Hi there, kids! How's it going! I just finished reading (as in May 3rd, 06) a really great Ranma fic called Hearts of Ice … I don't think it's finished yet … cliffhanger chapter … it better not be done, any way … It can't end like that! Notin' too exciting's been happening … I'm kind of secluded in the woods … hiding out … Technically …I'm not supposed to be here … Shhh. (More on that story later)

Chapter X –Voodoo Cookbook (That's a lot of Oooooooo's)

Scarlette felt warm, for the most part anyway. Her legs felt almost weightless. She blinked open her eyes in the morning sunlight and sat up wearily. She was on the shore, but there were no ships in sight. She could see one of the other islands in the distance, birds flying against its peaks.

"Awake, are you?" a scornful woman's voice called out, too deep to be shrill but cutting nonetheless. "I still say we should kill her."

"Shut up, Sanel," a male voice reprimanded. "You always want to kill the women." Scarlette looked around to find herself surrounded by people, some in the water, some on the land. The ones in the water differed … a bit. They had tails and scales and bright colored skin and hair that humans just did not possess.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking at the strange people. One of the land walkers sat next to her and she noticed that his eyes were grey. Not the stone grey humans have, but a steel grey that some dogs possess.

"I am Dacor, the leader of the Lyandize in this area."

"Lyandize … would you be merfolk, then?"

"Yes. These are my tribe members. We pulled you from the sea last night."

"Yeah, about that," Scarlette began. "Why? I was pretty sure you were going to kill me … not that I'm complaining, but why didn't you?"

"We sensed that you had powers concerning the dead," another said, sitting on her other side. "I'm Raare." His eyes and hair were black as night and he pronounced his name 'Rah-rei'.

"Yeah, I guess," Scarlette answered. "What's it to you?"

"We need to know how to control … a demi-god," A very large one spoke. He was introduced as Wiobr.

"You see," Raare spoke again. "We all have the ability to use all types of magic, some have certain specialties. We fear that soon someone will succeed in completing the spells, which in turn will releases the deity in the cave. Since the Lyandize are the ones who helped placed it there in the beginning, we believe it will come after us once free. We have lost the manuscripts containing the necessary means of controlling the monster."

Scarlette thought … deity? Since she'd never been up to the cave, she'd never seen the thing, but she did remember the book in Morgan's cabin.

"I can get you a book," she told them. "But you have to help me. I need to get back to the Pearl."

"The occupants of the Pearl are searching for the ingredients of the Langue de Serpente," Sanel, the only female hissed, flicking her whore red hair off her face. "We do not want them to complete that spell. It will only endanger us."

"Not if she brings us this book," Dewhi, another of the Lyandize retorted. "Plus, they can't finish the spell without our staff. We have to choose to help them or hinder them."

"Helping would be nice," Scarlette muttered, feeling slightly upstaged. "Plus, if I get you the book, you'll owe me. So here's an idea. We go and get that book … and then you guys take me back to the Pearl and let us borrow that staff thing you were just talking about. That way, when we complete the spell successfully, the monster can be controlled by you, and no one gets hurt. In fact … we're not even the ones who want to finish this thing. It's all the stupid guy in the big dead boat's idea. He kidnapped a few of us to give the Pearl's crew incentive. I guess now that we've all escaped, we can just go home and forget about this treasure."

"No," Dacor contradicted. "You can't leave or you'll all die. Everyone who initiated the spell must complete it or they will be killed by the thing in the cave. Even if the spell fails, by a wrong ingredient or a bad death, you'll be safe. If you just leave without assembling the charm, everyone will perish."

"Well, damn," Scarlette splashed the water with her hand. "What about the deal I've proposed. I get you the book and you help us."

Dacor and Dewhi exchanged glances.

Scarlette was hauled back into The Necromancer at about noon, looking sullen. She was promptly locked in the cabin. Luckily, it was only occupied Barbossa … Luckily? Morgan wasn't around. Scarlette quickly found the book and marked the page where she'd read the deity binding spell.

"What be you doin', Sparrow?" Barbie growled, brushing a bit of weed off his coat.

"Reading," she answered. She felt it when the Lyandize began attacking the hull. The figurehead went a little crazy. Scarlette hung onto the book and gave the door a good kick, level with the knob. The door flew open and she ran to the anchor side again. It wouldn't be good to get the book wet, after all. She slid down the line attached to the anchor, a bit of fabric tied to her hand to prevent from ripping her palm up with the coarse rope.

She slid into the water, holding the book above her head. One of the Lyandize came up next to her.

"Hey. I'm Alfor. My vice is water. Here, I'll make it water proof so we can get out of here faster." He pointed to the book and grabbed her hand. She gulped in air as they disappeared from the scene. Escaping from The Necromancer was much easier when the monster didn't try to eat her.

They arrived back on the beach, but this time, they had visitors.

Gibbs and Bootstrap stood in awe as Scarlette came out of the sea, with an escort of thirteen Lyandize merfolk. They smiled their shark like grins at the men as their tails turned into legs.

Dacor handed the staff to Scarlette. "Here. This is the 'emerald tail' ingredient. Good luck with the others. Thank you for the book."

Scarlette joined the two men and they began to walk back to the cove. "That was a little too easy," Scarlette spoke carefully.

"Well, we got our ingredient," Gibbs smiled. "And we got Scarlette back. Jack'll be just peached."

Bootstrap put an arm around her shoulders as they hiked back across the beach. "You have no idea how much you scared me, coming out of the sea with creatures like that. For an instant there, I'd thought you'd done something rash."

"What are you talking about?" she asked curiously. He looked at her, startled. He smiled then and laughed.

"Oh. Never you mind, lass. Just be glad I was wrong."

Scarlette fixed an odd look on Bootstrap and continued walking, wondering just what Bootstrap had on his mind.

Chelsea and Kristin, having spoken to the septum pierced man in the village, in English, were turned away after he made an announcement to the tribe. He'd asked them in Mekwahz if any of them would like to give their lives for the spell. No takers had come up. The girls reluctantly left the village and returned to the beach, where Gibbs, Bootstrap, and a dark haired woman sat laughing.

"Hello," Chelsea greeted a little desperately. "Who's your new friend?" Just then, the woman turned and both Kristin and Chelsea jumped.

"Scarlette?"

"Who else?" the pirate woman asked, smirking in a shadowed resemblance of her husband.

"You look a lot like Jack with all that dark hair," Kristin assessed. "Why is it black?"

"Magic."

"Ah," she answered, slightly miffed at Scarlette's nonchalance. "I see."

"We've got the staff," Gibbs held up the green piece of coral.

"We didn't get the death," Chelsea reported glumly. "None of them wanted to die, I guess."

"What are the other ingredients?" Scarlette asked.

"We need a willing death, some dragon scales, gold variety," Chelsea began.

"Dragons don't exist," Scarlette spoke.

"Hmph," Gibbs grunted. "Shows what you know."

"Blood tainted by death, a mermaid's hair … some bone fragments from the town."

"Hey," Scarlette held out a hand. "I've got your blood right here. And it's tainted all right."

"Great," Chelsea spoke. "Two out of six ingredients." She sounded less than enthusiastic.

Lizzy and Claudia nervously walked through the village, looking at the blackened skeletons hung everywhere. Claudia moseyed up to one and looked at Lizzy. Lizzy was very nervous. She was the one who would do the distracting.

She stood in the center of the village, attracting a little attention as a few of the natives pointed her out. She suddenly began to wave her arms and dance about, singing at the top of her lungs.

"It's a small world after all; it's a small world after all …"

"Holy crap!" Claudia snickered as the natives surrounded Lizzy and started mimicking her movements.

"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears, it's a world of hopes and a world of fears …"

Claudia grabbed the femur of the skeleton and yanked it off quickly. The rest of the leg was tied to the pole and stayed. She doubted anyone would notice it unless scrutiny of the utmost thoroughness was in line that day.

"It's a small world after all!" Lizzy stopped and shoved her way out of the cluster of natives. They laughed and started singing themselves, crudely trying to form the English words.

"Itz ha smerered aftawah …"

"Did you get it?" Lizzy asked as she caught up with Claudia.

"Yeah, I got it," she snickered again. "You were great. Too bad you didn't have to go into the Spanish and French verses. That would have been muy entertaining."

"Shut up," she told her friend as they walked through the jungle towards the beach, Claudia clutching the bone to her chest and trying to ignore the icky feeling she got from touching it.

"Jaskins!" cried two voices at once. Sean and Tony ran Scarlette right over in their enthusiasm for her return.

"We're so glad to see you!" Sean exclaimed.

"Even though we didn't get the blood," Tony added. Scarlette smiled.

"That's okay," she said. "I got it instead."

Will and Topher came running up the beach at the same time Lizzy and Claudia broke from the jungle.

Claudia handed a blackened bone to Chelsea, who put it in the boat with the staff. Will and Topher were empty handed.

"We couldn't get near them," Will answered upon enquiry. "As soon as they saw us, they took off into the water. Hello, Scarlette. Glad to see you managed to escape today. We were worried about you."

"Well, aren't you cute," Scarlette crooned, pinching his cheek. Will gave her an odd look. Future humor still eluded him.

"Your hair is black!" Claudia exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah," Scarlette waved them off. "Will, Topher, come with me. I've sort of got an alliance with the merfolk at the moment." She led them off down the beach and soon, they couldn't be seen.

"Well, we've got three," Chelsea counted. "Four if they come back with the hair. We need that scale and someone to die willingly for the spell to work."

"I wonder how the scale search is going," Tony wandered aloud. (Yes, wandered.)

Kami and Heather had hiked up the volcano, gripping the rough rock and hoisting themselves slowly but surely up the mountain. They were covered in soot and resembled extras from the "Chim Chimney" scene in "Mary Poppins".

Finally reaching the top, they looked into the crater. There was obviously lava, or something red and glowing, giving off lots of heat hundreds of feet down, but no dragons could be seen.

"How do you think we get down?" Heather whispered. Kami pointed to a ledge that traversed a ways to the start of a slope. It looked like it went clear to the bottom. They carefully moved along the edge of the cavern until they got to the ledge. It was easier to walk along the stone this way, their left hands against the lava rock as they made the descent.

There was a constant plume of smoke issuing from below, and through the screen of it, Heather could see something move. She pointed and Kami squinted. Something huge scrambled upwards, its wings tucked in against its sides.

"It's silver," Heather whispered. "If that's a male … then shit! The females are supposed to be bigger!"

"Kinda wish we had tranq darts," Kami grunted. "Let's do the rope thing we talked about."

They made their way back up to the top and rigged a system of rope ladders. They anchored about eight of them on the side they would descend and one long one across the chasm. They had found them near the volcano and could only surmise that they had been used for just that.

They made their descent, rope harnesses attached to the top with so much rope as to lower them nearly to the bottom, or so they estimated. They found an opening about twenty feet down, a sort of ledge built into the wall of the volcano. There were some old nests but no eggs or babies. And only a smattering of scales, none of them gold. It looked as if the babies were born a bronze color.

They began to climb some more, moving at sort of a diagonal slope, steadily downwards. They reached another of the breaks in the wall, but before descending into it, Kami's leg was grabbed by something inside and her rope snapped. She shouted in alarm.

"Run! Go back!"

Heather started climbing furiously upwards, but the dragons had seen her now. Two of them, large golden females with glistening teeth glowered at her and began scaling the wall to get at her soft and tasty body. She climbed with speed she'd never thought she possessed and cleared the top of the hole, just inches ahead of the lead dragon. She felt the hot breath of her pursuers and ducked out of the way just in time as a brilliantly scalding plume of fire seared through the late afternoon air. The rope that connected to her harness dissolved in the fire.

The lead dragon had been tangled in the ropes crossing the giant hole. Heather grabbed the rungs, attempting to twist them and choke off the dragon. Suddenly, she disappeared, dropping into the volcano. Heather stood, craning her neck to look over. Nearly twenty dragons had taken flight, all shooting for … the sky above the volcano.

Heather tried to jump away but was not quick enough in this decision and when the female entangled in the ladder broke into the sky, the ladder snapped from its holds.

Heather wasn't sure what had happened when she found herself upside down staring at the ground from a hundred feet in the air. Looking up, she found that her foot was also tangled in the rope ladder and she was attached to a very pissed off dragoness.

She pulled herself up, gripping the ladder and climbing upwards, trying her best not to scream. The dragon was ignoring the ladder that hung from her neck, frantically beating the air with her great golden wings. Heather managed to get a ways up the ladder but could not get any closer for fear of the wings knocking her clear.

When the female took a dive, Heather did scream, full of adrenaline. The rope flew up and she found herself behind the dragon. The golden creature had dove towards the ocean, like a pterodactyl. She scooped up some fish with her long wicked snout. Heather landed on her back, grabbing around her neck for fear of her life. The female snapped her head up, wondering what was attached to her.

Heather, wanting to get something out of this terrifying experience, yanked out one of the dragon's scales and pocketed it before the angry dragon took off into the sky again. Heather could see the other dragons, retreating back to the volcano, their bellies full of fish. Her dragon, however, knew that there was something, Heather indeed, clinging to it and it wanted free of her. The dragon shot into the sky and made an abrupt change in direction. She dove headlong toward the jungle, Heather hanging on for dear life, her eyes shut tightly.

The dragon entered the jungle at an alarming rate, dodging trees with milliseconds to spare. Heather felt the wind change and opened her eyes just as the dragon crash landed, tearing a large scar in the jungle's foliage. Heather jumped off and ran deeper into the jungle, crouching in some bushes, hiding from the dragon.

The female stood on her hind legs and looked around, her jewel red eyes seething with suspicions. After a few minutes, she saw nothing of interest and took off into the air again. Heather finally let out a whoosh of air and sat down hard on the jungle earth, feeling the scale bite into her flesh, even through the jeans she wore.

"Holy crap!" she exclaimed, attempting to stand. Her legs were shaking like jello but she was pretty sure she could walk. A shadow passed over the jungle as another dragon swooped overhead. Heather threw herself to the ground. When the danger seemed to have passed, she stood again, steadying herself against a wind bowed tree.

"Now … which way do I go?" she wondered. She walked for a bit until she could see the volcano through the canopy. She clapped a hand to her mouth.

"I hope Kami got away," she spoke out loud, comforting herself. She was covered in cuts and bruises, although she wasn't sure how bad the bruising was yet, what with all the soot. Using the volcano to orient herself, she started off in a different direction, making her way through the dense jungle. Soon, she was passing through the cannibal's village, the natives pointing at her and making flying signs with their hands. Entering the jungle once again, she made another twenty-minute journey, coming out on the beach.

"Thank God!" a voice exclaimed. Kami ran, or, more accurately limped, over to where Heather was standing. "I thought you'd died!"

"Are you all right?" Heather asked her. Kami showed her the leg she favored.

"I got bitten in the initial attack," she explained. "But you were a moving target and soon, the whole colony had taken to the skies. I was left in the nest. The babies chased me out, but not before I got this," she held up a scale. Heather smiled and pulled out her own scale.

"I rode a dragon!" she exclaimed. "I got caught up in the ladder across the top and one of them flew right through it and took me into the sky too."

"We should use your scale," Kami commented. "It was taken from a living specimen after all. We don't know the origin of mine."

"Five ingredients," Chelsea called out, taking the scale. Will, Scarlette, and Topher had come back with the hair. "All we need now is for someone to die willingly. We have six days to find someone."

"We might as well have six years," Claudia groaned.

"What?" Norrington exclaimed as Diana hovered in his cabin.

"Yep," she grinned. "Day one and they've already got five out of six ingredients."

Norrington smiled. "Can't find a willing death, eh?"

"Not yet," Diana nodded. "But we still have six days, dear. And then I'm coming after you."

"You can't do that," Norrington waved her off. "They'll never find a willing death on this island. You haven't thought it through, yet. What happens if you kill me? What of our son, Jonathan?"

Diana smiled. "Claudia will take him back to the future with her. We've already talked about it."

Norrington glared at her. "I do not think anyone will die for that spell. Even if the three women aboard The Necromancer—"

"They're on the Pearl now," Diana told him. "They managed to escape. And Barbossa is alive once again."

"What?" Norrington stood. "Inconceivable! Well … I suppose that helps me more than it hurts. He'll see to it that the Sparrows and company don't get very far, at least not unhindered."

Diana laughed. "I can't wait 'til I get to kill you!"

"I despise you, woman."

"Oh, I'm so glad."

Once the boat got back to the Pearl, there was a lot of loud swearing as Scarlette literally launched from it, knocking Gibbs and Tony over in her attempt at being the first on board. Tripping over the gunwales, she rolled neatly and sprang to her feat, sprinting to the cabin. She even managed to run past Ragetti and Pintel without noticing them, and she was not a particularly unobservant person.

She wrenched opened the door and entered the dark cabin. The crew had been on pause as they watched her and a few seconds after the door shut, they resumed their movement. The rest of the passengers clambered aboard. Chelsea held a bag with the four solid ingredients and looked at the door. Claudia nudged her.

"You might want to wait until they come out," she told her. "They haven't seen each other in a while."

Morgan was in his cabin, binding his leg. For some reason, he had a huge gash on his leg … he hadn't tripped or hit anything and he hadn't been to shore. There was no explanation for it. Barbossa was watching him as he bandaged the wound.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing," Morgan answered. "That's what's weird about this. I didn't hurt myself. I just started bleeding and damn if it doesn't sting like a bitch. Maybe I caught it on a nail or something."

Barbossa frowned. "Only two things I ever heard did stuff like that. One's a stigmata … that's not in the right place, though. Other one is a weird one. It happened to a friend of mine. Some witch told us it was because his ancestor had gone forward in time somehow, to the same time, and gotten hurt. Since the time difference wasn't present anymore … the wound appeared on both men."

"Are you saying one of my ancestors has come into this time?"

Barbossa smiled. "Somethin' like that. Funny name, Maxwell … not too common 'round here."

Morgan just looked at him, still stooped over his leg. "Are you telling me that the Sparrow wench and I may be related?"

Barbossa shrugged. "I don't know. I doubt it. I've come close enough to killin' her that you'd have felt the damage by now. Whatever it is, it isn't a link between the two of you."

Scarlette was inches from Jack's face when he opened his eyes. At first, he was sure he was dreaming. She smiled at him and waited for him to wake up fully.

"Scarlette?"

"Nah … I am the Grim Reaper!" She brought out her hands like claws and attacked him. "Who did you expect, babe?"

Jack clamped her to him so tightly she had trouble breathing for a second. The warmth was returning to his body now and he was glad.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"No … you're not dreaming … and nor am I."

He took her face and kissed her like he hadn't in all the time they'd been apart.

"Gee," she said afterward, a bit dizzy with excitement. "This is like the time you died and were gone for months."

A gunshot rang, slicing through the air and interrupting Jack's next retort. He grabbed her hand and ran to the door, flinging it open. Kami was on the deck, bleeding.

Morgan had gone to the gunwales and shouted over at the Pearl. "Hey!" Once he had their attention, he began speaking. The sun was going down fast and it was getting harder to see.

"Does anyone on board that ship have a wound on their right leg, in the calf area? We've got some weird … merged plane injury going on."

No one answered, but Gibbs leveled his pistol and shot, the bullet ringing true and smashing into Morgan's shoulder.

On deck behind Gibbs, Kami cried out as a great spurt of blood flew up from her shoulder. She collapsed to the deck in agony.

Gibbs looked down at her and then at his gun. "What the blazes?"

Jack and Scarlette were on the deck now and Jack was livid. "Gibbs! What is the meaning of this?"

Gibbs looked utterly baffled. Morgan across the way held his shoulder. "I guess that's all I needed to know. Thanks for nothing, my dolly bastards."

"Shut yer gip!" Gibbs shouted at him. "Or I'll shoot ye again."

"You'd better not," Kami groaned, holding her shoulder. "Not 'til we figure this out."

She was carried below and seen to as Scarlette looked over to the other ship. "What just happened? Morgan! What the hell?"

"I think I'm that girl's descendant," Morgan shouted. "A wound appeared on my leg not too long ago and when I called over to your sunny decks to inquire about it, that bastard shot me … and she fell, with the same wound. Barbossa says it's because we're in the same time and the 'powers that be' can't differentiate between bodies."

"Odd," Ryoko thought aloud. "But strangely compelling." She went to find Chelsea. She bade the girl to follow and they went to where Kami was being treated. "I have an idea," she began.

"And it's that simple. Well … I suppose simple isn't the word to use for it." Scarlette ended, flinching as Kami shouted in pain. Stevenson had just pressed the flaming hot poker to the wound.

"And I would come back in a week?"

"Precisely. We've used it before and it's always worked. You should have seen the faces of those soldiers that time in London." Scarlette smiled confidently. "And we wouldn't totally be cheating death … because Morgan will be on the other side of it. We'd kill a few birds with one stone … but then Barbossa would be there and we'd have to tend with him."

"Meh," Chelsea shrugged. "You've done it before, haven't you?"

"Yes," Scarlette answered. "But then, he could be killed. It's going to take a bit of imagination to kill him this time."

"Good thing you've got lots of that," Kami grunted. "Otherwise your other plan wouldn't have surfaced."

"Well," Scarlette shrugged "I don't know if it'll work for the charm, but no one we care about will die."

A scream ripped through the air and the three girls looked at each other as the deck shifted sideways. They broke for the stairs without speaking.

The figurehead, without Scarlette's … nourishing power, had grown hungry. It had snatched the first thing that looked like a suitable meal for it. It had come onto the Pearl, making the ship list to starboard. Seizing the first person fit to feed its appetite, its spindly claws had fastened around Shelly, and now the monster, jumping off the deck and disappearing into the water, was unreachable.

Scarlette reeled as the world righted itself. The Pearl was moving out now, away from The Necromancer and Scarlette had no choice but to hold on. She had removed her boots and shirt and was poised on the gunwale, hanging onto the rigging, preparing to jump when a strong hand closed around her arm and pulled her back down. Seconds later, bullets whizzed overhead. She broke free and found herself staring at Jack.

"Don't you dare dive in after her," he growled. "I've lost you a few too many times to have that kind of patience for heroics anymore."

"You don't get it," I told him. "I can control that thing. Morgan may not save her."

"Look's like it's too late," Gibbs spoke in a shaky voice, pointing. The thing had returned to the bow, blood running anew down its front, staining its mouth as well. Shelly was nowhere to be seen … and suddenly, a splash could be detected, and one of the Lyandize surfaced.

"Did you get her? Is she safe?" Scarlette called out.

"I'm sorry," it was Alfor. "She … she's dead. She didn't make it."

"Shit," Scarlette thunked the wooden siding on the ship with her fist. "I have to go back over there."

"No," Jack answered, tightening his grip on her.

"If I don't, it will continue to feed on other people. I can sustain it just by being aboard. And maybe, if I figure it out, I can set it free so it won't be attached to the ship.

"Won't it eat you?"

"Nope," Scarlette grinned. "It likes me better than him, and is more prone to listen to me."

Jack touched the side of her head. "You hair … its dark … I had noticed it before … why?"

"Side effects of the whole getting bitten by the figurehead thing."

He pulled her to him quickly. "What do we need to do?"

She smiled against his warm neck. "Whenever it comes towards the ship, I'll jump in and grab a hold of it before it hurts anyone. A little blood should satisfy it for at least three days. Shouldn't be difficult."

"So it's fine for three days?"

"Yes."

"Good." he grinned, his palm warm against the back of her neck. "'Cause you're stayin' with me tonight."

Scarlette woke, slightly alarmed … There were arms wrapped tightly about her body … having been stuck on the other ship for so long, she'd forgotten about the previous day's escapades of escape. She could only imagine who was behind her and hoped it wasn't Morgan, or worse. Worse needn't be written to be understood.

Shrieking and fighting she was surprised but relieved to see Jack's sleepy face. He grinned at her. "One would think we were past all that, eh?'

"Sorry …" she smiled sheepishly. "I … forgot. It's been a while since I woke up thinking it was okay for someone to be in bed with me."

"Understandable …" he smiled. "We have to worry about finding someone to die for us today." It was an odd phrase but Scarlette understood.

"No we don't," she grinned at him, flipping her … black hair … out of her face. "I've got a plan, and I think it just might work … They didn't get all of Barbossa's blood … only the one container. Which means, we've got a way of getting our willing death … and not having anyone we care about die … as long as the Pearl is well out of the way, anyway. This ship can't be anywhere near The Necromancer when we finish the charm."

"What is this great idea?" Jack asked her.

"I'll tell you on the way to the village."

"I can't go into the village, luv."

"Why not?"

Jack sighed. "I feel pretty horrible about not being in on the ingredients chase … I was in shock, I suppose. Something … hit me the other night and I was incapacitated … but the truth of the matter is … none of the men can travel into the village. The cave monster that this whole arcane recipe is for told us to take no men into the village."

Scarlette smirked. "We can always get that Nyannichuan powder from the other ship again …."

"The what?"

"The stuff that turned you into a girl."

"Oh …" Jack shivered. "No … I'd rather not go through that again. Besides … due to … interesting happenings in my past I have a rather itchy spot for cannibals. I'd just as well not go near them, if I can help it. Never know what might happen."

Scarlette frowned. "What on earth are you talking about?" Jack smiled and looked away.

"Maybe I'll tell you the story of the Pelegostos one day."

"I guess it isn't Nyannichuan …" Scarlette spoke in a rather suspicious tone. "It changed me into a guy … which means it just switches, I guess. The Nyannichuan only changes things into girls. Meh."

Jack had fixed her with a stern eye. "What are you up to? Is this more of that Japanese stuff you used to talk about?"

"Chinese, actually. I'd explain, but there would have to be a huge disclaimer and I know the author's too lazy to put that in. That and you're not explaining yourself, either. Anyways, my plan."

"Yes, you were talking about your plan," Jack moved in closer, touching noses with her and teasing a bit.

Scarlette was enamored and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she was frowning. "Stop trying to distract me."

"Oh, but you're easily distracted, luv." He smiled at her. "You were saying?"

Scarlette glowered at him but continued. "Well, we discovered that Kami, whose last name is also Maxwell, is somehow connected to Morgan … he's her ancestor, apparently. Well, the weird thing is … whenever we hurt one of them, the other one also feels the pain … something about … what did he say … merged planes … ah hah! The two of them were never supposed to be in the same era … and so the time difference has confused the material plane! The injuries show up on both of them. Since sending Kami back into the future would fix her wounds, she wouldn't die, but Morgan would, giving us our death!"

Jack nodded. "Sounds good … but won't Morgan's wounds heal too? If they're linked, wouldn't her healing mirror onto him?'

"I don't think so," Scarlette answered. "I believe the link exists only when they are on the same plane … Sending her forward would break the link at the crucial moment … Even if it doesn't work, we'll have completed the charm. No one will get their wish granted and there won't be any treasure … but the thing won't slaughter everyone … and we'll just go home … Our only problems after that will be the navy, wanting their idol, Morgan, if he lives, and Barbossa … who I really don't want to tangle with anymore."

Jack nodded. "It's worth a shot. It's only day two … we'll see what happens, eh?"

She grinned. "We're outta here, babe."

Norrington had fallen asleep with his head on his desk. Fomosa and Gillette had been knocking for a few seconds, jarring him awake. He shook his head and sat up groggily.

"What is it?" He called through the door, straightening his wig.

"It's the Sparrows, sir," Gillette announced through the thick wood. "They've been reunited and it turns out the Pearl has all the ingredients …"

Norrington smiled. "They don't have anyone to die for them, yet."

"They do, indeed," Fomosa commented. "I heard them talking about it on their way through the jungle … They said they'd make it as painless as possible and this girl with them just nodded … She looked drunk, sir."

Norrington's temper, a thing usually calm and controlled, exploded and erupted in a scalding wave of pure rage and fear … "Ready the boats … we're going after them!"

Morgan was in a rowboat with Barbossa and Anamaria. Barbossa insisted she be present as Morgan made his wish. Also in the boat were Bert, McMutton, Jericho, Jukes, Mullins, Sheikh Abu and Cob … and Ruby as well. She insisted with an indefatigable whine and finally Morgan agreed, if at most, to shut her up.

They reached the black beach with an angry escort of Lyandize who repeatedly almost succeeded in capsizing the boat. Before the Lyandize could climb ashore to molest them, their party disappeared into the jungle.

They started the long walk to the caves and Barbossa grinned. "I can feel it … people are going to die today."

Morgan sent him a look. "I hope that's because you're going to go on a killing spree of Sparrow's men."

Barbossa shrugged. "Sorry. My intuition isn't that specific."

Anamaria was frowning. She kept trying to leave the expedition and run into the jungle. Morgan finally had to tie her wrist to Cob's, much to the hypochondriac's distress.

"I don't know why you're tryin' to run off, or even how, but I don't think it's funny. You keep this up and I'll find a way to trap your soul in something depressing. Like a bagel, or something."

The girls reached the Cannibal village at about noon. Chelsea, being the one in charge of the ingredients, brought them to the septum pierced guy. He nodded and called for each ingredient in turn. He put the scale into a stone basin filled with … water? Who knew … then he asked for the blood and Scarlette held her arm out. He pulled a bone knife from somewhere and cut her arm. She let the drops fall into the basin until he pushed her arm away. Applying pressure to the wound, she gritted her teeth.

The staff went in to the mix next. The potion was hissing now, great bubbles popping at its surface. Chelsea handed over a small bag which held the carefully ground bone, the onyx lie … and then the mermaid's hair … Kami gulped, knowing what was supposed to come next.

But the man just stirred the concoction and spoke clearly in his native tongue. As the potion glowed a vibrant purple color, the group drew closer. Suddenly, there was a pop … and the light in the basin went out. The man guffawed and pulled something out of the pot.

It looked like one of those hinged wood snakes … the scale was the head, the staff, a piece of it, anyway, the tail. There were red … stones for the eyes and the body looked to be made of black splinters. It was all held together by a purple thread that also protruded from the mouth.

"Is gris-gris," the man spoke, handing it to Chelsea. "Take to cave, give to God. Perform death. Get wish. God free. Akyah!"

Scarlette smirked at that. "I sure hope those merfolk have had enough time to counter that thing when it gets set free." Before she could explain what she meant, the village erupted in sound. A dozen or so uniformed naval officers had burst into the village, bent on finding the party from the Pearl, not knowing that the cannibals would turn violent at the sight of men. Spears and arrows bombarded the officers before they even had time to think. A few discharged their rifles before going down. The girls fled the village, heading towards the caves.

Above their heads, an unearthly screech had them all ducking. The dragons were flying en masse over the island, swooping for fish or the occasional monkey.

"I can't wait to get out of here," Kami shouted. "Dragons, zombies, mermaids, cannibals, pirates … good lord! I think when I get home, I'll write a book!"

Norrington had not gone to the village to head them off, knowing that the cannibals didn't like men. Instead, he went to the cave to attempt to thwart them there, if they got past his men at the village. What he did not expect to find there was the other party, from The Necromancer. His men were cut down and he was subdued and tied quickly.

Barbossa stepped to the fore. "Well, hello, Commodore. I don't believe we actually ever met face ta face … Name's Cap'n Barbossa. I'd be surprised if ye hadn't heard of me by now."

"I heard you were killed ten years ago, by the Sparrows," Norrington spoke, not allowing his voice to shake. He'd never been captured by pirates before.

"Aye, that I was … they've managed to kill me twice. Nay … maybe three times. Almost."

Norrington frowned. "How is it you continue to come back to life? Demon?"

Barbossa chuckled. "Something like that. Now we've already been up the mountain and that cave entrance is blocked off. How do we get in?"

Jack, Will, Topher, Gibbs, Bootstrap, Pintel, Ragetti, Sean, and Tony all trudged through the jungle towards the cave. Upon emerging there, they stood face to face with Morgan's party. Jack and Barbossa locked eyes and Jack restrained the urge to shiver.

Barbossa laughed outright, as if he knew. "Well, Captain Jack Sparrow, if it ain't you? And where be yer little wench, eh? The women stayed behind, did they?

"Where they are is none of your business," Will exclaimed, brandishing his sword. Topher pulled out two pistols and aimed them both in an unconcerned but intimidating way.

Sean laughed. "Yeah, man. You don't wanna mess with these guys … especially concerning their women. After all, we wouldn't be out on this rock if that bastard hadn't kidnapped the wives."

Barbossa, still chuckling, spoke clearly. "Aye … women have quite the hook in a man's defense. For instance," he yanked Anamaria into sight, making her stumble slightly.

Gibbs immediately up in arms, cried out. "Don' hurt her, ya barnacle! Let her go!"

"Hey, I thought I was running this show!" Morgan called out indignantly. "And I don't want you pissing them off any more than necessary! Stop tormenting them!"

"Ya don't know who yer toyin' with, boy," Barbossa growled. "Scarlette has all the power, maybe more, that you've got ... she just don't have your skill or trainin' … An' if ye keep yankin' me chain, I'll be switchin' sides faster'n you can blink. Course it'd be strange, fightin' with the Sparrows, concernin' our history."

Pintel and Ragetti were looking from party to party, confused as a couple of cows at a crosswalk. Jack gave them a stern look and they stayed to the Pearl's party. Barbossa had ignored them completely.

"Ah, yes. Truly, tis an odd thought. To fight alongside the Sparrows. I'm just not sure if I could stomach it."

"What makes you think we'd take you to our side?" Scarlette announced as she and the other women entered the area. "Let's get this over with. Everyone into the cave. I've got the charm."

"It's not so easy," Gibbs muttered. "Traps again. May the Lord keep us safe."

Barbossa was careful to make Sparrow go first into the mess. They all climbed up the bamboo ladder and into the first, or last, chamber of traps. It was a series of stepping stones over dark water. Jack, forced to go before anyone else, pulled out his sword and tested the stones before stepping on them.

When he had made it safely across, Morgan followed, and so forth. Most of the party made it across, pressing onto the small platform at the other side. One of the remaining naval officers however had not been paying attention and misplaced his feet. He didn't slip, no. It was not that simple. He stepped on one of the stones that were rigged to give way under weight.

He fell off the rock and screamed in surprise but all that happened for a moment was his pants soaking up the water. He stood about hip deep in the dark water and nervously giggled.

"Get out of the water," Claudia called bluntly, but a tad eagerly. The water rippled and all at once, it was alive in what looked like a rolling boil. The man began to scream whole-heartedly now. He was being eaten alive by sharp-toothed fish below the surface. He finally fell, face first into the water and thrashed. At least the screaming stopped. Gibbs had a terrified look on his face.

"There ye are, gents," Barbossa growled, tightening his grip on the back of Scarlette's neck. "Pay attention and follow Sparrow, or ye might end up like that poor naval bloke. Off we go."

The next few hours were pure torture. A few people got wounded but no one else was lost until they came to a particularly nasty corridor. Jack stopped suddenly and held his arms out to stop everyone else. The corridor was filled with dead bodies. A lot of them had naval uniforms, presumably from the last trip through.

The floor was painted dark with blood. None of the bodies scattered about had heads and only some of the heads were present. It was a seemingly harmless corridor, except for the bodies. Jack looked back at his enemies, his eyes skipping over Morgan to settle on Barbossa. Morgan may have raised him from the grave, but the necromancer was not in charge here. "The switch to disable this trap is on the other side of the corridor. You are the only one who can reach it with any surety."

Barbossa looked at him side ways. "Eh?"

"You just need to scurry on down there, hit a switch and disable the trap. It will close this door here, but open the one to the next chamber."

"All right Sparrow," Barbossa growled. "But I'll be taking this one," he pulled Scarlette over, hand placed solidly on the back of her neck. "Along as insurance."

Jack didn't move, save for his eyes. They looked to Scarlette and he blinked. She was frozen, holding her breath. What was about to happen?

Jack moved aside. "All right then, Barbie. The switch is next to the door."

Barbossa sneered and limped up the corridor, dragging Scarlette along. Her back was slightly bowed due to the strain and Jack smirked.

They had gone about halfway down the corridor when a sharp click sound rang throughout the walls. Scarlette looked up in alarm and suddenly, Barbossa's head was not on his shoulders. Scarlette looked over and shrieked. His head was rolling around and talking while he did it.

"Very funny, Sparrow. I bet you were hoping you'd kill me this way, eh? Well, now." His body picked up the struggling head and placed it back on the shoulders with a squish noise. "Counting on your wife being too short to get nipped by the wire?"

"Yep, pretty much," Jack muttered from the group. Barbossa grinned wickedly.

"Well, then. I suppose you wouldn't mind her going forth and hitting the switch for us, hmm?"

Jack was careful to keep his face blank but Barbossa knew by that reaction alone that the wire was not the only trap between there and the switch. He turned to Scarlette, who was still hunched slightly and staring with wide green eyes.

"Off you go, lass," he motioned. "Go on and hit that switch. If your husband so much as whispers directions to you, I'll shoot him, understand?" She met his eyes and nodded, allowing him to see just how much she'd enjoy killing him in her face. She turned slowly and tried to feel the air, as if she could discern traps by the currents.

She settled for looking at clues left by the others' … bodies. The ground before her was clear and she saw in the wall where the beheading wire began. Once she was past it, she looked at the new set of clues. The floor, besides being covered in blood and bodies, was littered with holes, most the size of American dimes or smaller. She looked carefully as she could at the bodies here. They had all been perforated by something … in several places, too. A rock flew by, kicked by her foot. It ran across two or three feet of the holey ground and following its path in tile shaped clusters, four-foot long spikes shot out. She looked back at the group below and gave them an incredulous look.

Facing the trap once again, she noticed that the switch was across from her, on the wall. The spike tiles were wall to wall from her feet to the switch and door. The door itself was just bamboo bars, caging the exit. She calculated that it was about five feet to the door. Backing up just a tad, she ran and took a flying leap. The spikes sprang up, following her path of movement, even without her touching the floor. She landed in the doorway and climbed up the door, pushing her body into the frame. The spikes below her missed by centimeters. She smacked the switch on the wall and the spikes vanished with a 'shling' sound. She cautiously put a foot down on the tile and when the spikes did not rush to meet her, she breathed a sigh of precious relief.

She let go of the door and it opened without her weight to keep it closed. Everyone trooped upwards and Barbossa pulled her back again, kicking Jack back into the front. They weren't out of this place yet. They weren't even into all of it.

They continued onward, losing the rest of the naval officers, save for Norrington, mostly to their own inability to pay attention to what the person in front of them had done. There was no real panic until they got to the second to last trap. They entered the room, most of them exhausted, some in tears, and some wounded, though, once again, none too seriously … except for those who were dead.

The floor wasn't completely red, but it wasn't a far cry away from it. The bodies that were present were either nailed to the ceiling somehow, or were ripped to shreds and in pieces on the crimson floor.

"Wow." Sean commented. Sheikh Abu smacked him on the head and Sean didn't talk after that. Scarlette was not so inclined to give in, however.

"How do we get past this?"

"If I may," Jack hefted a scarred coconut that had been there when they'd come through the first time. He rolled it forward, across the floor. It bounced here and there over body parts strewn about but made it to the other side. That in itself was shocking, but not so shocking as the spears that had erupted from the floor. Once the delicate looking spear tips had cleared the floor, they expanded into several spears. Some of them were missing spear arms, which explained why some of the dead still hung in the air.

"How do we get through all this?" Pintel asked, clutching the arm of his friend.

"Actually," Jack turned to Morgan. "I was hoping you could handle this one. Animate those corpses … or what's left of them. If you can keep them moving long enough, these traps will stay sprung and none of us will get torn to bloody bits."

Morgan nodded and put out his hands. He brought up a dagger and sliced his arm open, allowing his blood to well up, dark and wet. He scraped it up with the knife and flung it outwards, hitting some of the bodies. The taste of power was suddenly thick in the room. Morgan sheathed his knife and smiled.

"Rise, men. Rise, those who died in this room, and come to my call. I call you to life for a time to help us succeed in what you did not!" The men in the ceiling woke first, dead eyes opening. They pulled the spear arms from their bodies and fell to the ground, only to be caught in the trap again. The disembodied pieces on the floor pulled together and a total of four zombies tried to walk towards Morgan. Jack strode through the mess and motioned for the others to follow. Most ran quickly through the traps, not waiting to get zombie parts rained on them.

There was not enough room on the other side for everyone to stand, however. Just as Morgan was coming towards the lot, one of his zombies nearest the group fell from the ceiling and cleared the trap's pressure plate. Jukes, however, did not. He screamed violently as the spear shot up through him and expanded. He had worn a red shirt and so it did not look quite as gory as it may have, but he was not nailed to the ceiling. The spear tore him apart, and the others were close enough that his blood covered a few of them.

Jack looked grim. He had avoided most of the blood but he watched as Chelsea started breathing heavily. She was almost completely covered in it and her blue eyes were very wide. She gripped Tony's arm in an iron vice, not letting go for fear of insanity. He ripped his shirtsleeve and mopped up her face as best he could. She seemed a little calmer after that.

"One more, ladies and gents," Jack announced.

Norrington didn't know whether to be happy or quietly enraged as the two parties filed into the cave. The saw trap had claimed no one and had been conquered fairly easily. Now all that was left was the charm … and the death.

Though the area was small, they all managed to fit inside. The 'god' was silent and dark and Morgan immediately knew what it was.

"This is death magic!" he spoke excitedly. "Some heavy duty necromancy went into holding that there. This is dangerous … you realize that if this is done correctly … that thing will be free … and we're all in the way of the exits … It's bound to be hungry after so many years in this cave."

Scarlette smirked. "Good thing it prefers sea food."

"What?" Morgan asked her, an eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Let's get started. How do we wake this thing up?"

Jack cringed and stuck his thumb with a knife, spreading the blood across the mouth of the idol. It woke up faster this time, the eyes lighting up and smoke rising from the open jaws.

"Well, hello there. Early, you are. I hope you didn't just wake me up to beg for your lives. I had a group of explorers do that once … cried a whole bucket full … Had to kill them in the end … I hate to eat after a sad story."

Jack smirked a bit and tried not to laugh. "We've brought the uh … what did you call it …"

Chelsea took over. "We've made the gris-gris and were told to come here and perform the … uh … sacrifice."

"Ah, yes," the idol grinned toothily. "And who will be dying today?"

Kami cleared her throat nervously. "I have … volunteered, sir."

"Lovely! This may be a good day, yet? Well, my dear. Place the charm on my left wrist and … just make sure you get the blood of your death on the charm … a slit throat is always fun." Sean and Tony started laughing aloud at that one, as everyone else's faces turned grey. Kami took out a knife and shook as she fastened the little dragon charm to the wrist of the idol.

Looking at everyone, she shivered audibly. "I was never one for suicide … I'll make a cut, but can someone just shoot me? No! Not you!" She looked quite frantic as Barbossa pulled out a pistol. Heather took a step forward.

"I'll do it." she took a pistol from Topher and checked to make sure it was loaded out of habit. Then she leveled it at Kami's chest.

"How good a shot are you, girlie?" Barbossa asked, grinning eerily. Heather turned abruptly and took a shot at him, knocking the hat off his head without so much as a second's aim.

"I don't know? What do you think?" she asked him coldly. The look on her face was not one of amusement.

Robin laughed quickly. "I think that was probably the best answer to a question he's gotten in a long time."

Heather had exchanged weapons and Topher was busy reloading the one with which she'd … demonstrated. She shivered and took her duty back up again.

"Okay," Heather took a deep breath and made eye contact with Kami. "Just give me the say so and I'll shoot."

Kami turned and looked into the glowing eyes of the idol and spoke to it. "You'll have to use your imagination on this one, sir. We're a good lot and you're about to be set free." She cut her wrist so violently that the knife dropped from her hand and bounced in the field of bones at the base of the cave wall. Her blood ran quickly over the charm and she felt dizzy, rather from shock than blood loss.

"Shoot … before I have a panic att—" BOOM! Kami felt the shock of the blast and vaguely saw her blood painted on the wall in front of her, coating the skeleton in red … she felt no pain, but rather a faint disconnection. She fumbled for the gold chain at her neck, finally gripping it firmly in her numb fingers. "There's no place like home … eh kids?" And with that, she vanished.

Morgan was coughing violently and as the good guys noticed with a relish … his wounds had not healed when Kami disappeared. Topher and Gibbs dragged the coughing necromancer and pushed him to the feet of the idol, who was laughing as well.

"Use my imagination indeed … well, strangely, this meets the criteria … and I feel strength already returning to my ancient bones." The chains in the wall snapped and the skeleton stood, stretching to its full height of about nine feet. "Freedom tastes … a little musty, to be perfectly honest … of course, that could just be the cave air. Now, where was I … ah, yes, to finish this one off," it picked up Morgan almost gently and tore out his throat with its sharp teeth. Everyone was in shock as the necromancer died suddenly.

Anamaria was suddenly beside Gibbs and urging them into action. "Leave the cave! Something is happening! Hurry, we must get out of here!" The door to the trapped way shut and the portcullis to the free entrance opened back up.

The idol was cackling! "You'll find your treasure after you make your wish … what would you have of me?"

Barbossa was suddenly there, grabbing not Scarlette, but Jack. "I want my wish … make it, wench, or he gets it." There was no weapon in sight, but Barbossa had survived a beheading. Nothing anyone here could do would kill him.

"Make your wish? I could just wish for your death … and you wouldn't have anything on me. Let him go and crawl back into your grave, bastard." Scarlette was not amused. The idol was looking at her in a most interested way.

"You are the one who donated the blood to make the charm … the necromancer … like the one I just imbibed. You have the mark … bitten by one of us, it seems. How are you not dead?"

"Magic," she answered, rather annoyed that it would take such interest as she was trying to think.

Barbossa growled and Jack made a face, right in the way of the former … everything's foul breath. "I want to be alive again, but not just any life. I want eternal life … I want to be able to taste and feel and not be killed … and I want the kind of power I had as a vampire and power over the dead, like you've got… yeah. Make that wish, Sparrow. Hurry, or your husband gets skewered."

Scarlette smirked. "Fine. I'll make your wish. Sure, make him immortal. He'll live forever … and have his old vampiric strength and be able to taste as if he as infused with MSG … and he can feel ... feel more than ever … and necromancy powers. You got that?"

"It is done …" the idol looked at her and spoke suddenly in a different language to her. She smiled and nodded.

"Well, then," she said perkily, expecting a flash or something. "That was anti-climactic. We'll just be going now. If you'll let my husband go …"

"Not so fast, missy," Barbossa growled. "Anamaria! Do a back flip!"

Anamaria, somehow, in the yards of fabric she wore, managed to do a back flip. Scarlette looked annoyed. "What are you doing?"

"Testing the wish," Barbossa growled. "And I'll be taking him with me, for insurance that you didn't play any tricks on me … You'll just have to come and get him, missy."

Just then, a chilling scream ripped through the air and the cave turned icy cold, the ground shaking.

"Hahahaha! Now, I'll get my revenge!" Diana seeped from the wall and flew quickly towards the only naval officer in the party still alive. Norrington, hands tied behind him, issued the coldest scream ever heard by man's ears as the pirates rushed away from him so as not to get in the way of the vengeful ghost.

The commodore sagged, torn and bloody, ripped by claws no human possessed, his wig discarded and stained red beside his limp form. He was dead … messily, at that.

Elizabeth cried out and Will hid her face … Robin looked a little green. Commodore Norrington was dead … somehow that didn't seem to fit … how could he be dead?

Barbossa only laughed as everyone herded from the cave. The ground was shaking terribly and the dragons had all taken flight again. There was a dark plume of smoke rising quickly from the peak of the mountain … and if the earthquakes were any sign, there was about to be an eruption.

Jack, still attempting to free himself from Barbossa's now unbreakable grasp, shouted to his crew to get to the Pearl. Barbossa looked at The Necromancer's crew. "All right gents. Back to the ship. I'll be your captain, now."

"But sir," Ruby purred. "Second in line to be Captain is Bert—"

"Not anymore," Barbossa announced loudly, nearly strangling Jack.

"Watch what you're doin' there, mate," Jack croaked out. Barbossa ignored him.

"If ye oppose me, I'll kill ya. And then you'll really be shot, because you'll have to listen to me without a choice."

As everyone was running for the shore, the idol snatched up Scarlette much to her indignation.

"You, little pirate girl … have some power coming to you," it spoke, bearing her over the tops of the trees. "You want the treasure?"

"It seems sort of pointless now, but can we get it before volcano goes off? And … you're not going to kill me are you?"

"No," it smoked. "I do not kill the one who completes the charm. Nor will I kill anyone connected with that person."

"Okay … Then where are we going?"

"Here." They dropped into a dark hole in the ground. Scarlette screamed loud enough to echo around the island, making Gibbs turn back and look around.

Everyone was on either one ship or the other, none of the navy expedition coming back. The Dauntless was informed by the Pearl that the Commodore had been killed on the island and that the Pearl was going to help The Dauntless if in return it helped them.

Scarlette had been born off by the monster, and Jack was in the possession of Barbossa … again. The Dauntless, not wanting to believe, did so when The Necromancer opened fire on both them and the Pearl … the idol long gone from the bow. Now that it was free, given Morgan's death, the figurehead had gone to do what monsters of that ilk did best … hide.

The Pearl took off westward, The Dauntless, under Gillette's command, following quickly. The Necromancer hung out in the bay for awhile, perhaps getting used to the new rule. What was really happening on board The Necromancer, was quite interesting. Little bone spiders were escaping from the bowels of the ship, vacating the vessel under the new command. That, and Jack had escaped and was running around unhampered, shouting in alarm every time one of the spiders jumped up from the wood. He was finally caught and put in the brig.

Meanwhile, back on the island … Scarlette woke up to the horrible sound of the earth all but breaking apart. The thing held her and would not let go even after she tried ordering it.

"I am not bound anymore, girl. Your words mean nothing to me."

"Let me go! What are we doing here? I need to get to the ship!"

"No … we are waiting." Suddenly, a sound so loud that rock broke from the shock erupted from somewhere above them.

"The volcano! Shit! Get us out of here!"

"We are safe here. We must wait until it calms and the dragons have gone back to perch."

"That could take days!"

"It will not."

They sat in the dark and two hours later, the noises stopped, the ground stilled, and the deity turned to look at her with its glowing eyes.

"The ships have all left by now."

"What?" Scarlette cried. "You mean I'm stuck on this island?"

"No, not exactly," it answered. "There is a ship that you can take … you will see. But first, I give you this." It put one bony finger to her forehead and pushed, not with force, but with power. The hairs all over her body stood straight as a chill filled her very bones.

"There. You will soon find out what my gift is, and now, I shall show you the treasure." It seized her again and soon they were out of the dark space and into the bright scene of the island. Half of the island was separated by a thick ribbon of orange, the lava cleaving the island practically in two.

"Wow …" Scarlette amassed. Thick smoke billowed from the mount and a thick grey snow was falling, pumice, ash. The skeleton took her to the beach where the lava was running into the ocean, making steam rise in a thick line.

"If you follow the line of hardening lava, you will find your treasure."

"Uh," Scarlette looked uneasily out to sea. "I'm not the greatest swimmer … and I can't breathe under water."

"Yes, but they can … and they have ways of helping you," the skeleton pointed out to where the Lyandize were bobbing in the surf, looked apprehensively at the monster that stood beside her.

The idol seemed to draw in breath and shouted out to the merfolk in a language Scarlette couldn't understand. They started swimming in.

It turned to her and grinned. "You understood what I told you earlier, in the cave. I said it in French, hoping at least that someone would understand. It was a language most non-pirates spoke when coming to seek the treasure."

"Yes, you told me I'd left enough loopholes to get rid of Barbossa."

"Indeed," it nodded, a rather ordinary gesture for such a creature. "He can feel more pain than he may be able to bear … and taste, of course … I was not sure what MSG was but the wish took and now his taste buds are extremely sensitive … too much, almost. And yes, you were careful not to cover the aging part, I assume. He will continue to age and even rot … as you did not restore his life. He is still a zombie … and a very much enhanced one, but all things will end … in some way or another. Eventually, he will be nothing but scraps of skin attached to bone, but still alive. You must know, that because he has taken your husband hostage in case anything goes wrong … you only have a limited amount of time to rescue him before Barbossa becomes impatient."

"Yes … but how am I supposed to rescue him? Fly out of here?"

"Well, the dragons are marvelous transportation, if you can mange it," the idol laughed, a creepy rattling sound. "But you will find that transportation will not be too much of a problem. I must leave now, lest my would be captors decide to hinge me to some other object. If you need help … a simple spell will call me … it is in that book. Adieu." And it vanished in a cloud of black sand, causing her to cover her eyes.

Dacor was there smiling, standing unsteadily on two muscular legs, having just changed from his sea worthy body. "Why hello there, Miss. We meet again. And the spell is broken?"

"Yes," she answered a bit drearily. "And now I'm pretty much screwed."

"Well, would you like to see the treasure now?"

Bootstrap had taken to captaining the Pearl. Anamaria was on board, still a zombie, but she'd found her old clothing and changed from the golden dress. Gibbs was having a very hard time not … exploding with confusion. He was immensely happy that she was back on board … but his mixed feelings over her … status concerning life made him shy to speak. She was acting as if nothing had happened at all.

The two making the most noise on board, however, were Robin and Lizzy. Lizzy, always true to Ryoko, never wanting to leave her unrescued from the moment they had been sucked back in time to this point, was arguing with Will Turner of all people that they should go back. Will was flat out refusing the idea and couldn't come up with a good enough reason why except that Elizabeth was terrified of the island. She had gotten some of the worst blood splatter when Jukes had been ripped apart and had a front row seat for Norrington's death as well.

Lizzy was irate. "Come on! What would Jack do?"

"Get us all killed," Will answered tartly. "He's trapped with Barbossa and Scarlette is somewhere on that island, probably dead for all we know, in the clutches of that thing. We can't risk going back or we risk everyone. She would understand, and so would Jack!"

"I don't care!" Lizzy exclaimed, her face tinged with a pink flush. "And I don't care about the pirate's code! She would save me if I were stranded … it might take her a while to get there ... but she'd come for me."

Robin, on the other hand, was pacing and breaking things. She turned every now and then to snap at someone, usually along the lines of, "Fucking zombies" or "killer ghosts" or something of that ilk. She had been very shaken by the image of her long lost … not so much friend tearing at Norrington's body. Diana and Robin had not been close. In fact, they hadn't hated each other but the feelings were much less than friendly, and where Robin didn't 'like' Norrington … they had been friends, of sorts.

Eventually Robin and Lizzy joined voices and proclaimed that the Pearl should at least wait in the cove until the lava cooled enough to explore the possibility of survivors.

"We can't do that either, ladies," Bootstrap announced after speaking with Anamaria. "We don't have enough supplies. We'll have to just go to Tortuga and stock back up … after that, we can come back and see what developments there have been. Scarlette, if she is alive, is smart enough to survive. She'll probably end up living with the cannibals and hopefully, she watches what she eats. I think the more pressing matter is getting our illustrious captain back. I don't think he has a lot of time, to be honest. So, we'll follow The Necromancer into port and see what we can do."

"And let's not forget the children in Tortuga," Robin pointed out, still angry.

"Ah … they'll be safer there than anywhere else," Bootstrap answered. "We can't have them on the ship with us … they make terribly good hostages, and they don't know how to stay out of trouble."

Jack was sitting in the brig, bilge water sloshing around, luckily not near him. Ruby was sitting just outside the prison, flaunting herself to see if she could get a reaction. Jack was not looking at her and really wanted the ship to lurch so she would fall over and maybe hit her head on something.

Suddenly, there were footsteps above, descending into the bilge. Ruby stood abruptly as the person's shadow fell over her.

"Well … I'd say you've made quite the improvements," she grinned. "Too bad your blood doesn't run."

"Indeed," said a chillingly familiar voice. "Leave. I want a word with Sparrow and I don't need an audience."

"Whatever you want," she slinked away, letting the shadow alone with Jack. The man dragged over a bench and sat just out of Jack's line of sight, in the dark shadows.

"I suppose you think what happened was funny, Sparrow?"

"Funny?" Jack sounded a bit incredulous. "Yes, absolutely hilarious. I'm in me worst enemy's hands, I have no idea where my crew is, and my wife was taken away by a monster that spent the last however many hundreds of years in a cave on a volcanic island, eating people. For the last hour, I've been poked and prodded by the chunky priss wench from hell and you want to know if I think it's all funny? Has being dead addled your sense of humor as much as it's changed your sense of style?"

And Norrington, newly dead and wigless, leaned into the light and smiled eerily. "Funny, how the circumstances are flipped, eh Sparrow?"

Spiffy. Well, ladies and gents, this was the last chapter completed before the release of Dead Man's Chest. Honestly … there are some interesting coincidences, but I assure you, anything that happened in this fic that was a major point (not the little references that were put in later) up to this point was not because of the new movie. I hope to have this fic out before PotC 3 … but I can't guarantee anything. Okay, now for a page count. 287. Whoop! (Of course, revisited … I did add a few connectors.)