AN: So sorry for the long delay. My schedule's been pretty tight with all the projects, exams, assignments we have. Plus, I do have a life outside of this. But not to worry, I finally finished the latest chapter to The Other Aztec Treasure. I think this may be one of the hardest chapters that I've ever written in this whole story. . I hope I did well enough. Enjoy and please Read and Review when you can!
"It doesn't matter if you're the "clone" or not. You're still the same person on the inside." - Sharpshooter Marine
Chapter 37 - Still the Same Old
No one dared to start the conversation as they all stared at what Jack Sparrow desired most at that moment. Carrie's lips were set in a thin and very taut line and her eyes lowered until they were narrowed. Marine didn't bother to say anything and didn't move from her spot. Even without more proof everyone could tell that it was her the arrow was pointing at. Her eyes looked up to meet Carrie's, and to her shock, she saw hate and jealousy in those eyes.
"Why...why does it have to be you? What do you have that I don't? It's just not fair!" She cried. "Before we came here you hardly ever mentioned Jack. But you know very well that I liked him; that he was my most favorite character. And to have him here, in the flesh was like a dream come true to me." Marine felt dizzy but forced herself to calm down and think rationally. A step forward caused Carrie to freeze in her spot as she stared at Marine apprehensively.
"Carrie...I don't know what to say." She began.
"Then don't say anything." The young blond haired woman muttered. "I don't want to hear it. It's always you isn't it? No matter where we are, you're always the one shining so perfectly; the one everyone likes and adores because she can do absolutely anything and everything in the world. Me? I'm just nobody; just someone by your side. Your shadow. God you have no idea how annoying it was to hear my parents prattle on and on about you. 'She's a very bright young woman!', 'Carrie why don't you act more like her?', 'When are we going to see her again? I would love to have her here again!' I'm sick and tired of hearing them praise you like you were their own child. I think they wished that they were the ones who adopted you, and not your own foster parents."
"Then when you disappeared, my parents were so worried about you. They always called me, asking me if you had appeared or if there's anything that I've heard that would lead to you. They could care less about what happens to me, as long as you're alive and doing well isn't that right? And this. This whole damn thing was one of the greatest moments of my life! When I first arrived here I was so excited, so happy to get to see all the characters of a movie I enjoyed. And when I could get the chance to meet Jack Sparrow I was more than happy; so happy in fact that if I died right then I wouldn't care. Then everything crashed down when you appeared. I thought that I was the first to arrive here. Finally, I was going to have something that you didn't. Then I find out that you had a past life here. That you were a pirate, and that you had been here even before I was and that you already met Jack. It's just not fair."
"Everyone on this ship likes you. They were worried when you were taken away and when your clone sent you to a state of comatose. And Jack...he wasn't just upset, he was devastated! The spotlight, once more, was on you and it pissed me off to know that even here, you were greater than I am. I wanted Jack to like me. I wanted him to fall for me so I can have my own happily ever after ending. But you wouldn't allow me to have that one small happiness do you? No. You had to step right in and take him away from me just like you took everything else away from me!"
"I...I didn't know you felt that way. I never intended for you to get hurt or to be treated that way." Marine tried to reason out. "Please Carrie, I'm your best friend. All I wanted was for you to be safe from all of what was happening." She left the part out concerning Jack, not yet wanting to deal with him and his 'desires'.
"That's what you want me to think, isn't it? You want me to believe that everything you're doing is all for my good. But I know what you're really trying to do! You're trying to push me away from the spotlight! You don't want me to learn how to fight because you want everyone to think that only you're so great at fighting and at being a pirate. In fact everything you're doing is just to get everyone's attention on yourself and no one else. Those "I don't want anyone to get hurt so I'll blindly charge at the enemy and sacrifice my life for them" is just an act for you! You don't even care about what happens to others or how they feel. All you care about is yourself and the attention you get from others." At that Marine narrowed her eyes and slapped Carrie. The sound was sharp and seemed to echo around the ship. Even Jack's crew had stopped working and was watching the scene with curiosity and interest.
"How dare you? How dare you tell me that the things I've done is just an act? Do you think I enjoy this? Do you think I enjoy falling into a coma or having to risk my life repeatedly or watching other people get killed because of me? I didn't want you to get involved in this because I didn't want to risk losing you! If I was truly selfish then I would have wished for everything to end! I wouldn't have to go through all this crap just to save my life and save yours. Your jealousy's starting to sound annoying so get over it and grow up!"
"Carrie! Marine! That's enough. Please stop fighting." Elizabeth said worriedly as she stepped up to the two women. But Carrie was too furious at the other woman to listen to Elizabeth. With a cry of rage she lunged at Marine and grabbed her throat. The female pirate widened her eyes as she fell to the ground with the young blond haired woman on top of her, trying to crush her windpipe with her hands. She grabbed her wrist and struggled to pull them away.
"What the hell Carrie?" Marine managed to croak out. "Let me go!" To her surprise the hands around her neck disappeared before she could fall unconscious from the lack of air. She gave a gasp as she held her neck and coughed, trying to take in as much air as she could while not choking herself at the same time. She didn't know whether to be relieved or worried at the fact that Carrie had obeyed her so quickly. A presence appeared by her side and held her as she continued to cough and breathe deep. After a while she looked up and saw Elizabeth glancing at her worriedly. She was too rattled to think clearly so she focused instead on the one thing that was plaguing her mind. Jack stood before her holding Carrie in a tight and firm grip.
"Jack!"
"Stand back Marine!" Jack demanded, causing the female pirate to freeze in her spot as she gazed at the two with confusion. The others stared as Carrie struggled to be free from Jack's grip. But the pirate captain wouldn't yeild and made her stop wrestling away from him to narrow his eyes at her.
"Since when?"
"Jack..." Carrie spoke up with fear and confusion. "What are you doing? Why are you glaring at me like that? I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Since when have you merged with our Carrie?" He repeated. "You know what this is isn't it?" As he asked this question he brought out a gold coin hanging on a thin rope. "This fell out while you were attacking Marine. Now explain to us how you got this coin and why you didn't hand it over immediately." Marine widened her eyes as she looked at it then to the blond haired woman. The realization came quickly, but she didn't want to believe it.
"It can't be...maybe she just forgot to hand it over. Or maybe she didn't think to hand it over when you gave Tia another coin. There are lots of reasons why Carrie hasn't given the coin to us. Tell them Carrie. Tell them that you didn't mean to keep that from you." She told her. The blond haired woman said nothing as she stared down at the ground. Jack looked at Marine with sympathy.
"I know this is hard for you Marine...but if this was the Carrie we knew, she would have given the coin to us the moment she had it. After all, what reason would she have to hide it unless she plans to give it to your clone when she meets her. There is no doubt in my mind that she's..."
"Don't say it!" Marine shouted as she closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her ears. "I don't want to hear it."
"This is just like you." Carrie sneered. She had stopped struggling against Jack's hold and was enjoying the look of hurt in Marine's face. "To try and block out anything that you don't want or you can't handle. Yes Marine. I'm not the Carrie who was with you the whole time during this adventure. I'm her other, better, stronger and smarter half, and I have successfully taken her into me! Your wish for her to be protected was nothing but lies! What makes you think you could protect her when you couldn't even protect yourself properly?"
"Carrie!" Elizabeth cried angrily. She was about to argue with her when Marine held out a hand to block her and slowly stood up from the ground.
"Jack let her go." The cold tone laced in the female pirate's voice made Jack release the other woman and take a step back. He watched Carrie rub her arms in pain while glaring at him silently. Marine took a step forward until she was face to face with the young blond haired woman. Then to everyone's surprise she bowed her head low and held her arms out to either side defenselessly.
"You're right. It is my fault for putting you into this mess. It's my fault for not protecting you enough. And I'm sorry for everything that you had to go through because of me. I've been selfish, and I failed to see how you were feeling about everything that was happening. If it will make you feel any better, kill me. I don't care whether you stab me, shoot me, or rip me apart. Just do whatever you think you should do." Carrie widened her eyes in shock while everyone else was shouting against it.
"What? No!"
"Are you serious?!"
"Marine are you mad?"
"You can't let yourself get killed like that!"
"Carrie, tell me you're not going to go through with this!" Elizabeth cried. The other blond haired woman said nothing as she stared at Marine in shock. A struggle began in her heart, whether to actually do what Marine has asked and kill her or not to. Why she began to hesitate, she didn't understand. Here was Marine, also known as Vanessa, the woman who was always one step ahead of her; the one who made her life miserable because she could never be as good or better than the other. And she was laying down her life before the other woman.
Will gritted his teeth and took a step forward to keep Carrie from attacking, but a hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so. He glanced at the owner's hand and frowned when he saw Cornelius looking at him calmly. Norrington, who was about to do the same thing Will was, paused to regard the older man with a frown. The young blacksmith narrowed his eyes at him and was about to open his mouth when Cornelius spoke up softly.
"Let the lasses settle things between them on their own. They don't need us to interfere."
"Are you going to let Carrie kill Marine? Is that it?"
"No. I don't believe that anyone is going to die here today." He spoke with confidence. Memories from the past came rushing back to him as he watched the scene before him. It reminded him of the time Thomas faced his wife Clarissa, who had already been taken by her clone. What transpired back then seemed to be the exact opposite of what was occurring presently. For instead of Marine being the one who was trying to kill Carrie, it was Marine who was giving up her life for what has happened. At the time Cornelius had sided with Thomas and was furious with the woman who was a part of Clarissa. Now that years had passed since then he realized that what they did was wrong. He prayed that what happened to Thomas and Clarissa wouldn't happen to the two women now. "She might be a clone, but Carrie is still Carrie. Every thought and action she makes is a part of who she is." He explained.
"You mean to say that Carrie has thought of these things about Marine, her own best friend, even before this happened?" Will asked incredulously.
"You cannot deny the fact that we all have our little dark thoughts about others - even about those we care for the most - whether they be slight or large. These clones are aspects of those dark thoughts that presides in us. And it seems that Carrie has been very jealous of Marine, though she did well not to show it to others. You see. that is the true power of friendship and love; despite all jealousies and bad feelings people harbor on each other, they push these all aside in order to maintain a deep bond that's stronger than anything else in the world."
As Cornelius discussed, Carrie and Marine continued to stand face to face. The young blond haired woman was still debating to herself whether she should kill Marine or not. As the minutes passed by, her doubts and hesitations began to grow larger. Finally having had enough, Carrie grabbed the hilt of Jack's sword and pulled it out straight from his sheath. Her gaze was intently focused on Marine as she charged and pulled back her arm to take a swing. Everyone had not expected the sudden movement and had a moment's pause before they went forward and tried to stop Carrie.
"Carrie! No!"
Marine waited for death to come; she expected to feel some sort of pain first before she blacked out and never woke up again. But she felt none of that to her surprise. Slowly, her head moved up and she opened her eyes to find Carrie so close to her. Her eyes glanced down without moving an inch of her head or her body and saw the sword the young blond haired woman took from Jack hovering against her throat. She looked back to Carrie and saw that the other woman had tears falling down her eyes.
"I can't...I can't do it. Even if I want to, I can't. I...you're...you're still my best friend." She sobbed softly as she lowered the sword to her side. Marine's heart tugged for her best friend and she took a step forward before wrapping her arms around Carrie and pulling her close.
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you." Carrie gritted her teeth hard before pressing her face to Marine's shoulder and crying silently.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Carrie asked as she looked down at the gold coin in her hand hesitantly. They were still standing on the deck, but Jack made sure that the rest of his crew went back to work and stopped trying to pry into the conversation. The only ones who remained were those who were most involved with what was happening. "You're not trying to get me out of here as fast as you can again, just to get all the attention are you?" She asked with one eyebrow raised suspiciously. Marine narrowed her eyes at Carrie.
"Of course not! If I could leave, I would go with you too you know! But I still have things to do here, and I don't want you getting into any more danger than necessary. You've become one again. So you can leave and return to your normal life." She answered. "You don't have to stay here and get hurt for my sake. I only want you to be safe and happy." Carrie frowned at the other woman.
"Aren't you worried about what I'm going to do behind your back? Why are you trusting me with this? I took the other half of the person you know away. I'm a different person now." Marine stepped closer and to everyone's surprise slapped the side of her head lightly. Carrie tilted and blinked in surprise before glaring at Marine angrily and slapping the side of her head back.
"What was that for?!" Another surprise came to her when she saw Marine grin.
"See that? If I had slapped the other Carrie, she would have slapped me too. It doesn't matter if you're the "clone" or not. You're still the same person on the inside, though you harbor the dark thoughts more than the other did. The only reason you and the other Marine are doing all these is because you just want to feel whole don't you? That's the way we feel too. So even though you're the other Carrie, to me you're still my best friend. And I know my best friend is no traitor or backstabber." Carrie gave a soft sigh as she smiled at her.
"You really give me too much credit, you know that?"
"No. I give you exactly what you deserve." Marine replied. Carrie fell silent as she looked down on the coin. Then she glanced at the others with a nervous smile.
"Well then, it's been loads of fun and I enjoyed my time here. I really want to stay longer and be the fangirl that I really am, but I have a life outside this; my parents are probably wondering what's happened to me and Vanessa. Plus, I don't think I can handle living the rest of my life without TV or the internet..."
"We understand Carrie. And we're glad that you're all right. Well, not really all right since you took the other Carrie away. But since you're still Carrie I guess then you're her too so it means you're still okay. Now I'm confused..." Jones muttered as he scratched the back of his head. Carrie giggled at him.
"It's all right. Don't push your brain too much or it'll explode." She teased. "Goodbye Jones. I'll miss your crazy antics." Elizabeth walked up to Carrie and hugged her tightly.
"Take care now Carrie. I wish I could say come back to visit us, but I know that we won't see each other again after this. Even so, I want you to know that I'll never forget you, no matter what."
"I won't forget you too Elizabeth. And I'll be rooting for you as you save Jack from the World's End and finally get married to Will." The young blond haired woman blinked at her in confusion.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's nothing. Just some random ramblings of mine, don't take it seriously." She said as she glanced at Marine with a knowing smile. She moved next to Will and Norrington. "You know Norrington, when your character was first introduced I thought you were an annoying, no-good villain. But now that I've gotten to know you more. I see that you're not such a bad person after all. Now you're on my list of good characters."
"Um...thank you?" Norrington said, unsure of what he was supposed to say. Carrie smiled at him then looked at the two men once more and placed her arms on her hips. "Now, you two better take care of Elizabeth and Vanessa while I'm gone! If they get hurt in any way I'll come back to beat you two up!"
"I promise." Will replied with a smile.
"I thought it was impossible for her to come back?" Norrington asked in confusion. Carrie just laughed and gave a hug to each one before moving on to Teague and Tia.
"I wish I could stay longer to get to know the two of you more. You two weren't as spoken of as I would have wished in the stories. You two are such amazing and interesting people that you deserve to play a bigger role in their plots."
"I wish you could stay longer as well lass." Teague replied with a smile. "You have been a very appreciative audience for me. I enjoyed telling my stories to you."
"I wanted to hear more stories about Jack too. And I wanted to be with the person who had possibly been one of Jack's biggest influences in life."
"He wasn't that much of an influence." Jack muttered. Carrie glanced at him then grinned evily.
"I can't wait to tell people about all your embarrassing and cute stories of when you were younger. I might even decide to write a book about it! I'll call it "The Best of Captain Jack Sparrow!" What do you think?"
"I think you're just jealous of my greatness." Jack scoffed. Carrie smiled and slightly shook her head at him before turning her gaze to Cornelius.
"I'm sorry that you were dragged into this mess." The older man said. "But I'm glad that things came out well in the end. It was a lot better, compared to what transpired with Thomas and Clarissa. I realize now that we should have accepted her the same way Marine accepted you. Maybe things would jave turned out differently."
"I'm glad that things came out this way too. And don't blame yourself for what happened to me. I'm glad that I got dragged into this. If I didn't then I wouldn't meet all these incredible characters and get to know them more." Carrie said as she looked at everyone with a smile. Then she looked back at Marine. "After you get your half, you'll come back right?" The female pirate couldn't answer immediately and was afraid of that fact. She couldn't explain her hesitance, and wondered what would happen when the time came that she had to choose. Carrie could see the other woman's hesitance and smiled slightly. "I see. Don't take too long in deciding all right? Don't keep us waiting. And besides, the longer you're gone, the longer it takes to deal with the cops back in our world. I've noticed that Officer Ramsey's pretty stubborn when it comes to his investigations." Marine winced at that.
"God don't remind me. He has his eye on me and won't stop pestering me till he has all the answers he wants and needs. It's like having something stuck on you with some very strong glue. He'll probably be badgering you too once you get back, so watch out for him all right?"
"I'll think of a good excuse." Carrie promised. "I'll make sure he's got nothing on you or me."
"Well just in case they won't believe whatever you're going to tell them, then tell them what they've been suspicious of from the start. Tell them that I'm in some part of gang or something and that I killed my foster parents when they found out. Tell them that you found where I was and tried to stop me and failed so you ran away from us." Carrie widened her eyes.
"What? No! I can't tell them that! How could they believe something like that?"
"They'll grasp on any reason that'll give them a reason for my disappearance and for my foster parent's deaths. You can't just tell them that you were pulled into another dimension and expect them to let you go just like that. Relax, it's just a precaution. And it doesn't really matter to me if everyone in our world suddenly thinks of me as a murderer. If it means getting you away from the police's suspicion then I want you to do it."
"But they'll hunt you down for the rest of your life! I can't let that happen to you."
"But if they don't believe you and whatever excuse you're going to think of for our disappearance, not only will they be suspicious of me, they'll be suspicious of you. And I'd rather go there myself and declare myself a murderer before I let you get into that mess too. Please Carrie, promise me you'll tell them if your story doesn't work."
"I'll make it work! No matter what. I won't let them chase after you." Carrie said determinedly. Marine sighed and gave up on arguing, settling with that as Carrie's promise. She knew that once Carrie had made up her mind, she wasn't going to back down on it. It was one of the things she had in common with her. They fell silent for a few minutes, then Marine looked at her again with a serious face.
"Listen, I'm sure your parents are as worried about you as they are about me. Maybe even more. You're their daughter. Even though you feel that they're not showering their attentions on you, you should know deep inside that they love you with all of their hearts, and that they'll do anything, even risk their lives for you. You'll see once you get back to the other world so don't be jealous of me anymore all right? You're wonderful and amazing in your own natural way, and I'm sure that someday in the future the perfect prince charming will come sweep you off your feet and give you the much needed attention." She added.
"Thanks. I hope so too. Speaking of which," Without finishing what she was about to say Carrie moved closer to Jack and gave him a hug. The pirate froze and looked down at the blond haired woman nervously as he tried to remove her grip on him.
"Uh...love, you're a wonderful person and all, and I'm flattered with the way you feel about me. But..."
"I know, you don't have to explain or be awkward around me. Your heart's set for my best friend, and I'm glad to know that even you can fall in love with something aside from your ship or the sea. I've known it all this time, but even if I can't be with you anymore, I still admire you and you're still my favorite character." She said as she released him and took a step back. Marine, who was standing to her side, blushed a slight shade of red when Carrie reminded them all of what happened with Jack and the compass. "I'm glad I got to know you a little more and got to hang around with you for a while. It was really fun. But if you hurt Vanessa in anyway, I'll come back and beat you up too! Savvy?" Jack gave the blond haired woman a small, nervous smile.
"Savvy." Once Carrie was satisfied with Jack's answer she turned her gaze to Cornelius.
"So...how exactly do I work this thing? Is there a button on this coin or a magic word I have to say to open some kind of portal?" She asked.
"Well...I honestly don't know. When we sent young Marine to the other world we just placed the coin around her neck and she automatically vanished." Cornelius said as he glanced at the female pirate. Marine narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You can't possibly expect me to remember what I did back then do you?" She asked rhetorically. Cornelius chuckled at her.
"No, of course not. But I believe that you and Carrie should know the answer to moving from one world to another yourselves, or at least have an idea of it. After all, you both arrived here with the coin at least once." Carrie blinked then pursed her lips in thought.
"Well, I was holding onto the coin when I got transported here. It had been a week since Vanessa disappeared and I was just thinking of wanting Vanessa to come back after hearing the news of her foster parent's deaths. Maybe the coin heard my thoughts and decided to bring me to where she was, which turned out to be here in this world." Carrie explained. Marine frowned as she recalled her own events.
"I had it around my neck at the time. It was right after the funeral of my foster parents...I was standing before their graves and I was thinking of them. I was thinking that the coin was the only thing linking me to them because they were the ones who gave it to me. Maybe because my real parents were the ones who truly gave it to me, my thoughts were somehow misinterpreted and caused me to arrive here in this world again." She muttered.
"Strong feelings like grief and longing would probably bring forth the coin's powers more." Cornelius said. "Perhaps you should wish to return to your own world. You should give it a try." He told the young blond haired woman. Carrie nodded as she looked down at the coin thoughtfully for a few minutes.
"Then I guess that's it." Carrie said as she turned her gaze to Marine once more. "Vanessa...I'm so sorry for everything I've done and said. We're still friends right?" The other woman smiled and nodded.
"The best." The blond haired woman smiled brightly and looked at the rest of the group who were there to see her off.
"I'm going to miss all of you, but I won't forget any of you I promise. Goodbye and take care." She closed her eyes, and attempted to do as Cornelius suggested by wishing to return back to her own world. Everyone watched as a white glow began to surround the blond haired woman. Her body slowly began to disappear, but right before it did, they all heard the sound of a shot being fired. Marine widened her eyes and could see blood splattering all over Carrie as a bullet went right into her left chest. She felt her throat run dry and her whole body freeze with fear as she stared right into Carrie's wide, surprised eyes right before she disappeared into thin air. The gold coin she held in her hand fell to the ground with a soft clinking sound.
Marine could hear people screaming and shouting, felt them running all across the deck. There was a loud thud as someone jumped on top of another and fell to the ground, but she didn't take note of all of these. Her eyes were glued to the spot where Carrie had disappeared; at the spot where she was shot. She could see a few drops of blood on the ground. Carrie's blood. Then her attention was called away from it when she saw men struggling against a man in tattered clothing. There was a gun being held tightly by the man, a gun that showed signs of having been recently fired. When her eyes met his, she could see nothing but satisfaction in them.
Recognizing the face of Maurice and seeing such an expression on his face made Marine's vision go red. Without thinking she took out her sword and began striding towards him filled with nothing but the intent to kill. Will and Jones, who were the ones holding the other man down, caught sight of Marine and widened their eyes when they realized what she was about to do. Jones pulled Maurice back while Will moved around to protect the man from the front while he faced her with concern.
"Marine, no! You don't need to do this. There's no point in killing him."
"'." Marine spat. "Get away or I'll kill you too." She threatened. When Will wouldn't move, she pulled her arm back in an attempt to strike. Norrington came up behind her just in time to grab the arm wielding the sword.
"Calm down Marine." The female pirate glared at him, and the former Commodore moved a few inches back with surprise at the fury in her eyes.
"Calm down? Calm down?! This bastard just killed my best friend and you expect me to calm down?! I won't let him get away with this! I'm going to kill him! But I'm going to make sure he lives as long as he can while I give him the most painful torture ever. I'll make a cut on every part of his body I can get my hands on then pour salt all over him! I'll step on him and break his bones into tiny pieces. I'm going to tear him apart limb by limb, starting with the parts that will still leave him alive. He's going to pay for this! He's going to die!!!" She screamed as she struggled with Norrington's hold. The other man was still taken aback by the fierce expression, but he managed to keep holding onto her. Cornelius came up in front of Marine and held her arms as well.
"God damn it let me go! He killed Carrie! That fucking bastard killed her! I won't forgive him! I'll never forgive him!" She shouted. "He killed Carrie! He killed her!" Then as if struck with a calm thought, she looked at Cornelius. "Get someone to go to my world. Make them get to Carrie and take her to a hospital! If we can get to her on time she might still make it."
"Marine, you're not thinking carefully. If we make someone from this world go to the other side the effects of it might be bad. We don't even know if they'll make it there or not." Cornelius told her in a calm voice.
"Then get him to do it!" Marine shouted as she pointed at Maurice with her sword. "Make him go there and bring her to a hospital! Make him do it!"
"Marine..."
"Don't just stand there like an idiot! We have to save her! If you're not going to go save her then I will!"
"You can't! If you try going through the portal you'll end up dead!"
"I don't care!! I'd rather die than let Carrie die like this!! I won't let her die!! I have to save her! She might still be alive on the other side, waiting for me to help her! Let me go!!!"
"Jack! Calm her down!" Cornelius shouted as Marine wrestled herself out of the two men's grip. Despite being supposedly weak, the two men were finding it very hard to keep Marine steady. It was as if her anger fueled her body and made her stronger than usual. Cornelius saw Jack headed towards them and stepped aside anxiously. He watched as the pirate grabbed the black haired woman's shoulders and looked intently into her eyes.
"Marine. Listen to me. I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do. She's...she's gone."
"No...No! It's not too late! If we go save her now, we might - " She was interrupted when Jack pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. The pirate captain said nothing, but Marine felt it stabbing into her heart like a knife. She shook her head repeatedly, the tears spilling down her cheeks, as she grabbed a fistful of Jack's shirt and buried her face deeper, causing the sword she held to fall to the ground with a clatter. Jack closed his eyes and tightened his arms around her as Marine began screaming and crying loudly in pain.