Lord Knows I Can't Change
Chapter Nine
Will wordlessly prayed that he was not dreaming.
His father was alive; his father was in front of him. It seemed real enough. As had the dreams. Those had seemed real enough as well, and they had been anything but.
All they had been, all they had done, was cause pain. Paralyzing pain countless times and countless nights again.
Will watched as his father gingerly pulled the once white shirt sleeve to Jack's shoulder and took hold of his arm, sighing as he inspected the gash that Barbossa had given the man.
Blood. Jack was bleeding, Jack was hurt.
You couldn't feel pain from injuries in your dreams, and judging from how the pirate captain winced, he was feeling pain.
Will blinked. Maybe he wasn't dreaming after all.
But Barbossa had injured Jack, who or what would keep him from injuring or possibly even murdering Bootstrap?
Will didn't know whether to wish that he wasn't dreaming, or that he was.
"He got you good, Jack."
Smiling dryly, Jack replied, "Doesn't he always?" Bootstrap rose an eyebrow at his friends' reply as his hands journeyed down to Jacks'. He lifted the hand to viewing level, eyes roaming over the self-inflicted wound that Jack had granted himself when he had smacked the sword away from his neck. Shaking his head, he released Jack's hand and raised his eyes to the pirate captain's.
"Not even an hour into the voyage and you've already hurt yourself. Twice." Bootstrap crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side, grinning in minor amusement. "Why does this not surprise me in the least bit? You're still daft as ever, Captain Jack Sparrow."
"Finally! Somebody who remembers the first part of me name!" Jack exclaimed and clapped his hands together, forgetting about the injury that plagued his right hand. He winced when they connected and shook his hand with a hiss.
"Like I said…" Bootstrap laughed, and Jack merely looked at the man in displeasure. Bootstrap did nothing but continue to smirk. "Now, now, you know it's my job and duty as your friend to make you angry, Jack."
"Yes, and you're so bloody good at it." Jack's tone was dripping with sarcasm. He leaned against the wall, peering at the man with an eyebrow raised in exasperation.
"I try," the older man responded wryly. "Now, what's your plan?"
Jack's face scrunched up in surprise. "Already? I mean… -These things take time, William…"
"You don't have a plan." It wasn't a question.
Jack narrowed his eyes. "I do so… It's just… Accurately challenged…" He watched the older man raise an eyebrow and sighed, throwing his arms out the side, wincing when a small joint of pain ran through his shoulder. "Fine, alright, I don't have a plan… -Yet. But I will have one!" Bootstrap shook his head and let his hands fall limply back to his sides as he walked towards the desk that Jack usually only used to map out routes on maps with, knowing that the pirate was bound to have at least one bottle of rum somewhere around it. Jack watched him.
"It's called a desk, William."
"Yes, I know that, Jack. I'm looking for some rum," Bootstrap answered as he closed a drawer and opened the one that was above it.
"Ah, I see." Bootstrap didn't have to look at him to know that he was smirking. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the half-empty bottle and some cloth that he found lodged in the back of the drawer and started to walk back to the captain, who was still leaning against the wall. Bootstrap pulled the cork out of the top and, holding the bottle in his left hand, grabbed Jacks' arm with his right hand and promptly poured the rum out over the gash across his shoulder. Jack winced and unconsciously tried to pull away, but Bootstrap held him in place, moving down to his hand a few seconds later and dumping the remaining liquid onto the wound that was there. He leaned down and set the empty bottle on the ground, shrugging it off when the rocking of the ship sent it rolling. His hands traveled back up to Jack's shoulder and he slowly and carefully started to wrap the cloth around the wound.
Will watched from where he stood beside Elizabeth.
"He must have been a good friend."
"He was, William, he was."
Was. He was a good friend. Will sighed, still not sure if was had turned to is.
Honestly, he was afraid to believe that he was indeed not dreaming. That this was real.
The pain that tore through his heart that came from waking up alone was just too much to bear with again.
He would cry, he would scream, he would bleed… -He wouldn't survive waking up again. Time after time he had, and you think that he would learn, that he would eventually feel that painful smack from the uncouth mistress reality and face the fact that his father was dead, and that his dreams were nothing more than proof of how gullible he was, of how fucking naive!
People learn from their mistakes, Will thought and sighed, watching as his father bandaged Jack's hand. Sure they do.
"I have a question." Elizabeth's voice broke the silence. Will didn't look at her. "Jack shot Barbossa and we watched Barbossa die from said shot… -How is he alive exactly?" Upon finishing addressing Jack's wounds, Bootstrap let go of his arm and turned around, facing Elizabeth. He crossed his arms.
"Because, lass, you may have broken the curse for them, for the crew, but not for Barbossa."
"It's Elizabeth Swann," she informed him, and he nodded with a small smile. "And what do you mean 'not for Barbossa'?" Elizabeth shook her head. "We broke the curse."
"Yes, like I said, you broke the curse for the crew, Miss. Swann, but not for Barbossa."
"Just Elizabeth please, and what do you mean exactly?" Elizabeth's tone was a mixture of uncertainty and interest.
"Begun by blood, by blood undone." Bootstrap answered, and Elizabeth narrowed her eyes in apparent confusion, shaking her head slightly. "Begun by blood, by blood undone," he repeated, emphasizing on the two key words. "The Heathen Gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse, and the curse is the cause of greed, the price you pay for your greed. It's blood money. Now, obviously, the person in the biggest rush to reach said gold would be the greediest, correct?" She nodded. "And in this case, that person is Barbossa, and Barbossa was the first one to remove a coin from the chest, so logically, out of the Pearl's crew, he was the greediest. Savvy?" Elizabeth just stared at the man, bewilderment shining in her eyes. Will, though, wasn't even looking up.
Bootstrap frowned.
"And?..." Jack motioned with his wrist, as if telling Bootstrap to continue. The older man shook his head and pulled his eyes away from his son.
"And," he mocked, "as I said earlier, you broke the curse for the crew, but not for Barbossa. There were two curses, you broke one, but one remains, and that is why Barbossa is still alive."
"William?" Bootstrap turned around when Jack called him. "One thing, mate… I killed him!"
"Yes, I know that, Jack."
"So how the bloody hell is he still alive?!"
"Because he was the first one to remove a coin from the chest," he rose an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side. "Don't you listen?" Jack rolled his eyes.
"I am listening!" He spat. "You're just not making sense! I get that he was the first one to remove a coin and that there were, are, whatever, two curses, I got that!"
"Then what don't you get?"
"How is he alive. And don't tell me because he was the first one, yeah, yeah, I get that much… -But what does that have to do with anything?"
Bootstrap rolled his eyes in exasperation. "He is, what I guess you could call, double-cursed because he was the first one to remove a coin, and thus the greediest out of the crew. Think, it's blood money…-If killed, he can be brought back to life, if he were to die of natural causes like, say a storm, he can be brought back to life, Barbossa can't die."
"So he got bored with being dead and removed another coin from the chest." Jack's tone held amusement.
Bootstrap shook his head. "It's a trick, a booby trap to punish the greediest, condemn him or her to hell if you will. Since he was the first one to remove a coin, it's a little bit different for him, or at least if he were to die that is. Now, unlike the crew, unlike you and me or Elizabeth, Barbossa, if he were dead, does not have to remove a coin from the chest with his own hands, someone would simply have to place one in his hand."
Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ear. "So what you're saying is that he can be both mortal and immortal?" He nodded.
"When he is alive and under the curse, like now, he can simply return the coin and break the curse. If he happened to die for some reason or another while he was mortal, to bring him back, someone would simply have to place a coin in his hand and he'd be alive once more, but immortal."
"Seems good," Jack said, "he can't die."
"Yes, that's it, he can't die. Who would want to live forever, Jack? Honestly? The older you get, the more tired you get, the more that you want to rest, and how can you if, when you die, someone keeps on bringing you back?"
"So don't have somebody put a coin in his hand. It's that simple."
"No, it's not." Bootstrap crossed his arms. "The Aztec Gold curse is chalk full of booby traps disguised as good deals," he glanced at Jack, "when really, you're just condemning yourself to a lifetime of hell. With the first person, the greed overpowers good judgment, and so you start to do things, train people or animals, to feed your greed more. It's a hunger that the first person to remove a coin can never satisfy. Now, remember Jack? Barbossa's monkey? Barbossa trained Jack to always put the gold Aztec pieces in his hands, not knowing that by doing this, he had basically condemned his life. Jack was the one who brought Barbossa back after you killed him, Jack, and he will keep bringing him back each and every time Barbossa dies because Barbossa trained him to do so. Barbossa was driven by greed and now he is consumed by it."
Elizabeth and Jack blinked.
"Is there a way to kill Barbossa? Do we have to kill Jack?" Elizabeth asked, glancing briefly over at Will before resting her eyes back on Bootstrap.
"Begun by blood, by blood undone. In order to break the curse that Barbossa is under, he must bleed into the chest, spill it all into the chest. His blood will seal it shut so that Jack will not be able to bring him back to life."
"But he's under the curse, we can't kill him." Bootstrap nodded in agreement with her. "So how do we end his curse and get rid of him once and for all then?" His arms fell back to his sides and he sighed, shaking his head.
"I don't know. But we'll figure a plan, Elizabeth, no worries." He locked eyes with her. "Barbossa won't beat us." Elizabeth faintly nodded her head and let her eyes wander back to her fiancé, trying to comprehend why he had been so silent. He had not said a word the entire time that they had been discussing their situation and that was unlike him. Extremely unlike him.
Elizabeth brushed the coin in her pocket with the tips of her fingers and sighed.
To Be Continued…
AN: Okay, I hope everyone gets the curse a bit better, and I hope that no one else finds it stupid. Isabel's coming tomorrow (we're cancelled because of it, that's the only reason why I'm posting this tonight) so I don't know when ten will be up because I don't know whether or not we'll lose power and that if we do, I don't know for how long.
Oh yeah, and Jack (the monkey) is immortal already (the little scene after the credits) so reaching in and getting gold for Barbossa wouldn't affect him, and Barbossa wouldn't be able to kill him to rid himself of the problem. Just thought I'd clear that up so there'll be no confusion.
Please enjoy this new version of Chapter Nine!
Please review on your way out. :)