Chapter LII: Shadow Jack's Game
Awkward fear tempered with disgust radiated from Jade's bright eyes as the Captain delivered his ultimatum to her, the expression on his face anything but comforting to the stunned woman. After a pause, she squirmed a little, ignoring the flush that burned her face as she tried to organize the whirling mass of thoughts inside her head.
And to think I hoped he'd still be sane in here...
She swallowed nervously, still trying to catch up with how swiftly the pirate had disarmed and dragged her back to the ship as the words came tumbling out, a definite acid to her voice that was only weakened by the distinct quiver that accompanied it.
"Fine...We'll play your little game. Just know, though, that I'll be tryin' my best t' answer you, an' with every answer you think's insufficient, I'll lose just as much respect for you as a good man." If I ever had any. "So...go ahead."
The abyssal eyes of her captor glittered chillingly. For a moment the animal kingdom was put out of balance as sparrows were upgraded to birds of prey. Jack's fingers drummed provocatively on Jade's boot before he backed off, locking with her eyes in predatory fashion.
"Then I daresay it's a grand thing I'm not a good man. To be without your flattery, miss, would drive a blackened heart into ruin. Now then," he said, leaning leisurely against his cabin wall, "simple things first..." He appeared to conduct a very slow, yet dramatic, orchestra with his hands as he spoke, ignoring the fact that out of the corner of his vision there was another version of himself clucking chicken-like past the window, currently too deep in his subconscious to surface in his active body. "The first and second of my questions being the following: One; what is your most loved place in all the world... and two; what is your," - his gold caps sparkled wolfishly -, "fondest memory?"
Jack watched her intently, giddy on her fear.
"You may of course reply in your own time...but too long will be considered as an unsatisfactory answer, and regretfully counts as a forfeit."
As the Captain's animalistic nature began to surface, Jade couldn't resist a near-silent whimper, unable to tear her eyes away from the predatory gaze of the pirate, as the Sparrow became a hawk. Again she shifted awkwardly on the table, the sounds of steel scraping on wood as the dagger thrust into the back of her belt shifted. It was a mockery, really; she knew that they were already dead, so technically the threat of an injury or death was nullified, making possession of it feel all the more pathetic. Finally tearing her gaze to the floor, the woman took a deep, shuddering sigh and massaged her temples with quivering fingers. The strain of keeping as straight a face as she could showed.
"Christ I hate you, Jack. I can't very well think under...oh, well I s'pose my most loved place was home, really. Can't give you an exact place, I don't remember the country, but 'tis well East of India. 'S a large-ish seaside town, mostly beautiful white 'ouses and these fantastic cherry blossom trees that're great for climbing if you're small - not that I was ever s'posed to - the sun rises over th' sea so you get a beautiful golden sky at dawn an' the ships're all but unsinkable, small as they are, an' stay in a limestone harbour. 'S a wonderful place if you can stand the people." Surprised by how much detail she had willingly given on her homeland, Jade blinked as another silence penetrated the muggy air in the cabin before she felt the familiar heat on her cheeks increase. Rubbing the back of her neck gingerly, she frowned. "I don't have any fond memories."
With a surprisingly patient air, Jack listened as Jade described the beauty of what she remembered of her home. He kept the cruel smile upon his lips, her blushing not going unnoticed. "The account of your favoured place is indeed impressive. Ten points for your poetic judicature." He moved forward onto the full soles of his boots once more. "However..." His boots took a few tentative steps towards her. "...with regard to your memories, would it not be economical to consider that your special place were in fact also part of a fond memory...even if said memory were only the very sight of this aforementioned beauty? In conclusion..." Jack had reached the desk. "Your dishonesty is noted..." He leaned across her, close enough to see each of her eyelashes in individuality. Then, with a savage quickness, his hand grasped about the purple contour of her left boot and plucked it from her, the ferocity of the tug hurling it across the cabin where it found a lonesome rest.
The way in which Jack twisted her words to suit himself once more unsettled and disgusted Jade as she arched her back a little with his approach to get as much distance as she could from him, averting her gaze from his vindictive stare and gagging at his breath. She said nothing for several moments, then tensed a little and managed a weak growl.
"If you intend t' play this all day, I don't 'ave the mind for it- I ain't lettin' you enjoy makin' me suffer. The boots go as a pair."
Angry with herself for only making things worse, yet also justified in getting the game finished as soon as she could, the woman kicked off her other boot and edged back on the desk, tucking her feet beneath her legs. After a swift, challenging silence which dared him to deny she sit cross-legged, she met his gaze.
"Alright, next forfeit, next question," she mumbled, the fight gone from her voice and resigned to a wary mumble. The 'game' went on.
Shadow Jack resisted a combination of pouting and eyebrow-raising at Jade's small grasp of control, instead keeping his horribly calm composure. Again he stepped back, but only as far as the opposite reaches of the desk, his hand sliding across the grainy surface as he did so.
"As you command, Ms Starfall."
He tilted his head slightly upwards, savouring the points of interrogation he hoped to unleash. Thus he continued:
"How is it that an exquisite creature such as yourself came to turn pirate?"
Ah; a more straightforward question with a more definite answer this time, and the brief flicker of relief showed in her eyes for a second before she obliged with a response.
"When I left you at the bayou to go get some plants an' the like, I got confronted by a stranger who attacked me with somethin' that made me go blind. He interrogated me about this'n that, supposedly he knew me an' bore a grudge, I don't know. Nex' thing I remember was wakin' up in Port Royal with the last few days just...gone, like a hole in my mind or somethin'. Anyways, Beckett was lookin' for you an' I was buggered for remembering what actually happened. He gave me an ultimatum, which I couldn't deliver, an' he branded me. I only remembered you when I came round again, when you helped me." Lord knows if you should have. Hoping that the Captain wasn't intent on exacting repayment for the rescue any time soon, she shrugged lamely and waited for his response.
As like the eye of a storm, Jack relaxed his 'about-to-pounce' stance and perched himself on the edge of the desk, averting his stare into more of a sidelong gaze. "It is a sad thing to be sure when a man, or woman as it were, must be placed into a category by order of a limp-wristed toff with delusions of grandeur who then seeks to mark us like cattle..." He cast back his coat and rolled back the shirt-sleeve on his right arm, revealing the blue tattoo of a swooping sparrow, along with the scarred 'P' welded into the skin. "But this does not make me a pirate, dear Jade. This does not govern when I chose to become one any more than it tells me that someone else decided a pirate was what I was."
He covered his arm again and turned his full attention upon her.
"Pirate runs through your veins, girl. It screams from within you; through the way you talk, the way you carry yourself...even the way you breathe. I'll wager you knew you was one well before Beckett clamped eyes on you. You an' me, missy. Peas in a pod."
The darkness resumed in his features.
"Five points in light of your ignorance, but my turn you also shall have."
He lunged forwards, but merely grabbed her wrist. Awfully delicately, he slid a ring from her finger and, still following her eyes with his own, he fluttered his hand until her trinket disappeared.
Still unnerved by the pirate but not quite as uneasy as she had been, Jade relaxed her posture a touch; she felt that the worst of the trouble was, for now, at least quelled to a more manageable level than the predatory actions of the Captain several minutes ago. She jerked back involuntarily from Jack's touch nonetheless, but offered no resistance as he stole back the piece of jewellery she had only managed to retrieve earlier. It was no great loss considering what was at stake, so she paid it no heed, focusing rather on the dark, raven-like eyes staring back at her. She might have found the deep, rich colour of those eyes to be fascinating, perhaps even attractive had it not been for the soaring, unassailable madness that glittered on the surface.
Not really caring if she was adhering to the rules or not (nor what the penalty might be), Jade twisted the hand that was still in Jack's slight grasp and held onto his wrist. Keeping her eyes locked with the Captain's, she raised both eyebrows archly; the fright of her situation was temporarily suspended for a single moment of clarity.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
As though a fraction of an ice cube had dropped down his neck, Jack shuddered at the grip of Jade's hand. He continued to stare at her…but the stare was unreal, like being faced with the black void of a shell when the crab inside had recessed from sight. Then –
"Aye…why are you doing this to her, Jackie?" said a quiet, but familiar voice in his head.
Jack took a moment to scrunch his eyes up in the hope it would crush the spokesperson. "Shut it," he growled under his breath. "I'm askin' the questions."
"An' clearly you're doing a fine job of it," the voice that was his own sneered. "Makes you feel twice the man, does it? Thinking we can use her to gain some semblance of the power we struggled to hold in our mortal coil…"
A sour expression painted Jack's face as his shell rose to life again.
"This is a poor attempt to dissuade me towards decency. What is a brigand if he can't act as one would expect such a scoundrel to? I need no excuses…
"…take what you can…"
In one smooth instant, he quelled the voice in his mind and snapped his attention once more to Jade. His hand increased the pressure upon her wrist until even his own fingers ached.
"If to Hell I am unjustly sent, what harm is there in earning me right to be 'ere?"
Jack leapt up from the desk, dragging Jade up to her feet by her arms. Holding her upright, a bestial grimace played upon his face.
"Tell me, dearie, what is it you want most in all of the worlds?"
The manner in which Jack began mumbling to himself as if having conflicting emotions about what to do next ruffled Jade more than she had anticipated. The way in which he conversed with himself so calmly, as if the voices were natural and kept within his mind, forced her grip on him to lessen a little; after all, if something in his disjointed brain was going to defend her...
All hope of such a reprieve from the interrogations ceased when the pirate's grip tightened enough to elicit a pained hiss - which broke off jaggedly into a sharp inhalation when he dragged her from the desk. She began to doubt if this man ever could be saved, let alone herself.
"I...never really thought of it..." she gasped, writhing against his grip as panic began to fuel her emotions again, frightened mind racing to think of an adequate answer that was actually the truth. As it stood, she was too catatonic with fear to think correctly, her brain circling useless answers like a broken record under the pressure.
And so she just blinked helplessly to Jack after a pause, silently pleading for time and space from this madman before she might just lose her own mind, not to mention her dignity...
Oh wait, that was diminishing quickly already.
A dark chuckle escaped him as Jack drank in her silence. Enraptured with the yearning to drain her sanity, he steadied her and let her stand unaided - but with one hand still clutching her wrist. His free hand unclipped the black box that dangled at his belt and forced the item into her palm. Whether or not Jack's mind was too addled to recall that the compass did not work here - or whether it was merely a part of his plan - was unclear. He let go of her, stepped back, and watched her as a cat watches the mouse-hole.
"I'll ask once more, and think harder..."
The little box in Jade's hand instantly silenced anything she might have retorted to the Captain as her eyes shot directly to the needle set in it's intricate housing as it stirred lethargically into life. This was what she had come here for in the first place; this was what had caused all the trouble, gotten her marked, gotten her here. She had half a mind to throw the stupid thing out of the window and in fact her grasp tightened on it for a second before she mastered herself, horribly conscious of Jack's eyes on her as the compass spun. She was confused by this odd object - what did it actually do?
Several moments ticked by in which the needle seemed only to continue its haphazard manner of spinning about it's axis; quivering now and again for a beat, just enough to cause Jade to think it stopped before spinning in the opposite direction. Frowning, she tilted the face of the compass back to Jack, hoping to get his eyes to leave her for just that second so she could breathe properly.
"It...won't stop...."
And still the smile would not fade. Jack prowled in a slow circular motion, but at sufficient distance for it to be a shock when he stole up directly behind her. His hands roamed again...this time dancing upon Jade's shoulders before one shot out and batted the compass out of her clutches. He grabbed the dark green lapels of her coat and spun her about, peeling it from her like a rind, making an art form out of his ability to combine severity with a macabre poise. Casting the coat aside, he grabbed her exultantly about the waist and drew her horrifyingly close, fingers like claws.
"Final question..." Jack purred sadistically. "What, above all, is your greatest fear?"
Now beginning to feel a little unwell as the situation progressed, Jade closed her eyes and shivered a little as Jack's touch felt like spikes in her sides; his casual approach to making her squirm only made her feel worse, and she didn't even try to look at him again, much less consider the nuance of voice his words carried as she rushed a blind response.
"Indefinite imprisonment," she blurted stupidly, trying once more to disengage from his grasp, "th' lack of freedom, thought that you might never get out; that feeling of uselessness, being someone's prisoner, their plaything...tha's why you....scare me...actually...there, izzat what you wanted to hear?"
The eyes of her jailer blazed wildly with an inane and passionate delight at her response. "Got it in one, missy. For that, you can 'ave twelve points...and..." his voice dropped to a deadly whisper, "claim your spoils..." His claws clutched suddenly at her throat, sullied thumbs resting like daggers at the base of her neck, and he lifted her face to his. Jack dipped his head, moving in for a k-
"I don't think you want to be doing that, mate."
He stopped.
Shadow Jack lessened his grip and turned to the voice that had sounded behind him. He saw himself standing at the other end of his cabin, glaring with an air of challenge.
"Oh, I ain't denyin' that she's enchanting," this 'new' Jack continued, walking cautiously towards him. "After all, what man can resist the charm of a woman in such ornate vesture? But this is one poker game I won't allow you to continue cheating. Hand 'er over, and we'll say no more about it, eh?"
Breathless with the horror of anticipation, every muscle in Jade's body turned into unresponsive steel as Jack grabbed her again. She only managed to tilt her head back due to the feeling of being choked, all the while forcing herself to raise mental barriers and try to shut out the goings on, her mind being the only safe haven left.
This isn't happening....this isn't happening....
In fact, nothing did happen. She shivered a little at hearing him speak again, this time as if he were addressing himself. Slowly, curiously, one eye cracked open to see the Captain glowering at (and having a conversation with) the cabin wall: no-one else was there however. Her second eye joined the first in opening again and she listened properly now, realizing that Jack was taking both sides of the argument, the same as earlier. Well, perhaps some decency did exist in him after all, but it was simply a matter of whether or not it would win out to sheer animal instinct at this point. It was an argument she had no part of, and so she tilted her head back down as best she could with a shuddering breath, remaining silent.
She would have prised Jack's hands from herself just then, but it suddenly felt as if he was the only reason she was able to stay standing; the ebb of adrenaline now she was out of immediate danger left her feeling physically exhausted, and without some reason to stay still she would have been sorely tempted to simply collapse.
A dull whump resounded as, indeed, Jade let her tired muscles completely relax when Jack was torn away from her by some invisible force. Ignoring the fire shooting through her back at the contact against her scars from Daemon, she closed her eyes again and quivered once before remaining still, listening to the argument above her.
Things seemed to be heating up between Jack and himself-up to the point where, perhaps, she should intervene, but she didn't move, only spoke.
"You have a point" she murmured, feeling more secure with the deck beneath her and her eyes shut to block out the sight of Jack ranting, "Listen to yourself; you're letting Jones win-he wanted to break you and he has, was that what you envisioned for your great ending, to go out a lunatic?" She stopped then, making her tone a little more reasonable as she conversed with what she assumed was the more sane half of the Captain. "Is there anythin' I can do to help him?"
Both Jacks spared her a glance, which resulted in her seeing a combination of concern and ferocity. "Best you can do is get back and out of our...my...way, 'less control slips in ill favour again," he replied with the normal-toned voice.
Shadow Jack turned to his counterpart and aimed the drawn pistol at him. "Mine's the only favour we'll be seein' around here."
Jack Sparrow laughed. "Good one, mate. Shoot me wiv the pistol I knows you ain't loaded since the last time we used it."
His face fell suddenly as a new personality literally melted through the cabin wall to stand between them. The 'defending' Jack grimaced, for this arrival's face was distorted with the beak of an octopus - the two beard braids normally worn at the chin were instead squirming blue-grey tentacles, the edges of his tricorne curled into horns.
Despite having never lived in the northernmost part of Britain, this Jack gurgled: "Dae ye fear death, Sparra?"
Jack frowned. "Whose side are you on?"
"Yours," bubbled Davy Jones Jack.
"That's not helpful."
There was a loud 'click' as Shadow Jack attempted to fire the pistol, but upon discovering his counterpart to be correct, he cursed and sheathed it again. A few moments passed where the dark personality glared maddeningly at the defender....
...and then light glimmered in his terrible eyes.
Jack's blood ran cold as he watched his shadow self calculate. He traced the other Jack's gaze to himself and the path behind him, realization dawning. Somehow the vision of Jack's position had swapped...the corporeal one now being the one standing nearest the window.
"Bugger..."
Numb with impending doom, Jack looked towards the young woman in his cabin.
"Sorry, love. This is going to hurt me a lot more than it does you..."
There came a snarl from across the room.
"Let's see how far this Sparrow can fly!"
Shadow Jack charged headlong into Jade's defender, careering the both of them to the back of the ship. The glass window exploded, the nosey personalities having only just escaped, and the two combatants plunged to the marble sand below.
Flat on a broken back, eyelids fluttered open to look feebly up at the window of his cabin...so very high above. A half sigh escaped him.
And Jack Sparrow died, again...
