Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts II

Chapter 91: The Caribbean part X

A small row boat slowly moved through the water and toward a small island, which had a vast jungle just a few yards from the shoreline. The group within the boat itself were Jack and Norrington toward the front, Sora and Elizabeth in the back, and two of the ship's crew members at the center. These two were named Ragetti and Pintel respectfully, both of whom were handling the rowing.

Jack and Norrington appeared to be shoving one another a bit for extra space, Ragetti and Pintel were constantly debating different thing between themselves. Meanwhile, the pair in the back simply watched all this silently with heavy sighs. "So...I never got to ask this before, but..." Sora started as she looked over to Elizabeth.

"...for what reason did you come out here?" the teen continued with a curious tilt of her head.

"Your father mentioned something about William and Sparrow. And I assume that by 'Sparrow', he meant Captain Jack Sparrow." she furthered, making a brief gesture toward said man directly ahead of them.

"So who's 'William'?" Sora finished while slowly raising a brow.

Elizabeth blinked a few times from each of these questions before offering a soft smile. "I came out here to find Will, my fiance. He went looking for Jack, so I figured if I found one, I'd find the other." she answered, tilting her head up as a fond expression was visible on her features, before it turned to one of disappointment by the end.

Sora gazed at her for a few long moments, yet then blinked rapidly in response. "Y-You're engaged? Well, um...congratulations." she said quickly with a brief bow of her head.

The woman chuckled lightly while offering a thankful smile, to which she then shrugged her shoulders. "I appreciate it. Though...who knows when we'll be able to actually have a wedding at this rate." Elizabeth said silently, her gaze slowly shifting down in thought as she was clearly worried about this.

In seeing her turmoil, the silver-haired girl offered a light smile of her own and patted Elizabeth on the shoulder. "I'm sure it'll happen eventually. And when it does, I'm positive that it'll be worth the wait." she claimed confidently, leading for the woman to look at her in a slightly surprised manner.

"I suppose so." she said in response while a faint smile curled her lips.

After sharing an appreciative gave, the two then slowly looked ahead just as the two crew members started arguing about yet another subject. "And I don't think it's Kraken anyways." Pintel muttered with a shake of his head.

"Always heard it said 'Kray-ken'." he continued in a confident manner.

"What, with a long 'A'?" Ragetti questioned, earning a nod in response.

"No no no, 'Krock-en' is how it is in the original Scandinavian, and 'Krack-en' is closer to that." the man explained, him rowing a bit faster.

"Well, we ain't original Scandinavians, are we?" Pintel more of stated than asked, to which he rolled his eyes while muttering 'Kray-ken'.

"It's a mythical creature and I can calls it what I wants." Ragetti claimed in a huff, not slowing his pace at all.

"If it's so mythical, then why are you pulling so fast?" Pintel questioned in an almost mocking manner.

But before either of them could say anything further, there was a brief slash in the water just to the side. This leading for both men turn to look in this direction, then to each other before immediately starting to row much more quickly...in sync. Though, Sora blinked a few times in hearing this conversation, to which she leaned a bit forward since the two were facing the girl. "What's all this about a Kraken?" she asked curiously.

As the pair looked at her with a somewhat surprised gaze, they went on to tell the teen of the beast that does the bidding of Davy Jones. "Gibbs does a better job at telling the story, but that's about it." Pintel muttered at the end, to which Ragetti nodded slowly in agreement.

However, Sora just stared at them silently. As just like with Davy Jones, even the Kraken was known in her world. 'It actually does sound a bit scary.' she thought to herself as she couldn't help the slight shiver run up her spine.

'I mean...being able to drag an entire ship down would mean it's incredibly strong. And atop of that...it sounds pretty creepy being a deep sea creature from myths and legends.' Sora continued just as the boat reached the island itself.

Jack then set what appeared to be a large jar filled with sand into the boat, him having been holding it the whole time. This being the first time the teen was able to see it as Jack was the first to enter the row boat. "What's with the jar of dirt?" she asked as the pirate captain removed his jacket and threw it next to the jar.

"It's to help." is all Jack stated, yet it was very clear to everyone that even he wasn't sure of what to do with it.

Yet he then took one of the shovels and swung it over his shoulder, before turning his attention to Pintel and Ragetti. "Guard the boat, mind the tide...don't touch my dirt." he stated firmly as he then started heading inland.

Sora looked at Jack with a raised brow, as it was obvious he was a man on a mission. Hence why he was being so brief with everyone. Once everyone was on shore, save for the two staying behind, Jack then handed Elizabeth his compass. "Where to love?" he asked, making a gesture for her to lead them forward.

Of which she did, despite sighing at the man. As they walked along the beach, Sora started to notice how Elizabeth was avoiding going too close to the jungle. There being all manner of tropical trees and fauna, as well as all the insects one would expect from such a place. Though, Norrington took notice of a structure far into the distance, which held a decayed cross at the top. "I didn't expect anyone to be here." he muttered silently with a curious gaze at what appeared to be a church.

To his words, Elizabeth shook her head and let out a somewhat sad sigh. "There's not." was all she said at first, continuing forward for a few steps before stopping and turning toward the building as well.

"If Jack's compass is actually right, then this is Isla Cruces." she continued, to which both Norrington and Jack paused in their steps as well.

"So...'that's' the church then." Norrington muttered silently as a solemn atmosphere filled the group, yet it just made Sora confused and interested in what it was that happened here.

"Jones always did enjoy tragedy." Jack muttered silently as he was the first to continue on forward.

The others slowly did the same, but not without the silver-haired teen gaining a sudden sinking feeling. As though it was foreboding something she couldn't stop. But despite asking what they were talking about, each of the three all of them simply said she was better off not knowing. While she was still curious, Sora accepted this and walking together with them. The group eventually reaching a series of small dunes as Elizabeth led them on, before suddenly turning around and taking a few steps the way they came.

As she did, the others moved to the side and simply watched her walk by. Yet she then turned once more and took a couple strides forward, to which she came to a stop soon after. Turning her gaze to the side, she seemed to look at Jack. Said the man glancing around at the ocean, making sure there were no ships were on the horizon. Frustrated, Elizabeth shook the compass before then shaking her head and sitting down in the sand. "This doesn't work, and it certainly doesn't show what you want most." she claimed in a clearly annoyed manner.

Jack then moved toward the woman and glanced down at the compass after the woman put it down on the ground. "Yes it does, you're sitting on it." the man claimed with a slightly narrowed gaze.

With a quick turn of her head to look at him, Elizabeth just stared in confusion and a bit of shock. "Beg your pardon?" she uttered out in a near squeak in her voice.

Sora raised a brow slowly as she was just curious as to what the woman meant about the compass and how it worked. Yet she made her way over to the group as Jack shooing Elizabeth away from where she was sitting. Her taking the compass with her, as the pirate captain made a quick 'X' in the sand with his toe. He then turned to Norrington and made a gesture for him to start digging. The man raised a brow briefly, yet let out a heavy sigh before going over to this marker and starting to dig.

However, Sora moved her way over to Elizabeth and gently tapped the woman's shoulder. "Mind if I see that?" she asked, pointing to the compass with a curious gaze.

With no reason to refuse, Elizabeth just nodded with a shrug before handing the teen Jack's compass. Sora gave a thankful nod and smile before closing her eyes and opening the compass; 'She said something about it showing you to what you want most. So now I'm curious about what it'll have for me.' the silver-haired teen thought to herself before opening her eyes and looking to the direction the compass was pointing.

Though, rather than picking a direction, the needle itself was just spinning in circles without any sign of stopping. This made Sora blink a few times as she was curious about what this might mean. But immediately after this thought, she noticed the compass stop spinning and slowly point behind her. In the same moment, Sora heard the all too familiar sound of a corridor of darkness opening. She quickly turned around with intent to fight, but blinked many times when she saw Aeleus coming through.

The girl blinked many times as confusion settled in, to which she she simply closed the compass and put it in her coat pocket. Her not noticing how the needle began spinning once more the moment the portal closed behind Aeleus. Said individual approached the teen, despite the others drawing their swords on him almost immediately. "Aeleus...what are you doing here?" Sora questioned curiously while tilting her head to the side.

In hearing her speak so friendly to the man, the three quickly relaxed and sheathed their blades. Aeleus then gestured for her to follow him a bit into the jungle as he moved to the side. With a tilt of her head and raised brow, Sora started following the man while telling the others that she'd be right back. At which point, they started their digging once more. Or more specifically, Norrington kept digging as the other two watched.

All the while, Aeleus moved just to the edge of the forest before stopping and turning to face the teen. He was silent for a few moments before suddenly kneeling down in front of her, bowing his head low. "I have a favor to ask of you." he stated in a silent yet extremely serious tone.

In seeing the man's demeanor, as well as hearing this in his voice, Sora's heart immediately dropped. Her sensing that something bad was happening, or was about to happen. Yet she swallowed down hard as she attempted to keep her composure in the hopes that it wouldn't be the case. "W-What might that be?" she questioned softly, but her voice was strained from the instant tightening of her throat.

However, Aeleus betrayed her hopes as he looked back up to her with a narrowed gaze, and spoke his next words. "I know this is asking a great deal of you, but I want you to destroy me."

Sora's eyes widened in shock, even taking a step back as though she was just punched in the chest. The foreboding feeling she had from before now being confirmed; "W-What? What are you talking about, Aeleus?" she asked quickly as panic settled in.

The man swiftly shook his head as he actually seemed angry; "I am not Aeleus. I'm merely an Absent Silhouette or him." he stated, one of his hand clenching sand in his fist as if to grind it up even more so in his rage.

Upon hearing this, the silver-haired girl blinked many times before shaking her head quickly. "B-But that's no reason to just destroy yourself." she claimed in a determined and almost desperate manner.

But Aeleus, or Lexaeus, simply shook his head once more as his anger was now audible in his voice. "I will not be like 'this'." he declared firmly as he looked at Sora with a narrowed gaze once more.

"I found out that I've been a spy this whole time for Xemnas. He's been using me to watch all of you and to remain one step ahead. Such a thing has besmirched my honor, and all of those around me. I will not tolerate myself being used in such a way!" Lexaeus growled out as this was truly important to him.

Just listening to these words, Sora trembled slightly as she was almost at a loss for words. "B-But...you can-" she started, but was swiftly cut off by the man as he just shook his head once more.

"No! I am neither capable of atoning, nor real enough to live through this dishonor!" Lexaeus said in a very stern manner.

"I ask this, knowing that you understand how I feel as a warrior...and because I know you will find my true self." he continued, bowing his head at first before slowly looking to her once more.

"I want you to ask him, to atone for what I've done to wrong all of you. As well as to help in your fight against Xemnas." the man finished as his tone gradually became a more pleading one.

Sora was silent for a few long seconds as she was trying to think of a way out of this. Her not wishing to go through yet another instance where she would have to destroy her friend, even if they weren't technically real. He was real enough to her, and after all they went through, she didn't want to throw it all away. However, as she opened her mouth to speak, a familiar voice spoke up from the side. "She'll do it."


Well, that took a sudden turn, huh? Hope all of you still enjoyed and will let me know what you thought. Until next time.