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The Bane of the Caribbean (Remastered)

Chapter 6: Memories

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It had been a day and a half since Chloe bestowed the title of first mate onto her, and she was still adamant on improving her sword fighting skills. “Come on Max!” Chloe yelled as she attempted to land a blow from the left side. “Is that the best you got?”

She parried before copying her exact move. “Is that the best you got?”

Chloe blocked Max’s attack before stumbling a few steps back. She regained her footing, pulling her bandana over her face. “Oh-ho, it’s on now. Prepare to face the wrath of the mighty Bluebeard!” she shouted, unsheathing her other sword before charging.

Max rolled her eyes at Chloe’s antics as she raised her sword over her head, blocking a blow from above. Just like their first fight at the helm of the Chrysalis, they both stood their ground, as fierce as ever. Max, however, had an edge over her best friend. Since Chloe had trained her near the shack, she used her surroundings to her advantage, and was about to again.

She had positioned herself right in front of a small but firm piece of wood jutting out of the sand, relying on the fact that Chloe wouldn’t notice. And as it turned out, she was right. Chloe jabbed with her right sword. Max swatted it away before sidestepping to the left while Chloe lunged with her left. Taken by surprise by the motion, Chloe quickly spun around, not paying attention to her footing, her right heel caught on the wood, flinging her backwards, one of her swords flying out of her hand behind her. As she scrambled to regain her balance, Max made her move, swinging left and right, sending Chloe into defensive mode as she tried to deflect each incoming blow with only one sword. stood over her, sword a few inches away from her throat, keeping her from trying to get up.

“How’s that?” Max asked.

Chloe let go of her other sword and raised her hands in surrender. “Not bad, Max. Can I get up?”

“What do you mean 'not bad’?” she asked, returning her sword to its scabbard.

“You’re getting there,” she said, walking over to the sword she dropped. “But I don’t think these are doing much for you. You need a real challenge. How ‘bout going up against Thatch when he gets back?”

Her face dropped. “Huh?”

“Never mind. Actually, I take it back. You’ve gotten there and then some. All that’s left is for you to learn to wield double swords, really let out your fierce fighting. Ah, I need to sit down.”

Chloe sat down at the campfire. Max followed. “I… don’t think ‘fierce’ is the right-”

Chloe leveled a finger at her. “Stop it, Max. Hell, it’s an understatement. Remember our fight on the deck of your ship? You think any other captain would’ve lasted that long?”

“Uh…”

“I’ll answer it for you. No. I wanted you as my first mate for a reason.” A small grin came across her face. “You know, you remind me of Rachel when we were on the seas together. She was… ugh.” The smile dissipated as she hung her head.

“Chloe?” Max asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, “what happened to Rachel?”

“Something,” she said bluntly, shaking her head. Sitting in silence for a few minutes, Chloe eventually opened her mouth.

*****

 

“Fire!” Chloe commands her crew.

The Firewalk broadsides the mighty HMS Torment, which quickly returns the favor. Cannonballs crack against the siding of both ships, wood splinters flying. With Chloe at the helm, she turns the ship’s wheel port side, bringing the ship closer to the British frigate.

“We can board them!” Rachel shouts.

“Working on it, Rach,” Chloe responds, leading the Firewalk against the starboard side. “Grapple the bastards! Let’s reel ‘em in!”

Her crew hooks the vessel and pulls it closer. Chloe draws her sword, raising it to the sun, slightly covered by a haze of cannon smoke. “Alright! Let’s board the bastards!”

Cheers erupt from the crew as they jump onto the hazy deck of the British ship, her and Rachel leading the charge. Rachel headed for the helm while she fought with the rest of their crew. Wielding two blood-soaked blades of death, she cuts down redcoat after redcoat.

Eventually, the British numbers started to wear thin on the main deck, and they began to lay down their weapons to cheers from the pirate crew.

A flintlock fires from the aft, piercing the victorious attitude of the pirates and drawing their attention. The frigate’s captain stumbles down the stairs of the helm, clutching the left side of his midsection. Despite his condition, he seemed to be smiling as Rachel jumped from the helm and stood over him, pistol aimed at his head.

Sheathing her swords, Chloe makes her way to the commotion, hearing the captain taunt Rachel, though she is unaware of what started it.

“Oh… now don’t go blaming me. I’m just… the messenger,” he says to her between coughs. “Why don’t you… go and see… for yourself… if he’ll even… look at you, that is.”

She watched as each of the words hit Rachel, sending her over her boiling point as she squeezed the trigger of her pistol, putting a shot into his neck. Returning it to her side holster, she looks at Chloe before addressing the crew, “Burn the ship and leave it! Then loosen the sails and set course for Charleston!” She returned to the Firewalk without another word, leaving the captain to bleed out on the deck.

The Firewalk soon sails away from the battered Torment, heading west for the Carolinas.

With the destination set, Chloe leaves the wheel and turns behind her to face Rachel, standing at the edge of the poop deck, staring at the flaming ship about a quarter mile away.

“R-Rachel?” Chloe asks. “What happened?”

For a while, she said nothing before bitterly proclaiming, “I want Charleston to burn.”

Chloe walks by her side, looking at her. Her blond hair and blue earring are blowing in the wind, the sun illuminating her face, which slowly begins to be covered by a wall of clouds. They stand in silence as they stare back out at the water, the only noise coming from the wind and sea.

“Captain!” a lookout calls from the rigging, interrupting the silence, “we’ve got some rough waters ahead. Looks like a storm’s coming.”

“Hm,” Chloe muttered, looking up at the sky. Storm clouds were approaching, which was odd, considering the sky was clear mere minutes ago. “Come on,” she says to Rachel as she returns to grab the wheel, “I’m going to need my first mate for this.” She begins to bark orders to her crew.

Rachel slowly starts to back away from the edge before she returns, kicking a barrel off the ship.

She screams. A clap of thunder booms overhead.

Startled, Chloe looks to Rachel before her gaze is attracted to the Torment. A bolt of lightning hits the ship. Then she sees it.

Still about a mile away, a head followed by eight tentacles emerge from the ocean, darkened by the lack of sunlight. The tentacles grab hold of the Torment, lifting the ship straight up out of the water, breaking it in half. Another crack of lightning lights up the sky. And with a thunderous roar, the creature disappears into the depths of the ocean, taking the flaming British frigate with it.

All within a matter of seconds.

*****

 

Chloe sighed. “That’s when I first saw it. And I know for a fact I’ve seen it since.”

“Wow,” was all Max responded with, taking in everything Chloe had just told her. “What made her… go off like that?”

“She… she didn’t say. Something about her dad, but that was all. And… after what happened with the Torment,” Chloe continued, “Rachel wanted to go back to Charleston, but we made a stop in Havana to resupply. We went into a tavern while the crew was loading the ship and overheard a couple of Spaniards talking about some place called Santa Monica. Something about it being a ‘city of angels,’ a paradise… or something like that. At the time, it sounded good to us, and we agreed that was our goal. Set Charleston ablaze and then head out for that Spanish haven, wherever it was.”

Max met Chloe’s gaze, but she quickly looked away.

“I should’ve fucking said no,” she said. “‘Let’s just go. Leave all this behind and search for it.’ But I didn’t. Instead, we got the shitshow that went down in Charleston. The fuckers… Rachel… they…”

She got the message. “Oh, Chloe… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s my fucking fault. I let her go into town on her own. I sailed the ship away from the port. I left her there.” She buried her head in her hands.

Not knowing what to say, Max scooched closer to her on the log and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Chloe felt tense at first, but she seemed to be naturally easing into it.

“I… I’m glad you’re back in my life, Max.” She brought her head up and smiled, placing a hand on her knee, and Max moved her arm to give her thumb access to the pirate’s cheek, wiping a tear from it.

The crack of a mortar suddenly filled the sky, startling the two. A bell rang from the town not long after.

“Oh no,” Chloe said, getting to her feet.

“What does it mean?” Max asked, rising as well.

“Something’s happening. And whatever it is, it isn’t good. Come on!”

Notes:

Well look at that- it’s not historically accurate.

Inspiration Links-
Pirates of the Caribbean 10 hours
All AC IV shanties

As always, comments/critiques are more than welcome.