Chapter: Goodbyes & Reunions

Joe rubbed his temple. That throbbing pain behind his forehead drove him almost insane. Last night had clearly shown that he could not tolerate alcohol. And he hadn't even finished his rum completely. Actually he had wanted to stay with Limo, but this strange girl had simply put a mug in front of his nose without asking and said it was going to the house. With the first sip, his entire mouth contracted and his throat burned like fire, after he had finally managed to swallow the horrible stuff. And then those weird questions she'd been pestering him with all along. Whether he had already had a girlfriend and whether he didn't want to try his luck in another way. She would like to help him with this. When she waved a dark guy in leather pants over to them at the table to introduce the two of them to each other, Joe finally fled.
"But you need something dominant !!", she called after him, but the wild goings-on of the" hellhole "had already swallowed him.
Somehow his legs felt weird. Somewhat uncoordinated, Joe staggered across the room and accidentally bumped into one or the other guest. Most of them didn't seem to like his involuntary advances and if Norman had not rescued him for the second time that evening and dragged him to the bar, his magic hat would have had a few more bumps.
Joe didn't remember exactly how he got to bed later, but he still remembered waking up very well. The headache, the ceiling of the boys' cabin that spun over his head like a carousel and the disgusting feeling as if he had licked an ashtray with his tongue.
While the others explored the island, got supplies or said goodbye to the friends they had met here, Joe just sat at the kitchen table with himself and his oversized dark circles and tried to distract himself from his nausea.He hadn't touched the breakfast that Norman had put out for him and again, when nobody was watching him, he'd dug out the book he'd discovered in Norman's hut a few days ago. He didn't know why he hadn't told the others about his find until now. Norman certainly didn't mind that he had taken the book with him, but something in him was reluctant to let the others know before he knew what it was all about. So far, however, he hadn't gotten much further with the decryption. He could not decipher the first chapters at all because they contained writing that he had never seen in his life. On later pages the script seemed to evolve slowly, and every now and then Joe would find listings that looked like recipes. When he turned the pages, the typeface changed again, as if different people had filled the pages of this book over time and even if he could now read what was on the paper in front of him, he still did not understand the meaning.The wording was very outdated and sounded somewhat mystical. Sometimes Joe had secretly tried to say the verses out loud to himself like some kind of magic formula, but his tongue kept stumbling over the unfamiliar words and after a while he had given up again. The last pages of the book were blank. Either someone had written something here in invisible ink, or maybe the book was just waiting for its next owner to finally complete it. Could that be him? Joe shook his head with a crooked grin. Somebody like him really had nothing to report that could be important enough to be written down here.
"Hey, what's up, Spectacled Snake?" Suddenly came a smoky voice behind him and made Joe jump in shock.
When he turned around, he looked straight into the black painted eyes of this Jack Sparrow. How did the guy get in here without him noticing? And why was he looking at him so strangely?Joe knew that he should be grateful to this man because it was he who had saved Bunny's life, but somehow he was not entirely at ease with the guy. And now here he was all alone with him. Nausea slowly began to mix with rising fear. What did he want from him? Hopefully no body parts ..
"Not very talkative, is it?" Jack continued when the other person continued to look at him in silence and with fearful eyes.
"I'm actually looking for Bunny. Have you seen her?"
It was beginning to seem to Jack that he was talking to himself. Had the boy swallowed his tongue? In any case, he didn't look good. As a precaution, he took a step to the side so that this living corpse wouldn't throw up on his shoes. As he did so, he noticed the book lying on the table in front of Joe. Curiously he stretched out his hand and before Joe could prevent it, Jack had already grabbed it.
"What do we have here? Romance novels?", Jack grinned mockingly and glanced at the newly stolen find.
"Hey! Give that back to me right now! D ... you don't own it!", Joe tried to protest, but at the moment he was just too intimidated himself to be intimidating to others.
Jack didn't let him deter him and flipped through the pages. The further he went, the more wrinkles formed on his forehead. Finally he looked up and gave Joe a serious look.
"Where did you get that from?" He asked harshly.
If Joe's heart had already slipped into his pants, it now moved a few floors down.
"W ... why?" He stammered uncertainly, not daring to look at the other.
"Just tell me where you got it! That's not your book, is it?" Jack asked mercilessly and grabbed Joe roughly by the shoulder.
"And please look at me when I'm talking to you!"
Oh God! It wasn’t his book he had found there. But why should he get so upset about it?And how was he supposed to get out of this situation alive? After another moment of panicked silence, in which Jack's piercing gaze almost pierced him, Joe finally decided on the truth.
"I .. I found it.", He started.
"Where?"
"On the island where we met Norman."
"When?"
"Before ...", Joe thought for a moment. He was now feeling like he was being cross-examined.
"Three or four days ago .."
"I don't know what kind of book that is! It was in Norman's hut. Perhaps it was washed up on the beach. I didn't tell him I took it with me. If it's yours, you're welcome to take it back with you. I definitely wanted to Don't steal anything !! ", he gushed out before Jack could even ask the next question.
The facial features of his counterpart slowly relaxed but the haunted look in his eyes remained.
"So you have no idea what this is. I almost thought to myself. But these are not children's toys.It's a shaman's book. "
"Sh ... shaman book?" Repeated Joe, confused.
"Yeah, and it looks like a pretty old one. There aren't many of them and there is a good reason for that. If something like this gets into the wrong hands, it can do a lot of damage with it.", Jack continued.
"Shamans? But they are magicians and necromancers. Are ... are you one of those?" Asked Joe hesitantly. He wasn't so sure he really wanted to hear the answer. The guy was scary enough for him as it was.
Jack whistled through his teeth.
"I may be a lot, but I don't have any shamanic powers. And believe me, I've tried. But you can't learn that. Either you have the talent or you don't. And that you are one, I somehow doubt ... "he muttered, eyeing Joe disapprovingly.
"How do you find out something like that?"
Joe was still afraid, but now his curiosity won out and he even managed to meet the gaze of the pirate, who looked at him in silence for a while before turning back to the book in his hand and flipping back a few pages."Try this.", Said Jack and put the open book back on the table in front of Joe.
"You can use it to conjure up ghosts. If unexpectedly you have any abilities dormant, it could work.", He added and pointed to the lower paragraph on the right-hand side.
Joe immediately leaned over the book again and studied the text, but when he opened his mouth Jack interrupted him immediately.
"Not now, you idiot! You have to be alone for that! Besides, such sayings work best with a full moon."
So Joe closed his mouth and went back to stare at Jack without saying a word. But this time he was busy with other thoughts. Did this Jack really know what he was talking about? Maybe he just wanted to tie him up with a bear. And even if there was some truth in the story, he should have seen something of such hidden talents sooner. After all, his previous attempts at magic had all gone pretty badly."Well, I'll leave you alone with that part. But be warned! The magic in this book is more powerful than you can imagine. So take care!", Jack tore him out of his thoughts.
"Have a good trip.", He said, patted Joe on the shoulder and then disappeared from the kitchen without another word.

When he stepped back on deck, he almost bumped into Bunny, who must have been on her way to the galley.
"That works out well. I was looking for you.", She spoke to him.
Immediately the broad grin on Jack's face was back.
"Oh really? Did you have such a longing for me? I know .. I sometimes have this effect on women."
"Your imagination is admirable ...", Bunny sighed theatrically and poked Jack in the side, who then put his arm around her shoulder.
"But I was looking for you too, dear. I wanted to say goodbye to you. The Black Pearl has to move on, otherwise it will still grow stuck in the harbor."
Bunny looked at him in surprise."Already? But I actually wanted to talk to you about something .."
She had put off questions about the Grand Line all evening because somehow the right time had never come up, but now the last hope for some information threatened to swim away from her eyes. This was her last chance to get something out of Jack.
Jack's expression changed suddenly. The big grin disappeared and he suddenly looked very closed.
"I know ... but I don't want to talk about it!" His voice suddenly sounded unusually dismissive.
"But.."
Bunny didn't want to give up that quickly. It had to be possible to tease something out of him! After all, why did she have her feminine charm?
"Jack ..?" She purred and snuggled against his side with a deep look.
"I don't know you that shy at all .."
She