Well, that last chapter was fun. For those who are interested, Ranma ½ is a very good manga/anime. The main character suffers from hydrobisexuality. When splashed with cold water, Ranma is female. When splashed with warm water, he is male. There are a number of other hydro-challenged in the series … and it gets real confusing when the word fiancée is mentioned. … Don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself! Most libraries will have at least the first volume. I know. I just checked it out of the library in Cave Junction. CJ has the population of spit.
Chapter IX –Recipe for Disaster and Ghostly Enlightenment
"Well, we're here," Morgan smiled, cracking his knuckles against the wall. Scarlette scowled at him. He shrugged and entered his cabin.
"What was that ghastly noise earlier," Elizabeth asked, leaning over the railing and looking into the water where indiscernible shapes glided beneath the sunset.
"Do you mean the explosion or the screeching?" Robin asked. They seem to be on okay terms now, the arguments forgotten when Scarlette went in to the sea.
"Both. Either."
"Well," Scarlette began. "The screeching came from the water. To get here, Jack had to have found a mermaid's scale, so I guess they exist." It was amazing how much the three of them had missed. They didn't know what Lizzy and David were, or where their children were, or that Topher had been shot, or even that Anamaria, who was walking around silently in her golden finery was dead. "As for the explosion, the sand is black, which means this is a volcanic island. Maybe the volcano was letting off some pressure."
"It sounded more like a dragon to me," Bert mentioned, coming up behind them.
"Dragons don't exist," Scarlette told him.
"Aye, they do," Jericho countered. "And they can fly and breathe fire. Didn't you see the pillar after that roar?"
"It was the volcano, and they make odd noises when they erupt," Scarlette was frowning.
"Yeah," Robin was agreeing. "We would have found remnants of these creatures in the future if they had existed, especially because if they exist now, their bones would be fresher than the dinosaurs and in better condition."
"Dinosaurs?" Morgan raised an eyebrow.
"Prehistoric … animals," Scarlette answered. "Some were quite large. Most were only about the size of a horse. They populated the earth for a few million years, starting in the Triassic period. Through the Jurassic and then through the Cretaceous, some died out, but for some reason, about 65 million years ago … from our time, of course, all of them died out nearly simultaneously. I think it was a meteor … some experts think it may have been behavioral change … disease, some make note of climate changes. No one really knows. Extinction is not something anyone can really study."
"They were huge lizards," Robin added. "They had ones that could swallow a human in one bite, like the T-Rex."
"There is some debate about them being lizards," Scarlette thought. "It makes sense that they would be warm blooded, what with the upright posture on the carnivores … and some of them had necks up to 20 or 30 feet long, which suggests a large, four chambered heart to pump blood … Lizards are cold blooded. Probably dinosaurs were ancestors of birds, rather than lizards. Or maybe they're their own class altogether."
"Anyways," Robin shook her head at Scarlette. "Dragons can't exist. Have you ever seen one?"
Jericho opened his mouth to answer, paused, and finally shook his head. "No, I guess I haven't." Just then, Anamaria wandered by, touching the railing with an odd interest. She bent to get a closer look and Elizabeth stared.
"What do you think is wrong with her?" she whispered back to Robin and Scarlette. They shrugged and watched as Anamaria stood upright again. She turned to face them. Jericho and Bert shuddered and left in a hurry. Anamaria smiled at the girls and left as well. She climbed the stairs slowly and entered the Captain's cabin. A few minutes later, Morgan appeared again and began giving instructions to Cob. The Rastapirate nodded. The sun was going down quickly and night would soon be fully upon them.
…
Night fell like a large metal door shutting. Jack could almost feel the sun go down. He turned to the women in the group.
"I hope you understand why we must do this tonight," he told them. "Going out into the darkness doesn't appeal to me, but I would do it in this case. Since I cannot accompany you, I wish you the best of luck." Chelsea held the idol against her chest and looked rather determined.
The people going into the jungle consisted of Lizzy, Claudia, Heather, Kristin, Chelsea, and Kami. Kami was not sure why she was included in this particular endeavor. Up to this point, other than being selected to go on the voyage, she hadn't been involved in much. Just learning everyone's names, she still had to acquaint herself with them. This trip seemed like a good time to do that, at least to some extent.
They were taken ashore by Armstrong and Topher, who were giving instructions to bring the boat onto shore and wait for their return. They were to shoot any mermaids coming from the water and if any cannibals were to come from the forest, they were to leave and wait offshore until they left.
This seemed like an easy enough plan. They rowed out to the shore, beached the boat, and everyone climbed out, the girls helping to drag the boat the rest of the way up. Once they had, the six who were set to go into the jungle gave one last look to the ships in the cove, their lights reflecting on the water, mist already clouding the surroundings.
Heather and Claudia led the way, Chelsea following closely with the idol. Kami, Kristin, and Lizzy came up behind, Lizzy trying not to get lost, and Kami looked around in the dark. Lizzy had a sense of direction slightly better than Ryoga Hibiki, that is to say, not a very good one. She knew where the village was, but there was a reason she wasn't heading the expedition into the jungle.
It took about twenty minutes of walking to get to the village, but ten minutes into it, the cannibals knew they were coming. When the six girls stumbled into the clearing, they found themselves surrounded.
Frozen with apprehension, Kami opened the corner of her mouth, "I thought they didn't hurt women."
"Who knows," Claudia answered, her hands raised in the air to show she was unarmed. Chelsea stepped forward and held the idol high above her head. The natives pointed emphatically to it and some rattled off in their tongue.
One stepped forward, a length of bone forced through his septum. "Mirkwaj dum'aht." He spoke broken English, a sort of pigeon at the girls and bade them to follow. They entered a hut near the center of the village and waited for someone to come to them.
…
Armstrong and Topher sat on the black sand, one facing the water, the other at his back, facing the jungle. They began to talk.
"You think we're going to get out of here alive," Armstrong asked shakily.
"I don't care, as long as Robin's all right. I would like it however," he answered. "If we survived also."
"You mean you think there's a chance?" Armstrong turned, looking at him. They heard a splash and Armstrong immediately turned again, scanning the water. "What was that? You think it was one of them fish people?"
"Who knows," Topher answered. "Here's a question; would you rather be eaten by cannibals, or torn to shreds by mermaids?"
"Personally, after what you guys told us you saw today in that village," Armstrong began, shivering. "Bring on the fish. Maybe I'll drown before they begin to eat me."
The men shivered in the moonlight and gripped their pistols tightly.
…
Cob wiped sweat off his brow. He had let the oars splash, not a good thing. But no one had seemed to notice and now he was below decks on the Pearl. He had two things to acquire and he was slightly anxious about finding the things. The first one was slightly easier than the second would be. He waited to hear the telltale signs of distraction before heading atop.
Shouts issued from the crew and Cob opened up the hatch. The entire crew's attention was focused on the thing in the water. The figurehead was swimming and doing back flips in the water. Cob hurried and ran up to the cabin door. He pulled on it and pushed but nothing happened. The door was closed. It suddenly opened from the inside and Jack looked out at him, quite shocked.
Cob froze in surprise but wasted no time in tossing a handful of purple powder in Jack's eyes. Jack collapsed to the ground in a cloud of sparkling dust and Cob hurried inside, lighting a candle and searching the cabin. He picked up the box used to hold Will's blood and opened it. Seeing the contents, he snapped the box closed and broke for the door, still holding the box. The figurehead was still doing acrobatics in the water and Cob could hear Scarlette shouting at Morgan to stop playing with it. Cob tore to the below decks, looked around for a second, and then sliding out again He landed in his boat and quickly rowed back to The Necromancer.
He rushed to the top deck and handed the box to Morgan. Morgan smiled and took the box, and Cob, back to the cabin.
"Here's the blood," Morgan nodded. "Where are the ashes?"
"Ashes?" Cob swallowed. "Shit, mon. I done forgot 'bout dose."
"Damn!" Morgan exclaimed emphatically. "The spell might still work. Let's try it out." He opened the box over a golden goblet, ornately carved and encrusted with jewels, and held his breath. Quickly reciting a string of words in an ancient language, Morgan gripped the wood of the table. Cob assumed the tightness in the air around them was due to the spell.
"Damn," Morgan exclaimed. Suddenly, the goblet burned red. It spat something out, which landed on the table with a sizzle, burning a hole through the wood. Morgan looked at the hole and realized it had ejected the blood.
"This is not the blood we need," Morgan pointed. "You grabbed the wrong thing."
"An' jus' how much blood are dey supposed to have onboard?" Cob had his hands on his hips. "Honest mistake."
"Hmm," Morgan shook his head. And then, a grand idea popped in. "I know! We'll send her." He turned and pointed at the silent Anamaria who was still standing obediently in the corner. "She knows what they both look like, and no one's going to shoot her … probably. And even if they do, it won't do any harm. Anamaria … go and retrieve the things I told you about. Try not to be seen."
Cob began laughing. Morgan gave him an incredulous look. How dare he laugh before the evil genius.
"What's so funny?"
"I wish I could have stayed to watch, mon."
"Watch what?"
"I threw the purple stuff on Sparrow."
Morgan's eyes bulged and he grinned. "Really? Too bad we can't see him. Where was he?"
"In dat cabin. Maybe dey won' see him."
"I hope they do. I really hope they do."
…
The six girls hadn't long to wait. The cannibal who had led them to the hut entered and behind him came the cannibal women with steaming bowls of … well, it sure wasn't bouillabaisse.
"This is one of those places where you might not want to eat the native specialties," Claudia spoke a little sarcastically.
"Why?" Lizzy asked, smelling her bowl. "Smells good … doesn't look too bad."
"Liz," Claudia shook her head. "Cannibals! Did you forget that part?"
Lizzy just laughed. "No. I eat people too."
The other four girls just stared for a second as Lizzy brought up a spoonful. Before putting it in her mouth, she giggled … and then burst into very loud and hysterical laughter.
"I can't believe you fell for that!"
Everyone relaxed. For a minute there … one thing was for sure … Lizzy had gotten better at keeping a straight face through tough moments … assuming 'tough' moments included times when she was trying to tell a joke.
"I'm a vegetarian," Chelsea mentioned to the cannibal that was handing her food. "Vegetarian. No meat."
Heather just made sign language. She rubbed her belly, pointed at herself, and shook her head. They seemed to understand. Reluctantly, the women took the food away and the septum bone piercing guy sat in front of them, smiling. His teeth were slightly pointed, better for tearing into meat, I suppose. And they were not a very pleasant color. Barbossa would have been proud.
He took the idol and placed it on the floor in front of him. He picked up a stick and drew in the sand on the floor. Everyone leaned in closely to get a glimpse of his … communication methods.
He pointed with the stick to the golden body of the dragon and drew in the sand what looked a lot like a dragon. He pointed to the eyes and drew what looked like a spear and a skull … at this point, Chelsea held out a hand for him to wait. She reached into her purse and pulled out a pen and paper. When the other girls looked at her, she shrugged.
"Hey … it's useful, isn't it?" She copied the drawings and wrote "gold" and "blood-ruby" the corresponding pictures.
The bone guy pointed to the tail and drew a mermaid holding a stick.
In pointing to the wings, he sat and thought for a second, and then drew a skull between two round things. When Chelsea motioned at the circles, he picked up two rocks and placed them on top of the drawn circles. It seemed to mean something to her and she wrote it down as well.
The amethyst was another mermaid drawing; only this one had both hands in her long hair.
Chelsea folded the paper and put it back in her purse, smiling at the friendly cannibal. She stood and bowed a little to thank him and the other girls followed suit. They left the hut and the cannibals waved as the girls went into the dark jungle. Claudia immediately came out and pointed at a torch and then at herself. One of the nice cannibals gave her a torch and she waved, leaving the clearing and catching up with the others.
They came onto the beach and startled the two lookouts. Both of them were staring at the ships off shore. The girls looked to see what at they were gawking.
"That's … a girl in a rowboat," Kami pointed out.
"A dark girl in a rowboat," Claudia added.
"Scarlette?" Kami asked
"She's not that dark … could it be a trick?" Heather wondered.
"Maybe," Lizzy answered. "These are the bad guys we're talking about."
"Let's go find out."
…
Anamaria had no trouble getting into the ship or even up to the cabin. In fact, Jack was still out cold, his face half covered by his hair. She went inside and took the appropriate object, and then went searching for Gibbs. The monster was once again flipping in the water, keeping everyone under wraps.
Gibbs had gone to lie down for a while, complaining of a sore stomach. He swung in a hammock, half asleep, just off the Galley. Anamaria silently strode up to his hammock and bent over him, her hip brushing the side of the hammock.
Gibbs gave a snort and blinked his eyes just enough to see someone standing there. "Leave me alone, will ye." She reached down and grabbed the little bag around his neck, yanking it off in one motion.
Gibbs opened his eyes angrily and sat up but whatever words he'd had died instantly in his throat. She smiled silently and sadly at him.
"But … you …." and he passed out. Anamaria lifted his legs back onto the hammock and left him there, going out through one of the gun holes.
Meanwhile ….
Up on deck, Jack had woken up, feeling quite strange. He pushed himself up off the floor and everything felt … wrong. As he stood, he found himself almost slipping because his boots were too big. He looked down and almost shouted in alarm. Jumping into his cabin and shutting the door, he quickly grabbed a lantern. When it flared to life, he began examining himself thoroughly.
He had shrunk about six inches, his beard and moustache were gone, and all his clothes hung on him because he had shrunk … well, in most places. He … was not exactly a he anymore. Whatever powder Cob had thrown on him … had turned him into a female. He quickly ran to the wall to find the mirror Scarlette had insisted upon and looked fearfully into the glass.
To his, albeit shock, but also amusement, he looked remarkably like Scarlette … only, there were some obvious differences. His eyes, dark, were larger and more round. His, or rather, her, nose was pointed a bit more, a tad straighter. The jaw, a bit more square. They could have been sisters, or at least cousins.
Jack was taking it rather well. Perhaps he thought he was dreaming. The things that most disturbed him were luckily not in sight. Although, looking down and not being able to see his feet did bother him, quite a bit.
He, she … sat on the bed and just stared for a moment. "This had better be temporary," growled a foreign voice. Wow! He sounded a lot like Scarlette. Creepy … although not as creepy as when she sounded like him.
He stayed there, almost wanting to go to sleep and wake up to find himself … normal again. But no, he had to try to change back. He figured by concentrating hard enough, he'd be back to normal in no time.
No time ….
(Hee, hee, hee)
…
The six girls and two lookouts clambered aboard, shouting about some girl on the ship. The ship was searched, and no girl was found. Gibbs was found unconscious in his hammock … but other than that, nothing strange had been seen. It was not until Chelsea, wanting to review their findings to Jack, that anyone even became frightened. Jack was terrified when he heard the knock. He immediately blew out the lantern's candle.
"Who's there," he grumbled, lowering his … her voice as much as possible. He was glad to find that his female body had a voice like Scarlette's, in the fact that it went pretty low for a girl.
They paused outside. "The girls." Oh.
"Uh … you're back, eh?"
"Uh, yeah! Let us in!"
"Um … maybe later."
"Hey … that sounded like Ryoko!"
Shit.
"Maybe we should go … you know …."
"Hmm …"
"Maybe that was Scarlette we saw entering the gun deck."
"What?" Jack exclaimed. He leaned against the door and spoke through it. "I'll let you in on … two conditions. You can't laugh … and you can't tell anyone."
"Okay …."
"Promise!"
"Yeah, yeah, we promise."
Jack opened the door and four out of the six girls entered. Kami and Kristin were not present.
One brushed him on the way in, and then it was all over.
"Ryo?"
Shit.
Claudia jumped on him and he tried to fight her off. Once again glad to have superior female strength, 'he' pushed her off easily.
"Where's Jack?"
"Uh … he's around," he spoke, his face erupting in a furious blush. Lucky it was dark.
"That's not Ryoko," Lizzy spoke carefully. She managed to light the lantern. They all looked at Jack and he wanted to hide.
"Wha …"
Lizzy immediately started giggling. Remembering her promise, she jammed her sleeve in her mouth, nearly suffocating herself. Heather was grinning as well and Claudia didn't seem too far off. The only one who really seemed concerned was Chelsea.
"Jack?"
He nodded grimly.
"How did this happen to you?"
"Jack-chan!" Lizzy exclaimed, clamping her hands over her mouth again to stifle her laughter.
"One of their men came aboard and threw some weird … powder stuff at me. I woke up like this."
"Are you aware you look and sound remarkably like your wife?" Claudia asked innocently. The RyokoJack just glared at her.
"Well … is it permanent?" Heather asked, smiling. He shrugged.
"No way of knowing … unless it wears off."
"Look on the bright side," Heather was still grinning. "You can come with us to see the cannibals if you stay like this."
He glared again.
Lizzy finally lost it. She pointed with one hand and clutched her stomach at the same time. "Hahahahahaha!"
"We should dress her up!" Claudia was rubbing her hands together deviously and looking at Jack like he … she … was lunch.
"No!"
…
Morgan smiled as Anamaria mounted the stairs. He ushered her in and called for Scarlette to come see something. She growled but strode to the cabin. Before she got to the door, however, Morgan stuck his head out, grabbed her left arm and cut a quick slash across it. Before she could react, he swiped the blood with a handkerchief and shut the door. She punched the door hard enough to cut her hand.
"Dammit! I'm going to get you for that, jackass!"
Inside, however, Morgan was adding things to the goblet. He poured some of the contents of another goblet into his jeweled one, the thick red goo dropping into the cup and hissing. He opened the little bag and shook some of those contents … ashy crumbs from the looks of it. Before he could put the wad of handkerchief into the cup, someone knocked on the door.
It was Mullins. "What?"
"Sir, we think Scarlette's on the other ship."
"What? How!"
…
"How pretty!"
"It fits so well!"
"Belle! Magnifique!"
"It's pink," Jack pointed out flatly.
"But it's so gorgeous on you!" Lizzy told him.
"Lets make her up!"
"No!"
…
(Muahahahaha!)
…
Morgan stared in dumb disbelief at the sight across the way. Scarlette was indeed on the deck of the Pearl, and fighting her friends off it looked like. They were trying in vain to put lipstick on her, it seemed.
"Get these bloody women off me! Gibbs! Armstrong! Help!"
"Scarlette?"
"Get them away from me!"
Will stepped into the fray and Scarlette hid behind him, pointing at the girls.
"What's going on?" Will asked. "How did you get on this ship?" He turned to face Scarlette. She gave a crooked smile and made a very un-Scarlette gesture. Will frowned.
"You're not Scarlette," he was squinting. "Scarlette doesn't have any gold teeth. And there's … something else … who are you? Scarlette does not have hair like this. And this color. Scarlette would never wear anything this pale, especially not this color." Will grabbed Jack-chan's right arm and pulled, just as Norrington had done in the first film. The sleeve came back, revealing the tattoo and the scar. Will's eyes widened and he looked up. "Jack?"
"Uh …"
"What the," a voice behind Morgan exclaimed. He turned around but the only thing he saw was a fist. He immediately collapsed but Scarlette, unfazed, stepped over his body and moved to the railing. She'd been below, getting her arm bandaged. "Who is that?"
The entire crew of The Necromancer looked from Scarlette to 'Ryoko' and back several times … as did the crew from the Pearl, excluding the girls.
"What the hell is going on?" Scarlette exclaimed. "Who is that girl?"
Cob, for lack of better explanation, tossed a handful of purple dust onto the real Scarlette.
There was a lot of bright purple sparkly stuff, and then, when the dust cleared, there was a very cute man gripping the railing. For some reason, he looked remarkably like Jack … minus the facial hair and dreadlocks. And he was wearing tight leather pants.
"What the hell is going on!" Raged the new man as everyone … well, no. To say everyone figured it out would be horribly wrong. Now everyone was more confused.
"Hey!" the girl on the Pearl shouted. "She didn't pass out!"
"She didn't inhale it like you did, mon." Cob shouted back. He stopped shouting when a very male Scarlette gripped the front of his shirt and brought him real close to her … his … face. She was actually an inch taller than he was now.
"Tell me how to fix this or I will make sure the next body getting sliced open is yours."
Cob shook and stammered out "Warm water!"
Scarlette gasped. "This isn't permanent, is it? I'm not going to change back to a guy when I hit cold water, am I?"
"No," Cob shook again. "Where would you get an idea like that?"
"It's one of those future things," she … he growled. She turned back and shouted over in a very Jack-like voice. "Think of Ranma ½! Hot water will change us back. Luckily it's only one sided. Cold water has no effect." And with that, she grinned. "Nice dress. Muahahaha!" Turning to Cob, she yanked him around again. "Go heat up some water, or else."
Morgan woke up at that instant, getting a look at the guy in the leather pants walking away. "What the?"
Scarlette-kun turned back and growled and Morgan went into temporary shock, thinking it was Jack. But rather than attacking the man on the deck, the Jack person just walked away.
Morgan got up and looked puzzled. Everyone else seemed to be working as usual, however. Nothing seemed out of place and rather than have people thinking he was seeing visions, he went back into his cabin. Seeing the bloody handkerchief lying on the table, he suddenly grinned.
Scarlette ran straight into Robin on her … his way down to the galley and Robin looked confused.
"Who …"
"It's Scarlette," the gorgeous man answered. "Follow me and I'll explain."
"Damn! You make a pretty man."
…
Scarlette-kun had just poured the hot water over his head, changing back into Scarlette-chan, when a wash of energy snapped through her blood, making the hair on her body stand on end. She shook and looked upwards. Robin was about to ask what was wrong when a maniacal laugh echoed through the thin walls of The Necromancer. Morgan was cackling.
Wanting to find out why and not liking the feeling she was getting, Scarlette rushed up to top deck, scurried up the stairs, and flung opened the cabin door. Robin followed her to the deck and waited with the men below.
In the cabin, Morgan was there, Anamaria standing in the corner, and Old Cheese, who had been making himself incredibly scarce since Scarlette had been given free reign, stood beside him. They were positioned in front of the little table, Morgan just having completed a long chant of ancient incantations. He held a hand over the basin on the table and dropped the handkerchief with Scarlette's blood into the basin, speaking in English for all to hear.
"And now, with the blood of thy enemy, I call you from your grave! Oh, great spirit, make me a zombie to match no other! Fire shall never again touch thy flesh! Come to me!" He pounded the table and the air in the room grew very thick. Old Cheese stepped away from the table, noticing Scarlette. He gave her a grin, his rotten and gaping smile showing. Scarlette wrinkled her nose.
She stepped up to the table just as an object floated above the basin. It looked like an old ring, encased in a mystical blue flame. The stone was dark, and there was some other design embedded in the center. It looked oddly familiar but she could not place where it had come from.
"Oh, good," Morgan grinned. "You're just going to love this little slice. Have a seat … you don't want to be standing when this spell finishes. Damn, I am good at this shit."
"Well, everyone's good at somethin', I s'pose," Old Cheese grinned. "I'm good at tellin' stories. How 'bout we have one!"
"NO!" Both Scarlette and Morgan shouted at once. Jack had told her how often Old Cheese, or Le Vieux Fromage had drifted off into story land, and Morgan knew firsthand.
There was a bang and everyone, even Anamaria, turned to see what was going on. The ring was still floating, but around it hovered ghostly images. Treasure untold of floated by, dissipating like smoke. A pistol discharged silently … blood welled up from somewhere … she saw her own face, a look of pure anger on it. Jack was in the images as well, falling overboard from some ship into the ocean. Elizabeth showed up, holding the medallion. There was a monkey ….
"Shit," Scarlette whispered. She'd meant to shout it, but could not find her voice. "Someone should change me back into a man … because I really don't want to be here when this spell finishes."
"Do you think she's figured it out?" Morgan asked Old Cheese, a sick smile on his face.
Scarlette looked at Morgan. "You have no idea what you are doing. You cannot control this spell. He will not submit to being your puppet."
"We shall see," Morgan pointed. "I'm surprised you could sense what was going on. Usually, one needs some sort of power themselves to be able to tell when something like this is going on. Of course, it does involve you." The ring had floated to hang over the floor, moving towards a chair that sat against the wall. It settled itself on the arm of the chair, balancing on its thin end as if it were actually on a ghostly hand, setting on the surface of the chair's arm.
The air around the chair began to glow.
…
Jack-chan stood still and closed her eyes as Lizzy poured a bucket of warm water over her head. The sodden person grew taller and a little bulkier, filling up the clothes she'd changed back into. Jack shook his head, water droplets flying in all directions. He looked in the mirror and frowned. He wiped off the makeup the girls had put on him and pulled on his unbraided beard. He twisted it quickly, playing with new ideas but shook his head, searching for the beads that went at the ends.
After braiding them in twin plaits, he came back onto the deck. His crew didn't look at him, careful not to meet their slightly self-conscious captain's eyes.
"You were a pretty hot chick, Jack," Tony called out, he and Sean completely comfortable with the idea.
"Yeah," Sean added. "I had no idea it was you! If you'd been a girl … damn. I guess you got lucky. You can be a good-looking girl and a guy. I dressed up as a woman once … I looked like a Spanish whore … a cheap one at that."
"That was pretty funny, though," Kristin added.
"Yeah," Tony laughed. "We blew into the parking lot; blasting "It's Raining Men" … I think some of those big burly men were blushing."
"'Dat's not all," Pintel added. "He looked like Missus Sparrow. Funny, ain't it? Dat's the second pink dress he's worn since we came back."
"Downright hilarious," Ragetti agreed. These two had taken to hanging with Tony and Sean and the combination had proved deadly. At least they weren't raving about badgers yet.
"Uh …" Jack wasn't sure what to think, so he looked out at the island. "What did you girls come up with?"
Chelsea gave him the quick notes version of their time on the island. He looked at the paper.
"Dragons," he muttered. "Bugger." Suddenly, his knees buckled and he fell to the deck, the little piece of paper fluttering to the floor. Everyone looked at him in horror.
"Something … something very wrong is happening right now," Jack groaned. Will and Bootstrap lifted him up by the armpits and Jack staggered, even with their help.
He turned to Will and gave a lopsided grin. "I'm not dead. I can walk."
"Sorry, Cap'n," Bootstrap spoke, keeping his grip. "We're not lettin' go. What's amiss, do ya think?"
"Hell if I know for sure," Jack grunted. "But it's not good. I've never felt this odd in my life … rum … give me rum, lads."
They put him to bed and since Gibbs was still out of commission, Bootstrap and Will took up the call of duty and sent Stevenson to look at Jack.
…
Norrington felt nervous. He did not like this island. Bad things had happened here. It was getting late and the moonlight glimmering on the surface of the waves was interrupted intermittently by the playing merfolk below the surface. He had been sitting in his cabin, trying to sleep, when he felt a cold draft. Knowing this was normal for being on the sea, he had tried to discount it. However, his mind did not let him rest, and when he felt the icy caress of something other than the wind, he sat bolt upright and lit the lantern beside him.
The air above him rippled and moved off towards the wall. It solidified … for the most part, and Norrington could see a transparent shape leaning against the cabin wall looking at him.
"Well, hello there dear," she spoke. "Surprised to see me?"
"D-Diana," he gulped. She laughed, her high-pitched voice making ripples in the sound spectrum.
"Yep. It's me. Honestly … you knew the story … you knew what would happen if the last ingredient was unwilling."
"Yes," Norrington swallowed again, reaching for his wig. "But I hadn't imagined that I would fail."
"I did," she commented. "Oh, leave that wretched thing off. I always thought you looked better without white hair."
He gave her a rather angry look. "Did you make that particular decision before or after you slipped me that love potion?"
She gave another tinny laugh. "Before, when I saw the movie, silly. And it wasn't as if you were courting anyone. Elizabeth and Robin had already married. Is that why you chose me for the final ingredient? Because you had awoken but hadn't wanted to dishonor your family?"
He didn't answer but continued to stare at the ghost of his wife. She smiled and 'sat' on the bed.
"And what about Jonathan," she whispered. "How is my child?"
"Why don't you find out for yourself," Norrington growled, rubbing his arms. "If you are a ghost, then why don't you just go and observe."
"Oh, I can't leave here," she answered. "Not until the ingredients are assembled again. I cannot even physically touch anything until the spell has been set. Once that happens, I get my chance to play the role of the 'Vengeful Ghost'." She leaned forward, as if to kiss him but stopped inches from his face, her dark eyes blaring into his soul. "And once the spell is set, I will fulfill that part of the legend."
Norrington's blood froze in his chest, carrying the chilled blood to his entire body. "You would kill me?"
"It is part of the spell, is it not?" she asked. "If the Seeker fails, the 'death' of the spell waits until the next time and comes after the one who did the killing."
"But why did I fail?" Norrington asked her. "Everything was right …."
"Yes," Diana answered. "Everything but your wants. You wished to rid the world of pirates. As uncouth and dastardly as a pirate may seem … they are indeed people, darling. Thus, your wish fell into the category of 'harmful and selfish'. It wasn't even your wish. You were following that midget's orders. That, and you used an unwilling death." Whoever 'that midget' was, Norrington didn't acknowledge the reference.
"Hah!" Norrington smiled. "No one would be willing to die for Sparrow. Except his wife. And she can't, because that bloody oaf Morgan has her trapped."
"Old Cheese is on The Necromancer," Diana said bluntly. Norrington paled. "And he's pissed that you framed him." She smiled. "I'm off to watch the others. Goodnight, dear. I hope your nightmares are … hehe … minimal." She placed a ghostly cold kiss on his forehead and backed off to grin one last time at him before she rushed at him and passed through his body, disappearing into the wall. Norrington's heart raced, his entire body chilled to the bone.
…
Scarlette watched the apparition change. There was a hand, forming at the ring and slowly materializing as pieces of … whatever it was, flew in through the open window. Mostly, it was a blackish grey color, but Scarlette had a horrible feeling about it. Pieces continued to fly to the mass of flesh. Soon there was a shoulder, neck, and the jaws of a person. The jaws, barely supported but somehow, stable, grinned, most of the flesh missing, and began to speak.
"Ah, Mrs. Sparrow. So nice to see you on this side of hell."
"Wh-who are you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"Why, I'm a little insulted, milady. It be I, the cadaverous Captain of yer nightmares. Now … have a nap, and when I'm finished finding all me parts, we'll have a nice long chat."
She gave the apparition an odd look and he flicked a hand in her direction. Her knees crumpled and she blacked out.
"And here's a dose for her no good husband, as well," Barbossa, yes, he's … 'alive' … flicked again, in the direction of the window. "It won't be strong enough to knock him out, but he'll feel it. Ah, now I've got two hands … wonderful."
Jericho and Cob came in and picking up the unconscious Scarlette, laid her neatly in the bed, covering her still form and arranging her limbs comfortably.
Barbossa laughed, ashes coming out of his partially formed face. He now had one bright green eye, focused on the bed. "She's prettier than I remember, more woman than girl, I suppose. Wouldn't it be hilarious if she woke up and I was there staring at her? I've never heard this one scream, but that just might do it."
…
Jack was sitting in bed, shivering. He had three blankets around him, two lanterns were lit, and all of the future kids were in the room with him, asking questions very quickly. Everyone silenced themselves when a pale figure, dressed in lavender, glided through the wall and lighted beside Claudia. Claudia's eyes grew wide as she inched away from Diana's ghost. "Qué el infierno!"
There was a general uproar as everyone freaked out in his or her own way. Claudia's way, to switch into rapid Spanish, was one of the funnier ones. Tony promptly passed out.
Jack wasn't getting any warmer … and the presence of the ghost made him shiver even more rapidly. She shrugged at the blatant reactions she got and lifted her voice in a rather annoyed manner. "Oh, come off it, guys. You know who I am."
"Sí," Claudia growled. "But I think we're surprised at the fact that you're … not alive."
Diana nodded. "I suppose he would keep that from you. No, I died, not too long ago. In fact, I died here on this island. Some poor old beggar was blamed for my death. In fact … he got so tired of denying killing me, he started making up wild stories about actually doing the deed."
Jack's eyebrows were furrowed. "Killed an officers wife … wouldn't be an old crazy bugger … Old Cheese."
"The very same," Diana spoke. "But it was not he who killed me. I think you've all been led on a merry chase and deserve to know what the hell is going on. So I'm going to tell you everything … or everything I know."
Everyone sat on the bed, Heather and Lizzy scooting back to flank Jack, also serving to keep him warmer. Tony was dragged to the foot of the bed but left on the floor. Chelsea and Kristin perched on the end of the bed. Claudia was staying in a chair near the door and Sean was on the floor, keeping tabs on Tony's vital signs. Kami, sporting a new bruise on her face from god knows what chose to stand as well.
"Alright. Well, it began when James, that is the Commodore Norrington, heard of the Langue de Serpente, a great treasure somewhere, that held not only riches, but the power to grant any one want or wish. He was fed this information and told to find it by some calculating little man whose name I've forgotten. Norrington found all the information on this place that he could, which was quite a bit, concerning that no one knew much. The only person who seemed to know everything was an old man in jail. Norrington got him pardoned and released with the agreement that he would help. James wished to rid the world of pirates, or really, the man who had sent him here did. He would use the power of the Langue de Serpente to do this.
"However, not everything went as planned. We managed to awaken the spirit in the cave and he told Norrington flatly that he might not succeed. It all depended on his wording and how he activated the spell.
"I was sent to the cannibals to get information, but Old Cheese knew most of what we needed. The dragons—"
"Hold on," Claudia interrupted. "Are you telling me dragons really do exist?"
Diana smiled and nodded. "Yes, here on the island is a great brace of dragons. The males are smaller and of a silver color. They aren't as aggressive as the bigger females. The females are the one's you're after. We got lucky and found some detached scales just outside the crater, but you may not be that lucky. The volcano is more active now than it used to be and any scales that have fallen are likely to be molten spots on the rock."
"Great," Sean grunted. "I am so 'not it' for the dragons, nose goes." He tapped his finger to his nose and looked around. No one was laughing.
"Anyways … the second ingredient, the blood … that needs to come from someone with close ties to death … Scarlette apparently has the kind of blood needed but she's a little hard to reach right now. My blood would have worked as well, having been cursed once … we'll get to that solution later. The third ingredient … you need to retrieve from the Lyandize, those mermaids in the cove. It's a coral staff stained a bright green by the sea. You need to barter with them as a mermaid would. I got to do this part as well … it was fun, actually, and they were quite sympathetic to my plight … they knew we wouldn't succeed and they knew I was going to die. They may not be so agreeable to you, however.
"The fourth ingredient … I never understood. It has to do with the bones that the cannibals have hung all over for warnings and such. They're stained black by the sulfuric acid all over the island … I think you're supposed to grind them … I never really understood because the lyrics for the riddle say dregs of black—"
"An onyx lie," Chelsea finished. "That's it! The bones are black, but when you grind them up, they're white, aren't they?"
"Yes," Diana nodded. "You're pretty smart. The fifth ingredient is a hair of a mermaid … not necessarily purple. That, I believe was just the original spell. We used a red one. We had all the ingredients right but the sixth and last one."
"Wait a minute," Jack cleared his throat from the back of the group. "Six? I was led to believe there were only five ingredients."
She shook her ghostly head. "No, there is a death needed to complete the spell. These ingredients are used to make a gris-gris or a powerful voodoo charm. The cannibals will help you … if you are a woman. To make the charm complete, someone must die to tie all the ingredients together. The spell, we found, is only completely successful if the death to make the charm is willing. We did not know this, and I died to make the charm, unwilling. I did not understand fully what the cannibals were trying to tell me. The leader speaks English, by the way. He was playing with you, showing you those drawings.
"They told me to take the charm and tell the one who wanted the spell cast that a death was needed to complete the spell, a sacrifice of sorts. We did not find out until it was too late that it needed to be a willing sacrifice. You see, my husband, Commodore James Norrington … killed me to fulfill the charm and rid the world of pirates."
The silence was thick for a few moments. The first one to speak was Jack. "You mean Norrington … is a murderer?"
Diana nodded.
He grinned. "I know this isn't exactly appropriate … but that's one of the best thing's I've heard in a while. That's the sort of information blackmailing can be based from."
"To his credit, he was a puppet for that man I mentioned before. He was under orders."
Jack narrowed his eyes. "What man? Who?"
"I have a terrible memory," Diana would have blushed had she had any blood … or a body. "He is very cold and practical … and very short and had enough clout to order James about."
Jack's blood ran cold for a moment. "Would he have anything to do with the East India Trading Company by chance?"
Diana nodded. "Yes, I think so. He was a name dropper, always mentioning that someone named Hanover, whatever that means, had placed him specifically in that position and that meant he could do whatever he wanted."
Jack sighed and felt like shaking the girl. "King George III appointed a representative to the Company not long after he was crowned … and that bastard had already had more than enough power to screw us over. Cutler Beckett is already making a nuisance of himself. This is a problem."
"Why is it that big of an issue?" Lizzy asked. "He's the Company chairman and now the King's rep … you're a pirate. He's always been a concern. What makes this different?"
Jack looked at her. "It means he's stopped relying on the law and started turning to magic to kill us off. It's very hypocritical of him. He hates anything that isn't normal and well within the parameters of what he thinks is proper. If he's desperate enough to get over his prejudices to kill us off using a method he personally hangs people for practicing then we are in trouble. He never does anything in a half assed manner. He will do the research, no matter the subject, to end piracy. He is just that devoted to making interesting people's lives miserable." Jack looked at Diana. "Why not kill him instead of Norrington? You'd be doing everyone a big favor."
Diana smiled. "As much as that idea does appeal to me, I am bound by the spells to seek revenge on the hand that killed me, if you succeed in completing the charm. We were aided by a ghost of a man that complained constantly. No one as of yet has succeeded in completing the charm. Most never got to the death part of it. Many perished with the dragons … a fair few with the Lyandize … the ghost helping us had been eaten by the alpha female of the dragons … he thought it funny that he hadn't noticed the scales on the ground until he was dead."
"What exactly happens if we don't complete the charm?" Kristen asked.
"If you gather all the ingredients and someone dies, then the demi-god will not kill you. However," she smiled. "The person who dies for the charm unwillingly will become a ghost … and wait its turn. The next group of people to try the spells will be aided by the ghost … because if someone succeeds in getting everything right, that ghost is set free to avenge their death, enabling them to rest at last. If you do not manage to find a willing sacrifice, I will forever haunt this island."
"Wow," Claudia amassed. "But who would be willing to die for this charm?"
That was the question everyone had been asking themselves since the subject had been made clear.
…
Scarlette opened her eyes and jolted, finding Barbossa inches from her face.
"Fuck! Get the hell away from me, you bastard."
Barbossa looked disappointed. "You've seen too much, girl, to not be scared enough to scream."
"Yeah, whatever. Don't touch me," she launched off the bed and landed, almost catlike on the floor.
"Your hair is not the golden wonder it used to be," Barbossa observed, looking her up and down. "You look even more like Jack now."
"We don't look alike," she muttered.
"No," he grinned, pieces of flesh hanging loose. "I suppose not too much. There is a certain resemblance, mostly in manner. I'd never mistake him for you." Barbossa laughed, not knowing just how funny that statement had been made by the day's earlier happenings. "But I'd say soul mates wouldn't be far off, if ye believe in such things."
She scowled at him and he laughed again, just full to the brim with mirth.
"I noticed you haven't tried to kill me yet," she spat.
Still chuckling, he began to speak, his voice still the gravely pitch it had been as a cursed pirate, a vampire, and now a zombie.
"Well, I'll be honest with ye, Sparrow," he paused glancing at the corner to where Anamaria still stood. "Great Scotts … she's dead. She makes a much prettier zombie than I do, I'll give her that much. He hasn't given her the ability to speak, however. A good little Necromancer, that brat."
Scarlette looked from Anamaria to Barbossa and shook her head furiously. "Dead? She's dead!"
"Come here, girl. Answer to the Sparrow wench." Anamaria stumbled forward and Scarlette could see her scowling at him. Her flesh looked almost pale in the light from the window.
"Now, Scarlette, if you will just prick your finger …."
"Er … what?"
"Trust me," he told her, smiling his yellowed grin at her in a less than endearing way.
"Trust you. Yeah … if I want to get dead."
"Honestly," Barbossa was there in a flash, stabbing her finger with a knife pulled from somewhere. He took a drop of the blood and wiped it on the dead lips of Anamaria. Her dark eyes widened as she looked questioningly to Barbossa. Something seemed to come over her and she licked the red liquid off in one fluid motion as if she hungered for more than was there. Suddenly, her eyes fell to Scarlette.
"Now, ask her your questions," Barbossa commanded. Scarlette held her finger with part of her shirt and for once, listened to the evil pirate.
"What happened?"
Anamaria opened her mouth. "I … I can speak now! Interesting. Well, I saw Morgan leading you down the pier in the backwater cay in Port Royal … only you were in disguise. Gibbs and I went to save you … and that's when I got shot. That bastard shot me in the stomach. I was taken to the Turner estate … where I died. Then, I was awake and it was nighttime. I was being led back to The Necromancer … and I couldn't talk … I couldn't do anything that Morgan forbid … like escape … or pantomime. But now I can, apparently. Why?" Her question was not for Scarlette and both women looked to Barbossa who seemed very happy, like the cat that ate the canary.
Barbossa nodded. "The thing is, Scarlette, you're growing in power. And you don't even realize it."
"What do you mean?" she asked, her patience not up for his games.
Anamaria spoke as well. "Do you know why your hair is black?"
"No clue. I figured it had something to do with the Native American side. My mother's hair darkened at about 30 years of age … although that wouldn't explain the rapidness."
"You are a necromancer, girl," Barbossa growled. "You weren't one before … but somehow …"
"This figurehead," Scarlette pointed out. "It bit me … and it listens to me now … that's how I saved Ruby."
"Its bite tried to corrupt you, I take it," Barbossa asked. She nodded and he smiled again. "And it left a stain. You're not as powerful as Morgan … and you didn't know about the power … so it leaked out … through your hair … into the ship. When was the last time you fed it?"
"Almost three weeks ago," she answered. "It didn't become visible until today as we neared the islands."
"Your power has been sustaining it because it wouldn't have anywhere else to go … since you don't know how to use it," Barbossa was a little too happy about this.
"What is your deal?" she asked him, throwing enough scorn into her words to burn a hole in the wall ... or not.
"Well, before I realized that this young woman was … dead … I was about to tell you, that I don't think much of this Morgan character. I'll follow as long as it suits me, but I intend to kill the Sparrows, unless, we strike a deal here and now."
"And what does this 'deal' entail?" Scarlette knew any deal made with Barbossa would need to be utterly specific. She was also remembering the words of the old woman. Libussa had told her not to make bargains … but if she could save herself and Jack without losing too much, then she would take it.
"You use the secret power of the Langue de Serpente to restore me to life."
Scarlette was just a tad surprised. "That's it? I figured, being you and all, that you'd want to wish for something like world domination … or for everyone in the world to eat only green apples. Wishing for your life is actually pretty mild … what's the catch? Oh, wait. I know. Once you're alive again, you're going to try to kill us, is that right?"
"Eventually, my dear, but it wouldn't be me immediate plan," his teeth looked about to fall out of his head. "I really just want to find a few certain people, scare the livin' daylights out of 'em, eat some real food, have some pleasurable company … you know, the usual."
Scarlette's eyebrow was raised. "Are you telling me you want to blackmail me into wishing for you to live so that you can eat apples and get your oil changed?"
"Why is that so surprisin', eh? Ten years, I was cursed, another two, a vampire, drinkin' only the blood of sailors … and dead again, for ten years … now I'm a zombie … I haven't eaten anything besides blood and dirt in twenty-two years and had no company besides vampires and pirates, neither of which was very pleasurable. Except for yours, of course." Scarlette made a face and he laughed again.
He grabbed the front of Scarlette's shirt, bringing her close to all that decayed flesh. "And if you don't make that wish, I'll be killin' ye. Ye'll have a hard time disposin' of me this round, Sparrow. This flesh of mine won't burn, no bullet can harm me, and cutting off me limbs won't do much, neither." he released her roughly and she stumbled. Anamaria helped her up and glared at the evil captain.
"You must ask yourself this question," he posed. "Who do you hate more … Morgan, or me? Or would the question be; who more do you fear?"
Scarlette left the cabin in a hurry.
…
"What do you mean, Anamaria's dead?" Robin asked angrily. "We've been seeing her for two weeks now!"
"She's a zombie," Scarlette exlplained. "She died back when I tried to escape the first time, back in Port Royal. We never knew because we've been stuck here the whole time. Morgan brought her back as a zombie on the last trip around, and there's something worse. He did a major spell with his necromancy and now Barbossa is back, too. I should have known. Anti-conflagrated … it was a spell to bring back cremated corpses. Damn."
Elizabeth and Robin were silent, their faces contorting, but Shelly gave a blank stare.
"How?" Elizabeth asked incredulously. "How on earth can that fiend be back? We chopped him into little pieces, burned them, and scattered the ashes in different parts of the ocean." For someone who was prim and proper, she sure spoke casually of dismembering a vampire.
"Well, in the book, it was written as an 'anti-conflagration' spell," Scarlette tried to remember. "I guess the fact that he was nothing but ash didn't matter, although now I understand why it took him so long, and why he needed Anamaria. The spell called for blood and ash of the subject. Since we scattered the ash, and the blood was on the Pearl, Morgan needed to get it somehow. From the things scattered in the cabin, I'd guess that Gibbs provided the ash, unwillingly of course. And he used my blood in that spell … for the mortal enemy part. Anyway, it's going to be a bitch to kill him this time. He can't be shot, chopped, or burned to any real extent."
"Well … what are we going to do?" Elizabeth asked. "You'd probably be safer down here than roaming the decks."
Scarlette thought some more. "I'm going to escape."
"How?" Robin had her hands on her hips. "That thing will just nab you again."
"Not anymore," Scarlette answered, fingering a long lock of her now jet-black hair. "I can control it. After it bit me, it left a stain, and I guess now I'm a necromancer, too. Plus, it likes me better than it likes Morgan because I'm not the one who has trapped it to a solid object."
"I don't understand," Shelly groaned.
Scarlette looked up, dropping the lock of black hair. "That's why my hair went dark. I didn't know I had the power and the first time I used it was when I went to save Ruby. I had too much power for what I was doing and it needed an outlet, so it went into the water through my hair and turned it black in the process. Necromancy is a dark power, power over the dead. It tainted my hair because it had nothing else to do."
"What are we going to do?" Shelly asked frantically, not nearly as calculated as Elizabeth had been. "You're not going to leave us here, are you?"
"No, of course not," Scarlette answered. "We'll go tonight. Right now, even. We'll all go up top and I'll call the monster for a distraction. You guys jump over in the direction of the Pearl, I'll keep the men too busy to notice you guys makin' a break, and then when the time is right, I'll do my exit, and we'll be home free."
"What happens if Barbossa comes out to stop you?"
Scarlette shrugged. "I'll grab him with the monster, I guess. I'm not letting that bastard get too close, that's for sure."
She rummaged around the hold they were in, producing several pairs of pants and shirts. She passed them to the girls.
"You'll want to change into these. Swimming in dresses is hard work."
…
The four girls came out on the deck. It was late at night and not many men were up. Only the necessary to keep the ship in shape while anchored were on deck … Morgan wasn't to be seen anywhere.
"Forget the distraction," Scarlette whispered. "We're better off without it. There's only five of them. If I call the thing, there'll be more. It'd be easier to go out the cannon holes, but there are too many men below decks. Okay, you three, on that side. Follow the lights."
Scarlette took out her pistol and shot it just as the other three jumped. There was a lot of commotion as the men on deck ran at her. She pulled out her sword and pointed it at Bert, a challenge. There was no rule on The Necromancer that prohibited bladed duels.
"Well, come get me, ya little brat," she growled.
"No," a rough voice called. "It's my turn. It's been a while since the lady and I had a chance to dance." Barbossa strode through the men and pulled out his old sword, just as rough and aged as he was. Everyone backed off away from the two and Scarlette and Barbossa began to circle slowly.
The first clash of the blades sent the crew into cheers. They had never seen Barbossa fight and Scarlette was definitely on form tonight. They gave quite a show, Scarlette blocking a wild barrage of attacks and reposting with her own arsenal of kinetic tricks.
"My, you've become much better at this since last we fought," Barbossa growled as they clashed, inches from each other, the metal of the blades straining.
"And you still suck," she retorted, shoving him off with a strength that surprised him.
"Oh, I seem to recall the last time we crossed blades, I killed you," he grinned, slashing at her and lunging in a mirror of what he'd done years before.
"Nearly," she smirked, parrying the attack that had indeed almost killed her all those years ago. Before he could get back into position, she decked him in the face with her left hand, and bolted towards the gunwales, sprinting full out.
Barbossa went to flick his hand to stop her but she turned and pulled a Will Turner, throwing her blade end over end at the zombie pirate. By the time he'd dodged the weapon, she'd flipped over the side, changing her tumble into a swan dive and disappearing below the water. She knew better than to come up for air so soon and stroked deeper, propelling herself along the stern to where the moon did not shine so brightly.
She surfaced, holding onto the anchor line. She grabbed a huge breath and pulled herself under, hanging onto the rope. She would stay here for a while. She could hold her breath for over a minute.
After about five breaths, she felt that the noise topside had calmed and she began taking slow, smooth strokes to get to the Pearl.
About halfway, she realized that she was not alone in the water … There were dark caudal fins slicing the waves alongside her and the wispy feeling of hair touching her arms.
They surfaced, a handful of merfolk, Lyandize. They smiled with their serrated teeth at her and two of them gripped her arms, dragging her down before she had chance to take another breath. Her voice bubbled up in a squeak of futility.
The sea seemed to zoom by as she felt the ocean pressing around her body. They were going deep, and she closed her eyes, hoping she drowned before they could eat her. Her thoughts as she blacked out went to her friends.
…
Finally, after an exhausting night, dawn fell into the cove. Two of the three crews were in an uproar for mostly one reason. Scarlette was not on either ship, although no one knew otherwise.
The Necromancer's crew had been told not to let on that anything had gone wrong because Morgan was prideful. The Pearl didn't want to seem too angry because Scarlette hadn't escaped. Norrington was pretty much cut out of the loop and his crew didn't really care anyways. A Sparrow on board The Dauntless would be either fun or disaster from both points of view.
That morning, Jack had been told that Robin, Elizabeth, and a newcomer, had made it aboard in the night, but Scarlette was still stuck on the other ship. He was mighty angry about this but terrified when it was mentioned that Barbossa was alive again, not to mention Anamaria's zombie. Gibbs exploded when he heard that news.
"She was here last night! I thought I was dreamin', but when I woke, me bag was gone."
Jack had his own deep expression when it came to news of Anamaria. His face went through a myriad of different positions but he said nothing about it.
Jack could not leave the ship. He was still recovering from the shock and the spell Barbossa had thrown at him the night before. Therefore, it fell to the grand team of Will, Bootstrap, Gibbs, Heather, Topher, Kami, Kristin, Lizzy, Chelsea, Sean, Tony, and Claudia. Not to mention, Diana kept floating in and out of the picture.
Chelsea, being the brains of the operation, suggested they break into pairs. Once that had been done, she brought out a bag with five index cards. She had written each of the objects on them and would have liked to leave it up to fate. She and Kristin would be going into the village to try and get someone to sacrifice themselves for the cause. Everyone else was left to draw.
Bootstrap and Gibbs laughed nervously when they drew the mermaid's staff. Lizzy and Claudia drew the bones … Sean and Tony drew the blood, Will and Topher drawing the mermaid's hair … that left Heather and Kami with the dragons. There were offers to trade, made mostly by the men … but Heather and Kami, not hard-core feminists but still for equal rights, declined … a bit reluctantly.
And the twelve members of Team Pearl were sent to shore … breaking off in separate directions once hitting the beach.
And somewhere … halfway around the island, someone opened a dazzling yet cloudy pair of eyes …
…
Yep. Honey roasted. I do know the rules of English. One does not start sentences with the word and … but sometimes, for systematic purposes, one must do it this way.
So yeah. Barbossa is alive. Again. Sort of. I did it because he's greater than any villain I could come up with myself. Morgan is nicer than villains should be. I had no idea that the esteemed PotC; DMC writers would come up with someone as grand as Davy Jones. And Beckett! Holy crap, Beckett. Fabulous. I promise, you guys will get to play with those jerks lots in coming chapters. After Chapter 10, I start tying the two stories together. As you may have noticed, I've added little touches here and there. A mention of Beckett and Mercer, Bootstrap's fear of the ocean … stuff like that.
And good old Doc Mulligan … who is a completely different problem that will not actually be explained until the fourth installment in my series.