Pirates of the Caribbean: Calypso's Fury Chapter 14: Shipwreck Cove, a pirates of the caribbean fanfic

A/N: OK, sorry for the week's delay, but RL got in the way and I fell behind schedule. There are three more chapters left in this story, and I hope to update the story for the next three weeks every Tuesday. Anyway, enjoy!

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Chapter 13

The carnage completely covered the main deck, the fresh blood seeping from fatal wounds on the bodies of Sheng Kai Shek's crew bathing the weathered wood in a blanket of dark red liquid. The blood stained both the bare skin of the arms of the dead pirates and the silver steel of the discarded swords. The eyes of said lifeless pirates stared blankly up at the sky, but also they stared up at Calypso and Will as they weaved their way in and out of the bodies, heading toward the stairs that led below deck. Despite suffering severe fire damage below deck, the ship amazingly still remained afloat, mostly due to Calypso's powers of extinguishing flames with streams of cool water.

Below deck, fire burns and damage was clearly evident. The area that the fire had swelled was completely blistered and hot, with the wood either on the verge of cracking or completely broken. Huddled pathetically in a ball in the far corner was Sheng Kai Shek, who had severe and bloody burns running up and down the skin of his that was visible. Once each of them had set foot in the brig, Calypso and Will immediately walked toward him and Will bent down to his level the moment he was in front of Kai Shek.

"We discovered him quickly," Will said to Calypso while still keeping his eyes on Kai Shek. "He's suffered life-threatening burns, but thankfully he still retains the ability to speak."

"And why exactly is that important?" asked Calypso. She too was eyeing Kai Shek, but in her case, it was with disgust.

"Because it's not the fact that he can speak after such an ordeal that's important, but rather what he has to say." Will reached out and tapped the left side of Kai Shek's face, which was burned. The action, under the circumstances, was the equivalent of slicing skin three separate times; Sheng Kai Shek breathed in a gasp of pain.

He opened his eyes and rapidly looked around, getting his bearings. When he saw Will, he slightly straightened up in fear. "Wh…who ar..are you?" Kai Shek may have been able to speak, but it was now a challenge for him.

"That carries no significance," replied Will. "What does is you telling the woman with me what you told the rest of our crew."

Sheng Kai Shek looked over at Calypso, clearly recognizing the goddess in her human form. This caused him to pause for a few moments, which in turn made Will pull out his sword and gingerly touch the tip to Kai Shek's burnt arm skin. But this time, gingerly was the same as aggressively. Kai Shek screamed again in a bloodcurtling cry that was so loud, it could have reached the ears of the Gods.

"Speak…or you soon won't be able to."

Once Sheng Kai Shek had calmed himself, he breathed out deeply. "Before y—you atta…att…attacked my ship, w-we were trans…porting s-s-s-someone who c-could pose a threat t-to C-c-c-Calypso."

"In what way?" Calypso asked sharply, stepping forward.

"S-she was after…the Essence of the Dragon Lady."

Will straightened back up, replacing his sword. "I thought that would mean something to you."

"Who was this woman?" Calypso continued callously, ignoring Will's comment.

"Elizabeth Turner," Kai Shek spat out.

"Your wife," Calypso said to Will. "It seems she has a determination that is not easily hindered." She turned back to Kai Shek. "Do you happen to have something that could lead us to the Essence?"

"Th—there's a copy of the map in th—the Captain's cabin. Hidden be—behind a painting on the wall." Kai Shek was Quickly losing his strength and consciousness.

"Thank you," Calypso remarked politely before calmly aiming her right index finger at Sheng Kai Shek and keeping it there as the burnt pirate suddenly began to seize and gurgle uncontrollably. Seconds later, an enormous amount of water came falling from Kai Shek's mouth and nostrils and kept falling until he went limp. Calypso put her finger down and smiled coldly as she eyed the dead body. "That should cool him off."

With that, she and Will exited the brig and went inside the Captain's cabin, where they indeed found a second copy of the map leading to the Essence behind a painting hanging over the fireplace.

"It would seem we have ourselves a race," said Calypso.

The sun had risen for a new day, and the light reflected brightly off of the blue-green sea of Singapore. The ship was moored on the backside of the island, out of view to any other vessel that passed by. It was in perfect shape, with white sails that fluttered with grace in the wind, Jack and Andrew stood at the helm, Andrew with his hands gripping the handles of the wheel while Jack simply stood beside him.

"We have a heading?" Andrew asked Jack.

"Ah." Jack pulled the stolen map from inside his coat and opened it, having to turn it from its upside down position to read it properly. "Yes, set sail northeast, where we must roughly travel…four miles to Shipwreck Cove."

"Shipwreck Cove?" Andrew inquired somewhat incredulously. "The gathering place for The Brethren Court?"

"Is there another Shipwreck Cove that I don't know about? If not, then yes, we are talking about the very same Shipwreck Cove. After all, if you think about it, it is an ideal place to hide something of great value to The Brethren. Who would think to look there in the first place?"

Andrew gave a nod of agreement before yelling out the orders to set sail in the direction determined on the map. As the crew went about casting off and other such things, Rachel approached Elizabeth, who was standing at the rail.

"Mind if I join you?" Rachel asked politely.

Elizabeth gave a silent nod, accompanied with a slight smile.

"You know, Elizabeth, it doesn't take much to see that something is deeply troubling you. And I think it has something to do with the journey on which we are about to embark." When Elizabeth looked down at her feet in hesitation, Rachel continued. "How are you involved in all this?"

"My husband," said Elizabeth as she turned around and placed her elbows behind her on the rail. "His name is Will. Originally, Calypso took him as collateral, but once she found out what damage Will could do to her, Calypso warped his mind so that he would carry out her bidding. The Essence is said to counteract anything Calypso has done, so…"

"So you want The Essence so that you can free your husband."

"Yes."

"Well you can most definitely count on us to help you," Rachel said in a firm tone. "I know what it's like to have something you deeply care about taken from you. It's not a feeling I'd wish on anyone else."

Elizabeth stared over at Michael, who was sitting a short distance away near the steps leading below deck, playing with a rope. "Michael has Will's eyes. And every time I look at him, I see Will. I see the man I fell in love with many years ago and I couldn't bear having Michael grow up without a father." A short silence lingered after these words.

"We're going to get Will back, Elizabeth. I promise you that."

Aboard his ship, Cheng Lo was preparing to go ashore to his pirate prison when one of his crew members came up to him, a worried expression on his face.

"What is it?"

"Sparrow has escaped."

"WHAT?!"

"When I went to collect the prisoners from the brig, I discovered that he had disguised one of us as him."

"The piece of filth must have slipped aboard the vessel I let the Turner woman use." Cheng Lo kicked a nearby barrel of gunpowder in anger, but if the action caused any pain in his foot, the pirate did an expert job of hiding it. "But there may be an opportunity to regain him," Cheng Lo muttered after a few moments. "Most likely, Sparrow has some harebrained scheme planned for when Turner arrives to give me The Essence. And he will probably accompany her ashore. All we have to do is identify him and he'll rot away in a cell for the rest of his pathetic life."

It was dusk by the time the ship Andrew had been commandeering arrived at Shipwreck Cove. After safely securing the ship, Jack and his new crew stood around on the main deck, making preparations.

"Right, we need to decide on who should lead us once we set foot ashore," said Jack. He, Elizabeth, Andrew and Patrick were all bent over the opened map. "It should be someone who has experience in leading people through…dangerous…situations." As he said this, Jack straightened up self-importantly, a gesture which clearly showed he was talking about himself.

"Maybe it should be Andrew," Elizabeth spoke up.

"Maybe not," Jack replied quickly.

"I agree with Elizabeth, Jack," Andrew said. "After all, I've spent the most time on this island, so I know all the ins and outs it offers."

"You want to get inside the Court, right?" asked Patrick. "Then Andrew is your best bet. He can guarantee we get to the Brethren's meeting area unhindered."

"Unless the Brethren have still retained the hidden guards they have stationed in the island."

"Hidden guards?" Jack inquired.

"Stealth warriors," said Patrick. "They're trained to blend in to their surroundings. The Brethren enlisted their services to ensure the security of any items located on this island they deemed…valuable."

"You can always count on the Brethren to stay on top of things," said Jack, "even when it proves to be a pain in the backside." He turned back to Andrew. "Please tell me these warriors don't possess any special abilities to, say, fight with swords using only their minds or something else of the sort?"

"No. They're merely highly trained individuals whose craft at killing makes Blackbeard seem merciful."

"Oh," Jack remarked in a mock-bright tone, "well when you put it that way."

Catherine and Rachel began passing out loaded rifles. "Protection," Catherine said. "You're going to need it."

"Luv, if I had a Spanish coin for every time someone has falsely assumed I need protection…"

"You'd have one Spanish coin." Elizabeth finished Jack's remark for him and he shot her a slightly resentful stare as Elizabeth walked over to Michael and kneeled down in front of him.

"You want me to stay here, don't you?" Michael could read his mother's eyes perfectly.

"If what Andrew says is true, I don't want to place you in such a vulnerable position."

"But I want to help."

"I know you do, darling. Believe me, I know you do. But given the circumstances this time, I'd feel much better if I knew you were here."

"But Dad's life is involved and those are circumstances I want to help out with. Besides, if all six of you are going ashore, no one will be here to watch over me."

"I can stay with him," Catherine piped up. She had been close enough to overhear the conversation. "But who's to say he shouldn't come along?"

"Me. His mother," Elizabeth stated firmly. To this, Catherine could only give a silent nod of respect. "Are you certain you don't mind?" she asked to double check.

"Of course not."

Elizabeth pulled Michael into a hug that was filled with tenderness and motherly affection. Into Michael's ear she whispered, "I love you. That's why I'm doing this." Elizabeth then let go of her son and planted a kiss on Michael's cheek before taking the rifle Catherine offered her.

At that very same moment, Will had already set foot on Shipwreck Cove and was currently standing just outside the entrance to the towering structure of accumulated pieces of shipwrecks that made up the meeting place of the Brethren Court. He was about to kick in the door when he decided to smash a nearby window with his boot instead. There was nobody around to hear the smash of glass and the rain of broken pieces that fell upon the floor inside. Once Will had cleared away enough of the glass for him to leap inside, he did so.

At the center of the room was a large round table which had countless wooden high-backed chairs encircling it. Will approached the table purposefully, his sword already drawn in case there were attackers hidden in the shadows, just waiting for an opportunity like this to cut down any intruders. When Will was close enough, he could spot that the round table had a circular indentation precisely placed in the middle of it…an indentation with marks and symbols written upon it that showed it was in fact a compass that was built into the table.

Before he had come ashore, Will had been told by Calypso that this would most likely be what he should be on the lookout for. According to the sea goddess, the compass markings were merely a trick used to throw off thieves; in reality, the indentation was a secret door to a vault that the Brethren frequently used to hide precious artifacts of theirs. The vault was where Calypso surmised the Essence was concealed.

All Will had to do was figure out how to open it. There was a hole in the indentation large enough for perhaps a tip of a feather to fit into, but Will could see no feather of any kind in sight.

So, he decided to wait for the inevitable. Will knew that Jack and the others were on their way right now to the very same spot, so he was content waiting for them to arrive and to open the vault for him.

Jack and Elizabeth, accompanied by Andrew, Rachel and Patrick, had made their way into the near-center of Shipwreck Cove, with the gathering place of the Brethren only a short distance away. Each of them held a rifle in their hands, with Andrew and Patrick having theirs leveled in anticipation for any surprise attack. Everyone was pretty much sprinting toward their destination, racing against time itself.

They were mere inches away from the entrance when suddenly, six shadowy figures popped up from the wreckage that composed the surface of the island, weapons of their own aimed steadily at Jack and his crew. Immediately, everyone stopped in their tracks.

"Seems you weren't lying, Andy," said Jack, his arms raised above his head.

"Now what can we do?" Elizabeth whispered through her teeth.

"Just leave everything to me and run toward the gathering place when I give the signal," Andrew muttered low enough for only Jack and Elizabeth to hear.

"What will be the signal?"

Just then, one of the armed guards walked up to Andrew, which caused the tip of his rifle to come within arms length of Andrew. Quick as a flash, Andrew grabbed the barrel of the rifle, used one hand to pull the weapon with all his might toward him and this allowed Andrew to deliver a swift and firm punch to the lower jaw of the guard. After getting in a knee to the groin, Andrew slightly inclined his head back toward Elizabeth.

"That's the signal. Go!"

Without giving it a second thought, Elizabeth, her own rifle still in hand, dashed away toward the door to the gathering arena and smashed it in using both her momentum and her left shoulder. After splintering, the door flew off its hinges and clattered to the floor inside. Elizabeth did this all while dodging bullets.

Elizabeth looked around her, taking in the sights, but not allowing herself to be frozen by momentary awe due to the urgency of the situation. She had been carrying the map with her ever since they had set foot on Shipwreck Cove, and Elizabeth pulled the parchment from her pants pocket and observed it once she had opened it. According to the map, the Essence was located inside the round table at the center of the room. Hesitating not one more second than was necessary, Elizabeth dashed over to the table.

Once more, she consulted the map in order to discover the means of opening the vault that was indicated. There was an image of a feathered quill next to the drawing of the concealed vault, and an arrow thatwent from the quill to the leg of a wooden chair that was seated roughly underneath the indentation in the table. Elizabeth found the chair in question and after spending a few moments observing, saw a carefully concealed line in the wood that indicated the tip of the leg folded up. Elizabeth ran her fingers over the wood and discovered a grooved area which her fingers used to lift the tip, revealing the top of a white feathered quill.

Working methodically, Elizabeth pulled out the quill and quickly inserted it into the small hole it fit into. Elizabeth turned the quill, which in turn twisted the face of the vault on an inside curve so that it revealed the vault's contents: a glass vial of neon green liquid…and a fist-sized diamond.

"The Hurricane's Eye," Elizabeth breathed in astonishment.

She was about to lift both items out of the vault when suddenly, the tip of a sharp sword appeared underneath her chin and against her neck.

"Stand back," came the cold voice of Will.

Elizabeth looked over to see her husband keeping his sword leveled at her, a merciless glint in his eyes. "Will…"

"I said get back."

Elizabeth looked back down at the two items in the vault, knowing full well that if the Essence exceeded her grasp, she may never be able to free Will from Calypso's hold. She couldn't allow that to happen.

"No," she replied firmly.

Will snickered in amusement. "What? You wish to duel me for the Essence and the diamond?"

"If I have to…yes."

"Very well, then," said Will as he lowered his sword. "Draw your weapon."

Elizabeth looked into Will's eyes for the longest of minutes before finally obliging and unsheathing her sword. The action seemed to happen in slow motion.

And then, with a clang that seemed to resonate up to the heavens themselves, Will and Elizabeth began their fight.