Albert awoke to the sounds of excited voices shouting underneath him on the deck. At first all that he could see was black. He lifted his head from the floorboards of the Crow's Nest and glanced toward the body next to him. Rose was on her stomach as well, her breathing calm, her muscles tensed slightly. He pushed himself up off of the ground, groaning. All of his muscles were tired and sleep seemed like a blissful escape from all of the chaos going on below. He remembered the ship hitting them. How could anyone not have seen their vessel? 'The night lamps were burning on deck. Our flags were raised.' he surmised.

"Rose?"

She lifted her head. She was wide awake. Why hadn't she gotten up though? "You are uninjured, I take it?" she said strongly.

He nodded. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine." She stood up, checking herself over quickly just to make sure. "We had better get down there and find out what exactly happened." She ran to the ladder and hastily began down.

Frowning, he stood up, shaking his head of the lasting cobwebs. She hadn't thanked him. He looked over at the mystery ship. The battered wood along the hull looked many years old and there were several cracks here and there. Barnacles laced the starboard side of the ship, like a large pale green blanket. The thing barely looked sea-worthy. He moved to the ladder and climbed down. Once inside the safety of the cabin, he ran to his own room and searched for his glaive. It had rolled partially under the bed from the force of the crash. Snagging it, he ran out to the deck.

He appeared just as Commander Puler had finished ordering his men to return to their stations. He now stood as close to the railing as he could, staring at the massive structure that had penetrated their vessel. Long spikes, jutting out from the side of the mystery ship had punctured several places along the bow of the Queen Fury. One rested along the deck, only having scraped up a few top boards. Kongol was also there, studying the ship with his head cocked, one great hand gripping his axe. No one else had turned up yet. 'Where has Rose gone?'

Albert turned his attention back toward the ship. He could make out a symbol along the side of the vessel. "There is a heraldry. It looks like a royal ship of Mille Seseau." 'This could be bad.' he thought to himself, frowning. 'What if something has happened to Queen Theresa and the Sacred Sisters?'

Meru sprang out of nowhere, running over to where Commander Puler stood. Her eyes were alight with curiosity. "Is this a phantom ship?" she questioned eagerly.

"Oh boy!"

He turned his head as Dart strolled in, stopping next to him. There was something in his voice that told Albert that the young mercenary was keen to investigate as well. He wasn't so sure that he wanted to know what had happened on this boat, or why they'd crashed into the Queen Fury. Certainly a ship with so many holes and with such old brittle wood had not been still afloat out in the middle of the bay. It was absurd. He shrugged his shoulders. He'd seen stranger things in his time though.

"Commodore! Bad news!" a little voice said. Kayla came clomping up the stairs from inside the vessel, breathing hard. She stopped in front of them, heaving air. "It got the engine room."

As Puler began ordering Kayla, Albert turned, searching for Rose. Why had she disappeared? He'd come down right after her. For some reason, he felt like he'd done the wrong thing by trying to protect her. He stared at his boots. He probably had. 'Rose is a seasoned warrior who can defend herself. She doesn't need a young king to protect her. She's used to fighting dragons, for Soa's sake.' He shook his head.

"We cannot pursue Lenus like this!" Dart shook his head, stepping closer to Puler.

The Commander's mouth formed a straight line. "Sometimes the ocean shows it capriciously, but I have never seen such a thing." He looked toward the retreating Kayla who was just disappearing back downstairs. "Wait for a while. There is nothing we can do now."

From across the deck, Rose finally appeared, her brows furrowed as she grew nearer to the ship. By the time she had finally reached the group, her eyes had grown wide and seemed shocked. Albert took a shivering breath. Was she okay? Had she been hurt after all? She didn't say anything to him, only kept her eyes on the phantom vessel. Dart seemed to have noticed it too and had turned in her direction.

As Albert took a step toward her, Haschel's voice echoed out over the deck. "Dart! Daaart!"

Both men turned toward him as he came running up to them, huffing frantically. "Dart! I can't find Shana anywhere!"

As Haschel finished his sentence, a loud shriek pierced the odd silence around them. The party turned toward the phantom ship. Dart had already started running, hopping onto the spike on the deck and using it as a bridge to get over to the ship. "Shana!" he called.

Meru quickly drew her hammer and jumped onto the spike staying at Dart's heels. Albert's own concern for Shana made him sprint forward too and he took off, leaving Rose behind. "Wait!" he swore he heard her shout, even as he reached the deck on the other side and followed Meru and Dart around the cabins.

As he rounded the next corner, he heard Dart's sword unsheath from his scabbard. Albert rose his lance but found no assailants in the vicinity. Shana was backed against a cabin door, crouching. Dart was standing protectively in front of her. Meru stood back a little, her hammer drawn up as well.

"Shana!! Why did you come here?" Dart asked, slipping the blade back into his scabbard. Albert let the glaive drop to his side and glanced about the ship. The wooden boards of the deck appeared weak in some places. Gaseous blue swirls slipped across the deck, vanishing beneath the floor and behind walls. What were these things? His eyes followed them with uncertainty.

"I don't know." Shana muttered, picking herself up hesitantly. "When I woke up, I was in here. But those knights protected me."

Albert frowned. 'Knights? What knights?' Could it have been what Dart and Meru had seen before he'd turned the corner?

"They…are gone though." Shana finished, stepping closer to Dart. Albert watched the fear in her large brown irises dissipate a little as she got nearer to the red armored warrior.

"At least you are safe and sound." The sudden noises of footsteps startled him. He glanced to his left to see Rose, Haschel, and Kongol all rounding the cabin. Rose appeared distraught by the alien surroundings but spoke nothing of it. She held the hilt of her rapier defensively while her eyes flickered over their surroundings. He edged toward her. He only got one small step in before his mind returned to him and he stopped, dead in his tracks. 'What are you trying to do?' He dropped his eyes to the deck. 'You are not her knight in shining armor.' he reminded himself.

"Come on, come on!" Meru jumped forward, seizing Dart's arm. "We're here already so we might as well just take some tour here!"

Dart pulled his arm back, his eyes widening. "No way!"

Shana reached toward him and grabbed his other arm. This time he didn't pull away. Albert glanced over at Rose. 'I wonder if she will ever grab me in that way.'

"I want to go too." Shana said. "I don't know why, but I want to know about this ship. Oh, please!"

Rose was frowning now. He'd known her long enough so that he could tell she was not in favor of their investigating. But something else was the matter. Was it something about this ship in particular that was bothering her? Did she know of it? Had she been a passenger on board once?

"We'll go with them." he decided, eliciting a sharp turn of the head from Rose. He looked at her, brows raised. "Then, it won't be a problem."

With Shana's sparkling eyes and sincere stare, there was no way that Dart would refuse and Albert wasn't in the least bit surprised when he gave in. "Okay, but if anything happens, we've got to go back."

Shana nodded. Dart turned and stared at Meru firmly.

She disregarded it. "Whoohoo! Let's go!"