Chapter 25

The stairs twisted beneath them, slick with seawater and shadow. The lighthouse shook with every breath, every groan from its bones echoing like the heartbeat of something ancient and dying. But Cutler didn't look back.

Kate pressed close to him, arms around his shoulders, head tucked into the curve of his neck. He felt every inch of her, alive, warm, and trusting him to carry her out of damnation itself. It grounded him more than the stone beneath his boots. They reached the last bend of the spiral just as the first beam cracked overhead. Wood splintered like thunder.

Outside, the horizon had twisted. The sky bled with lavender and gray, the sun hung low and eternal, caught in the Locker's haze, never quite setting, never fully rising.

Ahead lay the field. The peonies.

It bloomed still, impossibly bright, blush pink petals thick on their stems, defiant in a land meant for nothing but ghosts. The moment they stepped beyond the lighthouse's threshold, Kate's feet brushing the ground again, something shifted.

Behind them, the lighthouse groaned one last time, louder than before, a sound like the earth itself cracking open. Then it collapsed in on itself with a thunderous roar, stones slamming into the ground, wood snapping and splintering in bursts. Dust and debris shot upward in a sudden cloud, and from it came something else.. an unseen force, like a shockwave. It wasn't wind, and it wasn't water, but it rolled across the ground with the weight of both.

Cutler and Kate stumbled back, shielding their faces as it hit them square in the chest, a sudden burst of pressure at their lungs, knocking the air right out, and making the air feel heavy. Then they turned, just in time to see it reach the field.

Like a ripple across still water, the wave swept into the peonies. One by one, the bright pink flowers twisted and shriveled, their petals turning black at the edges, curling in like burning paper. The green faded from their leaves, the stalks drooped, and in seconds, what had once been a sea of color was nothing more than a rotting patch of earth. The weirdness hadn't ended with the lighthouse, it had followed them. The field was dying.

Kate staggered slightly, and Cutler caught her arm. She was watching the blossoms with widened eyes.

'It's the Locker, it wants us to leave.. Like it forced me to leave before I found you' Cutler whispered close to where Kate was standing, still holding her hand after the shockwave of darkness. Steadying her, steadying himself.

Kate's eyes moved upon his, shaded by the tricorn hat Cutler had placed back onto his head when they had reached outside.

She saw how his face had aged, he was still handsome, always, but there was something written on his face that told her he had been through a lot, not just here in the Hell called the Locker, but throughout the years she was gone. Kate didn't know what, yet, but it felt like the world without her in it, had done him no good. She moved her thumb across his hand that was in her grip still, and Cutler looking down on her watched her with care, like he had read her mind.

'You were brave' Kate whispered, remarking how Cutler had never stopped fighting through this Hell. She noticed the corners of his mouth rising, warmly. And she saw the same glint in his eyes she'd seen when he was a young man, all those years ago. How a genuine compliment from her had the single ability to make Cutler softer, away from his hard, practiced, and cold exterior he had learned for himself to uphold throughout all the years. A quick kiss he placed on her hand he was holding, but there was no time to linger.

Cutler moved Kate through the fields of rotten peonies. The mold and stale scent pierced their noses. But it was nothing compared to what they'd been through so with the steadiness of each other they pressed further. Kate walked in silence beside him, but her eyes stayed sharp, watching the ground, the sky, the cracks in reality itself. After a long while, her voice broke the quiet.

'How did you even find this place?' she asked.

'I had help, from people who.. experienced the Locker at first hand,' Cutler said. 'Jack, Hector Barbossa, and Elizabeth Turner.'

At that, she stopped, which made Cutler stumble a little but he turned to her slowly.

'Jack.. he's here?' Kate whispered frowning. Almost not believing his words. Her voice was tight with disbelief, eyes searching his for clarity.

Cutler nodded slowly, his jaw tense. 'He was in the Locker before too, but he returned. I know.. you saw him, Kate. Called out for him..' his voice was soft.

Her brow furrowed as she looked past him, remembering something, a dream, a shadow, a voice in the fog. 'I did.. I reached for him,' she murmured. 'But he didn't see me. He turned away.'

'He told me,' Cutler said, voice lower now. 'Admitted he heard something.. a voice. Yours. But he thought it was madness. A trick of the place.'

Kate's expression darkened slightly. But it wasn't anger. Not quite. It was the weight of understanding. The sorrow of almost.

'And Jack,' Cutler continued, his voice turning sharper, edged with something cold, 'is the only reason I knew you were alive. Trapped.'

She blinked at him. 'What?'

'He told me when I summond him only months ago. When I saw him again after all those years. Just before he blew the Endeavour to pieces..' Cutler ground out. 'He didn't even realize the truth of it. But I knew. I knew then. And I would've wrung it out of him with my bare hands if I hadn't needed the bastard to find the Locker in the first place.'

There was venom in it. Not just toward Jack, but toward the years that had passed, the silence, the helplessness. All of it. And Kate heard it clearly.

'I don't believe Jack would have left me here, had he truly known. You've seen this place, you've felt it now, Cutler. The way it twists time, memory. Jack may have heard me, but he was lost too. I saw so many souls wandering, flickering in and out like echoes. Some weren't even whole anymore. Just pieces.' Kate spoke with a soft voice.

Cutler's mouth was set in a grim line. But he couldn't deny it. He'd seen it now too. Faces and fragments, voices on repeat, looping madness and illusion. He'd nearly been caught in it himself.

He exhaled hard. 'Still. He could've tried harder.'

Kate smiled faintly, but genuine. 'Maybe. Or he just didn't know what to do with it. With all the madness of this place. It changes you.'

Cutler stared at her for a long moment, and then looked away. His fingers brushed against hers again. Protective, possessive, unsure. And the unease lingered. He didn't know how she and Jack would react to seeing each other. He told himself it didn't matter. That it was the past. But it sat under his skin like a splinter he couldn't pull out.

She stepped closer, gently touching his arm. Then speaking like she read his mind. 'Cutler,' she said softly, steady, like she used to when calming the storms within him. 'Revenge isn't the way. You know that.'

Cutler looked down at her hand. It was utterly silent before he spoke. Always measuring his words, thinking before he spoke 'You always said that, and I found out, the hard way, that you were right. Nothing good came from anything I did back then.. because it didn't bring you back to me..' he muttered softly. 'But it was the only way I knew how to live.. after you were gone' Cutler admitted, his eyes still lowered. Kate felt he wasn't just speaking of this, of Jack, but of all that had happened in those thirteen years.

'I told myself I would turn the world to my will, but it gained me nothing, in the end. I was broken Kate.. without you in that world' Cutler whispered now, his eyes lowered to the ground covered by the shadow of his tricorn hat. Only the soft wind was heard, rolling along his coat and Kate's train where his eyes had settled like he was afraid to look her into her eyes.

'Cutler..' Kate mumbled, making him look up at her as her hand softly took his slight stubbly chin, her tone gentle, 'Whatever we face next, no more of what could have been, no more chasing ghosts. We're here. We're alive. That has to mean something.'

He studied her face with furrowed brows. Concern, regret, and pain read from his face, but a small tuck at the corners of his lips seemed to put him at ease a little more. And when he finally spoke, his voice was raw. 'It means everything.'

Cutler removed a red curls from the side of Kate's cheek and gently moved it behind her ear. Staring at each other their lips met for a short but gentle kiss. They needed to move further, the rest would come later.

Kate looked up at the dull horizon while their steps were following the path almost at the end of the peony field now. 'So.. Elizabeth Turner, you said?' she asked her tone shifting slightly.

'Elizabeth Swann, she married William Turner, the Captain of the Dutchman.' Cutler spoke. Kate nodded already understanding who he spoke of.

She blinked for a moment of realization that settled in her chest. 'Well. I suppose I've missed more than I thought.' Her stomach felt strange, not out of fear, but out of instinct, thinking about Elizabeth. Almost like a mother that had lost her child, but then again not quite. It was a warm memory, Kate thought for a moment, what it was she had felt for Elizabeth. The last time Kate had seen her she was only seven. Their bond had been warm, and close, and even though people had ribbed them apart, Kate still felt protective. Even though Kate had no idea who she'd face within a moment from now, as she was a grown woman, married even. She had seen Will Turner, the day he and Elizabeth met as well. On the Dauntless, so, so many years ago. For a moment Kate felt warm, as she saw firsthand how, even as children, they had a connection from the beginning.

'But how did Will end up as the Captain of the Flying Dutchman?' Kate remembered Davy Jones hardly, she'd been unconscious when he had forced her into the Locker thirteen years ago, it was merely a vague dream now. But Calypso had spoken of him, and it seemed Davy Jones was no longer alive.

Cutler let out a short breath, his steps slowing only slightly as they reached the edge of the field where blackened petals gave way to cracked, grey soil.

'It's a long tale,' he said, voice rough, like something tasted bitter in his throat. 'Davy Jones was defeated. Slain. Will Turner took his place. I don't know all the details of that day, it was during the pirate war, where you saw the Endeavour fell when she was attacked by surprise once Will Turner worked together with Jack.'

Kate's stomach twisted. She had seen it, in that one dream, or maybe it was a prophecy indeed, the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman on both sides of the Endeavour, when Kate was a ghost aboard the memory. Kate was quiet for a moment, letting the weight of that settle.

Kate had so many questions but there was no time to ask them all. 'I'm sorry for the interrogation' Kate joked sniffling softly, feeling a little lighter when her mind made place for a little less serious topic.

Cutler suddenly turned to her, holding her with both his hands on both of her upper arms softly, looking into her soul almost in an instance 'You will never have to apologize, ever, for anything Kate.. not to me' Cutler's voice was urgent but laced with care. Then he hugged her, tight, but gentle as if he was still afraid she'd disappear again. But when looking up Kate saw the truth in his eyes when he released her again. It was suddenly painfully obvious to her. Cutler was trying to make up for everything that was stirring inside him. He seemed to feel utterly guilty. About their time apart, about how Cutler probably felt like he had left her to her fate even though she was supposed to be dead. Kate let it rest for now, but she was concerned she hadn't seen the end of it yet.

When her voice returned, it was low. 'Then one last question. This ship, the Black Pearl, attacking the Endeavour together with the Dutchman I saw, that was the Wicked Wench right?' Kate spoke almost whispering.

Cutler seemed almost surprised by the question.. almost. Of course, Kate puzzled this information together like she always did, Cutler knew the woman next to him was just as intelligent and witty as himself, there was nothing she would not understand, nothing went over her head.

Cutler watched Kate for a moment as they strolled along. He'd known how much she had missed in those lost years, the shifting tides of power, the wars, the legends made and broken in her absence. What he had done in grief. In fury.

It was now her mind worked to stitch sense into thirteen years of silence. He would tell her every single detail, even if she would think badly of him.

She deserved every little piece of truth out there.

He hesitated. 'Yes'

She frowned slightly. 'Why is it burned, a blackened hull?'

That stopped him cold.

'Because I burned it' Cutler whispered, foolish enough to think Kate might not hear it, but of course, she deserved to hear it. Kate's breath caught slightly, she seemed unable to hide her surprise. Cutler suddenly feared something deeply, what if Kate saw him differently after what he had become in all of those years?

The very short silence between them had settled, not awkwardly, but like the breath before a storm. Kate opened her mouth to speak, but before the words could shape themselves, a voice rang out across the hollow air.

'Oi! Lovebirds'

The voice cracked the moment like a whip. Familiar. Sharp-edged, sarcastic.

Jack.

Kate stopped in her tracks, her spine straightening before her head even turned. Cutler's grip instinctively tightened where his hand still held hers, and his jaw clenched visibly.

Over the bend of the hill, two figures emerged. Kate regonized Jack, but different, he almost looked like.. a pirate.

He was walking with that rolling, off-kilter swagger like he hadn't just crossed a cursed wasteland to get here, even though it was laced with emotion, which he hid well. He didn't change in that regard.

Next to him was a woman Kate only identified once she was closer, brown eyes she'd recognized from anywhere, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth broke into a run the moment she saw her. 'Kate!'

It came out breathless, half a gasp, half a cry, and in an instant, she was across the space between them, boots slipping once on the dead petals but not stopping her momentum. Kate didn't hesitate either. Her arms opened just in time to catch Elizabeth as she all but collided into her.

Cutler stepped back without needing to be told, his hands now clasped behind his back.

Kate cradled Elizabeth close, arms wrapping tightly around the woman who had once been a child in her care. It didn't matter that thirteen years had passed. It didn't matter that Elizabeth now stood as a grown woman, a wife, a soon-to-be mother. The hug felt like something sacred. Familiar. Like pages of a story finally returning to the same book.

'I knew you'd still be you,' Elizabeth whispered against her shoulder.

Kate smiled faintly. 'And I knew you'd grow up to be trouble.'

They both laughed, but there were tears there too, nothing loud, just the kind that burned quietly and didn't need words. When they finally pulled back, Kate's hands held Elizabeth's face in both hands.

'You look exactly the same.' Elizabeth whispered.

Kate tilted her head, voice soft. 'You don't.'

Elizabeth smiled, the ache behind it clear. 'You have no idea how long I've wished I could see you again.'

Kate's gaze was warm and caring, nodding in agreement. Elizabeth moved Kate's hands on her pregnant belly as a gesture to tell her she's with child.

'You're glowing' Kate whispered.

Elizabeth felt happy to finally have someone to share this with. A female, who would understand. She had been so alone on that island ever since Will was gone to do his cursed duty. This is why Elizabeth came to find Kate. Just like all those years back, Kate give Elizabeth something she'd always missed in a world ruled by men. A mother, a sister, a female friend.

The women holding each other by the elbows still suddenly turned to Jack, as he was grinning with still a slight emotion in his glaze. He raised an eyebrow with a crooked grin. 'Well now, if I didn't know better, I'd say you two were sisters, though I suppose time's a bit of a liar these days.' Jack joked as he once again outrun the emotional moment as he always did. Remarking Kate not looking a day older because of the ways the Locker aged a person much slower than in their world.

Kate turned to him fully, her eyes went over his face. Jack had always had something wild about him when he worked at the East India Company all those years ago, the suits there never really fitting him, but this man in front of her felt almost like a stranger. If it weren't for those brown eyes which did not seemed to have forgotten the glimmer of sarcasm.

'Hello to you too Jack' Kate whispered smiling softly and she saw Jack's eyes soften.

'I didn't think I'd ever see you again, love.' Jack's voice was low, emotional but optimistic at the same time.

Kate turned to face him fully. 'Well, here I am' she smiled for a moment, soft, warm, careful. 'It's good to see you,' she continued, sincerely. 'Truly.'

And then, in a move no one expected, not Kate, not Elizabeth, not Cutler, Jack dropped to his knees.

His hands reached forward, wrapping gently around her legs, his head sideways pressed to the fabric of her ruined gown like he was bowing to a ghost, or maybe a saint. His voice came next, hoarse and quiet, unsteady in a way that made every word heavier.

'I'm sorry,' he whispered. 'I should've known. I should've seen you. I heard you, Kate. I heard your voice when I was in this wretched place before. But I thought it was madness, a trick, a memory, something twisted. And I ran. I ran, and I left you behind.'

Her breath caught.

'I've seen many things in this life, sirens, krakens, sea gods and dead men, but nothing haunts me like that voice I ignored.' His fingers tightened slightly around the fabric, and when he looked up at her, his eyes shimmered with something too raw to hide behind rum. 'I left you. And I don't deserve to be forgiven. But I'm asking.'

Kate didn't move at first. She looked down at him with eyes unreadable. The silence stretched between them like a taut rope. Even the air seemed to hesitate. For a moment Kate thought Cutler would drag Jack away by his collar as she saw him take a step slightly, but he didn't intervene, knowing this was something Kate needed to handle herself.

Then, slowly, Kate's hand reached down, fingers brushing against Jack's shoulder, only a whisper of a touch to softly force him back, making sure he looked up at her.

'You didn't leave me, Jack,' she said gently. 'You were lost. Just like I was, just like anyone who ends up there. And in the end, you did something about it, didn't you?' Kate whispered while looking down at Jack on his knees, his arms hanging from his body.

He looked at her for a long time, like a man dying of thirst offered water he thought he didn't deserve. His mouth twitched, half a smile, half a grimace, and he exhaled with a shaky breath that was almost a laugh.

'Still,' he muttered. 'If anyone ever had the right to slap me, it's you.'

Kate's brows arched faintly, and her lips tugged into the faintest of smirks. 'Don't tempt me, Sparrow.'

And that, finally, got a flicker of a grin from him.

Jack rose with a huff, dusting off his knees like the moment hadn't just broken open something deep in him.

'Well let's not let our dear Hector wait. Before he sneaks off with the Pearl' Jack sniffed once, caught Elizabeth's look, and, without warning, slung an arm around her shoulders.

Cutler, meanwhile, stepped beside Kate again, his hand finding the small of her back as if reclaiming something quietly. She smiled at him warm as he packed a quick gentle kiss on her hand as he returned it in his own. Guiding her forward like a gentleman, the way Cutler always carried himself around her, a strong contrast to how Jack now almost dragged Elizabeth forward like they were a drunk couple leaving a bar at Tortuga. Kate sniffled at the sight. Cutler turned his eyes from Kate to the pair in front of them. Jack's arm still draped across Elizabeth. Cutler secretly found himself grateful for the pirate's focus on her instead of on Kate.

Walking on Jack moved his head sideways, looking back slightly.

'In your absence, Kate.. and that of dear Will, I've taken it upon myself to assume the paternal role for young Turner Jr. here. Purely honorary, of course. Comes with no responsibilities, a little rum, and an alarming amount of unsolicited advice.' Jack mumbled on like he always did.

Elizabeth groaned, but she was smiling as she elbowed him in the ribs. 'If this child comes out quoting you, Jack, I'll throw myself back into the sea.'

'Too late, love. Influence is already in motion.' He grinned, wagging his brows.

Kate gave a soft laugh, shaking her head. The absurdity was familiar. Comforting, even.

Together, the mismatched group started walking, the brittle field crunching beneath their boots, the air behind them thick with ruin and rot. Ahead, somewhere in the shifting veil of the Locker, the Pearl waited.

Not far now.

It was time to go home. The only question that still lingered was.. how?