After Caesar comfortably settled into his sparkling new laboratory, production of the SMILE fruits became Doflamingo's first priority. He checked in daily with the scientist for status updates and required a full progress report every week. Progress was slow since the destruction of the original lab had resulted in the loss of most of Caesars research, but Doffy hoped that being paid a considerable sum for results would help spark the gas-man's memory quickly. Not to mention that Caesar didn't have to be told what awful fate may be in store for him if he failed to meet Doffy's expectations.
With the lab up and running, the rest of the crew had been assigned new jobs. Doffy had decided that Mariejois' brilliance was wasted if the entire place remained empty. Diamante and Senor Pink had been given the duty of selecting elite families to invite to reside in the reformed city. Regal nobility, high caliber politicians, and wealthy businessmen were all being considered. Doffy insisted on only the best of the best being allowed in, but he also wanted to ensure that no one invited had the motivation or resources to oppose him if conflict arose, so potential residents would have to be put through intense background checks and an extensive interview process before being cleared to move in.
Which is where Dellinger, Gladius, Trebol, and Pica came in. They were responsible for delivering the invitations to eligible families. Doffy felt that having his officers deliver the message in person was more intimate that merely sending a letter in the mail, and having his people in town allowed them to spy on the potential residents. It also ensured that word would spread that the Donquixote family was no longer remaining cloaked in the shadows of Mariejois.
Giolla had suggested that the children of these families might benefit from the presence of a school in Mariejois.
"Most families of status have their children taught privately at home." Doffy had replied.
"Of course, but they can't all bring their tutors with them, and having a school provided by our family would guarantee that children receive a first class, Donquixote approved education. With a focus on respect for the rulers of the fine kingdom you are creating here."
"That's a little brain-washy, don't you think?" Sugar asked.
"Why, no! I don't mean to have DONQUIXOTE ARE SUPREME on the classroom wall or any such thing. I only meant that a school would provide the children with an opportunity to learn in a setting which we can control, ensuring they meet the standards of a Mariejois resident when they reach adulthood. We could also charge tuition, generating revenue for our own expenses."
"Ah, so these people get the honor of paying for their brainwashing. Excellent." Nuvo quipped.
"Oh, you two, be sensible! This could be a wonderful thing. It would help us be more in touch with the personal lives of our residents! Nuvo, you've been tutoring Elanor for weeks now with impressive results; you would make an excellent teacher!"
"You would make a super sexy teach, Nuvo." Sugar agreed.
"Oh no, don't rope me into this. I am not interested in being a teacher, sexy or otherwise. Elanor is a special case, and besides, Juliette has mostly taken over her tutoring since she returned. I couldn't handle a roomful of children I've never met."
"Well, I could! Young master, I need a project here, and you must see that there are multiple benefits for you. May I please manage a school?"
"Why not? It'll be interesting to see what comes of it."
…
With Sugar still managing her army of toys and Doffy wrapped up in everything else, Nuvo found herself rather lonely these days. Everyone around her had a specific job to do, but she had little to occupy her time besides training and reading. She had been attempting to find more information about her powers, hoping to dig up some explanation of what had happened when they escaped prison and she had miraculously saved Delli from the manticore, but her research thus far had been disappointing. It seemed that supernatural ability related to singing was limited almost exclusively to Harmelude, and she couldn't exactly visit that library.
She complained to Doffy of her boredom plight.
"Do you mean that being my fulltime bedroom partner is not fulfilling enough for you?"
"HA. You are a King, not a comedian. Come on, Doffy, there has to be something useful I can do here."
He pondered for a moment.
"Why don't you watch over Caesar for me? Checking up on him every day has become tiresome, but I'm worried that if I don't keep an eye on him, he'll slack off. You could be his lab assistant. I'm sure you'd be useful to him. You did ask me once if I thought he may be useful to you, as well."
"You think he could help me advance my abilities?"
"Perhaps. Besides, I'm sure he would much prefer to see you on a daily basis rather than myself."
…
Early the next morning, Nuvo rose and dressed for lab work; pants, long sleeved blouse, closed-toe shoes, hair in a ponytail. She arrived at the lab at Doffy's usual time, and Caesar was certainly surprised to see the red-head in the doorway. He wasn't pleased that he had been given a full-time lab assistant against his will, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it considering Nuvo's position. That didn't stop him from being in a huffy mood about it.
"You know, the last time one of Joker's girlfriends was sent to spy on me, she ended up with wings and chicken legs."
"The last time one of Doffy's officers was sent to spy on you, she couldn't conjure rare, complicated, expensive resources for you out of thin air."
He blinked a few times, then smirked.
"Touché, Madame Nuvo. Let's get started."
It turned out that Nuvo and Caesar worked together quite well. Despite his questionable personality, the clown was dedicated to scientific discovery, and Nuvo admired his intellect. With an extra set of hands, Caesar was able to get through more work more quickly, which was convenient considering that so much of the work they were doing was based in trial and error. By lunchtime, the pair had already created four potential fertilizer additives for SMILE fruit soil and had the beginning chemicals for SAD synthesizing in the corner.
"Shall we return to the estate for lunch?"
"No need."
With a murmur beneath her breath, Nuvo had a table set for two fully laden with sandwiches and soups in the center of the laboratory. Caesar gasped and clapped his gloved hands together.
"That power of yours is so incredibly useful!"
"It does come in handy." She agreed. "But I hope to use it for more significant purpose than filling our bellies on a regular basis. Actually, I was hoping I might ask for your help in this matter."
The scientist arched a brow and prepared his plate. As they ate, Nuvo told him all about what had happened when she had rescued Dellinger from the Manticore in Impel Down. She described the feeling of the wind and the echo sound as well as she could, and told him every detail of the efforts she had gone through in an attempt to recreate the ability in training. He listened intently as he munched, and when she had finished, he made her repeat the entire story again, grabbing paper to take notes. When she had finished a second time the gas man was silent; she worried that he was going to make her begin again for a third time when she realized that she was starting to feel lightheaded.
She tried to stand but immediately collapsed to the floor beside the table. She took a ragged breath, but she was hardly able to take in any air at all. She tried to grab the tablecloth to pull herself up, but she only dragged all the leftovers back to the floor with her.
What is happening? I can't breathe!
Lying there on the floor on her back, gaping like a fish, she turned her panicked eyes toward Caesar. He was still sitting calmly at the table, watching her struggle with no apparent unease. His face was cold; seemingly calculating just how long it would be until the woman he was just sharing lunch with was dead.
It's him… Nuvo marveled darkly as her vision began to spot. He's manipulating the oxygen in the air around me…he's going to kill me! What do I do?!
Nuvo reached weakly for the man, but her strength was depleted. Then her body went flat and everything went very dark.
But it wasn't the blackening dark that she had seen while imprisoned. That dark was ominous, looming, and loud. This dark was quiet, seeping into Nuvo's veins almost gently, like mist. She felt as though she weren't dying after all, and even thought she might be able to move. She tried, and was amazed to realize that she could move with little effort, as though her limbs had become weightless. She flipped onto her stomach and extended her arm in the direction she had before, toward Caesar's chair.
She felt her mouth open, seemingly of it's own accord, and the echoing sound came bubbling from her lungs, sliding up her throat like swallowing cold water in reverse. Then the icy winds were there, just as they had been in Impel Down, slipping over her body and launching themselves off of her extended fingertips with tremendous force. There was an awful crashing noise and just as quickly as they had come, the wind and the echo were gone, as was the strange darkness over her eyes. Her vision cleared and she sucked in the much-needed oxygen as she clumsily rose to her feet.
Caesar was lying in a pile of shattered glass across the room. A purple chemical previously housed in one of the broken beakers was leaking onto the floor, creating strange vapors as the gas man coughed and sputtered. The chair he had been sitting in had exploded, leaving pieces of wood scattered in a path between the two. When her breath regulated, her strength returned, and she snatched a chair leg from the floor and swung it over one shoulder like a baseball bat.
"What was the meaning of that?!" she shouted hoarsely as the gas man cradled his bleeding head. "What was your plan? Murder me and then run for the hills, praying that Doffy and the crew wouldn't catch up to you? You weren't able to hide from him last time, remember?!"
She hovered over him with the splintered chair leg in the air, ready to swing. He flung his hands in front of his face like a frightened child.
"Nuvo, wait! It was only an experiment! And it worked!"
"What?!"
The clown coughed again and lowered his hands.
"I wasn't trying to kill you! I only took enough oxygen from the air to make you faint, which is what I thought had happened until you launched me over here! Everything you described…the voice, the powerful wind, it all came out of you, just like you said! And your eyes…I've never seen anything like this! I don't think anyone in the scientific community has!"
Distrustful, Nuvo didn't lower the bat.
"If you really weren't trying to kill me, why didn't you tell me that you were doing an experiment?"
"Oh, isn't it obvious?" he snapped, and Nuvo raised the bat higher. He flinched and raised his hands in defense. "Nuvo, listen to me! You haven't been able to recreate that power until now because until now, this moment, you didn't have any need for it! It happened in Impel Down because you were defending Dellinger from that thing, and it happened now because you were defending yourself from me! Don't you understand? It only activated when you believed that there was REAL danger! If I had told you that I wasn't actually trying to hurt you, you would have known there was no real threat, and I don't think the experiment would have been successful. But it was, Nuvo! It was!"
She slowly lowered the impromptu bat and put it down. It made perfect sense, and she was impressed that she hadn't come to this conclusion ages ago. Caesar removed himself from the floor and brushed the glass bits from his lab coat.
"Oh, you're bleeding! We should clean that up…"
Nuvo crossed the room to inspect the wound. It was only a small cut across his temple, but it was trickling blood down the side of his face. Nuvo used her blouse sleeve to dab at the trail, and she couldn't help but notice the pretty red color as the fabric absorbed the blood. As she continued looking, the blood seemed to swirl into patterns on the fabric, like a quill dragging ink across parchment.
"Are you seeing this?"
She looked at Caesar in wonder and showed him her captivating sleeve. Caesar took her arm gingerly and stared at it, tilting his head and widening his eyes.
"It looks like…there's blood on your shirt."
And then they were both laughing hysterically. Nuvo felt tears brimming in her eyes and she had to sit down on the floor just to keep steady.
"Wha…what is happening right now, Ceasar? Why is everything so funny?"
Once he managed to quiet his giggles a little, the clown pointed to the purple chemical that had spilled all over the floor.
"I think…I think we broke a bottle of Purrplex…" he gasped. "It's a hallucinogenic that I cooked up for the more…adventurous crowds at the Lavender Lounge. It's not toxic and it'll wear off in a few hours…but getting any more work done this afternoon is out of the question…"
"Wait…what?"
"We're high, Nuvo. Stoney bologna. Tripping balls, so to speak."
Nuvo couldn't contain her laughter, and it burst from her in gusts.
"I'm sorry, Mr. scientific genius, is stoney bologna the medical term for this state?"
"Yes!" Ceasar collapsed laughing to the ground. "I diagnose you with a serious state of the stoney bolognas and demand that you take the rest of the afternoon off to laugh at nothing and ponder the existential meaning of life!"
They laughed until their faces were sore, then lay on the floor, watching the light on the ceiling form mandala patterns in every color of the rainbow. Time became no more than illusion, and neither were sure if they had been on the floor for ten minutes or ten hours. It didn't seem important though.
"You know, I never thought I'd find myself accidentally doing drugs with a mad genius. Wouldn't my mother be proud?"
"My mother never supported my interest in science. She wanted me to stay in our village and take over the inn with my sisters."
"You have sisters?"
"Two. Both younger than me. I imagine they're running the inn now, but I haven't spoken to them in a long time. I think one of them is married…I don't remember…"
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I chose my path and don't regret it. I've worked alongside some of the strongest minds of this generation and discovered amazing things…seen things in the lab that very few people can even imagine. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Even if the work I do now lands me in trouble sometimes. What about you? Would you go back to the life you knew before you went to prison and got involved with the motely crew?"
"That life doesn't exist anymore."
"What if it did? Would you go back?"
"I don't know. If my life had gone to plan, I probably would've eventually gotten married to some noble, run the kingdom alongside my brother. Harmelude was small and closed off from the rest of the world, so the most political excitement I would've seen was probably farmers fighting over livestock. I would probably have had children eventually…"
"Do you want to have children someday?"
"I don't know. Do you?"
"I don't think so. I'm not exactly pristine parenting material."
"Me neither."
"That not entirely true. Elanor seems to really enjoy your company."
"Yeah, but before that, I assisted in turning Elanor into a toy, enslaving her mother, and I also murdered her father."
"Oh yeah."
"Those pesky details, am I right?"
"Indeed. Nuvo…may I ask you a personal question?"
"Sure."
"You have an extraordinary level of power. You can do things that no one else on this planet can do."
"Stop, you're going to make me blush."
"I'm serious! Your ability makes you stronger and more adaptable than any devil fruit user I've ever heard of. Including Doflamingo…"
Caesar went quiet, and Nuvo sat up to look at him.
"What are you trying to ask?"
"I'm just wondering…If I had that amount of power, I wouldn't be content to be beneath anyone. And you were raised in nobility on top of it. I mean, its like you were destined to rule. So why are you working for someone else?"
"I'm not working for Doffy, I'm working with him…"
Caesar looked at her doubtfully.
"Honey, no one here works with Joker. We're all his subordinates, because we don't have much choice. We all owe him something. All of us…except you."
"I owe him plenty. I wouldn't have made it in Impel Down if it weren't for - "
"But he wouldn't have made it out of there if it weren't for you. None of the crew would've. If anything, he owes you."
"But it isn't like that! I have a bond with him, with all the crew. They're my friends, truly! I mean, not all of them, but Sugar and Delli are for sure! And Doffy and I have…something unique. It's hard to name, but it's genuine. We saved each other, in a way. You don't know what it was like in Impel Down…"
"I know I don't, but Nuvo…you aren't in Impel Down anymore. And ever since you left, it seems as though you've only done what was in Joker's interest."
Nuvo bristled and felt a need to defend herself.
"That's not true! Coming to Mariejois was my idea!"
"Alright, but whose idea was it to turn this place into a new SMILE fruit facility? Whose idea was it to have the Celestial Dragons murder each other, and to turn the last one into a maid? Whose idea was it to take that maid on a voyage to recruit me, bring me here, and then put you in the lab with me so you'd have something to do while everyone else was working toward his goal? What is your goal? What do you want? Who are you, Nuvo, other than his bedmate and secret weapon?"
For a moment she wanted to slap him, but the urge faded as she realized that he was right. She hadn't even considered what she might want to do with herself other than assisting Doffy with his plans. She'd even had to ask him what she should be doing now that Mariejois was up and running because she hadn't thought of anything on her own. She'd joined the crew, and she didn't desire to take it back, even if she could, but had she joined because she truly wanted to be a part of this, or had she joined because she felt as though she really didn't have any other options?
"I…I don't know."
…
"Do you think we've convinced them?"
"I think so. They have some attachments to the town, but Mariejois is too tempting an offer for people of their wealth. I'm sure they'll write to confirm their slot in a few days."
Dellinger and Gladius sipped ale in a tavern in the east blue. They had just finished consulting with a noble family about relocating to the new kingdom of Mariejois and were waiting for the ship to finish restocking supplies so that they could return home. The Lancent family was the last group on their list, so all that was left to do was to wait for their response along with all the other families.
A young waiter came over with the dinner that the men had ordered, and after he placed the dishes on the table, he hesitated to leave.
"Are you wanting something?" Gladius asked the young man, who immediately flushed.
"Yes, sir. You are members of the Donquixote family who liberated Mariejois, yes?"
"What of it?"
"I-I'm sure you don't remember me, but I was among the people you rescued. I returned here after that, to my home, but then I learned that my family is dead. There was a terrible illness that came to town shortly after I was taken away, and my parents and sister were lost."
"That's unfortunate. I'm sorry for you."
"It's alright! I-I've come to terms with it, but I w-w-wanted to ask…"
"What is it?"
"I wanted to ask if you would consider taking me back to Mariejois with you! I have no one and nothing here, and I would like to be useful to you and the new King! I'll do anything you need! I've worked in a house and a kitchen a-and I'm sure I could be useful for something! Please, sirs, I am begging you!"
Dellinger and Gladius looked at each other across the table.
"Give us a moment to discuss it."
"Of course!"
The young man quickly stepped back into the kitchen.
"What do you think Dellinger?"
"I'm sure that someone back home could use helping hands that aren't wooden or stuffed."
"Likely. He seems devoted to the family as well. And he knows the layout of Mariejois. He could be useful in assisting the new families move in."
"It's settled then! Let's bring him along. If Doffy disagrees, we'll just send him back."
Gladius nodded and when the young man returned to the table with the bill, Dellinger smiled at him.
"You're coming with us! What's your name?"
"Richard, sir!"
"Come, Richard. The boat should be just about ready by now."
"Yes, sir!"
"Oh, stop calling me sir. I wear heels, for pity's sake. My name is Dellinger."