Regrets ~ [Pirate-ish]!England x Ghost!Reader APH

Arthur moaned. Turning around on his left side, he mumbled something incoherent. You smirked. The man had his emerald green eyes tightly shut in such a way that you knew he was in agony. Good. You could see perspiration beads gathering on his forehead, rolling down his tomato-red face.

The Brit was asleep, and of course, facing a huge nightmare. Every night, he saw the exact same images, over and over again. You knew that, of course. After all, you were the one causing them.

And good for you.

He had caused you nights of agony as well – taking everything from you, your home, your family, even your life. A few nightmares were nothing compared to what you had faced so many years ago.

How many, again? You couldn’t remember. But it was long enough, for the world had changed rapidly in its growth – no longer was it littered with dirty pirates everywhere – on ships or land – but a much lovelier place than what it had been before.

Too bad you couldn’t live through it.

Well, perhaps you would’ve. Who knew how long you could have lived, if it wasn’t for him? You could’ve saved years, decades, centuries, even millennia, of life, but no. It didn’t work out that way. Well, no use crying over spilt milk.

A single gasp left Arthur’s lips. Your smirk widened. You knew what part of the dream he was at, right now. Closing your eyes, you saw everything he did right now. The scenes were burned into your memory, the single thing that kept you here. You knew every word, every movement – everything that happened in that dream. Or, more like nightmare.

~**~

Arthur smirked. Looking down on a petite girl with [long/short] [h/c], he roughly yanked her up by her thin wrist. She let out a small gasp as she was literally jerked up, losing her footing a few times before finally regaining balance.

“Now, [Name],” the pirate said, his emerald green eyes meeting her [e/c] orbs, “I understand you know where the treasure is.”

She wrinkled her nose in disgust, and averted her eyes, looking down at the wooden platform under her feet. “I’m never going to tell you, Arthur,” she said, desperately trying to remain confident, although her shaking voice said otherwise, “And you know it.”

True. [Name] had always been a very stubborn girl. Once she set her mind on something, there was no way out of it. Except, of course, getting rid of her. That was always an option.

“And why won’t you?” Arthur asked, a smirk playing on his lips, almost as if it was nothing more than a game to pass the time with.

[Name]’s lower lip quivered. “What happened, Arthur? Why did you change so much?” she asked desperately, giving him questions instead of answers. The pirate let out a loud laugh, eyes glinting as he looked back at [Name], pitifully caught in the palm of his hand – literally.

“That life was not for me,” he said, emerald eyes piercing through her own, “I needed change, [Name]. This is the new me.”

“Well, I want the old you back!” she cried, jerking her wrist back with no luck, and tears brimming in her eyes, “I want you back the way you were before!”

“Well, that Arthur doesn’t exist anymore,” he said, “and you have to accept that, [Name].”

[Name]’s lip quivered. She hadn’t wanted to hear that at all. Arthur was… well, normal, at one point. He had been very close to her, yet eventually changed into… into ‘this’.

“I won’t accept it!” she cried, “You know I won’t!”

Arthur let out a long sigh. “It doesn’t matter, [Name], if you accept it or not. It has happened, and there is no turning back. Now,” he said forcefully, “where is the treasure?”

“You’ll never know! I’d rather die than let you take it!” the girl cried. Arthur’s eyes narrowed, and his grip on her wrist tightened, causing the girl to cringe in pain.

“Die, you say?” he inquired, twisting your wrist painfully, “Die? Ahahahaha!”

The crew, along with their captain, joined along into his laugh. [Name] felt her face heat up – there was nothing wrong with saying such a thing, was there?

“Very well, [Name], if that is your wish,” the pirate said, his eyes strange now, almost different altogether, “then so it shall be.”

A scream echoed through the sky as Arthur’s glinting sword pierced through [Name]’s body. Her eyes widened in shock, slowly glazing over as her body fell lifelessly to the ground. With the tip of his boot, Arthur shoved the limp body over the dock, falling helplessly into the ocean water with not more than a single splash. The pirate looked into the water, gazing after the slowly distancing shadow going down.

“Goodbye, love.” He whispered before turning away.

~**~

Arthur’s breathing increased rapidly, taking over his body at an irregular rate. You smiled to yourself. Watching the man in his bed, he was fully aware of your presence, asleep or not. After all, you had stayed in the same spot for a few weeks now, observing him in his nightmares every night.

His eyes squeezed shut even tighter, and he opened his lips ever so slightly, almost as if he had something to say.

“For… Forgive me, [Name].” he mumbled in his sleep, deeply engulfed in the nightmare.

You smiled to yourself. It truly was amusing – especially the fact that he had said what you wanted him to… a few hundred years too late.

“It’s alright, love.” You cooed into his ear, him turning over onto his other side as you spoke, “You won’t get rid of me so easily this time.”