December 2013-September 2014 10 months
31 pages
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Adventures of William Swann-Turner
Part Two
The Goddess and the Boy
By Naomi Peel
Contents
Chapter One - "Naomi"
Chapter Two - "Seven:The Magic Number"
Chapter Three - "Thirteen"
Chapter Four - "A Hard Life"
Chapter Five - "Power Drain"
Chapter Six - "Sixteen"
Epilogue - "What Will Become of
Naomi Ann Peel?"
Chapter One
"Naomi"
Liam was standing on the upper deck next to the helm, he was looking out for anything the ship might run into.
"Anything lad?" Jimmy asked.
"No sir, steady as she goes," Liam said. It had been a month since his little adventure in Port Royal when he lost his memory. You can read all about it in part one. Liam was still seventeen and growing rather handsome but there were no girls his age or type anywhere, but he was in no hurry, I think he has a crush on me despite being at least two hundred years younger than him. He was born in the late seventeen hundreds, and I was born in the late nineteen hundreds, that's around two hundred years difference in our ages. I am a time traveler from the twenty-first century, and since this book circles around not only Liam but myself as well, you will learn a few more things about me that I didn't say in the first book. I never got around to tell you that his birthday is May 6th. Don't really know what year though, he never tells me, neither does anyone else, but that's ok, no biggie. This chapter though is about me. I was born on March 23rd 1997 on a Sunday in Berkeley, California, U.S.A. There's not much to tell about my childhood as I barely remember it due to having memory loss, but I do remember one thing and I ain't gonna share it, too private. I went to Little Village Pre-School, attended Kindergarten at Marin Elementary, family moved the summer after Kindergarten. We lived in Albany, CA. We moved to Cambridge, England, UK. Then we moved to Takoma Park, M.D. And we're still here. Now to the story from Liam's point of view:
Liam sat up suddenly in his bed in his cabin. Some noise had woken him up, so he got up and went to the deck to check out the source of the noise. The noise, he found out, was me playing, or trying to play, the recorder.
"What's that?" Liam asked me, peering at the instrument.
"This, my dear Liam, is a recorder, you play songs on it. I don't suppose they've been invented yet, have they?" I asked.
"Yes they have, in the 14th century, or so people say. I was just wondering why you have one."
"It's the only instrument besides my voice that I can play," I demonstrated by playing "Hot Cross Buns"which was pretty easy to play.
"May I?" Liam asked, holding his hand out. I handed it to him.
"Don't blow hard, blow gently, and use your fingers to cover the holes," I said. Liam put it to his mouth and blew gently, using his fingers to play notes. He was pretty good if I do say so myself.
"Thanks," he said, handing it back. I took it from him and wiped the mouth piece with my shirt as I had done when I gave it to him.
"Naomi, why don't you say anything about yourself? You're so secretive. Why hide who you are?" he asked.
"Well Liam, I just don't know where and how to start," I replied, "Truth is, I don't think anyone is ready to here my story, and I don't think I'm ready to tell it." I walked to the other side of the boat breathing deeply.
"You can tell me, you know my life story, it's only fair that I know yours." Liam leaned against the side of the boat looking at me.
I looked at him and sighed, I guess it was just a matter of time until that question was asked of me. But,
"I want to tell it when I'm ready to tell it to everyone. I'm sorry Liam, but now is not the right time." I looked at Liam with an apologetic look and he got my meaning.
"Take your time then," he said, "There's no rush." He then proceeded down to game cabin, yes there is a game cabin. There was a chess match happening down there but I stayed on the upper deck.
Liam proceeded down to the game cabin where Elizabeth Swann was playing chess against her father-in-law, Bootstrap Bill Turner. And by the look of things Elizabeth was winning. She still had half of her pieces and Bootstrap had two or three left on the board.
"Take his rook making his king open," Will told her.
"Or his bishop, either way his king will be open," Liam put in, "Your winning as it is."
Elizabeth looked at the chess board and thought for a moment, then making a decision, she moved her queen and took Bills bishop, leaving his king open.
"Check," Elizabeth said, smirking. Bootstrap looked at her and raised his eyebrows; Elizabeth smiled, rather pleased.
"Have you heard of The Goddess?" Liam asked, startling everyone.
"What's brought this up?" Will asked turning to look at him.
"Nuthin', just askin'," Liam said, "Do you guys know the legend?" he asked, looking around. No one moved, no one spoke.
"I've met her, and so have you, only she's been keeping her real identity from you. You've all been in her presence, yet you merely treat her as a time traveler from the future."
"What does the legend say, Master Turner?" asked Maccus, the first mate.
"She can bring people back to life, she can grow any sort of plant, tree, or flower, she can predict the future, she knows the past of people she's only met for a minute, she can transport herself from one place to another instantaneously with a snap of her fingers, and she can turn invisible. I mean, she probably can't, those are just rumors. Then again, I saw her disappear and reappear instantaneously before over these past few years so..." Liam shrugged his shoulders.
"You're right on all accounts, young master Turner, you are very observant, more than I am, in fact," I appeared next to Liam making him jump in startlement. I will admit, I do have that affect on people when they least expect.
Chapter Two
"Seven:The Magic Number"
"You really need to stop sneaking up on people like that, at least make a noise of some sort," Liam said to me, "People might get themselves hurt."
"Sorry," I said, "I'll keep in mind the noise thing. Now remember when I told you about the Doctor?"
"No not really. What doctor?"
"The Doctor. Oh never mind, ignore me," sighing, I sat down on a chair.
"Enlighten me," Liam said, "Tell me."
"Not today," I said, "but I will tell you about the day my powers came to their full extent and were revealed to me. I was seven years old, to be clear, it was my seventh birthday. The night before, my dad had read a book about wizards, witches, and magic and that night I felt tingly on my fingers, next morning when I woke up that tingle was still there, and when I got out of bed and stood up, my feet were inches off the ground. I was scared, curious, and slightly giddy at the same time. Well as they say, seven is the magic number and I was seven years old, but then, why only me? Or are there others? Certainly not my sister, she doesn't believe in magic, and she's two years younger than me. Anyway,"
"You have a sister?"
"Don't interrupt."
"Sorry."
"Anyway, I told my parents about the hovering thing but they didn't believe me, and of course I couldn't demonstrate. That was the first time and last time I hovered, I haven't hovered since, but I know, I know it wasn't a dream," I paused there to take a breath.
"Why are you here?" Liam asked, "Why us? What is it about us that you have to be here?"
"That, Liam, is between me and your parents." I looked at Liam and frowned.
"Why?" Liam asked again. I sighed, it seemed I couldn't keep anything from Liam.
"I met your parents some years before they were married and helped them get through tough spots, in return they had me promise that if they ever had children after they married that I'd look after them, and that's what I've been doing for the past years is looking out for you. When you lost your memory, I gave you clues to your identity and made you remember." I stopped there to take a breath.
"But why?" Liam asked again.
"Once I've made a promise, I'm bound to keep it, that's just how it has always been. I can't change a promise and I can't break one," I walked away with my hands in my sweater pockets, and disappeared.
Liam watched as I faded away, pondering what I had said; shaking his head, he walked back to the game cabin. I will never truly understand her, he thought, She is a mystery that cannot be solved. Why seven? Why that number? That age? Why her? She seemed so normal yet she could disappear and reappear. Fly and move quickly. See the future and know the past.
Watch over Liam and make sure he's always safe when our backs are turned, make sure he's happy when we are not around. That was the promise they had me make. I kept to that promise. I never broke it, and I never will.
"Liam, are you ok?" Will asked as he came up next to his son.
"Fine. I'm fine," Liam said, nodding, "Naomi was here."
"Was she? I didn't here her."
"She came and went rather quickly."
"What did she say?" Will asked.
"Not much," Liam replied, "She's been rather quiet these days."
Seven. So she wasn't born with her powers. So how did she get them? Why seven? And when did she become The Goddess? Liam thought these things over in his head as he walked in circles.
"Liam, are you okay?" Elizabeth asked looking concerned at her son, "You look lost."
"I'm fine mum," Liam said, "Naomi is confuddling my brain again."
"Well then don't let her confuddle your brain," Elizabeth said, "You still have many years to fill that brain of yours, and I don't want it filled with conflicted thoughts of Naomi."
"Yes mum," Liam replied.
Elizabeth took Liam's hat off, kissed the top of his head and put his hat back on, smiled and walked away.
Two weeks past and Liam found himself yet again in the pub in Tortuga.
"New supply of 21st Century soda for ya young master Turner. Just came in last night, lovely girl, dunno how she does it."
"Naomi's like that. I'll have the seira mist, if you please," Liam said, holding out his left hand.
"Sure thing lad," the bartender said, handing, or rather throwing, Liam a can of seira mist.
Just to clarify, I was there lurking in the shadows and always made sure the pub was stocked with soda for Liam. I made a rule that he wasn't allowed to drink alcohol until he was twenty-one. He still had four to five years until that day. And another thing, I'm a stalker.
Liam sat down at the table with his parents opposite the bar and listened to their conversations and drank his soda.
"Seven sickles to a knut, seven knuts to a. Seven swans a swimming, seven singers singing, seven wives sewing, seven wizards spelling, seven boys playing, seven girls sleeping, seven goddesses seeing."
"What are you saying?" Liam asked me leaning over.
"Seven is the magic number. That was the year I got my powers, my seventh birthday," I told him, "I felt weird. I had this tingling feeling inside me and suddenly I was an inch off the ground, my feet on thin air."
"Were you scared?" Liam asked.
"No, I felt giddy," I said, "I had this feeling of bliss."
A crash sounded behind us and we turned to look. Two pirates had gotten drunk and were now rolling on the floor, hitting each other. Two broken bottles lay next to them so it was evident they had gotten drunk and hit each other in drunkenness. One of them was Will.
Chapter Three
"Thirteen"
"HOW much? You drank how much?" Elizabeth was shouting to hoarsement at her husband who was sitting on a chair in his cabin.
"Three bottles. It's not that bad. I'm not drunk, Elizabeth," Will kept saying to his wife over and over.
"'Three bottles, not that bad, I'm not drunk', look at you! Your speech is slurry, you can't sit straight, and you-," the rest of that sentence was not heard, for Liam had drawn his ear away from the door and made his way to the main deck.
"How is it down there?" Bootstrap asked, "She still yellin'?"
"Oh she's still yellin' alright," Liam replied looking at his grandfather, "She's going to lose her voice soon if she doesn't stop."
"God bless them," Bootstrap said,, "Married for eighteen years they are and I've never heard nor seen Elizabeth so angry. She's got a temper, your mother."
Liam didn't reply but he did nod. His parents had never had yelling matches as far back as Liam knew. They've never had yelling matches during the seven years he's been on board.
"What's goin' on?" I had appeared with the slightest pop, but the boys still jumped, bless them.
"God Naomi, you scared us," Liam said, facing me, "Can't you appear the normal way?"
"What normal way? There is no 'normal' way young master Turner," I replied, "Unless you count making some sort of portal. We are in the middle of the ocean y'know."
"True, but still. Your appearing methods scare us." Bootstrap said.
"Sorry," I said "I'll see what I can do next time." I walked away and stood next to the center pole. Standing on the ships edge is difficult, especially since I have a hard time moving around a moving vehicle, especially a ship.
"Do you fear anything?" Liam asked me.
"Don't we all?" I asked.
"Yes. But do you?"
"Course I do," I replied.
"What do you fear?" he asked.
"Death, heights, spiders, darkness, loneliness."
"You fear all that? That's five things. Why do you fear them?"
I sighed and looked at the curious face of the seventeen year old boy next to me and took a deep breath and let it out.
"I fear them," my voice started breaking so I swallowed, took a breath and started again, "I fear them because I feared them when I was small, younger. I fear spiders because of their darkness and their webs and their long legs; I fear heights because I feel I will fall if I stand on a hill for to long; I fear the dark because I cannot see anything, and not seeing anything when I am not in bed and it is not nighttime; I fear being alone because then I feel no one cares about me; And I fear death because there is so much to live for and being dead just doesn't, it doesn't..." I stopped there and Liam looked at my face and noticed that I was crying. Reaching up he wiped the tears from my cheeks.
"And then I remember seven. Oh that number! That magic number seven! I have powers, oh yes, powers to prevent me from dying but I still fear death. Always."
"Must be hard being you. All those things you're burdened with. I'd hate to be you. No offense. But know this," At that point Liam looked straight into my eyes, "You are not alone, so that fear can melt away, because you've got us."
"Not for long. One of these days I won't be able to travel in time. My powers will grow weak and." I stopped there, lost for words.
"And you'll die for good," Liam gently whispered.
I looked at Liam and nodded. I would die.
Will looked around at the horizon. My appearance had taken a big shock out of him and despite the fact that his heart was tucked away in a cloth under his son's shirt, he had put his hand on his chest where his heart would have been.
Course, I was still on board, Liam had challenged me to a chess game and believe me, I was losing.
"Check," Liam said, moving his queen and grinning.
I looked at the board and thought hard. I could move my knight to the left of his queen leaving my king open or I could move my bishop and block his queen. So of course I moved my bishop. He wasn't happy about that.
"C'mon Liam you've beaten me many times, it's time to change things up a bit," I said, "I beat you."
"You're cheating," he accused, "You cheated, you-," Liam stopped there and well you don't want to know what happened next, and honestly I blacked out. I suspected Liam had punched me in the face because he was apologizing to me over and over while I held cloth to my bleeding nose.
"You punched be in the nob! Why?" I asked, "Id wab just a gameb."
"I'm sorry I really am I just, I just was so mad at losing for the first time that I lost control," Liam said.
I sighed and walked out and disaperated.
"I think I touched a nerve," Liam said staring at the spot where I had been, "Think I overreacted, I just couldn't stop."
"She'll calm down," his mother assured him, "she just needs to cool off." Liam nodded. Moving around the deck, he yo-yo-ed with the yo-yo I gave him, up and down up and down. He found it helped him think.
"Thirteen, thirteen," Liam repeated the number over and over, "Thirteen, she was named the Great Goddess at thirteen."
Elizabeth was standing on the main deck. Will had gone to his cabin, Bootstrap was humming "A Pirates Life For Me" and the crew were going about their duties. I was there as well, sulking.
"Why the face?" Liam asked, standing next to me, "You've looked like that for the past half hour at least. What's wrong?"
"Nothing important," I said sighing, "Just thinking."
"About what?" Liam asked.
"Someone," I said, smiling, "Someone special. With hair as brown as milk chocolate, eyes as sparkly as the ocean, a smile as bright as the sun, and a voice so deep and romantic, it makes my heart skip a beat just by looking at him."
"Thirteen," Liam said, "You became The Goddess at thirteen."
"I got the title when I was thirteen," I clarified, "but I didn't get the power until later."
Chapter Four
"A Hard Life"
"How much later?" Liam asked.
"A year," I said, "I got the power of a goddess a year later."
"What can you do with your power?" Liam asked.
"Never die, bring people back to life, didn't I tell you?"
"Maybe," Liam said, "Though I can't remember if you did. So you can bring people back to life? Have you actually done that?"
"In my dreams, but not in real life. Want to play chess?" I randomly asked. Liam got taken aback.
"Chess? You were just – yeah alright, but no cheating," he warned pointing at me, "No cheating."
We went down to the lower deck, got out the chess set, putted it on the table and got the board set up.
"White or black?" Liam asked me.
"White as always," I said smiling, "I'm always white."
"Fine," Liam said, "So, you gunna tell me more about your life?"
"Maybe," I replied, "Depends on what you want to know and how much."
"Everything," Liam replied, "Anything and everything you feel comfortable telling me."
"Alright, I'll start at the beginning. I was born on March 23rd 1997 in Berkeley California, United States of America, North America. My parents are Deborah Carmen Grossman and Alan Campbell Peel. When I was born the umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around my neck, my left side of my brain that controls the right side of my body had shut down causing me to have cerebral palsy. I was kept at the hospital for a week, approximately. Late 20th Century stuff. Any who, I was a late walker, my right arm and hand stayed clamped up for about a year, then I went into therapy and got it to open. That's one of the reasons why I am left handed. Couple years later my sister, Rowyn, was born on January 18th 1999, no birth problems like me, born completely normal. My family lived in a house in Albany, California where we stayed there until August of 2003. We moved to Cambridge, England, United Kingdom, Britain that summer."
"If you're from the-oh wait, I think I know," Liam said, interrupting me again, "You think of the time and place of where you want to go, snap your fingers and boom you're there. Right?"
"Correct, and yes I know what you're talking about. My way of traveling from my century to yours," I nodded and looked down, twirling my fingers.
"So in Cambridge, how long were you there and what did you do?" Liam asked.
"We stayed there for two years. Visited Stonehenge, Prague, France (twice), erm let's see, where else? What else? School the first year in Cambridge was pretty bad. Horrible teacher, Mr. Evans, can't believe I still remember his name after all these years, well actually eight years isn't that long. Then there was Ms Wheel, lovely woman, she was the one who advised my parents to check me for Aspergers and Autism."
"What are those?" Liam asked, curiously.
"They're my disabilities. It just means my brain works differently than others. Besides, this is more my story than yours."
"What do you mean?" Liam asked, "Your story and not mine? Who's in control of that?"
"I am writing this story. You are not real, these events are not real, but I am real, but I am not literally here with you. Confusing, I know, and a lot to take in." I looked at Liam, and he looked at me, and understanding dawned on his face. He was merely a fragment of my imagination; he was not real, nor was anyone else on that ship, except me.
"Tell me more about you," he said, "You know about me, tell me more about you."
"Very well," I said, sighing, "Where was I? Ah yes, school. Nightmare, honestly, boring, waste of my time."
"What is this 'school'? I mean, the word is unfamiliar," Liam said, "Never heard of it."
"Well young Master Turner, it's time you learn a few things about the 21rst century world." I smiled and winked.
"Check," Liam said, "You lose." He moved his queen in front of my king.
I moved my king to the right, putting it behind a rook. Liam stared at the board, dumbfounded, slumped his shoulders in defeat and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
"You win, I give up," he said brushing his hair back with his hands; his hat fell off and he reached down and got it off the floor, brushed it, and put it on his head.
"Did you have a hard life?" Liam asked, "I mean, so far."
"Yes and no, mostly yes. There are times when I question my existence in the world. 'Why am I here?' 'What purpose do I have on this planet?' 'Why do I have to do these things and those things,
ecsetera ecsetera. And I just feel unimportant, small and insignificant almost all the time, and I just can't help feel that I'm nothing; check."
"So, what your saying is that although you are a goddess, you feel unimportant," Liam moved his chess piece, getting him out of check.
"Precisely," I replied, "There are times that I-"
"'Scuse me, Master Turner? Your father would like to see you immediately please, in his cabin. Scuse me for interuptin'" Quittance had come up to where we were.
"We'll talk later," I said as Liam turned away.
"Sure," Liam replied.
"You stayin' long goddess?" Quittance asked me, "Only, Mistress Turner would like to speak with you."
Elizabeth wants to speak with me? When was the last time we had a conversation one on one? I thought, frowning. Huh, Will wants to see his son and Liz wants to see me. Wonder what's happened?
I walked over to Elizabeth's quarters and opened the door.
Chapter Five
"Power Drain"
"You wanted to see me, Liz?" I asked, entering the cabin.
"Yes, c'min," Elizabeth was sitting at a table at the back, going over maps and scrolls, "I'm having some trouble with this." She held up a piece of paper with words that looked jumbled up and misspelled. Here's what the paper said-
"Exekushion todai port royil at evnin this 5:30, of Governer Swahn Gerge, brother of Wetherbbee Swan."
"'Execution of Governor George Swann, brother of Wetherby Swann today in Port Royal this evening at 5:30'," I read, putting it in order, "Looks like someone wants your uncle dead, thought looks like they can't spell properly, bless them."
"Why would someone want my uncle dead? What has he done wrong?" Elizabeth asked, panic in her voice.
"Dunno," I replied, "but whoever it is, they don't seem to like your family, you might be next."
"They'll never catch this ship and they wouldn't dare come near Tortuga."
"Let's hope you are right." I said looking at her.
Liam was leaning against the railing of the starboard side of the ship with the win gently blowing on his hair. He wondered what his mother wanted me for and hoped everything was alright.
"You alright son?" Will asked, standing next to Liam, "You look lost."
"It's nothing," Liam said, "Father, how did you meet mum?" Will looked at his son and sighed. He had tried to avoid this question for seven years but now Liam had asked it, and it was time to tell.
"I was twelve, maybe thirteen. I was on a ship to England to look for my father. On the way, the ship was attacked by pirates. I alone survived the shipwreck. That's where your mother came in. She spotted the ship. She spotted me, floating on a broken part, they brought me on board and left me in her care, that's where she told me her name, and I told her mine." Will stopped there for a breath, leaving Liam to think.
But Liam's mind wandered off in a different direction. I wonder what Naomi is going to tell me next? What questions should I ask? Maybe I could ask her more about her sister. That would be nice. Hm.
"Then I fainted an- Liam, you still with me?" Will had resumed his story, but Liam was still lost in thought, hearing his dad, he started and turned to look at his father.
"Huh? Wha? Oh sorry, you were saying?"
"I fainted after we exchanged names. From what your mother told me, after I fainted she took my necklace my father had sent me. Anyway, that's how and when I met your mother."
Liam found me on deck just after sunset, and I had a feeling of what he was going to do. He was going to ask me more questions about my life. Well, I let him do just that.
"Did you know my birthday past three weeks ago? I'm eighteen now." Well, I didn't expect that from him. He seldom talks about stuff like that.
"I know," I said, "That's why I got you this," I held up a small, light-weight dagger. Liam looked at it in awe, he couldn't believe his eyes. He took the dagger and held it in his palm.
"It's so light, but sturdy. Thanks."
"Glad you like it." A few minutes passed, then,
"Naomi, have you ever lost your powers?" What a serious question! But of course I answered,
"Hmm, let's see now, um, yes I believe I did once. It was the year 2013 I believe. I was fighting this enemy of mine and he had this spell or something that drains his victims of their powers, and he was draining mine. It was the scariest moment of my life because when I received my powers at the age of seven, a voice told me that if I ever lost them, even for a second, I would die, or start dying, and that is one of my greatest fears, so when he was draining me of my power, I fought back with everything I had, mentally and physically."
"That is so traumatizing," Liam commented, "What did you do?"
"I dug deep down into my very soul and clung to my very existence; I thought about everyone in my family and how I loved them, and how they loved me and that helped, because love is the most powerful magic in the universe, it can overcome just about anything."
"I never thought you'd be scared of anything. You always seem so brave."
I laughed, "Don't believe everything you see, looks can be deceiving. That's how I always have the high ground in most situations. People assume what they see me do is the real me, but I'm actually something else, that is, when I get captured by enemies."
"Why do you come here so much? I mean, you're practically following us, and by us I mean Swann-Turners," Liam asked me. It's true that I 'hang out' with them, but I never thought about being well, lets just say, 'stalking'.
"I helped you parents get through tight spots in the past, that's all you need to know," I replied, "drop the subject."
Later, Will found me on deck and noticed that there were tears on my cheeks.
"Liam touch a sensitive spot?" Will asked.
"You have no idea," I replied, "he went a little too far with his 'ask questions about Naomi' thing."
"Give him a break," Will said, "he's just curious."
"Yeah, but, curiosity can be a dangerous thing to have; take it from somebody who knows." And with that I disappeared, leaving Will to think about what I said.
"Something wrong son?" Bootstrap asked, walking up to Will, "You look terrible."
"It's nothing dad," Will said looking at his father, "Though Naomi just got offended unintentionally by Liam."
"Ouch, what happened?"
"Not entirely sure father, not entirely sure."
Chapter Six
"Sixteen"
Summer. Summer of 2013. That's when everything came together. Forget thirteen, sixteen is when everything made sense. More than before.
It was over the summer, and I had been sixteen for four months, when I realized who I was. I was-
"Naomi? Naomi!" Liam started shouting my name and I snapped back out of my thoughts.
"What? What is it?" I asked rather frantically.
"You had this look on your face like someone died," Liam said, looking at me with concern, "are you alright?"
"Yes, yes I'm fine," I said rather quickly, "I just was thinking is all."
"You are not talking like you normally do. What is it? What were you thinking about?"
Ah Liam, the never ending questions flowing out of his mouth. How to shut him up?
"Let me tell you a story. There was once a young girl who found that she did not fit in. Anywhere. Everyone thought she was weird, abnormal, strange. They regarded her as a nobody. And so, she returned that. She thought because everyone ignored her, she could ignore them. But all of that changed when she reached high school. Everyone wanted to be her friend, but she ignored them."
"Let me guess, she is you," Liam cut in.
"Don't interrupt, but yes. Anyway, She, well I went through my first year without any friends, and it was fine. I survived mentally my first year, and my second; then my third year of high school came and it was a nightmare. My grades slipped, I barely did any work, and I barely passed my classes. Course by this time I was seventeen. But, while I was sixteen between the date march 23rd, 2013 and march 22nd, 2014, I was a mess. Even though I had a slight clarification that I was the goddess, my life was a mess." I stopped there and held my head in my arms.
"So...what happened?" Liam asked.
"Oh let's see. I found a few more powers that I didn't know I had, I could die but for only a certain number of times decreasing slowly throughout the time I was 16. I'd be dead a week, then a few days, then 24 hours, then 12 hours, then 7 hours, and finally not die at all a few weeks before I turned seventeen; no scratch that, three months, it was December."
"So you can't die? Ever? From anything?" Liam asked.
"Anything man made so far. I haven't drowned or got caught on fire yet."
"Are you a good swimmer?" Liam asked.
"Moderate, in shallow water, if I go too deep I get anxious and retreat back to shallow waters. But I am a good swimmer I'll give you that." And then Liam did something I did not expect - HE BLOODY PUSHED ME OVER-BOARD! That was so uncool.
It took me forever to swim back to the ship.
"Sorry Naomi," Liam said, "I couldn't help myself." Liam was laughing when I clambered back on board five minutes later.
"That was not cool, and extremely dangerous. Good thing I can levitate." That last thing I said caught Liam off guard.
"You can levitate?" Liam asked.
"There is not much I can't do, Master Turner, unless it's certain subjects in school. Anyway."
"Well that's weird," Liam said, "you rarely call me that, as a matter of fact, you never call me that. You've always called me Liam."
"Yeah, ok, whatever. Anyway, as I was saying I am a pretty good swimmer, just not in ocean waters so don't do that again."
Three days later I found myself in Tortuga at their favorite pub, and I was not amused. Will was playing a card game with a bunch of pirates, Liz was at the bar, and Liam and I were playing a game of chess.
"Your move, though it looks like I'm winning," Liam said after moving his rook.
"Winning?" I asked, "not even close, checkmate." I moved my queen into checkmate position.
"Are you kidding me?!" Liam exclaimed, "you are always one step ahead, no fair!"
"I learned how to play from my dad, a chess club I was in at school, and an online chess game, though the computer always won. Eh, technology of the twenty-first century."
"Yeah, okay," Liam said, "by the way, hah!" Liam moved his knight in the way of my queen taking me out of checkmate.
Next day, we sailed to open waters and I and Liam were on deck feeling the breeze on our faces.
"So anything else you'd like to share about yourself?" Liam asked.
"Like what?" I asked.
"Why those ages?" Liam asked, "seven, thirteen and sixteen; they seem pretty random."
"My life is full of randomness, Master Turner, what do you expect?" I asked.
"Nothing, I guess," Liam replied, "you mentioned a sister."
"Yeah, what about her?" I asked.
"Mind telling me about her?" Liam asked.
"Not much to tell," I replied, "why are you interested in her?"
"You don't say much about her. What's she like?"
"Talkative, sings a lot. Not much else to say. Writes songs, sings in shows. Not much else to report."
"Ok, sorry, just, yeah," Liam struggled with his words, "anything else I should know about you?"
"Eh, everything else is confidential," I replied, "no one else knows those details."
Though I will tell you, the reader, about those details. Boys, and school. And since this chapter is about when I was sixteen, I'll tell you about 10th and 11th grade from March 23rd, 2013 to March 22nd, 2014. But if only I could remember. Though I will tell you the day after my 16th birthday: I was on spring break, and me, my parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle and sister went on a cruise for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary and I made a friend that I am still in contact with, Aine (pronounced 'Anya') Lorton. Spring break is only a week long and that's how long we were on the cruise ship. The only reason I'm telling you and not Liam is because he is just a fictional character and you, the reader, are a real person.
"Naomi you've got that face on again," Liam said, snapping me out of my thoughts, "the 'I'm thinking about something serious' face."
"Yes, right, sorry," I said glancing at him, "anyway, what were we talking about?" I asked.
"Nothing, something about something you couldn't tell me."
"Right, well, that's done," I replied, "is there a storm coming?"
And indeed clouds were starting to form.
"We'd better get ready, I hear thunder," I said, "this storm is gonna be big. I can smell it."
"You can smell when the weather is going to be bad?" Liam asked, "how bad?"
"Yes, and very bad. Master Turner, to your cabin."
"Yes ma'am," Liam said, saluting.
That was the longest night, and thankfully, I could keep the ship steady on the already thrashing waves. This I going to be a long storm. See you in the Epilogue. The Goddess out.
Epilogue
"What Will Become Of
Naomi Ann Peel?"
"Naomi, what are you doing?" Liam asked me. It had been three days since the storm and Liam and I were in the main cabin.
"I'm drawing," I said, "why?"
"What are you drawing?" Liam asked, leaning over my shoulder.
"Mostly lines that form shapes. I've been drawing for a long time now, ever since I was two, I have been creating art. Here, these are some things I've made." I showed Liam pictures of my art from my iPod and sketch books I had with me.
"Wow, these are awesome. You're really good," Liam complemented, "I mean really good. Did you inherit your art gift?"
"As a matter of fact I did. My mothers side. My great-grandfather and grandfather had/has this gift, but my mother got the other kind of art, theatre art."
"So, what now? Anything else I should know about you?" Liam asked.
"Not much else to tell. I've told you everything I could, now we just have to finish that chess game."
"We did finish, you said 'check-mate'," Liam replied, "but we can start another game."
"Sure," I said, "we have a long trip out here at sea."
We found ourselves once again in Tortuga three months after my conversation with Liam. In all honesty, I hated that place. Why? Too noisy, too social, you name it. Well okay, it wasn't that bad, it was just, ugh, whatever. Anyway, how time passes when you talk, and talking to Liam was like talking to a new born baby, and I just -
"Hey, Naomi, can I talk to you?" Liam had walked up to me holding a root beer.
"Depends on what you want to talk about," I said, "I'm really tired."
"I was just gonna ask when you're leaving, y'know back to the future. Though I do want you to stay, yet I also know you can't stay here."
"Oh ye of li'l faith! I am in the future, what you are seeing is not my physical form. This is a memory data file projection of my real physical form which is currently typing this story on my laptop. So you see, I've never really been here, I just seem to be. Make sense?" I looked at Liam and smiled, and then laughed at his expression. Oh that face will stay in my memory forever. Just those wide eyes, the slightly opened mouth, the raised eyebrows of surprise and confusion is just beautiful, I couldn't stop laughing it was so funny.
"Naomi, breathe," Liam said, a worried expression on his face now, "Naomi please, you're coughing, don't choke, breathe."
I finally calmed down three minutes later, breathing deeply; laughing is good for some people, but not me, it's hard to breathe and stop laughing when I start.
"Sorry, hard to control my laughs; now, what were we talking about?"
"You not really being here, and actually being in the future."
"Oh, right," I said sighing, "yes let's see now, hmm." I thought about what to say next when suddenly something loud banged near us. Liam and I both looked 'round for the source of the sound and walked about to find it.
"Look," Liam said pointing, "what's that?" A shadow moved across the floor of the pub. It swiveled and squirmed. Many pirates jumped to their feet as it moved near them, and avoided its touch.
"Whatever it is," I said, "I've never seen it before. Though it does look alien. Heh, and I've seen many different aliens. Traveling with the Doctor, you're bound to see some wild, crazy shenanigan things."
At that moment, everything went dark. As in all the candles burnt out. The only light was the moon, for it was night. The shadow was now no where to be seen for you can't see a dark shadow in a dark room.
"No one move," I dared to say, whispering, "whatever it is, it's making us feel fear. Stay calm. Many pirates are scared and are to proud to admit it and I can feel your fear, so relax." I saw the shadow move near the bar and kept my eye on it. Going through a list of spells in my brain, I thought about which one to use. Of course, it would be easier if I knew what the thing was. And here I am rattling n when I need to rap up this story and start the next one. So, I have told you everything that I can about myself. Liam will just have to wait for his next adventure to see me. And what will happen to me? That is a good question. I don't know where I will go. I don't know where I will end up. But I can tell you, it will involve something amazing.
END OF PART ONE
PART TWO COMING SOON
Based on the one minute scene after the credits of the third
Pirates of the Caribbean movie, At World's End.
All Characters (except for me) and names belong to Disney.