7. Aye, But We're Loved by Our Mommies and Dads

The Pearl reached us first, but the other ominous ship stayed where she was. I expected that Jack Sparrow would send his First Mate to talk for him. Of course, I was right.

Joshamee Gibbs was a nice fellow, from the five seconds I've known him during the Fourth Brethren Court. Incredibly loyal to his Captain, yes, but even he can't predict Sparrow's next move.

"What is yer business with the Thirteenth Hour?" I say as Gibbs steps onto the deck of my boat, Ragetti and Pintel were following close behind.

"Aye, Sparrow was told to investigate the Hour," Gibbs said.

That raised an eyebrow. "By who?"

"Well, some lad in that ship over there," he gestured to the creep willies ship. "He also wanted to know if the Captain needs to talk or negotiate."

"Well, the Captain will get Sparrow to come over here an' do the talking," I spoke, snapping my fingers. Riku and Naminé went over to the Pearl.

Gibbs looked back to them, before looking back at me. "Ah, I would've never guessed that a fine woman like ye would be Captain of one of the most feared ships in the Caribbean."

I smirked. "Anything else ye need to know?"

Gibbs shook his head.

Might I remind myself that Sora was standing beside his brother behind me, watching the entire exchange? By the time my thoughts were finished, Naminé and Riku had dragged limp Jack Sparrow over onto my ship. They carelessly tossed him to the floor, in which he quickly got up and stood like he was permanently drunk.

"Might you inform me why you had yer crew drag my hopelessly away from me ship and over onto this dingy?" Jack said, slurring a bit of his words.

"Why, I want nothing more than to meet the Captain of the Black Pearl, the fastest ship in the sea." I say. "Well, actually, you owe me somethin'."

Jack was surprised. "I swear I didn't borrow money from you. As a matter of fact, we have never met before, because if I did, I would've threatened you at least once."

I gave a joker grin. "Oh, we met before, you just didn't notice. I snuck into the Pirate Lord Meeting..."

"There are Pirate Lords?" I heard Sora whisper. I'd have to inform him about the meeting of the Pirate Court later. Has his brother not tell him anything at all about the in-depth subjects of piracy?

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You did?"

"Oh yes, and we also meet in an insipid town called Tortuga, fifteen years ago. I was a little orphan on the streets filled with drunken brawl and revealing courtesans."

"Kairi," I heard Naminé say.

"You traded me something, for pickpocket lessons, and I think I've overpaid. I would it back, please."

Jack thought about it for a few seconds, and then gave his answer. "Sorry, I can't exactly do that."

I swiftly pulled out my cutlass and pointed it right at him. "If you don't return my most prized treasure to me, I'll have yer guts for garters, and your beautiful ship blasted all the way to the Locker."

Jack was slightly stunned for a moment. "You see, I can't give ye something that I don't exactly have."

"What do you mean 'exactly have,'?"

He pushed the tip of my blade away from his face. "Well, I had a little run in with Black Beard, Captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge," he walked around in drunken swagger. "When he met his demise by the hands of Hector Barbossa, I had finally gotten me Pearl back, but it was stuck in a bottle. A young pirate came along, and gave me an offer."

"What kind of offer?" I questioned.

"The pirate type, of course. He only wanted one thing, a rusty old key I've had stashed in my hidden pocket. After all this time that I've had it, I totally forgotten I had it with me,"

"A key?" Sora asked.

I remained silent for a few minutes before forcing myself to speak through gritted teeth. "You gave away the key?!"

Jack Sparrow held up his hands before I could try and kill him. "If you wanted it, you could just go an' kill him in that ship that gives me the willies."

I turned around, and saw the creepy aura of a ship get closer to us. Great, just what I needed.

~Mommies & Dads~

The creepy ship, which was deemed the Unversed Heart, stopped on the other side of the Hour. A board was put down to connect the Hour with the Heart. A crew member walked across, saying his captain wants me board, along with Naminé, Roxas, Sora, and Riku. I didn't have the slightest clue how the Captain of the Heart knew our names. Interrogation was inevitable.

We walked across, my head turned back to the Hour with Jack Sparrow and his measly crew standing on my ship. If he so much as leaves a dent in the floor boards...

The ship's sails were black like the Pearl's, but were tattered on the edges. The wood was dark bronze, and the main mast was somehow crooked yet still sturdy.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw a familiar red-haired man in a black coat. Naminé leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Is he the captain?"

I slightly shook my head. "Somehow, I don't think so." However, I do want to smack him silly for stealing my map and humiliating me on my own grounds.

All five of us, or four of us stood in front of the Captain's door. Riku was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Riku?" I asked no one in particular.

Naminé shrugged. Roxas and Sora argued.

"I thought he was behind you,"

"Like I'd keep track of a guy who cheated me out of money in Liar's Dice,"

So they already met Riku before. He probably knocked some sense into them before I confronted them.

The Captain's door opened, snapping me out of my thoughts. Out came a pirate with messy black hair and golden eyes. He wore all black, and he was gripping something in his hand that I couldn't make out. The red haired man walked over to the Captain and handed him the map he stole from me.

"Thank you, Axel," the Captain said. "This will help in my conquest."

I stepped forward, sending Axel a glare before turning to the mysterious Pirate Captain. "Who are ye?" I questioned.

The pirate chuckled. "I'm Captain Vanitas of the Unversed Heart, and ye must be Captain Kairi of the Thirteenth Hour."

"What do you with me an' my most loyal of loyal crew?"

Vanitas looked at me strangely. "Power, skill, to dominate the seas. The only way I could do that, is immortality."

Narrowing my eyes, I responded to this lunacy. "Immortality is worthless, and the price is not worth it. Ye don't even have an armada."

"Ah, but you, Captain Kairi, are powerful, ruthless, and dangerous. A fine treasure to have the Thirteenth Hour in me hand, wouldn't you think?"

"Too bad I'm not some wishy-washy pirate," I growled.

Vanitas laughed. "You don't think I've accounted for that?"

Something told me that Vanitas had every single step of this planned out. Ignoring his last comment, I decided to investigate his motives. "Just, how are you going to achieve immortality?"

Vanitas narrowed his eyes, looking from his crew back to me. He then snapped his fingers and all of a sudden, we were blasted back onto my ship. Some of his crew jumped aboard the Hour, and prepared to attack us. Vanitas climbed onto the ropes, and snickered.

"The Isla De Muerta is home to some of the most deadly of curses, wouldn't you say?"

And then, I saw a traitor in our mist. Riku stayed aboard the Heart, wearing something very familiar…

He's the one who helped out Axel during our brawl in Tortuga! My anger was clouded by the fact that we were being attacked by pirates. Who else was going to backstab me now?

Axel was one of the pirates who jumped aboard. He cornered me, sword pointed right at my neck. One mistake and I'm dead. The others began to fight off the poor souls who dared jump our ship.

"Oh, if it isn't that lass who tries to pick battles bigger than 'er," Axel mocked. I sent a glare at him.

"Such tough words for a spineless man, wouldn't ye say?" I retorted, swiftly drawing my sword and kicking him back. He lost the smirk playing at his lips and knew for once that I was one-hundred percent serious.

"Alright, Captain, don't hold back on me, savvy?" He charged me, his sword going in towards my arm. I crouched down, my right leg sticking out to trip him. At the last second, he grabbed onto a nearby rope and climbed up enough to whack me in the head with his fist. He swung over to me, the long side of his blade guarding his torso. I staggered at his blow to my head, but raised my cutlass fast enough to have metal clash with metal. I could feel Axel's glare at me, but I remained focused on the weight he was applying to the cutlass. "You hold the eyes of yer mother," he muttered under his breath.

That statement caused my concentration to lapse for a split second. First he said my father was better than me at swordsmanship, and then he mentions my mother. Was it possible he might know of my adventures and lessons with Marluxia in my younger years?

"Petty words won't get you anywhere, you slack-jawed coward," I growl. I drew back my cutlass and cut the rope above Axel's head, gravity pulling him down to the deck. I proceeded to land a cut to his sword arm, drawing blood and ripping some of the fabric of his coat.

He seemed unfazed by the turn of the tide, his eyes actually holding sadness within. He does nothing, but sit there, muttering the same words over and over to himself. "Always a coward, always a coward, always a coward…"

I lower my sword and looked around my ship. The men Vanitas sent aboard were all brought down, and even Sora took one's life. His ability in piracy is progressing so well that he actually killed a man. I couldn't say I was proud of it, but it meant that he couldn't go back to being just a boring landlubber anymore. Some anger still surged through me when I noticed the Unversed Heart was long gone, and the Black Pearl had some of her crew step into the fight and were helping bring in Vanitas' men. But it was worst when I think about how Riku betrayed me so horribly. He probably fed information about everything in the past few weeks to Vanitas, or even back two years ago during the Brethren Court.

"Captain Kairi?" I heard a comforting voice knock me out of my thoughts; I turn around to see Sora looking at me in concern. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head, "I honestly don't know anymore. I feel like I can trust no one."

The man they call Joshamee Gibbs hen marched right up to me. "Well, as a loyal and honest true pirate, I'd say you can count on me to help get the dirty job done." He saluted. Of course the Black Pearl's crew helped us out. Gibbs was an informal, yet formal pirate. He has an eye to know who to trust. Of course, leave to him to be the one to issue orders to have the Pearl's crew fend off the scaly-wags while Captain Jack Sparrow ran off to save himself.

"Thank you, Mr. Gibbs," I say sincerely. Sora placed a hand on my shoulder.

"So what do we do with him?" Sora gestured to Axel, who was silent on the deck, not even moving to stop the bleeding in his hand…

Something caught my eye on his arm where I ripped the sleeve. Ink permanently printed on his skin in a shape of sea waves, a flaming rose in the center. My eye widen as I immediately pointed my cutlass once more at Axel.

"Who are you?!" I exclaim. "You are a fake! He's supposed to be dead! Captain Marluxia said so!"

Naminé and Roxas heard my screams and came rushing over to the scene. I bear them little mind as I kept my trembling body under control. I grabbed Axel's bleeding arm and got a clearer view of his pirate tattoo. Axel's eyes stare at me in shock.

"Tell me yer full name! Now!" I yell.

He sighed, "My name is Captain Axel Reno Rose of the former Eighth Flame."

Naminé gasped. "Y-You're-"

"Yes, I'm Kairi's father,"

-XIII-

It's been a while since I updated. I haven't updated since August.

Oh I did a lot of things in this chapter and we finally meet the main villain, which is Vanitas! (You're welcome GoldenShadow), and we find out stuff about Axel, and Riku is a traitor! Gasp! I finally got off my butt and finished this. Please review and let me know what you guys think!

This is my late Christmas gift/New Year's Surprise to you all! Happy New Year! Have a great 2014!