The pirates cleared out of the cavern quicker than Violet would have expected, and she wondered what this curse was. Jack had never told her about anything like that. Not that he had told her much of anything.
"I must admit, Jack, I thought I had you figured. But turns out, you're a hard man to predict," Barbossa crooned, turning to Jack. But Violet was gone, slipping behind a mound of coins and treasure towards a burly pirate who had stayed behind from the others: the one with a silver, shining cutlass hanging from his belt. A cutlass that belonged to her.
He was engrossed in a wooden chest full of diamonds, and he was bent down next to a river of water that snaked around behind Jack, Barbossa, and Will. She made her way carefully towards the pirate, her lip curling in a sneer the way it always did before a battle. She waited until she was directly behind him before she snatched the hilt of the cutlass and slid it as quietly as she could from the man's scabbard. The man began to turn, but Violet brought the cutlass up and slit the pirate's throat in one swift motion before heaving her body into him and pushing him into the water. Somehow, he was still able to yell, which unsettled Violet.
The splash alerted Barbossa and Jack, who seemed to be finishing up one of his speeches that he always did before executing one of his grand master plans.
"What-" began Barbossa, but Jack was at another pirate's side already, drawing the unsuspecting man's sword and pushing him into the water to join Violet's victim. Quickly, Jack flipped it up into Will's hands, who looked surprised as he caught it with bound hands, and used the moment of disbelief to push the pirate guarding him into the water behind them.
With a sharp noise, Jack whipped out his own sword, and started towards the surprised Barbossa, who quickly drew his own blade. Violet, never one to miss a fight, ran over to help Will, who had just freed his hands and was being assaulted by two pirates.
"Need a hand?" she asked, and the sound of her blade clashing against another was a song in her ears that sent her blood rushing.
"Thanks," Will said gratefully, and the two of them fought side by side, jabbing and parrying and bringing down all they could against the three pirates that had now joined the fight.
"You're good," Violet said breathlessly, leaning forward to skewer a pirate. She pulled out her sword, which was now coated in a fresh laquer of blood, and kicked the man backwards into the water.
"Self-taught," he explained, and she took a minute to admire his expert footwork. "And you're not so bad yourself."
"I, too, am self-taught," she said haughtily, and the two of them brought their swords back at the same time, their parrying sending ringing through the cave.
Beside them, Jack and Barbossa were fighting a heated battle, both men's years of hatred and anger escaping through the clash of their swords.
With finesse, Will finally took out his pirate just as Violet took out hers, the two bodies tumbling back to the water.
"Should we help Jack?" Will asked, and Violet nodded swiftly. They started toward Jack and Barbossa, swords drawn, just in time to see Jack drive his sword through Barbossa's chest. Violet stared, disbelieving, as Barbossa simply smiled and pulled the sword out of his own chest.
"What in the-" she began, but suddenly, Barbossa turned the sword and thrust it straight into Jack Sparrow.
"No!" she screamed, unable to stop herself, and for just a minute, the world seemed to stop. It couldn't end like this. It couldn't. She felt herself running towards him as he stared down at the sword in his chest, staggering backwards until-
He turned in a skeleton the second moonlight hit his skin. Violet gasped, stumbling back, the sight nearly making her fall to the ground. He was completely skeletal, his clothes torn and his eyes wide and unseeing.
"That's- interesting," Jack said, as if nothing was wrong, and he looked down at something clutched in his hand: a medallion. The one he had palmed from the chest earlier. He was too good at this.
"So that's the curse," Violet breathed to herself, standing up straighter. "Of course there are skeletons."
"Couldn't resist, mate," Jack said apologetically to Barbossa, who quickly grabbed a sword and rushed at Jack, eventually landing in the moonlight. Violet supposed she shouldn't have been surprised when he, too, turned into a skeleton, and the two monsters rushed at each other with renewed vigor.
"Are you a skeleton too?" Violet asked Will tentatively after she'd regained what was left of her composure, and Will shook his head solemnly.
"Fortunately not," he said, and they stared at the battle, unsure of whether or not they should help. All of a sudden, Jack managed to kick Barbossa to the ground, who rolled downward, getting up just in time.
The two men dueled expertly, every step perfect. For pirates, that was.
"So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to be two immortals, locked in an epic battle 'til Judgement Day and trumpets sound? Hmm?" Barbossa mocked, dancing around Jack as he swished his blade.
"Or you could surrender," remarked Jack, and Violet shook her head, her sword hand itching to do some fighting. Barbossa only smiled, attacking Jack with fresh aggressiveness.
Suddenly, a deafening noise came from behind Violet and Will, and they jumped out of the way as something thrown by a pirate exploded near them.
"Oh, come on," Violet said, rolling her eyes as they rushed the pirate, swords flashing in the dim cavern light. The pirate grinned at them and dodged their attacks as another man joined him, dripping wet from being previously thrown into the water. The four faced off, and the battle was even until Will was blown off his feet by another projectile thrown by the same pirate.
Violet watched helplessly, locked in combat, as Will's sword fell from his hand, and the pirate raised his sword above his struggling body.
"I'm gonna teach you the meaning of pain!" sneered the pirate, and Violet searched her brain for a plan to help him while still sword fighting with her opponent.
"You like pain?" came a voice from the side of the cave. Suddenly, Elizabeth Swann appeared, armed with a long wooden stick. Swiftly, she slammed it into the pirate, knocking him off his feet. "Try wearing a corset," she finished triumphantly.
Violet grinned, and with new inspiration, twisted her sword and slammed the hilt of it into her assailant's head, causing him to collapse on the ground.
"Bloody brilliant," she said to Elizabeth, interrupting the sickening look of love that was being passed from her to Will. She looked up at Violet, helping Will to his feet.
"Thank you," Elizabeth replied, dipping her head. "But-" she said, looking over at Jack, who was still fighting Barbossa, "whose side is Jack on?"
"Honestly, Elizabeth, there's no way to tell," Violet said, shaking her head, and Will shrugged in agreement.
Suddenly, Violet's pirate and Will's, along with another, quickly came at them, ready to attack. Will's pirate was armed with another bomb, ready to blast them all to pieces, and all three pirates were now terrifyingly skeletal.
Quickly, Elizabeth and Will ran towards them, parrying blows and using Elizabeth's weapon to hook all three together. He then thrust the bomb into the middle pirate's skeletal ribcage and pushed all three out of the moonlight, the bomb now sealed inside the pirate's chest.
He stared at Will, surprised, and cried out in agony.
"No fair!" he shouted, just as Will, Elizabeth and Violet dived away and the three pirates exploded into nothing.
Suddenly, from where Jack and Barbossa stood, Violet saw Jack toss the medallion to Will, who promptly caught it. Sensing this exchange, Barbossa turned, pistol exposed, and pointed it straight at Elizabeth, who froze, unsure of what to do, and Violet looked around for an option, maybe she could-
Bang.
A shot reverberated through the cave, and Violet turned immediately to Elizabeth, but it wasn't her who was injured.
There stood Jack, holding his smoking pistol, the one with only one shot, pointed straight at Barbossa.
"Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot?" he laughed, mocking Jack, who didn't look concerned.
"He didn't waste it," came Will's voice, and Violet turned to see him standing above the Aztec chest, blood coating one hand and a knife in the other. Slowly, he opened his hand, and both Jack's and his medallion plummeted down into the chest, covered in his blood.
Suddenly, blood bloomed over Barbossa's shirt, a red flower slowly expanding its petals. Jack lowered his pistol slowly as Barbossa, disbelieving, stared down at himself, slowly dying.
"I feel- cold," he said quietly, and just like that, Captain Hector Barbossa fell to the ground of the Isla de Muerta, dead.
Violet leaned against a chest of treasure, her bloody sword on the ground next to her. In front of her, Will and Elizabeth were embracing, nearly close to kissing, when Jack promptly dropped some of the treasure he was hauling onto the ground, jolting them apart.
She closed her eyes, folding her hands behind her head. If anyone was clueless, it was Jack. She couldn't believe that Barbossa, the great pirate captain was dead. And what now? Where would she go? Would she truly go back to being trapped on another island, stealing and bartering for passage?
"I did a fair job, didn't I, love?" asked a lilting voice, and Violet opened her eyes to see Jack standing in front of her. She didn't bother to stand up, or move her boots so he could come closer.
"I suppose you did, didn't you," she replied nonchalantly, and Jack grinned at that. The battle seemed to have wiped all feelings of resentment and shame from between them, at least for the time being. But she couldn't shake the horrible feeling that had come over her when she had thought Jack dead. If she ever had to lose him…
"Get yourself some treasure, savvy? I reckon you can buy a new ship with all this," he said, gesturing around him.
"Off to the Pearl, then?" she asked, slowly getting to her feet and ignoring the hand Jack stuck out to help her up. "Quit the gentlemanly act, Sparrow," she added, and he brought his hand back sharply, a hurt look on his face.
"Will you be joining me?" he asked quietly, and she turned to face him, their gazes locking.
"I don't have a ship, do I?" she said, a faint smile on her face, and Jack's face broke into a relieved grin that made her laugh. "For now, Sparrow. You're still just a temporary acquaintance."
Suddenly, Jack seemed to remember something, and he reached inside his coat to reveal a wrinkled, sandy hat that matched the one on his own head. Her hat.
"Found this on the island," he said, holding it out to her, and she took it with a grin before putting it over her tangled curls.
And as they stood there, surrounded by the glow of a thousand coins, Violet wished she could bottle this moment and never let it go.
The happy moment was over.
Violet was furious, digging her fingers into her sack of treasure as she glared out at what was in front of her. Or rather, what wasn't in front of her. The Black Pearl was gone.
Jack, armed with his own sack of treasure, Will, and Elizabeth sat in the rowboat along with her. Jack simply looked sadly out at the empty ocean, and Elizabeth turned sorrowfully to him.
"I'm sorry, Jack," she said softly, but Jack simply shook his head.
"They done what's right by them. Can't expect more than that," he said with a melancholy air, and both Violet and Will shook their heads incredulously.
"Of course you can. Those damn idiots will pay when I get my hands on them," Violet growled, staring menacingly out at the ocean.
"But you won't," Will said, scowling. "The Pearl is the fastest ship in the Caribbean."
"You underestimate me, Will. None of that crew will be safe when I get back to them. And I will," she swore, and she turned to Jack, who was still looking longingly out at the ocean.
She would find the Pearl again. There was no doubt in her mind about that.