The Heir to the Pirate King

He Did, Did He?:

Isabelle's mind raced so fast she was surprised her body continued to function. She swam as fast as she could, which was not as fast as she would have liked. The shore reached her just as she started to panic about Jones, though, so she was content to have missed that part of the sea.

Still, what was she thinking? Kissing Will? That had to be the stupidest thing she'd ever done in her entire life. Had she gone mad? And she enjoyed it! Hating herself she pushed herself to her feet and approached her house.

And just about died in fear.

On the outside were signs of destruction. The windows she could see were shattered, their glass laying on the ground beneath them. The front screen door was blown clean off. The other door hung at an odd angle off one of the hinges.

Isabelle ran into her house, dismayed at the ruin she found. Her couch was torn apart, her cabinets emptied. Everything was a mess. There wasn't even a pattern. Everything was simply overturned or thrown aside. Whoever had been here was looking for something.

The chest… came unbidden to her mind. In a frantic fury, Isabelle bounded up her stairs, praying to any and all gods she could think of, praying that the chest was still safe. She turned a corridor and winced as all the doors were open, stuff thrown in the hallway. It was even worse when she saw the door open that led to the room with the dresser.

She entered that room and almost started crying. The dresser was pushed out of the way to show the hole in the wall. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no… her mind kept chanting. She crawled through the hole and found to her ultimate and total alarm that the chest was gone. On its table was a rectangle of dust, marking its place. The chest was nowhere in sight.

Panicking, she figured whoever stole it still had to be on the island. She tore off, again, and ran outside into town. No one was outside. Looking everywhere, Isabelle began to slow down. The person still had to be on the island. She arrived at the docks and surveyed the ships that were floating there. None were new. All of the ships docked belonged to residents of the island.

"Isabelle!" called a voice. "What are you doing back so soon, love?" It was Jack Sparrow. He'd just come out of the town pub carrying two bottles of rum.

"Jack! Oh Jack!" she cried, running up to him. "Someone's got the chest!"

Jack's face was incredulous. "How?"

"They tore apart the house. Everything is everywhere. Windows are broken and doors unhinged. Oh everything's a mess, Jack!" She was on the verge of tears.

"Alright, alright. Calm down." He put his hands on her arms, steadying her. "Even if they have the chest, Will's still got the key. All's we need to do, really, is let Will know that someone stole it and ––"

"No, we can't do that! He trusted me!" With anguish, she covered her face in her hands and gave a dry sob.

"Well, as said theif's already left, there's nothing more we can do, really."

"Yes, there has to be! Didn't you see him? Didn't anyone see him enter my house? Throw my things? Break my windows!?" She was getting hysterical, and she knew it. The chest was gone. What was she supposed to do?

"I was in the tavern almost immediately after you left. Not much later after that, a few people came in here, sayin' they had a chill. Tha's right. A chill, in the Caribbean. Not sure what it was, but they was afraid. Takes something mighty to scare Caribbean folk." Jack seemed deep in thought. "If anyone knows what's going on with the sea it's Calypso, but you said she died, aye?"

"Ay- I mean, yes. She died the night Elizabeth passed on," she filled in with a scared tone. She mentally counted to ten to adjust her breathing. Oh, something has to be done and fast! Nothing was working at calming her down.

Jack smirked at the almost "Aye". "Well, we can wait until the Brethren Court reconvenes, and select nine, new pieces of eight, and bind her to a human form. That has quite a few perks, actually. Or, we can wait until the Brethren Court reconvenes, and simply summon her using the power of the nine Pirate Lords to call her to us. That means she can disappear all she wants." He thought of every other trick in the book, but those were the only two options they had. He hated to keep bothering Calypso, but she was a minor sea goddess. High enough to help, but not high enough to be disinterested. Not to mention the horror she'd put the Turner family through. Jack figured that if Isabelle knew everything Calypso had done to the Turner line, why, she just might've gone after the goddess and kill her herself.

Their conversation was soon interrupted by a small boat arriving at the docks. Neither Jack nor Isabelle had heard them until they rang the bell stationed at the docks to signal new comers.

"Not now! Not with the first burglary in a long time!" Isabelle whined. She paced back and forth wildly, not even thinking any more.

"Isabelle?" he asked softly. She paused to look at him. Her eyes were huge and frightened, her hands fidgeting. "I'm sorry you're a woman, love," Jack murmured, before he slapped her face, hard.

It took a second to register before she let out an "Ah!" She stood in the position his slap had put her in for a minute. "I don't think I deserved that!" She stood up, rubbing her cheek.

"You're the bloody Pirate King. We can't have you going all…all…" It seemed distasteful for him to say. "All…womanish on us. Not when we're this close to having the Court all together, again."

This was the first time Jack had yelled at her about her behavior. Sure, he shouted about the sword training, but he didn't actually yell at her like he just had. Really, after she had thought about it, he didn't yell, per se. It was just a rather forceful statement. Accompanied by the worst slap she'd ever received in her life.

Though she was loathe to admit it, her head was clear, now. Cursing Jack Sparrow, Isabelle rushed to the docks and smoothed out her disheveled clothing to meet the newcomers.

The boat was sheer, sleek. Most likely a new model. Motor-boat, Isabelle noted. Two men stepped off the ship. It seemed they were the only ones. Isabelle tried in vain to do something with her hair.

"Leave it alone, love," Jack murmured so the men wouldn't hear him. "Your hair, like the rest of you you don't want to acknowledge, loves the ocean. Let it curl and wind in the salt and sea."

Isabelle snorted at him. What did he know about hair? After all, he was a male pirate. Both were egregious marks off his fashion grade. Besides, he had bad hygiene. She at least wiped off her face to stop the smearing make-up. Caring for little things like this helped ease her mind off the big things there were to do later. Like contacting Meriel Icarson. TOURISTS! her mind demanded. She plastered on her most welcoming smile and went out to greet them. Jack stayed behind, examining the rule sign on the post outside the docks.

"Hello," she said as they tied their boat to the smallest dock. "Welcome to Sparrow Island."

The first man was tall and thin. His hands worked the knot into the docks with strength and knowledge. He turned to face her, and his eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled. The wind was wreaking havoc on his dark blonde hair, causing it to stick up at impossible ends. It was just long enough to curl a little underneath his ears. "Did you hear that, Otis? We made it!" He high-fived his companion, looking joyful. "We heard about this place through friends of ours, and decided to look around." He finished tying the knot and waved to Otis. Together they walked off the docks and into the street. The blonde man stuck out his hand. "I'm Jason, Jason Alexander. This here is Otis Cias," he declared.

"I'm Isabelle Mason. Nice to meet you, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Cias," Isabelle greeted, shaking each their hands.

Otis Cias was an inch taller than Isabelle herself, his handshake was rough and strong. He was slightly stockier than Jason. His brown hair was thick, and curled wildly in the wind. He had a beard and moustache that swept to each of his sideburns. His smile was warm. "It's a pleasure," he said.

"Would you like the tour?" she offered.

Jason noticed Jack. He nudged Otis in the ribs. Nodding, Otis looked at him, too. "Not right now, thanks. Actually, it looks like that friend of ours is right there. Please excuse us a moment." The two then rushed to Jack.

Confused, she watched. Jack gave them one of his weird-confused look, the one where his head cranked backward and he tended to look down on them. She wondered what they had said. After speaking quietly for a few minutes, Jack approached Isabelle.

"Remember when I told you about the other Pirate Lords?" he asked.

Isabelle nodded. Where they two of them? She didn't even bother to ask. "I've got room for them. So are they both Pirate Lord Successors, or is only one?"

"Well, my sources have told me that the Pirate Lord Sri Sumbhajee named a Successor, a Prussian friend of his. That friend never named a Successor, and so Jason Alexander is his youngest descendant. There seems to be something more to Otis than just a sidekick, but so far he's neither said nor done anything to incur otherwise. We'll simply have to keep a sharp eye," Jack finished. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a very important date with a bottle of rum that was so very rudely interrupted. Good day." He stalked away, holding on to his bottles of rum as if they were babies. "Gentlemen," he nodded as he walked away.

The two men nodded back and looked at each other. Both shrugged. Jason mentioned something to Otis, and Otis went back to their boat. Isabelle went to talk to Jason.

"Is there anything I can get you?" she offered, not wanting to be rude.

"No, thank you. Eh…Captain Sparrow said you'd let us stay at your house. Is that all right?"

He did, did he? "That's fine. However, you must know, I've just been through a horrible experience." Don't think about that! "My house has been burgled. It's a complete mess. I'm sorry, but you should probably spend the first night at the bed and breakfast down the street."

Jason looked to be lost in thought. Then he looked extremely sorry. Isabelle noticed him glance behind her and nod solemnly. Suddenly, he reached into his shirt and pulled out a small hand gun. "Stay where you are," he commanded at her. Even though he was holding a gun, he didn't say it with a mean tone. Still, he had her at gun point.

Isabelle knew there was nothing worse than staring down the barrel of a gun. There was no way that could be a good thing. It was such a complete shock to her, she didn't speak for a moment. It was then she remembered. Pirates. "W-why? What?"

"You're not to go anywhere without us anymore, Miss Mason. Davy Jones is back from the dead, but that's not the least of our worries. There is something bigger. Something more deadly than Jones ever could be. It wants all us Pirate Lords to do its bidding, and as Captain Sparrow told us, you are the Pirate King. If it gets you within its grasp, why…" Jason stopped. "I don't know what will happen. But I do know this. That thing had something to do with the missing heart of Will Turner. If you'll allow us, we'd like to help."

Isabelle couldn't be hearing this. They were offering to help her, at gun point? "If you are here to protect and help me, might I ask why you're aiming a gun at me? I would imagine Mr. Cias is, as well."

Jason nodded. "Yes. There will come a time when each of the nine Pirate Lords must separate, and for that, Otis will go with you. We've got the guns because we didn't know how you'd react to being followed. We wanted to guarantee you wouldn't run."

"Because I could vanish completely in a little island like this," she finished sarcastically. She shook her head. "Well, I won't. Can you put your guns away, now? You're scaring me."

Jason complied, and Isabelle heard Otis do the same. "I'm sorry. We didn't know how you'd react," Otis explained. "Jack told us to take out our guns to make sure you didn't run."

He did, did he? Well, she'd just be having a little chat with Jack Sparrow about telling men to point guns at her. She showed the two men where her house was, marveling at the complete and utter chaos her life had become, rather like the house.

A/N: To those of you who think this story is Will/Isabelle, it's not. Romance is really not that big a part of it, especially later when she really doesn't see him any more. It's just there to make things more complicated.

Doom Weasels: Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I wanted to get ahead so I could think about the story, and avoid spitting out random happenings to you guys. Staying ahead helps the flow of the story because I can go back. Thank you for reviewing! Don't cry!

Acacia59601: Who ever said they were getting married? Oh man Isabelle would flip on you! Here's your update. Thanks for the review!

Digisammiegirl: Not necessarily. Do not count your chickens before they hatch. Thought about Isabelle becoming her own grandmother…but then where did Elizabeth go? No, because there's still the problem of her not being able to live eternally with Will.

Almenel-Miriel: Thank you for all the compliments you've given me regarding Jack. I wonder if you'll still like him later… There's a ton of stuff going on and spies everywhere! That's so cool that people still do that!! I love superstitions, they're the best! Of course, that makes me a wimp when it comes to night-time, but what the heck, if I don't sleep they can't get me! Thank you for reviewing.

Dani-celebrindel: -claps- Yay! You liked the romance! Romance makes me blush when I write it. Especially this because she's his descendent and… yeah. I never get sick of comments, are you kidding? I love hearing from you. I don't care if you say you like it in a hundred reviews, as long as you don't care that I'll say thank you in every single one! Thank you for your review.

TsukiMizu: Well, Jack was doing what Jack does best: drinking rum. Davy Jones's location is a little bit more blurry. Thanks for the review!

Tala-baby: Well, you gotta figure Will's on edge because he's still without Elizabeth after a really long time. It's kind of like "This is amazing…NO! Can't do it because of my late wife!" type thing… Well, we'll see what danger soon. Thank you for reviewing.

An Unknown Writer: Three words. I think you've set a record. -smile- Don't be afraid to say more. I'm glad you like it, and thanks for the review!

DarkAngelmi818: Isabelle is not Elizabeth's reincarnation. Elizabeth was still technically alive when Isabelle was born. You will come to see that they are very different people. Thanks for reviewing.

Oddball91: You… HI! The Captain o Captain thing is a literature allusion...hmmm… I've been reading too much How to Read Literature Like a Professor…try and draw conclusions from that. -wiggles eyebrows- Yeah, Isabelle was kind of freaked out. Oh god now you're going to mention it just to make me twitch…great… Yeah, Jack's not nice. But let's not get into that. That might give something away. Thank you so much for reviewing!! And waiting…I did put you through an awfully long time to wait for this…

These people are amazing. Be amazing like them! Please? I really want to know what you think. Honestly. I care.