Dulcinea let out a growl as she slumped against the side of the cage, "I HATE YOU, PAPA!" She screamed down at him, glaring daggers as he glanced up at her and flashed her a bright smile before going back to pretending she was not there.
She had half a mind to rampage inside the cage, to rage against him and show her displeasure, but she knew quite well that it would have proved nothing. So she did the only thing she could and settled down against his cage and quietly watched what was going on below her. His conversation with the former King Riku intrigued her, although she could not honestly say that it surprised her that Violet had betrayed them, but she was sure that Gladius would be quite upset when he found out. Either way it did not change much, Strawhat Luffy would be distracted by the colosseum battle, and Trafalgar Law, well he was indisposed at the moment. She was curious though, as to what the rest of that ridiculous crew was up to, but whatever it was she was confident in the abilities of the family, although… these were the same people who defied the odds and cut down Vergo-san.
Then there was the whole situation with the Admiral, who seemed dead set on shaking up the world order and eliminating the Shichibukai, effectively uprooting papa and disrupting his plans. Papa's plans; they were amusing, and she was surprised that the world was not more terrified of him than they already were, for papa was the only man in existence capable of pulling off what it was he had planned to do, and that was to bring those lofty Celestial Dragons to their knees.
Why were they trying so hard to oppose him anyway? Pirates like Trafalgar Law and Strawhat Luffy must know of the atrocities committed by the Government in the name of justice, especially that Strawhat boy. Was he not present at the execution of Fire-Fist Ace? Such a shame that story, that those dogs would put out such a brilliant flame, and a little part of her was sad that she never had a chance to taste that boy. She shook the thought from her head. That was neither here nor now, and it had absolutely nothing to do with what was going on now, well except for the whole battle royale over his Mera Mera fruit.
Letting out a sigh she focused her attention back onto the screen projected before them. Grateful that he at least was kind enough to position her in a way so that she could watch the battle. The battle royale was winding down to the final stage, and as the five fighters got ready to fight something seemed off to her. That Strawhat boy, the one disguised as Lucy, seemed taller to her, perhaps it was a perspective thing, but she could have sworn he was shorter before.
"REPORT FROM THE FRONT RAMPART ENTRANCE! WE HAVE INTRUDERS! IT'S STRAWHAT LUFFY!"
The Den Den Mushi rang out across the hall and she felt a smug smirk cross her lips. Evidently, she was right, it was a different Lucy in the colosseum. She almost laughed when her father cursed into the snail, demanding to know what was going on, and had half a mind to make a snarky remark but decided to hold her tongue. It was evident to everyone that her father was beyond irritated with what was going on, and provoking him more was probably not the best idea. Although, it really did surprise her, that her father had been so distracted by everything that he had failed to notice the height difference between the two Lucys, it was unlike him to miss a detail so glaring.
She did not like it, the fact that her father had been so distracted, things were not falling into place the way they should have been. That feeling of unease returned, twisting in her gut the way it did that morning, and when the reports came in concerning the movements of the other members of the Strawhat crew, in that moment, she knew that this was the end of things as they knew it. Evidently the Strawhats were craftier than they had anticipated, and that they somehow knew more about the inner workings of this country than they should have; that everything hinged on Sugar's ability.
Letting out a growl Dulcinea felt herself transforming again, her anger and hate towards the crimes being committed against her family were simply too intense. She could already feel the heat rising within her chest, and when her Uncle Trebol's voice rang out that Sugar had been knocked unconscious, that fire raged within her; a white smoke escaping her nostrils. If it were not for this godforsaken cage he had put her in, she would have encased the whole country in fire and swiftly put an end to their insurgence.
Instead she had to watch in disdain as that one legged gladiator rush toward her father, sword drawn and determined. Time and space seemed to stand still as she watched him descended upon her father and with one swift motion slice off his head. A silent scream escaped her as that fire welling within her caught in her throat and she painfully coughed up smoke and flames. Immediately she knew that it was a string clone, yet even knowing that much, the shock of seeing his head separated from his body drove her to the brink of madness.
It took her a moment to compose herself, and when she did she let out a small chuckle. Those insolent fools, believing that they could actually cut down a god. Did they not know that papa was the sun, and that something so gauche could never possibly harm him? Then again, she supposed that in their desperation they could have possibly believed in something so ridiculous.
Watching those idiots down there let down their guard, just because they foolishly believed that her father was dead was simply priceless, and she could hardly comprehend why they believed defeating papa would be so easy. Seriously, it astounded her how simple-minded people can be, even Buffalo and Baby-5, believed that someone like Kyros could actually harm her father. She had expected more from them. Seriously, how could they miss the lack of blood? Have they never beheaded anyone before? Even she knew it was a bloody mess, for crying out loud.
The scene before her entertained her to no end, and for a moment she forgot all about her anger. Releasing her transformation she settled back down on the floor of the cage and watched in amusement as her Uncle Pica came up from the ground, disrupting their little gathering and picked up her father's head. She watched gleefully as they attempted to comprehend what was happening, astonished that he was still alive, and the look of terror on that bastard's face when papa mentioned releasing his birdcage, made her shudder in delight.
These morons had no idea what was about to happen to them, to the whole country, and quite frankly, she believed they all deserved it. It if were up to her she would personally burn it all to the ground. That ungrateful country of fools who took for granted everything papa had done for them. In ten short years he had single handedly restored the glory that was Dressrosa, and now these imbeciles were here to take that all away. She scoffed at the thought, it bothered her that they were all so blind to her father's brilliance.
Speaking of her father's brilliance, a smile crossed her lips as she watched that brute dash toward the string clone again, her actual father coming up behind him, a delightfully sinister grin on his face, poised and ready to release his Itonoko. In all honesty, she probably should have anticipated what was going to happen next, but she was too caught up in his light to properly brace herself for what came next. As his leg swung across the room, she could almost hear it slicing through the building, cutting through the upper levels, as well as the strings tethering her cage to the ceiling. She let out a yelp as the cage came crashing down onto the ground, her body slamming against the side and then onto the ground, drawing his attention to her for a second. He offered her a slight apologetic smirk as she sat up, wiping the blood from the side of her body which impacted those strings, before turning his attention back to the boy at his feet.
If it were not for the fact that Strawhat Luffy was right there under his feet, just begging for a proper punch in the face, she would have given him more grief about her current state, but he had his hands full and she was not about to interfere. It was marvelous, simply magnificent, the hit papa landed on that brat's face, and she found herself giggling like a schoolgirl as Pica tossed the trash over the edge and papa's birdcage shot up into the sky. Oh how she longed be be set free from the smaller cage she was placed in, so that she could witness first hand the spectacle that was his Parasaito.
"Can you let me out now?" She asked with a pout as Pica rearranged the landscape.
"Not a chance." He replied, his grin growing wider as she growled at him and gave him the finger.
"I hate you, just so you know." She said defiantly, although everyone already knew it was as far as the truth as it could be.
"It's for your own good sweetheart, we wouldn't want you getting caught up in this mess now would we?" He said as he made his way across the room, pausing to give her a sincere smile. "Besides, it'll be all over soon."
Perching himself onto the side of the palace, he grabbed the receiver to the Visual Den Den Mushi and proceeded to relay the rules for his little game. Dulcinea settled down against the side of her cage and crossed her arms across her chest, begrudgingly submitting to his will.
She watched uncomfortably as the family and the rest of the Donquixote army took their places around the city, in efforts to thwart Strawhat and Law from making it back to the palace. It unnerved her that she could not take part in that. She knew was just as capable as any of them, but papa had her caged up, and papa always got what papa wanted.
"I don't understand why you won't let me help." She exclaimed, loud enough for him to hear her.
Turning his attention back to her, he jumped off his perch and made his way over to her, squatting down next to her as a slight frown formed on his face. "Sweetheart, you know I don't like doing this anymore than you do…"
"Liar," she spat, cutting him off. "You're loving this. If it were up to you I would have been in this cage for the past four years."
He let out a laugh, "... only because you insist on disobeying me and sneaking out of the palace to mess around."
She scoffed, "Only because…" she started before stopping herself. It was unnecessary to reiterate her reasons again, she had already come to terms with how ridiculous they were. "Che, nevermind."
He grinned knowingly at her, "Oh sweetheart, you're being unreasonable again. You should know better than anyone how I feel, I don't understand why you always make such a big deal over such trivial things. Besides," he said gesturing at the cage, "This is for you own good."
She pursed her lips. Yes, she knew how he felt, she knew she always came first, she knew that there was nobody in existence that meant more to him than her, and knowing that she knew exactly why she would not be released until this all blew over. Still, she did not like it, did he not know that he meant just as much to her as she did to him? That is was destroying her to be forced to sit idly by while there was a hoard of people out there, gunning for his head. Oh how she hated feeling so helpless, so useless. She should be out there, fighting for him, defending him, putting her life on the line to protect the one thing worth living for.
"Stop it." He said coming to a stand, "You know I do not like that expression. Now be a good girl and I'll let you out once this is all over. I cannot, will not lose you too."