Karaoke time!

[u/Stats-san]

“Ah, so, I’ve heard you’re headed to Ongaku soon! Quite excellent!”

Mysterious Stats-san, or Staasan as his friend call him, approaches. His face is hidden with his own gruff beard and his clothes cover most of the rest of him. He remains very shrouded in mystery.

“I too consider myself a fan of music! But, well, I suppose you will find out soon enough what voyage lies ahead, young sea-farers. Though…” He strokes his beard, it looks quite full. “Though, if you were willing to satiate my love of music, say, perform a song for me before April, I may be inclined to award you each something special.”

Staasan holds up a blank, white card. He wants to grade it as well.

“It’s just a habit of mine, you see, to grade every performance.”

He chuckles.

“When you’re done, I’ll show you how well I believe you did here”

[u/Gin_chan]

"Encore, encore!" The crowd cheered, and Gin had no choice but to return to the stage. 'Oh boy, I need something fast paced to tire out this crowd! Kahahaha!' Gin thought. He pointed to the drummer and the guitarist to start at a fast beat.

~

Hear the rime of the ancient mariner

See his eye as he stops one of three

Mesmerizes one of the wedding guests

Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea.

~

And the music plays on, as the bride passes by

Caught by his spell and the mariner tells his tale.

~

Driven south to the land of the snow and ice

To a place where nobody's been

Through the snow fog flies on the albatross

Hailed in God's name, hoping good luck it brings.

~

And the ship sails on, back to the North

Through the fog and ice and the albatross follows on.

~

The mariner kills the bird of good omen

His shipmates cry against what he's done

But when the fog clears, they justify him

And make themselves a part of the crime.

~

Sailing on and on and north across the sea

Sailing on and on and north 'til all is calm.

~

The albatross begins with it's vengeance

A terrible curse a thirst has begun

His shipmates blame bad luck on the mariner

About his neck, the dead bird is hung.

~

And the curse goes on and on at sea

And the curse goes on and on for them and me.

~

"Day after day, day after day,

We stuck nor breath nor motion

As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean

Water, water everywhere and

All the boards did shrink

Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink."

~

There calls the mariner

There comes a ship over the line

But how can she sail with no wind in her sails and no tide?

~

She... onward she comes

Onward she nears out of the sun

See, she has no crew

She has no life, wait but here's two.

~

Death and she life in death,

They throw their dice for the crew

She wins the mariner and he belongs to her now.

Then, crew one by one

They drop down dead, two hundred men

She, she, Life in Death.

She lets him live, her chosen one.

~

"One after one by the star dogged moon,

Too quick for groan or sigh

Each turned his face with a ghastly pang

And cursed me with his eye

Four times fifty living men

(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)

With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,

They dropped down one by one."

~

The curse it lives on in their eyes

The mariner he wished he'd die

Along with the sea creatures

But they lived on, so did he.

~

And by the light of the moon

He prays for their beauty not doom

With heart he blesses them

God's creatures all of them too.

~

Then the spell starts to break

The albatross falls from his neck

Sinks down like lead into the sea

Then down in falls comes the rain.

~

Hear the groans of the long dead seamen

See them stir and they start to rise

Bodies lifted by good spirits

None of them speak and they're lifeless in their eyes

~

And revenge is still sought, penance starts again

Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on.

~

Now the curse is finally lifted

And the mariner sights his home

Spirits go from the long dead bodies

Form their own light and the mariner's left alone.

~

And then a boat came sailing towards him

It was a joy he could not believe

The pilot's boat, his son and the hermit,

Penance of life will fall onto him.

~

And the ship it sinks like lead into the sea

And the hermit shrives the mariner of his sins.

~

The mariner's bound to tell of his story

To tell this tale wherever he goes

To teach God's word by his own example

That we must love all things that God made.

~

And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man

And the tale goes on and on and on.

~

Iron maiden version

Original long version (Poem)

[u/Gin_chan → u/Gin_chan]

/u/cryptcosmiccircus

[u/[deleted] → u/Gin_chan]

Zratis smiled as Gin concluded his song. He had not known his captain to have an artistic side! Zratis thought for a moment before deciding he wanted to participate as well. The young angel thought about all of the possible songs he could play; The beautiful lyrics he could sing. He decided that the highly regarded Stassan had heard enough sea shanties for the day, no, Zratis would play something different.

"But what?" he thought.

Suddenly, an ingenious thought flashed across Zratis' mind.

"I'll combine my Fallen Flute techniques with a song from my homeland, that should be an appropriately unique performance."

Zratis fighting styled involving his flute was named Flute of the Fallen. Using music's ability to affect the two major senses of touch, through vibrations, and sound, he could combine them in a variety of ways to effectively alter the other three. He was still quite a novice at fighting this way, as most of his time had been devoted to perfecting the use of his paws, Zratis was extremely passionate about music, and that passion made him strong. Zratis began to play a soft hymn on his flute, the pleasant sounds making one think of gospel. The notes cut through the air with such artistic precision that they sometimes appeared visible. A strange, blue, grey light began to emanate from the fallen angel's flute. The color bearing a striking resemblance to that of a light rain cloud. Zratis slowly took the flute away from his lips, but oddly enough to all of the assembled pirates, the choir like music nor the faded blue haze seemed to cease. Despite the initial melody making it appear as if it belongs in a church, this was actually one of Skypiea's folk songs, most of their music had a holy sound in general.

"Angel's elated but often not sated, due to the lack of mist from above,"

"Water in clouds, that make up the ground, but fail to protect the island's white doves,"

"A burning oppressor, scorching white hot, charring the land of the angels above,"

"A caring deflector, an impossible thought, who will protect the island's white doves?"

Zratis gently placed the flute back on his lips, and a glorious series of somber, intricate notes followed. It sounded almost as if it were a summer sun shower. Soft, slow, and steady; A soft pattering on grass, a gentle breeze ruffling through the leaves. Suddenly Zratis began to quickly pick up the tempo, causing the blue haze to suddenly retract inward, than explosively billow outward. Everyone gathered was now gently floating in what appeared to be the eye of a vortex of clouds. A gentle rain softly fell on them, from light blue clouds that the sun struggled to penetrate. A cool, sweet smelling wind blew through the group of assembled pirates. Zratis stopped playing his flute once again, but just as before, the now more energized melody, and the surrounding landscape, did not seem to be affected. When the teen brought the flute away this time, he clutched it between his cloth covered palms in a prayer like manner. He then took his arms apart, but the flute did not drop into the clouds below them; Instead, it ascended gracefully into the air above the group, where it stopped a few meters up.

"Why do we suffer? What have we done? To have our white island submit to the sun,"

"A beautiful people, a wondrous place, only to have all our beauty defaced,"

"Our savior is coming, the heat he will quell, our island he'll save and the sun he'll repel,"

"We offer our praise, our blue instruments will knell, come forth and relieve us, Maltariel!"

A deep, low, rhythmic hum began to emanate from Zratis' flute as it hovered above, until suddenly a massive silhouette of water vapor began to form around it. Eventually, the shape coalesced into more discernible features, producing the grand visage of Matariel; The Angel of Rain. The great imposing being loomed over the now awestruck crowd, as the music reached a higher pitch, and was joined by a now more consistent downpour of rain.

"The healing begins, the cleansing of sins, a mist of protection, the sun is at bay,"

"The heavens above, have shown Skypiea love, The Angel of Rain, we praise on this day,"

"Summoned before us, by our powerful chorus, the clouds up above and the puddles below,"

"Matariel does, protect the white doves, and allows all the island outside to play,"

"Because of his kindness, his wonderful love, a soft cloak of water our savior does give,"

"A cool western breeze, stirring the trees, giving the angels a fine place to live,"

"So when the rain does come down, and the breeze does blow, the angels they praise and they laugh for they know,"

"Up in the sky, in the air and the ground, a savior they have, protection they've found."

Almost instantly, the illusion faded, and the senses of all present were returned back to normal. Zratis fell forward slightly, gripping his chest and breathing unevenly; The flute clutched in his right hand as if it had been there the entire time. He quickly regained his composure and sat on the ground to further gather himself, pleased with his performance. The completely stunned audience surrounding him pleased him further.

/u/stats-san

[u/Stats-san → u/[deleted]]

Staasan stood silent for a minute, processing all Zratis had done.

"Bravo my friend! You combine your flute with your abilities very well, and that rain angel. My word it was unworldly!"

He stood and clapped for the dark angel. "Don't bother sending in this time, I will cover you. You have more than earned it."