AN: Whooo! I'm on a roll here! Enjoy the fic.


"You already have a name. Why do you want to make another?" - Black Jack, Marine's father

Chapter 12 - What's in a Name?

When Jack and Marine arrived back in Gibb's home, Will and the others were still nowhere in sight. Marine wanted to go back out and look for them, worried that something had happened to them. Jack on the other hand assured her that there was nothing wrong and that they will all come back sooner or later.

"Let's just put our focus on the contents of this chest and solve this strange puzzle that the man you spoke of placed in your father's grave." He told her. "That way once they come back, we won't waste any more time in trying to solve said puzzle that came from the chest at your father's grave." Marine looked at Jack for a short while before reluctantly agreeing and spreading out the very detailed map of Tortuga on a table. The two pirates sat down at opposite sides and looked at the map for a long while without doing anything at all. Marine was partially hopeful that the answers to all their problems would suddenly just come to them as they looked.

"What did the man tell you before he left?" Jack asked, breaking the silence that had come upon them. Marine looked up at him then back at the map as she spoke.

"Go to your father's grave and use your name to look for my home. How can I use my name if I don't even know where to find his home?" She muttered softly. The silence came over them again. It wasn't awkward but it wasn't a comfortable silence either. Jack and Marine would stare at the map, then at each other, then around the room or outside through the dirty windows, then back at the map again. Jack began to whistle and tap his finger on the table in a random beat. After a while he began humming the tune to 'A Pirate's Life for Me' which slowly evolved into soft singing. Marine tolerated all this until Jack began tapping his foot to the rhythm. She gave him a warning glare, which Jack replied with an innocent grin. The pirate's grin fell though as he looked at the map once more.

"I suppose you need to tell someone your name. Perhaps they'll point to a spot on that map." Jack suggested. Marine sighed as she slumped on the chair she sat on.

"If that was the case then it would take months to find the right man or woman! We can't afford that much time and I don't think this man can either." Marine let her head fall on top of the map and gave a frustrated sigh while she gritted her teeth. "We're not going to get anywhere with this are we?" Jack gave her a disapproving frown and wagged his finger at her.

"You give up too easily love. Only cowards and idiots give up when they barely started."

"Oh yeah? Well I don't see you giving me good ideas. All I see is you sitting there, staring at me like I'm some sort of a very large bottle of rum!"

"Speaking of rum, I wonder if Gibbs has any in the kitchen..." As Jack mused on this he stood up and walked away from the table. Marine stared at him with her mouth gaping open. She closed it when she realized what she was doing and narrowed her eyes at Jack in irritation. At that moment, she caught the sound of the door opening and saw Will, Elizabeth and Carrie enter the sitting room. Marine gave a smile of relief as she stood up and gave Carrie a hug.

"Guys! Thank god you're here. I don't have to deal with him by myself any longer!" She cried. Carrie blinked a few times before her words sunk in. She giggled and patted Marine's head like that of a small child's. Elizabeth wasn't as used to seeing Marine act so child-like and watched with a curious expression on her face.

"How long have you and Jack been here?" She asked. Marine looked at Elizabeth and placed a hand to her forehead, pretending to feint.

"We've been here for 5 minutes now! That man is capable of driving a woman crazy even for just a minute." She wailed. Elizabeth and Carrie couldn't help but laugh at the way Marine had exaggerated her situation. Jack came out from the kitchen with a bottle of rum to see what the noise was all about and grinned when he saw the newcomers.

"Ah I see you've all come back safe and sound! So how was your lovely tour around Tortuga?" He asked Carrie. The young blond haired woman grinned at Jack.

"It was pretty fun! But we couldn't find any clues to where the two men are." She added, looking at Marine apologetically. "Everyone knew who the superstitious guy was but no one knew his name or where he was. And no one knew who Cornelius Gashnet was either so we decided to come back here." Marine frowned in disappointment but said nothing about it. Jack had ignored the rest of what Carrie said after she mentioned the first sentence.

"I knew it! I told Maria not to worry, but no; she wouldn't listen to an honest pirate like myself." He said. Carrie raised an eyebrow at the pirate.

"Pirates are never honest."

"Well how can you tell whether a pirate is honest or dishonest if he's honest enough to be dishonest about being honest?" Everyone stared at him for a long while, trying to comprehend what he had just said. Carrie was the first person to give up trying to think and looked at the chest on the table curiously.

"Hey what's that over there?" She asked. Marine moved towards the table and handed her the map as she told them a very quick version of what had happened earlier. Carrie, Will and Elizabeth were looking at it when Norrington and Jones came into the room. Jack had sat back down on the table and was enjoying his bottle of rum all to himself. Jones decided to get some for himself and walked to the direction Jack pointed to when the thief asked. Norrington went towards Will and the others and was looking at the map as well.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Carrie asked Marine as she looked up from the parchment. "Connect-the-dots. You can make images if you connect these houses." She explained. Marine stared at the map again and saw that indeed, all the tiny pictures of the buildings, houses and the like looked like dots that can connect to each other to form an image. That was when an idea occurred to her. She grinned and snatched the map away from Carrie's hands.

"That's it! Carrie you're a genius!" She cried excitedly. The young woman looked at her incredulously and with a hint of amusement as they all watched Marine rummage around the house for something. She was mumbling words to herself as she opened cabinets and drawers and shut them close when she couldn't see what she was looking for. "Where's a friggin pencil when you need one?" She muttered in annoyance as she closed yet another cabinet. Everyone except for Carrie had no idea what Marine was talking about and simply looked at her in confusion.

"She's looking for a quill." Carrie explained. Understanding dawned on everyone as finally Marine raised a quill and a decently half-filled bottle of ink that she managed to find within a very dusty wardrobe.

"Aha! Finally." She went back to the table with the writing materials and the map. Then she began to scribble something on the paper. Everyone moved close to the table to try and see what Marine was writing. Jack moved close to Marine's side and read aloud what the female pirate had written.

"Maria?" He widened his eyes and grinned at Marine. "Marvelous! I knew you could do it! I never had a doubt in my mind that you would solve the mystery!"

"Don't go praising me yet." Marine said with a grin as she held out her map to admire it. The word Maria was written on the paper in script, with the last stroke of the letter a ending at a certain spot on the map. When Jones and Norrington looked at it, they gave everyone confused looks.

"Will someone please explain to me what is going on here?" Norrington asked. Marine was too busy looking at the map and trying to figure out where the spot was so Elizabeth tried her best to explain to the two remaining men what had happened. Norrington was not pleased to hear that she and Jack spent the hour searching for the chest when they should have been looking for the two persons the way they were. He was about to open his mouth and reprimand them when Marine pushed past everyone and walked out into the streets of Tortuga. Everyone had no choice but to follow the female pirate with nothing else to do.

The night was still young as men in taverns fought, shouted and laughed with drinks in their hands. Jack looked at all this with a yearning look but made no move to stop following Marine. The female pirate had her nose so close to the parchment that she almost crashed onto a pile of hay and almost knocked herself against numerous walls. Norrington was starting to get pissed off as they continued walking around town with no sign of stopping or knowing where they were supposed to go.

"I am tired of all this senseless walking around Miss Sharpshooter Marine. If we are to resume looking for the two persons tomorrow, then we must all get a good night's rest. And I expect you and Mr. Sparrow to look as well because I am not going to work hard all day for the likes of you two." He said agitatedly. Jack narrowed his eyes at Norrington and opened his mouth since it seemed that Marine was not going to.

"Commodore, I must plead you to shut up and listen to your current captain or I shall leave you here and tell every bloody pirate ashore who you are." He said. Norrington glared back at the pirate and was about to make a retort when Marine stopped walking and looked in front of her.

"This is it." Everyone looked at the direction she faced and saw a little, old, rundown shack. It was far from the rowdy streets and seemed to emit a calming aura around. Marine could feel her insides jump around in anxiety. She raised her hand towards the door and knocked three times with slow but steady beats. No one answered the door so Marine was about to knock again when an unfamiliar voice spoke from behind all of them.

"What on earth are you lot doing there?" Heads sharply turned around to see who had spoken and weapons were raised in fear of falling into a surprise attack from thugs or pirates. A figure came out of the shadows, revealing an old woman who wore a cloak around her shoulders and held a basket with a small and thin cloth placed on top of it. They stared at her without putting down their guards and that didn't seem to scare the old woman away from them. Marine looked at the old woman's wrinkled face and wondered if she knew something about the man she had met. She gestured to the house as she spoke.

"Is there anyone living over there?" She asked. The old woman peered through the darkness at the house Marine pointed out and widened her eyes in surprise.

"Dear goodness me! No one has lived there last I heard! I should know because that's my property and I use that house for storage." She explained. Everyone stared at the old woman then at the small house. Marine looked crestfallen as she stared longer. The house that she had hoped would be the one she was looking for suddenly began to seem deserted to her. The windows were shattered and almost falling off its hinges. The walls and the door had tiny cracks on it; some of those had probably come from bullets or knives. The house suddenly seemed smaller and impossible for someone to live in as she continued staring. Her head hung low as she muttered a thank you and an apology to the woman and began to walk back to Gibb's house. Everyone but Norrington looked at each other before following the female pirate back, not knowing what to say to comfort the disappointed woman. It was Jack who made the first attempt.

"Cheer up Maria. I'm sure there's some other logical explanation why this idea didn't work. Maybe you wrote your name on the map wrong or maybe you have to write your name backwards. There are a lot of other reasons for you not to give up." He said, looking at the others and giving them pleading looks. Carrie walked right beside Marine and placed an arm around her shoulders in a friendly, comforting manner. She could feel her best friend's body stiffen at the touch but didn't care. They had been close enough to know how the other would act and this was one of those moments when they totally understood each other. Carrie knew this was so when Marine didn't remove the hand on her shoulder.

"We can still look for this man. And it's not like it's going to be the end of the world if we didn't." She told her. Marine stayed silent, but they could feel her relax a tiny bit to their relief. They all walked back to Gibbs' house, each in their own little thoughts. Only when they reached the front door and only when they had entered the empty, messy house did the silence break.

"Go to sleep, all of you. I really am sorry about all this mess. I promise to look for the superstitious man and for Cornelius Gashnet first thing tomorrow morning." She muttered. "Goodnight to all of you." She didn't wait for a reply as she moved deeper into the house and collapsed ungracefully onto a dirty couch without a care. Carrie frowned and looked around her.

"How are we all supposed to fit in this tiny house?" She asked.

"Gibbs has a bed upstairs and has a hammock outside by the pig's sty..." As Jack mentioned the place where he and Will had seen Gibbs previously, both men wrinkled their noses in disgust. "Elizabeth and Carrie shall have to take the bed upstairs while the rest would have the choice to sleep here or find an inn." He explained. Jones immediately chose the option of looking for an inn outside. When no one else said anything, Jack grinned.

"Well, good luck to us in finding a place to sleep then."


She could suddenly remember a memory from her past; of the dreams in the days before she knew that Sharpshooter Marine existed and before she had come to Jack Sparrow's world and was simply Vanessa Silvestre. She and her father were standing behind the rails of the large ship and watched the dolphins jump alongside them playfully. Marine was looking at them with bright, cheerful eyes; admiring the sea creatures grace and strength. She looked up at her father eagerly.

"I want to have my own pirate name!" She declared out of the blue. Her father looked down at her with confusion on his face.

"You already have a name. Why do you want to make another?" He asked. Marine pouted at him and pointed an accusing finger.

"You're real name is Thomas but you're called Black Jack. So I want to have my own amazing pirate name that would bring fear to people who hear it." She said. Her father chuckled as a smile broke in his face. He went down on one knee so he could look at his daughter and ruffled the black hair on top of her head.

"Well then I guess it wouldn't hurt if you did. What did you have in mind?"

"Marine! I want to be called Marine!" She cried excitedly. Her father furrowed his brows in thought before smiling at his daughter impressively.

"Using the first two initials of your name? That's interesting. I think I like it." He said. Marine's eyes widened and brightened up at her father's comment.

"You mean it?"

"Every word. Marine is a good name for a pirate like yourself. When you grow up, I'm sure it would strike fear in those who hear and speak of it." He said. Marine grinned and felt herself swell up in pride. She loved the nickname because she had thought of it herself while she was off doing small work in the ship one day. She had no idea how true the popularity and fame of her name would become.

Marine opened her eyes and felt her whole body throbbing with aches. She couldn't understand why until she felt the soft thing she was lying on and remembered that she had slept on the couch. She moaned and groaned as she sat up and stretched out her limbs as much as she could, hearing her bones crack while she did. When the throbbing pain had eased a little she looked around the small house. Jack, Will and Norrington were all sprawled on the ground together in uncomfortable positions to her amusement while Jones, Elizabeth and Carrie where nowhere to be found. She guessed that the two ladies were up in the small bedroom Gibbs had while the remaining man went out to an inn.

A yawn escaped her mouth while she stood up from the couch and moved towards the table where the quill lay. She picked it up and took out the parchment she had kept with her throughout the night. She looked at the black ink where her name 'Maria' had already been written over. She wasn't too worried about not being able to read the map after what she planned to do. She sat on the chair before the table and was about to write when she heard soft murmurs from behind. She turned around in her chair to find Will Turner slowly waking up from his deep sleep. He widened his eyes when he found his legs and arms tangled with the other's and tried his best to get out of the mess without making too much noise. Once he was free he saw Marine looking at him and walked towards her while stretching out his muscles.

"Good morning Marine. What are you doing now?" He asked. Marine smiled at him.

"Good morning Will. I'm writing my name on the parchment." She explained. Will looked at her in confusion.

"But isn't Maria already written on the parchment? Do you think you wrote it in the wrong way?" She shook her head as she looked back at the parchment.

"No I didn't write it wrong. I'm sure this is how the paper should be positioned. It's the name that's wrong. Maria is indeed my first name but it's not the name that I used when I was younger." She explained as she placed the tip of the quill on top of the parchment and began to move her hand slowly and precisely. "The name I'm using right now, Marine, is a combination of my whole name. I took out the first two letters in each one and combined them together to form this word. First is Maria, as you all know. The last, my family name, is Nelee. The second one..." She placed the quill to the side when she was done and looked at the map. Will was looking at it as well and furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Do you think that's right? If this is the real way to his house then it means..."

"This is it." Marine said with confidence. "I would swear my life on it." Sounds of life stirring from all over the house began to reach both of their ears. Will and Marine looked to find Jack and Norrington slowly waking up as well. There was the sound of footsteps coming down from above them at the same time that the door to Gibb's house opened and revealed Jones as he walked inside. Jack was the first to come out of his sleepy stupor and muttered a curse as he pushed Norrington aside. The Commodore fell back to the ground with a soft thump and uttered a loud groan as he rubbed his head. Marine looked at Will in curiosity.

"Did the three of you really sleep there together like that?" She asked with an amused smile on her face. Will narrowed his eyes at her then at Jack and Norrington who were still recovering from the tangle they got themselves into.

"We were sleeping side by side at a respectable distance last I remembered. I didn't know we had gotten tangled up until I woke up and saw it myself." He said, wrinkling his nose as he thought of how their bodies had been so close when he had woken up. Elizabeth and Carrie walked up to them and looked at the parchment in Marine's hand.

"What's up?" Carrie asked. "Did you find something new about that?" Marine grinned and nodded as she handed it to them.

"I did. And this time I'm sure that this is the real directions to our man's home. And for your information Norrington, I did not slave all night thinking of this." She added, looking at Norrington spitefully. Norrington made no move to retort to what she said as he stood up from the floor. Jack walked towards the group and snatched the parchment away from Carrie's hand. He pulled it as far away from them as possible while taking a look at it. A grin grew on his face as he looked at Marine mischievously.

"So this is your real name is it Maria? You sure have a lot of secrets up your sleeve. Care to divulge more with me perhaps...in bed?" He asked. Marine narrowed her eyes at Jack as she snatched back the parchment from him.

"Shut it Sparrow. So what would you like to do? Go to the place indicated on this map here or look for Cornelius and the other superstitious man?" She asked them, waving the paper around. Carrie and Jack both shrugged in reply while the rest looked at each other for a while.

"We might as well do something that would lead us somewhere." Jones said. "Since we have something to go on with this one, I think we should take a look at this and meet the man behind these plans rather than go around town and asking for the whereabouts of the other two. We might even get his help if we do find him." Norrington rolled his eyes at everyone in the room.

"Do whatever you wish. I could care less about what you plan to do here while the pirates from before make their way towards us." He said. Marine felt a bitter comeback rising from her throat but forced herself to keep it down. She looked at everyone who agreed to go to the place on the map and nodded.

"Alright. Let's head there first then." She turned around swiftly and began walking out of the door with the parchment in hand. Everyone else followed her once more and moved under the bright sunlight of day. They moved the same way they did the night before; with Marine peering at the map intently and almost bumping into walls and other things while the rest looked around warily for men who wanted to kill them. They were so busy looking at everything else that they failed to see where exactly they were going. And so once Marine had stopped walking and looked up from the map, she sensed everyone but Will, who had already seen the map and expected it, stare at her incredulously.

"...this is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"The last place we went to seems a lot more probable than this...this...have you become that desperate Sharpshooter Marine, that you would simply mark out anything on the map without seeing the sense of it?" Norrington asked her in irritation. Marine turned back to face them and instead of looking upset or disappointed, looked even more sure of herself.

"Say whatever you wish Norrington but I'm sure that the man's house is over there." She pointed at the large lake that was before them; somewhere in the center of it. Under the blazing sun, the surface of the water glittered brightly like shiny gold coins. "The house we are looking for is underwater." Will and the others looked doubtful of what they were hearing as they looked at the water. She turned to Jack with a calm, unreadable expression on her face. She was not going to plead or ask for his trust by looking hopeless or dependent of him. She wanted him to trust her just because she was who she was. Jack rubbed his chin and played with his braided beard decorated with beads of all kinds of color. Then he grinned and waved a hand casually.

"Well since Maria seems so sure of herself, I say we let her do what she thinks should be done." Marine smiled gratefully at Jack then moved up as close to him as she possibly could without making physical contact. Jack was caught off guard by her action and clumsily leaned backwards as he raised a suspicious eyebrow at her. The side of Marine's lips curled further upward and turned into a mischievous grin while Jack narrowed his eyes in return.

"What's with that look love?" He muttered. Marine brought her fingers up to play with his messy, tangled up hair and continued giving him that same, eerie smile.

"Well Captain, I'm really grateful that you believe in me. In fact, so grateful that I'll let you do the honors of being the first to go into the man's home." She drawled. Jack blinked at her in surprise before giving her a similar grin of mischief.

"And what makes you so sure that I'll gladly take this honor?"

"I have my ways." She replied and moved even closer to Jack if it was possible. Jack could sense his whole body shiver with delight as he felt her hand slide slowly down. Even without her fingers actually touching him he could sense his body ache badly to feel her skin. He wondered for a brief moment what it would be like to have Marine in bed and immediately shook it off. He wasn't going to let her get the best of him with something as commonly tricky as that. He immediately grabbed her hand with his own and stared at her with dark eyes.

"This isn't usually like you Marine." He addressed her in a serious manner, letting Marine know that he was not fooling around with her. But she wasn't done fooling around just yet. "You're playing on very dangerous waters now. Waters which you are obviously, undoubtedly, unexperienced in." He whispered in a warning tone. Marine still had that smile on her face as she lifted her other hand and placed something cold to Jack's forehead.

"Of course this isn't usually like me. But that's not my real intent now is it? I never intended to flirt with you or use my sex to get to you. On the contrary..." The sound of something being cocked was loud in the awkward silence the whole group had fallen into. "It's the very opposite of it. And I have just as much experience in this part of the water as you do Sparrow." Jack dropped his free hand to his side and felt for his pistol that was suddenly missing. He glanced sideways to find it pointed at him. He narrowed his eyes at Marine and let his lips curl to an irritated frown.

"You dirty, tricky wench."

"Pirate." Marine replied with a humorous grin. "Oh and before I forget." She passed onto his hand the star-shaped rock they had found together with the chest the night before. "I think this would be of much help to you when you dive and look for whatever it is we're supposed to look for. Enjoy!"


"Women are deceitful, confusing and infuriating little creatures!" Jack muttered darkly to himself as he floated at the surface of the water with only his pants on him. He had swam quite a distance already and could only see an unclear form of Marine and the others waiting for him ashore. He especially felt angry at the female pirate who was probably laughing as she fiddled with his hat, his shirt and his effects. He began to paddle faster and further to the center, where Marine claimed was the spot where the man's home would be.

"After giving her my full support on the topic. After allowing her to do all these things even though they seem senseless and a waste of time. She simply got back at me and used me. Used my knowing weakness for the irresistible damsels in distress. Why couldn't she have asked the others to go over here and swim? Why do I have to do the swimming when in fact everyone who's on the bloody shore right now could swim." He continued muttering to himself. He could hear his own sense of reason, in the annoying form of Marine's voice, speak back to him.

"You of all people know that I can't dive as deep as I would have for some strange, unknown reason. And obviously among everyone here, you're the one with the most experience at sea and water. Therefore you are the best candidate for this sort of job." And he'd imagine her giving him a look so innocent that it actually shows off the exact opposite. He grumbled on and continued to swim. He might as well do it, and do it fast so he can come back and take his things away from Marine's prying hands.

Jack took a deep breath before diving into the murky water lit up by the sunlight coming in small, thin streams. He couldn't see the coral reef below him and sensed that the lake was deeper than they had all suspected it to be. For a split second Jack was glad none of the others were diving into the water and attempting to get to the deepest part of the lake. They would certainly have not lasted that long under the water. He used his hands and legs to paddle deeper into the depths and strained his eyes for any sign of a house, a cave or anything that would give away any signs of human inhabitation. At last he saw a large dark dome at the very floor of the lake surrounded by seaweeds and small school of fishes hiding from large predators. He swam closer to it and felt the rough surface with his hands. It wasn't as solid as it looked; there was a sense of it being hollow as he felt it and knocked on it. He began to move around it and tried his best to look for any star-shaped hole or anything that would have a connection to the rock. He managed to find one; a small hole on the coral reef right beside the large dome. He pressed the star-shaped rock into it and waited for something to happen.

There was a slight quake, one that Jack wouldn't feel since he was underwater, followed by the large dome seemingly shedding its outer skin. He couldn't hide his surprise as the large dark dome suddenly became transparent and revealed a bubble-shaped dome with a house inside it. He would never have believed such a thing existed if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. He felt air becoming sparse in his lungs and began to swim back upwards as fast as he could. His whole body was starting to become tense as he held in his breath and saw black spots in front of his view of the surface of the water dancing before his eyes. He placed hands to his throat in an effort to keep himself from sucking in air that was not there as his legs continued to kick upwards. He was so close to the surface of the water but he knew that he had reached his limit. His legs couldn't push forward anymore and he was beginning to lose consciousness from lack of air. Finally he closed his eyes and allowed himself to give up his holding of breath.

Marine and the others had felt the short and weak tremble of the ground and looked at each other in confusion. Together their heads turned towards the water, where Jack was still nowhere to be seen.

"Do you think that's..."

"Well of course it's Sparrow. He's the only one who's doing something." Norrington muttered. "What sort of trouble is that pirate putting us into this time." None of the others made a remark about what the Commodore said and waited eagerly for Jack to come up and tell them what the cause of the tremble of the earth was. They waited for quite some time and began to grow worried when Jack still didn't come out of the water.

"What's taking him so long? Shouldn't he be coming up right about now?" Carrie asked as she poked the surface of the water with her finger.

"He couldn't hold his breath for that long." Will muttered in agreement. "Even if he has passed unscathed through so many obstacles in the past, it's just impossible." The possibilities of what had happened to Jack ran through all their minds one by one. Marine was about to decide to jump into the water and see what was going on when they saw a limp form floating not far from them. They could see the red bandanna on the head with the braided part of a hair at the side. Marine widened her eyes in surprise.

"That's Jack!" Will immediately jumped into the water and swam towards Jack as quickly as he could. Everyone else stood as close to the water as they could get without getting wet and watched as Will came close to Jack. He held the pirate's shoulders and was about to pull him ashore when two strong hands suddenly gripped his own shoulder and pulled him close. Will widened his eyes and stared into the equally surprised eyes of Jack. By the look on the pirate's face Marine could guess what he had been trying to do and failed to suppress her laughter. Carrie was laughing along with her and nudged Elizabeth teasingly.

"Look out Elizabeth. You just got yourself a competition for Will's heart." Elizabeth wrinkled her nose and gave the two a half-disgusted, half-amused look while she shook her head in disbelief. Jack, upon seeing that he was not holding the person he expected, quickly withdrew his hands from Will the way a person would withdraw his hands from a burning pot. He frowned distastefully and accusingly at the blacksmith, blaming him for his humiliation, before swimming close to shore. When he got there he saw Marine and Carrie laughing at him and narrowed his eyes at the two of them.

"What's the matter Jack? I'm sure Will would love to return the feelings if he wasn't betrothed to Elizabeth." Marine teased. "Though I never did realize that you were into eunuchs yourself." That made the two women start laughing all over again. Jack looked over his shoulder at Will who was swimming towards them.

"Well then thank the gods he is betrothed to Lizzie. That would give me the chance to roam more freely with other women who would be more than happy to have me." He said, giving Marine a knowing wink. Marine stopped laughing and rolled her eyes at him while Carrie looked from her to Jack and raised her eyebrows high with suspicion.

"So what did you find down there Sparrow?" Norrington asked him. Jack looked at Norrington, glad of the change of subject, and smiled at them all mischievously.

"If you want to find out I suggest you come and see for yourself. It's safe so there's nothing to worry about." He told them. Everyone ashore looked at each other with slight reluctance before walking towards the water and slowly moving deeper and deeper. Elizabeth had the hardest time because of the dress she was wearing. But with the help of Marine and Carrie, they managed to pull the dress under the water without it floating back up to the surface. Jack motioned for them all to follow him and dived first into the water. Everyone had no choice but to take deep breaths and follow Jack into the water.

At first Marine could not believe what she was seeing. But as they swam closer towards the large thing on the coral reef of the lake, she found that she wasn't dreaming of it. It was a typical-looking house inside an air bubble. It made her remember the cartoon she watched on TV back in their own world whenever she was to take care of her younger cousins. It was about the yellow sponge who had lots of stupid adventures together with his even dumber starfish friend. She remembered the squirrel character who built a bubble dome so she could live in a treehouse underwater. They swam towards that large object that stood out from the rest of the things swimming underwater.

Carrie was the first one to lose breath as they continued deeper and deeper into the water. She clutched Marine's hand tightly and placed her other hand to her throat. She closed her eyes and struggled to keep her breath in. Marine wrapped an arm around her and began to swim as fast as she could, pushing herself with her legs fiercely. She cursed in her mind and prayed to god that they would all get out of this mess alive as she felt her own supply of oxygen quickly depleting. A few minutes after Carrie had let Marine know she was losing oxygen, they heard a voice shout 'Elizabeth!'. Heads turned around to see Will with his hands covering his mouth. Elizabeth was swimming beside him and was looking pale with lack of oxygen.

It took Marine a few seconds to realize that Will had shouted under water with a voice as clear as glass. She swiveled her head towards Jack, who looked at them all with an amused and calm face. Their conversations from before came back to her as the gears in her mind rotated.

"He couldn't hold his breath for that long. Even if he has passed unscathed through so many obstacles in the past, it's just impossible." The limp body of Jack as it floated on the surface. The sudden jerking of his body as Will held his shoulders. Then Will speaking normally even when they were under the water. Marine suddenly realized the double meaning behind Jack's words and relaxed her arms as she let Carrie go. She closed her eyes and took a deep, refreshing breath of air.

"Breathe Carrie. Breathe or you'll never find out what happens after we meet this person later." She said. It still took Carrie a few seconds before what Marine said made sense to the other woman. She slowly dropped her hand from her throat and gasped gratefully. Will and the others were slowly beginning to realize the same thing and began to breathe as well. Norrington turned his attention to Jack who was floating there with a grin on his face and narrowed his eyes at him.

"Why didn't you tell us that we could breathe under water?" He asked while still panting slightly. Jack shrugged and grinned in an innocent, charming manner. Then he gave Norrington the easiest, simplest answer to his question.

'Well you didn't ask." Norrington could feel his veins throb with irritation and his hands itched to get a hold of Jack's throat and strangle him to death. Marine sighed and shook her head from side to side while Carrie began uttering angry curses at Jack. The pirate was taken aback by the sudden language but recovered quick enough and grinned at Carrie with amusement.

"Is that the language they teach you at school nowanddays? How upsetting..." He said with mock regret. "Though I find your vocabulary very limited. If you want I can teach you a lot more wonderful words to say." He added. Carrie narrowed her eyes at Jack and was about to open her mouth and retort back when a dark figure suddenly appeared behind Jack. Instead of words a short scream of surprise came out of Carrie's throat. Before the thought formed in Marine's head, her hand grabbed a dagger from within her clothes and pulled it out. She was about to throw it behind Jack when she remembered that she wasn't as accurate in her aim as she used to be and faltered. Jack turned around and was about to get his pistol out from his belt when the stranger grabbed Jack's wrist. Dark gray eyes roved over Jack and the rest of the people in the group.

"You took your lovely time getting here. I was beginning to think that you weren't her." The man said, the question pointed at Marine as he focused his gaze on her. Marine said nothing but narrowed her eyes at the man with contempt. He looked at everyone else with a frown before releasing Jack's wrist.

"No one but Rianna should have known this place. But since you've all seen it you might as well come along. That is, if you want to. I must warn you; we have a very long discussion ahead of us." He told them before turning around and swimming back towards his home inside the air bubble. Marine looked at everyone and saw that they didn't turn back. She didn't know whether to be touched by that or to think them all as foolish. Either way as she swam after the stranger, a smile grew on her face.

The dark gray eyed man led them to the coral reef that was right beside the air bubble. He moved as close to the floor as he could and pushed it, revealing something that looked like a trap door. Jack noted that it was also close to the place where he had placed the star-shaped rock. Once the man moved the door to the side, he gestured for them to go inside.

"Quickly now. I haven't got all day to stand around here waiting for you to get inside." He said impatiently. Jack was the first to enter the trap door followed by Marine. The rest followed them into the hole and found themselves floating in a very small cave-like room. The man entered last and closed the trap door above him. It was already dark so everyone had no problem adjusting to the dimness of the small place. Once the man was sure that the door was closed, he struggled past everyone and stopped right in front of the wall. He pushed it inwards and fell into another room together with the rest. There was no water in the one they entered so water flowed until it occupied as much space as possible.

Marine didn't cough but she felt like coughing just to feel that the water she had swam in was normal. Water fell from her whole body and dripped puddles from the tips of her hair and her chin. The others were also recovering from the sudden change of environment, spluttering water and gasping as if they hadn't breathed in a long time. Only the man made no reaction, having done the same ritual every single day he left the house to go to town. He walked past the rest in knee-deep water, brushing his wet, thinning, gray hair with his fingers, and lifted his leg over the ledge he made so that the water wouldn't flow into the house. Then he turned around to face them and held out his hands to either side of him.

"I welcome you all to the house under water."