By the time night fell, the tension between the sisters and their former lovers (each with all the other three) was almost palpable. Despite this, most of the crew remained mostly ignorant, too used to the coldness between three of the four by now to really question it anymore.
Only Gibbs's eyes darted constantly back and forth between Jack and Annalise, then Annalise and Elizabeth, then Elizabeth and Will, then Will and Annalise, and back again. Several times the first mate debated opening his mouth to ask - only to shut it again and shake his head. Barbossa appeared as oblivious as the rest of the crew as he strolled about as casually as ever; but if one had been watching closely, they would have noticed the way his gaze often darted and lingered on the four whenever one of them was in sight. Usually, it was either Jack - who sauntered about as carelessly as usual - or Will, who was often brooding on deck. Annalise and Elizabeth had mostly locked themselves in the hold and kitchen respectively, unwilling to see anyone unless absolutely necessary.
Of the four, Annalise in particular was angriest with the situation and so very, very confused.
The anger was an outlet, and perhaps a natural reaction to learning her sister had not only killed the man Annalise (damn her bleeding heart) loved but also lied and hidden it from her. Who would probably have kept it from her forever if they hadn't rescued Jack and he'd revealed her, if accidentally. But that knowledge also left Annalise feeling helplessly… lost.
She'd spent the majority of her life pretending she fit into high society to please her father but at the expense of constantly feeling life was lacking if not downright suffocating. The most recent part of her life she'd spent fighting to save her sister, then her sister's fiance and Annalise's own good friend, then her sister, friend and father all at once. In between all of that, she'd fallen in love with a man her mother would have decried and her father despised, but who had made her feel so much freer than any ship ever could. And what she had gotten for it was to be hanged as a pirate if she was ever caught, her father likely held a captive somewhere because of her, she'd lost faith in her sister and in her friend, and her heart had been put through the wringer enough times by Jack that Annalise was fairly certain she was through with love.
'Mother… what do I do?' Annalise wondered in despair, before bustling and noisy voices (unusual since they'd found themselves trapped in the never-ending and absolutely still sea) from above deck drew her attention.
Reluctantly, Annalise made her way to the upper deck. If there was any danger, she figured she would at least be more help to the crew if she were with them. However, upon reaching the upper deck, Annalise was puzzled to see the entire crew peering over the side of the railings as though in fear.
She slowly made her way over, her steps even more reluctant as she spotted Elizabeth belatedly making her way closer to the crew as well. It seemed her sister had only had a minute, maybe less, of a headstart on her as Elizabeth reached the railings and peered over the edge to see what had the rest of the crew on edge.
"Father!"
At Elizabeth's delighted cry, Annalise's eyes widened.
"It's my father, we've made it back!" Elizabeth cried delightedly as Annalise hurried over to join the others by the railing, ignoring the fact that it placed her beside Jack as she rushed to the nearest open spot.
Annalise's eyes widened as she spotted the rows upon rows of eerie boats floating passed the Pearl, each of the occupants seated facing forward with a single light in front of them which threw eerie shadows on the occupants' blank faces. Her heart, which had lifted at the prospect of being back in the living world and the hope of seeing her father again, sank instantly. Something was wrong, she was certain of it even before her eyes finally spotted the familiar figure of her father, sitting in a boat just like the others and appearing to not hear his eldest daughter's calls.
"Father!" Elizabeth appeared oblivious to the growing tension as she waved frantically for their father to look over as she called, "Father here! Look here!"
Annalise glanced at her sister before looking at the rest of the crew. They were gazing at Elizabeth and a few glanced back at Annalise too in pity. Why were they looking at her like that? What exactly was it about the picture she was seeing that had already made her gut clench with dread?
Annalise looked back at her father and then she realized what was wrong. They weren't back - that was why the crew were so uneasy and the boats floated by as if they didn't even see the Pearl. They weren't back - and this was the land of the dead.
"No." Annalise whispered, her eyes flitting up to the nearest person - Jack.
He was gazing at her, his dark brows knitted unhappily, and Annalise pleaded of him, "Jack, please tell me we somehow made it back. Or please, tell me this is all a hallucination. Tell me that's not my father. "
Jack's expression became pained and his gaze was pitying as he slowly shook his head.
"I'm sorry, love." He replied softly. "This isn't a hallucination… and we're not back."
His tone was kind, but there was no kindness in the world that could spare the pain his words inflicted. Annalise's face contorted. At first, there was distress, then anger, then denial as she shook her head violently. But underlying her every expression was utter devastation as her heart knew what her mind refused to accept.
"Papa!"
Jack jerked and the entire crew, including Elizabeth, flinched as Annalise suddenly started screaming across the open waters and toward the figure of their father.
"Papa!"
Elizabeth's joy faded into confusion as she tried to understand her twin's sorrow. It was only then that she noticed the way the crew were looking at her, saw Will's ashen expression as he gazed at her hesitantly. Elizabeth looked from their distress to Annalise again and she finally recognized the expression on her twin's face - the unshed tears shining brightly in haunted blue eyes as she screamed for her father as she had for their mother the day she died many years ago.
Her heart and body going cold, Elizabeth slowly turned back to her father with growing horror while Annalise continued to scream.
"Papa! PAPA!"
Finally, Governor Swann's head turned as he heard his daughter's desperate cry although it was as though it were from afar and not from a mere few yards away.
"Annalise!" Governor Swann exclaimed in surprise and surreal calm. "Are you dead, darling?"
His words struck Annalise right in the heart as they confirmed what she had feared. The tears began to fall thickly as Annalise shook her head frantically while Elizabeth whispered in horror, "No. No."
"Oh, Elizabeth." Governor Swann noticed his elder daughter too at last, standing not far beside his youngest. "Are you also dead?"
"No, father." Elizabeth said shakily. "No. No-"
"I think I am." Governor Swann admitted, sounding more contemplative than pained and apparently utterly unaware that he was wrecking even more devastation on his daughters.
"No you can't be." Elizabeth cried and Governor Swann tipped his head a little as he stared at his daughter in confusion.
"Papa," Annalise sobbed, her voice cracking and making Jack's heart clench. "How did you get here?"
"There was this chest, you see." Governor Swann answered slowly, as though trying to remember something from a dream. "I thought... At the time it seemed so important."
Both Jack and Will stiffened, listening carefully now. Annalise and Elizabeth were ignorant to the men's reactions, too consumed in their grief as the younger Swann choked while Elizabeth shouted at their father, "Come aboard!"
"And the heart." Governor Swann continued, completely disregarding his daughters' pain as his mind drifted with his soul. "I learned that if you stab the heart, yours must take its place and you will sail the seas for eternity. The Dutchman must have a Captain."
Jack's eyes widened while Will's narrowed and both men filed away this tidbit of information. Governor Swann meanwhile shrugged and he sighed, "Silly thing to die for."
Elizabeth meanwhile wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention as she shouted to the crew, "Someone! Cast a line!"
Marty moved hastily to grab some rope while Elizabeth called wildly, "Father, father!"
Meanwhile, Tia Dalma was watching Will, seeing the contemplative expression on the young man's face, and she whispered, "A touch of destiny."
Will turned to her in surprise even as Governor Swann looked back at them vaguely before his head tilted as he stared at Annalise in particular.
"Annalise, my darling - I had wanted to see you settled before my time came. What would I tell your mother, otherwise?"
Beside her, Jack stiffened again but Annalise paid him no attention as she shook her head again.
"I'm fine on my own, papa! I was always fine by myself!" Annalise called, her voice catching as her father stared at her with no expression despite his worried words.
"A pirate… you called him a good man."
Both Annalise and Jack froze before the former began to cry heavily again as Governor Swann sighed and turned away again.
"I hope you were right, my darling. I hope you'll be happy with him."
Annalise choked, unable to respond while Jack remained silent beside her. Barbossa and Tia Dalma were watching shrewdly while Gibbs looked worried, when Marty finally brought rope to Elizabeth. She immediately threw the rope over the side of the ship and was shouting at her father, "Take the line!"
When their father didn't move, Elizabeth recast the rope at her father for him to grab while she shouted, "Father! Grab the line! Papa!"
She called him as they had when their mother was still alive, the word falling from her lips for the first time in over a decade. Governor Swann turned, seeming to notice they were there again, and he gazed at his daughters fondly.
"I'm so proud of you two." He murmured, not even moving to grab the rope - he didn't even seem to notice it at all as it hung limply alongside his boat. "My girls… my beautiful Elizabeth and Annalise."
"Papa..." Annalise, tears rolling down her face, moved along the rails with Elizabeth, watching their father and joining in Elizabeth's begging. "Papa, please, take the line. Papa!"
The rope slipped from the Governor's boat, untaken and falling uselessly into the sea while the Governor murmured, "Our pride and joy..."
"Father!" Elizabeth shouted at the same time Annalise screamed, "Papa! PAPA!"
Annalise started the dash first, racing toward the back of the ship. Elizabeth dropped the rope and followed her sister's lead; and Tia Dalma's eyes widened in alarm.
"They must not leave the ship!" Tia Dalma cried in warning as she saw potential danger for the grieving women who looked ready to leap overboard to get to their father.
Will moved as soon as Tia Dalma spoke, running along the deck; but Jack was faster. Having realized instantly the extent to which she might go in her grief, Jack had taken off after Annalise at the same time Elizabeth had. He reached Annalise as the woman stepped up onto the rails at the rear of the ship and his arms seized Annalise around the waist and hauled her down even as she screamed.
"Papa! No, let me go! Let me go, we have to save him! Papa! Papa!"
"There's nothing you can do, Anna." Jack replied grimly, holding Annalise down tightly as Will arrived to wrestle Elizabeth back where she too was screaming for their father at the railings on the ship's rear. "You'll only end up dead yourself if you try to go after him."
"I don't care!" Annalise shrieked, fighting Jack viciously as she tried to get free while her father drifted further and further away from the ship. "I have to try, he's my father! Papa! Papa, come back, please, come with me! Papa!"
Jack could only hold on tightly and Annalise's screams began to turn to wails as she realized her efforts were futile; but even over her and Elizabeth's mixed cries, they could hear the former Governor of Port Royale's final words.
"I'll give your love to your mother, shall I?" Weatherby Swann murmured absently as he turned back to face the front, unnervingly calm as he disappeared into the misty sea and completely ignorant of his daughters' heart wrenching scream.
By this point, Elizabeth had stopped trying to fight and she was instead huddled in Will's embrace, holding onto him as though he were her lifeline. Annalise also finally stopped even her weak attempts to break out of Jack's arms as her father disappeared into the distance, and her broken sobs cut Jack deeper than he had ever thought he could be cut. Gingerly, he turned her in his arms and allowed her to bury her face into his chest where she let out the most pitiful wail.
Elizabeth was contrastingly silent but fairing no better than her twin as she trembled soundlessly in Will's arms. He held onto her tightly, his jaw tight with shared pain and he looked over Elizabeth's shoulder to Tia Dalma.
"Is there a way?" Will asked quietly, though there was no hope in his voice.
Tia Dalma shook her head, confirming Will's suspicions, and the dark-skinned woman murmured sadly but firmly, "Him at peace."
Will bowed his head and patted Elizabeth's head with what little comfort he could give. The rest of the crew could only wait in silence as the twin sisters let out their grief, unable to regain their composure at the loss of their only parent - a parent Annalise had been so desperate to save. Jack could only hold onto her tightly as she sniffled and gasped against his chest, fighting for breath and trying to escape a pain that there was no escaping.
"Papa… Papa… Papa..." Annalise sobbed and her broken voice didn't stop even as their ship continued to sail well into the night.
It was a bleak morning as the sun finally started to rise over the horizon after what felt like an endless night. And with the new day came even more grave news.
Their small supply of drinkable water had run out; even the rum was all gone. Elizabeth and Annalise barely reacted to the news, too shell shocked and still grieving to really care. But the rest of those aboard the ship knew that if they didn't find a way to return and soon, there was going to be nothing left of them to escape the land of the dead. Tia Dalma's warning only solidified their fears.
"If we cannot escape these doldrums before night, I fear we will sail on trackless seas, doomed to roam the reach between worlds, forever." The witch murmured as she stared out across the ocean where the sun was throwing orange beams over the shimmering waters as it, unfairly, began to set all too soon.
"And with no water, forever seems to be arriving a mite too soon." Gibbs commented dryly as he shook his flask in vain for a few drops of liquid to parch his throat.
Will glanced up at Barbossa who was staring out into the horizon thoughtfully and he muttered, "Why doesn't he do something?"
His eyes flickered over to the other side of the deck where Jack was spinning the dials on the navigational charts thoughtfully; but Will didn't miss the way Jack's eyes would sometimes flicker across the deck to where Annalise sat with a blanket wrapped tightly around her as she stared blankly at the floor. Marty sat beside her, offering silent comfort - not that she appeared to notice. It was clear Jack was distracted by the grieving woman and Will sighed. They were doomed.
Meanwhile Jack forced his gaze back to the navigational charts where the dials lined up to read-
"Up is down." Jack frowned. "Well that's just maddeningly unhelpful. Why are these things never clear?"
"Clear as mud, Jackie."
Jack's eyes widened at the voice that sounded right by his ear and he glanced over in alarm.
"What? Eh?" He asked. A tiny version of himself poked his head out of Jack's dreadlocks and peered carefully around before looking up at Jack.
"Stab the heart." The tiny Jack ordered.
"Don't stab the heart."
Jack blinked at the second, stronger voice that sounded in his other ear and he glanced over. "Come again?"
Yet another miniature of himself appeared on his shoulder, pushing his way out from behind Jack's dreadlocks to stare up at him.
"The Dutchman must have Captain." The tiny Jack explained and Jack frowned.
"Well that's even more than less than unhelpful." Jack frowned but the tiny devil version of himself wheedled, "Sail the seas for eternity."
"I love the sea." Jack mused, immediately captivated.
"What about port?" His other tiny self protested and Jack shrugged.
"I prefer rum. Rum's good." Jack answered and the tiny man barely withheld rolling his eyes.
"Making port." He clarified as he hopped across Jack's beaded hair and sauntered across Jack's shoulder to stare out into the distance. "Where we can get rum once every ten years."
The little devil one frowned before he looked up at Jack and asked, "What did he say?"
"Once every ten years." Jack repeated helpfully and the little man pointed out, "Ten years is a long time, mate."
"Even longer given the deficit of rum." Jack muttered, balking instantly.
"But eternity is longer still." His little devil enticed.
And Jack was back on board immediately. "True."
"What about Anna?"
Jack's expression clouded instantly and he glared at the other little man on his shoulder.
"What about the lass?" He snapped, refusing to say her name - worse, the pet name he'd given her. He shuddered as he thought of the night before when he'd tried to soothe her and the name had slipped out. That had been a mistake.
"Yeah - if we hadn't lost our heart to a woman like we swore we never would do, we wouldn't be in this mess. She's the reason we changed, Jackie, became weak. No need to repeat past mistakes." The little devil him added but the other tiny him just shrugged.
"Doesn't change that we already changed." He observed, glancing back at Jack. "The compass proves it."
"But with immortality, the compass wouldn't matter." The devil side of Jack whispered temptingly, and Jack licked his lips. "We could sail anywhere, go everywhere, and fear nothing. Think about it mate. The immortal Captain Sparrow."
"Oh, I like that." Jack agreed, his expression slackening dreamily.
His other self sighed and shook his head, before looking out into the distance once more.
"Come sunset, it won't matter anyway." He mused as he watched the sun start to sink below the horizon.
Jack paused, something in the way his own voice had said the words making the pieces of the puzzle that had earlier refused to fit click into place.
"Not sunset." Jack murmured as he looked back at the charts and he spun the picture of a sailing ship in the center of the charts so that it was upside down. "Sundown and rise... Up!"
Jack straightened and turned to look to his left.
"What's that?!" He shouted, making a great show of rushing to the railings on the port side and staring out into the empty waters. The whole crew stared at him curiously but only Gibbs and Will joined him in staring out the side, alert for possible danger.
"What is that? I don't know, what do you think?" Jack wondered, while Will frowned as his eyes sought some change in the waters and Gibbs glanced from his captain and back to the sea in an attempt to see what Jack was seeing.
"Where?" Gibbs asked, seeing nothing, but Jack just kept staring straight at one point as he answered, "There!"
By this point, Barbossa and the rest of the crew were also starting to converge, when suddenly Jack turned and yelped.
"Ah!"
He suddenly sprinted across the deck to the starboard side, and Barbossa stopped near the charts to stare in bewilderment at his former captain's antics while the crew dashed after Jack to grasp the starboard railings and stare out at the sea.
Even Calypso joined in, lifting her skirts in her haste as Jack gasped and fluttered his hands while staring with wide eyes at the open sea before abruptly turning and dashing back to the port side.
The crew joined him, all of them running to the port side railings and crashing into it with their momentum when Jack gasped and abruptly spun around to run back to the starboard side. His frantic antics caught even Elizabeth and Annalise's attention and the two women slowly moved out from their respective corners where they had been separately coping with their sorrow to watch with puzzled expressions.
Elizabeth and Annalise peered out the starboard side, and the blonde woman asked in confusion, "What is it?"
Jack didn't respond as he turned yet again to sprint to the port side with a squeal. Back and forth they ran, the crew trying to keep up with their mad captain as Jack apparently saw something before they arrived on his side and he would dash back around to the other side. Annalise, growing tired and already exhausted from the prior night, slowed to a stop beside Barbossa in the center of the ship.
Catching her breath, she watched the chaos from afar and she frowned as she realized something.
"He's rocking the ship." She muttered in confusion as she watched the ship's deck sway back and forth under the weight of the pounding feet moving from left to right without pause.
Gibbs and Barbossa heard her, and the first mate gasped in realization even as he ran, "We're rockin' the ship!"
Barbossa meanwhile had been staring down at the charts that Jack had abandoned and his eyes widened as he saw what Jack had seen.
"Aye!" Barbossa gasped, lifting his gaze. "He's on to it!"
"What?" Annalise asked, coming over to look at the chart as Barbossa hurried off.
Annalise stared down at the charts where the picture of the ship in the middle was upside down - and below that, the chart read -
"Up is down." Annalise gasped in understanding, lifting her gaze to stare at Jack and the rest of the crew as their running swayed the ship harder and harder on each side.
"Time it with the swell!" Barbossa yelled at the group as he disappeared down the deck, raising his voice to snap the remaining, sleeping crew to attention. "Loose the canons, you lazy bilge rats! Un-stow the cargo! Let it shift!"
Annalise meanwhile rejoined in the mad dash on the deck, running beside Will and Gibbs as they went back and forth. With each turn, the ship's railings came closer and closer to the waters, the rocking getting stronger with the added feet below deck and the heavy cannons and barrels of gun powder rolling around with their momentum. It also meant that the run back each time was getting harder and harder as the incline on the way back got steeper and steeper, but still the crew did their best to maintain their pace and their line, forcing the ship back and forth as evenly as they could.
"God, how much more?" Annalise gasped as her muscles screamed in protest while she forced herself up the deck yet again.
"Keep going!" Gibbs shouted back, his round face red with exertion even as he pushed her to help her on.
The run became harder and harder however, and Annalise found herself grasping the rails each time she butted hard into it, needing something to hold to remain upright as the almost straight incline beneath their feet threatened to send them toppling back down the deck and into the sea below. One pirate met such a fate as he stumbled, losing his footing and fell with a scream into the waters before the ship could tilt back the other way to catch him.
The group raced back across, and this time the incline grew higher and higher, threatening to send them all tumbling over. Reaching the railings became a war as they one by one made the final push to finally catch the wooden bars that would save them. Annalise saw Will grab the wood, then Elizabeth; she threw her own hands over the bars a second later and Gibbs followed beside her. Jack grasped the railings on Gibbs's other side, one of the last to do so before the ship tilted so far that their feet left the wood.
The crew screamed as one as their feet dangled in the air below as the ship tilted slowly but surely over; the only thing saving them was their grip on the railings that were now passing over their heads.
"Now up," Jack said as the ship tilted over their heads, "is down."
Annalise couldn't help but scream as the ship tipped completely over, gaining momentum as the weight was pulled down by gravity before it finally crashed completely upside down in the sea. And beside her, Will lost his grip on the wood.