I'm updating! Yay! I'm now officially on fall break so this is a good way to kick it off I guess. Anyway, this chapter was long and hard to write. Why, I don't know. It just was. I hope it's not too boring. 00

Chapter 15

After a good twenty minutes of waiting, Vivi was becoming anxious. "What's happened to Sanji-kun?" she thought nervously.

Kelvin wrapped his arm comfortingly around her but she gently pushed him away. She was so confused about her feelings for him and Luffy that she didn't want to think about it now.

"What's wrong?" Kelvin whispered. He was puzzled by Vivi's reaction to his comfort.

"Nothing. I'm just worried. That's all." Vivi replied.

Kelvin went back to sitting in silence.

Usopp toyed with his slingshot, eager to begin his job. It had been awhile since he had used it.

"Okay. That's it." Zoro said as he stood up. "Obviously something's happened to dartboard. I'd say let's skip straight to the part of our plan where we take on the boss. Crocodile."

A stunned silence followed up Zoro's sudden outburst. Finally, Nami stood up. "He's right." she said. This was followed by a gasp. "It's obvious that Sanji has failed. Now, we have to take action." She pulled out the pieces of her climatact. "All our planning has failed us. Now, it's time to fight!" Here, she threw the pieces of her climatact up and they fell into place, landing in her open hand.

"Let's go!" Usopp cried as he jumped up and held his slingshot up in the air. You could tell he was just dying to use it.

"I'll be brave!" Chopper said as he stood up beside Usopp.

"For Alabasta." Kelvin said simply.

Vivi bit down on her lip harder each time someone would stand up. Finally, she couldn't take it. "No! No no no!!!" she cried. "Sanji hasn't failed!!! We can't fight! This is all wrong!!!"

"Vivi, it's okay." Nami said as she layed a comforting hand on Vivi's shoulder. "We'll all be fine. We can't just sit around and do nothing though. There is a time for planning and there is a time we have to stand up and fight. Now is the time to fight. The fate of Alabasta is at stake."

Vivi took a deep breath to steady herself before standing up. "Then let's go." she said in a determined tone, her mind made up.

Nami smiled. "That's it! You heard her. Let's go!!!" Nami cried. This was met by cheers and smiles from the rest of the group. With Nami in the lead, they all made their way out of the large bedroom.

Vivi, however, lingered in the doorway. She looked back at Luffy one last time. He appeared to be asleep and she noticed how peaceful he looked. She smiled softly, yet painfully, as she turned back around and followed the rest of the group down the hall.

In an Unused Part of the Palace

Crocodile led his two captives along in silence. They were currently going down a long flight of twisting, narrow stairs that appeared to have been left alone for years. The only light was the lantern that Crocodile carried.

"Where are we going?" Sanji wondered as he looked around at the low ceiling. He shook the thought off and focused on not tripping.

Suddenly, the one thing Sanji feared the most, happened. He ran into a spiderweb that had a large spider resting on it. The spider, angry that it's home had been destroyed, leaped on Sanji's head. Sanji gave a yelp and jumped back. This knocked the spider off but unfortunately caused him to stumble. He tried to ragain his balance but only managed to switch the derection he fell in. He tumbled down the stairs and crashed into Crocodile.

Since Crocodile was made of sand, Sanji simply fell through him and landed a few stairs down. He slowly stood up and turned around, fearing the worst and also slightly shaken from the bazzar encounter with Crocodile's devil fruit powers.

Crocodile met his glance with an impassive face. If he was annoyed, it didn't show. He simply began walking, turning partially to sand so as to pass Sanji, and continued their journey. Sanji stood up and quickly followed along with Cobra, who hadn't said a word the entire time. He didn't have a reason to.

The stairs finally ended and the small group found themself in a small room with a stone door at the far side.

Crocodile approached the door but didn't open it. Instead, he turned to face Cobra. "How much do you know about Alabasta's history or even the history of this palace?" Crocodile questioned.

"No more then what I was taught by my father. I try to focus more on the people, not the past." Cobra replied cautiously.

"Fool. A place's history creates it's present. Your people were made from the past." Crocodile said. "If you had studied your history, then you would know that the poneglyph in that crypt wasn't the only secret contained in Alabasta. Actually, it was the least dangerous of the two held in Alabasta." Here, Crocodile pushed open the door. Sanji and Cobra gasped. "If you weren't so blind to your own history, you would know that some of the world's most dangerous information is hidden in your own palace." Crocodile turned his back on the other two and proceeded inside.

Sanji and Cobra followed in wonder as they stared at their surroundings. They were currently somewhere deep underground but that wasn't the most magnificent part. What was so amazing was the chamber they found themselves in. It was atleast two stories high with a balcony arround the top level. The balcony was supported by pillars with intricate designs dipicting Alabasta's histroy carved into them. The stone of the chamber sparkled from the many shards of jewels embeded in the rich limestone. On the far side of the room, on the balcony level, were two huge, limestone doors, embedded with a very large saphire in the center. The largest thing in the room was in it's very center and stood almost as tall as the chamber itself. It was a huge stone that looked like a poneglyph except for one thing. It was in a language anyone could read. A large staircase spiraled around it and was connected to the balcony by a bridge.

Crocodile stopped about ten feet from the large stone and once again turned to face Cobra. "This is Alabasta's most well kept secret. This is the only translated poneglyph in the world. It was said to have been brought here by some of the last remaining survivors of the ancient civilization and was buried in this chamber and has remained so for years. The main entrance was sealed up long ago when outsiders tried to steal the stone and learn it's information. That's the door you see up there. The saphire holds it in place while the staircase and it's door are sealed with the stone bricks of the palace. The entrance we came in had been kept secret to outsiders, however, most of the rulers before you were aware of it's presence. Even your own father was. Now look at you. The only member of the royal family who refused to learn the secrets of your own country. And because of it, your own daughter is naive."

This last part seemed to anger Cobra. "I knew of this stone, just not of it's location. I did not think it existed and that is why I didn't go filling Vivi's head with childish fantasies!!!" he challenged.

"What do you think now?" Crocodile asked.

Cobra gritted his teeth but he remained silent. Everyone in the room already knew the answer.

"You first." Crocodile said to Cobra as he indicated the stairs. Defeated, Cobra slowly began making his way up the twisting staircase, followed by Sanji and then Crocodile. When they reached the top, Crocodile began reading the stone, searching for the information he desired. Anyone could guess that somewhere on that stone, there were plans for a weapon of some sort.

Alabasta's own fate did not seem so important anymore. It had moved on to a much larger scale. Now, the fate of the world would be decided when Crocodile found what he was looking for. All Sanji and Cobra could do was wait and fear for the worst.

Near Vivi's Bedroom

"Nami!" Vivi called as she ran to catch up to the other woman at the head of the small procession.

"Hm?" Nami said as she turned to face Vivi.

"Do you think we can stop at my bedroom really fast? I kind of want out of this dress." Vivi explained.

"Sure. We'll wait for you." Nami said as they arrived at the bedroom.

"Thanks. I'll be fast!" Vivi said and dashed inside her room, closing the door behind her.

When she got inside, she found her room to be in shambles. The bed was torn apart. There were gashes in the floor and ceiling and the worst part was the body and the blood surrounding it in the middle of her floor. To her relief, the man was simply unconscious. "Zoro." she muttered throught barred teeth.

She made her way to her closet, carefully avoiding the body, and walked inside. She pulled out the green and blue striped button down shirt she had worn when she had last been on the Going Merry. It hadn't been worn since. She also got the white shorts she had worn then too and the white boots that matched them. Finally, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail with her bangs falling down in her face.

Vivi left the closet and was about to leave when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Avoiding the pool of blood, she leaned down next to the man lying on her floor and reached for his pocket and pulled out it's contents. She smiled when she found it to be her two peacock strings. She quickly wound them up in her sleeves and left the room.

When she came out, she had a smile on her face. She was now ready to fight.

"Ready?" Nami asked.

"Ready." Vivi replied.

As they walked, Nami began telling them what they needed to do. "Okay. First of all, we need to find out where this guy went. We can probably figure that out from a guard if we could get them to talk. Zoro, take care of that when we come across another guard."

"Heh. This will be fun." Zoro said with a hint of a grin.

Vivi looked pretty alarmed at this. "W-Wait. You won't hurt them...right?" she asked nervously.

"No. I'll just use a little friendly...persuasion." Zoro said as he pulled out Wado.

Vivi gulped but didn't say anything.

"Relax." Zoro said. "I promise I won't do anything."

Vivi nodded, somewhat reasured.

The small party continued walking through corridor after endless corridor with Nami always in the lead. As they were nearing the end of one of the corridors, they heard voices talking in hushed tones. Nami motioned for everyone to stay there while she quietly crept to the end of the corridor and cautiously stuck her head around the corner. When she withdrew it, she grinned and motioned for Zoro. He grinned and pulled on his bandana before drawing Wado and stepping forward. Nami stepped back and let him pass.

As Zoro rounded the corner, he made little noise. By the time the guards saw him coming, it was too late. He had knocked one out with the hilt of his sword and now had the blade pressed to the other one's throat. Their weapons lay useless on the ground. "I need a little information." he said in a low voice. He could feel the guard shaking in fear.

"Y-Y-Yes s-sir." he said obediantly.

"Do you know anything about the whereabouts of the King or Sir Crocodile?" Zoro asked him.

"They...they went through...through here earlier." the guard replied, still trembling.

"Where were they headed?" Zoro said, attempting to press as much information out of the guard as he could.

"Something...something about...about a secret...chamber." the guard stuttered.

"A secret chamber?" Zoro thought. Then to the guard, "Any clue on how to find this chamber?"

"N-No." the guard replied.

Zoro gritted his teeth. "Great." he thought. "At least tell me which way they were headed."

"T-That way." the guard stuttered, pointing to the other end of the corridor.

"Thanks." Zoro said and then knocked the guard out. "Sorry, but you would just be in the way." he appologized. He removed his bandana, sheathed his sword, and returned to the anxious group.

"So?" Nami said expectantly.

"They were headed to a secret chamber of some kind. I know what direction it's in. That's about all he knew." Zoro replied.

"Hm. Not much to work with, is it?" Usopp remarked.

"No. But I think I can find it. Did he say if it was above or below ground?" Nami asked.

"Uh...not exactly." Zoro replied.

"Well, go ask him!" Nami said impatiently.

"I...umm...there's a slight...er...problem with that." Zoro replied nervously.

"And what's that?" Nami said suspiciously.

"I...sort of knocked him out." Zoro said in one breath.

"YOU WHAT?!!!!!!!!" Nami cried. Whack. "YOU IDIOT!!!!!!!" Whack. Bang. Thud.

"Nami-san! We have more important things to do right now!" Vivi finally cried.

"Oh. Right." Nami said. She stood up. "Let's go!" She began walking and everyone slowly fell into place and followed.

Zoro slowly stood up with about twenty knots on his head. He looked at Vivi greatfully for saving him before falling in to place with everyone else.

They proceeded down the corridor. Vivi shuddered as she past the unconscious guards. How many of them did that make? They finally reached the end of the corridor and found a dead end.

"Oh great! This is perfect!!! A great end to all this searching. A stupid dead end!!!!" Nami cried and pounded her fist into the wall out of anger.

Suddenly, the wall started to shift before her eyes. She jumped back and yelped in surprise as a passage way opened up in front of her. Everyone else's mouths dropped along with Nami's.

"What is it?" Chopper managed to finally ask as the door slowly came to a stop.

Nami regained her composure and quickly surveyed the scene. "It's a passage way of some sort. From the draft coming out of it, I'd say it goes below ground. Deep below ground. Also, judging by how easy it opened, I'd say it's been opened recently, possibly today. I'd say that our best bet would be to go down there and check it out. I'm sure that Crocodile is down there with the King. I can feel it." Nami said.

Everyone turned to Vivi. She hung her head and chewed her lip in thought. Finally, she made up her mind. "She's right. I can feel it too. They're down there and that's where we have to go!"

Everyone smiled. "Let's go!" Nami cried and started down the small and winding staircase, grabbing a nereby lantern on the way. Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Kelvin, and Vivi followed. No one heard the soft footsteps of the two people who entered a second after Vivi did.

When they were about half way down, Zoro suddenly stopped, causing a minor collision with the people behind him.

"What's the big idea?!" Usopp cried.

"Shh. I heard something." Zoro commanded.

They all held their breath as they waited and listened. Then, they heard it. Faint at first, but it slowly came closer and became louder. Now they could identify the noise as footsteps.

"Who is it?" Chopper whispered.

"Shh." Usopp warned.

"But...but I know that scent. It's been awhile but..." Chopper said as his nose twitched.

"Not now Chopper!" Usopp hissed.

"BUT IT'S ROBIN!!!!!!!" Chopper yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everyone looked at him. "R-Robin?" Nami asked confused.

"That's right Miss Navigator." a voice said.

"Yah!" everyone yelled as they jumped out of their skin.

"My appologies. Sorry for scaring you like that." Robin said.

"Don't forget about me!" a voice said from behind Robin.

"I brought Mister Shipwrite with me. I had some business in Water 7 and was there when I received the Princess's invatation. It surprised me, but we came. Sorry we're late." Robin explained.

Still in shock, the group merely nodded.

"Eh...what's with them?" Franky asked as he appeared behind Robin.

Zoro finally recovered. "So, why did you follow us?" he questioned.

"It was a surprise. And, I was curious as to what you were doing. I mean, this passage has been kept secret for years because of what it leads to." Robin replied.

"What it leads to?" Vivi asked, confused.

"You mean you don't know?" Robin replied.

Vivi shook her head.

"This passage leads to a stone. It's a translated poneglyph that has been Alabasta'a best kept secret since it contains the plans to an ancient weapon. It was said that the chamber was sealed up years ago but I guess it was just hidden." Robin explained.

Vivi's eyes widened. "A-A-Another weapon?" she asked.

"That's correct princess." Robin replied.

"No! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!" Vivi screamed. She pounded her fists against the wall in frustration.

Kelvin grabbed her and held her close as she slowly began to sob.

Robin seemed taken aback by this. "What's wrong? And why isn't there a wedding going on?" Robin asked.

"We have alot to explain but no time." Zoro replied with a sigh.

Vivi raised her head up, her tears were rapidly disappearing. "I won't let him win." she said with a determined force in her voice.

"Who?" Robin asked.

"Crocodile." Vivi replied.

Robin frowned deeply at this. "Crocodile. What's he got to do with this?"

"We'll explain on the way. For now, we have to get to that chamber before it's too late!" Vivi cried.

Zoro and Nami nodded in agreement. "Let's go!"

They turned around and began their decent once again. Robin and Franky, though confused, followed along behind.

As they walked, Usopp and Chopper attempted to fill Robin and Franky in with a shortened version of the week's events. They left out a few minor details, but the other two got the idea.

The stairway suddenly came to an abrupt halt in a small room. The door on the other side was open, but no sound could be heard.

"Okay guys." Vivi said in a hushed tone as she made her way to the front of the door. "I don't know what we're going to find but it can't be good. I'm pretty sure Crococile is in there. Our time to fight is rapidly approaching. I want all of you to know that you don't have to do this. You've already saved my country once and I don't expect you to do it again."

"We're with you Vivi." Nami said as she assembled her climatact.

"You can count on the fearless captain Usopp!" Usopp cried.

"We've got your back Princess." Robin said.

"I'll help you fight!" Chopper said with a large reindeer grin.

"I'll help out too." Franky agreed.

Zoro and Kelvin drew their swords as their answer.

"Then let's get on with it!" Nami cried.

"Anything else before we go?" Vivi asked.

"Yeah." Zoro said. "Don't die."

They all nodded and then took the first fatefull step into the chamber.

Sooo...what did you think? Was it horrible? It is, isn't it? X( I'm sorry if it was. I promise the next chapter will be better!