Weeks passed, and one terrible night, Rose had another of her legendary nightmares. Henry was in grave danger. He was standing on a burning ship, crying for help. She didn't know where she was in relation to him, but she couldn't do anything but watch in silent horror. Flames began to swallow the sails. She heard an ominous creak, and her heart stopped as she watched a beam quiver and crack, falling straight down. She felt an intense pressure on her throat as she lost sight of Henry behind the flaming beam. Once it made contact with the burning deck, she awakened.
But the pressure on her throat didn't subside. That was real. She was still surrounded by darkness, as it was dark in her room. But her arms flailed wildly as she felt the incredible pressure on her throat tighten. Someone was in her room, and he was prepared to kill her.
He was leaning over her, standing on the right side of her bed, whoever he was. Her left arm grabbed one of his wrists, while the right flew instinctively to the floor beneath her bed, where she had a knife stationed. She was most vulnerable in her bed at night, where she was utterly blind to the world, and she had lived amongst pirates long enough to know never to trust them. That was why she had some form of weapon nearby for any situation.
The knife fell just beyond her reach. It was futile. His grip tightened. Her right arm gave up on the knife and flew up to his wrist to try and loosen his grip. The pressure only grew tighter. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her mouth gasped for air she was blocked from attaining.
Suddenly, the pressure ceased. Someone else was pulling on his shoulders. "Stop it! This is not civil!" It was a young man.
The brute who had her neck in his grasp reluctantly let her go. Rose felt her chest explode in size as her lungs searched for air. She started coughing and gagging, hands reaching for her bruised throat, almost as if she no longer believed it was still there.
Her coughing subsided enough to hear the next voice. The voice she didn't even know was in the room with her. A voice she had never again thought she would hear, and hoped she would never hear again.
"He's right. I told you to take her into the other room!" barked Angelica.
Rose felt as though she had been punched in the stomach, on top of already having been nearly strangled. "Angelica?" she tried to say, but collapsed into another coughing fit as she struggled to sit up.
"Your henchman would have killed her had I not turned the corner!" the young man said.
She heard the click of Angelica's pistol, and he stopped talking. "Don't make me take his side." Rose's assailant was still silent. She heard a clomping of feet, and she assumed yet another man was in her room.
"Both of you," Angelica ordered. "Take her to the downstairs room!"
Rose was instantly lifted off the ground from both of her arms by the two silent men. Her feet barely touched the ground as they flew from her room to her storeroom. Her harsh breathing persisted, but the pain was gone. Her eyesight was slowly restored as she saw that they had lit the candles in the room.
The two men threw her to the ground. Instinctively, she screamed. It was her only chance to alert Elizabeth that she was in danger, although the fortress was so large that she doubted that would work. She felt a sharp pain at the top of her head upon screaming, as Angelica instantly grabbed her hair and pressed the barrel of her gun to her throat.
"Try that again and it'll be the last thing you'll ever do!"
Rose looked up at her after she released her, gun still aimed at her head. Angelica was undoubtedly older, yet looked far healthier whence last Rose had last seen her. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction at having taken Rose by surprise. Rose slowly examined the room. It was in complete disarray and looked completely ransacked. Many of her shelves had been turned over, chairs were upside down, items were scattered and broken, and papers were strewn all across the floor. Rose had been so engrossed in the nightmare, that even the chaos downstairs wasn't enough to wake her.
Now to her assailants; Angelica stood directly in front of her, bandana tying back her dark hair. She had outgrown dresses, having traded in her skirts for trousers and an ornamented red coat, pushed to the side by her sheathed sword. Next to her was the young man who had initially saved her life. He had fair hair and handsome features. He was quite young, and his eyes were full of sympathy. Next were the two brutes who had picked her up and delivered her here. One was adjacent to her left, while the other stood at the door. These men sent shivers down her spine. Their eyes were hollow and distant. They were shirtless and muscular, bodies warped and swollen, their skin cut and sewn together.
These men were undead.
It was Calypso who had taught Angelica about zombies, but Rose didn't expect that she had the wherewithal to actually make them into a reality.
Despite her horror at the mere existence of these things, men who weren't even allowed to rest in peace, the last man in the room was undoubtedly the worst. The long, dark beard and dense, cold shark eyes seemed to bore into her skull told her instantly who it was.
It was Blackbeard, Angelica's father.
Rose closed her eyes and shook her head. Of course they were here. She directed her words at Angelica. "I see you found your father."
She smiled wryly and held her hand up. Clutched in her fist was Calypso's locket. "I see you found yours."
Rose tried to calm the rage roaring within her, and merely looked at her. "He's not here, you know. Jack? I have no idea where he is."
"We aren't here for your moronic brother, Madam Hexfury," Blackbeard said from his corner of the room. Perhaps the most frightening thing about him was the placidity in which he delivered his words. Throughout their entire encounter, he never lost this austere demeanor. No anger, no wrath, no joy...just...nothing. He continued. "We're here for some information you have. Information we need."
Rose's stomach dropped. Were they hear to threaten Will's heart? What had this crew discovered, and how did they find her? Rose had to act like she knew nothing. "Angelica had just as much training as I did from Tia Dalma—"
But she didn't get a chance to finish her thought, when his piercing words sliced over hers. "Angelica!"
Angelica lowered her gaze on Rose and obediently chirped, "Yes, father." Rose had never seen this side of Angelica. She was...frightened. For the first time in her life, Rose witnessed Angelica's fear of another person.
"I thought you said that we would have no part in heathen prophets like the soothsayer you were so cursed to live with!"
Ah. So Blackbeard was devoutly religious. Thus, Angelica's time in a convent was well explained.
"Father," Angelica's voice was nearly pleading. "The stories of the heathens provide clues as to where we can harness great power."
"I state again," Rose bravely repeated, "Angelica has just as much knowledge as I do."
Angelica tossed the locket at her feet. "Apparently not."
Rose swallowed. She had no choice but to comply. "What do you want to know?" she asked ruefully.
"We want information about a certain mystical item that gains eternal life."
Rose winced. Desperate, she pleaded, "Listen to me. I know not what the people of the town have told you, but I know nothing about the chest."
Angelica and Blackbeard exchanged a mutually surprised glance which made Rose's heart stop. They weren't here about the chest. Rose had just given that information away accidentally.
"We don't seek a chest, but if it too offers eternal life, I'll gladly take that information from you as well," Blackbeard said. "We search for something else entirely, however."
Angelica knelt next to her, gun still aimed at her head. She murmured threateningly, "L'Aqua de Vida. The Fountain of Youth."
Rose's eyes went wide. Angelica knew how much Rose knew about the Fountain of Youth because of what Tia had taught her. How was it that Angelica, Jack, and Teague all sought the same item?
"Once again I say," Rose spat, "Angelica knows just as much as I do about the Fountain."
Angelica smirked. "Tia Dalma told me some, but I suspect there is more to know. And since we visited her shack first and found it to be abandoned, we asked around and found the apple of her eye instead: you! Tell us what you know."
Rose swallowed. "It's in a secret location. A secret cave. But one cannot simply drink the waters once they enter, for it will not work. There are a few ingredients you need." She paused, anticipating someone to ask her what they were, but they all were fixated on her words, so she continued. "First are the chalices, last known to be found by Ponce De Leon. Find the chalices, and drink the water."
"Is that all?" Angelica asked.
Rose considered, then remembered. The mermaid tear. She decided was going to be conservative in what she told them about this detail, as it was the most important.
"No. That's it," Rose lied. Suddenly, to her horror, Henry materialized, probably hearing the commotion and racing downstairs to investigate. He looked in alarm at the large strangers looming over Rose. When he saw Rose kneeling captive on the ground, he fearlessly rushed to one of the zombies, hitting him in the leg as ferociously as his little fists could muster. "Let her go!" he cried.
"HENRY, NO!" Rose cried out, but it was no use. The boy was already in too much danger. The zombies merely exchanged an amused glance, then the one who was being "attacked" by him simply leaned down and gripped his upper arm, causing him to struggle.
Blackbeard domineeringly stalked over to Henry, peering down at him.
"Who are you?" the boy asked.
"Who are you?" Blackbeard retorted in an oddly charming yet very malicious way.
Henry was on the verge of tears. "Why are you hurting us?" he whimpered.
Blackbeard raised his eyebrows. "Why indeed. Quartermaster, release the boy." The zombie obeyed, but Henry was then rendered motionless by Blackbeard himself, who stood behind him with hands on his shoulders, preventing him from fleeing anywhere. "Henry, was it?" he said in a sickeningly sweet way. Looking back to Rose, he then spat, "Your story and that of the mystic's does not quite add up." Rose's heart raced, as she feared the worst for the little child. "Tell us the final ingredient, Madam Hexfury," he said.
"A mermaid's tear," she grumbled.
"Mermaids? Those exist?" said the young man who seemed reluctant if not wholeheartedly against Blackbeard and Angelica.
"Quiet, fool! Of course they exist!" Blackbeard barked at him. The man fell silent once more.
"The mermaid's tear in one of the chalices will give life, while the other will drain the remaining years from the other," Rose complied.
"Pray tell where we will find the Fountain," Blackbeard asked. "And the chalices...and the mermaids. Tis only fair." Rose watched at he ran his blackened fingers through Henry's hair menacingly, and she knew she had no choice but to cooperate for his sake. She looked at Henry once more, who looked bewildered and frightened. Rose had to keep him safe...
"A map," she reported, yet even then she told a lie. "Its locations are very discreet. Not even I know where they are."
Blackbeard cocked his head to the side and for a moment he was pensive. Then he shot a dark glance at the zombie nearest him. "Is she telling the truth?" he asked him.
The zombie simply responded, "She lies."
Rose's heart sank. The one fatal flaw in her plan; Rose had forgotten the fact that zombies are foreseers of what's to come and what lies beneath. Blackbeard's eyes glinted murderously, as he calmly responded to the zombie, "Kill her."
The creature pulled his gun on her and loaded the barrel.
Believe it or not, Rose was entirely calm and expectant during this event. She had often thought that her downfall would be at the hand of Angelica. It was the others who made a commotion.
"No! Please stop!" Henry began to wail, tears running down his poor face. Then the young man started yelling. "Please! Captain, this is not the way!" He grasped Angelica's arm. "Stop this! It isn't right! Not in front of the boy!" Angelica just stood there, staring at at him helplessly.
"Quiet, missionary!" Blackbeard snapped.
"If you are set on killing her, don't do it in front of the boy!" the missionary protested again.
"It's time the lad learns the cruelties of life!" Blackbeard stated. "I was killing men twice your size when I was only a few years his senior!"
The missionary pulled himself right up to Blackbeard, peering unafraid into his nearly jet black eyes. "And maybe that's the difference between darkness and light. What did this boy ever do to deserve this? Or his mother for that matter?"
Blackbeard pulled his sword on the man, causing him to back up into Rose's table. "I'm warning you, missionary. The only reason you're here is because my darling daughter has hopes of my soul's redemption. Be warned! If you persist, you'll be tied to the crow's next and left for dead in the baking sun and hungry birds, and then I'll have you kill her and the boy yourself!"
The missionary looked horrified, but said nothing, glancing frantically between Rose and Henry, two strangers yet two people he carried compassion for. Blackbeard turned back towards the zombie and gave a quick nod. Rose heard the click of the barrel and then...
"Stop!" Angelica cried. Rose opened her eyes. All of the people in the room turned their attention to Angelica, who had not moved. Could this have been some residual sympathy for the days of our childhood the girls had spent together? She looked at Blackbeard and said, "She still has information on the map. She is of more use to us alive than dead, Father."
Blackbeard looked impressed. "Indeed," he growled. "From what you say, she has endured much pain. Killing her would be a gift." He looked at a trembling Henry. "Threatening someone she loved would hurt her more."
Rose felt a pit in her stomach. Even though Henry was not her son, as the others had mistaken him to be, Rose helped bring Henry into this world. Her entire life was restricted to Shipwreck because of his existence and her loyalty to his parents. Henry was her life. "No," she cried. "I'm begging you, leave him out of this!"
The zombie's pistol was turned on Henry, who looked at Rose with grave panic. The missionary was again pleading with them. "This is not the way of light! He is an innocent child!"
Even Angelica tried to speak up. "Father, I must—"
"Quiet!" he barked, silencing her.
Rose loved Jack. But ultimately, he was a capable adult who had overcome death itself. Henry was an inexperienced boy, defenseless. Rose had no choice. "Jack! Jack has the map!"
Blackbeard looked to the zombie with the loaded pistol for corroboration. He nodded, and slowly released his hold on his weapon. He laughed darkly. "Ah of course. Sparrow has the map." He pulled a dagger from his belt and handed it to Angelica, who had a foreign bundle in her own hands. She began to approach Rose expressionless as Blackbeard growled, "Then there is only one thing to do, mademoiselle."
Then she saw it. The voodoo doll. It was decorated to look like Jack. So this was the plan after all. To take Rose for all she had, then on top of all that, use the blood she shared with Jack to control and manipulate him as she saw fit. The zombie grabbed Rose's shoulders as she tried to wriggle away from her ever-nearing dagger.
Then the incision. Angelica stuck the tip of her dagger in Rose's right cheek and twisted the blade, making a small cut in the shape of an X. She then pulled out the blade and made a similar incision on the doll's face. As soon as her blood made contact with the doll's exterior, Rose fell to the ground, mouth wide with silent screams of pain she could not utter. She felt as though her top layer of skin had been removed, pricked with infinitesimal needles, then replaced and pulled in every direction. The pain intensified, then was gone as her body melded to the doll's.
Rose had collapsed on the floor, gasping for air and devoid of all energy.
Blackbeard nodded, motioning to the zombies, who filed out the door. "Thanks for the help, Madam Hexfury. I'll be sure to tell your brother you said hello." He then turned to the missionary, saying,"If you dare try anything else or question my judgement, you will have to find your own 'way of light,' understood? I promise you I will feed you to the crows."
Just before he departed he gave one last look at Rose writhing in pain on the ground. He chuckled, "Oh, and don't think for a moment I won't be back to inquire about this 'chest' of which you speak, sea witch." He then marched away. The missionary looked sympathetically at Rose, then reluctantly followed.
She was still gasping for air, trying to stand, trying to move, anything, but the pain was too much for her to bear. She was able to twist her head around so that she saw Angelica staring with a forlorn expression, then start toward the door.
"You will…fail," Rose gasped. "You will fail…because you have far less power…than…than you think you do."
She hoped those words struck fear into her heart, for she wordlessly left afterward. Rose curled up in a ball as the cold of the night-laden swamp enveloped her. She couldn't pursue them, or even comfort poor, frightened Henry, she was so weak.
He crawled to her, whispering through staggered breaths. "R—Rose? Get up. Rose?" She couldn't even move her neck now, so she just instructed him as best she could, "Go…find your…mother. Go, Henry!"
The brave lad wiped his face with his sleeve and instantly obeyed, running back into the belly of the fortress where Elizabeth was asleep on the other side of where they were. She now only could wait for Henry to bring help, but she felt completely frozen as she shivered alone on the ground. Time seemed to drag on forever as she prayed Elizabeth would come soon.
Suddenly, she felt a warmth around her. She reached around her shoulders and felt a warm coat.
"I am sorry for you and your son," Angelica whispered. "I…I did not wish it to be this way. I am sorry."
Then she was gone.
