𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

one hundred nine.

─☼☼☼─

CHARLOTTE WASN'T REALLY  sure when the tears started, but by the time she reached home, her face was coated in them. She was sure her eyes were a dead give away to the fact that she had been sobbing over Rafe, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. 

But luckily, as she entered the house, no one said a word about her appearance. They were all too focused debriefing about the past few hours. Which apparently included JJ and Kiara almost being killed by the man who had attacked them the night prior. Pope and Cleo eavesdropping on said diver's friends, and Sarah and John B getting some sort of translation from the amulet. 

Charlotte's day suddenly seemed very uneventful in comparison. 

"Hey," JJ muttered, nudging Charlotte as John B read out the inscription. "You okay?"

So someone had noticed. 

She couldn't tell him what had her so upset, not now at least. "Yeah," she lied, voice cracking slightly. "Just tired."

JJ knew she was lying to him, but he didn't push it in that moment. 

"To me, it still sounds like directions to something." John B informed the group, giving his head a small shake. 

Cleo pursed her lips. "Yeah, but to what?"

JJ took hold of the amulet, holding it out so he and Charlotte could get a good look at it. "Well, Genrette was obsessed with Blackbeard, so maybe directions to his treasure?" John B wondered. 

"And how much would that be in American?" JJ asked, passing the amulet to Charlotte. 

She let out a small breath. "Priceless."

"Tempting," JJ muttered. 

Charlotte turned the amulet over in her hands, still in disbelief that JJ and Kiara had truly found it. She was literally holding a piece of history in her hands. 

"So what is this treasure?" Cleo wondered, still not on board with all of it. "Gold?"

Pope squinted slightly, as if trying to recall. "No...I remember on the pier, the diver, he was talking to some lady about something. It wasn't gold. It was like a...like a...a crown. A blue crown."

"A blue crown?" JJ repeated, skepticism coating his words as he took a swig of his beer. 

Kiara echoed his sentiments. "A blue crown? Really, Pope?"

"I'm just relaying what I heard, alright?"

The two of them began to argue about the validity of Pope's claim, but Charlotte couldn't focus on what they were saying. In her mind, there were a million visions of what she'd read earlier that day. There was something in there about a blue crown...wait. 

Wordlessly, she turned toward her bag, rifling through it for the few books she had decided to borrow. John B turned to face her, his brows furrowed slightly. "Charley?" He wondered, his voice breaking above the bickering. 

Charlotte hastily flipped through the pages, eyes scanning the words as she searched for any sign of it. 

There.