Chapter 36
"Bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger bugger!" Jewel yelled into the roaring winds of an unwanted storm, her bag strapped to her back. "How do I get myself into these messes? Why didn't I prepare? Bloody stupid fate with it's bloody stupid stupid fate!" Jewel yelled, trying to steer through the storm. Every time a large wave came, she had to brace herself or else she could be swept off her boat.
"I wish I had a crew or someplace to go!" She yelled as a wave slammed her into the helm. Coughing out water she kept her hands firmly on the helm, looking for any harbor or dock or any place to leave her boat and wait out the storm. Another wave came and smashed her against the railing, knocking the wind out of her. She could hear the helm spinning on its own, steering her in a direction only God knows as another wave splashed in her face, making her sprawl on her back on the deck. Tears from the pain started flowing down her face with the rain.
"Calypso help me..." she whispered in the wind. She heard stories of the sea goddess from her mother and she believed every word. Climbing to her feet, she grabbed at the helm. Using all her strength she tried to turn it the opposite way it wanted to go.
"Turn, turn turn turn TURN!" she yelled, turning the helm with all her might. Looking up from the wheel, she felt like cheering. Up ahead, not too far away, was an island with a river.
"Thank you." she said to the sky as she moved the helm the right way. With the winds blowing the way they were, she'd be sailing right down that river in no time. Sure enough, she went down the river, but she did it faster than she wanted. Her boat was knocking down branches onto the deck and on her a few times. Her boat sailed toward a small cul-de-sac of water with a dock leading up to a house in the center of it. At the end of the dock was a person in a cloak.
"Move!" Jewel yelled, believing that at the speed she was sailing, she'd crush the person. As she started getting closer, her speed started to slow down. The person held out their foot to make the boat stop when it reached them. Jewel quickly tied her boat off and looked up to the person. The person seemed to smile and hold a hand out to Jewel.
"Uh, thank you." Jewel said taking it. With a clap of thunder, the person moved up a ladder to their house, Jewel following closely behind them. She closed the door behind her and shook her hair out when she made it in the person's house. When she turned around, she was in awe at what she saw. It was a small shack, but it was filled with things hanging from the cieling, candles, cabinets, tables, a few hats, and many other things Jewel couldn't believe was here.
"Whoa." she said. The person chuckled and took off their cloak and revealed them-self. It was a dark skinned woman with a beautiful, but ruined, dress and many charm necklaces hanging off her neck.
"And fate brings fort Jack Sparrow's daughter." she said. Jewel was surprised when she saw her face. She felt as if she knew this woman, but couldn't place just how or where she heard of her.
"Pe'haps, he told you about me." She said
"Um, I don't know." Jewel said
"If not from him, den maybe from yer moder. Shame Rose is dead." she said, throwing her cloak into a pile of rubbish.
"Tia Dalma." Jewel blurted out. She quickly covered her mouth after those words left it. The woman smirked turning back towards Jewel.
"You look cold. Come. You can stay till morning." Tia said. She walked up a small set of stairs and Jewel followed, loosening the straps of her bag. Tia opened a door to a room and stepped aside, holding her hand out for Jewel to go in.
"Thank you so much." Jewel said, walking in.
"Come downstairs later. We must talk." Tia said, closing the door behind Jewel. The room was small. All it had was a bed, a window looking out to the vegetation outside, a mirror, and a lot of candles. Jewel set her bag down and pulled off her shirt and bandana. Pulling a blanket out off her bag, she dried herself off before wrapping the blanket on her bed around herself in an attempt to warm up. She opened the door to go out to where Tia would be, flinging her bag over her shoulder, but then... She saw a door to her right. It was opened a crack.
Curiosity overcoming her, Jewel went to the door and opened it fully. She was in a room with a large table surrounded by candles and carvings on the ground. On the table was a large figure covered in a thick black cloth.
"What is this?" Jewel asked. She moved closer to the table, curious as to what was underneath. She lifted a part of it up so slightly and a decaying hand fell out from under it, still attached to its arm. Jewel gasped and took a step back.
"Curiosity killed de cat, young Sparrow." came Tia's voice from behind her. Jewel turned around and took a step back, surprised by the older woman's appearance.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here." Jewel said hurrying out the room and down the stairs. She took a seat in a chair and put her bag down. Looking down at the wood of the table, she couldn't get rid of the image she witnessed and the feeling that came with it. When the sounds of Tia coming down the steps reached her ears, Jewel looked up. Tia carried a tray that had two mugs of something. When she placed one of them in front of Jewel, she recognized the smell.
"Tea?" she asked
"Bettah for de mind an' body." Tia said, taking a seat.
"Thank you." Jewel said before taking a sip. It was a soothing feeling having the tea go down her throat.
Hm, Tia may be right about that. Jewel thought, taking another, longer sip.
"Yer fader had not mentioned me before?" Tia asked
"Actually, he did. He said you were the one to give him the compass, and he met you when he was young a couple of times, but that's all." Jewel said. Tia chuckled, as if she knew a joke Jewel had no clue about. Jewel held her head and leaned on the table.
"But I did much more for yer moder." she said
"How do you know my mom? She's never told me anything about you." Jewel said, looking thoroughly confused, rubbing at her forehead.
So tired. she thought
"Ah, but she said something about Calypso." Tia said. That one name sent a pang of heat through her body, but it lingered the longest in Jewel's right arm. She clutched it and held on until the burning ceased, her mug dropping on the floor.
"How do you know about Calypso?" Jewel said
"How did you know my name witout me telling?" Tia asked. Jewel seemed to be sweating, but she didn't know why. Tia Dalma, the strange burning, Calypso, how did they all fit? Jewel stood, wobbling on her feet.
"I... I think I need to rest." she said, holding her hot head. She spun around to go up the stairs, but fainted and fell on her back, unconcious. Tia smirked and stood over her.
"So much to learn still." she said.
The sounds of frogs and birds and lapping water reached Jewel's ears. It felt like she was in a bed, and she felt better after her nap.
"... Ngnh." she said, as she lifted herself up. "Bad tea." Looking out the window, she saw light. Morning light. She was asleep the whole night. Rubbing her eyes, she pulled the sheets off and got dressed in her dried clothes.
What happened last night? she thought, I can't believe I fainted. I wasn't even tired until Tia said Calypso. Why did I have that feeling in my arm? The thought made her move her sleeve up to see her whole arm. There was nothing different. Nothing wrong.
"Sparrow, breakfast." came Tia's voice
"Breakfast?" Jewel almost yelled, surprised that Tia Dalma, an almost complete stranger, is making her breakfast. In a mad dash, Jewel threw the rest of her clothes on and accidentally tied her bandana on her head backwards. Running down the stairs, she fell into her seat. When Tia put a plate of food in front of her, she couldn't believe here eyes.
"Uh... What is this?" Jewel said
"It's called gumbo. Try it." Tia said, putting a fork in Jewel's hand. Warily, Jewel got a forkful and took a bite out of it, regretting it when she found out how spicy it was.
"Hot hot hot hot hot!" Jewel said, grabbing a mug of tea and gulping it down. She panted and put her fork down.
"You like it." Tia said
"Yes I did!" Jewel said, having an instant change of attitude. "Now I'm full! I think I'll be shoving off now!" She grabbed her bag and bounded down the stairs to her little boat. Using some oars, she sailed down the river and away from the island.
"Bugger, that stuff was terrible." she said when she was some knots away from the island. Her stomach growled and she sighed.
"I'm still hungry." she whined. She looked to her bag and reached in, knowing she snuck a few of her apples in. She almost fell into the bag. She pulled her arm out and looked at the deck beneath it and her arm.
"Huh?" she said. She put one hand on the deck next to the bag and reached into the bag with the other. It was deeper than the deck.
"This is not my bag." she said. "Oh bugger, this is not my bag! My violin! My coats! My FOOD!" She reached into the bag with both her hands and finally grasped something. Thinking/hoping it was food, she pulled it out and laid flat on her back after what came out came out of the bag. It was a large hour glass with a gold top, bottom, and handles, but the sand inside was blue and all run out to the bottom. She got herself off the deck and crossed her legs to look at it. It must've been three feet, three and a half at the most. She looked at the top of it.
"A-gray-bah... Hm." she said, "What's it say on the other end?" She flipped the hourglass over and saw there was nothing on the other end. Then the hourglass began to shake. The blue sand began running down in the top glass to reveal what looked like a castle in a desert. Jewel could only guess what the shaking and now glowing of the hourglass meant.
"Oh bugger..." she said, getting tired of magic. The lid of the hourglass burst off, the sand turning gold and flying out of the glass. It surrounded and whirled around Jewel in a sandstorm. She lost the hourglass in the storm and when it ended, she was alone in a desert with the bag, nothing but sand for miles with blue skies and a blazing sun above her.
"How do I get myself into these messes?" she sighed