Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, except for Neela and Kamal

Chapter 1 - Darkness Rising

She was running in the dark, terrified. He was after her, she just knew. She could hear his breath, and the sound of his claws, and she could smell the blood. She was so weak, so small, and he was so much stronger. If he got to her…If he got to her, she could only imagine what he would do. She would certainly be dismembered and gutted, like an animal. Like her mother and siblings. Death was upon her, she knew.

Suddenly there was nowhere else to run. She was trapped inside the darkness, and she could hear him coming close. For a moment she hesitated, but finally the girl turned to look upon her pursuer… she saw red eyes glowing in the dark and then, his hand was upon her throat...

Neela woke suddenly, soaked in sweat, and it took a moment for her to gather her thoughts and realize where she was. "Oh, yes" she thought "I am home".

Home was a word to describe it, for sure. But her home was not a conventional house: it was the Nautilus, the impressive vessel that belonged to (and was commanded by) her adoptive father, Captain Nemo.

After calming down a bit, telling herself that what happened was just a nightmare, Neela got up from her bed to start her daily routine: clean up, dress up, have breakfast with her father, then assist him in the captain's cabin, have lunch with the crew, shooting lesson, train swords with Kamal, dinner and finally she would have some time to read before going to bed. It was the same every day, except for the rare occasions when they would land. Her father hated dwelling too long on ground, so usually she would carry on with the necessary tasks whenever they were on land. But they have been at sea for months now, and it didn't seem like they would go to land any soon.

After she was done getting dressed, Neela looked upon her reflection. She never saw herself as particularly beautiful, yet everyone seemed to think so. She had dark olive skin, a heart shaped face, big blue eyes and full eyebrows. Her hair was long, jet black and thick, and for practical purposes she always kept it braided. She was short in stature, but her body was agile and strong. Neela usually wore "manly" clothes when on board, leaving the fancy dresses and heavy skirts to the rare occasions when she had to deal with people on land. While she was at the Nautilus, however, she usually kept her attire very practical: a black sherwani with golden embroidery and a black churidar, along with leather boots. She wore no jewelry save for a golden band she used to tie her hair and a necklace that Nemo gave her for her 15th birthday. Usually she would need less than half an hour to get ready, but that morning, after the vivid nightmare, she took a bit longer than that.

So she was about 10 minutes late for breakfast, a fact that her father noted the moment she walked into the room:

"You are late" Nemo said, without even turning to her. Neela took her seat, with the napkin over her lap, and started to serve herself some chai.

"Yes, I overslept. I am sorry"

Nemo looked at her quizzically for a moment, as if he was about to say something, but remained silent. Whatever it was, he dropped the matter and continued to eat in silence. He was a methodic man, and he usually didn't enjoyed small talk during meals. But as soon as they finished he gestured for the servants to clean the table. A minute later, Ishmael approached with a piece of paper, that was handed to Neela.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Read" said Nemo.

Neela unfolded the paper. It was a simple note, elaborate in short sentences. Neela knew it probably arrived via telegraph. It said:

"Captain Nemo. I need your services. Come to London. M."

"I don't understand. What is the meaning of this? Who is 'M'?"

"He is an old… acquaintance of mine. I don't know much about him, but it appears he works for His Royal Majesty handling very... secretive activities. I never met him in person, but one of his associates came to me a long time ago in France. I dismissed him at the time, but now…"

"Now what?" Neela wasn't sure she was following. She never heard of this 'M' character before, she was sure. Nemo never mentioned him, not even once. What kind of man was this, and what he could possibly want from her father?

"The Bank of England was robbed a few days ago. They used… well, no one is sure what that was. Some kind of war machine. And some german scientists have been kidnaped." Ishmael said. "There are rumors about war between England and Germany, which cannot end well."

Neela was dumbstruck. Surely, these were grave news. War is always a nasty business, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to witness a war between two world potencies.

"And now" said Nemo "this! If 'M' is contacting me so shortly after the attack, I am inclined to pay him a visit. Maybe something big is happening."

War, strange machines, a mysterious man whose name consists of one letter... Considering her usually uneventfull routine, this was an unexpected development. Neela wasn't sure of how she felt about it. It was too much to consider all at once. Still musing about the news, she asked Nemo:

"So we are going to London?"

"Yes. We must be there by lunch." was Nemo's short response.

Neela thought about it for a moment. Not that she loathed to be on earth, but she wasn't expecting to go to England anytime soon. And to have a possibly secret meeting with a mystery man named 'M'. Somethings was about to happen, she could feel it. That night she had that nightmare again, after a long time… it could only be a bad omen. But whatever it was, there was no running away from that. "that's how karma works, after all" she thought. Rising from her seat, she said:

"Then London it is".