The sky was stormy, and the sea was choppy.

Standing on the quarterdeck of the Red Force, Benn Beckman glared out at the grey sky, and the roiling sea; and the storm-wracked island that was their destination.

Elegia.

Something was seriously wrong. Storms weren't that unusual at this time of year, but something felt off about this one. There was a feeling of foreboding about the island up ahead. And he was used to stormy weather as of late, thanks to his captain's mood ever since they learned the news. But this was different yet sickeningly nostalgic all at the same time.

It was a feeling he hadn't felt since the last time they were there; eight years ago. It was a feeling he had tried very hard to forget.

But he couldn't forget it, any more than he could forget the person they had left behind in that place.

For the thousandth time, he glanced to his right; to the man standing on the other side of the quarterdeck. He too was staring at Elegia, his red eyes fixed upon the island. He had been like that for a week now, ever since he saw that burned-up Vivre card. One taste of his captain's Haki was enough for one lifetime.

Too bad for the rookies who'd crossed their path. More fool them for thinking they could try it on with the Red Hair Pirates to make a name for themselves; when Red Hair Shanks was in a mood like this.

They called the New World the Graveyard of Dreams for a very good reason. In the last moments of their lives, they had understood why.

"Gerotini's here."

Beckman almost jumped at the sound. He looked towards Elegia's docks, and saw two ships already moored there. One was indeed Bombina, belonging to Gerontini of the Puddle Pirates. The other was Rococo, belonging to Pururu of the Bourgeois Pirates.

On the face of it, neither ship or crew was much to speak of. Bombina was a refitted trading fluyt; with decent speed but not much in a fight besides that. He wasn't at all sure what Rococo had started its life as, but it looked more like a princess' yacht than a pirate ship.

It didn't matter. The Puddles and the Bourgeois were weak crews, mere greenhorns until they bent the knee; but they were Red Hair allies, and loyal ones at that. What was more, they had answered the call, and gone where they were needed without compliant or argument.

He could only hope that it wasn't for nothing.

Beckman waited, in silence, as the Red Force drew up to one of the docks. Men hurried up the dock towards them, catching the mooring ropes as the crew threw them, and tying them tight. He listened to the familiar call-and-response as the crew hauled on the ropes, drawing the Red Force up to the dock, and securing it in place.

He looked to his captain, but Shanks did not reply. He simply leapt over the gunwale, landing on the dock with a squelch. The docks had not been used in many years, and had a covering of seaweed, moss,and barnacles to prove it. Beckman leapt after him, waiting just a moment as his fellow senior officers did likewise; then followed his commander along the dock and into the harbor proper.

Then the smell hit him. It was mostly the acrid smell of burning, but there were other smells too; burning wood, burning grass, scorched stone, melting metal. He looked around, bewildered, and then he saw it; the pall of smoke hanging over the island, rising gently from a morass of scorched black.

Elegia had been burned. Again.

"Chief! You're here!"

Beckman looked up, and saw two men looking towards them; both of whom he knew. One was a frog-faced First Mate of the Puddle Pirates, Kermot. The other was Frufru of the Bourgeois, his clothes frilly and expensive-looking.

"Kermot." Shanks' voice was stiff, controlled. "What happened here?"

"Not entirely sure Chief. When we got here, the whole place was on fire," explained Kermot. "Practically everything was ash before we made landfall. Took everything we had was all we to stop Gordon's house burning down. Cap'n Gerontini made himself ill sucking up seawater to put it out."

"The damned fool!" It was Hongo, the ship's doctor. "He'll kill himself doing that!"

"There wasn't any choice." Kermot looked like a young boy expecting a thrashing. "Everything was on fire, and I mean everything; the houses, the trees, the grass. I've never seen the like before. If Cap'n hadn't done it…"

"It's all right." Shanks stepped forward and clasped Kermot's wrist with his good hand. "Where is he now?"

"Just up here! Round these old ruins!"

Kermot led the way through what had once been a well-equipped little port; but was now just the skeletons of burned buildings. Soon enough, they came across a gaggle of Puddle and Bourgeois Pirates, with barrels and boxes stacked and tents set up.

But all eyes were on the thing in the middle of the camp. It was a bloated thing the size of a house, its skin pale and sweaty, its smell foul. Only when Beckman saw its face did he realise it was Gerontini. He must have sucked up enough water to sink a hundred ships.

Hongo pushed past him, hurrying to the stricken pirate's side. But someone else was already there, a short figure with a mane of curly green hair, and a pink pirate hat perched on top of it.

"Just stay there, Gerontini!" cried the figure, in a voice Beckman knew well. "You've done too much! You've made yourself sick!"

"Pururu?" Shanks called out, striding up to her. Pururu, Captain of the Bourgeois Pirates, jumped at the sound of his voice, and spun round to face him. Her green eyes were full of tears, making her makeup run.

"Oh…oh Shanks!" she sniffed, dabbing at her eyes. "Forgive me! It was all we could do to save the house, and look what happened to poor Gerontini! Oh forgive me! I've failed you! I'm so weak and…!"

She broke down, her words becoming anguished sobs. Shanks knelt down and wrapped his good arm around her, holding her tight.

"You've done more than enough, Pururu," he said, a hint of his normal warmth in each word. "Thank you so much."

Pururu wailed, and sobbed into his shoulder. Meanwhile, Hongo was working with Slipshod, the Puddles' doctor, as the assembled pirates clustered around Gerontini, slowly lugging him towards the ships.

"We owe him big time," Roux murmured, as they passed. Beckman could not disagree.

"Everyone." Shanks stood up, looking around at the assembled pirates. "Thank you all for coming like this, for taking all this trouble. This means more than you can ever know."

"Ah, what are friends for?" replied Kermot, grinning in spite of the mood.

The others were all grinning too, a little nervously maybe; but Beckman knew that Kermot told the truth. That was the kind of men and women they were.

"All the same, thank you all." Shanks turned back to Pururu. "Now what of the house? Was it saved?"

"Yes, saved…at least in the sense it's s-still standing," Pururu nodded, dabbing at her eyes with a lacey handkerchief. " The landmarks are all gone, save for the castle, but there's enough to look at."

Shanks nodded, and Pururu led the way out of the harbor and along a road strewn with black ash. Beckman looked around, and realised that she was right. There was little left even of the ruins he remembered. Everything had been burned; so much so that even brick and stone had collapsed into dust or fallen apart.

Where before Elegia had been a ghost town of ruined buildings, now there weren't even ruins anymore. Just piles of ash and debris.

It was a sight that only made Shanks' blood boil further, seeing the once beautiful kingdom reduced to nothing but ashes.

Whoever did this…

'They will pay…'

Finally, they reached the house. It was filthy with ash and soot, and a part of the upper floor had been burned, but it was still standing; a cordon of armed pirates formed around it. Beckman could hear organ music playing, the tune slow and melancholy, and wondered for a moment if Gordon was still alive.

The pirates nodded respectfully as Pururu led them inside, and into what might have been the dining room. There was a big table, and on it, covered in a sheet, lay what only could have been a body. Francois, the Bourgeois' doctor, was standing by the table; while more pirates stood around, hats off, heads lowered. He couldn't see who was playing the organ.

Shanks strode over to the table, and pulled back the sheet. The face under it was pale and misshapen, but it was unmistakably Gordon, the last King of Elegia.

For a moment, Shanks just stood there. None of the assembled pirates dared to speak, or look him in the eye. But Beckman knew what was going on behind those eyes, veins of anger forming on Shank's face, his Haki starting to roar like an angry beast.

The thunder rumbled overhead, and the organ stopped. Everyone could sense it, like feeling a tremor before a great volcanic eruption.

"Calm down," he said, stepping forward and putting a hand on his captain's shoulder.

"Gordon wouldn't want you losing your head, not now." Yasopp spoke calmly, even though he shared his captain's rage.

"How did he die?" Shanks managed to ask, tense with the strain of containing his fury.

"Mostly internal bleeding," reported Francois; who was doing his level best not to run for his life, Beckman could tell. "He took a heavy hit to the chest, and it drove him into the stairs, impaling him on the wreckage. He never stood a chance."

The skies darkened as Shanks' eyes narrowed, and Beckman couldn't blame him. To do such a thing to that kind, sad, lonely old man.

"He managed to leave a message though," Kermot spoke up as Shanks looked at him. "He wrote it on the wall."
"Show me."

Kermot led the way, back through the house and to the main staircase. The stairs were indeed half-wrecked, as if something big and heavy had smashed into them. And on the wall just next to the smashed, bloodstained shards, were words daubed in dried blood.

And upon seeing them, Shanks's eyes widened in horror, along with the crew.

UTA KIDNAPPED.

BLACK WINGED ANGELS WITH FIRE.

FOUR ARMED AND THREE EYED DEVILS.

FLYING SHIP.

THEY KNOW OF TOT MUSICA.

HISASHI REAL NAME IS IZUKU

CARD UPSTAIR

Shanks jumped over the hole and sprinted up the stairs. Beckman did likewise, following his captain to the upper floor. He paused, as he saw the fire damage; the blackened timbers dripping with seawater. He couldn't even make out whose room was whose.

Until one little thing caught his eye.

Beckman moved in, careful of the scorched timbers under his feet, and took a closer look. It was a Transponder Snail, and it was burned beyond all recognition. It couldn't have belonged to Gordon; he kept his snail up in the castle ruins, in case Uta accidentally found it.

So Uta had been in contact with that flying pair, Hisashi and Anna. And the said pair weren't who they claimed to be. He inspected the radio receiver inside the shell…

Burnt and warped. Useless. Beckman sighed through his nose as he pocketed it.

He moved along to the next room. He could just make out the remains of musical instruments, burned and melted almost beyond recognition. The floor was covered in ash, but here and there he could see scraps of burned paper; even the occasional note.

It was like being in a tomb, for that was what this island was. Once it had been an island of music, a place where musicians dedicated their lives to honing their art. Uta had loved to sing as they played, and they had loved her voice; as the Red Hairs always would.

All gone. All ash on a heedless wind. The Kingdom of Music was now truly dead.

"Beck! Here!"

Beckman followed his captain's call to yet another room. This one was larger than the others, and had what might once have been a bed, and a blackened but recognisable desk. Shanks was standing in front of it, the drawers pulled out, holding something in his hand with an almost deathlike gripe. He held it up, and Beckman saw that it was a Vivre Card in a phial, with a name on it as the paper angled out to the horizon.

Uta.

"She's alive…"

"Yeah." There was something dark and cold in Shanks' eyes; something that didn't belong there. Beckman cleared his throat, dreading what he had to do.

"I found a Transponder Snail on her desk, or what's left of it," he said. "Looks like she'd been talking with those Hisashi and Anna characters behind Gordon's back; or she thought she was, anyway."

"Yeah," Shanks growled. "Gordon was right about those two."

Beckman didn't like that idea, or the way Shanks said it. Gordon had described the pair in detail, and Beckman could tell he was worried. But nothing he had said implied that they were up to no good. They seemed to be a pair of good-natured innocents, wandering from island to island as they pleased.

"I don't know about that," he said cautiously. "Based on what were heard, the two of them were perfectly harmless."

"A boy, Beck." Shanks' eyes flashed. "A god-damned boy her own age! You heard what Gordon said!"

Yes, he had. From what Gordon had described, Uta had been practically catapulting herself at Izuku, and he seemingly hadn't noticed; let alone reciprocated. He couldn't blame Shanks for being worried, but…

"Can you blame her?" he pleaded. "She's been stuck there for years, with only an old man for company?"

"That damned fool should've seen my mark!" Shanks snapped. "The whole damn world knows that!"

"They flew in! They never saw the buoys! Gordon said so!" Beckman barked back.

Shanks snarled and looked away. Beckman watched him, dreading what was going on behind those eyes.

"We have to go." He strode out of the room and towards the stairs, the floorboards creaking and crunching under his feet.

"Wait, Shanks!" Beckman ran after him and grabbed his arm. Shanks rounded on him, eyes flashing; but Beckman didn't back down. It was too late for that, even if he believed Shanks would do what he was clearly thinking of doing.

"Before we go, we should bury Gordon," he said. "It's the least we can do."

For a few moments, Shanks just glared at him. Then he turned away again, and let out a silent sigh. He would have pulled that old straw hat down over his eyes, if he still had it. His shoulder's slumped.

"You think this…Izuku character has anything to do with the Lunarians?" Beckman dared to ask.

Shanks said nothing, and Beckman grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

"If this is about Uta seeing a boy, stop it." Beckman hissed. "You know that those arriving and Gordon's murder are unrelated incidents. Besides… Why is a kid who has Kaido on his ass of all people here?"

Shank paused, taking a deep breath to calm down, to recollect himself.

"You think this kid is Deku?"

"From what Gordon described him… Green hair, freckles, plain features. Fits almost to a T." Beckman narrowed his eyes. "And the fact he was able to fly without wings and why Kaido sent out that bounty. The dragon's trying to cover as much ground as possible without leaving his lair. Not to mention King is the only known Lunarian alive, yet Gordon's message indicated there were many Lunarians."

Shanks leaned against the wall and took a deep breath again.

"These are separate incidents, Shanks. Besides, would you rather Uta be taken by Deku and have her in Kaido's sights too?"

"If Kaido so much as lays an eye on her I'll kill him." Shanks growled, before looking away.

He's not used to being this angry. To not being in control.

And it was his daughter that was lost.

"I get it. You're mad, you want someone to blame. And we have them, the ones who did this." He pointed to the ruined house. "And… I'm wagering this Hisashi, Deku, Izuku, whoever he is, didn't have a hand in this. So calm. Down!" Beckman growled.

The red haired captain leveled his glare for a moment, taking a breath and Beckman could feel his turbulent haki finally cool.

"Was there… anything we could use?" Shanks asked as Beckman pulled out a burnt snail.

"Found this, but the radio receiver was warped and melted by the fire. This more or less confirms that Uta… may have been in contact with Deku behind Gordon's back. Likely when he was asleep."

Shanks glared at it as the thunder rumbled before he closed his eyes and looked away.

"So who would take her?"

"Off the top of my head… a new entity." Shanks rounded on Beckman, eyes sharp and desiring an explanation. "They've got a flying ship and the only one I know of with a flying ship is Morgans, and he's not gonna piss you off just to get himself a young girl. As for the Emperors, Whitebeard would never do a thing like that, and Big Mom or Kaido would've come at you directly. The Government would never use Lunarians, and none of the Kings could even control them, let alone command them after what Mariejois did to their tribe."

"I'm aware…" Shanks growled, sighing through his nose.

"In the end; no, Deku didn't involve himself with this. He and Anna met Uta yes, and they gave her a fleeting glimpse of a normal life. Friends."

"I should have come back." He put a hand over his eyes.

"We all wanted to, but you said no," uttered Beckman, earning a glare. "We all know why; and unfortunately, so do they."

Shanks went pale. The Lunarians, whoever they were, knew about Tot Musica. There was really no other reason why anyone would want Uta; except to hurt or provoke Shanks, and there were easier and less risky ways to do that.

"If they find a way…if they unleash that demon," Shanks breathed, looking down at the floor. "What will happen to her?"

He covered his face, and the house creaked as the thunder rumbled.

"If they're still in the sky, we need to find a way to get to the White Sea," Beckman pressed, trying to distract him. "You went up there with Roger once, right?"

"Yes," Shanks replied. "We went up via a Knock Up Stream near Jaya to the island of Skypeia. Where's the nearest one?" Beckman winced as he thought back to the charts and possible locations...

"Jaya."

"Fuck!" Shanks snarled, and lighting crashed down outside. Jaya was too far; and even if it wasn't, it would deplete their resin reserves. They'd have to restock at Sabaody, which would take days for the return trip back to the New World.

"What about the Astral Realm? Back in Elbaf?"

"They won't let us in that part of Elbaf; you know that."

The sky rumbled.

"Do you know how to sail up a Knock Up Stream?" Beckman asked.

"It's been a long time, but we'll find out."

Shanks hopped down over the gap in the stairs, and strode outside. Beckman followed him, his mind racing. Uta was still alive, her kidnappers knew of Tot Musica, and they involved Lunarians and four-armed people with three eyes.

"Think it's the surviving tribe?" Shanks wondered aloud. Beckman looked his way.

"If there were surviving Lunarians and they wanted revenge against the world… they had help from those four armed people."

Shanks glowered as he grasped the handle of his sword, Gryphon.

"Once we enter the tomb, we find those cursed musical sheets and burn them until they're nothing but cinders." Shanks uttered darkly as Ben Beckman nodded in agreement. "At least Gordon can rest easy knowing that demon won't rise up again. Lucky for us whoever took Uta didn't take the sheet music too."

"Consider it done Chief." Beckman spoke firmly, equally happy to see the curse ended.

He did not speak again until they reached the camp, where the rest of the crew was waiting.

"Guys, we're going to bury Gordon, then we leave," Shanks ordered. "Pururu, Kermot, have the harbor be cleaned out. We may as well put it to use. I'll send more crews to help once we're underway."

"R-right! You got it Chief! We'll do our best!"

"I'll relay it to the Captain!" The pair hurried away, and Shanks turned to Lucky Roux and Yasopp.

"Right now, we're going to bury Gordon up at the castle, with his fellow Kings."

"Got it chief," Yasopp replied, and they followed him back to the house. Yasopp and Lucky Roux went inside, while Shanks stayed outside, organising some more Red Hairs to clear the road to the castle. Beckman waited with him, until Pururu appeared at the door, hat held over her chest, eyes down. Behind her came Gordon's sheet-wrapped body, on the shoulders of Yasopp, Lucky Roux, and a few others. The rest came behind, hats off and eyes lowered. Shanks led the way, and Beckman fell in as Pururu stepped aside, joining her crew.

The Procession made its way to the castle. The gates had been opened, and Red Hairs lined the path; some carrying burning torches, raised in grim salute. Two of them led the way down into the undercroft, through dark, dank corridors lined with statues, and into the Royal Mausoleum. One of the tombs was open, ready for its occupant. Gordon had likely prepared before hand…

And so was another.

Beckman gasped, and dashed over to the violated tomb; praying that it wasn't that one.

But it was. The tomb was empty, and its lid was smashed open. And in the ceiling above was a narrow hole, a tiny glint of sunlight just visible through it.

"Shit!" cried Yasopp, as he saw and understood. The tomb where Gordon had hidden the notes for Tot Musica was broken open. And the music was gone.

"The notes," Beckman breathed. "They followed her."

There was no other explanation. There was no sign of any other damage; and how else had that hole gotten there?

Beckman turned to Shanks, dreading what he would see. Shanks was gritting his teeth, his face hard with anger. Above them, the castle creaked and groaned as the wind whistled, and the thunder rumbled.

The procession started again, the Red Hairs carefully stepping around the open tomb, and holding the wrapped body in place over it. Beckman watched, a lump in his throat, as they awkwardly lowered the body into the tomb. This done, they stepped back, and took hold of the heavy lid, heaving it into place, sealing the tomb shut.

A poor funeral for a King of Elegia. But it was all the Red Hair Pirates had to offer. And it wasn't as if there was anyone left to know or care.

Gordon was dead. And so was Elegia. The Kingdom of Music was gone forever.

"Now we go," ordered Shanks. "We go back to the ship, and we sail for Paradise. Roux, once we're aboard, you get on to our spies; tell them to keep an ear open for Hisashi, also named Izuku and is very likely the Deku Kaido is looking for. And his Anna too. White hair, tall with horns.."

"Shanks…" Beckman warned.

"I don't know if they did anything. They could be dead or on the other side of the planet," Shanks went on. "But we have the Vivre Card for Uta. That alone helps immensely… As for the kidnappers…"

The air turned very cold, Shanks glaring ahead as the air grew heavy, the castle creaking as stone shook and dust fell from cracks above.

"When I find them… I will make them wish they had never been born."

"Agreed." Beckman lit up a cigarette and took a deep inhale as he followed his crew out of the mausoleum as he looked up at the hole and to the storm-riddled sky.

(X)

Uta groaned, as her eyes opened.

Something was wrong. She was lying on something cold and hard, and her head felt strange.

And there was something in her mouth. It was big, rubbery, and it was wiggling.

Uta screamed and grabbed at her face; yanking the whatever-it-was out of her mouth and throwing it away. It was some kind of mushroom, with wiggly tendrils.

It had been in her mouth! It was all she could do not to gag.

Then she saw where she was; a small wooden room, with one wall made up of metal bars. A cell, in a ship's brig or a dungeon. A window on the wall across the bars showed clouds and a night sky.

Then she remembered. The black-winged angels, their leader kicking Gordon, the flames…

"Feeling better?"

Uta gasped and jumped. She looked around, but there was no one else in the cell.

"Can you breathe now?" asked the voice again. It was the voice of an old-ish man, coming from the other side of the bars.

"Who…who are you?" Uta squinted, trying to see; but the cell opposite hers was too dark.

"Who am I?" The voice chuckled. "You could say I'm the reason this ship got down to the Grand Line in the first place. They couldn't get beyond the Rainbow Rivers without me." He said with pride.

Uta shivered, and pulled a blanket around herself.

"If you're that important, then why're you in a cell?" she demanded, glowering.

"Eh, Devas. They think they're the best thing since sliced bread. Lack of oxygen might have something to do with it, if you ask me. And as for why I'm in this cell? Mostly because this ship didn't have enough officer quarters, and I didn't want to sleep with the guys down below or in the storage room. Besides, compared to my former cell down in the Blue Sea, this is a penthouse."

Uta looked away, out of the cell's small porthole. The sky was black, and bright with stars; and below was a never-ending expanse of cloud. But there was something else too; like water, but tinged with the colors of the rainbow, the colors shifting like oil on water.

It was mesmerizing.

"But yeah, that airshroom you had in your mouth is how you can breathe up here," the voice went on. "I can't quite make sense of it, but the spores get into your lungs and make them work better. Keep the airshroom in your mouth long enough, and you'll breathe just fine even without it."

Uta looked again at the opposite cell; wishing she could see whoever it was over there. She was alone in this place, more than she'd ever been in her whole life.

"So you're a prisoner like me?"

"Kinda sorta. I'm a… special attache to the Grand Vizier, Delhi. Nice guy when you get to know him. Can throw a helluva party and has style. I like him." Uta had the strange impression that he was smirking.

"So then, why're you in a cell?" she asked again. "If you're so important?"

"Like I said, the Devas are in love with themselves, and they don't much care for anyone else, specially not some Blue Sea man like myself. I'm kind of on a leash, if you know what I mean."

The ship groaned, and Uta felt it begin to turn.

"Man, if only the Captain were alive to see this." The man uttered.

Uta looked out of the porthole again, and saw what he meant.

Coming into view, emerging from the clouds, was a city. Its buildings gleamed white, and glittered with gold and silver lights. At the center was a towering white palace, built in a style she had never seen before.

And looming over it was a golden tree, so vast that it hardly seemed real. It stretched up into the sky, dwarfing the tallest mountains she had ever seen, its branches stretching far and wide. From the branches fell…something, glittering like dew in the morning.

"I was shocked to see it too," commented the voice. "Hell, it might be even bigger than the Treasure Tree Adam down in Elbaf. It's also pretty much why anything can live up here. It's where the airshrooms grow, see. The spores coming down in that light breaks down, and goes into your lungs, making it easy as pie to breath up here."

Uta could only stare. Never had she seen or heard of anything remotely like this. Never, not even when she came to Elegia, had she felt awe like this.

"How long…have you been here?" she asked, unable to tear her eyes away.

"Fourteen years, give or take, maybe fifteen," mused the voice. "Been on the run before that; but here, I'm a free man!"

"In a cell."

"Like I said, I'm on a leash."

Uta heard footsteps approach, and stop in front of her cell. She turned, and saw that four-armed woman from before. Her hood was down, three red eyes staring at her.

"Come," ordered Siddhura, gently but firmly. "It is time." She unlocked the cell and opened it, then turned to the other cell. Uta looked out of the porthole one last time, marvelling in spite of everything at the wondrous sight. The vast golden tree, the glittering dew falling off its branches; and the gleaming city around its base. As the ship drew closer, and began to rise, she could see more of the land around it; stretching out for untold miles, black mountains crowning the horizon. Just beyond, she could see water trickling off the edge; falling to the clouds below.

And then, as they rounded the tree, a great silver orb; shining in the night sky. It took her a moment to realise that it was the Moon. She never imagined it could be so big, or that anyone could ever get so close.

Just how far were they from Elegia? How far up? Even if anyone wanted to save her, could they even get up there?

No. She shook her head, driving the despair away. Izuku and Yamato would realise that something was wrong! They would come looking for her! And they would find her, even up here!

"We will proceed up the Gundi River from Lankar Harbor," Siddhura explained. "Then, we will reach Vimana City."

She unlocked the other cell, and something moved in the darkness. Uta watched as a black-cloaked figure stepped into the light, his feet making a strange tik-tik sound as he walked. As she saw him clearly, Uta recognized him. It was the same black-cloaked figure sitting by the ship's wheel.

The figure pulled back its hood, and Uta stared. It was a very tall, rather craggy man; with a blonde beard, thick eyebrows, and a mane of golden hair hanging down his back. The very top of his head was bald, and had part of a ship's wheel sticking out of it like a mohawk. He was dressed in his black robe, a hint of golden silks underneath, in a style not unlike what those black angels were wearing.

"Who…are you?" she breathed. The man pulled out a cigar and lit it with a match; taking a long puff. He smirked, and stepped up to the bars of her cell; his feet making that same strange sound.

Only then did she see that he didn't have feet. Just two sword blades, reaching from under his robes.

"Well ya see, I was one of the biggest pirates before your time. I'm the Golden Lion, rival to the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger himself." He smirked, and bowed a mocking bow. "But you can call me Shiki, baby."

He sniggered, and marched on ahead. Uta froze as she saw a flash of a thing with sharper teeth and a top hat over his head.

Siddhura took her by the arm and led her out of the cell. Uta did not resist. She had nothing to resist with.

It was all too much, too crazy, too terrifying.

And she was alone, with only a faint hope to hold onto.

Big thanks to Juubi-K for writing this up, and for help from IKnowNothing and WildJoker000 naturally.

The big reveal, the God King of Brahmapura and the Duryo Regime have the Golden Lion on their side. And Shanks is on the move, and knows of our duo at last.

Next chapter we will be back with the flashback arc and its conclusion. Homeward Bound will conclude as well. Although I can say we are in the Brahmapura Saga, and as we know in One Piece, saga's tend to have mulitple arcs save for the big ones like Wano.

Hope you all enjoyed this. See you all next time.