A/N - Okay, as I said in whatever chapter I uploaded most recently, I decided to work on a chapter for this story. It's a bit shorter than the usual chapter, but I think where I ended it was a good stopping point. *shrugs*

Anyways, I'm dead tired from staying up all night working on this, so I'm not going to say much. Enjoy!

Chapter 17 - The Phantom Ship & Separation

The ship's crew were panicking as they tried to figure out just what was happening. One of the sailors ran to the edge of the ship and looked at the giant Phantom Ship that had plowed into them. "What on Earth is this?!" he questioned loudly.

Another sailor looked on in disbelief and began to shake. "I can't believe this. It's…"

Before anyone could say anything more, Commodore Puler walked up and shouted at them. "What do you think you're doing?! Get back to your stations and check on the damage!"

Turning around to face him, the sailors saluted him and shouted out, "Yes, sir!" before they all rushed off to their posts to see just how bad the damage was to their ship.

Meanwhile, Naruto walked up with Meru with Kongol and Albert soon joining them. "This doesn't look good." Naruto said.

Albert looked closely at the Phantom Ship and said, "There. That's a heraldry. It looks like this is a royal ship from Mille Seseau."

"Is this the rumored Phantom Ship?!" Meru asked excitedly.

"I would assume so, yeah." Naruto said as he stared at the Phantom Ship.

A moment later, Dart rushed up with Tayuya at his side. "This doesn't look good." he said as he looked around, trying to assess the damage done to the Queen Fury. I hope this ship won't sink on us, otherwise we're in deep shit.

"Commodore! Bad news!" Kayla's voice could be heard saying as she rushed onto the scene. "It's bad, Sir! It got the engine room!"

Puler tch'd and said, "Kayla! Tell them to hurry and fix the blasted thing!"

Kayla saluted the commodore and shouted out, "Aye aye, sir!" before rushing off to relay his orders to the crew.

Dart scowled as the majority of his comrades came onto the scene. "We can't pursue Lenus like this!"

Naruto nodded in agreement with that statement before patting Dart's shoulder gently. "Don't let your anger get the better of you. We need to figure out what to do about our current situation. Right now, I'd say our best bet would be to check out this Phantom Ship and see what we can do from there."

Puler interrupted them, saying, "Sometimes the ocean shows it capriciously, but I have to admit, I have never seen anything like this before. I suggest we wait for a while, as there's nothing we can do now."

Rose looked at the Phantom Ship in thought for a moment before her eyes widened in recognition. This ship...it's…

Haschel rushed up at this point, shouting, "Dart! Naruto! I can't find Shana anywhere!"

Naruto's eyes widened and he immediately looked towards the Phantom Ship. When they heard Shana scream, he didn't waste a second as he leapt off of the Queen Fury and onto the Phantom Ship to save his girlfriend.

The others quickly followed after him, though they were finding it hard to try and catch up with their resident shinobi.

Shana

"W-Where am I?" Shana questioned to herself as she looked around her. When a ghost floated up behind her, she was startled and took a few steps away from it. It was at this point that the skeletal warriors came to life and backed her into a corner with swords drawn. As soon as she saw this, she screamed in horror as she knew she couldn't fight them all by herself.

A moment later, however, the golden knights that were hovering in front of her turned and slew the skeletal warriors behind them. Looking at them, Shana tried to figure out why they would protect her, but she couldn't make any sense of it.

"Shana-chan!" Naruto's voice could be heard yelling, moments before he appeared on the scene. As soon as he saw the purple ghost, he began going through hand seals, but he stopped when it flew away. Instead, he turned his attention to the golden knights and, despite his initial reaction being to attack them, something was telling him not to. So he watched them for a time before they vanished.

Looking at his girlfriend, Naruto knelt down next to her and hugged her close. "I'm so glad you're alright. Did they hurt you?"

Shana shook her head and smiled at her boyfriend. "No, thank goodness. Those two protected me, but I'm not sure why. Where exactly are we, anyway?"

Dart decided to answer her as he looked around. "We're onboard the Phantom Ship. It rammed into us and it looks like you were thrown here from the Queen Fury's deck during the crash. Are you sure you're alright?"

Shana nodded and said, "I am. Thank you for coming after me. All of you."

Albert smiled at her and said, "What matters is that you're safe and sound. I'm personally glad to see you're alright, Shana."

Meru grinned excitedly and threw her arms up in the air in a cheer. "Come on! Come on! We're already here, so we might as well take a tour of the ship, right?! Aren't you guys excited about this?!"

Dart turned to her with a frown and said, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Shana looked at Dart seriously and said, "I want to look around too. I'm not sure why, but I have this feeling that I need to explore this ship. Please?"

Naruto smiled at his girlfriend and kissed her nose before smirking at her. "Of course we can have a look around. Besides that, I'd like to see if there's anything we can do from here that will help fix our current situation with the Queen Fury. Besides that, I'm sure we can learn something if we explore a little."

Dart sighed and said, "Alright. We can go. But we stick together, no matter what. Got it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement with that before they gathered together and prepared to explore the ship. After a brief moment though, Naruto piped up with a suggestion. "We should probably go back to the Queen Fury for a moment to stock up on supplies. There's no telling what we'll find here, so I'd rather be thoroughly prepared before doing anything."

Once again, they all nodded in agreement before they hurried back to the Queen Fury. Once onboard, they decided to check with the commodore first, asking him how the ship was faring. "We have to fix the engine room before we can do anything else. All we can really do right now is wait for the repairs to be completed."

Walking up to the nearby sailor after this, they listened as he said, "If you want weapons and armor, and even some handy items, go down the stairs there. If you want to rest, go to the cabin over there."

Thanking the man, they went down below and checked out what weapons and armor were for sale. They eagerly purchased two Glaives, one for Naruto and the other for Albert. There was nothing else there that they were really interested in, so they decided to return to the Phantom Ship and get the exploration underway.

Entering the room nearest to the crash site, they were greeted by an eerie voice saying, "May evil come to the person who attempts to open this chest."

Walking up to the chest, Naruto eyed it curiously for a moment before noticing something. "Guys, I think there's a three digit code that we need in order to unlock this thing. Look." he said, pointing at the number dials underneath the chest's locking mechanism.

"We'll have to come back for the treasure later then. We should find some clues before we bother trying to open it. Who knows what could happen if we screw it up?" Dart suggested.

Nodding in agreement, the party left the room and ventured back towards where they found Shana. There was another room along the way, but it was locked so they couldn't enter. Now they had a choice: they could either descend the stairs and explore the inner areas of the ship, or they could go around and enter a room on the opposite side.

Choosing to go around and enter the area that laid behind the door, they watched as a ghostly sailor appeared and made a motion as if knocking on the door at the end of the hallway. "Captain, please open the door. Where are you, Captain?" Then, it floated away from the door and towards them. When it got close, it vanished, leaving some of the party members with goosebumps at how creepy this whole situation was.

As they approached the captain's cabin, they were ambushed by a Skeleton and two Will-o'-Wisps. Dart, Kongol, and Shana easily battled them, finishing them off, though Shana had to be careful as the Skeleton's attacks were Darkness-based and could do quite a bit of harm to her if she wasn't careful.

After the battle, they approached the captain's cabin, only to find it was locked. So, with a sigh, they battled another group of monsters and made their way back onto the deck. Once there, they walked around and prepared to descend the steps into the belly of the ship, but a ghostly sailor appeared behind them, starling some of the party members. Turning to face it, they listened as it said, "H-Help me… The bastard… The bastard is…" The ghost began to sob to himself as he said, "I don't want to d-die. H-Help me…"

"The hell?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock. "What the hell happened here?!"

Another ghost appeared on the other side and spoke up, shocking the majority of the group into jumping and turning towards it with weapons ready. "We...won't make it. We'll be killed by him! I d-don't want to d-d-die. Somebody, please help…!"

When the ghost disappeared, they put away their weapons and shook their heads. "What on Earth are they talking about?" Dart questioned uneasily.

Naruto was about to respond that he had no idea when he noticed something. Looking at Rose, he could tell she was upset by something. That's when it struck him. The Black Monster! They're talking about Rose-chan! Just what the hell did she do to these poor people?! He wondered to himself. He wasn't about to judge her, oh no. He knew she must have had her reasons, because she most certainly was not an evil person. No, he was worried for her, more than anything else. She looked stricken, though she hid it well. Rose…

Shaking those thoughts away, Naruto led the party down into the belly of the ship. Peeking around the corner, he watched as the ghost from earlier went into the first room there was in the corridor, the door slamming shut behind it. Telling the others what he saw, they finished walking down the stairs before looking down the hallway, seeing what might lie in wait for them.

Walking down the corridor, battling monsters as they went, they stopped in front of a crate and opened it, collecting the 50 G inside. Ignoring the first room that the purple ghost went into, they entered the room just past the crate and, upon noticing a sparkle on the floor ahead of them, approached it. When they did, four ghosts appeared behind them, startling them once again.

"1." the first ghost said.

"2." the second one said. By now, the ninja of the group had figured out that these ghosts were giving them the numbers used for the locked chest from earlier.

"4." said the third ghost.

"6." the final ghost said.

Once they were finished, Naruto frowned in thought. "1, 2, 4, 6. Considering it's a three digit code, it could be any combination of those numbers. If we screw up the order and the numbers, something bad's bound to happen. I wish there was some way to determine the code rather than going with the ol' trial and error method."

Deciding not to dwell on it, they opened the nearby chest for 20 G. It wasn't much, but every little bit would help in the long run. With nothing else to do, they entered the room the ghost had entered and immediately spotted an unopened chest up above. Looking around carefully, they noticed skeletal remains on the floor, but there was no sign of the ghost. "I've got a bad feeling about this. Be careful when you open that chest, Dart." Naruto warned.

Dart nodded and went up to open the chest. As soon as he did, the ghost jumped out and brought the skeletons to life, forcing the party to do battle with them while the ghost got away. "Oh, you sneaky son-of-a…" Dart said before they began fighting the Skeletons.

Naturally, it didn't take them long to finish off the enemies, but they were all feeling just a tad annoyed at that ghost for being such a pain in the ass. So, leaving the room, they ventured to the second entrance into that same room and saw another unopened treasure chest. "This thing is just begging to get its ass kicked." Naruto said as he cracked his knuckles.

This time, when they opened the chest, the ghost, called a Magician Bogy, stayed to fight them after bringing the nearby Skeletons to life. Seeing as it wasn't running away, Hinata aimed her bow towards it and fired a single arrow, striking the creature as if it had a corporeal form and causing it to feel immense anger towards her for daring to hurt it.

Meanwhile, Naruto, Dart, and Kongol were fighting the Skeletons. Shana, Hinata, Rose, and Mei were each fighting the Magician Bogy and winning the fight without too much difficulty. Once it was all over, they took a moment to catch their breath before watching as the blasted thing ran away again. "That blasted coward!" Mei exclaimed angrily.

Leaving the room they were in, they reentered the room where they received the numbers and the 20 G and saw a new, unopened chest in the room. "Really? This thing isn't even trying now, is it?" Naruto deadpanned.

Approaching the chest, they were a bit shocked when it began jumping around the room. Venturing over to the chest's new location, they opened it and were a bit surprised when not just one, but three Magician Bogys popped out of the chest, surrounding them. "Okay, this bastard's got friends. Not cool." Naruto said as he prepared to fight.

Once again, Hinata, Shana, and Mei took on one of the Magician Bogys while Dart, Albert, and Kongol took on another. The final one, Naruto, Haschel, Hikari, and Tayuya took on. It was not an easy battle, but they were putting up one hell of a fight.

When they finally finished each of the ghosts off, they breathed a sigh of relief. That whole fight was a horrible pain in the ass, especially because the ghosts were using some kind of charm magic to turn them against one another.

Once they were gone, a spirit floated out of the treasure chest and began speaking to them. "I have a favor to ask of you. Please come to the captain's cabin." it said before floating up in the air and disappearing mere seconds later.

Deciding it best to get back up top, they left the room, battled some more monsters on their way through the corridor, and ascended the stairs until they were back in the light of day, so to speak. The sky was dark and stormy and there was the chill of the ship they were currently on as well. Still, it was better than being stuck belowdecks with a bunch of monsters.

Once up on the deck, the party decided to go and try to open the locked chest from before. Naruto walked up to the treasure chest once they entered the room and looked at the lock again. Hmm, 1, 2, 4, 6. Think Naruto, think! You can figure this out! He thought to himself, trying to psyche himself up.

Try as he might, Naruto just kept guessing wrong until he only had 2 chances left, according to the angry voice echoing throughout the room. It was at this point that Naruto finally figured it out and entered the code: 264. With a click, the treasure chest swung open and the blonde shinobi reached inside, taking out an accessory called the Ultimate Wargod. "Phew, that was close." he said, chuckling nervously.

Dart grinned at him and said, "I knew you could do it, Naruto. Nicely done."

"Thanks, Dart. We should get going now. We were invited to the captain's cabin, so let's go and pay him a visit."

Everyone nodded in agreement before they left the room and began making their way back across the deck until they entered the same corridor from before that led to the captain's cabin.

Upon entering the cabin, they looked around for a moment, not quite sure what to expect. After a moment, their eyes spied a portrait high up on the opposite wall of a beautiful woman. "Wow! A portrait of a beautiful woman. It looks like she's the queen of some country." Meru said, staring at the portrait in awe.

However, their musings were cut short as the door slammed shut behind them, locking them in. "That can't be good." Naruto said.

It was at this point that another ghost appeared behind them, starling them once again. "Please, help me!" it exclaimed. It slowly turned around in its chair and looked at them. "He...he killed the crew. Nanny, the knights, me, and the newborn princess…" Eyes widening in horror, the captain spat out, "It was him...the Black Monster…"

Naruto's eyes widened as he chanced a quick glance at Rose, who, if one looked at her closely enough, could tell she was shaken up inside. I hope you're ready to confide in me sometime soon, sweetheart. Carrying such a burden alone will only hurt you in the end.

Dart stepped towards the captain and exclaimed, "W-What?! This was done by the Black Monster too?!"

The captain looked forlorn as he quivered in his seat. "We couldn't p-protect...the princess, so we couldn't pass on. We've been trapped here like this ever since. Please, please send the souls of the knights to rest." It was a brief moment after this that the captain screamed out as if he was in pain right before he and his chair vanished as if they had never been there.

Dart clenched his fist tight and snarled out, "It's impossible for them to fully die. He...he kills people for no reason!"

Rose remained silent and kept a stony face, but inside she was hurting, wishing she didn't have to hide such a horrible secret from them, especially her beloved. Sure, she had confided in him that she's the Black Monster Dart was looking for, but she never quite told him exactly what she was doing to try and protect the world and its inhabitants.

Once they had all calmed down, they opened the nearby treasure chests for a total of 300 G. Noticing something sparkling on the floor, Naruto walked over to it and picked it up, looking at it. "Guys, I think this is the key to that locked room from earlier."

"Good find, Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a smile on her face. It was at this point that they went closer to the portrait and really got a good look at it.

"This portrait...it reminds me of somebody." Dart said as he looked at it closely.

Naruto frowned in thought as he looked at the portrait. This woman...she reminds me of Shana-chan. Could it be…? Nah, it couldn't be. Right? He wondered to himself in silence.

After a moment, they all shrugged it off and left the captain's cabin, seeing as the door was now open once again. Venturing out onto the ship's deck once again, they walked around until they were by the stairs again. They paused, however, when the spirit of a knight appeared, clad in gold armor. It was just like the knights Shana had seen before that protected her from the Magician Bogy and its Skeleton accomplices.

The knight drew his sword and exclaimed, "We won't give you Princess Louvia!" before suddenly attacking Rose, though it faded away before any damage could be done.

It's as if this ship is showing us the memories of the people that have passed. Poor Rose-chan… Naruto thought to himself as another knight ghost appeared.

"We'll protect her even if it costs us our lives!" And with that, this ghost attacked Rose as well, only to fade away.

Naruto frowned deeply as he walked up to Rose and took her hand in his. Giving it a

gentle squeeze, he looked into her eyes and whispered to her, "Don't worry Rose-chan. I'm with you."

His lovely girlfriend mouthed 'Thank you.' to him. Then, Albert folded his arms across his chest and said, ""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." However, what was actually brought was the child of destruction, the Black Monster." When everyone turned to look at him, Albert shrugged and said, "We are witnessing a tragedy from the past."

Naruto frowned in thought after hearing with Albert said. That's not quite right. The Black Monster surely had her reasons. And, if that 'prophecy' is correct, then I think it's a safe bet to say Rose-chan's reasons tie in with the birth of this Moon Child. My guess is that the Moon Child isn't some blessing, but something horrible. But...if she's been going around killing every Moon Child that pops up, why do I get the horrible feeling that she failed this time around? This doesn't feel right to me.

Shana's voice snapped him out of his musings. "It's so awful. Why did it have to do something like this?"

Dart snarled again and said, "Damn the Black Monster! How much does he have to kill before he's satisfied?!"

Rose, unable to take it anymore, shouted, "Stop it!" When everyone turned to look at her, she ashamedly looked away and shook her head. "Sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. We should get a move on. You want to learn the truth, don't you?" And with that, everyone stayed quiet before they decided to return to the Queen Fury to get a bit of rest. They didn't know what was waiting for them ahead, so they planned to take full advantage of this moment to rest and recuperate.

Once they were on the Queen Fury once again and resting in their cabins, Naruto looked at Rose and asked, "Rose-chan? Can we talk somewhere private? There's something I'd like to confirm with you."

Rose nodded and walked with him to a private room. "I...assume this is because of what we've learned so far?"

Naruto nodded in the affirmative before saying, "Yes. I want to know the truth, Rose-chan. This Moon Child, that's what you were truly after. Am I right?"

Rose sighed and said, "Yes. The Moon Child isn't something that will bring for blessings and whatever else people think it is. Instead, it's a highly dangerous thing that shouldn't be allowed to exist. Melbu Frahma...just remembering him is terrifying in and of itself. So many of my friends died trying to put a stop to that monster. The Moon Child is, in essence, the God of Destruction. Melbu Frahma wanted to harness the power of the Virage Embryo to subjugate and rule over all Humans. We were inferior to him and his race, and should therefore submit to his rule. He was pure evil and we needed to put a stop to him."

"I see. This creature...it sounds like a horrible nightmare."

Rose sighed and nodded her head. "Yes. It was terrible, and it needed to be eradicated. However, unable to do such a thing, the Winglies separated its body and soul and sealed them away. Its body became the Moon That Never Sets while its soul...well, I'm sure you can guess."

Naruto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "And now Lloyd's foolishly trying to bring that thing to life. Either he doesn't understand what he's doing, or he's pure evil and needs to be stopped. If it means we have to kill him to stop this horrible thing from happening, I'll do it."

Smiling at her boyfriend, Rose leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Thank you. For not hating me, I mean."

Naruto smiled at her and said, "I trust you, Rose-chan. And more than that, I love you very, very much. I won't ever turn against you."

Rose simply smiled and held him close, resting her head in the crook of his neck. "I love you. So, so much."

"I know, sweetheart. I know."

A short while later

The party stood before the locked door, each of them prepared for whatever would happen once they stepped foot inside. Taking the key in hand, Naruto unlocked the door and opened it slowly, peering inside to see whatever might be awaiting them. They saw a chest at the far end of the room, but not much else. So, entering the room, they walked over to the chest and opened it, smiling when they found a Bravery Amulet inside. Afterwards, they looked at the door on the wall that led to another room.

Walking over to it, they attempted to open the door, only for a ghost to appear in front of them. It appeared to be the head of the ghost knights, which didn't bode well for them. "You...Black Monster…"

Another ghost knight appeared, glaring at them hatefully. "How dare you come here, pursuing Princess Louvia!"

"But as long as we are here with her, we will never give her up." a third ghost knight said.

Dart looked around at the three of them and shouted, "We aren't the Black Monster! I promise, we're not…!"

A fourth ghost knight appeared and said, "How dare you use human words to try and fool us?!"

Finally, a fifth knight appeared and said, "Unforgivable. Even if it costs me my life, I won't give up our Princess Louvia!"

Seeing no other choice but to fight, the good guys brandished their weapons and prepared for one hell of a fight.

As soon as it started, the captain of the ghost knights rushed in towards Dart, swinging his mighty sword down upon him. Dart blocked it with his own blade, but winced at the sheer force behind the attack. "Shit. This guy's strong!"

"They all are!" Naruto exclaimed as he used his lance to parry a sword strike from one of the Ghost Knights. "This isn't going to be an easy fight, guys!"

Seeing as there were five opponents, they split into five different teams and began to fight as hard as they could against their gastly enemies. It didn't take long for them to defeat the Ghost Knights, but the Ghost Commander was using a few pretty deadly attacks, sapping away at their health, causing some of them to collapse to their knees, barely able to hold themselves together.

What made things worse for them is when the other Ghost Knights 'revived' themselves at full health again. "Tch, this is getting us nowhere! We need to take them all down at once!" Dart exclaimed.

"Roger that! C'mon everyone, let's finish 'em off!" Naruto exclaimed as he and Haschel attacked the Ghost Commander this time. As they fought the Ghost Commander, they sensed something happening and glanced out the corner of their eyes, seeing Shana had used their special ability to trigger their Dragoon transformations all at once. When the room seemed to transform into a world of light, Naruto couldn't help but appreciate just how hot Shana looked in her Dragoon form. Damn she looks good like that.

Focusing on her magical power, Shana called forth the White Silver Dragon and everyone watched as her dragon appeared and assaulted the ghosts. When it was over, each of their enemies dropped to the ground, finally dying in peace. Or at least it appeared that way. The Ghost Commander was the only one left. However, rather than focusing on that, Meru exclaimed, "Holy crap! That was awesome, Shana!"

Canceling their transformations, the group looked at the Ghost Commander and listened as he called out for their princess. After a moment, Shana stepped up to the ghost, much to the shock of those that cared for her.

"It's over! There's no more Black Monster. Please, please don't suffer anymore!" Shana exclaimed, sadness clear in her voice.

The Commander looked into Shana's eyes for a moment before it seemed to recognize her. "You...you're…"

When it floated towards her, she stepped back a bit and said, "I? I what?!"

"Thank God. You made it. Oh, Princess Louvia…" he said before vanishing, finally feeling at peace.

Shana reached out towards the ghost as it was disappearing. "Wait!" Frowning as it disappeared, she shook her head and asked, "Is there still something I don't know about?"

Naruto walked up to his girlfriend and hugged her close, allowing her to nestle her head in the crook of his neck. "It's okay, sweetheart. We'll figure this out together, I promise."

The brunette nodded slowly and started to smile, happy just to be in his embrace. Their moment was ruined, however, when the door to the next room suddenly swung open on its own. Dart, deciding to play the role of Captain Obvious again, said, "Well, the door's open."

With that, the party moved into the next room and took a look around. The first thing they did was go to the nearby treasure chest and open it for a Dancing Dagger, which Rose happily equipped in place of her Shadow Cutter that she was using. Afterwards, they approached the crib. When it started rocking on its own, they got chills down their spines. When the door slammed shut, they each jumped and spun around, only to see a ghost appear and float around.

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

Shana approached the ghost and asked, "Princess of Mille Seseau?"

The nanny turned around and her eyes widened as she looked into Shana's eyes. "Oh my! You are…?" Floating closer to her, causing Shana to back up nervously, she said, "Alive. Oh lord, it was not in vain! I've been wandering for 18 long years, longing to see you alive and well! I can finally end everything. I can go to the place where everyone is now." And with that, the nanny vanished from sight, leaving more questions than answers.

"Wait! What kind of relationship do I have to this person?!" Shana exclaimed as she reached out for the nanny, or at least where she was prior to vanishing.

It was at this point that the door swung open and the crib stopped rocking. However, before they could say or do anything else, the ship suddenly started shaking violently. "Crap! I think the ship's sinking!" Dart exclaimed before he and the rest of the party began making their way out and off of the Phantom Ship before they could be sucked under along with it.

Queen Fury

"Everything's fixed and under control in the engine room, sir!" Layla exclaimed as she smiled at the commodore.

"Good. Let us relax and wait for Dart and his friends to return." Commodore Puler said with a smile of his own. It was at this point that they noticed all of the spirits were vanishing at a rapid pace. Shortly after noticing this, the Phantom Ship began rocking violently, causing them to nearly lose their balance due to the close proximity between the two ships. "Whoa! What's going on?!" Looking at Kayla, the commodore exclaimed, "Kayla! Hurry and get ready!"

After Kayla ran off, the commodore noticed Albert and the others running up. Stopping to look back at everyone, Albert shouted, "Everyone! Hurry up before it sinks!" And with that, he and the others began hopping back onto the Queen Fury as quickly as they could. Meru stopped for a moment though to look back at Dart and his new girlfriend, Tayuya, and shouted, "Dart! Tayuya! Hurry it up!"

Meru quickly joined the others on the Queen Fury before turning around and watching as Dart and Tayuya reached the point where they could easily jump back onto the Queen Fury. "You're the last ones! Hurry it up!"

Dart let Tayuya cross first before he hopped on the protruding spike on the edge of the ship, prepared to join the others. However, he had jumped too late, as the Phantom Ship began sinking right as he jumped. As he was about to fall, Tayuya quickly knelt down and gripped his hand tight, refusing to let him go. "Tayuya, go! I don't want you to die!"

"No way in Hell I'm letting you die on me, Dart-kun! I...I like you too damn much to just let you go!" Tayuya exclaimed as tears formed in her eyes. "I'll never let you go."

It was at this point that the two of them plummeted into the water below, almost as soon as the Phantom Ship sank into the watery depths of the ocean.

"Dart! Tayuya! Damnit, no!" Naruto exclaimed as he peered over the edge, hoping he could find them and rescue the two of them. However, he couldn't see any trace of them and nor could anyone else. "Please let them be okay…"

Unknown Location

As Dart lay unconscious in a small cave with a campfire lit nearby, Tayuya came in after a moment and placed some more wood on the campfire to keep the flames going. Afterwards, she knelt down beside Dart and repositioned him so his head rested atop her lap. Gently stroking his hair, she smiled down at him and said, "I know it's early into our relationship, but…" Sighing, she smiled at him and said, "I think I'm genuinely in love with you. I've never felt so strongly for a person before. I hope...I hope you never leave me. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't be with you anymore."

After a moment, she closed her eyes and continued to stroke his hair. "You make me so happy. I never thought I could actually feel happiness after Orochimaru took me in. I hated it there. I...I didn't live a good life. I had to be strong. I couldn't allow myself to falter even slightly, lest those asshats take full advantage of whatever opening I'd give. Thank Kami I managed to keep my innocence, otherwise I'd have likely taken my own life." she said with a frown on her face.

"But...being with you and the others? It feels wonderful. I have so much fun with all of you, and life is genuinely pretty great now. You've all made me laugh on this journey. You've made me smile for the first time in ages. I...I feel like I don't need to put up a tough front. I can let my guard down with you and the others. You...you allow me to be a woman. I'm finally free. And...I don't feel like I need to curse all the time. I was purposely an abrasive, vulgar woman in order to chase off anyone that might try something with me. Now though? I just want to be happy with you. I...want to start a family with you, Dart-kun. I'd love to have a couple of daughters. We could teach them so much, and we could have fun every day if we wanted. I...I never thought I'd ever get to be a mother, but…" Sighing softly, Tayuya let a smile appear on her face. "Now? Now I want to be your wife. I want to give birth to your children."

Leaning down, she placed her lips gently upon his, giving him a chaste kiss before she leaned back and went to sleep with a smile on her face. I'm forever yours, Dart-kun.

In the morning

Tayuya was awakened by the barking of a dog. Slowly opening her eyes, she turned towards the cave entrance and saw a dog looking at her with its tail wagging. Shortly afterwards, she heard a young man ask, "Pooch! What's wrong?!"

The young man stepped into view and, upon noticing the couple, shouted out, "Oh my god! There's people here!"

"No shit, kid." Tayuya said before yawning tiredly. "Is it morning already?"

The kid, Pete, nodded and looked between the two of them. "Are you two a couple or something? You're awfully close."

Tayuya blushed prettily at this before nodding her head. "Yes. This is my boyfriend, Dart. I'm Tayuya."

"I see. Come on, I'll lead you to the village I live in. You can get some fresh clothes there and we'll even clean your clothes for you while we're at it. What do you say?"

"Sounds good to me." Tayuya said with a smile before looking down at Dart as he started coming to.

"T-Tayuya?" he questioned when he managed to open his eyes. After a moment, he sat up and looked into her eyes searchingly. "I heard your voice while I was asleep. D-Did you really mean everything you said?"

The pink-haired girl blushed deeply and found it very hard to meet his gaze. Unable to trust her voice, she nodded her head once and blushed harder at what he said next. "I'm happy to hear that. I'll do everything I can to make you happy, Tayuya. I promise you that."

Looking up into his eyes, she blushed when he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Returning his kiss, she felt like she was on cloud nine. Oh Dart-kun. I could die happy right now!

Later - Lidiera

Once they reached the village, Dart and Tayuya looked around with smiles on their faces. "This place is beautiful." Tayuya said as she and her boyfriend followed Pete to his house.

Once inside, Pete chuckled a bit at Pooch's behavior. "Pooch, you like him, don'tcha?" Looking into Dart's eyes, he said, "I sure was surprised. Nobody would have thought there'd be people there."

Dart smiled gratefully at Pete and said, "We were saved thanks to you, Pete. Thank you." Kneeling down, he began gently petting Pooch and said, "We have to thank Pooch too."

"By the way, are you two by yourselves? That was an awfully strange place for you two to be resting." Pete questioned.

Dart shook his head and said, "We were traveling with others, but we got separated. We'd like to find them as soon as possible. But, for now...I'm happy to have some alone time with Tayuya." he said with a smile directed at his girlfriend.

Tayuya blushed deeply at this and found the floor very interesting at the moment. "They're a good couple, aren't they ma?"

Pete's mother looked between the two of them and chuckled softly. "Yes. You two make a fine couple.

"Th-Thank you. Truly." Tayuya said somewhat nervously.

It was at this moment that Pete's mother began to cough, catching their attention. Dart frowned at this and walked up to her, looking at her with concern. "Are you ill, ma'am?"

"It's...it's nothing." she said quietly before she began to cough again.

Before his mother could say anything else to deny her illness, Pete looked at Dart and said, "Actually, we should have been to the clinic in the neighboring town by now."

Tayuya looked at him curiously for a moment before asking, "Neighboring town?"

Pete nodded and smiled at her. "It's Fueno. There's a port and they have a boat to Donau."

Dart nodded a couple of times before looking at Tayuya. "You know what? The Queen Fury might have dropped by. We should go check it out." Tayuya nodded in agreement with this before Dart turned to Pete and asked, "Why haven't you taken your mother to Fueno?"

Pete shook his head and said, "It's cuz there's a monster on the way in the Undersea Cavern."

Before he could say anymore, his mother said, "I know we rarely have guests, but we have to let them go, Pete." Looking at Dart with a smile, she said, "Mr. Dart, I sincerely hope you meet your friends again soon."

Pete nodded energetically before saying, "I hope so too! Say hi to everybody for me, 'kay?!" And with that, Pete and his mother watched as Dart and Tayuya left their home.

Once outside, Dart and Tayuya took a good look at the village of Lidiera. "It truly is beautiful here." Tayuya said with a warm smile on her face.

"That it is. And I know it may sound cliche to hear this, but I honestly think you're a far more beautiful sight than this." Dart said as he smiled at his girlfriend.

Blushing, Tayuya went quiet, not sure how to respond to that. Instead, she and Dart began to explore the village, making sure to pick up the piece of Stardust that they found in one of the buildings. As they explored, they learned about a Sea Dragon terrorizing the area and about the Undersea Cavern being a nest for monsters of various kinds. It sounded like the road to Fueno was bound to be a dangerous one.

In the mayor's house, where they found the Stardust, they learned from the elderly woman there that Pete's father was lost at sea, his body never found. They also learned that Pete's mother was really quite ill and needed to be treated in Fueno. Apparently that city had a hot spring that literally worked miracles. With that treatment, she was bound to get better in no time. Apparently the guy living next door went there to be treated for his sprained back and was cured by the miracle hot spring.

Then they saw the house that the old lady had mentioned. Once inside, they could see that it really was as bad as it looked on the outside. Everything leaned to one side and it looked like a rather uncomfortable place to live. Once outside again, Tayuya looked at Dart and said, "I really don't see how they can stand to live in a house like that. It was uncomfortable just standing in there for a while."

Dart shrugged and looked back at the house. "To each their own, I suppose." he said with a shrug. "I'm honestly more concerned with what we learned about Pete and his family. I want to help them somehow."

"Well, we could always just bring them with us and take care of whatever monsters we might encounter." Tayuya suggested with a shrug. "It'd be better than leaving her here to suffer at the hands of this illness of hers."

The armored warrior nodded and was about to go back towards Pete's house when they heard the young man call out Dart's name. Shortly afterwards, Pete rushed up with Pooch at his side. Stopping in front of the happy couple, he wheezed for a moment before catching his breath.

"Pete? What's wrong?" Dart asked curiously.

"Would you please take us to Fueno?!" Pete exclaimed, hoping to God that Dart would agree to take him and his mother to the port city so she could be cured. "I'm afraid of the monster, but we've gotta go before it's too late!"

Dart frowned and asked, "It's your mother, isn't it?" Of course, he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from Pete's mouth.

"I want her to be treated at the hospital. I'm...I'm desperate!"

Dart smiled at him and said, "You got it. We'll take you and your mother to Fueno with us."

Tayuya grinned at the boy and said, "I'll annihilate that monster for you, kid! It won't stand a chance when faced with the mighty Tayuya!" she exclaimed, grinning at the child.

Pete couldn't help but smile at this and looked at her with sparkly eyes. "Thank you! Thank you both so much! I'll go get my ma right now!" he exclaimed before rushing off to collect his mother.

While they waited, Tayuya stepped closer to Dart and tentatively reached out to take his hand. However, she ended up freezing and turned away with a deep blush on her face. Dart, upon seeing this, chuckled a bit before he gently grasped her hand and smiled kindly at her. "Don't be afraid to take my hand when you want to. I won't spurn your advances."

Blushing worse, Tayuya eventually found the nerve to smile at him and look him in the eyes. While they waited, she rested her head against his shoulder and smiled contently. "I...I really do love you, you know? I've never felt this way before. I want to cherish every moment we have together."

"I know. I'm happy being with you, and I want to make you happy as well. I swear that nobody will ever hurt you so long as we're together." Dart promised before he turned and kissed her on the lips, showing her the passion he felt for her in his kiss.

When they parted a short while later, Tayuya's face was a deep red shade and she ended up burying her face in his chest. "How can you say sweet things like that so easily? I get all nervous and tongue-tied when trying to talk to you sometimes."

Dart chuckled a bit before kissing her again. "It's because it's the truth. I want you to be happy, Tayuya."

Before they could say anything more to each other, Pete ran up with his mother. Seeing they were ready to go, Dart and Tayuya escorted them out of town and towards the Undersea Cavern.

Meanwhile - Queen Fury

Shana was a right mess after losing Dart the way they had. She cared for Tayuya as well, but she had known Dart for ages and, seeing what had happened to him, it hurt her deeply. Sure, she was in love with Naruto and was quite happy with him, but Dart was still a dear friend of hers and she couldn't help but worry about him.

Naruto sat with her and held her close, gently running his fingers through her brown hair. "Sweetheart, he'll be okay. I promise. Dart and Tayuya won't die so easily. I'm sure we'll see them safe and sound soon. We'll be at Fueno soon, so let's look there for any clues about their current whereabouts, okay?"

The brunette nodded slowly and smiled at her sweetheart. "Thank you, Naruto. I'm sorry if I'm upsetting you any. I love you. I want you to know that. I'm just really worried about him because he's my oldest friend. We've known each other for so long now that I can't remember a time before we met. Our relationship is more akin to that of a brother and sister than a romantic interest."

Naruto smirked at her and said, "I knew that already, sweetie. Now c'mon, let's get something to eat. You and I haven't eaten all day. We could use the sustenance."

Shana smiled appreciatively at her boyfriend and kissed him. "Thank you. Truly."

Chuckling a bit, Naruto booped her on the nose before standing up and helping Shana up afterwards. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he placed a kiss on her cheek before walking off with her to get some much needed food. You'd better be okay, both of you. Don't go making me a liar.

A/N - Yay! Got through the Phantom Ship part and then had some romantic stuff between Dart and Tayuya. Hopefully you all enjoyed it!

Anywho, as I've said in my other stories, things have really kinda sucked for a while now. I'm doing what I can, when I can, but it's been rough. Not going to say much else, because I'm just too damn tired. Instead, I'll simply say: I hope you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to whatever comes next!