Pirates ~ Alice in Wonderland & Cinderella's Girlfriend {PG13+}

Ivy was put into restraints the first day of boarding the boat, the second she realised that there was a gun pointed at the base of her spine as she stepped aboard she knew there was going to be trouble. Unlike most of the other people enslaved, Ivy wasn’t taken to see the captain but straight below deck. “Get your filthy hands off of me!” She spat, still writhing and kicking. But the men couldn’t speak English and were laughing at her efforts anyway. “Just you wait! When I get out of here!” The first set of restraints were no good, whenever another person came by her Ivy would just out her legs, at best merely toppling the man and at worst she was reported to have broken one of the galley boy’s ankles. This got her a light beating and both arm and leg shackles but again, Ivy was able to wriggle her way out of them and continue causing a riot. By the third day of being on the ship Ivy was lashed on the legs several times and put into a metal cage on her knees, her arms bound behind her with rope. A few days past and Ivy was still relentlessly shouting and screaming. “Let me go, get me off of this boat!” “I’m warning you!” “I can get you the money; just get me off the boat!!” “Where are you taking me!?” But after a week she was growing tired. Ivy had no clue where they were sailing or what was going on, especially when an eruption of shouting came from on deck above her head.

When Jack shone a light at her face Ivy growled. “Don’t you even start! Not now!” But her tone soon changed when it looked like Jack was going to leave. “Ah!” She was desperate to get out, even if it meant going back on Jack’s ship. With her roped cut Ivy leapt from the cage and nearly into Jack’s arms but stopping half a metre from him she looked down at herself and decided not to. “Just... get me off of this hell hole.” With doe-eye she fluttered her eyelashes to Jack. “Please?” Of course Jack couldn’t say no. Looking down at herself Ivy noticed that her bandaging had fallen away at some point and that with her hat gone she looked very much feminine. “Uhh..” She turned to Jack to ask what to do but with other members of the crew about she decided to wait until someone else noticed that she was getting back onto Jack’s ship as a woman.

She looked for a moment like she was about to come running into his arms, but she stopped about a metre away from him and crossed her arms, like she.just remembered that she was supposed to.be mad at him. Jack laughed, taking the extra step towards her and engulfing her in his arms. He kissed her head, his eyes closed, 'so, finished running off now eh bunny?' He whispered, then holding her face in his hands to look at her 'still want to go home?' His voice was spft and genuine, not at all like he was being clever or chastizing her, more like welcoming her back. Jack grinned charmingly at her answer. 'good, well then,i guess I have some explaining to do... Greek, this is Ivy...or Aiden...' The young boy looked flumoxed, but then a smile crept across his face'...i knew it!' He exclaimed, Jack smiled 'wonderful, well seeming as that's the case, give me your shorts, she needs something more to wear dont you think?' The greek looked confused and reluctant 'but... Why cant.she have yours?' Jack sigjed 'because I havent got nice lady hips like you boy, mine wont fit her... Plus, I dont want to intimidate everyone.' He winked at ivy as the other lad did as he was told. Putting an arm around her he led her back onto the deck, surveying the dead bodies 'well well well, what happened here then boys?. The men laugjed. 'you there, sail tthis ship back to port and send those damned people home. 'aye sir.' The man shouted. 'now...' Whispered Jack 'lets hope they dont notice you...'

Ivy put the Greek boys shorts of and went with jack onto the deck to see all the men that had been keeping her captive with their throats cut. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of their bodies lying limp against one and another. 'it's almost as if they are giant ragdolls.' she said to herself, slowly looking up to the faces of Jack's crew, no one had noticed her yet, or no one had said anything, thinking she was just one of the cargo that the ship had been holding. Barefoot, Ivy padded across the deck into the now dead captain's quarters. As she slipped into the dark room she was suitably unimpressed, it was a singular rook and considerably dank; it was. Nothing like Jack's at all. Just a bed, a desk and a few chest half full of things that didn't catch her eye.

The bed was looking inviting, even if it was dirty and poor looking; she hadn't eaten properly and had spent her time desperate to escape. Ivy gave in and lay on the bed, closing her eyes and wondering how long it would take to drop off what needed to be dropped off and get back onto Jack's ship; something she was looking forward to. But a thought crossed Ivy's mind as she sat up, how could she go back onto Jack's ship of everyone had seen her without being dressed as a man? She could imagine the fuss the crew would make but she was the only one who could read the maps that Jack had; he needed her. Looking to the ceiling of the cabin Ivy was amused to see that the previous captain had decorated it with pieces of coloured glass and metal, it reminded Ivy of the first time she spoke to Jack, showing him the cove back on the island. Ivy still wanted to be back in England but looking up at the ceiling there was a part of her that was convinced that there would be something missing if she wasn't with Jack and his ship, it had nearly been a year now.

The Captain removed his arm from around Ivy's shoulder to go and bark some more orders at his sorry excuse for a crew. Meanwhile, Arius the Greek decided to follow the girl, he had realised that she and His Captain had something more to them before he even knew that she was female. He had turned around for just a second and she had dissappeared, only finally spotting the hem of his shorts slink behind the cabin door. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow her. 'Bark!' The noise made him jump, but Arius turned around to see Dog the Skipper following him with a wag in his tail. 'Oh you want to come too?' he barked again, nearly jumping up at the boy with exitement. 'Okay okay! Sheesh dog, anyone would think you could understand me...' The dog grinned, or atleast, it looked like he did. The two boys walked with eachother toward the door, doging various inanimate bodies and angry looking crew members on the way. Finally, they reached their destination. Dog looked up at Arius and pawed at the door. Tentitively, the Greek pushed open the door, his eyes adjusting almost instantly to the dark conditions. 'Hello...' he almost whispered, his voice a little shakey and nervous. He closed the door behind him. 'I um... I do not think we have been properly introduced. My name is Arius. The Greek. Everybody calls me Greek though. Or Boy... you can call me whatever you wish.' His Greek accent was still prominent even though he spoke perfect (if not a little formal) English. 'Your name is Ivy, like the plant? Is a pretty name.' Dog trotted up to the girl and put his paws and head up on her lap. 'Excuse Dog. He is having a mind of his own... Is having? No... Has... Has a mind of his own. Excuse me, it is... it Has been a long time since I left the British Navy...' He walked over to her, sitting next to her on the edge of the ugly bed. 'I will take you back to the ship. You do not need to worry about the men. They will understand... Men are too... ugh how you say... ugh.' he got fustrated his himself, running his hands through his dark hair. 'To worry about curses... things about gods, they rely not on science... how you say how you say...' He looked up to her, wide eyed 'Superstituous! Yes, thankyou nice lady.' He paused for a moment 'Some other men will take this ship back. The Captain will not leave his ship I think.' his thoughts were true, Dog barked in agreement. 'Besides, one more curse of woman... a woman being on board will not hinder us. We are already sailing on the ship of the damned.' at that moment the door slammed open, revealing the shilloette of The Captain in the door.

'What the hell is going on in here?' Jack recieved a tip off by one of the men as to the couple's whereabouts. 'What do you think you're doing... boy...' He growled, his voice seeming to shake the very soul. 'Did I ask you to come in here?' Arius stood 'No Sir but...' 'Did I tell you to come in here with her?' 'No Sir I...' Jack took a step closer with each sentace until he was right up close to the boy 'Do you think I didn't know where she was.' 'CAPTAIN!' with a sudden voice and burst of strength, Arius pushed his Captain backward away from him. 'I WAS DOING NOTHING. YOU SUSPECT ME OF SOMETHING, THEN YOU SAY! Πώς τολμάς! ΕΙΜΑΙ αξιόπιστο πρόσωπο. Δεν είμαι ψεύτης!' His voice echoed throughout the cabin. Jack looked at his face in anger, which then softened. 'Boy, lighten up. What else was I supposed to think. Get back on the ship.' He attempted to run past him, but Jack grabbed his arm tightly, whispering something into his ear which made his eyes go wide. He let him go, and Arius seemed to run past him faster. Jack turned to Ivy. 'You I expected this from. Get back on my ship wench, you think I'd just leave you here? Idiot.' he grumbled turning back around and leaving to stand outside and wait for her.

She had gotten bored waiting for Jack to come and visit; she was too tired and closed her eyes. Listening to the movements of the crew her eyes became heavy in her head; she smiled to herself as she turned on her side, ready to sleep until they reached land again. But as she heard the door open Ivy opened on eye, it didn’t sound like Jack so she wasn’t that interested in who it was. “Hi...” She whispered back, one fist clenched to sock the guy who came near her after the week she had just had. But to her surprise the voice she heard was gentle, even a little nervous. “Hi Greek, nice to meet you.” Ivy begrudgingly sat up in the middle of the bed, trying to focus on the man sat at the foot of what she now claimed to be her bed. Ivy playing with the dog whilst Arius spoke to her, he didn’t look his age, or he looked younger than she would have guessed, him having worked in the navy. “Don’t worry about me; I can handle myself around a few of these boy scouts.” Laughing at her own joke she didn’t see the look of frustration but could hear it in his voice. “Chill, I get that you mean... superstitious yeah?” Ivy edged a little closer to Arius, “Ship of the dammed you say?”

Ivy stood up from the bed with dulled eyes. She padded with bear feet out onto the deck and looked to Jack, not overly pleased. “I am not your wench.” She didn’t wait up for him, annoyed at the cheek of being expected to jump on anything that moved; admittedly normally that would be the case but today was an exception. Crossing to Jack’s boat Ivy began to notice the eyes of the crew fixing themselves on her, a few whispering to the crewmate to their sides and a few shouting out and jeering. ‘No room at the inn darlin’ , ‘Ain’t anywhere for the likes of you on ‘ere!’ Ivy’s brow furrowed as she stepped onto Jack’s ship, ready to swing at any of the pigs that came near her, even Jack.

Jack followed after the woman he had just rescued from a slave ship. She was being rude and ungrateful, two things that a captain would never tolerate. He grabbed her wrist, turning her around. 'Get in the cabin.' he growled, a voice that echoed a storm and would not be argued with. As soon as she was gone, he turned to his men. 'Any of you who lays a finger on the girl, will find himself waking up with less fingers. Do I make myself clear?' 'Aye Captain.' 'Good.' The Captain followed Ivy into his quarters, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the captain was gone, the men began to grumble, and Alistair had had enough of it. 'LOOK! You're all as bad as old fishers wives if you believe any of that superstition. Now get back to work!' One of the men who was obviously feeling plucky piped up 'Hear you've been replaced by a dog sir? Some first mate...' Alistair drew his sword, holding it against the throat of the sailor. 'What was that mate?' 'Alright alright!' a shout came from high up in the rigging. Looking up, the silhouette of Arius stood out in the midday sun. 'We are the crew of the Black Hart. The crew of The Captain himself. Do you think we could be any more unlucky? Do you think a woman would hinder our paths to Hell? No Lads! We are on the ship of the damned... more killing would only dampen the wood. Some sense perhaps?' Alistair lowered his sword. 'The Boy's right...' shouted the sailor, brushing himself down. 'We might as well work and hope that the sea'll take us.'

It was dark in The Captain's cabin. The red velvet curtains were drawn and the only light that made it visible in the room was the flickering light of candles situated around the room. 'I just saved you from a lifetime of slavery, and you don’t feel the need to be in the slightest bit courteous to me?' he tutted, shaking his head. The tone of his voice was dangerously laxed as he locked the door behind him. 'You're getting too... loud... woman.' she had split up his family and was a lasting reminder of Olivia's betrayal. Her answering back was the worst thing she could have done. Jack lifted his hand and struck her, grabbing her shirt in one swift movement. 'Who do you think you are? I've given you everything!' he spat viciously, throwing her down on his desk. He turned away from her slowly undoing the buckle of his belt. 'I think I deserve some payment for my hospitality...' The ship creaked as the sound of footsteps was heard outside. He turned with lightning speed, grabbing her by the hair and pushing her up against the wooden hull that formed his wall, a gun to her head. 'You make me sick.' he growled, looking down at her, his eyes darkened to their deepest blue. 'I bet you're enjoying this. You're sick in the head! Gagging for it aren't you? Little whore.' He pressed himself up against her, his strong arms pinning her so she couldn't move. 'Perhaps you should apologise.' He removed the gun from her temple, slowly lowering it, finally sending it clattering to the floor. With his now free hand, he roughly ripped open the buttons of her shirt, laughing darkly as he did. ‘Louder. I want to hear you mean it. Now APOLOGISE.’

Ivy threw open the cabin door and stormed in, it looked different even in the week that she had been gone. When she had last been in his cabin was in the evening in which the reddish light would catch all the dust dancing through its path; really showing the ship’s age. The piano had looked inviting; how she had wanted to play that piano again, it looked so antique yet played as if t were turned an hour before. But now it all looked a little sinister, Ivy walked in further, turning around to see Jack close the door behind him. Ivy’s eyes narrowed; she didn’t like his tone at all, the way he locked the door or the way he was looking at her. Ivy was ready to answer back at him. The slaver’s boat had been a new sort of horrible for her but surviving a week made her realise that she could be self sufficient and stand on her own two feet; Ivy didn’t let a man touch her aboard that ship so she wasn’t about to let Jack do so either.

“Courteous, to you?” Ivy sneered as Jack came further into the room; she was begging to speak over him. “Too loud? This is the bloody twenty-first century, and I will be as bloody loud as I want to be, you have no.” The crack of Jack’s hand against her skin shocked the words from her mouth, her lips still parted as if to finish her sentence, but instead a rush of air. The grip on the front of her shirt first stopped her from swinging straight back at him. Her eyes were as wide as diner plate but she quickly got some of her fight back. “I never wanted you to give me anything!” But she was silenced again by the forced of being thrown onto the desk, different coins and object were sent clattering to the floor around them. Ivy quickly threw herself to standing again but she wasn’t quick enough to get out of Jack’s way. Against the wall Ivy began to sound shaken. ”You don’t deserve anything!” she tried desperately to push Jack off of her but he still stronger than her and Ivy was still sore from being sat in the same position for a week.

The gun being drawn only made Ivy angrier. “You think that will do anything? Do you really thing I care if you shoot me now!?” Ivy was speaking through gritted teeth, her eyes were prickling fighting back tears, she was exhausted and in pain; frightened and angry all at the same time. She watched the gun intensely as it was sent to the ground and was relieved, but his insults hurt; Ivy felt vulnerable, perhaps the first time of doing what Jack said the first time he said. “I’m sorry.” Ivy wouldn’t even look at Jack as she said it. With her shirt ripped open Ivy started to struggle again, trying to kick Jack away from her, tear now bubbling in her eyes. “I’m sorry!” she shouted loudly, her tangled hair thrown into her eyes. “No, Jack, no! I’m sorry Jack!!” Tears rolling down her cheeks and dripping onto her chest Ivy shouted and screamed. “I hate you, I wish you had left me on that ship to rot! An eternity by my self would be a dream compared to you! I wish you would drop dead!” Ivy had even surprised herself with her outburst. So much so for a brief moment she calmed down and looked into Jack’s eyes; those vicious and malicious looking, hating eyes and realised. “You wish I were dead too.”

“I hate you, I wish you had left me on that ship to rot! An eternity by my self would be a dream compared to you! I wish you would drop dead!” his eyes were murderous, up to the point where her tone changed. Something in him just snapped. 'Do you even know what you are?' he shouted, pulling her back and then slamming her up against the wall once more, dropping her to slump on the floor. Looking up, he lifted his hands to the sky 'DO YOU KNOW WHO SHE IS? HUH?! IS THIS SOME KIND OF SICK JOKE?' he sighed as rolling thunder sounded in the distance. One of the candles in his cabin flickered out as the tense silence resumed. Finally, he turned to her. 'Yes.' the word was so hollow, so dreadfully truthful that it seemed like it echoed through the universe. 'If you only knew what you do to me every time I look at you. SHE LEFT ME IVY! she left me and had children with some man some... some mortal... and you!' he ran up to her, crouching down so his face was so close to hers, he dropped his voice to a whisper 'look at you...' his eyes were an unearthly crystal blue, but dark shadows were roaming around in them, almost like the shadows of fish in a coral bay. 'I don't know what to do.' his voice equally quiet. 'You remind me of her Ivy... but... you're so different... she was... he caught her eyes, sinceerly looking into them. 'They... hers were blue... you really don't know what's going on do you...?' He looked away from her, his eyes glazing over. Standing up, he offered her a hand to standing. 'I... I suppose apologising wouldn't be an option... for me I mean? No...' He went through the heavy red velvet curtain that was ever so slightly open to his sleeping quarters. He sat down on on his bed, his head in his hands. He wished he was dead too, he had mood swings that he couldnt control, he outlived or scared off anyone he had ever loved, his sister was gone, his family were dead. His life was miserable, and he could do nothing to stop it.

Ivy should have expected Jack’s outburst, but it still made her jump. The room had clouded as tears streamed slowly along her cheeks. Being slammed against the wall and dropped to the floor leaving her winded. ’No!’ Ivy didn’t know what she was to him, before all of this Ivy had been so sure of herself but on her knees against the wall Ivy wasn’t sure what she was anymore being pushed and pulled in all directions. As he called out she wiped her eyes, his answer left a cold echo inside her, she looked away from the floor and up at Jack, for once left speechless, the remaining candlelight danced in her glistening eyes, for once feeling pain for someone else. With Jack crouched in front of her, Ivy looked into his eyes, they were unlike anybody else’s eyes she had ever looked into. 'They... hers were blue... you really don't know what's going on do you...?' She could see their years of pain; just there for the world to see; but only if you looked hard enough. But again, there was something dreadfully beautiful about them. When Jack stood she broke away from his eyes and looked to the door, she didn’t take his hand, and instead she got to her feet herself and watched him walk behind the curtain, at first she stood outside of it in silence, once again left with no clue about what had happened. She had a headache. Barefoot she padded over to the curtain and looked through the small gap that he had left. She watched him with his head in his hands, and felt incredibly guilty, this made her a little angry, Ivy never felt guilty about anything; she had killed a man and not even looked back at the body but here she was watching a man and wondering what hell he had been through. Thinking about what he had said about his lost love Ivy remembered something that she had brought onto the ship with her, or rather had been in her pocket at the time she was brought on board. She looked into the bag she had on her and pulled out a beautiful necklace with a mother of pearl centre, with it in her and Ivy moved the curtain a little “Jack?” She hardly spoke, her throat a little raspy from shouting at him. Ivy closed the curtain behind her. “I...well, this has been handed down and it kind of matches one she talked ‘bout in her letters, I guessed, you might want it back?” She didn’t sit down; still a little weary if Jack would flip out again. “Why did you take me on board in the first place, If you saw her in me...”

There was a long period of silence, only her breathing could be heard because in times of distress, Jack forgot to mimic the staple point of mortality. He heard her voice call out his name, and shuddered slightly. “I...well, this has been handed down and it kind of matches one she talked ‘bout in her letters, I guessed, you might want it back?” He didn't see why he would want it back. Everytime he saw the shadow of a gull pass over the sails, or the sound of horses hooves on the sand it reminded him of her. He didn't need trinkets. He was inhumanly still. “Why did you take me on board in the first place, If you saw her in me...” he sat for a moment, incapable of tears. 'I saw everything she'd done to me, in you.' He didn't look up, his voice harrowing. 'She'd ;eft me, for another man, and had children with him. The one thing I couldn't give her. Instead of looking for me, instead of forgetting everything and coming back to me, she killed herself. What justice is there?' a pause. 'None. That's why I brought you here, justice needs to be served, the scales need to be balanced. I thought I could do that by murdering you.' There must have been so much shouting going on outside the cabin door, but as soon as that door was shut, everything was blocked out, like the whole world dissappeared. Sometimes it did. 'But I can't even do that...' he shuddered, no tears falling, the sea was all the emotion he could show.

Alistair knew better than to disturb The Captain when he was in his quarters. He never came out unless he was ready to, not on anyone elses watches. He could sense when somethign was approaching well before any of the men could see it. Alistair was in a foul mood. The damn dog that The Captain had brought on board had been bothering him ever since the Greek lad went up into the rigging. Then again, he'd been in a foul mood ever since he walked in on Rosa and the Fire Lord together. But he was wimping out again, that's what his life had ended up being. He was a half blind half angel with hoards of self pity but no self respect. She'd beaten all of that out of him. He used to be a mighty worrior, but now all he could do was pussy around after Jack. 'Why aren't we moving boys?! Step to it!' he shouted from the helm. Strangely enough, he had been too absorbed in his troubles to notice that the men had stopped working, all they could do was stare over the side of the ship. 'What's going on Lads?' 'Look sir... I've never seen anything like it...' He sighed, letting the helm go. To his surprise, it stayed where it was. 'What the...?' Running to the edge, he looked over. The sea was absolutely glass still. They must have been out in the middle of the ocean, and it was as clear as the shallow. He put his finger in his mouth, pulling it out again and holding it up in the air. 'No wind.' He looked around to see the faces of the crew looking up at him. 'Night is falling. Take this as a sign that your work is done tonight. Arius and I shall man the ship tonight.'

'You hate me, you hate me like she must have,' he stood, crossing the room to her 'No, she didn't hate me, she was scared of me... she had the same look in her eyes when I...' he looked up from the floor to her face, anguish in his eyes, he lifted his hand to touch her face, but paused. 'I guess this is my fault... I should've never have taken her with me that day... she wanted to go out on the boat with me... she wanted to watch me fish...' he was studying her face, seeing if there were any answers. None came to him. 'I won't kill you Ivy, you're safe with me.' he turned away from her, his voice cracking on his last word, letting the pain seep through. 'No justice will be served to the man with no heart, no blood will be taken by the girl with no soul, no pain will they know as balance is restored.' another prophesy, one that this time, he couldn't work out.

Ivy watched jack intently, she could feel his pain; she could see it in his eyes but this time ivy could physically feel his pain. It sent a shiver down her spine. But amongst his nostalgic murmurs he wasn't making much sense, it were as if he had reverted into his own small world and ivy was only getting glimmers of it, she didn't speak but only listened to Jack, she felt that she at least owed him that. But Jack went quiet again, in the silence Ivy yawned quietly, after all of what had happened she was nearly asleep on her feet. "Jack?" she hoped to get his eye contact, instead she looked around the room, a little unsure to finish her sentence. "Is it ok for me to stay in here? Even on the floor or in a chair. I really...don't want to have to face those men out there, they only have two things in mind about me..." Jack would have known exactly what she was referring to; Ivy was horrifically bad luck on a sailing ship and for those who didn't believe in the old superstitions ship was, well, a woman on a ship.

"oh, okay." Ivy hadn't really expected Jack to let her stay in the room with him. She assumed he would want to be alone, or just didn't want Ivy to have her in his sights any longer. But for this she was grateful, she had spent all her energy on the slavers ship aggravating the slavers and fighting them off maliciously, all she wanted for that night was warmth and peace. "Thank you." she nodded to Jack with a small, almost timid looking smile, but it was genuine at least. Ivy then disappeared behind the heavy red curtains and removed her clothes down to her underwear, slipping into Jack's bed. After the rustling of the bed covers as Ivy turned on her side there was silence, she could hardly hear outside either, all of the deck hands had gone below deck and Ivy was left to her own thoughts; but that also didn't last long, her eyes felt heavy even when closed, her body was begging for sleep and she quickly obliged. But something woke Ivy later in the night, a troubled dream. Ivy didn't open her eyes but the bed felt warmer and on her half asleep state she moved closer to the other person in the bed. Unconcerned, Ivy fell back to sleep against Jack, her hair just brushing his shoulders.

Ivy was a deep un disturbable sleep until midday the next day, and even then the sounds of the crew didn't disturb her, it were as if the cabin was silent except for the occasional wave against the hull, she wasn't aware of what time it was, convinced that it must have been very early in the morning for the crew not to be at work, she slid out of the empty bed and into some of her older clothes that had been left before she ran away. A pale blue day dress that she remembered wearing when climbing the rigging with Alistair. She hadn't had the courage to face him either. But in a pair of deck shoes as well, she set out onto the deck, not looking to see where Jack was, she figured that it would be best if she just got out of his hair for a while. But that meant that she could scout out the sailors on the ship, not all of them could be aesthetically atrocious. She opened the door of the cabin and was rather startled at the sudden sound of everything going on at once around her, men running to a fro, swinging from the rigging and barking orders at each other, it was far more exciting than when there had only been a few men. Lying on top of an open wooden barrel was a short sword, it normally wouldn't have caught her eye but seeing as a few men had been looking at her as she came out of the cabin Ivy wanted to give the impression that she wasn't to be messed around with; fearsome. But picking up the sword it was harder to maneuver than she had first imagined, heavier too, not like in the movies. One rather short man began laugh at Ivy's difficulties holding a sword and no matter where she was Ivy wasn't going to be laughed at. "Laughing at me, huh?" She shouted, a couple of the crew stopping their work to see what was going on, the majority however didn't really care. "Well how about you come over here and tell me what was so funny." Ivy turned around, as another man heckled but as the shadow of the first man came over her she twisted around quickly, still with the sword in hand to point at the sailor menacingly, but she underestimated how close he actually was, slicing into the top on his arm and the start of his chest. The man stood back, bewildered and in pain, Ivy didn't hesitate to slip back into Jack's Cabin, seeing him at his desk. "You need to teach me how to use this." She stepped closer, pointing the bloody sword. "You do! I attacked one of your men, well, attacked is a strong word... I still need to know, teach me? Pleeaaassseeee?"

"Is it ok for me to stay in here? Even on the floor or in a chair. I really...don't want to have to face those men out there, they only have two things in mind about me..." Jack stood to look out of the tiny circular window. He stood there for a moment, looking like he wasn’t listening to her before muttering ‘Do what you like.’ He heard her walk through the curtain and back through again, crawling into his bed. Finally he heard her breathing pattern slow and become regular, indicating sleep. Jack didn’t sleep, he didn’t need to. Instead he put himself in a semi-cognitive state where he didn’t think and didn’t trouble himself with the meaningless rituals of mimicking human activity, like breathing.

When The Captain finally did turn around, it was dark, he didn’t know how long he’d been staring out to sea for and he didn’t really care. The thing with being a God was that you could get tired, but never sleep, you could be hungry, but no matter how much you eat, you’d never be full, but, when you were happy, nothing could bring you down. He looked at the back of Ivy’s head, his mouth twitching with the smallest of smiles, disappearing in an instant. His shirt dropped to the floor, followed by his boots and trousers. He pulled the covers back, getting in as far away from his lodger as possible so as not to disturb her. He laid back, staring at the boards, an arm behind his head. His skin prickled with the temperature of the sea being warmed by the covers; soon, he closed his eyes.

Jack’s eyes opened again, it was still dark, but he had been disturbed in his rest by a sudden change in temperature. The last time that happened some crazy bitch set him alight. This time it wasn’t so serious. Looking down, he saw Ivy, her breath hot on his chest. He smiled a little, lifting his hand, but then pausing. He studied her face, his eyes a deep navy, silver shining in them. He brushed her cheek with his hand, smiling at how warm she was. He turned on his side, facing her, slowly he moved an arm around her waist, holding her close to him, he then closed his eyes once more.

Jack regained full consciousness again in the morning, he decided to go for a swim There was still no wind in the sails (as he wished it) so it was a perfect opportunity to feel his water against him. Walking out onto the deck his men greeted him with an avidly grumpy tone. ‘Men, there is not much for you to do today, Therefore I encourage gambling and alcohol. Feel free to drink the rum.’ An almighty cheer gave way. He smiled, handing his hat, boots and Jacket to Arius before throwing himself overboard. Feeling the cold sea against his skin once more was a welcomed relief, he took it in, diving deeper, swimming with his hippocampi and his sharks. He must have been there for about an hour, because when he finally surfaced, Alistair was stood over the side of the ship looking concerned. ‘Throw me a ladder!’ he exclaimed, only to make his friend grumble in distaste. The ladder soon came however; He climbed it and jumped on board again, his hair slicked back and his shirt clinging to his chest. He nodded to Alistair who still looked pretty grumpy and walked towards his cabin.

Once inside, he walked into his wardrobe, picking out a few shirts and stripping off his wet clothes. His hair still wet, he sat down behind his desk, drawing up some contracts for mortal beings for their souls and the like. He was halfway through drawing up a particularly interesting one when Ivy came barging in. He wasn’t even aware she’d left, but didn’t look up. "You need to teach me how to use this." He continued writing ‘I don’t need to do anything.’ "You do! I attacked one of your men, well, attacked is a strong word... I still need to know, teach me? Pleeaaassseeee?" he put his pen down, sighing ‘You attacked one of my men? You are already a hazard with a cutlass and I haven’t taught you anything. My answer is no.’ He straightened his papers and stood, ignoring her whining and walking past her to open his weapons case. He pulled out a thin, plain blade, the handle cupped. It was simple and light. He turned around grinning. ‘I will not teach you how to use one of those, because it is a cutlass, a prehistoric weapon for philistines that enjoy butchering rather than clean cut murder. THIS is a sword.’ He handed it to her, first throwing it in the air and catching it by the incredibly sharp blade. It would have sliced through anybody else’s hand but Jack’s. He turned away from her, picking up his sheathes sword, it being heavier and intricately carved with ancient runes and pictures. It was magic of course, if that’s what you wanted to call it, but only in the hands of its true owner. ‘Follow me kitten.’

He pushed the door open and strode onto the deck, the men clearing into a wide circle, curious to what was going on ‘I am now going to teach this woman to spar!’ the men laughed loudly, finally dying down until one laugh was heard, a distinct laugh. ‘Alistair please…’ ‘I… I’m sorry… pffft…. Carry on…’ ‘If you find it so hilarious, how about you spar against me first?’ that shut him up. ‘Thought so. Right, so Miss Renton …’ he was rudely interrupted ‘You’re on Farrell.’ The atmosphere seemed to instantly thicken. ‘Look, Alistair, I won’t fight you…’ ‘Yes you will, but not with that sword. With hers.’ Jack paused. If anyone was to beat him in a sword fight, it would be Alistair. Especially since the odds were to not fight with his sword. ‘Alright men. Back to work. The wind is picking up.’ The two men held eye contact though everything around them was changing. ‘You know you have to face them Alistair, fighting me won’t change anything.’ Alistair looked away. ‘Right men! We sail to the nearest port. We should be there by tonight. The wind is with us.’ He turned on his heels, followed by Dog who had turned up from Arius’ company. ‘Ivy, come.’ He demanded, clicking his fingers behind him whilst walking, leaving his cabin door open behind him. When they were both inside, he sat at his desk again, putting his feet up on the desk, pulling his shirt off and tipping his hat over his face. ‘Play me something.’ He said simply motioning to the piano. ‘I like to hear you play.’ He sighed ‘Don’t worry, I’ll teach you, why do you think we’re stopping to Port, besides buying more rum…’ he closed his eyes, leaning back, the sun illuminating his perfect skin. He listened to her play, relishing in her skill.

Ivy sat at the piano “Why?” she asked abruptly, looking over to Jack before looking at the keys. Her fingertips cooled as her hands glided along the bone keys and began to play ‘Oltremare’ Ivy’s eyes narrowed as she concentrated on her timing. It had been a long time since she had regularly practiced playing the piano; but it seemed she still remembered the majority of what she was taught. “I’m not forgetting about you teaching me.” She spoke a little distantly, he now had his hat over his eyes and Ivy couldn’t help but look at Jack whilst she played. To say there was nobody else like him was an understatement, it was as if he was from another world entirely. Ivy had never believed in anything like the gods before but Jack put a completely different perspective on reality for Ivy. The last note of the melody faded to silence and Ivy stretched her fingers, pleased to have not made a mistake but not remembering playing the piano hurting her hands as much as it had. She would have played another piece, but there was a small rap at the door that caught her attention. A skinny lad opened the door but didn’t dare step in. “Excuse me Captain, we need bearings. He told us to find the navigator.” Ivy looked over to Jack, unsure if she should go out there now she wasn’t under the guise as Aiden. She decided to stand and walk towards the door. “Don’t disturb the Captain now…” Ivy closed the door behind her and was back on the deck, but this time there was a whole new atmosphere, the men were hard at work, knowing that their destination wasn’t far away. They couldn’t wait for land and the rewards that it would bring. Ivy walked up the stairs, nearly wretching as she walked through an unknown liquid bare footed. But up in the Mediterranean sun Ivy felt more willing to help the man. She pulled the map from her dress pocket and flattened it on the table in front of her with a compass. They were headed to the fishing village of Calella de Palafrugell. Ivy had never heard of it before so had little to go by when they got there. She pointed to the man on a more modern map where the town was situated so he could get bearings.

They were no more than a day away from Calella de Palafrugell, she wasn’t sure what was going to happen there, from what she could gather there was going to be another chest somewhere but she didn’t even know where to begin, she decided that would be better left t Jack to figure out. For now Ivy decided to make the most of the midday sun, ad sat on the table with the map, pretending to study it again but of course she was discretely eyeing a few of the captain’s crew. The majority wouldn’t even look up near Ivy in fear of the captain’s threats but there were one or two who gave her the eye back.

The day darkened quicker than Ivy expected, probably because she fell asleep on deck for a couple of hours but the sun was burning its way into the sea and a chill was picking up. The men were still working on the sails, making the most of the wind. Ivy walked passed Alistair on the way to Jack’s cabin. He had completely changed in personality; Ivy decided to avoid him at all costs for now. Jack was still in his cabin when she entered. She sat on the piano stool but wasn’t going to play. “We should be there tomorrow.” She pressed on key of the piano, followed by another. “I think you should play something for me, on the guitar.” Ivy smiled. “I played for you; go on… what else is there to do on this ship then?” “Just play it, it’s not as if you’re doing anything else!” She would threaten to entertain herself with one of the crew members below deck, but the thought of some of them was enough of an incentive to stay in the cabin with Jack.

He listened to her playing, his eyes closed, he loved the sound of the Piano, and would learn to play if he could give a damn about bettering himself, he always thought there was less skill in it than playing the guitar, so didn’t bother. He wanted her to play more but was rudely interrupted by one of the crew. Dog managed to sneak in whilst the door was being shut, pottering about the cabin and sniffing at things. Jack tipped his hat a little, opening one eye and looking at Dog’s tail waggling from behind his desk. He smirked, whistling lightly. Dog’s ears perked up ad he spun around. Jack watched Dog’s tail move around, and trot over closer only to disappear for a moment. Jack whistled again, slightly confused, before he knew it, a pair of paws and a black fluffy head appeared on his desk, Dog’s tongue lolling out in happiness. Jack laughed loudly ‘Come here you fuzzy git!’ He jumped up onto the table, sliding across on the shiny wooden surface and ending up on the Captain’s lap, licking his face. Jack pushed him off after a bit of loving for the animal, hopping up on his windowsill just as Ivy came back in. “We should be there tomorrow.” ‘Mmm I know.’ He replied, looking out the window, the blinding Mediterranean light silhouetting his body. “I think you should play something for me, on the guitar.” he smirked, not being used to people telling him to do things, he saw it as quaint. ‘Do you now?’ he replied “I played for you; go on… what else is there to do on this ship then?” ‘Well…’ he jumped down from the window, standing over her ‘I could think of a few things we could be doing…’ his natural charm taking over. Dog had found himself Jack’s bed, curling up in one corner and going to sleep, snoring a little soundly. “Just play it, it’s not as if you’re doing anything else!” The Captain grinned, walking over to her once more ‘And what will you do for me if I do play for you? I’m like a busker; I don’t play for free you know.’ He grinned, winking at her again, catching her eye with his before laughing a little and scratching the back of his neck ‘Nah, I’m just Joshin’ with you, here take this.’ He took off his hat and plopped it on her head, it was too big, he just grinned. There were a few old guitar cases around, each a little different. One was made of expensive leather, another just fabric but immaculately kept; those weren’t the ones that Jack was going to opt for. Finally, in the corner, covered with cobwebs, was a hard case stuck together with strips of brown tape, the handle was fraying and there were band and bumper stickers all over it. He pulled out from its cubby hole, a stack of dodgy looking magazines toppling over ‘Oh no…!’ he exclaimed, putting the guitar case on his desk delicately before dropping to his knees and hurriedly trying to stack up the magazines. He stopped, picking off a sheet from the top, biting his bottom lip. ‘Oh yeah… I’m in love with that woman... Phwoar… she was fun…’ He stood up again, taking one last look at the picture of the redhead from the war before handing it to Ivy ‘Put this up somewhere will you whilst I tune this thing.’ He waited for her to turn around before unclipping the case and pulling out the instrument. It was made of a deep brown wood, heavy, but perfectly carved. On top of it, was a beautiful carved silver plate, the strings were plated with gold and the pegs were made of mother of pearl. He smiled at the guitar, remembering when he made it on the shores of The Floating Island. He strummed it once, and the sound was haunting, but sill perfectly in tune. He smiled fondly ‘Now, I could play this for you, but right now, I don’t want to, I want some food. Go get me some food.’ He watched her leave, waiting a few moments before walking on deck. He look at Alistair, the only man left on board ‘You go get some sleep Ali; I’ll be alright here tonight.’ His friend nodded to him, looking like his old self again if only for a moment. The ship was anchored down for the night; Jack climbed up in the rigging with his guitar, lying down in a large net as if it were the most comfortable thing he’d ever laid in. His leg hanging over the side, he held his guitar, taking in a large breath just to feel the air coursing through his redundant lungs. In the night, he felt safer, like he could return to who he was, it was almost as if he was reminded of his distant humanity, whilst radiating omnipotence. Delicately, he picked the strings, a haunting tune ringing out from them, finally he began to sing.

He walked along the shore
Praying please I cant do this anymore
As tears came to his eyes
Tears fell from the blackened skies
There is no love for me
Apart from roaming the empty seas
So he sat head in his hands
On a rock buried deep in the sand

And that’s when he began to hear, a sea of voices soft and clear
And she called out to him, and this is what she said

We could be together
Everyday forever
We could swim together
But I will never harm you
I’ll drown all of your sorrows
There’ll be none left tomorrow
All you have to do is follow
And I will always be with you my friend

He walked into the sea, Claws not nails and a tail had she
And she called out to him, and this is what she said

We could be together
Everyday forever
We could sink together
If you just come to me
There be no breaths or sighing
I will not hear you crying
I’ll only watch you dying as I drown you in the sea…

His playing came to a sudden stop, a tear rolled down The Captains cheek. It fell onto his chest. He cased his guitar again and dropped it carefully into a pile of ropes and sails. Hanging there, he could feel the breeze on his skin, and could feel her presence. ‘I know you’re there. Get up here’ He waited for her to scramble up into the net with him. ‘Come here,’ he waved his arm to her, holding it out for her to lay into him. When she did, he wrapped his arm around her to keep her from getting cold. ‘Did you get my food?’ He asked after a moment of lying there in silence. ‘No, thought not… lousy wench you are.’ He said a sad air to his voice, joking, but not in a very joking mood. ‘You see that star there…’ he said, pointing up to the clear night sky. He dropped his arm again, stroking her hair; her head leant against his bare chest. ‘When a mermaid dies, her soul goes to live in the stars…’ he trailed off a little before starting again, leaning his head on hers, ‘That siren, they say, was a most beautiful creature, she was sent by the gods, to save a soul so clean, from uttermost darkness. The boy was a simple lad, a fisherman in a small village, who loved the sea more than his own life, he went out one day, in his boat, only wishing that he could leave his life, as he had done everything that he wanted to do and wanted to live no more. So the Siren came to him and took his life from him. That day however, the fisherman’s sister came begged to come fishing with him; she had been worried for him for quite some time. She went with him, and after hearing the Siren, followed after him. Seeing her dead brother’s body in her arms, a certain type of rage overtook her, nobody knows why, but she took a knife to the innocent creature and cut out her heart…’ Jack paused, staring out into the sky ‘I like to think that, it was because she felt like her heart had been ripped out, seeing her brother like that… perhaps she didn’t understand his pain…’ he smiled down to her ‘Anyway, the story goes, that, as the Siren died, a new star appeared, in remembrance of the beautiful, innocent creature…’ he smiled looking up at the star, ‘I love that story…’ he smiled, kissing her head lightly.

Ivy smirked. “I don’t give money to buskers.” She enjoyed Jack in his quirky and playful moods; however she could dish out the banter just as well. But she was interrupted by darkness as Jack places his hat on her head. “Ugh” She sighed, tipping it backwards so she could see him again. “Geese, how many guitars do you want?” She looked at Jack pass several cases and raised her eyebrow, but she couldn’t really comment, there had to be at least four pianos back at home, not including the one in her room and the grand piano in the foyer. “This is bloody old.” Ivy took the piece of paper and turned to pin it against a bookshelf, “She must be like…one hundred now or something.” Ivy mumbled in jealousy, she was certainly stunning, just as Jack’s guitar was when she turned around. “Oh come on! You’re just a tease; you could have told me that before! Fine, whatever.” Ivy walked down to the galley and pushed aside some of the cooks. “Oh get off it!” She retaliated to their abuse. “Captain wants something to eat and probably doesn’t want diseased hands all over it, yeah?” She smirked at that one, a few people leaving her alone. Now Ivy wasn’t a good cook, she never had to, unless of course she had been at Danny’s house in which case she had been taught to cook bacon sandwiches to perfection. But as she assembled the sandwich she began to think about Danny and how she missed him, over indulging on her thoughts, Ivy ate the sandwich herself on the way back onto the deck, by the time she was stood I the starlight, only the crusts were left which she threw overboard. She stood for a moment listening to Jack in awe, he really didn’t seem the type to sing like that, it was very passionate and heartfelt, not to mention his guitar playing. But it came to a stop and Ivy half felt the need t creep back into his cabin but it was too late. ‘I know you’re there. Get up here’ It took Ivy a while to negotiate ropes, but sure enough she fell into Jack’s arms perfectly, looking up to the clear sky, her eyes darted from left to right at the mention of the food, gladly passing the subject over.

Ivy had never heard the story before, it was something like what her nanny would have told her, it felt familiar but she was sure that she had never heard it before. Leaning into Jack Ivy smiled, she liked being so close to someone, she had missed it in the year that she had been in Jack’s company; even if it was Jack now, she still liked the feeling. “Yeah, it’s…” She couldn’t really find a word to express it but was sure that Jack caught her drift. The Mediterranean air was still warm, Ivy didn’t feel like moving for a while, she stayed with Jack for a while longer in silence before she began to feel tired, not wanting to fall asleep on him Ivy sat up. “I’m going to go down… yeah.” Negotiating the ropes backwards had to be worse, but she managed to get to the cabin in one piece, the dog still on the bed. Ivy frowned but as she undressed to get in dog moved out of the way for her. It felt like somebody had turned off a light switch, Ivy couldn’t remember when she fell asleep, but she could remember the same comforting feeling from the night before; but similarly she woke up alone, with the sound of men leaving the ship as they must have reached land. Ivy pulled on a white vest top and shorts, knowing that the height of summer was in the med right now. Ivy now had to find Jack, not sure what they were looking for here.

Jack watched her struggle down the rigging with a smile, she had no natural talent for pirating whatsoever, not to mention her arrogance. Laying there for a moment or two, he started to feel an uncomfortable presence. ‘Hello Alistair.’ The air was crackling, threatening a dry Mediterranean storm. ‘How long?’ the cold voice of his lifelong friend was an inevitable sign. ‘Since she was fourteen.’ ‘That young?’ ‘She’s infatuated.’ Alistair grunted, pacing around on the deck. Jack sighed, he’d have to get up one way or another, might as well make it voluntary. He rolled out of the nets and climbed down, landing lightly on the deck and standing a little away from him. ‘I’ve had enough. I used to be great, people used to envy me, fear me even. Now I’m weak… do you know what she’s done to me?’ Jack looked at his friend he was right. ‘She’s always done it, she loves you, sucks you dry and then leaves you, it’s the false security that she gives… the hollow temptations of the devil.’ Alistair turned around, his back to the Captain. ‘I can’t escape. I can’t be without her. I’m bound to her Jack.’ The captain frowned ‘What are you…’ ‘You were right, my wings were growing back… only, they aren’t my wings…’ His shirt dropped to the floor, exposing his naked back. Jack took a step away from him in shock, engraved deep into his flesh was what looked to be at first glance, a tattoo. It covered his entire back and was intricately detailed to replicate a perfect pair of wings. Jack stepped a little closer, the lines seemed to ripple in the air Jack stretched out his hand, his skin was soft, too soft, it almost felt like. He jumped away, a hand to his mouth. ‘You see… I’m a monster. I belong to her now.’ It was true, he thought that with her being gone, he could forget about her, but she had tapped into his very soul, she made him need her, and when he found out, he became bitter and angry causing his wings to grow back black and to bind him to her forever as her daemon. ‘We’ll find her Alistair. I can promise you that.’

That night, Jack went into his room, she was asleep there in his bed, he undressed and got in with her, not touching her of course, just sleeping… not even that. He closed his eyes and opened them again in the morning just before dawn. They had docked and he was ready to go, except, he wasn’t sure where he was, he always got confused when docking. ‘Where are we Arius?’ The Greek turned around ‘Cabrera… of the Balearic islands Captain. We needed to make a stop.’ Jack frowned ‘How did we get past the cape?’ Arius looked at him confused ‘what?’ ‘Never mind.’ They must have sailed through fog overnight so they weren’t detected by the Spanish government. He was edgy however, being that close to Spain was a rarity for him and they had eyes everywhere. They had docked on the uninhabited side of the tiny island, it was nestled between the party islands of Ibiza and Majorca it was quiet in comparison. It reminded him a little of his hometown in Greece, the islands look a lot alike in that area. ‘Alright lads, we get our co-ordinates in a few nights, town is along that path, go sample the food and the women, be back in three days.’ The men grunted and jeered before heading off over the hill with their overnight bags and trunks. Alistair stayed with him, as did Ivy and Dog, what he wasn’t expecting was Arius. ‘What are you doing here Boy?’ growled Alistair, who no longer found it comfortable to wear a shirt. He had an old sailor’s tattoo on his arm which made him look more than just the tad threatening. ‘I was... I wanted to…’ ‘Leave the boy alone will you, you old prune. Get yourself off lad.’ Arius stood where he was ‘I would rather stay with you captain.’ Jack raised an eyebrow. ‘Where are your shoes boy?’ ‘Pardon? ‘Why haven’t you got any shoes on?’ Arius looked down to his own bare feet and looked up again sheepishly ‘my sandals snapped.’ Jack held his hand out to Ivy to stop her laughing. It was silent for a moment as The Captain scrutinized the young lad. Arius was a little intimidated by the two men left behind, but held his ground. Finally, after a while Jack bent down to his own feet. ‘What are you doing?’ Alistair snapped. ‘Shush.’ He stood back up, his own sandals in his hands. ‘Here.’ He said, holding them out for the lad, his eye contact unwavering. ‘Thank you…’ the Greek grinned widely. Jack smirked back, some kind of unspoken connection between the two of them. ‘Right then, let’s go find some place to stay shall we?’ Alistair picked up his heavy naval rucksack from many aeons ago and flung it over his shoulder. ‘Follow me.’ He grunted, walking in front of the group.
After a while of walking to the point where Jack began to complain about the amount of complaining Ivy felt the need submit them to, they finally reached a small stone wall in the large olive grove on the mountain they had been trekking through. The group stepped over it carefully into a dusty courtyard. There was a small stone villa set in the grove, complete with terracotta roof and green shutters. ‘I uh… it’s mine…’ he didn’t really answer a lot of the unsaid questions that the other three had, but for the time being they were just thankful to have a place to stay. They all made it inside; it was modestly furnished and warm, like it was lived in. ‘There are only three bedrooms; two upstairs and one in the outhouse.’ Jack smiled ‘Sorted, that means that I’ll share with you mate, Ivy can have the other one upstairs and boy and dog can have the outhouse.’ He picked up the trunks but before he could take another step Alistair stopped him ‘No, the outhouse is taken.’ ‘Taken what do you mean t…’ ‘Just… I’ll explain everything tomorrow okay?’ his evasiveness was suspicious, but Jack was too tired to even think about it, nightfall had come quickly. ‘So, who doesn’t get a bed?’ Everything was silent; nobody wanted to give up a good night’s sleep. ‘Well, I for one will not tolerate the lady sleeping on the floor, so I will offer to stay down here with Dog.’ His accent was endearing to match with his wide brown eyes. Jack smiled ‘That’s nice kitten, but nobody’s sleeping on the floor. Ivy, one of us is going to have to stay with you. Choose.’ Alistair snarled ‘well, it won’t be me. Sorry lady, but I’ve got enough on my plate.’ Jack shrugged ‘Well then it’s me or the boy.’ ‘Oh… I couldn’t possibly.’ ‘Well then s’pose you’re going to have to bunk with me.’

Ivy had half expected to be dropped into the old town port of one of the party Islands, but stood next to Jack and Alistair and the Greek man she had spoken too briefly, Ivy couldn’t help but groan. In fact there was nothing around anywhere that she could see, except of course a few trees and what looked like a deadly half beaten path up a mountain that might as well have had giant scorpions and dragons climbing down the sides. Neither the less she followed Alistair who seemed to be in a terrible mood as always. At the back of their single file line it had only been ten minutes before Ivy couldn’t take walking anymore. “No one told me we were going to be walking this much…” But nobody replied to her whines. After a couple minutes longer she continued, “No really, where are we going? It’s too hot to be dealing with this shit…J..uh…captain! Come on! No I’m tired! Where’s the fancy hotel? UHH.” Her arms by her side, Ivy dragged her feet through the dust; today was not the day to be wearing ankle boots. After what seemed like an eternity ascending the steep narrow path they reached a small stone villa. Ivy groaned again. “We walked all this way… for that?” But Ivy soon quietened down, at the possible prospect of having to sleep in an outhouse. The night was still warm even at their heightened altitude and Ivy was looking forward to lying down until then came the notion of sharing. “Uh… what?” She looked less than impressed. “I don’t really…uh…” Ivy was relieved that the decision was made for her but still not happy about the result.

The villa felt a little more homely than she was used to, Ivy followed Jack up the stairs and to their room, she ignored the fact the bed was smaller than the average double bed for the moment, intrigued as to why they were where they were and what Alistair had meant by the outhouse being taken. She wondered what was in there but didn’t expect to find out, she had a knack for being continually out of the loop. After she had looked out of the window Ivy turned her attention back to the bed. “Uh its too small for both of us.” She leant against the wall as if she were a damsel in utter distress. But it’s way too hot to share a bed, you’ll just heat the whole thing up and stress me out and… no. You’re fine, you can stay… I don’t know that Greek guy and uh… I’m sure we can come to a compromise.” Ivy then spared no time in undressing down to her underwear, not wanting extra layers and getting in to the bed. She kept herself as close to the edge as she could but kept finding herself edging closer to Jack; it made it far more difficult to sleep but she kept quiet and her eyes closed; the sounds outside oddly relaxing. After a while Ivy found herself comfortable enough to sleep and quickly did so, the question of the outhouse and why they were up a mountain in the middle of nowhere still playing on her mind. They hadn’t reached their destination just yet.

Jack picked up Ivy's suitcase and followed her up the stairs only to be unimpressed with the small room. He was already feeling sick from being so far inland, the tiny room wasn't going to help. Setting the bags down, he immediately went to the window to look out onto the moonlit groves. “Uh its too small for both of us.” he looked around, not having noticed the size of the bed. "But it’s way too hot to share a bed, you’ll just heat the whole thing up and stress me out and…" Jack shrugged, it's fine, I'll go...' she stopped him, babbling some more before stripping down (which Jack turned for) and slipping under the thin sheets. He stayed stood for a while, looking out of the holes in the stone that they called a window, finally however, he pulled the shutters in and sat on the edge of the bed, un-stringing his laced up Captain's shirt and pulling it over his head. After laying there for a few moments, he rolled onto his side facing away from her. She seemed to relax when that happened, finally falling asleep.

It was late in the night when Jack got out of the tiny bed again, he was feeling sick, really sick, the only way he could describe it was sea-sickness, only, he was on land. Making his way down the stairs shakily, he found himself going out into the familiar scent of the olive groves. They had groves like that where he was from, he used to play hide and seek with Rosa in them and eat all the ripe olives before the old worker could come and pluck them. Walking outside made him feel a little better, but not much, it was dark and his feet were being cut under the sharp dried leaves of the olive trees. Dropping to his knees, he lifted a hand to his head, closing his eyes with the searing headache. Feeling the light of the moon on his bare skin, he looked up, his adopted mother was carrying the light of the moon across the sky in the middle earth. He smiled, getting up and walking some more, fighting through the pain. He would have to visit the sea soon or he'd go mad.
He found himself wondering out on the hills for most of the night before making his way back to the small house, going inside at the break of dawn, he was shocked by the form of a small girl stood with her back to him in the kitchen. His heavy footsteps startled her, she turned with lightning speed and wide eyes. Jack took a step back from her, she must have been who was staying in the outhouse, but why hadn't Alistair told him of her before? At that moment, he came walking down the stairs, a bag of sugar in his hand 'here, I knew I put it in there somewhere...' spotting Jack stood in the doorway, he immediately moved to shield the young girl, a hand on the hilt of his sword which was buckled loosely around his waist. The girl however put a hand on his arm, which caused him to re-think his actions. Putting back the razor sharp longsword back into its sheath, he stared down Jack who was still wary of his own actions, hovering by the door. 'What have you said to her?' Jack shook his head 'I mean it Jack, if you so much as think about her in the wrong way, if you so much as look at her...' he glared at his lifelong friend before nodding and moving aside. 'Xeraphina. This is your uncle Jack.' The captain glanced to this friend, then down to the girl again, there was no question of the resemblance, but, he still didn't understand. 'Jackie.' her voice was high and breathless, like it were a thought in his head instead of a voice. 'My father told me stories about you.' less than a whisper, it sent shivers down his spine. Alistair picked up the bag of sugar he had brought down and walked towards the kitchen part of the room, leaving them on their own.
The girl was a little taller than Ivy, but just as thin. There was something different about her though. She was white, not pale, but literally white, and so was her hair, but it was long and silken, not a hair out of place. Her eyes were large and golden, but they pierced straight into his soul. 'You are a pirate.' Jack smirked 'and you are an angel.' she looked to her bare feet 'you noticed.' Jack wasn't about to admit it, but he was a little intimidated by the creature. Angels were personal attendants for the big man in charge, and he wasn't sure if she knew about Alistair's antics with the opposition. 'Xeraphina. A beautiful name.' 'I was named after my mother' Jack's eyes flickered over to where Alistair was making his daughter something in the kitchen 'Your mother eh?' His friend's steely composure flickered as Jack mentioned the woman they had never spoken about before. He turned around, a white mug in his hand 'Here you are darling. Go and drink this outside while I talk to your uncle.' Xeraphina looked to the warm milk and sugar before smiling at her father and walking out towards the door, curtseying at Jack before leaving. Jack stared at his friend for a while before being interrupted. 'Go on then. Kick off. Do what you always do when something isn't in your control, under your thumb.' a deafening silence 'why didn't you tell me?' 'I DIDN'T HAVE TO TELL YOU! ITS MY BUSINESS, NOT YOURS!' The captain didn't so much as flinch, 'I'm your best friend Alistair. You are a brother to me. All the anger and hurt, why didn't you share it...' a thought suddenly occurred to him 'Does Rosa know about this?' Alistair laughed bitterly 'you think she'd look at me if she... fat lot of good it would have done. If she isn't happy with me now... what does she want from me.' Jack grinned, which escalated into a small snigger. The blonde haired sailor looked up with a frown. 'What? Are you laughing at me!? See, this is why I don't tell you anything Jack...' 'No no, it's not that...' he spluttered 'What does she want from you? What does she want?' he laughed a little more 'how about your soul?' Alistair snorted, throwing a teaspoon at the Captain. 'Shut up you git.'

As the sun was rising, Ivy was struggling to sleep, with the sun blasting through the old shutters and loud talking and clatter coming from downstairs she decided to give up and get up. She had been aware for a while that Jack wasn’t in the bed, she had gotten used to sharing a bed with him since being taken from above deck, even this small bed felt emptier without him. Slipping on a pair of denim shorts and leather sandals Ivy looked around the room, unable to find her shirt from the day before, her suitcase only having dresses in it, she didn’t want to wear a dress so clasping on a bra Ivy wandered down the stairs to the two men with one raised eyebrow. “Who has my shirt?” She extended a hand towards them “Seriously, I am not walking around with just this on…” Ivy walked with purpose towards the two but paused as she looked out of the open door to see a tall and very pale girl. “And who is she?” She rolled her eyes, nearly beyond asking questions anymore. Walking towards the door Ivy whistled loudly towards her and waved nonchalantly. “Well how-de-do.” Turning back towards Jack and Alistair she frowned. “Shirt. Now.” With still no shirt being given to her, Ivy got very close to Jack and whispered “Fine.” And hurried back upstairs and took one of Jack’s laced shirts and slipped that on over her pale pink balconette.

Sliding downstairs again the girl was inside, there was something oddly alluring about her, not in a conventional way, she was very serene looking, if not a little creepy but all the same very beautiful, it made Ivy immediately a little jealous, but she was friendly enough; still a little subdued from sleep. “Yes, hello…” Ivy flung herself down into a chair in her true melodramatic style and sighed. “I want… would like to go back to the ship, it is too hot in land here…” She looked over to the pale one. “And... who are you? Just I think you could do with a tan and the sun is glaring off of you, Xeraphina…what an obscure name.” She stood up and walked over to her and placed her hand out as to shake but as soon as she touched Xeraphina, Ivy felt a strange sort of shock surge through her, it wasn’t by any means painful but it was very odd. Pulling away immediately she looked a little puzzled. “Well I’m Ivy, captive, hostage, whatever word you would use for being held against your free will.” She smirked at Jack before walking out of the small villa and into the olive trees, she was going to go back to the boat or at least the coast, there was no way she was being cooped up whilst the men were allowed to have a good time. After a while of plaiting strands of leaves and wandering about she noticed Jack walk out. “And where are you going?”

Jack looked at Ivy with a raised eyebrow due to her lack of shirt. He shrugged at her asking after it, for once not having hidden it. Xeraphina seemed most shocked by the loud presence of the redhead, it was as if she had never seen another woman before, and knowing Alistair, she was probably banned to the confines of the villa. ‘Be nice.’ Jack warned in a low growl as Ivy approached the other girl. It seemed friendly enough, but Jack felt the warning shock that the angel gave off involuntarily when they shook hands. Watching Ivy walk out the door, he decided to follow her. He had already had enough of the madness of the morning, and his sickness would ease with being back in the sea again. When she turned around, he frowned at her. ‘You’re wearing my shirt.’ Jack was always the first at pointing out the obvious. ‘It’s hot. You probably won’t need it anyway. And I am coming because I need to be near the sea at least once a day when it’s this hot, not that I expect you to understand.’ His sword resting safely against his hip as he walked with her, plucking several olives from the trees as they walked, he began to feel better. Without so much of a warning, Jack felt a force push him forward; he fell to his knees and was soon bombarded with the slobbery tongue of his companion. ‘Hay! Hay get off! Alright that’s enough!’ he called through laughing, pushing his hairy friend off and scrambling to his feet. Soon, the sound of the young Greek’s sandaled feet running through the groves after the animal. ‘Sorry! sorry…’ he called out of breath and approaching them. ‘He got away from me.’ ‘Evidently.’ Jack muttered, looking at the naturally sculpted body of the tanned young man. ‘Where is your shirt?’ he asked, totally un-amused. ‘I can’t find it.’ Jack smelled a rat, and looked suspiciously from Ivy to Arius. ‘It seems we have a shirt-napper on the loose…’ he muttered, looking down to the boy’s side. ‘Where is your sword boy?’ he looked at him with a blank face ‘My… my sword?’ ‘Yes. That’s what I said boy.’ ‘N…no…’ Jack lifted a hand to his face, grabbing on either side of his nose ‘give me strength…’ he whispered before looking up to the sky as the heat seared ‘I suppose you think this is funny…’ he grumbled before looking at the boy again ‘Go and get your sword boy.’ He nodded as if he were terrified before turning around, however he was soon greeted by Alistair and Xeraphina. ‘Oh great. GO AWAY!’ he shouted at Alistair before being targeted by a flying stick. ‘Shut up you old git. You’re going the wrong way!’ Jack stifled a grin. ‘Catch.’ The blonde shouted, throwing a simple blade to the Greek. ‘Oh thank you!’ he exclaimed, catching it with ease. ‘Now, you want to go to the beach yeah? This way.’

After about half an hour’s trek through rocky passages and olive trees, they climbed down a steep path in the rock that had roughly carved stairs all the way down to a private cove. The sand was almost white and soft underfoot with clear, crystal blue water. They were surrounded by rock and overhanging trees and only a gentle breeze wafted through the air to unsettle the dazzling image. Dog was straight in the water, splashing around and searching for something he could chase, Alistair climbed into one of the overhanging trees, then helping his daughter up with him. Assuming the humans could not see them, the fallen unfurled his new wings, letting them dry in the wind. Xeraphina looked at them sadly before putting her long fingers through, separating the feathers and preening them as a bird would her partner. Arius produced a ball from somewhere and began tossing it to Ivy, which only made Jack’s bad mood deepen. Without a second thought, he dropped his sword into the sand, bade the water greet him, and dived in. Once in, a shoal of tiny silver fish greeted him as their master, swimming around him like a moth to a flame. Dog found this an ideal opportunity to chase something, swimming over and snapping at them, scaring them away. Jack frowned, sending the animal back on shore with a shout. He couldn’t stay in the water for long; it made him feel well but didn’t improve his mood. Back on land, the first thing the Captain spotted was his sword in the hands of the young Greek. ‘…I mean, the workmanship is amazing, and it looks so old! How old do you think it is?’ Jack was close to exploding ‘ Did I give you permission to even look at my sword?’ the boy looked up with a half grin on his face ‘no but, I mean…’ ‘ No but what? A weapon of this calibre should install fear, not curiosity, or do you need a lesson in that fear boy’ he whisked the blade from the boy’s hand, unsheathing it just a little, but enough for Alistair to intervene. ‘Leave the boy alone Farrell.’ He warned, his voice a little low. Jack flashed a glance into the tree before moving away from the boy and pulling his sword clean from its sheath with a glorious noise that replicated the devastating crash of waves on the hull of a ship and the scream of terrified victims. ‘Ivy. Get up.’ He growled. ‘Your sword Arius.’ His glare seemed to bore into the boy’s soul until he gave it up to the redhead. ‘Now you will learn to fight. The sword is not balanced for you but there is not a man alive who learned on a balanced sword.’ He tossed the hilt in his hand a few times before catching it by the tip of the blade and handing it to her. ‘There are three basic movements, block, parry and attack. Several types of attack are available for you with a short sword, however with a long sword you need room to swing. Sit down. Alistair.’ The blonde man tucked his wings away and jumped down from the branch, leaving his daughter hanging over the branch delicately leaned to watch. Alistair’s large back ‘tattoo’ rippled in the breeze, his shirt was left at home for the heat, but he was still quite a pale man, with an athletic physique and broad shoulders. Jack however was dark, and perfectly sculpted, the sea water glistened off his strong body, not that he noticed, he was far to engrossed in the matter at hand. ‘This is a block.’ He muttered aggressively, throwing his arm into attacking Alistair. The man blocked him with ease. ‘And this is a parry.’ He said, attacking the man again. ‘Got it? Good. Now, in a sequence.’ Without warning, he attacked his friend, throwing all his frustration into it. Jack was a threatening fighter, not only was there so much aggression that you would think twice about merely looking at him the wrong way, but every move was calculated, and executed with raw energy and expertise. Alistair on the other hand was far lighter on his feet, moving swiftly and delicately with finesse like it was more of a dance than a fight, he began to slow however as he got tired, sweat beading on his face and his breath becoming haggard, he made a mistake, and Jack’s blade sliced through the skin on his arm. In one fluid movement, Jack kicked him to the floor and held the sword to his friend’s neck. For one frightening moment, the air crackled with tension, for one frightening moment, Jack forgot himself and the blade was close to running straight through Alistair’s neck. After that tense moment, Jack pulled his sword away from the other man and pulled him up, looking at the cut on his arm. ‘Wash it in the sea.’ He murmured, rubbing the back of his head, visibly wound up. ‘I’m going back.’ He spat, sheathing his sword once again and turning his back on the group.

Ivy struggled with the concept of walking down to the beach again, it had been a terrible trek up the hill and right now all she could think about was having to walk back up to the villa. But as soon as she caught a glimpse of the waters and the golden sand Ivy raced along with Arius and for a moment had a good time on the sands, playing with the ball, that is until she fell backwards over Jack’s sword. She looked a little irritated but Jack had gone into the water so Arius had a chance to look at the sword. Ivy leant in as well, knowing nothing about swords but it looked nice enough. She wanted one like it. However their appreciation session was abruptly disrupted by Jack and Ivy backed off from it quickly and sat on the sand looking up at the pair. ‘Ivy. Get up.’ As much as he wanted to flip Jack the finger, he didn’t look like he was in the mood to be messed with; she stood awkwardly and watched the tense situation unfold before her, sword now nervously in hand she didn’t know how to hold it but wasn’t going to dare ask. Sit down. Her brow furrowed, her lips even quivered as if she was going to answer back and protest, feeling like a child just sat watching now, but it seemed very clear that it was safer for her to be sat out of the way. She hadn’t seen Jack like he was since Danny was on the boat, when he had cut off her finger; she even brushed her hand to make sure it was still there. He was intimidating and even Arius had backed away from the pair, sensing something more was behind the demonstration, Ivy took in a sharp breath of air as Alistair was cut, standing as he was forced to the floor. Everyone froze then, not sure what was going to happen, but Jack backed away and began to leave, Arius followed Alistair into the water but Ivy with Arius’ sword still in hand followed Jack along the path.

“What was that?” She snapped at him, not going to take silence for an answer. “Jack! Oh whatever!” She threw a stone at him, aiming for his head but hitting his calf, she flipped him off before going part of the way back, intending to go for a swim or sleep in the sun but she saw a small pathway and decided to follow it around which she quickly regretted. “Why…” She moaned, falling onto the dusty ground dramatically, even with no one around and closed her eyes for a nap but was rudely awoken by an angry local who must have mistaken her for a drunk tourist ’I wish’ She moaned to herself and wandered back to the steep climb that took her back to the villa and spent a while in the olive groves, eating a few from each tree she passed, not having eaten much the day. The sight of the villa was surprisingly pleasant as her feet hurt from having to exert herself for longer than she would have liked. Walking into the kitchen she guessed no one was back from the beach yet but as her eyes adjusted to the light she saw Jack and scowled, adjusting even more she spat. “Oh moody and drunk. How pleasant...how pathetic.” Leaning against one of the kitchen counters, looking out of the window and dropping the sword next to her feet, she wondered what time it was and when the others were coming back, the idea of being with a drunk Jack again unsettling her; this time she was determined to hold her ground and not be intimidated by him.

Jack was in no mood to play silly games with Ivy, ignoring her whiney voice, and the stone launched at him, he continued up to the villa.

Back at the beach, Arius had produced a ball from his pocket and was occupying himself as much as Dog with it, splashing around in the now choppy and cold waters, seemingly oblivious to the preening going on in the branches. ‘So tell me again why I cannot speak to my uncle without somebody being there? I have not had human contact in a while, and this is my reward?’ Alistair sighed, rubbing his face ‘Good grief Xera… I am not going to argue with you.’ ‘Is it something to do with this?’ she said, tugging at his primary feathers ‘When you told me they had grown back I did not expect this...’ she said, pulling out a particularly painful one. ‘If this carry’s on I will ground you young lady. I mean it.’ She thought for a moment, before replying ‘I’m old enough now you know, in human years…’ ‘Yes well, you are not a human.’ He looked to the sea which was becoming increasingly erratic despite the sunshine. He grunted ‘Well, I think that tonight we should visit the village… Where did Ivy go?’ This was said a little louder, addressing the Greek ‘She left to follow The Captain. May I accompany you to the village? I wish to procure some cheese.’ Before Alistair could reply, his daughter shouted down excitedly ‘oh yes, there is a wonderful stall for such things, although I do make my own feta if you would like to…’ Alistair had heard quite enough ‘Yes alright, I’m sure the boy doesn’t want to hear about your cheeses. Yes we can all go.’ And with that any thoughts of Ivy were forgotten as they stayed in the sun for the rest of the afternoon.

The star spattered sky was already visible through the empty windows of the small, hand built villa. Sprawled on the floor of the kitchen were various empty bottles, papers and small trinkets and propped up in the middle of it all, leaning against a worktop, was a very drunk man. Jack’s white shirt was stained with alcohol, not that it stopped him from drinking it. He had been reading through the letters, her letters. She never sent them, never even intended for him to get them, but there he was, her words circled around his bare feet. He swayed with the gentle breeze that entered through the wide open door, taking another large drink of his rum, most of it missing his mouth completely, instead running down his jaw and neck, finally seeping into his now wet shirt. His eyes were bloodshot and his stare murderous as Ivy stumbled into the room. ‘What was that?’ He growled at her petty insult, downing the rest of his bottle before smashing it on the floor. ‘There, it’s gone. You happy now?’ He pushed himself off the side, staggering towards her until he had a hold of her jaw in his hand, the other palm flat on the wall to the right of her head. ‘No, of course not…’ he muttered, his voice low and husky as he searched her face with his deep blue eyes. ‘You’re never happy are you?’ he breathed, stinking of alcohol. He laughed a little as she pulled away from his grip, walking across the room. ‘What’s wrong? Huh? Am I not good enough for you?’ he said, grabbing an empty bottle from the side and throwing it at her, she moved and it shattered against the wall. He laughed again as the glass fell to the floor, glittering in the light of the moon flooding through from outside. ‘Am I not as pretty as Arius huh? As nice as your Danny boy? Oh you’re not scared, good; I’m not trying to scare you.’ His voice was hauntingly serious for a drunken man. ‘Come here.’ He grunted, erratically waving about his hand in gesture. He snarled at her reply, moving with surprising speed over to her, grabbing her by the wrists and slamming her against a cabinet. ‘I said come here, stop… stop.’ He repeated, shaking her until she was still. He looked her in the eyes, gripping her shoulder with one hand, mostly to help him stand, then gently caressing her face with the back of the other.

His hand on her jaw made her eyes dart around the room, apart from the moonlight she could hardly see anything, and she pulled away from him and sighed loudly. “Can’t you just drink yourself to death somewhere quietly?” Ivy heard the clink of a bottle and turned around to see it coming straight towards her ‘Shit!’ Ivy dodged to the left and narrowly missed the bottle that was flying her way by hair’s breadth, “What the hell is wrong with you?’ He was obviously too drunk to get much sense out of, or at least what she wanted to hear. ‘Am I not as pretty as Arius huh? As nice as your Danny boy?’ She laughed bitterly, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the drunken captain. “No, funnily enough you’re not! And I’m not scared of you so you can just cut this out…ha! No, piss off.” She stood her ground as he rushed over to her, tensing her thighs as if no to be moved but she consistently underestimated Jack’s strength and found herself slammed into a cabinet, her wrists in a tight grasp; but they were quickly let go and his hand instead on her shoulder to keep her in one place, “Get off of… me…stop it!” She stopped resisting Jack as his grip tightened and instead looked carefully at his drunken face, desperately not wanting to look him in the eyes but they had a certain allure even in these circumstances. Ivy rested her hands on the kitchen counter behind her and leant into him slightly and breaking eye contact leant further forwards, her lips ever so slightly brushing against his earlobe as she whispered. “Why all of this rum Jack? Why would such a powerful and intimidating man reduce himself to not being able to stand?” She smirked and leant back into the counter, pulling herself from his hand on her shoulder and pushing herself up onto the work surface.

Blood slowly dripped from her feet from standing on the shattered glass but it didn’t bother her; she couldn’t feel it. Instead she decided to play a new game with the agitated Jack, she wasn’t scared of him like this, it was what gave her a little bit of excitement from following some crumpled map to who knew where. Ivy walked her fingers towards Jack’s hand but returned to keeping her grip on the work surface, her eyes were watering from the smell of alcohol what was coming off of him. “How much have you drank?” She laughed. “I’m supprised you haven’t…” She stopped and thought, remembering what he had shown her that day on the boat, what she had seen of his true past and something must have clicked as she gave Jack a childish, almost cheeky grin. “Ah you can’t kill yourself this way can you… so… you must be what? Letting out pent up frustration? Numbing the pain? Ivy could quickly see she was irritating Jack more, with her legs either side of him she leant her head back. “I bet you are the bad guy in all of this, aren’t you… oh don’t look so angry, every aspect of life needs one…” She quickly quietened down.

Jack froze as the girl leaned into him, her lips brushing his ear as she spoke. He grunted at her comment, resting a hand on her thigh as she sat on the worktop to steady himself. ‘You don’t know anything.’ He slurred, reaching for another drink but struggling, eventually giving up. “How much have you drank?” she chided ‘Enough.’ He retorted, trying to block out whatever she was saying. ‘I like the taste.’ He growled ‘No amount of alcohol could numb my pain mortal.’ He clicked that he had said something that sparked a memory in her when a pernicious smile crept across her mouth; she leaned back on the counter, throwing her head back. He took her all in with his large black eyes, studying every inch of her body in mere seconds. “I bet you are the bad guy in all of this, aren’t you…” he snarled, his eyes on the floor slowly growing darker, she laughed a little, before continuing oh don’t look so angry, every aspect of life needs one…”[/i] without so much as letting her finish, his strong arm moved in almost an instant, wrapping his fingers tightly around her small throat, lifting her jaw with the extreme force of it. ‘We do so much for you pitiful beings…’ he whispered in a low growl, his other hand moving down her leg and slowly reaching into the deep pocket of her shorts; he leaned into her, their bodies pressed up against each other so much so that he could feel her heartbeat on his chest through his thin shirt. ‘You think you can do things without us, think you can dump oil and trash in my seas and suddenly, when I’m pissed off, I’m the bad guy?’ To the right of them, a metallic click sounded, a flash of metal across her face. He directed her face to look at him, so she couldn’t see what he was doing. ‘Maybe I am the bad guy…’ he whispered, looking into her eyes to try and decode her expression, it was then he pulled her butterfly knife into view, he pressed the cold blade to her lips, letting go of her neck and her gaze for only a moment to pull out his own switchblade, putting it down on the counter next to her, pulling away her blade and placing it carefully on top of his. ‘But…’ he leant into her, feeling her ragged breaths against his skin ‘maybe you like that…’

‘The lights aren’t on Mister Alistair!’ Arius called from a little way ahead, dog running around his feet. ‘Maybe he’s asleep.’ The Captain’s first mate replied, a mouth full of candyfloss from visiting the carnival. ‘I doubt it.’ Muttered his daughter, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Alistair turned to her with a concerned face, turning to tell the Greek to not go in but being just out of time.

‘Why is there so much bottles in… oh… oh I… uh… I’ll just…’ The captain pulled away from the girl fast as lightning as the light was clicked on in the building. ‘No, boy just. Just shut up. She’s going to bed anyway aren’t you.’ He said as a statement more than a question. Arius laughed a little ‘looks like you need to sleep this off Captain!’ he giggled, before narrowly missing a switchblade to the face, it sticking in the wall to the right of him. ‘Sorry I’m…!’ Alistair walked in at the right time, saving his bacon. ‘He’s right Jack, get some sleep.’ It was like an unspoken connection between the two as the Captain turned from the group to follow the girl who had recently left them. Walking up the dark stairway, he found himself stumbling more than walking up them, his eyes waiting a minute to adjust to the dark again. He looked around his small room for Ivy, spotting her, looking at her, and then ignoring her, walking over to the small bed and pulling off his shirt. Holding it in his hands, he turned to look at her. The tension in the room was almost unbearable. He looked over her face in the moonlight. She looked similar to the girl he once knew, but the look in her eyes was different, she wasn’t afraid of him, it was something else. He tore his eyes away, dropping his shirt to the floor, unbuckling his belt and taking off his jeans, folding them over the back of a small wooden chair. He rolled back into the bed as close to the wall as he could, leaving room for her. He watched her, not really saying anything, waiting for her to make the next move.

The tight grip for Jack’s hand stopped her breathing; suddenly she was hanging on his every word. He couldn’t see down to what he was getting at by putting his hand in her short’s pockets, she looked away from him, trying to get some space between his hand and her throat but Ivy found herself looking straight back at Jack, a flicker of something reflecting light in the corner of her eye. ‘Maybe I am the bad guy…’ Ivy looked into Jack’s eyes, trying to figure out his intent, but he was practically unreadable, even when drunk. But Ivy still wasn’t too intimidated by Jack; she had been before when he first forced her onto the ship, but he hadn’t killed her yet, she was sure he would have done if there wasn’t a reason for her to still be alive so she wasn’t going to back down at the flash of her own blade; she smirked as he ran it along her lips, the cool metal sending a shiver down the spine, even in the cool darkness of the evening it was cold in comparison. The returned ability to breath properly was a relieve, her deep breaths were a mix of relief and anticipation. ‘maybe you like that…’ Ivy’s fingers pressed against Jack’s shoulders, wanting to keep their bodies tightly pressed but as she opened her mouth in reply but a rush of air and the lights being flicked of made her grin instead.

Looking around the room there was rum up the walls where Jack had thrown a bottle at Ivy, blood spattered about the floor where Ivy had stepped in broken glass and their knives fell to the floor with a clang as Jack pulled himself away quickly. “Yes captain.” Ivy smirked, bending to pick up their small weaponry before tip toeing up the wooden stairs to the small bedroom, whilst Jack continued to talk with Alistair and Arius Ivy sat on the cool floor and plucked some of the more obvious pieces of glass from her feet and placing them in a small group. Ivy looked up at Jack as he entered the room and continued to watch him undress. There were a few clouds in the sky as the moon’s light was obscured, but her eyes had adjusted, she could see Jack as clearly as before; she could see him looking right at her. Both of the knives were in Ivy’s hands as she rolled onto her knees to stand, she left them on the floor and began to unbutton the large white shirt she had taken from the Greek young man and slipped away her shorts. Jack was still drunk, she could at least tell that as she slipped under the covers, at first having no intentions of even speaking to him, but as she lay on her side facing her captain Ivy couldn’t help her hands wandering. She ran two fingers along his chest, keeping eye contact, wanting to see how her advance was taken. “Jack.” She whispered, “You were right.” She couldn’t help her conflicted feelings towards him, and for the moment wasn’t afraid to show him. The young redhead pushed herself up and leant over Jack, her lips trailing along his jaw line, inviting him, to look towards the ceiling as her kisses fell to the nape of his neck; one hand ran through his hair whilst she moved to straddle his chest.

A slight smirk enveloped her lips as she looked down to Jack, her nails digging a little into his chest as she felt him against the top of her thigh. Ivy raised her eyebrow and leant into Jack, leaning on her elbow whilst unclasping the hooks of her white and blue bra. It slid away from her; she had no idea where, she didn’t care either, instead she ran her tongue along the inside of his lips, inviting herself into a passionate kiss, she was forceful and wasted no time in guiding Jack’s hands towards her waist as she pulled away from him to shimmy away the matching remainder of her underwear. Again Ivy looked directly at Jack, this time her hands a little lower than his chest; teasing the elastic of his underwear. Her lips parted as if to speak, only a small sigh escaped as she pulled them away. Her heart raced in anticipation, a deep breath, eyes closed she leant into him. She leant closer to his neck again, small murmurs passing her lips, whispers and kisses.