The Three Neptune Brothers

Vander Decken hears of a Tamatebako, a legendary box from Ryugu Palace. A note explains the old tale: when the hero opened it from curiosity, he aged into an old man. Decken's crew tells him the box is hidden somewhere in the palace and can cause anyone to age. He immediately twists the legend toward Shirahoshi. If the box could turn a teensy little brat into a fully grown lady, his problem would be solved. "With that box, I can marry Princess Shirahoshi right away!!" he declares, ordering his men to steal the Tamatebako at once.

Vander Decken's men flatter the plan, saying the palace is impenetrable unless he marries Shirahoshi first. Decken insists that Shirahoshi is cute and would become a proper beauty with ten or twenty extra years on her. Once he is her husband, the treasure his clan has sought for generations will finally be his. His men are already joking about wedding invitations, but one of them points out the obvious problem: "Aren't you going to propose first, Captain Decken?!!" Decken suddenly realizes he has no friends to invite.

At Gyoncord Plaza, Queen Otohime presents the paper she brought back from the surface. She explains that the word of the World Nobles holds great sway even at the Reverie Council of Kings, and this is an official letter from a World Noble. The letter supports the attached petition "for the sake of improving relations between humans and fishmen." If enough signatures are gathered before the next Reverie, the paper will give the proposal enough strength to become realistic action. Relocation to the surface is no longer merely a dream.

The crowd is stunned that a Tenryubito granted support to the proposal. Otohime does not demand instant belief. All she needs now is to gather more signatures, so she tells the people she can only wait for them to make their own decisions and begs them to reach out for a life of harmony. The children misunderstand and ask if she means to grant them false hope and take it away again. A child shouts that this is not the time because his mother said she would sign too. Hands begin dropping signed papers into the box.

The queue begins at once. People line up properly and call for no pushing as signature sheets pour into the box. Otohime watches, trembling, as the response she spent years chasing finally arrives. The ministers warn her that they will not get anywhere with a tiny box like this and ask how many people she thinks live in the country. Otohime covers her mouth, unable to hold back tears. The people are no longer mocking her; they are choosing, one by one, to stand with her.

The crowd turns Otohime's cause into a public movement. People shout, "Coming through! Coming through! Everyone place your signatures into this box!!" and call others to show support for the queen's passionate endeavour. Otohime breaks down crying in front of them, overcome by emotion, while the narration says that on this day her seven long years of struggle finally bore fruit. The people of her kingdom show the deep love they hold for their queen.

For days, Gyoncord Plaza is filled with people from across the land, all eager to submit signatures for Otohime's cause. Later, Otohime speaks with her children about the day the Sea Kings peered into the island. The princes remember the shock, but Otohime says that was the moment she found courage and the assurance that their country truly can change. Then she reveals the truth: "It was Shirahoshi who called them, you know." Her sons react in astonishment.

Otohime explains the scale of Shirahoshi's ability. Merfolk can understand the hearts of the ocean's fish and communicate with them, but no mermaid has ever been able to communicate with the gigantic Sea Kings. Even Neptune, she says, can only communicate with whales. According to the royal family records, once every few centuries a mermaid is born who can understand and communicate with even the mighty Sea Kings. The brothers realize their little sister may be that legendary mermaid.

The records say that when the time comes, a great change will come upon the world. One will appear with the power to guide that mermaid, to guide Shirahoshi, show her the right path, and the correct way to use her ability. The children wonder if this means Fish-Man Island, too, will see great change. Otohime believes the power of love can save thousands of lives if the will is strong enough. But the danger is equally vast: if used wrongly, Shirahoshi's power is great enough to sink the entire world beneath the waves, and Shirahoshi herself is still unaware of it and unable to control it.

Otohime warns that if anything sent Shirahoshi into an even greater shock than before, she might instinctively send the Sea Kings on a mighty rampage, and Fish-Man Island would be squashed flat. For now, Otohime says she will do everything in her power to prevent that. She asks her sons to grow into fine warriors and use their strength to protect their sister with their lives. Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi answer immediately, "Yes, Mother!!!" Otohime thanks them with a smile.

Then, suddenly and without warning, disaster strikes. A fire erupts in the plaza, and people shout, "Everyone get back!! It's on fire!!!" The box of signatures suddenly catches fire, and the crowd rushes for water, screaming not to let the papers burn. Otohime's first instinct is not for herself but for the petition: "Protect the signature ees!!" The hope gathered over days goes up in flames before anyone can understand what caused it.

The crowd panics over the burning petition box. Someone cries, "Ahh, how terrible!! All those signatures we gathered...!!" Another voice tells them to forget the noise and put the fire out. Otohime trembles as she watches the signatures burn. Then a shot rings out. A bullet strikes her, and she collapses in front of the people she had just moved to hope.

"Queen Otohime has been shot!!!" The plaza erupts. People scream and scatter while guards shout that there is a sniper lurking nearby and demand to know where the shot came from and who is responsible. They order the royal family protected. Shirahoshi and her brothers stare in horror, calling for their mother. The fire, the ruined signatures, and the hidden shooter turn the plaza from a place of hope into a scene of terror.

Neptune orders everyone away from the plaza and demands a medical team. Otohime lies bleeding while her children cry out, and the guards urge Shirahoshi to hurry to the oarfish. Amid the ruckus, Vander Decken appears near the princess and touches her, quietly exploiting the chaos while everyone is focused on the queen. Someone tells Shirahoshi not to think terrible thoughts, but she is already frozen by fear, surrounded by shouting and smoke.

Otohime's children gather around her, crying that they will take her to a hospital and asking who is responsible. Vander Decken watches from the shadows and vows, "I will make them regret this!!!" Otohime, barely breathing, asks her angels to stay by her side and wipe the terrible looks from their faces. She says she let her guard down because she was so happy to finally have all those signatures. Then she turns to Prince Fukaboshi: it is to him, she says, that she should be bitter.

The guards beg permission to act, but Otohime refuses revenge. No matter who is responsible, she asks them not to feel anger on her behalf. "I would never wish for you to be consumed by anger and hatred on my account," she says. She tells Shirahoshi she must be strong, because if anything sends her into a greater shock than before, the same catastrophe Otohime feared may happen. Shirahoshi starts to wail and rush forward, and everyone cries, "Wait!!! Shirahoshi!!!"

Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi force themselves to smile through tears. They begin singing and dancing around Shirahoshi: "Akkamambo!! It'll be okay!! Everything's all right when you mambo-dance!" and "Ahhh, what fun!! Such fun! Nothing is wrong! Let us sing, Shirahoshi!!" Others protest that they are singing at a time like this, but Otohime understands. The brothers are doing exactly what she asked: protecting their sister by keeping her from breaking under grief.

The three brothers promise their mother that they will become great warriors like their father, collect the signatures once more, and protect Shirahoshi with their lives. Through tears they tell her, "So please, do not worry!!!" Otohime smiles weakly and says, "We are so close... I know you can reach... the light of the sun...!!!" Her hand falls into theirs as the flashback closes with "Otohime and Tiger (End)," leaving her dream to the children who must decide whether to inherit hope rather than hatred.

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