Kingdom Hearts Gaiden

Written by Shaun Garin

Kingdom Hearts in all forms is owned by SquareEnix and Disney.

03: Elizabeth

I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them dead. And then I'll make Jack pick up a coin and start knifing him until he's full of holes.

I suppose I'm over-reacting but who wouldn't be? Jack Sparrow just managed to get us MAROONED on the same spit of land he called home for three days. "That's the second time I had to watch that man sail away with me ship," he said in a dissapointed tone. And then, he had the audacity to shake off my angry statements, reveal that he hitched a ride with a group of Rum-runners, open a hidden cache of rum and then say "Welcome to the Caribbean," while pushing a bottle into my arms. He pushed one on Sora and the boy had no idea what RUM was. Honestly, it was like I was living in the dark ages.

How could something so unbelievably insane happen within the last four days? It was like fate decided to drive all of us together and then cast us off into the briny depths, and oh lord, I'm talking like a pirate now. Mercy.

I guess this sorrid tale could be told with a typical beginning. I was only seven, floating towards land on a navy ship bound for the Jamacian shores where Port Royal was awaiting our arrival. It had been a long three months on the crossing, and I spent my time near the front of the ship, staring into the water and singing softly old pirate songs. It was during one of those times after Joshamine Gibbs tried to keep me from singing with warnings about pirates, we happened upon a merchant ship that was literally in flames. A burning husk was the only thing I could think of to describe it properly after the men hauled the only survivor out of the water; a boy that was barely older than I was.

He introduced himself as Will Turner weakily before passing out. I found the coin on his person, although I believed it to be a pirate medallion and did till about half a week ago. I hid the medallion and then to this day, I could feel the chill associated with the coin.

From time to time, I took it out of my hiding spot in the false bottom of my top bedside drawers and ran my fingers over the cold surface. It always felt oddly cold, even after holding it in my hands or often wearing it close to the skin. Being as practical of a lady as possible, I dismissed it as a quirk of the metal, possibly on how it was forged. Several years later, Captain Norrington, who had wraught a crusade against pirates, had been promoted to Commodore of the fleet. With my father as Govenor since the early years of the crossing, I believed this to be all that there was for me.

And then I couldn't breathe.

I don't care if it's fashionable, I don't care if women in London learned not to breathe. Even with the beautiful dress, I vowed to never wear a corset ever AGAIN. I could feel my RIBS BRUISING when they put the blasted thing on me. If it weren't for Jack cutting me out of it, I probably would have died at the hands of incompetent Red Coats who couldn't even SWIM. "Pride of the King's Navy, you are," he had snorted after relating the tale to us while into his second bottle.

Things went from hell to highwater shortly afterwards when these black THINGS came out of nowhere, and attacked the rescue party. Father was shook up as with most of Norrington's men, and Norrington jumped to conclusions and arrested Sora and Jack. Apparently, Sora's clothing looked similar to pirate garb and even without a remarkable brand such as the livid pink skin from a close encounter with the East India Trading Company left, he was dragged off. Goofy and Donald got away, but they were being hunted for suspcion of witchcraft. I don't blame them; a talking dog and duck dressed in clothing and shooting what apparently was MAGIC all over the place was enough to rouse the most mundane sort of folk into a witch hunt.

That night, the Black Pearl attacked. The pirates were attacking the populace, stealing things and generally causing a lot of pillage, looting and sacking. I noticed Will in the melee but at that point in time, I wasn't certain that he had noticed me, on account of getting walloped over the head.

They took me on the ship, and I tried to use Parley. It worked, for all about five minutes before Barbossa weighed anchor and took off, with me on it. He threw me into the cabin and told me to stay there, smirking about having to be a pirate to invoke Parley. I remember breaking something in frustration before I slept fitfully.

A pirate ship was run no differently than a navy one, but the way the Pearl moved was surreal. It's canvas, formerly black and full was now full of holes and tears, and I could see some black under the terrible layer of dirt and dust that layered both sides. The deck was covered in dirt, brine and other assorted things I didn't like to note. The hull was covered in barnicles, peeling black paint and the figure on the front of the pearl was almost unrecognizable under a three inch layer of grime.

Barbossa usually took to himself, talking with a guest that was as odd as Donald and Goofy. A morbidly obese cat dressed in armour continued to banter back and forth. Barbossa's tone was loud and angry, even through the cabin and the extremely fat cat was repling with an "I Told You So" tone. Being confined to the cabin, I was often privy to these conversations as I played the part of the maid. The cabin certainly deserved a clean up after all this time and I disliked entertaining the thought of wallowing in my own mire.

"I told youse guys that they had otherworldly magic," pointed out the cat that I learned was named Pete from one of the later conversations. "And you didn't listen."

"Aye, but you can't judge a man by the method he be runnin' a crew, now can ye? Especially one, that be cursed no less." Barbossa still looked furious and I realized there were a few crew members missing from the group. Barbossa had his fun earlier on, scaring several years off my life with a crew of undead pirates the night before. He continued derisively with "An ye didn't bring your part o'the bargain, Mr. Pete. We be but humble pirates, so what can we bring to ye?"

"Strong forces," replied Pete and he leaned back to pop a grape into his mouth. "Da way I figure tings," he said, eating as he did so and earning a sour expression from Barbossa for Pete eating his food, "is dat th'brat with the Keyblade'll come gunnin' for ya. Den, all ya gotta do is to do him in. Got it, see?"

"Aye that," replied Barbossa. "But where be the PROFIT in it, knocking off a single child?"

"Why, there are more treasures out in the stars than you can even count!" Pete boasted proudly and ate more of the succulent food before him. I smirked to myself. This was probably torturing Barbossa more than Pete knew by the simple task of eating. "For instance..."

One of his large meaty hands opened up and Barbossa's eyes were dazzled with a beautiful ice blue fragment. "My stars," he whispered and Pete placed it into his hands. "Tis be a piece of ice. But it be solid? Here, in the Caribbean?"

"Yup," replied Pete, proudly. "The stars are teeming wit'this junk, er, I mean, priceless material. It can be forged into protective gear, so protective dat the brat's magic'll bounce right off ya!"

Barbossa was hooked immediately, at the thought of his men becoming even more powerful than before. A solid trade off, for working with a talking cat. "Mr. Pete, I believe we have an accord." The pair shook and I felt like I had been witness to an unholy union.

The next few days were spent mulling about the cabin and often cleaning the inside of it. The men, while going through the motions of caring for the ship only put the bare minimum of work into doing so. Most of the men also took to watching me eat during mealtime, and many of them looked so hungry, I almost pitied them. Unable to satisfy any human urges, this was probably hell on earth for them. Mr. Pete, the self-proclaimed otherworlder was eating at the other end of the table, his large jowls moving up and down as he ate. He was dignified, but there was a crudeness about him as he chewed noisily. I was certain by now that the pirates were crying on the other end, with the amount of food Pete devoured.

Attempting conversation, I picked up my turkey leg and asked him, "Mr. Pete... I was curious on why you approached Barbossa. He is known for being a notorious pirate."

"Well it's a good trade off," replied Pete and the men, noting that our eating had slowed, quickly lost interest to Barbossa's barked orders to actually do something productive. "Ya see," he said conspiritorically, his voice dropping to a stage whisper as soon as the last man had left the windows and doors, "Barbossa here don't know that the things I'm'a giving him are common as the sands in the seas. Maleficient has a great horde of these things, and with so much of it, it's no skin off our noses if we give up a few dozen."

"And thus, you're actually coming out on top," I mused. "What does this... Maleficient want?"

"Well dats the thing, innit. Maleficient with a Heartless powerful 'nough to become immortal in the daylight to the keybearer? It's enough to bring her plans to fruition and gain Kingdom Hearts." Pete said this with a conviction and smugness, that I was worried on what this meant for our world. The planet was such a big place, and most of it was still being discovered since the days of Colombus, but it worried me that something out there, something ALIEN could be plotting our downfall as we spoke.

Swallowing a little harder than I thought needed, I sipped my wine and said, "Barbossa won't like it if you give him a bunch of useless junk."

"Oh it ain't useless," said Pete."I didn't lie when I said it could be forged into protective gear. But that's the ting; there's no one on this world who has the skill to do so!"

Pete certainly had all of the cards thus far. I quietly hoped that there were things to take care of that would delay Barbossa on the path to where ever he was bringing me.

I didn't pay much attention to the speech Barbossa was giving, something about the blood of fathers being repaid. The ivory knife in his hands really did make me worried however and he was waving it about, ranting to the men who cheered him on. The coin was put into my hands and before I could do anything, he cut it. Blood welled across the coin, and he made certain it got on it before my hand was opened up. My other hand pulled out a handkerchief and I pressed it to my hand, gritting at the sharp pain that accompanied it.

Barbossa stood in the middle, his arms outstretched as he leaned back, prepared to recieve his ultimate reward. When nothing happened, one of the pirates asked, "So... how do we know if it worked?"

Barbossa's answer was to shoot him. And when the crew member didn't die, he rounded on me and grabbed me by my shoulders. "Your father! Your FATHER! WAS YOUR FATHER WILLIAM TURNER!"

I couldn't give him an adequate reply and I was sent tumbling down behind the pile and out of sight. Not soon afterwards, Will showed up and together, we escaped.

The tunnels were nagivated quickly and Sora accompanied Will, a concerned expression on his face. "Where's Jack?" he demanded.

"He got left behind," Will replied and I knew that according to the code, any man who is left behind, stays behind. Sora lodged a protest but it fell on deaf ears as he, Donald and Goofy busied themselves with a horde of the black creatures once more. The boat awaited us and then we were hauled upon the Interceptor. After some initial confusion of seeing Mr. Gibbs as a pirates crew and Gibbs asking Will the same question, we set sail. Apparently, Will and Jack had made it to the island together, but only Will was the one who completed the mission.

I could bore you with a long drawn out story or the drama with Will having his worldview shattered in an instant, but I suppose I can skip to the chase. To make a long story short, Barbossa caught up with us and he subsequently marooned myself, Sora and Jack. He even refused Jack a new pistol, giving him a new one. "For the missus," Barbossa mocked and Sora made a face. He went into the water first but the boy swims like a fish. Gracefully even, and he mocked Barbossa by making subsequent dives, jumps and acting like a dolphin.

So, that night, Sora managed to conjour up some fire and we had a crackling merry bonfire. While it was warm in the Caribbean, being on an island with Rum as our only sustinance was less than tempting, especially after Commodore Norrington had wiped out the Rumrunners. I must thank him for our premature doom with a swift kick to the shins.

"You... are the Captain of the Bizzare," Jack was saying to Sora as the pair drunk. I on the other hand was contemplating how much of a bonfire the trees could make as a signal flare. The boy and pirate, both royally smashed, were giggling about something of Sora's companions being less than true to their reality. A dog and duck who didn't go woof or quack and did typical animal-type things were quite bizzare to me as well. But I withheld my tongue and indulged in a round of jaunty pirate songs.

I learned a few things that night.

One : For a child, Sora can hold his drink. It took him another three bottles before passing out face first in the tide. Jack hauled him out of the waters edge and dragged him to the fire where he slept for most of the night.

Two : Jack is far too complex for his own good. Eccentric to say the least, definitely not mad, there was a keen mind and an even quicker wit behind his complexity. He told me how he sacced Nassaeu Port without firing a single shot that night; claimed that he and his shipmates had dressed up as priests and conned the whole port out of tradeable goods.

Three : Rum burns nicely.

When Jack woke up to the smell of burning plant life and a mighty crackling roar, he was livid, if not almost mad with fear. "BUT WHY THE RUM!" he whined like a child and I forced myself to remain stern. Sora had a monsterous hangover, not uncommon for a child who had indulged for the first time.

Norrington and father came on the Dauntless soon enough, and we were saved. Well, correct that; I was saved. Sora and Jack were imprisoned and Norrington made one of his horrible cliche one-liners. Honestly, does the man own a book of PUNS?

Sora noticed the ship first on the horizon and the subsequent Isle de Muerta in the distance. Jack convinced the Commodore to help them out and then the plans were put into action.

Sora, pointed his keyblade into the air and then called out "GENIE!" A big blue... thing, appeared and posed dramatically as he spun a staff that looked like a wand. "Bing bang boom, Sora, I'm heeeere!"

"Well... that's interesting," remarked Jack as father and the Commodore gaped long enough for flies to run suicide down their throats. The Genie named, well, Genie, grabbed them around the middle and we flew off into the distance.

Liberating the pirate crew on the Black Pearl was fairly easy, but the rest of the adventure was more harrowing. The Pearl sailed off merrily and after a big battle that involved a fight in and out of the moonlight, Sora, Donald and Goofy in their element and finding out quickly that I was very good at using a staff... or ten foot gold plated septre as it were, we finally cut down Barbossa after Jack tossed Will his coin and the pair broke the curse.

"I feel... cold," said Barbossa and then he died unceremoniously. For one so threatening as Barbossa, it was a fairly inglorious death, getting shot through the chest.

Jack looked at the coins in the chest and then, picked one out suddenly. "The Immortal Captain Jack Sparrow," he said, fingering the coin over in his hands. "has a nice ring to it, don't it?"

"Jack," said Will in warning and with a sigh, Jack cut his hand and dropped the coin into the chest. The chest suddenly banged shut with the sound of stone on stone. Sora's keyblade shone and a beam of light came out of it to strike the chest. The chest was sealed, from what Sora said. I was hoping it was for the long run.

Jack took some trinkets out of the cache but I doubt the Commodore really caught onto the signifigance of the objects he took out. One would think that a crown, a few rings and a necklace or two would have been a sign that said "There Be Treasure Here", but the Commodore isn't a man to be swayed by treasure. Or notice it for that matter.

Well what can I say? The day was won, I was prepared to marry the Commodore, even though Will and I were meant for each other, and Jack was getting hung. Sora wasn't hanging there but since Norrignton apparently equated him to pirate, he was standing next to him. Funny, Sora looks rather SMUG from this angle.

"Jack Sparrow," pronounced the town crier and I could hear Jack muttering "Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow..."

The list of crimes were quite long and large, although I noticed Jack smirk in memory at a few. Sora fidgeted at the side but his hands were working rapidly on his bonds. Irons, however were hard to get out of.

The drum roll begun and I saw Will shoving through the crowd. I faked fainting to give him time to do whatever he was going to do, and then there was a loud SHUNK as Will's beautiful sword lodged itself into the wood. Wonderful technique that, I mused as I got back up suddenly to watch Jack catch himself on the sword. A brilliant fight broke out and Sora helped the escape along the way, breaking his bonds (they were encased in ice for all intents and purposes), and casting a spell at the charging Red Coats. "Magnet!"

The Red Coats went flying into the ball of crackling magic and Jack and Will almost made it away. Almost, being the key word. It was time for me to interfere.

Norrington looked defeated but a small smile graced his expression as Jack took a headlong plummet into the water down below. "This is a beautiful sword," he said, examining the blade in his hands. "I would think that a man who treats a sword with such respect to treat Elizabeth well."

Will's expression grew into a wide smile and he stammered out, "Thank you sir!"

"SIR!" cried Gilette. "What about Sparrow?"

A smirk, not unlike one that I saw on Jack's face graced Norrington's expression. "Oh I believe we can give Captain Jack Sparrow... one day's head start?"

Leaving a wake of puzzled Red Coats behind, Sora grinned and said, "Well, I guess we gotta be going too. Tell Jack we'll see him again."

"You three keep safe," said Will and he and Sora shook. Then, without warning, they dissolved into streaks of light and vanished high into the skies.

Father asked me if this was my choice. I smiled and said, "He's not blacksmith. He's a PIRATE."