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Chapter 6

William stood at the front of The Pearl, observing the land slowly appearing in the distance. Soon they were close enough to lower the anchor and get on a boat to row up to land. A small portion of the crew, including Jack and William, got on the boat. William was still hoping to find gold or silver or something valuable for his family. Jack was eyeing the weird map of the garden, trying to make sense of it. William was nervous of the mention of a serpent.

There were old pillars and arches made out of marble, at the small harbor. Time had obviously done it's damage on this place, William made a note to avoid any of the marble arches or other constructions for his own safety. The piers were made of wood, which was creaking suspiciously as they walked over it. Apart from the collapsing constructions the harbor was surrounded by cherry trees in full blossom, and pretty sculptures of people. Flower bushes lined the gravel paths where ever they went and beautiful birds William had never seen before flew above them, so many different variants of colour and somehow they all blended together perfectly.

They ventured to a trail that lead into the woods, which was the correct direction according to Jack's compass. William kept looking around in awe at all the different species of trees, plants, flowers and animals. '''Aight buccaneers, let's catch a shor' break, shall we?'' Jack informed. The crew sat down on the ground, pulling out various bottles of rum and water, chatting.

William was examining a strange plant with some pretty flowers, taking notes. Jack watched him pace around all excited, Jack smiled, 'He has an adorable smile.' he thought, before catching himself, forcing those thoughts further in the back of his mind. He glanced at his compass again, 'Tha's rather puzzling.' , the needle was pointing a completely different direction now, he tried turning, no difference, he looked around and begun strolling about, trying to make sense of his gadget.

After a few tries, it struck him hard, the compass was now pointing at William. 'No' good.', he hid the compass somewhere in his coat, still eyeing Will, then eventually turning away to examine the map. After almost quitting the thoughts about William, the bugger showed up tugging on Jack's sleeve. ''Jack, Jack! Look!'' William said, holding a small colourful bird in his hands, he looked up at Jack with an excited smile on his face, ''He just flew into my hand! Isn't he adorable?'' , 'You're adorable.',

''W-what?'' Will muttered, his cheeks turning pink. 'Oh Christ almighty did I jus' say tha' outloud?', ''I said yeah! Aye, he's quite the pretty bird.'' Jack corrected himself, Will smiled shyly. Jack cleared his throat, ''Alrigh' ye swines, let's keep moving!'' he yelled at the crew, ''I'm going to name him George.'' Will said, still holding the bird that was now sitting on his index finger, he softly pet the bird with his other hand, it leaned into his touch, William giggled, and Jack's heart fluttered.

They continued onwards, Jack in hope to still find the apple tree, even with his, *ahem*... defective compass, he wished the map would be enough. Luckily, a statue of a serpent worked as a landmark -and a warning- and he was able to fathom where exactly they were, and according to the map there should be a clearing coming up in about 30 meters.

''Cap'n!'' Mr. Gibbs yelled from ahead, now that Jack raised his stare from William walking beside him, he noticed the whole crew had stopped in their tracks. ''I- uh.... I think.... I think we found the serpent!'' Gibbs yelled, Jack trotted up to where he was, and there, an enormous serpent with a hundred heads laid unmoving around a tree, supposedly the Golden Apple tree. Jack stared with his mouth agape, much like the rest of the crew.

It didn't seem to be breathing, and neither did it look much alive in any other way. It's skin was whitening and dry by the sun, but you could make out faint shades of blue and green, hinting on it's previous colour. It's eyes were half open, it also appeared to be missing a few eyes, which had probably been eaten by other critters, with dried blood around the sockets. On some spots it's skin was chipping away, and it had clearly been nibbled on in some places, exposing rotting flesh and bone.

''Oh my lord...'' William said, catching up to Jack, 'George', flew up on his head, hiding in his dark hair. Jack grinned suddenly, staring at the tree, ''Finally.''

***

''And do you, Henry Turner take, Carina Turner, to be your lawfully wedded wife?'' The pastor questioned, ''I do!'' Henry exclaimed happily, ''You may now kiss the bride.'' the pastor finished with a smile, Henry and Carina smiled before he took her in his arms and kissed her lovingly. The audience consisting of relatives and friends cheered, Elizabeth in the front row, her smile begun fading as she thought of her husband whom couldn't behold his son's union.

From the corner of her eye she made out a figure looking through a side door of the church, it was Norrington. She stared at him, he stared back, soon gesturing for her to approach him, she shook her head and pointed at her son and daughter-in-law on the altar, but James insisted. She glanced at her son and back at James a few times before giving in and got up, she decided she wouldn't be for long and Henry and the crowd were distracted enough.

Henry briefly glanced at his mother whom was approaching James standing at a door, he didn't give it much thought though.

''James? What in the world are you doing here?'' Elizabeth said, her voice barely audible over the cheerful chatter. ''I was just.... uhm....'' James stuttered. ''Would you be so kind as to follow me? It is awfully loud in here.'' He said. Elizabeth agreed and they moved into an empty hallway, James closed the door behind them. ''Alright, what is it?'' Elizabeth asked.

''I merely missed you, Elizabeth. And uhm.. I've been thinking about the other day, when we were holding hands?'' He said. Elizabeth was taken aback, her face vacant. ''James I-'', ''It's okay! No I shall not bring this up, forgive me.'', he said, there was something in his eyes that said the opposite, something that made it fairly obvious why he was here, something that Elizabeth wont return. ''How are you feeling? With this thing going on with your husband?'' He asked, looking worried, ''I'm okay, just, obviously upset he's not here. And since Henry is going away with Carina for a while I'll be all alone tonight, with my concerns.''

This made James's mind start running wild and his heart thumped, he stepped a tad closer to her. ''I can always keep you company, if that's.... alright.... I wont try anything, I promise! I'd just be there for you, like the good friend I am.'' he said, Elizabeth smiled, there was a glint of something in her eyes, something that James couldn't quite place. She stepped closer slowly, ''Maybe...'' she started quietly, her eyes glistened with an unknown emotion in the dim lighting of the hallway.

''Maybe it would be okay you kept me company tonight..'' looking into James's eyes, she had almost forgotten about William, but something in her was feeling very daring, and was trying to get rid of her worries, ''...perhaps even....''

''.....'Try... something..'..'', she said quietly. And just about then James was aware of the stirring of something in his stomach, with Elizabeth still slowly approaching him, his heart was beating hard and fast and so loud he heard it himself, he was wondering if she heard it too. He felt the uncomfortable warmth of a blush creeping up his neck. Elizabeth slowly placed her hand on his chest, her face now a mere 10 centimeters from his. He might have been holding his breath, he wasn't sure, but he was quite sure that was Elizabeth's mouth on his, for a moment his mind screamed that this woman is married, but she didn't seem to care, or maybe she did, and she's only playing with his feelings. Regardless, this was most likely the only time he'd get to kiss her, and he was not about to let it go. His eyes fluttered closed as he gently reached to caress her face with his hand, the other hand hesitantly finding it's place on her waist. She moved her other hand on his neck, and then into his hair, stroking it softly. She opened her mouth and traced his lower lip with the tip of her tongue, she smiled when he slowly opened his mouth.

After a while she pulled away steadily, taking deep breaths, her soft lips lingering on his neck, he gasped softly. ''Is it actually alright if I come visit?'' He questioned quietly, she smiled ''Absolutely, Commodore.''.