Charles didn't think he'd be here again but he had no choice. Flint was right, civilization was coming and if they were going to have a chance at defeating it, they would need the help of one of the notorious pirates of New Providence.
As they approached his ship, Charles felt his heart pounded against his chest as the infamous frigate towered over his flagship, a finally warning that once he stepped on board there was no turning back. His eyes gawked at it in both awe and horror. With both the moon's light hitting the masts and the smoke surrounding the ship, it appeared as if this was Death's vessel. He heard the stories about how the Queen Anne's Revenge captured numerous prizes under her feared captain, hell he was there when they looted the gold from their enemies' hulls. But after what he did, he doubted if he'd leave here alive.
Only one way to find out, he thought as he grabbed hold of the ladder that was lowered from their ship and climbed to the top. Each step he took, the quicker his nerves heightened. He could feel a thick sheet of sweat begin to form on his brow and hastily wiped it away with the back of his hand. If they noticed an ounce of fear, if he noticed it - then this mission was as good as dead.
Finally, he reached the deck was greeted by swarm of guns pointing at him. He knew these men, fought alongside them in battle but to reunite with them like this wasn't something he hadn't prepared for. Men who he thought were his friends, were now his enemies. But what right did he have to expect them not to be, he betrayed them and now he'd have to face the consequences.
He took one last look at his ship, a reminder that the chance of fleeing was now impossible, before he was escorted at gunpoint into the interior.
It was dark down here, the light swallowed whole by the growing darkness that manifested this ship. Charles knew of this darkness, he was one of the sons that was bore from it but he didn't think that in his lifetime he'd have to visit its nest again. The hairs on his neck stood on its tips as the familiar cold air wrapped its arms around him in a tight embrace, whispering that he was home.
When they came to the door of the captain's quarters they didn't dare to enter unannounced, they knocked and waited for the affirmation that they could enter. But after hearing no response, Charles burst through the door. He thought that if this mission was going to work he was going to have to remind him of the man he was and still is.
The door swung open, revealing a grim sight. Shadows lurked around the corners of the room afraid to step into the moonlight that shafted through the window. In the center was a desk covered with maps and books but the chair behind it was empty. For a moment, Charles had doubts that he wasn't here, maybe not even on the ship and this was a trap but then he looked deeply at the corner of the room and he saw figure sitting solemnly in the shadows.
The men that accompanied Charles cocked their guns and put it to his head, ready to deliver the shot to punish his audacity. But just a simple gesture from the man in the shadows and they lowered their guns and silenced their rage.
Charles glowered at them before taking a bold step forward into the light. Now that he had his attention he knew what he had to say, all he had to do was say it.
He stood up straight and dignified, a mask of pride that he was wearing to hide his true fear and spoke.
"Listen, I'm not going to stand here and beg for mercy or tell you how sorry I am. If you've been waiting for an apology all these years then you can go fuck yourself. The past is the past, there's no changing what's already been done but we can change the outcome of the future. Civilization is coming and Nassau is danger of being its first victim, we need your help - I need your help. Help me, Teach."
Silence.
Then the sound of the footsteps echoed of the walls as the figure in the shadows stood up and approached the desk. The sound boomed against Charles eardrums, causing his mask to slowly peel away and his fear to surface.
As they stepped into the moonlight however, Charles's fear was replaced with confusion. In the chair sat a black haired woman, a black tricone with a golden rim and three black feathers on her head. Her skin was pale but her black coloured lips, tortured brown eyes and scars painting her face drew his attention away from it. She wore a long black coat with wide sleeves on which golden cuffs were attached and golden buttons ran down the lapel. Underneath her coat was a white blouse.
Charles let out a hysterical laugh. "Did Teach put you up to this? Send one of his whores to pretend to be him and watch me piss my pants as I quiver in fear at the Great Blackbeard." He recalled Blackbeard playing this trick on his new partners or just about anyone who'd never seen him for the first time. It was quite the show.
Suddenly, Charles felt his cheek sting as one of the men hit him with the handle of their gun. He crashed to his knees and winced in pain as he held his cheek against his palm. Now he was even more confounded than before. Was this part of the joke, or was this something else?
"Next time you call me that, I won't be so forgiving," the woman warned, her voice hard like steel.
Charles stood to his feet. "What the fuck's going on here?" he demanded. "Where's Teach?"
"You're looking at him," she said candidly.
Charles didn't know whether to laugh or to be worried. Teach didn't seem like the type to elongate this trick longer than needed be. Maybe she had organised a mutiny against him and Teach had been killed or was being held prisoner. But she answered with such sincerity and pride, as if she'd been waiting to say it for a long time, as if she'd been forced to be quiet and now nothing was going to stop her from telling the world.
"You're lying," he spat.
Again the men delivered a brutal blow to his cheek, causing blood to hurl out of his mouth. What followed was a myriad of devastating attacks, all of which embodied the anger and rage she felt. If she hadn't ordered them to stop he would have died.
They dragged his body to the desk and slammed his head on its surface. The woman lowered her lips to his ear and whispered: "The man you knew as Teach was a coward. He took my name and my men all because he knew that without them he was nothing and I killed him for it."
Charles's eyes bulged at the mention of his death. She was lying, he thought but then he saw a jar sitting on the shelf with his head in it, his eyes staring at him with death's hollow gaze.
"Teach made the mistake of disrespecting me, will you?"
She spoke with a gruelling menace that sent a shiver down Charles's spine but he refused to show any fear and kept silent.
"I see," she said before waving her hand.
The order was clear.
Charles gave her one last scowl with his eyes before one of her men struck the back of his head and his vision faded to black.