The returning voyage to Mariejois was much quieter than its departing one. Caesar had brewed up a brilliant concoction to sedate Juliette, given to her via an herbal tea alongside her meals, and she slept most of the way back. Caesar avoided Doflamingo aboard the ship as often as possible, and when the two men did see each other, the clown was careful to speak only when spoken too. As for Doffy, he spent most of his time on deck, enjoying watching the ship slice through the choppy waters of the south blue.
In truth, Doffy loved the ocean. When he traveled using his strings and the clouds, he would often spare a glance or two downward to watch the sea ripple beneath him. It was a risky maneuver, the cloud leaping, and he wasn't able to look down for extended periods of time, but these rare glimpses of the water stayed in his mind long after he was back on land. Doffy was hypnotized by the ocean in the way all pirates are, regardless of devil fruit use. But the great body of water frustrated him as well.
It was the one thing in all the world that he was certain he could never touch.
Even being the most powerful nobleman in the world had its limits.
…
Juliette emerged clumsily from her slumber, and knew the ship had docked without being told. She knew the sensation of a still ship from a moving one thanks to the various cruises and trips she had taken with her husband before his death. She did feel a pang in her heart whenever he crossed her mind, but it was only slight and she truthfully did not think of him often. She had never loved him; she had never loved anyone except Elanor, and even that had taken time.
She couldn't believe that her captors had enough power to make her forget her daughter.
She had no idea why she was able to remember her so unexpectedly. One minute she had been sitting on a purple settee, the next she was on the ground, entirely unable to contain herself. Flashes of memory had gone off inside her head like sparks pinging off grinding metal. Elanor's first birthday, Elanor being scolded by her father for thieving a dessert before lunch, Elanor's laughter…
Elanor.
She knew that her daughter must be alive. Why would she be able to recall her if she wasn't? There had been a horrible moment when she thought that perhaps her daughter had died, and the downpour of memories had been a dark gift from the universe, presenting itself so she could mourn properly. But that didn't make any sense, realistically. Not that much in her life made much sense anymore.
She knew that Doflamingo and the scientist were drugging her. Whether it was her food, drink, or some invisible vapor being pumped into her room, she did not know, nor did she care. She swallowed each morsel with gusto and took deep breaths aboard the ship. The more she slept, the faster the time would pass, and the sooner she would return to Mariejois. If her daughter was alive, and she had to be alive, then she was somewhere in the Donquixote estate.
She was going to find her.
She would probably need help.
The King was her only chance. He had expressed minimal interest in her, even when she had engaged in deplorably simpering behavior for his affection. A small part of her cringed every time she touched him, but another part of her liked the thrill it gave. It had been years since she had been with a man; her husband slept with her only to impregnate her, and after Elanor was born he became discouraged. If she'd been caught with a lover it would have been a scandal, so she never tried. Doflamingo was a terror, but he was of noble blood and admittedly very attractive. So, she would persist until he cared enough for her to improve her situation. He wouldn't marry her, not with the Harmelude witch in the picture, but if she could convince him to make her a consort, Elanor would be almost like a princess.
She deserved that.
Juliette groggily dragged herself from bed and prepared to change clothes. She dressed in the vomitous yellow dress that she had been given so spitefully and it looked just as awful as she imagined it would, but she no longer cared. It was trivial. Elanor was all that mattered to her now, and her child's name beat like a war drum inside her mind, pushing her toward her salvation.
Elanor…Elanor…Elanor…
…
Caesar could hardly believe his golden eyes as the threesome walked through the new version of the holy city. The cleanup had been a complete success, and the mansions gleamed in the sunlight like the marble teeth of a god. It was the most beautiful ghost town on earth.
Juliette felt strange walking about the remnant of her home. She could still picture the Celestial Dragons walking about the streets, visiting friends and business partners. She could remember the people she'd slaughtered in the birdcage. How different they had looked out here. She wondered if the homes would be filled by associates of the Donquixote family or if they would leave all this to crumble; a tomb to serve as a reminder of how far these people were willing to go. She wouldn't be surprised either way.
Doffy was impressed with Senor Pink and Dellinger's work, and reminded himself to praise them later. After all the looting and extermination of the previous population, there had been battle debris and damaged infrastructure all over the place. Now it was shining as a holy place should, and soon it would be ready to host guests of his choosing. His victory over the Dragons and his regaining of Caesar Clown merited a celebration, and Mariejois was a pristine location for a party with an exclusive guestlist.
They reached the main entrance of the estate and were greeted by two toy soliders, who quickly and expertly opened the door for them. Once inside, they were greeted by the entire crew. Nuvo stood front and center in a ravishing silk black gown that exposed enough of her legs to cause one of Doffy's forehead veins to pop and Ceasar's tongue to loll.
"Welcome home, your majesty. I trust your trip was…eventful?"
Nuvo's voice was like honey laced with arsenic. Doffy grinned.
"Yes. It had more surprises than I would have expected."
"I'm sure it did. I'm afraid I have a few more surprises for you. I have arranged a banquet for the family tonight, to celebrate your safe and successful return. Sir Caesar, you are invited, of course. You are one of the guests of honor!"
The gas man's chest puffed and he smiled lasciviously.
"I humbly accept your invitation! Thank you, erm…"
"Nuvovniya. But you may call me Nuvo. All my closest friends do."
She winked. Caesar shuddered. Doffy's forehead popped another vein.
"I can't accept all the thanks, though," she continued, ignoring reactions from both the men. "After all the banquet wasn't even my idea."
She tossed a look over her shoulder, bloody tendrils swinging over her breast as she did so. A side door opened and Elanor emerged holding Sugar's hand, wearing a black silk creation of her own that was appropriate to her age. Juliette audibly gasped, as well as the rest of the crew, except for Sugar and Deli. Doffy took note. They had no idea…she's kept this a secret from everyone, even Trebol and Diamante…
"Mother!"
The seven-year-old yanked herself free of sugar's grip and ran toward Juliette. The brunette slammed to her knees to embrace the child. She did not release her until the girl was all but squirming out of her arms.
"Hello, darling." Juliette swiped away her tears quickly. "How are you? I mean, how have you been? Are you well?"
"I'm fantastic, mother! Madame Nuvovniya has been taking care of me while you were gone. She's amazing, mother. Just yesterday she made a hundred dresses for me. Can you believe that?! A hundred dresses in one day! I have colors I've never even seen before! I'll show them all to you!" Elanor took in her mother's ragged appearance and foul dress. "You should ask her to make you a new dress, mother! That one is just…repulsive!"
"Elanor, you've used your vocabulary word of the day perfectly!" chimed Sugar. "Now, spell it for us!"
The little girl stood very straight and calmly spelled.
"Repulsive. R-E-P-U-L-S-I-V-E. Repulsive."
Nuvo clapped her hands.
"That is excellent work, Ela. Now, what else did we talk about for today?"
The girl's eyebrows flew up and she flushed. "I'm sorry, Madame! I nearly forgot!" she whisper-shouted as she rushed to deeply curtsey at Doffy's feet. He arched an eyebrow first at the girl, and then at Nuvo. Juliette looked as though she'd been blanched.
"King Doflamingo, my name is Elanor, daughter of the Marlettow family. I am honored to meet you in person, and I am grateful to serve you and your family. Thank you for allowing my mother and myself to live in your beautiful home. I hope to be of use to you!"
She rose and looked to Nuvo for approval. She nodded at the child, and both silk-clad ladies turned their focus back to Doffy.
"What an eloquent child!" Doffy remarked, and the little girl beamed.
"Now, Ela, run to your mother's room and help run a bath for her! I have to have a quick word with her before she can get rested for the banquet."
"Yes, Madame!"
The child ran back to the side door, and it took every fiber of Juliette's being not to sprint after her. She gave Nuvo a blank, robotic look, like a porcelain doll waiting for it's face to be painted on.
"You and I got off on the wrong foot, Juliette. I know we have an unpleasant history, but Ela is a wonderful child. We are quite taken with each other, and since you are her mother, I would like to make amends. For her sake. Look, I have a gift for you!"
She gestured and Deli came forth with a box tied with a bow. Nuvo took it gingerly and handed it to the startled woman. She took it with trembling hands, half expecting it to explode. Sensing her discomfort, Nuvo laughed.
"It won't bite you! It's a gown for tonight. A proper gown. And there are others and shoes and such as well. It's all waiting for you in your new room, across from Ela's. You should join her; she's eager to show you all her things."
The woman moved shakily toward the side door. She felt overwhelmed.
"And Juliette?" Nuvo called after her. The brunette turned toward her. "Ela is a wonderful child, but if you ever cross me again, I'll slice her into enough pieces so that one may be buried with each of those new dresses. Am I clear?"
Juliette stared at her for long moment and then made a beeline for the side door. Nuvo turned back to the crew, all staring at her, quiet as the grave.
"I'll see you all for the banquet at eight!"
She circled on one heel and glided toward her room. Doffy waited until she was no longer in sight, then followed, leaving the rest of the flabbergasted crew to wonder how tonight's banquet would unfold.
…
Nuvo was barely inside her floral sanctuary when she was startled by Doffy's appearance in the doorway. They eyed each other meticulously, each wondering if the other would dare to speak first. When the silence stretched long enough to be awkward, Nuvo began to busy herself watering her flowers.
"This was my mother's garden."
Nuvo didn't know how to reply, so she didn't.
"I admit that I had forgotten it. She didn't do much of the gardening herself, the servants tended it for her, but she would sit in here often. Sometimes for hours at a time. I think we sat for a family portrait in here once."
He toyed with a bloom, caressing the petal between his thumb and forefinger.
"I like what you've done with it."
"I had to have something to do."
Jab one.
"It appears that you've had plenty to do. You didn't strike me as the child-caring type."
"It's not like I'm her mother. How was your returning voyage, by the way?"
Jab two.
"Lovely, actually. Juliette was much more docile with Caesar's medical assistance."
My god, what did they do to her? Nuvo pictured her bound and gagged in a dark lower deck, dosed up on who knows what potent mix from Caesar's lab. 'But you did worse than that, didn't you?' a biting voice whispered in her mind. 'She probably spent the whole way back in that state AND moaning for Ela…and who's fault is that?!'
"I am consistently impressed with your aptitude for timing, Nuvovniya. Choosing to wait until you knew we had made port to reveal Elanor's existence to Juliette was masterful."
It had been pure luck, in fact. Nuvo hadn't thought of the plan until almost a week after the ship departed, and it had taken a few days to get Sugar to agree to changing the girl back without Doffy's express permission. But the two women had formed an unshakeable bond, and Nuvo had eventually won her over.
"Serves him right, anyway!" her small friend had shouted.
The timing was simply convenient. But Doffy didn't need to know that.
"Well, I thought I'd give you at least a week of pleasant evenings with her before I struck the blow."
Jab three.
"My evenings with Juliette were not pleasant at all." Doffy drawled, and walked slowly toward her. "You know very well I did not lay one finger on that woman."
"I don't care what your fingers did to that woman. You and I never signed an exclusive deal. You are free to spend time with anyone you choose, and with whatever intention you may have. As am I. Monogamy doesn't suit us."
He didn't vocally disagree, but he didn't visibly agree, either.
"Then why are you angry with me?"
"I am angry because you absolutely humiliated me by taking a servant on a critically important ocean voyage and left me here to arrange flowers for a banquet!"
Jabs four, five, and six.
"Honestly, I can't believe you would try to intimidate me by running off with another woman! Reducing me to a fragile female stereotype like that…it's clear that seeing me in gowns and jewelry has made you forget that I am the same person who was in prison garb with you! Lying over a pile of my own shit, singing to you through stone walls in the dark. Perhaps I should conjure a striped dress for tonight so that you may remember!"
"I have not forgotten any of it. Silk and chiffon could not change my image of you, no matter how gorgeous you are in them."
"Do not give me compliments!" Nuvo spoke viciously, but did not scream. She was determined to not lose control over herself like that last time they'd argued. "Give me the apology I deserve for enduring this embarrassment and for having to transform a little girl into a chess pawn in a malevolent game for your attention!"
"You're right. I apologize."
She felt her breath catch. Really? That's all it took?
"I should not have disrespected you in such a way. Regardless of my intimacy with you, it was not very noble of me to attempt to punish you using a servant. I am a noble, as are you, and I'm sorry if my selfishness put you in a position of feeling less than royal."
He closed the distance between them and took her hands in his own much larger one. Nuvo felt her nerves tingle. It was the first time they'd make skin contact since she'd struck him.
"You pulled me and my family out of prison, Nuvovniya. I will be indebted to you, always, for that, even if you choose not to hold it over my head."
She felt the ice around her heart begin to melt, but she swiftly removed her hands from his and allowed the frozen crystals to regain their grip. She wanted to forgive; she just didn't want to do it yet.
"Yes, I did do that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do before the festivities tonight. I've done loads of planning and I cannot afford to be distracted now."
It was a lie, of course. She was more than prepared for the banquet and had been for days. But she wasn't ready to be this close to him. There was palpable chemistry between them, and she was not about to let him use his finesse to sweep her off her feet. If he was surprised by her retraction from him, he did not show it. He gave her only stoicism before escorting himself out the door.
…
"UGGGHHHH what are they DOING up there?!" groaned Luffy, wolfing down his third and fourth boar legs simultaneously.
"It's been FOREVER since they took over Mariejois and not a peep about them in the papers since! How are we supposed to know what evil schemes they're planning?!" added Usopp.
"It has been awfully quiet," said Zoro. "Could they possibly have control over the papers as well?"
"It doesn't seem that way." Nico poured herself another glass of water. "The NewsCoo has been reporting as normal, and I think Doflamingo would have a lot more to say about himself if he were running the show."
"We're getting closer to Mariejois every day. Maybe by the time we get there, something will come up!" said Nami.
"Perhaps Doflamingo is really turning over a new leaf?" suggested Brook with a shrug, and Zoro promptly threw an apple at the skeleton. The fruit lodged itself in one of his empty eye sockets, dripping juice and pulp down the skull's face. With a large inhale, Brook sucked the apple through the socket, forcing the smushed fruit through his head and out to the floor from beneath his jaw.
"A delight for the tastebuds...if I had any!"
"Brook, that was disgusting!" Nami gagged.
"Hey, someone better eat that! Do you know how hard it is to keep fruit fresh on a ship for this long?!" raged Sanji.
"Don't worry, I got it!" Luffy scraped what was left of the apple from the floor and was about do something truly vomit worthy when Chopper burst in, swinging a newspaper wildly in his hoofs.
"Guys, look! It's Caesar! Erm…well, I think it is!"
The reindeer thrust the paper onto the food-laden table and bean to read.
"The owner and primary manager of the South Blue's most exclusive club, 'The Lavender Lounge,' mysteriously stepped down from his position early last week, and has not been seen since! Employees of the venue claim that CiCi's departure-"
"Cici?!" chortled Luffy.
"That's Caesar Clown all right. For such a smart guy, you'd think he'd be more creative…" Nami giggled.
"I'm not finished! Listen… 'Claim that CiCi's departure was completely unexpected! According to his accountant, CiCi had generated more profit this season than any year previously.' If he was making all that money, why would he suddenly step down?"
"Because a better deal came along." said Nico quietly. "The last Celestial Dragon has way more money than all those nightclub customers do combined."
"You think that the Donquixote pirates rounded him up? Then that means…"
"He's trying to rebuild the SMILE factory! And probably trying to regain ground with Kaido!" Sanji finished Zoro's thought.
"That's it! That's why we haven't heard anything! It would take time to set up that big operation again." said Usopp triumphantly.
"Don't forget they have a new member," cautioned Jinbe, "and if she's the person that we suspect, they're probably more than set up by now."
"I wish you and Nico would tell us who you think she is…" grumbled Sanji. "I can't keep working up new sweet recipes for that beautiful red head if she's the next big evil jerk we have to overthrow. Not in good conscience, anyway."
"When have you ever had a good conscience about women?" mumbled Zoro, and then he and Sanji were scrapping on the floor while everyone else continued to muse about Princess Nuvovniya for the hundredth time.
"It's dangerous for us to tell you more until we know for sure. This is the sort of knowledge that's best left unspoken until necessary." Jinbe's face looked dark.
"We know that she's involved with some terrible people, and that she may have been partially or even solely responsible for enormous atrocities even before knowing them. But I believe that we can trust that she isn't evil." Nico sipped at her water. "At least, I hope she isn't. Or we're all in more danger than we can comprehend."
"Hey, Sanji!" hollered Brook, distracting the swirly browed man from his dispute. "If she's not evil, we should convince Luffy to let her join the crew! Then she could be…" The skeleton pointed at his still-wet eye socket. " …the new apple of your eye!"
Luffy laughed so heartedly that he nearly overturned the table and Sanji kicked Brook overboard.
Just kidding, he didn't.
But he thought about it longer than a friend should.