Zenith: Dead Man's Chest (POTC Fanfiction - Jack Sparrow)

Chapter 1: The Key

"Little Lass."
A youthful girl of 5 years old trotted around the fancy room, yelling out orders and demands. She held a piece of wood in one hand, swinging it around uncontrollably as if it were a cutlass.
"You dare disobey me, old man?" The young girl shouted, pointing her 'cutlass' at the enormous man's neck.
He held up his hands in defeat with a deep chuckle. "I apologise, I didn't know you were the captain of this ship!" He apologised, putting a hand over his heart. When he looked up, he smiled to see that his 5 year-old daughter was grinning triumphantly and once again swinging the piece of wood around.
"One day, father, I'm going to be just like you! A scavenging pirate! I'll roam the seas and explore caves! It'll be brilliant!" The girl cheered, spinning on her toes.
The man chuckled once more and he knelt down to her height. He reached out to give her a light pat on the head, making her huff in annoyance and cross her arms.
"Hey, I'm not a child!" She scoffed, shooing his hand away as if it were a fly.
"Of course not! You're my Little Lass." An eruption of giggles exploded out of the small girl and her father began to laugh at her joy.
"Daddy?" The girl asked when she finally stopped giggling.
"Yes?" The man replied, adjusting his gigantic hat.
"You..." She began, but paused, looking away in irritation. "You seem to have forgotten something and it's been almost an entire day!"
The man smirked and put a finger to his chin with a thoughtful expression. "I've forgotten something, eh? And what would that be?"
The little girl pouted and turned away, immediately blinking away the tears in her eyes. How could she become like her father if she cried over such petty things?
"It's my birthday, old man," she mumbled, blowing away a strand of stray hair out of her face.
Suddenly, her father began to laugh joyously and placed a firm hand on his stubborn daughter's shoulder. "Oh, yes! Thank you for reminding me! I'm quite forgetful, aren't I? Oh, but I seem to have forgotten to collect a present for you."
The young girl's face fell for a moment before it twisted into an expression of utter annoyance. "Hey, that's not fair! You're a pirate, don't you have any treasure or something?"
"Hold up there, Little Lass! I was only joking." The man put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a money bag, though it didn't seem like there was any coins in it. "How could I forget my own beloved daughter's birthday, now, hm?"
The child gaped. "You didn't forget? What a bunch of-"
Before she could let out an angry rant, the man put a hand over her mouth and she trailed off, staring at the money bag he was swinging around. Of course, she was too young and naïve to even notice that there was no money inside.
"Oh, what is it? Is there lots and lots of money, are there any treasures? Or perhaps..." She trailed off as she snatched the bag from her father, tugging it open and looking inside. Her expression held puzzlement.
She reached inside the bag and pulled out what looked like a brilliant medallion of many layers of gold. It was beautiful,and the carving of a skull seemed so perfect, it was almost impossible. The only flaw noticeable was the big scratch on the thing. The young girl stared at it in wonder.
"A medallion?" She whispered, looking up at her father.
"No, not just any medallion. This one, it is very special. There are only 882 of these in the world!" The man explained. The girl scrunched her nose.
"Only 882?" She questioned doubtfully.The man simply laughed. "Understand, these treasures are all hidden in a specific chest, not many have found it. But we did, my crew and I. We cannot take the entire thing, it could cause the entire pirate population to go after us. Besides, another crew has taken a hold of it. But we'll get on that later. What they most likely haven't realised is that I managed to take back one piece!" There was a silent pause and the man enclosed the girl's hand around the shiny medallion. "I'm trusting you with this piece."
The girl gasped and hopped into her father's arms, causing him to yelp in surprise. "Calm down there," he said with a smile.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll take good care of it!" She cheered, holding the medallion to her chest. "I love you, daddy!"
The young girl was flustered and extremely happy, but what she didn't notice was the fact that her father's smile disappeared and turned into a frown as his hands turned fleshless and skeletal under the moonlight coming through the windows.
"And you, my Little Lass."