I'm finally updating! Argh to writer's block! ...I've also been under a lot of stress lately... A LOT OF STRESS. Ugh --' Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter! There's only like... 2 or 3 chapters left, so stay with me! ENJOY!


CHAPTER 8: RECOVERY IS NEVER EASY

Jack was gone the entire day, he was taking Hex's advice and trying to find something to buy for Violet. He didn't want to be on the ship anyway. Everyone was furious at him for hurting Violet like that. While he was out, Anamaria was taking care of Violet. Violet would hardly get up for anything. She wouldn't talk. She wouldn't even open her mouth except to drink a little water. Her eyes were blank and she would just stare at the ceiling all the time. Hex, meanwhile, had been rooming with Anamaria. Will and Elizabeth visited Violet fairly often, but she didn't really respond to them.

The next week, Jack went out every day and stayed out, until one day, he was out for only a few hours. He had finally found what he was looking for. He came back to the ship and found Anamaria.

"'ow is she?" Jack asked her.

"Worse. For some reason, she's even worse than before…" Anamaria replied. "I… think you need to see her. But I don't think she needs to see you. Just crack the door open and peek in -- don't let her see you." Jack nodded and they headed to Violet's room. "This is… worse than I've ever seen anyone's mental state, Jack… She's had a total nervous breakdown. She's… not even putting sentences together…" Jack bit his lip in worry.

They got to the door and Anamaria slipped inside. Jack peeked in watchfully. The moment he laid his eyes on Violet, it felt like he'd been hit in the chest with the Pearl's anchor.

"Hey, Violet." Anamaria said softly, sitting on a chair next to Violet's bed.

"Ana… Ana Ana…" Violet mumbled, staring at the ceiling.

"You hungry at all?" Anamaria asked. "You need to eat."

"No no no no…" Violet said emptily. "No no no no no…"

"Alright, alright. Well, you want some water, then?"

Violet considered this and nodded, never taking her eyes off the ceiling. Anamaria grabbed a glass of water on Violet's bedside table and helped her drink some water.

"H… how -- is -- Jack?" Violet struggled to say.

Anamaria blinked. "Erm… Jack's fine, honey… why?"

"Love him… I love…" Violet trailed off. Anamaria's brow furrowed in confusion, wondering how she could love the man who put her in this state in the first place. Or at least… seems like she'd be a little angry… Anamaria sighed and pushed the hair out of Violet's face.

"Do you want anything, Violet?" Anamaria asked. Violet just stared at the ceiling. "Well, I'm going to go, alright?" No reaction… Anamaria stood up and left the room.

"Dear God, what 'ave I done…?" Jack groaned, leaning up against the wall and miserably letting himself slide down to the floor. He thought for a moment. "Wait… this isn' righ'… Violet… wouldn' let 'erself get like this…" He looked up at Anamaria. "This isn' a nervous breakdown, this is somethin' else."

"…What is it, then?" Anamaria asked.

"…Let me go in an' see 'er." he stated.

Anamaria thought about this, but decided she supposed it wouldn't hurt too much… "Alright… well, I'll be here if you need me…"

"Thanks." Jack replied. He stood up and slowly opened Violet's door. He shut it again and sat down in the chair next to her bed. "…Violet…" Violet twitched, but didn't say a word or move her eyes from their spot. "Sweetheart… you know 'ow sorry I am, so… I'm not goin' to keep buggin' you by continuin' to say it all the time… but…" he sighed. "Let, 'ow did it come to this? You've 'andled more than this before, why is it doin' this to you?" No response. He sighed again and stood up. He went to the window and stood there, looking out at the sea. He turned around and Violet was walking up to him, staring blankly. "Oh, darling, you shouldn' be--"

SLAP! She slapped him hard in the face. He recoiled for a second, simply not expecting it. She started repeatedly slapping him in the face.

"Violet--"

SLAP!

"Violet, please--"

This time, she punched him in the face -- hard. She was absolutely out of control; she wouldn't stop hitting him. Finally, he grabbed her arms and held her in place, trying to calm her down, but to no avail.

"ANAMARIA!" Jack yelled. She quickly entered the room and rushed over to them.

"What the hell is going on!" she cried.

"I don' know!" Jack replied urgently. "She jus'… well, whatever -- what are we goin' to do! She's goin' to 'urt 'erself if she keeps flailin' around like this!"

Anamaria thought for a moment, but could only think of one thing that would work. "Well… I think our only choice is to tie her down…"

"…Aye, I suppose so… OUCH!" he exclaimed, getting a sharp kick in the shin. "There's rope in my room!"

"…What do you use that for…?" Anamaria asked, a little disgusted.

"For emergencies -- what do you think!"

"…Nothing! Nothing at all…" Anamaria said, and rushed out of the room. A few moments later, she rushed back in with the rope.

They didn't have much time to decide how to do this, so Jack simply pinned Violet down on her bed while Anamaria tied her limbs down.

"…Now that I think of it…" Jack added, realizing the position they were in, "this might not 'ave been the best idea…" Violet was violently struggling to get free, but it was no contest since Jack was so strong. Anamaria finally got Violet completely tied down and Jack was able to sit back down safely. "…Alrigh', it's under control now. Please let me talk to 'er now."

"…Well… fine, but…" Anamaria hesitated, "I'll be right out here." He nodded and she left the room. Violet still struggled hard to get free, the ropes were tied tightly.

"Violet…" Jack began softly, "sweetheart, this isn' you…" She gave another violent struggle, letting out angry yells. "Violet, I don' know wha's wrong with you, but this isn' all because o' me, is it?" She yelled again -- he raised his voice now and spoke urgently. "It's twenty years o' pain an' anger pent up inside, darling, an' you can't let it take over! You're stronger than that! Whatever this is, you got to get rid o' it! I know I told you that I would kill whatever it was that came along to distress you, but I can't do anythin' about this one! Please, please, Let, jus' fight it!"

She continued to struggle, but started to say things now. "Not -- now! Not -- now!" Every word she spoke, she would more violently thrash about. "Go -- love! Go!" He just watched her, wondering what on earth was going on inside her head. "Won't! Hurt -- back! Won't -- won't -- won't -- won't!" He looked at her in despair. She was such a mess. Her face was pale, she had bags under her eyes, and her hair was extremely mussed. Neither he nor Anamaria had ever seen anyone in this kind of mental condition before… "…No! Love! GO! AHHHH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She went limp -- she'd passed out. Jack sighed miserably.

He told Anamaria what happened and they were to take turns keeping an eye on Violet. Jack refused to go looking for the next clue without her, or at least, not while she was in this condition. She stayed out cold for an entire day. They started to grow very, very worried about her -- even more than before, because she couldn't eat or drink anything like this.

Finally, one afternoon, as Jack was watching over her, she stirred. He looked over at her attentively and she opened her eyes. She looked around and immediately upon spotting Jack, started struggling again. He bit his lip in worry, but got an idea.

"No, no, sweetheart, it's okay!" he attempted to comfort her. "Love, you're you! You're Violet! …You remember the diamond, Violet? The necklace?" Upon hearing this, her struggling eased up a little. "Remember that? Wasn' that a good memory?" She continued to pathetically struggle a little, but he could tell she remembered it. "Yeah… yeah, you're my Let, aren' you?" Tears started running down her cheeks. "I bought you somethin'. You want to see it?" She continued struggling pathetically.

He reached in his pocket and retrieved a small box. He opened it and pulled out a necklace. It was the necklace. The diamond one. The stone was in the shape of a heart and was about a half inch in diameter. It was set in silver and hung on a silver chain. He held it up in front of her and she froze. She went limp, unable to take her eyes off the necklace. After a moment, tears running down her face, she smiled.

"'ey, while you're conscious, you'd better drink somethin'." he said, taking a glass off the bedside table and filling it with water. He held it to her lips and she drank more of it than she had in days. He hung the necklace on the clock on her bedside table so she could see it. "…I'm sorry we 'ad to do this to you, sweetheart… I wish it could be different… An'… things will be different. I promise. I threw out all my rum an' I'm tryin' to be the best I can be… I 'aven' even glanced at another woman… I'm tryin' so 'ard to break all me habits… I'm tryin'… I promise…"

Violet closed her eyes, still crying a bit. "Jack…" she whispered. He leaned in closer to hear her better. "…Saved -- me… Love… Jack… AH!" she yelled; he jumped a little and sat back in his chair.

Violet improved a lot over the next few days. It took a little while before they decided to untie her, but they did when she got her normal speech back.

"I'm fine now, really." she told them. "…Really."

"Well, I suppose so -- you seem alright to me." Anamaria said. She and Jack untied her and she sat up against the headboard.

"…You know… I'm actually a little hungry now…" Violet added.

"I'll get you something, honey." Anamaria told her kindly.

"Thank you." Violet replied. "And thank you both… for taking care of me all this time… I've been such a terrible bother…"

"No, you haven't." Anamaria stated. "Anything for a fellow crewmember." She smiled and left the room.

"…Well, you look jus' beautiful, baby." Jack told Violet.

She snickered. "I do not…"

"Yes, you do." he pressed. "You always do." He glanced over at the clock and remembered the necklace. He grabbed it and held it up. "I think you can wear this now, aye?" She nodded eagerly and he undid the clasp. He put it around her neck and re-clasped it. She looked down at it reminiscently and took it in her hand, gazing at it.

"…It's so beautiful, Jack…" she said. "How on earth did you find it?"

"'ad it made." he replied. "Took a few days, 'ad to light a real fire under those men who made it for me, but… it was worth it. Does it look like the other one?"

"Better." she told him, smiling. "…I suppose… the way I am right now… you wouldn't want… to kiss me, would you?"

"You've no idea 'ow long an' 'ow much I've been wantin' to." he said with his half smile. He placed a hand on the side of her head and kissed her gently. "…I'm so sorry for everythin'…"

She shook her head. "I don't want you to apologize anymore… I… think I understand now… But… what matters is that even through all this, I… I still love you more than anything else. I think that shows something."

A week later, Violet got her strength back and she, Jack, and Hex headed out to find the next clue. They got to a lake and stopped.

"Well?" Jack asked Hex. "Where now?"

"This is it." Hex replied. "It's here. We'll have to dive under the lake to get there, I believe. It's… an underground cave. It's not too deep, so you don't have to hold your breath for long."

"I'm… not a very good underwater swimmer…" Violet said.

"Ah, jus' 'ang onto me -- you'll be fine." Jack told her.

"Well, follow me." Hex stated. She took a deep breath and dove into the water. Jack and Violet followed suit. They followed her to the lower side of the lake, when they came upon an opening. They swam through it and surfaced in a cave. It was lit, for some reason and was fairly large. They proceeded through the cave.

They walked on for a while, and came to a huge pit. They peered in and it looked bottomless…

"Well… this is annoying." Hex stated. "I'd fly across to continue, but… I can't open that door on the other side… It'll probably take both of you to open it."

"What's this say?" Violet asked, looking down at her feet. They stepped back and the word TRUST was written on the ground. "Trust… alright, then…"

"Wait a minute…" Hex said, thinking. She fluttered down to the mouth of the pit and stopped in midair. "It's solid! It's just… invisible… Trust! That's it! So you guys can just walk across."

Jack and Violet looked at each other skeptically and then glanced at Hex hesitantly. They gulped and stuck their feet out slowly. They set them down and they landed on air. Violet grabbed Jack's hand and they walked slowly across the abyss, trying not to look down. They finally reached the other side and heaved the door open.

In the center of the room was a large stone slab. They walked over to it and peered down on it.

"Pyramids." Hex stated. "I'm… not sure which ones, though… Looks like we'll have to look in a few books, huh?" Violet nodded. Hex looked at Jack. "You got any books on Egypt?"

They got back to the ship and flipped through books about Egypt. Shortly after they began, Will and Elizabeth entered the room.

"Oh, 'ey!" Jack greeted. "'ow's the arm, Elizabeth?"

"Well, it's… not any worse." she replied.

"Well, we're lookin' stuff up about pyramids an'… stuff… So, if you'd like to 'elp, it would be very useful." Jack said. Will and Elizabeth agreed to help and they all flipped through the books. "We got to find a certain picture, so jus' alert us when you find any pictures."

After more searching, Elizabeth pointed out a picture that matched the one in the cave.

"Giza…" Hex mumbled. "Looks like we're heading to Giza."

Jack went up on deck and had them set a course for Egypt. He then returned to the room they had been researching in. Violet was still flipping through the books, interested. He sat down next to her.

"So, you know anything about Egypt?" he asked.

"Actually, yes." she replied. "I've read quite a few books about it. It really is fascinating. Unfortunately, there are tons of ways to die inside a pyramid… The Egyptians were well known for many things, one of them being the way they could set up traps in so many ways."

"Well… that's… frightenin'…" Jack said.

"Luckily, I've read a lot about Egypt, so I should be able to point out some of the usual traps…."

"Some of them, eh?" Jack asked. "Comforting."

"I-I wish I could do more, but--"

"Oh, I'm jus' kiddin', love." he told her. "'ey, you're our most valuable asset 'ere. You know more about it than the rest o' us do." She smiled.

Who knows what Egypt will bring? Death? Life? The final clue? Maybe something more…


Egypt is awesome. I love it. Anyway, yes, they shall be going to Egypt! And believe me... A LOT of stuff is going to happen there. A LOT OF STUFF! So yeah! I'll work hard to finish soon!

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