Pirates Of The Caribbean /// Keys Of Hell

Chapter LXX

《Next to the river of lava at the Hell of the Caribbean》
It was the day after Dylan had seen the pirates alive and had talked to Hades, and after he had taken Ruby to have some rum in the small cavern.

As usual, Ruby was sitting by the river of lava, facing the Port of Hell, and Dylan came up behind her.

Dylan: (Aproaching Ruby) So Shadow is here again.
Ruby: (Turns to see Dylan while smiling) Are you surprised about it?
Dylan: No, actually not. (Sits next to Ruby) You look different.
Ruby: Different? Different in which way?
Dylan: You look more cheerful, more relaxed, more... alive.
Ruby: (Still smiling) Really? And what makes you think that?
Dylan: Your smile... Your clothes.
Ruby: (Looks confused)
Dylan: Your clothes say it all. Normally you only wear black. Now look at you. Wearing that green hood.
Ruby: I... I wanted to... I wanted to wear something different.
Dylan: And that's the reason you look different today.
Ruby: (Chuckles)
Dylan: Looks like I won't be able to call you Shadow anymore.
Ruby: A green hood is not an excuse.
Dylan: That day will arrive someday. I won't give up until you say it to me.
Ruby: (Denies smiling)

[Ruby's green hood]

Dylan: Why that change? That cheerfulness? That relaxation?
Ruby: Well... Rum has always helped me clear up my problems for a while, and I see that this time was no exception.
Dylan: Problems?
Ruby: I don't know if it can be considered a problem, it's more of an internal concern.
Dylan: Just say it, it does you good to vent once in a while.
Ruby: During these two years I had never lost hope of at some point and somehow going back to life. But I decided that I should stop delusioning, accept that this is my new home and that there is no way out.
Dylan: Does that change has something to do with something you miss about life?
Ruby: It could be... Probably... Actually, I haven't thought about it.
Dylan: Do you like color green?
Ruby: If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be wearing it.
Dylan: And what do you like about that color?
Ruby: Well, apart from the fact that the color relaxes me, it reminds me of that little shack I had in a forest right on the edge of a river.
Dylan: You see that it has something to do with something you miss about life?
Ruby: (Smiles wistfully)
Dylan: Shack on the edge of a river, huh?
Ruby: (Nods)
Dylan: That's the reason I always find you sitting next to the river, isn't it?
Ruby: Probably... But a river of lava next to some stone peaks in a dark landscape is not the same as a greenish river next to a swamp right in the middle of the forest.
Dylan: It's definitely not the same.
Ruby: In the darkness of this place it is as if the colors faded.
Dylan: Just like how our lives faded.
Ruby: (Sigh a little sad) Don't make me feel bad again please. I missed smiling. Two years! Two years since I didn't do something that made me feel good!
Dylan: Sorry.
Ruby: (Rests her head on Dylan's shoulder) It's weird to think that if I hadn't helped, I might still be sailing the blue waters of the great Atlantic Ocean.
Dylan: You miss your pirate life, don't you?
Ruby: (Nods with her head still resting on Dylan's shoulder)
Dylan: Sorry for asking, but... help with what? What was it that brought you here?
Ruby: My help to a friend.
Dylan: From what you have told me, you were not convicted. And if you're here, that means you died on land. What was it that brought you here? A battle?
Ruby: It was a battle that was not in water. But it was not on land either.
Dylan: (Confused) How come?
Ruby: It's hard.
Dylan: And what was it that you helped your friend that made you lose your life?
Ruby: That friend was... trapped. And I... I helped him free.
Dylan: Prison?
Ruby: ...Something like that.
Dylan: Curse?
Ruby: (Sighs and nods) Aye, curse.
Dylan: But why?! You're a pirate! You know that we pirates think of ourselves before anyone else.
Ruby: I couldn't leave him! He was my lifelong friend! Since my first trip on ship! Since I was just eleven and he was thirteen.
Dylan: It must have been hard for him to watch his lifelong friend die after helping him.
Ruby: Actually he didn't see me die. I don't even know if he knows.
Dylan: Didn't you tell me that you helped him free himself from a curse?
Ruby: Rather, I helped his son free him.
Dylan: And why so much closeness to that friend of yours?
Ruby: He cheered me up when I was sad, calmed me down when I was angry, and helped me not to do crazy things.
Dylan: Crazy things? Which type of crazy things?
Ruby: It's such a long story.
Dylan: Here's not much to do. I've got a lot of time.
Ruby: I... never had a good relationship with my mother. We fought and argued a lot. That led me to try to commit certain crazy things and try to escape from where I lived. But my friend calmed me and made me feel better. Although at the end I still escaped. I escaped along the coast and that's when I really got to know the sea, I met other pirates and that life made me feel better.
Dylan: But you didn't answer to my question. Which type of crazy things you tried to do?