Caeli was barely aware of what was happening around her, she did know that Sam had just run off to get Cassius back... that was about all she was sure of at this point. And Nate had threatened to not go after him.
"He called your bluff," Sully told Nate, he then walked over and touched Caeli's shoulder. She was still staring at the empty place where Sam had been standing a few seconds ago. "Caeli..." He trailed off, she looked to him and seemed to come back to her senses. Sully had always been able to do that, probably because of the role he'd had in her life. He was almost like a father to her.
"I'll shadow after him." She stated, suddenly aware of what was going on. Sam had gone after Cassius and the treasure... without her.
"No," Nate responded. "You aren't running off too." He was as worried as she was.
"We're wasting time, you three should get to the plane and bring it closer to that mountain," Caeli stated, just about to shadow after Sam when Nate spoke again.
"Caeli, for the love of God, you're not going by yourself. We're going together." He told her, she looked him directly in the eyes.
"You convinced me to leave my son behind so we would have a better chance of getting him back later... I'm not asking you to leave your brother behind, I am asking for you to get the plane ready." She stated, watching Nate's form carefully as he walked towards. "We're wasting time."
"No, we're going to find a way for all of us to go." He finalised, beginning to walk away.
"Fine." She snapped. "But if we take too long, I will be going and I will be going by myself. It's my family, Nate."
"He's my brother-"
"He's my husband." She cut him off of whatever spiel he would be going onto.
"Since when were you two married?" Sully asked, Caeli pulled the ring out from her shirt, miraculously still there after the night before in the stormy sea.
"Vegas, all those years ago. We got married in a chapel there, slightly drunk to say the least." She explained quickly. "My point is, Sam is my family, Cassius is my son. They are my responsibility, so if we end up wasting time trying to get all of us up high enough to go after Sam and either him or Cassius die because we were too late..." She couldn't finish the sentence, although it was clear to the others what she intended to say. She would be holding them responsible.
"Five minutes, if we don't find a way in five minutes then you can go, alright?" Nate bargained, she sighed.
"Fine. I'm counting from now." She told him, and they began running to find something, anything, that could get them to the higher ground and on the path that Sam would have taken. They soon found a goods trailer, which when pushed up against a retaining wall was high enough to allow them to jump up. Nate put the brake on the trailer before they all stepped back.
"See, a way for all of us," Nate said, looking to Caeli before she heard the brake snap. The four of them caught the trailer before it rolled away.
"This isn't going to hold," Sully stated the obvious, he and Elena were at the back of the trailer, holding a majority of the weight.
"C'mon..." Nate whispered as if he was talking to the trailer. "Caeli..."
"What?" She asked, on the opposite side to him. She couldn't see his face to know what he was thinking.
"Caeli, go." He told her.
"What happened to go together?" She asked next, focusing on keeping the trailer against the wall.
"Plans change..." Nate spoke quietly. "You're right, it's your family. Go and save them." Nate told her, she closed her eyes for a second to fully understand what this meant for Nate. He was trusting her to do this alone, he realised that they could die... but that she was the best chance they had of all getting out of there alive.
She jumped onto the top of the trailer and ran to the wall, jumping on top of it and turning to look back just as the trailer began rolling back down the hill, the three others watching as it hit a statue of Avery and one of the wheels fell off. There was no chance of them using that again.
"Now how the hell are we supposed to get up there?" Sully asked and Caeli was looking around from her new vantage point. She now had the idea of them all going together in her mind... she didn't want that to change now.
"We don't have enough time," Nate stated, looking to Elena. Caeli was already looking at the path she needed to follow.
"Caeli, not by yourself..." Sully stated as he saw her do so.
"I have to. The walls too high for me to catch one of you if you jump. We don't have enough time to find another way, I have to go after him." She told them bluntly, leaving no room for argument. "I said I would give you five minutes, that five minutes is up." She added, looking at Nate.
"Caeli, if you die Sam will kill me," Nate said like it would change her mind.
"If I die, he's already dead," Caeli responded, she knew how much it would hurt him to watch her run off too but she couldn't wait. Not any longer.
"We'll get the plane as close to the mountain as we can," Elena stated, looking to Sully for backup on her statement. The man nodded.
"Be ready for a quick getaway," Caeli told them.
"Is there any other kind?" Sully asked next and Caeli took one last look at the three of them. She could very well die within the next hour... that thought scared her. "Don't even think about not coming back, kid." He added, she smiled weakly at him.
"Thanks, Sully, for everything." She said quietly, the man nodded at her.
"You don't give yourself enough credit." The man told her, she shook her head.
"I'll see you on the plane, no sooner." She finished, not waiting for a response before she began running after Sam. She followed a path in the forest, assuming it was the same way that Sam had gone and only finding evidence of that when she came across a set of footprints in the mud.
"Sam!" She shouted, hoping he was close enough to hear her. "God damn it, Sam." She whispered to herself, a shadow appearing next to her. Cassandra... at least who she thought was Cassandra. She followed the spirit through dangerous jumps, rope-swinging and potential falls to death... she felt her body was too weak to shadow-walk.
"Still getting sick of this death-defying shit." She whispered as she entered the mountain, still following the spirit as she faced even more dangerous jumps, rock-climbing and hoping that wooden structures wouldn't fall out from underneath her. She finally caught sight of Avery's ship in the central cavern of the mountain as she hung from a rope, a smile breaking on her face as she did so.
"Oh my god, that's it." She whispered to herself once again before she figured out where to head next. More dangerous rock-climbing... seems like the best plan.
Once she came to the end of the rock-climbing she saw what seemed to be her one way down somewhat safely. Mudslide. It probably ended in water... she took a deep breath and readied herself for it. She couldn't worry about her fear right now... Cassius and Sam were relying on her. With that thought, her mind was set and she jumped.
Landing in the water was a shock to her, the water was bloody cold, but she kept focused on her breathing before she realised she would have to go underwater to get to the right cavern. After having to submerge twice in the water she rose underneath a wooden jetty, glad for the coverage once she heard voices.
"We almost done here?" Nadine asked and Caeli assumed she was talking to one of her men.
"This is the last of them, ma'am." The mercenary replied Caeli had to stifle a laugh. Ma'am.
"Good." The woman responded. "If we hurry we can catch up with the others," Nadine added, Caeli then heard a boat leaving the jetty...
"Sam just stole our goddamn boat." Rafe's voice rang clear to Caeli's ears, her temporary entertainment of Nadine being called 'ma'am' was immediately gone. Anger filled her veins instead. "He's headed for Avery's ship, come on."
"Let him." Caeli furrowed her brow as Nadine responded, she was going to let Sam go? "We're done."
"We're done?" Rafe asked, and while Caeli was focusing on what was being said she was also listening for any kind of evidence that Cassius was with them.
"Most of my men are dead, Rafe. And those who aren't have already left." Nadine responded.
"Can you see that?" Caeli assumed that as Rafe was speaking he was pointing to the ship. "The end is literally in sight."
"That maniac pirate of yours has rigged this entire cave. I'm not setting foot on his ship," Nadine responded, Caeli took in what she had said. The cave was filled with traps... who knows what going onto his ship could trigger.
"Nadine, if you cut and run right now, the loss of all your men, everything that we've done, is for nothing."
"We have millions in gold right here. I'd say that plus our lives in something."
"No wonder so many of your men abandoned you."
"Excuse me?"
"We're on the verge of making history here, and you're okay with walking away with just a pittance- a fraction of what Sam is going to get from that boat."
"Sam and Cassius." Nadine corrected him, Caeli was suddenly re-interested in the conversation. Cassius must have gotten away, he was with Sam and they were both heading for the ship.
"You lost the kid too? You want them to win everything?"
"If they can walk away from that ship alive, they can have it," Nadine responded, pausing for a moment. "Hell, I'd say they've earned it. God knows you didn't." Caeli smiled at Nadine's words. Those words specifically would have made Rafe very angry and would probably lead to him being rather irrational. Caeli heard the sound of skin hitting skin and assumed that Rafe had just hit Nadine for her comment.
"Now look, we can stand here and insult each other all day or we can finish what it is that we-" He was cut off... not by words, but with the sound of effort from Nadine and the sound of a punch, she guessed it was her hitting back. She then heard a body hit the jetty.
"Oh, we're finishing it all right." Nadine was angry, and if she had any idea of what the woman was like at all, Caeli assumed she was pointing a gun at Rafe's head. She then heard two guns being readied.
"Sorry, ma'am." One of the mercenaries apologised... so there was two of them, and they had turned against Nadine. Caeli almost wanted to say 'I told you so'.
"Yeah... the thing about mercenaries, Nadine, their loyalty... it's bought. It's not earned. Now, come on. Either we can finish this thing together, or we can just end it right here." Rafe stated, confirming what Caeli had thought about the mercenaries turning on Nadine.
"Let's go make history." Caeli could hear the bitterness in Nadine's words as she spoke before they all climbed onto the boat that was still there and went on their way to Avery's ship. Once they were gone, Caeli found a way to get above the water and onto the jetty for a moment. She took a few deep, staggered breaths before jumping back into the water and beginning to swim to Avery's ship.
When she was about halfway to the ship an explosion came from it, blowing a hole in the side which was also above water. She guessed that could be her way in.
As soon as she made it inside she saw one of the mercenaries dead, probably having set off the explosion in the first place. That meant there was only Nadine, Rafe and one other possible mercenary left.
This would be easier than she thought.