The Third Life: The Kidd Called Sis

I have been playing Odyssey, so you can't be mad at me.

Before we begin, things need to be addressed:

Templar in a past life…duh. That was going to happen from the start. However, it's not going to do anything to Percy. He's wise beyond his years with decades of Assassin experience, all from Faris, Vergil, Jake, and the rest. Long ago did he analyze the Templar's goal and motive, so actually being a Templar will hardly be a shock.

Time travel involving Odyssey and Origins…well, as it so happens, I made a grand mistake with this arc. See, the first two were almost complete divergents from canon, especially with Faris as he went all the way to Greece. Vergil followed closer, but I brought him in almost at the middle of Brotherhood, skipping over ACII and Revelations completely. As such, I was able to finish those arcs in five chapters, setting a precedent that will clearly be broken by the Third Life, and that's because I introduced Jake at the very beginning of ACIV, putting the whole of the game before me, and I already established Jake is in ACIII.

That's a lot of ground to cover, and I honestly felt overwhelmed, until I remembered: this is the story of Jake Swallow. Not the story of Jake Swallow and Edward Kenway. Because of that, I now free myself from the constraints of ACIV and move on to establish my own canon.

Involving Odyssey.

I think you're all going to love how I pull it off.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AC

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Nassau

November 7, 1715

The Running Frenchman came in for a smooth docking at the Nassau port, and Edward and Adewale didn't know how to feel about themselves in the wake of witnessing the awesome power of Jake's galleon, taking on two legendary man-o'-wars, a couple of Great Britain's finest ships, with nary a scratch.

The two pirates expected the gangplank to be lowered and for everyone to disembark immediately, but instead the crew gathered about the deck in front of the helm. In front of Jake.

The boy pirate drew a sword from his back, and the rest of the crew drew their own swords.

"For freedom!" Jake declared.

"FREEDOM~!" the crew yelled.

"For glory!"

"GLORY~!" the crew shouted.

"In the name of honor!"

"HONOR~!" the crew thundered.

And they were heard across all of Nassau.

"Remember these things, mates," Jake said, "for they are the reasons why we sail….Aight, you're dismissed. Have fun until I call."

The Jackdaw pirates blinked when the crew just filed overboard into the clear waters below and swam to shore.

"Your crew can swim?" Edward asked.

"Yep. Yours can't?"

"No…"

For those confused about how sailors in the 18th century can't swim, it's because if you fall overboard, there's virtually no way for the ship to stop or turn around to come get you, so you'd be stranded in the middle of the sea with no where to go, possibly at the mercy of hungry sharks. Therefore, your best bet would be to not even worry about swimming anywhere, and just drown to get the inevitable over with fast as possible.

Look it up.

"Well," Jake shrugged. "Sucks to be them."

"What happens now?" Edward asked.

Jake looked to the sky. "That is an excellent question, really. It's still, what…four months…no, five…no, it is four months until March, so we've still got four months of time on our hands until we need to meet up with James on Tulum. The Jackdaw still isn't as strong as she could be, and there's still that one key left in Kingston, and plenty of buried treasure all over the West Indies…"

"And the Observatory," Edward interjected.

Jake deadpanned. "Do you have a crystal skull?"

"A what?"

"A skull. Made of crystal. A crystal skull. Do you have one?"

"Of course I don't have a fucking skull made of crystal, mate!" Edward outraged, feeling insulted by the asking of whether his skull was made of crystal.

"You misunderstand. When I ask 'do you have a crystal skull,' I'm not referring to what's in your head. I'm asking if in your wide possession of trinkets and trash, is there a skull somewhere in there made of crystal?"

"Oh. Well, bloody hell I should hope not. If I've got a crystal skull lying around somewhere and I don't know about it, I'd be a shite sailor for sure."

"Agreed. Well, without a crystal skull, you can't use the Observatory."

"…why the bloody hell not?" Edward asked, not followed due to complete and total ignorance over the Observatory.

"The Observatory works by using a drop of blood in a special little cube placed inside a crystal skull, which is then placed in the Observatory's mechanism. From there, you can watch what the person whose blood belongs to is doing. I told you this already. For your fantasies of gold, the Observatory ain't it, chief."

Edward's mouth set into a thin line. "That's truly what the Observatory does? Just watches people?"

"Observes people," Jake grinned at his pun.

"And you need a drop of blood from the person you want to observe, along with a crystal skull."

"Yep. Rather inconvenient, isn't it? Having to sail all the way to some place to get some blood from a guy, then once you get there you have to actually get some blood, and then you have to sail all the way back to where the Observatory is. Kind of a hassle just to make a few reals."

Edward felt his world crumble. "Dammit it all to Hell, mate."

"Eh, there are easier ways to get rich."

Kenway gave Jake a lasting, unreadable look, before jumping ship and swimming to the beach, most likely heading for a tavern.

That left Jake and Adewale.

"Will the captain be alright?"

"Oh, sure," Jake answered. "Edward's just going through dream withdrawal, is all."

"Dream withdrawal?"

"Yeah. It's when a person has this grand dream, this great vision of something, and then they finally realize that it's an impossible thing, or it's not as great as they thought it would be, so they get really disappointed and dejected, because their whole purpose was just destroyed and they don't know what to do with themselves."

"What do we do, then?"

"Let Edward have his moment of thought and self-pity. If he's still like this in three days, then I'm kicking his ass into gear. He's still got a wife to provide for, you know."

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After a day of drinking and a night of a drunkenness and a morning of being hungover, Edward, now wholly disillusioned with the Observatory, mentally fortified himself in the wake of a new path: plunder and prizes.

And to do that, he needed as powerful a ship as he could get, and to get as powerful a ship as he could get, he needed funds and resources.

Hence, another several-month voyage at sea sinking every Tom, Dick, and Harry he came across, dealing with pirate hunters as necessary, and bribing officials when the heat became too much. Kenway set aside personal goals like the Templar key, and instead put his sole focus into becoming the most powerful and deadly pirate of the West Indies, following through with Jake's idea of infamy.

The blonde pirate took down forts, man-o'-wars, treasure ships, and plundered plantations, followed maps found on cadavers, and grinded the Jackdaw to be the most fearsome ship that it could be.

In the remaining months to the fateful March day that James had set, Edward was a man possessed, and Jake was right there with him in the Running Frenchman. Together, the two sank La Dama Negra, and Edward wanted El Impoluto for himself…and he got it.

After much rum and battle, March came, and with the coming of March came time for Jake to show Edward where Tulum was, and its importance.

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Yucatan Peninsula

March 1716

"Welcome, Edward, to the base of the Assassins," Jake declared from a cliff high above the beach.

Down below, Edward could see several people in white outfits.

"I imagine we're not welcome here, then?" Edward asked.

"Well, you're probably not, since all that bruhaha in Havana. You did kill a lot of Assassins that day, and I'm sure they all hate you for it, despite you having no idea what you were into at the time. Me, on the other hand, am not exactly not welcome, since everyone here knows Sis and I are cool, but they still don't like me because I don't like how they operate."

"Uh-huh. What do we do then?"

Jake shrugged. "We could fight our way through to the heart of the base, where Sis is at, slaughtering droves of Assassins, or we could sneak our way through the jungle, going from bush to bush, hoping not to get caught, which would take a while, and it's hot, and I want to see my Sis, or we could go with Option C…"

"Option C?" Edward asked.

Jake grinned, gaining that gleam in his eye. He dove off the cliff without a word, landing in a pile of palm leaves, Edward following quickly. Still with his gleaming eye, Jake strode across the beach without a care, Edward behind, growing anxious because they were starting to attract attention.

"Ahoy!" Jake called to a couple of Assassins.

They turned to look, and their eyes widened under their hoods at seeing Edward. The pirate swallowed and reached for his swords, only for Jake to strike him in the nuts.

Kenway wheezed and dropped to his knees, eyes popping from their sockets.

Jake grabbed the man by the collar and yanked him up, pressing a pistol to the stomach. "I've come bringing gifts to Ah Tabai. Kindly escort me through to his and Kidd's location, if you don't mind."

"And if we don't, and just kill the both of you now?" an Assassin asked sharply.

Jake's smile became evil. "Then I'll give a signal, and my ship will rain fire and brimstone on this whole peninsula. So, if you wanna meet your gods, pop them pistols, boy, elsewise, stop wasting my time and let's get going."

The Assassins didn't look at all happy at being strong-armed like they were, but the Creed mandated never compromising the Brotherhood, and attacking the boy pirate would bring terrible compromisation. So, they both swallowed their ire, and led the pirates through the jungle, attracting the attention of the other Assassins on patrol.

By the time they reached the ruins where James was waiting, there was an entire procession.

"Sis~!" Jake crowed.

James palmed his face. "When I asked you to bring Edward here, I didn't mean bring the whole Brotherhood with you."

"I didn't bring them. They tagged along because they're nosy."

Edward felt like a third wheel right now, and he was still angry at being hit in the dick. But then he was involved when a voice from behind said, "Captain Kenway."

Edward turned to see a man in the same basic get up as the rest of the Assassins, only in brown, and he had face paint.

"Aye?"

"I take it you are the gift Jake Swallow-"

"Uh, there should be a captain somewhere in there, thank you," Jake said tersely.

"Right," Ah Tabai said, "my mistake. I take it you are the gift Jake Swallow Captain was referring to?"

Jake growled, making James snicker and Edward crack a grin despite the situation.

"Well, I don't think gift is the right word, but Jake brought me, and I am here. Why, exactly, I don't know, since Kidd here has yet to explain," said Kenway.

"Where is Duncan Walpole?" Ah Tabai asked.

Edward raised a brow at the abrupt change in things. "Dead, after he tried to kill me."

"We are not sorry to see him go, but it was you who carried out his final betrayal." The Mentor's eyes alit with fury, his voice reflecting his emotions. "Why!?"

Edward replied after a pause, because he knew the truthful answer would not get an ideal reaction. "Money was my goal, mate."

True to his prediction, the Mentor lost it. "Should I find comfort in that!? You murdered our brothers and sisters in Havana!"

The jungle echoed with Ah Tabai's anger. The Assassin stepped forward into Edward's face, and Jake's sword was between them. The drawing of his weapon was met with the Assassins drawing their own weapons, but Jake ignored them and instead forcefully pushed his sword back, pushing Ah Tabai away from Edward.

"Uhn, uhn, uhn," Jake said warningly. "You know better, Ah Tabai. Edward didn't know shit of either Assassin or Templar at the time. As far as he was concerned, he was doing a job to get paid, and then he was attacked by unknowns trying to kill him. What you do?"

"…that does not excuse his actions," Ah Tabai said.

"Nor does it condemn him. Besides, Eddy's been around the West Indies, helping out the bureaus and completing contracts here and there. I'd say he's made up for it in at least hearts."

In cards, as spades were the best, hearts were the worst.

Ah Tabai's ire lessened, but his gaze still smoldered at Kenway, who just stood there awkwardly as he was defended by a fifteen-year-old boy.

James finally spoke up. "He has the Sense, Mentor."

Ah Tabai made a grunting sound. "I must be certain. Captain Kenway, when you were with the Templars, did you see the man they called the Sage?"

"Aye."

"If you saw his face, could you recognize him?"

"…aye?" Edward was confused.

Ah Tabai gave James a nod, and then went away. Before he left completely, he looked at Jake. "The offer to join still stands."

"And my refusal still stands."

The Mentor and the Assassins dispersed, leaving James, Jake, and Edward.

"Come on you two," Kidd said, and he led them into a revealed corridor behind the wall of a set of ruins.

As they traversed the cave system, they made idle conversation.

"I understand you two have been busy these past six months, sinking ships left and right, raiding plantations, even going so far as to sink them big ships at the corners of the map, while also making sure you're both as notorious as possible," James said.

He didn't necessarily sound happy, either.

"Yeah, it's kept the British and the Spaniards away from Nassau," Jake retorted. "Too scared to come get us because they know we'll blow 'em to kingdom come."

"You're attracting too much attention, Jake!" James stressed. "Soon enough there'll be so many ships on your tail, you won't be able to win."

"Please, I've got the most powerful ship in the West Indies. Even El Impoluto isn't stupid enough to come after me. Face it, Sis: I've got the power and ability to handle myself. I don't need you harping over me."

"I know you're a big boy now, Jake," James bit out, frustrated, "but even big boys can be overwhelmed."

"Yeah, I remember this one time I saw a man-o'-war get sunk by like, a hundred gunboats."

"Really?" Edward asked with a brow raised.

"No."

James' nostrils flared. "Then think about it like this: you might be able to handle everything, your ship and your crew might be able to handle everything, but what of the rest of us? Me, Edward, Thatch, Hornigold, the citizens of Nassau? What happens when they figure out that if they can't hurt you, they'll hurt the ones close to you?"

"Then the ones close to me need to be on their toes, guns loaded, and swords sharpened. You make a great point, Sis, but that point is all on you. You captain a schooner for God's sake, and so does Hornigold, and I think Thatch is growing out his beard and was able to snag a man-o'-war, and Edward's got his Jackdaw jacked up with weapons and armor, and as for the citizens of Nassau, their safety depends on us-"

"All the more reason for you to not be making a grand name for yourself!"

"-their safety depends on us being powerful enough to protect them, something we can't do in canoes," Jake said flatly. "So how about instead of pinning everything on me and my actions, you take some responsibility and build some muscle of your own."

James growled. "Gods above, boy! Why are you so stubborn!?"

Jake shrugged. "Just my nature, I guess."

Yes, his two-thirds of a soul nature.

James growled again.

"Hey, now," Edward broke in before Kidd's ire could boil over and a fight broke out, "how about we focus on solving this puzzle, hm?"

Jake was just fine, brushing his sister's worries off him like dust, but Mary was a completely different story, her frustrations at being unable to make Jake see the possible repercussions of his actions making her angry. Edward's distraction was a welcome one, for it would give her time to cool down and think of another approach before she lost it and tried to pop her adopted little brother's head off.

"Looks pretty simple to me," Jake observed. "Put the blue rock on the blue space, the green with the green, and the red with the red, and you raise and lower them using the counter weight that's the rock there on the side. Looks more tedious than challenging."

James and Edward shared an impressed look, and they got to work on solving the puzzle, the end result being the face of one Bartholomew Roberts.

Resident Sage.

"Why are you looking for him?" Edward asked out of base curiosity.

"He knows the location of the Observatory," James answered. "Him and one other person, apparently." The pointed look was met with a smirk. "Since the other guy won't spill, we've committed ourselves to keeping Roberts out of Templar hands, but to do that, we need to know where he is."

"So the Observatory is the only reason you need the man?" Edward asked.

James mulled it over. "We need the information that he has, and we need to keep it out of Templar hands. Other than that, not really for anything else."

"What would you do if you had the information, then? Would you use the Observatory against the Templars?"

"That depends on just how the Observatory works," James answered. "We know that you can spy on people when using it, and you need a drop of blood and a cube vial. Other than that, we're lost."

"Apparently you need a crystal skull," Edward said smugly, crossing his arms in a show of 'I know something you don't and that makes me better than you.'

James turned his gaze to Jake. "So you would tell this scoundrel more about something as important as the Observatory than you would tell me?"

The hurt in his voice was clear.

Jake didn't care. "Yeah, because he wouldn't shut up about using it and where it is and how it works, and he kept bugging me about his dreams of wealth and riches using the damn Observatory. It got annoying so I decided to key him in on the finer details so he'd shut up."

James' anger washed away, because that was exactly something Edward would do. The man had the decency to look sheepish.

Kidd changed gears. "So where is this crystal skull?"

"I imagine it's in the Observatory."

"And where would that be, exactly?"

"Far from here," Jake grinned.

"You ass."

The boy pirate placed a hand on his rear. "I do have an amazing ass. Many women have told me such."

James' face turned red, and his voice shot up a few octaves. "The hell do you mean 'many women'!?"

"I get around," was the simple answer, said with gleaming eyes.

"I swear if you've got some dandy pregnant, I will tear off your balls and then get it through your head that you're going to be the greatest father in the world!"

Jake shuddered at the thought of fatherhood, and Edward shuttered at the thought of mini Jake Swallows sailing around the West Indies. Though, James' seeming maternity regarding the situation, and regarding Jake in general, rubbed Edward in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on, but he was starting to wonder if James wasn't keeping a secret of a kind.

"Kidding, Sis, just kidding." Jake laughed nervously at the burning look of fury he received at the insinuation of sexual activities.

James toned down his emotions and collected himself, then he sent a pointed glare to Jake. "Where is the Observatory? You're not getting out of this cave until you tell me, young man."

"I'm not telling you anything with that tone of voice, Mom."

James stepped forward, threateningly. "I'd watch how I speak if I were you, or you'd get to see how much of a mom I can be."

Watching this and listening to this, Edward had it. "Alright, someone explain to me why you are behaving like a woman!"

"Yeah, explain to the poor man why you're behaving like a woman, Sis," Jake taunted cheekily. "There's a smell in the air that I only smell once a month for seven days."

James smacked Jake upside his head, and then gave Edward a searching look.

Then, he cut open his finger, wiped the blood across his lips, and then his hair down from its headband. Edward found himself stricken by what stood before him.

Jake snickered. "I think he likes you, Sis."

"I figured that by the look on his face."

Edward couldn't find the words. "Huh…wha…you're a…and I'm a…who are you?"

"Mary Read," the beauty answered. "This is my little brother, Jake Swallow. We met on the same ship years back, and he saw right through my disguise. Been calling me 'sis' ever since."

Edward stared, flabbergasted. "…well…that…um…that explains a lot," he tried, and failed.

"I think we broke him," Jake snickered.

"We did something to him. Come on. We need to get topside and figure out what to with ourselves for the time being."

Jake kept his snarky remark of "what happened to not leaving until you got the location of the Observatory" to himself.

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Strangely enough, the three pirates reached the outside world to find it under siege by Spanish soldiers in the middle of the night. Mary gave Edward and Jake blow dart guns for stealth-oriented operations such as the one presented, and they set about killing the Spanish and freeing the captured Assassins.

In less than ten minutes, the whole crisis was over, and Mary, Jake, and Edward shared a bottle of rum on the beach by a fire together.

"What happens now?" Kenway asked.

"This attack by Laurens Prins won't go unanswered," Mary said. "I'll look into the man myself. That leaves you two."

"I think I'll go East, to Europe. I want to see Rome and Greece, just to say I've seen them."

Mary and Edward stared at Jake.

"What? I've got a ship, a crew, and nothing else to do. All the forts have been captured, most of the islands have been stripped clean, the Jackdaw is at full power, and Nassau is secure. Besides, it's getting kind of boring around the West Indies, and you're worried about me biting off more than I can chew here, so leaving sounds best."

Mary frowned. "So in order to spare my worrying of you here, you're going to make me worry about you sailing all the way to Italy?"

"Yep!"

Mary sighed. "Come here, lad."

Jake scooted through the sand, and the woman put her arm around his shoulder, bringing him into her embrace. Mary rested her head on top of Jake's, closing her eyes. Jake nestled into place, closing his eyes too.

Edward just stared blankly at this whole seen, feeling very awkward.

"I love you, Jake, very much," Mary murmured. "Be careful out there, okay? Promise me."

"I promise I'll be careful out there, Sis."

"Good. Now go out there and have some fun."

Jake reached up and kissed the underside of Mary's jaw, then stood and gave a parting nod to Edward.

"Hold the fort while I'm gone, aye?"

"Aye," Edward said strongly. "Bring me back a souvenir."

"I'll see what I can do."

Minutes later, the Running Frenchman was sailing into the horizon, leaving Mary and Edward alone together.

"What's running through that head of yours?" Mary asked.

Edward took a swig. "Oh, lots of things. This Sage business, the Assassins and Templars, a good man I respect turning out to be a woman, the fact that a boy of fifteen years is really just up and leaving for Greece, and just what am I to do with myself besides plunder prizes as I see fit….It feels like I've done it all and have nothing left to do. No more direction or purpose. The Observatory isn't what I thought it was, and that's been the biggest thing in my life for half a year now. With that dream destroyed…I'm lost."

The pirate stared through the fire into the empty void beyond sight, not knowing who he was anymore.

"Join the Assassins," Mary said simply. "You've already done great things for the Order, and with all the time you've been spending with Jake, I know you've met his philosopher side, and you've heard what he has to say about the war."

"…I don't know," Edward said after a bit. "We're here in the West Indies to escape rules and rulers. It seems contradictory to declare oneself free, but then pledge allegiance to a cause that's not his."

"Then make the Assassin's cause your own, Edward. Think of it like this: you can't be plundering prizes and living free as you like if the Templars get their way."

Edward's uncertainty reigned supreme throughout his spirit. "I don't know…"

Mary smirked, her eye twinkling. "You're a changed man, Edward. All that time with Jake has rubbed you clean of your selfishness and arrogance. You've learned humility and empathy. You're at a crossroads, Edward. You're a blank slate now, and you've got the choice to decide what kind of man you're going to be now."

Edward met her eye, but didn't say anything. Mary continued.

"That's why we Assassins fight. We fight for all man's right to chose who they will become."

Edward's eyes slowly traveled back to the dancing flames.

He needed to find himself.

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Not much actions here, I'm afraid. Just plot-moving things. Sorry it's short, but I threw this chapter together in three hours after realizing I hadn't updated since Halloween.

Edward is no longer canon Edward, obviously, which changes the whole of Black Flag's canon. Mary has revealed herself, and Jake is off to Greece, and to get there from the Western world, one has to go through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Remind me again, who in PJO canon inhabits that area…?

Also, speaking of PJO canon, and the fact that November is election month (11/18 for those reading in the future), I've got a question for all of you: given Uncle Rick's stint towards LGBT tolerance, with canon Solangelo, the lesbian former Hunters at the Waystation, Apollo having a daughter with a man, strong hints at Blitzstone in Magnus Chase, Alex Fierro, and other things I'm no doubt forgetting, along with pro-Muslim sentiments portrayed in Samirah al-Abbas, her family, and her arranged husband, Amir Fadlan, pro-atheist sentiments portrayed by Magnus himself, and pro-illegal immigrant sentiment seen in Kane Chronicles, in the first book when Carter fights Sobek at the Rio Grande, and he sees a migrant family trying to cross from the Mexican side….

…given all of this and whatever more you find for yourselves through more research, would the PJO cast be liberals, conservatives, or something else?

Food for thought, no need for heated debate over a fictitious work of fanfiction.

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