After the fight, Sparrow and Reaver sat in front of the fireplace. Sparrow was fixated on her hair, combing her fingers through before weaving it into a braid. She made sure to smooth each piece of auburn hair before pulling the strands together. Reaver watched her, as his mind wandered back to that day in Bowerstone, when he found her journal. He managed to learn just about everything and nothing about. He knew that she loved the spring, what her favorite color was, and when she got married. He couldn't figure out how she escaped the shadow court, what happened in the spire, or a hint as to how old she was. If he had only kept reading a bit longer, he may have had all of his questions answered.

Sparrow tied off her braid, and placed her hair carefully over her shoulder. As she looked into the fire, for a moment, an involuntary shudder traveled through her body. She could feel a faint pulse settling into her mind, she began tapping her hand against her thigh absentmindedly. Sparrow's heart beat slightly faster as she recognized that feeling of hopelessness.

No, not now. Why now?

Closing her eyes, she tried to disconnect from the beat that threatened to overtake her. Taking in a deep breath, she forced herself to recover from the trance. As it left her body, she realized that Reaver was staring at her.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, a hint of concern slipping into his voice.

"Nothing, I was just thinking." Sparrow sighed.

"About me, right?" He smirked at the way she rolled her eyes. As the silence settled once again, Reaver's gaze returned to the hero. This time, she was completely aware.

"Can I help you with something?" Sparrow asked.

"I don't know anything about you." Reaver responded, earning a raised eyebrow from Sparrow.

"Yes you do, we spent quite some time around each other before Lucien, Reaver." She reminded him.

"No, that's not what I mean. You've told me some personal details of your life, yes. However there are other things you haven't explained about yourself that I can't figure out." He was pacing the floor now, Sparrow watched in slight amusement as he carried on.

"What do you wish to know?" She laughed.

"Many things. First, lets start with a simple one - how old are you?" Reaver kneeled in front of her. For the first time in a few days Sparrow got a good look at him. She saw the tiredness behind his eyes, the slight dishevelment of his clothes, and the way his brown hair fell loosely over his forehead. There eyes met and she searched for a response. Of course she knew her own age, but due to extenuating circumstances involving a haunted tower, that answer was more complex than Reaver realized.

When she didn't say anything, Reaver assumed she was offended, and began explaining himself.

"I know it might seem quite rude - but I have a reason. You chased Lucien for two decades, right? Ten years with Theresa, then another ten years in the spire...with whatever extra time it took to find the other three of us." He began, "You just...don't look like someone who old enough to go through all that...When we met I thought you couldn't be older than twenty-one."

Dammit, the pirate is smarter than he looked

"So by your math, you are correct. I have...existed a little more than thirty years. Probably thirty-four." She answered, hesitating.

"Probably thirty-four?"

"Technically...I'm twenty-four." Sparrow admitted, staring at the fireplace.

"Tw-you're twent-four? How is that possible?" Reaver settled back into his chair, an incredulous expression painted across his face.

"It actually happened here. When I returned from the Spire, Garth heard some rumors about trouble in the tower. Of course he had just assumed that it was just a matter of trespassers messing around in his absence. Then the three of us were here doing...some sort of research, I can't remember, when Hammer found a body. We went to the top of the tower, and Garth suddenly remembered he had an old kingdom chest up there."

"Legend told him that it was haunted by the unsettled spirit of a child. I decided to spend a night up in the tower, and that's when everything happened. The chest was haunted, and it had a bloodlust. That night I fell asleep, and was transported to Nightmare Hollow, once again a child. Hundreds of things tried to kill me - Hobbes, balverines, hollow men, if it can kill you it's in there. Every time you win a round a new clue is revealed about Chesty. It begs you to surrender, to become its 'super best friend.' I was pretty much on the scavenger hunt from hell."

"Each time a chest was destroyed, it appeared the unsettled spirit would lose its power. When I finally got done, I woke up, and the chest was quiet. It left behind a diamond, and a note about a promised reward. The diamond was said to be Chesty's broken heart. The promised reward...was apparently regaining ten years of youth. I woke up, and when I looked in a mirror I couldn't believe it. I was thirty at the time, but I looked twenty again. Garth couldn't believe it."

"So that thing just reversed your age by a decade?" Reaver inquired.

"Pretty much. Any scars I had healed which was...strange to say the least. Before the whole ordeal, I had this long scar from my eyebrow to the middle of my forehead from falling down the side of a cliff and catching a rock to the face." She traced the place where the scar had been. She had been following Hammer from the well spring cave to the temple of light, shortly before the Abbot was killed. In the process of trying to keep up, she fell down the cliff and hit her face.

"It's funny, I thought you may have struck your own deal of immortality." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want that..." Sparrow trailed off.

"What was that?" Reaver asked as he added wood to the fire.

"Oh, nothing. I just feel like immortality would be more trouble than its worth." She replied, recovering quickly.

"Well it's not so bad, the immortal part. The sacrifice and the contract are the bad part. If I didn't have to sacrifice anyone, or if I hadn't singlehandedly destroyed my own village and everyone I loved in it." He sighed. "It would have been perfect."

"What did happen in Oakvale?" Sparrow asked.

"I believe you already know that answer. I made a deal, destroyed a village, and here I am centuries later."

"I know the summary of events, but not the details. How did the young Reaver find out about the shadow court, was this a spur of the moment decision or a long time process?" Sparrow dramatically carried on, "Did the main character in the story know that he had hero's blood coursing through his veins? And wh-"

"Okay, that's enough." Reaver gave in, laughing lightly at her antics. "Maybe someday I'll tell you, but not tonight."

Sparrow huffed, but accepted his response, "Well if you're not going to thrill me with your epic tale, I guess I'm going to head off to bed."

"I can thrill you in other ways..." Reaver said, a suggestive grin painting his face.

Goodnight!" Sparrow snapped back, rolling her eyes.


A/N Welcome back! It's definitely later than I had planned. I took a while editing, at one point the chapter was 3000 words! I rewrote it quite a few times over the last month. I've finished undergrad and have a more regulated schedule, so hopefully I can post more consistently and finish the story!