Emerald Seas II

Prologue

So it was true what they said, the light at the end of the tunnel. He had seen it, he had seen a light in what seemed to be the very last minutes of his life. But it wasn't just a light. It was the face he had longed for so long to see again. The bright emerald eyes that welcomed him in his most peaceful dreams. The eyes that encouraged him to keep going on. The eyes that told him it wasn't his time yet and that she had been waiting for him, but not at the end of the light.

Cutler had lost everything. His battle against the pirates, the control of Davy Jones' heart and the love of his life all these years ago. Laying there, drifting along the waves of the ocean, surrounded by the pieces of wood of his pride, the leading ship of the Armada, the Endeavour. His body covered by the flag, drifting along the waves, symbolizing the defeat of his Company. The words Jack Sparrow had spoken before the battle had even started were occupying his mind and he was comprehending the words over and over. There was a glimpse of hope, hope that he had not felt for more than thirteen years when he had lost her heart, her soul, her everything. There was a chance she could return to him. And it was at this very moment, his body swallowed by the cold waves, minutes earlier thinking it was his last breath, he felt more alive than ever.

Flashback

Jack entered the Captain's quarters aboard the Endeavour, forced by two guards. It had been more than a decade he had seen him last but when Jack watched Cutler's back turned to him, standing at the inlet of the ship's stern, it felt like he hadn't changed a bit. Jack tried not to speak, but at the same time, the words were burning on his lips.

Cutler was staring out of the window with the sight of the Black Pearl in the far distance. The ship he had not seen in what felt like forever. He was remembering the time, far more than a decade back, when he had punished Jack in every way possible, burning and sinking the Wicked Wench to the bottom of the ocean. Jack took the love of his life, and so he had done to him in return. Cutler's stomach pinched by the thought of the day it all happened, but his face kept the cold harsh look, not giving away his emotions.

'Remarkable. The last I saw of that ship, she was on fire. A blackened hull sinking beneath the waves' Cutler spoke like he wanted to wound Jack with his words.

'We had a deal, Jack. I contracted you to deliver cargo on my behalf. You chose to liberate it' Cutler continued speaking as he tried to hide the fact he wasn't quite sure if he was ready to face the man behind him. He needed to know if Jack still believed Cutler was the one who ordered him to deliver the slaves. All those years back the liberation of those people hadn't been by Jack's doing, but that of someone else, the only person, besides Cutler, that knew of the truth about the freeing of the slaves. The same person that he lost that very day.

'People aren't cargo, mate' Jack watched the "P" on his arm's skin, the pirate brand. Remembering the flashing burning pain of the gleaming hot iron that had touched his wrist as he was branded a pirate. Jack thought back to the dark and sad day it had all happened. Inside the East India Company office, he had watched Mercer ready to burn another man's flesh to represent a pirate forever, as a clerk it had been his duty. But Jack remembered an infuriating face, the face of Cutler who had taken over the iron rod with the glowing red "P" at the end which after he had buried it deeply into Jack's flesh. The sizzling sound of his skin burned to mark him for life.

'And you incurred a heavy debt to raise her up again, didn't you?' Cutler continued while thinking about how Jack made a deal with Davy Jones to, at all cost, get his so loved ship back. In exchange for a hundred souls, the Wicked Wench came back, to this day known as the Black Pearl.

Jack seemed to avoid eye contact once Cutler turned to face him.

'It's not here, Jack' Cutler spoke, his eyes followed him searching through the room. Jack looked much different after all these years. Of course older, but there was nothing left of the man he once was. Jack always had something rough about him but the pirate he had turned in throughout the years looked like a stranger to him. It was strange to see him after all those years, he was the only person who had known "her" almost just as well as he had, seeing him in person made Cutler feel almost wistful, like she could come through the door any moment and join them in their conversation.