"Lila! I was bloody asleep!" Will said, with a slight groan, not wanting to start an argument with his wife that early in the morning. Will shook out his long, tangled up ringlets, and stared at her with his big, hazel eyes, waiting for her response.
She only stood in the other corner of the room, hands on her hips, in a night gown showing how big her stomach was actually getting. And more proof of why she and Will were now in a heated argument. Will sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed, wanting to put his shirt back on if he wasn't going to be able to go to sleep. Lila was still mad at him. What for? Well, Will had actually forgotten. But he knew in about five minutes, she would be normal again, and asleep until she had another random outburst an hour later. Will stared up at her, waiting for her to continue with whatever she was going to say. She only made a mad noise, and laid down beside him again, with her back turned. He smirked, and wrapped his arm around her waist, as he leaned over and whispered, "You can't stay mad at me for long, Your Highness."
"I beg to differ, William." Lila shot back at him, but this time with a smile. He smiled too, and kissed her cheek. Soon enough, he proved to be right, and she was asleep as quickly as their pointless argument had ended. Will kept his arm around her waist, and laid in bed awake, thinking of the letter that Lila had gotten...
"Your Highness, I will kill you for this." Jack repeated the next morning, with a long sigh. "William, William, William. She's the bloody Queen. Nothin' to worry 'bout, mate."
Will made a face as he pushed himself off of the Pearl's mast. He knew that Jack was lying. Jack, knowing he wouldn't get out of this, said, "Alright, fine. I'm worried too, happy?" Jack walked down the deck of the Pearl, shouting out an order or two every few seconds, with Will trailing closely behind him. Once Jack had made it to the wheel, he grabbed it and said with a smirk to Will, "Long night?"
Will yawned as he finished walking up the stairs. He leaned against the railing of the top deck, and looked out at the horizon as the Pearl followed the Sun. He saw Lila on the deck of the Sun, talking to her first mate. He smiled in her direction, before remembering that Jack was a few feet away from him. Turning back to the infamous pirate captain, Will said, holding in another yawn, "How did you know?"
"Mate." Jack said, with a smile to his former first mate. "They knew tha' in Singapore." Will rolled his hazel eyes as Jack laughed and said, "Goodness, tha' girl can yell. Wha' did you do to 'er? Refuse 'er 'er precious apples 'gain? Honestly, tha's startin' to worry me. Actin' like Barbossa she is..." Jack was deep in though for a moment, apparently about Lila's apple cravings and Barbossa's apple obsession. Will watched him with some amusement, before saying to him, "Makes you wonder 'bout Barbossa, don't it?"
Will smiled at that, and shook his head as Jack looked as if he had got the reaction that he wanted. Saphira walked on the decks with them a minute later. Jack's smirk was wiped clean off of his face when he saw the look on Saph's face, "Wha's wrong, darlin'?"
"Will, I have to warn you-"
"WILLIAM!"
Will winced at hearing his name yelled that loudly. Jack was trying his hardest not to laugh, practically having to stuff his fist in his mouth to do so, while Saphira was looking at him with a look of sympathy. "WILLIAM JONATHAN!"
"Coming Li!" Will yelled over to the Sun, before shooting a glare over at Jack as he did so. Jack smirked at him and gave him a wink, causing Saphie to smack his arm like she did frequently.
"Wha'?" Jack asked in a wounded voice when Will was gone. Saphie only looked up at him, shaking her head as she walked back down the stairs. "WHA'? SAPHIE WHA"?"
"Honestly, Jacob." She said, shaking her head once more. He put his arms out, really not knowing what he had just done. She smiled at him, and completely disappeared below deck. Jack rolled his almost black eyes, and started...well, glared at the horizon.
Will cautiously made his way over to the Sun. Matt, Lila's first mate, only looked at him with a sad look on his face. Or...a scared look. Will gulped. There was nothing that scared him more than his pregnant wife. Who just so happened to be queen. Who just so happened to be a pirate. Who just so happened to be a Sparrow that was for some reason addicted to apples now. He quietly made his way up to the top deck where she was standing by the wheel. She was gripping it tightly, looking at him with a strange look in her eyes.
"Lila?"
"Where did you put my apples?" She asked him in a harsh tone as she took a step towards him. Will, having never had to deal with a pregnant wife before, was scared by her action, and from where he stood on the top step, took a step down as she stepped to him.
"They're downstairs, darling." He said, in that voice that usually made Lila go all squishy, at least that's what she always said. But it wasn't working now. Her pregnancy matched with that Sparrow ego of hers was not a good combination. And at last, Will's worst fears were confirmed. If Jack could possibly be pregnant, he knew this was how he would be.
"Why the bloody hell did you put them down there, Will?" Lila asked him, in that same tone as she took another step towards him, and he took another step down. She could beat him. She could disarm him in a heart beat had they actually started fighting. Well, he wouldn't fight her, he'd just do it for self defense. "Um...I didn't...Jack did."
"Liar liar, rum on fire." Lila said as they eventually made it down the stairs. Bootstrap, who had come on the Sun to ask Lila a question, suddenly stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on his daughter-in-law's face, scarily reminding him of how Annie had acted towards Neptune. Will was backed up against the mast now, as Lila corned him. "Liar."
"Sticks and stones." Will said with a smirk, trying to distract her. It apparently worked. Jack, Saphie, Rupert, Ana and Bootstrap were now on the Sun, watching this play out in front of him. Jack thought it was funny, but when his father came on deck, Grant thought it was anything but funny. He didn't like Will. Didn't like him one bit. Lila was always like a daughter to Grant, more so, at times, then Neptune when he was busy being king and doing his duties.
Why didn't he like Will? Well, when your daughter is 21, not married, and comes clean that she's about to have a baby, her fiancee starts looking pretty blamable. And that's just what Grant was doing. He came to stand between Jack and Saphie. Saphie? He loved. But see, there were the differences. Jack wasn't the good one, Lila was. Jack got the good fiancee, Lila, to Grant, got the bad one. And that was why he hated Will and loved Saphira.
"Lila..." Will said, as her grip on him tightened. He was scared. He couldn't die...well, take that back. That was scary. He looked down at her neck to see his key hanging from him. She could kill him. "Oh bloody hell."
"What, darling?" Lila said in a different tone of voice. Will's eyes got wide at that, when he saw his father standing a few feet away from him. Will silently prayed that she was going to go 'shiver me timbers' again in front of his father. Will, whose voice seemed to raise about two octaves said, "Lila, darling...please not now. Of all times. Not here."
"Fine. Not here." Lila took his arm and pulled him. "Lila! LI ! Oh my goodness..." Was all Will managed to say before she shoved him into her cabin and shut the door. Boostrap's jaw dropped along with Jack's. Ana got bored, and walked back over to the Widow. Saphira wasn't all that surprised; Rupert, who still had a small crush on the Queen, looked slightly disgusted...and then there was Grant.
"Um, Dad?" Jack said, trying to get to his father. "Dad-"
"Not. Now. Jacob." Was all Grant said, before swinging back over to the Pearl. Saphira tried not to laugh at this, and turned her face from Jack. But when she saw the look on her brother's face, she stared laughing. Jack smirked at Saphie, wrapped his arm around her, and led her back to the Pearl.
"-so, we're all agreed then?" Lila was looking at her cousin with a look of confusion. They were all standing just off Shipwreck Cove later that day. Jack whirled around to meet his cousin's emerald eyed gaze, but was momentarily distracted when Will eventually walked up to them. He was attempting to fix his shirt and smooth down his messy curls. Lila groaned inwardly at this, and turned back to Jack who's jaw was down to the floor. He regained some composure, and said, more so to Lila and Saphira, since he couldn't bring himself to look at Will and Grant and Bill were too shocked to do anything, "Darlin'-" He wrapped an arm around either girls' waist and turned them to the entrance of the city. "-you forget who I am. I'm-"
"Captain Jack Sparrow!" Lila spat at him, leaning over the table. Being Pirate Lord of Neptuño, Lila fiddled with her piece of eight: Her mother's Jewel. Lila rolled her emerald eyes, and said, "You're bloody insane, Sparrow."
Saphira sighed. Being Jack's fiancee, she pretty much had to come to the meetings of the Brethren Court. But, these Brethren Court meetings were just another chance for Jack and Lila to argue since they hardly ever agreed on the same thing. Jack, who had just suggested that the Brethren Court break into their own section of the war and go up against Triton, said to Lila, "Well, I'm sorry, Your Highness. I just don't know what else we can do."
"Free her from her human form." Every person's head in the room turned around to a small man in the corner of the room, sitting beside Barbossa. Barbossa just shook his head, and looked as if he did really want to shoot that man. Jack clicked his tongue, causing Rupert to wince, and said to him, "Thank you for tha'. Any more stupid answers? No? Alright."
"-but we did with Calypso." Jack's head whipped around again to look at the smaller man. Saphira sighed and knew that Jack could take this man in a heart beat. Apparently, the man didn't know the rule of the Brethren Court. Never mess with Captain Jack Sparrow.
Jack sighed, looking rather bored, and said, "Yes, we did. But Calypso was different."
"-how was she different-"
"-I do not want to watch my niece fall in front of me as a million crabs, thank you." Grant spat at the man, stepping behind his son. Saphira sighed again, and leaned against Rupert who, apparently, was in Lala Land. Pun intended. Lila saw this, and quickly turned back to Will who was sitting beside her. Will glared at Rupert, and wrapped an arm around Lila's shoulders.
"Honestly, Rupert." Saphira whispered to him as Jack and Lila got at it again. Grant gave up, and sat back down, letting his niece and son have at it since he couldn't do a thing about it.
"Shut up, Jack. For one minute, alright? We were just children when this all happened! We have no idea what really happened!" Lila got up from her seat, and began walking around the table, scarily reminding Grant a she did so. "I mean, what happened? My father and Triton wanted to lead the Royal Navy off course so, they created a fake city. Given the signal, my father's army would attack the city, killing the Royal Navy-"
"-but it didn't 'appen like tha'." Jack said with a sigh, finishing for Lila. "Uncle Neptune wasn't there for some reason. Triton's wife and children were murdered by Mercer." Saphira and Rupert looked at each other when Jack said that. Lila saw this, and turned back to Jack, who she was standing behind, and said, "What if his children aren't dead, Jack?"
"Wha'?"
"I read it in that book I was supposed to read before I became Queen." This got a few groans from the Court. Lila glared at them, and then said to Jack, "There was one theory in it that said his children were taken by someone from King James' Navy. Maybe-"
"-that's ridiculous." Once again, everyone's heads turned in the direction of the book to see Will. Jack smirked at this, to him, amusing turn of events and leaned back in his chair as Will said, "Lila there was proof-"
"-there was no proof except a letter, William. And you of all people should know that letters don't always speak the truth." The room went dead silent. The majority of the room hadn't a clue as to what was just said. Part of the room, namely Jack and the rest, had a clue as to what Lila had said. And they knew that that was a tough subject for Will. At seeing Will's expression, Lila sighed and said in a softer voice, "All I'm saying is, is that there's more to this story than we know. And I think that until we know for sure, we have to keep all of our minds open to new theories instead of picking the easiest one. Because how easy is it to think that they were murdered? It gets more complicated saying that Triton's children are still alive and...they just don't know it."
"They don't know there alive?' Jack said, smirking at Lila, trying to get a rise out of her. Grant smacked the back of his head, and said, "What are you suggesting we do, Lila?"
"Go to Atlantis. Talk to Triton. I'm the Queen...I can do it." She looked at Will who looked as if he so wanted to argue with that statement, saying it was too dangerous. But, he knew that it was the best, so he reluctantly nodded. Lila smiled and put a hand on his shoulder and looked back up at Grant who said, "You need someone to help you."
Lila knew where Grant was getting at, and took her seat beside Will once more. Grant took the Code and held it in his hands as he flipped through the pages he knew by heart. Once he got there, he said, "Code..number...three hundred, here it is." He placed his finger on the page and skimmed through it as he said, "The Pirate King will make rules and work along side the King, or in your case, Queen of the sea..." Grant slammed the book shut and looked up at then Brethren Court as he said, "Pirate Lords, there hasn't been a queen since the late Elizabeth Turner-" Lila sighed at that, but squeezed Will's hand. Will smiled over at her as she did that, and waited for Grant to continue, "-but, in the turn of recent events, I do think that we are in need of electing a new one. Lords, the time to vote is now."
"Captain Jack Sparrow."
"Captain Barbossa."
"Captain Ming Fang."
"Mistress Lee."
"Captain Vallenueva."
"Captain Jack Sparrow."
The room went dead silent. Jack, needless to say, was in complete shock as everyone looked around for the person that defied usual Court ways and said someone else's instead of their own. Jack, somewhat getting over it, said in a shocked voice, "Excuse me?"
Lila smirked, flipping a shiny, gold coin in her hand and said, "I know. Curious, isn't it?"
Will and Saphira looked over at Lila as if she had just gone momentarily insane. Jack's look of shock turned into a smirk as he said, "Sparrow's must stick together then, aye?"
"Oh, on the contrary, love-" She was about to say something, but Barbossa broke in and said, "Her vote doesn't count!" Both Lila and Jack turned to glare at Barbossa who had a few dozen shouts backing him up. Grant sighed, massaging his temples, and tried to say something, but no would could hear it over the shouts.
"Why doesn't my vote count, Hector? I'm a Pirate Lord. And, if you want to find a loophole in the Code about Kings-"
"-or Queens-"
"-whatever. If you want to find somewhere in there a loophole about Kings or Queens not voting, you won't find it." Lila smirked up at Grant, clearly knowing who wrote the Code. His sister being Queen, Grant made sure that he left that part of the rule out. Grant winked at her, and then said to Barbossa, "She's right actually."
"Where's the fairness in tha'? He's bloody related to 'er! Captain Teague-"
"-Barbossa stand down." Grant hissed at him. Barbossa stared at Grant for a moment, before he mumbled something under his breath, and took his seat between the small man another man that was somehow related to Captain Fang. Grant laid down the Code book, and looked over at Lila, also looking as if she had gone mad. Sighing, he said, "The Court has spoken. Queen Turner will work along side...Pirate King Jack Sparrow."
"Oh my goodness. She's doomed us all." Will whispered, putting his head on the table. Saphira, nodding in agreement, put her hand on Will's back and rubbed it comfortingly as she looked up at Jack and Lila. Leaning closer to Ana, she whispered, "Why do I have the feeling that this is going to end very, very badly."
"Belay that!"
"Belay tha'!"
"Not until you belay that!"
"I told you to belay tha'!"
"Well, consider it un-belayed, Jacob."
"Well, consider it re-belayed, Lilabelle. Belay it!"
"Unbelayed!"
"Rebelayed!"
"NOW!"
"NO!"
Jack and Lila were practically nose to nose as they stood on the deck of the Flying Dutchman. Will sighed as he leaned against the mast, and watched as the Queen and King argued on the decks of his ship. Why they were over here? Ana was getting tired of hearing them yelling so closely to the Widow, and for some reason, they decided to come bother Will with their argument.
"WILLIAM!" They both yelled at the same time, turning around to stare at him. Will raised his hands up, and said, "No no no. Not happening. Leave me out of this. I wash my hands of your weirdness." He walked past them, only to be stopped by Jack as he said, "Come on, mate. Do it for me. Your best mate-"
"-your wife-"
"-the man who saved your life-"
"-only after you destroyed it-"
Jack whirled around to glare at Lila who was standing behind him with a rather large smile on her face. Saphira, who had now come over to the Dutchman, stood between her fiancee and best friend as she said, "Honestly! Look at you two! You're bloody cousins and you act like brother and sister! Jackie, you're Pirate King. You can't rule over Lila, and Lila. You elected Jack King, you have to listen to what he says. Now, both of you shut up and start working together on this before your the death of all of us!" She looked over at Will, and then said, "Well, most of us."
"Fine."
"Only after she belays tha'." Jack said, sending a smirk in Lila's direction. Lila screamed and walked into Will's cabin and slammed the door. Will massaged his temples, and leaned against the mast again, as Saphira yelled at Jack and repeatedly telling him that it wasn't healthy for Lila to be going under a lot of stress in the condition she was in. Will closed his hazel eyes when he heard a loud bang in the cabin. Then, realization hit him. When she was mad, she wanted to shoot things...
"LILA, GIVE ME THE GUN!" Will sighed and ran into the cabin, leaving an angry Saphira and a smirking Pirate King, behind.
- Neptune's Palace -
Neptune sighed as he walked through the dark corridors of the palace that night. He was clutching the candle in front of him as he walked in the direction of the grand staircase. Pushing a strand of his blonde hair out of his eyes, he walked down the stairs, silently praying that his daughter was alright. Taking over for her until she returned, he walked into the study, and rested the candle on the desk as he shuffled through the papers.
He sighed when he saw that Lila had taken the map. Closing his sea blue eyes, he sat down on the large, gold-lined chair and said, "Please be safe, darling." He glanced up at the painting of Lila that hang over the fireplace, and sighed as he closed his eyes again.
For a moment, an eerie silence passed through the study. The wind blew open a window, blowing out the candle and the fireplace. Neptune walked over to the window and shut it. Unaware of the person standing in the shadows...
"Evenin', Your Majesty...now, let's talk about that daughter of yours, shall we?" A cold hand went over Neptune's mouth. Neptune remained still as this happened, and his captor spat in his ear, "She will remain safe...as long as you do what I say." Neptune winced when he heard the clicking sound of a cocking gun. Next thing he knew, said gun was at his back as the dark cloaked man pushed him out into the early Caribbean night. For the most part, it was a normal night. Neptune had seen the occasional green flash shoot through the sky, making him jump a bit. But other than that, nothing out of the ordinary.
Not knowing where on earth the army was, or is wife for that matter...Neptune felt panicked and said, "What have you done with them?" Underneath the man's cloaked face, a creepy smile was visible. It was a smile that seemed to make Neptune's heart stop beating. That's when the ordinary became the unordinary. Neptune looked out at the sea, to see hundreds of ships sailing towards the coast of Neptuño. His eyes grew wide when he saw that their colors were those of Atlantis. How did he know that? He and Triton had made up those colors all those years ago. Neptune closed his eyes once more and said, "Don't hurt her."
The cloaked man laughed as he pushed Neptune to the shore, and said,
"Your Highness, I'm not so sure that I can promise you that."
