Beckett and them had returned from their trip to the sandbar, but with Will absent and Jack Sparrow instead in his place, looking mighty uncomfortable next to Jones, who seemed to be keeping a close on eye as though he was likely to slip away somehow, which he probably was. As Beckett pulled himself aboard, he looked around for me and trolled over, a satisfied smirk playing on his lips.
"Excellent! Simply excellent!" He exclaimed. "Everything is going according to the alternative plan."
"What was the initial plan?" I asked with startled surprise.
"To persuade them to surrender and save us all this mess, but they've insisted on fighting till the end."
"How brave and ironically the end of them." I said, even though I had a feeling that Beckett was going to fail in his plan simply because pirates are pirates and will elude capture by all means. But I didn't share my suspicions; the man has enough on his hands.
"Indeed." Beckett said. He turned back. "Take Mr. Sparrow and lock him in the brig." Two bluecoats stepped up and pulled Jack away, but paused when Beckett added, "No, to the Dutchman." Jack eyes widened in surprise and who knows what else, and Jones grinned wickedly and grabbed Jack and hauled him away none too gently. Then, Beckett issued a command and all of the men hurried and lined up in a row. Beckett walked along the line, straightening his lacy cuffs. "The enemy has opted for oblivion. Ready the fleet." He said as he walked along. Meanwhile, I stopped myself from giggling out loud because of how short he seemed compared to the other tall men, even though he walked with an air of confidence, and wondered if I looked even tinier and less intimidating.
"To your stations!" Groves shouted, and the men gave, echoing the order, broke up, going about their way. Beckett turned around and gestured with two fingers for me to follow. He led me up the stairs to the hull where a small round table was perched there with two chairs. He motioned for me to sit.
"Would you like some tea?" He offered. I accepted and thanked him and he sat down as well. Groves came running up the stairs and stood at attention.
"We have a favorable wind, sir." He reported.
"Oh, so we do." Beckett agreed, snatching a look upwards. I looked up and only saw dark gray clouds billowing. "Signal Jones to give no quarter. That should brighten his day."
Groves nodded and went off to signal. Then, Beckett said, "And now, we wait."
I looked around expectedly. "For what?"
"For the after effects of the incoming battle. You see, we, the more important figures, will only fight as a last resort. Mainly, the other fleets will fight." Beckett explained.
"Plausible." I said. Hey, I wasn't going to argue with that. "Care for some sugar cubes?"
It was quite some time, sitting there simply sipping tea with Beckett with idle conversation. At times, I'd catch a smug look cross his face so though he was completely confident he was going to win. Gazing out at the battle that was taking place between the Dutchman and the Brethren, unable to really see any details due to the distance, I was disconcerted by the darkening skies and the strong winds that accompanied it, and my heart lurched in fear when the huge whirlpool formed, despite my safe distance.
"What is that?" I asked, pointing at said whirlpool.
"A whirlpool." Beckett said simply.
"How'd that come about?"
"… I believe they had just summoned Calypso. Did you happen to glimpse her? She was the giant woman whom was tied up tightly and dissolved into millions of crabs earlier."
"Oh, I thought that was an oddly extending pole that shattered." Beckett raised an eyebrow as if questioning my sanity.
"Well, anyways, she has converted to her true form, a form not noticeably visible to the human eye."
"How about eyes, then?" I joked. Beckett plainly smirked.
"Do not worry; we are at a safe distance, and we are not the ones whom she wore vengeance on, fortunately. " He said as lightning flashed across the skies and the rain fell harder, though not as hard as near the actual whirlpool, or Calypso. I considered asking Beckett to borrow his telescope, but decided otherwise because I don't think I'd like the thought of seeing one of them sea monsters glaring back at me for some unknown reason. Then suddenly, the Dutchman went under, right into the heart of the whirlpool . Beckett jumped to his feet and I followed his lead, mostly because his panic made me panic. He went to where Groves stood to get a better look, and I followed. We watched with bated breath for signs of the Dutchman, but it did not emerge. Slowly, the rain began lightening, and then to a stop. The seas calmed to its usual movement, and the ships began to slow as the battle seemed to end.
"Heavens, where'd it go?" Beckett muttered.
"Did they lose? Or we?" I asked, baffled.
"What are they waiting for?" Groves asked.
"He expects us to honor our agreement." Beckett said. I waited for him to answer my question, but he didn't.
Irritated, I said, "Then why don't you?"
"Because that would mean that Jack gets off scot-free and the pirates get to continue to walk this earth."
"Shouldn't you be a noble man and honor your word?"
"How naïve." Groves muttered, though he himself looked rather confused also.
"I beg your damn pardon-"
"He is only saying what is true. Now, we are negotiating with pirates, whom are most likely not likely to honor their own agreement, unless it's for their own selfish survival, as demonstrated here as the reason they're hoping we honor our side of the bargain."
"Selfishness goes both ways, mate." I pointed out.
"Well, in our case, there is a more morally just side."
"Or is there?" I asked, stroking my nonexistent goatee.
"Must you contradict me?" Beckett said with a slight hint of playfulness. Yeah what?
"Just to spite you. In spite of myself. But once my mouth starts it can't stop."
"Evidently." Beckett said, his smirk returning. I gave him a frown.
"Ready guns and port!" Groves yelled, turning around to issue the order. The ship was filled with sounds of cannons being readied in response.
"It's nothing personal, Jack." Beckett said quietly with that smug look back on his face. "It's just good business." The ship moved quickly forward to intercept the Black Pearl, when out of nowhere, well technically the sea, The Dutchman emerged.
"Ah, she survived." Beckett said, a smile of relief coming on his face, a smile that quickly faded as it dawned on him and the rest of us that the Dutchman was no longer headed by Davy Jones, and didn't even seem to hold any of the original members of the EITC, including Mercer. Instead, it seemed Will had replaced the captain's hold on the ship, and he boldly steered towards the Endeavor. Following its' lead with renewed hope and energy, the Pearl moved forward, both ships quickly coming up on both sides of the Pearl.
"Orders, sir?" Groves said, turning to Beckett. Beckett just stood there, unable to speak as though frozen with shock, even though his eyes were moving back and forth. It comes at a time where in life, we're faced with a situation we simply don't know how to react in. Unfortunately, this leaves us vulnerable and with a feeling of hopelessness and despair as we expect that our time on this world is ending. Nonetheless, it's not a pleasant situation to face and not one you'd expect to remain calm in. As the ships came within area, they began shooting the cannon balls at the Endeavor. As Groves ducked to avoid a blown plank, he shouted it again, "Sir!" As the ship began erupting from the force of the cannons and with no orders from Beckett, the Endeavor sailed on, completely unable to use its arms to fight back. "Orders? Orders, sir!" Groves cried.
Like I said, you can't expect someone to remain calm while they're being surrounded by cannons and the possibility of getting your head blown off, but here Beckett was, rather impassive and as though lost to the world.
"Fire!" I shouted at Groves, thinking that was the most logical thing to do and why must you wait for the captain's orders that were never going to come. But Groves fixed me with look of puzzlement, as though unsure of whether to take orders from me, a girl of no real status in the company. In that moment of hesitation, more EITC officers ran up, yelling, "Sir, what do you command?"
"It's just…good business." Beckett muttered, oblivious to the shouting of the men and the bodies flying left and right.
"Abandon ship!" Groves shouted. Repeating the words, he and the other members flung themselves overboard. I looked helplessly form side to side. Should I jump and save myself? Or die with Beckett? I still wasn't too sure if I loved him, but I should at least do something, right? Or try, trying is good too.
"Oi! Are you just going to stay there?" I shouted over the ruckus at Beckett. He looked his head at me, but his blue eyes were strangely glazed. Giving a heaving sigh, I grabbed at his hand and pulled at him. He numbly followed, stumbling over his feet as though he didn't know how to walk. That angered me at how helpless he was acting in such circumstances. Pulling at him, a cannon ball narrowly missed my feet and instead blew off a part of the hull. Thinking that it'd be much easier for me to pull the two of us through le hole instead of taking the effort to hoist ourselves over a railing, I hastily made my way over there, simply just dragging our bodies through the gap and tumbling into the waters with a slap to the face. Literally.