Bonus Chapter [4] - 240 Power Stones
"Nice snake, I must say." Jack said, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, clearly trying to calm himself down.
In the boat, Jack and Will rowed while Rigel sat with the Expecto Diabolus "crawling" in the air beside him.
It was only the size of an average two-meter snake, but it was just waiting for Rigel's infusion of magic to grow.
Rigel didn't comment, still looking at the snake curiously. Will spoke. "So, what's the plan?"
"Well, I really want to see what Diabolus can do." Rigel said, already giving the spectral serpent a 'name'.
"No offense intended, but as impressive as your ghost snake is, I don't think it can handle so many... undead pirates." Jack said disbelievingly.
"I have to agree with Jack on that." Will sighed, still a little wary of the Witch boy.
Rigel paused and thought that he had truly let the power of the new spell go to his head, it would be better to have a more precise plan.
"So, let's do this, Will goes to the Aztec gold chest and spills some blood on the gold. If the last coin isn't in the chest, you two figure out how to throw it in. I, on the other hand, will serve as a distraction." Rigel explained.
Will was immediately confused. "Aztec gold chest? What chest? Why do I have to spill blood on it?"
Rigel blinked, realizing he'd forgotten to talk to Will about it, but he wouldn't admit it was his fault. He turned to Jack with a blank look. "You didn't tell him?"
Jack's lips twitched for a moment as he felt Will's gaze. "I may have forgotten to mention it." He smiled slightly, hiding his face.
"What does this have to do with me?" Will asked, confused.
Rigel sighed and began to explain. "Ten years ago, Jack was the captain of the Black Pearl."
Will's eyes widened as he looked at Jack with doubt and disbelief. Jack only gave a quick smile before continuing to hide his face.
"He took his crew to that very island, but when they arrived, the crew mutinied, they captured Jack and took the gold for themselves, leaving Jack on a deserted island to die soon after." Rigel continued, unconcerned by Will's expression.
"And what does that have to do with me?" Will asked, still confused.
"I'll get there." Rigel narrowed his eyes at Will, silencing the boy, Jack was already biting his nails. "The problem was that the gold was cursed. It turned Barbossa and his crew into the undead, eternally alive, but unable to feel anything anymore, cold or heat, food or drink, even the pleasures of the flesh. Everything became... empty."
"Barbossa regretted his actions and discovered he needed to return all the looted Aztec gold, but the problem was that one of the crew members wasn't happy about the mutiny against Jack, he believed his cursed life was punishment for what they had done." Rigel continued. "He took one of the Aztec coins and sent it to his own son, preventing Barbossa and his crew from breaking the curse."
Will's eyes widened, wanting to open his mouth to speak, but seeing Rigel's cold gaze, he held his tongue. Even Jack seemed interested in the story, after all, he only knew parts of it.
"His name was William Turner, or more commonly known as 'Bootstrap Bill'. Barbossa found out, and the punishment was clear, they tied him to a cannon and threw him into the sea. He sank, never to see the light of day again, unable to die. He was condemned to remain at the bottom of the sea for eternity." Rigel explained, and Will swallowed hard, his eyes wide with disbelief and concern.
"The problem came right after that, they discovered that not only did they need to return all the Aztec gold to break the curse, but they also had to pay with blood. But what about Bootstrap's blood? It had sunk long ago. But then a girl carrying not only an Aztec coin appeared, but also introduced herself as Elizabeth Turner." Rigel concluded, looking at Will.
Will's eyes were already glazed over, he didn't want to believe his father was a pirate, but everything seemed to be falling into place.
"Well, in any case, it doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, William, but whether you can follow the plan and save Elizabeth and avenge your father." Rigel turned his gaze back to the flying snake.
Will turned to Jack and said. "You knew! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I already told you, I forgot, kid." Jack explained calmly. "Besides, I only knew parts of it, I didn't even know how to break the curse or what they did to your father."
Rigel laughed, knowing that Jack was hiding lies within truths and said. "Plan B, huh? Swapping the kid for Pearl, that's so you, Jack, In fact, if it weren't for my appearance, that probably would have been plan A."
Will glared at Jack, and Jack gave a sad smile as he said. "Slander! I never thought of that!"
Unfortunately for him, neither Rigel nor Will believed him.
"Well... now that you know the story, you know what to do, right?" Rigel turned to Will.
"Okay." Will took a deep breath, regardless of everything, he needed to save Elizabeth.
He didn't completely trust Jack or Rigel, but now that he was there, he could only follow the plan and hope it worked. For a moment, Will didn't quite know how to feel if it actually did work, wouldn't that be proof that his father was indeed a pirate?
However, although Will was always proud of his father and knowing that he was a pirate might affect that, at the moment, Elizabeth was more important.
Rigel nodded, satisfied, but then spoke. "Although I want to trust you, a man in love can do the unthinkable, even deceive a Wizard, so I'll tell you in advance that I've left dozens of venomous snakes in these waters, in case you try to escape alone with Elizabeth without following the plan..."
Rigel pointed to the water, where some snake heads surfaced, spitting out their tongues, leaving both Jack and Will swallowing hard, it was Will's turn to give a sad smile.
Will wouldn't admit he'd thought about it, but he actually had. Betraying two pirates to save Elizabeth seemed like a good deal in his mind.
Rigel wouldn't trust Will just because he's more honest than Jack, after all, in his own mind, deceiving a pirate probably isn't exactly wrong.
Jack, despite his fear of magic and snakes, felt more at ease with this outcome, knowing that Will would follow the plan instead of betraying them.
With Rigel nearby, once Barbossa lost the power of the curse, it would be just a band of pirates against dozens of venomous snakes, not to mention that green ghost snake following Rigel. It seemed even more dangerous than all the other snakes combined, just looking at it made him nervous and uneasy.