A/N: And without further ado, I present to you, chapter eight of The Curse of the Oceans Sea...

Chapter Eight

Everyone thought something was wrong with Nami. But she wasn't seeing illusions; each of these were real. She knew danger was approaching, no matter how many times that her thought were challenged. And since no one believed her, she had to protect the,, no matter the cost. Even if they didn't now it; even if she had to betray them; even if it meant her life.

So, the next night, she decided to get the stone of the sea. She went to the museum, where she thought to have saw it before. She snuck in a stole it. It was an easy and successful job. It wasn't that big, only the size of her palm, so it wasn't hard to hide either. But on the way back, she had some trouble. She was faced with none other than the Marines of Nerstarushi: Lt. Heiki and his men.

"Hey you! What are you doing with the stone of the sea?" exclaimed one of the soldiers, somehow seeing the stone in her hands.

"Wha- Huh? Oh, me? Uh... well, you see, I-"

"Just bring her to the ship," ordered the lieutenant.

The soldiers reacted to his orders. They took the stone from her and dragged her to the dock, where their large Marine ship was. As they got onto the ship, they hand-cuffed her, and tied her to the mast, where Lt. Heiki proceed to question her.

"I know who you are. You're Nami, the Cat Burglar, worth 16,000,000 beli. You're part of the Straw Hat Crew, are you not?" He paced in circles in front of her as he spoke. "Ah, the infamous little pirate crew, known as the Straw Hat Pirates. They gained gained their fame through many battles, most resulting in wins. Their most recent was the war on the World Government. What idiots they were, losing to a bunch of pirate scum, don't you think?"

She didn't answer him; instead, she continued to track each of his footsteps.

"But there's one question that would come to mind at this sight. Why would you be after the stone of the sea? Why do you even know of it's existence?" he asked, tossing it up and down in his hand. "Most of the people here don't know of it's significance, let alone attempt to steal it... But would you go after it?... Maybe... you posses the curse of the oceans sea!"

Her eyes immediately shot up as the last of his words left his lips. "What?" she quickly responded. "But... how do you know?"

"Oh, I've heard things..." he answered, vaguely.

"And you believe them?" She continued to question him, tying to pry each answer out of him.

"Of course I do. The storm, the manuscript, the black moon, everything," he said, with much assurance.

"... Then how about I make a deal with you?"

"What are your terms?" he asked, untying her.

"You know about the storm that will destroy the island, and you believe it too. Well, I tried to tell my nakama, but they didn't believe one word of it. So, I don't want them to find out the hard way, that it is true." He just simply nodded his head as she went on. "But in order to do that, I need someone to "escort" them away from this area. Perhaps, onto anther island, far, far away from here."

"And are you suggesting that I am the one with the power in doing so?" he asked, getting every one of his facts straight.

"Precisely."

"Then in exchange..." He tapped his finger on the rail of the deck, thinking of what he should get her to do. He continued to pace around, looking at all there was before answering," Well, each one of your 'nakama' has a bounty, which adds up to 644,000,050 beli, excluding you; am I mistaken?"

She shook her head, saying that he wasn't wrong.

"Well, since they're wroth so much, you're gonna have to give me some money, to ensure their safe trip. How about... 150,000,000 beli and..."

"And what?" she said, sounding the tiniest bit annoyed.

"Well, first let me tell you, though you may already know. The power of the curse of the oceans sea is very, very great. IT could even destroy the Red Line, or even the Grand Line. ... So, I'm sure you already know what I'm going for. I would like for you to destroy the Grand Line, and rid the world of pirates!"

"But... What?" He gave a smirk to reply. She sighed thinking if she should go through with it or not. "... Fine... it's a deal," she said, putting out her hand, where he then put his.

"It's a deal," they said, shaking on it.

Each of them shook their hands, agreeing to do what they could. At that moment, neither knew if the deal would be carried out, but they just believed that it would.