I just uploaded TWO chapters! I would recommend reading Part 9 first, but that's just a suggestion :p

"You've come a long way, haven't you?"

The sound of dripping water echoed in Nami's ears. She was not sure where she was, but she was somewhat aware of somebody moving around her. The footsteps which struck the ground near her head were light, but seemed somehow amplified.

"You're a very strange group." The voice was familiar. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that you beat me before, now that you have made it this far. Do you know where you are?"

As Nami drifted in and out of consciousness, she became slowly aware that something was expected of her. But it was still some time before she managed to form an answer.

Her eyes were a struggle to open, and she only managed to prise them briefly apart. Fire glimmered ahead; a torch hanging in a wall bracket. A figure stood beside it, looking down at her and bearing a small smile. She would have recognised that smile anywhere, but she still somehow had the presence of mind to register that the clothes were different.

Dark Luffy.

She did not have the strength to face him. It had all been stolen away.

"Why?" she mustered, the single syllable demanding immense effort.

The crackling of the fire was briefly all that she could hear. And then he sighed.

"You want to know why I have done this to you, don't you? You want to know why I have been testing you like this." His voice hardened. "Stop asking the wrong questions! I haven't been testing you at all. I'm just along for the ride." Contemplatively, he added, "When you first arrived, I knew that there was something different about you, but I never expected it to let you get this far. You should be proud." He chuckled lightly to himself, the sound unnaturally loud in the cramped space. "I never imagined such a crew could exist."

With difficulty, Nami shook her head. She no longer had the will to move or speak.

"You're probably wondering who built this place, so I'll tell you." His air was teacherly, but there was an undertone of kindliness to his voice. "A long time ago, there was a large civilisation. You know it as the Ancient Kingdom. This civilisation ruled the Grand Line, but not by force: no, the Kingdom was a unifying light, the most advanced - culturally and scientifically - society on the face of the world."

Dark Luffy paused, but Nami did not have the strength to ask questions. All that she could do was lie there and listen.

"They were, for the most part, peaceful. The Ancient Kingdom, as you call them, made only one request of its allies: that they respect the transience of life."

Here, Nami could not help but whisper, hoarsely: "Transience?"

"Shortness. Finitude. Their rationale was this: life is valuable, at least in part, because of its scarcity. Collectively, our world may have an abundance of life, but each individual has only a short amount of time to make his or her mark. Great men and women, they reasoned, make the most of this short amount of time and, in doing so, transcend the boundaries of their own fragile existences. To make mankind immortal," he continued, sounding ponderous, "would go against this. Better to defy our limits than destroy them. Better to live for each day than live every day the same."

If Nami could have spoken, she would, but all she could feel at that moment was a deep and all-consuming numbness. Her eyes stayed closed as Dark Luffy's footfalls came closer. When he was standing over her, they stopped abruptly.

"You're wondering about your friends." It was not a question. "Don't. What you thought you saw was not real. That pain you felt - think of it as your final test." She could tell that he was smiling when he added: "Don't worry. You passed. The island holds no threat to you or your friends anymore. You are free to do what you will."

There was a moment, as she processed the information, when she did not understand what he was saying. She had seen them fall; each and every one of them. She had watched her hopes and dreams die, her friends crushed at the last by the sheer dismissive might of Raftel.

And then tears began to leak from her eyes. She heard the wail of relief when it left her lips, echoing from the roof and walls of Dark Luffy's sanctum, but even though it was her own voice she did not recognise it. Her trembling fingers found her face and she sobbed into her hands, at that moment too grateful for the lie to be angered by the trick.

As she wept, Dark Luffy knelt down calmly by her side, tenderly brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Hush. It's over now. You've won. I'm sorry."

He was little more than a blur when she next managed to drag her eyelids apart. His thumb brushed the tears gently from her muddied cheeks.

"Come on, pirate," he said, with a strange-sounding fondness. "You live for the day, don't you? Hasn't that been the point of all this? Well, the day is won."

Dark Luffy extended a hand, offering to help her to her feet. Her own hand shaking, she grasped it. Despite the fact that she knew that he was not really Luffy, she still felt a little reassured by the touch; a little stronger.

"They're alive?" she whispered, needing him to confirm it. "They're really not dead?"

"They're not." He smiled, and she felt that dizzy wave of relief one more time. "Not even your captain. More importantly, though, they chose the same fate as you. Given the choice between loneliness and darkness, you chose darkness. And when you think about it," He paused, his smile widening a little. "Isn't loneliness a most inevitable consequence of immortality? Wouldn't you rather face the darkness with your friends?"

The picture completed itself in Nami's head. "You mean- this was a test, to make sure we didn't come here to find a way to live forever?"

"That's right." His voice was quiet as he added: "Now that you understand that, if you still want to know what secrets this island holds you need only do one last thing."

"What's that?"

He grinned again. "Hold out your hand one more time." As she eyed him warily, the grin stretched further. "Your friends are waiting."

"Waiting… where?"

Dark Luffy chuckled. "I'll show you, Nami." Her eyes widened at the use of her name. "Now," He raised his eyebrows. "Are you going to stand here, or are you going to face the island?"

Despite still recovering from her shock, Nami felt a little affronted. "Tell me where you are planning on t-taking me," she continued stubbornly.

He sighed theatrically, but if anything his smile only stretched wider. "Fine." He glanced away, looking thoughtful. "It's what you might call a Poneglyph."

Nami waited, but nothing more was forthcoming. "I see." She brushed her tears firmly out of her eyes, beginning to feel a little more like herself. That done, she turned a glare Dark Luffy's way. "Right, what do you mean might call a Poneglyph? It either is or it isn't – which is it?"

Whoever he really was, he was doing his level best to ignore her. Only when she had grabbed his face with both hands and forcibly turned him to face her did he reluctantly meet her eyes. She raised her eyebrows, hoping that he would see enough in her expression to know that there would be severe penalties for any more riddles.

He relented. "Fine. It's true that it's not really a Poneglyph, but it acts as one. If you want to know more," he added hastily, "you really will need to come with me to the next room." A smug smile passed across his face. "Sorry, not my choice this time."

"You keep saying things like that," Nami sighed. "How can it not be your choice? You have free will, don't you?"

"That's not the way it works," Dark Luffy said quietly.

"Not the way what works?"

"The Keystone."

She blinked. "The… what?"

He glanced away, seeming a little reluctant. "The heart of the island," he said, eventually. "Look." He took a deep breath. "It's true that I can act of my own volition mostly, but everything I do, I do within the limits set down by the Keystone."

Nami stared. "You make it sound like you're being… controlled by something."

He looked at her in mild surprise, and then chuckled lightly to himself. "Yes, not far away."

For a while, she simply looked at him, once more wondering just who – or what – exactly he was. He looked like Luffy and had all of his memories, but his personality and powers were nothing at all similar to the Luffy she knew. He had to be connected to the island somehow, given how he had used its power to plunge them into the abyss, but his motivations were still a complete mystery. Ever since they had arrived, she was beginning to realise that he had been in the background, judging and evaluating their progress. But it was still impossible to know if he was friend or foe.

"That's something you will have to decide for yourself," he murmured quietly, and she looked up at his eyes, startled.

Oh yes, and he could read minds. She could add that to the list of mysteries.

"I suppose it's a bit of a leap of faith," she commented aloud. At that, he just shrugged.

"I suppose. So are you coming or not?"

"On one condition." She smirked. "There'd better be treasure."

It was a joke – well, at least partly a joke. Dark Luffy's lips curved up in one final grin.

"More than you can possibly imagine," he said softly, as his hand took hers.

Aside from the faint dripping of water, all was quiet as he led her, inexorably, into the passageway's unknown depths.