The Diaries of an Enigmatic Manipulator
An LXG fanfiction
(Don't own the league and its story; rights reserved for Alan Moore. Any alterations from the movie or its characters, the creation of Siyana Blair, etc. I claim my own.)
Somewhere in the Atlantic; June 1899
After that wicked encounter with a memory from my past, it would seem the entire league was in need of fresh air, including the now polished, newly acquired, very puzzling Dr. Jekyll. I soon learned that his first name was Henry. During the same time, I learned the American Secret Service agents first name as well—Tom.
Captain Nemo showed us the way to his main deck, and I am ashamed to say, although not surprised, that I was terrified of standing atop possibly Earth's highest ships. If I had to ever look down upon the water, I could most definitely bet that I would be horror-struck; nevertheless I would fall to the call of the ocean and all its threatening waves and creatures. Besides my phobia of being on top, simply I was afraid of climbing the metal bars that led to it. I say…it was not even a stairwell! Now, I am not entirely knowledgeable of the nautical terms, however I describe so; you must enter this narrow tubular space, which a series of metal entities ascended its wall which led straight to the deck! If I don't say so for myself; what an unpleasant way for transport!
It took, then, several strengths for me to ascend that…that stairwell mockery before I met fresh air again. The sunlight was radiant this evening, and all eight of us league members surrounded the railings. The ship deck was of an odd shape, I must say…and as my first most act of stupidity, I happened to look over the railing to the sea hundreds of feet below as I reached my position. I could have just fell then and there.
I was standing behind the left side of the deck, of which I cannot remember the nautical term for, (blessed me for not remembering…my own father would be filled with disappointment!) and soon I was accompanied by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Skinner. I hadn't noticed where the others had gone about the deck until I frightfully heard our entryway shut, and turned to see the Captain was missing. I hoped he simply did so to check on some technical things for his ship, and not leave us here to drown as he descends his ship into the water. And so, I noticed Mr. Quatermain and Agent Sawyer conversing on the right side of the ship, and Mrs. Harker, soon accompanied by Mr. Gray (such surprise) at the front-most end. Oh, do these nautical terms confuse me! I know one side…left or right I do not know…is called the starboard. But if I do not know which side, it is of little use.
I must say I was quite uncomfortable being between these two gentlemen; Mr. Rodney Skinner and Dr. Henry Jekyll. I almost hadn't noticed how tight my grip on the railing was until any words were spoken.
"Are you all right?"
I also hadn't noticed, until moments later, that Dr. Jekyll was addressing to me. Once more and as usual, I found it hard to find my words.
"Oh…I, um…yes…yes, I'm fine."
I tried to lessen the grip upon the railing, but failed to do so.
"Thank you…." I mumbled, slightly grateful for his concern. And yet…why was he concerned? This man was a stranger to me, after all!
"Well…this is awkward."
Dr. Jekyll and I both turned to Mr. Skinner, who casually leaned upon the cold iron barrier and stared into the open ocean sun.
I could barely make out what the others were saying, which to me looked like a slight annoyance or quarrel (Agent Sawyer had been giving Mr. Gray an infuriated look), when our Captain merely appeared out of nowhere when he announced the "solar panels" (whatever that was…?) were charged and the ship was ready to dive. (I assumed these so-called "solar panels" provided the ship with its energy)
Well, I was glad enough at that moment to learn the Captain wouldn't sink us after all; at least not yet.
And before our short period of fresh air could last, I resumed to my fear of the slender tubular scope, and its petrifying metal climb.
Before I was able to retreat to my own cabin, Mr. Skinner, Mrs. Harker, Dr. Jekyll and I were informed that Agent Sawyer, Mr. Quatermain, and Captain Nemo would be discussing our strategies for our arrival at Venice in Mr. Quatermain's quarters, if anyone had wished to join.
I would have accompanied them to get a better understanding of this reality, however I did not. It is not in my nature to…plan.
Later
I was concealed inside my cabin, hugging my knees to my chin upon the bed when I was startled.
There was a knock on my door.
I began to feel slightly lightheaded and swiftly sprinted to my feet. The knock came again, then a voice. It had spoken in an Indian accent:
"Ms. Blair; by orders of Captain Nemo, he wishes me to inform you that dinner will now be served in the dining room. He would like to know if you will be attending, and if so I would be glad to show you the way."
I already knew where it was, from my self-tour yesterday.
"…Ms. Blair?"
Slowly, I crept towards the doorway, and slowly, I had opened it about a half of an inch; enough for me to get a glimpse of the Captain's crewman.
"Um…no, thank you. I won't be joining…sorry."
I shut the door hastily, fumbled to lock it, and scurried back to the bed. I was indeed hungry, however I was far too aware of the Captain's attempt to slay us all—what if he had poisoned our food? What if it was a trap? What if everything was a trap? What if this league—what if this mission was a trap? Oh, but I cannot think of the possibility. If my dire health needed food, I must take the chance. For now, I can remain alive.
The Next Day
I must have fallen asleep shortly after my request for dinner, for I woke up from a malevolent dream to what I would have imagined to be the next morning. The light was shining through the porthole, and so I also realized we were of course above water, and, more terribly frightening, we were that much closer to Venice.
My dream consisted of the same memory Mr. Edward Hyde had reminded me. I will not mention it for un-needful purposes (for I do know I have indeed written fully of it before—years back, and I will absolutely not bring up any more dreadful memories of the home). The other details are not as important as to what else it may involve.
I am most terribly starving, and I can only imagine the richest of breakfasts in my mind to comfort my famine, but I continue to refuse food from the Captain. Even at my state of mind I believe I would refuse food from any person right now.
Instead, I insisted upon either attempting to fall back into my slumber with hopes of no dreams or nightmares, for that matter…otherwise, if that fails, reside in my room until further notice of our mission.
Later
I cannot resist this hunger. It is driving me insane. But still, I will not cave to mere starvation! Perhaps in a few more days, I shall surrender in knowledge of my growing faintness or declining health.
It is late in the day—I shall estimate to be around six o'clock, and I have saved my energy and bravery to once again explore the ship. As threatening I find Captain Nemo, he and his ship are yet to be fascinating. It was only a matter of time until I heard voices in the hallway, and so I planned to investigate.
I found it to be Mr. Quatermain and Mrs. Harker, standing a distance from each other, and talking in a low tone. They seemed to be watching something, and as I peered my head past the walls further than it was, I noticed their entertainment: Captain Nemo.
He was performing some sort of ritual; he was surrendering several swords, kneeling, and what I believed to be praying to a giant golden statue; a woman with several arms, which held several weapons. Its beauty glinted in the open room's light, shining blissfully better than the Captain's plain white garments. I assumed the statue to be of an Indian goddess. Mina, as performed in the dialect shown before you and I, proved me right:
"That's Kali…Goddess of Death." She spoke to Mr. Quatermain, approaching him as he watched the ritual intently. She continued:
"Nemo worships death; can we trust him?" her voice, to me, sounded bitter. And, for the record, I was unusually angry for her informal referral to the Captain. "Nemo", simply does not fit it.
And, to add to her hateful comment, worshiping death is never a horrid thing. I should be one to speak, considering my utter fright for the Captain's devices for us aboard his ship. Taking my hunger into consideration only worsened the effect, regrettably.
It may possibly mean our Captain thinks of death as a far more complicated thing than the rest of us, I would imagine partly due to his past, partly due to his religion. Me, I am not entirely sure what I worship the most. In my defensive case, I would say light for it is an easy way out, so to speak. I do not worship light, no…but due to my reason being here, possibly a little thanks to the Gods of light can benefit me in the long run. I do remember one of the doctors at the home once telling me of a Goddess I reminded him of. Her name was Siyana, like me, and out of the many Gods and Goddesses of that region, she was best famous for being one of the many heroes to protect with a special power of light. They even had a constellation dedicated to her, if I believe I heard right. They called her, "The Mid-Morning Sun".
Enough of my ramble, after Mina had made her comment, Mr. Quatermain simply replied,
"He's not the one I'm worried about.", and left Mrs. Harker…and I, alone in the darkness. Peering back to the Captain, I see he must have taken notice to the double's presence, for he silently shut the doors to his sacrament.
About an hour later, I had a very interesting encounter and conversation with Dr. Jekyll. I continued to roam the ship unseen (I can partially see what it must feel for Mr. Skinner—I wonder if he enjoys wandering, too…and I wonder if he had ever spotted me on my own—if so, when, and for how long had he watched me spy on other's conversations and the secrets of this vessel! I just hope the cards do not foresee great danger on my behalf because of this…), and came nearly to the point where I was just simply too tired to explore any longer, and headed back for my room. As I dashed my toes across the hall, I could hear familiar shouts just around the corner! I must say, it startled me! And with all this alarm, I was beginning to form a headache, yet again. I should have mentioned it earlier—at the beginning of this Fantom mission—ever since the meeting with M and Mr. Reed—ever since leaving the confines of my familiar, quiet, isolated home, my symptoms have begun to come back from all these years. Although my time at the home has been a few years past and since then I have never felt the need to leave my home, I still felt it startling and strange for them to come back so suddenly. I had thought my solitary time had demolished them for good! And yet, the headaches, the weakness, the insomnia, the dizziness, the rapid heart rate and such have not failed to terrorize me thus far.
Not to ramble…yet again…to my exploit with the Doctor;
After hearing faintly familiar shouts—I did not know, at the moment, who they were from—I came to notice Dr. Henry Jekyll casually pace himself around the corner of the hall, seemingly unaware of my standing there and mumbling to himself; what a strange fellow!
Stupidly, I did not move from his way, for he was headed straight in my direction—yet again, not noticing my being there.
And of course, we bumped into each other. Well…technically…he bumped into me. I will not be blamed responsible for his actions! Humph!
He seemed just as startled as I. And, when he lifted his face to meet mine, I could tell he was unusually flushed; something told me it was not from the startle of walking straight into me, but the argument I overheard. (Oh…yet again I hope my spying was not witnessed!)
"OH!" I yelped to his unawareness and my stupidity for simply standing there, knowing perfectly well he would have walked right into me.
"Oh—Siyana, are you alright? I'm sorry…I was…distracted."
"Well, yes it certainly seemed so."
He looked at me for a moment, uncomfortable.
"I must say, Doctor, you seem terribly reddened." I spoke.
"Is everything okay?"
"Um…yes, everything is fine. I'm sorry to bump into you, Ms. Blair…."and he began to walk off subconsciously again, but surprisingly I stopped him with my words!
"Did Mr. Edward Hyde hurt you?" I did not know what else to say, but he did indeed stop.
I thought I heard a sigh. "You know, Siyana…Edward and I can hear each other. And, when someone speaks to me, Edward can hear, and when someone speaks to Edward, I can hear as well."
I did not know what he meant to apply to me, but he continued.
"What you said the other day to Allan—that you didn't think Edward was capable of much harm—we couldn't help but feel startled by your statement. The rest of the league and Captain Nemo's crewmen were very much afraid. You, on the other hand, didn't seem to be as much."
If I were to curse, it would be now. But there was no turning back now—blast my sudden curiosity! I had to inform him of my memory.
"I...well…I've read much about Mr. Hyde, and he reminded me much of my past…."
"In what way?" he asked, more curious than ever to see the connection.
I began to walk alongside him cautiously—I was indeed, alongside a beast…yet, half a beast. We walked together down to the end of the hall as I told my story. I spoke these words:
"Mr. Hyde's transformation…his pain…reminded me of a few years back, when I was forced to live in a clinical center. I did not want to go, but they insisted that for my benefits they required a…"checkup", I quote."
He waited for me to continue.
"I soon realized it was far more than just that. What I didn't know the day I arrived that I would be living there for years, being tortured out of my misery!" I, myself, gave a bit of a weeping cry.
"The first day I got there, I was nervous…they had papers filed, brought me to a room, gave me hospitalized cloth to wear…I was terribly afraid, but calm. I did not fear the worst. I was unaware back then."
I paused, but nevertheless he continued to listen.
I was about to persist, but I stopped, subconsciously, in my tracks.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
I looked to him in the eye, very, regretfully teary…realizing what I had actually brought up.
"Mr. Hyde's pain slightly reminded me of my pain…of what they did to me."
He did not hesitate. "What did they do to you?"
"It was not a 'checkup' at all. They brought me to this bright, white room…it was blinding…."
I didn't think I could carry on, but he looked just so concerned!
And then, I started to weep.
"As soon as I set foot in that room I knew exactly where I was and what they intended to do. They needed to hold me…they forced me to a long metal table in the middle of the room…I was…I was strapped down, resisting the thoughts that lied ahead and fighting with all my will…they hurt me, however…they brutally butchered me to simply lay still…they injected substances in me and at that moment I knew I was to die and yet I did not know what it was exactly that I did to deserve this fate…!"
He stopped me, at that moment, with a hand on my shoulder. Strangely, I believe he resisted an urge to wipe the tears from my eyes. We were not close, and I was horridly shocked to reveal such a memory to a simple stranger!
"Siyana…it's alright. I'm sorry to bring up your bad memories. You don't have to continue on, if you cannot take it."
I just nodded. He seemed to understand.
Without saying another word, I hurriedly walked away from Doctor Henry Jekyll, and into my cabin where I wept the rest of the night.
A/N: If you're curious about what it was exactly that happened to Ms. Blair, or if you have a request to read more info about her past within future chapters, let me know. I'm not too sure if I'm going to put too much more of her past into the story, for she wouldn't just spill all the info out to Jekyll like that, or her diary…considering she wrote about it years ago when it actually happened, so to speak. So, if you want, message/comment.