Chapter 28: Mermaids and Chalices

Blackbeard hurried forward as Buffy, Angelica and his Zombie officers followed behind. The Zombie officers maneuvered the aquarium over a low branch and it slipped falling out of their grasp it broke open.

As the water escaped Syrena transformed into a human shape as everyone stared at her. She curled up, scared as Philip stripped off his shirt and draped it over her. Blackbeard looked to the Quartermaster.

"We must not stop."

Blackbeard nodded as he looked toward Syrena. "You will walk."

Syrena stood, shaky like a newborn colt. She took a step and fell to her knees. Buffy saw that her right foot is scarred, injured from where someone stabbed her. "I cannot."

"Walk, or die," Blackbeard said.

Buffy stepped forward and knelt down. "Put your arms around me."

"I do not ask for help," Syrena said.

"But you need it," Buffy said as Syrena moved her arms around Buffy. She then lifted Syrena up with her Slayer strength. She turned to find Blackbeard there, glaring at her. "We are in a hurry. Yes?"

"Don't fall behind," Blackbeard said as he turned and they all followed him. He led them pushing plants and branches out of the way with his bare hands. Suddenly he paused. "Water. I smell it. Wait here." He disappeared into the jungle.

Buffy sets Syrena down onto the giant roots of a fig tree. "Do you know who I am?" she asked.

Syrena nodded. "I could feel your magical pull before you even reached the shore, Slayer. Why do you walk with these? Should you not…"

"It is complicated," Buffy said. "My sister and I come from a future time. And we will need your help to return to it."

"How can I help you?" Syrena asked.

"Your tears. If we drank," Buffy said.

Syrena nodded. "You would then live long enough to wind up in your own time," she said as Blackbeard returned.

"The Fountain?" Angelica asked.

Blackbeard shook his head. "No. But we're close. Bring the creature. Cover her head."

"She has a name," Buffy said as Blackbeard stopped as Angelica looked on with interest. "You don't deserve to know her true name. But she wants to be called Syrena."

A short time later Blackbeard emerged onto slate rocks. Before him was a round, still pool as he shoved his torch low to show a skeleton, a dead mermaid. Staked to the stone by her wrists. Where the skeleton met the water, the bones transition from human to marine. They looked around and spotted other mermaid bodies.

"Come," Blackbeard said as Syrena, head covered, is carried by Buffy. "Careful. These pools run deep. If the creature makes the water, all is lost. Look. LOOK. Staked out to die. To dry in the sun. Only half in the water, not enough to live, enough to make the dying slow." Syrena stared at the scene, showing no emotion. "Think of it. Your people. Murdered. Harvested for their tears. Breaks my heart to think of it, and with so few of you left in this world."

"Syrena. Will you not cry?" Blackbeard continued as Syrena shifted her gaze to Blackbeard.

"All die. Even you. Soon, I hear," Syrena said as Blackbeard grabbed her hair, forcing her to look.

"Hey," Buffy said.

"It is okay, Slayer," said Syrena.

"Listen. Can you not hear their screams? Can you not hear?" Blackbeard said as he moved his hand to the hilt of his sword. "We need but a single tear."

Syrena listened and then, in a feat of pure will, she overcame her fear, pain, sadness and turned to Blackbeard as she forced a smile.

Blackbeard slapped Syrena with the back of his hand. "Vile creature!"

"Chop off her fingers. One by one," Ezekiel said.

"Choke her!" said Gahreng

Salaman nodded. "Cut out the tears. From behind the eyes."

"Tell her she's got a really big bum," said Scrum.

"Where is your voice in this?" Buffy asked Angelica.

"Captain!" Angelica said. "Perhaps she will have a change of heart, when the sun rises."

Blackbeard nodded. "Yes. She will burn. But I cannot wait for the sun," he said as he looked to Gunner. "Build a fire."

"No," Buffy said.

"Do not contest me, Slayer," Blackbeard said.

"You will not torture her," said Buffy. "Or you will answer to me. I have been generous so far Blackbeard. I have destroyed zombie's before and killed their master. I won't hesitate to do it again."

"You care for her," Blackbeard said as he pulled a knife out and held it at Buffy's throat. "You want her for your own purposes. Do not deny what is clear to my eyes. Question is, will she help you?"

Buffy frowned; she would have had to drop Syrena to attack. She looked at Syrena and then sighed. "It is up to you Syrena," she said as Blackbeard raised his knife.

"Father —" Angelica said.

"Time and tide waits for none," Blackbeard said.

"Not by your hand!" Angelica said.

Blackbeard shoved Buffy toward the Quartermaster causing her to drop Syrena. The Quartermaster drew a knife across her throat as Syrena cried out as Buffy slid to the ground seemingly dead.

Syrena stares, anguished, on the edge of tears as Blackbeard watched. "Aye. Tough, Mermaids are, the lot of them. Tie her up. Exactly as the others," he said as he looked at Buffy. "Get rid of that." Gunner and the Quartermaster grab Buffy as Blackbeard turned to Angelica. "You are confident."

"Yes. I am a woman. So is she," Angelica said. "And I would be prepared for your end to come, Father. For the witch will surely kill you for killing her sister."

Some distance away inside The Santiago there is a green flash as Jack and Dawn appeared in the cabin. "I have to say your little spell, luv, saved us a lot of work."

Dawn smiled and nodded as she held a torch. They looked around at the treasure that lay all over the cabin. They spot a bed, and a skeleton that lay atop it with a magnifying glass in front of his face, staring at a map in his hand.

"Ponce de Leon," Jack said.

"If forty pirates dreamt forty nights of treasure, it wouldn't match the contents of this room," Barbossa said as Jack and Dawn whirled around, swords in hand. Out of the shadows stepped Barbossa, sword drawn. "Ah Ms. Swann how nice it is to see you once again. And how is your sister?"

"She's fine," said Dawn.

"You," Jack said.

"You," Barbossa spat back.

"No, you," Jack said.

"I was here first. Why are you two here?" Barbossa said.

"Blackbeard sent us," said Dawn. "You?"

Barbossa smiled. "Silver Chalices." Jack took a step forward as the entire ship creaked, acting like a giant teeter-totter. Overbalancing to one side. "Back! Back! Balance it out! The whole ship'll slide down.

Dawn, Jack and Barbossa spread out, until the ship settles.

"Right, then. So we each choose an item of approximately equal weight, then …" Jack said as he reached for a stack of coins.

"See there, I've learnt my lesson about taking treasure from a place, not knowing what curse might lie upon it," said Barbossa as Jack pulled his hand back.

"Ruddy hell. I'll have it," Jack said as he grabbed the treasure and the ship overbalances.

"Put it back! We touch nothing!" Dawn yelled as Jack put the treasure back and the ship shifted as a chest slid out from under the bed.

"What about that?" Jack asked.

"The Chalices," Barbossa said as they all look at the chest.

Two Chalices are carved onto the lid. Barbossa takes a step back and the ship tilts sending the chest sliding towards him.

"Hey!" Dawn yelled as she took a step back to counter the weight.

Barbossa stepped back again and the chest came all the way to him.

"Why do you get to look first?" Jack asked as he stepped as the ship lurched violently.

Barbossa stepped past Jack, away from the chest, to compensate as he watched Jack kneel to open the chest. "Fine, then."

Barbossa purposefully pushed the harpsichord over as the ship tilted. Jack slipped to the deck as Barbossa stopped the chest with his crutch and pushed it past Jack to re-balance.

Jack grabbed the chest as he looked at Barbossa and Dawn. "Together," they all said as they opened the chest.

"Empty," Dawn said as they saw where the Chalices would fit. Jack lifted up two stones and set them inside.

"The Spanish," Barbossa said.

Jack nodded. "They're ahead of us, mate," he said as he dropped the stones back into the chest. "I'll have a look at that map. If it's what I fear ..."

Dawn, Jack and Barbossa move to either side of the bed as they lean in to look at the skeleton. "The Fountain," Dawn said.

Jack nodded. "Aye. The Spanish know the path. I wonder why they left this behind —" he said as he reached for the map. The skeleton's head turned, pointedly looking at him. He pulled his hand back ... and Ponce turned back to examining the map for all eternity.

"They know the path ... but I also see where they'll likely make camp," Barbossa said as they noted a Spanish Fort, labeled San Miguel.

An hour later Dawn, Jack and Barbossa stood on a ridge looking down at the fort as Gibbs and the rest of Barbossa's party appeared behind them.

"Jack!" Gibbs said.

"Gibbs! I was just on my way to come break you out of jail!" Jack said. "You stole my map."

Gibbs shrugged as he looked at Dawn. "Dawn?"

"Hey Gibbs, long time no see," said Dawn.

"Aye, three years," said Gibbs.

Elsewhere Buffy opened her eyes as she sat up. She put a hand to her neck and found there was no cut on her throat. She looked underneath her shirt to find gash that her Slayer healing was taking care of. She figured in another hour or two it would be gone. She got up and made her way back to the pools to find Syrena half immersed in the water, tied to the stakes.

"Syrena. I am sorry, Syrena," said Buffy as she untied the mermaids bonds.

"You came for me," Syrena said, confused. "You a Slayer came for me. No other Slayer would have done that."

"You are an innocent in this, Syrena," said Buffy. "And I long ago decided that if demons, vampires or even mermaids were not a threat I would not kill them."

Syrena gazed at Buffy and smiled. "A Slayer who knows compassion. A rare thing," she said as she smiled as tears of gratitude welled up in her eyes.

"Now! Quick-like!"

Suddenly Blackbeard is there as pirates swoop in. Angelica shoved Syrena's head down and held the vial under her face as two tears fell into the vial. "No tears of sorrow! Never, Mermaids be too tough for that. But, tears of joy, they say these be the more potent anyway."

Angelica handded the vial to Scrum, who corked it and placed it carefully in its leather pouch.

"Let her go. You don't need her now," Buffy said.

"Let her go? Let her go? Let her go?" Blackbeard said. "Would I be Blackbeard if I did such a thing as let her go? And have her bring her kind down upon us? No, I would not. Secure her bonds. We shall leave her with her own."

Elsewhere in a bamboo grove Barbossa's group shoved their way through the bamboo, trying to stay quiet.

"What's your play, Jack?" asked Gibbs. "Dawn? Throwing in with Barbossa."

"I have an accord with Ms. Swann, here," said Jack. "She needs the chalices for the Fountain."

Suddenly Barbossa turned and slashed a hand across his throat, telling them to be quiet as he pointed ahead. In the distance they see the ruins of the long-ago fort, nearly covered by jungle and they see that the Spanish have made camp.

"Stealth over force," Jack said. "May I make a suggestion that Ms. Swann and I take it from here, on account of your condition? You don't get termites, do you?"

"Appreciate your concern, Jack, I'll be keeping you two company, all the same," said Barbossa. "Hold here. Wait for my signal."

Dawn takes Barbossa and Jack's hands and with a flash of green is gone. They reappear closer to the camp behind some palms.

"There. That one," Barbossa said as he looked at the men in the camp. Dawn and Jack follow his gaze and see standing beneath a canopy is The Spaniard. "That be the leader. Make note of his tent, that's where — no, wait! By God, that must be them, right there!"

The Spaniard has moved aside, and there on a wooden table sit the two silver Chalices. The Spanish Officer writes as he examines them. Barbossa drew his sword as he, Dawn and Jack crawled forward.

"Your sword smells funny," Jack said as caught a whiff of something.

Barbossa nodded. "Aye. Poison. From the innards of poisonous toads. Just a scratch, and you'd be dead within minutes."

"Point that thing the other way, will you?" Dawn asked as they reached two palm trees.

Barbossa stared ahead, calculating. "What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"Planning an escape route. Isn't that how you do it? " Barbossa said.

"Yes," Jack said as Dawn rolled her eyes. "Or. Sometimes, I just, improvise."

They reach the ruins of a wall. "All right, then. Now we need to —" Barbossa said.

"They're beautiful. I've got to have them," Jack said as he took off.

Dawn rolled her eyes and with a flash of green she was gone and reappeared in front of the Spaniard who looked up at her. While he is distracted Jack snatched one of the cups. He reached for his sword putting down the other cup as Barbossa grabbed it. "Hi have you seen my two friends?" she asked as Jack conked the Spaniard on the head and shoved him under the table.

Dawn walked around the table grabbing Jack and Barbossa's hands. Before she could teleport them out they were face with a good dozen soldiers. Jack and Barbossa are stripped of their possessions and tied around the waist to a palm tree. Dawn is several feet away stripped of her possessions and tied to another palm tree.

"How's that escape route working?" Jack asked.

"Here's you a chance to improvise," Barbossa said.

Jack smirked. "Working on it. Might be able to get a hand loose ..."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "I definitely didn't miss this any. This is the reason I named myself Captain of Black Pearl remember?"

"Can you get us out of here?" Barbossa asked. "With that magic you do?"

"Small problem. They could be on us before I have either of you free," Dawn said as Barbossa unscrewed his leg. "And if I went to get your men and Gibbs they could be on you before we got to you. I'm debating which is the lesser of two evils."

Barbossa removes a cup, built into the leg and poured rum into it.

"I want one of those!" Jack said as Barbossa scooted the cup over to Jack. "Here's to revenge, sweet and clear."

"Revenge?" Barbossa asked.

"Come clean with it, Hector," Jack said. "If you'd wanted the Chalices, you'd have seen they were missing and gone. You were lying in wait. For Blackbeard. "

"Oh?" Dawn asked.

"King George, Privateer, the wig," Jack said. "Cheap theatrical facade. Not buying it.

"You weren't there that night," Barbossa said as he bristled.

"When the Pearl was lost," Jack said.

"The Pearl was lost?" Dawn asked.

Barbossa shook his head. "Taken, not lost. We were off the coast of Hispaniola when we came under attack. No provocation nor warning nor offer of parley. We were peppered with cannon fire. And then the sea beneath the Pearl began to roil. The Pearl was pitching and yawing violently. So violently we could not maneuver ... could not man the cannons ... so violently it actually came to my mind to give ... the order. THE order! THE order! The order no man who calls himself captain ever dreams he'11 be givin'! Abandon ship. But too late. The Pearl began to creak, every plank, every rail, every spar all at once, making a hellish noise like none I have ever heard ... and I have heard my share of hellish noises."

"Aye. As have I," said Jack.

"And I," added Dawn. "I decided to teleport you two out. All that we have to worry is that they might catch us again. If they do then I will teleport for your men, Barbossa."

Barbossa nodded as Dawn teleported. "The rigging had come to life. Our own ship, turned against us. Tangling my crew, wrapping around them like snakes ... wrapping around ... my leg."

Jack looks down, sympathetic as Dawn teleported grabbing Jack and teleported him two feet away, free of the ropes.

"But my arms were free. My sword was at hand. I am the master of my ship, not Blackbeard! I am the master of my fate, not Blackbeard! And so I did ... what needed done. I ... survived," Barbossa said as he screwed his leg back into place on its harness.

"So," said Dawn. "You're not after the Fountain?"

"I care not for King George, or tavern yarns that give hope for a healed limb. But I'd give my left arm for a chance a Blackbeard," Barbossa said as Dawn teleported him next to Jack freeing him also.

"Not your right?" Jack asked.

"Need my good arm to run this poisoned blade through his heart —" Barbossa said.

"I'll see you get the chance," Jack said as they quickly hide.

Dawn smiled as she got an idea and grabbed the rope. She teleported up into a palm tree and pushed aside a frond as she peeked out. She pulled free a coconut. With the rope, she created a kind of net, securing the coconut to the end, making a bolo. She swung the bolo and the coconut caught on the palm tree, wrapped around. She wound winds the rope around her wrist and started to pull as the palm tree bent coming closer.

Below Jack, Barbossa and the Guards watch, incredulous as Dawn pulled as hard as she could. She suddenly leaped off her perch in midflight disappearing in a flash of green.

Below soldiers spread out as they disappear in tall ferns. "Fan out! Find her!" one of them said. "Don't let her escape!" They spread spread out, searching, climbing up the trunks.

Suddenly Groves is there with Barbossa, Dawn and Jack's swords. "I'm guessing that was the signal —"

Dawn appeared next to Jack, Groves and Barbossa as she grabs Jack and Barbossa's hands. "You might want to grab on," she said to Groves. "Only works by physical contact."

Groves wrapped his arms around Dawn as they disappeared in a flash of green and reappeared in the bamboo where Barbossa's men and Gibbs waited.

"Prepare to move out!" Groves said.

"They'll be upon us soon —" Barbossa said. "Sorry that, we lost the Chalices. I've an appointment to keep. There'll be no going back."

Dawn smiled as she looked at Gibbs who produced the two silver chalices. "After my little acrobatic act. I teleported down to the cups and then teleported to Gibbs with them. Before returning for you, Jack and your man here."

"Bravo, Ms. Swann," said Barbossa.

An hour later in a forest of Banyon trees, Angelica was leading her group as she paused to wipe sweat from her brow as she ducked under a branch —

She suddenly found Dawn and Jack's swords inches from her face. "How is it we can never meet without you pointing something at me?"

Blackbeard appeared, with the rest of the landing party. "You brought them?"

Jack nodded. "Aye," he said as he stepped aside.

Behind him, a good twenty feet away, Gibbs held down a wild boar, squealing and struggling. Tied to the back of the boar are the silver Chalices.

"You two have found an accomplice," Angelica said.

"And the one-legged man. He is near, aye?" Blackbeard said.

Jack nodded. "Aye. Now, before I go just handing them over, we've one or two conditions."

"Name your terms," Blackbeard said.

"Upon your word, you will bring no harm to Angelica," Jack said as Dawn smiled. It had been agreed upon that Angelica needed to be protected till they tricked her into drinking from the wrong cup.

"I'll make no vow to the likes of you," Blackbeard said. "Sparrow. But it cost me nothing to admit she was never in harm's way, and I'd give the last ragged shred of my soul for her."

Angelica can't help but be moved at his words.

"Secondly, Mister Teach more famously known as Blackbeard, you are not the only man in possession of a tattered soul. As I reflect on my misdeeds, chief among them, I note how poorly I have treated my loyal First Mate there, Mister Gibbs," said Jack.

Gibbs nodded. "Aye, now that you bring it up —"

"Left him to rot in jail, I did, without a second thought or remorseful tingle. Point being, I'll not subject him to the horrors to come. You'll let him go free," Jack said. "As well as Ms. Swann and her sister."

"That be all?" Blackbeard asked.

Jack nodded. "Aye. Quick, or the pig runs. And good luck getting those Chalices."

"Jack, if it's all the same to you, I'm just as happy to —" said Gibbs.

"Done," Blackbeard said.

Gibbs let the boar go free as he stood holding the silver Chalices. He carried them past Jack and Dawn, handing them to Blackbeard. "P'raps, for the moment, I could tag along with you folk for a bit —"

Jack tossed Gibbs the Compass. "That'll lead you to freedom, 'mate," he said as he and Gibbs exchanged a look.

Gibbs regarded the Compass, as Blackbeard, Dawn, Buffy, Jack and the rest of the group move away. "Much obliged, Jack Sparrow."