Nuvo stifled an absurd guffaw at the thought that she had fallen asleep much easier while chained to the floor of a jail cell than now, when snuggled in the sheets of a gold gilded bed. Sugar did not share her dilemma, and was snoring soundly next to her. They had taken more permanent residence in the Donquixote estate and now lounged in one of the home's many bedrooms, as did the rest of the crew now that the game was finished. Doffy had chosen to retire to his boyhood bedchambers, where Nuvo had of course been invited, but their conversation about the game had concluded with Nuvo running from the bedchamber. What a strange conversation it had been.
It had reminded Nuvo of their early time in prison, when she had spoken to him very vaguely as not to reveal too much of her identity. She'd had no idea at the time that he knew exactly who she was from the start, and this time she felt like he was well aware that she was treading carefully with her questioning. He made her feel transparent, like he could read every thought behind her eyes. It infuriated her that she was unable to read him back. Must have been the damn shades.
"What exactly was the purpose of the game?" Nuvo had asked him in as light a tone as she could muster. "I thought ALL the Celestial Dragons had to be disposed of."
Translation: What the actual fuck was that all about?!
"I didn't want to miss an opportunity to recruit extra help for the crew. The noble children won't be available, and a house this large will require upkeep, the extent of which a former noble will already be familiar with, even if she's never performed household duties herself. She'll be a personal servant for the family. A maid."
"But why was such a game necessary for this position? Couldn't you have simply chosen someone at random or hired extra hands from a different source at a later time?"
Translation: That was beyond unnecessary and you could have EASILY chosen someone at random or hired someone else.
"I only accept the best, Nuvovniya. I expect a certain level of durability, charm, and intelligence in anyone regularly allowed in my presence, and anyone capable of surviving that game has earned the privilege of serving this family."
"Why the birdcage method?"
Translation: How could you imprison people and force them to murder each other to escape? Have you forgotten what imprisonment feels like? Do you not remember the nights we spent desperately wanting to be out? Do you not remember calling me songbird while I sang you songs of sweet things that existed only outside those bars? You frightened me! You tried to impress a bird with a birdcage and you don't see how twisted that is?! How?! Why?!
"It is a specialty of mine. I've found it useful in the past and I found it useful today."
"Why didn't you tell me you planned to do it?"
Translation: Why wasn't I worthy?
"I didn't see any need."
"Liar."
His expression did not change. He didn't deny the accusation. He simply looked at her through his dark lenses and waited for her to continue.
"I don't mean to insult you, but that lie insults me. I saw you watching me once the game started. I'm not sure if you enlisted Diamante to do the same or if he did so simply because he had interests of his own, but his assessment of my capability to be successful on this crew is irrelevant to me. I do care what your opinion of me is, in spite of myself, but I have proven to you on multiple occasions that I am trustworthy. So why did you feel the need to test me?"
Doffy remained statuesque. Nuvo felt rage prickling the back of her neck, but she was determined not to erupt. She'd decimated an entire island population the last time, after all.
"I think that you did it because you're afraid. Not of me, of course. You aren't the type of man to fear any flesh and blood being. I think you're afraid of the power that your own feelings for me have over you. I think perhaps you let me get closer to you than any of the rest of this family, maybe even closer than your brother was. In a way you almost love me, and that terrifies you, because you can't control it, and the only way that you can make yourself feel better is by putting on something like that carnival. It was a total sham, wasn't it? Nothing more than a flimsy attempt at a show of total domination over your environment, and everyone in it. You may be Captain, but do not forget that it was I who saved you and your family from Impel Down. I am the one who brought us to Mariejois! And before all that, I murdered my brother and razed the land of Harmelude to the fucking ground! So, don't you dare presume to test me ever again, Donquixote Doflamingo! I've passed all my tests, and I am not responsible for your loss of control of yourself!"
Her shouting had left her panting, yet he still refused to move. He only allowed that jackal-like grin to spread across his face, then spoke at a volume hardly above a whisper.
"Does it seem to you that I am the one suffering a loss of control over myself at this moment?"
Nuvo's body moved faster than her brain. Her eyes unfocused entirely, then she was charging at him. There was a loud pop and a moment later she was blinking rapidly at a blurred object on the ground to her right. What is that?... she thought hazily as she became aware of a throb in her hand. When she looked at her palm it was bright red. She looked back to the floor, at the fuzzy thing becoming clearer, and finally her mind scraped enough neural power together to make sense of what it was.
It was a pair of dark lensed sunglasses.
Doffy's glasses. On the floor. Not on his face.
She had slapped Donquixote Doflamingo's glasses off of his face.
She was mortified at herself, but she only had a second to think about her discretion before she remembered that he was still in the room. Then came the stuttering realization that those shades were still on the floor and that his full face, for the first time in the history of knowing him, was exposed to her. All she had to do was turn and look, and she would know the exact shade of his eyes.
She could see him.
There was no sound in the room but her panting, which she quelled when she realized its presence. Suddenly she felt like an insect in a spider's web; not one frantically trying to escape the sticky clutches of its environment, but one who had accepted the loss and had been subsequently drained of all its lifeforce. Sucked dry. With a raspy voice, she eventually managed to speak again.
"I cannot bear the sight of you tonight."
Without a single glance at his face, she had fled the room.
She hadn't explained the argument to Sugar when she found her room. She did not need to. Sugar took one look at Nuvo's scattered face; a hybrid of confusion, anger, and shame, and allowed the woman to share her bedroom with no questions asked. Nuvo couldn't help but wonder if Sugar recognized her distress because she had dealt with similar behavior from Monet when she was alive, and the thought made her uncomfortable.
Her mind kept racing with uncomfortable thoughts and showed no signs of slowing, so Nuvo decided to give up on sleep entirely. She rose from Sugar's bed and quietly went through the bedroom door without jostling the sleeping girl. It had been awhile since she'd had some time to herself, and now was a perfect opportunity to explore the mansion. As long as she avoided Doffy's bedchambers, she'd be fine.
The house really was in pristine condition, despite being abandoned for so many years. The nightgown she'd conjured for herself was cream colored and wispy, and combined with the dusty ambiance it made her feel like a ghost haunting the hallways as she glided from room to room, peeking at each one's contents. She found a library, a smoking lounge, a dressing room, and what appeared to be an art studio. She also found many additional bedrooms. She was beginning to worry about getting lost in the labyrinthine house, and was about to head back to Sugar's room when she noticed a strange door.
The entire house up to this point had wooden doors, but this one looked like thick glass. It was dirty, so Nuvo couldn't see through to the room's interior, but the craftsmanship of the door was intriguing. Nuvo tried the doorknob and was delighted to find the room unlocked. Carefully, she stepped through the dingy doorway.
It was an indoor garden. Well, it was once an indoor garden.
The entire room was made of glass and built onto the exterior of the house to allow the sun to shine in. There were dozens of dead plants and flowers around the room; some in pots on the floor, some hanging from the ceiling, some crawling along ornate trellises, but all dead. There were plentiful gardening supplies along the far wall and an apron and gloves hung on a hook by the door. They looked fancy, but frequently worn.
Nuvo imagined the room in full bloom, with rainbow piles of petals all over the floor and green vines twisting harmoniously over everything. With a deep inhale, she began singing.
"Midnight blooms in moonlit hues,
Hear my song and please take root.
Spread your seeds to become trees,
Branches sprout to yield good fruit.
Roses red and orchid heads,
Perfume air and drench my hair.
Flowers grow and nature show,
This blank room some color care…"
The room overflowed with flora. Newborn plants pushed through the soil and over the dead ones, brightening the room significantly. Small trees came from the large pots on the floor. The room felt much more humid and smelled damper. Nuvo inhaled the pleasant flower scent deeply, and her body accepted the aromatherapy gratefully. It had been a long time since she sang just to create something simple to make herself happy, and she felt so relaxed that she had hope she could catch some sleep after all.
She gathered a few pretty blooms to take back to Sugar's room, then turned back toward the glass door. She nearly dropped them when she saw the winner, Juliette, standing in the doorway. She looked a lot better now that she'd gotten cleaned up, but that feral look from the cage still lingered in her eyes. The slim brunette stood there with her arms crossed, looking at Nuvo through slits.
"Are you a witch?"
The question confused Nuvo. She'd never been asked it before, and her first instinct was to laugh, but Juliette looked painfully serious.
"I don't think so. Everyone from my home could do things like this."
"And where is that?"
It was odd that a person demoted from highest nobility to imprisoned servitude in a matter of days could remain so haughty in tone and forward in question. Why did she care to know, anyway? Perhaps she's just trying to gather more information on her attackers, Nuvo thought. Can't blame her for that. But I don't trust her...
"It doesn't exist anymore, so there's no point in discussing it."
Juliette smiled sourly.
"What a polite way to avoid telling me you're the reason it doesn't exist. How charming."
Nuvo didn't know how to respond. The petite brunette across from her rolled her eyes.
"I know you're Princess Nuvovniya of Harmelude. No one could ever seem to agree on whether you really destroyed the place or not, but I know you did."
Nuvo was really getting tired of people knowing who she was before she could tell them, but decided to let it go this time. The reality of the situation was that she had gotten rather famous lately, so she may as well get used to being recognized. Being recognized by strangers isn't inherently negative, but Nuvo was famous for negative things. She didn't really want this woman to be afraid of her, but she wasn't going to let her guard down either.
"What makes you so sure?"
Juliette laughed harshly through her nose.
"Your eyes. I saw everyone's eyes when I was finished in that cage. I was standing there all alone, soaked in blood of people I've known my whole life, and I had to focus on something else, anything else, so I looked at the details of your faces to distract myself from the bodies on the ground. That little bull boy looked quite ashamed. Others looked like they were gleeful, or even aroused, like they'd just enjoyed it. But you, darling," she drawled, pacing along the outer wall of the room, "you looked absolutely devoid of feeling. Like a corpse done up for a post mortem portrait. There was nothing behind your eyes. Not even apathy. And I thought to myself, anyone that who can lock themselves away so thoroughly is capable of unmeasurable darkness."
Nuvo's stomach felt like she'd swallowed a lake and it had frozen inside her, stiffening her organs and arteries so she was a statue of cold, like a graveside monument. She wanted to justify herself, to explain that she'd only looked like that because it was the only way she knew how to manage the terror she had felt during the game, but who would she be to speak to Juliette about that fear? Oh, I know the birdcage was tough for you, but can you imagine how hard it was for me to watch? How ridiculous. So, she said nothing at all, and Juliette hissed at her through gritted teeth.
"I bet you looked just that way when you murdered everyone on that island. My husband was there, you know. Do you remember Saint Marlettow?"
…
Akainu sat behind his overly large desk, hands folded before him in the way of all pensive military men. Donquixote Doflamingo's package of paperwork had arrived a few hours ago and its contents were scattered to one side of the mahogany workstation. Fujitora had listened patiently as the reinstatement and government pardon were read aloud to him, not allowing his face to emote any alarm. Ryokugyu was nowhere to be found and Sengoku was busy dealing with a problem in the south blue, so the two had no option but to figure out what to do by themselves.
"I think a buster call is in order." Akainu was in a stage of such severe frustration that he had exhausted his ability to fume and was eerily calm. Fujitora exhaled loudly through his nostrils.
"Are you seriously suggesting that we attack the nobility?"
Akainu gave him an incredulous look, then sighed when he remembered the man couldn't see it.
"You don't think he made it up there and left anyone alive, do you?"
"There's no way to know for sure. I have no doubt that the elders and Kong have been killed, and I realize that both Doflamingo and Nuvovniya of Harmelude have a grudge to bear against the Celestial Dragons, but eliminating every person on the island for the sake of petty vengeance would be a waste of resources. I would be willing to bet that at least some of them have been enslaved."
"Do you think the public would sincerely be upset by the loss of the world nobles?" Akainu suggested quietly.
"I think that the public would be disappointed in a government that deliberately sacrificed a group of people they are sworn to protect in order to vanquish a simple pirate crew."
"They are not a simple pirate crew."
"Then an over simplified solution will not solve the problem, and the mass destruction involved in a buster call is nothing if not over simplified."
Akainu sighed again, more heavily this time.
"What do you suggest, Fujitora?"
"We may be able to use these circumstances as an opportunity. Doflamingo has taken serious effort to establish himself as a genuine Celestial Dragon, even if by unsavory means. If we stick to our own rules, we cannot touch him. So, for now, I suggest we play his game. Let's spread the word that he is officially pardoned and has been reinstated with the support of the Navy. Another News Coo announcement will do. He is an ex-warlord; let it appear as though we are giving him a second chance."
"People will think we've all gone mad!"
"Perhaps. But the moment he disappoints the public, as he most certainly will, we will have a tangible excuse to destroy him by any means necessary. If, when that day comes, every other Celestial Dragon is exterminated in the process of bringing down Doflamingo, the blame will fall on the Donquixote family, where it belongs. The Navy will lose no face and we will have hit two birds with one stone, so to speak."
Akainu considered, then sighed for a third time and gathered up the paperwork.
"Let's get these documents to the communications department. We're going to need several copies."
…
Juliette's eyes misted over upon utterance of her deceased husband's name, and for the first time since she'd met the woman, Nuvo thought she looked very much human. Saint Marlettow's name struck a chord in Nuvo; she hadn't known his name at the time, but she could never forget the slimy man who'd felled her parents beside her that day. She felt that old anger rising in her again, but tried to push it down. Juliette had known the man as her husband, not as a murderer, and it would be unfair to lash out at her for his crimes.
"Yes, I remember him."
"He was not the kindest man, but he was a decent husband and a decent father. Did you know we have a daughter? Elanor. You've orphaned her, you know. That's assuming she's alive."
Nuvo's insides grew icier still, and she fought not to recall the faces of the noble children who had been taken away before the game started. Sugar had already started transforming them into toys, but she could only do so one at a time, so a number of children would have to wait until tomorrow or later. Nuvo realized painfully that if Juliette remembered her daughter's existence, she must still be her human self, imprisoned somewhere in this house. How alone she must feel…
"Do you have any children?"
Nuvo shook her head at the woman, unable to speak.
"Then you cannot fathom the fear I hold in my heart now. I won't waste time trying to explain it to someone like you. I didn't even want her at first, but when you're a noblewoman and your husband wants an heir, what can you do? He was so disappointed when she was born, because she wasn't a son. Men are like that, you know. It's only a matter of time before that leader of yours is forcing your legs open to produce little abominations to take care of the family business."
Juliette was snarling, and the spark of humanity Nuvo had seen before seemed to have fizzled out.
"Or perhaps," the brunette continued, creeping forward like a serpent, "he doesn't have to force you at all. I don't blame you; he is a beautiful monster, and even now I don't think I'd mind going to bed with him myself. Do you think he'll have me perform such services for him? All those nasty things he wouldn't do to you?"
Nuvo was reeling. The loathing coming off of the other woman was fierce and admittedly deserved, but Nuvo couldn't imagine saying such lewd things about a man who had taken away her child and forced her into servitude. But then she thought that maybe this was Juliette's way of coping; blaming all the horrible things that had happened to her on Nuvo might make it easier to serve Doffy and the rest of the family. She'd have to play nice with them all, but she could unleash some of the pent-up rage on Nuvo because she had more reason to bear a grudge with her than with the others. Sure, the Donquixote pirates had destroyed her home, demoted her, and left her doomed to forget her baby, but Nuvo had been a part of all that AND she had killed her husband long before. Juliette must realize that provoking Nuvovniya was dangerous, but really, what did the poor woman have to lose? Nuvo pitied her, but she couldn't let this woman run her over entirely.
"I'm sorry for what has happened to you, but I would appreciate it if you kept your thoughts on my Captain to yourself. He wouldn't appreciate this behavior. If you're smart, and I know you are, you'll do as your told by the new members of this household. If you misbehave or disobey, it will mean great danger for you. And Elanor as well."
"Don't you dare speak her name. You have no right."
Juliette turned on her heel and left the garden. When she could no longer hear the other woman's footsteps, she picked up the flowers she had dropped an eternity ago and made her way back to Sugar's room. Once there, she finally fell into an uncomfortable slumber.