Rose stood next to Ben, her heart aflutter.

"What do you see?" she asked. After Ben had grabbed his cloak, shielding himself from the cursed moonlight, led the blind Rose to his small dinghy, and was able to navigate them northward toward where he had felt the medallion's call, it was the middle of the night. She could tell by Ben's silence that something was awry.

She heard him remove his periscope from his eye and click it shut. "I don't understand…" he muttered distantly.

"What?"

Ben only replied,"We're here."

Rose grinned. "That's good then! Port Royal?"

"Or what's left of it," he replied sullenly.

Rose felt her heart drop. "The Pearl was here, then."

"And obviously found what it was looking for, because there's not a sign of it other than what destruction the crew left behind." Ben took a deep breath, then turned to face Rose. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "We've lost it. There's nothing we can do."

Rose was still optimistic, however. "All is not lost," she said, sitting closer to him. "You still can feel the medallion's call, correct?"

"Not unless the medallion makes contact with the ocean again. I'm completely in the dark. Even if I could track it, we could never catch them. I'm afraid we're back where we started."

Rose considered this, reevaluating this turn of events. "So we believe they took the medallion, otherwise they wouldn't have left…but they also need Bootstrap's son to break the curse. Do you think they have him?"

"Not sure," he replied. "At this point, I think we should just wait. If the curse is broken, then so be it."

Rose felt twinges of anger flare up inside her again at Ben's eagerness to give up the fight, but instead she decided to focus on other matters. While Ben's curse was important to her, Jack was still her priority and as of that moment, his whereabouts were still unknown. Was he also captured by the Pearl? Was he at that moment on Port Royal? Perhaps he was nowhere near them…Rose had no way of knowing. The only plan of action Rose could formulate was, "Why don't we go ashore and see what the locals know of the medallion?"

Ben snorted. "Have you ever been to Port Royal, Rose? Or even heard of it, for that matter?"

She shook her head. "No."

"It's a settlement run by the British Royal Navy has taken it over. A copious amount of noblemen and ladies live there."

"…so?" asked Rose, still not following Ben's train of thought.

"I don't know, Rose," Ben said sardonically. "Maybe the walking skeleton and the blind bayou girl would stick out like a sore thumb amongst the British elite!"

"Then we regroup at daybreak!" she continued. "We find calm waters, lay anchor and ask around when you and I are restored back to normal."

Ben exhaled sharply in a slight laugh. "I forgot how rarely you let something go once you decide that it strikes your fancy."

Rose gave a wry grin. "You started this," she said. "Remember when we used to play Pirate as children? We always said we'd be battling ghost pirates aboard the Black Pearl!"

"Aye," Ben said sadly, "But never did I envision actually being the ghost pirate."

Rose took this in for a moment, then moved her hand outwards to touch him comfortingly. However, when her fingertips touched Ben's arm, she forgot that she wouldn't feel warm flesh, but rather tough, solid bone. She quickly recoiled, then gave an apologetic look downwards. Finally, she said warmly, "Fear not, Ben the Buccaneer. You and Rose Hexfury shall always save the day!"


Port Royal by daylight was actually delightful to Rose, abhorrent destruction or otherwise. Besides Tortuga, Rose had never seen a thriving town, let alone a town so organized and proper. It was these sorts of buildings and these sorts of people that Rose had always envisioned in storybooks, and the adventure of it all excited her greatly.

Rose and Ben had straightened up a bit in order to disguise their pirate roots, but no one was all that concerned about their presence that day. Not even the dock manager was around to charge them a fair for anchoring Ben's boat to the main dock. Everyone today was focused on yesterday's pillaging. A number of fatalities had occurred, and the main town was absolutely ravaged. Broken glass littered the dirt roads, and all around men, women and children were beginning to regroup, reassess, and rebuild.

"One think I still don't understand," said Ben, disrupting Rose's observations. "Jack never visited you once while you were in the bayou? You were the only person in his life that he knew he could trust and who would always be in the same place. Why didn't he come for you?"

Rose shrugged, slightly annoyed by Ben's accusations. "Tia wouldn't have let me go with him regardless."

"That's not the point," he protested. "Not even once did you find it odd that he never thought to visit you?"

"No," she said simply, feeling herself start to retreat back into herself.

"In ten years…"

"I know, Ben," Rose said sharply. "I don't know his reasons. All I know is that I need to find him. His reasons can come after that moment."

Ben nodded slightly in understanding as they silently continued to make their way through the wreckage of the once-pristine town, but what he had said bothered Rose greatly. Why would Jack never think to go find her? What if he wanted nothing more to do with her? Could it be that—

"Jack Sparrow!" she heard a distant voice exclaim.

Rose perked up upon hearing her half-brother's name spoken aloud. Afraid she was merely imagining it, she asked Ben, "Did you hear that?"

Ben, who hadn't, replied, "What?"

But Rose had already started off in the direction of the voice, having heard its source continue speaking. She passed under a large stone facade and into another square where two middle aged couples stood, the two pairs conversing together.

"I wholeheartedly agree," said the taller man. "It's them ruddy bilge rats. One comes in, they all come in. Easy as that."

The woman who stood by his side, presumably his wife, nodded obediently. "I just pity poor Miss Swann," she said. "The lass didn't do nothin' ta deserve this."

The woman adjacent to her murmured in agreement, "Poor dear must be scared to death."

"Excuse me," Rose said, approaching them. Ben quickly moved to stand at her side. "Did I hear one of you mention Jack Sparrow?"

"Aye," said the other man amongst the group of four. "I reckoned it's Sparrow's doing what brought the lot of 'em in here last night!"

"You'll have to excuse us," Ben spoke up politely. "We just got in this morning and are unaware of what has transpired."

"Oh!" one of the ladies exclaimed. "Ye must be so confused, then! A whole band of blasted pirates came in here and tore the whole town apart!"

"Searching for valuables, I assume?" Ben slyly asked, subtlety suggesting the medallion to see if any of these townspeople were aware of the cursed treasure.

"Believe it or not," the tall man said, "All we can prove they made off with is the Governor's daughter, poor girl. God be with 'er."

The ladies nodded reverently, while the other man continued stating, "I said it once and I'll say it again, it's because Sparrow came to town. He was found accostin' the Governor's lass after she fell in the water yesterday mornin', and all of a sudden she's been taken by his ilk while he sits happily behind bars! Norrington ought to hang him straight off!"

"No!" Rose exclaimed instinctively, before her mind even had time to process that she should have remained absolutely silent at this comment.

Thankfully, Ben was quick to create an excuse for her outburst. "What she means is, a hanging is far too mild a punishment."

The four townspeople nodded in agreement, then began discussing the proper ways in which to execute a pirate. Rose had stopped listening to their banter, realizing that the fact that Jack was indeed here, on this island at the same time as she! Just a quick slip into the prison and they could be reunited after so many years apart!

Rose did begin listening again once several dozen townspeople began racing past their group towards the docks.

The smaller of the men looked bewildered and called out to a passerby, "You there! What's all the commotion about?"

"It's Sparrow!" the man replied. "He and the blacksmith boy have just made off with the Interceptor!"

"He escaped?" the large man roared. "I knew that Turner lad was always shifty! Never trust a foundling, I always say!"

Ben took Rose by the arm and led her aside, apart from the rest of the townspeople. "Did you hear that?" he whispered to her.

"Yes!" she replied. Her head was spinning with the information they had received, all of it beneficial to them in some way or another. First, the only item that the Black Pearl had made off with was the Governor's daughter, who had the previous morning made contact with the ocean. These two clues made it clear that this young woman was somehow in possession of the medallion. Second, Bootstrap's son was clearly an inhabitant of this island as well, and finally, Jack was nearby!

Rose and Ben exchanged a knowing look, then took off running towards the docks themselves. If Jack and Bootstrap's son were in cahoots and currently in the process of stealing a ship, there was no chance that either Ben nor Rose would miss the chance to sail with them to break the curse, save the girl, and free the Pearl.