Davy Jones stared at the being that had suddenly appeared behind him, his brows furrowed.
"Beast… who are you?" he demanded coldly, observing him.
The being, without a trace of fear or hesitation, lifted the black hood from his head, revealing the face of a white wolf with red eyes that looked at him in amusement.
Jones couldn't help but feel astonished. It was the first time someone had ever looked at him that way — man or beast — especially after what he had become.
There might be fearless beings in this world, but none like the gray wolf before him, who seemed to disregard him completely, as if he were nothing. And that… both irritated and intrigued him in equal measure.
"Davy Jones… you know, that's a good name. Or maybe it only became good because of the one who bears it? Hu Hu Hu Hu…" the wolf said with interest, letting out a strange laugh that thickened the air.
"A wolf? Are you a fairy-tale creature?" Jones asked with curiosity as he began to circle the beast.
Thoom... Thoom... Thoom…
His crab leg struck the deck as his gaze never left the being for even a second.
His men, who had long since lost most of their human resemblance, spread out in a circle around them — both to avoid interfering with the fight and to prevent the wolf from escaping when their captain made his move.
"Maybe…" the wolf chuckled, not even bothering to move his body, just standing there still, following Jones with those playful red eyes. "And you, octopus man — aren't you one too now?" he teased.
Jones's face darkened.
"A fairy tale, huh..." he narrowed his eyes, his grip on his sword tightening as a glint of cruelty crossed his face. "I'm more of a horror story!" he roared, then attacked without warning.
His sword moved like lightning, cutting toward the unsuspecting wolf's back.
Davy Jones was a pirate, and there was no such thing as fair play in his vocabulary. But under normal circumstances, he wouldn't attack this way. The problem was that when he looked at that wolf… he felt something terribly wrong about him.
His sword came down — but the wolf easily dodged it. His hand reached to his waist, and in a blur, he drew a short scythe and swung it with a simple motion… one that effortlessly knocked the sword out of Jones's hand, sending it flying at high speed before it pierced through the head of one of the Flying Dutchman's crewmen.
The half-human, half-crustacean creature fell backward after the blow, the sword buried to the hilt in his skull — but neither of the two at the center paid him any mind.
Jones was shocked, but he didn't let it interfere with the fight.
"HAAAAHHH!!" he roared in fury, swinging his crab claw open like a giant pair of scissors toward the wolf, intending to cut him in half.
Even without a sword in hand, being an immortal, heartless monster, he was fearless before death… he just didn't realize how literal that was right now.
The wolf chuckled softly and licked his lips as he sheathed the scythe back at his waist. Jones saw that he wasn't surrendering — he was mocking him, which only made his rage burn hotter.
Unfortunately for him, the wolf was fast, and easily dodged his claw.
"Hu Hu Hu Hu…" the wolf laughed while evading his attacks. "You asked who I was, didn't you?"
That caught Jones's attention, but he didn't stop his assault. He spun his body, delivering a roundhouse kick with his crab leg, which the wolf ducked under with ease.
"So, who are you?" Jones stopped attacking and stared at him.
Normally, he wouldn't care so much about a name — but he had that strange feeling… that he already knew it.
The wolf's eyes gleamed, and he spoke, amused.
"I am Death!"
A lightning bolt crossed the sky as he spoke his name, and for a moment, the shadow of a skull seemed to appear on the wolf's face, with its pair of red eyes glowing in the empty black sockets. But it vanished as quickly as it came.
Davy Jones felt a chill crawl through him, but he clenched his teeth, thinking he was imagining things.
"Ha!" he laughed, brushing off the illusion and the shiver down his spine. "If there's a death here, it's me. I am the SEA, I am DEATH!!" he roared with iron will, and attacked again — but this time, he wasn't holding back.
Jones, who stood before Death, suddenly vanished and appeared behind him, without sound or warning, as if he had always been there. His claw aimed directly at the wolf's neck.
Just as he was about to land the blow, the wolf vanished as well.
Jones's eyes widened, but before he could react, he felt a paw press gently against his back.
A muzzle appeared beside his face once more, a small grin curling its lips.
"I wasn't threatening you, or speaking figuratively…" the wolf whispered. "I'm Death, straight up."
As his voice fell, a sound echoed in Jones's ears.
Thud Thud… Thud Thud…
Davy Jones's blue eyes widened in horror as he recognized the sound.
His grotesque, tentacled hand rose unconsciously to his chest, clutching it tightly — because there, he felt something he hadn't felt in over a hundred years… the beating of his heart.
'How?! How is this possible?!' Jones's mind was in chaos.
That wasn't supposed to be possible — his heart was no longer in his chest, so it couldn't be there, beating.
But no matter how impossible it seemed, there it was — pounding fiercely in a place where it shouldn't exist, forcing him to remember that he hadn't always been a dead, soulless being. He had once been alive, capable of dying, of suffering… of loving.
And with that came a name from the past — the one who had turned him into what he was now.
'Calypso…' his blue eyes flickered with sorrow and longing for a brief instant.
"How is it, Davy Jones? Feeling your heart in your chest again after so many years?" the wolf asked, amused as he watched the horror and tangle of emotions in Jones' eyes, reflected in his own red ones. "You didn't think that by removing it, you became immortal, did you?" he joked, as if the very idea were laughable.
The wolf's eyes suddenly turned cold.
"Death comes for everyone, Davy Jones. You can run as much as you want, but when she comes, no one can stop her. Not a curse, not ripping out your own heart, not nine lives, and of course… not a love from the past."
The wolf's icy voice in his ear made the heart that had returned to Davy Jones's chest beat faster, snapping him back to reality, and a feeling that hadn't visited him in a long time returned.
His fist clenched. He didn't want to leave this world — not like that, not without seeing her again.
A fierce unwillingness appeared in his eyes, but he was powerless in the wolf's hands at that moment and had no strength to react.
But that scene seemed to delight Death greatly, and he sniffed the air twice as his smile grew, almost intoxicated.
"Ahh! The smell of fear. It always gets better when it comes from those who think they can escape me. Hu Hu Hu Hu…" the wolf laughed again as his paw slowly lifted from Jones's back.
"Fortunately for you, Davy Jones, today is not your day," he said, stepping back.
Immediately, Jones could breathe and fell to one knee, clutching his chest tightly, gasping heavily like someone who had been drowning and had finally found air.
When the wolf's paw withdrew, he no longer heard or felt the heart beating in his chest.
It was then that the men of the Flying Dutchman finally reacted.
"Captain!" they shouted, about to rush forward to attack the wolf, when suddenly Jones pulled himself together a little.
"Stay where you are!" he bellowed, and punched the sinking deck with his crab claw, forcing the wood to splinter into long cracks and opening a large hole in the deck.
At his shout, the men immediately froze, confused.
Slowly rising and ignoring them, Jones turned and watched the wolf standing there, looking at him with amusement.
Even though his being still trembled and shook from what had just happened, Jones did not become subservient or lose his dignity like others would in his place.
This could very well be Death incarnate before him… but he was Davy Jones.
"What do you want from me?" he asked, his tentacles twitching as he stared darkly at the wolf.
Death did not answer right away.
He first pulled one of the scythes from his waist, looking at the smooth blade with no markings that reflected his wolf face with narrowed eyes.
His gaze did not waver as he spoke.
"There is someone currently forging your legend. Normally, I wouldn't pay much attention to something like this… but he, he is different from anything I've ever seen," the wolf said, confusing Jones.
Death raised his head and looked at him, smiling, his red eyes shining brightly.
"You have a deal with a friend of his, and knowing the two of them, soon they will come looking for trouble with you. What I want is for you to do your utmost to kill this little legend, even if it's only once." the wolf finally told him what he wanted.
Jones didn't seem very pleased and frowned.
"I'm not your hound to be sent after whoever you name… but if they ever have the nerve to face me, I'll drag them to the depths whether you ask or not," he scoffed, stepping to the fallen man and mercilessly pulling his sword free from the poor fellow's skull as the unlucky sailor twitched slightly.
Swinging the sword aside to clean it, he sheathed it and turned to the wolf, who watched with a faint smile that deeply irritated Davy Jones.
He ignored it and raised an eyebrow at the beast, curious.
"But tell me, for Death herself to come ask something of me, who is this man you want dead? And why don't you just go and finish him off yourself?" he asked, looking at him confused but cautious.
His eyes narrowed, waiting for an answer.
The wolf shook his head.
"I have certain rules. I only take physical form to hunt those who have entered and left my domains, and of course, who have aroused my interest enough to amuse me. And the one I want you to kill has not yet entered my domains. Don't worry — my interest in him does not come from some invincible power he has or anything like that, if that's what you're worried about."
He explained slowly, and with his eyes glowing even redder, he finished.
"And the one I want you to kill is not a man…"
"...he is a cat."