A/N – Well…this is a month and a half late! But I dunno why I was having problems writing it. As such I fear this chapter's quality may be a tad lower than normal. I hope that doesn't deter any of you (if you all stuck around for the long waiting period). I hope to start updating more quickly because it's a bit I've been looking forward to writing for a while now, yanno? Anyway, thank you to Drana0, raindropdew, Bluebird42, Ern Estine 13624, Labyrinth-chan, Kitsuke17Night, Ace. . , Key, CiaossuWarty, aaand Sylvia-san. That was 10 people, the most I've ever gotten on a chapter holy crap. (I guess this is what happens when I don't update for a while, huh). But I love you all!

Ancient Secrets

Chapter 19

Nami and Sanji were currently stuffed behind a book case which had been pulled away from the door slightly. Nami's hand was clamped over Sanji's mouth and Sanji's over Nami's mouth, to prevent each other from making any noise. They had found what appeared to be Crocodile's study, and had only been in there for a moment before they heard footsteps approaching. Being the quick thinker she was, Nami had pulled Sanji into the first hidden space she could see. Sanji was going to say something about a make-out session when he saw Crocodile come in and clammed up.

The man was shifting through some things on his desk and muttering under his breath. Then he paused and looked up. Nami inhaled sharply, worried that he'd spotted them. It felt like he was looking right at them, which unnerved Nami. Crocodile advanced slowly to where they hid, his hooked hand raising slightly. But a knock on the door caused it to twitch and stop in its tracks.

Crocodile whirled around to face the door and called for the man to enter. Some henchman stumbled in, holding up a bottle of liquid which looked a lot like rum.

"Sir!" he called, waving some sort of hasty salute of respect. "We-!"

"You got it?" Crocodile asked sharply.

"Well, yes, sir, but there's—"

"Excellent." He turned fully away from Nami and Sanji's hidey-hole and waltzed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. His voice could be heard through the wood as he walked away. "Take me to him, then."

"R-Right away, sir, but…"

"No buts!"

Their voices faded, and Nami and Sanji waited a whole minute before releasing the breaths they'd been holding and wiggling out of their spot.

"That," Nami panted, a hand over her heart, "…was close."

Sanji had to nod in agreement.

As Luffy jogged, he had to wonder, How am I going down, when just a little while ago, I was going up? It was true too; he'd been running up the stairs behind the door with the up arrow, and all of a sudden…he wasn't going up any more. Instead, he found himself dashing madly down a spiralling staircase which led down into dark, unknown depths.

Luffy scratched his head in bafflement.

Then again, who was he to argue with fate, which obviously wanted him going down? As long as Zoro was down here, he would be happy. No; overjoyed. Too happy for words. He skipped four steps at a time, hurtling downwards, until he came to an abrupt stop, face slamming into a wooden door.

"OOF!" he grunted, pulling back to rub his nose. "Door?" He looked around. There weren't any other ways to go except back up the way he came. "Door it is." Yanking the door open, he slipped inside and looked around. He was in a damp, dark corridor, it seemed. There was slime dripping down the door and there was a wet plip plip plip coming from somewhere. Lufy shuddered and looked around. "Now…which way do I go?"

He looked around, scratching his head.

"Well…that way is my right…and Zoro is my right hand man (I just decided. He will be, when I get him back) so I should go right!" With that logic, he shot down the right, sandals slapping loudly against the stone ground.

"Zorooooo!" he called. "Zoooroooo?" There wasn't any response, but that didn't deter Luffy at all. He'd started running past cells, but they all seemed to be empty. He stared hard into each one he came across but they all seemed to be empty. "ZORO, IF YOU'RE HERE, SAY SOMETHING!"

In his haste, he almost ran past a cell which had the shadow of a person on it. He skidded to a stop and backtracked frantically, stopping to grab the mucky bars and stare inside. The light was dim – he had no idea what time it was outside, after all – and what light did stream in made it hard to make out the figure inside.

But there was no mistaking who it was.

The figure groaned slightly under his breath, and Luffy knew that it was Zoro's voice even from the slight noise. The smile which split his face was so wide it hurt his cheeks. He pressed himself up to the bars of the cell as close as he could be to Zoro.

"Oi! Zoro!" he called, wanting to yell but keeping his voice down in case he attracted attention. "What did they do to you?! Zoro!" He stuck a hand through the bars and tried to reach over, even though he knew Zoro was far too far away for him to possibly reach. If there's any time I'd want to stretch… he thought to himself, it's right now. What he wanted most right now was to feel Zoro under the palm of his hand, but sadly, his arms stayed the same length. Luffy sighed and dropped them.

Zoro, strangely, didn't react. He stayed with his head down and occasionally made soft noises in his throat. Luffy's smile faltered slightly and his hand drooped. "…Zoro?" he prompted again. This time, slowly, Zoro raised his head. The smile fell entirely when Luffy saw Zoro's face properly.

Zoro's eyes were glazed and unfocussed, and his mouth quirked downwards in a small frown unbefitting of his features. Luffy crouched down so that he was more eye-level with Zoro. "Zoro…are you okay?" he asked, voice high and quiet. Zoro blinked a few times to look at him properly, mouth drooping open.

"I…" he said in a hollow voice, "I'm not sure…"

Luffy had a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach. He clutched the bars and tried to stick his head between them to reduce space between the two. "Zoro, what's wrong?! Are you hurt?! Look, it's me, I'm here now! We can go home, to the Thousand Sunny!"

"You…?" Zoro blinked almost lazily. "Who are you?"

Luffy froze, breath hitching. His eyes widened in horror before a trembling smile made its way back onto his face. "Hey…Zoro don't do that…I know I've got make up on right now and it's a super good disguise but it's me! Luffy!"

"Luffy…?"

"Yes! Luffy! S-See?!" Luffy nodded vigorously. Zoro stared at him before shaking his head.

"Luffy…I do not know who you are."

"Sanji!" Nami's hushed yet delighted cry came from under a desk. Sanji looked over instantly. Nami stood up and brushed off her knees before straightening and brandishing a bunch of keys on a ring. "I've found it! These are definitely for prison cells!" She jangled them happily.

"That's fantastic, Nami!" Sanji gushed in delight, abandoning the drawers he was shuffling through to sprint towards her, arms outstretched. Nami waved away his affections and hurried to the door.

"But now we have to quickly get these to Luffy and Zoro. If everything's worked out, Luffy should have reached him by now." She glanced through the door to make sure nobody was coming their way before running out and pressing herself against the wall, beckoning Sanji along. Of course he was right on her heels anyway.

Pressing her finger to her lips to make sure he was staying quiet, she began heading back the way they'd come, creeping as silently as possible. Sanji's footsteps were, while discreet, still easy to pick up in Nami's ears compared to her silent footfalls. They also seemed slightly off, like he was limping ever so slightly. Biting her lip, Nami did her best to keep it to herself; they needed to be discreet after all.

Once they were through the safety of the giant double doors they'd gone through after splitting up with Luffy, Nami rounded on him. Sanji smiled brightly at her, just happy to have her attention. Nami wasn't so happy though, folding her arms.

"Your leg still hurts!" she accused. Sanji's smile dropped.

"What?"

"When you fought Kuma," Nami explained, her mind going back to the moment on the ship, just before they lost Zoro, when Sanji kicked the bear guy and all he got for it was a damaged leg. "Yet you've been running around in the forest and in here! Ugh, you could have told me! I wouldn't have made you go on the mission!"

"It's nothing, really!" Sanji said hastily, standing straighter as if to prove that he was ok on both of his feet. "I'm simply happy that you require my assistance, and wouldn't have it any other way!" Nami eyed him sceptically.

"I certainly don't believe you, but we do have a job to finish… Oh but you just wait until we get back to the ship," she hissed, jabbing a finger at him, "You're going to get that leg bandaged up and you have to stay off it until it's at least mostly healed. Understood?"

"But…"

"No buts! Come on!" she ordered, turning to the side door with the down arrow. "Luffy's gone through this door to look for Zoro, so he should still be down there. Even if Zoro isn't there, we're bound to meet Luffy this way anyway." She pulled the heavy door open and slipped in. Sanji quickly followed as she beckoned him. "It's safe. It's just a narrow hallway."

It was impossible to see further than a few meters in front of them since the hallway curved a lot, so they edged around each bend on full alert, expecting somebody to show up at any moment. Nami kept a close eye on Sanji and his leg since she didn't trust him to be ok fighting with an injury. She was angry with herself that she'd forgotten it and decided for him to come along. Because of course Sanji wouldn't say no to her. It was just his nature. She'd known that for as long as she'd known him.

Eventually, Sanji broke the silence. "Ah… Nami…" he spoke up. "Wasn't this supposed to lead downwards?"

"I- Yeah. That's what I thought." Nami blinked, her eyes widening in realisation. "But we've just been going straight."

"Yeah. In fact it kind of feels like it's sloping upwards," Sanji noticed, groping for a cigarette. (Nami batted his hand away. Cigarettes were a good way to get caught.)

"What? But this isn't right. We're not going to get to the dungeon like this!" She wrung her hands in frustration, not sure of what to do. Sanji jumped forwards and clasped her hands in his, stilling them. Nami's mouth shut with a click of teeth and she looked at him in surprise and he offered a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, we'll work it out! And Luffy should be around here somewhere too, right? We're supposed to meet up with him," he reminded. After a couple of moments, Nami nodded.

"Ah. Right!" She agreed, smiling slightly. Sanji beamed in response, and Nami started to move them both along before he could get out an "anything for you!" response.

It was very soon that they reached more doors to branching off rooms. As they went, Nami and Sanji checked every door they came by, Sanji checking the left doors and Nami the right ones systematically, to make sure they didn't miss a thing.

After maybe ten minutes of checking, Sanji made a noise of recognition and Nami hurried over.

"What, what is it?" she asked, peeking through the doorway. Sanji moved over to let her see, pushing the door open a little further. Just inside the door, propped up against a mantle and chained together were Zoro's three swords. They were instantly recognisable.

Hurriedly, they pushed through the door and up to where the swords were displayed. With careful handling, Nami begun to pick at the lock. Just as it popped open, the door slammed shut and they whirled around.

"Well well…" sneered a man with blond hair covered by a bishop's hat. He and a girl with pink pigtails stood in front of the door with folded arms. "It seems we have a couple of intruders."

"Nami, get behind me!" Sanji instantly yelled, leaping in front of her. Nami nodded in agreement, since she was still wrestling with the chains binding the swords. Sanji stalled while she fought to get them off. "Who the hell are you shitheads?!" he demanded, good leg raised threateningly.

"Aha! Hahaha! Did you really think you'd get away with this?!" the pink haired girl demanded, though her tone sounded rather odd. Her partner thought so too, since he shot her a raised eyebrow before growling at Sanji again.

"Well, yeah. Actually," Sanji shot back, nodding. The girl was very pretty, so he wouldn't dream of threatening or attacking her.

"Hmph!" she huffed and popped up an umbrella, looking much disinterested. The blond shook his head and whipped out a pair of pistols, pointing them at Sanji, just as Nami let out a cry of success and triumphantly pulled the swords free from their restraints.

Sanji acknowledged this as the time to fight back and make a run for it, and took his chance to charge at the man, dodging flying bullets. He swung his foot into the man's side, but the kick wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been. Still, the man let out a grunt as the air left his lungs, and he coughed as he waved a hand at the girl.

"Perona! Get the ginger girlie!" he commanded. Perona twitched and looked over at where Nami was looking for an alternative escape route.

"Oh, right," she said and began heading over. "Though, you know, it's not very cute to fight with my fists, and I don't have any nice-looking daggers on me…What should I do?" she whined.

"Not the time, Perona!" he snarled back, dodging another ruthless attack from Sanji. "Use It! It!"

"On these guys? A-Are you sure? I mean it's very expensive; I don't want to waste it on something as unimportant as this, you know?" Perona huffed. "I'm sure, er, you can handle them yourself!" She added brightly.

Nami took this opportunity to run at the unguarded part of the door Perona had just abandoned, and rammed it open with her shoulder. It popped open with a crash and she ran out, followed by Sanji.

"Great!" he cheered, grinning her way. "Now we've gotta run!"

So they did run, charging down the corridor, followed by the sound of gunfire. It was a wonder neither of them was hit. Two pairs of feet and one sadistic chuckle hurriedly followed them right to the end of the hallway. Then they found out why he was laughing.

"It's-!" Nami gasped.

"A dead end," groaned Sanji in dismay. Nami skidded to a halt and looked around wildly.

"Are you sure?! Just a dead end with no doors?!"

"That's what it looks like to me, yes!" Sanji confirmed, whipping around to face their enemies who grew ever closer. Behind him, Nami was hitting the wall, slowly moving from one side to the other. Just as she got to the other corner, she spotted something.

"Sanji! Sanji, over there!" She whispered frantically.

"What?" Sanji looked at where she was pointing, when his eyes widened in surprise. There was a gap in the wall. A narrow gap indeed, but just wide enough for them to fit. Nami grabbed Sanji's hand, taking him off-guard for a second, and guided him towards it. She had to turn sideways to slip into the gap, and even then it was a tight squeeze. Her chest was squashed painfully against the cold stone and she couldn't bend her knees.

Sanji slipped in after her, staring back at his enemies to keep watch on them. The gap was so narrow it pressed down on his ribcage and made it hard to move and even harder to breathe. He couldn't turn his head, either. It was stuck facing the same way as when he'd entered; looking back the way he came. Nami was facing the direction they were headed in, and they only knew each other's distance by their hands grasping one another.

Sanji and Nami scooted down the gap as quickly as they could, while Sanji watched the enemies through the narrow view he had. The man raced up the gap looking furious, and pointed his gun right at the two of them. There was nowhere to dodge in here, in hindsight.

"N-Nami!" Sanji said urgently. "Are we going to get to the other side yet?"

"You're going to set that prisoner free, and I can't have that!" Absalom spat at him.

"No…I can't even see it. I think this thing curves, just to warn you," Nami replied hastily, easily understanding the situation they were stuck in.

"Ah…well we need to get to the curve quickly," he insisted, just as the sound of the pistol cocking echoed past them. Nami got the message and sped up as best she could. But it wasn't going to be fast enough, and Sanji thought fast. He brought his foot up at a terribly awkward angle for his leg, just as the gun went off.

The bullet embedded itself in the sole of his food and he let out a howl of pain. He nearly fell sideways if Nami hadn't caught him and held him upright. He exhaled sharply through his nose before putting his foot back on the ground.

"Better…" he grunted, "better than being shot somewhere more important. Like the head."

Absalom swore from the opening and was trying to reload his gun, but a fist came out of nowhere and embedded itself into his face.

"Perona!" he roared, staggering and dropping his gun. Perona looked frazzled and more wide-eyed than normal. "What the fuck has gotten into you?! They're going to release Roronoa! If he's released, what'll happen to our status?! He earned us these titles and we can't let him be snatched from under our noses!" then he lowered his breath, as though someone might be listening in. "Besides, Master Moria wants us to be here."

"I can't let you stop them! Besides…" her voice turned sweet and she smiled, before drawing out a needle. Absalom's face drained of its colour and he held up his hands.

"Oi, let's not go playing with fire," he hissed as she advanced on him.

"Unfortunately…our partnership ends here." With that, she jabbed him with the needle and emptied its contents into his bloodstream. Absalom froze momentarily in shock, before his eyes drooped and his whole body relaxed.

"No…what's the point?" he mumbled. "Why should I care about stopping them…" and with that, he collapsed to the floor, hands over his eyes, and started moaning pitifully. Perona took one last look at him before turning away.

"Well. I guess you're sort of cute when you're on the ground with your self-esteem stomped on like that."

Luffy had to hide in a dark alcove when he heard footsteps approach. He had to stuff his fist in his mouth to prevent himself from making any noise while they were around. He could just see Crocodile from his position, and his blood turned cold. Just seeing the man who was the reason everything had gone so wrong in his life made him both furious and terrified at the same time.

So he kept quiet and still as the two people with him threw open the cell door and walked in, backhanding Zoro when he was close enough.

"So? Speak the truth! Where can I find your little friend?" he ordered in that disparaging tone of his. There was a moment of silence while Zoro turned back to him and took in the question.

Sluggishly, he replied, "I…have no idea. Who?"

Crocodile bit through the cigarette in his mouth, stomping on it when it hit the cold floor in frustration. "Damn it," he growled. "Give me that bottle!" Yanking it from the hands of the woman who offered it to him, Crocodile swilled it around. "Are you sure it works?"

"We're certain, sir! We tested a little on an agent, and it worked for him! He was unable to do anything but tell the truth!" Confirmed the man. Crocodile narrowed his eyes at the bottle.

"So. Why isn't it working now?" His voice turned venomous, making the two agents tremble behind him. Crocodile 'Hmph'ed and shoved the neck of the bottle into Zoro's mouth, tipping it upright. Zoro choked and gurgled on the sudden assault of potion, much of it slopping down his chin and running down his throat in rivulets. Once the bottle had almost completely drained, Crocodile pulled it away and tried again.

"Where is Monkey D Luffy?" he demanded in a low, dangerous voice. Zoro gargled and coughed, grating out his still dazed-sounding response.

"I know n-no one of that name…"

Crocodile straightened up again and whirled around, hurling the bottle against the wall where it shattered. Luffy flinched and hid a little deeper, watching Crocodile round furiously on his agents. They cowered below him, frightened for the wrath he would inflict on them.

"If the truth potion isn't working, try another method!" he spat in their faces before turning to leave. Just as he did, a messenger ran up and muttered something to him. Crocodile listened before straightening up and regaining his cool composure. "…I see. Mr 5, Miss Valentine, I'll leave you to it. It seems we have…an intruder." And with that he began to leave, muttering, "and just where is that accursed Nico Robin when you need her?"

There was a moment of silence after he'd left. Agents Mr 5 and Miss valentine exchanged glances before relaxing, letting out deep sighs.

"We need to get this guy to talk."

"But how?"

"…More weapons?"

"More weapons!"

Hasty decisions made, they scarpered off in search of suitable torture devices Luffy didn't want to think up. Instead he was busy worrying for the lives of his friends. First Zoro being in the scary state he was in, and secondly…

"I hope they haven't found Nami…Sanji could probably look after himself, but Nami doesn't have her weapon anymore." He rubbed a hand over his face, smearing make-up over it, before hesitatingly walking back to Zoro's cell. He placed his hands on the bars, wishing someone had forgotten to lock them afterwards so he could just get in…

Shaking and rattling the bars didn't help. It only made Zoro stare at him blankly, which made Luffy shiver in fright. The expression was so blank and terrifying. He choked out a sob and knelt down in front of Zoro.

"I don't know what they've done to you…I don't know what they made you drink…! But I'm gonna get you free, Zoro. I'm gonna save you and then I'm gonna fix you and everything's gonna…everything's gonna definitely be ok!"

Zoro didn't reply.