THE SIGHING OF THE WAVES COULD BE HEARD, the hissing of reeds in the water, the cries of gulls, and the cries of soldiers, who, kicking, rushed towards Jack's crew. With trembling guts, the sailors prepared for the worst. The fight started through the glare of the screams of the men. From crab claws to human hands, the inquisitions differed.
Maccus, the man with the appearance of a shark, met Will and attacked him. Holding an axe, he competed against Will's slashing swords, the latter having gained experience from Jack's knowledge and teaching, although Will was already very skilled with a sword.
He made them, in the past, and therefore knew all the secrets. Surreptitiously, he trained with his creations, late at night, in his forge. A few crashes woke up the donkey that was staying there, and those were the moments Will remembered with candid nostalgia.
The two men fought fiercely, attempting feints and sneak attacks. As for Jack, he was running all over the place, looking for the safe. He was so used to battles that it became ambient sound for him, not a threat.
But, caught by the gong, Davy reached out with his pliers to grab hold of Jack's neck, nearly strangling him, but that was not the point. Why kill a prey that contains so much information? In truth, Jack had so many adventures and secrets that a lifetime would not suffice for his interrogation.
"Where's the key, Jackie'?" asked the octopus.
Jack smiled his best smile and didn't fail to answer.
"Oh! But I didn't steal anything from you!"
Indeed, surprisingly, Jack was trying to cover Will. He oscillated between throwing him to fly without wings, then catching him in his fall.
"False ! You took a lot from me."
"I bet of the people who took the most things from you, I'm not one the highest on the list."
The pirate looked at Davy Jones with a superior gaze.
"You know who I'm talking about, Jones."
Amidst the madness of the battle, the sailor frowned and a shiver of pain washed over him. As if immersed in a wave of memories, he returned to his youth, where everything was going well. Where he was loved.
Davy Jones, a twenty-year-old sailor was walking quietly when a downpour suddenly fell. He closed his eyes and felt a completely new sensation wash over him. It was as if the ocean and the water itself were taking over his physiological system. He had no more census.
Whispers tickled his ear, causing a wave of tremors up his spine. It was the voice of a woman, irresistible and terribly seductive.
"Davy Jones..."
The buccaneer looked around to make sure it wasn't a prank, or a woman trying to take advantage of him. But no. Nothing was on the horizon, except the latter's boat.
The months had passed where these low masses continued and, although he could not put a face to the woman, he fell in love with her. From morning to night, they talked, and he learned her true identity.
In ancient mythology and lore, Calypso was described as a pagan goddess, although she was also said to have mortal blood. Daughter of Atlas, she was a woman as changeable, harsh and indomitable as the sea.
As a goddess, Calypso could take many forms. Of Calypso's beauty and power, all the sailors were impressed. Her femininity was unmatched in grace and allure. Calypso's powers were eclipsed only by the great sea god Poseidon himself, and only Zeus, the leader of all the gods, could command her. Although she commands the entire sea, she had managed to take possession of the heart of Davy Jones.
She was very undemonstrative, but she too had succumbed to the charm of the sailor. So, in a surge of love, she assigned him a task. And when Jones came back to her, she was gone.
Why wasn't she there.
Snapping back to reality, a tear rolled down the slimy cheek of the pirate, in front of Jack. The latter remembered some words of Tia Dalma, a few months ago;
"A woman. He fell in love."
"No, no, no, I heard it was the sea he fell in love with."
"Same story, different versions. And all are true. See, it was a woman as changing and harsh and untamable as the sea. Him never stopped loving her. But the pain it caused was too much to live with, but not enough to cause him to die."
Davy Jones was suddenly startled by a sword thrust to the back. He felt none of this, and turned to see young Turner.
"My boy, you are stupid."
"Free my father," he blurted out.
"Give me the key," smiled the pirate.
"How can I trust your deal."
"Oh! But you can't. But have I forgotten that it is an order. The key, Turner."
The latter fled and ran with all his might.
With his crablike hand, Davy motioned for the other sailors to come after him, and they all did. Now everyone was on the sleight ship that Jack had commandeered, and the fighting was in full swing.
Jack and Will faced off on the deck. The area was wide enough for the two of them to fight with others.
Will's face was scratched up in anger. He slowly drew a long sword from his belt, the blade making a hissing whisper as it was removed from the sheet. All the while, he was holding Maccus firmly in his gaze, who began to attack him.
Maccus was wearing a red sleeveless shirt and loose fitting black pants. On either hand he had sturdy metal gauntlets. Maccus bent down and stretched his back. He turned his neck from left to right and popping it with a series of clicks in rapid succession.
Maccus shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and slowly brought one foot behind his back.
"Come on."
Towards Will, the fight was on.
The swordsman was quick and uppercut slashed at the hand to hand warrior, attempting to catch Will from stem all the way to stern.
Will sidestepped to the right just enough and the blade passed a hairs breath from his face.The fight had taken Will and Maccus dangerously close to the edge of the water and Will had his back almost to the plank, despite his counter offensive.
The quick blow had opened Maccus up for another attack and Will obliged him, putting a simple sidekick into the swordsman's stomach, doubling him over. Will followed that up with a quick rising uppercut.
The crowd, fighting as well, let out a collective win for the men.
Taking the opening and using the environment to his advantage, Maccus back flipped onto the wall and pushed off towards Will. The maneuver sent him front flipping towards Will and just before he reached the swordsman, Maccus flattened his body out, feet first. Instead of colliding with his adversary though, Maccus opted to wrap his feet around Will's neck instead.
The act caught Will off guard as he was recovering his wits, once again. He didn't really know he was able to fight that good, and maybe, now that he had all the answers towards his nature, it was in his genes. "Thanks dad," he thought.
Maccus used his momentum in a creative, instead of piling into his opponent; instead, he jerked to the right and swung around Will.
Then, when directly behind his opponent, Maccus curled his legs into his body and angled Will's body to the ground, changing the direction of his fall, putting the weight of his jump into a powerful throw.
Will was pulled off his feet violently and was thrown across the floor. A groan escaped his lips as the pain from the attack started setting in.
Maccus looked up and his eyes opened with satisfaction. He liked seeing people suffering—perhaps because he was, too.As Maccus was about to let go of Will, during the throw, he had planted both hands on the ground.
Just as Maccus was about to reach Will, the warrior threw one of his legs out, shin angled down. The entire force from the spin was pushed into his leg.
Will barely had time to breathe, let alone dodge. But it was a testament to his experience in battle that he kept the presence of mind to roll to the right in a desperate dodge. Just in time.With all this upheaval, Will had dropped the holy key. A crew member had secretly retrieved it, neither seen nor known, amidst the chaos on the ship. What a lucky day for that guy, — if you can call it a guy — though.
Bill Bootstrap didn't know how to act, and was forced to watch his son being beaten, but he constantly forgot who he was and why he was here.
Will's body hung vertical for the briefest moment, suspended in an ephemeral moment in time, then he collapsed, head still firmly stuck into the ground. The rest of him hit the ground in an uncomfortable position, but he was still breathing.
"That had to hurt." he said to himself.
But, Maccus reappeared, in perfect shape. He took his sword and looked at Will, already enjoying the killing it was going to make. The sailor disarmed Will and brandished his sword, right in front of the latter's nose. Getting ready to deliver the fatal blow, a cry rang out.
In the echoes of the sea.
A scream.
It wasn't Will's.
It should have been Will's.
Maccus fell hard to the ground, his head slamming into the still rotting wood. Blood coming out of the latter, while he lay sadly on the floor. He revealed a figure, which Will knew only too well.
She was there.
Good god, there she was. What was she doing there?
She had come back, to save him until the death knell was about to sound.Asteria was there, a sword in one hand, and Jack's compass in the other. It was pointing straight ahead. So she was the one with the compass.
Will was struggling to breathe, perhaps because he had just come close to death, but also because he found himself in front of her after months without seeing her.He had not forgotten the betrayal he had suffered, but how to resist such a woman? Splendid and brave, her hair was flying in all directions.
Before they could say anything, because Will's contemplation had actually only lasted a few seconds: Asteria was attacked from all sides.You could see that she didn't know how to handle a sword perfectly, and that it wasn't as spontaneous as for the others. Some on the ship fought by nature and for fun, but Asteria wielded her blade for survival, and defense. Without the sharp cloth, she would be dead by now.
But nevertheless, as far as she could, she fought fiercely, a far cry from the days of screaming when Will killed people in front of her eyes.
Spinning around, she cried out and struck loyally. Will stayed there, and the world seemed to have forgotten him: so much the better.
He was flexing and in terrible pain. Maccus had done quite a bit of damage to him.
Jones' crew shouted and forfeited, though they walked away with the key.
Gibbs held out a hand to Will, pulling him up.
"Well done, man. You defended us all."
"That's normal, Gibbs."
Will smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, Jack came up and ran his hand through Asteria's hair.
"So, are we back?"
"It could be, yes."
"What made you want to join us again?"
"Too complicated to substantiate, and, the miserable luck was in my favor."
"Aye, are you going to stay, friend?"
"Of course. If you still want me on the crew."
"How can I refuse such a fighter! I must say that you impress me, child."
"Jack, I'm sorry for leaving. For leaving like this."
"Come on, I don't blame you. It's not like I've never made a mistake in my life. But, are you sure it's me you should apologize to?"
Asteria smiled and hugged the pirate. Something she would never have imagined before.
Despite his cruelty, she platonically appreciated the pirate, like a big brother, a new member of her family that she could discover given the stability of it.
She rushed over to Will, and looked at him.
His heart was beating, and he only managed to say:
"You're back."