A Daemon's Second Chance (Tales of Berseria x Kingdom Hearts)

Chapter 22: Jack's Lesson & The Isle of the Dead

The trip on the Interceptor lasted for quite a while. During the trip, they dealt with a couple ambushes with some pirates and Heartless. Everybody did their fair share of working the ship while defending it. All the time, Sparrow kept a watchful eye on the compass, to which everyone discovered didn't point North.

"I wonder how he's gonna find the Black Pearl with a compass that doesn't point North?" Velvet wondered. Laphicet and Sora thought the same question, and Laphicet decided to ask Sparrow, only for him to reply, "We aren't looking for North, now are we?" This confused Laphicet even more. Was there something special about that compass he didn't bother telling them?

After the second day, they found themselves still in open waters sailing on a path to which they didn't know. Sora kept looking back at Sparrow, who was still eyeing the compass.

Finally, he asked, "Why are you so fixated on that compass?" Everybody turned to Sparrow, waiting for his reply.

"It'll be she that leads us to the Isla de Muerta, where Barbossa's headed. Savvy?" he answered.

"How do you know?" Sora asked.

"Ah, lad..." sighed the pirate captain, "He and I once had our eyes on a treasure; Aztec gold. 'Twas hidden on the Isla de Muerta. But he turned traitor and stole my ship."

"So he's after that treasure, then." Velvet presumed.

"Treasure's already his." Sparrow replied, "So's the curse upon it." Now they understood how come the pirates were able to become living skeletons. "I've no desire for such treacherous spoils." Sparrow continued, "But I will have back what's mine; the Black Pearl." He resumed his duties on the wheel of the ship, and the conversation ended.

For a long time, it was pretty much silent as they voyaged on. During the next evening, Sparrow was still at the wheel alone, when Velvet came up to him, holding an unopened bottle of rum.

"I assume you need a refill." She asked the captain at the wheel.

"Aye. That I do." Sparrow answered eagerly, taking the drink and pouring it down his throat. Velvet sat herself down on a barrel and watched the captain at the helm.

"Tell me," Velvet asked, knowing that Eizen and his crew acted differently from Sparrow. "Just how are you still here when Barbossa took your ship? Shouldn't he have killed you during the mutiny?"

"Ah, as a commoner, you would think so." Sparrow replied, "However, that's not rightful in the Pirate Code."

"Pirates have a set of rules here?" Velvet questioned.

"Aye." the captain responded, "Instead of killing me outright, they marooned me instead on a deserted island, with nothing but a pistol with a single shot, as the law says." Velvet looked at the pistol in his holster. In battle, he never used the pistol. He used throwing knives and bombs, but never the pistol.

"Did you use it?" Velvet asked. Sparrow shook his head.

"I saved it, lad." he corrected her. "I managed to stay on that island for three weeks before my escape."

"And how did you do so?" Velvet asked.

"By wading me self into the waters for three days and nights, then I spotted a couple of sea turtles, roped them together, and made a raft." Velvet wondered if that was possible, but then thought of one small part of his story.

"Where'd you get the rope?" Velvet asked him.

"Human hair, on my back." Sparrow answered. Velvet felt disgusted at this and decided to finish questioning him after that.