Pirate Mary Sues Beware!
AN: Second chapter! I'm still finding the direction of this story myself, so please be patient with me. Also, this and my other story are the first things I've written, so I'm very new to this.
And I started writing this about a year ago, so I've pretty much forgotten what my original intentions for it were...er...I'll wing it.
Disclaimer: I still do not own Pirates of the Caribbean. Nor do I own its sequel, which is coming out soon! (happy dance)
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Erica began to regain consciousness to what sounded like a rerun of Valley Girls. She immediately relaxed back into her soggy pile of sacks, relieved. She must have fainted while she was out in the park, and now she was at home, asleep on the couch with the TV on. In fact, she remembered fainting.
She also remembered coming to on the hard planks of a ship, with her dream man standing over her. She remembered fainting again. Her eyebrows knotted in confusion. Then, her body kicked in as well.
Wait, soggy sacks? Erica thought to herself. Her eyes snapped open.
She was in what looked like the bilge. She fought back nausea as the smell of the water sloshing around on the floor hit her nostrils. She wasn't alone, though. Stuffed into the ill-lit, claustrophobic room were about seven other women, all exquisitely beautiful and shining with an inner fire. They were arguing ferociously.
"Look, bitch, I said that I was going to harp-serenade him tonight!" snapped a feisty-looking brunette, obviously having been bred for the finer things in life, but longing for adventure. Her piercing blue eyes flashed with murderous rage. "You've already HAD your chance today!"
The redhead who had sobbed her heart out on the deck earlier that day cracked her knuckles menacingly, but with an undeniable elegance. Her upper lip slowly curled. "There is no way in hell that YOU are serenading him tonight, because he-," crack "-is-," crack, "MINE!"
With that, the entire cabin exploded into a furious battle. All seven women were suddenly transformed into raging forces of vengeance, bent on mutual destruction. Erica looked on from her pile of smelly bags, feeling scared. These girls were obviously insane.
The fight suddenly stopped, and a banging noise could be heard. Erica followed the other girls' gazes to the trapdoor on the ceiling. Mr. Cotton's grimacing face could be seen through the bars. His parrot was whistling happily.
"Arr, hands off me booty, me booty," it squawked cheerfully. Mr. Cotton seemed to agree. He eyed the women cautiously, and very quickly opened the trapdoor. It was open just long enough for a gigantic cauldron of something steaming to be passed through. He closed the door immediately, and lowered the cauldron the rest of the way on a rope. The sound of bolts going home was loud in the strangely silent bilge.
"Ah, dinner," another one of the girls said happily. The other girls watched in horrified fascination as the girl, who was shorter and quite spunky-looking, went to the cauldron and grabbed a handful of porridge. Everyone in the bilge watched as she gulped it down. Tearing her eyes away from the girl, the blue-eyed brunette finally noticed that Erica was awake.
"Girls, she's awake!" she cried. The group peeled their eyes away from the girl eating and all turned to regard Erica. There was silence, except for the slurping noises of the girl eating her porridge.
"Hello," Erica said timidly. Immediately, all of the girls reacted. Some drew themselves up regally, some slouched defiantly, and some struck sassy poses. It seemed as though a roll call was about to begin.
The brunette with the blue eyes sashayed forward. Her skin was so smooth and pale that it would have shamed the finest porcelain. Her eyes, the clear blue of a winter's sky, flickered and showed that there was an inner vitality suppressed. Sleek chestnut hair flowed down to her small, delicate waist. There was an air about her that suggested that she was not all that she seemed. She dipped into an elegant curtsey.
"Hello. I am Miss Olivia Swann," she said formally. Erica nodded dumbly. Oliva smiled graciously and rose from her curtsey. "I used to live in Port Royal. When my stepfather insisted that I marry, I decided to run away and live a life of adventure." Erica made what she hoped was a sympathetic sound. "Welcome aboard the Black Pearl. We hope your stay will be comfortable."
Isn't Jack supposed to say that? Erica wondered to herself. She gave Olivia a vacant smile.
Another girl came forward. She stalked with a grace that was beyond anything Erica had ever seen. She had raven hair that was pulled back into a sleek bun. Her skin was pale, pale from nights spent alone and cold. Her eyes were the cold, blank gray of someone who had seen far too many things in their life. Whenever she was angry, they lit with an inner fire that had caused men to run in terror. Her face was expressionless, dead to the world as was her soul. She would have been beautiful but for the aura of sadness and danger that surrounded her.
"I am Rhianna," the woman said. Her emotionless voice curled through the air and caused Erica to shiver. "I am an assassin. I have been trained since birth for one thing only, to kill. I have been assigned to terminate Jack Sparrow, but-"
Rhianna was cut off as another woman stepped forward. She looked pretty much the same as Rhianna, except that her hair was ebony black as opposed to raven black. Her eyes were practically spitting sparks.
"That's MY story," she growled. Rhianna whipped around and drew a dagger. The two glared at each other.
"I believe that I was here first," Rhianna said murderously. "And you wouldn't know how to kill a spider!"
With that the two leaped at each other and locked into an epic battle. All of the other women scattered so that they wouldn't be clipped by the odd poisoned dagger. Erica stayed where she was, dazed.
Olivia was huddling next to Erica. She turned to her. "What's your name, then?" she asked.
"I'm Erica," Erica meant to say. But something made her say something else.
"My name is Ericalotte," Erica said. She frowned. "No, that isn't right. What I meant to say is that my name is Ericalotte." Again, she couldn't resist from adding the -lotte. Erica felt a bit panicked.
"My name is Ericalotte." No, that wasn't right. "I mean Ericalotte. No, Ericalotte!" She realized with a pang that she was now her character. Olivia watched with a raised eyebrow.
"Nice to meet you," she said.
Erica sighed. "Are we always locked up in the bilge?" she asked Olivia. Olivia laughed, a high, tinkling laugh that reminded Erica of a music box, fashioned of the most delicate silver.
"No, despite the best efforts of the crew. They are all jealous of us, you know," Olivia said, suddenly serious. "They are all jealous of us and so they lock us up."
Erica nodded. She was inwardly thinking, this one is a bit psychotic… Olivia spoke again.
"We always find ways out. After all, even their petty jealousies cannot stand in the way of fate."
"Fate?" asked Erica. At least there was hope of getting out of the foul-smelling bilge. She was extremely grateful of that.
"Yes, fate," Olivia responded seriously. "The power of love overcomes everything. It can break the strongest of bonds. It can heal the deepest of wounds. And it can cross the widest of gaps." Olivia's eyes shone brightly. "There is a love between the Captain and I that none can deny."
Olivia suddenly shook herself and straightened up. She playfully shoved Erica and laughed loudly. "Oh, don't be ridiculous, Ericalotte!" she trilled. "Me? And Jack Sparrow? I could never be in love with that man! I don't know what's got into your head! I can barely stand him most of the time!" She continued to laugh loudly. Erica shifted uncomfortably.
"I think that all of this heat must have gotten to your head!" Olivia declared. She stood and walked to the other corner of the bilge, disregarding the two assassins who were still battling ferociously.
Erica decided that she didn't much care if she met the rest of the women for now. She shivered, knowing that the character that she had created was just as psychotic and strange as the rest of these women. She set her mind to thinking about how to breaking out of the bilge and finding Jack. After all, he would help her.
Erica eyed the women surrounding her, and remembered that it was the fault of people like her who had put them here.
Well, Jack might help her.
"I SHALL BEAR HIS CHILDREN AND YOU KNOW IT!"
Well, hopefully Jack wouldn't have her hanged.
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AN: Jack will be in the next chapter! Thanks to jennifer123 and cal, who reviewed. It really helps me out. And cal, there will be some more Ana/Jack interaction coming up… please review!