The banquet hall of Ryugu Palace looked like something a man would invent after drinking too much and deciding ordinary luxury was an insult to imagination.
Everything gleamed.
Soft underwater light filtered through the palace walls and glass-like coral windows, painting the long hall in shifting shades of blue, gold, and pearl. The ceiling arched high overhead like the inside of a jewel-encrusted shell, while elegant columns carved from coral and white stone lined either side of the room.
And everywhere—
Mermaids.
Beautiful mermaids.
Graceful mermaids.
Smiling mermaids.
Mermaids carrying silver trays, pouring drinks, adjusting plates, and moving through the hall with the sort of effortless elegance Giovanni had only previously believed existed in irresponsible fantasies.
Giovanni sat at the long banquet table with his posture somehow both proud and dangerously close to collapse.
One mermaid placed a plate before him with a warm smile.
"Here you are, Giovanni-sama."
Giovanni blinked.
Then he slowly turned his head and looked at her.
"…Sama?"
The mermaid tilted her head sweetly.
"Yes."
Another one leaned in from his other side to refill his cup.
"Would Giovanni-sama like more to drink?"
A third giggled softly.
"Or perhaps more of the coral fruit? You seemed to enjoy it."
Giovanni's soul left his body and came back stronger.
Queen Otohime, seated nearby, hid a smile behind her hand.
King Neptune, on the other hand, looked openly amused by the human boy's rapidly failing composure.
Giovanni straightened in his seat and cleared his throat, trying to summon dignity from whatever wreckage remained of it.
"Yes," he said, voice smooth for exactly one second. "More would be appreciated."
The mermaids smiled brighter.
"Of course, Giovanni-sama."
One of them brushed lightly past him.
Another thanked him for complimenting the food.
A third asked whether all human men were this handsome or if he was unusual.
Giovanni, who had survived sea beasts, Admirals, and Shanks, was somehow less equipped for this.
'Stay calm,' he told himself.
'You are a pirate of the sea.'
Then another mermaid leaned closer and asked if he preferred sweet or salty dishes in that soft, musical tone of theirs, and he nearly blacked out from joy.
Across the table, Queen Otohime watched all of this with undisguised satisfaction.
King Neptune laughed heartily.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself, Giovanni."
Giovanni turned toward the king with a completely serious expression that did not match the color in his face.
"Your Majesty," he said, "this is one of the greatest moments of my life."
Neptune burst into laughter again.
"I believe him."
Otohime smiled warmly.
"I'm glad."
At that, Giovanni finally looked down at the feast itself.
And to be fair—
It was not only the mermaids making this the greatest meal of his life.
The food was incredible.
Platters of beautifully prepared sea dishes covered the table. Shellfish cooked in fragrant broths. Delicate cuts of fish laid over beds of glowing greens. Seaweed rolls wrapped around spiced fillings. Coral fruits sliced open and arranged like gemstones. Giant shell bowls filled with soups so rich in aroma that even Giovanni's usually reckless pace of eating had, for a few moments, been replaced by genuine appreciation.
He swallowed another bite and looked at Otohime and Neptune.
"This is amazing."
Neptune beamed proudly.
"As it should be!"
Otohime nodded. "I'm happy it suits your taste."
Giovanni pointed lightly with his utensil.
"It definitely does."
Then the conversation slowly began to flow.
Some of it was light.
Some of it serious.
Some of it simply strange in the way conversations became when people from completely different worlds sat at the same table and tried to bridge the distance between them.
Neptune asked first about the human world above.
Giovanni explained what he could.
The Blue Seas.
The Grand Line.
The way islands could feel like entire different worlds separated only by currents and wind.
He talked about bars in tiny villages, ports full of drunks and rumors, and how the sky looked on clear nights above the sea.
One of the mermaids asked if human festivals were beautiful.
Giovanni said some were.
Another asked whether sunsets really looked like fire falling into the ocean.
Giovanni paused at that.
Then smiled softly.
"Yeah," he said. "Sometimes they do."
Otohime asked about humans more carefully than the others. Not with suspicion, but with yearning.
What were ordinary families like?
Did children laugh the same way?
Did people love one another the same way on the surface as they did below the sea?
Giovanni answered as honestly as he could.
Sometimes yes.
Sometimes no.
Humans were humans, he said. Some good. Some terrible. Some weak. Some kind. Some ugly in ways that had nothing to do with appearance.
Otohime listened to every answer with full attention.
Then Neptune and the palace attendants told Giovanni more about Fish-Man Island in return.
About the districts.
The palace.
The currents surrounding the island.
The way different fish-man and merfolk communities lived across the kingdom.
The customs, the joys, the worries.
The scars.
Some parts of the conversation grew heavier there, though Otohime never let them drown the mood completely.
And then, in the middle of all that, one of the attendants returned carrying something small.
Very small.
Very precious.
King Neptune's face changed instantly.
Pride softened him.
Otohime's whole expression lit up.
"Our son," she said gently.
Giovanni looked over.
And saw him.
A tiny baby fish-man prince, bundled and peaceful, with the kind of face that was so offensively adorable it made rational thought difficult.
"Fukaboshi," Otohime said softly.
Giovanni stared.
Then leaned in slowly.
"…That," he said in awe, "is the cutest thing in the world."
Neptune laughed. "Good answer!"
Otohime smiled and adjusted the blanket slightly around the child.
Giovanni looked at the little prince with complete sincerity.
He truly was adorable.
And inwardly, Giovanni thought.
'So this is Fukaboshi.'
His eyes softened.
'The daring elder brother of Shirahoshi… the one who would one day throw himself into a death battle against Hody Jones for his little sister.'
Giovanni respected that already, even while staring at the tiny baby who currently looked more likely to yawn than fight anyone.
'Truly commendable.'
Then another thought entered his mind with absolute confidence and no shame at all.
'But Shirahoshi will get married to my son when I eventually get one.'
His gaze sharpened with ridiculous, imaginary resolve.
'And he is not getting in my way if that.'
Outwardly, however, Giovanni simply smiled at the baby prince and said, "He's really cute."
No one in the room knew the madness he was hiding.
Which was for the best.
By the time the banquet ended, the mood had softened into something warm.
The food was mostly gone.
Giovanni had been spiritually healed by mermaids.
Neptune seemed to like him.
Otohime seemed genuinely happy he had come.
And Giovanni, for all his recklessness and posturing, found himself liking this kingdom far more than he had expected.
When the evening began to settle, Queen Otohime rose from her seat.
"Come," she said. "I'll take you to your quarters."
Giovanni blinked and immediately stood up too.
"Oh no, Your Majesty, you really don't have to do that."
Otohime looked at him curiously.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"It just feels strange, you know? A whole queen escorting me around."
Otohime smiled softly and motioned for him to walk with her anyway.
"It's alright."
And so he did.
The palace hallways were even quieter at night.
They walked side by side through long coral-lit corridors and open balcony passages where the ocean glow drifted in from outside. The sounds of the palace softened into distant voices and moving water.
For a while, neither of them said anything.
Then Otohime spoke.
"My dream," she said, "is for fish-men, merfolk, and humans to live together."
Giovanni glanced at her.
Her voice was gentle, but there was iron hidden beneath it.
"No hatred," she continued. "No fear. No distance that cannot be crossed."
She clasped her hands lightly in front of herself as they walked.
"Humans rarely make it down here recently."
There was sadness in that sentence, but not hopelessness.
"So when someone like you arrives…"
She looked at him and smiled.
"I am very happy."
Giovanni was quiet for a moment after that.
Then he nodded.
"Your dream is commendable."
Otohime's eyes widened just slightly.
Giovanni looked ahead as he kept speaking.
"And if there's anything in my power that can help bring it into reality…"
His voice grew firmer.
"Then I'll do it."
For a second, Otohime simply looked at him.
Then her smile returned, warmer this time.
"Thank you."
Eventually, they arrived at a set of beautifully carved doors.
Otohime opened them.
Giovanni stepped inside—
And stopped.
The room was exquisite.
A large chamber with polished shell furnishings, a wide bed, flowing curtains, warm coral lamps, and a balcony view overlooking part of the kingdom's glowing waters. Everything about it felt rich without being gaudy, elegant without being cold.
Giovanni stared.
"…This is for me?"
Otohime nodded.
"You may stay for as long as you want."
Giovanni looked around again, then back at her with wide-eyed sincerity.
"Your Majesty…"
He placed a hand over his chest.
"I might never leave."
Otohime laughed.
Then wished him good night and took her leave.
Giovanni stood alone in the room for a while after she left, looking around in disbelief.
Then he looked toward the balcony.
Then toward the bed.
Then back toward the balcony.
Then toward the bed again.
And finally said aloud to no one:
"…Fish-Man Island is incredible."
That night, Giovanni slept well.
Very well.
Perhaps too well.
---
The next morning, he was awakened by soft voices and gentle knocking.
Giovanni opened one eye.
Then the other.
And saw a small group of mermaids at the doorway.
They smiled brightly when they saw he was awake.
"Good morning, Giovanni-sama."
Giovanni sat up instantly.
"Good morning."
One of them clasped her hands sweetly.
"We've come to bring you somewhere."
Giovanni blinked.
"Somewhere?"
Another mermaid nodded.
"Yes."
A third leaned in with a playful smile.
"It's a surprise."
Giovanni was already standing.
"Well then," he said, smoothing his hair back, "lead the way."
And of course he followed them.
How could he not?
They moved through the palace and then out into the kingdom paths beyond, the mermaids chatting with him all the while. They complimented his hair. His eyes. His bravery. The way he carried himself.
One of them asked if all surface men were as charming.
Another said she liked how direct he was.
A third laughed softly every time he tried to answer too coolly and failed.
Giovanni's ego had never been healthier.
"This kingdom really understands quality," he said.
One of the mermaids giggled. "Giovanni-sama is funny too."
He placed a hand over his heart.
"You wound me. I'm a serious man."
"Of course."
They turned through a series of side paths, drifting farther from the polished heart of the kingdom.
Gradually, the atmosphere changed.
The light grew dimmer.
The buildings rougher.
The warmth in the path around them began to thin.
Giovanni noticed it.
His smile didn't vanish, but it sharpened slightly.
Then the group turned into a darker stretch of the kingdom.
And when Giovanni stepped into the open space beyond—
He stopped.
There were fish-men everywhere.
Thousands.
Crowded into the surrounding streets, rooftops, walkways, and broken platforms.
Armed.
Swords.
Spears.
Clubs.
Chains.
And at the very front of them stood two figures Giovanni had hoped not to see again so soon.
Arlong.
Hody Jones.
Their eyes were full of the same old hatred.
The mermaids who had led him there moved away at once, revealing the trap for what it had been.
Giovanni stood alone in the middle of it.
For a second, no one spoke.
Then Giovanni smiled.
The kind of smile a man wore when he had been proven right about something ugly.
He looked at the mass of armed fish-men before him.
Then at Arlong.
Then at Hody Jones.
And finally said:
"So…"
His grin sharpened.
"This is your answer."
---
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