Hello all. :) So I updated this story a bit - added some little things and so. Enjoy!
The storm had been violent. He knew he was the only survivor, though soon he also might join the dead in the bottom of the ocean. He clutched the small piece of his shattered ship and closed his eyes. How much longer was he to float hopelessly in the middle of the cruel waves?
She saw him from above. As a sea gull she flew over him and circled around. She plunged down and dived into the ocean, turning into a current. He felt his speed increasing and he raised his head wearily. Land, he thought. At last.
A sandy beach of a small island loomed before him. He gathered all his remaining strength and waited for the current to bring him ashore. And it did. It washed him ashore and he grasped the sand but had not the strength to move. He lay there and slowly his mind drifted away.
She flew up again. She watched him laying on the shore and wondered what she should do. She was reluctant to interfere with the affairs of the mortal but she had already saved him. She soared down and turned herself into a human.
He sensed that someone was approaching. He woke from his unconsciousness and managed to lift his head enough to see a woman walking towards him. He sighed with amaze. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Her skin was dark and smooth, her long hair was black and shiny and it was flowing with the wind. She was wearing a long white dress, sleeveless and light. It flowed around her as she came.
He thought he had died. Such a creature could not walk on earth. She came to him and knelt before him. He looked at her. She smiled with dark lips. Her eyes were of the colour of amber.
"You are safe", she said and took him by the arm, forcing him to stand up. He stood up and hardly managed to walk as she escorted him away from the water. She let him lie under a palm tree and told him to sleep. Her face being the last thing he saw when closing his eyes he fell asleep.
She went to the water and stood there for a long time. She let the wind caress her face and the waves kiss her feet. The sun went down and she watched it lovingly.
When he woke up he was alone. The woman was not to be seen anywhere. It was a dream, he thought and wondered how he had got where he was at the moment. He stood up. His legs were weak but he was able to walk. He went a couple of paces towards the shore and halted. He eyed the horizon. Sun was gleaming on the water. When looking closer he saw something floating near the beach. He went to it and recognized it to be his hat. He took it in his hands. It was soaked. He walked back to the trees and laid the hat in the sun to dry. When he turned to face the sea again he saw the woman standing in the waves.
She came to him and he noticed that her dress was not at all wet even though she had just been standing in the water.
"How are you?" she asked and looked at him closely. He wasn't a young man anymore, but neither was he old. She knew just by looking at him that he was an experienced sailor who had spent all his life on the oceans. He had a long, shaggy light brown beard and waving brown hair which had some grey streaks in it. His high cheekbones made him look elegant and almost noble. His features had something very delicate in them and she couldn't say, what it actually was. His eyes were light blue and she had never before seen a clearer gaze on any mortal. His glance was almost piercing.
"I'm well, thank you", he said for even though he felt tired and hungry he forgot all his misery when looking at her amber eyes. She laughed at his untrue answer as well as at his accent, which wasn't particularly strong but very noticeable. A Scott.
"What is your name?" she asked and smiled gaily.
"Davy Jones, milady", he answered courteously and bowed his head. A gentleman, she thought and smiled warmly.
"You were lucky, Davy Jones", she said. "Not many have survived such storms as the Sea had to give to you." He looked at her rather puzzled.
"Were you there, lady?" he asked incredulously. "I saw no other ships nearby..."
"Me?" she asked and turned away. "I was there. I do not need a ship to sail on the sea. I am the sea!" she concluded harshly. He looked at her.
"Who are you, milady?" he asked quietly. She turned rashly to look at him.
"Do you not know me, sailor?" she said dangerously. "Have you not known me for as long as you have sailed the seven seas?" He made no reply. She looked fierce and her amber eyes were blazing. Even though she was clearly shorter than him she seemed to have groen. "Have you not silently begged for mercy of me? Have you not..." she fell silent and sighed heavily.
He stared at her in rising awe. He was beginning to understand. She stood her back toward the sea and suddenly a strong gust of wind made her hair and dress wave. She looked inhumane, harsh and unpredictable. He shook his head a little.
"I am Calypso", she said menacingly. He opened his mouth in amazement.
"Goddess..." he said and fell on his knees. She stared at him for a while. Then her stormy expression faded and she smiled. She knelt before him.
"Yes", she said softly. She took him by his hands and they rose. She let go.
"You need not fear", she whispered. "I have saved you by my free will. I shall not waste my efforts." He couldn't find words. She turned and ran into the ocean, disappearing in the waves. He collapsed on his knees again and gazed to the horizon for a long, long time. The sun set before his eyes and he sighed.
Davy Jones woke up the following morning to find a large pile of fruit next to him. He smiled and knew it was a favor from the goddess. He ate with appetite and felt himself get stronger again. His hat was dry and he spent the day walking along the shore. When evening came he saw her again. She came to him and lit a bonfire and roasted crabs on it. They sat by the fire together and he couldn't afterwards remember anything but her even though she didn't say much. He had no memory of what the food had tasted like, had the fire warmed him or had the stars been bright. He had eyes only for her beauty.
She was always gone when he woke up in the morning and during those days which he spent on that island there were days when she didn't come at all. On those days he felt an ache in his heart which he had never experienced before. He could think of nothing but her and he longed to see her again. Never before had a woman had such an effect on him. Love, he thought, is a dangerous thing for a man.
When she wasn't with him he explored the island. He soon discovered a small village in the woods. It was completely deserted and ruined. He noticed that it's graveyard was rather large. He ventured deeper into the village. There was nothing there. A piece of an old fortress was still in it's place. Most other buildings were destroyed. He wondered what had happened.
"Sad", said a voice behind him. He startled and turned around only to see Calypso standing there. She laughed at his reaction. He sighed. "The weakness of the human kind", she continued looking at the graves. He made no reply and also turned his eyes on the graves.
"What has happened here?" he asked. She shrugged.
"Pirates", she answered. "They ravaged this island years ago leaving only few survivors. Those few died of the plague the pirates had brought."
"So", he said, "in the end they all must have died?" She let out a scorning laugh.
"True", she said. "Isn't it pitiful? The pirates who doomed this village died of the same plague they had brought with them." He didn't know what to say. She obviously considered men to be weak and pathetic. He couldn't blame her; his feelings wouldn't allow him to do so. He thought that she had every right to think as she thought. After all, she was immortal.
Calypso watched him. He stared at the graves, lost in thought.
"Do you fear death?" she asked him. He turned to look at her.
"As much as anyone else, I suppose", he replied. "But I accept it as a part of life."
"Really?" she said with a rather surprised tone. "Do you not fear the hungering depths of the sea by which you sail daily?"
"To die at sea", he said, "I consider honourable. I would not have my bones rotting under ground where maggots feast on them. I would rather sink into that watery grave." He was silent for a while. "Although", he then said, "I do not wait death eagerly and I try my best not to face it soon."
"As do all men", she said with a dry smile. He looked at her with eyes full of warmth and sadness. She wondered what it meant. She figured that he was offended by her words but the warmth she could not understand. What ever it meant it had an effect on her which she was alarmed to notice. When his eyes strayed away from her she disappeared and once again he found himself alone.
After some time Calypso's thoughts were stormy. She had noticed it to be very dangerous to spend too much time with Davy Jones. She had soon learnt to see deeper into him than he perhaps wanted. She knew what he felt and she feared that if she spent time with him she would also start to feel the same. She considered it unwanted but something always drew her thoughts towards him. Now and again she noticed to be thinking of his blue, clear eyes and polite manners, his warm smile... Why did this man have such power over her? What made him so different from all other sailors? Maybe, she thought, it's an act of destiny.
One evening Davy Jones was standing on a smooth rock facing the sea. He was lost in his thoughts and his eyes were filled with longing and the beauty of the sea which only one beauty could overcome.
Calypso watched him from the beach. The wind was blowing in his hair and he looked stern and kingly. He was a tall man but appeared to be even taller when so beheld. Like a sculpture he was; tall, silent, strong and calm.
Calypso cast her eyes on the sand and sighed. She raised her glance to him again and felt like she had never felt before. It was like a stab in her heart but not by a blade but by something else. She couldn't describe it. She went to him.
He turned his eyes on her when she came by his side. She was surprised by the serenity and peace of his eyes. He looked like he had found a place where he could stay forever and be content. And yet... deep, deep in his eyes, even beyond his recognition, she thought she saw a hint of restlessness which only sailors can truly feel.
"The sea", he said and turned his glance to the horizon again, "has always drawn men to it. Now I know why." She looked at his profile and felt like someone was clutching her heart. She appreciated his compliment but she wished that he hadn't paid it. Why did he have to be so deep? Why could he not be a loathsome pirate whom she could wipe away as easily as a shell off the shore? How easy it would be to raise a wave and cast him into the depths? No, not him. It was not easy. Not this man.
"I have always felt like there's something more to it", he said with a slight frown, "something I wasn't able to see. I have spent many years trying to find it but nothing could ever fill the void in my heart." She cast her eyes on the ocean. His voice was full and soft and she couldn't stand the situation. It is wrong to feel like this, she thought.
"The void?" she asked quietly without looking at him.
"Aye", he said. "The feeling that something is missing. Yet one can never find it by roaming the seas and shores. And still... I am at peace now." And he smiled to the sea. Her heart ached as she looked at his noble image in the light of the setting sun.
"Peace", she said and looked at him in the eyes at last, "can be found in strange places, it seems." He smiled at her warmly.
"Not strange at all", he said quietly and his eyes were so full of love that she felt like she could cry. They beheld each other's eyes for a while until she could no longer stand it. She put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him softly. He held her in his arms and they stood in the last rays of the sun feeling that everything else but that moment had lost it's meaning.
From that day forth Calypso spent almost every day with him. He told her of his life and experiences and she described all the miraculous things she had seen during her long life. He couldn't believe his luck. He had thought it impossible for an immortal woman like her to accept someone like him by her side. Every moment with her was more than he dared to hope for. He soon learnt that she was very unpredictable. He was never certain of what she was thinking. In one moment she could press him against a tree and kiss him passionately; in another moment she could run away and disappear into the waves laughing merrily and come back the next day. Like the sea she was.
But he was a man with strong will and she knew it. She sensed that he was not a man to be betrayed or insulted. His love was passionate and complete. Through his pride and nobility she felt his caring and unquestionable love for her.
Calypso felt like she had never felt before. Oh how many times before she had despised mortal weaknesses like love – such a consuming thing – but now at last she understood. It took over her, it burned her, it refused to cease. And she didn't want it to.
One day Calypso was leaning her back to the palm tree and he was laying in her arms. The day was very warm and the weather serene. She caressed his hair and he closed his eyes. She stared at the sea in her thoughts. She knew that he could not stay on that island forever. She knew that sooner or later he would long to sail again and if not so, he would eventually die. Mortality, she thought, is a curse. She blamed herself for falling in love with a mortal. He would have to leave her even against his wish. He couldn't live forever.
She fingered his hair. What if he could live forever? She bit her lip.
"Davy", she whispered. He opened his eyes. "Do you love me?" He sat up and looked at her.
"More than anything else in the entire world", he said honestly, his voice rather questioning but deep and soothing. She smiled.
"I love you too", she said quietly. He kissed her gently.
"Is something troubling you?" he asked when seeing her uncertainty. She opened her mouth but said nothing. He sat next to her and she leant her head on his shoulder.
"No", she lied and sighed. He frowned a little but remained silent and kissed her brow.
"Look what I made for us", Calypso said one day and showed Davy a small chest. It was skillfully made and had oceanic ornaments around it.
"It's beautiful", he said fondly. They sat down. Calypso smiled and turned a key in the chest's lock. When she unlocked the chest many sensitive mechanisms shifted.
"Only this key can unlock it", she explained. She opened the lid. Inside Davy saw two rather large and silvery crab-shaped lockets. They had a female face in the middle. She took one of them out and opened it. A beautiful, gentle tune rang out. It was almost sad. He smiled.
"I made two", she said and gave him the other, "so that where ever we are we can always have part of us with us." He took the other music box and looked at it. Then he looked at her.
"Where ever we are", he said with a grave expression. She avoided his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
"A time may come", she said with blazing eyes, "when destiny interferes." He said nothing. She put the locket in his neck and he in hers. They didn't continue on the subject.
Time passed and they spent it together. Davy Jones did not know how much time went by; it was irrelevant to him. But soon he started to feel the wanderlust rise in him again and Calypso knew that he was troubled. She considered the matter which she had been pondering for so long and decided that it was time to bring it up.
"My love", she said one evening while resting in his arms. "It grieves me to know that one day you'll be gone." He was surprised by this remark.
"You are a mortal", she continued, "and whether you will or not, you will die."
"That is a grim thought indeed", said he thoughtfully.
"I would rather have you live for ever", she said. Davy smiled.
"So would I if I could spend the eternity with you", he replied. "But I'm afraid I'm incapable of doing so."
"What if you weren't?" she asked. "What if you could live for ever? Sail the seas till the end of the world?"
"What do you mean?" he said and met her eyes. She looked nervous.
"I can make you immortal", she said, "but it has it's price." He was silent.
"We could be together for ever", she whispered. He was uncertain.
"What is the price you speak of?" he asked warily. She looked at him keenly.
"A task", she said, "which you should do for eternity."
"What is it?" he asked dreading the answer.
"To guide the dead to the other side", she said, "and... stay at the edge of life and death for ten year periods without stepping ashore even once." He breathed out incredulously and shook his head.
"And after each ten years", she pressed on, "you could spend one day ashore. With me." He cast his eyes on the ground and said nothing. He lifted his hands in his hair and sighed.
"Davy Jones", she said lovingly, "you would never die. We would be together forever!"
"And apart ten years after one day", he said and his glance was harsher than she had ever seen it being. The strength of his nature shone through his eyes. She lowered her eyes.
"It is the price to pay", she said quietly. "But what is ten years? What is hundred years when we could have each other for the eternity?" He took her in his arms and closed his eyes.
"It is a hard price to pay", he said. "Every day away from you kills me." She clutched him and pressed her head against his chest. His heartbeats were calming.
"I need to think it over", he said and looked weary. She nodded and kissed him. Then she left him alone with his thoughts. The sun sank beyond the horizon.
Davy Jones did not sleep that night. He sat on the shore and stared at the sea. Calypso's offer was intriguing but the price was hard. Eternity at sea with the dead, one day with her every ten years. He had to decide how much he really loved her. He closed his eyes and sighed.
The next morning Calypso came to him with an uncertain look on her face. He raised his eyes to meet hers and she knelt beside him.
"You have made up your mind?" she said quietly and anxiously. He was looking at the waves.
"For you", he said, "I'll accept your offer." She smiled broadly and cast her arms around him.
"My sweet!" she cried and kissed his neck, "My darling!" He hugged her and couldn't hold back a smile. "We'll be together, always", she said looking him in the eyes, weeping with happiness.
"My love", he said. "I do not have a ship to sail with." She stood up and ran to the water. He could not hear what she said but soon he could see the water stirring greatly farther away. He gasped in astonishment when a big ship rose from the depths of the sea.
Calypso turned to him and yelled: "A ship for you, my sweet!" She laughed. He smiled in awe as he walked to her. "The Flying Dutchman!"
"What about the crew? Am I to sail alone?"
"No", she said. "When you come to a person who has died on sea ask him to assist you. Take him to your service if he is willing. You will get yourself a crew in no time. When you leave this island I will grant you with a wind which will blow you to your destiny." She turned serious again and looked at him mournfully. It was no use to postpone it.
"Close your eyes, my sweet", she said. He was puzzled but did her bidding. She placed her hands on his eyes and chest.
"Now, my love", she said hollowly, "you also are immortal." He looked at her with amaze. He didn't feel any different.
"And..." she said her voice full of sorrow. "This is your last day ashore before your task." His eyes became so sad and disappointed that she shed a tear or two. He took her in his arms and they stood there for a while.
"At sunset you must sail away", she said. He didn't reply.
That day they spent together reminiscing their first meeting and their time together. They sat on the rock and watched the ship floating on the waves. Time hurried just to spite them.
Davy Jones closed his eyes as the sun started to sink. He fought with his tears and managed to keep them away. Calypso put her arms around him from behind him and leant her chin on his shoulder.
"What is ten years", she whispered, "what is hundred years next to eternity?" He did not answer. A mournful sigh escaped his lips. Her hand found his and clutched it tightly. The sun was sinking. A small boat was floating towards the shore. He knew it was meant for him.
As the rays of the sun became fewer and fewer her courage started to fail. She swallowed her tears and leant her head to his back. Then he stood up, turned around and held her against him. She couldn't resist her tears.
"What is ten years..." he begun but could not continue as his voice broke. The boat hit the sand. She looked into his blue eyes and he glanced at the boat. When he looked at her again she was crying. He sighed with sorrow.
"My love..." he said and kissed her more tenderly than ever before. Then he let go of her and stood in front of her for a while, memorizing her features. She looked at the tall sailor's shape against the red sun. He turned away and went to the boat. She watched him row towards the ship and felt strangely hollow. When he had reached the ship she raised her arms and called for the wind. She saw the ship's sails catch the wind and it begun to move. Slowly and honourably The Dutchman sailed to the sunset and in a green flash it was gone.
Her music box played the tune and in his absence it made her weep even more.
He came back in the sunrise. Ten years had passed and he was longing to see her again. The island was as it had been when he had left it. His crew amused itself how it could while he went ashore. He waded in the water and reached the beach. He couldn't see her. He looked at the rock but no one was there. He ventured deeper into the woods and called for her. No answer. He stood and waited for many hours, refusing to believe that she might not come.
He wept. She wasn't there. He was full of sadness but other feelings were rising. He felt humiliated and blamed himself for believing that a goddess could love him. He felt betrayed and angry; she had lied to him. He roared of hatred and sorrow.
The kind of pain he felt in his heart was too much. He wanted to die, he couldn't live with such feelings. Cursed be love, cursed be the sea, cursed be her! Treacherous, dishonest Calypso! Thinking of her made his heart hurt unbearably much. He collapsed on his knees. He couldn't believe that the pain would ever fade away. It was too much. Why couldn't he die? He stumbled towards the old fortress ruins deeper in the island. He found it. The chest. The key was in it's lock. He opened it.
He took a dagger from his belt. He raised it and tore his silver locket from his neck. He grasped the dagger with both hands and wept in anger. Anything was better than the horrible pain in his heart. He wanted to feel like that never again. He stabbed the blade into his chest.
His crew heard a terrible cry from the island and after a moment they saw their captain come back. The sun was setting. It was time to go. Davy Jones entered his ship again and made all his men gasp in horror. He was bloody and his eyes looked so cruel that no one dared to look at them. His nobility had vanished and all that was left was merciless coldness.
He went to his cabin and hung the key on his neck. The locket he threw into a corner. It opened and the tune rang mournfully out. He dashed to it and clapped it shut with sheer hatred in his eyes. He felt nothing but rage. His heart was gone. His feelings were quenched. He did not return to the dead again.
Davy Jones... you would never die. We would be together forever!