James, Rose, and Defoe's body arrived in the same hallway where Rose and Defoe had gone missing in the first place.

James and Rose stood, and he instructed her, "Go find Will and bring him here. I'll stay behind to make sure this bastard stays put."

Rose moved to hastily make her leave, but another person who they hadn't noticed enter the hallway at that very moment made himself known. "What in the bloody hell is this?" said the quartermaster, who had stumbled upon what to his eyes must have been a very sinister sight; Rose and James standing over a beaten and bloodied Defoe. The quartermaster's eyes shined with rage as he pointed to James. "You," he growled. "This has gone on far enough!"

"Wait!" Rose implored. "We can explain!"

"None needed!" he snapped at her, coming straight for James. "You lot have caused nothing but trouble since allying yourselves!" He looked to Rose. "The Captain'll be hearing about this." Then, grabbing James by the arm, he muttered threateningly, "And it'll be straight back to the Locker for you, Norrington."

"Stop it!" cried Rose. "Just listen to what happened!"

"I've heard far enough!" replied the quartermaster, beginning to reach for Rose as well.

James meanwhile only rolled his eyes and pried himself loose from his grasp, laying a blow on him directly to the jaw. The quartermaster instantly retaliated, drawing his sword, and James did as well before crying back to Rose, "GO! Get Turner!"

Rose however, pulled her own weapon as a duel began and leapt straight into battle. Fighting alongside him, they began to corner their opponent in one end of the hallway. James then thrust his sword in front of one of the quartermaster's blows towards Rose, keeping it steady. That gave him enough time to turn to her and say, "Please go! I can fend him off long enough for you to get Turner here!"

She shook her head, placing her own blade in the standoff and pushing against the quartermaster's force. "I'm not leaving you here! Not until he listens to reason."

That was never to be, however, as suddenly, the quartermaster freed his blade, ducking low and stabbing James in the side. He gasped in pain.

"James!" Rose cried out.

He turned to her, "Go!" he pleaded once more.

Finally, she conceded. This had spiraled rapidly out of their control. She looked back one last time to see the quartermaster grab James by the neck and lead him out to the main deck. She then increased her speed despite the pain from her still-healing leg wound, rushing through the hall to the doors of Will's quarters and bursting inside.

The Captain was hovering nearby as Coats sat at his desk, examining the makeshift maps they were conceiving of the extent of the Locker.

"Will!" she exclaimed. His head jerked up with alarm at her tone. She went straight to the point: "There's trouble on deck."

"What?" he asked, rushing to her side.

"Defoe abducted me. James and I bested him together, but the quartermaster now has James in a skirmish! We have to stop it!"

Without a word, he rushed past her out the door, and she followed suit, right on his heels. They together ran the length of the corridor, but stopped midway when they heard the chilling sound of the snap of a whip. Will and Rose exchanged a bewildered glance. They continued along at a brisk pace until they passed the doorway to the main deck, when the scene opened up with every man having abandoned their work, and instead facing inward, backs to them.

Snap!

Rose's heart stopped when she knew instantly what was happening. With absolute horror, Rose shoved through the crowd and dove headfirst through the last few of the crew who were blocking her path.

Snap! There the quartermaster stood whip in hand, aided by two others who held out his outstretched arms. There James stood, shirtless, back now dripping with blood.

Snap! He yelled out in agony. Rose's anger got the better of her. Without thinking, she raised her hands and swung them at the quartermaster. A stream of seawater from the port side flew quicker than a diving gull and swiped the whip from the quartermaster's hand, sending it flying across the deck and him scurrying after it.

She sent two more streams into the eyes of the two attendants who held James, causing them to recoil and lose their grip. James crumpled, yelling out in anguish as he immediately fell to the deck. She ran to his side, aiding him on his journey down as he leaned on her right side. By the time they were safely seated, the quartermaster had found his whip once more, and by the time Rose turned around, he was already poised to strike at both of them.

"Insolence!" he cried.

Rose shoved her right hand forward and sent a water shield spurting in order to deflect it.

"Stop!" exclaimed Will, having finally reached the front. "Quartermaster, at ease!"

"Sir, I discovered James standing over the body of Defoe, who was completely unconscious!" he cried. "Clearly, he had attacked him!"

"We do not reprimand like this!" Will shouted. "That was Jones's policy, not mine. You will throw that vile thing overboard at once!"

Rose didn't watch any of this take place. Her attention was solely on James. His arm was draped around her for support, and he sullenly looked up at her. Then pain overtook him and his attention was back on the ground as he winced. She then examined the damage. These wounds were not just scratches— they were deep wounds that would have taken months to heal on a mortal. For the undead, wounds took much longer to heal, and while never creating any fatal consequences, they certainly did not exclude limitations of physical discomfort or pain. Rose had witnessed much cruelty in her life, but never such brutality. The skin had been sliced open by force nearly down to ribs and spine. This was not the normal force in which someone whipped another.

Suddenly, rage took the place of fear and protectiveness. The seas began to churn, rocking the ship violently as Rose stood, exclaiming, "Defoe kidnapped me while you all failed to realize it! The only one who came to my aid was James! We brought Defoe back here for judgement! And instead, you assume it was James who hurt him?" She looked in disbelief over the entirety of the crew, Will included. "Why do you all hate him so? What has he done to you besides keep to himself? This is immoral!"

Rose's fury materialized in the form of sea mist beginning to rise and swirl around the ship. Will put his hands up. "Let's all be at ease, now," he said calmly. "Let's move away from here and sort this out."

"There's nothing to sort out!" she protested. "He tried to assault me and James did nothing wrong!"

"He's a Navy traitor, ain't he?" a nondescript voice from the back of the crew shouted out.

The skies began to reel with dark, billowing clouds as a wind began to pick up. "He's not a traitor," she growled.

The quartermaster stepped closer to her. "Someone really needs to teach you when to hold yer tongue."

"That's enough! Both of you!" Will shouted over the wind that grew ever stronger.

Rose's eyes gleamed in violent rage at the quartermaster. "I'd step away if I were you."

The knave leaned ever closer, saying under his breath so only Rose could hear him, "Really? And what are you going to do about it?" he goaded.

Now, this is where the narrative becomes a bit blurry, and no one's account that they have given me has been able to accurately describe what exactly happened next, so I will try to piece together what exactly occurred based on several different witness's testimonies. Rose must have lost consciousness, because next thing she knew, the men were pressed against the side rails of the ship, leaving the quartermaster alone in the middle of them, doubled over, conscious but bleeding profusely from his nose. Allegedly and according to several eye witnesses including James and Will, Rose said nothing to his response, and only stared blankly at him. She stayed firmly planted in place, still as a statue. Water from all directions attacked Defoe, slicing open his skin as they zipped and whipped past him. The men fled to a safe distance.

It was James who shook her out of it. "Rose!" he cried. The water knives had only begun, only grazing the quartermaster's face.

"Don't make things worse by stooping to their level, Rose!" commanded Will. She nodded slowly, having no idea what she had done. But she could see that some action had been taken, and her priorities once again returned to James, still huddled on the ground.

"What...was that?" he muttered.

She looked at him earnestly. "I am not certain."

In all of the excitement, no one had noticed that Bootstrap had returned with his scouting party.

"What in the blazes?" Bootstrap cried out to Will, descending from the helm. Looking around, she could only imagine how bizarre this must have all appeared; James bloodied and torn into pieces, to his right, the quartermaster, who was covered in cuts and scrapes, his nose having nearly been taken off.

A steady rain began to fall around them, and Rose stayed in place as the two injured men around her were picked up and taken below deck. She looked down at her hands.

'Dere be a touch of destiny aboud you, Rose Hexfury, Tia Dalma's voice rang in her ears from a nearly fourteen year old prophecy. Ye will gain more power dan any man can ever dream of possessin'.

"The power of the seas," Rose whispered.