RED SKY
Her quarters were small and spartan, with little adornment. They were dark, embedded deep in the rock. But, with a subtle flick of her wrist, all of the pale, blue-white lanterns lit at once, illuminating the room. The ways were lined with bookshelves filled with ancient, leather bound tomes and scrolls. There sat a long, stone table cluttered with an open book, ink, feather pens, jars, bowls, and cut herbs. Way off the side, in a niche, sat a bed that looked rather cozy.
She bad him to sat at the table and took to grinding something sweet smelling with a mortar and pestle. "What did you see that day?"
Will let out a deep, tired breath. "I saw her, kissing him."
"And how did you feel?" the woman inquired.
The blacksmith looked upon her sharply. "Betrayed."
The lady in white added some oddly acrid power to the mortar and continued to grind away while asking, "And you are so prepared to give your life for Jack Sparrow, the man who you believe to have relations with your betrothed?"
"Aye."
The lady paused from her work and placed a hand upon his shoulder. "Then why do you wish to give your life for his?"
Will shrugged. "I don't know." However, she refused to life her gaze, knowingly staring upon him. "I suppose, I just want her to be happy." The blacksmith looked away, to the dried flowers on the table. "I love to see her smile. It's so warm. Sometimes, she smiles so much her whole face smiles with her." Will shook his head. "He makes her smile like that sometimes."
"Are you jealous?" the woman sang in his ear.
Will nodded. "A bit." He poked at one of the flowers. "But, I just want her to be happy. If Jack is truly who she loves, then she should be with him."
The lady in white smiled warmly upon him. "Then, you have earned it."
"What? How?"
The lady added some red water to the mix and stirred it. "Count carefully the souls and see that none are lost. That has been my charge." She cut her finger and let a drop of crimson blood mix in before presenting him with the white handled knife. "If you agree to serve me for one task, I shall grant you the soul of Jack Sparrow."
"Aye." Will took the blade and sliced through his upper arm, allowing the hot and cold oath of the dagger and dripping the cut over the mortar. "I agree."
The woman took a piece of parchment, exactly like the one that the warrior had returned to Barbossa. A contract. Only this one had not been signed. She mixed the blood and dipped a quill. With the quickest of motions, the lady signed to the left. Then, she handed the white feather to the blacksmith and pointed to the line to the right of where she had signed.
"Then, make your mark here if you do so agree to this," the woman instructed.
Will drew a deep breath, half expecting the air to be dripped right from him upon finishing his own name, but nothing happened. She took the quill from him and took his hand in hers. The lady dipped his right thumb in the liquid and had him stamp his print in between their names upon the contract. Will watched curiously as the black ink through the contract ran red as the blood he had signed in. Deftly, the strange creature plied at the parchment, and it split into two pages, two copies. The woman rolled the two and tied them with red ribbon. One copy, the angelic lady in white set aside, while the other she handed to the blacksmith.
"That's it?" He asked.
The woman smiled warmly and radiantly upon him. "It is always easy to sign one's life away. To actually give it away is another thing entirely." She pressed her hand against his, and, when the woman pulled it away, a black tattoo of a clawed and serenely faced heart upon the back of his hand. "Present this to Sygne and she will show you the way."
"What about my task?" Will questioned.
"All will be revealed after you retrieve the soul you requested."
xxxx
Elizabeth sat, numb, chewing on her nail. She rushed to Will, but he held up his hands, as if telling her to keep back and away from him. He looked distant and disturbed, as if he had fallen away from her somehow.
"Will?" the noblewoman whispered.
He shook his head, and Barbossa spoke for him. "No. Not until his work is done."
Will stepped forward to the warrior with the tiger stripes, to this Sygne. She nodded low and deep, as if as much of a bow the warrior could allow and maintain her self respect. The warrior turned on the balls of her feet and turned to the other side of the throne, with Will striding just behind her, down another spiraling staircase, down into the depths and bowels of the keep.
Elizabeth stepped lightly behind him, wondering just where Sygne led him. Barbossa and Gibbs just shrugged and rushed after her down the steps. Down, down and down they spiraled into the dark and out into a deep shaft. Only the palest of light pierced the hole. A mist fell upon them. Elizabeth looked up and saw that this was the pool at the base of that great pit. The waterfall thundered down one side of the cliff, feeding the pool, creating the mist, and watering the green, springy moss at their feet upon the rocks.
Elizabeth stepped daintily across the moss covered rocks, slippery and wet, noticing that the pool its self had been shaped and smooth by ages of work and skilled trades people. The scrolled carves danced and twirled beneath her feet even there.
A deep pool, round and perfect, opened before them.
Sygne moved to the edge of the pool, to where the waters lapped at her feet. She gazed out into the well, unmoving for a moment. The depths of her eyes looked as deep as the waters of the well. The fur to Sygne's mask, paws and feet fluttered with the breeze. She looked to Will and motioned for him to join her.
Sygne pointed down and into the water, touching it lightly; the waters grew still and glassy, like a mirror. Yet, when the blacksmith peered into them, he saw not the rocky base of the well, it seemed like the depths went on forever and forever, running deep into the ground and the rock. Will stared harder into the waters and saw not his own reflection, but that of Jack Sparrow, looking as placid and calm as if locked in eternal slumber.
Will looked to the warrior. "Is that really Jack?"
"But of course," the warrior replied. "Who would you expect it to be?"
The blacksmith shook his head. "Is he dead?"
"As dead can be," Sygne chirped. "But not for long if you do enter into Hel's portion of the contract."
Will nodded. "What do I do?"
The warrior grinned from ear to ear, suddenly no longer as emotionless as before. Instead, Sygne seemed completely and thoroughly amused with the entire situation. Her delight sparkled in those dark eyes of hers, twinkling with a hint of glee. The woman's gaze shifted between Will and the pool.
"You bring him out."
He looked to the tiger woman at his side. "I just take him from there."
"It sounds simple, does it not?" Sygne teased. "But these waters, for how still they may seem run deep and treacherous. The stillness betrays what lies beneath the surface, beneath the visage of peace and perfection." The warrior pointed at Will and, then, to the waters, which returned to their gentle waving. "Much like the human spirit its self."
Will nodded, steeling himself. He stood, taking off his boots and setting them aside. Distantly, he heard Elizabeth calling out to him, but her words were lost to him. His fiance sounded as though she spoke underwater. Everything, every minute sound fell away and grew soft. Only the gurgling and babbling of the water passing against the rock and the edge of the pool got through to Will. Elizabeth grew louder, but it was too late. Will had already sprung at the pool, diving in head first.
"WILL!"
The blacksmith plunged into the water, feeling the sudden blast of an icy chill upon him, as cold and bitter as winter in London. It took the breath from him, but Will ignored that. Instead, he focused on getting his muscles to work, to move for him as he clawed at the water with his arms.
Down, down, he swam, into darkness.
xxxx
"Will..." Elizabeth cried the word, suddenly so very terrified for him.
Barbossa shook his head slowly. "No, ye cannot help him with this anymore than ye can help a bird t' fly."
She trembled and looked to Sygne, to the wild woman. "He's not coming back, is he?" The beast-like lady just stared into the pool below her. "Is he?"
Sygne watched the waters intently. "He has to bring back the soul of Jack Sparrow."
"Why him?"
The warrior stood now, tall and proud. She seemed a dreadful thing to encounter under the wrong circumstances. Her body had been elegantly striped as the tiger its self. Those black bands and lines curled around her limbs, over the knotted muscles. Sygne had a savage beauty and pride to herself, like a lioness. No, like the tiger this woman seemed to emulate so very much. She seemed annoyed at these questions and interrogation of Elizabeth's.
"Because it is the price of the pact he has made."
Barbossa looked deep into Elizabeth's eyes and saw something there, something hidden, a secret, one the woman never dared reveal. "What did you do?"
"I... I don't know what you're talking about," Elizabeth denied.
The captain shook his head. "No, no. I been captaining pirates for some time now. I know the look in yer face. I know ye''re thinking about somethin' ye did." He gripped her upper arm, giving it a light squeeze. "What did ye do, Elizabeth?"
"Enough!"
xxxx
There came a time when no light penetrated as deep as Will had swam. His lungs burnt as the blacksmith knew his air was running down. However, there seemed to be nothing down there. Not anything. Not even fish or swimming creatures. And, still, he pushed onward, forever downward, it seemed. The pressure mounted in his ears, disorienting the man.
Then, he saw it, that same figure. Jack Sparrow. He looked drowned, with his even his braids and beaded hair flowing in the water. The pirate's eyes were closed, as if in sleep. Will had never seen Jack so still before, so peaceful. However, as his lungs contracted, Will knew his time had run out. He curled a strong arm around Sparrow's waist and began to swim.
A sudden current swirled about them, threatening to drag the two men back to the bottom. Will kicked out, scrambling through the water for the small circle of light above them. He struggled against the current, swimming as fast as his legs could take him. But Jack was so heavy and cumbersome. The current seemed to take hold of the pirate's limp body and suck him down, as if by a conscious thought and effort of the water.
Will shook his head. Not then. Not after they'd come so far, given so much.
xxxx
"Enough already."
Barbossa just stared at her, incredulously. The woman just swayed there, unhinged, enraged. The pirate captain wasn't entirely sure what nerve he hit, but whatever it was, it threw Elizabeth into a tizzy. Tears rolled down her cheeks, as she could no longer hold them back.
"Elizabeth... what did ye do?" Barbossa asked again, more softly this time.
She shook her head. "I did what I had to do to same Will and the others." Elizabeth blinked away as many of the tears as she could. "I had to." The woman roughly wiped her face. "I left him there." The glared at Barbossa. "I left him for the kraken."
"Y'did what?" Gibbs demanded.
Elizabeth spun around. "I did what was needed to save you, Will, and the rest of the crew." She shook before continuing, "It only wanted him." Elizabeth looked down to the ground, suddenly so very ashamed of herself, just as she had been in Tia Dalma's home. "The kraken only wanted Jack."
"How could ye?" Mr. Gibbs almost spat the words at her.
The captain's face softened at Elizabeth. "Y'did what any responsible captain would do." He put an arm around her. "Y'did good by the code, Elizabeth."
She shrugged his arm off. 'It's Miss Swann."
xxxx
Jack slipped through the blacksmith's hold, dragged back downward. However, Will moved too fast, reaching out and grasping the pirate by the wrist, hauling him up and out of the queer vortex for a second before being sucked in himself, just as his air gave out.
"Jack..."