A Continuing Journal,

Entry One

As though life was not interesting enough. We had been settled in this new continent for less than a month when Uncle Sherwin went missing. I know, he had always been the eccentric. But this time he left his pipe behind and that had many of us worried. Though not half as worried as when the pipe vanished.

Last night the pipe disappeared. Not only that, but some strange creature, which at least had the integrity to not claim to "be" Sherwin Lohke, has appeared. It manifests as a pillar of smoke, and seems to change wood to ash as its imitation for eating. It also seems young, and confused. Beyond that, it was very helpful in detaining a small gang of petty criminals for the police to capture.

Uncle Jimmy and I seem in agreement about allowing him to remain within the Keep. Perhaps he is in some small way connected to Uncle Sherwin, but regardless, he has proven himself a capable fighter, and seems to mean us no harm. I can think of no better place to keep an eye on him. And goodness knows we could use the help. I remember listening to mother and father recount how they met when they began crusading, and I somehow assumed that comrades would simply appear. Well, perhaps now one has. I will hope for more.

Entry Two

The Church of Crime is an abomination against nature. They were kidnapping CHILDREN! Innocents! I suppose it is better that they were attempting to convert them to their faith than that they were selling them on the black market, but in that they were locked in cramped cages and being watched over by werewolves, I doubt it was much better. We freed those we could. I only prey that those were the only children they had taken. Uncle Jimmy and Mister Smoker were quite effective in dealing with the ruffians, but still. I wish it had never happened. I wish such a blight had never tainted their young lives.

I am going to have to be stronger if I wish to protect the children of this city from such crimes in the future. I did not want to become further tied to this medallion, but it seems I have no choice. I suppose my options are to learn to master it, or to let it master me, and of those, I only really consider one to be an option. I am stronger than it. I am confident.

Entry Three

Why am I doing this? I tell myself it is to help protect other people, and in truth I think I did more to help my fellow man this evening then I have in many nights... So why do I feel so angry? Some hooligans saw fit to attack a dirigible anchored to the Empire State Building this evening. Uncle Jimmy and Smoker handled the thugs most handily, while I kept the blimp afloat and tended to the passengers. Most of the passengers were more scared than injured, but one fellow, one of the assailants, was hurt worse than I believe I have ever seen. His own comrade had shot him, attempting to pierce Smoker. Still, we did what we do. We captured as many of them as we could and delivered them to the hands of the police. A handful escaped, and we cursed, but we had neither the means nor the knowledge to follow them.

Later that night, however, Smoker performed an action that I suspect will have farther reaching tendrils than we can imagine. He announced us to the police. They do not know our names, or our location, but it seems he pleaded our case well. We will share information with them as we have it, and they will reciprocate. I am still hesitant to let them, or anyone else, see my face, but it is good to know that the authorities understand we are helping.

Entry Four

So much has happened; I am not sure where to begin. Best to begin with the firsts, I suppose. Roughly a week ago, I accepted the inevitable. Nothing I do will ever be able to keep young James from getting into the thick of things. To that end, I will be better able to watch out for him if I KNOW where he is. He has now joined our party as a fellow masked, caped adventurer. May Mother forgive me.

That said, our group is not now four. It is five. When Smoker saw fit to inform the local constables of our presence, their commander saw fit to foster someone onto us. The addition is quite welcome. He seems resourceful in a fight, and much more familiar with local procedure and needs then we were. And he is HUMAN. A real, normal human. Who is awake during the day! And eats food! And is not RELATED to me! I fear I may die of embarrassment if he ever has occasion to read that last bit.

Now to the important bit. Mr. Hyde, who my parents once faced calling himself Henry Edward, has resurfaced. I suppose it was only a matter of time after he was liberated from Baroness Mordrana'€s holding cells before he returned to his more public activities. I shall have to step up my efforts to have an improved penitentiary built. Else wise, I have no idea what we would do with him, if we actually managed to contain him.

I must admit, that was the most frightened I have ever been in my life. Truly, that monster was the focus of many a childhood nightmare, between myself and my siblings. Father'€™s ability with illusions made the memories particularly frightening. James was spared a bit of it, traveling with me from such a young age, but still. I shiver to think that I was almost in arms'€™ reach of that brute. If we are to stand any chance, we must become much stronger. A handful of powered persons stand no chance against him alone. I do miss Uncle Sherwin'€™s ability to draw a group together and help them aid one another. We could surely use that teamwork now. I suppose we must earn it ourselves.

Entry Five

Lord above please give me strength. I do believe that my brother will be the death of me. Just as I fear I may be the death of him.

It was supposed to be surveillance. We were supposed to go to an area near where Hyde was rumored to be stationed, and see if we could learn about the quantity of his supporters. A simple job. A quiet job. Until that monster grabbed hold of my brother and started using him as bait. And my ever so loving Uncle wouldn't even tell me what happened. All he would say was "It's a trap. I need to go in alone. Don't worry."

DON'T WORRY!

This was supposed to be simple recognizance. Simple. Nothing is simple anymore. We got him back. He seems whole. I am a nervous wreck. At least we got the stupid saliva samples.

Entry Six

I am feeling better now. Calmer. James and I have been talking. A lot. He has sworn in every way he knows how that he will listen. That he will stay back if ordered to. That he will stay home if ordered to. If only I will not ALWAYS order him to stay home. It was difficult, but I agreed.

In exchange, I conceded to grant him almost unlimited access to the training room. He has taken to it with a vengeance, and that reassures me a great deal. If he is able to do more than hide, I will feel better about trusting him to independence.

Now, to the samples. We have blood, tissue, and saliva, which we intend to use to find some way to reverse Hyde's condition. In theory. We have no idea how this could be done. We have no idea how we will find a doctor that could work on this. Mr. Delaney is calling around to various "friends" to see if anyone can help. I am uncertain why he seems so hesitant to contact them if they are his friends. Perhaps time will tell. I hope we have enough to divide into two samples. I would hate to trust all of our supplies to one source.

Entry Seven

The universe is conspiring against me. I at first thought it was simply my brothers. Now I know the whole of creation is in on it. Finally, finally, I found an eligible young man who seemed favorably inclined toward me... Seemed down right happy with me... Seemed like someone my parents might approve of... and TAROT broke into our date an kidnapped him! TAROT! It has been years since we have heard anything from them. And were they after my medallion? NO! They were after my DATE! I am sick of this. Sick of it!

...

Entry Seven B

I believe I am floating on a cloud. The rescue went well. None of us were hurt and many of them were. To make matters even better, it seems Tarot spoke repeatedly IN FRONT OF Colin about WHY they were kidnapping him. Something to do with a Lost City. Thule, it is called. Somewhere north of civilization.

It stands to reason that anywhere Tarot wants to find, we aught to find first. To that end we are buying up supplies for an expedition while Collin looks over maps and charts and obscure texts in our library. Honestly, I don't know if it was Father's tastes or Uncle Sherwin's, but I had no idea half these books were even here. I had no idea half of them had even been written. Diet and Mating Habits of South African Flying Mammals??? I did not read it, or course, but based on the embossing of the cover and the few sketches that I saw inside, it was not talking about bats and squirrels. More like winged lions, and tigers, and bears. Oh my.

...

We will be setting out at the end of the week for Thule. The ship has been booked for passage. It seems Captain Mundy is still sailing, though not on the same ship as he took my parents. I wonder at how old he is. He was not young when he bought them across the Atlantic thirty years ago. Colin will be coming with us. Following the rescue, he had recognized who I was, and I must say it is a relief. He took it so well! I am floating.

Entry Eight

Trouble follows us. That is the only answer I can think of. The trip was uneventful at first. Captain Mundy looks nearly as young as any of father's sketches of him, and Uncle Jimmy says that those memories DID do the captain justice. Certainly he does not look aged by thirty years. Perhaps his tale of a mermaid mother is true. Either way, a week out, the Air Pirates found us. It felt like just that afternoon we were asking Mundy if he had had any encounters with them, and the next thing we knew, they attack.

At first it looked simple. As simple as these things ever are. They attacked us. We trounced them. Then they brought out the planes. Then they brought out the galvanic cannon. Then they brought out a captain of their own who was more metal than man. Between the damage we were doing to disarm them and the damage they were doing trying to kill us, it seemed unlikely that both ships would remain seaworthy. I may have panicked when they brought out the galvanic cannon. Or maybe when Smoker was flying away as the only pilot on a strange bi-plane.

I have always kept some of my medallion in reserve. I do not know why. It just felt like a good idea. This time I did not. The challenges were too severe, and coming too fast. I could feel it draining away some of my... self.

I do not know why I am bothering to write this. I am sure it is nothing. Still, I do wish these headaches would pass. They make it very difficult to think. Perhaps I should ask someone else to take up these recounts? The sunlight is calling me and I feel I should spend time more time on deck before we loose the sun entirely.

Entry Nine