─☼☼☼─

CHARLOTTE WASN'T REALLY  sure when the tears started, but by the time she reached home, her face was coated in them. She was sure her eyes were a dead give away to the fact that she had been sobbing over Rafe, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. 

But luckily, as she entered the house, no one said a word about her appearance. They were all too focused debriefing about the past few hours. Which apparently included JJ and Kiara almost being killed by the man who had attacked them the night prior. Pope and Cleo eavesdropping on said diver's friends, and Sarah and John B getting some sort of translation from the amulet. 

Charlotte's day suddenly seemed very uneventful in comparison. 

"Hey," JJ muttered, nudging Charlotte as John B read out the inscription. "You okay?"

So someone had noticed. 

She couldn't tell him what had her so upset, not now at least. "Yeah," she lied, voice cracking slightly. "Just tired."

JJ knew she was lying to him, but he didn't push it in that moment. 

"To me, it still sounds like directions to something." John B informed the group, giving his head a small shake. 

Cleo pursed her lips. "Yeah, but to what?"

JJ took hold of the amulet, holding it out so he and Charlotte could get a good look at it. "Well, Genrette was obsessed with Blackbeard, so maybe directions to his treasure?" John B wondered. 

"And how much would that be in American?" JJ asked, passing the amulet to Charlotte. 

She let out a small breath. "Priceless."

"Tempting," JJ muttered. 

Charlotte turned the amulet over in her hands, still in disbelief that JJ and Kiara had truly found it. She was literally holding a piece of history in her hands. 

"So what is this treasure?" Cleo wondered, still not on board with all of it. "Gold?"

Pope squinted slightly, as if trying to recall. "No...I remember on the pier, the diver, he was talking to some lady about something. It wasn't gold. It was like a...like a...a crown. A blue crown."

"A blue crown?" JJ repeated, skepticism coating his words as he took a swig of his beer. 

Kiara echoed his sentiments. "A blue crown? Really, Pope?"

"I'm just relaying what I heard, alright?"

The two of them began to argue about the validity of Pope's claim, but Charlotte couldn't focus on what they were saying. In her mind, there were a million visions of what she'd read earlier that day. There was something in there about a blue crown...wait. 

Wordlessly, she turned toward her bag, rifling through it for the few books she had decided to borrow. John B turned to face her, his brows furrowed slightly. "Charley?" He wondered, his voice breaking above the bickering. 

Charlotte hastily flipped through the pages, eyes scanning the words as she searched for any sign of it. 

There.

"Like, what even is a blue crown?" Sarah questioned. 

Finally looked up from the book, Charlotte met John B's eyes. "Apparently one of the most sought-out artifacts in the modern world." She announced, anxiety overtaking her at the thought of getting even remotely close to finding it. 

"What?" Kiara demanded, wondering where the hell her sister had come up with that. 

Charlotte held up the book, tapping her finger against the picture of the crown on the front cover. She watched as all of their jaws dropped slightly."That's a literal blue crown." Pope exclaimed. "A blue crown."

JJ awed, tapping his finger against it like Charlotte had done. "That's what Genrette wanted."

 "Listen," Charlotte instructed, setting the book down on the table in front of them. "The Blue Crown was created for Darius the Great of Persia over 3,000 years ago."

"Looks more than fifty K, I'll say that," JJ muttered, leaning over Charlotte's shoulder to get a better look. 

Shooting him a quick look, Charlotte continued. "It was said to possess the blessing of the gods themselves, granting the wearer great favour and rare invincibility." She cocked her head slightly as she read. "Wait, look at this. It says Xerxes, son of Darius the Great. He's wearing it."

John B leaned closer, "Well he looks like a badass."

Charlotte nodded, moving her finger to another picture. "Alexander the Great, also wearing it. Oh, and Julius Caesar, pretty iconic...and you guessed it, he's wearing it."

"John B," she wondered, turning to look at him. "Did you dad ever talk about this at all?"

He thought for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, but all I remember is that it grants wishes."

Wishes?

"Like a genie?" Pope questioned, scrunching up his nose. 

Flipping the page, Charlotte scanned the text. "It says here that it was lost sometime in the 1700s," she paused for a moment, reading the next line. "But it was rumoured to have been hunted down by..." No way.

"Who?" Sarah questioned, trying to read the look on Charlotte's face. 

Kiara attempted to look at the book. "Yeah, who?"

JJ, who had been anxiously pacing behind, stopped to look at Charlotte. "Charley, who?"

A breath  slipped from Charlotte's lips before she spoke. "Blackbeard."

Everything had just become more real. Even if all of this was some elaborate farce, they would be crazy not to even consider the possibility of looking for it. 

They all let out surprised responses as Sarah and Kiara leaned over the book. "No way." Kie challenged. 

Pope pointed to the page Charlotte had been reading. "It's right there."

"Guys, come on. I know we're doing this. Like, I know." JJ declared from behind them, a look of excitement growing on his features. 

Charlotte cracked a grin, turning in her chair to face him. "I could use somethin' to do this summer."

JJ let out a whoop, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

The Pogues were officially back in the game. 

─☼☼☼─

"How much salt did you say?" JJ questioned, already pouring double the amount Charlotte had requested into the pot.

"Not that much," she instructed from across the kitchen. 

JJ gave her a sheepish grin as he ceased his pouring of the salt. "My bad."

With the news of their potential newfound quest, there was obvious need for celebration. Charlotte had offered to cook dinner, and in a surprising turn of events, it was the boys who offered to help her. The girls had gathered outside, preparing the fire that was sure to burn through most of the night while they partied like old times. 

"Where's the tomato?" Pope called, head deep in the fridge. 

"Second shelf!" Charlotte called over her shoulder, wiping at her watering eyes as she cut the onion. 

"Oh, Charls, don't cry." JJ pouted. "I promise I didn't add that much salt."

Charlotte glared at him through watery eyes, unable to hide the smile that fought to stretch across her face. 

JJ grinned back at her for a moment before glancing over his, ensuring John B and Pope weren't listening (they were too busy arguing over how to dice a tomato) before he spoke again. "So, do you wanna tell me what had you so upset earlier?"

She knew it was coming, but it didn't mean she wanted to talk about it. Focusing on the chopping she was doing, Charlotte shrugged. "I must have been cutting onions or something."

Rather recklessly, JJ took the knife from Charlotte's hand. "Hey!" She argued, looking over to him with an incredulous expression. "Do you want to eat dinner or not?"

He ignored her, placing the knife on the counter next to him. "It was him, wasn't it?" Charlotte could tell by the look on his face that JJ was prepared to kill Rafe. "What'd he do?"

Letting out a deep breath, Charlotte turned her body so she was fully facing him. "He didn't do anything except exist in the same space I did." She shook her head, the overwhelming emotions from earlier returning. "He was extremely respectful and gave me space, and somehow that hurts more than if he had been the persistent Rafe he used to be." She admitted, both to JJ and herself. 

JJ looked slightly confused. "So that's good, right?"

It was supposed to be...but somehow it wasn't. "I think I prepared myself to face the Rafe I knew a year ago...and I don't think I've come to terms with the fact that I might not really even know him anymore. "

"So again...that's good, right?" JJ prodded. "The old Rafe was a piece of shit who didn't deserve you with any fibre of his being. The new Rafe also doesn't deserve you, if you ask me."

Charlotte exhaled, knowing she wasn't going to get her point across to him, she hadn't even come to terms with it herself. "Yeah...I guess."

"Hey," John B interrupted, "Do these look diced or chopped to you?" He wondered, shoving the cutting board of tomatoes in between them. 

JJ furrowed his brows, "I don't know, but they look like shit."

A laugh bubbled from Charlotte's lips before she could stop it. John B swivelled to her, a look of offense covering his face. "That wasn't funny. Don't laugh."

"Sorry," Charlotte muttered, bringing her hand to her mouth to cover the smile that refused to leave her lips. 

Rafe may have inadvertently broken her heart that day, but somehow within a short period of time the Pogues had already repaired it...just like always. 

─☼☼☼─

-an-

sorry this chapter is short and a filler, but a lot of people were asking for an update so i wanted to get something out!

-maddy xoxo