The ship moved steadily through the dark waters, its engines producing a deep, rhythmic vibration that Adrian could feel beneath his feet. The journey to Bombay would take several days, and from there, he would have to continue eastward toward China before finally reaching Japan.
Adrian stood alone near the railing, his trench coat pulled tightly around him as the cold sea wind swept across the deck.
He had a destination.
Kanazawa, Japan.
But he had absolutely no idea what awaited him there.
That was the problem.
His divination had pointed toward Kanazawa, but it had given him no explanation. No name. No artifact. No person. Nothing that could tell him what he was supposed to find.
Only a location.
Adrian rested his arms against the railing and stared into the darkness.
"I'm going halfway across the world because a pendulum pointed at Japan."
He almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
Three years ago, he had wanted nothing more than an ordinary life.
Now he was sailing toward a country he had never visited because he needed something capable of giving him an advantage against one of the most dangerous supernatural beings on Earth.
And he didn't even know what that something was.
His thoughts turned toward Selene.
Just thinking about her made his expression darken.
Selene Gallio.
An ancient being whose name carried centuries of bloodshed behind it. Whatever she was planning, Adrian knew one thing with certainty:
He wasn't ready to face her.
Not yet.
He had only recently become a Clown. His physical abilities had improved considerably, and his spiritual energy had become easier to manipulate, but compared with someone like Selene...
The difference was absurd.
She's one of the External Five on Earth.
That thought alone was enough to frustrate him.
How exactly was a newly advanced Sequence supposed to fight something like that?
Adrian rubbed his forehead.
"Fantastic."
He looked out at the ocean.
And Japan had another problem.
Territory.
The Marvel world was full of hidden powers. Nations, secret organizations, supernatural beings, mutants, ancient races, sorcerers...
He knew some of them.
But 1928 was still an unfamiliar period for him.
The future history he remembered from the comics was scattered and unreliable when it came to this era. Many characters he knew either hadn't appeared yet, weren't publicly active, or simply had histories too obscure for him to remember.
I know where I'm going.
I don't know who I'll meet.
I don't know what I'll find.
And I don't know how many people will try to kill me along the way.
Adrian sighed.
There was also the possibility that whatever waited in Japan wouldn't simply be sitting there waiting for him.
If the artifact—or whatever the divination had pointed toward—belonged to a powerful supernatural faction, reaching it could become another battle.
He could already imagine it.
Travel halfway across the world.
Find the mysterious weapon.
Get killed before touching it.
Adrian stared at the ocean.
"...What a terrible plan."
The wind offered no response.
He stayed there for another few minutes before finally giving up on thinking.
There was no point.
He needed a drink.
And perhaps a cigarette.
The ship's smoking lounge was considerably warmer than the deck.
A thin layer of smoke hung beneath the ceiling, illuminated by the yellow glow of the lamps. Several passengers sat around small tables, talking quietly while enjoying cigarettes and drinks.
Adrian entered and immediately felt his shoulders relax.
He ordered a drink and scanned the room.
Then he noticed her.
A woman sitting alone near one of the windows.
She was beautiful.
Not merely attractive in the ordinary sense.
There was something about her presence that naturally drew attention. She carried herself with effortless confidence, as though she had never once worried about whether she belonged somewhere.
Adrian hesitated for exactly three seconds.
Then he walked over.
"Mind if I sit here?"
The woman looked up.
Her eyes traveled briefly over him before returning to his face.
"That depends."
"On?"
"Whether you're interesting."
Adrian smiled.
"That's a rather high standard for a chair."
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Perhaps."
She gestured toward the empty seat.
"Go ahead."
Adrian sat.
"I'm Adrian."
The woman took a slow drag from her cigarette.
"Sersi."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"Sersi?"
"Yes."
"Interesting name."
"Yours isn't exactly ordinary either."
"I was hoping you'd say mysterious."
"I was being polite."
Adrian laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh he'd had in days.
They began talking.
Nothing important.
The weather.
The ship.
Travel.
London.
The food.
The conversation flowed surprisingly easily.
Sersi was intelligent, confident, and far more knowledgeable about the world than Adrian expected. She had stories that seemed almost impossible, though she always delivered them with such casual confidence that Adrian couldn't tell whether she was exaggerating.
Adrian found himself enjoying the conversation.
More than he should have.
He leaned back in his chair.
"So, Sersi, what brings you on a ship heading toward India?"
She smiled.
"Perhaps I'm traveling."
"That's suspiciously vague."
"And what brings you here?"
"Unfortunately, I'm also traveling."
"So we're both suspicious."
"Apparently."
She laughed.
Adrian smiled.
For a brief moment, everything felt normal.
Then—
His Clown intuition screamed.
Adrian's smile remained perfectly intact.
Inside, however—
Oh, come on.
The warning was sharp.
Immediate.
Danger.
He didn't move.
He didn't look around.
He simply allowed his enhanced senses to examine the room.
Nothing.
No hostile presence.
No weapon pointed at him.
No strange spiritual fluctuation.
No assassin.
No monster.
Nothing.
His eyes returned to Sersi.
She was still smoking.
Still smiling.
Still talking.
Adrian relaxed slightly.
Maybe it's something else.
He continued the conversation.
A few minutes passed.
Then his intuition flared again.
Stronger.
Adrian nearly closed his eyes in frustration.
Seriously?
He subtly examined the room again.
Nothing.
The other passengers were behaving normally.
The crew wasn't paying attention to them.
Sersi wasn't doing anything suspicious.
Then Adrian noticed something.
She was looking at him.
Not casually.
Not politely.
With genuine interest.
Adrian stared back for a moment.
Then realization slowly dawned.
No.
He looked at her.
She smiled.
You're kidding me.
Adrian's intuition wasn't warning him about an attack.
It was warning him about her.
More specifically—
her interest in him.
He had encountered dangerous people before.
Monsters.
Sorcerers.
Vampires.
Future soldiers.
But apparently his greatest supernatural threat was now a beautiful woman who happened to find him interesting.
Adrian silently cursed his existence.
Sersi tilted her head.
"Something wrong?"
"No."
"You're suddenly very quiet."
"Just thinking."
"About?"
Adrian smiled.
"Whether I should continue this conversation."
"And?"
"I'm beginning to think it might be dangerous."
Sersi laughed softly.
"You think I'm dangerous?"
Adrian stood.
"I think my life has taught me that whenever a beautiful woman takes an interest in me, something terrible usually happens afterward."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Perhaps you're simply unlucky."
Adrian slipped his hands into his coat pockets.
"That seems to be a recurring problem."
He gave her a charming smile.
"But I enjoyed meeting you, Sersi."
He turned to leave.
"Leaving already?"
Adrian glanced back.
"I'm trying something new."
"What?"
"Surviving."
Sersi laughed.
Adrian walked toward the door.
His intuition continued screaming.
He didn't look back.
Not because he was afraid of Sersi.
But because he had finally learned an important lesson.
Sometimes danger didn't come with a weapon.
Sometimes it smiled at you across a table.
Adrian stepped back into the corridor and let the door close behind him.
He stood there for a moment.
Then he rubbed his face.
"Why does this shit always happen to me?"
And somewhere inside him, the Clown seemed to laugh.