Bab 7: Ten Years
Imai formed a bubble around herself using the coral before entering the tunnel that led to the palace. The fish-man had left her with a seahorse that took her through the tunnel with a small current making them faster.
"It's fast."
Ryugu Palace, a palace filled with sea water, and magical creatures that only a very small percentage of beings had seen before. The palace's design made it unique and its variety of colors made it look artistic as well.
"Man, no mansion on the surface could be compared to this. The amount of space I could use if I wanted to train and practice…I'm envious." Imai muttered as she looked around. "Moreover, am I not in front of the entrance?"
Although everything else was elegant, the door in front of her was the opposite of that. The wooden door had molds on it, the door knob was rusty, and it had a bad odor coming from it.
"Well, this is one way to get in without being questioned by guards." Imai said to herself. "Let's go then."
Turning the door knob, the door opened revealing darkness, there was no light source anywhere in the room. However, there was the scent of food in front of her.
Suddenly, there was a slight sound of movement. Imai immediately gripped the hilt of the katana ready to slash out at any moment. But then the lights turned on which showed a mermaid with tears in her eyes.
"Who are you?!" the mermaid asked as she formed an expression of fear when she saw the katana. "You're here to kill me aren't you?! Please don't!"
Imai stared at the mermaid that was quivering in fear and put away her katana.
"I'm not here to kill you, I just didn't think there was going to be a mermaid laying down on a bed here." Imai said. "I'm here for the banquet."
All of a sudden, there was a faint killing intent from behind Imai. When she turned around, a flying ax was flying towards the mermaid's chest.
"Ahhh!"
Imai winced at the ear piercing scream that came from the mermaid.
With one swift motion, Imai deflected the ax with her blade making it crash into a wall. With her keen eyes, she tracked where the ax came from, and saw two fish-like eyes before glancing back at the mermaid.
Suddenly, Imai was grabbed by the mermaid, and was tucked behind her back. Numerous guards came in through the door that Imai had opened up..
"Princess Shirahoshi-sama!"
"Are you okay?!"
"We heard a loud scream coming from this room!"
"Yes, I'm fine. I think I had a bad dream, sorry for making you worry." Shirahoshi said.
"But the gate was opened…was it an intruder?" one of the guards asked.
"Nope, the door was closed, and you were the ones that opened it." Shirahoshi said.
"Are you sure?"
"Un."
"Well, okay. But we have something to tell you." the guard said. "The captain of the Straw Hat Crew is being accused of kidnapping several mermaids and the new member whose appearance is dark blue hair and red eyes is being accused of killing a fish-man. Please report to us if you see them since they're dangerous and we'd like to lock them in jail."
Imai's thoughts traveled from one thing to another. Were the others alright? Questions lingered in Imai's mind but they soon disappeared after realizing that they'll be fine. Each member was unique.
Once the sound of the gate closed, Imai was placed back on the bed by Shirahoshi.
"I'm sure you have questions, you can ask them." Imai said. "But in exchange, you also have to answer my questions.
"Okay." Shirahoshi agreed. "Who are you?"
"I'm Imai, the one the guard accused of killing a fish-man. Though it's not really an accusation since I really did kill one." Imai replied.
"Eh?!" Shirahoshi had a worried look on her face. "Then you're dangerous?! I'm going to call for help."
"Wait, calm down. I only kill bad pirates, they were trying to sink our ship, and kill us." Imai said to calm Shirahoshi down.
"Ah, okay. A-also thanks for saving me from the ax earlier." Shirahoshi said. "You're not a bad pirate right?"
"I'm neither a good or bad pirate." Imai said. "Now, it's my turn to ask the question. Who exactly are you?"
"I'm the princess of Fish-man Island." Shirahoshi answered. "My father is King Neptune, the name is self explanatory."
"I see, so you're royalty huh. But why are you being attacked? Are there assassins after you?"
"Ah, his name is Vander Decken-sama. He's not exactly an assassin but he's been wanting to kill me since he holds a grudge for rejecting his marriage proposal." Shirahoshi said. "That person has a Devil's power called Mark-Mark. He can strike me anytime or anywhere with a weapon since he marked me. That's why it's hard for me to leave this room."
"I see how it is." Imai said with a sigh. "Love, marriage, romance, all of those are bound to stir up trouble. Honestly, being single is better…"
Imai mentally smiled sadly. It's hard for an emperor to find love, after all, people are afraid of her.
"Anyway! Is there anything else I need to know?" Imai asked.
"Un, there is. The reason your friends are being arrested is probably because of Madam Sharley-sama. I heard her previsions are unbelievably accurate so that could be why everyone is afraid."
"Previsions huh, so basically like a small insight to the future." Imai said. "Are they always accurate?"
Shirahoshi nodded her head.
"Then she must've seen something related to us that made the guards want to capture us. Though I wonder what she saw…do you think I can visit her?"
"I don't know since I don't know the place where she resides, but she's probably in town." Shirahoshi said.
"I see, then I'm going to visit her soon. The banquet is probably canceled already due to what's going on."
"Yes, also, you're a pirate right?" Shirahoshi asked with slight sparkles in her eyes.
Imai slowly nodded, she's not exactly a pirate but that's besides the point.
"Then you must've been on many very awesome adventures right? Have you ever seen the sun? Are there pretty stars in the sky?"
"Yes, yes, and yes. The sun is bright, but make sure you don't look directly at it. It can damage your eyes. There are also pretty stars at night. If you have a telescope, you can also see other planets." Imai said with a smile. "As for adventures…well, I haven't been on many."
"Eh? But aren't you a pirate? You're supposed to seek adventures." Shirahoshi said innocently.
"It's different for every pirate." Imai said. "I'll let you in on a secret. I was one of the emperors of the world known as the fifth emperor, "Empress of the Blade" and I was feared everywhere."
"Eh?! You're an emperor? Like the strongest pirates that can wipe out an entire army by themselves?!"
"I was one, I don't know if people still recognize me as one. But the journey I went through was full of tragedy. I killed people, so many that I lost count. And I lost people that I held dearly to me too. But that's how it is when you're walking down the path to become one of the strongest people in the world."
"I see, sorry for bringing that up." Shirahoshi said sulkingly.
Imai slightly smiled. "It's okay, it's been three years since then, and not a single thing has changed. I expect you to keep this a secret."
Shirahoshi nodded her head aggressively. "Un, un. I won't tell anybody this, I swear on my life."
"There's no need to go that far…but thank you. So, how long have you been here for?"
"Ten years."
"I'm going to break you out of this place."
"Eh?! What did you just say?!"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone