I have returned from the dead once more!
I'm not being very consistent with my updates anymore, am I? My bad. I've just been really busy with work and remodeling a bathroom. Take my advice, the whole DIY thing is not worth the effort.
But enough about that. Anyone go and see the final Harry Potter film? It was fantastic. I got to go with my beta and her fiancé to the midnight premiere, which was totally worth the five hours in line. I'm sad to see it finally come to a complete end, but it was well worth the ride.
Disclaimer: I still only own my plot, ideas and original characters/ideas/places. I don't own anything else.
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty Three: Do You Fear Death?
Tuesday, June 22nd, 4794 P.C.
Island Jungle in the Caribbean
Naminé reveled in her triumph as she plunged the Rejection of Fate through the abdomen of the last of a group of Neoshadows. The Black Pearl had made landfall on a large island covered with a vast expanse of jungle less than an hour before and shortly after Jack had ordered his crew to moor the ship to the shore he had vanished into the jungle, shouting something about getting as far inland as quickly as possible. The crew had rushed to follow their captain's orders before chasing after him into the jungle.
It wasn't long after that when the Heartless decided to make an appearance. The majority of Jack's crew hadn't been around during Sora's previous venture to this world and had therefore never seen denizens of Darkness before. Even the simple appearance of the Shadows caused many of the hardened sailors to panic. It was at that point that Naminé decided she had no choice but to intervene.
Grinning to herself, Naminé turned to glance back at the crew to make sure they were all still okay. To her surprise, they were staring, open-mouthed and wide-eyed back at her. Naminé glanced down at herself and realized that her invisibility spell had worn off. She looked back up nervously at the pirates. Some of them began to have the hungry look of men who had gone months without fulfilling certain needs as they stared at her.
"Umm… Hi?" Naminé managed to say through a nervous chuckle. Gibbs stepped forward, his eyes fixated on the Rejection of Fate.
"Sora?" Gibbs asked, glancing up at her face from her Keyblade. "My god. What the devil happened to you?" Naminé raised an eyebrow at him.
"Excuse me, but my name is Naminé," she said, "Not 'Sora'. Sora's my friend." Gibbs' foolishness immediately dawned on him and he bowed his head slightly in embarrassment.
"Beg pardon, Miss," he said apologetically. "I've only ever seen Sora use a weapon such as that."
"It's alright," Naminé said.
"But if you're here, then where is Sora?" Marty asked.
"I don't know," Naminé said as she dispelled her Keyblade. "I got separated from my sister and him when we arrived." Gibbs and Marty shared a glance. Gibbs opened his mouth, undoubtedly to ask Naminé another question, but he never got the chance. Without warning, he collapsed to the ground suddenly unconscious. Before anyone had time to react, the rest of the crew also collapsed, a few of them letting out startled cries. Naminé looked around wildly in surprise. The Rejection of Fate appeared back in her hand as she looked around for a hidden assailant.
She felt a sharp prick in her neck. Her free hand darted up and came away with a tiny, plumed dart. Almost instantly, her vision blurred and she felt herself fall towards the ground. The Rejection of Fate slipped out of her hand and vanished in a thousand twinkling lights as Naminé's head hit the soft jungle floor. As her vision slowly began to darken, Naminé watched as several figures emerged from the trees and slowly approached her and the fallen crew.
LD
Tortuga, the Caribbean
"Captain Jack Sparrow? Owes me four doubloons. Heard he was dead." One sailor told Will and Sora as the two walked around the docks of Tortuga in an attempt to learn of Jack's whereabouts.
"Singapore, that's what I heard," a fisherman on the beach had told them. "Drunk, with a smile on his face. Sure as the tide, Jack Sparrow will turn up in Singapore."
"Jack Sparrow?" Giselle, a blonde woman in a yellow dress had said casually after Will had tracked them down, recalling that she and her friend knew Jack.
"I haven't seen him in a month," her friend, a woman in red by the name of Scarlett said in a tone of recognition.
"When you find him will you give him a message?" Sora's head whipped around as Giselle slapped him across the face as hard as she could. From there on, it looked as if they wouldn't find any helpful clues as to where in the world Jack Sparrow was. They had spent nearly all day looking and finally, their fortunes changed when they decided to try the docks again.
"Cannot say about Jack Sparrow," a dark-skinned shrimper with long dreadlocks and a Jamaican accent told them as he repaired one of his nets, "but there's an island just south of the straights where I trade spice for… delicious long pork. Cannot say about Jack. But you'll find a ship there. A ship with black sails."
LD
Friday, June 25th, 4794 P.C.
Offshore of an Island Jungle in the Caribbean
Sora's spyglass carefully traveled the shoreline until it rested upon none other than the Black Pearl herself. Her infamous black sails were furled up and several ropes moored her to the shore. All in all, she looked abandoned.
"That's definitely the Black Pearl," Sora informed will as he closed his spyglass and tucked it away in one of his pockets.
"My brother will take you ashore," the shrimper informed them. He led them to a longboat where his brother was waiting for them. The brother rowed them towards the shore for several minutes in silence. He stopped several hundred yards from shore, well away from the shallows, and turned to stare at Sora and Will.
"What's wrong?" Will asked. "The beach is right there."
"Ne bourgeois pas, c'est trop dangereux," the brother said.
"What?" Sora asked in confusion.
"Je ne peux, c'est trop dangereux, j'avais le dit." Will rose to his feet. It was obvious this man wasn't going to take them any further. "Bon voyage, monsieurs." Sora scrambled to his feet and he and Will leapt into the ocean. They swam quickly to shore, both shivering slightly as they stepped from the water onto the beach where the wind chilled them.
"It doesn't look like anyone's home," Sora pointed out as he and Will walked up alongside the Pearl. Will, determined to not give up hope just yet, cupped his hands around his mouth and started calling out for the crew.
"Jack! Jack Sparrow!" Will called out. Sora shrugged and quickly joined in.
"Gibbs! Naminé!"
Naminé? Roxas asked.
Of course. Sora replied. What if she ended up with Jack's crew? We might just find her.
That's a good point.
"Marty!" Will shouted. "Cotton! Anybody? Where could they have gone?" He and Sora glanced around the beach.
"There!" Sora exclaimed. He pointed at a small section of the jungle that looked as if a path had recently been cut through into the trees. "Think they went this way?"
"It's possible," Will said thoughtfully. "We'd best check just to make sure." The two of them nodded and strode towards the trees. They had barely entered the jungle when a bright blue and yellow parrot fluttered up to them and landed on a tree stump.
"Isn't that Cotton's parrot?" Sora asked. Will let out a sigh of relief.
"Ah, a familiar face," he said. "I guess we're on the right track." Cotton's parrot let out a loud squawk and flapped its wings.
"Don't eat me!" It said. Will and Sora exchanged looks of confusion.
"We're not going to eat you," Will said. "Come on, Sora. Let's keep moving."
"Don't eat me!" Cotton's parrot continued. "No! Don't eat me!" It let out another loud squawk as Sora and Will traveled further away from it. As the pair ventured deeper into the jungle, Sora couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. More than once he could've sworn that he saw humanoid shapes darting around in the underbrush. Will reassured him, repeatedly, that he was just seeing things. They spent several minutes wandering into the tress before Will held up a hand to stop them. Hanging from a thin string draped along some of the shrubbery was a leather flask that was all too familiar to Sora and Will. The pair of them exchanged a glance.
"Gibbs," they said in unison. Will plucked the flask from the string and began to follow it along. The string guided them into a small clearing, no larger than five feet in diameter when they reached the end of the string. Sora and Will stared at the frayed edges of the string's end in confusion. A pair of eyes opened up on the large tree next to them and a man covered in camouflage that made him blend in perfectly from the tree leapt towards them with a cry. Both Will and Sora stumbled back in surprise and right into a trap. A rope had been concealed by the foliage underneath their feet and without warning, tightened around Sora's and Will's ankles, hoisting the pair of them high into the air and leaving them hanging upside-down.
A dozen spear bearing savages, all painted in forest camouflage emerged from the shrubbery, their weapons aimed at Sora and Will. Without hesitation, Will drew his sword and Sora called the Oblivion to his hand.
"Come on, then!" Sora shouted at the savages, knocking the tips of their spears away with his blade. "Who wants it?"
"Let's go!" Will challenged, swinging his blade in an attempt to reach the natives. "I could do this all day!" Several of the savages looked over to one of their companions with a bone piercing through the bridge of his nose. He raised a blow-dart gun and fired a needle into Will's neck. Will's body went limp almost instantly. His sword fell from his limp hand and clattered to the soft earth below. Before Sora could react, the savage with the blow-dart gun fired a second needle into Sora's neck. The Oblivion fell to the jungle floor, vanishing in a thousand sparkles of light.
LD
Savage Village, Jungle Island in the Caribbean
Sora gave a groan as the venom that had been in the needle wore off and his senses returned to him. His hands and feet were bound to a bamboo pole and he was being carried into the savage's village by two of the men who had captured them. Craning his neck to glance around at his surroundings, Sora spotted Will being transported into the heart of the village in the same fashion he was. Around thirty or so more savages lined up to watch their prisoners being brought in.
"Kali kali ten daga!" The savage leading the procession declared to a man sitting on a throne of bones and dried animal hide. Sora and Will craned their necks to get a better look at the man. Eyes had been painted onto his face and he wore a tall, feathered headdress in place of his usual tricorne hat, but there was no doubt in their minds that the man on the throne was none other than Jack Sparrow.
That's Captain Jack Sparrow? Roxas asked. He really is as eccentric as you made him out to be. Just look at the makeup on his face!
"Jack?" Will asked groggily, clearly still fighting his way out of the haze created by the toxins in his system. "Jack Sparrow! I can honestly say I'm glad to see you!" Jack rose from his throne and strode over to the two captives. He poked Sora in the shoulder and stomach before moving onto Will.
"Umm, Jack?" Sora said nervously. Why wasn't he letting them go?
"Jack, it's us!" Will pleaded. "It's Will and Sora! Don't you remember us?" Jack stopped poking will and looked up at the savage that had led the procession into the village.
"Way-say kohn," he said.
"Ein dala," the savage said as he bowed his head. "Eesippi." The entire village around them repeated the final word.
"Could you get them to let us down?" Sora asked. "My neck is killing me!"
"Kay lay lohm," Jack continued, completely ignoring Sora. "Lum piki-piki. Lum eensie weensie." He knelt next to Will and examined him. "Lum say say eunuchy. Snip-snip." He made a motion with his fingers to simulate scissors cutting through him. The savages all made knowing sounds and disgusted expressions. As Jack straightened up, both Sora and Will spotted the compass.
"Jack! The compass!" Will exclaimed. Jack paused as he strode away, showing that he was listening "That's all we need! Elizabeth and Sora's girlfriend are in danger!"
"We were arrested for trying to help you!" Sora shouted desperately. "They face the gallows!" Jack turned around and addressed the entire village, apparently choosing to ignore Sora and Will.
"Snay say lum," he said authoritatively. "Shoop-shoop sma. Smommy sama lam shuku. Savvy?" The savages all glanced around at one another in confusion. "Bah liki-liki."
"Bah liki-liki!" The leader of the procession shouted. The savages cheered and began to chant.
"Save me!" Jack hissed to the pair of them as the savages began to take Sora and Will back out of the village.
"Jack, what did you tell them?" Will shouted. "No! What about Elizabeth? Jack!"
"Well this sucks," Sora grumbled.
LD
Offshore of the Savage Island
A pair of men drifted along at sea in a simple rowboat. One was short and rather round with a balding head of hair, a dark black and gray beard and yellowed eyes. His companion was much taller, with wiry blonde hair, and a wooden right eye. The man with the wooden eye lowered the leather-bound book in his hands and stared briefly at the other man before starting up the same debate they had had for the better part of the past few hours.
"Well, I say it was Divine Providence what escaped us from jail," Ragetti said. Pintel rolled his eyes.
"And I say it was me being clever," he glanced behind him. "Ain't that right, poochie?" A dog with a ring of keys in its mouth looked up from its resting place.
"Well, how do you know it weren't Divine providence what inspired you to be clever?" Ragetti asked before glancing back down at his book. "Anyways I ain't stealing no ship."
"It ain't stealing, it's salvaging," Pintel explained for what felt to him to be the millionth time. "Since when did you care?"
"Since we're not immortal no more," Ragetti explained as though it should've been obvious as he tapped his book. "We gotta take care of our immortal souls."
"You know you can't read."
"It's the Bible. You get credit for trying."
"Pretending to read the Bible's a lie! That's a mark against…" Pintel left the sentence to hang as he gestured up at the sky. He and Ragetti both looked around as the dog with the keys let out a couple of barks. "Look! There it is!" On the shore of a nearby island was none other than the ship they had been searching for, the Black Pearl. The dog let out a whimper and leapt from the boat into the water. Pintel and Ragetti watched as he paddled his way towards the shore.
"What's got into him?" Ragetti asked.
"Musta seen a catfish," Pintel suggested. They both let out guffaws of laughter as the dog reached the shore and shook the water from its fur.
"Stupid mongrel!" Ragetti mocked. The dog stood on the shore and watched as a tidal wave rose up and capsized the rowboat. A minute later, Pintel and Ragetti stumbled out of the surf, soaked from head to toe.
"Come on!"Pintel shouted back to Ragetti with a laugh as he ran up alongside the Pearl. "It's ours for the taking!"
"Tide's coming in. That should help," Ragetti pointed out eagerly. Pintel gave him a slightly confused look at the man's sudden change of heart. "Well, salvaging is saving, in a manner of speaking."
"There's the truth of it!" Pintel said with a grin. Somewhere of in the distance the steady beating of drums could be heard. The two men paused next to a mooring line and stared nervously out at the jungle.
"Suppose we'd better save it as soon as we can, what with our souls in such a vulnerable state and all," Ragetti said. Pintel crossed himself several times.
"Amen to that."
LD
Hanging Cages, Savage Island,
The savages had taken Sora and Will to a steep cliff near the village, where they were unceremoniously thrown into a round cage comprised of wood and some sturdy material Sora couldn't quite name before being lowered over the cliff edge. Once the cage had stopped swinging back and forth in a dizzying manner. Sora took a look around at the cage's other occupants. To his surprise, he realized Gibbs, Marty, Cotton and Naminé were all in the cage with them.
"Sora!" Naminé exclaimed, kneeling next to him to the best of her ability in the cage.
"Naminé?" Sora asked. "How'd you get here?"
"I ended up on the Black Pearl when we beamed down," Naminé explained. "And I got captured by the Pelegostos along with the crew."
"Who are the Pelegostos?" Will asked.
"Those natives what threw you in here with us," Gibbs explained. "It's good to see you two again. Although, it could be under better circumstances."
"Why did Jack have us thrown in here?" Sora asked as Naminé helped him stand up in the cage. "He was acting like he didn't even remember us."
"Aye, the Pelegostos made Jack their chief," Gibbs explained. "But he only remains chief so long as he acts like a chief."
"So he had no choice," Will realized. "He's a captive then as much as the rest of us."
"It gets worse," Naminé said with a slightly nauseous look on her face.
"See, the Pelegostos believe that Jack is a god in human form," Gibbs explained. "And they intend to do him the honor of releasing him from his fleshy prison." Cotton grabbed hold of Gibbs' hand and bit down on his fingers to emphasize his point. Gibbs let out a cry of pain and wrenched his hand away from Cotton, shooting the tongue-less man a glare as he leaned against the cage. "They'll roast him and eat him." Looks of mild horror crossed Sora's and Will's faces. Will glanced around their cage and over to another identical cage hanging about thirty feet away.
"Where's the rest of the crew?" He asked. Gibbs looked around the cage.
"These cages we're in weren't built 'till after we got here," he replied. Will and Sora both immediately backed away from the 'bars'. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of drumbeats became more audible. "The feast is about to begin. Jack's life will end when the drums stop."
"I told you it got worse," Naminé chimed in.
"Well, we can't just sit here and wait then," Will said thoughtfully. "Can we?"
The prisoners all threw themselves against the 'bars' of their bone cages with loud cries, forcing them to swing back and forth across the chasm they were dangling over. Each time they gained more momentum, pushing them closer and closer to the cliff-face where their fingertips were able to brush up against stones and vines. Roxas seemed to find their situation hilarious and appropriately played circus-style music inside Sora's head as the pair of cages swung back and forth.
Will you cut it out? Sora shouted inside his head as he finally managed to grab hold of a vine.
Alright. Killjoy.
"Put your legs through!"Gibbs shouted. "Start to climb!"
"Come on, men!" Will called out. "It'll take all of us to crew the Black Pearl!"
"Actually, you wouldn't need everyone," a man wearing a turban in the other cage shouted back. "About six would do." The two cages halted in their ascent as the occupants of each glanced at one another. Sora did a quick head count. There were six in their cage, and six in the other. Off in the distance, the drums stopped beating, a silence that didn't go unnoticed by the twelve prisoners. "Oh, dear." Will glanced down at Gibbs, who nodded nervously.
"Hurry!" Will shouted. Both cages began moving up the cliff-face once again, this time with a renewed sense of urgency and panic. They climbed for several minutes as Marty, cheered them on. About halfway up, Sora and Naminé both released their vines and floated up to the top of the cage, helping to make the climbing a little easier on the others.
"Stop!" Will hissed suddenly. Sora and Naminé did as they were told and floated down away from the top of the cage. Everyone else paused and followed his worried gaze to watch as a lone cannibal crossed a narrow, wooden bridge that spanned the chasm. The man with the turban in the other cage gestured to his fellows and they resumed their climb as silently as possible.
"Stop!" Sora hissed. The other men just laughed silently until the man with the turban grabbed hold of a snake instead of a vine. Panic broke loose in the cage and the men lost their grip on the vines. The cannibal heard their cries and turned to watch as the sudden drop proved to be too much for the ropes suspending the cage. With a snap, the men plummeted into the depths of the chasm, vanishing into a thick fog below. The cannibal's eyes traveled from where the men had vanished up to where the remaining cage was still being held to the cliff-face by its occupants.
"Move!" Will shouted.
"Give it all you've got!" Sora shouted as he and Naminé slammed their backs against the top of the cage. Two agonizingly long minutes of climbing later, they pulled themselves up onto the cliff-top.
"Cut it loose!" Will ordered. "Find a rock!"
"No need!" Sora said. With a flash of light, the Oblivion appeared in his hand. He stuck his arm out of the cage and effortlessly sliced through the rope. They all looked around as shouts and battle cries reached their ears. What seemed to be all of the Pelegostos tribe was hot on their trail as they ran towards the cage from across the bridge. "Roll the cage!" They all threw their weight against the side of the cage furthest from the cannibals and promptly sent it rolling down the steep slope of the mountain.
Almost immediately, Sora regretted the idea of rolling the cage. All he could hear was the rushing of wind, the sickening crunch as some of the bones fractured in the cage and the terrified screams of his companions. They rolled for several long minutes, over uneven terrain, bouncing off of trees and even rolling off of a small cliff only to land on the other side. Their ride came to an abrupt halt as the cage rolled up the side of a curved coconut tree before crashing back down to a flat surface, surprisingly still intact. Sora sat straight up feeling slightly nauseous and more than a little bit dizzy.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Naminé said in a queasy voice as she held a hand over her mouth. She gave a small squeak of fright as an arrow flew right in front of her, miraculously missing everyone. They all turned to look behind them. Somehow, the Pelegostos had managed to keep pace with the cage as it had rolled down the mountain side.
"Lift the cage!" Will shouted.
"Come on, lads!" Gibbs cried out urgently. "Lift it like a lady's skirt!" Naminé cleared her throat loudly and glared at Gibbs. He raised his eyebrows at her and she gestured at the off white skirt she was wearing. The others quickly scrambled to their feet and lifted the cage so it was up around waist level on most of them, except for Marty, whose legs were a few inches too short to reach the ground.
"Naminé, worry about it later!" Sora shouted. "Just run!" They ran as quickly as they could while still hoisting the bone cage around them. Unfortunately, their lack of mobility worked in favor for the Pelegostos, who quickly gained ground on them, still hollering and shouting in their native speak. Every time Sora glanced behind him, their pursuers only seemed that much closer.
Without warning, the ground vanished from beneath their feet and the six escapees plummeted down a small ravine into a lightly flowing river. The cage finally snapped, splitting into two shells of bone. Sora and Will heaved one of the shells off of them as the Pelegostos began to line up on the ridge above them, carefully aiming spears and arrows.
"Reflega!" Sora shouted. A domed honeycomb barrier of light formed over himself and his companions as the cannibals wooden projectiles rained down on them.
"This way, lads!" Gibbs shouted gesturing for them to follow him to a rocky outcropping that provided cover. The Pelegostos suddenly appeared on the ridge directly opposite of them, effectively rendering their cover pointless. Sora raised his hands, prepared to cast another Reflect spell if necessary.
"Malietoto!" A young boy shouted. Malietoto!" The Pelegostos lowered their weapons and vanished from sight. The six of them waited for several moments to see if the cannibals were going to pop out and surprise them before starting to swim down river where it led straight to the beach. The instant they all were out of the river and on the damp sandy beach, they broke into a flat out sprint for where the Black Pearl was moored in the distance. From what Sora could tell as they ran closer and closer to it, the Pearl was already halfway in the water as the tide came in with a balding man on the beach holding tightly to one of the lines.
"Haul loose the mooring line!" Pintel shouted as a wave washed up and nearly dragged him out into the sea. "The mooring line!"
"He's got me eye!" Ragetti shouted, peering over the railing a Pintel as he pointed angrily at Jack the monkey. "He won't give it back!"
"Well, how'd you get it back last time?" Pintel shouted as the recently freed captives ran up to them.
"Excellent," Gibbs said excitedly, clapping Pintel on the shoulder as he ran past, "Our work's half done!"
"We done it for you, knowin' you'd be commin' back for it!" Pintel said, clearly trying to suck up to Gibbs.
"Make ready to sail, boys!" Gibbs shouted. He paused, catching Naminé's raised eyebrow. "And lady."
"What about Jack?" Will asked in a demanding tone. He and Sora shared a brief glance. "We won't leave without him."
"Oi!"
Everyone turned to look as none other than Jack Sparrow himself ran out of the jungle and towards the Pearl.
"There he is," Sora said. "Problem solved." His grin faded as the entirety of the Pelegostos village emerged from the trees closely behind Jack.
"Time to go," Will said, turning back to the ship.
"Cast off those lines!" Gibbs shouted in a panicked tone. By some miracle, Jack managed to outrun the Pelegostos as the Pearl moved too far into the sea for them to follow. He paused halfway up a climbing net on the Pearl's side to look back at the cannibals as they stood on the shoreline.
"Alas, my children," he called out to them. "This is the day that you shall always remember as the day you almost-" His words were cut off as a large wave washed over, soaking him even more than he already was before he finished in a slightly dejected tone "Captain Jack Sparrow." He shook his head and proceeded to climb the rest of the way up. Pintel and Ragetti, both obviously wanting to be in Jack's good graces, ran up to the thoroughly soaked captain and draped his coat over his shoulders. Gibbs, Sora and Naminé strode up to Jack.
"Zola!" Jack exclaimed, quickly shaking Sora's hand. "Good to see you again." He glanced at Naminé. "You are most certainly not Donald nor Goofy. Who are you?"
"Naminé," the blonde responded. "Sora's friend." Jack nodded in understanding and turned his attention to Gibbs.
"Ah, I see then," Jack said. "Well a friend of Soka's is a friend of mine."
"Are you ever going to get my name right?" Sora asked in slight exasperation. Jack considered it for a moment.
"Maybe someday, but it is quite a hard name to remember, you see," he replied.
"It's only two syllables!" Sora groaned. "How hard could it be?" Gibbs cleared his throat loudly, drawing Jack and Sora out of what was sure to be a confusing round of banter.
"Let's put some distance between us and this island and head out to open sea," Gibbs suggested.
"Yes to the first. Yes to the second, but only insofar as we keep to the shallows as much as possible," Jack said.
"That seems a bit contradictory, Captain," Gibbs pointed out.
"I have every faith in your reconciliatory navigational skills, Master Gibbs," Jack said in an irritated tone. "Now, where is that monkey? I want to shoot something." With a screech, Jack the monkey dropped Ragetti's wooden eye to the deck from his perch in the Pearl's rigging. Pintel handed his pistol off to Jack as the captain prepared to shoot said primate before Will strode up and took the captain's attention once more.
"Jack. Elizabeth is in danger," the blacksmith said.
"Have you considered keeping a more watchful eye on her; maybe just lock her up somewhere?" Jack asked as he strode towards the helm.
"She is locked up, in a prison along with Sora's girlfriend," Will said angrily, "bound to hang for helping you."
"There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes," Jack said plainly. Will glanced at Sora and the teen summoned the Oblivion, placing it by Jack's throat.
"So, helping you defeat Barbossa, get the Pearl back, and freeing you from the Grim Reaper's curse was a mistake?" Sora asked. "Funny, I thought you were grateful." Jack glanced warily down at the Keyblade.
"We need that compass of yours, Jack," Will said. "We must trade it for their freedom." Jack stared thoughtfully at Will for a few moments before shoving the Oblivion's tip away from him as Naminé spun Sora around to give him a mixed look of shock and anger.
"Kairi's in jail?" She whispered angrily. "And you just left her there?"
"Kairi can handle herself," Sora pointed out. "Will and I had to find Jack. I only left Kairi behind so she could protect Elizabeth from the Heartless and Nobodies should they show up."
"If anything happens to her because you left her behind," Naminé said in a threatening tone, leaving her sentence unfinished as she turned away from him to watch as Jack strode to stand behind Gibbs.
Have you noticed that Naminé's attitude has changed a lot since she became her own person?
Yeah. It probably has something to do with having her own heart.
Guess that means you'll change once you get your own heart too, huh?
I guess so.
"Mister Gibbs," Jack said.
"Captain," Gibbs replied from his place behind the wheel.
"We have a need to travel upriver," Jack said in a hushed tone. Gibbs eyes widened nervously.
"By need, do you mean a trifling need?" Gibbs asked, his voice shaking slightly. "Fleeting? As in, say, a passing fancy?"
"No," Jack said in a firm tone. "A resolute and unyielding need."
"What we need to do is make sail for Port Royal with all haste," Will said irritably.
"William, Sora, I shall trade you the compass if you will help me to find this," Jack said. He reached into his waistcoat and produced a tattered, aged piece of cloth and unfolded it. Sora, Will and Naminé all stepped closer to Jack to see that there was a drawing a key on it.
"Still don't have a way to wield one of these?" Sora said with a smirk, brandishing the Oblivion in Jack's face. The pirate captain shook his head.
"You want us to find this?" Will asked.
"No," Jack said with a sly grin. "You want you to find this… because the finding of this finds you incapacitorially finding and/or locating in your discovering the detecting of a way to save your dolly belle, ol' what's-her-face. Savvy?" Will and Sora both gave Jack confused looks before Will snatched the cloth from Jack's hand.
"This is going to save Elizabeth and Kairi?" He asked. Jack glanced down at the cloth.
"How much do you know about Davy Jones?" He asked in a quiet voice. Will glanced at Sora and Naminé, both of whom shrugged.
"Not much," he replied.
"Yeah, it's going to save Elizabeth and Cali," Jack said, turning his attention once more to the open sea.
"Her name's Kairi," Sora and Naminé said in unison.
"Nuance," Jack replied. Sora and Naminé both let out exasperated sighs.
LD
The Frozen Fields
Outside of the Forge's Main Entrance
"Damn it all," a woman in a black cloak growled as she kicked the massive, steel double doors set into the side of a steep cliff face that were supposed to lead directly into the grand entrance hall of the Forge. "Why won't you open?" She glanced behind her to where her black cloaked Apprentice held the body of the silver-haired teen they had found in the Valley of Fallen Keys. Tendrils of green light flowed from her hands as she did her best to prevent the boy's blood loss. His wounds were too severe to risk a speedy attempt at healing him with a Curagun out in the elements. What was worse, the Frozen Fields had unleashed a terrible blizzard on them before they were even halfway to the Forge so they had been forced to wait for three days while they waited for the terrible weather to die down enough for them to reach their destination, and now they were locked out.
"Master, I can't keep this up much longer," the Apprentice said as the green light faded. "We're out of elixirs and I don't have the energy for even a basic Cure spell at this point." The older woman let out a groan. They needed inside, now.
"Take shelter behind those boulders over there," the Master ordered. The Apprentice nodded and carried the boy's body with her so they were crouched behind the stone. The Master faced the iron doors. Bright purple orbs of energy formed in her hands as she raised them, aiming her palms at the doors. Back before the War, her brother had always told her 'When a door is being stubborn and won't open, you beat it into submission and force it to.'
LD
Alliance Fallback Headquarters
"What is the name of the metal used by Chasers to forge Keyblades?" Xanthos said into a microphone. He was sitting inside the control booth to the massive simulation chamber while occasionally making small adjustments to the difficulty of the simulated obstacle course he was putting Olette through. The brunette ducked under a large rotating blade as it threatened to slice her in two.
"Lightsteel!" Olette shouted in response. She rolled to the side as a section of the course fell away into a pit filled with a sickly purple acid.
"Very good," Xanthos said. He pressed a button on the control panel in front of him and a series of ruby-red, crisscrossing beams of energy flared to life in front of Olette. The girl gave a frustrated sigh and weaved her way swiftly through the beams. "Where was the first Keyblade forged?"
"The Temple of Balance!" Olette practically screamed. A large section of the ceiling collapsed, nearly crushing her underneath a large section of stone and steel.
"Correct," Xanthos said in a nonchalant tone as he examined his fingernails. He pressed another button, triggering the next obstacle for Olette. "One more question and we're done for this morning." Olette breathed a sigh of relief that was short lived as lava began to cascade into the small room she had just stepped into. "What is the mantra of the Chasers?" The teen grinned.
"Out of the Darkness, these Blades will light our way," Olette replied happily. The brunette jumped high into the air, clutching onto a dangling chain that provided her sanctuary from the molten rock. Xanthos grinned. His Apprentice had already exceeded his expectations. Not only had she answered all three hundred of his questions perfectly, she had done so all while avoiding the countless traps and obstacles he had spent the past two days programming into the simulator. Olette didn't even have a scratch on her.
"Good job," Xanthos said proudly. "Go rest up for this afternoon. I'm going to have you focusing on Thunder magic today." Xanthos flicked a switch to power down the simulation and rose to his feet with a groan. The control booth shuddered around him as a concussive blast echoed throughout the complex. Xanthos steadied himself against a large piece of computing equipment, his silver eyes locked on the ceiling.
"What the hell was that?"
LD
Alliance Fallback Headquarters
Entrance Hall
Axel had the misfortune of not only being in the entrance hall as the massive double doors were blown open, but also of walking right next to them as they did so. The former Nobody let out a groan as he pulled himself out of a small pile of shattered stone from the wall he had been slammed into and wiped away some of the blood dripping from a gash above his eye.
"Ever heard of knocking?" He grumbled. He straightened up and did his best to ignore the searing pain in his back as he stared at the snow covered fields on the outside.
"Like every civilized human being? Yes, I have," a female in a black cloak said. "However, since the last people I knew who lived here died in a war almost five-thousand years ago and since no one answered when I knocked, I forced my way in."
"By blowing the doors off of their hinges?" Axel grumbled. The woman in the black cloak glanced at the doors.
"They're still on their hinges," she pointed out. Axel raised an eyebrow at her and pointed at the trio of massive dents on each door. "Just a little worse for wear. Look, I don't have time to be standing around arguing with you about the conditions of the doors." She gestured for another black cloaked woman to follow her and she stepped quickly into the building. Axel glanced at the other woman and the object in her arms. He did a double-take as he realized that the object in question was a bloodied and broken Riku.
"We need to get him to the medical center," the first woman explained. "He's barely hanging on by a thread and if we don't hurry we might not have the chance to save him. If you don't let us in, he won't make it." Axel nodded in understanding.
"You're timing couldn't be better," he said. "Follow me. We just finished bringing the med ward online."
They traveled quickly through the maze of corridors that formed the Alliance Fallback Headquarters as it led them deeper and deeper into the mountain. It took them several agonizingly long minutes of practically sprinting before they reached a pair of sliding glass doors that led into a large room lined with twenty or so hospital-grade beds. The women quickly placed Riku's body on the nearest bed and began to work on him
"We're going to need you to step back," the shorter of the two women said as she pushed Axel away from Riku's bed. "You can wait right here." She spun on her heel and rushed back to stand on the opposite side of the bed as her master. Tendrils of green and silver light flowed from the taller woman's gloved palms into Riku's battered and broken body. The taller woman gestured for her apprentice to join her. The shorter woman complied, raising her hands so her fingertips were level with her Master's.
"Revoco, amicus," the women said in unison as an emerald green circle of light surrounded them and the bed. "Sic vos can ago vestri vita ut suus plenus. Orior oriri ortus, frater. Ut una nos can debello Atrum copiae copie ut loco vos huic civitas." They endlessly repeated the chant for fifteen minutes straight as Riku's bones slowly slid back into his skin and began to set themselves properly with sickening cracks. Axel couldn't help but wince with each crack. Suddenly, the green and silver lights to bright red, forcing Axel to shield his eyes from its intensity.
"Son of bitch!" The shorter of the two women swore as Riku's body began to convulse violently. The taller of the two quickly produced a bag from within her cloak, rifling through it until she produced a large red blanket comprised of hundreds of red and gold feathers woven together.
"What's happening?" Axel asked as the two women draped the blanket across Riku's body. The feathers all began to glow a brilliant red as its outer edges slowly began to vanish.
"His body's rejecting the Restoration," the taller one growled in frustration. "We're losing him!"
LD
Deep within an Island Swamp
Somewhere in the Caribbean
"Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?" Will whispered to Gibbs. Upon arriving at an island not far from where the Pelegostos island rested, Jack had ordered the crew into the longboats and so, they had slowly sailed, upriver. Naminé, having recently discovered that she easily succumbed to seasickness, had volunteered to stay behind and guard the Pearl. Jack had been hesitant at first, but quickly agreed after Naminé showed him the Rejection of Fate.
"Well, if you believe such things, there's a beast does the bidding of Davy Jones," Gibbs explained. "A fearsome creature with giant tentacles that'll suction your face clean off and drag an entire ship down to the crushing darkness. The kraken." Sora, Pintel and Ragetti all swallowed hard. "They say the stench of its breath is like…" He shuddered violently. "Imagine, the last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the kraken and the reeking odor of a thousand rotting corpses. If you believe such things."
"And the key will spare him that?" Will asked, clearly not believing a word of it. Gibbs shrugged.
"Well, that's the very question Jack wants answered," he said. "Bad enough even to go visit… her."
"Her?' Sora asked. Gibbs nodded nervously.
"Aye."
They continued to sail deeper into the bayou until the sun had set beyond the tree covered horizon and they finally came to a shack built above the water and supported by several trees.
"No worries, mates," Jack said as the crewed lashed the boats to a small dock. "Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable, we are. Were. Have been. Before."
"I'll watch your back," Gibbs assured him.
"It's me front I'm worried about," Jack said.
"Mind the boat," Gibbs said to Will.
"Mind the boat," Will said to Sora.
"Mind the boat," Sora said to Ragetti.
"Mind the boat," Ragetti said to Pintel.
"Mind the boat," Pintel said to Marty.
"Mind the boat," Marty said to Cotton.
"Rawk! Mind the boat," Cotton's parrot said to Cotton before flying off and following the others into the shack. With a defeated and dejected expression, Cotton settled back into his seat. Sora gaped as he stepped into Tia Dalma's shack. Numerous glass bottles hung from the ceiling, each filled with an odd variety of body parts and strange liquids. Tia Dalma herself, a woman with frizzed dreadlocks, chocolate colored skin, and black dots tattooed under her eyes and lips smiled up at them from a pile of crab claws with grime covered teeth. Numerous beads and bangles hung from her neck and her dress seemed to be worn out as if she wore it on a regular basis.
"Jack Sparrow," she said in a heavily accented voice.
"Tia Dalma," Jack said in a tone of forced eagerness.
"I always knew the wind was going to blow you back to me one day," Tia Dalma said as she approached Jack. She paused with a small gasp as she caught sight of Will. "You." Will looked around. Tia Dalma stepped past Jack and slowly drew nearer to Will. "You have a touch of destiny about you, William Turner." Will gave her a confused look.
"You know me?" He asked. Tia Dalma smiled.
"You want to know me?" She said slyly. Jack quickly stepped between the two of them.
"There'll be no knowing here," he said forcibly. "We've come for help and we're not leaving without it." He led her back to her table before adding in a hushed tone, "I thought I knew you."
"Not so well as I had hoped," Tia Dalma said. "Come."
"Come," Jack repeated awkwardly, gesturing for the others to follow him and Tia Dalma back to the table.
"What service may I do you?" The woman inquired. "You know I demand payment."
"I brought payment," Jack said. Pintel stepped forward, carrying a cage containing Jack the monkey. Jack Sparrow drew his pistol and pointed it at the caged primate. "Look." he said, shooting the monkey at point-blank range. "And undead monkey. Top that." Tia Dalma examined the monkey for a moment before releasing it from the cage.
"Don't!" Sora exclaimed as the monkey retreated into another room in the shack.
"You've no idea how long it took us to catch that," Gibbs said with a sigh.
"The payment is fair," Tia Dalma said.
"We're looking for this," Will said, as he laid the cloth with the key image on the table. Tia Dalma stared at the key, a look of recognition in her eyes. "And what it goes to." Tia Dalma looked up at Jack.
"The compass you bartered from me, it cannot lead you to this?" She asked. Jack looked up from a wide brimmed, black hat with a large feather in it that he was examining.
"Maybe," he admitted reluctantly. "Why?"
"Ah, Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants," Tia Dalma said with a grin. "Or, do you know, but are loath to claim it as your own? Your key go to a chest. And it is what lay inside the chest you seek, don't it?"
"What is inside?" Gibbs asked eagerly.
"Gold?" Sora suggested.
"Jewels?" Pintel asked eagerly. "Unclaimed properties of a valuable nature?"
"Nothing bad, I hope," Ragetti said nervously as he looked away from a jar of human eyes.
"You know of Davy Jones, yes?" Tia Dalma asked. "A man of the sea. A great sailor, until he run afoul of that which vex all men."
"What vexes all men?" Will asked, earning him a chuckle from Tia Dalma.
"What indeed?" She said with a smirk as she ran her fingers across Will's hand.
"The sea?" Gibbs asked.
"Sums," Pintel suggested.
"Why Maleficent just won't stay dead?" Sora muttered under his breath.
"The dichotomy of good and evil," Ragetti stated. Sora, Gibbs and Pintel all gave him quizzical looks.
"A woman," Jack explained.
Makes sense. Roxas pointed out.
"A woman," Tia Dalma repeated. "He fell in love."
"No, no, no, no," Gibbs said. "I heard it was the sea he fell in love with."
"Same story, different versions and all are true," Tia Dalma said with a wave of her hand. "See, it was a woman as changing and harsh and untamable as the sea. Him never stopped loving her. But the pain it cause him was too much to live with but not enough to cause him to die."
"What exactly did he put into the chest?" Sora asked eagerly.
"Him heart," Tia Dalma said.
"Literally or figuratively?" Ragetti asked.
"He couldn't literally put his heart in a chest," Pintel pointed out. He paused, feeling Tia Dalma's eyes on him. "Could he?"
"It was not worth feeling what small, fleeting joy life brings," she explained. "And so, him carve out him heart, lock it away in a chest and hide the chest from the world. The key, he keep with him at all times."
"Couldn't we just unlock the chest with this?" Sora asked, summoning the Oblivion to his hand. Tia Dalma stared gravely at him.
"There are some locks, that even the all-powerful Keyblade cannot unlock, Sora Arashi," she said solemnly. "The Chasers what made the Keys were powerful, but not that powerful." The Oblivion vanished from Sora's hand. He wasn't sure why, but just the knowledge that the Keyblade wasn't able to undo all locks made him feel less significant. Will rose to his feet and turned to face Jack.
"You knew this," he breathed in an accusatory tone.
"I did not," Jack said plainly. "I didn't know where the key was or that Sora's blade wouldn't suffice. But now we do. All that's left is to climb aboard the Flying Dutchman, grab the key, you and Sora go back to Port Royal and save your bonnie lasses." He snapped his fingers and turned to leave. Tia Dalma rose to her feet.
"Let me see your hand," she ordered, stopping Jack in his tracks. Jack turned and gave her his left hand which was wrapped in a faded white cloth. Tia Dalma undid the wrappings and let them fall to the ground. Gibbs gave a gasp as he saw the black protrusion on Jack's palm.
"The Black Spot!" He exclaimed fearfully. He wiped his hands on his vest three times, spun around in a circle and spat at his feet.
"The Black Spot!" Sora, Pintel and Ragetti all repeated, mimicking Gibbs's actions.
"My eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know," Jack pointed out.
"I have just the thing," Tia Dalma said as she quickly went into the other room and began rifling through whatever she had stored in there. "Now where did I put it? My little beauty where are you? Such a long time in such a mess." She finally emerged after a few moments, carrying a jar of dirt. "Davy Jones cannot make port. Cannot step on land but once every ten years. Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow, and so you will carry land with you." She gave the jar to Jack who stared at it.
"Dirt," he said. "This is a jar of dirt."
"Yes."
"Is the jar of dirt going to help?"
"If you don't want it, give it back," Tia Dalma said. Jack clutched tightly to the jar of dirt.
"No," he said, carefully watching her.
"Then it helps."
It seems we have a need to find the Flying Dutchman," Sora pointed out. Tia Dalma smiled at him and retook her seat. She scooped up the crab claws and scattered them on the table again.
"A touch of destiny."
LD
Fort Charles Prison,
Port Royal
Elizabeth and Kairi looked up from their seats on the stone bench in their cell as a guard unlocked the door. Governor Swann, dressed in a travelling cloak, emerged from the shadows.
"Come quickly," he ordered. Ignoring the protests of their male neighbors, Kairi and Elizabeth did as they were told and followed Governor Swann from the cell.
"You've got to tell us what's happening," Elizabeth whispered in a hushed tone, determined not to disturb any guards or sleeping prisoners.
" Our name still has some standing with the King," Governor Swann explained. "I've arranged passage to England. The captain is a friend of mine." Kairi and Elizabeth both stopped in unison, shocked at what they were hearing.
"No!" Kairi said defiantly.
"Will and Sora have gone to find Jack!" Elizabeth reminded her father.
"We cannot count on William or Sora," he said in a hurried tone of voice as he grabbed the pair of them by their upper arms. "Come!"
"They're better than you give them credit for," Elizabeth hissed.
"Oh, please. This is no time for innocence," he said as he led them to where a horse drawn coach waited for them. "Beckett has offered one pardon only. One. And that is promised to Jack Sparrow. Even if they succeed, do not ask me to endure the sight of my daughter walking to the gallows. Do not. "Perhaps I can ensure a fair trial for them if they return." Kairi and Elizabeth climbed into the coach.
"A fair trial for them ends in a hanging," Elizabeth pointed out.
"Then there is nothing left for you here," Governor Swann said gravely before slamming the door shut. The trip to the docks was short and uneventful, something Governor Swann was grateful for. As an added bonus, there wasn't even a trace of the East India Trading Company's soldiers anywhere. The captain stood on a dock with his back to the Governor Swann, who ordered Kairi and Elizabeth to wait inside the coach as he went to greet his old friend.
"Captain?" He called out. The captain's body shifted as Ian Mercer stepped into view, quickly removing his bloodstained dagger from the captain's chest and allowing the body to fall to the ground. Governor Swann watched in shock.
"Evening, Governor," Mercer said in a cheerful tone as he wiped the blood from his dagger off on a cloth. "Shame, that. He was carrying this." He held up a letter in one gloved hand. "It's a letter to the King. It's from you." Behind the Governor, a squadron of rifle bearing soldiers surrounded the coach.
"No," Governor Swann whispered. He spun on his heel and rushed back to the coach, stopped only by a soldier's cutlass. "Elizabeth. What are you doing?" Mercer strode past him and flung open the coach's door. It was empty.
LD
Darkness. Endless Darkness.
Riku's eyes slowly opened. Surrounding him on all sides was an endless darkness, broken only by a thick amount of gray fog that rested on the invisible ground. With a groan he sat upright.
Where was he? How did he get here?
Then he remembered the blinding pain of his body breaking as he hit the ground. He remembered feeling his bones shatter and tear through his skin. He glanced down at himself. To his surprise, he was clothed in a simple white cloak. Briefly wondering when his clothes had changed, or who might have changed them, Riku lifted the hem of the cloak up high enough to examine his side where Keila had slashed him with the crystal shard.
There was no wound, only a jagged red scar in its place. Confused, Riku rose to his feet and stretched. To his surprise, he didn't feel any soreness from the injuries he knew he should still have. He glanced around at his surroundings again.
"What is this place?" He asked aloud. His voice echoed loudly, almost as if he were standing in a cave. To his surprise, a female voice replied.
"Not what, but where." The fog parted, creating a narrow path that revealed a crumbling, raised stone dais covered in pale green vines. The vines from all sides of the dais met in the center and twisted around one another until they formed a twisted stem that towered seven feet in the air. On the tip of the stem grew a single, golden flower with closed petals that seemed to glow from within.
A woman emerged from the fog behind the flower. She was dressed in a form hugging, golden dress that ended just above her ankles. Her blonde hair fell in curls around her shoulders and down her back. Her alabaster skin seemed to shine with a light of its own and her golden eyes held Riku's gaze. She seemed to glide smoothly across the ground as she approached the dais.
"Who are you?" Riku asked, his eyes never leaving the woman's gaze as she climbed the short stone staircase that led to the top of the dais.
"I have been called many things," she said, her voice ringing like a thousand chiming bells. "Sister. Daughter. Mother. Master. Princess. Queen. Empress. Angel. Goddess. But you can call me Hope."
"Hope," Riku repeated softly. He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt at ease. "Where am I?"
"Here and there," Hope said in a sing-song voice as she cupped the flower gently in one hand. "There and here. Everywhere and nowhere. I between"
"I don't understand," Riku said in confusion. "Am I dead?"
"I don't know. Are you?" Hope asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Riku glanced down at his body. "If you were dead, then Death would be greeting you now instead of me. Then again, that can always change. He does like to make a habit of being unpredictable. He always tells me about how 'it keeps things interesting'." She turned to face him. "I know everything about you Lord of the Dawn. Yes, everything. The only reason I'm allowing you to meet me here is because I've realized that without a tiny bit of intervention, you would never unlock your full power and therefore would eventually be consumed by Darkness."
"What are you-" Riku began but was cut off as Hope suddenly disappeared from the dais only to reappear less than a foot from him. She bent down and planted a kiss in the exact center of Riku's forehead. An aura of golden light surrounded Riku for a moment before fading.
"I'll ask you again, are you dead?" Hope said as she turned away from him to head back to the dais.
"I don't feel dead."
"Then don't you think you should be waking up?"
LD
The Private Office of Lord Cutler Beckett,
Port Royal
Lord Cutler Beckett strode into his office, reading a letter by the light of the lantern in his hand as he did so. As he passed by his deck, he noticed the corner of a document sticking out of the box where he had kept the Letters of Marque. With a sigh, he closed the lid and placed his letter down on his desk. Listening carefully, he could barely make out the sounds of two other people drawing breath in the room, concealed by the shadows of night.
"No doubt you've discovered that loyalty is no longer the currency of the realm, as your father believes," he said aloud. Elizabeth emerged from her hiding place by the door, keeping her hands hidden behind her back as she made herself visible.
"I'm afraid currency is the currency of the realm," Beckett replied as he turned to face her.
"I expect, then, that we can come to some sort of understanding," Elizabeth said as the two of them approached one another. "I'm here to negotiate."
"I'm listening," Beckett said with a smile. A bright flash of light lit up the room as Kairi stepped out from behind Beckett, summoning Destiny's Embrace and pressing it to Beckett's throat as she did so. "I'm listening intently." Elizabeth revealed the leather-bound Letters of Marque and held them to her chest.
"These Letters of Marque, they are signed by the king?" She asked.
"Yes," Beckett answered with a smirk. "And they're not valid until they bear my signature and my seal."
"Or else we would not still be here," Kairi pointed out.
"You sent Will and Sora to get you the compass owned by Jack Sparrow," Elizabeth said. "It will do you no good."
"Do explain," Beckett said.
"I have been to the Isla de Muerta," Elizabeth said. "I have seen the treasure myself. There is something you need to know."
"Ah, I see," Beckett said. "You think the compass leads only to the Isla de Muerta and so you hope to save me from an evil fate. But you mustn't worry." He stepped away from Kairi and Elizabeth, taking care to not cut himself on Kairi's blade as he did so, and strode to the map of the globe being painted on his wall. "I care not for cursed Aztec gold. My desires are not so provincial."
"Well I should hope so," Kairi said. "Cause that chest is at the bottom of the ocean now and you don't look like you're part fish, so I doubt you could get to it." Beckett turned and raised an eyebrow at her.
"There's more than one chest of value in these waters," he pointed out. "So perhaps you may wish to enhance your offer." Elizabeth cocked a pistol and shoved it under Beckett's jaw as she led him to his desk.
"Consider into your calculations that you robbed me of my wedding night," she said threateningly as she shoved the Letters of Marque into Beckett's shoulder.
"So I did," he said as he signed the Letters and added his seal. "A marriage interrupted, or fate intervenes? You're making great efforts to ensure Jack Sparrow's freedom."
"These aren't going to Jack," Elizabeth said. She tried to take the Letters from Beckett, but for a moment he didn't let go.
"Oh, really? To ensure Mister Turner's freedom, then?" He asked. "I'll still want that compass. Consider that in your calculations." He released the Letters and without another word, Elizabeth and Kairi slipped out of Beckett's office, their weapons never once leaving him. After they had gone, Beckett turned and sat down in a nearby chair.
"Our offer still stands, you know," a voice said from the shadows. Dressed in his usual outfit consisting of a black overcoat, white gloves, sunglasses and a tall, top hat, Charden Flamberg stepped into Beckett's office. "Just say the word and the Heartless are yours to command. All you have to do is agree to an alliance with Maleficent and the Apostles of the Star." Beckett glanced over at him with a smirk.
"Perhaps, you're right," he said. "After all, I can't really place my faith in my enemies, can I?"
LD
Coral Reef, Somewhere in the Caribbean
Thunder rolled in sky, lightning flashed, the wind howled and rain poured onto the Black Pearl as the crew stared out at the wreckage of a ship that had split in two and rested on the visible portion of the rocky reef.
"That's the Flying Dutchman?" Will asked in disbelief. Gibbs nodded his head fearfully as Sora wiped water from his face. Naminé leaned over the railing and dry heaved, her seasickness getting the better of her. Will shrugged. "She doesn't look like much."
"Neither do you. Do not underestimate her," Jack said knowingly. He elbowed Gibbs in the gut.
"Must've run afoul of the reef," Gibbs replied instantly, breaking his fear-induced silence.
"So, what's your plan then?" Jack asked Sora and Will.
"We row over and search the ship until we find your bloody key," Will said.
"And if there are crewmen?" Jack asked.
"We cut down anyone in our path," Will said grimly before turning away.
"I like it," Jack said. "Simple, easy to remember." He turned to follow Will.
"Naminé, why don't you go wait below deck?" Sora suggested, patting the blondes back. "You look terrible."
"I really don't like sailing," Naminé said in a sickly tone. "Flying, yes. Sailing, no."
"Then go lie down," Sora said as he guided her away from the rails and towards the stairs leading below deck. "I'll be back before you know it." Naminé nodded in agreement and gave Sora a thankful hug before heading down below deck. Once she was out of sight, Sora followed Will down a ladder built into the side of the Pearl that led down to a longboat.
"Your chariot awaits you, sires!" Ragetti called out with a laugh as Will and Sora got themselves situated.
"Oi!" Jack called down to them. "If you do happen to get captured, just say Jack Sparrow sent you to settle his debt. It might save your life."
"Bon voyage!" Ragetti shouted with a laugh as Sora and Will rowed away from the Pearl and towards the wreckage. When they were nearly out of sight, Jack turned to Gibbs.
"Douse the lamps."
One by one, the Pearl's lamps were extinguished, and the ship seemed to vanish into the storm. Several minutes later, Sora and Will stepped onto the ship. They explored for a few minutes finding only wreckage and bloodied bodies. There were hardly any survivors. One man, covered in his blood and the blood of others pulled endlessly on a rope, muttering about his captain's orders to hoist the jib. He snapped at Will and Sora when they tried to tell him that the ship had run aground.
"No," he said with a look of pure terror. "Beneath us. Foul breath." A body fell from the remains of the main mast and the man tried to climb onto the deck. Will and Sora ran to the man's aid and turned him over so he could have some air, both almost regretting doing so. His face looked as if it had been suctioned clean off. The pair of them let out cries of shock and stumbled back as a ship emerged from beneath the waves nearby. From bow to stern, it was covered in what appeared to be driftwood and the bones of sea creatures. Water poured from its decks and cannon ports as it sailed up alongside the wrecked ship. The real Flying Dutchman had arrived.
All over the wreckage, men who looked to be a mix of man and fish, as well as men who were more sea-life than men emerged from the wood, searching the ship for survivors and laughing at the terrified noises some of them made. One fish-man, who was covered in barnacles and creatures that thrived on the seabed approached Sora.
"Down on your marrowbones and pray," he ordered. Sora raised his hand and sent a bolt of lightning into the fish-man's chest. The fish-man let out a cry of pain and stumbled back, fish and all other forms of sea-life pouring out of his wound instead of blood. Something heavy struck the back of Sora's head, and his world went black.
When he came to, he found that he, Will, and four survivors of the wreckage had all been lined up along a relatively level section of the deck. The fish-men stood guard, their weapons drawn. To his minor relief, the rain had stopped.
A muffled thump grabbed his attention. A man emerged from the sea. He was tall and carried himself proudly. His right leg was that of a crab's, and his left arm was a crab law. His overcoat was covered in barnacles as was his tricorne hat. His skin was slimy and leathery in appearance, like a squid's flesh. His beard made up of several tentacles of varying lengths.
"Six men still alive," a fish-man with the head of a hammerhead shark said to the newcomer. "The rest have moved on." The newcomer knelt in front of the survivor Sora and Will had found trying to still follow his captain's orders. He lit a pipe and stared the survivor in his eyes.
"Do you fear death?" Davy Jones asked. The survivor nodded. "Do you fear that dark abyss? All your deeds laid bare. All your sins punished. I can offer you an escape."
"Don't listen to him!" One of the other survivors said as he clutched his rosary tightly. Jones rose to his feet and grabbed the man who had spoken by the throat with his claw.
"Do you not fear death?" He asked the man as he took a drag on his pipe.
"I'll take my chances, sir," he said. Jones released him and glanced at one of his crewmen.
"To the depths," he ordered. The crewman nodded and sliced the survivor's throat with a dagger before throwing him into the surf.
"Cruel blackguard!" One of the other men said. Jones glared at him.
"Life is cruel. Why should the afterlife be any different?" He turned back to the man he had been speaking to originally. "I offer you a choice. Join my crew and postpone the judgment. One hundred years before the mast. Will ye serve?"
"I will serve," the survivor said eagerly. Jones grinned.
"There," he said. He straightened up and caught sight of Will and Sora.
"The two of you are neither dead nor dying," he said. "What is your purpose here?"
"Jack Sparrow sent us to settle his debt," Will offered as an explanation. Jones looked taken aback. Whatever he had been expecting, that wasn't it.
"What is your purpose here?" He repeated.
"Jack Sparrow," Sora repeated, "sent us to settle his debt."
"Did he, now?" Jones said with a smirk. "I'm sorely tempted to accept that offer.
Over on the Black Pearl, Jack watched through his spyglass as Davy Jones turned away from Sora and Will to look right at him. He lowered his spyglass and found himself face to face with Davy Jones, who stood on the deck of the Pearl less than three feet from Jack. Jones' crew emerged onto the deck and captured the Jack's crew before any of them could react.
"Oh," Jack said weakly as Jones glared at him.
"You have a debt to pay," he reminded Jack as he slowly advanced towards him. "You've been captain of the Black Pearl for thirteen years. That was our agreement."
"Technically, I was only captain for two years, then I viciously mutinied upon," Jack pointed out.
"Then you were a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless," Jones growled. "Have you not introduced yourself all these years as 'Captain Jack Sparrow'?" Jones' crew all laughed.
"You have my payment," Jack said, gesturing at the wrecked ship. "One soul to serve on your ship is already over there."
"One soul is not equal to another," Jones barked.
"Aha!" Jack exclaimed. "So we've established my proposal is sound in principle. Now we're just haggling over price." Jones gave him a quizzical look.
"Price?"
"Just how many souls do you think my soul is worth?" Jack asked. Jones pondered it for a moment.
"One hundred souls," he decided. "Three days."
"You're a diamond, mate," Jack said cheerfully as he turned to walk away. "Send me back the boys. I'll get started right off." The hammerhead fish-man quickly blocked Jack's path.
"I keep the boys," Jones declared. "A good-faith payment. That leaves you only ninety-eight more to go."
"Do you not know of Sora?" Jack inquired. "Young, courageous, overdeveloped sense of justice, wields a rather unique blade that is annoyingly picky about who can hold it? His must he worth at least five souls, even six." Jones stared blankly at Jack. "How about Will Turner? He's noble, heroic, a terrific soprano. Worth at least four. Maybe three and a half. And did I happen to mention, he's in love?" That seemed to catch Jones' attention and Jack knew it. "With a girl. Due to be married. Betrothed. Dividing him from her and her from him would only be half as cruel as allowing them to be joined in holy matrimony. Eh?" A sad expression ruled Jones' face for a moment. He seemed lost in a certain memory. He quickly snapped out of it.
"I keep the boys," he repeated. "Ninety-eight souls. But I wonder, Sparrow, can you live with this? Can you condemn innocent men, your friends, to a lifetime of servitude in your name while you roam free? Jack considered it for a moment.
"Yep," he said with a smile. "I'm good with it. Shall we seal it in blood, I mean… err, ink?" Jones grasped Jack's hand tightly.
"Three days," he reminded Jack as he wrenched their hands apart. As Jones and his crew vanished from the deck of the Pearl, Jack watched the Black Spot vanish from his hand.
"Uh, Mister Gibbs," Jack said oddly. "I feel sullied and unusual."
"And how do you intend to harvest these ninety-eight souls in three days?" Gibbs asked. Jack smirked slyly.
"Fortunately, he was mum as to the condition in which these souls need be," he pointed out.
"Ah, Tortuga," Gibbs realized. Jack wiped his slime covered hand off on Gibbs' waistcoat.
"Tortuga."
Below deck, Naminé heaved and nearly lost the remaining contents of her stomach as the ship rocked.
"And now I'm smelling fish," she grumbled. "I hate this world."
LD
RGLAC Hunter's Mark
En Route to Radiant Garden from Port Royal
"Are you positive?" A distorted voice said over the communicator clutched in Derrick's hand. He carefully peered around the corner that led into the bridge. Anderson was piloting them away from Port Royal now that the homing beacon had been placed on the Keyblade Wielders' ship. The rest of the mission was now in the hands of a team of Recovery Agents. Positive that neither Anderson nor Johnston was paying any attention to anything other than their conversation about some girl, Derrick turned his attention back to the communicator he clutched in his hand.
"I'm sure of it," he said. "There is no doubt in my mind that Canstella's figured out who she is." The man on the other end swore.
"And he's hired the Recovery force to retrieve her?" The man asked. Derrick nodded. "That's not good. That sort of thing usually doesn't go unnoticed. Canstella really doesn't want anyone to know he's found the Princess, does he?"
"Most likely not," Derrick said. "He's probably going to try to use her as a trump card in the elections next month. He's not dumb enough to risk the Anti-Monarchists putting a price on her head."
"You have to stop those Recovery agents, Derrick," the man said urgently. Derrick grinned and waved his standard-issue pistol in front of the communicator's view screen.
"Don't worry, Atticus," he said with a confident grin. "They won't see me coming." The man on the screen nodded and vanished, only to be replaced by a message reading Secure Connection Terminated. Derrick slid the communicator into the pouch on his belt and turned towards the bridge as he flicked the safety on his pistol off.
"Hey, Derrick," Johnston said as Derrick entered the bridge. "Anderson and I are both in agreement, that red-haired chick Canstella wants is pretty cute, huh? I wouldn't mind getting to-" Derrick never gave him a chance to finish his sentence. He raised his pistol and fired three shots into Johnston. Two rounds tore through his heart while the third snapped his head back as it went through his right eye. Dark red blood splattered against the walls and floor paneling.
"What the hell?" Anderson cried out as he scrambled out of the pilot's chair. "Derrick, what the hell's your problem?" Derrick stared coldly back at him.
"You talk too much," he said simply. Five shots rang out and Anderson fell to the floor, twitching as he drowned in a pool of his own blood. Derrick ejected the empty clip from his pistol and fed a fresh one in as he made his way to the pilot's chair, kicking Anderson's body as he passed. He quickly typed in the adjusted coordinates and braced himself as the Hunter's Mark spun around and began to head back towards Port Royal.
LD
Alliance Fallback Headquarters
Medical Ward
The two women in black cloaks both stumbled back from Riku's bedside as his body lit up with a golden light. His body stopped jerking and twitching and seemed to relax against the bed. As the light faded, the taller of the two women stepped forward.
"By the Nine," she whispered. "He's healed and completely stable!" She turned to her companion. "I've never seen anything like this before." She muttered softly. "Everything I've ever learned about the Healing arts tells me that wounds like his shouldn't just heal over like that, even when using two Ultimate Curagun spells and a Phoenix Down. At the very least there should be heavy scarring. This is… astounding."
"What are you talking about?" Axel asked. "Is he okay or not?"
"He's perfectly fine," the taller woman said. "I'm not sure how, but he is. However, it looks like he'll be comatose for a few days. The stress put on his body by those injuries must've been excruciating. How he even survived long enough to heal is beyond me." The three of them turned around as the door to the medical bay slid open.
"What was with that light?" Hayner asked as he and Pence strode into the room. They both froze as they spotted the two black cloaked women and Axel all looking over at them. "Umm… Axel? Who are these two?" Axel glanced over at the two women.
"You know, I'm not actually sure," Axel said thoughtfully. "My bad."
"You let them inside the building without figuring out who they were first?" Pence asked. "That doesn't seem like it was very good judgment on your part."
"Well, I had a good reason," Axel said defiantly.
"Which I would love to hear," Xanthos said as he entered the room, closely followed by Olette. "And I'd also love to know why the main doors are busted open. But first, why don't you two take off your hoods and introduce yourselves and tell me what you're doing here before I throw you both out into the blizzard to freeze to death?"
"First of all, that's a rude way to say 'hello'," the taller woman said. "You didn't even offer us tea. Secondly, we're here because of Silver over here." She gestured at Riku's unconscious body with her thumb. Xanthos' eyes widened in recognition at the sound of her voice. He glanced down and nearly did a double-take as he finally noticed the formerly injured teen. "We found him beat all to hell at the base of the cliffs over by the Valley of Fallen Keys and because of the blizzards we needed to get him somewhere warm so we could heal him. And here happens to be the only place on this godforsaken world that has any buildings with indoor heating." Xanthos stared opened mouthed at the taller woman with a look of recognition on his face.
"Your name is Jenna? Right?" He said, his voice slightly higher from his shocked tone. "Is that you?" The taller woman nodded her head and went to lower her hood.
"Master, you know her?" Olette asked from the doorway where she, Hayner and Pence watched what was going on in the room.
"Well I should hope he knows me," the woman, Jenna, said with a smile as her bronze hair fell down past her shoulders, freed from the confines of her hood. The mouths of the three teens and Axel all dropped in unison. Jenna's silver eyes shone brightly even in the dimmed lighting of the medical ward as she smiled up at Xanthos. "He's my twin brother."
LD
Well, I guess that's it for this week.
Fun facts about this chapter:
1. The fun facts may appear from update to update.
2. Long pork is just another way of saying human meat. Never order something with long pork in it unless you feel like eating human.
3. I betcha didn't see that coming. You know what I'm talking about.
4. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans really do have every flavor. I had one that tasted of defeat.
5. During the two and a half weeks it took to write this chapter, I only drank water and tea. My caffeine withdrawls are killing me.
I hope you all enjoy your weekend and have a fantastic next week. As always, reviews, while not necessary, are welcome. I'm going to go catch some much needed sleep.
Aspicio, diluculo Infinitas Noctis.
Shadow Horizons