Honor Among Thieves || Book Two

~16.1~

After another brief scuffle on the beach, Jack and the rest of his crew were able to return to the Black Pearl. The small reprieve was short-lived, however, because the Flying Dutchman was quick to appear and remind them all of their grim circumstance.

"Lord on high deliver us." Gibbs breathed, his eyes wide with terror. Jack stomped up to the railing, apparently unafraid, and held his jar of dirt above his head for all to see. "Oi! Fishface!"

Jones's upper lip twitched.

"I've got a jar of dirt!" He cheered in a singsong voice, prancing down the stairs. "I've got a jar of dirt! I've got a jar of dirt. I've got a jar of--"

"Enough!" Jones hissed. Jack's heart sank as he was suddenly staring down the barrel of a cannon. Cannons, to be precise. "Uh...hard to starboard?"

"Aye!" Gibbs shouted. "Hard to starboard! Brace the foreyard!"

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Sera watched from afar as the Pearl's pitch black sails caught the wind and broke away, well away, from the Flying Dutchman. She would have been relieved, thrilled even, had she not just heard the pulse ripple throughout the ocean...

"Looks like they're gettin' away!" Mange exclaimed excitedly. She shook her head, her jaw going slack. "No. No, they're--"

Suddenly, the Pearl stopped as if it had hit a reef or some other unseen underwater obstruction...

Her heart sank even lower.

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Jack's arms ached as he swiftly rowed away from his beloved ship. She was a frightful mess; her masts were torn and her hull damaged by the giant tentacles that enveloped her, searching for him. Feeling a surge of guilt, he stopped rowing and pulled out his compass. All of this was his fault...

A disheartened sigh escaped his lips as he looked at the needle's direction. "Well," he picked up the oars again. "That's all thanks to your 'moral center', Jackie."

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"Looks like he went back."

A knot formed in Sera's stomach. Wolfie offered her his spy glass but she politely declined, holding onto the railing instead. She didn't want--

A loud fiery explosion came from the Pearl, causing the Kraken to retreat once more. The crew of the Destiny watched with baited breath as the beast's damaged appendages slipped back under the water once more.

Sera was hopeful.

Maybe it was mortally wounded, maybe it would have to leave and nurse its injuries...No. She shook her head. She knew better. The Kraken, dying or not, would not stop until it had fulfilled it master's wishes and Davy Jones would not stop until Jack Sparrow was dead.

"They're jumpin' ship." Wolfie said. "Everybody 'cept--" He gasped. Sera looked at him funnily. "What? Eveyone except 'who'?"

He slowly lowered his spy glass, his mouth hanging open. "I-I...don't..."

Frustrated, she yanked the scope out of his hand and raised it to her eye. There, on the deck of the Pearl, the ditzy blonde from the beach was kissing Jack. Kissing him!

Jealousy and anger boiled within her gut but she contained it, watching as the blonde backed him against the mainmast. Then, she heard a metallic clank...

Breathing in a deep, calming breath, Sera closed her eyes and in an instant, it was if she was standing on the Pearl with them. With great horror, she realized that Jack's wrist had been shackled to the mainmast.

"It's after you, not the ship." The blonde murmured, tightening the restraint. "It's not after us. This..." Her voice quivered. "This is the only way, don't you see?"

"You fucking bitch!"  Sera shouted even though she knew full well they could not hear her. "You rotten--"

"I'm sorry, Jack " The blonde whispered, seemingly contemplating whether or not to kiss him again. How Sera longed to cut her ugly head off her shoulders, then shoot it full of holes! How she longed to--

A bitter realization came to her.

It did not matter. It did not matter if this stupid whore chained him to the Pearl or not. Jones would have won in the end regardless. He always did...

"Pirate." Jack spat. Elizabeth lowered her eyes and opened her mouth to say something else but thought better of it and made for the longboat. Sera lingered on the deck, wishing desperately to cut Jack's hand free and make the horrible nightmare end but she couldn't. In theory, she could.

She could end this all with a snap of her fingers but her duty as the Keeper prevented her from doing so. She could only watch. She could only stand by and watch the man she loved get slaughtered at Davy Jones's behest. A debt owed must be a debt paid...

Suddenly, the Pearl started to tilt.

Barrels and mutilated bodies tumbled past Sera's feet. Behind her, Jack smashed a lantern and used the oil as a lubricant to free his hand.

She turned just in time to see the Kraken's horrible, gaping mouth rise over the side of the ship.

Then, she opened her eyes.

She could bear no more.

The weight of Wolfie's arm around her shoulders startled her out of the trance-like state she had gone in, a wave of relief washing over her when she realized she was indeed on her ship. She looked at the Pearl and started to shake; the Kraken was dragging it down, down to oblivion, down to Davy Jones's Locker...

Slowly, she lifted a quaking had to the pearly white shell that hung around her neck, the match to Jack's. She sensed nothing. No life. No energy.

He was dead.

Jack Sparrow was dead. He had not been gone a minute and the world already felt empty and black. Sera's world had been turned upside down...

"No." Her voice was a hoarse whisper as silent tears streamed down her face. She didn't care if her crew saw her or what they might think; she dared them to say a word. She would kill the first one to speak. "No!" Her voice was louder, filled with anguish, as her knees gave out. "No, no, no!"

She plunged her fingers into her hair and planted her face on the deck. "No! No! NO!"

Around her ship, the waves started to rock with the rising and falling if her voice. She threw her head up to the darkening sky and screamed bloody murder, her shrill voice slicing through her crewmen's eardrums. "No!" She cried, pulling herself up on the railing. "No, no!"

Wolfie wrapped his arms around her and rested her head on his chest, trying his best to soothe her. The swells around the ship were growing more and more violent with every agonized scream.

He stroked her hair. "Cap'n--Sera, there's nothin' ye could've done."

"Yes there was!" She screeched, shoving him away so violently that he skidded across the deck. "I could've saved him! I could've killed the Kraken myself! I could've--"

A dove landed on the railing, its mottled brown feathers catching the rising wind. Enraged, Sera whipped out her guns but before she could fire, she heard Tia Dalma's voice.

"All is not lost, chile..."

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A/N - Okay, I gave myself anxiety writing this chapter. At least it's over. The hard part's over. *wipes forehead*

Thanks for reading! As always don't forget to vote and/or comment. I like to know that you guys are enjoying this!