Faster than they would have liked, the three days ended and the pirates reboarded the ship and they set sail. The twins were quite revealed to have their own clothes and not have to wear the horrible smelling rags they had been using until then.
However, shortly after pulling out of the harbor, the ship was attacked.
Feliciano, up in the crows nest, spotted a ship coming from a long distance away. Not knowing what else to do, he climbed down to the deck and went to find Ludwig. Entering the navigation room and seeing the tall blonde, he spoke shyly, his voice and eyes directed at the ground, unable to bring himself to look the German vampire in the eye after when he had done.
"U-Um, there is a ship coming towards us," the Italian reported. "I think they're about a hundred miles out, but i-it looks like they're m-moving pretty quickly towards us. I-I didn't remember what to do so I came down and found you so you would know and I'll just leave you alone now, bye!" The last part was rushed and he spun around to run back out the door, not wanting to stay in the same room as the German longer than he needed to.
Unfortunately, before he could move even a single step, Ludwig's hand snapped out and grabbed him by the back of his collar. "Hold it. Where you do think you're going?" The German growled, his eyes narrowing more. "You were going to run, weren't you?" he spat, misunderstanding the Italian's movements. "You spineless coward. How can you call yourself a man? If your ship and crew is in danger then you stay and fight with everything you got! Understand?
Feliciano whimpered and shook in Ludwig's hold, his eyes wide and fear-filled. "I-I wasn't going to run away!" he cried. "I was going t-to go back to my p-place in the basket thing!" He was so scared of what Ludwig was going to do, the name of his new work station fled his mind.
"You will fight whether you want to or not! Now go get yourself armed for battle!"
"B-But I hate f-fighting..." the werewolf whimpered again.
Hearing this, Ludwig gave him a cold glare then grabbed him and threw him back into the desk. "Then stay in here, coward! And stay out of our way!" He slammed and locked the door, then stormed off to prepare.
When the navigator was gone, Feliciano allowed his tears to fall freely and he trembled as he pushed himself to his feet and crept to the small window on the door, peeking out to see what was going on.
"W-What the hell is going on, you bastard?" Lovino demanded as he ran up to Antonio. "And what's that shit about another ship coming towards us?!"
The Spaniard, who had been issuing order to the crewmen after having been informed by Ludwig if what Feliciano had seen, turned towards the elder Italian twin. "We're getting into battle stations, Lovi," he said. "The ship coming after us is an enemy. I don't know if from the government or from a rival crew, but either way, we're in for a hard fight."
Lovino tensed up then nodded. "What the hell should I do?"
"Can you fight?"
"I've… never used a sword before…"
Antonio frowned, but nodded. "Then you need to find a safe place out of the way. Don't get engaged in any battles. I don't really want you to die. And don't argue with me either," he added when the Italian opened his mouth. "I don't care how strong you are, if you can't fight with some kind of weapon, you're a liability. Someone will get distracted trying to help you and you'll both end up dead. Let's avoid that at all cost, si?"
Lovino grumbled but nodded. "So where the hell do I go?"
"Hide in either my office or the navigation room. Until the end of the fight, no one will go into either of those rooms. You should be safe in there. Just keep your head down and your mouth shut and no one should find you. Got it?"
Lovino nodded in reply. "Right!" Then he ran off for Antonio's office.
Antonio watched him leave, then grabbed Ludwig's arm as the German teen started past him. "Where is Feliciano?" he asked.
Ludwig frowned, then answered, "He was a coward. I locked him in the navigation room so he would be out of the way and not cause any trouble. Is that alright with you, captain?"
The Spaniard frowned back. "I just sent Lovino to hide because he does not know how to fight using any weapons. Does Feliciano know how to fight and was simply being a coward, or does he really not know how to use a blade?"
"I'm not sure, either way. But his actions did prove to be cowardly sir."
"You failed to ask the important question, Ludwig. Why was he acting like that? Why was he trying to run? Maybe there is a hidden reason that you did not take the time to find out. After we win this battle, you're apologizing to him."
"J-Ja….. I understand, sir. I'll make sure to do that," Ludwig answered just before the boat rocked harshly from side to side as a cannon ball just barely missed the ship.
Antonio turned to the rest of the crew. "Battle stations, men! Now! Fire the cannons! Prepare to be boarded!"
The crew jumped up and started running all over to do their tasks, and soon, the air was filled with the sound of cannon fire and the clash of swords.
In the navigation room, Feliciano flinched when he heard the the cannons. He may have fought before, but he had only ever killed monsters. These were just other people. He couldn't bring himself to hurt a human. He braced himself against the door and peeked out, his eyes darting around the battle scene, looking for Lovino and Ludwig.
Right outside the door, Ludwig was in a particularly harsh battle with a large man who seemed to almost be a giant in size, tattoos covering him everywhere, and who was fast enough to keep up with the vampire.
Feliciano watched the fight with wide, terrified eyes, gripping the door frame tightly.
Ludwig went to lunge but the man dodged and aimed his own sword at Ludwig, clipping him in the shoulder and leaving a bloody cut.
The Italian gasped in fear and covered his mouth, frozen in place.
Ludwig grunted with pain and went to attack again, only to have his sword kicked out of his hand as the man went in for the kill.
Feliciano screamed and rammed his body into the door, shattering the thick wood into thousands of splinters as he sprang from the room snarling and growling, his eyes glowing bright gold. He plowed into the man and slammed him to the ground, his teeth elongating to fangs, his nails turning into claws. Uncontrollable rage build inside the Italian and his form shifted, changing to a more wolf like appearance than human.
"F-Feliciano….?" Ludwig gasped in surprise as he forced himself to his feet.
The Italian shook with his fury. When the man beneath him screamed and tried to hit him, Feliciano sank his teeth deep into his arm, tearing off a large piece of the man's flesh, causing the giant under him to shriek louder.
Jumping back into the fight, Ludwig snatched up his fallen sword, then kicked the man to the side of the ship.
Feliciano stuck close to Ludwig's side, clawing at biting at anything that came to close to the German. The attackers began to target him, as he was easily one of the more dangerous fighters on the ship, but also one of the most vulnerable.
One fighter managed to get in a lucky hit, knocking Feliciano back onto the ground, away from Ludwig. He was instantly surrounded and attacked on all sides. He howled in pain as the swords sliced into his skin. There were to many to fight by himself.
In the next second, Lovino jumped out of seemingly nowhere with a sword in his hand, and with a loud snarl and glowing gold eyes, began slashing through the men surrounding his brother with the ferocity and viciousness of a true pirate.
When half the men had been cleared, Feliciano threw himself back into the fight.
Lovino laughed as he shot Feliciano a glance. "Fun, huh? Come on! Let's show these assholes who's fucking boss!" he cackled before slashing at a man then kicking him back.
Feliciano growled in response. He was not having fun, but he wasn't going to just sit around and let the people he loved be hurt. So he fought on.
When the battle finally ended, Antonio's crew emerged victorious.
Antonio kicked a body over the side of his ship into the ocean, then turned to survey the condition to his own men. "Francis, damage report," he ordered.
"The main mast is still standing but needs repairs. We'll have to stop and get it fixed. So far, men wise, we have injuries but no deaths. We also had a small fire in the kitchen that has been put out. Some of the men are working on cleaning it now."
"Good. Any prisoners?"
"Non. Either they escaped or they were killed."
"Excellent." Antonio looked around at his men, then raised his voice so they all could hear. "Well fought, men! You were all brave and strong! I am happy to report we have lost none of our own this day! The enemy dared not to stay! Tonight, we celebrate!"
This news was greeted with a joyful roar of approval from the crew. They began to clean the ship then, some scrubbing the blood from the deck, others going to begin temporary repairs on sections of the ship, and the final few helping their wounded friends to the medic.
Making his way over to Antonio, Lovino stopped near him, then asked, "Hey…. Captain? Can you teach me how to fight better? After the party, I mean."
The captain looked down at him. "I saw you fighting. You did well, considering you claim to never have used a sword before. Feliciano was a forced to be reckoned with as well, I saw."
Lovino smiled a little. "Really?"
Antonio smiled back, a proud look on his face. "Si."
"... Thanks. Means a lot."
"Are you or Feliciano injured?" the Spaniard asked.
"… just Feliciano. He's getting it taken care of now."
"Alright, you get into the kitchen and make something for everyone. It doesn't have to be grand, something simply will do nicely. When it's ready, come find me, si? I'll either be here or in the navigation room."
Lovino nodded and walked off.
"Arthur, I know you want to get them back, and I do too, but you really need to take a break! You're going to end up hurting yourself!" Alfred said, grabbing the Brit's arm as the teen went to stomp past him as he rushed around collecting the ingredients he would need for the spell he was preparing.
"Alfred, get off!" Arthur snapped as he yanked his arm free. "I have to cast this spell right now! Before it's too late! Now get out of my bloody way this instant!"
"Arthur, stop it!" Alfred snapped, grabbing him again. "I want Feli and Lovino back as much as anyone! I want Ludwig and Antonio to get better too! But I don't want to kill yourself from over working and using to much of your magic to quickly!"
"You don't get it! If I don't do this spell right now then we will NEVER find them! You really want that to happen?!"
"I UNDERSTAND!" Alfred yelled, pulling Arthur close and leaning over him, holding the mage in place, his anger erupting. "I understand that we have to find them! I understand that we need to do it soon! But what YOU don't seem to understand, or want to admit, is that YOU aren't indestructible! You NEED to rest! You're going to hurt yourself and then you won't be able to help them! If you over do it now, they might be stuck forever! You have to give yourself a chance to recover a bit! Your magic isn't endless! It has a limit!"
By the end of this tirade, Alfred was chest to chest with Arthur, his eyes narrowed with anger, his breathing a bit heavy.
"Alfred….." Arthur calmly said after a long pause. "I understand you're upset, but please! I HAVE to do this right now! If I wait any longer then the spell won't work and we'll have lost them forever."
Alfred's face turned red with repressed fury. He let Arthur go and turned away. "Fine then. Fine. Do whatever you want. I'm going for a walk," he spat, then stormed out of Yao's house, the door slamming loudly behind him.
Arthur sighed, then scribbled a list and handed it to Yao. "Do you have these ingredients?"
The nature spirit nodded, then started down to the shop to get the items. He paused at the doorway and looked back. "You know he's just worried about you, right? And Alfred does have a point. You need rest."
"I-I know… I just… have a very bad feeling about all of this….. The sooner we bring them all back the better."
Yao nodded again. "After this spell, get some rest, okay? It'll put Alfred at ease and you'll feel better."
Arthur nodded in reply as he started the spell, "Yes… I'll be sure to do that…." He muttered then turned attention to the large tub of water set in front of him. As he started chanting, the water glowed brighter and brighter until a misty image began to appear on the water's surface. It was Lovino and Feliciano, both wearing clothes straight out of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and judging from how the two were helping to break onto and steal from a ship, they were on the pirates' side of things.
"This is the time of my ancestors…." Arthur muttered as his eyes scanned the image. "But I can't understand why those Italians are being so…." He stopped and cursed, his face paling slightly when he saw Antonio dressed as captain. "Oh fuck….. That's why."
Gilbert, who had been walking past on his way to the kitchen, heard this last remark and paused, backpedaled, and looked into the room. "What's up, Arthur?" he asked.
"That," Arthur said as he pointed at Antonio's image. "The bond is still strong for the brothers so they're alive and healthy... but unfortunately, it's transferring. To Antonio's and Ludwig's past selves to be more precise. And the bonds also working on changing the brothers to be able to live in this new environment…. I don't think I need to explain exactly how it's changing them."
The albino approached the image to get a better look. His eyes widened upon seeing what Arthur was talking about. "Oh shit."
"Go warn the others. I'll leave the connection open for all of you to see, but don't worry. It won't drain anymore of my energy," Arthur ordered then sighed. "I have to rest. Then we'll work on the next step after that."