Several years ago, the sea was ruled by a man more fearsome than Blackbeard, more blood thirsty than Ned Low and more ruthless than Black Bart - his name, Robert Montgomery; The Dog. Originally a captain in the English Navy, his cruelty earned him a dishonorable discharge and he found himself on the isle of Tortuga. However it wasn't long before his infamous nature landed him a ship and crew and soon he had amassed one of the largest fleets in history. 400 ships had fallen to him, tens of thousands of gold lined his pockets and countless men died by his hands. He was a monster.

But then one night he, his crew and his flagship the Dismay mysteriously vanished leaving only his wealth, his home and his daughter, Alaina. Alaina had been sailing with him since she was ten years old and, though not as cruel as her father, quickly inherited many of his traits. She was cunning, unpredictable and an enigma unto herself. By the time she was 18, she had successfully orchestrated a number of raids and earned the trust and loyalty of her crew. But when the news of her father's disappearance reached her, she knew there was only one thing she could do; find him at any cost. And if he was dead, find the bastard who killed him and make them suffer.

She spent two years hunting Spanish, French and English naval fleets and privateers alike searching for answers and soon she developed a reputation almost as fearsome as her father's. Only there was a catch - no one knew who she was. When she went hunting prizes with her father, she would keep her face covered out of concern that if the men knew a woman was captain of a ship, they wouldn't take her threats seriously. Her exploits had earned her the nickname Devil of the Sea, but it fell to her quartermaster, a Frenchman named Richard Carlier, to be her face.

After those two years searching and finding nothing but dead ends, she decided to lie low for a time, occasionally picking off one or two merchant ships every now and then when the mood took her. Her reputation fell into legend and soon the Devil of the Sea and her ship, Siren's Call became a ghost story.


March 3rd, 1712

Captain's Log.

We came across a Spanish Brig just of the Gulf. After an exchange of fire, we discovered they were carrying an item of extreme curiosity. A young girl no more than twenty. Pretty thing. Timid but nice to look at. Definitely makes a change than these scruffy vagabonds I've been sailing with these past months.

She said her name was Moore, daughter of a Lord Robert Moore and that upon traveling back to England, her ship was set upon by the Spanish. She gave no answer as to why, most vessels wouldn't think to bother a merchant unless they were pirates of course. Still I have promised to take her back to England with us.

Alaina lay, curled in a ball as an effort to warm herself, on the sand listening to the three men talking in hushed voices behind her. She had been rescued by Captain Benjamin Hornigold when he came across the merchant ship she'd been traveling in and now they had stopped at Crooked Island to resupply and rest. Whilst there, he'd met with two more men, Edward Kenway and James Kidd and now they were discussing what to do with her.

She shivered as she listened. The dress she wore was thin white cotton and offered no warmth against the cool sea air, but she was a damsel in distress after all and had to play the role accordingly.

"We could sell her." Kenway supplied, his voice raising above the hushed tone they'd been speaking in before. Whether it was on purpose to scare her or an accident, Alaina didn't know. "She's pretty, fit and rich so she's healthy, probably still a virgin I'll wager. Brothels would pay a few gold for her."

"A brothel?" that was James Kidd's lighter voice, "That's your plan?"

"Got a better one, mate?" Kenway asked.

"Pretty young thing, that one." Kidd began, "If she were my daughter, and I a rich lord, I'd pay her weight in gold to get her back."

"You're suggesting a ransom?" Hornigold queried, "Hmm...Definitely get more for her, that much is true."

"What was her father's name again?" Kenway asked curiously.

"Lord Robert Moore." Hornigold replied.

"Never heard of him." said Kenway.

"I 'ave. He owns a plantation just south of Tortuga." Kidd informed them, "I've been looking to hit him for months but the place is so damn fortified you'd need just shy an army to get in."

"So he's rich then?" Kenway asked.

"Oh, aye. Practically swimming in gold."

"Well gentlemen, it seems we have a ransom to demand." Kenway said joyfully.

"I don't recall ever inviting you two along." Hornigold chastised.

"Oh c'mon, Ben. If what Kidd says is true about this Lord Moore's defenses, you're probably gonna need support if things go south." Kenway persuaded.

"And you're gonna need my intel if you wanna get close." Kidd added earning a grumble from the older man.

"Bloody pirates." he muttered, "Fine, we split the prize evenly. Agreed?"

"Agreed." both Kidd and Kenway said together. Alaina smiled to the ocean; this was becoming more and more interesting by the second. She had been away from similar civilization for far too long, though that wasn't all done by her own hand. The Spanish played the most part in her seclusion.

"Now that's dealt with..." Kidd said but never finished his statement. Neither of the other two men questioned his lack of clarification either, but Alaina knew better than to roll over - she was, after all, pretending to be asleep and not listen to their conversation.

Something warm dropped gently around her shoulders; something warm that smelled of rum, sea air, leather and a little of something else. Alaina half rolled onto her back to see a slim silhouette looming over her.

"You looked cold." said the voice belonging to James Kidd. Alaina remembered to play her role of sweet, innocent, defenseless lady.

"Thank you." she whispered, pulling the coat around her tighter. Kidd stepped over her legs and strode out a bit further but still in talking range, keeping his back to her.

"You heard all that didn't you." he stated as though it were true.

"I don't know what you mean, sir." she replied, wondering if he really was more astute than she'd first thought.

"Aye, you do." he replied, "I'm not going to lie to you, m'lady, and I won't lay a hand on you. I can't say the same for the others if you don't do what we say. So it'd be in your best interest to cooperate, as it were."

"In that case," Alaina said sitting up and sliding her arms into his coat to keep warm, "I should probably inform you that your plan of holding me ransom for money isn't going to work."

"No?" he asked, half turning his head towards her.

"See, I wasn't traveling back to England alone. My father was with me and when those men attacked, they killed everyone; the crew, the merchant captain and my father, without a second thought. They only kept me alive because I suspect none of them had seen a woman in months." she told him. Kidd turned to fully face her, his hand resting on his slender hip, the other hanging loosely by his side.

"You saw him die?" he asked catching on quickly. Alaina looked away from him, down the shoreline though she wasn't really looking at anything.

"He died in my arms." she said, making her voice crack. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kidd approach and sit down across from her.

"I'm sorry." he said in a way that almost made Alaina think he actually meant it, "Were you close to him?"

"He was my world." She hadn't actually meant to say that, but when talking about fathers, it seemed as though she didn't have to lie quite as hard to make it believable. Her own father was everything to her and she hadn't seen him in three years.

"You musta been lucky." he said, "I didn't much know my father. Not sure I ever wanted to."

"What's your name?" she asked him, although anyone with an ear in five miles would already know.

"James." he replied but didn't mention his last name, "And you?"

"Alaina." she told him, he already knew her false surname, no point in saying it again. Suddenly he stood, dusted the sand off his pants and offered her a hand,

"Come sit by the fire. It's warmer." he said casually. Alaina, in keeping with her proper lady etiquette, shied away from him slightly and looked down.

"Most men, when offering their hand to a lady, would start with 'it's a pleasure to meet you'." she said. Kidd chuckled and bowed, sweeping his arm out wide, the other rested on his back like a true gentlemen.

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." he said, the phrase sounding odd with his accent, "Now will you come by the fire?" Alaina stifled a laugh; at first she wasn't sure whether she would like this James Kidd, but now she was beginning to believe she would. Taking his hand, she let him pull her to her feet and escort her to the fire. Kenway and Hornigold had both left, to do what, Alaina didn't know. The island wasn't all that big, but she guessed they went for more rum. She sat, her legs tucked beneath her, in the sand while Kidd stood to her left, warming his hands in the heat.

Now that the light was on his face, she realized that he was quite handsome. He wore his dark hair in a low pony tail with a red bandana tied around his head, his bangs flipped to one side and what hair was left loose was braided and adorned with various beads. He was dirty, as most men who live their lives on the sea are, but still cleaner than many she'd met. He caught her staring at him and smirked; "Somethin' have your attention?"

She lowered her gaze, "I was just thinking about when I was a child and my mother would read me stories about pirates. I always thought they were monsters who lived only to murder and rape."

"Living up to your expectations, am I?" he joked, folding his arms across his chest. Alaina shook her head,

"No. I can't believe someone as handsome as you could ever be a monster."

"You think I'm handsome?" he asked, that confident smirk still on his face.

"I come with rum!" Edward Kenway announced loudly as he joined them, a rum bottle in each hand. He bowed unsteadily when he saw Alaina, "M'lady." he slurred then shoved a bottle into Kidd's chest, "Hold this." Kenway sat down heavily, teetering back a bit before finally settling on the other side of the fire.

"So, what are we talking about?" he asked before gripping the cork between his teeth and spitting it into the sand.

"Monsters." Kidd replied, although the lightness in his voice had grown darker. He too sank to the sand albeit far more gracefully than Edward had and took a mouthful of rum.

"Telling more of your ghost stories are you, lad?" Edward asked with a grin, "Better not be scaring the young lady. Oh, has he told you his latest one? The one with the ghost ship - I love that story."

"It's not a story, mate." Kidd argued somewhat defensively, "It's true."

"Ah, well tell it anyway!" Kenway said swinging his arm out and spilling rum onto the sand, "Shit."

Kidd rolled his eyes and shook his head at his friend's actions but began weaving his story, "Have you heard of the Devil of the Sea?" he asked Alaina. She shook her head, daughter's of lords knew nothing of the stories of pirates and their like.

"Well, I met a man in Tortuga who had the unfortunate luck of meeting him. He was a sailor on a merchant ship. It was a moonless night, the water was as flat as glass and there was not a lick of wind. It was quiet," Kidd's voice dropped several octaves, "Dead quiet. He was lookin' out on the horizon, his mind foggy with liquor when he saw her appear out of nothing. A man-o'-war with black sails and a weeping siren on her bow. She moved so silently he thought he was dreaming until she fired on them. Chain shot went right through the mizzen, splintering the wood and killing their captain. They didn't stand a chance."

Alaina leaned forward expectantly when Kidd paused to drink more rum, wanting to hear more of the story he was telling.

Kidd wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his white shirt and passed her the bottle, "He said he could still hear the thud of the gangplanks hittin' the quarter deck. The crew were demons with eyes as black as night, vicious and vile but the captain...The captain was the devil himself. He was 7-foot tall with arms as thick as tree trunks, his mouth had been twisted in a cruel grin and he slaughtered the survivors mercilessly, all except one. Gotta keep one alive to tell the tale, he said. And then, once they'd emptied the cargo, the ship vanished into the dark again."

Alaina shivered and pulled Kidd's coat around her tighter as she took a sip of rum. Kenway, too, had leaned forward to listen intently to the story and at first, Alaina thought he actually did believe it until he started laughing again.

"That drunkard got you believing in a ghost story. Bloody unbelievable." he chuckled.

"Oh aye, I thought so too until I saw it." Kidd said, "Just before I left Nassau some weeks back I saw her docked in the bay. A man-o'-war with dark red sails and a weeping siren figurehead."

"You said the sails were black." Kenway argued.

"If they were dark to begin with, they would look black at night." Alaina supplied quietly but her comment was ignored.

"Saw 'im too. The captain himself." Kidd continued.

"Sure you weren't drunk?"

"I don't reckon I'd ever forget a sight like that. That man, when you look in his eyes you see hell."

Alaina shifted uncomfortably and passed the bottle back to Kidd who gave her an apologetic look. Edward stood shakily, swayed a moment and then blinked at Kidd still on the sand, "You're a damn good story teller, mate, better than you are a pirate."

"And you're a better drunk." Kidd teased back as Edward slowly and unsteadily stumbled his way back up the beach to the tavern. Alaina stayed quiet and stared into the fire, trying to mentally plot where her crew would be right about now. Close by, she was certain.

"Did I frighten you?" Kidd asked pulling her away from her thoughts. No doubt he thought her silence was brought on by fear of his story. She shook her head,

"I'm afraid there isn't much that scares me these days." she replied honestly; stories about herself were certainly not ever on that list, "So what will you do with me now that you know my father is dead?"

Kidd sighed and reclined back onto his hands to gaze up at the stars, "Well, we could leave you here, sell you off in Tortuga or..." he trailed off.

"I'm not overly fond of either of those options, James." she said, "Or?" His dark eyes slid to her face,

"Or you could get us into your father's plantation, take the prize and come with me back to Nassau."

"By us do you mean you and the other two gentlemen?" she asked him curiously. Kidd smirked again,

"Aye, as unfortunate as it is. A deal was struck." he said.

"You pirates are rather men of your word, aren't you?" she asked hiding a giggle behind her hand. Kidd grinned at her,

"Don't let everyone know."


Alaina woke just before the sun broke over the horizon. She had fallen asleep shortly after James Kidd had dozed off, though sometime during the night both Hornigold and Kenway had returned to their little camp and now lay sprawled about. Standing and shrugging off Kidd's coat, she lay it gently over him and walked out towards the water. The tide lapped at her toes but the chill of the water didn't bother her. If her calculations were correct, the Siren should be closing in on their position soon, if the message did in fact reach her men.

The morning breeze tugged at her hair and dress gently and once again she found herself yearning to be standing aboard a ship, the wind in her hair and salt on her lips.

Something warm draped around her shoulders and she looked to her left to see James Kidd standing beside her.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" he asked her. She nodded, "Did I wake you?"

"No, I was awake." he replied easily, "Hungry?"

"I can't remember the last time I ate a decent meal." she said whimsically - it was true. She'd spent three months eating nothing but stale bread and the merchant captain didn't have anything much better. The first rays of sunlight streaked the sky a golden pale pink and on the distant horizon, Alaina saw a small ship-shaped object. It would still be some hours before they reached the island - a few more hours and she could drop her act.

"I'll buy you breakfast." Kidd said nudging her with his elbow gently. She thanked him and followed him into the town.

Two hours later three ships pulled out of the docks and began their course to Petite Caverne where the plantation belonging to Lord Robert Moore was situated. Alaina had been entrusted to James to keep safe after he had informed both Edward Kenway and Benjamin Hornigold that their original plan had been bust. After hatching out a new one over breakfast where James would pose as a merchant and dock at the port, delivering the Lord's daughter safe and sound, Edward would sneak ashore from the back while the Jackdaw would continue around the island to flank the plantation with Benjamin's ship. Should trouble occur, both ship's cannons would out gun whatever defenses Lord Moore had put in place before his death. Until then, Alaina was confined to Kidd's quarters.

She spent her time browsing through the scrolls, maps and books he kept and poking through his collections. It was a modest cabin, in a word, neat. Odd trinkets were hanging off candelabra's, in piles on his desk or tucked away in small wooden boxes. What really sparked her interest was the pair of matching wrist guards with an insignia foreign to her etched on the metal on the top. Flipping one over in her hand, she noted that they weren't any ordinary wrist guards, but rather had a hidden blade secreted inside them. She contemplated taking them but a commotion outside drew her attention.

"Cap'n! Man-o'-war on the starboard side! She ain't flying any colours!"

Alaina moved to the starboard stained glass window and peered through one of the clear glass sections. Grinning to herself, she left Kidd's trinkets and documents alone and headed out onto the deck.

"All hands to stations!" she heard him yell, "Signal Kenway and Hornigold! We have company!" Moving to the starboard side of the ship, she watched as the man-o'-war glided ever closer. Even if Kidd was to go to full sail now, he would never be able to outrun them. But then, that was the entire point.

"Alaina!" she turned at the sound of her name, "It's not safe for you to be out here! Go back inside!" Kidd was standing on the railing, one hand gripping a shroud, the other holding a spyglass to his eye.

"Fuck me." he said in disbelief, "It's her."

"Cap'n?" the helmsman questioned, bewildered.

Kidd passed the spyglass to a deckhand and jumped down of the railing.

"It's the Siren." he told the helmsman who cursed under his breath, "Full sail! Load the cannons! Move you dogs! We've got the devil on our ass!" He whirled on his heel to speak to another member of his crew,

"Tell Kenway if he wants to see a real ghost ship, there's one comin' up fast."

"She's still gaining!" the lookout in the crows nest shouted down, "Blimey, she's got a speed on her!"

"Shit...We won't outrun them." Kidd growled slamming his fist down on the wood.

"Cap'n!" the deckhand with the spyglass called.

"What?!" Kidd demanded, frustration and anger etched into every feature of his face.

"I...I don't understand, sir! She's flying what looks like a white flag."

"What?!" he asked snatching the offered spyglass and holding it to his eye.

"You think they wanna talk?" the deckhand asked as the quartermaster shouted more orders.

"Could be." Kidd replied, "Or it's a trap. Guess we'll find out soon." He turned back to the crew scurrying about below, "Man the cannons and get ready!"

"You might want to belay that order, James." Alaina said walking casually up the stairs towards him, "Even with Kenway and Hornigold, you are out gunned and out manned. You have a good ship here, would be a shame to put unnecessary holes in her."

"Alaina?" he asked bewildered at her sudden shift in character.

"Besides, they're not here to fight." she continued walking over to the railing where he had been standing a few short minutes ago and held onto the same rope, "They just want to collect something."

"What are you talking about?" he questioned her, moving to her side as the Siren coasted up along side the starboard side of his ship, "Collect what?!"

She half turned to smile at him, "Their captain." she said swiping his cutlass from his belt, "Me." Without another word she cut clean through the rope, let the sword fall from her fingers and let the momentum pull her up and out. She landed on the poop deck effortless, as agile and nimble as a cat and turned back to where James Kidd stood glaring at her.

"Thank you for the rescue, James!" she called out to him, "If you still want to take the plantation, there's a cave to the east that tunnels right underneath and comes out in the forest! It's far less patrolled than the rest of the island!"

"Lying bitch!" Kidd yelled to her, "You played us all from the start!"

She laughed and blew him a kiss, "I really do think you're handsome!"

In a fit of anger, he pulled the pistol from it's holster and fired a shot at her. It sailed harmlessly past her head and sunk into the blue ocean water a distance away. It didn't bother Alaina - she knew if he really wanted to shoot her, he wouldn't have missed.

Laughing, she turned to tell her helmsman to set a course for home. The Siren broke away from Kidd's brig, and as she did, Alaina turned back to James who had started barking orders at his crew again.

"Oh, and James!" she called getting his attention again. Pulling a chain necklace with a coin etched with the same strange insignia she'd seen on the arm braces out from her cleavage, she tossed it to him, "Old habits!" He caught it with one hand and looked down at what she'd thrown to him.

As she sailed away, she wondered if she would see James, Kenway and Hornigold again. They were interesting to her and she loved interesting. Perhaps it was time to stop being a ghost story and let the world know that the Devil of the Sea was well and truly real.


I've been dying to write something about pirates and AC gave me an excuse. I should probably stress that this fic may or may not have anything to do with the Black Flag storyline (the story writes itself, I am merely a vessel).

Fun fact: Alaina was the protag of an original story I began writing when I was like 12, though this Alaina is much darker and vicious than her predecessor and less...proper. Yay for nostalgia.


-SPOILER ALERT!-

I also haven't decided whether to keep with history and write Kidd as Mary yet. Don't get me wrong, Mary Read was one of the most badass women in piracy ever and the world needs more girl/girl love stories but I guess I'll wait and see where this story goes. I was also tempted when I first started writing to gender bend the characters for fun but I'm lazy.