I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.


Phantom Ship

Cade looked around at the ship in silence. Shana had somehow ended up on the ship, then woke up surrounded by living skeletons. They'd arrived just in time to see a pair of ghosts of Mille Seseau's knights kill them. They had gotten Shana back to the Queen Fury, but now, at Shana and Meru's insistence, some of them were using the time it would take to fix the Queen Fury's damaged engine to explore the ghost ship. He didn't like it. He also wanted to know why Rose had stared at the ship as though she had been terrified of it. Ghosts weren't exactly the scariest thing they'd faced.

"I don't like this place," Cade said.

Besides him, those present were Rose, Albert, Dart, Shana, and Meru.

"Neither do I," Albert said. "What is a Mille Seseau royal ship doing drifting around here?"

"Obviously being haunted," Cade said, gesturing at the balls of blue fire drifting through the air further down the hallway.

As if on cue, one spun toward them, streaking forward. Cade realized it was a burning sphere with an eye in the front of it, just before Rose split it in half. he heard a whistling behind them and spun, ripping his sword upward from its sheath with his left hand in time for the blade to block a scythe held by a grey ghost with a large, rounded upper body ending in a small wisp-like tail, an orange cloth around its neck with a pair of tails reaching backward, a skull, and a grey crown-like object on top of its head. As soon as he had blocked the scythe, he ducked, Dart's sword flashing over him and splitting its skull, the ghost fading from sight, as had the eyeball when Rose killed it. Cade drew his sword, grumbling under his breath.

"Come on," Dart said, continuing toward the end of the hallway.

Cade and the others followed, the group carving their way through several more flaming eyeballs before reaching the kitchen, which was destroyed. The tables were all smashed, the sinks were broken, and it looked like part of the deck might have collapsed into the room. However, the room was also empty. There were no flaming eyeballs, no ghost knights, no living skeletons, and no purple ghost in a top hat and with a cane who sent the skeletons after Shana.

"There's nothing here," Cade said. "And the other doors wouldn't open. Let's head back up to the deck. We still need to try the Captain's Quarters."

The others agreed and they made their way back along the hallway, again killing several flaming eyeballs and a couple more scythe-wielding ghosts before reaching the deck. They walked to the hallway leading to the captain's quarters, but as they stepped inside, they stopped as a ghost of a crewmember appeared.

"Captain, please open up!" the ghost pleaded. "Where are you, Captain?"

He turned, disappearing as he left the door, but when they moved to the end of the hallway to test the door, it was locked. They all headed back out onto the deck just in time for another crewmember's ghost to appear behind them. They spun, but it didn't seem hostile.

"Help me..." the ghost pleaded. "The bastard...the bastard is..." He trailed off, blood forming along his side. "I don't...want to...die! H...Help me!"

"What?" Dart asked, just as another spirit appeared behind them.

"We...cannot make it," the new ghost said, everyone turning to it. "We'll be killed by him! I don't want to die. H...Help."

"What are they talking about?" Dart asked.

"I think...they think they're still being attacked by whoever destroyed this ship," Cade said. "They don't know they're already dead."

"That's horrible!" Shana said. "I wish we could help them."

"It's too late to help them," Cade said. "They're already gone."

Shana nodded as they headed below deck again, for lack of a better idea. However, as they got there, they found one of the doors open. They walked through it and stopped, looking around. They were in a decently large bunk room, and there were bones scattered around, but the room was, once again, destroyed. The only thing of interest in the room, besides the bones, was a chest on the far side, which Dart walked toward.

"Really, Dart?" Cade asked. "On a haunted ship, you want to loot treasure? Don't you know hauntings are contagious?"

Dart ignored him, simply shaking his head, and opened the chest, only for the purple ghost they were looking for to fly out of it, stopping in the center of the room. Then, it laughed as it spun, the bones suddenly beginning to swarm into three piles, clacking against each other as they rose and formed three skeletons, each of which picked up a cutlass off the ground and had reformed wearing a suit of ancient, tattered armor. All three lunged, slashing instantly, Dart, Cade, and Rose each moving to deal with one as the ghost flew through the wall off to one side. Cade deflected several slashes before spinning past his skeleton's blade and splitting it up the middle, killing it again. At the same time, Rose stabbed her skeleton's skull, killing hers, and Dart blocked his skeleton's sword for Albert, who drove his spear into its skull.

"Come on!" Dart said, instantly running for the door. "If we kill that thing, maybe this ship won't be haunted anymore."

"It's not that powerful," Cade said as they all followed out the door into the hallway. "It's just a Magician Bogey. It causes trouble, but it's not strong enough to haunt an entire ship."

They ran into the next door, which was also open now, and again found bones and a chest. Dart walked toward it, drawing his sword, and kicked the chest open. As expected, the Magician Bogey shot out of the chest, avoiding Dart's sword, then spun, the bones forming a pair of skeletons, who instantly leapt at Cade and Albert, knocking both to the floor. Cade jerked his head to the right as the skeleton's sword stabbed into the ground before Meru's mallet crashed into it, shattering its skull and launching it off of him. He stood instantly and spun, slashing Albert's skeleton, killing it for him as well as Dart and Rose were struggling to hit the Magician Bogey. It was streaking out of their way constantly, smacking them with its cane whenever it got the chance, and while it was able to land a solid hit, neither were in serious danger. When the Magician Bogey noticed that it was alone, it shot through the wall again.

"That thing's more annoying than the ones I've killed before," Rose said.

"They do feed off negative energy, which this entire ship is drowning in," Cade pointed out.

"True," Rose said.

"Come on," Dart said. "One room left."

"Thank God," Cade said. "Almost done with this ship."

"Agreed," Rose nodded as they headed into the hallway again and returned to the kitchen.

As they walked in, three Magician Bogeys suddenly shot out of the floor around them, laughing. However, Cade was growing tired of this game.

"We're surrounded," Dart said.

"Cover your eyes," Cade said, swiping his glowing fingers through the air. Rays of light, each a different color, suddenly shone from above them, dozens of them, all swirling and swinging around. The others all covered their eyes against the suddenly blinding light around them as the Magician Bogeys shrieked and tried in vain to avoid the light, which burned any part of their bodies that the light touched into ash. Then, as the light faded, Cade shot toward one of the three, slashing it up the middle as Rose slashed another and Shana shot the last. All three faded from view with a shriek of anguish and they all looked around, waiting for something else to attack, only for nothing to happen. They all sheathed their weapons just as a ball of fire rose into the center of the room.

"I have a favor to ask you," the ball of fire spoke in a tired, wheezing voice. "Please come to the captain's cabin."

Then, the ball of fire went out. Cade groaned. He didn't want to go there, he wanted to go back to the Queen Fury. But, the others headed for the captain's cabin, so he followed.

"You act like you're scared," Meru said.

"I'm not scared," Cade said. "I just have a really bad feeling about this ship. I can sense the shadows of untimely deaths, along with the fear and pain accompanying them. this ship is like a beacon of negativity, and it's grating on my nerves."

"Sooo...you're scared," Meru said.

Cade groaned. "Let's just hurry."

They reached the hallway to the captain's cabin again only for a dozen fireballs to appear in the way, flying at them. Cade and Rose stepped forward, slaughtering their way through them, Cade shifting his sword back and forth between his hands as necessary and Rose transitioning between both hands and holding it in standard and reverse grip, a skill Cade had never actually mastered. Within moments the path was clear and they walked into the cabin, finding it, like everything else, destroyed. On the back wall was a huge portrait of a woman holding a child, which Meru guessed was a queen. Just then, the door closed behind them, all of them turning to it.

"The door closed by itself," Dart noted.

"We're doomed," Cade groaned.

"Please, help me!" a voice behind them moaned, all of them spinning and seeing a transparent chair this time, only for it to turn and reveal the captain's ghost, now as a full body rather than a fireball. "He killed...the crew...nanny...knights...me...and the newborn princess. Him...the Black...Monster!"

"What!?" Dart gasped, stepping forward. "This was done by the Black Monster, too!?"

"We couldn't protect...the princess," the captain said. "So we couldn't finish dying." He bowed from his chair. "Please destroy the fear. Please send the souls of the knights to rest."

Then, he screamed suddenly as he vanished. Cade swallowed hard, looking around at the others. Dart was as angry as ever at the mention of the Black Monster, Shana seemed worried, Meru was confused, Albert seemed to be lost in thought, and Rose seemed to be even more lost in thought. However, she was also guarded, even more so than usual.

"There's something on the floor," Meru said, walking over to the object and interrupting Dart's rant about the Black Monster. "It's a key!"

"It's probably the skeleton key for the ship," Cade said. "Have we found any doors we didn't enter?"

"There was one on the deck, by the stairs," Shana said. "It's the only one, I think."

"Good," Cade said. "We're almost done here, then."

The others nodded in agreement and they all quickly headed back to the deck. However, as they reached it, they stopped as one of the knights' ghosts appeared off to the side. They all turned toward him as he drew his sword.

"We won't give you Princess Louvia!" he shouted, then streaked toward Rose.

"Rose!" Cade said, but she made no move to defend herself, and before he could, the ghost reached her, only to shout in agony and recoil as if struck, then disappear.

Cade stopped, staring, brow furrowing in confusion. Another knight appeared behind her, also drawing his sword.

"We'll protect her even if it costs our lives!" this one shouted.

It also moved to attack her, only to once again act as though it were struck by something and vanish.

"After counting one hundred eight years, when the Moon That Never Sets glows red, a Moon Child descends upon the world with holy bliss," Albert recited, repeating Fester's words to them. "However, what was actually brought was the child of destruction, the Black Monster. We are witnessing a tragedy from the past."

"It's awful," Shana said. "Why did it have to do this?"

"The Black Monster!" Dart spat. "How much does he have to kill before he satisfies himself!?"

"Stop it!" Rose snapped suddenly, Cade looking over at her and seeing anguish in her eyes before she quickly hid it.

His gut dropped instantly.

You never know what someone might have done. And you can never know what will or will not change about the way you see them until you know.

"Sorry," Rose said, facing away from them now. "What was I thinking? Let's move on." She turned to Shana. "You want to know, don't you?"

Shana nodded and they all turned, walking to the locked door. Cade opened it with the key and stepped through, holding it open for the others before shutting it and looking around at the room. It was a large open room with another door off tot he left side and no furniture, broken or otherwise, anywhere in the room. Cade walked over to the door and tried the handle, only to find it locked. Suddenly, a ghost knight appeared off to the side, this one having a red warrior's tail on the back of his helmet.

He glared at Rose. "You, Black Monster."

"How dare you come here, pursuing Princess Louvia!?" another ghost knight said, appearing in the corner opposite the ghost captain.

"But, as long as we are here with her, we are not going to give her up!" a third said, appearing in another corner as everyone moved to the center of the room, drawing their weapons.

"We are not the Black Monster!" Dart shouted. "We are-"

"How dare you, Monster!?" another knight said, appearing. "Using human words to fool us!"

"Unforgivable!" a fifth knight said, appearing in front of the door they entered through. "Even if it costs me my life, I won't give up our Princess Louvia!"

Then, all five of them charged at Rose. Cade shot forward, deflecting two of their swords as Rose blocked one, Albert blocked one, and Dart blocked one. Cade slashed one of the two he stopped and Meru slammed her hammer into the other, throwing him, but neither showed any real sign of being hurt. At the same time, the other three each shoved their enemies' swords away and struck them as well, only for them to likewise be uninjured. Cade's charged again, slashing at him rapidly, and he deflected several slashes before stepping forward and splitting it up the front. Again, there was no clear sign he'd hurt it, even when he followed up the slash with half a dozen more. He retreated back to the others as Meru smashed several more away.

"Kill the Black Monster!" the captain, Cade's opponent, shouted.

Suddenly, all four of the others shot into the air before streaking down at Rose from above. Rose turned toward them, only for Cade to fly up into their path, deflecting their slashes and sending them all away from her. As they stopped, he, Dart, Albert, and Rose each charged one of the four basic ones. The captain moved to attack, only to recoil as Shana shot it in the face with an arrow. Cade knocked his opponent's sword aside and slashed it down across the chest, then spun, slashing diagonally back upward in the other direction. It retreated from him but he shot forward, slashing it horizontally across the abdomen, then vertically up the middle. He spun as soon as his blade was free of it and stabbed it in the face. Finally, it shouted in pain, recoiling and vanishing, as the two at the top of the stairs had when they toughed Rose. He turned to look at her as Rose tore into her ghost knight rapidly, blade held in reverse grip. After the fifth slash, she pivoted, switching hands and stabbed it in the chest before grabbing it with her right hand in standard grip and spun, ripping the sword out then slashing the ghost as she finished her spin. At the same time, Dart finished a long string of slashes by slashing diagonally across his ghost's chest and Albert stabbed his spear down through his ghost knight at the end of the same combo he'd tried on Doel. Both ghost knights shouted in pain and vanished.

"Princess?" the captain called out suddenly. "Princess!"

Shana ran over to stand in front of it suddenly. "It's over! There is no Black Monster! Oh please, please don't suffer anymore!"

"You...You are..." the ghost trailed off, staring at her, then sheathed its sword, drifting closer, only for Shana to stagger backward in surprise and fear. "Thank God...you made it...Princess Louvia." He held his arm across his chest and bowed forward, drifting backward as he faded.

"W-Wait!" Shana called out, but it was too late. She held her hands to her face "Is there still something that I don't know about?"

Dart walked over, setting a hand on her shoulder, unsure of what else to do, or what to say. Just as he did, however, the other door opened. Without knowing what else to do, they walked through the door, only for the door to close and a crib on the far side of the room to begin rocking. Then, the ghost of an older woman appeared, beginning to drift around the room.

"Princess Louvia," the ghost of the Nanny said. "She was still young. If she wasn't a princess of Mille Seseau this wouldn't have happened."

"Princess of Mille Seseau?" Shana asked, walking over to the ghost.

"Oh my, you are..." the ghost trailed off, staring at Shana in shock, "alive. Oh lord...it was not in vain! I have been wandering for eighteen years and longing for you! I can now end everything. I can go to the place where everyone is." Then, she was gone.

"Wait!" Shana called out. "What kind of relationship do I have to this person!?"

In place of an answer, the door opened again and the cradle slowed to a stop. Then, the ship began to shake violently, slowly beginning to list heavily to one side.

"The ship is sinking!" Dart shouted.

Everyone turned, sprinting for the door. They all sprinted for the Queen Fury, heading for one of the metal spikes they could cross on. Albert reached it first but waited for the others. Shana was next, then Meru, then Cade. Finally, Rose and Dart caught up. Albert crossed but just as Rose and Dart jumped onto the spike, the ghost ship tore free, the sudden lurch of the Queen Fury being returned to its normal weight throwing Dart off the spike. Rose dropped, catching Dart by the hand and clinging to the spike.

"Rose!" Cade shouted, moving to help, only for a crate off to the side to crash down in front of him, making him leap backward.

"Rose, let go!" Dart shouted. "You gotta live!"

"No!" Rose shouted. "I won't let go! I will never let it happen again!"

Cade sprinted around the crate just as he heard the splash. Then, he moved to leap off the edge, only for Kongol and Meru to catch his arms.

"Not safe," Kongol said. "Sinking ship will pull you down too."

"Even you can't fly underwater!" Meru said.

Cade ignored them, spreading his wings and struggling to break free, both struggling to hold him. As he did, Commodore Puler, the commander of the ship, scrambled to get a life raft, Albert helping, but Cade didn't care. It'd be too late by the time they got it in the water. Rose needed help now. Cade pleaded with the two of them to let him go, but before they could even answer to refuse, Haschel's fist crashed into his gut, dropping him to his knees. His head spun and his vision began to fade in and out, but he began to struggle to his feet anyway.

"Rose!" he groaned, staggering and falling to his knees. "I...have to save...Rose."

"You cannot save anyone diving in without thinking like this," Haschel said, then slammed a chop into the side of Cade's neck, managing to knock him out this time.


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