The Music Kingdom, Elegia
The kingdom that once echoed with beautiful music now lay in ruins. Shattered walls and towering flames were all that remained of its former glory. The flagship of the Red Hair Pirates, the Red Force, sailed slowly out of the harbor, the atmosphere on board so heavy it was difficult to breathe.
The crew worked in silence, cleaning up the mess left from the battle, but they all instinctively gave a wide berth to the lonely figure standing at the bow of the ship. Shanks stood motionless, the sea breeze ruffling his fiery red hair and making his black cloak flap in the wind. He didn't turn around, but the heart-wrenching cries from the island behind him pierced his heart like needles.
"Liar! Shanks, you big liar!"
"I hate you!"
It was Uta's voice. His daughter, the person he cherished more than anything, was now cursing him with the most hateful words imaginable.
Benn Beckman, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, walked up and stood beside him. He offered no words of comfort, simply standing shoulder to shoulder with his captain, both men gazing at the destroyed island.
"Are we really doing this?" Beckman finally asked, his voice low.
"It's the only way," Shanks replied, his own voice hoarse and empty of emotion. "She needs to be a singer, not… a vessel for a demon king. This sin is mine to bear."
He had brought her to this sacred place of music to help her fulfill her dream. Who could have known that her heavenly voice, a power born from the Sing-Sing Fruit, would inadvertently unseal the ancient Demon King, Tot Musica? A terrible battle had ensued, leaving the entire country in ashes. To protect Uta from the crushing guilt of destroying her own home, and to allow her to keep singing, Shanks had chosen to become the villain. He had entrusted the unconscious Uta to Gordon, one of the kingdom's survivors, while taking all the blame for Elegia's destruction upon himself. When Uta awoke, she would see only that her "father" had destroyed her home with his own hands.
The misunderstanding had been sown, and there was no way to explain the truth.
The ship sailed further and further away, and Uta's cries were eventually swallowed by the sound of the waves. Shanks slowly closed his eyes, burying the agonizing pain and the memory of his daughter's betrayed gaze deep within his heart.
The journey back to the East Blue was long. The atmosphere on the ship had grown somber after the incident in Elegia. Even Lucky Roux, who was usually the most boisterous, was just quietly gnawing on a piece of meat in a corner.
One day, as the ship sailed through an unknown sea, the sky suddenly turned dark. Without warning, towering waves surged from the ocean, and a powerful gale lashed down, bringing with it a torrent of heavy rain.
"Storm!"
"Steady the rudder!"
"Everyone, hold on! Lower the sails!"
Under Beckman's calm command, the crew battled the storm with practiced efficiency, every movement precise and coordinated. Just then, the lookout's voice cut through the wind. "Ship ahead! It's… a World Government ship!"
Through the curtain of rain, they could see a frigate flying the World Government's flag, struggling to navigate the storm. Shanks walked to the ship's rail, letting the cold rain drench his face. He stared at the other vessel, his eyes turning cold. All the frustration and pain that had been building inside him finally had a target. The essence of a pirate, after all, is plunder.
"Looks like they're carrying some incredible treasure," Yasopp said, squinting through his spyglass.
Shanks didn't say a word. He simply drew his saber, 'Gryphon,' from his waist.
"Lads!" He grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. His smile held a sharp, ruthless edge. "Let's give those government dogs some 'warmth'!" He slung his sword over his shoulder, rain dripping from his red hair. "Let's help them lighten their load!"
"Oh!"
"OH! OH! OH! OH!"
The long-suppressed crew erupted in a thunderous roar, their pirate blood instantly ignited by the promise of a fight.
The battle was over as quickly as it began. Against the full might of the Red Hair Pirates, the CP frigate stood no chance. It was little more than target practice.
"Tch, how boring," Lucky Roux grumbled, tossing his empty flintlock over his shoulder as he was the first to leap onto the enemy's deck. The crew eagerly began to search for spoils, but their excitement quickly turned to disappointment.
"Captain, these guys are paupers! There isn't even a single good bottle of wine on this whole ship!"
"This side is just full of useless papers! Too rough to even use as toilet paper!"
"Hey! Come look at this! I found a strange box over here!"
Lucky Roux ran to the center of the deck, carrying a locked, ornate treasure chest. Shanks walked over. Beckman didn't bother looking for a key; he simply smashed the lock with the butt of his rifle. The lid sprang open with a snap.
Inside the box, nestled on a thick layer of dark red velvet, lay a strange, purple fruit covered in swirling arabesque patterns.
"This is… a Devil Fruit?"
"What a weird shape."
The crew members gathered around, looking at it with curiosity.
Shanks, however, froze. His pupils constricted, and the breath caught in his throat. The voices of his crew, the howling wind and rain, the roar of the waves—it all faded away into nothing. In his world, there was only the fruit, lying quietly in the box. He reached out a trembling hand, his fingertips gently tracing the spiral patterns on its surface.
It was it.
A voice screamed in his mind. Long-sealed memories surged forth like a broken dam. He was an apprentice on Captain Roger's ship again, looking up with adoration at the powerful monsters who were his crewmates. He saw Kail, the man with 'freedom' etched into his very bones, the reliable backbone of the crew. He once thought that Kail would surely be the one to inherit the Captain's will. But after Captain Roger's death, Kail had just shrugged, saying he wasn't interested in 'One Piece' and just wanted to live his own life. Kail was too free for even fate to bind him.
Later, Shanks thought that he would be the one. He wore the straw hat the Captain had entrusted to him. He and Buggy had dreamed of finding ONE PIECE together and becoming the next Pirate King. He felt he was the Child of Destiny.
How laughable.
That thought became the cruelest joke of all when he finally pieced together the truth of his own ridiculous background. Figarland. A Celestial Dragon's surname. A descendant of the 'gods' was supposed to be the chosen one to overthrow their rule and liberate the world? The irony was crushing.
He began to doubt. He began to search. He heard legends in Elbaf about a Devil Fruit connected to a 'Sun God'. He visited his old friend Gaban and even witnessed the fall of a Giant King, but he never got any closer to finding the fruit.
And now, when he was emotionally exhausted from the ordeal with his daughter, when he was on the verge of giving up the search entirely, the fruit had appeared. Not as the prize at the end of a perilous journey, not as a trophy taken from a powerful enemy, but as random spoils of war, plundered from an insignificant government ship in the middle of a storm.
Fate, you're a real bastard who loves to play jokes.
"Shanks?"
Beckman's voice pulled him back to reality. He saw the question—and the worry—in his First Mate's eyes.
Click.
Shanks closed the lid of the box. The crisp sound of the lock snapping shut instantly quieted the deck. All eyes were on their captain, on the complex, unreadable expression on his face. He didn't say a word. He simply picked up the box, turned, and walked back to his cabin. In his retreating figure, there was a heaviness his crew couldn't understand.
Beckman took the cigarette from his mouth and stared at the heavily closed cabin door, his eyes deep with thought. After a long moment, he tossed the cigarette butt into the sea, watching the waves swallow it whole.
"The storm… it seems it hasn't passed yet."
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