JACK

(For those of you who don't remember, Jack was the old man who owned the bar and is on good terms with the Bones twins. Cherry is the lady who gave Circe new clothes and looked after Lacey before Lacey decided to join Circe.)

I sat at a table in the middle of the bar. Although it was heading on to morning, the place was packed with drunken sailors, pirates and townsfolk alike and their rowdiness was lacking any tension. Everyone was in high spirits, greeting the new day with a pint of whatever had their fancy, the smell of food mixing in with the cloud of cigar smoke that always hovered around the ceiling. However the cheerful atmosphere did nothing to dispel the dread that I felt in my heart as I stared at the man across from me.

"How did you get this information? The places you are talking about, the people you speak of ... their existence isn't proven by humans. These rumors could be nothing but lies."

The tousled man looked nervous, his fingers kept twitching around the glass of whiskey he held in his right hand. "Come on Jack ... I heard it from a friend alright, and he claimed to hear it from a crew mate on the Bones ship. The Pirate King wasn't there Jack, he never returned from one of the islands that they landed on. The rumor is that he was arrested and ... and ..."

"Alright," I said curtly after a long pause. "No need to continue. I understand what you're saying."

Another few minutes and my companion left, after swearing to me that he wouldn't tell another soul of our conversation. I lent back in my chair, swirling a mouthful of alcohol around my mouth.

Finding out the truth about something like this would not be easy. I had a difficult time believing that Obsidian Bones had just been arrested and dealt with, with no complications. .The boy wasn't called the Pirate King for nothing after all. How many years had he spent out on those seas, making a name for himself? A name that was separate to his Fathers, but one who still held the threat of 'Zeus Gold,' lingering behind it? Obsidian Bones ... the son of the late Pirate King, the boy who had killed his own Father and surpassed his ambition and power by the age of eleven. The 'Demon Child,' who name had indisputably claimed the seas ever since the moment he had sought to own them, the boy who brought fear into the eyes of the fearless.

To believe that he had become caught up in the higher powers of the world was not impossible; the boy was in a league of his own when measured up beside mere humans. But to believe that he had been dealt with and so easily ... I shook my head. It was almost blasphemous to entertain such an idea.

There was a seed of doubt in my mind however. I knew him, I knew that his loyalty was unbreakable once it had been given. If his family had been in danger, his brother, or any of his most trusted crew, he would not have hesitated to put everything on the line to secure their safety, even if it meant giving his life. That was what it meant to have the loyalty of the Pirate King.

A face popped into my mind then. The face of that girl that had been with him the last time I had seen him, him and his brother. The way that they had both looked at her, for Cobalt it was not so unusual, they might be twins but those boys were starkly different and Cobalt was a romantic. But Obsidian ... I remembered how intense his eyes had been when he had looked at the girl. Circe, that had been her name. I chuckled. Circe, daughter of the God of the Sun and Goddess of Magic, what a fitting name it was for a girl such as she. I remembered the way that her hair had shone like fine golden silk and how she had enchanted the whole room with her presence. Surely she had enchanted him too.

The love of a Pirate King, now that would be something to witness. Cherry had always mused about the woman that Obsidian would fall in love with and I had never paid her much attention, casting it aside as a woman's interfering ramblings. Being a veteran of Zeus Gold's crew I had watched those boys grow up and after witnessing Obsidian fight his Father to the death, never once had I thought of him growing up and falling in love. That boy was disturbed, had been since before that gruesome day and had only grown more so afterwards. The loyalty that he showed towards his brother was the closest I had seen him come to love.

I leaned back in my chair again. If Obsidian Bones was to love, truly love another... I pulled a cigar out of my pouch and lit it, dragging in a deep breath before exhaling. My associate's story was becoming more and more believable. But where was I to begin if I wanted to uncover the truth?

"Jack, Jack! Excuse me, get outta my way filth, JACK!"

I raised an eyebrow, easily spotting the man who was attempting to push towards me. It was one of the boys who worked on the docks, Daniel. He was a big man, middle aged and higher up on the ladder than most of those currently occupying my establishment. Normally his appearance matched his status, clean cut, presentable, but at the moment his hair was tousled, his square face red and flustered.

I stood to greet him, holding up my hands as he broke through the last of crowd. "Woah Danny, what's the deal here? Care to let me have some of whatever you're having? With the shit hand I've just been dealt, I could do with a pick me up."

My light-hearted remark didn't even seem to register with him and it was then that I knew he meant business.

"Alright, Danny what's going on, you officially have my attention."

"Jack, Jack you aren't going to believe who just dropped anchor at the docks. It's him Jack, it's him. He wants to see you, he followed me here, I told him to wait."

"You told who to wait?"

"He's by the door Jack. I'm sorry, I got here as fast as I could.

My eyes narrowed as I clapped a hand on Daniels shoulder, looking past him to where he had gestured. A figure leaned up against the doorway, clothed in black, hat pulled down over his eyes. Already he was starting to draw attention, I watched as those closest to him began to realize who he was, the circle around him growing wider with every second.

My hand tightened on the other man's shoulder and I nodded curtly. "I see. Thanks Danny, go grab your-self a pint eh? On the house." Without waiting to hear his answer I made my way swiftly through the pub, reaching the man in a matter of seconds.

"Let's go outside. C'mon. Now."

He followed me silently back the way we had come. It was early morning now, the sun had not yet fully made an appearance, but the lightening of the sky suggested that it wouldn't be long before it did.

We reached the docks in less than ten minutes without a word spoken between us and soon I was standing in front of a ship that looked all too familiar. The man stopped beside me, tilting up his hat. His hand fell down on my shoulder.

"It's good to see you Jack." His voice was laced with sadness and as I turned to meet his gaze the twisting in my gut told me that I was about to find out the answer to all of my earlier questions.

"Didn't expect you back so soon Cobalt," I said lightly.

"A lot has changed in the short time we were gone, that's for sure."

I swallowed and the silence lingered as I struggled to find words to shape the question that I had no desire to hear the answer to. I cursed myself as I looked back to the ship, unable to meet his gaze as I said: "I heard ... Is he?"

"He's gone Jack."

Such a solid answer, I couldn't bring myself to question the reason for the surety that was present in his voice. The breath stuck in my throat for a moment before I let it all out at once. "Well, that boy always got himself into more trouble than he could handle," I said gruffly. "I suppose it was only a matter of time."

The words were nonchalant and spoke nothing of how I felt. As I looked out to sea and the lightening horizon I could see them there in my mind's eye, the two little boys with hair as dark as a crows wing and eyes as mysterious as the ocean standing at the bow of the ship, their hands clasped tightly in one-an-others.

My eyes closed and I bowed my head, a single tear slipping down my cheek. Obsidian, my dear boy, I never thought you would leave your Brother alone in this world.

*

COBALT

There was nothing else that I could find to say, to console the man who stood beside me. Not when I felt the loss so deeply myself. Just uttering those words, words that confirmed that he was gone, brought a lump to my throat so painful that it felt as though I was choking.

Jack had turned his face away from me and I stared straight forward, giving him a moment to compose himself while at the same time trying to put myself back together. I had forgotten how long Jack had been there for us and what this would mean to him. I had underestimated the strength that it would take for me to be able to tell him myself.

We had docked not too long ago, the crew had been up most of the night making preparations for our arrival so once we were secure I had waved them all to bed, declaring that I was going into town and the resupply could wait till morning.

Nathaniel had remained at sea with Anthemin on his ship, so as not to attract any unwanted attention. If I squinted I could see the ship hovering just on the horizon, but to anyone unaware of their location the small dot would be unnoticeable. After we had finished with the resupply it had been decided that we would sail back out to him, swap over care of the dragon and then I would come back in with him and his ship into port to repeat the procedure.

"Where are the rest of the boys? Samson? Jacob? And what about Lacy and Leonardo? Do you still have those two scallywags with you? You know that Cherry will have your ears if you don't." I could hear the pain in the old man's voice that he was attempting to cover up with light humor and I decided to accept the offer to change the subject, informing him that yes, everyone was still present and accounted for, that they were in fact aboard the ship right now and would be around at lunchtime for a reunion once everyone had refueled on sleep.

"Why don't you come in," I said gently. "I have rum from the Elves, we can break it open."

His bushy eyebrows rose as he started towards the ship. "How did you get your hands on it?"

I shrugged and smiled impishly. "While we were there they had a festival; I managed to barter a few bottles."

The old man grinned. "And by 'barter' you mean 'steal'."

I shrugged modestly, my eyes twinkling. "Of course, stolen rum is the best kind of rum." I clapped a hand on his back and lead him forwards. For all the pain it caused it was still good to see him.

"Well you know me," He said gruffly. "I'm not a Pirate able of turning down exotic beverages."

I chuckled. "I don't think any Pirate is, Jack."

He noticed when we didn't turn to go into Obsidian's room. "Have the Captain's quarters moved?"

I stopped where I was, my eyes closing. "I can't bring myself to use that room as my own," My voice broke towards the end of the sentence and I felt a hand come down on my shoulder. The old man met my eyes with so much understanding that it was hard to bear.

"Well then it will be fitting to have a drink to your Brother in his own quarters then don't you think?"

I paused for a moment before nodding, brushing a hand across my face and forcing a smile. "You're right."

My hand found the door knob and I pushed it open. The hinges squeaked from misuse and at that moment the sun broke above the hills and the first rays of morning shone into the room, illuminating the dust that hung in the air and casting our shadows down on the wooden floor.

Entering that room, I felt as I always had, as though he was going to be standing there at his desk, pouring over some piece of parchment that he had declared important. There had been so much more to us than just the last couple of years. Before that, we had belonged to no one. My brother and me, we were bound by more than just blood, we were twins, reflections of each other, no matter how different we might have become that simple fact had never changed.

As I sat down at his desk with Jack across from me and poured us both a glass, the conversation began to flow and once it did, it didn't seem to want to stop. I found myself telling the old man everything, right from the beginning, everything that had happened. What we had seen, what we had accomplished, what we had failed at, how I ... how I had failed him. How I had let other people get in the way of us. How I had failed to see the sacrifice he was making until it was too late. How I hadn't understood until he was gone, that it was a sacrifice that he had gladly taken upon himself since the day that he had killed our Father. How stupid that I felt to think that we had ever stood upon equal ground when he had been so much better than me.

Jack leaned across the table taking my hands in his. "He never thought that Cobalt," his voice was hoarse. "Your Brother never saw himself to be better. He believed that he was the one who could save you, could preserve your capability to hope and to love, qualities that he didn't think he possessed. He would have given everything for you and that was his choice."

"And it is my sin for letting him," I said, downing the remainder of my drink. "I was happy to sit behind him and let him protect me. I was always scared, of our Father especially, but I was scared too that one day Obsidian would leave me, that one day he would surpass me so greatly that he would simply disappear from my reach altogether." I stretched up a hand towards the ceiling, my gaze following the line of my hand. "He was always within an arm's reach, but only just."

I let my hand fall back to the table. "And I feel that maybe he was holding himself back so that I could keep up." My head fell into my hands in anguish. "If he hadn't done that, held himself back I mean, what kind of God could he have become? How far could he have risen? Could he have climbed high enough so that the sins of our Father no longer touched him? High enough so that those who wished him pain could no longer hope to cause him harm? High enough that he might have been able to escape his death altogether? You knew him Jack; you knew he was different, right from the start you knew."

I heard a creak as the old man leaned back in his chair. "What I knew was that the both of you would be something extraordinary."

I raised my head. He was looking up at the ceiling, the light catching in his eyes. His gaze flickered to rest on me and the legs of his chair came back to the floor with a soft thump. "What you are forgetting Cobalt is that you two are halves of one whole. The only thing that weakens or strengthens you is your own mind. The same blood runs through your veins boy, there is no doubt about that."

His words were solemn and sincere. There was a moment's pause as I tried to find some way to tell him how much it meant to hear that. I reached up to brush away the hair from my face and when I felt tears in my eyes my hand hovered there for a moment, covering my face.

I didn't know what to say.

"Did you see it happen?" Jack voice was gruff.

"Yeah," I managed to get out in reply, my arm still shielding my face. "I didn't see all of it, but I saw what I needed to. He is definitely gone."

There was a sigh and I lowered my arm. Jack was gazing at the ceiling again, swishing his rum around in his glass thoughtfully. "I find it hard to believe that your Brother would go down quietly like that."

I shook my head. "You weren't there Jack. You didn't see the condition he was in. They tortured him, weeks up to the execution. In the end, he-" My voice broke off as the memories rushed back and I cleared my throat, forcing the words out. "He didn't even remember who I was," I whispered. "That was my fault too. I should have tried harder ... to get through to him. He wasn't himself, I should have ... come up with something, gotten him out of there."

"There was someone you were protecting wasn't there?" Jack spoke as though he already knew.

"Yes," I replied. Amaryllis's face appeared in my mind, but it was overshadowed by another, another who was as light as she was dark. "Circe," It would always be Circe. Ever since she had come into our lives it was as though we had been thrown head first into a tornado, swept off our feet into a different land entirely.

Her face flashed in front of my vision, the last time I had seen her. The way her broken eyes had looked at me with such betrayal. The way she had screamed at me, had asked me how I was okay with it, how I was able to just stand there while my Brother had disintegrated into nothing in front of my eyes.

"It wasn't her fault though," I whispered. "She tried more than anyone, to protect him. The two of them ..." I trailed off, lost in the memories. "The two of them, they were on the same level. He would have given her the world if he could, but she would have insisted that they ruled it together." I looked at Jack. "If you know what I mean."

His chin was resting on his hand as he took another swig of rum, his eyes downcast. "I think I do Son, I think I do."

His expression was such that it made me suddenly wonder if there was a person behind it, if my words reminded him of someone that he had known long ago. I couldn't bring myself to ask however and looked into my own glass in silence. When he finally made a noise it startled me little and I realized that I had been half dozing, Jack's company, my brother's familiar room, both a comforting presence. I looked up to see that the noise that he had made was one of sleep, his head resting more heavily on his hand, his glass slightly tilted in his hand.

I smiled and reached to move the glass from his grasp so it did not spill. Another snore came from him and I stood quietly, looking down at him for a moment before exiting the room. I noticed the way that the lines in his face had grown deeper since I had last seen him, how the bags under his eyes seemed to sag with more than old age. 

"I'll be here when you awaken old friend. Sleep well."

*

Once outside I found myself resting against the railing of the deck my hands running through my hair as I let out a sigh. I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my chest after talking to Jack, there was just something about the old man that made me feel at ease. Maybe it was the fact that he had been with us for such a long time, Jack was more of a Father figure to us than our real Father had ever been. I ran my hands through my hair, mussing it up and rubbing the back of my neck as I did so.

The ship was still quiet and I knew that the crew would most likely sleep until late noon. There was no need to worry though, I would take care of the order before that and then all that would be left was the loading. I straightened up with the intention to get started right away, the order was in my bedroom where I had last left it, but as I turned I suddenly felt the pull of a gaze upon me.

I froze immediately, my hand going straight to the sword at my hip. Turning around, I saw that the deck was clear. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a shadow move, hidden from the early morning rays by the main mast. My eyes narrowed as I scoured the top deck and the sails thoroughly.

"Who's there?" I called out tersely. "Show yourself."

I moved over to the ramp that had been let down over the side of the ship and peered down it. There was no one in the water and no one at the bottom but still the feeling that I was being watched did not disappear. My gaze widened to look beyond the ship to the shopfronts that lined the port and although they were bustling with activity as those who made their living her got ready for the day, I couldn't seem to find what I was looking for. Had it been my imagination? 

I had turned to go when something caught my eye. A figure had appeared out from one of the alleys that lined the stores, or perhaps he had been there the whole time and I had simply overlooked him. It was too dark still to make out the features clearly, but there was something in the very presence of the person that caused my heart to skip a beat and my breath to catch in my throat. Maybe it was the way that he stood there, so nonchalantly as though he belonged, yet so clearly out of place amidst the hubbub surrounding him.

My feet had started moving before I had even given them permission, Jack's words echoing through my mind.

Did you see it happen?

I did, I saw the proof, right in front of my eyes and any doubt that I might have had had been washed away by the anguish that I had seen in Circe's eyes. If she had believed him to be gone, then surely it had had to be true.

I find it hard to believe your Brother would just go down quietly like that.

I had found it hard to believe also but it had happened. My beautiful, wild, powerful, proud, brother. When I was younger I had all but believed him to be immortal. It seemed as though he was able to overcome anything, but in the end he the hand we had been dealt was simply too much and he had lost.

Hadn't he?

I was drawing closer to the alley now, unaware of the people moving around me. I watched as the figure slipped back into the shadows as he saw me coming and I hurried, faster, I had to go faster. My head was telling me that it was impossible, that I was only going to be disappointed, horribly, terribly disappointed. That it was my talk with Jack that had brought up memories and made me feel this way. But my heart ... my poor, foolish heart was telling me that there was a resemblance there, telling me to push past the last few people standing in my way and find out for myself, what was truth and what was lie.

My hand grasped the stone of the wall and I all but dragged myself into the alley. The figure was there, standing a little ways down and facing away. I could see now that it was a man, with height equal to my own and hair as black as the shadows that surrounded him. His chest and back were bare and he wore a pair of torn, black pants. There was nothing covering his feet. In his hand he held a bundle of white fabric and lace, a dress, or something that looked similar.

I rubbed my eyes and looked again. It must have been a trick of the light or simply my memories making me see things that weren't there, but for the smallest instant I could have sworn I saw Circe, standing just in front of him, her golden head peering around the side of his body, a smile gracing her lips. 

To someone out on the street, someone who was watching at least, they might have thought that I was possessed, the way that I froze where I stood at the alley entrance, all reason for my rapture beyond their line of vision. They would have seen me walk into the shadows and disappear and perhaps a more curious person might have followed.

No such person was watching though and as I disappeared from the light of the morning sun, the person in front of me only grew clearer. I was all but certain.

"Speak!" I demanded. The anger in my voice alarmed me for a moment, but it was then that I realized that it had been rising from the moment I had felt the prickle on the back of my neck. It was him. It had to be him. Did he think I was a fool?

My heart was pounding so fast in my chest I thought that it would surely explode. My hands clenched and unclenched as I gritted my teeth.

"I said speak!"

There was a long pause and then he turned his head ever so slightly to the side. A golden eye stared back at me, set in a profile identical to my own.

"So you found me ... Brother."

*