Uninherited Will

A ruined ship crashes into Fish-Man Island, and the crowd realizes what it is: "A Tenryubito ship?!" Someone says it looks as if it was attacked by deep-sea creatures. The people ask why Celestial Dragons are here in the depths, but the man aboard is already coughing, panting, and ordering the fish-men around. He demands that they blast "all those worthless fools" and bring him his mask at once. Even wounded and stranded, the Celestial Dragon treats the islanders as things beneath him.

The wounded World Noble is named Saint Mjosgard. He points a gun at the people while gasping that "the stench of fish in this place is simply unbearable!!!" and shouts, "Hurry up and bring me my mask!! Save my life, do you hear me?!" He demands a doctor and treatment, but the medical team hesitates. Aladine says the doctors are present, yet he does not think anyone knows how to handle this. A nearby fish-man calls Mjosgard "that lowest of the world's trash" and says, "We should kill him."

Elsewhere, Vander Decken IX hears the commotion and is entertained by it. A wrecked Tenryubito ship has arrived seeking refuge, and this is not how the situation was supposed to go. He has been told that Jinbe has joined the Shichibukai and that the members of his pirate crew, the Sun Pirates, have returned to their home, including those who were once slaves. Vander Decken understands Mjosgard's reason for coming: the noble paid good money for that "wonderful collection of fishman slaves" and now intends to retrieve them.

The former slaves stand before the collapsed Saint Mjosgard. People shout, "Hey - wait, you guys!! What are you planning on doing?!" but the hatred around him is no longer abstract. Mjosgard recognizes them and screams, "Ahhh!! It's you!!! My slaves!!!" He orders them to return with him immediately and asks who gave them permission to leave. The men he once owned close in with weapons, their silence answering him more clearly than any speech.

The crowd surges toward Mjosgard, and someone shouts, "Stop it, you guys!!!" The warning is practical as much as moral: "He's a Tenryubito!! If you attack him, even your pardons will count for nothing!!" Mjosgard snarls that above the surface his position is protected by the threat of Marine admirals coming to defend him, but in the depths, if everyone keeps quiet, this will be no more than an accident at sea. The people hesitate because he has a point, yet the rage remains.

The islanders decide Mjosgard is barely breathing and dead either way. They cry, "Let him feel a little of the pain you suffered!!!" "Kill him!!!" and "Make sure it's painful!!!" Mjosgard finally realizes he is the one being hunted and shouts that he is an important person. Someone tells him, "You, of all people, could never forgive even if I tried!!!" He pulls the trigger while the crowd yells to stop, and in the instant before revenge can become murder, Queen Otohime rushes between the gun and the people.

The gun fires, and the bullet hits Queen Otohime. Everyone freezes. Voices cry, "Queen Otohime!!!" and "The bullet hit the queen...!!" Mjosgard pants on the ground while Otohime, bleeding but still conscious, orders, "Throw your weapons aside, all of you...!!" She has taken the shot herself, not to save the Celestial Dragon's dignity, but to stop her own people from crossing the line in front of the next generation.

Otohime looks at the crowd and says the words that cut through their fury: "There are children watching...!!!" Jinbe and the others are stunned. Aladine asks where the Tenryubito is, and Jinbe says Otohime dashed out of the palace alone. Six-year-old Shirahoshi asks what a Tenryubito is, and her brother answers with painful honesty: "It's a kind of human, Shirahoshi... One of the... less pleasant types of human..." The children are forced to see both the cruelty of the surface and Otohime's refusal to answer it with murder.

Otohime's wound is only a scratch, but the people cannot understand why she protects the man who has hurt them. She says she can hear the cries of their hearts, painfully clear to her. She knows how much anger and hatred they bear toward humans, but no matter how difficult it is, they must not pass that hatred on to the children. "They must meet the humans for themselves, and make their own decisions!!!" she begs. She asks them not to tell the people of Fish-Man Island anything of this tragedy or of their race toward the humans.

Mjosgard's damaged ship suddenly groans and shifts, terrifying everyone. Shirahoshi sees her mother in danger and cries, "Mother, watch out!!" Then her panic breaks into a huge scream: "Motheeeeeeeer!!!!" The force of her voice rolls across the island and through the sea. People look up in confusion as the air and water shake, while Mjosgard himself stares in horror at what the little princess's cry has awakened.

Sea Kings rise around Fish-Man Island. Their enormous heads surround the city and the broken ship, answering Shirahoshi's cry. The crowd shouts, "Sea Kings!!!" and panics as the gigantic creatures fill the sky and water above them. Mjosgard screams in terror, while Shirahoshi stands small beneath the impossible sight. The page reveals that her grief has called monsters of the deep without her understanding what she has done.

As the Sea Kings withdraw, Vander Decken watches and realizes this cannot be coincidence. Queen Otohime murmurs that Shirahoshi cannot be that, but Vander Decken thinks of a legend. The legend tells that long ago an incredible power lay hidden below the waves: a mermaid princess with the ability to command even the Sea Kings. It was in pursuit of that legend that the very first Vander Decken set sail for the depths. The old tale has suddenly appeared before the eyes of the current Vander Decken.

Vander Decken exults that he has finally found the treasure his ancestor sought. To him, Shirahoshi is not a frightened child but proof of the legend and a prize. He tells his men to be quiet, because only his clan knows the full truth of the legend. First, he says, he must make Princess Shirahoshi his bride, though she is still only a kid. Nearby, Otohime asks Aladine to treat Mjosgard despite everything that has happened. Her attendants object that her own wounds must be seen to, but she says, "I will... treat this man..."

A few short weeks later, Mjosgard's treatment is complete and his health is restored. He does not become grateful. He says, "I won't forget this, you stinking fish!!" and promises to make them regret what they did. The ministers argue that they should not send him back because it will only bring danger to the island, but Otohime has a different calculation. She says they still have much to discuss, and because of that she will accompany him to the surface.

Neptune tries to stop her, shouting, "Wait right there, Otohime!!!" If she truly intends to negotiate with the nobles, he says he will go himself, because he cannot allow such a reckless act. Otohime refuses. If the king were captured by humans, the country would be endangered; the person who goes must be physically frail and not a powerful warrior, someone who can go to the surface and return safely. She tells him it would be meaningless for him to go, because this is the only way to prove that it is safe for their people in the world above.

As Otohime departs, she tells Neptune, "Have faith!! Both in me, the wife whom you chose... ...and in the humans...!!!" Neptune can only call her name while the children and the people watch her leave. Night after night of sleepless unease racks the entire Ryugu Kingdom, and after a week that feels like many months, the people wait for news. Shirahoshi cries and asks when her mother will return, while Jinbe tells the children they must wait patiently and believe in her.

After negotiations that span many days, the cry finally comes: "Queen Otohime has returned!!!" Otohime has succeeded in pacifying the Tenryubito and comes home alive. The people weep and shout, "Welcome home, Your Majesty!!!" and "Thank goodness you're alive!!! That alone is enough!!!" But she returns with more than survival. In her hand is a piece of paper, and the narration calls it a shining ray of hope for all of Fish-Man Island.

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