A/n: Ermm I think that .99% is coming to bite me in the ass, so maybe this won't have a sequel. There'll be more, of course, just not this.

Also, if you see some discontinuity in the story, well LOL ignore it orz. I just decided I didn't know what more to right so just PLOT TWIIIIIIIIST!

Review, favorite and follow!

Love~

Chapter 30

"Luffy, wait! Calm down! Luffy—"

Nami watched helplessly, as Luffy grunted and launched himself at the heavy metal door that barricaded them inside the dark, musty old cellar. There was a dull clunk, followed by Luffy's groan, as he swayed back, another bright red bump blooming from his head. Nami struggled to her feet, wincing as pain shot through her injured leg. She limped to where Luffy had slumped against the wall, twisting her bound wrists so she could grab him by his shirt and help him up.

Luffy groaned and fell back against the wall, his arms falling against his body like dead weight. Nami eyed the sea-stone cuffs that bound his wrists together and chewed on her lip, wondering what to do. When Luffy grunted and then sighing, slid to the floor, his head hanging limply; Nami squatted down in front of him and pushed his hair back, examining his wound. She frowned at the swollen bump and sat back on her heels, bringing her hands up as she unconsciously began chewing on her thumbnail.

She wasn't sure what was going on. She only vaguely remembered what happened before she had passed out, and when she woke up, she felt like she was drugged and searing pain was shooting through her leg constantly, like some one was continuously prodding and twisting her broken limb. The pain had knocked her out again and when she awoke the second time, it was to Luffy's repeatedly failed attempts to badger himself through the unbreakable door while his arms and feet were bound with sea-stone cuffs.

She watched as Luffy groaned mildly, his head lolling around as he swam in and out of consciousness. Nami twisted her wrists again and then examined the ropes that bound them, for the first time realising that they weren't as tight as they should have been.

Her eyebrows furrowed together, as she looked around the large room, squinting, to look past the rows and rows of barrels that disappeared to the far wall at the back, enfolded by darkness. She stood and limped toward the far left of the room, where a narrow wooden shelf had been nailed into the wall.

She was too busy examining the contents scattered on the shelf, to bother wondering why anyone would fix a wooden shelf into an iron wall. Finally finding what she was looking for, she let out a triumphant breath and leaned forward, so her bound hands could wrap around the small, rusty pocketknife.

She clicked it open and leaning her hip against the shelf, began meticulously sawing through the thick rope binds. After a long while, she pulled her hands free, cursing stupid blunt useless knives and wiping sweat from her brow. Next, she knelt beside Luffy and inserted the tip of the knife in the keyhole. Luffy made an unintelligible sound and Nami plucked a hair pin from her mussed locks, bending it outward and forcing it into the keyhole, beside the knife.

After a lot of concentration, skill and effort, she heard the extremely gratifying click of the lock and slipped the cuff off Luffy's arms. She winced at the thick red bands around his wrists, where the cuffs had pressed against his skin and rubbed them gently, pulling away when Luffy grunted in pain. She proceeded to pry the cuffs around his ankles off, pushing the hair out of her eyes and looking up every now and then; to make sure Luffy was okay.

She sighed deeply, as she lay the heavy sea-stone cuffs on the warm ground and sat back, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. Her head was feeling light and funny, her eyelids fluttered and her breath was coming out in pants. She glanced at Luffy from the corner of her eyes and saw that he was in the same state as she was. She swallowed thickly and stared ahead, taking a deep shuddering breath as her vision began to swim.

It might have been hours or days or mere minutes, Nami couldn't tell; but when she heard the heavy metal door creak open and groan to a stop, she cracked her eyes open ever so slightly, watching the door through her eyelashes.

In came three people who she was quite sure she knew from somewhere. There was a click of what seemed like a lighter, and then a dull hiss, as an old lantern was lit. There was some shuffling and one of the two men came to kneel beside her. He waved a hand in front of her face, but she concentrated on the three gold earrings in his left ear, watching as they jangled together every time he moved.

There was some muffled talking, before the man turned toward her, bending so low, his face was inches away from hers. He sniffed twice and then making a face, drew back. He nodded toward her and looked up, talking to whoever was on Nami's blind side.

"And whose bright idea was it to get them drunk?"

Sanji slapped his hand across Luffy's face multiple times, but to no avail. The Captain of the Strawhat Pirates just snored away, a snot bubble inflating and deflating with every breath. Sanji shrugged and stood up, pointing a thumb at the unconscious youth.

"Yeah, he's sloshed."

Zoro grunted, as he picked up a mug - whose original whereabouts Sanji had no idea of – and chugged from it, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he drank. The blond bit back a sigh and turned to look at Nami. Diara was leaning over her, one palm pressed against Nami's forehead and the other clutching the strap of her knapsack like it was something her life depended on.

Several minutes passed, with a warm glow radiating from Diara's palm. The glow seemed to go from the girl's palm, into Nami, through her body, warming her up, like it was breathing the life back into her. When Diara gently pulled away, Nami breathed a comfortable sigh and slowly opened her eyes.

Sanji was by her side instantly, worry clearly etched into the lines on his face. "Nami-san?"

Nami slowly looked up at Sanji and seemed momentarily confused. The blond worried if her memories hadn't returned yet, but that particular thought left him, as Nami mumbled a soft, "Sanji-kun?"

"Yes, it's me, Nami-san. Are you all right? Can you sit up?"

Nami looked down at her body as though she had forgotten it was still there. Then she slowly sat up, with Sanji's help, leaning heavily against him. One arm reached for her now bleeding leg, while the other brushed against her head. She frowned, like she was unsure of what was going on, like her mind hadn't caught up with her body yet.

Sanji's worry grew, when Nami moaned softly, rubbing the side of her thigh, as well as her temples, like she was in pain but wasn't sure where it hurt. Zoro walked up to her and offered her a bottle, half full of god knew what. Considering the dark green exterior, the murky liquid inside could have been anything from alcohol to medicine to poison, and Sanji would never be able to tell.

But his keen sense of smell on the other hand, made out that it was an unused bottle that had been hastily washed and filled with water, the musty smell still pungent from the lack of use. Nami took a sip and instantly made a face. Zoro tutted and Sanji took the bottle from her, shooting a glare at the other man.

"Done."

Both men looked up to see Diara pulling her knapsack over her shoulder and nodding toward Luffy. "He's still asleep, but he should be fine. I don't think they actually drank any of the wine. It's probably just from being locked up in here for so long and inhaling the fumes."

Sanji frowned at her. "We barely took a half hour, tops, to get here after you and Zeher came to get us."

The way Diara avoided meeting his eyes, made him more suspicious than he already was.

"Well, whatever. They're fine now and that's that. Oi, cook, help her carry Luffy, I've got Nami."

Sanji wanted to protest and argue as to why Zoro was the one who got to carry Nami while he was stuck with a drunk idiot of a captain, but from the stony look on Zoro's face, Sanji knew better than to start up a petty fight just then. So he nodded and helped Diara hoist Luffy onto one shoulder, while he wrapped the other rubber arm around his and pulled Luffy up into a standing position.

Zoro nodded to them and they slowly made their way out, careful to avoid hurting Luffy, while Zoro followed behind, carrying Nami in his arms.

Once they were out of the dank tunnel that led up from the cellar, they made their way back to the path that led them toward the cove and out to the docks. After a moment, Nami spoke very softly, her lips barely moving, like she was afraid the others would hear.

"Is it really—"

"Yeah."

"Are you two okay—"

"Yeah."

She sighed, rubbing her forehead and frowning at the cracked log pose on her wrist.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled finally, continuing before Zoro could interrupt. "I know you guys suffered a lot because of my decision and—"

"You did what you were supposed to do. You took an extremely risky decision under extreme pressure. Nobody blames you for what you did."

"But—"

"You saved us."

Zoro made sure to pointedly avoid looking at Nami, because it looked very suspiciously like she was about to break down. She must have noticed, because she simply nodded and sniffled, burying her orange head in Zoro's chest. Zoro tried not to sigh and walked faster, so as to not rouse Sanji's suspicions, as they had been lagging behind since Nami started talking.

Just as they exited the knot of trees, Nami suddenly raised her head, knocking Zoro in the chin.

"Ah, sorry—is Luffy okay? He didn't look too good a while ago."

Zoro shrugged awkwardly, since his arms were occupied, and said, "He probably passed out because he inhaled more fumes than you did. From the dents in the door, he must've been going at it for a while."

Nami nodded thoughtfully, relaxing in his hold. "Yeah. That and the sea-stone cuffs…"

The way Zoro abruptly stopped caused Nami to nearly fall out of his arms. She yelped and grabbed onto his neck as he stared down at her, his single eye boring into hers. "What sea-stone cuffs."

Nami frowned in confusion, unsure whether Zoro was asking where they came from or what they were or just repeating what she said, since it didn't sound like a question, more like an enraged statement.

"U-Uhm, well when I woke up, I noticed Luffy was having a hard time moving and when he collapsed, I thought it was because he was over exerting himself and the cuffs had drained him of all his energy, so—"

"Nami," Zoro hissed so dangerously, the hairs on the back of Nami's neck prickled. "Those cuffs weren't made from sea-stone."

Now, Nami was genuinely confused. The cuffs weren't made from sea-stones? But they were! They had to be! That was the only thing that explained—

"Where were you before you were taken to that room?"

"I- I don't—"

"Nami, where were you?"

"I-I don't know!"

Zoro looked so furious, Nami was sure she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears from spilling down her face. His voice was shaking from suppressed rage and the muscles in his neck and arms throbbed from restraining himself from throwing Nami to the ground.

"What's wrong?! I'm sorry if I didn't notice that they weren't sea-stone cuffs, I just assumed.. because—"

Zoro shook his head violently, his eye blood shot and his jaw so firmly set in a straight line, it was like his teeth would shatter from the sheer amount of pressure.

"Then what?!"

"Nami, what made you think that Luffy was bound with sea-stone cuffs; no, bound with metal cuffs at all?"

Zoro finally looked down at her and she felt her breath catch in her throat. The tears finally poured down her cheeks and she sobbed into her trembling hands, the memory of her undoing Luffy's cuffs replaying over and over in her head.

"Th-They were atleast made of iron, I'm sure! I had to pick the lock with my hair pin—"

"There are no pins in your hair."

Zoro's voice was so soft and so devoid of emotion, it was like Nami was looking at a pitch black ocean without a single ripple across its extremely still surface.

"But, that's not possible…"

"Nami, listen to me," Zoro growled, shaking the woman harshly as a new wave of tears gushed from her eyes. "Both of you were bound with rope. You cut yours first and then Luffy's. You were still clutching the pocketknife in your hand when we found you."

"But—but I clearly remember prying open his cuffs—"

"Clearly? Do you actually clearly remember doing that?"

Nami's eyes slowly grew so large, Zoro could literally see the wheels in her head spinning. She replayed the scene over and over in her head, concentrating hard and after what seemed like the Nth replay, there was a sudden glitch in the constant flow of images.

It was like she was watching a corrupted recording that was showing distorted images, except her mind was placing the distortion only where Nami had imagined Luffy's hand and ankle cuffs to be. When the scene replayed again, this time she clearly saw herself cutting her own binds and then cutting the ropes that bound Luffy's wrists.

A sob escaped her lips and she began shaking, completely distraught and confused. "Wh-What's happening? Zoro, what's happening to me?"

Before Zoro could answer though, Sanji and Diara had walked up to them, a still unconscious Luffy bobbing along. Sanji stopped right in front of them and glared at Zoro, his face twisting in an ugly scowl.

"What the hell did you do to Nami-san you bastard?! I'll kill you!"

But Zoro couldn't have cared less for Sanji's obvious anger. He instead, turned to stare at Diara, his face still wearing the same stony, cold mask.

"What did you do to our memories?"

"Hah?! Are you shoving your stupidity onto her just because you're incapable of—"

"Shut the fuck up for one fucking minute, Cook."

Sanji snapped his mouth shut obediently. Even he couldn't argue with the steely tone of Zoro's voice and the menacing glare that was directed at Diara. All eyes turned to the girl as she looked back, red orbs wide and full of a strange emotion that took both Sanji and Nami a few moments to place.

"Step away from Luffy."

Zoro's voice had dropped another decibel and was now so soft, if they weren't all so close together, they would have to strain to hear him.

Sanji thought Diara might atleast look confused or shocked, if not affronted or afraid, but she simply let go of the rubber man and stepped away, just like Zoro had told her to. The muscles in Zoro's arm and neck seemed to uncoil ever so minutely, as he took a step diagonally forward, so he was directly in between Sanji and Diara.

"Oi, Marimo," the blond finally dared to say, as he hoisted Luffy onto his back and watched Diara over Zoro's shoulders. "What the hell is going on?"

"That girl," Zoro spat, with so much venom, a shiver ran down Sanji's spine, "has been messing with our memories."

"What? I'm pretty sure I remember—"

"—all the trivial and inconspicuous things you normally wouldn't?"

Sanji shifted uncomfortably, his brain slowly processing whatever Zoro was saying.

"Sure, we remember things that happened from two or even three years ago. Hell, maybe things from your childhood. But I'm pretty sure of all of those things you remembered, none of them were related to this island or anything that happened after we got here, were they?"

Sanji frowned, as he tried to remember. And he suddenly realized with a jolt, that Zoro was right. "But what about—"

"Whatever we do know, it's because Robin and Franky had carved the whole bloody thing out on that damn wall before their memories were erased. I'm pretty sure these morons didn't figure they would do that. So, they had to act fast and do some extreme damage control so that we didn't remember things we weren't supposed to."

"I still don't—"

"She's the one whose been pulling everybody's strings from behind the scenes. She's the one who erased all our memories. She's the one who kept leaking information to Zeher about us so that he kept a track of us at all times. She's the one behind this whole damn fucking thing. There's no genius evil mastermind or whatever the hell kinda bullshit she's been feeding us since we got here. Everything that has come out of every single person's mouth since we got here, was controlled by her."

Sanji looked from Zoro to Diara almost desperately, like he was hoping Diara would disagree or atleast say something, anything so Sanji could come up with a different theory.

"You played us this whole time, didn't you? You've got everyone so tightly wound around your fingers, they don't even know you're the enemy. That poor bastard Zeher probably thought he owned you this entire time, and boy did you play the part of the innocent girl who was only following orders because that's all the hell she knew to do.

"You're the one who told Zeher about this drug that would get memories back, but all along it was just another façade to try one of your experiments, wasn't it? What the drug really did, was make our memories susceptible and open to suggestion. You would implant ideas into our heads using things around us and cause us to believe everything that's happening around us. But the truth is, this whole time, you've just been using us like your puppets and been turning us into pawns in this disgusting game of yours.

"Isn't that right, Diara, or is that even your name?"

And as they watched, an unbelievable transformation occurred before their very eyes. The calm, quiet, curious young girl who was easily amused turned into a nasty, ugly, twisted evil being from the worst of nightmares and folklore.

Her innocent smile turned into a disgusted sneer, her wide, burgundy eyes were filled with deep loathing and hatred, like she couldn't bare to stand the sight of such filth in her way. Her mild posture became that of someone who considered themselves too superior for the world and couldn't be bothered with anyone or anything other than themselves and when she laughed, it was a shrill, piercing laugh, like the wail of dying animal being tortured to death.

She laughed – or rather cackled – for a long while, until her fit finally subdued and she wiped a tear from her eye, focusing it on the people in front of her.

"I really didn't expect you to be the one to figure me out. Of all you idiots, I thought blondie there to be the most likely to atleast figure out something was amiss. I didn't actually expect him to reach a complete conclusion of course, I was just going to let him run in circles and chase behind his tail while letting him assume he was actually chasing behind me."

"Like you made me think there was something wrong with Marimo's memory, when there actually wasn't."

Diara shrugged and smiled mockingly at Sanji before saying in the same mocking tone, "Of course, I probably should have given him more credit. I assumed – like I'm sure every other person has – that his green hair and lack of common sense makes him a complete and utter fool. Probably should have given him the benefit of the doubt, though, would have made things more interesting."

"Is this all just a game to you?"

Diara regarded Nami with the same indifference as someone watching a leaf fall off a tree. "Of course it's a game, what else would it be?"

Nami reacted like a hurt puppy would, when someone threw a stone at it. She shied away from Diara's eyes, like she had been shamed from society. Diara smirked at her and flicked her hair absent-mindedly.

"You were right about me not anticipating those two morons carving down their memories. I mean, who does that? That's insane, I have to tell you.

I thought when I caused that blast and pushed that woman down, they would just quietly give up. But no, they had to go and do something absolutely unnecessary. It completely threw my plans off kilter. And I had it all put down so neatly too."

It was finally Zoro's turn to talk again, and this time his tone of voice mimicked Diara's, except it was more challenging and Zoro-like than superior and bitchy.

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but you're dealing with the Strawhat Pirates here." Zoro grinned so fully, all his thirty two teeth were visible.

"We don't play by the rules."

A/n: Zoro is awesome ok? He really is smart and picks up on little things that even Nami and Sanji may have missed. So, yeah basically everything that's happened up till now, IS NOT REAL -laughs maniacally-

Ok it's real... but not real... if you know what I mean...

So yeah, I thought it would be pretty interesting to make the most unseemly person the bad guy. You didn't expect it didja? Haha! Plot twist!

If you're wondering, no, the story isn't over as yet. I promised Robin and Franky's appearance but the chapter got too long so I'll have to push it to the next one. I'll make sure to add a couple chapters of just Zoro and Sanji, since I'm quite upset that there isn't enough of them in this story ugh

P.s, I dunno if I've mentioned this before, but Diara has the power of extrospection and affecting people's emotions and thoughts. Which is why she makes the perfect bad guy. It's like she decided to be the perfect bad guy before I decided she'd be the perfect bad guy. Aaaaaand the person with the weird power that pushed Robin down, yeah that was Diara. In case you didn't figure that out already. Oh and whatever history of hers that she's been telling different people up till now, not entirely true but not entirely false either.

Just saying, although from this chapter it would seem like the entire story up till now was completely bogus crap, it's not... really! -cries- it's a very elaborately thought out game. Death Note style. And a lil bit of Inception too ahahaha... © for that.

Anyway, P.p.s, review favorite and follow!

Love~