Chapter 38: The Second Chance
The sea split.
The sky screamed.
And in Jake Sparrow's trembling arms, Elias's body lay cold—lifeless.
But elsewhere…
In a place untouched by time or sea or pain, Elias opened his eyes.
He gasped quietly, finding himself standing alone in a vast, endless field of white. There was no wind, no scent, no sound. Just pure, empty stillness. He looked around, confused. No ship, no storm. No Jake. No Raina.
No pain.
Just… nothing.
He sighed.
"Well…" he muttered. "There goes my life."
Then—they appeared.
From the fog-like edges of that white void, figures began to form. Dozens of them. Old pirates in ghostly coats, tattered hats and glowing eyes. Some were tall and proud, others weathered and weary. And among them, standing calm and ancient, was her—the Prophet. The same mysterious woman who had appeared to him in dreams before.
They stood in a wide circle around Elias, watching.
Silent.
Elias looked around and arched an eyebrow. "Okay," he said. "This isn't creepy at all."
The Prophet stepped forward, her expression colder than before. She spoke, her voice a mix of sorrow and disappointment.
"You poor, idiot child," she said. "By dying, you didn't seal the Drowned King."
Her eyes sharpened.
"You freed him."
Elias blinked. "What??"
One of the ancient pirates—an older man with a long gray beard and a blade scar down his face—stepped forward next.
"You were the door," the ghost rasped. "That much is true. You were the Drowned King's shadow—a piece of him shaped into a boy."
Another spirit joined him. "He made you. Crafted you. Set you loose upon the world so you could one day unlock his prison. That was your purpose."
"But…" Elias took a step back. "I ran. I escaped. I chose to live."
"And that's why you forgot," the Prophet said softly. "That's why you had feelings. Why you laughed, loved the sea, made friends."
"You became human," another pirate spirit murmured.
Elias's eyes widened as the weight of it all crashed in.
"I didn't know…" he whispered. "I thought… I thought I had to die to stop him."
The Prophet's voice softened now, touched with grief. "We know."
She stepped closer, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "And what you did… it was not foolish. It was brave. You gave your life to save a world that would never remember you. You did something no one else would have done."
She looked around at the spirits surrounding them, and they all nodded in solemn agreement.
"You deserve… a second chance."
Elias looked up, hope flickering behind tired eyes.
"Wait, what?"
The Prophet smiled.
"The Drowned King is not yet at full strength. His return is new. His body is unstable. He rises in mockery of a crown, but he is not whole."
She turned to the ancient pirates behind her.
"It's time."
They nodded.
One by one, the spirits stepped forward, placing their hands on Elias's shoulders, back, chest. As they touched him, light began to bloom inside him—faint at first, then growing brighter.
"You were made from shadow," said the bearded pirate. "But shadows are born of light."
"You carry a fragment of him," said another, "but you can choose what to become."
The Prophet raised her arms. "So go back, child. Go back and finish what we could not."
She stepped forward, her palm glowing like moonlight. She pressed it to his chest.
"Take our strength. Take yours. And end the Drowned King."
The white place began to tremble, light pulsing in waves.
The Prophet's voice was barely a whisper now, but it echoed through Elias's soul.
"We will always watch over you, son."
And then—
Light exploded.
---
Aboard the Black Pearl
The wind stopped.
Time paused.
Even the Drowned King, towering in the shattered sea before them, stilled.
A glow—soft and white—began to rise from the body in Jake's arms.
Jake gasped.
"Raina… are you seeing this?!"
Elias's body—broken, bloodied—began to float. His limbs relaxed, the wound in his chest slowly closing, flesh stitching itself together with threads of glowing silver light.
The Drowned King narrowed his eyes.
"No…" he hissed.
Light radiated from Elias's heart, wrapping around his body like armor woven from starlight and ghost-fire.
His eyes shot open—no longer dull and human, but burning white, brighter than lightning, deeper than the sea.
He rose.
On wings of pure light and spirit, Elias lifted into the air, head tilting slowly toward the Drowned King.
The sea god stepped back, for the first time… uncertain.
Elias floated down, feet touching the deck of the Black Pearl. The glow dimmed but never faded entirely. He looked at Jake. At Raina.
At the Drowned King.
Jake's jaw dropped. "Mate…"
Elias turned toward the sea. "You lied to me," he called to the towering god. "You shaped me. Used me. But you made one mistake."
The Drowned King hissed. "And what was that?"
Elias's hand clenched into a fist.
"You made me human."
The Drowned King roared, summoning his drowned fleet, his tentacles, his storms.
Elias didn't flinch.
Jake smiled, despite himself. "Looks like the real fight's just begun."
And it had.
The boy who had once been a shadow now burned with the fire of a hundred pirate souls.
The second war had begun.
And this time—
The door was coming for the king.
---
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