Chapter Nine: Ice
Elves as well as crew members flocked into the room to see what all the ruckus was about. When Arianne arrived--last--she had to elbow her way through more people than the little room was ever meant to hold. What she saw first was Reanna standing stock-still, as though she were a statue.
"Well what the bloody hell did you go screaming for..." she started, but stopped when she saw Jack, saw the wide grin stretching from ear to ear across his neck. "Oh gods," she murmured. "Oh gods, it can't be...it's not..." Then she fainted away.
Reanna, too frozen with horror at her father's death, did not catch her mother as she fell. Nor did she move when the dull thud of her hitting the floor reached her ears. She didn't react to anything, she couldn't. Her heart was a frozen lump in her chest, blood seemed to stop circulating through her body, her muscles would not respond to give her limbs the strength even to run away.
This was all too horrible. She knew that people were scurrying to and fro, each going around her, but she found that she couldn't find the will to care. Her father was dead. Captain Jack Sparrow, the greatest pirate in the Caribbean--nay, the entire world--was dead.
And she couldn't even cry. No, not even that mercy was allowed her to vent her grief. All she could do was slowly turn about and leave the room, then the house altogether. She knew who had done it. He had been the only one besides her up and about so early this morning, had he not? But still she could not find the tiniest spark of feeling within her. She was numb to everything.
A voice called her name, but she ignored it, continuing to walk towards the cliff that she had so triumphantly dived from only a week before. He had gone there. But she wasn't angry. The fires that were her fury would not ignite. The ice held her heart fast in its grip, not allowing the slightest bit of warmth enter it. Her eyes were dry, though she knew that she should be helpless with tears.
When she reached the bluff and started climbing, she felt hands try to pull her down, but she batted them away as though they were flies. When they grabbed her ankles she kicked in a perfunctory sort of manner to free herself. They begged her not to do it, though what they thought she was going to do she did not know. All she wanted was to talk to the bald man a little. That was all.
She knew that they were following her as she climbed farther and farther up, but she did not care. When she reached the top, though, there was no one there. He must have fled, a little voice in her mind told her. He knew what he had done, that he would be suspected, and so he had fled.
She laughed, then. An awful sounding thing it was, devoid of any recognizable emotion. The ones that had followed her shuddered at the sound of it. They put their hands on her and no longer did she resist when they told her to come back to the house with them. She went quietly, if unfeelingly.
Her mother was awake when she returned, but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything right now. There was nothing to care about now that her father was gone. She did, of course, notice the resentful glares her mother sent her way, but she felt nothing and so simply stared back, her face and eyes an absolute blank.
Her mother paled at the look on her daughter's face and looked away. She was happy to look at anything that wasn't the awful visage Reanna presented to her. Arianne talked to the elves and the crew, telling them that the funeral would be in Port Royal, but that Jack's body would be brought back here to be buried.
Reanna felt something, then. It was as though she took a tiny sip of the great and endless waters of grief. She could not quite dispel the ice that resided in her heart, but she felt all the same.
"No," she heard her voice saying. Arianne and everyone she was talking to turned their gazes towards Reanna. "No, the funeral will not be in Port Royal. And he will not be buried on land. He didn't want that."
Arianne grew angry then. "And who are you to say such things to me, you wretched creature?!" she shouted. Reanna felt a tiny spark of flame kindle in anger within her. Everyone else simply looked on in shock at their captain's wife or at their goddess. "You, who ran away when he was struck down, who ran away when he was dead! How dare you dictate to me, the woman who knows him best, who was here for him when he needed me!"
"Unlike some people, I came back," Reanna replied, her anger finally intensifying enough that she could vent it. She reveled in the heat it produced, melting the ice that had gripped her in its hand. "I came back while you kept running, drowning in oceans of whiskey! I helped bring him back to life, even if it was only going to be for a week. I spoke to him whenever he was strong enough. I am his daughter! I would know just as well as you, if not better, what he would have wanted, and I tell you that this is it!"
Arianne simply stared, her mouth open. Reanna had never yelled at her like this before, she had never before so thoroughly lost her temper. When her anger at her daughter took hold again, she opened her mouth but was interrupted by Y'lorani.
"The girl speaks truth, Arianne."
"What do you mean?" Arianne spat.
"Jack would wish that his body be commended to the sea. He would have hated being buried on land when most of his life belonged to the sea. I Saw his funeral long ago, and Reanna speaks rightly of how it should go."
Arianne opened her mouth to attack Y'lorani's word, but Y'lorani beat her to it.
"If you had gone to his room when he was able to talk as your daughter did, he would have told you the same thing." Y'lorani's silver eyes held unending depths of disappointment as she stared at her goddess.
Arianne looked around at all the people gathered, disbelief etched on her face as she realized that the entirety of the assembly agreed with Reanna and Y'lorani. "Fine!" she shouted. "Fine!"
She left to find some whiskey to wet her throat and dull the pain of being shown as a horrible creature next to her unflawed diamond of a daughter.
It was a bitter thing, indeed.
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Alrighty, another chapter...I hope you guys aren't too angry at me! It was necessary to kill Jack.
Reason 1: It really wasn't fair to him that I was changing his personality to fit my story. Reason 2: My muse is picky...and this way you get to see the full degeneration of Arianne's sanity as well as how Reanna deals with grief and anger.
Thank you all for reading, I very much appreciate it, and I hope you all review with your opinions!
Elves as well as crew members flocked into the room to see what all the ruckus was about. When Arianne arrived--last--she had to elbow her way through more people than the little room was ever meant to hold. What she saw first was Reanna standing stock-still, as though she were a statue.
"Well what the bloody hell did you go screaming for..." she started, but stopped when she saw Jack, saw the wide grin stretching from ear to ear across his neck. "Oh gods," she murmured. "Oh gods, it can't be...it's not..." Then she fainted away.
Reanna, too frozen with horror at her father's death, did not catch her mother as she fell. Nor did she move when the dull thud of her hitting the floor reached her ears. She didn't react to anything, she couldn't. Her heart was a frozen lump in her chest, blood seemed to stop circulating through her body, her muscles would not respond to give her limbs the strength even to run away.
This was all too horrible. She knew that people were scurrying to and fro, each going around her, but she found that she couldn't find the will to care. Her father was dead. Captain Jack Sparrow, the greatest pirate in the Caribbean--nay, the entire world--was dead.
And she couldn't even cry. No, not even that mercy was allowed her to vent her grief. All she could do was slowly turn about and leave the room, then the house altogether. She knew who had done it. He had been the only one besides her up and about so early this morning, had he not? But still she could not find the tiniest spark of feeling within her. She was numb to everything.
A voice called her name, but she ignored it, continuing to walk towards the cliff that she had so triumphantly dived from only a week before. He had gone there. But she wasn't angry. The fires that were her fury would not ignite. The ice held her heart fast in its grip, not allowing the slightest bit of warmth enter it. Her eyes were dry, though she knew that she should be helpless with tears.
When she reached the bluff and started climbing, she felt hands try to pull her down, but she batted them away as though they were flies. When they grabbed her ankles she kicked in a perfunctory sort of manner to free herself. They begged her not to do it, though what they thought she was going to do she did not know. All she wanted was to talk to the bald man a little. That was all.
She knew that they were following her as she climbed farther and farther up, but she did not care. When she reached the top, though, there was no one there. He must have fled, a little voice in her mind told her. He knew what he had done, that he would be suspected, and so he had fled.
She laughed, then. An awful sounding thing it was, devoid of any recognizable emotion. The ones that had followed her shuddered at the sound of it. They put their hands on her and no longer did she resist when they told her to come back to the house with them. She went quietly, if unfeelingly.
Her mother was awake when she returned, but she didn't care. She didn't care about anything right now. There was nothing to care about now that her father was gone. She did, of course, notice the resentful glares her mother sent her way, but she felt nothing and so simply stared back, her face and eyes an absolute blank.
Her mother paled at the look on her daughter's face and looked away. She was happy to look at anything that wasn't the awful visage Reanna presented to her. Arianne talked to the elves and the crew, telling them that the funeral would be in Port Royal, but that Jack's body would be brought back here to be buried.
Reanna felt something, then. It was as though she took a tiny sip of the great and endless waters of grief. She could not quite dispel the ice that resided in her heart, but she felt all the same.
"No," she heard her voice saying. Arianne and everyone she was talking to turned their gazes towards Reanna. "No, the funeral will not be in Port Royal. And he will not be buried on land. He didn't want that."
Arianne grew angry then. "And who are you to say such things to me, you wretched creature?!" she shouted. Reanna felt a tiny spark of flame kindle in anger within her. Everyone else simply looked on in shock at their captain's wife or at their goddess. "You, who ran away when he was struck down, who ran away when he was dead! How dare you dictate to me, the woman who knows him best, who was here for him when he needed me!"
"Unlike some people, I came back," Reanna replied, her anger finally intensifying enough that she could vent it. She reveled in the heat it produced, melting the ice that had gripped her in its hand. "I came back while you kept running, drowning in oceans of whiskey! I helped bring him back to life, even if it was only going to be for a week. I spoke to him whenever he was strong enough. I am his daughter! I would know just as well as you, if not better, what he would have wanted, and I tell you that this is it!"
Arianne simply stared, her mouth open. Reanna had never yelled at her like this before, she had never before so thoroughly lost her temper. When her anger at her daughter took hold again, she opened her mouth but was interrupted by Y'lorani.
"The girl speaks truth, Arianne."
"What do you mean?" Arianne spat.
"Jack would wish that his body be commended to the sea. He would have hated being buried on land when most of his life belonged to the sea. I Saw his funeral long ago, and Reanna speaks rightly of how it should go."
Arianne opened her mouth to attack Y'lorani's word, but Y'lorani beat her to it.
"If you had gone to his room when he was able to talk as your daughter did, he would have told you the same thing." Y'lorani's silver eyes held unending depths of disappointment as she stared at her goddess.
Arianne looked around at all the people gathered, disbelief etched on her face as she realized that the entirety of the assembly agreed with Reanna and Y'lorani. "Fine!" she shouted. "Fine!"
She left to find some whiskey to wet her throat and dull the pain of being shown as a horrible creature next to her unflawed diamond of a daughter.
It was a bitter thing, indeed.
************************************************************************
Alrighty, another chapter...I hope you guys aren't too angry at me! It was necessary to kill Jack.
Reason 1: It really wasn't fair to him that I was changing his personality to fit my story. Reason 2: My muse is picky...and this way you get to see the full degeneration of Arianne's sanity as well as how Reanna deals with grief and anger.
Thank you all for reading, I very much appreciate it, and I hope you all review with your opinions!