Hello there. I haven't written one of these in nearly a decade, but this story just kept spilling in my head, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I hope you enjoy it, but even if you don't, tell me what you think. Happy Halloween! :)

The cloudiest night in the history of Harmelude couldn't compare to the devastating darkness of Impel Down. It's the sort of dark that carries with it the weight of every fear or regret that you've ever felt, shrouding you in your own defeat the moment the doors lock behind you and shut out the last trace of the outside world. Then you think thoughts to yourself like I will never see that world, just as it is now, ever again and maybe I don't want to see it anyway.

At least, those were the sort thoughts that Nuvo was having as she rode down the prison's lift, accompanied by four heavily armed guards and Warden Magellan himself. There wasn't any need for such precaution; Princess Nuvovniya of the Harmelude Kingdom had no intention of causing harm to these people. Although she knew she was perfectly capable of doing so, she also knew that it would only lead to more serious consequences than those she already had to face. It doesn't get much worse than a sentence to level six of Impel Down, but that's where you go when the heads of the World Government want you to suffer.

Harmelude was one of the few kingdoms left outside the clutches of the World Government, and until quite recently, most didn't know it existed. Consisting of only a single island, it was an entirely isolated, self-sustaining paradise amongst the calamity of the current pirate era. There was hardly any crime, and those that did take place were petty and thereby quickly resolved. The population was low and few who weren't born there knew how to reach it. The rest of the world probably wouldn't have any interest in Harmelude at all if not for the fact that it was made public knowledge that the citizens had such unusual abilities.

Harmelude was as diverse as any other kingdom, but the defining feature of everyone born there was that they were exceptionally talented singers. Not talented in the sense they had an enormous vocal range or oddly perfect pitch, but talented in that when people from this strange place sang their songs, the environment around them somehow changed. Physically. A childhood friend of Nuvo's had the ability to alter plants when she sang; she could make them bloom or die or grow as tall as a house if she wanted with only her voice as a tool. She kept a most fantastical garden. The people often cultivated the gifts that their voices gave and used the power to benefit themselves and their society. The jeweler could use his baritone to bring precious stones from the earth, hence the job. There was a chef who could make dough rise and a tailor who could change the color of any material to that of her choosing, to name others. This magic made Harmelude a wonderful home, and only one person in the last hundred years had left the island in search of other things. The tragedy that had befallen the kingdom only a week ago was the direct result of that action.

Prince Scabor was the only person in the entire kingdom who's singing was nothing more than singing. Fairly good singing, but still, and this was a huge point of contention between himself and practically everyone else. He tried many times to bring about some change, even a miniscule one, but no matter the circumstances, none ever came. So, Nuvo's older brother grew up with envy of his peers, watching helplessly as children gurgled their first words and created fragments of fireworks or snow while he, at nearly thirty, could do nothing. This scratched his heart so deeply that eventually the envy turned to sorrow and then the sorrow to rage. He packed his things and left by ship in the middle of night without a parting word to anyone. Nuvo and her parents were devastated. Perhaps they wouldn't have been if they had known what Scabor's hardened heart would make him to do.

He journeyed far from home and into the lands of the world government's jurisdiction. Despite being with people who, outside of the occasional devil fruit user, didn't have otherworldly powers, Scabor was still irrevocably lonely, and began to drink heavily. He would get himself into a stupor and, desperate for the attention he felt he'd unfairly been denied all his life, would tell anyone willing to listen all about the mystical land of song that he'd left behind. Most dismissed what he said as a drunken man's rambling, but some did not, and among those who believed was a Celestial Dragon.

The Dragon took the story he'd overheard back to Mariejois, where he collected four of his fellow world nobles and their enslaved reinforcements. He then tracked down Scabor and offered him immense power in exchange for taking them into Harmelude, convincing him that they only wanted to see the extraordinary things he'd earlier described. But, of course, that isn't ALL they wanted. Scabor had probably realized that from the start. Scabor had also probably realized that he would be killed or worse if he refused anyway.

Upon arriving, the Celestial Dragons immediately began rounding up innocent citizens whose gifts they found entertaining to enslave. Others they simply interrogated as to what the source of this vocal magic was, so that they may have it for themselves. Of course, no one really knew the answer to that question, other than that people who were born here had it and others did not. This was not a satisfying answer for these brutes, and so everyone on the island was terrorized for days. The monstrous Dragons tried every method thinkable to understand the song magic, and at one point even had the throats of ten Harmeludian children slit, so that the vocal cords could be examined. The King and Queen had tried to stop all the abuse, claiming that Harmelude was not part of the World Government and that exempted them from the territory of Celestial Dragons, but there is no reasoning with such cruelty, and the threat of total destruction of their kingdom forced Nuvo's parents into allowing the Dragons to stay.

Completely trapped, Nuvo took matters into her own hands. Or her own mouth, rather.

Nuvo's gift of song had taken everyone a while to fully comprehend. In her infancy, things began appearing in front of the child when she cooed in rhythm. Random baby things; toys, milk, the like. Her parents thought she had the ability to levitate objects at will, but never seemed able to catch the items floating about. They only saw them by the time they were in Nuvo's tiny hands. Then as she got older, she would make up songs about the most decadent desserts she could, and someone would find her eating the same dessert a moment later. Where had it come from? No one had prepared and given a child an entire chocolate cake, of course, and she had certainly not made it herself. She had no education in cooking and not enough height to reach the necessary ingredients even if she did know what they were, so how? It continued to develop as she aged; anything Nuvo wanted and sang for, she found herself possessing. Sweets, clothes, books…it went on and on. Eventually everyone reached the nearly impossible conclusion that unlike the other citizens of Harmelude, Nuvo didn't have the ability to alter her surroundings. Nuvo had the rare ability to manipulate the reality surrounding those surroundings. If she could imagine it and sing about it, then she could manifest it.

The gift did have it's limitations, as any power does. She could not alter any events of the past, so miracles like bringing the dead back to life weren't possible. In fact, she wasn't able to alter or conjure people at all. She couldn't sing about a person and force them to appear in front of her or sing someone out of one location and into another. She also couldn't age a person forward or back and couldn't make a sick person well. She couldn't change someone's looks or force someone to feel an unwanted emotion or hypnosis of any kind, etc. She could only summon objects, no living things, and those objects had to exist in reality; she couldn't think up an imaginary friend, sing about them, and make them real. Even with these boundaries, her power was among the most brilliant that the island had ever seen. She could provide any physical resource necessary, and bring it forth in abundance. She couldn't cure sick people, but she could make the medicine they required available, as long as the disease had a known cure. If the harvest of crops was poor, she could give nearly unlimited amounts of food to replace the loss. On one occasion, for a festival held to celebrate the new year, she had made it rain confetti flakes of pure gold all over the main square of Harmelude. Making small things fall from the sky was one of Nuvo's greater skills and favorite pastimes, and in her twenty-three years she had made rain from flower petals, wine, and a number of other fun things.

But she didn't want to think of that now. Her last rainstorm was still etched into every corner of her mind, and the memory caused tremendous pain. The torture from the Celestial Dragons had gone on for nearly a fortnight before they had finally given up ascertaining the singing magic for themselves and, having already enslaved those who had gifts that appealed to their fancies, they prepared themselves to return with their new toys to Mariejois. Nuvo had been absolutely forbidden by her parents to use her gift since the Dragon's arrival. They knew that if the extent of her power was discovered, she'd be snatched up and sold to the highest bidder or worse. Nuvo knew this too, so despite her rage at their invasion, she had held her melodic tongue. She couldn't fight them; she had never weaponized her gift before and even if she wanted too, she knew the repercussions of attacking the Dragons could result in Harmelude being destroyed. In her right mind, she never would have done it.

But when she'd done it, she wasn't in her right mind.

It was the day the Celestial Dragons were set to leave. Everyone had gathered at the docks to wave tearful goodbyes to friends and family members who had been enslaved. The scene was morose, and it took every bit of Nuvo's self-control not to summon a mountain to crush the ships and the Dragons all together. Just before boarding, one of the Dragons used a speaker den den mushi to address the crowd. He had a slimy politician's smile as he spoke. "I have an announcement." There had never been such a potent silence. "As we have thusforth been unable to possess the magical resources present on this island, we have decided to declare Harmelude a territory of the world government, so that we may have access at any time to the resources present. This action will allow us the opportunity to bring larger numbers of our own scientists, doctors, and others to help us understand this island's unique properties. In the future, we-"

"NO!" the King roared. "I have foolishly allowed you to continue your brutality against my people in the hopes that you would leave us behind when you'd had your fill, but this is enough! It's preposterous! I will never submit my kingdom to your full control!"

It happened so quickly. As the King kept screaming, the slimy smile slipped from the Dragon's face. He put down the den den mushi mouthpiece and reached into his robes. He pulled out a gun, aimed, and shot the King of Harmelude square in the forehead. Then for good measure, he shot the Queen too. Nuvo, who had only a moment ago been standing between her parents at the docks, was now splashed with their blood and surrounded on either side by their corpses.

The Celestial Dragon then pointed the gun at Nuvo and used his other hand to retrieve the mouthpiece. "Does anyone else here have any complaints about being welcomed into the World Government?" Silence. Nuvo felt foggy, but the realization of what she had to do slammed her mind into focus. She no longer had any fear of Harmelude being destroyed; her home had been doomed from the moment that the Dragons set foot in it. It would never return to its former peace now and the people would never heal from the wounds inflicted. Orphaned and at the wrong end of a gun, Nuvo opened her mouth.

"YOU ARE MADE OF CRUELTY AND BRING NOTHING BUT PAIN

SO TO PUNISH YOUR WICKEDNESS, NOW LET IT RAIN

POISON THAT OF YOUR LIFE WILL DEPRIVE

DRENCH ALL BUT ME, LEAVE NO ONE ALIVE!"

She screamed the words more than sang them, and for a moment nothing happened. The Dragon laughed. "What was that? A wicked witch spell?" The other dragons laughed too, but the crowd didn't. People began to panic all around Nuvo. "Why?" someone yelped. "Why would she do this?" People started to run for cover. "What are you all so afraid of?" The dragon asked. But no one needed to answer. Toxic drops began to fall from the sky, melting through anything they touched.

Everyone was screaming as their skin oozed from their bones. The ships sank. The docks collapsed. Fish who were hit with the poison rain penetrating the water floated to the surface. Buildings sizzled and dissolved. Every citizen of Harmelude had gathered at the docks that day, and in a matter of minutes, every one of them was dead. The Celestial Dragons too. Everyone except Nuvo.

She had stood entirely still for the duration of the storm, and in her one spot, no poison had fallen. She had never exerted such control over her power before and she had certainly never done anything over such a large amount of ground. She had never killed a person, either. Now she had killed almost a thousand.

The weight of her crime settled over her, and she found herself numb. It was a mercy she told herself, and truly she believed it. People don't recover from the kind of injuries the Dragons had inflicted. She knew she never would. It had all been too much. But then, Nuvo thought in a dark part of her mind, why did I leave myself alive?

As the lift finally stopped on level six of Impel Down, she almost wished she hadn't. When the Celestial Dragons didn't return to Mariejois on the appointed day, an investigation was launched by the Marines. They found her naked on the beach, seemingly dazed. She told them her name and that she was Princess of Harmelude, but then refused to speak another word to anyone. They found what little remained of the kingdom and she was promptly arrested, considering her suspicious status as the sole survivor of whatever disaster had occurred there, which was a great mystery to everyone but Nuvo.

Outraged by the disappearance of five of their own, the other Celestial Dragons wanted her head on a spike. But the Marines had no proof that she'd committed any crime, so she couldn't be legally executed. They'd interrogated her for hours, but she claimed to have no idea what happened at the docks that day. She said she hadn't gone there at all because it was all too sad, and when her parents never returned to the castle, she went out looking for them and made a grisly discovery. After that, she was in shock, and didn't remember losing her clothes or going down to the beach where she was found. She also claimed that her voice was like her brothers in that it had no special magic power. A curse that ran in the royal family, she had explained. She even sang a song to prove this lie, and fortunately it worked. She may have even been released, except that she was the Princess of the kingdom, and the Celestial Dragons claimed that since her kingdom was responsible for the deaths of their allies, she should at least be imprisoned for life, if not killed. The logic was backwards, but the Dragons ruled over the Marines, so Nuvo got her sentence.

She honestly wasn't significantly upset. She was being imprisoned for a crime that she did in fact commit, so it wasn't entirely unfair. If she hadn't been safely locked away, vengeful Dragons might have killed her anyway. And since no one knew the truth about her voice, she could probably escape when the time was right. She knew she'd have to wait a while; her face was all over the papers with headlines shouting things like 'ENTIRE KINGDOM DECIMATED, BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS SOLE SURVIVER!' and '5 CELESTIAL DRAGONS KILLED IN HARMELUDE MYSTERY!' When she felt like enough time had passed for the press to die down, she could make her move.

Magellan and the guards exited the elevator and dragged Nuvo along the hallway. "This is the Infinite Hell" said Magellan. "It holds prisoners awaiting death row or those with life sentences. You are being placed in a solitary cell. You will be chained to the floor. You will be unchained once daily to eat while supervised and then once a week to be bathed by hose."

"Why solitary? Am I considered such a serious threat?"

"It is for your own protection. This floor holds the most dangerous criminals in the world. You are the only woman to currently be serving a sentence here, and I didn't think tossing you in the middle of twenty bloodthirsty men, some of whom haven't seen a woman in years, was the wisest choice."

"I see. Thank you for that courtesy."

Magellan laughed dryly. "You're also the only person who's ever thanked me for putting them here."

She was placed on her back on the cold stone floor and held there by chains that came from the walls and wrapped around each of her limbs and her waist so that she was spread-eagle. She couldn't move at all. The chains were all secured by a large padlock at the waist. Once they were finished, the guards and Magellan left without another word.

It was so unnervingly dark.

It would take generous creativity and stealth to get out of this place. It was an enormous facility and she'd lost count of how many security snails she'd seen on the way down. There were several powerful guards on staff. She had to bide her time, but she had no intention of staying glued to the floor the entire duration of her visit. She had to think up a way to free one of her hands without simply destroying the chain so the guards wouldn't realize she was able to move, then she had to summon a key to unlock and relock the padlock. She decided it would be best to wait at least a week before attempting anything, just so she could have a better idea of the time frame when meals were delivered and when the bathing might come. For now, she was simply stuck.

Nuvo knew it was of grave importance to keep her wits, because solitary was practically designed to make you lose them. She had to do something to entertain herself as not to be swallowed by boredom. So, for the first time since she brought down the poison rain, she used her gift.

"Kept here alone, I shall not cry

make bubbles fall, down from my sky

every color, and every size

surround me now, with happy lies."

The bubbles fell gently from the ceiling of her cell, popping noiselessly when they hit the ground or her body. She found herself smiling, despite the grimness of it all. She'd done this endlessly in her childhood. When they were very young, she and Scabor would dance around the ballroom in pretend dress-up clothes, losing themselves in Nuvo's bubble storms. "Make more, Nu! Make more!" her brother would say, and she would, until the floor was soaked and their parents shooed them off so the servants could begrudgingly clean it all up. Her smile faded quickly. Gods above, the ache that came with those memories now.

"Fall down no more, circles of air

The hurt you bring, too much to bear

Let me be here, lost in the dark

So my thoughts may, sadly embark."

After a while of being submerged in the sensory deprivation tank that was her cell, Nuvo found herself drifting into sleep. I just have to keep my sanity she thought sleepily. As long as I have my head, as long as I remember that I can leave this place if I plan carefully, I'll be alright. It'll be easy.