Disclaimer: I do not own Beauty and the Beast, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Assassin's Creed.

Vanessa, 1767

"Fast-forwarding memory to a more recent one."

-0-0-

Vanessa and Edward stepped together out of the inn they had stayed in the previous evening. It was on the poor side of Port Royal, all they could afford with the money Edward had gotten fixing various things aboard Captain White's ship. Still, it was better than sleeping in the street. Vanessa still had her flute in her pocket, and if all else failed she planned to sit for awhile in the market and play for a few coins so that they could buy some bread in the evening. The morning, however, was to be spent searching for a position as a kitchen maid in one of the more prosperous homes set back from the main town. Edward would be finding the local blacksmith and carpenters and demonstrating his skill in building things. With luck, their position as paupers in Port Royal would change before the week was out.

The docks and the market were behind them as they surveyed the civilian parts of town. They had to take different streets to reach their destinations.

"Well." Edward said. They looked at each other, and he embraced her lightly and kissed her cheek. "I know this is a lot to put on you on your first day, but…"

"I understand. I won't let you down, Papa."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," said a light voice from behind them.

Father and daughter spun around, and Vanessa could not help shrinking closer to Edward. The man who surveyed them calmly from the edge of the market, dressed as if for a day aboard his ship, was none other than Captain Kerry of the Lady Swan. Vanessa had forgotten how imposing he was. She had not forgotten the last time they had spoken, nor his possessive, bruising grip on her arm.

Edward, however, had no way of knowing of his daughter's reluctance. She had never told him about Kerry's 'offer' when he had cornered her aboard the Lady Swan. He went forward and jovially shook Kerry's hand. "It's good to see you're alive, sir."

"And you, Mister Swift. Although I must admit to a great deal of surprise on my part considering—circumstances." Kerry shot Vanessa a look over Edward's head that did not bode well. He had not been surprised at all to find them alive; in fact, she got the distinct feeling he had come looking for them. She sent him a composed look in return that attempted to mask her nerves.

Edward, oblivious to this, was continuing to speak. "I trust the rest of the crew and passengers of the Lady Swan made it here safely as well."

"Indeed they did," the Captain replied suavely. "Our financiers were naturally deeply upset to hear about the loss of a ship, but they understand that we—the crew and myself—made every effort to save her, and its two missing passengers. They also understand that business must continue. They have already granted us another vessel, the Siren Princess."

"We're very pleased to hear that," Edward said. He seemed unaware that Vanessa was where he had left her, several paces away. "We wish you luck, but we have business to attend to if we're to eat tonight." He started to turn towards Vanessa.

"But you must join us," Captain Kerry said calmly. Without warning, men seemed to spring up from nowhere to surround Vanessa and Edward. Edward jumped and rushed to put a protective arm around his daughter, but Vanessa had somehow been expecting something like this the moment Kerry had appeared. Not that she could have done anything to halt it. She did indulge a brief 'what-if' wish for Adam's comforting, intimidating presence, but put it out of her mind.

"What do you want with us?" she demanded, hating the similarity of the words to her first conversation with the captain.

He smirked. "I think you know, Miss Swift."

"What? How could I?" With her eyes she tried to make clear that the answer to his previous question, if he was putting forth a suit to become his lover again, was a firm no.

"But you must have some idea. Don't pretend innocence." He waited for her reaction, but when none came he shrugged. "Very well. We recently came into possession of a certain failed pirate captain and the interesting set of charts he'd stolen off a rival."

Vanessa put both her hands to her mouth before she could stop herself. Now she knew precisely to what he was referring. Jack Sparrow must have gotten the map to the Fountain island off Barbossa somehow and escaped the Black Pearl, only to fall into the hands of Kerry and his sailors.

"Ah, I knew if I jogged your memory you'd remember the man. He certainly remembers you. He believed you'd been devoured by some sea monster, but clearly he's wrong on that point. Still, when he described you I knew immediately of whom he spoke. What other woman compares with your delicate beauty?"

Vanessa clenched her fists and looked at him coldly. "The Leviathan exists," she said, hoping to frighten this dreadful man away from this new mission. "He can—and will—prevent you from finding what you seek."

"Yet somehow you were swallowed by the creature, and escaped. It seems there is more to this story than either you or Mister Sparrow are telling." He waved his hand. "No matter. You, my dear, clearly have some affiliation with the creature, to have encountered it so closely and survived. When I heard the story, I knew I must bring you along as a good-luck charm."

"I won't go anywhere with you," she declared.

His eyes flickered; she'd surprised him. "You'll find you have no choice. Your father comes as well, if that was bothering you. To ensure you'll do as we say."

"You snake," she hissed. Seeing him unmoved, she tried again. "Bastard."

This time he spun and his eyes went wide. Even his men shifted uneasily. "What did you say?"

"Son of a—"

He put a rough hand over her mouth to keep her from continuing. "What happened to you?" he demanded. "You're not the charming fearful thing I remember."

She pulled her face away; he smelled of old seawater, iron, and gunpowder. "I spent a great deal of time around sailors at the inn where I grew up, and picked up a word here and there." She met his eyes, and smiled slightly through her own terror. "And I've faced things that I daresay would make even a man like you tremble."

He studied her carefully. "You're serious. You and the pirate both. You truly believe in this monster…this Leviathan."

Vanessa said nothing. She waited for him to pronounce her and Jack Sparrow mad.

"Well." He looked at the blue sky for a moment, as if asking for strength, then back at her. "That means we shall have to take along extra gunpowder, doesn't it?" He gestured to his men.

Bitter horror shot through Vanessa as if the gunpowder he'd just spoken of had been shoved down her throat. She might very well have condemned Adam, if Captain Kerry spoke the truth.

"No—wait!" she wailed. She started after the captain's retreating back, but one of the men grabbed her and held her arms. "You can't—" When he turned to face her again, she said, as firmly as possible, "I won't cooperate."

"You'll find I can, Miss Swift. Your wishes don't enter into it. I have everything I need. I have the map, and Mister Sparrow to interpret it. I have extra firepower and shot, enough to take on the entire Royal Navy in the Caribbean if I had to. And I have you. Perhaps if the creature was loath to harm you once, he will at least hesitate at harming you again. A good luck charm, as I said. Now, come along. We've wasted enough time already."

Vanessa would have said more, if only to wipe the smug look off his face, but one of the men put a hand over her mouth. Her knees buckled slightly as the weight of what was happening fully sank in. They were going back to the island. And Captain Kerry planned to destroy Adam rather than let him stand between himself and the Fountain of Youth. Oh, she'd been wrong ever to think Adam a monster. A true monster strode only a few paces before her, wearing human skin.

They were nearly to the docks before Vanessa could get her feet under her; she'd been half-dragged through the market. People turned to look at the group, and some with concern, but they backed away when one of Kerry's men subtly showed a weapon. The rest of the way to Kerry's ship, Vanessa walked under her own power but with great reluctance and always looking for a way to escape. No opportunity presented itself.

Kerry's ship was indeed called the Siren Princess; it looked similar enough to the Lady Swan that it was one of the ships Vanessa had classified as merchant upon sailing into the harbor. On closer inspection, she could now see concealed cannon ports along the sides. The sight of them made her feel cold despite the Caribbean sun.

She and her father were herded up the gangplank, across the deck, and down into the hold. The brig was in the far corner of the lowest level. In the dim light of a lantern, Vanessa could see that it was only recently constructed. The wood was newer than the rest of the ship. Inside, on the floor, a familiar figure leaned against the wall.

He looked out from under his battered tricorn hat when the door was unlocked. "Well it's about bloody time—" Then he caught sight of Vanessa. His eyes widened, looking very white against his swarthy skin. Then he leaned back so that half his face was under his hat again. "Sorry mates, I don't speak with those of the un-living type anymore. Savvey?"

Kerry's men chuckled. Into the cell went Vanessa and Edward. Vanessa turned right around and tried to slip out again, but she was caught and thrown back inside so roughly she banged her head. While she rubbed the lump on her skull the door was shut and locked.

"Are you all right, Nessie?" asked Edward.

"Yes." Vanessa gave the sore spot one last rub, then turned to Jack Sparrow. "Mister Sparrow?"

No response. She was tempted to pinch him or some small thing to prove she wasn't a ghost but restrained herself. To do so would require touching him, and as seemed to be usual he was filthy.

"Captain Sparrow?"

"Eh?" This time his eyes appeared from under his hat. "You still here? Listen, Miss Mouse, your death: not my fault. From what I hear, you jumped off the Pearl all by your onesy. So, shoo. Haunt someone else. Barbossa could do with a turn or two." He leaned back again.

Vanessa sighed irritably. "I am no ghost, Captain Sparrow. What I want to know is what possessed you to tell that demon Kerry about your map. Or me."

The eyes appeared again. "You sure you're no ghost, love? Last girl I saw looked like you was afraid of her own shadow."

"What did you tell him about me?"

"That you got eaten by a nasty beastie that attacked the Pearl. I had hoped to persuade him that goin' after the Fountain's a bad idea. For him, at least."

"The Fountain?" Edward interjected. "What is on that island that is so important that Kerry feels it necessary to kidnap us all? I didn't understand half of what he said to you in town, Nessie."

Vanessa glanced at Jack Sparrow, but he did not seem inclined to rescue her. She leaned against the side of the ship as it began to rock back and forth in the ocean surf. "I told you Ad—the Leviathan is bound to the island by a curse." She saw Sparrow come slightly more alert out of the corner of her eye. "He guards the Fountain of Youth, Papa."

"Fountain of—" Edward repeated. She watched him absorb this. "You didn't—"

"No! Oh, no, I didn't drink from it. The water works two ways: at a touch, it cures any injury and illness. It makes you young, and immortal, only if you drink it. For obvious reasons all sorts of people, including pirates," here she looked at Sparrow, who tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement, "have been searching for it for time out of mind. Thus Calypso—"

She heard Sparrow mutter something under his breath.

"—the goddess of the sea, chooses a guardian for the Fountain and makes him into the monster Leviathan."

"You told me he can only be freed if he's slain. Or…what was the other condition?" Edward asked.

"He finds something to bind him to the mortal world."

"That's right." Edward rubbed his chin. "But what did Kerry and this Sparrow fellow mean, you were swallowed by your Leviathan?"

Vanessa flushed. "He didn't swallow me; he rescued me from an unfortunate encounter with the pirates of the ship the Black Pearl. Captain Sparrow here was also their prisoner; that was where we met. Mister Sparrow has—had—a map showing the route to the island. I presume you took it when you escaped?" she asked the pirate. "Otherwise Captain Barbossa would have come sailing right back and tried for the Fountain again."

Sparrow nodded. "Right you are, love. My maddeningly unhelpful map only shows the location of the Fountain; it sadly does not make said island appear. A man may risk running his ship aground on an island that isn't there. Or he may risk the wrath of Calypso's beastie, who is so charmingly referred to as 'yours.'" He paused, but neither Vanessa nor Edward elaborated. Shrugging, he continued, "So it seems a monster can be tamed, when the proper leverage is applied. A smart choice on our captain's part." He sighed and leaned back again. "Interesting man. Knew someone like him, once. Had designs on ruling the seas, that one. An immortal man like that is the last thing the world needs."

"We must escape then," Edward said. "Can you get us out of this cell?"

"To what point or purpose, Master Swift? The ship's sailed. To escape now would be folly, lest we forget our dear friend the penguin."

"Our dear…what?" Vanessa asked.

"Penguins. Little black birds-- that swim. And eat fish. 'Course, there's always something bigger in the ocean that wants to eat you, or them as it were. So, we could escape now, as you insist, but then we'd be the first penguin in the ocean before checking to make sure it's safe. A rather grim idea, if you ask me. Or, we could let the charming Captain Kerry go first. A rather better idea. We let the big fishies go at it and use the opportune moment to escape."

Vanessa had barely followed this, but she did understand the last bit. "When will the opportune moment be, then?"

Jack shook his head. "Ghosts. Never listen." To Edward, he asked, "Got any rum?"

"Unfortunately, no." Edward looked like he needed a drink. The idea of the Fountain of Youth, or perhaps that his daughter had been kidnapped by pirates, was not sitting well with him. His face was slightly pale even in the dim light of their single lantern.

Jack Sparrow leaned back against the wall again. "Thought not."

Author's Note: Kerry—and Jack—return! A million thanks to Cywyllog for reviewing the Jack-speak and correcting my lackluster first attempt. What I want Jack to say (the point of his speeches) are never what he would actually say.

And our Vanessa has a spine! I'm so proud of her. A lot's happened in this chapter, let me know what you think of our latest developments.

~SamoaPhoenix9