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~Ghost~

As soon as I'm alone in my cabin I find the bed tucked behind a cheap red curtain and collapse onto the pile of used sheets, pulling them almost blindly around myself. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the pain behind them to go away. The room pulses and even with my eyes closed I can picture it sliding and tilting. I feel like I'm about to roll off the bed with the way everything is moving. I roll the opposite direction and dump myself on the floor, hitting my head.

The sheets are still tangled around me and I pull them up over my head, fading into a troubled sleep.

~*O*~

I'm in the gray curtained room again, the one I had been taken to when I had my first dose of Dorian's drugs. This time though, it is silent.

There is no pain here, my head feels better. My stomach has stopped clenching. The room is not tilting.

I take a moment to breathe then wave my hand through the air. I had forgotten that I don't actually exist in this dream. My hand is not there, the gray swirls of smoke don't part.

That is, until someone steps through the blanket of fog and stops in front of me. I inhale sharply, sucking in a lungful of smoke. Suddenly I can move, brushing the clouds away to reveal the man standing before me. A head of smooth brown hair just visible, deep chocolate eyes... a scar running jagged claws across his left breast... I snap my eyes back up to his face.

He's gone.

~*O*~

I wake up on the floor, not quite sure how I had gotten there. I don't bother to get up, keeping my eyes closed as I breathe in the scent of leather, old sweat on linen, spices... I push the sheets aside, slamming my hand into wood and jolting myself awake.

I stand slowly and sit on the edge of the bed, pulling the sheets up and leaving them in a heap on the mattress. My mind is racing, clinging to my dream, my vision. An overwhelming sense of guilt lays me back down on the bed and I find myself drifting off to sleep again, willing to forget. My hand drifts subconsciously to my neck, as if I would find the chain on which I once kept a large key. The chain is no longer there, as I know, and neither is the key.

~*O*~

"I've reshuffled my priorities," Jack announces, laying his compass flat on the palm of his hand in front of us. "I have tested this several times, just to make sure it points in the same direction and I believe I have a proper heading."

"Very good, Sparrow," Ching says with some cheer.

We are crowded around Dorian's desk, several different maps spread out before us.

"I have also looked over some of my own charts, but I can't pinpoint where the compass is leading us. I think it best if we just follow it for some time, until we can be more certain."

"How can you be sure what it points to at all?" I ask.

"I've convinced myself that I want most to locate the leader of this guard. Whether or not that brings us to the fortress... it will get us to the leader."

"And you're positive?"

"Yes."

"Good," I sigh in relief. That's one less thing to worry about.

"There's just one thing though. I may need to retrieve my ship first," Jack looks at the compass and shakes it violently.

"I thought we had things worked out," I say, eyeing Dorian.

"I've convinced myself this is what I want by convincing myself I'll have my ship to go with it."

"The compass isn't pointing to your ship, is it?"

"Not constantly. My ship is at Mervailles."

"I think it may be a good idea to retrieve his ship before continuing," Dorian speaks. "We can gather my men there, as well as any supplies we may need. I have agreed with Jack that it is not far off the course we will be taking and might actually speed us up and give us a better advantage. Four crews do not fit well between two ships. I wouldn't want to leave anyone behind either."

"To Mervailles then?" I ask Ching.

"If we must."

Before I leave, Ching slips a folded pile of parchment paper into my jacket pocket. "I only read the first page."

~*O*~

The weight of my pocket forces me to walk quickly on my way back to The Empress. Curiosity burns as I unlock the cabin door and hang up my coat, sliding a hand into the fabric to pull out the letters.

The first page is addressed to "No one in particular, except the Pirate King," followed by "(deliver to the above upon receiving this)" I skim the rest of the page.

Word of a fortress has reached my ears... unknown whereabouts... some sort of a guard... my belief that war is the intention... the Pirate King should be warned, along with all Pirate Lords... if the movement should continue, word will be sent to the nearest Lord... all the information I can offer...

There is no signature. The seal has already been broken, a plain splotch of wax with no seal.

I lay the top letter aside on my desk, lifting the separate bundle. This one is sealed. Above the seal is written- in a much different writing than the other letter: E.T. The Pirate King.

E.T... Elizabeth Turner. Someone who knows my name.

I am surprised that Ching did not see it her duty to read the contents of the letter. I wonder who gave it to her in the first place. Was she told not to read it?

I pick the seal off carefully with the tip of my dagger, afraid to break it in case it can tell me something later. In the light of my cabin I can't easily see it. I unfold the parchment.

The writing is very tidy, with perfect curls on the end of each letter, written in straight lines across the page. A skilled hand, but unfamiliar. The writing is very big though, and although several pages long there is not much there. I skip to the end to find a signature that I cannot read then return to the first page.

Dear Mrs. Turner,

At this point you may or may not have heard of me. I am assuming that you have, as this letter was to reach you through another who I understand has information of me as well. So, let me be clear. Ignore what you might have heard about war and scheming, and read this instead.

The sea has long been my mother, and my people's mother. For longer, the sea has been woman to any man. Corruption in these men has poisoned our waters, each man out to kill another for his own personal gain.

Piracy may be looked at as an art. Not one that can easily be eliminated. Do not read this wrong Mrs. Turner, I do not wish to harm you or your pirates. I am not intending to wage war on piracy, or you.

It is only what I fear will naturally happen when things play out, as I am certain people of your nature would not so easily step aside from the sea they claim to be their own.

That is where pirates and those who follow you have been terribly mistaken. The sea was never yours to claim. I am now asking you a favour, Mrs. Turner. Inform your pirates that the sea is no longer theirs and that they must discontinue their ways. I ask that they be relocated, and leave the water open. No Pirate "Lord" shall run any part of anywhere, their ships will not keep others out.

If my forces are resisted, it will mean bloodshed, although I would hate to see this begin in such a way. Times are changing and the age of pirates is coming to an end. It would be in your best interests to step down and save what is left of your world.

I have lost many things dear to me, Mrs. Turner. I am now taking the necessary steps to retrieve such things and make sure past events do not repeat themselves. Let this not become war.

However, I doubt once you read this that anything other than war shall ensue. So I warn you now that we are well prepared and it would be foolish for you not to consider my wishes and warnings. I have more on my side than you know, most of all knowledge.

If you need, I am willing to leave piracy as it is on certain parts of the map and let unlawful things carry on within boundaries.

I'm sure your husband wouldn't appreciate the extra workload if these seas should be littered with the bodies of your followers. I am sure he would be rather disappointed to find you going against my cause.

I blink a few times, rereading several parts. Thoughts elude me.

Then I can't help thinking how contradictory everything is. My head begins to spin once more and I feel frustration at how unbelievable everything I've just read seems. I can't think about it, can't sort out one word from the next. It's completely nonsense, my brain tells me. What cause?

But as always, it's completely serious. I take the letter outside, to see if in better light the words will disappear.

Your husband wouldn't appreciate the extra workload...

I heave the remaining contents of my stomach over the ship rail.

Someone knows me.

"Captain?" Tai Huang says from behind.

"Yes?"

"You are alright?"

"I'm fine. The ship is ready?"

"Yes."

"Good, we will be leaving shortly."

"Captain?"

"What?" I ask, somewhat impatiently.

"What is in that letter?"

I hold it to my chest. "Captain's business."

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