Decided that this is just about a great spot to stop it, so I'm posting two chapters back-to-back for the ending. Hope you've all enjoyed reading it. Have a good day, mates.
Chapter 13:
Jack left for the Brethren Court meeting early. He was there before the Keeper himself, arguing over stupid things and cracking up confusing jokes as if nothing had ever happened to him. His crew and Barbossa were glad to see it, even if annoyed by him as usual.
Slowly, the Pirate Lords and their crews came in, filling up the small room. When Elizabeth finally came in and saw him, all traces of guilt had left her face, though she still seemed upset about something else.
The pirates conversed about random topics until it was finally decided upon to start. Barbossa gained their attention. When the meeting began, the some of the first words of the man group were about of where Sao Feng was. Elizabeth responded by saying he was dead and she was taking his place. A few protests rang out before they were all shut up. After realizing that Will wasn't among them for some reason, they began to plan out what to do when the Navy found them in less than hours.
"Gentlemen, my ladies, we must free Calypso." Barbossa spoke up after a long speech.
A moment of silence passed before everyone broke out in protest.
"Shoot him!"
"Cut out his tongue!"
"Shoot him, cut out his tongue, and then shoot his tongue!" Jack put in. "...And trim that scraggly beard."
"Sao Feng would have agreed with Barbossa!" A man from Singapore pointed out.
"Aye." One of his fellow Singaporeans agreed.
Barbossa shot his pistol at the ceiling, gaining their attention once again. He started to give a long explanation of why they should do it. Then Jack put in a question that made Barbossa climb off the table he was standing on and ask him what his idea was.
"Cuttlefish." He suggested. "Eh? Let us not, my dear friends, forget our dear friends, the Cuttlefish." He muttered a few things to a couple of the pirates. Then he continued. "So, yes, we could hole up here well provisioned and well armed and half of us will be dead within the month, which seems grim to me anyway your slice is. OR. As my Leonard colleage so naively suggests, we could release Calypso and we can pray she will be merciful." He lowered his voice for a moment. "I rather doubt it." He spoke louder once again. "Can we in fact pretend that she is anything other than a woman scorned by which fury hell hath? No, we cannot. We are left with one option. I agree with, and I cannot believe the words that are coming out of me mouth, Captain Swann." He gestured to Elizabeth, who stood at the other end of the table. "We must fight."
Protests broke out and even Barbossa pitched in.
"Ye've always run away from a fight!"
"Have not!" He lied.
"Ye have so!" The man narrowed his eyes
"Have not!" Jack responded.
"Ye have so!" Barbossa repeated.
"Have not!"
"Ye have so, and ye know it!"
"Have not, slander and calumny." Jack finally came up with an explanation, finally. "I have only even embraced that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. I submit that here now that is what we all must do. We must fight!...to run away."
"Aye!" Gibbs shouted, starting a chorus among the other pirates.
"As per the code,"Barbossa spoke up, remaining calm somehow,"an act of war, and this be exactly, that only can be declared by the Pirates' King."
"You made that up." Jack accused, not wanting to know what his father would decide.
"Did I now?" The other man asked, cockily raising an eyebrow. "I call on Captain Teague , Keeper of the Code."
Shocked, Jack's face turned into a deep frown. One of the men spoke up in protest of the whole situation. He was interrupted by a gunshot to the chest, falling over backwards. Everyone turned to see Teague blow the smoke from his pistol.
"The Code is the law." The Keeper reminded them.
Jack glumly stood there, not looking at his father. Everyone else retook their seats without a word. The Pearl's captain stood there in front of the table not moving even when he heard footsteps approaching him from behind.
"Ye're in my way, boy." Teague told him.
Jack awkwardly moved a couple of paces sideways to give him room. He gestured for two men, who came from behind them carrying a huge, ancient book. The other pirates murmured among each other in awe. The Keeper whistled and a small dog, the same one from the prison of Port Royal, came into the room, holding the keys to the book's lock. He took the keys from it.
A couple of men, Ragetti and Pintel, questioned how the dog got there.
"Sea turtles, mate." Jack responded, his voice serious, yet his words full of humor.
The Keeper unlocked and opened the book, the front of it hitting the table with a thump. He scanned the page he'd opened to, looking for a certain line of text.
"Barbossa is right." He announced quietly after a moment.
"Hang on a minute." Jack stood over the book, reading what his father just had. He would not be proved wrong by his own father in front of the whole Court. He couldn't have it. He said what he read outloud, muttering. "It shall be the duties of the King to declare war, following...Fancy that." He tapped the book in satisfaction, looking up at the others.
Then one of the others spoke up, saying he wanted a vote for a new Pirate King, for there hadn't been a vote since the first court. He also mentioned that it wasn't likely to change, Teague agreeing.
"Why not?" Elizabeth asked, confused.
Gibbs answered her. "See, the Pirate King is elected by popular vote."
"And each pirate only even votes for himself." Barbossa added.
Teague moved away from the table, sitting down in a chair.
"I call for a vote." Jack spoke up.
The sound of Teague's guitar rang out just as the applause from the other pirates came. The pirates went through, voting for themself each time. Even Elizabeth voted for herself.
Smirking, Jack gave his answer. "Elizabeth Swan."
Barbossa's smile faded into a frown. He obviously wasn't happy.
"What?" The woman asked in confusion.
"I know, curious, isn't it?" The Pearl's captain responded.
Arguing broke out once again. The pirates shouted and pointed to themselves, saying their name. Jack opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't come up with anything.
Then something came to mind. "Am I to understand that you lot will not be keeping to the Code then?"
The music from the guitar stopped suddenly as a string snapped and Teague glared up at all of them. Everyone froze, the ones who'd stood up sitting back down nervously.
"Very well." Mistress Ching spoke up. "We say you, Captain Swan, King of the Brethren Court."
Everyone was silent as Elizabeth spoke. "Prepare every vessel that floats. At dawn, we're at war."
"And, so we shall go to war." A squeaky voiced man stated.
Arguing broke out, lots of arguing. Yelling, screaming, everything.
Jack turned around, approaching his father. "What? Ye've seen it all, done it all, you survived. That's the trick, in't it, to survive?"
"It's not jus' about livin' forever, Jackie." Teague told him, standing up and setting his guitar aside. He walked up to his son, facing him. "The trick is livin' with yourself forever."
"How's mum?" He asked quietly.
The Keeper just held up a shrunken, shriveled up head that hung from a necklace to show him in reply.
"She looks great." Jack commented.
He slept well that night, all his worries put aside, as he was eager for the war to come.
~Fin~
