Shipwreck Cove. Present-day.
CALYPSO ROSE FROM the waves and Erica had never seen a sea so violent in recent times, besides the storm, she was caught in on Neverland. She shrunk down to human size and hurried onto the sand in the shallows and whirled around to face them "What do you two think you are doing?"
"We were showing Erica the trident"
"Why? It should be with Poseidon in the tomb"
Erica's heart stuttered, she had read about Poseidon but didn't know he was still around, although considering the eternal Goddess of the seas was her magic teacher and she had dark magic running through her veins
"Stop being dramatic, you know Poseidon isn't dead"
"Well perhaps it was worded wrong but you know what I mean" Calypso shrugged her face and stance impassive as if she didn't realise what she was saying was terrifying to Erica, who had just come to terms with the fact that Calypso was real and had formed a friendship with her while she was learning magic
Even if it was only tentative
"Perhaps I do" Jaclyn clipped, her tone jaded and edged "But your student doesn't"
"Do you want to know about it?"
"I would, I am a Queen after all" Erica said boldly, stepping forward into the shallows where Calypso was. The waves lashed harshly at her feet and pain spiked in her ankles but she didn't back down
Recklessness. She was being so reckless but she couldn't find it within herself to care. This could seriously get her killed -- everything she had been since coming from Enchanted Forest could have gotten her killed, from scaling the rigging to taking on Blackbeard and Angelica, the way she did.
But again she didn't find it within herself to care
"And I would be careful what you say to me girl, you are after all talking to a Goddess, who not only controlled the seas but is also extremely powerful myself so next time I would really be careful of how you say it and what you say more importantly," Calypso said every word penetrating Erica's skin
"I would still like to learn"
"Come with me, you have a lot to learn. I will teach you" Calypso commanded, every word just as sharp as ever as she fell into step beside Erica, taking her back to the Cove and surprisingly into the library, taking her over to the stone bench and inviting her to sit down
"Everything?"
"Okay but don't say I didn't warn you," Calypso said softly but with a sharp look that made Erica's stomach twist, still she edged closer to the deity wanting to hear the rest of her tale "The seas and oceans are vast and forever changing and because of that. The seas are guarded by the Council made up of Poseidon, Ursula, Triton and myself as we make up the sea deities. We govern over everything to do with the seas, every decision, every deal and every tragedy?"
"Every tragedy?"
"You didn't think every sunken ship, every tropic storm and every riptide happened randomly do you? No, they were calculated and risked, we controlled everything and anything." Calypso said and for a second, even in her human form, she seemed to have a spark of Godly power
It was as if Erica had realised how fickle Gods could be
"Poseidon was the one who rescued me from my island and he gave me a home away from my island and well he quickly became one of my friends and I helped him create the trident that you were using while Triton created a sword and Ursula a crown, this allowed us to govern the seas with more control"
Erica absorbed all the information that she could -- she knew she was so lucky to have Calypso as a mentor because who else was more qualified to teach her magic than a literal Goddess, she didn't interrupt as she waited patiently for Calypso to explain the rest of her life
"Then I met Davy Jones" A misty look overtook her features as her voice cracked but she remained strong and unbending. Davy Jones rang a bell with Erica and a shiver went down Erica's spine
"Davy Jones?"
"You know of him then"
Erica nodded, confirming Calypso's statement as she shrugged her shoulders "Jack mentioned making a deal with him"
"She did -- saved her from death 'im did"
Again hearing about Jaclyn dying almost paralysed Erica for how could the world be so cruel to try and snuff out one of the brightest lights Erica had ever known bar her sister who was the saviour of all the light magic in the realm
Erica tried not to think about what that meant for her
"She also gave me the impression that he was cruel"
"'Im was but he wasn't always like that, he was actually sweet once upon a time," Calypso told him, a sweet sing-song melody in her voice. Erica recognised that tone in her voice. She was in love with him and as always love made you blind
"You sound like you were in love" Erica noted with an undescribed emotion in her voice
"I was in love with him once -- I wanted to live with him forever with 'im like you often dream about with Jaclyn" Calypso once again had the wistful note in her voice "Yes, I hear about your whispered and not so whispered confessions about wanting you two to be together forever. I would warn you off that idea as you have no idea what destiny has in store for you"
"But you do?"
"Bits and pieces but I cannot tell you -- against the law of Gods and all"
"Can you change it?"
Calypso's ageless eyes seemed to burn with fire and brimstone as they hardened "It is but a slippery slope, fate and destiny are like sand slipping through your hands. It is easy to change but only before the sand hardens in your hand and well I wouldn't recommend you do it because as you've learned from the Dark One trying to change your fate, only cements it"
"But how could I do half the stuff that people said I would -- how can I kill my sister"
"Do not worry my child -- your fate is not sealed yet"
It was obvious that fate and destiny were two sides of the same coin.
Calypso was obviously trying to warn her though that it often wasn't as simple as one would assume. It was a balancing act, one careful line that was drawn in the sand, which could be malleable if one was careful and did something before fate or destiny had hardened otherwise one would be stuck to their fates
That warning has stuck with her no matter how much she tried to forget it. it was like a buzzing in her head. Like the one she got every time she used her magic and the way her skin tingled every time it reared its head
Her magic was a part of her. Something that came naturally to her at this point and she was excited to have some semblance of control over her magic finally. So maybe it was a good thing that she had so many people who cared for her and wanted her to succeed in her magic no matter its dark roots
"I thought I had found a way to make him immortal, I would give him a job to ferry the souls of the dead over to their resting place, he was to do this and one day every ten years. We could be together, just 'im and I but see just like is my nature like the sea I am forever changing and I honestly don't remember why I didn't show up but well I didn't and he was left heartbroken"
"'Him cut out of his own heart and well turned as cruel as the seas abandoning his duty but that wasn't the worse of his fate. See Jones managed to contact the Brethern Court and made a plan to betray me. So he lured me out and then the Brethern Court trapped me and bound me in my bones. There was a song about it too"
"Hoist the colours?"
"Ah, so you know that"
"Again Jack mentioned it"
Calypso's ageless eyes seem to turn fond as they twinkle with laughter and not for the first time Erica wondered what was the deep history between them but like Erica had grown used to her words were stern "Witty Jack seems to know a lot"
"Yes she does"
"You know if I really wanted to, I could wipe that look of your face with one simple potion"
"There's a potion for that"
"There's a potion for pretty much everything" Calypso said in all earnest and then she turned to Erica, giving her a sharp look that reminded her all too much of the Evil Queen "I did give you my old spellbooks to study off didn't I?"
Erica got to her feet, no longer wanting to be seated. Her head pounding and her heart just equally going as fast, she tries to grip onto reality, tries to remember every spell in the spellbooks that Calypso had given her, her mind completely slipping as she tried to remember everything
"Yeah but I haven't really had a look at potions"
"Then that's what we must do. You must study potion crafting and it's properties after all a balance is important in magic. To understand most magic you must have a balance and you my dear are sorely lacking"
* * * * *
Shipwreck Cove. Present-day.
Storms seemed to grow in Erica's bones, they had done ever since she was a child. She used to think it was because she was special but now she realised it was because darkness grew there and it fractured through every part of her being, seeping into every relationship and threatening to destroy everything she holds dear
On days like today, it threatens to rip her apart until she combusted
"Ow!" Jaclyn cried, bringing her back to reality and anchoring her there. Erica continued to bounce on the balls of her feet as Jaclyn's hands fly up to her nose and a few seconds later she hears a crack as it sets back into place "I think you broke my nose!"
"Sorry!" Erica exclaimed, her voice carrying over the growing waves. No doubt it was Calypso warning them. Evidently, she was still pissed off that Jaclyn and the others still had the Trident and although Jaclyn
"It's okay, you can heal me"
"But I only haven't healed you before -- I wouldn't know how"
"You can," Jaclyn tells her with a grin, looking into her eyes with such love and concern, it nearly made Erica melt into a puddle right then and then "Trust your own instincts and just let go. I'll be okay, I promise you"
Erica huffed out a breath but closed her shaking hands around Jaclyn's nose, pinching her eyebrows together and squinting her eyes in concentration. Finally, she feels the skin start to patch up and stitch back together
"You want to go again"
"This time with staffs?" Jaclyn asked with hopeful eyes
"Sure but you're going to have to teach me how"
"Obviously"
They spent a few hours training more -- with breaks built in when needed -- using a staff was only slightly different from using a sword, it had more difficult moves sometimes and was occasionally more intimate than using a sword because you didn't have that longer reach that you tended to get with swords
"Strike" Jaclyn demanded, her voice low and worn out with exhaustion but she and Erica both keep pushing through. Erica dropped into a stance and tried to strike Jaclyn in the midsection but with snakelike reflections Jaclyn caught the ended of the staff and twisted it out the way
"What was the point of telling me to do that if you were just going to do that?"
Jaclyn relaxed her stance, a cocky look covering her face as she circles Erica like a prey, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips as she sticks the staff out in the direction of Erica "You need to learn how to be quicker, like I said I won't go easy on you just because you're my girlfriend"
"Good." Erica nodded, prodding Jaclyn's ribs "Because I won't easier"
"Stay focused" Jaclyn told her, noticing her slipping concentration,
All you need to do is flick your wrist and the legend is no more or perhaps you need something more intimate for warm blood to spill onto your hands. The darkness was nothing but a growing whisper in the back of her head and it turned her blood to ice, she was training! Not actually going in for the kill
Besides the point is that Jaclyn was one of the people would never hurt at least not intentionally because the pirate was one of the people she would protect with everything within her, even if that meant burning the world down for her
Shaking off the thoughts, Erica turned her attention back to Jaclyn with a heaving breath as she tried to draw the last of her strength. Jaclyn once again took a re;axed stance and pushed one end off the staff to knock it into Erica's
"But you're so pretty"
"Stop. You're trying to distract me"
"Is is not working"
"Oh it is working" Jaclyn admitted through a grunt "But I will not be swayed"
"But you're Jaclyn Sparrow, you are swayed very easily" Erica laughed, her words wrapped in love and affection as she continued to try to get closer to Jaclyn to land a sneaky hit on her"Men and women are seduced to you and you do use them as a distraction and I so want you to distract me"
"Why are you bringing up distractions?" Jaclyn asked, seemingly not falling into the trap Erica had set for her and instead narrowing her eyes, being calculating and anylical. It would be hard to change her fate -- but she doesn't want that, she doesn't want a prophecy to be her down fall. Erica would fight until she couldn't anymore
Maybe that's why she was still physically fighting Jaclyn
"Something that Cally said" Erica said, trying to deliver a sneaky kick to Jaclyn's head, but Jaclyn stumbled back just in time and managed to catch Erica's foot and catch her off balance sending her onto her ass
Her chests rose and fell with every heavy breath she took as she sat up, her knees pulled up to her chest as Erica lets air fill her burning lungs. Jaclyn hovers over the blonde almost patienly with her arm out
"But I thought you said everything was fine" Jaclyn said as Erica holds Jaclyn's hand and the brunette pulled her up almost effortlessly. Electricty cracks through her body, as she readies herself for round two
Jaclyn regarded her with sceptism brimming brightly in her eyes but seem to fold to Erica's desire to want to keep fighting -- to blow the storm away from her heart. Erica put one foot behind the other, with her gate slightly apart before she delivered two blows quickly to the jaw
Jaclyn's head snapped to the side, blood dribbling out her mouth and down her chin as she spat it on the deck her jaw clicking as she rubbed it to get it to try to stop hurting but it was a fruitless attempt as Erica delivered another blow this time with her staff to Jaclyn's side
"I feel like everything's fine -- but I also feel like I'm a powder keg waiting to explode, remember what I said about my magic about it feeding on my anger -- every time I think I'm getting better. Something happens and I'm back to stage one, I make my deals based on anger. Anger is my number one emotion, even if I tried to quash it. The deal with BlackBeard was made out of my anger to keep you safe"
Throughly beaten and bruised Jaclyn ends the training session after letting Erica's words sink between them and Erica wanders into the Cove, her skin blotched with red as it runs in tanned skin. Drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, her muscles are worn out and she is so tired but she still told Jaclyn of her plans that day
"I'm going to go to Calypso later, maybe she can help me with healing spells and such of the like -- she told me she would teach me how to make healing potions and such, Cally says that I'm lacking in that area of magic"
"Alright. Do you want to maybe come to play video games with me and the Recruit after?"
"I'd like that. Shall we say early evening? It should allow me to do everything I need to do and go back to the library and maybe check with Annamaria and Angelica. We were hoping to maybe have a girl night soon"
"Oh that sounds fun"
* * * * *
Shipwreck Cove. Present-day.
"No, no, no, no" Erica exclaimed as a rush of irration hit her. In a childish move she throughs the controls onto the sofa, which was in the middle of the room -- it was albeit more spacious than it aught to be but then Erica pictured it around the time when Jaclyn was no more than a young girl, filled with noise and the occasional gun fire when disputes couldn't be settled with just fists and a hard enough knock to dislodge a tooth . Now she knows why it is the size it is
Not to say it hadn't been mordernised over the years, even if it was a few years out of date. But the walls and interior of the Cove wasn't the only thing to be mordenised -- they had managed to get central heating and indoor pumbling. When Erica asked how all Jaclyn did was slyly wink and not say anything more
Although the Cove itself still had an air of history
Unfortuanatly, her childish antics seemed to have caught the attention of everyone in the room making her clench her fists and flush. Henry was giving her quite the skeptical look which was a testimate to his parents and the people that raised him
"What are you saying Aunt Rick? You won the the last three rounds"
"I know kiddo but I was hoping to win the cup with three stars"
"It's because she's an over achiever!"
She turned towards the voice to see Elizabethas she looked up from her work, her fingernails ashy with charcole. She had a smile on her face as she looked around the room at her family before her eyes landed on Erica and her smile narrowed as if daring her to do something
"Shut up!" Erica threw towards Elizabeth as she summoned a pillow and hurtled it towards her to which Elizabeth stealthy dodged the pillow. Laughter lighting up her face and making her looks years younger than the twenty-six she currently was
"Will my dearest darling please help me"
"Why should I?"
Though the words had a teasing edge to it, he was already making his way over to his wife and dropped a kiss on her forehead crouching so he was eyelevel with Elizabeth, words were spoken ever so softly between them that the only way Erica could see that they were speaking was their lips moving
"Because you love me?" Elizabeth said, louder again and drawing Erica's attention back to the coversation and she watched as Will's eyes soften consinderably and Erica had a fleeting thought of how they could still love each other so deeply. Even if it was a lot more gentle and tried and true love than Erica's and Jaclyn's passionate and often firery love that burned as bright as a star and threanted to cosume them -- not that either minded, it was abusotely thrilling
"Forever and always 'Lizabeth, until I draw my last breath and even after that" Will said, his words so soft and seemingly dripping of sugar, Erica didn't think she had ever heard so sweet except when Jaclyn was being charming and cheesy with her and Erica lets her emotions burst out of her
"My hero"
"I always hope to be"
Erica can't help but lean into Jaclyn's side, as she wrapped her arms around her neck and smiled as she rested her jaw and began kissing at the skin there before she whispered in her ear "I hope your taking notes"
"Oh believe me I've been around them enough to know all their lines by heart but the good thing is I don't need to use those lines on you 'cause I can charm you all on my own" Jaclyn smirked
"Another go?" Erica asked
"Your on"