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On the simple stage, Uta was radiant.
Ever since Shanks and his crew had left, music had been her closest companion. Gordon hadn't taught her much, but her innate talent was undeniable. She had slowly learned to weave the words in her heart into song.
Tonight, she finally had an audience. She sang with pure joy, a musical sprite sharing her gift with the world.
Kuma, Robin, Nami, Carina, Tashigi, Gordon—all were captivated, lost in the sound of her voice.
But it was more than just a beautiful song. As Uta sang, Jin felt a strange vibration in the notes, a special frequency that resonated on a spiritual level, touching the will of the listener. You couldn't help but be drawn into the song's embrace, to feel what she felt.
Her joy, her sorrow.
Even Jin was moved.
"If Uta, the Revolutionary Army's Belo Betty, and the Supernova Apoo ever formed a band..." he mused.
"The Sing-Sing Fruit, the Pump-Pump Fruit, and the Tone-Tone Fruit, all working in concert. What would that even sound like? Unimaginable."
If they played something high-energy... Even a stray dog would probably jump on the nearest person and ride them into battle. And if they played a dirge? Would everyone just take a page from Aura the Guillotine's book and order themselves to fall on their own swords?
Gordon and the others didn't notice that Jin was using a subtle application of the Scream-Scream Fruit's power to broadcast Uta's song across the entire island.
He wasn't trying to get himself killed by awakening the music demon. He was about eighty percent sure he could handle it.
Especially after his latest evolution.
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Deep beneath the royal palace, in a dim stone chamber, a pentagram was carved into the floor—a magic circle, a seal.
A closer look revealed similarities to the seal on Asuka Island. Some of the symbols were identical.
Clearly, in some long-forgotten era, the ancients had known of these "demons"—these amalgams of desire and will.
And they had a way to deal with them.
Seals.
Many of Imu's techniques were likely related to this.
The seal in Elegia was even more advanced than the one on Asuka Island—it had somehow managed to separate the "demon" from the fruit itself, using cheerful songs to suppress it.
But Uta's arrival had shattered that balance. As the host of the Sing-Sing Fruit, she had become the link.
As her song drifted through the air, a faint red light, like seeping blood, began to emanate from the seal, stirring a faint breeze.
The seal and the island were one.
When the wind began to blow in the secret chamber... it blew across the entire island.
But Gordon, Kuma, Nami, Robin, and Carina were all lost in the spell of Uta's voice.
No one noticed.
Except for Jin.
He saw it instantly—a red light spreading out from Uta's body, carried on the wind.
And then, one by one, everyone who could hear her song began to collapse, falling into a deep sleep.
The Paramecia Sing-Sing Fruit... had Awakened.
Through her song, Uta had pulled their very souls into the domain where the "demon" was sealed—the Sing-Sing Space.
Including her own.
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Robin opened her eyes.
She was in a magnificent city, but the streets were empty. Something was wrong.
"Huh?" Nami gasped. "Where are we?"
Carina also realized something was off. Tashigi looked around, bewildered.
"This is Elegia!" Gordon said, his eyes shining with a fervent light. "Elegia, before it was destroyed... Elegia as Uta remembers it..."
His kingdom. How could he not love it?
This wasn't the first time Gordon had witnessed Uta's power. It had begun to manifest as she'd grown older, in small, manageable ways. He explained the situation.
"A Devil Fruit?" Nami, Carina, and Tashigi were all shocked.
"The Paramecia Sing-Sing Fruit, in an Awakened state," Robin clarified. She had learned a great deal from Jin—about Haki, about Devil Fruit Awakenings.
Nami was the first to notice the glaring omission. "Hey... where's the King?"
He was gone.
"Why isn't he here?" Carina asked, looking around frantically. "Did he go somewhere else?"
In this situation, the King was the one who made her feel safe.
The silent Kuma finally spoke. "Do not be alarmed. I will protect you. The King has other business to attend to."
"Eh?" Carina, Nami, and Tashigi all turned to look at him.
Suddenly, Tashigi cried out, "The Tyrant... Bartholomew Kuma!" She instinctively drew her sword.
Nami's jaw dropped. "You... you're the Tyrant from the wanted posters?! Kuma?!"
Kuma looked down and realized that in the Sing-Sing Space, his bear-like coat was gone.
Carina was also stunned. She and Nami scrambled to hide behind Robin. As treasure hunters, they knew the value of information. They never skipped on buying a newspaper. Nami was the only one on the Straw Hat crew who had a subscription, and even when the price went up, she had grit her teeth and paid. For their favorite little miser, that was the ultimate compromise.
And the World Government's wanted poster for Kuma, which had been spread all over the world, depicted him as an irredeemably vicious tyrant.
Of course they recognized him.
"Don't be afraid," Robin said, her voice calm. "Kuma is not the tyrant the World Government makes him out to be. He's actually very gentle."
"Really?"
Robin's words were reassuring. Nami and Carina clutched their chests, their breathing slowly returning to normal.
Tashigi was still skeptical, but after a moment's hesitation, she sheathed her sword. She had spent enough time with these people to know they weren't evil. And though she was a Marine, she was not without a heart. She was not some blind fanatic.
"You mean," Gordon said, stepping in front of Kuma, his gaze stern, "—that the King had another motive for being here?" He knew something was wrong.
Robin, Nami, Carina, and Tashigi all looked at Kuma.
Another motive?
Kuma shook his head. "I do not know. The King only told me to protect you if something unexpected were to happen."
The color drained from Gordon's face. "Damn him... his goal... it couldn't be... We have to wake Uta, now!"
"Why?" Nami asked.
"Tot Musica!"
"What's that?" Carina asked.
A look of pure agony crossed Gordon's face. "The true culprit behind Elegia's destruction," he said. "The sealed 'demon'!"
"A demon?!" Nami and the others were terrified.
"Is... is it real?" Tashigi asked.
Gordon nodded.
"Do not be afraid," Kuma said, his voice a low rumble. "A 'demon' is just a collection of human desires and beliefs. Once you understand that, it is possible to defeat it. The more you fear it, the more you suffer, the stronger it becomes."
He paused. "The King told me that."
Uta's song continued to echo through the dream city.
A massive stage rose from the center of the city, and Uta stood upon it.
As she sang, musical notes appeared out of thin air, swirling around her in a beautiful, ethereal display. Her voice seemed to transcend dimensions, and everyone's hearts were filled with an involuntary joy.
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