Disclaimer: All characters, names, places and such belong to Disney.
Prologue: The Sinking of the Golden Fleece
The smoke from the cannons lingered close in the humid air, clinging to the ship like an eerie fog. The Golden Fleece was finished, sinking slowly out of sight in the moonlight. The moans and creaks of the wooden boards splintering mingled with the desperate cries of the crew, echoing unnerving over the water as the sailors of the HMS Drake sat watching.
"Not one man is to be dragged out of that water. Is that clear?" Captain Spragg ordered his first mate.
"But Sir, they've surrendered, shouldn't they at least be charged and brought back to port?"
"Why detain the inevitable. These men chose to engage in battle against a ship of His Majesty's Royal Navy. We have borne witness to their sedition. They're pirates. Their sentence is death. " Spragg responded stoically.
"But sir, not all men go to sea willingly. It's common for pirates to impress-"
"I would urge you Lieutenant not to forget who these men are. They were with Michel de Grammont when he sacked Vera Cruz, taking four thousand souls hostage for ransom. Two hundred of which did not survive. Bannister's crew also killed twenty-four of our own men at Samana Bay. They do notdeserve your pity. We have our orders."
"Yes Sir. What about the prisoners on board?"
"Have the men escort Bannister to the brig. He'll get one more sunrise. Take care of the rest. Ensure the officers go first."
Hugh Martin gave a curt nod and was about to take his leave when Captain Spragg stopped him with a rough grip on his shoulder.
"Lieutenant Martin. Don't hesitate again. Your desire to please the Crown should always come first in your sympathies."
"Aye, Aye, Captain."
Thundering quickly down the stairs to the main deck, Martin strutted forward towards the crew who were listening disturbed to the pleading screams from the wreck.
Martin stopped in front of two men, A young fair-haired boy and an older man with mutton-chops. "Powell, Gibbs, take Captain Bannister to the brig." He ordered.
"What about the rest of 'em?" Another sailor with an eye-patch inquired inclining his head towards the pirates being carefully guarded on deck.
Martin swallowed his own disgust before reluctantly giving the order. "We're not taking them with us."
"What do we take that ta mean?" A voice from the crowd asked.
"Kill the officers. Send the rest of the men over the rails with the bodies to join their comrades."
The sailor Joshamee Gibbs stepped forward, a grim look upon his face. "Sir, there be sharks in these waters, you throw them in with the bodies and you're condemning those men to a fearsome end."
"We are permitting them the honor of sinking with their ship. It's more than they deserve."
"Couldn't ye at least give them a quick death?" Another man chimed
"Who said justice was supposed to be swift?" Martin replied coldly. "The captain wants to send a clear message to the pirates. This is what happens when you go against His Majesty's Royal Navy.
"This ain't justice, this be murder!' Gibbs accused. "They've already surrendered."
"You would do well to remember your place Sailor." Martin threatened staring pointedly at Gibbs. "The next man to question our orders, joins them in the water."
Gibb scowled, his teeth clenched in anger as the crew dispersed. He watched in despair as the men were tossed terrified back into the black waters.
"Private don't you have an assignment to get to?" The first mate asked before nodding towards Bannister.
"I've got him Powell, ye head below deck. This isn't something ye should witness." Gibbs urged the younger boy.
Fists clenched in anger, Gibbs marched towards where the pirate captain was resting, bloody and defeated on deck, a dead look in his eyes.
"Get up. I'm ta take ye to the Brig." Gibbs urged.
The pirate captain did so willingly, his manacles rattling gloomily with his lethargic movements. They moved towards the deck opening but their ears were fixed on the anguished cries of the dying men drifting over the wind. As they disappeared down the steps, a roar of the muskets singled the end to more lives and the close of Bannister's reign over the Caribbean.
In the brig, Gibbs slammed the creaky iron door shut and turned the key.
Digging into his satchel, he pulled out a hanky and unwrapped it to reveal a small flask.
There was no liquor allowed aboard the HMs Drake, just a small ration of watery grog a day, but Gibbs had never counted himself as a rule follower. He held it out between the bars to the pirate captain.
Bannister eyed the flask warily.
"Go on take it, yer a dead man anyway. Seems a shame not ta slake yer thirst one last time." The navy man insisted.
Bannister's bloodied hands took it readily before taking a greedily gulp. He slumped wounded against his iron cage. He let out a gruff cough from the burn.
"This be hellish stuff, not that shit the navy passes out. How'd ye get hands on it?"
"Never you mind."
"What do they call ye sailor?" Bannister asked.
"Joshamee Gibbs."
"Gibbs. Nice ring ta that. Don't exactly strike fear in a man's heart but it's sturdy."
"It's served me these past thirty odd years."
"T'was good of ya ta speak up against the officer. We may be rakes but we've nae took nothin' from nobody that didn't have it ta give. Those men don't deserve that kind of end."
Gibbs was silent, avoiding Bannister's eyes uncomfortably. He couldn't afford to say anything against the officers after being threatened by Martin. You could never tell who was listening aboard a naval ship.
Smacking his lips in satisfaction after another swig, Bannister pointed a finger accusingly at Gibbs.
"Yer not like them other sailors. Ye got a spine ta ye. Shame yer wasted in this life. Doin' the dirty work for the gentlemen."
"It's a living." Was Gibbs' only reply.
"But what if ye could do better for yerself. Would ye change yer tune?"
Gibbs scoffed. "I don't know what ye be referring ta and I'm not in the mind ta know. Tis terrible bad luck to talk about the future with a condemned man."
"Aye, true, true" Bannister nodded staring curiously at his jailer. "But yer a suspicious man, ain't cha?"
"Wouldn't be a need for superstition if there weren't no truth to it."
"What ill-fortune do you think awaits ye for the evil committed here tonight. The massacre of men, who surrendered right before ye. What do ya think yer debt will be to the fates? Eh?" The pirate asked holding on to the bars of the cell, judgment in eyes as he glared at the sailor before him. "Death? Maybe hell? It's not going ta be an easy burden ta take."
"I'se only following orders. If I did anythin' but that I'd be hanging with ye from the yardam t'marrow morn."
"True. So how bout we improve yer fates? Ye do me a favor and we'll consider yer debt paid for the lives of my crew. Ye must know that tis good fortune ta help a man ta finish his business before he leaves the world."
"I find it's not oft' worth the effort."
"Well, what if I made it worth the while.?" Bannister asked cryptically. "What if all I wanted was ta know it's been found. "
Gibbs looked agitated, it's not like he didn't want to help but his hands were tied. "I told ye I can't do nothin' for ye. Drink the rum 'n enjoy yer last few hours on earth." The sailor sauntered off alone leaving Bannister alone in his cell.
"T'was worth the shot." A foreign voice spoke from behind, "but I don't think he's going ta take the bribe."
Bannister turned around to see a man slumped in shadows of the cell next-door, his hat tipped over his face, hiding his eyes, as if he'd been sleeping.
"Always is." Bannister agreed, his eyes narrowing in distrust. "Didn't realize there was anyone else down 'ere."
"No worries mate." The stranger said not bothering to move.
"Are ye going with me tomorrow?" Bannister noticed the pirate brand upon his arm.
"Ta the gallows? Not yet." The man said tipping his hat up on to reveal two brown eyes lined with kohl. The man was young in his mid-twenties. He wore a bright red banana to hold back a mess of jet black hair that framed the hard lines of a clean-shaven face.
"Unfortunately for our blood thirsty Captain Spragg the East India Co. wants me alive."
"Ye owe 'em a debt?"
The man stopped to consider this for a moment before answering. "In a manner of speaking. Though, I'd argue it was rather they who owed me."
"Yer a lucky sod then." Bannister said stretching out on the bench in his cell, feeling a bit more comfortable with the stranger.
"Luck's nothing to do with it. The East India Co. makes the royal navy look like dandies. There are a lot things worse than death, mate; none of them worth looking forward to. "
"What's yer name boy?" The pirate captain asked.
"Sparrow. Jack Sparrow." He said getting up and moving over towards the wounded prisoner. "Ye must be Captain Joe Bannister, pleasure."
'Ye've heard of me?"
"Ye can't go five steps in Tortuga without hearing of the famed Joe Bannister. After Samana Bay it seems yer a bit of a legend."
"Well, I'll be a more of a cautionary tale by dawn."
"Seems a shame that yer last wish will never be fulfilled." Jack unexpectedly said. He'd been listening carefully to the conversation between Gibbs and Bannister. Ever the opportunist, Sparrow knew a good prospect when he heard it. The old pirate knew something; something of value.
"Not a shame, a waste." Bannister said laying his head back resignedly against the wall staring off into space. "A treasure of a lifetime and no one will ever find it."
"A lifetime, eh?"
'Nay, more like five. Enough gold to buy yer own kingdom." Joe boasted.
"Seems a bit hard ta believe, mate." Jack said purposefully stirring the pot. Men could always be counted to reveal things when they were bragging.
"I thought that too 'til I saw the map, until I followed the trail there. I found it too, the lost city exactly where the derrotero said it would be. The treasure is hidden somewhere in that jungle - the lost treasure of the richest Mayan dynasty in the entire history of the Yucatán. It's sat there untouched for hundreds o' years. The treasure of the lost Cocomes, the children of Kukulkan. I suppose that's where it will remain forever."
Sparrow's interest was piqued. "Now, ye'd see where I might be hesitant ta believe that. If ye knew where the gold was hidden, why are ye and yer crew out raiding villages."
"I was looking for the heir." Bannister explained frustrated. "Only one with the blood of the Kukulkan- the true heir to the throne of Mayapan will be able find to the treasure."
"Rotten luck that. Not likely to find one of them, what them being lost and all. Things that are lost that long often aren't meant to be found" Jack sighed taking a seat defeated.
"True," Bannister took a drink staring miserably off into space. "Except that, I had her. I had her working aboard my ship and she slipped right through my fingers."
Jack perked up. "Ye found em? And is it was a woman?"
"Aye. The last Cocom. I've searched the coast for her. It wouldn't be hard if someone could only spot her again. You'd know her anywhere."
Jack looked at him a bit skeptically. '"Why's that mate?"
"This isn't any ordinary looking lass. She's got these eyes. The color of the sea, blue-green, They're not normal for a mestizo girl. The Cocomes all had them. Real distinctive, stand out like a sore thumb. The locals call 'em the K'ul ich Kukulkan. 'Divine Eyes of Kukulkan.' Only Hispanic gel I've ever seen with eyes them color."
Jack looked confused all of sudden. "Why do ye need this girl anyways? I thought ye said ye found the city."
"It's not in the city.' Bannister shook his head annoyed. "It's hidden where only the heir of Kukulkan can go. They're the only ones that can open the portal."
"The portal to where?" Sparrow questioned.
"Xibalba."
Sparrow scrunched up his face "Ye going ta have to help me on this one mate."
'The Mayans refer to it as the underworld. You and I…' Bannister said ominously. "we'd call it hell."
"And this girl…she's the key to opening the gates of hell?"
"A lost child of Kukulkan is the only way a man can pass through that gateway and return with his life. And the treasure."
Sparrow drummed his hands thoughtfully against his wooden seat. He'd been to the locker, he'd faced Davy Jones, a place sailors often called hell and survived. If he could do it once he could do it again. And this time maybe he'd be able to finally to get enough gold. Enough to repay the debt and to be free from the chase. Jack was going to severe his connection Cutler Beckett once and for all.
"Tell me more."
derrotero - map
Yucatán - a region of Mexico.
Historical Tidbits
Captain Spragg, Joseph Bannister and his fate aboard the HMS Drake are all things that I've borrowed from history and reimagined. Bannister really was executed without trial by Spragg in January of 1687 after being caught off the coast of Cuba. The British referred to it as "a spectacle of great satisfaction to all good people, and of terror to the favourers of pirates."
The Cocomes were a real dynasty that once existed in Mexico. Their dynasty fell in the 15th century after the majority of the tribe were killed of by the rival Xiu family. The empire of Mayapan fell shortly afterwards.
Prepare for more historically charged greatness to follow!
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