The Redhead of the Sea (Jack Sparrow x OC)

Chapter 46: We are all Expendables

They left the river bank and started to head upwards with Jack leading the way. Swords were used to cut down the dense foliage, made of crisscrossing vines.

Jack noticed what was ahead of him and paled, as his brown eyes fell on the chasm. If one looked over the edge, one could see a rocky river below along with remnants of a bridge on each side of the chasm but no bridge in sight.

"As I thought. Not this way –" he mumbled to himself and was about to turn when Angelica approached him.

"This is the way, isn't it?" she asked him, having already spotted the chasm with the missing bridge.

"We can go around. To the east."

"But that would take us out of the path of the Chalices." She reminded him.

Jack did not want to admit it but she was right. Yet, he tried to play it off as he turned to face her and the rest of the party that was not so far behind. "Aye, well, then we circle back."

Angelica lifted a single eyebrow at him and turned to Artemis, who had been quiet since the coffin fiasco.

"Do we have enough time?" she asked her since she was the one. who had foretold Blackbeard's death.

The redhead glanced from Angelica to Jack, the latter mentally praying that she would follow along his plan. However, he didn't know the details of her latest dream. She had told Jack that Blackbeard would die before he finished the ritual, or at least get stabbed in the back.

But, that had taken place while he was holding the chalice and was clearly about to perform the ritual. Which meant, that going around or taking more time was not an option. They had to move and let fate unfold, as it was shown in her vision.

She sent a silent apologetic look at Jack and then turned to the only other woman in the group. "We don't," she said.

Jack, not fully understanding why, chose not to go down so easily. "Well, you insisted on bringing a mermaid," he said, passively pointing a finger.

Angelica glared at him. "The mutiny didn't help –"

"You walk like a girl –"

"You would know –"

As the two of them bickered, with Jack taking pleasure in pressing the different buttons of his ex; her father did not seem to share their humour. Instead, he started to pace up and down like a caged wild animal; clearly debating something in his mind.

"Someone must go." He finally said, making everyone look at him.

"You mean split up?" Angelica questioned.

Artemis, on the other hand, felt bile forming at the back of her throat. "He means jump" she pointed out, clearly seeing right through him.

Jack smirked and took a step back. "This I cannot wait to see."

And yet, this small moment was ruined when the powerful and sadistic captain turned to him. "Sparrow will go, find the ship, and retrieve the Chalices."

"Jack? What makes you think he will come back?" Angelica asked, taking a few steps towards him. "We cannot trust him, Father. I'll go.

Blackbeard turned to look at Jack. "How much farther to the Fountain?"

"A day's march north, following that river, until you reach a series of pools. Then you're close."

The captain plucked the Compass out of Jack's hand and tossed it towards Artemis, who caught it mid-air; surprised.

"You will go." He told him.

Jack moved towards the edge and looked at the long drop-down. "You know that feeling you get, sometimes, standing in a high place, a sudden urge to jump? I'm not feeling that." He said but his answer was one of Blackbeard's pistols aimed directly at him.