Well, this is it! They are returning to Spike Isle! Wow! Okay, instead of
babbling on, I will present you with:
Chapter 6: The Return to Spike Isle
The next morning, Jack and Celeste were up at the helm.
"To Spike Isle, then, eh?" Celeste asked.
"O' course." Jack replied. "Unless there's somewhere else you'd like to go an' sightsee while Spike sucks the soul out o' me." he smiled.
"Don't even joke like that, Jack." Celeste said seriously. "You know I can't stand the thought of losing you." she pouted.
"I'm sorry, darling, I'm not a very serious man." Jack told her, putting an arm around her shoulders and steering the ship with the other hand.
Celeste sighed thoughtfully. I think I'll go and stand at the front of the ship. The view is better there."
"Mind if I join you?" Jack asked. "Been steerin' for a while -- I need a break."
"Of course I don't mind." Celeste replied.
Jack called Anamaria to the helm and she came to it.
"Aye, Captain?" Anamaria asked.
"Take the helm for a while, savvy?"
"Aye, aye." Anamaria replied. Celeste smiled at her, but she did not return it.
"Is everything alright?" Celeste asked her.
"Well, even if there wasn't, there wouldn't be anything you could do about it." Anamaria answered coldly.
"What's wrong?" Celeste asked concernedly, and Anamaria refused to look at her. "You can always talk to me, you know, because--" Jack tapped Celeste's shoulder, and she looked at him. He shook his head. Celeste looked confused.
"Er, thank you, Anamaria." Jack added and pulled Celeste down the stairs; they headed for the end of the ship.
"Why did you...?" Celeste started.
"Look," Jack explained, "Anamaria is sort of a... lone wolf. She doesn' want anyone's sympathy. She's bes' left alone."
"But..." Celeste began, "everyone needs someone to talk to sometime. That could just be an act -- she could be really hurt."
"Don' get involved, love, she's very tough. She prob'ly won' care what you say." Jack told her. They'd reached the edge of the ship. Celeste shrugged and sighed.
"I suppose you know best." Celeste said.
"O' course I do." Jack added, smiling. Celeste smiled as Well. They gazed out at the horizon.
"I suppose everything will be okay, then." Celeste said. "Since we have the gems and all... Do you finally admit that everything's going to be fine?"
"I suppose I do." Jack replied.
"You see?" Celeste asked. "I'm always right. Aren't I always right?"
"I suppose so." he replied with a smile.
"Well, anyway, you do believe that, don't you?" she asked. "That everything is going to be alright?"
He stepped behind her and put his arms around her.
"It certainly feels like it." Jack sighed. "As long as you're with me..." He kissed her cheek. "Righ' now I jus' couldn' care any less..." Celeste smiled. "I love you, Princess."
"I love you, too, Jack O' Lantern." Celeste replied; Jack smiled. They stood and watched the ocean sparkle.
All the while, Angelina came up on deck and went up to the helm to talk to Anamaria. They'd sort of bonded a little in the time they'd traveled together.
"'ello, Anamaria." Angelina greeted.
"Aye." Anamaria replied bleakly.
"Are ya alrigh'?" Angelina asked.
"Fine."
"Ya don' look fine." Angelina said. Anamaria avoided showing emotion. "Come on, ya can tell me. I won' tell anyone, ya know."
"Aye..." Anamaria hesitated. "I suppose I should talk to someone."
"O' course you should." Angelina agreed. "Ya can't keep things all bottled up. Wha' is it?"
Anamaria sighed. She glanced at Angelina, then at Jack and Celeste. "It's just that, er..." she hesitated. "Jack... he, er... I,er..."
"Ya fancy him, don' ya?" Angelina asked. "Tha's it, isn' it?"
"H-how'd you...?" Anamaria stuttered, surprised.
Angelina shrugged. "The way you were lookin' at 'em."
"Well..." Anamaria hesitated, "it's just that... Jack and I... we almost had something once... We both felt the same way about each other, but... then he left... and when he came back... I-I was just... waiting for him to bring it up..."
"Look... Anamaria..." Angelina started. "I don' know too much about Jack, but I do know a lot about Celeste. ...I see 'em around... an'... Celeste jus' looks so 'appy... 'er stepmother was so mean to 'er. A lot o' mental abuse. Until she got involved with Jack... I'd never really seen her eyes look like that before... Really happy."
"Well," Anamaria said, "we all have our sob stories." But Angelina knew that she felt a little sympathy for Celeste. Though, Anamaria didn't exactly have an easy life either.
Meanwhile, Will and Elizabeth were on sail-duty when Jack and Celeste caught their eyes. Jack hugged Celeste.
"He treats her as well as he treats the Pearl if not better." Will said to Elizabeth.
"Yes." Elizabeth replied. "That's something I never thought I'd see."
"Still, though," Will began, "Jack seems sort of changed since we last traveled with him. I mean, he seems a little more... responsible."
"Another thing I never thought I'd see." Elizabeth said.
"Aye," Jack said to Celeste, "I definitely love you, Miss Wyndham."
"And I definitely love you, Mr. Sparrow." Celeste replied with a smile. He buried his face in her neck. She smiled and glanced off to her left. "Hey... what's that?" she asked, squinting at the horizon.
"Who cares?" Jack sighed.
"No, really, it looks like a ship." Celeste said. Jack looked up.
"You're righ'..." he said. "We should see who it is."
"Why?" Celeste asked. "We don't need any information or anything."
Jack shrugged. "Could be a friend o' mine."
"I'm not sure if I really want to meet any more of your friends..." Celeste mumbled thinking of not only Santara, but of Spike and anyone remotely having anything to do with Tortuga as well.
Jack had planned to drop anchor and meet with the ship.
A little while later, the plan went through and the two ships dropped anchor and heaved a gangplank onto the rails for someone to cross.
The captain of the other ship was dressed in an elaborate, red costume with a big, red, feathery hat. His ship, La Muerta Negra, was deep black, and as large as the Black Pearl, and it had red sails. The captain crossed over to the Pearl. Jack went over to greet him.
"Ah, he--" Jack stopped as he beheld the captain. "Black..."
"Sparrow." he greeted stiffly. Celeste came over to Jack.
"Hello." she greeted. She held out her hand to Black, but Jack grabbed it and pulled it back.
"Well, well, what a nice surprise it is to see you, Jack." Black said. "An' 'oo's this?" Black asked. "Oh, well, comin' from Tortuga..."
"No, she's from Ruby Falls." Jack said defensively. "Miss Celeste Wyndham."
"Wyndham?" Black asked. "Not... related to 'enry Wyndham?"
"His daughter." she said with a polite smile.
"Well, 'ow did you ever get involved with a girl like this, Jack?" Black asked.
"It's a long story, Thomas." he replied bitterly.
"Well, then, wha' are you up to lately, Sparrow?" Black asked.
"Well, it's really none of your business, now, is it, Black?"
"I suppose not." Black replied. "This ship is nearly in shambles, you know... Whilst mine is still looking' gorgeous."
"Well, we can't all 'ave things 'anded to us on a silver platter." Jack told him. "I 'ad to work for mine."
"Mine was no walk through the park either." Black retorted.
"Are you still tryin' to beat my out at everythin'?" Jack asked.
"I didn' fail, did I?" Black asked bitterly.
"As far as I'm concerned, you did." Jack replied, putting an arm around Celeste. Black smiled bitterly. "So, where are you off to wreak havoc in?"
"Well, after Tortuga, I'm goin' up north somewhere." Black replied. "France, maybe. Maybe Spain or England. Who knows?" he glanced at Celeste. "She's very pretty. Do you need 'er particularly? I'd pay a very 'igh price for 'er." Celeste clutched onto Jack in fear.
Jack glared at him. "Get off my ship."
"Oh, come--"
"Get off my ship, Black." Jack ordered.
"You still 'old a grudge, do you?" Black asked.
"You always wanted everythin' I 'ad -- you always wanted to be everythin' I am an' you aren'." Jack said angrily. "You can't make me jealous, Black, 'cause I got it all." he pulled Celeste closer to him.
Black's lip curled angrily. He turned on his heel and crossed back to his ship. The gangplank was removed and each ship set sail.
"Who... was that exactly?" Celeste asked Jack.
"An ol' rival o' mine." he replied. "Thomas Black. Jus' forget 'im. We won' run into 'im again if we're lucky."
"Hm..." Celeste mumbled thoughtfully and nodded.
Four days later, they docked at Spike Isle and rowed ashore. The sun had set and they'd just barely make it in time.
Celeste had an hourglass that she's set to run out at midnight and it was nearly out when they got ashore. Just for security, Jack and Celeste took along Will, Elizabeth, Audra, and Angelina. They all ran at top speed to the cave, Jack carrying the gems.
They sprinted through the cave halls, glancing at the hourglass every other second; it was running low. They ran into the cave, and Jack dashed to the pedestal.
"Jack, hurry!" Celeste cried.
He put two gems in place, but in his nervousness, dropped one.
"Jaaack!" Celeste nagged, seconds left.
He grabbed the gem and, shoved the gem into place just before the hourglass ran out.
Just then, Spike sprung up, out of the pedestal.
"Ah, Jack, I'm glad to see you." Spike said. "I was beginning to worry."
"Well, if I didn' 'ave the Pearl, I prob'ly wouldn' 'ave made it." Jack said, out of breath.
"Yes." Spike said. "Anyway, I can now return to my mortal form... All I need to do is touch the pedestal..." He floated over to the pedestal and stared at it. "But first... old buddies..."
Suddenly, six ghosts floated out of the stone chests. Spike smiled wide and put both hands on the pedestal. Light burst out of it and Spike and the other ghosts fell to the ground. They all began to materialize. Color soaked into their blue skin and clothes as they became corporeal. They all stood up.
"Finally." Spike sighed. "I can finally... adjust this hat!" he grabbed onto the brim of his hat and adjusted it. "Ah... it feels good to be alive..." He cleared his throat. "Now, I have some dreadful news." he stated. "Now that I am mortal, I want to remain that way. In order to do so, I must feast on souls -- though I can no longer take souls from afar. You will all be very useful and have been very helpful, but I'm afraid I must kill you all. In order to take your souls, I must kill you, so... without further ado... Boys..." he motioned to the other pirates and they moved towards them. "Though, I think it only fitting that I kill Jack. We are old friends, you know."
"Ah, delightful." Jack said, unsheathing his sword; the rest of them readied their swords as well. "Let'Spike 'ave some fun."
Two pirates made their way toward Celeste. They were both fairly large and tough-looking. She started to fence with one, and the other came up behind her. She knew what was coming: they both swung their swords high at her. She ducked down so low that her face nearly touched the stone floor, but she managed to stay on her feet and keep her swords in her hands. She held her hands out in front of her and assured her balance. She then stuck one of her legs out and swung it back , tripping one pirate and causing him to fall over. The other began to strike at her back, but she blocked it by lying flat on the floor, and then quickly rolling over and holding up one of her swords. He tried to impale her, but she rolled to the side and hopped up.
Audra and Angelina both found themselves fencing with pirate. Audra had her sword knocked out of her hand, but thought quick. She pulled a hairpin out of her hair and jabbed it in the pirate's forearm. As he yelled, she recovered her sword and continued fencing.
Angelina had started to charge at a pirate, but tripped over a rock and unintentionally, but luckily, dodged a strike from the approaching pirate.
Elizabeth was left opponent-less and stood at one side of the cave, not knowing when to charge into battle. She saw Angelina struggling in a fight and went to her aid; they held the pirate off, but didn't really progress in the fight.
Will confronted a very large pirate. He attempted to look tough: he raised his sword up and took a fighting stance. The pirate glared at him, and he glared back.
"Arr...gh!" Will growled, utterly unconvincing, and the pirate laughed.
Jack fenced with Spike, but Spike was both stronger and faster than he was -- he could just defend himself.
The pirate that Celeste was left to was very large and strong. She couldn't fight him, so she ran, trying not to lead the pirate toward anyone else; the pirate she'd knocked over had gotten back up and was also chasing after her. She ran behind one of the stone chests, but the pirate leapt over it. She ran -- anywhere she could see an escape.
It seemed as though they had finally met their match.
"Jack!" Celeste cried, running towards him. "These guys are huge! I can't hold them off!" she ran towards another chest, the pirate pursuing her. "We should leave! Just run!"
"No, I can 'andle it --" he blocked one of Spike's strikes.
"Oh, forget your pride!" Celeste yelled. "Let's go!" she ran towards the cave exit, calling the others to follow her, and Jack reluctantly retreated.
They ran with all speed out of the cave and to the boats. They pushed offshore and rowed towards the Pearl.
Celeste wearily sat down and relaxed up against the mast.
"Well," she sighed, a little out of breath, "we got out of that alright. At least he can't take your soul now." She looked over at Jack who was gazing back at the island. He's trapped there, isn't he?" Celeste asked. "I mean, he has no way of getting off, right?"
"I 'ope so..." Jack said thoughtfully, still gazing at the island.
"That jerk!" Celeste exclaimed. "He lied to us! How dare he!?"
Will and Elizabeth sat down back to back and leaned up against each other. Audra and Angelina sat down and leaned up against the ship's railing.
Jack was still staring rigidly back at the island. Celeste got up and went to him. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Jack..." she said. "He can't follow us now, right? We're safe." Jack broke is lingering gaze at the island to look at her.
"Aye... Aye, that's true." he hesitated, smiling awkwardly.
"Oh, darn." Celeste mumbled, taking Jack's left arm, which was bleeding. "Come on, Jack O' Lantern, I'll patch you up. To the cargo hold." Jack nodded and they went down to the cargo hold.
"Goodness sakes," Celeste said, "at the rate we get hurt around here, I'm surprised we're not all bloody mummies by now."
After patching up his arm, she tiredly sat down on a crate.
"Well, there you -- oh, no." she glanced at his upper stomach which had a long horizontal cut across it.
"What?" Jack asked, not even noticing the cut. She reached up and removed his jacket.
"Take off your shirt." she told him.
"Ooh, darling... 'ere?" he asked, smirking.
She sighed impatiently. "Would you try thinking with your head for once?" She motioned to his stomach. He looked down.
"Oh, yeah..." he mumbled.
"Oh, yeah..." she mumbled in a mocking voice. He removed all of his accessories and then his vest and shirt.
Celeste pulled some more bandages out of the crate and began to bandage his stomach. The cut, luckily, wasn't deep at all, but still had the need for bandaging.
She tied off the bandage. Jack smiled at her.
"What?" she asked, irritated. "What disgustingly inappropriate thoughts are you having now?"
"I was jus' thinkin' 'ow beautiful you are." he replied. "Why, you offend me, darling." he said, faking innocent.
"I'm sorry," she replied, shrugging, "but you know how you are sometimes..."
"I was also thinkin' that since we're 'alf way there, we might' as Well pass some time by 'avin a little fun..."
Celeste gasped. "How obscene! You shouldn't say things like that to a lady!" she exclaimed crossly, folding her arms across her stomach.
"Well, I'm not goin' to say things like that to a man, now, am I?" Jack said mockingly.
Celeste scoffed. "I swear, Jack, sometimes your mouth can ruin everything."
"You don' know 'alf o' what me mouth can do, darling." he said, moving closer to her.
"Jack!" she exclaimed in a scolding voice, smacking him in the arm with the back of her hand. "Why do you say such awful things?! It's so improper, not to mention offensive to me! You just don't say things like that to a lady!"
"I'm sorry, darling," Jack laughed, "I love to tease you. You look adorable when you blush an' get all angry like that."
"Ohh--" she muttered and turned on her heel away from him. She started to walk away when he came up behind her and put his arms around her.
"Don' leave, darling." he told her.
"And why shouldn't I leave, you scoundrel?" Celeste asked resentfully.
"Because I don' want you to." he replied.
"Oh," she began, prying herself away from him, "and so you expect me to stay, doing exactly what you want just because I look into those gorgeous brown eyes, huh? Well, it won't work." She turned her head the other way. He put his hand on her cheek and turned her face towards him. He gazed at her with those gorgeous brown eyes and pulled the puppy dog face. She sighed.
"Oh, fine." she gave in. "But don't you ever do that face again!" she ordered, knowing that next time she'd probably melt. "Anyway, hurry up and get dressed."
After he dressed, they went up on deck. He and Celeste sat down and leaned up against the mast. He put an arm around her.
"Well, sure you don' want to pass the time in an entertainin' an'... educational way?" he asked, smirking. Will, Elizabeth, Audra, and Angelina looked over with disapproving looks on their faces.
"Would you quit saying things like that?" Celeste asked, annoyed. "It makes me uncomfortable."
"Does it?" he smirked.
"Oh, you're disgusting." she scoffed.
"Can't live with me, can't live without me, eh, darling?" he asked, smiling.
"Ugh..." Celeste sighed. Jack pushed his hat down over his eyes and relaxed against the mast.
"Do you get the feeling..." Will whispered to Elizabeth, "that maybe this isn't over yet?"
"Yes... Yes, I do." she whispered back.
Celeste and Jack had just dozed off when--
"Captain!" Gibbs cried. "Captain!" They both awoke with a jerk. Gibbs was at the end of the ship, looking out at the horizon. "A ship! Doesn't look familiar either! And it's bloody fast!"
Jack's eyes widened and he quickly stood up (but not before recovering his arm very quickly, slightly knocking Celeste in the head, causing her hair to fly up into her face).
"Oh, no..." he mumbled, looking out at the horizon, and hurried to the end of the ship to join Gibbs.
"What is it?" Celeste asked as she and the others joined Jack and Gibbs at the end of the ship.
"Spike..." Jack mumbled.
"Well, what do we do?" Celeste asked, worried.
"That island!" Will exclaimed, pointing off the left side of the ship to a small desolate island. "We should rowthere and fight!"
"Look at what happened last time! Do we really have a chance?!" Audra asked incredulously.
"Well, it's either that or let them take over the ship!" Will replied urgently.
"Not me ship!" Jack exclaimed. "I won' let them 'urt the Pearl!"
"Will's righ'." Angelina said. "We should row there."
"Yes, we could row there," Will explained, "and you sail the Pearl around to the other side." he said to Gibbs. "It's us they want."
It was decided. They sailed as near to the island as they could and let Jack, Celeste, Will, Elizabeth, Audra, and Angelina row ashore.
The island was almost completely desolate -- totally abandoned with very little vegetation.
"I wonder if anyone's ever been to this island before..." Celeste said.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and they heard rumbling. They struggled to stay upright as the ground continued shaking. Just then, ten white-blue figures rose out of the ground.
"More ghosts?" Celeste asked incredulously. The ghosts seemed to be the ghosts of pirates, elaborately dressed. One floated to the front of the group to speak.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Victims!" Celeste exclaimed, not really meaning to say it.
"Victims?" the ghost asked. "Of what?"
"Fredrick Stupid Spike!" Celeste said angrily.
"Spike?" another ghost asked in an angry, booming voice.
"Did he maroon you, too?" a tough looking woman ghost asked.
"Too?" Jack asked.
"Yes," the first ghost said, "he was part of my crew. I am Hernan Cantenilla."
"Cantenilla?" Jack recalled. "Yes... I've 'eard the name."
"Spike marooned us here." the woman said bitterly. "We long for our revenge."
"Well, you're in bloody luck." Jack told them. "'e's on 'is way 'ere righ' now."
Shortly after, Spike and his six other crew members rowed ashore.
"Stand back." Cantenilla said to Jack and the others; they obeyed. Spike and his crew approached. "Spike..." Cantenilla growled scornfully.
"Hernan!" Spike exclaimed. "Well, how are you?"
"Dead." Cantenilla replied flatly.
"Good." Spike said justly. Cantenilla scowled.
"Charge!" Cantenilla yelled abruptly to his crew.
Suddenly, the ghosts charged full speed at Spike and his cronies. They went right through them, but knocked them over.
"We shall be back, you can count on it." Cantenilla said. "We are going to get an old friend..." and with that, the ghosts sunk into the ground and disappeared.
Spike and his crew got up and made their way towards Jack and them. They all unsheathed their swords.
"Here we go again..." Celeste said.
They all began to fight. But this time, it was different; Spike and his crew weren't as strong. They weren't weak, but not as strong as before.
They all fenced, this time with a little more faith. Jack fought Spike with a near smile on his face. Celeste fenced over in Jack's direction.
"Well, this isn't so hard, then, is it?" Celeste said to Jack.
"No, it's not." Jack replied. "After this is cleared away, wha' do you say, lobster for dinner?"
"Mm, I'd say shrimp." Celeste replied casually. "I love shrimp. And Mr. Cotton makes a mean Shrimp Scampi."
"I envy 'is cookin' skills." Jack said offhandedly, still fencing. It's a pirate skill to be able to bluff, and show no fear. Showing that you aren't threatened like that is a pirate gift and no one could master that skill better than Jack.
"I woudnt be so cocky if I were you." Spike said as Celeste fenced away.
"An' why not?" Jack asked.
"Because you can't win." Spike replied. Suddenly, Spike struck an unusually powerful blow, causing Jack's sword to fly from him. Spike grabbed Jack by the neck. "Sorry to do this, Jack, but I'm going to have to kill you now." Jack struggled to get free and tried to pry Spike's hands off, but to no avail.
Spike raised his sword to Jack's stomach, ready to impale him, when, suddenly--
"That's not very nice." Celeste said from behind Spike, and before he could react, she stabbed him in the back. She'd gotten rid of her previous attacker by using all her strength to drive one of her swords through his stomach and pin him to a tree.
"Like that's really going to stop me." Spike said sarcastically, quickly striking Celeste's remaining sword, causing it to fly from her.
Suddenly, Spike shoved them both on the ground, weaponless.
"Finally..." Spike said, brandishing his sword.
Suddenly, Cantenilla floated up behind Spike, reached out, his hand as if to rip out Spike's heart, and pulled out what must've been Spike's soul. His soulless body slumped to the ground as the two blue figures floated upwards, fencing.
"Well, there's a sight you don' see every day." Jack stated as he and Celeste stared in awe at the fencing ghosts.
"You left us to die." Cantenilla said angrily to Spike. "Not even a pistol or sword. No means of easing our pain, bringing our fate any quicker."
"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Spike sneered.
"It's time you faced your fate." Cantenilla stated.
Rumbling.
"Oh, my..." Celeste muttered. "Move!" She and Jack scrambled to get up and ran to the beach near the water.
Just then, Will, Elizabeth, Audra, and Angelina ran over to Jack and Celeste. Their adversaries had all fallen soulless like Spike, and were fighting Cantenilla's crew.
Suddenly, the ground that Spike and Cantenilla were hovering over opened up, and fire spilled out of it.
"Woah!" Celeste cried as she and the others fell over, and they saw what rose out of the crack in the ground -- a large creature. It had scales all over it and horns on its head. It exhaled fire and had fiery eyes.
It reached up with a great, clawed hand, grabbed Spike, and began to descend back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.
Spike yelled, but all in feeble attempts. His crew's souls were sucked down into the chasm.
With a roar, the creature descended out of sight, and the ground closed up, expelling a few final flames.
"Th-that's interesting." Jack stammered.
Celeste sat wide-eyed, as did they all, rigidly in shock.
"We have gotten our revenge." Cantenilla stated. And he and his crew soared up into the sky and disappeared out of sight.
"Is-is everyone alright?" Celeste asked.
After they came out of their shock, they all rowed back to the Pearl.
'Tis nearing the very end! Only one chapter left! I hope you enjoyed chapter 6! Please leave me a review!
Also, instead of at the end, I am giving out my thank-yous now! Thank you to:
Angela for giving me the idea for this ending when I couldn't think of anything else! It wouldn't have been nearly as good if it hadn't been from you, dude!
Irina for reading all my fics, reviewing nicely, and putting up with me.
Emily for giving me great ideas for the Tortuga scene and a lot more funny stuff I could NEVER come up with! You're hilarious!
Richelle for always reviewing nicely and driving me places! And for beginning that Celeste doll for me! When you get un-grounded, you must finish it! You're so good at that!
And Tutu (you know who you are) for being yourself!
Please review!
Chapter 6: The Return to Spike Isle
The next morning, Jack and Celeste were up at the helm.
"To Spike Isle, then, eh?" Celeste asked.
"O' course." Jack replied. "Unless there's somewhere else you'd like to go an' sightsee while Spike sucks the soul out o' me." he smiled.
"Don't even joke like that, Jack." Celeste said seriously. "You know I can't stand the thought of losing you." she pouted.
"I'm sorry, darling, I'm not a very serious man." Jack told her, putting an arm around her shoulders and steering the ship with the other hand.
Celeste sighed thoughtfully. I think I'll go and stand at the front of the ship. The view is better there."
"Mind if I join you?" Jack asked. "Been steerin' for a while -- I need a break."
"Of course I don't mind." Celeste replied.
Jack called Anamaria to the helm and she came to it.
"Aye, Captain?" Anamaria asked.
"Take the helm for a while, savvy?"
"Aye, aye." Anamaria replied. Celeste smiled at her, but she did not return it.
"Is everything alright?" Celeste asked her.
"Well, even if there wasn't, there wouldn't be anything you could do about it." Anamaria answered coldly.
"What's wrong?" Celeste asked concernedly, and Anamaria refused to look at her. "You can always talk to me, you know, because--" Jack tapped Celeste's shoulder, and she looked at him. He shook his head. Celeste looked confused.
"Er, thank you, Anamaria." Jack added and pulled Celeste down the stairs; they headed for the end of the ship.
"Why did you...?" Celeste started.
"Look," Jack explained, "Anamaria is sort of a... lone wolf. She doesn' want anyone's sympathy. She's bes' left alone."
"But..." Celeste began, "everyone needs someone to talk to sometime. That could just be an act -- she could be really hurt."
"Don' get involved, love, she's very tough. She prob'ly won' care what you say." Jack told her. They'd reached the edge of the ship. Celeste shrugged and sighed.
"I suppose you know best." Celeste said.
"O' course I do." Jack added, smiling. Celeste smiled as Well. They gazed out at the horizon.
"I suppose everything will be okay, then." Celeste said. "Since we have the gems and all... Do you finally admit that everything's going to be fine?"
"I suppose I do." Jack replied.
"You see?" Celeste asked. "I'm always right. Aren't I always right?"
"I suppose so." he replied with a smile.
"Well, anyway, you do believe that, don't you?" she asked. "That everything is going to be alright?"
He stepped behind her and put his arms around her.
"It certainly feels like it." Jack sighed. "As long as you're with me..." He kissed her cheek. "Righ' now I jus' couldn' care any less..." Celeste smiled. "I love you, Princess."
"I love you, too, Jack O' Lantern." Celeste replied; Jack smiled. They stood and watched the ocean sparkle.
All the while, Angelina came up on deck and went up to the helm to talk to Anamaria. They'd sort of bonded a little in the time they'd traveled together.
"'ello, Anamaria." Angelina greeted.
"Aye." Anamaria replied bleakly.
"Are ya alrigh'?" Angelina asked.
"Fine."
"Ya don' look fine." Angelina said. Anamaria avoided showing emotion. "Come on, ya can tell me. I won' tell anyone, ya know."
"Aye..." Anamaria hesitated. "I suppose I should talk to someone."
"O' course you should." Angelina agreed. "Ya can't keep things all bottled up. Wha' is it?"
Anamaria sighed. She glanced at Angelina, then at Jack and Celeste. "It's just that, er..." she hesitated. "Jack... he, er... I,er..."
"Ya fancy him, don' ya?" Angelina asked. "Tha's it, isn' it?"
"H-how'd you...?" Anamaria stuttered, surprised.
Angelina shrugged. "The way you were lookin' at 'em."
"Well..." Anamaria hesitated, "it's just that... Jack and I... we almost had something once... We both felt the same way about each other, but... then he left... and when he came back... I-I was just... waiting for him to bring it up..."
"Look... Anamaria..." Angelina started. "I don' know too much about Jack, but I do know a lot about Celeste. ...I see 'em around... an'... Celeste jus' looks so 'appy... 'er stepmother was so mean to 'er. A lot o' mental abuse. Until she got involved with Jack... I'd never really seen her eyes look like that before... Really happy."
"Well," Anamaria said, "we all have our sob stories." But Angelina knew that she felt a little sympathy for Celeste. Though, Anamaria didn't exactly have an easy life either.
Meanwhile, Will and Elizabeth were on sail-duty when Jack and Celeste caught their eyes. Jack hugged Celeste.
"He treats her as well as he treats the Pearl if not better." Will said to Elizabeth.
"Yes." Elizabeth replied. "That's something I never thought I'd see."
"Still, though," Will began, "Jack seems sort of changed since we last traveled with him. I mean, he seems a little more... responsible."
"Another thing I never thought I'd see." Elizabeth said.
"Aye," Jack said to Celeste, "I definitely love you, Miss Wyndham."
"And I definitely love you, Mr. Sparrow." Celeste replied with a smile. He buried his face in her neck. She smiled and glanced off to her left. "Hey... what's that?" she asked, squinting at the horizon.
"Who cares?" Jack sighed.
"No, really, it looks like a ship." Celeste said. Jack looked up.
"You're righ'..." he said. "We should see who it is."
"Why?" Celeste asked. "We don't need any information or anything."
Jack shrugged. "Could be a friend o' mine."
"I'm not sure if I really want to meet any more of your friends..." Celeste mumbled thinking of not only Santara, but of Spike and anyone remotely having anything to do with Tortuga as well.
Jack had planned to drop anchor and meet with the ship.
A little while later, the plan went through and the two ships dropped anchor and heaved a gangplank onto the rails for someone to cross.
The captain of the other ship was dressed in an elaborate, red costume with a big, red, feathery hat. His ship, La Muerta Negra, was deep black, and as large as the Black Pearl, and it had red sails. The captain crossed over to the Pearl. Jack went over to greet him.
"Ah, he--" Jack stopped as he beheld the captain. "Black..."
"Sparrow." he greeted stiffly. Celeste came over to Jack.
"Hello." she greeted. She held out her hand to Black, but Jack grabbed it and pulled it back.
"Well, well, what a nice surprise it is to see you, Jack." Black said. "An' 'oo's this?" Black asked. "Oh, well, comin' from Tortuga..."
"No, she's from Ruby Falls." Jack said defensively. "Miss Celeste Wyndham."
"Wyndham?" Black asked. "Not... related to 'enry Wyndham?"
"His daughter." she said with a polite smile.
"Well, 'ow did you ever get involved with a girl like this, Jack?" Black asked.
"It's a long story, Thomas." he replied bitterly.
"Well, then, wha' are you up to lately, Sparrow?" Black asked.
"Well, it's really none of your business, now, is it, Black?"
"I suppose not." Black replied. "This ship is nearly in shambles, you know... Whilst mine is still looking' gorgeous."
"Well, we can't all 'ave things 'anded to us on a silver platter." Jack told him. "I 'ad to work for mine."
"Mine was no walk through the park either." Black retorted.
"Are you still tryin' to beat my out at everythin'?" Jack asked.
"I didn' fail, did I?" Black asked bitterly.
"As far as I'm concerned, you did." Jack replied, putting an arm around Celeste. Black smiled bitterly. "So, where are you off to wreak havoc in?"
"Well, after Tortuga, I'm goin' up north somewhere." Black replied. "France, maybe. Maybe Spain or England. Who knows?" he glanced at Celeste. "She's very pretty. Do you need 'er particularly? I'd pay a very 'igh price for 'er." Celeste clutched onto Jack in fear.
Jack glared at him. "Get off my ship."
"Oh, come--"
"Get off my ship, Black." Jack ordered.
"You still 'old a grudge, do you?" Black asked.
"You always wanted everythin' I 'ad -- you always wanted to be everythin' I am an' you aren'." Jack said angrily. "You can't make me jealous, Black, 'cause I got it all." he pulled Celeste closer to him.
Black's lip curled angrily. He turned on his heel and crossed back to his ship. The gangplank was removed and each ship set sail.
"Who... was that exactly?" Celeste asked Jack.
"An ol' rival o' mine." he replied. "Thomas Black. Jus' forget 'im. We won' run into 'im again if we're lucky."
"Hm..." Celeste mumbled thoughtfully and nodded.
Four days later, they docked at Spike Isle and rowed ashore. The sun had set and they'd just barely make it in time.
Celeste had an hourglass that she's set to run out at midnight and it was nearly out when they got ashore. Just for security, Jack and Celeste took along Will, Elizabeth, Audra, and Angelina. They all ran at top speed to the cave, Jack carrying the gems.
They sprinted through the cave halls, glancing at the hourglass every other second; it was running low. They ran into the cave, and Jack dashed to the pedestal.
"Jack, hurry!" Celeste cried.
He put two gems in place, but in his nervousness, dropped one.
"Jaaack!" Celeste nagged, seconds left.
He grabbed the gem and, shoved the gem into place just before the hourglass ran out.
Just then, Spike sprung up, out of the pedestal.
"Ah, Jack, I'm glad to see you." Spike said. "I was beginning to worry."
"Well, if I didn' 'ave the Pearl, I prob'ly wouldn' 'ave made it." Jack said, out of breath.
"Yes." Spike said. "Anyway, I can now return to my mortal form... All I need to do is touch the pedestal..." He floated over to the pedestal and stared at it. "But first... old buddies..."
Suddenly, six ghosts floated out of the stone chests. Spike smiled wide and put both hands on the pedestal. Light burst out of it and Spike and the other ghosts fell to the ground. They all began to materialize. Color soaked into their blue skin and clothes as they became corporeal. They all stood up.
"Finally." Spike sighed. "I can finally... adjust this hat!" he grabbed onto the brim of his hat and adjusted it. "Ah... it feels good to be alive..." He cleared his throat. "Now, I have some dreadful news." he stated. "Now that I am mortal, I want to remain that way. In order to do so, I must feast on souls -- though I can no longer take souls from afar. You will all be very useful and have been very helpful, but I'm afraid I must kill you all. In order to take your souls, I must kill you, so... without further ado... Boys..." he motioned to the other pirates and they moved towards them. "Though, I think it only fitting that I kill Jack. We are old friends, you know."
"Ah, delightful." Jack said, unsheathing his sword; the rest of them readied their swords as well. "Let'Spike 'ave some fun."
Two pirates made their way toward Celeste. They were both fairly large and tough-looking. She started to fence with one, and the other came up behind her. She knew what was coming: they both swung their swords high at her. She ducked down so low that her face nearly touched the stone floor, but she managed to stay on her feet and keep her swords in her hands. She held her hands out in front of her and assured her balance. She then stuck one of her legs out and swung it back , tripping one pirate and causing him to fall over. The other began to strike at her back, but she blocked it by lying flat on the floor, and then quickly rolling over and holding up one of her swords. He tried to impale her, but she rolled to the side and hopped up.
Audra and Angelina both found themselves fencing with pirate. Audra had her sword knocked out of her hand, but thought quick. She pulled a hairpin out of her hair and jabbed it in the pirate's forearm. As he yelled, she recovered her sword and continued fencing.
Angelina had started to charge at a pirate, but tripped over a rock and unintentionally, but luckily, dodged a strike from the approaching pirate.
Elizabeth was left opponent-less and stood at one side of the cave, not knowing when to charge into battle. She saw Angelina struggling in a fight and went to her aid; they held the pirate off, but didn't really progress in the fight.
Will confronted a very large pirate. He attempted to look tough: he raised his sword up and took a fighting stance. The pirate glared at him, and he glared back.
"Arr...gh!" Will growled, utterly unconvincing, and the pirate laughed.
Jack fenced with Spike, but Spike was both stronger and faster than he was -- he could just defend himself.
The pirate that Celeste was left to was very large and strong. She couldn't fight him, so she ran, trying not to lead the pirate toward anyone else; the pirate she'd knocked over had gotten back up and was also chasing after her. She ran behind one of the stone chests, but the pirate leapt over it. She ran -- anywhere she could see an escape.
It seemed as though they had finally met their match.
"Jack!" Celeste cried, running towards him. "These guys are huge! I can't hold them off!" she ran towards another chest, the pirate pursuing her. "We should leave! Just run!"
"No, I can 'andle it --" he blocked one of Spike's strikes.
"Oh, forget your pride!" Celeste yelled. "Let's go!" she ran towards the cave exit, calling the others to follow her, and Jack reluctantly retreated.
They ran with all speed out of the cave and to the boats. They pushed offshore and rowed towards the Pearl.
Celeste wearily sat down and relaxed up against the mast.
"Well," she sighed, a little out of breath, "we got out of that alright. At least he can't take your soul now." She looked over at Jack who was gazing back at the island. He's trapped there, isn't he?" Celeste asked. "I mean, he has no way of getting off, right?"
"I 'ope so..." Jack said thoughtfully, still gazing at the island.
"That jerk!" Celeste exclaimed. "He lied to us! How dare he!?"
Will and Elizabeth sat down back to back and leaned up against each other. Audra and Angelina sat down and leaned up against the ship's railing.
Jack was still staring rigidly back at the island. Celeste got up and went to him. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Jack..." she said. "He can't follow us now, right? We're safe." Jack broke is lingering gaze at the island to look at her.
"Aye... Aye, that's true." he hesitated, smiling awkwardly.
"Oh, darn." Celeste mumbled, taking Jack's left arm, which was bleeding. "Come on, Jack O' Lantern, I'll patch you up. To the cargo hold." Jack nodded and they went down to the cargo hold.
"Goodness sakes," Celeste said, "at the rate we get hurt around here, I'm surprised we're not all bloody mummies by now."
After patching up his arm, she tiredly sat down on a crate.
"Well, there you -- oh, no." she glanced at his upper stomach which had a long horizontal cut across it.
"What?" Jack asked, not even noticing the cut. She reached up and removed his jacket.
"Take off your shirt." she told him.
"Ooh, darling... 'ere?" he asked, smirking.
She sighed impatiently. "Would you try thinking with your head for once?" She motioned to his stomach. He looked down.
"Oh, yeah..." he mumbled.
"Oh, yeah..." she mumbled in a mocking voice. He removed all of his accessories and then his vest and shirt.
Celeste pulled some more bandages out of the crate and began to bandage his stomach. The cut, luckily, wasn't deep at all, but still had the need for bandaging.
She tied off the bandage. Jack smiled at her.
"What?" she asked, irritated. "What disgustingly inappropriate thoughts are you having now?"
"I was jus' thinkin' 'ow beautiful you are." he replied. "Why, you offend me, darling." he said, faking innocent.
"I'm sorry," she replied, shrugging, "but you know how you are sometimes..."
"I was also thinkin' that since we're 'alf way there, we might' as Well pass some time by 'avin a little fun..."
Celeste gasped. "How obscene! You shouldn't say things like that to a lady!" she exclaimed crossly, folding her arms across her stomach.
"Well, I'm not goin' to say things like that to a man, now, am I?" Jack said mockingly.
Celeste scoffed. "I swear, Jack, sometimes your mouth can ruin everything."
"You don' know 'alf o' what me mouth can do, darling." he said, moving closer to her.
"Jack!" she exclaimed in a scolding voice, smacking him in the arm with the back of her hand. "Why do you say such awful things?! It's so improper, not to mention offensive to me! You just don't say things like that to a lady!"
"I'm sorry, darling," Jack laughed, "I love to tease you. You look adorable when you blush an' get all angry like that."
"Ohh--" she muttered and turned on her heel away from him. She started to walk away when he came up behind her and put his arms around her.
"Don' leave, darling." he told her.
"And why shouldn't I leave, you scoundrel?" Celeste asked resentfully.
"Because I don' want you to." he replied.
"Oh," she began, prying herself away from him, "and so you expect me to stay, doing exactly what you want just because I look into those gorgeous brown eyes, huh? Well, it won't work." She turned her head the other way. He put his hand on her cheek and turned her face towards him. He gazed at her with those gorgeous brown eyes and pulled the puppy dog face. She sighed.
"Oh, fine." she gave in. "But don't you ever do that face again!" she ordered, knowing that next time she'd probably melt. "Anyway, hurry up and get dressed."
After he dressed, they went up on deck. He and Celeste sat down and leaned up against the mast. He put an arm around her.
"Well, sure you don' want to pass the time in an entertainin' an'... educational way?" he asked, smirking. Will, Elizabeth, Audra, and Angelina looked over with disapproving looks on their faces.
"Would you quit saying things like that?" Celeste asked, annoyed. "It makes me uncomfortable."
"Does it?" he smirked.
"Oh, you're disgusting." she scoffed.
"Can't live with me, can't live without me, eh, darling?" he asked, smiling.
"Ugh..." Celeste sighed. Jack pushed his hat down over his eyes and relaxed against the mast.
"Do you get the feeling..." Will whispered to Elizabeth, "that maybe this isn't over yet?"
"Yes... Yes, I do." she whispered back.
Celeste and Jack had just dozed off when--
"Captain!" Gibbs cried. "Captain!" They both awoke with a jerk. Gibbs was at the end of the ship, looking out at the horizon. "A ship! Doesn't look familiar either! And it's bloody fast!"
Jack's eyes widened and he quickly stood up (but not before recovering his arm very quickly, slightly knocking Celeste in the head, causing her hair to fly up into her face).
"Oh, no..." he mumbled, looking out at the horizon, and hurried to the end of the ship to join Gibbs.
"What is it?" Celeste asked as she and the others joined Jack and Gibbs at the end of the ship.
"Spike..." Jack mumbled.
"Well, what do we do?" Celeste asked, worried.
"That island!" Will exclaimed, pointing off the left side of the ship to a small desolate island. "We should rowthere and fight!"
"Look at what happened last time! Do we really have a chance?!" Audra asked incredulously.
"Well, it's either that or let them take over the ship!" Will replied urgently.
"Not me ship!" Jack exclaimed. "I won' let them 'urt the Pearl!"
"Will's righ'." Angelina said. "We should row there."
"Yes, we could row there," Will explained, "and you sail the Pearl around to the other side." he said to Gibbs. "It's us they want."
It was decided. They sailed as near to the island as they could and let Jack, Celeste, Will, Elizabeth, Audra, and Angelina row ashore.
The island was almost completely desolate -- totally abandoned with very little vegetation.
"I wonder if anyone's ever been to this island before..." Celeste said.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and they heard rumbling. They struggled to stay upright as the ground continued shaking. Just then, ten white-blue figures rose out of the ground.
"More ghosts?" Celeste asked incredulously. The ghosts seemed to be the ghosts of pirates, elaborately dressed. One floated to the front of the group to speak.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Victims!" Celeste exclaimed, not really meaning to say it.
"Victims?" the ghost asked. "Of what?"
"Fredrick Stupid Spike!" Celeste said angrily.
"Spike?" another ghost asked in an angry, booming voice.
"Did he maroon you, too?" a tough looking woman ghost asked.
"Too?" Jack asked.
"Yes," the first ghost said, "he was part of my crew. I am Hernan Cantenilla."
"Cantenilla?" Jack recalled. "Yes... I've 'eard the name."
"Spike marooned us here." the woman said bitterly. "We long for our revenge."
"Well, you're in bloody luck." Jack told them. "'e's on 'is way 'ere righ' now."
Shortly after, Spike and his six other crew members rowed ashore.
"Stand back." Cantenilla said to Jack and the others; they obeyed. Spike and his crew approached. "Spike..." Cantenilla growled scornfully.
"Hernan!" Spike exclaimed. "Well, how are you?"
"Dead." Cantenilla replied flatly.
"Good." Spike said justly. Cantenilla scowled.
"Charge!" Cantenilla yelled abruptly to his crew.
Suddenly, the ghosts charged full speed at Spike and his cronies. They went right through them, but knocked them over.
"We shall be back, you can count on it." Cantenilla said. "We are going to get an old friend..." and with that, the ghosts sunk into the ground and disappeared.
Spike and his crew got up and made their way towards Jack and them. They all unsheathed their swords.
"Here we go again..." Celeste said.
They all began to fight. But this time, it was different; Spike and his crew weren't as strong. They weren't weak, but not as strong as before.
They all fenced, this time with a little more faith. Jack fought Spike with a near smile on his face. Celeste fenced over in Jack's direction.
"Well, this isn't so hard, then, is it?" Celeste said to Jack.
"No, it's not." Jack replied. "After this is cleared away, wha' do you say, lobster for dinner?"
"Mm, I'd say shrimp." Celeste replied casually. "I love shrimp. And Mr. Cotton makes a mean Shrimp Scampi."
"I envy 'is cookin' skills." Jack said offhandedly, still fencing. It's a pirate skill to be able to bluff, and show no fear. Showing that you aren't threatened like that is a pirate gift and no one could master that skill better than Jack.
"I woudnt be so cocky if I were you." Spike said as Celeste fenced away.
"An' why not?" Jack asked.
"Because you can't win." Spike replied. Suddenly, Spike struck an unusually powerful blow, causing Jack's sword to fly from him. Spike grabbed Jack by the neck. "Sorry to do this, Jack, but I'm going to have to kill you now." Jack struggled to get free and tried to pry Spike's hands off, but to no avail.
Spike raised his sword to Jack's stomach, ready to impale him, when, suddenly--
"That's not very nice." Celeste said from behind Spike, and before he could react, she stabbed him in the back. She'd gotten rid of her previous attacker by using all her strength to drive one of her swords through his stomach and pin him to a tree.
"Like that's really going to stop me." Spike said sarcastically, quickly striking Celeste's remaining sword, causing it to fly from her.
Suddenly, Spike shoved them both on the ground, weaponless.
"Finally..." Spike said, brandishing his sword.
Suddenly, Cantenilla floated up behind Spike, reached out, his hand as if to rip out Spike's heart, and pulled out what must've been Spike's soul. His soulless body slumped to the ground as the two blue figures floated upwards, fencing.
"Well, there's a sight you don' see every day." Jack stated as he and Celeste stared in awe at the fencing ghosts.
"You left us to die." Cantenilla said angrily to Spike. "Not even a pistol or sword. No means of easing our pain, bringing our fate any quicker."
"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Spike sneered.
"It's time you faced your fate." Cantenilla stated.
Rumbling.
"Oh, my..." Celeste muttered. "Move!" She and Jack scrambled to get up and ran to the beach near the water.
Just then, Will, Elizabeth, Audra, and Angelina ran over to Jack and Celeste. Their adversaries had all fallen soulless like Spike, and were fighting Cantenilla's crew.
Suddenly, the ground that Spike and Cantenilla were hovering over opened up, and fire spilled out of it.
"Woah!" Celeste cried as she and the others fell over, and they saw what rose out of the crack in the ground -- a large creature. It had scales all over it and horns on its head. It exhaled fire and had fiery eyes.
It reached up with a great, clawed hand, grabbed Spike, and began to descend back into the fiery chasm from whence it came.
Spike yelled, but all in feeble attempts. His crew's souls were sucked down into the chasm.
With a roar, the creature descended out of sight, and the ground closed up, expelling a few final flames.
"Th-that's interesting." Jack stammered.
Celeste sat wide-eyed, as did they all, rigidly in shock.
"We have gotten our revenge." Cantenilla stated. And he and his crew soared up into the sky and disappeared out of sight.
"Is-is everyone alright?" Celeste asked.
After they came out of their shock, they all rowed back to the Pearl.
'Tis nearing the very end! Only one chapter left! I hope you enjoyed chapter 6! Please leave me a review!
Also, instead of at the end, I am giving out my thank-yous now! Thank you to:
Angela for giving me the idea for this ending when I couldn't think of anything else! It wouldn't have been nearly as good if it hadn't been from you, dude!
Irina for reading all my fics, reviewing nicely, and putting up with me.
Emily for giving me great ideas for the Tortuga scene and a lot more funny stuff I could NEVER come up with! You're hilarious!
Richelle for always reviewing nicely and driving me places! And for beginning that Celeste doll for me! When you get un-grounded, you must finish it! You're so good at that!
And Tutu (you know who you are) for being yourself!
Please review!