I know people are getting tired of reading self-inserts, but this was too good to resist. If you have no interest, leave now.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean. Any OC's and original places that appear throughout the story belong to me.
"Norrington!"
"Beckett!"
"Norrington!"
"Beckett!"
"Norr –"
Kate poked her head into the room where her brothers slept. "What are you guys going on about now?"
Jeff and Ross looked up from their argument. "Hey, Kate, who would win in a swordfight?" Jeff asked her. "Norrington or Beckett?"
"It's Norrington!" Ross insisted. "He's like six feet tall, and Beckett's a shortie!"
Jeff sighed. "Height isn't the only thing that matters, Ross. Beckett's the most intelligent and calculating guy in the whole trilogy. There's no way Norrington can win."
Ross smirked. "Yeah, but Norrington didn't have breakdown right in the middle of his ship getting destroyed."
"There was a good reason for that! The Dutch –"
"Okay, okay, I get the point!" Kate shouted, throwing her hands exaggeratedly into the air. Jeff and Ross looked at her, waiting for her answer. Kate thought for a moment. "Brawn and brains are equally important in a swordfight," she murmured, remembering what her fencing instructor had taught her. She smiled at Ross. "But yeah, Norrington could just like pick Beckett up and throw him halfway across the room. Definitely Norrington."
Ross's face broke out in a grin. "Oh yeah, baby! IN YOUR FACE!" he shouted, pointing a finger at Jeff.
Jeff glared at his younger sister. "Oh, what do you know? You're still in high school!"
Kate pouted playfully. "Hey! Remember who's bringing in the money, brother dear!" As both her parents were dead and her brothers were at college, it was Kate's job to be the source of household income.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jeff grumbled. He glared at Ross, who was doing what was supposed to be a victory dance. "Will you knock it off, already?!"
Ross stuck his tongue out at his older brother. "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request!" he shot back. Jeff growled and threw a pillow at him.
Kate laughed and strolled into the living room, where the title screen for Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was shown on the TV. Kate grabbed the remote, plopped down on the miniscule couch, and pressed Play.
Kate was seventeen years old, and had been living in her brothers' apartment in California since their parents died three years before. She was tall for her age, but not nearly as tall as Jeff and Ross. Her dark red hair was usually tied back in a ponytail, but today she had let it hang down past her shoulders. Several light-brown freckles were sprinkled below her bright green eyes, giving her a cute, preppy five-year-old look. Big mistake; Kate was a tomboy to the highest degree.
Like her brothers before her, Kate had developed a nearly mindless obsession with all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and anything remotely related to them. In fact, the main reason Kate took fencing lessons was to be more pirate-like (although, she didn't have nearly enough time on her hands to practice three hours a day). She loved the sea, and would often stand at the edge of the nearby beach, letting the water flow over her bare feet and seeing in her mind's eye an enormous, black-sailed pirate ship. At World's End had only been out in theatres for two weeks, and yet she had seen it five times, almost twice as much as both her brothers combined – a fact that upset them greatly. Having those movies around was a big factor in helping her deal with her grief about her parents.
About halfway through the movie, Ross walked through the front door, several envelopes in his head. "Hey," he greeted, sitting down next to her.
Kate reluctantly tore her eyes away from the TV. "Did you learn teleportation powers or something?"
"Huh?"
"How did you get outside?"
"I walked out the door ten minutes ago. I clearly said, 'I'm going to go to get the mail.' It's not my fault if you were too focused on the island scene to pay attention."
"Hey, you know as well as I do that the island scene has the most comedic situations in a row in the entire –"
"Okay, you guys, that's enough," Jeff interrupted, coming in from the kitchen. "What'd we get?"
"Uh…let's see," Ross muttered, sifting through the envelopes. "We got a phone bill…that's for you," he added, tossing it to Jeff. "Um…apparently I'm qualified to enter a sweepstakes for ten million dollars…"
Kate snorted. "Those things are rigged. There's no use entering."
"Might as well give it shot, we need the money. What else…oh, here's one for you, Kate. Hmm…it's a little heavy." He handed his sister an envelope.
Kate looked the envelope over. "Huh…that's funny."
"What?" Jeff asked.
"There's no return address, see?"
Jeff looked over Kate's shoulder. "Oh, yeah…wonder how it got delivered, then."
"Go on, open it," Ross encouraged her.
Kate slowly ripped open the envelope. She caught her breath as she pulled out the contents: a long, black cord tied around a gold piece – a gold piece with a grinning skull in the center.
"Oh, my God," Kate breathed. "It looks just like a piece of Aztec gold!" She slid her thumb over the cool, rough surface. The skull seemed to be laughing at her.
"Here, let me see," Jeff said, holding out his hand. Kate obediently dropped the medallion into his hand. Jeff held it up by the cord, examining it at eye-level. "Sure looks like Aztec gold." He bounced the coin on his palm a couple times, and then handed it back to Kate. "That thing's way too heavy to be plastic. It's the real deal, all right."
Kate stared at the coin for a long time. "Think I should put it on?" she asked finally.
"No way!" Ross replied, shaking his head. "What if it really is cursed? There's no way in hell I'm having a starved, parched, lustful skeleton running around my apartment!"
"First of all, it's my apartment, Ross," Jeff said calmly. "Second, don't be an idiot. The only way someone is subjected to the curse is if they themselves actually pull it out of the chest…if it were an actual piece of Aztec gold," he corrected quickly.
Kate sighed softly. "You're right…I mean, just looks like a Piratesprop, doesn't mean that it's nothing more than an extremely valuable souvenir." And with that, she slipped the medallion over her head. She shivered slightly; she could still feel the cold metal through the thin layer of her T-shirt.
Ross poked the coin. "It's all good!" he announced. "And it really suits you."
"You think so?" Kate said, looking at the medallion.
"As if anything were gonna happen anyway," Jeff muttered, but he looked relieved.
Kate fingered the coin. It glinted softly, reflecting the light of the TV. But…where did it come from? she thought. Her eyes fell onto the envelope. Carefully, she picked it up and turned it upside down. A small piece of paper fluttered to the floor. Kate looked at her brothers, then at the coin, and down at the paper. Bending over, she picked it up and began to read.
To Katherine Cooper:
I have had this medallion for a very long time. Destiny now brings it into your own hands. Wear it well, and never give up hope. I shall you soon.
C
Kate looked up, mystified. "That's it," she said softly.
"C?" Ross echoed. "Who the heck is C?"
"No clue."
"Search me."
Kate looked back down at the note. Wear it well…Destiny now brings it into your own hands…what the heck does this mean, anyway? Kate looked back at the TV screen, needing some familiarity.
Kate woke with a start. Sitting up in bed, she tried to remember the dream she'd just had. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw herself in there, and a man, and a ship…Kate looked at the clock. 11:57.
Now wide awake, Kate stood up and put on her bathrobe, shivering in the cold; Jeff had left the air conditioning on again. As she passed her nightstand, she stopped suddenly and looked back. Her medallion was lying silently on the nightstand, looking for all the world like an ordinary necklace. But it IS ordinary, Kate reassured herself. But still, Kate could not shake the feeling that something was going on…something that definitely wasn't normal.
Wear it well…
Without a moment's hesitation, Kate grabbed the medallion and slipped it over her head once more. She held the coin in one hand, staring at the grinning skull. "What are you laughing at?" she growled, but of course, there was no reply. Kate sighed and looked once more at the clock. As 11:59 melted into midnight, the tiny bedroom was suddenly thrown into sharp relief – the coin had begun shimmering with a soft, golden light.
Kate gasped and looked around the room. No lights were on…this was the coin, all right. But coins can't light up!, she protested. What's happening? Scarcely daring to breathe, Kate raised her cupped hands to her face, eyes wide. Now the light was growing brighter, and brighter…and she swore she heard a voice, a voice she heard every time she watched the first scene of Curse of the Black Pearl: "Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me…"
And then it felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck her, and she was falling down, down…
Okay, before you guys yell at me, let me remind you that this is my first story. If this chapter wasn't so good, don't worry. Things will get better.
Leave a review, please!