A/N: YAS! A new chapter!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!

Chapter 24: Duke's Journal

April 13, X792 - Night

Cordelia was flipping through masses of papers that had been thrown across her desk. She knew it had to be after midnight and that she should probably be asleep by now, but the thoughts running through her mind wouldn't let her rest. Though, on this night she was kept company by her brother sitting across from her, Ace leafing through the pile of papers with her. They each had a few empty beer glasses stacked on the floor near them. When the night had gotten late, Cordelia had switched them over to tumblers of dark whiskey, the currently half filled glasses sitting on the desk top near their respective owners.

"Cordi," Ace sighed as he sat back in his chair, running a hand through his short hair, "We've been at this all day. Ever since you figured out that third clue."

"I told you that you could go to bed a while ago," she said without looking up at him.

"I'm not complaining about being tired. It's just that we've been over and over these papers. There's nothing in them."

"There has to be something we're missing," she said as she ran her hand through her own hair, "I mean, history just doesn't disappear, right?"

"Not unless someone doesn't want it found," he said, watching as his sister's face scrunched up in frustration before she dove back into the papers, "Cordelia, seriously, we should stop for the night."

"I can't just stop," she said, finally looking up at him, "I have to figure out what the history is between Duke and Madmartigan. If it's anything like that pirate is insinuating, we might be dealing with something bigger than we thought."

"Well, it's not like we haven't heard of the Black Skulls before, right? They're stronger than the average pirate crew, but nothing really out of the ordinary for them. Why are you suddenly so worried?"

"It's the way he spoke about Duke. And also how he pretty much called me a piece of shit captain for not knowing my own guild's history. We've been on the guild since the day we were born, Ace. Why haven't we heard anything about Duke and Madmartigan? We would have heard something. We hear all the other stuff all those lazy, old mages did back in their hay day, so why not this?"

Ace sighed as he grabbed what was left of his whiskey, "Did you ever think about how maybe there's things that we're better off just not knowing?"

"That's a stupid thing to say. Everyone should know their history. That's how we learn things, idiot," she said, smacking her palm to his forehead, "Plus, I'm also the guild master now. I have a right to know these things if I'm going to protect the guild."

"Well then," he said, rubbing his forehead, "Have you tried talking to dad about this? Madmartigan said that he knew about his history with Duke too."

"The old man isn't gonna give me jack squat to go on," she huffed, grabbing her own glass of liquor.

"He's been helpful up until now, so why suddenly doubt him?"

"You obviously haven't been paying attention to what he does for your entire life. Sometimes I really wish mom hadn't rubbed off on you so much," she sighed before chugging down what was left in her glass and slamming it down on the desk, "Dad has this habit of giving out help here and there. Just bits and pieces to think he'll always have the answer and then one day, bam! He pulls the damn rug out from under you. Says it makes a mage stronger to sort things out on their own once they understand the basics."

"It's barely been two weeks since you've become guild master. You think he's really gonna do that to you now?"

"Probably. I'd rather expect sooner than later," she said, "But this history…it has to do with Duke and dad's not one for giving out information on family and friends so easily. And also, if we haven't heard anything about it until now, then its even more likely that he won't give me any information. The cheapskate!"

"There's really only one way to find out if you're right or not," Ace said, finishing his own drink before standing, "You're gonna have to ask him. He might still be up with those lazy bums he hangs out with, so you can check the middle ship if you want. I'm heading to bed though. I'll help you out in the morning if you need it."

"Thanks Ace," she smiled at him as he left the office. Cordelia sighed again, knowing that her brother was right. There was only going to be one way for her to figure out if her dad would help her out or not, "This would be so much easier if Duke was home and I could corner him or something!" she said as she stood from her desk to make her way out towards the middle vessel. She gathered all the beer glasses up to take them with her, not wanting to let them sit there over night, "That clumsy idiot better hurry up and get home already. He better believe I'm gonna chew his ass out for being gone for so long! He was supposed to be here when I became guild master!"

Cordelia went quiet once she realized that she was shouting. She hadn't known her voice had risen so much, but it was frustrating that Duke had decided to be gone for so long. She knew that whatever he was gone for was important, but three years seemed to be overkill. What could he be doing for so long?

"Whatever," she mumbled as she picked up the last glass, "I'll just give him a few good hits for it later. Now to go find dad."

Cordelia made her way across the guild, making sure to keep her steps careful in the dark. Soon enough, she had made it to the deck of the main ship, dropping off the empty glasses first. She had missed Eli and Seth sitting off to the side of the bar, having a few drinks of their own. They watched as Cordelia searched through the dim light of the bar lights until her eyes lit up when they landed on her father, who sat a table with a few other older men. They continued watching as she walked up to the table, figuring it would at least be an interesting show to end their night on.

"Oi! Dad!" Cordelia said as she came to stand in front of him.

The table he sat at went quiet for a moment as they all looked to see who had called out. The other men were smiling again when they saw Cordelia in front of them.

"Look! It's little Cordelia come to pay us a visit!" the fist man started.

"Although, she's not so little now. She's our guild master now," another added.

The third man nudged Finn with a laugh, "Looks like you have to take orders from your own daughter now. What do you think about that?"

"What is it, Cordelia?" Finn asked with an unamused face. He was sure the other men wouldn't shut up about this for the rest of the night.

Cordelia could feel her eye twitching in annoyance at the men before her, but she ignored them for the time being, "I need to talk to you about Duke and Madmartigan."

The three other men went quiet again, serious looks covering their faces now. Finn glanced over at them and gave them a curt nod, silently telling them they needed to leave. The men didn't argue as they got up without taking their beers with them. Once he was sure they were gone, Finn turned back to his daughter.

"What do you want to know?"

Cordelia stood there for a moment in shock. She hadn't been expecting her dad to be so cooperating, but things were moving smoothly for the moment. She shook her head, reminding herself on what she needed to do, "I want to know the history between them."

"What is there to tell? He and Madmartigan were in a battle and Duke took his hand," he said, looking down at the table with his hand tightly wrapped around his beer.

"Don't lie to me!" she snapped, "Something else had to happen for Duke to react like that. And for Madmartigan to speak the way he does. He said that he took something from Duke that was greater than his own hand. So what happened? I can't find anything in any of the files I have. It's like someone just ripped that part of the guild history out. You can't just make history disappear, dad."

"Sometimes things are better left in the dark, Cordelia."

"It's my right to know these things as the guild master," she said, her tone firm and unwavering, "And now we're involved with the Black Skulls, that makes it that much more imperative that I know what happened. What happens when I end up fighting Madmartigan and I don't know what you know? And don't tell me that I'm not gonna fight him, because you know it's gonna happen eventually!"

Finn stayed silent as he continued to stare at the table in front of him.

"Don't ignore me!" she shouted, slamming a fist down on the table, "Tell me what happened!"

Finn stood up at his full height to stare down his daughter when her fist slammed down. An unusual flare of anger was in his eyes, causing the two younger men watching in the background to tense up. Cordelia, though, stood her ground against her father.

"As I said," Finn started, "There are things that are better left in the dark. There's no reason for you to go digging up things that don't concern you. You try digging this up, it'll only bring up pain, not just for the people that were there that day, but for yourself. Leave it be."

Cordelia narrowed her eyes at him, "It concerns me when we're dealing with the Black Skulls now. And maybe if you all didn't keep burying whatever it was that happened, then you could all have some peace by now. Maybe this needs to be added to my list of promises if it bothers you so much."

"Cordelia, I'm telling you to leave this one alone."

"You think I can't handle it?"

"It'll break your heart and I don't want to watch that happen all over again!" Finn shouted, finally surprising Cordelia, "I had to watch Duke lose himself because of it, so I'll be damned if I watch my own daughter take on that pain too!"

Cordelia was quiet for a moment as she thought of how to respond to him. Whatever it was that happened, it bothered her father greatly. He was never really affected by much, so whatever it was that happened must have been bad enough for him to become so angry over it. Her mind then ran over the guild master comment that was made earlier by one of her father's friends.

"I may be your daughter," she began, her voice low and unwavering again, "But right now, I am acting as your guild master. I am asking you to give me the information I know you have and as a member of this guild, I expect you to give me some sort of answer that will help me. I am not asking you to tell me the whole story, as I can see that it bothers you, but there must be something you can direct me towards that will help me discover things on my own."

Cordelia waited for a moment to see if her father would answer her, but Finn only stared back in silence.

"Fine," she huffed as she turned away from him, "Then I'll have to continue figuring it all out on my own. I won't stop until I know the history."

Finn watched as his daughter turned on her heels and began heading back towards the front ship. He hadn't expected a response from her like that - to ask him so formally for information, like a real guild master. He had to keep reminding himself that she was master of the guild now and not just his daughter. He wanted to protect her from all he could, and this history she was asking for, he knew it would hurt her. She would cry over it, he knew that without question. Cordelia had always been a girl that could connect with just about everyone she met. She was empathetic and felt their pain and happiness with them. And while this was a good quality for her to have, especially as a guild master, it could also be a downfall for her too. Some histories just contained too much pain and he was afraid that she wouldn't be able to handle Duke's. But then…he also had to trust her. He had to trust that she could handle everything that would be thrown at her as a guild master. It would be the only way she would be able to move forward in her new position. If he showed that he couldn't trust her with information, especially as a previous master himself, then others on the guild may not trust her either. He couldn't do that to his daughter, so with that thought, he sighed heavily before calling out towards her.

"In your office, there will be a hidden hatch somewhere. In this hatch should be a journal that Duke kept. It should have the history in it that you're looking for."

Cordelia stopped and glanced back at her father, "Where is the hatch and how do I open it?"

"You'll have to find it yourself. I still don't want you to know that history, Cordelia, so I'm not going to make it easy for you. But if you're determined enough, you'll eventually find it."

Cordelia rolled her eyes in response, "I suppose it's better than nothing," she mumbled, "So thanks."

Finn nodded at her, "And if you do find it, don't say I didn't warn you about it."

Cordelia nodded at him in return before continuing her trek to the head ship.

Finn finally let his anger go and felt his body relax. He then glanced back at the two men he knew had been watching the entire time, "Well? Go after her then."

Eli and Seth quickly finished off their drinks and did as they were told. They didn't want to stick around to see if he would blow up again, especially since Eli was well aware of what the man could do from his time growing up on the guild. The two ran passed him, towards the head ship, leaving Finn behind to plop back down into his seat.

"Hmm," he hummed as he stared down into his beer, "I wonder…will you help Duke out of the dark again, Cordelia?"

. : + : .

April 14, X792 - Morning

Seth sat on one side of the desk, papers and files all around him, while Eli sat across from him with just as big of a mess around him. Though, he also had Cordelia leaning up against him, the woman having fallen asleep a few hours before. The rest of the office had been flipped upside down in the search for the journal that Finn had spoken of, but the trio had yet to find anything. The two men had decided on taking a break for a moment since it was obvious they hadn't been looking in the right places.

"I'm surprised she even fell asleep. I'm sure that has something to do with you though," Seth said, looking over at Eli, who had his head tipped up to stare at the ceiling.

"She was still awake after I woke up from my own power nap. Sue me if I decided to warm the place up enough to finally knock her out for a bit," he said, looking back down at Seth now to see a knowing smile on the man's face, "And don't be trying to talk about pointless things. We still need to find that journal."

"I don't think I would call it pointless," he said with a chuckle, "But you're right. We need to find that journal before Cordelia goes crazy. I was surprised to see her stand up against Finn like that last night, so it must be pretty important."

"If we don't hurry, I'm pretty sure she'll just start ripping floorboards up next. The old man said it was in a hidden hatch, so it's not like it'll be in plain sight. Maybe there's a switch or something somewhere around here."

"We've tried looking for switches too. I mean, unless there's an invisibility spell in place, I feel like Finn was just pulling her leg."

"The old man wouldn't do that to her. Not about something like this anyways, so if he says there's a journal, then it's here in this room. We just need to look harder."

"Cordelia!" Hagi shouted, throwing the door open and interrupting the conversation.

Cordelia sat up straight on her seat while the two men looked back at the blonde that had just busted open the door. When Cordelia realized that it was just the cosplay mage that had entered her office, she sunk back down in her seat to drift off to sleep again, figuring that Eli and Seth could handle whatever he needed.

"What the hell happened in here?!" Hagi shouted, his eyes growing wide at the mess before him, "And after I had the place looking amazing! What did you do?!"

"Calm down," Eli grumbled, "We're just looking for something. I'm sure Cordelia will clean up the place once we find it."

"What are you looking for that you had to go and ruin the entire office?"

"A hidden hatch. There's something in there that Cordelia needs," Seth said.

"You should have come to me first!" he said, moving into the office while carefully stepping over papers, "I found one when I cleaned this place the first time," he continued as he pushed papers aside from the desk. He lifted the large calendar that was on top of it and clicked down on a hidden button that blended in with the wood. As soon as the button was pushed, the door of a hatch popped open, revealing a space big enough for a journal to fit into.

"Cor, wake up," Eli said, pushing on her shoulder.

"What?" she snapped, not happy at being woken up a second time, "If this is about Hagi wanting to set someone up on a date, I'm killing all of you."

"No one appreciates my work!" Hagi cried.

Seth laughed before looking over at Cordelia, "I think we might have found that journal."

Cordelia sat there for a moment as the information sunk in. Her eyes then flew open as she practically threw herself across the desk to peer down into the hatch. There was a small pile of papers, which looked to be a part of the documents that were missing from the history books for the guild. She picked them up first, uncovering a worn, brown leather journal. She shoved the folded documents into her back pocket before picking up the journal. She knew instantly that it had belonged to Duke without having to open in. It smelled like the cigars he always smoked.

"Finally!" she shouted, looking over at Hagi. She then threw herself at him in a tight hug, "You're the best, Hagi! Thank you!"

"You're welcome! And as payment, just let me set you up on a date!"

"I don't care what you do at this point!" she grinned, happy to have the journal in her hands.

"I hope you know that he knew about this hatch the entire time," Eli huffed, instantly disliking the idea of the blonde setting up Cordelia on some sort of weird date.

Cordelia froze before her grip tightened on Hagi, the blonde soon in a headlock, "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?! I spent all day and night looking for information and this journal!"

"I didn't know it was that important!"

"Tell me these things in the future!" Cordelia shouted, "Are there any other things that you didn't tell me about?!"

"That was the only one I found! I promise!" he answered, beginning to cry again.

"I don't think he can breathe all that well," Seth said.

Cordelia let him go at Seth's comments, "As punishment for not telling me about this sooner, you can clean up my office again for me. And don't be reading any of the files!"

"Yes ma'am," Hagi answered, streams of tears still running down his face, "But first, I did come down here to tell you that Matilda was asking for you. She said we were getting near the next island and she needed to know what you planned to do now."

"Damn, and just when I found the journal too," she mumbled, "I guess it can't be helped. Finding the next clue needs to take priority for the moment," she said as she grabbed her white coat and threw it on. She then shoved the journal into an inside pocket, feeling like it was safer with her than left in the office, "Let's go boys. I'll probably need your help getting all the sails pulled up. I don't want to take the chance of any lightning striking them," she said as all three of them began following her. She quickly turned on Hagi, "But not you! You stay here and clean," she demanded, narrowing her eyes at him, causing him to cry all over again. She then grabbed the map from her desk before moving out with Eli and Seth.

The trio made it up on top in time to see that the sails were being pulled up and tied off already as well as a few air and water mages using their magic to continue pushing the guild forward in place of the sails.

"Talk about efficiency," Cordelia said just as Zinnia appeared in front of her, "Zi!"

"I figured what you might have asked everyone to do and got a head start on it," the brunette smiled.

"You know me so well!" Cordelia said as she hugged Zinnia tightly. Once she let go of the woman, she looked out in front of the guild to see an island just ahead of them. The sky had darkened immensely, but there was no rain falling. Thunder could be heard far in the distance, but no loud rumbles or booms could be heard above them. What could be seen though, were streaks of lightning falling one after another. It was a continuous storm of bright flashes, which made Cordelia wonder how anyone could even survive on Fulgur, "I suppose I need to figure out a team to go onto the island. Though, this one won't be as complicated as the last two," she said as looked back over at Zinnia, "Go hunt down Drayden and Alisa for me please. I'll be sending them onto the island to uncover the next clue."

"Aye!" Zinnia said, racing off from the front ship to go find the two mages.

Cordelia then made her way up to the navigation cabin to speak with Matilda, "Oi! Matilda!" she called out, the woman appearing in front of her in an instant.

"There's so much lightning! Lightning everywhere, falling everywhere! Ohhh! Do you think it strikes in the same place twice here?! I think it would, it would make sense, right?!"

"Matilda!"

"Yes?"

"Did you find a port for this island?"

"Oh, yeah! Fulgur has a few of them actually. I think it's rather interesting that people have managed to live on the island. I wonder what they do to deal with the lightning. You think maybe I might have some time to go check it out?"

"Well, let us get into port first, all right?"

"We're just about to dock, so after we settle in, I can go inland, right?!"

"Sure," Cordelia smiled. Though, her smile quickly dropped when she saw a line of people seeming to be waiting for them at the docks. Many of them had weapons at the ready, "Oi! What's going on?!" she shouted down at them.

"We've been waiting for you, Cordelia Murdock!" a man standing in the middle of the crowd answered. His dark blonde hair was swept back messily, a few loose strand falling into his dark eyes.

"And just who the hell are you?!"

"The name's Ben Nolan! Bounty hunter extraordinaire! I'll be taking your head today and continue my title of being the best hunter in the world!"

Cordelia and the others stared at Ben and his men in disbelief. Anyone that actually announced themselves like that probably wasn't really that great at their job.

"I haven't even heard of you before," Cordelia said, "Are you new or something?"

"How dare you! I grew up as a bounty hunter! I've been a part of this business for as long as you've been a mage!"

"That just makes it even worse…" Cordelia continued, "Seriously, I've never heard of you, not even once."

"Maybe he's just trying to talk up his game!" Matilda said.

"I'm a bounty hunter! I am! I've caught a bunch of men with bounties on their heads!"

"We're they all idiots?" Eli asked.

"Maybe they were all the cheap ones that no one wants to waste their time on," Cordelia said, looking over at the fire mage.

"I suppose that's a nice thing to do," Seth said, "Doing the work that no one else wants to. Someone has to do it. There's no shame in that."

"Yeah, but then how are you supposed to become the world's greatest bounty hunter by only going after small fries?" Eli asked.

"I'm right here, ya know!" Ben shouted.

"Ah right, sorry," Cordelia said, "But you're kinda forgettable. What was you're name again?"

"Ben Nolan! You better remember it since I'm gonna be the one to collect on that 3,000,000 bounty on your head!"

"Dammit Bern," Cordelia grumbled, "You give me a bounty, but then it only attracts the idiots. What's the point if I can't even get a good fight out of it?!"

"Weren't you mad about Bern wanting the same thing back in Nube…?" Eli and Seth asked, sweat drops falling down their heads.

"This is completely different! I don't want to waste my time on people like Ban Nollet!

"It's Ben Nolan!"

"Same difference!"

"That's it! We're attacking now, boys!" Ben shouted, giving the signal to board the guild.

As the group of bounty hunters jumped onto the ship, a loud crash came from the main deck of the middle vessel.

"Sounds like there might be more hunters coming from the back," Seth said.

"I don't think it's hunters," Cordelia said, seeing a black ship far off in the distance, knowing exactly who it belonged to, "But they'll have to deal with whatever it is on their own for the moment. We need to take care of Bun Nokan first!"

"For the last time, it's Ben Nolan!" he shouted, pulling out a large machete to swing down on her.

"Bring it! Let's see if you can make me remember that name!" she shouted, calling out her Chaos Tanto to block the machete. The metal weapons connecting and echoing just as the other hunters clashed with the other mages around Cordelia.

Storm's Helm Question Corner!

Today's question comes from frozenwolf94 for Tazz:

How in the world did you convince Chris to get on your bike in chapter three?

Tazz: Finally! I get a question!

Rio: Don't waste our time and answer it then!

Tazz: There's no reason for you to be rude! Unless you want me knocking you out again!

Rio: You just got lucky!

Watson: More like you're an idiot…

Tazz: See! Watson gets it!

Rio: The only reason you're not getting blown away right now is because you're the writer and I'm pretty sure I'd get sued for it!

Watson: You're probably right *smirks deviously* I need that money to fix the elevators that Cordelia broke, so go right on ahead. Especially when I have an info broker that always sticks his nose into business that he shouldn't be and taking me for everything I'm worth!

Tazz: She seems kinda moody today…

Watson: You'd be moody too if there were suddenly contracts appearing that you don't even remember signing! OMG! I'm gonna make his life a living hell one of these da- *coughs in embarrassment* Well anyways, answer the question please.

Tazz: Oh, right! Well, it's not so much that I convinced Chris.

Chris: It's more like she forced me onto it. She always uses me to test out new stunts! It's not right! You could stop the madness, Watson!

Watson: I've got my own problems to worry about! Besides, it entertains me when she does things like that to you punks. I think she even had something new to try out today. Something about adding boosters onto those skates.

Tazz: Right! Let's go! *grabs Chris and Rio and runs off screen*

Watson: Just don't destroy anything else! I don't need that shady info broker showing up on my doorstep! *looks to audience* Well that's it for today! See you all again soon!

A/N: And there we go! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Credits

Ben Nolan - MyDearWatson

Well, I was going to update this chapter before now, but Thunder Stone took over during the challenge, lol. And then with the last chapter of Thunder Stone, I was wiped out emotionally, so I ended up taking a break before I dove back in since I had to reset my mind frame for this story. But I still quite liked how the chapter turned out and with this chapter, we're getting closer to finding out that history between Duke and Madmartigan and even our first big flashback! CHA!

And this makes 4 chapters that Dread will have to match! So I suppose that's a decent number of them. I think that's what I usually average in these things when I have to go first.

But I'll be on vacation here this coming Friday, so I'm hoping to get some more chapters out then, but we'll see how things go. Depends on how much I like sitting out near that pool with a drink in my hand, haha!

Anyways, onto those lovely reviews!

Thanks to all of you that reviewed last chapter!

Momochan1277 - Yep, Duke! We finally got to meet him! He'll be home soon, so it should be a happy reunion for all! And thanks for the new question! It's appreciated! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

silverhawk88 - I thought you might like that bit with Mac, lol. Yep, we're getting closer to learning that history! And more to come on that Dark Water. Haha, nope! Duke isn't dead! And I will say that Finn is for sure Cordelia's father. Cordelia has blue eyes like her mother while Duke has green eyes. So, no, he's not her father. But more will be explained on their history and everything soon. But I can see why you might think Duke could be her father. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Joshua1277 - Haha, glad you liked that opening bit with the bounties. And we've wasted no time in getting some bounty hunters in there, even if they're on the lower end of power level. Should still be entertaining though. Yep, Madmartigan is slowly losing it! And I'm glad you like the Dark Water concept too! I'm really liking it myself and all the history that will be behind it. And yep, we finally got to meet Duke! Reunion should be good for when he shows back up! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

LightandDarkHeart - Yep, Duke finally makes his appearance! I had to string you guys along for a while with him and now we'll be right back to that string since we have to wait again for his next appearance! And you might be on the right track for that spirit of wishes, lol, so we'll have to wait and see. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Origm2012 - I thought the hammock sounded pretty awesome too. And as soon as I thought of it, I instantly pictured Seth in one, so it had to happen, lol. So I'm really happy to hear that you liked that first scene! Yeah, poor Ace having to catch Seth like that, lol. And that was lucky for Jay…until he passed out, poor guy, haha! And yep, I figured that most of them would be like, well whatever we'll take on anyone who tries to collect on our bounties. It seemed to fit them all pretty well. Whoops! Guess I missed fixing that name thing! T.T Haha, yeah…Eli, he's just…well he's Eli. We'll see his change over time though, but you might want to be beating him with anything within reach for a bit longer. Yep! We got to meet Duke! Glad you liked that last scene with him! I've been waiting so long to do that! You have no idea! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Dreadburner94: You best be keeping Euclid out of Storm's Helm! They already have enough problems without adding the info broker into the mix! And I didn't just let Cordelia go rampant! You think I'm made of money too?! Tch! But I want no more deals with shady brokers! But yeah, Madmartigan is really beginning to lose it. It should be interesting to see how he is at the end of all of this. Those poor hydras and the lack of sweaters for them though! But anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Benthino - Glad you enjoyed the chapter! And that Dark Water certainly does make things intense, but jack was able to handle it fairly well. And yep, Duke! Bounty hunters to come in the future, as Ben and his men aren't the type that Cordelia and the guild need to really worry about. They're more for comic relief to help give a break from more of the intense stuff that's been going on. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

reven228 - Yep! We finally got to meet Duke! And I wish I had been able to update Storm's Helm a bit more, but hopefully we should see some more updates since I'll be on vacation soon! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

XLil MEkoX - Yeah, everyone needs some down time every now and then, so it was time for Cordelia to get some! But yeah, Jay was just too adorable in that scene. Poor guy fainting like that, lol. Yeah, I'm sure Ajax will hate it even more when they get to the thunder island. And yep, we got to meet Duke! And I think you might have to wait longer than you think for Duke to come back, muwhahahaha! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

frozenwolf94 - Yep, Madmartigan is definitely starting to lose it. I'm sure sending all his men in like this will come back to him in a bad way, but we'll have to wait and see how things turn out! And yeah, Duke has finally made his appearance! And yeah…that Q&A…things are always going so wrong! T.T Haha, well I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

ThePrinceOfLight - Glad you liked both of the past two chapters! So yeah, Cordelia gets to stay queen of the sirens. And yeah, Blackstroker's pose for the statue was based off of Captain Morgan, lol! More to come on the Dark Water. But I'm glad you liked that bounties scene, I thought most of them wouldn't mind getting one, lol. And I'm sorry to hear about your ankle! If I could send Jack to heal it, I would! And yep, Madmartigan is slowly losing it. And we got to meet Duke! All answers to come on him soon! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

mrady - Well, it seemed all the early chapters came for Thunder Stone, but I'm hoping to get some early ones in during vacation, so we'll see how that goes. But I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

That should be it for this time around!

See you all next Sunday!

Yours Truly,

MyDearWatson