Chapter Five
As the days passed, it appeared as though a dark cloud had descended over the Crusade. Attacks from Zaibach were occurring more and more frequently, and Allen became even more withdrawn. Only those closest to him knew what was truly going on, and why he was so depressed. Anka, the cat-woman who had joined the group not long ago, was extremely worried, even though she hid it behind a mask of good humor. One night, she found him standing at one of the windows, a distant, sad look in his eyes.
"Allen?" Anka asked, quietly. Allen jumped and turned to face her, calming down when he saw that it was only her.
"Anka…………….." Allen murmured, his voice even sounding distant.
"I know what's wrong, so I won't ask why you're so sad, but this thing is eating you alive, Allen! If you don't let somebody share that burden with you, your worry will claim your life before Dornkirk does!" Anka said, as she firmly gripped his arms.
"But I can't help it. This is constantly on my mind. No matter how much I would love to forget that I am a Draconian, I can't. So much depends on my not falling into the wrong hands." Allen said, as Anka looked up at him. Anka sighed and hugged him, shaking her head slightly as she did so.
"I don't know what to do. You're so afraid of what could be that you're worrying yourself to death over it. You're not eating, and you're not sleeping; the crew's so afraid that you're gonna drop dead that I heard Gadis is planning on taking over for you till you get your act together. I don't blame him; I certainly don't like seeing you like this. Even little Merle is afraid for your health!" Anka said, as she listened to Allen's heartbeat.
"I'm sorry." Allen murmured, as he held her against him. Anka sighed.
"I just wish I knew what I could do to make you smile again. I miss the way your eyes used to shine when you were happy or pleased. I know I sound silly, but I'm being honest with you, like I always have been. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." Anka said, baring her heart to the knight.
"Rescue me." Allen whispered.
"Huh?" Anka asked, entranced when he lowered his head to look into her eyes.
"If anything happens to me, rescue me." Allen said, as his lips touched those of Anka for the first time. Immediately, Anka felt a fire surge into her heart that she could not explain. It took her breath away, and yet filled her with so much more. When they parted and looked into one another's eyes, Anka couldn't help but grin.
"Wow………….it's no wonder they call you 'Hot Lips' along the coast! Rowr!" Anka said, getting a chuckle from Allen, instead of the usual embarrassed exclamation of her name. Unbeknownst to them, Millerna had been watching the entire time. Choking back tears of bitterness, she retreated back to her room, feeling cheated.
"There it is. And our target is inside?" one man whispered to another.
"Yeah. But he won't go down without a fight, so be careful." Folken's voice replied. The first speaker raised an eyebrow.
"Don't worry, Folken-sama, I'll get him. I have the sleeping potion in the needle you gave me." the first said, as he held up the said needle to prove his point.
"Good. Now don't fail me, Ryuon." Folken said.
"I won't, Folken-sama. I will bring the pure angel back to Zaibach." Ryuon promised, before slipping into the darkness.
"Are you ready, Dilandau?" Folken asked, to the man who stood behind him.
"Yeah. I'm ready. I'm just glad you're not using a doppleganger this time around." Dilandau replied, from inside his guymelef.
"A doppleganger would have worked better in this situation." Folken mumbled, as he watched the DragonSlayer slip into the ship.
Viole tensed when he sensed something.
"Viole? What's wrong?" Chesta (who had been picked up not long ago) asked.
"There's an intruder on board." Viole muttered, as he picked up his sword, and motioned for Gatti, Dalet, and Guimel to do the same.
"Wait! I'm going with you!" Chesta said, as he also started to follow them, but was stopped by Gatti.
"No, Chesta. You wait here. As it is now, you're in no shape to fight. You still need several days more rest. Don't worry, the four of us will be all right." Gatti reassured.
"But Gatti…………!" Chesta trailed off when he saw the deadly serious looks in his comrades' eyes.
"Remain here, Chesta. We'll be right back." Dalet said, then added, "Besides, I don't think you own a sword anymore, so it wouldn't make much sense for you to follow us."
"Let's go." Gatti said, ever the leader, as they all followed Viole's danger sense.
"Feh……………why is it that I have to be the injured, defenseless one?" Chesta grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest grumpily.
Hitomi sat straight up when something disturbing crossed her senses.
"What is it, Hitomi?" Van asked.
"There's someone on board. Someone who doesn't belong." Hitomi muttered, then started running.
"Hitomi! Where are you going?!" Merle asked.
"There's someone on board who is after Allen!" Hitomi shouted over her shoulder as she ran. Not waiting for a further explanation, Van and Merle took off after Hitomi, worry for Allen now very evident.
Allen and Anka looked up in surprise when someone dropped from the ceiling next to them.
"Who the…………….?!" Allen yelped, crying out when the stranger jabbed him in the arm with something sharp.
"Allen!" Anka screamed, then launched herself at the stranger with claws out, with fury in her amber eyes. The stranger was definitely caught off guard by the cat-woman and was forced to retreat, but not the way he came. Anka looked like she wanted to take chase, but stopped when she heard Allen fall to the floor.
"ALLEN!" Anka shouted, forgetting about the escaping intruder and rushing to the fallen knight's side. She felt panic rise within her when she saw blood pouring from the stab wound in his arm, and this panic was added to when she saw how quickly he'd slipped into unconsciousness.
"Allen! Oh gods! Someone help!" Anka cried, feeling helpless and lost as she held the stricken knight close to her.
Viole and his group were well on their way to the scene when they ran into the intruder.
"Ryuon?!" Gatti yelped.
"Get out of my way, traitor!" Ryuon growled, trying to shove past the four surprised ex-DragonSlayers, but was unsuccessful.
"You came for Schezar, didn't you?" Guimel asked.
"That is no business of yours, traitor. Now move aside!" Ryuon snarled.
"No." Gatti replied, in kind.
"Fine, then I will have to kill you, as much as I hate to. But you have betrayed Zaibach, and thus you must die!" Ryuon said, his harsh voice grating from his mouth.
"Come and try, Ryuon." Gatti challenged, as he, Dalet, Guimel, and Viole spread out around him. Even in the narrow confines of the hallway, there was still too much room for the wily DragonSlayer to take advantage of. Soon the four Zaibach deserters were struggling to keep the DragonSlayer from escaping into the deeper parts of the ship. Ryuon smiled, wickedly when he slashed Gatti's arm, then shoved Viole and Guimel into a wall, knocking them senseless. This left only Dalet, who was busy trying to stop the bleeding in Gatti's wounded arm. Before Ryuon could fell a blow onto the unaware Dalet, a sword grew from his chest, and when it was removed, he saw that Van was standing there, bloodied sword at the ready.
"Damn you, Draconians……………….." Ryuon growled, before falling to the floor, dead.
"Van-sama!" Dalet shouted, in relief. But the relief was short-lived, when they all heard Anka calling out for help.
"Are you four all right?" Van asked, quickly.
"We'll be fine, your highness. You go and check on Sir Allen. From the sounds of things, he's probably worse off than we are." Viole said, holding his head as he roused up and shakily got to his feet. Van nodded and ran down the hall, with Hitomi and Merle on his heels. When he got there, his blood froze in his veins; there lay Allen, almost deathlike in Anka's arms, while Anka held him, obviously in shock.
"Merle! Go and get Millerna! Quickly! Allen doesn't look like he's going to make it!" Van shouted, urgently. Merle nodded and scampered off. While Van looked to see what he could do for the wound, Hitomi did her best to console the horror-stricken Anka.
"His heart's stopped! Dammit!" Van cursed, as he started loosening the knight's shirt collar, got the chest bare, then started pumping down on the chest, trying to get Allen's heart to start.
"Come on, Allen! Don't die on us here!" Van muttered, as he pumped in time to his heartbeat. It was then that Millerna arrived on the scene, with Gadis and other members of the crew, worry creasing the brows of more than a few.
"Let me see!" Millerna said, as she moved Van aside and found the same thing he'd found.
"Is there no response?" Millerna asked.
"Not that I can tell." Van replied, as Hitomi felt for a pulse in Allen's wrist, but found none.
"Let me try!" Anka said, suddenly coming to herself and positioning herself directly over Allen's still form. Millerna glared at her, but directed her in what to do. With desperation in her eyes, she pumped on Allen's chest, doing as Van had done before her, pushing in time with her heartbeat. Just when tears had started to form in her eyes, Anka heard what she wanted to hear; a choking gasp. Getting off of him, Hitomi got Allen onto his side, so he could breathe easier. Anka rubbed Allen's back as he coughed and gasped for air, looking very relieved as she did so.
"By the gods, that was close!" Gadis said, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the color return to his captain's face.
"It sure was. But what had made his heart stop?" Van asked, visibly shaken by the whole ordeal, grasping Hitomi's hand when he remembered a similar event.
"That intruder had stabbed him in the arm with something before running off. I think that weapon is still with him." Anka said, trembling with relief when Allen opened his eyes and tried to sit up.
"We'll check the body before we dump it. That weapon may hold the key as to why the Commander almost died." Gadis said.
"Bring it to me when you have, Gadis. I have the feeling that someone was trying to get sleeping potion to Allen through the bloodstream. I think there might have been too much of the potion in the 'weapon' and Allen reacted to it." Millerna said, taking her role as healer very seriously.
"For now, let's get Allen situated, then we can talk about and decide on a course of action." Hitomi said, wisely. She got an agreement from everyone. While two of the stronger men lifted and carried their dazed captain to his quarters, Anka followed them, prepared for the task of bandaging the wounded arm and watching Allen while he slept. While wounds were being tended to, Van reluctantly told Gadis and the rest why all that had happened and the reason why Zaibach suddenly wanted Allen so badly. All in all, it was enough to shake even the hardiest man on board to his innards; Allen's life was to be used for a sacrifice?! While the people on board the Crusade recovered from that first shock, they braced themselves for more attacks, certain in the knowledge that Zaibach definitely wanted Allen, and would go to any means necessary to get him. That night's attempt had been foiled, but, they knew, that luck might not be on their side next time.