A/N:
So yeah we're finally moving forward, but this whole thing in the Poseidon's tomb well….got dragged out a bit. More than I intended, but when I finally got an idea of how to write myself out of the slump I'd placed my story in I ended up just writing and writing…and writing. And although I feel that I managed to smooth things out, I also fear it happened on the expense of the story's flow. So if this chapter in particular is slowing stuff down too much, I apologize, for its just necessary filler.
But please do tell me if the way I tried to tie everything together came out as confusing in the long run…Since I really did struggle with how to bring back Basset and hence connect the beginning of this fic to the movie's climax…
This is what you get when you publish a story without a decent plan how to end it!
But anywho, here's the update!
Chapter Twenty One
Dumbfounded silence descended into the tomb. Only the raging tumult of the livid waters around them rumbling in their ears as everyone excluding Basset's men took in the just said words of the Commander in grave bafflement and soon shock, the voiced out claim so outrageous and confusing that neither the youth or the two pirate captains could bring themselves to believe him. Basset's but confident form attracting addled gazes from all around, but despite of the amount of disbelief in the air in regards to the credibility of his allegation Basset seemed unmoved, no matter how doubtfully the youth were looking at him.
"Fake?" Carmen questioned, the first one to speak, her statement causing all of them to forget the second equally outrageous revelation that had just been revealed to them, her nonplussed voice that was just above a whisper and puzzled expression mirroring others' as she stared at Basset for a moment before her focus moved over to Henry. Them exchanging a quizzical look until the lad also turned his eyes back to the man, skeptical as ever. Deciding not to believe him.
"No. It can't be", he stated, to himself however as his eyes then briefly dropped once he tried to understand what the devil the Commander had meant by what he'd said. "That's not true. It's impossible …"
"Then why do you suppose you were unsuccessful in breaking the Triangle's curse?" Basset asked, approaching Henry to level a significant look at him before his eyes visited the stolen chest with Will's heart inside until eventually shifting back to stare at the lad. "All the curses?"
Naturally Henry couldn't respond, as he hadn't come to understand that himself…In that the claim of the destroyed trident being a fake one making sense, but still…how could it be possible? That the object they'd come all this way to find and indeed discovered had been after all a false one, and therefore unable to end his father's curse…as well as Salazar's? So as confused as before Henry only looked back at Basset who then smiled at his evident unawareness, shaking his head at him.
"You truly are clueless, boy. There was never hope of you finding the Trident all on your own."
"So what, are we supposed to thank you for coming to mend our misconceptions then?" Carina questioned, givenly sharply, and although she was as stunned as the rest due to Basset's tale as she'd lived her whole life counting on everything she'd found written within the pages of the diary her father had left her, she was beginning to turn angry to be continuously drawn into conflicts that had nothing to do with her…but everything to do with the young man she'd not so fortuitously had had the pleasure of bumping into back at that island. And in addition to have crossed paths with Salazar because of this ill-fated encounter, now she found herself from the thralls of his blackguard of a brother…All because she'd been stupid enough to board a run-down vessel with a couple of runaways and a bunch of hapless pirates along with their ghost attracting, equally measly captain. The surprises kept on coming it seemed, and she was least pleased for it.
"Little gratitude goes a long way. After all, despite of my desire for it I am not going to kill you just yet", Basset answered, Henry glaring at him for that.
"If the Trident we found is not the real one, then what was it?" he demanded, squinting suspiciously as measured Basset to notice even the slightest indication that he was lying…Which he however wouldn't have a need to do, unless he was after all but telling the truth, as displeasing and ridiculous as that sounded. Basset quirking his eyebrows as eyed at Henry in return, debating whether or not he would waste the time in giving this lad he'd come to detest considerably any explanations, but in the end found it too much of a delight to taunt him through setting out the truth for him…when he was obviously so lost to it.
"A suitable replacement to deceive the unwitting. A decoy placed here to lure such credulous treasure hunters and also in scarcity…men who truly possess the knowlwedge to truly lay claim to the power of all the seas", Basset elaborated, turning his back towards his listeners as then walked closer to the rock formation into the broken Trident had once been imbedded. His own attention then drawn fully to the sight in front of him for a moment until he soon continued to relate his story.
"A blasted coward and a murderer of innocent women like you?" Henry couldn't help asking, earning himself a painful strike to his ribcage for such a remark. Carmen trying to get to him as watched the lad to slacken in the marines' hold, in vain however, where Basset then turned over to his weary brother. Approaching him to bring a curt hand on Salazar's shoulder after seeing him drop to his knees despite of the gypsy locket that had absorbed some of the Trident's power and restored him in the nick of time, proving indeed not even something as ancient as blood magic to have fully been able to salvage him since the Spaniard was still weak…The curse while on land still affecting him and nibbling his vigor away, after Salazar had raised his head weakly to gaze at his younger brother to signal his strength to be enough to linger, before Basset left him without a word himself. Instead facing the baffled onlookers again who were still waiting for him to explain.
"The Trident you found was not the legendary weapon of the sea god, but only a replica of it. Forged for the scion of Poseidon, a mere imitation of the power of its far more imposing counterpart wielded by the father and made for his favourite son, a demigod…Son who was trapped and entombed to the bottom of the ocean by Calypso, heathen goddess angered by the unfaithful greek god who belittled her status as Mistress of all Oceans after secretly having a child with a mere mortal behind his lover's back, and to add insult to injury, challenging her strength with his…"
"Well she sure does get around", Jack stated to himself, hardly gaining any attention however as the youth close to him were fully drawn in by Basset's words, Carmen in wonder where Henry was listening to the man more begrudgingly than for example Carina was, as this was the first time she heard about Calypso…Therefore even more addled about her assumed involvement with Poseidon and the trident they had set out to find.
"So, in his arrogance Poseidon underestimated her. Resulting in the goddess sealing away the said son in her jealous fury, placing an enchantment onto the godly spear that became the key to his prison...One which no other but mortal hand could remove from its abode and in so doing free the imprisoned demigod, hence leaving Poseidon unable to save his beloved son on his own. Forcing him to devise a way for his offspring to be salvaged by men, starting the legend of a treasure hidden in the Caribbeans that hold all the power of himself and that of the seven seas, and which could control all curses. Leaving behind clues later picked up and spread by humanity as well as the most crucial clue of all for seafarers and lanblubbers alike to gaze upon night after night throughout the millennia..." Basset went on, allowing the youth to fill in the blanks this time around, and Henry did so. Realizing what Basset was referring to and without noticing it spoke his thoughts out loud.
"The map."
"Who else would have the power to place a map amongst the very stars humans had been keen on studying since the beginning of time? Greek gods are said to have created constallations as a memorial of the deeds of heroes hold in favor of them, so hiding a simple map amongst them wasn't a difficult feat at all for a powerful god such as Poseidon…And so in time the map was found, but regrettably misused by the likes of Galilei."
"It cannot be…We opened the path to the tomb and saw the Trident. It was real", Carmen said, in disbelief and hadn't meant herself to be heard by others, but Basset did and his now steely eyes shifted over to her. Carmen's own rising to see him close the distance between himself and her with a couple of simple strides and the man clasped her chin. His fingertips digging so deep that they pressed hard against her jawbone as he forced her to look at him.
"Such a magnificent weapon could not possibly be kept in a place such as this. Do you think a god so foolish as to leave something as grand as their mightiest weapon out in the open for anyone to try to claim it?"
Another silence descended as Carmen had no response, her simply looking back at the menacing man as he gazed upon her until he released her. The ensued silence however offering Henry the needed time to trace back their exchange and remember something he nor anyone else had yet brought up aside for Salazar who'd proven to not only know the man…but know him closely.
"You're his brother?" Henry realized suddenly, not recalling what in the end also he had overheard Basset say to Salazar before the conversation had been fully taken over by the talk of the origin of the Trident's legend. "You're Salazar's…?"
"Yes. And regardless of your efforts to divert me from my cause, I've come to free him. At last", Basset admitted, Henry blinking at him in wordless dismay until his eyes traveled over to Salazar. The lad trying to find similiarities from between them to back up Basset's answer, and indeed as he then behold the cursed man to look up at Basset again and watched them to share a long, ackowledging gaze, he didn't need to find them similar in appearance to know them to know one another…and share something far greater than mere acquiaintance…A blood relation.
"Brother, you shouldn't be here", Salazar said, somewhat wheezily, as it after all proved difficult for him to latch onto even to the accursed existence he'd rendered back to. Basset gracing him with another reassuring gaze, nodding at him with a lingering smile that then almost looked genuinely tender…One you would indeed give to your long lost brother at the moment of reunion.
"Neither you or I, but here we are. After all these years…And now it is time for you to live again, brother", Basset told him, the onlookers being able to see a trace of similar smile to make an appearance on Salazar's cracked, smeared lips, until Henry claimed everyone's attention again.
"Who are you?" Henry asked again, like before, demanding more of the answers that long had eluded him as scowled at Basset. His mind still somewhat clouded by surprise of the uncovered family ties between Jack's nemesis and his own pursuer, but his eyes soon settled into a death glare as they riveted to the deceitful man. "Because you are not an esteemed Navy Officer, are you?"
"Not any more than I am English…Although I passed for one highly convincingly, don't you agree, Mr. Turner?"
Carmen paled as she heard that, the current look on Basset's mien draining her own of all color as the daunting mystery surrounding the true identity of this man continued to unravel and at the same time made her fear him even further. Him to have been frightening enough while under the guise of a Commander of British Royal Navy, and now…they knew even less of him than they did before. Making him positively formidable in a whole other way as he then spoke his real name, causing cold shivers to run down her spine although it meant nothing to her.
"My name is Fernán Calabar…Pleasure to meet you", Basset replied, beyond derisively but clearly took great pleasure in assuming his true name once more in front of the lad whose eyes widened at the sound of that, until Henry but narrowed them in anger. In anger of this man to have managed to fool him from the start, the way he then allowed an accent similar to Salazar's slip into his speech as he spoke only adding to the lad's fury, where the man seemed to take great joy in seeing his reaction. The man now known to the youth and the two captains as Fernán tipping a head at the glowering boy, but missed the way Jack actually turned to look at him with a notable surprised expression for the first time. In clear response to the said name which did sound familiar to him, but Jack was swift to let his mien morph back to nonchalant while he observed the poser of an Officer to simply smile grimly at Henry until turned away…However only due to being lured by Jack's voice who in the end decided to speak up, at the end of his attendance to the ongoing conversation casting a somewhat deriding look at Salazar, quirking a remarkable eyebrow at the evidently sullen become Spaniard.
"So a tradesman then? It is always good to meet prospering fellow pirates in their prime."
Carmen, Henry and Carina were taken by surprise and they all turned their heads towards Jack, to stare at him in shared sense of outrage as he was now confronted by Salazar's brother. Fernán flashing him a dismissive smile as measured him, matching Jack's feigned veneration with same level of disdain. His countenance however soon darkening as something sinister lurked under that mask of indifference while he eyed at the pirate in front of him.
"At least some of us are still worth our bounty."
"Aye, I too once heard o' a name Calabar", Barbossa cut in, now openly staring at the Spanish man in clear recognition despite of to have never met him in person. Remembering some of his old crew from back in the days of sailing aboard the Black Pearl to have served with sailors who'd claimed to have sailed under the captaincy of one called Fernán Calabar…a man who'd been said to have been executed by the Spanish Crown. "A once commissioned Officer of the Spanish Royal Fleet turned pirate who was captured by the pirate hunters sent by the Crown but a few years after his desertion…The tale tells ye to have died at the end of a rope, but I say different."
Dismal smile rose on Fernán's lips as he confronted the older pirate's gaze, the man raising his arms as a conceding gesture, until took hold of the rapier at his hip which by then was obvious to not belong to him. His free hand then moving over to push aside the collar of his shirt, to reveal a gnarly scar that decorated his neck, left by the deep abrasion of a hangman's noose. "The very man…Just wearing the skin of another. But against your beliefs, it was due to a British naval vessel bearing down on mine that I was brought into a disadvantage and strung up to a mast to die…Only for their Captain to go on providing me with a perfect opportunity to avert the final sealing of my fate."
"You bastard!" Henry bellowed then as like others he could've easily read into the Spaniard's response, everything making so much sense now. Despite of leading a life of a supposed naval Officer the way this man had known things about him and his family no one other than someone who's life had been spent sailing the seas in means of looting and pillaging would know…The insights he had had of Henry's mother to be owed to his life of a pirate, every miscreant in the Caribbean waters alone to have at least heard about the feats of the only elected Pirate King and her rumored union with the captain of the Flying Dutchman, and once Henry now came to understand how he'd been able to track them here so easily and saw the reason behind his horrific acts back at the nunnery it set his blood ablaze. Now feeling that unrestrained loathing towards the man for everything he'd done to his mother and Carmen he found the strength to break loose of the grip of the men holding him. Punching and kicking his way free the lad mindlessly then drawing a weapon from the belt of one of his thwarted guards before charged at Fernán, however immediately realizing that as a mistake he shouldn't have made as instead of confronting him the Spaniard shot him a look of warning while stepped over to Carmen. Stopping the lad dead on his tracks as dragged her out of his men's hold before drew her close, aligning a blade against her throat to claim Henry's attention, before encouraged by the gypsy girl's startled whimper set the tip of the knife on her bosom and nodded briskly for Henry's captors to come forth. The men rushing to take hold of Henry again and as commanded by their captain's wordless order brought him over to the pair, despite of the lad's attempts at fighting them forcing him to take hold of the hilt of the dagger Fernán had aimed at Carmen. For the following scare of both her and Henry the man's fingers squeezing around the lad's and he guided his hand to push the blade deeper, to cut a fresh wound down to her already bleeding ulcer. Henry stiffening at his weakness to stop the man as Carmen's breath caught in her throat, her staring into Henry's horrified eyes widen-eyed herself, tremor setting in her limbs while Fernán's spoke, irked.
"I told you I'll have you slice her open in a heartbeat!" he exclaimed, Henry looking down at the tip of the blade still buried into Carmen's flesh in alarm until his wrist was released and he instantly drew the weapon away. The gypsy girl sighing in relief as tried to calm herself from the previous scare, but was then pulled out of the way for the vexed Spaniard to step forth and knee Henry to his stomach. With a grunt the lad dropping both of the weapons in his hands and was stopped from falling again by the pairs of hands keeping him from running…Shortly deprived of his breath as his head dropped in an attempt to draw in air, Fernán who'd caught the knife now brought it to his field of vision and leant close to him, his voice seething. "If you wish not to gouge her guts out, I suggest you to keep your temper at bay…Now, then…"
Fernán's eyes then scoured the faces of the youth and Jack keenly, accosting them to answer to his following question. And once none of them said anything to reply his voice gained an angry tint, repeating his question. "Which of you released the trident? Who was it?"
"It was me!" Carina admitted after the slight mangling of Fernán's crewmen caused her to finally speak, the sharp ends of blades proving big enough incensitive to not to remain silent, the man meeting her gaze in satisfaction as then sized her up.
"Then I must insist your assistance, señorita."
"Basset!"
Henry blinked at the sound of the unfamiliar voice screaming Fernán's assumed name, after recovering enough from the previous blow to his already bruised torso, in confusion him looking up first at Carmen to see her to have frozen to her spot for utmost dismay again. Her eyes staring somewhere far behind him, from the direction the previous shout had come from, whoever was behind it to have also captured the attention of Fernán and everyone else, and as the men guarding Henry then also turned to see what the commotion was about also he was given a chance to see the person who'd appeared to the edge of the clearing that had not yet been swallowed by the roiling waves. Henry frowning at the baffling sight of him as he heard the gypsy girl to let out a breath of recognition, that partly guiding the lad into guessing the young man's identity as he then examined him. The wind then suddenly picking up and causing water to get caught into the more fitful becoming gusts that whipped their hair, as the lad watced him walk towards them after getting by Fernán's men who'd tried to stop his advancement once he'd made his sudden appearance from behind one of the larger boulders…Drenched to the bone and holding an armed pistol, which was aimed straight at Fernán while the scowl on his face reflected nothing but deeprooted hatred. It then occuring to Henry that despite of not realizing it at first he knew him, and once he then glanced at Carmen again to see the brief, incredulous smile that paid a visit on her lips he was convinced. Not needing his name to spill from the girl's lips to know exactly who he was, now bypassing the confounding fact of him being there Henry's focus shifting back to the young gypsy man closing in on them, whose eyes never left Fernán. Him then stopping and his already cold stare turned icy, the dangerous look oozing with rage on his mien convincing Henry him wanting to shoot the man without a second thought despite of what he then said.
"Let her go. Or you die. I'm not asking", Pedro practically growled, casting a sideways glance at shocked Carmen until the sight of the blood on her caused the corner of his mouth to twitch for anger, where Carina and Jack were exchanging confused looks themselves. Fernán returning Pedro's glare as the young woman now gazed at Henry quizzically.
"Who is he?" she asked, Jack frowning slightly as gave Pedro a curious look-over at the same realization as Carina's about him being a gypsy like Carmen, noticing the way both Henry and Carmen were reacting to his arrival and making his own deductions about it.
"Ye know 'im mate?"
Henry only gave them fleeting looks each, instead resuming to watch Pedro's face-off with Fernán with mixed sentiments until his eyes were directed to the all the while collapsing walls of water that still kept spiraling down…Even Pedro's out of the blue appearance didn't make much sense to him, but since it hardly mattered and there were far more pressing problems for him to worry about he pushed such thoughts aside. Following Fernán to gauge at Pedro in a similar fashion he'd seen the man look at gypsies, but his eyes then hold something even more malign than when he'd been looking at him with similar hatred…Telling of the far longer and more personal feud in play between them that had begun long before Henry had met Carmen.
"We don't have time for this! The tomb is flooding and we will drown if we don't find a way out!" Henry exclaimed, to make everyone remember the dire strait they were in, but the pair didn't pay a single heed to him. Simply staring at each other venomously until the Spaniard cocked an annoyed eyebrow, now gracing Carmen with a similar hateful look from the corner of his eye.
"And the vermin keep on crawling from under rocks…" Fernán mused, as surprised as the rest of them to see Pedro stand there, who'd apparently somehow found his way over to the tomb even after the water had begun to close the passage leading to the surface, hence his wet appearance, but everything but pleased because of it the man squared his jaw. The smile that then rose to his lips only virulent, not far from loathing as he gazed at the gypsy before gave the pistol in his person a significant look. "I'm sure you're not all talk. For you and I have always seen eye to eye in the sole fact that us both wish to squeeze the life out of the other."
Carmen's eyes shifted from the pistol to Pedro and back, worried about what her friend was about to do and therefore forgetting all about her own wonder of seeing him here herself, until soon Fernán did as he'd commanded. Pushing her aside, the gypsy girl tripping to her skirts and struggling to stay upright, losing her sight of Pedro for a brief instant it took for the young man then to step towards Fernán with an enraged frown and fire his pistol at him. However discovering the powder too wet to ignite, and in his confusion he left an opening for the Spaniard to strike. The sound of a gunshot then startling Carmen and she did fall down in instinctive search for cover once she could feel the shot fly right by her, her hearing Henry and Carina let out shocked breaths until her attention was drawn by the distinct agonized moan of Pedro's. Carmen scrambling upward as her eyes immediately sought out her friend, the strong smell of gunpowder drifting to her nose as in the same horrifying moment she raised her gaze to see Pedro who was faltering backwards. His pistol now laying useless on the ground where he'd dropped it after getting shot by Fernán, flabbergasted Henry staring at the blood that gushed out of the wound the gypsy lad was pressing against with his hands, until Carmen's resounding shout of 'no' rose above all noise once the gypsy man looked at her and fell. With a pained lurch of his heart the lad watching how Carmen was set into a frenzy and in panic she practically crawled over to shot Pedro, calling out to his name as instant tears welled up in her eyes. Once by his side the gypsy girl taking hold of his head, raising it as begun to fret over him. The amount of concern she showed to him so heartfelt and great that it set a lump in Henry's throat once it was then proved to him how important that young gypsy man truly seemed to be for Carmen…Important enough for her to have lived in exile away from her family to protect him from Fernán's rage, Pedro's hands remaining pressed against the wound until Carmen now pulled his fingers apart to see the damage. In Fright Carmen ripping apart her skirt to create bandages to stop the bloodflow, however finding her any attempt to help him pointless as the blood simply sept through the fabric. Causing her to bite down her lip as she watched Pedro's shirt to turn dark, not minding the blood this time as she next clasped her own hands over the wound with a stubborn shake of her head.
"No. No, you'll going to be fine. Just fine", she told him, cried more like, as her fear of Pedro to die was written all over her face, which was why she wasn't wasting these moments in asking how could he be here of all places. And it sure seemed that way, despite of his compassion Henry not helping but feeling himself bested as he now watched her together with the young gypsy man he'd known to also have feelings for her ever since seeing his reaction after finding the two of them kissing outside the convent. Only evidenced by the way Pedro then opened his eyes, them looking nothing but Carmen, her hand that had risen to cradle his face now caught by him while his eyes dropped to look at her own injuries. Pedro frowning at the symbol he found carved into her palm until sighed, the smile that rose on his lips so warm and downright loving that it caused Henry's heart to twitch again, but this time only for discomfort when he then overheard Pedro's words...Spoken out of such devotion that he didn't believe to be possible to be matched by anything.
"I came to find you…but I was late. I'm sorry I wasn't here…protecting you. Like I promised back then."
That last phrase resonated with Henry and he couldn't help but frown at the discovery. The lad finding the correlating words to bring out a feeling in him which actual nature he couldn't go guessing exactly, but like him Pedro's remark seemed to mean something significant to Carmen as well as for a moment she looked like she would burst into desperate tears to Henry at the sound of them. Instead her taking a curt moment to get herself together before she smiled at him reassuringly.
"No, you're here. You found me, and you're here", Carmen answered, smiling sadly as swept some hair out of Pedro's eyes. "Just hold on…"
Pedro's groan of pain caused her then to gasp, the gypsy lad squeezing his eyes closed again as he struggled not to let his injury to take the best of him. With a hopeless frown Carmen giving his wound one more look of worry until settled but to grasp Pedro's hands, Fernán giving the two of them a mere impassive glance as he threw the pistol back to his first-mate from whom he'd claimed it. Earning a scowl from as thunderstruck Carina who fought against her own captors once she'd been able to peel her own eyes away from the injured gypsy man.
"You filhty pirate", she spat, despite of to have not become as acquiainted with this man as Henry and Carmen had, knowing enough of him to realize him to be a mere beast. Her then flinching however as Fernán abruptly twirled fully around to face her, soon walking over to her with a drawn sword held in his hand. Fernán raising it to angle it against her neck, using the guard to tap onto her chest significantly.
"Deep down were all the same, señorita. Pirate or not."
Carina only glowered at him, after perhaps seeing something telltaling in the man's eyes for a fleeting moment as they remained locked with hers the young woman then getting confused until she was then released. Fernán however stopping her from taking off to the direction of Carmen and her shot friend as the rapier slid downward to block her path, keeping her still, Fernán gazing down at Carina grimly as himself took a tight hold of her arm.
"Only a hand of man can remove the Trident from its resting place…but only a godly creature can truly release the true power of it", he told her, baffling not only her but the others as well although they'd already been told that by the man…That last part however puzzling them, Henry, Jack and Barbossa then watching how he beckoned his crewmen to go collect the pieces of the trident before they were swept away by the current. Regardless of the waves that now had begun to swallow the rocks into which the weapon had been inlaid Fernán dragging Carina with him directly into the surges after stopping beside Salazar to signal for him to follow.
"What do you mean?" Carina questioned, speaking for Henry as well as stumbled after the man, trying not to fall down or be filled with fear as the rather nasty waves threatened to pull her with them and straight into the gigantic surges that clashed with the rest of the swells barreling within the gorge. Her voice almost completely drowned under the rush of water as it was then evidently clear their time to be running out, also the rest of Fernán's men and their prisoners hurrying after them when the water begun to draw too close, consuming the ground more wave by wave. Jack managing to have himself freed before he surprised Carmen by going right over her and Pedro, to help her in lifting the unconscious young man to his feet and take him further away from the invading water. Pedro's head slumping on his shoulder, as he gave the badly injured lad a quick look-over and saw the blood on his person such act bringing back some memories...Memories which he much rather would've left unrecalled as he then glanced over at Henry after his eyes had traveled over to the Dead Man's Chest one of Fernán's men was carrying.
"The trident you found was left to guard the tomb of the demigod until someone would come to claim it…So now that the weapon was freed, it is by that same hand that shall use the trident to summon him", Fernán said, confusing the young woman even more as well as Henry.
"But ye said the release of the trident to already set the bastard free, so what gives?" Jack questioned, growing more anxious by the minute due to the closing in masses of water, but then simply frowned at the man after bettered his hold of Pedro. In fact not following his dabble. "Is the fish boy too wary to present us with his godly self, or are ye as mistaken as were we?"
"Since you fools went ahead and destroyed the weapon that coud've opened the passage to the one and only Trident and break the seal Calypso placed over his earthly essence, we've been presented with a setback. The reward of saving the son from his imprisonment that would've given us access to the power of Poseidon therefore unearned…For you simply managed to push the key inside the lock. Not turning it."
"The journal said to break it. The clue said that 'to release the Power of the Sea, all must divide'", Carina objected, still convinced of her and Henry's actions and the consensus they'd arrived about the clues of the diary in order to save Jack.
"That was just part of the ramblings of an old man who let his age get to him, believing to have discovered the real Trident, while his journal only partially offered solid information to anyone wishing to finish his work. Galilei was onto something, true, going as far as tracking down objects that each pointed to the location of the tomb that I've spent great deal of time acquiring…But he never got to the bottom of the legend's true source and died before actually discovering anything, only scratching the surface without seeing the bigger picture like you have…Nor realizing what made these objects so special. Don't you find it strange that the trident was right here waiting for you if he truly had found a way to this tomb himself?"
No one said anything to that. In fact at the moment Fernán making perfect sense to the youth, neither Jack or Barbossa disagreeing with that either. In fact Barbossa's own memory serving as proof of the man's words then as he recalled the way he'd gotten his hands onto the diary…Remembering the Italian captain, who'd been in the posession of it at the time once Barbossa's crew had raided his ship, and whom he'd walked into during an attempt of burning the diary. This man to have had an apparent interest to Greek mythology by the looks of similar writings as the diary on the walls of his cabin…as well as the objects and incredients he vaguely remembered to have seen litter the room, and which he now understood to have been used for spells. Ones this Fernán Calabar had used to reverse the effects of Salazar's curse…and perhaps to communicate with the Sea Witch who'd taught him such tricks. Only for him to see that he'd been played by the woman all along, ever since he'd taken the diary for himself and in so doing taken part to the hunt for the Trident many years ago.
"No. Most of what he wrote in that journal was complied from rumors and several other tales told about those who'd studied the myth, changed many times over during the centuries. Only a few clues pointing to the truth Poseidon trusted for mankind to unravel", Fernán continued, Carina looking down as she begun to put some pieces together after mulling over all that she'd come to learn.
"That's why he took the ruby. He couldn't open the passage to the tomb, so he took the ruby as a clue for anyone who would come search for it", Carina reasoned, earning a hardly acknowledging look from Fernán as he then all of a sudden raised Carina's hand and brought her over to Salazar, shaking his head.
"No. He never made it to these shores. The ruby was later attached to the cover of the ledger by someone who managed to get his hands on the jewel as well as the diary with the help of a benefactor…A member of an ancient order dedicated to preserve the secret of the Trident until someone worthy would come and uncover it, adding a few of more crucial clues to it to forward the search of the Trident at the behest of the one who gave him the ruby. But in the end the diary was lost and later found its way to someone who could decipher these new clues…You."
Carina was stunned by this. Not understanding all the man had been implying, but before she had the chance to question anything he'd said Henry's following inquiry however interrupted her and stopped Fernán from continuing whatever it was he was doing, taking both Carina and Salazar right in front of the spot she'd taken the Trident from.
"How could you know this? What order are you talking about?"
"They claimed themselves as descendants of Atlantis. Creating tools to make sure only the deserving were able to find the spear of the Sea God…Artefacts which existence Galilei discovered but failed to possess", Fernán elaborated, causing Henry and Carmen to exchange a significant glance, as naturally both of them were reminded of the map they'd found from inside the ring which had showed the locations of indeed three artefacts such as the one called as the 'sea god's sword'. "However he is strongly acossiated to the legend of the Trident, so as one who desired to find it naturally I tried to uncover anything I could about the man…Happening upon other ledgers much as yours which mentioned these artefacts and indicated large part of the instructions written in your tome to have been mostly devised by him in his failure to find the Trident despite of dedicating the last years of his life to his research…but he didn't think of consulting with those who had first-hand knowledge of it."
"And yet it is his writings that brought us here", Henry reminded, his jeering delivery succeeding in irritating Fernán, but also causing him to earn a set of new hits to his torso. Fernán tipping his head at him in agreement after witnessing Henry's once more sparked defiance to be beat out of him.
"Conveniently. Because now you will help me do what he couldn't in his lifetime."
"Hear me out, mate...Ye can beat up the lad all ye want, he isn't going to do yer bidding even in the slightest as long as you have his ladylove held up and in peril. Trust me, I've seen this carried out before", Jack cut in, looking at Carina remarkably until his focus returned back to Fernán, but his attempt of getting the Spaniard to assumably spare the girl however only amused the man…especially when he knew from personal experience where the lad's interest lied, Fernán facing the pirate briefly until looked at the raging water around them in turn.
"And yet I think we hardly have the time to negotiate about that. And it is not his assitance I require."
"What does Shansa want with all this? She serves the very goddess that imprisoned the demigod, so what could've been the purpose of her making me a pawn in yer ploy an' her decision to share her talents in aiding ye to locate the Trident?" Barbossa finally questioned, to have begun to unravel the Sea Witch's far greater involvement in this matter than he'd at first suspected, however for that reason even more confused by her interests the pirate captain exchanging an earnest look with Fernán. The man however only staring back at him blankly as spoke, giving nothing away.
" The Sea Witch has her reasons...And it has taken many dark deeds for her aspirations to come this far."
Instantly after that Fernán took Carina's hand and set it upon to the rocky slope, signaling his brother to do the same and Salazar did, not anymore aware of what the man was doing but obeyed nevertheless and he took his place across from Carina. The brothers exchanging a brief glance as Fernán encouraged Salazar to push on, the man then however looking at Carina and placed the end of the rapier against her side. Nodding downward at the medallion around Salazar's neck.
"Touch it", he commanded, Carina's eyes trifting from the Sacred Eye to Fernán, until she turned her own gaze at Henry. Hesitant of whether or not she should obey, and part of her wanted to outright spit on the man's face as a sign of absolute refusal, but as she then watched Fernán's men to tighten their grips of the other prisonsers and saw how one of them placed a knife under Henry's throat she sighed. Holding back a gasp her closing her eyes briefly in an attempt to appear more calm than she was, Carina to have been lying if she had claimed to have not felt anxious about having to do exactly as this stranger told her to, or he would have his men kill everyone, even though half of their passing she wouldn't even lament about all that much…But she couldn't do it to Henry. She wouldn't bear to live with a knowledge that her mere stubborness had killed him, and neither she wished to see Carmen to be hurt either…For it appeared her to be here as reluctantly as she was, simply to have ended up on this quest under the compulsion of running away from Calabar.
So having not a choice the young woman only squared her jaw confidently as now leveled a stern look into Fernán's eyes, grabbing the medallion once he snapped, telling her to take the locket into her hand despite of her not knowing why. But it was then revealed as instantly Fernán begun to recite another chant. Not of comprehensible language any of the listeners would've known to understand, the foreign incantation coming out of his mouth as more of a litany of words as if he was just talking, and quite soon the onlookers were convinced of him not to be perfoming a spell like before. Him simply repeating the same words over and over again until the gypsy pendant begun to glow that similar green light which this time around however was downright blinding. The words inciting the Trident's power stored into it and the youth as well as the pirates had to close their eyes to shield themselves from the radiance, Fernán continuing to chant the words and not stopping until then all of a sudden a clamorous booming sound surrounded them. Wind rising even more and transforming into a slight whirlpool that made it hard for them to stand as it clung to them, spiraling around the rocky base of the Trident, while the sound that rung in their ears along with the ghostly echo of the chanted words turned into something that sounded like underwater thunder. Abrupt tearing sound bringing the strange phenomenon to an end, the rock beside Fernán, Salazar and Carina were standing cracking open. Carina jumping backwards as the light then disappeared, everyone blinking their eyes open to see the multiple splits in the solid stone, centering the spot both Salazar and Carina had been touching.
With a look of distinct satisfaction Fernán then turned towards Carina, expectant, where she simply looked back at him. As addled as the others of what had just happened, her glancing at them after took a step back once the Spaniard instead approached her. The way he was studying her so closely in clear wait of something turning her far more nervous than she wanted to be, but even she didn't want to admit it, this man scared her…And it wasn't simple fear of seeing him commit brutal acts of violence with no qualms, but instead something she could sense about him…that there was something terribly wrong with him. And that was what her, Henry and Carmen could all agree with, that being the reason why Carina then abandoned any attempt to appear braver than she was and she retreated away from him, step at a time, Fernán following. As slowly, his eyes measuring her all the while, Carina stumbling away from him while glanced down at his weapon unsurely, not knowing why he was behaving like this. Unsure of whether the man wanted to kill her, but her bafflement was then cleared as the wind howling within the gorge finally settled down and she saw the Spaniard to stop. Coming to a halt herself, the attention of Henry, Carmen, Jack and Barbossa that had been strictly fixated onto Carina now however turning to Pedro whose head suddenly snapped upward and he drew in a deep, greedy breath. As if denied of air all his life, drinking it desperately during that single, long draw, his eyes wide as they glanced about his vicinity, until he blinked. Calming his breathing, as if to test whether he was truly able to or not before took a few breaths, befuddled frown scrunching up his face until he now looked upward. His suddenly so alert eyes stopping at Carina until they finally settled onto Fernán, him not even acknowledging Salazar with his gaze as then simply stared. Confusing Carmen.
"Pedro?" she called, the sound of his name causing him to glance down, but then his features hardened. The stare that was once more directed at quite flustered looking Fernán then but grim and Pedro then straightened, rejecting the support Carmen and Jack were giving him, as with a puzzled frown herself Carmen happened to look down at his wound. To find it to have suddenly stopped bleeding, fazed by this the gypsy girl then simply watching in bemusement how Pedro grabbed the bandages and tore them off while stepped out of their hold. Dropping the bloody rags while begun to walk towards the rockformation, Carmen then thinking twice of trailing after him as in the following shared sense of shock she witnessed how Pedro didn't recoil at all at the tumultous waves that separated Fernán, Salazar and Carina from the rest of them. Instead of getting swept into the raging current the water parting once he entered the surges, creating a path for him as if he was sheltered by an invisible wall that stopped the water from claiming him, Henry watching him to cross the water in bewilderment. The unsettling sight both amazing and stupefying him, not anymore than others understanding what was hapening with him. His and Carmen's dismay preventing them from arriving to the sole reasonable conclusion as the lad had been dying but a moment ago, where Jack and Barbossa were already aware of what had occured. As well as Fernán who was now staring at Pedro in clear bewilderment, until they heard the young man speak. Proving that they were no longer in the presence of the gypsy lad…but of a demigod.
"Is it you who has freed me?" he questioned, his voice that was exactly like Pedro's however sounding completely different. Holding something Carmen couldn't recognize, shrouded threat present at the undertones of his delivery as he addressed the people in front of him. Poise of a higher being perhaps not notable in his conduct but clearly etched to his bearing even he was simply occupying someone else's body, his words what else but boggling the youth. Henry eyeing at the gypsy man in disbelief, the abrupt realization of the freed demigod to have taken possession of his body naturally rattling him but also turned him spectical, even he did believe in gods and had born witness to other supernatural beings to support such belief. Carmen taking a dithering step closer to her childhood friend who however no longer was the young man she had grown up with, stunned by this outrageous notion that then sunk in her only gazing at Pedro at a loss. Not believeing to be looking at an actual godly being instead of him, and the very one Fernán had said Calypso to have imprisoned to this place…Poseidon's son.
"Yes. I have come to release you", Fernán spoke, disregarding his surprise, although he did cast a slight wondering glance at Carina. Nonplussed as to why the demigod had entered the gypsy's body when he should've chosen the girl as his vessel as the one who had pulled out the Trident and used its power to summon him. However ignoring this although baffling but still insignificant fact the Spaniard smiling at the demigod who by then had come to stand at the base of the rocky mount. Facing off Fernán who then bowed his head, approaching him. "And have rid you of the enchantment placed upon you by the heathen goddess."
The demigod studied Fernán silently, utter silence descending aside for the never seazing noise of the rampaging sea. The pirate whom Fernán had ordered to collect the pieces of the destroyed Trident now arriving by his side at the beckon of his captain. The man presenting the demigod with the shards and averted his gaze nervously once he first gazed at him before cast his eyes down at the pieces of his mighty weapon. Everyone stiffening slightly as they waited for the demigod's reaction to find his trident broken, but instead of displaying any anger or any emotion whatsoever the demigod then took hold of the flag onto the pieces had been collected. The pirate stepping away hastily although the demigod paid no further heed to him, only placing the cloth on the ground until for the wonder of the youth put his hand onto the shards. Followed by another brief flash of green them watching in astonishment as water then snaked towards the pieces and soon covered the broken spear…Once the demigod opened his eyes him grasping around now an intact hilt, for the dismay of the youth and Jack the demigod then straightening. The water dripping down to reveal the fully repaired trident, but as he balanced it in his hand and then angled in front of himself, they watched how the green which they'd previously mistaken as the Trident's body shed away. Appearing to have been mere sealife that had attached itself to it during the centuries of stay at the bottom of the ocean, but which now rot away when the Trident was once more held by its owner, and the trident the demigod was now wielding was a much more delicate, stylized weapon. Carved out of black, smooth material that looked like glimmering onyx even in the darkness of the tomb, the sole thing ruining the perfection of its form being the odd but rather precise imprints on it, where the other notable difference between this trident and the destroyed one being the lack of the very green stone at the base of the weapon's fork. The demigod admiring the details of the bent hilt until took solid hold of it, giving the weapon a swing to familiarize himself with the feel of it…His eyes then peering back at Fernán again, where the youth's attention remained on the spear. Skeptical of to have just witnessed the demigod to restore it despite of them to have destroyed it.
"And your wish…is to be rewarded?" the demigod questioned, putting down the trident until grasped it with both hands, letting his palms to slide along the hilt again while waited for the Spaniard to answer. However as then large waves of water threatened to waylay them he swung his weapon above his head, commanding the surges to simply flow elsewhere. The water circling around them, Henry and Carmen who'd been released by the distarcted pirates now twirling around to see how the surges only continued to surround them, not filling the part of the gorge they were standing in.
"My only wish is to free my brother. Of the enchantment of his own that dooms him to an existence empty as death…Which I can only achieve with the power of your father's legendary weapon. The Trident that rules all seas and controls all curses…Having the power to put an end to his", Fernán replied, gaining a thoughtful look from the demigod who then finally raised his gaze to look at Salazar. Having not to be explained about the circumstances of his curse as one look at him told the demigod everything, him taking in the diminishing form of the man with a raise of his eyebrows. His expression however but blank as his eyes then shifted between Fernán and his cursed brother.
"The curse of the Triangle is a powerful one to break…And with the stone broken and its power spent, I cannot fully restore my trident, yet alone to renew it to open a path to the treasure you seek."
Fernán's smile widened at the sound of that. Him then nodding at the pirates behind Carmen and told them to bring her over, them hounding the gypsy girl over to their captain and the demigod at the point of their swords. With hesitant steps Carmen slowly approaching them until impatient Fernán grabbed her arm and hauled her over to him, finally snatching the cord Carmen had tied to the ring and yanked it off her neck in turn. Carmen's releasing a pained bemoan as the cord dug into her skin, as the demigod however then looked upon her while was presented with the ring her straightening. Despite of her looking at the familiar face of Pedro not seeing him behind those eyes that gazed back at her, the demigod studying the ring in the Spaniard's hand then with evident realization turning his features from stoic to surprised.
"That is why I have brought something that will ensure you can."