Aztecs' Curse

Chapter 14

     I am so terribly sorry for the long wait!! I've been busy with work, and now I'm going to be in Washington for a week [hopefully I'll be able to do a couple more updates while I'm there]. Thank you so much for not trying to rush me, it means the world. I just hope no one thought I abandoned this work in progress. ♡ As per usual, I love you all, my lil readers. ♡

     God, she was gorgeous.
     That was pretty much all that ran through his head as Cyrus stared at Victoria from the Black Pearl as she glowered at him. Even looking as angry as she did, she was one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever laid eyes on. Though, of course, with one exception that she could never surpass. His lover, of whom he was beginning to lose hope that she could still be alive. Though Barbossa had insisted that he could find her with his help, he was no closer then than he was all those years ago that he had lost her. And, meeting Victoria had stirred up even more thoughts of her, even if he thought of her every day.
     It seemed that Victoria very much reminded him of his lover.
     "Fire!" Barbossa roared, stirring his attention.
     Before he knew it, both ships fired upon one another.

* * *

     Jack was furious. Even after he had been placed in his cell, he continued to shout, desperate to save Victoria--and, perhaps, even the ones she cared about. What was this new, profound and curious feeling? It was unlike him to really care specifically for others, even if he actually had wanted to do the right thing from the start of his life. There was just something new about how this woman made him feel.
     That feeling only worsened when he peeked through the small holes on the side of the ship after some time, immediately spotting the Dauntless, and his eyes were led straight to Victoria, of whom was standing firm and staring straight across at some point on the deck above. Barbossa, more or less, he assumed. Who else, after all, would she stare at with such a fire in her eyes?
     Though he doubted it, some part of him wondered if she did, indeed, feel the same as he.
Before he knew it, he was being fired on. Or, rather, his ship was. And, though it wasn't natural cannons fired down upon him, blasting holes straight through the wood, it still concerned him.        The ship was old enough alone, and he wasn't sure how much it could take.
     Amidst his excitement upon seeing Victoria, he shouted, "Stop blowing holes in my ship!" When he peeked through one of the holes curiously, praying that he wouldn't be shot through as well, he saw one of the other pirates shoving a gun into Victoria's hands, who didn't hesitate before whipping around and firing at whomever stood across the water from her.
     A small creak sounded out from behind him, causing him to whirl around, and his eyes landed on Gibbs's familiar flask, snatching it and going to empty its contents before he realized it was empty, though he kept a hold of it. Then, he spotted where the noise had originated from.
     The cell door was destroyed.

* * *

     As soon as a gun was handed to her, by whom she did not pay attention to, Victoria whipped around to face Cyrus again, shooting eagerly at him. Though she had never considered herself one to harm someone, she couldn't help this building anger inside of her, sure that he had done something--or even just said something--to her sister, even if Elizabeth never brought him or it up. There was just something about the sadistic look consistently in his eyes that told her he was up to something. Or that he had already done something. There was no possible way that he was anything more than some sick, twisted man.
     The instant she fired upon him, however, he disappeared. Had she shot him straight on?
Her eyes snapped to the side, spotting the man reappearing, having had ducked down, off to the side, and she aimed and fired again as he grabbed a rope and swung around the Black Pearl before grabbing a gun of his own.
     Without even waiting for him to start shooting, she grabbed onto her little sister and yanked her to her knees.
     Beside them, Will and Gibbs fired upon the other pirates, looking about as exhilarated as Victoria felt.
     "You didn't strike me as someone to shoot," Elizabeth said, brows furrowed.
     "Did they do anything to you?" Victoria asked, ignoring her remark. When Elizabeth merely stared at her in concern, she grabbed her sister's shoulders and shook her. "Did they do anything?!"
     "N-no," Elizabeth stammered, surprising her. She narrowed her eyes furthermore. "No more than just frightening me with words, and what happened in the cove."
     She almost breathed a sigh of relief. "Cyrus left you alone, then?"
     When her sister's eyes widened in what looked to be hatred, she almost opened her mouth to begin spewing angry curses, but then Elizabeth said, "He only spoke to me. He made me think-- I though--" She cut off as Gibbs' voice snapped over them.
     "We could use a few more ideas, lass!"
     "It's your turn!" Elizabeth shouted back over the firing, frowning over at him, obviously unable to concentrate on the current situation.
     "We need us a Devil's dowry!" Gibbs responded as he and Will continued to shoot at the Black Pearl.
     Anamaria seemed to pop out of nowhere, startling even Victoria, and she froze as the woman grabbed a hold of Elizabeth, gun aimed at her head. "We'll give them her!"
     Will, surprisingly, remained calm. "She's not what they're after."
     Elizabeth's attention was drawn to her neckline as Victoria aimed her gun at Anamaria. "The medallion."
     Almost immediately, Will turned and took off. Victoria, meanwhile, smiled grimly as the woman pirate slowly stared at her from the corners of her eyes.
     "Lower the damn weapon from my sister, or mine will be blowing your head right off your shoulders," Victoria said calmly, surprising even herself. The woman would be a fool not to listen either way.
     After a glare, she released Elizabeth and stalked off across the main deck, shooting across the waters as she went.
     "Back to Cyrus," Victoria said, ignoring her little sister's astonished expression.
     "He... He did nothing to me," Elizabeth said. "I thought the worst for you, though." She hesitantly lifted a hand to Victoria's face, the other brushing the healing wound on her forehead. "He made this sound much worse than it was."
     Victoria breathed a sigh of relief as she let her eyes slip close for but a moment.
     The moment was short lived as their mast began to fall, and Victoria gasped sharply as she yanked Elizabeth to her feet, and pushed both Gibbs and her out of the way, just barely being missed by the large wooden pole herself as the three went tumbling across the deck.
     Suddenly, Victoria's hair was being pulled at, and she was yanked to her feet, gasping again when she realized that several of the Black Pearl's pirates were overriding their own ship, and she shouted as she whipped her gun around to shoot the pirate, though the gun was yanked from her. Before he could do anything more, her sister snatched a gun from one of the other pirates and shot the one with a hold of her, causing him to shout and stumble away, laughter following him.
     Victoria, eyes wide, gave Elizabeth an appreciative expression before striding across the deck to fetch her own gun. Just as she bent to grab it, however, a foot landed on the barrel.
     It was Cyrus who loomed over her.
     She inhaled sharply as her hair was grabbed onto again just after she took in his wild grin and sly eyes, refusing to cry out as he used the pressure of her hair to yank her onto her feet and pull her against him, his own gun pressing into her side.
     "Hello, darling," he breathed, hot and musky breath washing across her face as his own just barely brushed hers.