Chapter Twenty Five


"We got it. We got the Trident of Poseidon", Henry breathed. That hint of an ecstatic smile that had begun to tug the corners of his lips now spreading into a full one once that sole verity fully sank in and soon enough he was grinning gleefully at the magnificent spear in is hand. Turning it and letting his eyes travel across the golden shaft to the long prongs and back in elation until his joy was then fully directed at his father who was eyeing at both the Trident and his son in similar sentiments…Overwhelmed by emotion and gazing at the mythical object incredulous until also came to fathom the true meaning of Henry's words and joined him in smiling at their moment of victory in absolute joy. Forgetting all about his affliction in his immediate reaction of walking over to Henry to place an awestruck hand onto the Trident with a stunned shake of his head, until his eyes rose back to his son. Him releasing an astounded breath, after all not being able to believe them to have succeeded…Henry to have succeeded in what he'd so many years ago promised him.

"No. You did it, Henry", Will answered, eyeing at the lad with tender irises until his hand moved over to his shoulder. Despite of the very evidence now laying in front of him Will not being able to shake off his doubt completely, as it was after all so staggering to be standing here with his son after so many years spent apart…With the very tool at their disposal that could break his curse and return him back to a mortal man…and bring him back to his family. At long last. "You found the Trident. Even I once believed you wouldn't…but you did. You never gave up. Despite of me telling you so you never stopped searching."

"And yet, some may argue there be others who greatly contributed to this triumphant gathering", Jack muttered, to himself mostly as eyed at the father and son, and indeed his remark was mostly ignored by everyone, especially the latter part he soon said to himself, referring to the gaudy outlook of the godly spear… "Nevertheless, one must wonder as a god forever doomed to play second fiddle to a much greater deity of a brother that weapon sure does compensate for many things…"

"Father", Henry called joyously, not hearing a word of what Jack had said, and embraced his father who returned the gesture without hesitation. The others continuing to watch them to latch onto one another in all of their years long longing and refusing to let go of one another for a notable amount of time, until Henry's focus went back to the Trident and what had just happened…After separating from Will Henry raising the Trident between them, Carmen to have never seen such sincerely happy smile to adorn his mien during the time she'd known him...The amount of sea-life now covering majority of his father's features however not fazing him a bit, as he only saw his father. "It is finally here. The day you'll be freed from your curse…and you can come home."

Will closed his eyes for a moment at the bliss of that thought until his gaze was drawn down to the Trident, both him and Henry along with everyone else within the sanctum being now fully able to sense the uncontrollable power coming off of the spear, making the previous ones' power to utterly pale in comparison. However Carmen's voice that ended the befallen silence then claiming all attention as she left Salazar's side to walk closer to the father and son and the spot Fernán had previously stood…In place of him all that they now could see to remember him by being those traces of black ash that had remained on the floor even after his body had been fully consumed by the Triangle's curse. Nonetheless still not convinced of the man's demise the gypsy girl staring at the ashes on the floor until she glanced over at the Trident that had become the man's downfall, killing him…unsure of whether or not it still hold the very power to bring him back.

"Is it now really over?" she asked, although she as well as everyone had witnessed the Spaniard to disintegrate right in front of their eyes, her still feeling herself uneasy by the very thought of the malicious man. Her placing an anxious hand on her forearm as Carina now arrived by her side, her eyes also glued to the remains contemplatively.

"Is he…?"

"Dead. Devoured by his own malice that revoked the curse but confined by the Trident's power…Which moved on to break free and attach itself to him", the demigod abruptly cut in, filling in Carina's sentence and the youth and pirates alike watched him then to emerge from the sidelines in surprise. Now freed himself of Fernán's control over him and able to move without the Trident restraining him further, the demigod still possessing the gypsy lad's body as he approached the altar and the statue of his father until his eyes also finally found their way to the Trident. Him exchanging a fleeting look with the bemused become Henry, but it was Carina who soon came to question the words of Poseidon's son after Carmen's quizzical remark.

"Curse? You mean the Triangle's curse?"

"How can it be?" Carina wondered, to have clearly seen Fernán to draw the curse out of his brother and use the Trident to destroy it which was why she couldn't understand the Spaniard's fate any more than others could. Only Jack and Barbossa appearing more knowledgeable about Fernán's death along with the godly entity in their presence, but which they didn't share with the clueless youth.

"There are many powerful objects that can undone all manner of curses and enchantments…But not all can fully decimate or as much as alter them", the demigod specified. Those words not striking a comfortable chord in Henry and he found himself quite unnerved by the somewhat foreboding tone of them once the demigod had responded to Carina's own inquiry, him looking down at the godly weapon now in slight hesitation as he couldn't help but feel somewhat discouraged by what Poseidon's son had just said...However forgetting all about such discomfort then as he was once again reminded of the fact that Fernán was now gone and that his father was to be finally returned to where he belonged…After his bond to the Dutchman would be cut and he would become a free man.

"So the Trident only drew in the curse and sealed it away…until it was unleashed onto the Spaniard after the joining of the two spears that brought forth the real form of Poseidon's ultimate weapon…that holds the true power of the sea", Will surmised, his eyes once again studying the Trident until his gaze flickered over to the demigod shortly before returning over to his son, who then frowned. In honest confusion, as Henry then came to consider how could it even be possible for the Trident to have placed the very curse onto Fernán when it hadn't done so to Salazar after his brother had stabbed him with it just after releasing him from the curse's thralls.

"But how? If the curse had been only sealed within the Trident, then why it wasn't unleashed onto Salazar?" he questioned, indeed making a valid point as many of them came to realize, all attention briefly drawn to the Spaniard in question laying unconscious on the floor of the sanctum. "We all saw Fernán stab him with the Trident. So why wasn't he cursed once more like his brother was?"

"Because he had already been hexed once, lad", Barbossa clarified, then rising stiffly as his focus went over to Henry and the Trident in his hands remarkably. "What once damned cannot be damned again…The Trident's power had before drawn out the curse and severed its influence on him, so it didn't transfer the curse onto him again…The Trident prevented it. Instead casting the jinx onto someone other not so fortunate."

In understanding Carmen released now a relieved sigh. Fathoming the despicable man to have been been vanguished by his very own wikckedness that had practically called upon the curse and left him becoming its new vessel, hence dying as he'd lived, and although it was terrible the gypsy girl was only glad he'd gotten what he'd deserved. Making him uncapable of hurting any of them or anyone ever again, and pleased by this thought she did then even smile a bit. Also realizing it to be finally over, her not having to fear for the man's vengeance any longer now that her and Henry's escape from him had come to an end and they were free of Fernán's wrath. The abrupt joy that then welled up in her then almost causing the gypsy girl to forget all about the recent hindrances that had made their terms rather awkward, and she came close running over to the lad and jumping into his arms in elation of her own…But was stopped by the sight of him getting drawn into a new conversation with Jack and his father, once after a slight silence Henry then broke it by addressing the pirate when he then happened to spot a piece of the broken shield on the floor. Picking it up.

"What exactly was it that you used to defeat Fernán's men?"

"What happened to them anyway?" Carina added quizzically, leveling her own eyes onto the pirates that remained standing on their respective spots within the chamber, where they'd stayed after getting faced with the shield. Also Will and Henry glancing about the buccaneers for a moment until Will raised his eyebrows, turning as dubious as he'd been before he'd ended up wielding the said shield.

"They were turned to stone", Will answered, surprising Henry, although he had seen it happen with his own eyes. Jack now stepping next to one of the said miscreants and gave him a measuring look-over, in the end shoving him slightly to feel him to have not quite transformed into something resembling of rock but had simply stilled. Breathing and living but unable to move, and due to Jack's push the pirate then collapsed onto the floor as Jack spoke.

"Figuratively."

"How?" Carmen asked, while eyeing at the petrified men herself finding the idea equally baffling as the fact of the Triangle's curse to have killed Fernán.

"The image on the shield was of Medusa. One of the three Gorgons often mentioned in Greek myths", Will told her, although the gypsy girl turned to him in wonder he was robbed of a chance to exchange a look with her as it was Henry who then claimed his father's attention. As confused.

"What was that shield then? I've heard the myths of Medusa being capable of turning a man to stone with a single look, but why would this shield have such power?"

"That shield, lad, once belonged to someone as mythical and formidable as the ol' Poseidon…the patron goddess of the very city that gave her her name, and who created that shield out of the remains of the said creature", Jack said, Carina catching on and she cast a doubtful look at Jack until her eyes briefly visited the pieces of the shield.

"Athena? You mean the Greek goddess of war?"

"To whom according to the tales mighty hero Perseus supposedly delivered the severed head of Medusa…a priestess Athena had turned into a monster after learning of her…affair with Poseidon", Will elaborated, however at that him casting a cursory look at the demigod standing not all that far from him as went silent, listening to their every word, and who now faced the spoken man with a rather deadpan expression. Not at all affected by what Will had been implying, and of which the many tales and myths talked about while mentioned his father.

"I know of my father's deeds and do not deny the things claimed of him…good and bad, for even in his misdeeds he is a god…and my only father."

"But how can the shield be here? If it was made by Athena, what is it doing in the sanctum dedicated to Poseidon?" Henry wondered, receiving an answer from Jack who in this aspect again seemed more knowledgeable than him. The pirate stopping beside the remains of the shield and studied them, gazing at the pieces and what was left of the relief of Medusa.

"According to a well established source, once upon a time Poseidon was angered by the goddess after losing the spot as a leading deity of Athens to her…and such as any defeat sure enough is to eat a man away…Allegedly."

"To an extend of him probably stealing the shield from her and storing it in his personal treasure chamber", Will surmised. Letting out a hardly audible chuckle as thought even the gods to be able to act petty and downright juvenile…even ones as mighty as Poseidon, who had just shown the burden of pride and envy not to be only carried by men.

"For us, so fortuitously and to these wretched devils not quite as much, to find", Jack noted, earning an inquiring look from Henry. "Allegedly."

"And by an established source you mean an unverified myth?" he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of Jack simply shrugging his accusatory tone off, as placing faith on a mere hunch and betting everything down to his own life on it wasn't after all surprising when it came to Jack….The lad had already laid witness to it several times.

"Well that's as much as all of us usually have to go on on these ventures of ours, ain't it?" Jack stated as met Henry's gaze, narrowing his own eyes but broke into an impish grin…One the lad was also more than familiar with. "Curious how me life has been speared many times over by such beliefs rather than certified facts."

"But how did you know the shield was in this temple?"

"Who wouldn't desire a token of past conquests gone awry? Just look at me. There I was, minding me own business, until ye came along and reminded me of that what I'd once lost but not quite so relinguished…more than aptly using me lingering sterrings to make me a stooge of yer own."

Both Henry and Will realized what Jack meant, but Henry chose to ignore the pirate again on that account and simply shot him a brief leer. Not a hateful one, but it was as much as he was able to give him in his attempt not to roll his eyes, however him then turning his eyes back down to the Trident he was holding before his gaze was next riveted to the demigod. The godly being not averting his at any point as the lad next walked over to him with slow and yet hopeful steps, presenting the Trident to him.

"Can you break my father's curse?"

"The Trident answers only to my father. I cannot bend it to my will enough to do something as prominent as break a curse…and neither can you.."

Although Henry and the others had already been told this by the demigod, still the lad couldn't help but stare at him in disbelief, the demigod's disclaim leaving him so stunned that he didn't notice the godly being to take the Trident from him. Unlike in Henry's or Fernán's hands the spear reacting once Poseidon's son took hold of it, was he a mere demigod or not, and the way the Trident then behaved caused the young man to doubt his words…That perhaps it wasn't at all true that the demigod wasn't powerful enough to command the Trident to remove the curse and simply didn't desire to, but before Henry could bring this to question he and the others watched him to approach the statue of Poseidon. For their confusion prying loose the carved Trident from the figure's grasp and turned just enough to cast a remarkable look at Henry.

"I thank you, for I can once more walk this earth. For which I am in your debt, and shall help you break that curse now that you aided in delivering my father's mighty weapon…To bring an end to his wait."

Everyone exchanged baffled looks, but as soon as he said this the demigod placed the real Trident into the hands of the statue. The spectators then getting spooked as what followed was a great outburst of the Trident's energy that then begun to spred all over the statue and around the sanctum, the smooth, marble like surface soon changing shape and the statue came alive. Everyone following in dismay as the sculpted figure shifted, just previously fingers made out of solid rock wrapping around the Trident's shaft and the statue morphed into an actual living being. Sea god Poseidon emerging from uner the guise of a sculpture and manifesting right in front of their eyes, growing in size as did the spear in his possession that now truly begun to radiate the incontinent power of the sea god. Poseidon's might and his very presence filling the whole temple as the astounded people inside now watched him to step down from the altar, casting his eyes down to his son who was now kneeling in front of him. His eyes instead cast up to witness his father's magnificence while his borrowed lips spread into a delighted smile once he then spoke, in elation.

"Father."

"Son."

Poseidon's voice was like a ripple of water. Like an echo in a submerged cave that coursed through the sanctum, booming like the raging waves crashing against the cliffs and yet soothing and calm like the gentle surges licking the sides of a ship. But no matter how unwordly, his tone had been but that of a father's who was reunited with his son, infused with equal delight and relief of seeing his child finally freed of the prison Calypso had trapped him. The youth and the men watching as the god then extended a hand towards his knelt son after examining him and his possessed body, to place it onto his head.

"At last my son. You came for me", Poseidon spoke, utter silence descending until the son replied, with a hint of humor in his voice.

"I hadn't…had they not first freed me."

Henry gasped as Poseidon's gaze landed on him and the others, his eyes rather piercing as they scoured through the number of faces until after awhile with a suave swing of his spear he grew smaller again, mid transformation stepping forth to approach the awestruck humans who continued to stare back at him with lingering gazes themselves. Having a hard time to perceive the sea god's actual features, but still his very godly aura couldn't have been stronger especially now when he came closer to them. The god halting a couple of paces away from Henry and his father, but after only briefly acknowledging the young man his focus was instantly riveted to Will. The god gauging him.

"So you are the ones I am to thank for saving my son", he mused, his eyes soon in turn lingering on the faces of the youth and the men, not one of them being able to meet them for long…which alone proved that they were currently addressed by a true god. Lastly his attention howevr shifting over to his weapon, freeing Carmen from under his intense stare.

"We came, oh Poseidon, to find your mighty Trident of legend…to bring an end to a curse", Henry explained, despite of his conviction suddenly feeling himself a bit unsure while confronted with the very Olympian spoken in so many stories, so much so that he actually amused Carina a little while she saw him give way to kowtowing upon addressing the god. But even she had to admit to be utterly shocked by his abrupt appearance, for even if she had been greatly surprised upon being finally proven absolutely wrong about the existence of supernatural during their venture, this was something else…Neither her feeling quite calm as she stood in the vicinity of the sea god, not one person being able to claim to not be unnerved while ending up measured by the striking blue of his eyes.

"A curse?" repeated the god. Not very interested or impassive either about their reason of being in his sanctum, him however then casting a furtive look towards the hoards of treasures. "Not anything else has brought you to my treasury? Not any of these objects of power or irreplaceable divine valuables?"

Henry swallowed, for right then there had been something in the god's delivery that caused him to turn anxious…Something that made it clear to be unwise to try to deceive him, for those perceptive, keen, storming eyes seemed to see right through him…But as he was not lying he then straightened, leveling a serene look up to the god.

"We came in hopes of finding your Trident to free my father from the cursed placed upon him by the goddess Calypso…and while doing so we have freed your son, the wielder of the other half of your spear", Henry responded, however averting his gaze in the end as Poseidon cast him a long, amused look, or so he assumed taken his voice that had a humorous edge to it as it soon replied. The mention of the sea goddess' name clearly having an effect on him.

"Calypso has cursed your father?" he questioned, now glancing over to Will, for it wasn't a hard task to determine of whom the boy spoke of. "And you believe my Trident will rid him of this curse?"

"Yes. For so all the tales say…That the Trident of almighty Poseidon can break any curse at sea."

Poseidon said nothing to this. Several, polonged seconds ticking by as the god simply eyed at Henry until his examination moved back to his father, only briefly visiting the faces of Jack, Carmen and Carina who were standing closest to him behind the father and son. As the sea god's silence continued Henry turning then somewhat nervous, pondering whether he'd managed to offend the god in some way which caused him to take his time with his answer, but after some lingering consideration Poseidon approached Will. His eyes this time remaining on him even he soon addressed but Henry, the older Turner giving the god a passing, fazed look-over. Being able to sense his divinity especially from so close, very much like in the presence of Calypso.

"Which is this curse that ails him?" Poseidon asked, even the effects of it were highly visible. Will returning the god's stare now unwaveringly as long as he studied him and the sealife that covered him from his face to his attire, even the god was closely familiar with Calypso and had an inkling of the nature of the hex she'd placed on the man asking nonetheless.

"I am the captain of the Flying Dutchman. Tasked to ferry souls of those died at sea to afterlife", Will replied in place of his son, turning a tad more serious once Poseidon's gaze was cast down as it discovered his scar. The god raising the Trident to shift away the fabric of his loose shirt with its prongs, making his conclusions.

"And the curse? For you, Captain Turner, are not a dead man. Not like them."

Will blinked as Poseidon looked him in the eyes after shifting his attention to his crewmen, curiously, for the fact that the god had known his name took him aback so that it was now Henry who answered. As stunned, but nevertheless they were talking to a god with unknown powers and abilities, out of which guessing someone's name or reading it from their minds would be the least miraculous.

"The curse allows him to go on land but once every ten years. And should he wish to be freed of this position…his heart would have to be pierced by the one wishing to take his place and become the next captain."

At the sound of this suddenly Poseidon took hold of Will's coat and brought him closer, placing the tip of the Trident lighty onto his chest, above the spot where his heart should've been, and closed his eyes. Will letting out a bemused breath as he could feel something enter him, probe him from within as the sea god used his power to see for himself what the lad and Will had told him. To feel this curse that was bound to this man, to his flesh and blood when it had been engraved to him at his time of near death and moved on to mold him into the immortal captain of the infamous Dutchman with the removal of his heart...Poseidon's eyes then opening and the god cast another brief look at Will's scar, pulling away his spear as Henry and the others waited for the god to speak. And eventually he did, but not for the satisfaction of the lad.

"This curse you are under…it is permanent", Poseidon told Will, Will blinking again but this time out of bewilderment and in soon shock. Shared by his son as Henry took a moment longer to digest the god's judgment, but his curt confusion turned into stupefaction and eventual disbelief. Also the rest of the people around them exchanging stunned and quizzical looks as the sea good took another break, turning thoughtful then although his altogether countenance seemed grim.

"What?" Henry asked, gaining Poseidon's attention briefly as he stared at him, glancing over to his father in bafflement. Despite of his own disbelief and denial Will however starting to understand before his son did, the private look he'd just exchanged with the sea god being enough to inform him of what Henry was now questioning...Causing the last bits of his hope to begin to wane as Poseidon's bleak words were left to echo in his mind. "The curse…By permanent…What does that mean?"

"It means that this particular curse…is indestructible. I cannot end it."

Even deeper silence descended as everyone mulled over Poseidon's words. Carmen gazing over to Henry, who looked so dumbfounded, so helpless now that his final hope of saving his father seemed to have come to naught. That after everything he'd gone through to get here, after all the trials and setbacks he'd had to endure to come this far to finally discover Poseidon's Trident at the risk of his very life, he was told by the very god himself this mythical spear he'd spent years of seaching and believing it to hold the power to set his father free, to be of no help…That not even the true power of this mighty Greek god was enough to undo what Calypso had once set to be. Henry however not accepting this, and Carmen eyed at him in pity as she saw him shake his head, frowning as his eyes now traveled between the Trident and the god wielding it.

"No. It cannot be. There has to be a way."

"Henry", Will said, trying to appeal to his son in resingment of his own. Placing a hand on his shoulder but the lad stepped closer to the god, challenging him.

"No this cannot be. All the tales, all the legends said that the Trident hold power over all curses…This cannot be."

"Henry, stop. You tried. Let it go."

Henry turned over to his father in denial. Looking at him incredulously at the sound of Will's given in tone and he frowned at his father's acceptance over the situation, but after a moment of exchanging a stare with him and seeing Will smile at him reassuringly he let it go. His shoulders dropping as a sign of forfeit as he sighed, nodding, but the gypsy girl could see how difficult such an simple act was for him…For after all by agreeing to his father's will and accepting what Poseidon had just told them, he also agreed to let his father go…forever. Now Jack also coming over to place a fleeting hand of his own onto Will's back, exchanging a sorry look with him as Poseidon replied, curtly.

"Legends are bound by myths. But sometimes young Turner, such myths are just stories."

"Sorry, mate", Jack mused. Will sighing.

"At least I live", he stated, smiling, although it was a bittersweet smile. Him looking at Jack with reassurance as well, for he had been able to detect the hint of guilt that had been present in the pirate's voice…Harbored from the faraway times of him laying dying on the deck of the Dutchman and Jack guiding his hand to stab Jones' heart, bringing upon his fate, that despite of all his hopes had been doomed irreversible. Which he however wouldn't wish to be changed…Not if it would cost him so much that he'd gained only because of it, this well reflecting in his voice as he soon replied. "Had you not done what you did…I wouldn't be here."

"Aye…But that seems a bit cold of a comfort now, don't it?"

Will's gaze dropped, but he made another weak smile as patted Jack's hand briefly, nodding as a response before his focus went back to sad looking Henry. Will trying to keep his own emotions under control as givenly he was then reminded of Elizabeth…His sweet wife Elizabeth, whom he'd reunited with just recently in their desperate search of their only son, but whom despite of everything he would now get to never share a proper life with…Not even in the next one, it seemed.

"Your curse can never be broken…But not exactly unaltered", Poseidon spoke up then. Surprising the men and the youth and they all now turned to look at him in bewilderment after already believing there to be nothing that could be done according to the god's dismal estimate. The sea god nonetheless now correcting his previous delusive remark or rather, specifying it. "I can convert it so that instead of remaining tied to the seas far from land, you shall no further be able to remain offshore…But you would be bound to the very place you've been kept from. Aside for that one day in the course of a decade."

Henry and Will exchanged another look, but this time of utter astonishment, which was quick however to turn into sprouting joy. Exultation that brightened up their previously so blue become faces, until the actuality of Poseidon's just said words sank in. It appearing that even there was a way for them to fulfill what they'd strove to achieve, it wouldn't come to be without a drawback…An other kind of price, one which, as they were now to learn, made their glee but short-lived.

"As set by Calypso the curse would still be in effect…But in place of the sea it would be land you were now cursed to remain for all that is left of your life, with only a day given at sea once every ten years. However once cut off from the ship that kept you under the influence of the curse you would regain your humanity, in exchange of losing the years of life gifted by immortality…In addition to the ones you already lived as a man."

Henry's eyes widened. The last spoken words of the sea god robbing him now of all his brief elation, and he thought over them carefully, in detail. Soon finding himself but horrified by them, as by using the Trident's power to alter the Dutchman's curse Poseidon would indeed turn his father into a man again…but greatly shorten his life in the process. Practically taking him to death's door when the immortality would be cast aside and the years his father would've lived would be added to his lifespan…As well as the years of his life before the curse.

"…Or, the curse can be tranferred", Poseidon revealed, but not for much relief of Henry whose gaze didn't even raise at the sound of it. The lad however now frowning contemplatively as Poseidon's son continued on his father's behalf.

"Just as the curse of the Triangle was."

"Transferred?" Henry repeated. After the disheartening and most distressing notion of his father having to trade one curse to another for even that fraction of freedom, prepared to clutch to even the tiniest straws to spear his father from that him looking over to the demigod in a compelling manner.

"With a new heart tied to the ship and linked to the curse, your father would be freed. Turned to man, with no years of life taken from him", Poseidon explained, however after simply listening in to the ongoing discussion Carina now looking at the sea god in disbelief of her own, skeptical.

"But aren't you a god? Surely with your power you could simply remove the curse and bring an end to it for good?"

"I told you. There are many beings and objects that can rule over such curses…But this is not one of them", the demigod responded matter-of-factly, Carina's eyes shifting back to his father as Poseidon elaborated his son's words.

"This curse, initially work of ancient magic, was created by my close equivalent, a goddess with powers stemming from the same source as mine…For even if she is one of heathen gods, she still comes close surpassing me in matter of strength, and therefore I cannot overcome her power…Simply harness it and bend it to my will, not destroy it. As Calypso intended. No other being other than its caster can bring an end to this curse."

"And it would be only wise not to provoke the very godly fiend that rules the waters we sail on, eh? Otherwise we all end up dragged and trapped to the bottom of the sea, especially when ye're so desperate to jump ship from the one she herself trusted to yer care", Jack observed. Beckoning over to Will remarkably while received a swift glance from Poseidon, but didn't seem at all bothered by the god's presence while even if unintentedly downplaying his lack of rule over the domain that was Calypso's. Jack lastly making an uneasy grimace before tipping his head in displeasure. "Personally one time was enough for me, and therefore wouldn't care for her miff in the matter of us trying to meddle with her hexes to be shown in a form of another maelstrom…"

"If this can de done…Wouldn't I then need to die?" Will asked then suddenly, to have thought over the god's words, and after all found no way around the inevitable downside that apparently couldn't be averted regardless of his so far beliefs of something existing that could spear him from such fate. But the sea god shook his head briskly, the spectators hardly even seeing it move.

"No. For the previous captain to die for the new one to take his place was not part of the original curse that was then a mere enchantment…A spell, only turned into a curse by the first bearer of this task who cut out his heart, hence corrupting and distorting the ancient magic that gave birth to it."

Will blinked in understanding. "Jones."

"You won't die. But someone must. If you truly wish to be free", Poseidon said. The definitivity of his voice speaking volumes, if it hadn't already been made clear how serious the situation was now that they'd been presented with their options…Neither which was ideal or pleasant, and least of all what they'd expected. Will then thinking a moment until his attention went over to his crewmembers, his brow creasing in wonder…Concern.

"And my crew?"

"There's nothing to do about them. They gave their vows to the Dutchman while deceased...And even I don't hold the power to bring already departed souls back from the dead."

"So in order to have my life back…I must sacrifice someone else's…?" Will mused, smiling, but this time around it was far from a delighted smile. Reflecting his qualms and chagrin, him eventually looking to Henry in unmasked sadness. His smile also turning blue even if widening. "…To leave my crew behind. Somehow freedom doesn't seem as appealing as it did all those times I used to picture this day."

"It is alright, Captain", one of Will's crewmen suddenly spoke up, stepping forth once all attention was then diverted to the man who was walking closer towards his captain. Placing his hand at the nook of his belt as confronted Will with a sincere expression, smiling with a passing glance given to Henry's direction. "It is as he says. We're dead. The lot of us…So it would do no good mourning over the fates of wretches like us who simply clung to life by enlisting to yer service instead of having the guts to face death…But it's as good of a life as the dead can have. And we're content. So as someone who actually has a life to live, go Captain. Back to that wife of yers we've had to watch ye pine over for all these goddam years."

Will's crewmen laughed at the sailor's words. Joining him with nods and urges for their captain to comply to their comrade's request, and overcoming his slight embarrassment Will let his eyes scour the faces of his crew members taken aback until they finally settled onto his father whom he also saw nod in concur. Sigh escaping Will's lips then as he eyed at the group of men thankfully, although he did feel a sting of guilt over their fate…For him alone to be freed due to his standing as the Captain, sole bearer of the curse, and them having to remain in the service of the Dutchman till all eternity…it filled him with guilt. But despite of his gratitude he didn't have time to respond as Henry abruptly cut into the conversation once more, shocking his father.

"I'll do it. I'll take your place as captain of the Dutchman."

Carmen was horrified by this, her gaze flying over to Henry in shock of her own and she shared Will's sense of outrage as they both then stared at the lad in demur. The gypsy girl being the first to voice out her objection.

"No!"

"Henry, no", Will echoed, frowning deeply at the ridiculousness of the idea and not to mention the rashness of it as he now once more ignored his ailment that was greatly working to get the better of his strength. Making it hard for him to simply stand as the mentioned ancient magic indeed ravaged within him while he faced his son, locking his serious eyes with his equally dogged ones.

"I'll have to do it. I promised I'd free you, so if this is the only way to do it…then we have no choice", Henry replied, not having a single intention of backing out of what he'd just decided upon, had such decision been made according to a passing fancy or not. However after getting ignored by the young man Carmen now rushing over to him, for the lad's surprise to take hold of his arm to claim his attention and to level an imploring look at him herself. But there was no going against that determination that had so quickly possessed him.

"Henry, please. Don't do this."

As Henry turned to Carmen he did feel his heart lurch, not only due to Carmen's beseeching words but her face the moment she'd said them. Her entreating features set into a despondent frown causing him to hesitate after all, as right then and there he was reminded of everything he would be voluntarily leaving behind, casting aside, in favor of choosing to exhange his own fate with his father's…In so doing after this day…not seeing Carmen again. Not for ten, long years.

"I have no choice", he said then, nonetheless. His mind already made up, for even if it hurt him greatly to stand there and look into the gypsy girl's eyes to see them to be filled with detriment, even slight indictment over his so quickly made choice, he still wanted beyond anything to see his father freed. And his mother to have his husband back. Therefore him simply casting his eyes down, to ease his own sense of confliction.

"You have already fulfilled your promise. You are here, with the very means of saving me, so that is enough. I won't ask anything else", Will coaxed him, Carmen stepping away speechless as she could see there to be nothing she could say to stop Henry. Or there was, but at that moment when he'd looked at her and renounced them even before she'd as much as intended of perhaps saying them she got cold feet…Keeping her lips sealed as simply left his side, her hand sliding down from Henry's, and his eyes did move over back to her briefly in regret as she backed away from him. The lad shifting his attention back to his father, his serious exterior then cracking a bit by that more sorrowful expression that made an appearance on his mien, but just before the gypsy girl got too far he grasped her hand. Giving it an apologetic squeeze.

"But I did not only promise you. I told mother many times that I would bring you back to her. And even if the curse would be altered, then you'd still be forced to stay on land with many of your remaining years taken from you…what freedom is that?" Henry asked, his voice turning quieter at the fear of what he'd just said, failing him mid-sentence, until gained a more desicive edge. "Taking your place is the only way. We…We can't lose you right after getting you back…I can't do it to you. Or her."

"Listen! You will not throw away your life for me! I forbid you", Will replied impetuously. However the mention of Elizabeth then causing his own severity to falter and he studied Henry with a new regard to his offer, realizing that he wasn't prepared to do this just because of him…but for his mother. Will could see it from the lad's eyes as they now held his, as could Carmen who did then realize herself to be in the wrong by feeling hurt, even if the lad's decision saddened her gravely. The gypsy girl looking up to Henry woefully, in turn squeezing his hand lightly to tell him she understood before soon let him go as Will continued. Grasping to the lad's neck with his palm. "I'm thankful…Proud that you would do so not only for me but for your mother…But still, whatever it would mean for me, I won't let you do this. And what of Elizabeth? She would never forgive me for returning with you now pried away from her by the very fate that kept us apart all these years."

In turn Henry was fazed by his father's talk of Elizabeth, and he did then see that his sacrifice would indeed mean little to his mother, for even if his father would be returned to her, he would not be joining them. And then his mother would be faced with the same torment of losing someone she loved, having to live on with now her son deprived of her…Claimed by that which Henry had vowed to save her husband from.

"Henry…To see the sun sink beyond the horizon together with you and your mother…it's the only thing that I've wanted. Only thing that matters and should matter. And this way I shall have that. I can still spent the rest of my life with you, both of you, which is more than I had hoped for the last few years", Will said, exchanging a long, pleading look with his son and after a while Henry's obstinacy, which still hilariously reminded Will of Elizabeth, was dispelled by his father's persuasive words. The lad making a brisk, stiff nod of concur, although he still wished to argue against Will's willing choice of having most of his remaining life taken from him, but the agonized groan that then escaped his father all of a sudden brought such intentions to naught as he watched Will to double over. In evident torment, soon faltering, both Henry and Bootstrap hurrying to catch him.

"What is wrong with him?" Carmen asked, concerned as saw Henry's father to collapse without a warning, the lad and his father's first-mate doing their best supporting him while called out to him. Not receiving a response as Will was now clutching to his chest again, the words he perhaps was trying to say only coming out as haphazarduous grunts.

"The Spaniard used the Trident to tinker with his heart…Me'thinks it caused the Dutchman's curse to worsen", Barbossa cut in abruptly, measuring Will carefully as the only one who'd taken actual note of the greatly increased signs of the curse that were now spreading rapidly. Starting to turn him less and less like a man.

"Worsen how?" Carina asked in turn, to have not taken much part in the previous exchange, but upon seeing Henry's father to succumb to his own curse her compassion for his son caused her to speak up. In worry of her own, as Will was truly looking unwell…abnormal, which truthfully freaked her out.

"Worsen as to that in a moment all that'll be left of him will be scales, guills, fins and all manner of traits of alga riddled critters ye can find scouring the seabed…Who knows mate, perhaps you'll prove to fend better with tentacles as yer defining feature", Jack remarked as waved a passing hand about his jawline, despite of his more lighthearted delivery his expression nothing less than grim, and there was true concern in his eyes as they attentively watched Will. Bootstrap who had a history of sailing under his captainship simply leveling an impassive look to his way at his remark where Henry this time around came close indeed glaring at him, to have caught the fleeting repulsed grimace the pirate had made after the expressive gesture directed at his own chin.

"We're runnin short on time. Soon I am unable to do anything to the power that is making these changes in you", Poseidon announced, seeing the state of the man and his rapid succumbing to the further contorted enchantment of Calypso.

"Father, we must do it. I have to take upon the curse in your stead."

"No! I'd rather die or turn into whatever kind of monster this curse would render me…than let you go through what I did", Will said, not only visibly strained by the curse but also sounding like having difficulties holding it in after such a long time of fighting against Calypso's power…In his brief belief to be saved by the Trident severing his bond from the Dutchman to have bypassed his ever worsening condition thanks to mere willpower, but now…he couldn't fight it. He could feel himself begin to slip, his mind starting to dim, and the physical changes along with the effects they continued to have on his mind made it clear that he was becoming something he soon wouldn't recognize…In suddenly sparking horror Will then realizing it must've felt like this…When his father, and countless men before him had begun to turn part of the Dutchman while still under Jones' captainship…For he imagined it to have been just like this, as like them, Will realized that it wouldn't take long when he would start to forget who he was…and who these people around him were.

"Father", Henry breathed, gritting his teeth together and frowned, in dread of his father's weakening state as he was now beginning to turn drowsy, his balance failing him. His struggle against the aggravated curse abating so fast that it put him in a state of panic when he didn't know what to do. The lad glancing about himself and the nearest people in alarm as squeezed his arm around his father, keeping him up, ordering him to hang on. "Father!"

"It's done, Henry…It's too late to save me now."

"I'll take up my son's post."

Practically all heads aside for the sea god's and his son's whipped towards spoken Bootstrap. Even Will managing to raise his head upwards enough to level a dismayed look at his own father, who instead was staring at Poseidon with a resolute expression. Like Henry also to have been greatly alarmed by Will's swiftly advancing transformation and thus after hearing the sea god's words, deciding over the sole option that would save his son and what he as a father had to do…To take his place.

"No…I won't let you", Will breathed, his protest coming out as a stammering wheeze, that did little to influence Bootstrap who instead only met his son's gaze with a stern countenance. His eyes like Will's before while using them to compell Henry from relinguishing his folly idea of replacing him as strict, the eyes of a father as he stared Will square in the eye, until the younger man was taken over by another surge of torment.

"This isn't your business. If I choose to save not only my son but my grandson, it has little to do with you", Bootstrap replied curtly, gaining a headshake from his disagreeing son, who however couldn't go denying the way he was rapidly losing the struggle against the curse…knowing it to be the end of him. To turn him into a monster, a beast with no voice or mind…But still, he couldn't allow anyone he cared for to take upon that burden for them to face some day…Because of this Will then gathering all his strength, grasping Henry by the arm to haul himself into a standing position to face his father, however the further words of dispute dying on his lips due to Bootstrap's hands that then settled onto his shoulders. Reassuringly, and indeed through that single touch Will could sense his father's resolve…Like from Henry's eyes before, his love for his son, that now also filled Bootstrap's irises as they next studied Will. The simple act of giving himself over to fate in place of his son visibly leaving him at peace, whatever the outcome.

"Son, I have nothing left to lose, aside for you and Henry. Nothing's waiting for me at the end of my service, where you…you have a family. Be a father to your son that I never was to mine."

Will sighed, earning a smile from his father as a response to the emotional, hesitant look that he directed at him, who then briefly gazed at Henry until another one of the Dutchman's crew spoke up, quizzical, left confused by what the sea god had previously said.

"But he's dead…So if those who've died cannot become the captain of the Dutchman, then how could Bootstrap?"

Everyone went silent at the sound of this, Henry, despite knowing to lose a grandfather while gaining a father, casting his eyes down this time solemnly as realized the sailor to be correct…Poseidon to have implicitly said a dead man being unable to take up the position as the captain of the Flying Dutchman.

"No, mate. When Jones found him from the bottom of the ocean where his fellow mutinieers' had so graciously dunked him for doing what every respectable pirate would by venerating their captain…" Jack said, casting a remarkable look to Barbossa's direction, who simply shot him a look of askance at his subtle accusation masked behind that casual delivery as the pirate then continued. Waltzing over to the three Turners and took Bootstrap's place in supporting the ailing Will after his eyes had moved from the spoken man through Henry to his father and lastly to his former shipmate, exchanging a knowing look with him, before flashing a slight, cunning smile…One Bootstrap returned. "…and shanghaied the poor man to his service, Mr. Turner was not in fact one would call a dead man…"

"But a cursed one", Will filled in, close to choking out the words in effort in his abrupt realization as he soon then gazed up to Jack. Receiving another knowing look from the pirate and fathomed him to be right, as well as Henry whom Carmen watched then to raise his own gaze in understanding. In new flicker of hope, and in his dawned comprehension the lad now turned to eye at his grandfather. The man indeed to have separated from his son and now took the few steps that separated him from his grandson, in turn allowing himself to gauge at the young man in what it soon appeared to be great delight, similar pride that he shared with Will as broke into a genuine, warm smile.

"Hello, Henry. Wonder if you still remember this old man…"

Henry did, but not all that well…For the one time he'd only briefly met his grandfather had been so short and mostly reserved for him and his mother spending the day with his father that there hadn't been a chance for much other than a fleeting encounter…And either was there now, if Bootstrap was going to go through what Poseidon had suggested…Claim the curse for hismelf. So a bit wistful due to this thought Henry then smiled at the man faintly in return, nodding.

"I remember."

Bootstrap's own smile widened into a grin, the man giving the lad an acknowledging nod after placing a pair of hands on his shouldersas well, to feel the firmness and broadness of them. "You've grown into a fine young man. You're a credit to your mother, who's clearly raised you well."

"I certainly had nothing to do with it", Will agreed weakly, amongst the never ceasing series of groans and grunts, smiling as well wistfully as then briefly observed Henry with his father. Coming close collapsing back to his knees in defeat, the lad locking curt, this time sadder gazes with him until Bootstrap now moved his other hand back onto Will's arm. With the aid of Jack bringing them closer to him, where his eyes never left his grandson.

"Well son, he surely doesn't have your eyes…Nor has he grown to look all that much like you."

Everyone who heard this were surprised, for like Will and Bootstrap, the three of them together did share a striking resemblance to one another, and if asked any other person would've agreed to that…But Bootstrap then released a hearty laugh, perhaps not seeing either Will to have been born much to his own image despite of how much alike the father and son had always looked in the eyes of others, and now letting that aside he next turned over to his only son. Once again giving him a more stern look, which however soon mellowed along with the smile that crept back onto his lips.

"Go and live well, Will…You've done you duty."

"But I have not", Will said, his voice sounding amused but there was given grief in it as well as he now looked into the eyes of his father, fighting against the gravity that was pulling him down to his knees. Turning more earnest, and not only due to the melancholy of his words but the pain that continued to course through him…More and more centering around the spot his heart had been cut out of, him feeling it begin to race within the Chest. Causing his ears to ring. "Like my son, I once vowed to free you…And now would just abandon you without ever keeping that promise."

"And I told you once that it was my fate to die at sea…which hasn't changed. I also got what I wanted. I got to meet my son again and spend all these years I was away with him. It is time for you to let me go Will…to be with your own family."

Even if disconnected Will's heart broke at that, but nevertheless he didn't argue against him either now. Bootstrap's tone so adamant and yet in peace of what he'd just said that he couldn't go denying that which clearly was his father's dearest wish. For that reason Will then only embracing his father like his own son just had him, tightly, clutching to him with all his remaining strength as was filled with longing and with that same bittersweet feeling of joy mixed in with deep regret. Him in turn trying to convey all his love and gratitude through that hug as closed his eyes, still in some part of himself hesitant and opposing to his father's act of taking over his position as captain of the Dutchman, but still said nothing as Bootstrap's arms then circled him. The elder father and son exchanging their wordless farewells which they'd been previously denied of all those years ago when they'd first been parted from one another, a fact which made this moment even more emotive…For now they were truly able to say goodbye, and realizing this Will held back the forlorn feeling of incoming loss and spoke, needing a moment to find his voice again.

"Thank you."

"No son. Thank you."

Henry's gaze reflected that very same gratitude, but he didn't have to speak it outloud for Bootstrap to see it clearly when he finally released himself from his son's embrace, shaking his head at the lad.

"Don't thank me boy. But yourself."

With a nod Henry accepted Bootstrap's arm which the man had extended towards him, however ending up pulled into a quick new embrace by the lad as well as in some way he wished to express his gratefulness…And he was compelled to act so, for the man even if he didn't know him, was after all his grandfather.

"I'll see you in ten years."

Replying with a nod of his own Bootstrap then stepped away from Henry, before faced the patiently waiting sea god without a delay once with even a louder groan Will did now loose his footing. Crashing down to his knees despite of Jack's support, Henry kneeling beside him in a flash as his grandfather locked gazes with Poseidon, who had simply followed the humans to interact from the sidelines but now instantly raised his Trident. Placing the prongs lightly onto the man's shoulder to signal him to also get down on his knees, never breaking eye-contact.

"You are certain?" the god asked, studying Bootstrap who didn't say anything, but his answer was visible right in his eyes that stared into the sea god's. Poseidon nodding in turn before extended a commanding hand towards the abandoned Dead Man's Chest. "The heart."

Carmen walked over to the Chest that now laid sideways on the cracked sanctum floor. Holding back an unnerved gasp as her eyes landed onto the damaged, bleeding, thumping organ that laid within the iron casket until raised it with care. Turning the chest upright on her way to deliver it to Poseidon, whom the gypsy girl saw gaze downward. As a signal for her to set the chest between Bootstrap and Will. The instant she did so Poseidon's fingers latching around the Trident's shaft and the spear burst with energy that soon flowed out freely, causing Carmen to stumble back in surprise, stirring the by that time calmed water around the sunken temple as the godly weapon drew from not only its own but its wielder's power. Carmen, Carina, Henry, Jack, Barbossa and Bootstrap watching the sea god then to stare at the beating heart inside the open chest for a long while, air picking up all around them and soon starting to whirl like back in Poseidon's assumed tomb as the Trident's energy surrounded them, until all of a sudden the demigod joined his father. Just when Poseidon placed his hand onto Will his son doing the same by resting his onto Bootstrap. Linking the two godly beings with the Turners, until for the shock of everyone the sea god suddenly plunged the Trident's prongs straight into the exposed heart. Just like Fernán had done, but actually impaling it…Causing both men under the god and his son's touch to flinch violently.

Outcry of absolute pain shot through the air. Carmen and Carina watching in dismay as both Will's and his father's fingers dug into their chests convulsively, them both beginning to writhe in pain, but it was Will to whom those screams of utmost agony belonged. Henry observing this all to occur in a state of mere alarm as he now laid witness to his father to be placed under agony unlike he'd been in till then, his grandfather also squirming under the effect of Poseidon's power that was putting them through such throes. In confusion the lad simply remaining beside his father as his eyes moved from him to Bootstrap and back addled, fearful for he knew not what was going on, and neither did the others as then all of them could see Will's heart to perish. Bursting into something that resembled flames and which then ate away the bloody tissue before completely decimating it, all of the youth's eyes widening at the sight, where Jack and Barbossa were observing this all to occur with somewhat somber faces, just before a tear suddenly emerged onto Will's chest. A cut made with an invisible blade that followed the lines of his scar, ripping the skin open, which caused him to howl even louder in torment, the spectators however not seeing this strange ulcer to bleed until it was hidden from their eyes by Will who couldn't take the pain and collapsed. Just barely managing to catch himself with his arms, his fingers hooking into the cracks of the floor, while the people around him and his father saw now same kind of a slit to appear on his chest once the eldest Turner pried his shirt open. To touch the forming gash crisscrossing across his skin painfully, until he also bent over with an outcry of his own. Poseidon's eyes visiting them both briefly until the god finally withdrew his spear, the youth and the pirates along with the Dutchman's crew continuing to watch how Will and his father writhed under the influence of the Trident's just cast sorcery, until Bootstrap suddenly straightened with a hoarse, long breath. Like others seeing his own wound begin to bleed, and it continued to bleed rapidly until the cut as swiftly sealed when the lid of the chest flew shut…Leaving behind an emerging, gnarly scar that stretched across his heart. Where on Will's chest there was no longer such a mark…but mere unblemished skin. And once the girls braved a little closer to the pair of men and the chest, they could then hear vividly how hollow but strong throbs echoed from inside it…Sounding like heartbeats.

Will flinched again. Gulping in a deep, quick breath as his head now shot upward, his gaze wandering aimlessly for a moment until he then discovered himself to be no longer in pain, no longer controlled by that overpowering, crushing feeling of getting consumed by the Dutchman's curse, and in slow understanding he then brought a hand to his chest again. Gasping as he couldn't anymore feel the scar, and incredulously his fingers scoured about without however finding any further sign of it. Will now straightening himself to gaze down at his indeed unscarred chest in fleeting bafflement where a moment ago panicked Henry took note of this with a dismayed breath himself. However as he then eyed at his father's face and saw his features, now fully visible and devoid of all sealife and previous signs of the curse, his examination moved over to his grandfather to see the man to turn towards them. Bearing that same scar that just previously had marked his father, at the discovery of this the lad letting out a laughter of disbelief.

"It worked", Henry stated, soon breaking into a curt, jouful laugh which still was laced with doubt as he exchanged a look with his father whose eyes however only found his father. Will staring at Bootstrap stupefied until saw him smile, his eyes then fixating onto the scar and he took in another breath but this time of understanding, of relief, while his hands now shot up to touch his face. To feel the lack of the barnacles and other matter that had clung there, made him look day by day less like the man he'd once been and more like the man he was becoming…Which were no more. Carmen eyeing at him in astonishment, her eyes lastly settling onto the Dead Man's Chest in awe, as did Will's. Him now frowning slightly as he tentatively took hold of the iron casket, gasping again once he could also hear the steady heartbeats coming from inside…But which were no longer his. For he could now feel the distant but still lively hammering that drummed in the depths of his ribcage…in place of that which just a moment before had been only a vacuous nothing.

"It worked", Will repeated, quietly, until his lips also curved up into a careful, but still elated smile. His eyes lingering on the chest until they peered back up to Bootstrap shortly before shifting over to Henry, the joy that then took hold of him then indeed, as he could feel it, causing his heart…once more restored heart, to dance within his own. "It worked!"

Carmen felt her lips to curve up as Henry and Will joined into a this time fully rejoicing, delighted laughter and swooped in to embrace one another even more gleefully. Under the realization of the curse to have been finally removed the father and son simply clinging to each other for a long time, in shared sense of uncredulity that they were finally given the chance to be together. To be a family. Which was why as the gypsy girl now watched them together, saw how happy Henry was and how he clung to his father so tightly and lovingly, she almost came close laughing herself. Her however getting surpised by Carina's hand that out of the blue grasped hers, perhaps in similar mirth of seeing Henry finally and truly reunited with his once again free father, as she evidently was as glad for the lad as was she, but the gypsy girl couldn't help but give their joined hands a bit awkward glance until her gaze found Jack. The scoundrel, who during the battle within the sanctum and even before that had proved himself to be less so to her, also wearing a rather gay smirk. It widening slightly as Jack noticed Carmen's stare and he tipped his head at her, Carmen lastly observing even Barbossa to be grinning a bit at the sight of Henry with his freed father, and she did eventually break into a sweet smile of her own. Her eyes returning back to Henry to gauge at him gently, until Bootstrap claimed all the attention. Bringing an end to the merry laughter.

"Well, son. I suppose it is time."


A/N:

Soooo…I chose to go down this route, because the ending of the movie and the reasoning behind the breaking of Will's curse always felt kinda lacking and too easy (kinda deus ex machina if you will, altogether too simple of an explanation that the Trident can simply "end all curses" no matter what kind and what origin), so I wanted to at least try to rewrite the ending with a new explanation that would seem more reasonable to me…But I don't know, maybe I only managed to muddle everything up in my attempt to write a decent climax to this story…

There's still one more chap to go I think (since this wasn't the last after all…oh well), and there might be an epilogue coming still. I'll just have to see when I get to writing the next chapter, and if it shall become too large to be kept as one...Since I'm always having trouble editing stuff out.

Hope you like what I came up with, but if you don't, please review and share your thoughts. It's always more enlightening to see your work through outside eyes rather your own.