CHAPTER TWENTY: Never Simple
While the fight against the ocean of fire was ongoing, Katie and Angelica were taken down to the brig. They were placed in separate cells, facing each other, and as Gibbs locked Katie into hers he murmured an apology before hurrying back upstairs. Katie sighed; she knew this was Jack getting his own way and having her out of the way for the action. He was being overprotective as usual. However, it was cooler down in the brig away from the flames and, unable to attack Angelica, she had a moment to breathe.
Angelica was watching Katie like a hawk. The latter was leaning against the cell bars, arms folded, looking both frustrated and resigned. They could feel the ship moving though there seemed to be no impact, which was a good sign. Finally, after a long silence, Angelica spoke:
"I cannot believe Jack married you." Katie turned to face her now, green eyes still livid.
"You don't know me."
"I know who you are not." Katie sighed at this.
"I'm not talking in riddles to you."
"Well," Angelica sighed, sitting down and crossing her legs, "What is it that made you so special? You and Jack do not have history and you do not share an upbringing. You are not a whore he took a special fancy to."
"I don't know. What made you so special, Angelica? What makes anybody special?" Katie snapped.
"I assumed Jack would not have told you the truth of his past with me." Angelica said.
"It would have been unavoidable with all the trouble you've caused us." Katie wished once more that she could be back on deck because even with the near-unbearable heat of the fire, she would be able to hurt Angelica there.
"Still, Jack is clever. He lies."
"Not to me." Katie said with some pride and plenty of conviction. She recalled the single tear that had escaped him when he'd awoken from his nightmare. Had that only happened such a short while ago? The rivals looked at each other for a moment before Angelica finally spoke once more:
"I believe you… Katie, isn't it?" She didn't look as if the name came comfortably to her, "I believe he loves you. Or I would not hate you so much."
"Why don't you just let this go? He's moved on." Katie said briskly.
"I haven't."
"Perhaps it's time you did."
"Perhaps. But even without that, he still left me on that island." This, Katie could not argue with. She just leant back against the bars once more and closed her eyes. It was eerie to feel the Pearl move without the corresponding sound of the sea.
"Why are you here, Angelica? And more importantly, how?" Katie repeated her earlier question.
"I don't have a cunning way of following you. At Oak Island and then today, I just found myself here. I blinked and I was here. I think Calypso did it." Katie opened her eyes to search for the lie in Angelica's face but saw none. And of course, if she had found a way to stow away aboard the Black Pearl they would have found her long ago. "I think it was her way of showing Jack who he loved…"
"By showing you?" Katie tried to sound disdainful but she suddenly recalled the first time she had slept with Jack and he had said 'I think I love you'. He had never gotten around to actually saying that he loved her properly, or mentioned the word love again. Katie had not been focusing on her insecurities about Angelica as much recently, because everything Jack did indicated the truth. And that, she knew, should be enough for her. It had been enough for her, until Angelica had once again sown the seed of doubt. Before she could pursue that thought though, Angelica answered:
"He loves you, Katie. Any fool can see that. When he looks at me he is cold. And I just saw the way he looks at you. I might hate you for that, but that does not mean it isn't true." Katie stared at Angelica, surprised by the turn of events and conversation that had taken place between them. It was at that exact moment, though, that someone came down the steps to the brig.
"Come." Sully, a member of Jack's crew, had the keys to Katie's cell. She was released and taken up on deck again where the heat hit her as soon as she stepped out. Squinting in the flames and smoke, Katie followed Sully to where Jack was stood.
"Me an' you have to go aboard the Flying Dutchman now." He told her. She frowned and turned her head to see that, indeed, the Dutchman had somehow managed to surface. It was only when she looked closer that she realised a small section of water had reappeared in the centre of the circle of ships, though it was still ringed in fire.
"How are we supposed to get over there?" She wanted to know.
"That's what you'll need me for." Another voice said. Turning, she found herself face-to-face with Will. "How are you, Katie?" He asked her.
"I'm…" She began, unsure.
"Think we've all been better, mate." Jack said, putting his hand on the small of her back. "You are alright though, aren't ya, love?" He added to her quietly. She nodded. "What did Angelica say? I'm sorry I had to send ye down there."
"No you're not." She said sternly, though a small smile turned the corners of her mouth up. His eyes glittered.
"Yer right, I'm not." Jack agreed.
"I can't tell you right now." She glanced towards Will, who was looking expectant. He held out his hand to Katie and she looked at it for a second, but Jack gave her a little nudge of encouragement. As soon as Will closed his hand on hers, she had the strange sensation that she was being sucked through a very tight vacuum. She closed her eyes against the uncomfortable feeling but it was over in seconds and she could breathe again, opening her eyes to find she was now on-board the Flying Dutchman. Jack was beside her, looking around in slight confusion.
"Jack Sparrow." A voice said, and Jack grinned at a pallid man standing a few feet away at the helm.
"Bootstrap!" Jack grinned, and Katie understood that this was Will's father, the well-famed Bootstrap Bill Turner, Jack's old friend.
"There'll be time for a chat later." Will said, and moved aside to reveal Barbossa, standing leaning against the rail, eating an apple like this was all part of a day's work. The other Pirate Lords were also scattered about, nobody liking to stand too close to each other. Chastised, Jack turned back to Will. "You three need to hold hands and say the words together. I have to bless it, and she will be bound." At the last word the flames flared upwards around the edge of the circle of sea that had reappeared. "Then all the Pirate Lord's must present your nine pieces of eight, and a fragment of her power will be encased inside it."
"We know, Turner, ge' on wi' it!" Barbossa growled, rolling his yellow eyes. He threw his apple overboard and approached Jack and Katie. The former took Barbossa's hand with disgust in his face which made Katie giggle as she took the hands of both men, gripping Jack's a little tighter. The remaining seven Pirate Lord's formed a loose circle around theirs. The three looked at each other, nodded, then began to recite the words they had memorised at pains in Shipwreck Cove.
"Calypso, daughter of Atlas, Odyssean Goddess of the Sea, we present to you the stagnant heart of an eternal warrior and the blooming heart of two lovers, bringing you humanity and servitude. We entreat ye!" There was a pause and not one person breathed. Nobody was ever sure this would work a second time.
The suspense was shattered as the flames surrounding everything suddenly roared upwards, the heat engulfing everything, blinding everybody momentarily. But then, they were gone, the sea was as it should be, and the clouds overhead disappeared to once again showcase the beautiful full moon, leaving just a strange dark mist hanging over the deck of the Flying Dutchman. Barbossa let go of Jack and Katie's hands to remove the feather from his hat, as Elizabeth held in her palm a pretty dark blue stone- blue tiger eye. The other Pirate Lords were also offering seemingly random objects in which to contain a piece of Calypso's power. It had been agreed that using assorted items instead of actual pieces of eight had probably been what protected them from discovery or theft for years before. As such, Jack suddenly realised he'd never decided on what he was going to use as his own piece of eight this time.
He felt something being pressed into his palm and he looked down. Katie had slid off her 'wedding' ring for the first time since he'd given it to her and was handing it to him.
"It'll be safe with me." She whispered. He smiled at her before opening his palm as the others had and offering it outwards. The effect was instant, though only the Pirate Lord's felt the change in the air. Katie and Will saw the strange dark fog vanish into each of the nine pieces of eight, but Jack felt as if suddenly caught in a violent wind, as if the most furious rain was battering his face despite the fact that nothing moved. The ring in his hand grew painfully hot for a mere second and then returned seemingly to normal. Everybody realised at the same time that the ritual was over, because the strange atmosphere that had bound them all vanished. When they all blinked, Katie was the first to see a woman standing between herself, Jack and Barbossa, all three of whom took a step back from the close proximity. She had the appearance of an Obeah sorceress, thin in stature, with dark skin and dreadlocks like Jack's. She had dark patterns painted around her eyes and a wide smile that revealed discoloured teeth. Her dress was grand and yet bedraggled at the same time.
"Jack Sparrow, we meet again." Calypso, or Tia Dalma as she was always known in her human form, greeted him first, "And you, Barbossa. And dis, Jack, is your beloved, isn't it?" She looked at Katie with interest. "You have something about you, Kathryn Sparrow." Jack moved slightly closer to Katie in both a protective and reassuring gesture. "Well, I knew dis day would come. I did not expect to be free forever, though you all know what I am." She turned next to Will. "I always said dere was a touch of destiny about you, William Turner, and dis destiny has been fulfilled."
"I was always in your service." Will said humbly.
"You do your job much more satisfactorily dan de previous worker."
Katie looked up at Jack. He was already looking at her, a strange expression on his face.
"Kathryn Sparrow." He repeated quietly.
"But she knows…" Katie whispered back, and he nodded. "I can't believe this is all over." Jack glanced around. Most of the Pirate Lords were heading back to their ships surreptitiously; glad to be finished with this long and frustrating mission and eager to go back to pillaging and usual piracy.
"Nah. Things are never this simple." His eyes were fixed on a point on the horizon which Katie's eyes followed. White sails had appeared there, several sets, all bearing the Union Jack. Barbossa had seen them too, and he cursed loudly enough for the other pirates to take note.
"We need to get back to the Pearl." Katie seized Jack's hand without thinking, and he suddenly remembered he was still clutching her ring in his other hand. Before he could think to return it, however, the ring burned once more in his hand and suddenly they were, once again, aboard the Black Pearl. Katie glanced around, disorientated, as Jack looked towards the other ships. Everybody had been transported back to their rightful vessels, apparently by the power of Calypso within the pieces of eight. He was surprised she was doing them any favours, though he noted that she had probably known the navy were but two steps behind them and had held them up on purpose with the sea of fire.
The pair made to turn towards the helm but found themselves face to face with Tia Dalma herself.
"Who invited you?" Jack demanded, annoyed.
"I invited me." Tia Dalma grinned. Katie felt a strange prickle of uneasiness similar to the one which had filled the entire atmosphere on the build up to this fight, the voyage before it that had been so filled with nightmares seeming a long time ago. It was a discomfort which everyone associated with Tia Dalma if they knew her, though she was new to it.
"We don't have time for this right now!" Katie yelped, pointing towards the still-advancing navy ships. They were outnumbered even with ten pirate crews, and most of those were already well on their way to running.
"Dis is de life you sign up for when binding a sea goddess." Tia Dalma said meaningfully.
"Make way! All haste!" Jack yelled, remembering he was in fact captain of this ship. He was also extremely aware that they had no hope of winning this battle if they chose to fight it. Running away was the only option. However, in their moments of deliberation, the navy were rapidly catching up. The Flying Dutchman had already vanished beneath the surface of the sea.
Katie bit her lip. The navy's flagship was turning about to level its guns directly at the Pearl, which was still hastening to turn about the wind and sail as fast as possible away from the danger.
She hurried towards a sail, tightening the rigging, though it seemed so ridiculously small an act in the grand scene of things. Jack had taken the helm and was spinning them as fast as they could, though not fast enough as the first shots fired at them ripped through the lower deck, leading to scattering crew members. More cannonballs ripped through the Pearl even as she began to make progress in escape. The damage would hinder them if not avoided.
It was several minutes before Katie was able to think of anything other than the terrible sound of wood being splintered and the yells of injured crewmates. She could see that most of the other pirates had been caught in individual battles with some of the other navy ships. They had to sail through the broken up line of navy ships, exposing the rear of the Black Pearl to possible attack while they relied entirely on speed. There was a lull, however, as the navy ship pursuing them hastened to reposition. It was then that she glanced to her right to find Tia Dalma watching her, eerily unruffled by the commotion ensuing around her. She didn't say anything, but Katie's mind was suddenly filled with the memory of her conversation with Angelica in the brig. I would not hate you so much….
Katie dashed off madly in the direction of the brig. Most of the damage had been done to this part of the ship and she was ankle deep in water when she reached it. Another cannonball ripped through the side of the ship just behind Katie, and the force and surprise of it caused her to fall forwards clumsily, throwing out her hands to stop herself falling face first into the water. When she managed to get to her feet, she looked towards the cells. They were both empty.
"No…"
She hurried to the cell Angelica had been incarcerated in. Surely the crew had not betrayed them by letting her out while she and Jack were aboard the Flying Dutchman? Katie thought wildly of escape artists and circus acts, of jesters and their tricks. Had Angelica broken out herself? But on closer examination, the lock was still not only intact, but locked, as if she had never left. And yet, though she was frantically searching every corner of the brig, Angelica was gone.
A/N: I'm sorry it's been a while since an update again, this has actually been finished for a while but I haven't been able to upload it. So how has Angelica managed to escape? Yes, Calypso is bound but the story is far from over! Sorry to leave you on a bit of a hangover! Please let me know what you think of this in a review!