A/N: So after twenty one days, our heroes have finally come across some form of life, but maybe not the one they exactly wanted. Btw, I'm glad FFXV got delayed. I could see myself getting seriously lazy with writing once that came out so I'll be set for a while yet. I'll also say right now that I'm thinking about covering the PoVs of other characters (Disney and Final Fantasy), showing how they're dealing with the war. It would pretty much be like Leon/Squall in CotP but on a wider scale. We'll see how that goes as the writing process continues. Anyway, enjoy the first part of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Chapter 3

The Sky Pirate's Tale

Sora and Luna were forcefully brought aboard the Flying Dutchman to the chants and jeers of its crew. As Luna tried to make her way back to Sora, she found herself fighting against the strong tide of sailor that served only to keep her from him. Sora reassured her as loudly as he could over the sailors' cries that everything would be okay and that they needed to remain calm.

Despite his words, Sora found little to be calm about in this situation. They had left the small prison that was their raft but at the cost of possible imprisonment or even worse. Sora couldn't even imagine a scenario where the captain of the Dutchman would let them off with a light slap on the wrist, otherwise what example would that serve to his crew?

Regardless of their separation, they were both brought in front of the captain's cabin where they awaited their judgment. Slowly, the doors creaked open and Davy Jones emerged from his resting place, looking more than a little displeased.

He held his wooden pipe to his mouth and took a puff, intentionally blowing the smoke into Sora's face and causing him to cough. The frown on his face immediately turned into a smile and he chuckled.

"What luck… to run into the Keybearer in the middle of the ocean. I haven't had good news like this in a while," Jones commented. He turned to his boatswain, Jimmy Legs, a sailor with the head of a stone fish, and asked, "What do they have on them?"

"'ad this big 'ole chest, they did. They might be hidin' treasure," Jimmy Legs turned, revealing a fin protruding out of his back to them, and pointed towards the crew. Each of the sailors stepped aside, making way for two crewmembers as they brought forward the cooler from the raft.

Sora looked at them incredulously. "You're kidding, right? It's just a bunch of-"

"A curse!" Luna exclaimed suddenly, causing everyone's attention to draw to her. Luna gulped and nodded. "Yup, you better believe it. We were entrusted with that object because it contains an ancient curse that, if opened, will destroy anything that comes in its path, including this ship. Open it if you dare but don't say I didn't warn you."

"A curse? Blimey! You take it!" The crewman on the left holding the cooler jumped back from the box, causing it to tip sideways with only one other sailor holding it from the side.

"¡Ay, caramba! Que hay un escape!" The other sailor screamed, noticing that some water was leaking from the cooler. This was actually due to the melting ice in the cooler but to the average sailor who believed in curses, it was an omen of terrible things to come… or perhaps they were just idiots but it worked in Luna and Sora's favor all the same. The Spanish speaking crewman dropped the box and ran to the other side of the ship while screaming, "¡Estoy maldito!"

The other crewmembers gathered around Sora and Luna acted in much the same way, although their responses were more muted. Questions were swarming the deck and there was an atmosphere of conflict, particularly around their loyalties to Davy Jones that kept nearby and their fear of the cooler that made them retreat from it as soon as the other sailor had dropped it.

Meanwhile, Luna was able to get closer to Sora with no one to watch over her and whispered, "I think it's working."

"I can't believe we're actually getting away with this. Are you sure this is the Flying Dutchman?" Sora asked.

Jones snarled and pushed past a few of the crewmembers as he walked towards the cooler. "You blooming idiots. You're being conned," Jones said.

"You're pretty confident I'm lying then," Luna said, doing her best to quell the tremor in her voice. "But can you really say it's all a bluff?"

Jones threw a dirty look at her and Luna inched back a bit as if to retreat, but eventually stopped and looked up. He walked towards her and suddenly grabbed her by the neck with his claw-like left hand.

"Luna!" Sora raised his hand to summon his Keyblade but Luna quickly shot him a look that told him to hold off. Warily, he lowered his hand back to his side.

"It's been a while, daughter of Kaylah," growled the captain.

"How do you know that name?" Luna asked through gritted teeth as she grabbed onto the claw hold her. Its grip wasn't so tight that it would snap her neck or suffocate her, but it was still a powerful grip all that same that invoked fear and trembling.

"Xanatos did his homework. Needless to say, yours is quite the story. I believe Dr. Facilier even had a name for you." Jones said and looked at his crew. "The Devil in human flesh, in his words. Must be nice, to be human. They have a name for me too. The Devil of the Seas. Tell me… do you still fear death? Do you long for your parents embrace once more?"

"Death… is just another part of life," Luna started, her mouth becoming a grin. "I can't change what I've done. I've accepted that. If I weren't mortal, I'd have no reason to fear anything and no reason to stay alive either. How about you? Do you fear death? I can tell. It's in your eyes. Don't worry. The reaper's coming for you."

Sora didn't want to watch this. As impressive as it was that Luna had overcome her fear of a man she couldn't even look at when they had last met, he wasn't about to stand and watch Jones kill her.

He quickly summoned Oathkeeper and pointed it at the Jones' beard. "Fire!"

A bright flame jetted out of the tip of Oathkeeper and singed Jones' beard, cutting one of his tentacles off. He gasped and loosened his grip on Luna allowing her to hoist her body up through his claws. She kicked forward, both feet connecting with Jones' body and knocking him back into the cabin. Now free of his grip, Luna summoned Dream Seeker and backed up to stand back-to-back with Sora.

"Luna, that was insanely cool and don't ever do that again. You almost made me piss myself," Sora said.

"Well, it worked, didn't it? Not every day you get to stare into the face of death and say a line like that," Luna replied.

"That's too gutsy. What if you were killed?" Sora asked.

"Well, I wasn't so let's focus on not dying to these guys now," Luna said as the crewmembers surrounded them. Before any of them could attack, a shot in the air rang out. Everyone, including Sora and Luna, looked to the source of the noise, which turned out to be outside of the ship on the port side. Opposite them was another ship much smaller in size to the Dutchman. The ship slowed to a crawl to stop parallel of the Dutchman and its owner slid down the rigging and greeted them with a wave.

"Don't suppose you'd prefer the company of the living instead?"

"Balthier!" Luna yelled gleefully.

Sora looked at her before looking back at the man and asked, "Balthier? You're the- the- egotistical guy Luna mentioned, right?"

"So many words to describe me such as dashing, daring, incredibly charming and that's the word you use, Luna?" Balthier asked.

"What? It was the quality that stood out the most," Luna defended.

"Good thing I arrived on time then. Wouldn't want your last impression of the leading man to be a bad one now, would we?" Balthier grabbed onto a rope nearby and jumped off the railing, swing through the air and onto the Dutchman.

"And what business do you have on this ship? Enough of ya. I've got more than I can handle on my plate already with the likes of you three," Jones said.

"Now what exactly does that mean?" Balthier asked.

"Your Keyblade wielding friends stole something of value to me. Now they intend to hold me and this ship hostage along with the East India Company," Jones said.

"You mean your heart?" Balthier guessed. Jones did not respond but looked away. Sora had a feeling he was trying to conceal an emotion that he would never dare show anyone as captain of the Dutchman. Luna was right. He did fear. Balthier smiled and continued, "Now listen here. What say you I offer to get you your heart back?"

"Balthier!" Sora and Luna cried out in unison, but he ignored them and continued looking at Jones who also looked on in surprise.

"What?" came Jones' reply.

"You heard me. You release Sora and Luna now and I'll personally see to it that you get your heart back. What's the name of the fellow who took your chest?"

"Not 'fellow'. A woman. Her name is Hattie Byrne," Jones answered him.

"Hattie Byrne. Now it all makes sense…" Balthier murmured.

"You know her, Balthier?" Sora asked.

"That I do. Not personally mind you but I know where she is. So, do we have a deal?" Balthier said holding out his hand to Jones.

The captain stepped forward and pulled him in, his long tentacle index finger wrapping around Balthier's wrist to do so. "You've got yourself a deal, Mr. Balthier."

"Glad we could come to an agreement suitable for the both of us. Now I'd very much appreciate it if you could let go of my hand," Balthier said.

Jones did so and Balthier flicked his wrist to the side before turning to Sora and Luna. "Well, come along then. No time to waste."

"Yes, sir," Luna gladly agreed. They had begun walking over to one of the Dutchman's ropes when Jones suddenly rose up from the floor in front of them.

"And I'm sure you know the consequences if you try to go back on our deal?" Jones asked.

"But of course," Balthier said. He waited for Jones to step out of the way before motioning for Sora and Luna to go first.

"And take this cursed box off my ship while you're at it," Jones said. Sora saw that Luna had safely travelled to the other ship before returning to collect the box. He knelt down and flicked open the clasps. A gasp erupted among the crew and he gave a satisfied smile before closing the clasps and taking the box by one of the handles.

"I'm going to attach it to the rope and swing it over to you, okay, Luna?" Sora told her. She nodded and he followed through with his plan, sending the box over to Luna who swiftly untied it and sent the rope back. Sora jumped across next and finally Balthier.

Immediately upon touching ground, Balthier turned to the helm of the ship and hollered, "Full speed ahead, Fran! Set course for Port Royal."

"Fran?" Luna began jogging to the other side of the ship but Sora made no attempts to follow her or Balthier. His eyes were glued to Davy Jones as he shouted words to his crew before heading back into his cabin. They had somehow escaped the clutches of death. Surely it couldn't have been down to coincidence?

He only took his eyes off the Dutchman after it was fully past them. He walked to the front of the ship to meet up with Luna, Balthier and a rather tall woman with long rabbit ears, white hair and red eyes.

"You're Fran?" Sora asked.

"It's a pleasure. Luna has told me all about you," Fran said, offering her hand. Sora briefly looked down at her long claw-like fingernails before gently extending his hand forward to meet hers.

"It's nice to meet you. But how did you guys know where we were? I doubt you just came across our location," Sora asked.

"Smart boy. I'll admit not even my intuition is that good. We had a little help," Balthier said. Strange sparkles started to appear in the air that soon gave way to a woman with blonde hair, a billowing blue dress that sparkled in the moonlight and wings on her back. Balthier continued, "It would seem you have a guardian angel."

"Um, hello ma'am," Sora said, smitten by the graceful appearance of the woman. A cough from next to him suddenly made him remember where he was and who he was with. He blushed. He suddenly noticed that the woman was transparent. He could see the railing of the ship through her.

The woman smiled. "I am the blue fairy. Sora and Luna, the world needs the two of you once more. The Fairy Godmother and I have been searching for you two for a while now."

Sora chuckled. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Then I shall take you to Radiant Garden if you are ready," said the Blue Fairy, readying her wand.

"Uh, actually, do you think you could hold off on that for a while?" Sora asked. He continued on to regurgitate what had happened back on the Dutchman and Balthier's deal with Jones. "So, you see, ma'am, if the chest is in the hands of a Keyblade wielder, then I think it's for the best that we get it back and see Balthier and Fran are safe."

The Blue Fairy chuckled. "To be honest, I expected something like this. The Fairy Godmother was right. You are as kind-hearted as you are selfless. Very well. Take this."

The fairy waved her wand and produced a glowing crystal object that looked like a bigger than normal tear. Sora caught it as it dropped from the air and held it up for Luna to see. It felt quite cool in his hands, he noticed. "I would normally tell you to wish upon a star to find me but since there are no stars in the sky now, this will have to do. When you are ready, you need only crush this tear and I will appear. Don't worry. It's easier to crush than it looks."

The Blue Fairy was about to take disappear but Luna held up her hand. "Wait! Do you know where the stars are?"

"Unfortunately, I do not. But as long as people have hope in their hearts, the stars will someday return. That's what I believe anyway." With that, the Blue Fairy vanished into sparkles once more that soon disappeared into the sky.

"Then I'll keep believing too," Luna said.

"So this has been on my mind for a bit now but what's with the… you know…" Sora stroked two invisible long ears on his head while looking at Fran.

"My kind are a unique one. We call ourselves Viera," Fran answered.

"Fran's been with me ever since I charmed my way into her heart," Balthier said, only for Fran to scoff and look away. "Wait, maybe I had that wrong. Perhaps she charmed me."

"So which is it?" Sora asked.

"Don't listen to him. Since we have a ways to go, I'm sure the story will come up along the way but for now, you look quite famished," Fran pointed out.

"Oh, right. Do you have something we can eat?" Luna asked. "If not, I suppose we can just eat what else is in our cooler without moderation now but…"

"It's fine. There's some meat, fruit, bread and cheese in the cabin. There's also wine but I'm not sure you kids are-"

"FOOD!" Luna yelled joyously and ran into the cabin.

Sora scratched the back of his neck and smiled innocently at a surprised Fran. "It's been a while."

As soon as Sora walked into the cabin with Balthier, he grinned upon seeing Luna gorging on the food that was at the table.

"How's the food?" Sora called over to her. She stopped stuffing her face and looked to him with a smile.

"Heavenly. The meat's a bit salty but I guess that's to make sure it doesn't get stale. Get in here, Sora, or I might finish it off," she replied before quickly returning to the food.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" Sora laughed and made his way to the table that, in itself, was quite highly polished and extravagant, reflective of the room itself. The drapes were garnished in ruby red with a white flower in the middle and the carpet held very much a similar pattern.

Luna also seemed to notice this and stopped eating for a moment, partially to digest but also to talk to Balthier. "This is all really ostentatious. This is… this is… this is so not your ship, is it?"

"Now what makes you say that?" Balthier asked.

"Well, this whole ship looks fit for a royal. It isn't just the cabin either. Even the ship's wheel has these little ornaments on them and I honestly can't see you spending money on them… well, actually I can but Fran would definitely stop you. Also even before that, the steps going up to the wheelhouse have a carpet just like the one in here," Luna deduced with a smug smile. "So, whose ship is this really, Balthier?"

"Is she usually like this?" Balthier asked Sora.

"She reads a lot of mystery novels," Sora explained.

Balthier sighed and leaned his forearm again the doorway. "Well if you must know, I won it in a game of Liar's Dice against some rich bloke in a tavern in Tortuga. He seemed pretty confident that he was a master deceiver so I called him out on his bluff, although I'm not quite sure he was in right state of mind at the time…"

Sora looked on baffled. "He was drunk?"

"I never said that. I just said he wasn't in the right state of mind," Balthier repeated.

"Okay, let's go with that then. Suppose he wasn't 'in the right state of mind'. If he wasn't aware of what was going on at the time, then you still stole it!" Sora said.

"Even if it was as you claim it is, I'm a sky pirate. It's in my nature," Balthier retorted.

"A sky pirate? What's that?" Sora asked.

"You should know considering you've been using one for a while now. This isn't actually Fran and mine's home. Our true home is up there in the clouds." Balthier looked and pointed upwards before looking back at them. "We use a Gummi Ship to get around. Just like you do. I call her The Sheva. She and I have been through a lot together, thick and thin. I promised I'd take her all the way to end of the universe if it meant securing the ultimate treasure."

"The ultimate treasure?" Sora asked with a sceptical grimace.

"All of this. Everything Fran, Sheva and I have been through has been nothing but trial and error, a means to an end. That end is Treasure Planet. A planet with the loot of a thousand worlds, or so the legend goes," Balthier said.

"Wait. So you don't even know it exists for sure then?" Sora asked.

"Belief goes a long way, Sora. Remember Sandy Claws?" Luna reminded him.

Sora sighed and smiled. "Yes, I remember Sandy Claws. Fair enough, I guess I'm just a bit cranky from not getting a good bed to sleep in for so many days. I'm sure you'll find it eventually, Balthier."

Balthier muttered something under his breath like "Before I die, I hope" but when confronted about it by Sora, Balthier simply waved it off as being nothing. As much as he wanted to see whether this Treasure Planet really existed or not, he didn't have time for it. His concerns were a lot more immediate than that.

After half an hour of eating and growing accustomed to the warmth that was an actual room again after so long, Sora and Luna stepped outside to a sea now bereft of fog and headed over to Balthier and Fran by the wheel.

"How long until we reach Port Royal?" Luna asked.

"A few more hours. It's probably best you get some rest before then," Fran answered.

"But you still haven't told us about you guys yet. How did you two meet?"

"Right, I suppose I did promise. Here, how about you take the wheel while I talk?" Fran offered to Luna.

"Really? I can?" Luna asked. Fran nodded and stood to the side, allowing Luna to take over the helm. Luna smiled nervously at Fran before looking back at the open sea in front of her. "Well, let's just hope there are no icebergs about."

"We're on Caribbean waters. I wouldn't worry too much about that if I were you," Balthier said. "Now where do I begin? What would you like to hear first?"

"Maybe you can tell us a bit about the Viera and Fran?" Sora asked.

"The Viera are a pretty secluded race that were scattered over many worlds," Balthier said.

"But the worlds are all whole now, right?" Sora asked.

"I did say were. Now they are they merely separated under the same land and sea as well. It makes very little difference to the story either way. In the world Fran and I come from, her village is hidden deep within a jungle," Balthier said.

"The woods contain powerful magic as defence mechanism. As soon as I left I began to forget bits and pieces of my home every day. Now, I can't really say it's my home anymore and if I returned I would most certainly be considered an outsider," Fran added.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Luna said. "Why did you leave your home in the first place?"

"I saw the world you humans inhabit. Usually when we go hunting, we would stick to the jungle. Not only did it have everything we needed but it was the rules that we could not leave the jungle. One day while I was hunting deer, I went out farther than I should have. When I reached the border between the jungle and the wide open fields, I could not help but be curious so I peaked. That peak was enough to open a whole new world for me, one that I hadn't even known existed. My entire life I had been taught that the world outside was full of dangers and yet when I stepped out into the open, I never felt fear, or any other negative emotion that us Viera had been conditioned to expect of the outside world.
"I returned to my village with what I felt was a heavy secret. I began to question things about what I had been told, sometimes openly. No one had caught on that I had seen the outside world but I had changed. My curiosity eventually got to me and one night I just decided that I needed to leave. I snuck off into the night without difficulty and since then I have not looked back."

"I can understand that. I've always dreamt of seeing the stars. It's thanks to Sora and his friends that I was able to do that though," Luna said. "How did you find the world outside your home after you left?"

"I was terrified for a while. People would stare at me as if I were a strange thing when I walked past them. I was thinking of heading back to my village to face whatever punishment awaited me for desertion when I came across Balthier," Fran said.

Balthier chuckled. "Indeed. I was just a youth when I came across Fran."

"A youth who was into stealing ships, no less," Fran said, eliciting a look from Balthier.

"Always the glass half empty type, aren't you? Well, to be more accurate, I suppose you could say I stole it from my father. He was a scientist who was studying gummi blocks. He was always absorbed in his work, none too interested in his own son. I detested him. One day, I stumbled across one of the projects my father was working on, The Sheva. Probably out of neglect, probably out of a sense of possible adventure, I was lured by my own whims into taking it. Before I could though, I realized that I had a fan admiring from afar, or a stalker. In any case, I asked Fran if she wanted to come along and that was that."

"That was it? Just like that?" Sora asked.

"What's wrong with that? This isn't some folk tale that can be interpreted in different ways. It's history," Balthier said.

"I probably decided to go with him… because of the way he looked at me," Fran admitted. "Or perhaps I should say how he did not. He was not like the others who stared at me like I were an alien. He talked as if he were talking to any other person. Maybe it was because he too felt like an outsider that we were able to bond so quickly."

"Aw, Balthier really does have a charming side to him," Luna said.

Balthier huffed and looked. "As if there were any doubt."

"So, are you two… you know… a couple?" Sora asked.

"No. We're just travelling companions," Fran said simply.

"Say that a little more monotonously next time, why don't you?" Balthier said sarcastically. He soon looked back to Sora and asked, "So how did you two find yourselves on the Dutchman anyway?"

"Well, that's…"

"A really long story," Luna finished.

After having recounted their experiences on the raft, Sora joined Luna at the port side of the ship where she was leaning and resting her head against the railing.

"You know, I think the hammock's a better place to sleep," Sora joked, resting his arms on the railing.

"Strangely enough, I'm not as tired now, probably because something has actually happened to us," Luna replied. She looked out to an ocean again and smiled. "I love this. I really do. I don't think I could ever go back to Alexander after. I could do this…" She broke away from the railing and spun around. "Forever and ever. Hehe, I don't want to stop!"

"Luna…"

Luna stopped and swayed from side to side. "Woah, I'm dizzy. Hm? Yes, Sora?"

"Don't do that again," Sora said.

"Do what again?" Luna asked confused. The grin from her face faded upon seeing how serious Sora was.

"What you did back on the Dutchman. As amazing as it was, I was afraid, not of Jones but of you. You kept egging him on and pushing like you didn't care what he'd do to you, like you didn't have a filter. We can't afford to get overconfident. I know you love all this but don't let it get to your head. I don't want to lose you," Sora said.

Luna gave an apologetic smile and nodded. "I'm sorry. I did get carried away there, you're right. I wasn't thinking of how you felt. I was just on this rush and I couldn't help myself. I won't do it again."

She shared a hug with Sora, who said to her, "Now what do you say to getting some rest, huh? It's been twenty one days."