Although going from a member of CP9 to CP0 was technically a promotion, and one that paid quite a bit more money, Rob Lucci couldn't help but find the whole gig to be terribly dull.
His days were mostly filled with training or guarding the celestial dragons, the latter of which would legitimately drive him insane if he had to do it everyday.
Today, he was stuck guarding the lesser royalty of the world. At least when he was eavesdropping on these idiots they actually talked about things that were marginally interesting sometimes. The celestial dragons talked about the same mindless shit all day everyday; if he didn't actively tune them out, he was sure that his brain would start leaking out of his ears.
It was just as he was starting to grow bored of the lesser royals' conversations that something interesting occurred, right on time to break up the monotony of useless fool guard duty.
"Pupupu! Mermaid~ Mermaid~ Where are you~!" one of the uglier celestial dragons sing-songed.
Rob Lucci wasn't stupid. He didn't need to think too hard to know what was about to happen, and he couldn't be more thrilled about it.
Saint Charlos (he hated that he needed to memorize the names of every dumbass up here) was clearly planning to make a slave out of the mermaid princess.
"Should we try to de-escalate this?" Kaku asked from Lucci's side.
There wasn't all that much they could actually do towards that end, but they could at least put in a token effort. The authority of the Five Elders shielded CP0 from the whims of the common celestial dragons since individuals worthy of joining CP0 were rare; any complaints against a CP0 agent by any celestial dragon would have to go through the Five Elders before anything got done.
"No, let's see how this plays out," Lucci declined.
If he was lucky, he might get to kill King Neptune for the crime of rebellion. That would certainly liven up a boring day.
"There it is, Slave #3! Quickly put it in chains so I can take it home!" Saint Charlos demanded.
Slave #3 was a human of imposing stature. His size and burliness was comparable to that of King Neptune himself, so the task of capturing a similarly large mermaid princess was an easy one, he thought. His body was still covered in bandages from the beating he had taken three days ago, so he was keen to complete this task and divert his horrid master's attention away from himself for however long that would last.
Not very long at all by his reckoning, but he would savor every minute.
Slave #3 pushed his way through the still oblivious royals with no regard for their lofty statuses. As far as he was concerned, they were no different than himself; slaves of their celestial dragon masters. He cared not if he offended them.
The people milling about began to realize that something was happening when he knocked over the queen of the Tajine kingdom, spilling her wine across the front of her expensive dress. She let out a short shriek, but went quiet as she quickly put together what was happening and wisely fled to make sure she wasn't the center of attention. After all, if a celestial dragon took a liking to her world class beauty, there wasn't anyone who would help her!
Shirahoshi looked away from her new princess friends after hearing the shriek. Slave #3 was fast approaching her, and she was quite certain that she was his target. So she did the only thing that a dainty princess could do.
*SLAP*
Slave #3 staggered for only a second before promptly planting his face into the lawn, unmoving.
"Huh? What happened?" Saint Charlos uttered. Then his face twisted in outrage. "How dare you take a nap on the job!"
In Saint Charlos' mind, it simply wasn't possible that Shirahoshi could put up any kind of resistance, which only left Slave #3 to blame.
The royals in attendance, having clearly seen what just happened before their eyes, could only marvel at the willful ignorance of this celestial dragon.
"That was impressive," Stussy spoke up, walking up to stand next to Lucci.
"Mhm," Kaku marveled. To an amateur, that slap would seem like a lucky shot; but in reality, it was a beautifully executed palm strike across the jaw.
Even Lucci had a hint of a smile. It was too bad that Saint Charlos was too stupid to put the blame where it belonged, but that pig probably wasn't done yet anyways. He couldn't wait to see what happened next.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Saint Charlos kicked Slave #3 several times and fired his pistol into the torso of the helpless man. "Get up and get me that mermaid!"
Slave #3 was well and truly out for the count however, so he wasn't going to get up any time soon.
The royals in the courtyard watched with bated breath, not daring to approach or speak up.
"Someone get this useless sack of meat out of my sight!" Saint Charlos shouted, spinning around in search of whomever that someone was going to be.
A tall CP0 agent wearing a mask flashed into view, spoke a quick "Of course, Saint Charlos-sama,", then vanished with the body of Slave #3 as quickly as he had appeared.
Saint Charlos moved his attention back to Princess Shirahoshi. "You, mermaid! Chain yourself up and come with me."
Saint Charlos immediately turned on his heel and started marching away in a cheery mood. The sheer confidence that he would be obeyed without hesitation or question passed far beyond the point of absurdity.
In fact, he did not even notice that Shirahoshi made no move to do as he ordered. She simply blinked in mild confusion as she watched him leave.
"Shirahoshi, get over here!" Ryuboshi hissed in barely contained rage towards the celestial dragon. "We need to get you out of here before he comes back!"
"You aren't going anywhere," the voice sent shivers down the spines of the merman princes and the nearby royals. Rob Lucci was in their midst before they even registered his presence. "Saint Charlos-sama gave you an order. He won't be happy if you don't follow it."
Vivi, Rebecca, Neptune, and a few others such as Leo of the Tontatta Tribe and Sai of the Happo Navy were immediately outraged. A CP0 agent wasn't easy to stand up against, but it was much easier than standing against a celestial dragon. Though, the only reason they hadn't made a move against Saint Charlos was because he hadn't truly threatened Shirahoshi yet, so they still had hope of resolving the issue without making a huge mess.
"My daughter will go wherever she pleases," Neptune rumbled as he towered over Rob Lucci, an attempt to intimidate the smaller man that failed utterly.
"No, she won't. Is the Ryugu Kingdom rebelling against the World Government?" Lucci said. A bit heavy handed, perhaps, but the provocation would serve his purpose nicely.
Lucci spotted Saint Charlos marching back into the courtyard out of the corner of his eye, clearly furious.
"You dare to disobey me!" Saint Charlos shouted feebly, though in his own mind it was like a lion's roar.
'What will you do now?' Lucci smirked.
"Put the chains on, fish!" Saint Charlos barked like the ugliest pug you've ever seen.
He brandished his pistol at Shirahoshi. "Now, or you can be food for my dogs!"
King Neptune had gone red with rage, the only thing stopping him from turning the celestial dragon into a red smear on the castle wall being his three sons who steadfastly held him back and the cracking knuckles of Rob Lucci, whose eyes had not left him for an instant.
Vivi and Rebecca had to be held back by Sai, who was trying to tell them to leave this matter to him. Sai was a pirate and a member of the new Straw Hat fleet, so he did not fear the consequences of going against the celestial dragons.
Shirahoshi herself felt oddly calm, which was a very mew experience to her. The last time that a pistol was leveled at herself by a celestial dragon her heart had threatened to beat out of her chest, but now it was steady and strong.
If she thought that it would solve anything she would just surrender herself here. However, she was quite certain that doing that would not only make her mother's dream of bringing their people to the surface impossible, but would also drive her people to go to war to get her back.
That simply wasn't acceptable, so she would try something else.
"Those chains look so heavy, celestial dragon-sama! My weak girl arms could not possibly lift them!" Shirahoshi said, fake tears brimming in her eyes.
Saint Charlos paused. "That's true; you do look pathetically weak…"
"How does she look weak?!" the surrounding royals wanted to shout, but they kept their tongues locked tightly behind their teeth.
"I'll give you an extra minute to put them on, hurry up!" Saint Charlos declared. Unfortunately no matter how stupid he was, he was even more obstinate than that.
When Shirahoshi still made no moves to do as he demanded, Saint Charlos grew increasingly enraged.
Without another word of warning, he took aim and fired. Vivi and Rebecca yelped in panic and Neptune strained against his sons' arms.
Human sized guns weren't big enough to do all that much damage to a mermaid of Shirahoshi's size; although a lucky shot could still kill her. The crowd was positively shocked by the outcome that actually occurred.
The bullet struck Shirahoshi on the forehead, then ricocheted.
*smash*
A window high up on Panagaea castle shattered as it was struck by the deflected bullet.
Even Neptune and his sons were surprised. Shirahoshi hadn't been taught haki yet, so such a thing shouldn't be possible.
"Did I miss? Oh well, try this one!" Saint Charlos said, failing to grasp reality once again.
*BONK*
Saint Charlos slumped helplessly to the ground as another person in celestial dragon garb stood over him.
"Stop it, Charlos!" the newcomer shouted in admonishment.
Most of the royals panicked at first, before realizing the attacker was also a celestial dragon.
As for the Ryugu kingdom royals, they were immediately reminded of the day that Queen Otohime died. This was the very same celestial dragon who came to fishman island a decade before, chasing his escaped slaves and inciting the incident that led to the queen's death. Although, it was Hody Jones who had actually done that foul deed.
The newcomer, Saint Donquixote Mjosgard, opened his mouth to say something before freezing as something from above caught his eye.
"Rob Lucci," a cold voice spoke from high above. Everyone's eyes shot up to the broken window.
Standing there, behind the jagged hole in the glass, was one of the Five Elders; Saint Topman Warcury, the Warrior God of Justice.
Whilst the general public was ignorant of the existence of the Five Elders, anyone who came to the Reverie would be privy to that information. Even the most arrogant of the kings in attendance didn't dare to breathe.
"Who fired that shot?" the Elder asked.
Lucci swallowed. "Saint Charlos did, Elder-sama."
"Take him to a holding cell," Elder Warcury said. "And Mjosgard?"
Saint Mjosgard flinched.
"Don't take matters into your own hands," Elder Warcury stepped away from the window and could no longer be seen.
Unlike Charlos, Warcury's confidence in his command being followed without his direct oversight was well founded. Rob Lucci didn't hesitate to grab Charlos by the collar and vanished from sight.
Mjosgard was somewhat dumbfounded. He knew before he acted to protect Princess Shirahoshi that he would likely die for doing so, so this turn of events was quite fortuitous for him.
"Ahem," Mjosgard coughed, setting his club aside. He sauntered over to the Ryugu royal family, who watched him with suspicion and resentment in their eyes. "Greetings Neptune. I suspect that you remember the last time we met. I owe the Ryugu Kingdom a tremendous debt."
"You are…" Shirahoshi muttered.
"I am the great fool who washed into your realm ten years ago. The late Queen Otohime's speech that day was the spark that ignited my humanity," Mjosgard spoke, resisting the urge to kneel before them. "In return for this gift, I wish to offer whatever power and protection I may afford to you during the Reverie."
All of this was spoken in low tones, so as not to be overheard. He had initially intended to speak loud enough for all to hear him, but he had unexpectedly dodged the blame for attacking Charlos this time so there was no need to rock the boat just yet.
"I must admit, you have helped us out of a difficult ultimatum. I was about to… do something rash…" King Neptune admitted.
Although Neptune was still wary of the celestial dragon, the idea that his wife's words had reached the heart of that despicable excuse for a human being had struck a chord with him. If even a celestial dragon could have a change of heart and see his people as people, then surely the average human could accept them as well.
Neptune would even ally himself with a devil to see his beloved Otohime's dream of a better world come true, let alone a remorseful sinner like Mjosgard.
"That was nothing much," Mjosgard waved away the unspoken thanks. "We were lucky this time that the situation was largely resolved without my intervention."
"If you hadn't stepped in at the end, that other fellow would have had a chance to explain himself, though," Prince Fukaboshi stated, his perpetual frown not quite as pronounced as usual. "So I must thank you for saving my sister."
"The Reverie lasts for seven days, however. Charlos is not unique in his… desires," Mjosgard spoke darkly. "I will not leave Princess Shirahoshi's side during the summit nor let any harm come to her whilst I still draw breath, I swear it! This is the least that I can do to make up for my past sins!"
Neptune and his sons could only let out sighs. The man was so different from how they remembered him, and it wasn't like a celestial dragon would have any need to deceive them. They could only accept that, with the sincerity that Mjosgard was showing, that he had truly changed and meant every word he said.
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