Once aboard the Black Pearl, Rose ran her hand along its familiar railing. She would never understand what drew Jack so much to this particular ship, but its mythology during her whole life made it synonymous with hope, and it was therefore home. So strange it was to have both it and Jack back when they should have been to the depths forever. But Rose wasn't here to reminisce. She had to speak with Calypso.

She rushed beneath the deck and down into the brig. There were several lanterns below, but Rose carried another at eye level so that she could at least make out faint shapes. Upon fully entering into the brig, she saw her mentor, grasping the bars of her prison, talking to herself inaudibly.

Rose opened her mouth to speak, but no sound emerged. Finally, she squeaked out a timid, "Tia Dalma?"

"Rose!" she called in reply. Rose extended her arms and felt her way along the wall towards Tia's voice. When she finally made it close enough that she could see Tia's face, she hooked the lantern above them on the bars so that she could see her.

Rose grasped Tia's hands through the bars. "I thought I would never see you again!" she exclaimed.

"Nor I! Id be a long journey, but witty Jack return to ya."

"Aye," Rose said, though a bittersweet tone was laced in her voice. She couldn't pretend any longer—she had to confront Tia with the truth. She had to confront Calypso with the truth. "I…I know about you. Calypso."

She just raised her eyebrows and smiled, giving rose a challenging look. "And?" she asked.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Would id 'ave made a difference? You be taught by a goddess of da tides. Id matters not."

"I could have helped you," Rose exclaimed. "I want you free as well!"

Calypso shook her head, repeating, "Id matters not. At dawn, I will be free."

Rose felt an immense amount of apprehension at this. How could she reveal to this powerful being that in fact, the plan was to not free her immediately? "Yes, you will be freed soon, I will make sure of it," she finally decided upon.

"Ahh…" Calypso cooed. "Jack Sparrow, him already come to ya. Sayin' id unwise ta free me, mm?"

"No," Rose lied. "We've just…we've got so much to worry about, and I—"

"Worry aboud dis, then!" she shouted, causing Rose to start. "Jack send you here to turn my favor to da Court? Ya too late—Davy Jones be just he-ere moments ago."

Rose looked around the brig in alarm. "Jones? Here?"

"Aye. N' what did da Court do me? Bound me to dis?" she cried, motioning to her body. "Forever? Whad mercy have dey shown me?"

Rose was torn; Yes, the Court had been unbelievably cruel to Calypso, but it was Jones who led that Court! These were an entirely new generation of unaffiliated pirates who were going extinct beneath the East India Trading Company. "Jack is among them, Calypso," Rose tried to reason. "And me. Think of me! We'll be sailing the seas you turn against us if that is your ultimate decision! We're at your mercy."

Calypso's eyes flared in fury, though she grinned at the power she now realized that she had. "And whad do I owe you?"

That sentence chilled Rose to her core. What do I owe you? Nothing. Calypso had taken care of Rose entirely on her own as she grew up. Calypso had been prisoner to Jack and Barbossa's whims. Calypso had had no say over her own life. Calypso had been rebuffed by Rose once she decided to blame her for Jack's death. Calypso owed neither Rose nor the pirates a single thing. She could do whatever she pleased.

All that Rose could do now was try one last time to right her wrongs of the past. "You're wrong," she finally said, voice trembling. "Jack didn't send me to try to sway your favor. He sent me to say goodbye. If you and Barbossa have your way and you are freed…we'll never see each other again. You go back to the Locker, don't you?"

Calypso nodded. "I do."

"So…whatever be our futures, I wanted to bid you farewell." Once this realization hit Rose, it hit her incredibly hard; Tia Dalma was already gone in her mind. But now every bit of her was going to go away forever.

"Dis not be de end," Calypso said, reaching through the bars to touch Rose's shoulder. "We be meetin' again someday soon, I promise."

Rose said quietly, "I never thanked you for everything you've done for me. I cannot thank you enough."

Calypso gave a sad smile and sighed, searching Rose's eyes. Then, earnestly, she said, "Tomorrow be a dark, dark day. Many lives lost, many hearts be broken. Two paths I can take—one for de Brethren Court, one for Davy Jones. I know nod which be da path I take yet, maybe neither. But you must not be on dis ship. Ya hear?"

"On the Pearl?" Rose asked.

"Aye, ya must be far away, mmm?"

Rose shook her head. "I'm not leaving Jack again, Tia. I'm sorry."

"Don'd obey for Tia Dalma, ya listen to Calypso now!" she corrected. "Ya stay away, yes?"

Rose sighed in exasperation, but she knew that she wouldn't let this go unless she agreed. "Alright," Rose lied.

Breathily, Calypso then weaved her arm back through the bar and unhooked her silver crab locket from her neck. "N' dis be for you," she said, extending it out to her. "My love have de udder, but it not matter after tomorrow."

Rose protested, "But I can't accept that, Tia."

"Ya must! Ya be a part of my plan! Please, Rose!" she pleaded.

Rose furrowed her brow. "Your 'plan?' What…what do you-"

"Please! Will ya accept?" Calypso's eyes were desperate, and Rose finally agreed, taking the locket. It was a beautiful object that Rose was always fascinated by, but it felt odd taking it from her mentor. And so final…Rose disliked the feeling. Still, she hooked it around her neck.

"Calypso, I—" Suddenly, creaks in the floorboards interrupted her. The Court must have already completed their meeting. She looked to Calypso in alarm.

"Go," she said. "Ya know da wrath if Barbossa discovers you he-ere."

"Thank you," Rose said again sincerely.

Calypso smiled. "Dere be a touch of destiny about you, Rose Hexfury," she cooed. "Dere always has been."

Rose dared not stay a moment longer, lest she burst into tears at this last farewell. She grabbed her lantern and rushed upstairs, opening out into the darkness of the night.

"Rose!" she heard Gibbs exclaim as he passed by her. "Saw ya made it back! Glad to have ya aboard once more, lass!"

She held up her lantern close by her eyes to see the shapes of the crew members passing by her. "Glad to be aboard, Gibbs!" she said with a grin. "Tell me, what became of the Brethren Court? What was decided?"

"Ya missed quite a spectacle, lass!" he said excitedly. "Elizabeth Swann arrived, having taken Sao Feng's place as Pirate Lord. Then, with Jack's help, she was voted the Pirate King!"

Rose was taken aback. "Elizabeth?" Rose had scoured for hours over the Pirate Code, so she knew that a King could only be declared by a vote of the Pirate Lords, which was redundant, as each Lord only ever voted for themselves. Strange that Jack would give up a vote for himself in support of Elizabeth… Unless they both supported the same outcome; Fighting Jones and the Company, and keeping Calypso contained until at least after the war had subsided.

"What's the decision, then?" Rose asked.

"We set out at dawn! The Company is expected to be here by then!" Gibbs exclaimed. "So, we rest and gear up until then!"

"And where's Jack now?"

Gibbs then grew rather close to Rose, voice low, "Actually, he's er…with yer father."

So Jack had found Teague after all… Rose nodded, then moved towards the starboard side of the ship. "I need to go ashore, then," she said, right before running straight into Jack.

"Why would that be?" he asked.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "What happened? I thought you were with Teague!"

"And I thought you were with Tia Dalma," Jack countered.

"I was," she said, holding up the locket. "I've got a new trinket."

"Me too!" Jack exclaimed, lifting up a shrunken head and holding it mere inches from her nose so that she could clearly make it out by the light of her lantern. "Meet me mum!"

"Oh god, Jack!" Rose recoiled. "Do I even want to know?"

His eyes were peering in concern over her head by this point however, and he distantly said, "Probably not. Hold that thought and come with me." He then swept around her and quickly pushed his way past Barbossa, ducking inside the Captain's quarters before Barbossa could do so.

"Sorry mate, my cabin! Called it!" Jack cried triumphantly before slamming the door once Rose scurried inside behind him. Together, they laughed until their sides were sore. Jack found a secret stash of rum he had hidden away in a trunk and they treated themselves to several bottles as they caught up on the past six months of their lives…and deaths. It was on her third bottle that Rose began to feel pretty woozy, and was impressed with herself that she had been able to carefully sidestep the mentioning of the Norrington debacle altogether, and Jack thought nothing of her vague brushing over of details regarding how she escaped Port Royal. He instead was far more interested in her new relationship with their father.

"So, Teague, then, eh? You two are thick as thieves, it would seem."

"I wouldn't say that," she protested. "We've come back into contact, that's all. And he seems…apologetic for the past. That's all I can really ask for."

Jack nodded. "I'll admit, things do seem different with him. We had a good long chat after the Court adjourned. Saw right through me, of course. Knew all about my plans."

Rose leaned forward in interest. "And what plans are those?"

Jack's eyes glinted in excitement. "Eternity," he said with a grin. "Didn't much care for death. Don't really want to go through that nasty business again, really. So, methinks I'll—"

"Stab the heart," Rose finished, putting it all together.

"Bad decision?" Jack asked.

"Surprisingly? I agree with you."

Jack looked shocked. "Is that so?"

"Aye," Rose said. "I overheard Calypso telling Barbossa before you died that she had seen the successor to Davy Jones. It very well could be you."

"And, you'd be alright with that?" Jack asked.

"If it's what you want, then yes!" Rose agreed. "Plus, I wouldn't have to worry if you were alive or not. It's a win for both sides, really." She took a large sip of her rum, then interrogated him for further details. "So how will you do it?" she asked.

"Still working that one out," Jack replied.

Rose rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair in exasperation. "Bloody improvisation again, why did I expect any less?"

"Never failed me once!" Rose raised a skeptical eyebrow at this, to which Jack corrected, "Well…maybe it's failed me once or twice. But still—the odds are overwhelmingly in my favor on this one!"

"Well," Rose said through a yawn. "No matter what happens, I'll be fighting alongside you lot. Know that."

The last thing Rose remembers from that night was Jack replying, "I'm sure you will, love." She then fell into a deep, rum-induced sleep that was deep and dreamless. So deep was her slumber that she never felt herself being carried out hours later, hoisted over the Pearl's railing, then set down in a strange bed. It was in this strange bed that Rose awoke in the morning. Her head was pounding from the drink the night before, so it took her awhile to adjust, but when she did, she saw that she was in a Captain's quarters that was smaller but more finely decorated than Jack's. Something about this place seemed vaguely familiar, though Rose didn't quite know why at first.

It wasn't until she appeared on deck in the white light of that overcast morning that Rose realized that she had been moved aboard the Misty Lady in the middle of the night in a secret transference between Teague and Jack. Furious, she pushed her way past the strange men of her father's crew and marched right up to where Teague stood on the Misty Lady's forecastle deck. His gaze remained fixated out to sea, and it was only then that it even occurred to Rose to look around her and notice the sheer silence of the ocean; everything and everyone was still in quiet anticipation. There were hundreds of pirate ships lined up alongside the Misty Lady, and the Pearl floated only a few leagues away. Northward, Rose's face fell when she saw the Flying Dutchman, poised in all of its green, grim glory, facing off directly towards the line of pirates. Behind it was even more of a ghastly sight; Rose saw the pristine appearance of the Endeavour, and even further off were waiting what appeared to be nearly a thousand Company vessels. The pirates were severely outnumbered.

"What's going on?" Rose said quietly to her father.

Teague's eyes didn't leave the Pearl, however. "Jack called a parlay," he explained. They met on a spit of land a ways off, that's all I know. When they came back, Jack had been exchanged with that bloke over there," he said, pointing towards a man in a red shirt that was standing aboard the Pearl next to Elizabeth.

Rose instantly recognized him. Will! While this meant that Jack was now in the extremely dangerous hands of Jones and Beckett, Rose actually found herself grateful that this had happened—it put Jack in a much better position to dispatch Jones quickly and effectively.

"So what happens now?" Rose asked.

"We don't know," he replied. "If I had to guess, I would presume that Barbossa reached an agreement that might have saved us for the moment. As you can see, we're severely outnumbered. It would appear as though the Pearl is singlehandedly preparing to launch into battle."

Rose began to piece it together. "The Pearl and the Dutchman will be facing off against other. Each side's champion vessel. To the victor go the spoils."

"Aye," agreed Teague, though his eyes were now narrowed. "Although, it would appear that something's just come up." Immediately, he handed over his telescope to Rose. She quickly extended it, and gasped in horror when she saw Calypso tied up, with Barbossa standing near her with a bowl and a fuse as though about to start a ritual. He was attempting to free her.

Rose looked at her father in shock. "But it was Elizabeth's orders to fight first, free her later! Calypso could turn the tides against us!"

Teague shook his head. "From what you say, I'm not sure that Barbossa has much of a choice. He has to free her, or he's damned."

It was true. Elizabeth looked livid at having had her orders be directly defied, and Barbossa was waving his arms about in an exaggerated fashion, attempting desperately to keep his promise to free the goddess. Calypso just stood there. Nothing happened. Rose's heart beat in her chest as confusion erupted on deck.

"It's not working" Rose whispered. "Why isn't it working?" Just then, through the telescope, she watched as Ragetti of all people whispered something into Calypso's ear, which caused her to convulse and set the bowl on fire with her mind.

At that moment, Rose started to feel odd. She lowered the telescope from her eye, and placed a hand on her neck. She had developed an instant fever.

"Everything alright?" Teague asked in concern. When she didn't reply, he asked, "Rose?"

That's when she collapsed.


Rose came to only a few minutes later, and when she did, she was helped to her feet once more by Teague and a few of his men. They had fetched her a barrel to sit upon and a canteen of water.

"Are you alright?" Teague asked her, eyes wrought with worry.

"I…I'm not sure," Rose said. Her head was throbbing, and not in a way that felt like a result of the previous night's alcohol. Every nerve in her body felt like it was dancing independent from herself. "What happened?"

"So much," he reported. "You began to violently convulse. Then as soon as you went down, Calypso grew to massive proportions. She then disintegrated into over a thousand crabs."

"What?" Rose exclaimed, leaping to her feet. She rushed back to the railing, and felt a pang of horror when she realized that Tia Dalma, Calypso, was fully gone. The only remnants of her presence where a few last remaining crabs the Pearl's crew were presently throwing overboard.

Teague was at her side once more, and Rose asked him, "So, she's just…gone then? Returned to the Locker?"

"Well, she's certainly not helping us," he grumbled.

Rose looked at him, "So what happens now?"

Their attentions at that moment, however, were drawn back to the Black Pearl, as they heard a triumphant voice ring out over the vast silence of the surrounding vessels. Rose's eyes were drawn to Elizabeth, who clung to the rigging, positioning herself above the men as she cried out, "They will see free men and freedom! And what the enemy will see is the flash of our cannons. They will hear the ring of our swords, and they will know what we can do. By the sweat of our brows and the strength of our backs, and the courage of our hearts. Gentlemen. Hoist the colors!"

This sparked a chain reaction of "Hoist the colors!" throughout the Pearl's crew, then Teague's crew, then the immediate surrounding ships, then their entire fleet. Soon, everyone was hollering and cheering, screaming out fearsome battle cries. Rose had never seen anything like it, but was still extremely disoriented from her seizure only a few minutes prior. The commotion caused her to have to sit once more, though she watched as the clouds billowed above them, the Pearl surged forward towards the enemy vessels, and the Dutchman followed suit. Before anyone quite knew what was happening, the area ocean where the two ships were about to meet began to churn violently, leading to a prolific maelstrom.

"There it is," Rose said with a grin.

"What?" Teague asked her.

"Calypso chose the third path…she's picked neither side."