The Cross (A Leviathan Fanfic)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

"Adolf Hitler," Alek spoke slowly, testing the new, foreign words on his tongue. The edges were sharp, leaving his mouth with the aftertaste of metal, and a strange feeling he couldn't identify.  He licked his lips and began to analyze the name. "It sounds Austrian. Perhaps he was born in my country." He set down the newspaper he was holding and looked across the table at Dylan. The boy was absently scratching circles into the wood of the wall next to them.

"Dylan," Alek said loudly. "Dylan." The boy ignored him, tracing the outline of the Leviathan into the mess wall. "God’s wounds, Dylan, are you listening to me?"

A few awkward moments of silence passed. Then Dylan seemed to notice that Alek was staring at him expectantly. Clearing his throat, Dylan turned back to the table and grinned sheepishly. "Were you saying something?" he asked innocently.

"Yes, I was," Alek huffed. "I would kick you, but I just woke up. Anyway." Alek slid the newspaper across the table. "This Hitler has an Austrian name. Do you think he is maybe a native to my country?"

Dylan grabbed a biscuit and began to chew on it as he read the paper silently. As he progressed down the page, his jaw stilled as his eyes widened, and eventually he looked up at Alek in shock. "Let's hope not!" he exclaimed. "Austria would be ashamed to have such a man come from her depths!" Dylan shook his head and swallowed the rest of his biscuit.

Alek nibbled nervously on his own flaky biscuit. Hitler did sound like a strange, cruel man, accordingly to the newspaper. It told him that he hated Jews and wanted to get rid of them, so he stuffed them into camps and killed them. If somebody like that came from Austria, Alek would throw himself off the ship in a blink.

"And what do you-" Alek began, but Dylan gestured for him to shut up, pointing at the edge of the table. A message lizard had scrambled over the top and was heading toward Dylan. As it neared him, the lizard drew itself up and began to speak.

"Mr. Sharp, please come to the bridge," the lizard said in Dr. Barlow's voice. "The captain and I have to speak with you. Make haste." There was a pause, and then the captain's voice came in. "And if you want, Prince Alek may come as well. If you want."

Alek harrumphed, slightly offended. But Dylan was already chattering out a reply message. "I'll be there in a squick, ma'am. Alek's coming. End message." The lizard turned and scampered off.

"I wonder what this is about," Dylan pondered as they got up and headed for the bridge. "The captain never calls me to talk to him. Maybe it's something about you."

Alek shrugged. "I've only been on the ship for six days. What could I have possibly done?"

Dylan gave Alek a withering look. "You're a barking prince, you Dummkopf. You don't have to do anything."

"But he asked for you," Alek reminded him. "Added me in as an afterthought." He paused. "Probably only because I'm a prince. Maybe it's a good thing that the ship found out about my secret."

Dylan reddened. "Aye, sorry about that. I didn't think anyone was there but you and me and Dr. Barlow." Then he shrugged. "Why you even told me in the first place is beyond me."

"You were just the first person I met," Alek said. "I had a sort of natural trust. But it's okay now, I don't mind."

Dylan sighed. "If you say so."

He and Alek walked a bit in silence, both of them trying awkwardly to ignore the tension that hovered in the air between them. This went on for so long that eventually he couldn't stand it. Alek was about to spout random words just to fill the silence, but then Dylan jerked his head at a doorway to the left. "There," he said. "Open that door."