Beginning of the End
Chapter Three
"Cor. I think it stinks worse outside his gut than inside."
It was a terrible sight. Everywhere the eye could see there were desecrated ships of all sizes and varieties: French, Italian, British and Chinese, to name a few. This place was a sailor's worst nightmare. The haunted souls of the lost could be felt like a dense fog, lingering around in hopes of finding solace somewhere. That was not to be here, at World's End.
Jack slowly turned a circle, trying to get a better visual survey of his new location. Dark eyes fell upon the shattered remnants of the Black Pearl, and he sighed heavily. Resting his hand upon what was once the maidenhead, the captain petted his dearly departed vessel affectionately. "We went down just as we wanted, my girl: hard and fighting. You did me proud…"
He pushed away from the ship. This small desolate island was apparently to be his eternal damnation. Just Jack and his wrecked ship. No rest, no peace and not even a wee bit of plundering. "Tis Hell, Jones. Tis worse than Hell," he muttered darkly.
"You could do with a wash. You smell like entrails."
Another voice? Not just another voice, but a female voice. Jack's head first and then his body snapped around in the direction from whence it came. There, a few yards from the shoreline of his humble island floated a dark head. It bobbed up and down rhythmically. As Jack got closer, he was quite relieved that it was a very attractive female face. But what if she's got the body of a crab under that water? the captain thought warily. If she stays there, you'll never have to know.
"Well, love…" Jack shifted to his normal, cocky swagger as he reached the border of land and water. "If ya happen to know where I might acquire a hot bath and other such luxuries, I will be happy to oblige you." The humor in his tone was rich. Like such a place existed in this hellhole.
"Can you hold your breath for five minutes?" came the response, a coy grin painted on the lovely woman's face. "It's a five minute swim from here."
He blinked a few times. Who was this woman? And why would Davy Jones ever allow such a fetching creature to exist in this torturous domain? "Aye, lass. I've got abundant skills with regards to water." Jack flirted shamelessly, even when he was most certainly not in the advantage.
She jerked her head in a silent bidding. "Come on, then. Before I change my mind and renege the offer." She started to turn, preparing to dive under the water, but paused. "Oh, I'm Lily, by the way. Welcome to At World's End, Captain Sparrow." With a grin, she was gone, vanished beneath the dark surface of the water.
"She knows who I am!" Jack stated rather proudly, but then he had to move quickly else lose track of this mysterious woman. He jerked to remove his effects, but there were none to discard for this swim. "Oh yes. Bloody kraken."
It took several moments for Jack's eyes to adjust to the darkness under the water, but then a beacon light caught his attention. Lily was holding what looked like a crystal stick, and it glowed. And she had a fin! Mermaid, he realized, trepidation sinking in. Mermaids were rumored to lead sailors to their deaths. Oh bugger, Jack. Can it get any worse than this?
Lily was obviously holding back her swimming strength so that Jack could keep up. It got darker as they swam deeper, and the crystal began to burn more brightly, lighting up more of the underwater environment. It was, perhaps, worse below the surface than what Jack had seen on dry land. The wreckage of ships spanned the history of time. The water life had laid claim to the ruins to make new homes for themselves.
Jack felt a hand around his wrist, and Lily tugged on it to keep the captain going, as he had paused to look at ships that had be from the era of Alexander the Great. He palmed toward her, wanting just a bit more time, and the look of irritation on her face amused him enough to strike a pose, putting his hands on his hips as he assumed a postulative stance.
Lily swam on. Either Jack would follow or find out the hard way that this wasn't the place for pausing to sightsee. A rush of water stalled her advance, and the mermaid's head shot around as quickly as it could, trying to find the source of that sudden blast of water movement. She spotted the large shadow moving very quickly through the water, and her eyes widened. Jack!
From the corner of his eye, Jack saw Lily swim off. He was annoying her, and the captain drew subtle pleasure from that notion. Even here, he could still get to the women. But really, the sight of the almost completely preserved ancient Grecian vessel was worthy of this precious time spent to see it. Except that, quite suddenly, Jack felt like something was advancing upon him quickly. Perhaps Lily was coming back to scare him!
No such luck. Jack turned to confront his attacker, only to discover it wasn't Lily at all. It was a shark. The rest of his oxygen reserve was lost in a scream that he couldn't stop if he'd wanted to, as the killer fish was almost upon him. To die as chum was perhaps the worst thing that Jack Sparrow could imagine. Besides ending his days on a farm with a litter of puppies and children about his feet.
Suddenly he was sinking. Not sinking, really. Jack was jerked downward at a rapid pace. Something was vise-locked around his ankle, dragging him in a zigzag pattern away from the shark's domain. He felt the warmth of the crystal against his skin, but his world was turning black with the lack of oxygen.
An arm was around his waist, and Jack felt himself pulled flush against a decidedly female form. And then lips against his… Despite the cold of the water, these lips were warm and soft…and oxygen was being given to him slowly and steadily, but the dark clamminess still enveloped the captain. If I have to die, this is exactly how I want to go, Jack thought as unconsciousness consumed him.
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