She's a Pirate (Jack Sparrow)

27. Seaglass

"You've barely eaten today," she told him, but he didn't say a word. She sat on the bed and sighed deeply, thinking of her next words. "Am I the problem here, Jack?" His eyes tore away immediately from the pages and moved to her form, looking at her with a frown. "You've been acting so strange these days. Is it because of me?"

She stared down at the floor and finally heard Jack say more than three words to her. "You're absolutely not a problem, love. If someone's the problem here, it's me."

He stood from his chair and sat on the bed by her side, but stayed silent with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands. Narissa knelt behind him and squeezed his shoulders gently, massaging him. He was tense, she noticed. He tilted his head backwards slightly, satisfied at the feeling of her hands on his flesh.

She leaned forward to leave a soft kiss on his neck. Her lips lingered on his skin for some seconds. It had been days since she had touched him or kissed him. "What's wrong, Jacky?" Her words came out in a whisper next to his ear. After hearing no response from him, she grabbed his hands and made him turn to her. He sat cross-legged on the bed and locked eyes with her. "Please, tell me," she begged, her heart full of worry. She wanted her Jacky back; she wanted the quirky man that was always playful, the sweet man that would kiss her whenever he had the chance.

The man couldn't resist her pleading eyes. He contemplated his next words. "You'll never be save with me, Nari." He caressed the bruised skin of her neck, still purplish. "Remember that necklace you saw in Vernazza?"

Narissa nodded. "The one that's supposed to control the weather."

"There's a real one." A brief pause. "How much do you know about Calypso?"

She knew about her, her father had told her some things about the goddess. "She's a sea goddess. The first Brethren Court trapped her in a human body years ago, so she wouldn't have the control of the seas."

"Aye, but before that happened, Calypso wasn't the only one with power over the sea. The mermaids had powers as well. They could control the weather at sea. Now, Calypso was... A temperamental creature, very ambitious. She didn't want to share her authority, so she took the mermaids' powers." Narissa found herself being mesmerized by Jack's words, listening intently to his velvety voice. "But those powers had to be confined somewhere, or they could cause terrible things, and Calypso contained them in four crystals. Each crystal belonged to one element that could be controlled: Rain, lightning, the clouds and the wind. They're called seaglass. She bound the four pieces to a thin silver chain and hid them away."

"How do you know this? Your book?" She was referring to his favourite book: My Lyfe Amonge the Pyrates. He had loved that book since he was a little boy, when his father gave him a copy. One of the chapters gathered tales of treasures. Some of the legends went way back, hundreds, even a thousand or more years.

He chuckled softly and she noticed right then how much she had missed his laugh. "No, love, a good friend of mine told me years ago, but I never really thought about it until now."

She raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Are you sure this friend of yours didn't just make up this story?"

"Completely sure. There's not a single person in the world that knows about Calypso more than her."

"Did she tell you where the seaglass is?"

"She kept that to herself, but I'm a smart man. I've done my research these days." He pointed at the desk with his maps and books.

"Where is it?"

"Baltia, a legendary island. Not many people know where it is."

"That sounds familiar." She rolled her eyes, remembering Isla de Muerta.

"But!" He raised his pointer finger to catch her attention. "According to what I've discovered, it's somewhere on the Baltic sea, in northern Europe. I think I found the area where it could be, approximately."

"Couldn't you just use your compass to find it?"

He shook his head. "It's a big world, dear. I need to know where to start and where to go, savvy?"

Narissa nodded in understanding and stood up in front of him, arms crossed over her chest. "Why do you want to control the weather, Jack?"

"No, love, I can't control the weather." She frowned in confusion, so he explained. "It is said that only women are wise and strong enough to handle the powers of the sea."

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Any woman?"

"Not any woman, Nari." He rose to his feet and grasped her waist. "Legend says it must be a woman of the sea with eyes of water." He looked down at her, his eyes meeting her deep blue ones. "And I can't think of any woman other than you that matches that description, love."

Freeing herself from his grip, Narissa paced around the cabin, studying his plan. His eyes followed her. They were silent for a while, her boots on the wooden floor being the only sound in the room. When she stopped and crossed her arms again, she said "You still haven't answered my question. Why do you want to find the seaglass?"

"Do you have any idea of what we could do with it? We wouldn't have to worry about our enemies chasing us anymore. The moment a ship is after us, we could just tear it down or sink it in seconds." His eyes were shone with excitement as he thought of every possibility. Narissa listened carefully to his words and was actually considering his idea. Jack walked up to her and held her hands. "We could be totally free, no more running away, and you... You'd be save with me, Nari." He didn't dare to look at her while saying those last words and she finally understood what had him so worried: He was concerned about her safety since Norrington's last attack, he probably blamed himself that she had almost been choked to death.

Placing two fingers under his chin, Narissa lifted his head, making him look at her. He studied her face and saw her compassionate expression. With a small smile, she told him softly "A ship is always safe at shore, but that's not what it's made for. I don't care about my safety, Jack. I knew what I was getting into when I came with you."

He gulped, beginning to think that she wouldn't agree to do this. "Well, I care. You mean too much to me, love." His hand touched her bruised neck softly and then it travelled down to her chest; he felt her heart beating fast under his palm.

She thought about it, about all the benefits this would bring them. Total freedom; it was an alluring thought. It was something that both Jack and her had always wanted. "Let's do it," she stated and he raised his eyebrows in surprise before smiling broadly at her. She added "If this means so much to you, we'll do it." Jack hugged her urgently, enveloping her in his arms tightly. "But please, don't ignore me like that again," she said; her voice was muffled by his strong chest.

"I won't. I'm sorry." He broke their embrace. "I still don't know how to deal with these feelings sometimes. It's overwhelming." He looked embarrassed; she smiled kindly at him.

That night, Jack got into bed when she was still awake. She felt his side of the bed sink under his weight and an arm wrapping around her. She turned around to face him and rested her head on his chest. He kissed her forehead and she knew: She had him back.

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Hello, mates!

I hope you like the story of Seaglass, there will be a few more chapter about it. I came up with it by mixing many legends and myths, I think it turned out pretty good.

Leave a comment with your opinions of this chapter, I'd appreciate it a lot.

D.Xx