A/N:

Disclaimer: Not only do I not only Pirates of the Caribbean or anything associated with it, but I also don't own the song the character is singing in this chapter. I cannot write song so I took two songs written by Rogers and Hammerstein from their musical Cinderella and sort of combined them into one. If anyone's interested they're called "Loneliness of Evening" and "the Prologue".

Chaper 10: A Singing Man

Elizabeth's POV:

I sat in the room under deck that I shared with Will alone in the dark, sitting on the bed, starring at the wall contemplating everything that had just occurred. Henry and I didn't fight often, but it wasn't like this was our first fight. That being said though, this one somehow felt a little bigger than any we'd had before. I'd lied to him about Jack and now he knew. I'd only done it to protect him though, hadn't I? Yes, if he'd known that I knew Jack he would have been even more motivated to go after him. I'd done the right thing, hadn't I? I wasn't even sure anymore.

I heard the door open behind me, but didn't move. A part of me secretly hoped it was Henry, but another part of me knew better.

"Elizabeth," Will's voice echoed from behind me.

I turned to face him. I couldn't stop myself if I'd wanted to. Whenever he called I would instantly turn. It was uncontrollable.

"Are you alright?" Will asked, frowning.

I felt myself frown as well. "Is Henry alright?" I asked, avoiding his original question. My answer to Will's question greatly depended on his answer to my own. When I'd left Henry, he had still seemed very upset towards me. I hoped that Will had at least been able to calm him down.

Will sighed. "Henry will be fine," he answered, sitting down beside me.

I looked downwards at my hands and fiddled with them. That wasn't what I'd wanted to hear. 'Will be fine' was a lot different than 'was fine.' I shook my head, looking back up at Will again.

"I don't know why I thought he would never find out about Jack," I admitted.

Will nudged himself closer towards me on our bed. "You did what you did to help keep him safe," he replied, calmly.

I looked back at my hands again. I didn't want to look at him. I felt too ashamed about lying to Henry.

"He'll forgive you in time," Will said, lifting his hand to gently rub my shoulder.

As much as this was the greatest fight Henry and I had ever endured, in a way it felt easier than all the other ones. That was because Will was there. Him sitting there beside me made all the difference.

I turned to face Will again and a small smile swept across my lips. "He will," I agreed, "He inherited his father's forgiving nature."

Will smiled in return his eyes dancing with my own.

I was so relieved that we were over all the confusion Jack's death originally brought. Many years ago Will thought I loved Jack, but those days and those worries were long past. At first I had worried that perhaps all this talk of Jack and the kraken would cause some resentment between Will and I again as we both knew the one piece of information we had left out when telling the story to Henry—the kraken had only got Jack because I had chained him to the ship while distracting him with a kiss.

Perhaps if I were to be truly honest, a very small part of me did want to know what it would taste like to be with a man who was so free and not bound by any laws and expectations of society. Those feelings all quickly vanished, immediately after I'd tried it though. They hadn't really meant anything ever. I knew then just as I knew now, Will was and always would be the only one for me.

Will leaned closer to me and brushed a stray hair out of my face and gently placed it back behind my ear. His hand moved to caress my cheek gently as his lips moved in to meet my own. The kiss was passionate. I wanted and hoped it would perhaps have turn into something more. It had been awhile since we had any time for romance. However, I stopped when I heard a nearby voice and not just any voice, but a singing voice. Something felt off.

The voice began to sing:

"I wake in the loneliness of sunrise,
Where the deep purple haven turns blue,
And start to pray,
As I pray each day,
That I'll hear some word from you."

I broke apart from Will and leaned back slightly. "Do you hear that?" I asked.

Will nodded. "Who is that?"

The voice continued singing;

"I lie in the loneliness of evening,
Looking out on a silver flaked sea."

"I don't know," I replied, "But it sounds almost like it's coming from the sea."

Will and I both leaned across the bed in our small quarters and looked out of the porthole. The room was so small we barely had to move to do so.

What I saw was a rather strange sight indeed. Out in the middle of the sea was a man on a small row boat. It was undoubtedly dangerous to have nothing but a dingy this far out at sea. There was no land in sight and should any sort of storm approach the man would not stand a chance at survival.

The other thing that was odd was that the man was wearing no shirt, another thing I wouldn't particularly recommend doing out at sea as the nights could grow very cold. He wore some sort of necklace against his chest that had a cross on the end. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a few pieces hanging out.

He continued to sing:

"And ask the moon,
Oh how soon?
How soon?
Will my love return to me?"

"There's a man out there in a rowboat!" I said to Will, as thought he wasn't able to see for himself,"We have to take him on board! Something must be wrong, why else would he be out there alone?"

I quickly jumped off the bed and headed towards the door of our small room. Before anyone could stop me I ran to the steps reaching to the deck above as I did so yelling, "Man overboard!"

Will followed behind me. We both leaned over the side of the ship and saw the man. Oddly, the man seemed to act as though our ship wasn't even there. I looked at Will and turned behind me to make orders.

"Prepare to bring him aboard!" I called.

A few crew members turned and begin to walk towards the edge of the ship, but Jack quickly stopped them.

"No!" he yelled, coming up from behind us. "No, no, no, no! Don't bring the man aboard! As you were men, as you were!"

The crew members that were listening to me instantly turned and walked away.

"We can't just leave him there," I argued, "He'll die!"

Jack shrugged. "He doesn't seem too worried about that."

He was right. The man still seemed oblivious to anything that was happening around him. He simply continued singing:

"Will my love return to me?
I have found her,
She's an angel,
With the depths of the stars in her eyes."

Will stepped between Jack and I. "Oblivious or not," he protested, "We can't just leave him there!"

Henry suddenly came running up from under the deck as well. "There's a man out there!" he yelled, facing the crew members that were still on deck. "Man overboard! We must bring him aboard!"

"No!" Jack yelled to the crew, "Don't listen to him either."

They shrugged and went on with their business.

"We can't just leave him there," Henry protested, "We're too far out to sea. He could die."

Jack lifted his finger and began waving it as he replied. "There," he began, "Are too many Turners aboard me ship."

"You can't just leave him there, Jack," Henry argued.

"And not only are there too many Turners," Jack continued, ignoring Henry. "But there are too many uneducated Turners." He stopped waving his finger and frowned. "Really Henry I would have thought better of you."

Henry crinkled his nose as his mouth twisted. "What?" he asked.

"When the trident broke a bunch of cursed beings were released from their curses," Jack explained, sternly "Which in turns means those dangerous beings are roaming the sea and likely seeking revenge against their enemies. So if we find an odd man in the middle of the sea singing some pathetic song do we bring him aboard my ship and hope he's innocent and thus risk bringing a previously cursed pirate on me ship?"

We all stood in silence for a moment starring at Jack.

"No," Jack said, shaking his head. "The answer is no. No! NO!"

The man continued singing again. This time he somehow seemed sadder, almost as though he would break into tears at any moment.

"I lie in the loneliness of evening,
Looking out on a silver flaked sea,
And ask the moon oh how soon,
How soon,
Will my love come home to me."

Henry starred forward, frowning as his drooped. "We really did start quite a mess by breaking the trident, didn't we?"

Jack nodded then shrugged. "Pretty much."

"Syrena!" the man suddenly yelled, no longer singing. "Syrena, where are you?!"

Jack flinched. "Well anyways, let's be going now, forget him."

I couldn't though. That man didn't seem harmful. He seemed heartbroken like he had lost his love and was awaiting her return. That was what he kept singing about, wasn't it? I knew what heartbreak looked like well having experienced it for many, many years when Will was forced into captaining the Dutchman. This was a man in distress not a villain.

"I don't think he's an enemy," I protested, "He seems hurt."

"To lure you in," Jack argued, shrugging again.

"Father!" Henry interrupted, smiling as his eyes lit up, "You know many things about sea myths and creatures. Have you heard of this singing man before?"

Will shook his head. "No."

I bit my lip. This was wrong. We couldn't just leave him there, could we? What if he really was innocent.

"Jack!" I yelled, "We can't just leave him there. Now you and your crew will listen to me and do as I say. Like it or not I am your Pirate King and..."

Jack cut me off before I could finish. "And need I remind you?" he asked, "Why you are Pirate King?"

I felt my teeth grind together. Of course I knew why I was Pirate King. It was because Jack had elected me by being the only pirate to vote for someone other than himself. That didn't mean I thought he deserved any credit for it now though.

"Mother?" Henry asked, holding his mouth open, nodding for me to continue, when I said nothing.

"When you elected me Pirate King," I replied facing Jack, "You forfeited your right to use that against me."

"You're Pirate King because Jack elected you?" Henry asked as his eyebrows furrowed.

There I was trying to help ease the tension between Henry and I and Jack was making it worse again.

"And don't forget it!" Jack exclaimed in response to Henry, grinning.

"Why does it seem like you spent far more time with Jack than you ever let on?" Henry asked. I noticed that his breathing was starting to get heavy. His eyebrows continued to furrow as his frown grew.

"Henry," I cried, "I never meant to hurt you."

It was all I could say. I could barely justify having kept the truth from him anymore. I'd only done so in hope of protecting him from a fate similar to his father's.

I turned to face Jack again, eyeing him. "I owe you nothing, Jack," I said, coldly.

Henry pulled his left hand into a fist. "The more I learn," he said, gritting his teeth, "The more it seems that isn't true at all."

I could not believe I was really having this argument with my son. I hated Jack. I hated him with every ounce of my being.

"Everything terrible in my life," I began, turning to Jack angrily, "Was because of you. My wedding was ruined because my fiance was arrested because he helped you by saving from you from your own hanging. Instead of thanking him you went and threw him aboard the Dutchman with Davy Jones to help pay your debt to the evil man. Then when Will escaped, Jones killed him. Would Jones have even known him if you hadn't just tossed him aboard the Dutchman in the first place? No, he wouldn't have known him to kill him! And my father..."

"Elizabeth," Will said, calmly, cutting me off before I could continue my rant, "Jones killed me because we were in love. That had nothing to do with Jack."

I could feel the anger begin to burn inside me. I felt the heat radiating from my cheeks as my jaw clenched.

"I remember that day clearly," I spat, "I've had nightmares upon nightmares of it. Jack had Jones' heart. He could have stabbed it right then and there, stopping Jones forever, but did he? No. He had to mumble something about 'holding life and death in one's hand,' giving Jones all the time he needed to stab you, Will. If Jack had just stabbed the heart immediately..."

"If Jack hadn't said anything," Will protested, interrupting me again, "Jones would have killed me right then and there anyway. He would have made sure of it even if took his last breathe out of him to do it. Jack speaking bought us time that's it. If Jack had stabbed Jones heart immediately I'd be dead, Jack would be captaining the Dutchman and Henry would never have been born."

I blinked away the tears that longed to fall. He was wrong.

"But if we'd never got involved with Jack in the first place," I protested, my voice breaking as I fought off the tears, "If he'd never come to Port Royal we could have been together without a twenty-some year curse. My father would still be alive. Henry could have grown up with a real family around."

"Mother," Henry argued, concerned, now him cutting me off instead of Will, "I did grow up with a real family around."

I bit my lip, blinking back more tears. I would not them fall out, not at that moment. While I was happy that my son had me, he could have had so much more. I sighed, very loudly, and opened my mouth to protest.

Now it was Jack's turn to interrupt me only he did so before I could even get a single word out edgewise. "Funny luv," he stated, "I seem to remember everything happening a little differently than the way you seem to put it."

I sighed again.

"Elizabeth," Will said, lovingly, concern for me shining in his eyes. "Jack may not be the greatest man to ever live..."

"I'd argue that," Jack said.

Will continued as if he hadn't even said a word. "But he is a good man. One who did help me to save your life when the pirates took you from Port Royal all those years ago..."

"For his own personal gain!" I argued, cutting him off as well.

Will shrugged. "While that may be true, he did help give me the courage in a sense to admit my true feelings about you."

I couldn't help but to smile at that comment. I quickly brushed the smile off my face though. That was not the time for that.

"And I think," Will continued, "We both know deep down that he had little to nothing to do with your father's death."

That was somewhat true, I supposed.

"And we did agree to fight Jones while he wasn't even aboard our ship," Will continued. Jack began nodding along to everything he said, pouting all the while.

"And he did help in the fight against Jones greatly," Will still continued in his calm, reassuring voice, "And we both know, as much as you for some reason seem to be denying it, Jack is the reason I'm alive today. He saved my life, Elizabeth.

No one could have stopped Jones. None of us saw it coming. But while unable to stop him, Jack still saved me. He could have used the heart for himself and had the immortality he'd always longed for.

Since before we even knew him, Jack was searching for immortality. The cursed Aztec gold, you remember him grabbing one? Why? To gain temporary immortality. Then he only returned it to lift the curse and kill Barbossa."

Henry tilted his head and twisted his face at that comment. I supposed there was a lot we hadn't told him of our pirating adventures like how Barbossa had been killed once before and then returned from the dead by Tia Dalma or as some may call her Calypso, the sea goddess herself.

"And then when Jack had immortality within his grasps," Will went on, "He gave it all up, Elizabeth. For us."

I frowned and closed my eyes for a mere moment taking everything that Will had just said in. He was right. I didn't want him to be right, but I knew he was.

I snuffled as I opened my eyes again. I would not cry though, not in front of Jack and in such a public place where any of the crew could join us at any moment. I looked up and my eyes met Will's. His loving gaze made me somehow feel better in spite of everything.

"Then who is to blame?" I asked, my voice breaking even more than before as I held back sobs.

Will shook his head and walking towards me, wrapped his arms around me. He gently used his hand to tilt my head into his chest and held it there in a protective stance.

"Jones," Henry answered quietly before anyone else could. "Jones is to blame," he said a little louder.

I felt a couple tears run down my face. I couldn't control it anymore. The past twenty-some odd years had been so awful. I just wanted my husband. I just wanted to be a family. Now that I finally had that chance, Jones was trying to ruin it again.

"Mother," Henry continued, shaking his head slowly, "You've been blaming Jack this whole time, who well… perhaps somewhat of a bad luck charm? He really isn't entirely at fault. I mean sure he made some… mistakes from the sound of it… putting father on the Dutchman in the first place and… I'm sure he did some other things… I mean he's… he's Jack… He's a pirate. But… he's a pirate who saved father's life."

Jack shrugged. "Should listen to your family, Lizzie."

I felt my jaw clasp shut again. "Don't," I warned, from my place against Will's chest, "Call me Lizzie."

Jack grinned and I took that as a good sign. If he was mad at me for blaming him for everything he probably wouldn't have grinned, I figured.

"Just," he said, pointing his finger in the air towards me, "Do me one favor, luv."

I rolled my eyes, sighing. "What?"

"When you make more spawns," he replied, grinning, "Tell 'em about me would you?"

I rolled my eyes. Why did he even care? "Fine," I sighed.

I heard Will laugh lightly under his breath. Of course he would find that amusing. Men could be so stubborn.

Suddenly, the man in the boat began to sing again. It was louder this time though.

"The moon is aglow in autumn yellow,
And the sea is a robin's egg blue,
It makes you wish,
When you fall asleep,
You will dream about the view."

"Are we really just going to leave him there?" Henry asked.

I was crying by that point. I didn't care anymore. It wasn't a downright sob, just some quiet tears dripping softly down my face that was still against Will's chest. I felt safe there—safe enough to even cry in front of Jack.

Jack shrugged, frowning.

"You really think he's dangerous?" Will asked, looking at Jack.

Jack just shrugged again.

The man in the rowboat continued to sing;

"Bizarre and improbable and pretty,

As a page from the fairy tale books."

"Captain!" Gibbs yelled, running towards us. I supposed he had come up from below deck. I hadn't seen him earlier that night. "Captain, ain't that be the missionary, sir?"

"Aye," Jack nodded.

Gibbs stood there for a moment as though he expected Jack to say more then when Jack didn't he tilted his head slightly and slowly opened his mouth to endure.

"Should we not be taking him aboard, Captain?"

Jack shook his head. "Nope."

"No?" Gibbs asked.

"You mean to tell me you know this man?" Will asked, his stance straightening, but still keeping me in his arms.

"Knew," Jack corrected, "But barely."

"Well is he a vengeful, previously cursed man or not then?" Will asked.

"The missionary?" Gibbs questioned, shaking his head, "No hardly cursed. A little loopy maybe, but not cursed."

"Jack!" I gasped, "Then how can you leave him out there?" I felt my tears drying up as I began to focus on the present dilemma instead of the pain of the past. I could only hope Jack had good reason for leaving the poor man alone, though I doubted it.

"Mr. Gibbs, the last time we left said missionary do you remember where it was that we left him?" Jack asked.

Gibbs shrugged. "Somewhere by the Fountain of Youth?" he asked.

Henry's eyes lit up. "You've been to the Fountain of Youth?" he exclaimed, "It's real too?!"

Jack shrugged. "Quite a let down really."

"What does it matter where you left him?" I asked, raising my head from Will's chest, but still allowing his arms to embrace my body. I didn't want to leave his embrace fully. I liked when he held me especially when I was stressed.

"Mermaids," Jack said as though that was an answer.

Gibbs nodded as if he suddenly understood everything and turned to walk away.

"Mermaids?" I questioned.

"Mermaids," Jack repeated, nodding, again as though that answered everything. It didn't.

Gibbs left and went back under deck to whatever he'd been doing previously, sleeping I presumed.

The man, the missionary as they called him, in the boat continued singing.

"It makes you wish,
That the world could be,
As lovely as it looks."

"So we're going to leave him there," Henry bided, "Because… mermaids?"

Jack nodded. "Yupp."

"Mermaids?" Henry repeated.

"Mermaids," Jack repeated as well nodding again.

"But," Henry protested, "There's no more curses."

Jack nodded. "But… mermaids."

"So with no more curses," Henry persisted, "Wouldn't that mean the mermaid can't kill us?"

Jack shook his head. "Murder isn't a curse."

"But they can't put us in a trance!" Henry argued, excitedly, "If they can't use their powers to corrupt our minds and pull us to our deaths why does it matter? Why fear them?"

"Do you notice what the man is doing?" Jack asked.

Instantly Henry, Will and I all turned to look to where the man was still singing in his boat. He didn't appear to be doing anything odd. He was just sitting there starring out to sea singing.

"And so I pray,
As I pray each day,
That I'll hear some word from you."

"He's," Henry answered, unsure, "sitting in a boat?"

Jack sighed. "And?"

Henry's one eyebrow raised as he frowned shaking his head. "And… and starring?" he guessed.

Jack waved his hand in a circular motion, signaling for him to continue. "And?!"

Henry shook his head again. "And… and singing?"

"Yes!" Jack exclaimed, "And singing! And why would a man who is known for associating with mermaids be singing?"

Henry nodded, frowning. "Oh."

"What?" I asked, "What did I miss? Why is he singing?"

"He's trying to call the mermaids," Henry answered.

"Why though?" Will posed, "Why call mermaids?"

"That," Jack said, pointing his finger in the air once again, "Is the sort of question which makes him not welcome aboard my ship, savy?"

Will and Henry nodded. I shrugged as I looked at the singing man one last time. He seemed content enough to be left alone. He clearly must have known our ship was nearby, yet he didn't seem to be interested in getting our attention or asking to board.

Something was wrong though. He appeared so distraught. Was it really right to leave him there?

My thoughts were disturbed by a splash in the water below.

"What was that?" Will asked.

Jack shrugged. "Mermaids?"

The four of us ran to the side of the ship where the noise had come from. We looked over the edge and saw exactly what had caused the noise.

"Nope, not mermaids," Jack responded, answering his own question, "Horologist."

There below, Carina was in a small rowboat that had been attached to the side of the ship and was now using it to row out to the missionary. Marty and Scrum were above deck where the rowboat had previously been kept with a few ropes and rope ladder.

"What are you doing?!" Jack asked, throwing his hands in the air in panic and then back down again.

"Miss Barbossa," Scrum answered, "She said we needed to help 'er save the man, she did."

"And since when does anyone other than the captain give orders on the ship!?" Jack yelled.

Marty looked up, holding one of the ropes. "She said she had orders from you."

"Well she lied!" Jack exclaimed, "Anyone who associates with mermaids is not welcomed on me ship, savvy!?

Marty nodded. "So what do we do if she comes back with him?" he asked.

"Leave her," Jack spat.

"Jack!?" Henry protested, stepping forward.

"If she wants to associate with men who associate with mermaids then that's her problem. If she wants to bring them aboard me ship then that's my problem and I say we leave her."

Marty and Scrum nodded and both dropped the ropes they'd been holding.

"Jack!" Henry gasped as his eyes widened.

Jack put his hand on Henry's shoulder. "There'll be other girls, mate."

Henry frowned as his nose begin to flinch. "I don't want other girls!" he argued.

He dodged past Jack, Marty and Scrum and grabbed the rope ladder they had had by them on the floor. "I'm bringing her back aboard the ship," he sternly said, not even looking at Jack, "Whether you like it or not."

"No, no, none of that!"

"Jack!" Will warned as his eyebrows creased.

I reached for my sword and pulled it from it's sheath, facing it towards Jack. "That girl," I cautioned, "Is coming with us. Whether she brings that man along or not."

Jack frowned and pulled out a gun he had on his belt. He pulled the cock and faced it towards me.

Will instantly pulled out his sword in reaction. "You can't kill her and me before I stab you," he warned.

Henry dropped the rope ladder he'd been messing with and jumped between Jack, Will and I. "STOP!" he yelled. "Why are you and my mother," he asked, turning to face Jack, "Always trying to kill each other?"

Jack shrugged and put his gun away. Bloody pirates. This was ridiculous. This sort of thing never happened in my village. I sighed and put my sword away.

"So you agree to let Carina on the ship?" Will asked, still pointing his sword towards Jack.

Jack tilted his head and paused for a moment then nodded. "Yupp," he agreed.

Will began to put his sword away then stopped and lifted it back up again. "With the man?" he questioned.

Jack rolled his eyes. "With the man," he sighed. "I was Captain of this ship once," he mumbled, wiggling his nose. He turned and walked away from us, looking downwards as he did so and kicking the air the whole time. He continued mumbling to himself the whole time. "Bloody Turner. Oh I know everything I captained the Dutchman once. I'm a lovesick puppy. Let's make a baby Turner so he can be annoying as well. Oh baby's a lovesick puppy too least he's..." He was out of earshot before I could hear anymore.

~0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0~

Not long after that Carina had returned the rowboat to our ship and Marty, Scrum, Will, Henry and I helped pull her and the boat up with the missionary man as well.

The missionary man wore his brown hair in a messy ponytail with a few loose strands dangling out of place. He had bangs that reached to just above his eyebrows that seemed to just be going in whatever direction they felt. He had a thin mustache and a bit of facial hair on his chin, not as much as Will had and it seemed a lot thinner. He had brown sideburns as well.

"What's your name?" I asked the man as Henry helped Carina on to the ship and off the dingy.

"Philip," he answered. The entire time he seemed to be gazing far away.

"Why are you looking for mermaids?" Henry asked, turning from Carina to face Philip as Philip pulled himself out from the rowboat and stepped foot onto the Pearl.

"How did you know?" he asked, his endless gaze finally ending as he made eye contact with Henry.

Henry shrugged, frowning. "I figured there's no other reason for a man to be alone singing at sea?" he said as though he were asking a question. I supposed he didn't want to acknowledge that he knew Captain Jack Sparrow quite yet. There was no telling whether Philip's previous encounter with Jack had been a good one.

"Her name's Syrena," Philip answered, smiling as he looked out towards the sea again. "She's the love of my life. Without her life has no purpose."

I smiled. I knew exactly how he felt.

"We were together," he went on, "The kiss of a mermaid is cursed..."

I noticed Henry, Will and Carina as well as myself all tense up at that comment.

Philip didn't seem to notice. "Once a mermaid kisses you, you can live under water. We were together there. Years must have passed. It was wonderful. Then suddenly, it was as though the curse stopped. I could no longer breath under water. I almost drowned.

Syrena tried to kiss me again, but it did nothing. She got me to the surface just in time. She went to find what caused this, but she hasn't come back. I've tried singing every night to find her. Mermaids are suppose to hear the songs of sailors and come to them, generally not to do good, but Syrena is different. She would never harm me. It's almost as though she can't hear my singing though; as though that curse isn't working either."

My stomach felt uneasy hearing that. I'd never thought that ending my husband's curse and thus securing my happy-ever-after could end others happiness. What other pain had my son caused when he'd broken that trident?

"Captain gives orders on the ship!" Jack yelled, walking towards us again. It was as if he'd come out of nowhere.

I rolled my eyes. Could he not just go away?

"Now we're going to find my old best mate Barbossa," Jack explained, looking at Philip, "You can or you cannot come with us, but there'll be no mermaids or mermaid hunts welcome aboard me ship, savvy?"

"But Carina," Philip protested, "She said she could help me find Syrena."

Jack looked taken aback for a moment. "She did?"

Philip nodded.

"Oh. Well, she lied."

"Then I want to go back to my rowboat," Philip argued, "I need to find Syrena, she's bound to hear my song eventually."

"Wouldn't count on that," Jack said, shaking his head, "Curses aren't working the way they use to, mate. Mermaids can't hear singing. Silkies can't shed their skin. Captains of the Dutchman aren't captaining anymore. Ghost pirates aren't ghost. Just goes on and on, really."

"Why?" Philip asked, his eyes narrowing as his brow furrowed. "What caused all this?"

Jack shrugged. We all knew the answer to that though, all of us except Philip. Breaking the trident caused all this. Could I really justify my happy ending if it meant taking someone else's from them?

"Probably should go back to the dingy," Jack suggested, "Though depending on what type of "love" you're looking for I've got a horologist here!"

"Jack!" Carina gasped.

Philip moved his head back slightly while his neck and the rest of his body stayed in place."You have someone who studies time?" he questioned, almost as though he hoped that was what Jack meant by horologist.

"Finally someone who knows what it means," Carina said, relieved.

"Oh is that what that means?" Jack said, pretending to be surprised, "Well turns out she's taken by the eunch spawn here anyway. Wouldn't really get involved with those two if I were you, aye?"

Philip tilted his head in response. "What?"

Henry stepped forward. "I'm the eunch spawn... I think," he said, reaching his one hand out to shake Philip's while the other scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Name's Henry Turner and I think I can help you find Syrena."

That came as a surprise to me.

"You can?" Philip asked, a huge smile breaking across his face.

"Yupp!" Jack said, jumping in front of them, "After we find my best mate Barbossa we'll be

heading to find the son of Poseidon. Probably can help with your curse dilemma, maybe not though, depends how much you trust witches, though I've never known one to be wrong before..."

"Jack?" I asked. This was all news to me.

"Aye," Jack continued, "Then assuming everyone does as we wish the son of Poseidon, what's his name again, Henry?"

"Trident," Henry answered, starring at the ground in front of him.

I wondered what was happening and why Henry understood. What had Jack mumbled about witches? Did this have something to do with whatever Henry learned at the witch's in Saint Martin?

"Right," Jack exclaimed, "Trident. So we go to Trident and if he's willing he'll fix all that's wrong or tell us how to fix all that's wrong, probably that one. Then we sort of re-make all the curses. Including the curse that keeps your lovely little mermaid able to hear you singing, savvy?"

Philip frowned. "That's why Syrena isn't coming," he said, slowly, "She can't find me. She can't hear me singing."

Henry stepped beside Jack, facing Philip once more. "We'll fix this though," he assured, "We will. You won't be without your love forever." He looked towards Will and I making eye contact with us. "No one should be without their love forever."

A/N:

I know this is way overdue. I'm soo sorry guys. :( Real life has been so crazy this past week ... I tried to make this a longer one to make up for my lack of updates this past little while. I'm sorry, guys. Thanks for hanging in there and reading though!

And now to non-registered reviewers:

HenryXcarina - Im glad you liked Jack. I hope you appreciated him in this chapter as well. :) Thanks so much for your kind words and review :)

ButtKraken - It's funny you mentioned "my first and only love is the sea" cause I was totally thinking of that while writing that chapter. Really glad you liked everyone in the last chapter! Thanks for reviewing ! :)

Smithy - thanks for reviewing. I contemplate doing Henry/Carina POV but a part of me also really wants to keep this whole story in the Willabeth perspective cause I think it adds an interesting parental aspect . Thanks for reviewing again :D

Guest - sorry it took so long :( I really do apologize. Thanks for reviewing though.

She-elf - thanks for your review. It was so nice. I'm so glad you're loving this story and certain I write characters etc. :D Thanks for reviewing