Volume 2 Chapter 7

In the depths of the Grand Line, on Fish-man Island.

It has been just above 10 years since Neptune was crowned the King of Ryugu Kingdom which includes fish-man island and the surrounding seas. He and his wife Otohime ruled the seas with their 3 sons: Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi and Manboshi. They were currently expecting the birth of another child.

Fisher Tiger who had just returned after rescuing Jimbe and the others was kneeling in front of the King in a grand palace, telling him about his experience above the sea.

King Neptune was a giant-sized and muscular coelacanth fish-man. He had a red nose, small eyes and long thick orange curly hair and beard. He was bare-chested as he sat in the royal palace, His chest and his arms were hairy and a matching black tattoo was present on both arms which looked like a spiral with wavy protrusion designs around it. As a King wore a gold crown that resembles a tulip with jewels embedded, a golden bracelet on each wrist, and a golden trident with an elaborate design in his hand.

Queen Otohime was a goldfish mermaid, unlike her husband, she was a normal human-sized mermaid. Her golden blonde hair was partially held up in two loops by an orange headpiece. She had blue eyes which were emphasised by her thick eyelashes and her pink lipstick. Sitting next to her husband, she wore a long white kimono with a cream-coloured carp-scale design along the hem and a sash around her shoulders that floated behind her head.

King Neptune: "Fisher my friend, it is great to see that you are well. How was your time above the sea?"

Fisher: "Your majesty, Humans are very divided. Wars and bloodshed are too common above the sea. They find great amusement in enslaving our kind, up there it is a quick way to earn their fortune. That is why humans have been kidnapping our people until now."

Hmmm

Queen Otohime: "I know that some humans have committed evil deeds but we cannot let this blind us, there is a lot of good out there. There should be a time when we can live freely on the surface, like our ancestors. We have had bad experiences with humans which has been recorded in our blood, our beliefs and our way of life. We have not done much to improve the situation only to pass on this hate to our younger generations which will only keep us in this cycle. That is why I am taking the stand, I want to gather enough signatures, take the petition to the surface. I want Fish-man island and our people to be recognised and respected as people. Only by doing this can we stop this cycle."

Fisher and King Neptune kept quiet as they listened to the Queen's words.

Queen Otohime: "I don't know why but I can sense what a person feels in their hearts. Some people have been hurt and it will be hard for them to see the change. But in the 10 years that Neptune has been on the throne the amount these human-caused heartaches have reduced, but we still teach the younger ones to hate. Most of them go around hating without even knowing why, if this continues in the future this substanceless hate will become a major issue."

The Queen emotionally poured her heart as she spoke, she cried. She could feel the pain in Fisher's heart, the heartbreak he must have felt but in there somewhere there was hope.

"My King, I found the one of promise," Fisher said as he broke the silence in the palace.

King Neptune was so shocked he lost his composure as King. Getting off this throne as his crown rolled off his head. "Everyone leave us" he announced.

The young princes, the ministers, servants and guards made their way out of the palace. Everyone was wondering what Fisher must have told the King for him to get so emotional.

King Neptune: "Fisher, Stand up, No sit-down, get comfortable. Please explain what you just said."

"King, Queen, No one knew about the mission of my family except those of your status. Generations after generations we have always sent an adventurer above the sea to look for signs of that person. His name is Rose D. Ezra," Fisher then told the tale of his encounter with Ezra. "This person has the same power and his name has a "D" in it."

"You said that the statue was that of the former Princess and the man of legend?" Neptune asked.

"The Princess I recognised but the man was confirmed by Ezra as Poseidon," Fisher said

"How can it be," Otohime chipped in

"The most baffling thing was the plaque of the statue: Two sides of the same coin" Fisher added.

King Neptune quietly listened until no one spoke anymore. "This should stay between the three of us. There is another statue here on Fish-man island. I am sure this young D. will be making his way to this island at some point in time. It has always been passed down from King to King about the legend of a Fish-man Poseidon which was last seen during the year 800 and 900, the mermaid Princess fell in love with a very powerful person, the person left a statue here as a message to his heir. I think Rose D. Ezra is the heir to that person."

"A change is coming to the seas!" the King said. "We as fish-men, the people of promise to both Joy Boy and that person must not be caught unawares."

Looking at his wife, "Your dream might as well come true, but we cannot go by your means. If this person is to be the one to bring us to the surface as the legend foretells, his enemy will be the people who currently rule the humans above the seas. The ones who led to the downfall of our kind 700 years ago, The God Clan."

The King's decree was released not long after this.

Fish-man district was to be closed off

All humans on the Island were to be sent to the surface.

A census was to take place in Fish-man Island

All orphans were to join the Sun Guards institution ran by Fisher Tiger

Security of Fish-man Island was to increase

These five edicts were announced all over Ryugu Kingdom including the lawless area where orphans and outcast stayed known as Fish-man district. Every fish-man was shocked by the new rules. It was not long since humans tried to raid and kidnap all the fish-men in the Kingdom only to be stopped by the Whitebeard pirates who then claimed the land. Now it was almost as if the Island was hibernating in preparation for something big.

Very quickly as the news spread the fish-men got to work. An outpost of the Sun-guard institute was created at the Sea Forest, for the training of orphaned fish-men. A few soldiers in the Neptune Army had resigned to take up posts at the institute. One of these soldiers was a loyal fan of Arlong, Hody Jones.

Fish-men carpenters worked overtime in fixing ships at the Sea Forest, coating them with a special resin that enables the ship to withstand the crushing pressure in the depths of the ocean as well as contain enough air for one trip to the surface. Human pirates were ferried using these repaired vessels to the archipelago.

Fish-man island closed its doors to all humans. Fisher led a defensive force to guard the entry from the archipelago, This led to the birth of the unruly Sun Pirates.