A raindrop for sakuraishokupan!

[stormies]

Title: All That's Glittering Gold
Pairing(s): ShoJun
Genres: Fantasy, One Piece AU/Pirates AU
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Summary: While Jun was interested in what lay beyond the seas, he had always been a bit hesitant to act out on that curiosity. He'd listen to his friends share their escapades, how they met nobles having a fun day at the beach, fishermen with endless questions of what other creatures existed deep down in the waters, even pirates on their way to pick up supplies, and burn with envy.
Warning(s): (if any) Angst, Slight violence, Minor character injuries
Author's notes: (if any) I wanted to try out something a little new while still sticking to what was requested. I hope you enjoy it despite it not having the most common ending!



While Jun was interested in what lay beyond the seas, he had always been a bit hesitant to act out on that curiosity.

He’d listen to his friends share their escapades, how they met nobles having a fun day at the beach, fishermen with endless questions of what other creatures existed deep down in the waters, even pirates on their way to pick up supplies, and burn with envy.

But he’d never dare accompany them, no matter how many times they’d beg him.

“It’s really not that dangerous, Your Highness,” Toma, one of his closest friends, always said. “The closest islands are port cities so they don’t hold anything of interest for the more violent pirates.”

Jun had scoffed at that. Of course Toma would think that way; he was one of the strongest knights in the kingdom, if a pirate tried anything with him he’d be able to tear his way out with no issue.

Jun, while a prince and gifted with the special abilities of the Arashi clan, was a bit of a weakling. He could hold his own and beyond in a battle of wits and brains, but when it came down to a physical altercation, he knew he’d be at a disadvantage.

Besides, was there really something that interesting beyond the waters? From what he’d heard, there were shops and eateries, parks and attractions just like in the merfolk kingdom. It didn’t seem worth taking any risks just to hear about it from pesky humans that likely had a different agenda in mind to begin with.

He’d heard horror stories about pirates capturing merfolk to abuse their various abilities, or auction off to the nobles who had so much money they didn’t know what else to do with it. Of Marines that would turn a blind eye to it all because they saw merfolk as below humans. Why risk getting caught by people like that, just to hear tall tales. If anything, he was the smarter one for avoiding it all, Jun told himself.

Sometimes he was able to convince himself, usually the days where he’d see Toma and the other guards, speaking in hushed whispers and glancing warily towards the surface.

It was harder on days his friends burst into his room, eyes glittering, faces flushed and smiles brighter than any pearl he’d ever seen.

It was with that thought one day, that he slumped in his brother’s room, doing very little to hide the pout on his face. 

“Everything alright?” Satoshi asked lightly, eyes trained on the documents in front of him.

“Do you think I’m a coward, brother?”

Satoshi blinked at that, tearing his gaze away from the text to appraise the sullen boy on his bed.

“No? Not particularly, why do you ask?” Before Jun could give his response, the crown prince cut him off with a sigh. “Did Toma and the others go up to the surface again?”

Jun nodded, face falling further.

“That boy seems to be doing everything but his training,” his brother muttered under his breath as he made his way over to the bed.

He flopped down next to Jun and pulled the slight form towards him, wrapping him up into a warm hug.

“Not wanting to go up to the surface doesn’t make you a coward, Jun. You’ve always been a bit cautious, that’s all,” he said gently. “That being said, do you want to go to the surface? You just aren’t sure if it’s the right thing to do?”

Jun sighed. As usual, his brother saw right through him.

“Wanting to explore isn’t irresponsible, Jun,” the older merman continued. “You’re still young, and it doesn’t diminish your credibility as my advisor at all.”

He squeezed tighter, until his brother groaned and tried to pull out of the hug.

“Do what makes you happy, Jun. That’s all we really want for you.”

🜄🜄🜄

It was with that conversation in mind, that Jun finally agreed to accompany Toma on his next venture out to the surface.

It was embarrassing, to say the least; Satoshi insisted on seeing him off, telling him to be careful and telling Toma to watch over his little brother.

“Of course, Your Highness!” he had to watch Toma gush, ears burning a bright red. “I’ll protect him with my life.”

It was when they were finally a good ways away from the palace, just about out of the city that he muttered with great vitriol.

“Kiss ass.”

Toma, to his credit, pretended not to hear.

“There’s a whole slew of ships coming in today,” he said instead. “There’s a devil fruit on Dragon Archipelago, and everyone wants it.”

“A devil fruit? I didn’t think there were any still laying around?”

“Yeah, and this one’s supposed to make you super strong too. A ton of pirate crews are coming in for sure, so the Marines are planning on stationing themselves all over as well, to catch as many as they can.”

Jun slowed a bit at that.

“Is it safe to be going, then?” he asked hesitantly. “I don’t want us to get caught up in anything.”

“We’ll be further out this time,” Toma assured. “Just enough so you can see what’s going on, but far away enough that none of them will see us unless they’re actively looking.”

Jun relaxed at that, and sped up a little to keep pace with Toma.

“If they see us I’m ditching you,” he said. “Then I’ll never have to worry about seeing you confess to my brother.”

The red in Toma’s ears spread all the way down to his neck this time, and he mulishly ignored Jun for the rest of the swim, mumbling something under his breath every now and then.

It was late afternoon by the time they arrived, and the waters were warm, and a much lighter shade of blue than Jun was accustomed to seeing. The air was warm too, the slight breeze drying.

The surface was pretty. Below the water had always been nice, varying shades of blue depending on how the light broke through, but above, the water almost seemed to reflect the light, shimmering in the sunlight like a massive jewel.

He’d lived in the sea this whole time and had no idea what it looked like from above, and he felt breathless at the sight before him.

The sky was blue as well, a light shade complemented by a scatter of white puffs here and there. Clouds, he recognized from his studies.

“Well?” Toma watched him, eagerly awaiting a response.

“I get it,” Jun said, barely above a whisper. “I completely understand why you keep making those trips now.”

Toma’s grin widened, and he pointed towards Dragon Archipelago.

“I won’t be able to show you much today because of what I mentioned earlier, but I can take you closer to the shore sometime! The beaches are really pretty too, Your Highness.”

Jun nodded eagerly. The archipelago was still quite far away; Toma had taken the crown prince’s words seriously and kept them far away enough to avoid interactions with any of the humans.

From where he was, he could see where the archipelago got its name. It looked like a sleeping dragon, curled in on itself with speckles of green and red, likely trees, looking like its scales.

Inside he was already looking forward to the day Toma would take him closer, so he could see the trees more clearly. Would they still be reminiscent of scales up close, or would the illusion break? 

“Some ships are starting to come in,” Toma’s voice broke through his train of thought.

Following his gaze, Jun watched as some large vessels began to veer their way towards the tail end of the dragon. It was probably easier to hide the ships there, he surmised. Toma confirmed upon his questioning, explaining that docking out in the open was just asking for the Marines to raid.

As he said, the Marines docked much more openly, wherever they found spots, it seemed like. One stayed further back, just drifting in the middle of the sea.

“Huh,” Toma huffed. “I wonder why they aren’t with the others.” 

“Maybe he’s the ring leader?”

Toma laughed at that, a loud guffaw that surprised the both of them.

“They’re not criminals, Your Highness,” he said after collecting himself. “But you’re right, it could be an admiral staying back after issuing orders.”

Jun hummed at that, eyes trained on the ship. Despite all his fears from before, he drifted towards the vessel, as though beckoned by it. Toma followed with a sound of confusion.

“Let’s not get too close, Your Highness,” he warned. “Today’s not really a good day to talk to them.”

Jun caught himself at that, and remained where he was. Toma apologized softly, but he waved it off.

“No, you’re right. I think I’m just really excited after finally giving in after all those months,” he laughed. Toma smiled at that, and Jun couldn’t help but wonder that the guard seemed to be made for the surface, what with his coloring. His hair was a burnt copper, as was his tail, with splashes of white and glittering gold scales. The scales along his arms and collarbones glowed in the sunlight, making it seem as though the merman had actual pieces of the precious metal embedded in his pale skin.

Jun’s tail matched his hair as well, a dark shade of plum, and a scattering of silver ones here and there. Looking down at himself, they glittered in the sunlight as well, but not nearly as vibrantly as Toma’s.

It seemed fitting, he thought. Toma had always been the braver, more adventurous of the two, while he was more reserved, less inclined to go out and about until their current excursion. 

He gave Toma one more glance, before looking out towards the ship again. A figure had stepped out from inside, and was standing at the rail, peering out into the sea. The longer he watched, the more he started to feel as though the figure could see them, and he felt a trickle of trepidation run down his spine.

“Toma? Can that person see us?”

Toma squinted at the figure.

“I-I honestly doubt it, we’re really far out. We can move further back if you’re worried though, Your Highness.”

“Let’s stay a bit longer,” Jun decided. “It’s really bright today, I doubt he can make anything out past all the reflecting the water’s doing.”

Toma agreed, and Jun continued to watch the figure on the ship, oddly drawn towards them.

Finally, the heat of the sun began to get to him, and he and Toma decided to head back.

When he sent one last glance at the ship however, he was greeted by the sight of the figure raising an arm and waving.

🜄🜄🜄

The image ingrained itself into Jun’s mind, and for the next few weeks he found it was all he could think about. 

It invaded his thoughts as he sorted through treaties and development plans with his brother, when he coordinated with Toma to meet with the neighboring town of fishmen, down in the main island. He would manage to push it down long enough to get the tasks at hand done, but then his mind would go right back to it. 

Obsessing over how whoever the figure was managed to see them. How they seemed to know that Jun noticed, and had even waved. Toma had mentioned it was a Marine ship, so unless there was something going on at Dragon Archipelago, there wasn’t a very high chance of Jun seeing it again. They might have already left for all he knew.

But there was no harm in trying, he thought, and asked Toma to accompany him again, hopefully a little closer this time.

Toma agreed, and they set off once again, Satoshi asking the guard to protect his little brother again with a smile on his face.

Jun was starting to think that Satoshi knew about Toma’s crush on him, and either found it funny to tease him, or liked him back.

He wasn’t sure which one he preferred, but that was a thought for another day.

“I’m surprised,” Toma said once he recovered. “I know you said you wanted to go back, but I didn’t expect you to want to do it again so soon, Your Highness.”

“It was fun. I think it’ll be a good way to take a break from all that paperwork I have to do.”

Toma nodded.

“You do end up having to do a lot more as Prince Satoshi’s advisor, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind it, but it can get a little mind numbing after a while.” Then, almost as an afterthought. “Though, I’m surprised. This is the first time I’ve seen you say my brother’s name without blushing.”

He sped off with a cackle, leaving Toma behind, red faced and whining.

The ships from last time were nowhere to be seen, as expected, but the Marine ship was still there.

“I wonder if something’s going on,” Toma murmured. “It’s been a couple weeks, hasn’t it? It looks like they haven’t moved at all.”

“Let’s go check it out? It looks like it’s the only one here, so we can get away quickly if something’s up, right?”
“Yeah,” Toma hummed. “I should look into it anyway, it’s pretty close to the kingdom, we should be aware of what’s going on.”

With that, they swim closer, until they’re only a couple strokes away from the back of the ship, They slow down, gliding towards the side and peering up at the gleaming railing to see if anyone was there.

And there was. There was someone towards the front of the ship, their upper half practically hanging over the railing.

Jun swam closer, despite his own anxieties and Toma’s small noise of disapproval. He looked up and made eye contact with the person.

It was a man, with a head of wavy black locks and eyes that seemed to glow. Beckoning Jun from up on the ship. He smiled, and Jun felt his breath leave him. 

He looked like a prince, with his intense gaze and warm smile. His ears were adorned with delicate gold hoops, glittering in the sun in a way that reminded Jun of Toma’s scales.

He was wearing a simple black shirt, unbuttoned to reveal his chest, muscles defined even from the distance of the water.

Jun was instantly enamored; none of the merfolk he’d ever seen could match up to this human smiling down at him.

“Hello,” he called out, voice soft and warm. He even sounded like a prince, gentle and welcoming.

“H-hello,” Jun replied. “What’re you still doing here?”

Toma sent him a questioning glance, which narrowed into a glare when the man replied.

“Oh? So you did see me that day.”

“What do you mean?”

His eyes slid to Toma, smile still in place.

“You were there too, weren’t you? Everyone was so focused on getting the devil fruit, I thought maybe you’d gotten all caught up in that too.”

“Well, someone got it, right? Why are you still here?” Toma pressed, expression darkening.

Jun’s eyes widened at that. What was he still doing here?

“Someone’s got it, but they’ve been hiding on the archipelago somewhere. They’ve asked me to stay behind to investigate, is all,” the man responded cheerily. “I’m quite the detective, you know.”

Jun visibly relaxed, but he grew concerned again when Toma didn’t.

“Why aren’t you dressed like a Marine admiral then?”

Jun realized he didn’t know what a Marine looked like, and cursed himself for letting his guard down so quickly, and for not educating himself on the matter. It was something he should’ve known as a prince.

“Oh this old thing? They give me leeway because I’m one of the warlords. Gotta stay inconspicuous if I want to catch pirates, don’t you think?”

At that, Toma finally relaxed, and Jun couldn’t help but ask.

“What’s a warlord?”
“You could say they’re reformed pirates. They work for the World Government to catch pirates. I’ve never seen one here before, though.”

The man nodded.

“That’s pretty much it. Nothing ever happens on Dragon Archipelago, so when the fruit showed up they asked me to be on the lookout.”

He tilted his head to catch Jun’s gaze again, earrings flashing. His smile widened, and his eyes seemed to bore into the prince’s soul.

“What’re you two doing here? I thought merfolk preferred staying away from the surface.”
“Just a sense of adventure, I guess,” Toma said.

“Fair enough,” he laughed. “I’m Sho.”

“Toma, and this is Prince Jun of the Arashi royal family.”

Jun sighed at the introduction; did royal titles among merfolk really mean anything to humans?

“Oh? Shall I call you Your Highness, then?” Sho peered down, eyes filled with mirth.

Despite himself, Jun flushed a bright red and looked away, muttering a small “just Jun is fine”.

With a bit more prying from Sho, mostly teasing remarks and more than a few glittering smiles, he opened up and began asking questions himself.

He learned about the race for a mythical treasure, how pirates from all over the world were making the trek to the ends of the earth in search of it. How the Marines were tasked with bringing down the most notorious of pirates, all with incredible abilities from their devil fruits.

“Wait, how many of these are there?” he asked incredulously.

“Most natural ones are gone,” the warlord explained. “They’ve been creating artificial ones lately, but in order to get the real ones, you either find it yourself or kill a current user to take it for yourself.”

Jun shivered at that. Merfolk were only ever born with their abilities, and even then it was mostly prevalent among royals. Much less violent of an affair.

Sho laughed when he shared that sentiment, a loud sound that seemed to reverberate through the area.

“Well that’s why they ask us warlords to step in, when an admiral can’t.”

Even Toma looked impressed at that, and it was with great admiration towards the man, as well as a promise to return soon, that the two of them returned to their kingdom.

🜄🜄🜄

Jun was hooked, to say the least. After the encounter with the human, he’d realized how little he actually knew about the surface and those that dwelled upon it. So he poured through the resources in the palace, searching for any materials that could educate him further.

When he finished with those, he sent a request for more, much to the surprise of Satoshi.

“At this rate, you’ll have to become our correspondent if we ever have to work with the humans,” he’d said jokingly.

Toma seemed to be into the idea, as well, though Jun had an inkling that it was more because Satoshi presented it, rather than an actual interest in bridging merfolk and human relations.

Whichever it was, he knew he wasn’t ready to take on such a role just yet. His interest had just been piqued, and he was going about pursuing it the way he knew best. 

He wanted to know as much as he could about the mysterious, fascinating human he’d met.

Toma offered to accompany him to the surface once again, and he found himself on the lookout for the ship.

It seemed to be in a different spot from last time, a little bit closer to the archipelago, but hidden away by some dense fog.

Jun slowed a bit, wondering if Sho would be able to see him through it. Was he even on the ship, considering the change in location?

Slow as he was, he still made his way towards the ship, only to see the warlord already peering over the railing. He smiled down at the merman, sending shivers down his spine.

“H-hello,” Jun stammered. “How did-”
“Did you know your scales glow even with all this fog?” Sho cut in, his teeth glittering like they were scales themselves. “It’s very pretty.”

Jun flushed at that, opened and closed his mouth, unsure of how to respond. 

“Oh? I didn’t notice your friend,” Sho gestured towards Toma, idly waiting a few strokes away from Jun. “I guess it’s just something you have?”

“It might be something that runs in the royal family,” Jun agreed. “Though I wouldn’t really know; we’ve never been the type to go up to the surface frequently enough to notice such a thing.”

The man let out a small hum at that, eyes appraising.

“Do royals always have special features like that?” he asked, tone light.

“There’s the ability to talk to other sea creatures, but we’ve never really had to use it,” Jun shared.

“Interesting. We should try it out sometime.”

Sho’s eyes were bright, gleaming even in the gloomy weather, and Jun couldn’t help but think that he’d do anything the human asked if he continued to look at him like that.

🜄🜄🜄

The opportunity to try his abilities out approached sooner than he’d thought.

Jun and Toma had been on their way to Sho’s ship when they came across a small school of sea dogs. They were clearly quite young, still only around the size of a common tuna, and chasing each other in circles.

Upon seeing the two mermen they came to a stop, ears flapping and noses twitching eagerly. Jun couldn’t help but wave at them, a fond grin on his face. Sea beasts had a tendency to be wary of him, so the visible excitement on their faces made him happy.

The school followed Jun and Toma as they continued their way to the surface, letting out high pitched yips that Jun took to be laughter whenever Toma turned towards them with a funny expression on his face.

They stuck around even when they’d reached Sho’s ship. Said man leaned over the rail once again, the greeting ready on his lips fading away as he took in the crowd awaiting him. He cocked his head curiously, not unlike the sea dogs watching him, and Jun barely restrained the urge to coo at the motion. 

“I see you’ve brought some guests for me, Your Highness,” the human said playfully, eyes still eagerly taking in the sea dogs.

“We ran into them on our way here and they tagged along,” Toma supplied. “Aren’t they cute?”

“Very cute,” Sho agreed. “They look quite similar to the dogs we have on the surface.”

Jun grinned.

“I just thought of something,” he said, inching closer towards the ship. “You were curious about whether or not I could communicate with other sea creatures, right?”

Sho nodded, eyes wide. Jun bit back a laugh, once again noting how similar he acted to the little puppies surrounding him, now amusing themselves by flinging their bodies at Toma.

“Sea beasts usually don’t speak the same tongue as merfolk, but the royal family can usually communicate with them telepathically. It’s how we communicate with some of our guards at the palace,” Jun explained.

He beckoned towards one of the sea dogs, one that lingered towards the back and seemed a bit more shy than the rest. The creature waded towards Jun curiously, head bobbing slightly above the water.

“Do you have any questions for him?”

Sho hummed for a moment, pondering.

“How old is he?”

Jun turned towards the creature and relayed the message. Their eyes met and a moment later Jun had his response.

“Eight months. He’s still quite young, I don’t think sea dogs reach their full size until they’re about two or three years old.”

“So they age at around the same rate as our dogs. That’s interesting, considering how big they get.”

The sea dog barked a couple times, eyes flickering from Sho to Jun.

“He wants to know what other similarities there are between the dogs you have on the surface.”
“He’s a curious one, isn’t he? Well, they look just about the same, with the exception of the lower half. Similar to you and I.”

Eventually the sea dogs left, likely having a curfew, but Jun stuck back until the sun began to set, prying Sho with questions about the surface. Who answered all of them, and in turn had his own. Jun couldn’t help but notice all the questions were in regard to him, not merfolk in general or his kingdom, but him specifically.

He tried not to let it get to him, but it wasn’t easy, not when Sho was staring down at him with those intense eyes and charming smile.

He felt himself falling further for the human, who was looking more and more like the princes from the romance novels his sister would gush over.

He wondered if Sho would ever make his way down to the kingdom. There were so many things he wanted to show him, and see what he thought of his home.

One day, he told himself. 

One day, he would take Sho around Arashi kingdom, showing him all his favorite places.

And one day, Sho would do the same on the surface.

🜄🜄🜄

Jun stared at the Den Den Mushi in front of him blankly, still in disbelief.

Sho had given it to him, stating that it’d be easier for them to keep in contact more often with it.

“It has a direct line to my personal one,” he’d said. “I keep odd hours because of my job, so feel free to call me whenever, little prince.”

Jun had been too flustered to reply properly, instead stammering out a thank you before swimming away, clutching the snail to his chest like it was a priceless jewel.

Now it sat on his desk in his private quarters, staring back at him with an equally blank expression.

It had a bright red shell, not unsimilar to the vibrant coat Sho always seemed to be sporting. It had drowsy little eyes, half lidded and blinking slowly every so often. 

He wanted to use it, to hear Sho’s voice on days he was too busy to go up to the surface, much like today, but found that he was too nervous.

What if it was too soon? What if Sho was busy and found the call irritating?

While he sat there debating, the Den Den Mushi suddenly let out a telltale babble.

Someone was calling him.

Sho was calling him.

He rushed to accept the call, nearly crushing the poor snail in his excitement.

“H-hello?”

“Oh? And here I thought that’d you’d lost it.”

“Of course not!” Jun exclaimed. “Not when you took the effort to give me one.”

“Did you like it that much?” Sho’s voice was warm, washing over Jun like a soft blanket. “Maybe I should give you more gifts then.”

Jun flushed.

“N-no,” he stammered. “This is already very kind of you, keeping contact with me like this.”

“That should be my line,” Sho responded with a laugh. “You are royalty, after all.”

They spoke for a while longer, Jun updating Sho on what he’d been up to in the days they’d last seen each other.

“You sound quite busy. I take it that you don’t actually leave the palace all that often?”
“Not really,” Jun admitted. “I wasn’t really the adventurous type until now, but the surface is so interesting. I keep finding myself trying to set time aside to go up.”

Sho hummed at that.

“It’s been quite busy on my end as well. We’ve found the fruit, and the person who’s taken it. He hasn’t eaten it just yet, thankfully, but we’re at a bit of a standoff.”

“It won’t be dangerous for you to approach him?” 

Jun couldn’t help but imagine the worst, Sho going in to try and apprehend this man, only for him to use whatever insane powers the devil fruit gave him to mercilessly kill the warlord.

He didn’t know what he’d do if something like that happened.

“I can handle myself just fine, little prince,” Sho said, voice oozing with confidence. “I think you’ll find that I’m not entirely what I seem.”

It was true that Sho didn’t seem the most combative type, which was what worried Jun to begin with. He was intelligent though, that much had been clear from the very beginning.

Jun could only hope that it ended quickly, and in Sho’s favor.

“W-well, stay safe. You can never tell what powers the devil fruit can give someone,” he murmured shyly.

Sho laughed at that.

“You keep yourself safe as well. We can’t have anything happening to you before I can see you next.”

The call ended soon after that, and Jun spent the rest of the day fulfilling his duties with a dreamy smile on his face.

He couldn’t wait until the next time he saw Sho.

🜄🜄🜄

Much to his chagrin, Jun found that the days stretched into weeks, which soon turned into months of him being stuck dealing with paperwork and other responsibilities that involved helping his brother rule the kingdom.

Satoshi was clearly remorseful, but there was nothing neither of them could do about it. Ruling a kingdom wasn’t exactly the easiest task, after all.

On days he found that he had some spare time, Toma and the rest of the royal guard were stuck with their own duties, and no one felt comfortable with him venturing out on his own.

He’d mentioned this to Sho over another conversation via the Den Den Mushi one day, to explain his extended absence.

“If I was allowed to go out on my own, I would’ve,” he promised.

“It’s alright,” Sho said gently. “You are the youngest, after all. It’s only expected for them to be protective over you.”

“But I will try to head out again soon,” Jun insisted. “Satoshi’s mentioned that I can take on handling human-merfolk relations with our kingdom soon, so I’ll have to get used to it anyway.”

“Hopefully we’ll run into each other soon, then.”

“What about you?” Jun asked. “Do you think you’d ever come down here?”

“Why not? I’ve already passed everything onto the Marines to take back to the World Government, so I have some free time before they send me off on my next task.”

Jun perked up at that.

“You caught the guy?”

“I did. Got to keep the devil fruit too.”

“Really? They just let you? You didn’t get hurt badly, did you?” Jun fired off questions without pausing for breath once.

“You’ll find that I’ll stop at nothing to get what I want, little prince,” the warlord said slowly.

“That’s good! You deserve it, after putting in so much time on that archipelago.”

“Yes, and I’ll be enjoying my break as well. I have something else that’s caught my eye, that can only be found in these waters.”

Jun flushed.

“Perhaps we’ll see each other much sooner than we think, then,” he said shyly.

“Perhaps,” Sho’s voice was full of mirth, and Jun found his energy renewed once again.

🜄🜄🜄

The sun was already setting when Jun headed out.

He’d finally found some spare time that lined up with Toma’s schedule, and he was itching to get out of the palace. 

He’d brought up his desire to get used to the route on his own eventually, and the guard agreed to hang back a little, allowing Jun to lead the journey to the surface.

He also wanted to surprise Sho, but he kept that to himself, not wanting to deal with Toma’s teasing.

The journey took a bit longer than usual, as it was his first time heading out without simply following Toma, but he managed to get there just as the moon rose, sending a bright white light across the surface of the sea.

Normally, he’d be proud of himself for making this journey on his own for the first time, this time he couldn’t bring himself to feel anything but disappointment.

Sho’s ship wasn’t there. 

As a matter of fact, there weren’t any ships docked near the archipelago, either.

It was as if they’d all just up and left.

Jun wondered if he’d really left without a word, even after all the trouble of getting him a Den Den Mushi so they could keep in contact.

If he’d had to leave abruptly, for work or anything else, he would’ve at least called Jun to let him know, right?

He regretted not bringing the Den Den Mushi with him; now he’d have to wait until he got back to the palace to try and call Sho.

The journey back was just as slow, if not slower with Jun sulking and Toma trying to cheer him up.

“Warlords tend to have very erratic schedules, Your Highness,” Toma offered. “Perhaps he’ll reach out to you once things have settled down a bit on their end.”

Jun could only sigh.

“Maybe,” he mumbled.

Toma sighed as well, and the two of them continued in silence.

While Jun was lost in his own thoughts, Toma noticed something in the distance. 

“Your Highness, look!”

Jun glanced back. It was a sunken ship; it had been there for quite some time from the looks of it.

“Maybe we’ll find something interesting in there!” Toma encouraged him. “Like a historical artifact or something.”

That did sound fun.

Jun nodded, and they made their way towards the ship.

Jun weaved in and out of the cabins, idly wondering if Sho’s ship looked similar.

He brushed the thought away, instead reaching for a chest tucked into a corner. The rusted lock gave away almost immediately, and Jun opened the lid eagerly.

He rifled through the contents intently, with Toma peering over his shoulder with equal interest.

Then, something moved in his peripheral, causing the guard to look back.

A dark mass was approaching them quickly, a blue so dark it was almost black.

Toma squinted at the figure before his eyes widened in shock, and he grabbed for his spear.

The movement caught Jun’s attention, the weapon glinting under the moonlight.

“Toma, what-”

Toma’s body crashed into his, sending his own careening through a gap between a few broken planks and leaving his head spinning and back aching.

As he struggled to gain his bearings, something hard and heavy made contact with the side of his head.

It felt as though someone had swung an anchor at his head with full force, the blow sending a pain so sharp it rang throughout his whole body and nearly rendered him paralyzed.

The last thing he processed before everything went black was a haggard scream from Toma telling him to escape, piercing through the dark waters and his ears.

🜄🜄🜄

When Jun woke next, he was in his quarters, nestled in his bed.

He blinked at the ceiling slowly, trying to remember what happened.

“You’re awake, Your Highness,” a voice sounded from beside him.

It was the royal medic, watching him with visible relief on her face.

“Wha-”

“It seems that you were attacked on your way back from the surface. You are well, save for the wound on your temple, but it is healing well. You should be up and about by the end of the week,” she said.

“And Toma?”
Her face fell slightly at that.

“He is- unwell, at the moment,” she admitted. “The weapon he was attacked with was poisoned. It’s one we’ve never come across before, so we’re still working on formulating an antidote.”

“Poison?”

“Yes, Your Highness. But please focus on recovering for now. We’re doing our very best to tend to him.”

All Jun could do was nod, and collapse against his pillow.

He was exhausted.

Visiting Toma would have to wait.

🜄🜄🜄

When he next awoke he was feeling much better, just as the medic had said he would.

He was able to sit up long enough to eat a proper meal, and after that, roam the palace.

He’d stopped by Toma’s quarters, only to be turned away. 

They were trying out an antidote, they’d said. One that they hoped would work this time.

So once again, all he could do was leave, and try to distract himself with the various books in the library.

Later during dinner, he was informed the antidote hadn’t worked.

He went back to his quarters and collapsed onto his bed, finally letting the tears shed.

🜄🜄🜄

It was suffocating. 

It had been two weeks since the incident

Toma still hadn’t woken up, much to the ire of Jun and his brother, the latter especially. It took the barons and advisors everything they had to be able to convince Satoshi to at least get some of his work done while keeping vigil by the guard’s bedside, but even then it wasn’t much. Jun took up the remaining duties, both to relieve his brother of them and to distract himself.

He met with the advisors to discuss what needed to be done, now that a fishman had attacked one of their own so viciously. It was something entirely unaccounted for, considering how long they’d been working on finalizing a treaty with the neighboring underwater islan.

“Do you really think it was someone from there, Your Highness?” an advisor asked.

“Where else would they come from?” another retorted. “The next closest island is Dragon Archipelago, and everyone knows it’s a rest stop for anyone trying to sail over into the New World. A fishman stopping there would have no reason to do such a thing.”

“You’d think that a fishman from our land would have no reason to do something like this either,” Jun muttered before he could stop himself.

“Sorry,” he apologized immediately, sensing the gazes on him.

“It’s alright,” one of the older barons said gently. “You’ve been friends since childhood, it’s only natural for you to be upset.”

He managed to get through the rest of the meeting without letting anything else slip, and eventually retired to his room, collapsing on his bed with a barely restrained sob.

It all had happened so fast.

One moment they were swimming back from exploring the sunken ship, and the next thing he knew, he was back at the palace, screaming while clutching Toma’s prone figure in his arms.

Everything after that seemed to pass by in a blur, like he was vaguely aware of a play being performed in front of him but not paying enough attention to hear any of it.

All he could think of was how his friend had nearly gotten killed right in front of him, and all he had done was float there mutely, not doing a single thing to fight off the fishman.

Now his friend was bedridden, barely managing to stay awake enough to be fed and medicated, and his brother was beside himself with grief.

He didn’t know what else he could do; burying himself in work had done the job for a few days, but he was quickly running thin; the advisors and barons had noticed and were starting to speak up.

He wasn’t sure who to turn to; Satoshi was grieving, unsure if Toma would ever wake up, and their father was still off on a trip somewhere far away in one of the eastern seas. He wasn’t sure what he’d even say if he got the chance to speak to someone.

His unspoken prayer seemed to be answered a few weeks later, when his father returned from his trip early. It had seemed as though someone had reached out to the king regarding the matter.

Satoshi was finally given the break he deserved, as was Jun. 

The matter of Toma was still at hand, however.

While he was flipping through various books in hopes of coming across something that would help them create a better antidote, a thought struck him.

He could try and call Sho, and see if the human knew something about the poison.

He raced to his quarters and reached for the Den Den Mushi, waiting with bated breath as it dialed.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Sho’s voice rang through.

“Jun? It’s quite late, isn’t it?”

Jun thought he’d collapse from the relief that rushed through him.

“I’m so happy to hear from you,” he said nearly in tears. “Something really bad has happened.”

As he explained everything from start to finish, he could feel tears streaming down his face, and his voice cracked audibly several times.

“I see,” Sho said quietly once he was done. “Yes, I do recognize that. It’s a tactic commonly used to bring merfolk in for the black market, though with a much less lethal dose of poison”

Jun let out a choked sob at that.

It was exactly what had held him back from travelling to the surface until recently.

“Do- do you know what to do?” he asked hopefully.

“I have some antidotes we can try, but I won’t be able to go down to the palace. We haven’t been able to replace our underwater gear just yet,” Sho trailed off with a sigh.

“I’ll go to you!” Jun cried out. “You’re back at the island, right? I’ll go to you so please just stay there.”

“Okay,” Sho agreed. “I’ll be waiting for you little prince.”

The call ended with a click, leaving Jun to try and compose himself.

He had to go see Sho.

It didn’t matter how late it was.

Sho would know what to do.

With that thought, Jun left his quarters, heading straight towards the archipelago, dogged in his determination.

It was dark, no hint of the moonlight that usually trickled throughout the waters.

However, he couldn’t let that unnerve him, not at a time like this.

He sped through the waters, faster than he’d ever swam before.

He passed by the dreaded sunken ship, where everything seemed to have gone wrong, without hesitating once. 

Perhaps he should have been a little more careful, a little more aware of his surroundings. 

As, much to his horror and despair, he felt that familiar, heavy blow against his head once again, almost as if the culprit had been waiting for him.

🜄🜄🜄

Jun awoke with a start this time, cursing himself for letting something like this happen at such a crucial time.

He looked around wildly, but it was dark, too dark to make out anything.

No matter how much he focused, he couldn’t make out any shapes whatsoever. It was pitch black.

He could feel that the water around him was stale, however, with none of the usual ebbs and flows of the sea. He pushed himself to swim upwards despite the aching of his head, only to be stopped almost immediately. He couldn’t move.

This had to be the work of the same group that had injured Toma, he was sure of it. 

Perhaps they were more aware of his bloodline than he’d first assumed.

Perhaps he’d been the original target all along, and they’d had to take out Toma first to get to him.

It’d been foolish of him to rush out so late at night without any guards; it was starting to hit him now.

He pushed himself upwards once again, only to be met with the same results, this time noting that something hard and cold was around the base of his tail, gripping him and keeping him from moving any further.

Shackles.

He reached out in front of him in a panic, and his heart dropped when he felt the cold and smooth surface against his hands.

Glass.

He’d really been taken by poachers.

Sobs bubbled up and out of his chest as he began to bang against the glass in a frenzy.

He screamed and screamed, hoping somebody would hear and help him.

He continued for what felt like hours until a click finally resonated throughout the room, followed by the sound of a door opening.

Jun fell silent, but still banged against the glass emphatically.

Footsteps echoed throughout the room, along with the small flicker of a candlelight. The light was far too small for him to make out who was holding the candle.

The owner made their way around the room, and slowly, the room began to get brighter.

They were lighting lanterns.

When the room was finally lit, Jun could make out the figure, clad in a vibrant red coat.

He let out a sob of relief.

“Sho,” he cried. “Sho, please, help me.”
“This is quite the room isn’t it? Full of all sorts of treasures,” the man said instead, gesturing around them.

Through his tears, Jun could make out all sorts of jewels and gold pieces, displayed around the room. There was something else in the corner, glowing, but he paid it no mind.

“Sho, please, let me out of here! We need to help Toma!”

Sho just stared at him, a strange expression on his face.

“Ah yes,” he said. “The poison. You really couldn’t figure out what it was?”
“No, we couldn’t. Did you recognize it when I described it to you? Do you have the antidote?”

Sho nodded slowly, approaching the container Jun was in.

Jun banged once again, pulling at the shackled helplessly.

“We need to hurry,” he begged.

 Sho said nothing, simply looking around the room before resting his gaze on him again.

He nodded towards the glowing item off in the corner.

“Tell me little prince, remember when I said I was the type to stop at nothing to get what I wanted?”

Jun slowed his beating and rested his hands against the clear barrier, breathing heavily. 

He glanced towards the glowing object, finally focusing on it properly, wondering what about it was so damn important that Sho couldn’t wait until after he got him out of the container and helped Toma.

It was sitting in a glass case similar to the one he was in, lined with metal.

The object was shaped strangely, both like a giant egg and a berry.

The more he looked at it the more familiar it looked.

“What-”

And then it hit him.

He’d heard of it several times in the past few months, when Sho had described it to him.

The devil fruit that had been discovered on the Dragon Archipelago.

Jun slowly turned his gaze to Sho, finally seeing him up close, in front of him instead of far above in some unreachable ship.

He was finally able to see Sho’s eyes up close, still just as intense as the first time he saw them, but far colder, crueler than before.

He suddenly felt a wave of cold wash over him, with it feeling a lot less hopeful than he had been before.