A Pirated Heart

His Reasoning and the Witch

The crew was silent even though they were now miles away from Port Warrick. Neither their captain nor Arabella spoke a word as they managed to stand on opposite ends of the ship. No one seemed to question the newest addition to their crew either.

“Talk to her, boy,” Jarrus growled as he stood next to Kaden at the helm. Kaden’s eyes had never left Arabella’s form but he had refused to confront her. Everything he had learned swirled and collided in his head. Arabella didn’t have a heart. A sea witch took it and cursed her. She couldn’t die. None of it should be possible.

None of it.

“No,” he answered curtly. Jarrus looked at Damien from across the ship as the two of them shared a look. It almost seemed to say ‘he won’t talk to her. Will she talk to him?’

“Bella…”

“If you are regretting your foolish decision to follow me, I don’t want to hear it,” Arabella remarked simply as she turned to face her younger brother. Damien sighed.

“I’m not regretting. I think you and the uhh, captain?” Damien glanced at Kaden who stood at the ship’s wheel staring at Arabella.

“He is the captain,” Arabella replied to Damien’s unasked question. Damien nodded before continuing.

“I think you two should talk. Clear the air.”

“Clear the air of what? No doubt all of his obnoxious questions have been answered. He now knows about where I got my abilities and why I hate my family,”

“Excluding me?”

“Excluding you.” Arabella agreed as Damien nodded.

“Bells, get your ass up there and talk to that boy!” Jarrus shouted as he made his way over to the siblings. Damien looked up in surprise as Arabella tilted her head to the side.

“Why would I do that, Jarrus?”

“Just do it, ya stupid girl. I’ll watch out for your brother,” Jarrus replied as he stopped in front of the pair. Arabella frowned.

“I fail to see why…”

“Do it girl.” Jarrus ordered as Arabella groaned and stomped away toward the helm. Damien looked from his sister to the scarred pirate.

“She listens to you?” Damien asked incredulously. Jarrus chuckled before sighing.

“Barely. I was captain when she fell into our laps.” He answered as if it explained it all.

“You’ve raised her?”

“Tried to. Hopefully, you’ll be easier,” Jarrus joked as he patted Damien on the shoulder. Damien groaned. He didn’t regret following his sister. However, he was wary of what this scarred pirate wanted to teach him.  

***

“You don’t have a heart.” Kaden said as soon as Arabella joined him on the helm. Two of the other crew members (Pike and Walker) took their cue and left the two alone. Arabella tilted her head to the side at Kaden’s remark. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for him to continue.

“You don’t have a heart?”

“No.” She answered resolutely.

“And you’re sure?”

“Did you see me get shot?” Arabella questioned sardonically. She could practically feel her patience wearing thin.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?” Arabella quipped, annoyed he wasn’t grasping the news as well as she had hoped.

“You can’t die?”

“No.”

“Right and the whole healing instantly and overpowering a man and destroying a gun was magic?” Kaden questioned. None of this seemed possible to him.

“Abilities boosted by magic, yes.” Arabella answered simply. Kaden turned to face her.

“All those things I questioned you about…”

“You wouldn’t have believed me or if you had, you would’ve thrown me overboard.” Arabella explained as she tucked a stray dark strand of hair back behind her ear. Kaden knew she spoke the truth. If she had told him from the beginning, he wouldn’t have believed her and while he wouldn’t have thrown her overboard, he could imagine some of the other crew members doing it.  

“I thought you died.” The words came out before Kaden could stop or question them.

“Well I didn’t. So are we good?” Arabella asked as her eyes met Kaden’s. Suddenly he crossed the space that separated them and engulfed her in a hug.

“Don’t do it again,” Kaden ordered against her shoulder as Arabella froze beneath him. Her eyes widened as she felt something warm trickle from his body into hers. She nodded dumbly as Kaden pulled away.

What was that? She thought to herself once they separated.

“You’ll have to tell your brother he has to earn his keep,” Kaden remarked as he glanced over at the Cartridge son and Jarrus.

“I’ve told him,” Arabella replied easily as she turned to leave the captain alone.

“I mean it, Bella. Don’t tempt fate like that again.” Arabella stopped at Kaden’s quiet impassioned words. She tilted her head to look at him over her shoulder and nodded before climbing down the stairs that led to the deck. Kaden sighed as he watched her.

It all made sense now: her warped sense of danger, the almost impossible things she could do, and her almost mechanical response to anything akin to emotions. She didn’t have a heart and was cursed by a sea witch. While Kaden had trouble believing most of it, it explained a lot. And he had seen her get gunned down only to stand up and fling the soldiers away with the flick of her hand. Magic was the only logical solution.

***

Maera snapped her soulless eyes to her most precious treasure. A brightly glowing heart sat on a pedestal and pulsed with every beat it took. She watched it for a moment, believing she had been seeing things. After all, the heart had done nothing but glow red and beat for nine years. But then, there it was. The next beat the glow the heart made changed from a soft red to a blinding gold. Maera’s eyes widened but just as soon as the change happened, it was gone with the next beat. Fury turned Maera's vision red. 

“No. No. That impudent child!” Maera snarled as she turned and crouched next to a nearby tide pool. She peered into the dark water and touched the calm surface with one of her clawed fingers. The ripples lapped out from her finger and began to cast an eerie glow before a scene appeared in the water. Maera frowned when she found her target.

Arabella had grown up from a child to a grown woman in a span of a few years and instead of a frightened creature, Maera found a trained killer. The woman was surrounded by men and Maera cursed. She had hoped the girl would become a hermit without trust. What she found was anything but. And then suddenly, a large blonde man appeared next to Arabella and the heart beat gold again. Maera’s eyes widened as she realized what it meant.

“No! NO!” She growled as she slammed her hand against the water and the scene disappeared. Maera stood from her crouched position and swirled around, pounding her fists into her cave's walls. The sounds echoed hollowly as Maera's violence receded. 

“No. No. I will not lose the heart. Not when I’m so close,” she growled again as she turned to the entrance of her cavern home. The dark sea pounded against the jagged rocks and sea foam swirled at gravel beach.

“I will kill the man who dare take my heart from me,” she hissed as she sunk into the foam and disappeared into the raging sea.