My sincerest apologies for posting at such a late posting! Life caught up to me and things went a bit crazy. So to make up for that, I've written a longer-than-usual chapter for you! Anyway, I'm even sorrier for the quality of my previous chapter. I recently read through it, and how horrendous it was! The kiss bit wasn't though, so I guess that's the important part. Right?

A special thanks to those of you who expressed concern for this story. I really appreciate the support! So this chapter is you for :)

Much love,

~MisticLight

~.~.~.~.

It meant nothing.

Or at least this is what I've forced myself to arrive at after thinking over my kiss with Will. Even though whenever I think about that sentence, my kiss with Will, I fall into a complete state of bliss. I can still feel the impression of his lips connecting with mine, the sensation of not being close enough, his hands entwined in my hair…all of it was still there. As was the confusion of it all.

Yes, the kiss meant nothing. How could it? Our lives our bound to separate people, even if mine is somewhat of a mystery at the moment. Nothing has happened, nothing has changed. I just have to keep reminding myself that.

But can I?

"Missy, up to! We're about ready to go ashore!" Gibbs said in a rush as he passed by me. I was instantly up on my feet and looking over the railing, my thoughts from before suddenly clear. Sure enough, there was a huge land mass facing me. I suppose I was too distracted to notice its approach this whole time.

"Where are we?" I shouted back at him, a bit mystified by the view.

"Right off the Pantano River." He answered with just a quick glance over his shoulder. "Best head over to the longboats if you plan to come with us."

That was all that needed to be said in order for my legs to kick into action. I was going, and that was final.

As I slid over to the only decent exit aboard this vessel, I took note of the two boats already floating in the sea. The head longboat already had two people in it, one of which I recognized to be Cotton. The one farther back held the short crewmember known as Marty, the one-eyed pirate I had yet to learn the name of, and Will.

"It will be the rear for you, Pintel." I overheard Jack say. When I shifted my vision his way, there was an almost disgusted look about him as he glanced down at a stout pirate. "You and your friend Ragetti can do the rowing."

So that's what their names are!

"Yes, Captain!" The pirate, Pintel, replied, saluting him twice before climbing down the side of the ship.

When the pirate began descending down that ladder, Jack leaned in closer to Gibbs, who was now standing beside him, and pointed his hands after the pirate. "Remind me again how they get aboard my ship."

"Picked them up on the Isla de Pelegostos, Captain." The ever attendant Gibbs quickly answered. "Figured the more labor we had after that particular island the better."

"Oh." Jack said, keeping his mouth in the shape of a circle. He briefly paused, but then he started his usual hand waving mannerism. "Next time tell me when you make this decision because I don't really like them. They frighten me."

Gibbs looked to a shockingly serious Jack with bewilderment behind his eyes. It took him a while to even respond to Jack's statement. "Aye-aye…Captain."

"Great!" Jack smiled, finally straightening himself up. He then hovered both his hands, with all fingers fanned out, over Gibbs's chest so as to emphasize whatever he was about to say. "Hence you'll sit in the back with them…so I don't have to."

Sidestepping Jack's hands, Gibbs loyally nodded his consent, although it was clear he wasn't too fond of this new assignment. Although I've only spent a brief time with these new crewmembers, they didn't seem to be too bad…

Then it hits me.

Pintel and Ragetti. These two were aboard the Black Pearl when it was under a different leadership, Captain Barbossa. They mopped the floors outside the brig I was in, assisted in guarding me when there was already no where to run, and were bound to the curse I helped to lift some time ago. Just thinking about these few past memories sent a ghostly chill down my spine.

Well, that was in the past. There are much more things occupying my mind now, the first of which is finding out which longboat I shall be placed in. With a quick intake of breath, I walked over towards the ladder Gibbs has just begun to climb down.

"Ah, Evelyn! Just the girl I was looking for!" Jack chided with a rather smug look. The wild smile he sent my way gave me reason to worry.

"As opposed to all the other women aboard…" I sarcastically remarked, drawing on the fact that I was the only woman here.

Despite my efforts, Jack seemed to ignore me completely because he continued to smile just as unpleasantly as before. "You still have that parchment with the key on you?"

I patted the side of my pants where it was safely tucked away beneath the waist. "That I do! It's never once been out of my possession."

"Knew I could count on you." Jack said as he took a step closer. "Seeing as your tagging along, as usual, I think I'll put you…in the second longboat."

"But that one already has five people whilst yours only has three men and that blasted monkey!" I protested, worried at the possibility of sitting uncomfortably next to Will.

"Precisely! Need me elbow room, love." He twitched his arms out twice to symbolize his need for personal space. I, on the other hand, simply glared back at him. When it finally fazed Jack as to how displeased I was, his smile dropped and he proceeded to push me towards the exit. "Besides, I hear the view is marvelous from the second boat."

"Wretch!" I screamed at him before arriving at the edge of the ship, where Jack's shoving forced me to decide whether to fall into the longboat or cooperatively climb down. Obviously I chose to peacefully climb down, but this didn't stop the curses from firing off in my head.

~.~.~.~.

I must've appeared pretty sour when I was assisted into the longboat because no one dared to make conversation with me, and I was actually quite grateful for this. It granted my temper some time to cool off. There were a few babbles here and there, although they were mostly spoken amongst Pintel and Ragetti. Everyone else just remained eerily silent. They were probably just taking in the swampy jungle slowly enveloping us.

Nothing interesting really happened until Will, who just so happened to be sitting next to me, suddenly leaned back to look at the other longboat. Our own boat wavered a little under the shifting weight, but it corrected itself once Will returned to his original position and faced Gibbs. "Why is Jack afraid of the open ocean?"

I perked my head up. How on earth was Will able to decipher that?

"Well, if you believe such things," Gibbs began, his eyes lighting up under the anticipation of telling a new tale. "There's a beast does the bidding of Davy Jones—a fearsome creature with giant tentacles that'll suction your face clean off" He reached out, his fingers curling in, and mimicked a tentacle as he reached for my face. I didn't even flinch at his imitation, too entranced with this new knowledge to do much else. "And drag an entire ship down to the crushing darkness." Gibbs added a dramatic pause into his tale by panning his eyes across each of us. When he finally spoke, his voice was crisp and to the point. "…The kraken."

Gibbs's final phrase sent a tingle of fright through my entire body. "Isn't that supposed to be a legend?" I asked. "A Norse myth created to frighten sailors?"

"Aye, Missy. But they say these legends be as true as any!" Gibbs said, slowly shaking his finger in my face. "And they say the stench of its breath is like…" He couldn't even finish the sentence because a shudder trembled its way up his spine. The shafts of light sliding across Gibbs's face made the situation even more apprehensive. Unable to handle it anymore, I looked to the floorboards. "Imagine…the last thing you know on God's green earth is the roar of the kraken and the reeking odor of a thousand rotting corpses."

I could feel my nose scrunch with displeasure. A thousand rotting corpses? The stench of one alone is enough to make me want to flush out my nostrils.

"If you believe such things." Gibbs added with reassurance, grabbing my attention enough to raise my head. Twiddling his fingers across his gun, Gibbs sent me a small nervous smile.

"And the key will spare him that?" Will asked, clearly not entirely grasping the whole Kraken theory.

"Well, that's the very question Jack wants answered." Gibbs responded with a sly smile. "Bad enough even to go visit…her."

I looked over to Will to see if he had any idea as to what Gibbs was talking about, but was surprised to be met with equally curious eyes. Our eyes locked briefly before Will turned back to Gibbs, his brow rising with interest. "Her?"

"Aye." Gibbs mumbled, darting his eyes out towards the swamp. I waited for him to elaborate more, but nothing came. He simply avoided everyone's questioning gaze.

"Gibbs." I nearly snapped so as to drag his attention back towards us. I kept my intent stare upon his face until he became so uncomfortable that he had to turn back to us. He seemed to already know what I was about to ask, but seemed uneasy nonetheless. "Who exactly is 'her'?"

He remained quiet for a moment, keeping his thoughts barricaded within himself. When he noticed all the longing faces looking his way, Gibbs knew he had no choice but to answer. He looked overtop of everyone and into the shadowed space ahead of us before deeply sighing. There really was no way out of this. "Well, you're about to find out."

I quickly spun around to see what Gibbs was referring to, rocking the boat in the process. Up ahead I could barely make out small beams of unnatural light. Not just that, but I could have sworn there was a presence quietly watching from within the approaching darkness.

Although the trees were progressively blocking out the sun's glow, I swore the heat was getting to me. There's no way anyone would live out here.

~.~.~.~.

So the heat wasn't getting to me. In fact, the more we pushed into this darkness, the more people I began to see. All of them stood in the shadows, observing our every move. Fireflies danced about my face as I tried squinting into the progressively growing darkness, but these trees were too thick. They hid the features of every individuals' face, making the whole situation a bit uneasy for me.

I was surprised when we started to come upon wooden shacks. We were far down the river by now, and the placing of these houses just didn't seem to add up right. I attempted to ask Gibbs about them, but he was too spooked to even answer. He stared at me, just as the people sitting out on their porches were.

It was as if words were forbidden from this eerie swamp.

However, things such as this have never stopped Jack before and it certainly wasn't about to stop now. Jack's longboat led us to a hut built higher up in a tree. The dimly lit lanterns intricately placed throughout the bark added a sense of mystery to the house and I began to actually want to go inside.

Without any hesitation, or allowing for the boat to stop, Jack stepped out onto the lowest platform. "No worries, mates." He assured, spinning away from a ladder to face us. "Tia Dalma and I go way back. Thick as thieves. Nigh inseparable, we are." The smile playing on Jack's face displayed the memories he and this finally revealed woman once had. But then this smile fell and his eyes clouded over. "Were…have been…before."

Gibbs was quick to join the uncomfortable looking Jack, ready to assist his captain and friend. "I'll watch your back."

"It's me front I'm worried about." Jack mumbled before climbing up the ladder. This somehow gave Gibbs the inclination that he now had the right to give orders.

"Mind the boat." He said to Will prior to following Jack. However, Will was never one to stay behind, so he turned to Ragetti and commanded the exact same thing. Although appearing frightened, the one-eyed pirate skittishly told his friend, Pintel, that he should now 'mind the boat'. This seemed to make the rounded pirate a bit grumpy, so he easily snapped at Marty with this command. As if taking offense to Pintel's tone, Marty then face me to utter those same words in a drawn out voice. Well I've already decided I wasn't staying behind!

Smiling as I stood, I turned to face the next pirate in our line up. I was a bit disappointed when I saw that muted old Cotton was next. "Sorry, Cotton…Mind the boat."

I proceeded to follow Marty up the ladder, except a certain squawk paused my ascension. "Mind the boat." The little bird said to its own master. He flew up to join the rest of us, leaving Cotton all alone with the final crew member.

Unable to give off this order, Cotton heavily sat down. The disappointment on his face was clear, even through this sickening darkness. Sadly, the only thing I could offer the poor sailor was a sympathetic smile before scurrying up the ladder.

From above, an unmistakable female voice, apparently belonging to someone named 'Tia Dalma', rang out from the hut. "You…" Her voice had a dark undertone to it; as though something fresh but of grave importance suddenly crossed her mind. "You 'ave a touch of…destiny about you…William Turner."

I nearly fell off the ladder when I heard the woman say his name. How has Will, a man formally living the simple life of a blacksmith, become connected to two separatepirate adventures? Well, whatever the reason, it was enough to make me climb this ladder at an even greater speed.

"You know me?" I heard Will say just as I reached the top. His voice was quick, but I knew he was just as confused as me.

As soon as my feet were steadily on the house's floorboards I pushed my way into the hut, only to be appalled by what I saw. First of all, the whole place was completely disorganized. Jars hung throughout the room with odd substances inside, and multiple trinkets were spread along every single table. There was even a snake hissing at the entrance!

Secondly, and far more displeasing to me, Tia Dalma was standing awfully close to Will. Too close in my opinion. Her eyes twinkled from beneath her dark features, and I certainly didn't enjoy how her mouth slowly began to part with pleasure. She looked as though she were about to say something, but then her eyes flashed onto me.

"Evelyn Pierce…" Tia Dalma said, slinking past Will to gain a better look at me. She seemed to be analyzing my now bewildered features.

"You know my name?" I dared to take a step towards her so as to make my meek voice appear more defining. "I don't recall ever meeting you before."

"No child! Our paths 'ave neva crossed before." She placed her index finder on the top of my left cheekbone and intently looked into my eyes. This, for obvious reasons, made me uncomfortable, but I was afraid to pull back. "Your path be bound elsewhere! Ta a hum on de horizon…But…only you can protectwhat is already yours."

My forehead creased with even more confusion. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you're saying."

"Be careful wit' what you choose. It has de power ta change de winds." Tia Dalma continued as though she never heard me.

She wasn't making any sense. My path? Protecting what is mine? Changing something? I wanted to ask her more on the subject, but Will just had to cut in at that moment. Grabbing my shoulder, he gently pulled me out of Tia Dalma's entrancing grasp and took my place.

"How is it you know us?" He asked with an underlining protective tone.

As soon as Tia Dalma saw Will's face again, that look came back to her. She took an unnecessary step towards him, making my fists clench as she did so. Honestly, did Tia Dalma really need to be that close to his face? Did her eyes have to have that special sparkle within the pupils?

"Oh!" Tia Dalma mused, completely absorbed with Will. When she reached up to stroke his face, I wanted to rip her hand away from him. I had to take a few deep breaths just to calm myself. "You want ta know me?"

That was it.

I could almost feel the steam simmering from my mind as I took a threatening step towards Tia Dalma. How dare she suggest something as…as…risqué as that? Just thinking about her purred comment made me want to lash out at her. She was lucky Jack got to her first. He practically shoved me across the room with his intervention.

"There'll be no knowing here. We've come for help and we're not leaving without it." Jack took a sidelong glance at Will before pushing Tia Dalma in the opposite direction. "I thought I knew you."

"Not so well as I had hoped." She mumbled back, striding over to one of the cleaner tables in the hut. "Come." She demanded of the group.

"Come." Jack echoed, motioning for me and Will to sit down at the table. Except I really didn't feel like sitting next to…her—I was beginning to understand why Gibbs referred to her like that. It's not that I was mad at Tia Dalma, I've only just met her so she hasn't had the chance to do something to offend me. I was just simply…annoyed? Maybe protective?

…Or perhaps I'm jealous…but let's not jump to any conclusions.

"Evelyn…" Will whispered into my ear as he guided me over to the table. I instantly jumped away from him.

"Sorry!" I responded, crossing to an available seat across from where Will stood. "I'm just a bit confused."

"We're just getting started, Love." Jack sympathetically said, although the glint in his eye gave me reason to believe his emotions lied elsewhere. "If you're confused now, there's no helping you with whatever Tia Dalma has planned next."

I plopped into the chair, crossing my arms as a means of protest. "That entirely depends on what we're actually here for." I shot a glare towards the pirate for keeping Will and I out of his jumbled mind. "I may yet surprise you."

"Enough wit' dis." Tia Dalma cut in, her eyes dancing between Will, Jack, and I. Once again, Will appeared to be the more appealing one since she began advancing upon him yet again. I simply lowered my eyes, refusing to be influenced by her actions anymore. "What…service may I do you?" I didn't even need to look at Tia Dalma to be disturbed by this situation. But then the exotic woman's voice snapped. "You know I demand payment."

"I brought payment." Jack quickly said. He then whistled, which drew my attention, and out came none other than that pesky monkey. "Look!" The pirated smiled before shooting the shrieking animal. This has been the only time I've ever felt sympathy for it. Even annoying, invincible pests don't deserve to be shot at. "An undead monkey. Top that."

The monkey was placed on the table right in front of me, and hissed as Tia Dalma examined it. To my horror, she unlatched the lock upon the cage's door and set him free. He wasted no time in leaping onto my shoulder, hitting my face with his tail, and hopping away into a back room.

My protesting, slightly disgusted yelp almost covered up the complaint Gibbs had to offer. "Don't!" He tried reaching for the monkey, but it was already long gone. Gibbs winced once he realized his pursuit had been in vain. "You've no idear how long it took us to catch that."

"De payment is fair." Tia Dalma said without any regard to Gibbs's cries.

"Great!" Jack smiled, holstering his gun. His gaze then fell to me. "Now Evelyn, if you would…"

I didn't even need him to finish his demand. Already I was fishing around for that small parchment. "I'm assuming we came to seek you're help, Tia Dalma, because of a certain drawing." When I finally spread the yellowed parchment onto the table, Tia Dalma's eyes widened slightly. She seemed almost startled to come across this drawing.

"We're looking for this." Will said just to fill the silence. I hadn't even noticed he was now sitting until he pointed at the faded drawing of the key. "And what it goes to."

Rather than answer this continuously growing mystery, Tia Dalma maneuvered away from the key and snapped her attention towards Jack. "De compass you bartered from me, it cannot lead you ta dis?"

With the mere mention of compass I was sitting in an upright position. The only thing we were asked to do by Beckett was bring that broken compass of Jack's back to him. It seemed silly at the time, but if Jack got the compass from Tia Dalma, there has to be something special about it. Besides, the more I knew about this compass, the better. Perhaps I could still save Will from being hanged with this knowledge.

"Maybe." Jack said, as stubborn as usual. "Why?"

"I hear you." Tia Dalma squealed with excitement, taking a seat at the head of the table. "Jack Sparrow does not know what he wants!" There was a cheeky smile on her face as she leaned towards him. "Or do you…but are loath ta claim it as your own?"

All Jack did in response to her was blow on one of the many trinkets hanging from the ceiling. I could practically hear the eye roll from everyone in the room.

"Your key go ta a chest." Tia Dalma continued nonetheless. "And it is what lay inside de chest you seek, don't it?"

Not quite knowing the answer, I found my eyes automatically jumping to Will. Is it? Sadly, Will was looking to Tia Dalma with confusion mirroring my own. We're obviously on the same incorrect page.

"What is inside?" Gibbs asked a bit too excited.

"Gold? Jewels?" Pintel jumped, showing his growing excitement as possibilities spilled from his mouth. "Unclaimed properties of a valuable nature?"

"Nothing bad, I hope?" Ragetti worried aloud. I found it a bit ironic that the one-eyed pirate had chosen to stand next to a hanging jar of eyeballs, even if the jar itself disgusted me. My emotions balanced out.

Tia Dalma, who had a knowing smile throughout the men's' suggestions, eagerly leaned forward. "You know of Davy Jones, yes?"

She panned the room, but no one outwardly answered her. I just so happened to be the last one she faced, so I shrugged off her question. "A little, I suppose. Not much though."

"A man of de sea. A great sailor…until he run afoul of dat which vex all men." Tia Dalma added motions to her drawn out words, adding an interesting twist to her tale.

"What vexes all men?" Will asked.

Tia Dalma laughed as though his question were foolish and lowered her hand onto his. Her fingers danced within his unmoving palm. "What indeed?"

I had to look away from this interaction, even if Will obviously didn't seem phased by it. My fingers longed to be doted upon like that and were soon folding around one another because of it.

"Well the sea!" Gibbs answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Sums." Pintel offered.

"The dichotomy of good and evil." Ragetti simply said, drawing everyone's judgmental eyes.

Well, until I mumbled my own guess. "Probably rum…"

"A woman!" Jack spat, glaring at me because of the whole rum thing. His heated eyes held no affect on me, but his words surely did. The air in the room suddenly became unbearable, and an uncomfortable knot started to form in my stomach.

"A woman…he fell in love." Tia Dalma wasn't helping my situation because now my cheeks were burning. Hopefully the lack of light would cover it up.

"No, no, no, no." Gibbs hastily protested from my left. "I heard it was the sea he fell in love with."

Tia Dalma looked at Gibbs as though she wanted to slap him for contradicting her. "Same story, different versions, and all are true!" She swiped her hand above the table, and I imagine that was supposed to be her attack on him. "See, it was a woman…as changing…and harsh…and untamable as de sea."

There was a pair of eyes on me. That daunting feeling in the back of my mind was telling me so. Curiously, I shot my eyes off of Tia Dalma to find who was setting me on edge. I didn't have to travel far. Those pair of eyes belonged Will.

"Him never stopped loving her." Tia Dalma continued on, not noticing the exchange going on before her. Will and I locked eyes. That passionate feeling from when we kissed returned, and it took all I had not to reach out and simply brush his hand. It wasn't until Tia Dalma spoke again that the mood in the room took on a somber tone. "But the pain it cause him was too much to live wit' but not enough ta cause him ta die."

"What…exactly did he put into the chest?" Will asked with a brief glance my way.

Tia Dalma gingerly placed her hands over the left side of her chest. "Him heart."

"That's very poetic of him." I smiled up at Tia Dalma.

The thought of it, I thought, was sweet, but Ragetti seemed to have something else in mind. "Literally or figuratively?"

"It would have to be figuratively!" I laughed at him, or rather the idea of it being literal. "A chest full of love tokens such as affectionate letters and meaningful objects."

Pintel was quick to join in with me, laughing at his taller friend. "He couldn't literally put his heart in a chest! …Could he?" Well…he was on my side.

"It was not worth feeling what small, fleeting joy life brings. And so…him carve out him heart," Each syllable Tia Dalma spoke about the removal of the heart sent a new shiver through my body. The picture of someone living through that was just too much. "Lock it away in a chest and hide de chest from de world. De key…he keep wit' him at all times."

"You knew this." Will said after quickly contemplating the information Tia Dalma just relayed to us. He stood to face Jack.

"I did not." Jack replied. "I didn't know where the key was. But now we do. So all that's left is to climb aboard the Flying Dutchman, grab the key, you and Evelyn go back to Port Royal and save your bonnie lass! Eh?"

He snapped his fingers and made to leave but Tia Dalma was quick to her feet, her hand stretched out towards him. "Let me see your hand."

Jack spun to display his right, uncovered hand. Obviously there was nothing wrong with that one, and I shot him a warning glare. Whether my glower or Tia Dalma's stern expression set him straight I'll never know, but the pirate rolled his eyes before finally offering his right hand.

With a gentle urgency, Tia Dalma swiftly unwrapped the stained cloth from Jack's hands. In anticipation, I stood from my seat and leaned across the table. I honestly wish I hadn't. The black bubbled mess burned across Jack's palm was sickening! I suddenly felt queasy and had to clutch my stomach before its contents flew onto the table.

I wasn't the only one to have an appalled reaction. From my left I heard a distinct gasp followed by Gibbs voicing his opinion. "The black spot!" I glanced over at him just in time to see him quickly wipe his hands and spin around once to the left, spitting once the circle was completed. Pintel and Ragetti were quick to echo his actions.

"Honestly, boys." I sighed, although I'm sure I didn't look firm enough. I mean, I was still tightly clutching my stomach. "Whatever silly ritual you're doing can't possibly counter-"

"My eyesight's as good as ever, just so you know." Jack cut off my comment with my smile. Once again I found myself glaring at the pirate, and this time Tia Dalma walked to the back of her hut as if to add some dramatic effect.

"You." I said, pointing my accusing finger at Jack and crossing around the table to him. "Why can't you just stay away from trouble?" Unfortunately, he wasn't paying any attention to me. He was too focused on stealing a ring off the table. "Even now you're acting up! Will and I can't come save you forever, you know."

Without even looking, Jack slapped my hand away and plopped the jewelry into his pocket. I combed my fingers through my hair in frustration. "Well you might as well take the necklace with you while you're at it!" Such simple silver trinket the necklace was, with a crab formed into a heart. Right in the middle was a face of some sort, but it wasn't really necessary to memorize the necklace. So I turned my attentions back to an offended Jack.

"Evelyn," He smiled, taking a step closer to me. "What I choose to do has never affected you before. You and Will just…meddle." Jack waved his hands in my face.

I scrunched my nose with displeasure while my eyes, naturally, sought Will for help. His eyes appeared to be clouded with some emotion, but I couldn't quite place it. My expression softened the longer I looked and I somehow crossed in front of Jack without fully realizing it. This worried state of mind I was in was only focused on one person: Will. I reached out for him but didn't quite make it to him as I was suddenly interrupted by Tia Dalma finally emerging from the back.

"Davy Jones cannot make port. Cannot step on land but once every ten years. Land is where you are safe, Jack Sparrow, and so you will carry land wit' you." She said, handing him a glass container full of sand.

Jack snatched Tia Dalma's gift very cautiously and examined it. "Dirt." He finally said, his uncertain eyes shifting between the mysterious gift and Tia Dalma. "This is a jar of dirt."

"Yes."

"Is the…jar of dirt going to help?"

"If you don't want it, give it back." Tia Dalma said with an edge of warning in her voice.

As if her offer was actually going to take his free gift away, Jack hugged the jar closer to him. "No."

"Then it helps." As soon as Tia Dalma let those little words slip from her smile, Jack instantly became protective of his gift. All I did was glance at the jar and he shuffled it to the other side. As if I would actually steal something as silly as that.

Luckily someone in this small shack had the common sense to stay focused on what we actually came here for. Will, always the prepared one, looked back to the parchment with the key. "It seems…" He lifted his eyes back to Tia Dalma. "We have a need to find the Flying Dutchman."

"The sooner the better." I commented with a sly glance at Jack, who flinched his jar of dirt even farther away from me. Will pulled me to his other side, as if separating me from Jack, and nudged my arm. I took this as a hopeful sign that perhaps any strangeness lingering between us from that kiss had disappeared. Or at least it had for the current moment.

Sitting in her chair once more, Tia Dalma cuffed several crab shells and lifted them to her lips "A touch…of destiny."

I leaned in closer once she spread the shells before her. I tried to study the placements, but did not quite understand why Tia Dalma was smiling down at them. "What is all this?"

"De map to your own horizon." Tia Dalma said, her smile now lifting to my face. "There is destiny in de winds."