Camie to the Rescue

Cherry was about to grab whoever she could and bring them to the surface, when she happened to lock eyes with a group of mermaids that were passing by.

One of the mermaids was familiar to her. It was Camie, whom she had met two years ago.

"Ahhhhh! I forgot to escort them here! I thought it was next month?!" Camie panicked, dropping her groceries.

"Are those illegal immigrants friends of yours, Camie? Should we help them? It looks like they're about to drown…" Another mermaid said.

"Of course, please help me save them, girls!" Camie rushed over to grab Luffy.

"I'll take you somewhere dry, okay?" A mermaid spoke to Cherry.

"I'm fine, thanks. You can help one of the others." Cherry answered clearly.

"Huh? Are you part fishman? You speak so clearly underwater…" The mermaid said, before turning her attention to Chopper and swimming away with him.

Everyone was brought back to Camie's home, with the exception of Franky who was a bit too big. He was able to get along underwater just fine without assistance, so he went off on his own for now.

Only Cherry, Robin, Zoro, Nami, and Brook were conscious in Camie's home at the moment. Luffy, Chopper, Merry, Sanji, Usopp, and Cabernet were sleeping soundly in a big clamshell.

"I'm so sorry for not being there to meet you. I'm such a scatterbrain sometimes." Camie smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

"That's alright, Camie. We made it here just fine." Nami said, drying off with a towel.

"Something is missing…" Cherry said, looking at each person in the room.

"Franky went off on his own," Camie said.

"No, no not him." Cherry said, rubbing her chin in thought. Then she snapped her fingers and looked enlightened. "Where's our barrel creep?"

"Barrel creep?" Camie asked, confused.

"Right, Caribou. You should tell your friends to be on the lookout for him. An ugly guy stuffed into a barrel with just his head poking out. Who knows what he'll do if he gets let out." Nami warned.

"Probably kidnap mermaids, he seemed the type." Robin said, having caught her breath.

"Okay, I'll go spread the word. Mermaid traffickers are the last thing we need right now." Camie said, jumping back into the pool she used as an entrance.

"Look how scary she is!" "She's scary!" "No she isn't!" "I think she's scary?" "So what if she's scary?" Five tiny mermaids poked their little heads inside from the pool entrance.

Naturally they were talking about Cherry.

"Surely you have scarier fishmen here? With sharks and eels and what not?" Cherry asked.

"Nope, not even close! "Not even close!" "Very close!" "I think it's not close?" "So what if it's not close?" They answered.

"Do you do that every time you talk?" Cherry asked. "Or are you just messing with us?"

They all look to their top right and whistle nonchalantly like they didn't hear the question.

Camie came up from the entrance and grabbed one of her bubbles to float on.

"Would you like something to eat? I can have something whipped up in about half an hour." Camie offered.

"I want to look around, seeing if they have swords here." Zoro answered.

"I want to see what they have to offer for sale as well." Nami said.

"I will go with Zoro to make sure he doesn't get lost." Brook said.

"I want to see the historical sites." Robin said.

"I'll probably go looking for trouble." Cherry answered, earning a glare from Nami.

"No you won't! Anyways, Luffy will probably be happy if you had something to eat for when they wake up, Camie. Thanks in advance." Nami said.

"Alright then. I'll show you how to use the bubbles to get around." Camie said.

After a brief rundown on how the bubbles work, they were off on their own.

Cherry wasn't necessarily looking for trouble like she said, but she expected that she might find some in her current task. That was to find out what happened to Slenk and Borke.

After asking around, Cherry learned that a good place to get information on fishman island was to ask Madame Shirley who ran the Mermaid Cafe. Tourists and locals both frequented the establishment, so a lot of news and rumors came through as well.

*Ding ding*

Cherry opened the door which rang a bell overhead and confidently strode inside.

"Welcome~! Would you like a table or a booth?" A beautiful mermaid waitress asked.

"A booth please. Would it be possible to meet with Madame Shirley?" Cherry asked.

"Madame Shirley is very busy at the moment. May I inquire about the reason for your desire to meet her?" The mermaid waitress asked. Most wouldn't notice that her tone and posture shifted to a more defensive nature, but Cherry did.

"I just had some questions, maybe you can answer them." Cherry said, not minding the change in demeanor.

Seeing the mermaid waitress nod, Cherry asked away. "Do you know about two human swordsmen who came here about a year ago by the names of Slenk and Borke?"

The mermaid waitress's demeanor shifted again, though Cherry couldn't quite read it this time.

"They were regulars a while back. A couple of months ago they were arrested for murder." She answered.

Cherry seemed calm on the inside, but inside she was burning up like a volcano. "What was their sentence?"

"... Death…" The mermaid waitress answered, a single tear rolling down her face.

She had been personally saved from traffickers by those two. Their unfair fate was something that haunted her dreams since the verdict came from the palace.

"I see. Thank you, here's something for the trouble." Cherry said, putting down several bills on the table.

As Cherry was walking away she stopped. Without turning around she asked "Do you know how I might gain an audience with the king?"

"I-I don't know. You could ask a patrolling royal guard, maybe?" The mermaid waitress answered.

"Okay." Cherry left the restaurant.

…

In the Ryugu Palace, the royal family minus the princess was eating lunch.

"Father, I heard there was a case of illegal immigration by a group of pirates earlier. From the sounds of it, it might be the Straw Hats. Should we deliver Jimbe's message about where they can meet him after lunch?" Prince Fukaboshi asked.

"I see. I suppose it is better to deliver it personally since it's Jimbe, jamon." King Neptune answered.

Prince Fukaboshi responded. "Of course, Fa-"

They all froze in place. The air around them suddenly felt ten times heavier than the water outside fishman island.

The guards in the room had directly fallen unconscious.

"What is this Haki, jamon?!" Neptune wondered aloud.

He and the three princes turned in the direction of its source. Each of them saw an illusion appear in their mind's eye.

Two hawk-like red eyes burned into their minds. A cold fury dwelt in those eyes as they seemed to judge them.

Then the pressure was gone.

"W-what was that, Father? So la ti do…" Prince Ryuboshi asked.

"Why do I feel so guilty, Akkamanbo…" Prince Manboshi spoke. The other three knew what he meant by that.

"Those eyes… Did we do something to upset Hawkeye, jamon?" King Neptune wondered. Hawkeye was the only one he could think of with eyes like that, that could also pressure them so much.

The minister of the right rushed inside with more guards. "Your Majesties, are you alright?!"

"We're fine, tend to the guards that passed out." Prince Fukaboshi said.

"Send some royal guards to look for the Shichibukai Hawkeye and invite him to the palace, jamon. Perhaps we can avoid violence, but if not then it's better to face him here where civilians won't be hurt in the battle, jamon." King Neptune ordered.

The Minister of the Right wanted to argue but held his tongue. His majesty was right, a man like Hawkeye couldn't be underestimated. "Yes, your majesty!"

…

Meanwhile, inside the Ryugu Palace's dungeon.

"Hey Borke, did you just feel like Cherry was really angry at us for some reason?" Slenk asked.

Borke shrugged his shoulders.

"Did I just imagine it?" Slenk wondered aloud.