"Enough! Enough! You're a pair of superstitious goats and it's got the best of you." Captain Bellamy scowled. "Now this appears to be no more as we have a stowaway aboard." Elizabeth tensed, there was the logical reasoning she'd dreaded.

"A young woman, by the look of it. I want you to search the ship and find 'er. Oh, and uh... she's probably naked…" Elizabeth held back a snort as the crew enthusiastically rushed off in search of the stowaway. Elizabeth herself joined the search feeling a bit awkward as she did so.

~- Day, The Pantano River -~

Victoria sat in one of two longboats, looking around the swamp land in curiosity. She'd only been to a place similar to this a few times back in Port Royal, but it was on the far side of the island where few people ever went to visit. And it was a day's walk both ways since horses hadn't been able to get through.

The nostalgia quickly brought her back to the matter at hand. Rescuing Elizabeth and Roxanne.

"Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?" James asked, drawing back Victoria's attention.

"Well, if you believe such things, there's a beast does the bidding of Davy Jones." Gibbs started, using his free hand to gesture out the story. "A fearsome creature with giant tentacles that suction your face clean off. And drag an entire ship past the crushing darkness. The Kraken!" Marty, who was at the bow of the long boat, looked back at the mention of the beast. Pintel and Ragetti, who were rowing, shared a terrified look with each other.

"They say the stench of its breath is like…" Gibbs shuddered. "Imagine, the last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the Kraken and the reeking odor of a thousand rotting corpses. Next to him, James swore he heard Ragetti let out a whimper. "If you believe such things of coarse."

"And the key will spare him that?" Victoria asked, and Gibbs sighed.

"Now that's the very question Jack wants answered. Bad enough even to go visit… Her..." He grimaced, and Victoria and James shared a look.

"Her?" James question.

"Aye." Gibbs said, nodding solemnly. "You'll see soon enough."

- Night, Tia's Shack, Bayou -

The swamp had become much darker, and the people between the trees were nigh impossible to see now, but apparently, that didn't deter the pirates as they continued down the river to a shack standing above the water on a giant tree, supported by thick wooden poles.

When they reached the tiny dock at the base of the tree, Jack was the first to step off. He gave the crew a conciliatory smile in hopes of calming them.

"No worries, mates." He smiled "Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable we are. Were. Have been. Before." His smiled turned into a frown.

"I'll watch your back." Gibbs said, clasping his shoulder.

"It's me front I'm worried about." He said, and turned to go up the ladder. "Mind the boat." He ordered to Gibbs.

"Mind the boat." Gibbs said to Victoria, following Jack up the ladder.

"Mind the boat." Victoria said, repeating the order to James.

"Mind the boat." James said, following Victoria's lead.

"Mind the boat." Pintel said, followed by Ragetti, to Marty, who turned to Cotton.

"Mind the boat."

"Awk! Mind the boat!" Cotton's parrot squawked, and flew off to join the others, leaving Cotton alone in the longboat.

At the top of the steps, Jack cautiously peeked through the dirty window of Tia's shack, before entering as carefully as possible, pushing the door open slowly as he did so. Surveying the shack, it look almost the same as it did last time he was there.

Little bottles of things hanging from the ceiling. Various trinkets and stuff strewn around the home in a seemingly discarded fashion. The pale yellow snake on the other hand was a new addition to the shack.

In the back of the room, sat Tia Dalma staring down at the crab claws placed on the table. Lifting her head up, she grinned at the sight of Jack in the doorway.

"Jack Sparrow!" She said, and Jack stepped fully inside the shack, closely followed by the crew.

"Tia Dalma!" Jack smiled, dodging a bottle of… Something, as he went to go greet her.

"I always know de wind was goin' blow you back to me one day." She said in her raspy, heavily accented tone. Jack opened his mouth to say something, but Tia Dalma stepped past him in favor of approaching Victoria, who was looking at the snake curiously.

"You." Victoria turned to Tia Dalma, mildly surprised. "You have a touch of... Destiny about you, Victoria Turner." The mentioned woman frowned, eyes narrowing.

"You know me?" Tia Dalma chuckled.

"You want to know me." She said, leaning closer.

"There'll be no knowing here." Jack butted in, stepping between the two. "We've come for help and we're not leaving without it." He declared, guiding Tia Dalma back to the table. "I thought I knew you…"

"Not so well as I had hoped." Tia Dalma mused. "Come." She ordered, and the other followed the pair dutifully.

"Come." Jack ordered to Victoria, pulling out the chair next to Tia Dalma, who smiled charmingly, showing off her black and aging teeth.

"What service may I do ya?" She mused, gently caressing a hand over Victoria's shoulder before sparing Jack a look. "You know I demand payment." She said, her voice taking on a different tone.

"I brought payment." Jack smiled, and he whistled for the cage to be brought closer. Pulling off the cloth covering it, he unveiled the cage to show off Jack the Monkey inside. "Look!" Jack grinned, cocking his pistol and firing at the monkey, who chattered in fright. "An undead monkey! Top that!" He said proudly as he put the cage down.

Tia Dalma gave him an amused look as she examined the monkey before lifting the cage door, allowing Jack the Monkey to scamper off into a back room.

"No…" Gibbs said remorsefully "You've no idea how long it took us to catch that."

"The payment is fair." Tia Dalma said, moving the cage off the table. James pulled the drawing of the key from his jacket, laying it flat on the table.

"We're looking for this. And what it goes to."

"The Compass you bartered from me." Tia Dalma gave Jack, who was examining a feathered hat, an annoyed look. "It cannot lead you to dis?"

"Maybe... Why?" Jack said as Tia Dalma sat down, a mischievous grin forming on her face.

"Ayeee... Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants!" She laughed. "Or... do know, but are loathe to claim it as your own…" She mused. "Your key go to a chest, and it is what lay inside the chest you seek, don't it?"

"What is inside?" Gibbs asked.

"Gold! Jewels? Unclaimed properties of a valuable nature?" Pintel suggested excitedly.

"Nothing... Bad, I hope." Pintel said worriedly, giving the hanging jar of eyeballs next to him a nervous look.

"You know of... Davy Jones, yes?" Tia Dalma said, eyes sweeping the group before her. "A man of de sea. A great sailor, until he ran afoul of dat which vex all men." She said, a smile still on her face as she spun the story, not noticing Jack pocketing various items from the table.

"What vexes all men?" Victoria asked, and Tia Dalma gave her a coy smile.

"What, indeed."

"The sea?" Gibbs asked.

"Sums!" Pintel suggested.

"Dichotomy of good and evil." Everyone turned towards Ragetti.

"A woman." Jack corrected, and Tia Dalma smirked.

"A woman. He fell in love."

"No-no-no-no, I heard it was the sea he fell in love with." Gibbs interrupted, and Tia Dalma snorted.

"Same story, different version and all are true." She said, giving him a pointed look. "See it was a woman as changing, and harsh and untamable as the sea. He never stopped loving her." Tia Dalma said wistfully, and James felt a nagging voice inside his head, surprisingly, it sounded like Roxanne..

"But the pain it caused him was too much to live with. But not enough to cause him to die."

"What... exactly did he put into the chest?" Victoria asked, and Tia Dalma grinned.

"Him heart."

"Literally, or figuratively?" Ragetti asked, and Pintel snorted.

"He couldn't li'erally put his heart in a chest!" He scoffed, before turning his head to look back at Tia Dalma. "...Could he?"

"It was not wort' feeling what small fleeting joy life brings, and so. he carved out him heart." She said, mimicking the motion above her own heart. "Locked it away in a chest, and hide de chest from de world. De keys, he keep wid him at all times." She explained.

"You knew this." James growled, turning to Jack.

"I did not." Jack huffed. "I didn't know where the key was. But now we do. So all that's left is to climb aboard the Flying Dutchman, grab the key, you go back to Port Royal and save your bonnie lass and Roxy love, aye!" Jack grinned, turning to leave.

"Let me see your hand." Tia Dalma ordered, standing up from her chair. Jack turned back around slowly, showing his right hand, which is untouched. Tia Dalma raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, and Jack grimaced as he presented his left hand, allowing her to unwrap the bandage.

The black spot was boiled and blistered on his hand, and the sight of it made James shudder.

"The Black Spot!" Gibbs gasped. Gibbs, following ritual protocol obviously, quickly wiped his hands on his chest, spun around once to the left, and spits on the wooden floor. Pintel and Ragetti, not wanting to suffer any curse Gibbs feared, copied Gibbs' ritual in synchrony.

"My eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know." Jack drawled. Tia Dalma frowned as she moved to one of the back rooms, pushing aside cloth door beads as she began rummaging for something while muttering to herself. Glancing down at the table next to him, Jack quickly swiped another trinket, a gold and onyx ring.

Pausing, he examined the silver locket curiously, quickly swiping it and shoving it in a pocket before Tia Dalma came back with a large jar.

"Davy Jones cannot make port. Cannot step on land but once every ten years." She explained. "Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow. And so you will carry land wid you…" She said, handing him the jar.

"Dirt…" Jack said slowly as he examined the jar. "This is a jar of dirt."

"Yes." She looked at him expectantly.

"Is the... jar of dirt going to help?" He said, and Tia Dalma raised an eyebrow.

"If you don' want it, give it back."

"No." Jack hugged the jar closer to him, and Victoria would've laughed had the situation not been so serious.

"Den it helps." She smiled, and Victoria coughed next to her, drawing Tia Dalma's attention.

"It seems... we have a need to find the Flying Dutchman." Tia Dalma nodded, sitting down in her chair once more. Picking up the pieces of crab shell and claws, she shook them between her cupped hands and closed her eyes.

"A touch... of destiny!" She said, throwing down the crab bits down on the table, where something resembling a map drawn on it.

- Time Skip -

As they were leaving, Tia Dalma stopped Jack on the porch outside the shack, smirking.

"Your mind wants one ding, but it is your heart dat confuses de compass."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jack said, and Tia Dalma raised an eyebrow.

"Let me offer some advice to you, Jack Sparrow." She mused. "De compass points to de thing you want most in dis world… But what dat is, you must figure it out for yourself. And be warned, Jack Sparrow, love is more dangerous than any sea in the world." Jack made a face.

"I'm not in-" She held up a hand to silence him.

"So you say… But I know dat look in your eyes." She smirked. "You desire much from dis world, so be careful of where de arrow points." And with that, she turned back into the shack, leaving Jack alone on the landing.

"Cap'n?" Gibbs called up, snapping Jack into motion, and he climbed down the ladder, Tia Dalma's words heavy in his mind. "What did she say?" Gibbs asked, and Jack waved him off.

"Nothing of importance."