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6
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On their way up to the deck, Erik passed a mirror and caught a glimpse of his new self. He stopped in front of the mirror and felt himself wanting to regurgitate. "What have you done to me?" He asked, looking at the bandanna upon his reflection's head with disgust.
"I've made you dress like a real man."
"But I was dressed like a real man before! It was elegant... tasteful... a la mode. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it!"
"Just quit your whining and let's get going. I know you probably spend most of your time admiring your reflection when you're alone... perhaps you even talk to yourself and tell yourself how pretty you are in a nice little feminine voice and..." Jack cringed. "--But let's not go there. Now that you're out, it's time to start acting normal. And if you are to be aboard my ship, dressing like a fancy little boy will get you sideways looks from here to Singapore... if you know what I mean."
"No, I don't know what you mean. Regardless, what was that 'If I'm to be aboard your ship' that you said? I never said I'd become one of your crew."
"I see. Well, suit yourself. A life of destitute solitude seems to be far more interesting than a life of rogue battle, if I do say so myself. Don't you agree?"
The sarcasm is Jack's voice made Erik's skin crawl. "Fine. We'll see." And with that, he continued his pace to the direction of the deck.
Jack followed, a smile over his face. As much as Erik liked to see Jack squirm under his finger, he enjoyed itthe other way just the same.
Upon arrival atop the deck, Erik and Jack were greeted by plenty of males and some females whom Erik assumed were members of Jack's crew. He glanced the greeters over and noted that most were dressed quite poorly. All of the females were clad in scanty outfits except for
one. As well, there seemed to be a male of the bunch who was notably cleaner and more proper than the rest. He stood next to the female who was dressed nicer than the others.
The girl stepped forward to Erik and offered a hand towards him. "Hello," she said with a fine British accent. "And who might you be?"
Erik took her hand, astonished that a woman would offer her hand to he, the horrid, disfigured Phantom of the Opera. "I am Erik. And you?"
"Elizabeth Swann. Well... soon to be Turner." She took her hand away and the man who she was with stepped forward.
Erik's eyes widened. "Ah, so then it is you who is the girl who was kidnapped for her blood," he said, remembering Jack's story.
"Yes that is her. And I am Will Turner, her fiance," The man said, British accent as well, shaking Erik's hand. Once again he was bewildered by the lack of fright in these strangers. The habitants of France had always dismissed him as a monstrosity, yet these people seemed indifferent to his malformation. They were a bunch of strange fellows, indeed.
"Will is the strapping young lad who helped me defeat that awful guy whom I mentioned," Jack added, delivering Will a hearty slap on the back which forced the young man to jump forward in surprise, not having expected to be slapped in such a manner. He was left windless and threw Jack a look of annoyance.
Jack returned Will's look of annoyance with a large, friendly smile which spanned across his face. "Now never mind this lot, there are plenty of other nice blokes upon this vessel for you to meet," Jack said, pulling Erik past Will and Elizabeth and to the other waiting members of the crew who had come to see the new visitor.
Elizabeth looked at her fiance with her mouth hanging wide open. She sometimes forgot how rude and disrespectful Jack Sparrow could truly be. Then he would do something awful and cold hearted like this and she would remember how exactly dreadful the man was. "Can you believe that horrible swine!" She asked in a raised tone, not caring if the rest of the crew, Jack Sparrow or even the new guest could hear her, she was furious. "We were just trying to talk to that nice man and he has to act so mean."
Will straightened his burning back out with a wince, then softly caressed Elizabeth's arm with his hand. "Well, you know Jack Sparrow and his ways. I've come to accept it as it is, never knowing what kind of barbarous trick he'll pull next." He took her hand in his and led her over to the railing. They stood, looking out at the French horizon. "Nevertheless, it will all be over with soon. We are to be married in less than a day now. Less than a day! Where does the time go?" He asked, thoughtfully.
She smiled. "You're right. I guess we should be treasuring the last of his foul behavior, then, because after tomorrow we will be Mr. and Mrs. Turner of gay Paris, France!" She said merrily, wrapping her arms around Will's waist and pulling him close. She peeked her head around Will to see what Jack and the strange new guest were up to. She wondered what Erik was like and wanted to talk to him again. He seemed very interesting.
"This is Crimp, Kursar, Matelot, Moises, Tearlach, Duncan, Ladbroc and Quartetto," Jack said, pointing along the men who circled himself and Erik as he said each name. At once, Erik was faced with several hands which jutted out from him at all angles. He shook as many as he could, in a sort of daze. He didn't think he'd shaken as many hands in his whole life as he was at the moment. Normally people wouldn't offer their hand to a monster. No one wanted to touch him.
An area in the circle broke and some females stepped forward to Erik, placing their hands out to him. They looked at him with their painted faces, shiny lips and long eyelashes. Their smiles were innocent enough, but Erik could perceive from their barely apparent clothing that these women were not innocent in the least.
"This is Esmarelda, Sally, Corianna and Belinda," Jack said, again pointing at each one as he said their name. Erik took each female's hand and nodded in succession.
When introductions ended, the circle was reconstructed with the females now present within as well. Erik and Jack stood in the middle, Erik feeling a touch claustrophobic with all of these people around him. As well as not having shaken so many hands in his life, he didn't think he'd ever had so many people around him without screaming either. This entire experience was so new and different, definitely out of the ordinary for someone who had spent all of his life in seclusion. He didn't think he knew if he could handle being around all of the people. He didn't know how to act.
"So, you from around France?" A man asked from the group.
Erik looked up and turned around, trying to find where the voice had come from. He found the owner and nodded. "Yes. I've lived in France my entire life."
Jack smiled at the member of his crew. "And he sings too. Plays the organ even."
All of the females and two of the males seemed to be excited by this piece of info. Erik felt hands patting him on the back and shoulders from several ways. Erik heard as well, several shouts of glee. Of the shouts, he could distinguish:
"Oh, that's so interesting!"
"He's smart!"
"Can you sing something for us now?"
"That's fine. Real fine."
Erik made a face of dissatisfaction, yet a feeling of modesty presently within, all the same. Jack threw Erik a glance. "I don't think Erik wants to be displayed as some kind of show animal--"
Erik winced as painful memories of being caged in a freak show for most of his childhood came flooding back to him with Jack's words. He bit his lip, trying to repress the screams he wished to at that moment expel.
"--for the likes of a bunch of revolting simpletons such as yourselves. Now if you'll excuse us, we've got better things to do than stand around and talk with filthy imbeciles."
And with that, Jack pulled him from the circle and led him across the deck and through the hall which they had come through when they had been going to the deck. "You certainly can be quite mean," Erik said, allowing Jack to lead him on. He was appalled by the man's behavior towards his own crew.
"Ah, yes. But it keeps them in line, let's them know who's boss around here. If you keep the leash short, there is less of a chance that the dog will run away."
Erik pondered on Jack's analogy for a moment, knowing that it wasn't entirely correct, but he decided against offering his thoughts because he didn't want any trouble. He nodded to himself and they continued to walk.
Walking down the hall, they happened across Elizabeth and Will once again. Elizabeth stopped Jack. "Jack, did you get that wine that I asked you to fetch this morning?"
Jack gulped and looked off to the side guiltily. "Yes...?" He lied.
Elizabeth slapped him across the face.
"Ow!"
"No you didn't, you liar. Now go out and get it, if you know what's good for you." She threw him a cold look.
"But can't we have rum? Wine is so boring!"
"You will get wine and only wine. Do you understand?" She ordered, pinching his ear. She then walked away. Will pointed at Jack and offered a small laugh, then followed away to catch up with his fiance.
Jack rubbed his face and ear in discomfort. "Mr. Sparrow, I do believe you have just been shafted," Erik said, a smile forming over his face.
Jack growled. "It's Captain to you, buddy," he said simply, then continued their pace. He heard Erik laugh from behind him. "Come along, we have to go get some rum for little miss 'If-You-Know-What's-Good-For-You'."
"But what about all of that? She said wine."
"I'll show her what's good for me," Jack said, referring back to Elizabeth's comment. "Rum! Rum is very good for me. And it will make for a very interesting wedding ceremony, indeed," Jack said slyly. They reached the ship's exit and began down the gangplank.
Erik shielded himself from the sun and people around once again, fearful of what were to happen should a Parisian recognize him for being the hideous Opera Ghost or worse, for burning down the Opera which he 'haunted'. As they walked down the Paris streets, Erik kept a steady hand against his mask, knowing that plenty of people would just be able to associate the mask with his identity. His opened shirt ruffled in the breeze, sending a shiver throughout his body, and he wondered what he was doing, out on this expedition with a pirate whom he'd met only several hours before. What was he really doing?
He should've been in his lair at this moment, seated in front of his organ, composing material... perhaps singing... or painting a portrait of Christine Daae from the memories of her face in his mind. But he was not. Instead, he walked with this crazy man in broad daylight while he was dressed like a fool.
"Where can I get some rum?" Jack asked, breaking Erik from his thoughts.
Erik looked at Jack as they walked through the crowded road together. "I believe there should be a shop of liquors around here somewhere. I'm not certain as to its exact location, though, as I've rarely been out to explore."
"Yes, I would assume so," Jack replied, not returning Erik's look, but scanning his eyes along the signs of the shops which they passed along the road. His eyes noticed a sign with a bottle on it and he stopped in his pace and pointed. Erik stopped and watched as Jack pointed, "That one, what does it say?" He asked. "Damn French writing everywhere... how are you supposed to understand anything here?"
"Well, seeing as how everyone here is French and you are the only one who can't understand the signs, I really think they should change them all to english. You know, just for you," Erik said sarcastically.
Jack finally looked over at Erik and noticed that his hand was over his mask. "Get that hand off of there," Jack instructed, trying to pry the hand away.
"No," He said, moving away from Jack's prying hand. He looked up at the sign and read aloud, "Les Alcools d'Enchantement." He turned his eyes back to Jack. "Alcohols of Enchantment."
Jack rubbed his hands together, almost able to taste the rum on his tongue already. "I like the sound of that. Let's go," He said, taking Erik by the arm and pulling him across to the store. They entered, Erik standing off in the corner with his hands covering his face in fear of being recognized.
Jack approached the clerk at the front and placed his hands upon the counter. "Hello, my fine man. Do you have any rum?"
The man looked at Jack as though he were speaking a foreign language... because he was. "Desolé, Monsieur. Je ne comprends pas votre commande."
Jack winced and turned away, off to fetch Erik. "Come here."
"Why? What's the problem?"
"This guy doesn't speak english. I need you to tell him that I want two jugs of rum."
Erik gulped nervously. "I don't want to... he might recognize me."
"Do you want to break that young girl's poor little heart?" Jack asked, embellishing the situation. Erik shook his head. "Then come up front and order me some rum!"
Erik sulked to the front and slowly lowered his hands from his face, placing his arms at his sides.
"Bonjour, Monsieur," The clerk greeted upon seeing Erik approach. He saw the strange mask on Erik's face and raised an eyebrow.
"Bonjour," Erik replied. "Uhh... J'ai besoin deux bouteilles de..." He looked over at Jack, then turned back to the clerk. "... de ton vin le plus excellent."
The clerk turned away from the strange, yet somehow familiar masked man, and reached under a large shelf. He picked up two bottles of his finest wine and placed them on the counter in front of Erik.
Jack, oblivious to all of the foreign conversation that had taken place, saw the bottles go up on the counter and frowned. "I told you rum, not wine. Rum! R-U-M. Rum."
"He said he didn't have anymore left," Erik lied. "Besides, isn't this what 'the young girl with the poor little heart' desired?"
"I suppose," Jack said, crossing his arms over his chest, disappointedly. "I wanted rum," He said childishly.
Erik turned back to the clerk. "Quelque chose de plus?" The clerk asked him.
Erik shook his head. "Non, Monsieur. C'est combien?"
The clerk eyed him suspiciously. "Dix Francs."
Erik turned to Jack. "You owe him ten Francs."
"Ten Francs!" Jack asked angrily. He sighed and reached into his pocket, feeling around for his money. Removing his hand, filled with various currencies, he picked out several coins. He placed them upon the counter in front of the clerk, who took and counted them before slipping them into his own pocket.
"Merci," The clerk said.
Jack grabbed the bottles from the counter. "Yeah, merci. Okay. Very enchanting indeed," he retorted flatly, heading to the door. Erik placed his hand over his mask again and followed Jack. The clerk watched Jack and the strange man exit his shop with a mild dread in the pits of his stomach. He did not say anything, but felt that wherever next the man would go, there would be danger for those around him, as danger usually followed a dangerous man.