The Captain's treasure

–violet–

It was hard to tell how much time had passed but I knew it had been at least a few hours. Although my tears dried a while ago, I’ve been overwhelmed by fear and grief, unable to move from my Spot in the corner of the room.

I couldn’t stop thinking about all the mistakes I made and all the things I could’ve done to avoid this. If only I had covered my tracks better. Maybe even planned a bit more before Actually making my move, or told Ace the reason I ran away. even doing something as simple as bringing more money with me or waiting one more day could’ve changed everything!

Burying my face in my arms I shuddered, trying to hold back from shedding anymore tears. ’What right do I have to cry? What right do I have to mourn or even worry about my fate when I’ve destroyed so many lives?’

‘Ace, Johnny, Ivan, the entire crew, they are all gone, all dead because of me! They had lives, family’s waiting for them, families who loved and cherished them, that they had to feed and protect, but now those families would never know what happened. They will never see them again. and to top it all off? The entire island is doomed! They won’t be able to get any of the food or supplies they need to survive because Ace’s ship is lying lost at the bottom of the ocean with its crew and it’s all my fault!’

Fresh tears burned my eyes and I sobbed, hugging myself tighter while digging my nails into my arms. ‘I should have begged, pleaded, bargened, anything that would have stopped Lance from attacking them!’

My heart twisted painfully in my chest. The pair was worse than any shattered bone or deep cut that could be inflicted upon my body. ’No… none of those things would have mattered, none of them could have changed the outcome… I never should have tried to run away. I should have never entered that tavern. Whatever pain and torment I must go through now, whatever torture I am forced to endure… I deserve it.’

The silence of the room continued to torment me, letting my mind sink deeper and deeper into the darkest pit of despair.

I could only faintly hear the men outside working and talking amongst one another as time passed. Had Lance not locked me inside his quarters, I might have already thrown myself into the water and let the ocean swallow me.

Taking a shaky breath after crying again I closed my eyes. All I could do was wait for my torture to begin, wait for my pitiful end.

as I sat there I heard a faint commotion above me and opened my eyes. Most of it was muffled but I could hear mention of a storm and strange light behind us. Lifting my head I tried to hear more, looking for anything to distract my mind from its anguish.

A distant rumble sounded from outside and all the candles in the room suddenly went out despite there not being a breeze or anything inside.

Pushing myself to my feet I moved to look out the back window to see a storm brewing a ways away. The two naval Vessels that had been following had stayed behind to assure none of Ace’s crew made it out.

As the storm grew closer I thought I could see one of the ships attempting to escape it.

I jumped And turned around as the cabin door was slammed open and Lance came in followed by his first mate. “Blasts this damn weather! Can’t we get one good day without the wind suddenly dropping from our sails?!... why the fuck are are the candles out?!” Lance snapped, turning his gaze to me.

All I could do was cower further against the wall, I had nothing to fight with and any harm I inflicted upon him would only be returned Tenfold.

“Captain…” Lance’s first mate spoke up, drawing his attention away from me, I doubted it was to help me in any way, he just needed Lance to focus on the issue at hand.

Lance scoffed and stomped over to his desk to start looking through the maps. “sick and tired of dealing with the unpredictable storms out here!” Lance shouted. “Tell the men to get prepared, if we obtain any more damage they will be paying for it! If a bloody ship of merchants can get through a storm without a scratch then we can as well! I want us out of the storm as soon as possible!”

“But sir–” his first mate tried to speak up only to be cut off as lance knocked half the items lying on his desk. “Just do as you’re ordered! I don’t want to hear your excuses!”

The man sighed quietly before nodding and giving a short bow. He turned to leave with Lance Angrily glaring after him. Once the man was gone he turned back to his desk and sat down in his chair. Cursing to himself.

I was unsure what to do and didn’t wish to gain his attention in fear of invoking his wrath. But as I stood there, the glint of something sharp lying on the ground caught my attention.

A letter opener Was lying mere inches from his chair on the floor, discarded along with most of the other items he had knocked off.

Before I knew it my feet were moving on their own accord as I quietly stepped towards the fuming man. He was too engrossed in his own anger to notice my approach.

Carefully and quietly, once I got close enough I reached for the item and gripped it in my hand tightly. The cool metal, a stark contrast against the warm blood rushing through my veins.

Slowly rising to my feet, I could feel my heart racing as all my anger and anguish came rushing forth making my grip on the crude blade tighter. And washing away any doubt and hesitation for what I was about to do.

I will be hanged for killing a naval officer, But I don’t care anymore. The only thing I cared about was vengeance, I wanted revenge for Ace And his crew, I wanted Lance to pay for the years of torment he and my family put me through! I want his blood spilt so that every man on this ship fears the idea of ever crossing any woman again!

Stepping closer, my eyes were locked on his exposed neck and I lifted the blade above my head with both hands, Ready to plunge it into his body and end it all. What face would he make when he sees what I have done? Would he be angry and try to lash out? Or would he be afraid, knowing that he was dying, and beg me for mercy. Beg me to help him as he choked on his own blood.

The ship creaked and tilted to the side as I thrusted the knife down as hard as I could. The blade cut deep into his flesh as I lost all balance and fell to the floor.

Lance screamed and stood from his chair, knocking it back as he gripped his arm and looked to see the letter opener plunged into his shoulder.

I missed…

“you fucking wench!” He pulled the blade out and threw it across the room. “Were you trying to kill me!?” He shouted.

I failed, I missed my one and only shot, and now he was bound to let out all of his anger on me. He would kill me for this, and he would make sure my death was slow and painful.

Once more fear washed over me and as the ship tilted the other direction I scrambled to get to my feet and run for the door.

Lance stumbled as well before straightening himself and shouting after me. “Violet!!”

Opening the door I was pelted by rain, my gown doing little to protect me, as waves crashed over the deck of the ship knocking anyone unlucky enough to not be holding onto something, off balance. The storm was practically devouring the ship as the last of the day’s light disappeared. It was almost unnatural how quickly it had caught up to us even without any wind in our sails.

The wind was blowing around violently in each and every direction making it near impossible for the sails to be adjusted to catch it. The storm itself felt like it was out for vengeance as the ship was tossed around by the waves like a small sloop.

Hearing Lance approaching behind me I rushed out onto the deck, desperate to get away from him. I had to grab onto whatever I could to avoid getting knocked down or thrown off the ship as it rocked.

“When I get my hands on you!” Lance shouted as he struggled to cross the deck. And his arm bled profusely. Another wave Crashed over the deck knocking down as I held onto a railing and three men were washed overboard. Their screams, swallowed by the ocean’s wrath.

“Captain! Someone called out to Lance, and through the rain I could see him still trying to come after me, his face twisted in rage. He didn’t look away even as his first mate ran up To his side. He was determined to make me pay.

“Captain, we have a problem!” His First mate tried to reason with him but Lance just shoved him off. I rushed towards the front of the ship and he gave chase, fighting the strong winds and relentless storm all the way.

Once I got to the bow of the ship I grabbed Onto the railing and could see the water below violently crashing against the ship. There would be No surviving in these conditions.

The Storm Seemed to slowly calm down as the wind and rain lightened up and the waves no longer were threatening to topple the ship over.

Lighting Cracked in the sky and looking back I could see Lance approaching Me. “Enough running! You have nowhere to go! Your petty outlash was pointless and has only served to make me angry!”

I glared back at Lance, definitely holding onto the railing tightly. He merely laughed at my defiance as he stepped closer. “Are you asking to die? Is that it? Did you think you could take me out with you!?”

As lightning flashed and lit up everything around us my eyes were pulled away from Lance as I saw something unexpected approaching the ship.

“You think you would get away with killing me!?” He snapped. “Your life belongs to us! I can snap your tiny little neck and toss you in the ocean and no one would bat an eye for a woman like you!!”

my Eyes widened as another flash of lighting lit up the sky, and I paid no attention to the man before me. My gaze Was locked onto the shadow closing in on the side of the ship.

Lance seemed to notice my shock And turned around to look as his men started shouting the word ‘pirates!’ Over the storm. Sailing up besides us was a familiar old ship, with worn paint, a black flag, and glowing blue lanterns.

Grappling hooks were shot over and started latching onto all parts of Lance’s ship as the New vessel latched onto the side of his ship, until they crashed into each other.

I hunkered down and held on to the railing as the violent impact knocked everyone off their feet. Lance’s crew could hardly react as over A dozen men invaded Their ship and started killing everyone off.

Lance Angrily drew His sword and turned to face the invaders But it was clear to see the fear in his eyes.

The storm all but calmed, turning into little more than a light rain as the ship was overrun. I stood up back to my feet and Watched as some familiar faces went about fighting the naval crew, cutting Them down with ease.

My mind was racing with questions at the impossibility of it all. Because this was impossible. I watched the ship go down. I watched it get torn to shreds! I–

A figure dressed in a red coat landed on the deck in front of me, after swinging over on some rope from the other ship. My heart nearly stopped at the sight of him as he turned to me with a warm smile. “Miss me darling?”

I couldn’t conjure words nor express how I felt. I never thought I’d see him again, I was sure he had perished along with the rest of the crew on the ship. How is he here? How is he alive?

He stepped towards me and brushed His thumb over My bruised cheek, confirming that I wasn’t just imagining this. He was here, he came back…

Lance noticed Ace and turned to face him, seeming just as shocked.

“Y-you! Impossible! You should be dead! We watched you sink!” He snapped.

Ace’s smile fell as he turned his attention towards Lance with a deadly glare.

Lance pulled his pistol aiming it towards us, and I snapped out of my shock, becoming fearful once more. “How is this possible!?”

Ace pulled me behind him calmly and stared down my fiance.

Ace took a step forward looking down at the man before him smugly. “Ah yes those two you ordered to fire upon us…shame those new fancy ships didn’t last very long. Had you stuck around, I might have spared some of your men on the other vessels l, but instead we had to destroy them both and rush after you... You were mistaken to think it would be so easy to get rid of us…Did you think we weren’t aware of your plans to kill us?” Ace then smiled Calmly.

“What kind of fucking nonsense are you talking about!?” Lance snapped back. “You think I’m Going to believe that you took Down both those vessels?! You don’t know who you’re messing with! I don’t know what kind of trickery this is but you made a mistake coming after us! Any stolen goods that you take will be reported back and the navy will know about all of this! Your crew will hang for attacking us!.”

“oh, I didn’t come here for any of your loot.” Ace replied smugly. “what was it you said before? Ah yes, I’m here to take back something that was stolen from me!”

Lance shook with rage as he grit his teeth. “You and that worthless ship aren’t taking anything! You both will be resting at the bottom of the ocean for eternity!”

He pulled the trigger, shooting Ace in the head making him stumble back.

“Ace!!!” I rushed forward horrified, but as I grabbed hold of him, expecting him to fall, he steadied himself and my look of horror turned to confusion as I saw the grin across his face. Blood trickled down the Side of his face from where he had been shot in the eye and his hair covered most of the wound as he looked up and faced Lance once more.

The sclera of his other eye had turned completely black as his iris was now a glowing white color. He didn’t seem the least bit phased after being shot in the head, and I let go watching in shock as he straightened himself.

“I must applaud your attempts but I assure you it’s not quite that simple…” Ace walked towards Lance who was now shaking in fear as he dropped his gun and started baking away.

“Wh-what the hell are you?!” Lance stuttered.

Ace backed him up into one of the ship’s masts and two of his men grabbed Lance’s arms holding him down as Ace pulled out his dagger and stopped mere inches in front of him.

“You see… It’s quite hard to kill something that’s already dead.”

“M-monster!”

“On the contrary… I believe I’m more human than a bastard like you will ever be.” Ace responded before plunging his blade into Lance’s stomach, making him scream.

Leaning in, Ace whispered something into his ear and he cried out in agony. “You should never attempt to steal a pirates treasure…”

(Note: teehee surprise! 🤭 1 chapter left! sorry For scaring yall but you know me! I’ve been faking character deaths since book 1! And I ain’t gonna stop. Hope y’all have enjoyed the story so far! Make sure to stick around for the ending! Violet still owes Ace another gold Coin~ 🔥 )