A/N: And here we are folks, chapter 10, and chapter the last! There will be an epilogue, to be posted soon, but the main story is over.

Sao Feng smiled at his guests, who were still watching him warily. They had at least accepted the clothing he had offered, clothing that more befitted their station then the plain European clothing they had worn.

Now, they looked like an emperor and empress. Oh, perhaps Elizabeth's hair was too pale and her skin tanned, and Will was too tall, but they were still as richly attired as any ruler.

"You must know that I won't harm you," Sao Feng said. "I would rather have your cooperation and favor."

Will scowled at him. "You'd be more likely to get it if you hadn't kidnapped us."

Sao Feng waved his complaint away. "You'll thank me," he said. "After all, I will treat you as you deserve. Sparrow certainly wasn't, if he even realized who you were."

He sat down and gestured for the two of them to join him. They didn't. He sighed and looked at Will. "I admit, the story doesn't mention that they imprisoned Calypso's lover along with her. It does mention she had a lover. Were they unaware that they'd captured you as well?"

Will laughed bitterly. "We're not who you think we are," he said. "Why won't you see? We're just ordinary pirates."

Sao Feng smiled. "Because you have the sense of the sea," he said. "When the two of you are together, you call up the stories of the goddess in my mind. Perhaps you aren't even aware of it."

Elizabeth placed her hand on Will's arm. "That is mere chance, Sao Feng," she said. "Will and I are not what you think we are."

Sao Feng sighed. "The stories say that Calypso did not remember herself when they were done. So you cannot be surprised that you don't know yourselves."

They exchanged frustrated glances, but neither of them said anything.

Sao Feng smiled. "I look forward to receiving your favors, Calypso," he said.

Elizabeth glared at him. "And if I refuse to give them?"

"Then I will taste your fury," Sao Feng acknowledged. His response was punctuated by a strange roaring sound from outside.

Will looked up and grinned.

Before Sao Feng could do more then stand up and head for the door, the side of the cabin blew apart.

At first, Sao Feng couldn't understand why he was slumped against the other side of the cabin, then, as he lifted his head to find his guests, he realized that he was actually pinned to the side by a long length of wood.

He saw Will and Elizabeth picking themselves up. They looked unharmed, though slightly disheveled by the attack.

Elizabeth made her way to Sao Feng as Will shook his head and turned to the area where the door had been.

The younger man had the right of it. There was nothing anyone could do for Sao Feng- not even Calypso, bound as she was.

But he could do something for her. "Calypso- forgive me," he said. "I should not have taken you captive."

She bowed her head. He reached out and managed to grasp her hand. He brought their joined hands together up to the necklace he wore. With his rapidly diminishing strength, he pulled the necklace off. "Take it. Find the other eight pieces, and free yourself," he said.

She closed her hand around it. Sao Feng stared up at her until his vision faded.

The pitched fighting was over by the time Jack could look around the Empress. The Pearl and the Dutchman had beaten Sao Feng's Empress, though the other crew put up an incredible fight.

Now, granted, the other fighters had been demoralized by the losses that the Dutchman had given them in the past months, and frightened by both legendary ships- though less by the Pearl, since she'd been in Singapore for a month, more or less. Jack's crew had been rather unnerved by their ally, too, so that hadn't helped.

Now, the few survivors were being rounded up and kept under guard.

The Empress wasn't completely safe, as Gibbs discovered when he and a Dutchman crewman were set upon by two young women who fought like wild hellcats.

Now, Gibbs was nursing a bump to the head, and the two girls were tied up- and still screaming Chinese invective at them.

And Jones looked like he wanted to gag them.

"Why hasn't anyone looked in Sao Feng's cabin?" Jones asked.

Jack shrugged. "It's mostly been my crew back there, and we can't travel through walls." The front of the sterncastle was crumpled after a misaimed cannonball from the Dutchman had hit that area. Most of Sao Feng's crew believed he was trapped inside- along with what some of them called his guests. Jack wasn't willing to guess what that meant.

Bill stopped next to them. "Sao Feng is likely still in there- I heard movement when I stopped by what's left of the door. Someone's trying to move the debris away from the door." He sighed. "I know this was our best chance to do this, but I wish we'd been able to find Will and Elizabeth first."

Jack nodded. Will and Elizabeth had vanished shortly before the Empress had left port, and while Bill had argued against it, they knew this was their best chance to handle their side of the bargain with Jones.

So Jack had promised that they'd head back to Singapore to find the younger Turners once they'd collected the last piece.

Jack moved over to the crumpled doorway and listened closely. Tia Dalma was already standing there. "There is someone still in there," she said.

Jack placed his ear against the least broken part of the wall. He could hear someone moving around in there, and the sounds of someone shifting debris. "Sao Feng!"

The sounds stopped. "Jack?" He heard faintly.

"Will?"

"Jack, get us out of here!"

Jones placed his right hand on Jack's shoulder. "We'll have ye out in a moment, Master Turner!"

Jones looked away. "Palifico, Clanker, get in there and get whoever's in there out!" he ordered.

Two of Jones' crewmen stepped through the wall. "I still say that's a neat trick," Jack said.

Tia Dalma shook her head. A moment later, they returned, dragging Will and Elizabeth with them.

Jack blinked. Elizabeth was dressed in an elaborately embroidered red Chinese gown with a teal leather overcoat. Her hair was still partially up in an Oriental fashion. Will was dressed just as elaborately, with a dark blue overcoat heavily embroidered in gold thread, in a fashion that a wealthy man of China might wear.

"What…?" Bill asked.

Will rolled his eyes. "It's a long story."

"Where is Sao Feng?" Jones asked, apparently more concerned with the location of the Piece of Eight.

"Sao Feng is dead," Elizabeth said. But she held up her hand to show the jade captain's knot she carried. "But we have the Piece."

Tia Dalma waited as Jones took the Piece, but then turned to Elizabeth. "You are unhurt?" she asked, the weight of some bad memory in her eyes.

Elizabeth stared at her. "I- I'm fine. It…" she glanced at Will. "He was more concerned with chasing down a corsair- he said they had stolen something from him- then taking me by force. Plus, Will was there, and if Sao Feng had tried anything…"

"I would have been able to handle whatever was left of him," Will said, somewhat humorously. "As if you really needed my help."

"It didn't come to that," Elizabeth said.

A pall of nervous tension hung over the Pearl. No one on the crew knew what would happen when Calypso was freed. And no one wanted to be the one to find out that she was angry at all pirates- including those who helped to bring her freedom about.

But still, everyone wanted to see it done, so they floated near the Dutchman, where Tia Dalma and the Pieces actually were.

As many crewmen as possible were crowded along the rail facing the Dutchman. On the sterncastle, the Turners were all watching closely.

Jack stood next to them, alternately eyeing them and watching the Dutchman.

"So, why does it matter so much t' you?" Jack asked, finally unable to handle the silence any longer.

Will looked at him for a moment. "If something goes wrong, then she might take it out on the Pearl."

"That's not why you're watching so closely," Jack said.

Will sighed at his response.

"Captain Jones is ready," Bill said before Will could say anything.

Will turned back to the Dutchman.

Jones was standing on the Dutchman's forecastle, where everyone on the Pearl could see him.

Will took a deep breath and reached out to take Elizabeth's hand. She laced her fingers with his and smiled slightly.

Jack sighed, accepting that he wasn't going to get an answer right now. But he would, as soon as this was over.

Jones set the Pieces in a metal container of some type and lit them on fire, though they only smoldered for the moment.

He turned to Tia Dalma and leaned close to whisper something in her ear. Jack couldn't hear what he was saying, but he knew what it had to be. "Calypso, I release you from your human bonds."

The Pieces burst into flames visible even on the Pearl.

Tia Dalma stumbled and Jones caught her.

For a long, long minute, nothing more happened. Everyone on both ships seemed frozen, watching the two figures.

Finally, Calypso seemed to collapse into a pile of crabs, which then fell over the side of the ship and into the water.

The wind began to pick up. Even with the sails furled, the ships creaked. The wind ruffled hair and tugged clothing.

Jones looked up and faced the wind. "Calypso," he said reverently.

The wind began to die down as a petite blonde woman appeared on the Dutchman. "I am free!" the woman declared in an accent similar to Jones'.

Bill's joyful whoop startled everyone out of the stunned silence that had fallen over both ships, and both crews began to cheer.

Jack leaned out to get a closer look at the woman on the other ship.

"Will, can you hear it?" Bill asked hoarsely.

"Yes," Will whispered.

Jack looked over at them. They both seemed overwhelmed by something he couldn't hear.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

Neither of them looked at him. The wind began to pick up again, until another figure materialized on the Dutchman.

"My God," Bill whispered. "Calliope. No one's seen her for… thirty years or so."

"Who is Calliope?" Jack asked.

"A sea nymph," Bill said. "Er… allied with Captain Jones."

Ah," Jack said. He was not satisfied with that, of course. It was clear that the Turners were keeping secrets. He'd get the answers out of them eventually.

It might take a few bottles of rum, but he would get the answers. Jack looked back over at the Dutchman. Calypso looked at them. She leaned up and said something to Jones before disappearing and then reappearing on the Pearl. She cupped her hands around Will's face, and smiled. "A touch of destiny," she said. "A destiny that is still to be played out, but one that will not be harsh. Perhaps you will bring your family to a new era."

She stepped away from him and approached Jack. "Jack Sparrow," she said. "You and your crew have done me a great service. The Black Pearl will be blessed. She will remain the most powerful ship in the world- matched only by the Dutchman. And if she is ever damaged, she will repair herself. But only so long as you, Jack Sparrow, or those you choose, captain her.

Jack smiled. "Thank you," he said.

She smiled up at him. She leaned up and brushed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for helping my Davy," she said.

She headed over to Bill, who knelt down so they could see eye to eye. "You traveled a hard road- but you never wavered from what you felt you needed to do," Calypso said. "Even when you could do nothing."

Finally, she turned to Elizabeth. "I will leave now, Elizabeth," she said. "Child, you've learned much from me during this journey. Continue to learn, in this world that you have found yourself in. Do not hesitate to grow and change. But perhaps when you return to the Caribbean you can stop using some of what I have taught you? I'm sure your father will want to know that you can provide him with a grandchild."

Elizabeth smiled and curtsied. "Thank you for teaching me," she said.

Calypso smiled as the wind picked up and she vanished. This time, she did not reappear on the Dutchman.

Jones grinned and saluted Jack and the Pearl. "Have fun with a living ship, Sparrow!" he shouted.

"My Pearl has always been alive," Jack replied. "This just means that I won't lose her!"

Jack grinned down at his mostly drunk crew. They'd all decided that a celebration was in order, using the alcohol they'd taken from the Empress before Jones sunk her.

Most of the crew considered that taking a prize such as the Empress was cause enough for celebration, especially because it was likely that they'd be able to take more prizes in the chaos that would follow Sao Feng's death. They also considered the fact that they had not made enemies of Calypso or Davy Jones to be something worth celebrating as well.

Most of the crewmen were well into their cups, and settling around the ship for the night.

Perfect. Jack caught Bill's eye and signaled to him. Then Jack headed for his cabin.

Bill joined him a couple of minutes later, followed by Will, Elizabeth, and Gibbs.

"So, what was that all about out there?" Jack asked once they were all settled down and Jack had poured some more rum for them all.

Gibbs blinked. "Captain?" he asked.

"Not you- Bill an' Will were acting weird when Calypso was released."

Bill and Will stared at each other for a moment. Then Will shrugged and waved his hand at his father.

Bill grimaced. "Jack, does it really matter?"

Jack nodded. "Yes! You're keeping a secret from me, a big secret, one that might interfere with the ship."

"It won't do that," Bill said. "Jack… it's a family thing, is that enough for you? It's nothing to do with pirating."

Jack frowned at his friend. "Not really. I think I need more."

Bill scowled and looked away. "Will? Elizabeth?" he asked.

"I think it's up to you, Father," Will said.

"It's up to you, Bill," Elizabeth agreed.

Bill sighed and rubbed his face. "My mother was… not entirely human," he said. "She was a sea nymph who took a mortal man- Diarmid Turner- as a lover. Will and I have a very strong connection to the sea and her goddesses and protectors."

Jack nodded slowly. It wasn't the entire truth. But it was enough to know that it was a dangerous truth.

"Does that mean that you're not human?"

Bill sighed. "The family has been arguing that for a while. Ever since I was born, actually. Will and I are definitely more human then not, and we're mortal."

Jack frowned. "If you're so connected to the sea, then why did you try to be a blacksmith?" he asked Will.

Will shrugged. "I like blacksmithing," he said mildly. "And just because my family has connections to the sea, it doesn't mean that I have to stay on it. But it seems I don't have a choice now."

Jack nodded. "Fine. But if we get mixed up with the supernatural again, and you know something that can help us, tell me!"

"Jack, with the Pearl the way she is, we'll always be involved with the supernatural," Elizabeth pointed out.

"Pearl doesn't count," Jack said. "She's always been special."

Bill smiled. "Aye," he said. He lifted his mug. "To the Pearl!"

They all followed his lead.

"So, what's next Jack?" Gibbs asked.

Jack shrugged. "Back to Singapore to pick up supplies. Then, I suppose, a run back to the Caribbean, if the crew agrees."

Will shook his head. "I have a better idea. Well, we'll need to go back to the Caribbean, but what if we… I'd better show you."

He pulled out the chart he'd stolen from Sao Feng and set it on the table. "I noticed this the day before yesterday when I was figuring out how it worked," Will said. He moved the circles around until they lined up and created a passable drawing of Florida. Near that image, a goblet with the words "Aqua de Vita" had formed.

"Water of Life," Will said.

Elizabeth leaned over it. "Does it mean…"

Jack, Bill and Gibbs crowded around the map. "Will, you're a genius," Jack said.

I hope you've all enjoyed this journey, and this different take on the world of the Pirates. And, once again, I do have a short epilogue coming, so we're not quite finished with the story yet.