Chapter 11:
I told him about life in town, he told me about their lives after they left, but he knew I was just avoiding talking about Jack and my real reason for leaving the way I did. "I gotta get to my duties. You should go talk to Jack, he'll probably take you to some port or something." I nodded, knowing in my heart I was never talking to that man again, I'd rather throw myself to the crazy island people they just escaped from. He left me to my thoughts and I sighed, shaking myself of any fears I had before standing up and heading above. I noticed that we were heading for a channel, the boats were getting ready and the crew were acting as if we were going ashore.
As they began to fill the boats, I quickly slipped into the one with Will, he wouldn't let them push me around at least. Nothing was said as we rowed up river, the trees getting dense and the light nearly being snuffed out. I watched as Jack continuously darted his eyes around, as if searching for something. "Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?" I was pulled out of my own mind and turned to Will, who was speaking to Gibbs. "Well, if you believe such things, there's a beast does the bidding of Davy Jones. A fearsome creature with giant tentacles that'll suction your face clean off and drag an entire ship down to the crushing darkness."
I knew what he was going to say before he did, I mean all heard the tales of Davy Jones. "The Kraken! They say the stench of its breath is like…imagine, the last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the Kraken and the reeking odor of a thousand corpses." they all looked worried and scared, but I rolled my eyes, it was all just stories. "If you believe such things." Gibbs said, clearly trying to get the crews mind off it. "And the key will spare him that?" Will asked, unfazed by Gibb's story. "Well, that's the very question Jack wants answered. Bad enough even to go visit…her." I perked my ears up, he had finally got my attention.
"Her?" "Aye" it was nightfall when we finally came upon a small cabin like house sitting right on the water. Jack got out of the boat and turned to us all, saying, "No worries, mates. Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable, we are. Were. Have been. Before." he seemed unsure of himself now as Gibbs and Will went up to him. "I'll watch your back." "Its me front I'm worried about." Jack replied and I snorted, he should be. "Mind the boat." Gibbs to Will, "Mind the boat." Will continued to the others and I went after him, not bothering to even jump into their little mind the boat game.
We climbed the ladder and Jack peeked up into the door window, obviously scared, but he at least opened the door and I heard a woman's voice. "Jack Sparrow." "Tia Dalma." Jack strutted in, back to his old self. She was black, dressed in odd clothing, yet there was a power about her, she was beautiful and clearly was happy to see Jack…which was just upsetting to me, how much of a whore was Jack anyways. "I always knew the wind was going to blow you back to me one day." she noticed Will and her attention was completely taken by him. "You…you have a touch…destiny about you, William Turner." there was no way she knew his name, I mean they didn't know each other right?
"You know me?" Will asked and she smiled, getting up close to him. "You want to know me." I blinked and suddenly Jack was there, telling them, "There'll be no knowing here. We've come for help and we're not leaving without it. I thought I knew you." Jack took her arm and began to lead her away. "Not so well as I had hoped. Come." "Come." Jack repeated and we all crowded around. "You know I demand payment." "I brought payment." they brought the cage up and Jack shot the monkey inside, showing it was undead. She quickly released it, much to the crews upsetting, I mean it took them a while to catch that thing.
"The compass you bartered from me, it cannot lead you to this?" she asked after Will shown her the picture of the key Jack had found. "Maybe. Why?" she smiled big, telling Jack, "I hear you. Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants. Or do you know, but are loath to claim it as your own?" I looked at Jack, who was staring at something hanging, not looking at anyone and not answering any questions. Tia Dalma didn't dwell on it long, telling us that the key goes to a chest. The crew threw out guesses as to what was inside it, and Tia Dalma answered. "You know of Davy Jones, yes?"
"A man of the sea. A great sailor, until he run afoul of that which vex all men." "What vexes all men?" Will asked and Tia Dalma stroked his hand as the crew went back to guessing, but Jack held the right answer. "A woman." "He fell in love." Gibbs said that wasn't how it went, but she quickly said it was the same story different versions, but all of it was true. "See, it was a woman as changing and harsh and untamable as the sea. Him never stopped loving her. 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?" Will asked and she answered, "Him heart." "Literally or figuratively?" "He couldn't literally put his heart in a chest. Could he?" "It was not worth feeling what small, fleeting joy life brings. And so…him carve out him heart, lock it away in a chest and hide the chest from the world. The key, he keep with him at all times." Will jumped up, turning to Jack, telling him that he knew this already. He denied it, but tried to make it seem like a easy task to get Will on board, get the key and go back to Elizabeth.
Tia Dalma asked to see Jack's hand, and he was hesitant, but did give it to her, she unwrapped the cloth, revealing a huge black marking on him. The crew did this weird dance thing and spit, but I was still staring at it, it was odd looking and wasn't there the last thing I saw Jack. Tia Dalma walked away, mumbling to herself as Jack tried to play the mark off as nothing. "Davy Jones cannot make port. Cannot step on land but once every ten years. Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow, so you will carry land with you." and handed him a large jar filled to the top with dirt.
"Dirt. This is a jar of dirt." "Yes." "Is the jar of dirt going to help?" "If you don't want it, give it back." "No." "Then it helps." Will asked Tia Dalma where to find the Dutchman. And she threw some crab claws, telling us where to go. We loaded back into the boats and I was quiet, I always thought Davy Jones were a silly story. And Jack was marked to be attacked by the Kraken…so that meant that we were all going to die and be victims of Davy Jones.