Florida may have been the land of Agua de Vida, but the Fountain and its guardian certainly weren't going to jump out at them, begging them to take a drink from its mystic waters. Indeed, as the large group walked across the green plains, nothing except grass and trees were to be seen.
Jack and Barbossa walked at the head of the group, obviously competing for title of "leader." They silently squabbled, trying to walk ahead of each other, paying little attention to where they were going. The others, quite aware of this, had little choice but to follow their aimless path.
They found themselves soon in a dark, shadowed forest; while they walked, Jack and Barbossa had not noticed the placement of the trees was less spacey.
They stopped short and turned to each other.
"Ye got us into this mess!" Barbossa yelled, his contained fury at Jack for blackmailing him for assistance exploding in the form of shouting.
Jack blinked. "Did I?" he asked rhetorically. "I don't recall myself getting into a mess, mate. Your memory must be addled."
Barbossa shook with anger; he looked as though he was about to detonate. At loss for words, apparently unable to translate his rage into words, he threw down his hat. Jack picked it up again, beaming and twirling it casually in his hands.
"Jack," Fantine said suddenly. He looked over at her; during his lapse of concentration on Barbossa, the old pirate grabbed his hat back.
"Yes, Fantine, love?"
"Let me see your map."
Perplexed, Jack removed his map from his safe spot inside his coat and handed it to her.
The forest floor was soft and covered with rich brown soil, but Fantine sat down and unfurled Jack's map. She then reached into the pocket of her dress to retrieve the map she had taken from Barbossa earlier, by magic (Barbossa growled), but Jack's map promptly rolled itself up again. Elizabeth sat down, too, to hold Jack's map open , while Fantine unrolled Barbossa's map, and compared the two.
Jack's map was round, obviously because he had removed the center piece, the only piece engraved with writing and pictures, from the outside rectangular piece. Barbossa's, however, was complete.
"Look at the edge of this one," Fantine said tersely, tapping Jack's map. Jack bent over to look, as well as the curious Gibbs, Marty, Pintel and Ragetti. Elizabeth leaned into the map, contemplating it. Barbossa watched them for a few moments, but then, his curiosity overcame his fury, and also went closer for a peek.
Jack stared at the edge, thinking. It was bordered with a peculiar design….
"Those are parts of letters!" he said loudly. Pintel and Ragetti jumped and tittered girlishly at their own foolishness, pointing at each other and accusing the other of cowardice. Jack ignored their banter and shifted so as to look at Barbossa's map. It was quite similar – written in a blue rather than black ink, and looking as though drawn by a different hand, but similar nonetheless. The border around the edges of the round part, too, matched that of Jack's map.
"And those…" Jack said slowly, "are … other parts of letters."
Fantine smiled. "Halves, to be exact," she said, tapping the round map again. "The top half." She tapped Barbossa's map. "The bottom half."
All of Barbossa's previous anger ebbed away, to be replaced by complete interest.
"Aye, you've got it," he said eagerly. He grabbed his map away from Fantine and quickly removed the bamboo rectangle surrounding the circles, and placed it back in Fantine's hands before she could protest.
Fantine decided to ignore this odd action. She placed the maps, edge to edge, moving them slowly, until Jack, Elizabeth, and Barbossa all gasped – they saw a word: flowing.
"What? What?" demanded Marty, jumping up and down. He was blocked from viewing the maps by Gibbs, Pintel and Ragetti. They moved aside to let him see, and as they did so, Fantine continued to revolve the maps.
As the maps were round, she had to keep rotating them to read the entire riddle.
Shrouded under a cloak of green,
Flowing waters of peculiar sheen,
Should you wish life forevermore,
We help with these clues four.
First, find when green becomes black
For that is a step you cannot lack.
Second, Agua de Vida hides inside
A square that has been circumscribed.
Third, sparks of gold which you may see,
Hint you are as near as can be.
And fourth, do not overlook those simple rocks
For one may well be what 'tis not.
Everyone fell silent for several minutes, scrutinizing the maps.
Jack spoke first.
"Why must these riddles always be so incomprehensible?" he complained, voicing the concerns of every man (and woman) present. "Any clever notion, Fantine, love?"
"No," Fantine admitted, sighing. For once, the witch was stumped.
Elizabeth got up and stomped her left foot twice, much to Jack's surprise.
"Think!" she commanded. "Everyone, think! This could be the only chance I get to free Will!"
Jack ignored her burst of impatience, still staring at the maps.
Cloak of green, he thought. Green, green, green … he had seen so much green in the past few hours. The grass, the trees…. the trees?
"The trees," he blurted.
"What?" Fantine said.
"The trees are the cloak of green," he said. "Flowing and shrouded under a cloak of green…the Fountain is hidden somewhere in the trees."
"Brilliant," Fantine murmured, looking thoughtful. "Water of peculiar sheen. Yes, that must be referencing the water in the Fountain. It makes sense, doesn't it? The water has magical properties, so it seems reasonable to describe its having a 'peculiar sheen'."
"Let's search the forest, then," Elizabeth proposed, already beginning to walk off, but Barbossa called her back.
"It's no use going off in the forest to find it," he said, which was certainly true. "Unless you be wanting to search the whole forest?"
"No," Elizabeth said.
"Then wait till the whole bloody riddle is solved," Jack said cheerfully. So find where green turns black with haste … where did green turn black? In an art center, definitely. Painters could constantly mix up colors and easily turn green into black, but that was decidedly not an option. The idea of an art center hidden in the uninhabited forests of Florida was comical indeed.
"Green turns black, green turns black," Pintel and Ragetti sang together to no particular tune. "Hey!"
Barbossa frowned at them.
"Hey!" Pintel said again. "Green turns black. The leaves of trees look black at nighttime."
Jack's jaw dropped. Pintel was right, for the first time in the history of the Earth. The riddle was not referencing an actual color change; it was referring to the appearance of trees at night: they became black.
Fantine smiled at Pintel, who blushed.
"You're right," she said. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. Green turns black at night, definitely. So … we can assume that the Fountain can only be found at night? At night in the forest?"
Elizabeth shuddered.
"At night in the forest?" she repeated.
"I can't fathom what the gold might be," Fantine said, shifting the maps again. "Perhaps it's the actual Fountain?"
"No matter," Jack said vigorously. "That's all the information we need! Off we go!"
"Go where?" Barbossa asked pointedly.
Jack gave him a surprised look.
"Out of the forest until night, of course. What did you think I was talking about, mate? Look at poor Mrs. Turner. She's shivering from the face that we have to go into the forest at night! It might be kinder, in fact, to just leave her out of the forest for good, while we found that goddess lady and her Fountain."
"No!" Elizabeth objected. "No, I have to help!"
"Excellent," Jack said. "What do you propose we do, then?"
-----------
Stella LeBrixetange's heavily lidded eyes scanned the seemingly endless sea. Perhaps it had been unwise for her to venture forth, into this netherworld – when would she get out? Stella put down her pail of murky water and laid the map next to it.
Besides, if she and Tommi managed to find the key, they had no way to return to the land of the living.
"Any ideas?"
The bitter voice who spoke belonged to Tommi de Vollorad; he had appeared next to Stella, also holding a mop of dirty water.
Stella shook her head.
"Great," Tommi said sarcastically. "This is really great, Stella. Whose idea was this? Oh, yes. Yours. We're stuck in Davy Jones' Locker, with no key and no chest. And we've become deckhands. Thanks to your clever idea that we offer help cleaning up the ship.
"Be quiet," Stella said threateningly. "I didn't know that we'd be stuck her for over nine years when I learned about the chest."
"And whose fault is that?" Tommi asked, acrimony in his voice.
"Mine," Stella admitted; she was not one who blamed her mistakes on others. "You've made your point. Leave me alone."
Stella turned her back on Tommi, grabbed the mop, plunged it into the pail of water, and began scrubbing the deck of the Flying Dutchman with vigor.
Tommi sighed.
Where would William Turner hide his key?
His wife kept the chest: he knew that, and he knew Turner kept the key with him, somewhere on the ship.
Tommi pounded the rail of the Dutchman with his fists. Think, he told himself. Think.
Bootstrap Bill Turner scrutinized the zealously scrubbing Stella and the pondering Tommi, made uneasy by this image. He had heard the words "key" and "chest" many times in their whispered conversations. Bootstrap may have been old, but his hearing was quite as good as ever.
"William," he croaked, stepping into his son's cabin, where Will was sitting silently, looking out the single window with sadness. Will turned at the sound of his name.
"How are you feeling, son?" Bootstrap asked.
"Better," Will lied. He was not feeling better at all; there was still nine years and four months until he could see his beloved Elizabeth again. Time passed so slowly.
"Good," Bootstrap said, though he was certain Will was lying. "William … our guests are acting very … dodgy."
Will stared at his father. "Why – what's wrong?"
"They keep whispering to each other about the key and the chest," Bootstrap explained.
Will was silent.
"They're plotting something," Bootstrap said sullenly. "Hide the key elsewhere. Elizabeth has the chest; it should be safe in her hands."
Will nodded and walked over to a cabinet, from which he removed a tiny wooden box. A chain around his neck held a small golden key. He used this key to open the lock on the small box, which was engraved with the letters "ES" and "WT", inside a perfect heart shape.
"Will took out the black key that would open the Dead Man's Chest and looked Bootstrap, who shook his head.
"That box is safe enough, son," he said, and Will slowly lowered the key back into the little compartment. "The cabinet is not. Try some place else – inside the organ."
Davy Jones might have died, but his organ lived on. It stood in a corner of the captain's cabin, no longer covered with slime. Will lifted the lid of the organ, peered carefully inside, and gently placed the box on a musical pedestal. It did not matter if it damaged the instrument, for Will never played music.
If only Will and Bootstrap had looked to their left, for through a hole in the wall was a pair of avidly staring eyes.
---------
"We ought to find this 'square that has been circumscribed," Elizabeth said confidently. "At night, of course. I'm not frightened."
She drew herself up proudly.
"And in which direction do you suggest we go?" Barbossa asked roughly, the corners of his mouth turning down.
"Oh!" Fantine exclaimed suddenly.
They all looked at her; to everyone's surprise, she started laughing.
"I can't believe how silly we've been," she said. To Elizabeth, she asked, "What do you want most?"
"To free Will," Elizabeth declared. Of course.
"And how would you manage that?"
"By
finding Takimageya and asking her to free him …" Elizabeth's
words trailed off. "I thought the Fates said only they can free
him, and Takimageya won't have her powers unless she's
free?"
Fantine smirked. "There are other ways," she said
mysteriously. "The Fates don't want us to know, though." Then
she continued with her questions. "And where would you find
Takimageya?"
"The Agua de Vida," Elizabeth said slowly. Jack stared at the two conversing women, and it dawned on him – his compass.
With an unnecessary flourish, Jack removed his compass from his belt. Elizabeth looked from it to Fantine, obviously suddenly comprehending the girl's seemingly meaningless questions.
"So there's no need for the riddle at all!" Elizabeth exclaimed.
"Yes,
there is," Fantine contradicted. "Look at the last line. 'Do
not overlook those simple rocks, for one may well be something 'tis
not.' Doesn't that sound like a warning? As though cautioning us
to pay heed to what might be in the forest?"
Jack pondered this,
still clutching his precious compass.
"Yes,"
he said slowly. "But what matters the danger, if we don't meet
it? They're rocks, the riddle says. Just avoid the bloody
rocks."
"You can avoid," Fantine agreed," but only those
you can see. These riddles can be very dodgy. Rocks. Pebbles. They're
rocks, too. We can't see those from far away, and by the time they
prove they're something they're not, it might be too late."
Jack frowned. The girl was right (again).
"Kudos to you, love," he said. "Do you see another method as to navigated our way to Agua de Vida safely?"
"No," Fantine said. "Our best hope is to follow your compass, and be very vigilant."
"Agreed," put in Barbossa. "Lead the way, Jacky!"
"Don't call me that," Jack said airily.
Elizabeth was beginning to look impatient again.
"Lead the way, then," she said.
Jack flipped open his compass and winced.
It was definitely pointing at someone present: Fantine.
"What?" Elizabeth demanded.
"I think my compass must be misreading my desires," Jack lied. He glanced at the dim light behind him, where the scattering of trees was more random, and through which he could see the green plains. "It must be pointing back at the ships, because I desperately need rum."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "You and your rum," she said. "Let me lead, then. I definitely want to find the Fountain."
Uneasy, Jack handed her the compass. Elizabeth opened it and waited for the arrow to stop spinning.
"This way," she said shortly, pointing into the deepest, darkest part of the forest.
-------
Author's note:
Another long chapter!
It took me forever to right that riddle/poem, and when I finished, I realized these pirate explorers don't need to solve the riddle, because they have Jack's compass. Silly me.
Wowwww, I can't wait to write the next chapter! You know what's funny?
I never have writer's block. :)
