Disclaimer: I do not have permission to be writing this, savvy?

AN (10/22): I'm dead. Just took two tests in my hardest classes. And I think I failed both of them. While this doesn't seem like a very big deal to the average person, I happen to be in the running for valedictorian at my school. Anyway, I've decided to take a break from thinking of school during my tech class, because I'm ahead of the rest of the class, amazingly. So, I'm at school typing this chapter, hoping that this will make sense even though my brain is fried.

AN (10/25): Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I realized I had a Calculus final to do...and a whole bunch of other things.

Chapter 16: Gold

Once Jack was almost completely submerged in the dark water, he realized just how much self control this was going to take. It felt like there were millions of small pins pricking every inch of his skin as he struggled to breathe in the frigid water. Jack hated this feeling of intense cold. Mostly because it brought back murky memories he'd rather not remember. As he struggled to get used to the water, one of those murky memories came back to him.

"Is he alrigh'?" a worried female voice asked somewhere near Jacob's head. He recognized that voice...it was something he wanted to hear all the time. But who was it? And why did he feel like something was trying to keep him from breathing? It was almost like there was some invisible animal sitting inside his lungs.

"I think so," a gruff voice replied as a hand pressed down on Jacob's small chest. "His color isn' as blue, an' 'is heart is beatin' stronger."

"Thank goodness," the female voice said. "I was worried tha' I'd lost 'im. Blasted mite doesn' know wha's good for 'im. I din' think 'ed follow me in'o the water." She seemed both relieved and frustrated. Clearly she cared for Jacob.

Smaller hands gently touched Jacob's wet cheek. It felt very good to the child of no more than seven. He felt safe suddenly; even though the unfamiliar man's large hands were still on his chest. Who was the man? And who was the woman? He'd certainly heard the woman's voice before...but where? He groaned softly as the pain from hitting his head on a hidden cluster of rocks under the briny sea hit him as strongly as it had the first time.

"I think 'e migh' be wakin' up," the male voice announced, tinged with the slightest bit of worry. Why was the man afraid of Jacob? "I'd probably bes' go, Sandra." His voice now seemed full of regret and...passion. Of course, the seven year old couldn't tell regret from passion, so it all sounded the same to him.

Sandra? Who was Sandra? Some vague character from the stories his mother told him. His mother! That's who the woman was...she had the same voice. But what was she doing with this strange man? And why was he calling her Sandra? Jacob desperately wanted to open his eyes and see, but could not. He was now aware that he was still wet and starting to get very cold.

"Aye," Jacob's mother replied with a slight sigh. "It wouldn' be good if 'e accidentally tole the ogre abou' ye." She seemed to be joking, but Jacob could tell that she was sad. Who was this ogre? Jacob certainly didn't remember him from any of the stories his mother enjoyed telling him before bed.

"I'll be back, luv," the man said softly. Jacob could faintly hear something that sounded suspiciously like wet clothes rustling and, worst of all, kissing. If he'd been able to move, Jacob probably would've stuck his tongue out. Yet his mind and body didn't seem to be connected anymore. What had happened? Why did his head hurt so much? And how was it so cold in the Caribbean?

Jack regained control of his meandering mind a moment later as Matthew prodded his shoulder. What was he doing? He couldn't change his past...nor did the incident really have anything to do with what he was doing now. So what if his mother had slept around? Surely Richard hadn't been any sort of man towards her. Thinking like this made Jack shudder and shiver all the more violently.

Yet...something about the man's voice seemed very familiar. He knew that it wasn't...well, he didn't want to think about it. She would have had her reasons. He certainly didn't want to know her reasons for doing such a thing. Best to shove it back into the recesses of his mind. But why did he remember himself as Jacob, rather than by his new name? Had he truly killed off the part of him known as Jacob by jumping off that cliff all those years ago? Or was the little boy who loved his mother still inside of him? Jack hated questions he couldn't answer. Besides, this was not the time to think about his past. Shoving the whole recollection to the back of his mind, Jack took a deep breath. Slowly submersing himself in the water, Jack started edging down the small and deep puddle. Unfortunately, he had no idea where he was going, and the rock surrounding the water didn't widen. If anything, it got narrower. He'd have to try again.

A few moments later, he came back up for breath. "I'm turned the wrong way," he said as an explanation as his crew's shoulders drooped at the sight of him. He hadn't been gone long enough to find any glittering prizes. The crew's shoulders returned to their excited level as Jack climbed out of the small, narrow puddle, took a breath, and went in head first. What had he been thinking, climbing in the other way? Obviously he wouldn't have been able to swim in to some unknown area turned the wrong way. Where was his mind lately?

Once underwater again, Jack slowly opened his eyes. Of course, he couldn't see anything, due to the lack of fire under the freezing water and the close confines of the walls of stone next to him. His eyeballs soon felt like they would shatter as he kicked himself further into the tube. But he pressed on, pulling himself forward with conveniently placed rocks. He needed to hurry. Most of the crew wouldn't be able to hold their breath this long under water. If he found treasure on the other side, he'd definitely need their help to get it out.

It seemed an eternity later when Jack finally pulled himself out of the rough tube. Once out of the confining space, he almost felt like taking a reassuring breath. That definitely wouldn't work well under the water. So, he kicked off the bottom of the frigid pool of water and stroked furiously until he reached the top. It wasn't too deep...nor was it too shallow. As his lungs burst open, gasping for air, Jack realized how painful it is to breathe in cold air once again. It almost felt like little barbs of ice were forming inside his lungs.

After getting used to the whole idea of breathing again, Jack rubbed at his marble eyes to get them to focus properly again. It wasn't quite as dark in here as it had been in the small pipe. There was apparently a wall of this particular cavern next to the mountainside, for there seemed to be a wall directly in front of Jack glowing a pale yellow color. When he'd gotten used to the dark, it was more than ample for seeing the land directly in front of him. All he had to do now was swim. Not a very hard task, of course, but one that required energy. This gold better be worth it. Jack quickly swam to a part where he could stand, pushing himself up with all his might as his torso was again subject to gravity. Soon he reached a place where the frigid water lapped at his ankles.

Jack stepped up onto the rocky shore, sitting down for a moment next to a rock shaped like a pear, heaving to get warm air into his tired lungs. Amazing how much swimming in frigid water will take out of you. When he'd finally regained the use of his lungs, Jack slowly stood and looked around. Now he could see small sparkles littering the floor. Was this all gold?

Jack walked towards the nearest sparkle; a similar one in his greedy brown eyes as he realized what it was that had sparkled; a fairly decently sized polished emerald. He reached over and put it in his faintly wet hands. The heavy gem was cool to the touch, even though Jack was freezing. If this were just lying around on the rocks...imagine what else there was! Smiling, Jack slipped the emerald into his pocket. If only there were a better way to let the crew follow him than through that wet tunnel. It'd be much too hard to get a lot of swag out through that route. They could basically only carry what their pockets and boots could hold. Not a very good way to move swag...and Jack doubted that Butler would've made his men do the same thing to bring it in here. There had to be another entrance...

It took nearly an hour for Jack to find the other way into the cavern. That was mostly because he was searching for it in relative darkness. His crew probably thought he'd either died or had gotten stuck on this side, for no one else tried swimming in. When he'd finally found the small outcropping of rocks that indicated a way out, Jack had nearly yelled for joy. But that had seemed too odd, even when he was by himself. So, he'd merely stepped into the outcropping arranged a particular way that almost didn't seem like an exit. Caves are notorious for having hidden passageways. This particular passageway sloped up and then down and then up again before gently leading down to the pathway that had lead to the puddle. The hole was certainly hard to miss. No wonder they hadn't seen it before, even though they'd all walked within meters of it.

Jack crawled out of the secret passageway, silently walking to where his crew stood staring at the water. They seemed to be at a loss as to what to do, for no one said anything for nearly a minute as Jack stood there. "Don' ye think someone should jump in there after him?" Jack asked softly, amused as all heads turned towards him in astonishment. Rebekah particularly seemed surprised. "I mean, 'e could need some 'elp." He blinked a few times, still trying to adjust to the light of the torch in Matthew's hands. He'd just been in a very dark cavern. Apparently everyone else's torch had gone out. Or they'd decided it was best to conserve what light they would eventually have and only have one torch lit. Jack hoped it was the second choice, for it would not be fun to navigate out of a cave without light.

"Cap'n!" Skip proclaimed, a grin on his face as he turned to face Jack. "We were startin' t' worry abou' ye." The rest of the crew chuckled nervously. Did he really mean that? And how in the blazes had he appeared behind them?

"Startin'?" Jack asked mockingly. He grinned and bowed slightly. "Gentlemen, lady, please follow me t' Butler's treasure." Without further explanation, he pivoted around on one foot and walked back to the small hole he'd appeared from a few moments earlier.

When the crew noticed the hole, they seemed to be relieved as they rushed forward, trying to be the first one to enter. Jack wasn't mystical, like many of the rumors around him stated. He'd just been clever enough to find a dry way out. Jack finally ended the bickering, sending Matthew in first with his torch, followed by Rebekah and the map. The rest of the crew filed in, leaving Bootstrap and Jack alone in the dark for a moment.

"Is there anythin' in there?" Bootstrap asked softly, staring at Jack intently. This almost seemed like old times. If only he could forget about the whole Meagan thing. The taller man seemed genuinely interested now. The hour of reflection he'd had was ample to get him interested in gold. Gold was one of the few things all pirates could agree on.

"Aye," Jack replied. "There is. A lo'. I found nearly fifteen gems in the dark wivout lookin' for 'em. Bu' we need t' get in there quick, before chaos breaks out when the men see all the swag." He smiled slightly, wishing for a moment that the Meagan incident hadn't happened either. But it had. And he'd been betrayed by his best friend, who was still too much of a coward to admit it. Life never works out how it should.

Bootstrap stepped into the hole and started climbing, followed by Jack. In about ten minutes, everyone was inside the large cavern that held Butler's gold. Jack had been right-there was a lot of swag here. Now that they had torches, the whole cavern seemed to be glittering, even the water Jack had entered in from. Apparently, half of the "rocks" he'd been stepping on were small gold coins.

"Holy Mot'er o' pearl," Stout Sam muttered as he picked up a golden necklace with a large pearl at the end. "We've 'it the mother load." His crew mates agreed as they began greedily stuffing all manner of shiny trinkets into their clothes. Never mind that it was uncomfortable. Or that they'd lost several good souls getting here. All that mattered was the gold.

Jack chuckled and nodded, glancing around as his crew started stuffing sacks they'd wisely brought along. Of course, he'd been too stupid to plan for what they'd do after finding the gold. At least someone had been thinking. Sighing, he leaned against the pear shaped rock again, trying not to shiver as he watched his crew work. It was cold in here, for the water helped keep the temperature as low as it could go.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye to most of Jack's crew. They were enjoying themselves thoroughly, deciding what was good enough to take and what would be left behind for retrieval at some later date. Rebekah and Matthew certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves as Matthew adorned Rebekah in all sorts of jewelry. Jack wondered if he should tell the now stunning girl that Matthew was married with two daughters, for he still had a twinge of jealousy whenever he looked at them. How could someone spend the night with Jack and not like him the next day? It was a spear in Jack's ego. Perhaps all the women in his life had always been lying...or there was something wrong with Rebekah. Jack sincerely hoped that something was just wrong with Rebekah. Surely his reputation as a ladies' man was correct.

It took them about six hours to completely clean out the gold and precious stones from the cave. After that had been accomplished, they'd all carried the gold to the entrance of the cave. It was raining outside. Rather than get everybody sick from exertion and rain, Jack ordered that the crew cease for the night. They would spend time inside the cave, celebrating their luck. The gods of the sea must've been smiling favorably down at the crew of the Black Pearl today, for nothing seemed to be going wrong. The fact that their food stores were nearly depleted did not matter. They'd found what they wanted. More than they'd expected. And everybody on the Pearl was now rich.

endoreovende: You seriously made my day by leaving that review. Thanks. I'd just forgotten that, I suppose. I promise to not give up. I've got to finish this story, anyway. Have some great plans for future chapters...
Daisy: Thanks for the new hat! Tis spiffy! Especially since it has all their autographs. I'll give you the hat that Johnny Depp wore in Secret Window with his autograph for even bothering to leave a review. And for starting your own fanfic. They're great tools for getting your mind off bad things. Plus, it gives you something to think about in boring classes. I wish I could make Curry come back, but I can't. So, all I can say is that you just have to keep going. No matter how hard it gets, pick yourself back up.
Aliana Archer: Sorry for all the recent cliffhangers. Just an attempt to keep the story flowing the correct way. This whole thing is just me stalling until I get to the chapters that really matter. But you didn't hear me say that...and thanks for the encouragement. And the spiders...well, I don't like spiders either. They scare me. And Jack, apparently.
Misty: I know. Poor Jack and his bruised ego...and the prologue is making sense? It isn't supposed to yet...or is it? And I'm sorry I turned you into an insomniac, Misty. I'm just evil.
Jack: Well, I ran into my self-imposed limit. Which is why I stopped where I did. And Rebekah's supposed to be annoying. She's one of those characters you love to hate, I guess. I'm glad you're hating the suspense. Means I'm doing my job right.
sunkist3208: I'm sorry it was a bit confusing. I was a bit confusing when I was typing it up. Couldn't think straight. Not that I ever do. Anyway, thanks for leaving a review! You were number one...and I'll give you something on Neopets if you can guess who the guy ish in the flashback...