Aztecs' Curse

Chapter 18

     Upon a rowboat, in the dead of night, Norrington peeked through his scope, attempting to gain a good look at the Black Pearl as well as the caves within the cliffs of Isla de Muerta. Behind him, Jack watched, a bored expression on his face, though he couldn't stop thinking about Victoria and her promise to marry the man sitting before him. Sure, marrying off to a Commodore was far more respectable than marrying a pirate. But then, what of love? Of course, he shouldn't have been asking himself this if he didn't think there was a chance she could love him--but, he couldn't help it. They had only just met, after all. But, there were many who wedded those they didn't even know before hand. He just hoped that, should Victoria go through with what she promised, she would be happy.
     "I don't care for the situation," Norrington said, interrupting the pirate's thoughts, as he lowered his scope. "Any attempts to storm the caves could turn into an ambush."
     Jack quickly leaned forward so he was beside the Commodore, eager for his own little plan to proceed as planned, resting his arm on the man's shoulder. "Not if you're the one doing the ambushing." His other hand lifted somewhat, pointing randomly as he spoke for emphasis, and he said, "I go in and convince Barbossa to send his men out with their little boats, you and your mates return to the Dauntless and blast them with your little cannons. What do you have to lose?"
     Norrington lifted his scope, pushing Jack's arm off his shoulder with it. "Nothing I'd lament being rid of." His eyes remained on the ship ahead.
     Determined, Jack nodded slightly, motioning with his hands again, even if he was not being watched. "Now, to be quite honest with you, there's still a slight risk to those aboard the Dauntless, which includes the future Mrs. Commodore." Which, naturally, worried himself. But, something told him Victoria would be perfectly fine. In fact, if he knew her well enough at all after those past few days, he figured that she would find a way to get off the ship at any moment, as she was stubborn enough to try to help with the rescuing of William.
     Suddenly, the Commodore looked very much concerned.
     Of course, this simply brought a small and quirky smile to Jack's face.

* * *     Victoria shouted and struggled along with her sister as the two women were dragged towards the Captain's quarters upon the ship, both wanting to set out after Norrington help him, but it seemed that no one would listen--most definitely because they were women--not only because of such a minor fact of the two, but because they didn't want to risk endangering Swann's children. Not only this, but it felt as if Elizabeth's reasons were far different than Victoria's own.
     "Sorry, but it's for your own safety," one of the soldiers latched onto Elizabeth said.
     "The commodore," Elizabeth responded frantically as she thrashed, "there's something I have to tell him! The pirates, they're cursed! They can't be killed!"
     Victoria felt her breath hitch, and she quit struggling as she watched her sister, though she was still led to the room. Though she hadn't actually seen it for herself, the older sister wondered if it was actually true, as she hadn't seen any skeletons upon her own encounter with Cyrus--but then, she supposed, the moon could have been covered at the time. That, and she knew when her sister was lying. This, indeed, was not one of those times.
     The two women were tossed past the doors of the Captain's quarters, and Victoria stumbled a moment before catching herself, turning and watching as Elizabeth whirled around to face the men.

     Gillette, much to Victoria's distaste, stepped forth, looking as smug as ever, and though he spoke to Elizabeth his eyes kept flickering to Victoria. "Don't worry, miss. He's informed of that. A little mermaid flopped up on deck and told him the whole story." His raised brows dropped down to a smile as he chuckled to himself and quickly closed and locked the doors.

     Elizabeth leapt to the doors, grabbing onto them desperately. "This is Jack Sparrow's doing!" Then, she whirled around, staring at Victoria as if she hadn't expected her to be standing there. "I'm..."