"FATHER!" I screamed, pulling off my belt and immediately diving in after his motionless, freshly bleeding body. Was this Davy Jones's doing? Was he reclaiming my father? If so, what did it matter that I was completely submerged! He wasn't going to take my father that easily! As I sank beneath, I was alarmed to discover that I was surrounded by nothing but murky, turbid water. I tried clearing it with by waving my arms wildly through it, but it was everywhere. I couldn't see where he had gone. I began to panic at the thought that perhaps his body was reclaimed by the Dutchman. If this was the case, then I would be powerless to help him.
Deeper and deeper I flailed my limbs to propel myself downwards. I could barely see an inch in front of my face, let alone find my father. Still, I tried, my lungs beginning to lose their air. I was debating between going up for more air and continuing to push my way through the water. Suddenly, my progress was blocked by Phillip, who had sensed the disturbance in the sea behind where he had been leaving us, and with Syrena had raced back to see what was the matter.
I pushed against him, but he was stronger, grabbing a hold of me and jettisoning me to the surface.
"STOP IT!" I screamed, pounding on his chest. "TAKE ME BACK!"
"Hold on!" Phillip tried to calm me. "Hold ON! Syrena's after your Father!"
"You don't understand!" I protested, my eyes wild and panicked. "He's been taken! We need to fight whatever's got him—he's hurt!"
Phillip narrowed his eyes. "We need to get you back on the boat," he said, leading me back amidst the choppy, stormy waves.
"NO!" I cried, struggling in futility against his force. He helped me climb aboard and dove back in, splashing me with his tail as he left.
My breath still short from the effort, I leaned over the side of the boat, clearing the wet hair that had stuck to my face. "No," I frantically cried. "No, no, no!" I shifted back and forth within the boat, staring intently at the surface of the water for any signs of life.
Nothing.
I began to weep, wiping my face as I struggled to maintain composure. Where were they? What was taking so long? I waited for what was most likely but a moment, but at the time felt like eons. Finally, I leapt back as Syrena broke the surface right next to where I sat, her webbed hand tugging with all her might against a dull, blue bundle. Phillip was soon to follow, using his weight to help hoist what she had up and over onto the boat.
The figure fell with a hard thump, and I was briefly frozen in place as I realized that it was indeed my father, but he looked nothing like how I had come to know him. The sea life had since washed off of him like dirt, and before me was my human father, unconscious.
"It took long to find him," Syrena reported, her arms hoisting the top half of her body over the lip of the boat. "The muck coming off of him hid him from view."
"Aye," Phillip reported between breaths as he too hoisted himself up. "He had sunk quite low—you need to get the water out of his lungs at once!"
I turned my father towards me to find that Phillip was right: He wasn't breathing and blood was still oozing from his wounds. I slightly tapped the side of his face and began pressing down on his chest. "Come on, breathe!" I insisted. "Father?" Nothing. He was unmoving, immobile…lifeless.
Tears began pouring down my cheeks. "No!" I shouted, as I pressed harder. "You are not getting off that easy! I will not sail into Shipwreck without you. That was our deal remember?"
Nothing.
"Father!" I sobbed. "Please!" Looking to Phillip and Syrena in desperation, I pleaded, "Help me! Please!" but they looked completely at a loss of what to do.
My tears fell harder as I looked back down to his lifeless form. "You promised," I murmured. I finally conceded, hanging my head low as the tears overtook me. As though the skies themselves matched my tears, it opened up into a steady patter of rain. All of this had happened so suddenly that I didn't even know what had unfolded. From what I could tell, the curse had indeed been broken somehow, but in doing so, it returned my father to his last dying moments from his mortal days. I was losing him all over again.
For minutes, we bobbed silently on the ocean, the mermaids uncertain of what to do or say in my grief. I was unwilling to move, hugging my knees into my chest and continuing to weep bitterly.
Everything changed, however, when my father finally came to, choking on the water that had filled his lungs. Instinctively, he rushed to the side of the ship and coughed the water overboard. Astonished, I was frozen, mouth agape. Syrena and Phillip instinctively moved away to give us space, Phillip exclaiming, "Aye, there we have it!" in jubilation at the sight of Father's movement.
Once he got ahold of his breathing once more, he winced in pain, holding a hand over his wound. When he pulled it away to see the blood, he noticed that his hand was once again restored to its human form. He then felt his face, his hair. Then, looking up at me with a smile, his green eyes glinted as he said, "Well. It would appear that Henry was successful."
I grinned and rushed to embrace him, though in so doing, I completely forgot his injury temporarily. A wince escaped him, but he returned my embrace firmly. It was as though time had reversed. Finally, father was alive once more.
"You're here!" I exclaimed tearfully. "I was so afraid you were gone forever."
"Well," he said with a wince, readjusting and examining his wound closer. "I still might be if we don't do something about this." He lifted up his shirt, and both of us recoiled at the disconcerting sight.
"What is that?" I asked.
He snorted. "From our scuffle in St. Martin's tavern, no doubt."
My heart plummeted. "The wound hadn't had a chance to heal yet," I realized.
"Aye," he replied. "I'm mortal again, so it's back with a vengeance." He motioned towards our cargo hold. "There's fishing hooks and a line. Fetch it, please."
I obeyed, handing it over but uncertain of what he was intending to do with these items. I began to cringe when he took out a flask of water, splashed it on the wound, then prepared to stitch it shut.
"No!" I protested. "That's not safe!"
"I'll bleed out otherwise," he said plaintively. "This will do until we can get to shore."
"Well at least let me do it! I've seen Mother stitch people up before." Even though this was true, I personally had never had any experience with it, and felt genuinely unnerved at the thought of it. But if it meant saving my father's life…again, I would.
"No, no," he insisted. "I need you to sail." He gazed out at the horizon, pointing towards a tiny black speck that emerged from the solid gray clouds that surrounded us. "That's Shipwreck. We're close now, and haven't any time to lose. It's already raining, and conditions will only get worse from here. Further, we don't know how your mother was affected by this."
"I hadn't thought of that," I said in horror. Mother would have been killed by Angelica's black magic had she not already been immortal. Father had had the chance to heal from his death wound, but Mother's was supernatural. Neither of us had any way of knowing if she was reunited with her former pain. And now that Father had lost his ability to transform, it was all the more imperative that we get back at once.
I stepped to immediately and tried my best not to cringe at hearing Father stitch himself up, which sounded absolutely excruciating. Minutes later, he was at my side, helping me retie the sail.
"I did a bloody horrible job," he reported, "But it should do for the time being."
I took a moment and looked him over, smiling at the very fact that he was back, no longer sworn to any curse. He noticed my gaze and have a slight smile. "Well?" he asked, motioning to himself. "What do you think, now that I'm not…a sea beast?"
I thought that he was exactly as Mother had described him to me. I felt astonished at how indeed similar we were. I had to seize the opportunity to chide him, however. "I don't know," I said jokingly. "I don't really see the resemblance… Are you quite certain I'm your daughter?"
He pursed his lips. "Exceedingly less so with every passing moment." He then nudged my shoulder with his. "Come now," he said, "Back on the rudder, Norrington."
I grinned widely. "Aye, Captain Norrington."
We had lost all progress shortly thereafter. We were motionless, caught in a tempest unlike any I had ever experienced, though admittedly my experience with storms only came from the safety of an indoor space on land. We had lost the mermaids long ago, who were most likely already to Shipwreck by now. Neither of us could tell how much time had passed, but we were easily quite late at night.
Father had been shouting various instructions to me over the raging storm throughout the worst of it, and together we had fought to keep the Dauntless from capsizing or tipping over, or the mast ripping off entirely in the gale force winds we were facing.
Finally, conditions became so precarious that finally, Father just started towards me.
"What now?" I asked, squinting at him to shield my eyes from spraying seawater and cascading rain. He said nothing, simply looking at me. "Father!" I shouted. "What now?"
He then moved so that he wrapped an arm around me and another against the mast. I followed suit, clinging to the mast as he shielded my body with his. "Now," he finally replied, "We hold on. There's nothing more to be done."
His grip was firm and secure, but I still jolted every time the boat was hit with a forceful wave, I flinched. Eventually I shut my eyes, trying to focus on nothing but controlling my breath. We did not come this far, overcame this much, all to be ravished by a bloody storm!
I don't know how much time passed in these moments, but the next thing I remember is jumping at my father bellowing, "Here! Here! Man overboard!" I opened my eyes and looked up at him. "A ship is approaching!"
"Really?" I exclaimed. Then, following his gaze, I saw it; a magnificent, large, looming ship that seemed utterly unfazed by the terrible weather. "Hey! Over here! Help us!" I cried.
"Where's that lamp?" Father asked.
"We lost that a long time ago," I reported.
His brow furrowed. "They won't be able to see us," he realized. "We need to just call out as loud as we can."
Together, we screamed for their attention, praying that we could be heard and that the inhabitants aboard would be merciful. As she got closer to us, Father fell silent.
"HELP! HELP US! MAN OVER-what are you doing?" I asked him. "Why aren't you yelling?!"
Father's eyes were wide and his mouth was turned up in an elated, shocked grin. He then began to laugh heartily, a sound I was unfamiliar with as he said, "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"
Unable to tell if he was being sarcastic, I asked again, "What? What is it?"
He looked at me, pushing back loose hair from his eyes as he said, "Nevermore have I been so elated to see your Uncle. Anna, that's the Pearl!"
I immediately cast a look back at her as she approached. Sure enough, her black coloration, her uncanny speed…this was the Black Pearl—finally freed from its bottle!
"UNCLE JACK!" I called out.
"SPARROW!" Father joined in.
Finally, we could make out several dots of people appear off the port side, seeing us and then scurrying about rapidly. The powerful vessel then shifted course to veer closer by us. As she got closer, I noticed the unmistakeable silhouette of my uncle, staring at us intently while flailing his arms about, ordering his crew to prepare to take us on.
"Needless to say," Father ordered, "Prepare to abandon ship."
I nodded, putting a hand on the mast and saying quickly, "Thank you, Dauntless. You've done us well, girl."
A line was thrown to us, which Father caught hold of at once, then in a single motion had looped it around my waist. "Hold on," he instructed. I obeyed and followed his gaze as he looked up, eyes squinted against the pounding rain, yelling, "PULL!"
Just as my feet left the deck, however, I realized that I was leaving something behind. "Wait!" I cried. "My books!" To protect father's book and my diary from the rain, I had wrapped them up in rogue canvas and stowed them in our cargo hold. I had forgotten them! But it was too late. I watched helplessly as I was lifted away from my Father. I dared not look away, frightened that even the slightest bit of distance now that he was restored back his mortal self would spell out the final time we would ever see each other, this time for good.
But my body scraping against the side of the ship as I neared the deck caused me to break eye contact with him. A high voice screamed out over the storm, "TAKE MY HAND!" My eyes struggled to see past the gushing rain, but I finally found the form of an outstretched hand and took it, grasping it with all my might.
"I'VE GOT HER!" the voice yelled, as one final yank from the team hoisting me up sent me up and over. I caught sight of Scrum and my uncle on the way up, feeling relief that they had been the ones to come to our rescue. I then haphazardly fell into the person who had grabbed my hand, and I looked up to find myself tossed against a drenched woman in a blue gown. Her black hair…those blue eyes…
"You!" she said in recognition.
"Ms. Smyth?" I asked in shock. I had so many questions as to why she was aboard, but I was interrupted by another, larger person barreling into me.
"ANNA!" Henry shouted, taking me by the shoulders. "Thank god we've found you!"
I grinned in utter shock at these two images from my past being together aboard the ship I had only heard about in stories, but hadn't the time to deliver upon my many inquiries. "Henry, my father!" I shouted. Frantically, I yelled out to anyone else on the deck, "There's still a man below!"
"On it, love!" Uncle Jack's familiar growl sounded. I rushed to his side, Henry and Carina following behind me as the four of us and the other men peering down to find my father in our boat. My heart plummeted into my stomach, however, when I saw that the boat was bobbing precariously on its own away from the Pearl, empty.
"FATHER!" I cried out to the darkness.
"MAN OVERBOARD!" I heard Gibbs's voice sound from somewhere to my left.
"WAIT! Shut it!" Jack countered, pointing below, where my father was clinging to the netting on the side of the ship for dear life. Without a second thought, Henry threw himself over the railing, sliding down the slick surface of the ship and grasping onto the net at the last moment.
"HENRY!" Carina and I yelled out in fear after him, breathing a joint sigh of relief when we saw that he had just barely grasped onto the netting himself. Carefully, he climbed towards my father, and together they slowly made their ascent up as far as the netting went. From there, Cremble was the one to extend himself over the railing to get them both on deck once more.
Henry and my father collapsed, breathless on the deck. After a moment, Henry raised himself to his knees where he extended a hand. "Mr. Norrington," he gasped. "It's a pleasure to see you again, sir."
Father squinted. "Henry? My god, lad, is that really you?"
At the sound of my father's name, Jack spun around to face me, an eyebrow raised above a wide grin that said, We've done it! Then, I saw him turn to Gibbs, ordering, "Tell her."
I furrowed my brow and marched to his side. "Tell her?" I yelled over the storm. "Tell who?"
But my uncle only smiled wider, thoroughly pleased at knowing more than we did.
The moment was interrupted by a large wrapped parcel entering my vision. The bundle was held by my father, who only said, "Forgetting something?"
I gasped. "My books!" I exclaimed. "You went back for them."
"Yes, and it nearly cost me my life…again, so don't let it happen again," he said with a grin.
At that moment, the doors to Jack's quarters to burst open and a woman rushing out, her eyes wide and searching as her hands were extended outwards in front of her, then above her head to shield her face from the rain.
"Madam Hexfury!" Gibbs shouted after her. "Wait inside—I'll bring them—"
"ANNA?" she yelled, cutting him off.
"MOTHER!" I cried.
