by Ryan Gilbert
“Why did ye do that?” Clint blurted out from Riggs’ side.
The possessed Sapphire smiled, unnerving the pirates.
“I just came to offer some help… something you seem like you can use.”
“Tell us, witch,” said Riggs, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Wynona raised her hands in an effort to try to calm the pirates. The rest of the crew was just starting to grasp what was happening.
“You wish to kill Henry Every. I can help with that.”
“How so?” asked Riggs, suspicious.
Slightly cocking the fairy’s head to the side, Wynona said, “Every’s next stage of rebirth requires the ashes of one who betrayed him. There is only one remaining betrayer that sails these waters.”
“And who be that?”
“Not who… what. That be the Amity, right now on its way to New York.”
As Wynona divulged the information, the smile on Sapphire’s face grew more and more mischievous. It was downright unsettling.
“If you hurry, you might be able to arrive before your dreaded king.”
With a flutter of her fingers, the possessed Sapphire said, “Good luck to you all.”
“Wait!” Riggs ordered.
Looking slightly irritated, Wynona crossed the fairy’s arms and glared at her captain, waiting for him to speak.
“How do you know all o’ this?” he asked.
“Because I am the one who told Every how to return to his old self,” said Wynona.
“So you helped that monster?”
“Indeed.”
“Then why in the bloody hell are you helpin’ us?” asked a confused Riggs.
Wynona shrugged Sapphire’s shoulders as the mischievous smile returned to her face.
“I guess you could say that I enjoy watching the chaos, Captain Riggs.”
Before Riggs could react, Sapphire’s glowing green eyes grew brighter. The light blinded all of the pirates. For several seconds, they were unable to see anything, forcing them to shut their eyelids. When the light disappeared, Sapphire was left standing in the middle of the deck, disoriented and thoroughly confused.
“Why is everyone staring at me?” she asked, a little frightened.
Taking her by the hand, Riggs brought her along with him to the helm. Clint did not even need an order or a heading from his captain. Both of them already knew where they were headed.
Once again, they were headed to New York.
CHAPTER SEVEN
For several days, the Red Sky sailed up the coast. There was no sign that Every had passed that way, so there was still a chance that they could arrive in New York with time to prepare for an assault on the Fancy. This was one instance where Riggs almost hoped that there were some Navy forces stationed at New York. If the pirates wanted to be particularly daring, then they could draw the sailors into a crossfire. It would be dangerous, but it would increase their odds of destroying the King of Pirates.
As the ship cut through the ocean with a speed unmatched by any other vessel, Riggs could see that Eli was looking quite uncomfortable. He always looked like he was lost in thought, even when he was doing the most menial tasks. He seemed lost. With their destination being New York, Riggs knew the reason.
When his carpenter went to help with the rigging, the Captain said, “Eli, come over ‘ere.”
Meandering over to Riggs, Eli asked, “What seems to be the problem, Captain?”
“There ain’t no problem, mate. I just wanted to talk with ye.”
“Oh,” said Eli, not expecting that answer, “Alright.”
Riggs led his friend over to the least-crowded part of the rail. It was as secluded as they could get on the deck.
Resting a hand on his friend’s shoulder for reassurance, Riggs said, “Look, Eli… I know headin’ back is goin’ to be difficult for you. I just want ye to know that I’ll be here if you want to talk about anythin’… especially her.”
Eli peered out over the sea, watching the clouds form shapes in the sky. To Riggs’ surprise, his carpenter managed to force a laugh.
“You don’t need to worry, Captain. I won’t be crossing paths with Margaret again. It’s not as hard as it was last year.”
Turning toward his captain, he said, “I would be more concerned about you, Riggs.”
“Me?”
Eli gave him a knowing look, forcing his captain to drop the façade.
“Don’t even try to tell me that you haven’t been feeling something strange ever since Sapphire told us where to go. I can see it. You’re nervous. I can see the regret in your eyes.”
Eli was right. Every single night, Riggs’ dreams had forced him to relive the last time he was in New York. He would close his eyes, and all he could see was Julia getting struck by the lightning. He could see it coursing throughout her body even as Petey tried to save her. Riggs would wake up in a panic, never able to reach his love before his nightmare ended.
“Aye, mate. Ye’ve got me,” Riggs admitted, “Neither of us like it, but it’s somethin’ we’ve got to do to keep the rest of the world safe from Every.”
Eli chuckled, shaking his head.
“What is it?” Riggs asked.
The carpenter stopped for a moment to say, “Nothing, Captain. You just brought me back to when I was in the Navy with my father. It seemed like something I would say.”
Giving Riggs a pat on the back, Eli said, “We’ve all got to make sacrifices, Captain… some of us a bit more than others.”
“Aye, mate,” he said, dismissing his friend, “Now get back to work. I ain’t payin’ ye to stand around and talk.”
“What are you talking about? You’re not paying me for anything.”
“Just get back to work, ye mangy dog,” Riggs said with a grin.
With a hearty laugh, Eli went back to his station, making sure all the ropes were holding well. With everything that had happened last year, Riggs and Eli were sure to have each other’s backs.
The Captain slowly made his way around the ship, watching to make sure all of the members of his crew were doing their best. All of the cannons were ready, just in case the Fancy decided to sneak up on them. The sails were pulled taut by the wind, driving the ship forward with great speed. As he made his way below deck, he passed by several of his crewmates.
One of them was Thomas Jones.
Stopping in the middle of his step, Riggs reached out his arm and grabbed Jones by the coat. Thomas almost seemed to expect it.
“We need to talk,” said Riggs in a gruff voice.
Thomas grinned, saying, “I thought ye’d never ask.”
“I’m goin’ to make this perfectly clear… I don’t trust you. I don’t trust you one bit. Ever since ye joined my crew, somethin’ ain’t felt right.”
“To be fair, Captain Riggs, we’re all pirates. Nothing ever feels right.”
“Not on my crew, Jones.”
The two locked eyes, glaring at each other. The cocky look on Jones’s face almost made Riggs want to punch him.
“When I snapped Every’s neck, you knew that he would come back. You knew he wasn’t dead. How? That was the first time you’d ever even seen him after he was resurrected.”
“I’ll tell you when I’m good an’ ready, Captain Riggs.”
Seizing Jones by the collar, Riggs pushed him against a pillar, demanding answers. He needed to know exactly what his crewmate knew.
“Tell me everything,” Riggs ordered.
Before another word could be said, both men heard a commotion on the main deck. It sounded like the crew had spotted something.
“Ship ahoy! Starboard side.”
At first, Riggs did not even heed the call. He needed his focus to be on Thomas for the time being.
Rushing by the top of the stairs, Coral Jack shouted down, “Captain, yer needed on deck.”
Almost mocking Riggs, Jones said, “Yes, Captain Riggs, yer needed. What if it’s Every and the Fancy?
Angrily, the Captain pushed Jones a
way. Their talk would have to wait. There were more pressing matters to attend to.
Riggs made his way onto the deck, immediately being given a spyglass by Clint. Dark clouds had started to cover the sky. One little bit of the sky almost seemed to meld with the water as the clouds reached the surface of the water. When Riggs raised the spyglass to his eye, he saw the reason for it.
The ship was on fire. From what he could see, it was sunken halfway in the water, held in place by either rocks or sand. Flames spurted out of the stern and the cabin as more fire engulfed what was left of the sails. So far as Riggs could tell, there were no survivors.
“Do we have time, Captain?” asked Clint, his stomach rumbling.
Handing the spyglass back to his navigator, Riggs said, “Bring the Red Sky alongside that ship, but keep us far enough away from the fire. We go aboard, get whatever we can salvage, and then we leave. Is that clear?”
“Aye!” shouted the crew.
“Good. Hop to it, ye grumblin’ mongrels,” Riggs ordered.
In mere minutes, the ship was anchored a short distance from the disabled vessel. The fire had burned away the sails, slowly extinguishing itself. Little pockets of flames still covered the deck, but the crew was able to climb aboard. With Riggs leading them, the crew quickly climbed onto the sloped deck and looked around for anything they could use. Burned bodies covered the deck, some of them with harpoons driven through their abdomens, others with fishing nets wrapped around their necks, and even more with knives penetrating their organs. A large section of the deck looked like it had been blown outwards, like a keg of gunpowder had been set ablaze.
“What happened?” asked one of the men.
“Looks like some sort o’ explosion,” said another.
“Naw, ye see the harpoons an’ the swords? They were attacked by somebody.”
“Maybe it was Every.”
Quickly, Riggs tried to silence his crewmembers.
“Every was not here, mates. There’s no way he could have been here. Our ship’s the fastest ship to sail these seas. No way could Every and his crummy Fancy catch up to us.”
He could not have his crewmates doubting him. He still needed to believe that they were two steps ahead of the Arch Pirate. It did look like the ship had had a rather unfortunate accident, but in his mind, he could not rule out the possibility of an Every attack.
Nothing on the main deck was worth bringing aboard the Sky. Riggs and the small band of crewmembers crept below deck, curious as to what was hidden down below. They found several more bodies crushed underneath dozens of boxes and barrels. If it had been an explosion, it only seemed to affect the main deck and the stern. The poor fellows had been struck by the aftermath. Perhaps the unfortunate blokes had struck a patch of sand or rocks. Breaking open some of the boxes, the pirates still found nothing of use. It was just rotten fish.
Riggs was beginning to think that stopping was a waste of time. As the men searched through the rest of the boxes, he made his way down to the last deck of the ship.
He was up to his knees in water once he stepped onto the floor. Yelling up to his crew, he had them drop a lantern down to him, illuminating all of the dark corners of the flooded deck. Bits and pieces of the deck had collapsed, blocking Riggs from certain sections of the ship. There was very little space to actually do anything.
*splish*
Just as he was about to head back up to the deck above, he heard a small splash to his left. A bit startled, he jumped back, unable to tell what it was.
Cautiously, he leaned over the water, holding the lantern over the murky surface. He could not see anything that would have made a splash. So far as he could tell, there were no living fish in the ship.
*shaploosh*
This time, the splash was much larger, the light of the lantern catching a tail disappear underneath the surface of the water. Pulling out his pistol, Riggs aimed it at the water, backing up to the stairs. There was something in the water, and he almost thought it was a shark. There was no way he was going to try to fight a shark.
Just as he put his foot on the first step, something lunged out of the water right in front of him. It latched onto his hands, forcing the lantern and the pistol to the side. Once the creature stood, bathed in orange light, Riggs felt a wave of fear and terror spread over him.
Ororis stood on her newly transformed legs, her black and red hair shorter than Riggs had remembered it. The mermaid pinned his arms against the wood, keeping him from shooting a ball of lead through her forehead.
“No! This… this can’t be happening,” Riggs said, his hands twitching as he stood right in front of his worst enemy.
“Oh I assure you, Riggs, it is. Did you miss me?” Ororis asked, tilting her head to the side.
“Get away from me!” he shouted, overpowering the mermaid and pushing her backwards into the water.
All around him, sounds started to echo and get louder. He could hear splashing coming from every side and pounding on the deck above as the crew rushed to their captain’s aid.
“I… I killed you,” he yelled, struggling to steady his aim as he pointed his gun at Ororis.
With a sneaky smile on her face, the mermaid said, “Apparently, I’m harder to kill than you thought.”
As the pirate captain pulled back the hammer with his shaking finger, Ororis said, “You really should be thanking me, Riggs.”
“And why is that?” he screamed at her, seconds away from losing control.
Not even saying a word, Ororis pointed to something behind Riggs. Before he could even turn around, he felt a delicate hand on his arm. It was a familiar feeling… a soothing feeling… something he had not felt for a year.
A bit uneasy, Riggs turned his head to the side. Holding the lantern up high, Riggs’ gaze fell on Julia’s beautiful face once again. The light fell across her pretty face and brown hair, the flame reflecting in her green eyes.
“Julia? Is it really…”
Reaching over Riggs’ arm, Julia gently ran her hands across his scruffy cheeks, trying to calm him.
“Riggs… Robert… it’s me. It’s really me.”
As he heard Julia’s voice and felt her touch for the first time in a year, Riggs’ hand went numb. The pistol and lantern dropped out of his hands, and he felt his body go limp. His vision blurred as he collapsed in the water, blackness clouding his eyes.
The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was his long-lost love.
“Captain? Captain, can ye hear me?”
Riggs awoke, his vision and hearing slowly returning to him. He could feel the warm wood of the deck as he lay there, peering up at the sky. Julia knelt in front of him, right beside Clint. The rest of the crew had gathered around him, watching intently as their captain started to stir.
“See? I told you he’d be fine,” he heard Valera say to Jack before playfully elbowing him.
Ripper crouched down in front of the crowd, saying, “Ya gave us quite de fright, Captain.”
“Couldn’t help it,” he said, easing himself into a seated position, “It’s not every day someone I love comes back from the dead.”
Riggs looked over at Julia, reaching out a hand to her.
“Come here… please,” he begged.
With a caring smile on her face, the girl moved to Riggs’ side, taking his hand in hers.
“What is it, Riggs?” she asked.
Still unable to believe what was happening, he raised a hand to her face, gently touching a finger to her cheek. Instantly, memories and feelings poured back into his head as soon as he felt the softness of her skin. It was what he had been yearning to feel ever since that dreadful day.
Julia started to cry with joy as Riggs let it all sink in.
They were finally reunited.
Pulling her close, Riggs buried his face in her hair, whispering, “I’m never goin’ to let you go.”
“I never want to go, my love,” Julia cried.
As the two fell into a tight embrac
e, they both heard a slow clapping start in the crowd of pirates gathered on the deck. It gradually grew louder and quicker as more and more of the crew joined in with whoever had started it. Whistles and cheers could be heard all across the deck as the crew of the Red Sky officially welcomed Julia back to the ship.
Riggs climbed to his feet, still holding on to Julia’s hand. It would be a while before he would even consider letting it go. Gingerly, he helped the girl to her feet.
Just as he was about to lead Julia back to his quarters, he heard a woman’s voice say, “Captain Riggs, I think you’re forgetting something.”
He turned towards the voice, watching as the crew parted down the middle to reveal Ororis leaning against the rail of the ship. How long she had been standing there, Riggs had no idea. A brown shirt now covered her chest, quite the contrast to the two human skulls that had shielded her breasts before. She stood with her arms resting on the wooden rail, her foot tapping against the deck.
“How are you even still alive?” Riggs asked, “I watched you burn.”
“Did you really?” asked Ororis, pushing away from the rail.
Pulling her shirt away from her shoulder, the mermaid showed Riggs the white scar on her skin. It was exactly where he had driven his sword to pin her to the deck of the Black Fog.
“How long did it take you to convince yourself that I was dead? After I lost my magic? Or after the deck collapsed?”
“You shouldn’t have survived that,” said Riggs, glaring at his former nemesis.
“But I did,” said Ororis, bringing her fingers to the edges of her hair, “The attack on the Black Fog did more than just set it ablaze. It weakened the lower decks enough for me to fall through the fire. The flames singed my skin and burned my hair, but I was able to escape just in time.”
Ororis pulled her hair away from the back of her neck to reveal a discolored patch of skin, pink standing out against the mermaid’s pale skin. Even Riggs had to shudder.
“I have you to thank for that, Riggs.”
“What are you lookin’ for? An apology? The only thing yer goin’ to get is a shot in the head,” he said, pulling out his pistol.