Chapter 4: "Man Overboard!"
"You're cheating, Jack!" Krystal laughed, sitting with Jack at the desk in his cabin.
"Pirate, love," Jack smirked. "Wouldn't matter anyway, you're too good at this."
They finished their game of cards, with Krystal as the victor and Jack sat back in his chair, staring at Krystal.
"What are you thinking?" Krystal wondered, cutely.
"I'm thinking that once we get to Martinique, I'm not letting you out of my sight," Jack grinned, folding his hands behind his head.
"You never let me out of your sight anyway, Jack," Krystal retorted with a smirk, standing and stepping around the desk toward Jack. "What's going to make this time any different?"
Jack smirked, lowering one of his hands to reach out and pull Krystal toward him by the wrist, making her fall into his lap, his arms wrapping around her waist as she laughed when she landed.
"This time I mean it, love," he smiled and instantly began kissing Krystal's neck, but she pushed him away just as quickly.
"Jack!" she gasped. "What if someone sees us?!"
"What makes you think they'll care?" he retorted before the doors to his cabin suddenly burst open.
"Captain!" Barbossa, the first mate, called excitedly. "We've reached Martinique!"
"Captain?" Matthew called softly, jolting Krystal from her thoughts.
She had been standing at the port railing of the Cruel Mistress for several hours and it was now dark.
"What is it, Matty?" Krystal asked as Matthew stood to her right.
"Where is it you go when you go away like that?" he asked, without hesitation.
"You've adopted Mr. Stewart's boldness, haven't you?" Krystal observed with a small smirk, making Matthew straighten and clear his throat.
"Forgive me, ma'am," he said quickly. "Permission to speak freely?"
"Of course, lad. I was only teasing," she chuckled, making Matthew let out a sigh of relief. "To answer your question: I let my thoughts carry me as far as they want to. Most of the time they take me to my past. Perhaps my subconscious is trying to tell me something." She finally turned to Matthew, leaning back on the railing as she asked, "What do you think, Matty?"
"I think you should stop calling me 'Matty,'" he smirked, making her chuckle.
"Very well," she nodded. "What would you have me call you?"
"Black Scorpion!" Matthew grinned, standing proudly, making his captain laugh.
"A bit over the top, eh?" she laughed and Matthew started sulking. "Doesn't suit you, lad. How about something a bit less dark—?"
"But not tame," he threw in.
"Of course not," she scoffed. "What kind of pirate is tame?"
"Captain!" John suddenly called as he ran up from the galley.
"We'll get a name for you later, lad," Krystal assured Matthew, patting his shoulder as she stepped toward her first mate, meeting him halfway to the railing. "What's wrong, Mr. Stewart?"
John turned the glass bottle in his hand upside down, holding it in the air in front of her. A few drops of liquid fell from it and onto the deck as he stared at Krystal with wide eyes, filled with horror as she frowned at him.
"We're out of rum," he whispered making Krystal's eyes shoot wide before she looked around the deck, cautiously, then stepped closer to him.
"Why is the rum gone?" she whispered, and he shrugged, making her tap her chin with her fingers as her eyes shifted in thought. "This is not good, Mr. Stewart, not good at all. We'll have to restock on everything when we pass a port."
"Captain!" Matthew called from the starboard side. "Look over here!"
Krystal ran toward him and leaned over the starboard railing, John right next to her. In the water, toward the stern, there was a small spot that looked like the seawater was boiling.
"What is that?" she breathed, rhetorically.
Suddenly a huge splash came from the bubbles and the bow of a ship emerged from the water, making Krystal stare at the ship in terror.
"Captain," John breathed, staring at the scene along with her. "That not…what I think it is…is it?"
"The Flying Dutchman," she shuddered, confirming his fear. "Davy Jones."
"What's he want with you?" Matthew wondered, looking to his captain.
"Does it matter?" she whispered, still watching the ship. She frowned when she noticed a few cannons appear from the hull and realized this wasn't a social call. She turned to the crew member at the helm and shouted, "Hard to port!"
The three shoved off the railing, John shouting orders at the crew as Krystal and Matthew ran toward the helm, both on either side, one to pull and one to push to spin the wheel as fast as they could to turn the ship away from the guns.
"Can we outrun her?" Matthew hoped.
"With the wind? Hopefully," Krystal replied, still spinning the wheel to the left.
The sound of cannon fire from the Flying Dutchman sounded like thunder over the sea. The Cruel Mistress shuddered from cannonballs hitting her hull as the enemy began to fall behind. Matthew abandoned the helm to let Krystal steer the ship and ran to the port railing to tie down a loose line but the ship rocked to the left, suddenly, with more cannon fire. He held tight to the rope, but it wasn't enough and with a startled shout, Matthew toppled into the sea.
"Man overboard!" John shouted and ran to the port side. Matthew flapped his arms to keep his head above water as he shrunk into the distance and John turned to Krystal who was still at the helm. "Davy Jones will surely take him if we don't turn back, Captain!"
"No," Krystal breathed, her mind reeling.
"What'll we do, Captain?!" John called, leaning over the railing before looking to her again, reporting, "The Dutchman is almost on him!"
Krystal said nothing.
"Captain?!"
He'll be asked to serve, she thought. If he refuses he'll be killed, for sure.
"Captain?!" John called again.
If we turn back, Jones may blow us out of the water, and Jasmine will never be rescued.
"Captain?!" John screamed.
"We sail on, Mr. Stewart!" Krystal finally shouted back.
John stared up at her in disbelief before running across the deck and up the stairs to the helm to step next to her, growling, "Captain, with all due respect, are you insane?!"
"There is a method to my madness, Mr. Stewart," Krystal replied, calmly, not looking away from the horizon. "Matthew is a tough young man—"
"Who knows nothing about being a pirate, or anything about the sea for the matter!" John snapped.
"I taught him the best lesson I know," she assured him. "'Survive at all costs.' He's skilled with a sword, and despite what I say, he is a rather intelligent boy. If anyone can get out of it, he will. Bit like Jack Sparrow, that one is."
The Cruel Mistress shuddered again, thrice in a row as the Flying Dutchman used her triple guns on them.
"Mr. Stewart, tell me where she is!" Krystal ordered. John said nothing, nor did her even move as he only stared at her in near disgust. Krystal looked to him in rage that he didn't answer her order, then snapped, "How far behind is she Mr. Stewart?!"
He spun around and stared beyond the ship's stern before replying, "She's nearly out of range, Captain."
"Very good. We'll get to Isla de Asesino and find Jasmine without any further distractions…hopefully," she nodded before watching John march down the stairs and onto the deck. She took in a breath before turning to another crew member, ordering, "Take the helm. I've set us on course. All you need do is keep her on course. Alright?"
The man nodded and Krystal followed John below deck, meeting him in the brig.
"Now what, Captain?" John asked in mock respect as she stopped at the foot of the stairs, watching him as he stood amongst the cells.
"What do you think of my actions, John?" Krystal asked, knowingly as she pulled her hands behind her back. "Speak freely, lad. I wouldn't want you to lie to me."
John whirled around to face her with a hateful glare.
"I think that since Jack Sparrow died, you've become a coward!" he spat, without hesitation, making Krystal glare at him in rage and brought her hand up to backhand him as hard as she could, the slap echoing through the brig. He shouted in pain, placing a hand over his cheek, demanding, "Bloody hell! What was that for?!"
"I said 'speak freely' not 'insult me'!" she snapped
"What else am I to think of your behavior?!" he shot back, looming over her.
"Oh, this is brilliant!" Krystal laughed, mockingly, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I'm going to get your wife back and you call me a coward! Mark my words…the next time you call me that will be the last! Now would you like to know why I left Matthew to Jones?!"
"If it explains your insanity," John muttered.
"We'll get him back after we get Jasmine back, and trust me, getting Jasmine back will be the easier of the two."
"How?" he questioned, skeptically.
"Oh, ye of little faith," Krystal retorted then explained, "If Kan doesn't give her back, I'll keep a certain piece of information that I have. Information that he'll want."
"Quit speaking in riddles!" John growled. "How are you going to get her back?!"
"Patience, eh?" Krystal replied, calmly. "All you need to worry about is what I tell you now."
"And what of Matthew? Jones will surely kill him!"
"No, he won't. As I said, Matty is a smart one, he'll keep himself alive, and Kan will help me get him back, otherwise—"
"You hold your information."
"Precisely!" Krystal grinned. "Feeling better now that you know I have a plan?"
"Leverage. That's your plan?"
"Best kind of plan, lad," she smirked with a wink before placing her hands on John's shoulders to look him in the eyes. "You just let me worry about the crew. You worry about the orders I give you, and my orders to you, at this moment, are to keep on the watch and tell me when we reach Isla de Asesino, alright?"
John nodded as she lowered her hands from his shoulder to let him step around her and leave the brig to head back out on deck, still unsure of the whole thing. Krystal sighed, tiredly and sat on the bench in a cell, her head in her hands.
"I see you're using pretty much everything I taught you, love," Transparent Jack's voice echoed next to her.
"All one ever needs is the proper leverage," Krystal replied, having heard it a thousand times from him.
"That's right, deary. I'm proud of you."
"The problem is…it doesn't always end up so good for the leverage."
"A risk that must be taken."
"He's my friend, Jack. I can't lose him. I won't let Kan use him to predict the future with that cat of his!"
"It has to be done, love. You know that nothing will work in this plan of yours unless you give Kan what he wants."
"He wants me dead."
"He can't kill you until you tell him how to predict the future with his beastie."
"Jack…that may not matter. I killed someone he cared for. I killed his brother and Nemo may pay the price for my sin. I don't think I can live with that."
A/N: Review! Quickly!
