"Blasted captain." Riggs muttered as he paced the hallway. His fingers
tapped an erratic beat on his thigh as he walked. "Don't see why he needs
so many to guard two men." Smythe had ordered Riggs and about three others
to stay behind with Reef, Bones, and Havelock to guard those two pirates.
Riggs believed that was overkill. It was two men. What about they possibly
do? With a roll of his eyes, he went back to tapping out the beat on his
leg. As he reached the end of the hallway, he paused to look down each
corridor before turning around again. He turned, still grumbling to himself
when he bumped into another person. His eyes grew wide and he scrambled to
pull the cutlass from its sheath.
Jack watched him in amusement before deciding to put him out of his misery and nailing him in the temple with a fist. He glanced over his shoulder at the trailing blacksmith. "Ye comin' or do I have to leave ye behind?" He asked. Will shot him a dark look as he caught up.
"I was looking for something to wrap my hand with." He groused. Jack glanced down and made a face.
"Are ye sure yer alright to be standin' up? That doesn't look very good."
Will raised an eyebrow. "Jack Sparrow, are you concerned about someone who isn't yourself, the Pearl, or treasure?" He teased. Jack shot him a dirty look.
"It's all Mike's fault." Jack shot off as he turned and started marching down the corridor.
"I thought you said you were Mike." Will said, smirking.
"Shut up." Jack growled. He turned to face Will again. "Ye know I was better off with that snot nosed, little..." He was cut off as there was a shout from the end of the hallway. "There's guards behind me, isn't there?" Will nodded mutely. Jack rolled his eyes and turned around. The two men standing at the end of the hallway pulled out their cutlasses, glaring at the two escapees. "'Ey, look Will! It's our friend that ran away. Wondered where he went." The man on the left had run after Will had taken out two of his friends, but he looked braver now that the odds seemed to be even. Will took a step forward, ready to attack when Jack put a hand on his chest. "No. Mine."
"You think you can take the two of us alone?" The coward nudged his buddy. "Ain't that a laugh Jim?" Jim grinned and nodded.
"Like to see him try." Jack rolled his eyes, looking bored with the situation. He turned back to Will.
"Look at 'em. All they can do is talk and wait till a man's back is turned before they attack." He said, ducking beneath the swing of the blade as he talked. Jack's foot slammed into Jim's knee, bending it in backwards with a loud snap. Jim let out a cry of pain and stumbled backwards, landing on his rear. Jack stood up, facing down Coward. Coward leered and made a thrust with his blade towards Jack. Jack turned it away and hopped back out of the blade's reach. "Surprised yer not runnin' right now, actually." He kicked Jim on the floor. "Not like he's goin' to help ye any." Jim gave a yelp and scooted away from the pirate.
Coward looked at his friend, then back at Jack. "I will kill you." He hissed.
"No, boredom will kill me with all this sittin' around and talkin'. I suggest if yer goin' to attack, do it before you lose me attention." Jack said, leaning against the wall, looking over with fingernails with an air of indifference. Jim whimpered again and Jack looked over at him. "Quit yer bloody whinin' already." He looked back up again. "So what'll it...be." He straightened up. "The bloody coward ran off again!" He said angrily. "He can't even face me like the ra..." The door next to him opened and a pair of hands grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him in. Will stumbled back, wide eyed.
"Jack?" He asked, cautiously moving towards the door. "Jack, are you....GAH!" He yelped in surprise as the same pair of hands reached out, grabbing the collar of his shirt and yanking him into the dark room. He bumped into someone. "Sorry." He said apologetically, wondering why at a time like this he was being so polite.
The lights flickered on, and Jack was relieved to find that their kidnapper was none other than Cecilia herself. The relief faded from his mind however when another question sprung up. "How the hell did ye get in here?" He asked, crossing his arms. Cecilia chuckled.
"Magic, my boy." She settled herself down in one of the plush armchairs of the study. The room had a comfortable, enclosed feeling to it. No windows, one door, and all the walls were lined with shelves of books. Jack wandered over, sitting down in a chair opposite her. Will remained standing.
"You..." He pointed at Cecilia. "You came to me on the beach that night, when I was dying. You held me and comforted me until I had died." His voice was quiet. Cecilia looked up at him.
"That was me, little one. Good to see you're finally awake." She gave him a small smile before turning her attention back to Jack. "Seems you've got yourself in quite a situation here, Captain Sparrow. Not only does Smythe know where your treasure is, but he now has your most precious treasure as well." She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. "A dire situation indeed."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "And why would you be here exactly? Ye seem to have this thing about showing up at the opportune moment." He muttered. Cecilia ignored him for the time being. She got up from her seat and walked over to the desk. Jack watched her in confusion as she yanked open a drawer and carelessly rummaged through it. Not finding what she wanted, she slammed the drawer shut again and pulled open another. A moment later, she smiled triumphantly and pulled a handkerchief out of the drawer.
"Here's what I was looking for. William, come here." She said. Will glanced at Jack before cautiously approaching her. Cecilia seemed to take no notice to his unease and grabbed his left hand, yanking him towards her. She looked over the wound in his hand and grimaced. "Bastards. Doing something like this to a sweet boy like you." She muttered as she let go and started to wrap the handkerchief around his hand. "Good thing it was your left hand though. Who knows what it might have done to your skill with a blade had it been your right hand they skewered." She finished wrapping it, and knotted it tightly. "You'll have to wash the blood off on your own time. I don't clean, I just mend." She chuckled at her own joke and wandered back to her seat. "While you're up dear, would you mind going to that bookshelf over there and finding me a book Jonas might have? It's most likely in a language you won't understand, so just bring me anything that looks unfamiliar. Jack and I need to have a talk." Will nodded and wandered over to the bookcase. Cecilia looked back at Jack.
"He's your son, isn't he? Jonas, that is." Jack said quietly. Cecilia nodded and her expression dark.
"I knew I could count on you to figure it out, Captain. What gave it away?" She leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees.
"Well, I found it odd that you'd help us when you barely even knew us. That island was deserted. You shouldn't even have been on it."
"Very observant. Jonas kept me locked in my cabin most of the time. He wanted to learn all the power that he'd inherited at birth, but I wouldn't teach him. You should've seen him when he was younger. He was horrible to the other children, yet he wasn't a bullying child. He was quiet, and his eyes always had this cold look to them. I knew right away that I'd given birth to something evil, but I could never bring myself to do anything about it." She closed her eyes, massaging the bridge of her nose. Jack had leaned forward as well, elbows resting on his knees and listening to her intently.
"Then one night, when he was twelve, I took him into town and left him on the doorstep of an orphanage. I loved him dearly, but the boy..." She sighed. "I'm a horrible mother. I couldn't stand to be around him. Not with that cold stare and he had this feeling about him that I can't describe, but it made chills run up your spine."
"I never noticed that." Jack said, frowning. Cecilia nodded.
"It all changed after he became a pirate. One night the village is overrun, and I find myself being manhandled to the ship by two of the meanest looking men you ever saw. It turned out he was the captain of the ship, and after asking some questions and putting money in the right hands, he'd found me. He told me he wanted to learn the power of voodoo and he wasn't about to take no for an answer. Six miserable years I lived on that ship." She found sitting down to tell the story a bit too uncomfortable for her, so she stood up and began to pace.
"Then one night in port, I hear two of his crew talking about some poor sap they'd found to help them find the treasure. Once that was said and done, they'd kill 'em and leave 'em behind. Smythe wanted all the treasure to himself, and he wasn't about to share with you." Jack sat back in his chair, an angry expression on his face.
"And I fell for it. I trusted him." He muttered bitterly. Cecilia stopped, and her expression softened as she looked at him.
"You didn't trust him, Captain Sparrow. You only thought you did. He worked some mojo on your mind." She leaned against the chair. "I heard what happened to you and how you never really trusted many after that incident. It seemed odd that you would trust him when you barely knew him."
"Well, that's all good and sad." He stood up, still staring at her. "You still haven't answered the question of why you helped us to a satisfactory point."
Cecilia smiled. "I helped you because of who you were. It's hard to love evil, Captain Sparrow. I tried and tried, but I failed to ever love Jonas. The more I stayed on that ship, the more I lost any of hope I had of loving him. When you all went after the treasure, I used a little bit of magic and escaped. I had no idea where you were going, so I wandered around, hoping to cross paths with you. I found no one until later that night when I came across William knocking on death's door." She glanced over at Will, who was still searching through the books she had pointed him to. "A while later, you come to the same spot in the same condition. Just by looking at you, I could feel that you were going to be the one. You were defiant of everyone. Not even death could make you humble."
Jack started pacing. "So you helped me because you want me to fight him? Luv, I'm good, but what yer askin'...that may be a little out of my league. All I want is to rescue Ana and go back to livin' me life." Cecilia suddenly looked away. "What?"
She took a deep breath. "The spell isn't permanent, Captain. I hid your spirits and when the time was right, I called you forth. But you're only temporary residents. After this is over, you can finally find peace." Jack stared at her in shock.
"But what if I don't want to? What if I want to live the life that was taken from me?" He demanded.
"That's not my place." Cecilia shot back. "I can only bring you back temporarily to get your vengeance. But I cannot play a higher power and resurrect you, got it?" She said. "Besides, if I let you stay, it wouldn't be good for William. He only loved that lass of his back then, and she's the only person that he still loves."
Jack threw up his hands. "He's got a lass! That Hannah girl they kidnapped with Ana. That's Elizabeth." He was startled when she marched over and stood close to him. She was opposing for someone who only came up to his collar bone.
"I only saved those on the beach, Captain. That would mean you, Anamaria, and William. That girl may look like Elizabeth, but it's not her. He doesn't love her for what she looks like, he loves her for who she is, and that girl is not her." Cecilia hissed. "You should understand this. Could you love anyone else besides Anamaria? Jack didn't respond at first. He stared back at her for a moment, as if he could read her thoughts.
"So we'll get to be at peace then? No more limbo?" He asked. Cecilia nodded.
"You'll get the peace you deserve." She said quietly. "All I ask is that you help me bring Jonas down. Please."
"Fine." He said, just as Will came over, his arms full of books. He laid them on the table, looking between Jack and Cecilia.
"Is everything ok?" He asked. Cecilia broke the eye contact with Jack first, turning away.
"Just fine." She wandered over to the table, searching through the books. "Here we go." She picked up an old ratty book, flipping through it.
"So what's the plan?" Jack asked, walking over to join them.
"It's simple." Cecilia muttered. "I'm going to break his protective spell and you're going to kill him. Anymore complicated and it would certainly be screwed up." She paused on a page, running her finger down it. Will looked at Jack.
"There's more magic?" He asked hesitantly. Jack nodded and put an arm around his shoulders.
"Not even the afterlife is borin' for us, William."
Jack watched him in amusement before deciding to put him out of his misery and nailing him in the temple with a fist. He glanced over his shoulder at the trailing blacksmith. "Ye comin' or do I have to leave ye behind?" He asked. Will shot him a dark look as he caught up.
"I was looking for something to wrap my hand with." He groused. Jack glanced down and made a face.
"Are ye sure yer alright to be standin' up? That doesn't look very good."
Will raised an eyebrow. "Jack Sparrow, are you concerned about someone who isn't yourself, the Pearl, or treasure?" He teased. Jack shot him a dirty look.
"It's all Mike's fault." Jack shot off as he turned and started marching down the corridor.
"I thought you said you were Mike." Will said, smirking.
"Shut up." Jack growled. He turned to face Will again. "Ye know I was better off with that snot nosed, little..." He was cut off as there was a shout from the end of the hallway. "There's guards behind me, isn't there?" Will nodded mutely. Jack rolled his eyes and turned around. The two men standing at the end of the hallway pulled out their cutlasses, glaring at the two escapees. "'Ey, look Will! It's our friend that ran away. Wondered where he went." The man on the left had run after Will had taken out two of his friends, but he looked braver now that the odds seemed to be even. Will took a step forward, ready to attack when Jack put a hand on his chest. "No. Mine."
"You think you can take the two of us alone?" The coward nudged his buddy. "Ain't that a laugh Jim?" Jim grinned and nodded.
"Like to see him try." Jack rolled his eyes, looking bored with the situation. He turned back to Will.
"Look at 'em. All they can do is talk and wait till a man's back is turned before they attack." He said, ducking beneath the swing of the blade as he talked. Jack's foot slammed into Jim's knee, bending it in backwards with a loud snap. Jim let out a cry of pain and stumbled backwards, landing on his rear. Jack stood up, facing down Coward. Coward leered and made a thrust with his blade towards Jack. Jack turned it away and hopped back out of the blade's reach. "Surprised yer not runnin' right now, actually." He kicked Jim on the floor. "Not like he's goin' to help ye any." Jim gave a yelp and scooted away from the pirate.
Coward looked at his friend, then back at Jack. "I will kill you." He hissed.
"No, boredom will kill me with all this sittin' around and talkin'. I suggest if yer goin' to attack, do it before you lose me attention." Jack said, leaning against the wall, looking over with fingernails with an air of indifference. Jim whimpered again and Jack looked over at him. "Quit yer bloody whinin' already." He looked back up again. "So what'll it...be." He straightened up. "The bloody coward ran off again!" He said angrily. "He can't even face me like the ra..." The door next to him opened and a pair of hands grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him in. Will stumbled back, wide eyed.
"Jack?" He asked, cautiously moving towards the door. "Jack, are you....GAH!" He yelped in surprise as the same pair of hands reached out, grabbing the collar of his shirt and yanking him into the dark room. He bumped into someone. "Sorry." He said apologetically, wondering why at a time like this he was being so polite.
The lights flickered on, and Jack was relieved to find that their kidnapper was none other than Cecilia herself. The relief faded from his mind however when another question sprung up. "How the hell did ye get in here?" He asked, crossing his arms. Cecilia chuckled.
"Magic, my boy." She settled herself down in one of the plush armchairs of the study. The room had a comfortable, enclosed feeling to it. No windows, one door, and all the walls were lined with shelves of books. Jack wandered over, sitting down in a chair opposite her. Will remained standing.
"You..." He pointed at Cecilia. "You came to me on the beach that night, when I was dying. You held me and comforted me until I had died." His voice was quiet. Cecilia looked up at him.
"That was me, little one. Good to see you're finally awake." She gave him a small smile before turning her attention back to Jack. "Seems you've got yourself in quite a situation here, Captain Sparrow. Not only does Smythe know where your treasure is, but he now has your most precious treasure as well." She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. "A dire situation indeed."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "And why would you be here exactly? Ye seem to have this thing about showing up at the opportune moment." He muttered. Cecilia ignored him for the time being. She got up from her seat and walked over to the desk. Jack watched her in confusion as she yanked open a drawer and carelessly rummaged through it. Not finding what she wanted, she slammed the drawer shut again and pulled open another. A moment later, she smiled triumphantly and pulled a handkerchief out of the drawer.
"Here's what I was looking for. William, come here." She said. Will glanced at Jack before cautiously approaching her. Cecilia seemed to take no notice to his unease and grabbed his left hand, yanking him towards her. She looked over the wound in his hand and grimaced. "Bastards. Doing something like this to a sweet boy like you." She muttered as she let go and started to wrap the handkerchief around his hand. "Good thing it was your left hand though. Who knows what it might have done to your skill with a blade had it been your right hand they skewered." She finished wrapping it, and knotted it tightly. "You'll have to wash the blood off on your own time. I don't clean, I just mend." She chuckled at her own joke and wandered back to her seat. "While you're up dear, would you mind going to that bookshelf over there and finding me a book Jonas might have? It's most likely in a language you won't understand, so just bring me anything that looks unfamiliar. Jack and I need to have a talk." Will nodded and wandered over to the bookcase. Cecilia looked back at Jack.
"He's your son, isn't he? Jonas, that is." Jack said quietly. Cecilia nodded and her expression dark.
"I knew I could count on you to figure it out, Captain. What gave it away?" She leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees.
"Well, I found it odd that you'd help us when you barely even knew us. That island was deserted. You shouldn't even have been on it."
"Very observant. Jonas kept me locked in my cabin most of the time. He wanted to learn all the power that he'd inherited at birth, but I wouldn't teach him. You should've seen him when he was younger. He was horrible to the other children, yet he wasn't a bullying child. He was quiet, and his eyes always had this cold look to them. I knew right away that I'd given birth to something evil, but I could never bring myself to do anything about it." She closed her eyes, massaging the bridge of her nose. Jack had leaned forward as well, elbows resting on his knees and listening to her intently.
"Then one night, when he was twelve, I took him into town and left him on the doorstep of an orphanage. I loved him dearly, but the boy..." She sighed. "I'm a horrible mother. I couldn't stand to be around him. Not with that cold stare and he had this feeling about him that I can't describe, but it made chills run up your spine."
"I never noticed that." Jack said, frowning. Cecilia nodded.
"It all changed after he became a pirate. One night the village is overrun, and I find myself being manhandled to the ship by two of the meanest looking men you ever saw. It turned out he was the captain of the ship, and after asking some questions and putting money in the right hands, he'd found me. He told me he wanted to learn the power of voodoo and he wasn't about to take no for an answer. Six miserable years I lived on that ship." She found sitting down to tell the story a bit too uncomfortable for her, so she stood up and began to pace.
"Then one night in port, I hear two of his crew talking about some poor sap they'd found to help them find the treasure. Once that was said and done, they'd kill 'em and leave 'em behind. Smythe wanted all the treasure to himself, and he wasn't about to share with you." Jack sat back in his chair, an angry expression on his face.
"And I fell for it. I trusted him." He muttered bitterly. Cecilia stopped, and her expression softened as she looked at him.
"You didn't trust him, Captain Sparrow. You only thought you did. He worked some mojo on your mind." She leaned against the chair. "I heard what happened to you and how you never really trusted many after that incident. It seemed odd that you would trust him when you barely knew him."
"Well, that's all good and sad." He stood up, still staring at her. "You still haven't answered the question of why you helped us to a satisfactory point."
Cecilia smiled. "I helped you because of who you were. It's hard to love evil, Captain Sparrow. I tried and tried, but I failed to ever love Jonas. The more I stayed on that ship, the more I lost any of hope I had of loving him. When you all went after the treasure, I used a little bit of magic and escaped. I had no idea where you were going, so I wandered around, hoping to cross paths with you. I found no one until later that night when I came across William knocking on death's door." She glanced over at Will, who was still searching through the books she had pointed him to. "A while later, you come to the same spot in the same condition. Just by looking at you, I could feel that you were going to be the one. You were defiant of everyone. Not even death could make you humble."
Jack started pacing. "So you helped me because you want me to fight him? Luv, I'm good, but what yer askin'...that may be a little out of my league. All I want is to rescue Ana and go back to livin' me life." Cecilia suddenly looked away. "What?"
She took a deep breath. "The spell isn't permanent, Captain. I hid your spirits and when the time was right, I called you forth. But you're only temporary residents. After this is over, you can finally find peace." Jack stared at her in shock.
"But what if I don't want to? What if I want to live the life that was taken from me?" He demanded.
"That's not my place." Cecilia shot back. "I can only bring you back temporarily to get your vengeance. But I cannot play a higher power and resurrect you, got it?" She said. "Besides, if I let you stay, it wouldn't be good for William. He only loved that lass of his back then, and she's the only person that he still loves."
Jack threw up his hands. "He's got a lass! That Hannah girl they kidnapped with Ana. That's Elizabeth." He was startled when she marched over and stood close to him. She was opposing for someone who only came up to his collar bone.
"I only saved those on the beach, Captain. That would mean you, Anamaria, and William. That girl may look like Elizabeth, but it's not her. He doesn't love her for what she looks like, he loves her for who she is, and that girl is not her." Cecilia hissed. "You should understand this. Could you love anyone else besides Anamaria? Jack didn't respond at first. He stared back at her for a moment, as if he could read her thoughts.
"So we'll get to be at peace then? No more limbo?" He asked. Cecilia nodded.
"You'll get the peace you deserve." She said quietly. "All I ask is that you help me bring Jonas down. Please."
"Fine." He said, just as Will came over, his arms full of books. He laid them on the table, looking between Jack and Cecilia.
"Is everything ok?" He asked. Cecilia broke the eye contact with Jack first, turning away.
"Just fine." She wandered over to the table, searching through the books. "Here we go." She picked up an old ratty book, flipping through it.
"So what's the plan?" Jack asked, walking over to join them.
"It's simple." Cecilia muttered. "I'm going to break his protective spell and you're going to kill him. Anymore complicated and it would certainly be screwed up." She paused on a page, running her finger down it. Will looked at Jack.
"There's more magic?" He asked hesitantly. Jack nodded and put an arm around his shoulders.
"Not even the afterlife is borin' for us, William."