Roberto, he had no last name, for the most part was an agreeable man as long as his company knew how to flatter him blatantly. Unfortunately, this habit did not overcome his natural pragmatism and mistrust enough to remove the shackles from Renee's foot no matter how much she showered him with the outrageously pompous compliments. Upon returning home several days ago and discovering that his fishing nets have been fixed, Roberto decided that it wasn't advantageous to beat the woman half to death with an oar like he had planned to, and remained outstandingly pleased with his own generosity and kindness to keep her in his hut instead, occupying her with the manual tasks.
Huddled in a blanket, earned by saying that he had caught the biggest tarpon she had ever seen, Renee wondered where her jailer hid the key. Roberto snored loudly with a brass cauldron under his head, stretched out across the hut's exit, resolved to keep his new servant in as much as everyone else out. Renee considered changing her tactic and becoming a liability to him, but the man possessed clumsy strength and a short fuse. Though he was no murderer, he could have snapped her neck with two fingers by accident. She would be lucky if she could crawl once tossed out of his hut. Knowing that luck was rarely on her side, Renee preferred to win his trust and run away once Roberto removed the shackle.
The hut didn't have a door. Past her jailer stretched the darkness, and the sea, visible only by the white foam on the wave crests. This night the waters rolled fiercely along the sand, agitated by something happening in the distance. Renee shuddered from a bad premonition, upon hearing hushed whispering as the new vision unfolded.
The witch stood in a fog shrouded brig, surrounded by an eerie aura, whispering fervently and caressing her lover's face through the bars. He leaned into the touch, but spoke mockingly, "There you are, trapped in the single form, cut off from the sea, from all that you love."
The witch dropped her arm and along with it took away the enchantment, returning Davy Jones to his cursed form. "I am bound by men, just as you are bound by an oath to them."
With diminished powers, she still knew his heart and his anger, watching him with soul searching intensity, even when he grabbed her throat. "What fate do you have for your captors?" he asked.
"The brethren court?" she exclaimed angrily. "All of them, the last thing they will learn in this life is how cruel I can be."
A flicker of satisfied vengeance lit his eyes, and Davy Jones turned to leave.
"What of your fate?" she called after him.
"I have sworn on your name that I shall not interfere," he answered.
The witch smiled cryptically as she hugged the bars. "I give you freedom to do as you choose without desecrating my name or the oath. The mortals should never command us. When the battle comes tomorrow, join it as you desire, for they must learn our wrath," she decreed, and the pair melted from sight in the fog.
"No!"
Strong blast of wind and rain nearly threw Renee off her feet. Only Roberto's huge arm kept her in place.
"Where'd you think you're going?" he shouted angrily.
Renee pushed the wet, tangled hair away from the face, becoming aware that she had jumped over Roberto and carried the cast-iron several feet out of the hut. Heavy clouds swarmed the sky. Bright lightening hit the sea far in the distance.
Roberto spat, and rushed to secure the boat and the fishing tackles with a growl that a fine storm is brewing which he could have slept though had it not been for Renee.
She cared less that he had left her out in the rain, only seeing two ships coming together to settle all debts, and one man waiting for the first exchange of fire, once more on the deck of the Black Pearl.
James resolved to bring Miss Swann back to her father safely, thus the last he had seen of the Flying Dutchman, disappearing under waves with the Heart, was from the cove's shore where the brethren court held a meeting and where he had asked to be brought after the marines have been taken to Port Royal.
He found Elizabeth quickly because all attention was on her, the new Pirate King, and the suicidal task she had set before them. James didn't fear meeting Davy Jones once more, his conscience was clear, nor was he the one who had broken an oath, and he could calmly look Davy Jones in the eyes. He was concerned for Miss Swann, however, and her ability to always end up in the middle of the fray. She didn't lack protection with William Turner guarding her every step, but she certainly needed more common sense, although wishing for common sense in this battle was overly ambitious.
James was concerned about everyone's life but his own, knowing nothing that someone worried about him. Renee lived through the fight with him. Howling wind and rain outside the hut matched the hurricane roar and gunfire.
"Show me. I must know that he lives," Renee pleaded silently with the ring, afraid that capricious visions may stop and she'll never learn the outcome. Only Roberto in the world's mayhem slept like a rock, once his boat was stored safely. Renee witnessed it all - William Turner's death and rise to the Captain, the Endeavour's destruction and the sun, which emerged through the thick clouds to flood the horizon with victorious light.
"Do pick up the crew of the ship you have blasted out of the water, Mr Turner," James suggested, gesturing towards the Endeavour's remains where the survivors were in the water, clinging onto the flotsam. He doubted very much that either the armada or the pirates would come to their rescue.
The freshly made Captain thought it was a fair enough reprimand. He had gotten carried away by the joy of freeing his father and every sailor under the former Captain's command, though he regarded James as well as a man could regard a competitor for the heart of the woman he loved, not that the Admiral cared about his sentiments. He hadn't been impressed by the former Captain of the Flying Dutchman, and he wasn't impressed by this one either. He wondered how much good a blacksmith with a background in pirating could do as a Captain, at least until he learned the ropes.
The Admiral picked up a spyglass and adjourned to the bow to take in the situation. The pirates waited for the Black Pearl to rejoin them, unwilling to enter the fight, and the armada was delayed because they had to transfer command after their flag ship had been sunk. James cared about neither side, though he had no love for war or casualties.
"Let me see," Elizabeth requested. She was anxious that the pirates would flee from the battle now that she wasn't controlling them from the Black Pearl. James handed over the spyglass silently, feeling awkward with the realisation that he had to address her as Mrs Turner.
He left her side to oversee the rescue, arriving just as Theodore Groves was fished out of the water. James grabbed the officer's arm and pulled him on deck with a warm greeting, unable to hide how pleased he was to see a long lost friend, "Welcome aboard."
Theodore's jaw dropped, but his natural wit overruled the bewilderment, "Thank you, Admiral," he replied energetically for a man who had swallowed plenty of gunfire smoke and sea water, "permission to wait for the next ship. This one gives me the creeps."
"Since when do you fear a few dusty sails with holes, lieutenant-commander?" James inquired. He was overcome with a feeling that he was still in Port Royal, bantering with his men on a dull, paperwork filled afternoon when they could afford less formality, and when Theodore's eyes lit with amusement and mischief.
Groves was deprived of making no doubt a devastating reply as their exchange was interrupted by Elizabeth joining them.
"James, what can you make of this?" she asked, pointing out three ships positioned as a separate group from the armada, but they were in close quarters with the East Trading Company's ships.
The ships flew King's colours. It was difficult to tell at a distance; however, James recognised the leading ship. "If I'm not mistaken, that's HMS Providence," he informed the bystanders. Enough time had passed since he entrusted the Governor Swann to Lieutenant Gillette to reach England and, providing the Governor had been successful, to dispatch an investigation party that was to carry out a strict investigation of the Company's activity in the Caribbean.
Elizabeth must have thought so too because she tugged his arm, impatient to regain the spyglass. "Do you think my father is there?" she asked with renewed interest focusing on the armada. James only spared a sceptical thought that the Flying Dutchman had more commanders than she needed. Sure enough, as soon as the Endeavour's men were gathered on deck, the Flying Dutchman moved to join the Providence.
"They've leaving!" Groves exclaimed as the armada broke the formation, following King's command to set sail for Cuba where the investigation was to be held.
"I don't suppose they will fire on us should we approach," James said. His words, however, fell of deaf ears as Elizabeth released an exulted cry as she spotted her father. She removed her hat and waved it in the air until she was spotted. The Providence signalled that they want to talk and changed course to meet with the Flying Dutchman.
Long after the vision faded Renee stayed awake, looking into the storm and waiting. Only when the clouds have lifted and the dim morning light flooded the shore, she fell into exhausted sleep.
