.
"To the citizens of the Ryugu Kingdom on Fishman island, I have an announcement to make!"
"—So he is the mastermind."
"—Isn't he the man who captured the 'Royal assassin'…"
The citizen thought of the man who killed the king and almost killed the Queen and the first prince. "—He's a former member of Neptune's Army!"
"This kingdom will fall! And it will be reborn! Behold your new… heh… King!"
The people worried about the Queen as they witness a coup happening.
"Those who want to be friends with the humans… will have to go! Soon the new citizen from the Fishman district will be coming here, they all hate humans and eagerly await the new order."
The general populace worried about those outlaws that lived there, that lawless zone produced the worst of the worst, rapist, murderers, not a shred of empathy.
"You all witnessed the Royal assassination; you all saw how a human destroyed the royal family! Even then you welcome humans with smiles… all that awaits you is betrayal! Why can't you understand that?!"
While the hate speech was certainly moving, the speech Otohime gave earlier was still fresh in the citizens mind, and she was a lot better than him in pure charisma, they completely rejected this 'new king's' idea, even though they didn't realize a person with Conqueror's Haki was vastly different than a person without, they are born to be great leaders of the world at large, their vastly commanding presence and charisma is almost overwhelming, so it is almost impossible for a normal person to ever win a battle of words with them that was the quality to be a King, So Hody Jones, for all of his strength and intimidation lost the Battle of ideologies from the beginning.
XOX
Concorde Plaza
"...How dare he…" Fukaboshi struggled and looked up, he was bounded on the ground, chains around his body, he flexed and tried to break the chains, but he was weakened, perhaps a drug.
"—Don't bother you'll die soon."
He looked around and saw a group of grunts, an arrogant one came forth and kicked him in the face.
"—I've always wanted to do that, you wimpy prince… wasn't being a warrior great as Neptune or Jimbei your dream brat… but you were so easily defeated… hahaha."
The others laughed with him, Fukaboshi glared at the outlaw, the man raised an eyebrow.
"Guess that wasn't enough…"
He went for another kick as the others cheered, however in a show of unbelievable speed Fukaboshi grasped the thighs of the man with his mouth, the difference in size was apparent and then… just like a crocodile munching on a frail rabbit he closed his jaw with such strength it but a great white shark bite in shame…
The force of his jaws crushed the man's leg completely as his shark teeth carved the blood vessels, muscle, and bones like nothing. In an instant the man cried out a horrible screech in pain however Fukaboshi didn't relent, the teeth started digging in his femur and knee, blood poured out like a geyser out of the Prince's mouth as the man tried desperately to free himself, begging with a frothing mouth.
The others watched helplessly in fear as Fukaboshi started shaking his head like a shark or a crocodile killing his prey, and the grunt shook like a weak rabbit, the force behind the swings was so great that it finally dismembered his leg right at the pelvis, the force was so great that it threw his dismembered body across the plaza his body hit the floor and bounced multiple times until stop, the man was dead, blood leaked out from the stump in his pelvis.
Fukaboshi then spit out the leg from his mouth, blood and saliva leaked out as he panted a bit and glared at the rest, they were fearful now but Fukaboshi couldn't move but…
"—H…. He needs to be killed now!"
A grunt advanced with sword in hand, Fukaboshi glared again.
"—Don't!"
The others warned but it was too late, the prince chewed something in his mouth and spit a sharp piece of femur in the direction of the grunt, it pierced his heart and five others behind him, killing them instantly, the others flinched from the attack.
Fukaboshi was blindsided and hit with a giant iron hammer in the head courtesy of Dosun, he started bleeding from a gash in the forehead and fainted due to the concussion.
"Guarding them is a chore—dosun"
Dosun ate even more pills, they were becoming physically and mentally addictive, not to mention the high after having their strength multiplied was great, he looked to where the other two princes were, and they were still out cold.
Dosun looked towards the chair which Hody was seated, giving his speech.
XOX
"The royal family you down a path towards death! Open your eyes!"
"No…" Shirahoshi said as she cleaned her tears.
"Behold!"
Hody walked with the camera he approached three bodies on the ground, he grasped the head of the one in the center, it was Fukaboshi, he was passed out and had a deep gash in his head bleeding, Hody laughed as he showed the three princes captured, beaten and broken.
"Here are you 'handsome princes' they are nothing but trash!"
"Brothers!"
Shirahoshi cried in shock, Jimbei had the same reaction, the others in the kingdom cried, but Otohime slumped her shoulders, her eyes shadowed, suddenly an aquamarine aura extended from her body, it lashed out angry, then both Zoro and Sora moved they stood in front of their crew as the aura from Otohime extended, the malice and hatred was palpable as Zoro picked up Shunsui. Sora raised her legs, ready for combat, the aura reached unimaginable levels as the Queen's killing intent soared, the crew hid behind Zoro and Sora prepared for combat, some even in fear.
"Don't go waving your killing intent towards us…"
Zoro said as he put his bandana, soon a verdant green aura surged forward, however, it was not as big as Otohime's, Sora also surged forward a golden aura, both combined had at least the strength to nullify the effects it was having on their crewmates.
"It's time to say farewell to the old Kingdom of Ryugu!" Hody continued his drivel in the background.
"If you want a fight, I'll give it to you… even if you are stronger, but you are not leagues above me… I can still last you for weeks… " Zoro said with complete confidence as he drew his swords out.
"The crown prince Fukaboshi, the hopes and dreams of the populace in his burdened shoulders… hahaha, the future of this kingdom!"
"I'll not let you hurt a lady, moss-head, but I will protect my friends with my life! I'll protect them without hurting her moss-head…" Sora said in anger.
"Tch.. doesn't matter, in the end, our Captain will arrive soon oh Queen… if you attack us are you ready to face his wrath, I can guarantee you will be dead by the end of the day!"
Zoro warned her, and soon Otohime returned to normal, her empty rageful eyes returned back to normal, she didn't mean to threaten them, she was just angry for her son, and couldn't control her emotions… she dropped to the ground as her eyes twitched in absolute terror, she imagined the punishment the young God would give her, and she started trembling in palpable fear, her mouth opened but only throaty sounds would come out, Shirahoshi looked at her mother with unending worry.
"Three hours from now… in the Concorde plaza… I will execute all of them! I will execute your future! Queen Otohime do you hear me, BITCH! I will kill your heirs!"
"...What is happening here….Hrm?" A low voice came from the forest as Luffy approached 'calmly' as in his feet cracking the ground as he walked, Robin had one of his arms squished in her cleavage as she leaned towards him smiling at the scene and what was about to happen.
XOX
"I've also acquired something very interesting," he picked up a box of signatures and picked one of them. "The list for emigration, so many signatures, more than half of the citizens, so many fools want to be friendly with the humans! These are the names that would defy my orders… in other words…"
"THIS IS A LIST OF TRAITORS!" Hody screamed in rage as the majority of the population flinched in fear. "You can all stop stepping on the picture already! It's easy to lie and step in Otohime's face."
—No it wasn't you bastard. was the sentiment of many of the citizens.
"These signatures are concrete proof of whether you're against me or with me!" Hody picked a stack of signatures and made a showing of passing the papers between his fingers as his lust for killing darkened, those who signed feared for their life. "...I'll execute each and every one of you personally! And lastly the straw hat pirates!... Straw Hat Luffy with the 600-million bounty! I will take your head and make you an example to the humans on the surface...Now! It's time for the spring cleaning of the old kingdom to begin, in three hours this land will be reborn as the proud Fishman island, no longer we will bow to the humans, no longer will we allow discrimination, no longer we will allow humans to live! JAHAHAHA!" The display then closed.
XOX
In the forest you could see Otohime put her spear in the ground by her side and she prostrated herself on the ground, her hands reached out and touched the ground open showing no threat to Luffy, she cried and could not even look him in the eye, she was so ashamed of herself.
"Please you can kill me, but don't take your anger out on my children or my people, it was my mistake, my emotions got the better of me, so take your anger out on me…" Otohime said resigned to her fate, she made a mistake and angered a true-to-life God, remembering the prophecy she made a bit for him to kill her and only her, there was no need for her people to die because of her.
"Please Luffy-sama, please forgive my mother she didn't mean any harm." Shirahoshi implored in a gentle voice, her baby blue eyes were fixed on him with love and worry.
His eyes were still glowing as he looked down on the kneeling mermaid, he reached his hand for her head, Jimbei surged forward however he was blocked by Zoro and Sora.
"You will not take another step Jimbei, this is our Captain's decision, whatever he decides you will not interfere!" Zoro said brandishing his Shusui forward with one hand and pointing it to his neck.
"The moss-head is right, the lady already resigned to her death, it is a bit frustrating, but I respect her wish. But I also trust our Captain… he is not cruel... believe in him… however if you take another step... Jimbei." Sora stomped on a rock and it turned into dust.
Jimbei sweat profusely with worry, he was more or less even with one of them but if they attacked together, he would not last long, perhaps a few days if he didn't make any stupid moves but that was beside the point.
"Luffy-sama please!"
Shirahoshi cried her heart out as the hand of death approached her mother, even if Otohime was a neglectful parent Shirahoshi didn't wish for her death.
Luffy's hand caressed Otohime's head gently and he grinned.
"Why would I kill you? If you know what you did was wrong then you shouldn't worry…" He smiled gently as she was forgiven, it lit an honest smile in everyone's faces as the matter was concluded.
The turn from absolute fear to elation in both the Princess and the Queen, made them fall in love again with Luffy as the rollercoaster of emotions was addictive, Otohime jumped in his arms and sobbed silently, twitching in relief.
He caressed her cheeks and leaned closer to her ear and started whispering, his conqueror, greedy and selfish side appeared for a second, and he roughly whispered in her ear.
"I've spared your life… and it belongs to me now… but you still must be properly punished later…"
He huskily said in and he growled the word punishment sending shivers of lust down her body.
"I will inflict the most pleasurable pain in you, so much that you'll become addicted to it… you'll become my hopeless masochist, always wanting to be punished by your master and you'll take it like a good girl…"
She trembled as her body became cold, all the while the areas his body hugged her were unbelievably hot, he passed his hands on her body warming her like a hot iron, it was addicting and orgasmic touch, she felt lost in lust as her heart imagined receiving pain and pleasure…
Was I always a masochist? she asked herself as she became moist in her nether regions.
Hehe, I want him so badly what is wrong with me? She grinned and a bit of saliva escaped her mouth as she had a mini-orgasm from his voice and touch alone.
He then separated her leaving her behind wanting more of his hot body on her cold, shivering one, however eventually the sensation passed, and her body started to produce heat again and her body warmed naturally.
"Wait, when did my bounty raise again? It's 600 million now?" He scratched his neck in embarrassment as Nami slapped his back in mock anger.
Not to mention this time the photo was different, it had my hat on it, unlike last time… He put his hand on top of his head as he was lost in thought for an instant.
"This is no time to celebrate, turn that happy grin off!" Nami said with shark teeth.
"This asshole Hody is trying to pick a fight with us, is he so foolish to think that he can win? Or does he have a death wish?" Sora said looking towards the sea above as she got lost in her thoughts.
"Yohohoho, well a battle might be entertaining to participate..." Brook twirled his cane in excitement, in fact, the others were also anxious for a battle as well, no...
They thought that a little exercise of their power on fodder was therapeutic.
"Beating them up sounds like a good idea, I don't like his condescending voice at all," Franky said.
"Ara, killing after so long might be good," Robin said chuckling a bit darkly.
"Hiii, w—well that man on the screen can't handle the might of Usopp-sama, let's go beat the crap out of him already!" Usopp said with false bravado.
"Now that this matter is closed, let's fight this Hody guy, if it is a fight he is looking for I'll give one he'll never forget even in the afterlife, he pissed me off!"
Luffy said as he punched his palm, the punch was so strong it pushed the wind on the pack of his hand with extreme force causing a temporary typhoon to their side.
Luffy, how strong have you truly become in these two years? Jimbei asked in his thoughts.
I need a bit of stress relief as well. Luffy thought.
"Manboshi-niisan, Ryuboshi-niisan, Fukaboshi-oniisama…" Shirahoshi breathed those names with worry.
She started stomping the ground with her giant tail, the force was enough to force a crater on the affected ground, and she continued stomping and deepening the crater behind her.
"I… Megalo!" She jumped on Megalo as the shark made a sound of approval.
"I—I have to go help them!" Shirahoshi cried as Megalo started to swim away, however...
"Wait! Princess Shirahoshi… Megalo stop!" Jimbei shouted.
"Stop it! You are not allowed to go! What you are doing is foolish my daughter!" A shadow passed in front of the shark blocking its way, it was Otohime as she admonished her daughter, Megalo came to a dead stop in the middle of the air.
"Nyuu… I don't think the princess should go either… The people Hody fears the most in the Ryugu kingdom is… Otohime and Shirahoshi… after all one it would be futile for him to build a kingdom of Fishman here into his ideal nation… if one can destroy his army and the other can summon Sea Kings to completely destroy his kingdom, Holding the princes and the crown prince hostage is a way to prevent you both from doing that! Nyuu… Hody wouldn't even think about taking the princess hostage in order to use her power for himself. No, he is too fearful of your power… he joined forces with Vander Decken because he can strike at her at any time! Hody's way is to kill anything he disagrees with or gets in his way..." Hachi said after careful consideration, everyone had a thoughtful expression.
"I've heard of this power of mine but I've never spoken to a Sea King before… I'm not sure if this power is real or not"
"Either way the fear in Hody's mind will be gnawing at him," Jimbei said.
"Shark! Take me to the whatever plaza, let me kill the guy!" Luffy stepped forward. "You guys take care of Shirahoshi for me."
"Wait! Luffy! I can't allow you and your crew to fight him!"
"Because we are human?" Chopper and Franky replied.
"Oi, Oi…" Usopp facepalmed at the irony.
"Things get complicated if you say that!" Sora said with shark teeth.
"That's right, many Fishmen and Merman still harbor a bit of hatred towards mankind, Let me handle this." Jimbei said.
"Jimbei-san..." Otohime looked at him in disapproval.
"You'll handle this? You, true you are even stronger than before, you have grown very strong after Ace's death, but you know what Jimbei, one person cannot fight an army of thousands without overwhelming strength... Alone, you may be able to beat all of them eventually, but what about the princes captured? What about the population of the kingdom, can you tell me that you alone can defeat all of them before they ravage this kingdom?"
Jimbei was at a loss for words.
"Luffy-chin…"
"Nyuu…"
"You can't say anything huh…" Luffy put his hand on the Straw hat in his head, it leaned over one of his eyes while the wind blew on his soft silky raven hair, his one uncovered eye glared at Jimbei it glowed tempestuously.
"...Let's see by the time you take all of them down, perhaps 500, perhaps a 1000 deaths of civilians would be on your hands Jimbei, a man cannot fight an army alone if he is protecting something, as someone who faced the same war you should know this well, after all how many pirates and prisoners died in Marineford? Our hand could not reach them, all of it was bigger than all of us! How many letters the marines had to send to families whose husbands and sons died as "proud marines"? There was little pride in that day, instead of dying like heroes they died like rabid dogs being put down swiftly, there was no heroism for those who didn't have the strength… Though marines don't deserve to live in my opinion."
"Luffy…" Nami said with her fist on her chest.
Painful memories flooded Jimbei's heart, the war of the best, it was a nightmare for all sides...
"It was the same in Alabasta if you guys remember… while the civil war there was small compared to what happened in Marineford… People still died… Vivi-chan wanted nobody hurt, she held on that idealistic dream that nobody needed to die, remember?"
Yes, only Franky and Brook were not there even if they had been told about it, all of the others experienced it firsthand.
"Hrm, even with all our strength there were people we could not reach, people that died in the dark where we did not look, people who died in the past because of the greed of Baroque works… seven people alone trying to stop a civil war was a crazy endeavor, we couldn't be everywhere at once and save everybody!"
"Vivi's ideal dream was cut short…" Zoro said crossing his arms in thought.
"Yes… eventually, she saw the truth, but in the aftermath, I said something to her…" Luffy turned his back and tilted his head slightly to look at everyone, his eyes were distant.
"I said as I held her crying form 'Even if you couldn't protect everybody, your heart grasped the dream everybody so tightly that you wished and took every action possible to make it true, that drive made you work harder than anyone else, and we stopped this war with so little casualties… it's because of you and only you that the war stopped when it did, because you've dreamt the unattainable, countless men and women will return safe to their homes, because you've relied on others, because you've inspired others with your foolish ideals you can be proud, you are the Princess of this kingdom, but tonight you are the hero that brought salvation to this country' Hrm, if it wasn't for that foolish ideal, perhaps thousands, perhaps tens of thousands would have died at the foot of the palace instead of the fewer casualties we had."
The seven who participated in the conflict could only nod in agreement, this man was the future King of the Pirates, and all present could see why he was ideal for the position, the overflowing charisma in his speech was off the charts.
"People are only that, people… we can never reach a perfect answer to all problems, all our achievements always fall short of the best outcome… because we are not and never will be perfect. There were many Marines who tried to save their comrades in arms but they fell short... you've been a King of this land for a year if your story is to be true, and as a King would you be willing to sacrifice 1000 civilians for simple resentment?..."
"...No…" Jimbei whispered in confused, his own mind was jumbled after the speech.
"You alone going would end in tragedy, not to mention this is a trap… To save everyone by yourself you need overwhelming force, an example would be me going alone with Megalo, I would then drop down and I would brutally kill every Fishmen Pirate there. This is one of the worst outcomes because it would be the most brutal and heart-rending things a person could witness, the plaza would run dry with rivers of blood after I'm done… however, the aftermath would not be pretty… the mindset of this kingdom has is this 'Humans are horrible'. Nothing would change." Luffy said.
"'Humans are brutal creatures' 'Humans hate and despise Fishmen" Otohime's voice cracked as she continued Luffy's speech, however talking about this mentality cracked her voice with emotion as she teared up.
"What would happen if I were to kill all of Hody's men right in front of the kingdom… you don't need me to tell you…. You or I going alone are the worst possible outcomes… so let's sit down and think of a better plan!" Luffy said as he sat down and crossed his legs.
"Luffy's right Jimbei-san, you are probably thinking on the line that if we kill Hody, he would only be another martyr, another Fishman struck down because he rebelled against a human, right? History would only repeat itself! That's what they would believe, and down the line, another one would take his place! But you know what Jimbei-san, We've got some great friends on this island..."
Sora looked at Shirahoshi with a smile, then looked at Pappagu and Camie and lastly Hachi.
"...And if we don't do something this beautiful kingdom will fall, My Captain will not let that pass by, he likes this place too much, I see in his eyes, he goes to unbelievable lengths to protect what he likes and those he likes, that is a trait he will not discard, he is selfish and stubborn like that…"
Sora smiled as she said kindly.
Jimbei looked at her with apprehension.
"Luffy-kun, you two are friends so you shouldn't fight, Sora-chan you too." Robin approached with a teasing smile.
"Hrm, I'm sorry, but I needed to tell this idiot how bad it is to go on alone…" Luffy said.
"Ara~ The pot calling the kettle black…" Robin teased Luffy.
"Ok, ok I'm also dumb, I've spent minutes and minutes on a speech driving a hard point to his head, wasted everyone's time, went off topic in the middle of it and almost didn't get to the point… Gee, I'm stupid!"
Luffy threw his hands in the air in mock frustration, although it was true, he was frustrated… he was out of touch with civilization, his social skills were still a bit stunted.
"Hm~, Ara~ Captain, you are perhaps right on this point but… you were training in isolation in this past couple of years, only visiting the island of women, right? Your socially stunted, but it's nothing bad that can't be fixed, more importantly, your charisma pulled you through it all and it drove home for a lot of us." Robin said calmly as she sat beside him.
"Hey, Hachi… you've kept refusing to tell us who put you into this situation… but from what I've gathered...Did they attack you because you sided with us?" Sora asked gravely.
Her question put a stop in all of the Straw Hats.
"Was it our fault?" Usopp asked rhetorically.
"Urgh…" Chopper tried to hold his emotions for his friend, he was in this situation because he was friends with them.
"Hachi…" Nami said as she seized.
Luffy stared at the injured octopus Fishman.
"Jimbei you are here too… you are a friend that Luffy holds in high regard… we have a reason to fight!" Sora said seriously and Jimbei sweat rolled from his cheek.
…
"Jimbei-san, even if you are an outlaw right now… you are still my subject… you've wanted to resolve this conflict alone and conveniently forgot about my presence…" Otohime said with a low voice.
"Even if you are a pirate, I am still your Queen you will follow with what I decide!" Otohime said with authority.
Jimbei, cornered, bowed, and offered an apology.
"Now let's come with a compromise and a solution, in fact, I have a good plan cooked up that relies on the strength of your crew as well as mine and Jimbei's. Jimbei, what about the Sun Pirates, can they answer our call?" Otohime asked.
"No, Aladdin and the others are on a mission for Big Mom, even if they were to answer they would arrive only in a few days we don't have that time."
"I see, then here is the plan…" Otohime gathered them around in preparation.
XOX
Fishman district, 2 hours later…
A lawless zone started as an orphanage.
"Gurh… that bitch, that whore…" Vander Decken, walked unsteadily as he put countless more power pills on his mouth… "how could I...This will not stand…" The previous 6-foot man, transformed, his body reached 15-foot tall, each of his four legs was muscled his body ripping the clothes he was previously wearing, his eye turned a vibrant purple, he bulked up massively, his skin turned from brown to blood red.
He walked forward to the district, Wadatsumi at his side, Vander was enveloped in a bubble to protect him from sea water.
This lawless land had the population over eight-hundred-thousand Fishmen.
How dare that whore. How dare that whore. How dare that whore. How dare that whore. How dare that whore. How dare that whore. How dare that whore. How dare that whore. How dare that whore. How dare that whore.
He went on repeat as he imagined the face of Shirahoshi, while clutching his 'wound' with his massive arm, the wound was gone, healed, there were three punctured scars, however the skin around it was aquamarine blue, it now even reached his face, the corruption.
On this day on this hour, there were less than half, approximately 368031 inhabitants on the Fishmen District, near the Great Arc Noah.
I will not die, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine, she is mine.
He continued walking as his body pumped even more strength and power inside, he kept eating the pills as he was addicted to it, every executive and him had a stack of these, he didn't count but there were more than hundreds of thousands inside the sacks as it was manufactured quite easily.
"Bahohohoho…" He kept laughing.
Fishmen district boasted 123000 male adults right now, which meant the rest were only children of ages 0-18.
If I die then so does she, I will kill her even if I am dead, nobody can have her but me!
The power from the pills reached an unimaginable threshold of power, and pushed beyond, the Man known as Vander Decken started leaking unimaginable levels of killing intent it blasted off and paralyzed everyone in the district, they could not move or made a peep, this was a large city and yet the monstrous presence of Vander affected it all, he glared the underwater city, He unsheathed a rosy double axe from his back, he gripped the handle in rage, and roared in pure hatred, the sound vibrations boomed across the ocean, he took a step forward…
On this day, two events would be marked in history, the salvation of the Ryugu Kingdom, and the biggest genocide committed by the monster Vander Decken, who by his own hand wiped the Fishmen district of life, killing hundreds of thousands of innocents and children.
XOX
One kilometer above the Ryugu Palace, 3 hours later…
She opened her blurry eyes, she looked down at her body, two deep gashes in her abdomen leaked copious amounts of blood, she was being held by her daughter, her memories were fuzzy, but even then she looked on towards the falling continental ship, on the deck of the country sized ship was the man she's come to love and respect…
He faced a white giant freak of nature, pure white skin and hair, blood red eyes, purple lips and rows and rows of giant shark teeth, the monster was bruised and battered, it missed an arm but it didn't care as his killing intent was felt kilometers away. The monster's laugh haunted her mind as she trembled in rage, bleeding even more in the hands of her daughter, she could no longer fight… not with these wounds.
Then, the man she loved closed his fist, and he grasped the sun with his hand, she could not believe what she was seeing, soon a blinding white light enveloped the Ryugu Kingdom as the sun in the man's hand illuminated the sea floor, she could no longer bear to see the light and before she closed her eyes she saw the monster rushing forward fearlessly to his demise, no that wasn't the correct word, the monster no longer had thoughts, he was insane, off the bent, he did not have a conscience any longer so he didn't have fears or courage anymore only a single overwhelming drive, the blinding light reached a peak and then all she saw was black… all around was the void.
Is this death?
How did it come to this?
Otohime thought as her fuzzy head thought back on the last 5 hours...