Unknown Coordinates, On Top of the Black Pearl - Nightfall - A Few Days Later
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The rest of the trip had been silent. No incidents took place, no arguments and no more obstacles. The sea itself had been favouring them, allowing them for a calm journey as they made their way towards the meeting point of the Brethren Court.
During a quiet but particular night, when no soul was on the deck, a shadow moved along in utter silence. Dragging a stabbed and now dead man, the figure tied the body to a barrel at the bow of the ship.
However, this hadn't gone unnoticed by two individuals. One stayed in the shadows and the other decided to make itself visible.
"Bravo, you escaped the brig even quicker than I expected," Jack said, leaning against the wooden railing and having spied on the younger man for a while now. "William, do you notice something? Or rather do you notice something that is not there to be noted?"
Will lifted an eyebrow and thought before he realised what Jack meant. "You haven't raised an alarm"
The pirate smirked. "Odd, isn't it? But not as odd as this. Come up with this all by your lonesome, did you?"
"I said to myself, think like Jack"
"And this is what you've arrived at?" he asked, feeling slightly hurt that this was all Will could think of. Yet, he did not stay on that top. "Lead Beckett to Shipwreck Cove so as to gain his trust, accomplish your own ends? It's like you don't know me at all, mate." a faint smirk formed on his lips, having noticed the third person who had been watching them. "And how does dear childhood friend Artemis feel about this?"
"Not utterly surprised," a familiar female voice said and the two men looked at a shadowed corner, only to see the woman sitting casually, one leg propped up.
She had one hand resting on her lifted knee, the other placed on her lap. She had not drawn any of her weapons and she did not seem to want to comment on Will or his latest actions. However, even in the dim light of the lanterns, he could see that she was silently judging him with that single eye of hers.
"Artemis," Will said, suddenly being unable to find any words or excuse to justify his actions.
"Well, she knows now" Jack continued. "And what about your dearly beloved feel about this?" Will hesitated and it was all Jack needed to realize the truth behind the situation. "Ah, you've not seen fit to trust her with it"
The young man let out a sigh and lowered his head slightly. "I'm losing her Jack. Every step I take for my father is a step away from Elizabeth"
Jack seemed to understand the situation, sending a glance at Artemis who stood there silently, deep in her thoughts. She had seen how the two of them had drifted apart and she wasn't a fan of it.
Yet, she understood. Their goals were different, no...they were opposite and keeping secrets like that simply grew the gap between them. She felt Jack's eyes, wondering why he was looking at her but then his next words somehow seemed to give her a hint.
"Mate, if you choose to lock your heart away, you'll lose it for certain" She looked shocked but the low lighting of the lanterns barely showed details of her face. She listened carefully as Jack continued. "If I may lend a machete to your intellectual thicket—avoid the choice altogether. Change the facts. Let someone else dispatch Jones"
"Who?" Will asked but then, he seemed to make the connection in his mind. "You?" he dared to hypothesize while making Artemis slowly blink once she also realized that her childhood friend was right.
Jack smirked. "Death has a curious way of reshuffling one's priorities. I'll slip aboard the Dutchman, find the heart, stab the beating thing. Your father goes free, and you're free to be with your charming murderess"
"And you're willing to carve out your heart and bind yourself to the Dutchman, forever," Will asked him, a question Artemis also had but never voiced.
"No mate, I'm free forever. Free to sail the seas beyond the edges of the map, free from death itself"
"You've got to do the job though, Jack. You have to ferry souls to the next world. Or end up just like Jones" he said, stroking his chin.
The Pirate's expression changed once he thought of that detail. "I don't have the face for tentacles. But immortality has to count for something...Plus, all can be endured with good company" he said and looked at Artemis who gave him a weak smile. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, especially the tentacle part. However, sailing forever without fear and with a command of the sea... felt nice, and it sounded nice. Jack suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh!" he tossed Will his compass.
"What's this for?"
"Think like me, it'll come to you," he said as he took a step in front of Will before he exhaled a puff of strong rummy breath into Will's face. It shocked him for a moment and the man took a step back to try and escape but only ended up losing his balance and falling into the sea. caused him to fall overboard. Jack then cut the rope holding the barrel with the body and pushed it overboard too. "My regards to Davy Jones!"
Jack turned with an amused grin which dropped once he noticed Artemis. She was now standing, hands folded in front of her chest. "Somedays I think I have you figured out Jack and then others...you just surprise me" She shrugged her shoulders.
The man grinned and took a few steps to be now in front of her. "Well, that is part of my charm love"
Lifting her head to look into his eyes, she frowned slightly. "Why do all of this? Jones doesn't know you escaped? And why risk it now?" she asked, trying to understand what his plan was.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "It's all part of the plan love. Do you trust me?"
"Do I have a choice?" she joked lightly, a smile appearing but she noticed the serious look in his brown eyes.
His face was serious and it held a dangerous calm behind it... just like a few days ago when she had confessed her past with Beckett. However, this time as she looked into this darkness, she could not help but feel excited and almost hypnotized, one would say.
So many emotions were held in there, tucked away from anyone to see or know about them. A sense of danger and adventure were the most prominent ones as those eyes locked on what they considered a treasure, with the same intensity a predator would on their prey. Her lips parted slightly and his brown orbs fell on them, eyelids dropping slightly.
His face was lowered to be closer to hers, head tilted very faintly to one side but his gaze never leaving hers. Slowly, her right hand went to his cheek, feeling his facial hair against her calloused palm.
She could feel his breath on her lips and he could feel hers. Like back at the cabin, they were extremely close but this time, she did not look away. She realised that Jack was holding himself, waiting and not rushing. That was what made this moment so much more different than the night Beckett stole her first kiss.
She decided not to fight her own feelings any longer, and she brought her face even closer. Their lips finally met and both closed their eyes to savour the moment. She was the one to kiss first but he was quick to return the action, taking the lead.
It felt odd and yet, at the same time, she felt as if this was how it was meant to be...with him. And at that moment, she truly wished to be and never separate. With his hand on her waist, she truly wanted to remain like that. The two of them were against the world, finding solace in each other presence while enjoying all the freedom a single ship could offer them.
A few seconds later they broke apart slightly, her hand slowly returning to her side as their gazes were once again locked.
"Lass" he breathed out, his voice holding a tone which made her knees feel weak as his hand remained on her waist.
For a moment, she felt so weak and so...enchanted, if one could even dare to use that word. There was this supernatural connection between them, pulling them until they were so close; unable to ever take a step away from one another.
His look made her melt and she feared if he dared to ask her anything, she would not have the power to fight it and decline.
However, the trance was broken by the screaming sound of a very familiar monkey. It caused them to startle and look to the side. On the wooden railing, the monkey was standing and watching.
"Jack" Artemis exclaimed, her heart beating faster with more than just fright.
She shook her head and took a step back, away from Jack as she felt his hand not holding any resistance or trying to stay firm on her waist. She extended her one hand and the monkey quickly jumped on it, before moving to rest and wrapping its body around her neck.
It was odd, how the monkey seemed to favour only two individuals. One was Barbossa, for the most obvious reasons, and then...it was her. Well, Tia Dalma also seemed to be able to hold and calm down the feral animal but her case was different.
"I cannot believe they named this monster after me" the pirate complained and she smiled amused.
"It's late...we better rest" She turned to walk and head towards the main mast where her usual place at the crow's nest was but felt his fingers gently grabbing hers.
"Lassie..." he started, making her hold her breath for a moment. "What I said before, I mean it. When this is all over, I want you to join me"
She was shocked and could only stand frozen there, her heart beating faster than before and finding her mind unable to produce the words she wanted. A part of herself truly wanted to say yes and accept his offer but another part of her fought back...it was all simply too much to think and decide right now when it was still unclear what would take place by the time the final battle arrived
She pulled her hand away slowly and kept her back turned to him, not having the courage to look at him. For she knew, if she did look at him, she would not be able to say anything else but a yes and perhaps steal another kiss. "We have time until then Jack" and with those words, she kept walking, leaving the man behind.
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The rest of the trip was peaceful with no other incidents taking place, especially ever since Will was tricked and thrown overboard by Jack. Since the night with the kiss, Artemis and Jack had come slightly closer but there was always this awkward sensation from time to time.
Jack made no other move, instead, he decided to wait. Simply because Artemis was giving him signs more complex than some dead language. He couldn't understand why he felt like that and why she reacted this way.
His...experience with ladies didn't prepare him for that. For what he had in the past paled in comparison to what he had now. Yet, he did not want to risk anything and instead, chose to play it smart and safe. After all, the final battle was about to take place and his mind was too preoccupied with the many plans he had formed behind so many backs.
At last, the familiar rocks and land that surrounded and formed the known Shipwreck Island came into view.
Artemis stood along with Gibbs, Jack and some other crew members at the side of the ship with a clear view of the island and its details.
"Look alive and keep a weather eye! Not for nought, it's called Shipwreck Island, where lies Shipwreck Cove and the town of Shipwreck" Gibbs started, being from the few to have actually stepped foot in that place.
"You heard him. Step lively!" Pintel shouted the orders.
"For all that pirates are clever cobs, we are an unimaginative lot when it comes to naming things," Jack said, causing Artemis to look at him with a lifted red eyebrow while Gibbs gave a nod. "I once sailed with a geezer and lost both of his arms and part of his eye"
"And what'd you call him?" Gibbs asked.
"Larry"
"Larry?" Artemis repeated, amused by this. "That was the best they could think of?" she asked, already thinking of any other nickname they could have given to the man.
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Meanwhile, at the very front of the ship, Barbossa and Tia Dalma were talking in a lowered tone and were having a secret discussion that was supposed to be only between them.
"I don't renege on a bargain once struck. But we agreed on ends only, the means are mine to decide" the man said.
Tia, though, showed with her face she was not pleased with such a tone. "Caution, Barbossa. Do not forget it was by my power you return from the dead, or what it means should you fail me"
"Don't forget why you had to bring me back, and why I could not leave Jack to his well-deserved fate. It took nine pirate lords to bind you, Calypso. And it'll take no less than nine to set ye free" he reminded her, his face closer to hers before he noticed two familiar faces close by. "Masters Pintel and Ragetti... take this fishwife to the brig"
"Right this way, Mrs Fish," Pintel said as Tia Dalma was dragged to the brig.
Artemis had noticed that and she went to say something to the two men, but the dark-skinned woman gave her a sharp look that told her she should not interfere with that. Yet, she could not just sit there and let it all happen, at least without answers.
For that, she tried to find Barbossa and get an explanation but failed. Before she could even search more thoroughly, she was pulled away by Jack. He did not say anything but it was clear that she should not interfere.
She did not like that and she would fight him but that already made two people, who wanted her to stay away from all of this. Needless to say, she did not like it. She felt as if everyone knew or had a plan and she was the only one left outside of it.
All she could do now was to control her temper and wait. Once the coast was clear, she would pay Tia Dalma a personal visit and get all the answers she wanted. She might not truly know the older woman that well, but she did have a place in her heart. Especially after she remembered the role she played in her childhood, even though it was small.
She was, perhaps, along with Will and Elizabeth, the only other person that she had left from her past. And unlike the first two, the older woman did not seem to have a selfish Agenda or push her to the side and work behind her back.
Defeated and annoyed, Artemis failed to confront the man as much as she wanted as she was immediately pulled away by Jack. She had only managed to get the information of a plan and that it was mere precaution the whole Tia in the Brig.
"Look at them all!" Pintel nudged her side, snapping her from her intense staring at pretty much the passing waters.
"Huh?" she exclaimed, focusing back on the present and it was then she noticed the dozens of pirate ships all anchored.
She blinked and dropped the hands that were folded in front of her chest. Instead, she leaned against the wooden railing and looked, taking in each unique structure and design of each ship along with the flag that accompanied it.
She remembered when she was a kid and was hanging out with Elizabeth. The younger girl had a book about pirates, showing all the flags that represented each and every Pirate Lord. It was a fascinating thing that both quickly learnt by heart.
At the thought of her younger adopted sister, her heart felt heavy and she deeply hoped that she was alright and had already reached the meeting place before them.
Trying not to let her emotions get the best of her, she focused back on the ships. She had only heard, almost dreamt of how the other Pirate ships looked like and of course the famous Pirate lords. She was kinda excited about this meeting, wanting to see the famous names that existed since she was a mere child and heard the stories from her father's crew.
For that moment, her mind forgot the plans she made and a childish joy took over her core. Her excitement didn't go unnoticed as Barbossa took her other side and watched with the tip of his blue eyes.
However, other thoughts were already in his mind for he had been keeping an eye on her for a while now. With what plans he had in motion, he could not help but wonder how things would turn out.
"There's not been a gatherin' like this in our lifetime" he finally said, eyes going to the ships.
"And I owe them all money" Jack commented, causing the redhead to crack a smile.
"Well, then Jack" she slapped his back gently twice. "It was nice meeting you"
EDITED: 9/3/2024