Of Pirates and Princesses
Chaptre 10: Pure of Soul Must Go
A black cloud appeared by them. It was Lilith. How was still alive? August had cut her throat and speared her gut, injuries she should not survive. She stepped out from it, her robes swishing. "Foolish mortals. No one can leave my island without dying. To take her past the shore would be to kill her."
"Shit!" August cursed, drawing out his sword as Lilith's hands lit up and two fireballs were there. "Regina, run!" he yelled and they both ducked as the fire went flying over their respective heads. Regina took to her heels, running and not looking back. Lilith's laugh cackled, following them in the chilly night air.
"You'll never leave!" she promised and those words only made Regina want to fight harder.
…
She and August regrouped later, the man telling her they needed to retreat to the jungles for now to plan a course of battle.
The jungles were hot and dark and they contained their own dangers. No doubt foul creatures that wanted to eat them up. But with August by her side Regina felt more at ease; besides none could be more foul and unsavory than that Lilith woman. The duo made it to a safer part, noticing that there seemed to be a man made hut there of dead branches and foliage.
Before they could even wonder who had built it, a woman appeared. Her hair was messy, bits of leaf in it, and her clothing consisted of one shift, crudely made and dirty. In her hand she clutched a knife fashioned from stone. "Who are you?" she demanded. "Did Lilith send you?"
"We mean you no harm, we promise," August said, lifting his hands up to show his intentions. "We are merely running from the woman who commands this island."
The woman looked them over, debating if she could trust them. "So, Lilith has failed to enchant you too?" she asked when she deduced they could be trusted.
"Lilith, is that the dark haired woman who wears a crown of holly-berries?" Regina asked.
The woman nodded her head. "That's her. She enchants others and corrupts their souls before she eats them up. But, she can't corrupt those pure of heart and so she imprisons those to be killed for sport."
"How do we fight against her?" August asked. "Because she has stolen our crew and we want to get them back and escape this island."
The woman shrugged. "I'm not sure. All I've been focusing on is staying alive on this island. I tried many times to save my friends too but atlas it's never been enough. Because there's only one of me."
"But maybe now that there are more of us, we should band together and save them all," August said with a determined nod of his head.
The jungle woman's eyes gleamed at this, finding a new spark of hope to keep her going. "I think perhaps we might have a chance." She nodded her head briskly. "A slim chance, yes, but I am sick to death of this island and I can't leave it unless she's dead. So let us make plans."
She invited the two worn travelers to her hut where they sat down by an earthen table.
"Tell us everything you know," August pressed, both of them worried that they had left Sabine on the beach, but neither having a choice. They were both tired, thirsty and a sweaty mess from rushing deep into the jungle to avoid danger.
The toga women hadn't followed them in, seemingly having no interest in such a place.
The jungle woman nodded her head. "My name is Jacinda. I came here by accident. My father and I went out fishing one day when we got lost in pursuit of a giant school of fish. Our small fishing boat was taken in by a storm but by some miracle we survived. We were able to land on this island, thinking we could perhaps find someone to help us get back home. But, atlas it was not to be. My father was sucked in by the evil witch named Lilith and I ran away because she couldn't corrupt me. I think it was because I was but merely fourteen years old and too childlike to be affected and now I have been here for twenty years, biding my time and failing to rescue my father." Old hurt shone in her eyes.
"And we will help you get your father back," Regina swore, touched by the story. "I too have been separated from my family and I miss them so. But I know I will be able to come back to them when it is safe." She reached out to touch the woman's hand in solidarity. Jacinda smiled back weakly at this.
August shot Regina a mildly guilty look at this but quickly dismissed it. "You said you have made many attempts on her life. What sort? We need to find her weaknesses."
Jacinda shook her head in an uncertain manner. "The only weakness I know is that she does not like those of pure soul. It is almost as if...they can hurt her. The reason I was able to live for so long is because none of them could physically harm me despite how much they wanted to."
That was an interesting tidbit of news. "So, if we all attack her she can die?"
Jacinda shook her head no. "It's not as simple as that. While we can hurt her, she won't die, even if she is killed. Which leads me to believe that she would need to actually consume a pure soul in order for her to die."
Heavy silence at this as they let this all sink in. August was the first to speak, because Regina was too horrified by the implications of this. "So...one of us would have to die and trick her into eating our soul for this to work?"
Jacinda nodded her head. "Yes, I'm afraid so. Lilith was never worried because there was only one of me and the rest were imprisoned...but now with you two on the loose, she might actually be fearful of her life."
This was a heavy decision to make. One Regina wasn't sure she was ready for the ramifications for. But atlas, had she not wanted to be a hero? They made sacrifices like this all the time.
And yet, would it be selfish of Regina to not wish to have to die for the sake of others? She didn't want August to make such a hasty choice either.
"Let us revisit this idea at a later time. For now, can we rest?" August asked.
"Of course," Jacinda nodded her head. "I don't have much to offer you in ways of a bed, but I have some spare blankets. The nights get a bit chilly here."
It took a while for Regina to fall asleep, plagued by the idea of one of them having to lose their soul to destroy Lilith. Or if not using one of their own souls, than having to use someone elses. She tossed and turned on the cold hard floor. August had no such qualms and was sleeping not far from her, his back rising up and down gently.
She wished she could sleep, because she would need her strengths tomorrow. But so many thoughts filled her mind. For example, what had the captain being gone on about when she mentioned kissing Regina? Had Lilith enchanted herself to look like Regina, and for what purposes? It did not make an iota of sense. Why would the captain's fantasy on this island be involving her?
Regina wanted answers, but she knew she was too cowardly on this matter to ask. She did not want to drive another wedge between her and Emma.
Sighing miserably, she tossed and turned some more, desperately trying to not think of anything until finally, she fell into a light slumber.
She hadn't been asleep for long when she found she couldn't breathe. Her eyes flung open and her hands came to those wrapped around her throat. Jacinda was straddling her waist, face hidden by the mess of her hair.
Regina struggled under her, trying to buck her off as she tried to draw air in but couldn't. The hands on her throat were too strong, crushing her windpipe. She tried to claw at Jacinda's face then, but she was out of reach and Regina was beginning to run out of time. She scratched at Jacinda's hands, kicking her feet uselessly.
Her eyes were tearing up. Where was August?! She wanted to cry out for his help. She dropped one hand to claw at the dirt, hopping maybe she could find something to use to hit Jacinda with.
"I'm going to use your soul," the woman whispered. "Going to use it to free me and my dad from this island."
Regina's eyes were losing focus. She couldn't believe this would be how she perished. Having faced monsters only to die at a human's hand. There was a loud crack and then Jacinda yelped as she slumped off of Regina's body and fell to the floor.
Regina immediately gasped and sat up, greedily sucking in air. August was by her side, dropping the rock he had used to split Jacinda's head. "Are you okay?" he asked delicately, crouching next to her and offering her a drink from his canteen. She gulped it down, her throat hurting with each sip. Tears slipped free from her eyes.
"I was so scared. I thought...I thought..."
He pulled her into a hug. "It is alright now. It is alright," he soothed as she cried into his jacket, broken little sobs. He held her for as long as was needed, until finally she calmed down.
"She said she was going to use my soul," Regina confessed when her tears had dried tracks down her face.
"Well, the tables have turned and now it will be us using her soul for daring to do such a thing to you!" he exclaimed angrily. "Foul woman," he spat on her prone form for good measure. She hadn't stirred since August knocked her upside the head and there was a small trickle of blood oozing around her.
"No," Regina shook her head. "We cannot use her soul."
"Why not?"
"It would be wrong to do so."
August looked at her in shock. "Wrong to do so...? Why, she tried to do the same to you!"
"Yes," Regina whispered. "But we don't have to be like her. We can be better than that."
August shook his head in disbelief. "I cannot...you are too good princess. Others won't extend the courtesy to you."
"I know she did a wrong thing but I am sure she was desperate to save her father. I will...I will forgive her for what she did." It took a lot for Regina to say this because she had been truly frightened of the whole incident but she could understand that Jacinda might have been driven to such cruel measures because of desperation. But she and August didn't have to.
"So then what do we do?" he asked, getting up from the position of cradling Regina and prodded Jacinda with his foot. She moaned, so she was still alive. He would tie her up so she couldn't come after them.
"There's a whole prison full of those people. People of pure soul. Why not free them? It seems like Lilith could be scared of them. With us all fighting together against her, we might have a chance," Regina stated. Her voice was still a bit croaky and she was going to have marks on her throat later, but for now they had bigger worries.
August gave a tired sigh. "I suppose that could work. At least we would have more people to aid us." He dusted off his pants, put his hands on his hips. "We start our plan today. But first, we must find the storage room where the women put all our weapons so we may pass them out to the prisoners to use."
Freeing the prisoners sounded easier in theory, but it was not. Regina and August had to sneak back into the little resort and keep to the shadows or else risk losing their lives. The toga women were on the prowl everywhere and the duo had to change routes and hold breaths and even slip into a fountain to avoid getting spotted.
But at last they made it into the prisons. This was only the second part of the plan. The first part had been that they had snuck into the storage room where all the weapons were and taken them and buried them out behind the resort, not too far away.
Still, they both knew that with a giant group of prisoners there is no way they can all sneak there, so they will have to charge over there and hope for the best.
August took out the two toga woman guarding the prison and snagged their keys so they could come in. Tossing a pair to her, they began to unlock the cages as quickly as possible. The occupants came out, confused and sleepy, some limping and some slowly, looking all starved, dirty, and confused.
They gathered in the hallway not sure of what to do. When the last one had been freed, August stood in the middle of them, raising his voice. "I know not all of you will understand me, but I hope you will aid me in taking down the women who run this island. We will fight back for our freedom, for the pain they have caused us!" he roared out. "The two of us will lead the charge with the weapons we have spirited away. We have a plan but we can only do it if you help us!"
A few grunts of solidarity came from the crowd. "Those bitches have kept us here for too long," said one.
"I'll personally kill Lilith myself!" growled another.
It was decided. August nodded his head. "Looks like your little plan might work," he said to Regina.
But the little plan soon turned into a bloodbath and Regina's joy at being able to scrape together an army turned to horror at the scenes around her. Blood, guts, limbs. And lives being lost as the toga women descended like hungry vultures upon the pack of pure souled people. For the toga minions were not afraid of them and Lilith was nowhere in sight. At this rate, the army would be slaughtered before they could even find her.
Regina stood, at ends, clutching her cutlass and being of not much use on the field. A man dropped to his knees not far from her and she rushed over to him, wondering if she could help stop this. Help to stop the slaughter.
The man was dying. Regina had seen so much death already, but it was always at a distance and not as her fault. And here he was, dying right by her side. She knelt next to him as prisoners grunted and screamed, raising a blade against those toga women. The grass was slick with blood and more was pouring out of his wound. She tried to cover it with her hand. Tried to make it stop. But she couldn't. It was too late. He was choking on his own blood.
As she watched with horrified eyes, his own rolled back until the whites showed and then he was gone. Stopping in his struggling. Had she done the wrong thing? Had she sent others to die? But she and August had faced the toga women and had been okay! Was she wrong in assuming that the prisoners would be fine against the onslaught of women too?
Guilt ate at her. No. She had been too naive. She hadn't been able to envision the fact that these prisoners might actually not know how to wield a blade. That they might actually fall to those vicious claws.
She couldn't allow this to keep happening. August must have known this would happen but hadn't cared. He was a callous man, after all. But she cared, however. She would not have blood on her hands. She would not have innocents die. But as she determined this a pure white ball of light slowly drifted up from the man's chest. It lifted up and her eyes went wide.
A soul. His pure soul.
Lilith was afraid of those.
Maybe...just maybe.
Regina cupped her hands around it and it felt fuzzy and warm. She got up and looked at the mess of the battlefield. Corpses laid out on the grass. The prisoners were losing but too angry at being locked up for decades to back down now.
A couple of the toga women were down for the count too, and Regina edged towards one of them, checking to see how clean the outfit was.
Regina felt itchy in the robes she had procured. She didn't know if it was the fabric or because it had come off of a dead woman. But Regina had seen a window of opportunity and she had taken it, not telling August anything. He was in the thick of things right now and could not be bothered.
Regina's heart was beating loudly as she walked down the halls, searching for Lilith. She had no idea where the woman was or what she could be doing. But Regina had to find her and get her to somehow ingest the pure soul. But how? She hadn't thought much of this plan through. Perhaps she should turn back and-
"You, come with me," a commanding voice snapped out and Regina jumped, seeing it was Lilith who had said this.
Regina's heart tripled in speed and she almost considered bolting out of there. Would Lilith recognize her?
But the woman didn't even stop to look at her face; she was breezing past her and Regina followed to the room where Lilith was heading, a thousand fears going through her head. Could she even pull this off?
She had to. So many lives depended on her doing this.
While a war was going out there, with innocent lives being lost, Lilith had decided it was appropriate to take a luxurious bath. And she selected Regina to help her with it. Which was good, because it was what Regina wanted- to be able to get closer to her. But also bad, because Regina would be alone if anything happened, and because she had no desire to touch the vile woman.
The bath house was splendid, made of rose pink quartz everything and styled a bit like a Greek bath house. In fact, this whole island was designed in such architecture and it made Regina wonder just how long Lilith and her minions had been around because from the sight of the people on the islands, they had seemed to come here from many different lands and times.
She shuffled in after Lilith, head demurred so the wicked woman wouldn't see her face and notice it. Lilith stood in front of the bath, removing her holly-berry crown and her outer robe, allowing Regina to place them in their correct spot before she stepped into the water, Regina averting her gaze.
"Wash my back and then do my hair," she ordered, sinking into the warm and pleasant smelling depths. Regina swallowed nervously, but did as asked, trying to control the shaking in her hands. Now was her chance. Her one chance to stop Lilith. The warm pure soul hovered around in Regina's robe front and she awaited to use it eagerly.
There was silence, except for the splashing of water. Regina spoke up hesitantly. "Are you not worried?"
Lilith scoffed, back turned to Regina. "Worried of what?"
"Of the army at your doorstep?"
"They are merely pests. I have no need to be worried," she replied loftily before commanding, "go lower." Regina scrubbed her lower back more.
"Do you think the pests have a chance?" she asked cautiously, hoping she was not pushing with the questions. She needed Lilith to open her mouth more. It would be best to make her laugh...but Regina was no jester, so how would she manage this?
"They have no chance of succeeding. They are merely being an inconvenience to me." Luckily, Lilith began to laugh heartily and as she did so, throwing her head back, eyes closed, Regina dug into her toga and pulled out the small ball of white light there. Pushing aside any last minute reservations, she clamped her hand over Lilith's mouth and shoved the ball in. Lilith's eyes went comically wide as she inhaled and began to choke a bit. She pried Regina's hand off of her mouth and got up out of the tub, clutching her throat. Regina could see as the sphere of light traveled through Lilith's body, down to her stomach.
"No..." Lilith looked stricken with fear. "Do you have any idea what you've done!" Her eyes raked over to Regina, recognizing her now.
"Yes," Regina said bravely even as her chin trembled and she worried that Lilith would launch at her. Her form was contorting, turning from anger. Black scales covered her skin, long claws protruded from her hands. "I've defeated you."
Lilith let out a scream of pure fury and reached out to get Regina but she was too late. The pure soul was having it's toll on her and her body snapped right and then left before her hands went to her stomach and she exploded outwards, showering Regina and the whole room with her innards.
The bath water was a foamy pink and Regina let out shuddering breaths as she could feel the hot squishy remains on her body, slowly dripping off, blood getting into her mouth and eyes.
"Oh," she moaned out weakly and leaned over to retch.
By the time she had managed to scrap together some dignity and get clean of all the remains of Lilith on her, while sobbing effusively and hating the red that went under her nails, the outside of the island had changed. Whatever magic had been put in place by Lilith was gone. All the toga women were melting and the prisoners were reuniting with their lost family, friends, or crew.
Regina stumbled in a daze, feeling lost and sickened by what had happened.
August was the first to find her. He was covered in blood and it made Regina sick to see the image, reminding her all too well of what she had done. She dropped to her knees and August rushed to her side, patting her back as she let it all out again.
"Regina, we did it. We saved the island. I don't know how." He told her when she finished, getting up to her feet.
"I had to...I had to do it," Regina confessed in a weak shaking voice, wiping the back of her hands against her mouth. She couldn't look him in his eyes for shame of what she had done.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, helping her up. She couldn't look at him either because of the blood.
"A man died on the field. And his soul came out, strangely enough. So I took it, remembering what Jacinda said about pure souls. And I gave it to Lilith to eat and she...and she..." Regina wobbled again, tears flooding her eyes.
"Let's get you to sit somewhere," August said in concern. "And you need some rum."
"I don't need that. I need...I need it to go away," she whispered harshly, hot tears pouring down her cheeks. She wanted the memories of that to all go away. But they wouldn't. And she'd have to live with them forever.
August didn't want to leave Regina but he needed to get the rest of the crew together. Had to find them and get them off this island. And then he could unpack everything that had happened with Regina.
"Don't say that. You saved us all, truly," he offered her, because it was all this moment would allow. He didn't have time for a wallowing and grieving princess. She was grieving over the wrong thing.
Some strong rum would make everything better.
But before he could take another step from the bench he had sat her on, the ground began to shake. Buildings began to turn to dust around them, and people started letting out wild shrieks. Now what was going on?
Regina glanced at August in alarm, who took her by the upper arm. "We have to go," he insisted and they ran, joining the evacuating crowd as dust and rubble rained down. August held out an arm over the princess's head. She was too precious to have hurt.
They made it down to the shore and onto their boat, watching from there as the island buildings finished collapsing. "Do you think the crew is safe?" Regina voiced, worrying. The whole island had been destroyed and she hated to think about them being covered in all that debris, trapped and mewling for help.
"Even if they are buried beneath the rubble, we'll dig them out," August promised. "Brick by brick."
"That's certainly sweet," a voice said behind them and they swirled in the dark. Captain Swan raised the lit lantern in her hand and they melted in relief. They had been worried it would yet again be another enemy to fight.
"It worked!" Regina exclaimed. "The curse has been broken." She rushed into Emma's arms, hugging her with all her might. Emma returned the hug, though feeling a bit guilty because of what the island had made her fantasize about Regina.
When Regina let go, August approached and Emma clasped hands with him. "Thank you. For all you've done and for taking care of Regina."
August laughed. "Ay, she could take care of herself. She was a tough lassie."
"The others wills be up soon. They are stacking up the supplies we stole."
"First thing you do when the curse drops is loot. How am I not surprised," he grinned widely.
"Well, I certainly wasn't going to stay on that island any longer," Emma said.
"Shall we set sail?" August asked.
"Not yet. Let us see if we can get any more loot," Emma said as Ruby, Sabine, came up from below deck and Regina rushed to hug them as well. Overjoyed to see they were all safe from harm.
But, Regina's joy at their safety would be temped down later by the horrendous images and gravity of what she had done. She'd lead prisoners to their death in fighting the toga women and she'd killed Lilith herself in such a gruesome fashion. She hadn't expected it would end like that.
And so she retreated to below deck, wallowing in her misery. Emma followed shortly after her, because August had divulged to her what had happened and she immediately grew concerned for the princess. That was something she hadn't wished upon her and now she was worried that maybe taking the princess on such a trip had been a terrible idea. They should have just stayed in a inland hide out and waited there.
"I killed a woman," Regina weakly muttered, when Emma came to see her. Knees to her chest, arms wrapped around them and a thick blanket over her shivering form. She felt ill, shaking all over. And she couldn't sleep, dark bags under her haunted looking eyes.
"Regina..." Emma softly started, kneeling in front of her. "You did no such thing. You killed a monster. One whose killed thousands of people and felt not an ounce of regret for it. You did the right thing destroying her and saving all those people. Do not feel badly for this," she urged, hating to see the princess looking so broken.
Regina shook her head. "I know she was evil. I know she did terrible things. But...she died so gruesomely. I can still taste her blood in my mouth. Still feel the splatter of her guts on me." She shivered, repulsed. "It was horrible," she finished quietly.
Emma didn't know what to say to this; nothing could take away the fact that Lilith had gone out in such a gruesome manner. She supposed the best thing would be time. Time to heal Regina's memories from such a matter.
"There is no use thinking about such a thing. It will only make you ill. Come, allow me to distract you from such a thing. I believe I have a wondrous sight to show you." Emma held out her hand and waited patiently for Regina to take it. Once she did, she was pulled up to her feet, the blanket slipping off of her.
Emma lead the way inland where she had sent Ruby and Sabine to to get more supplies from the ruined buildings and along the way, Ruby had seen this and told Emma of it.
"This pool is beautiful," Regina gushed as she looked it over. Some of her melancholy seemed to fade at this as she gazed at the inky liquid, alive with bright specks of light. It was like the sky had melted onto the earth and was captured by the water here.
"From the destruction of evil, such wonder can appear," Emma said. "I know I cannot take away what happened to you. There is no way to make it better. But, I just want you to remember this: you did the right thing today. You behaved like a true hero. And while sometimes a hero must face terrible perils and hard decisions to make, you made the best choice and saved a lot of people. Without your help, we could have all been cursed here for another eternity."
Listening to Emma speak did make Regina feel a bit better. Now, it would only be a matter of time until she could truly forget this horrible incident.
"Let's sail away from here," Regina said, because she wanted to leave the terrible memories behind.
Emma couldn't agree more.
A/N: I'm going to go on hiatus so that I can catch up and write the romantic chapters of this story. I'll be posting them up as soon as I'm done. If there's no update in two months, come remind me so I can kick my butt into gear.
