Sanji's comment surprised him a little, enough that he looked up from the table and met the other man's eyes for a moment, perhaps trying to tell for himself if the other was telling the truth. "That's... what someone else said too."

He sighed, steadying himself before he tried to explain. "Last night... we went upstairs, we were trying to map out some of the rooms. Rinali's brother, Komui, had come by earlier that day, as a... a visitor," he told Sanji, trying to put the pieces together himself. He didn't mention how hard it had been to convince Rinali that she wasn't someone else, that he really existed and wasn't just some figment of her imagination. "But when we were exploring we found what'd... happened to him."

Allen's hands were folded tightly in his lap. "They'd done some kind of... experiments. Replaced his limbs with... with all kinds of strange things. We could barely recognize him he'd been beaten so badly on top of that. He just wanted our help." he squeezed his eyes shut, but couldn't stop tears from forming again. "He... he attacked Rinali once, but I don't think it was his fault. They... they did something to him. So... I was... supposed to watch him while Rinali went to get a healer."

He shook his head, "I don't know what happened. As soon as she left... it's like he... went berserk." Allen pulled down the collar of his shirt to show where he'd been bandaged. "He bit my shoulder, and... I couldn't breathe. I could hardly move..." His voice got quieter, the words slower, more thoughtful. "I... I blacked out after that. I don't know what happened, but... there were pieces... everywhere. They said... it looks like claw marks... I didn't... I wanted to save him! I promised I would! I didn't want to... to hurt anyone!"