Chapter 279: Concert Preparations, a Sky Island in Paradise
Morning. The sun's rays pierced the thin curtains, falling on Louis and waking him.
He slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a head of red-and-white hair pressed against his chest, rising and falling gently with his breathing.
As if sensing the change in his rhythm, Uta mumbled and turned her head, snuggling closer from a different angle.
Her long, slender arms were wrapped tightly around him. The thin white blanket was draped lightly over them both.
Half-awake, Uta's warm breath ghosted across his chest, sending a strange, ticklish feeling through him.
Louis gently smoothed Uta's messy hair, then lightly tapped her cheek. "Wake up. You need to go practice for the concert with Shirahoshi."
"..."
Uta's long eyelashes fluttered. She opened her purple, jewel-like eyes, which were still clouded with sleep. She reached out from under the covers, grabbed the clock by the bed, and squinted at it.
She sat up, the blanket slipping from her rounded shoulders, revealing her flawless skin and graceful curves.
"Mmm..." She stretched, her body arching, and looked down at Louis.
Then, she reached out, gently cupped his face, and leaned in. Their perfect faces drew closer, her purple eyes filled with a hazy, undisguised affection.
"It's still early..." Her warm, soft whisper brushed against his lips. She kissed him.
"..."
Louis stepped out of the bathroom, pulling the curtains open. He looked out at the wilderness below, shrouded in morning mist.
Click.
Uta followed him out, wearing only one of his white button-down shirts. Her still-damp body, with its perfect curves, was faintly visible through the thin fabric. Her long, slender legs carried her across the floor, her bare feet leaving tiny damp footprints. She stopped behind Louis.
"Are you going to Paradise?" she asked. She picked up a brush and, turning him around, began to meticulously groom his wings.
Louis, while mentally controlling Thor to call down a lightning strike on a spy several dozen kilometers away, replied softly, "Yes. I'm planning to go back to Baal."
"Baal?" Uta paused. "Are you going to bring it to Terra?"
She wasn't upset that he was going to miss the concert. After all, Louis had already enjoyed a... private performance... of the new songs. She had to admit, it was a brand-new, unique experience.
"We'll see." Louis had considered it, but the final decision would have to wait.
Soon, under Uta's practiced hand, Louis's flawless white wings were restored to their perfect state. She admired her handiwork with a satisfied nod, then wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, pressing her cheek tightly against his and rubbing, as if trying to leave her scent on him.
Louis, looking completely resigned, reached back and plucked her off, holding her in front of him. "That's enough."
"Hmph~" Uta crossed her arms, swinging her legs lightly.
A few minutes later, Louis opened the door and walked out.
Uta, having snapped from her "clingy" mode back to her usual bright self, followed close behind, humming a little tune she was composing on the spot. Every time they passed a maid, Uta would call her out by name and flash a brilliant smile. The maids, seeing the two of them emerging from the same room, didn't know whether to be envious of Louis or Uta.
When they reached the grand hall, Shirahoshi—wearing a white blouse, her pink hair tied up in a high ponytail—was clearly waiting for them.
Seeing Uta's chipper arrival, Shirahoshi's perfect, lovely face looked puzzled and nervous. "Big Sis! You're so late today... are you sick?"
Uta skipped over to her and held a long, slender finger to her lips, a mischievous smile playing on her face. "Shh! It's a secret!"
"A secret?" Shirahoshi was completely baffled.
"That's right!" Uta patted Shirahoshi's giant pink tailfin, her expression mock-serious. "It's a little secret between adults."
"A secret between... adults...?" Shirahoshi looked confused, then, as if she suddenly understood, she darted a quick glance at Louis. A blush crept up her cheeks. It was clear that, despite her age, she wasn't entirely naive.
Louis couldn't help but roll his eyes at Uta. She really will say anything.
He reached out, plucked Uta up, and gave her a little shake. "What the hell have you been teaching Shirahoshi? That is not a reaction she should be having."
"Nothing! Just music theory, I swear!" Uta replied, looking perfectly innocent.
Just then, the heavy doors to the hall burst open. A massive, towering giant, nearly touching the ceiling, strode in. He was covered in indestructible dragon scales, a double-bladed battle-axe on his back. He walked to Louis, the floor shaking with each step.
"Captain, is it time to depart?" Hajrudin, maintaining his Beast-Human form, crouched down, his eyes peering at Louis from beneath his metal helmet.
Days ago, he had received an order from Louis to return to Terra and accompany him to Paradise. He had immediately abandoned his current task, grabbed the smallest island he could find, and flown back without delay.
"Yes. Get ready," Louis said, placing Uta in Shirahoshi's waiting hand.
"I'm ready," Hajrudin nodded.
Louis saw no reason to wait. He had Avant Heim teleport him and Hajrudin directly into its body, ready to use the cross-sea portal to Jaya.
In the next second, the giant and human figures vanished.
On the giant sofa, Uta pulled her gaze away from where Louis had been and focused on Shirahoshi.
"Alright, time for us to get to work!" Uta clapped her hands, her smile bright. Her purple, jewel-like eyes met Shirahoshi's, which were no longer timid. Her tone grew serious.
"This is your official debut, Shirahoshi. It's the first step in using your voice to get the New World to accept Atlantis. This is incredibly important. You can't mess this up!"
Shirahoshi's eyes filled with determination, her lovely face set. "I'll do my best, Big Sis!!"
Uta's heart swelled with pride. "But don't be too nervous! You're my adorable little sister, and my student!"
She had total faith in Shirahoshi. But, in the one-in-a-million chance the world didn't accept her... well, Uta would just have to give her a little extra help.
After all, that wooden box she'd gotten from Twin Cape hadn't been opened in a long time.
And if that monster dared to try and tempt Shirahoshi... with Louis and Yelena around, they'd quickly teach it some manners.
Grand Line, Paradise. At the edge of Jaya.
A crystal, hidden in the treetops, flashed with a strange light. An instant later, it tore a sixty-meter-high rift in the atmosphere.
A brilliant portal snapped open. A terrifying, massive beast leaped out, landing in the forest with a crash that sent a shockwave of dust and debris rolling. The sound was so loud it shook the small wooden houses on the coast and sent the distant town into a panic.
In the dust cloud, a giant figure with horns and a long dragon's tail stood up.
The portal had only been open for an instant, but it was long enough for Hajrudin and Louis to cross.
Hajrudin raised a hand, conjuring a fierce gale that blew away the obscuring dust and dozens of uprooted trees, sending them flying thousands of meters.
He turned his head to Louis, who was sitting on his shoulder. "Captain, do we just fly straight up from here?"
Louis glanced into the distance. "That's right. The other half of Jaya is in the sky."
Hajrudin nodded, looking up thoughtfully. He reached back and drew his giant axe. With a single swing, he sliced the top off a nearby mountain. He instantly generated Flame Clouds beneath the severed peak, causing it to float, its mirror-smooth cut facing the sky.
His tree-trunk-thick legs bent, and he leaped, landing on the inverted mountain peak as it began to rise.
As they ascended, more and more Flame Clouds billowed out, obscuring the mountain and the two figures on it from view.
In mid-air, Louis sat on Hajrudin's shoulder, looking thoughtfully at the sea far below.
"Captain," Hajrudin asked, "is there something on the sea worth your attention?"
"That's..." He hadn't finished his sentence before he, too, sensed the anomaly. "A whirlpool?"
In the direction Louis was looking, a giant vortex, large enough to swallow any ship, was rapidly expanding—a terrifying sight.
"Not just a whirlpool."
Louis's senses stretched out. He could see a small pirate ship caught in it, hear the desperate, terrified screams.
"It's a Knock Up Stream."
As he spoke, the giant vortex suddenly went still. The sea became as flat as a mirror.
In the next second, the ocean exploded upward. A massive pillar of water shot into the sky, piercing the clouds and aiming for the 10,000-meter-high White Sea.
It was one of this world's most dangerous natural phenomena.
Louis sized it up. This one was only about average. The most terrifying one, of course, was the one from centuries ago that had ripped Jaya in half and thrown a chunk of it into the sky.
He watched the column of water disappear. A bold theory began to form in his mind.
Perhaps the true destructive power of the Knock Up Stream wasn't in the ascent, but in the descent.
When those millions of tons of seawater, having been shot into the upper atmosphere, finally fell back to earth... if they were scattered by high-altitude winds, island clouds, or strange magnetic fields... they would fall over a vast area, creating the catastrophic, localized weather of the Grand Line.
Destructive super-storms, raindrops bigger than ships, mountain-sized hailstones...
After a long moment, Louis pulled his gaze away and looked up at the Sea Cloud, now getting closer.
"Hajrudin. Blast a hole straight through it."
Hajrudin looked up and opened his fang-filled maw. A dangerous, golden light began to glow.
BOOM!
A terrifying blast of fire erupted, shooting into the sky like a golden pillar. It punched a clean hole straight through the thick Sea Cloud. The golden light illuminated the heavens, and the high-temperature blast vaporized a circular area hundreds of meters wide.
Through the air, which was still well above boiling, Louis and Hajrudin continued their ascent, heading for the hole in the clouds.
"..."
The next 3,000 meters passed in an instant. The blue sky of the White Sea opened up before them.
As far as the eye could see, a pristine blue sky met a sea of flawless white clouds. In the far distance, an island of ancient, vibrant green plants was just visible. Giant green vines snaked through a city of unique architecture.
Louis pointed. "There, Hajrudin. Steer the ship over!"
Hajrudin nodded, manipulating the Flame Clouds to fly the mountaintop in that direction.
...Then he paused.
"Captain... we didn't bring a ship."
"..."
Meanwhile, thousands of meters behind them.
An old man in knight's armor, holding a lance and riding a pink-spotted horse with wings, stared at the giant, smoking hole in the clouds. He looked in the direction the giant figure had disappeared.
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Heeding his instincts, he turned his steed around and fled without a second glance.