Chapter 16: Careful What You Wish For
Dharketh simply stood still, staring at Liayela's prone body. The other elves milled about, some with confusion etched upon their faces, but most with utter joy. These all walked with a noticeable spring in their step, and Dharketh could not blame them. Their freedom was at hand, after all. However...he could not quite bring himself to join them. Liayela...his lover of a century was dead, and though she had been wicked they had had a good time when they could relax enough to do so. He found himself standing next to her, then, and looked down upon her face. A tiny smile curved her lips, the lines of stress had relaxed to leave her face smooth and at peace. A drop of water fell onto her cheek, and he started, wondering where it had come from until he wiped his own eyes. More tears fell as he fell to his knees, cradling 'Ela in his arms while the tears flowed profusely.
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Jack held Arianne, marveling at how someone so powerful could be so fragile in his arms. Her body was trembling with more than tears. She was exhausted. Even the golden light she had been emanating had completely faded, leaving her skin waxy pale. Although she was a goddess, she was in a mortal body that could only take so much power at a time. From the expressions on the faces of the elves milling about the chamber, they had all had quite the experience. He wondered what everyone else had seen. Hopefully it hadn't been as uplifting (in more ways than one) as his had been, he thought wryly.
Slowly he began to realize that the attention of the elves was coming fully upon he and Arianne. Their eyes seemed to glow with hope.
"Freedom!" one elf shouted.
"Give us our salvation!" came another demand.
Jack shook his head in disbelief. His wife had just worked herself to exhaustion and they were demanding freedom and salvation of her already? The child wasn't even likely to be born for several months! When more demands followed, Jack decided he had had enough. He lifted Arianne gently into his arms and took a deep breath.
"Your goddess is pregnant, yes, and the prophecy does say that she will birth your salvation, but your salvation is going to take some years to be mature enough to lead you anywhere!" he shouted. "'Your' goddess is not entirely 'yours,' either. She is mine, as well. She is her child's. More importantly, she belongs to herself. You have waited all these years, you can wait a few decades more." He thought about continuing on and saying that it was the choice of the child whether he or she would decide to save these people or not, but he realized that he didn't want them to lose all hope--nor would Arianne wish him to say something like that.
He looked down at her face, pale beneath the tan, her eyes closed. She was unconscious. He sighed.
"Arianne will speak with you more later, she needs rest now," he said before turning and leaving through the back exit of the Chamber of the Fount.
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Dharketh looked up in shock when his fellow elves began shouting their demands. They had just seen proof that they were going to finally be freed, but did they not understand that it would have to take time? The child had to be birthed, after all, and then it had to grow. When Jack started shouting back at them, they all fell silent, staring at him with hate plainly written across their faces.
He could not believe that they were doing this. When Jack stormed out with Arianne in his arms, Dharketh bid Liayela a final farewell and laid her head to the stone.
"He's right," he said softly, though his voice carried to every ear in the chamber. They turned to look at him, the hate they felt for the human boiling over onto him. He bowed his head.
"What do you care? You supported Liayela through all she did!" one elf cried out.
His head snapped up to glare at the indignant elf. Her name was Y'lorani. She had once invited Dharketh into her bed, and he had refused.
"I supported her, yes. Before I met the Goddess. Before I knew that the prophecy would actually come true. Nothing can excuse what I helped Liayela do, Y'lorani, but have you so quickly forgotten what happened when I tried to tell 'Ela that Arianne was different? I was completely discredited. Any word that came from my mouth was to be disregarded.
"But if it hadn't been for me, Arianne would not yet know what She was. She would likely be dead at this very moment, along with the child that grows within Her womb."
Y'lorani's mouth twisted with the effort to hold back the nasty words that bubbled just behind her lips.
"It will take time," Dharketh said after a few minutes had passed. "We will have to let Her go and raise the child. She has to live in the light, and Her child should live in the light as well."
One of the eldest stepped forward, then. "We shall have a council. The elders of each of the families shall remain here. The rest of you will be called back when a decision has been reached. Go."
All of the elves save the eldest of each family slowly left the chamber. When Dharketh moved to follow Y'lorani, the old elf that had spoken stopped him. Dharketh looked at him in slight confusion.
"You will stay and be part of this. You are the only one that has had close contact with the Goddess."
Dharketh bowed his head and remained where he stood.
************************
Jack found his way through the maze of tunnels back to the room that he and Arianne had been in before. Well, he thought it was the same room, anyway. It was really hard to tell. He laid down next to Arianne on the bed and stroked her hair, lost in thought.
When he had first met her, she was a seventeen-year old girl running about the docks in men's clothing. She had asked him if she could see his ship, and without too much convincing he had agreed. At that time, Arianne had been wholly in love with Will Turner and had desperately longed to learn how to use the sword. Jack had known then that he would not be good enough to teach her for long, and so had gone and talked to Will about taking on a protege.
That hadn't taken much convincing, either. Will had been heartily tired of the boredom of marriage to Elizabeth, and Elizabeth in turn had appeared to be in love with another man (He winced as he remembered that it had been he she had been in love with. What would have happened if Arianne and Will had stayed together and he had taken Elizabeth? He shuddered to think!). Things might have turned out completely different if Arianne's sadistic older brother Amos hadn't nearly killed her in an alley.
For one, they likely wouldn't have gone haring off in the Black Pearl to get Arianne away from Amos, leaving Elizabeth to be kidnapped and raped by the bastard.
In their time on the Pearl, he had fallen in love with Arianne. So had Will (or so Will had thought), and as Will was the one Arianne had wanted at the time, Jack had helped her get him. He had really thought that she and Will would make a fantastic couple, and that Will would provide for her far better than Jack himself could.
Sadly, Will had broken Arianne's heart when they returned to Port Royal (something that Jack could have killed him for in spite of the fact that it brought the love of his life to him), and Will had gone back to Elizabeth never to stray again. Arianne had introduced Jack to the wonders of being clean, and then they got married and sailed away into the sunset.
Their lives had been absolutely blissful for a year or so, and then they had heard of the Fount. Things had gotten very strange, and Jack wasn't entirely sure that he was handling it all that well.
He had thought that his wife was a human--an extraordinary human that had captured his heart against all odds, but human nonetheless. It was decidedly odd that he was really married to an elven goddess who was pregnant with his child who would lead the elves to their new home. He sighed. He kicked himself for wishing for more adventure. It would have been nice to have been slightly bored and sailing the seas with his lovely wife. What was that saying? Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it?
Ah well, he thought. This was how it had happened, and there was nothing he could do about it. At least he still had the woman he loved, in spite of all the strange things that seemed to center around her. He continued stroking her hair, deciding that he was happy and could take whatever life had to throw at him.
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Filler, I know, and I'm sorry this took so long. Hope you enjoyed anyway!
Dharketh simply stood still, staring at Liayela's prone body. The other elves milled about, some with confusion etched upon their faces, but most with utter joy. These all walked with a noticeable spring in their step, and Dharketh could not blame them. Their freedom was at hand, after all. However...he could not quite bring himself to join them. Liayela...his lover of a century was dead, and though she had been wicked they had had a good time when they could relax enough to do so. He found himself standing next to her, then, and looked down upon her face. A tiny smile curved her lips, the lines of stress had relaxed to leave her face smooth and at peace. A drop of water fell onto her cheek, and he started, wondering where it had come from until he wiped his own eyes. More tears fell as he fell to his knees, cradling 'Ela in his arms while the tears flowed profusely.
************************
Jack held Arianne, marveling at how someone so powerful could be so fragile in his arms. Her body was trembling with more than tears. She was exhausted. Even the golden light she had been emanating had completely faded, leaving her skin waxy pale. Although she was a goddess, she was in a mortal body that could only take so much power at a time. From the expressions on the faces of the elves milling about the chamber, they had all had quite the experience. He wondered what everyone else had seen. Hopefully it hadn't been as uplifting (in more ways than one) as his had been, he thought wryly.
Slowly he began to realize that the attention of the elves was coming fully upon he and Arianne. Their eyes seemed to glow with hope.
"Freedom!" one elf shouted.
"Give us our salvation!" came another demand.
Jack shook his head in disbelief. His wife had just worked herself to exhaustion and they were demanding freedom and salvation of her already? The child wasn't even likely to be born for several months! When more demands followed, Jack decided he had had enough. He lifted Arianne gently into his arms and took a deep breath.
"Your goddess is pregnant, yes, and the prophecy does say that she will birth your salvation, but your salvation is going to take some years to be mature enough to lead you anywhere!" he shouted. "'Your' goddess is not entirely 'yours,' either. She is mine, as well. She is her child's. More importantly, she belongs to herself. You have waited all these years, you can wait a few decades more." He thought about continuing on and saying that it was the choice of the child whether he or she would decide to save these people or not, but he realized that he didn't want them to lose all hope--nor would Arianne wish him to say something like that.
He looked down at her face, pale beneath the tan, her eyes closed. She was unconscious. He sighed.
"Arianne will speak with you more later, she needs rest now," he said before turning and leaving through the back exit of the Chamber of the Fount.
************************
Dharketh looked up in shock when his fellow elves began shouting their demands. They had just seen proof that they were going to finally be freed, but did they not understand that it would have to take time? The child had to be birthed, after all, and then it had to grow. When Jack started shouting back at them, they all fell silent, staring at him with hate plainly written across their faces.
He could not believe that they were doing this. When Jack stormed out with Arianne in his arms, Dharketh bid Liayela a final farewell and laid her head to the stone.
"He's right," he said softly, though his voice carried to every ear in the chamber. They turned to look at him, the hate they felt for the human boiling over onto him. He bowed his head.
"What do you care? You supported Liayela through all she did!" one elf cried out.
His head snapped up to glare at the indignant elf. Her name was Y'lorani. She had once invited Dharketh into her bed, and he had refused.
"I supported her, yes. Before I met the Goddess. Before I knew that the prophecy would actually come true. Nothing can excuse what I helped Liayela do, Y'lorani, but have you so quickly forgotten what happened when I tried to tell 'Ela that Arianne was different? I was completely discredited. Any word that came from my mouth was to be disregarded.
"But if it hadn't been for me, Arianne would not yet know what She was. She would likely be dead at this very moment, along with the child that grows within Her womb."
Y'lorani's mouth twisted with the effort to hold back the nasty words that bubbled just behind her lips.
"It will take time," Dharketh said after a few minutes had passed. "We will have to let Her go and raise the child. She has to live in the light, and Her child should live in the light as well."
One of the eldest stepped forward, then. "We shall have a council. The elders of each of the families shall remain here. The rest of you will be called back when a decision has been reached. Go."
All of the elves save the eldest of each family slowly left the chamber. When Dharketh moved to follow Y'lorani, the old elf that had spoken stopped him. Dharketh looked at him in slight confusion.
"You will stay and be part of this. You are the only one that has had close contact with the Goddess."
Dharketh bowed his head and remained where he stood.
************************
Jack found his way through the maze of tunnels back to the room that he and Arianne had been in before. Well, he thought it was the same room, anyway. It was really hard to tell. He laid down next to Arianne on the bed and stroked her hair, lost in thought.
When he had first met her, she was a seventeen-year old girl running about the docks in men's clothing. She had asked him if she could see his ship, and without too much convincing he had agreed. At that time, Arianne had been wholly in love with Will Turner and had desperately longed to learn how to use the sword. Jack had known then that he would not be good enough to teach her for long, and so had gone and talked to Will about taking on a protege.
That hadn't taken much convincing, either. Will had been heartily tired of the boredom of marriage to Elizabeth, and Elizabeth in turn had appeared to be in love with another man (He winced as he remembered that it had been he she had been in love with. What would have happened if Arianne and Will had stayed together and he had taken Elizabeth? He shuddered to think!). Things might have turned out completely different if Arianne's sadistic older brother Amos hadn't nearly killed her in an alley.
For one, they likely wouldn't have gone haring off in the Black Pearl to get Arianne away from Amos, leaving Elizabeth to be kidnapped and raped by the bastard.
In their time on the Pearl, he had fallen in love with Arianne. So had Will (or so Will had thought), and as Will was the one Arianne had wanted at the time, Jack had helped her get him. He had really thought that she and Will would make a fantastic couple, and that Will would provide for her far better than Jack himself could.
Sadly, Will had broken Arianne's heart when they returned to Port Royal (something that Jack could have killed him for in spite of the fact that it brought the love of his life to him), and Will had gone back to Elizabeth never to stray again. Arianne had introduced Jack to the wonders of being clean, and then they got married and sailed away into the sunset.
Their lives had been absolutely blissful for a year or so, and then they had heard of the Fount. Things had gotten very strange, and Jack wasn't entirely sure that he was handling it all that well.
He had thought that his wife was a human--an extraordinary human that had captured his heart against all odds, but human nonetheless. It was decidedly odd that he was really married to an elven goddess who was pregnant with his child who would lead the elves to their new home. He sighed. He kicked himself for wishing for more adventure. It would have been nice to have been slightly bored and sailing the seas with his lovely wife. What was that saying? Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it?
Ah well, he thought. This was how it had happened, and there was nothing he could do about it. At least he still had the woman he loved, in spite of all the strange things that seemed to center around her. He continued stroking her hair, deciding that he was happy and could take whatever life had to throw at him.
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Filler, I know, and I'm sorry this took so long. Hope you enjoyed anyway!
