Disclaimer = I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean. Not the movies or the characters, but I own all the added original content within this story along with the original characters included outside the existing script.
Chapter Twenty Three
"Claimed?" Salazar repeated. Fernán's abrupt outburst perplexing him until his bemusement was replaced by only disbelief when he couldn't understand why was his brother bringing up such a topic, yet alone being evidently this belligerent about it…As much as his mind seemed to be clouded by the long endorsed misconceptions he for some reason wished to take into discussion. In equal wonder the prisoners following him to gauge at his brother with a shake of his head…Incredulous of Fernán's desire to adduce the bad blood between them now that they'd finally met again after years of separation. "You would accuse me of such a thing, now? There's no accusation to be made, Fernán."
"Indeed there is not…I was the younger brother, born second to you, and had to settle for standing back when you were given the opportunities in life I was not entitled to…At least according to the strict rules of succession", Fernán replied, despite of that impassive visage he currently displayed clear indignation creeping into his voice the longer he and his brother spoke. "And how would you have known? We were both raised into a life built upon prestige and station. So it would've been unheard of me as the second son to demand the privileges reserved only for the eldest…So I suppose I lost fair and square. It has ever been so."
"But you, accusing me of taking Pilar from you?" Salazar cut in, making a slight frown. "Gaining her affection was never a competition. Why do you make it sound so?"
"Because it was, Armando! Before I even realized it I had to fight for her heart, by which time it was already too late…For you had already taken advantage of your virtues as the elder brother and heedless to my feelings made her yours, all behind my back."
Salazar released a compassionate sigh, sympathetic to his brother's apparent heartache, but still upon knowing better to not give in to the claims made of him next only leveled a serious look at Fernán upon answering…For he had also been there. When they both had been much younger and at the peak of their ambitions...In every aspect of the word. "It was never my choice to make. You know this."
"She was engaged to me!" Fernán contested, heatedly. Unmindful to Salazar's rebuttal, as like his brother he'd also been there to live through it all, and his outlook of the years preceding their final meeting wasn't as gracious as his brother's. "Pilar was to become my wife, but like many times before our long since decided betrothal was put on hold in favor of you…The celebrated firstborn of the Salazar family in whose shadow I always had to remain. Like then when you returned from one of those great conquests of yours the party that had been set to celebrate our wedding instead became a honorary feast for you…And an announcement of your engagement to Pilar in favor of me."
"Brother, I am sorry. I did not wish to wrong you so as in to act behind your back, but the decision was made before I had a say in it…But despite of that, Fernán, I will not lie…for I loved her. As she did me. So once our wedding was announced, we didn't forestall it, for it was what we both wanted."
Fernán's eyes narrowed closer to a scowl at the sound of that as he then peered at Salazar in disbelief of his own, until such a feeling swiftly bordered more towards spite. Although there was a part of him that tried to keep his composure the Spaniard finding himself unable to hold back the given animosity he had at the time felt for his brother for taking the future he'd believed to have with Pilar…and still felt, especially now when he was blatantly lying to him by feigning innocence in the matter that had denied Fernán of a wife…It mirroring in his following reply.
"I asked for her hand, and she said yes! Our union was set long before our first meeting, but despite of that she decided to marry me out of her own volition."
"At the time, yes. But you were children then. Too young. And once she realized to have given her consent to you in far too delicate of an age before knowing her heart better she came to understand that she couldn't marry you."
"The prospects of our marriage never seemed to faze her until you directed your advances at her."
Salazar now cast a strict look into Fernán's eyes, beginning to turn frustrated himself by the man's stubborn compulsion of refusing to see through his own flawed perceptions formed by years of wallowing in his anger and malevolence…In such aspect Fernán then reminding Salazar of his previous self somewhat. Of the man he'd been rendered by the curse, leaving him facing each day with ever growing emotions of ire and grudge that had consumed everything else and finally warped even the simplest flicker of happiness into something dark and noxious…So he could not fully blame Fernán for feeling so, but in equal measure he refused to acknowledge the factuality of some of the claims made about his own involvement in the way things had ended between Pilar and Fernán, which was why his delivery was next indeed adamant as he responded.
"You never gave her the opportunity to tell you so! So at a loss of how to let you know, wary of your reaction, naturally she turned to me."
This time Fernán outright glared at Salazar, in his vexation reading far too into his brother's previous remark that to his ears had sounded borderline spiteful. His fierce eyes throwing daggers at him until they soon widened in curt astonishment at the sound of Salazar's emphasized reply to his own.
"She loved me."
"She feared you, Fernán."
All civility then disappeared from Fernán's countenance, the conversation taking a precarious turn then as his expression darkened the longer he looked into his brother's eyes after bypassing the fleeting dismay Salazar's disclosure had conjured up in him. But once he didn't say anything, yet alone admitted anything of what his brother was in turn accusing him of, Salazar broke the ensued silence between them. Assuming a calmer tone with a resigned sigh, trying to quell Fernán's visible furore by locking peaceable gazes with him.
"You were beginning to control her. Be distrustful of her without justification…For which she sought comfort from me, and in time we fell in love. I did not plan it, Fernán…For she was much younger than I was and I had not intended my future wife to be my brother's former betrothed. But then I was told our mother to have decided for her to marry me and…it came to be."
"You claim to have not wished to do ill of me…And yet you were more than prepared to claim the happiness I was denied of, as you always have", Fernán said, in a notably seething manner now as approached Salazar with a suddenly rather ominous aura about him. Him studying the elder sibling for a bit until his dismal eyes were cast downward, to stare at the Trident still tightly clutched into his hand. "In the eyes of our parents there never were two sons, but only one…One son who was endowed with all the favors of bringing glory to our name ever since birth, the brother hold in greater esteem simply not only due to accomplishments but simple line of succession. For you were the eldest. And I had to spent my years trying to prove myself worthy of that same glory, of the same family name…But whatever I did, it was never enough. For with all my own feats I wasn't ever going to be distinguished enough to equal to my dignified elder brother…The favorite son."
"And what of you, Fernán? What are your sins? For if you are this eager to chastise me of mine, then let us recall all that which denied you of any chance of that prestige and station you say to have lacked", Salazar snapped, finally fully antagonized by his brother's self-righteous, mordant words that then pushed him over the edge of civility too. The forgotten anger he also had come to harbor for Fernán once upon a time after he'd abandoned his family and exchanged everything he'd come to have to a life of most inglorious nature now resurfacing. Igniting the impetuous Latin blood in him as well when he gazed back at equally irated Fernán, Salazar's voice bouncing back from the structures of the temple as he continued. Enraged. "You went against our heritage and betrayed every expectation our parents had of you. You accuse me of indulging into the favors of an eldest son, but at the same time what did you do? You tarnished your career. You ended the generations old tradition and brought nothing but shame to our forefathers by disgracefully abandoning your post in the Navy, and your audacity found no fill there…But on the eve of my wedding ceremony you interfered by abducting Pilar."
The prisoners were once again surprised, Carmen watching the brothers stare down at each other now in shared sense of rancor that was a polar opposite of the way she'd previously watched them to regard one another. The brotherly bond and affection that came with it to have been by then fully pushed back and replaced with nothing but mutual disdain that easily would've made it seem them to actually hate each other intensely, but which however also reflected the reverse side of any close family relations…For as much as one's family brought great happiness to someone it could also fill them with indescribable rage, although as she and the other captives now followed the Spaniards' much more hostile become interaction it was clear something far graver to indeed creep beneath the surface of their current argument than mere facile feud between brothers that could be resolved with a simple apology…At least that's what Fernán's choleric response insinuated, his countenance turning jaunty that briefly took over the overall pique.
"I only took back what was mine"
"She didn't belong to you. She never did. You had no further claim over her Fernán."
"More than you had. She may have been made to marry you, but I wasn't going to simply stand by again and content myself with what I was left with…Not anymore. And by taking her with me I stopped her from facing the same inequity I'd always had to battle against…The inequity of having to submit to a future already chosen for you in accordance to those accursed family expectations that would've had her share one with you despite of what she had decided for herself. I did it for her."
"No. You did it to spite mother. To spite me!" Salazar countered, his delivery much more snappish then as his voice boomed inside the spacious temple, and it was then when the talk curtly turned to their mother that also Salazar seemed to become consumed with frenzied hatred of his own. His blazing eyes fixated to his younger brother as the Spaniard squared his shoulders in visible rage, pointing an accusing finger at the man upon continued with his bilious beration...Indeed taking the role of the elder sibling reprimanding their younger family member over their misdeeds, which in this case were beyond severe as his words were then all but heartfelt and long considered, utmost disappointment then smoothing down his stern expression as he studied Fernán in a momentary loss of words…However quickly finding them again once he recalled the delicts his brother had perpetrated since those faraway days of youth, his re-enthused anger fueling his following outburst that rivarled Fernán's. By contravening his brother now so ardently it truly proving to Carmen the two of them to be indeed brothers, as she then watched Salazar to land a slight shove to Fernán's shoulder.
"You…Ingrato…You were given every opportunity to live up to our family name. You were gifted with every chance to surpass any expectations, but like a petulant child chose to throw all that you had away the for the sake of your wounded pride! Abducting your brother's fiancé and forcing her to marry to you before committing yourself to something as detestable as piracy…Something our father and our grandfather gave their lives to eradicate, what you swore before the crown to eradicate, and yet you dare stand here disputing me of my supposed shortcomings as a brother when it is you who has brought utmost shame to our family with your actions!"
Despite of his clear ire Fernán said nothing to that. Simply returned Salazar's grim stare by scowling back at him, whatever he was feeling right then keeping it to himself as long as it then took for his brother's own anger to be quelled a bit. Salazar this time around looking at him only quizzically, sincerely confused of the change he know fully saw to have occurred in Fernán, whom he had begun not to recognize as the younger brother he remembered…And this notion was more than evident in his following question which turned Salazar back to earnest.
"Why Fernán? Why?"
"All I was given were the scraps of our parents' regard of you…And for a man who shrouded his own years of bloodletting under the guise of a justified cause, I can't help but find your words but sanctimonious when your precious station has made you nothing but the same kind of a heartless murderer as the men you hunted", Fernán retorted, Salazar's eyes now widening for outrage and his curtly resumed tranquility was whisked away in an instant.
"You! You dare not hide behind a cloak of martyrdom while you impugn the moral of my king given duty! One which you forsook in favor of depravity!" Salazar answered, shouted almost as he then flung himself at his brother to take hold of the collar of his shirt. His eyebrows deeply furrowed as he stared Fernán square in the eye, thinking over his following response for a moment until shifted the discussion back to the woman of their mutual acquaintance. "So then tell me, where is she, Fernán? You were the one to speak of her, and although the conflict of her I had already forgiven, on the topic of a brother stealing a spouse from the other now finally speak! Where is Pilar?"
Fernán took a moment to reply, but once he did the youth saw a somewhat portentous look to make an appearance on his face as he faced Salazar. His voice highly remarkable when he finally gave his gaunt answer. "Far away…As is fit for her."
Those words stroke a chord in Salazar, and in a brief confusion that was swift to morph into a fleeting grief he took a step away from Fernán. His grip of his shirt loosening as he cast his eyes down shortly in incredulous realization due to the inauspicious manner his brother had spoken of her just now…Causing him to indeed arrive to a conclusion that in the end was correct, but not in a way he at the present deemed once he made his following bereft inquiry. But now when the general attention was on the quarreling brothers Henry noticed Barbossa and Jack to be oddly enough whispering amongst each other, casting furtive glances at one another but then also at the Dead Man's Chest for the utmost wonder of the lad…Salazar's response almost getting lost to his ears as his eyes were curtly fixated onto the two pirates, trying to figure out what they were scheming.
"She died?"
"Eventually…But only after I cast her out by a decision most willing which I must say to have been more than befitting for her treacherous ways", Fernán revealed, his flat delivery contradictory to the horrible message of his proclamation.
"I do not understand…You took her with you to the sea and had her enter into a marriage with you…So why?" Salazar asked, still baffled by Fernán's recount, as according to what had been at the time implied of the events after the disappearance of both Fernán and Pilar what his brother was now saying made no sense to him…And indeed Fernán next made it clear him to be right, what he'd known about the said events being completely fallacious. Fernán then smiling at him surprisingly as replied, but it was a somber smile. Devoid of any actual joy or warmth.
"Is that what you were told, dear brother?" he asked, earning a perplexed frown from Salazar who was trying to read into that suspicious curve of his lips which made him look only deadpan despite of the emotion such an act usually contained…except for now.
"It is what I believe. For you had feelings for her and wouldn't have taken her without an intention of marrying her", Salazar said, Fernán then only angling his jaw scornfully until raised his arms in a significant manner.
"A lot of good that did me. Happily setting the bridges ablaze only to realize what I'd already known from the start…That no amount of my affection would make her do other than use it to drive a dagger through my heart…A dagger with your name written all over the blade she plunged deep into my chest just when I believed things to have gone back to the way they were…Well her lack of fidelity wasn't left overlooked."
"What do you mean?" Salazar questioned. Now suspicious himself of the dark edge in Fernán's dour delivery which had been explicitly meaningful and therefore terrifying, and once that unforgiving expression that had come about his features didn't disappear and he continued to return his brother's stare with those same pitiless eyes, Salazar then arrived to another conclusion as he could've sworn to see his ensuing horrified reaction to conjure up a new ghost of a smile to Fernán's lips. This time in nothing but blind rage Salazar sizing up his brother in disbelief that lasted but a fraction of a second until his sudden feeling of loss mixed in with his sorrow and furore caused his hold of Fernán to tighten, him jerking his brother over to him. Shaking him.
"What did you do? You swine, did you harm her?!" he queried, his question turning into a bellow in the end as he figured to be now able to read into Fernán's words enough to know what had become of Pilar. However now completely ignorant to his brother's anger and the hands that had clasped to the lapels of his clothing Fernán only staring back at the man cryptically until finally his impassive become countenance was enlivened by mere contempt. Actual delectation nonetheless taking possession of the undertones of his voice then and he leant closer to Salazar to level a grim half scowl into his eyes, the overall coldness of his response then visibly fazing his brother, until it only brought upon that same acrimony again…So much so that it also broke Salazar's heart to understand his younger brother to have strayed this far from simple humanity.
"She died alone. She died like a wretched rat curled up into a hole, pettily and miserably like the traitorous tart she was…And I for one wasn't left mourning for her", Fernán said, although not saying much his words however not enough vague to keep his brother guessing, and the callousness of his remark only did away with whatever was left of his previous doubt and bafflement and replaced it with plain resentment. Not quite anger like before but an emotion mellowed down to indignation that still bordered towards grave mortification…Hatred however not disappearing completely but still remained within him to offer something for Salazar to draw from then as he was collecting his livid thoughts to come up with a reply that perfectly expressed his disappointment and ire that were both taking a great toll on his brotherly devotion…Which was also sadness over the fact how heartless this new man his brother of his seemed to have become was. For this reason the anger taking the best of him in the end and caused him to lash out in that following fit of hardly hold back fury that soon also caused Salazar to draw a sword against his brother, the act in fact surprising not only Fernán but the captives as well, who were still following their argument intently.
"You've become but a honorless, lowly scoundrel of a man…You repulse me, Fernán", Salazar said, his words crude and positively as unfeeling as had been his brother's previous speech, but which still hold within that same enmity that then conjured up a spiteful smile from Fernán. Him matching Salazar's icy glare with only impassive eyes, even with the tip of the sword hovering not far from his neck.
"Your view of me is of no significance. For I am no longer pertained to your opinion."
"How could you do so to a woman you claim to love?" Salazar accosted, ignoring Fernán's response.
"It was she who betrayed me by replacing me with you before leaving and stealing from me. The rest was mere comeuppance."
"You ingrate!"
"You want to know what happened?" Fernán retorted in abrupt burst of anger, also following his brother's previous example by using his free hand to take hold of Salazar's jacket to pull him closer. So close that the blade he was threatened with came close to rest against his jaw, sliding upward along his shoulder during the motion while the brothers locked gazes, Fernán's visage shadowed by that same bitterness from before as he gauged at his brother in ever growing aversion. "For two years she hold hopes of you coming to her rescue, but once the news depicting your demise reached us, in her grief she pretended to accept me…and she joined me in my venture to locate the Atlantean artifacts. The three objects that would be the key to your freedom I went after in my regret, but after a few years at sea she crossed me…Signaling a passing British naval vessel and causing my ship to be overthrown along with me and my men, where she used the opportunity to take one of the artifacts and fled…for awhile."
"So you murdered her?" Salazar asked sharply, now indeed pressing the blade against Fernán's throat briefly."You killed the only woman who'd ever shown you love and took her life when that love was spent and destroyed by your selfish avarice of it?"
"I followed her", Fernán specified. Now finally filling in the blanks that had been left unclear to the youth as well who very much like his brother had come to learn more of Fernán and his past…Henry and Carmen finally coming to understand why he had been living a life as a supposed officer of the British Navy so far away in England, and what had brought him there even according to him he should've been captured by the very Empire he had pretended to serve…After hearing the tale of the woman both of the brothers seemed to have loved Carmen then also understanding what Fernán had meant while referring to someone who had once taken something from him…Like she had…And to think it had been the very artifact the Abbess had given to her.
"After managing to free myself from the noose and once we had commandeered the ship of those marina bastards, I tracked her down, trying to catch her and take back what she'd stolen for me…Only to find she had sought shelter from an English convent in which she'd decided to hole herself into in her fear of my rage…And so I waited. Taking upon the identity of the very British Officer in command of the vessel that had sunk our own, my men taking upon the lives of her previous crewmembers, and for years we spent living those charade of lives…Ever watchful of a chance to claim the artifact back and continue our search of the Trident. But it was duly because of the new identity as the esteemed Commander Ebenezer Basset that I could not just drag her out of that convent, so I settled into waiting for her to return to me herself…But not but a year later she died, however not before she had left the artifact in the care of the Abbess. The crone doing her very best to ensure to continue to keep it from me all those following years…until recently. And here we are, brother. Reunited at last."
Stupefied by this Henry then came to remember the letter that the Abbess had given to Carmen along with the casket, and now the lad realized its contents indeed to fit with the story he had just heard Fernán to relay. The letter to have stated the man to be a liar, a dangerous man hiding behind a false identity who was prepared for anything in his search for the Trident, which now apparently included causing his brother's fiancé to die while in hiding at the very town the lad lived in at the very convent Carmen had sought shelter from herself. In her dread this woman perhaps succumbing to an illness that probably had been caused by the simple fear of Fernán once she'd realized him to have found her…Leaving the artifact in the possession of the Abbess, who'd dedicated the last years of her life in keeping it hidden from Basset. Hence explaining the events of Sister Rachel's murder and the falsified raid to the convent, which all had been orchestrated in order for Fernán to find the artifact once the woman had refused to give it to him.
"You know what I still regard most pathetic in her ever so faithful loyalty to you?" Fernán questioned then. No discretion reserved for his elder brother's feelings in his delivery that now aimed to cut deep and bring upon all the pain he could muster, and if he now or ever had had any regrets over what had become of Pilar much to his influence it not showing in his current cold exterior. His words only mordant, which soon proved too much for Salazar to withstand without them decimating the last of his uphold hope of the brother he knew and remembered to be still somewhere within this cruel, malicious man. "That in her try to spite me she stole the very thing that could've saved you…If she only had been smart enough to stay instead of trusting that useless band of nuns to protect her."
"Desgraciado", Salazar spat. His expression filled with indescribable ire as he then came to recollect all the misdeeds he knew and which he'd seen his brother to commit after his arrival to Poseidon's tomb, and finally realized any hope of him to have been met with that old Fernán to have been in vain…For this man facing him was nothing but a measly miscreant, a felon. The kind of man he'd come to loathe from the bottom of his heart during his years of service and sworn to rid the world of…Which was why Salazar then only leveled a hateful look at his brother and shoved him backwards to point his sword at him again, during that fleeting moment now not standing in front of him as a brother, but as a crown appointed pirate hunter, el Matador del Mar…Captain Armando Salazar of the Silent Mary. "You are a lowly crook well deserving of that noose you escaped from…Despicable degenerate, a vile excuse of a man! A pirate scum."
Fernán's mien remained serene at the sound of this, and the Spaniard didn't seem much affected by the animosity of the scalding words even when Salazar then lunged at him. Steered by his wrath delivering a skillful, powerful strike at him, but which however was then easily blocked by his brother, and whom indeed was next proven to have not taken Salazar final disdainful insult lightly. Unlike before the man conducting himself the most enraged he'd been yet as his expression then completely changed. In a fit of thumping rage of his own that blocked out everything but his overpowering sense of hatred Fernán swatting his brother's weapon away after another exchange of blows, for the shock of those watching them to face off one another him then retaliating by warding his brother off by pushing him backwards in turn. In a blink of an eye raising the Trident and attacked, infuriated outcry slipping his lips as he then closed the distance between himself and his brother…flipping the Trident around before propelled it forward, plunging it into Salazar.
Carina's horrified scream got worn out by utter silence as everybody stared stunned at the two brothers now standing face to face to one another, the other scowling at the elder with livid eyes, shaking with rage as his hands squeezed the hilt of the Trident he kept propelled forward. Deaf to his crewmen's calls, where Salazar was simply looking back at him his own eyes wide for shock…Given outrage as he at first was left staring at Fernán in dismay until the pain that had erupted from the spots the prongs of the spear had pierced him made it sink in what had just transpired, causing the elder brother to frown in disbelief until came in terms with both the agony and blood that he could feel start to seep out of him. Salazar's averting his own gaze from Fernán's to look down at the Trident that was firmly imbedded to his midriff just below his chest, his irises flickering from the pointy ends of the weapon instilled to his flesh to the crimson that was drenching the white linen of his shirt along with the thick material of his coat, until his stupefied eyes focused on the hands that were keeping him skewered by the Trident. Those fingers that showed no hesitation while they remained coiled around the shaft of the spear, as didn't the Spaniard wielding it. However incredulous of such an appalling notion Salazar's own hands now rose to take hold of the Trident's fork in confusion, until he finally faced Fernán again…Carmen eyeing at the pair in horror, the way she'd seen Fernán so mercilessly run his brother through so unexpectedly to have left her shaken beyond description, as she couldn't bring herself to believe the man to have done so despite of how vile of a person he undoubtedly was…However perhaps what Salazar had just before said about him proving to be true now when they all had laid witness to that Trident impaling Salazar in heat of the ongoing argument, and which Fernán hadn't shown a single qualm to not to use while stabbing his brother with it so readily.
Still, despite of thinking so, once Carmen then gauged at Fernán and saw the anger that still coursed through his veins and deterred him from releasing Salazar, her also noticing the quiver that had set into his limbs earlier to lessen, and but an instant later she figured to see true remorse to smooth down his relentless features previously set in plain ire. Indeed also Henry now following how Fernán glanced down at the Trident that kept the two men connected, and at the sight of the blood that had begun to flow the Spaniard made a rueful frown. Blinking as his expression turned to something of actual sadness and regret, his eyes turning moist for the threat of true tears once it also dawned on him what it was he had done, until his focus returned back to astounded countenance of Salazar and he locked gazes with him. His a moment past positively miserable mien draining of such emotion. Although the contrition didn't disappear completely, it lessening more bit by bit as they stared one another, Fernán perusing at his brother's shock ridden features in a brief struggle of words and emotions, until the familiar anger reared its all-consuming head again and he pursed his lips with a conflicted grimace. After a brief exchange of stares finally pulling the Trident out of Salazar, who immediately dropped to his knees. Fernán's now hardened eyes peering down at him before he raised the godly spear to eye at the blood that tainted it, his voice then but dark and devoid of all of that previous remorse once it spoke up again regardless of the couple of tears that then rolled down his cheeks…As a sign of the internal struggle that went against his current display of apathy as well as his true sentiments, which he rather tried to play off as a complete lack of daunt over his deed…That worked as a terrifying testament to his true nature.
"What have you done?" Carina breathed. Her own attention to have been drawn to Salazar the moment he'd been stabbed with the Trident, the outrage in her own voice making it then sharp as she shot a glare up at Fernán, apalled… "How could you? He is your family."
"Yes, but that still doesn't do away with the one thing that shall always be the rift that divides us…the fact that that sword he just tried to run me through with was forged to kill men like me", Fernán answered, tilting a remarkable head to Carina's direction while dropped the Trident to lift Salazar's fallen rapier for the young woman to see before flicked it to the side. The rapier sliding along the floor after a loud clatter, but losing interest in his brother's confiscated weapon Fernán now followed how Salazar abruptly coughed out some blood until was unable to keep himself upright, the Spaniard not helping but losing the fight against the weakening toll of his injuries and collapsed to the floor. After a moment of soaking up the pain to decisively try to bypass it him looking up to his brother at the sound of the word that lastly was spat from his lips. "Pirates."
"So this is your revenge? You have disgraced yourself", Armando remarked reproachfully, leveling a crestfallen look at the man. Gutted by his brother's current aptitude to steep as low as murder his own flesh and blood in anger…just like a heartless brigand would.
"It is you who have disgraced me!" Fernán shouted in indignation, the remnants of his ardent hatred inflaming again until he regained most of his composure. The scorn in his eyes however turning into venom for as long as their following gaze lasted and the man now took hold of the gypsy pendant and ripped it from Salazar's neck, fuming. "It was you who compelled me to turn to such a life in means of saving you. I did it all to bring you back…even I don't even now know why. For I should've known all I would get in return would be mere stricture over my contumely deeds. All the lives sacrificed over your freedom, all the evil I reveled in, and all the blood I spilled…shall ever taint your name. For it was all done for your sake, brother. And for naught I've damned my soul to hell when it is you who decided to cast me there yourself."
The stress put into those previous words had been what else but definitive, but Fernán then simply shrugged such notion off with an impassive headshake, pocketing the Sacred Eye while leaning over to Salazar to study his face before narrowing his eyes. Now wearing an understanding expression as if he'd finally opened his eyes to a truth that had been denied of him until this moment...Due to his discovery of how eerily in peace with himself be was while watching his elder brother to die by his hand.
"So no, brother. I have freed myself from the bonds of deceitful affinity that joint us…and after all the years of torment my heart is now truly lighter."
"Do not justify the monstrosities you've committed with your affection of a brother you've just shown to have been a mere fancy. An excuse. It was not I who made you the murderer you've become, but rather your decision to take those lives to solely save one…But if turning your back to your blood brings your condemned soul enough peace to absolve you…then I see why mine is to be shed for you to find salvation", Salazar only responded dourly, Fernán letting out a jaded breath as turned around. Carina then leaving the side of the other captives to go help the wounded Spaniard, although not all that long ago it had been him who'd been the most dangerous man present threatening to kill them all. The young woman lifting Salazar up to support him before proceeded to rip apart her own slip for bandages, when his brother finally replied. Disdainful.
"We've ever been but pawns in our parents' desire to build up a legacy equal to the glory of our forefathers…And you simply refused to admit it out of the filial duty of conducting yourself as the exemplar heir to the Salazar name. While in so doing forgetting how to be a faithful brother…Which alone has brought us to this."
"I ever did only what was noble of me as a good son. For my honor, for our father's honor, I spent years accomplishing feats that would make him proud…As well as myself. As you should have."
"And yet what is left of that honor, now?" Fernán queried, in turn incredulous of Salazar's words that now were but ironic to him when one only looked at him. "The great el Matador del Mar defeated by nothing more glorious than a deluded perception of fraternal love, when the irony of your death lies in the fact that you have been brought to your final end not only by the brother you so adored…but by one of the heartless blackguards onto whose deaths you built your revered grandeur upon."
"You commit such a despicable deed to your own brother…and still mock me?" Salazar questioned. His remark however more like a statement than a question, as by then it was evident to him Fernán to be too far beyond degradation there to be any words to invoke to his past self…Because of this Salazar taking a break to simply gauge at his younger brother silently, despite of his previous efforts mostly driven by his compassion of Fernán and his pain finding indeed nothing familiar about this antrocious man who'd strayed far from any possible redemption…even by him. "I might've been cursed by my ambition…but it is you who has been lost to your vanity."
Fernán actually smiled at that, his eyes that briefly had zeroed on his brother's pallid countenance dropping then in concur…In final realization, which swiftly transformed into familiar anger due to his brother's condescending tone. "No, Armando. Today…I have finally found myself. Thanks to you."
"Capitán!" Fernán's first mate shouted, all of a sudden pushing through the prisoners to go run over to Fernán who had then raised the Trident again to finish his brother off despite of the death glares he'd been receiving from Carina, but couldn't once his arm was grasped by the arrived sailor. Fernán frowning in outrage as faced his first mate.
"He's your brother", the man said, reminded him as an answer to Fernán's unvoiced demand of to know why was being stopped by him.
"He's a burden, Esteban. Sentimental hindrance shackling me to my past…But now I see that by his death I'm finally freed from the stifling toil of familial obligation", Fernán explained, trying to pull his arm free but his coxswain didn't release his hold of him. Instead pulling his captain's arm back and forced him to lower the Trident while leveled a stern look at him for the further surprise of the Spaniard.
"I never agreed to this."
"You would spare a man who made it his life's mission to slaughter the likes of us?" Fernán asked, in disbelief as studied his first mate who before now hadn't recoiled at anything they'd so far done to get here…For this reason his abruptly expressed hesitation soon angering him more than confounding him once Esteban answered, his own reply rather heated and his stare turned briefly into a castigating scowl at the sound of his captain's ignorance.
"I don't give a bloody damn of his life and would be happy to use my own sword to run him through! But an act of murder against one's own blood…is something I cannot condone. Yet alone allow you to commit, capitán", Esteban said. Silence descending then as Fernán drew himself apart from the helmsman, thinking upon his heartfelt words spoken out of staunch conviction, for many a man in Spain were raised under a belief that family went beyond everything…Even the gravest of grudges. However if it hadn't been already proven his captain to have lost his own to such perceptions Fernán then eyeing at the sailor, peeved by such useless sentiments as the compassion his first mate was prepared to show for his brother even after everything he'd learned the man to have put his captain through…To hear him offer to slice his dying brother's throat for him to have pleased Fernán and yet...he was left but disappointed.
"So…you deem our tainted blood thicker than your long formed sense of allegiance?" Fernán asked, gesturing between himself and Salazar until after a moment of thought suddenly directed the Trident at Esteban. Forcing him to retreat as the fork stretched towards him as a sign of his captain's opposite reaction to his plead for mercy than hadn't reached him the way the first mate had intended, only angering him further. "Then perhaps you should join him."
"Capitán", Esteban stated, in surprise as stepped away from the man while his eyes remained glued to the godly weapon leveled straight at him, but it was then when Henry finally had enough of waiting for a stroke of mere luck or unlikely miracle to save them as perhaps was Jack's strategy…Things to have escalated far enough for him to simply continue to sit idly by when Fernán was provoking himself into further madness not only by attempting to kill the very brother he'd come here to save, but now turning against his first mate…While the pirates were distracted by their captain's act of responding to his first mate's opposition by threatening him and caused the rest of his crew to begin to protest vociferously, the lad scanning his vicinity for anything to use to to take advantage of the formed tension now that their guards' attention had been drawn elsewhere, and finally his eyes latched onto a sword he saw tucked under one of the pirates' belt. Once the sailor stepped forth to join the protests of his fellow miscreants Henry inching closer to him, drawing Carmen's attention who immediately realized what he was doing once she saw him creep closer to the distracted pirate. However just as he was about to grab the blade the pirate's hand landed onto the hilt, upon seeing this Carmen exchanging a swift glance with the lad until acted without thinking. Just as Fernán's voice rose above the formed commotion to reply to the exclaims of his crewmen challenging him for his act of threatening his coxswain, the gypsy girl lunging forth at the unsuspecting pirate.
"If you wish to mutiny upon me for the sake of one man's lack of resolve, then I'd implore you to think twice!" the Spaniard bellowed, silencing the grumble of his crew, as then simply shoved Esteban down from the altar before pointing a remarkable finger at him. Lastly beckoning towards the piles of treasure surrounding them before leveling the Trident to the direction of the rest of the pirates who then could see the water that surrounded the temple to begin to shift through the round opening at the ceiling. In accordance to their captain's current anger starting to roil above them until soon they witnessed the weapon's gem to shine again, bringing all of their complaints to an end along with the unforgiving tone of Fernán as he stared down at them. "I may not be a god, but the spoils I've secured for you should be enough to have you reconsider whether it is wise to forsake the respect you've come to hold for your captain…For I have not waded through depravation and bloodshed to be put down by men I've years since begun to regard as my true brothers after sharing such a fate..."
This seemed to be enough to remind the buccaneers of the fidelity they indeed had come to have and downright owe for their captain, including the first mate who then stepped away from him in respect, but before any of them could offer the man a response fit for their briefly forgotten loyalty Fernán was cut off by the yelp of one of the pirates who abruptly keeled over. To have been toppled by Carmen who'd taken hold of his feet and pulled them from under him, for Henry to take the best of the miscreant's surprise and steal his sword. The other pirates twirling around at the sound to see the lad to proceed to spring to his feet before charging at the nearest buccaneer who drew his own cutlass to cross blades with him, in vain however as Henry parried with him before the miscreant had been fully prepared and lost to his too quick of an attack. Losing his blade in seconds and was kicked down by Henry, but even though he managed to defeat the few pirates who came charging at him and although Carmen managed to tackle a couple of them, as Henry then headed towards the altar without much planning his actions ahead he was simply met with a powerful strike of the Trident's power before he had a chance to even go anywhere near Fernán.
The direct blow disposed him of the stolen blade and resulted into hurling him far away from the altar for the horror of Carmen and Carina, the gypsy girl running over to the vanquished lad who landed several meters away before ended up laying prone on the stone floor. Causing her heart then to skip a beat as in fright she watched also him to then cough out some blood once the initial shock of the blast had passed, the impact of the Trident's power too great for him to have survived the hit unscathed, and upon fathoming this Henry realized to have been completely overcome by it as he drew in long, arduous breaths. Each one hurting more than the last and Carmen looked down at him in concern once she saw the agonized grimace that was stuck to his face then, the godly force ravaging within him, but not like inside Salazar once it had driven away the curse, but truly feeling like laying waste to his very spirit until it passed. Leaving behind the overpowering sense of weakness that left him slack for a while as the gypsy girl shifted her eyes from him back to Fernán once Henry had regained his senses enough to focus his own eyes to her, Carmen suddenly being able to hear Carina cry out.
Carmen's raised her gaze to see how Carina had left Salazar's side to attack the Trident wielding Fernán, very much like her before their arrival to Atlantis simple anger driving Carina as right after the man had blasted Henry with the Trident's energy she'd scrambled over to the discarded rapier and now brandishing it attempted to pierce the Spaniard with it. Her shown bravery and inward born desire for retribution the minute she'd seen Henry to be thrown from the altar however instantly turning into mere foolhardiness, which it in fact was. Despite of the element of surprise she otherwise would've possessed if not for that angry outcry that had left her lips Fernán only turning just in time to gain but a mere scrape before received the thrust of the rapier so that the thin blade slid across one of the pointed ends of the fork, before he revolved the Trident enough for the blade to be stuck. Thwarting her attack as easily as the likes before, as long as the Trident was in his possession nothing seeming to take him unawares, and as well confident of this Fernán only cast one jaded look at Carina who instead was shocked as the blade of the rapier suddenly begun to crack until with a deafening crackle the Trident's power flowing into the weapon before shattering it. The sharp shards which otherwise would've cut her fingers floating in the air until finally dropping to the floor, Fernán next taking hold of her swordhand and disposing her of the remains of the blade by squeezing her wrist painfully. Twisting it so that Carina was forced to release the hilt with a pained bemoan.
"The boy sure entices vexing wenches whenever he goes", Fernán perceived after unarming Carina, giving her a quick evaluating look-over, but after finding her nothing sort of less irritating than the gypsy girl he wrung her arm downward to bring Carina to her knees. Her giving the Trident a frightened glance as now figured to suffer the same faith as Salazar once it was then pointed at her, accompanied by the same kind of loathsome glare that she'd seen the man to give Carmen while in the similar position…When it had been her at his mercy like this, only difference being that Carina could see from the Spaniard's eyes that he was about to go through of killing her then and there. But confirmed by his following remark. "And drawing a blade at me because of him…just ensured you a death that should rectify that fatuous infatuation of yours."
Carina froze, closing her eyes in fear of seeing the Trident's blood stained prongs to now impale her in turn, however the noise of men grunting and weapons clashing postponing her death as Fernán's hand was this time stayed by the ensued racket. Him and the youth turning to see how Barbossa had abruptly taken action, surprisingly his bonds that had previously kept him from acting out and which he had secretly been able to cut now falling to the floor, and aided by Jack them both to have stood up from their spots and were now together dueling with the pirates nearest them. Weaponless, Barbossa using his peg leg to ward off the incoming buccaneers with kicks while his cane was acting as a blade until he managed to snag his own from his belt. Jack joining the front by at first tripping one of the pirates guarding him before hurtling over to the proximate treasure pile and snatching a suitably positioned object he saw sticking out of it. However upon pulling it out getting disappointed by the fact that instead of a sword he had believed to have drawn he found himself staring down at an ornate mirror, but since he was no stranger to turning even the most hopeless moment to his favor he confronted the first of Fernán's men who challenged him. Although slowly due to the surprise attack of the pirate Jack blocking his blow with the joint of the mirror before stepped to the side and hit the mirror onto the back of the pirate's head once he reeled forward. Jack then spotting the Dead Man's Chest the pirate was holding.
With a content grin Jack grasped the other end of it, however made aware of his intent by the ensued tug the miscreant didn't let go, simply using the pull to get back on his feet to stab Jack. Barbossa however battering the man with his cane and finally the pirate fell down unconscious, enabling Jack to instinctively hurl the heavy chest around to slam it against the buccaneer he'd heard coming from behind him. After Jack watched him to slant to left and collapse against another pirate who then fell prey to Barbossa's sword and left Jack dealing with the third miscreant now charging at him, with a couple of close call dodges and a three carefully aimed whacks of the chest in his hand Jack casting an apologetic look down at the sturdy casket upon raising it now with both hands. Memories of the last time he'd held it like this flashing through his mind as he then could hear the faint thumping sound coming from inside, Jack raising regretful eyebrows before made an uneasy face, blinking awkwardly once he then came to think what Elizabeth would've undoubtedly done should she had seen the way he'd just handled her poor husband's ticker…For he knew it would've been thousand times more terrifying than what Salazar would've done to him should he had been able to have his revenge…Even rivarling the fury of the Kraken and the Sea Goddess herself…or them both combined.
"Sorry 'bout that Willie. Hope that didn't bring upon any serious heartburn…literally", Jack murmured, despite of saying that him then hearing an angry outcry to come from his right side and this time used the chest to shield his head from an incoming lash of an enemy cutlass without any second thought. It remaining as his only weapon against the incoming pirates until one of Barbossa's previous opponents was shoved out of the man's way after the pirate had managed to keep the elder man engaged into a duel for quite a while, and who in fact had been able to land a couple of blows at Barbossa. Upon seeing Henry's outraged expression at the sight of Jack battling with the chest Carmen had taken the defeated pirate's sword and slid it over to Jack who was tripped by his own opponent. However too late as once Jack shifted his attention away from the pirate to catch the sword it proved enough distraction for the miscreant who then kicked the chest Jack had been using as his shield to leave him open for his following attack, Jack stiffening in expectation of getting ran through once his fingers had grasped around the cutlass' hilt just as the miscreant towering above him tired to shove the blade into him. Barbossa, who by this point had made his way through Fernán's men unwittingly saving him by striding forth and whacking one of the obstructing pirates out of the way, the man colliding with Jack's adversary, before sliding the blade of his sword between the fork of the Trident that just previously had threatened to strike Carina. Swinging the Trident away from the young woman before propelled Fernán's arm to the side, keeping it at bay upon confronting the taken aback Spaniard.
Fernán gave him a fleeting stunned look upon realizing him to have managed to cut his bonds, before tilted his head thoughtfully once the Trident that had once more begun to glow when the two weapons had made contact didn't in fact shatter Barbossa's blade, but instead caused the stones imbedded onto the sword's guard to begun to shine as well. The sword actually resonating with the Trident's power, and his dismay over this was soon cleared once he locked gazes with Barbossa and he acknowledged his weapon's ability to withstand against the Trident, which no mere ordinary sword could challenge.
"That sword defies the power of Poseidon?" he remarked, studying Barbossa quizzically who then shifted the blade a little for the Spaniard to get a better view of it. Carina crawling away from them as also her gaze was now riveted to the sword that had rushed to ward off the Trident's attack to guard her life, confused herself of why it hadn't crumbled under the influence of the sea god's power…Where the man holding it seemed now but amused by this.
"You're not be the only one with run-ins that of things ancient and mythical Calabar…And I figured a sword forged by the same deity that crafted that very Trident ye're holdin' could hold its own against it", Barbossa replied with a content smile, although deep down there was rage within the man that was slightly visible to those who knew what to look…or rather who had seen the way the pirate had always regarded Carina as something more than a common woman that was of no significance to him.
"Wielder of an Atlantean weapon", the Spaniard mused, truthfully slightly intrigued and a ghost of a smile paid a visit on his lips then as he indeed eyed at the sword and its broadening blade now in brief confusion as to where this man had acquired it. "I am surprised. However…"
Fernán took a stance against Barbossa's blade then, with a commanding beckon made towards his adversary several of his crewmen then drawing their own weapons and coming forth, leveling them at the pirate currently pointing his at their captain. Fernán tilting a head at the elderly man in front of him as a sign for him to put his sword away, for it availed him not to act defiant at the face of the evident disadvantage he was. "That blade aids you little if using it will leave you only pierced by my men's swords old man."
"Aye. For that is why I had you distracted long enough for your men to gain something else to stick those blades in."
Fernán frowned at this, but before he could bring himself to understand the meaning of Barbossa's baffling remark his eyes picked up motion from behind his crewmen left to guard Carmen and Henry. Seeing how suddenly out of the shadows of the temple emerged forms of several men, more soon joining them from between the gaps of the pillars and through the entrance, where alerted by the Spaniard's astounded expression now the youth also could see someone step out in the open from behind the statue of Poseidon. So finally lured to push himself apart from Barbossa's weapon to turn around to see where the pirate's eyes had been currently directed, Fernán could but take a confused pace backwards in means of turning before he saw another blade to appear to his field of vision. One that however was pointed at him, and once the taken aback Spaniard turned his head to the side to see the calloused hand grasping to the hilt of the cutlass hoisted at him the tip of it pressed against his cheek. The positioning of the weapon however clearly meant to indicate him to be slit open due to even a single wrong move, which was why the Spaniard cast his eyes to his right side where his threatener was standing.
Carmen heard the thud of the closing in footsteps and she turned, to also watch how these men were walking across the temple towards the altar, ones she didn't recognize…but whom caused her breath to be then stuck in her lungs briefly as her eyes skimmed over the approaching sailors only to notice the sealife that covered them…Telling her them to be no ordinary men, and she was taken over by a similar sense of terror like when she'd been confronted with the crew of the Silent Mary for the first time. Only Henry's own reaction breaking her nervous stare at these equally haunting looking men surrounding them, as she could feel the lad to abruptly jerk himself upward. The word that then slipped his lips in utmost disbelief and dismay causing her then to twirl around to direct a quizzical look down at him, to see Henry's widened eyes filled with awe, until her focus shifted fully to the man holding a cutlass at Fernán…His eyes blazing with hatred. Personal vengeance unlike she'd laid witness to before seeing Salazar faced with Jack. Only now it was something far more intimate. That much was evident to anyone who now saw the way that man was leering at Fernán.
"Father", Henry whispered, as stupefied as his words then made Carmen, her blinking at the lad in wonder until her attention was drawn to the man at the altar. Quick examination over his bearing telling her him to be bewitched with same kind of unnatural appearance as the rest of the arrived men, barnacles, seaweed and corals adorning his clothes and even his face. The bandana that covered his overgrown brown hair and his attire suggesting him to be indeed a sailor, but this band of men that had accompanied him didn't seem like pirates to her any more than he did as she eyed at the suddenly appeared Will Turner glaring daggers at Fernán. Then instantly, despite the impossibility of it, the gypsy girl however realizing from the overall stature and semblance of the man him to indeed look like Henry…And as Carmen now shifted her gaze back to the lad who now raised himself to a better sitting position and continued to stare at Will with those emotive eyes etched with recognition that told of a long harbored, heartfelt longing of a son denied of his parent, she knew…That man was truly Henry's father…His cursed father. The captain of the Flying Dutchman.
"William!" Jack exclaimed. Identifying the captain of this band of men to the rest of the baffled pirates, as took a few steps closer to the altar. Jack raising the chest he was still holding remarkably while earned Will's attention briefly, flashing that same grin at him that he was very familiar with, but which he didn't recall accompany situations any less troublesome such as this. "'Bout time you showed up…Was beginning to wonder would ye continue to be a stranger even after me not so suave invitation."
Will said nothing to that. Simply raising his eyebrows but slightly as a greeting or indication of any possible delight to be once more reunited with a familiar face before his gaze landed onto the chest. Henry ending the ensued silence then as he finally rose to his feet, supported by Carmen once the lad found himself still a bit wobbly from the blow of the Trident, although the lad's now more earnest mien could hardly contain his glee as he once again peered at Will after casting a pondering look of his own at the Dead Man's Chest. Incredulous.
"Father! What are you doing here?"
Will's irises turned instantly but gentle as his focus went to Henry, him only briefly showing his own stunner over his son's so much changed appearance as under the same kind of thrall of yearning he quickly took in the lad's grown up features of a young man, until like Henry his mien resumed its previous stern exterior. Will's eyes drifting back to Fernán after visiting Barbossa…Him earning a nod of acknowledgment from the elderly pirate, who like him was still pointing a weapon at the Trident wielding Spaniard.
"Your mother was worried…And I came to retrieve something of mine", Will told him, casting a slight light over the fate of Elizabeth after her informed last meeting with Fernán and revealing her to have apparently contacted Will. Informing him of the predicament their son had found himself in and asked for his help in finding him, hence explaining the Dutchman's crew's sudden appearance here in Poseidon's sunken temple…Now brought abreast of the events himself Fernán gazing at the Dead Man's Chest as well until broke into a knowing smile, once Will then revealed himself more from behind him by taking a couple of steps forward. The Spaniard giving his cutlass an amused glance that now moved to hover under his chin in turn. Fernán's eyes shifting back up to peer at Will from the corner of his eye.
"Captain Turner…I won't say it's a pleasure, but it is good to meet the captain of the infamous Flying Dutchman", Fernán mused, the polite tone of his voice but a facade as he was the least eager to have to deal with yet another needless complication...especially in a form of the accursed boy's father. Him turning his head around more to get a better look at Will then and his smile immediately widened, it turning now simply gloatful as he took notice of the signs of the Dutchman's curse that had begun to manifest on him, heavily. "And now by the looks of you I find your boy to have had a pressing reason indeed to meddle with my plans."
"Señor Calabar", Will greeted in equal spite, the very air of this man sickening Will and made him understand exactly why Elizabeth had been so frightened about knowing this man to be after Henry, and because of this he endowed the Spaniard and his scornful delivery with a scowl as inclined his head at him. Studying him before angled the cutlass better at him, angry. "I won't make such a claim either…for it is not a habit of mine to show courtesy to those who have raised a hand against my family."
Will now approached Fernán, sliding the blade of the sword now directly under the Spaniard's neck as locked his hard eyes with his. "You threatened my wife and son."
"Not quite so little either…Told ye mate. Peas in a pod", Jack remarked, at first looking at Will until his gaze drifted over to Fernán, whose composed appearance was beginning to crack due to that same rage he'd last dispalyed just a moment earlier. The Spaniard simply giving the spoken pirate a death glare as the meaningful reference of that sentence had been lost to everyone except Will, until his attention returned to the man in question, defiant of his rancor.
"And what will you do about it, hombre? You've come to kill me?" Fernán asked, far too cocksurely for someone having a sword at his throat as tested Will's resolve by leaning against the blade so that it sank into his scarred skin. Will narrowing his eyes at him as tightened his grip of the weapon's handle, for a moment looking like considering it, but after a while he only angled his jaw to level a venomous look into his eyes.
"No. But to save my son."
"And we'll be takin' that Trident", Barbossa added, now joining Will's cutlass with his own sword so that they crossed with a defining clink, both resting under the Spaniard's jawline as he then reached out a significant hand. To receive the Trident from Fernán, while the sailors of the Dutchman neared Fernán's men weapons in hand. To compel them to surrender, for unlike back at the time in the supposed burial place of Poseidon it was not Fernán and his men that had the advantage...but the tables had now been turned and he and his crew were rendered inferior against the joined forces of their former captives and Will's crew. "For now your dear brother freed from the curse you have no further need for it…unlike us wishin' to flee from a watery demise at this underwater tomb."
Ingrato = ingrate
marina = marine
Desgraciado = wretch