A/N: 6.9.10: Tried to shorten this to a length that isn't mind-numbing. Tried being the key word. I wonder how long this took to write, because it took a long time to edit.
Old: I really have to remember to change the summary. This story has taken such a complete and total turn compared to what it was supposed to be... xD Well, obviously it wasn't a change for the worst if people are still reading this thing.
Disclaimer-Say it with me: "Kingdom Hearts and Pirates do not belong to Lolli."
Keira enjoyed the remainder of the night, watching the dark water as The Pearl sailed off to its next destination. She still managed to awake early the next morning and immediately joined Roxas and Naminé, for the reunited love birds were on the other side of the ship, talking. "It's selfish how Sora's keeping Kairi all to himself," joked Roxas, before starting a new subject. "I see you've become a cross-dresser, Keira. It's a good look for you."
At his words, she flushed. "Thanks, Roxas." She began to unbutton her shirt, and the other two cried in protest. They quickly calmed down when they saw that she had other clothes beneath, though she'd had to put her skirt back on in Jack's quarters. "Do you really think Will went willingly onto the Dutchman?" she asked them in a voice that suggested that she did not believe it. 'Why would Will offer to get the key? I guess there are reasons, but none that are completely logical.'
"We weren't up, so we really don't have any reasons to believe otherwise," replied Roxas.
Keira raised an eyebrow. "You mean, besides the fact that Jack's a pirate?" She asked with a laugh. Several yells from the middle of the deck ended the discussion as they looked for the source of terror. Hovering in the air over them were strange white creatures that resembled sorcerers.
Naminé reacted first. "Sora, take Kairi out of sight!" Sora did not question her as he pulled Kairi into Jack's quarters and shut the door.
"Oi, would those Nobodies happen to be with you?" Jack asked of Naminé and Roxas, who shook their heads. "Ah. Well, this is definitely not good." Gibbs, who was steering the ship, stared at the sky with apprehension.
Fenrir and Sleeping Lion, Chain of Memories, and Remembrance appeared in their respective owner's hands. As if the keyblades were a trigger, Heartless and more Nobodies appeared. The sound of metal on metal sounded as Jack and Elizabeth joined them. "I always did wonder what it was like to fight these... creatures," noted Elizabeth.
"Not fun," informed Keira told as she blocked a Samurai's sword.
Roxas glanced around at their enemies before ordering, "Samurai, join us." For a moment, it looked like they would listen, but the appearance of a portal in the center of the deck stopped them. Soon, Keira found herself surrounded by Samurai.
"Aw, c'mon..." she groaned, the amount of the Nobodies making it difficult to defend herself.
More than one figure appeared out of the portal: Demyx as well as the Berserker, Saïx. "Isn't it a little strange for a princess to be on a pirate ship?" wondered the Berserker, though Keira ignored him in favor of focusing on not being stabbed. Elizabeth and Jack helped lessen the numbers, slicing and shooting at them. Roxas, however, approached the Organization members.
"Roxas, why don't you come back with us?" nearly pleaded Demyx. "You're not part of Sora anymore." Roxas smirked; Demyx was the only other Organization member he had liked other than Axel.
"If I were to join you," he said in a slow, mock-considering voice, "I'd have to betray a lot of people that trust me. And I don't think I can or will." Saïx and Demyx exchanged a communicative, silent glance, knowing there was a simple way to get Roxas.
Saïx inclined his head. "We asked you nicely, Number XIII, but I'm afraid we'll just have to force you." At his words, quite a few more portals appeared on the deck as the Nobodies and Heartless disappeared. Keira's heart and stomach simultaneously clenched as she joined Naminé. Save three, the entire Organization was on the Pearl as was Quince. Recalling their previous encounter and what had taken place directly after, Keira's hands clenched (though, a small voice reminded her, she might have not seen Aerith at all had he not shown up).
"Are you going to come peacefully now?" Marluxia, who was lurking just a foot away from the steering wheel, inquired with his maniacal grin. "Same goes for you, Princess." Oddly enough, the Pearl's entire crew had disappeared, and the unmanned ship moved straight. Jack, Elizabeth, Roxas, Keira, and Naminé were backed into a circle in the center of the deck.
"Any bright ideas, Roxas?" mumbled Keira.
Elizabeth somehow managed to hold her sword with steady hands. "Jack, you're the pirate here. Surely, you must have a plan."
"They aren't like people, they can't just die," sighed Roxas. "We're in a fix, especially without Sora."
"I say," Jack muttered, "To each his own. Pick your target and then attack, savvy?"
"Against eight of the strongest Nobodies known in all of the worlds?" whispered Naminé, clearly horrified at the idea.
"At least there's the one stupid keyblade wielder to make things slightly easier," added Keira in a grumbly.
Jack glanced at her. "Something tells me the two of you have had some type of romantic spark in the past."
Her cheeks immediately burned at the observation. "What? How do you know?"
"Experience, love."
Elizabeth intervened on both Keira's and her own behalves. "Enough talk. We must do something."
Roxas agreed. "On my count.: One, two, three!" The circle broke apart as everyone ran in a different direction to attack different Organization members.
Naminé reluctantly took on Demyx. Maybe a bit foolishly, Roxas took it upon himself to fight three: Xigbar, Zexion, and Xaldin. Elizabeth handled Larxene while Jack faced off against Saïx , who was slightly weakened without the aid of the moon, and Luxord. Perhaps the most reluctant, Keira took on both Quince and Marluxia Everything was chaos.
Keira quickly found why it was better to fight in numbers; she was being beat to pieces by the Graceful Assassin and keyblade wielder. Demyx came up with a brilliant idea, using his control over water to attack the ship with a huge wave. In theory, the idea was brilliant, but Demyx was never much good at fighting and, as a result, execution: he accidentally hit one of his own. The remainder of Nobodies departed into portals so that they were knocked into the ocean.
Saïx appeared on a higher part of the ship as did Quince, leaving Jack and company to face the waters. Elizabeth and Keira were promptly swept off of the ship, but Jack and Roxas were spared thanks to Naminé summoning her own portal. Elizabeth resurfaced quickly, but she realized she could no longer find Keira.
Demyx looked at Saïx and rubbed the back of his head. "Looks like I got a little bit carried away." He admitted, receiving a glare from Saïx, who had summoned a portal.
"Quince, go to that island. Demyx, come with me." He ordered in a stern voice. Demyx winced inwardly and half-heartedly followed, leaving Quinceto disappear into his own portal.
Naminé reopened a portal inside of Jack's quarters. The three of them were only a little bit wet, having gotten out before the wave had taken its full effect. Sora leapt up from where he was sitting beside Kairi. "What happened?"
"We're okay, but Elizabeth and Keira..." Roxas trailed off. "Demyx summoned a huge wave." He explained, watching as Jack and Naminé went back onto the deck. He followed and heard Sora and Kairi do the same. There was not a sign of either of them on the shop, but Jack easily spot Elizabeth struggling against the waves.
"Elizabeth!" shouted Roxas as everyone ran to the railing. "Swim toward the ship, Elizabeth!" The rough waters were clearly exhausting her, and she seemed to have enough trouble keeping herself afloat. Jack spared not a second thought as he stood on the railing and dove into the water.
"Jack!" The man in question appeared near Elizabeth, grabbed her around the waist, and towed her back toward the Pearl. As he climbed back aboard the ship, dragging Elizabeth up after him with the aid of Sora and Roxas, the crew finally resurfaced from beneath the deck.
Naminé cupped her hands around her mouth as her eyes scanned the dark waters. "Keira!" As if she had spoken the magic words, Keira resurfaced where Elizabeth had been gasping for air and coughing out water.
Sitting on the floor still, Elizabeth wildly searched her person as if she were looking for something. "Jack!" She gasped, grasping his arm, "Jack, the compass must have fallen out of my pocket when I went underwater." No one questioned why or how she had come to possess the compass as Jack hurriedly looked over the side of the ship.
"Princess, you couldn't dive for that compass, could you?" He shouted so Keira could hear him over the roaring of the ocean. Keira, having regained most of her air, threw the Captain a nasty glare, but dove back beneath the water. Kairi marched over to Jack with a bold look on her face. Before he could say a word, she brought up a hand, and the loud sound of skin on skin sounded. Jack rubbed his cheek and nodded. "I deserved that."
Keira searched the water to no avail. It was difficult enough to see, and, from what she could see, there was nothing of any importance nearby. Just as she was about to return to the surface, she found the small compass slowly sinking some feet in front of her. She kicked her feet and pushed back the water with her hands as she headed toward it, noticing that she was coming closer to the shallows as she did so. She used the last bit of energy she had to push herself and grasp the compass.
Once she felt the metal contraption in her hand, she kicked upward with desperation to inhale air. Her heart felt like it might explode as she used the remainder of her supply and... broke through the surface. When she noticed the sandy shore just before him, she nearly cried with relief and allowed the waves carry her onto the beach. Her hands seized fistfuls of sand as she coughed up water and rolled onto her back. She raised one of her arms into the air and admired the sandy compass as sunlight glinted off of it.
The longboat belonging to the Pearl was still in the distance, not quite at the beach yet. 'The water must be really rough if I got this far...' When the ship hit the sand, the wielders jumped out, as did Jack, Elizabeth, and Norrington. Keira might have questioned how they all fit had her head not been pulsing with pain. Without sitting up, she threw the compass so that it landed right at Jack's feet.
Instead, a still waterlogged Elizabeth picked it up. She began to stride down the sand, staring at the compass with a thoughtful expression. Sora pulled Keira to her feet as the other keyblade wielders joined them, everyone appearing mostly unscathed from the short fight. Further down the beach, Jack was working hard at digging, but stopped abruptly when he hit something with a thud. He then began to dig a little more around it before reaching and pulling out a large box.
"Sora, I'll be needing your assistance soon. In fact, why don't the lot of you just come over here?"
"You weren't looking for this, were you?" A man's voice asked from behind them. Elizabeth turned on her heel at the familiar, pleasing sound of Will's voice, running into his arms.
"Oh, Will!" She looked up at him with a relieved expression while he grinned and brandished an odd-looking key.
The smile promptly slipped off of his face as he looked toward the Peal's captain. "I should thank you, Jack."
Jack blinked. "You should?"
"Yes. After you tricked me onto that godforsaken ship, I was reunited with my father."
Jack smiled. "Ah. You're welcome, then." The smile did not last long when a furious Elizabeth, Sora, Roxas, and Naminé glared at him. "What?"
"What?" repeated Jack, feigning innocence.
Sora frowned. "You said that it was an accident."
Jack attempted to come up with a good excuse. "Err... well, you see..."
Norrington rolled his eyes, snorting, "And you believed him?" Elizabeth had returned to the chest and easily broke the lock off of the box with the shovel. Everyone crowded around as she opened it. Letters and trinkets lined the top of the box, but, after sifting through the items, Jack pulled out a surprisingly small chest. No one spoke as the beating of a heart sounded.
"Well, I suppose we'll no longer need the assistance of your blades," remarked Jack.
"Every word you said to me," Elizabeth growled. "Every word was a lie." Jack turned toward her, and the two began a very short conversation that the teenagers did not quite understand. At least, most of them didn't. Keira thought she might have a decent idea.
The captain ended the conversation in time to see Will draw a knife as he pulled the chest toward him. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to kill Davy Jones." Jack drew his sword and placed it at the crook of Will's neck.
"I can't let you do that, William. If Jones is dead, then who'll call his little beastie off?" Will did not argue and allowed his knife to drop into the sand. Jack outstretched his hand. "If you please, I'll be taking the key." William reached, leading the others to believe he was about to comply, but he did not reach into his pocket or on his person. Instead of giving up the key, without moving his eyes or head, he unsheathed Elizabeth's blade and pointed it at Jack.
With a sour smile, he said, "I keep my promises; I will free my father." Jack sighed as he pointed his blade right back at Will, and all of the keyblades appeared. Naminé and Kairi pointed theirs at Jack's neck.
"You lied to us," remarked Naminé in her version of a snarl. "Will is going to open that chest, stab that heart, and free his father."
Norrington unsheathed his own weapon and pointed it at Naminé. "I can't let you do that either, my apologies." He promptly moved his blade to Jack, but Sora, Roxas and Keira already had their keyblades pointed at him.
"You want that chest for Beckett," accused Sora, "To get your rank back."
Norrington nodded, surprised at the boy's intelligence. "You are quite right, how clever." His blade moved to Sora. The unarmed Elizabeth backed off a little.
"I will redeem myself!" roared Norrington, surprising everyone when he swung his sword at Jack, only to have the move parried by Sora. Naminé, Kairi, and Will began to fight against Jack instead. Keira raised her eyebrows as the group moved further into the island in a fruitless battle over a beating heart.
Elizabeth followed them, but not completely. She was still some feet away when she began to yell at everyone for fighting. The distraction of everyone left the chest and key for anyone to snatch. And a certain black-haired boy did not waste his time in seizing the opportunity. With full knowledge that at least one person was watching him, Quince tucked the key away, took the chest, and ran.
Elizabeth stopped her shouting long enough to notice him take off. As loud as she could, she screamed, "Will! Jack! Norrington!" All three turned to look, causing Roxas to knock the former commodore's blade out of his hand. Soon, all of them turned to watch Quince disappear.
Keira did not waste another moment and ran after him. After she had already made it into a forest, the shock wore off of the others, who instantly followed her. "Firaga!" She exclaimed, setting fire to the trees before Quince, and ultimately blocking him from moving further. He turned around as she stopped near him.
"Now what?" He asked her in a mocking voice. "Are you going to fight me for this dumb chest?"
Keira glared at him. "For the chest? I guess. Just because I feel like it? Absolutely." She rushed him with her keyblade, but he disappeared in a moment's notice. Quince hurled the chest (with its key inside of the lock) behind him as he summoned his keyblade. A clear barrier formed around them, blocking anyone else from interfering and stopping either of them from leaving. She only spared the barrier a glance. "I guess you learn new tricks when you work for a witch, huh?"
"Stefa, Stefa," sighed Quince as he shook his head. "You were always one for big talk, but you could never back it up."
"Ooh, aren't we one to talk?" She charged at him again and swung Remembrance, but he parried her with ease and pushed her away.
The others finally caught up and Jack instantly dove at the chest, which had been tossed outside of the barrier. He picked it up, saluted the others, and ran deeper into the island. Will and James spared no one a second thought before they ran after him; the wielders and Elizabeth were reluctant to follow suit until growls and the stampede of footsteps sounded behind them. When they turned, they notice horrifying, and grotesque-looking men. Could they even be called men? Many of them had coral and the like growing on them, and nearly all of them appeared at least somewhat fish-like.
"Err... we better go warn the others," decided Sora as he took Kairi's hand and ran. Elizabeth followed after them, as did Roxas and Naminé after a moment of hesitation.
XxxxxX
Inside of the barrier, the two clashing keyblade wielders were at a stalemate. Quince, though he hated to admit it, couldn't find it in him to beat Keira into the ground. Meanwhile, she felt at least slightly irritated that the others had not stuck around to see if they could help. She tried to ignore the resentment and focus on the fight instead. Furious at what was left of the light in his heart, Quince seized her by the neck and slammed her against a tree. With his free hand, he grabbed part of her hair.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Shut up or else I'll pull on it," was Quince's shockingly childish response. "You're so stupid," he continued as his eyes scanned her hair. "You probably don't even know what the black in your hair means."
"Of course I do! I put it in my hair myself."
Quince rolled his eyes. "No." He continued with a smirk, "Obviously, you're an odd girl. Clearly, you haven't looked at your reflection in a while. How much black was in your hair before?"
"It was... in stripes," she mumbled, though she did not know why she was telling him this. If he really was her friend, then he would have already known that. Keira muttered. Remembrance disappeared from her grip.
"Well, that's not how it is anymore, stupid. Now there's black halfway up your head. I kind of wonder why your so-called 'friends' didn't point that out to you."
Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "You're one to talk about friends, acting like you know what the word means."
Quince ignored her remark altogether as, surprisingly, the barrier disappeared. "The black in your hair has to do with your heart. The more darkness that fills your heart, the more black covers your hair; your eyes become less friendly, and your personality and heart both slip away. Keep that in mind." A black portal appeared behind him as he took his hands off of her and backed into it, disappearing instantly. There was something in his eyes as she left. Sadness? Concern? Keira was not sure, but she was almost positive that she had seen something.
Once he was gone, she felt her hair, face, and throat. 'Is that it? Is more darkness starting to inhabit me so that I'm not really me anymore? But... why would that even happen?' Again, she felt anger rise up in her chest. The others, she thought, were holding out on her. All along, they had known more about her than she did herself, yet they continuously refused to tell her anything unless they decided it was a good idea. Keira's hands clenched into fists as she hit the tree.
She gave herself some time to calm down before leaving that spot and searching for the others, though, despite her best efforts, she could not find them. They would likely be fighting again (or still), so, when she did not hear even the hint of battle, she returned to the longboat. Fortunately, when the beach came into view, she saw the others fighting off sea people. She recalled Remembrance and, ignoring all spiteful thoughts from before, rushed in to help her friends.
"We're not getting out of this," complained Elizabeth after knocking back another one of Jones' men.
Norrington shook his head. "Not with the chest, get in the boat." Elizabeth did a double take, giving him a look like she had never seen him before as he picked up the chest.
"You're mad!"
He ignored her and started away from them. "Leave, don't come back for me." He was easy bait; the pirates followed after him right away.
Jack watched the man getting smaller and smaller. "Let's respect his final wish, shall we?"
"Aye!" All present in the group shouted. Weapons were thrown into the boat as everyone climbed in.
XxX
They returned to the Pearl with no trouble. An unconscious Will (who had, apparently, been knocked out by one of the pirates) lay on the ground with Elizabeth hovering over him. Keira watched them for a moment before running her fingers through her hair, a concentrative look on her face. She now found herself wishing that she had thought to look at her reflection in the water on the island. "You've been acting weird since we left the island, is everything okay?" asked Kairi from beside her, startling the girl.
Keira looked to her, her lips pursed a little. "Quince told me that my hair become more black as the darkness in my heart expands. H-he told me that as my heart becomes filled with more darkness, everything about me changes," she mumbled. "I know... that my heart is abnormal. Leon and the King have hammered that into my head well enough, but what Quince suggested... That's crazy, right?"
Kairi contemplated her words before resting a hand on Keira's arm. "He could have been lying. After all, he is working under Maleficent."
Keira shook her head. "But no one really knows about this, no one understands my heart completely. What if he somehow knows something?" She turned her gaze toward Jack, who was, for some odd reason, carrying a jar of dirt. "Kairi, why is Jack carrying that?"
Kairi also turned her gaze on him and slowly shook her head. "Pirates." Keira giggled and, once more, the negative thoughts flew out of her mind. 'Still,' she thought, feeling uncomfortable despite her happy expression, 'why does this keep happening? I used to completely trust Sora and the others. I was always accepting of everything they said and did. Now, I'm...'
The thoughts were driven further from her mind as Sora, Roxas and Naminé joined them. "Looks like Jack doesn't have to run from Davy Jones anymore." Sora's words were spoken too soon for, in that moment, the ocean exploded beside them as a ship rose from beneath the water.
Kairi pressed herself against Sora. "What's that?"
Fenrir and Oblivion materialized in Roxas's hands as he smirked. "Looks like you jinxed us, Sora; that's the Dutchman."
"Lord of mine, deliver us." Gibbs crossed himself and took a swig from his flask. The pirates on the Dutchman roared and cackled at the horrified expressions of those on the Pearl.
Jack stroked over the railing. "I'll handle this. Oi, fish face," He called to Davy Jones as he held up his jar of dirt. "Lose something? Eh?" Jack was moving sideways, and, as he began to talk some more, he fell down the stairs and onto the deck.
"Ouch." Naminé winced, but Jack stood up right away as he held the jar over his head.
"Got it!" He called to his crew before facing Jones again. "Come to negotiate, eh, slimy git? Look what I got. I got a jar of dirt; I got a jar of dirt, and guess what's inside it?" he sang.
Davy Jones had seen enough of the idiocy, wrenching his claw-like hand up. The cannons in the side of his ship opened up. Everyone on that side of the Pearl backed away.
Jack's face was frozen with shock. Elizabeth waited for him to move or say something, but he did not. "Hard to starboard!" She ordered as she ran forward to command the crew. Gibbs was turning the wheel as fast as he could to get away from the Dutchman, but he could not move fast enough; Davy Jones shouted commands at his crew, and the cannons began to fire. Jack's quarters received the first blow, which destroyed them.
The Pearl moved faster and faster, beginning to leave the Dutchman behind, but it was still quite close to them. Too close. More cannons fired, hitting several of the crew and forcing Sora and the others to duck. Gibbs also ducked, and Jack finally came back to reality, taking over steering as he clutched the jar to his chest.
Sora stood back up to find the Dutchman way in the distance; he grinned at Kairi and helped her stand. "We've lost 'er." He patted the railing of the Black Pearl fondly.
"Yes, we have," agreed Will, who had come to shortly before the Dutchman first fired. He looked troubled, but his face softened as he turned toward Sora. "You must be Sora's girlfriend," he said, not having the opportunity to get acquainted back on the beach. "I'm Will Turner, it's a pleasure." He took her hand and gently kissed it.
Kairi blushed as a smile adorned her lips. "I'm Kairi. It's nice to meet you, Will, Sora told me a lot about you and Elizabeth."
Will's concern did not escape Roxas. "What's got you so worried, Will?"
"I don't think Jones is planning up on giving up that easily."
Someone from further up in the sails announced, "They're giving up!" Roars of excitement filled the Pearl, and Will, clearly not buying it, joined Jack. "My father is on that ship, Jack. We can take 'er!
Jacked placed his precious jar on the railing. "Why fight when you can negotiate?" The Pearl shook violently, forcing everyone onto their backs. Sora grabbed the railing as well as Kairi's arm; Keira did so a beat late and fell onto her behind. Naminé and Roxas, being clever, automatically seized the railing. Jack had not anticipated the trouble as the jar hit the deck with a loud crash. Sand exploded everywhere, along with shards of glass. He quickly ran down the steps and dug through the sand. "Where is it?"
"Where's what, Jack?" called Sora.
"The heart, Davy Jones's heart!" Jack stopped searching the sand, his body frozen as he stared into the darkening sky, the look of realization on his face.
"Musta hit a reef," mumbled one of the crew. Keira, Naminé, Roxas, Kairi, and Elizabeth looked over the side of the ship; something certainly seemed to be going on below the water.
Will's face visibly paled as he recalled being on a ship where the same thing had happened before. In fact, this had taken place after he got off of the Dutchman when Jones was searching for the key he had stolen. "No, it's not. Get away from the rail!" He pulled Elizabeth into the center of the deck.
Keira fixed him with a curious stare as she and the others followed. "What is it?"
"The Kraken." Jack appeared to have heard him, for he looked up with horror clear on his face. Will disappeared below the deck, and the cannons opened as tentacles slowly crept up the ship.
Keira looked from one person to the other. "The Kraken?" Having not grown up on an island, she never heard of such a creature.
"It's a legendary sea creature," informed Naminé. "It's huge. The suctions on its tentacles are supposed to be able to suck your face off..." Keira became quite disturbed at the thought. Crewmen lined up on the sides of the deck with spears.
"We're fighting it?" whimpered Kairi, looking to Sora, who nodded. They joined the rest of the crew with their keyblades. The tentacles moved faster and faster up the Pearl. Keira watched the movement of the tentacles and backed off a little "It's going to take the ship."
"Will?" Elizabeth asked as she, too, backed away from the side of the ship. There was no reply. She called him again, and there was still no reply. Finally, she screamed his name and the cannons went off. The tentacles were blasted backward, but some of them still hit the ship, breaking through the railing and snapping bodies. The tentacles receded, and most of the crew cheered.
Roxas did not seem ready to believe they had won. "I think we only made it angry."
"We have to get off." Will told Elizabeth and the wielders in a low voice.
Naminé turned around as she searched for their only hopes of escape. "There... aren't any b-boats."
Will took charge once more, and Sora began to wonder why Jack, as captain, was not doing anything. He handed Elizabeth a rifle and turned to face the teenagers. "You guys can use fire magic, right? Whatever you do, don't miss."
"There's not enough powder!" Gibbs told Will as he appeared from beneath the deck.
William looked at him and suggested something that would have been obvious to anyone who was not a pirate: "Load the rum." The crew fell silent for a moment as they contemplated the loss.
After a moment, Gibbs finally agreed, "Aye, the rum too!" Grudgingly, the crew began to throw their beloved rum in the net.
"Sora, we can fly," reminded Naminé, and he contemplated the idea for a moment before shaking his head. "We can't just abandon them. We'll have to stay and fight." Roxas and Sora disappeared below deck to assist, leaving the girls to sit on the idea. 'They're our friends,' remembered Keira and knew, from the look on the other two's faces, they thought the same.
"Hey, where did Jack ever go?" wondered Kairi. Elizabeth walked across the ship, pausing in mid-step when she saw Jack rowing away in their only longboat. "Coward." Another violent rumble shook the ship and, once again, the girls fell.
Keira pushed herself back up, gripping her keyblade so tightly that it hurt. "It's back already?" A roaring sounded as tentacles rose from underwater again and struck every part of the ship that they could, taking bodies and smashing anything in the vicinity.
"W-we have to be r-ready." Kairi's hands were visibly shaking.
"Maybe we can hold them off with our Keyblades?" Naminé suggested.
Keira bit her lip. "It's worth a shot, right?" She and Naminé ran forward to strike at the flailing tentacles, but a hesitant Kairi remained where she was standing.
"Wait!" she cried, too late as the other two struck at the tentacles. "It won't work!" There were horrible cries and screams as men were seized by the Kraken and taken away. Keira's blade made contact with a tentacle, and, instead of her landing a hit, it wrapped around her keyblade. It did not have to pull very hard to get her off of her feet, and she was soon dragged across the deck with Naminé right beside her.
Kairi thought she might faint. "Naminé! Keira!"
Will ordered, "Kairi! Elizabeth! Go, shoot!" His footing had become caught in the netting, and neither of them would follow through. Roxas and Sora came onto the deck just in time to see Naminé and Keira disappear from view.
"Naminé!" Roxas attempted to reach over the side of the ship for her hand, but she was too far. Without a second thought, he plunged into the water. Meanwhile, Will had managed to disentangle himself, and Elizabeth and Kairi were trying to get a good shot. Elizabeth was about to shoot when a tentacle seized her foot and pulled her into the Jack's room. Fortunately, Ragetti was waiting and freed her with his axe.
A frantic Elizabeth returned to the deck in time to see a man with her gun taken by the kraken' the gun was flung to another part of the deck. She crawled to it but was stopped by a foot. Desperately, she tried to pry it off, and looked up to see Jack was the one standing on her weapon. He picked it up and Elizabeth locked her arms around his leg as he took aim. "Sora, prepare yourself, mate." Sora turned toward Jack with a grin as he raised Kingdom Key.
"Ready, Kairi?" She nodded and raised Oathkeeper. "On three, use firaga One. Two." The tentacles were wrapping even more around the powder and rum. "Three! Firaga!" Large jolts of fire flew through the air alongside Jack's bullet, resulting in a great explosion. Fire spread across the deck as the Kraken cried and withdrew its ligaments.
Roxas caught up with the girls beneath the water quite quickly and, fortunately, the only thing the tentacles were gripping was the keyblades. He pried Naminé's hands off of Chain of Memories, causing it to disappear, and searched for Keira. Had he not been underwater, he would have cursed; Keira was not in sight, and Naminé was too pale to be healthy. There was no way he could wait and search.
"Roxas," called Will from nearby. Roxas noted his luck at resurfacing near a longboat, which already housed Will and only a few members of the crew, including Gibbs. Cotton pulled Naminé into the boat before helping Will grab Roxas.
"Abandon ship?" he guessed.
"You don't want to see the bodies on the ship anyway, mate," assured Will as Kairi and Sora joined them.
Kairi's eyes scanned the boat for half a second. "Where's Keira?" Roxas stared into his lap and shook his head. Elizabeth was the last to join them and, at her appearance, Will spoke in a truly unkind voice, inquiring about Jack's whereabouts.
"He'd like to stay behind and give us a chance," she answered, but Roxas felt skeptical. She looked guilty and sounded heartbroken; then again, he supposed, he might have been projecting his own emotions. As the boat rowed away, they watched in horror as the Kraken engulfed the Pearl with its entire being. It did not take very long for it to pull the Black Pearl and its captain to the depths of the sea.
Sora stared at the space where the boat had been with sadness, and mumbled, "Jack."
XxxxxX
By nightfall, what was left of the Pearl's crew had reached Tia Dalma's shack. The priestess was a sight to see, her dark hair in dreads, though her normally mischievous expression had been replaced with one of sadness. Everyone in the room had a glass, and Gibbs raised his. "To Jack Sparrow."
"The best pirate to sail the seas!" Sora and Roxas chorused before they took a few sips from their mugs. Naminé, who was now awake, nodded her agreement with Kairi, though neither drank.
"If there was anything that could be done to bring him back, would you do it?" Tia Dalma asked the room at large. "Would you sail to de ends of the sea to bring 'im back?"
"Aye!" Everyone agreed, though Will was the very last to do so.
"If you were to follow through, you'd need a captain who could handle such an adventure." A thumping of boots sounded from the second story as she spoke, and a familiar, scarred, face appeared with a monkey perched on his shoulder.
Roxas and Sora immediately jumped as Barbossa asked, with a smirk, "What's become of my ship?" Neither wielder wasted their time in summoning their weapons.
"Aye. I remember you, lad," he said to Sora. "Come, now, I don't mean no harm. I'll be helping you get to the World's End."
Though they were curious beyond belief as to how Barbossa, whom they both recalled killing, was standing before them, they called off their keyblades. As they faced the crew, Will spoke first,"Sora, it's been nice seeing you. It'll take us a while to get there, and you have a job to continue doing. Drop by later, won't you?"
"It was a great pleasure meeting you all," said Elizabeth as she raised her mug. "To all of you, and Keira as well."
"Aye!" All of the pirates in the room agreed and followed suit.
"We'll see you soon." Sora said, waving, as he and the others moved to the center of the room and transported back to their Gummi ship.
"We should... go back to the Radiant Garden." Roxas murmured, though he clearly did not want to. The loss of Jack and Keira weighed heavily on their shoulders, particularly Roxas'.
Sora collapsed behind the steering wheel. "We'd better hope that Cloud doesn't ring our necks."
XxxxxX
Keira had been pushed to the beach of an island thanks to the rough waves. She awoke, coughed some water out of her system, and stared into the horizon, though there was nothing to see. The night sky was dark over her head. "Come, Princess. We have a special cell waiting for you in the World That Never Was," remarked Saïx from behind her. She did not make any movement to show she had heard him, but she also did not try to get away from him. Somehow, she found herself waiting for the others to come after her. To help her. "That wretched captain, Jack Sparrow, has been dragged to the depths of the sea by the Kraken." Still, she did not move, still holding onto a fool's hope. She heard what he was not saying: "Your friends, they've already left you behind."
A/N: Well, I am finally done with Pirates. Haha, I can't wait until I have to do At World's End, which hopefully I will have on my iPod by then, too. Very useful, you know. Anyway, poor Keira. D: You trade one Princess for another, I guess. See you next chapter!