Chapter 3

In Which Something Very Strange Comes To Pass

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(drawing a picture, humming a random song to herself) ...... (looks up) Hm? What're you doing here? .....Oh, you were expecting an update! (ditzy laugh) Well, I guess I have been procrastinating just a little bit.

A.N.: That's probably the biggest understatement I've ever made. I told you guys I'd update waaay back in June, but here I am finally updating--- in November. A sincere apology to all who reviewed and were put on hold by me... my only consolation is that at least there was no elevator music.

Apologies and Thank yous to:

Inu Lover

Jacob (XD)

Elessar-Lover

October Sky (Inu Lover? ...I'm confuzzled...)

Alteng

I can't thank you guys enough.... and I hope you can forgive me. oo;

SO now, without further ado--- the long-awaited (cough) third chapter! Onwaaaaaard!! (getting strange looks from passerby) Erm... haha, I mean, Let's get to the chapter already! ...Heh heh.... (sweatdrop) ;

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Kit dashed up the spiral staircase nearly faster than Matthew could follow. Panting, he struggled to keep up with her and at the same time watch his footing on the slightly damp stone.

There were no torches burning on the walls, obviously, and the one in Kit's hand was flickering dangerously low in the humid, stale air of the passage. It cast a slightly eerie orange-yellow glow over the walls, reflecting off of the tiny droplets of moisture clinging to cracks in the ancient stone. Though he didn't like to admit it, Matthew was beginning to feel increasingly claustrophobic the higher they climbed.

Higher and higher they climbed still. Kit had not slowed her pace, but Matthew was panting and clutching a stitch in his side. "Kit," He gasped up to her, "What lies at the end of this staircase that you want to show to me so badly?"

She stopped abruptly and turned to face him, nearly causing him to slam into her. She grinned, and Matthew could see that she was indeed breathing hard. "You'll see, Matt. You'll see!"

She started back up the staircase, seemingly filled with new energy. Matthew groaned and followed her, wondering if what lay at the top of this infernal staircase was worth the trip.

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Just when Matthew thought he could go no further and when he had become thoroughly dizzy, he felt a small breeze brush against his face.

It seemed the most welcome thing he had ever experienced in his life.

"Kit," He called up, "Are we finally there?"

Her breathless shout came back to him, echoing against the walls. "Yes, just a bit further!"

With a burst of energy he didn't know he had, Matthew took the last two stairs in a single leap.

"Oh! Watch out for the--"

CRASH.

"...Landing."

"Ow..." Matthew moaned as he stood, putting his hand on the wall for support. "...I guess we're here."

Kit lifted her torch and placed it securely in a wall bracket, so it's light would be cast all around the room. "Yes... we're here."

Matthew stared.

The room wasn't big, but it looked like some sort of an attic room. All manner of old and broken furniture were strewn around, and everything was coated in a thick layer of dust. Cobwebs hung everywhere, and the room itself seemed to give off an aura of decay.

Kit walked over to an old chest-of-drawers. The mirror perched on top was coated with rust, and there were several long cracks running along it's surface. But Kit wasn't interested in the mirror.

Taking a hairpin from a pocket in her dress, she picked the tiny lock of one of the drawers and gripped the tarnished handle with both hands.

It opened slowly, with a horrible screeching noise that made Matthew's teeth hurt. Pulling up her sleeve so it wouldn't drag in the dust, Kit reached inside.

As she withdrew her hand, Matthew caught sight of something silver glinting in the torchlight through her fingers.

Now she kneeled down on the floor, seemingly heedless of the dust, cupping the hand holding the silvery object inside the other.

Curious, Matthew went over to her and kneeled at her side. "What is it?"

Wordlessly, she opened her hands.

It was a pendant of some sort hanging from a silver chain. It was made up of tiny strings of silver crisscrossing over each other to form a design reminiscent of a cross between a snowflake and a Celtic glyph. In the center there was a bowl-shaped depression, as if it was supposed to hold an object the size and shape of a large marble. It was tarnished and appeared very old, but seemed to have a luster and fire of it's own in the flickering torchlight.

Matthew was lost for words. "It's... it's beautiful..."

Kit nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, isn't it? I found it here completely by accident, you know. I was sifting through all of the old furniture and things, trying to see if any of it could be fixed up, when I saw something shining in the darkness out of the corner of my eye-- and there it was, lying there on top of that chest. Funny thing, everything was covered in dust same as it is now, except for the pendant. As if it had just been left there by someone in a hurry..." She turned it so that the torchlight shimmered all along the silver strings crisscrossing the surface of the pendant, sending tongues of golden fire flickering all along it's length. "...But then when I lifted it up from the top of the chest, there was no outline in the dust. It was as if it had never been there at all..."

Suddenly, Kit gave a soft moan and fell into Matthew's arms, clutching the pendant loosely in her hand. Matthew held her steady, supporting her head with his arm. "Kit? Kit! What's wrong?"

Her eyes began to mist over, and her breathing came in shallow gasps. She gave Matthew one last panicked, fearful look before her eyes closed, and she fell limp against his chest.

"Kit!!!"

In her right hand the light danced and flickered across the pendant, almost as if it had a life of it's own...

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Fog... gray fog... shouting... the harsh clang of swordblade-on-swordblade... bayonet fire... cannonfire... screaming! Screaming!!

Kit couldn't move. She was trapped, floating in a vast gray expanse of memory, surrounded on all sides by the din of battle. She tried to speak, to cry out, but no sound came forth.

Then she fell.

She felt her heart jump to her throat as she plunged through layer after layer of the all-encompassing fog, until far below her she could see what appeared to be a ship, floating in the ocean. As she was propelled literally through the deck, transparent as a ghost, she caught sight of tattered black sails waving eerily in the wind.

She plummeted through the different levels of the ship, not getting a clear view at anything except for the dark wood making up the craft. As she was passing through one of the lower decks, she caught sight of what looked like a small, rusted cell in a corner, but was through the floor before she could get a closer look.

Before she knew it she was through the bottom, her speed unchanging as she plunged through the dark water. As she fell, she observed a change in her surroundings as the ocean turned back to fog, both it and the ghostly ship vanishing far above her.

Suddenly she stopped, as if an invisible rope around her had been pulled taut. Suspended in midair, surrounded on all sides by pale gray, swirling fog, she could neither move nor utter a sound.

An image swirled into form in front of her: the darkly-tanned face of a man of around thirty, with long black hair and a faded red bandanna wound about his head.

As she watched, the image switched to a gold medallion, the grinning skull stamped on it's side surrounded by odd geometric designs.

The image changed again, this time into the face of a man rumored to be dead long ago but didn't stay dead, a man so terrible that, to quote the old saying, "hell spat him back out"-- Captain Barbossa of the ghost ship Black Pearl. Of course she had never seen his face, but something in her mind told her that this man could be none other.

Soon enough, Barbossa's face faded away and was replaced by an image of four people standing at the bow of an enormous ship. The first one she recognized immediately-- short, dark blonde hair, an adventurous smile, and one foot propped up against the bowsprit-- Matthew. The others, however, were all new to her.

A girl with short, dirty-blonde hair and an extremely battered training sword propped against her shoulder, a dark-complexioned girl wearing a frayed white bandanna around her hair, and a young boy with spiky red-brown hair and a long scar across the bridge of his nose stood behind Matthew, all of them gazing out at some point in the distance.

She saw the images, all of them, appear at once and swirl together, until she could not discern one from the other.

Then, suddenly, they vanished, leaving behind only the fog she had become so closely acquainted with.

Great. She thought. What do I do now? And what on Earth was that about?

Then a sound broke into her thoughts. It sounded as if it were coming from far away, but as she listened it seemed to be moving closer and closer. It sounded like a voice... but who would be calling for her in a place like this?

Yet sure enough, there was a voice calling her name, and it was getting closer...

she felt herself become dizzy as the fog around her began to fade. She found herself falling again, but this time the sensation was more akin to sinking through water. As the world swirled around her, she felt her eyes close...

"Katherine!!"

...And open again.

She was back in that attic room, in Matthew's arms. She turned her head to look at him, and saw immense relief wash over him. "Oh, thank goodness!" He swept her into a hug. "I had no idea what had happened, you just fell unconscious..."

She allowed herself to melt into his arms, holding him tightly as if she would never let go, feeling at once safe despite what had happened--

Her eyes shot open and she hurriedly broke away. The blonde youth beside her was confused. "Kit, what--"

"Matti, you have to listen... I believe I have seen something very important."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I saw--"

Just them, a cry arose from outside, the voice raised in panic and urgency. The message it bore, though short, froze both Matthew and Kit and sent a chill of fear down their spines:

"Pirates!! Pirates are attacking!!"

A.N. Well, there ya' go. Chapter 3 is posted! I swear to get chapter 4 up as soon as possible-- from here, the story truly starts and things begin to heat up, both literally and figuratively.... XD

Again, I want to thank all you guys for sticking with me. You're the bestest! ....est. d:

And if the plotline of the next few chapters appears to be mirroring PotC just a little.... it is. But never fear: originality shall prevail in the end!! ...Seriously. XD

See y'all next chapter!

-Riverwood

Oh, I almost forgot:

"OMG reviewwww review re;view pleeeeezx id luv u4ever!!!!!112!!"