"Looks like the fight is over…"
Wrapped in a sheath of warped space, two great ships slipped beneath the waves and glided toward Fish-Man Island. Even this far below the surface, soldiers felt the echoes of that titanic battle tremble through coral streets. They watched, throats working, eyes tight with nerves.
The moment that would decide Fish-Man Island's fate had arrived.
Even in the deep, the aftershocks had rattled shells and lanterns. Schools of Sea Kings had fled in panic, monstrous silhouettes churning the dark. More than a few fish-men had seen their wild, terrified eyes.
"Does this mean we'll be under the Black Emperor's protection?"
"I mean… Whitebeard looked pretty beat up in the broadcast, but neither of them actually fell."
Whispers ran through the ranks that had watched the live feed. They died at a single bark.
"Quiet."
King Neptune strode forward, trident tapping stone, his face solemn in a way that brooked no chatter. At his side, Queen Otohime folded her hands at her waist and waited for the two sea lords to arrive.
"The result is already clear, King Neptune."
From a distance, Dotor Ozz lifted a finger. The Oro Jackson and the Moby Dick popped into view inside the island's great bubble, set gently down by space itself. Hands in his pockets, Ozz walked forward with a lazy smile.
He was in good spirits. The outcome suited him just fine.
"My apologies, Neptune…"
Whitebeard arrived with his sons at his back. Bandages laced his broad frame. He planted the tip of Murakumogiri and inclined his massive head, the apology heavy but unbowed.
"The fight ended in a draw, so…"
Ozz's finger traced the air. A thin line of light skittered over the ground and sank into the coral bedrock.
In the space of a breath, a stark boundary cut Fish-Man Island in two along the Red Line's true center.
"The half closer to the Sabaody Archipelago falls under my protection. The other half belongs to Whitebeard."
Everyone except Whitebeard gaped. Words failed them as they glanced at one another.
Was that not a split?
East and west. North and south. Fish-Man Island divided like a charted reef.
There was nothing they could do. Two sovereigns of the sea had reached their answer. Little Fish-Man Island had no face to gainsay it.
Protection was a blessing, whatever form it took.
One could even say this new order doubled their safety. Two flags would fly over the island. Whitebeard's skull with the crescent mustache. And Ozz's Black Moon standard, a newly updated design still whispered about in taverns.
Whitebeard did not linger. Marijoa sat like a throne above their heads, Marineford was not far, and he was wounded in a way Ozz simply was not. His sons shepherded him back aboard the Moby Dick. The great ship turned for the upward currents.
Ozz stayed.
"Your Majesty…"
Neptune's grip tightened on his trident. He knew Ozz of old, and he had heard the man's reputation grow cruel and cold in the years since. Even with history between them, standing before the Black Emperor set the King's pulse to a hard drum.
"No need to tense up, King Neptune. I just want to enjoy Fish-Man Island for a while. Besides…"
Ozz's eye slid toward the palace ridge.
"You still remember Shyarly's prophecy."
Neptune's blood ran cold.
"Ozz, do not speak of that in public."
His heart punched at his ribs. If the rumor spread, he could not say what would become of Ozz, but Fish-Man Island would surely be besieged. Few secrets drew more hunger than the truth of an Ancient Weapon.
Poseidon.
Ten years had nearly passed since the Roger Pirates first visited. The time was upon them. Poseidon would soon be born.
As a man of ordinary flesh, Ozz admired beautiful things. He liked Shirahoshi on sight for that simple human reason. And there were ugly names he already meant to erase, like Vander Decken.
When Ozz expressed his wish to wander alone, Neptune accepted with a stiff bow. He sent the Dragon Palace Army to resume their patrols, but one soldier he held back.
"L… Lord Ozz."
Jinbe had not yet grown into the immovable bulwark the world would one day know. The young whale shark felt like a recruit dragged in front of an admiral. He stood as if nailed to the floor, voice small, every muscle braced.
He had good reason. This was the island's new guardian. A lord of the sea in every sense.
"No need to quake, Jinbe."
Ozz looked the fish-man up and down and felt, for a wicked moment, the urge to plant a fist in that stout belly just to see if the fabled guard could really quarter the impact. He set the impulse aside. One careless punch and he would be mopping fish guts out of the tiles.
Jinbe's back glistened with cold sweat.
"Go with Hachi. Be my guides."
Hachi led, six arms a tangle of anxious gestures. Jinbe followed, all heavy steps and quiet dignity. Ozz wandered between them through the bright lanes. Mermaids peered over coral balconies. A few braver ones drifted close to whisper a shy thanks to the hero who had saved their homes, cheeks as pink as clam shells.
"Warm place you have…"
Ozz let a hand trail lightly along a mermaid's tailfin as she darted by, eyes bright with mischief. Price and beauty, novelty and danger, all made a certain kind of sense now.
"It has been a while since I saw Shyarly. Let's get our fortunes told."
Jinbe swallowed.
"As you wish."
He did not dare gainsay the whim of a man like this. He led Ozz to a new café by the main vein of coral. Inside, a shark mermaid sat behind a low counter. She was larger than most, draped in a black fall of hair that hid her right eye. The crystal ball before her shimmered with a patient light.
Her gaze rose as the bell chimed.
"Jinbe. And…"
She did not need Jinbe's introduction. The little girl who once could not count past ten had become a young woman with a measured voice. She knew Ozz the moment she looked at him.
"Long time no see, Shyarly. The little thing who fumbled numbers grew into a beauty."
"Ozz."
Shyarly's voice was steady. She had seen him in the glass already. She knew he would come, but not quite this soon. Not quite with such weight in his wake. She and the crystal did not move when he sat opposite and leaned an elbow on the counter.
"So then. Can you tell what I want to ask?"
Shyarly did not answer at once. She lowered her lashes and set her hands on the crystal. The café seemed to hush around her. The currents outside slowed to a long exhale.
"You want to know who will be the Pirate King."
The words clicked like a lock opening.
Ozz's eyes widened. A heartbeat later he laughed quietly and let the tension bleed from his shoulders.
"A conceptual gift. It leaves Observation Haki in the dust."
The crystal misted. Shyarly's hair lifted as if caught by a current no one else could feel. In the depths of the glass, clouds parted to reveal a sea of light and shadow. Ships flew by like sparks. Flags burned and fell, rose and changed. A crown of sunfire hovered over one horizon, a grin with a scar over another.
"Names," Ozz said, half to himself, half to the future. "Possibilities. Show me what the era wants."
Shyarly's lips moved without sound. The café's patrons leaned forward and then breathed again as they remembered to keep their distance. Jinbe stood behind Ozz with Hachi, both of them trying not to fidget holes in the floor.
The fog inside the crystal thinned.
"I will not say the name aloud," Shyarly said. "Some futures fracture if spoken, and some lives draw death when called too soon."
Ozz's smile tilted. He did not press. There was playfulness in him, but not malice for this girl who spoke with the tide.
"What can you say then?"
"That the one who becomes Pirate King will inherit more than treasure. They will inherit a promise and a sea that refuses chains. They will laugh at the end in a place where the world meets the truth. They will be guided by the ones who walk ahead and by voices that sleep."
Her eyes lifted fully now, both irises catching the candlelight like deep green glass.
"And you, Dotor Ozz, will stand where kings stand and refuse a crown. You will make way for an age only you could open, then step aside and still cast a shadow over every sail."
The crystal went clear. A single bubble rose inside it and popped with a sound like a distant bell.
Silence held for a long moment.
Ozz tipped back his chair and let it fall onto all four legs again.
"Good answer."
He reached into his coat and flicked a black coin onto the counter. The coin bore a crescent turned on its side, like a blade or a smile.
"For the house."
Shyarly set her palm over it and felt the metal warming under her skin. She gave the smallest nod.
"Thank you for not asking me to lie."
"Truth is cheaper in the long run."
He stood. Jinbe stepped in without being called.
"Where to next, Lord Ozz?"
"Show me the places you would miss if they were gone. The places that remind you why you hold the line when fools come with cages."
Jinbe blinked once. Twice. Then he smiled in a way that would be familiar many years later.
"As you command."
They left the café to the whisper of water and the soft murmur of Shyarly's patrons. Outside, the island shone as if a second sun had risen under the sea. Ozz slipped his hands back into his pockets and let his guides lead him into the streets. Above them, banners stirred in the current. Two emblems shared one sky.
For now, Fish-Man Island was safe. For now, the balance held.
And somewhere in the deep futures Shyarly had just peered into, a laugh rolled across the world and refused to be caged.
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The tides are shifting, and secrets linger in the dark... Step into the shadows early on P@treon, where the next chapter awaits before the world sees it.
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