Legends of the Treasure Child : Demon Spawn

Jack dreamt of Paris.

Paris surrounded by hellish flames. Paris standing on the top of a hillside. Paris raging against the fallen angel. Behind him, the stone tower yet to be finished. Golden light coming from the top window. An immense sorrow.



“A curse on you, Lucifer! May the gods in the heavens above and Hades beneath my feet hear me now! I curse you, Lucifer! I promise you this: At World’s End, when the heavens crash and the gods fall dead to the face of this Earth, and the Gates of all of the Hells are flooded, and the souls of the dead come to cast judgment on all of us, god, demon and mortal alike, it shall be MY KIN and all their familiars, who will endure. With Hell on Earth unleashed, my Treasure Child, mine!, shall be riding the command chariot, not you! And as you burn, the last thing you see will be ME holding the torch to your pyre!”



Paris' beautiful features were distorted by rage. He was nearly naked, his brown curls dancing wildly against the biting cold wind, and snowflakes danced about his feet like a tidal wave of crystals, sparkling in the nocturnal light and glittering in the light of the flames. The earth shook beneath his feet, and his defiant posture matched that of any Greek god. He cared not if he lived or died.



In the dream, Jack directed his attention towards the glow of the window above. Instinctively, he knew that if he looked inside the window, he would see something horrendous. He would find that which he did not want to find, but which was at the heart of the conflict. The Demon King of the Seventh Plane. Approaching the window, gliding along the rocks like some ghost, Jack held his breath. He saw a sphere of golden light flickering underneath the thatched roof, and he knew – he just knew that the light was John. Just then, as he brimmed with fear of being discovered, Jack awoke. He still lay on deck, smeared in his own blood. His hips ached and his limbs were stiff, and he felt as if he harboured a fever. Someone had put a blanket over him, and he realized that what had awoken him, was the pained grunting of Mr. Gibbs who also was coming round. Jack lay silent, just watching as the old pirate came round, placing one foot in front of the other as he supported himself on the railing next to the wheel. Finally back on his feet, he gazed bewildered about until he spotted Jack. Recognition played across his face, but the expression faltered upon realising what Jack had just gone through. The sound of beating wings through the air made him look up, to find Erastus descending unto the floorboards next to his father.



″Mr. Gibbs, I presume?″Erastus asked politely, taking no notice of his own nakedness. Mr. Gibbs could naught but nod in confirmation, looking up and down the coal-coloured figure with the burning eyes. ″I be Erastus. My father″ Erastus glanced downwards to Jack, ″named me so. We must follow the lights in the water. The people of the sea has come to aid us. We must follow the lights in the water″ Erastus said impatiently. Mr. Gibbs glanced down at Jack. The ex-pirate simply nodded, fatigued as he still was. Mr. Gibbs walked over to the railing and gazed down. He was surprised to behold an incredible sight – a hundred or so orbs of pale shimmering lights ascending and descending randomly beneath the murky surface. They never broke the surface however, though Mr. Gibbs was confident he saw silhouettes of some creature being half man, half fish.



″Bad sign in deed...!″ he muttered to himself, before crossing his chest absent-mindedly. Turning around to face Jack and Erastus, he put on a confident smile and walked over to the wheel, minding not to slip in the blood and goo which had come from Jack's insides during the birth. ″Why don't I take the wheel while you attend to your father? He should be in bed″ Mr. Gibbs said.



″I'm not losing sight of the wheel″ Jack said determinedly.



″Then we must make an effort for you to be comfortable right here″, Erastus said. He reached behind himself, plucking a single black feather from his left wing. He gently blew on it, and soon, a cascade of feathers just like it dropped from the nothingness above, silently showering Jack as if they were snowflakes. He felt them drop to the ground, move ever so slightly and then grow beneath him. In the end, Jack felt like he was lying on one gigantic soft cushion of feathers, warming and soothing his fatigued body. He felt the Pearl beneath him rock slightly as if it seemed to be set in motion all though there was no wind to indicate that they had any speed. There was, however, no mistaking the sound of waves as the bough of the Pearl cut through water faster and faster.



The lights formed a vague arrowhead beyond the bowsprit, thus allowing for Mr. Gibbs to easily follow its trail. For what seemed like an endless journey through a vast grey nothingness, Gibbs perceived with almost childish joy that the fog was in deed getting thinner. And with the unveiling of the fog came the unveiling of the traumatized crew on the main deck. Emerging from their hideouts once they realized the change in the air, came Pintel and his associate Ragetti, Murtagg, Cotton and his parrot and Marty. They all carried the same haunted look on their faces all the while shivering in their boots, jittery and all worked up. A few of the others emerged as well, pale faced and gripping their daggers as if they'd just been fighting for their lives. For a long while, their ragged breathing and insensible stammering was the only sound apart from the splashing of the waves. Suddenly, a sea gull squawked high above the masts of the Black Pearl, and the noise startled all of them, waking them out of their gloomy reverie. As comprehension set in, some let their weapons fall to the deck, sobbing out loudly or burying their faces in their hands. What terrible things they'd witnessed, remained hidden in the deepest recesses of their minds or had been left behind in the fog. Greyness was replaced with blue skies, salty air and a sharp breeze on their faces. The Black Pearl picked up considerable speed in the manner of minutes, and Gibbs perceived that the last of the lights disappeared before the bow. Danger seemed to have passed, and all senses restored.



The salty air seemed to revive Jack as well, and as he opened his eyes to gaze directly into the contrasting black sails against the bright blue sky, he could not help but to smile widely.



″Mr. Gibbs! Set your course for Elisabeth Turner's cottage immediately. We've fallen behind. I will not have it that another ship besides the Black Pearl shall be the first to reach those shores!″ By that, Jack was of course referring to the Crimson Lotus, a ship he loathed – not for its hellish crewmen – but for the fact that she seemed to match The Black Pearl in speed and manoeuvrability under any weather condition. Jack didn't really count the Flying Dutchman under the same category though it shared many of the same qualities. No, this was the ship of his very own son, and it was the fact that the Crimson Lotus was just as other-wordly as the Dutchman, Jack elegantly ignored. It was ship with so many similarities to the Pearl that it automatically qualified as a natural competitor. Like the Interceptor, and so many, many more!

Jack felt as if he was lying on a lit-de-parade. The surviving crew would venture up to the wheel, and upon finding Jack lying down, no less, attended by a black-skinned demon with similar golden eyes to that of John, they quickly looked from Jack to Mr. Gibbs, thinking that what they'd just lived through had to be about everything they'd seen and ever would see in their lifetime. So there was another demon. What else was new? Strange looking demons hanging around Jack was by now old news.



“Full canvas and all that” Jack ordered, “oh, and somebody get me something to eat. I'm starvin'!”



Jack agreed upon being carried back to the cabin. He ate in silence while Erastus watched him with hungry eyes. Jack noticed, and felt anxiety arise as he simply had to ask: “Are you hungry?”

“Yes” Erastus answered briefly, “but I'll wait until you have finished.”



“If ye want some...!”



“I want your milk” Erastus replied quickly.



Not feeling as if he could postpone Erastus' cravings, he put his food aside and opened up his shirt, revealing two full breasts.



“Dig in” Jack said, “but do mind those fangs, please!”