Once Prison, Now Haven

By chrmd red black rose

Chapter 7 – Cousins

Disclaimers: I do not own POTC or any of the characters from the movie. I only own the things that were not in the movie. I am not making any money, so please do not sue me.

Rating: R

{ } – indicates mind talking. / /- means personal thoughts.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ ~^~^~^~^~^~^~ *Author's Note: Hey just to warn you this is going to be a kinda long A/N. Ok, first of all, sorry about the not updating, I was out of town, visiting my older sis at her college. It was really fun. I went to class with her and went to her chem. lab. Did you know that Microbiology is really fascinating? Anyhow, that is why it took me so long to update. In case you are wondering how I got out of school, I am home schooled, so I can take my school work with me. Just in case you care. Second, I have decided to keep the chapters kinda short so I can update more often. Also, I am sorry if my writing style changes, this is my first fanfic and I am still trying to figure things out. Oh, yeah, ok I have noticed something weird, anytime I put anything in bold or italics, when I put lode it to FF.NET it doesn't show up as bold or italics, it just looks normal. So, there for any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would also like to inform you that I will be putting things in this story and I couldn't care less whether or not they existed in the seventeenth century. Further more I don't care if Gypsies went on hunting trips, went to town for supplies or did any of the other stuff that I say they did, it is called ARTISTIC LICENCE!! So, now that that is out of the way, enjoy the story.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^ ~^~^~^~^~^~^~ *Author's note: This first part is a little information that I thought you would like to know so that the story makes more sense. It will come into play in later chapters. *

When Akiva had been smaller, Conner had taken care of her while her father was gone and her mother was busy. He was twenty-three, five years older the Akiva and a lot taller then she was. His mother had died giving birth to him, her first child, so he had no brothers or sisters. His father had been devastated by the death of his wife and had always blamed Conner for it. He had grown up with out a real mother and with a father who didn't care whether he was alive or not. When Conner was seven, it was discovered that his father was abusing him. When ever Conner's father went hunting he would take Conner with him. Now, this really wasn't all that weird. Many of the men in the clan took their son's with then on trips. What was weird was that anytime Conner went with his father, he always seemed to have some kind of accident. Akiva's mother had been worried about this for several months. One day when she was watching Conner and giving him a bath, she noticed the scars on his back. When she asked him what happened, Conner would not answer. After asking him several times, she finally coxed an answer out of him. The only word he said was father. Later that day, after Akiva was asleep for the night, she approached her husband, Avery, about it. He said he would talk to Shamus, Conner's father, about the next day, which is exactly what he did. Big mistake. Shamus went ballistic. He was furious that he was being accused of beating his son. He got so mad that everyone believed him when he said that he would never hurt his son. Of course, three days later, he was found beating Conner by a river. The clan was furious. They told him that he was to be hung for the crime of beating a little, innocent child. When Akiva's mother heard about his upcoming hanging, she begged the clan to spare his life. She said that he had gone crazy after the death of his wife and that she didn't want her brother to die. It was decided that Conner would be put into her care until he was grown and that his father was to leave and never come back. So, Conner and Akiva grew up knowing that they were cousins, but were raised as brother and sister.

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She couldn't believe it. Her cousin was alive. He was standing right in front of her. She looked him up and down. He was in good shape. He had more muscles then he used to and he was also a lot more tanned. He looked like he worked on a ship. After a moment of standing and staring, she squealed in a very girly, very un-Akiva-ish way. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on like he wound vanish if she let go. For several minutes they just held each other, not wanting to let go. Finally Conner broke the silence.

"Air, becoming an issue now." He wheezed out.

Akiva immediately let go and stood back on the floor. "Sorry." She said.

"You always did have the grip of a strangler snake." Conner joked. Akiva punched him lightly in the arm. "OWW" He griped.

"I know that did not hurt." Akiva laughed.

"Did to."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"Did not."

Both he and Jennifer had been watching the exchange between Akiva and, in their opinion, the stranger. They know that Akiva could protect herself, they had seen her fight more then once, but they were still concerned as to who this man was. When she all but tackled him and he didn't fight back, they figured he was a friend from her past. They were about to leave and take care of other things when Akiva and the stranger, whom Akiva had referred to as Conner, started bickering like five year olds. It reminded Jennifer of the way Dylan and Jack had argued when Jack was little. She know that they would probably go back and forth for several minute's, so she decided to put a stop to it.

"Children, stop." Jennifer piped up. "Akiva, who is this man?" She asked.

"Sorry Jen, this is my cousin Conner. We grew up together. My mom raised him, so he his more like a brother." Akiva answered.

"Well that explains a lot, like the bickering." Said Dylan. "How about I close up and we go into the kitchen and you two can explain things to us, OK?"

After Dylan kicked everyone out, much to the customer's displeasure, they went into the back kitchen, introductions were made and stories were told. Akiva explained to Jen and Dylan who exactly Conner was and how they had grown up together. She told Conner what had happened to her since he had last seen her. A lot of what she told Conner was new to Jen and Dylan, since she had not told them everything about her past and about the time she had spent as a prisoner on the Black Pearl. All three of them were furious when they learned what Barbossa had done to her and also what he had allowed Javier to do to her. All three swore that if they ever met him, they would kill him. As she had done with Jack, she told them that she would be the one to kill Javier.

"You guys," She stated, "None of you can ever understand what I went through. Javier is mine. I will kill him and no one will be able to stop me."

"Akiva, I won't pretend to understand what you went through, but how do you expect to kill him? From what you said, he would be an ever match for me. What could you do to some one so much bigger then yourself?" Conner asked.

"Do you remember how my father used to teach me to fight?" She started. Conner nodded. "Well, since I have been here, I have been training again. I am stronger then I ever was and I am a lot faster. Things have been happening to me Conner. I have powers. I don't know were they come from, I just know that they are there. You know that when I was little, I mover faster then I should have ever been able to. All of that has grown. I can hear things others can't. I can balance in the smallest object with hardly any concentration, I have really weird flexibility and I can identify people who are one other side of the room simply by sniffing the air around me. I can move things and speak to others with my mind Conner. I could kill you without even moving. Trust me, I can take him" Akiva finished.

"So, you can really do all that?" Conner asked.

"Yep, do you think that is wrong, me having powers I mean?" Answered Akiva.

"Akiva, you're not the first person I have met who can do weird thing. This girl in Virginia could control the ocean, well any water actually. So, no, I don't think it is wrong." Conner reassured her. "Can you show me what you can do?" He asked.

To show him what she was capable of, Akiva levitated the table and all the chair's, with Jen, Dylan and Conner sitting in them. She held them aloft for several minutes, and then put them back down. In reality she could have held them up for about an hour. Jennifer and Dylan had seen Akiva use her telekinesis before, but never on such a large scale. They were both a little surprised and Conner was just in awe. Next, she told all of them to watch her mouth and when she had their full attention she spoke into their minds.

{"Can you here me?"} She asked.

When they heard her in there heads, but didn't see her mouth move, they all stared at her. Finally Jen spoke up. "W-was that you Akiva?" She asked.

"Yes, sorry if I frightened you." She said dejectedly.

"We were just surprised is all. So, that's what you can do? Interesting," Commented Dylan. They had never 'seen' her use her telepathy.

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It had been several months since Conner had shown up. He and Akiva had that they wanted him to stay so that they could get to know each other again. Jennifer and Dylan had agreed to let him use on of the room down the hall from Akiva's room, if he would work in the tavern with them so that Dylan could spend more time taking care of the ships that he owned. At one point, Jack had come back to restock supplies and to visit his friends. While Jack had been in Tortuga, Akiva had been very aware of where he was at all times. She couldn't figure out why this was happening. She always knew exactly where he was. She knew what he was doing and she knew what precisely what he was thinking and feeling. One night she couldn't sleep because she was so aware of Jack and what he was going, in the tavern across the other side of the town, that she went downstairs to the kitchen. She was going to make herself some tea. When she got in there, she found Jennifer sitting at the table, already heating water over the cast iron stove they had. When she heard someone walk in she looked up from her book.

"Can't sleep?" She asked.

"How could you tell?" Akiva asked.

"Because you're awake." She responded.

"Oh, good point, so why can't you sleep?" Akiva asked.

"Dylan is snoring again. You?"

"I'm not sure. Well I know why I can't get to sleep, but it is really complicated." Akiva said. She sat down in the chair opposite Jen and stared at the table top.

"You can't stop thinking about Jack." Jen said. It was a statement, not a question like it would have been with most people.

"Ok, so it isn't complicated. How did you know?" Akiva asked completely perplexed as to how Jennifer knew what was on her mind.

"You have been acting weird ever since Jack got here." Jen Answered with a huge grin on her face. "So, tell me why our dear captain is on your mind." She got up and put tealeaves in the kettle and sat back down waiting for the tea to steep and for Akiva to tell her what was going on.

"Well, it's weird. It's like I know where he is at every moment. I know what he is doing and how he is feeling. And let me tell ya, right know he is feeling really good. I don't understand, why am I connected to him like this?" Akiva sighed sadly. She was so confused as to why this was happening. "I mean, yeah, I owe everything I have to him, because he led me to you guys, but does that mean that anytime I am near him that I have to be connected to him?"

"Well, do you have feelings for him?" Jen asked, "Cause if you do and you want to be with him, even if you don't realize it yet, your mind could be doing this without you being aware of it. This is something that you need to figure out on your own. No one can give you the answers you seek. They can point you in the right direction or help, but only you can discover the true answer. If you want, I can give you something to help you sleep and in the morning, I can take you to see a friend of mine who might be able to help. Would you like to do that?"

"Yeah that sounds good. What stuff do you have to help me sleep?" Akiva asked.

"Just the tea I made. It is made with these leaves that have very powerful sleeping properties. I don't know if you know this, but my grandmother was a very powerful seer, no one knew outside of the family. They were afraid that she would be killed because of her power. She knew a lot about plants and what they were good for. She left my mother and I a book full of recipes for just about everything." Jennifer got up and gave Akiva a cup of the tea. Akiva drank the tea, said goodnight to Jen and headed back up to bed, wondering about the woman they were going to see in the morning. On her way, she went past Conner's room. As she was passing it she thought she heard him talking. She walked back a few steps and stood outside it listening for a moment. She heard what sounded like Conner talking to someone. Slowly and soundlessly she pushed open the door and peaked around. What she saw was Conner sitting cross-legged on the floor with six black candles lit around him in a circle. Just inside the candles was another circle, this one was made out of what looked like red power or sand. In front of Conner was a small dish with water in it, on the dishes left was a small white candle with was also lit and in the right was what looked like some kind of dried plant. As Akiva stood there unnoticed by her cousin, she hears him begin talking again.

"Spirits of all warlocks rise, come unseen through the skies, I call you in my desperate hour, come and give me your greatest power. With hair like fire, and eyes like jade, let her powers diminish and fade.

Spirits of all warlocks rise, come unseen through the skies, I call you in my desperate hour, come and give me your greatest power."

As he finished the last verse, the black and red light that had begun swirling around him in the circle shot forward and went into him through his mouth and nose. When Akiva heard him describe her hair and eyes and saw the light go into him, she stumbled backwards terrified. Conner heard her behind him and turned. He stood up, walked past the candles, which had blown them selves out, and walked toward Akiva who was trying to stand up.

"Well, well, look what we have here! If it isn't the little witch herself." He was now towering over her and grinning down at her with a very evil looking grin. "Guess I won't have to kill you while you are asleep after all." With that said he backed up several feet and threw a fireball straight at Akiva.

It hit.

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So, what did you think? Please R&R!!!!!!!!!

Review Response:

Thanx to all how reviewed. QHGurl and Born-diva, I love you two!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

LADY LAFFS-A-LOT –~~~her life is finally working out that's great. i love your story 5 stars 2 thumbs up. If you need a beta reader you can email me at rmgriffith@mac.com~~~

---thank you for reviewing. I am glad that you like it. Having you as beta- reader would be great.

PONTI – ~~~well im still reading an thats a good considering by now i usually get bored by some peoples story. good job~~~

--- I am really glad that you are still reading my story. Thanx for reviewing. Enjoy.

PROLIX – ~~~I thought you could use a supportive review because, of course, you deserve one. I've read almost every PotC fic here, and I think yours ranks a solid 9 out of 10. (What fun would life be without a little room for improvement?) As for spelling, grammar, and that dreaded "tense" business - don't let that even for a second, EVEN AT ALL, slow you down. Beta readers exist for a reason. I suspect you are your own beta right now, and therefore, I commend you for doing a commendable job. (Can one do that?)I like your willingness to explore beyond the PotC cannon, take some risks, and find new interesting characters. I liked you little joke - "Did I miss something while I was unconscious?" I'd like to see Akiva continue to struggle with intimacy. I'm wondering whether she realizes that everything she has now comes from Jack, and how she reacts to him having power over the course of her life. Does he start to think he can make decisions for her, that she should be grateful?~~~

---9 out of 10 is good, thank you. You are right, there is always room for improvement. Don't worry, I am not going to let tenses and crap slow me down. And yes you can commend someone for doing a commendable job. Thank you for that too. I am glad that you like my jokes and my willingness to explore and take risk. Life would be boring if I didn't. Akiva will continue to have problems with intimacy and yes she does realize that everything she has comes from Jack.

ROUX MORGAN– ~~~Love the story, all of it! Can't wait for you to finish it! I've never written anything about gypsies or magic but this is by far the best I've read. Roux~~~

--- I am glad that you like my story. Writing about gypsies and magic is harder then it sounds.

BORN_DIVA– ~~~First, you killed off Anna-Maria! I love her! Second, you left a cliffhanger, I hate those! And third! That was such a good chapter. Your characters are so well developed, you can really almost predict how they're going to react to things and what's going to happen! I love this story! I can't wait to find out what's going to happen. By the way, I updated, oh, and I added a new story about Faith last week, but I haven't updated that yet. I updated Buffy. The story is now complete. The ending's kind-of weak though, it ends on a happy note, kind-of. Anyway, I love your story! I can't wait to find out what happens next! You got a lot more review lately, congrats!~~~

---Sorry I killed off Anna-Maria, but it just had to do it. And about the cliffhanger, I LOVE CLIFFHANGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for all the compliments!!

QHGURL– ~~~I'm sorry! I just love your story so i have to know what's goin to happen next!! If you have any ideas for my story please tell me cuz im stuck!!

~QHGurl~~~ ~~~Im reading!! LOL~QHGurl~~~ ~~~A cliffhanger?? O god im am going to die of not knowing whats going to happen!! (Sigh) Ok i g2g but great chapter! And tell the flammers to back off since they're so annoying!!~~~

--- Again, I LOVE CLIFFHANGERS!!!!!! Thanks for reviewing!