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                "I

think that now's the time for whatever idea you have."                Edward

stood his ground where he had assumed a higher view on the ship. "I'll be

staying right here, though I might suggest you take a slightly higher perch."                 "WHAT?

No way! I'll not let you face this thing alone!"                Edward

didn't look at her; not even once. He knew where she was and what she was

thinking. He did however keep his eyes on Hyde. The thing that he was was a

hundred times more horrid than he was the first time he had seen him, when

Robert still seemed to have some small control over the form. Now it was

nothing more than a hulking, disgusting creature that had the very stink of

evil to it. When it came to mindless depravity, this thing probably had a

corner on the market. Unlike the cardinal, who seemed to have a plan in his

schemes for gathering together so much lore about the weres, Hyde was just a

lone brute, intent on his own insane pleasures and inane destruction.                 "Go

away Mags. This fight will end here today, on this ship. If I don't survive,

then make like you said and fly away from here, as far as your wings will take

you. Get up high and let the air currents carry you. West should let you hit

Great Britain, and east somewhere in Europe. Skip going north or south. Those

directions would be a fool's errand."                She

was watching him as he was watching Hyde. She should have been angry, but he

was a foolish male. More importantly, he was her fool and she loved him dearly.

She flew up out of reach and settled down on a railing.                Hyde

faltered for a moment. It was difficult to tell if he was simply drained from his

days at sea, or if something more was afoot with his hesitation. He had his

head cocked as if listening.                "Home?"                Edward

nodded quietly."Yes, Great Britain is home. But you can't go back now."                Hyde

puffed out his chest. "I can go anywhere I please!"                "No,

Robert could do that for you. He could go out and about, visit with people, eat

in fine restaurants, write, and overall be a pleasant sort of person. You can

do none of those things."                Hyde

smashed his fist into the deck. The wood splintered under the impact. "I did

not choose this!"                "I

never said you did. You're a victim of his irresponsible meddling."                Hyde

seemed confused. "How do you know so much?"                "That

doesn't matter. Do you really wish to live in pain the rest of your life?"                "I

feed on pain. I feed on hate. I feed on...on..."                Edward

stared at him, wary that at any moment he could turn on him. He was banking on

the fact that Hyde had likely never kept his form for so long, even during the

war. And even then, he had had a solid enemy to face. He and Maggie weren't

threats, not in a direct sense.                "Feed

on what?"                "I

don't know. Damn you! What have you done to me?"                "Nothing.

As you said, I only have one arm now, thanks to you. All I have is my voice;

and hope."                "Hope?"

The snarl in his voice was gone, replaced with something akin to a child's

plea.                "Yes

hope. We must either put you two back together, or we must tear you apart. You

cannot live like this anymore."                Hyde

drooped a little. "Together? Me with him? I think we would both rather die than

suffer that indignity."                "That

is where the second part comes into play. When one of you dies, the other will

be set free. At least, that's what Robert believed. "                "Believed?

He is a fool. He is a tinkerer, a little man who had great expectations. Look

what he did. Look at me."                "LOOK

AT ME!" Hyde roared and

rushed Edward, but he had been expecting just such an attack and leapt out of

harm's way, even if only barely. Maggie nearly left her perch to come to his

aid, but only by showing remarkable self restraint did she manage to not

interfere. Edward was now crouching on a railing opposite her, his sole arm

holding him steady on the rusted iron."I have been looking at you. Do you wish me

to tell you what I see? I think you already know. You have to look at that face

in the mirror, or in a rain puddles, or in the reflection from a window pane.

You are everything he isn't, and it was never meant to be that way. You were

given life only from him trying to rid himself of something he should have

cherished. He gave birth to an abomination, and you are the horrible result.

You didn't ask to be born, and yet from the pits of his darkest soul you were

torn loose and thrust upon this world."                Hyde

growled. "Do you think me a dim wit on top of being an animalistic monster?

Just because I don't make pretty and waggle my head like a happy dog doesn't

mean I don't know what's what. Why do you think my rage builds? Is it not bad enough

that I am this...thing? That I must endure what I am every time I come forth?

Even when he thought he had control of me, I simply didn't wish to endure what

I had to see. I am filled with hate because I hate what I am. I hate because it

is what I am. I hate myself for it and yet without it I am nothing. Can you

imagine what that's like?"                "I

think I can. But unlike you, I can go on with my life in a fairly normal

manner. You, I'm afraid, don't have that luxury. As far as I can see things,

you can never leave this ship again."                Hyde

appeared to be close to crying, but he regained his composure and slammed his

fist onto the deck again. "Then no one will leave this ship."                "I

don't think that will be the case. But if anyone will die with you, it shall be

me. If you want both of us, I'm afraid that outcome will be just outside your

reach."                Hyde

looked slyly at Maggie. "What the hell do you see in him girl? I'll grant you

that he's tough, but what can he offer you? You're a freak like me. You should

find your place and cut a slice out of life. You and I could go far."                Maggie

shuddered at that thought. "The only place I would go with you is to the bottom

of the ocean. If that was what it would take to rid the world of you, I would

gladly give up my life for it."                He

laughed. "It's nice to know that hate can be contagious. I like knowing that I

can have such a wonderful effect on people."                He

intended to continue with his mirth, but it stuck in his craw. Edward was

holding up the silver vial. Hyde looked from it to the ring on his intact hand.

Robert had considered the ring to be the thing to finish the job. But if it

didn't kill him, it just might make him completely invincible. With that little

band of metal, he could do anything he wanted with full impunity. He wasn't

stupid; not he. In this modern world they were weapons which even he might not

walk away from.                Edward

smiled. "Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. That is why one emotion

can become the other. You are the flip side to Robert. In the end, you are both

still just the same person."                Hyde

clenched his fists and raged them in the air. "I tire of this. I would tell you

to rip your tongue out, but I know it will only grow back. To end this, I must

end you!"                He

jumped skyward, but again, Edward was ready for his attack. He spun in midair,

landing next to Maggie. She touched his arm to steady him, and in that instant

got a glimpse of what he had planned. Or so she thought. "You can't defeat him

that way. There just isn't enough time for it."                "Where

else do we need to be? How will we get there even if we had a reachable destination?

All that doesn't matter. We do have places to be, but until we're finished with

this, we have nowhere that is more important than being here right now."                "Don't

try to trick me Edward! I saw what you're going to attempt. He'll rip you to

shreds this time."                "Maybe.

Sacrifices are sometimes needed."                "Well

not this time. We do this thing together. After all, I was the one who sensed

him in the first place. So if anyone is to blame, it's me."                "Robert

is to blame, plain and simple. And what he did happened a long time ago, before

either of us was born.                Hyde

growled and leapt again, sending them off in different directions. Maggie beat

her wings in agitation as she hovered above the scene. She knew Edward was

going to need help, but above decks was where she was any good at the moment.

Until she could figure out how to stow her wings, they were only going to be in

the way in the narrow corridors and cramped quarters down below. Going through

them slowly was no problem, but if speed was of the essence, she was going to

be of no use whatsoever.                His

plan, while fundamentally good in conception, had a major flaw. Hyde might be

stuck in this persona for good. If that were the case, then any attempt to

carry it out was fraught with danger. Robert said that if he died; that is to

say, if he died for real, then Hyde would likely be the sole occupant of the

body they had shared for so long. Thus, there would be no turning of the dark

side toward the light.                But

if that were the case, she would go down with her love, for without him (flaws

and all) she felt as if she were nothing. He would have argued against such

feelings, had they been in a better place for discussing them. As it was, it

was now a life and death struggle. Any arguing would have to wait until a more

suitable time.                Hyde

ripped a section of railing from the nearby stairwell and flung it with

unerring accuracy. Edward dodged it, careening through the air to land even

higher up on the ship's structure. 

Maggie hovered close by; worried that he would never make it through

this ordeal.  But Edward just gazed down

at the raging beast below before speaking.                "There comes an end to all things; the

most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to evil

finally destroyed the balance of my soul."                Hyde was

brought up short. "And what is it we play now? A game of words long past? What

would you have me say? Something like if

I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also?"                "Then end your suffering. Go back to being Robert, and let him decide

your fate."                Hyde

boiled with rage. "I will never let that little pipsqueak ruin my life anymore.

He created me. It seems fitting that I should be the end of him after so many

years!"                Edward

shrugged. "I personally would rather die than live my life in constant pain and

anger. "                Hyde

composed himself as best he could manage under the circumstances. "Do you know

what he called me? Do you know what he wrote for the whole world to read? All human beings, as we meet them, are

commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone, in the ranks of

mankind, was pure evil. I didn't want to be evil. I didn't want to be - to

exist at all. He took all that was his dark side and gave it to me. So tell me

man, what else do I have in my existence?"                "Have

you never known love?"                "Love?

He knew love. He dragged us across the globe because of love. The only reason I

left him alone in London was because London was home. The smells, the sewers,

the crime.  They were my only comfort. I slept

at peace for decades before he woke me up again. And why? WHY? Because he

wanted forgiveness. Because he found someone who he thought he could relate to;

to trust. He was always a tiny little fool. But love... I felt what he felt. Love

was almost as intoxicating as mayhem."                Edward

chuckled. "Love is mayhem. I feel for

you that you never got to feel it for yourself. I think that you may have

enjoyed the perversity of it much more than the solid, random destruction you

apparently favored."                Hyde

softened, but only a little. "Who could love this?" he said, indicating his

present self.                  "It is

said that there is someone for everyone out there."                "Bah.

Time has passed me by to think about engaging in such niceties."                "I

suppose so."                 Edward hardly

had the words out of his mouth when he chose to pounce. Hyde was distracted by

his present thoughts. By the time he realized that he was under attack, Edward

had bounded back up the stairs and was sitting on his high perch again.                 The

attack had been painless. Hyde had felt a hand on his head for a split second

before it was released again. There was no wound; no blood, nothing.                "What do

you call that, you one-armed jackanape?"                "A

touch."                "You're

touched, you impish fool!"                Maggie

saw what he had done and knew she could help. She began circling the men, making

her circles larger and larger. She attacked Hyde the same way, grasping his

head for a mere second before flapping furiously out of his reach. His apish

arms nearly snagged her.                "I WILL

NOT BE TOYED WITH!"                Edward

was calm. "We are not toying with you. We are defeating you."                Hyde

suddenly felt weak. His heart was giving him pain. His head was swimming. His

eyes sprung forth with tears.                "What

have you done to me?"                "Given

you a dose of reality."                Hyde

sunk to the deck. "What are you talking about?"                "Love.

I hit you with a dose of love I have for another. She hit you with a return of

that love. Love is the flip side of hate. It is equal to it in all respects. We

negated your rage in the only manner I knew how. For now, we've nullifies that

which makes you what you are.                Maggie

came in cautiously. Sure enough, Hyde looked defeated. But she knew that he

carried with him an inordinate amount of emotional baggage. What they had done,

while unexpected and seemingly effective, probably wouldn't last. At some

point, assuming that Robert was still in there, Hyde would return all the more

angry.                But

as it was, his body was sagging. It looked like a balloon that had been blown

up a week before, and was now fading, leaving a stretched out mass of skin and

wrinkles. The remaining lampreys fell off, surprised at both being out of the

water for so long and that their meal had suddenly dried up. The body continued

to shrink, assuming a hardly recognizable form of the famed author.                Edward

leaped to the deck and scooped him up in his arm. With a spring he headed down

into the depths of the ship.  Maggie went

to follow, but he halted her before she could follow far.                 "This

isn't bravery or bravado on my part. This is old-fashioned necessity. If you

saw my plan for what I intend to do, then you know you can't be part of it.

I'll need you to be up here when I return. I'd suggest getting one of the few

lifeboats ready. You can fly, but not for as far as we may need to go. I could

swim, but with one arm missing, I make any speed or distance. We need to get

away from this ship as quickly as possible."                She

leaned in and kissed him. "Try not to be too stupid. One of these times I think

your actions are going to kill me."                "As

well as me. But today is not that day I think." He turned and ran down into the

bowels of the ship. Through his contact with the body, he could sense that Hyde

was presently subdued. Stevenson was still there, which gave a slight hope to

his plan. He had to get the two them as deep into the interior as he could go.                As

he went, he noted where there were doors and hatches. He had taken care to pay

attention before, but now he was paying close attention. It was a little more

difficult the deeper they went, as the light quickly dimmed. Edward knew the

fine details were going to be everything in this plan. As he loped along he

could feel the mind within stirring, and he hurried even more to reach his

destination. He was essentially now in the bilge, though in a ship like this,

that wasn't quite true. It hardly mattered. They were as low as they could go.

There was no light to see by, only darkness.                A

voice cried out.                "What

has happened?"                "Hello

Robert. How are you feeling?"                "I

know that voice. You are the new friend I met. Where are we?"                "Somewhere

safe for the moment."                "What

happened? I remember the plane..." Edward felt a shudder run through the small

man's body.                "Yes,

there was a problem aboard the plane. "                "Oh

dear..."                "But

you and I are together now."                "Why

is it so dark? Are we dead?"                "No,

we aren't dead. But we have come close to it, you and I."                There

was a pause as Robert gathered his thoughts. "I see. So then, it has come down

to this. You have come to see me to my grave, haven't you? No, no - don't deny

it. I welcome it. I trust you will make it as painless as possible?"                "I

will. Anything less would be unworthy of your accomplishments, and anything

more will probably trigger a response from your alter ego."                "Yes,

he will not take this very well. I hope you have secured us in one of those old

war bunkers. I doubt there is very much that will contain him otherwise."                "He

will be contained. I think that there will be enough steel to hold him until

the time comes."                "Do

not underestimate him."                "Oh,

that won't be a problem. He and I have tussled, and he got the better of me. It

was a hard learned lesson."                Robert

lapsed into silence again for a few moments. When he spoke, it was in hushed

tones. "My friend, you have a good woman for your mate. Treat her well always.

She has depths and degrees you have not yet fathomed."                Edward

nearly broke out in a humorous grin at what he was thinking, but refrained

despite knowing his face was all but invisible down here in the dark.                "She

is showing new sides all the time."                "Good.

I like her you know. I knew she was taken, but she made me feel young again

when I first met her. I suppose it was just a passing fancy. I mean no harm in

telling you this."                "She

is a wonderful little lady Robert. I would do anything in my power to protect

her."                "As

well you should.  But I digress. I await

my judgment. Will you make it swift?"                "As

swift as I can." Edward put his hand on Robert's head and transformed into his

most powerful form.                A

moment later he squeezed through the doorway, turning to pulled it shut.   As he moved through the dark, he pulled

loose debris into his former path, littering the way and making an obstacle

course. The next door he closed, but the one after he left open temporarily. He

walked over to the side of the ship and put his ear to the metal. The dim

sounds of the ocean echoed through the steel plates.                "Sorry

Hyde, but this is the only way." Bracing himself, he balled up his massive ham

hand and bashed at the plating until the metal gave way.                Water

began to rush in.                Edward

leaped for the doorway and snapped the hatch closed. He went to the other side

of the ship and pounded another hole, leaping to safety as the water rushed in.

He climbed several flights of stairs closing the doors all the while. He was

containing the flood of seawater, but he was also containing Hyde. When that

freak recovered his wits, he would begin to bash his way out. That would allow

the water to flow to all parts of the ships. With any luck, it and the

malformed beast would both become one with the briny deep. No one was going to

miss either one.                Maggie

hadn't dropped the lifeboat yet, afraid that it might drift too far in too

short a period of time. She wanted to be on hand in case Edward needed help.

She had a fair idea what he planned on doing, but not entirely. He had blocked

some of it from her mind, figuring, she had to assume, that it was too gruesome

for the likes of her. She was going to have to have a talk with him about that.

She had been killing far before he had ever found a need to do it.                She

waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity. Then she heard the thud. It

was more of a sensation that ran through the ship rather than an actual noise.

She waited and heard it again. She had an idea what it was, but if he didn't

show his ugly face in a couple of more minutes she was going in after him.                He

came out in full rage mode, huffing and puffing as he pulled himself through

the last doorway to freedom. His eyes were wild and he was shaking his head,

possibly from the deafening noise he had created in smashing through the hull

of the ship. He was probably stunned from the clamor.                 "Edward!"

Maggie screamed at him. He turned and saw her, lumbering erratically from side

to side as he made his way to the side of the ship.                 "What's

wrong with you?"                "I

feel weird."                "Well,

no time to contemplate that now. Get back to normal and get in the boat. While

it's designed for holding a group of people, I don't think we should abuse the

capacity by dropping it with an oversized werewolf in it."                He

shrunk down to his normal self, clutching his head and tumbling head over heels

into the small craft. Maggie hit the release lever and watched it fall into the

dark sea below. With a quick glance at the doorway he had exited from, she said

a little prayer and dove to their much smaller home for the next part of their

ordeal. The craft had an emergency beacon, but time would tell whether or not

anyone would ever receive their distress call.                 The

wind was blowing them away from the cruise ship, putting a slow but steady

distance between them and that rusting hulk.  After a quarter of a mile of floating, they

noticed the ship was beginning to list, and at a half a mile, it was beginning

to dip severely to the port side. Eventually, it tilted, turned, and slipped beneath

the waves.                "So

ends Mr. Hyde," said Maggie.                "Yes,

so ends Mr. Hyde. May he and Davy Jones becomes the best of friends."                Maggie

fluttered her wings. "So. What do we do now?"                Edward

seemed to be in pain, though he said nothing about it and she was to wise not to inquire.                "We

wait."                Somewhere

across the sea...                The

bell in the kitchen rang. There were many such devices, all attached to cords

put in place decades before. One might even go so far as to say they had been

there for a century or more. Each connected the kitchen with a room somewhere

upstairs in the labyrinth of chambers that filled the mansion from top to bottom.                This particular bell had a distinctive ring, and a few of the staff had never heard it go off

before. Those that had knew that its activation was something momentous.

Everyone stared as the dust drifted down from the recent chiming.                "What

could it mean?"                The

eldest of the kitchen staff shrugged. "Tis not our duty to know. Go tell Master

Irwedin that the lady has called. He alone will see what it is she needs."                The

man thus instructed headed up the stairs to the first floor, following a long,

carpeted hallway. He passed many door leading to either side. When he had

counted out the proper number, and stopped and knocked. A voice inside replied,

sounding both angry and curious.                "What

is it?"                "The

bell master. The lady has rung."                The

door flew open. "What?"                "I

saw and heard it for myself master. I was bid to come tell you. The lady has

rung."                "We

finally just got settled down in the past twenty years. And now we have to deal

with something new?"                "What

does it mean?"                The

old man snapped at the other. "None of your business Pertie. Go back down and

say nothing more to anyone."                "But

master, I have nothing to tell."                "And

rightly so."                The

old man bundled himself together and walked to the stairs. He stepped briskly

for one with such an elderly appearance, making his way up three flights before reaching

the desired floor. The room he wanted was at the end, as far from traffic as it

could possibly be. The floor showed a layer of dust the rest of the building

lacked, leaving evidence of his footprints as he walked solemnly down the corridor. No one

came up here ever. No one.                He

knocked on the door.                "Come

in Irwedin. It's not like I haven't been expecting you."                He

shivered a little and entered. He hadn't seen the lady in nearly thirty years.

It was damned unnatural for anyone, even those of the Kind to live without

eating for such long stretches. The room was surprisingly brightly lit, with the

curtains flung open and the wndow letting in the fresh, healthy air. He had

half expected it to be dark, dank and moldy in here after so long.                "I

was told you called milady?"                "I

did ring, yes. It has happened."                "But

milady, I thought it had been foretold that it would never happen."                "Not

by me, and that is all that matters. Just because I keep my nose out of other

people's affairs doesn't mean that I am not aware of what foolish people

predict. He has survived and he has taken a bride. I am most pleased."                "Pleased?

They said that if this were to happen, it would be the end of us!"                "Indeed

it will. You should rejoice in that fact."                "But

everything we have built here. What will become of it?"                "You

fear what you do not understand Irwedin. I thought you were taught better than

that."                "Milady,

just because you can see all doesn't mean all of us can. Can't you stop this

from happening?"                "Yes,

I could. But I will not. I have spent a greater portion of my life not

interfering. I have no intention of starting now. And you should well know the

rule; she who knows and seeks to alter, finds her steps doth weaken and falter.

The moment I take action to direct events, the manner in which they unfold

changes and thus I have altered what I have seen.  I will help if necessary, but I will not

hinder."                "Will

he kill us?"                "Heavens

no, you frightened little mouse of a were. He doesn't even know yet that we exist. But

he will. He will."