Captain Jack Sparrow's legendary three-cornered hat floated on the tide, turning slowly. By next morning, it had drifted far from the Black Pearl.
The hull of a small fishing vessel passed it, and suddenly the hat was snatched up by a boat hook. A short, round sailor pulled it from the water and was pleased with the look of the hat. He quickly tried it on.
Just then, his mate yanked it off his head. The two were pulling on the hat when a shudder suddenly ran through the boat. The men stopped struggling.
From beneath the deck came a loud crunching. The sailors staggered as their little vessel rocked. They looked wildly around and then down at the hat. The strange turn of events must have something to do with the hat. The sailors fought to rid themselves of it.
But the fight ended quickly, as the deck splintered and the entire boat was pulled straight down. A giant geyser rose up from the sea, raining down wood and bits of canvas. And, in the blink of an eye, the water was still and the fishing boat was wiped off the face of the earth, as though it had never existed.
Not far away, in the headquarters of the East India Trading Company, Will Turner was escorted by two guards into the office of Lord Beckett. A large, unfinished map of the world took up the whole wall of the office.
"Those won't be necessary," Beckett said, pointing to the shackles on Will's wrists.
The guards released Will. "Do you intend to release Elizabeth, as well?" Will asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be.
"That is entirely up to you," Beckett answered smugly, before he quickly rephrased his response. "That is entirely dependent on you," he clarified. Beckett used his cane to stoke the room's fireplace. "We wish for you to act as our agent in a business transaction with our mutual friend Captain Sparrow."
"More acquaintance than friend," Will said. "How do you know him?"
"We've had dealings in the past," Beckett said, displaying the letter "P" on the end of his glowing cane. The same P that was burned into Jack's arm. "We have each left our marks on the other."
"What mark did he leave on you?" Will asked, but Beckett did not respond. Instead, he said, "By your efforts, Jack Sparrow was set free. I ask you to go to him and recover a certain property in his possession, along with my sister Charlotte. The two of you are well-acquainted, as I have learned."
"Recover you sister," Will replied skeptically. "At the point of a sword?"
"Bargain," suggested a sly Beckett. "To mutual benefit and fair value."
He removed several large documents from his desk. They were signed by the King of England. "Letters of Marque," Beckett explained. "You will offer what amounts to a full pardon. Jack will be free, a privateer in the employ of England."
Will looked at the letters and shook his head. He knew that the Letters of Marque would give him the right to take Jack's possessions, but something didn't feel right. He thought back to Charlotte's answers when he'd asked her about her brother's characteristics. "He's a schemer, Will. And you can never trust a schemer. They're like a cast die. You might think that you can see all of its faces, but there is always one hidden." Will replied, "For some reason, I doubt that Jack will consider employment to be the same as freedom."
"Jack Sparrow is a dying breed," Beckett snarled. He motioned to the map on the wall. "I do not desire my sister to perish along with his kind. She is worthy of better men. The word is shrinking, the blank edges of the map filled in. Jack will have to find a place in the New World, or perish."
"Not unlike you," Beckett continued, bringing the point home. "You and your fiancée face the hangman's noose. Certainly, that is motivation enough for you to convince Captain Sparrow to accept our offer. And for you to accept, as well, Mr. Turner."
Will considered the proposal, "So you'll get both Jack, Charlotte, and the Black Pearl?"
Beckett seemed surprised, "The Black Pearl? No, Mr. Turner, the item in question is considerably smaller and far more valuable, something Sparrow keeps on his person at all times. A Compass."
Beckett noticed a look of recognition on Will's face. "Ah, you know it," Beckett hissed.
"What is your sister to you?" Will asked, "You've never once returned to Port Royal to see what had become of your only sibling."
Beckett's face tightened, and a muscle in his jaw jumped. "My relationship with my sister is none of your concern, Mr. Turner."
Will scoffed, "Does it bother you knowing that she is gallivanting with pirates? Actually, she is with your enemy? Right now?"
Beckett stormed towards Will, his hands curled at his sides. Will silently dared the man to take a swing at him, but Beckett relaxed suddenly, knowing he was the one with the most power. "Bring both my sister and the Compass or there is no deal!"
Will stormed out of Beckett's office and through the gates of the Port Royal prison. He pushed past the red coated guard and moved down the stone corridor to Elizabeth's cell. Governor Swann followed closely behind.
"Here, now!" the guard called out. "You can't be here, Mister Swann!"
"Governor Swann," he replied, correcting the guard. "I'm not wearing this wig to keep my head warm, you know."
As the Governor approached the dank cell, he heard Elizabeth say to Will, "I understand Charlotte, but Jack's Compass? Why would Beckett want that?"
Elizabeth was behind bars, still in her wedding dress. "Does it matter?" Will asked. "I'm to find Jack and Charlotte and convince them to return to Port Royal. In exchange, the charges against us will be dropped."
Will stepped as close to Elizabeth as possible with bars between them. "If I hadn't set Jack and Charlotte free…" he began, trailing off regretfully. "I never expected you would bear the consequences."
Elizabeth smiled, "I share the consequences gladly." She reached through the bars and took his hands. "How are you going to find him?" she asked anxiously.
Her confidence in him touched Will's heard. He suddenly felt he could do anything. "Tortuga. I'll start there, and not stop searching until I find him, and then I will come back here, and marry you."
"Properly?" she asked.
"Eagerly. If you'll still have me," he added as a joke.
Elizabeth smiled, "If it weren't for these bars, I'd have you already."
The Governor coughed loudly, to remind the pair of his presence.
"Keep a weather eye on the horizon," Will said, before getting up and striding back down the hall, leaving Elizabeth behind.
Will started his search immediately. He would check every island in the Caribbean, if he had to- he was going to find Jack. He made his way to Tortuga, stopping at various island ports on the way. On one, he walked up to the dock and asked the first man he saw of Jack's whereabouts.
"Captain Jack Sparrow?" the weathered-sailor answered. "Owes me four dubloons. Heard he was dead."
Down a cobblestone alley on another island, Will made his way into a candlelit tavern. The innkeeper, a square, thickset man, told Will, "Ran off with a creole woman to Madagascar." Then he added, "she was half his age and twice his height."
On a beach, a half-blind fisherman told his version. "Singapore is what I heard. Sure as the tide," he nodded with a toothless grin. "Jack Sparrow will turn up in Singapore."
Will sighed. There were a thousand tales about Jack Sparrow's whereabouts. Will had one last chance to get to the truth- ironically, in a placed where the truth was hard to come by- Tortuga!
As soon as Will arrived, he saw two women he had met the last time he had been to Tortuga with Jack. One woman had red hair and wore a red dress. Her name, if he remembered correctly, was Scarlett. The other wore a green dress and had blonde hair; her name was Giselle. He figured he'd ask them if they'd seen Jack recently.
"I haven't seen him in a month," Scarlett snapped.
"When you find him, give him a message," said Giselle. They raised their hands and struck Will across the faced before stalking off together.
Rubbing his cheek as he walked on, he heard a voice calling out to him, "Will! Will Turner?" He recognized the voice immediately, and was both shocked and pleasantly surprised when he turned and saw Charlotte Vaughan waving at him from the end of the alley. She was standing outside the tavern Jack had taken them to on their last visit. As he approached Charlotte, Will realized she looked extremely different than she did the last time he'd seen her.
She was wearing an embroidered corset, with a neck that plunged farther than he cared to look. Strapped to her sides were a few knives, swords, and two silver pistols. She was wearing a pair of boots, and silk pants. She looked much slimmer and darker, but her eyes shone brighter than they did back in Port Royal. She had a look of happiness that seemed genuine, rather than forced.
Charlotte gave him a hug, "Oh I missed you so much Will! How are you? Elizabeth? Governor Swann? Are you and Elizabeth married yet? Children? Oh, and Norrington, how's he? I've got so many questions!"
Will nodded, feeling somewhat relaxed now that he'd found someone he knew. "So have I!" he replied, waiting until they could sit down and talk properly to relay his tale to her. Hopefully she and Jack would agree to return to Port Royal.
"Let's get a drink!" she said, steering him into the tavern, where they found a small private room in the back, supplied with a small table, two chairs, and a cart of rum. She walked over and passed Will a bottle, before uncorking her own. They each took a seat and clinked the bottles together, before taking a long sip.
"So," Charlotte began, "what brings you to Tortuga?"
Will paused before answering. "Jack," he said simply "I need to speak with him? Is he on the Pearl?"
Charlotte nodded, "I'd hope so. After all we went through to get the ship back, he'd better chain himself to the bloody thing."
Will choked on his rum, "Wait, you're not sailing with him?"
Charlotte shook her head. "I've been sailing myself, seeing all the different parts of the world. Last time I saw Jack was when I left him in India."
"You left Jack in India," Will clarified.
Charlotte nodded, "Over a year ago. Anamaria and I decided to go into business for ourselves. Eventually, she decided to stay on land, and I wasn't done sailing the seas, so I ended up sailing for Mistress Ching of the Pacific Ocean. She was the only person who would a woman work for her. I went up the ranks, became her right hand woman. Now I've even got my own ship. It's the one out on the docks with the purple sails." She was beaming as she told Will the story, and he could sense her pride as she spoke of her ship. "You wouldn't believe who my first mate is, though."
"Who?" asked Will curiously, thinking that it was probably someone he didn't know.
"Groves," Charlotte replied simply.
"WHAT?!" yelled Will, nearly upending the table. "Do you mean Groves, like Norrington's lieutenant?"
She nodded smugly, "the very same. Found him wandering an island, and decided to hire him to be part of my crew. Didn't sit right with him at first, what with being with pirates, but he came round eventually. And there's the added bonus that I know he won't stab me in the back."
Will nodded as he took a sip of his rum. As he did, his eyes rested on her bare collar where two small sparrows were inked just over her heart. "You're gotten some tattoos, I see."
She smiled, "Yeah. I sort of collected them as I went around to different places." She indicated her arms which were covered with drawings of ships, birds, swords,a nd runes. She pointed to a phoenix and sword that was inked on her left wrist, "I got yours and Elizabeth's initials," she said. Will bent across the table and spotted the initials W.T. and E.S.
He smiled on the outside, but internally he burned with regret. The first for not marrying Elizabeth sooner. And the second, because he was on a mission headed by Charlotte's brother, the one man that she would never forgive Will for working with.
"So what about you and Elizabeth? Have you gotten married yet?" she asked with a wink, as Will sat back in his seat.
"No… we were going to get married but the King's men interrupted the ceremony, and dragged Elizabeth and I into prison. We're going to be hanged for helping Jack escape."
Charlotte's eyes widened and it was her turn to exclaim, "What!"
Will nodded, "but the man who ordered our arrests made a deal with me. He wants Jack to return to Port Royal, where he'll be granted a full pardon. He just needs something from him… but I don't know what it is."
Charlotte's scrunched up her face, "Who is this man?"
Will's heart beat loudly against his chest as he lied, "I don't know. Never met him until now."
"Mmmhmm," Charlotte said. Part of her new that Will was lying, but another part still saw him as a friend who'd helped her escape death. She decided to ally herself with Will, "I'll help you find Jack. I've been wanting to talk to him as well."
Will nodded gratefully, "Thank you Charlotte, but I'm sure you're busy with the crew and all."
She waved Will's concern aside, "Nonsense. They can sail the ship without me for a while. I'll let Groves know right now. But tomorrow, we're going to search this whole island until we find someone who knows where Jack is. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Will said, as the pair got up.
Charlotte headed back outside, most likely to the docks to let Groves know of her leave.
Will went to the innskeeper and asked for a room with two beds. He followed the man up, knowing that Charlotte would be able to find him. As he got changed and climbed into the dingy bed, he thought about how she would feel if she knew who he was working for.
"Groves!" Charlotte shouted as she paced the deck of her ship. It wasn't extremely large, like the Pearl, but it was big enough for her. As if by magic, the man suddenly appeared by her side. She gave him a hug, "Will Turner is here, and he's looking for Jack. I'm going with him and I need you to hold down the fort till my return. Can you do that?"
Groves nodded, "Yes Captain."
She turned to the rest of the crew. "Until I return, Groves here is your new Captain. Treat him like you treat me. And when I return, I expect nothing to have changed in terms of management. Is that clear?"
There was a chorus of agreements, as she headed back to the rungs. Groves followed her, "What about Mistress Ching?" he asked. "She's going to be waiting for your return."
"She's still got a few good years left, alright? She can wait. In the meantime, I need you to visit our friend Tia Dalma. She'll let you know where to meet up with me. I don't know why or how, but if anything goes wrong, at least you'll be forewarned."
Groves sighed, "I've never liked her."
"Well you better start warming up to the thought of her, because she's the only one that knows where adventures will begin, and where they will end," Charlotte replied before giving Groves another hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Take care of the Reign for me." She gave him a smile as she climbed back down to the docks and headed towards the Tavern where Will had gotten them a room.
"I'm going to miss my ship," said Charlotte, as she climbed into the other bed.
Will sighed, "Don't worry. This adventure, shouldn't take too long. You'll be back with your crew in a month."
Charlotte scoffed, "If we're going on an adventure with Jack, we don't know how long its going to be."