DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Pirates of the Caribbean. Only Ashley and Kate.

Chapter 10: The Brethren Court

Ashley's POV

As Elizabeth and Kate made their way to Shipwreck Cove, Gibbs, Jack, Barbossa, and the crew of the Black Pearl were just making sail.

"Look alive, and keep a weather eye! Not for naught it's called Shipwreck Island, where lies Shipwreck Cove and the town of Shipwreck!" Gibbs commanded.

"You heard him! Look lively!" Pintel shouted.

Jack stepped over to Gibbs. "For as clever cobs as we are pirates, we're certainly an unimaginative lot when it comes to names," he commented.

"Aye," Gibbs agreed.

"I once sailed with a geezer who lost both of his arms and part of his eye," Jack recalled.

"And what did you call him?" Gibbs asked.

"Larry," I said for him.

"Yes, Larry." Jack said.

Meanwhile, on the bow of the ship, Barbossa and Tia Dalma were engaged in a fierce argument. I decided to go and break it up before Calypso brings out her wrath on all of us...

"I don't renege on a bargain once struck," Barbossa told her, "But we agreed on ends only, the means are mine to decide."

"Caution, Barbossa," Tia Dalma warned, "Don't forget it was by my power that you returned from the dead and by what means you shall live."

Tia Dalma gripped Barbossa's wrist and turned it back to the formerly cursed, skeletal state.

"Barbossa! She brought you back! You owe her whether you like it or not!" I yelled at him with all my might.

Barbossa released his wrist from her grip. "Don't forget why you had to bring me back and why I couldn't leave Jack to his well-deserved fate," Barbossa advised her, "It took nine pirate lords to bind you, Calypso, and it'll take no less to release you. Masters Pintel and Ragetti!"

"You're making a big mistake. And you can't just boss people around!"

Pintel and Ragetti stood behind Calypso. "Well I don't see you being Captain...Take this fishwife to the brig!" Barbossa commanded.

Pintel and Ragetti took the goddess by both arms. "Right this way, Mrs. Fish!" Pintel said slyly.

Barbossa gave one last glance at his hand as Calypso was taken away. What an asshole! Now she for sure won't be in our favor! I need to talk to her. Theres no way Kate and I are going to be killed by the time this is all over. We don't have a certain fate here.

I went down to the brig to talk to Tia.

"Leave." I told Pintel and Ragetti. They did as they were told immediately.

"Tia..."

"Ashley. What may I do fer ya?"

"Well, I just...I'm worried about Kate and I. She needs her dad, this...it isin't the life for her. She wants to be normal."

"And yerself?"

"I want to stay. I want to travel to the Fountain of Youth and explore with Jack. But Kate...well, she for sure doesn't belong with Will, and...It's not her.

"I can send her back. But only once, and before the battle."

"And...will she be able to come back here to see me?"

"No. Once I return to my god form, there is no way."

"Oh...Well...I..."

"But a certain item can bring you both there and here. I have it,, but it will cost ye."

"What? Anything! I will do anything.."

"She must sacrifice her love for Will. He cannot see both Elizabeth and ye dear sister, Kate."

"And?"

"At the voyahge to the L'agua de viva, you must deal with Angelina...dear Blackbeard's daughter, who loves ye dear Jack."

"But...she'll kill me..."

"Not if your love is strong for Jack."

"I'll do it. I promise."

Tia then fished out two necklaces with an aquamarine stone in each. They were laced with pearls and so beautiful. I absolutely adored them!

"I saw this coming." Tia said. "Put your hand around the stone of the water, and you can go back. But be warned, there are many a people who would kill for these. Magical properties are not to be toyed with..."

"I understand. Would you like me to do anything else?"

"Guard it with your life. Folk might be surprised if a soldier of the British Navy showed up in Malibu."

"Okay, Thanks!" I said to her as I hugged her through the bars.

"I will watch you from the skies, young child." she said as I ran up the stairs. I went over to Jack.

"Jack? Can you help me with this?" I asked for him to put the necklace on me.

"Sure, luv. Where did you get this from, dear?"

"It's...I'll tell you later. When we're alone."

"I like the sound of that, luv." I laughed. Now everything was just...peachy?

I dozed off on deck, didn't really know what I was doing. Just dreams. Of Kate and her dad, my adopted father, Randy. They were happy, laughing. Finally in a nicer home. Kate still had her aqua necklace on, and...and, I wasn't there. I awoke to the sound of Gibbs. Uggh.

"Land ho!"

"Gawd please! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" I yelled.

"We're here luv." Jack whispered into my ear.

"Finally."

Jack and I climbed up to the main deck and watched as the Black Pearl entered Shipwreck Cove. The city was a fortress constructed out of shipwrecks long ago and the castle was brightened by many lamps. More than thirty ships crammed the docks of the city. Everyone looked on in awe.

"Look at them all," Pintel said in amazement.

"Shipwreck Cove, home of the Brethren Court," I said intelligently.

"Aye," Barbossa acknowledged, "There's not been a gatherin' like this in our lifetime."

Jack looked out to the docks. "And I owe them all money," he said sheepishly.

Barbossa was just about to give a command when Jack cried out, "Let go the anchor!"

Barbossa turned and glared at Jack. Jack simply grinned.

"Captain of the ship's givin' orders," he quipped.

Immediately, the Pearl docked at the harbor and the crew disembarked.

"You're amazed by this place now," Barbossa said wisely, "I warn you, this isn't as romantic as you might have read. Theses pirates are even fiercer than you and I. Mistress Ching, the Pirate Lord of the Pacific, for example, has her men cut off ears for souvenirs. Just be mindful of what you say and do and don't do anything stupid."

"Thanks for the advice," I said. But I know more than you do, remember?

The fortress was magnificent! Beautiful carvings, trinkets, and ancient lanterns scattered everywhere.

Jack ushered me to the table.

"Sit in my seat, luv. You're probably very tired."

"Thanks, but no thanks Jack. I'll need to protect you and myself from these pirates. They all hate you or have been betrayed by you...no offence."

"None taken, dearie. But I think they'll need me to release Calypso."

The pirates came in and gave me questioning looks. We then proceeded on to convene the Brethren Court. Barbossa slammed a chain shot down on the round table.

"I convene this Fourth Brethren Court," he declared, "If you'd present you're insignias. Master Ragetti."

Ragetti took a bowl and collected all the pieces of eight from the Pirate Lords. Each one gave a chalice, a broken bottle, eyeglasses, a queen of hearts, and some sort of African coin. Pintel craned his neck and his brow wrinkled.

"Those aren't pieces of eight. They're just pieces of junk!" he gasped.

"Aye, when the First Court met, the plan was intended to use actual pieces of eight, but when they arrived, they went skint broke," Gibbs explained.

"So they changed the name?" Pintel inquired.

"To what? Nine pieces of whatever we have in our pockets at the time? Oh, yes that sounds very piratey," Gibbs said smartly.

Ragetti then returned the bowl to Barbossa and gave a wince. "I kept it safe for you, just like you said," he told him.

"Aye, but now I need it back," Barbossa countered.

With that, he smacked Ragetti in the head and his wooden eye fell out into the bowl. Ragetti frowned as he bid his eye farewell. Barbossa then turned to Jack.

"Jack, your piece," he said.

Jack ran his fingers over the beads and coin on his bandana. "Have you noticed that all of the Brethren are not here yet?" Jack pointed out, "And I'm content as a cucumber to wait for Sao Feng to arrive."

"Sao Feng is dead," informed a voice.

Jack turned to see Elizabeth and Kate with Sao Feng's men.

"He fell to the Flying Dutchman," Elizabeth told them as she stabbed her sword into a globe with the swords of other Lords.

"Puh-lease don't make me listen to her again!" Kate!

"Katie!"

"Ashley!"

We both screamed like little girls and Mistress Ching shot us a look and scowled."

The Brethren were in an uproar.

Jack couldn't believe what he saw. "He named you Captain? He's giving the bloody title away!" he commented.

Elizabeth approached the table. "Listen to me. Our location has been betrayed. Beckett knows of the meeting of the Brethren and he is with Jones. They're on their way here," she informed every one of the Lords.

"Who is this betrayer?" Gentleman Jocard demanded.

"Not likely anyone among us," Barbossa commented.

Elizabeth looked around. "Where's Will?" she asked.

"Not among us," Jack told her.

"And it matters not who is the betrayer, but what shall be done once the enemy finds us?" Barbossa said wisely.

"We fight!" Elizabeth said ardently.

Immediately, the Brethren, with the exception of Elizabeth, Kate, and I exploded into uproarious laughter!

"Shipwreck Cove is a fortress," Mistress Ching said wisely, "A well-supplied fortress. There's no need to fight if they can't get to us."

All of the Brethren nodded and murmured in agreement.

"There is another pressing issue," Barbossa told them, "In another age, the First Court captured the sea goddess Calypso and bound her in her bones. That was a mistake. Oh, we tamed the seas for ourselves, but opened the door to Beckett, and his ilk. Better were the days when mastery of the seas came not from bargains struck with eldritch creatures, but from the sweat of a man's brow and the strength of his back alone. You all know this to be true. Gentleman, ladies, we must release Calypso."

Immediately, the Brethren was in chaos.

"Shoot him!" Ammand the Corsair cried.

"Cut out his tongue!" Gentleman Jocard said.

"Shoot him and then cut out his tongue and shoot his tongue! And trim that scraggly beard," Jack countered.

"No, trim the scraggly beard, cut out his tongue, and then shoot him!" Kate corrected, "Don't you know how to do it right?"

Barbossa, Jack, and Elizabitch gaped and wrinkled their brows at Katie. Kate blushed. "Sorry. Just thought of lending my wisdom," she apologized sheepishly, "Carry on."

"Sao Feng would have agreed with Barbossa," Tai Huang said.

"Calypso was our enemy then she will be our enemy now!" Gentleman Jocard reasoned.

"And iz not likely 'er mood's improved," Captain Chevalle added.

"I agree with Sao Feng. We release Calypso!" Villanueva protested as he set his gun down.

"You treaten me?" Chevalle demanded.

"I silence you!" Villanueva bellowed, striking the Frenchman.

The Court, with the exception of Jack, Barbossa, Elizabeth, Kate and I, erupted into a madhouse. Everyone was being punched and thrown all about!

Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was seeing. "This is madness," she commented.

"This is politics," Jack countered.

"What could you expect? This is pirate politics. It's bound to be mad," I said.

"Meanwhile our enemies are closing in on us," Elizabeth said grimly.

"If they be not here already," Barbossa added.

"What makes you think they aren't waiting for us to come out?" Kate countered gravely.

"Can't you do something?" Kate demanded

"What's there to be done?" I countered, "You said yourself how fierce they are. It's only their nature."

Jack and Elizabeth watched, dumbfounded. Barbossa leapt on the table and fired a shot from his pistol to hold the Court's attention. Unfortunately, the blast only heightened the brawl. Kate shook her head.

"That's it!" she groaned as she clambered on the table on top of Barbossa, "STOW IT! ALL OF YOU BEFORE I DRIVE MY SWORD THROUGH YOU AND SHOOT YOU MYSELF!"

All of the Brethren, excepting Captain Chevalle, were silent as the grave. Captain Chevalle continued to argue amongst his men.

I narrowed her dark eyes at him. French immersion comes in handy in these times. "Et toi, Capitan Chevalle, J'AI DIT L'AI FERME!" I bellowed, "Comprendre?"

Chevalle quivered with fear. "O-o-ui, ma dame," he stammered as he kicked his lieutenant, "OUI, MA DAME!"

Chevalle's men called out in agreement.

"Bon. Excellent," I replied with a triumphant smile as I touched the floor again.

Jack, Tai Huang, Elizabeth, and Barbossa all gaped at me.

"I don't know what she said, but it looks and sounds like we have order," Elizabeth commented.

Barbossa spoke once more. "I intend to release Calypso and in her gratitude, she will grant us boons!" he declared.

Jack gave a skeptical look. "Whose boons? Your boons?" he quipped, "Utterly deceptive twaddle speak, says I."

"If ye have a better alternative, please share," Barbossa groaned.

"Cuttlefish," Jack began, "Let us not, dear friends, forget our friend the cuttlefish. Flippant glorious little sausages. Pen 'em up together and they'll devour each other without a second thought. Human nature, isn't it? or... or...fish nature."

Oh god.

Jack placed his hands on Mistress Ching's shoulders. "We could hole up here well provisioned and well armed and half of us would be dead within the month, which seems grim to me any way you slice it," Jack commented wisely, "Or, as my learned colleague so naively suggests, we could release Calypso, and we can pray that she will be merciful. I rather doubt it. Can we in fact pretend that she is anything other than a woman scorned, like which fury hell hath no? We cannot. Res ipso loquitur tabula in naufragio, we are left with but one option. I agree with, and I cannot believe the words are coming out of me mouth…Captain Swann. We must fight."

Elizabeth, Katie, and I smirked.

Barbossa was in disbelief. "You've always run away from a fight!" he argued.

"Have not!" Jack protested.

"Have too!"

"Have not!"

"Have too!"

"Have not!"

"You have so and you know it!"

"Have not, slander and calumny. I have only ever embraced that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. I submit here and now, that is what we all must do, we must fight...to run away."

"Aye!" Gibbs agreed.

"As per the code, an act of war can only be declared by the Pirate King," Barbossa said.

"You made that up!" Jack protested.

"Did I now? I call on Captain Teague, keeper of the Code!" Barbossa declared.

Sri Sumbajee nudged his left-hand man. "Sri Sumbajee says hang the code! Who gives a-" the man said before he was shot down.

The Brethren looked over to see a man who looked very much like Jack blow out a smoking pistol. This man was Captain Teague Sparrow, father of Captain Jack Sparrow.

Jack's eyes were huge. Oh, dear, he commented to himself.

He and his father were not estranged, but they hadn't seen each other in ages and barely spoke. Jack could only imagine telling Teague that he was a grandfather!

Teague swaggered over in Jack's fashion, to the table. "You're in my way, boy," he said bluntly.

Jack moved out of the way. Everyone craned their necks and wore awed gazes as two men brought for the genuine Pirate Code.

Captain Teague looked at me, cause I was clinging to Jack because I was scared and then he finally spoke.

"Who is this?"

"My..." Jack was speechless.

"Girlfriend. I'm in love with Jack. Nice to meet you. Finally." I stuck out my hand to him.

"Not anything new." Captain Teague muttered.

"But I'm different, Captain Teague. See...I can foretell all of their moves. Beckett's precisely. Not like Calypso, but kinda...I guess." I blabbered on.

He then took my hand and shook it. Finally.

"The Code," Pintel breathed.

"Set down by Morgan and Bartholomew," Ragetti added.

Teague whistled and out came a mutt with keys in his mouth. Pintel and Ragetti wore confused gazes as they last saw this dog whilst escaping Cannibal Island.

"Sea-turtles, mate," Teague shrugged as the dog gave a happy bark.

"Sea-turtles," Gibbs laughed.

Teague opened the book and read.

"Ah, Barbossa is right," he acknowledged.

Jack peered at the book. "Hang on a minute!" he exclaimed, "It shall be the duties of the king to impose war, parley with said adversaries…fancy that."

"Zere 'az not been a king zince de First Court and iz not likely to change," Captain Chevalle commented.

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked.

"The Pirate King is elected by popular vote," Gibbs explained.

"And each pirate only ever votes for hisself," Barbossa added.

"I call for a vote," Jack declared.

Teague sat on a grand throne and strummed tunes on a guitar.

Ammand raised his hand. "I vote for Ammand, de Corsair!"

"Capitan Chevalle, the penniless Frenchman!"

"Sri Sumbajee votes for Sri Sumbajee!

"Mistress Ching!"

"Gentleman Jocard!"

"Elizabeth Swann!"

"Barbossa!"

"Elizabeth Swann!" Jack said.

"What?" Elizabeth gasped.

"I know. Curious, isn't it?" Jack replied.

"He voted for you, Lizard." Kate said.

Again, madness swept the Brethren.

"Am I to understand that we not keep to the code?" Jack inquired so that Teague and I could hear.

I shot a dark glance, and Teague broke a string on his guitar. To save themselves, The Brethren settled.

"Very well," Mistress Ching said calmly, "What say you, Captain Swann, King of the Brethren Court?"

Guinevere gave a smirk as Elizabeth thought. "Captain?" she asked with a smile.

"Prepare every vessel that floats. At dawn, we're at war," Elizabeth declared.

Sri Sumbajee stood up and everyone knew why he was silent. "And so, we shall go to war!" he said in a high-pitched voice of a eunuch.

The Brethren erupted in cheers. Jack smiled and caught his father not smiling.

"What? You've seen it all, done it all," he told him, "You survived. That's the trick, isn't it? To survive."

"It's not about living forever, Jacky," Teague said wisely, "The trick is, living with yourself forever."

"Everything will turn out fine, Captain." I said.

Jack nodded. "How's mum?" he inquired.

Teague held up a shriveled, mutilated head.

Jack winced. "She looks great," he gulped.

We headed outside. I caught Kate's arm and brought her to the beach.

"We need to talk." I said.

"Yeah...I know."

"Calypso gave me these." I told her, holding up the time travel necklaces.

"Pretty. Death gift?"

"Kate! I'm serious!"

"Okay, okay, just jk-ing!"

"These can let us travel back to CA!"

"And your point is?"

"One is for you."

"Oh...But I thought..."

"Kate, this life isn't for you. Dad...Randy, he needs you." I told her.

"And you."

"I was never meant to live my life in Cali. But you were."

"So you're not coming back with me."

"Thats what these are for. We can visit each other."

"But Will..."

"You know that the Lizard will end up with him."

"Not true. Fate changed when I showed up."

"But what about Will? Do you even care about his future, and what he wants for himself?"

"Elizabeth broke his heart! I healed it!"

"Wear this, Kate. Make your own decision. Please Kate. You know I love you as a sister, but Jack is my life now."

"And not me?"

"Of course you! You're my BFF!"

"Okay. I'll choose. But not before I talk to Will."

"Sure. I love you Kate."

"You too sis."

Sorry if that one was confusing and a little long for you but I hadn't posted in a long time and needed to fit it in one chapter! ^_^ Please continue to read and review!

-Ashley