Albert thrust his glaive forward at the ghastly attacker. The tip of metal sliced through where the knights ribs should have been. He'd expected to hear bones crunching and flesh shearing. Instead, the ghost disappeared with an echoing groan.
There was a noise similar to bubbles and Albert turned around to notice that another knight had drawn its sword behind them. "We'll protect her even if it costs our lives!" He, too, started forward.
Rose was quick and drew her shadow cutter. It didn't even touch the ghost, but he too vanished with a groan as if he'd been run through.
The three of them waited for several seconds expecting more to show up. When none did, Rose sheathed her sword and Albert dropped his lance. Why had they attacked Rose? Surely, the ghosts were deranged. After all, they'd been killed violently it seemed on board the vessel protecting someone. A princess. He'd never heard of Princess Louvia before. Who was she? And what did she mean to the Mille Seseau Royal Family? He'd have to ask the next time he went there. He wasn't sure when that would be. He first had to avenge Lavitz. And it could take months, perhaps years to track down his killer.
"Are you all right?" he asked Rose.
"Their blades were spectral. They couldn't have done damage if they had wished to." Her tough demeanor was back. He felt something inside of him die. He'd missed his opportunity.
"We'd better get moving before they return." Haschel advised.
"Hmm." Albert shook his head. "It seems as if we're witnessing a tragedy from the past."
Rose didn't give any input. She scanned their dark, dank surroundings carefully.
They moved to the door and Rose gave the handle a squeeze. "This also appears to be jammed."
Footsteps clomped on the deck and the group turned to see Dart and the others approaching quickly. Rose stood tall, once again the leader of the expedition. Albert felt his insides shrink. He was a man. Why did he feel so insignificant next to her?
"Rose, Albert, Haschel." Shana called as the other group finally joined them, "Are you all okay?"
"We saw what happened from a distance." Dart added. "It seems that the ghosts on this ship are eager for us to leave."
"Their hostility is a clear indication of that." Albert said, standing back a little ways from Rose. He noticed her half turn as he did it but she turned her full attention back to Dart.
"Were you able to find out any information on the vessel's history?" she asked.
Dart nodded. "The Captain gave us a pretty detailed summary."
Haschel's eyes widened. "The dead captain?"
"Of course the dead captain, silly!" Meru shouted.
Dart dropped his eyes to the deck, and Albert noticed a darkness pass over his expression. "He said it was… the black monster…"
A chill passed over Albert as the name escaped Dart's lips. The black monster again; the same ageless foe who burned Dart's village to the ground when he was a child, the same creature that came to torture the world, cause mayhem, feed on bloodshed and death …
The words of the ancient story came to Albert and he was saying them before he had control of himself. "After counting 108 years, when the Moon That Never Sets glows red, a moon child descends upon the earth, to fill the world with holy bliss.'"
The others looked at him.
"However," he continued, "what was actually brought was the child of destruction, the Black Monster." He looked at Rose as he reiterated, "We are witnessing a tragedy from the past."
Rose's stance stiffened and she was staring in a different direction. Her expression seemed hard.
"It's awful." Shana whispered. "Why did it have to do this?"
Dart growled. "The Black Monster! How much does he have to kill before he satisfies himself!"
Rose whirled around, her hair fanning through the air. "Stop it!"
Her fury stung Albert like needles and he actually had to stop breathing for a moment to gather his courage. Dart, too, looked like he'd received a slap across the face. Haschel, Meru, and Kongol had taken a few steps back and were cautiously watching the dark warrior. Shana's face had fallen into concern. Dart's looked incredulous.
"Sorry." Rose said after a few moments, embarrassment edged into her tone. "What was I thinking?"
Dart opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but no sound came.
"Let's move on." Rose turned toward the room ahead of them. "You want to know, don't you?"
Albert gauged Dart's mood as they moved to the still locked door. He still seemed angered and why shouldn't he have been. Rose had just defended the actions of the Black Monster, a vile animal who detested all life and sought to bring pain and misery to all it touched. What could her reason have been?
This time, there was no reason not to break through the locked door. Kongol swung his axe over his head and delivered a thundering crunch to the wooden panel. It caved in along with some of the wall. As he scratched his head and murmured, "Kongol break whole wall by accident," the rest of them stepped through the rubble.
Inside, was what looked like a child's room. Blankets of variegated blues hung on the walls as well as ocean and ice colored tapestries and other textile artwork. All seemed to depict images of a tall leaning tower, much like the Crystal Palace in Mille Sesau. Though the images meant nothing to Albert, he knew that this Princess Louvia must have been a part of Mille Sesau's aristocracy at some point. The name was unfamiliar to him though. He knew of four Sacred Sisters and their queen, Theresa, who lived in the Crystal Tower; no one else.
All of a sudden, Shana gasped.
The transparent forms of five guards materialized out of the air. Albert rose his spear but knew that it wouldn't help. Perhaps they would just disappear like they had the first time.
The first knight swung his sword angrily at Rose, who backed out of the way in time. Albert's knees shook as he tried to keep himself from running to her defense. Instead, someone else did.
Dart leapt forward, protecting her. "Watch out, Rose!"
"You, Black Monster…" the knight snarled.
Another knight moved forward. "How dare you come here, pursuing Princess Louvia!"
Shana cowered, suddenly alone next to an oblivious Meru. The blue haired woman was too busy guarding their flank.
Albert carefully moved toward her. "It's alright." he whispered. "Dart will get them to leave."
Shana nodded. "I fear for Rose. Why do they target her?"
Albert frowned. He looked at Rose, noticed her discomfort, the sudden tremble in her lip. "I do not know."
"But, as long as we are here with her, we are not going to give her up." a third knight announced.
Dart held his sword high. "We are not the Black Monster! We are…"
A fourth knight barked at him. "How dare you, monster, using human words to fool us."
The fifth knight looked sickened in his anger. "Unforgivable. Even if it costs my life, I won't give up Princess Louvia!"
All of the knights charged.
Dart was ready even if Albert wasn't. He watched Dart stab forward at one of them and it vanished with a scream. Likewise behind them, Meru's hammer smashed through one's skull and it, too, disappeared with a shout of pain.
He could hear Haschel exhaling as he delivered a series of choreographed jabs and hooks to a similar knight. One got around Meru, who had jumped out of the way of Kongol's axe coming down on the fourth. The last one charged at Shana.
She screamed, the bow clutched in her hand but not poised for attack.
Albert swung his glaive back. With all of his muscles, he pulled the weapon forward through the air, feeling the air pull against it as he watched the metal tip glisten beneath the moonlight. It split the air between Shana and the knight. The opponent fell short of the strike and wailed as it fell to its knees.
As he pushed in front of Shana, he noticed the knight's head had tilted up to stare at her and in a whisper, it said, "Thank god. You made it, Princess Louvia." Then the vaporous form was gone.
What had that knight been talking about? Why did it suddenly recognize Shana?
Albert turned to the White Silver Dragoon and noticed the gratefulness in her eyes. He felt a clap on his shoulder and turned to see spiky blonde hair just outside his peripheral vision.
"Thank you." Dart said as he moved into view, stepping close to Shana.
Shana was shaking her head. "I… I don't know what happened. I just… froze, I guess."
"There's no need to try and explain." Haschel said from nearby. "Fear is a common feeling in this situation, believe me."
"Yeah!" Meru chirped. "They're ghosts for crying out loud. Not your every day dragon or thief!"
"Is there something happening that I don't understand…?" Shana began.
Albert had begun walking away. Rose had moved out of his sight. As he rounded the group, he found her standing near a crib, her gaze painfully empty.
"Princess Louvia. She was still young." A voice said nearby.
Albert turned to notice another figure sitting in a chair by the crib. Her body was hunched over, a shawl draped around her shoulders. She looked older, careworn creases lining her face.
Rose took a step back, inadvertently running into Albert. She barely seemed to notice the interaction however. Her eyes were fixed on the old woman.
Albert took a deep breath. Her fragrance was intoxicating. It almost made him forget the place he was now standing, the tragedy of what they were witnessing, the ghost still in front of them. He cleared his throat.
Rose spun around, as if noticing him for the first time. She quickly shifted to the left just out of his way.
The old woman was still babbling more under her breath than to them. "… If… wasn't… princess… Mille Seseau… happened…"
"The Princess of Mille Seseau?" Shana parroted. She had come around to join them, Dart standing protectively nearby.
The ghost lifted her head and her vacant eyes filled with relief. "Oh… my. You are…? Alive." The old woman turned her head toward the sky, her hands clasped together. "Oh thank god, it was not in vain."
"What wasn't in vain?" Dart asked.
The old woman ignored him. "I have been wandering for 18 years and longing for you. I can now end everything. I can go to the place everyone is." She began melting into nothing, turning the same color as the grey ship.
"Wait!" Shana called, jumping forward a little. "What kind of relationship do I have to this person?"
But the ghost didn't hear her and in moments, was gone.
Just as Albert thought they finally had a quiet moment, he felt the ground quake beneath him. He widened his legs to keep his balance. He heard Meru topple over behind him with a grunt.
Shana screamed behind him.
"The ship is sinking!" Dart exclaimed. "Move everyone! Back to the Queen Fury!"
Spinning around, Albert crouched down and grabbed Meru, hefting her off the ground.
"It's fine, Al!" she shouted. "I can go by myself!"
He didn't seem to notice as she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. He was too busy keeping his eyes out for Rose. She was behind him somewhere.
They piled out of the hole that Kongol had made and rounded a corner, running for the spire that had fallen to connect the ships. The wood beneath them snapped and crackled, rumbling in Albert's ears. The wooden deck below him trembled, throwing them all back and forth between the central cabin and the starboard side of the ship. His boots slid along the slippery deck as they rocked toward the edge. Digging his fingers into a crack between the boards gave him enough time to regain his footing, and he rejoined the others.
Ahead, he saw the spike that connected the ships beginning to give way. "Everyone! Hurry up!" he called back to them.
His feet carried him quickly over the spike after Kongol and he heard a light slap of women's boots behind him. He leapt onto the deck of the Queen Fury and turned to help Rose off. But it wasn't Rose.
Shana grabbed his hand instead and leapt down. Both of them turned back to the ghost ship. Meru was just making her way off of the spike and Rose was now climbing onto it, with Dart bringing up the rear. "Let's go! We're the last ones!" he was shouting.
Albert's heart rate jumped as he watched the wooden spire give way and begin to fall. He ran to the ledge, his gloved hand reaching out to grab Rose's. She, too, reached out but after a split second, she turned around and her hand found Dart's. The spire dropped out from under them and Rose and Dart began plummeting.
Albert lunged up over the side of the Queen Fury, his hands clenching around Rose's available one as she and Dart continued to fall. The weight yanked him forward and he felt his feet lift off of the deck. Panic overtook him as he realized he couldn't pull them both up by himself.
Something anchored his legs, keeping his body in place, half straddled over the ledge. His arm continued forward and he felt it sear as his wrist popped suddenly. He screamed and his instinct made him open the injured hand. Rose and Dart dropped a little further under him, their bodies highlighted by the churning ocean and the crumbling ship below.
"Dart!" Shana yelled from somewhere above him.
Albert shouted at Rose. "I can't hold you both!"
Dart was also yelling at her. "Rose! Let go! You gotta live!"
Rose ignored Albert, keeping her face turned toward Dart. Her fingers were slipping from within his gloved palm. "No! I won't let go! I won't let it happen again!"
A second later, Albert felt nothing but air in his fingers. All thought completely eluded him as he watched Dart's red armor and Rose's delicate shapes vanish into the turbulence below.
It was impossible to breathe. He wasn't even sure if he'd actually seen it. He didn't want to believe it but he felt the ache in his heart, the same when Lavitz had died, overcome him in full force.
Someone was pulling him back onto the boat and he could hear someone else shouting, "Rose! Dart! Rose!"
When his feet touched the deck, his legs went limp and he collapsed to his knees.
"Albert!" Shana said, rushing to him.
The king glanced up, realizing that Kongol had been the one holding him. Someone was still shouting her name frantically, insanely. But he couldn't recognize the voice.
"Albert!" Shana yelled, pushing his face so that he looked at her. "They're gone!"
As the words sank in, a pain settled into his throat. And the realization dawned on him. It had been him shouting. But it hadn't sounded like his voice.
"Commander Puler, pull out a life raft!" Haschel called nearby, still peering over the side of the ship.
Puler shook his head regretfully. "We can't while the sea is this rough. We may kill them if we try to drop a life raft." He shook his head. "At any rate, the weather is far too dangerous and the ship is collapsing into the sea. They are probably…"
"They are not!" Shana snapped, standing. "Dart said he wouldn't leave me!" She crumpled beside Albert and heaved a large breath. "Not like this."
Albert tried to reach over and comfort her. As he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, his wrist stung and he pulled it away, uttering a curse.
"Al, are you okay?" Meru said.
The pain and the sadness were too much. They cascaded through his system like a whirlpool, circling and circling, never growing tired of the wear they caused. He shook his head, though his face never showed the agony.
"Get those two inside!" Puler ordered to the nearby sailors. "Kayla, get us away from that ship. It's liable to tear a hole through us again!"
"Aye, sir!" The young girl ran off.
Albert felt two arms lift him to his feet and as they escorted him below decks, he recalled that look of intense fear that had been in Rose's eyes before she'd turned back and grabbed Dart's hand. The more and more he thought about it, the more he began to realize something. Dart had stayed behind to be the last one off of the ship. But not for Shana; for Rose. Dart had jumped in to protect her when the knight had tried to hurt her, he had been traveling with Rose since before Albert had joined the group.
He sat down in the infirmary, his head awash with the painful realization. Dart was in love with Rose. And her last effort to save him, proved that she had feelings for him as well.