The Devil’s Deal

|Three days later, Nami's POV:|

…

-Sigh…-

A sigh escaped from my mouth as I leaned over the ship's railing, watching intently the sea waves crashing against our ship and the Baratie.

My thoughts were a turmoil at the moment, and the reason for it was the wanted poster I saw some days ago when we met Zoro's old colleagues, Johnny and Yosaku.

When we met them, they bragged about being Bounty Hunters and showed us a bunch of wanted posters marked with an X for the pirates they captured.

From what I saw, they had gotten quite a few of them… Or not, maybe that pair had been just bragging and just marked more wanted posters than what they had actually done. They didn't look all that strong compared to Luffy or Zoro, so it wouldn't surprise me… 

Among the wanted posters they had in their collection, however, was one that caught my attention immediately after seeing it.

Arlong.

They didn't have it marked as captured, and even if they had, I wouldn't have believed it one bit.

That man—creature, was not one humans could take on.

I had long come to understand that fact.

No matter how strong, fierce, or famous the person was, they all died the same in front of him.

Bounty hunters, marines, mercenaries, assassins. He killed all of them without blinking an eye.

So let alone Johnny and Yosaku, I doubted even Luffy and Zoro could be able to face Arlong.

Which is why I was so bothered at the moment.

When I saw his wanted poster days ago, I was reminded of what I had to do.

It wasn't time to play friends with Luffy and the others… I had to bring back the money and pay that guy.

The more time I wasted here, the more time the villagers would have to spend suffering under Arlong's rule.

I had to leave.

"..."

I glanced behind me, at my room on the ship.

There, I had all the money I managed to gather during this last trip with Luffy and the others.

If I added it to the money I had hidden back at Cocoyashi Village, it should make around 100 million, just enough to fulfill my deal with Arlong.

Just enough to free Cocoyashi Village, and be free myself.

I couldn't believe I had forgotten such an important fact.

Silently, I turned to look at the sky.

'Well, it was fun'

I guess the reason why I forgot my responsibility was because I have been around this crew.

A crew of pirates, that funnily enough, didn't act like pirates at all.

One where I could laugh, relax, and explore the seas like I had fantasized about so much when I was a little girl.

For once in over a decade, I felt anything else other than anger and desperation.

For once in many years, I guess I had fun.

"Damn it"

As I felt something wet appear in the corner of my eyes, I rapidly cleaned myself with my forearm, not wanting to be seen like this.

Then, as I finished cleaning the tears away, I saw something in the distance.

The sea serpent that almost killed us days ago.

However, it would be more correct to call it a skeleton than a sea serpent now, as after that weird guy killed it, he sold it to the restaurant and they chopped up its meat. Leaving only its skeleton.

Of course, considering its size, it had been a bit too much even for this restaurant to handle, so in the end, and after a lot of resignation, those cooks cut the creature in half and let the rest sink into the sea for the fish to eat.

-Sigh…-

"How good would it be if a sea serpent ate Arlong…?" I muttered in an almost imperceptible voice, wondering if such a thing would ever get to happen.

Eventually, though, I just shook my head and resignated.

My luck wasn't that good.

"W-what is that?!"

Suddenly, I snapped out of my thoughts when Usopp's alarmed voice reached my ears, making me look around in a hurry, wondering if we were being attacked by marines or something like that.

However, when I saw what was in the distance, I understood why he was so scared at the moment.

There, on the opposite side of the Baratie, in the distance, a huge galleon that dwarfed completely the restaurant could be seen approaching at a steady speed.

Its size would be said to be comparable to that of the sea serpent from just a few days ago.

However, what surprised me more was its appearance.

Its sails were ripped and barely hanging together, and on several parts of the ship, the wood was torn apart, as if it hadn't been able to handle some kind of impact.

Saying that it looked more like a ghost ship than an actual functioning ship wasn't farfetched.

"Hey, this isn't good… Shouldn't we get out of here?!" Usopp, who saw the huge ship approaching, screamed in panic as he turned to look at me and the others on the ship.

"That jolly roger…!"

"It can't be—!"

Johnny and Yosaku didn't aid his screams, however, as they seemed to be more focused on the flag that stood on top of the ship, and that probably represented a pirate, judging from their expressions of terror.

Zoro, who was calmly watching the situation some meters away from me, stood up from his resting spot and glanced at the duo. "Who is it?"

"It's Don Krieg's flag!"

"He came for vengeance!" Johnny and Yosaku pointed at the ship, making Usopp recoil in fear, and Zoro squint his eyes.

I, on the other hand, couldn't move my eyes away from the galleon's strange appearance.

"But why is it so damaged? It looks like it's barely hanging together!" 

Zoro simply scoffed at my comment. "Who knows? But whatever it's that guy's reason for coming here, it probably isn't anything good"

Then, he picked up his swords and began walking in the direction of the restaurant.

"O-oh, that's it Zoro, go and help Luffy while I, on the other hand, stay here and protect the ship" Usopp said, pointing smugly at himself with his thumb.

"You're coming with me" However, Usopp's plans were quickly denied by Zoro, and before he could react, he picked Usopp up from the clothes and began dragging him away.

I only watched as they walked away, lost in my thoughts.

Then, suddenly, as Zoro was about to jump down the Going Merry along with Usopp, he turned to look at me. "Take care of the ship while me and Usopp go and see what is that all about" 

After that, he jumped down and disappeared from our sight.

"..."

As I stared at the spot where the two had jumped down, I couldn't help but frown a little.

Then, the wanted poster of Arlong came back to my mind.

Wasn't this the perfect moment to get away and go back to Arlong?

Almost everyone was away from the ship, and judging from the fact that the galleon of a supposedly super-strong Pirate had arrived where they were, it didn't seem like they were going to be back for a while.

This was the perfect moment to get away.

"..." In thought, I turned to look at Yohaku and Johnny, both of whom were still staring at the huge galleon in the distance.

And, after thinking for a bit, I quickly had an idea.

Discretely, I began doing the preparations for sailing. Doing my best to not attract their attention while I did it.

And, once I was done, I leaned over the railing and pointed at the sea with a horrified expression.

"A bunch of Don Krieg's underlings are swimming in our way!"

""W-what?!"" 

When they heard my scream, both shouted in panic and hurriedly came over to look over the railing.

"Where are they, did they submerge?!"

"What do we do, Yohaku? Zoro-Aniki and the others just left!"

-Thud!-

-Thud!-

""Eh?""

And, as they were looking attentively at the sea below us, I gave each a kick on the back and pushed them down the ship.

"Gyaak!"

"Uwaaah!"

-Splash!-

Both of them made a beautiful dive afterward.

And, as both swam upwards and took deep breaths of the fresh air, I waved at them in farewell with a smile on my face.

"Goodbye, both of you! Tell Luffy and the others that, if fate wants to, we will meet again in the future!"

Once those words left my mouth, I turned around and unfolded the sails, making the Going Merry quickly begin sailing away from the Baratie.

My destination now, Cocoyashi Village.

-Sigh…-

Once I was finally done with all this fiasco, I let out a long sigh and fell powerless on my buttocks. Leaning my back against the railing of the ship.

I had done it.

After those guys trusted me so much, I betrayed them… Just like everyone else.

"Damn it…!" I punched the floor angrily.

What "if fate wants to, we will meet again"? Those guys will never want to know of me again…

-Sniffle…-

I grabbed my shoulder, where the tattoo that Arlong had made was.

'It's okay… It's okay… This is for the village'

After I pay Arlong, all this nightmare will end.

"Yes… I should stop crying for that idiotic bunch. It's best in this way… Otherwise, I don't doubt they would have wanted to fight Arlong"

I cleaned the snot and tears as I pushed myself up from the ground.

And, as I glanced at the shrinking Baratie in the distance, I shook my head and turned to look back at the front of the ship. "For now, I should focus on getting to Cocoyashi Village."

-Creeeaaaak…-

"What, so we are finally leaving, huh? That took a while"

I nodded my head, "Yeah, it took a—Huh?!"

In a hurry, I turned around and took several steps back until my back hit the mast.

My eyes widened in shock once I saw a familiar man standing at the entrance to the kitchen. 'When did he get here? Why is he here?!'

It was the weird guy who had killed the sea serpent days ago.

"Sup"

"Don't "sup" me! What are you doing here?!" I yelled, shocked and worried about what this guy's intentions in being here might be.

He waved his hand up and down at me as if gesturing for me to calm down. "Now now, don't get too altered, I just saw you about to depart and thought "Hey, why don't I get a free ride while I'm at it?". So, I just sneaked in, and waited until you finally got rid of those two so that we could depart"

"What? Free ride?! To where?!" I asked, feeling more and more confused the more this guy talked.

"Hah" He laughed, before he looked at my shoulder and smiled. "To Cocoyashi village, of course"

"...!"

What is going on?! Who is he?! Why does he want to come to Cocoyashi village?! 

His answer sent my mind into disarray as soon as I heard it.

I couldn't understand anything. He looked at my shoulder, so he must know of Arlong, then, why would he even consider going there?!

Was he related to Arlong somehow? No, that looked unlikely. Arlong only associated with those that could bring him money, or benefits.

As far as I understood when he appeared after killing the sea serpent, this guy had not a single berry with him.

Arlong wouldn't associate with someone like—

"Arlong" His voice cut my thoughts short.

"What…?" I asked, bewildered by the fact that he actually knew Arlong.

However, his next words shocked me even more.

"You want Arlong dead, right?" He pointed at my shoulder with his finger, before a sinister smile appeared on his face. "I'll kill him for you"

Hearing that, I froze in my spot.

'Kill Arlong? What is he saying…?'

Unfortunately, the guy in front of me didn't seem to care about that, as he continued talking.

"I'll put it in simple terms for you… Let's make a deal"

He approached me and extended his hand for a handshake.

"You navigate this thing and lead me to Cocoyashi Village, while I, in exchange, will kill that guy for you… Easy, right?"

"Yes?" I couldn't help but ask in utter bewilderment, not getting what this guy was saying at all.

And, before I could even ponder further into the madness that was coming out from his mouth each time he talked, he smiled devilishly and shook his hand in front of me, as if prompting me to take it.

"So, do we have a deal?"

…

-To be Continued-

°

(A/N: Somehow, it turned out shorter than I had planned. But whatever, the other stuff that I planned to write can go on to the next chapter either way. 

Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter. It wasn't anything big, but it makes the world less MC-centered, which is always good.

Also, would you please spare me some powerstones?