Chaos and Order - A Multiverse Fanfic

Over at Fort Charles, the two pirates, who had come to an agreement while cursing each other, were drinking and singing, their faces flushed red and pink.

The voice wasn't that of a singer, but it had an aloof charm to it.

"Yo ho...ho ho ho ho! Hardy har har. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!" Jack Sparrow sang, raising the bottle of rum.

Kai slammed the empty bottle in his hand on the floor, and let it go rolling in the distance.

The rum bit at his throat and lungs, but there was a lover's pain about it, too.

"Another?" Kai asked, taking out a bottle of ale. "I can still go on, Haha!"

Jack wiggled and waggled, almost sprawled on the floor.

When he saw a fresh bottle in Kai's hands, he smacked his lips, pulled out a ring from his left thumb, and threw it toward him between the bars.

Kai, though heavily drunk, snatched it off midair with great swiftness.

This was the 7th Artifact Kai had made Jack give him to hold after their last bout of negotiations.

Kai still hadn't handed over the two crystals to Jack, refusing to do so before holding each and every Artifact on the Captain's body for a minute.

Captain Jack was a walking armory of Artifacts, to begin with.

There was a knotted striped-red sash tied around his waist, where he would stow his pistol.

The sash was made for him by Amenirdis, one of his love interests. It was said the sash had the magical ability to protect Jack from injuries, sickness, or harm.

Wrapped around his head was the red bandanna, a gift from Jack's lover Esmeralda; another Artifact.

Then there was the piece of eight; the most famous of Jack's possessions, if one were to ignore his lost items and the Compass.

His hair adorned several beads, and two of them were given to him by Tia Dalma herself as a means of unlocking the eye of Stone-Eyed Sam; two more Artifacts.

And Rings!

Moreover, there were five of them; all Artifacts.

The ring in Kai's hand, a silver and jade oriental dragon ring, was the second ring and the 7th Artifact, he had gotten out of Jack if he were to ignore Jack's hat, sword, pistol, and the Compass from the morning.

But Jack Sparrow hadn't made it easy on Kai, either.

For each of my belongings, you want to hold, you will have to empty a bottle, mate! Jack had said, grinning.

So, Kai had gone and returned with dozens of bottles from the marines' cellar.

"Why not gift this ring to me, Jack?" Kai offhandedly commented, feeling a bit dizzy.

By now Cersei would have already left the Black Pearl, obtaining Barbossa's hat, he guessed. And the moment he gave the crystals to Jack, the Compass would become an Item as well.

No point in staying in this world after that, Kai knew.

"Still not a pirate from heart, eh, eh?" Jack laughed. "We steal and plunder, mon ami. Gifts… they don' suit our business."

Kai's eyes shone as if he'd stumbled upon something.

Nevertheless, once he got the notification, he threw it back at Jack, who put it on his left thumb again.

Kai put the bottle of ale to his mouth and began gulping it down. He wanted all of them.

Three rings remained; three more Artifacts.

Kai needed a total of fifty Artifacts to become a Proficient Collector, which would let him raise his Luck by a whopping fifteen points upon equipping the Title.

Fifteen!

Kai could slaughter an entire floor for even ten if given the chance.

Much less needed to be said about getting drunk in the company of one of the greatest pirate Captains.

…

Jack Sparrow twisted and turned the ring on his right ring finger, taking several mouthfuls of rum.

It was a gold onyx Spanish flower ring that he stole from a wealthy Spanish widow.

However, his thoughts weren't eying this ring, but another; already lost.

Before he turned to piracy, Jack had received a gold ring from Amenirdis.

That ring could summon Amenirdis when Jack sailed near her island, Kerma.

However, that ring was lost when Cutler Beckett threw it into the sea before he branded Jack as a pirate.

Many years had passed since then, and yet, the memory was still as fresh as the smell of the sea.

…

Captain Jack Sparrow eyed the ring on his finger, thinking of the lost one, and mumbled, "Say, have yeh ever loved someone?"

Kai let the bottle's butt kiss the floor and became quiet.

He lifted his head and looked at the full moon through the gap in the walls, at the moonlight, and the vast blankness of night.

The drunkenness had already turned his sight blurry.

Kai could lie at this moment. He could use the Facelessness' Contrasts to fool both Jack and himself.

Yet, when Kai asked himself what would be the point of doing so, he found no answer.

"No," Kai said, shaking his head. "Love… is not for me."

There was no sadness in Kai's words, no pain, no remorse, and no regrets.

It was as if he had come to accept the fact that the emotion of Love and he would never come close to each other like the north and south poles of the earth.

Forever distant and unknown!

Jack Sparrow looked at Kai deeply as the white-haired pirate gulped down another bottle.

The ex-captain of Black Pearl once more twisted and turned the onyx ring, looking thoughtful.

Then, as Kai groggily let the empty bottle fall, Jack pulled out the ring and threw it toward him.

Kai's tongue had gone numb. Still, he didn't fail to grab the ring with a rare, genuine smile.

One more Artifact! This was enough to make him smile, no matter how empty it must have felt to others.

Once Kai was done with it, he was about to throw it back.

It was then that Jack laughed. "Keep it, mate. You wante' a gift, eh? Well, there yeh have it. May it help yeh in findin' love…"

Kai frowned.

The moment Jack said that he could keep the ring, Kai could feel that the Artifact had transformed somehow.

Artifacts couldn't be brought out of the Random World or put in Inventories.

Only certain Artifacts, that were Items, or could become Items, as well but had no Stats, could be put into Inventories (-including MRB-), just like Devil Fruits, the Compass, and the Philosopher's Stone.

The gold onyx Spanish flower ring shone with a dull color, Kai perceived. But when he took more looks at it, the ring showed no changes.

Dejected, Kai put it on his right ring finger, the same one on which Jack had been wearing it.

Then Kai took out another bottle, throwing another to Jack.

"Say," Jack drawled, "I am runnin' nowhere, mate, eh? Why not just give 'em to me?"

Kai paused and contemplated.

The only reason he hadn't handed the crystals over was that he feared Jack would not let him hold the Artifacts.

Now that there were no more Artifacts to hold, there was no point in holding back.

Well, I do want to have a look at the Compass, Kai reasoned. Let's see what kind of absurd Stats it even has.

With this thought, Kai opened the two boxes and took out the two blood-colored crystals, both giving off a bloody glow.

The empty boxes disappeared once the crystals had roped Jack Sparrow's eyes.

With a flick of his hand, Kai threw them toward the Captain.

Time… stopped, then.

***************

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