Author's note: We've come to the last part of Jack's crystal journey, and I shall reveal the seventh Warrior of Cosmos at the end of the chapter.
Oh, and in case some of you don't know, Nomura has passed on his directing role of Final Fantasy XV to someone else, and can now focus on other important games like Kingdom Hearts 3(which will finally be released next year. ^0^,) and Final Fantasy VII G-Bike, and hopefully, the rest of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII(not keeping my hopes up for that one, though).
As always, let's continue, and you know that I don't own anything here, except for Diminias, and you know the drill, and, frankly, even I'm getting tired of repeating myself.
Chapter Nineteen: The Price of Freedom-part three/final.
Still a bit haunted on what Barbossa and the Whisperer told him earlier, Jack decided to move on, and as he reached another gate, he found himself in an area of the Pokemon Stadium, which resembled to the one in Ash and Pikachu's home world, not that Jack would ever have the time to explore the place when Bahamut and the Warriors of Chaos are defeated-if they are defeated.
As much as he hated to admit it, he was scared. What if he and the others had to spend an eternity in this world with no end, like a curse?
While he was thinking about this, a small beam of light appeared next to him, and when Jack looked, it was a familiar woman in gorgeus robes in an illusional glitter of light, and Jack knew immediately who it was.
"Oh! Lady Cosmos." Jack greeted.
"Cloud, Rick and Ash have each obtained their cyrstals." Cosmos informed to the Pirate who felt a bit relieved that his friends found their crystals already, which left him the only one without a crystal at the moment.
"That's probably the best thing I've heard all day." grumbled Jack.
Cosmos noticed the man's grim look and stated, "Yes. Because they never stopped walking down the paths they chose."
'The path they chose...' Jack thought. If that's the case, why couldn't he look for his own?
"Have you lost yours?" asked the Goddess.
Jack shrugged, "Pirates never really had a path to begin with. We're just a lowly bunch of violent beings who also cheat and steal, make up lies and ect. Sailing the seas to no end. It's like Barbossa said; I let my freedom go just to help others; a tool like I was for the Trading Company."
"That is untrue. You have a goal." Cosmos pointed out, "You want to retrieve a home that you lost, a Compass that points to what you want most, and kept them both in your heart for a long time. You also freed those who deserved more than just being slaves." she should know, because she can read a mortal's heart most of the time.
"That's because I hated those poor people being used for slaves." Jack explained, "So they were utterly poor, doesn't mean they're not human. The only difference is that stupid rule that black people and white people don't mix in, but we're all humans none the less." he then added, "Although, the Black Pearl was a reminder of what was given to me as a young lad from a father whom I thought wanted nothing to do with me."
Cosmos nodded, "Your father gave you your ship, and you wished to keep it as a reminder that he loved you; Pirate or not."
That was the understatement of the year, Jack thought, as he said, "Pirates don't normally love."
"Then how did Pirates come into being? You are human too, Jack. You and your father both." Cosmos reminded. She was a goddess, so she would never know where she came from. Pirates on the otherhand, they were born as people, so they know where they came from.
"...I never wanted to be a Pirate, but deep down, Pirate was always in my blood. The Black Pearl was more than just a ship; It was a home in the oceans-and freedom. Not just for myself, but for my crew." Jack said slowly, feeling his passion reanewed again slightly.
"It's a wonderful thing to have." Cosmos thought, "That freedom was born out of none other than you. If you were a mere tool, you would not have had such freedom."
Jack thought about Cosmos's words, and then he realised that she made a good point. Pirate or not, he knows he made the right decisions. Maybe wanting to make good decisions on rare occasions came from his mother, or his father maybe, he didn't know. Right now, Jack was the only pirate on the side of Cosmos, so he might as well enjoy the company of non-pirates.
"Miss Cosmos...you're right. I'd like freedom not just for myself, but for anyone; freedom to do whatever they want and decide their own fates, and I'm the only one who ever considered helping others, whether I'm a pirate or not." Jack finally declared.
Cosmos smiled, admitting, "I wish I could have such a dream..." and with that, she disappears to rest once again.
Smiling, Jack replied to the now gone goddess, "And you can. That I promise."
Many people lose their lives in times of war... They may die trying to protect friends, or trying to give strength to others. But in the end, they die. And there are others who lose hope, and grieve. Those were Jack's thoughts, and a lot of people refuse to do that. Now that he thought about it, maybe that's why he and his allies-Cloud, Rick, Ash, Mickey, Sakura, Puss, Manny, Sora and Sailor Moon-were chosen, because they all had one thing in common; they had the courage to make the right decisions without even thinking about themselves during that time.
"Funny old world." Jack said to himself, "Freedom is what almost everyone wants most." nodding to himself, he declared, "And I'm going to make that future happen!"
With this new resolve, Jack marched on to find Barbossa and shoot the living out of the Pirate of Chaos, find his crystal and get both his Compass and the Black Pearl back, and after that, he'll join the others to finish Bahamut once and for all.
Traversing through out the world, Jack eventually made it to the area of Port Royal and as he looked around, he found the very man he oh so wanted to kill for ten years. As it turned out, Barbossa was shocked and annoyed that his enemy was back and seemed to be semi-normal as usual, which, to Jack, he was perfectly normal.
"What the blazes do you want this time?" asked Barbossa.
"I'm just doing what I know is best; fighting for freedom." Jack said casually as if this was just a normal sunny day for a conversation.
Barbossa quirked an eye brow, then said, "Freedom? Don't make me laugh, Jack. You don't even have the strength to take hold of it."
Suddenly he approached and kicked Jack harshly in the stomach, causing the latter to fall backwards onto the ground, and had to roll out of the way in time from having a bunch of bullet holes in his body, but the sudden kick in the stomach knocked some wind out of him, causing Jack to bend on his knees.
"You know that you cannot fight. Why don't you quit your worthless pusuit?" Barbossa advised.
Just then a lightning-strike from the side caused him to stumble back in surprise, and to both Pirates' shock and confusion, were two familiar other warriors of Cosmos, standing side to side of Jack who immediately recongised two of his companions; one holding a massive sword, and another who was just a boy with a Pikachu.
"We won't let it end!" Cloud declared as he was in a fighting stance with his Buster Sword, glaring at Barbossa.
Jack was dumbfounded that his friends returned to help him, and he couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing here?"
Cloud glanced at Jack and replied, "You've gone far enough on your own."
"Everyone has dreams to share, and we're gonna share yours, Captain!" Ash boldly added, giving Jack a fun salute, with Pikachu mimicking him as well, before both turned to glare at Barbossa who hissed in annoyance, before firing three more shots at the three warriors of Cosmos.
Cloud blocked one with the shield materia he found earlier, Jack dodged the other one, and Ash told Pikachu to use thunderbolt which the small Pokemon did and the electricity caused the last bullet to become roast and useless. They then looked at Barbossa again who realised that he couldn't take on three warriors of Cosmos on his own, and he wasn't stupid enough to even consider on trying.
"Hmph. Then it's time." said Barbossa, before he teleports himself away, but he continued with an echo, "Come and find me where I am, Captain Jack Sparrow! Unless you end up running away again." before his voice faded away, leaving the four of them on their own again.
As he puts the Buster sword away, Cloud informed to his pirate companion, "Rick, Mickey and Sakura should be joining us soon, but-" he cuts himself off as he knew what Jack was gonna do.
"You're gonna go by yourself, aren't you?" Ash echoed Cloud's unasked question.
"Pika, Pika pika Pika." Pikachu added.
Jack looked at them, and explained, "Save one shot for the person you want to shoot the most. Me, I'm saving it for Barbossa."
He then noticed Cloud digging into his pockets and at first Jack didn't know what the blonde-man was looking for, but to his confused shock, Cloud pulled out a familiar box on a string and handed it out to him. Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing.
It was his Compass.
"Where did you-" Jack cuts himself off, unable to finish. How in the world did Cloud get his Compass? Did he had an encounter with Sephiroth and got it back from the silver-haired crazy man?
"Show us the rest of your dream." Cloud requested.
Jack was dumbfounded, before looking at Ash who smiled and added, "That's right! We'll all be waiting for you."
"Just don't get yourself killed." Cloud added.
Jack smiled, thankful that he had his friends, and he then replied in his usual tone, "Mates, I'll be just fine. Because I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!"
With that, he walked off to find his enemy, promising himself to return alive, because he knew, that both Cloud and Ash had somehow completed their tasks, and so did Rick, Sakura and Mickey. Now it was Jack's turn.
Jack found Barbossa in the training fields and hanging fields near the shores of Port Royal, and both of them knew, that their fight was about to begin. It was in the middle of the night, which seemed perfect for their final battle.
"You've come." Barbossa acknowlaged.
"Don't I ever?" Jack replied, "I won't lose, and I will protect Cosmos, just like I promised, she's all set to trust us, just like she promised, Cloud will tell us his reason to fight, just like he promised, and the kid with Pikachu will keep going just like he promised." he added in mock exasperation. "So we're all men of our word here!" he added, before quickly amended, "Except for Cosmos who is in fact a goddess and a woman."
"Hmph. Pirates don't protect anything, Jack." Barbossa stated.
"Even Pirates are different, mate." Jack pointed out. That, even he knew was true, because he'd encountered so many in his lifetime, and as Cosmos said, they were humans too...just more stupid, mean and crazy.
Barbossa thought about it, then knew, to his annoyance, that Jack had a good point. "Then...I must admit, Jack. I thought I had you figured. It turns out you're a hard man to predict."
"Me? I'm dishonest." said Jack as he began to approach Barbossa, "And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you'd want to watch out for. Because you can never predict, they're gonna so something incredibly...stupid!"
In a speed of almost lightning, Jack drew out his cutlass[He's a Pirate(Jack VS Barbossa)-Pirates of the Caribbean Movies]and was ready to fight.
"Fair enough!" Barbossa replied, doing the same, and the fight began.
The long waited duel had began and only one person would be coming back alive. Jack and Barbossa were dealing out thrusts and parries already in an alarming rate, and Jack then sliced off the feathers off Barbossa's hat, which made the older Pirate even more furious. They were nearly evenly matched, and since their fued ran deeper due to both of them being chosen by both Cosmos and Chaos, not to mention on the act of defense, it was a good fight to watch.
Jack had the advantage due to him being nimble and quick, and he almost had the ability to have his sword in two places at once. But Barbossa had more time to learn how to fight dirty and slice off heads at an extremely young age. His brutal force of style was a fine counterpoint to Jack's speed. They were constantly keeping each other on guard, never giving any opening for a straight attack.
The fight between Jack and Barbossa was gaining, and a quarrel which had gone for ten years couldn't be solved easily. As Jack shoved Barbossa down into the wall piller, and both took a bit of a breather. Barbossa then felt a need to comment on their continuing pointless fight of Cosmos and Chaos for goodness knows how long.
"So what now, Jack Sparrow?" he inquired, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Are we to be two immortals locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound?"
Jack's face held a dangerous look. The time for joking was long gone, and he was now deadly serious. "Or you could surrender." he suggested coldly.
They then continued their fight, violently clashing against each other, the sounds of their loud clashing, grunting and cursing echoing through out the area they were in, neither of them willing to step down. Barbossa then punched Jack aside, and his face twisted into an ugly sneer and his harsh laughter echoing around the area, and he pursued Jack deeper in the area, intent on beginning the attack anew.
But in a twisted turn of events, Jack turned around and harshly kicked Barbossa so hard in the stomach, the Pirate of Chaos was stumbling backwards and right into a wall so hard that he didn't realise that he felt a sharp pain on the side of his waist. Feeling something wet and sticky, Barbossa looked down and saw a spear implanted somehow on the wall, which meant in his backwards stumble, he stabbed himself into the spear and was now bleeding.[End He's a Pirate]
While he knew that this wasn't the end of him, Barbossa was already disappearing in the black smoke, as Jack slowly approached him, stone-faced. It was then that Barbossa knew that the Pirate of Cosmos won this fight, but the war was still going on.
"You can't beat me completely, Jack." Barbossa panted in pain, "Soon, all shall be lost and everything you went through will be a waste."
With that said, he completely disappeared to recover for another round sometime soon. Jack knew that his enemy would be back, but he'll be ready for it. For the first time in ages, Jack felt like he achieved his own goal, though he still had no idea where the crystal was.
Suddenly, in front of him, a small glimmer of light formed, and it turned into an object which Jack took notice that stronglyl resembled to the cursed Anzec gold coin from the Isle of Murta in his world, but was like it was made out of golden glass and it continued to sparkle in light.
He then realised that this was it; his very own Crystal, found by the defeat of his enemy. It was then Jack also understood how his friends got theirs; defeat their enemies, understand their reasons to fight, keep sight of each other in their hearts, and only then the crystal will appear, deeming them worthy. Holding out his hand underneath his crystal, Jack allowed it to absorb itself into his body, before he decided that it was time to return to his companions.
'Everyone has their differences; maybe it's the same for Pirates. In that case, I'd rather keep going. What everyone I know really want...is freedom. Let's make that come true.' Jack thought to himself, before deciding to move on, in his usual close-call motto, "This is the day that Bahamut will remember is the day that his lackeys almost killed-Captain Jack Sparrow!"
With that, the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, the chosen warrior of Cosmos, went back to where he came from to reuight with Cloud, Ash, Rick, Sakura and Mickey, and then return to Cosmos to finally put an end to the conflict.
It was a humble promise.
Too ambiguous to call a goal,
it nevertheless was the freedom
that pulled him through his battles.
His heart chose to believe in the future.
His friends and his crystal answered his call.
He will no doubt continue on his quest.
And there you have it! The legendary Captain Jack Sparrow has once again achieved a goal no other Pirate has achieved. This time, he is a Warrior of Cosmos, and his story has come to a close, and next time, we journey with another group-starting with the charming and swifty feline Puss in Boots!
Don't forget to review and look out for the next warrior's journey.