(A/N Please note. Yes, I have gotten rid of Governor Swann, Elizabeth, Will, and Norrington in order for this story to fit my plot. I am so sorry and I will make it up to my readers by doing….i dunno…something. This chapter really should come before the first, but it doesn't.  alright, well, read and enjoy!

Six weeks earlier.

Port Royal

House of the Governor.

As the governor of Port Royal, Charles Springer could not afford to loose his cool, or break down. It wasn't becoming, and the people of the town did not want to see their leader broken and stressed during these troubling times. They wanted a strong leader who stands firm in the most volatile of storms. But surely the good people could understand the situation he was in now…

His twin children had been taken captive by pirates. And not just any gang of pirates….the crew of the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow. They had been gone, now, for two weeks. Springer knew what his men were saying behind his back, and closed doors- 'they're as good as dead'

Unfortunately…that thought was poking around in the governor's mind as well, though it was quickly banished as soon as it would rear its ugly head.

Things had been patched up in the city itself since the raid, market stalls that had been destroyed were new once more, windows that had been shattered were replaced, Wounds that had been rendered were starting to heal, trivial things like that. The townspeople of Port Royal were slowly, slowly starting to forget what had happened that moonlit night…but Governor Springer would never, ever, let the events that came to pass fade from his mind.

'And who would?' The worn man thought to himself. Springer was standing out on the porch balcony of his home, looking over the sea, trying desperately to find peace with himself. It was early morning on the fourteenth day since the raid, and the sun had risen a bright, bloody, captivating red. However, Springer did not feel any of its warmth. He had hardly gotten any sleep in the past fortnight, despite the urgings of his men. He did not look as tired as he felt, on the other hand. Springer had an uncanny ability to play the perfect poker face, and thus hide his true emotions behind a stony mask. This trait made him the kind of father that was rather hard to deal with, which Springer now sorely regretted.

Thousands of detached thoughts were chasing each other around in his keen mind, bits and pieces that were all pretty much variations of 'when I get my hands on those pirating ' and, ' if only I had not been in such a rage that night…then the children would not have been outside the manor…"

"Governor Springer, sir?" A hesitant voice uttered from behind him.

Charles straightened up from his morose position leaning against the railing. He wiped the desolate expression from his face, and settled for one that was deciduously blank and empty, wheeling around to face an acquaintance of Josh and Darlene's, Erik Swennson. He was a lanky, darkhaired, good-looking lad of seventeen, just one month older than the twins. He also had taken a dogged fancy to Darlene, who had quite blatantly refused him, and thwarted all his advances. Erik was the only son of a weathered sea merchant, who had given up his trade, and made Port Royal his permanent home.

One could not say that Erik was a friend of the twins, you must understand. He could almost always be seen around them, however, though hoping for their friendship, or devising ways to make Darlene his own, none but the twins could know. While Josh and Erik were at fierce odds due to a childhood mishap that Springer had never really heard the end of, Erik doted on Darlene to the point of nausea from both twins.

. Erik was an experienced sailor, having lived on the sea for the better part of his life. Perhaps this was why the twins put up with him. They always did have an interest in sea voyaging. Charles clamped his hands behind his back, pushed the memory of his children aside, and said gruffly, "Hello, son. What can I do for you?"

"Sir…I want your permission to leave Port Royal…take a ship…and go search the ocean for Lady Darlene!" Erik declared in a powerfully determined tone, eyes blazing. "And her brother.." The boy added as a reluctant afterthought

Charles felt several replies welling up inside of him, most of them rather cutting, having to do with Erik's passion for Darlene, and obvious disdain for her older twin. All of his words met firmly clamped lips, and did not escape past them. Governor Springer did not allow his face to betray any emotion at all, so he simply stared at the boy, as though he were seeing him for the first time.

"Listen, lad." He said at last, in a low voice, "I have all the men that can be spared looking for them. I appreciate your offering to help, but…"

"Sir, please!" Erik burst out, urgency practically dripping from his tone, "With all due respect, your men won't know where to look! When I lived at sea with my father, we had our run in with pirates…and I am ashamed to say we even befriended a rare handful of them! I know all their haunts that are forbidden by the Pirates Code to speak of, I have connections…sir, I can help!"

A ringing silence met the end of Erik's speech. The governor once again sealed everything that was going on inside of him up, and then let it all out in one sigh.

"Alright, Erik." Charles said in a barely audible voice , "You have my permission. Godspeed, and bring them back safely."

"I will, sir. I will." Erik said with a keen light shining in his eyes.

"And Josh, too, Erik."

The lad winced, "Very well, sir."