On his ship, El sat quietly in front of a roaring furnace. It was his turn to make sure it didn't go out. The flames sent shadows crawling to various parts of the room, giving the pipes in the room a dark hue. The table next to him was cluttered with papers, maps, and a number of different reference books.
Normally, El would be spending his time designing and creating new marvels like his flying ship. Had he time, the vessel that they had just left would have been a welcome puzzle. His focus, however, was on the people who seemed to call the craft home.
He had heard of this League that his group had faced twice now. No doubt their previous employers had hired the team to catch them all. Given the circumstances, he considered the honor of it all. Before leaving, his superiors would never have thought to send a team of such capable individuals to chase after a group led by, in their words, "a dark savage."
They had not even tried to remember his name, calling him 'you there' or any other form of degrading title. Anger surged through him as the memory of a not too distant past.
The emotion was interrupted as he heard someone walk in. He looked over to see Jas standing amongst the dark flickering. Her eye showed a hint of concern but seemed to know better than to ask.
"How she doin'," he asked, looking back at the fire.
"She's acting more like herself," Jas reported, "but she has been told to get more rest."
"Dat's good," El confirmed. He paused for a moment before saying something. "We able to learn anything from earlier?"
"Some names, maybe a few places. I think that's it though."
The dark man pondered this for some time. The only thing that pierced the silence was the crackles from the furnace. "Any advice?"
Jas closed her eyes and spoke in an almost lost tone. "The course to action starts with setting up the sails."
Somewhat annoyed, El stood up and walked around the room. The room only allowed him to walk about twenty steps before he had to turn around. After a short while, he stopped. Quickly going back to the map, he scanned it before pointing out a spot in Southern Asia.
"Get everyone set," he commanded. "We have our next location."
On the Nautilus, everyone sat quietly as they ate their breakfast, dressed as they would on any normal day. The quiet of the room was hanging like a balloon that they feared to pop. They all had the same thoughts running through their heads but were at a lose on how to start. After he finished peeling of his hardboiled egg, Skinner broke the silence.
"So, what happened to you all earlier?"
The rest of the table sat as they heard the question echo on the walls. The table looked as though time had paused. Jekyll was in mid-sip of his morning tea. Tom had a spoon full of oatmeal hanging from his mouth. Nemo practically chocked on the bite of the curried fish he was eating. Mina had cut through the skin of her grapefruit, which had it leak its deep red juice.
"I can't say for certain," Tom responded after swallowing. "It was like someone took every emotion I was feeling at the time, concentrated it, bottle it up, and let it explode inside me."
"I must agree with young Sawyer," Nemo confirmed. "All I could think of was that we must catch the people who had boarded my precious Nautilus."
"I couldn't even hear Hyde," Jekyll recalled. He heard Hyde's cruel laugh in the back of his head before the statement was finished.
You're not regretting that, are you Henry?
"There is only thing I have to wonder," Mina stated, continuing to eat her breakfast. She didn't know if she even needed food but it help control her vampiric instinct to feed and made her feel less like a monster. "Why is it that Skinner was the only one unaffected?"
"Wish I could tell ya," Skinner answered through a mouthful of egg. "It was kinda scary watching you all act like you did."
That was the end of the conversation. One by one, they each left the table.