“You have what you want now Jane,” Watson said. “I hope you’re happy now,”

When once Watson would have seen Jane bustling and trying to fight the Vicegerent for the right for this expedition, she now arose from her bed and could barely move. When once she had strength, now she showed weakness. It was almost unfathomable to Watson to now see this in front of him. “Watson my dear,” Jane insisted. “It seems I’m starting to wane,”

“It happens to all of us,” Watson said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Jane said. “Help me up here real quick.”

Watson quickly approached Jane and lifted her off the ground. “You should stay afloat,” Watson said. “Latching onto the ground like this is bad for you. You can be more buoyant and you won’t have to deal with this.”

“Water truly is a blessing,” Jane said. “But even while buoyant I still can’t move. That is not the problem.”

Watson knew she spoke the truth, but preferred not to keep the blunt reality in front of her face. A manifestation of the chaos unfolding right before his very eyes. “I wish you could’ve gone to Whitehall again now,” Watson said.

“I’ve already tried more than enough times,” Jane said. “I don’t regret the attempts.”

“I bet you don’t,” Watson said. “You actually did it. I never thought you’d say that.”

“This, my dear, is why you never give up,” Jane insisted. “It might seem hard to believe, and I know you don’t like to hear this from me, but often times…it can be tempting, to want to give up on people. And it’s not hard to see why. There are too many of us in these Oceans. Not just in Tridention. But the Seven Oceans all over. Who knows how many cities. Who knows how many hunting brigades. And who knows how many people are there.”

“You chose one person over millions,” Watson said. “I would never understand that.”

“Neither would anyone, so it seems,” Jane noted. “Yet here I am. I pulled off the effort. I persisted. And it paid off. And there we are. Now you see it with your own eyes.”

“I never told Pisces the truth,” Watson said. “The truth behind why Mardini left.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Jane said. “It would give her nothing but problems. You want to protect your image to her, and it’s the right thing to do.”

“Who will look after you while I’m gone?” Watson asked. “Just look at you, you can barely even get up. How will you even move about?”

Jane approached Watson and patted him on the right shoulder. “My dear,” Jane insisted. “I know you valiantly tried to help me while I was alone. But the truth is I never asked for it.”

“You would be in denial to think you don’t need help right now,” Watson said. “I can have the hunters at Whitehall come to you for anything,”

“The hunters are far too kind, they are simply doing their job,” Jane said. “Leave them be. No need to trouble them more.”

“They already miss you by the way,” Watson said.

“And I them, trust me,” Jane noted. “But please, no more hassle. How is the expedition preparation coming along?”

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“We are almost set,” Watson set. “We will be leaving tomorrow.”

“Is everything ready?”

“As ready as we can make it, though unlikely,” Watson said. “They say there’s a chance he might still be alive. I’m not so sure if he is or not, but I want you to promise me something. Promise me that once we prove this, dead or alive, that you will put this matter to rest once and for all. End this torture. It’s very unhealthy for you.”

“If you had told me this a decade ago,” Jane said. “I would not have believed it. But now, I think I might have to agree.”

“It did you in, did it not?”

“It might have, but I doubt it,” Jane said. “It worked, however. We have proven it. Even though there are skeptics. But all this comes at a major cost. One unlike anything I had ever seen.

You know Watson, there were times when, perhaps, I do often ponder what else I could have done. How else could I have chosen to spend the years I have. What else I could have done with my life. Nearly two centuries worth of time. It’s quite a lot. Most are not even that lucky.”

“Especially me,” Watson said. “Truly, especially me.”

“I doubt you will be able to live as long as I did so far,” Jane said. “But now that you’ve seen what I become, you should decide whether you want the same for yourself or not.”

I’d rather not directly answer that question to you, Watson thought to yourself.

“The Vicegerent is supposed to be Lord Wayne in the flesh, they say,” Jane said. “But even Lord Wayne would have been more benign on the souls that went to the Northwest Passage. More so than the Vicegerent over there. So even if Lord Wayne does not bless your journey to the High Arctic, I will,” Jane insisted. “And I hope that’s enough.”

Watson knelt on the ground and cradled Jane’s hands in his rough, calloused palms. The contact between the two left an astonishing indication to both of them. “It always has been for me,” Watson said.

“Then I wish you safe travels,” Jane said. “You are my only hope now, Watson. It pains me to say this, but I’m now depending on you. I want to know that my life’s work was not in vain.”

Watson held onto her hands with an even firmer grip now than before. “I will not let you down,” Watson said.

“Even Mardini should have seen the goodness in you despite this,” Jane said. “Your daughter will be very proud of you. I can promise you that.”

Watson then slowly let go of Jane’s grip, arose from the floor, and left the house with his irons in tow. He did not want to tell her that Alphestes was not as reliable. Nor did he want to tell her that the public would catch an eye on Jane and the others in the expedition. “I hope you can keep a secret for that long,” Watson said, before leaving the house.

***

“Had a change of heart, Ulysses?” Watson asked him at his home.

“The High Arctic sounded mystical to me,” he explained. “And besides, I need a way to assert my worth to my betrothed. A hunt is the best way to do it, and the city is running complacent these days. I’d have to say I agree with you, Commandant,”

“Great, now everyone is calling me by that now,” Watson said.

“You should appreciate it,” Haddock says. “The fact that people still call you a Commandant when you aren’t is a sign of respect. How are you so oblivious to this?”

“Must be old age,” Watson said. “Or at least, that’s what it seems. Bergmann, Allen, what’s the status on the streets?”

“Empty as the Ocean,” Bergmann insisted.

“Let’s hope it stays that way by the time we get to the harbor,” Watson said. “Haddock should meet us there; I hope the brigade is ready.”

“You do realize that this expedition will get us all nearly into serious grave trouble, right?” Ulysses asked.

“I do, but you already signed up for it,” Watson said. “Anyone have anything to say before we head for the harbor?”

“Bergmann, Allen, do you two even know where the striders are?”

“I remember the paths we took to get there,” Bergmann said. “But no, we’d have to look for them and see where they headed off to. I only know that other hunters were trapped in the ice and have not gotten out. Our priority would probably be to save anyone else we can, if even can, and then have them lead us to the striders. Then we can save the crew and save Franklin.”

“How did you two deal with the cold anyway?”

“We had enough clothing to bare it at the time, Franklin prepared for it,” Allen said. “But now, even we don’t have that luxury,”

“You two will have to show us how to do that, because I’m relying on you lot,” Watson said. “Alright, I’m heading over to the harbor and leaving shortly. You better all be there, because I do not plan on waiting for anyone.”

“Even if someone were to leave and suddenly betray the expedtion?” Allen asked.

“It’s already too late to go back at this point,” Watson said. “Whatever happens now. Happens.”