“My name is Ceil Phantomhive, Earl of Phantomhive and the chairman of the Pacific-Oriental Steam Navigation Company, and henceforth, the owner of the ship”. His personal butler came up to him.
“Young master, these gentlemen are from the Royal Navy. You have the privilege of speaking with Colour sergeant Alexander Sharpe Macduff, a Non-commissioned officer of the Royal Marines. the man that was being harassed by the officers is Stefan Rota, a naval architect and engineer. They both are joining Rear Admiral Edwyn Alexander Byrnes, Viscount of Valentia, Baronet of Colchester-by-Sea and Thane of Fife”.
“Ah yes. Thank you, Sebastian”. Ciel turns his attention to Rear Admiral Byrnes. “Rear Admiral, your reputation precedes you. I am most impressed with your exploits during the war”.
The deck at the bow of the ship was certainly not as busy as the stern, though it still had a good crowd. In fact, not only were there stairs leading from the cargo hold to the bow deck, but there was another set of stairs leading down to the Third Class lounge area. For a poor stowaway, it was perfect to blend in. Not one piece of suspicion from anyone that she is a stowaway. That also means that strangers would friendly and say hello. It would come to pass when two girls, a light blond and a reddish brunette, walked onto the deck from the lounge.
“I told you Mikko! The dining hall is back near the stern”.
“Not my fault this ship is huge Aki. I’m more used to ferries on the Mississippi, and even back in Finland, I sailed on smaller steamships”.
“Sure, of course” she replies sarcastically. “Come on, the dining hall should be this way”. They both continue to walk, but they were distracted by the scenery of the port that they paid no attention to the ground, and suddenly Mikko tripped on the stowaway’s foot.
“Mikko! Are you alright!?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry Aki”. Her attention was at the young girl whose foot she tripped. “Hello. Sorry for tripping over your foot”.
Though the American alcohol industry was withering from the federal prohibition laws, one industrialist from the Cartune Isles was making headlines of becoming the richest beer baron in the world. William Hertz Duff, the owner of the Duff Brewery Limited located in Springfield of the Simpsonia Province of said isles. Since the Cartune Isles were not subjected to prohibition, his company has seen exponential growth at the start of the twenties. He sold his drinks to international markets and illegal bootleggers. He made deals with the mafia and bribed officials to look the other way. As dirty as his hands got in these dealings, his hard work shown. He was now a rich billionaire going around the world promoting his company’s beverages.
He enters the smoking lounge, with a box of Cuban cigars he got from his vacation in Cuba. Wanting to talk to people and share his cigars, he spots a man about to smoke a tobacco pipe. He walks up to the man.
“Excuse me sir. I hope you don’t mind me sitting here”.
“Excellent” Naofumi responds to Edoard. “We won’t be leaving for another thirty minutes or so. As I said I will give the orders to move out. Oh, and do be prepared later. We will be having lifeboat drills once we get underway”.
A steward was there to greet this man. The third class gangplank was located at the stern, but the stern’s cabins was for single women and families only, so he would have to be taken to the bow where men’s cabins were.
“Welcome aboard sir. Please, allow me to take you to the men’s cabin area of the ship, where you will be staying of course”.
“Pfft. Blah blah blah goes Jerry with a Kraut name. Tell that to your Kaiser. Oh wait! He has been deposed after we whooped him for those U-Boat attacks on our merchant ships! Now get movin”. The customs officer laughed. The ships’ officers and the crew were much better in terms of politeness. As he makes his way up to the first-class entrance. He is greeted by the Chief Steward.
“Good morning sir” Kyoya says. “Welcome aboard the SS Fascination. Please allow our stewards to take you and your luggage to your staterooms immediately”.
“Well you are looking at him” he replies to the two. “Chief Steward Kyoya Ootori. I assume you are the new stewards. Welcome to the crew. Who may I be addressing you both as?”
“Jerries, Krauts, Austrians, they are all the damn same”. He inspected the papers and luggage, and the others patted him down like the others. He then showed him to the ship’s officer, who showed him up the gangplank and to Chief Steward Kyoya Ootori.
“Good morning sir. Welcome aboard the SS Fascination, the pride of the Pacific-Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Please allow my staff to take you and your luggage to your cabin”.
The customs officer looked at her documents and others patted her down for anything illegal. The customs officer looked at her, and began to chuckle at first, then laugh out loud.
“Such a weird and funny face for a young missy like yourself. It’s all too funny”. He lets her go to officers letting people on board to second class. Not as grand as first-class, but it wasn’t as simple as third class. It was the last glimpse of Victorian and Edwardian design which was being phased out for art deco modern.
“Hello ma’am, welcome aboard,” said a kind steward. “Please allow me to show you to your cabin”.
